How Reading Creates Motivation, Leadership and Powerful Habits for Life with Dr. Danny Brassell

In this episode, I will visit with Dr. Danny Brassell, a highly sought-after speaker, trainer, and coach.

For nearly three decades, Dr. Danny Brassell has served as an educational advisor to students ranging from preschoolers to rocket scientists. While he has held a variety of titles and worked with leaders from a variety of fields and disciplines, Danny has always considered himself first and foremost a teacher.

A recognized authority on leadership development, motivation and communication skills, Danny has been honored consistently for his strategic intellect and practical solutions. Audiences rave about Danny’s ability to deliver meaningful and memorable messages that are applicable for individuals within all levels of organizations. A gregarious, sought-after author, speaker and business consultant, Danny is characterized by friends, colleagues and clients as one of the most insightful, powerful and compassionate individuals in business today. Thousands, from small business owners to corporate executives, have enjoyed his energetic, interactive and informative presentations.

Today we'll discuss topics like motivation, leadership, powerful habits, and the importance of reading. Dr. Danny shares his journey as an author and his passion for promoting the reading habit. He also provides tips for creating wealth, improving health, and achieving weight loss. Overall, the episode offers inspiring stories and practical advice for living a fulfilling life.

Learn more about The Reading Habit and Dr. Danny on his website www.thereadinghabit.com and be sure to pick up your free ebook and bonuses at www.freegiftfromdanny.com/

Transcript

Magic Barclay: 1:00

Welcome back to a magical life. I'm your host, Magic Markley. And today, Dr. Danny Bressel joins us. He is a highly sought after speaker, trainer, and coach known as the Jim Carrey with a PhD. Dr. Danny has spoken to over 3, 500 audiences worldwide and authored 16 books. Yes, we'll have to ask him about that. And that includes his latest, which is called Leadership Begins with Motivation. Danny is the co founder of the reading habit.com, which is the world's top reading engagement program. Welcome Danny.

Dr. Danny Brassell: 1:43

Thanks so much for having me. Magic. More importantly, thanks for spreading joy in the world. We need a lot more of

Magic Barclay: 1:47

you. Oh, thank you. Now, 16 books. Why, what are they about? Tell us

Dr. Danny Brassell: 1:55

Well, my, my first book, so the first few are very academic in nature. I was all excited about my first book because I always wanted to see my name on the spine of a, of a book. And, uh, the very first book I wrote, I actually co-wrote it with a, a famous, um. And his contribution to the book was, uh, his name on the cover and a longer biography than me. and then it turned out that the, the spine was, uh, spiral bound. And so you couldn't see my name and I was so disappointed. I had to write another book right after that. And it's just led from one thing to another. And as I moved from, uh, speaking primarily to education audiences to working a lot more with, corporations, entrepreneurs, organizations, uh, my, my writing has kind of been a little bit more generalized from just an academic audience to a broader audience. So, uh, and I love it. I'm writing two books right now.

Magic Barclay: 2:51

I love it too. Now, the Jim Carrey with a PhD. How did that come about?

Dr. Danny Brassell: 2:58

Well, I guess people think I'm funny. I try. I began my career as a journalist and then, uh, I I had all these great job offers from all these major dailies and then very large American Daily newspaper offered me a job working the city beat for 16, 500 a year. And then a friend told me, Hey, they're hiring teachers in the inner city in South Central Los Angeles. For 25, 000 a year. So I always tell people I became a teacher for the noblest of reasons for the high pay. And it turned out to be a wonderful calling. I always had an audience that was stuck with me. And, I started off as a secondary teacher. Then I moved from high school to middle school, to upper elementary, to lower elementary. to pretty soon instead of preparing students for college. I was coming home with snot marks all over my pants from my little ones hugging me all the time. And I learned that what works with older students does not necessarily work with kindergartners, but what works with kindergartners works with all age levels. And it was the kindergartners that really Taught me to lighten up and, uh, enjoy life a whole lot. So hopefully, uh, I'm able to energize my audiences and engage them the way I was able to, uh, engage kindergartners. Cause kindergarten is New York, New York. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. Cause they only have about a seven minute attention span. If that. Yeah.

