0180: Success or Significance? [Part I] with Vincent Rush

Intro [0:00]

EA Interviews Episode 180. Inspiration, transformation, success stories, and the Imperfect Action Round seven days a week. Join Mario Fachini for today’s Expert Authority Effect Interview. 

Mario Fachini [0:13]

All right. Expert Authority World, I don’t know if you’ve ever felt like you had something inside of you, you wanted to share, or you wanted to be successful. But let me ask you do you want success? Or do you want significance? Do you want to leave a lasting footprint, a ripple, whatever you want to call it, it doesn’t really matter. Catch the concept. We’re not going to live forever. And what you do in this life matters. And that is why I’m super excited today to have Vincent Rush and we’re going to be talking about significance versus success. And he is a former naval officer. He is a mentor, a coach, a speaker, trainer. You’ve even seen him on ABC News for his product. I’m super excited because I’ve known him close to 20 years and he’s done a lot for me personally. He’s helped thousands of people. And I know you’re going to not only learn a lot, you’re going to be laughing because he’s entertaining and he always makes information and content enjoyable. Not everyone does that and that’s a rarity. And I’m excited to bring him up right after we thank our sponsor. 

SPONSOR Acorns [1:17]

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Mario Fachini [1:34]

Here he is, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Vincent Rush. How are you doing today, Vince? 

Vincent Rush [1:39]

Well, my name is Vince Rush. I live in Monroe, Ohio [unintelligible] [00:01:43] west the right hand of Jesus. And if you’ve ever been driving down 75 you know what I’m talking about. It’s a 60 foot tall Jesus statue [unintelligible] [00:01:49] ]. Mario, I’m doing great, buddy. It is good to catch up with you. We go way back. And ever since you were a young little lad, you know, basically, I would see at conferences and all that. And you’re always one of the first people to come up and engage in conversation. And I’ve always kind of been a little bit of a fan of yours just for your ambition. And, you know, it’s an honor that you would even consider having me on your show. So thank you very much. I’m thrilled to be here. I do you want to back up one thing that you said. I was not a naval officer. I was a naval photographer. And so I traveled with [unintelligible] [00:02:29] Shields back in 1983-84 timeframe. I did a tour with [unintelligible] [00:02:35]. And it’s true, it makes for [unintelligible] [00:02:38] conversations on airplanes. I can tell you that. I love when I talk to somebody and engage somebody in conversation. I’m a networker by heart. I love [unintelligible] [00:02:48]. And one of the other things my mentor taught me years ago is he said, “What makes you more uncomfortable than anything?” And I said talking to strangers because they’re fantastic. Nothing great is ever accomplished within the confines of your comfort zone. He said, “I don’t want you to go to bed one single night for the next six months until you’ve had one conversation with one random stranger and you’ve exchanged first name and last name. And it only counts if you can pop out a little background.” We didn’t have smartphones to put our notes in. But pop out of one’s little spiral pocket notebooks and write down – 

Mario Fachini [3:27]

Like the cops do. 

Vincent Rush [3:29]

Exactly. Exactly. Mario Fachini mad at Kroger’s, does podcast. You know, looks like Ben Stiller. But dresses very sharp. He said 99 percent of those conversations will be vapors in the wind, because you’ll never pass it again. He goes, “But 20 and 30 years from now, you will look back on the course of your life and you will see the greatest experiences, the best friends, and the most rich memories came from those random conversations that started.” And of course, you know, my best friend in the world is guy named Jeff Joiner, who we talked about a little bit earlier. And that was a random conversation on a Thursday night at [10:30] when I was on my way home. And I hadn’t met anybody that day and I stopped – I saw [unintelligible] [00:04:26] this guy umpiring a softball game and some of the old guys I’ve played with out there. So I just stopped by and talked to him. And they were all drunk, man. They’d all been down in the 12 ounces. And this little umpire – I think you [unintelligible] [00:04:42] about this. The young umpire standing back here and he’s just making some extra money because he was the youngest professor ever hired in Miami University at the time. They haven’t really started yet. And this was a way to supplement his income, this side hustle before we even knew what side hustles were. 

Mario Fachini [5:00]

Yeah. When did that term get incorporated to become the way it’s used now? I mean, I know everyone’s like #sidehustle. But it’s like people been doing stuff on the side since forever. 

Vincent Rush [5:14]

I don’t know. We’re a slogan driven society. Now we’re a hashtag e-universe. So I mean, everybody’s got a gimmick and everybody’s got a word. But, yes, those random conversations. And it absolutely changed my life. And nowadays, it’s very easy because, you know, I tell people every single time I exchange my information. I said, “By the way, I [unintelligible] [00:05:39].” Most people are, like, getting back to the airplane story. You know, I travel somewhere when I’m talking and I’m extracting information from people. And they eventually reciprocate. And they’ll say, “Well, what do you do if you don’t mind?” Or they say, “Where are you from?” And that’s when I just pause and I said, “I live [unintelligible] [00:05:59] to the right hand of Jesus, my friend.” And you just get that look like, “Oh, brother.” You know, I’m going to get [unintelligible] [00:06:06]. And I tell him the story then they all started laughing because they all know about, you know. 

