Unique and Exponential Freedom with Mark Winters

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Come on. Hello, dear listener. Before we get into today's show, quick ask if you find value in today's show or you've gotten value out of a previous show. Please leave us a quick 5 star review. Be super grateful. Thanks a lot. The strong, the powerful Mark Winters has returned to Money Savage. Welcome back, Mark.

Thanks, George. Great to be here.

Mark is a certified EOS implementer. He is the number one best selling author. He is a keynote speaker. He is the vision visionary of Rocket Fuel Ventures. And again, back on Money Savage. Mark, refresh our memories. Tell us a little bit about your personal life, some more about your work and why you do what you do.

So I'm a three boy dad. My wife and I have had the pleasure and honor of raising three sons. And I got to be sort of coach for them through youth sports growing up, which is awesome, awesome time. I work with entrepreneurs and I believe that entrepreneurs make all the difference. And so I help them get unstuck and when they get stuck, because a lot of times they do and really help them expand their version of unique freedom, whatever that may be, exponentially. And so that's my day job, if you will.

Nice. I appreciate that. So we are having this conversation on October 21st and obviously a unique time and who knows where we're at in the process. But what's top of mind for you right now.

So even when I hear you set that up, it's really about adaptability and in a time of uncertainty, which frankly for an entrepreneur is most of the time. So, you know, that's not really different for most of them or most of us, but it's having the context of a clear direction to allow you to be adaptable in whatever circumstances may be thrown at you.

So when you say context of a clear direction, what does that mean?

So it's really, you know, you heard me in the setup mention unique freedom. And it's the idea that each of us, freedom for me looks different than it looks for you, looks different from somebody else. And so we've got to be clear on what ours looks like if we're going to have any chance of ever realizing it, ever going and getting it. So Having clarity on that context so that we can really focus on the things that we need to focus on to make progress, move forward, and actually go make that happen.

It's interesting. This is something that I've been giving a lot of thought to lately. Excite. My two boys just turned 4 and 1 this month. And it's like, okay, what. What do I really want my life to look like? Do I want to have hundreds of employees, or do I just want to be a lifestyle, kind of an entrepreneur and just have it be me and a couple of people? Is that really what you're talking about?

Yeah, it is. And so I've built a model that has actually nine different specific domains of freedom or types of freedom, and then a model to help you get clear on what your ideal life looks like in each of those areas. And how do you kind of measure that, what kind of habits drive that, and how do you make progress against that? And then think about that on different time horizons, and I'll give you a story. George, just kind of dad to dad, because it was a changer for me. Dan Sullivan has an exercise that he uses called the lifetime extender, where you basically, you sort of project your life into the future and kind of what's important, what do you want to be true then? And then all of a sudden after you do that, you're gifted more time, you're gifted another decade or whatever. At the end of that, what would you use that for? And when you kind of clear away all the stuff, all of a sudden in that bonus time, you realize that's the stuff that really matters. That's the stuff that's really important to me. And one of the ahas that I had the first time I did that exercise was, you know, when I'm old, I want my kids and their kids and their kids, however many layers down it goes, to really want to spend time with me. I don't want it to be an obligation. I don't want it to be a hassle. I don't want it to be something that's a chore for them. But I want them to be drawn to me, to spend that time together, because that's really what I want. And so the first time I did that exercise, my kids were probably about the age of your kids and maybe a little bit older, because I was starting to get into the phase of discipline, and how tough am I going to be as a dad, and how hard am I going to come down on them when those kinds of situations come up? And it totally Reframed. The way that I thought about that. I still need to provide discipline, I still need to provide direction to them. But how can I do that in a loving way that doesn't damage our relationship so that we have this strong foundation so that I can create this future that I want?

Yeah, that makes all sense in the world. How did that go?

Well, so far so good. My kids, I've got two of them that are just out of college. I've got one that's just going into college. And my parenting work is basically done. So whatever I've done, it's done, it's baked. I mean, it's on them from here on out. And we were together a couple of weekends ago and actually kind of had the conversation about that and about how now we can be more friends, we can be more buddies, we can be more, you know, on a peer type relationship than, you know, parent child. Because, you know, we did the hard stuff when we were younger, but again, we tried to find that balance. And, you know, my wife was a great counterbalance to me in that process because, you know, my tendency is to, you know, be kind of military man. I come down pretty hard and it's black and white. And, you know, if you're on the wrong side of that line, the consequences can be, you know, painful and, you know, and she could kind of see a different side of each picture. So we would sort of balance each other out. And again, we're trying to find that line where we can do the right thing in the short term while maintaining this future that we want where, you know, we build a strong relationship and they're still want to spend time with us on the other side of it.

Yeah, well, amen. So that future that we all really want, obviously you have to go through the exercise of thinking about, in your case, those nine different areas of what's most important to me, not necessarily this year, but also five years, 10 years, 100 years from now, whatever timeframe you're interested in looking at. And does that then inform the perspective that you would have people have today, even though that's a reality, which is.

