In this episode, Nick speaks with Mike Bassett about how he was fortunate enough to be adopted by a loving family and was fortunate enough to know his birth mom. But every young child takes things personally, and Mike thought his mom’s actions reflected on him and his behaviors, creating childhood trauma. It’s that childhood trauma that hurts the inner child, which creates that self-negative talk.

Self-negative talk and bad thoughts can destroy a person. Mike knew that it was up to him to work on healing that inner child so he could live his best life and not pass down his inner child wounds to someone else.

About Mike Bassett

Unapologetically passionate and transparent, Mike Bassett has never stopped believing in the power of his team, truth, and doing the next good thing. In 2002 he founded The Bassett Firm, a Dallas-based boutique law firm specializing in defending catastrophic injury cases and has tried nearly 200 cases to verdict and is a highly sought-after national speaker, consultant, and mediator.

He is also the host and co-creator of the Podcast, Legal Grounds: Conversations on Life, Leadership, and Law, whose guests have included everyone from archbishops to military leaders and New York Times bestselling authors.

In his time as an attorney, Mike has embraced the hard path of grace and believes in second chances as much as he believes in honesty to his clients.

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Your Friends at “The Mindset & Self-Mastery Show”

00:00:08:08 – 00:00:27:17

Nick McGowan

Hello and welcome to The Mindset and Self-mastery Show. I’m your host, Nick McGowan. And on this show, my guests and I unpack the stories that shape us, the lives that we lead on our path to self-mastery. So let’s not wait any longer. Let the games begin.

00:00:30:16 – 00:00:32:13

Nick McGowan

Hey, Mike, welcome to the show. How you doing, man?

00:00:32:19 – 00:00:34:21

Mike Bassett

Nick, thank you very much for having me. I’m well.

00:00:35:12 – 00:00:50:02

Nick McGowan

Perfect. Well, I’m glad that you’re here. I appreciate your team reaching out to me. I’m excited to get into everything. We were kind of shoot the breeze a little bit before this, and I’m sure we’re going to have a great conversation. So why don’t you give us some context, tell us one thing you do for a living and one thing that most people don’t know about you.

00:00:50:16 – 00:01:13:16

Mike Bassett

So what I do for a living at its most basic level is I help people who find themselves in need of help. So the answer of two things. Most people are one thing most people don’t know about me. I’m going to give you the serious and I’m going to give you the not so serious. So most people who but probably most people don’t know about me is I spent about a year of my life as a lawyer wondering if I was going to go to federal prison.

00:01:14:03 – 00:01:35:06

Mike Bassett

That’s the serious the not so serious part. While I look like an NPR dream donor, I absolutely love metal music tool Black Sabbath. But Metallica. Anything like that? Anything. My late mother, God rest her soul, would say, They’re screaming at me. I’m all in.

00:01:35:06 – 00:01:59:09

Nick McGowan

Awesome right off the bat. Whenever somebody says I’m into tool, like we’re just going to become friends at that point. Totally good. Oh, man. I got to be honest, though, it’s funny you say you look like somebody from NPR or something like that. I judge the book by its cover recently, maybe four or five months ago recently, where I was at a conference work with this one company and blah blah blah.

00:01:59:09 – 00:02:21:00

Nick McGowan

I needed to go talk to some guy who works with this company and needed to get something from them guys very normal guy, normal looking dude had an a little slightly larger suit, you know, than he probably needed. We’re like, he didn’t care. He was like, Fuck, I don’t give a shit. And he’s doing his thing. And I judge this guy where I was like, What kind of nerd are you?

00:02:21:00 – 00:02:40:13

Nick McGowan

You know, whatever. And we started talking about something and I was just like, Hey, man, randomly, like, what kind of music he into? Just, like, shooting the shit with him. Because we’re standing there, he’s like, oh, well, like a lot of periphery and sugar and like starts going into heavy stuff and he’s like, I’m recently I saw this awesome new band at some tiny little club and everything changed.

00:02:40:13 – 00:02:41:15

Nick McGowan

So this guy, like.

00:02:42:04 – 00:02:50:08

Mike Bassett

What’s in that? Blake In that blank moment. In that blank moment, you judged him in that. You’re like, You know what? You’re a different guy than I thought you were.

00:02:50:21 – 00:03:08:20

Nick McGowan

Totally. And I caught myself because I was like, How dare I judge when I should just be open, you know? I love that sort of stuff and I love that, you know, you can have that sort of magical moment where you’re like, I’m going to judge the hell out of this guy. And he’s like, But you have no idea that I love crazy technical math rock or like metal music.

00:03:09:19 – 00:03:20:19

Nick McGowan

No, man. So that’s cool that you’re that you’re into that. Why are. Is that something that you do you play music or are you just kind of a big metal guy? How does this all work in what you do?

00:03:21:00 – 00:03:39:21

Mike Bassett

Well, so started when I was growing up back in the seventies and eighties. I had a 1976 El Camino coolest car ever, and I worked for money and I said, you know, I’m going to get me a stereo in it. And I got a stereo that had a power booster and subwoofers and tweeters and it was the best ever.

00:03:40:08 – 00:03:58:09

Mike Bassett

And then I always liked music, so it was the cars, it was all kind of that stuff and it was loud. Then I was fortunate enough to have two sons who are now in their thirties. They became music aficionados. So when they came of age and started listening to stuff in the car, they’d say, Dude, check this out, check this band out.

00:03:58:09 – 00:04:07:23

Mike Bassett

Tell me what you think of this. So really, that’s where a lot of my current music comes from, is one of my sons will come over and say, Do check this out. Listen to what I’m listening to now. That’s where I get a lot of it.

00:04:09:03 – 00:04:14:07

Nick McGowan

Anything new that you can share that he’s been like, Hey, do check this out.

00:04:15:01 – 00:04:35:18

Mike Bassett

I’m thinking he yes, there was there is a country western channel on Pandora that’s name will come to me and it’s a female and imagine it’s it’s a mix between Patsy Cline and Evanescence and so that’s what it’s like and it’s just really good music but very obscure.

00:04:36:15 – 00:04:38:02

Nick McGowan

Is it called Spirit Box?

00:04:39:08 – 00:04:47:09

Mike Bassett

I don’t think so. At my age, it will come to me about halfway through this conversation or at 230 tomorrow morning. But if it does, I’ll just interrupt you.

00:04:48:04 – 00:04:53:11

Nick McGowan

It just yeah, it will. If it happens at 230 in the morning, you won’t be able to interrupt me. You should be. It’s though.

00:04:53:17 – 00:04:53:21

Nick McGowan

Yeah.

