#29: Randy Garn, Founder Of Prosper Inc, Networking Guru, Family Man

Little things don't mean a lot. Little things mean everything when it comes to building deep, meaningful relationships is like, I never be boring, never be predictable. And that way you'll always be memorable.

What's up, Founder Nation? Hey, I just wanted to, first and foremost, before we jump into this episode, just thank you so much for all the many listeners, all the many downloads. I cannot believe the response to this podcast. When I launched this thing two and a half months ago, I had no idea that the momentum that this thing would create from the incredible guests to so many listeners, I've had so many of you guys reach out to me directly and thank me and give me so many great testimonials of what you've been able to take from this podcast. First and foremost, thank you for being such a loyal listener. Thank you guys for bringing so much value into my life. Because the reality is, the reason I do this is for you to hear the feedback. So if you aren't following me already on Instagram, it's at Chris Lee qb, like quarterback at Chris Lee qb. Make sure you go ahead and give me a follow. You're going to see all my different posts there. You're going to be able to see little short clips from different episodes. So be sure to be giving me a follow there. Also, October 17th, 18th and 19th, I am going to be hosting a remarkable mastermind right here at my house, right here at the Founder Studio. This is where Soul Gen was launched, where it was nurtured and created for two and a half years before finally we left and eventually had a nine figure exit. So we're going to be doing this mastermind. We're keeping it to 10 people right now. I actually already have six seats filled. I have so many people that have been reaching out to me. If you are interested in knowing more and what a mastermind like this would look like, go ahead and just message me directly on Instagram the word Mastermind@ChrisLee QB and we'll be happy to give you a little bit more information. So let's go ahead and dive into this episode. Yo, yo, yo. Welcome to another episode of the Founder Podcast. Today I am joined by Mr. Randy Garn live and in person. Welcome. Randy is a founder of multiple companies, a company called Prosper and he's also founded pest control companies. He works with Founders Consulting. He is a relationship guru, literally knows everybody. Like, I mean if, if you have heard of a person, he probably has met them, shook their hand or introduced them to somebody. So welcome to show Randy.

Dude, Chris, it's great to be here, man.

Excited to have you. So, Randy, tell us your story. Like, what made you into this awesome entrepreneur, relationship guru? Like, what built Randy Garn?

That's a. You know, I've never actually had anybody ask me that question. That's a good one, Chris. For me, I think a lot of it is like, what. How do we. How did we grow up? And who are our early mentors? And I'm actually talking about 11 to 14.

Right.

That's, like, a massive age of impact is those years. And I do have to say, like, my father, he was a high school football coach for 33 years.

Very cool.

And just.

So was my dad.

Does it. Was he really?

Yeah, yeah.

My mom and dad, high school teachers, like, in charge of air. I mean, it's just. Just amazing. But we had a ranch, and I. And I would think that, you know, a lot of my thoughts, you know, beliefs. Core. Core. My core beliefs come from those early years watching my dad. I grew up in Sugar City, Idaho.

All right.

Sweet little place.

Awesome. So school teachers. Sugar City. Kind of a farming community or. How big. How big is it?

Yeah. I mean, there was, like, a thousand people in my city.

Wow. When we grew up, sounds like we had a very similar childhood. 2500 where I grew up. Small farm town. My dad was a school teacher, high school football, wrestling coach.

No way.

Yeah, dude.

Like, twin brothers, dude. I love it.

That's awesome. That's awesome. So, yeah, tell me about those early mentors and, like, the early, like, the things that took place in your life that shaped you into who you are.

You know, I think one of. One of the things that I learned at an early age was accountability. You know, my dad being a coach, we'd literally say family prayers at. In the morning. We'd put our hands in. Go gardens. Like, that was just. I mean, that's how we did, like, making hard things fun and really learning how to work. He literally ingrained that into us. And how to be productive, how to put work, how to. When you're done with your day, that you feel super good about it because you put an effort. And the joy that comes from hard work, there's so much joy that come from it. Even today. Just like, dude, did I do my best today? And, I mean, I think those are some of the things that I learned from my dad. And, you know, growing up on a ranch is like, you have to get stuff done, right? Like, you can't keep punting the ball. You have to get the work done. You got to feed the cows. You have to, like, make sure the irrigation happens. You have to make sure that these things happen on a daily basis. And if you miss it, then things die, things go away, things don't grow.

So your dad was a schoolteacher and a rancher. So you guys had a. So definitely a little bit of an entrepreneur. The fact that he was trying to build something outside of his. His normal career. How many acres did you guys have?

You know, it's interesting because he built a lot of his wealth through real estate.

That's cool.

I mean, he was a schoolteacher by passion, right? You know, he actually went to medical. He wanted to become a doctor. And then he had four boys. And he's like, dude, I'm going to buy a ranch and become a football coach in Idaho.

