Allen Brouwer

Marketing, Entrepreneurship, High Performance

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New Year’s Resolutions Are Complete Crap!

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New Year’s Resolutions Are Complete Crap!

Only 8% of people are successful with their New Year’s resolutions. So instead of wasting time setting your New Year’s resolutions try what many successful people use to reach their goals time and time again.

So grateful to Shopify for bringing us here not only because Fiji is such a paradise but for also giving us the opportunity to learn from great mentors and for putting together an awesome group of people!

This feels like a dream! But it’s real life.

Keep on going for your dreams!

Share this to anyone who you think would benefit from it!

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Transcript:

strong>Allen: New Year’s resolutions are complete crap. They don’t work and actually only 8 percent of people reach their New Year’s resolutions that they set in January. The reason why New Year’s resolutions don’t work, is because it gives too much time for people to procrastinate. What we recommend for you is to set 3-month or 13-week or 90-day goals.

Cathryn: The reason we set a three month goal instead of one year goal is a three month goal doesn’t give you enough time to procrastinate and it’s a short enough time that you can see the finish line in sight so you’re more likely to get stuff done.

Allen: And this 3-month goal setting system is what many highly successful people use to reach their goals time and time again.

Cathryn: We take the guess work out of the goal. And give you a system so you don’t feel overwhelmed. A successful tomorrow starts today.

Allen: So before you go to bed get everything that you have to do tomorrow out of your head and onto paper. This will allow you to structure your day so you can knock off the most important tasks first thing in the morning.

Cathryn: The reason why having your goal front of mind is so important is because your reticular activating system, which is in your brain, will start to recognize things that will help you get to that goal.

If you put your goals on every single day you’re gonna start to notice things that relate to that goal and you’re much more likely to hit it. Because you’re aware everyday.

Allen: So if you want a successful 2018 plan your New Year’s resolution in three month chunks. Make sure you map out your days the night before and book end your day with morning and evening routines.

It’s a Wrap Fiji!

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It's a Wrap Fiji!

Had a wonderful time in Fiji with amazing people and learned a lot from incredible mentors such as Tony Robbins, Tim Ferriss, and a lot more. On our last day, we carved our name in a stone as part of Namale Resort's tradition.

This was a fantastic treat from Shopify!

Till next time Fiji!

Share this video to anyone who you want to inspire to live a life of their dreams and have a life they would be proud of!

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Transcript:

So, right now there's a tradition.

– Anyone who stays at Namale Resort right before they leave they need to go carve their name in a stone. They step up the stones for us and now we’re going to carve our name and stamp that we’ve been here.

And then what they do is they use those stones throughout the resort, so like if you see down here, these stones have all been marked with past visitors stamping their time here and they’re all throughout the resort.

It’s the last day.

Had a great talk with Toby from Shopify and Harley from Shopify to wrap things up, a one on one between Cathryn and I. It was really nice.

Last thing we did was just to carve our name in some cement and now we’re loading up the bus to head back.

It’s surreal to leave.

I’ve loved the beautiful scenery that we’ve had this entire time. Beautiful people and Fuji was awesome.

So, like this video, subscribe and share this video with someone you think would benefit from it by being inspired to live a life of their dreams and to live and have a life that they would be proud of.

I’m Allen, guys, thanks for watching.

Photo by Andre Benz on Unsplash

Getting Mentored by Tony Robbins in Fiji! Does It Get Better Than This?

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Getting Mentored by Tony Robbins in Fiji! Does It Get Better Than This?

We had the privilege of getting mentored by Tony Robbins.

We learned A LOT!

During the mentoring session, I liked how Tony forced us on the spot to think of solutions for our business and then we worked it out.

Click play to see more of my Fiji adventure of fun and learning!

Share this video to anyone who you think would benefit from this!

One of the best moments of the Shopify Build a BIGGER Business, was getting to learn directly from Tony himself.

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Transcript:

Good morning guys. We just had an awesome morning session with Lauren from Shopify.

And had breakfast. Cathryn and I collaborated. Now we’re waiting for Tony to show up, have the mentoring session with him. We have one-on-one sessions with him later this morning. And I’ll let you guys know how that goes.

