Defining Hospitality

Dan Ryan: [00:00:00] What I do is inconsequential. Why I do what I do is I get to shorten people's journeys every day. What I love about our hospitality industry is that it's our mission to make people feel cared for while on their journeys. Together we'll explore what hospitality means in the built environment, in business, and in our daily lives.
I'm Dan Ryan, and this is Defining Hospitality. Today's guest is a fellow entre. A keynote speaker. He is the founder and creative director at Zenman and US Director at EM Blue. He's the creator and author of the Fantastic Tactical Oak Journal. And also an upcoming book called Becoming Zenman. Ladies and gentlemen, Keith Roberts.
Welcome, Keith. Hey,
Keith Roberts: thanks Dan. Thanks for having me, amigo.
Dan Ryan: Oh, you're welcome, amigo. So, just to give everyone some context, I went to this, uh, entrepreneurial master's program over a couple of years at mit. [00:01:00] Keith sat next to me the first year and we became accountability partners, and really we just sat through some of the best speakers and entrepreneurial minds, and then at drink time or lunchtime, all this inspiration that we had as entrepreneurs.
We would share our ideas from sitting there and then those ideas would generate ideas. And since then, Keith has been on this tremendously incredible entrepreneurial journey and inspirational and, uh, welcome. So actually, why don't you just tell us from that moment the changes that you underwent and kind of the path you're on now impacting as impacting many.
Keith Roberts: Oh, thanks brother. Yeah. Um, well, I mean, when we met, My EO business, the, the company that I was there to scale was called Zenman. It's a creative agency. So we did everything from, you know, Frontier's website, the ER's website, branding and UX for [00:02:00] ibo, uh, you know, really a high end digital agency. And I ran that business for 24 years.
Um, and uh, through actually that program we sat to together, there was so much amazing content that we took in that the biggest realization I had. I was trading my time for money, and even though it was a high hourly rate, my time was really the one finite resource I had. And seeing some of the examples that other people had built where, you know, that was not.
The exchange that they had to make for their livelihood really inspired me. Um, the agency was called Zenman, cuz I'm Buddhist, but the Oak Journal is because my goal in this life is to be a boza and that is somebody who in this incarnation, you know, my goal, my purpose is to help everybody else reach their potential reach, enlightenment level of their
life.
Dan Ryan: From the time that we went through that EMP and maybe just before I started working. My [00:03:00] why and what I realized is I know what I do. And I al as I say it at the beginning of this, people are probably sick of hearing it, but what I do is inconsequential. Although there are consequences to what I do. So I think I might wanna remix that.
But, um, why I do what I do in this hospitality world is I get to shorten other people's journeys. A lot of that is just through educating and, and meeting people like you. And then I feel like on that road to Bohi, Safa, The Oak Journal that you created, I feel like you've taken all of the best ideas that are out there and put them into this tactical journal that I've used and helped shorten everyone's journeys to really having clear goals and have, that's why I said it was tactical at the beginning.
So how have you shortened others' journeys by publishing?
Keith Roberts: Uh, life is too short to learn everything through experience my friends. So if you can avoid a, a pitfall or if you can get insight to a shortcut to [00:04:00] accomplishment. But I think honestly, the two biggest, um, factors are giving people clarity of vision, like Warren Rustand would say, you know, having that clarity of vision as to what my purpose is, what my b a g is, what my 90 day goal is, and what do I need to accomplish today?
Is essential and then giving them a roadmap to accomplishing that. So the, you know, the tool is based on neuroscience and positive psychology. It's based on a structure, you know, kind of similar to Genome Wickman with traction. He took a bunch of tools and distilled it down into the entrepreneur operating system.
He didn't really invent anything. He took the best tools from the last 20 years from exceptional research and ideas and distilled it down into a paint by numbers, you know, solution for us entrepreneurs that we can understand. So this was really designed to, to help people do that.
Dan Ryan: One of the great, um, terms I learned through that entrepreneurial master's program, [00:05:00] From many of the speakers and they, they all joke about it.
