Episode #4 - Living Life On Your Own Terms

Title:                 Episode 4 living-life-on-your-own-terms

Show Date:     September 22, 2020

Speakers:        Malvin Young, Nick Troutman

Malvin Young:           [00:00] Welcome to be do have a simple formula to uncomplicate your life. My name is Malvin Young. I am a speaker, entrepreneur, and brand partnership manager with a well-known TV production company. This show is about a straightforward formula that I have used to coach hundreds of people over the last 15 years to overcome many challenges. 

[ 00:20] Personally, I do not like to coach on any area of life that I have not   improved on myself so lucky for you. I have had to overcome big challenges in the areas of relationship, finances, health, anxiety, and depression. Then, after a crazy car accident, I had to do it all over again. I am really excited about the show today because what I am about to share with you is made a huge impact on my life. And more importantly, I have seen many others who have practices methods break through barriers that have been holding them back their entire lives.

[ 00:52] Also, please subscribe to get the most value out of this podcast as each episode will build on each other. Welcome to episode number four. I'm really excited because we have a special guest on our show today. This person is a world champion athlete, a professional kayaker an entrepreneur, a podcaster, YouTuber, adventure seeker and family man with two young children. His name is Mr. Nick Troutman. When I look at Nick's life from the outside, like I'm just totally jealous. 

[ 01:22] He's living life on his own terms, living the cool outdoor adventure life. And, most importantly, he loves to give back. I mean, he is created an awesome podcast. It is called the art of awesome. And it's all about the stuff that he's learned through his personal journey, and how he can give you some of those nuggets of gold for yourself. listening to his podcast is what really got me started in my podcast. So, I am excited to have him on as a as a guest here today. And we are going to dig a little bit into his story. And without further ado, Mr. Nick Troutman. 

Nick Troutman:         [02:00] Well, first off, Malvin, thanks so much for having me, I am stoked to be part of the podcast. And I have listened to all your episodes up till now and have gotten some great value personally out of it. So, you know, it is a pleasure to be on your show. 

Malvin Young:           [02:13] So I would love to hear a little bit of background about Nick Troutman. Like, what is a start back as early as you can and give me the Reader's Digest version?

Nick Troutman:         [02:21] So I mean, yeah, I guess I'm known as a as a kayaker, Father, you know, figure, husband, all this kind of stuff. It goes back to me starting as a little kid, punk kid, whatever, 13 year old, in beach, Burg, Ontario, Canada, just outside of the auto river, and got into kayaking then, right before High School and just like, within 15 minutes of being in a kayak, I just totally fell in love with kayaking, and the outdoors. And I had always just my parents had taken me into the outdoors a ton. 

[ 02:58] So I was, you know, into the outdoors, but kayaking was just this new avenue that had freestyle in it. And it was like it was, I don't know, it, it flipped my switch of like, what I thought kayaking was and what the outdoor sports were, and all this stuff. I mean, I just always imagined these long pointy kayaks, you know, floating down a river. And then when I saw that there was this whole freestyle aspect and you know, surfing waves and doing tricks and doing flips. 

[03:29] It really, you know, got the attention of this, you know, 13-year-old kid that was big into skateboarding, and snowboarding and all that, all the extreme sports, if you will. And so, um, yeah, I just immediately fell in love my entire career in high school. All I would think of, you know, was kayaking, all my questions in school regarded kayaking, my teachers probably hated me. Because of it. And, yeah, I was just like, totally obsessed. And, um, you know, as I as I finished high school, I was getting pretty good. At kayaking, I had gone to the World Championships on the auto river, and I think at 18. 

Nick Troutman:         [04:16] So right out of high school, I got third, and I was winning the whole event up till that point, which was really cool, because I wasn't even sure it was my first World Championship. And I was competing with the pro men, and just coming out of the junior division, and I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to, you know, hold up against these pros, and to be able to, you know, lead the whole way through the competition into finals, and then end up podding. end up being on the podium was like a big, big deal for me, and it just kind of like put me off into this direction. And on top of that, I mean, I had been, I had the opportunity to travel a little bit with a huge mentor of mine and essentially my idol, Eric, Chad.

                                    [05:00] And in his family. And so, he kind of took me under his wing and their whole family just took me in. And they kind of guided me into this, you know, life of being a kayaker, doing, you know, some self-promotion, competing and just kind of like, showing me the light of like, beyond what society might project as, you know, the next version after high school, like, up to that point, if all I had ever heard was, what do you want to be when you grow up? And what school? And what course? Are you going to take in college and university? Nobody had ever told me. Hey, what do you love to do? And what do you want to do? And where do you want to go? And, and all that kind of stuff. So EJ, Eric Jackson, and his, you know, his wife, Christine, were the first ones that really kind of, they were like, Hey, you know, you can go do this kayaking thing if you want it, you know, it doesn't, it doesn't pay well, there's not a whole lot of money in it. 

[06:01] But if you want to go, if you want to go for it, you know, go for it. And they had told me, they were the first ones really, that were just kind of like, Hey, you can go do this, if you want to do it. And I mean, to take a long story short, that's kind of the direction that I went, obviously, um, and then 

Malvin Young:           [ 06:20] I have a question for you.

Nick Troutman:         [ 06:22] Yes. 

Malvin Young:           [06:22] Insert myself for a moment here. Because it is kind of, you are at a point in your life, where most people don't really know what they want to do going forward. But I'm, here you are training. You know, for these world champions, you're training for these events? What are your peers doing at that time? Like, what are your friends doing in their lives at that point, I'm just curious because it reminds me when I was younger, I had a friend who was a really good high jumper and a really good basketball player.

