WEBVTT - How to Perfect Your Elevator Pitch

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<v Speaker 1>So okay, talk about elevator pitch, yes, and seven steps

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<v Speaker 1>to nailing your elevator pitch. Yeah. So first things first,

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<v Speaker 1>is anyone that's listening to this if you're going to

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<v Speaker 1>be pitching, whether it's at invest Fest or you're going

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<v Speaker 1>to be pitching at any place, the first thing is

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<v Speaker 1>you want to have a clear and concise message. Who

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<v Speaker 1>are you, what do you do, who do you serve?

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<v Speaker 1>What is it that you're actually giving to people? What

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<v Speaker 1>do you want the judges to know or the investors

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<v Speaker 1>to know? So have a clear and concise message. The

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<v Speaker 1>second commandment that I would say is make sure that

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<v Speaker 1>you know the problem. What's the problem that you're trying

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<v Speaker 1>to solve. Lots of times I've seen people come and

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<v Speaker 1>pitch Rashad and they really don't know what the problem

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<v Speaker 1>is that they're trying to solve. They just want to

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<v Speaker 1>sell a product to you or say, hey, can you

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<v Speaker 1>invest in my product? So you have to make sure

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<v Speaker 1>that when you're pitching with your message being clear and concise,

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<v Speaker 1>you need to make sure that you also know what

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<v Speaker 1>the problem is. And then third know the solution to

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<v Speaker 1>the problem. Right, what are you trying to solve? I

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<v Speaker 1>understand you want to be able to have a tech company,

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<v Speaker 1>but what is the what is the solution or what's

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<v Speaker 1>the problem that's being solved, Then what's the solution?

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<v Speaker 2>What are the.

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<v Speaker 1>Vehicles to solve that problem. The third thing is make

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<v Speaker 1>sure that you know your market stats, right, what's going

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<v Speaker 1>on in the market, in the industry right now. A

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<v Speaker 1>lot of people don't do their research on the industry stats,

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<v Speaker 1>which leads to the next one. Who's your competitor? Right?

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<v Speaker 1>I've seen people do pitches and we don't even know

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<v Speaker 1>who your competitor is. You just tell us all about

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<v Speaker 1>the business. But if we were to go deeper beyond

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<v Speaker 1>a sixty minute elevator pitch, a sixty second sorry elevator pitch,

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<v Speaker 1>and let's say you all were to ask more questions,

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<v Speaker 1>one of the questions that investors are going to ask

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<v Speaker 1>is who your competitors are? What's the market So because

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<v Speaker 1>of that, it's important for anyone that's pitching to do that.

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<v Speaker 1>Make sure that you're using proper visual aids. That's another

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<v Speaker 1>thing too. I'm not really sure how it's going to

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<v Speaker 1>be for investments when we get there, but if there

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<v Speaker 1>are going to be visual aids, make sure that your

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<v Speaker 1>visual aids are not all over the place. Make sure

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<v Speaker 1>that you're not using all these different fonts and colors

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<v Speaker 1>and everything like that. Keep it clean, keep it fresh.

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<v Speaker 1>But make sure that everyone, every judge that's looking or

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<v Speaker 1>any investor that's investing into what are interested in what

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<v Speaker 1>you have to say, can understand it clearly in your

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<v Speaker 1>visual aids. I will also say, just making sure that

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<v Speaker 1>as they go to their pitch that they speak clearly

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<v Speaker 1>that they understand. And also do a call to action.

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<v Speaker 1>We've had pitch I've sat and pitched up matches or

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<v Speaker 1>pitch competitions. Where so what are you asking for? You

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<v Speaker 1>never really say what you're asking for. Be clear and concise,

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<v Speaker 1>and make sure that whatever the call to action is,

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<v Speaker 1>that it is clear, it is realistic. I'm looking for

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<v Speaker 1>two million dollars to do what with? What's the budget?

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<v Speaker 1>What's the forecast? What's the numbers? That's another one. Know

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<v Speaker 1>your numbers right, What are the numbers going to? Where's

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<v Speaker 1>this money going to? When is it going to happen?

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<v Speaker 1>Most investors don't want to be married long term to something,

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<v Speaker 1>so we want to make sure that we understand. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>an investor myself, make sure that we understand what's the

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<v Speaker 1>return on investment? Do we get equity right? All of

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<v Speaker 1>these things are what people should be considering when it

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<v Speaker 1>comes to their elevator pitch, whether it's sixty seconds, two minutes,

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<v Speaker 1>five minutes, even up to a thirty minute pitch.

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<v Speaker 2>A tremendous insight because we get pitched all the time. Yes,

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<v Speaker 2>and so you actually have now just helped us and

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<v Speaker 2>I'm sure everybody that's listening will take those from it

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<v Speaker 2>as well. Yeah, you said that vocal health is important,

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<v Speaker 2>and so these things sounds like how I will prepare

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<v Speaker 2>as I'm going to the stage. Yes, but there's that

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<v Speaker 2>build up, And we talked to a lot of people.

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<v Speaker 2>We just had a pitch competition a few months ago,

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<v Speaker 2>and people were talking about the anxiety that it felt

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<v Speaker 2>leading up to the day. So what are some of

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<v Speaker 2>the type of things that you suggest for people leading

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<v Speaker 2>up to the event. What should they be doing at

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<v Speaker 2>home the week before, the month before to prepare themselves

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<v Speaker 2>for this moment, this five minute moment that could change

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<v Speaker 2>their lives potentially?

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<v Speaker 1>Absolutely, First things, practice practice, practice practics. There's there's a

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<v Speaker 1>couple ways in which a person can practice right Troy.

