Larry Winget And Chris Collins How To Tell The Truth In Business Even When It Hurts

Hey, everybody, this is Chris Collins and Larry Wingett coming from our top annual Top Dog event. We're so lucky to have Larry here today. Speaking. Larry and I are both big fans of Tequila and bulldogs. And this is Tequila the bulldog trying very hard not to cooperate. What's up, dude? You can tell he doesn't miss too many meals, right?

He's great. I like it.

So I think, Larry, a couple things that we have in common, and I'm kind of curious. You're kind of a straightforward guy, and you.

I'm kind of known for that. You're right.

You tell it like it is most of the time. Have you ever been had an experience where you. You told somebody like it is in business or in life and you kind of regretted it later?

Well, first of all, I'm not big on regrets. If it's done, it's done. Just don't go do it again. But in terms of passing out advice.

I don't walk up and tap people on the shoulder and say, let me tell you, I think you're an idiot. I kind of wait until they ask me what I think. And if they're asking me what I think, it's because they want to hear what I have to say, so they should be prepared for it. And if they're not, well, to hell with them. I mean, they ask. So I tell people exactly what they want to know. Yeah, they get their feelings hurt, but I'm not sorry. They might be sorry they asked, but I'm not sorry I told him the truth.

So you're. You're actually probably in life a little more conservative as you're not throwing it out there. But if somebody's asking, you'll give it, but otherwise you hold it in and you're just screaming inside that.

No, I don't do a lot of screaming on the inside. I. I don't have any problem expressing myself. But when it comes to opinions about people and what they're doing, I wait.

Till they ask, have you ever held back or lied? Isn't really the way to say it. But not really told somebody the full truth just because you thought they couldn't handle it? No, no, no.

One, I don't lie. And two, if they ask, I'll tell them. Sometimes I will say, how deep do you want me to go? I mean, how bold do you want me to be? And everybody always says, no, I want it all. Give it to me, Larry. Until I give it to him.

Listen, the truth hurts. That's kind of how you know it's the truth, if somebody walks up and says something real nice to you, they're probably lying to you. So again, I don't interrupt people with my opinions of them. If I'm on the news asking my opinion about things, you know, that's, that's a different deal. I'll go ahead and spout off. But on a one to one basis or with individuals, I let them ask for it.

Yeah, I've had it where I've made them cry before and it feels little bad because they ask and then they cry. Even when men cry, it drives me crazy.

Oh, I have that happen all the time. Listen, if I don't make people cry, I'm probably not doing my job.

See, you're better at that than me. I get a. I'm older and I'm.

Meaner and I just don't give a damn anymore.

So.

Speaking of that, how have you changed over the, over the years with your thoughts on people, their performance, them, you know, lacking common sense?

I'm a lot more black and white than I used to be. I used to try to find the gray areas so it benefit people, you know, and maybe help them rationalize or justify behavior or actions or thoughts or whatever. And over the years, I've just gotten real black and white. I mean, I really think it's right or it's wrong either in the way or on the way. Hello or goodbye. That's the way it is. And it's a much simpler world that I live in these days. And I think everybody should simplify their lives down to lives down to the point they just say, I shouldn't be doing that. It's not that I should be doing a little bit of it or, you know, or I'll just. It's like being a little pregnant. You can't. It's right or it's wrong. You can't do any of that stuff. So simplify your life and figure out what moves you closer to where you are, want to be, or moves you farther away from where you want to be. And understand that everything does. I mean, once you know what you want your life to look like, your business to look like, understand there's no gray area. Nothing is neutral. Everything moves you closer to your goals or it moves you farther away from your goals. Now that sort of black and white living and thinking will help people much quicker than trying to live in that gray area in the middle. So it's easier.

Yeah. I always say success is attracted to clarity. And I think you're a perfect example that, you know, exactly who you are, what your point of view is. And there's. There's not a lot of, you know, doubting it or inconsistencies because when that starts to happen, you get lost.

