Cosmos

Welcome back to the show, my fellow extraordinary Americans. For today’s guest, we have Dennis Dowell. Dennis is a keynote speaker, international best-selling author of Maximizing You, and the founder of Maximize Your, Inc. Dennis is a former school bus driver with no business experience who graduated from college with a 1.98 grade average yet developed a team of over 250,000 people worldwide, with over 300 in the top 1% income bracket. 

He has spent the last 44 years developing stronger leaders and better followers into teams of people with a common cause that makes a difference for their company, family, friends, and mostly themselves. People who know how to develop their buried potential, cultivate confidence, and understand why people do what they do will be more effective in their positions. With people skills that work with every country, culture, and economic status, he equips people with applicable principles that can be implemented immediately. 

This wasn’t an overnight zero-to-hero journey, but rather 44 years of ups and downs adapting to different personalities, economies, cultures, philosophies, and rapidly evolving technologies from around the world. Dennis is an extraordinary American and I’m glad to have him on the show. Dennis, are you there?

Dennis

I sure am. Thanks so much for having me. What a great joy to be with you and your audience.

Cosmos

Thank you, Dennis, for taking the time to do this podcast with us. Can you tell me and the audience a little bit more about yourself, your background, your story, and how you got started?

Dennis

Sure. I mean, you know, I had, like I said, I didn’t graduate with a, you know, super GPA, you know, credentials. But you know, what I really got from my college education was far more people, skills, and relational skills than I did intellectual skills. But it’s proved very valuable because I think people skills are probably one of our most valuable assets. 

And so, I developed that. I learned to get along with people and listen to people. But when I graduated from college, you know, I didn’t want to go out and get a job, per se, you know, just something that, you know, I got up, went to work, got a paycheck, went home, paid the bills and went on vacation once in a while. I wanted to have a more real career, something that I could be passionate about and invest myself in to create a lifestyle. 

I didn’t just go out and get a job immediately. That’s why I ended up driving a school bus. I had time off during the middle of the day to look for work. I also worked with college kids at the time. 

So it gave me time to spend time with the college kids, you know, on their campuses, rather than just, you know, in a formalized meeting. But, when I was coming up to my 30th birthday, I realized, wait a second, I better get on with this career thing because, you know, time’s flying. And so, I spent seven months intensively looking for a career. I found a few jobs that would have paid me more than I was looking for, but it would have been a job.

 And so, I, fortunately, had the discipline and a clear enough purpose in my life to say no to the job so that I could say yes to a lifelong career. I stumbled across a startup company in the nutrition industry. And as it turned out, that was it. If I were to create a job description that would be ideal for me and my personality, talents, and skills, this would be it. And fortunately, along with that opportunity came a man who became my first major mentor. What a turnaround that was. This was a 9th-grade educated kid with a drive, a passion, and a vision for making a difference for people regarding their health and finances. You know, I. I just started following him and. And he had enough results and so much passion, conviction, and direction. I thought, you know, I don’t know how he did it, but I’m going to find out. 

And so I listened to him, followed him, and did what he said. Sometimes, when it didn’t make sense, even when I didn’t understand it, I figured he’s been there, he had what I wanted, and I’ll do what he did. And so that just kind of started the process. And as time went on, you know, I was able to surround myself with some other very powerful people. Because that’s one of the things that he told me. He said, Denny, he said, here’s one thing you want to do. Surround yourself with people smarter than you. I, uh-huh. I thought that made sense. 

Yeah, I started doing that. And so, you know, I just continued that process and learned a lot of principles. And here I am, 45 years later, still healthy and financially free. You know, I mean, it’s amazing. I mean, I just started my 75th year. I have no health issues; I take no medications. If I get an exam or something like that, I can take all the things you have, and I can Just put a big, you know, zero with a line through it. I don’t have any of that, and I start from there. So, anyway, it’s just been amazing, and I just want to help people, you know, accomplish the same type of life and accomplishments based on their life and their dreams and what they want.

Cosmos

Dennis. So, like, I’m in my early 30s myself. So, you started all of this in your early 30s. So, it also gives me much hope and inspiration in my life.

But what I wanted to ask you was, what was your strategic goal and vision throughout these 40-plus years, and how did it evolve over time to where it is right now?

Dennis

Well, you know, and I learned this early on, but, you know, my ultimate goal is to find out what people want in their lives and then help them achieve it. And, you know, because it’s so easy to get distracted today with so many things, but if I can find out what they want and I can find out, then, you know, what they’re good at, what their talents are, what their gifts and skills are, see, I can help them to capitalize on their gifts and their skills to be able to accomplish the things that they want. That way, they enjoy it, move forward confidently, and make things happen. And when they win, I win.

