Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Number two is, I don't know how to say this tactfully, and I'm probably going to say it the wrong way, so I'm sorry for anyone out there, but, but the, the. They're not that smart. And by that I mean the one. The people that say, you know, this can't, or you can't do this, or the people that you think are like, these higher up, like, position people that control your world, they're not that smart. By that I mean, it's like, whatever they know, you can figure it out. Whatever they know, right? You can figure it out.
[00:00:29] Speaker B: Listeners of the Tron podcast, the Randomness of Nothing. This show was created to talk to innovators, disruptors, and people from great facets of life who accomplished marvelous things. And this man epitomizes it. He has a Wikipedia page and he reached out to me. So, like, I have to take myself down a couple notches right now. And right Now I have Mr. Troy Horn, multi talented singer, actor, podcaster, author, best selling author, all around good guy. Thank you so much for your presence on this show.
[00:00:56] Speaker A: Thank you for having me, man. It's like, I'm excited. I'm excited. This is gonna be fun.
[00:01:00] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, it's when I, you know, it's one. When I started looking, anytime I get an inbox invite and then I start looking at people's names and it's like this, this, this, this, and I keep going down and I'm like, I don't. How can I actually mentally handle interviewing somebody like that?
[00:01:14] Speaker A: Right?
[00:01:14] Speaker B: Because, you know, I'm not supposed to be doing this.
[00:01:17] Speaker A: No, man, See, now I've got to like, deliver you. You're giving me all this, this hype up here, man. I gotta be good. I gotta put on my game face. It's good. It's good stuff.
[00:01:26] Speaker B: So, you know, for the, for the people who, obviously you have your, your accomplishments, people themselves, you've been, you know, I've been on shows, Broadway. Let's get some background about you first, please.
[00:01:36] Speaker A: And, you know, it all started, I think, you know, just from being a kid who likes singing in Houston, Texas. And my mom, she heard me sing around the house. She's like, this Sunday you're gonna sing in church. And I was like, no, I'm not. And she's like, yes, you are.
So she put me in front of everybody. Yeah, I was terrified. But yeah, you know, what happened? Saying. And with my sisters, we got there and sang a little song that we'd practice, you know, a little bit. Throughout the week. And they gave me a stand. They gave us a standing ovation. And from that moment on, man, I was like, this is what I want to do.
[00:02:11] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, you know, it's funny because as a kid, you know, you get thrust into that and you deliver it. But sometimes as adults and you talk about life after 40, I mean, an adult will be concerned about embarrassment, insecurities going viral for all the wrong reasons.
You know, how do you take that as a kid and say at that moment, you know, I want that feeling over and over again and ultimately led you to your pinnacle of your career as a kid?
[00:02:41] Speaker A: You know, it's like I. It was just one of those moments where, you know, like, the heavens open up. You go, oh, my gosh, this is it. And so, I mean, from then on, I was like, I'm in. This is what I'm doing. You know, so. And, you know, I just. I was just like. It was just a moment. I was like, of clarity, like, this is what I want to do.
You know, of course, you go through life and you have, you know, people tell you the possibilities and the realistics and the variables and all those other things, but that moment was so transformational for me. I was just like, I don't care.
[00:03:14] Speaker B: This is for sure.
[00:03:16] Speaker A: This. This is. This is it. Yeah.
[00:03:18] Speaker B: Well, I think, too, like, a lot of times that, you know, obviously you were a stellar athlete, too. Is that oftentimes there's a traditional way of how people can go from childhood to, you know, circa grad, high school, high school, graduation degree, get that, you know, that. That job, so to speak. And yet there's something to be said. And the reason why the show was invented was for people who forged their own paths.
So how difficult was that to be different from that of your peers, where they're going on this trajectory? And meanwhile, you go into another direction with your life and say, you know, I'm gonna go into the entertainment business. And then you have to hear the naysayers and the haters that are like, can you really live off of that? Or is that. Why are you doing that, so to speak?
[00:04:00] Speaker A: Yeah. So first I want to rewind because you said I was still an athlete. I was not.
[00:04:05] Speaker B: Okay. I thought you wrote a book, so I assume that.
[00:04:08] Speaker A: Yeah, I wrote that for my son, who is a stellar athlete, but.
But I wrote that with him because he was going. Because I was like, at the. This was after I stopped doing, like, music and stuff like that, and he was into basketball for me. As a musician, I was like, you know, I went out for basketball maybe like in 8th grade or something like that, and hated running. So I was like, nah, I played football a little bit, but I was like, nah, but true story. Yeah. So he loved it. And he was just.
When we started doing the competitive stuff, I saw that the world of, you know, just the adults in the room, I'm just gonna put it straightforward. We're starting to plant all these things in his mind and it was starting to make him just a little stressed out. And so I was like, let's approach this like we would like. I approached mindset. Cause I started getting into self help and stuff like that. We were, man, we were blessed to interview like all these NBA legends and.
And get their direct input on how to work on mindset. So we wrote it down. Cause I was like, we can't have this resource and not share it with other people who may be going through the same stuff.
[00:05:13] Speaker B: Right.
[00:05:13] Speaker A: And we did. And it's helped him so much and helped hundreds of thousands of kids. This has been really cool to do that.
