Christian Healthy Lifestyle 

Terry Tucker 0:00
And I remember when I was growing up playing basketball, I remember reading about a coach who wanted to improve his team's free throw shooting percentage, but he wasn't sure how to go about it. So he took half the team. And after practice that team, that part of the team shot 50 free throws, and the other half of the team just sat on the sidelines and close their eyes and saw themselves shooting free throws. At the end of the season. The players that were better free throw shooters were not the ones that practiced every day. They're the ones that saw themselves practicing every day, because in your mind you never missed and the same part of your mind where you say you want to improve your free throws, you're doing free throw out for free throw out for free throw the same part of your mind that lights up when that occurs when your brain is making those connections is the same part of your mind that lights up when you think about making those connections.

David Sandstrom 0:55
Welcome to the Natural Health Matters podcast where it's all about maximizing your health potential, so that you can look and feel your best at any age. I'm your host, David Sandstrom, Naturopathic Doctor and Biblical Health Coach, and this is episode number 96.

David Sandstrom 1:14
Today, we have in the show, Terry Tucker, Terry is a personal development and mindset expert. His mission is to motivate, inspire, and help people live their extraordinary purpose. His book is called Sustainable Excellence 10 principles to lead in your uncommon and extraordinary life. Terry, welcome back to Natural Health Matters.

Terry Tucker 1:34
Thanks a lot, David. I'm really looking forward to talking with you again.

David Sandstrom 1:38
Absolutely. Well, you're my first repeat guest. And with with nearly 100 episodes in having you back, I think speaks volumes to the power of your message. I think you were on Show episode number 23. Back when the show was called holistic health matters. And it's one of the most widely downloaded episodes that I've done. And I've gotten a lot of comments on it on how really inspiring your message is. So I heard you on another podcast, and I said, you know, I think it's time to invite Terry back on so welcome back. Well, thank you,

Terry Tucker 2:11
thank you very much. You keep saying that my head's gonna get bigger, bigger lobby.

David Sandstrom 2:17
It's all true it's all true. So, anyway. So how you been? What have you been up to over the last 18 months? Or whatever it's been?

Terry Tucker 2:25
Yeah, I have, I've been good, you know, still going through the clinical trial drug that I'm on for the tumors in my lungs. But you know, I can't I can't spend time worrying about you know, cancer and what's what's going to happen down the road, that's way out of my control. There are not things that some anything that I can control. So I, you know, I've taken my book, and I've really kind of developed a membership program out of it. And I was really sort of hesitant to do it, not because I don't think it's good, but just because I'm like, Oh, do I have the time to do this, but enough people either have heard me on podcasts or have read the book, or have heard me in some way and said, you know, yeah, we want to go deeper. And I'm like, Well, okay, I'll try this and see how it's going. I've just started it. I mean, it's barely 60 days old. So I don't have a lot a lot of data and stuff like that. But but it's exciting. It's a it's a purpose, it's something for me to do that is positive and growing. And that, you know, I don't spend all my time concentrating on my disease.

David Sandstrom 3:30
Yeah, yeah, I get that. So it's a date of time, and you just got to be obedient to what God has for you and, and let the chips fall where they may.

Terry Tucker 3:38
Yeah, exactly. I mean, you and I were talking, you know, before we started recording, you know, and I told you the story about my oncologist showing me my cat scan. And, you know, I had that fluid all around my lungs and tumors inside my lungs. And I looked at him and said, you know, how is he alive? And, you know, he really did, he kind of smiled, and he shook, shook his head, and like, I have no idea what said to me that God's not done with me yet. And you know, when I go, how I go, where I go way above my pay grade, so I don't spend a lot of time worried about it.

