Nigel Thomas | Harnessing the Pain, Jumping without the Rope, & Doing Something in Life that Matters

“The best ideas are found in graveyards all over our lands." ~ Nigel Thomas

Guest Bio: Having previously built a 7 figure agency and consulted many 7 and 8-figure DTC brands on their marketing strategy, Nigel Thomas knows what it takes to implement complex paid social campaigns at scale. He’s back with an inspiring comeback story and in 2024 he’s on a mission to building a mental health community of 100,000 members.


SHOW NOTES: 

• Website: https://davidtogoliath.com/
• Podcast: David to Goliath w/ Nigel Thomas

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CORE THEMES, KEYWORDS, & MENTIONS:

• anxiety, depression, self accountability, believing in yourself, action items, Manchester UK, eczema, severe eczema, scarring, Upwork, marketing agency, suicidal, suicide, purpose, taking chances, rolling the dice, bullying, harnessing the pain, insecurities, pain, anger, control, moving, get moving, accepting your situation, inspiring other people, manifestation, vision board, opinions, scheduling thinking, taking risks, calculated risk, ego, vulnerability, God, entrepreneurs, innovation, labels, big audacious goals, voice of the victim, voice of the champion, discipline, newsletter

For more Remarkable Episodes, Inspiration, and Motivation, please visit https://davidpasqualone.com/remarkable-people-podcast/. Enjoy!

Transcript

Nigel Thomas | Harnessing the Pain, Jumping without the Rope, & Doing Something in Life that Matters 

Hello, friends. Welcome to this week's episode of the Remarkable People Podcast, The Nigel Thomas Story. This week, Nigel is open, honest, and transparent with us from his childhood and the harm he suffered and pain. He talks about how he's at the apex of his career on the outside in his adulthood and how everything comes crumbling down around him and he was able to take all that pain.

All that doubt, all that conflict and people telling him one thing and he's trying to live another and everything's going around like all of us, right? It just swirls in our head sometimes. And he goes from suicide to living a purpose driven life. So when you're listening to this episode, our friend Nigel is going to be honest and real.

He's going to talk about a lot of topics that you or maybe your loved ones or friends are. struggling with. So share this episode as you see fit to help as many people as we can. And then Nigel is going to give us some actionable steps to take in the healing process. So Nigel is an author. He has a newsletter and blog.

He has multiple businesses. He's a serial entrepreneur. And as you can see, he's someone who's been there, been real about the good, the bad, the ugly, the pretty, and the pretty ugly. And what he's doing to live the life that God intended [00:02:00] for him. So check out this episode in just another moment. I want to take 30 seconds and just say thank you to our sponsors.

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So thank you for being here. Thank you to our sponsors for supporting the show. And now thank Nigel for being here and sharing his heart with us to make us better people. Enjoy the episode.

Hey, Nigel, [00:04:00] how are you today, brother? Not too bad. Not too bad. How are you doing, my friend? Man, I'm fantastic. Remarkable, even.

So, excited to have you on the show today. I just told our listeners a little bit about you and your story, but if they're going to listen for the next, you know, 45 minutes to an hour, what is one actionable truth that you're going to teach them from the story of your life?

No one is going to believe in you for you. And in a world which is full of anxiety, depression, you know, suicide rates through the roof, people lonelier than ever, I think people, and I, I'm trying to live this truth myself, need to take self accountability of their own life, and they need to take it upon themselves.

To force their dream into existence and that only happens by taking risks, getting uncomfortable. I know it's somewhat cliche, but I think the world needs this more than ever now to say, yes, I'm struggling, but here's my action plan. [00:05:00] Here's what I'm doing about it. Yeah. I think that's something that right now we've become more and more hollow.

As humans in society across the world, not just America and with the COVID pandemic, um, man, people are more depressed now than ever because everything's coming to the surface. So this is an incredibly important topic and thank you for being transparent and ready to talk about and share your life story, because I know it hasn't been easy, but you've, you've found a way.

