Be Successful Without Being A Workaholic

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So today we're going to be talking again about the why better way. So if you remember people whose why is better way, they're great at innovating, they're great at taking something that's already there and finding a better way to do it, improve upon it. And so this happens to be my why. So I understand it very, very well. But I got a great guest for you today. You're going to really like this guy. His name is Randy Davis. Now, Randy is my mentor and he's mentored a lot of people that I know. He'll talk to you about that. He's mentored many, many people and he's built and sold 18 different businesses throughout his career and has currently launching business number 19 in his quest to become the bootstrap billionaire. And he'll tell you about that. He went from bankrupt and homeless, living in a beat up Volkswagen bug, subsisting on three crackers a day with peanut butter in his early days of roughing it to transforming his life, starting a new business and becoming a multimillionaire in three years and growing his prosperity to create an incredible life for his family worthy of an Oscar winning movie. Randy has worked with billionaires, mega millionaires, celebrities and world famous business leaders during the past two decades and prefers to really fly under the radar and be invisible to protect his current and former clients. As he discovered from me, Randy is wired to challenge the status quo so he can find a better way and help improve people's lives. He's building his current business with the hopes of it thriving for the next 500 years and making a positive impact on 1 billion lives. Randy, welcome to my podcast.

Hey, Gary, thank you. Thanks for having me, man.

That's quite an introduction. I love that. Can you. Let's just start by telling people a little bit about your story because I didn't know that part about living in the Volkswagen Bug. I used to have a bug, loved it and I. But I never did live in it. So that may have been the problem I had.

Well, you know, if you lived in it, you'd love it even more.

But no, I went through a situation. It was my first business that I had started and I confused abdication and delegation and I had a gentleman that had worked for me for several years that I trusted. He did a great job and then he fell in love and the Person he fell in love with had a certain habit that required money and so he started doing some interesting things and then he disappeared. And after he disappeared, I started getting phone calls and yeah, it was. I realized that I owed people money that I thought were paid, tried to work it out arrangement. Most would work with me. If you didn't, next thing you know I'm bankrupt. Bankrupt and then divorced. And initially I didn't even have the Volkswagen. When that happened, I really lost everything. And so there was a beat up Volkswagen that was for sale for $500 and I had to really work hard to get $500 to buy that Volkswagen. And the problem, the tires were so bad that when I would drive them, more often than not I'd have a flat tire and then I'd have to wait until I could get some coin together to fix the tire. So it's kind of a rough time. I, I found a campground that if I would go in and do some chores for them for a couple hours each evening, they would let me take a shower there. And I couldn't camp in the campground, I had to camp outside the campground, but I could come in and take a shower. So then I would buy some crackers and I rationed about. I had three soda crackers and two tablespoons of peanut butter. And that's what I did probably for about a month. And then I found that a local hotel had happy hour where you could go in there and for 75 cents have a Coke or you know, some like a beer and they would have tacos one night, pizzas another night. And so yeah, that's kind of the life that I lived back then. Wow, new business.

So how did you go from broke to figuring out a business to figuring out a better way to live?

Yeah, well, the first thing I did I was totally.

The emotions that I had from filing bankruptcy was the darkest day in my life up to that point.

Because I felt like a huge failure. And I thought, you know, these people extended me credit based on their faith and confidence in me. And here I am declaring bankruptcy on them. I didn't want to, I was pushed into it. So I thought, I have, even though I'm legally discharged from owing that, I thought I need to repay it. And so I set out initially to try to figure out how to generate some quick, fast income so I could pay the people back that I declared bankruptcy on. And I thought, you know, I don't have anything, I don't have the assets, what, you know, what can I do? And so I Thought, well, if I could learn to sell life insurance, that would maybe I could earn some money. It doesn't require anything except my skill and work. And if I can learn to sell life insurance, which at that time I didn't like life insurance. And I thought life insurance people were like the scum of the earth, you know. But I since learned that there's actually some good, you know, good professionals.