Malvin Young:           [06:57] And here, he was getting all kinds of scholarships. And I remember calling him one day and saying, hey, Jeremy, man, like, you know, we're going up to the club tonight, we got some girls lined up, and we're just going to go party, man. And he said to me at that point, he is like, No, I cannot man. And I said, Why? And he goes, I am training for the Olympics, man, I just cannot do that. And I thought, what a loser, you know, at the time.

Malvin Young:           [07:23] Just to be honest, that was my view, my perspective, like, man, we got   girls lined up, we are going to go party. So that was my thinking, you know, now looking back in retrospect, I wish I were him. At that time, he just had such a solid mind. So, I would love to hear like, you know, maybe some perspective of where your friends were at that at that point of your life? 

Nick Troutman:         [ 07:43] Yeah, well, so there, I'm going to just kind of give you the two versions, because I wasn't this golden child, you know, to begin with, I like in high school, I would go out and party with friends and do all this kind of stuff, too. And just kind of live the, you know, I was addicted to the kayaking and I loved it. but so, did some of my friends. Or at least my closest friends, we had like a core crew that we all kind of came together. And we did other sports together to like rugby, and hockey and different things like that, and snowboarding and whatever.

[ 08:13] But, um, kayaking was definitely, at least for me was like the main, you know, focus. And I think it was with, with at least my best friend Joel too, as well. Um, but it was not until I went to go train. And so, I guess to go back, I'll kind of I'm jumping around a little bit. But when I was, I think it was 16.

[08:35] I was in the junior class, and I was winning this event, like the national championships to go to the World Championships as a junior in Australia and winning the team trials all the way to finals. And then I totally choked and botched it and did not make finals. And that's when, when I came back, and Eric and Christine were like, hey, if you want you can come and travel with us and do a couple of the competitions and EJ they'll kind of help you know, coach you and train you for competition and stuff. And at the time, I was thinking like, oh my gosh, that would be incredible. But that was right during my exams for high school. So, I was like, I am not going to be able to pull that off. Because the events are in June. That is where my exams are. I cannot just like skip out on my exams. 

Nick Troutman:         [09:20] And then Christine was like, well, you can come for the whole semester, if you want just kind of live with us and train and paddle and you know, it'll be awesome. And I just remember thinking like, okay, like that would ever happen. Like, I mean, it is like a fairy tale. Like, as if my parents are just going to let me take a semester off High School and like, how would that even work?

                                    [ 09:40] Anyway, long story short, I went home and told that to my mom, like I just like, came in like, Hey, Mom, you know, saga with the Jacksons today and Christine kind of just threw out this idea that I could, you know, take a semester off and go travel with them. And she was like, oh, okay, that sounds cool. And I was so shocked that I did not know what to do.

[10:00] Than, like, turn around, put my hand over my mouth and run upstairs before I said anything to like to make her take that back because I was like, I had never in a million years expected that my parents would even like, you know, let that idea possibly turn into fruition.

Malvin Young:           [10:18] You are completely expecting a no like.

Nick Troutman:         [10:21] Yeah, of course. Yeah. Why would Why would they ever let me go do that, like I just I was I was shocked I never had, I had never believed that, you know, that could become true. Anyway. So, it did. And it just changed my life forever for sure. Because, you know, training with the Jacksons and everything at one It made me a way better kayaker. Immediately, it turned my mindset onto training on to being better on to, you know, just skills and focus more than anything. 

[10:53] And then, you know, there's that whole other backstory where, you know, several years later, I end up you know, marrying their daughter. So there's that there's that whole part of it to where, like, clearly I can very distinctly look back to the event that I lost and didn't make the team trials and didn't go to Worlds as a very obvious moment, where the it just changed my life forever. For sure.

Malvin Young:           [ 11:18] Sure. And by marrying their daughter, I mean, you had to pay them back somehow. So that is great. And, you know, speaking of your wife here, I mean, Emily Jackson, I just wanted to insert this point to I know, she's really a somebody that people really look up to as a woman athlete. I mean, she is a real powerhouse out their multiple time world champion. Both of you being very competitive people and having children together. What is that like at home?

Nick Troutman:         [11:53] A good, I guess. I mean, Emily's just amazing. First off, so she is a very, you know, strong and powerful individual, both, you know, physically and mentally and just as an athlete and as a mom. And I am just continually we have been married now. For we got married super young. So, we've coming on 12 years married, which is super cool.

Malvin Young:           [12:16] Wow, congratulation.

Nick Troutman:         [12:17] Yeah, thanks. Um, and, yeah, I am continually learning from her. She is   just, you know, she is an amazing individual. And, yeah, as far as you know, both a mom and an athlete, I could not speak, you know, more highly ever. She was competing at, like, you know, come through her entire pregnancy, I think she won one of the biggest events of the year when she was nine months pregnant. 

[12:43] And the whole time, I was like, little skeptical. Like, I do not know if this is a good idea. But the doctors say it was okay. And she felt good about it. So, she just kind of does her own thing and just leads and I guess, like, the best way I could explain is that she is like a trailblazer, where she? She will once she gets her mind set on something, she will make it happen, for sure. 