Cosmos

So, what would you say, Dennis, is, like, the motivational factor that got you to this thing of helping other people? Because, you know, a lot of people have different motivations and innovations, and it’s not always easy, but what was the most drive that drove you throughout these 40 years?

Dennis

Well, that’s a very good question, and it’s very interesting because it was actually. One of my mentors was delivering a message one day, and he said something contrary. It was very countercultural. And the statement he made was, “It’s not about you.” 

And I said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. What happened to the lookout for number one? What happened? If it’s going to be, it’s up to me. What happened if it, you know, give it all you got and all this kind of stuff, right?

Cosmos

Yeah.

Dennis

And, you know, climb the ladder and all this kind of stuff. But, you know, then I began to realize it, and I started thinking about what he said, and it was profound because, you know, when you think about it, I mean, you know, you. You look at trees; trees don’t produce fruit for themselves. You know, rivers don’t, you know, drink their Water. The sun doesn’t provide heat for itself. Flowers don’t create a fragrance for themselves, right? What is? It’s all for others. 

And there’s a great lesson in nature. Nature is a great teacher, and we can learn a lot. And I thought, wow, what these things do, the trees and the flowers and the sun, they all take all that they have and give it all that they’ve got to produce something for the benefit of other people. And I thought, man, therein lies the secret to success. We all have talent, skills, gifts, and abilities, but the problem is that we try to use them for ourselves. I want to create an image, make myself look good, be Mr. Big, get the position, get the possession, and get the power. 

But that’s not it at all. That’s. That’s all temporary. That’s a facade, right? You know, and so I realized I need to take all my talents, skills, gifts, and abilities and use them not for me but to help others develop their talents, skills, gifts, and abilities to be effective. And if I use what I have for other people, then really, what I’m doing is I’m taking the first step and fulfilling my purpose in life. And that’s ultimately what people want. People think my purpose is to find pleasure in myself, power, position, and praise. 

But no, my purpose is to be able to make a difference for other people. My purpose isn’t, so we must design our lives not around pleasure but purpose. And when I fulfill my purpose by taking everything I have and giving it to others, I find great pleasure. Wow. Pleasure comes in fulfilling your purpose. And when you do that by providing for others, it’s one of those magical things. I mean, think about it. Suppose you’re a super athlete and then get into college ball. You’re all American; you go to the pros, right? 

And you become, you know, another star there. You’re American. You know, you. You win the championship, get MVP, and feel great, right? And we should feel great, okay? We should feel great because we’ve accomplished something great, right? But the thing is, what happens if you now have a son and you teach them how to play the sport and they get into college ball? They’re All American, and they go pro—their MVP. Tell me something. What feels better, your MVP or theirs?

Cosmos

The Sun’s MVP.

Dennis

There’s no question about it, right? Because, see, that’s. That. That’s where the real joy is. Now, listen, we. We just don’t want to confuse our accomplishments with our purpose. See, our accomplishments are just tools that enable us to have a wider audience. And that’s what I discovered over the years. When I created great success, all that did was equip me with the credibility to make a bigger difference for other people. 

See, my goal is not success. In fact, I tell my team members that if your goal is success, you need to change your goal. The goal isn’t to be successful. The goal is to be significant. See, success is what I’ve accomplished. Significance is what others have accomplished because of my input. What feels better, you see, when you think about it? And then, when you do it, it proves. See, when we align with our purpose, the greatest satisfaction, that buried satisfaction, comes to the surface, and it’s just amazing. So, I mean, that’s. So that. That’s ultimately. That’s where it all starts. Right.

Think about how we live our lives for each decade

Cosmos

Well, Dennis, what you said was so profound and relevant to today’s society because right now, there’s almost a spiritual warfare between empathy and narcissism, you know. 

So you were describing the two sides, where one is for the ego, and one is for possessions and glory. And the other is for a service mentality, to serve others. Ironically, happiness comes more when you serve others. But people find that out much, much later, or sometimes they don’t even find that out until, like, the end of their lives, or maybe not even then.

Dennis

Yeah. And so, can you imagine if we can? If we can embed that thinking into young people, you know, as they. As they’re beginning their careers, as they’re beginning their life? You know, that’s one of the things that, I think, is just vital for us, is to infuse these principles in these concepts while people are young so they can develop them. It’s very interesting because if people can understand where they are in their lives, let me just share a couple of ideas here. Just, you know, from for each decade about how we live our lives. You know, the first decade is all about, you know, security, okay? You know, for the first 10 years, I need to be provided for. I need to be taken care of. Right? 

