EP 214: The Birthday Lesson I Wish Someone Told Me 30 Years Ago...

Welcome to The Making of a DM. Today's a big day. That's right, the Big Four Eight today, and boy, do I have a gift for you. So with that said, let's get started.

What I know and how I did it to discover freedom.

There ain't no question Mark Evans when he's stepping it down.

He's closing deals. Time to tell them what the DM stands for. I'm a deal maker, a deal maker, but I'm not just a deal maker, I'm a dream maker.

Hey there, it's your boy Mark Evans DM. That's right, you are the deal maker and dream maker of your life. As I sit here in my treehouse outside of Cleveland, Ohio. Today's a special day. As you're listening to the show today, I'm the big 4-8. June 19th, 2026. I'm 48 years young. And I got some stuff to share with you. This will be a quicker show than normal, but I wanted to just share this special day with you and give you some quick insights. Before I do, I want to say thank you to everyone that's already messaged me. And if you've messaged me via social media @MarkEvansDM and tagging me and pictures and how we met and all that cool stuff, I 100% appreciate it. It's, it's, uh, I love it. It's very awesome. Appreciate my team. My team's done some really cool stuff for me today as well, but I just want to talk to you guys. Um, As I always want to. So today, what do I do? Well, wake up early. I'm very— I get up early, get my workout in, take the kids to church camp, drop them off. I go look at a project I have going on, a pretty large 40,000 square foot facility. Um, we're doing some cool stuff with. Then I come back home. Um, pick the kids— I do it, do— I got a couple shows I got to do, and then I go pick the kiddos up. And then this is what I'm excited about. I'm going to stop at the local florist, pick up 50 roses, and then heading off to a, um, a nursing home facility right near my house here outside of Mentor, Ohio. And I'm gonna go talk and give a flower to the folks that live there. And not only just me, but my wife and my kids are going with me and we're going to make people's life better. We're going to have them smile. We're going to give lots of hugs and we're going to be there to listen. We'll do that for several hours, I'm guessing. And, and then I'm guessing Dina will probably have a nice little dinner or something ready to do something there and cake and all that fun stuff. And just hang out with the family. That's really what I'm going to do. But my day overall is going to be what I normally would do, truthfully. But most are saying we're getting older. I see me as 48 years young, not 48 years old. And I see me getting better, wiser. I keep telling my wife, more handsome even. But on this journey, I don't know about you, but especially in the beginning of the journey of life, as we become adults, we're always searching for someone who's got it figured out, right? Someone who, you know, they just— everything they touch turns to gold. All their relationships seem to be perfect. Their businesses just print money and they do nothing. They get to hang out. They have all the toys. They have all the things. You think somebody's got the blueprint, they have the business plan, they have the exact steps. Let me let you in on a little secret I've learned on these short 48 years. It doesn't exist. It does not exist. One of the greatest skills I've learned over the last 48 years is the ability to throw myself into any situation and fail forward. I remember the asking the girls for the first dance, the first kiss, the first hold my hand, the first, hey, will you go on a date, will you marry me, the wedding, the kids. The businesses and all these things. There's failure on the other side of the question, or potential failure. But yet we're willing to do this with our life, and yet most people will never do it with businesses. They think there's an exact plan, a blueprint. Many people are successful and they all took a different path. My path and my goal when I talk to you here on the show, inside the DealMaker Alliance, DealMaker family, etc., is to expedite your results, push you quicker, and be there to support you on that journey. Took me— I'm 30 years now in the game of entrepreneurship. Never had a job my adult life, ever. Fell forward, fell forward. Jump, take that first step, fall, get up, take notes, fall even harder, and do it again, and do it again, and do it again. This is a daily constant for me, and anybody that looks like they have it figured out. There's no one, not one person that you've ever have known that has it all figured out. Recently I was listening to a show and the guy ran a multi-hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollar business corporation, very large, a bank to be exact, large bank that you would know. He was the CEO and they asked him questions like, You sit in these boardrooms with billionaires, multi-billionaires, you know, the biggest names in the world. What is the deal? He's like, guys, everyone in that room is just trying to figure it out. No one has all the answers. We're all trying to figure it out together, and we just keep failing and growing and failing and growing. And he's like, the truth is, sometimes when it looks like it's failing, It's actually growing because it's just a matter of time catching up with the action. If you're looking for someone who's got it all figured out, you will be looking all your life. And my biggest fear is that your best years of your life will fly right past you. It's like riding a bike, isn't it? I could read all the best books in the world, watch the greatest videos in the world, But until you actually get on that damn bike and fall off, scrape your knees many times over, you're never going to learn. This goes for everything from your first hire to your first fire to your banking relationships to your, you know, going out and getting prospects and customers. You're like I, I still deal with this every day. Hiring people, firing people. Hire the best person, fire the best per— like, you think it's the best at that moment, but you clearly realize it's not. That's my wish for my year of 48, my birthday. My wish is that you take the first step every day, the one that scares you. To get you closer to where you want to go, step by step, failing forward, to realize that no one— me, Musk, Bezos— no one, no one has it figured out. Sure, they may have other pieces that factor into their success, But my point remains the same. They have jumped many times before having any answers, because the truth is the only way to get the answers is by jumping. It's the only way to get them. Please, I beg you, do not let life pass you by. Move one step, one step at a time, one day at a time. And keep failing forward. Your future self will thank you for it. The results are on the other side of that step. What seems scary today will be easy tomorrow, and you'll realize you have everything you need to accomplish what the man upstairs has planted in your brain. I truly believe 100% that the man upstairs— whatever dream you have, even if it's the one you're afraid to say out loud— is accomplishable through what I'm talking about today. I get to live my dream every day. That doesn't mean it's perfect. That doesn't mean I'm not afraid to make a move. That doesn't mean I'm questioning moves as I make them. But I know to get to that point, I have to dream. I have to say it out loud and I have to take massive daily action. And as I walk into that nursing home later today and look at people's eyes, I will be asking questions. What are you grateful for? What do you wish you would have done different? And I can only imagine— I actually already have a very good feeling of what a lot of the answers are going to be, because I've done this before. And I can promise you, they're going to say, stop worrying what everyone thinks, do what you know you want to do. Stop paying attention to what everyone's doing, because it doesn't matter. It matters about what you do. I wish I'd have lived bigger. I wish I'd have lived healthier. I wish I'd have taken bigger moves. I wish I'd have loved harder. I wish I'd have been more present. These are gifts, by the way, that I will learn, and I will— what my kids will learn, and they'll hear, and my wife, and we'll be doing it together. June 19th, 2026, today. Is the day that you take that step and do that, make that big decision. Yes, it's going to be fuzzy.

That's okay.

Progress over perfection. Inch by inch, day by day. You got this. Keep me posted with your progress. I'm going to make this a short one today. But I love you. I'm thinking about you. I'm rooting for you. I'm side by side with you. This, this goes for all of us. The man upstairs gave you a vision. What you do with it is up to you now. It's your time. And if not now, then when? If not you, then who? You're a very unique person. The world needs you to take massive action. Are you willing to be uncomfortable to accomplish things you've only dreamed about? Temporary discomfort for extraordinary life in the future. If you are, which I hope you are, this is the message that you've been waiting for, looking for, praying for, knowing that today is the day. Thinking about you, rooting for you. Keep me posted on your progress. Tag me @MarkEvansDM. Make today count.

Peace.