Malvin Young:           [13:04] Oh, that is great. And it sounds like, you know, that moment when you had to make that decision to go live with the Jackson family? Ah, that was a real pivot for you. Because I mean, if you I'm sure, if you were to rewind, and say, what if I didn't go? I mean, it sounds like you got a lot of support from them a lot of mentorship, mindset training.

Malvin Young:           [ 13:30] But imagine if you're to rewind that, I mean, what would life have looked like for you had you not made that decision? And I'd love to hear that simply because I know a lot of the listeners of this podcast, you know, they, when it comes to making big decisions in life, sometimes we end up following what society or friends or family think is best for us, rather than following our own heart and in doing what we truly want to do. But, you know, what would life have looked like for you? Had you not gone? And I mean, obviously, this is just guessing here, but based on the trend you are going, where do you think you would have gone and how life would look like?

Nick Troutman:         [14:11] It is ironic that you talk about, you know, having what society says is best for us? Because just by answering that question, within the first 30 seconds, I have a pretty definite idea of what my life would look like, if I didn't go, you know, take that trip and go train with Eric Jackson and his family and stuff. And it would likely be pretty similar to what all of my other peers life is like, or what you know, I would be somewhere in that mix of what average society looks like, I would probably have continued kayaking. Not ever likely to the extent that I have.

[14:55] I would likely have gone to college and gotten a job and then  probably create a career in something, and I, you know, I hope I would have been happier, whatever, but I would have definitely it would have been a very different life for sure. And it would likely have been one that was much more, you know, in the, in, in the boundaries of what society calls normal. 

[15:17]  So, for me, it's exactly like what you say that society has this norm for us, and has these kind of boundaries of like, okay, anywhere between this and this is, you know, okay, but once you start becoming one of those outliers, then everybody gets questionable and starts raising eyebrows, and maybe pointing fingers or whatever, but what I have learned in in the last, you know, 15 years of going, I wouldn't even say going against the grain of society, but just being okay with being an outlier. is, I mean, that is, you're following your heart at that point, you're following your passion. 

Nick Troutman:         [ 15:58] I think that's where happiness lies. Um, and, and don't get me wrong, like, I've had my hard times, just like, you know, I'm sure everybody else has, and it hasn't been easy. And the life of a lot of people, my, my closest family included, they always think like, Oh, you know, you just get to run around, doing what you want. Every day, you get to travel the world, and this professional like athlete career, yeah, like, Oh, you've never worked a day in your life. And it's like, well, trust me, it's not all like that. 

[16:34] There's, on the flip side, it's like, I work all day, every day, because my life net, like, the job never ends. But at the same time, I just, I love what I'm doing. And I get to, you know, set my own boundaries, I get to set my own goals, and it's just much more I follow my heart is really it sounds kind of, you know, cliche, but it really is that where, at any moment, even like today, I wake up this morning, and, and I start just writing down some goals. And I really think deep, and I am like, you know, what, what do I want my life to look like? Because ironically, I am the same person. 

[17:10] I was in high school, and a big reason of why I did not go to college or university or anything like that. I did not know what I wanted to be when I grow up. Other than I love kayaking, and I wanted to do that. And I'm still that same person where it's like, I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. I feel like I'm this like, perpetual Peter Pan child where I'm just like, one, I don't really want to grow up and two, I don't know what I want to be, but I'm just going to keep following my heart until I get there. 

Malvin Young:           [17:37] Great, Nick. That is, that is awesome. I mean, there is a lot of great advice and what you just said, too, and I remember one of my mentors, when I was about 26 years old. 

[17:48] He said, do you really want to have success? And I said, Absolutely. And I did not even know what success meant. I did not really have it defined for myself at that age. But I just knew success sounded nice. And I had growing up complete opposite of success and really hard times. So, when he said, do you want success? I said, Yeah, he said, Well, here is the secret. He said, I want you to look at what everyone else is doing in the world and run in the complete opposite direction. 

Malvin Young:           [18:20] Just run. And you know, it sounds like you have really done that yourself. And it's quite inspiring, because myself to being the black sheep of the family, you know, having even family members saying things like, oh, why are you always going to those personal development courses and traveling and spending money on that and leaving your son at home? And you know, my answer, my head was always the same. Like, I just want to be a better father, I want to be a better person, I want to be better to our society. I want to make a difference. And I know where you are coming from Nick, from this point of like, you still do not know what you want to be. And I kind of fall in that same boat sometimes. Because I think the world has so much possibility and there is so much that we can do and so many exciting things.

                                    [19:13]  But how do you really create your goals going forward, knowing you got this wide open space of possibilities like you, you realize already that you can be do and have anything you want? And congratulations, Nick, I know you are giving a lot back to people on your own podcast, which is just amazing. I mean, you've inspired me to get this podcast off the ground, based on your giving back and your goal setting.

[19:40] Episode especially, but with goal setting. One thing that I get challenged with myself personally is that I can start writing down what I feel is important in my heart. But then as life unfolds, so many other possibilities unfold, how do you deal with that?

Nick Troutman:         [ 20:01] Well, first off, thanks so much about that the little tidbit of the podcast because I am stoked on the fact that you got something out of there. Because my whole goal when I started my podcast was, if I could help one person, you know, just get one thing out of it. And it is totally worth it. So, I am going to check that little box right there and say, I have already succeeded on my goal with our podcasts. But as far as goal setting, I mean, I do my best, I am not trying to say I have got all the golden answers or anything like that.