So yeah, I went to my CPA and I asked him, I said, what kind of company would I have to represent after proper training to where it would have the kind of quality you would refer clients to? Not necessarily refer them to me, but what kind of company would it be? And he told me a couple of companies and they didn't want to hire me because I wasn't cut out to be a salesperson. I'm an introvert, thin skinned, I want everybody to like me, but I didn't really have a choice. So anyhow, make long story short, I convinced a company it's 100% commission. So I had to go through three months of training without any compensation. And then if I sold something, I got paid and if I didn't, I didn't get paid. And just not from skill. But I thought, you know, if I lack the skill I have to do is work harder. And so if they said you need 10 appointments a week, you know, then I would schedule 30 appointments a week. And if they said you need to be scheduled two weeks in advance, I'd schedule six weeks in advance. So I just had a work ethic and I had to make phone calls and I didn't have any, I didn't have a telephone. And this was before the cell phone. And so I went to the pastor, my church, and I asked him, I said, is there any older person that could have some handyman work done, gutters clean, lawn raked or whatever. And in exchange for that, I could use their phone to make local phone calls for one hour a night. And he told me and so I went and that's what I did. I would do chores around this, this older lady's house and then exchange for that, I would go in and she let me use her phone for an hour and a half as long as it was local phone calls. And then I would, and I want to vomit every night that, you know, I mean, it's like, oh, I didn't want to do that stuff, but you know, when you're back against the wall, what are you gonna do? So I make a, I did get, did get the income up. I paid Everybody back that I owed money, I thought, wow, I've just learned how to make really large income fast. Now I could use this as a way to create wealth for me. And I wasn't thinking about huge amounts of wealth. I just want financial security, financial independence, you know, have a million or two, you know. And so then found a guy I didn't know he's a mentor then, but I didn't know what a mentor was. But he was the. I went to several banks and I asked them, I said, can you give me A list of 5 self made wealthy individuals in the area because I want to talk to them to see what I need to do. And so that's. So I guess that's kind of finding a better way, right? Yeah, you see those little trends? And so what I did, I noticed that this one name showed up on every, every bank that I went to. And so I called him up and I asked him if I could come in and talk to him for a minute. And so that was, that was a mentor that I had. And he told me so, well, you know, it's gonna be pretty hard to just earn an income and get this to where you're at. So then he talked to me about, you know, leverage and what you need to do in terms of exponential results. And it's kind of neat. So he bought me lunch and we walked down to McDonald's. And.

Even though this guy was like the wealthiest guy in three counties, he still uses milk carts. So he got free milk when he went to McDonald's and he got his discounts. So that's quite an experience there. But anyhow, I then started building a business and I was looking for something that would build residual revenue so I could work today and get paid on it many times in advance. And that's how all that started.

So what kind of business did you finally find that allowed you to have that?

Yeah, what I did was that the business that I had that went bankrupt was a motorcycle repair and accessory store. We did retail, independent retail and then service. So what I started to do after that was I developed some racing parts. Motorcycles. I used to race professional motocross. And so I developed the part I saw my first degree was engineering. And so I was, is a racing engineering company. And but, but the challenge there is the residual piece. You know, now since I created the. I created some products that were pretty incredible and we started exporting them. We would. I had someone that had exclusive rights for Europe, exclusive rights for Australia. So that was the first business. But then after I spoke to this mentor, Paul.

I started a residential security business because then you can get involved in monitoring of the security systems you're building reserve. Then it had a higher multiple if you ever decided you wanted to sell it. So I did that and. Yeah, and that would have been my third business then. So the first business was a racing engine development and I got involved and had a small manufacturing company because the parts, rather than farm them out, we want to control it. We started manufacturing the components and we made a lot of money off of that. And we were featured in a lot of national magazines and the world champion motocrosser, Roger De Coster, he actually started using that product on it. And we competed with the factories that had multimillion dollar budgets and we were the highest placed independent racers internationally. You know, our teams, we would bring in guys and pretty much we took on Goliath and we did really well.

That's awesome. So you had motorcycles and you got into insurance.

Did motorcycles and then that was the bankruptcy. Yep. And then I got into insurance to pay it back and I continued doing the insurance because that was kind of a cash cow for me to get things moving. Yep. And then I did the racing engine and. And then after we developed the racing engine, you know the parts that we developed, the Israeli government bought them from us for the. They had like disposable airplanes they used for reconnaissance and they put them in their engine. Mario Andretti bought them for a snowmobile racing team. And you know that thing, it was fun. It was, that was a lot of fun. And we did. It wasn't like a home run. I mean we made money and it did great. The residential security system was the one that really launched it in terms of creating wealth.

And then along, I was continuing, I was continuing doing the insurance during that time period for the cash until I got those other business up to where they were self sustaining. And then I backed away from the insurance piece. I think I probably did the insurance for like.

Four years. Okay, four years.

What was the thing that finally got you over the level to where you started to really create wealth?

Yeah, you know, when I, when I started, my goal was to. Because I think I was earning like $8,000 a year or something. And I thought, okay, if I could get to 30,000, I'm going to be pretty flush, you know.

Well, we know better than that. And so then when I hit 30,000, it was like, oh, wow, if I get to 100,000, you know it's gonna be. And. And then you get to 100,000 and it's kind of like Parkinson's law, you know, it just keeps expanding. So, yeah, the.

