Without discomfort, there can be no growth… EP #158 - Den Lennie

G', day, guys. Dan Lanney here, host of the how to Scale a Video Business podcast coming to you this week from the usual place, Nooserville here in Queensland, Australia. With episode 158 of the how to Scale a Video Business podcast, they really are ramping up. So I wanted to go back over some of my archives and just talk a bit about some of the stuff we've, we've shared with our members and some of the mindset shifts that I feel are going to really benefit you if you're trying to scale a video business right now.

And today it's the topic of discomfort, because without discomfort, there just simply can't be any growth. It's just not possible to grow without pain, without breaking something and then repairing it. So, you know, I want to just talk about something that's really very personal to me, and there's no judgment in this, but it's a really interesting observation. And that is, did you know that 88% of the population live within 3 to 5 miles of where they grew up? I just find that to be a staggering statistic. Now, if you're in the other 12% that dares to break with the status quo and start a business, then you really, you know, you're already on the back foot as far as fitting in goes, because, you know, it is the 12% who move away and do something unusual that I feel is where the growth is. So if you're trying to grow a business, you're already at a disadvantage because the majority of people around you potentially all think the same way if they're part of that 88% who don't feel like they want to grow beyond where they grew up. And so to grow a business, you need to think differently. As Steve Jobs says, you need to be prepared to ride out discomfort. You know, the more you do in your life that brings discomfort, then the more conscious your decisions you'll make will be to take on risk. And that may not involve a brilliant outcome for you, or it may involve some risk taking, but if you're willing to do that, then the more likely you are to succeed. Just think about that for a minute. What if that feeling of discomfort is actually what you need in order to grow stronger and more resilient. Think about that. You know, when you break a leg, it heals stronger because it's been broken. The callus heals the leg stronger and makes it stronger. So I've been reflecting on this as I do often in a lot of different areas of my life. I'm always optimizing my life, going, am I actually doing stuff that really makes me happy? Am I spending my time in a space with people that really fill me up and lift me up? Or am I working with people who are bringing me down? And I'm fortunate that I get to work with amazing people. And that's because it's been a choice. But I think it's really important to invest time in reflecting on where you are and where you're going, because if you're not making conscious decisions, then you're not actually running your life. You're letting external forces run it for you. I speak to a lot of people who complain that life's been tough in the last year. It's been challenging, for sure, but there's also been enormous opportunity. And I've seen businesses thrive and grow in a time when others are kind of complaining that they're not getting enough of a handout. So when was the last time you checked in with yourself to see if you're still aligned with who you are today, not who you are five years ago? Because a lot can change in five years. I think it's Tony Robbins who said, you know, most people overestimate what they can achieve in a year, but wildly underestimate what they can achieve in five. So what decisions have you made or not made in the past that may have directly impacted the outcome of your life significantly? So I want to tell you a story about my life. It was back in 2001 and nearly 20 years ago in September, that I took a job that involved climbing a mountain, Mont Blanc in Chamonix. It's the highest mountain in Europe. And the project was to film a couple of guys who were going to parascend off the summit. I mean, you know, now looking back, it's kind of crazy, you know, but at the time, I was also offered a gig as a freelancer filming in southern Spain. It was a holiday program. It was going to be a very easy week of filming in nice restaurants, eating great food, shooting nice scenery, and really quite a gentle week. But my mate Pat Doyle rang me and he said, hey, Dan, I've got this gig. Some crazy guys want to claim Mont Blanc, which is the highest mountain in Europe, and they want to paras end off the summit and be the first people to ever Paras end off the summit. Do you want to film it? And my immediate response was, shit, yeah, let's do it. I'd never climbed a mountain before to that degree, and I thought what an amazing achievement it would be. To get on top of that mountain, stand on top with my mate Pat and celebrate. So that was it, off we went. You know, I was. Was I 30, maybe? 30? Yeah, about 30. 30 years old. And I was like, I'm, I'm, you know, I'm. I'm. I'll give it a go, you know, whatever. Now, unfortunately, on the very first day, the gravity of the job hit me. And to get down to the base of the mir de glace, which is the glacier, you have to climb down a vertical cliff face on some metal ladders that are basically bolted into the side of the cliff. And, you know, if you want to check this out, look, just Google mir de glace and look at the ladders. They're pretty scary. Now, I had a 15 kilogram Vitacam SX camera on my back and a backpack, and I climbed down these ladders and absolutely bricked it. It was actually very, very scary. And at that point I realized this wasn't going to be a walk in the park, but I was already committed, so I just had to kind of crack on with it. But later on that day, we'd been doing lots of filming on the ice and we had to learn how to use crampons. We actually had to train on ice training to learn how to walk on the ice before we could climb the mountain. And crampons are like sort of metal spikes that you put on the bottom of your feet and they grip on the ice. Now, I want to be completely honest, I was not feeling at all confident on the ice. I remember distinctly thinking, well, I'll just get practicing on this little slope. And I put the camera down at this stage and I started kind of climbing up this little slope. And I kind of. I got really terrified, actually, because I was like, oh, this is actually really scary. And I remember the guy saying, hey, not too high. And at that point, I went to term and I dug my heel in, which I now know, in retrospect is the wrong thing to do on crampons. And I slid down the slope. The next thing I find myself sliding down those slopes is just ice and I get the bottom and I hear this crack and I fall over and I hit my very, my right ankle very, very hard in a small crevasse. And it flipped me over. It literally snapped my ankle there and then. And that one moment, one micro decision moment to go up that little slope changed my life forever. Now I was in agony. A helicopter arrived, paramedics came out, they filled me with morphine, put my leg in a Splint and helicopter me off the mountain, just winced me off of my harness. Quite a dramatic exit. And it turns out I'd broken it in two places. And surgeons had to fit pins and a plate on my ankle and my bone. Now I was in one of the best hospitals in Chamonix, if not the best place in Europe for that kind of surgery. So I got patched up pretty well and pretty quickly by experts who do this every day.

