Episode Overview

Welcome to Solo Moms Talk. I’m J. Rosemarie, and in this episode, we are diving deep into what it truly means to move out of reactive survival mode and intentionally step into purpose-driven, generational success. As solo mothers, so many of us spend our days constantly reacting to immediate demands, leaving long-term financial security and legacy as distant afterthoughts. My conversation with strategic advisor Albert Butler serves as an essential roadmap for any mother balancing family, personal growth, and entrepreneurial ambition without sacrificing her well-being along the way.

Albert Butler brings a profoundly holistic perspective to business and personal wealth. Holding an MBA, he is a nationally recognized CPA, author, father, youth coach, and community leader who created the Legacy Alignment System. Rather than treating finance merely as cold numbers on a spreadsheet, Albert approaches his practice as a "financial painkiller." When clients come to him in distress, he starts not with balance sheets, but with two fundamental questions: "Who are you and where are you going?" Throughout our sit-down, Albert shares how we can transform life's greatest trials, personal loss, and daily hustle into structured, multi-generational stability by aligning purpose, structure, money, and legacy.

For the solo mother who feels isolated on an "island of one," Albert’s insights offer an actionable, transformative mental shift. He dismantles the myth that we must carry every burden alone, illustrating how emotional release, community support, and systemic financial literacy build true family resilience. When we master the mechanics of currency and prioritize foundational alignment, we unlock a superpower that elevates both our immediate households and our future generations.

As we move into the core insights of our discussion, let us examine the specific frameworks, daily habits, and strategic principles Albert shares to help you build your legacy on purpose.

Key Takeaways

My goal in sharing these conversations is to give you practical, bite-sized tools that you can integrate directly into your busy life. When we break down big concepts like operational enterprise balance, processing emotional vulnerability, and understanding the true mechanics of currency, we discover practical steps to shift our daily routines from overwhelmed survival to empowered strategy.

• [00:00] - Introduction & The Human Behind the Numbers Albert introduces himself beyond his professional credentials, defining his core identity as a father, uncle, cousin, youth coach, and aspiring family patriarch. As a CPA licensed across multiple states, he operates as a "painkiller" for his clients, looking past surface calculations to ask the foundational human questions: "Who are you and where are you going?"
• [03:15] - The Power of the 'Plan, Act, Review' Framework Building momentum requires a simple yet disciplined daily rhythm. Albert outlines his actionable three-step routine: plan quickly every night before bed, review that plan upon waking in the morning, act intentionally throughout the day, and conduct a critical mirror review at night to evaluate achievements, methods, and areas for improvement.
• [06:45] - Escaping the 'Island of One' Addressing solo mothers directly, Albert delivers an honest message: "You cannot do it alone." While a mother may feel trapped on an island alone, the reality is that she is on an "island of one" with dependent children looking up at her. Carrying this complete dependence without support creates a severe mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual drain. Albert emphasizes the necessity of building a village and allowing emotional release: "Crying is a natural thing that we must do because that's our body releasing emotion", whether sad or happy.
• [10:30] - Deconstructing Money ("Money Is Not Real") Albert demystifies paper currency by pointing out that a dollar bill is merely a "note". A legal agreement to exchange goods and services. Because paper currency continually depreciates through inflation (making today's dollars worth far less than yesterday's), real value resides in tangible resources, goods, and services that sustain a family. As Albert teaches:

"Do what you do for purpose. And when you do what you do for purpose, money will automatically come flooding to you."