Wow.

And so it was really, really fun. I had the best childhood. And I know not everybody can say that about their relationship with their father. You know, I can't think of a better. I just was so blessed with a dad that was always there, but also a dad that was accountable to me and making sure that I stayed, you know, integrous and moral and strong. And, you know, just watching his patterns were pretty impactful for me at a young age that I think made me be a better leader, a very successful founder. And even to this day, like, some of the things that bring me the greatest joys, I watch my dad, like, nobody has a bad thing to say about my father because he always did what he said he was going to do.

So tell me about a time that you, like, saw your dad doing something and it really inspired you.

You know, I mean, there. There were quite a few times. There were quite a few times that he really inspired me in this way. When I was getting ready to go to our junior prom, my dad said, randy, we've got to get up early and take care of the horses and the cows. And so I need you home by 11 o'. Clock. And I know you're going to use the truck, but if you're not home by 11 o', clock, then I'm not going to let you use the truck for prom. So I remember we were sitting in the hot tub at Slick and Potato Head's house, my friend's house. We were having a ton of fun. And all of a sudden I'm like, oh, my gosh, what time is it? And I asked. And I asked Slick, I'm, dude, what time is it? He's like, dude, it's like 11:15. I'm like, oh, my gosh, my Heart sunk. Because for my dad, it was like he'd always like, do what he said he was going to do. I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm in so much trouble. So I cruise home. I'm about 10, 15 minutes away from home. I get home, I sneak in the house, I'm like, all the lights are off. I'm like, I'm good, dude, I've made it. This story's giving me anxiety, dude. I sneak in my bedroom and I'm like, oh my gosh, this is perfect. So I get in, I shut the door behind me, I pull my covers back and there's my dad sleeping in the bed. I mean, so I like, there's. I mean, what do you do? And so I look at the clock and he's like, hey, what time is it? I said, It's 11:42. And he said, what time did I tell you to be home? I said, I promised you and I committed to you I'd be home at 11. And he said, what did I tell you that if you're not home at 11, what would happen? I said, you said I couldn't use the truck for problem. And I'm like, but dad, like, dude, I've got an amazing date. Like, it's going to be fun. I got my buddies coming, I need the truck. And he's like, well, listen, I want you to learn what commitment means and what accountability means. And he said, you can't use the truck tomorrow, but, you know, let's say prayers. Let's say prayers. You go to bed and then I'll see you at five o' clock in the morning to get the cows and horses watered and take care of them. So I wake up in the morning, I'm thinking like, okay, he's going to let me do it. What do you think he did?

He stuck to it.

He stuck to it like, he stuck to it. And I'm like, even to this day, like, that's how we should, like, he didn't get mad, he didn't raise his voice, he didn't get upset. But yet he did. He held me accountable for what I committed to him and what he committed to me. And so I think if we just learn that principle in life is what it means to hold people accountable and really follow through with it. You do what you did in life and that piece of accountability, I think we've slipped and lost that in our. In society today, we let everybody get away with everything. We keep punting the ball down and you can't grow A business. You can't have a great family life. You can't teach our kids how to be accountable if we don't know how to hold them accountable and stick to it. I think it's just so important that we do that.

Yeah, there's always something I say that there's only a couple things you really got to do to be successful business. And one is just doing what you say you're gonna do. Right. Like, and the fact that he, he showed you early in life that, like, hey, I'm going to be a man of my word, we're going to keep a high level of accountability within this household. That's, that's pretty phenomenal. Yeah. So fast forward, you have six children of your own, right? And they range from 11 years old to 22 years old. How have you instilled in these same principles? I mean, obviously you've been financially successful probably, you know, leaps and bounds of above what your father was. How do you instill those same principles while having all these other distractions in your family today?

I mean, for me, like, and I always, I mean, I love this quote, it's like no amount of success in business can compensate for failure in the home. So I want to have massive success in business and in life. And I think it's such a pleasure to be able to create an income. I want to leave a legacy for my family. And so, I mean, that is, that's so important to me is that my kids see that and they do that. But at the same time, I am not going to compromise building up businesses or companies and not have a relationship with my children. So some of the ways that I do that, you know, if there are some great fathers listening or mothers listening here, some of the things that I have done is that I try to shut things down on Saturday the most I possibly can. Sometimes I'm traveling or have things, but my kids know, like, Saturday is Dad day and we either go fly fishing or hiking or my twin girls, I'll be like, what do you guys want to do on Saturday? Like, let's do something fun. We'll do something fun with our friends. You know, we'll go up to Sundance, we'll go snowshoeing, hiking. Like, I try to do fun stuff with my kids the most that I can and have good quality time and that they can prepare for. The other thing is too, is like, I'm my son's football coach. I am making time to actually do that for my 11 year old boys. Like, they'll never forget I've been coaching them for the last three years. And so I'm doing that so that I can spend time with them and be with them and help them grow. So I think as business leaders, we always talk about what strategy we're doing for business and all that. And sometimes we. And I can't say that I've always done this. I had to do this and I had to learn this is that there was a time when I was, when we were growing our company, we had hundreds of employees and it was just bananas and I was out of whack then. But I've course corrected that and been like, okay, I have to make sure that I'm in my calendar. I am planning time for my wife. Like, we're going on a date tonight. Like, we've got the side by side and we're just gonna go up the canyon and take food with us and go hang out and just her and I talk in the mountains. And so we have to plan those kind of things. And so I try to do that with my kids and with my family so that they also know that they are our priority.