Magic Barclay: 4:23

So I really do love that. And I think as adults, we forget play. We forget that life should be about enjoying ourselves. We make it too serious and we suck the fun out of it.

Dr. Danny Brassell: 4:38

I completely agree.

Magic Barclay: 4:39

And as business owners, we do the same. Get bogged down in, you know, profit margins and KPIs and taxes and rules and regulations. We don't just. Do what makes our hearts sing.

Dr. Danny Brassell: 4:52

Yeah. And you're not going to be in business very long if you're miserable all the time. I mean, you know, when I run my masterminds, uh, I call it the six F philosophy to establishing your freedom and is you focus on your financial goals, your fitness goals, your family goals, your faith goals, your. fulfillment goals, and then your fun goals. Uh, and if, uh, you dedicate at least one day a week to each of those, uh, you'll find a little bit of balance in your life. Too many of us are putting in 25 hour work days, eight days a week. And, uh, you know, business is a marathon. It's not a sprint.

Magic Barclay: 5:24

Love it. Okay. Let's get into the standard three questions I ask everyone and. I'm really excited about how you're going to answer this and a little bit nervous as well, but here we go. So the first one, what can your expertise do to accelerate health, not just physical, but also emotional and spiritual health?

Dr. Danny Brassell: 5:46

Yeah. So, magic really my specialty. I find schools do an adequate job of teaching people how to read. But the question I always ask is, what good is it teaching people how to read if they never want to read? I teach people why to read because I've never had to tell a kid, go watch TV. I've never had to tell a kid, go play a video game. And I never want to have to tell a kid, go read a book. I want them to choose to do it on their own because they love it. And I don't think that there's anything More fulfilling for your health, your mental, your emotional wellbeing than reading a really good book. there's a great Spanish proverb I love, that goes, how marvelous it is, to do nothing and then rest the rest of the afternoon. And I think there's nothing wrong with spending a really lazy day behind a really good book or two.

Magic Barclay: 6:32

I love it. And from health. Practitioners perspective, having that time with a book can really support a healthy nervous system. It can take you out of fight, flight, freeze, fade, or fawn. It can just help you reset everything. And certainly if you're sitting in the sunshine, get a great dose of vitamin D while you're reading a book. So there's many things that just taking that time, that calmness, that stillness. Can benefit you with

Dr. Danny Brassell: 7:04

completely agree. And there's all kinds of research to support that magic. I mean, here in the United States, there's a wonderful program called reach out and read, which, uh, pediatricians make sure that they supply free books to, uh, expectant and new mothers. Uh, there was a great study done, uh, in North Carolina with 40 mothers, who were pregnant and every night. They would have their husbands read to the womb, Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. Well, when the babies were all born, they had a researcher read aloud five books to the babies and every baby had a visual reaction to Green Eggs and Ham. So, uh, there's, there's a therapeutic value to reading that, uh, starts a preconception and goes on for a

Magic Barclay: 7:45

lifetime. And I certainly read to both my kids while they were still growing and my first child. You know, I thought this was normal, but he was reading alone before he was one. Oh, gee. Wow. I actually thought everyone else's kids were a bit simple. I didn't realize that was special, but you know, books have always been part of our life. And so for my kids, every year, they're now 20, nearly 21 and 23 every year, no matter what they want for their birthday, they get books.

Dr. Danny Brassell: 8:22

That's the one gift I'll never throw away is when somebody gives me a book and inscribes it to me. I always keep those.

Magic Barclay: 8:28

Me too. All right. Question number two. We talk about wealth here and people think that's just financial. But it can also be personal and emotional wealth. So what are your top three tips to creating wealth?

