Alex Granger — Twice Blue and the book Force

- David Watts on MIX 93.8. - MIX 93.8, the legendary radio. Monday night it's time for what's involved as we do each and every Monday night at this time. And the reason I might sound like I have a smile in my voice tonight is that my special guest in studio with me is Alex Granger. Hello, Alex. - Good evening, David. How are you doing? - I'm exceptionally well. We were just chatting off. - Like a word, exceptionally. - Yeah, we were just chatting off. And it's like, one of those things, we have literally not seen each other. We have communicated, but for around about three years now. And it's like picking up where you left off. I mean, we just go. We should have switched the microphone outside. - Outside, yeah, because it's almost like I was with you yesterday. I was with you four yesterday and here we are. - Anyway, so Monday nights, what's involved, that's what we do. And I always find inspirational people for us to chat to, people who can talk to us about inspiration, motivation, entrepreneurship, building a better you. And I think Alex sort of touches on just about all of those key points there. But let's start off, Alex. And for those of you who are sitting there going, okay, so Alex Granger, who is he?

Who is Alex Granger? Tell us a little bit about kind of where you started off and how did you end up where you are today? - So short version, I started out as a car rental driver many, many years ago, in 1991. And today I run a business called Twice Blue with two business partners, Refiluens Piawe. And besides that, my real passion is speaking. I speak globally on various issues around leadership, sales, customer service, but really about helping people find their purpose and find meaning for their lives. And of course, I'm an author, I've written three books, one on sales, one on partly my story and my latest book called Force, which is about personal effectiveness. - Okay, well that is, okay, so there we go. That's the elevator pitch. But you make it sound very, very easy. And I know you glossed over the beginning parts, but I mean, life hasn't always been a bed of roses for you. I mean, you've faced some pretty serious challenges and you've had disappointments, et cetera, et cetera. You're also married, happily, lovely wife and children. And I think how much does that impact your life? - Well, that is the source of inspiration, if anything, because, you know, when you're married and you have children, you literally work for them.

I feel like I'm a slave, actually. I work for my wife and my two children. But that's really been the compelling force behind what I do. And of course, with that comes challenges. As you would know, if you're a parent, it's looking out for children, ensuring that you become that catalyst for their dreams and their hopes. And so you try and invest in them and try and make sure that they're safe, protected, and also realize their own dreams. And that's really been the fun part of being a dad. And also as a husband, supporting my wife's business, Newby and Queen on 101, exclusive bags. - I was gonna say, because she's also quite a go-getter, is she not? - Yeah, listen, she's been running a business for a few years now. And really, you know, what started out as selling one bag in two months, dropped to one bag every month, to one bag every two weeks. And now it's several bags every week. Before you know it, it'll be like several bags every single day. So she's really grown her brand beautifully and super proud of her. - Education-wise, I mean, do you have lots of letters behind your name? Have you studied many, many, many things? Or did you sort of, where did that go? - I studied sales.

So when I left school, I had a passion for selling. So I did a sales certificate. I studied a salesmanship diploma. And then I went to Gibbs and I started executive leadership, which is a fantastic program. It was really interesting 'cause some of the lecturers wrote the books that they were using in the lectures. Very nice. And so I did that. I've also studied some philosophy, which is a very interesting topic on its own. That'll really take you in a different trajectory. So I do think education is very important, but I think life gives you much more experience than just education. It's great to have a combo of both. - Okay. So we first kind of met each other by, you know, through various other people, through a place called Unique Speaker Bureau. And we were chatting about it earlier on. And it's like, we just hit it off. And I was like, okay, this is one cool dude. And of course, the socks is a thing with you. - Yes. - Are we doing socks tonight? Are we rocking the socks? - Always. - We are rocking the socks. - I gotta show my viewers. I am wearing the happy socks. There we go. - It has become somewhat of a trademark with you. - It has. I mean, that's David, guys. - Oh no, we had this discussion before.

