WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.760 If you look back a year from now, 2 00:00:01.760 --> 00:00:04.320 the only things that will have really moved the business 3 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:06.960 forward is the deep, non-urgent, 4 00:00:06.960 --> 00:00:08.680 but incredibly important work. 5 00:00:08.680 --> 00:00:10.680 And so, you just never want to sack, 6 00:00:10.680 --> 00:00:11.680 and I'm just telling you, 7 00:00:11.680 --> 00:00:14.360 the amount of times that having somebody come 8 00:00:14.360 --> 00:00:17.360 butt into my life has really been a positive, 9 00:00:17.360 --> 00:00:19.600 just gets smaller and smaller over time. 10 00:00:20.400 --> 00:00:25.400 Welcome to the game where we talk about how to get more customers, 11 00:00:25.400 --> 00:00:26.560 how to make more customers, 12 00:00:26.560 --> 00:00:27.560 how to keep them longer, 13 00:00:27.560 --> 00:00:29.960 and the many failures and lessons we have learned along the way. 14 00:00:29.960 --> 00:00:32.440 I hope you enjoy and subscribe. 15 00:00:32.440 --> 00:00:35.160 Today's theme is around goal setting, 16 00:00:35.160 --> 00:00:36.600 so let's rock and roll. 17 00:00:36.600 --> 00:00:39.880 In the first Rex podcast I've done in a very long time, 18 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:41.720 creating the conditions of success, 19 00:00:41.720 --> 00:00:45.120 and I think this is going to be really, really tangible 20 00:00:45.120 --> 00:00:48.440 for many of you entrepreneurs, business owners, 21 00:00:48.600 --> 00:00:50.640 is how you manage your time and your attention, 22 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:53.080 and the specific tactics, 23 00:00:53.080 --> 00:00:54.840 first off, explaining conceptually, 24 00:00:54.840 --> 00:00:56.440 and then underneath of the specific tactics 25 00:00:56.440 --> 00:00:58.040 that you can use, or at least that I have used, 26 00:00:58.040 --> 00:00:59.680 that have worked really well for me. 27 00:00:59.680 --> 00:01:03.520 And so, if this rings for you and rings true for you, 28 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:05.880 share this with your employees or share this with your team, 29 00:01:05.880 --> 00:01:07.520 because it may help them understand 30 00:01:07.520 --> 00:01:09.200 how to work with you better. 31 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:11.240 But I wanted to talk about something that 32 00:01:11.240 --> 00:01:12.680 considers you to be this repeated theme 33 00:01:12.680 --> 00:01:14.160 that I've seen from business owners, 34 00:01:14.160 --> 00:01:15.720 actually at all levels, 35 00:01:15.720 --> 00:01:19.560 and it will end up blocking you at some point in your career 36 00:01:19.560 --> 00:01:22.840 until you get unstuck from it. 37 00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:25.000 And so, some people that blocks them at 10,000 a month, 38 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:27.160 some it's 100,000 a month, sometimes it's a million a month, 39 00:01:27.160 --> 00:01:29.600 but once you hit this wall, you can't get through it. 40 00:01:29.600 --> 00:01:32.000 And so, I think for somebody who's listening 41 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:35.320 or maybe many of you, this may be like the missing link. 42 00:01:35.320 --> 00:01:36.880 And so, what I want to talk about, 43 00:01:36.880 --> 00:01:38.840 if I were to put a theme for this, 44 00:01:38.840 --> 00:01:41.440 is something that I'll call conditions for success. 45 00:01:41.440 --> 00:01:43.360 And there's this quote from BF Skinner 46 00:01:43.360 --> 00:01:45.200 that I just recently made a post about that, 47 00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:46.800 is always just like really stuck with me, 48 00:01:46.800 --> 00:01:48.840 which is, you can lead a horse to water, 49 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:50.080 but you can't make a drink. 50 00:01:50.080 --> 00:01:51.680 But that's not true, right? 51 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:54.840 Because if you salt the horse's mouth, you dehydrate it, 52 00:01:54.840 --> 00:01:55.840 you leave it out in the sun, 53 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:57.360 and then you put a bucket of water right next to the mouth, 54 00:01:57.360 --> 00:01:59.200 you can veritably guarantee that it will drink. 55 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:01.160 And so, that's a paraphrasing from BF Skinner. 56 00:02:01.160 --> 00:02:03.440 And said in a completely different line, 57 00:02:03.440 --> 00:02:04.840 if you hang out at a barbershop long enough, 58 00:02:04.840 --> 00:02:06.440 you're gonna get your haircut, right? 59 00:02:06.440 --> 00:02:09.280 And in AA, they say, hey, don't go where it's slippery, right? 60 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:11.720 If it's if you go to the bar long enough, 61 00:02:11.720 --> 00:02:12.880 you're gonna start drinking. 62 00:02:12.880 --> 00:02:14.680 And so, I think we can take this concept, 63 00:02:15.320 --> 00:02:17.240 and apply it to the behaviors that we want. 64 00:02:17.240 --> 00:02:19.160 And so, Jerry Seinfeld, for example, 65 00:02:19.160 --> 00:02:22.200 was known for his creative process, 66 00:02:22.200 --> 00:02:23.880 was he would lock himself in a room 67 00:02:23.880 --> 00:02:25.240 with only a pen and paper, 68 00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:28.440 and he didn't have to do anything, 69 00:02:28.440 --> 00:02:31.080 but he only could write jokes. 70 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:33.640 So, it was either write jokes or be bored. 71 00:02:33.640 --> 00:02:35.240 And so, some days he was just sit there 72 00:02:35.240 --> 00:02:36.480 for 30 minutes doing nothing, 73 00:02:36.480 --> 00:02:37.800 because he had no other distractions, 74 00:02:37.800 --> 00:02:39.720 and then he drank the water, right? 75 00:02:39.720 --> 00:02:41.320 Because he had basically salted his mouth, 76 00:02:41.320 --> 00:02:43.880 dehydrated himself from any external activities, 77 00:02:43.880 --> 00:02:46.200 and made the one thing that he actually wanted himself to do, 78 00:02:46.200 --> 00:02:49.120 the inevitable only action that he could do as a result. 79 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:51.120 And I think that entrepreneurship 80 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:53.680 is inherently a very distracting thing, right? 81 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:56.320 It detracts people who are a little bit ADD anyways, 82 00:02:56.320 --> 00:02:59.240 and then it is arguably one of the most ADD professions 83 00:02:59.240 --> 00:03:00.320 you can possibly have, right? 84 00:03:00.320 --> 00:03:02.600 Because you've got, you know, customer support emails, 85 00:03:02.600 --> 00:03:03.800 you've got marketing stuff you have to do, 86 00:03:03.800 --> 00:03:05.040 you've got leads you have to follow up with, 87 00:03:05.040 --> 00:03:08.000 you've got sales consults, you've got employee issues, 88 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:09.000 and you've got Slack, 89 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:10.240 notifying you every single day, 90 00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:11.840 and then you're like, how did that post do, 91 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:12.840 or whatever it is, right? 92 00:03:12.880 --> 00:03:15.240 So you've got all these different things that are coming in, 93 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:16.400 and at the same time, you're like, 94 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:19.480 how do I move the few things that matter forward? 