David Sandstrom 4:09
That's great. Well, I worry about things we can't change. Right? That's, that's pretty awesome. Yeah. Well, you know, we're all about natural health here. And the natural nation knows this. But if you're new to the show, it's my contention that we maximize our health potential, when we align our lives more fully with God's natural designed for spirit, mind and body. And what Terry has done is he's really mastered that mental emotional component, and the the fortitude that you show with your mental discipline and the choices you make with the thoughts that you choose to dwell on, really have, I think, assisted you and aided you in your cancer battle. And you know, and I and I love the fact that you're not dwelling on the cancer, you're dwelling on your life mission and your purpose. And and you know, even though you're still struggling with cancer, you are impacting people's lives. Just real quick story, I listened to Episode 23, this morning when I was having breakfast. And I was washing my pan that I cook my eggs in, in on the stainless steel pan and on the bottom of the pan had a lot of grunge and dirt and stuff from the years of buildup. And I'm washing this pin and I said, you know, I'll bet if I just kept scrubbing on the bottom of this pan, I could make this pan look like new again. So there I was scrubbing. And I got through and I was like, wow, it looks like new. And I said, I wonder if that had anything to do with the message I just listened to. With Terry Tucker and I, you're an inspirational guy, and you have that effect on people. So I'd like you to I'd like to give you the platform, Terry and just tell us a little bit about your book. Tell us more about your membership club. And really the mission that God has you on to inspire people to live the life that they were designed for and become all the men and women they were destined to be?

Terry Tucker 5:58
Sure. So the book is called Sustainable excellence, the 10 principles to leaving your uncommon and extraordinary life. It was really a book Born out of two conversations. I had one i One of my jobs in sort of a previous life was I was a high school girls basketball coach, we lived in Texas, and I had a player that moved to Colorado now where my wife and I live with her fiance. And the four of us had dinner one night, and I remember saying to her after dinner that I was excited that she was living close, and I could watch her find and live her purpose. And she got real quiet for a while. And then she looked at me and said, well, Coach, what do you think my purpose is, I said, I have no idea what your purpose is. But that's what your life should be about finding the reason you were put on this earth using your unique gifts and talents and living that reason. So that was one conversation. And then I had a young man in college who reached out to me on social media and asked me what I thought were the most important things that he should learn not to just be successful in this job or in business, but to be successful in life. And I didn't want to give him the you know, get up early, work hard help others not that that those aren't important, they are incredibly important. But I wanted to see if I could maybe go a little bit deeper with them. So I took some time and I, you know, had some ideas, some some thoughts. And eventually I had these 10 principles. And so I sent them to him. And then I kind of stepped back and I was like, you know, I've got a life story that fits underneath this principle, or I know somebody whose life emulates that principle. So literally in 2020, I had my leg amputated because of my my cancer. And I had a three month window where I was healing. And so every day while I was healing, I would sit down at the computer and I would build stories and they're they're real stories about real people underneath each of the principles. And that's how the book came to be. And so that was a little over two years ago. And like I said, people have been reaching out, it's like, look, we you know, we'd like to take these principles and go deeper with them and things like that. So I'm working with another individual out of Texas, to put this membership program together, which basically takes each of the chapters in the book, because each of the principles are a chapter in the book and dives deeper into them and gives people you know, here's what you can do to you know, not think with your fears and your insecurities. But you know, to use your your your brain, your mind to do the things you know you're supposed to do, even though you know you're scared. And so it gives more practical information about the stories and how you can utilize utilize those in your life.

David Sandstrom 8:42
Excellent. Well, you know, when when Terry says I want the natural nation to know that when Terry says he's met people and he's had some life experience, he's had some life experience. He's been a division one NCAA college basketball player, he was a citadel cadet, he was a marketing executive for Wendy's. He was a hospital administrator. He was a SWAT team negotiator and a policeman. And as you just mentioned, a high school basketball coach. So you've got some life experience behind you and, and I can't help but believe that, that all that life experience the the people that you've come in contact with, have shaped who you are today. And you have a I don't want to say too strongly but a burning desire to to inspire other people through your life. And, and, and go ahead.