Nick Troutman:         [ 20:33] But it really is a bit of just kind of following your heart, which again, sounds cliche, but what I what I do is, I'll go to a quiet space, and I'll just really try to think deeply about what do I truly want. And then once I know what I truly want, then I just try to go after it, you know, all in. And sometimes that is really scary. And sometimes it is really daunting, and I'm like, Oh, I don't know if I can do this, I don't know what people are going to say about this. And I do not know if I've had the skills or anything like that.

[ 21:11] But I've also I did a podcast A while back on what I call, like the art of the baby step. And it's just like, for me, it's the same with so tomorrow, I first of all, I've got like a little bit of add, I jump around a little bit, but tomorrow, I'm going to take on this challenge to, to try a half Ironman with my wife just here and we're going to like, you know, swim and bike and run around kind of like the town here. 

Malvin Young:           [ 21:39] That's the thing about you, Nick is like, you just don't know what's coming next, you know, but you're having fun, you're enjoying your life, and you're, you're doing things and what I love about it all make is that you're doing it in front of your children and with your children, and, you know, inspiring them to live that same kind of life, I didn't mean to cut you off there because I deal with ADHD as well, too. And I could be all over the place. So, we will try, we'll try and control it. But that back to, you know how you deal with that with goals, I'd love to get. 

Nick Troutman:         [ 22:10] And so I just tried to I try to take one step forward, and where I was going with the whole half Ironman thing was, it's a little bit like, you know, running a marathon or doing anything where you've got that huge daunting goal ahead of you. And you are never going to get there until you take one step. And then you are never going to get there again until you take another step. And so, you just keep taking one little baby step at a time, baby step at a time. And do not even get too caught up with the end goal, like have that, you know, as your vision. And, and, and look at it because there is a quote that I heard a while back. And it was something along the lines of, "we overestimate how much we can do in a year" and "we greatly underestimate how much we can do in a decade". It's the same thing for me and I try to remind myself that you know, every year at New Year's, or whenever I'm writing down goals, and all that kind of stuff is.

Malvin Young:           [ 23:01] Yeah, that is good.

Nick Troutman:         [ 23:02] Yeah, just remember that it's all about that baby step. As long as you keep action, you keep moving forward, you will achieve whatever goal it is that you have ahead of yourself. Because the beauty is you cannot fail, you physically cannot fail, if you never give up. And so as long as you keep going for it, you will achieve whatever it is, and it could take a year, 10 years, 100 years, whatever it is, but if you never give up, you'll get there. 

Malvin Young:           [ 23:31] Yeah, Nick, I love that whole philosophy, I had heard something similar. And it took me a long time to get it in my bones. Like I got it in theory at the beginning, but it took a while. And I remember again, it was one of my mentors, early age was saying that there is no such thing as failure, it does not exist. And he said there is only such thing as quitters.

[23:54] Failure does not exist. And I thought, Wow, that is a that is amazing. And also, the other side of that, Nick, you know, when we deal with failures, per say. I was always taught to embrace them and love them as much as I do the success. That is a hard thing to do.  I still you know, I still try to practice that because there is society's view of failure that's like, oh, what other people think of me and I didn't win, and I'm not as good. All that occurs, do you still get some of that go on going on for you? And how do you deal with that? 

Nick Troutman:         [ 24:30] So first of all, 100% I definitely still get that and I have to remind myself as well to just kind of switch my mentality and my way of thinking on you know, what someone would call a so called failure, and you see it a lot as so as an athlete. I compete a ton. And when you compete, just like anything, and I try to teach this to my kids too. It is a game and there is a winner and you know, there is a loser or there is everyone else who isn't the winner. 

[ 25:05] Now there is two things about that one, it is a game, you're only competing, because it's fun. And it goes back to childhood. I mean, everybody, every kid that has ever been, probably played a game as a kid, and you play the game, because it was fun to play with your friends. Now, you always wanted to win. But it was still just fun to play with your friends. So I try to remind myself that first and foremost, is that the reason why I'm doing it is because it's fun. And if it's not fun, it's time for me to switch and do something else. 

Malvin Young:           [ 25:35] That is awesome.

Nick Troutman:         [25:35] That's next. Yeah, then the next thing that I really tried to focus on, is the mentality that I either win, or I learn and as soon as I switch that mentality of like, it's not that I'm winning or losing, it's that I'm winning or learning, it changed everything for me. And it, you know, helped me competing a ton. It helped with my skills, and all this kind of stuff, too. But it really just, I can tell you for a fact that when I when I'm stoked, okay, everybody loves to win. Everybody loves to win. 

[26:09] But you do not learn nearly as much or again, just my myself personally, I am stoked that I won. And I am stoked that I you know, threw down the tricks that I wanted to do, or the line that I was aiming for, or whatever. And then you're just kind of like it's over and you're, you know, riding the high for a little bit, then you go off to the next competition. It's only when I lose, or, you know, any place behind first place would be essentially losing. 

[ 26:36] So it could be second, third, whatever. It is only in that loss that you actually learn. And it took me a while for, again, it did not come naturally to me. And it. It was not always easy. But it was in last that I would stop and reflect and be like, Okay, well, why didn't I win? What did I do wrong? What could I have done better? What was it my mentality? Was it my skill? Could I have trained harder? Could I have practiced longer? What is it here, where's the lesson to be learned, and I have taken that outside of kayaking, and tried to implement that in all sorts of different aspects in life, whether it's, you know, investment, whether it's parenting, whether it's, you know, whatever I could apply that to, and it just really tried to focus on, I'm either going to win, or I'm going to learn. And, and that's just try, that's, that's how I try to live my life out and how I try to move forward on, you know, whether it's achieving my goals or whatever, because you're not always a winner. 

