Life's Real Wealth - How to Turn Pain Into Impact - Dr Will Moreland: Ep# 577

Speaker A: You know, I think the cheat code in life is asking questions. And the better questions you ask, the better answers you get. Really ask yourself what really matters, and are you giving your time and attention to what really matters? And are you creating a life that you'll be able to give your time and attention to what really matters?

Speaker B: For more than a decade, I've hosted the Dentist Freedom Blueprint podcast every week through Covid shutdowns, through money printing and stimulus inflation and rising interest rates, through what many believe is the beginning of the fourth turning. And what I've realized is that we didn't skip any of the hard lessons. Freedom is not about dentistry. It's about optionality. It's not industry specific. So I'm proud, uh, to say that we are launching a new expanded version of our podcast. This version is for all founder owners of closely held businesses. We'll talk about the markets, about debt, leverage, personal burn rate, succession plans, spousal alignment, designing a life that is not dependent upon one business model. Again, optionality. What excites me the most? Bigger conversations, broader impact. If you're a founder owner who wants more clarity and the ability to choose your own path to optionality, join me. Let's build this together. Find the new expanded podcast at, uh, freedomfounders.com podcast. Today's guest is Dr. Will Moreland, US army veteran leadership strategist, bestselling author, and one of the most compelling voices on building legacy through mindset and service. Raised in Compton, California, during the height of gang and drug violence, Will Story is a masterclass in Rising above circumstances. In this deeply personal conversation, we explore what shaped his resilience, the generational impact of his grandmother, Holly Gray, and why his life's work is now focused on giving back One family, one community, and one legacy at a time. Well, Dr. Will, it's such a pleasure to have you back again. And what I really realized from our last conversation. By the way, folks, I'll let you know. Dr. Will Moreland and I have been friends, friends, colleagues. We've known each other for. We're going well into our second decade. And, uh, I've just always, always appreciated Will because he is the true guy that he purports to be and shows to me wherever you might catch him, whether it's on YouTube or speaking from the stage, Will is Will. And I can tell you that he's, uh, authentic. He doesn't put some Persona out there in the public, and then behind the scenes, he's different. No, he is the true guy. You're Getting the real Will Moreland. And one of the reasons I respect him so much is, uh, your background I want to go back to, because I know that you grew up in Compton, California. Um, and just so people understand, uh, if they haven't, you know, taken a trip to Compton when they were going to Disney or somewhere, uh, you know, Compton is not like Venice Beach. Uh, so people think about California. Oh, we grew up in California. Wow. Well, privileged, uh, give us just a little context there, because I think that sets the scene for a lot of people who are thinking, well, you know, uh, I didn't grow up with privilege in my life. I didn't have this or that given to me. And, uh, I just want to give you a little bit of a setting. What was your environment?

Speaker A: You know, that's always an interesting question when I talk about Compton and growing up in Compton, because I tell people all the time when I describe it that it was the best of times and it was the worst of times, because I was raised by my grandmother. So inside the house. Inside the house, I'm getting all the love I could handle. I'm getting all the lessons on character and faith and all of that. But then when I would step outside, I would step outside into a world that was very, very different. It was very polarizing. It was a world, sadly, at the time, back in the early 80s, it was ravaged with gangs. It was ravaged with drugs. And so I can remember I was just talking to a friend recently that grew up in Compton with me. And to be honest with you, and this just shows the power of the mind and the power of humanity. The ability to just adapt, right? And so me and my friend, we were talking about growing up in Compton. And daily, daily we would hear gunshots. We would see police chases and everything. But for us, it was just home. It's like a, uh, fish swimming in the water. Does the fish really know it's in water or it's its environment? So for me, although outside was very challenging. It was just our norm. Like, it was literally our norm to see, you know, police chases, to see. You know, I can think back, you know, I was probably seven when I saw my first physical dead body, you know, lying in the alley. But some way that was just normal to us. Like, I remember walking to school and talking to my friends, and our conversation was, did you hear the gunshots? Or did you hear who got shot last night? Or did you see who got arrested yesterday? But it was just all normal. It didn't seem abnormal. It wasn't literally Until I got older and I moved away. And I would tell people that I was from Compton, and they would be like, you're. You're from Compton. Oh, my God. How did you make it? And so when I think about it, yeah, I've read all the newspaper clippings, and, you know, when I was there, they said Compton literally was the worst city in America when I was growing up there in the 80s, but it didn't feel that way. But when I look back, you know, tomorrow I'll reach my 50th birthday, and. And I've just been doing some reflection, and I have a lot of friends that, you know, didn't see this age, and. And. And didn't have the opportunity to grow up and live a full life. And so as I sit here with you today, I'm blessed and I'm so grateful. But at the same time, it reminds me how amazing, you know, this. This world. This world is that we live in. A guy like me growing up in that type of situation can one day end up. And, you know, I'm not just saying this to say this, but end up on a podcast with a Dr. David Phelps. Right. That's the power of, you know, a changed mind. That's the power of a changed environment. That's the power of exposure, and ultimately, that's the power of choice that each and every one of us have. And so that's me, man. That's my upbringing. Yeah. Uh, grew up in Compton, but was able to navigate and make some different choices, and here we are today.