[00:05:20] Speaker B: You know, I was assuming because, you know, your son played basketball that I didn't want to break up your kids. Obviously, you know, you did. I want to be respectful. And so I was like, okay, he must have played sports to pass that down to him. So I'm like, okay, maybe he had a traditional, you know, I played sports music segue kind of thing. So that's my fault and I apologize.
Yeah. So was it. Was it difficult to. To segue into something different than that of your peers? Or was it. You were already in that particular segment with like minded people, man.
[00:05:47] Speaker A: I don't know if they, you know, they go out there and they say different signs are different. I'm. I'm a Virgo man. I kind of found out that, I guess Kobe's a verb. Kobe was a Virgo, Michael Jackson. Anyways, I'm saying all that to say.
I was like, anytime someone said, nah, you can't do that, I was like, that's exactly what I'm gonna do.
[00:06:07] Speaker B: So. Right.
[00:06:09] Speaker A: I was just young, man. I was like, I was like, you know, I kept going, you know, put myself in positions oftentimes to be successful at it. And that's just by just trying when other people were saying, you know, you can't. And so, I mean, it was really. It was really a mindset of defiance. If anything. If anything. Isn't that amazing in those early days? Yeah.
[00:06:33] Speaker B: Isn't that absolutely amazing? And you know, and for people who, you know, for pre Internet. There was nobody on the Internet that, you know, you could, you know, gravitate towards or suddenly say, like, this is the path that I'm following or broadcast into the world. It was just. This is just who I'm gonna be and how I'm gonna live my life.
[00:06:48] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:06:50] Speaker B: And your trials. I'm sorry, go ahead.
[00:06:52] Speaker A: No, no, no, Just go ahead, please.
[00:06:54] Speaker B: Your path has led you to globally. Japan, Switzerland. I was reading. Where else? Germany. Like, this is nuts.
[00:07:03] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, man, it was. It was fun. And now, here's the thing I want people to understand and when they're watching this because, you know, people think, oh, you did all. It was hard. There are many moments, many moments where I was like, ooh, should I turn around on this path? Like, I mean, we're talking, you know, lights turned off because couldn't pay the bill. We're talking car repossessions. We're talking.
And I was like, okay, we gotta figure this out. And those moments are moments where I think, you know, God, the universe or whatever is. Is your, Your. Your thing up there is saying, okay, so do you really want this? Are you just. Are you just posing for the grand, like, dude, yeah. You know, it's a gut check.
[00:07:50] Speaker B: It really is. You know, it's like that pursuit with. With Will Smith when, you know, he's open, right?
[00:07:57] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:07:58] Speaker B: Your son, right. And you're just like, yeah, this is a movie, but this, you know, I can only imagine at that moment, you know, if there's any symbol, if there's any resemblance that this really was occurring.
You're like, that's somebody at their lowest point. Their lowest.
[00:08:13] Speaker A: Yes, yes.
Can you imagine sitting in the bathroom with your kid because you have nowhere to go. And there's. Man.
[00:08:24] Speaker B: And you know, and that's ultimately where you find out what you're made of. You know what I'm saying? Hey, and look at you now.
Look at you now, man.
[00:08:33] Speaker A: You know, I tell my kids all the time, I go, I want you. I'm going to give you the tools to navigate through tough times. But it's like, I need for you to know what it's like to lose. I need for you to know what it's like to feel. Because like you said, that's when we find out who we really have without question, that's who we find out who's really. Who's really in there.
[00:08:54] Speaker B: Right.
[00:08:55] Speaker A: You know.
[00:08:56] Speaker B: You know, it's funny. So I have a. I have a black belt and Tang Soo Do. And I do martial arts, you know, nice taekwondo, brown belt.
[00:09:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:04] Speaker B: Jitsu, Muay Thai. And so I've always said, you know, I. I tell guys who I've trained with all the time, I'm not worried if y' all beat me, because I don't have to worry about beating you in real life. I just have to take care of myself against somebody who's untrained.
So this idea that I have to be the best guy in the room or I have to be like, listen, anybody who's ever trained has gotten their ass kicked. And I don't cuss on this show, but I think I can say that word. You will get served. It will happen. And you will figure out real quick that you got to deal with it. And that's just. There's no ifs, ands or buts. There's no sugar coating that, you know, your son plays basketball. There will be that kid that will jump in the air and you will be like, how in the world did he do that?
I can't do that.
[00:09:47] Speaker A: Absolutely, absolutely.
[00:09:49] Speaker B: Yeah, you got to deal with it.
[00:09:53] Speaker A: And then you get to find, okay, well, look, what are my strengths in this, in this moment? Because I know I'm not going to do that or whatever it is that you see, but I do have other strengths. What are my strengths in this moment? I think that's what that loam thing gets you is like, okay, look, what are the tools that I have?
Because I need to use all of them right now. Yeah.
[00:10:14] Speaker B: And I gotta imagine being in the entertainment and, you know, we'll get into it. I mean, you started rent and, you know, you know, just from watching how competitive it is, you know, in sports, I'm sure acting and entertaining is just. I mean, you have probably ran into people who are so talented, you know, who maybe didn't even make it, who the world hasn't even heard of yet because it's that competitive. You know what I mean? Can you speak on that? What? It must be like, you can sing in your church. You know, people are telling you you're good, and then you go to New York and you're like, oh, my God, this guy sounds like Tony Bennett. You know what I mean?