It's like how important r and d is. But typically what we learn is r and d is research and development. But I think we all came out of that learning r and d is really rip off and duplicate, but it all comes from a intention and a place of. Sharing all these great things that we've learned, making them into a paint by numbers, like you said, and creating these tactical, um, next actions for our teams, the people that we love, and surround us with our clients, and helps shorten everyone's journey through avoiding pitfalls.
Keith Roberts: Yeah. And then also making sure they make continuous daily progress. I think the biggest difference between like Oak Journal and becoming Zenman and a book like The Secret, uh, I'm a huge believer in law of abundance versus scarcity mindset, you know, quantum physics that through, you know, changing the vibration of, of the smallest matter, we can manifest whatever life we want.
But it's not just about hoping and, you know, visualizing you have to daily [00:06:00] make progress to accomplish your. And the, the journal has that structure to help you every day make incremental progress on one business, one personal and one family goal, so that you're a balanced individual. And I think
Dan Ryan: that's also what I've loved so much about entrepreneurs organization.
It wasn't just about the businesses that were running and the teams that we're leading. It's really about becoming a well-rounded human. So it's a work-life balance of, like you said, family, personal, and.
Keith Roberts: Yeah. Um, a really great story to that one of, uh, EO Colorado members, Aaron, how he started eye contact and, you know, in his late twenties, he sold it for I think 169 million, but at the same time, he had worked himself into a deadly cancer.
Um, so he, he truly traded, um, his health for his business and, you know, fortunately Aaron overcame and he's, he's cancer free and he's still with us [00:07:00] today and thriving in Boulder and a good friend, but just a real eyeopener of, wow, it's not, it's not worth it. Those a hundred hour a week, um, that's taking years off our life on the backside and, and trading again, time for money, no matter how much the hourly rate is, is not a good.
Dan Ryan: Mm, I totally agree. Well, I'm glad for the good, uh, happy ending. I haven't heard, I don't know him. I'm sure I'll meet him at some point. Um, so this podcast is defining hospitality. So why do I have you on this? That's the real question, but I feel that, um, what's important to get across is in the coaching work that you're doing in this oak journal that you've developed, I think what I've found is hospitality is so much about.
Hearing others open-hearted listening and hearing what they're all about so that you could deliver on, on their needs and, and get ahead of them. However, we [00:08:00] can't, sometimes we can't hear others until we're really clear and good with ourselves. What I'd love about the Oak Journal is when you say that, having clarity of vision.
That helps us get clear with ourselves. When I think about that why that, I mentioned I came up with this, why it took me a year and a half of writing scores and scores and scores of, of work of, of papers and journals. And then I'm looking at it, I couldn't even see it. Like I just say like, we're in this jar and we can't necessarily read the label.
So how has your Oak Journal impacted others so that they can be let better listeners of themselves? Serve others better.
Keith Roberts: Oh man. You know, the best example is not an entrepreneur, which this was built for high performers. This was built for entrepreneurs. But there's a woman, uh, her name is Jennifer, and the first year she used the Oak Journal, she lost a hundred pounds.
She [00:09:00] had struggled with weight her whole life. And had tried a bunch of diets and different programs, and again, the journal was not designed as a weight loss tool, but one thing you do at the end of every week is you have a retrospective. So you look back and you reflect on what went well, you know what was holding you back, what was a puzzler, and then you rate yourself on how you feel Ally, physically productivity.
Um, She realized every week through her retrospective that she was disappointing her daughter. She would want to do things and that would be her reflection. Like, oh, you know, my daughter wanted to do the baby shark dance, and I got winded and I couldn't do this four minute thing on YouTube with her. And it was, that was the trigger that created the new neuro pathways.
She's lost over a hundred pounds and she created a new bucket list because, uh, she told me I never thought I'd be able to do these things in my lifetime. And now they're achiev. So to me that's the biggest transformation. The one that, um, somebody got, I can't [00:10:00] say it because of confidentiality, got a part in a movie he wrote down, I will get a part in this movie.
He got the part in this movie. Um, again, I can't say it like the biggest director of all time when his credits are in the movie and it's done and it's shot and it's out, we'll be able to use it as a case study. But the fact that he stated, I'm gonna be in the next X with this director, and he got the job.