00:04:55:14 – 00:05:08:04

Nick McGowan

That’s funny. Yeah. So. So the reason why I ask you about Spirit Box is that guy that I was talking to was like, Yeah, just your Spirit Box who is basically it’s a female led metal band.

00:05:08:07 – 00:05:08:19

Mike Bassett

Okay?

00:05:09:02 – 00:05:23:11

Nick McGowan

And it’s kind of like Evanescence meets Patsy Cline in certain ways. So it’s either Spirit Box or Ginger. Those are kind of the newer ones. We are now going on to a completely different topic than mindset and self-mastery at this point.

00:05:23:11 – 00:05:27:15

Mike Bassett

You know what? I can dance backwards in high heels if that’s where you want to go. I’m here for you, dude.

00:05:28:04 – 00:05:46:12

Nick McGowan

If that’s the way it should be, then so. Well, so that’s the thing that people don’t know about you but need to. So thank you for bringing that up. Now tell me about your your little Saul Goodman situation that’s going on here of thinking you’re going to go to jail for a bit.

00:05:47:03 – 00:06:06:22

Mike Bassett

Yeah. So I’m going to give you a law, a story that unfolded over a long time. And I’m going to boil it down into about a minute. There was a guy that I worked with. It was a client of mine that I trusted, that I thought I’d become very close with. And he put me in a position where I either had to help him embezzle money or he would pull all of his business.

00:06:07:14 – 00:06:22:02

Mike Bassett

That’s it. In 30 seconds or less. I made the bad choice. I helped him and the consequences were, although brutal and almost burned. Everything to the ground were absolutely purified him. And looking back on it, probably the best thing that ever happened to me.

00:06:23:04 – 00:06:34:18

Nick McGowan

Well, this is basically the rest of the episode at this point, because there’s a lot in that. I mean, let’s talk to us about your mindset in that space of going well. I got two different options and both of them are great.

00:06:35:00 – 00:06:52:04

Mike Bassett

Yeah. You know, so it’s funny what we we find ourselves in these situations and Nick and I think the biggest problem, the biggest mistake we made is we think we were alone in that situation. We think that it is you and the person in front of you or you. And the problem in front of you. And what I did is I thought I was alone.

00:06:52:16 – 00:07:18:10

Mike Bassett

And when we are alone and when we don’t turn to people, I don’t think that’s when we make very good choices. I know I’m painting with a roller at this point, but I think it’s a truism. And I found myself self-isolated and made a decision. If you want to be brutally honest from a standpoint of being a six year old and thinking, if I don’t do this, then this person is going to leave and it will be bad for my career.

00:07:19:07 – 00:07:24:00

Nick McGowan

Did you have something that happened when you were a little kid that you kind of tied back to? Yeah.

00:07:24:00 – 00:07:39:04

Mike Bassett

So what happened was, is that I was fortunate enough to be adopted. I was fortunate enough to be adopted. And my adoptive parents knew my natural mother. They knew her, which was great. So I never had to do the whole I wonder who my mom is, you know, drive across America, have a lifetime show on that. I knew who it was.

00:07:39:13 – 00:07:58:04

Mike Bassett

But when you’re a four or five and six year old and you’re going between, you know, your mother’s house and your soon to be adoptive parents house, you kind of start to think maybe things you are doing because as a five year old, the world revolves around you. You tend to think things, you do are what drives other people’s decisions.

00:07:58:11 – 00:08:09:01

Mike Bassett

I can tell you after years and years and years and thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars of counseling, that’s not the right way to think, but it’s the way a lot of us do think. Nick.

00:08:10:03 – 00:08:36:00

Nick McGowan

Yeah, you’re totally right. I think most problems I don’t want to say 100%, but I’m up there at the 99 percentile that they all come from childhood. There’s some sort of trauma that we went through as a child that we haven’t either processed through or haven’t fully processed through. So can you boil down a bit what steps you took going through that past trauma and kind of figuring out like, what do you do with that now as an adult?

00:08:36:16 – 00:08:50:15

Mike Bassett

Yeah. So what are the things as you continue to work on it every day? It is not something, at least for me, Nick, that you say, okay, I’m going to go to counseling and after six months I’ve done check that off and I’ll never have to deal with that again. And I’m speaking for me and for nobody else.

00:08:50:21 – 00:09:14:22

Mike Bassett

It is something I continually have to reassert and rethink about and recalibrate on. For instance, two or three weeks ago I had a situation, very, very contentious situation and a case, and I was visiting with my wife and I said of cut, of just feeling, I’m so much anxiety and, you know, she’s so patient. And she peeled away the layers of the onion and she goes, you know, you’re not six anymore.

00:09:14:22 – 00:09:34:07

Mike Bassett

And I’m like, You know what? You’re fucking right. I’m not. But it took that. So it’s first off, something you have to keep in mind, top of mind. But second, I think you need to surround yourself with and go seek good help. I have a theory that there are two kinds of people in this world, Nick, and I apologize if I’m going to offend the others.

00:09:34:14 – 00:09:44:22

Mike Bassett

I think there’s people that need or should be in counseling and there are people that are in denial. And I was fortunate enough to be able to get counseling and afford it and it helped a great deal.

00:09:45:21 – 00:10:08:07

Nick McGowan

Yeah, that good points. Those people that would hear that are either not listeners of the show or they’re not going to listen for very much longer. Because what we talk about on this is about actually getting the help and some of that help comes from therapists, comes from coaches, comes from mentors, it comes from people you work with.

00:10:08:07 – 00:10:30:20

Nick McGowan

It comes from all over the place. There’s certain people that can see somebody else’s situation and go, Oh, note to self, don’t go down that path. And they can change that. But I don’t I don’t think there’s anybody in the world that doesn’t have it all figured out. Nobody’s perfect. So it does just doesn’t happen that way. But what do you do now, like daily to be able to continue to work on that?

00:10:31:07 – 00:11:00:02

Mike Bassett

Well? And so, for instance, I’ve got a coach I visit with every Wednesday or now every Saturday I have been since the pandemic because it was just, you know, everything changed. It’s something I continue to read about, something I continue to think about. I surround myself with like minded people who are very much into self-awareness. I’m fortunate enough that I’m able to go on silent retreats with the Jesuits who every year but go away for about eight or ten days in the silence.

00:11:00:10 – 00:11:22:02

Mike Bassett

And it’s just fantastic. And so it’s something I do daily. I don’t know if you can’t see it right now, but so let me do this. So yeah, so when I start to feel like I’m being beaten down and when life’s little things start to pick at you, you know, like you’re being picked to death by a chicken neck, you know, that feeling.