- Sorry, David. - Yes, Alex is doing Facebook live. Alex is somewhat of a sort of, he likes all of this kind of thing. We were joking and saying, I could just give him the microphone and leave him to get on with it by himself. And he would do a great show. Facebook live is one of those things that you've taken to. - I love it. - And I was saying, I was watching you a week ago or something, and I was like-- - Last week, yeah. - Alex says, okay, let me have a look. And then, you know, I'm going, (vocalizing) and the next thing I'm gonna get this, hello, David. And I'm like, oh, can you see me? What is he doing? What am I testing? - That was fun. (laughing) That was fun. - But, I mean, social media is a huge thing. You're a part of social media, but you thoroughly enjoy it. I've said this before, I said it again, put me behind a microphone, love it. Give me a microphone, put me in front of five people, 10 people, 5,000 people, in my element. Stick a camera in my face. - Different story. - Turn into a bumbling idiot. - Yeah. - Rather than, you can't say anything. You love it, but that's part of this personality. And very often what you see in terms of people who are in the public eye, is there is very much a public persona.

But what I've always picked up with you is that you're genuine. I mean, the Alex that you would see sitting whilst he's waiting to go on stage to do a presentation, and thinks, oh, let me have a quick chat to people on Facebook, that's the Alex. That is who you get. You are, that's you. How important is that? - It is, in fact, you know, at one point in my life, I didn't want to have too many friends on Facebook. Because let's be honest, if you have, if you have a thousand people on Facebook connected to you, you don't really know them that well. And I was actually speaking to my daughter, and I was saying, you actually need to reduce the number of people I have on Facebook. And she said, why, you're an influencer. You're speaking hope into people's lives. You're talking about helping people about with their purpose. So why would you want to reduce the amount of influence you have on people? I said, but I don't know them. It just doesn't matter. You're planting seeds. So if you're going to have the friendship total, what is it? 5,000 people have those 5,000 people. And every time you go Facebook live, or you're sharing message, you know, you're planting hope in someone else's life. So I've taken that on because I think it's a great medium to share.

You know, it can be good and bad. It's just about being responsible and accountable for what you share in a very responsible way. And I try to do that all the time, inspire hope in people. - And this is something, I mean, this trends through everything that you do is, there's always this inspirational message. There's always, you can do this. And I touched on it again, and I know again, Alex is being very modest, but I mean, it hasn't been easy. People will look at you and we joke about the socks, which are a thing, 'cause he's got like the coolest socks ever, and nine out of 10 times, I would not be able to pull off socks like those. But you know, and they go, oh, well, yeah, you've got it. I mean, you've got everything, you know, young, married, family, professional speakers. - Thanks, I'll take the young people, I'll take the young. When we get to our age, we have to take what we can do. But it's, you've glossed over a lot of it. It has been a challenge. - It has. - You've grown up in, you know, you spent, are you originally from South Africa? - No, I'm from Zum, originally. - Oh yeah, well, there we go. I mean, that's even worse. You grew up with Bob. (laughing) - Oh, my great grandfather, Bob, yeah, yeah.

- But I mean, it hasn't been easy for you. I mean, and to make it worse, you know, in terms of the South African context, you're an immigrant, you're an immigrant kid, so you don't really fit into South Africa. People kind of look at you, what are you doing here? So it hasn't been easy, but you've-- - It has been challenging. Look, it's, I think difficulty is not going to be foreign to anyone growing up. I've had my fair share of a lot of struggles. You know, you're moving from one country to another. That's a challenge on its own. You have the struggle of work-life pressure when you don't have the means to do what you want to do. You know, you want to live this lifestyle, but you can't reach it because of limitations. That fixed salary, hated it, hated that cap salary, but everyone's got to go through that. I mean, I've been through a lot of difficult challenges in my own personal space, suffered with depression at some point. And so you can imagine if you're a speaker, and I do a lot of motivational speaking, like the question's always going to be like, when the motivational speaker's down, you know, how does he get out of that hole? Because, you know, I can't ever, even when I was at my most depressed, I'd get on stage as if everything's cool, because it's not about me. - You can't have a bad day.

