Many successful salespeople are those who believe that quitting is never an option—that when the world tells them to stop, or they can’t have something, they continue to move forward and persevere against it all. Charley Patterson embraces this philosophy, being known for his business approach to athletics and an athletic mindset approach to business. He joins host, Dan McCormick, to take us through his professional and personal journey, taking to heart the lessons from Og Mandino’s The Greatest Salesman in the World. Charley shares the three things that have shaped his life and renewed his mind and how he then imparts it to others needing his guidance. He then dives deep into what motivates him to continue to strive for more, highlighting the inspiration found in fearing pain rather than chasing pleasure. Join Charley in this impactful episode where he opens our eyes to what life can grow into.

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Listen to the podcast here:

Quitting Is Never An Option With Charley Patterson

It’s awesome to welcome you to the show. If you’re new to the show, we love your comments, likes and follows. You can also comment and leave a review, we would love that. Certainly, you can feel free to share this on your page. If you’re on Facebook and you have others that would like to watch it or a group that would like to see it later, put the link up and it’s going to be great. It’s good to have everybody. For those who aren’t familiar with the great Og Mandino, it was 52-plus years ago now when on that famous Amway stage, when Rich DeVos stood up, shared this book and put Og on a map after going through what he calls ten years of a living hell, being addicted to the bottle, fighting the battles of life, relationships, career, finance, you name it. He had all the problems. One day, things changed. He met W. Clement Stone, who took him to a whole new life from Success Magazine, selling insurance and being exposed to all those amazing people that W. Clement Stone was in that circle with Napoleon Hill, Zig Ziglar and many others.

It is great to have you here now, everybody who may be reading. We look forward to sharing with you a little bit about the unique living philosophy that Og had, the unique way of writing, the unique way of expressing humility, gratitude and teaching us great principles, habits and reference points about life. This is episode number 32. I’ve been looking forward to this for some time, one of my favorite people in the world, so well-read, fired up, athletic. We’ve been around the globe together honestly. We’ve known each other now for many years. He’s none other than from Oregon, Charley Patterson. Welcome to the show. How are you?

Thanks, Dan. I’m great. I’m honored to be here. I’m thankful for your incredible mentorship and coaching that you’ve given me over these last years that I have applied to every area of my life.

We’ve had a lot of good times and great memories, whether we’re in Israel or we’re on Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where I love to be. It’s great to have you here. Charley, in the world of podcasts and online social media, people’s attention can get grabbed so fast. What I love to do at the beginning of every show is knowing that you’re sitting in that hot seat now, that chair that I call The Greatest Salesperson in the World. Right out of the gate, I wonder if you could share with all the aspiring entrepreneurs who read, whether it’s six weeks, six months or even six years from now, what are three things you think that have shaped your life and put you in that chair of The Greatest Salesman in the World?

Thank you for asking me the questions in advance. I enjoyed thinking about it because the consistency of these things has been one of the attributes that have led me to success in all areas of my life. The first thing is consistency and discipline. Early in my life, I adopted the philosophy that, “Repetition is the mother of every skill.” It has been that for me in every area of my life that I put time and attention to. I was horrible at when I started or wished to be better than when I was. I had this imagination that I was going to get in and start something and it was going to be so easy and effortless, that I was going to be a natural, and being frustrated with my results yet never given the opportunity as a young child to quit.

That was always an agreement that my father made with me that if I started something that I had to finish it. I could choose not to do it next season, say a sport, yet I had to finish what I started. Beyond the point that I wanted to quit every single time and everything that I’ve started that I sucked at, I wanted to quit. In my younger years, even until my twenties, my dad said, “You’ve got to finish this and then go to the next chapter.” It was after that, all of a sudden, I had enough repetition. With the frustration and the quitting was not an option, I had developed enough skills that I started to see success. That consistency of showing up and the discipline to do so even when it was bad weather, the circumstances weren’t right, broken, beat down mentally, emotionally, physically, whatever, you just had to keep showing up. Be consistent and disciplined to get the repetition in to develop the skill.

I look back now. I’m almost 50. In every area of my life, that has been true. If I could go back to the younger Charley and say, “Stay the course,” that was something that’s huge. If I looked at it in all the athletics, which was my foundation for life, was that I had to go to practice every day. I had to be disciplined to get good grades to be able to go to practice, based on my agreements with my father. That consistency showing up at practice then allowed me to play in the game under pressure where you grow. It goes back to the repetition being a motor skill. That’s number one.

I got to pause you before you do number two and number three. I think that I may know something about you here. If I recall, when you were one of the top eleven wakeboarders in the world, when you were a pioneer in the wakeboard world, you landed your first flip you ever tried, right?