Yeah, absolutely. So let's rewind back to. So you, you have this amazing childhood. You're taught amazing principles like what led you to starting businesses, becoming an entrepreneur. Like, did you go to school, give us some of that backstory?

Yeah, so I, you know, I, when I was 18 years old, I went and I lived in the Philippines for two years. I did a mission for the Philippines for two years. When I came back, I had, you know, my dad again being a high school football coach. And we were, we were wealthy in different ways. But he also let us know, like, you have to be self sufficient and you have to be resilient and you have to learn what it means to really rely on your own two hands to do stuff. So when I got back, I was like, I knew I had to pay for college by myself, so I was able to get a scholarship. I never wanted to, but I went to a private college in Rexburg, Idaho called Ricks College back in the day and I ran for student body president against an amazing guy named Ethan Willis. And we became business partners together. And so I started my first company out of necessity when we were juniors in college and we put together a full business plan. And back then, I mean, this is 97, 98, like this is the BG years, this is before Google is that we wanted to build the world's very best high performance coaching and training company.

Very cool.

Why we were in College.

What inspired that?

You know, I look back and it was because I think that I always loved inspiring others. And I was like, why can't we make money helping others? Like, doing good for people, that does good for people. And so I've always thought of, like, how do we build a company around that? So we are some of the OGs around the personal development and coaching and training. And so we really. I think a lot of that came because I love coaching. Everybody's always called me Coach Garn. Everybody called my dad Coach Garn. So I think what we wanted to do was build the world's best coaching and training company. And so when I was young, growing up, my dad would always listen to Zig Ziglar and Dennis Waitley and Jim Rohn and all that. Like, I would listen to that on the way to the ranch and back. So I was like, ingrained in my mind was all these principles of the greatest secret from Earl Nightingale and all that at a young age. I mean, some of these people, some of the listeners may not know who these guys are, but for me, they're just like. And I remember thinking, when I was 14, one day, sitting in my dad's truck, I said, I am going to build a coaching and training company, going to do it with these guys. And so when we were juniors in college, we actually built the company and we flew out as young kids out to Nightingale Conan in Chicago, and we landed a huge contract with them to do all the training, get all of the people that bought programs and training. And then we followed up with helping them with. On the. On the one. On one side. And so it was super fun building that.

And how did you originally launch that? Like, how did you start getting your leads? Like, was it bootstrapped? Did you raise capital? Like, how.

Dude, we didn't raise any money. Yeah, it was literally all bootstrapped.

Tell me about, like, those early days of bootstrap and that thing. So you go and you land this deal. At this point, do you have anything or it's just an idea?

No, we were actually. We actually landed another deal with. With a massive training company called. You know, we were doing big, huge events in Madison Square Gardens and in. In San Diego, and we would actually help. They weren't doing anything with the customers after. And we said, hey, let us follow up with them, do customer service for them, and then upsell them into other trainings and programs. And so that was super, super fun. I mean, I remember at a young age, I was picking up Colin Powell at the airport And George Bush. And, like, we were. We were. I mean, with Zig Ziglar and riding. Riding with him to different things. I mean, we were backstage with some of these people back in my younger years, and I learned so much. So much.

So time out. Your dad's a high school football coach, right? Like, how do you learn to get. I mean, per. I mean, back in the day, into the Rolodex of these people? Like, who's making these intros? How are you, dude?

I honestly, I don't know any other way to say it, but I was just fearless, and I learned to serve. Before I sold, I said, like, what. What is their need? And we just. We just saw an opportunity. It's just like, there was a tremendous revenue opportunity that they hadn't seen. That being, like, young kids not knowing what we know is this. Like, hey, if we do this, there's tremendous value in these clients. Because we were back at the back tables, they're like, hey, could we call somebody to help us implement this? Hey, we bought this program. We'd love to have somebody train us. Hey, do you guys have any mentors? Like, so some of that actually sparked by just getting into it and listening to the clients and customers. But to go land the deals, I think I've just been always, like, a little fearless. Like, I don't. I'm not afraid if somebody says no.

I love that.