- It's not about me, it's about them. But after that, I would find myself closing myself in a closet and weeping or just breaking down because, you know, life happens. But I found a way to be able to just cope with stress and manage the difficult challenges that we'll face. And that will never end, 'cause tomorrow another crisis will come up, and I'll have to face that. So I've realized that the reality of life is not perfect, but we can design our destiny by being strategic, by planning carefully, and by implementing the little action steps that we take along the way. The problem with many people is that they don't even have a plan. In fact, they don't even have a vision to start with. - But this is the thing, and this is a common element that I've seen with most of the people that I chat to, and it's certainly something that was for me in my life at Turning Point is once you have this compelling vision of where you're going, that's the start of what's gonna get you through those times. - Exactly. - But without that vision, I mean, you know, if you don't know where you're going, any road's gonna get you there. - It's like putting your sat-nav on, but not putting a destination. A sat-nav follows you.

When you turn, it shows you that you're turning. Whereas you put a destination, it tells you to turn because it knows where you want to go. And that's the vision. - Okay. My special guest in studio tonight, Alex Granger, speaker, author, business owner, entrepreneur. When we come back, I wanna chat a little bit about "Twice Blue" and how that came about, what that is. So we'll talk about that in just a little while with Alex Granger. It is "What's Involved" on Mix 93.8. - David Watts on Mix 93.8. - It is "What's Involved" on Mix. Message just in evening, Mr. Watts. Just a shout out to Alex. Congrats on your successful journey. Truly inspirational. That's from Richard McGee. And I said to you, do you know Richard? - I do. Mr. McGee, I used to work for Mr. McGee. He was my boss's boss. Back in the day at Budget Rent-A-Car and as a super dude. - Okay. - Cool, cool. - So there we go. Confirmation that Alex actually did work. - I did. Can you imagine, hey? - Yeah, there you go. - Must be a sales rep back in the day. (laughing) - Nothing wrong with that. A lot of us have actually, kind of in that entrepreneurial space. I think it might almost be like a logical sort of next step is you start off in sales.

And then you go, okay, well, I can do this, but now I'm making money for somebody else, hmm. - About time I moved into my own thing. - Yes, yeah. And then unfortunately nobody really tells you that it's gonna be as difficult as it is. Somebody asked me a while ago, how would you describe being an entrepreneur, having your own business? And I said to them, it is probably the single most exciting, most fun, scariest thing you will ever do in your life. 'Cause the highs are incredibly high and the success is great when you get it, but the blood, sweat and tears. - You get there. - It's, yeah, I mean, you know. - It's not overnight either. - Yeah, overnight success often takes about five, six years or something, depending on what's happening. - It's not two minute noodles. - Absolutely not. So talking about not two minute noodles, twice blue. - That's right. - Okay, so where did the concept of twice blue come from? - So twice blue is a consolidation of two, three businesses primarily made up of the three partners. So we were working separately from each other, doing very much similar work. Myself's Pewe and Rafilwe. And ultimately we got together, had a conversation and we realized we aligned from a values point of view, very compatible in terms of our strategic intent and decided to formalize something and consolidate it.

Because, you know, when you have pieces of business as an individual, the economies of scale are very limited. There's only so much time I have available as Alex to speak at conferences and train during the month. Whereas when you come together and you consolidate it into three individuals with decent enough facilitators and support in terms of staffing, you can scale so much more. So you could do more than one project that Alex could only do for a month. And so that's what happened. Last year, towards the end of the year, we decided to consolidate our businesses and form this business twice blue, which is basically a human capital consulting firm. And we specialize in human performance improvement. Anything to do with organizations looking to improve their productivity of their people. We help with various interventions in terms of training or whatever they need. We design from the floor up. - Okay, so I could come to you and go listen. In terms of the business size that you deal with, sort of medium-sized businesses up. So, I mean, what you're doing is not for me as a small business owner. You couldn't come into my business if I've got five or six staff. I mean, it wouldn't make sense.

