Secret #9: Entrepreneurial Scars

Hey, everyone, this is Russell Brunson. Welcome to Marketing Secrets. Today's episode is called Entrepreneurial Scars. So the big question is, how are entrepreneurs like us, who didn't cheat and take on venture capital, were spending money from our own pockets? How do we market in a way that lets us get our products and our services and the things that we believe in out to the world and yet still remain profitable? That is the question, and this podcast will give you the answers. My name is Russell Brunson, and welcome to Marketing Secrets. Hey, everyone. So I wanted to honestly this podcast, I just want to hang out with you guys and talk because it's been interesting, is I've been working with so many entrepreneurs and recently, just as I've been working with some people and watching people who had insane amounts of success at one time and then who had something happen, a failure, a bankruptcy, whatever, like, just fill in the blank the second time around. A lot of times they really, really struggle. And I start looking at them like, why are they struggling? Because, like, they had this huge success. It's almost like they have fear and embarrassment of, like, oh, I failed in the past. And as I kept talking about this with some of the guys on our team, I was like, it's almost like they have entrepreneurial scars. And like, and it's interesting is that us as the person who went through the process and the failure and the, you know, a lot of times there's ups then the downs, they hit hard. We have these scars, like these emotional scars. But I think sometimes we feel like those scars are like, on our faces and other people can see them. What's interesting is that people don't, like, those are just things that are inside of yourself that are. But because they're there, because you feel like they're there and you feel like other people can see keeps you from having success the next time because there's so much fear around these scars, these things. And as I was talking about this this morning, I shared a story and this will hopefully kind of tie these things together a little better for you. And I'm not going to name names or anything, but there's a guy I know and he was a successful politician, top of his game, like, doing everything amazing and just people loved him. And when you saw him in that spot, like, and this is not like national politics. I don't know anybody national politics. I don't follow politics at all. But from like, it was a local person, right? And you saw him when on the news and all sorts of stuff, and he Was like, he was dynamic, he was charismatic. And, like, everything was awesome. And then he got caught up in this, like, political scandal, whatever, right? And it's funny because I don't. Again, I don't follow politics much. I don't care that much. But I did. I was aware, like, oh, this thing happened, and he's no longer in there. And then someone else. Then fast forward, like, three or four years later, I met him. And what's interesting is I met him. It was in a different situation. Wanted to talk about business stuff. I was really excited. Cause I was like, oh, I know who this person is. Like, how cool. I want to meet him and talk to him. And as I talked to him, it was funny. Not funny. I shouldn't say that. It was interesting to see, like, the scars he had gotten from this thing were so deep that he was struggling to progress in other parts of his life and business and all these other things because of the scars he got from this thing that didn't work out. Right. Right. And, yeah, you look at the thing, it wasn't good. But, like, you know, three years later, I'm almost surprised that I knew about it, but I did. But he was carrying those scars in this conversation with me. With. He came in, like, the way that I'd seen him before, like, confident in all sorts of things. I probably would have done the business deal with him, but because he had these scars and, like, just the way he approached it, he didn't have certainty and didn't have all these things, they were gone. And I could feel it. And, like, that uncertainty kept me from doing the deal with him. And I remember thinking after I finished that I was like, God, I can tell he's still carrying around the fear and the embarrassment and the shame of this thing, But I'm like, I don't care about that thing. I couldn't care less. Move on in your life and come back. Because that person that I saw on tv, if you were to approach me that way, I would have done this deal. And the same thing is true in entrepreneurs. There's someone who I know who's super successful, who had a funnel, blew up, made a ton of money, and then it went away, and now they're kind of struggling. And what's interesting is, like, I kind of know that backstory, because I know the person, things like that. But even with that, I look at that person, I'm like, this person is a rock star. They're awesome. They're amazing. But as I see them and interact with other people, I see that these scars that this person has are keeping them from taking over the next thing. And it's funny, because I don't think 99.9% of every single person in the world has any idea that those scars are there for this person. But because he knows that they're there, because he knows he failed. He knows that things disappeared and didn't work out the way he wanted. He has this fear, and as he's approaching the next situations, he's struggling because of that, because of these scars. And I think it's interesting that these entrepreneurial scars that we have, like, first off, they're invisible. Like, nobody sees them. Like, you know, some people may be aware of them, but nobody sees them except for you. And so because you are so aware of these things, it keeps you from having the confidence and success you need to move forward. And it was funny. I was talking to an entrepreneur who was about to go through bankruptcy, and