What's Your Why for 2022: Designing Your Strat Plan

Foreign. Welcome, everybody, to this week's episode of the Main Street Business podcast. My name is Mark Kohler. I'm here with the illustrious Matt Sorensen. Trying to.

Yes, illustrious, I take that. Okay. I've been called worse, so that's good.

Yeah, yeah. I'm. This. I'm on. I'm. We're kind of doing a little bit of country, a little bit of rock and roll for you old Donny Marie fans. Matt's in the office. I'm outside. I spent New Year's at the Rose bowl, first ever.

I know. It was an amazing game.

It was amazing.

It didn't end how I'd like, but it was still an awesome. It was a great game. I was watching it in a sports bar. Not as fun.

Yeah, it was electric. And to be in a bowl game of the. I mean, the. What do they call the granddaddy of them all? Whatever. The Rose Bowl. I mean, it was the tradition there. It was really a neat. So I'm still in SoCal running around, and I've got a little greenery here behind me to break it up. So Matt and I are trying to. So for the. Oh, just bumped my camera there. So, Matt, some of you catch this on YouTube. You'll see Matt in the office cranking. I'm here cranking just outside, enjoying the good, good vibes. Headed back. Tell everybody the topic today, Matt. This is a good one.

Yeah, yeah. We want to talk about strategic planning. We're going to hit that, but we also want to talk about and get it kind of your why. You know, I think Simon Sinek's guy says start with why, but we want to kind of dig down and get a little more touchy feely. We're doing it ourselves right now in planning, trying to set a vision and course for what you want to do, because you got to do that before you go set the plan. Let's take a moment. We are going to do that today, break some thoughts down and then create a plan of action on what we want to accomplish.

Yeah. And I feel strongly, Matt and I have talked about this over the last few weeks, is that we need to show our. More the touchy feely side of our practice. Believe it or not, many of you that may call our law firm, those calls can be fairly emotional. You're calling up saying, hey, I need an LLC or I need a trust. And when our attorneys are on their game and when I'm on my game, I. I'm saying, why? What are you doing? Well, I just thought I had to have an llc. No, no, no. Why are you doing this? And wow, now we become a real counselor here in movies.

Yeah. Attorney and counselor at law. You know, the counselor part.

Yeah. And I just. So Matt and I have talked about, this year is going to be our breakout year of just really sharing with many of you on our podcast the why the mindset behind being an entrepreneur. I mean, it's fun talking about the tax and the legal and the techie stuff and the investment and the dollars, but if you don't understand why you're different, why you're listening to this podcast, why you're an entrepreneur, why you do what you do, sometimes we don't take a moment and breathe. And. Yeah, it's pretty exciting.

Yeah. And I think what I did these last couple weeks, and we talked about this on a prior podcast, is I think everybody needs to take a moment and look back at what they did last year. It is a hard year last year for a lot of people, a lot of businesses. There's some people had a lot of success in business and investments last year. But I think it's important to take a moment, look back at what was accomplished, all the things you had to overcome, and just give yourself some perspective and then think about what you're going to do this next year. But just take a moment, I think, and look back. But also as you're looking back, think of the things you want to get rid of, like what is the stuff that's weighing you down, what's the stuff that's holding you back? What are the things that you should have addressed? And you know, and it was on your list last year and you didn't get it done. But you know, it's going to make a big difference. We want to hit and talk about some of that stuff as we're going through today.

Gosh, I love what you said, Matt. And believe it or not, people, we really do not have a script. Matt and I get on here and have our plan and I just did get so inspired with things Matt says. And we are, are always so in sync on our perspective on a lot of these things. I am going to state what Matt said a little differently, too. And just say this, look back at your last year. My life coach said this too. And just look at your wins, you know, it's ok. But pat yourself on the back. Go look at what I accomplished. And I know we just don't do that enough. We just stay in the grind. So I like what you said, Matt. You said the word accomplished and I'm just going to throw out the word wins too. You know, write them down. Then the next thing I like what Matt just said is, you know, look at what you want to change. And my coach was like, this is. I love this metaphor, is you take your junk drawer. We all have that junk drawer in the kitchen. And when you really are feeling ambitious on a Saturday, you take it out and you dump it out and you're like, ooh, I didn't know that was in there. I don't. I don't need that anymore, or whatever. And I think there's a lot of a really cool analogy there of looking at your junk drawer and just dumping it out and just having that. That brain vomit and just download everything in your head. What's there, what's ugly. And this is a chance to reevaluate. Maybe I do need some personal coaching. Maybe I really. Because being in business and being an entrepreneur and investor is so tied to our thoughts and our feelings and what's going on in our life and how they're intertwined. And let's dump that drawer out and look at what maybe we need to get rid of too, or just deal with.