Yes, I did.

You were not a failure when you started.

God’s design is perfect. Me landing a flip when I tried it for the first time in front of a massive group of people on Lake Tahoe, California, in front of Chambers, the responses that I received from them, if I knew that would happen, unbeknownst to me at the time of pulling up to that dock, I had to go celebrate. It was huge. It was outside of my realm of possibility at that moment. That led me to have this vision for the sport that, “This is going to happen. I have a greater fear of it happening without me than I do of failing at it.”

It led me to three days later calling my friends and family saying, “I’m dropping out of school. I’m moving to Florida. I’m going to become a pro wakeboarder.” Everybody called me crazy because it didn’t exist to them. Dan, I didn’t land that flip again for months, trying it every single day. I knocked out my teeth, I tore my abdomen. It was punishing, yet God in my life, that happened. I didn’t have the fundamentals and skills. I didn’t have an awareness of what I’d done to repeat it. I had to go through the trials and repetition to learn that so that I could repeat it at will in my own style.

Quitting: We either seek counsel, or we grow personally to look at things from a different perspective.

I did not remember that part of the story because that, to me, is the glue to the whole thing. That’s amazing.

I’m sure I didn’t tell that part of the story then.

Number one, consistency and discipline. How number two and number three?

Number two is what dad taught me when I was a kid. He was my first mentor, Gary Patterson. There was no option of quitting, that a decision was made when I started something. What I later learned was that just that word, decide, if you break that down, the roots of it in Latin were “de” and “-cide.” -Cide, what does that mean? That means death, suicide, pesticide, homicide, all those things. Decide is death to all other options. To make a decision that I’m going to move forward here, any area that I have made a decision that I would do, whatever it took morally, ethically, within my control, ask for guidance from my higher power, knock on the doors, look, ask the questions, seek, pray. Everything that I could possibly do and take action that there was no other option except forward progress.

That was, “I will persist until I succeed.” I’ve got to put in the time and repetition. No matter what my outside circumstances are, I have to go under pressure. If I want to get better traction in the snow, I’ve got to increase the load. There are universal laws and principles that require us to go through this adversity and it’s not going to be easy. If I want something bigger and better, I have to become or be bigger and better. That’s a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. Looking back at my creator’s plan, I look back and see like, “This happened and this happened. That seemed like the worst thing that could ever happen, yet if that hadn’t happened, this wouldn’t happen.”

I stayed the course and there was no option of quitting, not even mentioned and talked about. Death to any other option. I know Nathan mentioned this with you and I paraphrased it. At the moment that one commits, providence moves and all sorts of unforeseen events and circumstances come his or her way in support of that decision. I’ve seen that come to the fruits of my labor everywhere, whether it’s a relationship, physical body and working out, business, athletics, relationship with my Lord, whatever it is.

I remember when Justin Prince was on the show, he talked about the difference between an incision and a decision. I think that was well said. Thank you for sharing that. Number three is?

I mentioned a little bit of this before. It’s the Law of Sacrifice. If I take a pendulum that swings equally and let’s say that I’m here, I have this type of result. I’ve gone through this much resistance and challenge. I paid this much price to have this prize. If I desire this, then by design, I have to go through this equally. It has to be equal. If I’m down here and I want this, I have to be willing to go through that much more resistance and challenge. If I’m comfortable lifting a 50-pound weight and I want to lift 75, I have to put myself under more load, pressure, tension and resistance to build the muscle to be able to handle that 75-pound weight. Life has been the same thing to me.

The Law of Sacrifice has been a way of managing expectations for me. “It’s always darkest before the dawn,” or, “There’s a breakdown before a breakthrough.” Looking back with a 20/20 vision of my life, the most challenging moments were the most rewarding because I grew from those moments. The same brain that creates a problem is the one that creates a solution. We seek counsel or we grow personally to look at it from a different perspective. If we want and desire more, we have to be willing to go through that resistance and challenge. When I say that, some people will hear, “It must be horrible. It’s going to be bad. That must suck.” Whatever their language is, it doesn’t have to. It’s a perspective on the situation.

I’ve been trained throughout my life to constantly write a story on the situation that works for me and serves me, how this that’s happening may be not what you want, but then it’s on the way. Based on my guess, I’m going here and t universe has conspired and put all these in its way. These fear flags, challenges and obstacles that I must grow to overcome and perfect, they’re not in the way. They’re on the way. To accept them and find a perspective like this is exactly what’s meant to happen. What is the benefit? What am I focused on? That’s going to expand. If I’m focused on the drawback, I don’t want that to expand. What’s the benefit that I can find in there?