But I had a six month recovery where I didn't work, I couldn't work, and during that time I pretty much got bored. And so as soon as my cast was off, I decided not to sit around the house, but actually get on a plane and go travel through Thailand for a month. And that's what I did. And my sergeant was like, yeah, do it, it's fine. And so, you know, again, just broken leg, just out of cast. I'm hobbling around with a, with a support bandage. I get on a plane with a backpack and go to Thailand. Because I was living in the UK at the time, I was like, well, I can stay here in the rain or I can go and tang in Thailand for a month and eat noodles and just chill.

So I've always been someone who makes decisions quite quickly and just does it.

You know, I don't really think I'm that daring, but I don't really see barriers. When I decide to do something, I do something. So what's interesting is that I got back to work six months later and this was six months into my freelance career. So it was pretty, pretty crazy. I had them and I had some insurance in place that really helped some illness cover for if you hurt yourself, income protection protection, and was really worthwhile having. And if you're a freelancer, then definitely get income protection insurance. But I got back to work six months later and in the following year, for about 18 months actually, I was, I was doing fine, it was all good. But I was filming in South Africa with Pat again, actually, and my leg just didn't feel quite right. We were shooting a show, a pilot for a show called A Place in the Sun, Home or Away. And the pilot we shot in Cape Town.

And so I kind of came back and I wasn't feeling quite right. So I went to another specialist and he basically said, well, you've developed arthritis, which is something that can happen with a leg break. It happens at the moment of impact, but doesn't necessarily come on for another two years. And he said, what do you do for a living? I said, well, I'm a TV cameraman. And at that point his words were, well, not anymore you're not. And just like that, my career was done. Or so I thought. So Certainly carrying a 10 and a half kilo camera and in broadcast TV meant that was the end of my career in TV, which is a pretty damning day. I mean, that's, that's what I love to do. That's what I'd done since, you know, since age of 16. I wanted to be a TV cameraman. But on the flip side, it was an opportunity. And, you know, while I was feeling frustrated by this situation, I was also increasingly frustrated with how the TV industry was going to. I was finding it more and more challenging to work with less experienced directors. The rates were declining, the days were getting longer and you were kind of expected to pull productions together with less experienced directors. And so in many ways you could argue it happened for a reason. Now, the reality of that situation was that the injury and lack of income put me in a position where I racked up quite a lot of debt. I probably racked up £35,000 worth of debt just living and paying a mortgage for six months.