The residential security piece is really the, you know, that's the one where I said that became a multi millionaire, you know, in just a few years. And then what happened after that? I started seeing it through a different lens because I started looking and thinking, okay, well, what's the difference between a person that's worth 3 million and a person that's worth 50 million? And so, you know, I didn't know this then, but after you've, you know, it really helped me discover this. I realized that I'm just on this constant quest for finding a better way. And so it's like, okay, if I could do 3 million, how can I turn around and do 50 million? And then I started looking at models and looking at what's the key characteristics for people to do that. You know, my son. My son didn't know anything at all about the work that you and I have done and about you pointing out the better way. And this is my oldest son, which he's a young adult. And so we were having a conversation, I think probably two or three years ago, and I was asking him for. I said, can you pick one word, one adjective? Do you think that would be. Because my mind was thinking about from a work standpoint. And he said, well, dad, he says, I don't know that I can give you one word. They said what I would say is better way. He says, you can't help yourself. He said, we're on a canoe trip up in Canada and you're showing us a better way to set the camp. You're showing us a better way further route. And he didn't know anything at all about the work we're doing. And so now that I know it and I look back, hindsight 20 20, I mean, when I did the security system, I didn't have any money. So if you look at how I was able to pull that off and get a marketing campaign, I ended up getting well over $100,000 worth of advertising in the first year, and I didn't pay one penny for it. And it's from discovering a better way to do it.

Yep.

So thank you for helping me connect those dots, Gary.

It just keeps showing up, huh?

Yeah. Yeah, it does. You know, when I look back on it, and it really does. So then I, you know, I had business where, like a dry cleaning business that was in trouble, and we kind of turned that around and that one generated a huge amount of money, had A publishing company that. Like the different school programs that you'd have for the athletics. So we did that.

I actually had an outdoor guide service where we take people on wilderness trips and whitewater rafting and up into Canada. So I had, you know, a lot of different business. Manufacturing, retail, distribution, exporting. And so it's kind of the culmination. Like, I would build a business with the idea of keeping it, because to me, it's just something I'm passionate about. And then, you know, we would have really great people, we would have great sales, we'd have great profits. There would be the sustainability of it. People would want to buy it, and I'd say, no, I don't want to sell it. And then later they want to buy it. No, I don't want to sell it. The price would go up to where you look and think, man, I'd be foolish not to sell it. I get excited from the startup phase. I mean, like, what I'm doing right now, I kind of forgot about some of the pain of the startup of doing all these things, having a team, but. But I love it, so. And each time I did it had more success. And then I would invest that. And then I had to learn a better way to invest because I realized that the way the industry, you know, I mean, I'm not interested in mediocrity. I cannot stand mediocrity in terms of. I can have temporary moments of mediocrity, like building a business. And you're seeing me go through moments of mediocrity right now, but those are temporary. And then, you know, it goes up so well.

You know, what's interesting about better way people is that we. We catalog all these better way things as we go along. I see.

That's better.

Oh, I see. That's better. And it's like we have a big file cabinet filled with all these better way things, and then we can take them out when we need them and use them in other areas. It's called associating. We take from one industry and use it in another. And I see you've done that over and over and over.

You know, that's what I've often felt was kind of like my secret sauce, was that I borrow ideas from another industry, bring them into the industry that I'm doing right now. And, you know, I just really, really love doing that. So. Yeah, and you're right that cataloging that, that's part of why with the bootstrap billionaires see, I can't take anything from the past that I've had. I can't take relationships. I can't take any resources. The only thing I can take is my experience. And taking that toolbox that you just described, employing tools out from the past to build and go forward. And that's. That's why I know that I'll hit that billion dollars in less than seven years. Yeah.

So tell. Tell the listeners. What are you doing? What is this bootstrap billionaire thing?

Yeah, after I sold my last business, which. That. That particular business I earned more off of than any. All the others combined. You know, I mean, it was just like. So I guess that's sign of progress, right, if you saw your last one. But I took a sabbatical because I thought, man, what do I want to do now? Because I don't want to just sit back and twiddle my thumbs. I truly believe in trying to make a contribution to the people, and we have such a gift of life here. Give back. And so I think in terms of, like, 25 years at that point of, like, what do I want to do over the next 25 years that can really make an impact and that I can have fun doing that. I get excited about doing that. I get, you know, out of bed in the morning, and my adrenaline's cranking, and I can't wait to go. And so I was trying to find different things. Gary. And would get excited for, like, two weeks, and then it flame out, and then I'd find something else. I get excited for a couple weeks, and it flame out. So what I ultimately did that didn't flame out was come up with a concept called the bootstrap billionaire. And I thought, okay, so, you know, we gave away most of the money because that was part of our goal to give it away for some research in the medical world. And. But we kept enough to be, you know, well off. And I thought, what if we took that money and had it sequestered where we couldn't get access to it? You know, what if my attorney could take it, put it in a trust, and then can't have it for 10 years unless there's, like, I die or a catastrophic health situation, you know, where you. That money is a difference between life and death of the family. So that money was sequestered, and then I can't. Could not go back to any relationships I have in the past. Because what I wanted to do was I wanted to try to take all the excuses that I've heard entrepreneurs make why they can't do something really big and still have a great Life while they're doing it. And I tried to recreate all those scenarios. So it's like, you know, where I would have had things paid off. All of a sudden I have a mortgage that I didn't have before, and I can't have access to anything. So when January rolled around, I had zero income, and I had to start from scratch with brand new relationships and build up some income. And my family was behind me on that in theory, when we first started talking, but after, after the first couple months, they thought I was crazy because it took me a little longer to get it moving than I'd planned because I discounted the momentum that I had previously. I mean, I know about the momentum and the importance, but I discount it. So the bottom line is I have zero assets. I cannot use. Former relationships.