00:11:22:17 – 00:11:49:02

Mike Bassett

And then your little voice starts saying, Nick, you’re a failure. Nick, you suck. Nick, you can’t do this. This is what I look at, Biggie Smalls. So it’s a take. Of course. Of course it’s a take on sad sandlot. But I’m a big Biggie Smalls fan, too. And I just tell myself, You know what? You’re killing me. This this negative self-talk is killing me.

00:11:49:07 – 00:11:51:20

Mike Bassett

Step back a bit, realize I’m not six anymore.

00:11:52:15 – 00:11:58:10

Nick McGowan

And that childhood trauma that childhood trauma keeps coming up. I often wonder how many people.

00:11:58:10 – 00:12:18:06

Mike Bassett

Yeah, but here’s the deal, Nick. And I want to be very clear about this. This is not something where you go around and say, Listen, I had a shitty childhood. Here’s a newsflash. Most people had a shitty childhood. Everybody did. Okay? Mine was nothing near as bad as people that I know was nothing near as bad. But it’s just what happened to you.

00:12:18:10 – 00:12:38:08

Mike Bassett

It’s not the question of does it happen to you? The question is, how are you going to deal with it? Really, how are you going to deal with it? And I think I think you can take it and make yourself a better version of yourself and also make sure that people in your life world don’t end up being subjected to the shit you were subjected to.

00:12:38:19 – 00:12:45:19

Nick McGowan

That’s a good point. Now you know you’ve got kids now. So your kids are are they your kids? Are they adopted kids?

00:12:45:21 – 00:13:05:20

Mike Bassett

No, I’ve got two sons. They would deny there are days they would deny that I’m their father, but I was there for them. And here’s here’s something you talk about raising kids. So my wife and I decided when we had kids, we said, you know what, we don’t know anything about parenting. We know how to make a kid, but we don’t know how to do anything about parenting.

00:13:05:20 – 00:13:24:03

Mike Bassett

So early on, we studied up a lot on parenting. We went to seminars, we read books, and it really put us in a position with a lot of people. We knew that they’re like, What are you why don’t you hit your kids? Why don’t you spank your kids? And we’re like, You know what? I don’t think that really works.

00:13:24:21 – 00:13:38:18

Mike Bassett

And so we found ourselves not on the outs, but disagreeing in fundamental ways with a lot of people on how we were going to raise our kids. But it was a decision we made and it was a very conscious and intentional decision.

00:13:38:18 – 00:13:47:02

Nick McGowan

If only more people made that decision well before having kids, it’s like people should have a test to be able to have kids instead of just the test being sex.

00:13:47:02 – 00:14:07:05

Mike Bassett

What was the line? I think Father the bride, they’re talking about having kids and he’s like, you know, any but Roman asshole can be a dad, but you have to have a license to be a barber, which is true. You cannot cut people there without a license, but you can have kids.

00:14:07:05 – 00:14:28:04

Nick McGowan

Yeah, 100%. Yeah. They should give out the license for kids. So growing up, the way that you did with the unique experience of being able to go back and forth between your moms and your new adoptive parents, I feel like there’s probably a lot that’s in that that you had that all right. Well, I was there and now I’m here.

00:14:28:14 – 00:14:38:13

Nick McGowan

So how did you how do you handle that? Being a father and showing your kids love and still kind of processing through that stuff? Because you’re right, you’re not six anymore, but that’s still coming up.

00:14:39:04 – 00:15:00:08

Mike Bassett

Yeah. You know, I think when when my sons were growing up, I was all about stability and all about routine because, you know, the deal was when you’re a three year old, you do better with the routine. This is my impression of four or five year old. So it was every night I would get home, we would try to have dinner around a certain time.

00:15:00:23 – 00:15:21:01

Mike Bassett

You know, we would read stories, we’d play, we’d get a bath, we’d read a story, we’d go to bed. And I was all about just a routine to give them grounding and that they would know there’s not going to be a lot of chaos. Because when I was growing up, there was chaos, just chaos all the time. So even as an adult, even as an adult.

00:15:21:01 – 00:15:31:14

Mike Bassett

Nick When I leave my office today, it looks like a surgical suite because I cannot stand clutter, can’t stand it. And this is from when I was six years old.

00:15:32:06 – 00:15:36:13

Nick McGowan

How do you think you’ve gotten to an OCD level with that, where you had a nice balance?

00:15:37:02 – 00:15:56:04

Mike Bassett

No, this is my personal space now in our house and raising it and, you know, raising two sons who were 18 months apart. It looked like a it looked like a disaster zone most days. Their rooms were just biohazards. But in my closet, in my closet, all my shit straight. That’s because that’s where I like it in my office.

00:15:56:10 – 00:15:57:18

Mike Bassett

All of my stuff is straight.

00:15:58:20 – 00:16:08:13

Nick McGowan

Now, without going through all of your childhood, are there any major episodes or moments that stand out to you where you can look back and go? And that was a moment that changed me.

00:16:09:04 – 00:16:34:03

Mike Bassett

Yeah, a couple of them. One, I can remember graduating from high school. So this is 1979, back when dinosaurs were roaming the earth and the crust was still cooling. And so I graduated from high school and all of my buddies got cars or they were going on vacations and it was just lavish. So I remember graduating and there was an overnight party at a downtown hotel that I went to.

00:16:34:12 – 00:16:53:02

Mike Bassett

I came home and I remember my dad was in the front yard raking leaves, and I came home and he came over and shook my hand and said, Congratulations, you have now met the minimum requirements for education in the state of Texas and slapped me on the back. And that was it. Okay, you got a high school degree.

00:16:53:02 – 00:17:15:06

Mike Bassett

Another moment I can remember very, very vividly. So I was the youngest of five, adopted my oldest brother, who is now deceased, was a highly decorated army officer. So I remember I’m in college, so it’s about 81, 82, and I think I’m ten foot tall and bulletproof. So we’re at the house and he’s home on leave probably at Christmas.

00:17:15:11 – 00:17:34:21

Mike Bassett

And I remember sitting in the little bathroom that was in the back of the house and he’s brushing his teeth. And I’m going on and on about school and college and this and that. Now, this is a guy that started got out of A&M like in 62. So he had been already had been in the Dominican Republic. He had been in Vietnam, he had been in all these places.

00:17:35:03 – 00:17:59:20

Mike Bassett

And I remember him listening to me and he spit out his toothpaste and said, you know, when you do something outside a 50, 71 Meadowlark, that was our house, come talk to me. And I’m like, Damn, that’s harsh. But it was true. It was really true, which taught me a lot about humility. So I got to tell you, those two things like yesterday, Nick, I can remember.

00:18:00:09 – 00:18:07:05

Nick McGowan

It’s interesting. What do you think really stood out about your your father saying cool, congrats and moving along.

