Collapse The Gap (#FIREHOUR S4, E38)

Welcome back to FIRE Hour. FIRE Hour is all about working on the best project you'll ever work on, which is you. So welcome back, Grand Rising. We are here, we are here in Texas. I have a lot of takeaways and insights that I want to share today. It's November 6th, right? So a lot of changes, a lot of changes for the year to come, for the next 4 years, right? One thing that I wanted to just put into everyone's mind or just for everyone to just kind of like think about is marketing. Okay. There's, so there's 3 things in every business, right? There's marketing, operations, and scale, right? Strategy, scale. And so when it comes to the marketing pillar, something that I noticed on social media, you know, for the past, like the past decade really, but now like as I get more aware, as I get more in tune, as I understand like, you know, how the world like really works and how people's mind and perspectives are influenced. It really comes down to marketing. And so one of my mentors taught me about how when it comes to big decisions, right? Big decisions, something like such as an election, something such as someone being voted as mayor, something like all that stuff, right? On that side. And then even in the business side of things, like how do you elect your partners? How do you vote for your partners? How do you elect and vote for the board of directors? How do you choose and select your board of advisors? Who do you pick and choose as a business partner, right? So all these things, when it comes to this, you know, one thing that I noticed is that marketing— every, everyone who's been building a personal brand, a personal brand, they're able to influence and persuade those around them and those who are in their vicinity. And those who, you know, they are basically penetrating the mind, right? Sharing their story and creating some type of just messaging, right? For everyone that they're trying to influence. And so when it comes to like your marketing, right? For you, right? Are you good? When it comes to marketing, like what are you doing for your marketing efforts when it comes to your business? What is your message to the world, right? What is your message from your marketing, your marketing message to the world that you're trying to influence and persuade and instill in other people's mind, right? If you're building your Thrive business, for example, like I know that like everyone's obviously sharing about Thrive, but like what, like what is the bigger purpose aside from that? Okay. Angela says, I talked about this yesterday on a one-on-one with Carla. Nice. See alignment, always in alignment. So you know, like when it comes to your marketing message, and I'm just going to read what Angela said, your message needs to speak to people. Exactly. So like, let's just take a tangible example, like with Instagram, because I know that a lot of people build on Instagram. And from this conference, like we were just at a mastermind event with business owners and people who want to acquire businesses. And one thing that we both noticed was that majority of the, like 95% of the room does not use social media or was not on their phone, like with Instagram.

I thought it was huge.

Like that was a huge takeaway because especially for me coming from a background in the online space, I was like, everyone in the room did Instagram, every single person for the past 10 years for me, or for the past like, for the past 8 years for me, okay? And so like everyone in the room though were more on LinkedIn, which was like so interesting. And when it comes to like, you know, the topic of building a personal brand, people are thinking like, hey, like, should I build on Instagram? Like, that was questions that I was getting. And then there was another lady who had— who has friends who like, they haven't been able to crack the code for Instagram, right, for their business.

A little bit disheveled here. Yeah. So, um, yeah, it was interesting because like all of us, we're always on Instagram, right? Like that's how we promote our business. That's how we promote ourselves. That's where we like see what's happening in the world today. That's like our form of media, right? And so what I noticed, like what Sean and I noticed was like we would have our phones out, like we have the Osmo, we're like taking content and like we're connecting with people and no one has their phone out, like hardly any, like they only have their phone out if they're exchanging LinkedIn profiles or like phone numbers and stuff, but they don't have their phone out to like take photos, take content, take videos, like post on social media, like where they're at and what they're doing. And So that was like a huge gap that we noticed because you guys always know, like lifestyle getaways, Thrivepalooza, like locals, like everything and anything, all events that we go to or whenever we see each other, even if it's just for like a simple brunch or dinner, like our phones are out and we're like messaging people, you know, doing photos, doing videos. Like that's the way that we market ourselves and that we get— have other people get to know like what are we doing in that moment, right? Because if they're interested, they're going to ask, they're going to be curious. They're always going to be watching whether they say anything or they don't say anything. And so that was like the huge thing that we noticed and we're like, dude, are we like the only ones with our phones and our like cameras like whipped out constantly, like taking content and taking photos and like connecting with people on, you know, like Instagram. But it's like, this is a business conference, right? And so people want to use their LinkedIn because the thing is like you are vouched for in LinkedIn, right? Like LinkedIn is a whole nother, another like social media platform. It's, I feel like it's kind of like your business card, like in social media. Form and there's people vouching for you as well, right? Like there's other people in the industry that kind of talk about like where they went to school, what their experience is, what businesses they've been a part of, what their titles are and like the years that they were at whatever school or whatever like job, right? And like all their professional accolades. And so I feel like because, because of the difference in this style of conference, it's like, you know, they want to see like who you know outside of social media, not just whatever you feel like posting or whatever you say., right? It's like, who's signed off on you? Like, who has signed off on you on, you know, that, that is a real person that is doing other things in other places. So that was like the biggest takeaway that we took from this conference. It was very interesting to see.

Yeah, it was just a good insight, right?

Yeah.

Um, there was definitely several takeaways.

Um, but insight, that's right. Yeah, that's better.