Nature is always in balance. There is always equal positive to negative, always an equal benefit to drawback. Handling that in every situation and getting back into gratitude and in love, which is neutrality, increases your vibration and frequency. You’re choosing a perspective entanglement, in Science, in Quantum Physics, to increase your vibration and move forward. That Law of Sacrifice is managing expectations and knowing that there’s going to be resistance and challenge on its own way.

What a highlight. That’s a show in and of itself to hear you share that. I say that with an audience who’s reading that has a lot of accolades for you. The great Bill Toth is in here chiming in. We’ve got Dorothy, Juli, Charyn and Sheryl-Lee Watters. It’s some beautiful people. We’ve got Austria in the house. It is great to have you.

Quitting: Nature is always in balance. There is always equal positive to negative, and benefit to drawback.

You mentioned numerous amount of people who have shaped my life, stood beside me, stood in front of me, stood behind me, guided me and directed me as you have, Dan. I will forever remember being in Israel, being there backstage with you, Nathan and Lon. I was in my second year of business with you guys. I was like, “How do I become you?” You guys handed me a book and said, “Charley, this is a gift from us to you. We encourage you to work as much as you do on the business to work on yourself.” I was like, “What?” I’d never heard that before. I was like, “Me? Do you mean I have the answers?” It was a life-changing event for me. I will forever remember being backstage in that auditorium at that event and being with the three of you who have had a profound influence on my life, in addition to the others that you mentioned.

I don’t remember how many hours we were on that stage and backstage in front of that group that day, with hundreds of people in that auditorium that housed us. If I’m not mistaken, it was a wooden chair with steel legs. I can remember where we were sitting. I can remember that vibe and feeling. I’ve never been back there. I remember that day, moment and conversation in 2008, 2007, 2009?

It was even earlier because we opened the market at the end of 2004. I think it was the first anniversary or the second. It was either 2005 or 2006.

You can be right. I have another friend who’s a great athlete like you. He’s the kind of guy, after winning two Olympic gold medals, who had never been injured in his life until last 2020. He crashed his bike a couple of times. Here’s a guy, Peter Vidmar. Whenever I’m around him in a workout setting or something that could be challenging, I hear from him almost like water off a duck’s back like you said, “It’s just pain leaving the body.” This athlete can put up a lot of pain. There are many great things that you and I could go here. You mentioned a moment ago Scroll Number three, “I will persist until I succeed.” Do you remember, was I the first one to give you that book or introduced to you?

Yes, you were, from your Saturday training that you’ve done so many years. You gave me the opportunity. You asked me to be a guest on there and covered it on the fourth week of the month. It was a huge impact on me. Outside of us working together in business, I think it was Matthew McConaughey’s first Oscar or something that he stood on stage. He pulled out and he was like, “It was because of this book.” I was like, “Whoa, Matthew McConaughey.” It was a departure for me from the space where it was like this book is influential. It can impact you in every area of your life. It’s not just about sales. Isn’t life about that book?

It was interesting you said that because I was sitting here in this very chair. My favorite week of the year for watching television is the Masters, the golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia. I like watching the press conferences and hearing what the guys are saying. All of a sudden, Rory McIlroy, the number one player in the world, the guy has won four majors. He’s made hundreds of millions of dollars, flies around in a Jeep 550 and they said, “What was the best book you read this year?” He said, “It was probably The Greatest Salesman in the World.” I was like, “Whoa.” I paused the TV, I rewind it, I took pictures. Like you said, it is for everyone, not just those who are aspiring. I’m curious if when you did read this for the first time, being a competitive athlete and you’re going through this mind shift, learning from Nathan, all these incredible upline leaders and friends on the journey who are here, was reading a big part of your life prior to that?

No, not at all. I can remember being where I lived in Orlando, Florida, for twenty years where I was when we met. I saw a billboard of Tony Robbins and I was like, “Who goes to that stuff? Those things are crazy. They must be crazy people. They’re broken people.” Being an athlete is such a narrow focus on yourself. It’s just ego. I wasn’t exposed to any personal development, not until after that conversation with you guys. There was this layering of it where it was like no matter where I went, Sandie Tillotson helped me make a list of my dream wife and then asked me if I was that list. I was like, “No, that’s a woman.” She was like, “No. Are you these things?” I was like, “I’m some of them.” She was like, “When you are all of these things, you will attract that woman in your life. You need to work on yourself to become that list.”

There’s a series of events that happened that kept reinforcing, “Charley, look in the mirror. Look at your blind spots. Pay attention and ask questions.” The quality of my life was determined by the quality of the questions that I would ask or what I would look for. All of a sudden, my radar shifted to a different focus. I was reading, digging in and asking you, “Give me a list of books.” You gave me a list of books. Kenton Worthington gave me a list of books. Dan Wardrope handed me a book. It’s in my office. I was like, “I should have grabbed that book too for this interview,” but it has Lon’s name on it. It’s a priceless investment you guys had.