95 00:03:19.480 --> 00:03:23.160 And so what I want to do is give you a handful of things 96 00:03:23.160 --> 00:03:24.280 that have worked for me, 97 00:03:24.280 --> 00:03:26.160 and the big, the teal that you're on this 98 00:03:26.160 --> 00:03:27.640 is that if you feel really burnt out 99 00:03:27.640 --> 00:03:29.000 and you feel like you don't have the willpower, 100 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:30.240 the discipline, or whatever, 101 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:31.760 whatever the, you know, famous, you know, 102 00:03:31.760 --> 00:03:35.160 good word is for this, that this will kind of help you. 103 00:03:35.160 --> 00:03:37.600 Willpower from all the stuff that I've seen 104 00:03:37.600 --> 00:03:39.960 is a finite resource, meaning there's things 105 00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:40.800 called decision fatigue. 106 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:42.200 Like by the end of the day, you feel cooked, 107 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:43.640 you're like completely cached, you're like, man, 108 00:03:43.640 --> 00:03:45.240 let's save that for tomorrow morning, 109 00:03:45.240 --> 00:03:46.600 that big decision or whatever, right? 110 00:03:46.600 --> 00:03:48.720 So you have this juice in your head, 111 00:03:48.720 --> 00:03:51.040 you have to manage how you're gonna spend it, right? 112 00:03:51.040 --> 00:03:52.920 And the thing is, is that in my opinion, 113 00:03:52.920 --> 00:03:55.120 the brain doesn't differentiate between, 114 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:57.200 what am I gonna wear, what am I gonna eat for lunch, 115 00:03:57.200 --> 00:03:59.080 versus which post I'm gonna make, 116 00:03:59.080 --> 00:04:01.320 or what edit do I want, or what topic do I wanna talk about? 117 00:04:01.320 --> 00:04:02.320 And obviously one of those things 118 00:04:02.320 --> 00:04:03.760 is higher ROI than the other. 119 00:04:03.760 --> 00:04:07.120 And so the idea is, it's absolutely great 120 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:08.640 to have willpower and discipline. 121 00:04:08.640 --> 00:04:10.560 Like I'm never gonna say that that's not a good idea. 122 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:11.560 I think that's a great idea. 123 00:04:11.560 --> 00:04:13.240 But you wanna save it for the times 124 00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:15.600 where you have a condition you cannot control. 125 00:04:15.600 --> 00:04:17.800 And so the idea is that we have conditions every day 126 00:04:17.800 --> 00:04:20.000 that enter, we have new variables that enter 127 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:22.080 and then you're like shoot, I gotta adjust, right? 128 00:04:22.080 --> 00:04:24.080 And that's when you use up that valuable resource, 129 00:04:24.080 --> 00:04:27.400 use up that brain juice to make an accurate or good decision. 130 00:04:27.400 --> 00:04:30.760 But the thing is, is that 90% of the conditions 131 00:04:30.760 --> 00:04:31.920 that we're exposed to in our lives 132 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:33.440 are conditions that we've seen before. 133 00:04:33.440 --> 00:04:37.240 And so I always was amazed by salespeople 134 00:04:37.240 --> 00:04:40.160 who would go on a hot streak during one kind of condition 135 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:42.080 and then not try to recreate that condition. 136 00:04:42.080 --> 00:04:43.840 And so I think in a lot of ways, 137 00:04:43.840 --> 00:04:46.200 the things that have helped me move forward, 138 00:04:46.200 --> 00:04:48.240 this is just what work for me, do whatever you want. 139 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:53.080 Move faster is I look back at periods of time 140 00:04:53.080 --> 00:04:54.480 where I had exceptionally high output 141 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:55.960 for desired behavior. 142 00:04:55.960 --> 00:04:57.560 So if it's like, man, I made really good content 143 00:04:57.560 --> 00:04:58.920 during this period of time. 144 00:04:58.920 --> 00:05:01.160 Rather than think like, oh, I just need to try harder 145 00:05:01.160 --> 00:05:03.520 at making content, I like to look at all the other things 146 00:05:03.520 --> 00:05:05.520 that were around that time period. 147 00:05:05.520 --> 00:05:08.040 So it's like, okay, well, what did my day look like? 148 00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:09.520 What was my schedule look like? 149 00:05:09.560 --> 00:05:11.480 What was I wearing? 150 00:05:11.480 --> 00:05:13.240 What time of day was I doing it? 151 00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:16.680 Were there people around me that helped me 152 00:05:16.680 --> 00:05:17.760 create better content? 153 00:05:17.760 --> 00:05:19.080 Were there conversations that are having 154 00:05:19.080 --> 00:05:20.400 on a regular basis that have stopped? 155 00:05:20.400 --> 00:05:22.360 And so I like to look at what are the conditions 156 00:05:22.360 --> 00:05:23.360 that have changed? 157 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:25.680 And as a total side note for business owners, 158 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:27.520 if you had a period of time in the business 159 00:05:27.520 --> 00:05:29.840 where sales were good or marketing was good 160 00:05:29.840 --> 00:05:31.440 or customer success was good, 161 00:05:31.440 --> 00:05:32.840 you can take the same concept to think, 162 00:05:32.840 --> 00:05:35.360 were the conditions, rather than trying to just grind 163 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:36.920 on the team and say, hey, try harder, 164 00:05:36.920 --> 00:05:39.320 we did better last month, like, what's wrong with you? 165 00:05:39.320 --> 00:05:43.480 I find it more useful and easier to create sustained success 166 00:05:43.480 --> 00:05:46.720 and sustained output at a higher level by simply saying, 167 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:48.240 let's ignore willpower altogether 168 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:50.120 and try and control for every other variable 169 00:05:50.120 --> 00:05:51.720 and make it so that we are the horse 170 00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:54.040 and we can salt our mouths and we can dehydrate ourselves 171 00:05:54.040 --> 00:05:55.560 and the only thing we want ourselves to do 172 00:05:55.560 --> 00:05:57.160 is drink the water. 173 00:05:57.160 --> 00:06:00.120 And so the thing is that this, I think, can apply to, 174 00:06:00.120 --> 00:06:02.360 fitness, it can apply to relationships, 175 00:06:02.360 --> 00:06:03.720 it can apply to obviously business, 176 00:06:03.720 --> 00:06:05.640 which is the context that I talk about. 177 00:06:05.640 --> 00:06:07.880 But thinking through conditions first rather 178 00:06:07.880 --> 00:06:11.560 than willpower first has been incredibly helpful for me. 179 00:06:11.560 --> 00:06:13.920 And so I think if you were to look at your environment 180 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:15.760 and look retroactively first, 181 00:06:15.760 --> 00:06:17.760 what was the times I was making the most money? 182 00:06:17.760 --> 00:06:20.680 Or were the best months where I did for this particular thing 183 00:06:20.680 --> 00:06:23.960 because I'll bet that if you look backwards every month 184 00:06:23.960 --> 00:06:26.080 in the past, you were not maxed out on everything, right? 185 00:06:26.080 --> 00:06:28.440 Like you had some months of your sales went well 186 00:06:28.440 --> 00:06:30.360 or customer success went well or content was good 187 00:06:30.360 --> 00:06:31.640 or whatever, right? 