Had to start with zero income, and I have to restrict myself to working 30 hours a week and taking 12 weeks off on vacation, totally unplugged from the business, and then go from zero to more than $1 billion in seven years. And that's what the bootstrap. And then once I do it, I'll write a book on it. And the purpose of writing the book is to teach entrepreneurs that you can build something really big and you could have a balanced, multidimensional life where your kids love you, you have your life partner loves you, you have great friends, you're able to enjoy adventures and play, you're not a workaholic where no one wants to be around you, and you can give back to the community as well. So that's kind of what it's all about. And you're right in the midst of watching that happen.

Yes, I am. So you're showing entrepreneurs a better way to reach their goals without all of the trauma that's normally associated with it, where they can't to other things because they're so focused on themselves.

Absolutely. Yep. Yeah. The vast majority of business owners, I can't remember the exact statistic on it, but something like 70% or so will end up getting divorced within three years of selling their business. And it's in. They say it's because they spent so much of their time focused on the business. They really lost touch with their spouse and their kids, and the spouse really was miserable. Didn't feel like they had a. Had a life partner, and. But they didn't know what to do about it. And so then when there was a price tag put on that business and it was valued, they say, okay, well, I'm gonna get half of that for all my pain and suffering over the last 20 years, and then their net worth drops, you know, so you have that situation or you have. The more successful you become, if you don't structure it properly, you're gonna become held hostage. You'll be in bondage to your success, and the more success you get, you can't get away from it. And so I'm trying to show people that, yes, you could build success and still have the freedom to get out and enjoy life. And you shouldn't have to work more than 40 hours a week to achieve your goals. And if that's the case, you have the wrong systems in place, you're working on the wrong priorities, you have the wrong team, things like that.

So how did you get in? How did you get from building your businesses and building businesses to coaching and mentoring and helping others? Because I know your company before this, the strategic Millionaire, you mentored quite a few people, is that right?

That's correct, yep. When I did that one, it was because.

You build, I call it an auto biz. And when you build an auto biz and you do it properly, it's something to where you have a great team doing the work. And you can work as much as you want in the business, but it's not required because there's someone else that's gonna be doing what you would typically do. So you're not pulling levers. Right. And so by building a business like that, I wasn't needed. And so then I get bored. And that's how I got involved with celebrities to begin with. As I got bored. So I would call somebody up just to see if I can get a hold of them, you know, just out of curiosity, you know. And one thing led to another. So then what happened was I knew that I enjoyed helping business owners. And I saw my wife and I were driving down a highway one day, Southern Indiana, coming from Tennessee. We were driving back up to Illinois, and I was noticing all these different businesses that used to be there that were closed. And then her comment was, wow, look at all those dreams that got snuffed and that started. That weighed heavy on me. And I thought, boy, oh, boy, you know, it's like, I believe that being a business owner is the greatest thing you can do. I believe that most of the world's problems can be solved by creative business owners and entrepreneurs. I think it's a noble group. And I'm just getting chills thinking about it right now. You know, I thought, I've got to help. I've got to help. That Group, because there's not a reason for that many dreams to be snuffed in terms of the entrepreneurial dream. And so I started this program called Strategic Millionaire. And the purpose was to work with just solopreneurs, helping them build a team and help them become wealthy, become a multimillionaire in three years or less. But really, it's all about them having freedom and being able to enjoy life and make a contribution. And so that worked out great. And I ran that for, like, 10 years, and everybody loved it. When I decided to go ahead and shut it down.

