The Power Of Firewalking: Overcoming Fear and Limiting Beliefs - Dave Albin

Jon Coogan (00:02.816)
Join us on this fiery episode of Mindset Mavericks. I'm your host, John Coogan and I'm sat today with Dave Albin. So Dave, I'm really excited to get chatting to you. I know you've got a fascinating story for us, but I'm gonna do a quick introduction just to give the listeners an idea who we're speaking to. So I know for this episode, we're looking to explore a bit of your journey from struggles of addiction to becoming a leading firework instructor in the United States. So we're gonna look to...

Get some insights into why Tony Robbins uses Firewalking as events, how you became the go -to expert for major businesses like Google and NASA, and talk about the profound impact that Firewalking can have on personal and professional development. So there's quite a few topics, quite a broad range I wanted to speak to you about. So first of all, thank you very much for being with me today.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (00:48.247)
Thanks for doing this, John. know, hosts are the greatest. You you guys do all the work. And so all I've got to do is come in here and run my pie hole. So, you know, it's great to be here. It's an honor.

Jon Coogan (00:57.583)
Well it's a pleasure for me too, so thank you very much. What I wanted to do, I know I've just given the audience bit of an outline as to what you're doing now, but I want to explore how you got to where you are now. So can you take us back really to your growing up and what your aspirations were like, what your childhood was like?

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (01:08.715)
Yeah.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (01:16.106)
Yeah. Well, a couple of months before I was born, my biological father, we don't know exactly what happened, John. All we know is that he hurt his head somehow. And to save his life, they put a plate in his head and he complained to mom all the time how painful it was. And he even said, he made comments once in a while, like, I don't know how much longer I can take this.

And so one day he told mom he was going to the grocery store and we never saw or heard from him again. So I know very little about my biological father. So when I was born, I was born to a single mom. She already had two boys from another marriage and we were all living in a one bedroom apartment in Hollywood, California. And when I mean all of us, I also had, so I had two half brothers, I had a cousin, a grandmother and my mother and myself. So it was a little crowded in that one bedroom apartment.

Jon Coogan (02:10.4)
Wow.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (02:10.836)
And mom was a hard worker. She came from what I say is the greatest generation of all time. Because that whole generation that raised us, raised the baby boomers, if you want to look at it that way. They went through the Great Depression. They went through World War II. And a lot of people don't realize that when the men were off fighting the war in Europe, the Americans and the Allies were fighting the Nazis in Germany at the same time.

the Navy and the Marines were fighting the Japanese in the Pacific. So the country was divided, all the men were out at war. And so what's interesting about that is that how it raised the whole culture of women. know, like what were the women during that time? Well, the women were doing everything. Literally, they built rifles and pistols and munitions and tanks and jeeps and...

My biological mother was known as Rosie the Riveter. She was literally building B -17 bombers. It's interesting that I hear this thing like, well, can women do this and can women do that? And I laugh because I'm like, are you kidding me? If it wasn't for women during World War II, Hitler would have taken over the world.

And so anyway, that was my mom, right? This was in 1954, when I was born. We were living in Hollywood, California, and she was working up the street at the Roosevelt Hotel, pretty famous hotel there in Hollywood. And she was pulling every shift she could pull. She was working double and triples, and she was working really, really hard. Well, it wasn't enough. She couldn't feed all those mouths.

And so the bottom line is she went to her older sister one day when I was about five years old and said, Hey Pat, can you adopt David? I just can't afford to take care of him anymore. And thank goodness that, you know, her sister, her oldest sister, Pat Albin said, yeah, sure. We'll adopt him. And they did. And so now I'm being adopted by my aunt and uncle literally who I'm five years old. I don't know that. Right. I just know when as I get older, that's mom and dad.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (04:29.662)
And so Bob Albin was a highly decorated World War II hero. He was career military. He was an officer in the National Guard and in the regular army. And so he came from World War II in that whole era. And so that's how I was raised in that culture. And it was wonderful. We had a wonderful life for years.

We went camping a lot, we did things, we went out to dinner a lot, they spent time with me. It was really wonderful. And then one day it changed. And it changed on the first day of summer in 1964. And so, you know, it's the first day of summer, you're a kid, you know, what are you doing? You're like, great, I'm off for summer, here we go, we're gonna go camping, we're gonna do all these things. And that's not what happened. I'm sitting in the TV room, it's early that morning, mom comes in.

and I'm going to refer to as mom even though she's my adopted mother because she did raise me. Mom comes in and she says, David come to the kitchen we need to speak with you. And so I go into the kitchen and I sit down and my dad's over here and my mom's over here and my mom puts her hand on my arm like this and she looks at me with tears in her eyes she goes, David we need to tell you something. And what we need to tell you is we're not your parents. What? What does that mean?

What do mean you're not my parents? Of course you're my parents. Because I don't know anything else at this point, right? So was a very, very strange moment, if you will. Very confusing, obviously. And then they even went on to tell me that, you know, your Aunt Dean, that you call Aunt Dean, yeah, of course I know who she is. Well, she's actually your mother. She gave birth to you. And so now, and I'm thinking, I don't even like her.

Jon Coogan (05:52.211)
Yeah.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (06:15.732)
And the reason I don't like her, I don't want to say that in any disrespectful way, that every time she was around me, she wanted to be around me. She wanted to sit right next to me. She wanted to hold me. She wanted to hug me. Well, duh, I'm her son. No wonder she wanted to do that. It was never disrespectful, anything like that. was always, again, any opportunity she had to be around me, she wanted to be sitting right next to me. So as I got older, that made a lot of sense to me. But in that moment, it didn't.

Jon Coogan (06:25.994)
Hmm.

Jon Coogan (06:30.941)
Yeah.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (06:45.91)
I was like, yeah, do I have to hang out with her? You know what mean? I'm a typical kid, right? So shortly after they told me this, again, this is in the summer of 1964, both of them started drinking. They had sworn off drinking when I was five years old when they adopted me. And again, right after they told me this, they both started drinking. Well, things got ugly really fast. My mom, Pat, who's raising me,

She was kind of a funny drunk. She would sit at the kitchen table and pass out. She wasn't mean or nasty or any of that. Bob, on the other hand, yeah, he was brutal. He'd smack you upside your head in a moment's notice. So he was very violent, the alcoholism. And there was a lot going on back then. I'm not trying to justify any of that. I'm just saying, President Kennedy had been assassinated in November of 1963.

That happened, the Bay of Pigs was going on, Khrushchev put all those missiles from Russia and Cuba. They were right there on the border of America. So there was a lot of threat of nuclear war and my dad knew what was going on. He was working in and out of the Pentagon. So he knew, so there a lot of pressure on him. He was scared to death that the world was coming to an end. then they had to tell me that I was adopted. So I'm thinking that all added to it and the pressure got to him and they both started drinking.