188 00:06:31.640 --> 00:06:34.000 And think, okay, what I want to do 189 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:35.760 is if I want to improve marketing, 190 00:06:35.760 --> 00:06:38.000 I want to look back at the time where marketing was best 191 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:40.000 and I want to look for all the conditions that are around that. 192 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:41.120 So I'm going to give you an example. 193 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:43.600 So the best content that I've looked at, 194 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:45.640 so I've just, I've been doing a deep dive on media 195 00:06:45.640 --> 00:06:47.680 because I'm looking at the next 24 months 196 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:49.200 and thinking like, what are we going to do? 197 00:06:49.200 --> 00:06:51.440 At acquisition.com to continue to reach more people, 198 00:06:51.440 --> 00:06:53.600 help them make real business education accessible 199 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:54.600 for everyone. 200 00:06:54.600 --> 00:06:57.480 And one of the things that I found that worked better for me 201 00:06:57.480 --> 00:06:58.360 is when I have a live audience. 202 00:06:58.360 --> 00:07:01.280 I tend to do better knowing that people are actually 203 00:07:01.280 --> 00:07:03.040 listening and watching in real time. 204 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:04.360 Now some people are reversed from that. 205 00:07:04.360 --> 00:07:05.600 They're like, I hate that. 206 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:07.360 I actually really like a more pristine setting, 207 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:11.040 but at least for me, I like talking about real business stuff 208 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:12.160 to real business owners, 209 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:13.720 rather than hypothetical business stuff 210 00:07:13.720 --> 00:07:15.240 to hypothetical business owners. 211 00:07:15.240 --> 00:07:17.000 Maybe that makes sense. 212 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:19.520 And so the thing is, is like so many 213 00:07:19.520 --> 00:07:20.760 of the smaller entrepreneurs, 214 00:07:20.760 --> 00:07:23.840 and I say this not in a diminutive way, 215 00:07:23.840 --> 00:07:28.360 use up so much of their juice on things that don't matter. 216 00:07:28.360 --> 00:07:30.480 And so it's even like the, 217 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:33.480 I mean, I get, I'm going to drill down on this too. 218 00:07:33.480 --> 00:07:35.080 You have employees in your business right now 219 00:07:35.080 --> 00:07:38.920 that use up like 35% of your total bandwidth for the business. 220 00:07:38.920 --> 00:07:40.680 Total bandwidth, because there's just one person 221 00:07:40.680 --> 00:07:43.040 that like, when you're at home and you're talking to your spouse, 222 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:44.200 you're like, man, I've got this person 223 00:07:44.200 --> 00:07:46.120 and you wake up in the morning, you're thinking about this person. 224 00:07:46.120 --> 00:07:47.600 And then you have a conversation with that person 225 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:49.360 or they have a weird exchange on Slack 226 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:51.120 and you're like, man, in all this time, 227 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:52.000 there's all this juice, 228 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:54.160 there's all this bandwidth that's getting used up. 229 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:55.240 But if we think for ourselves, okay, 230 00:07:55.240 --> 00:07:56.640 well, how do we control this condition? 231 00:07:56.640 --> 00:07:58.360 So either I have to reset the boundaries 232 00:07:58.360 --> 00:08:00.760 in terms of how I'm going to talk to this person 233 00:08:00.760 --> 00:08:03.000 or I might need to eliminate this person altogether 234 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:05.200 because it's using up the single greatest resource 235 00:08:05.200 --> 00:08:07.280 that you have, which is your time and your attention. 236 00:08:07.280 --> 00:08:10.160 And so the best entrepreneurs that I've seen 237 00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:14.360 have exceptional skills at managing their attention 238 00:08:14.360 --> 00:08:15.680 and managing their time 239 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:17.240 and putting all of that into the one bucket 240 00:08:17.240 --> 00:08:18.640 of managing their conditions. 241 00:08:18.640 --> 00:08:20.760 And so I remember the first time I had an experience 242 00:08:20.760 --> 00:08:22.040 with this was I was talking to a guy 243 00:08:22.040 --> 00:08:23.640 who's doing $400 million a year. 244 00:08:23.640 --> 00:08:26.040 I was 27 at the time. 245 00:08:26.040 --> 00:08:27.440 And so he was actually going to set us up 246 00:08:27.440 --> 00:08:29.200 with Payment Processing, a massive payment processing company. 247 00:08:29.200 --> 00:08:31.480 But he ended up, we met through mutual connection 248 00:08:31.480 --> 00:08:32.680 and he just took a liking to me. 249 00:08:32.680 --> 00:08:35.680 And so I remember trying to call him 250 00:08:35.680 --> 00:08:37.800 and it didn't go through. 251 00:08:37.800 --> 00:08:41.120 It just like the call immediately just didn't happen. 252 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:43.000 And later I got on the phone with him 253 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:44.480 and I was like, what is that? 254 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:48.320 He was like, oh, yeah, my phone rejects every single call 255 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:50.480 that's not on my list. 256 00:08:50.480 --> 00:08:53.160 And this was before iPhone's had some of these features. 257 00:08:53.160 --> 00:08:54.200 This is super early days. 258 00:08:54.200 --> 00:08:55.560 Like he had programmed his phone 259 00:08:55.560 --> 00:08:57.360 so that he was a kind of tech guy 260 00:08:57.360 --> 00:08:59.840 that no contact zero. 261 00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:03.080 So no one who he did not already know, like no new friends, 262 00:09:03.080 --> 00:09:04.720 no one could contact him. 263 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:06.720 And from a scheduling perspective, 264 00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:08.960 he basically didn't respond to emails 265 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:11.240 and he had the space that he would work in 266 00:09:11.240 --> 00:09:13.000 that was just completely quiet and clean. 267 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:14.320 And that's how he managed his condition 268 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:16.840 because he knew that when he had those conditions, 269 00:09:16.840 --> 00:09:18.320 he created the most output. 270 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:20.760 And so I'm going to zoom out for a second. 271 00:09:20.760 --> 00:09:22.240 Now some of you are like, well, what about, 272 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:24.480 like what if I still have to run the day-to-day 273 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:25.320 right of the business? 274 00:09:25.320 --> 00:09:26.320 So how do I handle that? 275 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:28.840 So I see this as having two hats, right? 276 00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:31.360 You've got your Maker hat, which is your big creator hat, 277 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:33.040 and then you've got your manager hat. 278 00:09:33.040 --> 00:09:34.960 And most entrepreneurs need to go 279 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:36.480 and wear both at different times. 