Arbitrage in Leadership (#FIREHOUR S4, E42)

It doesn't matter what position you're in, it just depends on who you're asking the question to. Okay, this one is gonna be super simple, but let's, let's get started. Welcome back to Fire Hour. If you're brand new here, Fire Hour is about working on the best project you'll ever work on, which is you. Okay? And what we talked about is, you know, the marketing operations and scaling framework in between that lever, in between that framework and underneath it. Like the foundational pillar is you. It's actually you. And the reason why I say that is because when it comes to everything that you do, it's all about your decisions. It's all about your decisions. And I had a massive insightful coaching call yesterday. It was 2 hours long. And, you know, the, the summary of that call was decisions. It's all about decision-making and it's about what you're focusing your attention and energy on. Okay. And not only that, like, uh, something that I really am focused on right now, especially with everything I'm doing in my life, it's really about— that's why I shared before on previous episodes, but it's really about narrowing my focus down to the only things that truly matter in my position, to my position. Okay. And that obviously, like, I'm a CEO of two companies, and like everything that I'm doing, I'm also like, you know, I have my family life and I have my personal life and I have my business life and everything else. And so I think it's really important that everyone understands, you know, everything that we do, because you are the CEO of your life, like you are the entrepreneur, like the business owner, you're the leader of your family, maybe, etc. Or at least you have a position where you're, you're operating in a leadership role. I think it's really important for all of us to understand the depth and just the necessity of being able to choose wisely, you know, what you trade off with, right? And what I mean by that is it's about every single decision. Like, there's always two decisions. There's only one decision you can make, but there's two doors that you can open. Right? And it's always happening at the same time. It's literally happening at the same time. And I'm— and this is going back to the book The Compound Effect, okay? The Compound Effect, uh, if you haven't read that book or picked it up yet, I highly encourage every single person to pick it up simply because it is, to me, it is a foundational pillar of your personal development, okay? I mean, wow. I'm gonna let her take over the call.

We're not gonna do that.

Oh, I'll catch you up. And so last night, right? Last night I watched this movie.

Without me?

Well, I was folding clothes.

Without me? I was folding clothes too.

Oh, I didn't know that. There's this movie called Arbitrage. Okay. Um, I don't know if I would recommend watching it. Just get you in.

Oh yeah, we didn't finish that one.

Yeah. But, um, what I will say is— actually, can you turn that light on please? Over there. Uh, what I will say is, you know, one of the biggest takeaways, um, from that movie, at least to me, my perspective and through the lens that I was watching it, was that every single decision you make, it's going to, you know, it's going to enact the compound effect in a positive or negative way. And whether it's positive or negative for yourself, um, it— everything goes back to your decision, okay? It goes back to your decision. And so if you haven't watched that movie, it's about like this guy, basically, like, he's in a really big deal where he's gonna— he has to sell his company anywhere between $400 to $600 million. And every single thing that is depicted in that movie, it, you know, it just shows and reflects off of the decisions that he made. And obviously, to me, like, those decisions that he made wasn't good if you watched the movie before. But the movie is called Arbitrage. Okay? Arbitrage, to me, from my understanding, because that's a very complex word, it just means you know, uh, buying something for a— the least amount of, of, uh, money you can, you can buy it for and then selling it for a profit. Okay, it's like flipping. Okay, it's like flipping. That's it. Okay, that's, that's what it is to me. So you're finding like the— you're finding undervalued assets and acquiring them, and then you are finding a buyer who's going to buy it at a higher premium than you, you bought it. And that's what arbitrage is. Okay, and so For me, like, I looked at it, I watched that entire movie through the lens of, you know, what am I deciding and choosing every single day and every single moment I make a decision to actively choose and to know the consequence that if I am doing this right, if I'm doing fire hour at 6 AM on Wednesday and I'm doing fire hour from 6 AM to 7 AM, every single Wednesday or whenever we can show up, right? Then what am I trading away? Okay. What, what am I, what am I losing? What am I missing out on from being here? And the thing is, is that if that trade, if, if I'm gonna decide, if her and I are gonna decide to do this, then that means that we are consciously deciding that, you know what, this is worth our time, this is worth doing, and everything else that we're not going to be doing is not more worthy. Right? Yeah. So, okay, let me catch you up on this. But this is the reason why I'm going to share all this and just preframe it and just kind of give you the lens that I was thinking about. And then I'll also share more perspectives. It's because, again, it's like Every single one, every single person here, you're going to be deciding what to choose to tune into, right? And to, to put your energy in. And it's going to be at every single decision that you make, okay? This is literally like the two forks, right? Door 1, door 2. This is happening every single day and in every single moment that you are spending your time in, okay? And you are consciously choosing. And that's why, like, there's another quote that I think it's really important that everyone's aware of, which is to, you know, make your own plans. Okay? Like, do your best to make your own plans because if you don't, you're going to fall into someone else's. And sometimes, for the most part, other people's plans are not in your best interest. It's in their best interest, right? So you got to be, uh, that's the importance of being an entrepreneur as well, right? Is being able to control your own your freedom, like your own life. And if you're not able to do that, then sometimes I think for the most part, your life becomes chaotic. Right. And if you reference Maslow's hierarchy of needs, right, Maslow's hierarchy of needs is everything. That's something that I'm going to revisit for marketing, marketing purposes. So we can talk about that on another episode. But yeah, I was just asking them because last episode we talked about social media. All right. And then this one, like, I just pre-framed it with arbitrage because that's kind of like what I want to talk about. I think it's really important, especially with my coaching call yesterday. So, but yeah, it's about like I opened it up with, you know, every single decision that you make is really about it's going to lead you down like towards your destiny. And it really depends on what you're going to be choosing. You know, it's really important.