Terry Tucker 9:29
No, I agree. And I think that goes back to, you know, my parents. My story is not a one where it's not one where you know, my dad beat me and was an alcoholic, that we had a great family. My mom and dad, we I have two brothers. You know, I'm six foot eight. I've got a brother who's six foot seven who pitched for the University of Notre Dame. I have another brother who's six foot six who was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers and the National Basketball Association. And then my dad was six five, so I sort of joke that if he's happy And our family and church growing up, there wasn't a prayers chance we were gonna say anything that was going on with us. But it was it was my mom and dad that really ingrained that those family values, you know that you love each other, you care about each other, you support each other through whatever you're going through. And, you know, I remember when I graduated from college, my dad was dying of cancer and, and my youngest brother was in high school. And I remember one night I said to my dad said, you know, my brother's got a game basketball game, and I'm not gonna go to the game, I'm gonna go work out. And my dad was like, No, you're not. What What do you mean? No, I'm not, I'm a man, I have my own job. What do you mean, I'm not going to get? And I said, I'm gonna go work out my dad's like, No, you're not. And so we had this kind of back and forth. And it was just, it was just bravado on my part, I wanted to sort of, you know, have my my dominance, my independence, and, and my dad said, you know, your brother needs you right now, your brother needs your support at that game. And my dad was absolutely right, I ended up working out and another time, but it was it was that, you know, we care about each other, we love each other, we support each other. And we're always there for each other, and even to this day, and my dad's been dead for almost 40 years. And, and my brothers were just here the other day. And we are the kind of family where if you say pass a roll at the dinner table, you better have some good hands, because a roll may come flying at you, you know, and you need to catch it, you know, kind of thing. That's just kind of the way our family was, and they were here for three days, we did not leave the house, we just laughed about stories of us growing up. So it was just an amazing time.

David Sandstrom 11:36
That's awesome. That's really good. You know, on your website, you've got four truths that you use to guide your decision making. And one is control your mind your will control you. Could you speak to that for a little bit?

Terry Tucker 11:50
Sure. So I learned that fairly early on in life, when I was in high school, I had three knee surgeries. And when I went back playing, I remember my brain was putting all these negative thoughts into my mind, you know, things like, Hey, you're probably a step slower, since the surgeries and coaches aren't going to be interested in recruiting you. And I remember thinking, Wait a minute, I'm still playing at an elite level. And coaches are still reaching out about the possibility of playing for their college or university, I learned that I needed to change the narrative that was going on in my mind. And people always ask me, you know, if I'm a glass half empty person, how do I become a glass half full person. And I always tell them, it's not an overnight thing. It's not like you just wake up tomorrow. And hey, you know, I see everything differently. We're human beings, we're going to experience negative thinking, the Cleveland Clinic estimates that we have anywhere between 60 and 70,000 thoughts that pass through our mind, and on any single day, most of which we don't even pay attention to. But if your brain can only hold one thought at a time, and it can, why would you want to make that a negative thought. So I always tell people, you know, understand that negative thoughts are going to be there, don't beat yourself up over it, take those negative thoughts and flip them into something more positive. And over time, your brain then will start to expect more of the positive instead of the negative, and it's not going to happen overnight. So don't feel like you know, oh, gosh, you know, I'm a terrible person, because I can't flip the switch on this, it's going to happen gradually over time, you are negative all along, you can't just flip the switch and say, Now I'm positive and expect your brain to go along with that your brain knows your fears, it knows your vulnerabilities, and it will use those against you if you let it so you need to control what those thoughts are.

David Sandstrom 13:44
Yeah, you know, the scripture that's coming to mind is Second Corinthians 10. Five, we're to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. So in other words, you know, Christ wants what's best for us. Right? So we need to ask ourselves this thought that I'm having right now. Is it serving my purpose? Is it serving my dreams and goals and aspirations? Is it helping me become more excellent? Or is it working? The opposite? Is it a ball and chain for me? And you know, I think it's worth taking a little time reflecting on some of that, because sometimes these thoughts are have been there for so long, rooted in beliefs that are based in falsehoods, that if feels normal to us, this is just the way we approach life. And sometimes, we need to step back and do a little reflection and say, Wait a minute, is this thought that I'm having this belief that I'm holding? Is it based in truth and is it serving me? Because we're not supposed to be masters to those thoughts? We're supposed to be the master of our thoughts. Exactly. That's a good word.

