Speaker A

Welcome to Close it now, an H Vac sales training podcast with Sam Wakefield.

Speaker A

Here we'll build your reputation in residential H Vac sales to be the expert influencer in your market.

Speaker A

You'll get insight into the top minds in the industry as they share their skills and hacks to help you on your journey.

Speaker A

This podcast isn't just about selling more, it's about understanding your customers needs and building efficiencies behind the scenes so you can sell more but work less while being top of mind when people think H Vac.

Speaker A

Now let's get started with your host of the Close it now podcast.

Speaker A

This is Sam Wakefield.

Speaker B

Well, all right, well welcome back to Close It Now.

Speaker B

Sam Wakefield here.

Speaker B

I am so stoked to have this guest today.

Speaker B

This is somebody that I've actually gotten to know across the last couple months and he is probably one of the most absolutely renowned guests that I will have had to this point.

Speaker B

And as you know, you listeners, I love to bring people in from outside of our industry because of the perspective is so fresh and so new and so different.

Speaker B

So my guest today, he is a two time published author.

Speaker B

He is.

Speaker B

In fact we'll talk about the books in this episode because I know that a lot of you listeners would love to get your hands on these books because they're very, very powerful, very effective and it matches A lot of my philosophy is like here are simple steps to take action, to actually change something instead of just being this big overarching philosophy and let's hope it works.

Speaker B

And so we've got a two time author, he's been featured in Slate magazine, he's got articles, he's written in Ink magazine, he's published all over the place.

Speaker B

Also serial entrepreneur, he's had over 10 businesses since the time he was 12.

Speaker B

His primary business is a company called Quic which is serves the financial services space.

Speaker B

But also I really feel like there's some of you might be open to checking it out when you have some of you with larger companies because it's very effective for data.

Speaker B

So we'll talk about that a little bit, see if it could be a fit or not.

Speaker B

But more importantly, in this podcast we talk so much about becoming someone worth buying from.

Speaker B

Well, this is someone worth knowing.

Speaker B

He has definitely been a person that I've gotten to know in the last couple of months that I've enjoyed every single conversation, always get value.

Speaker B

And I'm excited to have Rich Walker on the episode today.

Speaker B

Thank you for being here, Rich.

Speaker C

Oh, it's my pleasure.

Speaker C

What a great Introduction.

Speaker C

I feel honored.

Speaker C

Thank you.

Speaker B

Yeah, man, absolutely.

Speaker B

So we were talking the other day, and this is kind of where we want to get started with is, you know, tell us.

Speaker B

You were telling me a story about the last time that you had somebody out to your home to do some work, Right?

Speaker B

Because obviously this podcast is for home services and H vac and plumbing and electrical and that kind of thing.

Speaker B

And there was an experience that you had that really piqued my interest.

Speaker B

It was when we were at the.

Speaker B

We had our meeting at the spa, and the.

Speaker B

It was just so intriguing, and it made me think about all of us that do in home sales.

Speaker B

It's like we've been missing some things because when we get to hear from a homeowner of like, hey, what was your experience?

Speaker B

Like, completely neutral.

Speaker B

There was no, there's, you know, I'm not trying to sell you anything.

Speaker B

We're just having a conversation.

Speaker B

So super intriguing.

Speaker B

So I'd love to start there and then we'll.

Speaker B

We'll get into some more stuff here in a little bit.

Speaker B

But tell us about that last experience because that.

Speaker B

That was.

Speaker B

I think there's a lot of value there for everybody.

Speaker C

So I think you're thinking of the one with the carpet cleaning.

Speaker B

Exactly.

Speaker B

That's the one.

Speaker C

So, man, I was so impressed.

Speaker C

You know, when you're a homeowner, you don't know who to hire for services, and what do you do?

Speaker C

You look at Yelp and you see a bunch of stars and you just don't know.

Speaker C

You talk to your neighbors.

Speaker C

And so we saw somebody who had been cleaning in our neighborhood carpets, obviously carpet care, on the side of their van.

Speaker C

And so I asked a few neighbors, and I said, okay, let's take a chance.

Speaker C

Called him up, talk to me, came right over, walked in, and the thing that I loved about him is that he wasn't really trying to oversell me on things.

Speaker C

He was trying to educate me.

Speaker C

And he said, look, our process is a little bit different, and it's different in a couple of ways.

Speaker C

I want your carpet to be the softest it's ever been after I leave.

Speaker C

Do you know how many times people leave the carpet and it dries firm and crisp and just not comfortable?

Speaker C

He's like, so I. I actually take the care of working a little bit harder and using higher end products and services, etc.

Speaker C

He showed me his van.

Speaker C

He had the most incredible machine.

Speaker C

Now, maybe I'm just overly impressed because I've never looked at these machines, but he's talking to me about how it's custom built and how it was manufactured, and it was probably double the cost of a normal one, et cetera.

Speaker C

So he was telling me all these things, and then he says, and by the way, when I'm done, you won't need me for twice as long as you expect.

Speaker C

I'm like, what do you mean?

Speaker C

He's like, I'm going to do such a good job that you just won't need me back that often.

Speaker C

So, in essence, I'm putting myself out of business in a way, because you're just not going to call me as often as other vendors might have you come out or have themselves come out like, that's incredible.

Speaker C

His price wasn't necessarily more expensive either.

Speaker C

It was just.

Speaker C

I felt that I could trust this guy.

Speaker C

He was so passionate about his business, and he was telling me his story of being an entrepreneur, how he had built this business up, and he was finally ready to get his second truck and his second set of teams out there.

Speaker C

So, you know, look, as an entrepreneur, and I think a lot of homeowners are entrepreneurs in some ways.

Speaker C

We love small businesses because we're small businesses.

Speaker B

Yeah.

Speaker C

And so we love to support people who are truly passionate and interested in helping their customer.

Speaker C

Um, so, yeah, that.

Speaker C

That's why we hired the guys.

Speaker C

And frankly, our cost, our carpets are amazing still.

Speaker B

I love it.

Speaker B

I love it.

Speaker B

There's so many nuggets in that, that one story.

Speaker B

That's why I wanted to start with that, because everybody listening is like, how often do we go in?

Speaker B

And, you know, we think we're educating, but at the end of the day, if we don't tell people, it doesn't.

Speaker B

That we might as well not be doing it right.

Speaker B

So what if we have this cool machine that's like, we had custom built that maybe cost more than everybody else, but if the homeowner doesn't know about it, then does it really even matter?

Speaker B

It's like, okay, yep, we're going to do the best job, but how are you going to do the best job?

Speaker B

Really, unpacking that and breaking it apart is so powerful.

Speaker B

So everybody listen.

Speaker B

How can you apply that to what you do?

Speaker B

Apply this story and use it in your daily life, Everybody.

Speaker C

Sam, I think one of the things that happens because I have my own business and we have to sell, too.

Speaker C

One of the things that happens is you sometimes think you shouldn't tell customers these inside secrets or these inside details, because haven't we all been told, don't get too technical.

Speaker C

Like, don't go into so many details because it doesn't matter to the consumer.

Speaker C

But I think the difference here is when it matters to you and you're passionate about it and you're invested in it, that energy alone is worth bringing forth.

Speaker C

So it's not good enough just to say, oh, we're the best in the industry or we're really good at what we do.

Speaker C

We're really good.

Speaker C

And let me show you why, Let me show you how we're good and what we care about.

Speaker C

And that to me is the difference.

Speaker C

And it's no longer arrogance, it's not bragging, it's just this confidence of why you're in the business you're in.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker C

And how much you love what you do.

Speaker C

And what are customers going to say, oh, I don't care about all this, just clean my carpets.

Speaker C

Guess what, you have a choice.

Speaker C

If that's a customer to you too, maybe you don't want to work with that person.

Speaker B

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker B

Well, and the way that it sounds like he went through it as well, it was not really the technical side of things, but he, he did a really good job of keeping the benefit lens in front of the, the technical conversation.

Speaker B

It's like, let me show you my machine.

Speaker B

Here's a handful of the details, but more importantly, then he turned the corner and said, and here's why that's important to you.

Speaker C

Well, and look, the machine was not the leading thing.

Speaker C

The machine came up because my kids were like, what is this what we want to see?

Speaker C

It really what came up first was the quality of the outcome, you know, that, that experience that you're not going to need to call me that often.

Speaker C

And he started with, your carpets are in really good conditions, so this is going to be an easy job for us to do really well for you.

Speaker C

And talking about the chemicals and how it's non toxic and it's not going to hurt my kids and things like that.

Speaker C

You know, then seeing the machine was just kind of like the cherry on top that sold it because it was like, man, this guy's really invested in what he does.

Speaker B

Yeah.

Speaker B

So you know, he's not going anywhere.

Speaker B

The length of time in the business and all those things.

