AN INTERVIEW WITH
JOHN TESH

Music & Intelligence for Your Life

“It’s about finding a balance between stretching yourself and risking, which is really the key to any type of accomplishment I think—putting yourself in a vulnerable position, but also knowing where you are comfortable.”

By Angela Eward-Mangione

It’s a sunny day in Tampa, and you are listening to WMTX-FM 100.7. Your host—John Tesh—sounds confident and engaging. You hear tidbits of information about dieting and food, children, families, money and finances, and more. This is a show that you and your entire family can listen to.  Sometimes, you come in at the tail end of a story and don’t have time to write down the name of a book or a website that John mentioned on the show. Not to worry: You simply go to his website, www.tesh.com, where a full library of the topics covered on his weekly syndicated radio show is available. If that’s not enough, you can read his New York Times Bestseller, Intelligence for Your Life.
 
What ties this all together? What drives this author, musician, Olympic commentator, composer/producer, and radio show personality? Intelligence. Intelligence and Purpose. These two words are what John Tesh is all about, and he brings this essence to all of the work that he does. He is a six time Emmy award winner and the recipient of an AP Award for Investigative Journalism. Two Grammy Nominations, Six PBS Specials, Three Gold Records, and 7 million albums sold are other credits to his name. His purpose involves sharing the principles that have allowed him to live a complete and passionate life, and he’s honest about the hard work and dedication required to achieve this.

An Award Winning Career

We tend to assume that someone with John Tesh’s celebrity stature manages to elude all stress and struggle. Although he is certainly successful, however, he still works to maintain a balance that allows him to stay within his comfort zone. “Sometimes [during a music performance] I think that if I’m not playing this certain solo this fast, then I’m not really a musician,” John admits. “It’s about finding a balance between stretching yourself and risking, which is really the key to any type of accomplishment I think—putting yourself in a vulnerable position, but also knowing where you are comfortable.”

John’s life is a testament to finding the “comfort zone” to which he refers. His career began in 1972 as a weekend newscaster on WXIX Radio in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was only a sophomore in college. Next, he became a TV news reporter/anchor/cameraman for WTVD in Durham. Within 2 years, he won an Associated Press Award for best investigative reporting. In 1976, he won 2 Emmy awards for excellence in reporting at WCBS TV. In 1982, he served as a CBS Network sports anchorman/composer and won 4 Emmy awards for music composition. For 10 years (1986-1996) he lit up living rooms as the Entertainment Tonight co-host. In 1992, he was a host and composer for the Barcelona Olympic Games, and in 1996 he served at the Atlanta Olympic Games. That year he also left Entertainment Tonight to start GTS Record Company. In the meantime, he released albums “Romantic Christmas,” “Red Rocks,” and “Avalon.” In the year 2000, the nationally syndicated John Tesh Radio Show debuted on weekends; in 2003 the show aired daily to 290 affiliates – 8 million listeners. He pooled together the work from his show to create his book Intelligence for Your Life, which was released in 2008.

Finding Your Comfort Zone

John Tesh has worked hard and taken chances, two actions he believes are essential to living a purposeful and meaningful life and to finding and maintaining our comfort zone. This “comfort zone” is something that we seek in all areas of life. “It can relate to anything,” John clarifies. And one thing that makes John comfortable is indulging in a bowl of Häagen-Dazs® ice cream once a week! “That’s my comfort zone,” he explains, “but the rest of th e time, I eat salmon every day; and I’m very good about taking the right supplements, like fish oil, selenium, and Vitamin D. But there’s a comfort zone.”

John finds his comfort zone by utilizing basic principles in his life. The original working title of Intelligence for Your Life was Hard Work, Risk, and Prayer. How does this equation look? You might wonder. Do we need a balanced representation of all these areas in our lives? “I think you have to weigh them equally,” John answers...”Let’s say you’re getting ready to change jobs. There’s the risk factor. And let’s say that you are praying about it every night. But without the hard work, it’s not going to happen. And you can write 25 songs a day and pray about those, but if you don’t go and risk and play them live, and risk the emba rrassment of people not liking them, nobody is ever going to hear them. It’s like a rubix cube.” 

Honesty is also a key quality for which John advocates. Many times, when we are trying to make health-conscious changes in our lives, we get overwhelmed. John has advice on how to handle this; his solution is for us to be honest. “I have to recognize the fact that I have a sweet tooth, and so if there is still Easter candy in our house (there still is), or if there are Girl Scout Cookies or soda in the house, I might go for that,” John says. “If I get really hungry or if my blood sugar goes down, I’m going to go for that. It’s sort of like managing yourself, because if you say, ‘I’m going to lose 10 pounds in the next 2 months,’ that’s great, but what is your plan? You also have to recognize the fact that if it’s in your house and it’s in front of you, you will likely eat it. If you put it on your plate, it’s likely that you will eat it. That’s why Jenny Craig and those programs work so well, because those are meals that are already prepared for you, and you’re just following what they tell you to do. But knowing who are you, which is really important—especially in the health and wellness area—knowing who you are and what your weaknesses are and managing those is the key.”

Managing weaknesses is an idea that is often overlooked on a health and wellness journey. We set our standards high—and we should—and oftentimes assume that we can simply ignore cravings or disregard our desire to watch TV instead of work out. One approach to this is to push and “force” ourselves to overlook our weaknesses and do the right thing. John’s strategy of being honest about our weaknesses and managing them is fresh and realistic. He also advises everyone to build accountability with a friend. “Accountability is huge in any area, whether it’s in spirituality or in exercise,” John says. “I have a guy that comes over to my house every day at 1:30. He, I, and my son all have a type of Physical Education class, a nd we split it three ways, so it’s cheaper than going to the gym. Having a partner and having someone that’s a partner and holds you accountable is a big deal, whether you are dieting or exercising. The other thing is to be honest about what’s going on. How many books are there out there today about writing down what you eat? That’s a terrific plan. There’s also a terrific book out there called Eat This, Not That. There are so many surprises....There are so many little things you can learn to be smart, but I think it’s mostly about accountability.”

John’s plan for the immediate future is to continue inspiring others through his radio show and concerts. We’re very grateful for the intelligence that he will continue to bring to our lives. So, the next time it’s a sunny day in Tampa, and you are listening to WMTX-FM 100.7, listen closely to your host. Know that the confidence behind the voice is real but that it is constantly fostered through hard work and effort. Know that the information you’re getting is solid; he has a full-time research team behind the show. Know that you can be who you were meant to be and live passionately and with purpose. Sometimes, we all just need a little help and some intelligence for our lives. 

Learn more at www.tesh.com