• [14:10] - The Spark Behind the Book Albert shares the distinct origins of his book, Life, Truth, Love, Loss, Success, and Failure: Quotes and Advice from a Father to His Kids to Win in Life. The deeper realization of unwritten family histories struck him following the passing of his parents. Later, while traveling early in his career to Singapore, leaving behind his wife and newborn daughter, the daunting fear of leaving his young family without fatherly guidance prompted him to begin recording quotes, scriptures, and aphorisms. Crucially, the book focuses on winning in life rather than at life; winning "at" implies a static finish line, whereas winning "in" equips children for life's continuous ups, downs, lefts, rights, and loops.
• [18:25] - Accounting as the Heartbeat & The 5 Muscles of Enterprise Enterprise structure applies equally to corporate entities and personal households through the "5 Muscles of Enterprise": Leadership (the head/mind), Operations (the legs/production), Sales (the arms/reach), IT & Infrastructure (data/blood flow), and Accounting (the heart). Accounting maintains internal balance through universal cause and effect. To illustrate imbalance, Albert uses vivid metaphors: when the human body falls ill, or when the planet experiences earthquakes, typhoons, and hurricanes, it is nature seeking re-balance because its "accounting" is off. Furthermore, accounting acts as a "fortune teller"—revealing the past (financial reports/tax returns), the present (treasury/cash in bank), and the future (forecasting/budgeting).
• [23:00] - The Sequence of Scaling Growth must follow a strict, non-negotiable hierarchy to prevent burn-out and household failure: Scale yourself first, scale your family second, and scale your business third. Launching a business without prior personal and family alignment is dangerous because starting a business is like "birthing a new baby that needs every part of you to survive." If you rush into business without scaling yourself and your family first, you risk neglecting the very people you are building for. As Albert reminds us, when you lie on your deathbed at the end of life's journey, your business will not be standing at your bedside, your family will.
• [26:45] - Parting Wisdom & The Champion's Mantra To navigate "the in-between", those heavy 2:00 AM moments of self-doubt in front of the bathroom mirror, Albert shares a powerful reflection mantra:

"I can because I will. I will because I can. I don't say can't because I can. I am a champion. I train like a champion. I practice like a champion. I work like a champion. Therefore, I will win like a champion."

Albert explicitly highlights the true nature of this practice: "That is not motivation. That is perseverance."

To turn these strategic insights into immediate practice, explore the exact tools, literature, and contact links provided below.

Resources & Call to Action (CTA)

Inspiration alone cannot transform a household; building true multi-generational wealth and emotional well-being requires structured execution and strong support systems. Take your next step toward building a lasting legacy by exploring the resources shared in this episode:

• Connect with Albert: Learn more about strategic advisory services and the Legacy Alignment System by visiting albertbutler.com or searching online for "Albert Butler CPA."
• Grab the Book: Find Albert’s guide for his children on Amazon: Life, Truth, Love, Loss, Success, and Failure: Quotes and Advice from a Father to His Kids to Win in Life.
• Connect with J. Rosemarie: Subscribe to Solo Moms Talk, leave a review, and join our community of intentional solo mothers supporting one another on the journey to personal and financial success.

Mandatory Legal & Professional Disclosure: Please note that the content discussed in this episode is provided for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. The conversation does not constitute a formal CPA or professional financial engagement. A formal professional relationship is only established upon the execution of a signed written contract between parties.

Thank you for spending your time with me today. Remember, while life happens in those challenging in-between moments, you possess the inner strength to navigate every trial. Keep pressing forward, build your village, scale yourself first, and choose your legacy on purpose. You’ve got this! And I'm here if you need to chat: [email protected]

https://solomomstalk.mysites.io/podcast-2-copy/how-to-align-purpose-money-and-legacy-w-albert-butler

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Podcast Transcript: Solomon's Talk – From Truth, Love, and Loss to Legacy

Host: J. Rosemarie

Guest: Albert Butler (MBA, Author, CPA, Strategic Advisor, Creator of the Legacy Alignment System)

Primary Themes: Legacy, Personal Finance, Accounting, Purpose, Family Support, Strategic Planning

Context & Strategic Importance

In this opening section, host J. Rosemarie frames the overarching discourse on generational success and legacy before introducing guest Albert Butler. Albert establishes his professional and personal identity, explicitly positioning himself not merely as a quantitative number-cruncher or traditional accountant, but as a strategic advocate and "painkiller" focused on addressing root human problems, individual identity, and strategic direction prior to analyzing financial figures.

Transcript

J. Rosemarie: Albert Butler has an MBA. He's an author, a nationally recognized CPA, a strategic advisor, creator of the legacy alignment system, a framework that's designed to help leaders, entrepreneurs, and families align purpose, structure, money, and legacy. Welcome, Albert.

[01:22] J. Rosemarie: Okay. I appreciate you coming and thank you for saying that. And when it comes to money, we could use all the help we need, right?

[01:30] J. Rosemarie: Yes. All right. So, one of the first questions I love to ask, I've read your bio and all of that, but I want to hear it from the horse's mouth. I want our audience to hear it from the horse's mouth. Who is Albert Butler?

And that's on a personal perspective and a professional perspective. So what I try to do consistently is when I have clients that want to talk about what's going on with them, I like to say I'm the painkiller because people come to me when they have a pain, when they have a problem.