Dr. Danny Brassell: 8:44

Well, first of all, I'm sure you're familiar with it, Really the book that, everybody needs to read is Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. It was written, I think, in the late 1930s. And he defines wealth in those broad terms as well. Wealth doesn't just mean, uh, financial wealth. It's like what I was talking about. Uh, who cares if you're the wealthiest person in the world if your family doesn't know you? if your health is failing, if, uh, you have no spiritual wellbeing. Uh, so, You know, uh, one of my mentors, Charlie Tremendous Jones, said, You're the same today as you will be in five years, except for two things. The people you meet and the books you read. So, uh, the first tip to wealth is, uh, Be very careful and surround yourself with people that lift you up and make sure to fill your mind with lots of positive things that encourage you. So, uh, reading is definitely essential to wealth in that, framework. Uh, second thing, uh, that I think would be, uh, really important for your wealth is, uh, Exactly what your entire podcast is about is you're never gonna be wealthy if you're not healthy. And so you need to take time for you You need to make sure you take a walk every single day. You smell the flowers You breathe You start and end your day reading something that lifts you up, uh, whether it's the Bible or something inspirational. but, uh, wealthy people, truly wealthy people also have to be healthy people. And then the third tip, to wealth is again, surrounding yourself with that support system where you have people that are encouraging you. All the time. And, uh, you know, one of my mentors, Zig Ziglar said, you can accomplish anything you want in life by helping others accomplish what they want in life. And so really, uh, even with my little ones, I always used to tell them, the easiest way to make a lot of friends is to start by being a friend. And, finding that lonely person on the playground and, uh, inviting them over to your table and things like that. So I think those are three keys. It's not limited to those three, but, uh, those are three of my top keys to, wealthy life.

Magic Barclay: 10:38

Fantastic. And our final standard question is around weight loss. It's certainly part of my life. A quest that I seem to always be on people often find that their weight journey is connected to high stress levels or not feeling right within themselves. So have you ever battled your weight? If so, how did you win the battle? And what can you offer the listeners who might be on this journey?

Dr. Danny Brassell: 11:07

Well, this is one of the things that intrigue me about you, Magic. I mean, a lot of people don't know this about me. I'm actually a wet, I'm a weight loss expert. I have lost over 1, 000 pounds. The problem is I've gained over 1, 230 pounds for a net gain of 230 pounds. But, my latest fad diet has been working wonders. May I share it with you, Magic? Ooh, please do. Oh, okay. So, so for breakfast, I'll have half a grapefruit, a slice of whole wheat toast, and eight ounces of skim milk. Home milk will kill you. Then for lunch, I'll typically have four ounces of lean chicken breast. I'll have it with either steamed zucchini or maybe steamed broccoli. I'll down it with a cup of herbal tea because studies have shown that, uh, that actually speeds up your weight loss. And then just to reward myself for doing so well, I like to treat myself to an Oreo cookie. Then for my mid afternoon snack, I typically eat the rest of the package of Oreo cookies. I'll have a quart of Rocky Road ice cream and a jar of hot fudge. Sometimes I pour it on the ice cream. Usually I just drink it directly from the jar. And for dinner, I'll typically have two loaves of banana bread, a large pepperoni pizza, a pitcher of beer, five Milky Ways, and an entire frozen and cheesecake eaten directly out of the freezer. Ugh. I've got a bad habit, Magic. Two, actually. I overeat, and I like to eat junk. And I always ask audiences, raise your hand if you have a bad habit. And those of you that aren't raising your hands, your bad habit is you're a liar. I'm actually so blessed to have a really bad habit because I learned it's a whole lot easier to create a good habit than to break a bad habit. you can name any diet on the planet and I've probably done it magic. And it's been such a blessing for me because I have True empathy for anybody going through a weight loss journey. I mean, I've gone through every yo yo diet possible. As a matter of fact, right now I've been doing intermittent fasting, which seems to be doing a pretty good job for now. But it's all about how do I establish this as a long term habit for those people out there that are trying to lose weight and they're feeling discouraged. I just want you to know that you can never fail if you never quit. And, uh, you need to surround yourself with people that will, uh, encourage you. You need to educate yourself. Listening to this podcast is a great start reading about, different ways, to eat healthier, become fitter. you don't have to run a marathon to become fitter. Uh, if you just walk a half hour a day, that's wonderful. So I have a lot of empathy for, uh. the people of your audience, Magic, because I'm, I'm one of those people. I've gone through that my entire life and I actually consider it a blessing because it makes me empathize with people that have drug addiction or, or, uh, some other type of addiction that I don't have because my, my bad habit is I've had poor eating habits, uh, that I've established throughout my life. And I, I continue that journey to try and break those habits and replace them with better habits.