They were. Most of them were temporarily upset with me because they didn't want me to shut it down. We're still friends. They've all come back around where, you know, we interact and stuff as far as. But, yeah, so. So I did that because it just. That was a way for me to give back. I thought, you know, I've made a lot of mistakes in life, lots of them. You know, right now, we're just talking about the high points. But for every high point, I can tell you a lot of. A lot of dumb things that I've done just in the program, what I've been doing this year. Since you've been involved with this, this one program. I mean, there's a lot of things that I've done wrong there that I knew before I did them, and I. It was like I gravitate back into that. That old way. So that's what happened. And then when I was doing the sabbatical, I realized that I just. I crave being around ambitious business owners slash entrepreneurs. I just. That is so energizing for me to be around them. And then. But I thought, you know, there's so many developments out in the marketplace now, Gary, that I don't know that I could add any value, because back when I was doing that other program there, you know, now I'm seeing books written on what I was teaching back then. I'm seeing online courses on what I did back then. Right.

So I was attending an event where people paid $10,000 to go to that event for two days. And while I'm there, I was just there looking for something to do. And I noticed. And.

This was for business owners coming in, and the people they had presenting the seminar were awesome presenters, and they had great content. I'm sitting. Wow. You know, yeah, this. This just proves that I don't need to be doing any of this stuff anymore because there's other people doing a great job. So then during the break, I start talking to people. And the next thing you know, there's 10 or 12 people standing around me on a break. And then they start asking, how can I follow up with you after this? Because you're sharing some perspective I've never heard before. And so I went to a few more events and I found, okay, there's a gap there to where I can add value. Yes, there's a lot of intellectual material out there, but I could give the perspective of the real world application, tie it together. I thought. I really enjoy that. And I think if, and the other part is, you know, if, if I help an entrepreneur, there's that ripple effect of the impact they make on a life. So if I'm wanting to impact billions of people, one great way to do that is to help entrepreneurs, because when you help one entrepreneur, you're helping a large number of other people if they're the right kind of entrepreneur. So that's, that's how I got involved in it. And so then I decided, okay, that's what we'll focus on and use that to generate the money to transform the nursing home industry.

Wow. You know, so, Randy.

I can see how better way has played out in your life in a positive way. Have you noticed any. How better way. Thinking about always finding a better way has had a negative. Have you had challenges that come with that particular.

Why?

Like wanting to change direction a lot?

Like.

Yeah, this is one of these things where I don't know if I should say it or not, so it tells me I probably shouldn't. But then, you know, I normally say what's on my mind anyhow. Yeah. My, my wife drives her nuts sometimes. It's kind of like, is your brain always working? Why can't you just let it go? Why do you have to, you know, it's that kind of thing. Yeah. So it's, it's created a little bit of. From time to time.

Yeah, that, that, that's the better ways. Been a problem there, you know, once in a while and. But, you know, been together for like 33 years, so I guess, you know.

It still worked out.

Yeah. So. So you, you got that piece. Another place where it was a problem was on the, the last company that I owned, I had, you know, the staff that been around me for a while, they know how I am and how I think, and so to them it's okay. But I had a couple of administrative individuals that, you know, there's times like, on the Better Way, I'm going down a path that looks like it's a better way. Right. But then if I see that, if I pivot and make this adjustment, that's where you really hit the better way. And so I don't have a problem making that pivot. And so two of the employees would get together a little huddle and say, I don't know why he just doesn't stay the course. It's like he's going down this pace and all of a sudden he steps over here and he does this. He'd be better off to just stay that course and go down this direction, you know? Yeah. So I've had. Had that as a little bit of a problem. But then when we educate, communicate, it's okay. And I think there was one person that couldn't accept that, and we ultimately had to help him find another job.

So, you know, when. When I think about the mentoring that you're doing for our group, it's interesting to me because you have your little packet of goodies and you pull out your little packet and you can tell the issues that we're all dealing with, because we all have similar issues. And there goes Randy reaching into his little plastic see through case and pulling out a piece of paper. And all of a sudden we all have this little piece of paper. And you come up with these. Whether they're things that you've taken from other people or developed on your own, you've got all these different, better ways of handling almost any issue that anybody's come up with. You're like, oh, yeah, okay, well, let me show you. It seems like an insurmountable problem. And then we talk to you and you go, okay, well, let me just show you this little thing here. And you seem to have a way to handle pretty much anything that's come our way so far.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, thank you for saying that. You just reminded me on when you said that going back to my son Justin, that was talking about better way, when I said, because Justin was part of that group, the strategic millionaire group, and there was a client in there, his first name was Terry. First name is Terry. And Terry would say, you know, Randy, the content that you have for this workshop is awesome. They said, the best thing for us is your throwaway comments. And I said, my what? He said throw away comments. He said, like during breaks, somebody will say something here like, hey, we're having this problem. Here you go, oh, well, did you ever think about that? And he says, and that's like a game changer. And he said, we get more out of that. And so, yeah, that's what that's what Justin brought up. He said, you know, the throwaway comet. So I think that's what you're. You're picking up on there. It's like I pull together and go in that toolbox and, you know, like, say a few of the things. Maybe I'm the real creator of most of it. I'm a real borrower. You know, I'm borrowing from a lot of people, and if I know where I got it from, I want to give them credit. But one problem that I do have with this better way is that I'm picking up all this stuff and I kind of forget the source of it, because it's never the same thing. It's like a combination of things, and I don't want to take credit for something that's not mine, and yet I don't know who to give credit to. You know, in reality, it might be five people that deserve credit for that one idea, you know, but that's the stuff.