Yeah. And I think look at the friendships and the peer group you have too. That's another thing I think that's really interesting. There were some studies done this last year that depression amongst men in particular has skyrocketed over the last decade. And also their. The size of how many friends they have. They've had surveys going back like 30, 40 years, and men in particular have had a drastic decrease in friend groups. And it just like, how many friends do you have? And I think, you know, we're all busy. You know, I think sometimes we are, us business owners, entrepreneurs, we sacrifice a lot of our personal friends and friendships sometimes. But I think if you think what relationships do you want to have and value for this coming year? Think about peer groups, people you can learn from, that you want to associate yourself with. I think it's another thing to think about in addition, like a coach or something like that, that just helps up your game. You know, everybody talks about, you know, look at the five people you're closest to. And that's. You're kind of always at their level, you know, and so you got to get with people at the level you want to be. And a lot of that comes with, with your friends and your peer group. And whether it's joining a networking group or a roundtable group or whatever it is in your industry or your specialty or the things you're doing, just try to. Try to reach out to those groups. Because being an entrepreneur can be lonely.

Yeah, it can be. And oh, my gosh. And now some of you are like, what's your point today? Okay, okay, okay. Let me. Let me make the point. And then I want to just keep talking about this, because what Matt's talking about, and I want to. Oh, I want to just run with that and say some more words, is. But let's take a breath. Here's the point. When you're setting your. Setting your goals as a business owner, let's stay in that business frame, you know, for just a moment. That's. That's what this podcast is about. But again, like I said, it's intertwined with every aspect of our life. Our success in money and business is directly impacted with. I like what Matt, you just said. Friends or our family situation, our marital situation. I mean, just everything. Our partners, whoever we're with. So. But our point today is, rather than just getting to, here's how you do a strap plan. Let's make sure our goals are going to write them down and put them on. Post it and put them on the mirror in your bathroom. And that is so much more than that. And when we get on a call with clients, we try to peel away the onion and get into this stuff. And people don't realize that's really a lot of what we do at our law firm is try to have that connection and talk with clients. And we're not life coaches, we'll tell you that, but we're going to ask you those hard questions. And so today we want to talk about entrepreneurs. What are they like? You're not alone, believe that or not. You're on this podcast with other thousands of people just like you. And we know you. We have calls with you. We know. We kind of know what you're like, because we're kind of like that, too. And so we want to talk about that mindset and talk about the whys, because when you make those goals for this year, if you're not clear on the whys and dumped out the junk drawer, it's going to be a lot harder. A lot harder.

Yeah, well, let's talk about the why, because you wanted to start with that mark, and, like, talk about the why. But we also are going to put some meat on the bone, so to speak, and talk about a strategic plan a little bit. We're going to hit that.

It all comes together.

Yeah, it all come together. The two things they are. They're like peanut butter and jelly. They just are, like, amazing together. But we're going to go through a framework and I'll talk about how we've set strategic plans. And I kind of think I have a good little framework that anyone can use in any business or investment strategies or rental properties, whatever. You're doing crypto. This is a great way to set a strategic plan. But let's talk about why. Like what? I know everybody. There's the book, right? Start with why. Like, Simon Sinek is all about that. Like, what's your why? Yeah, like, what do you think about that? Why did you want to talk about that for entrepreneurs in general?

Okay, Matt, I'm glad you asked, because over the holidays I was thinking of my theme for this year and the why. And I was listening to a great podcast from Brooke Castile, a leader in life coaching.

She.