00:18:07:22 – 00:18:27:00

Mike Bassett

You know because he was one that it was always about you need to make your own way. He left home when he was 14, enrolled in enlisted in the Army and lied about his age. So you talk about a guy that was tough as shoe leather. That was my old man. And the message was really clear, nobody is going to give you anything.

00:18:27:18 – 00:18:49:04

Mike Bassett

Hard work is the coin of the realm. You treat everybody with respect. You fear nobody, but you respect everybody. And that was what I was brought up with. And if you wanted money, go hustle and work. If you wanted something, go get it. If you wanted to do something that’s on you. And so I distinctly remember growing up.

00:18:49:04 – 00:18:57:11

Mike Bassett

I mean, I was fortunate. I grew up in an affluent neighborhood with my friends and everybody that got cars. My dad’s like, You want a car? Yep. He goes, They cost money. That’s what I hear.

00:18:58:16 – 00:19:31:19

Nick McGowan

Yeah. Yeah. It’s a it’s a special relationship to have with with your father and that sort of sense where there’s a respect which is different. I had some friends growing up that had loads of money and I had other friends that had no money at all, like at all. And it was different to see how parents reacted with their kids and how they treated their kids and how even some of the super rich kids, their parents just gave them things because they’re trying to buy them love.

00:19:32:03 – 00:19:46:06

Nick McGowan

But there are a couple of them that were like, You know what? I know that you want to go get this and I have a lot of money, but I have a lot of money. So you need to go do the things to be able to create what you want. And they were like, Fuck, all right. And they’re better off for it.

00:19:47:10 – 00:20:06:07

Mike Bassett

You know? Absolutely. It’s funny. So remember my old man when I come along at five, he is 50. So imagine yourself being 50, having a five year old. Okay. So I can remember that all of my buddies growing up, all of them would want to go out and ride motorcycles. Okay. My dad’s like, you are not riding a motorcycle.

00:20:06:07 – 00:20:21:03

Mike Bassett

You’re not doing it. And yet if I wanted to drink at the house, he let me. You will sit here and drink beer. Drink beer? You want to go out in the desert and shoot guns? Go out in the desert and shoot guns. But by God, you’re not getting on a motorcycle and you’re never spending the night at somebody else’s house.

00:20:21:11 – 00:20:39:18

Mike Bassett

And nothing good happens after 9:00 at night. Those I just remember growing up. So it was a juxtaposition where some of my friends, their parents would die if they knew they were drinking booze. And my dad was like, If you want to drink, drink here. So I can I can watch you. Make sure you don’t do anything stupid.

00:20:40:12 – 00:20:45:14

Nick McGowan

Yeah. He can’t watch you or watch the car that’s driving by your bike to knock you off that bike.

00:20:45:14 – 00:20:53:15

Mike Bassett

Or, you know, a 15 year old on a motorcycle. I think if you Google recipe for disaster, that’s one of the top three pictures. That’s my humble opinion.

00:20:54:08 – 00:20:57:20

Nick McGowan

So are you kind of similar with your with your sons that they can’t ride a motorcycle?

00:20:58:04 – 00:21:12:22

Mike Bassett

No. Well, in a way, I was simply because what I do as a lawyer, I’m a civil defense lawyer, and I defend personal injury cases. So I remember my sons came up and said, we want an ATV. I said, You’re out of your mind. You’re never getting an ATV, ever. When those things flip, you’re going to be killed.

00:21:13:05 – 00:21:31:05

Mike Bassett

Dad, we want to we want a a go kart. Unfortunately, I had a couple of cases where people got really hurt in go karts. A No, I’m not going to do that. I’m just not. So, yeah, unfortunately I was a lot like that, maybe for different reasons in my dad. But yeah, if you would talk to them separately, they say I ruined their life in a lot of ways like that.

00:21:32:01 – 00:21:35:18

Nick McGowan

I’m sure. At the same time they probably also love the hell out of you, I think.

00:21:35:18 – 00:21:38:00

Mike Bassett

I think if you got them in a weak moment, they would.

00:21:38:20 – 00:21:57:05

Nick McGowan

That’s interesting, man. There’s it’s interesting the things that we can kind of latch onto that may have an effect because of the deliverance of it. Like your dad was like, you’re not going to do that, but you can go do these things and be like, all right, cool. I can tell that you’re you’re pretty high on this level about this thing, so I’m not going to go do that or maybe you push it a little bit.

00:21:57:10 – 00:22:10:10

Nick McGowan

But it’s interesting how some people turn that and they use that on their own kids. They’re like, Well, this is what I was taught. And that’s kind of the mindset area of it, you know, like I was raised this way, so dammit, this is how you’re going to be. And it sounds like you’ve shifted some of that.

00:22:10:21 – 00:22:28:16

Mike Bassett

Well, and what we tried to do was take the best of it. So my dad was very much, listen, hard work if you want something, hard work is the way to go. So we raised our sons like that. Now, my mom, who was an artist, I mean, she was a hippie. She was a bohemian. All right. And she always told me, Michael, you are so smart, you can do whatever you want to do.

00:22:28:16 – 00:22:47:22

Mike Bassett

This is before positive self-talk. Michael, if you want to go do it, you’re smart enough. Go do it. I absolutely believe in you. I remember when I studied for the bar exam. Okay, so you study for six weeks to take a test the last three days whether you’re going to be a lawyer. So I get out of the exam the first day and she calls me, How did you do?

00:22:47:22 – 00:23:05:16

Mike Bassett

I said, I knew the answer to two questions. And then the next day she goes, How’d you do? I said, I knew the answer to one question. And then the third day I said, I’m not going to be a lawyer. And so then then you have to wait four months to get the bar exam results. And I’m like, I’m an I’m not going to be a lawyer.

00:23:05:16 – 00:23:24:21

Mike Bassett

I think I’m going to have to go bid, you know something? I can’t do it. She’s like, Michael, you’re going to be fine. You’re going to be fine. When I passed it, she’s like, I told you so. She never doubted. We tried to pick that up with our sons where we absolutely believed in them. And that was something she always did for me.

00:23:25:08 – 00:23:45:14

Nick McGowan

Yeah, that’s a powerful thing to believe in your kids. I think there’s also balance, like all things you don’t want to be like, Oh, my kid’s the best kid in the world. He gets all the trophies. You don’t ever want to be like that. But I think that’s also a good point where we we kind of are on the side of either growth mindset or a fixed mindset.

00:23:46:02 – 00:23:48:13

Mike Bassett

I’m all about Carol Dweck. Yes.