Yeah, insight. Yeah, you really One thing that I noticed from like speaking to like executives and stuff is they're always looking for insights. And insights is really like what I found in my journey in entrepreneurship. Like those are like the 1%er unlocks, is the insights, okay? So for example, like one of the insights that I got from, well, let me just wrap up the LinkedIn thing though. So for me, in my perspective, and as a marketer, okay, as a marketer, like all social media channels, adds credibility and is your, your business card. Okay, so if you have— because everyone here, for the most part, what I understand, everyone here is building on Instagram. So, so here's the thing, okay, when it comes to your Instagram, right, like, it doesn't— it really does not matter about your followers, okay? It doesn't matter about how many followers you have. And, and here's why I'm going to share. It's because if like it depends on the purpose of what you're doing with those followers, right? So for example, if you had, okay, I gave this example to someone that I met like yesterday at the conference and he was asking me about like social media and specifically about like Instagram and et cetera. And so I told him like, hey, you know, like I haven't been building on my personal brand, my Sean Gunna brand for since 2020. Like I stopped, I stopped building intentionally on my Instagram. In 2020. But here's the insight that he got from me. I said, but if you look at my followers, I have like 6,000 followers and majority of these followers are entrepreneurs. Majority of my list is entrepreneurs. And he like, when I told him that, like he was like, his eyebrows raised, his eyebrows raised and he was like, oh wow, because he only has like 40 followers on Instagram, but he is a business owner. And like he's, you know, like he's here doing like doing deals. And so the whole point of why I share that is because it just like when it comes to your follower count, it depends on the purpose of what you are using it for. Like when it comes to Instagram specifically, if you are offering us a product or service, then how— if you have 100,000 followers but they're not buyers of your product or service, what purpose is that doing for you? Okay, so it's really important for you to ask yourself these questions because this all ties back into your marketing strategy. Okay, your marketing strategy. Now, there is a question I got where it's like, hey, like, I don't even use Instagram. I don't even use like this social media platform. Should I just like cancel my account? And the answer is no. And the reason why is because that's your list. Okay, you want to Like, remember, this is something I talked about in Fire Hour Season 1. The bigger your list, the more posture you have, right? The bigger your list, the more posture you have. The reason for that is because the bigger your list, the more opportunities and more abundance and more just space you create, okay? It's more pathways and more chances for change. And so when it comes to your list, like, you do want— like, obviously you do want to have more followers. Obviously you do want to have a bigger list. Obviously you do want to have the right people in your list as well. But it's going to come back to your purpose. It's always about your purpose, your marketing purpose, your marketing message, like the passion that you have within, the message that you have that you want to give to other people, that you want other people to connect with. Okay? So when it comes to all this, right? Whether it's Instagram, whether it's LinkedIn, whether it's Facebook or Meta, whether it's Snapchat, whether it's TikTok, whatever it is, whatever it is for you. And including— this also includes your contacts, okay? Your contact list, your text messages, okay? The people that you connect with there. And then also your Telegram and your Slack, okay? Every single one of these things is a list. You good?

Yeah. Why? Are you?

Yeah, I mean, I'm hanging in there right now. I want to go outside. So, um, With that being said, okay, what— with that being said, like one of the insights, right? One of the insights is I'm looking at— so there's a girl named Cody Sanchez who hosted this event. And she has a really good YouTube channel, she has really good— she just has a really good message and platform and vision, okay? And so one of the insights I got, because I'm always a student, right? Student mentality. Have your student hat on and then have your teacher hat on and just listen, observe, and implement. One of the things that I was observing is there was a lot of things I was observing, but one of the takeaways and insights I got was when she was speaking on stage, because she's the host and she's essentially like the thought leader of this entire mastermind and experience. One of the takeaways that I got was her messaging. I was paying attention to her messaging, like her pattern of what she's saying and what she's speaking about and the underlining programming, the underlining message, underlying purpose was this is the vision. This is the vision of what we are building, right? This is the vision of what we are building. This is the opportunity that and the chance that is up at stake. And here is the path forward. There's only two paths forward. You either go with the vision or you don't, right? That's essentially what it is, um, just to break it down into very simple, simple terms. And so the whole point of why I'm saying that is because for you, everyone here like, like I say always, right, everyone is a leader whether you like it or not. Because everything— I truly believe that everything rises and falls in leadership. And so if everyone here is a leader, then everyone here does have a vision for their life. It's just about if you have clarity for it. And if you do have clarity, then what is your direction, right? What is your direction? What are the actions you're going to take? And when it comes to you sharing that vision, when it comes to you sharing that message to the world, when it comes to you being put on a stage speaking to people, and that stage, that platform is social media, okay? I'm just sharing it with you right now. That stage is social media, whether it's in person as well, like at events or masterminds or whatever. It's also on social media majority of the time because that's the platform that you can use, that, that's the tool that is available to you right away, right in the now. So the whole point of that is when you are speaking your message out there, are you incorporating that vision? Are you incorporating that vision? You're creating that, that future compelling vision for other people that can, they can fit themselves in. Right. And that's what I saw. That's what I saw and noticed. That was my insight from her when she was speaking on stage. She's always talking about the vision, the vision, the vision, the vision. And I'm like, and I'm wrestling with this myself because like when I look at like a speaker like Elon Musk, for example, right. He's all like, I know I'm observing. Like he's talking about like he's like saving the world by like, you know, getting us to Mars, right? Or, you know, getting us to space, et cetera, right? SpaceX. That I'm looking at that and I'm like thinking, all right, how can I implement that for me? Like in our nonprofit, right? Because we're, we're building a vision. This is, we're going after a vision. We're casting a vision that we truly believe in and that we are putting efforts and energy and money and everything else into, right? And so when I— when for me, what I'm working on myself, right, this is something that is like in real time every day. When I speak to other people, when I speak on social media, when I communicate one-on-one, like all these different things, am I implementing that vision? Am I casting that vision? Am I being intentional and purposeful with my messaging to the world so that way it connects with other people and it also instills and influences them in a way where they're able to connect and see themselves fitting into that vision. Okay? And so that is one of the things that I'm always looking at. I'm looking at all these different speakers and everyone's a speaker. I'm looking at all these different influencers and everyone's an influencer. I'm looking at all these different leaders and everyone's a leader. I'm looking at all of that and I'm like, all right, like, how can I take these notes? How can I implement that? How can I get better? How can I work on the best project I'll ever work on, which is me? How can I get better so that way I can help other people? That way I can do the job I need to do, right? What is required of me to get it done so that way I can change the world positively in the way that I want to change it, right? So for everyone here, right, the insight that I want you to take away, and I'm sure there's a lot of insights right now that you just got, but when it comes to your vision, mm-hmm, Are you observing? Are you observing other people? Are you taking those notes? Are you actually applying what you're learning? Are you seeing like what I'm seeing? Are you understanding like, hey, if you really want to attract the people, the right people at the right time for the right reason, because of the purpose you have that's aside, that's under, that's the foundational layer, right? The— or even the infrastructural layer. Of your marketing message. If you're able to do that, are you actually casting that vision out? Are you consistently, repeatedly talking about that vision, sharing it with the people that you want to connect with the most, sharing with the people that need to hear that the most, sharing with the people that truly want that change and are willing to follow that vision because it does connect with them, right? This is something like, there's no right or wrong answers. Like, there's so many ways to be right. You have to just figure it out for yourself. I'm just giving you information, ideas. You go run with the idea, whatever that is for you, right? So this is what I'm looking at. That this is just one— this was just one insight, okay? One insight that I took. One insight that I took. And now I'm like brainstorming. Now I'm like wrestling with all these thoughts. Now I'm like mapping it out. Like, maybe this is why I wasn't able to sleep.

