342 – He’s a Humble Alpha Green Beret: Tom interviews Lane Belone

Episode 342 – Lane Belone
[00:00:08] Welcome to Screw the Commute. The entrepreneurial podcast dedicated to getting you out of the car and into the money, with your host, lifelong entrepreneur and multimillionaire, Tom Antion.

[00:00:24] Hey, everybody. It's Tom here with episode three hundred and forty two of Screw the commute Podcast. We're still in Vetrepreneur's month. And we've got a superduper guy here.

[00:00:36] He is a Special Forces Green Beret or was and he's been on before last year. So was hard to believe it's been a whole year. But he's also a co-author for Unleash Your Humble Alpha. We're going to talk quite a bit about that today. I actually couldn't get by the preface without getting tears in my eyes. So, wow, what a what a powerful book they've created. So we'll talk about that when we get them on here. I hope you didn't miss Episode 341, Rob Garcia, this guy, he flunked out of high school. He flunked out of two different colleges and he was given away by his mother. All right. So, wow, what an inspirational story. He's now got a Ph.D. and he helps other entrepreneurs and just a very inspirational story. Now, how would you like to hear your own voice here on screw the commute? Well, if the show's helped you out in any way or giving your business ideas, we want to hear about it. Check out screwthecommute.com and look for a little blue sidebar that says screw the commute. Actually, we want you to send a voicemail because we want you to screw the commute.

[00:01:48] So click on the bar and leave a voicemail for me. Tell us what the show's done for you and also leave your website in there so we can give you a big shout in front of thousands of people on a future episode of Screw the Commute. While you're over there, pick up a copy of our Automation eBook. This book just one of the tips in this book, literally, we figured it out a couple of years ago, saved me seven and a half million keystrokes. All right, folks, so this is a hardcore book with tips on how to automate your business. I've handled up to one hundred and fifty thousand subscribers and 40000 customers by myself with the techniques in this book. So check it out at screwthecommute.com/automatefree. And while you're at it, pick up a copy of our podcast app at screwthecommute.com/app where you can put it on your cell phone and tablet and take us with you on the road.

[00:02:50] All right, people are still freaking out on this pandemic thing. Well, I'm not and my students aren't because we know how to sell online. And I've actually formalized my training. I have been on and selling on the commercial Internet since it began in 1994, formalized the training. People started begging me to teach them. So I have a mentor program, which I'll tell you about later. But I also went through three years of agony to to get approved by the state of Virginia for an actual school. That's the the only licensed, dedicated Internet marketing school in the country, probably the world. And it would be one of the greatest legacy gifts you could ever give to a son or daughter, nephew, niece, grandchild, because it teaches hard core skills that any humble alpha, I think I don't know if that could be a girl, too, but that's the name of the book we're going to talk about that I can use to actually get a career going really fast because every business on Earth needs the skills that we're talking about, email marketing and shopping carts and blogging and chat bots and all the stuff that we use to make a living and sell stuff around the world right from home or a home office. So I'll tell you more about that later. But that school is IMTCVA.org. See, that's Internet Marketing Training Center V.A. for Virginia. But you don't have to be in Virginia because it's distance learning. All right. We'll get back to that later.

[00:04:28] All right. Let's get to the main event. Lane Belone is a Special Forces Green Beret veteran who helps entrepreneurs achieve purpose and reach optimal performance with his business partner, and co-author, Steven Kuhn. They both co-own the Vetpreneur tribe of 14000 plus. I think it's almost fourteen thousand six hundred now community of veteran entrepreneurs. They have recently released their latest book, Unleash Your Humble Alpha, available on Amazon. And we're going to talk about that today. Lane, are you ready to screw? The commute?

[00:05:06] How's it going, man? It's been a while.

[00:05:11] Yeah, doing well. Yeah, a lot of moving and shaking over here in twenty twenty. But overall, keeping that positive mindset and driving. Driving on.

[00:05:20] Yeah. Well and when you say moving and shaking you really mean moving. Right. You just moved recently right.

[00:05:27] Yeah. Yeah. So my wife and I, we lived in Colorado for about a year and a half after moving from Panama, the country, and spent about three months in San Diego during the summer. And when we came back to Colorado, we moved into a new place and getting settled and just little by little. And it's it's been quite the adventure.