Dude,
Dan Ryan: I, yeah, so you think about the Alchemist, you think about, um, the law of attraction. Okay. So yes, you can manifest things, you can have a vision, but I, I really think having all these next actions and actionable steps and looking back and looking forward and giving yourself context, it's just incredible.
And then, so with that in mind, how do you define hospital?
Keith Roberts: Hmm. Uh, it's, it's an entire experience beyond what you, uh, what the brand or service [00:11:00] is. So, if it's a restaurant, it's not. You know, the food or the atmosphere, it's the entire experience. How I feel from when the reservation is made, the confirmation, everything.
A better example might be, and I'm, I'm not in the, um, you know, the, the hotel business, but I just saw, uh, a gentleman speak who's the director at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, and he said, You know, you will, if your wife is walking down and, and they, a housekeeper, notices that she has on two light of an outfit and it's snowing outside, she will make sure to stop you and say, you know, Mr.
Ryan, Mrs. Ryan, um, I don't know if you know, but it is snowing today. I would recommend you do that. Or, you know, we have coats at the valet to make sure that you're warm for your trip. So it's that going above and beyond. We've all heard that story about the the forgotten teddy bear. Right? But I think it's in so many books because it's such a perfect example.
Kid forgets the teddy bear can't sleep. Dad calls the Four Seasons and says, Hey, forgot my teddy bear. I convinced little Billy to go to bed. Because Teddy Bear stayed [00:12:00] for an extended vacation and they not only sent the teddy bear back, but they sent a photo book of like the teddy bear playing golf, the teddy bear at the spa with cucumbers over his eyes.
So they spent an hour, the employees probably had a blast doing it, and it's in dozens of books on culture, business, customer service, leadership, that example. So, uh, you know, you never know. What little above and beyond thing, and, and for me, for the Oak Journal, I get paid to speak, but if I, if there's one person that I meet at an airport, I will give my keynote if I've got time to that person and share, you know, the knowledge, the tools, um, and hopefully inspire them to be the best version of themselves.
Dan Ryan: Wow. So like as far, okay, so then the other thing is creating that experience. You're also, I think you've, I didn't know you before Emmp, but I just see you as a, as a community builder as well, right? Um, not just with the people that you're [00:13:00] touching through Oak Journal, but also just a lot of virtual and physical, um, communities, some of which we can't talk about.
Right. Top secret. Um, But if you were to look at all these communities that you, that you've built and continue to build, and then you look at all of the content that you've created through the Oak Journal and getting your, your teachings out there, is there any part of your Oak Journal that you think has the biggest impact?
Keith Roberts: The two things, two things have the biggest impact. One, uh, and this is no secret, this is gratitude. Starting your day with gratitude, that is a superpower. It sets you up with such a positive mindset. People, if you're thinking of, if you're struggling of something to be grateful for. Uh, we'll put in the, in the notes.
There's a great, uh, d Dani's video on gratitude, but there's 700,000 people on this planet today that don't have access to, uh, I'm sorry, 700 million people that don't have access to electricity. There's over a billion people on this planet [00:14:00] that don't have access to clean drinking water. So, you know, I, I know a lot of us are facing challenging times.
Um, like all things, these two will pass whether you're in good times or bad times. That's the one constant is there will be change, but. , there is always somebody that would gladly trade problems with us for sure. So it's, it's easy when you think of it with that perspective to be great, grateful. And what's the second?
10. 10. 10. Warren Rustan is 10, 10, 10. So 10, 10, 10 For those of you that don't know it. Um, and Warren Rustan is an, an amazing inspiration. Um, he started, starts every day and, and Dan, and I've been doing it for almost six years now, with 10 minutes of meditation, followed by 10 minutes of reading and 10 minutes of journaling.
Meditation helps you, uh, set. Clear your mind for the day, reduces anxiety and depression. Um, also increases mental clarity, um, reduces depression and boosts immunity. Meditation is a superpower, and if you read everything from tools of titans stealing [00:15:00] fire, it's the most common. Tool that high performers across this planet use.
