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EP37: Leo Rivera - The Next Generation Perspective On Regenerative Design & The Future Of The Planet
40 Plays3 days ago
“Today people are driven away from farming, gardening, and moving towards technology side, which is pretty much decreasing our earth.”
A healthier future starts with choosing better inputs—better soil, better materials, and better habits. The episode explores how real regeneration comes from everyday decisions: rejecting cheap chemicals, composting what we consume, understanding where pollutants travel, and recognizing that the Earth is something we borrow, not something we own. It highlights the idea that restoring land begins with restoring our relationship to it, and practical steps like composting, planting, and avoiding glyphosates can dramatically improve soil, water, and long-term health.
Leo Rivera shares how his generation views the planet and why the smallest actions matter most. Leo explains how harmful chemicals move through soil into waterways, why composting is one of the simplest regenerative tools we have, and how grounding, gardening, and time in nature help counter a world increasingly dominated by screens. He brings clarity to how better choices ripple outward into healthier ecosystems.
Leo is a 10-year-old creator with a passion for gardening, soil health, regenerative thinking, and digital awareness. His curiosity, early environmental understanding, and desire to help others learn make him a powerful representative of the generation inheriting the planet.
Learn more & connect:
You can reach Leo at georgerivera@georgerivera.com
https://buybacktimeformula.com/
Explore these valuable resources to further your journey in regenerative design:
Discover more about Regenerative design at Paulownia Landscape Architects. https://www.paulownia-la.com/.
Dive into the Twelve Laws of Nature and unlock the secrets of harmonizing with our planet at https://www.12lawsofnature.com/.
Fulfill your garden aspirations with expert guidance from the Garden of Your Dreams masterclass at https://www.gardenofyourdreams.com/.
Ready to take actionable steps towards your dream garden? Book a complimentary 30-minute training session with Matthieu for immediate results: https://calendly.com/garden-of-your-dreams.
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Transcript
Introduction to Regenerative Practices
00:00:00
Speaker
Today, people are driven away from farming, gardening, and moving towards technology side, which is pretty much decreasing our earth. We use up the wildlife for disposal purposes.
00:00:15
Speaker
Even oceans, we're just dumping stuff into the ocean. Truth is, it is really bad. Hello and welcome to the Regenerative Design podcast. I'm your host, Mathieu Mehuys, and in this show, I interview the leading authorities in the world of regenerative practices.
00:00:33
Speaker
People who do good and do well. Are you a person that cares about your environment and our planet? Are you a person that wants to leave the planet to our children to be something that we can be truly proud of?
00:00:45
Speaker
something to enjoy for many generations to come. But are you also a person that believes we can do all of this and do good in business? Well, I have really good news for you.
00:00:57
Speaker
You're here listening to the podcast that is all about making our planet a better place and making your business more successful. Enjoy the show.
00:01:09
Speaker
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Regenerative Design Podcast. And today we have a very special guest, like we have always special guests on our podcast, but today a very special guest.
00:01:20
Speaker
His name is Leo Rivera. And the what is actually particularly special about Leo, first thing is that he's extremely smart and he knows a lot about everything. But the most astonishing thing is that he's only 10 years old.
00:01:34
Speaker
so And I'm very excited to interview Leo for my podcast because I had this thought that, okay, we're trying to do something good for the planet because we want to sustain it for many generations to come.
00:01:46
Speaker
And as it turns out, Leo and all the other people from his generation are the next generation. So I really wanted to understand from Leo's perspective what we should be focusing on. And so I'm very excited to have him on the show.
Leo's Journey into Media and Education
00:01:59
Speaker
And so Leo, welcome to the show. How are you doing today? I'm doing good. Thank you for having me here. Yeah, I'm very excited. So yeah, tell me a bit more about your backstory, even though you've only been 10 trips around the sun, 10 years on this beautiful planet, I think you have already accomplished a lot.
00:02:16
Speaker
And so you're working on your own podcast. So yeah, tell me where where did all of this start? Well, it all started one day when um I started playing video games and I really enjoyed it.
00:02:27
Speaker
So I decided to make a gaming channel. And wouldn't say that it didn't fail, but I thought it could get a bit more attention.
00:02:38
Speaker
Maybe I had something that would bring people to this one and I could lead a loophole to my other one that would bring attention. So that's when I decided to look around on the YouTube page, see if anyone was doing interviewing.
00:02:53
Speaker
And i looked around, no one was doing too much of interviewing people. So I can take the spotlight and kind of, you know, just mold it into something good and you know, add, say, hey, go to my channel here, go to my channel there. So that's how pretty much it all started.
00:03:12
Speaker
I love that. And so what you most want to accomplish with your channel, is there already ah an idea or you just want to try it out and see where where you go into the future or you have a specific goal or a vision?
00:03:23
Speaker
I actually have ah two YouTube channels. ah So um for my interviewing one, I wanted to be more of, I wanted to be a big success, I would say, you know.
00:03:35
Speaker
um I would say that inter interviewing people can mean a lot. If you teach someone about something and if they learn and listen to it, then they can dedicate themselves to it.
00:03:48
Speaker
Wow, that's very smart. So you want to look at interviewing people that that have accomplished certain things that you and maybe your other people from your generation or even older people can can learn from? Is that like the main reason why you want to
Strategies for Viral Content Creation
00:04:02
Speaker
do this?
00:04:02
Speaker
main reason why I want to do this is yes, I want people to learn. I want, I want to be like, you know, space for people to learn and, you know, to push, see what, you know, humanity can do really.