I mean, that's. And that's part of it is, like, we all put our pants on the same way. And that if I looked at other people, like, as greater than me, then I get intimidated or things like that. But I also don't think that I'm greater than anyone else.

Right.

And so if you learn to treat everyone the same and you understand that we all have our weaknesses and our flaws and our greatness, respect those that have built great things. But I'm, like, trying to find, how do I drive value for that individual? What is their need? Doing tons of research on it. You literally could almost open up doors for anyone and start building deep, meaningful relationships. I didn't understand that at a young age, but I just always think I was. I didn't know what I didn't know. And so I'm like, how do I drive value for Nightingale? How do we drive value for this company? How do we drive value for this thought leader and this author? What is his needs? And how can I drive that and then build an economic model around it? And so at a young age, I think that actually just stemmed from me having zero fear in my relationships.

So who were your greatest mentors during this time? Like, who was, like, holding your hand, guiding you? Who were you going to for direction?

You know, at a young age, a really, really amazing guy pulled me under his wing. And if you want to look him up, he's one of the OGs of all times. As Harvey McKay. He wrote Swim with the Sharks.

Okay.

And he actually just turned 90 years old. I literally just talked to him the other day.

How did you meet him?

I met him because we are actually doing a ton of stuff with Nightingale, and then we had built a pretty big company at a young age, and he actually got introduced to me. And then I became part of his roundtable and part of his board for over 11 years.

Very cool.

And I learned so much from him. But I read his book Swim with the Sharks, and then all of a sudden, he's calling to set up an appointment with me how we could help him out with his new book launch. I mean, it's like, interesting. So the whole law of reciprocity, and one of the things my dad always taught me was to learn how to do as much as you can for as many people as you can, as often as you can, and ask for nothing in return and watch what the world will do for you. And I tried to implement that in what I did. And so all of a sudden, we built something that was a machine, and then people came to us. But I was so enthralled with him because I've learned so much from him. He was a really. He still is a really awesome mentor to this day. I mean, his Rolodex is massive, and he's just such a good, good dude. And I think some other. Some other mentors of mine have been like, you know, like a good friend of mine, Dean Gracios, we've been friends for 20 plus years. And he's just so wicked smart on marketing. And he's just such a good human and such a good father and such a good dad. And to know him is to love him. And so just watching him on the marketing side and the way he really thinks through everything, he is a genius at what he does. So I've known him from, I mean, for forever, and he's just been a super, super great friend and mentor throughout my whole life as well.

Awesome. How'd you get to know Dean just.

I mean, again, through different businesses in different ways and just had a lot of respect for him.

So, I mean, as you guys, as the audience probably knows right now, I mean, there's a common thread. Like you've gotten to know a lot of different people, right. Like, there's got to be different strategies, different things. I mean, you mentioned one which is serve others with as much as possible. Right. And expect nothing in return. Yeah. So that's obviously an incredible philosophy and incredible principle that returns. What are some of your other core philosophies that have allowed you to get into these networks of absolutely remarkable human beings?

You know, I think some of it is as well is that you have to learn how to read the room. And I think that has actually become more of an art than anything else is know when to speak up, no one to serve. I think when you get in certain, certain circles, you just, you, you learn that. And I think the older that I get, the tighter and stronger my circle gets. And the higher you climb, you start to realize how hard everybody's worked to get there. And so I've actually learned to talk less, to listen more, and then to drive back with tons of follow up and drive massive value for them. And again, don't ask for anything in return. Be like, man, that was awesome. You know, and sometimes you'll look for stuff either on social media or in the paper or things. I mean, I have a full time person that just helps me with my database and with relationships. And so it could be sending out a book, it could be sending out a baby gift where they just had a baby, they could have had a death in the family. So writing a handwritten note. Little things don't mean a lot. Little things mean everything when it comes to building deep, meaningful relationships is like, I never be boring, never be predictable. And that way you'll always be memorable. And so it's just like, how do they remember you? How do they think about you? Are you even part of their mind? Are you even part of like who they are? So that little note or that little thank you or that little voice message or that little fun video that you may have did, or just even calling saying, hey, I just thinking about you today. Like, I had a really good friend of mine, Matthew Hussey, if you're not following him, he's the number one guy in relationships. Him and Audrey like coming over here. He came out and we went fly fishing and hung out and just had a great time together. We played pickleball together and I literally got a massive package from him today in the mail. That wasn't for me. My twin boys love Legos and Matthew sent them the biggest, hugest Lego Star wars sets I'd ever seen and like he gets relationships, you know. But guess what? That wasn't for me. It was for people that were more meaningful to me as my kids and my boys. And so when you learn that, when you learn how to figure out how you can help support people and what's not meaningful for them, but what's more even meaningful for them than themselves, that's when you start to really make a big difference.