And so that's when it started for me as far as that road of drugs and alcohol. They went to the grocery store one day, John, and I didn't know what alcohol was. I just saw these two beautiful people drinking this stuff and turned into, you know, it's like, what is it? What's going on? What is that stuff? So they went to the grocery store one day and I knew, man, they were hiding it right over there in plain sight. And I went over and I got a coffee cup and it was brandy.

Jon Coogan (08:19.871)
Yeah.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (08:40.174)
And I poured it into a coffee cup about half full and I downed it. It smelled horrible, tasted horrible, I thought I was going to throw up. But man, as soon as that stuff went into my body and it got into my bloodstream, it was like rocket fuel. It was just unbelievable feeling. And I totally believed that I was an alcoholic right there on the spot. You know, there I am at a very, very young age. yeah.

So it escalated from there. I wanted to drink more. I started stealing it. I started drinking it. And just one thing led to another. By the time I was a junior in high school, they called me into the principal's office one day and said, Alvin, you're out. We're expelling you from school. You're a danger to the community, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, I don't care. Great. I didn't care.

I didn't think in that moment that anything that I was learning in school was going to affect my well -being going forward in life. I just didn't. I was an entrepreneur at a young age. We lived across the street from a golf course. There was a big park in a golf course. And when I'd ride my Stingray bicycle over there, I started finding golf balls. Because here's what I learned about golfers early on. They suck. It's just not good at the game, right? And so these little white golf ball things, I could turn them into money.

and they were laying all over the place. And I could just go get them and I'd clean them up and I'd take them back to the parking lot where the golfers parked and I'd sell them back to the golfers. So I was like, wow, okay, this is kind of cool. My mom grew beautiful flowers in the backyard. I mean, thousands of them. She had a really big planter of just thousands of flowers and they were beautiful. So mom would cut them and she did something really unique. She cut them at an angle. She didn't cut them at the bottom.

Jon Coogan (10:22.079)
Hmm.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (10:30.454)
And apparently the reason she cut them at an angle is it opened up more surface area so more water would get into the plant. And then she'd bundle them up for me. She had a beautiful Eifer color. She'd bundle them up. She put them in a bucket and she put some 7 -Up into the water. Well, hell, my flowers would outlast the local florist three to one. And I don't know to this day why. I'm guessing it must have something to do. The 7 -Up has something to do with sugar. And the way she would cut them, it just caused the flower to last longer.

So I selling flowers on the street corner. I also had a paper route. So seven days a week, I'd ride my bicycle. I'd go pick up my papers, fold them, put them on my saddlebags, and go ride my route and throw and deliver papers. So again, I learned at a very early age that there's money out there. Go get it. And so when I got kicked out of high school, I didn't care. I went and got a job that quick. Because that's the kind of mindset I had. And I got a really good job.

Shortly after I got kicked out of high school. I went and bought a brand new Mach 1 Mustang which was just a freaking beautiful car muscle car if you will they call them that here in the United States and So life was good and I was making good money and I needed to make good money because I still had it I still had an alcohol and a drug problem The grocery store I was working at the job. I got I was working the night crew So I went in at like 1030 at night and I was up all night. Well

That turned into, you know, I was taking amphetamines to stay awake at night and then, you know, trying to sleep during the day and I put tin foil on my windows. I mean, it was a mess. And then it just escalated from there. I got married, I got divorced. I got married again, I got divorced. I moved from California to Virginia. Then I got married my third time to a woman who had three kids. And I thought, you know what?

If I married this woman with three kids, maybe I can get sober and get my life together. And I did, you know, for about a month and then it all came back on me. And, know, thinking that I could drink in moderation or thinking that I could control it or, you know, all this just downright wrong information that I was processing through my head that I could control my alcohol and only drink on weekends, you know, all this stuff you're trying to negotiate with something that will kill you in a heartbeat.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (12:52.598)
both drugs and alcohol, And so, you know, one day I woke up on June 8th, 1988, and I said, that's it, we are done. I cannot do this every day, live like this, I just can't. I was in so much physical and emotional pain that I decided probably the best thing to do was to take my life. Well, the problem with that is, and thank goodness, in a moment of compassion, I said, wait a minute.

If you pull the trigger on that and you take your own life, who do you think is going to clean it up? Those three kids upstairs who are in junior high school, high school if you will, they're going to see it. And that's going to be a horrible, horrible trauma -based experience for them. And I didn't even know what PTSD was back then, but it would have been horrible. I would have ruined their lives. And I said to myself, you can't do that, man. That's wrong.

You know, I understand you're all messed up, but don't ruin their life. You've got to figure out a better way, pal. Come up with a better idea. And so as I sat there, the next thing I remember thinking was, I know. I'll call alcoholics anonymous. And you know what's interesting about that moment, John? I didn't even know who the hell AA was. I'd never been to a meeting. I didn't know anybody in AA. And yet there's the thought. Where did it come from? So bottom line, I did.

Jon Coogan (14:07.34)
Go on.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (14:19.186)
I called them, I got in her group, and I got this wonderful human being, this wonderful lady on the phone, who over the years I've nicknamed Madge. And the reason I nicknamed her Madge is because she talked like this. She was smoking, know, palm on palm filters, you know, a couple packs a day, right? But man, I tell you what, what a beautiful soul, what a beautiful human being. Because she was the gatekeeper, man. Her job was to interview you.

Jon Coogan (14:44.884)
Hmm.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (14:47.19)
And if you said the right things, what she would do, she would call somebody to come over and pick you up and take you to an AA meeting. And that's what she did. She called a guy by the name of Lauren. Lauren came and got me, picked me up, took me to a meeting, and I went to four meetings on June 8, 1988. I went to a 1230, a 430, a 630, and an 830. And I never look back. I had never felt so home anywhere in my life. I felt I fit in.

Jon Coogan (14:55.444)
Wow.

Jon Coogan (15:05.162)
Hmm.

Jon Coogan (15:09.983)
Wow.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (15:16.988)
I could relate. It was an all -men's group. They were treating me with love and kindness, but they were really serious with me because they knew that I was suicidal. And so basically what they did, John, is they loved me until I could love myself.

Jon Coogan (15:34.408)
Yeah, sounds like a pivotal moment in your life. yeah, as an awful lot that you've talked about that, yeah, it's just has been a lot happening. And I can't imagine what it's like having that moment where you've got two people you believe to be your parents sitting down and telling you that they're not actually your parents. How did that affect you as a child?

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (15:37.202)
It was, for sure. Yeah.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (15:54.869)
Yeah.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (15:59.97)
There was a lot of confusion. There was some frustration. There was some even some anger, if you will. So it's kind of like a grieving process that I guess I went through. Now, I didn't guess I did go through, you know, but it was like when the alcohol showed up, that was what took my focus away. Because when I started drinking, I'm like, okay, so I don't have to feel this crap.