Magic Barclay: 14:08

I love it. And I was going to say, once you went through what you eat in a day, but at least you started with half a grapefruit.

Dr. Danny Brassell: 14:16

Oh, it's tough. It's tough.

Magic Barclay: 14:19

I think so many people try and make a diet in inverted commas work for them, but. You know, if my listeners have learned anything through this podcast, it's know who you are and why you want to be a certain weight and go with the flow because your body is doing amazing things for you. And maybe being skinny isn't in your best interests at the moment.

Dr. Danny Brassell: 14:44

Yeah, that's, that's true. Indeed. I mean, God made us all unique. you know, just because I want to weigh 181 pounds doesn't mean I am supposed to weigh 181 pounds.

Magic Barclay: 14:57

Love it. Okay. Tell us more about the readinghabit. com. Tell us more about Dr. Danny. Tell us more.

Dr. Danny Brassell: 15:07

Well, that's really one of the things I wanted to give to your audience, Magic, as a thank you for having to endure me. I want to give everybody a couple of free gifts. So if you go to freegiftfromdanny. com, again, free gift from Danny. I'm going to give you two freebies. First of all, I'm going to give everybody a complimentary e copy of my book, Read, Lead, and Succeed. This is a book I wrote for a school principal who was trying to keep his faculty and staff positively engaged. So I said, okay, I'll write you a book. So every week I give you a concept, an inspirational quote, an inspirational story. A book recommendation on a book you should read, but you're probably too lazy because you're an adult. So I also give you a children's picture book recommendation that demonstrates the same concept. You can read that in five minutes. I'm also going to give everybody access to a five day reading challenge I did online last summer for about 700 parents around the world. Where every day for an hour for five consecutive days, I will give you all kinds of tips to get your kid excited about reading at home. Because the more excited we get kids to read, The more likely they are to read and the more they read, the better they get. Uh, it's basically a preview into my program. The reading habit program, uh, is actually very similar to what you're talking about with your listeners about, dieting. it's based on the premise. A lot of people will tell you it takes 21 days to change a habit. And to those people, I say, show me the research. It's a completely fabricated number. I know exactly where it comes from. It comes from a wonderful book written in 1960 by Dr Maxwell Maltz called Psycho Cybernetics. And in the preface of the book, Dr Maltz was a plastic surgeon, and he noted that Uh, it took most of his patients about 21 days to get adjusted to their new face. Well, a lot of personal development self help gurus, a lot of people I respect by the way, they started telling people it takes 21 days to change a habit and that's completely false. It's based on no research. Well, researchers at the University of London in 2009 did a habit formation study and they learned it took anywhere from 18 to 254 days to change a habit. And the average was 66 days. Well, I don't like the number 66. So my program takes 67 days. I threw in a bonus day. Um, and here's why this number is very important, for everybody in the audience. Let's say you go on a diet and you follow it religiously for 21 days, but then you fall off the wagon on day 22. Will you blame yourself? Well, that's that's false because research shows it takes on average three times longer and it depends on the type of habit, by the way, that you're trying to change the researchers found that, for example, if you're trying to drink a glass of water before breakfast every morning, that might take 18 days to make that into a habit. But if you're trying to quit smoking, that's going to take 254 days. And I think it's really Transcribed dangerous to get people thinking they can transform a lifetime of bad habits in under a month. you know, even my program, what's awesome with the reading program is in just over two months, in the 67 days, we're gonna You know, kids typically boost their reading ability by 2 to 3 grade levels, which is all fine and good. But what's near and dear to me, what's important in my heart is that kids love reading, and that's a lifetime skill. That's not something that's going to be condensed in, um, in the classroom. The other number that's important in my program is the number 20. So researchers were trying to figure out what helps What are the successful habits of successful students around the world? And they stumbled upon one that just blew them away. It was the number of minutes spent reading outside of school. So they looked at the low kids, the average kids, and the high kids. The kids at the bottom of the class, in the 20th percentile, failing students, they averaged less than a minute a day of reading outside of school. That didn't surprise anybody, that's probably why those kids are at the bottom of the class. But this did surprise the researchers. The kids in the middle of the class, the 70th percentile, the C students, your average students, they average 9. 