280 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:37.640 And so it's really important 281 00:09:37.640 --> 00:09:39.360 is to understand which hat you're going to be wearing. 282 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:41.520 And so for me, I have a Maker hat, 283 00:09:41.520 --> 00:09:43.080 which is where I do, like when I write the book, 284 00:09:43.080 --> 00:09:44.600 like I have to put my Maker hat on. 285 00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:46.840 If I wanted to prepare for doing something like this, 286 00:09:46.840 --> 00:09:48.120 I'm going to put my Maker hat on. 287 00:09:48.120 --> 00:09:51.040 And the thing is that this is going to be really impactful 288 00:09:51.040 --> 00:09:51.880 for a lot of you. 289 00:09:51.880 --> 00:09:52.720 So please listen to this. 290 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:54.680 And this took me too long to figure out. 291 00:09:54.680 --> 00:09:55.960 We even wrote a memo internally 292 00:09:55.960 --> 00:09:57.840 and it changed how we do business. 293 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:01.560 Makers have long periods of time 294 00:10:01.560 --> 00:10:03.680 where they need zero interruption. 295 00:10:03.680 --> 00:10:06.280 So a super productive Maker calendar 296 00:10:06.280 --> 00:10:08.320 looks like a completely empty calendar. 297 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:10.000 So for those of you who like wake up one day 298 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:11.440 and you have nothing on your calendar, 299 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:13.080 or you're like, oh my God, this feels amazing. 300 00:10:13.080 --> 00:10:14.840 I'm going to get so much stuff done today, right? 301 00:10:14.840 --> 00:10:16.280 It feels good, it feels light. 302 00:10:16.280 --> 00:10:17.960 You feel like you can immediately get into flow 303 00:10:17.960 --> 00:10:19.720 and just kind of lose yourself in your project, right? 304 00:10:19.720 --> 00:10:22.520 Like show me some hearts if you're getting this, right? 305 00:10:22.520 --> 00:10:23.560 Okay, cool. 306 00:10:23.560 --> 00:10:26.720 So on the flip side, right? 307 00:10:26.760 --> 00:10:31.600 If you're a manager, then you have 20, 15-minute 308 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:32.880 time trunks per day. 309 00:10:32.880 --> 00:10:35.240 And the objective of a manager schedule 310 00:10:35.240 --> 00:10:36.680 is to fill every time slot. 311 00:10:36.680 --> 00:10:38.920 And so a perfectly optimized manager schedule 312 00:10:38.920 --> 00:10:40.320 is zero blank space. 313 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:42.200 And so on one hand, you've got a Maker 314 00:10:42.200 --> 00:10:44.880 whose entire objective have entirely blank space 315 00:10:44.880 --> 00:10:46.800 and you've got managers whose entire objective 316 00:10:46.800 --> 00:10:48.960 is to have entirely filled up space. 317 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:51.640 And you're like, how can both of these be the objective? 318 00:10:51.640 --> 00:10:54.080 And I'm an entrepreneur and I needed both of these things. 319 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:56.080 It's because they're different roles, right? 320 00:10:56.120 --> 00:10:58.680 Now, in your company, there are roles 321 00:10:58.680 --> 00:11:00.280 that are more maker, heavy. 322 00:11:00.280 --> 00:11:02.320 So if you have editors, you have copywriters, 323 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:06.200 you have any kind of create developers for coding. 324 00:11:06.200 --> 00:11:09.200 Like all of these are deeper tasks 325 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:11.640 that have more complex problems that you have to solve. 326 00:11:11.640 --> 00:11:13.840 And you have to like drinking lots of information, 327 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:15.160 kind of have it swirl around your head 328 00:11:15.160 --> 00:11:16.680 and then you can really get into flow 329 00:11:16.680 --> 00:11:17.840 and start working on it. 330 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:20.880 On the flip side, if you were taking customer support calls, 331 00:11:20.880 --> 00:11:23.080 that might be much more of a manager type role 332 00:11:23.080 --> 00:11:24.840 or just managers literally in general 333 00:11:24.840 --> 00:11:26.160 who are managing their team. 334 00:11:26.160 --> 00:11:28.280 Now, where this gets interesting is that 335 00:11:28.280 --> 00:11:33.000 if a manager is managing editors, copywriters, et cetera, 336 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:35.360 when someone's performance starts to drop, what do they do? 337 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:36.840 They increase the number of meetings. 338 00:11:36.840 --> 00:11:38.240 But by increasing the number of meetings, 339 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:40.240 you increase the number of interruptions that person has 340 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:42.200 and actually hurts them from doing the job 341 00:11:42.200 --> 00:11:43.800 that you want them to do. 342 00:11:43.800 --> 00:11:47.960 So in understanding this, I try to approach my calendar 343 00:11:47.960 --> 00:11:49.560 and saying, and my team knows this now, 344 00:11:49.560 --> 00:11:51.920 is like, is this a maker day or is this a manager day? 345 00:11:51.920 --> 00:11:54.640 And I think maker days at the very least for me 346 00:11:54.640 --> 00:11:55.720 is a half day. 347 00:11:55.720 --> 00:11:58.800 So I basically only have two maker slots a day. 348 00:11:58.800 --> 00:12:00.960 I've got one before lunch and I've got one after lunch 349 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:01.800 and that's about it. 350 00:12:01.800 --> 00:12:03.040 And if you're going kind of Hercules mode 351 00:12:03.040 --> 00:12:04.720 cause you're in, you got to work double time right now 352 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:05.640 it might be three shifts. 353 00:12:05.640 --> 00:12:07.640 You might have a six hour block, second six 354 00:12:07.640 --> 00:12:09.080 and then you've got a late shift. 355 00:12:09.080 --> 00:12:11.360 And that's it, those are the only blocks you've got. 356 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:13.760 Whereas the manager has 20 plus time slots a day. 357 00:12:13.760 --> 00:12:16.320 Now, if one manager takes a 15 minute time slot 358 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:18.640 and slides it into my maker morning, 359 00:12:18.640 --> 00:12:20.360 they kill my whole morning. 360 00:12:20.360 --> 00:12:22.720 They don't get that because for them it's like, 361 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:23.560 what's the big deal? 362 00:12:23.560 --> 00:12:24.400 It's only 10 minutes. 363 00:12:24.400 --> 00:12:25.240 It's only 15 minutes. 364 00:12:25.240 --> 00:12:26.160 I just want to touch base. 365 00:12:26.160 --> 00:12:29.280 It's like, but dude, I now know I'm going to have this meeting. 366 00:12:29.280 --> 00:12:31.320 I'm going to have to set an alarm so I don't lose myself 367 00:12:31.320 --> 00:12:32.240 into my project. 368 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:34.400 I start thinking about what I'm going to have to say then. 369 00:12:34.400 --> 00:12:36.320 I have to start winding down my work 370 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:37.840 so that I can prepare for whatever that calls to me. 371 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:39.600 And then after that call, I have to try and get back 372 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:41.880 into the flow, which is basically impossible. 