Now, this has been an unreal experience. Just the location, looking out over everything, as we’re being mentored by people like Lauren, from Shopify, and Marie, just amazing people.

Tony just finished up his session with Ben from Gymshark. We’re already mic’d up, so now it’s just waiting for everyone on set to get ready.

Tony is right below us, so I have to whisper. I can hear him giving advice, and helping the Gymshark’s guy with some challenges that he’s having in his business. And, not gonna lie, a little bit intimidated because they made us prep for this, as far as know all these answers to your company and to your business. Know the numbers, know customer data, know all this stuff.

So I hope that we’re able to present our business and what we want to do in a way where Tony can help us. So, it’s going to be interesting for sure, and I’ll let you guys know how it goes.

Hey guys, so we just wrapped up the mentoring session with Tony, and Cathryn…

– That was intense.

– It was intense indeed. Cathryn, what was your favorite part, or what was your big takeaway?

– Just trying to figure out what business we need to be in. Which is something Allen and I have talked about, but I really think that Tony asked the important questions. It made us think differently about what we need to do next, and a couple of steps to get there.

– Yeah, and I also liked how he forced us, on the spot, to think of solutions for our business in real time. And then we worked it out, which I thought was great. Rather than just asking a question and having us think about it later. He had us sit there and think about it.

– Right in front of him.

– Right in front of him, and then we worked through those answers with him. So now we have an interview with Business Insider.

– Hello.

– Now we’re doing it over the Pacific Ocean.

Hey guys, it’s Cathryn and my last day in Fiji, along with the other winners of the Shopify, Build a Bigger Business competition. Can’t believe we’re about to leave. So, I just packed up all my stuff, we have about a half day mentoring with all the other mentors and it’s in a panel form. So Tim Ferriss, Joe from Airbnb, Marie Forleo, but this whole experience has been just a beautiful, wonderful trip.

I feel really appreciative of being here, and I appreciate all the other winners. Thank you to Shopify for putting on these wonderful events. Thank you for… Harley, no shirt, I mean I got a shirt, sorry man. I wanted to say thank you to Tony Robbins for hosting us here at his wonderful resort. It has been spectacular.

The hospitality has been 10 star. It’s unreal. I want to thank the Best Self’s team. So Best Self Co., the team, thank you for everything that you do on a daily basis to strive to hit higher standards, to give our customers an experience that goes above and beyond. We have such incredible ideas to take away from this event, and ingest into our business, it’s going to revolutionize the way that we’ve been conducting business so far for the past 18 months.

It’s going to just change the way we approach, how we interact with our customers, how we build our team. And it’s invaluable. It’s been an incredible experience celebrating this with all of you, and I’m extremely happy to have new friends who are trying to do something great in the world, and push themselves outside of their comfort zone on a daily basis.

Thank you Cathryn for the support. Thank you for Lauren, for just being a wonderful and supporting wife, and holding down the fort while I’m here. I hate to say good bye. Look, I woke up to this every freakin’ morning. And now I have to leave.

But, you know what?

Life isn’t too bad. I just appreciate the fact that I’m able to experience this. Can’t wait to bring the teachings of what we learned here, and help all of you in your endeavors, and help elevate your lives.

So, I’m Allen, thanks for watching guys.

 

Fun & Adventure in Fiji Continues!

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Fun & Adventure in Fiji Continues!

Take a sneak peek of the fun and adventure I had in Fiji!

This was such an amazing experience! One that would really stick with me.

So grateful to Shopify for bringing us here not only because Fiji is such a paradise but for also giving us the opportunity to learn from great mentors and for putting together an awesome group of people!

This feels like a dream! But it’s real life.

Keep on going for your dreams!

Share this to anyone who you think would benefit from it!

Listen Here

Transcript:

Good morning everyone. Yesterday was such a crazy day.

To fill you in on what we did last night, all three of my batteries died from recording the adventure, the trip to Fiji and then the first half of Fiji and I wasn’t able to capture the rest of last evening.