[00:10:44] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:10:46] Speaker B: What's that like?
[00:10:46] Speaker A: So the thing, you know, the interesting thing about the entertainment industry, and I tell. And I think it's all industries, actually. I've seen, you know, with sports, with music, with acting, everything, the ability to do the job is like 50% of what's going to get you in it's. Like, first, can you even do what we need for you to do? That's like half of it.
Now that you got that half, congratulations, you're with everybody.
You know, it's like, great, good for you.
So now that you can. Now that we know you can do the job, now let's really talk about, do we want what you do the way you do it? Do you know the director? Just keeping it 100. Do you know the director, whatever casting person, whatever.
Do you fit the style of the character that we think the character fits? Are you able to transition, you know, whatever you're doing into that character? Or if you don't, are you going to bring more people are more attention to our product than the other person will?
[00:11:51] Speaker B: Isn't that amazing? And it's not just about the talent that you possess at that moment. Right, right. So for instance, you know, if you're not 6ft tall, then you're automatically disqualified. Right? Like off the rip. Right. Like I'm five, eight, and I can't tell you, like, I'd be disqualified from a number of things because no matter how much I try to, you know, grow the hair out at the top or anything like that, like requirement six foot tall. That's all she wrote, right?
[00:12:13] Speaker A: Well, almost, because we interviewed Earl Boykins actually, oddly enough, who is five.
[00:12:18] Speaker B: Five. Yeah. He's from eastern Michigan to Eastern Michigan, which is not too far yet.
[00:12:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
And he was talking about. He had this unwavering belief. He told us. He goes, I walked into this gym with this guy. I was playing Division 2 or something like that. And he said, this kid came in who was the Division 1 All Pro or whatever of the league. He goes, I didn't know.
But my coach said Earl is better than that kid. And the coach had us play with his other coaches. His coach or had us play one on one. And he goes, I just, you know, cooked him over and over and over again, you know? Cause I was like, I know I'm Earl and I don't know who this dude is, but I know I'm about to give him buckets. And he gave the dude buckets. And we all know where Earl ended up.
[00:13:00] Speaker B: Yeah, the Denver Nuggets had a very good NBA career.
[00:13:03] Speaker A: Hey. Hey. So it's like, again, can you, can you deliver?
So, yeah, right.
[00:13:11] Speaker B: But it's, it's amazing because like you said, all those nuances, somebody who's coming out of acting school or coming out of, you know, their accolades of their, of their backyard, so to speak, they have to navigate all those extra layers to actually be casted or actually be, you know, be in a role. Because it's not just about whether you can hit those notes. And I say that because I interviewed a pianist. His name is Patrick Boylan. He was a great guest on the podcast.
He's in LA and he's like, you know, he plays at numerous restaurants and he created his own musical app. And he was saying, just because you can play the piano, if you're not engaging the crowd, if they're not feedbacking from you, if you're not getting a certain ebb and flow, it means nothing. Nothing.
[00:13:54] Speaker A: Nothing. Yeah, no, no. I actually saw a musician. I forget his name because I was just watching today on Instagram. He goes, I love. He goes, young musicians. It's like, I can't remember the guy's name, but he's like a big, well known person. If I could remember, I tell you, and then be like, oh, my gosh. But anyways, he was like, young people, young musicians. I really love that you can do all the runs. I love that you can sing all the notes, whatever, but if you can't make me feel something, it doesn't matter. And he. It's like, there it is, right? Yes.
[00:14:22] Speaker B: It's amazing. It's absolutely. It's touching because, you know, we ultimately have our. A lot of options of where we can put our entertainment, whether it's on our phone or just streaming platforms as a whole. I mean, I mean, everybody's got subscribed to what, at least 10? That's like the average.
[00:14:36] Speaker A: No, Right, right.
[00:14:37] Speaker B: And how quickly do you doom. Scroll, dude? You know, I mean, it takes 25 minutes to pick something, right? But it takes five seconds to cut something off when you does it.
[00:14:47] Speaker A: Five seconds. Easy. Yes, easy.
[00:14:51] Speaker B: It's crazy. Your attention span went to nothing. You're like, yeah, it sucks. Turn it off.
[00:14:55] Speaker A: Yes, yes. You know, it's funny, you see people like, they, they start the video with this long pause, look at the camera, like, nope, nope.
[00:15:04] Speaker B: Exactly. That's how quick it is. That's how. So, like, you know, you gotta. If you got 200 people and you're trying to, you know, you're Simon Kyle and you're going on your 10th hour of hearing somebody say, you better. You gotta, like, you got. You got to be in your mind and you're in that line, if I don't do something really good, really fast.
Yes, it's a rap.
[00:15:22] Speaker A: Yes, yes, exactly.
[00:15:24] Speaker B: You know what I mean? Yeah, that's beautiful.
[00:15:26] Speaker A: Definitely 100 know what you mean, so what's.
[00:15:30] Speaker B: How is it that, you know, you, you decided that with people after the age of 40 that you were going to assist when it came to that, that second half, those doubts that aging the gray hairs kind of lifestyle.