Speaker B

So, man, it's such a cool story.

Speaker B

And there's so many like useful nuggets that we can apply.

Speaker B

So.

Speaker B

And every piece of it was not just, you know, hey, it's non toxic, it's non toxic, so it won't affect you.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker B

So there's always this benefit of, you know, it's fine to say technical stuff, as long as we include the piece of.

Speaker B

And here's why that's important to you, and here's the benefit to you.

Speaker C

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker C

This is something I tell my team all the time, because designing software is actually quite hard.

Speaker C

You can design software because you like it, because it looks cool to you, because you think this feature is neat, whatever you want.

Speaker C

But if you can't talk about how it benefits the customer, the user, I don't want to hear it.

Speaker C

Yeah, it won't matter.

Speaker B

Love this.

Speaker B

Oh, so good.

Speaker B

So let.

Speaker B

Let's.

Speaker B

Now I want the.

Speaker B

I'd love for all the guests have, like a highlight reel of their life.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker B

So I'd love for you to give everybody just kind of a highlight of.

Speaker B

You know, you started entrepreneurship at 12, and, you know, all of these businesses along the way, where was the big turning your big aha moment when you even could have been?

Speaker B

Then when you're like, I was made to be a business owner.

Speaker B

I'm supposed to be an entrepreneur.

Speaker B

Where did that spark come from and what got you on that path and on that journey?

Speaker C

Okay, you didn't ask to go this far back, but I'm going to go all the way back to the beginning.

Speaker C

Okay.

Speaker C

My parents divorced when I was four and a half years old.

Speaker C

We were part of a church that had a very strong religious hold on people.

Speaker C

You could call it a cult, because I think technically it was.

Speaker C

And not like a cult in the movies, just more strength of how you belong and things like that.

Speaker B

Oh, man, I 100% know exactly where you're coming from on that one.

Speaker C

So when we left the church at four and a half, and my father was a minister, by the way, so he was really invested in this since he was a little kid.

Speaker C

We left the church and all the beliefs that my parents held were now in question.

Speaker C

Well, my father, because he felt like he was doomed for the rest, for.

Speaker C

For eternity, he turned to drugs and alcohol.

Speaker C

So my.

Speaker C

My parents divorced.

Speaker C

We were super poor, on welfare.

Speaker C

I mean, literally, my mom would go to the back of a grocery store and dig out produce they're throwing away and cut out the bad parts and just to feed us.

Speaker C

My father was not helpful to pay the rent because he was addicted to drugs.

Speaker C

We had people come live in our house so we could afford to pay our way.

Speaker C

And we proceeded to move pretty much every year.

Speaker C

You know, I'm gonna turn 50 this year, and I have moved 33 times in my life, and a lot of that as a kid, every year, new school, new city, etc.

Speaker C

And it was trying to escape bad situations and get into better situations.

Speaker C

So part of what happened is when I turned 8, a friend of mine had a radio controlled car, a kit that you put together, it did 35 miles per hour.

Speaker C

I was like, I have to have it.

Speaker C

And back in the 80s, that cost $300.

Speaker C

Today it's a $1,200 car today.

Speaker C

So imagine being dirt poor and wanting such an expensive thing.

Speaker C

So I started doing anything I could to make money and save it up.

Speaker C

And it took me four years.

Speaker C

I raked leaves, I sold chocolate bars, I did anything.

Speaker C

And I came across this idea for a water toy, which my neighbor was a supplier to physicians.

Speaker C

And he got surgical tubing, the stretchy kind that you see put a pen tip in the front end, tied a knot in the other end, took a garden hose nozzle and put the pen into the nozzle and it filled up a long balloon of water and that squirted 30ft.

Speaker C

We were calling them water weenies.

Speaker C

Yeah, this is before Super Soaker came out.

Speaker C

So your option was water balloons, the garden hose, which didn't leave the house, or little squirt guns that went five feet.

Speaker C

And here my brother and I and our friend, the neighbor, we come around the corner, we've got these water weenies squirting 30ft.

Speaker B

Yeah.

Speaker C

So I fell in love with that.

Speaker C

And I went to my neighbor and said, hey, how much for this 25 foot reel of tubing you have in your shed?

Speaker C

And he told me, I went, ran home, grabbed, gave it to him, destroyed every pen in my house, built like 20 of these water weenies and sold them out.

Speaker C

Sold out within a week to all the kids in the neighborhood.

Speaker C

Went more tubing, Sold out.

Speaker B

I'm sure you were the parents favorite because now everybody's shooting water for miles.

Speaker C

Yeah, we were having a blast.

Speaker C

And over that summer, I made enough money that I could buy my car, right?

Speaker C

So I bought the car, had a ton of fun with it.

Speaker C

And then my uncle says, rich, this was such a good idea.

Speaker C

I will get you a booth at the fourth of July and you can sell these out.

Speaker C

So I then go back to my neighbor and I proceed to say, how much for a thousand feet of tubing?

Speaker C

And he says, it's like 300 bucks.

Speaker C

I said, I don't have 300 bucks.

Speaker C

I just spent that on my car.

Speaker C

Yeah, your son's birthday is coming up.

Speaker C

Would you trade barter with me?

Speaker C

I'll give you my car engine, everything, extra parts for your kid's.

Speaker C

Birthday, you give me a thousand feet of tubing.

Speaker C

And he did it.

Speaker C

Well, I mean, God bless him, he did it.

Speaker C

I wrote to the scripto pen company and I said, I'm doing a project.

Speaker C

I need sample pen tips.

Speaker C

Would you send me some?

Speaker C

They sent me 5,000 pen tips at no cost.

Speaker B

Love it.

Speaker C

So I assembled all these water weenies.

Speaker C

We go to 4th of July, sell out by 1pm I have paid my brother 75.

Speaker C

I bought everybody dinner and I netted over 1100 dollars in that single day in 1986.

Speaker B

And you were how old?

Speaker C

12 years old.

Speaker B

I love this story.

Speaker B

It makes me.

Speaker B

There's a quote that I say really often is most people don't lack resource resources.

Speaker B

They lack resourcefulness.

Speaker C

True.

Speaker B

This is a perfect example of that.

Speaker C

So true.

Speaker C

Yes.

Speaker C

Well, at that moment, I mean, I remember having dinner with everybody at the Chili Cook off at the end of the day.

Speaker C

And I don't know, maybe my uncle asked rich, what are you going to do with this experience in your life?

Speaker C

I said, I will be a millionaire by age 23 because I was going to turn 13 in a month.

Speaker C

So I was, I was close to being 13.

Speaker C

So I'm like 10 years.

Speaker C

I could be a millionaire by then.

Speaker B

Yeah.

Speaker B

And.

Speaker C

But here's what happened.

Speaker C

I mean, you asked about this pivotal point.

Speaker C

I stood there in front of a big table with these water weenies.

Speaker C

I had people 6ft wide and 20ft deep trying to buy these water weenies.

Speaker C

I was taking in fistfuls of cash, stubbing it in my pocket.

Speaker C

They were overflowing.

Speaker C

My mom would come up from behind and pull money out of my pocket and put it into a little bank.

Speaker C

And this experience was amazing.

Speaker C

I'm like, wait a minute.

Speaker C

People will pay you money if they want something and you can provide it to them as a service or a product.

Speaker C

I'm like, I'll be an entrepreneur.

Speaker C

That's what I'm going to do.

Speaker C

I can't believe you can make money so easily.

Speaker C

It's unreal.

Speaker C

So that's what struck me.

Speaker C

I knew I was going to be an entrepreneur from age 12 because of that experience.

Speaker B

Oh my gosh, this is so powerful too.

Speaker B

And it's like that moment of realizing that, like, we can compress time that way too.

Speaker B

It took you four years to save up enough for your car, doing it the old fashioned way.

Speaker B

And now you, you know, the first car you did in one day.

Speaker C

Well, and here's the cool thing.

Speaker C

I saved that eleven hundred dollars.

Speaker C

And when I turned sixteen, I bought A real car.

Speaker C

With that money, I turned an RC car into a real car.

Speaker B

Oh, I love that.

Speaker B

So where did that entrepreneur journey go after that?

Speaker B

Because you mentioned that, you know, you've had 10 businesses along the way.

Speaker C

Yeah, I tried a lot.

Speaker B

What were some of those highlights along of your, like, big moments in that journey?

Speaker C

Well, I kept trying to sell water weenies, but Super Soaker came out and effectively put me out of business because they didn't break as easily.

Speaker C

They squirted just as far, they held more water, that kind of thing.

Speaker B

Sure.

Speaker C

So that was one thing in college, I kept trying things.

Speaker C

So I think we all get groceries delivered from.

Speaker C

Whether it's Whole Foods or.

Speaker C

We tried different things.

Speaker C

Okay.