So I was thinking some— a few things based on the movie that we watched part of yesterday because I didn't get to finish it. Do you guys not get so upset when your significant other finishes a movie without you or watches it without you? Oh my goodness. Most annoying.

I'll enjoy you again.

The most annoying.

I see another perspective.

But it's funny that you're talking about it now because yesterday I was thinking about it and I was just like, it just really leads back to the compound effect, right? Because sometimes when you're in the moment and things are really intense, you make what's called knee-jerk reactions, right? You have a knee-jerk reaction that leads to it knee-jerk decision. And so in those moments, your emotions are high, and so you're not able to actually take a moment to just stop and think and not make a decision, right? And so, you know, making decisions quickly is very important, but also having a framework for the decisions you make, what you say yes to and what you say no to, is also really important. Because if you don't have a framework to the decisions that you make, whether you're going to say yes to something— because when you say yes to something, you're ultimately saying no to something else, right? And when you're saying no to something, you're saying yes to something else. So what is your framework for making decisions, especially when it comes to your time, your money, and your energy, right? If you do not have a framework for how you run and operate your life, other people will be running it for you, right? And in the end, when, you know, you come across a situation that you may have been focused on, are those people or the decisions or the things you said yes to going to be there to back you in those moments? Probably not, right? So, you know, the compound effect and every decision you make having this snowball effect on your life is really important. You know, um, when I was younger All I knew was that I wanted to retire my mom, retire myself early, and that was my only focus. I was laser-like focused. Everything else was a no. You know, I would always ask myself if someone asked me to go out to eat dinner or like go have drinks, in my mind I was just like, is this going to help me retire my mom or retire myself? No, my answer is no, right? So what decisions are you making and what is your framework? What is your goal, right? Like, what is your goal in life and what decisions do you have to make and how do you have to change the way you think about the decisions you make and how you spend your time, your money, and your energy that's going to go towards that?

Exactly. Super important. That's really good. And let's, um, let me ask you a question. Like, if you, if you decided, like, what's one, what's one decision that if you made back then, you wouldn't be here today? Like, for me, I already know, like, I'm talking about like from your childhood, like, you know, not talking about you. Like, if I decided not to, um, to Yeah, too. If you, if you decided not to meet me that night when we met, then obviously we wouldn't be here today.

I don't know, I think we would. There's the internet. Yeah, there's the internet, but you would have still fallen head over heels online, so I mean, you know. Um, huh, I don't know, I feel like there's been so many decisions, right? Like It's a little too broad for me to think. Um, I can't think of a specific one. Um, okay. Oh, I know.

Okay.

So when I was in high school, my mom's like, hey, do you want to start college? And I'm like, oh, but I'm still in high school and I'm only 16. Can I start college? And she's like, yeah, you can. People under 18 can, as long as, you know, they have, um, their high school counselors or teachers give them the go, right? Like saying that they are still able to complete their work that they do now and they're like a good student, right? Um, and so I was like, yeah, okay, I'll try it. So, um, that was one major decision that I made before thinking. I didn't really think. I wasn't like, oh, what if I fail? Or what if I don't have the time? I didn't think. I was just like, Yeah, I'll do it. And because I made that decision and I follow through on the decisions that I make, you know, I was able to graduate high school early. I started college at 16. I was able to graduate college early, and I was able to go out into the working world much earlier because, again, it aligned with my vision of retiring my mom and retiring myself early and having options. And so whenever you're asked a question, go back to your framework. What is my goal? And is this or that going to get me closer? You know, and I was still able to have a life. Like, I still went out. I still partied. I still did all the things. But I would always first handle what I needed to handle first that went towards my goal before I allowed myself to be able to do anything outside of that. And if I didn't finish what I needed to finish first, then I couldn't go out. Like, I wouldn't allow myself, right? And so sometimes as we get older, we're adults, we're teenagers, we're able to kind of do more things than we were when we were kids because you don't have a parent saying like, hey, if you don't eat your dinner, you can't go out, or if you don't do XYZ, you can't this, this and that, right?

Yeah.

Which comes in the discipline, which the discipline starts to come in, right?

Oh yeah, 100%. So yeah, discipline's everything. That's something that I for sure realized early on, and then I forgot when I started to party.

