How Are You Using Your Platform?

Would you rather be like Conor McGregor or Kyle Snyder?…

On today’s episode Russell talks about using your platform in a positive or negative way. He touches on two recent examples, and how they were different. Listen here to find out the differences:

How a recent televised fighting match went and why Russell thinks the two men involved used their platforms in the wrong way. How Kyle Snider was able to be in a similar situation at the recent Wrestling World Tournament, but used his platform for good. And why it’s important to always use your platform in a positive way, and be a good role model for others.

So listen below to find out how Russell plans to always use his platform as a way to inspire others.

---Transcript---

Good morning everybody, this is Russell Brunson. Welcome to the Marketing Secrets podcast. I want to share with you guys something really, really cool today.

Alright, welcome back. So I am actually in the process right now of getting packed for the Traffic Secrets event, which is happening tomorrow. So I’m mostly done, I have to pack real quick and then I’m heading in. I’ve probably got 2 or 3 more hours at the office before the plane takes off. I gotta finish a couple more sketches and get my slides put together and then the party begins. So for those who are going to be there, I’m excited to hang out with you and share with you basically 15 years of traffic stuff.

And the cool thing about this presentation, this book, it’s not like, “Let me teach you how to run Facebook ads.” Because I honestly feel like there’s a storm coming and things are shifting. So I’m trying to get us as a community prepared for when Zuckerberg decides he doesn’t like us anymore. Because I guarantee you, it’s going to happen. I’ve seen it too many times over the years.

And what’s been interesting, I’ve watched over 15 years and why have we stuck around? Why have we been relevant versus all the other companies that have gone by the wayside during the ups and the downs and the network changes? And the reason is because of what I’m teaching at the event. How I view traffic, how we study it, how we focus on it, how we apply it, and how we implement it is different.

So it’s not going to be like, “Here’s how to run Facebook ads. Here’s how to do interest targeting. Here’s how to do…” it’s going to be bigger. It’s going to be understanding the psychology and the strategy behind traffic. And I think it’s going to be special. So that’s what I’m pumped about. And for those who aren’t at the event, you have to wait til next September to read the book. I’m so sorry.

I have to have to book done by May 1st, to have to the publisher to be able to launch it in September. So that’s the process. This is me testing my material, teaching it in front of a live studio audience before we go and actually create the whole thing, so it’s going to be fun.

Anywho, as I was packing the morning, some of you guys know, some of my wrestling friends, that the wrestling world tournament has been happening this week, which is the equivalent of the Olympics in an off year. So the Olympics are every four years, so the other three years they have a world tournament, which is pretty much the same thing as the Olympics. It’s a big deal and it’s coming on the backside of, and I want to share this just for contrast, but it’s the backside of the Mayweather, not Mayweather, the Connor Mcgregor fight that just happened. Where he fought against a wrestler, who used to fight bears in Russia, and Mayweather obviously got jacked pretty quickly.

And the only thing I’m going to touch upon, because I actually enjoyed the fight, I enjoyed the antics afterward, with the Russian jumping into the stands and beating up everybody, and then the people in the stands jumping in. Not going to lie, really enjoyed that. I had a fun time watching it over and over and over again.

But it was interesting, you watch both those competitors, when all is said and done, how they use their platform, and this is the moral of this episode that I want to share with you. How do they use their platform? Both of them used their platform, not in a positive way. Prefight, post fight, everything has just been this chaos and I don’t know about you, but it’s dark and it doesn’t feel good.

I mean it’s fun, this is the internal struggle in Russell’s head where I’m like, “I love this drama, I love the fact that he jumped into the audience and started beating everybody up.” So much fun right. But man, what a horrible role model for our kids, for people that we care about. It’s insane.

So that was what happened like a month ago or whenever it was. Now I want to contrast that with something amazing that I saw this morning. So the wrestling world tournament was happening and last year America came into the world tournament and we freaking crushed everyone. We beat Russia, it was amazing. This year, and Russia is always like….it’s Russia and America, that’s the two best wrestling teams. And it came back and Russia actually ended up winning the team title this year, it was close though. It was really close. Some amazing matches.