Uh, the next is reading. Uh, if you're not a big reader, if you read 10 minutes a day, you'll read 20 books in a year. So read something, don't read, you know, an history publication, don't read on your phone. And then lastly is, is 10 minutes of journaling and like, you know, Dan Warren advocates that you journal in a positive way.
Imagine that 50 years from now your grandchildren will be reading these journals as the one legacy of you. And if you incorporate those two things, It will change your life.
Dan Ryan: I think I, I mean, I never really journaled in as part of my habit until we first met, and Warren introduced that methodology of 10, 10, 10.
And it's interesting that you put gratitude first because what I found is that. I would have these spikes of gratitude. So someone would get sick, someone would die, something would happen, and then I'd be like, oh my God, I'm so grateful and I [00:16:00] would take stock. But there, there were the, it was very volatile when I started this practice of 10, 10, 10.
There was this, um, more of a hum of gratitude always in the background because I started it off that way. And if you think about, um, hospitality, so much about both giving and receiving is gratitude and appreciation. Mm-hmm. .
Keith Roberts: Yeah, that's a really good point and there is a reason why I lead those off and I do in in my keynotes as well.
You can do gratitude the 30 minutes, even though it is such an amazing game changer in your life to start with a 10, 10 10, so many people don't think that they have 30 minutes. In their day, you do just wake up 30 minutes earlier. If you don't think meditation is a superpower. There's so much research on the benefits that you're gonna get if you think you don't have time.
You need meditation more than anybody else. But everyone can do gratitude. You can take. Two minutes and write [00:17:00] down three things that you're grateful for. A, a pro tip here. Don't repeat a gratitude cuz if you say, Hey, my business is doing well, and you keep repeating it, you're gonna get diminishing returns in the, in the neuroscience.
Um, And be as intentional and specific as you can. So, you know, one of the ones I wrote down that I use in my keynote is, uh, camping at the Crystal Mill with my youngest son Quinn, parentheses star gazing. Crystal Mill, I think is the most beautiful place in Colorado. And when we were star gazing Quinn said to me, dad, this is the best moment of my life.
So it's like I feel, even though I've said that 300 times in a keynote, I still feel this flood of love thinking about my son sharing that with me. Um, so the more specific you can be, right, don't just say, you know, I'm having a, a good cup of coffee. Like, well, I'm having a good cup of coffee that was delivered to my house.
You know, roasted halfway around the world, uh, delivered free trade and I. Clean water up my tap that I don't have to fear parasites, uh, to brew a cup of coffee. So I, [00:18:00] I am so blessed. It's ridiculous.
Dan Ryan: Yeah. And I think the more gratitude and awareness of gratitude that we can build within ourselves as we are serving others in anything, this is why I love hospitality cuz it's transferable to anything that we do.
Right. And you're making people feel comfortable. So if we. This feeling of gratitude within ourselves. It's almost, we appreciate it so much that for me anyway, it's how can I do something for someone else that they will feel gratitude and express gratitude cuz that, not that I want the expression of, but I wanna be able to have like deliver this moment to someone.
Keith Roberts: Yeah, I mean, really cool thing with the neuroscience when you're, when you're giving love, when you're doing something like that, it actually has the same. Psychological benefit as when you're receiving love. So you, you telling your, you know, your son, how much you love him, actually has the same [00:19:00] benefit of, of you receiving love.
So you can, you can fill your cup by just sharing that abundance. Um, which is a really great way, especially in the world today. You know, we can't wait for the other side to extend the olive branch like, Be a good person, be a good human, be a good, you know, um, friend there, there are no strangers out there, just friends we haven't met yet.
And you know, I'm a very liberal person, , but somebody shared something with me the other day that I'm really trying to gain perspective, which is if you failed to see the other side, or if you think the other side is stupid or ignorant, you fail to see their perspective. And I think that would be an interesting way for everybody.
To look at how the people that they are arguing with, what's their perspective? Why do they have that viewpoint? Um, and just not assume they're ignorant or stupid.
Dan Ryan: Yeah. And I think it's also empathy and, and yeah. That walking in someone else's [00:20:00] shoes can help tear down these silos of echo chambers that we're all trapped within.
