Right.

And so I didn't understand what it was.

So my wife I said, I don't know that I can do this like, you know, and I've spent now probably eight or nine months doing the organization for this.

And I'd never written a book.

So I was taking it very, very thoroughly.

And I knew I had something to say, but at the same time, nothing was coming out.

So it was sort of this last ditch effort.

And that carries an energy with it that is just phenomenally attractive, as you found out.

[laughs]

Um, so I, I hope you'll indulge me.

I've gotten to the point where I can tell the story and tell it pretty quickly.

But it really-- it's, you know, people don't yawn here when I say that it starts at the very beginning of my life, because it, it truly did.

Uh, when I was nine years old, my mom died, and it came as a shock.

Nobody had prepared me for it.

And from that point forward, I was raised by my father, and he was a very successful person, but he was also, uh, a very dark human being and psychologically and emotionally abused me my entire childhood to, you know, to the point of wanting to make sure that I felt, you know, crippled and, you know, had no self-esteem, no self-belief.

So Mark, why do people excel when they feel valued, safe, trusted, and supported?