[02:36] Albert Butler: And I try to understand their pain, understand where they are, but also not just talk about the numbers. Rosemary, I like to talk about the person. Who are you? Just like you just asked me that question, Albert Butler. I ask the question of all clients, of everybody: "Who are you and where are you going?" Because when I know where you're going, then I can know where I can help you and jump in. That's what's the beautiful thing about what I do. So, I'm a CPA. I'm licensed in many states all throughout the United States while at the same time I have to advocate heavily. When you know your numbers, you definitely have a superpower to help you be successful.

Having established the foundation of purpose-driven identity, the conversation transitions seamlessly into the operational execution frameworks necessary for daily momentum.

Context & Strategic Importance

This section details the operational mechanics of Alber’s "Plan-Act-Review" framework. The conversation emphasizes that personal accountability and intentionality are achieved not merely through forward planning or daily action, but through the rigorous, critical execution of the evening review phase—confronting oneself in the mirror to measure daily progress and identify areas for continuous improvement.

Transcript

[03:59] Albert Butler: What makes it powerful is that it's straightforward. It is so straightforward. But here's the problem: you have to plan daily because you need to act daily. And this is where people make a mistake. They don't review themselves because also, you have to review data.

The review piece is so, so powerful. So, here's what I do. I plan, but I plan quickly every day before I go to bed at night. I'm setting the plan out for my next day for tomorrow. I review that plan when I get up in the morning and I go into action and I act to make sure that I'm moving in purpose of that plan.

[04:39] Albert Butler: But then when I get to the end of the day, it's review time. Reviewing yourself is the most powerful thing that you can do, Rosemary, because now you get to look yourself in the mirror and say: "What did I do, when did I do it, how did I do it, what did I achieve, and what do I need to do better?" That's the special piece. So Plan-Act-Review in any and all things that you do, and you will find out that when you get a chance to review yourself, you're marching down a road of purpose, and that's what makes it powerful.

With daily operational discipline defined, the dialogue shifts to address community support structures, professional boundaries, and the economic realities facing single mothers.

Context & Strategic Importance

In this crucial section, the discussion addresses the psychological and structural challenges encountered by single mothers in survival mode. Albert critiques the isolation of operating as an "island of one," highlighting the compounded mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual drain it causes. Following an essential legal disclosure outlining professional CPA licensing limits, Albert presents a fundamental economic thesis: deconstructing paper currency as a depreciating exchange note subject to inflation, while framing real value around goods, services, and living in aligned purpose.

Transcript

[06:06] Albert Butler: Rosemary, I'm going to explain it this way, and your audience might want to turn this off with what I'm about to say, or you might not want to publish this episode about what I'm about to say because I'm going to be honest right now.

[06:18] Albert Butler: The title of your podcast is extremely powerful, but I have to tell you, Rosemary, you cannot do it alone.

[06:25] Albert Butler: That's what's so, so impactful. You say that "I'm going to do this by myself." You put yourself on an island by yourself and now you're on an island of one. But really, if you have children, you're on an island of however many children who are so dependent upon you. That can be such a mental, which turns into a physical, which turns into an emotional, which turns into a spiritual drain upon you.

[06:54] Albert Butler: You have to understand that it's okay to ask for help. I do it all the time. I need help, which means I need support. I can't be Albert Butler CPA without having a strong foundation of support to push me along the way. That also means that I'm not just talking about having a spouse, having a brother, having a mother, having a dad. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about having a village.

[07:21] Albert Butler: Ironically enough, Rosemary, I'm going to tell you a quick story with a conversation my wife and I had this morning about my nephew. She said, "Albert, our nephew, he looks sad in these pictures. He needs to get some help." And I said, "He does. He does need to get some help because you don't know what's going on behind those eyes." And a lot of times, especially with young men, they don't tell you. And it's a lot of explosions that are going on inside of them where they need to have somebody to tell them, "Hey, it's okay." It's okay on multiple levels, Rosemary. It's okay to smile. It's okay to laugh. It's okay to be friendly. It's okay to joke. But you know what else is okay? It's okay to cry.

[08:03] Albert Butler: It's okay to let it out. I advocate heavily that crying is a natural thing that we must do because that's a body releasing emotion. Sad emotion, also happy emotion. You have to let it out. Because when you hold it in, your mind is getting entangled, which means your soul is getting entangled. So let it out. Being that single mom is so, so complicated. And ladies, you can't do it by yourself. And it's okay. Get resources. Reach out to certain programs. Reach out to people like Rosemary. Reach out to people like me. It's okay. You need to have that support system.