Right. We may not agree, and that's okay. We don't have to, but we can understand where they're coming. . Yeah.
Keith Roberts: And have empathy. That's a perfect way.
Dan Ryan: So with the Oak Journal there, it's so tactical, right? It's okay. There is vision in all this. You do have to put thinking and work into it, but there's really, it's very prescriptive and it ferments this gratitude, appreciation, change.
And it, it works. I, I can speak from experience over 90 days. It's not just a week or a day. It's you do it 90 day increments. And then over the course of a. You're somewhere else. Oftentimes when I'm traveling and I can see these moments of, you know, people saying, oh, welcome to check in Mr. Ryan, Mr. Ryan.
They say the name three times, which is like in their handbook, but it misses that kind of, it's more prescriptive than, [00:21:00] um, actually meaningful and mindful. How do you talk to. Users of the Oak Journal to be like, okay, it's not about checking boxes. It's like thinking and feeling as.
Keith Roberts: Uh, the biggest part there, the thinking and feeling is when they set their goals.
So there's a three step process, and first is just stating the goal, stated clearly. The second is you create a roadmap, KPIs, some milestones, how you're gonna make sure you accomplish that goal. But the most important part is to have a. So let's say, um, you know, you have new business, your mantras, you want to have an abundance of cash, right?
You wanna have six months in reserve. So I will have an abundance of cash in reserve. Be able to actually visualize it. So, you know, you all know what logging into your chase or your Wells Fargo account looks like. Imagine the number that's six months of your opex to be sitting in your bank. And then the most important piece, and this is aligning with the manifestation, is actually [00:22:00] feel it.
Okay? You've closed it, you've. You're looking at it, what would it feel like to have six months of cash in reserve and then feel that emotion, and that's gonna help in that, that abundance, that manifestation, um, mindset.
Dan Ryan: Wow. So it's, it's actually taking that moment or that gathering point and just feeling it.
Yep. Huh. Um, as you roll, Oak Journal and you're doing all these keynotes and speaking and impacting so many people, like aside from all the positive side, side of the balance sheet that you're adding to, what's keeping you up at night?
Keith Roberts: Uh, wanting to scale faster. I mean, the one thing, um, speaking is great.
I love it. I get paid a lot to do it, and I'd also do it for free. Um, I, you know, I, I do it for just, if you're EO forum wanted it and it's eight people, you know, or if a family wanted me to do it, [00:23:00] I would do it for, for anybody because it's my passion, it's my why. It's my icky guy. I'm also an entrepreneur, and so I want things to scale faster.
Um, the one that's keeping me up at night is that we haven't finished our Acorn Journal, so we're working on the, the Oak Journal is great. Uh, it's built for, for me, for Dan, for entrepreneurs, for high performers, for CEOs, salespeople, people that want to achieve all the way down to just somebody that wants to be the better version of themselves.
But over the last year and a half being a parent, the biggest problem I've seen in the world. Is the, the challenges that our children are facing. So we're working on the Acorn Journal, which will be a physical journal and we'll print as well. But what we're really excited about is we're building it to give it away.
So we're gonna give it away to every kid on the planet. There will be a PDF downloadable everywhere. Content is downloadable, um, just for the sole purpose of Distribut. To help elevate the next generation. It'll be designed for [00:24:00] about the eight to, uh, 15 year old. Um, after that, you could kind of almost get into oak, right?
If you're going into college, you could really be using the Oak Journal, and we have some college students, but not having that done is keeping me up at night.
Dan Ryan: And I, yeah, and for those of you who don't know, acorns come from Oak Tree. So it's beautiful. It's also, it's, it's a cool, um, Mirror of that Tom's model, or I think Warby Parker might do it too, where it's like, buy this one and we're gonna, our goal is to give away to others to impact.
And
Keith Roberts: we, we wanted to love, I mean, I, I absolutely love the Toms and the, the Bobba socks and all of those people that are doing the one to one thing and they've got a, a cogs, right? Like, once I create this thing, it's just my time and I can give the PDF that I send to the printer available to anybody. So because we have that, uh, gift of not having it, um, that, that's what makes me excited that a kid.