[00:05:48] You. Oh, I hate moving. Oh, my God. The thought of moving now with this big honkin place.

[00:05:54] I got it. Just crazy. So you're back in Colorado, is what you said, right?

[00:05:58] Yeah, exactly. All right. Great, great place to be.

[00:06:01] I was hoping to get to see you and Steven with the Military Influencers Conference, but that got all online this year. So. So everybody's doing everything remotely now.

[00:06:12] Yeah. And I'm not sure of the exact date of the military influencer conference for the in-person one, but we'll definitely be there and I look forward to linking up again.

[00:06:22] Yeah. Yeah. We had a great, great time there last time. So. So you got this new book out, man. Wow. It's kind of sweeping the world. Tell you, tell them, tell them the title, the full title.

[00:06:36] Yeah, unleash your humble alpha, own your presence in life and become the epic leader you're meant to be.

[00:06:42] Yeah, I'll tell you what. And the last time I think this was in the works, we're talking about humble alpha. And I'm thinking, man, this is great for guys that want to get married, too, because there's a I actually saw a news, a news story about there's a shortage of decent guys that can do anything. They can't even change a tire. They can't, you know, fix a faucet. And the women were complaining that there's just not enough good, solid guys around. And so so even if you're if you're not in business, folks get a copy of this book and then you'll have women chasing you up and down the street.

[00:07:24] Yeah, it's been interesting that a lot of the people that are buying and reading the book are actually women, you know, at least 50 percent, maybe even more. So it's interesting, you know, we wrote the book for men because Steve and I are both fellows. We're both dudes. And women are responding to the to the book and saying, we want men like this and we want to raise our sons like this.

[00:07:48] Exactly. Yeah. Like I said, it was really it was a news story about that.

[00:07:53] There's just a shortage of, you know, you got all these soy boys out there and these people that don't know what they are and nobody wants to know they're happy to have them as friends, you know, but nobody wants to marry somebody like that. So. Yeah, exactly. So.

[00:08:11] So tell us how the book came about.

[00:08:14] Yes, so Steven and I, we met in the vetpreneur tribe that we spoke of in the bio, veteran entrepreneurs, and at the time we were just members. And so a whole bunch of things happened. And Steven and I, we ended up linking up in Peru, of all places in person for the first time. And from there, we just really melded. We really enjoy each other's company. And we had a vision that complemented each others. And so we started to do stuff together and we wanted to write a book. And at first it was going to be about centered around our hit principles, honesty, integrity and transparency. And then from there, it just morphed into this whole other animal. And actually, while we were in Peru, the term Humble Alpha came to be. And so we just started writing the book, started putting together our life lessons, dissecting our lives, the principles that we live by and what we overcame as far as challenges and the successes. And we really just reverse engineered our entire lives. And then we put it down on paper. And that's what the book turned out to be. And it was it was really a difficult process because Steven and I both live very intuitively. We just, you know, address or assess what the moment calls for. We receive that knowledge or wisdom or whatever, and then we just carry on and we move forward. And to be able to dissect that reverse engineer and put it into digestible steps really took a lot of energy. But that's exactly what the book is taken our intuitive way of living and building stories around it from our lives, examples, metaphors, and then being able to, most importantly, create action steps for everybody that reads the book to implement into their own lives so they can become their own version of a humble alpha.

[00:10:09] Now, I've always wondered about this because all the books I've written have been just me. I mean. How do you I mean, do you write one chapter and he writes another one or how, you know, how do you mix all this these life experiences together?

[00:10:25] Yeah. So we sat down last year and we put together all the lessons and the principles that we wanted to share. And so we put them we put them all down on paper. And then we started looking at, OK, what what is the macro picture of all of these things? And then so that's what that's how we broke it down into five different sections of the book. And from there we just looked at, all right, well, who has the best story? Who has the best example that showcases this? That. People that read the book can just really sink their teeth into because we live, you know, we have a lot of examples of how to create space. We have a lot of examples of living a quality of life. But what exact story, what exact example is going to allow us to really connect with the reader? And so that's how we chose the different stories and then how we actually created the book as we actually did it. A very similar to a podcast. We took each section of the book and we had we got interviewed and we took that transcription of that. And that was the basis of the book. And then we had a couple of editors really take that concept or that that recording and then move it around and made it super ultra digestible as far as the reading medium, because, you know, as as we both know, podcasts are great. They're they're informal, they're fun. But when people are reading a book or even listening to the audio book, they want that concise, exact message, that exact story. And, you know, and of course, Steven and I, we have really high standards for all the things that we do. And the book is world class. The audio book is world class. And so that's how we did the book.

