84. New Year, New Opportunities, New Breakthroughs

Hey. Hey. Welcome back to Friday Bullpen Sessions. My name is Andy Neary, and this is episode 85. All right, here we are. It is January 1st. Are you ready to kick 2020's ass to the curb? Because we can officially do it today. So it is a new day. We've got a new year, new opportunities for you to create some new breakthroughs, and that was what this episode is going to be about. Now we need to pause, we need to look back, and we're going to celebrate some wins last year, yes, it was a weird year. It was a difficult year. It was a time where you may have felt like you've lost some freedom, but I guarantee there are some wins sitting inside those 365 days that you just haven't taken the time to figure out. So I'm going to share a couple wins I had last year, some big wins that are going to help me launch into 2021. And I want to help you do the same thing. But we're going to focus most of this episode on what you're going to do next year to make it the best year you have ever had. I'm gonna focus on four T's. Four T's you need to invest in next year, and I'll get into those. If you want to hit a home run in 2021, these four T's are gonna be your key to making that happen. So before we get into that, let's pause. Let's officially write this eulogy on 2020.

Man, I think we can agree it was a year unlike we've ever experienced. If you are my age, 43 or 10, 15 years older, man, you have never experienced anything like this. If there was one lesson that we all learned last year, it was expect the unexpected. I can remember, you know, the frustration I felt just a few weeks ago where I love working at coffee shops when I have some business work to do, not coaching anybody, it's time to get dirty. It's time to get into the business and work on what I call income producing activities. I love to get out of my house, get out, get around people, work in coffee shops, wherever, to get that vibe so I can do my best work. We can't do that. It's frustrating. Now, depending on the state you live in, you have that opportunity. But I can tell you, here in Colorado, we can't even go to a work coffee shop to do some work. It is so frustrating. Yes, there is that feeling, that loss of freedom that I will admit there's days I struggle with it but there are also Some wins in 2020 if you take the time to look for them. So what I want to do right now is to share a couple big wins. I had maybe trigger some some things for you to think about and it definitely I want you to take the time to focus on those wins so you can use them as a launching pad into 2021 for me here were a couple big wins. Number one, the coaching business. You know, I have built the complete game coaching program for insurance brokers, insurance advisors, partners to the industry it to really help them grow a brand, create a crystal clear brand message for the target audience and create the omnipresence you need as an insurance broker today to grab all of the attention of your prospects. And I am thrilled to say as of today, this is officially the only business I have. At the end of the year I decided to officially remove myself from health insurance advising which I have done for the last 17 years. It was sad to let it go, There was some hesitation to let it go. But I can tell you I couldn't be happier today that officially today I am the proud owner of the complete came coaching program. And that is all I do. And I can't wait to see what 21, 2021 has to offer. Now what are some other big wins for me this year? I think the wins I want to focus on are more around my mindset and my thought process. You know, it was just two, three years ago that I would have never been in a position to start this business because of the way I thought, because of where my mind was. And so two huge wins this year for me from my mental perspective are number one, I absolutely love failing. I don't fear it whatsoever. I am willing to fail every single day. And if you own a business out there, you know exactly what I mean. We fail every day and it's okay. It's the only way you grow. It's the only way you learn. Two years ago I would have, I would have hesitated on even saying that. Would have paralyzed me because I was all about perfection. I didn't want to do anything unless I was the best at it. I didn't want to do anything unless I was going to be perfect. Therefore, guess what? Spent a lot of time sitting on the sidelines not doing a damn thing, watching everybody else win, everybody else grow except me. And it was frustrating. Now, hey, bring on the failure. Bring on the messy, imperfect action because that is the only way you can win right now. Speed kills and your ability to take action and take it now without any concerns of what the result might be. The fact you might fail, knowing it's not going to be perfect, it might be a little messy, is what is going to be a huge key for you to win in 2021. And so this was. That was a big win for me this year. The other one was just not caring what other people have to say about me. That's something that has haunted me my whole life. I was so afraid what other people would say about me. It goes all the way back to my professional baseball career. What are the scouts saying about me? What would. What are the coaches saying about me? And then on into my business career was no different. But getting to that place where I just don't care what people think when I put content out there on social media that, you know, comes directly from my heart. I don't care what you think. You don't like it, Tough. It's what I believe in. It's what I know to be true. And it's okay if you don't agree with me. If you don't. It's okay if you don't like it. So I urge you to do the same thing as we open up a new year. Really just step into your passion, Step into what it is you love doing without worrying about what anybody is going to say to you or going to say about you, whether it's your boss, your colleagues, or your family. Now, man, looking back at those three big wins for me, I'm excited about what 2021 is going to offer. You know, knowing that 100% of my efforts can be focused on the coaching business, knowing that failure is going to be part of it. But it's the, the, the love of learning and growing and the ability to take that action, consistent action, every day, and doing it from a place of, of peace, knowing I don't care what other people think about what I'm doing is such a sense of freedom that I will never be able to give back. I will never want to go back to a place where I don't feel that freedom. I don't feel that comfort and that peace knowing I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. So this is where I want you to start your 2021 opportunities. This is where you're going to start to create those breakthroughs. Now.