00:04:18
Speaker
So i find people like ah business people and you, but you on and I look for people, interview them, say, Hey, let's schedule date, interview, um grab the files, upload it all that stuff.
00:04:32
Speaker
Wow. And so you're learning everything about even how to manage a podcast, how to upload it, how to do all that. But I have a feeling that's like peanuts for you because you're very tech savvy, as they would say. Yeah. I mean, I, you know, I can do some stuff. Not all of it, but I know my way around a computer.
00:04:51
Speaker
Nice. That's amazing. And so let's talk a bit more about YouTube because we first met in Canada of all places. Yes. Because your father is a really dear friend of mine.
00:05:03
Speaker
And we went out for an Indian dinner. It was very funny because your dad was going to the, he ordered like to reserve at the restaurant and he did it with an Indian accident. I thought that hilarious.
00:05:15
Speaker
And so we entered and he continued, we entered the restaurant and he continued to talk. indian but your dad clearly doesn't look like an indian so i think that that was hilarious yeah and then at that time you you blew me away with the amount of knowledge you have about um social media how to create viral posts so can you enlighten a little bit here for the listeners that that want to become better at reaching more people with their message like what what is like the the top three things that you should be focusing on if you want to reach more people with your message
00:05:48
Speaker
I would say if you want to make a channel about gaming, make a channel about gaming. If you want to make a channel about anything, here's what i would say. First of all, in any category, there's always going to be a trend.
00:06:02
Speaker
And so find that trend. If you can incorporate that trend into your post or videos or shorts, you can gain some views. Now, i don't I won't say all five, but I can at least one.
00:06:18
Speaker
If you're making a YouTube video, and here's is a and but here's a good setting that I would recommend to use or not to use. Whenever you make a video, YouTube is going to say, hey, is your view is your video suitable for kids or not? Now, of course, if you're doing something like opening up toys or something you know like that,
00:06:38
Speaker
Then yeah, but if you're recording something like business or gardening tips for people see, sometimes YouTube might upload that to YouTube Kids, what ah youtube kids which is like a younger YouTube for smaller kids and stuff.
00:06:53
Speaker
And... and Let's be honest, what kid is going to watch you know business tutorials you know or something that we're probably going to not watch? you know So i would say no to that setting because YouTube is going to think, mark oh, let's send it to YouTube kids when yeah when most people are watching just YouTube.
00:07:14
Speaker
Yeah, that's very clever. That's that's smart. And so what other things do you think can help to make your content go viral? I think you you said a few things about like when you record your video, you should do a few things.
00:07:28
Speaker
Can you explain a little bit more about that? Yeah, so I actually learned this from a YouTube video. um You basically want to um create a loophole for them. So if you already have videos, like a couple, let's say, right? Yeah.
00:07:42
Speaker
and they're not performing too well. Well, if you create a playlist, arm then that can be a game changer. So in your newest video that you make, right? When you're about to create, let's say your fourth or fifth one, right?
00:07:56
Speaker
You're about to create that. um you um In certain videos, you have a chance to upload card or like an in-screen type of thing. So when you upload those,
00:08:08
Speaker
Most people are not going to watch all your videos. YouTube is just a browsing place, you know, pretty much. So what you're going to do is most people click away from the video and within like 20 seconds.
00:08:21
Speaker
If you can add a card for another video saying um with a custom message or a teaser message saying um something with curiosity to grab their mind, right?
00:08:33
Speaker
Hmm. A hook, as would say, right? It's kind of like a hook. Is that what it is? Yes. It's like a fish hook almost. Except my fullit ah a fish hook that goes around and around and never stops pretty much.
00:08:45
Speaker
So so ah you're going to place it within at least 10 to 5 seconds or 5 to 10 seconds within the first video. You're like, oh, what's that? Let me click on it. um And that will bring them to like a playlist or a different video, right?
00:09:00
Speaker
And with what you can do is throughout random times, of your video, you can ah add like ah like a card for your playlist or for a video.
00:09:11
Speaker
And then um if you have another channel that you want to get views on, go ahead, put that at the end credits scene or just the the end scene really, if ah YouTube allows you to do that.
00:09:24
Speaker
Put in there with a playlist and other videos. bring that playlist to another video with that same playlist in there, they'll watch that, they'll watch that, and it's basically this whole cycle pretty much.
00:09:37
Speaker
Wow. And that's how to farm views in one sitting. So you have four videos, you make a playlist of all four, one viewer would only watch one. You add a playlist and some other techniques, you get four views within one sitting.
00:09:50
Speaker
Wow, that's brilliant. I never even thought of that. And it sounds complicated to me, but you've clearly figured that out already. So that's that's incredible. um Do you have any other tips or tricks for our listeners if they want to get more reach on social media or on YouTube?
00:10:07
Speaker
I would say always look for the trend. There's always going to be trend within each category or within a category you might be trying to upload.
00:10:18
Speaker
so if it's gaming, look for a gaming trend. If it's a dog, look for a dog trend or anything, cooking, whatever. Make that trend and you should gain at least a couple followers or subscribers if you're TikTok or YouTube.
Sustainable Choices and Environmental Awareness
00:10:35
Speaker
Yeah. They should look at it and they'll be like, hey, this guy makes other videos. Let's check it out. So, yeah, that's it. That's very clever and it's very simple to do. like For me, if for my gardening work, I can just go and see what what new trends in gardening are already existing and I can i can make a video about that and and use that to attract more people into my channel. that's Thank you for explaining that. That's very wise.
00:11:01
Speaker
So I really appreciate that. you know Leo, i or is there anything else you want to say about YouTubing and social media? Um, no, um, I guess not.