My man, Jordan Burrows, who’s like my wrestling hero right now, who he won the Olympics in London, he’s won the world titles and he was on track…if he would have won this world I think he would have been tied for the most world championships ever in American history. He lost and took third, which was heartbreaking for me. But man, he used his platform for good.

When he got done he talked about, he just….a positive….he’s an amazing human right. And then a couple other matches, this is just for….some of you guys don’t care about this. But for the wrestlers out there, insane. David Taylor went in there and won his first world title, and a tech followed the guy into finals. Tech means you beat them by so many points they stop the match because you beat them so bad. So he came in with a mission, just thrashed everyone.

Kyle Day came in and went through the tournament and won his first world title and not a single person scored on him. Not a single person scored on him the entire tournament, insane. And then Jayden Cox….anyway, it was amazing. Some really good tournaments.

But what I wanted to talk about, because this is what I want to share with you guys, and this is the point of today’s podcast. Yesterday in the finals, there was a guy named Kyle Snider, and Kyle as an 18 year old won the world tournament, which is insane, unheard of. Then the next year, he wins the Olympics, and then the next year wins the world title. And then last year, wins the world title again, but to win the world title he ends up going against this guy who, the guy is insane. I could tell you stories about this guy, but he wasn’t supposed to win. I think the guy came down in weight class or something because he wanted to beat Snider.

The dude is probably the toughest human being on earth right now. And him and Snider meet in the finals, and young kid Snider, who is like a farm boy, goes and beats this Russian dude, who he should not have beat. I don’t know, it was just insane. And it was crazy. So that was the big thing last year, which was amazing.

So this year, obviously the Russians, they just want to beat Snider. That’s their whole goal in life. So it was kind of like, it reminded me a little bit of like of a Connor McGregor fight with all the build up and the talking and all that kind of stuff. And Snider is not really a trash talker, but man, the Russians were. Talking all this trash, that they were going to beat him.

And then they get to the world title and they’re on either sides of the brackets and they go together and finally they meet in the finals and it was the most anticipated match ever. Everyone in the world who cares about wrestling is watching this match because they want to see Snider versus this Russian dude.

The y go out there and finally yesterday it happened, and they go to start wrestling, and the Russian dude, very, very quickly throws Snider to his back and pins him. The match lasts like, I don’t know, maybe 30 seconds max. Not even that, I don’t think.

And me and America and all the wrestlers watching this, just sick to our stomach. Like, “Oh my gosh, he lost.” So you’re wondering, what’s going to happen? What’s going to transpire? For the last 24 hours I’ve been sick to my stomach for him, just knowing what he’s gone through, what he prepared for, all this stuff. And then this morning I open instagram and the first thing I see is a big picture of Kyle Snider doing a quick interview. I’m going to actually play the interview for you, I’m going to have my brother splice it in here, because I want you to hear what he said. And then after that I’m going to come back and then comment on it.

“Wins or loses don’t define me. I mean, I love wrestling and it’s a big part of my life, but I’m not defined by it. It’s more defined by my faith in Jesus. That’s what…no matter what happens to me on the mat, nothing really changes. Whether I win or whether I lose, there’s not a big change in my life, the way that I view myself, the way that I view other people. So I’m thankful for everything, I’m thankful for the gifts that I have and the opportunity to compete. God’s given me the wins that I’ve had, the great wins that we’ve seen, and God’s also given me loses, and I’ll take both of them. You know? Whatever he wants to give, I’ll learn from it and that’s the deal.”

Alright, was that amazing? He could have said so many things. He could have given excuses why he lost, he could have given an excuse about why he got caught and thrown. He could have given excuses, he could have blamed people, he could have been angry, he could have trash talked, he could have done anything. He has this platform, he’s in front of the entire world right now and has the opportunity to say something. And how does he use his platform?

He uses it praise God, he uses it to talk about what he’s learning. He’s using it as a platform for other people to learn from their loses. So, so, so powerful.

So I’m sharing this with you guys for, the main reason is because all of you have a platform, or you are building a platform. And when you have a platform there becomes a responsibility. How are you going to use that? How are you going to help people? How are you going to, when you have the shot, when you’re on stage and everyone in the world is listening to you and you’ve got this split second, how are you going to use your platform?

