Approaching Burnout…

Hey everybody, this is Russell Brunson and welcome to Marketing in Your Car.

Welcome to the Marketing in Your Car podcast where you can increase your traffic, conversions, and sales in just 10 minutes a day. And now here's your host, Russell Brunson.

It's so funny that I crack myself up every time. I gotta try to be louder and more obnoxious each time, otherwise it's just gonna be boring. So welcome you guys, I hope you're excited. I've got crazy allergies happening. I'm not the kind of guy who gets allergies except for for around cats, like I'm deathly allergic to cats, but I don't normally get 'em, and ever since I've been back from New York from the wrestling tournament, I've been sneezing like 50 times a day, under my nose is super raw, and like, ugh, it's horrible. So I'm hoping and praying that when we get to San Diego next week for Funnel Hacking Live that I don't have allergies, 'cause that would be horrible on stage sneezing every 5 seconds, it'd be really embarrassing. Sure, I could take some kind of, you know, antihistamine or whatever, but those things always make me tired and throw me off my game, and I gotta be on top of my game 'cause there's gonna be a lot of you guys there. So first off, if you're gonna be there, congratulations, you need to be there, it's gonna be amazing. So there's number one, and number two, if you're not gonna be there, you missed it, we sold out, you can't come even if you wanted to. I've been warning and begging and pleading for a long time, and now your shot is gone. So there you go. All right, so with that said, I want to talk to you about something today that's kind of serious for me right now and probably for you a lot of times. I'm doing this on my way to get my hair cut. So by one podcast, I was getting my hair cut. Ever since then, every time I post a video online, everyone's like, "Nice haircut, nice haircut." So thanks, I guess, for messing with me. It's pretty funny actually. So heading to haircut real quick, last haircut before the big event. So hopefully I will look normal when we get there. All right, so what I want to talk to you about today is I wanna talk to you guys about today, dang, there's a lot of traffic, is burnout. I'm curious, how many of you guys have ever felt burnout? So I think the first time that I ever got burned out at something, 'cause typically when you're a kid, you're just doing a bunch of cool stuff all the time, right? Every day is like a new adventure. And my kids get, they think they get burned out because they're tired of doing whatever the activity is. But the first time I think I ever really, really felt burnout was my sophomore year in high school. I was wrestling 130 pounds, and each week I would check my weight on Sunday night, and I would, on average, be about 160, which meant I usually had weigh-ins on Thursday or Friday, and so I had 4 to 5 days to get from 160 down to 130. And for any of you guys who have ever tried to go through wrestling practice, it's not easy. But the only way that it gets harder is you put on plastic suits. My dad used to call them rubber gear back in the day. We called them plastics when I was in it, but it's basically this plastic suit that goes tight around your neck, your wrists, your ankles, and it's heat impermeable, so heat cannot get out of it. So what you do is you put on a pair of sweats, put a pair of plastics on top of that, and you put a pair of sweats on top of that, and you walk into the wrestling room. And by the time you're in the wrestling room, your body's like cooking. Like I could feel my heartbeat beating, it was really, you know, it was like, it's horrible. Then you go through wrestling practice, and the most I ever lost in an hour with my plastics on on was 8 pounds. So you can lose a lot of weight. 8 pounds of water is a gallon. Like a gallon of milk weighs 8 pounds. I think. Does it weigh 8 pounds? Yeah, I think it weighs 8 pounds. And so that's the equivalent, right? So I'd wrestle an hour and I'd suck a gallon of water out of my body. And so you get done with practice, you take your sweats off, you take your plastics off, and you have these sweats and they would be soaking wet. You could take them and you could wring them out from all the water that would flush out of them, right? Every week that was my process. Weigh in Sunday night 160. I'd weigh in Thursday night for the dual meet or for the tournament on Friday and I'd be 130. So 30 pounds, which it's not easy, right? Because the first practice you lose 8 pounds. Second practice you lose 5 pounds. Third practice you lose 3 pounds. Next practice you lose 2 pounds because you just don't have as much water to give. At the end you're trying to lose the last 2 pounds and it's like a nightmare, right? And you're tired and you're sore and you're hungry and you're thirsty. Actually, you're not typically hungry even though you don't eat. You don't have hunger pains. You have thirst pains. Thirst pains are way worse than