Jon Coogan (16:19.925)
Hmm.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (16:23.124)
I don't have to think about being adopted. I don't have to think about my real biological father who I've never seen or met in my entire life. I don't even know what he looks like. But when I drank it, all that went away, right? Or at least it...

I guess it's, yeah, it's an illusion, right? It's all it is. It's still there. You just drink it off, you know, temporarily. So anyway, yeah, it just influenced everything. You know, after the alcohol, then the drugs showed up. So by the time I was a junior in high school, like I said, when I got expelled from school, I was doing hard drugs. And when you when you bring drugs onto the scene, it just accelerates everything. You know, everything sped up.

Jon Coogan (16:37.814)
put it off to another day.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (17:06.581)
in terms of the addiction side of things. But there again, man, on June 8th, you know, that was the day that was the day that, you know, I learned so much in Alcoholics Anonymous because you have the 12 steps that help you put your life back together. You have the 12 traditions that help you operate within the group. And then in the middle, they've got what's called the preamble, which is one of my favorite parts because the preamble says when anyone anywhere reaches out, I want the hand of AA to be there. And for that, I'm responsible. And man, I took that to heart. I became a gatekeeper.

Which meant that when a new person would come through the door, man, I was on them. You hey, hi, how you doing? My name's Dave. What's your name? Well, where do you live? How's it going? You know, what brings you to AA? You know, so I would love them because, you know, I'm showing them the same love that was showed to me. It was, you know, it's kind of like, it's funny. I relate it to kind of like a network marketing program, right? Duplication. You know, do the same thing they do and you're supposed to make money. Well, here was AA is do the same thing that.

Jon Coogan (17:41.216)
Yeah.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (18:06.09)
happen to me and treat them with the love and kindness. Because the bottom line is that when they would talk to me and they would tell me what was going on, I could look them in the eyes and go, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, I get that. I understand what you're telling me, man, because I was there. Yeah, I know what it's like to load a pistol and put it in my mouth. Yep, sure do. So there's a congruency with your experience with others, if you will. And that's why I believe AA is so powerful. It's why it works so well. Does it work for everybody? No.

Jon Coogan (18:17.877)
Yeah.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (18:34.774)
because it only works for people who work it. And you know, we're alcoholics. You know, we have a daily reprieve based on our spiritual conditioning. And yeah, I've been sober for 36 years, but that doesn't mean that I could go out and have a beer tomorrow because I can't ever never. No, no, You know what I mean? My alcoholism never went away. It's still with me. Now, do I think about drinking now? No. Do I think about doing drugs? No, absolutely not.

Haven't had those thoughts in a long, long time. But that doesn't mean I'm immune, because I'm not. And so I get asked all the time, like, so Dave, do you still go to meetings? Absolutely. I sure do. And I love it as much today as I did when I first showed up on June 8, 1988. And so what's interesting about that part, though, John, is when I got sober, I had insomnia. And I was up late at night all the time. And I'm up at 3 o 'clock in the morning. And there he is.

Jon Coogan (19:18.675)
And do you think it's?

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (19:31.066)
You know Mr. Enthusiasm a young vibrant Tony Robbins You know there he is selling a program in 1988 And I was listening to him and I didn't like him. I thought he was an ass to be candid with you He's all motivated, you know, you know, I'm not I'm miserable And so I wanted nothing to do with him, but I was listening to him anyway, and he said a couple things that really got me the first thing he said that

Jon Coogan (19:49.395)
Yep.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (19:58.154)
God, my interest was, we'll do more to avoid pain than we will to gain pleasure. And I went, holy, whoa. I mean, he's talking to me, right? Because drinking and drugging, that's what I'm doing. I'm either running from the pain or I'm trying to chase pleasure, trying to get something out of life, trying to feel something. And so when he said that, that really resonated with me. And so I listened a little further. And then what really got me though,

Was he said, know, here's do know how human beings make decisions? He said he says humans make decisions one of two ways they make them out of inspiration or desperation I went whoa Okay, I'm pretty desperate right? Maybe I should listen to this guy and so he was selling a program It was a 30 -day program. It's called personal power. It's absolutely famous You know hundreds of thousands of people all over America bought his program

Jon Coogan (20:40.48)
Hmm.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (20:53.782)
And it came on little white things called cassette tapes. So I plugged them in, and I did what the man taught me to do, and it worked. Well, that was in 1988. Well, I loaned my program to a good friend of mine who was in AA. And seven years later in 1995, that same friend who borrowed the program and went through it called me on the phone. And he said, hey, Dave, did you know that Tony Robinson called me?

Jon Coogan (20:57.374)
Wow, yep.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (21:21.63)
all excited, right? said, hey man, did you know that Tony Robbins is coming to town? And I'm like, no, no clue. And he goes, come on, come on, man. You've got to go with me. You got me into this. I said, fine, yeah, I'll go. Sure, let's do it. He goes, great, let me call you back. So he calls me back like an hour later and he goes, done. We pick up the tickets at Will Call. Here's what they told us to do. Number one, drink a lot of water. You've got to stay hydrated. This is a four day event.

Jon Coogan (21:41.908)
Hmm.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (21:48.406)
Bring snacks. You're going to spend a lot of time in the room. And I laugh because if anybody's been to a Tony Robbins seminar, they know, right, you are going to spend a lot of time in the room. Expect 10, 12, 14 hour days, literally. And then he said, bring a good attitude, be ready to play full out. And I said, Dan, how much was the ticket? And he said, $695. And I'm like, what? $700? Well, this is in 1995.

Jon Coogan (21:48.821)
Wow.

Jon Coogan (22:18.154)
Hmm.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (22:18.806)
you what's that worth today? Like, you know, 1 .2 million? I mean, I don't know. You know, buy Bitcoin. So, and so he goes, don't worry about it. You can pay me back. I know you'll pay me back. Yeah, of course I will. And so, and so he's getting ready to get off the phone. He goes, wait, wait, wait, wait, stop, stop. I need to tell you something really important. I almost forgot the most important part. We're going to be doing a fire walk. And I'm like, what? Well, no or not.

Jon Coogan (22:26.557)
Yeah.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (22:48.894)
hell no, this is what's going on in my head. I'm like, hell no, we're not doing any fire walk. And another interesting point about that, John, just like I didn't know who AA was, I didn't know what a fire walk was. I don't know what that means. I've never been to a fire walk. I've never seen one. I've never heard of one. I don't know what that means. But the word fire and walk in the same sentence, my brain went, no, no, no, no, we're not doing that. But I'm not letting my buddy Dan know that.