Yeah, I would say discipline is going to take you— discipline and consistency can take you a lot further than someone who's smarter than you and faster than you. I've seen so many people that were much smarter and faster than I was as a kid. I was always compared to my brother or compared to like Well, it was mostly my brother, right? It was always like, oh, you know, he's so smart, he's so smart, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, okay, so if he's smarter than me, then what do I have that he may not have? Or what do I have working for me? Or what can I do instead if I'm not that smart, right? Well, I'm pretty disciplined, I'm pretty consistent, and I can work hard, and I don't mind doing the hard work, and I don't mind doing all the things that no one else wants to, because if anything, it's to my advantage to learn more. Skill sets or learn more or be able to push the extra mile. Because then when the time comes where you have to go the extra mile, it's not going to be as hard as it would be for someone else that always avoided the extra mile, right? It becomes easy. And when things start to become easier and easier, you just start to increase your skill sets and your mindsets with it.

That's true. Yeah, go ahead.

I was even talking to a few women, was it last month, right? One lady, she was a stock stockbroker, like, in the UK, right? So she's trading on the floors, like, amongst a lot of men, right? And she's in a male-dominated industry, and she's like, you know, like, being a woman, you know, um, sometimes in a male-dominated industry— not sometimes, all the time, right? Even still now to these days, um, it's, it's— you have to work harder, um, you have to work harder. And so it doesn't matter if you're smart or not, if you're willing to put in the work and you're disciplined and consistent, like you will get there, um, eventually. Because, uh, yeah, that's true. So, and then I was also talking to— and then her friend, um, was the associate dean of Harvard. And so I'm just having these— this conversation with these women in male-dominated industries, and I'm just like, oh my goodness, I can't believe I'm like here at this table with them. And yeah, like what I said was, because they read my bio and they're like, oh yeah, you were in college like at 16, blah blah blah. I was like And they were like, oh, I even heard a rumor that you're going to Harvard. I was like, no. I was like, I am not that smart. I did not go to Harvard. Oh shit. Sorry. Yeah. And they were like, oh, okay, well, some of us have been telling really great stories about you then. I was like, cool. And so I was talking to the associate dean. She was once the associate dean of Harvard. And we were just like talking. And I was like, I'm not that smart. But we were all having a conversation. I was like, but I'm willing to work. Like, I'm willing to work for what I really want. I'm willing to be consistent and persist in something that I do really want, right? I'm willing to work hard. And they like had repeated the same thing at the same time, you know? And so here are these women who were, you know, like, who, who were, who are, who still are, right? Like these powerhouses, right? Associate Dean of Harvard, like what? And a woman on like like on the Wall Street trading floors in the UK. Um, and so they said the same thing. Yeah, like, you don't have to be the smartest. And they believed they were not the smartest, right? There's always— I always talk about how there's always going to be someone smarter than you, someone faster than you, someone XYZ. Like, you can name whatever, but as long as you're consistent, you're persistent, you're disciplined, and you work hard at something you really want— like, don't compare yourself to other people. There will always be someone faster than you, slower than you, or at the same speed as you. Focus on who you were yesterday, your goals, and what you need to do tomorrow, and your frameworks when you make decisions, right? Like, what are you saying yes to and what are you saying no to? And how intentional are you with your time, your energy, and your money, right? Um, yeah.

So yeah, no, it's really good. It's— yeah, everything is going to go back to like yourself, obviously. I think that's a big takeaway is like discipline. Like self-discipline, like that's huge. And if you— if I even think about like, you know, my past and my previous experiences, you know, everything goes back to was I disciplined enough, right? Enough. Like, that's like, I think the key word for me was because when I, when I was growing up, this is like something about the Eulerian destiny, okay? Like what we talked about on last episode or on the previous episodes, but Basically, like, one of the questions— there's 4 questions, and one of the questions is, what did you grow up around, right? What did you grow up around the most? And so for me, one of the aspects of my life, my childhood, was discipline, because I was enrolled into karate, you know, at the age of 4. So, and I've been watching my dad, um, you know, practice martial arts every single day at— since 3. Since I can remember. So I was already practicing at 3, and then I actually was enrolled at 4. And so ever since, like, 4 years old, I was practicing every single day and training. And that was my mind, my body, and also just everything else in between. And so when it came to my childhood, a lot of it stemmed around discipline. That was one of my pillars. We have something called the 5 rules of life., from my childhood, which was be good, be healthy, work hard, get along, and do something good with your life. And those were the pillars of my, my personal development as well, right? So ever since I was young, I'm having all these different— I have mentors as well. I had mentors. Um, and this, this was something that I wanted to bring up as well because it's super important. It's gonna shape your, your decisions. Uh, it's people around you. It's who are you around. The people that you're around is going to dictate what you do because they're influencing you whether you like it or not and whether you know it or not. They are influencing your subconscious mind. So you're going to be making decisions sometimes not fully consciously because, I mean, we're not all fully conscious, but for the most part, like, you, if you're here on Fire Hour, like, I'll say that You're pretty aware. All right.