If you called me at three in the morning and asked what my opinion was on anything, I wouldn't have to think about it. Yeah. I mean, I could just start saying it. And people who have to see, I don't understand that whole sit and ponder thing. It's like you go to the restaurant with some idiot and they go, what would you like? Could you tell me what's good?

I don't want a waiter telling me what he thinks is good. Why do you have to ask those kind of stupid questions? You know, if I ask you how you feel about anything, you should know. And people who don't know don't have that kind of clarity. They're never really going to be truly successful, in my opinion. I know what the right thing for me to do is. I never have to question, I never doubt it. I just take action. But part of that is.

I live to make me happy. And way too many people live to make others happy. I've learned that I make other people happy. I serve them best by being the best version of myself that I can be. Because if I'm compromising who I am just to make you happy, it's not going to work. And that we have way too many people in society who are living for the approval of others. I mean, that's the biggest problem with social media today. They're living for other people's approval. They'll decide what they want to eat in the morning and take a picture of it just so they can get 100 likes on Facebook.

Crap drives me nuts.

Yeah, it is nuts. And you radiate. When you're as sure about it as you are, you radiate that. And it benefits everybody because it's contagious in a lot of ways.

A guy posted on my. I like social media, but a guy posted on my page last night, he said, I thought I saw you tonight in Houston at Perry's Restaurant. Until I realized he didn't have boots or confidence. I said, okay, those would be the two qualifiers right there.

Yeah, that's exactly it. Who do you for? Two questions. One is, what books Besides your books, which are amazing. And I would love to tell you that. Shut up, stop whining and get a life. Hit me right at the time that I needed, I went through a business deal that blew up. I was feeling sorry for myself. And reading that book not only just got me back to where I was supposed to be, some of the exercises in there and the, you know, the things that you talk about, you do every day and read and stuff really helped me. But what books besides yours do you like? What's your top three books that you like?

I like.

The War of Art. Have you read the War of Art by Steven Pressfield? Let me tell you what I like best about that book is because everybody right now, and it's become real popular to talk about how you have to have passion for what you do and you have to love what you do, which I think is a load of crap.

I don't know anybody successful that's working four hours.

Yeah, exactly. So I really attack those. Those basic ideas to begin with. But Pressfield talks about how amateurs love what they do and professionals love what they do enough to do whatever it takes to be amazing at it. And so I always ask people, are you an amateur or professional based on that? And when people just say, I love what I do and I'm passionate about it and so forth, I'm just betting they're probably not very good at it. So that's why I like Pressfield's book the War of Art. I'm also a big reader of fiction, and I think you can learn a lot from great fiction. I love great writing. I've read 4,500 books in the last 30 years, so I read a lot.

You have a big collection.

Yeah. And so I think the best fiction book that I've ever read is John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meaney. I love that book. A great book, once you get start having some success in life and you kind of lose your perspective, is by Richard Bodes called First you have to row a Little Boat. Have you ever read that? No, it's just about calming down. He wrote another one called Beach Combing at Miramar. And it's about at some point in your life, it's not about just getting more stuff and everything, you better learn to sit back on the beach, sort of beach of life, and chill a little bit and appreciate and relax and watch things come and go. And that book was a great reminder of me on how to do those things and to help me keep my life in perspective. There's a lot of good stuff out there, though.

How did you do the COVID for Grow a Pair? Was that your idea or did somebody else come up with that idea?

When I first wrote the book Grow a Pear, I always pictured it with watermelons Me holding a big set of watermelons. And when I sold it to the publisher, there's a whole story behind that. Selling Grow a Pair to the publisher. I mean, everybody was all for it. Everybody loved it, thought it was a great idea. And then they said, we got to change the title. And I said, oh, yeah, and it already. We shot the COVID We were ready to go to press, and the salesforce gave them a pushback and said, we can't sell a book called Grow a Pair. And they called me and said, yeah, I've done five bestsellers with these guys.