What I also love is that you and Lon specifically, Jeff Mack, a list of other leaders who have invested in me, zero financial invested interest in me, yet took me under your wings and my life changed. You were willing to invest in me. I wouldn’t be here where I am if it wasn’t for you guys’ dramatic influence on all areas of my life. I went sober and sold it because of you guys, your teachings and the questions that I would ask that ultimately led me to meet my wife. Now, I have five children because of you.

You had your first one. Is her name Charlie Rose?

Yes, Charlie.

Not Charlie Rose?

The Greatest Secret in the World

I call her Charlie. She calls herself Charlie Rose.

You had four showed up in a single day and you mentioned the Law of Sacrifice. I’ve got to say that when I have been in the room for the daughters having babies, it was the grandest and most spiritual experience, there’s nothing that compares and you got four in an hour.

In three minutes. It was less than that. It was like two and a half minutes. It was the greatest gift. I remember when Charlie was born and seeing her crown, I felt removed as a father with my wife expecting. Maybe it was just me, but I wasn’t real. Her stomach was growing. The first time that my wife Christy and I felt Charlie kick was when I put my head on her stomach, and she kicked for the first time my head. When I saw her head crowning, it was emotional. I’d never felt a feeling or joy like that in my life. It was immediate, unconditional love. We went to the doctor to confirm that we were pregnant with our next. They told us, “You’re going to have 4 babies in 6 months,” which was not expected and planned, nowhere on our radars, not even any chance of possibility in our realm of reality.

Going through the process of having the first three doctors tell us that we couldn’t do that, we had to reduce the 2 babies from 4. We had so much incredible guidance and unconditional love from Nathan and Joyce Ricks and others that we consulted in this situation because it was heavy. We were like, “God gave us these four babies. Who are we to decide, cancel that out and reduce?” Not any judgment on anyone who does that in that situation because it’s very scary. It’s life and death, but we prayed. We made a decision that whatever the outcome, we were moving forward. Whatever the outcome, we were going to use every principle that we learned in athletics as my wife is a professional athlete as well. Everything we’ve learned in business and all of our teachings, we would apply it here. It was perfect.

Everything that led us up to that moment in life was perfect. We had the tools, we seek counsel. Once we made a decision, there was no other option. When we did make a decision, we attracted a doctor who was a specialist and he said, “What do you want?” We were like, “God gave us four babies. We want to have four healthy babies and a healthy mom in January.” He said, “Let’s do that. As long as you believe it here, then that’s what’s going to happen. I got a perfect record.” He was like, “Is that a pressure on you?” That’s what happened. It was the most difficult thing my wife and I had ever gone through in our life and yet the most rewarding. Now, we’ve got these kids. I’m up on the mountain almost every single day with at least 1 or 2 of the kids. I’ve never felt joy like I am skiing with my kids. You know it. You’ve got grandkids and four daughters.

It’s amazing what I find when I get to hand-select those who come on the show. This is 32 out of 32 episodes. I feel that genuine authenticity from what you said. That was, “The quality of your life is based on the quality of the question you ask.” It seems as though you asked a lot of very empowering questions. You searched out mentors’ advice of people that you had high trust and respect for. You were on your knees praying for guidance. I wonder when you think about those questions. Now, you’ve got an organization that goes to Africa, Israel, America, Asia, wherever your teams have taken you and grown all over the world. From when we met, a long-haired, wakeboarding, beach-bum-looking guy, fit as a fiddle and now transformed. I love the book of Romans 12:2, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” That worked for you, that happened for you. How do you go about teaching that and trying to get others to aspire to that on your team and get the best out of them?

A lot of reflection. I asked myself because I’ve watched history repeat itself over and over. What happened with our business, NU Skin, is the exact same thing that happened in wakeboarding, which is the exact same thing that happened in my childhood. In regards to my dad, he taught me like, “It’s okay to only not know something one time.” That’s where my questions came from. When I was young, I would stop someone mid-sentence and say, “What does that mean? I don’t know that word. I don’t know that acronym. What was in it?” I don’t know if that’s just me, my high level of competence or the need to be competent is that it’s okay for me not to have something once, but if not knowing it twice, that means I’m not competent.