Jon Coogan (22:51.016)
Yeah.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (23:14.998)
I'm just going along with it. I'm being subservient. Yeah, sure, Dan. Yeah, Firewalk. Yeah, bro. Yeah, sounds interesting. All right, bro. See you then. Well, the big day comes. And we get there. And we're in an arena, this big hotel. And there's 3 ,500 people sitting in this seminar. And Tony took the stage at 2 o 'clock in the afternoon. And the next thing I know, it's after midnight.

Jon Coogan (23:19.56)
Mm

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (23:43.798)
We've been in a room with Tony Robbins for 10 hours. Remember the guy said, bring snacks or you'll starve to death? It's a true statement. So the next thing I know, it's after midnight. We're all tired and exhausted. And all of a sudden, Tony goes, take your shoes off. And I'm like, no, no. I ain't falling for that, pal. I know where you're going with that.

Jon Coogan (23:44.596)
Wow.

Jon Coogan (23:50.964)
Hmm.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (24:08.438)
And I'm not because I've already decided I decided at the point I heard I'm not gonna do it. I'm there I'm not gonna do it. I'm on me watch but that's about it Well, I got a problem I'm not gonna take my shoes off. Well, the problem is guess what the other 3 ,500 people are doing They're taking their damn shoes off peer pressure My buddy's taking his shoes off. And so I'm like, you've got to be kidding me, man And so I'm like, all right, just here's what we'll do. I'm you know, figure out my strategy. I'm like, here's what we'll do

Jon Coogan (24:25.578)
Peer pressure, yeah, counts for a lot.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (24:38.134)
So we're in this big giant arena and now we've got to go out into this big parking lot and do this firewall. So I'm like, well, when we get out there, my buddy's 5 '5", he's kind of short. So I said to myself, when you're walking out there, just lose him in the crowd. And then when you lose him, just go hang out in the back somewhere. No one's going to know. Well, wait a minute. I'm going to know, but that's about it, right? So I take my shoes off. Well, it gets worse. As soon as he's got everybody walking out there, he's got everybody chanting and clapping.

So you've got 3 ,500 people walking out there going, yes, yes, yes. And I'm thinking walking out there going, no, ain't going to happen. And then when you get out there, it's even worse because he's got African drummers. And it's intense. So the vibration of the drums are dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun. And you're walking out there and you're feeling all that.

You've got adrenaline going on. I mean, it's insane. And then so how do you walk 3 ,500 people? Well, you start off at the beginning of the day at like 2 o 'clock, they build this big giant fire. It's probably 35 feet wide, 70 feet long. And they just keep loading wood on it all day long, cord after cord after cord of wood. And so after 10 hours of burning it, it renders. It just burns down. You have this giant pile of coals.

And then what they would do is they'd load those coals into a wheelbarrow. They'd bring a wheelbarrow in between two lanes of sod, of grass, of turf. I think they call it turf in the UK. And it's about three feet wide, 15 feet long. And they lay it on both sides. And then they take a flathead shovel and they sprinkle those coals on top of that sod, of that grass. And that's what you walk on. Well, I'm having none of it. I'm in the back. I'm hiding out.

Jon Coogan (26:17.802)
Yeah.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (26:35.17)
And here's what Tony Robbins knows. Why did Tony use fire walking for decades? Because he knows it can create one of the most incredible paradigm shifts of any experience that you can have out there. He also knows there's people like me. He knows what's going on. He knows we're hiding. He knows we're in the back. So what's he do? He trains people to come find you. you've got to be kidding me, Robbins. And so sure enough, man, I'm hiding in the back. And here comes this guy.

He comes coming out of nowhere and he locks eyes with me. He probably gets 15 feet, 12 feet from me and he's looking at me really weird. You know, he's kind of twisting his head like a dog when he hears a funny noise, right? And he looks at me and he goes, hey man, are you okay? And when we're not okay, what do we say? I'm good, I'm fine. Nothing to see here pal, move along, right? And he goes right for the kill shot.

Jon Coogan (27:30.55)
Hmm.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (27:33.088)
He goes, hey man, you're going to walk tonight? And I said, absolutely not. I'm like, you idiot, what do you think I'm hiding in the back for? What's wrong with you, dude? Are you kidding me? And here's this guy, and he asked me a question after that that changed my life forever. And by the way, I don't know who this guy is to this day, John. I have no idea. But that dude right there changed me, which I've been able to change over a half a million people's lives with the Firewalk experience.

Because the question he asked me was, well, wouldn't you at least like to watch? And I'm like, yeah, sure. Yeah, I'll watch. No problem there. Yeah, let's watch these idiots burn their feet off. This should be a lot of fun. And he goes, well, listen, man, you can't see anything from way back here. What she's telling the truth. I got 3 ,000 people in front of me. I can't see anything. I can hear it. They're chanting and clapping.

As soon as they fire walk, once they get to the other side, the celebration end, they're jumping up and down and they're screaming with exhilaration. It's like the greatest thing they've ever done in their lives. The drums are going dun dun. I mean, it's a dog and pony show, And he goes, well, listen, you can't see. Just get in line and eventually, you'll get up there and you'll be able to see it. And he's telling the truth. So he's being congruent with what he's saying. So I did. I took the bait.

I got in line and kind of walking along. And a few minutes later, another stranger comes up to me. And he whispers in my ear. And he says, he knows when you're ready. When he says go, you go. And that guy just disappeared into the night. I mean, he was just like there and then gone. And I'm like, what? What do you mean? What does that mean, he knows when you're ready, when he says go, you go? I don't understand what that means.

Jon Coogan (29:10.026)
Hmm.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (29:20.662)
Because I'm not doing it, right? So I can't relate to what he's telling me. And so I'm kind of trudging along there. And all of sudden, I get to a point. I still can't see in front of me. I got 1 ,000 people in front of me. But I can see at an angle, right? Because they set up all these lanes, these fire lanes. There was like 25 of them, right? So I get to a point where I can see at an angle. And they're doing it, John. These people, every race, creed, and color, age, they're fire walking. And my brain is going, why? We're mammals.

We're taught to run from fire, not walk on it. And I'm mesmerized. I cannot take my eyes off watching these people. And so I'm really not focusing or paying attention what's going on in front of me. And as I'm staring in at these people, the next thing I know, boom, guess where I am? You probably guessed it. I'm right there at the front of the line. And my brain's going, how the hell did you get here? And so I'm staring down at the calls, right? And they're bright red.