- It wouldn't. To be honest, we have been very clear about our positioning. We are aiming for medium to large enterprises. In fact, we've been dealing with medium to large enterprises as our individual businesses. So we continue in that space. So currently, I mean, we've been dealing with JSC-listed businesses mostly at the moment. But as I said, it's really about it being a viable option for the business. So if you have a business and you only have six people, but you find it viable and affordable to engage with us, we're happy to do business with you. But that is, and I'm just gonna throw this in here because this is something I've picked up from you. This is where the books come from. Because you're now dealing with, and you've seen the same problem I've seen. The interventions that I would do from the communications side of it or that my partner in that side of the business, Tim does from a sales institute side of it, are not always available to the guys that have got the sort of small to just below-medium business. So this is how you've addressed it with your writing. - That's right. So there must be different ways and means and tools available to various people. I mean, even from a speaker point of view, David, you would know an association or a small organization that really needs to hear a speaker come and energize their staff or teach them some sales techniques, but cannot afford a premium speaker.

How do they handle that? So books are a great way. And I wrote a sales book called "Find, Keep, Grow," the radical art of sales. And that's a way that you can get the book, go through the chapters, it becomes a little bit of a manual, becomes a bit of a techniques learning kind of book. And you share that with your staff and they can gain from it. So there has to be an entry for different levels of clients who can't afford the top-end type of service that comes at a premium price. - Which is one of the reasons that we do the show on a Monday. And it's one of the reasons people like you are happy to come on here. - Yeah. - You know, because, and I've got to be honest with everybody that I asked to come onto the show, not once have I heard, well, you know, what's in it for me? What are you going to give me? - No. - And it's because I like to think the kind of people that I deal with and I network with have the same kind of thoughts and mindset as me. How can we give back? What can we do? - It's about giving, isn't it? I mean, the more you give, the more you get back. - Yeah. - It's true, karma is real. - It is the strangest, strangest thing because, you know, when you do it and you do it with an open heart, without expecting anything, I mean, you and I, there's one email, are you there?

I'm in, okay, I expect a couple of things. No problem, done. I want to get onto the book in just a little while, okay? Because there's a lot to talk about about the book. So you do this, it's a twice blue. I mean, I love your title at twice blue, the chief purpose officer. Because that's, I think if you're in any organization, you could be in a massive, I mean, we were talking, I deal with one of the larger banking organizations. And you get people in there that are floating around and they really don't have much purpose. But it's a job, you know, it pays the bills. And, you know, as long as I clock in and clock out and do the bare minimum, which is not ideal for an organization either, because that's not what they want in terms of growth. So purpose is what it's all about. So this is one of the things that you do. And if people, we're gonna give you all the details at the end of it. But I mean, you gotta do yourself a favor. Follow Alex on Twitter. Facebook is an absolute hoot. Have you stopped Facebook live? - I did, you know, that's the other thing. You can't have a one hour Facebook live. - Oh, is it? - Yeah, you gotta keep it pretty short because those who have missed it wanna go and watch it.

And then if it's like five, 10 minutes, it's bearable. But if it's an hour, they'll be like, okay, I've gotta watch this whole thing for an hour now. (laughing) They can check it out and then, you know, share it from there. And then, you know, then they can drop me some messages and we can chat. - You need to tell me a bit about, I'm a medium sized business and I am in, let me sort of predict my growth of my business. I'm in the tech space. Okay, I want to get my employees to be happier and more productive. Do I come to Twice Blue? - Yes, it's a good place to come because as I said, look, Twice Blue is in the business of designing bespoke intervention. So we will customize and tailor make whatever program. So for example, recently we've been doing work with a couple of the big four banks, two of them specifically. And we had a meeting with both of them and you know what they thought they wanted and after we pitched what we think they needed, 'cause we also do diagnosis, they realize that actually this is what we want. We designed it from scratch, which means we had a lot of engagement with them, found out what their needs were and then designed a specific program for them. I'm still running one of the programs with one of the banks.