She doesn't know who I am or whatever, but I just love her podcast. And she was going through business and life coaching and, and I was just, I was actually at the gym, I was thinking of all these things and, and when I got into the. She was talking about the why, and I took what she was saying and just ran with it. And what I really believe is that entrepreneurs have multiple whys. Most entrepreneurs are not doing a business for the money. I mean, the money's nice, but they've got other whys. Entrepreneurs are deeper than that. Believe it or not. I really think those of you listening, you may be doing it to help your employees, help the customers. You believe in a product, you believe in a service, and you actually feel like you're changing the world. Most entrepreneurs feel like they're impacting the world in some way, even if it's just a. A dumb little service or product. You could even be landscaping. I make the world a prettier place. But, but you, but you're passionate about your. Your business. And, and so I think entrepreneurs have multiple whys, and I think that's important, that's a good thing. Because guess what? Not all your whys are going to be clicking at the same time. You may be having a bad financial year, but you can rely on the, the service or product or the impact you're having on a customer or your employees. And then you may be killing it financially, but all your customers are pissed off or all your employees are mad or whatever. So you gotta be able to rely on multiple why's. That's my take now. I don't know.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think most entrepreneurs and even investors are kind of especially A business owner, you're selling a product or service are mission based and like you have a mission of something you're trying to accomplish. And Jeff Bezos, there's an awesome story I was reading about him when Amazon was buying Audible. If you remember the company Audible, which I love, we all live, and Amazon bought it. But the guy who founded Audible, Jeff Bezos, kind of fell in love with this guy and was like, I want to buy his business. And he was explaining to his leadership team how he viewed this and why he liked this guy as a business owner. He said he described him as a missionary, not a mercenary. He's like, this guy's on a mission in what he's trying to accomplish and in getting people to read, but making it accessible and easy by audiobooks and getting, you know, he was on a mission to make this happen. He wasn't in it like a mercenary would be. That was just after a profit motive. There's just after selling for a quick buck, making money out of the business or selling the business. The guy was on a mission to really accomplish something and do something that he could be proud of and to provide this, you know, information and the ability to read, make it more easy and people can fit it in. And how many of us listen to an audio audiobook? And so I think a lot of entrepreneurs that are doing it for the right reason are like missionaries, not mercenaries.

Ooh, I like it. You know, and another. Okay, running with that for a minute is Matt and I have a lot of clients come, you know, obviously at a law firm, our accounting firm, the trust company. We have investors at every, you know, people calling up and we we've identified certain clients in certain ways. We won't tell you what, you know, we're not trying to be demeaning, but, you know, we can. When we have a certain type of client on the phone, we know where they're going. And when. Some of the clients that we just see come and go are the clients that are in it just for the money. They're like, I'm going to do this and make a bunch of money and. And guess what? That can be fleeting. You're gonna have good years and bad years. And what's funny is soon as they're not making money, they're gone. They went back to the corporate world. They went back to this, they went back to whatever. They didn't. They weren't really entrepreneurs. They were just trying to make a quick buck. That's not entrepreneurs. Wouldn't you agree, Matt?

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. And.

But when you get on the phone with someone that's like, let me tell you about my product, I'm like, okay, fine, I get it. Let's talk about. Okay, let's get to the next point. You know, but they're so excited to tell us about their business, and. Yeah, but, you know, a year from now, even if they're not making money, they're still going to be pounding that drum and.

Yeah, but, you know, and I'll say this, too. I think a lot of business owners, a lot of our clients, even us, you know, when you're not doing anything revolutionary, it's not like you're like, making the next, you know, car, electric car. Okay. You know, like, we're all not on that path.

We're not all Elon Musks. We get it.

Yeah. Okay. I don't care if you're. You've got a Laundromat, you know, that's a profitable, great business, but you're passionate about it. You know, you care about the customers and the people that use it. You care about your involvement in it and how it reflects on you. And it's. It's. It reflects on you, your own business. That's one thing about being an entrepreneur is, like, you can look at your business. This is me. Like, this is a reflection of me, the type of person I am, and how I want to treat people in the world. And so there's. There's this, like, pride of ownership. It's almost like buying a house, you know, like, it's yours. You own this thing. Have some pride of ownership to it.

Oh, my gosh, Matt, I got to say this. I got to say, a coach said this to me the other day, and I've just stuck with me. And she was saying, the way you do something is the way you do everything.

Yeah.

And so I love what you talked about. The guy or gal that owns a laundromat, you know, are they in there sweeping and mopping and just making it, you know, that's how they do everything in their life.

Do they bring their kids to it? You know, do they, like, they're like, hey, here's what we're doing, you know, like, are they involving the people in their life? Are they. Do they like. I don't know. They, like, how much do you care about that?

Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Okay, now, why are we talking about this again? This is the feeling that you need to tap into for energy and power this year. See? Identifying. Why are you doing what you're doing? Yeah, it could be for money. Fine. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. That's a great thing. We all want to be successful with our business, and it's what keeps the lights on. But what are those other reasons? And if you can write those down and go, you know, what feelings are those generating? Like a feeling of accomplishment, a feeling of creativity, feeling of excitement. I feel like I'm in control, like, no one can fire me. Like, this is my baby. You know, we have. We have clients that can fire us or customers that may not buy our product, but we're still in business. And I think when you can write down those feelings and understand what you're planning to do this year, that's the fuel for the engine. So when we write down our strap plan, you're like, okay, I can do this, because I know what feeling I'm tapping into to get there. And you start living it now.