[00:15:42] Speaker A: Yeah, well, because like the first book we. It's something that I was going through so with the mindset for young mental toughness for young athletes book that we wrote, that was something we were going through. And when I was like, if we get to the other side of this, I need to share this. So with the 40 year old person, I was going through that because my kid, you know, going off to college, going to do their stuff, my younger son is graduating and so it's like, so everyone's beginning to do their stuff. And I find myself with this time going, man, what am I do with. I don't have to tell him to go do his homework. I don't have to tell her to, you know, show up on time. I do all this stuff.
What am I doing? You know, that's a, that's a humbling moment.
Yeah, yeah. And you end up going, okay, so there's a lot of time left here. And so I was like going through this phase of like, really getting clear on what I want to do. Do I want to do music again? Do I want to. I was like, I don't want to go tour again. It's like I. That was a wonderful time touring and seeing other countries, but it's like I'm. I don't want to do that anymore, you know? So what is it that I want to do? What do I want to. How do I want to use the tools that I have? How do I use the experience that I have? And so I went through the steps that I write about in the book and they helped me find clarity and purpose. And I was like, let me write it down with the hopes that it will help someone else.
[00:17:01] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:17:02] Speaker A: Because most of the things that I was finding were like, you know, after 40, you need to accept your decline. And I'm like, nah, bruh, nah, we ain't doing that.
[00:17:13] Speaker B: Isn't that nuts? Isn't that, isn't that like, who. First of all, where did that. First of all, you should be glad that you're getting older. Like, I know, like, you know, there's nothing actually inherently nothing wrong with like, glad to see some years in life because that means you got, you know, I had a Scarface poster for a long time on my wall that said, every day above Earth is a good day. And it really truly is. You know what I'm saying?
[00:17:32] Speaker A: Like, yes.
[00:17:33] Speaker B: You know what I mean?
[00:17:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:35] Speaker B: It's. It's so people need to put. Bring in perspective that it's. It's. There's nothing wrong with aging, but you can actually, you know, you can control some things.
[00:17:44] Speaker A: You can control a lot of things. And the thing that I found is, like, once you get to the other side of that and you gain that clarity, you realize this is kind of the best time, because I know all the things I thought I knew when I was 20 something.
[00:17:58] Speaker B: I actually wrote that down. It's funny, I wrote that down. I saw you say that to that gentleman that you did a podcast for just a couple days ago.
[00:18:05] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. It's like, there's something about that, like, oh, and I actually have a little bit of resources to put this stuff together.
It's like, hey, why now? I'm gonna stop when I know the game.
[00:18:18] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:18:19] Speaker A: Come on, man.
[00:18:20] Speaker B: Well, I'll give, you know, I'll give you my personal example. So, like, I've been. I did martial arts for a long time. I did it all through college tournaments across the state of Michigan. And for people who are listening, I'm not lying about this. I really actually didn't do this. Right. I know people were like, did he really do this? No. I really won the Great Lakes cup in Lansing, Michigan, back in 2003 in my weight class. That's a true story.
I'm not saying I'm not a professional fighter. I don't. I have nowhere near your accomplishments, but I'm not juicing myself up for the sake of the show.
[00:18:48] Speaker A: That's a pretty darn big accomplishment, my guy. That's.
[00:18:51] Speaker B: That's amazing, but thank you. But what's interesting is I'm a better martial artist as I got older because I wasn't going off of just athleticism and youth.
[00:19:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:02] Speaker B: Now you actually know what you're looking at when you're performing a move.
Now, you know, Okay. I could really get, like. Because before you have all that adrenaline. Oh, yeah. You give me instruction. I can kick that high. I can just jump. And now that you can't do that. Okay, now you're positioning. Can I? Okay. Maybe I have to be more linear with my move. Maybe I need to be more timely because I'm younger and I'm a little heavier. So to your point, you start thinking about your own.
Not only, say, limitations, but you're able to break things down mentally quicker than you did when you were younger. When you were Just going off of. Just.
[00:19:34] Speaker A: I'm just going to go, yes, yes, yes.
Yeah, it's kind of like when I, when I. Funny, I talked to my son about when he's playing basketball, I was like, I watch this kid and we'd watch Playbomb. Like he's doing too much.
[00:19:50] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:19:50] Speaker A: Like if you watch like a, I don't know, a Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant or Earl Boykins or those guys, like, was it, I think Kyrie was talking about, I score off three dribbles?
[00:20:04] Speaker B: Exactly, Exactly.
No way.
[00:20:07] Speaker A: I don't have the between, between. Behind the back turnaround.
[00:20:10] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:20:10] Speaker A: Double Cross no.
3.
[00:20:13] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:20:14] Speaker A: I'm like, that's a master. When you're like, I know where I need to go. I need two to three moves to get there and I'm going to execute successfully. I don't need the rest of it.
[00:20:25] Speaker B: Correct. And so like, you know, it's almost like, like there's a reason why Johnny Cash is one of the most successful singers, you know, of all time. Wasn't because he sounded like Tony Bennett. Right. It's because he had his lane and where he was successful at with his respective. Nobody sounded like him.
[00:20:42] Speaker A: Right? Right.