At least in my opinion, aware and disciplined.

Aware and disciplined because you're showing up at, you know, early in the morning. You're, you're willing to stay on and you're probably taking notes, right? I'm assuming unless you're driving, but you're taking mental notes and, you know, there's obviously so many other layers.

Focus on your goals.

Well, you're focused. Yeah, exactly. I think that's a great way to summarize it. You're focused on your goals, right? And so when it comes to, you know, like, like the importance of surrounding yourself with the right people. Uh, for me, when I was growing up, you know, ever since age 4, I'm enrolled into this class, right? Into karate. Um, the people that I'm learning from, because it's about who you're learning from as well, right? If you remember, like the law of the lid, right? The law of the lid is like whoever the leader is, whoever's at the highest, like, point in your surrounding, that's where you're, you're kind of capped in a sense. So for me, I'm learning from a master who brought karate, like their style karate, from Okinawa, right? From the, the roots to USA. And I'm learning from like them, okay? And then the people that is my peers, the one that I'm learning with, it's their children. So now I'm learning it. So shout out to the Arashiro family, but they helped me in my life because they were my found— they were part of my foundational pillar of my life from age, basically, like, you know, when I'm a baby, like age 3 and up, all the way till, um, I transitioned into breaking, which was at 14 to 15. Okay, so I had a decade, over a decade with them. Okay, over 10 years with them every single day. Training, practicing, competing, traveling, traveling to compete, winning championships, winning those tournaments, like all that stuff. Okay. And so I'm learning from the top. That's my mentors, my peers.

No, that's an alarm.

Okay. All right.

From some—

All right. Sorry. My peers, my peers are their children. So what type of like mindset and personal development and, you know, like experience are they having, you know, not in the dojo but like at home, right? What kind of frameworks and philosophies are they getting instilled with, right? So that's another layer. And then, uh, the people that I was teaching, because as I, as I ascended in my development and I, my experience, I started to become a teacher as well. And so I would actually lead like exercises and lead classes and teach adults when I'm a child. Okay? So I've been teaching, I've been learning and teaching and developing these skills from a young age. And it just, to me, like, when it comes back to the Olerian destiny, like, what did you grow up around? This is something that I grew up around. This is something that I was actively doing for years. Okay? So that's something that's super important to understand. Like, when you're learning from someone, What, what type of experience do they have, right? Going into business, right? So for, for this call in particular, when it comes to business, right? Who was I around? Who was I learning from? Right? And now I'm sharing this information like with you, her too. Who was she around? Who did she grow up around? Like who does she do business with? And, and myself as well, right? Who are we learning from and where are we getting our information? Is it through experience, personal experience? Yes. Is it through wisdom from teachers, like people who like our mentors? Yes. Is it, uh, from our, from experience with you guys? Yes. Right. It's all these things. Like it just depends on where you're going to pull the energy from. Right. And pull that information from and then distill it into a way where you can articulate it and people can understand it. Right. So it makes, it makes, it's super important to understand as a leader, like when you're communicating to your team. Like to your people, your employees, whoever it is, your followers, et cetera, social media, whatever. Okay. Super important to understand like what are, is everyone understanding? Okay. Because if they can't understand your message, then they can't receive it. Right? So, and that goes with your body language, that goes with your, the speech, that goes with your tonality, that goes with every single thing. Like there's all these nuances with it. Um, but if you're not there yet, obviously it's okay because you gotta, it takes, it takes years, right? It takes decades to like learn all this stuff. But the whole point of having like Fire Hour and having like, you know, YouTube videos and tutorials and courses and guides and mentors and coaches, everything is to cut your learning curve. Okay. That was like something that I really wanted to talk, uh, talk about on this call as well.

Yeah. But I feel like what you brought up was communication. Mhm. Right? And oh my goodness, like, communication is— oh my God, like, it is so key to be able to know how to communicate with people because we're always going to be talking to people. Like, we're always going to be in relationships and in a part of, like, communities, right? So how do we talk to people and not only is it like, okay, well, we understand this, so when you speak about something, you understand what you're speaking about, but the other party on the other side, although it's in plain English, they may not understand what you are saying because they have a different perspective, right? And so everyone has different perspectives. We all grew up differently, seen different things, experienced different things. So although one general statement is so generic to you, other people may see it very differently. And so that's one thing that I feel like, you know, over and over again, Sean has, like, taught me, right? Like, there's times where I'm like, this is so frustrating to me. And I was like, I'm just going to say something. And, like, I'll say something or communicate something, and he's like, they're not gonna get it. He's like, this is what's gonna happen. He's gonna be like, this is your point of view, this is your perspective, this is what you understand, this is what you want them to understand. And although you communicated it in a way where maybe, you know, most people, or like a good amount of people, would understand, they on the other side, they're not going to get it. They're just going to think that it's for this or for that. And I'm just like, I don't get it.

Yeah.