Speaker B: I knew about you growing up and your grandmother being the North Star, and what was. Who else did you have in terms of siblings that were with you on your grandmother's governance or household? Yes.

Speaker A: Yeah. So in grandma's house. Grandma's house was like the community house. Like, my grandmother was a person who was integrated into service. Her. Her whole life was about service. And so at any given time, and I just think about it today, I was talking to my wife about this about a month ago, and I was saying the house that I grew up in could literally fit in the house that I live in today. Three or four times, right? And I was, uh. I went back, literally, I went back on Zulu Zillow to look at the square footage of this house. And this house in Compton was about 900 square feet, right? About 900 square feet. And to answer your question, we always, at any given time, had no less than 14. 14 people living in this house. It was me and my sister, my cousins. My grandmother was Just like the rally point. So my grandmother had four kids, um, all of, all of her grandchildren at some time ended up living with her in the house because my mom and her siblings, uncles were out doing their thing. And then there were always people at the church that needed somewhere to live. And it was always some man that was some young men going through a transitional phase, age that needed somewhere to live. Our house was always like a revolving door. Like always, like I say, it was always at least 14 people. And when I look, you know, and think about that, I, I can't, till today, I can't imagine how we did it. I was asking my sister the other day, uh, as I've been reflecting and just like, how did we navigate, like, how did, where do we sleep? Where was. You know, I'm trying to put all these together and, and uh, it's just been an amazing journey.

Speaker B: Man, your grandmother must have been something else. I'm trying to wrap my head around her resiliency. Uh, and I wasn't even planning on going here, but this is so interesting to me and I think interesting to other people because the people who influence our lives, I mean positively and negatively, are a lot of what makes us who we are today, right? Those early mentors, whether it's parents, grandparents, I mean people in the community and coaches, people who just took us under the wing for whatever reason. What made your grandmother, um, have character and personality where she was. So I'm using the word stoic. Is that a fair word for her? Was she stoic or was there more, more to, more to her than that? I think that's too, too confining, you

Speaker A: know, and I, I've really been thinking about this and thinking about my grandmother and uh, now that I'm older and I can just do a historical study. And so I want to take the listeners back in time. And so I want you to think about the early 70s. I want you to think about America in the early 70s. I want you to think about America in the 1960s. And so to share with you the type of woman my grandmother, my grandmother was. Um, my grandmother and my grandfather, they split up when my grandmother was about 42, 43 years old. My mom was born when My grandmother was 40. And so now my grandmother is about 43 with a 3 year old and a 3 year old daughter and she had three other sons. And so this, once again, this is, I want everybody to get the picture of, um, this is like 1960s. My mom was born in 1954, right? Born in 1954. My grandmother bought her first house when she. In 1970. And so I want people to remember, women in America were not allowed to buy homes if they weren't married, if they didn't have a man to sign for them. They weren't able to get their own loans, their own credit. So here this lady is recently divorced. And after they got divorced, I was just talking to my mom about this. They were living in South Santa Monica, California. After the divorce, my grandmother took her four kids and they moved into the projects. They moved into the projects. And you'll remember this. The watch riots happen. My mom is now having to leave her school because her school was burnt down. And so she had to move to a city called Oxnard. And so as I'm growing up, I'm hearing bits and pieces of this, like, okay, mom, you were in Oxnard, but. But I didn't know why she was in Oxnard. Right? And so here, over the last several years, I've been putting all the pieces together, having these conversations with my mom and David, I'll tell you, just finding out how phenomenal. Like, she was grandma to me, and she was just amazing to me as a grandmother. But then when I started researching and really seeing who this woman was and what she was doing, doing at this time in history was phenomenal. By the time I was born in 1976, my grandmother was on her second home. She owned her second home. She was now renting out the first home that she had bought. In 1970, she had moved to Compton when at first Compton was this new suburb, you know, people were moving to. So now she's on her second. Second home. And I'm just amazed. I was talking to one of my. My aunts the other, uh, the other month or so, and I'm like, well, where did Grandma get this money? She would clean people's homes. She would clean people's homes. She would go into the Brentwood area, the Beverly Hills area, and she would clean homes, and she would save up her money. She was very good with her money. And so she knew that home ownership, you know, was the path to freedom. She knew ownership. And so it was just as I think about it and I reflect on it. And so thank you so much, because every time I get an opportunity to think about it and think about her, she was already my hero. She's literally was already my hero. But then when I step outside of her just being my grandmother and just look at what this woman was able to do, do, and she always believed in community, you know, in our House. I remember politicians were always coming into our home. She was always engaged in the community. And so for me, I'm not really appreciating it at the time, because I'm a little kid running in and out the house. Okay, here's Councilman Adams. Okay, here's Mayor Tucker. Okay, here's, you know, this senator or whatever. I'm, you know, I'm just. Just old folks talking in the living room. Right. But my grandmother, literally, my grandmother's house was the hub. I don't know if you remember that There was a time where you could go and vote and you could vote at people's homes. They would. They would, uh, erect these polling booths in people's homes. And so that was our house. People would come in and they would have the voting booths in our homes. I'd never forget. We would have to move the couch out the living room, and they would erect these, uh, boulder booths inside our homes. And people are coming. And so it was still growing up in Compton for me, as I contrast that to growing up in, um, America as a young African American kid, I didn't feel that there were any limitations. I didn't feel that I was held back because I saw these brilliant individuals in and out my house. They had these titles that seem, you know, Los Angeles at the time, Mayor Bradley. Los Angeles had the first black mayor of a major city, uh, Mayor Tom Bradley. And Tom Bradley was the mayor from 1973 to 1993. So just think about California Mayor Tom Bradley. So this is. This is the images that I'm seeing, like the. There's a black man who is the mayor of one of the, you know, largest cities in the United States. And so for me, um, even though we had those disadvantages and didn't, you know, grow up in the best of neighborhoods and things like that, I still had images of success. I still had images of people that were doing significant things, even though I didn't understand it at the time. That's the power of the subconscious, that those images were still there.