6 minutes a day reading outside of school. And so when I'm doing a live training with parents, this is usually when the room gets real quiet and the first hand raises, and a parent asks, Wait a sec, are you telling me if I can get my kid to read 10 minutes a day at home, I can take him from an F to a C? That's exactly what I'm saying. There's a lot of research to support this, but this really blew away the researchers, the kids near the top of the class in the 90th percentile, you're a students, do they spend three hours a day reading outside of school? No. Do they spend an hour a day reading outside of school? No. The average was just over 20 minutes a day. My entire goal for my program is to teach you habits so that you can get your kid reading 20 minutes a day outside of school. And there's two things that are awesome. First of all, those 20 minutes don't have to be consecutive. So you can do three minutes here, five minutes there, whatever. And then secondly, being read aloud to is just as impactful as reading on your own. A lot of people don't know this. Over half of the fortune CEOs are dyslexic and a lot of people don't understand that. You know, dyslexia is a reading disability. All reading disabilities are curable, and I actually, I don't really like that term disability. It's just a different ability. And, uh, the thing that's interesting about dyslexics is they, they process things very well auditory through their ears. And so, for those people, listening to books, audible books, books on tape, that's a great way to improve their reading. And again, If you're on your weight loss journey, you need to be listening to things that are gonna lift you up every day to encourage you. I mean, um, you know, one of the diets I did was this great program called Michael Thurman, six Week Body Makeover. And I did that program'cause my wife is from Singapore and every time we fly to Singapore, her family. will make me eat like 15 whole chickens, or else it's insulting the culture. I mean, I just gain so much weight every time I go to Singapore. And so, um, on Michael Thurman's six week body makeover, he guarantees that you'll lose 30 pounds in six weeks or less, or your money back. So it cost 154, I think. And I said, okay, I'm going to do it just so I can get my money back. And in, um, In five weeks, I lost 35 pounds and it was the easiest diet I ever did. It was actually some of the best lifestyle changes I ever made. It's fantastic. But he was a great teacher, because, great teachers, they, they, they paint pictures in your head. And he said something, which I'll never forget. First of all, I knew he knew what he was talking about because he said, you don't have to work out to lose weight, and I knew he knew exactly what he was talking about because I used to play sports and all my coaches said, No, no, you should work out. It's important. It's important to build up your muscles, but that's not where weight loss comes from. Most of your weight loss comes from your diet, which is exactly correct. But Michael Thurman said something which always stuck with me. He said, think of your metabolism like a bonfire. If you throw a log on it, it puts it out. But if you throw kindling on it, it keeps it burning all the time. And so the whole premise of his diet is you should be, uh, grazing throughout the day, eating every two to three hours. And I, I, I still am amazed. That was the easiest diet I ever did. I didn't stick to it because, uh, I'm a human being and I'm flawed and I have a tough time sticking to positive habits, but, I will tell you that, that worked and it's worked for everybody I've ever seen do that program.

Magic Barclay: 22:36

I love that. So I mentioned earlier that. I had a child reading before he was one independently. I'm very interested to find out, and this is probably very off topic and tangent like, I guess, very interested to find out why some kids. Take to reading so easily, like no one ever taught him. He taught himself and then other struggle. I know his younger brother had to go through reading recovery programs and things like that. So what is it with our kids that gives them that innate ability to read or that produces the struggle?