Yeah. And for those of you that are listening that maybe burn out in your business or the things you've been doing, I think this is a great time to reset and refocus, because that's going to happen. I mean, you're going to get burnout. That's one thing about being an entrepreneur. There's going to be burnout. But it's really important, I think, to refocus. And right now, making a strategic plan, tapping into these feelings that you have, these instincts that you have, these. These things you're wanting to accomplish, like the stuff kind of in your heart about your business and in your gut, like fleshing those things out and making a plan will re. Energize you because now you're working to why you got into this in the first place, whatever the business may be. And so. And it can be painful. This, this process and even some of the tasks you're going to need to do to get there at the end of the day may suck. And that might be why you've never done them before. It might be hiring your first employee that you've never had because you've been terrified of it, but you're going to

have to get over that or firing that employee that you know, you needed to get rid of.

Yeah, we fired someone today here, and I, you know, and that sucks, but wasn't up to speed on the same page of everyone else, and at the end of the day, brought everyone else down. And it wasn't fair to the rest of the team to have someone that sucks. But I just want to say, I think while this, I think, can Be exciting. Creating a plan and then having the success and reaching goals is awesome. It's empowering. It'll keep you focused. It does for me. There's going to be some hard things you're going to have to do.

Were you coughing or getting choked up? I want to just identify that as a mix.

As a mix.

Hey, keep going, keep going. You're on a roll. I'm feeling it. Yeah.

No, that's all I was going to say. It's going to be hard. And you know what? You're going to have some breakthroughs, though, I'll tell you. Like, probably this. Really, this last few years in starting directed Ira. I'll just be very specific. I went from this process of this do it myself type thing. I'm the one that knows better, you know, and. And you know, and you honestly.

Yeah. Not lying, folks.

This is do it yourself thing. And there's this. There's this rap song by the hip hop artist Russ. Love. Love Russ, by the way. So I'm in concert with my daughter Claire. But he's got a song we are all over today.

I love it. Okay.

Yeah, he's got. He's got a song called Do it do it yourself or do it do it Myself. And he talks about how. How he had to do everything for himself. He was this artist that was on SoundCloud and was getting like 10 people that would listen to him. And then he became a huge star. But it took him years. And I had like thousands of, like, songs that he threw out there till it finally hit. But he. But in the song he talks about, because he did it himself, it means more to him because no one helped him. No one gave. It means more to him. But that's only going to get you so far. At a certain point, I think you have to learn that you need to bring other people in. You need to involve people. You need to reflect on yourself and what things you lack that may be holding you back in your business and figure out a way to bring those things in, whether it's other people outside services, changing up how you're doing it. And I had to do that. I had to reflect and be like. And make this huge transformational shift of do it yourself to don't do it yourself, but to get it started. I had to do it myself. But you know what I mean? I don't mean that tire on myself. Mark co found it with me. I don't mean it that way. But like, you had to. There's this thinking that I had to do that was really hard, and it was hard to change my brain over to. You're not the smartest guy, bro. Like, you're actually not good at this. You need to go get someone.

That is Matt, that was awesome. Now let me throw out another word that's kind of out there in the mindset culture is that abundance mindset. And the one thing that I think entrepreneurs, it's going to make them more successful right away in making these hard decisions and transitions and all that. Oh, and by the way, this is a nice time for our sponsor break. Since Matt said this, it's time to reset. This is sponsored by Rockstar Recovery. This is your chance to recover and come back. Okay, here we go. I'll take a night. There we go. Just put it down. What do I do with the mic?

I don't know. My hands.

What do I do with my hands? Okay, Will Ferrell. There. There's my sponsorship moment. Is that abundance mindset really is about feeling it right now. Like, there's no destination as an entrepreneur. It's not like, when I get there, I'm going to be happier. Own it now. Enjoy the freaking ride. I think entrepreneurs, it's a personality. It's a lifestyle. And some people, they go crazy with that. You know, they're like, I need a paycheck every two weeks. I need stability in my life. When's our vacation? Entrepreneurs, it's like. Like, you know, it's the wild, wild west. You're up, you're down, you're up, you're down. But that lifestyle, embrace it. Try to create stability in your relationships where it may be creating tension. Yes. But own it and just enjoy the freaking ride. Don't say these are my goals for 2022, and if I get there, I'll feel better. No, start just feeling it now and. And know that there's 50. 50. You know, you're going to have to go hire someone one day that you're stoked about, and you're going to have to go fire someone else that you're not stoked about. And. And that's okay. Just own it. All right, now, how do we bring this around to the plan? Matt, you got any? I'm out there in right field right now. Bring me in the home plate. Bring me in the home plate, baby. Call me in.