Like, I don't get it. And so he's just like, you have to say it like this because they may be thinking this or that. And for me, I've always been like a very direct, straightforward, straight to the point, like, let's do this and let's move on type of person, right? So for me, I would say one of the weaknesses that I'm working on, because it is important, right? It is important. Is communication and being able to talk to people in a way that they would understand. And most of the time I'm so direct and straightforward, feelings get hurt, right? And I'm like, oh, I don't know how to cushion things or sugarcoat things to make it sound better so that people don't think I'm being mean. I'm just like, point A to point B, move on.

And so it's like Uh, one of the reasons why people don't understand is simply because their lack of understanding with themselves. Like they don't, they can't consciously, like they might not be consciously aware and in that space, that mental space where they can actually receive that information. Okay. And that's okay. But for you as a leader, it like, you have to be able to read people to understand if they can even understand. Does that make sense?

Yeah.

Like you have to be able to spot that. Because if you're like, I'm telling you right now, like, this is from experience, right? Yeah, multimillion dollar company. And I'm teaching people because I have to lead them. Like, I'm teaching people like what not to do and what to do. Because if they do a mistake, it will cost lots of money. Okay. Talking thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Right. So it's really important as a leader, like I had to be able to communicate properly, clearly, and with ease that, hey, if you make— if you do this and I'm telling you not to do it and you do it anyways, here is what's going to happen. Okay? And some people would not get it. Some people would not get it even if it was articulated simply. And then what I realized, like, years later was when I started to learn more about communication, was that some people are just not ready to receive that information. So they actually block it out because they literally can't, they can't receive it. They really can't even understand it, right? There's another aspect to this when it comes to coachability. There's a lot of people, there's majority of entrepreneurs out there who are not coachable because they think that they know it all or because the ego is too big. And when the ego— this is what I've learned and what I've experienced for myself as well, right? And I've failed because of this. Is when the ego is so high, it blocks everything out because the ego only— like, the ego thinks that it knows it all. The ego thinks that it is everything. The ego thinks that it is number one, but in truth, it's not. Okay? And so if you— this is something that's super important for every entrepreneur, every business owner. If you want to get to the next levels, whatever level you're at right now, there's always another level. Okay? The levels that we're at right now, there's another level. Obviously.

Oh, so many.

Yeah.

So many more. Yeah.

And, and so like, that's fine. You know, it's okay. Um, that's why it's important to know where you're going. Because if you don't know where you're going, then you're gonna continue to chase more and more and more without purpose. Right. And it's really important that you understand what your purpose is, because if you don't, then you're gonna be blind. You're gonna have tunnel vision and you're gonna keep on going and running and you're gonna forget. I'm telling you right now, this goes back to arbitrage, goes back to trade-offs, your decisions. You're, if you have not consciously made a decision for why you are doing something, you don't have a purpose for your, why you're doing what you do. If you don't have a purpose for your business right now, like that's number one. You need to understand, I'm, I'm doing it my best to convey to you that if you don't make this a priority, you don't make your purpose a priority, then when you look back and you reflect, because it's almost the new year, right? It's almost like 2025 is almost here. Really good time to reflect, uh, in this month specifically, this month, right? In December. If you don't consciously make this decision to be purposeful with what you are doing, why you are doing it, then when you look back, okay, when you look back at your life, all of the decisions that you made, you might regret some of it. Because you weren't focused on what was really truly, you know, purposeful. And, you know, for us, at least I was just, I'm gonna speak for myself, but for me, like if I continue down the path without being purposeful, then I already know the trade-offs that I'm gonna lose out on. I already know I'm gonna lose time with family, which is something I don't want to do because I did that already and I regret it. That's why I, I convey that in the One Page of Productivity Workbook. Like, I literally have a page dedicated to family, to loved ones, right? That's why it's important to understand where you're going, why you are doing something. What is your purpose? Are you prioritizing your purpose? The second thing is when you decide to work on your business, right? What is the trade-off? Why are you doing it? Like, what milestone are you going for? What is your purpose in getting to $10 million, $100 million, your first $1,000, first $10,000, right? What is that purpose? What is it going to? Jackie says, well, I didn't know that. Next week we're doing a workshop on Empower Hour specifically on that. Oh, that's, that's really good. That's really good. Reggie Ann says, I had to go straight home from school to take care and be responsible for my younger siblings. And cousins while grown-ups worked. It's aligned to what I do now.

Mm.

Jackie says reflecting before the year ends.

So we were just talking about the December—

so we can skyrocket. Yeah, that's really good. Yeah, it's, it's so important, like, to do that. Like, uh, what Jackie was saying, it's so important to reflect, slowing down to think, because sometimes you're just so busy, right?

Like, your schedule's packed. You get up and You know, what do you have to do? Like, the day already gets ahead of you before you're able to stop and be like, okay, so like, what was some of the goals or some of the intentions that I had coming into 2024, right? And what actually happened? Like, did it come to fruition? Yes or no? Um, if not, why? You know, a lot of reflecting on why things happened or things didn't happen the way you thought they would or the way you set things up, right, in the beginning. So very, very heavy on the accountability. And that's the part where, like, we like to say the ego, right? Like, that is the part where the ego needs to take a back seat, because if you don't take accountability for your actions or the results that you have you're never going to grow.