Jon Coogan (30:09.15)
Right, the fun.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (30:19.548)
You know, it's like everything got real real real fast. And of course the wheelbarrow is there and so you can feel the heat coming up. So you know this is real and this is going on and it's happening. John, my heart is beating so hard my chest is vibrating. I feel like it's going to jump out of my chest any second. Well, there's a trainer standing right there. And all of sudden the trainer goes, eyes up! Because I'm staring down and also now my eyes are up, right? Well,

When you're in the room with Tony for 10 hours, guess what he teaches you to do? Keep your eyes up. Don't stare at what you fear. Look to the end. Look to the celebration end. That's where the reward is. Interesting metaphorically, right? And so now my eyes are up and the trainer goes, squeeze your fist and say yes. And I went, yes. And he went, And I went, yes. Well, then he got in my face and screamed at me. And so now I'm, you know, it's kind of like ticked me off, right? And so I think.

through my hands and ear and I screamed as loud as I could and the trainer goes, go, go, go. I took off. Well, remember the guy, the guy that came up and said, he knows when you're ready. When he says, go, you go. did. Well, here's the first thing I learned about Firewalker. And that is when you take the first step, you'll take the second, third, fourth and fifth. I promise you, you don't take two steps and stop. I guarantee you that.

Jon Coogan (31:45.968)
Hmm.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (31:46.89)
Well, he positions a couple of guys at the end, right? And they catch you and they stop you. And they said, stop, your feet and celebrate. And so now I'm wiping my feet and I'm celebrating. I had, I thought I burnt myself like in the moment. And I looked at my feet, you know, and yeah, they're dirty, but there's no burns. And so now I'm standing there and it's exhilarating. It was literally one of the most exciting, conquered type, conquer the world type moments, if you will.

It was spectacular. I felt like I could do anything. And I'm like, you know, and you're jumping up and down and screaming and yelling and you're down there with 3000 people and everybody's celebrating. And in that moment, I'm like, hey, let's go get on the bus. Let's go climb Mount Everest, people. We got this. And but here's where it got really, really interesting was the next day. Right. Four day event. That was day one that night. Now we're coming into day two and we're all standing in the foyer getting ready to go into

the venue and I'm standing with 3 ,500 people that experienced something the night before that is absolutely spectacular. And so there's an energy to that. There's a camaraderie. It's like you know these people, but you don't, but you really do know them, right? And I'm watching everybody and I'm like blown away because people are laughing. They're talking about the fire walk. They're talking about their fears. People are crying. They're hugging. They're connecting humanistically.

Unlike anything I'd ever experienced in my entire life. It's just beautiful. It is absolutely magical. And so I'm like, man, so did we drink the Kool -Aid last night? Is that what happened? Well, yeah, we did. We sure did. And so later in the event, I met one of Tony's trainers, a guy by the name of Ted Macy, him and his wife, Mary Macy, were trainers for Tony. And I'm talking with Ted like, wow, look at me. I'm talking to one of Tony's trainers.

I'm having a conversation and I asked him straight up. I said, so what's it like being in this environment on a regular basis? I'm assuming you come work these. He said, yeah. He goes, it's spectacular. It is unbelievable to be in this environment. It's just, and he goes, and as a matter of fact, you see those people standing over there? And I'm like, yeah. And he goes, see them, they're wearing the black shirts with the pink writing. Yeah. He goes, dude, they're volunteers. They're just like you. They came to an event. We're excited. Wanted to come back and give back.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (34:11.872)
So he goes, here's all you got to do when you get home, call Robin's research and tell them you want a volunteer crew application. Okay. So I did. And sure enough, like nine weeks later, I got a letter in the mail and it said, Dave Alvin, congratulations. You've been selected a crew with the Anthony Robbins companies. Well color my ass happy. The next thing I know there I am. I'm in a live event, you know, working with or alongside, you will, Tony Robbins.

Well, my career escalated pretty quickly. Number one, I had a military background and a security background. so what came from that is they assigned me to help take care of some of Tony's celebrities. We always have a ton of celebrities at every event. So I was in charge of the, being placed on the security detail, which was I could do a whole podcast with you, John, just on the experiences of all those celebrities.

The other thing I did because I lived on a farm and I knew how to use tools and a log splitter and I knew the difference between hickory locust and oak, the different hardwoods and things, they put me on the fire team, which is what I wanted. And so once I was on the fire team, I think I crewed, I don't know, four or five times and they actually offered me a subcontractor's position. Because as a volunteer, you've got to pay your way. You've got to pay your airfare, you've got to pay your hotel, you've got to pay for your food, you've got to pay for all that.

So once I became a crew member, they paid for all that and paid me little salary, some pensions, if you will, to keep me engaged in the game there. And then they also did something smart. They gave me a free ticket. My wife would sit at home while I'm away. I spent $1 ,500, $2 ,000 every time I went. And she's at home like this, going, who's this Tony Robbins guy? Because I'm spending all this money.

And I'm going away for a week at a time, right? So she didn't like that. So she got a free ticket. And so I took her. And that was it. On day four, after she graduated, we were walking on the beach in Fort Lauderdale. And she looked at me she goes, OK, I get it. I drank the Kool -Aid too. This guy's a bad ass. If you want to go travel around the world with Tony Robbins, as long as we don't have to take any money out of our savings account, I understand why you're doing it. Let's roll.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (36:30.868)
Well, interesting enough, after she gave me permission to do all that, a couple of years later, Tony brought me, well, they hired me as an assistant captain of the fire team. And then Tony called me into the office one day and said, Albie, I'd like you to take over my fireworks globally. And we talked about some things. I said, hey, you know, one of the challenges I'm going to have is I homeschool. And he goes, okay.

Well, what if we paid to have your kids go on the road with us? Would that help? And I'm like, yeah, of course it would. So literally my kids at the age of like seven and 10, I think they were six or nine in that area. Their very first event was Sydney, Australia. So there I am now I'm on the road full time with Tony Robbins with my family traveling all over the world, putting on his fireworks. So that all went down in 2003.

Jon Coogan (37:16.564)
Wow.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (37:27.67)
And then 2005, we set the world record. We came over to your neck of the woods. We came to the UK. We went out to the Docklands out at the Excel Center in London and we set the world record. Well, we firewashed 12 ,300 people. And then that happened in 2005. And then to kind of move this forward, in 2014, I'm driving down the road and my phone rings and it's Google.

And they're like, Hey, is this the Dave Alban that does the fire walks for Tony Robbins? Yes. What can I do for you? Well, if you're not under any contractual obligation or non -compete, we'd like to talk to you about hiring it. And I'm like, okay, well, homeboys, a free agent, what you got? And, they said, you know, wait, well, we have 148 executives and we want to create a paradigm shift experience for them. And we, we want to do it here at corporate headquarters in Mountain View, California. And, you know, we'll pay you this.