Way out there, 100% right. Just like my example with the kids. If I can understand the future that I want, then it totally changes how I think about now. For example, the foundational areas are the things that I believe we're all gifted with when we arrive on this planet, which is our body, you know, our health, our physical body, if you will, your brain, your mind and how that's working, and then your Spirit, whatever that means to you, but your spirit. And we all kind of start off with that stuff. And that's sort of the foundation. The foundation is not strong. None of the rest of this stuff is going to work very well. And so when I think about health, my body, you know, what do I want that future to look like? And I've had, you know, my parents, I've been through that process with them and aging and kind of what that does. And so you think about it. And personally, when I'm old, I want to be able to be mobile. I want to be able to move around. I want to be able to, you know, look decent. You know, I don't want to be all, you know, just kind of a mess. And I want to be able to function. I want to be able to cognitively operate. I want to be able to think and talk and participate. One of the things I have for me there is I want to be able to play catch with my grandkids and maybe their kids. So can I throw a football and think about that? What do I need to do to take care of my body now so that 30 years from now, 40 years from now, maybe longer than that, I can still actually throw a ball and actively play catch with my, you know, my kids, kids and their kids. So, yeah, perspective, it totally changes, Changes how I think about today.

Yeah. And I can't really think of any compelling reasons why anybody wouldn't do that. It's just perhaps that they lack the framework for doing it or they perceive themselves to be too busy.

I think you're on both of them. Right. One is we just don't know. We don't think about it. So we're not thinking about the future self. We're thinking we're talking to our now self. And our now self is tired. Our now self would rather go do X and our future self if we could really talk to them about it and what the consequences are of the choice that we're making right now, it's a whole different conversation. And so that's kind of the nature of the exercise. And sometimes if we can see that, if we can get that perspective, it will give us the strength, the will to make the sacrificial choice. Now, you know, it's this wisdom is earned. Right. And frankly, failure is priceless. So the things that we learn through the choices that we make or don't make that turn out bad, we really learn those lessons deeply. And it's all about how do we make the choice of doing what we need to do now that will enable us to be able to do what we want to do later. Right. And so, yeah, I think you're on it. The perspective is what shapes all of that.

And being able to delay gratification, being able to recognize, okay, if I do want to be able to throw a football with my grandkids when I'm X years old, I need to get my butt to the gym every day for sure. And need to be stretching and have a proper diet and everything else. So. And if I want my mind to be shut, that I need to be doing a lot of things today, which, which could mean that I need to get up earlier or go to bed, whatever. It's all a series of. Of trade offs.

Exactly right. Exactly right. And it's, it's not just, you know, think about it as delayed gratification, but I also think about it as extended gratification. Right. So it's not just that it may be later, but I'm after and I'll be able to enjoy it longer. So in the end I'm going to get more.

I've never thought about it like that. There's a lot of talk about, certainly in personal finance about your ability to delay gratification is an absolute indicator of whether or not you're going to be successful long term. But actually extending the gratification as well. I think that that's a great frame right there.

So let me jump off on that because there's another point there where, let me ask you this. How old are you going to be? What's your lifespan going to be?

Yeah. 90.

Okay. How long, how long am I going to live? 100, I think 156.

Okay.

So. So my plan is the year 2121. And I chose 2121 because I just thought it sounded kind of cool. And so that's my plan is to live until then. And so think about what that does from a financial planning perspective. Right.

Whoo.

You know, Yeah, I may, I may have enough to cover till 90 or 100, you know, because traditionally somebody may be planning for that, but you know, if we take 50% more than that, how does that work? Right. And so I think that based on a lot of the advancements in health technology and just some of the things that are happening, I think we're really on the precipice of some major breakthroughs that are going to really extend lifespan dramatically. And I don't think enough people are thinking about that. And I believe folks are going to get caught unprepared because they aren't thinking like that. And so that's going to create a whole whole new set of challenges. Right. So anyway, that's, that's. That's another perspective that I have on my mind.

I love it. And that is a whole new, whole nother set of challenges. How often do you counsel people? How often do you reflect on this and revisit it and then look at what you're doing and making sure that it's matching up?

So it's really a quarterly cycle for me. So, you know, every 90 days, I'm sitting down and I'm looking at. All right, here's. Here's my. Here's my picture on these different horizons and then backing in from there again to the specific levers that I think are powerful for me to make that future happen. And then there's measurable things that I track in each bucket, and then those things I track literally some of them on a daily basis so that I know there's some habit things I track on a daily basis. And then the numbers all kind of roll up to the week. And then every quarter, I kind of try to reset what my goal is that I'm shooting for every 90 days. And so I can watch me slowly making progress in the direction I want to go.

Yeah. And that's obviously time that is sacred that you're protecting, so you're blocking out. Do you know. And I'm not going to ask you for the date, but do you know the actual date that those planning sessions are going to take place?

Yeah, I mean, I know the next one, you know, so I set that date 90 days out, so I do one, and then I'll set the future one. So, yeah, that's the habit.