They said, we got to change the title. And I said, how much of a pair would I have if I caved on the title? And I said, and by the way, if you want to, I'll just send your advance back to you, and I'll have this book sold again to another publisher by the end of the day, except it'll have a new first chapter featuring you. So. But when I. When I sold on the book Grow a Pair, I said, it's got to have watermelons. They have a photographer. She shot all the covers of my books. She's really famous on doing celebrity photos and book covers for this publisher. They sent her out there, and they told her, whatever you do, do not use watermelons. And if Larry shows up with watermelons, don't put them in the picture. Don't do it. We're not doing watermelons on the COVID It sends the wrong message. And she gets there, and I show up at the studio, we meet and Phoenix, where she flew in, and she's got an assistant, and so we shoot the COVID and at the end, she says, all right, we shot it their way. Let's shoot it the right way. And she brought out the watermelons, and she said, you were right all along. They're wrong, and I'm gonna prove it to them. I shot their cover. Now let's shoot your cover. And we shot my cover. And, you know, they went with the watermelon picture.

Oh, it's iconic. I mean, that's such a great picture. What were the other pictures that you had to endure before you got to that?

Oh, I couldn't have a pair of anything. Oh, just pictures of men.

No, that makes the whole thing.

I know. Of course, I had a contest, and I had people from all over the world taking pictures of themselves with watermelons and sending them in to me. It was great.

Powerful.

Yeah, it's great.

That's funny.

Who do you.

In your. In your Personal life. Who do you mastermind with and kind of have that inner circle with?

Mastermind kind of sounds like a formal way to do it. And I don't really do that. I've got a handful of buddies that do what I do for a living that I trust and I enjoy and I would listen to. They know who I am, they know my values. I think that's really important, that if you're going to be with somebody in a mastermind kind of situation, that they know who you are, they understand your values, they know your background, they know what's important to you. And it's guys. I write a blog with them. It's called the Five Friends. It's guys who operate at my level. Joe Calloway, Mark Sanborn, Scott McCain, Randy Pennington. And anybody can follow me and find the blog where we weigh in every other week on some topic of the day or some business issue or our favorite drink or best recipe.

You'd smoke a cigar with and have a drink?

Oh, absolutely.

Lie and tell the truth to each other.

Lie and tell the truth. And nice thing is, when you've been friends for 25 years, you don't get by with a lot of lies. Somebody's always there to go. Come on.

How many bulldogs have you owned? I know you have ralph now. Ralph's 10. How many bulldogs have you owned?

I started with pit bulls many, many years ago. And, you know, I'm known as the pit bull of personal development. It's a registered trademark. But then I had Elvis. She was my first English bulldog. Elvis was a girl? Yeah, I had Elvis and I had Butter. Was a Frenchie. And then Ralph, who's my English right now, and I. Ralph's my best buddy. And then I have Gus, who's a Frenchie right now. So I sort of mix the French and the English.

Does Ralph sleep in bed with you?

No, he's. We have a tall bed.

Ralph, he's not making a it up there?

No, he might fall off or something. And besides that, Ralph snores like a train. Yeah, you know how they are.

Oh, yeah. The little one right there, Olivia, is worse than the boys. I mean, she sounds like a. You know, like my grandpa did.

He sleeps in the room with me. He's got his own bed right at the foot of the bed. So I. I mean, I can always reach down and scratch his head or whatever I want.

But I made the mistake earlier on in. In life of letting my bulldog sleep on the bed, and now I don't because it ruins you're four ruins your love life. It's. They're always, you know, elbowing you and waking you up and pushing you off the bed.

Yeah.

They're hard to sleep with. They're.

And Frenchies have a tendency to be burrowers, so they don't just lay on top of covers. They get up by your head and then they go under.

Yeah.

And they're digging around.

Hard to get a good night's sleep when all that's going on.

Yeah.

I love them just like you do. Well, I really appreciate you doing this event for me.

I appreciate it.

And we had a cigar last night and drinks and had a lot of fun. And this group will be fun. It should be good. Thank you very much, Larry.

I enjoyed it, bud.