Yeah, I'm gonna make. I'm gonna make one more transitionary point, but I think this will bring us back.

Okay.

Cause this is something that I've. That I kind of had a little check on myself, and it's I've got this, you know, my, I've been working on my self help book that I'm. My personal development book. I've been writing. It's. This is a work in progress.

But one of the really, I need to point out. I've written five books and Matt's filling the program.

I've written one, but second edition. Seriously, it's like outlined. I got, I got so many great amazing ideas one day it's coming together. But this, this is an important point and I've had some social posts on that on this. What I like to do is I like say, think of the person you want to be, then do everything in the day that that person would do. So when you take a step back and you look at who you are, the person you are, but really that you. Let's say that you want to be. Okay, like even, like I'll just start from, from the time you wake up. What time do you get up? Do you work out in the morning? I skipped a workout this morning. I'm like, I was like, this isn't the person I want to be. How do you dress in the morning? You know what, what are you eating? What time are you in? What are, how do you spend your day? What are you doing during the day when you're running your business? Are you involved in the stuff that matters or not? And so, so, but then just like the relationships that you have, the things that you do for fun, I mean just literally take a step back, construct the person in your brain that you really want to be and then know every day you got to execute on that and that's the person you want to be. Now I want to say do the same thing in your business. Think of the business you want to have and do everything in the day that you need to do to have that business.

Okay, where's the pen?

That's where your strap plan starts.

There's, there's my pen drop, mic drop.

Wow. This is where you start your strap plan. You're thinking about what is the business I want to have? What am I going to be doing every day?

I love it. Now on that note, okay, so another shameless plug. Even though I don't make any money off rock stars, I'm in the final. I'd like literally right here, people in front of me, off to the left of my computer are my notes for this year's calendar, the 2022 calendar. We've already pre sold hundreds of these and in it I carry around. This is my 2021 calendar. And Matt knows I carry it with me everywhere I go in, in it, I've written down for 2021, I had my goals for the year, and then there's spaces for each month. What is, what's the data on that? Am I reaching these benchmarks? And, and, and I carry this with me everywhere I go. I've got the 2022 calendar almost finished for those that have found it really helpful with resources and all sorts of calendar things too. But anyway, have. I think what I'm trying to get at is that plan. You've got to put pen to paper. I know it sounds cool that you're on Google this or this app does this or whatever, but there's really something powerful about slowing your mind down, writing out the plan. What do you want that business to look like? So here's the point I was getting when Matt said, okay, what do you want your business to look like? Just don't go on a walk and think about it. Write it down. Pull out a piece of damn paper. Get what they call a pen or pencil. I know that's foreign for some of you, and write it down. And what does it look like? What's that ideal scene? What does it look like 12 months from now? What's revenue? What's going on in the office? What's going on on my social media? What's my website look like? Be ambitious, but don't overdo it. Push yourself a little. Should scare you. What does it look like? But write it down. That's. Yeah, that's my next.

You gotta write it down. And if you type it up like, this is at least the Direct diary strategic plan. The KKO Players one is in here. I have a personal strategic plan, too. So you may have different businesses or you may look at your investments and maybe you're in real estate and you had a business, small business. You may have a couple different strategic plans, all right? And I think it's important to focus on those. If you have different businesses or just your business, operational business from your rental property portfolio. Because you may be like, I'm trying to build a rental property portfolio, but I'm also a small business owner over here. Do one first. Do one for each. Okay? It's funny because like Mark said, think of your vision. Like, literally, the way we start ours is with the vision. What is the vision? Where do you want to be? Think of, like the ideal scene. You talk about where I want to look like this in 12 months from now, when I'm looking back now and where do I want it to be? What do I want changed? Where do I want to be in terms of this business? Products or services I'm offering, revenue, I have number of employees, profitability, whatever metrics are important to you. But what I think is really important to do is set objectives. What are the objectives I need to hit this year? To hit this vision I have? There's some objectives I need to do and then each objective needs the strategy. Okay. You could have an objective to be like, I need to get 10,000 contacts in my business. Okay. Because I know if I get 10,000 contacts, I'll get 100 customers. Okay, how are you going to get 10,000 contacts? One strategy might be Facebook. Okay, whatever. I don't know that the strategy is I'm going to use Facebook to generate contacts by doing X, Y and Z. But then under that strat, and then you're have another strategy. Your strategy might be, I'm going to build a newsletter. I'm going to improve the website and have valuable information. So you have different strategies. But under the strategy, let's just say Facebook something on Facebook, I don't know, just throw that out there. Or yeah, it's going to have an execution point. It's going to say, well, how are you going to do that? Well, every day I'm going to have something posted or every week I'm going to do a Facebook Live thing or, you know, whatever it is, you have a objective. What am I trying to achieve? A strategy, what the hell you're doing and execution on like, it's almost like your task list of like, hey, I'm doing this every day. I do this once a week. I do a webinar once a month. I do whatever you may be doing.