[00:20:43] Speaker B: Nobody sounded so, like mastering your own lane is something that you've assisted people with because unfortunately, the Internet has allowed the imposter syndrome. And we've heard people, you know, make that, you know, those assumptions. Right.
Some people just have the six pack. And for people who are watching on the Internet, a lot of those influencers did not get that by just staying in the gym. Let's just call it.
Just call it for what it is. I'm not here to call nobody out, but people can do their own research. But to your point, it's about finding your own respective voice. It's about cultivating what makes you unique in your own respective field of work and being comfortable with that.
[00:21:23] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And it's really a powerful thing when you do. I mean, it's. It makes you one of one. It's like everyone talks about one of one. It's like you're already one of one. But when you really get clear on that voice and your inner power in your inner direction, especially after 40, once you figured out what life is supposed to look like, Right. It's. It's unmatched the amount of stuff that you can achieve and succeed at doing.
[00:21:48] Speaker B: Well, I saw your clips where you said you're super, your superpower. Right. So you have to find some of your clips where. And it sounds, I think people, you know, they need to pick up as a whole. But when you find your superpower, right? So, like, when I created this show, I was like, man, you know, I can't program, I can't code. I'm a really lousy cook. You know, I really don't. It's just terrible, right? So, like, but as I got, like, I was the guy who people always told, man, can that guy shut up. It wasn't rude, but I would always just have to talk about something. And so it started dawning on me as I watched documentaries, and I was always interested in things. Well, what if I just talk to people who are really fascinating and I can get a little bit of piece and nugget of what they. They share with the world?
And then you find out people like yourself are very forthcoming with that information. And I say that very respectfully. Right. Ask and she shall proceed. Right. And so they became. Well, you know, Troy reached out to me and I'm, you know, I'm just. Nobody outside of Detroit, but he's willing to give this information out, right?
[00:22:46] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, because, you know, it's funny, they say, you know, people who have seen this stuff and have lived, like, through the pain of getting here, you don't want anybody else to ever. Which is why I write these books. I'm like, if I can help you.
[00:23:04] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:05] Speaker A: Not go through that. It's like, we're all going to have struggles. We're all going to have things. They're going to be problems. Just don't have the same problems I have. Isn't that right?
[00:23:15] Speaker B: That's amazing.
What makes it even more amazing is I would never know until you brought. Until you said the things, right? Because I saw you. I saw your what if? Video, which I thought was beautiful. You know, you're seeing in the backyard and reading the comments. I thought those things were wonderful.
[00:23:29] Speaker A: Thanks, man.
[00:23:29] Speaker B: Below the surface, right? People have gone through things, but people only. There was an image I saw one time on LinkedIn, it was like of a bodybuilder or something like that, and they showed like an iceberg. And the iceberg is obviously beautiful, but then they show below the surface of the iceberg is the darkness. The, the, the. The. The sharks, the. The dirt, all the things that are unseen. You know, the ocean can only be seen for so many, for so much of a death. But below that is a lot of dark things which you only see this beautiful body. That's the glacier, right? What it took for that person to get that beautiful body.
[00:24:02] Speaker A: Man. Yes, yes.
[00:24:04] Speaker B: You know, What I mean, and they.
[00:24:05] Speaker A: Were willing, definitely willing to share, you know, how did, how did they get that? You know, I think everyone's like, I remember watching Cristiano Ronaldo was like, I'll give you. I'll tell you what I did. The question isn't whether or not you can do it. The question I tell my kids the question is always not. It's not, can you do it? It's will you do it?
[00:24:24] Speaker B: Will you do it? Listen, for sure.
[00:24:27] Speaker A: Here's the map. It's. Hey, there's the map.
[00:24:30] Speaker B: Isn't that amazing that people give the information out? Right? You know, I remember they talked to Tim Grover, you know, Jordan, former.
[00:24:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:24:37] Speaker B: Strength and conditioning coach and personal trainer. And he was like, you know, people all wanted to be under Michael, you know, and the only person that really stuck with it was Kobe, because when they realized what you actually had. No, not granted. You can't. You're. You're born with a 48 inch vert. Like, there's certain things that you have to work within the parameters of your own God given talent. Right.
Either you have that or you don't. But having said that, 4 o' clock in the morning by yourself is 4 o' clock in the morning by yourself, by yourself.
[00:25:06] Speaker A: And nobody's gonna go, hey, Kobe, you getting up, buddy?
[00:25:11] Speaker B: Yeah, you're gonna.
[00:25:12] Speaker A: Hey, hey. You only ran half on that one. Are you gonna run full on the next one?
[00:25:17] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:25:18] Speaker A: Those are the ones where it's like, okay.
[00:25:20] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:25:21] Speaker A: And those are the you versus you.
[00:25:23] Speaker B: Yeah, it really. It really truly is, you know, and so, you know, we could talk about this for. For hours.
We really could. But I thought one of the things you said very important was you said, I'm the captain. I thought that was very powerful. Right. And so you can eat. If when people say that, like, I'm the captain of my own ship, can you describe that?