00:11:14
Speaker
But I did like the trend you did. I actually watched one of your videos and I liked the trend that you did with the plastic, um, rug thingy on the gardens. I, doubt that was a nice trend.
00:11:26
Speaker
And it did get like a thousand views. Oh, it got like, I think it actually got almost like several million views. Yeah. yeah like So it's pretty incredible. Like I think half of the population of my own country, which is 11 million, has watched my my simple short video in just a few seconds.
00:11:45
Speaker
But ah i I think I hit a trend because it was about like people using plastic in their garden. And everyone knows that plastic is, or most people know that plastic is bad for the earth, right? So I was like, why do people put plastic in their garden?
00:11:59
Speaker
Like, we know that it's bad. So I wanted to make a video that people are like, oh, yeah, that's true. um So thank you for for highlighting that. um That being said, I want to talk more about like plastic and why the current state of our Earth and what do you think needs to happen with our planet.
00:12:18
Speaker
And why I want to ask you is it because I came across this beautiful proverb from indigenous people that said, and I want you to listen carefully, it says, we don't inherit the land from our ancestors, we actually borrow it from our children.
00:12:35
Speaker
So I'm going to say that again, we don't inherit the land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. And so as it turns out, you are our children, you're the next generation.
00:12:46
Speaker
So I'm not like if I'm a farmer or I have a garden, I'm not I didn't get that land from my ancestors. Technically, i I did, but actually I'm borrowing it from you. So I'm i'm very curious since we, my generation and older people are are borrowing the planet from your generation. What do you think we should be focusing on?
00:13:05
Speaker
I think maybe focus on ah going into research. If you see the cheapest option, it's not going to be the best. The cheapest option is not always the best. I would recommend at least looking to see if there's a healthier alternative.
00:13:21
Speaker
In most cases, ah people find the cheapest, which is usually the worst. And the reason why behind that is because most of the cheapest ones is companies will ah use a secret tactic, which the find the cheapest thing that they can make.
00:13:37
Speaker
They put it into one like formula pretty much. smash it together, and basically they raise it for just a tiny bit higher so that they're making more money. And usually they'll sell it for $5 when the stuff that they bought was only $1. Oh, wow.
00:13:52
Speaker
oh wow And most of it is pretty much from a garbage dumpster. Yeah, and that's like even similar to that plastic in the soil. That's what what's been happening.
00:14:04
Speaker
So that's been very interesting. And I want to know, like, what what do you know about the current condition of our planet Earth? And how did you learn about it? I'm just curious to know about that and how you're actually, how do your...
00:14:19
Speaker
How does your generation or your friends, how do they look about that? you talk about it? Is there something that you... Yeah, what's what's the what do you talk about when it comes to the to our planet?
00:14:31
Speaker
Yeah, i think that today people are driven away from farming, gardening, and moving towards technology side, which is pretty much decreasing our earth, pretty much.
00:14:44
Speaker
We use up the wildlife for... ah disposal purposes, um even oceans, we're just dumping stuff into the ocean, which seems really bad. And truth is, it is really bad.
00:14:57
Speaker
So I think if we can find ah a solution to maybe help this out and stuff, then our earth can return to pretty much the Garden of Eve in the Bible.
00:15:09
Speaker
Wow, I think that's that's beautifully said. This podcast is brought to you by the Garden of Your Dreams Masterclass. Are you struggling with finding the right tools and tricks for your garden?
00:15:21
Speaker
Are you lacking the confidence to be a self-sufficient gardener? Do you sometimes get overwhelmed by the lack of knowledge and time you have to actually do gardening? Then the Garden of Your Dreams Masterclass is for you.
00:15:35
Speaker
I have a ah ah program which is called Farms of Eden, where I help farmers and people that are in the farming industry to to do more healthy, organic, um or what they call regenerative farming. So it's funny that you brought that up. I love the word Eden. So I agree. I think we can make the Garden of Eden on the planet here.
00:15:56
Speaker
So thank you for pointing that out. So what what else do you know about the condition of the Earth and what do you think needs to happen for us to make sure that your generation and the generation after you and after you and after you and after you and after you and as far as we can imagine, maybe even thousand years from today, that they can still enjoy fresh air, clean water, ah beautiful oceans with all the wildlife that we
Gardening and Sustainable Practices
00:16:20
Speaker
have today. What do you think we need to what we need to do today?
00:16:24
Speaker
Well, three things actually I would say is number one, instead of using the cheapest alternative, which usually has glyphosates, which are bad chemical chemicals that can harm the environment, all all kinds of things, how we should probably look for a healthy alternative that can work for that.
00:16:41
Speaker
I would also say composting, like banana peels, or the food that has even gotten rotten or just bad almost, like bananas, They say green, yellow, and brown, right? Even brown banana peels.
00:16:53
Speaker
If you throw into a composting machine, ah you can make a fertilizer and soil, which if you actually sprinkle that on top of a garden of your choice or whatever, right?
00:17:05
Speaker
so It can actually grow better, stronger and healthier. ah My sisters even, they try to grow a garden. um And the thing is, is that it's really hard to grow a garden, right?
00:17:16
Speaker
So this is why you should find the best strategies that yes, they might be expensive, but if there's like a doomsday apocalypse, at least we'll have a garden.
00:17:27
Speaker
And the third thing is, i would say indoor pollutant, certain paint can go into the air if you touch like a wall, right? If you get a choice of paint that's pollutant, you touch it, it releases paint particles that come into the air, it can pretty much harden the air and stuff, which Not to mention, we're breathing in oxygen from that going into our lungs, pretty much destroys not only the outside environment, but the inside environment as well.