Mario Fachini [6:13]

Yeah. I know which one you’re talking to. I remember coming down many times in the good old butter Jesus. 

Vincent Rush [6:19]

Yeah. He used to be – Heywood Banks is an artist that does satire songs. And it used to be a nickname, Touchdown Jesus, because he was looking to the heavens and it was from the waist. And so it was Touchdown Jesus. And that was the only nickname they had for him. We caught fire about 11 years ago. And not that, you know, Jesus just naturally caught fire. Lightning hit and exposed a portion on his head because he was made out of Styrofoam. And over the years, the Styrofoam hadn’t wore off. And I do professional sports photography as a side hustle. And so I’m driving back working with Martin Lewis all day at his kids camps that he would do for charities. I’m the photographer for the Bengals coach at the time. And I just happen to be coming right up the interstate getting off on my exit when I saw the flames. And the thing went up in flames in about six minutes. It was gone. So anyway, they rebuilt one and it’s basically a Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil. But now instead of Touchdown Jesus, he’s $5 footlong Jesus or I call it [unintelligible] [00:07:35] or if they [unintelligible] [00:07:38] Jesus. So his got a new nicknames. He’s made out of limestone now he’s fireproof. 

Mario Fachini [7:45]

So what’s going on with you? 

Vincent Rush [7:47]

Well, honestly it’s great to be with you. Long time no see, other than just seeing you virtually. We go back quite a way. So it’s good to get a chance to reconnect with you. And I apologize for the way I’m dressed. I knew you [unintelligible] [00:08:03] but I was so wrapped up today in, like, different calls and everything. I’m just a psycho COVID casual. So this is pretty much how I have been all day and I didn’t have time to step up my game, so to speak. 

Mario Fachini [8:17]

It’s totally cool. It’s all about the content. And the last 150 episodes, I’m like – I always vet the guest and I always know they’re going to bring content. I’ve gotten pretty – you know, the first 10 or 20 episodes, I was nitpicking every last thing because it’s like, “It’s got to be perfect.” And I go unless I get everyone in the studio to begin with, with my crew, I’m always contending with mics, cameras, lights. 

Vincent Rush [8:52]

I mean, you’ve done a tremendous amount of shows now. I remember when you first started and I remember I kind of, like, checked out [unintelligible] [00:08:59] kind of [unintelligible] [00:09:03]. I kind of checked out a couple of your first shows.  And you’ve come a long way. You’ve actually become quite a good [unintelligible] [00:09:10]. 

Mario Fachini [9:10]

Oh, thank you. I appreciate that. And I don’t take that lightly because I know you’ve done all kinds of stuff and, especially, from stage over the years and so many people. It’s just like – it’s inspiring. 

Vincent Rush [9:25]

Yeah. I mean, I have my times. There’s times that, of course, I have a professional speaker in my organization by the name of Jeff Joiner. And I’m always kind of going to him asking how I did. Of course, he never wants to make me mad or anything. So he’s always kissing my butt. You know, tell me that I was great. It’s great but certain times I’m off this page and, you know, you just laid an egg. And even while you’re up there, sometimes talking, you feel yourself start to sweat, you start to get all kind of – because you just know just by looking at the crowd of people that nobody is getting it, nobody is into your message. And it’s just like, “Okay. How quickly can I get to my point and wrap up?” I usually do better when I don’t use notes. When I do use notes, I find myself trying to deliver a speech rather than just having a conversation on stage. And so I don’t consider myself to be that good on stage anymore. I’m better on the one on ones now with people, you know, because I’m not thinking about it as much. 

Mario Fachini [10:29]

Well, you’ve always been the most entertaining. And I remember people that didn’t even know I was downline or anything and it was just “Oh, how are you liking the conference? Oh, it’s your first one, this, that, the other thing.” “Oh, I really love Vince.” And I was just like, “Oh, yeah. I heard I heard him too. He was pretty interesting.” And downplayed the whole thing and they just kept going on and on. You and Jeff are just awesome. 

Vincent Rush [10:54]