At the time I was earning about £70,000 a year. So it kind of makes sense if you're not working at all. But, you know, I didn't know what else to do. I mean, I had this very well paid, relatively career in television that I could no longer physically do. So all of these things were lessons, you know, based on decisions I had made. So with extreme ownership, everything that was happening to me was happening to me for a reason. The decision to go up the mountain and not the beach and put my life on a different course, that was my decision. The decision to go a little bit higher than I should have gone on the mountain was a poor decision because I ended up breaking my ankle. And when I was told I could no longer be a cameraman, I was like, well, what am I going to do now? So I started working out. What was I going to do? And I started doing the usual things like, well, I could. I could shoot weddings as a photographer, I'd study photography at university. I thought about doing.

You know, anything that any kind of photography that would kind of get me to be in front of a camera, you know, but it. I was trying to stay tied to the visual arts that I'd been involved in and I just. Something wasn't really working. It just wasn't feeling right. So I actually was talking to a guy, John Brennan, who I used to hire My gear from at Pro Cam.

And he said, well, look, you know, we've actually got a job in the warehouse. It's probably not what you want, but if you want a job, and I'm like, I'll take it. So I went back into that company, having been a client, into becoming the warehouse manager. So I was like, well, how do I set myself some targets to turn this around and make this kind of, you know, fun for me and interesting? And so I wanted to figure out how we could make the warehouse more effective, more efficient, how can we package the gear better? I had all this experience and so, you know, you might think that moving into a warehouse role was not great for me, but you got to flip it on its head and say, well, how can I make this work? How can I take this experience I have and make it work for me and make something better? And that's what happens. Now, I did that job for two, two and a half years, and then we ended up actually in a business development role. In fact, I probably did the warehouse for less than a year because it was. We very quickly realized that I had this unique set of skills that I knew how to package gear for kit and shoots, I knew what we needed and what we didn't, and I knew it was nice to have. But I could also liaise with production managers who said, we've got this budget. What do you think we should do with it? And so I got promoted and we brought in about a million pounds worth of new business in a couple of years. Through my connections, we ended up actually supplying all of the kit and all of the vans for a place in the sun. Place in the sun, Home or away. And There was like six vans out on that job, two vans in Europe for like 30 weeks a year. And we did a whole lot of other big projects, including, you know, helping scrap heap challenge re gear up. And so, you know, I even ended up with a share of the company because I'd brought so much business in. But. But I got to a point where I thought I was getting frustrated. I was like, this is the kind of. This limit here. I'm getting frustrated being an employee. And the company wasn't willing to kind of give away any more shares. And that's fair enough. So I got asked if I would join a sales company. And that's when Mark fourth, who's now the CEO of cvp, approached me and said, look, we'd love someone like you in a kind of business development role at Make Corp. And I was like, oh, I'M not sure, you know, he said, would you want to earn? And I said, number. He said, well, you can do that with us. And he said. I said, what's my role? He said, look, you can just be den at large. He said, basically, I don't care what you do, really. I just know that when you get in front of customers, they want to spend money. And so my unofficial job title was then At Large. And that just meant send down, out with the company, credit card, take people out and they'll buy stuff. And kind of in a nutshell, that was. I mean, there was a bit more to it than that, but fundamentally it was about relationships. I had a very strong relationship with Sony and so there's a lot of reasons why that worked out really well.