00:23:49:01 – 00:23:52:13

Nick McGowan

Yes. Big time. And some people will get in that spot.

00:23:53:01 – 00:24:24:18

Mike Bassett

Yes. I’ve got her thing on my desk. Absolutely. Oh, you’re the best. Yeah. And so, so true story. We are. We have several family group texts that have, like 27 people, a piece of them. Okay. And someone will do great on their science project and then the text just blows up. And what it’s funny, Liz and I, my wife and I, instead of saying, You’re so smart, I’m so proud of you, it’ll always be like, I can see you worked really hard on that and you put a lot of work into it.

00:24:24:18 – 00:24:33:03

Mike Bassett

Good for you. And it’s a it’s a different way of looking at exam up dude. If it works, it works.

00:24:33:23 – 00:24:53:01

Nick McGowan

Work it. Yeah. Exactly. Such a beautiful thing when really when you think of that growth and that fixed mindset, how many people just are on the side of the thick stuff like, oh, you, you are super intelligent, you have all this intelligence. It’s like, no, fucking most people don’t. In fact, none of us really do right now.

00:24:53:01 – 00:25:07:00

Mike Bassett

Just I think the question is how hard are you willing to work for it and what effort are you willing to put? What effort are you willing to put in for it? And if you don’t want to put a bunch of effort to it, that’s cool. But you’re not going to get to where you need to be or you want to be.

00:25:07:13 – 00:25:15:01

Nick McGowan

Yeah. So tell us, how did you get into wanting to become a lawyer? Because that’s not an easy thing to get into and then stick with.

00:25:15:03 – 00:25:33:07

Mike Bassett

So I’m a I’m a sophomore in high school and I’m in government class and we’re studying the judiciary and our teacher says, okay, we’re going to have a mock trial. Like, what is this? She goes, It’s going to be a murder case. I’m going to choose one student to be the prosecutor and one the defense lawyer. So I got chosen, volunteered, I don’t know to be the defense lawyer.

00:25:33:17 – 00:25:47:22

Mike Bassett

And they gave you a case, they gave you something to work with. And I’m like, this is really interesting. And so I thought, you know what? I know a family friend who’s a criminal defense lawyer and I’m going to go talk to him. So I went and talked to him. I said, here’s this case I’ve got. What do you suggest?

00:25:48:07 – 00:26:06:16

Mike Bassett

And he started talking to me and I was like, I dig this. Plus I didn’t have to do my geometry homework, like, all right. And so I did it and I was hooked and I knew from the time I was a sophomore that I was going to be a lawyer. Now, my old man was like, That’s great. Good for you.

00:26:06:17 – 00:26:17:01

Mike Bassett

You need to get a business degree in case you can’t be a lawyer. So I got to college degrees in accounting and management just in case the law thing didn’t work. But yeah, I knew from the time I was a sophomore in high school.

00:26:17:16 – 00:26:24:14

Nick McGowan

That’s pretty awesome. In there are a lot of people that think they know what they want to do when they’re in high school and have no idea, even in their thirties and forties.

00:26:25:00 – 00:26:44:04

Mike Bassett

Dude, it was serendipitous and and I used to you talk about judging people. I would hear people, you know, in their late twenties going, I don’t know what to do. I’m like, How do you not know what to do? But then I realized I was just so fortunate that I glommed onto something that I truly enjoy that people will pay me to do.

00:26:45:08 – 00:26:47:22

Mike Bassett

And so I’m the luckiest guy in the world when it comes to that.

00:26:49:11 – 00:27:07:14

Nick McGowan

I love how that stuff lines up. You get to use your skills, do the things that make sense to you, but it took you taking steps to be able to do that. Now, tell us about the process that you went through to be able to not only go, hey, this is what I want to do, but to walk down that path and a manager mindset during those really fucking tough times.

00:27:08:02 – 00:27:27:09

Mike Bassett

So I graduate from the University of Texas, El Paso, Harvard on the border, go minors. And I’m thinking I’m the cat’s ass right? I’m almost got a 4.0. I’m one of the top ten seniors. I get accepted to law school only because only because I took the LSAT when I was still drunk and my scores were really shitty.

00:27:27:18 – 00:27:42:02

Mike Bassett

But Liz’s parents knew a lot of people in the Catholic Church in San Antonio, so I get accepted to Saint Mary’s, never been to St Mary’s, I’ve never been to San Antonio. So I go down there and I’m like, okay, I got this. I got the law school thing figured out. I knew how to do college. I can do law school.

00:27:42:03 – 00:27:59:21

Mike Bassett

Great. So first thing you learned is they give you one test per class in law school. And I went, so if you took 5 to 5 classes, you took five tests, one at the end of the year for each class. I’m like, Well, that’s sort of weird, but okay. And so you would take your finals, let’s say you’re done the second week of December.

00:28:00:03 – 00:28:24:08

Mike Bassett

Back then again, we were still coming out of the the the dinosaur age. You would if you wanted your grades early, you would you would self-addressed a postcard and address it to yourself. And on the back you would put contracts or torts or whatever, and you would wait for the grades. So the grades didn’t come until February. So we are well into our second semester of law school now.

00:28:24:11 – 00:28:47:20

Mike Bassett

Okay, we’re back in and I go down to get my first grades. They come in, two or three postcards come in and I’m like, Well, shit, I do not know what I am doing at this point. I’m like, out of a class of 300 and something, I’m like to 80. I mean, I’m not in the basement, but I’m at the top of the stairs to the basement.

00:28:47:20 – 00:29:10:13

Mike Bassett

I’m like, Well, this is not going to work. What? I’m doing something wrong. So I realize I’ve got to change my game. So I realized, you know what I need to do? I need to record these lectures and listen to them afterwards and redo my notes and type them up because that’s how I learn. And I was fortunate that I went from there to graduating three years later.

00:29:10:13 – 00:29:34:03

Mike Bassett

Number 12, in a class of 191. But it was only because the path I was on was not going to work out. Because you got to remember when I graduated, I was married and already had a kid. And, you know, I thought, I’ve got to do better than this. And so I realized I had to work smarter and work harder and work differently.

00:29:34:07 – 00:29:39:01

Mike Bassett

The old tools, Nick, although they were good in college, were no good in law school.

00:29:39:23 – 00:29:50:17

Nick McGowan

Hmm. That’s interesting that you had your wife and your kid, I guess already has that. Why were you like, shit, I can’t go backwards. We’ve got to make this thing happen.

00:29:51:16 – 00:30:02:23

Mike Bassett

Oh, no, no. When I was studying for the bar, I would say, you know, I’d be lamenting, I’m just not do this, I can’t do this. And my wife was like, Yeah, you are.