[00:25:46] Speaker A: Yeah. So we go through life and, you know, through school and all that stuff. Someone's always telling us, hey, you need to do this. Hey, you need to eat that. Hey, go to bed. Here. Hey, the rule is this. Hey. The rule is that the biggest thing. That was one of the biggest things that I had to get in my mind after midlife was like, look, you know, you know, I lost loved ones and all those other things. And you go, you go, well, wait a minute.
I am the captain as a guy in that movie. I'm the captain now.
[00:26:13] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Right? Yeah.
[00:26:14] Speaker A: So if it's gonna happen, you need to make it happen. So it's like realizing that there is no other like authority that's going to say this, that the other. It's like it's you and you have the tools because they prepared you for them. It's like, okay, it's time to, to make this happen. That's how I felt anyways. Yeah.
[00:26:34] Speaker B: So oftentimes I think if we autopilot it, right? Because when you're on a college campus, like and I say this when 2001 hit, you know, 2001, 9, 11 hit. I was, I was in college, right. The world came to a screeching halt, right. Everything is panic and rightfully so because it was a cataclysm at once in a. I mean you could never picture every event like that happening. But on a college campus, classes canceled for one day and then the next day classes resumed again. So meanwhile you're insulated from the rest of the, like, what's really happening. You know, all these things that are facilitated around you. But on a college campus it's like, yeah, we had one day and yeah, people talked about it. But then eventually like everything else went on and you're, and you don't at that age because of where you're at, aren't seeing the consequences in real times. Businesses are changing, security protocols are changing, all these other requirements around the world are changing. Meanwhile, you're just going to class.
[00:27:31] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And someone, someone's saying, hey, you need to be here at 8 o'. Clock. Hey, we have homework due.
Hey, mess hall closes at 12 or whatever.
[00:27:41] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, it's like, yeah, we'll delay this for a day or two, but you know, we'll pick it right back up. Meanwhile, everything else is being facilitated in real time around you. So.
[00:27:52] Speaker A: Right.
[00:27:53] Speaker B: You have the gift of youth in that situation to pivot quickly because it doesn't really impact you.
It does impact you because people died and the country was impacted. But as far as your day to day motion, you really just, you know, we're still be able to wake up the next day and go about the rest of your day.
You know, there was, you were insulated from the rest of the things that took place. So what does the future hold for you? Are you still going to continue to sing, Entertain? I know you said touring that was something that was, you know, off the table because I'm sure it was a very long. Can you describe those briefly? What it was like going to those countries, by the way?
[00:28:30] Speaker A: Yeah, man, that was, it was fun. I mean it was absolutely amazing getting on a plane. I Mean, you know, you're a lot younger, so sleeping in the van or sleeping in the bus or sleeping in the. Whatever, it's, it's fun. You get up, you go do a show. You know, you, you go out and hang out, you get amazing food.
You know, it's like, it, it was absolutely amazing. And I'm glad I took that chance and that shot and that bet on myself during those times of life. Even though there were some quite interesting moments where, you know, it was like, yeah, what's she gonna do?
[00:29:05] Speaker B: So proverbial starving artist quote unquote.
[00:29:08] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah. And again, those are moments where you're in the bathroom, like the Will Smith dude holding the foot on the door. It's like, hey, do you want it? Do you want it or no? Because this is the, this is the, the journey through the woods that you have to take to get there.
Hey, are you willing to go all the way through the woods or no? So. But yeah, it was worth it for me. I loved it.
[00:29:28] Speaker B: I thought what was interesting when you described your book, and I think anybody who's a parent can relate to this when you, you know, when you said that it goes from being fun to being competitive. Right. And so, you know, and that's a, that's a, that's a transitional period where especially now that, that kids are getting nil deals at 13 and 14, they're getting already scholar scholarships, you know, they're high ups. You know, they can be signed to a college in eighth grade now and then just be like, okay, they already know where they're going four years from now.
[00:29:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:29:55] Speaker B: To your point, like navigating the pressure of the kid who just wants to play. And this isn't irrespective of sports, it could be going in the, in the, in the theater. Right. There's that one kid that's determined to be on the billboard, and there's the other kid whose parents are just like, hey, you know, Timmy, just, I just gotta get my kid off the couch, you know.
[00:30:11] Speaker A: Thank you for saying that. Yes. They're different. Yes, thank you for saying that. Because it's like, look, you can be. Like I said, you can do either one.
[00:30:21] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:30:22] Speaker A: But don't do one expecting the requirements of the other.
[00:30:26] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:30:28] Speaker A: You can do whichever one you want. You can do competitive, you can do non competitive, you can do, I want to be on Broadway. You can do. I just want to sing for fun. You can do either one of them. But if you decide to step into the arena of, let's just stay on the music, I want to go to be on Broadway or I want to get a record deal or whatever. We have different requirements for this.
[00:30:50] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:30:51] Speaker A: So don't show up to this expecting less requirements. If you don't want this, stay over here. And that's fine. Yes, it's fine. But don't get mad at this for being what it is.