So let's do this, Nigel. Good, bad, ugly, pretty, pretty ugly. Everything that's happened to us makes us the men we are today, right? So let's start at your origins. Where's Nigel from? What was your upbringing like? And we'll just go chronologically through your, your story. Yeah, so, Manchester born and bred, that's Manchester in the UK, I'm sure for the Americans listening, they know the soccer teams, my team is Man City, but yeah, I was born here, and I was always bullied as a child, you know, I still [00:06:00] remember, so I've got eczema, you know, the skin condition, I still remember back in school days, we used to play sport, and after sport, all the guys used to shower together, and I still remember standing there naked, David, With wounds and scars all over my body as the other kids laughed at me, saying how ugly I was, telling me how I'd never amount to anything in life.

And they used to call me Krusty the Clown, because of my skin was so dry from my eczema. And even though I'd never felt so vulnerable in my life up to this point, I'm still only a child trying to find my way in the world. I knew deep down inside of me that there was more. I knew that I had greatness within me, and I can't tell you why, I just had a feeling, and there was like a deep fire in my belly, but I was different to everyone else, and it was only until 26 years old, when I was caught up in [00:07:00] a big corporation, you know, I'd been to university, I was trying to please my parents, you know, they were in the nine to five, both accountants by trade, and I was like, you know what?

On one walk home from work, I said, enough is enough. I'm quitting my nine to five job and to the dismay of everyone around me, including my parents, I threw my charter ship in the bin. I was going to become a cost manager, a big construction consultancy called AECOM. And I got a few freelance clients on a little platform called Upwork.

I'm sure many of you have heard of it. And with no savings really in the bank, I just went for it. Now, was that a somewhat irresponsible decision? Maybe. But for me, David, that was the turning point in my life. Because it was the first time that I made a decision for me. We talk about self belief. That was the first time that I made a vote for myself.

Looking back, if I knew the [00:08:00] mountain I was going to start climbing, I probably never would have taken the jump in the first place. But that was the single most important moment of my life. Now, fast forward six years that I've been in the entrepreneurial game. I built some marketing agencies. You know, the first one was my own, wasn't that successful.

Learned a lot though. The second one, I helped someone else build a marketing agency in the real estate space. And the third one, the one I just stepped down from was a performance marketing agency for big e commerce direct to consumer brands. Now we audacious goals that that last agency where our CEO.

And over the course of two years, you know, through twists, turns, ups and downs, we finally managed to reach our big goal. And, you know, I built a following on LinkedIn of like 50, 000 people. I was talking on stage in front of hundreds of people. You know, I found this woman that I was building a family with.

Everything was coming together. So, [00:09:00] from the outside looking in, David, everything was sunshine and rainbows. But as we hit this goal, this monumental moment on the inside. I was crumbling. That woman, the one person, the first person I felt my entire life that understood me. Remember, I've come from a background to where I was always ostracized, always the odd one out, and I finally found that one person who I could just be, who could be my rock in life, my foundation for everything.

She betrayed me. And overnight, I went from CEO of this fast scaling startup to on a balcony in Austin, staring down at the concrete 22 floors below, thinking about jumping and taking my own life. And in that dark moment, David, I said to myself, if I'm not going to, longer going to continue for me, I'm going to do this for everyone else who deserves a second chance.

I needed a mission. I needed a purpose, which was more than money. To, to get me to climb off the canvas of death and to [00:10:00] come again. And for the first time in my life, I had to believe in me. So I started a new company and I flew back to the UK to rebuild my life. I actually came back to Manchester, believe it or not, to be around my family and friends.

I started this new company called David to Goliath. And what is David to Goliath, and why is it called David to Goliath? Well, David, you know, we can argue about how, but he was passed on the belief that he could defeat the mighty Goliath with a slingshot and a few pebbles. And I, even though it didn't turn out right in the end, Had that experience of someone believing in me, which gave me the ability to go and do these amazing things in the industry and change my life.

So now I need to believe in myself and through taking action and rebuilding my life brick by brick, day by day, through the struggle, through the pain, I can then inspire other people to believe [00:11:00] in themselves. Because I think whether it's entrepreneurs or Or whether it's just trying to better yourself in life, David.