I’ve always been very hungry to learn and knowing that, “If I believe that I’m going to be the average of the people that I hang out with, then I want to be the dumbest person in the room. I want to be the poorest person in the room, not poor, but have the least amount of money. I’m a smart human, but I want to be the smartest. I don’t want to be the richest in the room and constantly staying a student.” When I think back, it was humbling to me coming from my professional athletic career, where everywhere I went, I was either being paid or promoted to be there. I entered the business with you guys and I’m not. I remember my first three events where Nathan said, “Don’t miss an event. Don’t go alone.” I was like, “I heard be at every event. Be there with people. It’s like a Pro Tour stuff. If you’re going to be a pro, you go to the Pro Tour. It doesn’t matter what the weather is or if you’ve blown out your knee, you go to the Pro Tour because you’re a pro.” I was like, “Cool, I can go to our events.”

The first 2 or 3 events, I kept going up to you and Lon because Nathan told me, “Be around those guys. I’m going to be gone. Find Lon and Dan.” I was like that in the very beginning. I was like, “Nathan, I need to be at the top of the comp plan. In eleven months, what do I do?” He told me what to do, but he was all over the planet. Here’s my sponsor. He said, “Go to your brother.” I would come to see you, guys. It was like, “What’s your name?” He didn’t remember my name and that was so humbling. I would get so irritated, frustrated and go back and, “I’m going back. What do I need to do?” He was like, “Find Lon and Dan.” Finding it was like the third, fourth month or so, all of a sudden, you guys were like, “Charley, you’re here. How is it going?” You start to remember my name. I had a lot of reflection on that like, you specifically, because so many times in my life you’ve done this. You invested in me and it was like, “What was it about me?”

This is my own perspective like, “They told me what to do. I went and did it. I got the results they expected. I came back and then I asked what to do.” You told me something else to do. I went and did it. I got the results and I came back. I was consistently showing up. I didn’t miss any event for fourteen years until Christy was in the hospital. For me, if someone is coachable, teachable and willing to change, I can work with them. I don’t care what their beginnings are. If they’re coachable, have an empty cup and willing to go apply what we guide them to do, they’re going to get the outcome that we know they will get. If they don’t get the outcome, then there are metrics there. We can adjust what’s working, what can improve, fine-tune, go back out to work. You grabbed me up. I haven’t said this to you before, but I feel like that’s the case.

Every time I would see you, I remember when walking into an event and you were like, “Next month, in January or February, I’m not going to be here. You’re going to be the MC.” I remember exactly where I was staying at Wells Fargo. I’m against the wall. I was like, “My worst nightmare has become a reality. I’m not ready.” You were like, “What are you going to do when they call your name and I’m not here and you’re in the room? You’re going to go up there. Accept it.” A month later, I walked into the kickoff event of the company in LA. At first, when I had seen it, for whatever reason, I had a thing about bow ties. I had a black suit on and a black bow tie. It wasn’t a tux but you were like, “You’re wearing a tux, perfect. You’re MC tonight.” I was like, “Why is Dan doing this to me?” It was this pressure that I underwent. Every time, it was this massive investment in me. When it was over, I was walking on clouds because it didn’t kill me. I said, “Yes.” It’s easy to invest in people when they’re coachable, hungry to change, go out and apply what you do.

Quitting: The fear of going backward and the pain are more inspiring than to actually chase the pleasure and the delayed gratification.

I remember that. Great leaders, not only do they live, they love and learn. Great leaders not only accept challenges, but they give challenges. I like challenging people to do things for the first time if you see the talent and desire in someone. For you to remind me of that, I almost got tears in my eyes laughing, having fun, feeling the emotion and remembering your face the first time because I do remember that so clearly. On behalf of The Og Mandino Company, let me say thank you for our audience reading. The Og Mandino Company has been a game-changer for my life, not only the books, but the people, and to know Dave & Paul Blanchard and what they gave back to the world of coaching. For twenty years, they’ve been a coaching company.

I’m going to, as hopefully the Og Mandino ambassador, give you a new challenge now. That is if you haven’t looked at what has changed The Og Mandino Company in 60 to 90 days, the most profound shift in the history of the company, go to HabitFinder.com/SocialVIP. Let me tell you what happened. A client of The Og Mandino Company paying to have a professional coach is a white-hat hacker. We’re talking the DOD, The White House or white-hat hacker. Paul Blanchard says to this individual, “Can you teach this stuff to our people?” He said, “No, there’s no way. No one can know my name. I can’t be on social.” Paul said, “What if I create the course? Can you help us?” He said, “Absolutely.”

Lo and behold, when that course came out, The Og Mandino Company forever will be changed because 2.5 billion, 3 billion people on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, all these places, and this white-hat hacker is in your back pocket for $297 to help, coach and guide you when to post, why to post, what to post, what to comment on, what not to comment on. I hope that you’ll go to HabitFinder.com/SocialVIP. The attitude of The Og Mandino Company is always about serving and how do we give more. When I asked them for permission to be the host of the show, I envisioned 32 episodes like this, Charley. I am so fired up.