00:30:02:23 – 00:30:19:10

Nick McGowan

You can, you are, you will. And so it sounds like you’ve got a good support system with your wife as well. And you brought that up a little bit ago about being able to have the right people that are around you. So there are certain people that listen to this show that are like you and I, they’re ambitious.

00:30:19:10 – 00:30:32:13

Nick McGowan

They go after things, but they don’t always have that that core group around them, maybe because they’re kind of evolving in their past that. So how what kind of advice would you give somebody to be able to find that core group or that good group of people?

00:30:32:15 – 00:30:48:06

Mike Bassett

First off, I think you’ve got to reach out to people. I think if you wait for people to come to you and say, Hey, Nick, you look like you could really use some mentoring. That’s never happened to me. So I was fortunate when I would go on these retreats and I would meet these priests or I would be out professionally and I would meet somebody.

00:30:48:06 – 00:31:09:11

Mike Bassett

I would just say, listen, I really I think that I can learn a lot from you. Can I buy you breakfast? And that’s how it always started with me. Can I buy you breakfast? Can I just visit? Can I ask you a bunch of questions? And maybe one time somebody kind of gave me the cold shoulder. But after 35 years of doing this, only one person has ever given me the cold shoulder.

00:31:09:22 – 00:31:27:08

Mike Bassett

And when I was in my forties, when I was in my forties, I would always look to people in their sixties and seventies. Now that I’m 60 and turning 61, I’m starting to look back at some of the younger ones and saying, Listen, can I buy you breakfast? Because I need to really, I think you’re on to something and I want to learn from you.

00:31:28:01 – 00:31:46:09

Mike Bassett

So I think if you’re going to do it, you got to be a lifelong learner, but you have to go out and seek people, seek people that are putting out into the world what you want to put out. And when you find those people, be bold. I remember, you know, so there’s a great, you know, Greg McEwen wrote the book Essentialism.

00:31:46:13 – 00:32:03:04

Mike Bassett

Great book, great book. I read his book. I’m like, I will tell you how good this book was. My wife had to attend a conference in Vegas. I went out with her. I spent a day and a half in the hotel room reading this book. That’s how good it was. And I’m like, You know what? I dig what he’s selling.

00:32:03:04 – 00:32:19:00

Mike Bassett

I think he should be a speaker at our firm retreat nearby. It’s like, Are you kidding me? He’s like a New York Times bestseller. He’s not going to return your call. I’m like, Okay. So I got in touch with him and he said, Sure, I’ll do it. So that’s the kind of thing I’m talking about. Just ask.

00:32:19:21 – 00:32:40:15

Nick McGowan

Yeah, that’s a great point. So many people get afraid of the bullshit in their own head. They’re like, Oh, I don’t want to ask because what if I said this sort of thing? And if I was in that spot? And I love that you said 35 years, one person gave you the cultural shoulder. Was there something about that person that you were like, this separates them from everybody else?

00:32:40:21 – 00:32:43:04

Nick McGowan

Is there a reason why you think he got the cultural there from them?

00:32:43:09 – 00:33:00:15

Mike Bassett

You know, I can’t because I really didn’t give it much thought, because here’s another thing I learned from my old man. You know, my old man was he was always about the next thing. And if you you know, he was in insurance sales after he retired from the military. And although he never said it, what I picked up from him was, I don’t care if you tell me.

00:33:00:15 – 00:33:15:19

Mike Bassett

No, that’s one step closer to my. Yes. And so I’ve had so many people tell me, no, it doesn’t bother me. That just means I’m one step closer to getting to the yes. So when that person said no to me, Nick, I didn’t get wound around the axle because it wasn’t going to do me any good.

00:33:16:17 – 00:33:33:02

Nick McGowan

Man. I would have been shocked if you were like, Yes, I remember exactly what this person was like because that’s the mindset to have where you’re like, I don’t fucking care. I’m moving along because the other people that you opened up to and that you asked out to breakfast, they were like, Yeah, let’s do this. And they gave you great wisdom.

00:33:33:08 – 00:33:50:02

Mike Bassett

Oh yeah. And I tell my young lawyers all the time, when you’re on the phone with a client, just say, Hey, listen, we’ve talked about business. Can I pick your brain for 3 minutes? So let’s say that you’re an insurance claims professional or you’re a bigwig at a trucking company you work with. And you’ve got a younger lawyer in my office.

00:33:50:02 – 00:34:11:15

Mike Bassett

Hey, Nick, we’ve talked about the issue we want to talk about just off the clock. Can I just pick your brain for about 3 minutes? What are the lawyers that you work with around the country? What are the three characteristics that you think set them apart? And what are the three things that are the characteristics of lawyers you will never use again?

00:34:11:15 – 00:34:28:10

Mike Bassett

Dude, I do this all the time. If I’m talking with a new client. Let’s say you’re a client, you’re talking to me. One of the questions I’m going to ask you is, Nick, tell me what success looks like to you. What does success look like to you? And then what is successful relationship with your lawyer look like? How do you define that?

00:34:28:10 – 00:34:39:19

Mike Bassett

Tell me what it looks like because you may say, you know what, I want a lawyer that’s available 24 seven that drops everything for me. I’m like, okay, I’m not your guy, but it’s good to know now.

00:34:39:19 – 00:34:51:01

Nick McGowan

Yeah, yeah. Makes sense. And that’s not just a lawyer thing. I it’s easy for me to jump into sales, but I think it’s just a people thing and it’s an expectations thing.

00:34:52:03 – 00:35:10:22

Mike Bassett

It’s all and you know, it comes down to communication. We are problem. All we do in my business is we solve problems. That’s all we do. We solve people’s problem some bigger and some smaller. And I’m always about communication. If you just pick up the phone and talk to people, trust me. There have been relationships, client relationships that I have damn near burned to the ground for something I did.

00:35:11:14 – 00:35:24:22

Mike Bassett

But you’ve got that relationship and you call and say, Nick, here’s the deal. We screwed this up. We’re going to make it right. But I want you to know, do you I can’t tell you the number of relationships you have that have only been stronger or.

00:35:25:10 – 00:35:38:00

Nick McGowan

You just built back your trust by falling on your own sword. And that’s a it’s a hard pill for people to swallow where they don’t want to fall in their own sword and go, Look, I fucked up. I’m sorry.

00:35:38:00 – 00:35:52:11

Mike Bassett

I think there’s a lot of kids that are raised that if you make a mistake, that’s a reflection on you and you can’t admit it. One of the things that has been so freeing, as I get older, I’ll be on a conference with 12 people and somebody say, Mike, what about this? And I’m like, You know what? I have no idea.