373 00:12:43.960 --> 00:12:45.680 Real quick guys, if you can think about how you found 374 00:12:45.680 --> 00:12:48.280 this podcast, somebody probably tweeted it, 375 00:12:48.280 --> 00:12:50.200 told you about it, shared it on Instagram 376 00:12:50.200 --> 00:12:51.440 or something like that. 377 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:53.880 The only way this grows is through word of mouth. 378 00:12:53.920 --> 00:12:55.080 And so I don't run ads. 379 00:12:55.080 --> 00:12:56.160 I don't do sponsorships. 380 00:12:56.160 --> 00:12:57.160 I don't sell anything. 381 00:12:57.160 --> 00:12:59.560 My only ask is that you continue to pay it forward. 382 00:12:59.560 --> 00:13:02.040 Whoever showed you or however you found out about this podcast 383 00:13:02.040 --> 00:13:03.440 that you do the exact same thing. 384 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:06.600 So if it was a review, if it was a post, if you do that, 385 00:13:06.600 --> 00:13:07.720 it would mean the world to me and you'll throw 386 00:13:07.720 --> 00:13:10.280 some good karma out there for another entrepreneur. 387 00:13:11.280 --> 00:13:15.080 And so the idea there is that even though it's more 388 00:13:15.080 --> 00:13:18.080 efficient for that manager, he costs a half day 389 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:19.640 of that maker's time. 390 00:13:19.640 --> 00:13:21.800 And so to be clear, it's not that makers 391 00:13:21.800 --> 00:13:23.120 and managers can't interact. 392 00:13:23.160 --> 00:13:26.080 They do, but I think having managers understand 393 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:27.760 the nature of work for makers. 394 00:13:27.760 --> 00:13:29.920 And if you're the entrepreneur and you're the maker 395 00:13:29.920 --> 00:13:31.360 for the business, it's actually making sure 396 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:32.920 that your team understands this as well. 397 00:13:32.920 --> 00:13:35.720 And so for example, we have an executive team 398 00:13:35.720 --> 00:13:37.560 and an executive assistant, so we have three assistants 399 00:13:37.560 --> 00:13:40.000 that work between Leyla and I in terms of managing our time. 400 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:43.040 And so a simple, you know, litmus test is like, 401 00:13:43.040 --> 00:13:46.520 what do we make in a morning through the business, right? 402 00:13:46.520 --> 00:13:47.840 Or what do we sell my time for 403 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:50.080 if we're ever gonna like put a time price on it? 404 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:52.520 If someone's going to put a meeting on my calendar, 405 00:13:52.520 --> 00:13:54.400 they have to be able to make a very strong argument 406 00:13:54.400 --> 00:13:56.840 for why that meeting is going to make us X 407 00:13:56.840 --> 00:13:58.200 or why it's worth X. 408 00:13:58.200 --> 00:14:00.040 And if they can't make that argument, 409 00:14:00.040 --> 00:14:02.080 then I'm not gonna have the meeting. 410 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:04.080 Now you might think, okay, well then, 411 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:06.680 how do meetings even happen if you were a maker? 412 00:14:06.680 --> 00:14:09.880 So this is what I do and do whatever you want. 413 00:14:09.880 --> 00:14:11.600 So I'll talk about different periods of my life 414 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:13.520 from an entrepreneurial perspective. 415 00:14:13.520 --> 00:14:15.960 So in the earlier days, when I still had to do a lot 416 00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:17.840 of work work in terms of like, I had to do a lot 417 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:20.480 of the day to day, I started so early. 418 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:22.680 I started at 4 a.m. and I would work until 10. 419 00:14:22.680 --> 00:14:25.640 So I get six hours done before people were awake. 420 00:14:25.640 --> 00:14:27.000 And that way at 10 a.m. 421 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:29.280 I would basically start my fire putting out for the day 422 00:14:29.280 --> 00:14:30.480 and the rest of my day was shut. 423 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:31.600 And you guys know what I'm talking about. 424 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:33.560 It's nothing really moves forward 425 00:14:33.560 --> 00:14:36.200 besides just making sure that you live to fight another day. 426 00:14:36.200 --> 00:14:39.000 But at the end of the week, I would have five or six 427 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:41.760 maker blocks that I got, I moved the big stuff forward. 428 00:14:41.760 --> 00:14:44.040 And that's what, when you look back on the month, 429 00:14:44.040 --> 00:14:45.560 the only thing you're gonna remember that you made 430 00:14:45.560 --> 00:14:47.000 progress on is the maker stuff. 431 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:48.280 It's not gonna be the manager stuff, 432 00:14:48.280 --> 00:14:49.360 but you need to do the manager stuff 433 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:51.520 otherwise the business is not gonna exist, right? 434 00:14:51.520 --> 00:14:53.800 And so in the beginning, you might like, wait, 435 00:14:53.800 --> 00:14:55.640 that means I'm waking up before I'm working six hours 436 00:14:55.640 --> 00:14:57.120 and then I'm gonna work until like five. 437 00:14:57.120 --> 00:14:59.040 It's like, yeah, it's an 11 or 12 hour work day. 438 00:14:59.040 --> 00:15:00.520 Welcome to entrepreneurship. 439 00:15:00.520 --> 00:15:01.880 I also find it funny when people were like, 440 00:15:01.880 --> 00:15:03.560 I started a job so I wouldn't have to work so hard. 441 00:15:03.560 --> 00:15:05.200 I literally had somebody tell me that and I was like, 442 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:08.200 well, somebody sold you a bill of goods, my friend. 443 00:15:08.200 --> 00:15:11.520 That is, I got some swampland for you anyways. 444 00:15:11.520 --> 00:15:16.360 So if you have this time that you allocate in the morning 445 00:15:16.400 --> 00:15:17.800 then you can, I work better in the morning. 446 00:15:17.800 --> 00:15:19.800 And so if you're like, if you're a mom or you're a parent 447 00:15:19.800 --> 00:15:22.160 and you're like, I can't do that in the morning. 448 00:15:22.160 --> 00:15:23.200 My mornings are chaos. 449 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:25.200 Well, then do it at night when the kids go to bed 450 00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:27.080 and then you've got your four or five hours at night 451 00:15:27.080 --> 00:15:28.080 where you're uninterrupted. 452 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:30.560 I have noticed across all the people that I know 453 00:15:30.560 --> 00:15:31.520 they have eight time. 454 00:15:31.520 --> 00:15:34.360 It's either like, I'm a morning person or a night out. 455 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:36.400 I'm not religious about either of them. 456 00:15:36.400 --> 00:15:37.880 I think what's important is that you have time 457 00:15:37.880 --> 00:15:39.840 that you can set aside so you can do your maker work. 458 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:43.360 Now, over time, I was able to go to a second chunk 459 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:45.640 of maker work for at least one or two days a week. 460 00:15:45.640 --> 00:15:47.960 So it's like, okay, I went from just mornings, 461 00:15:47.960 --> 00:15:51.000 like early early mornings to being early until like noon. 462 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:53.360 And I would say that was kind of like the second phase 463 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:54.480 of my entrepreneurial journeys. 