My question for you is this.

If it's your goal to have an extremely successful 2021, and I hope it is, if that's not your goal, this, this whole conversation is a. But if Your goal is to make 2021 the most successful year you've ever had. Whether it is in business, in your career or personally.

You need to start investing. Now. The second I say investing, I know where your head went. It went into money. What do I need to, what am I going to have to buy? What am I to invest in? Are you talking about stocks, bonds, Bitcoin? Andy, what the hell are you talking about? Well, some of it's money, some of it's time and some of it's effortless.

But I want you to think about where you are going to start investing your time, your money and your effort to make 2021amassive success. And there are four areas I want you to think about. They're the four T's. They are four areas I am going to make sure I continue or start investing in so that I can blow 2021 out of the water. Now, we are still faced with some of the restrictions, some of the frustrations that 2020 brought, but this is your chance to take control of your actions and the way you're thinking. So let's start with that first T. Now let me, let me pause even before I get to the first T and tell you where this is coming from. As I sat down and I'm literally doing this today, January 1st is my 2021 planning day. And I absolutely love planning day because it's your, it's your chance to sit down and rewrite your future, right? It's your chance to sit down and go, how am I going to make this year amazing? And I look at what I'm investing in, those four T's which I'm about to go through. But in order for me to invest the money, the time or the effort, they have to pass three tests. Number one, does it give me time back? You know, when you run a business, you're self employed. Scale is a big, big fear, right? Because growing is a good problem to have. But if you grow too fast and you don't scale properly, it can get pretty ugly pretty quickly. So number one, or, or, or it can take all of your time. And all of a sudden instead of owning a business, you own a job again, which is why you started a business, is to get away from owning or having a job. So number the first test it has to pass for me to invest in is it's got to be able to give me time back. The second test it has to pass.

Is, does it allow me to be consistent.

If I'm going to invest my money, my time or my effort into this, it has to allow me to improve or maintain my consistency. And the third test it has to pass is does this investment allow me to become omnipresent? Because if I'm going to grow this coaching business, if you are going to grow your business, you are going to.

Hit your sales goals, whatever you are looking to do next year or this year, I should say, excuse me, you have to be everywhere. This is now a game of attention. So the third test for me is what is. Is this investment allow me to become omnipresent? So does it give me time back?

Does it allow me to stay or actually enhance my consistency? And does it allow me to become more omnipresent? If it passed those three tests, I am willing to invest my time, my money or effort into it. What are these four T's I'm going to be looking at continuing or starting to invest in that? I urge you to do the same thing. Number one, the first T is technology.

