Ep 137 - "The Beginner's Mind"

0:00 Wow. How many of you have listened to the Head, Heart & Boots podcast? I can't tell you that reaction, how much that means to us. Welcome back to the Head, Heart & Boots podcast. I'm Chris. And I'm Brennan. Join us as we wrestle with what it takes to transform ourselves and the businesses we lead. This new camera angle makes my arms look smaller than yours. I'm noticing that and I really appreciate it. I thought you did that on purpose. No, I don't. I didn't. And I am not happy with it. Hey, y'all. Thanks so much for listening to the show. Hey, if you're not already following, please do so. And ultimately share, right? The coolest currency that we have in terms of supporting this is share it with a friend, share it with somebody, a colleague, a peer, one of your downline team members.

0:43 Let them be able to take advantage of the information you're already leveraging in your favor. And finally, guys, if you hear a show that really moves you, that really moves the needle, will you please leave us a review? Those five-star reviews help Right on. And listen, if you're trying to grow your business, you might consider checking out Floodlight's Business Opportunity Audit. It's free. We provide it at no charge. It's actually what we use to assess new clients as they come in. It's a 110-point assessment for your business. And we've now decided to give access to the general public for it. So go and take our business opportunity audit at floodlightgrp.com. It's going to help you identify the biggest gaps and opportunities in your business right now.

1:25 And at the end, it'll assign you a health score to let you know exactly where your business stands right now. So go check it out, floodlightgrp.com forward slash audit and take the BOA. It's a great way to get a pulse on your business. Mahomes. I'm trying to change my intro based on that sweet open shirt you got. Dude, if you had a gold necklace on right now that was visible between the beard and the open collar, there would be a whole new level of awesome going down right now. Oh, man. Yeah. Well, you know, ever since Avon gave us her social media report and seeing our engagement on LinkedIn and so forth. Oh, gosh. Apparently, the more skin you and I show, the more engagement it gets.

2:09 Which makes me feel just slightly weird considering the male domination in our industry. What does this mean? Oh, what is this telling us? What does this mean? About the stats inside our industry. But you know. Don't lean into that too hard. I'll tell you that right now. I'm ambitious enough. I'm willing to kind of. You're going to test the boundaries. You know, that's right. Test your boundaries. So. Hey man, open in the collar. We'll get us a thousand more listeners. Let's go. A little chest hair in this episode. Let's go. That's right. Okay, dude, I have a... Man, it feels like we haven't been in the studio for a minute. We did some mobile stuff. Yeah. We did some reboots. Travel's been crazy this year. I think it's... Anyway, so I don't want to go down that path. So I've been thinking about a topic that I wanted to wrestle with. And I think wrestle is the key because I'm not even sure I can articulate the topic very well.

2:52 So here we go. Okay, so one of the things that you and I have been working on, really our team's been working on over the last several months is a very large project. A project that will ultimately reshape the way that Floodlight does consulting and the way that we deliver service to our partners and to our clients. And so it's been an interesting experience, right? We're in our own training right now. We spent last week in Chicago with our team getting certified and going through a really robust training model. And anyways, it's one of many things where I feel like I'm facing right now where the demand on the company, the demand on scope of work, and what we want to do in terms of creating a service promise and actually executing on that level of service with our clients, it's creating a demand on me that is really requiring that I iterate.

3:41 I got to level up. Well, yeah, just to be clear, when people hear this, they may think, oh, is Floodlight becoming an EOS thing, or are we doing this like a culture index, or some sort of just common certification? No, I mean, this is a one-off, this is a brand new thing. This is a collaboration, a partnership we've been masterminding around and kind of working on creating for months now, and it's finally come to fruition. It's... It's something that the industry has never seen. And it's super exciting. And yet, because it's not just some turnkey, become an EOS implementer, you know, or whatever. I mean, I'm not downplaying EOS. It's awesome. It's great. It's a good thing. Yeah. But I just mean, it isn't just read a book and then go to a four-day class and you're certified.