I literally was thinking that. I was like, this is probably why you weren't able to sleep. He was like, he was not able to sleep last night. And for me, That was like after we went networking and stuff at the after party and stuff. Not the after party, we didn't go to the after party at the Airbnb, but we went to the closing out party and after that I was like, I'm done. We came back, just chilled, and I just knocked out and he was just still up and I was like, you're probably thinking about a lot of things. You guys get yourself into rooms that you feel like you don't belong there. You feel like, what am I doing here? Can I do what these people are doing? And get comfortable being uncomfortable, you know? Like in this specific industry that we're in, like there is always gonna be different levels required of us to excel to the next level, right? And so who are you meeting, who are you talking to, and what makes you different? Because at the end of the day, we are all selling the same thing. We're all selling the same product or the same, you know, we're promoting the same thing, right? But what makes you different? Like who are you? What do you like and who are your people? Like, who are you looking for, right? Are you looking for people that are like similar to you, that have similar interests? Because it's gonna get easier because you don't have to pretend to be someone that you're not, right? And so like, learn to make friends and a lot of friends in the same interests and hobbies that you have, right? Because at the end of the day, whether someone buys from you, doesn't buy from you, wants to join your team, doesn't want to join your team. At the end of the day, you still want to grow as a person and know that like you're still connecting and out there networking. Maybe they might not be the person that's like, hey, I want to like try your product or I want to like join your team. But maybe they might be like, hey, you're my friend, we're really good friends. I know you outside of whatever else that you do. I know you do this and I knew someone or I knew a friend or I knew someone that was interested in that. So let me just connect you, right? Get really good at networking and connecting and adding value, right? Like, um, and, and so that was, I guess, some of my takeaways too. But it's kind of like the same thing over and over again, right? Like, um, like what you're saying, like, you are your own personal brand. Like, you are an influencer, whether it's to your children, your community, um, you know, anyone that you're in touch with, your co-workers. Like, you are your personal brand, and you are your own influencer in your own world. Now, who— like, who do you want to attract? And who you are going attract and it is who you are, right? And so like you can never go wrong building yourself, working on yourself, and then putting yourself out there. Like imagine, I imagine if all there was at least 300 like other business owners or people wanting to get into business and leave their W-2 jobs, right? And so it's like, who are these people? Like what rooms are they getting into? Who are they connecting with? Who are they talking to, right? Like getting out of your comfort zone and like talking to people, like Even if you don't feel comfortable talking to them, like you're like, I have no like business talking to you, I have no idea what I'm going to say to you, but I'm going to ask you a lot of questions because I'm curious, you know what I mean? Like I want to know who you are, like what your life is. I heard you did this, like how did you do that? Um, people are always more than willing to answer questions. So get yourself into rooms where you don't feel comfortable because eventually one day you keep getting into those rooms, you will be very, very comfortable and you will be able to feel a sense of like, oh, okay, I was uncomfortable and now I'm comfortable, right? And then once you're comfortable, get out of that room and go to the next room where you feel uncomfortable in, because you're going to keep excelling to different levels, right? Like, and this is part of your personal growth, right? It's about you and who you're becoming along the way, because you're going to live with yourself for the rest of your life, right? And it's so funny because a lot of the things that people said, it's like a lot of the things that we all know, right? Like, we learn this stuff together and we also teach um, each other and talk to each other about these, the same things. Like, we're listening to people who hold funds and they're managing a billion dollars in assets. They have $1 billion plus dollars in asset management, some of them $3 billion in asset management, right? But it all comes back to the same thing. It comes back to your mindset your perspective, your community, and what value do you have to offer, right? If there's something out there that you want, don't just think about, oh, I want this, and so I want this from you, right? What value can you add to people? Like, what do you have to add? Because the thing is, I guarantee the person that adds the most value to other people's lives, like when someone thinks of you, like, or when an opportunity comes, they're gonna think of you. They're gonna be like, you know what, this person's always adding value to me. And I finally have an opportunity to be able to like connect them with someone or like to repay them back in whatever little way that I can. Right.

Yeah. So no, that's really good. And I wanted to like take that, you know, because sometimes like when people hear about numbers, right, it kind of goes over people's heads. And so I want to really kind of just break that down a little bit because here's something that as an entrepreneur, okay, as a leader, as a business owner, like you have to keep in mind, right? With great power comes great responsibility, right? And so with that being said, like, when it comes to your business, whether it is your team, whether it's your employees, etc., however much money that you're making, right, in your business, that money is directly in proportion to the amount of value you're adding to the market, right? And so when it comes to that though, that also entails responsibility for other people's lives, Right? For us as business owners, we have employees. If we are not able to make payroll, for example, what do you think that— what kind of pressure is that weighing on us, right? What kind of pressure? What are we thinking about? We're literally thinking about, all right, we don't even care if we get paid or not.

Yeah.