[00:12:08] So there's a piece of a view. And Steven, in every chapter then, right?

[00:12:14] Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. That's one of those. Yeah. One of those things where every single principal, every single lesson is, is something that Steven and I both carry on in our own lives as individuals as well as what we both teach as a partnership partnership.

[00:12:34] Well, I'm not sure about how high your standards are if you agreed to be on my show twice.

[00:12:39] But but we'll let that one slide for a bit. But I got I got to tell people I couldn't make it past Roman numeral 13 when the preface started. And I want to with Lane's permission to read a little point. And, you know, this is part Lane and Steven. We're here as part of Vetrepreneur's month, which I have every year because I want to give a big thanks and shout out the people that risk their lives and and their mental stability to help us stay safe. And I got into just the Roman numeral thirteen in the preface. And I want to read this several paragraphs here. And it just knocked me over just again, thinking of the things that our veterans have to deal with.

[00:13:34] So if it's OK with you Lane, I'm going to read a little bit.

[00:13:37] Please do.

[00:13:40] Well, I got to take a deep breath on this one. One day I was standing at Checkpoint Charlie, looking across the desert and I saw a little pink dot. I stood there staring, thinking, what the hell is that? As it got a little closer, I saw that it was a little girl with both of her arms stretched straight out to the side. I thought she was playing airplane. But as she walked closer and closer, I saw that her arms. I'm getting goose pimples reading this thing and. We're outstretched because burns covered her body, she wore a pink summer dress over the clothes that were burned into her skin. Still pushing my emotions away, I took her in and led her to the medic tent, what I saw was killing me, but I kept trying to keep it together. As I tried to push what I was feeling down, I realized that I just had to stop. I needed to feel to allow the gravity of the situation to wash over me and process what was really happening rather than push it down. I knew at that moment that rather than put a wall up, I needed to find a way to connect with this little girl to see the reality of what and who was in front of me. There wasn't much I could do, I wasn't able to control the situation and help her the way I wanted to, I wanted to pick her up and hug her. I wanted to take her somewhere safe, feed her, give her shelter, ensure that she could grow up to be a fabulous and amazing woman.

[00:15:22] But that was impossible.

[00:15:25] All right, so fast forward to the kind of lesson here, this is a lot of people think, well, I have no control, so there's nothing I can do.

[00:15:33] This is a pivotal moment when leaders rise. At times, leaders must accept that they don't have control, but understand that they can always add value, insight or kindness to change the world that's in front of them. They may not be able to change the larger world or situation, but they can change the course of a small moment in time. Or a thought in a person's mind while you guys please, you guys knocked me over before I even got into the book.

[00:16:06] Yeah, I mean, that's a really powerful story. And, you know, it just showcases that it doesn't matter what happens in life, that it's always these small moments and we can't control the external world, but we're able to see what this moment calls for and provide value, even if it is just to provide a piece of candy to a little girl.

[00:16:28] Yeah, I mean, that's I would call that one of the big macro lessons here, but but you definitely have a lot of, you know, immediately usable ideas here. Like I was looking at the networking section on page 111 of the book, and it was it was kind of given a different angle. People's elevators, you know, their 30 second elevator speech. Well, you said, well, that's like 28 seconds too long. So so give them some networking tips that that you guys outlined in the book.