Those are the little tweaks that we all seem to need to be able to move to the next level. I know I reach a stage, and then I'm kind of like, feel like I'm stuck with something. And, you know, it's the. What have you noticed as the power of a mentor?

What have I noticed as the power as far as, like, you know, as mentor or having a mentor?

Having a mentor and now being a mentor.

Yeah.

Did you have mentors?

You know.

Mentor was not the buzzword that it is now. And so I had some without realizing it. Like, for example, I mentioned Paul Brazee. Paul was the gentleman that was like a very wealthy person. He's deceased now, so I can. I can say that. And. But I owe him a lot of. Shifting my thinking. There was another gentleman, Morris Johnson. He's now. Now deceased. I used to call him an Arkansas pig farmer because he owned a hog farm in Arkansas. But he's really a very savvy business owner. And so he's the guy that taught me, you know, he would say things like, watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves and. And how to build in a minimum margin on your retail products and stuff. So. So I've had mentors without it being an official mentor relationship. But then the other side is once. Once I started in business, I would seek out, like, I would invest heavily in knowledge. I can remember when I was.

Yeah, I'm still in the process of trying to dig out from. I was still living in the Volkswagen, and I was. I had progressed where I started to get a little bit of money and I went to a seminar that was by a is. I think it's like how I failed by trying too hard or something like that. And it's a guy that failed on business. Well, they had an audio cassette program. And the audio cassette program was like $49 or something. And it's a back of room sales, what we call it now. And I didn't have that $49. And so I tried to scrape up a little bit of money I could. And I asked this guy where he was gonna be at in a couple days. Like he's. He flew out to the Midwest, was doing a little circuit and I was just out doing stuff like collecting bottle. I was doing everything get it to try come up 49 bucks. And I bought it. And that was some great education. That was a form of mentorship through a book and through audios. And that was really a really huge turning point for me. I could see that I started that was probably even more impactful than some of the actual mentors that I had. And if we go back, not so much now, but if we go back like say 10 years ago and 20 years ago.

I was investing 100 to $200,000 a year attending seminars and workshops and hiring coaches and stuff like that. So I give all them the credit for helping me get where I want to go.

What do you see as the difference between what separates the good entrepreneur from the great entrepreneur?

You know, the faster results formula that I teach in the program. Yeah. Start out with clarity, and then once we have clarity, we develop a strategy. And then once we develop strategy, we leverage. And then once we leverage, we focus. And then once we focus, we build momentum, and then we repeat. That's the difference. You know, if I had to give you one word, I would say.

Focus. That, you know, you hear me talking about one thing a lot, and that's very difficult to distill it down to one thing.

But that. That's what separates. It's. It's the focus and saying no to all the other things. So they could do the best job at that main area that they're focusing on. That. That's probably the biggest thing I see between the good and the great. Because if you look at I would say I'm. I'm good. And then I would say somebody like Richard Branson's great. And so if you look at the greatness of like the Richard Branson's and you know, Warren Buffett's not really a businessman, but he is you know, and you start running down. Or if you look. If you would look at Steve Jobs or, you know, like, what did Steve Jobs say? That he was just as proud of the things that they didn't do as what they did. If you look at Jean Paul, at Petrone, you know that it's. They focus on just a very narrow thing, and they stay that course. And then they say no to all these other excellent opportunities. You know, it's. It's easy to say no to a lousy opportunity, but as entrepreneurs, we really have great opportunities coming by us. So then how do you select that one? And so I think it's the focus. And focus meaning saying no to a lot of distractionary stuff that we think is important.

How do you say no to all those other things? And what do you. So somebody's listening to this podcast, and they're saying, man, I got all these opportunities. I'm going in so many directions. I'm working, you know, 80 hours a week. I'm everything to everybody. How do I focus?

Yeah.