We just care about our employees and their lives, right? So whether it's like, you know, these people like with their hedge funds, with $500 million, $3 billion, whatever number that is, okay? Like aside from that number, right? Aside from that number, like look at the organization, like their organization chart, the people that are employed there. Like all those people, like those people who are doing those numbers, they are responsible for all those people's lives, okay? And so when it comes to that, like how, like if you're leading a team of 1,000 people, right? How do you lead them? What is the best way that you can serve them, right? What are you thinking about when it comes to, you know, operations, when it comes to livelihood, when it comes to their families, when it comes to their futures, their goals? Like all these things, it goes back all the way to the vision, okay? It goes back to the vision. With Star Motor Works, you know, with— we're right now, we're here in Texas, right? We're in Texas, we're gonna fly back to California, and then like we're gonna fly to Las Vegas. And we're— why? It's because You know, for us as business owners and as investors and as entrepreneurs, we're always working on ourselves, right? We— it's like what Crystal was saying, like we're getting into our— we're getting into rooms that may make us feel uncomfortable because we want to grow. Yeah, we're investing in ourselves. We are investing in our development. We are taking— we're taking the leap of faith and stepping into the unknown so that way we can expand and grow and learn and just pick up different insights and implement., right? And expand our network and all these things, okay? And connect with the right people. So we're gonna be going to Las Vegas. And the reason for that, what's the purpose? It's because with Star Motor Works, you know, our, one of our goals is if we can every single year, it would be awesome to bring the entire team to go to their Disneyland, okay? That's what they call it. Like, it's actually an auto, it's like an auto industry convention. It's like one of the biggest ones in the world. For the auto industry. And last year we were able to take the team. This year it was a stretch to take them.

This year we're still taking everyone. We have like added people onto the team and it was, yeah, like what you said, it was a stretch. And like there's companies out there doing like so much more than us in revenue and they don't even do what we do. But at the end of the day, it's like, it's about your people. It's about your team. It's about the people that take care of you, right? Like, it's important to take care of the people that take care of you. But here's another incredible insight that I heard yesterday, because this is something that I've always struggled with. It's like, you want to be in the trenches doing what you do because it's from the trenches you learned the skill sets you learned, right? But now, what is it that you do really, really well and where is it that you can add the most value, right? And so I think that this was something that most people don't ever get to hear.

Mm-hmm.

But when you look at yourself, what is your strength and what is the biggest value you can add, right? Because anyone can do the do, right? And I'm not saying don't do the do. What I'm saying is like, what else can you do? What more can you give? What are you really good at that everyone's like, "You're really good at this," that you can add value and provide and be able to like help others with, right? Because if you're constantly doing certain things that doesn't add as much value as that one thing that you're really good at, that you are like deadly at, that no one else can do, you're doing a disservice, right? And it's not about being humble or not being humble or getting your hands dirty or not getting your hands dirty. If you know how to scale a business, into the 7, the 8, or the 9-figure range, like, that's what you should work on, right? And it's not saying that you shouldn't do the other things that matter. It's that you should focus on your strengths. And when you come into a community, if everyone works separately or individually, or it's just about themselves, or is about what they can benefit off of other people and not adding value to anyone else, you're not gonna grow as a community and you're not gonna grow as a team because then you have that crab bucket mentality, right? So I don't know if you guys heard the story, but can you tell the story real quick? Yeah, crabs in a bucket.

Crabs in a bucket. So we have a bucket right here.

Ice bucket though.

Yeah, but it would be, you know, it's okay. Can you give me the bucket?

Yeah.

Janice says, see Michelle, a bunch of our car crew is there.

Oh my gosh, let us know who. We're gonna be there. We don't have our own like booth and stuff. It doesn't make sense for us financially. Officially to have one, um, but we're gonna be there like networking and going to other businesses that have booths that have been like referring us, um, a lot of business and just like saying hi and what's up and thank you.

That's awesome. Yeah, start— so Star Motor Works, the team will be there, so that'll be cool. That'll be really cool.

We'll have our gear on too, so always branding, always, always, always branding your business, yourself, your community, whatever, your vision, everything.

Angela says, observe all day. Diversity will help expand your growth and perspectives. Yes, love, always, always know who you are and what you stand for, but also be open to perspectives. I love talking to the odd one out. Yeah, and you know what, like, that's— it's all about being like you. That's it, right? Yeah, so that's awesome.

I was just telling Sean yesterday because you remember, like, we, we met someone and I was like, he was kind of odd, but I really liked his personality, right?

There's a lot of people. We're odd. All right, so, okay, Janice says, we are odd. It's the Ruined Crew. They are all in different booths. Have fun, such a great place to network. Nice. Okay, thank you. Ruined Crew. Okay, got it.

They're wearing that on their shirts. We'll be like, Janice told us to say hi.