[00:17:05] Yeah. I mean, the macro for networking is it's not about you. It's always about them. And it's about you being a person that allows people to express what they want to express, to elevate them, to provide value in whichever way that that you can in that moment. So a lot of people go into networking. And, of course, you should know what you are about, what problem you solve and for what kind of customer. And it's important we talk about it in the book. But from the macro point of view, understanding and knowing that, but also allowing people just to speak and actually listen to them. And it's really a one of the things that we talk about in the book is creating space, and that's being able to walk up to anybody. It doesn't matter if it's an individual or group, but being able to bring this bubble around everybody and to provide value in whichever way you can. And that may just be a that may be to provide a contact or a resource or give them an exact instructions on how to do X, Y and Z. You know, creating value for other people is limitless. And but one of the critical components is to remove that cookie cutter solution type of mentality, or I got to know exactly my elevator pitch or to be able to interject what I think about a certain subject or and so allowing your your entire experience as a human and all of your tools in your tool bag to be available, but really calming your mind and being able to address what is exactly happening in that moment. And so networking for me is about being able to allow the other person to express what they would like to do and creating that space for them to step into their own greatness and just seeing what happens and you being that conduit of value driven solutions.

[00:19:01] Now, I'll tell you what, I don't see this very often and talk about macro stuff. So I look at this book from the macro perspective as.

[00:19:11] Both I mean, usually you have a business book or self-help book or something like that. This seems to me to be both. I mean, this is hardcore stuff that you can use in business. But even the stuff you outlined right there, I think I think that's how Steven got his wife is the same concept.

[00:19:30] Give her space, you know. Exactly.

[00:19:32] So so, yeah, that's have you looked at it that way, that it's both a kind of a self-improvement book and a business book.

[00:19:43] Yeah. And that's exactly how Steven and I have lived our lives, you know, specifically for me. And the Special Forces were known for having a strategic mindset, but having tactical application. So when both the strategic planner being able to understand how operations are going to affect different countries, different types of armed forces, but then also being the same guy that's training the guy on the ground, you know, with the weapons tactics, the explosive tactics. And so being able to have that dualistic had or mindset of strategy plus tactical is exactly how we created this book, is that every everything that is macro, that is universal not only in business, but in life, we had those overarching macro themes and everything has depth in the book. Right. But we also wanted to make sure that it wasn't like a philosophy book or a great book to say, hey, this is how you can live life, but then leave the reader asking, well, how do I actually do that? And so by marrying the two of allowing the reader to. To capture that macro strategy of life and it how every single aspect have meaning and death behind it, but also what are the action steps that I can take today in order for me to start implementing all these lessons and these principles and allow me to step into my own version of a humble alpha?

[00:21:09] Yeah, it's it's amazing. And I'm just given little snippets of this is just a power pack.

[00:21:14] A lot of books have a lot of fluff in it. This one's, what, 173 pages.

[00:21:20] But everything is packed in here with I mean, you can't you know, I usually markup books, you know, I write underline stuff like it's like I'd be better off not underlining the importance of, like, authors and and folks.

[00:21:37] Just as a sidebar here, I'm being really nice to Lane because I'm trying to butter him up to give me some sear training.

[00:21:43] One of these days when we meet in person, we'll have a one on one sear training. Okay. All right.

[00:21:51] Now, there is another thing that caught my eye here on page 51 is the beginning of a chapter called Amplifying Your Purpose.

[00:22:00] And there's a I don't know if you guys coined this term or what, but it's I'll read another just a couple of sentences called Radiant Value says Radiant value is the value you create that passes through the person you created it for and into another person. It's a chain reaction. It moves from person to person to person, kind of like viral said that's your radiant value. Tell us about that.

[00:22:31] Yes, a radiant value applies both for the positive and negative, so if you think about the media and fear that can have a ripple effect of where it causes fear inside of you, and then you automatically are just radiating that fear into others. But what we try to do is we they're good at that.

[00:22:52] By the way, when you talk about the media, they're very good.

[00:22:56] So what we're taking the same principle and applying it to to you as a person in the positive light, but also like like the title of that section, amplifying your purpose. And so, you know, the start of the book talks about how to how to identify your identity, who you are and how you interact in the world. And that helps you clarify your purpose or what you do in life. And so with those two things solidified in your life, you're able to then radiate and amplify your purpose. And it's basically allowing yourself to take what is within you, whether that's you crushing it or you feel inside or you feel an incredible happiness and joy and abundance. It's whatever that you have within you at that moment. That is what's going to radiate. But whenever you are operating under knowing exactly who you are and how you interact in the world and what you do. Then you're going to be able to amplify it even more because from Steven and I's philosophy that the positive always is more powerful than the negative, and although the negative, we may be surrounded by the negative, if we operate under a positive rating in value, that's going to have more power and it's going to amplify and radiate that much more than a negative thought or idea.