Yeah.

And most of the time it's because the ego is, you know, it is very insecure and it's fighting to be able to stay in a place where you no longer belong in and you want to grow from. And so taking accountability for things that did happen or didn't happen, you remove the ego, which is the emotions and the insecurities from it, and you look at it just with, you know, no emotions. It's just very black and white, you know. Um, and then you move forward, you know. You reflect on it, maybe journal, think, talk to someone, find an accountability partner that's like, I'm gonna help, you know, hold you accountable to what you tell me that you really want, you know. Yeah. Um, and, uh, yeah. So many things. Yeah, December I was like, I am not booking anything. Like this entire year we've been, you know, running, running, running. And, um, you know, there's so many lessons that I think we've both learned, like ourselves in this last year. Um, and you will keep learning the same lessons you thought you already learned over and over again until you really learn it. And that's just like the funniest most beautiful thing about life is you think you learned a certain lesson until you fall into it again, and then you're like, oh, man, like, my bad. That's like my fault because apparently I knew better, but I didn't do better. And I learned this lesson already, but apparently I didn't really learn, learn, right? Yeah. So that is also— I hope that, you know, with that time to reflect on this last year, you guys take a moment to really set goals, right? Right, like set a goal and, you know, ask yourself when someone asks you for your time or your energy or your money, ask yourself, is this contributing to my goal in the best possible use of my time, my money, or my energy, right? If yes, then you know the answer. If no, then you know the answer. Don't feel bad and don't feel guilty for saying no to things, because when you say no to things, you're saying yes to other things. And when you say yes to things, be mindful of also what you're saying no to.

Uh, you have to, no matter what. Like, it's just, it's important. And that's why, like, I talked about the Oleran Destiny, where it's a filter process, right? You, you're going to be creating filters for yourself so that way you can make frameworks for yourself, unique frameworks that you, you can create decisions with, right? This is the importance of frameworks, is that you're able to connect two different ideas together in order for you to make an accurate decision that is intentional, purposeful, and it leads you down the path towards the one that you want to go, right? So that's the importance of frameworks like that. It's super huge. It, it's super important. And not only that, but communication, that was another thing. Is so Warren Buffett, he says that arguably to him, the number one skill that really helped him in his life was communication. So he even took a Dale Carnegie course on communication so that way he can understand, you know, because he said that, uh, what's one thing that you're gonna do for the rest of your life is communicate with other people, right? And you said that earlier.

Mm-hmm.

It's literally that, that's true. So if, if that is true, If that is true to you, then do you think that you should prioritize learning and leveling up your communication skill, right? As a leader, these are questions to ask. These are questions to ask yourself, questions to wrestle with, and questions to not only like wrestle with, but if you are, if you're an entrepreneur, you're a business owner, and there's people who are more successful than you. But, and they, and you aspire to their type of levels, then it just makes sense to cut your learning curve, to download their information, to, to get like all of their experience from their books, podcasts, whatever you, the tool, the resource that you're getting from, you're, you're downloading from, and then implementing the things that make sense to you for your life and your business and your purpose. And, you know, discard everything else. But that's the importance of mentors, of hiring experts, of getting consultants, advisors, surrounding yourself with people who are working on themselves, surrounding yourself with people who are on fire hour, like working on the best project you'll ever work on, which is you. Everything goes back to your, your decisions that you make. And so communication is a huge business skill, right? And even life skill for that matter, obviously. Because we're communicating since the day we're born all the way till the day we're gone. So all these things like truly matter.