Speaker C

Back in 1992, how did you get groceries delivered?

Speaker C

And on campus at usc, University of Southern California, which is pretty much in a ghetto, what were your options to get groceries?

Speaker C

So I decided to start Grocery Express.

Speaker B

Okay.

Speaker C

Oh, my gosh.

Speaker C

It was crazy.

Speaker C

I'm putting up flyers everywhere trying to get people to buy the business, and I finally get an order, and I realized, this is stupid.

Speaker C

I have to go to a store, spend my money, carry all these bags, double park, and potentially get a parking ticket to carry it up to make a $5amount of money.

Speaker C

I'm like, no, no, this is a bad business.

Speaker C

So I think along the way, most of my businesses were failures because I was learning a lot.

Speaker C

One of the businesses I started with a friend was a video recording service to inventory the goods and items in your house.

Speaker C

So if your house burned down and you went to your insurance and said, hey, I had these things, they would say, prove it.

Speaker C

If you could show them a video of everything you owned down to your silverware, how easy would it be to prove that you own things?

Speaker C

And so we had a business called Instant Replay that would do that.

Speaker C

For those of you who remember, in 1994, there was a huge earthquake in Northridge, California.

Speaker B

Yep.

Speaker C

One of our.

Speaker C

One of our clients had the tape and could show evidence of things that had been destroyed in the earthquake.

Speaker C

And they use that tape to get their money back.

Speaker C

It was great.

Speaker C

Unfortunately, my friend went bankrupt trying to run that business because it.

Speaker C

Any of these types of physical businesses are hard.

Speaker C

And we didn't have you, Sam.

Speaker C

We didn't have you to help us learn how to sell to these types of consumers.

Speaker B

Right, right.

Speaker C

No, but look, by far, my software business is the most successful.

Speaker B

Sure.

Speaker C

I started it in 2002.

Speaker C

And so here's what happened.

Speaker C

In the 90s, after college, I became a expert in Technology and big systems, Fortune 500 company type thing.

Speaker C

And then in the year 2000, I decided I'm going to become a financial advisor.

Speaker C

And this is another business I started, which I did for a few years.

Speaker C

But the problem was I was making 200 an hour as a tech consultant.

Speaker C

And now I become a financial advisor.

Speaker C

And I work really, really hard to earn somebody's trust, respect, rapport in order to invest their money.

Speaker C

And they finally say yes.

Speaker C

And then I had to handwrite their forms.

Speaker C

It took me 45 minutes to fill out paperwork by hand.

Speaker C

I'm like, this is the stupidest thing in the world.

Speaker C

I hate filling out paperwork.

Speaker C

Why do I want this as a job?

Speaker C

And on top of that, I realized with the commission, I'll make.

Speaker C

I'll make about $4 an hour of my time.

Speaker C

This is just terrible.

Speaker C

So I built software that would fill out my forms.

Speaker C

And everybody around me kept saying, rich, I hate filling out forms.

Speaker C

How are you doing this?

Speaker C

So I show him my software, like, give it to me.

Speaker C

I'm like, no, it's a hack.

Speaker C

It's not commercial software.

Speaker B

Yeah.

Speaker C

And finally, after about six months of hearing that, I went to my technology partner, my mom, and said, why don't we build this?

Speaker C

So we installed our first commercial product on February 11th of 2002.

Speaker C

And the person who got it was full time, 40 hours a week, handwriting forms for a financial advisor.

Speaker C

She called us up two weeks later, practically in tears.

Speaker C

She's like, you know, you're changing my life.

Speaker C

I now fill out forms for four hours a week instead of 40.

Speaker B

Ooh, a 10x type of change.

Speaker C

Yeah.

Speaker C

So she then.

Speaker C

I mean, this is her career.

Speaker B

Not.

Speaker C

Not my fault.

Speaker C

I mean, she.

Speaker C

She worked really hard.

Speaker C

She went and got certified as a financial planner.

Speaker C

Then she became VP of marketing for the parent company.

Speaker C

Like, her career flourished because we empowered her to do her best work, not paperwork.

Speaker B

Oh, love it.

Speaker C

So, I mean, look, along the way, I've started other things.

Speaker C

I started other businesses on the side for fun.

Speaker C

I've had a wholesale frozen yogurt business to sell powdered frozen yogurt internationally.

Speaker C

Yeah, we really didn't do that great with it.

Speaker C

I actually sold drugs at one point.

Speaker C

Now, seriously, it was non.

Speaker C

What do you call it?

Speaker C

A non.

Speaker C

Controlled substance.

Speaker C

It was lidocaine powder.

Speaker C

Like, Dennis, use it to numb your mouth.

Speaker B

Sure.

Speaker C

I helped sell.

Speaker C

I built a website and helped sell this online.

Speaker C

And it was doing really, really well, but left that business.

Speaker C

I even have another side business right now where I rent out my motorhome Just as a way to offset costs, improve my tax situation.

Speaker C

So there you go.

Speaker B

Oh, I love this.

Speaker B

One of the cool things that I know about you that I think everybody listening would really love to hear about too, is that that process there of so many people in the trades, especially in sales.

Speaker B

You know, for years I've always had side gigs.

Speaker B

Almost every place I train, at least half of the room has some sort of side gig that they've got going on.

Speaker B

And so kind of a qu, because I know you're, you're actually really good at this, is that efficiency of managing your time between the, all of the things you do.

Speaker B

And so what is a hack for somebody that's like maybe they got their full time thing going, but also they have their side gig that they're, that they're building.

Speaker B

What's kind of an efficiency hack to keep those separate, but also make sure that they're not like completely abandoning the family and, you know, all of the important things in life and letting those take over.

Speaker C

So I love this question because my favorite topic with business is the business model itself.

Speaker C

If you think about how a business works.

Speaker C

So like I love power washing, I have a power washer.

Speaker C

I love doing my own driveway and stuff.

Speaker C

What I do it as a business.

Speaker C

I wouldn't because I don't like the business model.

Speaker C

The business model is physical.

Speaker C

I have to be out on the street, I have to spend my hours of labor, et cetera.

Speaker C

Now obviously I could hire somebody and do that too.

Speaker C

But again, now I've got other considerations.

Speaker C

I have machines to manage, I have direct customer relationships, et cetera.

Speaker C

One of the things I love about software is software is ethereal.

Speaker C

It comes from your brain through your fingertips into a computer and it turns into something of value and you can sell it infinite number of times without ever carrying inventory.

Speaker C

You can digitally transport it.

Speaker C

So there's no shipping cost.

Speaker C

In fact, there's no sales tax because it's a digital product.

Speaker B

Yeah.

Speaker C

And so that's a model that I love.

Speaker C

Now it's also a really difficult model because there is very, very few software products you can bring to market for less than six figures and one or two or three years of work.

Speaker C

So then I think about other products, like what about digital products?

Speaker C

If you could create a video training series and train people indefinitely.

Speaker C

I've got a friend who did that making $25,000 a month.

Speaker C

Now it's not easy.

Speaker C

It took him years and years and years to get to that level.

Speaker C

But the fact is it just keeps making him money.

Speaker C

So number one, think about the business model of your side hustle or your, your side business or the new thing you're interested in and ask yourself, how does it complement or distract from what I'm currently doing?

Speaker C

And that's also a question of what is your skill set.

Speaker C

So yeah, if you do run that power washing business, ask yourself what's complementary to what it is you're doing.

Speaker C

Now, you guys may already be doing this, but maybe it's adding in solar panel washing, maybe it's now adding in car washing to it.

Speaker C

Maybe that's a bad idea, I don't know.

Speaker C

But if you already have the equipment, if you already have the means to do something, you know, I've got a friend who started a business where he was doing H vac and then he added in plumbing and then he added electrical, then he added handyman services into it.

Speaker C

Well, because they're all complimentary.

Speaker C

You're already at the house, you already got the truck, you already have the equipment.

Speaker C

So that's the kind of stuff I think about.

Speaker C

Now there's one other thing I also think about.

Speaker C

What am I going to learn?

Speaker C

Because Sam, these other business I've started since I was in quick and I did it on the side, honestly, most of it was just to learn.

Speaker C

Yeah, I, I built websites because I wanted to learn how to build better websites.

Speaker C

I learned search engine optimization.

Speaker C

I have been able to rank several websites to the number one position in Google without spending money on ads.

Speaker C

And I love these skills.

Speaker C

Now it all comes back and benefits my main business.

Speaker C

That's the most important thing.

Speaker C

So I don't feel that bad about trying to do other things.

Speaker C

The other life hack is you've got to dedicate time.

Speaker C

You know, you have to put time into this.

Speaker C

So schedule it.

Speaker C

And that's what I would do.

Speaker C

I would schedule from 9pm to 10pm every night on my calendar, whether I actually did it or not.

Speaker C

A different question.