Speaker B: That's so amazing. I mean, that's giving me a picture because we haven't had this conversation. So I'm just glad we're having it today because I love to peel back the layers and see what made people who they are. And I'm getting a better picture of your grandmother now. So from now I'm seeing she's there, um, a hub in a community that many today, myself certainly included, would be fear for my life walking in there. I mean, I'd go Like, what am I doing here? And yet she's the hub of a community. Uh, she's got all kinds of family members living with her at different times. And there must have been. So you tell me, but even in an area that is Compton, like you said, like a dangerous place to. And gangs and all kinds of things, was there a, um, an aura of protection, probably coming from her character, but also from God, that gave, uh, an aura of protection, the home there, because people went there. And she had the respect of community leaders, as you said, that came there. So she was a prominent person in an area that today, from the outside, people go, well, how could you be prominent in Compton? I mean. Right?

Speaker A: Yeah. And so, once again, if I think about the street that I was raised on, 166th street in Compton, as I'm older, I can so much appreciate it so much more now. My grandmother and I think about the neighbors next door. We had a lady by the name of Ms. Knox across the street, we had Ms. M. Kennedy. Down the street, we had Ms. Edwards. And these black women created this ecosystem of support. Now that I think about it, like, they had. They had this ecosystem where they took care of each other. And so they had, like, a neighborhood watch. So, like, on the street that I grew up in, I knew I was going to be safe. Right. Everybody KNEW I was Ms. Gray's grandson. And so maybe two blocks over, I couldn't go two blocks over, but I just knew not to go two blocks over. I knew that protection would end two blocks over. And that's why I say it was so interesting growing up there, because it really was the best of times and the worst of times. We just knew how to. I was. Like I said, I was talking to my friend the other day. We just knew how to navigate. So I knew that from 166 street to 169th, I was good, right. If I needed. My grandmother sent me to the corner store. I knew what time to go. I knew what time not to go. Um, I knew as long as the sun was out, I was good to go. They wouldn't send me at night. And so we would navigate these areas. And so on our street, an amazing street it was. Could be. You could take our street and place that street into any other city in America, any affluent neighborhood, and it would fit in. And that's. That was the brilliance. That was the brilliance of Compton. Like, even when I think back now of, you know, Serena Williams and so many influential people that came from there. You know, George Bush, the, uh, first George Bush, he lived in Compton, right? When his family moved to California, he lived in Compton. That's the type of neighborhood, uh, initially, uh, Compton was. And so you had these great. You had these great pockets. But unfortunately, because of, um, economic conditions, wherever you have economic conditions, wherever you have poverty, you're going to have these type of uprisings. And so that's what we did. We had the drug epidemic. But for me, I just knew how to navigate. And when I look at these women, um, I remember my grandmother, like, you know, miss. Miss Knox would send her grandkids over and knock on the door and say, hey. My grandmother said, can I borrow six eggs? And when they go to the store, you'll get them back. And next door, they wanted some bread or a cup of sugar. And I can remember vividly me complaining, like, grandma, this is our last eggs. Why are you giving our last eggs away? But I didn't know these women had their own system going on. Like, when one of them would go to the store, they would just shop for everybody, right? And so it showed me the, you know, the power of community. It