Now, I'm not going to let you go to the next question before I say this. Rosemary, I'm a CPA and I'm licensed in many different states, but I have to give a quick disclosure. I'm not your CPA. Which means that any and all things that we talk about, especially around this wonderful word called money, is for informational purposes. It's for your own entertainment and your own enjoyment, until we have a contract between the two of us and we're engaged to have the professional relationship. So anything that you do is upon you for your own benefit.

With that being said, the money equation is very, very important to understand this. And I'm going to say this right now and I'm going to let you go to the next question, audience: Money is not real. I'm going to be quiet and then go to the next question.

[09:41] Albert Butler: There we go. There we go. Money's not real. The reason that money is not real is that if you take any currency, especially a dollar bill, if you were to read it, there's a powerful word on that dollar. It says the word "note," which means it's only a letter. It's a letter between the two of us to agree that this piece of paper is going to be a form of currency that we have decided is going to be what we're going to use to be able to make exchanges of goods and services. So, what's actually real then? The goods and the services. That's what's real.

We should be on an endeavor to consistently try to help our family build resources to help support our family. Don't hold on to money because when you hold on to it, it has a depreciating value called inflation that hits it over and over and over again. Especially over here, we've seen this happen on a daily basis, that the dollars that you can use today are worth far less than the dollars you had yesterday. And I want to say that again: the dollars you have today are worth far less than the dollars you had yesterday. Now, here's the powerful piece, Rosemary. Don't do what you do for money. Do what you do for purpose. And when you do what you do for purpose, money will automatically come flooding to you.

[11:08] Albert Butler: I've actually made decisions in life when I was younger, and my father would catch me and tell me all the time: "What are you doing? Is it because they're going to pay you more money? What are you doing it for? Your purpose? Are you walking in your purpose? Are you providing value to others? Is that what you're doing? Because if you're not doing that, the money is going to fly through your fingers and you're going to..."

This philosophical exploration of purpose and value transitions directly into the discussion of Albert Butler's written work and intergenerational legacy.

Context & Strategic Importance

This section focuses on the origin story of Albert's book, written to preserve intergenerational wisdom following the passing of his parents. Albert describes a pivotal international flight to Singapore early in his marriage and fatherhood, during which he began compiling quotes, aphorisms, and scriptures to ensure his children had guidance regardless of life's uncertainties. Butler also emphasizes a semantic distinction within the book's subtitle: guiding children to win in life rather than merely at life.

Transcript

[11:30] Albert Butler: It's powerful. Rosemary, thank you for bringing this up. I truly wrote the book because my parents are no longer with us.

[11:39] Albert Butler: And as I experienced my father leaving, and then subsequently on the floor in the hospital, and my mother told me that she loved me for the last time, everything inside of me flooded inside and said, "My mom has had such a storied life and hasn't been written down, and nobody's going to know about it except for her children."

I used to travel a lot younger in my career, and I would go all over the world doing audits and reviews and counseling people on how to manage their money. And I had an assignment to go to Singapore. My wife and I, we were just recently married and we were already on our second child, and my daughter was just born. I can remember receiving the assignment to have to leave, and I just did not want to go. I wanted to be there with my wife and my two kids at the time, but I had to go.

I get on the flight and I doze off for a second, and it just hits me out of nowhere: What if something was to happen to me? What if I am not there to give my children the fatherly advice that my dad gave to me, my mother gave to me, my aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmothers—all these people who poured inside of me? What if I am gone and my wife is left to do all that on her own? Who's going to be there to tell it to them?

And on that flight, I made a decision to start writing down every quote, every saying, every scripture I can think of, every aphorism that's been shared with me. I started writing them down. This was not saying I was going to write a book one day. This was me just writing things down to make sure I can tell it to my children.

So, as my son began to get closer to the age of getting ready to graduate from high school, I promised myself that I would actually put this all inside of a book. I actually did it before he got ready to graduate, and I was able to present it over to him. He got the version that's on Amazon, but it was a very rough version. When I gave it to him, he just hugged me, and we both shared a tear at that time because it is truly quotes and advice from a father to his children to win in life. Not win at life, but in life.