00:35:53:04 – 00:36:11:23

Mike Bassett

I have no idea. It sounds like a good idea. Let me get back to you. That is so freeing. The young lawyer, Mike, would think I’ve got to know the answer, so I may just make up some bullshit or kind of cobble together an answer. Much more. I think it’s much more giving you much more respect to say, you know, I have no idea.

00:36:11:23 – 00:36:17:02

Mike Bassett

I’ve never thought of that. I don’t know. Let me let me get back to you on that.

00:36:17:02 – 00:36:37:11

Nick McGowan

Yeah, I, I think that people are afraid to do that earlier in their careers. And then as they move along, they’re, they’re so conditioned to just not do that. But once you get to that precipice where you’re like, Look, I don’t fucking know, but we’ll figure it out. And I got another question for you. Help me give me some more information about this thing, because then you start getting stuff out of them.

00:36:37:11 – 00:36:50:22

Nick McGowan

They’re like, Oh, this is great. He doesn’t know it. He’s not going to feed me some bullshit. That’s a whole different story than you can tell. And I’m sure you’ve seen this where people are squirming, they’re like, Oh, here’s some bullshit for you. Here it is. And you’re like, What the fuck did that come from?

00:36:51:08 – 00:37:10:07

Mike Bassett

So we I do a lawyer. He’s a dear friend. If you answer a question, he didn’t know he would come back and answer a question you didn’t even ask. You’re like, on this matter here, what? What are we going to do with this? You know, I don’t know. But did you know that Pebble Beach is the oldest golf course in California?

00:37:10:07 – 00:37:16:16

Mike Bassett

You’re like, no, I didn’t know. But that’s not what I asked.

00:37:19:20 – 00:37:29:02

Nick McGowan

To see in a follow up to that. Like, I understood I didn’t get it. So I asked you some different.

00:37:29:02 – 00:37:32:04

Nick McGowan

That’s funny. Oh, man.

00:37:32:04 – 00:37:48:19

Nick McGowan

I love that sort of stuff. I, I had a friend long time ago that would always just pivot to something else. Like if you’re talking about anything like, Oh, here, so-and-so got into a car accident. Yeah. Speaking of car accidents, what are we doing for dinner? You’re like, what the fuck did that come from? But he would do it all the time.

00:37:48:19 – 00:37:51:12

Nick McGowan

Like, whatever the thing was, he would just bounce off of it, right?

00:37:51:13 – 00:38:06:17

Mike Bassett

And then, you know, you and I both know and these are people that I don’t think you want to keep in your orbit no matter what you’re talking about. They’ve always got the story. I call them toppers. They’re like, Hey, listen, I, I, you know what? This weekend I kind of had a scare because, you know, my kid had a fever, and.

00:38:06:17 – 00:38:22:04

Mike Bassett

But everything’s okay. You know what? My kid had a fever one time, 117 almost died. We had to airlift him on a jet from France. And it was amazing. You’re like, you win, you win.

00:38:22:04 – 00:38:24:20

Nick McGowan

Yeah. Your kid is more sicker than mine. Way to go.

00:38:25:05 – 00:38:31:21

Mike Bassett

Toppers. Toppers. All of us just yet. Oh, yeah. Everything you got, I can top that story.

00:38:32:19 – 00:38:52:07

Nick McGowan

Yeah, yeah. I think about I figured the significance driven people, you know, there’s like we can look at those people and almost say, hmm, I hope you. I hope you’re all right. Like, I hope you get through this because you don’t need to top anything. There’s no reason for it. But they try to be significant, you know.

00:38:53:02 – 00:39:20:04

Mike Bassett

Well, so I talk a lot about bullying in the law. And here’s my theory. That’s my theory. When you deal with people that are toppers or uber aggressive to me is not a psychologist. That is a reflection. You’ve got somebody who’s incredibly insecure in themselves, in themselves. And so when I see that, I’m like, okay, now the old me used to get pissed off about it when you would see a lawyer do that.

00:39:20:12 – 00:39:34:12

Mike Bassett

But now I’m like, Okay, I get it. Don’t judge him because listen, I’ve done some stupid stuff too, but you’re like, okay, I see where you’re coming from, but if you come at those people in a certain way, you can really have deep relationships with them.

00:39:35:07 – 00:39:40:12

Nick McGowan

Yeah, because they’re looking for help. They’re. They’re looking. They just. They’re afraid to say it.

00:39:40:23 – 00:40:05:06

Mike Bassett

Yeah. And that’s the old let’s go for coffee and you know. And are you doing okay because you know, you seem to to be a little bit wound up right now. And that’s where vulnerability comes in. Because I got to tell you, if you can if you can if you can show yourself to be vulnerable, it’s one of the I think it’s one of the strongest threads to a relationship is genuine vulnerability.

00:40:06:00 – 00:40:30:08

Nick McGowan

Yeah, I agree with that. Look, you’re over 60. I’m almost 40. And there are people who listen to this show that are just out of their teens and people that are in their seventies and, eighties. We’ve all grown up a bit differently, but I feel like there have been moments where we all kind of have that like, well, fucking man up and just go do it instead of actually understanding what people are going through and being mindful of it.

00:40:30:22 – 00:40:48:01

Mike Bassett

Exactly. And there was a part of me and you talk about this. So Richard Rodgers is a Franciscan theologian. He has his great concept of the first, the two halves of life. And in the first half of life, we’re trying to build our career. We’re trying to be that bulletproof person. We’re trying to climb the ladder. Never. We’re wrong.

00:40:48:07 – 00:41:05:15

Mike Bassett

And then the second half life, we realize, you know what, I don’t know much of anything who I surround myself as the most important thing in the world and I really got to take care of myself because nobody’s going to come in and say, Nick, you’ve been burning the candle at both ends. Let us take everything from you right now.

00:41:06:10 – 00:41:26:14

Nick McGowan

Yeah, that’s why I’m laughing, because I. I’ve thought that you’ve thought that most everybody in the world, I assume, has been like, you know, at some point it’s just all going to get fixed. And I think there’s a balance where, yes, you have to be faithful, you have to be open to things being fixed and you have to be positive.

00:41:26:14 – 00:41:43:22

Nick McGowan

It’s kind of like what you’re saying with your mom, but you can’t also you can’t be that asshole like that. What’s that joke with the people that are in a flood? They’re on top of a roof and God sends a helicopter and a boat and then they get up there and he’s like, You fucking kidding me? Like, I sent you a boat helicopter.

00:41:44:04 – 00:41:48:10

Nick McGowan

Now, like, but, but now we’re here. He’s like, I know I tried to keep you there, but now you’re here.