What are you going to do this year to invest the time, the effort and the money into technology to improve your business or improve your life? I don't care what it is. So for me in the business, there's so much technology that I am looking to invest in or will continue to invest in, right? I mean, all those little apps, those tools we have now on, on online and with social media to grow your business, it's never been easier to scale, right? I'm literally recording this podcast on Streamyard. That's one I recently invested in. The time and the money to. The time to learn, the effort to learn and the money it takes to have a program like this because Streamyard allows me to record my podcast, that allows me to put it up on YouTube, LinkedIn, live, wherever, and I can be omnipresent, right? It gives me time back because now it's already recorded, I don't have to go edit a video and boom, it is exactly where I need to be. So Streamyard is a perfect example. But there are so many other technologies out there right now that I am already investing in or looking to invest in. You know, all those little things. Dropbox, Google G suite, Adobe Premiere Pro for editing video, whatever it is the technology you need to be looking at. Right now I'm looking at new lights, new cameras for recording my coaching videos. What technology do you need to be investing in right now? Again, remember the time, the effort and the money so that you can hit and far exceed your goals next year. That's the first T, the first place you Want to start technology.

The second T that I am going to be investing in or continue to investing in and I highly urge you to do the same thing is team. You know when you're trying to scale a business, I hope you're doing that even if you don't own your business right now and you are a W2 employee. Maybe you're a producer for an insurance agency and you're just trying to scale. You have to have a better team. Now I know not all team decisions come back to you but.

How or where do you invest? Have to invest the time, effort, money in your team so you can operate as a well oiled machine. In my coaching business I've got an executive assistant who is fabulous. She is a coo. She is the operations brains behind this business. But I'm also looking at investing in other areas of my team to grow it. I've already got somebody who edits my podcast. I've got somebody who optimizes the SEO optimization around my content. I've got Steve and his fabulous team at agencyanix for the website. Now I'm looking at finding that creative designer, that somebody who can edit my video take, video shoot video, help me with content strategy. I'm looking at all aspects of the team right now because at the end of the day I want to have a well oiled machine operating the complete game coaching program so I can be my best for my clients as a coach and I can bring the most value. So I urge you to do the same thing. Where do you need to invest in your team? Maybe you already have the right people, but do you need to invest in some training for them? Do you need invest some coaching for them?

Do you need new team members? Maybe you need to change team members, but whatever it is you do, look at your current team and figure out what you need to do to make it better. Now if you're sitting there saying Andy, I've already got the best team on the planet, we're already running like a well oiled machine. I'm here to tell you congratulations, you are the 1%. Keep doing what you're doing. But for for the rest of you out there, find ways to improve your team.

And if your team isn't where it needs to be from a knowledge perspective today, invest the time and the effort in training them.

If you don't have the right team members, make the appropriate changes. If you don't have enough team members, invest the money and go get them. I know it is such a scary proposition to build your team and grow it. I'm going through it right now, but that investment in money is going to allow you to buy back time. It's going to allow you to stay consistent, and it's going to allow you to be everywhere at all times. Because you can't do everything. If you're going to scale, you can't do it all. It's impossible. Go build that team. So we've got technology, we've got team. Now, what's the third T?

The third T is tribe. Who are you going to surround yourself with this year? One of the best investments I made last year in money and time and effort was to surround myself with the right people. Now, these were not only business colleagues, these were friends, personal friendships I've made. You know, back in October, I signed up for. For an experience, men's experience, with a buddy of mine, Kyle Depiece. And if you're a male business professional out there listening in, do yourself a favor and go out, check out Kyle's Beyond Experience. It's fascinating. In March, we have another experience coming up in Salt Lake City or Park City. Excuse me. So if you're a snowboarder, a skier, you're going to absolutely love it. But I actually invested the money into surrounding myself with a crew of guys that I've quickly created some amazing friendships with. People who have served as mentors to me. I've served as mentors to them. But you know what? Most importantly, these, it's a group of guys that are just out trying to kick ass in life. And this is a tough conversation for a lot of people to. To have because when you look at your. Who you surround yourself, right? The. The old adage that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. It is true. And that's in knowledge, that's an income, that's in beliefs, whatever it is. Who are you surrounding yourself with? I know sometimes these are childhood friends that you don't want to let go, but are they actually helping you raise up or are they. Are they really sucking you down? Are they dragging you down? Take the time, take, make the effort and maybe even make the investment to surround yourself with the right people. Commit to surrounding yourself with a tribe of high achievers this year that are going to force you to play bigger, that are going to force you to be better, and that are going to hold your ass accountable to make sure you take the right action. When I signed up for this Beyond Experience, two things happen.