Speaker C

But I would schedule it so that, you know, kids are now in bed, dinner's done.

Speaker C

I have a question.

Speaker C

Do I watch TV or hey, my calendar just popped up, I should go do this thing that I decided to work on.

Speaker C

And so then most of the time I would choose to work on it and put that hour, hour and a half into it and then go to bed and.

Speaker C

And it just kept adding.

Speaker C

I mean, this is how I wrote my books.

Speaker C

I stopped watching TV and wrote a book in 30 days.

Speaker B

I love this.

Speaker B

Everybody's like, I don't have enough time, I don't have enough Time.

Speaker B

I'm like you.

Speaker B

I argue with them all the time.

Speaker B

It's like you have the time.

Speaker B

Every bum has the same amount of time as every billionaire on the planet.

Speaker B

It's how you use it and how you leverage your time learning the ways to hack the system like this to be consistent with your activities.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker C

Yeah.

Speaker C

And look, I'll put a finer point on this.

Speaker C

If you're, if you're saying to yourself, I'm starting a business on the side, and you also say to yourself, I'm doing this to learn to be better.

Speaker C

So it impacts my other business positively that you're doing that to avoid the stress or the guilt of having another side business where you think, oh my gosh, I could have made more sales in my current business if I had just worked harder.

Speaker C

Like, why am I not working from 9 to 10pm on my current business?

Speaker C

Well, look, there's something called burnout.

Speaker C

I've had it three times in my company's history.

Speaker C

Yeah.

Speaker C

And you need to stimulate yourself and try new things.

Speaker C

There's also plateaus of level of success where, look, the measure of your company's growth is really dependent on the measure of your personal growth.

Speaker C

So I wanted to learn things like sales.

Speaker C

I'm not a big fan of network marketing.

Speaker C

Multilevel marketing, sure.

Speaker C

But I took on one of those courses, one of those companies, because every Wednesday night forced me to get out of my house, wear a suit, meet new people, get up and talk and learn new sales skills, most of which were bad, by the way.

Speaker B

Right, right.

Speaker C

Bad techniques.

Speaker C

But nonetheless, I was learning.

Speaker C

And I was realizing, okay, I don't like that.

Speaker C

And I don't like that.

Speaker C

Oh, that was a good thing.

Speaker C

Let me try that.

Speaker C

And it gave me a reason or an excuse to go exercise new skills that I wasn't getting to do in this business.

Speaker C

So, yeah, to answer your question, look at the models that make sense to you and match your style of work and.

Speaker C

Or complement what you're currently doing.

Speaker C

Do it because you want the training and the education more than just money or something.

Speaker C

Money is great, don't get me wrong.

Speaker C

And learn constantly.

Speaker C

Learn.

Speaker B

I love this.

Speaker B

And it's the.

Speaker B

It's funny that you mentioned network marketing and mlm because that was my life for so many years, was.

Speaker B

That was my side gig.

Speaker B

I was always worked five different companies I've been in.

Speaker B

And what.

Speaker B

I guess I'd never really have talked about it.

Speaker B

What most people don't realize if they've never been in that space is a ton of the Things that I train now in, in home sales and for H Vac.

Speaker B

And all of this actually comes from all of the learning that I did there is like the rights and the wrong things to do.

Speaker B

Because I mean, what better way to like flex that entrepreneurial muscle than just like getting out there and doing it right?

Speaker C

You know, it's funny, you said, you said the other day, don't ask somebody if they're interested, ask if they're open.

Speaker C

And that comes a lot from network marketing where you say, Sam, are you open to other ways of making money?

Speaker C

Are you open to building wealth for your family?

Speaker C

Are you open to creating a legacy that your family never has to worry about again?

Speaker C

That, that's a, that is a direct question from that industry.

Speaker C

It is, it's an open ended question that creates interest on the other person's part and intrigue, etc.

Speaker B

Oh, you got it.

Speaker B

You nailed it.

Speaker B

That, that's exactly where that comes from.

Speaker B

But it's.

Speaker B

At the end of the day though, that's an industry that's like nailed the psychology of it.

Speaker B

Because, you know, psychology is just the way people function, the way people think.

Speaker C

Yeah.

Speaker B

And it's a universal truth.

Speaker B

It doesn't matter what the topic is.

Speaker B

It.

Speaker B

It just works.

Speaker B

It's powerful.

Speaker B

So, yeah.

Speaker B

Oh, I love this.

Speaker B

So thank you for catching us up with all that.

Speaker B

And man, that's, that's a great answer.

Speaker B

Because recognizing that business model of is it something that we want to do?

Speaker B

I think a lot of times, I know, myself included, I would slide into a side business.

Speaker B

Not because I did any work ahead of time to figure it out.

Speaker B

Much more.

Speaker B

Like, somebody came to me and said, hey, you're good at this.

Speaker B

Will you do this also?

Speaker C

Yeah.

Speaker B

And so I just said yes, without.

Speaker B

Without any intention of.

Speaker B

It was very spontaneous and impulsive.

Speaker B

Instead of being like, okay, is this a model that I can work in?

Speaker B

Is this something that will benefit my main gig and will time wise as well as the learning and all of those things?

Speaker B

So my lessons along the way were like, okay, I suck at doing multiple things.

Speaker B

I'm good at one, maybe two.

Speaker B

Yeah, three.

Speaker B

And everything suffers.

Speaker C

Well, I was gonna say, you also have to really know who you are in this.

Speaker C

My wife hates talking on the phone.

Speaker C

Last year we started a business with her and another partner and it ended up that most of what she did was talk on the phone.

Speaker C

Oh, she hated it.

Speaker C

She didn't like it.

Speaker C

Like, how are you supposed to do a business that requires you to do the things you absolutely do not like to Do.

Speaker C

Which again goes back to model.

Speaker C

And we have to design a model for her that is not her talking on the phone to people.

Speaker B

Right, right.

Speaker B

Yeah, exactly.

Speaker B

Or like replace you with somebody that does like that.

Speaker C

Right, yeah, exactly, exactly.

Speaker B

I love this.

Speaker B

So let's turn the corner a little bit because the titles.

Speaker B

And I absolutely want to go through your books for sure.

Speaker B

Just yesterday I found out that you had written two books.

Speaker B

So let's go through those a little bit because I love the titles and I think it's very applicable to this conversation right now, especially about, you know, creating change in your life and creating habits, creating belief systems, all those kind of things.

Speaker B

So.

Speaker B

So take us through a little bit of that.

Speaker C

Yeah, I'll talk about my first book the most because.

Speaker C

Because the second one's about how to get the job that you love.

Speaker C

And I assume that your audience has something that they love.

Speaker B

Pretty close.

Speaker B

Yeah.

Speaker C

And I'm happy to talk about it too.

Speaker C

But my first book is called it's my life I can change if I want to.

Speaker C

And the premise of this book is that it's a four step methodology for how to create personal change, behavioral change, habitual change, psychological change, things like that.

Speaker C

Now look, I'm the first to tell you, you have a drug addiction.

Speaker C

Go get professional help.

Speaker C

Like, yeah, my book might help you, but seriously, go get professional help.

Speaker C

Because it's chemical, it's different.

Speaker C

This started actually when I was 12 years old as well.

Speaker C

At the age of 12, I had grown a lot.

Speaker C

But my mom was also going through a lot of personal development.

Speaker C

She was reading books by Dr. Wayne Dyer called pull your own strings and getting to yes and negotiating and communicating.

Speaker C

And the cool thing is she was using my brother, my younger brother and I to articulate what she was learning.

Speaker B

Oh, good.

Speaker C

And challenging us to learn it with her, just through osmosis.

Speaker C

And so we did things like we'd go to a restaurant and she would point at somebody and say, hey, look at how that guy's walking.

Speaker C

What do you think that person feels about themselves?

Speaker C

Oh, low confidence, high confidence.

Speaker C

You know, things like that.

Speaker C

And we started people watching and addressing.

Speaker C

I don't know if we were right.

Speaker C

Didn't matter.

Speaker C

It was the fact that we were practicing and trying to understand.

Speaker C

So from age 12 on, I started to mirror my mom's personal development.

Speaker C

And one of the things that happened was I realized I wanted to change something about myself.

Speaker C

And the real story is when I was a sophomore in high school, I had my first love and I felt jealous.

Speaker C

I saw her Talking to another guy, I felt jealous.

Speaker C

Give a hug to a friend, I felt jealous.

Speaker C

And I asked myself, is jealousy serving me?

Speaker C

Like, is this a good thing?

Speaker C

And I didn't think it was.

Speaker C

I felt like this is a bad emotion that serves no purpose.

Speaker C

So I want to change that.

Speaker C

And that was the genesis of my methodology of how to create change.

Speaker C

Because I decided I'm no longer going to feel jealous.

