Episode 47 - Ron Alford: Scaled To The Top Of The Corporate Ladder And Coaches Others To Do The Same

I do really believe 100% from every part of me that everyone has the capacity to be able to do the things that they want and not to be held back by the mental baggage that's in our head that we want to push through.

Welcome to the do the Thing podcast. In each episode, we get down and personal with people who go after the things they want to make all their wildest dreams come true. Join us as we unveil and dissect a formula for what it takes to do the thing. Here is your host, Stacy Lauren.

Hey everyone.

Welcome to the do the Thing podcast. This is your host, Stacy Lauren. So recently I interviewed the most adorable girl on the show. Hartley had just finished a very challenging 60 day no sugar challenge. And if you haven't listened to that episode, you don't want to miss it. It's the one right before this one. Everything about Hartley's story inspired me, but where did Hartley learn how to flex her do the Thing muscle? It started at home. Her dad, Ron, is one of the best examples of people who do the thing and everything he does. Ron served as a business coach for my past company and he gave me so much valuable guidance and wisdom. He shares a similar background with me. We both started selling books for Southwestern in their college internship program. If you guys have been following the show for a while, you know how pivotal that job was for me. For those of you that haven't heard of it yet, we will talk about it on this episode. But it was basically the experience that ingrained so many powerful core principles that I've carried throughout my life. Ron stayed with the Southwestern family of companies. He climbed the corporate ladder and broke records, achieving the highest level of sales 70 times with Southwestern Advantage. He even became a leadership record holder for the company, coaching and training more leading producers than any other manager. He accepted a new role under another part of the company's umbrella in 2013. He's now a senior partner, the vice president of recruiting, and an executive level sales and leadership coach for Southwestern Consulting. And as you might expect, he continues shattering every sales and revenue record. Not only does Ron do the thing at every turn, but he's passionate about helping others do the same. He coaches people and companies on how to break down barriers and reach their fullest potential. Did I mention that he's also an author? He co authored his book Redefining to Inspire Others. It is such a joy to welcome Ron Alpher to the show.

Hey Ron, how's it going?

It's good, Stacey. It's good to get to Talk to you. I've been looking forward to this. Good.

I'm so glad. I know how much you've helped me when I was with my company and just we have so much similarities with different things that we've done. And so I'm just super excited to dive in and get to talk to you more.

Yeah, it's, it's been fun tracking you since, you know, since then and just what you're doing now. So. Love being with you.

Super cool. Well, why don't you start off and tell the listeners about you, your background, your story and whatever you're open to sharing.

I'm in. I can give you a brief version. Then you tell me where I should go deeper. Military kid moved around a ton. And you know, when I was 19, similar to your story, I tripped into an internship that I still am amazed. You know, sometimes things happen in life that are just very pivotal and.

For me to hear about Southwestern and go out and do a summer internship, worked 80 plus hours a week, you know, as you did, working my way through college and just learned so much about myself and about just behaviors and human habits and psychology and real world stuff you can't get from a textbook. And you know, I guess I was addicted to pain because I kept coming back for more every summer.

Worked my way through school. And now 28 years later, I'm still part of the same family of companies. So was, was 20 years on that side of Southwestern kind of growing campuses and was the director of the west coast in Canada. And then almost nine years ago shifted to Southwestern Consulting where we do more one on one coaching, you know, keynote speaking. And then I also help hire coaches. That's my role now.

Gotcha. Yeah. And so for everyone listening, I'd love you just to share because I did have, I've talked a little bit about Southwestern. I did have a former book guy on here, Craig Garcia, if you guys want to check out his episode. But I'd love it for you to share what Southwestern is a little bit about it just for the people listening.

Yeah, it's still to this day. It's crazy how I'm still blown away by the history. It's, you know, back 170, almost 170 years ago, Nashville was part of the southwest United States. That's where our name comes from. Headquarters is in Nashville. And for decades it was just the direct sales. It was just university students from around the world would run their own business, make money for school, but then also learn how to handle adversity. And it was face to face sales. It was mostly door to door, where they would relocate for the summer to a different part of the nation or the world. And gosh, again, roughly 80 hours per week of doing this. And that's been the model. And so still to this day, that's the biggest part of Southwestern. And there's a few thousand students from all around the world now that do that every summer. There's students from the Czech Republic and Bulgaria selling in Seattle this summer, near where I live.