Nick Troutman:         [ 27:40] But if you focus on being a loser, you will stay a loser, I guarantee that, when you focus on learning, that's how you get better. And that's how you get closer and closer to winning in the future. 

Malvin Young:           [ 27:51] Thanks, Nick. I mean, that that's awesome. I really hope people listen to that message I hear people struggling with that all the time. And it's funny that you say this, when I speak to others, sports professionals, they say the same thing, like when I when I get on with the celebration, and I never analyze the win there's probably something to analyze there that can take me to a whole other level. And only when I lose, I sit back and I analyze and I watch the tapes, and I look at what I could have done better. 

[28:27] I have heard over and over some athletes, elite athletes that have taken themselves to new levels, because they started analyzing everything, their wins, and their losses. And they really focused in on the losses because it is a greatest chance of improvement. But then even on the wins, how do I get those little incremental increases in their performance as well, too. And that is simply by looking at it and saying, well, even though I won, I still made this little mistake here. 

[28:56] I could be more conscious about that next time. And so very interesting, you say that, and most importantly, how you apply it to other areas of life, it doesn't have to be about being an athlete, it can be about being a parent, you know, a husband or a wife, it could be about your career. You know, and I think it's important to celebrate our successes, but I think very important to take a moment in time to stop and analyze our losses, so that we can become better as either a father or mother, husband and wife, you know, whatever you do within your career. 

[ 29:34] So that's great advice, Nick, and you know, one other and you did not know I was going to do this next segment here. This is completely by surprise. But since you know, I built this whole podcast off a foundation of Be Do Have. And you know, I think if people were to listen to this podcast, they would really hear who you are being. And you have already talked about some of the actions that you're taking and therefore get some of the results that that you're having. And I know that, you know, if I look at your life, I'm quite jealous too.

Malvin Young:           [30:07]  I mean, you got to do what it is that you love to do on a daily basis. And it is the outdoors. Like, I generally wait till Saturday and Sunday to go for hiking with my children or kayaking or to the cottage. But here's Nick Troutman and Emily Jackson living life on their own terms. And I would love to hear maybe one or one of what is one of the areas of your life, Nick, that you would like to have complete breakthrough in, because I would love to spend a few minutes on this podcast, you know, walking us through a process here, and I see your smiling big time now because you've been talking to me about this process. But what is that next thing that you would really like to break through on because why not take a few moments here today. And let us give a real live example of what this work is about here. 

Nick Troutman:         [ 31:00] Cool, I feel like I should lay down on the couch and get the full psycho analysis going on. But the gist of it is honestly, this is going to kind of sound funny, but I wake up every day. And I am extremely grateful for the life that I live. And I know, deep in my heart of hearts that I am living my dream life, like, and I like, and I refer back to this, you know, high school kid, or 13 year old kid, or 14 15, whatever it is, and I'm like, I've got exactly what I always dreamed of. 

[ 31:37] I am doing exactly what I always dreamed of, like, I am living the dream to the fullest. Now, what I have experienced in the last, you know, 15 years or so, is that as you grow, and get closer to reaching your potential, that potential grows as well. And it is like this never-ending thirst, or at least it is for me. And so, I am always thinking, how can I do more? How can I give more? How can I be more? 

[32:09] So if you wanted to know, I think your question was, what is it that I want to have more of? Or was it what do I want to do more of? Or? 

Malvin Young:           [ 32:18] Well, how about this? Let us just take it from this angle. Because you just mentioned as you grow, so to the possibilities, right? And so therefore we start setting maybe loftier goals. But why do not you give me one that maybe you struggle a little bit with, or maybe a struggle with taking that first step. Because I think no matter who you are, I mean, I've spoken to people like Tony Robbins and they still child, they have challenges on certain areas of their life and taking those first steps. Or maybe they've just been so conditioned around that area of life that they don't see any possibility of breakthrough. 

Malvin Young:           [ 32:55] Like they just cannot break through that for me, it was actually health. So, like, I really struggled with health on the outside, people said, you look great, you know, things look good. I used to get reassurance from my doctors to see if I was okay, like I just always struggled, I always thought I always had an image of myself as not healthy. And I always struggled with like being consistent with working out and eating properly. And I still look at trying to bring that to new levels, but I would love to hear an area that Nick is trying to bring to new levels. 

Nick Troutman:         [ 33:27] So I am going to give you a little secret of kind of how I look at life. And I have got this idea. And I forget exactly who I got it from, but it is the four pillars of my life are health, wealth, love, and happiness. And I feel like I am doing pretty well in all of them. 

[ 33:47] But, you know, probably more so in the health, the love and the happiness. And if I was to say if one of them is, you know, not as strong as the others, it would be wealth and so for me, my whether you call it lofty goals and ambitions or what other is to create financial freedom for myself and my family.

[34:10]  And in part of that it is to have enough money to you know, do whatever it is that we want to do, even though I'm kind of, you know, lucky enough to do a lot of what I would like to do, I'd like to be you know, financially set where I can do whatever I want to do. And then on the other side of that with wealth, I would like to have enough to be able to give back whenever or however I want to do and so right now I tried to give back you know actively and do different things. I do not have the finances to give back in massive amounts financially. So, I tried other ways to give back and for me, that was a big part of why I started you know, our podcast, the art of awesome and just different things like that. And I have given back you know, financially too, but I was I just like to be so financially set that I could give back.