[00:31:02] Speaker B: No question. And, you know, it's. It's almost like, listen, you know, I've told a couple different guests this. It's like, I really wanted to get in shape. Like, I really wanted to, like, like, legitimately, like, not just like, okay, I feel comfortable, but, like, kind of, like shredded. And so, like, yeah, when it got to the point where I really wanted to, like, I had a horror story one time where I was doing jiu jitsu, and then somebody, you know, filmed their wife, filmed it, and then he sent me the video, and I saw what I saw. And I was mortified, you know, by what I saw, because here you are looking in the mirror, thinking everything straight, you know, Like, I mean, I feel. I'm feeling myself. And then, you know, you could do two things. When you see that flab in real time that's presented back to you, because there's no. Ain't no AI in that bad boy. I mean, so now you're like, I have to eat, right?
I have to think twice before I eat that bag of chips. I have to be cognizant of fast food. I'm not perfect. But now it gets to the point where you got to jump rope. You got a shadow box. You got to do calisthenics. And when you times for a meal, it has to be a small, cheat meal on a given day of the week. It can't be the regular food that you ate.
[00:32:07] Speaker A: Hey, hey. Again, it's like, what do you want?
[00:32:10] Speaker B: What do you want?
[00:32:11] Speaker A: Right.
[00:32:11] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:32:12] Speaker A: What do you want?
[00:32:12] Speaker B: Right?
[00:32:13] Speaker A: You can have either one. What do you want? And if you want this, this is what it costs.
[00:32:17] Speaker B: It does. It does. And, you know, it got to the point where, you know, I knew that when, you know, when the clothes started fitting a little bit better or when the skin started improving, I was making the necessary adjustments. And then when you weren't faking the funk, the worst thing you can do is lie to yourself, right? It's. It literally, it is very difficult, particularly for men to stop lying to yourself, that either, A, I'm looking the way that I want to look, B, I'm as talented as I say that I am, or C, I'M putting in the work necessary to achieve it.
And that's the truth.
[00:32:53] Speaker A: Because everybody else knows the truth. You only fooling yourself. Everybody else already knows. Everybody else already sees it. They might go, oh, no, it's fine. It's like. But they know.
[00:33:04] Speaker B: They don't.
[00:33:04] Speaker A: The only person you're tricking is yourself.
[00:33:06] Speaker B: That's the only person you like crazy. And the people who are the experts whose field of work you're trying to get into, they already know whether you're full of it or not.
[00:33:14] Speaker A: You know, Hey, I always. It's funny you say that, man, because it's like, people will walk. Like, even with our acting school, whatever. People will walk in any in. In auditions.
You. The only reason they need 16 bars when you sing is because by bar two, they already know. Oh, my God, bar one, really?
Bar two, just like to make sure they know. But bar one, I already know if you get a. If you got it or not.
[00:33:39] Speaker B: Jeez, man, that's.
[00:33:41] Speaker A: Hope.
[00:33:43] Speaker B: You never saw me in that room for a reason. There's a reason why you.
[00:33:47] Speaker A: But it's just like, you know, just like with, with taekwondo. It's like the minute a guy sits on the mat, the way he moves his first move before he even strikes, he knows what he's doing.
[00:33:57] Speaker B: You know, I could, you know, we come from completely two different worlds and two different pinnacles of success. You know, obviously you have done wonderful things, and I think giving the interview time isn't enough to justify, you know, all your accomplishments. But anybody who says that they know martial arts, you can find out instantaneously. Do they? Okay, what lineage, what country, where you were, how do you tie your belt the minute you get on a mat? I don't care. You know, I have. I've had less experience in jiu jitsu than I do in karate and stand up striking arts. But I know what I'm looking at when I do something. So even when I would go to jiu jitsu, it's funny now, it came from a karate background. Guys that did jiu jitsu were like, what do you know? That's the first thing, because they saw how I moved when I started positioning myself.
[00:34:40] Speaker A: Yeah, what do you know?
[00:34:42] Speaker B: I said, I'm a black belt. Karate. They're like, I knew instantaneously. You knew something.
[00:34:46] Speaker A: Yes. I'm like, damn, yes.
[00:34:48] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:34:49] Speaker A: Yes. Right?
[00:34:50] Speaker B: You can sing and dance, but people know when you step in a room, this guy knows what he's doing, even if it's not this particular style.
Instant, right?
[00:35:00] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:35:01] Speaker B: That's Amazing. Isn't.
[00:35:03] Speaker A: Is. It is. But it's just like. I don't know, maybe it's an energy. Maybe it's a. It's your own knowing, really. It's your own knowing of what it looks like. So when you see.
Doesn't take. Hey, how long does it take you to recognize a duck? When a duck walks in the room, you know, immediately, that's a duck.
No one's got to tell you. They don't have to, you know, you don't have to think about it like, nah, there, right there. That's a duck.
[00:35:25] Speaker B: Well, hey, I think, you know, it's like that scene in Shawshank, right? You know, where, you know, Andy plays the music, and it was Italian or French, and even though nobody knew the words of what it meant, they knew it was something beautiful, right? And they all stopped and listened to it, and they just like, it put them in a harmless space. I watch a lot of subtitles, you know, in foreign films, and, you know, a sad scene. Even when you don't know the language of what's being spoken, the emotion. One of my favorite movies is Lavi and Rose, right? You know, it's great film, all in French, so you have to pay attention to the movies, but you can tell when something emotional is taking place. The tone, the quivering of a voice. You don't need to know French to know that that's a very powerful scene that's taking place.