I think the most important thing is self belief. Because Steve Jobs once said, The people who are crazy enough to change the Who think they're crazy enough to change the world are the ones who do. But what he didn't say, David, is And what he left out, which I think is extremely important to hit on, is the best ideas are found in graveyards all over our lands.

Why is that? It's because people didn't believe in themselves to roll the dice and take the risk. And those risks and those ideas could have been the things That could have, you know, solved cancer. They could have changed our life and made this world a better place. And if I can use all this pain and suffering and turn it into a movement to help other people, to really take that responsibility and believe in themselves and take the chance to roll the dice.

Then that's [00:12:00] For me, a great way to live life and how I can leave this world in a better place. Because like I said, I didn't want to live anymore, but now I've got purpose and I've got that fire in my belly again. And I'm grateful to be here every single day. Beautiful. Now, if you don't mind, let's stop and talk about some of the key points in your life and maybe some of the things you learned.

So, uh, childhood bullying. Every country, every culture, every nation, there's always bias and bigotry. It's something that's been since the world began. It's always going to happen since the fall of man, I should say. So you're being picked on and bullied. As a grown man looking back, when you were a young boy and a teenager being picked on and bullied, what would you tell yourself then, you know, today, if you could go back?

So for all our listeners around the world, whether they're being bullied or their child's being bullied or a friend's being bullied, [00:13:00] what kind of advice and insight would you give them to try to help them through this difficult stage? I'd say, Nigel, this is going to be one of your biggest competitive advances that you're ever going to have in life.

And this is going to drive you forward to things that you never imagined, if only you harness that pain. And I understand that driving from a place of darkness, isn't always recommended, but that's all I had in my life. So that's what I used to get me out of the situations I found myself in. So that's what I would have told that person.

I also would have told them with a bit of wisdom and a bit of life experience, David, that those people are insecure. And the reason that they're leashing out onto you is because they're projecting their insecurities on you. They're trying to, you know, we look at humans, they're tribal by nature, right?

They're trying to raise their own status in the group, and it's actually because they're insecure. So with [00:14:00] a bit of understanding about how human psychology works, I would have also said that, and maybe not try to take it so personally. Yeah, and I don't know how to explain it, but I'm on point. I mean, I think you're on point and I'm, I'm, I'm tracking with you when bad things, quote, unquote, bad, you know, nothing's good or bad at all has a reason and a purpose with God.

Um, he never causes pain or hardship, but he allows it sometimes to grow us like in the story of David and Goliath, right? But when you were discussing harnessing the pain, I think that's a huge key issue because. Living bitter and angry. That's not good. That's not biblical. That's not healthy, but taking the freaking bad and just using it to be on fire and powerfully achieve.

There is something good to that. Um, and it's hard to explain the difference between the bitter verse the good, but I definitely agree with you. Can you maybe explain to our audience the difference that [00:15:00] balance between, you know, harnessing the pain? and applying it in a positive way versus just revengeful type of that because the revenge will eat you up but talk about the healthy harnessing of that pain yeah i mean i think it's at the start you just need to get moving right because when you find yourself in a painful place if you don't change your behavior then you're just gonna get it's gonna get more and more painful so i think at the start you just need to get moving and if that is a little bit bitter and It's revengeful.

I don't think you should beat yourself up about that. I think you just need to get moving. But then I think over time, instead of blaming things on it, I think it's all about external versus internal. So you can blame the world for your external problems. This is what we see so much today, David, right? You know, people complaining why everything's wrong, you know, whether it's politics, whether it's the, the boss that [00:16:00] I hate working for.

But the reality is, is even if it is someone else's fault, that's not going to help you get out of your situation. So I think you've got to say the words to yourself that where I find myself in life, no matter what card you were dealt, no matter how unfair it seems, accept that this is your responsibility, and that gives you then the power to then go and change that.

Now ideally, once you obviously start going through this process and start moving, You want to try and find a purpose to help inspire people, and I've got this thing called the undeniable, which is just be so goddamn good that you can't be ignored. And not to the point where whoever, you know, stabbed you in your back or whoever treated you wrong, Or people who are disloyal to you, not where you need to get their attention.