00:41:49:01 – 00:42:12:03

Mike Bassett

And I think a lot of that simply comes with age. It really does. And, you know, having dealing with life’s challenges, because we are all going to get punched in the nose, all of us, and sometimes it’s deserved. Sometimes it’s not deserved, but it’s going to happen. And you and I both know it’s not to see you, to sit and be pissed and go, You know what?

00:42:12:03 – 00:42:28:07

Mike Bassett

Life just punched me in the nose. The answer is, okay, what am I going to do about it? Am I going to be that guy that’s a victim, right? Or am I going to be the guy that say, you know what, that sucked. What role did I play in that? What did I do to maybe create that situation?

00:42:28:07 – 00:42:29:21

Mike Bassett

Because let me see what I did.

00:42:30:20 – 00:42:32:14

Nick McGowan

Man. That’s a good point. Well.

00:42:33:18 – 00:42:35:01

Mike Bassett

It’s been a kick in the pants.

00:42:35:08 – 00:42:45:03

Nick McGowan

It’s been a pleasure to talk to you. I think we could just keep going and going and going. Yeah, well, you started things off with I’m a tool fan, so I was like, this is going to be great, dude.

00:42:45:06 – 00:43:14:15

Mike Bassett

Okay, so let me tell you, January 2020, my oldest son lives in Austin, my other son here we go to the Tool concert and it’s just amazing. Okay. This is January of 2020, right before the world goes off the cliff. And it was amazing. Then they circle back around to Dallas. I think it was March of 2022. They’re coming back through town and I had a frickin trial and I could not go.

00:43:14:15 – 00:43:15:21

Mike Bassett

I was so pissed off.

00:43:17:09 – 00:43:21:00

Nick McGowan

Man. So is that the first and only time you’ve seen or have you seen them other times?

00:43:21:11 – 00:43:34:03

Mike Bassett

No, I’ve no, that’s the first and only time I’ve ever seen them. Now, my oldest son is like a Fish fan. I mean, he goes to tour concerts all the time. All the time.

00:43:34:03 – 00:43:42:19

Nick McGowan

Yeah. Oh, man, I’m not going to that level. But I think I’ve seen them upwards of ten times. 7 to 10 times something like that.

00:43:42:22 – 00:43:46:21

Mike Bassett

Whatever topper. Whatever topper. I said when you said ten, I get where you’re coming from.

00:43:47:06 – 00:43:55:14

Nick McGowan

The rest. The reason why I’m bringing that up is I had on my bucket list to go see a perfect circle. Have you seen a perfect circle?

00:43:55:22 – 00:43:59:01

Mike Bassett

I was. Listen to a perfect circle this morning on the way to work.

00:43:59:10 – 00:44:02:05

Nick McGowan

Oh, man. What album were you listening to?

00:44:02:16 – 00:44:10:05

Mike Bassett

It was the one that Lilith. Is that the name? Yes, Judith. Yeah, yeah, yes.

00:44:10:23 – 00:44:12:03

Nick McGowan

From Murder and Arms.

00:44:12:11 – 00:44:18:11

Mike Bassett

And I can I can I can think of the the beat. And I won’t do it though, because it would kill your audience ratings. But you.

00:44:18:19 – 00:44:26:17

Nick McGowan

Poor men. Well, ladies and gentlemen, we should all go listen to a perfect circle and tool and basically anything. MAYNARD Just go listen to it.

00:44:27:04 – 00:44:35:23

Mike Bassett

Anything. MAYNARD And you know what else came up on my playlist this past weekend? This predates you probably 38 special.

00:44:36:12 – 00:44:40:13

Nick McGowan

Oh, I think 38 special. It does kind of predate me a bit.

00:44:40:16 – 00:44:46:19

Mike Bassett

Any band that had two drummers, dude, that was legit. I don’t know why you need two drummers.

00:44:46:22 – 00:44:48:14

Nick McGowan

Four. Are you a Genesis fan?

00:44:49:15 – 00:44:53:16

Mike Bassett

Yes. Phil Collins. Huge Genesis fan.

00:44:54:07 – 00:44:56:13

Nick McGowan

Huge two drummers. For a minute.

00:44:57:18 – 00:45:14:17

Mike Bassett

I’ll tell you something else that I listen to, I don’t know, two or three weeks ago was Fleetwood Mac rumors. Dude, I wore I wore that shit out in 1979, 1980, whenever it came out. The cars. Mm hmm. All that stuff.

00:45:15:07 – 00:45:27:04

Nick McGowan

Man. That’s good stuff, man. Well, we could sit here and shoot the shit about music for hours and hours. I know we could. I appreciate you being on. Hey, why don’t you tell us where people can connect with you? Yeah, absolutely.

00:45:27:14 – 00:45:42:22

Mike Bassett

Sure. I’m on LinkedIn at Mike Bassett. My website for my book is called The Man in the Ditch Dotcom. Our law firm is the bastard firm. Dotcom. So reach out to me if you want to go have coffee, virtual or real. And I’m always happy to interact with people.

00:45:43:17 – 00:45:46:20

Nick McGowan

Awesome, man. Well, it’s been an absolute pleasure to have you on. Appreciate your time.

00:45:47:14 – 00:45:59:14

Mike Bassett

Thank you very much, Nick. I really enjoyed being here. Thanks for having me.

00:45:59:14 – 00:46:22:06

Nick McGowan

Another great conversation on today’s episode of The Mindset and Self-mastery show. So what did you think of the show today? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Check out the Instagram or Facebook page. Join the conversation. If you enjoyed the episode, please jump over to iTunes and subscribe rate and leave a star review. It helps us be found and helps others be healed.

00:46:22:19 – 00:46:43:11

Nick McGowan

If this episode Open Your Eyes made you think or smile at all, then I’m sure it’ll do the same for your friends. Check out the show notes for more info from today’s episode and check out other episodes on the Mindset and Self-mastery show dot com as well as our YouTube channel. Just go to YouTube and look up the mindset and self-mastery show.

00:46:44:02 – 00:47:07:10

Nick McGowan

Thanks again to our incredible guests for being real, honest and vulnerable with us today. And I’d like to thank our sponsors, the Manly Club and the Powerhouse Men Brotherhood. When you consider yourself to be a powerhouse man, the criteria for becoming one is simple live with virtue and do good work. You see, a powerhouse man builds his life.

00:47:07:10 – 00:47:37:19

Nick McGowan

He doesn’t settle for it. He attacks mediocrity at the root. And that’s exactly what we do in the powerhouse men brotherhood visit powerhouse men dot com. That’s p0werhouse men dot com. And most importantly, I’d like to thank you thank you for hanging out with us today. Your support means the world to us. And with that, remember, your mindset matters and so do you.