And there's something to be said when people can convey that in a language that somebody doesn't know.
[00:36:13] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. For me, it was like that. That scene in Life is beautiful. Have you seen that movie at all?
[00:36:20] Speaker B: Yes, yes, yes.
[00:36:22] Speaker A: He marches. When he marches happily in front of his son, even right now, I'm like.
[00:36:28] Speaker B: That was a tough set that moves. A tough set, that movie. I saw it, like, when it first came out, that was like 99 or 98.
[00:36:36] Speaker A: Yes.
He does that march in front of his son. It's even now, man. I'm like, good God.
[00:36:42] Speaker B: Yeah, Isn't that. Isn't that crazy? But, yeah, like you said, I don't speak Italian, but you knew what it meant. You know what I mean? And so those are the things that you can't replace when it comes to human emotion, and it's beauty. And I'll leave this with. With this, because I respect your time and schedule. What do you want to leave the world with when it comes to your inspiration, your music? Do you want to be known? Obviously, I'm sure at the forefront is family. And fatherhood. But from messaging to other people, what energy do you want to put out?
[00:37:11] Speaker A: There are two things that people will take with them from this is that is you can do. If you have a vision in your mind to do something, you have that vision for a reason.
Is it going to be able to get there?
Yes, it's just going to be really just know it's going to be work to get there and there'll be many times it tests you along the way. But if you have a vision as a someone I forget one of the famous fighter something I think even Conor McGregor I think it was like saying if you can see it here, if you can see it here, you can have. But many people have said this of course so that's number one. Number two is I don't know how to say this tactfully and I'm probably going to say it the wrong way. So I'm sorry for anyone out there but, but the, the, they're not that smart.
And by that I mean the one, the people that say you know this can't or you can't do this or the people that you think are like these higher up like position people that control your world, they're not that smart that I mean it's like whatever they know you can figure it out. Whatever they know you can figure it out. Because I went through so much life thinking other people had this key. The answer, the special this or that the other, the, you know, the, the information that I had to.
[00:38:29] Speaker B: There's my sticker in yours wasn't available. It wasn't available to you, right?
[00:38:33] Speaker A: There's was. It's all available to you. Yeah, all of it. All of it.
[00:38:38] Speaker B: So it truly is and usually in the funny part about it is a lot of it's free.
A lot of it is free. Like a lot of it like it's free. It really is like you know. Yeah, you just have to have, you really have to actually like stop doom scrolling.
[00:38:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:38:55] Speaker B: Actually you know, look what, look what MP3. I remember, you know, when Napster came out you're like I can get my music now. I'm not. I want artists to get paid. But as a 15 year old kid, full disclosure. Yeah, I bootlegged a lot. Okay.
But to your point it was readily accessible and available and the industry had to adjust to what took place and then that opened the doors up to YouTubes of the world. But the information was out there. It just took a couple people to crack the code so to speak or be the rule breakers to figure it out. And then it became the floodgates open. So, yeah, you know, all of this is available. People with podcasts, they're sharing information to people.
[00:39:34] Speaker A: Yeah, it's all available. All of it.
[00:39:36] Speaker B: Yeah, it really is. And so, you know, I. I always ask this to my guests, not because it's because of me, but because for the purpose of the show, where can.
[00:39:44] Speaker A: People find Troy horn.com I made it easy. T R O Y H-O-R N E dot com. Yeah, I have all the stuff up there. And, yeah, free downloads.
And then if you are over 40, I would encourage you to go on Amazon and look up middle management by myself, hopefully, that if that's something that would help you navigate that space in your life.
Yeah, that's another resource.
[00:40:10] Speaker B: That's wonderful. And I think that.
I think for, you know, for the people who are concerned about aging, I mean, at some point, if you're fortunate enough to live that long, you learn to navigate it really well. And it's because of people like you that it makes it a lot easier.
You know, whether it's the self doubts, whether it's the body that takes a little longer to recover from the workout, you know, Surreal.
[00:40:31] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. But, you know, which workouts to do.
You know, it's kind of like you go into. That martial arts thing is kind of like the. The sensei that knows, like, that's all I need to bring you to your knees.
[00:40:43] Speaker B: Exactly.
Meanwhile, the kid goes in there.
[00:40:46] Speaker A: Pressure point. Is it? Yeah.
He's doing all this stuff. And the master walks up and goes, pressure point. And you're like, right.
[00:40:54] Speaker B: It's like the Indiana Jones when he just shot the guy. Right. I'm not doing all that.
[00:40:58] Speaker A: Hey, you don't need all that.
[00:41:01] Speaker B: I wish I had the. The special sauce to keep you on as long as possible, because, you know, it's. It's a testament to who you are that you're willing to share your time with me on this show.
But it has been an honor and a pleasure.
[00:41:13] Speaker A: Well, thank you so much for having me. It's a bit. It's been an honor and so much fun, man. This has been so much fun to do.
[00:41:17] Speaker B: I was nervous, man. Like, like, real talk. I was real nervous.
[00:41:21] Speaker A: No, no, no, no. Yeah.
[00:41:24] Speaker B: Very appreciate it. Troy Horn from the Tron podcast, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you.
[00:41:28] Speaker A: Thank you.