Just be so good, be so monumentally successful. It doesn't need to be monetary terms. It can be whatever your passion is [00:17:00] in life, that you inspire other people. And just by sheer volume of work and activity and doing the right things and helping people and being helpful to other people, it's undeniable that you will not be ignored.

And for me, that process has helped and it's almost creating a plan for yourself of what are the inputs that you need to do every single day, because you can all sit around manifesting, you know, creating vision boards. But I'm a little bit more old fashioned in the sense of what are the things that I actually need to do?

Because I want to get to work. I want to take a plan of action. You know, I'm driving to this destination. What do I need to do to fuel up this vehicle and start making progress? And I think if you can reverse engineer those things down and start taking action, obviously you build those bricks. And over time, you know, you build your new house and your cathedral on a strong foundation where for me, in [00:18:00] my case, I didn't need to then rely on someone else that I can look at myself in the mirror, no matter who, you know, comes in and out of my life, realize that I can look at myself in the mirror, like I said, David, and say, I am my own foundation.

And I think that's the most important thing. Yeah, no, I, to have that purpose, um, anyone who's ever achieved

It's a short lived moment if it doesn't have purpose, right? Like you mentioned starting several companies and being on top of the world from the outside in, but from the inside out, you know, you never know what goes on behind closed doors. You never know what's going on in somebody's life. And you know, people talk a lot about manifestation, the secret, the law of attraction, and there's biblical truth to it.

But again, everything has to be done in balance, but I don't care who you are, what you achieve. If you don't have a purpose, if your purpose is to get a [00:19:00] yacht, well, once you get it, it's even worse. Like that loneliness and that emptiness inside. So what you do, Nigel, in your life, And the coaching, you know, helping people identify and target in on that passion to our listeners all around the world.

What do you recommend people do to at least start the process of really identifying a life worth living and waking up each day? Yeah, I know this sounds really basic, but I think it's underrated, David, just scheduling some time to think. Um, because the reason I say that is, We're always so caught up in the opinions of other people, whether it's we're scrolling social media looking for answers, whether it's, you know, we're watching Netflix series and we're, we're trying to escape, you know, those, that real inner voice, the one that's telling us the harsh truths about life.

And if you can get out into nature, that's even better. But if you just schedule an hour to think, I remember when I started doing this, you'll be amazed by [00:20:00] the thoughts that come up and you'll start to understand. What do you actually want in life? And then analyzing back through your life, where do the moments, which I'm not sure if I'm allowed to swear on this podcast, but the moments where you went, fuck yeah, like, fuck yeah, that, that's me.

You know, those moments, those experiences, what are those? And try and gravitate toward the, towards those experiences. And then also the people, right? Someone once told me, this really successful business guy, You should work with people and spend time with people that you admire. And I think a lot of people that isn't the case, you know?

And that's hard to find people that you admire. But who are those people in your life? Spend more time with those people and find more of those people and put yourself in those communities. And then on top of that, take risks. Calculated risks, ideally, but you've got to take risks in life and that's where again, when, do you mind if I just [00:21:00] share a quick story?

So I think this will actually help the listeners understand, you know, the processes that I go through with self belief. Oh, a hundred percent, man. This is your episode to share with the world. So, you know, the Batman movie, have you seen it? The Dark Knight Rises? You see that? That's the best. I think that's the best one of the 50 different versions.

Yeah. So there's actually a point in that movie. It's not actually, it's the third one I'm talking about, the one with Bane, and that's the one I was referring to. So there's this point where he gets put into a prison, do you remember it? Where he gets put right into a dungeon underground, he's looking up into the sky.

Now, the only way to get out of this prison, people haven't watched that movie, is by climbing a rope to the top and jumping to a ledge to escape and get to the ledge and then you can climb out of the prison and obviously come [00:22:00] back and save your city. Now, the reason I share this story, David, is because when you climb up, or when Batman was climbing up, he kept on trying to jump across that ledge holding the rope, and what this rope signifies is comfort, and he kept on trying to attempt it, and he kept on failing, and then he went back down to the bottom of the prison, and the prisoner said to him, jump without the rope, and let the fear of death drive you forward to the other side, And you will, you will see what happens.