showed me the power of working together. And so most of these women at the time were, um, single women. They were grandmothers. Because of that time, a lot of their kids got involved in either gangs or drugs. And so they were raising the grandkids. And so all of these are grandmothers who are now raising the third generation because the kids are out there doing what they're doing. But these were phenomenal, phenomenal women. They, you know, they didn't. They didn't have much as it relates to economics. But when it came to faith, when it came to community building, when it came to character and integrity, these women were some of the most powerful women that are powerful human beings that I've ever come across. And one of the things I think about, David, often is I was just thinking about. Because my grandmother died when I was 14. When I. When I think about it, I had such a limited time with her and the impact that she had on my life. You know, I was just in. I was just in, uh, for Thanksgiving. I was just in Dallas. My mom now lives there, and my sisters live there. For some reason, we just migrated. They all migrated to Texas. But I realized that my kids and my sister kids and some of my cousins. I have cousins that I grew up with. They live in Texas now. I realized that they probably didn't have the historical connotation of who their great grandmother was. And so what I did was I told my wife, I said, I want to bring everybody together for Thanksgiving, and we're going to call it Polly's Kids Thanksgiving. That's my grandmother's name. And so, uh, we rented out this beautiful house in, in Dallas. And I wanted to bring everybody together and I got big poster boards of my grandmother blown up, and we did a program, and I just gave them the historical, historical play of who this woman was because I wanted them to know that what they see me doing is a direct reflection of her and her prayers and her guidance and her example that she left to me. And I never want, I never want that to burn out in our family. I never want that to die off. I want them to know that they just didn't haphazardly get here, but that someone was praying for them and someone was, had a vision for them. And so when I think about the conversations that I had with my grandmother, some of the dreams that she shared with me, you know, I have a folder here that I walk around with her obituary, and some of the dreams that she didn't, uh, get to accomplish. I'm now able, you know, one of the things that she wanted to do was to have a senior citizen's home where senior citizens could still live in diggity, uh, in, uh, in, uh, dignity. Right. And so now, you know, we're able to now do something like that. And so we're in the process of having poly houses. And so we're, we're getting poly houses where, um, we're going to have some senior, uh, assisted homes. And, um, that was a dream of my grandmother. And it's because she was able to communicate that to me, because she communicated it to others. It was left in, you know, her obituary that this was one of her dreams. And so I'm just grateful and thankful that we can carry that torch and.

Speaker B: Good, good for you. Good for you. Uh, well, I, I had no idea we're going to go this deep here, but I love it. I love it. Thank you for, for, um, you know, bringing us more. And it's poly gray.

Speaker A: Yes, poly gray.

Speaker B: Like, great, outstanding. Well, we could, we could do, we could do a number of sessions. But I'm so glad that, that you have embodied her legacy, uh, for the generations upcoming. It's so important and, you know, I, I, I, I'm getting a better, better picture. So, so, so as you said, living in Compton, you didn't see any boundaries. You saw, you saw. No, I mean, so no boundaries to, to your life. Tom Bradley. Important people, councilmen, senators, people coming to the house you're going, okay, we live here. But hey, mean that. That. That doesn't suppress me. You saw no restriction on your life because your. No one's suppressed. Here. We're.