Dr. Danny Brassell: 23:16

Yeah. I mean, that's the million dollar question, magic. It's kind of like your metabolism. Why is it that my wife? Weighs 115 pounds and she eats like a, an offensive lineman. And I, I I'm overweight and I'm like eating lettuce. Like I'm a rabbit. It drives me nuts. It's not fair. but that's what makes us all different. Everybody's a little bit different. And as a teacher, I just always encourage kids. I'm like, you know. When you're applying to Oxford or to Harvard or to Sorbonne, it doesn't ask you on the application when you learned how to read. You know, you know how to read. Some people, you know, they learn before age one. That's incredible. Some people, they're not learning how to read until, you know, General Patton is one of the most well read people. In history, and he didn't learn how to read until he was sixth grade, 12 years old. So, uh, everybody blossoms at different times. Uh, I used to tell my kindergartners, I said, I hope to God, this isn't the best year of your life. I hope it's next year and the year after that. I mean, the, the windshield's a lot bigger than the rear view mirror. I mean, I played high school football with guys that still talk about how we played high school football together. I mean, that's a loser attitude, you know, let's look, let's think about the present and the future, not the past. so everybody, everybody blossoms at different time periods. And, you'll notice that once you start teaching, magic. I mean, when I, when I started teaching, I realized that, the male species is lucky to be alive because girls are so much smarter than little boys. I mean, the boys eventually catch up around middle school, but the little girls at the beginning are years above the little boys. And that's fine. You know, everybody blossoms at different time periods. And it's, it's a really good parallel to this podcast with, with weight loss is, you know, some people, they try this and it doesn't work at all. And some people try this and it works wonderfully. Well, there's, it's different strokes for different folks.

Magic Barclay: 25:01

Very much so. Now we've covered a lot here. Is there something we haven't discussed that you feel the listeners might need to hear?

Dr. Danny Brassell: 25:11

Well, I think that everybody needs to hear that, you were put here for a purpose. there's a lot of people hurting right now. The pandemic just. Kind of changed everything. And, a lot of people are looking at it as one of the worst things ever to happen. And I think, well, you can look at it that way, or you can look at it as one of the best things ever to happen. I mean, for me, you know, as a speaker, all of my speaking engagements were wiped out overnight, but it allowed me all kinds of time with my family. It allowed me to, uh, I actually was fitter. During the pandemic than I am after the pandemic, I didn't require all the things that I need. It seems, real world today. but there's a lot of people out there hurting and you know, I want everybody out there listening, knowing that God made you for a purpose. And you know, no matter what you do, you're always a teacher and a role model. And no matter how your book has begun, You know, you're in charge of the ending and let's have a strong finish. And so if you're feeling a little bit of helpless out there, I mean, there's people out there that are feeling like there's, there's no tomorrow. I mean, but, uh, the brightest light comes after the darkest darkness, every morning. Uh, and so I want people to keep hope and, you know, one of my tips is turn off the TV news and read something very inspiring, like a funny children's book every single day.

Magic Barclay: 26:31

I love that. That is fantastic. So the website is www. thereadinghabit. com. Thank you so much for joining us. And 16 books, two more on the way. What's the number you think you might reach?

Dr. Danny Brassell: 26:49

Oh, I don't even have a number in my head. I just enjoy doing it. The last book I wrote, uh, I used to listen to Paul Harvey on the radio. Paul Harvey passed away a couple of years ago at the age of 325 years old. And he used to come on the radio every day at 1215. He'd say, I'm Paul Harvey with the rest of the story. And he'd tell you these cool stories. And the entire time you're trying to figure out who's he talking about? What companies are you talking about? Well, I read these to kids and they love them, but, you know, Paul Harvey stories were about like Sears and Roebuck, and, you know, kids today are like, they don't know what Sears and Roebuck is. What is that company? And so I wrote, uh, My Leadership Begins With Motivation book is, is an updated kind of homage to Paul Harvey. So it's about, People like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. And the reason I'm writing two books right now is after I wrote The Leadership Begins With Motivation book, Magic, completely unintentionally, as I read it over, I'm like, Oh my gosh, almost all of my examples in this book are of white male Americans. And so the book I'm writing right now. is, primarily females and minorities and women. actually, you'll like it. I have a great, uh, you, you would know it. Americans don't know the guy. Have you ever heard of Cliff Young? The potato