And so that’s. That’s vital for us, okay? So that we learn, you know, to live and to feed ourselves and take care of ourselves. We learn that our character develops in the first decade and now, in the second decade, in our teens. That’s the decade of self-awareness. That’s when everybody’s trying to figure out, wait a minute, who am I? What am I here for? You know, and so, and so we have this huge identity crisis in our country and our, in our world today because people are trying to figure out who am I? 

And so we need to understand who we are. And so once we understand who we are and become self-aware, I said, okay, now I understand a little bit who I am. The twenties, okay, now that I know a little about who I am and how I will live, right? I said, okay, I’m out of school; I’ve got my education, so the 20s are okay, but now what? I’m going to move out of home and have to live on my own. How am I going to survive? I mean, I’ve gotten my education, I’ve got my degree, but so what? I graduated from college, so what? How am I going to survive? 

So, the 20s is the decade of survival. And we figure out how I can survive once I’ve learned how to survive. When I got to the 30s, I said, okay, listen, I’ve made it for 10 years, okay, I can survive. But now, in my 30s, I want to learn how to succeed; okay, if I can survive, I need to succeed. And so we become very competitive. And this is where you look out for the number one stuff that, unfortunately, can override us. But we’re very competitive. We want to do it; it’s not just to do well, but I want to do better than the next guy, right? 

So, you know, I want to succeed. And so we succeed. You know, if you work hard and you stay focused and do the deal, you can succeed in whatever you focus your attention on, right? 

And so you succeed. But then you get to your 40s, and you say, well, okay, so I’ve succeeded, I’m doing well, but what’s the meaning of it? So, the 40s is the decade of significance. What difference does it make? You see? 

And so, once we understand that, once we get an idea of the difference that it makes, you know, that process of saying, okay, now I’ve got my confidence. Okay, now there’s meaning. See, we can’t just work. If you work, there’s no joy in it. But when you work with meaning, when you work with passion, and when you work at something you love to do, now there’s the formula. Oh, now things are great. Now I thought, oh, this is good, right? 

So now, the decade of the 50s is now that I can survive, I can succeed, and I have meaning in it. Now I can develop my stride, and now I can really get my rhythm down. I can begin developing all the things that I’ve learned over the first half, the first 40 years, right? 

And so I do that. And then the decade of the 60s. Now when I learned this concept, I had just turned 60. And so when I’m listening to this, I said, yeah, yeah, yeah, right. This is all it, right? And then he says, the 60s is a decade off strategy, right? Because now I can take all this. I’ve got my rhythm going now, and I can strategize how to capitalize and make the biggest difference with all that I am and I have. Right? Do you know statistically that the 60s are the most successful decade in a person’s life?

Cosmos

It’s fascinating. I had no idea, Dad. Most people just assume that the 60s is when you retire, and it’s true.

Dennis 

No, no, you’re just getting started.

Cosmos

That’s the general thinking, like the 65-old retirement age, you know, life is done now, and you’re ready to die.

 Dennis 

You know, it’s. It’s true, but you’re just getting started. Now, the 70s. What’s the 70s then? Okay, the 70s is the decade of succession, okay? So now that I’ve got it all, what will I do with it all? And so now, see, and. And this is so important, especially for older people over, you know, who are 70 and up. See, they think they’re on the downhill. 

No, they’re coming into the most significant, powerful part of their life because now comes the time to impart all that I. To other people. Who am I going to lead this to? What is mine? How will I create a legacy that continues after I leave? See, this is so powerful, giving so much meaning to people in their 70s and 80s because now they. They can take and impart all that they have to save time for the new people coming up, to help people to eliminate all the distractions around them and all the crazy things that, you know, that the world is trying to sell them. That. That doesn’t. It’s not effective for them, you know, to help them, you know, to move more effectively and then to add to what they have done so they can save them time. And it’s just, it’s just brilliant.

Find a mentor. 

So, when we understand where we are in our life, we say, “Oh, okay, I’m doing all right. Okay, I’m on track, you know, and so you’re the 30th. I mean, listen, you’re your prime time here, you know, and this is why, you know, I tell people, and this is. 