4:25 It's been a really, you know... Yeah. It's been big. And it's, it's been different. You know, and we've had to question a lot. I think what'll be fun is maybe around September, maybe closer to October, maybe we'll do a real intentional. Big reveal. Yeah. Yeah. Show about it. Cause it is fun. And I think just in general, there's so much that we've learned about how to, to really partner with people that anyways. It's like, I think for us, as we've been collaborating with this partner, who's like, just, I'm not even sure how to talk about it. But I think it's been stretchier. Yeah, relentless. Relentless executor, Dave. By definition. An incredibly successful and powerful serial entrepreneur, yeah. It's just been, it's been stretching me. Oh, yeah.

5:05 I mean, emotionally, psychologically, it's like, wow, okay. There are a number of areas that this is really pushing me. And at the same time, feeling really inspired and motivated. Exactly. You know? Yeah. So less overwhelm and more like, man, this is like the next, this is the next horizon, right? For floodlight to be chasing towards. And so, yeah. Okay, so here's where it's landed for me recently. Okay. Is, all right, I'm thinking about the relationship that we have with our consulting clients. And guys, just hang on. This is not a freaking pitch for consulting services. But here's how I've been thinking about this. One of the biggest things that happens when we start working with a team is they're in... There is some scenario that's either been unfolding or has reached kind of a cadence or a level of pain that that business owner or key leader has decided enough is enough.

5:56 We've got to do something different. Or there's this motivation of what's possible. And so that would be another common reason for a team to hire a consulting company. But inevitably, regardless of how you got there, whether it was just you recognizing pain has kind of reached a certain point that you're willing to do something about it, or there's like this excitement about the next level of what's possible, There is a rude awakening that happens in the first 90 days where you just begin to learn very pointedly where the weaknesses are, where the gaps are in the business. And before you experience it firsthand, just talking about it, most of us can go, yeah, like I can recognize things aren't perfect.

6:39 But when they get uncovered and you start identifying, hey, what needs to happen or how big the gap exists between what's possible and what could be in place and what's in place now, there is a deep sense of overwhelm, I think, that sets in. Now, I'm not sure that everyone would agree. state it that way, but there's just a reality where you go, where in the fuck am I going to pull extra days and hours out of my life to begin working on something that feels like it will require something outside of what I'm already doing? Well, in the way I would say it, because I've heard our clients articulate it this way, and I have felt it. I feel it. There's an aspect of it I feel right now, which is you're so engaged in what already is and what's now that it's almost like you're snowed over.

7:25 You can't see what else it's supposed to be. Yeah. You can't see beyond what's now. And you know that it's not everything it should be. You know it's not exactly where you're going. But seeing the roadmap of like, okay, what do we do instead? Right. Sometimes it's really hard to land there. It is. Because you're so engaged in the here and now. Yep. You know something needs to change. Yeah. But it's difficult to really land the plane as to, okay, what's the next right thing for us to do? That's right. And I think what this experience that you and I have been going through with our business, with the strategic partner is for the first time, honestly, for the first time since we've been growing this particular business is somebody's showing us the gaps.

8:09 And the gaps are really in relationship to what we want from our business. Like we are starting to get very clear on where we're headed today. We didn't know how we're going to get there. We've never run a consulting firm before. And so this opportunity with this strategic partner, who's done this in spades, is showing us these gaps. And I am feeling that experience that a lot of clients feel in these first 90 days when you go, wow, this is going to require a lot. And what I found very interesting as part of our training, kind of part of my personal experience is, I'm in this battle between trusting clients And I think any of you, if you're our client, you're really going to understand. And if you've dealt with any kind of consultant or coach before, this is going to make a lot of sense is I'm seeing and hearing and identifying and I'm stuck in this struggle between I want to believe what you're telling me, but my personal experience is really in conflict because I'm not sure.

9:05 It's not like I felt like I've been sitting around wasting my time and energy. Yeah. And so there's this conflict that happens mentally where my first response mentally, if you will, is just kind of like this pushback of, right, oh, when am I going to do that? Or that sounds good. Or I wish or should be nice. And what can happen is I don't hear the guidance that I'm getting in terms of where are the iterations going to come from? Because they're not necessarily just in the business. Most of the iterating... has to happen with the way that I'm thinking about my business and the way that I'm thinking about my relationship to time, energy, values, possibilities.