Yeah, let me just, uh, message. That's awesome. Okay, so I'm gonna do the crab in the bucket story real quick and then we'll move on. Um, Let me just have to say there, we're on crew. Okay, so when it comes to the crab in the bucket story, basically, I know some people have heard this but some people have not, but the bucket represents your network, basically, okay? The people that you surround yourself with the most, and depending on the perspective and mindset of these people, the story that's in their head, okay, depending on that, that story it will determine and you will experience— you'll literally experience firsthand like these people's stories. Okay, so the whole entire story of the crab in the buckets is there's a bunch of crabs in this bucket and there's one crab— let's say it's you— there is one crab in this bucket who sees a vision. They see something different. They are not happy with their current situation and they see like, you know what, entrepreneurship being a business owner, being able to work on my passions, being able to make an impact in society. That's the vision I want to go for. So in order for me to get to that vision, in order for you to get to that vision, you need to get yourself out of this bucket, okay? And when it comes to that, you know, there's a bunch of— there's 5 people they hang out with the most in this bucket who don't know that version of you, who don't know that version of This is the vision that you're pursuing. This is the vision that you can actually attain. This is the vision that can actually become your reality if with time, okay, with time and effort and energy and patience and investing in yourself and doing the work. So when you start to try and climb out of this bucket towards that vision, you're working on yourself, you're pouring your blood, sweat, and tears into that vision, you're doing the inner work. You're leveling up your mindset, your skill set, your tool set. You're understanding this is the different perspectives I need to learn. These are the different types of people that I need to surround myself with. You are doing all of that work. You are slowly climbing out of this bucket towards that vision. The other 5 people who see you climbing out of the bucket, they're like, hey, stop, wait. And they literally pull you back down into the bucket, back to status quo, the old one, the one that you're trying to get out of and away from. This is the importance of knowing, okay? This is the importance of knowing who you're around. It's because every single one of us, we are in different buckets, and all of us for the most part have a vision that we are pursuing and actively and intentionally and purposefully taking action towards by doing the work, right? And so when you're trying to climb out— when this crab, like you, me, her, everyone is trying to climb out of this bucket, out of the, the people that we surround ourselves with the most, towards a vision that is so different and just completely out of this— these guys' perspective, they can't even fathom that it's a reality that can exist. They start to pull you down. And that's because of the lack of development. It's because of the lack of the work. It's because of the lack of the reality. It's because of all the limiting beliefs. It's because of everything that they, in their perspective, in their mindset, in their reality, their viewpoint of the world, this is how it's supposed to be. And when they see someone that they know, like they trust, they admire, they respect, they grew up with, etc. They see that this, this person is climbing out towards a different vision, there will become— there will be separation. There will be separation naturally, because now you're pursuing something that they may not be interested in at all. Okay? And so the whole point of that story is that you have to be aware— at least to me, this is the whole point of the story— you have to be aware that when you are climbing towards a different vision, there's going to be people around you that already know you. They, they know this version of you, the current version of you. They don't know yet that version of yourself that is going after that vision, okay? That happened— the passion, the purpose. They don't know that version, so they may be scared. They may be like, you know what, like, I don't know if you can do that. I don't know if that's possible. I don't know if that's actually reality. I have no idea. And if, if those people are not doing the work on themselves, they're not doing personal development, mindset perspective work, like working, doing that work, supporting you in your vision, your goals and dreams, then obviously they're going to try to pull you down naturally, whether they're doing it intentionally or not. So you— so the point of this to me is you as the leader, you as that person that's going after that vision, you are escaping this bucket that you are currently in. You're going towards a different desired outcome, different desired reality, a different desired existence that you want to pull into your existence. You have to understand and notice and be aware that that's going to happen every single time you pursue a bigger vision. Does that make sense?

I also wanted to reiterate, like, yeah, that the 5 people you surround yourself around the most is who you become naturally, right? So what is your environmental exposure and who are you exposed to? Right. And this is actually something that they also talked about, like at the conference that we're at. So there's a lot of things that we all here learn together and with each other that we talk about, and you hear us repeat it all the time. It doesn't just apply to here in this business that we're doing. It applies to anyone and everyone out there, even people who are managing like big funds out there that are managing a huge portion of the world's assets, right? Like these people are like pretty high level, like they're beyond the scope of like what I'm doing, right? And they're saying the same thing that we all know, right? And so evaluate your circle, like, and even if someone isn't like, isn't supportive of exactly what you're doing, are they supportive of you, right? Like, hey, I'm not gonna buy from you, I'm not gonna join your team, whatever. Like, I'm not gonna go and do whatever you're doing, but I love you, I support you, and I'm here for you. I think it's great that you're pursuing something different, right? That is still support. Like, that is still support, right? Doesn't matter if someone is like, I don't want to buy from you, I don't want to join your team, but I love you, I support you, I think what you're doing is great and I'm proud of you. That's support.

That is support.

That is still support. Okay. And so like, don't cut people off that support you in a different way than you want to necessarily be supported in, right? Yeah. And then ask like, how can you add more value, right? Okay. You don't want to do this, but like, do you know anyone? Like, you know, this is what I'm doing. Do you know anyone? That would be interested. Maybe you do, maybe you don't, I don't know. But put yourself out there, right? Like, you never know unless you put it out there and you like share with people like what you're doing.

Yeah, exactly. Jackie says, that's the first thing I thought about when I saw you next to Cody. You're 5. Thank you for raising our value. Proximity is power. Angela says, this part dropped expectations.

Yeah, it was— he says yes, it was insane. Like, literally. Okay, so here is the story, and I wish I told her the story, but there was like a huge line and I was like, how do I condense this into 30 seconds? So now I'm going to try to do my 30 to 60 second story. Okay. So I first heard about Cody Sanchez when Sean introduced me to her videos, right? And this is how he introduced me. Like, I'm always like, go, go, go, go, go, right? But I know where my strengths are and I know where my weaknesses are. And I'm like, Sean, you know, like we want to acquire this auto shop. Every business I've ever acquired for the last 16 years, I've always been a part of. Building it, or I understood the concept of it, and it came from a warm network, right? It was someone that I know personally. I know their reputation. I could call up 5 to 10 people, and those 5 to 10 people can tell me their reputation or about them, right? So for the first time, we're acquiring a business from a warm network lead, but it's cold. And so I'm like, every business I bought, it's always been straightforward. I've always known what the evaluation is and how the revenue stream comes in, um, the people selling a portion of or selling the whole thing, right? And so I was like, now I'm getting into a space where it's like, how do I value this business? How do I value Star Motor Works? How do I value an auto shop, right? Because I've mostly been in finance, right? And so, but every business is the same. It's like there's the same template, right? And so I was like, I need your help because he's always really good at researching. Like, you have a problem, you ask him, and he's going to come up with the best solution or the best resource because that was his training. That was what his mentor taught him was always shoot to the top to be able to figure it out. Right. And so I'm like, I want to buy this business, but I need to value it properly, right, to make sure that I'm not paying more than what it's worth. And I have the financials and I can see certain things. So I'm like, I'm stuck. Here's where I'm stuck. This is what I don't know. And that's what I need to know. Boom, he turns on a YouTube video 2 years ago when we're like acquiring the business and he's just like, he's just like, okay, he's like, watch this video in order to figure this out, right? And I'm like, okay, cool. And so in that one video, and I've learned this before from finance class and from other places, but it never stuck because I never did these calculations and these formulas specifically when I was purchasing all my other businesses, right? Over the last 16 years. So it shows you like there's things that you still don't know even though you do what you do and you you could be really good at it, right? I knew what I didn't know. I knew the missing piece. And I was just like, so he showed me a video. I literally watched her for 15, 20 minutes and I was like, boom, done. It's done. I got it. I know what it's worth. And like, it's a great deal. And like, I just like went forward and moved on with the transaction. Yeah. And so that was the first time I had ever heard of her. I literally watched a 15, 20 minute YouTube video and I learned EBITDA, SDE, and multiples. And once I learned those 3 things, which I had never applied to the other businesses that I've purchased, and mind you, I probably already spent like by then, like over half a million to $750,000, close to $1 million in buying businesses and real estate. And I didn't know those things. And so once he showed me her video and I was like, holy shit, I finally know, like that was the missing piece to go to the next level that I've always wanted to go on. But there was a gap. Right? And the gap was my knowledge. And I was aware that I didn't know what I didn't know. And so that was my first time seeing her back in 2022, when he— when I said, this is what I need to do. I need to value this business correctly so I don't make a bad purchase. And he was like, here's a video, here's who you should listen to. She's gonna blow up. I've already been watching her since 2020. Found her and started watching her before she blew up, right? 2022, I finally get that first, like, insight, and then boom, I took action, right? And that was before we even joined the mastermind or the community. We didn't until like earlier this year. And so, yeah, yeah.