You know what I just thought of as we were talking about it? I was like, um, I was thinking like there's no duplication without communication. Yep, there is no duplication without communication, right? Like, um, I remember when I was working for my dad before, like I had to train people, like I was the person that trained people, you know, um, and I remember when I was getting trained by someone, I was like, oh my goodness, like I thought I was the dumbest person ever. I was like so embarrassed. I was like, they're probably like, what the hell, like this is the boss's daughter, like she's kind of like, she don't get it, right? But, and everything was written in plain English and the way they explained it was very simple, but I couldn't connect the dots. And so sometimes I do tell people like, hey, sometimes I'm a slow learner. I don't get it. And I will keep telling you because I'm not insecure, but I don't get it right. Like, and so what I'm asking is for you to continue to communicate it or show me or teach me in a different way or over and over again or do it with me until I got it right, until like I can take the training wheels off. And so being self-aware in yourself and how you learn how you learn best is also important, right? Because sometimes it's not you, it's the person on the other side trying to communicate so that you can duplicate them, but they don't know how to teach or they don't know how to train, right? So I didn't get it for the longest time. Eventually I got it. And once I got it, I was like, oh, I wish this person just did this with me because I would have gotten it faster. And so when I started training, like all the new people coming in, I would train them in the way that would have helped me the best because it's— I— what I noticed was it sped things up a lot faster. So understanding how you learn best, right? Is it auditory, listening, right? Is it visual, seeing things? Is it both visual and auditory, right? Or is it in the actual doing, right? Sometimes you have to hold someone's hand and be like, okay, do step 1, do this. Okay. And then wait for them. Okay, cool. Now step 2, do this right. And then also correcting mistakes fast, right? So if we were working on a file and someone made 100 mistakes, do you think I'm going to go into their file and fix all their mistakes and pass it on? No, I'm like, you come here, sit down, here's a list of all the things you did wrong. Correct it now. And I would have them correct it and I would keep going back and forth with them. And yes, it took a lot more time than for me to just correct it and send it off. But at the same time, when you're trying to duplicate yourself, you have to be very, very heavy on the communication and you have to see how does that person learn best. And you yourself have to know how you learn best so you can communicate, hey, this auditory stuff, this drive-by, this you just tell me what to do and nothing else, like it's not working for me, right? Like this is what I need. If you want me to help duplicate you and you want me to take this over, this is what I need from you. And if you don't have the patience to do it, then guess what? You're going to continue to do that thing you don't want to do because you fail at communicating and duplicating yourself, right? That's another part of leadership, is heavy on the communication. Without communication, there is no duplication. How do you learn best, and how does this person learn best? And ask them. Hey, like, um, do you need help? Is there a certain part that you're not getting or understanding that I can help you with, right? Understand that not everyone is like you. They don't think like you, right? So you being like, I don't know what else to do, it's them. Well, maybe it's you. Like, ask, you know, ask yourself, where are they confused? Where do they need help? How do they need help? Because not everyone thinks or works the way that you think or work, right? Uh, so yeah.

Yeah, it's really important. Like, it's just, it takes effort to do this. It does take effort. And that's the thing, like, some people are not willing to take the effort, like, take the extra time to do it, but it's because they don't understand the purpose. They don't understand the importance of it, right? So I like how you said, you know, it's like, without communication, you can't duplicate. Like, that's important. That's super important.

If you want to keep doing things yourself, Don't communicate to people.

Yeah.

Don't train them. Don't take the time.

Yeah, that's something that's really, really important.

Yeah, but most of the time people don't want to keep doing it, right? Um, they don't want to keep doing the same thing that they're doing. They want partners to do it with, or they want to alleviate themselves in a certain part of their business in order to be able to work on instead of in their business, to really be able to see things at a level to scale.

So yeah, exactly. Yeah. It, it's just about like understanding like your, your roadmap as well, right? It depends everything. Like you have to always ask like, what is the purpose again? Okay. Like that is a default question to ask. Like get very, it's all about getting very specific. So when it comes to you decide, like making decisions, right? Like get very specific. I know that it's a luxury as well to be very specific and to take your time to, to to slow down and speed up. However, like, it's worth it.

It's worth it.

It's worth it. And make time, okay? Make time for it. Because if you're not making time for the most important things, then guess what? You're not doing the most important things, right? Isn't that simple? If you, if you already, if you get more aware and more conscious about and more intentional with what you're supposed to be doing, then it's worth it to prioritize that by actually Removing other things that don't matter or not, are not purposeful and not a priority. And you start to slow down and really like, you know, ask yourself, this was a question I was gonna tell everyone to share was you have to ask yourself, am I like, what, like what am I doing right now? Like, do I even have to do it? Okay. Like this is important to ask yourself because as you're reflecting, right? So next, you know, next week when you start, when you guys do the reflection, like do it today, but, but be very intentional for next week. When it comes to you doing what you're doing, right? Ask yourself this question. It— like, everything you've been doing since this year, I guess, okay? Or even this, this past week, whatever it is, right? Remember, it's about decisions, arbitrage, okay? It's about, like, deciding and choosing what you are trading off with, okay? So ask yourself that question. Like, based on everything I've been doing this past year, based on everything I've been doing this, this past quarter, this past month, this past week, this past day, do I have to do it? Do I have to do it? Why? And then ask why, and then list out like all the reasons why you have to do it. And does that align with your purpose? Does that align with your goals, your vision, the milestones that you need to achieve? Like, does it? Does it not? This is going to help you filter out your decisions. It's gonna help you decide on what to choose to tune into, what to align yourself with, what to be intentional with. And not only that, but it's also about, again, the, the fork in the road. Option 1, option 2, door 1, door 2, the compound effect in action. Okay? So this is really important to do. Like, this is the time to do it. There's a time and place for everything. December again, right? The cycles of life. In nature, right? Like, just follow nature. Do your best to— like, this is what I'm learning. Like, do your best to follow nature, to be one with nature, to not force but to flow.

What?