they're freaking out, they're so scared. And I kind of asked them why, and they didn't say, because I don't want those scars. But what they said afterwards, if I get out of bankruptcy, what's my wife gonna think? My in laws and my family, all these things. I was like, you have to understand that bankruptcy, you think about this failure for entrepreneurs. The founding fathers of this country gave us bankruptcy as a gift so that entrepreneurs like us would risk and try and move forward and. And roll the dice and hope for something. Like, if it wasn't for that gift, you may think it's a gift from the founding fathers. I believe it's a gift from God. Like, if it wasn't for that thing, America wouldn't have succeeded as a nation. Everything that's been amazing wouldn't have happened if entrepreneurs didn't have that risk. If it was like, if you go bankrupt, you go to jail until you pay off all your debts, not many people would have taken the risk. I don't know if I would have taken the risk. But because, like, worst case scenario is bankruptcy, where you clear off your balance sheets and you start over. That's the worst case scenario. That's the greatest gift we have. And so if we hit that and we go through it and all of a sudden we have these scars, like, I went through bankruptcy, and you have all this fear, then you go to the next thing, it's like, no, that shouldn't be a negative thing. That means you tried, it means you attempted. And even if you attempted, had success and it went away, you've had success. I remember I was doing a deal with this guy who. Super successful, in fact. He does these consulting things where it's like 500 grand a day with a minimum of. Of 10 sessions. It's like half a million bucks to, like, get this guy to work with you, right? And I had a chance to hang out with him, and I was talking to him and talking strategy, and he was asking my story, and I tell my story. And, you know, I'm pretty open with things now. Like, I've realized that my scars are what actually draws people to me. It's like funnel hacking live. I spend an hour half on stage talking about all my failures because it draws people towards me. And so. Which is kind of maybe the point at the end of this podcast, but share my ups and then my downs. And as I told him the whole thing, he was like, oh, good. I'm like, what do you mean, good? He's like, well, you've cycled. I'm like, what do you mean I've cycled? He's like, oh. He's like, well, you know, entrepreneurs who haven't cycled at least once. I refuse to work with them. I'm like, what does that mean? He's like, well, cycle means you build something up and then you crash. He's like, if you haven't cycled yet, then guess what, you're still, like, you're still reading, you're still drinking your own Kool Aid. Like, you still believe that you are the most amazing human being on Earth. You don't realize until after you've cycled that it's not just you. Like, you aren't the greatest thing to walk this planet. Like, there's market conditions and there's people and there's opportunity, there's luck, and there's all these amazing things that happen that makes that make you possible, right? That make you, as an entrepreneur, successful. And as he said that, first off, I was like, that feels better. Like, cycling sounds way better than failing or going through bankruptcy. But I thought it was interesting that he wouldn't work with an entrepreneur unless they'd cycled once. And I was like, man, how many people, like, they go out there and they do their big risk and they have some success, which gives you, like, all this pride and confidence and stuff, and then you lose it. And then because of that failure, you never try again, or you try, but you're halfway because you feel like you have these scars, and you feel like other people are judging you or you're judging yourself or all These kind of things where the reality is, like, we don't see those things. Nobody knows about the failures until you tell about them. And they do know about it. It doesn't really matter. In fact, as I found as I share my scars, it draws people closer to me. Like I mentioned earlier, I think the reason why people do business with me a lot of times is because I'm vulnerable. I share those things. So for you guys, I wanted to kind of talk about today is just, first off, it's okay to have those scars, but don't hide them. Share those things. When my kids get injured, they're super cute, and they do all the time. I tell my boys, I'm like, chicks dig scars. That's a good thing. That's awesome. Black guys are awesome. I remember one of my black guys I got in wrestling. In fact, I don't know if you guys are watching the video. You still see the scars over both my eyes. I had this one where I hit my buddy's knee and my eye completely swole shut. I had, like, 15 stitches, and I couldn't stand on my eye for, like, four or five days. And as I was at school, I was all embarrassed because of the scar. And as I was walking around, people were like, dude, your eye looks awesome. Oh, you're a wrestler. Like, people connected with that more than, like, me looking good in my hair, worrying about, like, what I look like. And so I think the moral of this podcast, and I want you guys to understand, is that we all have entrepreneurial scars. If you don't have them yet, you're going to have them. But don't let those keep you from the next success. My friend who's a politician, like, I don't care that what happened. Like, he could go and do and be successful, but, like, because he's carrying these scars, he's not. And you have to be willing to get rid of those or not get rid of them. Like, embrace them and share those things. Like, look, I screwed up. This is what happened. But this is what I'm doing now, and this is what I learned from it, how I'm changing. You know, if I look back on my career, there's a lot of things that I'm embarrassed about, things that I