Speaker A: Well, so here's. Here's. Here's what happened. So my grandmother dies when I'm 14. And for our family, as I said, she was the center. And when she died, everything kind of fell apart, right? Grandma's house was where everybody came for Thanksgiving, for Christmas and everything. And so when she. When she died, well, I. I have to. I have to go back. So at the age of. At the age of 10. And this is, uh. And. And so I'm going to share this with you and with everybody because it's so important to my story. At the age of. At the age of 10, my grandmother, um, she made a emotional decision. She made an emotional decision. And that emotional decision was for one of her sons. They came to her and they needed some money for something, and they convinced my grandmother to take out a second mortgage on her home. And she took out the second mortgage on her home. And her son, my uncle, he promised, mom, when the second mortgage is due, I'll, uh, pay you back. Nothing to worry about. So the second mortgage comes due, and he's nowhere to be found. My grandmother, very proud, very proud woman. She doesn't tell. She doesn't tell anybody. She doesn't tell anybody that the house is in danger. You'll remember this. You remember when the insurance people used to come to the house and collect the collective payments and things like that. So there was a time that. I remember that there were people coming to the house, but I thought it was just the insurance person. I just thought there was an insurance person, but it was actually the bank and. And the foreclosure people, right, Coming to assess the house. And so we didn't know this. So one day, um, I come home from school and my mom is telling me we have to move. I'm like, what are you talking about? She's like, we gotta move. And it's like within seven days, we gotta move. And so we're putting all of our stuff in brown bags and we have to move so the house gets foreclosed on. This is when I'm like, 10. And so from that time, my grandmother, she had to go live with a. She had to go live with a friend. So from the time I was 10 years old to the time I was 15 years or 14 years, 15 years old, me and my mom, we ended up moving 16 different times. So imagine going from stability. You know, going to school, come home, Grandma's going to be there, eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to. I don't even know if we're going to be here tomorrow. So my mom and I, we end up moving 16 times. My grandmother, she ends up dying when I'm 14 years old. And when that happened, I lost all boundaries. I lost all sense of purpose. I lost all. I lost all. Uh, my grandmother was my reason, right? She was my. You know, if I thought about getting in trouble, I always had my grandmother in the back of my mind, like, man, this will disappoint Grandma. When she died, I lost all of that. I lost all of that. And then, because my mom and I, we didn't have such a good relationship. And then moving 16 times, that just, you know, complicated things. And so then that's how I found myself on the wrong side of the track now, right? I'm now in the streets a lot more. I don't have this center to come back to. I don't have grandma anymore to kind of talk to me anymore. My mom and I are kind of on the outs. And so that's when I start getting into trouble. That's when I join a gang. That's when I start getting arrested. And this goes on till about. From 14 to about 18. Yeah, about 18. 18 was the last time I get arrested. And this time, um, I'm getting ready to be incarcerated for about six years. And till this day, um, I still believe that my grandmother acting as. Acting as my angel, somehow some way got into the. The ear of the judge. And I never forget the judge telling me. He's like, okay, Mr. Moreland, you're 18 years. You' 18 years old. Now. If I sentence you, this will be with you for the rest of your life. What I'm going to do is I'm going to allow you to leave my courtroom, and I want you to return here in two weeks, and I want you to tell me what you're going to do with your life and why I shouldn't put you in one of our nice facilities here, AKA jail. And to be honest with you, David, I left that courtroom with the mindset of, uh, I'm getting ready to go to jail. So for the next two weeks, I'm just going to party. I call my friends. I'm like, hey, man, I'm getting ready to go on vacation for six years, so let's party. Three days before I'm supposed to go to the, um, the court, I'm walking in the Mall, the Hawthorne Mall. And a gentleman by the name of Corey Oliver comes up to me, and he says, have you ever thought about joining the military? And I look at him in that moment, and I don't know if anybody's listening to us. You've ever been in a situation where you make a decision, you make a choice. You don't understand it fully in that moment, but when you look back at it, it was one of those defining moments of your life. This is one of the defining moments of my life. I, uh, looked at him, and I simply said, sure, man. Let's go. And he looked at me, David, and he shared with me later on, um, in our relationship, he says, you were the first person that I put in the military at that mall in two years.

Speaker B: Really?

Speaker A: And he says, I don't know if you remember the way I looked. I looked so shocked. He said, I looked so shocked because no one had ever told me. Yes. And so I tell him, I say, okay, here's the caveat. I'm doing court in three days. Will you come to court with me? And so he says, okay, let's go get you signed up. Let's get you all squared away so I can show the judge the paperwork that you have enlisted into the military. And, uh, he comes to court with me. I'm standing in front of that judge, um, Cory sitting in the back. And I say, you, Honor, I decided to go to the Army. And, uh, my recruiter sitting in the back, Cory stands up. He says, is this true? He says, he sent. He signed up. He. Here's his paperwork. This was in July. He says. He leaves in August. The judge says, all right, I'm going to release him into your custody, get him on that bus, that plane, or whatever he needs to be on in August. And, uh, that was my beginning of transformation. And that judge had no reason, because I said in, uh. I'll tell you, I said in that court, three people that went before me, all of them got sentenced. And I sat in that court, and the five people after me, they all got sentenced. And for whatever reason, he allowed me to go into the military and not to sentence me. And that. That began my journey of transformation. That began what I talked about earlier, just being able to get to a new environment, get to, um, different scenery, where I can make different choices. And here we are today, my man.

Speaker B: That is. That's an amazing story. Yeah. I mean, without that intervention, which I agree with you, I think that came m. You know, as your grandmother, as an angel, um, on your shoulder, that day that gave that option. And then you. To have the conversation with the recruiter three days before, have that happen. You and I probably wouldn't be talking here today.