Yeah, I appreciate that. So when we talk about exponential freedom, this idea of exponential does that. Why exponential?

Well, because I think it feeds on each other. Right. So you get above that foundational layer that I described of sort of body, mind, and spirit. And that's our vessel. Right. So if we've got a strong vessel and it's able to move out in the world, the next layer is about multipliers of that. And, you know, what do you think might be the common multipliers? What would multiply your reach, your impact on the world?

Money.

Okay, there's one. What else?

Energy. Attention. Time.

Time. Okay, so let's go with time. Okay. What's another one?

I mentioned attention, but I don't know if that's appropriate or not.

What, have we recently formed relationships? There you go. Relationships. Right. So folks that we know, folks that we have connection with, the fourth one I would put there is place. Place. And that's where you spend all that stuff. Right? And think about that. You know, if you're creative, are you spending your creative time in a place that is optimal for that? When you're trying to recover, when you're trying to rest, are you spending that time in a time that's a place that's optimal for that? When you're trying to train, when you're trying to, you know, get stronger, you know, what's the place that you're doing that? What's the place that you're building relationships? Right. So all of these different kinds of things get impacted by where. So that's a whole layer in the model. Right? Let's get clear on that. What do I want my money future to look like? What do I want my relationship future to look like? Time. How much time do I want to spend in these different buckets of opportunity? And where. And so that's sort of the. The next layer. And so if you think about those all impact each other, right? And they multiply the foundation. And so that's where the term exponential really comes from. It's all interrelated.

Yeah, well, that certainly makes sense. And Yeah, I can 100%, all those things are going to be a multiplier. That foundational level about my physical body right there. I don't know that I can multiply that necessarily. Probably could, but certainly with more money, if I could free up more time by. By doing lots of different tactics, by having better relationships and having access to more people who wanted to see me do well, and those would 100% multiply my impact exponentially. So that makes sense 100%. What do you wish if you had a magic wand that people spent more time? Is there one area of those four of money, time, relationship or place? Or let me ask that different. Where are you struggling with those?

Oh, good. So let's actually start with the first question you didn't ask. And it really is different for everybody, right? So. And it comes down to what's your definition of it? So, you know, on the money one, you know, what's important to me is it that I win at the end because I have the most. Is it that I have enough that I don't have to worry about it? Is it that I have enough to cover my basic needs, but I don't really care about anything beyond that? And then you can see how that trades off if I need to hang on to more. I'm going to make different choices about how I spend it. If I'm okay with having less, then I may spend more on going out to dinner and relationship oriented things. Travel, which ties into place. I may reinvest at different places. You talked about health, multiplying health. There's the money factor of that. If I've got plenty of money, what can I do? I can have a personal trainer that has totally customized things and there's some very advanced personal training kind of options that are out there now using a lot of science that can really help you optimize your body. I can have a personal chef with all custom meals and everything prepared for me, which impacts my time bucket. It impacts a lot of other things. So that's kind of the multiplier effect. But really the point I want to hammer home is my answer is completely different from your answer, is completely different from my wife's answer or my oldest son's answer. Everybody's different. So we just got to think it through and you know, some perspective on this. It came from my wife and I were in Colorado one summer and we were hiking on a, on a ski slope actually. You know, but it was summer and we got into the rich or king debate. Would you rather be rich or would you rather be king? And you know, you'll hear that argument, would you rather be rich, you'd rather be famous? You'll hear, you know, different kind of versions of that. And I've had that conversation 100 times before and I frankly, I probably answered it a little bit differently every single time. And for whatever reason that day, the answer came to me as it depends. It depends on which one of those choices is going to best help me realize what my version of freedom looks like for me. You know, is it going to be to have more money? Is it going to be to be more powerful or influential? So that was the process that my mind went to. And so I think that's the process that we all need to go through figuring out what it is that we really want and getting clear on that because that's going to lead us back to work on the things that we need to.

Yeah. And really being honest about it too. Right. You know, don't, don't blow smoke up your own butt and just be honest about what you really want, no matter how awful you might think that it is.

Yup. 100%. Yeah. Step, step one, be honest with yourself.

Yeah, I love it. Well, Mark Savage Nation is ready for that difference making tip. What do you have for them.

So for today it's about get that clarity. So it's clarity on what your version of unique freedom looks like for you. So then you can focus on the things that you need to focus on now to set up that future that you want. So then you can experience and like we said, extend the gratification as far into the future as you want.

Well, I think that that is great stuff that definitely gets Come on, come on. Mark, thank you so much for coming back on. Tell us again where Savage Nation can learn more about you.

So arkcwinters on all of the socials. You can also markcwinters.com if you want to see all the different things that I'm working on, including RocketFuelNow.com, which you can also find from that site.

Love it. Well, Savagenist, if you enjoyed this much as I did, show Mark your appreciation and share today's show with a friend who also appreciates good ideas. Go to markcwinters.com and find him on social media ARC C Winters and I'll list all those in the notes of the show. Thanks again Mark.

Thanks George. Great to talk to you.

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