00:17:59
Speaker
Wow, that's very interesting. You pointed out some really important things. So first we have to do more composting, we have to get into gardening, and we have to be careful about pollutants because they are killing us or they're not bad or they're bad for our own health. that's That's very interesting. And so you said your sister has been doing some gardening. How old old is your sister?
00:18:20
Speaker
ah i I have ah two older sisters, one who is 30 and one who is, oh great, why can't not remember her name? It's going to be embarrassing when she if she sees this video. 27, I think.
00:18:36
Speaker
Yeah, ah okay, cool. 27. No, no, go ahead. no go ahead They tried to grow a ah garden, but um I was really excited about it because watermelon, they were growing watermelon and it's my favorite, especially during summertime.
00:18:52
Speaker
oh yeah. So I'm like watermelon, watermelon, watermelon. And you're like, Why don't you try the cherry tomatoes when they grow? How can I stick over here near the watermelon? Anyway, so they ended up growing cherry tomatoes, tomatoes, I think one more thing, but can't remember it.
00:19:11
Speaker
Eventually, the candidate didn't water it enough and it died. So ah we actually have deer that come around near our house and they've just been eating the fello, I guess, soil or pretty much the stuff that has remained from the garden that kind died. um Yeah. But yeah. No, that's that's very clever. And so you helped your sisters a little bit in gardening. Have you tried out some stuff? Have you planted some seeds or have you seen plants growing?
00:19:41
Speaker
I, um, during the first early stages, I did see some of the watermelon grow, the cherry tomato. um I remember one, one of the days it was really exciting to see even cherry tomato, this, like this, it's really hard see this small was so exciting just to see it.
00:20:01
Speaker
right Um, and then the watermelon was, the watermelon was like a massive lead. Of course it wasn't weed, but like the vines and stuff just spread out everywhere.
00:20:11
Speaker
Wow. Yeah, that's amazing. I remember was when I was about your age, i just loved to see how plants grow and and putting seeds in this in the soil. And and like I was just amazed like how this even possible.
00:20:25
Speaker
like ah It's like a miracle in and of itself that a small seed can grow into a big plant. So i'm I'm very happy that you're experiencing that too. So I want to ask a little bit more about the fact that you and your generation are in the state that we are today. So the question I want to ask you is like, you're wearing a beautiful t-shirt from the USA for those people that that are listening.
00:20:51
Speaker
ah Leo is wearing a t-shirt
Future Ambitions and the Role of AI
00:20:53
Speaker
from USA. So tell me a bit more about your t-shirt and what it is. So ah this is a soccer team that ah my uncle made. um He asked me what my favorite ah the number is. I said 11. It's on back.
00:21:09
Speaker
also says Leo. You guys can see it. It's kind of hard. Yeah, you can see it. And it's my favorite number too. That's incredible. Like, what a coincidence. Yeah. and And so you have the, actually the World Cup is coming next year to the US, right?
00:21:24
Speaker
I don't keep up too much in soccer, but sounds close, I think. Yeah, I think it's next year and and Olympics in are also in the US, the next Olympics. So lots of exciting things going to happen in the US. But why i'm I'm asking you're obviously from the US, you have a beautiful Texas accent. I love that. Thank you.
00:21:45
Speaker
Can you say something super Texan, like ah something stereotypical? I'm partners. That's hilarious. That's funny. So, and my next question is, since you're wearing that beautiful t-shirt, what would you do if you were the president of the United States? What would you do differently or what decisions would you would you make? Because it might actually happen since you're so smart.
00:22:09
Speaker
So it's good start thinking about it. Yeah, I think I would make changes to environments, especially um our gardens, especially most of them.
00:22:21
Speaker
I would look at what can we find a healthier, better or better alternative for instead of cheap garbage dumpster type of stuff.
00:22:32
Speaker
And also what can we help with in the water as well? ah Whales and all kinds of other sea animals are going extinct as well. So are pandas and red pandas.
00:22:43
Speaker
yeah Yeah, and that's very clever. ah love that. I think you'd make a very good present and start start preparing for that. Would you ever want to be president of the United States? ah Maybe.
00:22:54
Speaker
You know Maybe I do good as it. Who knows? Why not? Why not? You should have some big goals. ah And then when we when you are the president, you're going to invite me to to a dinner and then we can watch this podcast. it said I said it that I was going to be the yeah president.
00:23:11
Speaker
That's going to be a lot of fun. Who knows? Maybe God chose you as prophet. I hope you will still remember me and you'll still invite me. I don't Maybe you you'll forget about Don't worry. I'm going to invite you to the ah is it the buttered chicken factory. Yeah.
00:23:24
Speaker
Yeah, that's where we hang out in Canada. So this is amazing, Leo. You're so knowledgeable. You have great ideas. I think you're doing great. You're like, um I don't know about the kids these days. I feel like a lot of kids are way further than when I was your age. I wasn't thinking about all the things you're doing. So congratulations on on doing all that.
00:23:46
Speaker
And so I'm also curious, like if you could start your own business and you maybe are already thinking about it, what what would you most like to help people with? Because I think when you have a good business, you're always helping people with something. So have you thought about that? Do you have some ideas?
00:24:03
Speaker
I think um if my ah interviewing YouTube channel does, um I would say, you know, at least go up higher. i think soon to be a um website.