When I spent those three days with these guys, I quickly realized, number One, I am on the low end of the totem pole when it comes to success if you are measuring success financially. But it also surprised me. I was actually one of the older guys in the group. So here's a group of guys younger than me, killing it, having success. But what I loved most about hanging out with this group is the second they sensed me making an excuse, getting complacent, they would stop me in my tracks and say, no, no, don't go there. Don't think that. Get your ass in gear and start taking action. So find this same tribe in your world this year and I promise it'll take you to places you never thought imaginable. Now what is this fourth T?

The fourth T is something I actually.

Thought I didn't need to start 2020 and it took me about six months to realize I had made a big mistake because it's something I had invested the time, the effort and the money in for the past six, seven years. And that is teachers.

Who are you looking to this year to grow? Who are you seeking knowledge from? Who are you going to learn from so you can become a master at your craft? You see, when 2020 kicked off, I had just come out of a mastermind that I had been a part of for the entire year, entire 2019 season. And I said, you know what, 2020 is about taking action. I'm not going to join a mastermind, I'm not going to hire a coach, I'm just going to go take action.

That lasted about five months and I realized holy crap, this is. I'm missing what I need the most. Number one, I'm missing that accountability from a group like the mastermind. I was a part of the Fast Foundation's mastermind, which I jumped back in again since I was also missing that one on one accountability of a coach who was just going to hold my butt accountable to take action. You see, the one thing you cannot do in 2021 is pick your pick brains on your way to success. If you think you are going to invest reaching out to people who are where you have you want to go and you're going to do it for free, whether it's in time, effort and money, you're crazy. You are kidding yourself. One of the things I honestly can't stand more than anything else is when somebody literally asks me if they can pick my brain. Now I used to say this all the time when I was starting to grow and learn in the health insurance industry. But when you think about what picking someone's brain really Is is you're asking. Someone has invested a lot of time, money and effort into having the success or putting themselves, themselves in that position to have success and you want to get all that knowledge from them for free. Really. So whether it's a mentor, a coach, I highly urge you to use 2021 to invest the time, the effort and the money to finding that person. Because it quickly hit me about May or June of 2020 that I became very clear what I was missing. I was missing not only.

My tribe of people, the mastermind. I was missing the accountability of a coach and I was missing the tribe I have of male friends, of personal friends who are going to challenge me to grow every single day. I share this because.

By About August of 2020, not only had I reinvested my time, money and effort into a mastermind, not only I reinvested my time, money and effort into a one on one coach, I reinvested my time or invested my time, money and effort in finding the right tribe of guys. Now, all told, that investment this last year I'm willing to share this was about $20,000. And don't let me kid you for a second, it was scary as hell. But I also knew by investing that amount of money, I definitely was going to invest the effort and the time because I did not want, I did not want to waste that money. And I highly urge you to do the same thing you it. If you want to achieve the success you know you're capable of, that you have written down on your goals for 2021, it is going to take an investment from you and that investment is effort. That investment is time. And I'm here to tell you that investment is most likely money as well. It does take money to make money. If you want to write $100,000 in your career or your business if you're a sales rep, or $500,000, if you think you're going to do that without investing a dollar in your personal development, you're crazy. You're not going to get anywhere. So I know this is getting a little coach on you, but do yourself a Favor Today, it's January 1st. You're probably not doing a whole lot with the business. You're not reaching out to clients, you're not reaching out to prospects. Take a little time today to sit down and say, okay, of these four T's, Andy just mentioned technology, team, tribe and teachers. Where and what am I going to invest my time, my effort and my money into to make sure 2021 is the best year I've ever had. Because the only thing holding you back right now from looking back a year from now and saying, holy, this was unbelievable. I cannot believe the. The success I've had these past 365 days. The only thing holding you back from that is you. No pandemic, no federal regulations around where you can go and what you can do and who you can hang around will ever stop you from that. The only thing stopping you back stopping from that is you. Your actions, your attitude, and your mindset. So I ask you today, as we kick off a new year with new opportunities, I want you to have new breakthroughs. Because when clarity and confidence collide, you know what happens? Action happens. So do yourself a favor and go make it happen today. Make it a great year, my friend, and let's go kick ass together.