And I went, okay, well I could work with you guys. And so that was it. That's when the thought process of starting my own company, that's when the wheels started turning. And we created Firewalk Productions in 2014. Right after that, I went back to Tony and I said, Tony, I love you. And he goes, you're leaving, aren't you? Yeah, it's time for me to go, man. You don't need me anymore. You got a half a dozen people out there in that parking lot that can do my job. So you're good.

stranding you by any means. And that was true. There was really good people who have come in behind me and have continued on with the whole Firewalk experience for the Anthony Robbins companies, which was a beautiful thing. And then shortly after Google, know, next thing I knew I was at NASA and then Notre Dame and then Chick -fil -A and then Virginia Tech and then Microsoft and then Heineken and you know, the YMCA and then the Entrepreneurs Organization.

It just escalated from there. And the next thing I know I'm on the air live with you, John. So you just never know what's going to happen.

Jon Coogan (39:32.436)
Yeah, I think that's one of the things that definitely comes across. seems like a lot of your journey hasn't been scripted. It's not been planned, but it seems like you've definitely been open for opportunities. I think it's quite kind of symbolic doing that firework. It's just actually putting yourself out there and keeping your mind open to opportunities like that.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (39:51.626)
Well, it's...

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (39:55.742)
I've done a lot of other things, know, surfing and jumping out of airplanes and bungee jumping and all these other things, right? As some thrill seeking type fun, but there's nothing on earth like Firewalk. It's been around for a thousand years, right? So culturally it was used for very specific rite of passage reasons. It's a spiritual connection between you and the tribe and what's going on in life. And so...

Jon Coogan (40:10.304)
How did that?

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (40:24.192)
You know, Tony just realized that, I could bring this experience into my seminars. And if we can do that, I'll create one of the most incredible seminars in the world by far. There will be nothing on earth like it. Well, guess what? He's right. You you talk to people that are Fire Walk, they never forget it. They may forget the facilitator. They may forget what was said or whatever, but they never forget that moment. They never forget after they Fire Walk and they go, OK, so if I can walk on coals,

There are a thousand degrees and not burn myself and not hurt myself. What else can I do? And that's the paradigm shift, right? That's what causes people to think outside the box. And so again, Tony knew that. But if we look around culturally, John, man, it's everywhere. The Pahitians, the people of India. my gosh, they've been doing it. It's right of passage for them. They do it to this day all the time. And including,

You know, the people of Portugal and the Spaniards and the Indo -Europeans and the Hawaiians and the Polynesians and the Native American Indians here in the United States. So it's there, been around for a long time. It's just that Tony has turned it into a motivational experience to gain leverage on people as he takes them through UPW, which is Unleash the Power Within the Fire Walk Experience. So it worked.

Jon Coogan (41:46.806)
So said, so yeah, you've talked a lot about how it's helped people individually. How does that help in a team doing a Firewalk experience? What does that create in a team?

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (41:57.472)
Because not only are you experienced in yourself, but you're experienced with the people that you work with. So when you do an event like that together, collectively, it changes all of you at the same time. It just does. It's kind of like a near -death experience, if you will. I'll use that as an example. So if you're with three four or five people and you almost all die together, there's a bond.

between you because you experience something that is such a high level. And so the Fire Walk is very similar, right? And that's what I was explaining on day two when I was sitting in the foyer getting ready to go into the venue. I was watching all these people and I felt like I knew and loved every single one of them. It's like it was just such a magical connection between how we interact with each other humanistically. And so that always get that.

Jon Coogan (42:52.09)
Yeah, nothing.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (42:53.078)
That's the guarantee. That's why people hire me. It's why Google hired me. Google knew. They knew. I mean, it was no question they wanted to create a paradigm shift experience. They invested a lot of money and a lot of time in 148 executives. So when they graduated, they wanted to create something spectacular that would bond them together forever. You can go golfing. Yeah, well, that's not going to bond you forever. You can go on a scavenger hunt.

There's all kinds of team building experiences that you can have, but there's nothing, nothing on earth like the Firewalk experience. And that's why these other big companies have hired me. They know, you know, here's what a CEO knows. If a CEO is worth their grain of salt, then they know what doesn't challenge you, doesn't change you. That's why I Navy SEALs, for example. How do you become a Navy SEAL? Hard kickass training for months.

Cause they're trying to break you. That's the whole job of the instructors. You know, it's like the night swim that they surprise them with. When they're down in San Diego going through their training, they put them in a boat and they pop them out of bed and say, you've got two minutes to get out of bed. Next thing you know, they're in a boat. Next thing you know, they're in the middle of the Pacific ocean. It's pitch black. And on the ride out there, they tell them about all the killer sharks that are in the waters. And then they tell them jump.

So you're in there with your own thoughts, right? In the middle of the ocean with sharks. And so you can imagine every sound, everything is a shark. And you've got to be able to control your mind. You've got to be able to get that under control. And that's what firewalking does. It gives you that shark moment, if you will, to be able to go, wow, I got this. And so again, it just propels you forward. It creates confidence. It creates self -worth.

Jon Coogan (44:45.941)
and.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (44:48.758)
And that's why I do it for kids. I do this all the time for kids. We include the board break too. It's kind of a proprietary process that we have that they break a board, right? We have them write something on front of it they want to move towards. We have them write something on the back they need to move away from. I have them write anybody's name on the board they're in conflict with, right? So, if forgiveness or reconciliation is part of that relationship, tonight it goes away tonight.

you're going to give it to the fire. So then I have them write anybody's name on the board that they've lost, a grandparent or a parent or a friend or a sibling, whatever. And I invite them to the ceremony, if you will. It creates that rite of passage. And it brings in that area or that relationship between the person they've lost and that energy. And then they break the board. Then we walk them in a circle.

And then they go throw the board into the fire, and then they fire walk. And then at the end, I put them all in a circle, and I do a proprietary experience with them where I get everybody's heart to beat at the same time. So that's the fire walk experience, right, when they hire me. if we do this on a Saturday for a company, on Monday morning when they come to work, you've got a group of individuals who they are not the same. They're not. And I get a lot of feedback, obviously.

From the from the clients and a lot of clients hire us again That was another thing that happened to it dawned on me a friend of mine told me he said, know Dave you ought to run an Academy you what cuz you're one guy man You ought to train some people to help back you up now. I've had the fire team from Tony Robbins I've got a thousand of those but so yeah a couple years ago I created what's called the Dave Alvin Firewalk Academy And so what they do is they come up here to the Appalachian Mountains where I live in North Carolina and they spend five and a half days with

That's coming up this October as a matter of fact. And it's a spectacular event. I teach them everything. I teach them how to put on a fire walk, how to do a glass walk, the board break, the brick break, the arrow break, the rebar bend. And so I teach them storytelling and how to get on stage and present, you know, how to talk to fire marshals, how to approach a CEO, how to talk, how to sell your product and service to whoever. We teach them everything. You know, how to join a chamber of commerce here in America.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (47:07.838)
and use that chamber to get your information out there to the world. And so they graduate and when they go home, then they can go put on fire walks and board breaks and so on in their own community. Or some, I get a lot of different people that want to attend. I get corporate people that send somebody from their HR department, from the human resources, they send somebody so that person could go back and facilitate these experiences in their own company. I get trainers.