And I practice this. And it made a huge difference. Find a mentor. Find somebody with the characteristics you have, who has the character you want, who’s done the kind of things you want to do the way you want them to be done. You know, where there’s honesty, integrity, class, effectiveness. Like, find somebody like that. And I’m telling you, some people would be amazed if they realized they could go up to these people and say, listen, I’ve watched you, I’ve observed you. I love what you’ve done. I love how you do it. Would it be possible for us just to go out and have lunch and talk for an hour? 

And I’m telling you they will. And when you talk to him and say, listen, could, could we just. Would you be willing to take an hour a month and have lunch with me just to impart your wisdom to me, just to help me stay on track with what I’m doing, just to encourage me? Right. I’m telling you, if somebody came up to you and said, I admire you, I respect you, I like who you are, I like what you do, I like how you did it. Is that a good compliment?

Cosmos

Yeah.

Dennis

I mean, do you feel good if somebody says that? Of course, you do. And listen, people who have succeeded want to be able to impart what they have if somebody is serious. So if people get serious, I’m telling you, you can find a mentor. 

And I say, ah, don’t just find one. Find a mentor for your finances. Find a mentor for your business. Find a mentor for your physical health. You know, find a mentor for life. In other words, find a spiritual mentor. See, we want to have mentors who have gone where I want to go and who have accomplished what I want to accomplish so that I can learn from them. Listen, I mean, we go. We spend four years in school. How about, you know, how about just spending, you know, I mean, an hour a month, you know, with somebody. 

How, how much could you get, you know, from somebody who’s already been there? Every time you sit down with a mentor, it’s like reading a book. You know, I mean, you can absorb. And the thing is, you can narrow it down to get just exactly what you want when you need it. So, I mean, it’s very, very powerful that way. And it. And listen. And that’s why I say, you know, people can accomplish so much more than they realize. You know, listen, they can. There’s so much that they can accomplish, so much that they can do. They can make a huge difference if they understand their purpose.

Personal development is not reading books and going to seminars, okay?

And then the key with the mentors, okay, and this was the second thing I got. And I got this early on. I got this that first year. And. I got this from one of my mentors, who happened to be Jim Rohn. And Jim Rohn is a very famous guru. I spent 32 years with Jim Rohn, and 26 of those years, I traveled the world with him. You know, So, I mean, we. I mean, it was just amazing, right? 

But he said, you know, for things to change, you’ve got to change things to get better; you’ve got to get better. And then he said, be careful of who you become while pursuing what you want. And so, you know, he. He taught me about personal development. 

And personal development’s not reading the books, not going to all the seminars, okay? It’s taking the information from that and applying principles to my life that make a difference for me and others. I mean, listen, I know people go to the seminars, and they go to one seminar, and they sell them another one, and then another one, and then another one, and they were. They become professional seminar goers. 

But that’s not that. That’s not it. How about going to one seminar and then applying everything you learn? You know, I have a friend who said, I read 70 books this year. And I said, oh. I said, wow, that’s. That’s pretty amazing, you know, And I think, man, 70 books. I’d rather read seven books 10 times, right? So that I get it and can apply it and embed it into my life, thinking, and philosophy. See, so that’s where the difference comes in. 

See, personal development is not reading books and going to seminars. It’s applying principles and concepts to my life so that it makes a difference for me and others. See, that’s where it happens. That’s where. That’s where the development then evolves. Once you do that, you need the mindset to ensure that happens. The mindset comes from the things you see, the things you read, the things you hear, and the things you, you know, you experience. And guess what? We get to choose. We get to choose. I don’t have to listen to everything everybody’s telling me. If I want to have something, I. If I want to be healthy, study health. If I want to be wealthy, I study wealth. Don’t study baseball if I want to be a professional basketball player. Do you see what I’m saying? But we get to choose that. You know what that means? It means that we can design our lives by choosing the things we see, read, hear, and the things I experience. 

And so when we do that thing, then our life develops. And then suddenly, we become that leader, not by a position, but by a process of my performance. And that’s, I mean, that turns everything around, See? And then, you know, people catch more than they learn from you. You know, I always say there’s, there’s more caught than taught. And the thing is, they can’t catch something from you unless you have the real disease. I don’t think you can just fake it.

Mentorship leads to time compression, right? Right

Cosmos

No, I mean, you bring up this point about mentorship, and I mentioned it and talked about it with other guests in the Fingers Podcast. Mentorship leads to time compression. What would take you 10 years to learn from, like books and going to seminars and everything? You can learn the same thing within six months or less if you have one good mentor. You can compress it quickly if you’re fully focused, like ten a 10-year-old thing. 