[13:42] Albert Butler: We're going through life, Rosemary. When you say "at" something, that means that's an endpoint. No, this is in life, because there's ups and downs, lefts and rights, circles, sideways, and everything that you can imagine in life. That's why I wrote the book, and that's what it is.

[14:15] Albert Butler: No, I love it. I love it. This is amazing.

Moving from personal literary legacy, the narrative turns to commercial enterprise structure and core accounting principles.

Context & Strategic Importance

In this section, Albert lays out his primary business philosophy: "Accounting is the heartbeat of business." He illustrates how central financial tracking governs both commercial ventures and household budgets. Butler introduces two foundational organizational frameworks:

The Five Muscles of Enterprise:

Leadership / Head: Vision, thought processes, and strategic decision-making.

Operations / Production / Legs: Movement, physical execution, and underlying work.

Sales / Arms: External outreach, delivery, and offering goods and services to the world.

IT / Infrastructure / Blood Flow: Systems, data distribution, and operational flow.

Accounting / Heart: Central tracking mechanism maintaining organizational balance, causality, and economic survival.

The Fortune Teller Model:

Past: Financial reporting, historical documentation, and tax returns.

Present: Treasury management, current cash liquidity, and banking relationships.

Future: Budgeting, strategic forecasting, and predictive modeling.

By anchoring enterprise health to a central accounting heartbeat, Butler demonstrates how individuals and business owners maintain operational equilibrium and avoid structural collapse.

Transcript

[14:32] Albert Butler: Seriously, I know. Here we go. This is going to be fun. So, everybody in the audience, take your notepad out. It's going to be some real, real nuggets just for you. Here's why accounting is the heartbeat of business: To start a business, you need accounting. To run the business, you need accounting. To end a business, you need accounting. Let's put that frame up first.

So watch this: To run a household, you need accounting to budget your checkbook at the end of the month. You need accounting to be able to know what you've got to spend going forward for the next time you get paid. You need accounting. Accounting is the heartbeat of business, but it's also the key to personal finance success. When you layer it out this way, there is an equivalent exchange that takes place for everything that we do. Rosemary, every transaction, every decision, every cycle—it all comes back to the middle. Put it this way: When you decide you want to do something, that thought is coming from your mind. That's the head—that's your leadership piece. You decide to do it, so you start walking in it, and your legs really turn into your operations, your production, because you're moving. You decide you want to give it to the world and have a reach out into the world—that's your arms. That's your sales factor; you're giving what you're able to produce and giving it to the world. And you need to have a flow of that—your blood flow, your data. That's your IT. In the middle of all of that comes back to the heart: accounting. Everything has to be accounted for, from the decision that you decide to make, the budget that came in to be able to produce it with your legs to go out and do it, to be able to give it to the world to sell it. All of that comes back to the middle, the heartbeat of it all: accounting.

Rosemarie, what I just explained to you is called the Five Muscles of Enterprise. And those five muscles—leadership, operations, sales, IT infrastructure, and accounting (the heartbeat of all of it)—it has to all work consecutively together. At the same time, you can make decisions and not have your accounting. You can run operations and just go do stuff and not account for it. You can actually go sell some stuff and not account for it. You can go buy all the IT stuff you want to and not account for it. But there's going to come a day when your heartbeat is going to stop beating and you could have a heart attack because you don't know where your money went. You don't know how much stuff costs. You don't know how much you're supposed to sell it for. You don't even know, at a certain point, why you've got so little in the bank—all because of that accounting piece that's supposed to happen in the middle, the heartbeat, consistently beating, which means you have to consistently monitor that heartbeat.

I love accounting, Rosemarie. It is said to be a principle, but I almost think it's a law. It's causality: cause and effect. When I decide I want to do something on the right, I've got to do it on the left. It's cause and effect, give and take. And it's not just in the US, it's not just in your household, it's not just your personal checkbook—it is global, which also means it's universal. Think about your own body, Rosemarie. When you get sick, why are you sick? Because you're out of balance. Something inside of you is off; your accounting is off. When you make a bad decision in a deal and it goes the wrong way, why? Because you're out of balance; the accounting is off. When the planet has anything that goes wrong—earthquakes, typhoons, hurricanes—because something is off, something's out of balance. All of it's accounting at the end of the day.

So accounting is the heartbeat of business, Rosemary, and it's so powerful. I truly have to advocate that so everybody can know, that mom who's trying to do a side hustle: You have to do your accounting. And if you have a hard time doing your accounting, you need to build a relationship with a CPA because that person can truly help you understand why accounting is the heartbeat of business.