Yeah. Jeff is amazing. He’s an absolutely, absolutely [unintelligible] [00:10:59] phenomenal teacher. You know, even though he’s in my organization, I still learn from people that I’m blessed with to have the opportunity to have in my day – what we call the downline organization, so to speak. So I’m still blessed to learn. And I’ve taken a lot of notes. That’s probably the only guy in my organization I’ve taken, you know, a notebook full of notes when he talks because I pick up so much stuff. And I, probably, steal a few of his liners and kind of implement my own vernacular. So it’s pretty [unintelligible] [00:11:33]. I’ve heard maybe four or five speakers over the years that I’ve just been super impressed with. You know, the shirt that I’m wearing where it says [unintelligible] [00:11:42] hero. James [unintelligible] [00:11:43] and Kevin Brown, who was out in Las Vegas with Amy about a-year-and-a-half ago. And, Mario, I think, you know, a little bit of the story from the [unintelligible] [00:11:53], you know, I’m an avid reader. And one of the best things my mentors ever taught me years ago is, he said, “You got to protect this hard drive between your ears.” And you’ve got to be intentional about the programming that is, you and I both have read a similar book, Think and Grow Rich. And we’re both fans of Napoleon Hill. I know that. And we’ve come to learn that we do become the sum total of the five people that we associate with the most, the books we read. And nowadays, the audios that we listen to, which wasn’t an option when you wrote the book. But that constant programming and we have to put our own antivirus programs. And so one of the best things my mentor Allen taught me years ago – and you know Allen, of course – was in 1992 when I sat down with him to talk about my new year’s resolutions because I wanted to impress him to show him how goal oriented I was. I was a young 28 year old kid. I was pretty much broke at the time. I had nothing going for me. You know, I always laugh about my background in sales. I’m pretty much raised – you know, where I come from, you can take the van out on the trailer park, but the hitch is always in his heart. And this kind of was my background and my upbringing. So all my friends at the time were beer drinking, pot smoking softball players. And I spent the last five, seven years playing 270 games a year and traveling around the country. And these were the guys that I hung out with. Guys with names like Grubby, and Skeeter, and Smitty, and this is my core crew. But when I got associated with a mentor who could make a positive impact in my life, I remember I sat down with him in January and I said, “I want to share with you my new year’s resolutions.” And he just kind of looks at me, he goes, “I won’t see those.” And I assumed that Jack didn’t [unintelligible] [00:13:48]. He goes, “Broke people set new year’s resolutions. Wealthy people set personal development goals.” He said, “How many books do you play on [unintelligible] [00:13:56] this year?” Honestly, Mario, I just think made up some number. I said eight. And he goes, “Eight?” 

Yeah. You could probably read those on the commode. And he laughed, he said, “How serious were you about those goals and dreams that you said you want for your family?” And he got me on to one book a month habit, then it became a two boo a month habit, then a three book a month habit for the last 25 years steady. It’s been three books a month for 25 years and meaningful books. Not like Lord of the Rings and you know, Jack Reacher novels and that type of thing, your Tom Clancy’s. But meaningful books like this up here. And so last year, my wife and I are in Las Vegas, we were celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary. And by the way, if you get into speaking or you’re speaking on a stage, and you realize that the crowds they [unintelligible] [00:14:54] content, always stop, “Oh, by the way, I don’t think I’ve mentioned, before I got started, my wife and I have been married 30 years.” And everybody will applaud. There’s no easy way to cheap applause and tell them how long you’ve been married. So she wanted to take a nap. We were staying at the Wynn hotel. And I was walking down. We were there for an event I was doing. And I was done with that. And we spent an extra day or two going somewhere, favorite restaurants out in Las Vegas. And I saw a banner for a speaker. And it was [unintelligible] [00:15:31] Kevin Brown talking about the hero effect. It was a pretty good banner. Or else I probably wouldn’t have been attracted to going in. It was like your banners that you have. Whoever does your artwork does a great job. So I just walked in like I belong there. And I just kind of sat down with my little notepads because I always got a notepad with me. And this guy, Kevin Brown gets on stage and I have never been so captivated by one single speaker from beginning to end. For an-hour-and-ten-minutes, this guy never looked at it. He told his story. He had helped Servpro become a billion dollar plus company. But his whole concept of you know, that surrounded the hero effect was talking about being an individual that – you know, his whole concept was this and it was such an unbelievable concept. Because when we ask people about heroes, you know, I always would say the same thing everybody else does, that heroes are ordinary people that do extraordinary things. In reality, Kevin says just the opposite. He said, “If you stop and think about that just by the admission of being ordinary, then we have to admit that God did not create us with any extraordinary gifts or talents. We’re just a total accident. But it’s a miracle that we’re even here. But in reality because we’re all individual miracles, if you flip it on the script, that heroes are actually extraordinary people who choose not to be ordinary in everyday situations.” And I think in this climate that we’re in today and I think that the world that we live in from the craziness of COVID-19, quarantine. At this point in time, the interpersonal and the racial relations and everything that we’re dealing with in this country are in controversy. I think more than now, individuals need us to be – just let our superhero on us show and be extraordinary and create extraordinary experiences for every single human being [unintelligible] [00:17:39]. It was out of the hundreds of books I’ve read, definitely The Hero Effect, which was a book he wrote, is in the top five of any book I’ve ever read. And I, probably, read it four or five times. I probably given away 30 plus copies of it on airplanes to different people. In fact, I should be paid a commission for doing all that. He sent me a free t-shirt. So that’s why I love to wear it. And you know, I think he’s heroes in people’s lives. I think every time God blesses us with lightness in the path of another individual, he’s created a unique opportunity for us to be extraordinary. He’s created an opportunity for us to show up and give our very best in the here and now. And we mask the here now then he trusts us with the next. And that’s what the whole shirt is about. Now, it’s one of my favorite shirts to wear around because it sparks of so many conversations. 