Speaker C

So back in 2007, my brother in law and my sister started going through what became a divorce.

Speaker C

And what I did, I didn't know that at the time, but I was friends with both of them, started a business with my brother in law, frankly.

Speaker C

And so they both started talking to me independently about what they were going through.

Speaker C

And I'm giving them feedback and mirroring them, et cetera.

Speaker C

And they both said, ed Rich, you really should write a book about this someday.

Speaker C

I'm like, I never thought about writing a book.

Speaker C

That's not in my wheelhouse.

Speaker C

I don't even like to read books, so why would I write one?

Speaker C

No.

Speaker C

Thanksgiving that year, I got fed up with them because they tried to make me the conduit between them.

Speaker B

Oh, no.

Speaker C

And so I went home after Thanksgiving Day.

Speaker C

And that's when I started writing the book one to three hours a day.

Speaker C

And I delivered it on Christmas as a gift to both of them because I was trying to get them to read something and take me out of the picture.

Speaker B

Sure.

Speaker C

Here's the funny thing, Sam.

Speaker C

It took me four years to publish the book.

Speaker B

Oh, wow.

Speaker C

Because I was afraid.

Speaker C

I was afraid of like, hey, I'm this tech guy, I'm this efficiency expert.

Speaker C

How am I also a self improvement guru?

Speaker C

Like, how does that work?

Speaker B

Sure.

Speaker C

And a friend of mine challenged me.

Speaker C

He's like, rich, have your employees read your book?

Speaker C

I'm like, why would my employees read my book?

Speaker C

What do they need to know about it?

Speaker C

He's like, they need to know you.

Speaker C

Yeah.

Speaker C

What do you mean?

Speaker C

Like, you're the leader of the company.

Speaker C

If they don't really understand you and know you, and you are the brand, you are the presence here, you're not showing them all the sides of you, then how can you expect them to trust you and want to follow you and do their best with you?

Speaker C

Like, wow, I hadn't even thought about that.

Speaker C

So that inspired me to publish the book and give it out to everybody.

Speaker C

So it came out in 2011.

Speaker C

And do you want me to go through the four steps?

Speaker C

Do you think that would be helpful?

Speaker B

Yeah, I would love that.

Speaker B

Yeah, that's that'd be perfect.

Speaker B

Great.

Speaker B

Couldn't set you up any, any better for that.

Speaker C

So, I mean, I have to stop because I get passionate about this.

Speaker B

No, please go through this because so before you do, some context here because I know you haven't really listened to a ton of the of my episodes is this is something that's very.

Speaker B

We're very passionate about in the Close it now community is, you know, work to become someone worth buying from.

Speaker B

Well, when I'm doing trainings, I take everybody through.

Speaker B

I call it just the wheel of life.

Speaker B

And with sales skills being the smallest piece of actually of top performers, if somebody doesn't have the elements of their life in order.

Speaker B

And we talked about this a little bit yesterday on your podcast, which we'll mention to everybody in a minute.

Speaker B

But if we, if, say, who cares if you make a million dollars a year if you get a divorce and a heart attack along the way?

Speaker C

Yeah, right, right.

Speaker B

And so it's about keeping, you know, having all of the elements of our life in order and Rick doing the as is mode of like, okay, I'm going to rate myself 1 to 10 and just being honest with ourselves.

Speaker B

Okay.

Speaker B

Right now I'm a three in this area.

Speaker B

But the only way to improve it is taking steps towards improvement.

Speaker B

We're not a tree.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker B

We can move.

Speaker B

Yeah.

Speaker B

You know, so the only way to get changes, make change.

Speaker B

So that's the context of a lot of the conversation that we have within the Close it Now community.

Speaker B

So that's actually a perfect thing to love to hear from you on these steps and how people can apply those and to improve their lives in those different ways.

Speaker C

Okay, awesome.

Speaker C

Awesome.

Speaker C

So I'll say this first.

Speaker C

I think my book is like a primer for any other self improvement book you're going to read.

Speaker C

Because the problem I have with most self improvement books, and I've read many of them, is you read them for three, four, five, six weeks because that's how long it takes.

Speaker C

And then you're like, okay, but what do I do?

Speaker C

I understood who it hurts, why it's happening, but what steps do I take?

Speaker C

So let me tell you the four steps.

Speaker B

Sure.

Speaker C

Number one, you have to believe you can change.

Speaker C

Okay, I know this sounds trivial, Sam, but honestly, there's so many reasons people believe they cannot change because of circumstances.

Speaker C

This is the way I always did it.

Speaker C

This is what my father taught me.

Speaker C

This.

Speaker C

I don't have the money, whatever.

Speaker C

I'm not asking that.

Speaker C

What I'm asking is, do you believe you can Change.

Speaker C

Here's some simple examples.

Speaker C

Have you ever had a haircut, then you changed?

Speaker B

Yeah.

Speaker C

Did you ever read a book, then you changed.

Speaker C

Did you complete a course in school?

Speaker C

You've changed.

Speaker C

All I'm asking is you believe you can change.

Speaker C

Not that you can change the thing you want, but that you physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually can change.

Speaker C

So that's first step.

Speaker C

And honestly, it's an easy one once you get past that.

Speaker C

Second, this is a hard one for a lot of people.

Speaker C

You have to want to change.

Speaker C

And I don't mean you say to yourself, I want to change.

Speaker C

I mean you have a motivational desire that is so strong that it will overcome the cost or the pain of changing.

Speaker C

The simple one, dieting.

Speaker C

Everybody thinks, I want to lose weight or gain weight.

Speaker C

And to change your diet's a hard one.

Speaker C

You have to give up things you like, like sugar, ice cream, soda, eating at night, all those types of things.

Speaker C

But you have to have the desire that's so much stronger than that that you are willing to go through that pain to change.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker C

Sometimes you don't know if you have it or not.

Speaker C

And so part of the technique in my book is to address it.

Speaker C

And it's literally to write out pros and cons.

Speaker C

If I change, what would happen.

Speaker C

If I don't change, what will happen?

Speaker C

Give some weighting to it and add up the values and say, oh, my gosh, it is actually in my favor.

Speaker C

I do have a stronger desire to change.

Speaker C

Sometimes just doing that kind of exercise helps you see it more clearly, and then you can commit to it.

Speaker C

So those are the first two steps you have to believe and want to change.

Speaker C

All right, Step three is where the meat is.

Speaker C

Okay, here's what happens.

Speaker C

You need to identify the core belief that is driving your behavior.

Speaker C

So I'm going to give you an analogy.

Speaker C

If you think about a tree and you see a tree, for all of its beauty, its limbs, its leaves, et cetera, let's say that one leaf on that tree is one of your behaviors.

Speaker C

It could be your belief, your.

Speaker C

Your behavior around money, friends, love, you know, work, whatever.

Speaker C

So let's say you want to change one of those behaviors.

Speaker C

Well, what happens if you prune the tree?

Speaker C

I mean, the typical thing is you go cut the leaf off.

Speaker C

What happens?

Speaker C

The leaf grows back.

Speaker B

Sure.

Speaker C

Right.

Speaker C

Why?

Speaker C

Because what's feeding it is the root system down in the ground, and what's feeding it has to be stopped.

Speaker C

So what?

Speaker C

The brute force willpower methodology of change is go cut off the limb or cut off the branch or the leaf is not a good enough methodology because you're not addressing what's feeding it in the first place.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker C

So what I want you to be able to do is look at that behavior on the leaf, trace it back down through the branch, down to the root.

Speaker C

And what you're doing, and I'll describe this in a second, what you're doing is you're finding the core belief that's driving that behavior.

Speaker C

So I'll give you an example.

Speaker C

Let's say that you feel like nothing's ever good enough for you.

Speaker C

Like, you want your best friend's car, you want your sister's vacation, you want your neighbor's house, whatever it is.

Speaker C

And you're like, ah, never feel good enough.

Speaker C

So what you need to do is ask yourself how this is happening.

Speaker C

I want you to ask questions about the behavior, except do not use the word why.

Speaker C

I want you to ask how does it happen?

Speaker C

When does it happen?

Speaker C

Who does it impact?

Speaker C

Where does it happen?

Speaker C

Those types of questions.

Speaker C

So think about this.

Speaker C

I'm going to explain why.

Speaker C

Why is such a bad question to ask.

Speaker C

Your brain will always answer the question you give it.

Speaker C

This is one of the things I love about your brain.

Speaker C

It's the best computer system in the world.

Speaker C

You give it a question, it will give you an answer.

Speaker C

But let's.

Speaker C

I'm going to use an example that is more poignant here.

Speaker C

Let's say you wanted to lose weight.

Speaker C

And you ask yourself, why can't I lose weight?

Speaker C

Do you know what your mind's going to do?

Speaker C

It's going to say, because you're lazy.