So he climbs to the top of the ledge without the rope and all the prisoners are there chanting him, chanting his name. And then he jumps without the rope and he makes it to the other side. And the reason I share that story, David, is because That's the same jump that everyone has to take, whether you're an entrepreneur or whether you're taking a risk in life.

The rope, which is a blueprint for exactly how [00:23:00] you want things to turn out, doesn't exist. So you have to jump without the rope and believe in yourself that you can make it to the other side. But no one is going to jump for you. So you need to jump. And these are the jumps. For me, when I quit my job, when I, you know, became CEO of that company, when I spoke on stage in front of thousands of people, when I started David to Goliath, these were the moments that before, my victim voice was screaming at me, don't do it, Nigel, don't do it.

And I didn't have a rope, and I jumped without the rope, but when I look back at my life, you know, Steve Jobs says you can connect the dots looking back, these are the moments that were pivotal, that moved me forward, and I think if more people learned to jump without the rope as Batman did in that movie, David, They would find purpose on the other side.

Yeah. Once again, I agree with you, brother. [00:24:00] Cause anytime you have that rope, you have that, I don't want to say plan B cause that's good. That's good too, to always have a plan B, but you know what I mean? When you have a backup plan, there's that little bit less energy that goes into executing the plan. And if you have no plan B, if you have no rope, It's do or die.

So I think that's great advice. I call it one egg, one basket. Yeah. One egg with no basket at that point. Yeah. So, all right. So you're a young man. We spoke back to yourself. You're growing up, you're starting companies and you're achieving great heights. And then all of a sudden you have this Identity crisis from multi facets where not only are you achieving stuff that you're figuring out doesn't really matter, but then at the same time, this woman betrays you and we don't have to get too deep.

I mean, I, I've been there, man, married years, fought for the marriage for six years after [00:25:00] betrayal and it just ended badly. You know, um, it crushes you. Uh, just talked to a guy this morning, actually a good friend of mine. He lost, You know, his wife and him are going through a divorce. He's lost 30 pounds and he's super depressed, right?

I lost 60 pounds, super depressed. Um, for you, you get to the point of suicidal, but all of us have, are, and will realize that, man, it's our relationship with God that matters. Our relationship with ourselves that matters and all that other stuff is going to turn around and somehow become even better with another individual.

But for you, in those dark moments, what were the things looking back that were catalysts to help you snap out of it and back to yourself? So a listener now, whether male or female, if they're listening to this episode, they're like, Oh, I can do that. I can do this. Yeah, well, interestingly enough, you know, you mentioned God.

I always, so I did go to a Christian school, right? [00:26:00] I was baptised, but I think I, maybe it was because of my insecurity, David, but I was always the guy who needed to be right, you know? So I was going around, um, having conversations about religion, trying to, to prove if God was or wasn't real. But in this moment, You know, my identity, my ego was completely shattered.

So I was so vulnerable, like so vulnerable to the point I was, I was, I mean, I told you I was on the balcony, right, considering taking my own life. I was desperate. I was on my knees. And in that moment, when I, you know, I had that conversation myself, I did actually speak to God and I prayed to him every night.

And I realized that instead of me trying to prove if God's real or not, I got strength when I had those conversations and that proved to me that I was asking the wrong question, because if I obviously made some prayers. And that gave me strength to get back on my [00:27:00] feet and to fly back to the UK and start this new company called David to Goliath.

Then that in itself proves that it is real. But I guess the point is, it doesn't really matter. Everyone's got their personal relationship to God, whatever your religion is, I respect it. For me, that was a very humbling moment and that was one of the things that got me through. And I actually bought this necklace at the time, and I, I've won it, been wearing it around my neck ever since.

And that was the, the start and signification for me, David, of of hope, of hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel and there's no light about darkness, but all of this pain, there was a reason that it happens. And I believe that. But I also believe, and I made a contract with God, that I'm the one who has to take responsibility to make this pain count and to turn it into, you know, a monumental movement to help other people.