Mario Fachini [18:37]

Well, I noticed it right when you came in and I really do like it. Because I remember when we were on the phone you were telling me about the book and you highly recommend it. 

Vincent Rush [18:47]

Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, I make no commission from it. I’m not as smart as you. I haven’t written three or four books. [Unintelligible] [00:18:56]. It’s kind of more of a dream of mine. But I’m going to have to hire it a ghost writer to do it .Because, like I said, I’m not much of a writer. 

Mario Fachini [19:05]

I failed English seven times. It’s not that hard once you get your thoughts out. You don’t need to be – you know, I remember reading Robert Kiyosaki and one of the things that stood out in my mind is the interview and the girl was saying, “Oh, I’ve always wanted to write a book, this, and that.” And she was talking about the typos or something and he says something to the effect of it’s best selling not that best written. I’m like, “done deal.” 

Vincent Rush [19:34]

You know, speaking of Robert Kiyosaki and Rich Dad Poor Dad. You guys I kind of follow you on social media a little bit. I understand the anniversary of your father’s ascension into heaven was not too long ago. 

Mario Fachini [19:50]

Yeah. Three years this April. 

Vincent Rush [19:52]

Three years. Yeah. 

Mario Fachini [19:53]

It was actually Good Friday 2017. 

Vincent Rush [19:58]

Yeah. And you even wrote a book dedicated [unintelligible] [00:20:01] your father, correct? 

Mario Fachini [20:03]

I did. 

Vincent Rush [20:06]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it had to be an emotional project for you. 

Mario Fachini [20:10]

It very much was. But I’m glad I did because he wrote for a magazine for 25 years. And I drove down to, actually, Toledo with mom. And we compiled 25 years of the magazines. We had the staff scanning stuff in while we’re organizing it, this, and that. And we took all the best stuff of his and I organized it to make it ,you know, into a book and everything. But there was a common theme and it was a little bit surreal, because everything that I’ve taught to my audience about taking content, turning it into a book, turning it into videos, it’s basically the formulas, essentially, take your expertise, systematize it, and then disseminate it through various forms. And I was just, like, tearing up but also smiling because he always had something encouraging. And he always had something uplifting. And when I was looking to do the chapters, I was like, “How do I group those?” And I just spent a ton of time looking through all of it. And I was like, there was some commonalities through, you know, one month, it’s this, one month, it’s that. Well, 12 times 25, there was a little bit of a data sample to go through. But I found the commonalities and I was like, he was doing this before we even had internet. So it’s why I love doing what I do because it’s like anyone has their expertise in different areas. But everyone has their own area of expertise that they can turn it into something and do some big things with it. It’s just a matter of getting out there. And this is one way to do it. You don’t even need to write. You know, we could talk for five or ten hours and have points questions and you’re just sharing the information. And then you can turn that into a book, you can turn it into a podcast to show a live stream or whatever. 

Vincent Rush [22:09]

And all those episodes live on in perpetuity out there on the internet somewhere. So 40, 50 years from now, your grandkids are going to be – your kids are going to be taken this grandkids saying, “Let me show you a grandpa here. And what he used to do before his hair all turned gray and what little he has left out.” So you’re going to have those moments. 

Mario Fachini [22:28]

Well, I appreciate you for painting that picture because that will be awesome. I want to ask you about significance and not just success. Why do you think so many people chase success? And why would you say it’s more important to have significance? 

Vincent Rush [22:45]

Well, because I think the ROI of life should be happiness. And without true happiness, there really is no success. You know, I often say this and I think you’ve maybe even heard me say this at some point in time, is that, I know people that – where I grew up in, I know people live in trailers, mobile homes that I consider to be a wealthy. Versus people I know that live the mansions in Cincinnati, Ohio, who I consider to be poor. They may be rich because they have – you know, if you have a balance sheet mentality versus a mission mindset, then you measure success by everything the world has taught you. It’s basically your house. If I get a bigger house, we’ll be happy. If we have more cars, we’ll be happy. If I have more money, we’ll be happy. If I’m richer, we’ll be happy. And so you’re associating time or your happiness into external circumstances and happiness and fulfillment is only found from within. You know, I got one of my best friends that I grew up with, the guy named LD. And Larry was my best man at my wedding. And when I started my own businesses and walked away from the old life, I got a lot of pushback and a lot of criticisms. And a lot guys make fun of me, you know, because I was getting into the Amway business, because I was building a network, and I was the pyramid guy, and all that. But you know, my best friend always encouraged me. He says, “You know, that ain’t for me, Vin. But I know you can do it and you can succeed. And I’m pulling for you. If anybody can do it, you can.” That’s true friendship. LD, if you looked at him or met him somewhere, he’s just a good old boy. But every day he wakes up and he looks in a mirror, he’s 100 percent happy with who he is and who God created him to be, because he’s living within chasing his purpose. You know, I meet people all the time. And, you know, I say, “Hey, how’s it going?” You know, and they say, “Just living the dream.” And I’ll say, “Is that right? What’s that look like?” And most times people can’t even tell you what it looks like because they don’t know. It’s just a colloquial phrase that they say “I’m living the dream.” But if you’re not living in pursuit of something bigger than yourself that involves other people then you’re not living a dream. You’re living somebody else’s dream or you’re living your own nightmare. So, I think true significance is making a difference and an impact on other people’s life. You know, Mario, you and I have have traveled a lot of roads together at different times. And, you know, my wife and I – wonderful wife of over 31 years – you know we’ve had [unintelligible] [00:25:23] – 