Yeah, I think for all of you out there, that go, okay, that's easier said than done, guys. And I'm really blessed with an amazing team around me and great partners and I've accomplished a lot and I've been really grateful for that in the last 20 years. And it was our 20 year anniversary of our firm this last summer. It was exciting time. We had a big party and everything. People say, how do you do it, Mark? Like, what do you do? How do you juggle so much? I get that question a lot when I'm kind of out in social circumstances or one on ones and I'll say, it's my agenda for the week. Literally on Sunday night, I'm sitting down going, okay, what the freak am I doing this week? And it's having habits that make those things happen. For example, Matt and I meet at a certain time every week to record this podcast like nothing else freaking matters. During that time slot.

We.

We guard that slot religiously.

Yeah.

And. And we know. I know. I'm going to be getting a text from Matt 20 minutes before, 30 minutes before, sometimes the day before. What are we going to talk about? But we've got a plan. We got a plan. But we'll. I think what Matt's getting at is when you look at that ideal scene and your objectives and strategies, what I'd add to it is it all distills down to those daily habits again and that schedule for the week and just make the schedule and live to it. Be a slave to this. Being a slave to the schedule sets you free. And it sounds odd, but let your schedule dictate those object, those strategies and those execution points. And all of a sudden, at the end of the week, you feel amazing. Yeah, you got it done.

Yeah. But don't just do the dumb stuff. That doesn't matter. That's what's important. That's why we started this and spent so much time at the beginning about getting in the right mindset for what matters in your business, thinking through it. What is the real stuff you're trying to achieve? What do you really value and want in your business? If you're thinking about your business the right way, you're going to make better decisions about what objectives you have, what strategies you're going to use, and then what you're going to be doing every freaking day. Executing on it and making it happen. Mark is like the king of execution. I'm almost like, I have to warn people. I'm like, don't bring something up to Mark unless you're okay with him running with it this afternoon or having it barked out to someone because somebody, like, it was just an idea. And I'm like, well, shit, I got 10 people working on this thing now.

Jeez.

Because he's just like, boom, boom, boom. And I remember Mark's mom, we did a podcast with her and I. She taught you because, like, Mark couldn't go out and, like, play with his friends or anything until he got his list done. So Mark's mom would have a list for him. You know, you got to check off stuff on the list before you go play. So. But some people, you can get lost because they're executing on the wrong things. Yes, they're busy, but they're not productive. They're not making a difference. They're not moving the Needle. They're stuck in the wrong stuff because they didn't take the moment. We've talked about the front end here to take a step back. What matters most? What do you care about in your business? And then start building the stuff that you need to be doing. I love it.

I like how you brought it back. Thanks for that comment too. And yes, about. Gosh, it was probably six years ago Matt and I had our moms on the show. It was Mother's Day. It was the Mother's Day show. And we asked our moms why they did certain things when they were raising us. And we tried to relate it back to some of the habits we have today because of our moms. It was a really good show. Yeah. And my mom was. Yeah, she, she. She was a taskmaster with my list. But I like Matt. How brought it all back together. Okay, I want to give everybody some action items now. Okay. And not that our show's coming to conclusion and we want to hit a few other points, I'm sure. But. But let's just talk action items. The. And this is a page literally at the front end of the calendar that I produce that I think is so helpful for so many people is the first thing you can do is write down that ideal scene and why, like, why am I doing this? Just go find that special spot in a park by the beach, in the forest and in the farmland in your. Your. That room in the house where you feel like every. All your distractions are away. Matt and I like to start with a 10 year plan because it really helps you get perspective on this year. So really think long term for a minute. Where do I want to be in 10 years? Who do I want to be with? Where do I want to live? What is. What does my bank account look like? How many rental properties are there? What's my crypto portfolio look like? What's my bank account have in it? What is my stock? Just think money and business too, but personal life and how it's all intertwined. And write down that scene. Then you're going to work backwards and the whys and the personality and you're getting into all that good feeling of why you're doing this. And you're writing down that ideal scene 10 years out, 5 years, 3 years, and it brings you to the present year. What am I going to do in 2022? And if you can do that first task, just get a notepad and just write all that down. Just brain vomit and get it out there. And that's going to Give you so much perspective. But I think that's step one. Are you okay with that?