hunger pains. So what we typically do is I'd stop eating 2 to 3 days before the wrestling tournament, which probably isn't that smart. Knowing what I know now, I'd probably do things a lot different, but nevertheless, that's what we did. And then I'd stop drinking 24 hours before, and about 3 days before I'd drink really minimally because the water is the weight, right? The food doesn't actually weigh anything. In fact, food's more like calories, so I tried to eat heavy calorie food because that would give me some energy, but then hardly any water because water is what weighs the most, right? And so 24 hours before you cut out all water and then you suck the last little bit and it's painful and it sucks and it's horrible and yeah, but in a weird sadistic way, I really enjoyed it. We had a good time doing it. I think a lot of it's because, you know, be team, you know, 5 or 6 of us all cutting weight together and just the camaraderie and the— anyway, I miss, I honestly miss those days. In fact, I go to wrestling tournaments now, like even the NCAA tournament, I feel guilty drinking water and eating food because I was like, oh, like I'm in a wrestling tournament, I should not be eating, this is weird. I have this weird guilt. So anyway, I would go get mental help if I was still wrestling, but I'm not, so it's good. Anyway, so anyway, going through an entire season like that, by the time I was at the end of the wrestling season, I was burned out. And it showed. I'd beaten the state champ. The kid who ended up taking state champ that year, I beat him twice during the year. And I ended up taking 5th place in the region tournament. Didn't even qualify for the state tournament that year. And I went on to watch this kid I'd beat twice become a high school state champ, which was my goal. And it was hard. I remember sitting in the state tournament watching him win, and it was sad and it was frustrating and everything, and I was just burned out. I was just— I couldn't do it anymore. And I remember sitting there, and to get through that burnout, I took a week off and I just did nothing except for eat cereal and watch cartoons, which was awesome, right? And then I went back to wrestling. We did freestyle and Greco, and during that, the way that I got out of burnout was I started having fun start having fun with wrestling again, right? And so I went to these tournaments, I didn't cut any weight, I was going up like 5 weight classes, I was at 154, that was my freestyle, my Greco weight, and I didn't cut any weight, I just showed up, weighed in, whatever I weighed, I went against these huge dudes and it was good and I started lifting and getting strong and eating and getting healthy and I just made it fun again. And that's how I kind of got through that burnout period. So that was the first time. Next time I really know I had burnout bad, if you've listened to my podcast in the past, you know some of the ups and the downs and it was after we had 100 employees, everything crashed, We had a year of trying to save our butts and earn money to pay back the government and all these crazy things. And at that point I was beyond burnout. Like I would have walked away from this business if I didn't have so many outstanding debts and liabilities and coaching fulfillment and all these promises we made people. I had to fulfill on those things. So I kept coming through and kept pushing and I was a burnout. I hated it. I woke up every day hating what I did. And what got me through that burnout period was interesting. It was one of my friends, Dagan Smith, who was one of my wrestling buddies at NCAA. Last weekend, but Dagan called me. He actually called me to interview me on something, so he interviewed me and then we just sat there and talked for like an hour or two on story selling and all these things, and he got me re-excited about marketing and about what we were doing and how we were doing it, just all the cool things that we can invent and do and learn and discover. And he made marketing fun for me again. And you know, on the tails of that, out came a lot of amazing things for me and probably for you. You know, the DotCom Secrets book came as a byproduct of that. We went through this testing phase for the next year. So we were testing and trying and doing all these things. And from that came the DotCom Secrets book. From that came ClickFunnels. From that came all the amazing things we're doing now. But they came on the backside of burnout. Which is, you know, burnout's hard. And so right now I'm a week away from our event, and I'm not gonna lie, I'm feeling burnout. You know, we've had a big mountain to climb. We had to sell over 1,000 tickets, which is not easy, a not easy task. I remember, you know, back in the day we do events and we get 100 people to show up, and I remember going to a Dan Kennedy event one time, there's 1,000 people in the room, and I remember thinking, this is incredible, I cannot believe that that's even possible that they have 1,000 