Terry Tucker 14:42
It really is. And you know, and I remember when I was growing up, Bobby Knight was the basketball coach at Indiana University. And Knight used to have a saying that went like this mental is to physical as for is to one so here's this great coach, you know, teaching elite athletes to use their body He's to be excellent basketball players. But what he was really saying with that quote is that your your mind or your mind set is four times more important than, than anything your physical body's going to do. And I remember when I was growing up playing basketball, I remember reading about a coach who wanted to improve his team's free throw shooting percentage, but he wasn't sure how to go about it. So he took half the team. And after practice, that team, that part of the team shot 50, free throws, and the other half of the team just sat on the sidelines, and close their eyes and saw themselves shooting free throws. At the end of the season, the players that were better free throw shooters were not the ones that practiced every day, they're the ones that saw themselves practicing every day, because in your mind, you never missed and the same part of your mind where you say you want to improve your free throws, you're doing free throw for free throw out for free throw the same part of your mind that lights up, when that occurs when your brain is making those connections is the same part of your mind that lights up when you think about making those connections. So you know, the old saying, have, we all become what we think that is so true. And that's why even more, you have to control your mind. Because if you keep telling yourself this negative prophecy over and over and over, eventually your mind is going to ingrain that and it's gonna be almost impossible to overcome that.

David Sandstrom 16:25
That's exactly right. You know, I share a couple of ways to deal with some of this in my book, The Christians guide to Holistic Health. And there was a study where just as your coach did with the basketball players took half the people and actually put them in a gym, and they worked out I think was three times a week. And they put them on a diet to lose weight, and then took the control group, and they didn't go to the gym, or they didn't change the diet. But they imagined they were at the gym working out. And they imagined that they were losing weight. And the people that just imagined things in their minds, had about 80% of the results of the people that actually went to the gym and went on a diet. Wow. So it was it was a pretty amazing study how that mind body connection, you know, the Bible says, As a man thinks in his heart. So is he, there's a connection there. You know, another illustration I'd like to point out is, if you had a pebble in your shoe, and I made you walk around with that pebble in your shoe all day long, would that affect your mood at the end of the day? Absolutely, absolutely. Right. So there's a connection there. And we've got to be, you know, be more cognizant of it and say, Wait a minute, these these thoughts that I'm having will have will impact me physically, that connection goes both ways. You know, we've all seen we've all seen golfers in a PGA tournament, you know, seven strokes ahead going in a lot of final round. And then on the back nine, they fall to pieces, right? They have four days of unbelievable golf. And then the pressure gets the best of them and they fall apart. Triple bogeys, and they end they end up in third or fourth place. So there is a mind body connection there. And we would do well, to pay attention to it. It sounds like again, Terry. you're the guru in this. You've done this very, very well.

Terry Tucker 18:12
I try. I remember when I was, I'm really going to date myself. Now, David. So you know, work with me here. Back in 1976. I was 16 years old, there was a US Olympic swimmer by the name of Shirley Babish shot who had an unbelievable quote, and it went like this. Winners think about what they want to happen. Losers think about what they don't want to happen. And I think that's just you know, winners can override their negative brains and focus on the things that they want to occur, whereas losers can't see the value of pursuing a goal or a dream, because they get caught up in all the negativity that's going on in their mind.

David Sandstrom 18:52
Wow. Wow, powerful. Good stuff here, Terry. Okay, the second truth, embrace the pain and discomfort we all experience in life and use it to make us stronger and more determined individual. Could you speak to that a little?