464 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:56.920 I could go from like four a.m. until noonish. 465 00:15:56.920 --> 00:15:58.880 And then I'd start all my stuff in the afternoon study, 466 00:15:58.880 --> 00:16:01.120 all my meetings in the afternoon. 467 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:02.840 Now, if we fast forward to today, 468 00:16:02.840 --> 00:16:06.160 my day's actually look more almost entirely maker. 469 00:16:06.160 --> 00:16:08.760 And when I say maker, sometimes it's strategic decision-making. 470 00:16:08.760 --> 00:16:10.880 So if we wanna roll out a new product line 471 00:16:10.880 --> 00:16:12.800 in one of our portfolio companies, 472 00:16:12.800 --> 00:16:14.480 I'm not gonna just say like, let me hop on a meeting 473 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:15.520 and talk about it. 474 00:16:15.560 --> 00:16:17.800 I'm gonna do a bunch of research in terms of the market. 475 00:16:17.800 --> 00:16:19.240 I'm gonna look at customer segmentation data. 476 00:16:19.240 --> 00:16:20.400 I'm gonna look at our survey results. 477 00:16:20.400 --> 00:16:21.720 I'm gonna look at the reviews that we have. 478 00:16:21.720 --> 00:16:23.560 I'm gonna look at what our ascension rates are. 479 00:16:23.560 --> 00:16:24.880 And I'm gonna look at other competitors 480 00:16:24.880 --> 00:16:26.160 that have comparable products. 481 00:16:26.160 --> 00:16:27.880 And I'm gonna say, okay, what kind of price points can we look at? 482 00:16:27.880 --> 00:16:29.520 What kind of ascension rates can we expect? 483 00:16:29.520 --> 00:16:31.160 And in trying to put this together 484 00:16:31.160 --> 00:16:32.960 and then try and translate that into a presentation 485 00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:34.400 that I can make to an executive team to say, 486 00:16:34.400 --> 00:16:36.560 here's my reasoning behind why I think we should make this 487 00:16:36.560 --> 00:16:38.280 bad or make this strategic decision. 488 00:16:38.280 --> 00:16:39.560 That's still gonna be maker time for me. 489 00:16:39.560 --> 00:16:41.080 Just to give you context in terms of like the type 490 00:16:41.080 --> 00:16:42.800 of work that would be involved there. 491 00:16:42.800 --> 00:16:45.240 But regardless, if we fast forward to today, 492 00:16:45.560 --> 00:16:47.360 I have Mondays. 493 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:50.400 My whole day is manager time. 494 00:16:50.400 --> 00:16:51.560 And so that's from 10 a.m. on. 495 00:16:51.560 --> 00:16:53.160 So I still have another hour before my manager. 496 00:16:53.160 --> 00:16:54.560 I still have to do some make-or-work 497 00:16:54.560 --> 00:16:56.840 or the rather I feel terrible about myself. 498 00:16:56.840 --> 00:17:00.280 But 10 a.m. onwards on Mondays is just stacked with meetings. 499 00:17:00.280 --> 00:17:02.160 Now, if someone, for example, says, 500 00:17:02.160 --> 00:17:05.400 hey, so and so wants to connect 501 00:17:05.400 --> 00:17:09.480 and they can't make Monday, you have two options. 502 00:17:09.480 --> 00:17:12.240 You say, then I guess we're not gonna meet 503 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:14.840 or you decide to make an exception. 504 00:17:14.840 --> 00:17:17.760 Over time, I have found that I have lost significantly less 505 00:17:17.760 --> 00:17:20.680 in my life by just saying, I guess we're not gonna meet. 506 00:17:20.680 --> 00:17:21.520 And you know what's interesting? 507 00:17:21.520 --> 00:17:22.720 My life just keeps moving on. 508 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:23.800 There's a lot of people. 509 00:17:23.800 --> 00:17:26.200 And some people are gonna be willing to do that. 510 00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:29.600 And if you're like, if someone's above you, 511 00:17:29.600 --> 00:17:32.920 let me put it this way, if you need something from someone, 512 00:17:32.920 --> 00:17:36.120 then I think you should be the one to accommodate their time. 513 00:17:36.120 --> 00:17:37.840 And if you need something from them, 514 00:17:37.840 --> 00:17:40.640 then it should be worth an entire maker block 515 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:43.160 to go pursue that person or that connection 516 00:17:43.160 --> 00:17:44.680 or that introduction or whatever. 517 00:17:44.680 --> 00:17:47.960 Now, if you can't justify that it's worth a maker's block, 518 00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:50.040 then why are you connecting to begin with? 519 00:17:50.040 --> 00:17:51.480 On the flip side, if you're the one 520 00:17:51.480 --> 00:17:53.560 who's getting ass stuff all the time, 521 00:17:53.560 --> 00:17:56.160 then it's like, well, you're gonna be asking me for things. 522 00:17:56.160 --> 00:17:58.400 And so you're definitely not gonna take a maker block 523 00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:00.320 for me and ask me for stuff. 524 00:18:00.320 --> 00:18:03.920 Like, if we're gonna do it, then we're gonna meet on my terms. 525 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:05.080 And some people aren't gonna like that. 526 00:18:05.080 --> 00:18:06.000 And you know what? 527 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:08.720 Life is long, you're gonna die, so are they. 528 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:10.760 And I will say that when I look back, 529 00:18:10.760 --> 00:18:13.280 the months of my life where I just said no to everything, 530 00:18:13.280 --> 00:18:14.200 guess what happened? 531 00:18:14.200 --> 00:18:17.220 I move forward faster when I see myself 532 00:18:17.220 --> 00:18:19.680 getting distracted by introductions and collaborations. 533 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:20.800 And let's see if we could sync up. 534 00:18:20.800 --> 00:18:22.400 I wonder if there's some synergies here. 535 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:24.720 What if there's some opportunities we could pursue, right? 536 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:26.360 All of that stuff, you guys have seen these DMs, 537 00:18:26.360 --> 00:18:27.400 seen these messages from friends. 538 00:18:27.400 --> 00:18:29.840 I got to introduce you to stuff like, no, you don't. 539 00:18:29.840 --> 00:18:31.680 You don't, my life's been great before so and so 540 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:33.440 and it'll probably be fine afterwards. 541 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:34.640 And a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. 542 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:35.960 A lot of people don't know how to say no. 543 00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:38.360 And so let me give you a little tactic on the little pro tip. 544 00:18:38.360 --> 00:18:40.800 If you wanna say no to a meeting without a fending someone, 545 00:18:40.800 --> 00:18:44.080 just say I'm in an absolute season of no 546 00:18:44.080 --> 00:18:45.960 until and just put some milestones for me. 547 00:18:45.960 --> 00:18:47.560 It's like until my book launches, 548 00:18:47.560 --> 00:18:49.960 I'm not taking any outside meetings besides this time. 549 00:18:49.960 --> 00:18:52.360 And by saying that, it's not, it's not, 550 00:18:52.360 --> 00:18:54.080 it's not no forever, it's just no for now 551 00:18:54.080 --> 00:18:55.560 or you meet within these terms. 