I'm serious. I am serious about this, okay? I'm serious about this. Like, the cycles of life, even in your day, right? Like, life the universe, whatever you want to call it, like all of it is connected, okay? To me, it's all connected. And I know that, uh, you understand as well, like you'll receive this info. I know that you will receive this information. And when it comes to like you reflecting, right, being very intentional with what you are going to be writing about, what you're going to be journaling about, what you're going to be tuning into, what you're going to be aligning with, all these different things, it's gonna go into next year. And it— everything that you do, all the decisions that you make today will shape tomorrow. It's going to affect you one way or another. Now, is it gonna be to your detriment or is it gonna be to your benefit? What is it for you? Right? You are in control of your life. So every single decision that you make will ultimately lead you down that path that you want to be on or you don't want to be on. Okay. I wrote down a few things. Discipline, right? Discipline's one. Communication, definitely a skill to use in business, right? Just self-discipline is super important. Purpose. Like you gotta be purpose-driven. Yes, Reggie Anne, purpose-driven, right? You have to, you know, do your best to reflect, take time to reflect because Reflection is part of business. It's part of life, leadership. It's part of your development. Reflection is huge, right? Journaling, right? You're reflecting, journaling. That's, that's a really important skill.

Having someone to talk to as well.

Yeah. Yeah. Being able to talk, right? The mastermind effect, right? Your accountability partners. How many times have we said join a mastermind, uh, activate a mastermind. Get accountability partners. How many times have we said that this past year? We've said it from the beginning, from day— from episode 1 of season 4, right? The mastermind effect, unity, collaboration, groupthink, grow, go together, right? So all of 2024 has been that message. And that's actually like, that's part of this, this entire framework for Fire Hour season 4 was about the mastermind. Was about getting together, community connection, collaboration, right? So being able to go together and go far, right? There's that quote, if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together, right? Guess what? Like, going far, going far, it does take effort, it does take communication, it does take discipline, self-discipline, it does take a community of like-minded individuals who are willing to do the work. In order to create something greater than ourselves. Oh, is it 7 o'clock?

Um, that's the printer.

Oh, sorry.

I know that's the robot.

Yes, the robot.

Okay, so with that said, all right, uh, well, that said, contributing in your strengths too, right? Like, everyone has a different strength, which is why a mastermind is important, because everyone brings something to the table that they're good at. And what I'm good at may not be what you're good at, but what you're good at, I may not be good at, right? So having different perspectives at the table to see different things, right? Because your perspective is not the only perspective. My perspective is not the only perspective. But how do we come together to all contribute to our strengths to really, you know, go after a common goal together, right? So strengths over weaknesses. Not everyone is like you. Not everyone thinks like you. Don't expect them to be. Communicate, understand, see their strengths, and leverage that.

Yeah. And then, um, when it comes to like every quarter, okay, every quarter, like every 90 days, right? Because this, like, I, I hope everyone's gearing up for a 90-day run. I really do hope that, right? January, right? January is coming. Number one, the beginning. So when it comes to like the 90-day run, the quarters, every quarter, slow down and speed up, right? That's something that should be built into your business every 90 days, every quarter. It's a, it's a quarterly review, right? There's all these different models, like frameworks and, and reasons why big businesses do certain things. There's obviously stages for everything. However, like if you have a clear roadmap of where you're going to go and what path you're going to take. What road you're going to drive on, etc., then it's only going to help you. It's not going to hurt you. But it depends on who you're learning from. It depends on who you surround yourself with. And it depends on, obviously, the information that you're getting and the information that you're applying. You can be applying, you know, strategies that only work for a business that has a, you know, who like a business that's at $1 million and up and you're trying to apply it at your beginning stages and it doesn't work. Right. It just depends on what stage of development your business is at. So, you know, with that said, I hope you guys have an amazing, amazing time for next week when you guys do your reflections, when you, when you do that exercise. Like, again, it's so important. Okay. It's so important to do. And this is the time to do it. December. Time to do it is in December. So, and for this, this episode, right, arbitrage, like arbitrage in leadership. Being able to choose, intentionally decide what to tune into and what decide— what you want to decide to put your time and energy in. Okay, everything truly matters, and it's about your time, it's about your decisions that you make, it's about being able to be intentional and to really decide on what you truly want for your life. Okay, I really hope that this was valuable, and again, Take notes, watch the replay, share it with someone who needs it, but everything matters. Okay? Everything matters. And it's up to you. You have all the power, you have all the control, you have what it takes. Now you just gotta give all that you've got, and we believe in you 100%. We believe in you. So if you don't believe in yourself, borrow our belief. Okay? You have it, you got it, you can make it happen. Your destiny, your life, it's in the palm of your hands. It's in your mind. It's already in your heart. Now let that out. Okay? Pursue it vigorously and with intent and purpose. And if you have questions, you know, you need help, find your accountability partners, find your mastermind, find your community, reach out to your leadership, reach out to people that you look up to. Like get that, those questions answered, right? Ask for help, ask for support. And, and remember like that last quote and then we'll end it, right? Ask and you shall receive, right? So you gotta ask, ask the question. All right, ask the question, pursue and receive that information and take action. All right, let your learning lead to action. So have an amazing Wednesday, crush it, dominate your path and make it happen. All right, we love you all.

Love you guys. Bye.

Get it. Peace out.