So it's like, you know, like, what's the takeaway from that, right? There's many takeaways, but speed is everything. Success loves speed, right? And if you— if there's gaps in everything, okay, there's always gaps when it comes to your current situation and your desired outcome. Right? So if you are in XYZ position right now, whatever— okay, for you, whatever situation you're in right now that you want to get away from because you're reaching towards a bigger vision, a bigger goal, right? A bigger desired outcome that you want, a different reality for yourself, the next level for yourself. If you are going after that, there's a gap. Okay, what is that gap that you need to fulfill? You have to collapse the gap. Collapse the gap, right? When you collapse the gap from your current situation to your desired outcome, you collapse that, those two. Guess what happens? You now are living in your desired reality, right? So with that being said, every single problem and solution, there's always that gap. For her, I'm just summarizing what you shared.

For you, yeah.

So for her, in her situation, right, in our situation, she was looking to make this purchase, right, for Star Motor Works. And she just wanted to make sure that she evaluated the financials properly to make sure that this was a worthwhile investment, right? And so the only thing that I fulfilled for her in that space was that gap of knowledge. And that knowledge happened because knowledge is there's many different forms of knowledge, but in this form of knowledge, it was what is the resource, what is the tool that I can use so that way I can evaluate the numbers properly. That was it. And guess what? One video, one video, it took— it literally took me— okay, speed, success, less speed. It took me less than 1 minute, literally less than 1 minute to hear her question, to know in my mind already that, okay, I already know the answer. Here's the resource. It took me 1 minute to give her her decision, to give her the gap. She had a problem. Yeah, I had the knowledge. Yeah, just because I did the work already. I had the knowledge. I pull it like that fast. Success loves speed. High-level entrepreneurs, high-level achievers, it's all about speed, speed, speed, speed, speed to result. Okay, I filled in that gap because I had the resources already, which was the tool— the video was the tool that had the information that she needed to fill that gap. Collapsed the time frame. In under 12 minutes, she got her answer. In under 12 minutes, she got her answer, made the decision to buy.

Yeah, like that. Okay, he gave me the resource, I watched it, I took notes, and I was like, done, it's done. And so like We acquired a 7-figure generating revenue, right? In under how many minutes?

In under 12 minutes, basically. Okay, because it's about the gap, it's about success, it's about— I'm sorry, it's about speed. The speed to implementation which leads to results. Okay, that's why it's clarity, direction, speed. Clarity is your vision, understanding your vision, where you are going, what is your goals, what is your desired outcome. That's your, your clarity. Direction is how you get there, the plan to execution, the plan of action, the plan, the step-by-step that you're gonna take to get to that desired outcome, that goal, that dream that you have, that vision. Clarity, direction, speed. All you need for speed is a direction. When you get from clarity to direction, there's a gap. If you even— with clarity, you might not even have the clarity, you might not even know what you want or need you need in order to even go and pursue a different vision for yourself. If you don't know that, well, here's an exercise you can do. It's from the one-pager book, the one that I created. It's literally like step number 1 is your current situation. It's like you write down your, like, what is your current situation? All right, on page 2, what is your vision? What is your desired outcome? What are your goals and dreams? Like, what do you want to do? You know what I mean? It's that simple. And if— and I mean, I'm not going to say that no one wants a bigger vision for themselves, because I know that if you're here on Fire Hour, then you already know. But with that being said, it's about like, let this learning lead to action though, right? Let your learning lead to action. So look, literally this one, I know that I show this because it's a tool. This is a tool. This is part of your tools, your resources you can use. It's free. Dumb, like the One Page Productivity Workbook, right? So right here on step number 1, like, tell it how it is. Step number 1 is tell it how it is. I know you can't see it, but I'm just gonna read it. Tell it how it is is number 1. Your— what does your current situation look like? Page number 2, your vision, right? In order to improve your results, you have to know where you are going. So if failing was not an option, what does the future look like for you? That's your vision, that's your desired outcome, that's where you want to go, right? Obviously, from current situation, your current situation that you're in, to your desired outcome, your vision, there's a gap. How do you get there? It's about the steps that you take in order to get there. It's about the plan and then the execution, and that's it, right? It may take a year, it may take 2 years, it may take 10 years, who knows? But I'm gonna share with you that there is a shortcut, and the shortcut is by getting mentorship. The shortcut is by learning from people who've already done it. The shortcut is by finding the resources. The shortcut— there's so many shortcuts. It's about the knowledge. That's it. If you have the knowledge, right, or if you know someone who has the knowledge, how fast can you collapse the gap? How fast can you collapse the gap? In this situation, it just happens to be that we're partners and that we're together and that she had this, this problem.