[00:24:13] So it's an interesting way of looking at life and and looking at it from a practical standpoint. When you as a person know who you are, what you're doing, it's much easier for you to identify the vehicle or the project or the business in which for you to amplify your own individual purpose so you can use your your business as a vehicle to amplify your own purpose. And and just think of whenever you have that alignment in life that like this is exactly what I want to do in life. And then I'm able to exit with my business because that's how business works. You're able to amplify and have more influence and more reach than you would as just an individual in most cases. Then you're able to then feel that much more impact, that much more happiness, and you're going to have that much more results because you're using your business as a way to amplify and radiate your own personal mission in life.

[00:25:13] See, to me, I'm thinking like, oh, you're a walking viral machine, not in the back, not like viral, like the pandemic.

[00:25:22] But you just, you know, walk down the street.

[00:25:26] There's like it's almost like hydrostatic shock when a high speed bullet hits you.

[00:25:33] Except there's good stuff going. It's good stuff.

[00:25:36] Yeah, that's the whole point is to to the whole book is about how do you figure out the best life that you can live and create an intentional way of living. And you know, even before the podcast, you know you know, I asked you if we could delay it ten minutes. And of course, you know, like, yeah, I got plenty. I got all the time in the world. And I was like, well, because you created your life exactly like that, you know? And so the life that we create for ourselves is intentional, whether we know it or not, we can wittingly or unwittingly create this life. And this book is centered around, OK, how do we create a business and life for ourselves that is intentional in every way. And what ultimately ends is the stuff that Steve and I talk about is quality of life.

[00:26:23] Well, yeah, and then and I don't have all the time in the world because, you know, I'm an older guy, I got to go to the bathroom, more than younger guys got cut it short.

[00:26:36] But but all right.

[00:26:38] Well, we got to take a brief sponsor break. When we come back, we'll ask Lane how to get a hold of the book. We'll ask him what a typical day looks like for him and how he stays motivated. So, folks, about 20 years ago, I kind of turned the Internet marketing world on its head.

[00:26:55] The guys that like me were charging 50 or 100 grand up front to teach you Internet marketing techniques. And I knew a lot of these guys in the gave me 50 or 100 grand up front. You would be chasing them around Basra or so some foreign land because they wouldn't do it. They'd just take the money and run. So I said, no, I'm going to charge a reasonable entry fee to my program and then tie my success to your success. So for me to get my 50000, you have to net 200000.

[00:27:26] Well, people just love this. And 20 years ago, seventeen hundred people over 20 years have have loved it and it's still going strong.

[00:27:36] So that's how you create longevity as you make everybody around you, just like the radiant value kind of thing that Lane was just talking about, make everybody win and and you win, too. Also, if you are in my mentor program, then you get a scholarship to my school, which you can either use yourself or gift to someone. And I'm telling you, it would be the best legacy gift you could give to a young person. They're all they're doing now is spending a fortune, being in debt, going to colleges that just teach them how to protest. And then they're competing for jobs at Starbucks. So we got people making money one month into the school. They're already making money. So so this is very powerful stuff. So check it out at greatInternetmarketingtraining.com and give me a call. It's no high pressure with me. I can show you the value, what we can do for you and see if it's right for you.

[00:28:35] All right. Let's get back to the main event. Lane Belone is here. He is the co-author of Unleashing Your Humble Alpha, Own Your Presence in Life and become the epic leader you are meant to be. And as we've been discussing, this is far more than just a business book, I tell you. So, Lane, what's a typical day look like for you?

[00:28:56] Yeah, so I wake up.

[00:28:57] That's always good start right there.

[00:29:00] Yeah, I keep my eyes closed and I actually, you know, so I listen to a meditation that I created for myself.

[00:29:10] And after that, I just really primes me up for the day. And then I make some coffee. I opt for the French press version and I really like the calming, you know, synchronicity or the the sequential act of, you know, grinding the coffee beans, boiling the water. And so this little act just kind of sets the day up. And this morning, routine ritual. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

[00:29:39] And what if you were out of coffee would with to screw the whole day up or would your humble alpha kick in?