So I kind of, I wanted to push harder. So I decided to go and work for MIT Corp. And it's funny because I knew, I knew Simon at the time, he was the md, I knew Mark. And I sat in this three hour interview and it was really bizarre because, I mean, I've been. I'd been on the piss with these guys. You know, we'd done a lot of kind of daft stuff together. But it's a really weird sort of dynamic shift. But I mean, they offered me the job and, you know, I took that role and really I did that for very strategic reasons. I went into a sales role because I wanted to learn how to run a business and how to do sales. And what I observed with retail and equipment is that it's complete contrast to creativity. You know, it is all about selling product, moving boxes and then starting fresh every week. You know, creativity is very much about emotions and feeling and using those kind of empathetic skills as a tool to develop the artistic side of what you're doing. But in business, business needs structure and it's run on the numbers. It's about hitting numbers, filling out spreadsheets, hitting a certain target each week. You know, targets are in gross profit. So when something was sold, it went on the drove gross profit. And there was a leaderboard and it's like, what's next? What's next? You know, we did a deal one week, it was worth about £20,000 in profit. And the CEO ringing up and saying, you guys did a great job on this. Really terrific, awesome. And then Managing director phone ringing up and saying, all right, guys, this is great. Next week, how do we do it again? And at the time I found that quite challenging. Cause I was like, oh, we just done this amazing deal and, and it's like square one again. But that is business like that, that is the game of business. That is what we sign up for. So if you want to build a business, you get comfortable with the numbers. And, you know, I probably took it a bit personally, I found it very challenging. But the md, Mark, who is Mark, who's now the owner, he was right. He said, look, you either creative or you're a salesperson, but you can't be both. He said, in my experience, creators only go so far in business because they get too emotionally invested. And I think on the whole he's actually right. But I think I've learned how to do both. I'm probably more commercial now than I am creative. But as Grant Cardone says, you can't have your brilliant, perfect life without money. And I think what happens is most creatives do is they kind of avoid selling and they tell themselves a story about why selling isn't ethical. Because it's hard and it's confronting and it takes the courage to get on the phone and make a sale. And they don't want to seem salesy because they've got a kind of prerequisite, pre designed notion of what that's like. And it takes a willingness and an openness to handle rejection multiple times before making a sale. That is what toughens you up, it's what calluses you. It's like a leg breaking and a healing. But really the moral of this tale is that if you don't push yourself into discomfort, you'll never ever achieve the goals that you desire. Which brings me back to the theme of this episode, which is there can be no growth without discomfort. So if you are surrounding yourself with people who are living three to five miles from where you grew up, then the status quo is the house, the kids, the dog and being near your family. And I'm not judging anyone who chooses that life. In many ways, I wish I could be content with that, but it's just not how my life has ended up. I now live 10,000 miles away from where I grew up. My brother's over in New Zealand, my sister's in Boston, my other sister's in Edinburgh, my mum's in Edinburgh. I left Edinburgh when I was 22. I went to travel Australia and I came back and left again when I was 27 to live in Luton and work for the BBC. And I lived in someone's garage for a couple of months. I got a job at BBC and I traveled all over East Anglia to film for the BBC. But I found that that just didn't really float my boat. So I got a job in the Big Smoke and went to work in London and I moved there and did 10 or so years there. But my dream would always be to head back to Australia.

But you know what the 88% asked most commonly when I said we were moving to Australia, the most common comment we were given was, oh my goodness, that's so far away. Won't you miss your family? I could never do that. And so you have to be very careful who you listen to, because if you hear that enough, they'll start to see doubt in your mind. And no matter how well meaning they are, they will project their own fears onto you. And if you take something and do something, that breaks the mold and then.