Step one? Absolutely. I love that.

Step two. What would you say step two is?

Love it. Well, I think you want to start thinking, you know, we start at 10, but we want to look at 5 and start working your way back. I think a lot of times when people think what their real goal is, particularly new business owners, they're. It's super ambitious, right? It's like it ain't happening in a year, okay? You might take you a year before you're profitable. It may take you three, okay? Like, not every business makes money next month, all right? And not six figures, okay? This is. You've got to work your way to this, all right? This is a little bit labor of love here. So get to five, then go to three, then go to one. And so if you know where, okay, I'm going to have 20 employees at year five. Okay. Well, I need to be at. Maybe I'm at eight in year three. I don't know, you know, you know, but year one, I got to have at least a few. And. But how do I need to get there? I want to build a team to grow and scale this business. Well, if I need to get to three employees this year, how. What. How much revenue does that take? I might need a couple hundred grand to be able to pull that off. How many sales does that need? So think of the things that are markers in your business and whether it's team size, total customers, revenue you need, and then break it down into other pieces because you need to start building some metrics in your business, you know, like direct, Larry. It's easy. New accounts. How many accounts do we have? Okay. Like, I can tell a ton about my business based on how many new accounts we have, you know, and so. But think in your business, and maybe it's customers, maybe it's sales, whatever it may be. Now, another thing that might happen is, see, when you get into your years here, you might need to launch products. You might have a ton of ideas of things you want to do, but you can't do them all at once. You can't launch 10 different services or products all at once. So you might need to phase some stuff in. And now you got to start thinking of priorities and what should come first. And you start have to getting strategic. And I love that stuff. But be thoughtful about your business. Have a huge, awesome, ambitious goal, but start breaking it down and getting into measurable bites that that's realistic, that you can accomplish that you can then create some of these strategies and these execution points that we've been talking about.

Now, where does this happen? Matt and I know where this happens the best for us. It's in a hot tub.

And it's best if you just set yourself free and it's just you, the hot tub, and your business partner.

Yeah, yeah, that's it.

That's it.

There's no. Clothing is optional.

Optional.

That's right. For some reason, really, it starts. All the ideas flow when you feel, you know, uninhibited. So it's so funny. Like, we joke about that, but literally, oh, my gosh, 15 years ago, Matt and I were strategizing and I think I said, dude, come on over, let's jump in the hot tub and grab our yellow pads and knock this out. And I don't know what it was, you know, the stars in the sky, Matt gone bando. I don't know what it was, but I mean, I just.

It was, it was meaningful.

Yeah, it was meaningful.

Now that was like, dang, we nailed this.

Yeah. There was no, no salaciousness. Don't think about that. But we were, we were in the hot tub and, and man, we were just killing it and we thought, oh my gosh, we've got to, we got to strategize more like that. And it was really a moment in our partnership where we really started to think about those strategies and those bite sized pieces and steps we wanted to take on our business. And for some of you, that might be on an airplane, it might be around a campfire, it could be going out to dinner or something, but find that spot with your business partner, your life partner, whatever it is. And because here's step three, you got to share it. You got to share the plan.

Yeah.

When it starts to come out of your mouth after you put it on paper, you start going, okay, maybe I need to tone that down a little or it starts to come alive. And now someone's holding you accountable and you're like, oh, my gosh, did I really tell this person?

And here's. I'll say this because I talked about friends and peer groups and this. You can talk about this with any relationships or even the people that might be in your business. When you set this plan and you start sharing it and you realize who's cheering for you and who's not, you have a pretty good idea of people you need to cut out of your lives and people you need in it. And so you want to be energized. This could be Employees. This could be maybe partners. This could be personal life, a spouse. This could be your friends, the peer group, you're hanging out with, your children. Yeah, it's like, you know, you know,

there's a name for it. Oh, your board of advisors.

Oh, yes. Kind of like, yeah, anyone that would be. I mean, and I don't want you to have, like, cheerleaders. They're just going to be like, yay. And they're not going to give you any real feedback, but they need to, like, fill your passion and be willing to support you. Those are the people you want to be around with, and those are the people that mean something when you share it to them. They want to see you succeed. They want to help you. I even. I learned early on getting my first. One of my first jobs as a lawyer, like, asking someone for help was a great way to make connections for me. People really want to help. And so if you have someone that you really respect that you've. And I'm just thinking about this, even myself, that you want to share kind of your business idea with and what you're doing and try to get their help, I think people are naturally willing to come and help you. And if you can, if. And I think that's so significant. It really is. Is your. Because you become accountable to them, you find someone that you can relate to. I don't know. I just think it's a critical step. It's a critical. Yeah, it's critical.