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<v Speaker 1>So the first thing I'll say is practice in the mirror.

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<v Speaker 1>See yourself, so you can see how your facial expressions look,

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<v Speaker 1>see if the nerves are taken over, right, see yourself.

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<v Speaker 1>And lots of times people do not like to see themselves.

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<v Speaker 1>They don't even like to hear themselves back. Right, You'd

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<v Speaker 1>be surprised that a lot of anxiety that happens on

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<v Speaker 1>the stage happens because of what people are going through

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<v Speaker 1>in their personal lives and it just comes over in there.

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<v Speaker 1>So practice, practice, practice, practice in front of family and

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<v Speaker 1>friends and peers, a mentor, a coach, right, and also

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<v Speaker 1>record yourself on video and watch yourself back with no judgment.

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<v Speaker 1>That's one of the ways in which you can actually

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<v Speaker 1>help yourself prepare for the pitch. Another one is actually

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<v Speaker 1>do what we call mindfulness, walk through the pitch without

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<v Speaker 1>you having to say something. So, how am I going

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<v Speaker 1>to enter the stage, How am I going to intro myself?

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<v Speaker 1>How am I going to speak what I need to say?

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<v Speaker 1>How am I going to exit the stage? How am

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<v Speaker 1>I going to leave?

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<v Speaker 2>Like?

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<v Speaker 1>All of that is what we call mindfulness, whether you're

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<v Speaker 1>performing as an entertainer or speaker, that's one of the

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<v Speaker 1>things that I'll tell people sit through in mind do

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<v Speaker 1>mindfulness of it. Another way to prepare is breathing techniques.

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<v Speaker 1>Believe it or not, there's a couple breathing techniques that

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<v Speaker 1>I tell people to do. One is the four seven

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<v Speaker 1>eight is you breathe in for four counts, you hold

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<v Speaker 1>it for seven counts, you breathe out for eight counts.

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<v Speaker 1>What this does is it triggers what we call the

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<v Speaker 1>parasympathetic nervous system, which is if you're having like a

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<v Speaker 1>warm bowl of super ice cream and you're kind of

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<v Speaker 1>like calm, where there's something called the sympathetic mode, which

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<v Speaker 1>is that fight or flight mode. The moment people get

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<v Speaker 1>on the stage, their palms get sweaty, they want to

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<v Speaker 1>use the bathroom, their knees want to buckle, their mouth

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<v Speaker 1>gets dry, and so mindfulness breathing helps them to trigger

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<v Speaker 1>that PMS, that parasympathetic mode. I always say too arrive early.

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<v Speaker 1>I tell people go to the venue, see what it

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<v Speaker 1>looks like like, look at the stage, sit down in

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<v Speaker 1>the chair, and actually visualize what it's going to look like,

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<v Speaker 1>the audience that's going to be there. Walk yourself through

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<v Speaker 1>it as you do. Mindfulness but be in the environment

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<v Speaker 1>as well. That's going to help a lot in preparing

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<v Speaker 1>and then also to making sure that you have a backup.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the up I had a pitch competition that

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<v Speaker 1>I was a judge at. One of the persons forgot

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<v Speaker 1>their visuals and so they did a whole entire pitch

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<v Speaker 1>asking for a whole bunch of money with no visuals whatsoever,

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<v Speaker 1>mess up their entire elevator pitch. And so I tell

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<v Speaker 1>those that are preparing, make sure you have a backup.

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<v Speaker 1>If you're going to be doing something where you're sending

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<v Speaker 1>something electronically, make sure you have something on a USB drive,

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<v Speaker 1>a Google drive, some sort of electronic drive so that

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<v Speaker 1>your anxiety can actually decrease, because lots of times people

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<v Speaker 1>kind of cause their own anxiety to because of lack

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<v Speaker 1>of preparation. So those are practical things that they can

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<v Speaker 1>do to prepare for their pitch.

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<v Speaker 2>Just a follow up, because a lot of times people

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<v Speaker 2>will confuse anxiety with nervousness. Yes, some people will say

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<v Speaker 2>it's healthy to feel nervous. So it's healthy to feel

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<v Speaker 2>aks before something because you're prepared for it. You want

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<v Speaker 2>to deliver it. Yeah, you want to do a great job.

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<v Speaker 2>Is it healthy or when does it not become healthy?

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<v Speaker 1>Absolutely, it's absolutely healthy to be nervous. I was nervous

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<v Speaker 1>coming here because I've never met you guys in person.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm like, what are they gonna ask me? I don't know.

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<v Speaker 1>So there's some called good nerves. You just can't allow

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<v Speaker 1>those nerves to take over and become your master. And

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<v Speaker 1>that's where anxiety comes in. Anxiety and angst really says

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<v Speaker 1>what if something happens, and what do I need to

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<v Speaker 1>do to prepare just in case what have happened? So

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<v Speaker 1>there's something between wisdom and then allowing anxiety to take over.

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<v Speaker 1>Wisdom says, you know what, let me have a backup.

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<v Speaker 1>That's not anxiety, that's just wisdom. But anxiety is like

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<v Speaker 1>all of the intrusive thoughts going through your head. That's

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<v Speaker 1>literally just thoughts. Two things that I've learned in life, guys,

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<v Speaker 1>no one owes me anything, and never create a story.

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<v Speaker 1>Anxiety is the culprit that helps people create stories that

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<v Speaker 1>literally don't even exist. And so because of that, absolutely

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<v Speaker 1>there's a difference between nerves and anxiety. Nerves is good, right,

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<v Speaker 1>but you don't have to let it master you.