So what we ended up doing last night was going to dinner, but before dinner we had a kava ceremony. This is where the Fiji natives sit down and create this kava root drink and pass it around. It’s a tradition. There’s a lot of singing, where you sit around in a circle and they play some music and sing. And it was a lot of fun! After that we ended up sitting down for a very long dinner.

The table was probably 50 feet long, because there’s so many people here. We had everyone from all the winners, all of Shopify, most of the mentors. It was a really good time. Then, after dinner, we closed out the night with several rounds of bowling, which was a lot of fun.

Now I’m up this morning. I have this beautiful sunrise right behind me and it’s just a wonderful day in Fiji already. I am going to meditate. I’m going to jump in some cold plunge and do some water therapy and then let’s see what else we have set for today, because I’m sure they’re going to top yesterday, now that everyone’s recharged and regrouped. So let’s do it!

Sunrise.

Had a wonderful morning so far. Spent it meditating, doing some drone action, spent an hour in the spa at the hydrotherapy center or the area that’s at. What they have there, they have a massage waterfall. They have a plunge pool that’s set to 18 degrees Celsius, so you jump in and it just shocks your body and wakens it up. They have several tubs set to different temperatures to help rejuvenate yourself, and a sauna.

And all of that overlooks the Pacific Ocean and it is wonderful. So I spent an hour in there this morning and then grabbed some breakfast and now I’m heading to my first group mentoring session with Tim Ferriss, which is gonna be freakin’ awesome.

So let’s go!

Just had an awesome group mentoring session with Tim. He’s right behind me, talking with Tony back there. Tim is so smart. It’s unreal and the fact that he helps break down– What do you like about Tim? – You were about to say it. I think the 80/20 stuff for an entrepreneur that doesn’t have much time that actually wants to get really good at stuff. The fact that he figures that 20% to get 80%, I just think is hyper effective.

Again, at his stage he can devote time to stuff, but for like guys like you and I who are still grinding really hard, we kinda just need to figure out how to do it fast. And I love that. I love the effectiveness proficiency of it. – Absolutely. Just breaking it down, making it simple.

Now we need to go and change and get into some close toed shoes. They’re asking for, I don’t know. Apparently they have something special for us planned, but I’ll take it, whatever it is.

We just wrapped up our mentoring session with Joe from Airbnb. It was really great talking about culture and growth and scaling and adversity. He said he spent about three years just constantly being told no, no, no, no and this won’t work, this won’t work, this won’t work. That was really interesting.

So we just broke into two teams. My team is Boola Badass and the other team is Unstoppable … It’s unstoppable something. I don’t know, but they’re gonna lose, because it’s a competition. Here’s the deal. We’re climbing up some freakin’ poles and then we’re jumping off of them. Climbing up poles and jumping off.

So these are the poles that we’re jumping off of and I don’t know how we’re going to be caught, but I guess we’ll figure it out. Everyone’s a little nervous and a little quiet. – I’m not nervous. – Yeah, right.

Cathryn is on team two right now and she’s on her way up, so let’s go see her take a leap of faith. Way to go. Great job. Great job. – Nice job. – Amazing. – Ooh, Cathryn did so freakin’ good.

I’m not gonna lie, I’m a little nervous. And more nervous for the part where you get right up to the tip top and have to balance on one foot and put yourself up. I think that’s where I’m most nervous. We’ll be going in a bit.

So we’re just about to head to dinner, but just a recap from today. We did that pillar exercise where you jumped off the top of the phone pole. I just wanted to tell you one key thing that I took away from that and recently I’ve been feeling a little nervous about what move to make with business, what move do we make with the company and everything like that, as far as getting to the next level.

And I’ve been really in my head about it and making sure that everything’s perfect before moving on to the next thing or taking the business in the next direction or hiring that person that I know we need, but am scared to, because I wanna make sure that everything’s perfect.

While I was up there, the way that it was setup I was nervous and started getting way too in my head about everything getting perfect for me to stand up on top of the pole. I was thinking all the things like what if my foot clips this peg on the way up or my leg is feeling tired right now, am I going to be able to put all of my weight onto it and will it support me; will I be able to squat and pull myself up; is my balance correct. And I was doing it all for the sake of getting on top of the pole as perfectly as possible.