Speaker A: I know for sure. You know, I wouldn't. I wouldn't, you know, about. Two, three. Let's see. No, four. Four days. Four days after my 18th. Four days after my 18th birthday, my best friend got killed in front of me. And, um, I remember. I remember holding him and watching Donnie take his last breath. And every year, um, I think about it, how I've been able to live and continue my life. And especially now, like I just said, I'm, um. I'm getting ready to hit my 50th birthday. And I often think about. I often think about that. That we were. We were seconds. Seconds. We were seconds from having a different fate. You know, we were. We were sitting. We were sitting in his living room, and someone knocked on the door, and we were. We were playing a video game, and I motioned to get up, and he says, I got it, man. And he goes to answer the door, and when he answers the door, they shoot him. That was. That was me going to the door. I was seconds away from that being my fate. And so for a long time, that. That had been my driving force. I dealt with survivor's guilt. I dealt with all the what ifs and why am I here and questioning God and all that kind of stuff. And over the years, I've learned that, um, to question God, but to have gratitude that I'm here. And for whatever reason, for whatever reason, that was. That's why I'm here. And I just. Every day. And that's why I so appreciate every day. People ask me all the time what motivates me, and I say, just when my eyes open up every single morning, when my eyes open up, that's all it takes for me. I don't need to get, uh, an amazing email. I don't need to read an amazing text. I don't need to read some motivational book. For me, if I just open up my eyes, I know I have another opportunity because I know so many people that didn't get the opportunity. And so people ask me, I know Simon Sinek. He has his famous book, you know, start with why. And I tell people I understand what he's meaning. But for me, I don't. I don't need a why. I have, uh, a because. And my because is my eyes opened up. My because is because it's possible. The fact that I have breath in my lungs, the fact That I still have my brain, the fact that I still have all my joints working, because all of that's intact, then I'm going for it. That's my motivation. I don't need some history teacher who told me I wasn't going to be anything or anything like that. My why. My because is because I'm here, and I'm here for a purpose. And so, yeah, man, M. It's been. It's been a. It's been a, uh, interesting. Interesting journey that I don't take for granted. And as I say, as I get ready to hit this milestone birthday, um, I'm just so appreciative and so filled with gratitude and, um, you know, my life, when I think about. You know, when I think about our relationship, and I'll never forget, and I always, always hold this dear to my heart. And I'll always mention it every opportunity that I have. The conversation that I had with your dad. And I'll never forget when you invited me to the hotel when your family was vacationing in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley. Everybody was there. And I saw your. Your father, and I'll never forget going over to him, and I said, man, how did. How did you accomplish this? How. How did you accomplish this? And he said, what are you talking about? I said, I'm looking at your grandkids. I'm looking at your children. Everybody looks happy. Everybody looks like they want to be here. Like no one got forced to be here. And the, uh, wisdom and the advice that he gave me that day, I've tried to model it. I've tried to incorporate it into my life. And when he told me, he says, as a dentist, I tried to never put anything in my life that was going to compete with my family time. And he says, I didn't do golf because that would take me away from the family. I didn't get involved in this because that would take me away from the family. And I wanted that result. I wanted that result. And I mean, that was like, what, 15 years ago, I think we had that encounter. And so here I am right now. I'm here in Virginia, and I'm waiting for my. My m. Daughter is due any day now with my grandson. And so I'm sitting here, and I've built a life where I'm able to just be here. My wife, she told me, um, a month or two ago. She says, I think I just want to be in Virginia for the whole month. Why? We wait on our grandson, and we can do it. We can do it, and we can do it. Because I, I heard a gentleman, Dr. Phelps, say, make family number one. Don't ever put anything in front of the family. And, um, I always thought about that with my daughter. I said, man, when she gets this age, I want her to love me, I want her to call me. I want her. I want her to want me to be a part of her children's life and her husband. And thank God we've been able to create that. But it was your dad's wisdom that shared that with me. And I've, I. I share that with every man that I meet that say they want to be a better father, a better husband, or just a better man. Don't put anything in your life that's going to stop whatever you say your goal is. And so I'll never, never, never forget that. And I'm always in debt to you, my friend, for sharing your family with me and letting me see that image, because I hadn't. I hadn't seen that image. And when we just did this in November and brought all the family, I thought about that. And, uh, when we took that group family picture, I thought about the Phelps, and I said, dad is still living and his spirit is still here, and he's still impacting us.