I have lots of problems.

And I had the solution.

I have a lot. I have a lot, but you know what? I ask. I ask because I'm not the smartest person, you guys. Like, I am not the smartest, I am not the fastest, I am not the best at a lot of things. I realize that and I'm okay with that because I know where my strengths lie, I know where my weaknesses lie, and I'm not afraid and I'm not ashamed to be like I need help. I don't know how to do this. I don't get it. And if you explain it to me and I still don't get it, I'm not gonna pretend like I get it. I'm gonna be like, no, I still don't get it. You said it in English, I understood what you said, but I didn't understand it, understand it. So what I'm saying is that I'm still lost, right? And that's what you have to be in order to get to the next level of success. Do not be afraid or ashamed of what you know and what you don't know. Like, that is your superpower. That is a strength to be aware in where your gap is. And then another strength is being like, I'mma ask, I'm gonna ask. And so what did I do? I said, hey, I know you will know the solution. I know you will have the answer. I need help and this is what I need help in, right? And what did he do? He found it, right? So what is your problem today? What is your problem? Where do your weaknesses lie? And where is the gap? Like that, where do you want to be, right? There's a gap to everywhere we want to be, right? And may you never not have that gap. May you always stay growing, you know? Um, like I always say this, it's not the destination, it is a journey. And may you never arrive. And I say that because I want to see people grow. Like, it is not fun being alone, right? And feeling like You know, like you're doing these things and you're like, I want people to do this stuff with me. Like I wanna win together. Like I wanna do things, right? Like look at Ange, like how many years in a row has she been the GOAT, right? Like do you guys not think she's lonely? She is lonely. She wants to see other people be the GOAT. She wants to see her team succeed and to be the ones up there on stage. And she wants to be the one that's clapping for them, right? Like you will always go far together. And there is not a lack of abundance in the world. There is so much abundance, but it starts with your mindset, right? Ask questions. Ask a lot of questions. If you still don't get it, who cares? You go ahead and look stupid. I don't get it. I don't get it. What do you mean? How? Show me, right? Like, people learn in different ways. Sometimes they need to be explained to 10 times in 10 different ways until one sticks. Right, ask the questions, but then don't be an asshole. Okay, don't be an asshole, ask a bunch of questions and then not take the action. Take the action, right? If someone tells you step-by-step how to do something, go and execute, because the best thank you you can give to someone is executing on the knowledge they gave you from you asking the question, right?

Exactly. Yeah, and it's true, like, let your learning lead to action. Right? Whatever you get from this call today, because everyone here has now spent 1 hour of your life you can never get back. True or not true? With this hour that you, that you invested in yourself, what are you gonna do with this hour? What are you gonna do with this information? What is the one thing that you will focus in on and take and let that learning lead to action? And if you don't have that, if you didn't if you didn't get what you needed to get from this call, from this episode, ask questions. That's why I always say, right, like, if you have questions, ask, put in the chat right away. This is live, real time. You get the fastest way to achieve success and to, to, to collapse the gap is by getting your questions answered, right? That's why a lot of people who are very successful, they have advisors, they have people, they have coaches, mentors, guides. They have people that they're able to ask questions on the spot and then get feedback fast. Like, I call it fast feedback because it's feedback on demand. Feedback on demand allows you to collapse the gap in the fastest ways possible because it's about surrounding yourself with who has that information, who has the knowledge that will allow you to fill that gap and collapse it right away, right? It's fast implementation. That's it. Success loves speed. When you're able to identify and surround yourself with people who are in different levels of buckets, and you're able to use that list as a resource for yourself to collapse the gap faster, you're gonna get closer to your desired outcome in the fastest humanly way possible. Okay, this is fire. So, you know, this is— I love the, the engagement, you know. Twin says, so good. Angela says, it's not fun when you're always the one. And that's true, it is true, right? So apply. Callan says, preach on, you know. Angela says, don't come back to me if you didn't apply yet. I told my partners this, I will train you every day, but if you haven't done anything that I taught, I can't save you. We can't work for you, but we can work with you. And that's so true, you know, like no one else— like this, they even said this at the conference, or at the mastermind. They were like, no one's here to save us, right? Except for you. You gotta save yourself, right?

And the way you do that is obviously working on yourself, learning, asking questions, and what Angela said, right? Yeah, curiosity. And guess what? That's what a lot of people said. They're like, be curious, ask questions. It's okay to ask questions. There are no dumb questions, really. Like, ask it. Like, don't be afraid, you know. Um, so curiosity. Jackie says, I don't know everything either. I always need to be intellectually stimulated. I don't want to be alone, but since ChatGPT, I haven't felt as much alone, LOL. And since I have been gaining so much valuable knowledge, I have to apply daily. My ChatGPT daily is 40 questions minimum. Angela says, do the work, then ask what's next. Move in motion. Yes. Yes, and the thing is, like, even here they said, you know, there's a lot of people out there that ask questions sometimes and they get the knowledge and they read the books, they listen to the podcasts, and they watch the YouTube videos, but then they never apply it, you know. Action, action, action, action, honestly. And you're gonna make mistakes, and it's okay because the more mistakes you make, the faster you're gonna learn. Obviously it's not great to make mistakes if you You can avoid those mistakes by asking the questions to the people that you know will probably have the answer and thinking for yourself and doing just a little bit of research. But taking action is going to get you a lot further than not, right? So we always say like ignorance on fire is better than knowledge on ice, okay? So again, you do not need to be the smartest, the fastest, whatever, but you gotta move. And you got to keep moving, right?