[00:28:00] Yeah, and so much to unpack right there, right? So, for those, we have a lot of listeners around the world, you may be listening just straight up podcast player, not watching the YouTuber Rumble channel. I'm David Pasqualone. But Nigel held up a gold chain with a cross on it, and the cross is a representation of Christ wasn't just born.

He didn't just live. He didn't just die, but he rose again. That's why a Christian cross doesn't have him hanging on anymore because he arose. And then going through that, you know, the Bible says in Romans, as our listeners know, Nigel, um, we have people who believe and have trusted Christ. We have people who believe in God, we have people who've trusted God, and we have people who don't believe in God that listen to this show, but they come for guests like you who give great practical advice that they can apply their life and thrive.

But we come at everything from a Christian worldview, believe the Bible, and you know, it says [00:29:00] in Romans, all things work together for the good, to them that love God, called according to his purpose. And even in the darkest hour, I'm like, why is this happening? God never causes the pain, but sometimes he allows it, like Job.

He allowed Satan, Satan's a dirtbag, but he allowed Satan to torment Job because he knew ultimately it would glorify God and benefit Job, right? So when you're going through what you went through, those were some dark times, but it made you an even stronger man, and thank God it brought you a relationship with Christ, you know, a closer relationship with God.

And um, I always kind of look at it like, Let's say we have a father, a loving father on earth. You know, I didn't grow up with a dad, but you know, the ideal right situation is you have a loving father and mother. If you have a problem, you call them up, you meet with them face to face. You talk to them. So you started, it sounds like [00:30:00] in your darkest time, calling God and talking to him.

Is that right? Yeah, I was right. Yeah, and then the more time I spend with you, the closer we become of friends. And the more time you spend with God, the closer you become with God, right? So yeah, without judgment too, which is important for me because the people that I Apart from this woman, the other people I trust in my life and my family and stuff, they always would cast judgment on me.

So it was important there was no judgment there. Yeah. And talk about that because there's good judgment is different than being judgmental, right? Because we all should have good judgment, but we don't want to be judgmental. But when you're talking about your family cast judgment, that's again, the difference between a true relationship with Christ and religion.

Religion a lot of times judges everybody and it beats the crap out of us, right? So talking to our listeners, what were some of the judgments you were feeling and how [00:31:00] did you overcome that and realize like, no, this isn't real. I don't need to worry about this. Yeah, well, for me, obviously, it was largely down to taking risks and being an entrepreneur, so, you know, just quitting my job, simple things like that, or, you know, flying to a different country, going to move to New York, or starting a relationship with a woman that they wouldn't approve of, these kind of things.

But the thing that I realized is that even though this sounds a little bit morbid, that my parents are going to die one day and I still have to be there and be accountable for the decisions I make in my life. And yeah, I think everyone talks about, you know, you shouldn't fear the judgment of anyone else, but I feel like humans are creatures of survival, so naturally we do do that, but the more you can try and separate that judgment, because they've got their own biases, they've got their own experiences, so I'm sure it's coming most of [00:32:00] the time from a loving place, but for me it was always a very narrow mindset of instead of listening and asking questions and understanding, what do I want?

It's no. This is the advice you take and if you don't take this advice then you're doing it wrong. We're going to tell you about it. So it just gets to the point where you don't say anything. And I think that's one thing I found with entrepreneurs that I connect with them is they're abundant thinkers because they're trying to solve problems, right?

To make the world a better place and usually try and change their own, whether it's, you know, financial situation or whatever they want to do in life, but they're creating something from nothing. That's the whole point, right? And we're coming up with innovative solutions and usually these people, if you look at entrepreneurs, they've got mental problems a lot of the time, whether it's ADHD or something else, they think differently.

They're wired differently. And I am different. I think I do [00:33:00] definitely have severe ADHD. I have lots of ups and downs. But, you know, again, if we look at humans, like we're tribal by nature. So if we weren't all different, then we wouldn't be here today. We wouldn't have survived. So I think you've got to embrace that.