[16:58] Albert Butler: Let me give a little bit more before we move on, because I want to give even a clearer picture. Accounting is also a fortune teller. Watch this: Accounting tells the past through financial reporting and your tax return—all of that stuff that's happened already, that's the past. Accounting also tells you your present—your treasury, how much money you have in the bank, who you have banking relationships with, do you need to get credit from somewhere. Accounting tells you the present. Accounting also tells you the future—when you know your numbers, you're able to predict what's going to happen down the road. I can forecast and I can budget.

Now, all of that comes back to accounting. When you understand that accounting gives you that level of understanding, it gives you that level of discipline. It also gives you a level of clarity to be able to make decisions. It's almost like having a superpower, Rosemary. Those that do it, those that understand it—those are the ones that are going to win. They're really going to win. I encourage your entire audience: Let's win together.

Connecting business stability back to personal growth, the concluding section sets forth the required order for scaling and offers final inspiration.

Context & Strategic Importance

The final section outlines Albert’s strategic order of operations for growth: individual scaling must precede family scaling, which in turn must precede business scaling. Albert provides client engagement details and contact information. To close the episode, Albert delivers a closing statement for solo mothers experiencing isolation during life's "in-between" moments, reciting his personal "Champion Mantra" and emphasizing that ultimate triumph relies on continuous perseverance rather than temporary motivation.

Transcript

[17:48] Albert Butler: Interestingly enough, Rosemary, it's a relationship that is built from a fiduciary perspective. When individuals come and work with me, they have a problem. That problem could be from a tax issue, it could be the fact that you might not have solid financial statements, it might be that you are trying to do business and you can't understand the levels of different parts of your business on how to make the operations work. It can also be from a family perspective where families are having issues because you have not budgeted the right way, or like you just mentioned before, maybe an inheritance that's coming in and you don't know how to manage that. All of these are problems that people have, and those problems connect back to the family legacy.

I advocate this heavily, and I want everybody to even write this down, Rosemarie: You have to scale yourself before you can scale a business. I go one step further: You have to scale yourself before you can scale a family.

When you scale yourself, then you scale your family, then you can scale your business. The unfortunate side of things is that people decide they want to go into business, but they forget that when you go into business, you are birthing a new baby that needs every part of you to survive. It's completely dependent upon you. Which means that you've got to put so much time, so much energy, so much effort into growing this baby, that how are you going to have time for the family? How are you going to have time for yourself? So, if you have not scaled yourself and you haven't scaled your family and you go try to scale a business, you're forgetting about those that you're even doing the business for.

Because everybody, I will 100% tell you that when you are laying on that bed and you're beginning your transition from this life to the next life, that business is not going to be standing on that bed next to you, right? Your family, the people that you love, the people that you do everything for—the reason you put your pants on, your shirt on, and put your shoes on and go into this world every single day—those are the people that are going to be there. So you must scale them, too, to understand what you're doing, when you're doing it, and how you're doing it. And the only way that you can do that is to scale yourself first, because everybody's going to need you to be that person that they can lean on to get better and to grow and to scale. You're pouring it back into the family. So: Scale yourself, scale the family, then scale the business.

[19:45] Albert Butler: 100% albertbutler.com. Just go right there. You can also Google "Albert Butler CPA." You'll probably find three or four pages of all the stuff that I've been involved in. It's powerful, and I'm very excited about it because I've really been able to give back to the world on a level to understand how important accounting truly is.

[20:25] Albert Butler: This is what's important, and I'm going to share one of the first quotes that I wrote on that flight. Everyone in the audience: Life is turbulent. There will be hard times, there will be good times. So there will be ups, there will be downs. The problem that we run into is that nobody talks about the in-between. The in-between is in that space when you wake up at 2:00 in the morning, you walk into the bathroom and look in the mirror and you're like, "What am I doing? How am I doing this? And can I keep going?" When you look in that mirror and your reflection looks back, you tell your reflection this:

"I can because I will. I will because I can. I don't say can't because I can. I am a champion. I train like a champion. I practice like a champion. I work like a champion. Therefore, I will win like a champion. Nobody can beat me but me."

If you say that with conviction, you'll realize that is not motivation. That is perseverance. And you will because you can, and nobody can stop you but you. So persevere and keep going, everybody.

[21:48] Albert Butler: Thank you so much. I'm so glad we had a chance to talk today.