Yeah, no, I think you shared some incredible best practices right there. Right. Like as far as doing the extras, the handwritten notes, the voice memos, the pictures, the videos, those different type of things. What are some other ways that you've seen that have really built deep, meaningful relationships, ways that you've served or like just. Just some best practices regarding that, and.

This is something actually that I'm learning a ton as well, is to see things as they really are and to say things as they really are. I'm naturally very positive by nature. And there's two different mindsets. There's a possibility mindset and a probability mindset.

Right.

And I tend to always stay as a CEO and a founder and a leader to always stay in possibility mindset. And sometimes I've maybe been a little too over positive on some stuff which can hurt your relationships or. But those people that are always like, this is grumpy people aren't very fun to be around. And if you're always seeing all the things that could go wrong, that's a probability mindset. Right. So one of the things that I'm actually trying to get better at, it's a better practice and is to see things as they really are. And I've learned this from Tony Robbins. Like he always says that is like just say exactly as it is. And so I am working on actually doing that because I'm always future pacing. I'm always thinking about how great can things can be. But I think how you keep meaningful relationships is try to keep that balance between staying high, very positive, but actually saying things exactly as they really are. And I think communicating clearly and being so good at communication that there's no misunderstanding and there's no misalignment and there's no expectations that aren't aligned, is that if you get really good at that, you can build humongous, meaningful relationships. And so I think that that's important is to state and to see things as they really are.

I love that. I love that. What? So you've been, you know, very successful financially. You got a great family, you got all these different things. Like what gets you out of the, out of bed in the morning right now. Like, what are. What are you passionately driven towards? What, what gets the engine revving?

You know, as. And you and I both know this as you, as you go through life and you have certain successes and when you stop worrying so much about, like, money and you start getting into the. More the investing side of things and growing and building things. So what gets me out of the bed in the morning is my why. And right now I really, really want to build a massive legacy for my kids and for my family. You know, we just.

What does that mean? Is that a financial legacy? Is that something that you're remembered for? What. What is. What does that mean?

I think it's both.

Okay.

I think that it's both ensuring that my wife is good and taken care of and that my kids are well taken care of, but that my name is like and my reputation are the most important thing in my life. That's the only thing we can really take with us, is our reputation and what others think about us. And I think as you look at relationships, it's like, it's not what people. It's what people say about you when you're not around is the most important thing. It's not who you know, it's who knows you and what they think about you. This is the most important.

So you bring up something like very important. So a lot of times when as CEOs, founders, people that are taking massive action, doing remarkable things. Yeah, there's going to be people that love you. There's going to be. There's going to be people that hate you.

Right.

Like, talk bad about you. They. They speak in envy, they speak in whatever else. Oh, yeah, he's that way. But he did this or whatever. Yeah. How. How do you handle that mentally? Because I'm sure there hasn't been only positive things ever said about Mr. Randy Garn. Yeah. So how do you handle those type of situations?

You know, because we all make mistakes.

Right.

And it's also, how do we handle those mistakes? And can you see those mistakes? Can you see your blind spots? Can you see your weaknesses? But again, it comes back to. And I learned this from Tyler Norton, too, a really good friend of mine. He shared with me always a formula called uac, Understand, Agree and commit. If you can get really good at those three things, make sure that you understand fully, that you agree fully, and then you can commit. Sometimes we commit too quickly and we don't fully understand or agree to what we're committing to. Just because we're so excited to work with somebody. So I think that that's where you can get into those. Those places where you're just like, hey, he didn't do what he said he was going to do, or whatever. But as far as, like, as you become a leader and you have to make hard decisions, leadership is super hard. And especially the higher you climb, the more people that are going to take shots about you. And there's also going to be. There's things that sometimes that are said about you that are not true. And I mean, how do you handle that?

Right?

How do you handle that when somebody. And this recently happened too? Just, like, there was something that got shared back to me, I'm like, that didn't happen the way that it did, but how do I pull that back? So I think for me, the most important thing is I have to keep a deep, meaningful relationship with God. And also, if I have done wrong things to rectify them and to do my best to fix them, do that in an honorable way. And then I think as I get older and I grow, is that I know that I can't please everybody because the decisions that I make are what make me who I am. And not everybody may agree with those, especially if you're a CEO or you're running a company or you're leading a congregation, or if you're a leader and you know you have to make decisions, you have to feel confident in yourself and in those decisions that not everybody's going to agree with you, and that is okay. And that's actually understanding that as a really good leader is super healthy. Because if you worry about that you'll never become the person that God intended you to become or that you need to become, you will never stretch yourself if you worry about what everybody thinks about you and what they're going to say about you, and. And you never put yourself in those stretching circumstances. You'll never become that great person.

Yeah. So awesome. So let's. Let's go back to just your master networking ability, right? Like. Like expound upon that. Like, why? How does everybody know who Randy Garn is? And how do you know? Everybody under the sun?