Mario Fachini [25:23]

Congratulations. 

Vincent Rush [25:24]

Thank you very much. And she’s my best friend. She had the biggest influence in my life. She was the first person in my life that was constantly telling me how smart she thought I was, and what a hard worker she thought I was, and how I could do anything I wanted to. She gave me a reputation to live up to. But I find that when we sew ourselves in our lives and to other people, is that we get so much more of ourselves back. I’m 57 years old now. And knock on wood, I lived a very blessed life. Been very fortunate. I’ve got great kids. People ask me, “What do you do? What’s your most important job?” Well, I’m a dad first. I’m a husband. And so forth. That’s been the most important thing I’ve done in my life is not mess that up. Although I’ve tried many times inadvertently. But fortunately, God had a bigger plan for me. But you know, I see so many people my age now that they’ve spent their entire lives climbing the proverbial ladder of success the way the world teaches them what success looks like. Only to get to that top and look over the edge and find out there’s nothing there. And so that’s why you’ll see a guy in his late 50s or 60s totally nuke his marriage and his family for a younger girl somewhere. Go make stupid decisions or take up vices because he’s looking to fill that void. And so, you know, if you chase – John Calipari, who coached The UK Wildcats or still [unintelligible] [00:27:03]. I’ve done photography work for him too. John Calipari told me one time – I said, “What’s one of the best pieces of advice you give a lot your young players?” And he says, “Well, I give a lot of advice. But one of the things I say is chase significance versus success.” Because if you chase success, you may acquire a certain bit of it but it’ll be short term. It’ll be very hard to hang on to. Because once you grip, the tie just tends to slip through your fingers. But if you chase significance, success will hunt you down and attach itself to everything that you do. And significance is not achieved without impacting and having involvement in other people’s lives. 

So that’s what I mean by that.

Mario Fachini [27:51]

Well, I love that you’ve always taught that. Because whether someone is 30, 50, 70, they can change it at any point in time. 

Vincent Rush [28:03]

It’s never too late. 

Mario Fachini [28:04]

So for someone who’s been on that proverbial ladder that you’ve been talking about, what’s one of the best things you could say they could do? I mean, because the blowback I’ve heard from even my clients or my audience, you know, I want to do X, Y, Z, you know, whether it’s publisher book or podcast, whatever the case may be. But they’re so attached to that thing, because I get it. You know, I’ve put 20 years into my business. And it’s like, do you want to just up and change and everything? And it’s like, well, if you’re not living the life and you don’t like your life, I would say absolutely, yes. But I get why people would want to hang on because it’s more comfortable and convenient. What’s the best thing you could say to someone who’s put 10, 20, 30 years into something already and they’re not where they want to be? 

Vincent Rush [28:53]

Yeah, first of all, quit dragging the very worst version of yourself into present day and future endeavors. Mario, you’re an optimist. You’re an optimistic thinker. You and I grew up reading a lot of the same books. And one of the things that we’ve learned is that in every adversity is a seed of an equal or greater benefit. And for the person who looks through life through the lens and the perspective of the optimism – and also, too, I’ve got to put a disclaimer on this too. I mean, a lot of what’s been my upbringing and my foundation, I, myself, am proud to say I’m a Born Again Christian. That’s my belief. You don’t have to be that but that’s my belief. Okay? And so I realized it’s a bigger purpose for my life. In Rick Warren wrote an excellent book a few years ago called Purpose Driven Life, and changed a lot of lives of a lot of people that were at that point. You know, I read a book a couple years ago, Mario – and forgive me if I’m going off topic a little bit but I think it all ties in. 

Mario Fachini [29:57]

You can say whatever you want. 