And we're finding that as a result of that, this customized program is uniquely them. It's not generic for anybody else that, you know, once you're done, that's it, let's copy and paste into another environment. So if you want thriving employees, because we really are about human performance improvement, Twice Blue is the place to be because we deal with that, exactly that. Yeah. - So the name, how did you get to the name? Twice Blue. - That you're going to have to invite Rafil Remanyaka, our CEO into studio. So we were trying to come up with a really cool name. Every time we found the great name, CIPC said, sorry, it's taken. Or it sounds like this other name that's taken. And Rafil out of nowhere came up with this name, Twice Blue. And what it started out as is a conversation starter. 'Cause like right now, if I tell you our business is called Twice Blue, the first thing you're going to ask is, where does the name come from? - This, absolutely. - And already you get a conversation started. But we believe that the name will get defined over time. And ultimately will become a verb, like Google. When Google started it, like, what's this Google thing? - But now you gotta Google it. - No one says, search on Google, they just say Google.

So we're hoping in the future, because of what we believe will be excellent service to our customers, that people will be saying, oh, listen, you're having a problem with your staff. Have you ever tried to Twice Blue them? And it will become a verb that literally says, Twice Blue means human performance improvement. - Okay, you're very big on the service aspect of things. Are you not? - I am, and I have walked out of several restaurants as a result of poor service. I'm that guy. - But you're that guy with a reason though, because I think that's where it starts. And to me, I always despair when I see bad service, because the person giving that service is obviously not in a place they want to be. They're not doing something they want to do. - About a salary. - Yeah, and they don't care, and to me, I find it sad. And this is one of those things. In this Africa that we live in, the opportunities for the vast majority of our people to find and follow their passion are quite limited at this stage. - True. - So we're gonna get onto the book, I think, because I think this might do something. And again-- - It might answer your question. - It might, it might. And this is one of the things that Alex talks about, 'cause the book is called Force.

When I first heard it, I thought, oh no, it's a struggle book, but it's not. It's Force, and we'll tell you exactly what it means. And I think just while we're talking about this, one of the things, I mean, one of the threads running through everything that you talk about, and certainly my belief, is that we believe in the greatness of this country of ours, this South Africa of ours. - That's right. - And if more people stood up and found passion and did, I mean, we would literally be a world power, a global power. - Yeah. - You know, look at what, Basnot's such a hit very hard there. Look at what the states are doing. What are you gonna do? Build a wall. Build a wall. - Let them pay for it. - Yes. - A huge wall, a great wall, a majestic wall. Let them pay for it. - I don't know. There's a lot, a lot, a lot ahead for South Africa, and I'm very positive about it. - David Watts on MIX 93.8. - It's MIX 93.8, it is legendary radio. What's involved on this Monday night? My guest in studio, Alex Granger. So curve ball, take that. - Absolutely. Yeah, I think we gotta get real with ourselves. So I went through some serious depression probably seven or so years ago, and one of the darkest times in my life.

And like most people, visited a GP, went to see a psychologist, was on antidepressants, lost a lot of weight. And there came a time where, you know, you get so overwhelmed with it that you actually have to ask yourself the question, like how long can I be in the state? You know, as Winston Churchill says, if you're going through the fire, keep moving. You know, there's no time to stop and take selfies. And I had to make a conscious decision to find a support network, people I could talk to. Because the biggest thing about depression is if you bottle it up, you break down. And I had to release some of this negative energy in me by talking to people who I could confide in and trust and seek advice. And you can imagine as a speaker, you're the one giving advice and dispensing a lot of great lessons. And now you find in that same position. So I think the trick is in realizing that everything you go through, you go through it for a season. It's not perennial. And I first recognize that. And secondly, I had to make sure I got a good support system around me, whether it was family or friends or people from church. And also for me, my fortunate part is I'm very religious. - You have a very strong faith.

- Very strong faith. And I could reach out to people in church and just have conversations. And I found a lot of help and solace there. So I think a lot of the times people who get suicidal give up because they've got no one to talk to, no one to turn to. And I can tell you now, depression's a very serious thing in South Africa. - It is, and it's nothing too poopy. I mean, I used to go because I have a background in NLP. So for me, I'm like, what are you talking about this depression thing? Change your state, man. Change your state until it hit me. And mine hit me all at once. So I was going through a divorce. My business was in the process of getting literally taken away from me. I won't go into that as well. The radio station that I'd worked for, that I'd helped found in Npumalanga was literally going down the toilet. They couldn't pay salaries. There was fraud that had happened. All sorts of things. And I was always the strong one. I was always the one dispensing the advice. And suddenly here I am, I went to the doctor, got onto all the antidepressants, anti-anxieties and everything. It didn't work for me. And I understand this. It didn't work for me where I was because I felt like I was in this cotton ball.