people in the room and just thinking that was an insurmountable task and then that's what we just accomplished and it's just amazing. But the cost of that has been burnout. So anyway, it's 1:00. I'm right on the dot. My haircut is starting right now. So I'm gonna stop this and go get my haircut and come back out. We're gonna talk about burnout some more because Two reasons. One, I need to talk myself through it to help me get through kind of what I'm feeling right now. And the best way I found to get through some of those things is to share with others. And then number two, I know some of you guys are probably experiencing that right now, and hopefully it'll, it'll give you guys some hope and some faith in what you're doing and keep you moving forward. So I will be back with part 2 of this podcast here in about 30 minutes. All right, so where were we? We were talking about burnout and And yeah, I'm sure that most of you, at least I hope so, I hope it's not just me, go through that every once in a while. I've had little spouts, you know, but honestly since Dagan kind of came back in and got me re-excited about marketing, you know, it's been good and things have been moving forward. You know, I think the last 2 years or so has been more intense than normal and part of it is because 'cause we had this opportunity, ClickFunnels came, and so a lot of it's like, strike while the iron's hot, I think it's how you say that thing. Anyway, and we did and we went intense and we went, and we've gone hard and we've pushed it and we've done some amazing things and it's been just so much fun. And so because I've been working so hard, I just haven't thought about, you're focusing on this one mission and you're pushing things forward. I was reading Gary Vaynerchuk's new book this weekend and one thing he talks about is the dirt and the clouds. The clouds is your vision and the dirt's getting your feet dirty and moving forward and working. And that's what I feel like we've been. It's been the clouds, here's the vision, and then boom, hitting the dirt and pounding it in and focusing on those two things. And it's been good. And there's just been so much stuff happening and we're moving things forward and all this just amazing momentum. And so we've been running with it. But this, the last week and a half, two weeks or so as we're moving towards the event, All of the things we're doing to push forward and fill the event and we're about to launch Funnel University and ClickFunnels and all this stuff along with the new sales page, 21-day challenge, new certification program. Man, there's so much more stuff that I haven't probably even talked to you guys about that's happening that's all, we're at the point of fruition where everything's gonna be rolling live now and just all this fun momentum and over the last little bit now I've had to stop because first I was trying to finalize, finish out, my goal initially I was supposed to finish the new book by the event, which didn't happen. But now it's like I have to stop everything to get all the presentations done for the event. And with that, there's like the handouts and the order forms and all these little detail things. I just don't, I'm not a details person, but we're the part of the game where the details are what matters, right? And I'm in charge of executing a lot of those details because I'm the only one that really understands and why and how and all those kind of things, you know. So yeah, so that's kind of where, where I'm at. And I'm not gonna lie, like, I'm starting to feel, starting to feel that burnout because this is the part that I don't enjoy the most, which is, which is all those kind of things, right? And so I have to slow back. And all these other projects I've been trying to get pushed out, pushed out, pushed out before the event, I've had to stop and just say this cannot happen before the event. I had to cut, I had to start cutting things to be able to, to get to be able to execute correctly on the event and make it an amazing experience for everyone who's there. And yeah, I'm just kind of feeling it. And so the last like 4 days I was supposed to be working on my presentations, and day 1 I didn't 'cause I was focusing on this, day 2 was something else, and each day it's just like I keep putting it off. I think there's probably 'cause I got a lot of pain associated. Like there's something about the finality, is that the right word? Like this thing being final, like it's like writing a book. Like when you write a book, writing a book, at least for me, it's stressful because it's like, this is, it becomes so final, it's concrete, it doesn't change. When the book's done, like, it is what it is. Like, you don't change it, right? And I feel the same with the event. Like, when the presentations are done, like, next step is me giving them and this is, there's so much, it's so final that I think I put a lot of pressure on it and so it kind of stresses me out. And so, anyway, I've been moving