I get coaches, get teachers, I get entrepreneurs, I get business owners. And so yeah, they come up and they spend five and a half days with me. And it is definitely one of the most extraordinary experiences they'll ever have. And the great thing is then when they graduate, now they're located throughout the United States or globally. I've had students come in from Canada and around the world.

And so again, so now I have those people as a backup. Sometimes when somebody calls me, they can't afford me. They just can't. And I get that. However, one of my students might be able to do it for them. And especially if there's proximity, right? Like one of my students last year, two months after she graduated, I got a call from somebody in the, around Disney World, around Orlando, Florida. And I was not in her price range. And I asked her, so what's your budget?

And she told me, and I go, well, you know what? I have somebody in Orlando that's graduated from my academy. They can do it for you if you guys come to terms. And so she did. And so one of my students down there, Jessica Brace, who's just such a sweetheart, such an amazing soul. She's brilliant. She's funny. She's a single mom. She works her butt off. She's done a ton of events. So she went out there and embraced it. And not only has she changed a lot of lives, she's made some really good money. So there's that as well.

the, you know, again, the Dave Alvin Firewalk Academy, which is on our website.

Jon Coogan (49:09.844)
Yeah, there's two things in particular. I think we couldn't talk about firewalking without talking about health and safety and injuries. Have you ever had any injuries or how does it, how do you not have injuries when you're doing these fireworks?

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (49:18.676)
No.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (49:22.762)
Well, that's a great question. You've got to be, you know, you've got to focus on what you're doing. It's game on. Yeah, no one's ever been hospitalized. I've walked a half a million people. My team has walked everybody from Oprah to Usher and a whole bunch of people and celebrities in between. There's an art and a science to it, if you will. I walk with every single person when they walk, I'm walking with them right there so that they don't slip and these kinds of things.

and you know, you're not standing on the calls all that long. Now, can you get a burn? Yeah, of course you can. But is it going to need hospitalization? No. but less than probably 5 % somewhere in that ballpark actually even get a little blister on their foot. But the reward of what you did on the other side, after you celebrate the fire walk is going to live with you forever. That little blister on your foot is going to be gone in 24 hours.

So I call them little badges of honor anyway, man. It's like, have I been burnt? Yeah. Now I do some extreme fire walking where we walk a hundred feet, not just 15 feet. We do fire standing, which is things that I tell everybody, don't even think about doing this. Don't try this at home, boys and girls, as they say. We talk about some of these things at the Academy, but that's not what people want. People want to know how to facilitate this. They need to know.

What kind of wood do you use and how long do you let it burn and how do you protect the surfaces and what about insurance and what about safety and all these kinds of things. So, yeah, no one's ever been seriously hurt and I don't suspect anyone ever will because again, we have a lot of safety built in to the events and there's a lot of protocols that we follow and that ensures everybody has a spectacular experience.

Jon Coogan (51:19.336)
And something I wanted to touch on as well, because obviously there are other companies that do firewalking and listening to your stories. You've had a magnificent journey and done some amazing experiences. So what is it about yourself that sets you apart? What have you done differently that means you've been able to be as successful as you have been?

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (51:37.91)
Wow, I don't think I've ever been asked that question. Well, obviously the fact that, you know, I was Tony Robbins main guy for almost 20 years, that's an influence. I mean, I was literally sitting in a meeting with him. So I got a call from a potential client and she said, hey, I'm with so and so and the CEO of our company wants to put on a fire walk for 350 of their sales and marketing people. But.

the CEO wants to meet you in person, not over Zoom. I'm like, okay, well, here's my per diem. This is what it's gonna, I'm gonna charge him to fly me out to Arizona. And so we got out there and she was great. She picked me up at the airport. She got me checked into my room, picked me up for breakfast the next morning. And we went to their corporate headquarters, beautiful, beautiful in Scottsdale, Arizona.

And we went up to the fourth floor and we walked into the boardroom and there was probably 10, 12 people in there, including the CEO and her, the assistant. And we sat there and the CEO started the meeting. And he said, well, as you know, ladies and gentlemen, we've got Dave Alvin here. He's with Firewalk Productions. He's the guy we're considering hiring to do our Firewalk experience. Does anybody have any questions before we get started?

Well, the corporate attorney setting like three shares away from me, And the attorney, he goes, yeah, I got a question. How many of our people are going to get burnt? And I looked at him, you know, kind of startled, right? And I go, well, that's a fair question. I would ask that question as well. Let me ask you a question so I can properly answer that question. How many of you sitting at this table have ever taken your family to a pool, to a beach or to a lake and gotten them sunburned?

Anybody not do that? Right? We've all done it. Correct? Yeah. How many of you took them back a second time and got them burned again? Well, let me share something with you that's very important. That's 100 times more dangerous than any fire walk you'll ever do with me. And as soon as I said those words, John, the CEO goes, goes, he goes, Mr. Alvin, he goes, apparently we've made a big mistake in bringing you here. And I went, he didn't like what I said. And he goes,

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (54:03.22)
And his COO is sitting right next to him. And he turns to his COO and he goes, look, if this guy's good enough for Tony Robbins and he's good enough for NASA and Google, he's good enough for us. Booking. Let's go to lunch. Whoa. So they know. CEOs know. They know that if they want to create a golden handcuff, if they want to create one of the most powerful experiences, is there some risk to it? There's some perceived risk.

Jon Coogan (54:18.382)
Amazing.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (54:33.62)
Right? But it's perceived. You know, again, is the thought of jumping out of the plane or the act of jumping out of the plane what changes the person? When you say yes to something that scares you, then you'll say yes to other things that scare you. And that's where, and that's fear, right? Because you got to get a hold of fear because fear is a liar. And I also say, you know, fear is there to guide us. However, fear becomes your jailer. It's going to steal everything from you.

And if you want a high quality of life and you want to live an extraordinary life, then the fears you don't overcome become your limits. And so that's what CEOs and business owners figure out. It's okay because it's scary for them too. Imagine a CEO that doesn't really know much about fire walking, but he says yes to it and he's going to go put three, 350 of his people, his sales and marketing team, you know, have them walk across that fire. That's pretty gutsy, you know?

And a lot of times during my talk, I'll mention that. I'll talk about that. One of the things I do too is that there's typically I've got a screen behind me and I've got video that I can show. And I put a picture of a guy by the name of Eric Weinleier on the back behind me and I'll talk for 20 minutes. And then eventually I'll come back around and I'll say, who here could tell me where my friend's standing? It was pretty obvious.