And that's kind of not in my nature. There are people, and I'm not saying go and throw your medication out at all, okay? But talking is incredibly, incredibly important. And for me, what I started with was a gratitude journal. And literally, and you know how hard it was for me to find anything to be grateful for? 'Cause everybody hated me. I was like, everybody's again. And it was just the spiral down, down, down the whole time. And slowly but surely I used to have to find, I've got two dogs that have traveled with me through this. And it was, I'm grateful that I woke up this morning. I'm grateful that my dog- - Literally full of basics. - And as soon as you start doing that, now you talk about faith in terms of your religion. I talk about it more in terms of spirituality, but I had to find that something in me. And once I found that there is a connection, and to me it is, I call it the connection to the great everything, the all that is. I don't really, I think semantics, what we call this, but it's to acknowledge that there is something more. And once you do that and you start talking and writing, I wrote a lot. Man, you should have seen some of those letters that I wrote. I always one angry human being.

I never sent them though, never sent them. So you kind of similar thing? - Very similar. And you know, so I mean, like I said, you know, you said you're spiritual. I really, I believe in God and not apologetic about it. And I also studied in NLP. So you will know one of the key things around NLP is anchoring, right? So I had to find something where I could anchor some happiness. So every time I go and speak at a conference, I would have to psych myself up. I'd have to, in fact, the book talks about that. You know, you spoke about gratitude. Force is an acronym, right? So the F stands for frame of mind, which is the whole anchoring thing. Like I had to get my mindset off the negative and onto the positive, which is not an easy thing to do. - No. - To be able to control your thoughts and emotions. - Somebody says, "Oh, just think positively." Ah, but it's a very difficult thing. - It's a very difficult thing. But you can train yourself by anchoring to do that. The O is for overflowing gratitude, which you've spoken about. And it's interesting that you talk about a gratitude journal because in the book, I talk about Oprah, who also launched this gratitude journal and has been very successful in really speaking a lot about gratitude.

And these are just two ways where you can, you know, handle depression or just become more effective in what you do. And, but let me tell you, as exciting as I can be and as motivational as I can be, depression's a really serious thing, Dave, that people must not take lightly. And actually for parents, if you've got children, you've got to be very alert and aware to their state of emotion and state of mind. Because often, as young as nine and 10, children are really struggling with depression. And you only realize later in life when they've committed suicide that they've been struggling with it for years. - But it's, I mean, do you look at how many famous people we know? - Recently. - I mean, Anthony Bourdain. I love Anthony Bourdain. I thought that man was an absolute genius. He had it all. Fun hanged in his hotel room. You need to talk to people. And you know what? I give out my email address. I will happily talk to you if you need anybody to have a chat to. We just got another message in, by the way. It's Alex, may the force be with you. You guys are so dynamic. I feel like a failure in most areas. God bless you. Thank you for being real, bro. - Thank you. - Don't feel like a failure.

I promise you, okay? You can change it, okay? Because there is. I also believe we all have a gift. And you got to bring that gift to the world. Force is a great way to start. Let's talk about the book 'cause we're running out of time again. Maybe we must take a poll and maybe we're receiving into two hours at some stage. I don't know. If you ask me if I want to do two hours, I said, "How will I fill two hours?" Now I'm sitting here and going, "How could I not fill two hours?" So, Force, you wrote the book. I've actually been very, very fortunate. I've got a copy of the book. I am a voracious reader. I love reading it. I'm a big fan of lifelong learning and ongoing learning, which also helped me because, in part of when I was going through my dark times, this is what I escaped into books and reading about that. So where did this come from? - So this is going to sound really weird. So last year, around about June, July, my diary was very empty. I had no gigs, David. No one was booking me for their conferences. - Nobody loved me. - And I said, "Well, you know, an idle mind is not a good thing. I can't sit at home waiting for bookings. I've been trying to market myself. Hey, let me write a book." And I don't know how I came up with this book called Force, but I wanted to find something that was catchy that I could use as an acronym and I could break down what the acronym means and find some real meaning in it.