No, I don't know. I wish I did.

I want some of that secret sauce.

You know, I do think that it does come back to what my dad said is, like, I try to just do a lot of things, and in love and in service, and I try to give. To give, not give, to take. So I've learned not to worry so much about if I'm doing this nice thing for somebody or if I'm taking time out of my way to do this. I have learned that my greatest joy comes from giving and not receiving. But now I'm in such a circumstance that I literally, I have more than. More abundance than I know what to do with. And now I'm choosing to work with the people that I love like, and respect the most.

So how do you balance all that? Right? Like, you got, you know, everyone. You have tons of opportunities. How do you pick and choose what to focus your energy on?

You have to. I really spend a lot of time. I literally journal every night.

That's awesome.

But I made a list when we sold our company, you know, back in the day. I'm a really good mentor of mine, actually. Harvey McKay said, Write down 25 people that you want to get to know. And I think the way that I balance it now is I actually have in my cell phone, I have my 25 favorites, and those are the people that I'm doing my life with.

That's cool.

And I think that the bigger your relationships get, then you have to also make sure that you're spending time and you're doing an audit with those people that matter the most to you and actually can make the most impact that you're actually, you know, spending the most time with them. So you have to think about that. And all of the listeners today, I would love for you to write down your top five relationships, your top five business relationships, write down your top five personal relationships, and then do an audit of how much time during the month, week, day you're spending with them. And if they're not aligned, then I want you to really think about, you know, your actions toward your life. Like, at the end of the day, have, you know, you're never going to regret missing another business meeting and yet not having a relationship with your children. I see too many people doing that. So I'd say make sure that you have a list of those people that matter the most to you. And then I would audit the time that you're doing with that.

I love that. So I love that. Yeah. I mean, value can really be measured by time. Right. Where does my time go? That's what I value the most. And I think too often so many of us are dedicating time to things that just don't matter. Yeah. Our priorities are out of whack or whatever it may be. So obviously, you've got a lot of cool things figured out in your life. What are some of your best Practices, daily habits, things that you like to do that like, really keep you aligned and going in the right direction.

For me, I think. I think that it's pretty simple and it goes back to who I'm doing life with. It actually goes back to people. And a lot of people say, hey, I'd never do business with my. I'd never do business with my friends or my family. You know, for me, I would only do business with my best friends and my family. I would only work. Like you spend so much time during your day is find friends that have competency that you love like, and trust and. And that you can grow things together and that you have. That's where true joy comes from. Because if you're working with people just for income and that, there's no joy driven for that and you're just doing it for a paycheck or whatever. For me, I didn't want to live a life like that. So for me, I actually have it pretty well designed that I'm working with the people that I love the very most. And that's where I choose to spend my time. So that's been one of my greatest, My greatest habits is exactly that. And then the other thing is just like making sure that I have great energy, get in a habit of being happy. And so how do you feel when you come into a room? How do people remember you? Are you filled with joy? I mean, I literally, every night, I write down every single night, what are the five most important things that I have to do today? Who are five people that I need to reach out to today? And then how did I see the hand of God? And what miracles did I see in my life today? And I really. Those are three simple questions that I do every night. And then I check myself every night. Did I follow through with those five things? I try to do all the hard things first. And I learned Dean always says, he's like, do the hardest things first. You get those out of the way. Like I was with. I can't remember who I was with, but it's just like he gets everything done by 11 o'. Clock. He's like, I gotta get all of my stuff done by 11 o'. Clock. So I think, I think learning how to really have a great journal, whether you journal in the morning, for me it works the best at night so I can get all the acid out of my stomach and I can sleep really well. So I think the people that I surround myself with, I think daily journaling is huge. Third for me is sleep.

How much sleep do you get a night?

So there's a really awesome guy called Dr. Bruce, the sleep doctor. It's funny, we just got back doing a huge sleep test with a group called Hasting Beds. They have a bed that's a $500,000 bed. I mean, their average bed is around.

Half a million bucks for a bed.

I mean, look at it. Look at the company. It's like it is the elite of elite beds.

That's incredible. All right, keep going. Intrigued?

Yeah. So sleep is so vital. So I literally invested in bed. I invest in pillows. I invest in ensuring that I go to sleep at the same time every night and that I wake up at the same time every day. And I found that that has helped me have so much more energy, so much more happiness, but also so much more mental clarity as well.

So what does that look like? What time do you go to bed? What is a standard day?

Look, So I try to go to bed at 10:30 every night.

Awesome.