And somebody in the crowd will yell, know, Mount Everest. And I'll say, that's correct. And I want you to know something else about Everest, about Eric. Yes, he summited Everest, but he's also been to the top of the summit of the seven highest mountains on seven continents in the world. What I'm saying is he climbed the seven highest mountains on earth and he got to the top of every single one of them. But here's what you don't know about Eric.

He's blind.

Jon Coogan (56:33.108)
Wow.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (56:34.612)
So let that sink in. The only reason you don't have the life that you want is that you're telling yourself you can't have it. You're making up some story. Meaning you want to change your life? Change your story. I think Victor Frankl gave us the greatest example of that. Because everything in our life, I don't care what happens to you, you decide. You make up the story about what happened to you.

So if you make up a crappy story, you'll have a crappy life. If you make up an extraordinary story, you'll have an extraordinary life. Because that's what it comes down to. The only reason you don't have something in your life is there's a story that you tell yourself why you can't have it. So I say all the time, you want to change your life? Change your damn story. And that's exactly what Victor Frankel did. You know, he wrote the book, Man's Search for Meaning. Man's Search for Meaning is literally one of the most powerful books ever written. Go read it.

But prepare yourself because it's not a fun read in some areas. so Victor was in Auschwitz. He went to the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz. And they took everything from him. They assassinated his family. You're standing outside. You're cold. You're naked. They've taken your dignity. They feed you maybe. And every single day, there goes more people off to the chamber.

And so you're living with every single second, whether you're going to die a horrible death. So imagine getting up every day or every moment of your life. That's what you're thinking. That's all that's a part of your world. Nothing else matters. And so they took everything from those men and women. But here's what Victor Friedger figured out. He said, there's one thing you can't take from me. I have to give it up. I have to let you take it. I have to relinquish this. And that is his attitude.

I'm in control of that if I want to be. And so one of the things Victor came up with, goes, and he created purpose is really what happened. And he said, somebody's got to get out of here to tell this story. And that's how he got out because that became the driving force. And so he figured it out how to stay alive. And he realized it was purpose. And he realized it was his story that he was telling himself.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (59:00.032)
Same thing in your life. Every single day we have an opportunity. When we wake up every morning, we have an opportunity to live a life that we want to live. And so it comes down to the patterns that happen to us and how we respond to those things. What do you do every morning when you get up? What are you telling yourself? I talk about three things in my talks.

One of the things I like to talk about is what you can control in your life and what you can't control. Every single day. You you're either focusing on what you can control or what you can't control. If you're focusing on the political landscape, you can't control a damn thing. So go ahead. You want to hate Donald Trump hating. You want to hate Joe Biden hating. That's on you. But you can't change that except for the part about the hate. Or, and here's the other, there's the second thing we think of, what we think about.

And that's what we have or what we don't have. Focus on what you have, you'll find gratitude. Focus on what you don't have, you won't. That's the way it works, one or the other. And then finally, the third thing  we think about on a regular basis, this is going on our heads all the time, is are you living in the past, the present or the future?

So if you're in the, you know, in AA, it's funny. say, if you're living in the past or you're living in the future, you're, you're, you're crapping all over today. You got one leg in the future, one leg in the past. You know, look what you're doing, you know, to your moment. And there's another book, right? That, you know, the power of now, Descartes told, we find greatness is in the moment. That's all that's where it is. That's where it lives. And that's where you have to be. If you want to live that.

extraordinary life like right now with you and I right it's just you and I right now and so to be able to exchange information and ideas and concepts and beliefs and support and love and joy and kindness with each other we're in the moment so we're enjoying it even if a listener right now if you're either listening to this intently and you're paying attention then you're in the moment if you're thinking about all the crap that happened yesterday or you're thinking about something tomorrow that you don't know whether it's going to happen or not then life can be pretty pretty challenging

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (01:01:22.474)
So, you know, one of the things I say quite often is, you know, quit looking for, stop looking for heroes and just be one. And that's the beauty.

Jon Coogan (01:01:22.678)
Yeah, and I 

Jon Coogan (01:01:29.738)
Yeah, I know. I there's been some fantastic messages and I love exactly what you're embodying, which is just you write your own story. And I think that's a great, great message to be leaving our listeners with. So, Bian, I really appreciate all of your time today and there's been some amazing insights as well. What I would like to do is just give you an opportunity, if anyone wants to find out a little bit more about what we have spoken about, about the firewalking, about what you're up to. And one thing we've not really touched on.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (01:01:39.87)
Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (01:01:47.561)
I couldn't.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (01:01:53.419)
Yeah.

Jon Coogan (01:01:57.364)
But if they wanted to find out about the glass walking as well, where do we go about this?

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (01:02:02.57)
Well, if you go to our website, it's all there. If you want to, if somebody literally, you know, I've had people that have listened to podcasts who have come to our Academy. So we're coming up on it quickly. It's it's October. It starts on the eighth and it runs through the 12th of October. So, you know, if you want to come to something like that, they better get a hold of my staff fairly quickly. But when you go to our website, if you want to if you want to look at the.

You know the fire walk or the glass walk the glass walk. I created the glass walk because Fire walking isn't always logistically possible You're doing it outside. You're dealing with the elements You're dealing with you know fire marshals and you know, there's all these other dynamics that are going along with it We're a glass walk You come inside you have a suitcase you open it up you put on gloves you spread out the glass and you teach them how to do it So the glass walk, know again is more of an indoor

sport, if you will, based on the Fire Walk, which is an outdoor sport. But again, we teach you all that at the Academy. We teach you how to do that. We teach you how to make your own glass kits. We teach you about the science and why that's that's going on. You know, we talked about the Fire Walk, the world record in London at 12 ,300. I also set the world record glass walk in Paris in 2019. We glass walked over 1500 people.

and so, you know, again, when you look down and you look at that glass and you go, okay, I'm walking on glass. We've all cut ourselves, right? So it's like, well, it's scary. And again, what doesn't challenge you doesn't change you. That's just the bottom line. And so it's another opportunity, you know, to do that. So yeah, so they can go to our website. It's firewalkadventures .com. Firewalk adventures.

Alloneword .com, it's all there. And I'm very accessible. So if somebody wants to get on and have a, we do Zoom calls all the time. In fact, I've got a Zoom call later today with a potential client. So, you know, we're there to help you decide if this is the right thing for you to be doing.

Jon Coogan (01:04:17.202)
That's been amazing. Thank you very much for your time. I'll put a link and everything in the description as well so anyone can just click on it below this podcast. But thanks very much for your time. Thanks.

Dave Albin - Firewalk Adventures (01:04:19.914)
My pleasure, John. Sure.

Appreciate you very much. My pleasure, Don. Let's do it again sometime.