So as I said earlier, Force is an acronym. - Okay, so let's go through the whole acronym. - Okay, so the F is for frame of mind. So that talks about mindset. I speak a bit about the growth mindset. That is, you know, a lot of great work done by Dr. Carol S. Dweck on the power of yet. And she talks about the growth mindset. The O, overflowing gratitude. Again, the story behind that, and I'm an avid storyteller. As you know, I even lecture at Gibbs on storytelling. - We didn't even get to that. - We didn't get to that. - Next to it. - O is for overflowing gratitude. And I talk about Oprah and her story. The R is for reaching higher. Reaching higher is about excellence and authenticity. And the two stories I share in that chapter, Strive Marciu, one of my heroes. He's the founder and chairman of Econet Wireless, which is a global business. Started out in Zim, struggled to get his business off the ground, but after he won his court case, he was able to get his license and he's trading globally. And then of course, authenticity. I share the story of Tulip Martin-Seller who is really a rock solid ambassador for this country. - Yeah. - Tulip for president, man. - Tulip for president, I agree with you.

The C is actually four words. It's courage, confidence, communication, and choice. So I broke the rule there. Force doesn't have to be one word per letter. But I think it's very important. - My book, I'll make it. - It's my book, I'll make the rules. But I really emphasize a lot on courage 'cause I think courage helps us overcome fear. - It's a phenomenal thing because when you talk about this courage and if you look into it a little more deeply, and what we call the reptile brain, this amygdala of ours, which is designed to keep you safe. And that's what it does. It just keeps you safe. And courage has been able to go... In the old days, that part of it was to stop us being eaten. - That's right. - When there was a lion or a tiger or something, that amygdala that came in there was going, "Run now." - Yeah. - Now, as Saikin always says, "The bears are dead." So courage is something that's... And it's like a muscle, I believe. You have to develop it. - Actually, it is. It is a muscle. And I've really appreciate the great work that Simon does on courage. I mean, he's the first speaker I ever heard speaking on courage. And I was like, "What can you speak about courage? "Your keynote must be like five minutes." Until I started reading a lot about courage and I realized it's such a powerful thing because what are the biggest things that we are fearful of?

We are fearful of failure and ridicule. If I try something new, what if I fail? If I try something new and I do it and then it's pathetic, people will laugh at me. And then we hold back and literally limit the possibilities that are available to us. - Yeah. Okay. - And the E. The E is for EQ, emotional intelligence. It's for enthusiasm. It's for energy. And I really believe... And I think the energy really speaks to my personality. I really believe in energy. I believe what you transmit or emit out to the universe comes back twofold. So I'm the guy who's always giving energy. If you've ever been to any of my conferences when I speak, I'm like a... I have to hold myself back when I'm on stage 'cause I go a bit crazy. I walk up and down, I'm pacing, I sing, I do poetry, 'cause I really believe in energy. And I think it just creates a dynamic in an environment and lifts people's emotions. And sometimes you need that. Sometimes you don't even need too much content. Can we just get energized for a bit? And then we'll speak into the energy when people have got their minds open. - But that's the thing. Once that energy is flowing. - Yeah. - I mean, you go back to NLP, there's no content in content with knowing.