them forward, moving them forward, and yesterday I spent probably 2 or 3 hours just outlining all the presentations. And I think I have 6 presentations I'm working on And I got excited because it's looking really, really cool. I know what I want to deliver. I know what I'm trying to bring across. But now I know, now I got to break these core concepts into slides and PowerPoints and images and things that will make this all make sense in a very streamlined format. And to take really complex thoughts or ideas and make them simple, it's hard. The DotCom Secrets book, writing the book was hard. It was like, how do we take this abstract idea that I understand in my gut but then change it into something that I can explain to someone and they can look at it and be like, "Oh, that makes perfect sense." That's kind of where I'm at now. I've got all these amazing things and yeah, for the next 2 days I have to lock myself down and figure out how to explain them in a simple, easy way and get doodle drawings to match them and all those kind of things. Yeah, it's a lot of work to do, but then the other thing, I got this looming deadline of I have to have them done so we can get them printed so we can have them in people's books by the time the event starts, like all these things, and I'm not gonna lie, I'm feeling that burnout. Last night, about 5:30 at the office, I had this pounding headache and I was just like, I gotta stop and I gotta go home, and I was like, I'm gonna go home, play with the kids for a little bit, put them to bed, and then I'm gonna come back, and I got them, I didn't get them to bed till late 'cause it's spring break for them, so we didn't get them to bed till like 10:30, and I just, I don't have it in me to come back. I'm gonna wake up early and come in, and then the morning came and I was like, I don't want to, I'm not ready. And so I kind of slept in a little bit, but now I'm feeling really good. And so, um, yeah, but I'm still, I'm in this phase where I'm kind of, there's so much pressure and stress and buildup and all this stuff that I think part of your brain, the burnout happens where you just want to like, you want to like relieve that pressure. You want to take the pressure valve off and just be like, oh, but I can't yet because The big show's about to happen. So that's what I'm feeling, just in complete transparency. I'm feeling the pressure and stressed and worried, and I want to make it an experience. Let's have all these other things happening, and that's kind of where— and I think a big part for me is like, because I have to cut all these things that are important to me that I want to have done, that I physically cannot get them done anymore before the event. I feel a lot of stress and pressure and guilt because I have to cut these things and I don't know why, but that's kind of where it's at. So yeah, so there you go. I'm at a point where I'm feeling it and I'm sure you guys have felt in the past, you're there right now. And so I just want to kind of give you some of my thoughts on what I'm trying to do to be able to kind of push through the burnout because we still got to execute. We're 7 days away from the event starting as of the time I'm recording this. We can't stop. But how do we, how do we still make it fun? And, and, and, and then when the event's done, take the pressure valve off so we can keep executing and having fun. Because if you're not having fun, it makes it really hard to, to be creative and deliver the, the cool stuff. So here's my game plan. First off, I have to get through— I mean, I talked about this in a recent podcast. I have pain associated with the birthing process of these presentations, right? And so I have to today and tomorrow, I've got 2 days to really dig in deep into these. So it's a big part of that is because I attach, associate pain with this, I have to attach pleasure. Like, how do I— like, what do I make fun? How to make these games? What I give myself when I When do I finish one? How do I do that? So that's a big part is that. The second big part is my mind. I know as I start working on these, my mind is going to try to go to pleasure every single time. It's going to be, "Oh, let me check Facebook. Let me do all these kind of things." And so for me, what I do, I talked about this again in a different podcast, but when I switch into PowerPoint zone, I'm basically going to use my treadmill desk and shut off everything else and just have me walking. And focusing on presentations, right? So that's number 1. Number 2 is I have to celebrate each of the little wins along the way. So as I finish one, I have to do something to celebrate. Either go out to eat or eat junk food or hang out with friends or go walk out or check Facebook or whatever that is, but have big rewards as I get each thing done that'll push me through those pain points. Second off, I've got to And guys, as you can tell, I'm creating this as we go. So I'm trying to think through. So that's a big one for me to