You know, in, [00:25:00] in Uruguay or, uh, Suraya or, you know, Kenya could access this tool and be the
best
Dan Ryan: version of themselves. And then I know it's not finished, but have you beta tested it out with any kids?
Keith Roberts: No, it's still in production. We've been testing a lot of the, the tools with kids. The one thing that's really challenging and it's just time consuming, you know, we, this is all based on facts, not my opinions, right.
So I tested. Dozen times before we printed the first one. That means I tested for three years making slight iterations to prototypes and beta versions before I was able to say, yes, this works. I'm ready to roll it out to other people. Um, so it's, it's just time continuing. So we've been testing different modules, features, tools, things like that, and getting input from, uh, a small group.
Uh, definitely would be open if your group, your kids wanna join the. Uh, or if anybody listening to podcast wants to, and then we'd love to partner [00:26:00] with somebody like, uh, boys and Kids Club or some organization that could, you know, help us understand what we don't know as far as the problems that kids that aren't privileged kids face.
Right. Uh, I think there's a whole nother level of depth of, of challenges that must be addressed in this, that are inclusive of a kid that maybe doesn't. You know, uh, food security or, or something like that.
Dan Ryan: Yeah. It's interesting. I have a friend, she's a, a principal, um, up in the Bay Area and in a very underserved school district, and I was like, oh, I know these great speakers.
Can we get in and like, how can we impact? He's like, and she's like, I mean, I love your intention, but she said, you know, so many of these kids like are just wondering where their next meal is coming from. They don. They don't care about that empowerment, where I'm sure they do, but it's really, there's bigger things that are like survival that
Keith Roberts: they're dealing with.
Yeah. Maslow's hierarchy of needs, right? Like if, [00:27:00] if you're, if you're in survival mode, you can't be, you know, elevating your. Awareness, your mindfulness, your spirituality. Um, you can't even be building relationships and community when you're in survival mode.
Dan Ryan: Um, I know you shared the story of the, the woman who lost a hundred pounds using the Oak Journal, which is not the intention, but what's another, uh, example of someone using the Oak Journal and Dr.
Delivering incredible results that makes you super?
Keith Roberts: Oh man. Um, there are a lot. One person that was really struggling with, uh, midlife sort of crisis. He, he left his career to help a, an aging, uh, parent that had some health issues and then covid happened and really facing. Challenging times, uh, getting back into the workforce.
Uh, he was, you know, high level performer, but he was on the latter side of his career, so he was, he was feeling some ageism stuff and [00:28:00] also just in been in a funk for being sort of out of the game for so long and, you know, seeing that person change. Um, there's been a few people that have gone through the Oak Master.
So we use Oak as a tool, and it's a six week intensive class, and that's really where I see the, the biggest transformation. But people finding, um, what they've been doing for a living, uh, is not their life's purpose, and they've just been sticking in it either complacency or sunk equity, and then having the courage to take that leap of faith and actually be the person that they were meant.
Dan Ryan: Yeah. And I think that probably comes from all the clarity of vision, right? If you, if you get super, super clear, which Oak Journal helps on, like who you are, why you are, and where you want to be, it just gives all these next steps. So it's not like you're, you're taking a leap off into the chasm. It, it's a, it's a.
It's a mindful, protected step. [00:29:00]
Keith Roberts: Yeah. A baby, it is a baby step. And, but you can take giant leaps of progress with just that first step. And to your point, I mean, I did the same thing when I was looking for my y I think I beat you. I worked on it for two years and it was, you know, a hike in Trail of Picchu and multiple sacred plant medicine ceremonies.
And I, I left no stone unturned, um, trying to figure. What is my purpose? I, I don't know if you know this, but the current scientific statistic, probability that you have a life. Is one in 400 trillion and that number is super simple. It's number of like sperms. The average man will produce in his lifetime times the number of eggs the average woman is born with.
Those two numbers times each other is one in 400 trillion. Not even factoring in, there were 6 billion people on the planet that had to come together, and I'm sorry to say Dan, but your, your parents have had sex and when they did, they conceived you. So one in 6 billion to get to one in 400 [00:30:00] trillion. How can we not take advantage of this, this gift that is opening your eyes every day?