And it's not, often I say it's not what you say, it's how you say it. - That's right. - And I mean, it is a responsibility in terms of that is your own personal energy. Don't be an energy vampire because... - No, it's an oxygen thief. - Work on that kind of stuff. So, I mean, forward by Sapira Moyo, that's not... - That's my business partner. How's that? He wrote the forward for me. - That's quite nice. I was going to say. - And how's the picture at the end there? Just on the last page. How's that? Me and my Wakanda African outfit. How cool is that? - There we go. And it says a lot of stuff. And thank you, Agetia Bonga. - It is thank you. - Thia Bonga, Aget, okay. We don't get tatenda, Aget tatenda is very much from the Zimpot. Gracias, yo. - Merci. (speaking in foreign language) But some of them, not so much. (speaking in foreign language) which is a Rondis. Shukran, which is... I think it's... - That sounds vaguely... - Arabian or... - Arabic, yeah? - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Asante, you know, is Swahili. - Uh-huh. - That one with... That's Sheshini. That's Chinese, right? The XIE. That's Sheshini. That's thank you in Chinese. - Oh, yes. - That one actually. - Yes. - Yeah. - So this is the global part of all of it.

- Yeah. - I mean, it's a good read. I mean, this isn't your typical, sort of tiny little book. I mean, this is what, 160, 170 pages? - 170 pages, yeah, not a pamphlet, yeah. - And it literally is very much... I've just been sort of briefly going through it. It's a very, very inspiring book. Where is it available? - Where can I, I'm lucky I got one tonight. Yay me, I'm reading in bed. - So two places you can order it directly through me. So it's simply going to the website forcethebook.com. - Forcethebook.com. - Forcethebook.com, or you can get it online as an ebook on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, you name it. It's available on all online platforms. - There is something still special. I'm a huge Kindle fan, but there's something special about holding a book. - About paper, right? - And having a book in your hand. 'Cause I've got a book that I've actually written, which is NLP for beginner practitioners. And it's in digital format. And the other day I was thinking, hmm. - And I still have that paper. - I want to do that. - You want to, get your finger and just get that page open. - Tuck into a good book. It's a brilliant book. It looks like a really, really good book. Alex, if people want to find out more about you, and I mean, are we gonna go twice blue or are we gonna go Alex Granger?

'Cause I mean, if we give out too many details, people are gonna be confused. - Well, let's just do twice blue, 'cause that's really a business and a lot of my work is driven through that, so. - Alex@twiceblue.com. - Yeah, and then they must subscribe to my channel. We never got around to exceptional TV. - I've got two minutes. Let's do this, let's do this. Okay, you're launching. - Exceptional TV. - I think it's brilliant and nuts, 'cause I would die. - But exceptional TV. So, you know, you go, I'm launching a TV channel and everybody goes, no, it's not that difficult. It takes a lot of courage, but where's it gonna be? - Exceptional TV's gonna be on YouTube. It's an online talk show. Every Monday from the 2nd of July, it's literally gonna be 15 minutes. So I went with a TED Talk kind of timeline, so that people don't waste too much time watching online stuff. And the show is really going to be about purpose and meaning. So helping individuals craft their destiny, manage their businesses with meaning and with purpose. And we'll be having various guests coming on, well, interview on various topics, from sales, leadership, purpose, passion, motivation, potential. And so we're launching on the 2nd of July on YouTube.

You'll just have to look for exceptional TV. - Every? - Every Monday, it's every Monday from the 2nd of July. - What time? - It's on YouTube. - I mean, what time is each new episode coming? I'm just checking that there's no conflict here because I'm gonna- - Oh, oh, oh, no, it's gonna be morning. It's gonna be way before and like, so that people would have watched it in the morning. And by the time they've done- - They'll be ready to come back and listen. - Yeah, they can come back to what's involved. - And I'll be motivated because I'll have a chance to watch it in the morning as well. - And of course, you know, you're gonna be my guest on the show soon. - Yeah, we are gonna still discuss that, okay? 'Cause I've got this whole bullfrog complex. Maybe that's gonna be one of my challenges. I always talk about courage. Maybe you'd like to make me sit and be a guest on a TV show. - For 15 minutes, not an hour.

- And we'll have a few cutaways as well. So you don't have to feel the strings. - Look, I'm sweating already. Look at this. - I can see it. - No, okay, we'll try. We'll try. I'll give it a bash. We'll give it a bash. But first establish the show so I don't scare all of your potential viewers away. Once again, what's it called? On YouTube. - On YouTube, Exceptional TV. That's the name of the channel. And you just have to subscribe. - Fantastic stuff. Alex, thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. - David Watts on Mix 93.8.