Terry Tucker 19:07
Sure. I mean, we're, we're all going to experience pain in our lives. And it doesn't have to be you know, cancer, pain or even any kind of an illness. I mean, it can be as simple as your breakup with your boyfriend or your girlfriend or you know, you have a fender bender on the way to church or somebody at the office gets the promotion that you deserve. Pain in our lives is inevitable suffering. On the other hand, sufferings optional sufferings, what you do with that pain, do you take it and use it to make you a stronger and more resilient individual? Or do you wallow in it and feel sorry for yourself and want other people to feel sorry for you? I mean, it's it's human nature. It's a defense mechanism that anytime we want to grow anytime we want to get out of the status quo. Our brains are going to fight us on that because as I said, our brains know our fears. They know our vulnerabilities and they know our weaknesses. and they will use those against us. Anytime we want to do something sort of out of the ordinary, you know, David, if you woke up, woke up this morning, say, Hey, I'm gonna go skydiving, your brain would start saying, Oh no, David, I don't think you want to do that the plane might crash or your parachute might not open or I mean, it puts all the negative stuff into your brain. And when I was coaching basketball used to constantly remind my players that they needed to become comfortable with being uncomfortable, because in that state of uncomfortable, this is where we grow. It's the only way we grow. If we're doing the same thing over and over and over again. Then it's easy, it's comfortable, and everybody's doing it. And we're not growing. And it's sort of that Shawshank Redemption movie, quote where they say, you know, get busy living or get busy dying. Well, I I'm in the get busy living part of you know, part of life. Like I said, death will take care of itself. But the take pain, and instead of running from it, flip it inside of you burn it as fuel, use it as energy to make you a stronger and more resilient individual.

David Sandstrom 21:10
Excellent. I'm thinking of the quote from the movie Braveheart. All men die. But few men really live. That's a great quote. Kind of Yeah, it's It's powerful. It's good stuff. So the third one, the third truth is, what you leave behind is what you weave in the hearts of other people. Could you speak to that, please?

Terry Tucker 21:31
Yeah, that's more of, I guess, for lack of a better word, a legacy kind of truth. I mean, I think it's important for all of us, regardless of what stage in life we're in whether, you know, we're just starting out, we're kind of middle aged, or they're coming to the end of the road, to think about the end game of our lives. What will people say about you at your funeral? What do you want people to say about you at your funeral. I mean, I have friends that still read the obituary page, either in the newspaper or online every day for two reasons. One, to keep themselves humble. And to to remind themselves that someday, somebody's going to be reading their obituary as well. I remember when I had my leg amputated, and I found out I had the tumors in my lungs. I went with my wife to the mortuary into the cemetery into the church. And I planned my funeral. And because I come on these podcasts, and I do speaking engagements, where I talk about motivation and the need to keep moving forward, I actually got some brush back from people who commented that somehow planning my funeral was in some way defeatist, and I kind of had to remind those people that the last time I checked, we're all going to die. I don't think anybody's working on a cure for life. And I'll go back to your Braveheart, quote, every one of us is going to die. But not every one of us is really going to live. And I heard a Native American Blackfoot proverb years ago that I absolutely love. And it goes like this. When you were born, you cried, and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a way so that when you die, the world cries, and you rejoice. That's what I want that's what

David Sandstrom 23:15
I got chills. That is, ah, my hair. My arms is standing up for that one. That was That is powerful. Yeah. Well, that's good stuff. So along those lines, so that leads us into the Truth Number four, as long as you don't quit, you can never be defeated.

Terry Tucker 23:33
Yeah, I mean, that to me, I think is pretty self explanatory. But the way that resonates with me is this. Someday my pain is going to end you know, may end through surgery, it man through some type of new medication, quite frankly, it man when I die. But if I quit, if I give up, if I give into pain, then pain will always be a part of my life.

David Sandstrom 24:00
Wow, good stuff. Good stuff. Yeah, you know, I think what the point you made a moment ago about everybody dies. And I we don't like to think about that. It's an unpleasant thought. But you know, I think God will use the death of some loved ones, or some people that we know, maybe even a celebrity from time to time that those deaths really touch people. And it serves as a reminder of our own mortality. And you know, maybe it's time to do business with God may maybe it's time to get right with God and enter into that personal relationship with Him, so that you can inherit eternal life, you know, so that's where that's where real life starts. You know, we're all born but our real life starts when we enter into that, that lordship relationship with Jesus Christ and make him our Savior and Lord of our lives and we surrender to His great love and goodness. And when we do that, that's when we're capable of finding our purpose and, and living out our calling and making a difference in the world and having people say we're gone, he he or she will be missed. Yeah, the world has lost something now that this person has left. You know, that's, that's a great way of waking up the morning and saying, all right, I might. And I love that what you just said a moment ago, too is pain is inevitable suffering is optional. That's it.