552 00:18:55.560 --> 00:18:56.400 And so that's helped me. 553 00:18:56.400 --> 00:18:57.560 So pick a project that you're working on 554 00:18:57.560 --> 00:18:58.720 that's really meaningful to you. 555 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:00.760 Set that as your date, maybe it's six months out. 556 00:19:00.760 --> 00:19:02.920 And it would be really, I'm gonna tell you a secret. 557 00:19:02.920 --> 00:19:05.200 Six months from now, I'm gonna have another project 558 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:06.920 that until I'm done that project, 559 00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:09.080 I'm not taking any other meetings outside of that time. 560 00:19:09.080 --> 00:19:10.160 That's just between you and me. 561 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:11.400 All right, don't tell anybody else. 562 00:19:11.400 --> 00:19:15.920 And so, thinking about this for your day, 563 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:18.560 so let's bring this back to Earth. 564 00:19:18.560 --> 00:19:20.040 Look at your calendar. 565 00:19:20.040 --> 00:19:23.200 Explain to your team, there are two types of work. 566 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:25.200 There's meetings work, there's managing work 567 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:27.480 where we have to come together and my time, 568 00:19:27.480 --> 00:19:29.760 if we're gonna have one meeting in the afternoon, 569 00:19:29.760 --> 00:19:32.120 put 20 in there, like stack the hell out of it. 570 00:19:32.120 --> 00:19:33.360 Cause I'm not gonna just like all of a sudden 571 00:19:33.360 --> 00:19:34.760 start writing a book, right? 572 00:19:34.760 --> 00:19:37.480 So stack everything you possibly can in this time. 573 00:19:37.480 --> 00:19:41.080 On these other days or these other half days, nothing. 574 00:19:41.480 --> 00:19:43.080 Because if you put one thing there, 575 00:19:43.080 --> 00:19:45.720 you ruin the whole morning or you ruin the whole afternoon. 576 00:19:45.720 --> 00:19:47.920 So either do or don't just know half measures 577 00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:49.520 when it comes to this stuff. 578 00:19:49.520 --> 00:19:52.880 And in thinking about managing my time this way, 579 00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:55.680 this has made me so much more productive 580 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:57.840 in terms of my output per unit of time, 581 00:19:57.840 --> 00:20:00.720 is knowing what type of work I'm going to start doing. 582 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:02.080 And so I think many of you, 583 00:20:02.080 --> 00:20:04.600 especially if you're actively really, really running the business, 584 00:20:04.600 --> 00:20:06.520 like you're operating and or sometimes 585 00:20:06.520 --> 00:20:09.080 delivering or and or selling and or still doing the marketing 586 00:20:09.080 --> 00:20:10.280 or whatever it is. 587 00:20:10.280 --> 00:20:12.600 If you know that, then you have to put this time 588 00:20:12.600 --> 00:20:14.040 so you can do the deep strategic thinking, 589 00:20:14.040 --> 00:20:17.280 do the deeper work that really moves the ball forward. 590 00:20:17.280 --> 00:20:19.280 And cause if you look back a year from now, 591 00:20:19.280 --> 00:20:21.440 the only things that will have really moved 592 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:24.480 the business forward is the deep, non-urgent, 593 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:26.200 but incredibly important work. 594 00:20:26.200 --> 00:20:28.920 And so you just never want to sack and I'm just telling you, 595 00:20:28.920 --> 00:20:31.880 like the amount of times that having somebody come 596 00:20:31.880 --> 00:20:34.880 but into my life has really been a positive, 597 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:37.480 just gets smaller and smaller over time. 598 00:20:37.520 --> 00:20:39.720 And so that is my, that is my, 599 00:20:39.720 --> 00:20:42.440 my note of encouragement is it's absolutely okay to say no. 600 00:20:42.440 --> 00:20:44.960 If you do say yes, make it on your terms 601 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:48.880 and making sure that when you are trying, 602 00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:51.520 at least for me, setting up my condition 603 00:20:51.520 --> 00:20:53.080 so it's inevitable that I succeed. 604 00:20:53.080 --> 00:20:55.080 And so let's get a little bit tactical in that part too. 605 00:20:55.080 --> 00:20:56.600 So that was a little bit from the time perspective, 606 00:20:56.600 --> 00:20:58.720 but let's talk about surroundings. 607 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:02.040 So for me, that means I have ear plugs in, 608 00:21:02.040 --> 00:21:04.880 I have headphones on, I have blacked out curtains 609 00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:06.160 because I don't like to see light, 610 00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:07.520 I don't like to see time passing 611 00:21:07.520 --> 00:21:08.680 because it makes me feel like I'm, 612 00:21:08.680 --> 00:21:09.520 I don't know, I just don't like to, 613 00:21:09.520 --> 00:21:10.960 I don't wanna look out a window. 614 00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:12.680 I wanna have the work that I have in front of me 615 00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:14.520 and I think a lot about Jerry Seinfeld that way. 616 00:21:14.520 --> 00:21:17.680 It's like he just had a pen and he had a pad of paper 617 00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:19.400 and he's got two hours on the clock. 618 00:21:19.400 --> 00:21:21.560 And most of the most prolific writers 619 00:21:21.560 --> 00:21:24.560 that I know who turned out a lot of high quality content 620 00:21:24.560 --> 00:21:26.840 in terms of books, they wrote the same way 621 00:21:26.840 --> 00:21:28.440 is that they wrote either open to goal, 622 00:21:28.440 --> 00:21:31.240 which is like I have to write until I get 1500 words 623 00:21:31.240 --> 00:21:32.680 no matter what and sometimes 624 00:21:32.680 --> 00:21:34.480 and they just have a flexible end date 625 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:38.120 or the alternative strategy is I do two hours every day, 626 00:21:38.120 --> 00:21:42.160 rain or shine or whatever, I have to do this, period. 627 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:44.080 And if I get there and I don't feel like writing 628 00:21:44.080 --> 00:21:45.040 or I don't feel like creating concert 629 00:21:45.040 --> 00:21:46.640 I don't feel like doing whatever, fine, 630 00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:48.640 but I can't do anything else. 631 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:49.840 And so by putting those constraints, 632 00:21:49.840 --> 00:21:53.320 by salting your mouth, by dehydrating yourself 633 00:21:53.320 --> 00:21:54.360 and then just putting the water 634 00:21:54.360 --> 00:21:57.240 is the only really convenient thing that you have, 635 00:21:57.240 --> 00:21:58.240 then you tend to do more of it. 636 00:21:58.240 --> 00:21:59.080 You tend to drink the water, 637 00:21:59.080 --> 00:22:00.320 you tend to do the activity one. 638 00:22:00.320 --> 00:22:02.160 And I think this applies for fitness stuff too. 639 00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:03.240 It applies for marriage stuff. 640 00:22:03.720 --> 00:22:06.160 If you're somebody who's trying to be faithful to your wife 641 00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:07.720 or trying to be faithful to your husband, 642 00:22:07.720 --> 00:22:09.960 don't go to a singles mixture with your single friend. 643 00:22:09.960 --> 00:22:11.240 Probably not a good idea, 644 00:22:11.240 --> 00:22:13.560 not a good condition for loyalty, right? 