And you've got to find people who think abundantly and really accept you for who you are, but most importantly, empower you to be more of that. And I think when you find that, it's just, I can't put into words how much of a difference that makes. It's incredible. Yeah, yes. I think that's true. We're all made different.

If we were made the same, things wouldn't function right. So I think a lot of times we, we start categorizing and be like, this person has this problem or this person has this problem at the end of the day, that leaves all these problems and no normality. So it's like, yeah, he's got a different, uh, skill.

Late label labels are so detrimental to society really, because they [00:34:00] put these biases on you. And we try to, we try to put people in boxes because obviously we're trying to We're trying to be productive. We're trying to obviously cater to a large amount of people, whether that's on the medical side of things or schooling or whatever it is.

But the reality is, is even though we're somewhat similar, we're not all exactly similar and those unique nuances, they have huge, crucial impacts on our life. And that's why we often see job satisfaction is pretty low because people haven't gone into a career and they're not surrounded in an environment where.

They're nurturing their, their talents and, you know, they're being at one with who they truly are. Yeah. All right. So let's, let's pick up back in your life. So now you go from considering suicide to now you start a new endeavor and you're growing that organization. Bring us from there through today, Nigel.

Yeah, sure. So I needed a big goal, right? I think when you're at rock bottom, you should set [00:35:00] an audacious target. This is what worked for me anyway. I can share it with the listeners. And for me, that goal was creating a newsletter. So really that's a community of people where I can talk to them one to one.

And the goal was basically get to 100, 000 subscribers in one calendar year. Now, I'd looked across the market and that was, there was a people I could count on probably two hands that had done that, to my knowledge at least. So I knew it was going to be really challenging and I knew that I had to take a massive amount of action to achieve this.

So, funnily enough, actually when we talk about, you know, people that connect with you and empower you, I actually flew back from Austin to the UK to start my life and the first person I came across was actually a childhood friend, actually my next door neighbor, Dan, that I'd not spoken to really in 10 years.

And he was the first person that I properly [00:36:00] opened up to, and he was at a moment in his life where he needed a change of circumstance as well. So, what we agreed to do, we didn't agree to start this newsletter together, this was just kind of an idea in the back of my mind. We started doing runs, 5k runs, to really stamp out that voice of the victim and make us stand and empower.

Because I think we all have two voices in our head, right? We have the voice of the victim, what I call the voice of the champion. And the voice of the victim, the one that tells us to stay in bed. You know, not do the things you want to in life and blame the world for our external circumstances and the voice of the champion, the ones that, that the one that knows your true potential and is willing to do the uncomfortable things with discipline to get to where you want to in life.

So to empower that voice, David, we did 5k runs every day [00:37:00] through the heart of the British winter, four times a week. And really that built up an energy between us. And on these runs, I was sharing the idea of David to Goliath, the newsletter I was going to start, really documenting my comeback, how I went from David to Goliath and wrote my own story to inspire other people.

And it was at the turn of the year. It was actually on Christmas Eve when we were in Dan's car. We decided that we were going to do this and he was going to help me out. And we launched it, you know, the turn of the year. We're on our 20th week now. And we've got 27, 000 subscribers to date. So we're, we're on the right tracks to hit a hundred thousand.

It's going to be, you know, we're going to have to step up and it's going to be a hard end to the year, but we knew what we were getting ourselves into, but let me tell you now, I mean, we've had [00:38:00] chance to speak on stage. It was, we went to Bulgaria's biggest indoor arena in Sofia in front of 2000 people.

We've had, you know, We've had messages, because we wrote about people's stories as well, from the likes of Leila Hormozy, who's really big in business right now, and just the messages from people who are looking to make a change in their life. You know, yes, we talk about entrepreneurship, we talk about business, but we also talk about the mindset of getting yourself out of a difficult situation.

And the messages, the long messages that have been sent in to me through my LinkedIn, through responding to the newsletter, have been amazing and have shown me with validation that this is a mission worth pursuing. So it's been a hell of a ride, and I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of the rest of this year.