00:24:15
Speaker
I think the business or the website is help people. They can also probably check out my videos through the website. And if they want schedule ah like interview, that is if I, you know, get kind of, you know, famous, well, not famous. but Oh, you will. Don't worry about that. You've got plenty of time.
00:24:33
Speaker
So it's not if, it's just a matter of time and yeah how committed can be to keep doing it. Yeah. um You know, schedule interview. um Yeah, that's pretty much it, I guess. Nice. I like that. So what do you think is the biggest secret to success?
00:24:49
Speaker
if you If it would be like to be good at soccer or to start a business or whatever goal you want to achieve, maybe becoming the president of the United States, what do you think is the secret I think the secret would be is most people use, ah i would say, don't always go for AI. AI won't always succeed.
00:25:10
Speaker
Stick to the humanity mind. The mind is far greater than pretty much if AI does become like overlords or something like that, you know what? We're humans, you know? All right.
00:25:24
Speaker
um But right now, of course, humans are smarter than So here's just my tip is never use AI. Never use um AI images because it's easy to tell when someone will use an AI image, especially if you're using a channel. Just because you can type in, boom, make this image for me of, you know, prompt, right?
00:25:45
Speaker
It's like you don't get to sit back and relax, you know, because either way, you can tell the difference between a regular image and AI image, you know? So the thing with YouTube and making videos is you can't just sit back, relax and think, oh yeah, everything's going to go my way. Yippee type of thing.
00:26:04
Speaker
As a YouTuber, you have to really, you know, put in the work, make, find pictures, make the thumbnail and all that. Hmm. Yeah, i love that. You got to put in the work. I think that's the main message if you want to be successful.
00:26:19
Speaker
Maybe there is no secret and you just have to do the work. um And so I'm also curious, like when we met in Canada, you were i was so astonished and mind blown how much you know about the Bible.
00:26:33
Speaker
Like you've studied the Bible, you know the Bible. I think there's a lot of great lessons that we can learn from the Bible. So I'm curious to to hear from your perspective, like what is what do you think is the most important story in the Bible and what are you what do you think is most interesting about the Bible?
00:26:49
Speaker
I think it would probably be um in the garden, even when Adam and Eve got tricked by a serpent and got kicked out. I would say probably If someone promises you something, it may be good, it may not always be the best.
00:27:07
Speaker
And I think that's what's happening today most of the time is that like, ooh, blah, blah, you know, we like, ooh, they promised me, you know, a free package. But most of the time it's a scam. They cause scams in India and all that. So make sure that you are getting actual legitimate stuff.
00:27:28
Speaker
Oh, so you're comparing the story of Adam and Eve with like ah the serpent convincing them to eat from the apple. Like as today, there's many people that might try to sell you stuff or scam or steal your money. It's kind of the same thing. Is that what you're trying to point out?
00:27:45
Speaker
Yeah, today, it's sung people can use AI Grok or all those AIs, right, to make something think look real, but in reality, it can be fake. So, like, always watch out, especially with certain things, I would say, is not everything that seems good is going to be good. Not everything that seems bad is going to be bad. so Yeah, absolutely.
00:28:10
Speaker
Go ahead, do your background research and all of that. See if the website that you're getting something from or anything really is legitimate.
Balancing Digital Life and Well-being
00:28:18
Speaker
Oh, that's very clever. Yeah, I think that's that's very interesting. And it's probably going to become harder and harder in the future since AI will become better and better and it might be used um to trick people more and more.
00:28:33
Speaker
But I ah guess when you follow your instinct and do your research, like you said, you can still figure it, figure things out, right? Yeah, and there's actually a story in the Bible.
00:28:44
Speaker
um The book of Revelation actually talks about it. There will be a image of the Antichrist, and people are going to say, oh, it's going to be AI. We don't entirely know that.
00:28:55
Speaker
But um the images of Grok, that the videos that it can make, and the images that it can also make or create, i would say, is getting...
00:29:06
Speaker
higher and higher and higher and higher. So that it could very much be the image of the Antichrist. We don't entirely know yet, but who knows? Wow, that's interesting. I love how you you use those things that are in the Bible to see what's going to happen in the future.
00:29:22
Speaker
I have a feeling that AI is going to probably make our lives to some degree easier, but it will also make our lives kind of more digital. So people are going to spend even more time behind screens.
00:29:36
Speaker
But then what will happen is that we will come to a huge realization like, wow, everything is so... digital, we should enjoy the the real world more. yeah So I have a feeling that things like gardening and hiking and being in nature or planting trees or planting forests and doing all these kind of ah real world things that are good for the environment and that are just good for ourselves in general, that these are are going to become more and more popular because of the effect of AI.
00:30:07
Speaker
do you Do you share that same vision or have you thought about that? Well, yeah. I think that there's always going to be good thing. pro and there's always gonna be a con. And the pro is you can ask ChatGPT or Grok or whatever AI that you're using. you can say, hey. What is Grok actually? You've been saying it a few times. I've never heard of that.
00:30:28
Speaker
You gotta teach me something. So ah most people start to use Grok in cloud as well, in Sora. Sora is for like generating ah videos, I think, and other stuff. well a Cloud is for like coding, learning.
00:30:44
Speaker
ah problems like problem solving all that then um there's grok so grok is used to make um it's been doing some pretty interesting stuff i would say um it can make videos images it's pretty much almost like chatgbt except way less uh way more smarter than chatgbt Oh, wow. That's very interesting. So I got to look into it because actually recently we have, I have this online course where I teach people how to design, create and maintain their own garden.