Also, like a community, if you have a mentorship combined with the community for the thing that you want to become good at, it just increases; it speeds up your learning rate and saves a lot of time. And we know that time is one of the most important resources, one of the most important resources we have. We can get back our money. We’re never going to get back our time.

Dennis

That’s right. It’s very, very true. And this is why it’s so important, on the financial side, to make sure you take, you know, two great assets and invest them wisely. Okay? Invest your time and your money. Right? It’s like I say, you invest in time because, you know, once you spin it, it’s gone forever, you know, but then, in the idea, in investing our money, we want to invest the money that gives us the greatest return on our investment. Okay? And so that’s where a seminar or a book or time with somebody, you know, can be very valuable, you know, and so, you know, that’s, you know, the key. 

So if I can’t get a return on what I spend my money on, maybe I should spend it on something else. You know, I always loved what you said about that. You know, being with the mentors, you know, Jim always said there are two ways to learn PE and OPE. PE is a personal experience; he says it’s costly and time-consuming. OPE is less costly and time-saving.

Cosmos

Other, other people’s experiences.

Dennis

Right? Yes, exactly.

Cosmos

I can’t; I’m afraid I have to disagree. That’s one of the revelations I had in my life as well. Why should I make mistakes and find out for myself when I can look at other people’s mistakes, failures, and successes and then extract the best out of them? It just saves time because time is of the essence, you know.

But, Dennis, there’s another thing you mentioned: legacy. One of the things I wanted to mention for the sake of the audience is that legacy is so important because, at one point or another, like most of the young generation right now, they’re going towards meaningless pursuits. As you mentioned, it’s a pleasure-filled life like materialism and all that stuff. Ultimately, if you have a fulfilling patent purpose that gives deeper inner fulfillment and combines that with creating a legacy that has more of an impact in the long term, you’ll be happier. But people find that out much later.

 Dennis 

 In their lives, you know, you know, it’s true. And, but it’s one of the things, you know, you begin trying to lay out for people. In other words, it’s a part of your purpose. In other words, when people tell me what they want and want to accomplish, I say okay. I said, you know, that’s a noble endeavor. Why do you want that? And then they, they tell me why. And I say, okay, well, that’s great. And why is that important? Well, you know, because of this, this. And I said, okay, good. And why is that important? Right? 

And then it kind of digs a little bit deeper, and you ask why questions 5, 8, and 10 times. And so you know, what you’re doing there is, you’re locking in their motivation. Because if it’s, if it’s that strong, if it’s that, you know, if they have enough reason, you see, then they Keep going. That’s the source of the motivation. The motivation to get through all the obstacles that we encounter, you know, is understanding my purpose.  

Why am I doing this, to begin with? See? And so that’s that process. And then again, it comes down to, okay, let’s leave it to others. We want to do what we can to make a greater difference for our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. And then for those in our community to make that difference for them. You know, that’s just as you get back. What’s interesting is, when I turned 70, you know, the decade of succession, one of my mentors who taught me that concept asked me this. And it’s so interesting. This guy never does anything without a reason, right? 

And so he asked me this question when I had just turned 70. And he said, Benny, he said, tell me. He said you’ve developed this, you know, global team of 250,000 people. And in dozens of countries around the world. You know, 50, 60 countries around the world, he said. He said, how did you do that? What were the principles and concepts you followed that allowed you to stay focused and create an effective, productive team? How did? What were those things? 

And I said, well, there are a lot of them. Said, make me a list. I said okay. So, I started writing all these things off my head—things that had just been embedded into my life, things that I learned. And so I wrote them all down and then sent them the list. And there was about; it started at a little over 50, but I boiled it down to 45, right? And I said, wow. I said, here’s the list. And he looks at me and says, Denny, I think you have a book there. And I said, what? I said I flunked English twice. And he said no. He says, but you’ve got a message there. He said, take those principles and just give me a little story about each one. He says you’ve got a book there. And you know something? It blew me away. But that’s how I got my book. The book is a compilation of the 45 principles that I use to develop this team, enjoy the process, and not have to compromise my values in the process. I could do it with integrity, honesty, and joy, right? 

And so I put it all together, and here’s what I discovered. See, my family watched me go from holes in the jeans and bottom of My shoes and being busted, broke, poor, you know, to the million dollar home and traveling the world and all the stuff, right? They saw what I did. But you know what I realized? They didn’t know how. They don’t know how I did it, you know, because we were in different worlds. They lived where they lived; I lived where I live. And they’re going to understand how I did what I did. And now I can pass on the legacy because I can’t visit with all of my nieces and nephews and all that stuff, right? I said, but I can visit them through my book. And so now that can go on for generation after generation.