Dan Ryan: And I think that's a great, um, segue into the next question, which is, what's exciting you most about the future?
Keith Roberts: I actually think, um, we will be getting through a, a, a time of, of extreme pain and suffering and, and turmoil where we're sort of at right now with divide to a place of, um, coming together. I think, uh, and I've been very, uh, stressed about the current divisiveness and, and, and, and struggles around the world, not just in, in the United States.
But my hope is that the next generation levels up consciousness. I really think it's happening with our kids and their demand for change on how we take care of, of Mother Earth. Uh, just last night I was so [00:31:00] inspired. There were two girls, 21 year old girls that repelled off this structure in. Um, Australia, it's the largest coal port in the world.
Had no idea, and they stopped production for 24 hours. They climbed up and just repelled down and did some live, uh, casts. And, and I now know that the largest coal port in the world is in Australia. They're just creating awareness. Um, so, you know, the, the next generation, my, my kids' generation, uh, saving the world is what I'm excited.
Mm. And
Dan Ryan: I, I, the more hands you can get that Oak Journal in to the people who want to make change and be structured about it and get clarity around vision, I think it has a multiplier effect. There's a butterfly effect to all the people that are using this.
Keith Roberts: Yeah. And even if it's just one person that I changed today that listens to this podcast, that's inspired to be the best version themselves, you know?
Box checked a [00:32:00] little bit of dopamine. I did my job.
Dan Ryan: Um, how old was your son when you did, when you were camping out there looking at the stars and it was his best night ever?
Keith Roberts: Uh, I think he was eight. It was a couple years ago. Yeah. Okay.
Dan Ryan: Yeah. And, and then, uh, so through all the change and evolution and searching that you've gone through to.
This moment in time where you are sitting right here talking to me. If you were to go back to the eight year old Keith, the eight year old you, and give yourself some advice, what would you give yourself?
Keith Roberts: Uh, I'm gonna brutalize this quote, but I, it's from, uh, I think it's throw. I would, you know, Suck all the marrow out of life. And I've really tried to do that, but I think younger me was hesitant in sometimes and take risks early. Actually, that would be it, right? The, the ability to [00:33:00] really take risks before you have the responsibilities on your shoulders is, is an amazing window of opportunity.
I would also tell myself to buy crypto.
Dan Ryan: Buy crypto. Oh, fuck yeah. Okay. Um, it is the row. , and I think he said the massive men choose to live life. No, I choose to live life deliberately to suck the marrow out of life. Something like that. It's interesting that you would choose a thorough quote, and when I first met you, we were not very far from Walden Pond where he did all that musing and journaling, and maybe he was.
I didn't realize that. Really? We gotta go back. Yeah. Walden Pond is right there. That's where he kind of left and he went and he was writing and thinking and maybe he did Oak Journal version 1.0.
Keith Roberts: That is so cool. I had no idea. I love
Dan Ryan: through it. He's amazing. Um, cool. Um, hey, so Keith, we'll have [00:34:00] everything in the show notes, but where can people find.
Keith Roberts: Uh, just Oak Journal, uh, and also Zenman. My email is keith zenman.com. You can reach out to me directly. I'm happy to help anybody. Again, this is, this is my why. Um, so however, I can help you get on track with the tool. Uh, we'll create a, a code for, uh, we'll just make it Dan . Make it easy. Uh, And, uh, you know, if anybody wants a journal, feel free to get that as soon as the Acorn's available.
You know, you can all have that for free. Share it with your kids and, um, yeah, I'd love to hear from anybody.
Dan Ryan: Awesome. Hey, Keith, thank you so much for your time and experience.
Keith Roberts: Thanks, man. I appreciate it. It was a great conversation with you, Dan, and
Dan Ryan: thank you to all the listeners. If you wanna learn more and see how this can, this tool that he's created, that Keith has created called the Oak Journal, can help you deliver.
Hospitality, receive hospitality and really just impact the world around you. Check out the show notes. It's all there for you. I [00:35:00] guess he's gonna make a code and also if it impacted you, please share this with a friend. Thank you everyone, and we'll see you next time.