So it's still strong. It's still growing and strong. And then now there's a family of companies within Southwestern, though, where we have Southwestern Real Estate or Southwestern Travel, Southwestern Consulting. So there's, you know, it's. It's. The family of companies has grown, but the hub is still very much the Southwestern, you know, summer internship, where it's now called Southwestern Advantage, where the students sell. That's. That's how we, most of us got started.

Yeah, it's so cool because when I was selling, it was like right before computers were coming out. And I remember the last year, but there was the people when I was going door to door, they started talking about CD ROMs, you know, and I was wondering how it was going to continue, you know, like, what was going to be the way that they did it to continue on. And it's amazing how they're just constantly able to, like, evolve and come up with new strategies to be able to sell, essentially.

Yeah, it is. It's a fascinating story. And it's, you know, you're dating us because I started, I think, a little before you.

So the listeners know. But it's. That's the whole spirit. It's kind of this, the three words that I think really represent the history or find a way. And it's neat, too, because you can hear that from a corporate sense. But we're all part of families, we're all part of churches, we're all part of communities and the entities that don't adapt, don't adjust, don't pivot. If you will fail, they fall, they end.

And the ones that find a way. And it's just really a neat history of how Southwestern, through the Great Depression, through the world wars, through computers taking over the world, whatever, have adapted and adjusted and are still growing.

Yeah, definitely. So I would love to talk about. So in terms of. You mentioned being a military kid. Tell me more about that. Is that, like, what did you learn during that experience? Because I'm imagining that's how you got used to making transitions and things like that. And I'm just kind of curious what influence that had on you.

Yeah, I did, you know, when you move around a bit, I, you know, lived in a number of different states and went to high school in Alaska. And you. You do become a little more quick to adjust and adapt. And, you know, there's pros and cons with everything. There's obviously pros of not doing that. But for me, it was definitely discipline, routines, regimens, you know, learning how to do that stuff without being in a rut. So how. The power, the positive parts of routines, they can also be negative, in my opinion. But.

Boy, that. That was one of the biggest things I was subjected to. And learning how to take discipline, learning how to receive feedback, learning how to control what you can and accept what you must. Those are things that still, to this day, I'm really appreciative that I got from that.

Yeah. So then by the time you ended up finding Southwestern, was it kind of. It wasn't as. Was it as shocking for you as it was for some of the other kids, or what was that like?

Oh, heck, yeah. I believe it was because, you know, my personality type struggles with rejection and, you know, very much want to be liked type type scenario. And boy, you talk about face to face, door to door sales where you're getting rejected dozens of times a day. And just, you know, I went to high school in Alaska. Then my first summer with Southwestern was in Dallas, Texas. I'd never been around humidity. I'd never tried to sell anything in my life. I had never, you know, so just a lot of those kind of things. I think for every person doing it, there was something that was so out of their dang comfort zone. Even though it wasn't apples to apples for each kid or student, it just had a way of ripping open our guts and revealing ourselves, you know, us to ourselves. And that sounds graphic, but it was just very much like, man, on one hand, you gain a lot of confidence because what you're doing, but on the other hand, it destroys you in a way. And then you have to learn how to bounce back quickly.

Yeah. I'm so glad you brought up rejection, because I actually, I had that. I don't. It's funny, when I do these interviews, I don't have a huge plan because I do like to get things more naturally evolving. But I knew rejection was something I was wanting to talk with you about, but then I was wondering if you really were as closely tied to it now, because you've been doing it long and now you've been, you know, training coaches and things like that. So I'm, I'm glad that it sounds like it's still raw and real for you.

It is, it is. I have just very emotional and vivid memories from, you know, it's been a long time since those, those summers, but.

How they shape us and mold us and I, it's what's interesting to me is, and I'm sure all your listeners can any of the things we go through in our youth, how those things play out in adult life. And so even though this is now not what we called the book field back then, this is those skills of learning how to control my thoughts, learning how to find positives with any negative, learning how to accept adversity but still focus on the good, learning how to treat people unconditionally, hopefully, whether they bought or not, how to still treat people.

Those things I'm still working on sure haven't perfected any of them, but they're things I'm working on.

Yeah. And so when you mentioned and I can't remember exactly the word you used, but it wasn't in your personality to be able to handle rejection well because you wanted to be liked. So what was that like for you?

How did you push through?

You know, and it's interesting, my daughter talked about this too. I think having good accountability where I remember before the summer telling my parents, telling a couple of my friends, like when I want to quit because I probably will, you cannot let me. You have to help me regain perspective because odds are I'm going to lose perspective. We know how humans play small when we lose perspective. But when that happens, I need you to hold me accountable. I need good people that push me and remind me of perspective. It's just a summer, it's just, you know, you can do this. So that was big that even though I could be emotional, I could come home at the end of a day, just be. Feel rock bottom for a 19 year old kid. Just feel so alone, so worthless. Like, why did I do that? All my friends are having fun all summer and I'm sucking and I'm not making any money and I'm miserable and, and then you take a breath, you regain perspective and you get your butt back out there and say, okay, how can I get better tomorrow? And lo and behold, boy, you realize, wow, I'm actually helping families. I'm liking this. I'm making good money. And then you start to see the good parts of it.

Yeah, you almost got into that roller coaster thing and then you figured out how to get yourself out of it by focusing even on service, too, and what you were doing every day.

Well said. That is the truth. Like the days or the hours where I was all up in my own deal thinking about all me, I was miserable. And the days I got past myself and maybe committed to a teammate, like, hey, I'm working for you today. Or, you know, was focused on the families, was focused on, you know, having those affirmations of every hour gets my best. Every family gets my best. Those positive thoughts, it got me outside of my own little tiny situation. And, you know, there was a much bigger purpose there. And those days were so much more joyful. The time flew by. You felt so much more present with people. It just was. It was like a different job, even though it wasn't.

Yeah, I love that, actually. It's funny, I've had some of this as part of the pieces of the formula before, but I haven't really thought about it in that way of when you are in those darkest moments and how when you can kind of like get out of your own self, you know, and have something else to focus on, how much that can really change everything for you.

It does. Yeah. And again, I hope every listener. It's not a, you know, southwestern thing. This is every one of our jobs. It doesn't matter for bankers or real estate or small business owners or government employees or whatever. I think these things are relatable for all of us.

Yeah. And then you. So then. And then, just so you guys know. So part of it, the next step is after you're selling books door to door, then you are able to hire other college students, and then you teach them how to do it, and then you're selling alongside of them. And then it sounds like you went on even further and then removed yourself from the selling. And then you. You did that part, you said, I think for 20. 20 years or.

Exactly.

Yeah, 20 years. And so.

Yeah.

So what was that like when you went from sales to sales and then and all of that?

It was like parenting. It was.

Like, that's why your daughter has some amazing goals. That was amazing.

It's such a helpless feeling sometimes because you feel. I'm sure everyone on here that's a parent and or leader can relate here. You sometimes feel like you want it more than they do, and you feel very responsible for them. You know, we would work so hard to interview enough and hire enough and, you know, prepare enough for the summer. And then, you know, they're trusting you. And I took that so seriously. Like, it was. It was just something where you care so deeply about these people and you learn. I learned so much. I mean, of course, made all the mistakes, trying to motivate them the way I'm motivated, trying to, you know, just.

Of course, how to not manage all people the same and realizing how to read different situations and, you know, learning that my actions mean way more than my words. All those kind of things are things that I just am so grateful as in my young 20s, I got. We got to manage armies of students. And it just. Gosh, by the time you're 22, 24, 25, it's.

There's things that no MBA or degree can. Can give you that we got subjected to and just very appreciative of that. Yeah.

Did you see any. I don't know if you remember. And we can. We can flip back to current, too, because you're. You're doing this with businesses now where you're helping them do the thing. But we'll talk about the Southwestern first, because that was a big chunk of your time. And then also it was students. So I think it was kind of a cool. It's a cool way to look at common traits, you know, But I was just wondering if you. If you noticed any common traits of people that ended up being successful with you.

Yeah, I did. And I think this relates now to coaching clients, because to your point, you know, whether it was back then, those 20 years of working with university students or now bringing a lot of the principles and skills to the real world, you know, people in all different industries. Number one is humility. I have learned to appreciate that in another human more than anything. Ego kills dreams. Ego and arrogance and pride.

They just cause so many things that become destroyed. And for people that are able to feel ego, arrogance, pride, but yet slay it each day.

And kind of tap back into that, I don't have it all figured out.

The more I learn, the more I realize I have to learn.

That is the number one trait. People that love to learn and are just kind of students of their game and just have that. I have vivid images in my head of examples, but.

That'S number one. Number two, I think it's just. I'll give you one more. For now, it's people that have that burn the boats. Like, I'm committed. I've got both feet in when I put one foot into things. And I'm wanting to be a jack of all trades. I am a master of none. I'm not committed. And I've always got an Out. I've always got a backup plan. And that's when we're most those students for all those years or us adults, you see behaviors. It's so easy to rationalize. It's so easy to be more susceptible to excuses than someone that doesn't have a plan B like, I am all in.

And that, that was just a dramatic difference maker, you know, in results for people.

Yeah.

That's so good. Gosh. I just was. As you were talking about loving, loving to learn, I was just thinking back to just how magical sales school was and how it. It expands your mind into learning with just the way that it's set up. But I know you kind of took that through with, with where you are now. I'd love it if you'd share a little bit more about what you're doing now and what that looks like.

Yeah.

The very simple version is we help people achieve their goals. Like, get really clear on where they want to be in life. The intentionality of where do I see myself short term, 4, 5, 6 months from now, Q3, Q4, long term, 5 years from now, 10 years from now, even after my career, like, get clear on where they want to be and then whatever it takes to get there. And so we work with teams and individuals to, you know, kind of three main areas to fill the gaps. Number one is just skills and techniques. How do I sharpen what I do? So whether I'm an Olympic athlete or sell homes, or I'm a wealth advisor or a medical device person or a small business owner or whatever, how do I sharpen every part of my craft? You know, in the skills and techniques camp, you know, sales psychology, leadership psychology, et cetera. The second part is just drive, will, vision, hunger, consistency, habits, like anything and everything that go into effort.

And then the third part is systems. How do I get more fruit out of a minute? It's just this incredible even thing that evens the playing field for all humans. We all have the same amount of minutes, yet some humans get so much more out of an hour or a day. And so how do I create systems of where I know how to say no without being a people pleaser, I know how to delegate without being a control freak. I know how to prioritize.

So those are kind of the three main things we do.

And then of course, the customization is big because.

As you know, any person we're working with has strengths in certain areas and gaps in another, just like I do. We all have that. And our goal is to help people see, identify, blind Spots. What are the things that maybe you don't even know, you don't know, that are holding me back and then help them move past those things. And so there's a lot of accountability involved. Right. We all have good intentions. Most humans all want to do good things. It's not a lack of want. But what step am I going to take by this Friday? You know, check in with me Monday. I can't. And having healthy accountability, I'm not talking about the guilt crap that are empowering you, encouraging you, checking, you know, that's a big part of what we do.

Yeah.

What do you think is the best kind of method for someone being held accountable to their goals?

Well, you know, you just hit the. I think in your question, you worded it really well. It's got to be about them. I think a lot of people feel this person or this company's or my spouse or whoever, people are trying to hold me accountable for their own agenda. They're pushing me and micromanage. And then that's when we say, oh, I don't want to be micromanaged. And all these things we say. But when it's about my vision, when someone cares so deeply that I want to pay off debt, I want to save money for that second home, I want to take my spouse on a trip, I want to support this nonprofit that I care deeply about, like, all these things that drive me, when another human knows those things and cares about me, I'm so much more willing to be held accountable when they make it. When I feel it's about them, I resist, I push, I fight it. And when someone is so caring and so aware of my vision and why I'm, you know, and then they just say, hey, gosh, I love what you're working towards, Stacey, Man, I'd love to support you. Let me know how this goes Monday. I would love to. And, you know, whether it's formal accountability, like someone that's paying a business coach, or informal, like an accountability friend, or, you know, something more informal, if it's done in a loving manner where it's like, hey, and then that's where, you know, the good ones will call you out in a loving way. They'll know when to say, dude, you're better than that. I know. You said you were going to do boom and boom by Friday. Come on, let's go. We still got time.

And they don't let us slide.

Yeah.

When you say don't let us slide, what does that mean?

Well, I think there are certain people that Mean, well, that attempt to hold others accountable. But we all know they're softies, you know, for lack of a better term.

And just, oh, well, you know, you're. You can get them next time. And there's a place for that. Because obviously, sensitivity, when someone's really going through a pandemic or going through a personal thing, obviously there needs to be high sensitivity involved. But a lot of times we just need to be pushed. We need someone to not accept our BS rationalizations and say, come on, you're better than that. I know you said you were going to do boom and boom. Let's go. We can still do this today. And what happens the first couple times, it's a little painful, but then quickly people start adjusting. They get strengthened. It's a muscle that grows. I think I look at it like a bicep or a calf or whatever. When muscles get stagnant, they are flabby and weak. When they get strengthened, they grow. And that's like behaviors and habits.

Yeah, I love that you worded it like that, because I think that's another thing that's been really coming out through the interviews is how important it is. Just even those little micro movements that we have with whatever we want to do, whether it's like, dealing with rejection or creating better confidence or having more discipline with whatever, whether it's eating or anything, it's like all those little micro movements are helping you build it up, so then it becomes even more powerful as you continue to do it.

Yep, you got it. Well said. And then it. You know, and it's forgiveness, too. I think, obviously, most of your listeners are probably like us, where they're their own worst critic. Us humans have a tendency to beat ourselves up. So it's. It's giving grace, you know, like, okay, I messed up today. I mean, even like my daughter, if. When she was talking about eating no sugar for 60 days, like, whatever. We all make mistakes, you know, and so sometimes when something happens, it's like, okay, I'm gonna. I'm gonna forgive myself, pick myself back up, learn from it, and, you know, maybe get some additional accountability if needed, but at least come back at it a little stronger. And that's. That's so much of the human spirit. Right? Anybody that's accomplished anything has had to come back from failures. They bounce back from them.

Yeah, I like it because when you have. And I've been kind of looking at a lot of. I'm thinking of eventually doing some kind of challenge with do the Thing, and I've been Looking a lot of different challenge programs. And there's the hardcore, you know, challenge, like you said, kind of like the shaming one, which I don't want to do. But then it's. There's also the softer ones and there's this balance between wanting it to be really where they're held accountable, but also not shaming, but then also not where they can constantly be giving up on themselves, essentially.

Yeah. Yep. Yep. Great. And that is such a fine balance, you know, and it's. I think that's where, of course, we got to work on the psychology. It's almost therapy involved, of how not to take things in a shameful way. I'm not getting critique. You know, some people are very. I think we all have seasons of being fragile to feedback or critique. We get, you know, feedback or critiqued and we get shame or we blame or we feel guilty or we. And so of course that's some of the first things is how do we get ourselves in the right emotional state to where I take the feedback the right way? I don't beat myself up or feel shame.

Yeah. Did that. Is that what helped you with. Because we. I wanted to go back to rejection too. So this is a good lead in for that. Is that what helped you with rejection was not taking it personally and realizing that it was just part of what you were doing or how did, how did you really help overcoming that.

Yeah. Yes. But eventually I'd like to be on your podcast saying, yes, I adapted day two, day one was bad. And by day two, I was no way. I was a dang mess.

And it took quite a while just pounding my dang head against the wall before I started to really proactively coach myself. And what I realized is, just like now as adults, if we start our day and we kind of just wander into the day, we're way more susceptible to rejection, comparing anxiety, guilt, doubt, whatever. But if we have great morning routines, you know, how tight are our morning routines? So that way, when I hit that first door by 8:00am or whatever, your listeners career jobs are here. My mind and my heart are ready. It's almost like I've got my armor on, I'm ready for it. Where the rejection doesn't hit me, it doesn't penetrate me. There's a little bit more of a bulletproofness, if you will, versus when I had very thin skin and the slightest little thing would, you know, woe is me. I'm a victim.

Yeah.

Was there anything else? I love that wording, by the way. And I was Just wondering, is there anything else that helped you with that? Where you went from the. Well, you're making me think of the rhino book, which I don't know if you were into that, but I was, like, obsessed with the rhino because it was like the thin skin versus thick skin. So I imagine myself being like a rhino as I'm going out there. I was just wondering if you had anything like that, any kind of, like, references that you had used.

Oh, massively. I love that. And I think that is so pivotal, like, physiology matters, like how we. Our posture, our breathing, our, you know, imagining. For some people, it's like, oh, I don't want to imagine I have a cape on. Or, you know, but you can. It's funny how our human minds, they can trigger us. If I pop a piece of gum, let's say from 9 to 10, I want to just rock emails every day or make prospecting calls or whatever, clean the house, like, whatever task it is that you may tend to avoid. And boy, you pop in that superpower gum. And from 9 to 10, that gum just carries you. And hopefully the listeners all laugh because that, of course, sounds so goofy, but it's crazy how it works. And that's where the affirmation, the self talk. Let's go. I'm fearless on the phone. 90 minutes, no distractions. Come on. And by me speaking that into existence or by you, you're imagining that rhino, that bulletproof. I'm the warrior going into battle with my breastplate, my shield, my helmet, my sword. I've got my armor on. Let's go.

It's crazy how people can get through incredible things when they just shift their mind.

Yeah. And can we talk about the numbers, too? Like the law of averages? How did that impact you in terms of rejection once you started to understand your numbers?

Yeah, well, I hit it in two ways for me personally, and then now, whether it's coaching or leading people, I think it's proactive. You know, proactively, we have to go into something helping people understand. None of us want to be sold or like to sell. Like, none of us want to feel like we're convincing people or we're. I need a shower. It just feels gross. So with the law of average, it's awesome. All I have to do is see enough people, be very laid back. Here's what I'm doing. This may be a fit, it may not. We call that creating a buying atmosphere. Whatever I'm doing might be a fit. If it's a fit for you. Gosh, be so Great to, you know, I'll walk you through next steps and get you going. If it's not a great fit, no problem. You won't hurt my feelings. And you have this abundance mentality that the law of averages always works. And when you really believe in your buying atmosphere, there's no selling pressure, there's no selling atmosphere. It doesn't feel weird. People don't feel commission breath or whatever. And so the buying atmosphere, and then you just have this piece that whether they buy or not, man, I'm going to leave them in a great mood. Who's next? Because the averages always work. And you know, if you're a startup company, maybe you haven't got the averages figured out yet, but that's a goal is how quickly can I. So it doesn't matter if it's someone that's in insurance or auto sales or anything. And you can even, you can play games like this with anything. But the law of averages is a very powerful, you know, frame of mind to look at.

Yeah, I think that was one of my biggest. Well, besides, I think you mentioned the playing games too, and I love doing that kind of stuff. But understanding the numbers, I think really helped me with rejection because once you know what your numbers are, then it's easy to not take it personally anymore because you already know it's going to happen. Your expectations are already there, you know.

Got it. Yeah. It's crazy how everything changes and people feel so much more endeared to you. It's crazy how the less we care, the more people want what you have.

I know.

Isn't that funny?

Yeah. The more we care, we squeeze it right through our fingers. And it's not that you don't care, of course, but you're just coming across as though you don't care. And it's a. It's an interesting, you know, psychology to it.

Oh, definitely. Well, so what do you think has been the hardest thing for you? And then also because it's hard, I'm like, which way do I want to frame it? Because you help so many people do the thing and you've helped so many help and helped. But what do you think has been the hardest thing for. For you or for them that you've seen?

You know, I think for me personally, it's. Again, I honestly think acceptance is as difficult for any human as anything there is. And so that's for me or for anyone else, you know what? I resist, will persist. So when the pandemic hits right now, gas prices, the person that's Elected in office, the mask mandates the not to get too, you know, how someone else looked at me, how many likes I got on social media, whatever, all these things that I cannot control. The dang weather in Seattle this June.

Acceptance is just massively important.

And so working that through with clients, whether it's with clients that we work with, I mean when C level clients, people that are running massive companies on down to brand new assistants that are clients.

If it's that or if it's my own life.

How do we accept the things we must? How do we influence the things we can? And then of course control the things fully that we can, which is our mood, our effort, our attitude, et cetera. And boy, when people live into that, it's crazy, it's lights out. But the more we struggle with that kind of CIA control, influence, accept.

I believe the more people suffer. And it's not always in money. Doesn't mean they don't have a good amount of money. But it's in fulfillment, it's in joy, it's in things that of course matter a lot more than money.

And for the fulfillment and the joy piece, do you think it's because they're always seeing what they don't have because they're not accepting?

You got it. Exactly. There are so many wealthy sad people, right? Because they just compare and well, if only my spouse was like that one. If only my parent, if only my house, if only my job, my boss, my commute, my, you know, insert whatever here. And it's just, you know, comparison is the thief of all joy. We know that quote, but it's, it's crazy how true it is. And the more we are living into the things I can't control, the more I compare and my joy is minimized.

So that's a deep one. I know we're short on time, but maybe that'll be a part two someday.

Yeah, it's good. It's really good, Ron. I'm glad that I shared that. And then I was wondering, you've given such great advice. I was wondering if you had one piece of advice on people for doing the thing, what would it be?

Yeah. Oh, just one.

I do, I really do. I think, you know, this sounds cliche, but it is getting clear on vision. There are just so many people we see that are. Doesn't matter if they are 20 or they are 75 years old or whatever. They look back at a season of life and like.

I wasn't intentional about what I wanted. So lo and behold, I didn't get What I wanted and so intentionality of getting clear on that vision, what is the kind of person I want to be, what are the character traits I want to be known for, what are the things I want to do, what are the things I want to have? The more we're clear on that and then hopefully share it. Kill ego, kill pride, kill arrogance. Acquire more humility. Share the vision with people that care and elicit help, like being able to ask for help. It's amazing to me when, when a human is humble enough to just say, you know what? I'd love your support. I'd love your help. A lot of us are so resistant to asking for support.

So I know that's a little bit longer answer, but I think getting clear on what we want is the main thing. And then aligning that vision, what we want with our calendar. So that's where I would go second.

Yeah, that's good.

Because if someone has a great vision but then their dang calendar doesn't represent it, you know, not going to happen. So that's where getting meticulous about how I plan those hours and how I build my follow through muscles. I have a clear plan and I'm getting better at sticking to my plan. Creating boundaries, boy, that's when someone's pretty tough to stop.

That is so good. And is there anything that I didn't ask you that you wish I asked you?

How tall am I? I'm six three.

Are you?

I am. You are funny.

I didn't.

It's funny.

We talked before. We've like, we've known each other for a while but we haven't met in person yet, so that's funny. I have no idea.

Oh, it's so fun meeting people like that that you know virtually or on. And then it's like, whoa, you're whatever, you know, different than what I thought online. And it's. Yeah, it's so I'm obviously having fun, but yeah, it's. It's just awesome being here with you. I think there's so much goodness in this podcast and what you're bringing. So I'm happy to be a part of it, Stacey.

Thank you. And then do you mind just sharing? Because one of the other piece of the formula is to get a good coach and that's what you are and your company does. So I just thought you could just share information if they wanted to reach out to you or one of your coaches, how they would do that.

Yeah, happy to. It's so real simple. LinkedIn or Instagram or any of those social forums. Ron Alford, you know, I'm sure you'll have my A L, F O R D is probably the easiest way. Just a message on LinkedIn, a message on Instagram, something like that. I'm happy to. You know, I don't know if you want to post my email or I can leave my cell number, but that's the easiest way. And then it's southwestern consulting.com.

Is where our team's at.

That's perfect. Yeah, I'll put it in the show notes for you guys too.

Okay, awesome.

Thank you so much for coming on, Ron.

I appreciate it.

And thanks for having your daughter on. It was so much fun getting to meet Blast.

It was. It was meaningful for our family, Stacy, so appreciate your heart and just again being a part of this.

Thanks for listening to the do the Thing podcast. We hope you enjoyed the show. But even more, we hope you'll be inspired to do the Thing. Do you have a burning question on Doing the Thing that you'd like answered? How about an inspiring do the Thing story of your own that you'd like to share? We'd love to hear all about it. Just leave us a voice message at dothing callcast co or email us@helloothethingpodcast.com.