645 00:22:13.560 --> 00:22:14.240 If I was trying to like, 646 00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:15.560 how do I create the condition for loyalty? 647 00:22:15.560 --> 00:22:17.640 It would not start there, right? 648 00:22:17.640 --> 00:22:19.960 If I wanted to create the condition for a six pack, 649 00:22:19.960 --> 00:22:20.840 what would I do? 650 00:22:20.840 --> 00:22:22.960 I would probably make sure that I removed all the extra stuff 651 00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:25.560 in my house that's not conducive to me having a six pack 652 00:22:25.560 --> 00:22:27.840 and out of my meals prep for me when I go to work 653 00:22:27.840 --> 00:22:29.160 so that I have limited options. 654 00:22:29.160 --> 00:22:32.040 So not only am I get, is my default option a six pack 655 00:22:32.040 --> 00:22:33.120 because I don't have to think about it. 656 00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:35.600 So like, I want to make it easier to do the right thing 657 00:22:35.600 --> 00:22:37.280 and harder to do the wrong thing. 658 00:22:37.280 --> 00:22:39.400 And if you do that, not only do you save willpower 659 00:22:39.400 --> 00:22:41.160 for the things that matter most in terms of making money, 660 00:22:41.160 --> 00:22:43.800 you also, by side effect, 661 00:22:43.800 --> 00:22:45.880 get the other things that you want to. 662 00:22:45.880 --> 00:22:47.800 And so I think that really is the key to, 663 00:22:47.800 --> 00:22:52.240 quote, having it all, is that you make the rest 664 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:54.600 of the things that you have default. 665 00:22:54.600 --> 00:22:57.040 So it's default that I work out 666 00:22:57.040 --> 00:22:59.760 because I put it, I go to the gym that's literally 667 00:22:59.760 --> 00:23:01.160 the closest place that I possibly can. 668 00:23:01.160 --> 00:23:02.800 So for me, I've almost always had a gym 669 00:23:02.800 --> 00:23:04.720 that's in walking distance if possible 670 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:06.640 so that my walk is a way for me to clear my mind 671 00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:08.800 and then I go to the gym and I look forward to it, right? 672 00:23:08.800 --> 00:23:11.360 From a food perspective, the food that is literally just, 673 00:23:11.360 --> 00:23:13.800 right, nowadays is literally placed in front of me. 674 00:23:13.800 --> 00:23:15.680 So I don't have to think about it. 675 00:23:15.680 --> 00:23:17.000 I don't have to make a decision. 676 00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:19.000 I just have food and it always comes at the same time. 677 00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:21.040 So my stomach starts gurgling at like five minutes 678 00:23:21.040 --> 00:23:22.600 before it comes because my body knows it's like, 679 00:23:22.600 --> 00:23:24.160 hey, food's coming. 680 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:25.640 And so the food's in front of me and then I eat it 681 00:23:25.640 --> 00:23:27.400 and then I just move on with my life. 682 00:23:27.400 --> 00:23:30.320 And so for each of these things is how can I remove 683 00:23:30.320 --> 00:23:32.040 as much friction as seemingly possible 684 00:23:32.040 --> 00:23:34.080 for doing the absolute right thing that I wanna do 685 00:23:34.080 --> 00:23:37.280 and then create as much friction as I possibly can 686 00:23:37.280 --> 00:23:39.200 around the things that I don't want myself to do. 687 00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:41.440 And I think that it saves a lot of willpower 688 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:43.240 and allowed me to make better decisions over the long term 689 00:23:43.240 --> 00:23:44.880 and I think that better decision-making process 690 00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:47.720 that juice for when things don't go your way, 691 00:23:47.720 --> 00:23:49.720 that is what on a long time rise 692 00:23:49.720 --> 00:23:50.840 and stacks to your advantage. 693 00:23:50.840 --> 00:23:52.200 And from the outside people were like, 694 00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:53.520 how does he keep making progress? 695 00:23:53.520 --> 00:23:55.360 How does she keep making progress? 696 00:23:55.360 --> 00:23:57.680 Its reality is that you do less of the things 697 00:23:57.680 --> 00:23:58.680 that don't make you money. 698 00:23:58.680 --> 00:24:00.680 You don't use your decision-making juice 699 00:24:00.680 --> 00:24:03.080 on things that are waste of time, a waste of energy. 700 00:24:03.080 --> 00:24:05.600 And you don't let other people interfere 701 00:24:05.600 --> 00:24:07.560 with the time that's most productive to you. 702 00:24:07.560 --> 00:24:09.160 And explaining, and this is a key point, 703 00:24:09.160 --> 00:24:10.800 explain to the people who are closest to you 704 00:24:10.800 --> 00:24:13.240 how you work and the different types of work 705 00:24:13.240 --> 00:24:15.160 is what it's gonna happen is you explain this is like, 706 00:24:15.160 --> 00:24:16.480 hey, why are you having a meeting? 707 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:17.480 I thought this was make or time. 708 00:24:17.480 --> 00:24:18.720 It's like, no, this is actually a manager block. 709 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:20.440 So I'm actually trying to do this right now. 710 00:24:20.440 --> 00:24:22.040 On the flip side, if you're in a make or time, 711 00:24:22.040 --> 00:24:23.560 you explain this is make or time for me. 712 00:24:23.560 --> 00:24:26.640 And I'm trying to maximize this by having a clear schedule. 713 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:28.160 And so as long as you can understand that, 714 00:24:28.200 --> 00:24:31.280 you can explain it to your team or your employees 715 00:24:31.280 --> 00:24:33.520 or even your customers or the potential synergies 716 00:24:33.520 --> 00:24:34.760 that you can just say no to, right? 717 00:24:34.760 --> 00:24:36.280 Cause remember, we have a big project 718 00:24:36.280 --> 00:24:39.040 that's coming up in six months and no until then. 719 00:24:39.040 --> 00:24:40.520 If you have that at top of mind, 720 00:24:40.520 --> 00:24:43.800 I can almost guarantee that you will get a lot more done 721 00:24:43.800 --> 00:24:46.400 and you will be surprised at the rate of progress you have. 722 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:49.160 And I think this happens at any level of business 723 00:24:49.160 --> 00:24:52.040 is that you just keep clearing and clearing your space. 724 00:24:52.040 --> 00:24:53.560 So your output per unit of time 725 00:24:53.560 --> 00:24:55.960 for the most important things continues to go up. 726 00:24:55.960 --> 00:24:58.320 Hey, if this helps you understand how to work better 727 00:24:58.320 --> 00:25:00.240 or you think this would help your team out 728 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:01.680 so that they understand how to work with you 729 00:25:01.680 --> 00:25:04.920 or a vendor or whoever, it also tells me 730 00:25:04.920 --> 00:25:06.240 that this type of content is stuff 731 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:08.440 that you find valuable as business owners, 732 00:25:08.440 --> 00:25:11.000 share it, tag me in it and I'll do more of it. 733 00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:13.000 And if this isn't as valuable 734 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:14.160 that don't do any of those things, 735 00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:17.840 but if it was, then please let me know by doing those things, 736 00:25:17.840 --> 00:25:20.240 by sharing it because I don't make more of it.