[00:29:53] Well, I would assess the situation and then I'll be OK. I don't have coffee, so I want to go get some coffee.

[00:29:58] Oh, well, man, this is deep stuff we're talking about.

[00:30:02] Yeah. So I drive to Dutch Bros, but yeah. So it's I pull an audible OK. And then you know we'll do that a lot in the service didn't you.

[00:30:15] Well, you know, if anybody that's ever heard about Army coffee, it's definitely not the best in the world and it definitely French press.

[00:30:25] But I mean, you had to I mean, it's like that old Mike Tyson thing. Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face, you know? Yeah. So I'm sure you have the plan. You know, you planned out missions and then they all didn't work perfectly, I suspect.

[00:30:41] Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, the part of the plan isn't to follow the plan. It's to know how to pivot when the plan goes wrong.

[00:30:47] Oh, okay. Yeah. But, you know, every once in a while the the plan actually goes according to plan. Yeah. Every once in a while.

[00:30:56] But yes, I have coffee, and then usually I do a little bit of creative work, whether it's writing or just kind of blue printing out some ideas and then have some calls. And, you know, every week we have our warrior council call inside the veteran or tribe and yeah, just really just kind of assessing what's going on. And, you know, a lot of the a lot of the days now are, you know, all veteran or tribe and humble off a book and. Yeah, whatever, you know, small checklist I have for today. I just check it off and do some reading and. Yeah.

[00:31:35] So it's a lifestyle business day. Sounds the same. Yeah. Do you have kids. I don't know if you have kids.

[00:31:41] No, no. My wife and I have been married almost seven years and no kids yet.

[00:31:45] Okay. Yeah. So I've not been married and no kids ever since.

[00:31:53] I like kids like you to have so.

[00:31:57] So it seems to me that this would be a great couple things. A great gift book, especially with Christmas coming up to buy, you know, bunches of them and give them out to people.

[00:32:10] And then also I can see this as a company buying a thousand copies, I mean, and passing these out.

[00:32:18] Where do people get a hold of it now?

[00:32:20] Yeah. So it's humblealpha.com/Amazon or you can just go to Amazon and search unless your humble alpha. And that's the that's the best, easiest, fastest way to get a hold of the paperback. You can also get it on Kindle there. And at the time of this recording, the audio version is in processing it. So it should be any day now to where it's released out on Audible. So if your audio book person, it's an incredible listen, the voice actor is perfect for the book and. Yeah, so it'll be available on Audible very soon, if not already by the time you listen to this.

[00:33:00] All right. Now, where do people get a hold of you if they if they're from a company or they want to buy large quantities?

[00:33:09] Yeah, you could you can email us at Qol@QOLEnterprises.com, you know, and just shoot us an email or find us on social media. Stephen Kuhn, Lane Belone, we're pretty much the only guys that are named that.

[00:33:37] Yeah. So any way that you want to get hold of us, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, the email that I provided, just how far away is best for you. And we'll get you taken care of for sure.

[00:33:49] Well I'll tell you what line this is. You guys are created something to be really, really, really proud of. I'm telling you, because I see a lot of this stuff and some of it, you know, it'd be better to be, you know, hold your monitor up rather than actually read.

[00:34:04] Oh, yeah, that's definitely true. Yeah. Thanks so much for taking the time.

[00:34:10] I know you're busy with the big move coming on here, and we wanted to thank as part of it per month. We want to thank you for your service. And that's not any kind of cliche around here. We really and I would think I think you've seen me over the past year, how I feel about you guys and want to do whatever I can for you.

[00:34:29] Yeah, absolutely. And thank you for your time. And I appreciate you for sharing your expertise with our community. And it's just a really awesome thing that you continue to provide ultra reliable and providing value. And we really appreciate it.

[00:34:44] Yeah, the only thing complaint I have with you is I don't see my name in the announcements, so I actually acknowledgment.

[00:34:50] So I actually wrote it in. Right. Has penciled in there. Yeah. So all right man.

[00:35:00] So thanks so much and can't wait for people to get listen to this episode and go get the book.

[00:35:06] Absolutely. All right man. Get you on the next episode everybody. Bye bye.

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