What I realized is if you’re in your head and thinking too much about what is going on and what’s happening, you’re not acting from your gut and acting from my gut has helped Cathryn and I grow BestSelf to extraordinary levels and it just made me come back down to reality, start acting more from my gut and just made me realize just do it, just take action and don’t worry about being perfect in whatever action you’re taking.

Just take action and everything else will fall into place. So that was one big takeaway for me.

But now the Boola cart just showed up. It’s time to go to dinner and hang out with some awesome friends.

Fiji Is Freaking Awesome!

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Fiji Is Freaking Awesome!

Shopify flew us to Fiji and it is such a BEAUTIFUL place!

Photo by Chad McMillan on Unsplash

Check out the amazing beauty and charm of Fiji and snippets of the adventures I had there.

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Transcript:

There she is, in all her glory. We made it here safe and sound. Bye jet. Ah, freakin' crazy. I gotta go. Woo!

So we’re running really, really behind. We may not catch this flight. Fingers crossed that doesn’t happen. Worst case scenario, apparently, is our luggage stays behind, because there’s a cutoff. All right, I see familiar faces, so we may be in the clear.

All right guys. Cathryn and I got our tickets to Fiji. Oh, and by the way, we found out we’re flying business class.

– Booya.

– Yeah. We made it. We made it! And as you can see, there’s no one behind me, because we’re actually the first to board. Cathryn, what seat are we in?

Cathryn: 4E.

Allen: 4E. Hello. 4E.

Guys. It’s a good setup, yeah. So we just got on and we have literally taken over the entire first class.

All right, we just landed in Fiji. This is the plane that we were on. This experience, flying over here, was awesome. We were able to lay back in first class, business class, relax and just really enjoy the experience of flying, which is, I know, very contradictory to say. But it was definitely an experience, for sure.

Just got on the tarmac and we’re about to board this plane to hop to the next island.

Woo! Hello. Check this place out. The flight was easy. Nope. Looked out over the water, meditated a little bit. Just been soaking it all in. Just being very appreciative of this opportunity to experience such amazing things.

This place is cool. We finally got here. It only took us 26 hours.

– [Woman] Worth it.

– Yeah. I can see a little bit of the resort right now and it looks freakin’ incredible. We have about 20 people outside, waiting for us to get off the bus and let’s go do that.

That was one hell of a welcoming and it is awesome. I wanna walk up here and show you guys the scenery. Here’s the tables where we’re having brunch and probably lunch, but look at this greenery. You can see the ocean through it. It is freakin’ awesome. It is hot here though. Yeah. Woo!

It’s been a little bit of a process, this morning, getting our keys, getting rooms, our luggage. There’s three different resorts all within one resort here and luggage has been over in other places and this and that, but we finally figured it out. We finally got our room keys. They just dropped us off, the golf cart. They call it a bulla cart.

This place is incredible! Look at this view. How amazing is that? This room is unreal. It’s beautiful. It’s open. It’s airy. It’s huge. Woo!

What’s up guys? We just got back from a run. I ran around the resort; one, because sitting for 26 hours is not ideal, so I felt like I just needed to move and sweat and just get up and move around. The resort is incredible and I regret not bringing my phone or my camera with me, just because I wanted to capture everything that I was seeing. But I’ll give you guys a tour in a little while.

Right now I have to run back to the other side of the resort and get with the crew, because they’re gonna give everybody a tour. So maybe that’s when I film each location for you. Let’s do it.

Check out this area right behind me. This slopes down to the beach. Then there’s hammocks to hang out and I think Cathryn’s room is somewhere around here, back behind me. This place is freakin’ beautiful.

Apparently this shoal line that’s right behind me, goes out to the edge and then what happens is it cliffs off about 20 feet, 30 feet, something like that, which is cool, because I wanna snorkel out along the edge of that and see what wildlife I can see out there.

I got seven down. All right, just got done getting showered and dressed and shaved. I feel so much better, especially after traveling for a full day, you just feel freakin’ gross.