Have them send you. If you want that. If you want it, have them send you an email, and then we'll get them something called an opportunity filter, where they kind of work down through it. But. But if they don't want to do that, what I. I think it comes back to, you know, clarity again. You know, that's why that was the first point of that formula, because if you're really clear about what your life. You know, what your life's purpose and what you're trying to do, you know, like right now, you know, I mean, obviously, I'm not gonna be around 500 years from now to know whether this business. But the decisions I'm making right now, I'm making them with looking at the horizon of 500 years. So. So one thing that we know for 500 years is there's gonna be a lot of changes that we can't even anticipate. So then that means I have to build the core values of this business so it could be malleable to all the changes that's coming while we stay true to our core values and our purpose. So the first thing is knowing really what you want. I had a chance to do a television show, and everybody thought I was crazy, that I didn't jump all over doing this television program, the business stuff. But I said, look, one of my key values is time flexibility. I want to have a calendar that, yes, I'm productive and I'm effective, but if there's something. If there's an opportunity to do something with one of my kids or my parents or something. I want to be able to do it. I don't want to have a. Where Bill Gates likes to have his calendar all filled in. Well, if I'm going to do a television program and you dig into that, you'll find out that you do not have time flexibility and you really could be grinding it out all the time. So that was easy for me to say no, but if I didn't have that, if I didn't have the clarity of it, I'd have been caught up in the all the other stuff that comes with it, the potential, you know, and the other part, being a guy once flying her radar and kind of, you know, that's gonna put me. So that's another value system I have. Flying under radar, being invisible, you know. And so you have a television program. I mean, I haven't done a lot of podcasts, but I've been asked to do a lot of podcasts. You know, I have tremendous respect for you and I know what you're doing and the impact you're making on the planet. And so it was a no brainer when you asked me. I'd love to do it here, but I've turned down probably 20 to 30 of them in the past six months. Probably. People ask me just because I like to fly under the radar and be invisible.

Yeah, I know you do.

Yeah.

And so I appreciate you being here today.

I know because of you're doing just such a great job for the planet. I mean, you're helping people really tap into what really, really matters. Because all this other stuff, when you talk about opportunities, they need to start with the why. Yeah, that gives you great insights because you'll find that a lot of things you say yes to if you understand your why, it's easier to say no.

I totally agree with you. You're speaking my language. And let me ask you one last question. I know we're kind of getting close to an hour here, but.

How important is it, do you see or do you feel for people to.

Really discover themselves, who are, who am I? And really express themselves and be themselves and do it their way to create a successful business or a successful life?

On a scale of 0 to 10. 10,000. Yeah, seriously. Because I've spent a lot of time over the years trying to with introspection and I get up early in the morning with my journal and what's beautiful about what you're doing is that.

It could take 10 years of really diligent Introspection. And you'll compress it down, and in just a matter of minutes, you'll have that. I'm sitting there thinking, my goodness, if Gary would have had this, and I would have known Gary 20 years ago, I'd probably be the richest guy in the world right now. I mean, seriously. Because that's what drives everything. One of the little components I had in my other program, I called it North Star Experience. And that's where I would take people through different exercises to try to help them find out what's really going on inside their heart and what's really driving them from within. What's the stuff beyond all this stuff we talk about that really allows them to be happy, their essential self and man, that's where you're really. I mean, that. That. That's the true wealth right there is if you can discover that and then live your life. So you're in alignment with that most of the time. You know, I mean, I. One of the things you'll see me sign off on my journal, not every day, but almost every day. You know, like, there might be five times a year that I don't do it. And that is I love my life. And it's because I'm living in alignment with who I am and what my. Why. I mean, I wake up in the morning and I get to go out and pull out ideas and stuff like this, and then I get to create concepts to look at a better way, and then I get to come and share it with people and see them live a better life. Because that little bit, I mean, can it get any better than that? Why would somebody want to ever retire from something like that? You just keep doing it. And then. And then when you work with a great group like. Like you and these guys, it's in the elite 30. Then that gives you another challenge of finding a better way to help them to do what they're doing. And it goes up, and I'm getting goosebumps right now. Just. It's like, awesome. I mean, you really hold the magic sauce with what you've discovered, because you look for a better way. I mean, there's other people doing something kind of like what you're trying to do, and it's horrible. It's not a better way. And you'll end up spending a lot of time and still walk away scratching your head, saying, what's this mean to me? You know, because you truly found a way to deliver it. And I'm not saying it because we're on here. It's just I'm speaking from my heart. So I hope everybody that listen your podcast, they do your app, and then they follow through with the other training you have.

Well, that's. That's what I think. That's what's going to make the big difference for them. And I've noticed it's been fascinating, Randy, as I've done more and more of these podcasts, and I see how people who just be themselves. Right. Transformation isn't about me trying to be you.

Right.

Transformation is about me discovering me.

Yeah.

And being me.

Well, and then I take it a step farther, Gary, because I think your transformation is about discovering me to be me. And then when you know that you live in alignment, you've done more than transform. You've transcended, you know, so. So you're really in the position. You're helping people not only transform, but transcend to a higher level. And there's a. There's a sense of fulfillment and actualization out of that that Maslow would have just scratched his head on in amazement, you know, to see it. But. And, you know, the guys in the group, you've done this for them. And these, you know, these guys are really high. I mean, people, when they come in, everybody's talking about the quality of individuals in terms of what they've accomplished, how they think, what they do. And these guys are blown away with the insights they gained from you sharing that with them. And, I mean, we have, you know, elite SEAL guys and everybody. Just lots of people that. I mean, they're. They're astronaut quality people in this program, and they're blown away with the. The observations and the epiphanies they've had from discovering your. Why, the way you're doing it.