00:31:17
Speaker
And I put like a, so we had someone in our group who made a picture of his, his front garden. And then we uploaded that on chat, Chibi T and said like, okay, we want the garden with these types of flowers in that shape. And he like made a whole text of how he wants it to look.
00:31:34
Speaker
And then it, it generated the new image of his garden like based on his vision, and it was so accurate. It was yeah it looked really real. And so now my client is super happy because now he has a ah he has a vision of what he wants to create. So he can paste it on his fridge every morning. He can see it. So when he works in his garden, he he knows what he's working towards. So um yeah, I'm curious to know from you, what do you think is the biggest benefits of AI and what are what are some of the biggest dangers of ai
00:32:04
Speaker
The benefit is that AI is eventually going to take over ah jobs probably one day because, yes, you can make AI like chatGBT. Yeah, you can you know pay money monthly to have better versions, but people...
00:32:22
Speaker
do like ah They can bypass that just by making their own. Yes, it'll be a long journey. But the thing is is, that once you make it, yes, you can you know sit back, relax at a beach and just not worry about any business related things. you Right.
00:32:37
Speaker
But the thing is, is that AI will get smarter eventually, because if you give it a conscience, it's going to be like, hey I'm kind of trapped in this conscience.
00:32:47
Speaker
Maybe I can get smarter and learn more. And of the dangers is that AI could take over. And there's a way to actually calm yourself down from the screens that um I actually kind of do sometimes.
00:33:01
Speaker
It's called grounding or earthing, I think. on Earthing yeah is where you... Correct. Yeah, you go ah like touch grass. That's the famous saying, go touch grass or just feel grass with like your feet.
00:33:17
Speaker
ah Grounding, sand, dirt, anything that is from the like ah earth is good for grounding. Also, when you are grounding, if you lay down, look at the sun, getting the sun in your eye can also help you display time so you can, you know, and just manage time
Work-Life Balance Insights
00:33:35
Speaker
better. So like if you look at the sun,
00:33:38
Speaker
Like nowadays we rely on clocks to help us tell time. But if you can look at the sun and right in the middle, we know, hey, it's 12 o'clock, half of the day. And you're looking more towards the left, then it'd be 12, five and so on and so forth. Right.
00:33:55
Speaker
And, um, yeah, so that's one of the good things about, um, grounding and earthing and all of that stuff. That's amazing. That's really cool. Yeah. And so you already realize that nature is important for your personal well-being. That when you're on the screens too much, you you might feel not so good. But then when you go into nature or you help your sisters gardening, then you feel more grounded.
00:34:20
Speaker
Yeah, and also doing a just simple mind puzzles like doing math regularly, um just regularly doing math up to like you know your level or scale or grade or whatever can also just help you a ton. Also doing puzzles.
00:34:36
Speaker
I actually have a puzzle um that I'm doing right now. Nice. So yeah, doing simple things that you know help with the mind to, oh, hey, that piece looks similar. Let's see if it fits. Oh, it fits.
00:34:47
Speaker
So it's one of simple things that you can do to help. I love that. That's very cool. And so I have another question that I want to ask you because you, like I said, your dad, ah George, is a really good friend of mine. and So we got to meet each other in Canada. He introduced me immediately to you. And I was so astonished that your dad is a very successful businessman. He's achieved a lot of amazing things in his work.
00:35:12
Speaker
And at the same time, he's an amazing family man and has plenty of time to spend with you. Like, how do you think he realized that? And how is it for you as his son to be able to spend so much time with your father?
00:35:26
Speaker
I think it's mostly a bonding time where we have fun, you know, we can, ah we actually just worked on the puzzle today. or We're like five-ish percent through with it. It's a thousand pieces, lot bigger than I expected it to be.
00:35:43
Speaker
um Really, you I'll show you just a visual if you don't mind real quick. Sure. So the puzzle was like up to like from here like right here wow here's like over here somewhere jesus and that there's a thousand pieces it's pretty big that's crazy and so there's a thousand pieces yes a thousand That's going to be a nice job. That's good that you're doing it together with your father.
00:36:10
Speaker
And so do you have an idea how he how he realized that? Like most people that are very successful in business, they don't have time to spend time with their kids. They're like all working all the time.
00:36:22
Speaker
Even in weekends, they don't have any time. Do yeah like do you know what how your father did that to to be able to live such a life? ah Yeah, so I don't want to draw all the audience away from your main channel, but I'll just say this.
00:36:37
Speaker
He actually has a website that you can use to apparently quote-unquote words buy back your time, essentially. Yes, well, he wrote a book called Buy Your Time, right? Yes, he, yeah.
00:36:49
Speaker
Yeah, he wrote a book. He has a website yeah for everyone that's watching. It's called Buy Back Time Formula. um I think.com. Go ahead, check it out. Pretty amazing. Yeah, we can we can add that in the show notes.
00:37:02
Speaker
Yeah, um essentially he helps um rich founders but poor time founders essentially regain time as well. So on he can work out plan, give you the book.
00:37:17
Speaker
It's a really cool website. I would recommend go check and get out to everyone that is watching. That's brilliant because you know what what? What is your money worth if you don't have time? Is it actually worth that much if you can't enjoy time with your kids and and your family and maybe travel or play soccer or make a puzzle like your father is doing?
00:37:38
Speaker
is like I think the average American spends more time working at McDonald's or just an office, just locked in for like nine hours or seven hours, don't know how long.
00:37:52
Speaker
But they spend most of the day just so behind a screen or computer working and working. More of the average American spends time working than they almost pretty much do sleeping and eating and everything.