Vincent Rush [30:00]

Okay. Well, I have respect for your show and your audience. But here it is, I’m 57 years old. Well, when I was 50 – when I was getting ready to turn 50, I was never bothered by turning 40. It didn’t bother when I turned 45. It didn’t bother me. But for some reason 50, 50 was starting to bug me. And when I got to be in the last 49 and about six months into being 49, I am at milepost. That mile marker. And I started thinking, “Man, I was supposed to had this by now. I was supposed to have been driving this by now. I was supposed to have been living in this big of a house by now.” I started living in the balance sheets. I started taking inventory of the balance of my life up to that point in time. And I was focused – all of sudden started focusing on success in the measure of worldly success. While I was actually going through a funk through depression – and as I mentioned to you a little bit, you know, I’ve read three books a month for 25 years. Now, I’m an avid reader. I believe apathy is mediocrity’s weapon of choice. And so I was just in a funk. I wasn’t reading anymore. I hadn’t read a book in six months. I wasn’t listening to positive audios. I couldn’t get through one. And I would go to conferences or I would go through the motions of my businesses and it’s no way of keep [breaking?] on the table. Well, anyway, Amy, my incredible wife did, probably, the coolest thing that a wife can do for a husband. Because we were going to speak at a conference. And at the conference, there’s probably 15,000 people there. Well, along that way, there’s a lot of people that she basically knew that had had influence in my life or that had been part of our organization. For those who don’t know, we own a large Amway organization. So, she had been part of groups and organizations. And what Amy had done is she had taken 50 postcards addressed to me and put stamps on them. And that entire weekend, she would give cards to people she would see. And she says, “Hey, Vince is turning 50 in a couple months.” This is January. “Could you write him a nice little letter on here around March [unintelligible] [00:32:36].” And these cards all started coming in. And I thought… “That’s cool, you know.” It was reminding me of that little dash between when we start life and in life it had counted up for something. But you know what, Mario? It still wasn’t resonating with me. I was still kind of in that funk. But one of my other coaches, one of my biggest influences in life, a guy named Joe Markowitz. He and I loved baseball. Together, we’ve played in games together and stuff. And Joe and I both, you know, been pretty good at hitting home runs out of Major League ballparks as we were into these. And so Joe sent me a little thing and he was one year older than me. He says, “Welcome to the 50 Club. It’s really no different than the 49 Club. Hey, let’s finish strong. We still got dingers to hit.” I got to think and I said, you know, there’s a book on my bookshelf that I have not been able to get through the first chapter because one of my guys gave it to me when I was turning 40. And I never couldn’t get through the first chapter or two. 

Mario Fachini [33:45]

What book was – 

Vincent Rush [33:46]

It was a book by Bob Buford, who’s a Christian author, who’s passed on. He went home to see Jesus now. But Bob Buford was a Christian author. He wrote a book called Finishing Well. tHe wrote his first book called Halftime. And then he wrote a book called Finishing Well. And I pulled that book off my shelf and I started reading it. Everything jumped off the pages. It jumped off the pages at me. I couldn’t put it down. I highlight and I’m taking notes in the margins. I’m putting post-it notes in there so I can go back and find it. Better not done with any of my college textbooks. And what got to me that flipped the switch for me at the age of 50 was he talked about a football game and he talked about nobody remembers he’s leaving in the first half. The end of the game is where legends are created by Tom Brady. Tom Brady’s legacy has been created at the end of football games. So it doesn’t matter where you are at halftime. It matters how you finish the game. He goes, those individuals who have the most difficult transition has great coaches make half time adjustments. That’s why Bill Belichick is so famous. He’s never out of game no matter what the score is at the first half, because you know he’s coming back with a plan on the second half. And probably video of how the other team plays. But anyway, nonetheless, if it’s a deflated ball or a bootleg video or do some new strategies he’s coming with. And you’ve got the greatest second half quarterback in the history of the NFL.  But he said, “the people that have the hardest time making this transition from the first half of life to the second half of life, whatever you decide -” that may be 30, 35, 40 – in my case, 50 – because I still got 50 good years left to go – “are those who give up the relentless pursuit of success by the world standards in favor of the pursuit of significance in alignment with what’s God called you to do with your life, sewing another people. See, when we stay wrapped up in ourselves, we make a very small package. And when I was living in the balance sheets versus the mission statement for my life or the mission mindset or the balance sheet mentality versus mission mindset. I was all wrapped up in myself and looking at just me, and the sum total of what I had accomplished or accumulated at 50. So that’s kind of what I mean, it’s a long answer. But that’s exactly what I mean. 

Mario Fachini [36:22]

It’s a great answer. And it’s got me thinking too. Because no matter what happens with your life, how you grew up or whatever, it matters how you finish it, and what you do with it in between, like you’re saying. But it’s so easy to forget, “Hey, here’s what I was on track to do. You know, here’s my dreams and goals and ambitions and everything.” And you get that first roadblock, you know, that success is supposed to be that straight line and it looks like some screwed up Fettuccine Alfredo or whatever that fell on the floor. And, you know, every day it’s do – 

Vincent Rush [36:55]

That’s a good way to put it. Yeah. 

Mario Fachini [36:56]

It’s a way. 

Vincent Rush [37:00]

A little olive garden and fettuccini right there on the floor. It was mixed up to begin with. But now – 

Mario Fachini [37:06]

Hey, you can’t go wrong with Italian. But every day it’s like this pursuit of do I want to keep caring? It might go great. It might go bad. But, you know, am I going to give it another shot today? And there’s so many detractors in the world that just want you to fail. How have you overcome those to continue on that path of significance and not given to all the negativity? The sny ups, if you will. 