It's been awesome. It's been great working with them. And. And is there anything, Randy, that I haven't asked you that you'd like to.

You wished I would have asked you.

I know. We didn't. We didn't talk about. I know. We didn't talk about any of the celebrities and famous people you've worked with. I know. Because you can't.

Right.

But is there anything else that I haven't asked you that I. That I should have asked you?

I. You know, I don't think so. I think something I'll toss out is because my other son asked me one day, you know, and that's what's neat. I have a really awesome relationship, my kids, and they. And I'm not saying I have to pat myself on the back. I'M saying that it's possible to have a business and to do really awesome things and still have great connections with your kids to where they, they literally want to be around you. They understand you're a parent, but they also consider you their best friend and they seek you out for, you know, feedback and advice. My one son asked me, dad, he said, you have many regrets. Any regrets in life? And we were out just taking a walk in the country one day. I, my first comment was, no, I really don't because I just feel like I've, you know, I mean, have I made mistakes? Sure, but they've all help me get to where I'm going, so it's a good thing. But then I thought of regret. And my guess is that the people that's on your podcast are not in that group. But if they are, that's why I'm saying if there happens to be one or two, and that is that the one regret that I have is that.

I mean, you can see right now I'm overweight now. That's temporary. I'm going the other direction. I'm taking actions on it right now and I'm doing it in a way that, that will change. So I'm, you know, but that's the reality right now. Never used to be that way. And so while I was building this business, I was thin, somewhat athletic, and I was climbing mountains and running long distance endurance events and not training for any of this stuff because I just was in decent shape naturally, I guess. So I never thought anything about it. And that's the area that I neglected. I made certain I took care of relationships, family, and all kinds of stuff in building business, but I truly didn't pay attention to my health. And that's the one regret that I had. If, if I had that to do over again, then I'd make certain that. Because it's just as easy as everything else to include that and to do it. But it just, it wasn't even a point of awareness for me. So if there's anybody listening that's building a business, make certain that, you know, especially if you're in like 20s and 30s, you're focused on all this stuff. It's really awesome. And I think most people 20 and 30 days seems to have a consciousness towards that health. But that would be the one thing is I hope that, you know, it's, you have more energy and everything else. So stay healthy, Stay healthy and make it a priority. Yeah.

So since we're on this podcast, why don't you Real quickly, tell everybody what your plan is for the, your health and what you're going to about your hike.

Oh yeah, well, my, my son doesn't know this yet, but my son Christopher, which he's an endurance runner, he runs Boston Marathon and things and there's an event called four Deserts and you know, I have to have big exciting things. If it's just something little, it's kind of like, you know, and the four desert. So what the deal is they, it's like running a marathon every day for six days through a remote wilderness desert. And it starts out in Africa. It used to be in the Sahara desert but now due to the turmoil over there, they moved it to the Nambia desert and, but anyhow, so we'll run one desert and it's a week long event. So we go there and we run it and we have to carry a backpack with everything that we need on it in addition to covering the mileage. And so we'll do that in Africa and then we go to the Gobi Desert, China and then we'll go to the desert in Chile and then the last one is in Antarctica. And so it's, it's a week and you have to be self sufficient and provide, you know, you don't have any support like you do on marathons and such. And we're gonna do that all in one year and it's called the grand slam. So that's in 2020. So what I'm doing now is I'm training for, you know, I, I don't know, I just.

You know, you see me little by little. So we don't quite notice it. But I was shocked when I got my report. I've actually lost 32 pounds. Oh wow. You know, so I already had started losing someone you and I first met, I think. Yeah, it's right at that point. So yeah, I've lost, lost that. And so I have more to go. But I'm training for four deserts. Check it out. Four deserts calm.

That sounds excruciating to me, but I'm glad you're going to go do it to talk about it so I can live vicariously through you.

I'm going to find a better way to get that race done.

You're going to do it in six months?

Well, I'm going to do it on my feet, not a gurney.

Yeah, they had some people die here a year or so ago. Not a lot, but dehydration.

Not a lot of people, but a few died.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You don't want to be that group.

Well, Gary, thanks so much for having me. And I really appreciate what. I mean. You really are changing the world with what you're doing.

Thank you.

It's helping people with happiness as well.

Thank you. I appreciate you being here and taking the time to be on my podcast. And I'll see you in Chicago in a month or so.

Yeah, that's 12th and 13th next month.

I will see you there. Thanks, Randy.

Bye, Gary.

Sam.