Yeah. And then we'll end this episode with this. Okay. So it's exactly what everyone is saying, right? You don't have to know it all. You don't have to be the one to do it all. Like, and that's the truth. And here's why. Okay. It's because as an entrepreneur, as a business owner, yes. You know, at times we're the operators. However, if you want to get to the next level, you have to go beyond yourself. You have to and must learn to duplicate yourself and exit the business as fast as humanly possible from the day-to-day operations, working inside the trenches, inside the business, to working on the business, to working on strategy, to working on networking, to working on expanding your resources, your human resources, HR, okay? Because it's about talent. It's about acquiring as much talent as possible, replacing yourself as fast as humanly possible, making yourself work on the high-level, big picture, bigger value, right? Bigger, bigger value actions in order for you to expand and grow, to get to a bigger desired outcome. And we're going to end it with this, okay? If it goes back to what you were saying, this is a big takeaway I got. You know, it's a reminder, but it was such a great insight for me that it changed my perspective in terms— it just, it, it didn't change my perspective because I already knew it. It shifted my perspective and nudged me back on course towards what I need to be doing. Okay, so it's like, it's this: if you know your strength and you are the best at this one thing that's gonna move the needle forward the biggest, the fastest, the most efficiently, it's gonna decrease input, it's gonna increase output, and it's just one thing that you are good at, and you and you alone are the only one that can do it. Everything else that you are doing aside from that one thing, you are now— and always remember this— you are now destroying value. You are now destroying value if you are focusing on the things that you are not supposed to be doing. If you are focusing on everything else but that one thing, just know, as a leader, just know that you are destroying value. That hit for me. So moving forward, what's my intention for myself? This is just for me. What about for you? But for me, I'm gonna be wrestling with— this is probably why I was so stressed out last night— I'm gonna be wrestling with how can I get myself out of every single thing that is not my one things, right? That's not my one thing. How can I get myself out of that as fast as humanly possible? Because now I know better. Now I know that if I'm doing all these other things, I'm destroying value. And what's one thing that all of us wrestle with? Time, right? Time. And one thing that they said was like, everyone has time, but it's never the time, right? It's never— the problem is never time. The problem is that you don't have a deadline. Mm-hmm. So everything that you do, take all this insights, apply it. I know everyone's taking notes, right? Note-takers, apply that. Use this, think about it, wrestle with it, jot down some notes, talk to someone about this, discuss it. These are the things that actually move the needle forward in your business and in your life. This not even— this doesn't even pertain to business alone. This is also your relationship, your lifestyle, your family, your passions, how you decide on what you want to do, what you say yes and no to. All these different things, this all pertains to it, right? So identify that with— like, identify that for yourself. It may take a while, it may not, who knows, but do the work. The insights are there. Do that work. Plan and execute. P and E. Understand who you are surrounding yourself with. Understand and know, like, hey, there are resources out there. I am able to collapse the gap, your current situation to your desired outcome. Birch says moneymakers. No, so much value on these calls. Thank you for pouring into us. Angela says lifestyle. Nico says, I saw when Cody posted that, that she opened up with her— with that in her speech. You don't need more time, you need a deadline. That was so good. Yeah, it's— and it is true, you know. Angela says self-respect. Say no, say no to everything that doesn't serve you better. Exactly, you know, like it's— you have to set your boundaries for yourself. You have to understand, like, what do you truly want to do? What is that, you know, your bound— your— the bounds for the boundaries, really, like the boundaries for yourself. Like, are you stepping across that line or are you not?

Vision starts with the vision.

Yeah.

What is your vision for your life? What is your vision for your family? What is your vision when it comes to your goals? Like, where are you trying to go? What are you trying to do, right? It's everything and anything. It's in your daily life. It's in your job. It's in your business. It's in this thing called Thrive that we do together. And you guys best believe I am like networking with people, and you better believe I'm like, I have a vitamin business too. Oh yeah, she literally says to everyone, I say that to everyone, like, what do you do? I'm like, oh well, you know, we own an auto shop together, we have a media company together, and I sell vitamins. I sell vitamins.

Yep.

And we have a nonprofit. Like, you guys, I am not ashamed, okay? So like, I know some people are ashamed, they're afraid of like what their friends are gonna say. Fuck it, I don't give a fuck. I'm like, I sell vitamins. Oh, what kind of vitamins? I'm like, vitamins that give you energy and help with your gut health, you know? Like, if you're interested, like, let me know. Like, I will always forever be shouting it out. Like, I don't care, I'm a fucking multimillionaire and I will fucking still share my little side hustle. Right? Because this little side hustle helped me become who I am today. Like, who you guys see in front of you, and like, who you guys— like, him as well. Like, I became this way because Thrive, because the community, because the level of personal development, because of the love that we have for each other and helping each other succeed and move forward in life. Like, I will forever be a Thriver. So whether I'm doing this, I'm doing that, I'm buying this business, I'm doing full philanthropy, like I am always gonna be like loud and proud about it. Like I also sell vitamins and I wear my DFTs. People see it like, what's that? I'm gonna tell you. Like I don't care, you guys. Like you have to not give a fuck about other people's opinions because they don't fucking pay your bills.

So yeah, side hustle still pays all the bills. All right, so You know, there's a lot that we discussed. You're on fire. Let's freaking make this fire transform into realities, you know, like change other people's lives, impact the world, impact the masses. Let's make something happen together. Let's work on that vision, share it with everyone, create those multiple streams of leveraged income if you want. Angela says, I told my people today I'm getting everyone on Thrive. Believe it. Alex says, man, when y'all pop off, it's absolute fire. Let's go. Yo, over here we for sure know that people next to us are probably like, what the fuck's happening? What's everyone doing in here? Yeah, but guess what? Like, we don't care. We're just doing our thing. That's it. We gotta go. We gotta make things happen. More impact, okay? More messages out there to the world. More impact. Together we are stronger. Let's freaking make it happen, okay? Have an amazing Wednesday. Dominate your path. Make it happen. We hope this was valuable. Take action. Let your learning lead to action. Collapse the gap as fast as humanly possible. All right, you've got what it takes. You just got to give it all that you've got. Make it happen. You can manifest your reality. All right, let's get it. All right, have an amazing day. Crush it. Dominate your path. We love you all, and we will see you next week, next episode. Let's get it.

Love you guys. Thank you guys so much for being here. Thank you.

Peace out. Bye.