Speaker B: Well, thank you for that memory. No, I remember that very, very well. And I appreciate so much the fact that you are so, um, intuitive. You've been that way, obviously, through your whole life. You're so intuitive. And a lot of times we talk about, you know, in our own lives, we have the privilege of mentoring and coaching others, whether it's our children or grandchildren or just people in a community or just from. As you do from the stage so well. And I think the fact that you are so, um. You have so much perspective because of your upbringing, and obviously your grandmother just sewed so much into you, um, from her wisdom and her experience, that you've taken that with you everywhere you go. And I just see you always just trying to engage, uh, with people and find out what's there that they have that you'd like to learn something from, and then you don't forget it. And it's just like you book it, and it's like it stays with you. And that's just, uh, a theme of people who become something in life that's more than just themselves. And you've done that. And I had no idea we're going to go this direction because I have a bunch of notes. I think we're going to have to come back and do a second session, but this was so good, I couldn't let this go. I think we'll just. I couldn't add anything to this session today. We'll come back and do another one. But I think it's so, so, so good that we had a chance to do this because you brought. You brought so many things to the forefront. And I just love you telling the story. And I'm glad we had the opportunity for me to dig deeper, because, uh, I got to go deeper with you today. Um, not with intention for myself, but I thought, you know, there's such a great story here that needs to come out. And for people listening today, um, all generations, for us. Well, I say me, maybe, not you, because you're just turning 50. You're just. You're a babe. But we all have a responsibility, do we not? We have a responsibility to take the gratitude that you so well exemplify gratitude for everything in life that we have, and then responsibility to gift that, to teach it, to mentor others, whatever that might be in our environment, to do that at whatever age we are. And, um, you're a prime example of doing that. You've done that your whole life. And, yeah, I'll let you just put a cap on this, and we'll call it good for today. But, man, this has been a great

Speaker A: company, you know, I appreciate it. I don't know, you know. Yeah, it's so funny because we talked earlier about it going into a different direction, but this was so therapeutic for me, man. I just needed to, you know, talk about my grandmother, and I didn't know I needed that, but I did need that. And as I said, as I'm reflecting on this milestone, for me, you know, I think the cheat code in life is asking questions, and the better questions you ask, um, the better answers you get. And so for me, when I'm. I don't know where it came from, but I'm thankful that I have it, that I'm not afraid to ask questions. And I know a lot of people, and it seems simple, but. But a lot of people are afraid to ask questions because I know our educational system used to punish us if we raised our hand and we got the answer wrong. And people would laugh at us. Right, Right. But for me, it's been the cheat code. Like, when I see somebody doing something at a level that I want to do it, instead of trying to beat my head, trying to figure it out, I just go ask the question. And, uh, you've been one of those people in my life over the last, um, uh, 15 years where I. I see you all the time, and I'm like, okay, David, how are we doing this? And now you knowing, um, a little bit about your story and a lot about how I orchestrated my life and created my business was on your story of, um, your daughter and wanting to always be able to be there for her and not having to ask someone, can I get off work to go attend to my family or go to the soccer game. I thought about that, and I've always thought about taking what we do. You know, being in dis ministry, me being professional speaker. We're what you call a tool in hand. And so how can we live life without that tool in our hand? Because for most people who are dentists or speakers, if they're not on stage, if they're not working on somebody's teeth, they're not earning money. And so you were able to teach me years ago how to take what I learned from my skill and then leverage it into other mediums where the money is now working for us so we can do this. Like, I mean, I'm sitting here once again, we'll be here for the whole month, and there's no, you know, no pressure, and it's no, you know, it's. It's not. It's not a strain that, you know, we're here and we can really enjoy it. And, um, you know, this is time that I'll never be able to recreate. Right. You know, this. Once your kids get old, they're, you know, older, they're doing their own thing. So the fact that I still get to hang out with my daughter, and she hasn't kicked us out yet, and, uh, you know, her husband, you know, he's been great, and so it's just been great, man. And, you know, I don't know why the conversation went like this, but I do know someone needs to hear it, because someone's probably in the hustle and grind of life, and they're trying to figure out what's important and my mission and, you know, I want us to know what's important, and there's nothing more important than family. You know, I remember, you know, once again, when your dad transitioned, you were in Hawaii. I remember that. And just, uh, having the conversation with you and. And being able to say, you know, will, dad lived an amazing life, you know, yes, we're going to miss him, and, yes, we wish we could have more years, but it wasn't a sadness of regret. It wasn't a sadness of, oh, my God, you guys live Life. And, uh, you made every moment count. And that's what I've always taken away and always remember. And, uh, and that's what I want for everyone else to really ask yourself what really matters? What really matters? And are you giving your time and attention to what really matters? And are you creating a life that you'll be able to give your time and attention to what really matters?