Yeah, and we'll get to the contact information at the end of the show and in the show notes, but if our listener wanted to subscribe, What's the best [00:39:00] way to subscribe to your newsletter and how often will they expect? Do you send it once a day, once a week, once a month? Yeah, david2life. com. Every Tuesday I talk about the comeback, you know, how many subscribers are up and what are we doing to actually grow the newsletter behind the scenes?

What am I struggling with? What are the mindset things? That, uh, how, the strategies I'm implementing to, to get myself out of this world of darkness into the light. And then on Thursday, every Thursday, we talk about underdogs, underdogs who came from nothing and built something, usually in the space of business, but really delving into their stories.

And we actually, Dan has mastered the art of using AI and comics. So we bring these stories to life with epic storytelling and comic visuals to tell people's story in a way which is exciting, but also emotional and also insightful so they can take those lessons and apply them to their life. So David took life every Tuesday and Thursday.

And [00:40:00] by the way, these newsletters It's not like anything else on the internet. Like you judge me by my actions, not my words. I always say, David, but go and check it out yourself. You know, they're 4, 000 words each. We're not talking about a quick email here. We're talking about putting our heart and soul and splashing raw naked personality into your inbox, because we want to create something that's never been done before.

And that's the whole goal here at David Took Alive. Beautiful. Beautiful. So we've talked about your past. We've kind of talked about your present and then we kind of know a little bit about where you're going. So to wrap up the episode, Nigel, is there anything else that we missed in your personal story and journey from birth to today?

I'm sure we missed up anything you want to talk about. Yeah, I think the, when it's all said and done, right, I often try and fast forward to the end of my life and what we're going to be [00:41:00] left with regardless of how much money we make or what success we've had in the eyes of others, all we're going to be left with is.

The experiences we've had and the people we've had them with. If I look back through my life, David, it's not the numbers that really impress me. It is those moments, those moments that I cherish with the people that I love. So I think for everyone else, it's go find the people, take risks, that bucket list you've always wanted to do.

It's not going to do itself. So put a plan of action in place and go and do those things. And it could be something small. It could be going visiting that, you know, long lost friend that's overseas. It could be doing something big, quitting your job and starting a business, but take the risk and listen to your intuition, because like I said, no one is going to believe in you for you.

That's on you, my friend. Yeah. Yeah. Take those steps because looking back, [00:42:00] we're not getting younger every second. And we need to take the steps now because it's only going to get harder and waste opportunity, right? Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So where. Are you today and where are you headed? How can people get a hold of you?

I think we already covered that to a degree, but if somebody wanted to continue the conversation, Nigel, you said david2goliath. com for your website to subscribe. But if somebody wanted to reach out to you and personally talk or get coaching, where did they go for that? Yeah, sure, just LinkedIn, Nigel Thomas, David Togoliath, you can just reach out to me on LinkedIn, I'm pretty active there, post content most days.

So reach out to me and tell me your story as well. It's not just all about me. It's about you, David. It's about your listeners. Tell me your story. Tell me where you're going. Are you struggling right now? Tell me about it and also tell me what you're doing about it and how you're going [00:43:00] to change your life.

All right, my friend. Well, thank you for being here today, Nigel. And before we close up this episode, are there any other final thoughts you want to share with our community of Remarkable People? Because you're a remarkable man, I thank you for being here today. But any final thoughts or encouragement you want to share with the audience before we wrap it up?

Yeah, the slogan for David to Goliath, keep dreaming like a giant, but fight. And believe in your dreams like a goddamn underdog baby. All right, man, the underdog. Everybody loves the underdog because we all got it inside of us. Right. That greatness. So ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being here today.

Nigel, thank you for being here today. Appreciate you David. Yeah. And like our slogan says, ladies and gentlemen, and like Nigel just said. Don't just listen to great content, but do what you know you need to do each day. Repeat it consistently. Have the discipline over and over again so you can develop that [00:44:00] greatness and you can have a great life in this world, but more importantly, an eternity to come.

So, I'm David Pasqualone. This was our remarkable friend Nigel Thomas. Nigel, thank you again for being here, brother. Ladies and gentlemen, check out Nigel's website. Share this episode with your family and friends and the people you know it can help. Reach out to Nigel and if not, or do that and then we'll see you again in the next episode.