 And so, you know, that’s why it’s good to take notes on your life and keep a journal. You know, so much of this comes from my journals where I go back, and I look because, you know, when I would go to a seminar and, or, even when I read books, I take notes, you know, I go home from a seminar, I read the notes, right? And so, and ask the questions. 

And so that’s basically what I did. And now I’m realizing, and for me, here’s. And this is very important for people to understand what we’re good at. We think everybody’s good at what’s easy for us. We think it should be easy for everybody. But that’s not true. What’s easy for you is because that’s what your gifts are. That’s what your talent and skills are; your understanding and your experience are. And so you think that’s simple. 

But other people look at that and say, “Wow, how do you do that? Right? And you think, well, you know, that’s nothing. So this is why we need to share it with others: we think it’s nothing. But to them, it’s everything. You see. I mean, you know, and here’s the thing.

Everybody has something to contribute; everybody has unique fingerprints, right?

Anything you do is easy if you know how to do it, but it’s not easy if you don’t.

Cosmos

Yeah.

Dennis

And we can underestimate what our knowledge, talent, skills, gifts, abilities, and experience have brought to us. And that’s why we can contribute to other people in ways nobody else can. Nobody else can contribute the way I do now. They can contribute information but may not be able to contribute it with experience, illustration, knowledge, passion, or knowledge of how I do it. Because see, that’s unique to me. 

And so everybody has value; everybody has something to contribute. They just have to learn to discover what that is. And when they do, and then when they get it out, people will be amazed. And they’ll even be amazed. I’m amazed. Sometimes, I’m going in, and I hear the responses from people. I go, man, that’s just amazing. I mean, this was just so simple, wasn’t it? Well, that’s simple for me because I know it. Yeah, you see, and so, but I mean, think about it. Everybody has different fingerprints, right?

Everybody knows that. Eight billion different fingerprints, right? Do you know we have eyeprints? Iridologists will tell you that we have eyeprints. There are 8 billion different eye prints, you know, and of course now with all the, you know, technology and stuff that we have today and then, and investigations of crime scenes and stuff, you know, they even have, we have voice prints. Even if you have a cold voice print, they can listen to a tape and say it was you because your voice print matches.

 So we have voice prints. Say, we guess what. We have unique heartbeats. Do you know there are 8 billion different heartbeats? I didn’t realize this just a few years ago, right? So we have eight different billion heartbeats. So what’s the significance of that? Great knowledge. 

But so what that means is that we feel fingerprints; we feel things differently. We see things differently, we express things differently, and we have different passions. See, that’s unique and distinct to us. Nobody else has that combination. So that, wherein lies our contribution to the community that we’re a part of, our society, our country, our world, and everybody has something valuable. We need to help people understand how valuable and unique they are and that we need them. One of my mentors said all of us need each of us, and each of us needs all of us. And it’s so true.

Cosmos

No, that’s what you’re saying, which is right. We are all unique. We have to realize that, you know.

Dennis 

Yeah.

Cosmos

So, Dennis, I wanted to ask you, from everything we’re discussing today, about America’s identities and the pursuit of happiness. So from your perspective, from everything, you know, during your four or 40-plus years of experience, how should Americans pursue happiness? And what’s your opinion on that?

Dennis

Well, if you want to pursue your happiness, pursue your purpose. They pursue your purpose. And here, here’s the thing we can have as a purpose in our activities; that’s one thing. But the real purpose we want to, you know, if we want that inner satisfaction, we need to pursue the purpose of our being. We have the purpose of our activities and the things I do, but I need to pursue the purpose of who I am. In other words, the real success process is first, then do, then have, then help. Okay? I need to understand who I am. Because when I understand who I am, my purpose aligns with who I am. 

So, I need to know who I am. Who I am determines what I do—my talent, skills, gifts, abilities, and inner character that determines what I do. What I do determines what I have. And what I have determines who I help. So how do I do that? How do I determine the being part? I discovered there are six questions, six things we want to know. Number one, at this phase in my life, who do I perceive God to be? Who is God? Okay. Ah. When I determine who God is and who I perceive God to be, that determines my values. That’s what determines what controls my life. People say I don’t believe in God. Well, if you don’t believe in God, then, by default, you are God. See, because if you don’t believe there is a God, then you’re the God. You’re the one who’s in control. You’re the one who decides what’s. What’s what, what’s right, what’s wrong. Right? 