Nick Troutman:         [35:04] However I wanted whenever I wanted and so, to go back to the four pillars of what I consider the four pillars of life, health, wealth, love and happiness. Wealth would be the one that I am currently trying to work on and, and grow, while also trying not to drop the other three balls and juggle all four at the same time.

Malvin Young:           [ 35:23] Awesome, Nick, with your permission, I'd love to walk you kind of through the process, because I know you were quite intrigued by it. And we have had, you know, discussions over the phone, and I thought I'd leave this for a surprise today because I think it would be great a to show people no matter. You know, if you if you look at life, in terms of levels, no matter where you are in life, we all are striving to achieve something new. It's not like, Hey, we make all the money and we got the great family, and we can just lay on the couch now. And life is great.

[ 35:55] We're constantly opening new possibilities and new desires through the process. So thanks for being vulnerable enough to share that, because that's awesome, makes us human, you know, and really hope that the listeners understand that we're all trying to achieve some new levels, whatever that may be. 

[ 36:17] So Nick, with your permission, I'd love to walk you through the process. Are you okay with that? 

Nick Troutman:         [ 36:23] Let us do it. I am not all right. 

Malvin Young:           [ 36:24] So let us have some fun with this. So, Nick, you know, I heard a lot in your language there that like, you know, if I had the money, then I would do more of the giving back, I would do more of the things and you're already trying to do a lot of that stuff. But it is still kind of stuck in that thought pattern. And we all have that thought pattern. 

[36:43] Like we grow up with it. It is around us. It's in our media, it's in our schooling, it's within our parents teaching to us. We are all taught, like, if I have something or if I do something, then I can be something. But have you ever actually, I will not say this next part, I want to walk you through it there. So let's take that area of wealth. And first, Nick, I love you to define what wealth means to you? 

Nick Troutman:         [ 37:08] Oh, gosh, what does wealth mean? To me? I'd have to stop and think for a second. I guess?

[37:14] I guess it would, you know, be Wow, we could go into different things. Wealth can be broken down into, you know, a wealth of love a wealth of happiness, a wealth of health, and I consider myself wealthy in, in a lot of ways. extremely wealthy, inexperienced, in opportunity, in love in any way. 

[ 37:39] I am very wealthy in very many ways. If you consider it, you know, in a financial purpose, which I think a lot of people consider wealth, in my definition of wealth, then would be financial freedom. So, having enough money to do whatever it is that I want to do. And so, yeah, I do not know if that is what you're looking.

Malvin Young:           [ 38:01] Oh, yeah. I mean, I am glad you made the distinction around wealth, because, you know, just having a wealth of love is, you know, wealth in itself, right. It is an abundance of something. And I am glad we kind of narrowed this down to finances. And by the way, Nick, I do not care, like I don't care what level you're at with finances, we're all struggling to achieve the next level. And we all want that security, and we all want to be able to give back.

[ 38:29] So, this is a very good conversation for people listening. And, for those listeners out there, I just want you to know that like, you know, you are not the only one struggling with money we all do. And but it is how we perceive it, and how we go about it. And I love to, you know, continue walking you through this process. But I did not notice in your language. And we all have this, just notice it.

[38:54] That we always say like, well, if I had this much money, then of course, I would buy that if I if I was wealthy and had financial freedom, then I would go do these things, right? Or I would live my life that way. So just to kind of break down that language. If we were to say, Nick, what are some of the ways of being in finances that are not working for you as well as you would like them to? There are ways that are working for you. Because obviously, you do have from the outside? I would say man, you are already wealthy and free. Like I mean, you got everything.

Malvin Young:           [39:27] But I want you to take a moment here, Nick and think about what the ways are of being that are not working for you around finances. I will give you an example of my own when I looked at finances, some of the ways that I was being was irresponsible around finances. So, what did that look like? I would get it and I would use the money towards things that I felt were necessary at the time. I was not thinking of future investments I wasn't thinking so that's really if you look at wealth, that's irresponsible with money. So, I was also being

Nick Troutman:         [42:43] Things. And so, balance maybe is probably my biggest struggle. And the context that

Malvin Young:           [ 42:50] We're looking at here, so really, the way of being is unbalanced around money, like how we utilize the money, right. So that is a way of being, so being unbalanced, we can be balanced, or we can be unbalanced, right. So that's great, great to acknowledge that, and then you said the respect part, right, so we're only looking at the areas that are not working for us, and that we can utilize to break through. So you have a lot of areas that are working for you, obviously, because you wouldn't be able to afford that nice microphone there for this call, like, you wouldn't, you wouldn't have the things that you have and the freedom that you have. 

[43:27] So, you have tons of ways that are working. But if you want to take it to the new level, just like we said before, we must analyze our losses, right. And in this case, we have to analyze our ways of being that still kind of lingering around that are not working for us. So, we said the word respect so we can transform that into what we call this respect. Like we are not respecting money fully. And we are not valid. So, we are being unbalanced. And we are being disrespectful. Let us just take those two as an example. Because I mean, we could spend more time and we could have you laying on a couch or we could do psychoanalysis on this. But the reality is, if we can just identify a few ways of being that are not working for us, we can transform that. So, if we look at what we're being unbalanced, and we're being disrespectful for money, what are the actions that we're taking, what are the things we do when we're unbalanced with money?