Vincent Rush [37:36]

Yeah. Yeah. And I’m not immune to it. Because if I allow myself to surround it – what I’ve done, I think, has been very fortunate to develop a good filter. You know, I just remember one of my mentors taught me many years ago. He said, don’t take swimming lessons, drowning people. He says, if people don’t have what you want or like where you want to be, their opinions don’t really matter that much. John Calipari told me one time, if you spend enough time listening to the people in the stands, you’ll eventually be sitting up there with them. And so, you know, I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve had people that taught me how to put the antivirus program on this hard drive right here and be very selective about who I listen to. But it’s still something I have to do because our self-image – you know, Mario, I mean, from what I remember, it’s been a while since we see each other face to face, but you’re pretty darn good shape when I saw you last. You know, at 57, I’m not a big Terminator type guy or anything or bodybuilder. But I still workout. I still exercise. I still control my diet. Because you know, my muscles even at 57, because I hate – let me tell you something. I hate to workout. I hate to go to the gym. I hate eating good. I love donuts. 

Mario Fachini [39:04]

Lays, chocolate, sour cream? What kind? 

Vincent Rush [39:08]

Oh, just donuts. If I go to Chicago, I go straight to [unintelligible] [00:39:14] and I try one of each. But I’ll tell you the best bonus I ever had was in Nashville, Tennessee, Five Daughters Bakery, buttercream, croissant donuts, hundred layer doughnuts. That’s a big claim to fame. Unbelievable. But anyway, getting back, if you don’t go to the gym and continue to stretch and exercise and push your muscles, then one day you just decided to quit working out. Because I was going to take a break for two years. It’s kind of like the guy that gets in – your remember  Josh Flogger, one of the guys on our team? 

Mario Fachini [39:48]

Yes. Yes, I do. 

Vincent Rush [39:50]

Josh was the guy we all kind of wish we look like. That dude, he looked like he was chiseled out… Plus he was handsome. It was just totally unfair. But he’s the guy that we all wish we looked at – looked like. Well, if we spent two years working in the gym and controlling our diet, when we walk in the room, people are, “Man, that dude works out.” I mean, we’re shredded. We got eight pack. Were cut. We’re just diesel. And we look in the mirror one day and we say, “That’s what I was going for. I’m done working out. I’m right here where I want to be.” Well, those muscles will eventually atrophy. And eventually, a year or two from now, you won’t look like that anymore. Our self-esteem and self-image is exactly the same way. If we don’t stretch it and put ourselves in a growing situation every single day. I said a little bit earlier, apathy is mediocrity’s weapon of choice. Our self-esteem will atrophy. And nothing – Mario, you and I have read a lot of the same books as I’ve said before. You’ve read the quote that nothing in life, our quality of our relationships, our ability to produce income, our health, our wellbeing, our marriages, nothing ever outgrows our self-esteem. And if it does, it’s only temporary. Subconsciously, we self-sabotage it. So the way I’ve been able to overcome is, I attack my fears. You know, when I was a young kid growing up in Preble County, Ohio. And I was easily picked on because I had fear of getting into fights because I was afraid of the unknown. And I was kind of a skinny little kid. We had bullies in our school. Now, bullying wasn’t a federal crime the way it is today. Back then, we grew up in an era where it was called the toughening up things. You know, you either stand up for yourself or you’re going to get picked on. When you get tired and get picked on enough, you’ll finally stand up for yourself. One of the things I found out about bullies, is bullies traditionally are very weak self-esteemed individuals that basically have to overcompensate by finding somebody smaller than them and picking on them, poking them in the chest, calling them some derogatory names in front of people, because they know the guy’s not going to fight back. Well, I was that guy that wouldn’t fight back, because I was afraid to get beat up. And you know what? I became an easy target. But what I did find out later in life is once you actually stand up to the bully – and I’m not condoning violence – but once you stand up to the bully and defend yourself, now the bully thinks twice before he picks on you again, because now he’s got to put up. Now he’s got to prove himself. 

Mario Fachini [42:44]

Well, I can relate to that. Unfortunately, I got picked on pretty much all through first through ninth grade. And got to a point where it was like, I want to change something. I didn’t know what it was. I wasn’t really reading success books at that point. But it was just like, this kind of sucks and I want to be done with it. I’m going to change something. And I remember being in a band class just sitting there and I was asking my friends – you know, paying attention and listening real well – I’m like, “Hey, what would you change about me? “And some of them were like, will speak up when you talk. Another one was like, walk straighter. You kind of hunched over this. And it was just like, “Hey, tell me your perspective of me. What can I improve?” I wasn’t mean. I wasn’t a bad person. I was just kind of there. And slowly but surely, you put effort into something and magically it changes, you know, overnight success. But it felt good. And I was like, “Whoa, what else? What else? What else?” And when you get on that path, it’s like, “What else?” You know, 20 years later you’re going, “What else?” And you just become better and better. And I believe with that, you can help more people, which is the real goal. 