Charley, I want to thank you in advance. We’re not done yet because I think there’s more for us to discover and share. It always feels like I’m the one being taught and the one who gets the most out of this. I’m so fired up about what you had to say here and to think about the consistency and the discipline, number one that you mentioned, and to think how easy it would have been for you to look at that book and Og challenged you. Remember, great leaders challenge. Justin Prince taught us that early on, “Great leaders challenge.”

What does Og say? “I’ll give you 75 to 1 odds,” he said at the beginning of The Greatest Secret in the World, the journalized version. He said, “I’ll give you 75 to 1 odds that you won’t finish the book,” doing it the way he asked you to do. What made you finish the scrolls and change your life in this magnificent way? We’ve got people who are reading who want this multimillion-dollar team around the globe. They want to be in Israel. They want to be on the beaches. They want to be on the ski slopes with the kids. What made you say, “I’m going to do this?”

Honestly, it’s a greater fear of what would happen if I didn’t. I know some people are motivated or I’d say, even more importantly, inspired from within to go out and do the work for something that they desire and pleasurable like a new car, house, travel, money. Some people are more inspired on what will happen if they don’t. I’m inspired a little bit by both, but I’ve always had more of a fear of being out of shape, and that’s driven me to be consistent in the gym. Every decade, I’ve had a goal of being in better shape than the decade before. I’m 48 and in the best shape of my life ever and keep being directed to things, healing and improving my body, what nature provides and in business.

When I made the pivot from a professional athletic career to our business of distribution and sales, the greatest investment that I think that could ever be made is in another human. That’s what you do, Dan. You invested in me and the ripple effect that that’s had on millions of others. We’ve all have that influence of the ripple in the pond. Throw the rock in the pond and see where the waves go. It was because in a linear income that I had as an athlete that when I stopped, that income would stop. I hadn’t looked for anything else. I didn’t know that anything else existed. I started asking a different question, read Rich Dad Poor Dad, understood the four quadrants, started to ask questions about how do I create a leveraged income that led me to meet Nathan.

It was the fear of living in the past where I was like, “I don’t want to live in the glory days of my athletic career.” I don’t want to say, “It wasn’t a great win.” I want to reminisce and look at the influences that have been on my life but I want bigger, better, more for the future of my life, not that now isn’t enough, just in constant growth and staying in growth versus decay. It’s either growth or decay. There’s not a stability phase I’ve ever found. It’s one or the other. That fear of going backwards, the fear of the pain, I’ve found to be more inspiring for me than it is to chase pleasure. That delayed gratification, because I’ve stayed in the lane of what’s the highest value to me, is easy to stay at delayed gratification, whether the pain and the repetition of things or develop a skill. I feel like I have a never-ending supply of energy for the things that I hold in high value and then coming from a place of true choice. I’m guessing you weren’t expecting that answer.

I love it, a never-ending energy towards the things that you aspire to acquire, if you will.

The value, which isn’t static. When I had a desire to become one of the top-paid wakeboarders in the world, I never turned it off. I never needed a vacation. I never took a day off for ten years or more than that. When I started with NU Skin, I didn’t take a day off for the first four years. It was 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 hour-days. I was like, “I could not get enough.” It was until I learned like, “There were some benefits for me to take a day off and how I can lead others better and sharpen the saw. There’s a reason God created the Earth six days and rested on the seventh.”

There’s a pattern here that I could learn and improve from. I made adjustments that have been hugely rewarding and refilling so that I could do more in the time that I was working. When you work with someone that what they’re doing is in their highest values or they see what they’re doing and how it connects to their highest values, there’s no off switch. It’s a renewable source of energy versus something that’s low-value that you procrastinate with and you don’t have the energy for likewise. That’s been a huge tool for me.

There’s an observation that I want to make about you. I would like to see if we can have a little discussion about it because it’s interesting. For anyone who ever had a chance to watch Og’s videos or read his books or writings, whether you’re reading the University of Success, The Choice, The Greatest Success in the World, The Greatest Salesman in the World, The Gift of Acabar, whatever, he penned so many great books. You have a natural humility in expressing gratitude to others that assist you in some way, shape or form. It’s rare that you and I talk that you don’t remind me about one of the events or things we’ve done. You’ve picked up on that with others. You’re sitting at my house. My wife and I have our four girls up in Idaho and you and your beautiful bride. I’m not even sure if you guys were married yet. Were you married yet?

We’re married, yes.

Willpower Doesn’t Work: Discover the Hidden Keys to Success

We’re out wakeboarding on Lake Coeur d’Alene and whatnot. You often remind me of little things like that. I wonder where your vision of gratitude comes from and how does it expound every day? Do you think about it? Do you have a gratitude journal? That’s a big thing for a lot of people. Is it something that you naturally express?