Speaker B

All the responses of why you can't.

Speaker B

Right?

Speaker C

Yeah.

Speaker C

And what do those do?

Speaker C

They're negative.

Speaker C

They hurt you.

Speaker C

If you say, when can I lose weight?

Speaker C

How could I lose weight?

Speaker C

Where could I lose weight?

Speaker C

You get more constructive answers.

Speaker C

But going back to this behavior, you ask yourself, when do I feel like I'm not getting.

Speaker C

Or nothing's good enough.

Speaker C

Who do I feel like that with?

Speaker C

How does it impact me?

Speaker C

Et cetera.

Speaker C

And what you start to see are answers to these questions that you're giving yourself.

Speaker C

Some answers are irrelevant and some are really powerful.

Speaker C

The ones that are most poignant to you, I want you to ask questions about that.

Speaker C

And as you keep asking questions about those feelings that you're or those answers you're giving, you'll be able to trace it back to a point in time in your life where a belief was set.

Speaker C

So let's say you trace it back and you remember you were Nine years old, you were on the soccer team, and you went and ran the field as hard as you could and you guys lost the game.

Speaker C

And your dad comes up to you and says, hey, man, you did a good job.

Speaker C

But look, you'll win next time.

Speaker C

Just don't settle for second best.

Speaker C

Keep working hard and you'll get it.

Speaker C

So what happened?

Speaker C

You started believing.

Speaker C

Don't settle for second best because I'm going to be the best.

Speaker C

I'm going to keep working hard.

Speaker C

That's a totally great belief when you're nine years old for the soccer team.

Speaker C

But what happens now?

Speaker C

You're 39 years old, or 49 in my case, and you're saying to yourself, oh, I never want to settle for second best.

Speaker C

Right.

Speaker B

And it's making you unhappy, the whole Ricky Bobby syndrome.

Speaker B

Like, second place is the first loser.

Speaker C

The first loser, yeah.

Speaker C

So you start to realize, okay, that belief served me back then, but now it's festered into something ugly and it's no longer serving me now.

Speaker C

So step three was to figure out what is the core belief that's driving this behavior.

Speaker C

Step four, believe it or not, is one of the easiest parts of this whole thing.

Speaker C

It's the actual change part.

Speaker C

What do you do?

Speaker C

Change the belief.

Speaker C

So let's say that you choose a new belief.

Speaker C

And here's one of the best things I love about our mind.

Speaker C

You will never choose a worse belief than the one you currently have.

Speaker C

You're not going to say, I'll never settle for second best, and say, oh, what's the worst belief I can choose?

Speaker C

You'll never do that.

Speaker C

Instead, you'll say something like, how about this?

Speaker C

I'll never settle for unhappiness.

Speaker C

So now, because you asked all these questions, how does it happen?

Speaker C

When does it happen, who does it impact, et cetera.

Speaker C

And let's say you start to see a pattern like, oh, I look at somebody's car and I don't feel good enough.

Speaker C

I look at somebody's job, house, money, whatever.

Speaker C

Those are all the points in time where you insert this new belief.

Speaker C

So the next time you come across somebody driving the car you wish you had and you start to feel that unsettled instead, just remind yourself, no, my belief is to not settle for unhappiness.

Speaker B

Yeah.

Speaker C

So this doesn't make me happy to think this way.

Speaker C

So I'm not going to do it anymore.

Speaker C

And what happened is you stopped feeding the root, which is the core belief.

Speaker C

You put a new belief in its place.

Speaker C

It may not even be the ultimate best Belief, but it's a better belief.

Speaker C

You put a new, better belief in place, and what happens is you stopped reading, feeding the entire branch.

Speaker C

And that one behavior you tried to fix now became a ripple effect against a series of behaviors on that branch.

Speaker C

And, Sam, the more you do this, the easier and easier it becomes and the faster and faster you change.

Speaker B

Sure.

Speaker C

I want to tell you one more story, if you're okay with it.

Speaker B

Absolutely.

Speaker B

Please.

Speaker B

This.

Speaker B

This is so good.

Speaker B

And, you know, I'm thinking of all the ways that this can apply to.

Speaker B

But before you.

Speaker B

Before you do this other story, it's like that belief system is so powerful.

Speaker B

And that's.

Speaker B

When I work with so many people across the country is, you know, they've got all of the ingredients to be top performers, except they're stuck in this place where they.

Speaker B

They've hit these walls of like, well, I only.

Speaker B

I can only sell 2 million a year because of my market and because of this situation.

Speaker B

This situation.

Speaker B

This situation.

Speaker B

This is what I do.

Speaker B

And.

Speaker B

But what they don't see is they've, you know, they're just as good as that person that, you know, maybe does 5 million or 7 million, but they don't think they are.

Speaker C

Yeah.

Speaker B

So it's like that belief system around that is like, where did this come from?

Speaker B

So constantly working to help people uproot those belief systems.

Speaker B

And.

Speaker B

Thank you.

Speaker B

You're giving us much better tools to be able to do that.

Speaker C

Yep.

Speaker C

So I was going to pull up a graphic on my screen so I can remember it perfectly.

Speaker C

It's.

Speaker C

It's really around the idea of how we perceive reality and how we look at the world.

Speaker C

So I had a bullseye chart.

Speaker C

Maybe we can post this on your website or something for everybody to see.

Speaker C

And in the bullseye, it's really describing this.

Speaker C

If reality.

Speaker C

Reality is the center of the bullseye, that.

Speaker C

That is how you feel.

Speaker C

That's how you experience things.

Speaker C

If the outer ring is facts, facts are immutable.

Speaker C

You cannot change them.

Speaker C

Right?

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker C

So the sky is blue.

Speaker C

The temperature is 55 degrees.

Speaker C

Those are just facts.

Speaker B

Okay.

Speaker C

So facts are the outer ring.

Speaker C

Beliefs are the next ring in.

Speaker C

It's what you believe about the fact that matters.

Speaker C

So if you believe that 55 degrees is hot or cold, then you will have the next ring in which is thoughts.

Speaker C

And thoughts are how you feel or how you think about how you feel.

Speaker C

So if the fact is 55 degrees and you think 55 is cold, then your thoughts are, it's cold.

Speaker C

It's very simple.

Speaker C

Right?

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker C

So Therefore, your reality is you feel cold.

Speaker C

So how you experience reality is based on what you believe.

Speaker C

Therefore, the way I say it is what you believe defines your reality.

Speaker C

How you interpret facts through your beliefs is how you think or how your thoughts manifest and therefore how you feel.

Speaker C

Okay, Right.

Speaker C

Okay.

Speaker C

So that's.

Speaker C

That's a.

Speaker C

To me, that's one of the best premises to try to describe why beliefs are at the root of who you are.

Speaker C

And I.

Speaker C

So this is a side story.

Speaker C

Real quickly, if any of you have read about Shackleton's journey to Antarctica to try to find the South Pole where he shipwrecked and was down there with all of his men for a year and a half, starving and freezing, there's a point in that story that the weather warms up to 34 degrees.

Speaker C

Fahrenheit.

Speaker C

Fahrenheit.

Speaker C

Like, just barely at the freezing point.

Speaker C

And they're sweating.

Speaker C

They're taking off all their clothes and sweating.

Speaker C

It's so hot for them because they became so acclimated to negative 10 and negative 20 degrees.

Speaker C

So now you think about that fact of 34 degrees to you and I, that's like, oh, I gotta get my gloves on, my hat.

Speaker C

This is cold.

Speaker C

Right?

Speaker B

That's colder than your cold plunge.

Speaker B

Yeah.

Speaker C

And they're shedding all their clothes and literally sweating.

Speaker B

Huh.

Speaker C

So what's a fact?

Speaker C

It's interpreted by your beliefs that.

Speaker C

Therefore, how you feel about it.

Speaker C

It's.

Speaker C

And.

Speaker C

And look, your beliefs can be manifested in your body, too.

Speaker C

So this isn't.

Speaker C

This isn't just how you think.

Speaker C

Okay, I'm gonna go back to the other story, when I was so powerful.

Speaker B

Thank you.

Speaker B

This is so good.

Speaker C

When I was 27, I was single.

Speaker C

Wasn't no, you know, no responsibilities yet I had my company.

Speaker C

It was very new.

Speaker C

And I said to myself, I want to get married.

Speaker C

I want to eventually have kids.

Speaker C

I want to have the life that we dream about as men.

Speaker C

And I know women do, too, but I was just thinking for myself as a man, so how do I become the best man I can be?

Speaker C

How do I prove that I'm the person I've said I want to be?

Speaker C

Because I think one of the things we do as men is we say to people, this is who I am, even though we're not, and we're trying to be those people all the time.

Speaker C

So I cocooned myself emotionally, and I started testing every single belief I could identify.