And so, I’d be careful of that one because that hasn’t worked out well for many people. Okay? You know, so number one, who is God? Okay. Number two, that, that, our origin, you know. Okay, and then who am I? Right? Who am I? What am I here for? Say, who am I here for? 

So, I need to understand my origin, where I came from, and what I am here for. Right? And then, what is my identity? See, I need to be able to identify with who I am. See, personally, I believe that we’re all made in the image of God, see? And as a result of that, see, that gives me value, that gives me uniqueness, that gives me, you know, my heritage. That’s where I gain the prospect, the process of who I need to be. You know, he is the example if I’m made in his image. He is the mentor of mentors. 

And then morality. We have to determine what is right and wrong, what determines right and wrong, you know, and. And I believe there are right and wrong. And, if you really think about it, everybody knows that there’s a right and wrong. Right, you know, they’re determining back to. What they argue about is, well, how do I, you know, who sets the standard for what’s right and wrong? And that’s where I go back to God again. You’ve got to have, you know, a God that has the standard. He is the standard because if he created everything, he’s the standard. He’s the expert. 

So, you know, we have that and then our destiny. Where am I going? What am I going to do with it? How am I going to live this out? When we understand the answers to those questions, then that will help me understand who I am internally. And so, when I combine that with my activities, the greatest fulfillment comes in our lives.

Cosmos

These are some very deep concepts, but they are so relevant. One of the things I liked was that you said that if you don’t believe in a God, you are God because it goes into the concept of ego versus empathy. God symbolizes empathy, and the ego symbolizes you as if you are working for yourself rather than working for the betterment of others.

 So, there are some really deep concepts that I would want my listeners to think about.

But, Dennis, on a different note, I wanted to ask you a bit more about your book and the premise of how you started writing marriage. I am maximizing you. Because I know it’s filled with a lot of good information. So, if you tell the audience what got you to write it and what it’s about a little bit more.

Dennis

Sure. You know, I mean it. And it came from that challenge from my mentor, who asked me about the principles. And so what it is, it’s a compilation of the principles that I’ve used in my life. And what was very interesting is after I wrote them all down, you know, and, when I, you know, I had over 50, close to 60 principles. But then I started, you know, this is similar to this. 

And, as I kind of packaged it together, I discovered that they fell into six categories. And I thought, wow, that’s very interesting. So, I just categorized them, and I discovered the six categories. The first category was the purpose. Okay, you know, what’s my purpose? And once I understood and discovered my purpose, I noticed a lot about personal development. 

And I thought, okay, if I understand my purpose, I need to become the person necessary to fulfill that purpose. I need to take all of those talents, skills, gifts, and abilities and develop them so that I can fulfill my purpose, which is designed to contribute to, you know, society and the world. And if I’m going to develop that personal development, to become that person, I’m going to have to have a mindset. I’m going to have to have a philosophy and a way of thinking so that I can stay focused. So, I need to learn to stay focused. See, our thoughts control our minds, right? But we control our thoughts. See, if I control my thoughts, I can control my mind. And if I can control my mind, I have a stronger will. As I develop that, then, okay, now I need to deal with people. I noticed there was a whole category, which was people skills. 

And so I learned to deal to develop certain people skills. Okay. In other words, it’s our greatest asset. And again, in line with, you know, it’s not about you. The two main people skills I learned were one: be interested, not interested. So much of the time, especially with new people, we want to try to be interesting. You don’t have to try to be interesting. If you’re interested, you become interested. Have you ever met somebody interested in you that you didn’t find interesting? But if they’re interested in themselves, what happens? Do you want to leave?

Cosmos

Yeah.

Dennis

So it’s a people skill. Then, we can become leaders not by position but by performance. Because of who I am and how I am, I begin leading others into knowing their purpose, becoming that person and person, and staying focused. And then once I develop leadership skills, the key is becoming balanced in it all. And that was the sixth category. How do I keep everything balanced? You know, we’ve got seven areas in our life. We have our finances, our family, our physical lives, our personal lives, our professional lives, our social life, and our spiritual life.

Everything in the world falls under one of those seven categories. So we just need to keep those things balanced. This is why you know that the spiritual side of things is important. Think about it. We have body, soul, and spirit, right? Everybody, I think, kind of understands and sees how that works. I have my body, okay? I have my soul, my mind, will, and emotions. And then I have my spirit, my conscience, right? Now, we think that we hear about body, soul, and spirit, but it should be spirit, soul, and body, the spirit, our conscience, okay? Where morality comes from, that determines what’s right and wrong, what I do, what’s good or bad.