Nick Troutman:         [ 44:28] Well, I guess it depends on which on which unbalanced way on teetering so whether I'm trying to spend all of my money on the now and the enjoyment of you know, the moment.

Malvin Young:           [ 44:42] Yep. So, when we are unbalanced in that way, we are being unbalanced and we are just spending our money because hey, we earned it. We got to enjoy it now. Right? So, on that point, what are the actions we are taking?

Nick Troutman:         [ 44:57] I am spending years Hey, you got it.

Malvin Young:           [ 45:00] So we are being unbalanced is where it starts. We are spending. And then what are we having? As a result?

Nick Troutman:         [45:11] Well, you have the moment. And or,

Malvin Young:           [45:15] You know, you get from spending. So, you are being unbalanced, and you are spending money. What are the results that you got?

Nick Troutman:         [45:24] I mean, I am thinking, I am getting whatever I am spending that on. Now

Malvin Young:           [ 45:28] We have more stuff and less money. Yeah, right. That is just a result, right? I mean, same with me. When I am getting income, and I take that income, and I go spend it on things, the results I have is more stuff. And is not that what we see in the world today, a lot of people with more stuff. And less money, more stuff, and less money. So that's kind of a result we get, but they are the result that we want to get is we want to have more money. True, we want to have more freedom with our money, we want to be able to give back more, we want to have an abundance of it, so that we do not have to worry about it. It should not even be a conversation in our lives. That is kind of the result we want to have. But if we're being unbalanced or being disrespectful, and then spending the income, we're obviously just going to have more stuff less money. So, does that make sense? So far? Yep. Yeah, right rings true. I think it rings true for everyone listening on the call here today. So, we want to transform that to have more money. Let us reverse engineer that and go all the way back to if we want abundance, because that is what we are talking about here. The goal is to have abundance in our finances. So, we never have to worry about that again. How do we need to be in order to have that kind of result? So, the best way to think about this, Nick is thinking about somebody that, you know, that has that and describe who they are being on a daily basis.

Nick Troutman:         [ 47:01] Oh, gosh, um, how would I be and who do I know? So, I mean, I know several people. I am also just listening outside, and

[47:15] There's definitely someone cutting the grass out there that is being a little bit loud, but I'm

Malvin Young:           [ 47:22] Not going to get Nike there, because I cannot hear it at all.

Nick Troutman:         [ 47:25] Okay, hopefully you are not hearing that, um, who do I need to be? And what do I need to be like? Um, so, Nick. So, I guess the gist of it is, what I have experienced anyway, is that money can money can. What is the word I'm looking for? extrapolate whatever personality traits that you already have. So, I know some people that have a lot of money that are giving people and they are very giving with their money. I know other people that have a lot of money that are less giving, and they are less giving with their money. Um, and maybe you know, like it. Yeah. So, what do I want to be like, if I were more money, I would want to be like the person who is more giving?

Malvin Young:           [48:14] Great, awesome. Now those are actions, right? So those are giving things but who are they being? So, let us take a celebrity that everyone can relate to think of one, I am going to think of one here. I will give you an example here, Ellen. Okay. Ellen Show. You know, one thing I love about her, she is a big giver, she gives a lot. But if you look at who she is being around money, who she is being as a person. So, if you were to take the conversation of money to her, and you were to look at who she is being around money, how would you describe that?

Nick Troutman:         [48:53] I am not sure if I am thinking it the correct way. But is she being confident is that is that time, she is super confident?

Malvin Young:           [48:59] Yeah, she is also being free, not waiting for freedom. She is actually being free. And she was actually even before she made all the money. She was just a comedian, comedy, like free bird, you know what I mean? Just happy. And if you look at her state of being even before she had the money, and how consistent that is, all the way and you're right, money really makes you a bigger of what you already are. So, like, if you're an ass and you have you come into a lot of money, you're just going to be a bigger ass. If you're, if you're a great giving person and you come into a lot of money, you're just going to be a bigger, greater person giving more money away. So, you're absolutely right about that. But if we look at the characteristics of these successful people who have wealth down, who are they being and I can tell you that in the case of Ellen, she's being free, happy She's quite excited. How else would you describe her?

Nick Troutman:         [ 50:05] No, I think those are all those are all great. You know, ways to describe Ellen. I am free, excited, confidence happy. I mean, I do not know how else I would describe it as it that is pretty much it.

Malvin Young:           [ 50:20] Would you agree that she is probably responsible? around money? Probably. Yeah. Yeah, I would think so. Right in order to accumulate that. Do you believe? Um, she, uh, you believe she is loving towards money. Like she loves money?

Nick Troutman:         [50:40] Ah, I mean, it depends on what you consider love. Um, but I think in a good way, in the sense that she loves it enough to accumulate it to give it back.

Malvin Young:           [50:52] The way right, yep. So, these are states of being and they're just examples here, right? But if we took those examples, and we looked at those areas that we talked about, which is being maybe a little disrespectful, be unbalanced in the area of money, and say, we replaced them with being Let's sum it up and say, be wealthy. So, Nick, instead of waiting to be wealthy one day, where it's like the way Elon wears it, try it on, like wake up in the morning. [51:30] Okay, and set that into your day, that today, I'm going to practice being wealthy, regardless of what's in your bank account, regardless of what your past actions have been, to this point. Because isn't it true that we all have the ability to choose right, who we're going to be in any moment. So, like, Ellen, the actress, we can do the same thing. We can wake up in the morning, and we can say, Okay, great. That was my past, where I was being disrespectful around money, I was being maybe a little worried around money, maybe frustrated around money, whatever those ways of being are. 