One, it was a little bit learned, edification. I’ve learned that along my journey with you guys by the atmosphere or the environment that I’d been in, becoming a by-product, becoming a product of that. I learned how to introduce, edify people from you. I honestly have never been asked this question. I want to find it as a huge compliment because I want people to know how that impacted my life. There have been people who have invested in me like yourself. I don’t think you could ever know how much you truly have influenced me and how I think about these things often. I’m in the process of teaching them. I speak to them a lot, so they’re at the forefront of my mind. I’m still in that lane of coaching, challenging and investing in people, working with them to help them get what they want.

It brings me to tears. I think of many of those moments we’ve had. Like my wife, we were in your house with your family, reading a book at the end of the night. She was like, “I want that to be our family tradition.” She still talks about it. I got an interview and she was like, “I love being with their family in Coeur d’Alene. It was all the girls, their husbands and their kids.” It’s the end of the night, we were sitting in your house. Those moments were so influential if you allow them to be. There were no social media, no distractions. I wish I had an answer for you. I’m grateful. I think it was learned. I do believe it’s learned from the environment. We’re the average of what we hang around. I have had the greatest mentors. You guys shaped my life in many ways.

I bought these at the Tattered Cover Book Store. I got the date on them in Denver, Colorado, from 02/01/1998, years before you and I met. I bought them for each of my daughters. You mentioned the books that we would read. They read The Ten Ancient Scrolls for Success with me when they were young kids. They still know about them now. I know that all of your children are going to have their little ancient scrolls books. I know you’re going to read with them. Stephen Covey taught my wife in college as a professor. He said, “When you’re raising your kids, you’re raising your grandkids.” I’m confident that.

I’ve never felt any greater joy. I said it earlier. I believe I get such great value out of our business. The greatest investment that I feel like I can make in business is in another human. Investing in that person is the highest value to me. Now, I’ll be able to turn that to my kids, where my oldest is six and my youngest are three and teach them. If I ask any of them, “Repetition, tell me about repetition. It’s the mother of skill. Practice makes?” They’ll say, “Improvement.” My oldest is carrying a pair of skis and one of my littles is traveling. Those three-year-olds, I’ll take the two of them skiing, one little and older and Charlie. The little would be trailing behind, throwing themselves on the ground, “I can’t.” I’m just laughing. People who were looking were like, “What is he doing?” I was like, “Come on. You can do it.” “I can’t.” I was like, “What does that mean?” “I’ll figure it out.”

I get so much joy from those lessons and teaching. If I can teach them these principles, some of them I didn’t learn formally until my 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s. We’re not 50s yet. Can they learn them now what their life can be? I was like, “This is all perfect. I’ve learned everything I needed to this point to invest my kids.” The first 45 years of my life were about Charlie, “Focus there, Charley,” and then about Charley and Christy. Now, it’s about the next chapter. It’s an investment in my kids. What’s our job? What’s my dad’s job? To protect me and teach me. That’s right.

I know that we’ve given everybody the challenge of cracking the social code on HabitFinder.com/SocialVIP. If you’re looking to tap into that, get out of the pond to Facebook and get into the ocean, that’s what you’re going to find out how to do it. Charley, I know you are a vociferous reader. I’ve got a lot of books behind me here. I cleaned out my library. I’ve trimmed it back. I’ve got walls all around me here. If we weren’t talking about The Greatest Salesman in the World now, which we have been, Og Mandino, this unbelievable life of consistency and principles, what are you going to share with the group? If we’re not talking about that book, what’s on your mind? What’s in your library? What are you reading?

Immediately, two books. I’m in my wife’s space right now. In my office is the same thing, a library of books behind me. The first book is Willpower Doesn’t Work by Benjamin Hardy. That has boiled down to success principles that I have seen. Nathan recommended that book to me years ago. It became my number one favorite book of principles of success. The second book I recommend for all parents, again, another book that Nathan Ricks recommended that Christy and I read is called Entitlemania: How Not to Spoil Your Kids, and What to Do If You Have. It has been hugely profound for us in what we do with our money, estate and wealth. It doesn’t mean you have to have all this money. It just means what you teach your kids. It’s incredible. We have two favorite books.

I’ll tell you a funny story about how I found that. A friend of mine knows that guy in Newport Beach, California. He’s a lawyer. He wrote the book, Entitlemania. I’m talking to him one day and he said, “If you ever need to go to breakfast, I can tell you where he’ll be, at what time every morning and he would love to meet you.” I’ll never forget my friend, Mitchell, who told me to get that book. I think I’ve told you and about everybody to read Entitlemania. If you live in a world where you feel like you’re entitled, it’s time to read Entitlemania because this lawyer has seen it all, of every angle, of every wealthy person. He writes about it beautifully.