9:49 And it's like, it's so much less about the technical, tactical guidance that we're getting. And it's like, I'm really in the weeds on this iterating on my ability as a person because getting what I want is going to require it. And so as much as in the moment, my mind kind of wants to push back and wrestle, what I'm learning is, is that when I begin trying, so out of faith, strategic partner says, look, you're going to have to make this change. And he tells us why and he gives us all the good reasons that support it. And there is just part of me that very timidly takes the first step and my brain is screaming, this won't work.

10:30 It's not real. It's not going to work. It's not going to work. And so I have to, I'm going somewhere. So I have to start taking these actions and, And I have to start living into the thing, even though mentally I haven't bought into it yet. And so it's this mechanical step. Okay. Here's a dumb little example. I realize how much I'm going to have to do over the next several months leading the organization as part of this transition. And I'm looking at my calendar blocks. I'm a blocking calendar mofo. Like I live in calendar blocks and I think I'm damn good at it. And I already think I'm pretty much maximizing my time. And what our partner is saying is, you ain't even close, Holmes. And so I'm having to reevaluate my...

11:11 Sounds so cheesy. I'm having to reevaluate my commitment to blocking. And what I'm realizing is that it's these little detailed nuances... differences in something as silly as the way I'm blocking my time. And I was able to gather another 12 hours of productive time in my week. So here's how. Listen to this shit. It's so nerdy. So in Google Calendar, there's an analyzer, an analytics. And it will tell you if you go in and label colors by a specific title or category, it will monitor how much of that you're doing in a single week. And then you can set your in-business hours. Okay? Mm-hmm. And so when I did that, and I went through this exercise where I started literally going through my entire calendar and putting the colors, not by the way that I used to, which is to help me identify the difference in who I'm meeting with and why, but I did it based on these fundamental areas of that I need to be in the business, on the business, sales, this, consulting, broke all the colors out, and then...

12:09 I looked at the analyzer and tried to identify where all my time's going. And guess how many hours I had logged for working on our business? Not enough. Like two. Two. So then I took this time, okay, after our training, I'm like, okay, I'm reorienting this mofo. So I went out as many weeks as I had to where all the holes weren't filled in. And I started booking in these blocks of strategic time, time to work on my business. And I was able to pull out eight, eight hours now that are dedicated to this work. But what tripped me out, man, this is kind of my point. You just lost like 80% of sales. I know. This is so freaking nerdy. And 40% of entrepreneurs. Yeah. Okay. This is the thing though.

12:49 I'm with you. Like I could have not done that because my default, bro, and you know this better than anybody, my default is not to open up my calendar and turn on an analyzer. Like that ain't me. Okay. But I have to behave differently in order to create a different outcome. And I had to step into something that mechanically is not natural to me. And I'm not highly motivated by it. But I'm motivated by what it demands from me because I want that outcome. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right? Yeah, the way that I'm thinking about it is... Are you going to less nerd this? In order... No, no, no, no. Okay. In order for you to be the kind of person that you need to be to tackle this next thing that you want to do, right?

13:30 It's requiring this of you. I've been thinking about this too and... That's been the conversation in my head is what kind of person do I need to be in order to do this next season of growth in our company? But then I've also been asking that question too of like, I still got two teenagers at home. I got a daughter who's finding her way in the world. She's living on her own now. And it's like, okay, what kind of person do I need to be? And what would that person do? It's kind of, it kind of speaks to the, there was somebody that I was... It's kind of like back in the mid 2000s, early 2000s, there was the what would Jesus do bracelet. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I totally remember that. I mean, you know, listen, it was a really, that was a really smart campaign for Christians and whatnot.

14:14 It's like, yeah, it makes decision making process very simple. Yeah. Right? Yeah. Oh, yeah, it was James Clear. James Clear brought this up in his book, Atomic Habits. It's like, okay, when we're trying to change our habits and just our natural default way of doing things, right, it's really helpful to find an archetype. Yeah. And I think for you and I, up until we met this partner collaborator, we really didn't know who to like draft behind. We didn't know. I mean, it's like, we can't exactly follow Chuck Norris's example and Jesus maybe gets us halfway there. So it's like, who are we? What archetype are we following? And that's what we kind of found in this partner.