I try to get in bed at that time. I'm usually out within, like, 10, 15 minutes. I try to not do any screen time, you know, an hour and a half beforehand. So I try to shut all screens down about 9 o'. Clock. And then I wake up every single day without an alarm clock at literally like. Like 4, like 4:55. 5 o'. Clock. I am up at 5 every single day. And so that has been the time. But we all have our different sleep rhythms and our sleep circadian rhythms and everything else. So my wife goes to bed a little later, and she likes to sleep in a little differently. So, I mean, you have to find out what works best for you. Some of us need four and a half hours of sleep. Some need six. Some need more than that. And so you just have to, I would actually say, investing in understanding my sleep rhythm. I have an oura ring. I have my watch. I mean, they're amazing, huh? I mean, so. So that has been really, really important. And the other thing, I think that is one of my greatest secrets, too, is just to make sure that I'm good with God.

Yeah.

And that I'm doing things in my life that are aligned with what is going to be most impactful for me through. I try to keep an eternal perspective. I believe. My belief is that my spirit is eternal, that I am here right now in the school of life.

Absolutely.

This is our school. And what I do today, what I do in my life will echo for eternities. And that's becoming more real to me now. The older that I get is that the time that I spend, the decisions that I make, you know, am I aligned and doing the things that, you know, I was put here to do. I really feel like I'm just getting started. But that right there has also been a tremendous blessing is just try to keep a perspective that my spirit, I believe, is eternal.

I think that's like one of the most important principles anybody can really truly internalize. Right. Like. Yep. Understand having that eternal, eternal perspective that like what I do today matters. Yeah. Right. It's not that there's no consequence tomorrow. There's no consequence, you know, after this life or whatever it may be. And. And it just. It just makes everything align. Right. Like it. And you know, it talks about in atomic habits. Right. Like the greatest driver of any habit is our identity.

Right.

Like who we are, what we identify as. Like as a son of God or whatever you believe that you are. Right. Like that is what drives us. That is what pushes us, motivates us. I love you. Thanks. Thanks for sharing that. So if you could go back to Randy, age 21. Yeah. New in life. What would you tell him to do different or what advice would you give to him?

Don't be such a people pleaser. Honestly, it would be that. Do it more appropriately and to also.

How has that hurt you?

That sometimes you can be put into place. If you try to be too big of a people pleaser, you can come across weakness. And kindness is not weakness. But if you try to be too much of a people pleaser, then you just. I mean, there's an art to it. And so I would say probably take more courage and be more courageous instead of helping everybody else out. Also just have courage on myself and be like, dude, you've got this just as much. And so I think if I could go back and really think about that, I think that that would be an important thing that I've gotten better at. The other thing that I think is if I could go back to is that time is our most valuable asset in our relationships. Our most valuable asset. And that I would look at making better clear decisions. Because as young kids, we can wander like this and you learn a lot of stuff from that. Like you have to fail. You have to do that.

Right.

But I re. I think in my life there were some times where I knew I shouldn't have done something and that if I would have taken. If I wouldn't have been such a people pleaser and worried about what they've thought, then I would have be. I'd even Be farther ahead.

Can you tell us, can you share an example of what you would have done differently?

Yeah, I mean, I'm trying to think, I'm trying to think of a. You know what, there was a couple examples where we were growing our company so fast and we had some people come in and say they could help us do it, help us do all this stuff. I made all these promises and everything else and it didn't end up being what they said it was going to be. And I think we both knew that. But yet there was a lot, there was a good amount of money that could have came with it. And so I think that was a time where just like, you know in your heart you shouldn't do something, but it's going to be good. And I've learned that I only want to do people business with people where their P is over their E squared, where their principles are over their ego or self economic interest. Right?

Yes, that's powerful. Say that again.

That somebody's principles are higher than their ego or self economic interest. And so that's my formula for who I'll do business with. And so if I would have had that formula earlier on, I would have been like, dude, these guys aren't good dudes. But yeah, I'd be good for us. I mean, let's figure this out. But I knew that they weren't good and that I will never do again. Is that ensure that whoever you're working with has high character, high principles. Because usually if they don't, it usually will end up bad. Yeah, always does.

That's such good advice.

So I think with if there's any young listeners here or you're working to stuff, just make sure that you get everything very, very well documented in writing and make sure that you're dealing with people that have integrity. Because even though there may be four corners who would document if they don't have integrity, there could also be some things that will be good. So listen to your heart, listen to your mind and make good, strong decisions. That even learning how to make hard decisions at a young age, if you feel like there's something off, there usually is powerful, powerful.

Speaking of the young listeners, maybe there's someone out there right now, they're, they're thinking about starting a new business or taking the leap, taking the risk for the first time. You know, not everyone is built like you and me where it's just like natural, like, yeah, I'm just gonna go build a business, you know, high risk, high tolerance for risk or whatnot. What Advice do you give to somebody like that?

Well, it's interesting. You know the word, the root word of entrepreneur. It's a French word, you know, and do you know what it means? Do you know what the word entrepreneur even means?