 So I need to let my spirit and conscience guide and direct me, okay? And it. The spirit tells the mind what to do, right and wrong. The mind makes the decision, the will carries it out, and the emotions get the results. See, we. We’re looking for what feels good. Please do it. No, that doesn’t work. See, we want to make a decision with the mind and carry it out with the will, and then, the emotions are the consequences. If I make good decisions, I get good results; I have good feelings. If I make bad decisions, I have bad results and feelings. 

So I’ve got to do that. And, of course, then we live in a house. Our body is the house we live in. You know, I tell people, because I was in the health industry, I said, listen, you know, if you don’t take care of your body, you know, if you’re going to live until you’re 85 and you destroy your body by the time you’re 55, you know, you got 30 years of hell coming up, you know, so I’d suggest you take care of it right? Now. Here’s the interesting thing. We know about the body. We see the fitness craze and all that stuff going on. We know about the intellect, ideas, philosophies, and all this. But suppose we’ve got these three categories—Spirit, soul, and body. If I maximize my body, I’m Mr. Universe. I win every bikini contest that’s out there, right? Every fitness. I’m 100% mind. I’m a genius in my IQ. I can accomplish everything. I max out my mind, my will, my. My discipline and all that. I max that out, okay? 

So I get 100% here, and I have 100% here. If I neglect the spiritual side, okay? If that just is, you know, because we’re thrown God out of school, out of government, out of everything, right? If we throw that out and I max 100% and 100% here, that only gives me two-thirds maximum. Now the question is, have we maxed out our bodies? No.

One of your ideas is to help companies maximize their potential

Lots of diseases and problems. Have we maxed out our minds, will, and emotions? No. So, if we’re only half of each of those, right, then that means we’re only working at one-third potential. This is why one of my great ideas is to go out and teach companies, corporations, and groups how to maximize their potential. Because we’re only running on two cylinders. I want to show them how to use all the cylinders and keep them all in line so they’re balanced and running together. Say that’s where the fulfillment comes in. That’s where we can do so much more than we realize we can do so much more.

Cosmos

No, I would recommend that anybody listening to this read your book Maximizing You because we all want to maximize our full potential. Dennis started a whole new career at 74. I mean, that’s amazing. So Dennis, are there any other projects or speaking events you’re doing that you want the audience to glimpse?

Dennis

You know, in my first year, I’m actually going to be putting on a one-day seminar. I’m also in the process because this is new for me. You know, a lot of people, you know, think they have to start when they’re 30. Listen, I’ve gone through 40 years of doing what I’ve done, so I started a whole new career at 74. Okay. So, I’m starting all over again.

Cosmos

You are such an inspiration 

Dennis

On the Third level, I’m ready to rock and roll. So, I’m creating an online training to help people understand this as part of the legacy. Then, we will have a keynote speech, and then we’ll develop that into a one—or two-day seminar that we’ll have after the first of the year. So I’m very excited about that. So, I’m just learning like everybody else. Right now, I’m back in school again.

Cosmos

I mean, that’s amazing, Dennis. That is so inspirational. Even at 74 or 75, you’re like most people just give up by that time, but you’re, and this is very inspiring, and I’m glad. I hope that other people take inspiration from this, you know.

So, Dennis, how can our audience connect with you and your work

So, Dennis, how can our audience connect with you and learn more about your work and everything you do?

Dennis

Well, the best place is just to go to maximize you. You maximize yourself and maximize yourself. Dotcom, that’s my website. You, you know, my speaker one-sheets are on there. I have a blog on there. They can see how they can get my book there. You know, they’ll be updated when the seminar and the online training are available. 

So maximize your dot com. If you want to maximize yourself, just go to maximize your dot com. If you want to study health, go to health dot com. If you want to study wealth, do wealth dot com. If you want to maximize you, go to maximize you dot com, you know, so that’s how it works.

Cosmos

Awesome, Dennis. I’m so glad and grateful that you took the time to come on this podcast and share your invaluable wisdom because we all want to maximize our full potential. I do hope that you will come back to the show at a later time.

Dennis

Well, thank you. It’d be a great joy, and it’s been a great pleasure being with you. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.

Cosmos

Thank you, too, Dennis. And I want to conclude this episode by letting my fellow extraordinary Americans know that, hey, look, there’s an extraordinary within every one of us, and we must awaken it and unleash it. Until next time. Bye for now.