14:54 And now it's like, okay, what would so-and-so do? Yeah. Yeah. How would so-and-so manage his time? Right. Like, how is he, well, we learned how he manages his calendar. And so, yeah, I've been really wrestling with a lot of that. Okay, what kind of person? Yep. And then how would he manage his time in this situation? How would he approach this meeting? How would he prepare for this or that? And then starting to just imitate. Yep. It's like doing before your identity believes it kind of thing. And then I think that's kind of part of it. Okay, it's kind of interesting thought in process here. You and I have been talking a lot about enterprise value and what does it look like building an exit-ready business. And one of the things that us and some of our partners like JT and some of the others in the industry have talked about is this need to separate one's identity from...

15:41 from the organization. It's cool that you'd spent your lifetime building this asset. Totally get it. The sacrifice, the blood, the sweat, the tears, all the things. But is it you? It's not you. Maybe you label yourself as an entrepreneur. Cool. But there's more to you in your person than just this business. And there's this moment where you got to learn how to segregate those two before you go to sell or exit your organization. Yeah. Well, in a similar way, in motion, I'm having to separate my identity from who I was or from what skill set I've had in the past or what skills or tool sets I use to create success in the past because they can't any longer define me.

16:21 if I'm going to move into this new iteration or this new level of competency, skill set, tool set, whatever it is, that the business is going to demand of me as we continue to grow it and scale it. And so one of the things I guess I'm just trying to lean really hard into right now is I've got to take action first. Yeah. And once I begin taking some of those actions, I'm going to use the fact that I'm doing it as a new way to frame my identity in terms of what I'm capable of and what I'm competent in. Because otherwise, I just get stuck in the space of, oh, I'm never X or I don't do Y or I'm bad at this. And the reality of it is, yeah, right now. But there's, in a lot of ways, there's no reason I can't become gifted or skilled in that in the future.

17:04 Yeah. And so I'm just having to kind of lean into this stuff. I'm going to try it. I'm going to have enough faith to put the practice in and put the reps in. And then I'm going to allow that to reshape who I believe I am because I'm doing it. Yeah. Right? Like, yeah. Not to get too existential here, but one of the most powerful books that I've read in the last many years is by Eckhart Tolle. It's called The New Earth. And it really is all about the ego. Yeah, it's all about the ego and the role the ego plays in our decision making, the way we think, the way we interact with others, do relationship, do our work, all the things. And he was recounting the story of a young man in his 20s that came up to him at one of his workshops or conferences and said, you know, gosh, Mr. Toley, I just can't figure out who I am.

17:48 Yeah. And, you know, this is a big, huge goal. And some of us would probably ask that question at some point in our life. Like, who am I really? What am I doing here? And Eckhart looked back at him and without really skipping a beat, he said, that's awesome. That's one of the best questions that we can ask ourselves. And when I first read that, I was like, okay, well, that's weird. Yeah. Well, yeah, that's really, yeah, this is a great guru answer right there, you know? The best question is a question. But I think his point, and having read through the rest of the book, is our egos are very quick to define ourselves based on what we do and have done. What we're currently doing and have done, we build a lot of our identity around what we're doing and what we've done, the people we know, the people we have known, what people have said about us, what people are saying about us.

18:38 And I think his point is that at any given time, we can change, like we can make a choice to be a different person. Yes. Yeah. And I really, really believe that. Like sometimes, again, some people are going to be like, oh my God, this guy. You know, with his flip flops and his hippie. He's probably wearing bell bottoms right now, you know, and. Your shirt is open pretty significantly there. But I, and I don't remember who taught me this, but I just find it very useful. It gets me in the right headspace. In the morning, everybody knows I do sauna and cold plunge most mornings. It's a great way to start my day. And when I'm in the cold plunge for three minutes, listen, I love how I feel after I get out of the cold plunge, but you've done it now.