And. And I. With. All joking aside, that's your board of directors. Board of advisors. That's a tax deduction. It makes your business more viable and better for asset protection. To hold these meetings. Your LLC is your corporation. So go, go on YouTube and type board of advisors. Kohler, Sorenson Board of Directors. We've got so many little videos on that to help you build that board. One thing I had to go back to, though, Matt, I want to give everybody some key terminology here, is when Matt said, think of the metrics. What are the numbers behind what you want to do? There's a term that I've used a lot in some of my articles and in my books is called KPI Key Performance Indicators. And I think that drives back to the point that Matt was making, is that there's a difference between being busy and being effective. You may see, you got to. You got to think of your business. You may say, Well, I need 10,000 followers, or I need 10,000 people on my mailing list. Well, why? Well, my friend does well. But, yeah, that may not be what your business needs. And so you get so busy building 10 minute, 10,000 followers or 10,000 views or whatever you're trying to do. And is that really what your business needs? Maybe your business just needs you to pick up the damn phone and go out to lunch every day with someone in your local area and build a local network of buyers or customers. And so the KPIs are. Think about it. Key performance indicators. What are the key indicators that shows the metrics of your goal that you're passionate about? And you're bringing it back to the feeling, you're bringing it back to the why. And then you're identifying those key performance indicators and you're tracking them. Not because your friend does it. You're doing it because you know it'll help your business. And some people. Why are you doing that? Oh, I had a plastic surgeon. His number one referral source were hair salons. And it on his key plan network. He goes, this year, I'm going to get five more hair salons on board. I'm like, what are you talking about? He goes, that's what drives my business. The ladies that I do Botox for, they go talk at their hair salon and talk about their business and what they got done. And everybody's like, oh, my gosh, you look great. Where'd you go? He's like, dude, if I throw a BOTOX party at a hair salon, done. I got customers that year. And I was like, you gotta be kidding me. And he goes, I figured out where my referrals were coming from and what drove my business, and it was networking with hair salon owners.

Mm.

And I just. It blew my mind that again, your business may have a different key KPI than someone else's. And that's okay.

Yeah, I love that. Such a great example. Another way to think of the KPIs.

It's like, by the way, do you like my Botox?

Yeah.

Yeah.

You had to pay for yours. Did you hear about. At the hair salon? How'd you hear about them?

No, I did. I once I got Botox and I got. I got angry eyes. If you want to just Google angry eyes. Botox. If your Botox person doesn't know what they're doing, you're going to have eyebrows that go bink. And I was on a Fox interview in LA and I got Botox the day before. Nightmare. I had these angry eyes. And the interviewer is like, you don't have to be mad about taxes. I'm like, what? What? They never had me back this Is the Botox.

Yeah. So I'd say another way to think of KPIs is sometimes you can think of it as, like, a vital sign for your business. Like, what's the heartbeat of the business, the blood pressure, the cholesterol, you know, whatever is. Like, what are these vital signs? If you really look at the health of your business, that should be your KPIs. And if those KPIs are failing, the things you're tracking, you see you're failing at it. Your business isn't healthy. So it's just not another way to think about it.

Matt, summarize today. Give him a rah rah.

All right, well, this one is. I love this topic because it's a mix of being thoughtful, being strategic, taking a moment to set goals for yourself, but also knowing you got to execute on this thing. And this is not like the New Year's resolution of, like, I'm going to diet, you know, or whatever. This is serious. Take this serious. Enjoy the time to do it and. But then just be like, don't be a mercenary about it. Be a missionary about it and how you're going to get it done and execute it. And if you've done the strategic plan right, you're going to be excited about it, you're going to have a passion for what you're doing, and you're going to be more successful in achieving your goals that you're setting out for yourself.

Yeah. Well, folks, if you enjoyed this little trip down your emotional side and the why of why you're doing your business, please remember Main Street Business Podcast is not just about writing off your auto deduction. It's building your business, and it is

about that, but not just.

Not just. That's right. And we can relate. We're entrepreneurs and we love it and we're passionate about it and we're living it. And so don't give up, please. If you find this helpful, this year, we're going to bring it home, bring it to the heart a little bit more in our podcast. We really want to have more podcasts like that, have some guests that are really going to help you take your business across the finish line this year. If you found this podcast helpful, please share it out on your social media with your friends or family. The family. And as they're building their goals for this year, today's podcast hopefully brought you a little closer to living your dream. So thanks, everybody. See you next week.