Vincent Rush [43:56]

Right. Now, can I share with you the tie into the story? 

Mario Fachini [44:01]

Absolutely. 

Vincent Rush [44:04]

Okay. So now as an adult and you asked about how did you overcome the naysayers, how did you overcome the people that turned their backs on you, how did you overcome the people – even your parents you’re wasting your college education. I just finished college. I’ve graduated a 4.0 GPA. I worked at a health club in a tanning salon and that’s how I put myself through college after the military.  So my mom was so proud of me having a business card that said account executive, which just meant I was employed. But she was so thrilled about that. So when I get into network marketing and into the Amway business, basically, she was one of the first naysayers. But you know, I also realized she did it out loud because she cared about me. Not because she was embarrassed. She just love me, she didn’t want to see my feelings hurt. So how did I overcome all that? Especially, at one of the business models that probably gets the most negative of any business model out there. Because my philosophy on that, because, one, anybody can get involved with it. But, two, it is exceptionally hard work to be successful. And so thousands more people get in and don’t do well than people who get in and actually do well. So my only thing was, is this, I learned from those years of being picked on by bullies and then when you finally stand up to them, fear is a spiritual bully. Fear is that invisible bully that doesn’t take his finger and poke us in the chest up against the locker. But it puts that fiery little dart in our subconscious causing us to be afraid of what other people might think. Afraid of looking foolish. Afraid of being laughed at. And when you stand up to that spiritual bowling of fear, it bugs you less and less and less because in the spirit realm, it knows that it has no power over you. And it goes and seeks another timid soul or weaker victim. Because in my way of thinking, is when you’re called to do something great and you’re called to do something that involves the lives of other people, you will have faith, you will face the adversaries, you will face naysayers. But it’s not because they have anything in particular about you. It’s because they get the option to give you a hard time about because there’s forces out there that don’t want you to win and don’t want you to succeed. Because if you do succeed, you make positive impactful change on other people’s lives. You know, when you’re able to sew into other people, and give to other people, maybe you see marriages come back together. You know, Amy and I, we’re married 31 years now, as I mentioned earlier, but the day I met a different group of people that changed our lives, we were ready to get divorced. Because we’ve been married for two years, dated for four or five years before that, and just realized we just got whole different lives. We’re going our different ways. And we never wanted kids. And now, we’ve got two wonderful kids that are very empathetic individuals, very caring, and compassionate kids, never given us an ounce of trouble, never even have been so much as even had a speeding ticket. I mean, they’re just incredibly good kids. And they’re going to go out and make impacts on the world on their own. Because, you know, we were talking a little bit earlier about the state of our race relations in our country as they exist today. You know, I think the foundation is really what we need to focus on that foundation begins at home. You know, I’ve said this before, I don’t believe we have a problem with racism in our country. I believe we have a spiritual problem. And when we take care of the foundation, because racism is hateful, racism is a spirit of hate, it’s a spirit of evil. It comes from an evil place. And so we can make a difference in the mothers and fathers, and we can bring families together, and make a positive impact, and we can get mom and dad stay together, that little child doesn’t grow up dragging baggage through his life with him that this was all his fault somehow. Because even though we tried to tell the kids that, they still drag that 50 pound weight with them all through life. “I think if I’d been a better kid, this wouldn’t happen,” because that’s the spiritual bully that starts poking them with fiery little dark into the subconscious. But when we can actually teach kids to love themselves and be proud of who they are and feel good about themselves, guess what they do in turn? They feel good about other people. They treat other people kindly. And that’s the way we end up solving a lot of our world’s problems is one person at a time and the impact that we make. So, Mario what you were saying about what you do, hundreds of hundreds of shows now. The way I look at it is that you’re being prepped and you’re in training. And you’re going – every step you take, every video you do, every book that you write, every little speech that you give and talk to a group, it puts you one notch closer to what God’s ultimately got called for your life for what you’re actually called and designed to do. And ten years from now, when you’re standing on stage in front of 15,000 people who’ve all paid a couple hundred dollars to come hear you talk, you’ll think, “Okay. That’s why I had to go through all those struggles. That’s why I had to go through those people laughing at me. That’s why I had to go through the negativity. That’s why because it made me stronger and made me tougher to build character on the inside of me.” So you’re on the right track. You’re very much on the right track through the books that you’ve written, the places that you’ve talked. I know you were probably kind of nervous about it when you began, am I right? 

Mario Fachini [49:58]

Well, Expert Authority World, I can feel it getting real. I’m sure you can hear it. I know how this is going to end and you’re not going to want to miss it. So we’re going to transition to part two. I want to make sure Vince gets all the time he needs. This is only the second time I’ve ever done this. And you’re not going to want to miss it. So join us in part two with Vince Rush. 

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www.EAInterviews.com [51:11]

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