Create is my understanding, but probably not keep going.

It means to try.

Okay.

It means to try.

Awesome.

And so I would say that you really, if you're going to be an entrepreneur, and I love this Elon Musk says, Elon Musk said, if you need words of encouragement, don't be an entrepreneur. And so I think I was an entrepreneur early on because I didn't really have a lot of fear. I was just like, dude, if somebody else can do it, I can do it. I always thought that if this guy can do it, I can do it. But I think you can't be like a grasshopper where you're great on takeoff and you never know where you're going to land. So I think as an early entrepreneur, I would make sure that you're reading great books on entrepreneurship. I think that you need to really build out a really good strategy for your business plan. And I always say, like, if you don't have your strategy on one page, you don't have a strategy. So it doesn't need to be huge and elaborate. You just have to have a clear vision of where you're going. And then you have to have a really good, strong people strategy. So where a lot of people fail is they do a very good business strategy, but they don't realize that they need somebody really good on marketing, really good on legal, really good on finance, really good on operations. And so I think you have to also not just have that business plan, but that human strategy. And I wouldn't just say that for small companies. I'd say that for big companies.

Absolutely.

And you and I both know that is that a lot of people fall down on the people strategy side of things. So if you're going to start a business, one, build a freaking awesome team around you and get really good mentors like myself, like you, people that have been through the free finders fires, people that have made mistakes. I would get a really, really good advisory board right away and get that set up. And then I would say go for it and freaking do it.

I love it. Love it. So what are some things that you are doing now to fulfill that entrepreneurial drive? Obviously you're building legacy and everything, investing and whatnot. Like, what are some business things that you're involved in now?

Yeah, I think right now, I mean we're building and growing a few pretty large leadership training companies, which is my passion.

Awesome. What are they?

I love, I love the education side of things. So we're building a pretty fun, you know, we're taking some of the very, very, very best leadership training that's been out there and taking it out to the business world. I've been really strong in the B2C side, but I think as we, as we look at how can we now take all of the best training and learning and human performance and take it to the corporate world? So we're working on that right now. And it's been so, so fun because the whole corporate leadership and corporate training side has been so, you know, you've had Covey forever. You've had all of these different ones, but there's been there. I don't think there's been something that can really put that leadership training on its head and also deliver it in a way that it needs to be delivered today. You know, that's consumable, that actually makes an impact. That is the best and the best world's training. So working on that. And then also just, you know, I'll sit on a few advisory boards and help, you know, companies really grow and scale. And then I, I love investing. Absolutely love it.

Awesome. So you're, you're coaching and training business. Is, Is that launched? Is there a name? What, where, where can we follow or get more information?

Yeah, there's a lot, a lot of things that I'll, I'll share with you, but it's, it's coming.

All right. Very cool, Very cool. What's, what's the best way to gather information from you, from social, like, where, where can the audience find you?

Yeah, you can. I mean, you can find me at Randy Garn, on, you know, on Instagram or Facebook or LinkedIn and then just randygarn.com as well.

Very, very cool. What are three books that have changed your life or three mentors that you just like? Absolutely. Like, if I go to them for anything, they're awesome.

You know, three really great books that I absolutely love is. One is from Clayton Christensen. How will you measure your life? How will you measure your life? I really think that every single person, I really think every single person should read that book.

Yeah, it's fantastic.

I really do. I mean, that would be one read that I would read. Study, markup, dive into. There's another book that I absolutely love. It's called High Performing Habits by Brendon Burchard. It's six habits to be a high performer. You know, Brandon is amazing. He's one of my best friends and just an amazing human, incredible author, incredible, incredible trainer. And I just. The way that he teaches and trains is just. Just amazing. And he. He is who he says he is. He's true. He's true to himself. And so I love. I absolutely love that book. And then if you're an entrepreneur and just getting started, too, if you're in that phase of growth, a really good book that I absolutely love would be the E. Myth by Michael Gerber. And that's a good one. So those are some really, really great books that kind of, I think of off the top of my head that have made an impact for me, and then just really, really good mentors for me. You know, there's my dad, for sure, and he is a legend in the way that he has built his life on the spiritual side, on the relationship side. I just aspire to be the kind of father, the kind of man, and the kind of leader that he is, and it's how much love I have for him. I hope my kids end up loving me as much as I love my dad. And those are the kind of relationships, if at the end of the day, that my kids want to hang out with me, they want to be with me and my grandkids, and I think for me, that would be massive, massive success.

That's so awesome. Well, Randy, thank you so much for your time today. I know it's extremely valuable. I mean, you shared with us how it's the most valuable asset of anything, and I appreciate you sharing that with me, with our audience. It's absolutely valuable. Remarkable. So just thanks. Thanks again. And if you guys aren't following Randy, make sure you do so on. On Instagram until next time.