I want you to think about that. Look at what happened with Connor McGregor and that other dude, how they used their platform, super negatively. I don’t want my kids to see that. I’m going to watch it because I like the train wreck, but man, they’re not role models. I don’t want to be like them, I don’t want my kids to be like them, I don’t want things like that.

Then you look at Kyle Snider, and man, I want my kids to hear from someone like that. I want them to have him as their role model. He used his platform to get his message out there, to talk about God. Every time I’ve seen him on any interview, any anything, in spots where he could have talked about himself or talked about how great he is, or talking about whatever, he always uses it to talk about God. To glorify someone besides himself, to talk through those type of things. You know what I mean?

So when you watch that, it’s powerful. So I just wanted to put it in your mind, you guys are each going to have an opportunity and a shot where you’re going to have your own platform, the question is how you’re going to use that platform. I hope that you guys have been watching because I consciously think about this.

I realize I have been given a gift from God where I have a platform, I have a voice, I have people who listen to me, I have the ability to persuade and to talk and to share and to motivate and inspire and lead people in directions. And I believe that with great power comes great responsibility. Thank you, Spider Man.

But it’s true, how are you guys using your platform? I want to be someone, that when I die someday, everyone says, “Man, he used his platform for good. He was blessed with this amazing platform to be able to influence people, but he influenced them for good. He inspired people, he helped people to want to be better. He helped people to live to their full potential. He helped people to transform their lives. He helped people through charity and through other things, to help other people and he inspired me to want to do that.”

That’s the legacy I want to live. That’s the platform that I want to create. I just want you guys to be thoughtful of that, to consciously think about that as you’re building your platform. As your platform grows, how are you going to use it? Because I 100% believe that if you have good intentions with your platform and you’re using it in the right way, God, the universe, whatever you want to say, whatever you guys call it for yourselves will bless you and will multiply that.

And just make sure, because it’s a sacred responsibility we’re all given. So make sure you use it. Look at what Kyle Snider did in a time when he could have been negative and he could have complained and he could have had a million excuses. And rightfully so, if I would have been the one in that platform I would be like, “Oh, he caught me. It sucks, but I’m going to take him out next time. He’s going down.” Instead he used it to glorify God. He used it as a learning lesson for himself. And used it as a way to help transform other people’s thoughts and minds. Because so many people, me included, sick to my stomach and ready to go fly to Russian and try to beat this guy if he wasn’t so tough. You know what I mean?

But instead of being like, “Yes, let’s get revenge.” It’s like, “Hey God gives me wins, and God gives me loses, and I’m grateful for both because I learn from both.” That little message, how many people will that inspire? How does that shift your thoughts? How does that shift my thoughts? Oh my gosh. There’s times all the time where I fail. And I’m not typically thinking, “Okay, God gave me this loss. How am I going to learn from it?” But that’s how he looked at it and he used his platform to share that with other people because, now look I’m sharing this. We’re going to get 20, 30, 40 thousand people to download this podcast episode and listen to it. That ripple effect of him in the moment using his platform for good, how many more people will that affect?

So for you, it’s the same thing. How are you using your platform? Use it for positive stuff, don’t use it for negative. If you do that, you will be blessed and you will be able to change and affect more people’s lives.

So there you go guys, that’s all I got. Appreciate you all. I gotta hurry up and get packed because I am already behind the clock. I just had to drop this with you guys and share it because I was excited. Thanks so much for everything, all of you guys. You should quit watching MMA, quit watching basketball, football, golf, nascar, and start watching wrestling. There’s amazing stuff happening. Look at these role models. Finally a sport with amazing role models. I’ll leave it there.

There are good role models in every sport, but the best ones are in wrestling. Alright, appreciate you guys, have an amazing day. And those of you guys who will be at Phoenix for the Traffic Secrets event, I will see you soon. Oh and if you got any value from this episode please take a snapshot of it on your phone, go post it on Facebook, Instagram, and tag me so I can see that you’re listening, and do hashtag Marketing Secrets. And if you’re using those other platforms, Twitter, Pinterest, feel free to do it there too. I don’t know how it works on those ones, but I’m sure it’s the same thing. Appreciate you guys letting people know about this podcast. And we’ll talk soon.