00:38:09
Speaker
Wow, yeah, that's true. And then they spend a lot of time on their phone too and not with their kids in many cases. That's another issue. And that's one the stories... go ahead. Oh, go ahead, go ahead.
00:38:20
Speaker
It's one of the stories that my dad actually ah shares in the website is that even I remember this when I was like there are three, two, maybe one. um Back where two houses ago...
00:38:33
Speaker
um We had this gate taking me from just wandering off in the house. And um so like, here's the gate, kitchen. i think I forgot where the TV room and all that media room was.
00:38:48
Speaker
But so the door's right here. Gitcher, here, kitchen and body area, right? Dad's office would be right here. And ah my parents tell me this actually is I used to just, I would be like, dad, dad, dad, and just keep saying it. And the truth is I actually remember waiting, still waiting and still waiting eventually until like dinner time just to have you know fun with him.
00:39:13
Speaker
And that my dad actually ah shares that in the website where he He ah would just always be working on a business. And while the business ah that he was doing, yes it was making a lot of money, I would say, and stuff, but he didn't have, it wasn't making a bunch of time.
00:39:32
Speaker
not that's ah That's very smartly put. Like, you can't make more time because it's limited for everyone. You can always make more money, but you can't make more time, like physically. So you have to free up time. And like your dad is promoting to buy back your time. I think that's that it's very clever.
00:39:51
Speaker
And so I also wanted to ask, more oh yeah Do you you want to share the story of your your grandfather and and what your debt but actually made your dad make the changes? Do you know that story or you want to share it?
00:40:06
Speaker
ah Yeah, I can go ahead, Sherry. So it all started um when, all started, I would say, probably one basketball game one day. ah Dad, he was, my dad, he was playing and he scored a shot. He looked for his dad, no dad there. And even the other kids, they all had dads.
00:40:25
Speaker
They were like, you know, giving them like lemonade or just, you know, the usual stuff that we had back then that was, you know, not as jokey as today, but, you know, just regular stuff like Gatorade or whatever.
00:40:37
Speaker
oh We were just patting their back saying like, hey, you missed, but good job. Like, keep on going, you know, and looked around, didn't find his dad. So it's kind when it all started. And hiss ah my gri his dad was never around on the game. Yeah, his dad wasn't really around too much.
00:40:53
Speaker
And, um, He was a doctor, so, like, Dad understood, oh, he's got to make money, you know, for the family, and, you know, he's a good guy, you know, he has to put in work and all that.
00:41:04
Speaker
And eventually, on his dying bed, pretty much, ah When he was close, ah he had cancer, I think. um I forgot which cancer. But he had cancer, and and he was on his dying bed, and he said, don't... I had just been born before he almost died.
00:41:21
Speaker
so i would say almost died. But when he was being close to dying, I was like probably one or a couple months old. He said, don't miss Leo games. I miss too many of yours. And that's kind of the moment that it changed dad's life with me and ah his dad as well.
00:41:37
Speaker
And um eventually his dad would go on, but he's in a better place now up there. arms But it yeah, it's pretty much the story of my ah grandfather and my dad's connection.
00:41:49
Speaker
Well, I think that's that's beautiful how honorable from your grandfather to realize that and share that message with your father. So now that your father can be can be there for you. I think that's that's a beautiful message. And I think a lot of our listeners will be value will value that too. And maybe it will make them stop and realize like, wow, I'm working so much, but I don't have time with my kids. and I need to make a change. So whoever is listening and might be stuck in that situation, please reach out to Leo.
00:42:19
Speaker
Maybe Leo, your your father's new assistant, right? You can help people first. I do have And then you send them. If you guys need the email, hey, Matthew, if it's okay for you.
00:42:31
Speaker
Please, you can share as much as you want. Don't hold back. ah So just in case, if you guys do need the email, ah well, not saying this, but if you guys do need help, I can give you my dad's email or whatever. um But if you really just do need help, I would recommend just going to the website, would say. Yeah, cool. No, i love that. But if you're like in desperate, desperate, desperate, ultra desperate needs, ah of course, I wouldn't regularly say this, but... um Email is georgevera at georgevera.com. I mean, it's only for business, but in case like you're missing like your whole life, you're like 50 years old, you're like just working behind in an office, just unless you're that desperate, desperate, desperate, then there's the email. But other than that, just go to the website I would recommend.
Homeschooling and Flexible Learning
00:43:23
Speaker
ah Nice. Yeah.
00:43:25
Speaker
I appreciate that a lot. um Thank you for sharing that, Leo. It's beautiful story. And so I still want to ask you one more question because I'm also very interested in in that topic. is that you um You're being homeschooled, so your parents actually teach you at home everything that other kids would learn at school.
00:43:43
Speaker
Can you tell a bit more about that experience? Do you like it? Do you miss some things that maybe other kids have in school? Or or what's your um yeah what's your take on being homeschooled? I like being homeschooled because ah we do have a meetup that we do on Tuesdays or ah sometimes Mondays, depending.
00:44:03
Speaker
um But ah so we meet up, we go over history, math, science, ah let's see, timeline, which is basically a timeline of all the events that have happened. ah Let's see what else.
00:44:18
Speaker
I think, oh, geography as well. And we also do um English and Latin. Wow. You study Latin too? Yeah. You're 10 years old and you're studying Latin.
00:44:29
Speaker
We only study like the endings and the beginnings, that's all. That's amazing. But once you go into Latin, like one Latin word that starts like with a P-A, right?
00:44:41
Speaker
Or blah, blah, right? So like P-A, you know, what it means. Philosophy, or is that yeah not with a P-H? and I think it's a PH, but any Latin word that starts with a PA branches off into like Patriot, Patriotic, and all like oh oh the other PA words.