Speaker C

I did it for six years, and then I broke the shell and came out well.

Speaker C

So during those six years, I documented over 50 different beliefs about love, money, life, family, work, anything I could find.

Speaker C

And every time I found a belief I didn't like, I change it using this method.

Speaker C

I would just change it to something better.

Speaker C

And it was amazing.

Speaker C

Like, this is actually a funny story.

Speaker C

I was 23 years old.

Speaker C

I was talking to my mentor, and I was lamenting about a girl I was dating and how she was talking about the last guy she dated and how awesome this car was.

Speaker C

And I'm a car guy, and I had a crap car.

Speaker C

So I was like, oh, man, I feel intimidated to date this girl.

Speaker C

And I said to him, like, she was dating a guy who was CEO of a software company.

Speaker C

He was, like, 27 years old, and he'd already made it, et cetera.

Speaker C

And my mentor said, these guys, if they're less than 30, starting a software company, they're not CEOs yet.

Speaker C

They're wannabes.

Speaker C

Don't even think about it.

Speaker C

Don't worry about it.

Speaker C

So guess what happened, Sam?

Speaker C

Later, three years, four years later, I become CEO of a software company that I founded, Right?

Speaker B

Yeah, Right.

Speaker C

The day of my 30th birthday, I woke up.

Speaker C

You know, the first thing is I said to myself, I'm 30.

Speaker C

I can finally be the CEO now.

Speaker C

Wow.

Speaker C

Oh, my.

Speaker B

I.

Speaker C

And I said it out loud to myself, and I said, oh, my gosh, I'm such an idiot.

Speaker C

I took on this belief at seven years ago, thinking it was helping me date a girl.

Speaker C

And I ingested it and kept it and didn't identify it till I turned 30.

Speaker C

Thank God it wasn't age 40, right?

Speaker C

But it completely changed my view.

Speaker C

Like, I can now believe I'm capable of being CEO because I'm 30.

Speaker C

Like, how naive is that, right?

Speaker B

Yeah.

Speaker B

Talk about imposter syndrome.

Speaker B

Yeah.

Speaker C

But this is how powerful the beliefs are, and that's why it's so important to sit down and actually diagnose what are your beliefs.

Speaker C

If you were to write out all your beliefs and you were identifying ones that aren't serving you, you change them, right?

Speaker C

You would work so hard to change it, because what's the point?

Speaker B

Gosh.

Speaker B

You know, I think that so many times that we.

Speaker B

We 1.

Speaker B

The big struggle, especially in our society, and.

Speaker B

And I love everything about this because you're so intentional about what you do and this whole process and the whole steps.

Speaker B

Because, you know, I came from the place of, you know, in my religious cult upbringing, that we.

Speaker B

You weren't allowed to have emotions and beliefs outside of what this one thing says.

Speaker B

This is Your only allowable belief.

Speaker B

And so I was horrible at even recognizing what my own beliefs are.

Speaker B

And still it's a constant struggle to be able to put a name to and recognize my own beliefs and emotions, especially for communication and relationships and stuff.

Speaker B

So to, so to be able to step one, recognize and analyze, not just analyze, but recognize and label what your own belief is, what your own emotions are around that is huge.

Speaker B

So I mean that what I would love to be able to ask you what is a maybe a way to start to recognize and be able to label those?

Speaker B

Because a lot of people come from that same place of you weren't allowed to have beliefs of your own, so you don't even know how to recognize them.

Speaker B

So what's a good way to start there?

Speaker C

Well, all of this is going to add to your own self awareness and build self awareness over time.

Speaker C

The first thing that I would say you look for is where are you unhappy?

Speaker C

Where is there friction in your life where you are unhappy, frustrated and not getting what you want?

Speaker C

It could be trivial, like not getting to eat what you want.

Speaker C

It could be just profound.

Speaker C

Not having the success you want, not being with the partner you want.

Speaker C

It could be any of those things.

Speaker C

And what most people do is they start blaming outside of themselves.

Speaker C

It's just not available to me.

Speaker C

I can't make the money because the customers don't want to pay me.

Speaker C

Whatever.

Speaker C

Ask yourself first, where is this friction stemming from?

Speaker C

And you can ask it from another perspective.

Speaker C

You could say, what is it I would actually like?

Speaker C

What would make me thrive and excel and be empowered?

Speaker C

What would that look like?

Speaker C

I mean, look, my company, my software company, is founded on four cultural principles that run who we are.

Speaker C

I came up with those before I ever started my company.

Speaker C

And I came up with those because I was asking myself, if I'm going to work somewhere, what is going to empower me to want to work, to do my best work, to feel I'm doing my best work, to feel like I'm maximizing my potential because I was frustrated, working for others because I did, I had jobs, right?

Speaker C

I wasn't always an entrepreneur.

Speaker C

So I was working for others and never feeling like I could reach my potential or do what I wanted to do.

Speaker C

So I just looked at that friction.

Speaker C

I said, what is it?

Speaker C

So what would help me feel that way?

Speaker C

And by defining what it is that would make me happy and thrive, I could then approach that and pursue it.

Speaker C

And along the way you start to learn there are beliefs in there that are holding you back.

Speaker C

But you know, there's a simple thing to do.

Speaker C

Just ask yourself, what do I believe about X?

Speaker C

Like, here's one.

Speaker C

What.

Speaker C

What do I believe about stress?

Speaker B

Ooh, that's a tough one.

Speaker C

You know, a lot of people feel like I have to take my.

Speaker C

My work home with me.

Speaker B

Yeah.

Speaker C

I have to sleep on it and think about it.

Speaker C

I have to keep it high on my priority list.

Speaker B

I think you just hit me between the eyes because I just now realized that my belief around stress is the more.

Speaker B

The harder I work and the more stressed I feel, it feels like I'm accomplishing more, which now.

Speaker B

Now that I say it out loud, I realize how actually opposite that is.

Speaker B

And that's a toxic type of belief around stress.

Speaker C

Yeah.

Speaker C

Good for you.

Speaker B

Wow.

Speaker C

So what's a better belief?

Speaker B

Yeah, a better belief would be like, where's.

Speaker B

Like recognizing where the stress and friction is coming from and then navigating my life around that.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker B

So may.

Speaker C

Maybe let's make it.

Speaker C

Let's make it more.

Speaker B

Yeah, Help me out.

Speaker B

Let's do this.

Speaker B

Realize, like real time so everybody listening can, like, apply this.

Speaker B

Right?

Speaker C

Yeah.

Speaker C

So if you had.

Speaker C

I'm just going to try to rephrase this.

Speaker C

If your belief is the harder you work and the more stress you feel, therefore, the more successful you are.

Speaker C

What if you just change it to the harder I work and the less stress I feel, the more successful I am.

Speaker B

Wow.

Speaker B

Yeah, for sure.

Speaker C

I mean, keep it simple.

Speaker C

Look, I. I have several beliefs about stress that keep my stress very, very low.

Speaker C

Number one, if somebody else is worried about something, I don't have to be.

Speaker C

So I have a coo.

Speaker C

I have a COO who manages our finances, and if we can't pay payroll, he's worried about it.

Speaker C

Guess what?

Speaker C

I am not worried about it.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker C

I can still take action.

Speaker C

I can still go raise capital, whatever, but I'm not stressed out about it.

Speaker C

That's somebody else's stress.

Speaker C

There's.

Speaker C

We don't need more than one person stressing out about something.

Speaker C

I have other beliefs and, like, specifically with money stress.

Speaker C

If I need the money, it will be there.

Speaker C

So I don't care how it gets there.

Speaker C

I don't care if I borrow it, you know, make it, whatever.

Speaker C

I'm just.

Speaker C

I just eliminate that level of stress.

Speaker C

I believe that a great relationship with my wife is one where we don't fight and we don't have.

Speaker C

We don't have stress because we're not inventing stress with each other.

Speaker C

And the stress of.

Speaker C

Of having uncomfortable, awkward situations is Mitigated by another belief of we're going to address it immediately and we're going to communicate clearly about it.

Speaker C

And then you add in other beliefs like I will not do something to harm my spouse in a conversation.

Speaker C

I'm not going to blame her, I'm not going to, you know, use my frustration against her, et cetera.

Speaker C

So you start, this is why I say like, you stop feeding that one belief and it feeds, fills a whole branch.

Speaker C

You start seeing all these other ones around it and from a stress standpoint, you start to live with less stress.

Speaker C

Here's another one I have diagnosed when I do my best work, like when do I have the best analytical mind, when am I at the best writer, when am I the best at meetings?

Speaker C

I structure my day that way and then it's low stress because I get to perform really well in those times and I don't worry about it.

Speaker C

So if I need to write a document for a design of a, of our software or something, I will choose the time that it works best for me and not stress about it.

Speaker B

Wow, man, there's so many ways, so powerful.