What a read, Willpower Doesn’t Work by Benjamin Hardy and Entitlemania. Charley, I know that this has been a thrill for our readers. I can’t thank you enough for one, being a friend, and two, being a leader and an incredible example of what life can grow into. Your wife is beautiful. Your family is beautiful. You invest in them all. Those relationships, you take the time. It’s a thrill to have you. I can’t thank you enough for coming to show.

Thank you. Likewise, Dan. Hello to your family. We love you, guys. I’m grateful to have you a part of our life, not only many years ago but now and forward. Thank you.

Thank you for joining us. My name is Dan McCormick. On behalf of The Og Mandino Company and The Greatest Salesman show, he’s the amazing Charley Patterson from the beautiful State of Oregon. Have the greatest day of your life. Bye for now, everybody.

Important Links:

• Charley Patterson
• Justin Prince – previous episode
• The Greatest Salesman in the World
• NU Skin
• HabitFinder.com/SocialVIP
• The Greatest Secret in the World
• University of Success, The Choice
• The Gift of Acabar
• The Ten Ancient Scrolls for Success
• Willpower Doesn’t Work
• Entitlemania: How Not to Spoil Your Kids, and What to Do If You Have

About Charley Patterson

Charley Patterson is known for his business approach to athletics and then an athletic mindset approach to business. Growing up in Oregon, with a successful amateur athletic career in traditional sports, Charley was initially recruited to UCLA for football. After the co-State champion finish at the 1991 Oregon High School Track & Field Championships, Charley shifted focus to pole vaulting on the University of Oregon Track & Field team, while studying Pre-Med.

His leadership experience outside of athletics began when he was elected Vice President of the UofO Kappa Sigma Chapter. Following his intuition his senior year, Charley left the University of Oregon, Kappa Sigma and pole vaulting to pursue his dream of waterskiing professionally. Moving to Orlando, Florida in 1994, Charley began a successful ten-year Professional Wakeboarding career, becoming one of the top paid Pro Wakeboarders in the world. Charley was known as “Mr. Business” in the wakeboarding industry, building the successful mobile marketing tour “Mission2ride,” seven years running, while competing on the Pro Wakeboard Tour and developing the grassroots of the sport.

Additionally, being completely immersed in the sport, Charley was a contributing editor to industry magazines, President and co-founder of the Professional Wakeboarders Association, and led the development of the competitive format of the Pro Tour and X Games, while riding professionally as an athlete. Retiring from Wakeboarding in 2004 and hanging his seven with seven signature wakeboards on the wall, Charley began the development of his international business with direct sales giant Nuskin Enterprises. With a personal distribution channel in more than 25 countries, generating more than $12 million in annual sales, Charley has been recognized as one of Nuskin’s top international business leaders for 16 of the 17 years with the company.

In 2008, Charley surrendered to his teenage vision of meeting his wife at the age of 35, hiring a group of coaches to guide him successfully meeting this soul mate and compressing three to five years of results in the areas of business, his physical body, his spiritual relationship over a ninety-day period. Thirty days into this 90-day program, Charley was blindly asked if he was open to a challenge. Answering “Yes,” he now had 24 hours to meet his future wife. Eight hours later Charley would be upgraded to Delta first-class on DL1472 from LAX to MCO, being sat in 3B to Christy Hemme.

The two professional athletes were married 20 months later on May 8, 2010. June 30th, 2017 Charley and Christy met with their Doctor to confirm they were pregnant with their second child. During the ultrasound, they discovered they were pregnant with three and possibly four babies. Moments later the Doctor recommended they meet with a specialist because it was not possible for Christy to birth more than two babies. The next week, the specialist confirmed they were pregnant with four babies and would have to reduce to two if they wanted him to be their Doctor. Their faith and trust in God’s plan guided them in finding a Doctor who would work with them to successfully birth these four beautiful souls. Finally, the fourth Doctor looked at the situation with the same vision as Christy and Charley.

Against the odds and statistics Christy, Charley and their medical team focused on a successful birth of all four babies with a healthy Mother in January of 2018. After five months of bed rest, three of which were in the hospital, Christy birthed these beautiful & healthy babies on their older sister’s third birthday on January 6th, 2018, in Santa Monica, California. Charley, Christy and their children have returned home to Bend, Oregon where their children are now the fourth generation to be raised in Central Oregon.

They spend the winters on Mt. Bachelor skiing and summers on Lake Billy Chinook boating together as a family.