[52:11] And we can actually try on this new way of being like when, like Now, does that make sense? And I never said, through being wealthy. What do you think are some of the new actions that Nick Troutman would take? If you're wearing that on? I got it. Now, I want you to pause for a second. Close your eyes for one second. Try this on, like you walked into a store and you see a beautiful jacket, and you're trying it on, but now you're trying on being wealthy. Okay, so what is available to Nick? What kind of actions do you think are available now?

Nick Troutman:         [52:51] I mean, endless opportunity.

Malvin Young:           [52:53] Yeah. And what do they look like? Give me some examples of exactly in your being wealthy, forget what is in your bank account, forget what's coming. Forget whatever contracts are signed, whatever. Freedom. Okay, so those are possibilities, but what actions are available? actions. So now you're wealthy. Yeah, that was Nick Troutman do is a wealthy person.

Nick Troutman:         [ 53:18] Spent time with my family.

Malvin Young:           [ 53:20] Great. What else do you do? What else do people do? Get back? Great. What else do you do? 

Nick Troutman:         [53:33] Is being responsible in action or

Malvin Young:           [53:36] Jury? Are you taking responsible action? So, what are you doing? What are responsible actions? They investments? Hmm. Looking for more opportunity? Looking to maybe make the world a better place, whatever that is for you. But do you see that by trying it on the way of being something new becomes available, and we get unstuck from the old action? The old action is almost like automatic. Especially with money wake up to don't have enough frustrated right? Yeah. No matter what level you are at, do don't have enough frustrated got to make more got to do more. You know, but Nick, that's that would be what I would give you as a as a as a little homework assignment and you can't try it on one day and say, oh, everything is better or it doesn't work. Really try it on and practice and you know what practice is about in order to become an athlete to professional athletes and a world champion athlete, I'm sure you've had to go through some practice. And you know, the old saying practice makes what?

Nick Troutman:         [ 54:48] Practice makes perfect is the saying,

Malvin Young:           [ 54:50] But we have transformed that, and you probably know the other one is practice makes permanent, right? So, by practicing this new way of being daily wealth will just be who you are when it comes to your finances. And therefore, you take the actions of a wealthy person. And therefore, you get the results of an act. And this is the short form of the exercise here the process, just wanted to lay it out, but what becomes available to you, when you think of the process in this way, we do have as opposed to I have to have in order to do in order to be

Nick Troutman:         [ 55:31] Now I love it. And for me, I've also struggled in the past with having to do in order to be in order to have, um, and I, I've always loved since the start of your podcast that the way that you would set it up Be Do Have because in my mind, I had it a little bit backwards. It was not Have Do Be, but it was Do Be Have and I think definitely having that be as the start is a huge difference for sure. Yeah,

Malvin Young:           [ 56:05] Absolutely. Yeah. And so Nick, I'd love to have you try that on for a little while and report back to us and let us know, you know, what has opened up for you and, and like anything, and I want to make the audience aware of this is that when you when you try on improving your finances, for example, what usually ends up happening is like, Oh, my God, like the bill collectors start calling this happens that happens. Like we end up bubbling up a lot of things. And that's generally because we need to clean those things up in order to, to move on and be able to move forward. 

[56:46] So very important, just as a caution that when we start taking on a new way of being that you will see things bubbling up that you don't like, and that's great deal with them. So, they get them out of the way. So, you can continue being wealthy. Does that make sense? Hundred percent? Yeah, absolutely. And, Nick, I want to thank you a for sharing your story today. Brilliant. I mean, you gave so much value to our audience today. I'm excited to re listen to this again, and really take the time to write this stuff down. And I love your perspective on life. I love who you are as a person. 

[57:23] I mean, you're such a giving person and the fact that you, you want to create this wealth to be able to give more and you're giving back in so many ways already. And I love what you're doing. I you and your wife are doing for your children, which is being a living example of what you know, you want them to become, you know, free, free people living life on their terms. And I really hope people hear that message through today that anyone can do that if they make that choice. You know, it doesn't matter where you are, how old you are, how deep you are in we can pivot our lives at any time and make that shift. 

[57:58] So I want to thank you for giving us all that I also want to thank you for taking all my little surprise here and allowing me to walk you through a process I think it really gives people a good example within their own life of how they can maybe take on some of this work and what it means to shift their way of being and I know I walked through it pretty quick here today just for the podcast, but I hope you got something out of that too. But I want to thank you for being vulnerable enough to share that and just being really human with us here today. 

[58:30] So Nick, thanks so much for being on the podcast here today. Just so everyone knows I will leave our next podcast and YouTube channels and all of his information within the show notes because I think you got to see what he's doing. You got to hear what he is talking about. He is really making a difference for people's lives. And I really think he's somebody that you should have on your playlist and subscribe to because I listened to him and with no kidding, this show wouldn't be happening today had I not listened to his podcast and got re inspired about some of my own coaching and personal development stuff. So, Nick, thank you so much once again for being on the show today. 

Nick Troutman:         [ 59:16] Awesome. Malvin. Thank you so very much for having me and it's an honor to be on the show with you and yeah for any of your listeners out there just we'd love to have you check out our show the art of awesome or just hit me up with a message if you have anything on Instagram and it's just Nick t when kayak and love to you know help out any way I could.