Speaker B

Yeah, I feel like so nobody talks about this type of thing enough because you know, our society just feeds this idea of, you know, work your face especially.

Speaker B

I mean, thankfully like Gary Vee has like changed the way he, he talks about stress in this.

Speaker B

But I mean all the idea of like work your face off and you know, you got your grant cardone's out there.

Speaker B

It's like, oh, you just got a 10x everything and, and you're not working hard enough or you're a loser.

Speaker C

Yeah.

Speaker B

So we're, we're constantly fed these ideas in our society really is just clickbait more than anything.

Speaker B

But we start to believe those instead of what we're talking about here, which is actual meat and truth to how successful people really live, not just somebody, some flashy person on, you know, say, social media.

Speaker C

So, so I want to say something about all this and I don't want this to come across as my own arrogance or patting myself on the back or anything like that.

Speaker C

I, I, I want to be an example for others.

Speaker B

Sure.

Speaker C

And that example is because I worked so hard for the, those six years that I was cocooned and ever since, so hard at identifying beliefs and rewriting them, coming up with better beliefs.

Speaker C

Sam, my confidence level is through the roof.

Speaker C

You cannot offend me.

Speaker C

You cannot do something to me that makes me feel away if I don't want to feel that way.

Speaker C

I have absolute control over what I say yes to and what I say no to.

Speaker C

I don't have a dragon running through my head telling me bad things over and over and over again.

Speaker C

I don't have that negative tape loop.

Speaker C

I don't.

Speaker C

My brain and my mind is fairly quiet and at ease because thoughts come from good beliefs.

Speaker C

Good thoughts come from good beliefs.

Speaker C

So I generally have good thoughts.

Speaker C

Now, look, I have stress.

Speaker C

I have stress because I discover a financial thing I'm trying to fix, or, you know, I want to sell my motorhome and it's over undervalued and too highly leveraged, so I'm not gonna be able to sell it.

Speaker C

Right.

Speaker C

I mean, we have those things happen, right?

Speaker B

Sure.

Speaker C

Nobody's perfect.

Speaker C

But the point is that the more you know yourself, the more you spend the time to define your own beliefs and therefore know who you are.

Speaker C

Nobody on the outside can affect you.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker C

I. I look, at one point, I lost 45% of my revenue because one big customer left.

Speaker B

Wow.

Speaker C

That did not stress me out.

Speaker C

It didn't bother me.

Speaker C

I was like, okay, we'll figure it out.

Speaker C

We'll get to the next thing.

Speaker C

We'll go into solution mode and.

Speaker C

And solve problems.

Speaker C

Sure.

Speaker C

Because I know who I am because I have this stuff figured out.

Speaker C

And that's what I hope others can achieve.

Speaker C

I hope others will diagnose their beliefs and find the ones that work for them and build this powerhouse within them that is unstoppable.

Speaker C

It's exactly who they've always wanted to be because they designed it and made it happen.

Speaker B

This is so good.

Speaker B

So I wish we could go on for.

Speaker B

We may have to do a series of podcasts on this because it's so powerful and for everybody listening, apply this.

Speaker B

This is the real deal.

Speaker B

From coming from somebody who is clearly successful, lots of businesses, authored two books.

Speaker B

I'm sure there's probably more to come at some point in your journey.

Speaker B

And these are the things that really are the separators from the top performers in the world.

Speaker B

The What?

Speaker B

The top 1%, the top 3%, and everybody else is you are who you believe you are and the ability to change your belief system to match where you want to go.

Speaker B

And this is so good.

Speaker B

This is so good.

Speaker B

Well, it's.

Speaker B

I wish we could go on.

Speaker B

It's time to land this plane.

Speaker B

And man, thank you for being here today because I.

Speaker B

It.

Speaker B

It's such an honor to get to.

Speaker B

To do it an episode with you, Rich.

Speaker C

And it's been my pleasure, Sam.

Speaker C

I. I love this topic.

Speaker C

I truly, truly Hope that I can help people and, and that they'll learn and grow within themselves.

Speaker C

You know, somebody said it best.

Speaker C

Your business is going to grow at the rate at which you grow.

Speaker C

So I hope this helps.

Speaker C

I appreciate you having me on the show today.

Speaker B

Absolutely.

Speaker B

So for everybody listening to so Rich also hosts a podcast and it is.

Speaker B

Tell us, tell us about the podcast.

Speaker B

Tell us a bit about the like, who, who, what the topic is, who you talk to.

Speaker B

Because if everybody listening, if you resonated with Rich and what he's saying today, one, tell everybody how they can get a hold of your book.

Speaker B

And two, tell us about the podcast because I know a lot of people were going to want to dial in.

Speaker C

Sure.

Speaker C

So the podcast is called the Customer Wins.

Speaker C

I talk to business leaders about how they help their customers win, how they create an excellent customer experience and customer success, something I'm super passionate about.

Speaker C

And, you know, the conversation often talks about their business and what they do, but then jumps into leadership and personal development because again, how they're helping themselves become better is how they end up helping their customers win.

Speaker B

Right?

Speaker C

You can find me on LinkedIn.

Speaker C

I am the Quick Form CEO.

Speaker C

You can find my YouTube channel, the Customer Wins.

Speaker C

You can go to my website, quick forms plural.com and look, my books, It's My Life I Can Change if I Want to is available on Amazon and my other book is called It's My Life, I Can have the Job I want.

Speaker C

And if that's going to help you or somebody you love or somebody you know, I give it away for free as an ebook.

Speaker C

You just have to ask me.

Speaker C

Contact me on LinkedIn.

Speaker C

Send me an email rwalkerickforums.com I love to give away that book because it can help people find jobs and, you know, be better employed.

Speaker C

So yeah, that's best way to connect with me.

Speaker B

I love it.

Speaker B

Well, thank you so much for that.

Speaker B

I know that I will definitely be reading be reading your books because the meat there is so powerful for everybody listening.

Speaker B

Also, I don't this is a fairly new thing.

Speaker B

I actually am hosting a book club.

Speaker B

There's no sales pitch in it.

Speaker B

It's strictly to help everyone with personal growth.

Speaker B

We cycle through.

Speaker B

The first book we just finished was the Gap in the Gain.

Speaker B

But we're going to.

Speaker B

We cycle through business books, through sales books, through mindset books, all of these things.

Speaker B

Clearly your book is going to become one of the books along the way, which is exciting.

Speaker B

But so for everybody listening, if you want to know more about the book club, join the close it now Facebook group or email me sam closeitnow.net or just pop me a text 512-364-8559 and you can get me that way.

Speaker B

Happy to connect you in the book club.

Speaker B

It is growing and it's really fun because we just get together once a month and talk about ideas and concepts and how it can apply to our life to grow.

Speaker C

Hey Sam, repeat that number one more time and the first five people who text you I will send a copy of my book too for free.

Speaker B

Oh love it.

Speaker B

That is 512-364-8559 so text me put books book in the or yeah put book in the text and we'll know that you're one of the first five.

Speaker B

And I will make sure to get you in contact with Rich so he can get you a copy of his book.

Speaker B

Thank you.

Speaker B

That is incredible pleasure.

Speaker B

So well awesome.

Speaker B

So let's land this plane.

Speaker B

Everybody make sure to the March 21st and 22nd is the the sales event of the year here in Austin, Texas.

Speaker B

I am hosting that.

Speaker B

It's we're two days.

Speaker B

We're going to deep dive and I can guarantee you if you don't, your numbers don't improve minimum 30% after you've attended this course.

Speaker B

I will do a one on one coaching session with you as long as it takes until they do.

Speaker B

But because I know and that will be for free.

Speaker B

I know if you apply what you learn at this course you will minimum 30% improve your numbers because we see it all over the country.

Speaker B

So again reach out about that.

Speaker B

Go to CloseItNow.net, you can find out more about that event.

Speaker B

It's going to be incredibly awesome.

Speaker B

So super excited about that and who knows, maybe we might just have Rich pop in for a minute and talk about some mindset stuff.

Speaker B

He's local here but everybody thanks for listening today.

Speaker B

Thank you Rich for being on.

Speaker B

This has been an incredible episode.

Speaker B

Personally I think one of my favorites I've ever recorded and yeah thank you Sam.

Speaker B

You are welcome everybody listening.

Speaker B

Go save the world one heat stroke at a time.

Speaker B

Go save the world one frostbite at a time.

Speaker A

Thanks for listening to Close it now with Sam Wakefield.

Speaker A

Subscribe to the podcast now so you're first to hear new episodes jam packed with actionable tools and tips to make you the top H Vac professional in your market.

Speaker A

If you have friends and colleagues who would like this show show share it with them and send them to our Facebook community for more in depth discussion about the challenges we all face and how to overcome them on the Close it now podcast.