They'Ll want to stay safe. And so they'll question your motive because by you leaving that situation makes them question their life. And so they'll question your motives and want you to stay safe. And of course I miss my family, but I can see my family any day. I speak to my family. I spoke to my mum last night on FaceTime. I spoke to my sister two days ago, her niece, my niece, sorry. Her daughter's coming up to be four. I've only met her twice, but we're always on FaceTime. So she knows who I am. So we have a relationship. And given the current climate with the coronavirus, most people can't see each other anyway. So there is going to be a difference. And okay, there's a time difference, but that's not going to be a big deal because by me building my amazing life, if we were allowed to fly, I could get on a plane tomorrow, fly business class home and see people in 24 hours. It's a bit trickier just now, granted, but other than that, I can make my ideal life happen and so can you. But it only happens if you have the courage to pick up the phone, make a sale, sell something so you can learn and earn and, and, and getting customers is a process of discipline and process and discipline is not something that generally creative people find easy to manifest or execute. But with, with, with practice, you can, it is absolutely possible to train yourself to do these things and do them better. And so really, in summary, you know, if you're not willing to put yourself into discomfort, that means taking a chance, investing in yourself, then you won't grow. And that is okay if you don't want to do that, if you don't want the success that you tell yourself you want, you can talk about it all Day long. But if you don't execute, you will never get there. And you know what? It's tough. It's hard. Business is really hard. But if you're someone who just talks about stuff but doesn't execute, you have a decision to make. If you're someone who spends an enormous amount on gear thinking that that's the point of difference and then won't invest in yourself, you need to look in the mirror and ask yourself, why are you doing this? What is really going on? Because you can choose to change that behavior. It's more than likely just a habit rooted in something that triggered you when you were growing up. For me, it was my grandmother saying, look, son, don't get too big for your boots. And for years I was like, oh my God, I can. You know, I'm just this working class boy, how dare I want, want more. But I worked through, I overcame it. And now I'm okay with helping people succeed and them paying me for that process and me being able to enjoy my life as a result. So just know that you can change how you believe and think and you can make a conscious decision in any situation, in any conflict situation, inner conflict or external conflict, where a decision has to be make made which, which involves discomfort, know that you have the power to choose to lean into that discomfort and as a result will come out stronger. When my ankle got broken on the mountain 20 years ago, my leg healed stronger. Now I've got arthritis, which is a byproduct and, and you know, not everything's going to go your way and you're going to be faced with issues. I'm in fairly chronic pain every day, but I just get used to it and I don't focus on it. And I work with yoga and cycling to kind of maintain as much health as I can.

But I don't allow it to dictate and determine who I am. I focus on what I can achieve and how I've learned as a result of being in that situation. And you can too. So just do me a favor at the beginning of this year, make this the year you stop bullshitting yourself. Make this the year that you stop making excuses, stop telling yourself stories about why you can't do A or B or C, because you can do anything you set your mind to. None of this is difficult. It just takes courage to make a decision to step into discomfort. You know, moving to Australia six years ago was not the easiest thing in the world and there's been a lot of challenges along the way. But you know, What?

I have friends I know here from Colombia who are lawyers who are now working as cleaners because their English isn't good enough and their legal qualifications don't mean anything here. It's not as hard for me as it is for them. Yet they smile, they work hard, they go and learn English at night school. And I read this wonderful piece of advice the other day, which if you find yourself alone for whatever reason, you can focus on the fact that you're not alone. And it can be for a number of reasons. The time of year, there's not many people around. But you know what? Get stuck into a good book. Improve your knowledge. You'll never feel alone with a good book. Better than hanging out with people that are going to bring you down. So I really want you to think about that. How can you get out of whatever slump you're in? And the best way to do that is to read, to listen to things like this. But most of all is take action. So I want you to promise me that you will take action on something you've learned today. All right, guys, talk to you soon. You've been listening to the how to Scale a Video Business podcast with me, your host, Dan Lenny. If you if you're a video business owner who's hit a ceiling and we benefit from mentorship, support and coaching, then check out how you can work with me over@denlenny.com don't forget to subscribe and rate the show over on itunes and we'd really appreciate you taking a few minutes to leave a review. And don't forget to share. If you feel you've gotten value from this episode and you think it would be useful for other filmmakers you know, then please do me a massive favorite. Share it on social media and in groups that you might be in. So thanks for listening. See you in the next episode.