So now I’m walking back to have lunch and possibly do an interview or some filming for the Shopify gang and continue doing what they have planned for us while we’re here in freakin’ Fiji. Cathryn, what did you think about the interviews?

– It was fun.

– It was fun. I’m blind from looking at the sunset.

We Got To Ring The NYSE Bell Again!

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We Got To Ring The NYSE Bell Again!

Fair Warning: You will see a very excited Allen in the video below.

Ringing the NYSE Bell! (Photo Credit: NYSE Twitter)

Yup!

Winning the Shopify Build a BIGGER Business Competition can do that to you!

It is a CRAAAZZZZYYY and very memorable experience!

Getting to ring the NYSE bell again, and seeing the Best Self logo in the NYSE is so surreal!

Hope this video inspires you to go bigger with your dreams!

Keep pushing on!

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Transcript:

Good morning everyone!

It is about 5:15 A.M. I’m just getting out of the shower. I’ve already tried locating a cup of coffee but there is none to be had here until 6:30.

I guess people sleep in at this hotel. So I’m gonna have to wait to get a cup of coffee.

But today is so freaking exciting! Ringing the New York Stock Exchange bell at 9:00 A.M. this morning. It is going to be unreal!

But before I do anything else today, let me jump into my suit.

Woo! Alright, check this out! Three-piece suit!Ready to go for the New York Stock Exchange opening bell.

So it is just now 6:45 I’m ready to to grab a cup of coffee, hang out for a bit, and then meet up with everybody to jump on the shuttles and head to down to Wall Street.

Let’s do it!

So we’re down stairs, I got my coffee,. Cathryn’s grabbing hers right now, she’s ordering it. Everyone just walked out to the shuttle, everyone’s looking sharp in

their suits, in their dresses and, god, it’s gonna be great, great day!

I’m getting really excited for this. Cathryn looks beautiful. We’re ready to rock and roll. We’ve got our caffeine, let’s do this.

Holy shit balls! So we just got to Wall Street. We have some winners right behind me. And man!!! Seeing this banner in daylight is freaking unreal!

Check this out.

It is so surreal seeing your logo. It’s gotta be the size of me. It’s gotta be six feet high – the BestSelf logo.

It’s so incredible!

So Cathryn and I, we’re excited, we’re nervous, we get to ring the bell in a little bit. I can’t wait to experience it again, with these winners, some incredible people, let’s see how their feeling.

So we’re about to through security and then we’ll get some fancy name badge they have for us, for the rest of the day. Now we’re just waiting to take photos outside, photos

inside, photos everywhere.

So we’re having our photos professionally done with the banner behind us. We’re doing a bunch of group shots. We do the winners, winners at Shopify, each group by themselves, so

now we’re just waiting for our business name to be called so we can have our photos professionally taken. That’s what we’re doing now.

Check it out.

This is crazy!

This is unreal! So this is different room than we were in last year and this room is absolutely gorgeous.  It’s incredible! Time for some b-roll.

This place is so incredible! Everyone’s being blown away by the room, the decor, everything. It’s really awesome, so now it’s time. I see people are starting to eat. I’m gonna get some coffee and some water. Tom Farley just made an announcement and did a little speech, presentation for all of us. Now we’re heading up to go…to go ring, ring the bell.

This is unreal, un-freaking real!

We got Daymond John back there, we got Tom Farley over here. Man, this is crazy! look at all this news.

[Woman] Looking good Allen.

[Allen] You too.

This is it! We’re about to walk up the stairs, hook around this corner.

Okay, woo!

(Applause and cheering)

[Man]- Well done, well done, you all passed the test. Come back for the IPOs. Congratulations.

It has been unreal so far. We were up there ringing the bell with the president, Daymond, the rest of the winners. It’s been crazy.

Now we’re off to being shuffled around. I don’t know where we’re going now, probably back to the main room before we do all of our press and stuff like that. So crazy!

So what did you guys think?

– Amazing.

– It was crazy.

– What a cool experience.

– That was unbelievable.

[Allen] It was.

– Very cool.

[Allen] Guys from the UK what did you think?

– Awesome! So wicked.

– Wicked, among other words.