19:21 You've been in the cold plunge. The during is a different experience. The during is, it's an enduring, you know? Yeah. And so I try to just meditate. I try to breathe and I try to just get through the three minutes. And sometimes one of the mantras or one of the meditation phrases, it's somewhere along the line, somebody told me to do, it's just the simple phrase, new day, new life, new day, new life. And I think it speaks to that, this idea that it truly is like we go to sleep at night. Most people don't think about this. I remember Joe Rogan saying something about this. He's like, sleep is the craziest thing, right? Sleep is the craziest thing. Some people don't wake up, but most of the time we do. Sleep is this crazy thing where you're kind of dead, but you're not, right?

20:02 It's like, it's a very, like, you know, our sleeping state is really weird. And I think we take for granted the fact that we go to sleep when we wake up the next morning. And so anyway, here I am. I took us far afield But my point is what you're saying, I think, is something that most of us just don't give any thought or consideration to is that, look, every day is a new day. I can choose to act like a different person. Like books have been written about this. loves atomic habits because they want to stop smoking or they want to start having a morning habit or they want to whatever. And they have these, you know, just simple things they want to do. But what James Clear was talking about was not just about simple shit.

20:42 Like I wanted to have a habit of working out four times a week. His point is, look, our brains are wired in such a way that we can literally change who we are by just adopting certain behaviors. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Right. Like I can literally, I can say to myself, you know what? I really admire Joe Rogan. I want to be more like Joe Rogan. He's super fit, freaking super fit in his 50s, has been married for a long time, seems to be very happy in his marriage, has a healthy relationship with his kids, very successful, makes lots of money. I want to be like Joe Rogan. And I can literally start to become more like Joe Rogan simply by asking myself, okay, what would Joe Rogan do? I'm getting up this morning.

21:23 What would he eat for breakfast? Well, I kind of know because I listen to this podcast. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. Like literally we can approach our lives that way and it's useful. Yeah, no, I think you've keyed in on kind of the heart of the issue. And it's like in order for us to experience something significantly different than what we've already experienced. And I know sometimes it's easy to say this stuff, but it's so hard to stay in motion long enough to actually experience the fruit of your commitment. And I think what I see happen constantly, and this is true even with our clientele, and it's hard to watch sometimes, where it's like somebody came to you because they know they want to experience something different or they want to prepare to be engaged on a different path, have a different outcome.

22:07 And I think they just mentally give up. before they've spent enough time putting in reps that will help them become this new thing they want to experience. And this isn't all just like personal development guru bullshit that I'm talking about. It's as simple as like when an owner has been the linchpin to their entire organization and you have to begin trusting people that in the past have let you down. Or you've got plenty of opportunities to point behind you where people took advantage of you. Or shit all over you after pay raises and bonuses and commitments to commissions. Like, I know. I've been there. Like, we've all had experiences where things, people, processes let us down.

22:48 And so there's fear. There's all these things that stand in our way. And so we get stuck for settling. We lower the bar and we just commit like, this is what it's going to be like. And I think what happens sometimes is like when a consulting engagement starts, there was something that motivated you just enough to take a little bit of action. Then that team comes in and they start showing you some things that are going to be difficult to do, but they're going to be worth it. And then there's like this phase that happens where we start really motivated and we start to put in the reps and we start facing all the challenges of those transitions, all the challenges of those changes. We have the one or two people that begin to push back and really show concern for, man, I don't know, you're asking a lot more of me.

23:31 And then we begin to act out in fear instead of stepping into the thing with faith that we've got to just hold the course long enough to experience the outcome that we're seeking or the change that we're seeking. And it just breaks my heart sometimes, man, because I watch people throw in the towel before they've gotten to the other side. It's like you and I have talked about this a lot about employees. Depending on where you are in the food chain, you just commonly have a farther view down the field or around multiple corners of what's coming and what's possible. And it's like you're talking to your employee, you're talking to your team member, and you've already been around two corners. And they're stuck at that first corner. And you're like, look, just keep walking. little farther, you're going to see, it's going to renew your faith and you'll be able to keep going.