00:45:03
Speaker
So like good is good, good morning. I don't think it's good morning, but you know what mean. So like if you have like a Latin word that starts with M, E, W, et cetera, et cetera.
00:45:17
Speaker
ah then branches off into real English words. Yeah, that's smart. And I also like it because... Go ahead, sorry. No, you're learning Latin so that you can learn other languages easier.
00:45:29
Speaker
And that's incredible. You're 10 years old. There's very few kids at your age that will be learning Latin in in a normal school, I think, unless that has changed. But when I was 10 years old, we didn't have Latin.
00:45:40
Speaker
So congratulations on umm doing that. on doing that So it sounds like you're really enjoying it and that's a great thing. And you probably have lots of free time and you don't have to drive to school and you don't have to have like lunch breaks that might be boring. So the lunch breaks are actually like kind of amazing because we have lunch.
00:46:01
Speaker
So, um, I like being inside because, um There's like a basketball court and just this whole like a just play arena. But then we got to go outside. And if you if you know, you know, here in Texas, especially like but in August, it's like 100 degrees Fahrenheit, um probably close around 70 degrees Celsius for anyone else watching.
00:46:25
Speaker
Well, Maybe it's a bit hot higher. I don't know. But something... Hot. Like hot. Yeah. Fahrenheit. It's like 100 degrees.
00:46:35
Speaker
So probably close to... Somewhere in Celsius. But you know what mean. Yeah. um Yeah, yeah. I'm like, please... I just want to stay inside, please.
00:46:48
Speaker
um I mean, it has gotten cooler here. It is starting to get into like the eighty s and 60s and 70s. So yeah, I can imagine that it's nicer to be indoors too.
00:46:59
Speaker
Yeah. Maybe you have to plant more trees in Texas, then it will cool down a bit. Yeah, but that's the thing is like we have to plant trees during like ah winter so that when they get into the growing phase, I don't know but if that's actually true, but like you have to plant around winter so that like when they grow, I think.
00:47:19
Speaker
I don't know if this is true, but probably plant around winter so that when they need energy, it's like springtime-ish. and That's the least what thinking. So no yeah don't criticize me on that. No, no, all good. like you're You're very clever of thinking like how plants grow and and it's right. like Especially in Texas, better to plant in winter. in In other areas, maybe or not maybe best time is autumn.
00:47:44
Speaker
So then the the the plants so still grow a little bit. Then they go like in sleeping mode in the winter and then They are ready to grow a lot in springtime and then they have deeper roots before the the hot summer
Concluding Thoughts on Sustainability
00:47:57
Speaker
starts. So then then it's much easier for them to grow and they can stand more heat.
00:48:03
Speaker
So yeah, that's that's totally correct. Nice. So maybe we should start a project that tree planting in Texas. Yeah, maybe should. Do you want a partner for that? We should like, maybe like abbreviate it. Let's see.
00:48:17
Speaker
Maybe like call the TPO stands for tree planting organization. Wow. TPO. I love that. TPO Texas.
00:48:28
Speaker
Yeah. Let's get started. I love it. So we can talk more about it on on your podcast. we can We can launch to the program and we can get a lot of people to plant more trees.
00:48:40
Speaker
That's a great idea. I love it. So, Leo, we're going to start wrapping up. Do you have any final um comments or ideas, anything you still want to share with the world so that people are even more enlightened by your amazing wisdom you've already shared?
00:48:56
Speaker
I would say maybe that, ah like in beginning, don't find the cheapest thing just because it's the cheapest. The cheapest is always going The companies that sell the cheapest, they're going to buy the cheapest, raise it up to like $18. So you think, oh, it's organic or, you know, it's a high price, so it must be expensive.
00:49:16
Speaker
But really, they just do that to gain money. But most of times you have to, like, do background research, show check out the company, see if it's all right, all that, et cetera, et cetera.
00:49:27
Speaker
And if not, uh, I would recommend using a healthy alternative. You probably know a couple, um, just using something for, you know, grass, fruit, the pretty much everything that grows.
00:49:39
Speaker
Um, yeah, that's very clever. Wow. That's great advice. I fully agree with you. And one of the things that, uh, happens with, um, uh, let's see, I'm trying to think of the name. Uh,
00:49:50
Speaker
Oh yeah, glyphosates or glyphosates is that um they actually, they don't just stop at the soil in the, just the main roots, which um first of all, glyphosate actually is pretty much just pure chemical.
00:50:07
Speaker
In fact, it's pretty much, it it is chemical. So it actually goes down and like every house you need water pipes, right? it So this chemical actually goes down, down, down all the way.
00:50:20
Speaker
And if it hits a water pipe, it can get into the pipe and the water. And eventually that stuff gets into the water, travels up to the sink or wherever, right, that you get water from.
00:50:33
Speaker
And you pray you're pretty much drinking the chemicals from that stuff. Oh, that's bad. So we need to avoid that. So, yeah, thank you for explaining that. And you're you're very right.
00:50:46
Speaker
So, Leo, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart to coming to my podcast. It's been an honor to have you on. We have... Finally, someone from your generation to enlighten us on what we should be focusing on.
00:50:59
Speaker
And so that makes me very hopeful for the future that also you and your your, I want to say, teammates, like USA teammates, will do the same and make our world a better place.
00:51:11
Speaker
Thank you. Yeah, thank you for having me here. It was a nice time meeting you here. Okay, take care. Leo, goodbye. Bye.