Terry Tucker 25:32
And you know, every morning when I wake up, and many times throughout the day, I utter one phrase, and it's this, Lord Jesus, I surrender myself to you take care of everything. It's like, I can't I can't deal with this. I mean, this 10-year cancer battle has not been me. There's there's no way and, and that's the problem. You know, when people start down the road to a goal or something like that, and then they they butt up against an obstacle, something gets in their way, and they quit. But we don't just quit. Now, we gotta blame somebody, you know. And I remember when I got cancer, and people found out I had a faith life. They were like, Well, who do you blame? Because you're a cancer? Like, what do you what do you mean? Who do I blame? Like, I don't blame anybody. What you must blame your mom or dad, or you know, and I don't I've had all my genes tested. I have no mutations in any of my genes for any cancer at all. But what they say to me then is, well, you must blame God. And I sort of joke, I'm like, No, I don't think God got up on a Tuesday morning, checked his to do list and said, Hey, Terry Tucker cancer today. I don't think that's at all. But what I do believe, is God has given me the strength to get through all the garbage that I've had to go through for the last 10 years.

David Sandstrom 26:49
Yeah, well, you know, that speaks to the idea of personal responsibility. And, you know, I hear similar criticism, to to my message, I got this when I was writing the book. And I hear it from time to time, even today. And that is, well, you know, Dave, you know, we can we can do all we want, but God is sovereign. And you know, some people are destined to have cancer and die of heart disease. And, you know, and I say, well, we live in a sinful, fallen world, and ultimately, that's the source of all sickness and disease. But let's not let our poor choices, take us out sooner than we're supposed to be, you know, I say, you know, again, submit our lives to God align our lives more fully with his natural design for spirit, mind and body. There's a lot there. But when we do that, we put ourselves in a position to receive blessings. You know, there's a lot of if then is in the Bible, you know, it's kind of a computer term where you know, they call it an if then programming. If this event happens, then do this. Well, there's a lot of the if thens in the Bible in for instance, in Deuteronomy 28, 28 If you do this, if you obey these commandments on a given day, then I will bless you, and I'll make you you know, great among nations. But if you choose not to, then you're going to suffer from the curse, which is just the the natural default outcome to poor choices. So you know, if we're really going to surrender ourselves, we've got to try to do it as completely and thoroughly as we can, and not let any of our poor choices, hinder our health and prevent us from living the abundant life that Christ had for us, you know, in John 10:10, Kennedy might have life and have it abundantly, didn't say it kind of forgive them. And a story. He said, I came to give you life, L I F, E, in all its fullness. But the only way we're going to live that life is to understand that God knows best. He's not he's, we're not even on the same level of our understanding as God is how arrogant it is to think that we are, right. He's the one that spoke the galaxies into existence, he knows the future. If He tells us to do something, it's for our benefit, He tells us to avoid something, it's for our protection. He's kind of like our guide on a jungle safari. You know, he knows the way our guide would know where the wild animals hang out where the cliffs are, you know, any anything, they just snakes, whatever, we do well to stick close to our guide. And the same is true in life, we do well to stick close to God, our heavenly Father, and and put ourselves in a position to receive blessings and not experience painful or, you know, suffering as a result of our poor choices. So anyway, well, a little bit of a rant there,