24:14 And it's like, it breaks your heart when they don't make it around that first corner and they pull the ripcord for whatever reason, the way they behave, lack of commitment, they quit, they go to another company, they go back to the bottom of the pyramid over and over again. It sucks, right? And I think what's interesting is that I've been in a consulting position now long enough that I haven't been experiencing this myself as much. And I think what really came clear to me over the last several months is I am back in that position of I am getting my head broken open now. and I am being challenged by what it is going to require. But I am motivated enough by the vision and the outcome. And I know what I want enough from this business that I will hold the course.

24:56 But man, tell you, it is a mind buck. And it is hard as hell to wake up every day and say, I'm going to take one more action. It's not normal for me because if I do it enough, it will become normal for me. And so it's like, I don't know. I guess I wanted to talk about it because A, I want to remind everyone that's listening, like you weren't the only one. And all of our businesses at some phase are going to require this of us. And Chris and I and our business, we are no different. We are right in the throes of it, just like you are. Liftify.com forward slash bloodlight. You've heard Brandon and I talk a bunch of times about the importance of Google reviews. Maybe you even heard our episode with Zach Garrett, the CEO and founder.

25:38 Recency, consistency, two of the most important things when it comes to maximizing the benefit from your Google reviews. Why not use an outside partner? Liftify is targeting 20 to 25% conversion, right? So if you do a thousand jobs a year, you ought to be adding right now, 200 to 250 reviews a year, every single year. If you're not doing that, you owe it to yourself to get a free demo from liftify.com. See their system, see how it works, see how affordable it is. I promise you, you'll thank us. Liftify.com forward slash blood light. You know, we spend a lot of money and a lot of attention trying to get that first call. And one of the things that we do once it happens is sometimes we leave it to chance, right?

26:20 Who picks up the phone? How do they respond? How do they walk that client into a relationship with us? Well, one of the benefits of partnering with a team like AnswerForce.com is we can systemize that. We can make it more consistent. We can also have backup for when our teams need that help, right? Somebody goes on vacation. Somebody's out sick. We get a storm surge. We get cat event. All sorts of things can have an impact on how we receive that client. But the most important thing is they need to know that they've chosen the right team. And so AnswerForce.com can support you, be a bolt-on partner to help you consistently produce an awesome onboarding experience with that first call with your client. So AnswerForce.com forward slash answerforce.com.

27:01 blood light. That's great. CNR Magazine, we're friends with all the folks at CNR. Michelle and her team, they do a great job of keeping their ear to the ground and reporting all the important information from our industry. Right? You want to stay up on all the M&A activity and what the latest best practices are for selling your company successfully. Right? She's got that. Great articles about all the four quadrants of our business. Right? CNR is constantly pushing out great material and leveraging great writers and subject matter experts in our industry. It is the water cooler of our industry. So if you're not subscribed, go to cnrmagazine.com. Follow them on LinkedIn. Follow Michelle on LinkedIn. Trust us. If you're trying to stay on top of everything happening in the industry, your best destination is cnrmagazine.com.

27:47 You guys, many of you have already heard about actionable insights and the training and the technical expertise that they bring to the industry. But how many of you are already leveraging the actionable insights profile for Xactimate? That's the game changer. It's essentially an AI tool that's walking alongside of you as you write your estimate, bringing things to your attention that should be added, that could be considered. All of them items that increase our profitability, increase the effectiveness and the consistency of that scope. And it can do anything from helping a new team member assimilate some estimating best practices. And it also helps the grizzled bets add back that few percent that we've just forgot over time.

28:30 So actionable insights, get insights.org forward slash floodlight and take a look at what the actionable insights exactimate profile could be doing for you and your team. Another thing I've been dealing with too is just like a different layer of kind of imposter syndrome. Yeah. Because one of the things I've been identifying in myself is just there's areas of my life where I lack discipline. And, you know, just reconciling that with the areas that I have lots of discipline. Like I think I've been feeling frustrated with myself because like in certain areas... I've developed really high levels of discipline. And then in other areas, I just really struggle to be consistent and to be reliable.

29:13 Yeah. And that's been a real wrestling match for me. And I think though, like it's been useful for me to think back to early days in those areas where I have really deep discipline. Did I always have that? And really when I look back and I say, okay, what areas of my life am I really disciplined? And where did I start? