In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Tim Martin, founder of SuccessIsVoluntary.com. Tim shares a pivotal 1999 Hawaii trip where he realized his purpose was to help others achieve success, noting the emotional impact of providing his team an opportunity they could not afford on their own. He offers concrete industry advice, stating that in insurance sales, anyone who sets two appointments per day never fails. His broader business mantra is simple: "just do the work," emphasizing consistent effort over talent. Tim reflects on personal growth, advising his younger self not to chase titles or take himself too seriously, and distinguishes between fleeting happiness tied to external events and lasting inner peace, joy, and contentment. He discusses leadership insights from John Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, focusing on the "Law of the Lid" and the idea that leadership ability caps team performance but can be developed. Tim shares two favorite quotes—Henry Ford’s warning that reputation isn’t built on future intentions, and Steven Pressfield’s description of resistance as a deceptive force—linking them to his own challenges. Finally, he directs listeners to his website, successisvoluntary.com, as the hub for his resources.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Tim Martin with us. He is the founder of successisvoluntary.com. So welcome to the show, Tim.
Hey, thanks for having me on. I'm honored.
Of course, man, pumped to have you on. And we'll dive into the first one. The first question I have for you, Tim, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
You bet. Well, it was 1999. I had been in a leadership position in the insurance business for just about 9 months is all. And I won a trip to Hawaii. I took my wife and we were able to take our kids. I had to pay for that out of my pocket, but we were able to take my kids with us. And 4 members of my team also got to go. And I looked around, we were sitting on the patio overlooking the sunset. Drinking little drinks that had umbrellas in them. And, and I look out and 3 of the 4 of my guys are out there. One is walking on the beach, one is splashing in the pool. They're with their spouses. Another one is sitting at the table with my wife and I having these drinks. And I got, I got really emotional. I started crying. And the reason I started crying is I realized that not a single person that I was looking at, plus the other one that was missing, I don't know where he was, But I knew there was no chance that they would have been able to afford a trip to Hawaii like this. And it was offered to them through their company. And I knew that I had just a little bit to do with that success. They did the work, but I offered them the opportunity and provided some guidance, pointed them in the right direction. And I knew right at that moment in time that that was going to be my life's work. How am I going to help people get started and be successful?
And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
You bet. In my industry, being insurance-based, um, I have yet to see anybody fail who set 2 appointments a day. If they'll just go out and set 2 appointments, even if they're in leadership, set 2 interview appointments per day. I've never seen anybody be anything less than wildly successful, let alone fail.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry-specific.
Yeah, just do the work. Just do the work. I've been very honored and blessed in my life to be able to hand out plaques at the end of the year for the number one agent or the number one manager of the year. We always give them an opportunity to speak and you ask them what makes them special. And they'll just say, "I go to work every day." Just do the work.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
That's a great one. Don't take yourself so damn seriously. I chased the promotion for the promotion's sake most of the time, oftentimes in my life. And I focused my self-worth based upon the title on my business card. And there's nothing wrong with wanting promotion. There's nothing wrong with wanting the validation that you're doing the job and being offered the next position, but don't chase it. Don't chase it.
And it might lead into the next one. In your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
I don't believe that there is a key to happiness, quite frankly. I think that happiness is external. Did you get that promotion? I get the promotion. I'm excited and happy for a brief period of time. Or if I tie my happiness to whether my wife is being kind to me or we're in a little bit of a tiff, that's what happiness is. It's tied to external things. I think the things that you can control are peace, joy, and contentment. And if you can work on those things in your own life, You know, you're going to have happiness come and go, but you can have peace all the time.
And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Boy, this goes way back. I read John Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership 20+ years ago. And the number one thing I learned from it, I mean, there's 21 laws, so it's hard to nail down. But the number one thing I learned from it was the first chapter is called the law of the lid, and you are only going to grow your team, your organization, to your leadership ability. So on a scale of 1 to 10, if you're a 7, you're never going to get your team to be a 10. The best it's going to be probably is a 6, maybe a 7. And so I learned that, but that the corollary to that is leadership is learnable. You can learn leadership. It's not some innate gift that God gave us is something that you can learn, you can study, you can get better at. You can move yourself from a 5 to a 7 to a 9.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
Well, I have two. Is it okay if I give two?
Yeah, you can give two.
Perfect. The first one is, is a short one. And, you know, it's, it's not hard to understand why this one is important in my life. And that is this: a man can't build his reputation on what he's going to do. And so that's from Henry Ford. And so again, in my life, I've oftentimes asked for the promotion based upon what I'm going to do in the next role. Okay, so any rate, so my second one is from Steven Pressfield from The War of Art. And in there, he talks about resistance as being a real thing, such as, you know, good versus evil, and it being actually a force. He talks about this resistance that comes against what you're trying to do. And in fact, he says the bigger the resistance, the more important it is for you to do that art, whether that means leading a team or writing a book or hosting a podcast like you and I both do. And at any rate, here's the quote. He says, resistance has no conscience. It will pledge anything to get a deal, then double-cross you as soon as your back is turned. If you take resistance at its word, you deserve everything you get. Resistance is always lying and always full of shit.
I love— and that is an amazing book, and it's so true. I think like whatever you are most resisting, as you're saying, usually is telling you that that's like most fearful to you. And then if you actually get through that fear, chances are on the other side, uh, something very good will come of it. So, um, but yeah, brother, thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have for you before we let you go, uh, and I think we kind of said it in the beginning, but where's the best place for people to find you online?
You bet. It's, uh, real simple, um, www, of course, that successisvoluntary.com. It's a lot of S's in there. Successes.com.
Perfect, man. Thank you again for joining us. We appreciate it.
Thank you, Tyler Wagner. Do it.
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