Speaker B: The quotable Dr. Will Moreland. Um, there's so much you said today that I think resonates with everybody. Well, thank you for your time today, folks. We'll come back and have a part two, which is the direction I thought

Speaker A: we were going to do business stuff later.

Speaker B: This is just the intro. That's the intro. We've got like four, four parts to this, this play. And you just had the intro.

Speaker A: So let's do it.

Speaker B: Getting ready to wrap up for, for the next one. Uh, well, I want to, um. Thank you. Good. Uh, best place for people to connect with you. Where should we send them?

Speaker A: Website all on social media at Dr. Will Speaks. That's the website as well at, uh, DrWillSpeaks.com so on social media platforms at Dr. Will Speaks website, Dr. WillSpeaks.com and

Speaker B: I think something like 40 publications. So if you like to.

Speaker A: We'll talk about that stuff later next time.

Speaker B: Yeah, I know there's so much there. All right, well, let me just do this. Let me wish you, uh, a happy 50th crossing the line there. I did it a few years ago. It's not, it's actually good. Uh, it's actually good. You won't feel, I don't think you'll feel any different. You'll probably just feel like, hey, more gratitude. So go for it. And uh, the best to, uh, who you're your daughter and your son in law for your new grandson who is due anytime. Yes. Okay.

Speaker A: Thank you, my friend.

Speaker B: All right. Thanks, Will. We'll circle back around. I'll catch you. Catch you again soon. In our conversation, Will talked about meeting my father some years ago and how will have conversations with my father and ask him some very precise questions about how my father raised, you know, his family, family as kids and not grandkids, to enjoy being together, enjoy memories together, and enjoy family vacations or trips together. And dad made a point to Will, as he said the conversation, that he put his family first and he really did. Uh, dad could have done a lot of things for himself. He could have had all kinds of different, uh, sports or hobbies or cars or you name it. My dad could have had those things, but he didn't. It wasn't about the money. It was about the time, the focus, where he determined he would focus his time outside of his profession, his career. I've done the same thing. I don't know if I've done it as well, but I can certainly try to mirror what my father did. And I think the wake up call for me was when my daughter was very, very sick with health issues. And I realized that time was of the essence. We don't know how much time we have left for any of us. And when that reality really hit me hard, some several decades ago, when my daughter was younger and fighting for her life, I realized that time that I wanted to spend with her could be taken away. And that may be more intentional. I've tried to do the same thing with the rest of my life without a crisis to force me to do it. And it's not always easy. Uh, it takes intention. It takes, uh, sometimes, uh, some self reflection and some self auditing to see where we stand in different parts of our life at different time frames. I think it's an important thing to do. Is it easy? Not necessarily. It, uh, can be very difficult, but it's a good thing to do. And I really would promote those who are listening today to find someone or some way that they can do the same thing. Self reflection is the key. I'm privileged to be around many hardworking entrepreneurs, business owners, professional practice owners, and I always appreciate the drive, the exuberance, the, uh, work ethic that so many have. And that's important in life. That's very, very important. But when I see many that are into this era of hustle and grind, if you hustle and grind long enough, and if you do it harder than anybody else, then you're going to get ahead. And I know that's spoken a lot and that's really held as a virtue many times, but I think it comes at a cost, a cost to not only the entrepreneur in his health, his sanity, but also there's a price that others are paying to family members in particular. We think, and I can say the same thing about myself, we think we're doing the right thing by hustling and grinding. And again, work ethic is important. I'm not saying discipline and responsibility and so sacrifice isn't important. It is. But there comes a time when we need to find some, I hate the word balance, but some kind of compromise in how much we feel like we need to grind and hustle. I tell people today that as long as you're alive and breathing, you can always make more money. And I didn't really believe that myself when I was younger. I thought there was only a timeframe. We could make money and you had to make it all right then and there. And I think that's a misnomer. I think we have to find a rate of of sacrifice, a rate of accomplishment, and a rate of time. Focus on what really matters in life and those three elements will change over time. But I think as we get older in life, more focused on the time, what really matters in life should be where the focus is and less need to have ah to make the money or hustle and grind or create all these great accomplishments that look good on scoreboard. But what do they really matter at the end of the day? If today's conversation stirred something in you, maybe a deeper gratitude, maybe a reckoning with what really matters, that's not accidental. Life doesn't change because circumstances get easier. It changes when you decide what deserves your time, your energy, and your presence. At Freedom Founders, we work with dentists and doctors who've already achieved success, but know there's more to life than than staying busy. We help you design a future where your work supports your family, your values, and the life you actually want to live. If you're ready to be intentional about what comes next, visit freedom founders.com discover. You've worked very hard to build a career. Now it's time to build a life reflects what matters most. Freedomfounders.com discover love to have a conversation.