Terry Tucker 29:44
but it's good. You're absolutely right. You know, I always look at it, because people always I don't know how. So, you know, when I was people were suggesting to write the book. And I was really saying, No, I don't want to write but there's sort of that old joke that says, you know, when we talk to God, it's called prayer. When God talks to us, it's called schizophrenia. So, you know, the people who, you know, have insight, you know, they're waiting for God to say something. And I think what God has done for me in my life has, has been okay, he starts putting people in your life to start making the same suggestion, Terry, how to write a book tell you how to write a book tell you how to write a book. Now, I think I'm smart enough to sort of when that happens, sort of buck up and say, Oh, maybe I need to pay attention to this. But I think that's where free choice or free will comes in, you know, God's saying, hey, Terry, I want you to write a book. But it's your choice. You don't want to write the book, just like you were talking about in Deuteronomy. If you don't want to do this, then here's gonna be the consequences of this. But it's still our choice as to whether or not we want to listen to what God's telling us, or we want to go off and do our own thing, because we think we know better. And I think there are a lot of people, David, and I think you would agree with me that you know, that it's all about me, you know, I know everything. And I always tell people, yeah, you're unique. But I got news for you. You're not special. You know, you have unique gifts and talents given to you by God, use those for His glory. But you know, this whole thing, it's all about me. It's not about you, you don't have all the answers. He does.

David Sandstrom 31:19
Right, right. Well, you know, God gave us free will, because love cannot be taken. It cannot be coerced, it needs to be given out of out of our freewill. And that's why God preserves that. And you know, sometimes God says to us, Look, I'm telling you that choice, you're not going to like the outcome. But you're still free to choose, right? It's, it's up to you, He preserves that. So he might and sometimes he'll, he'll spare us from, you know, we, we can receive forgiveness for our sins past, present, and future. But often, and I would say more often than not, God does not spare us from the consequences of our sin of our poor choices. He occasionally does, you know, but not all the time. And there's a consequence sometimes waiting for us. It's not not not that we're not going to like so yeah, it's personal responsibility is has a lot lot to do with this, this whole message of natural health matters and your message as well. And that is, you know, walking in your calling and doing what, what you were put on this earth to do. So, another thing that I want to just, you kind of mentioned this, but you say this on your website, as well. I came to the understanding the responsibility for altering your life is entirely up to you whining, complaining or blaming others for your plight will not enhance your experience. Do you have anything to add to that?

Terry Tucker 32:41
Yeah, you know, everybody talks about motivation, you know, and I even named my, you know, my blog, motivational check. But motivation's, not enough, you need two more things with that go along with that. One is discipline, and two is good habits, you can have all the motivation in the world. But if you're in McDonald's for, you know, three days a week, it doesn't matter how much weight you want to lose, or how much shape you know how much better your shape you want to get in or you know how much you want to decrease your blood pressure, it's not going to happen if your habits are bad. And if you don't have the discipline, you know, the motivation is kind of like, lighten the fuse, you know, okay, I feel like this is something I need to do. I lit the fuse, now the fuse is burning. The discipline is what you do to say, You know what, I've got to eat better every morning, I've got to exercise, I've got to meditate. I've got to, you know, pray, I've got whatever it is that you believe you need to do. That's the discipline to continue to do that. And that discipline couples with having the good habits, like you said, what you if you and I were talking about breakfast this morning, you know, you had eggs as opposed to Froot Loops, you know, probably a little bit better choice. So motive, excuse me motivation, with discipline, with good habits, pretty much will lead you to success and whatever you want to do in life.

David Sandstrom 34:05
Yeah, very good. I have a I have another question that I'd like to ask you. And I think someone in the audience probably thinking the same thing right now. And that is, well, you know, this guy, Terry Tucker, He's great. He's, he's strong. He's he's really not discipline. You know, I just don't have that. I don't have the kind of mental fortitude that he has is great for him. I'm glad. I'm glad it's working for him. But that's not average. And I'm certainly not one of those people. What would you say to that person is thinking those thoughts.