So we just wrapped up our mentoring sessions. I had a little 20-minute break, which I needed. I needed just some down town because this morning’s been so crazy.

The mentoring sessions that we had was with Tom, the president of the New York Stock Exchange, Daymond John, and Jon, the

founder and CEO of Cheddar. And actually we’re on our way back to the floor to do an interview on Cheddar now.

And we’re back! I’ve got

Cathryn somewhere behind me. I’ll slow down, let her catch up. So Cathryn and I did a

Cheddar interview last year, it was a lot of fun. They’re really laid back, interesting people.

So, that was interesting, fast paced, very quick and short answers, but I think it went well. It went better than last year, that’s for sure.

– Really, what happened last year?

– I don’t know I just wasn’t expecting it last year. Last year you did that, it was like a 30-second thing and it went round robin, around everybody and I thought it was the same style. So it was just like, I’m Allen for BestSelf, thank you. And then they’re like, what else you can you tell me, and I’m like, oh wait there’s more talking.

So now we’re going down. We’re gonna do one more mentor session, and then lunch. And then possibly a nap, I don’t know what’s left. I’m sure a lot, I’m sure a lot.

We just wrapped up our afternoon session. Now we’re being herded into the vans again, like cattle. But now we’re off to lunch and lunch is gonna be about a half hour away, I’m not sure where it is, who’s gonna be there, any of the information but, it’s a beautiful day and I’m upset because I did not bring my sunglasses.

We just got to Bryant Park for lunch. I don’t know where, probably going to this grill right here. But, yeah, it’s gonna be good! I’ll let you know what we have to eat.

We just got done with lunch, everyone’s behind me. I was almost about to take an Uber back to the hotel to take a little nap but then they sprung on me, or on us. That there’s another surprise destination.

So I have to tough it out until I can get back and take a nap and then rally for this evening. Because there’s a big party for this evening as well. So, let me go catch up with everyone before I lose them. Let’s head there.

So we just got to Time Square and people are walking around very strange, where is it, what’s this. I’m like what the, what are we talking about, what are we looking for, and then oh…There it is!

Oh, shit!

Boom!

It’s crazy, it’s crazy, it’s crazy!

Oh baby, it’s time! Took a nap, I’m feeling

refreshed, feeling ready to go. We’re gonna head to dinner and then do an all white party.

What do I mean by an all white party?

This, all white baby, head to toes. And actually I lied, it’s going to be an all white or an all black party. I chose all white because, that’s my style. White tee shirts, white clothes, keep it clean.

Alright, let’s go head down to Cathryn’s room, meet up wit her and then we need to run downstairs. Wanna grab one maybe two espresso’s and then go to dinner.

We gotta be on the shuttle at seven so I only have about five minutes, let’s do it.

How did those BestSelf products get here? I’ll tell you how, we brought them here and now I need to figure out how to give them to all the winners of Shopify bigger business competition.

So we just had an awesome dinner. We’re getting dessert right now, we’re finishing up our cocktails, and just having really good conversation with people.

We got Chris and Christina. So just having a really good time. I wasn’t gonna pull this out but figured I might for the time being.

So we just wrapped up dinner and now we are going to head to the Standard Hotel, go to the rooftop. And I’ve actually been there before if you’ve watched other videos.

I talk about getting out of your comfort zone. I went to my friend Selena Soo’s five-year business anniversary at the Standard, up at the same exact place that we’re going to right now.

Beautiful spot.

I’m gonna give you a shot overlooking the entire city. I don’t know what the moon’s like to night because I’m surrounded by buildings but hopefully there’s a nice moon, and let’s head there.

We just got to the Standard. Everyone’s jumping out of the taxi’s as we speak. And I have a feeling we’re going to the rooftop right?

[Cathryn] Maybe another horrible view for you.

[Allen] Horrible view.

Guys, guess who’s here, Bryan Roberts! Let’s go find him.

[Bryan] So good to see you bro.

[Allen] I love that you’re wearing white.

[Bryan] Yeah, we did it, we did it.

[Allen] We’re the only ones wearing white. Everyone else is wearing

black, we’re wearing white.

[Bryan] We had to be the out lines, you know how it is man.

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