get through the day to day. I think when the event is done, I'm not very good at taking time off. Like it stresses me out. But I think I need to force myself to. I think when I get home from the event, I need to take 1 or 2 days off and just not do anything. Because I need to take that pressure valve off. And part of me wants to do a product launch the Tuesday after our event. I wanna launch Funnel University. It's driving me nuts that it's not live yet. I probably shouldn't. Anyway, I still might. We'll see how we're feeling. But taking that pressure valve off so we can execute right. In theory, back when I was wrestling, I would have done better in freestyle if I would have cut weight during the offseason, but I didn't. And it was harder because guys were bigger and stronger than me, but I enjoyed it more. I had more fun. And so I think it's, you know, taking some of the internal pressures off. I don't know about you guys, but I give myself a lot of pressure, probably that's unneeded, but I don't know, I was thinking about this a lot. Like, I think it comes from my wrestling background. Like, in wrestling, we're always focused on like who could be beating us, right? So like, I could be the number one kid in the state, but I'm thinking about, man, this guy's training, this guy's training. I gotta do more than them because because I don't want them to pass me, right? I remember Dan Gable, who's one of our sports legends. He's like the Michael Jordan of wrestling. Dan Gable, when he was training for the Olympics, he would work out 7 hours a day, and then he tried to go to bed at night, but he couldn't sleep because he knew that on the other side of the world, the Russians were awake training, and it made him sick to his stomach knowing the Russians were training while he was sleeping. So he'd get up and he'd run at night, and I kind of feel like that For me, and I don't know if that's normal or if that's something I got from wrestling, but I feel like right now we're in the number one position in our industry. We're doing amazing things, but I feel this pressure of like, wow, what's everybody else doing that we're not? We gotta make sure that we are on time. So I'm putting all this, a lot of pressure on myself, which maybe is undue or unnecessary, I don't know. But it's what it is. So I think I'm gonna try to take the week after the event try to release some pressure on some things like that and set more realistic timelines and goals on things. And so that way we can make it fun. Just like freestyle Greco was fun because I took the pressure of weight cutting out and just enjoyed the process. It's like how when I worked with Dagan again, the process became fun because I focused on the creativity of the marketing and less on the— less on the 'we've got to launch this, we got to make money here, we got to You know, things like that. I step back, and because we step back and enjoy the process, it— we're able to create some amazing things. I think that's really, for me, the next step is after the event, because we can't— the event's happening and we got to make an amazing show, but then after that's done is how do I take some pressure off so we can, we can execute correctly and have a fun time with it and make it enjoyable so we don't burn out. So that's the thoughts for me. I don't know, I don't know if that helps you guys out. At all. It may make you think Russell's strange, maybe gives you a glimpse inside my head, I don't know. But I hope it makes you guys who are going through any kind of burnout to feel understood, because I've been there, I'm going through it now, and those are some of the things I'm going to be trying to do to protect myself so that I don't hit it. Because burnout, especially at this point in my business, it's tough because I have business partners, I have friends, I have employees, I have staff, I have a team that rely on me, and I don't I can't let them down. I can't just disappear and, you know, kind of step— take the foot off the gas because I owe it to them as well. And so it's how do you manage that? How do you protect yourself so you don't go through it? If you do go through a little bit, it's— you manage it in a way that actually will serve you and your team moving forward as opposed to crippling you and hurting you. So there you go. That's all I got for today at the office. It's time for some world nomination. I got to get some presentations done. So that's what I got for you guys.

Appreciate you all.

Have an amazing day and I'll talk to you soon.

Hey everyone, this is Russell Brunson again. I want to thank you for listening to Marketing Your Car. I want to make sure you're plugging into everything that we're doing on a daily basis. Make sure that every morning you're plugging into the Marketing Your Car training. If you go to marketingyourcar.com, you can join the email list and make sure you get email notifications when new episodes come out.

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