Terry Tucker 34:33
I would say I am the biggest wimp in the world. If I can do this, you can do this. And this is an absolute true story when I was a kid, and I knew when my mom was taking me to the pediatrician for a vaccine, I would wait till she got out of the car and then I'd lock all the doors from the inside. She would literally have to go in and this was before key fobs were available, you know, so you had to have a key to unlock the door. She would have to go in and get the pediatrician and his nurse and it was little Literally a cat and mouse game of getting me out of the car. Because I was so scared. I was so afraid of just getting a simple injection a simple shot. That was it. So if I can do this being the biggest wimp in the world, you can absolutely, absolutely do it. And I will tell you one way to do this, and I learned this through playing team sports, I think one of the things that team sports taught me was the importance of being part of something that's bigger than yourself, you realize on a team that if you don't do your job, not only do you let yourself down, but you let your teammates down your coaches down and your fans down. And if you think about it, the biggest team game we all play is this game of life. So whenever people are like, you know, I could never do that. Well, first of all, you're right, because you've already decided in your mind, you can't do it. So you got to change that narrative into something, I can do this. It's not going to be easy. It's not easy for me. I just don't wake up. And you know, I mean, David, you're looking at me right now. There's no S on my chest. I don't wear a cape. So you know, I do I do not have special power. I am a human being I get down, I cry I have those bad days, Don't think I don't I do. I had them last week, I can promise you that. But use what you have, you can do this. Just take it a day at a time. And I'll leave you with this story. When I was in college, I went to a military college I mentioned the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. And one year the president of the college was a man by the name of James Stockdale. And Stockdale was a Medal of Honor winner, he was the highest ranking prisoner of war at the Hanoi Hilton it during the Vietnam War. And I remember having an opportunity, I didn't interact with him very much. But I did have some opportunities to interact with him. And somebody asked him once, you know, what was the difference between the guys that made it out alive from that horrible prison, and the guys that did it. And he had an interesting comment about it, he said, the you know, the biggest, the toughest, the strongest guys are the ones that usually died in the prison, because they had this, you know, I can control stuff, I can control how I'm going to be beaten, I can control how I'm going to be isolated, I can control you can't, the things he said the people that survive that were the people that could control the things that they were able to control. And in many cases, that was their thoughts, and their breathing. That's the only thing they had control over. And if you think about that, you know, we all want to say we're big, we're torment. We're strong, we're tough. I like to think that too. And at one point in my life I was, but I still couldn't do that by myself. So again, it kind of I guess we're gonna bring this full circle Dave with, you know, it's it goes back to your mind, what can you control in life, I can control my breathing, I can control my thoughts, I can control how I treat other people. Pretty much everything else is outside of our bailiwick, we can't, you know, they have no control. So stop with all your stress, stop with all your anxiety, worrying about control officer, you can't let it happen. Pray like David and I do every single day, pray believe it's going to happen,

David Sandstrom 38:12
and God will give it to him. Absolutely. That's a great word. Terry, thank you for that, and probably a great place to end right there. So if someone wants to be a part of your membership club, pick up your book, learn more about you, what's the best way to get a hold of you?

Terry Tucker 38:26
So I mentioned I have a blog called motivational check. It's motivationacheck.com, I put up a thought for the day with that thought comes a question about maybe how you could apply that thought into your life, you can leave me a message there, you can get access to my social media links. You can even buy my book there, you can pretty much buy sustainable excellence, online anywhere you can get a book online, but you can also download a copy for free at sustainable excellencemembership.com. And it also gives you more information about the membership. And you can also schedule a 15 minute call with me and we can talk about if it's something that you think you would benefit from.

David Sandstrom 39:06
Excellent. That sounds great. Alright, Terry, thank you again, for your time. It was it was a real blessing to talk with you again.

Terry Tucker 39:13
Mutual. David, thanks very much. You know, I always say it's, it's nice people like you that allow me to come on and have a conversation with them. And, you know, hopefully that conversation makes a difference in somebody's life. And if it does, today's been a good

David Sandstrom 39:25
day. I believe it will. Thanks again, thank you. For more, go to the show notes page at davidsandstrom.com/96. There you can find an audio as well as a video version of the podcast. I also put links to all the resources that we mentioned, as well as a full downloadable transcript. If you're enjoying the show, would you tell somebody about it? The number one way people find out about a podcast is that a friend tells them this information is hard to come by. So if you have a like minded friend, they might enjoy listening to the podcast as well and I believe they'll thank you for it. Thanks again for listening. I'll talk with you next week be blessed.