Magic Barclay: 28:03

farmer. Yes. There

Dr. Danny Brassell: 28:04

you go. Cliff Young. I, I, it's one of the most inspiration. I want all of your listeners to read about Cliff Young. If they don't know. They can, uh, email me and I'll send the story I just wrote about Cliff Young. But, uh, he's a great example of a person that, it's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't know you're not supposed to.

Magic Barclay: 28:22

So for the listeners, Cliff Young back in the eighties was an old guy and, uh, he was a potato farmer and he decided that he could run, even though everyone around him was saying. You're too old, you can't, you've never done this before. And he actually did very, very well and represented Australia and, was a complete unknown celebrity. He was fantastic.

Dr. Danny Brassell: 28:49

Yeah, so in 1983, there's an ultramarathon between two malls, I think, in Melbourne and, uh, and Sydney. 538 miles is the distance, I believe. And all these ultramarathoners got ready at the start of the race, and all of a sudden, Cliff Young, 61 year old farmer, shows up in galoshes and boots. Ready to run. Everybody looks at him like he's crazy and, they all start the race and like everybody figured Cliff Young was behind everybody else. Well, then that night, all the other racers, they stopped to rest alongside the road, but nobody ever told Cliff that you're supposed to rest at night. And so he kept on running through the night. He did it the next day and the day after that. And not only did he win the race. He won by 10 hours over his closest competitor and he broke the record by like two days And then the best part of the story that your listeners have to hear magic is that he was awarded prize money And he felt bad about winning the prize money. And so he distributed it to all the other competitors And so, you know, Australians love the guy that created, like, uh, a medal in his honor and everything. But it's just one of the most inspiring stories I've ever heard. And, I think there might be a movie about him. I gotta, I gotta track it down. But, maybe they need a new movie. Hugh Jackman would be a perfect Cliff Young. Hugh Jack, I guess. We can't have, Russell Crowe. He's too large. He has to die at first, but, uh, Hugh Jackman would be a good Cliff young.

Magic Barclay: 30:19

So for the listeners, Cliff was 61, but he looked about 85. He was skinny and weedy and very well weathered from farming. And as you said, he turned up in what we call gumboots, you guys call galoshes. So incorrect footwear and this guy just, he looked like there's no way he'd even make it to the outskirts of Melbourne, let alone to Sydney. And for the listeners, I live on the road to Sydney and it's quite a harsh road. You know, you go through all the, uh, The months of the year on one road, you can be boiling hot in one section, 10 minutes down the road, it's snowing, you know, another 10 minutes down the road, you're underwater pretty much from the rain. This guy just ran all that way. He didn't even run. He shuffled. It was the cliffy shuffle and these young fit runners. We're left in his wake. It was just amazing.

Dr. Danny Brassell: 31:21

Yeah, it's wonderful. It's a wonderful story. Those are the types of things, uh, when a person's feeling down. That's, that's why I write more than anything, Magic, is I want to write books that, when you're feeling down, you can, you can read one of my books on the toilet for five minutes and you'll, you'll leave, uh, with a smile on your face.

Magic Barclay: 31:38

I love it. All right, listeners, this was your episode 242. Please, Leave us reviews, get in touch with us on our Facebook page at A Magical Life Podcast. Definitely reach out to Dr. Danny, and that is at www. thereadinghabit. com. Danny, thanks for joining us.

Dr. Danny Brassell: 32:02

Thanks for all you do,

Magic Barclay: 32:02

thank you so much for your time. Go forth and create your magical life.