messed up on big time. You know, maybe I should podcast somebody about my biggest regrets. I have regrets in my business. There are things that I did that I'm embarrassed about I wish I wouldn't have done. Like, looking back now, it's like, I would have consulted myself. Like, do not do that. But I wouldn't have known the path unless I'd gone down some of these paths and realized the, you know what? Things weren't right. You know, I've always tried to be fair to my customers and my employees and stuff, but I made mistakes and I sold things that I thought were really good, found later they weren't. I've done, like, there's things I'm not proud of, but if I let those scars keep me, like, how many people would. How many people's lives are we touching and affecting now that wouldn't have been touched had I not embraced those scars and like, and told you, like, look, I messed up in the past and I have. We all do, and it's okay, but I don't want you guys to not progress because of that. So hopefully this gives you some comfort and knowing, like, look, if you've gone through bankruptcy, that's okay. If you've messed up, if you did something stupid, like, that's okay. You know, that's what this life is about, about making those mistakes and owning it. And if you do, it's almost like plastic surgery that makes these scars just disappear, but they don't need to disappear. Like I said, embrace it, because that's what's going to draw people to you. And so I hope that helps. It was on my mind today. I thought I wanted to share it, so hope that that was good for you guys. Again, as an entrepreneur, you know, we're risking stuff every day, risking our personality, I mean, we're risking, like, our names, risking money, risking other people. Like, you know, like, I wake up in the morning scared. We have 119 employees as of today. Like, if I screw up, like, how many people lives have I let down because of that? Like, those things are real to me, and I understand that, but I've got to risk those things because how many people's lives can we affect because of that? Right? And if you've gone through bankruptcy, don't let that stress you out. It's a gift from the founding fathers. It's a gift from God. It's given us the ability so that we can risk and not lose everything we can risk. And, you know, if it wasn't for that, like, again, progress would stop. If entrepreneurs weren't risking. It's like, it's not a bad thing. And if you, you know, like. Anyway, so I just want to give you guys that as a gift. And if you guys are struggling now, some of you guys probably are. Some of you guys are going through bankruptcy. You've gone through bankruptcy. Maybe it's not bankrupt. You failed. You launched something, it didn't work. You built a team of people and the product and working to fire people or let them go or, you know, all the ups and the downs and disappointment. Like, as entrepreneurs, you have so many things on your shoulders. And I get that. And I hope that this message just helps release some of that pressure for some of you guys. Because if you don't keep risking, if you don't keep trying, if you don't keep getting those scars, where's the world going to be? Where are you going to be? Where's your family going to be? Where are the people you're serving going to be? They need you. And it's worth the risk, it's worth the sacrifice, it's worth those fears. Because if you can affect those people, like when you, when you deliver on what you know you have and you change their lives, like it, it makes it all worth it. It's interesting just kind of to close this down. I look at where our company has come, where we are today, right? And I looked back during my last cycle, seven years ago, when everything collapsed around me and I thought the world was coming to an end. And I was depressed and I was sad and I was scared. All those kind of things happen. Looking at now, like, if I didn't go through that click funnels and this process never would have happened. I never would have met Todd. I never would have met who built clickfunnels. I never met, built this team. I never had this opportunity. I wouldn't have known the things we know to be able to execute on this. A lot of things that we're steering clear from today are because of the mistakes happened back then. And if I'd have made those mistakes today, some of them could have been catastrophic. Way more people's lives could have been affected, whereas I had a chance to suffer those things and get those scars at a smaller scale. And so I don't have to have those things again now, hopefully, if I learn from my lessons, which I'm trying to do. So look at those things as gifts. Embrace them, share them, and don't hide from them, because those scars will draw people to you. And we all have them. And don't let that keep you from your mission. So hope it helps and appreciate you guys. And we'll see you guys all on the next episode of Funnel Hackers. No, that's the wrong episode. What is this episode? Marketingsecrets.com so sorry I was recording funnel hacker TV earlier today. So between the two. So marketingsecrets.com podcast, that's what this is. And by the way, if you want to go see our TV show, go to finalhacker tv. We have a whole bunch of behind the scenes episodes, a couple new episodes as well of just different stories. In fact, by the time this is live this same day we have our next show going live. So go to Funnel Hacker TV as well. Go check out the shows. If you like this podcast, please share it. Please go to itunes. Leave me a review. I don't care if you give me one star, two stars, if you give me five, that'd be way cooler. So please do that. Thanks again for everything guys and I will talk to you guys all soon. Bye everybody. Would you like to see behind the scenes of what we're actually doing each day to grow our company? If so, then go subscribe to our free behind the scenes reality TV show at www.funnelhacker.tv.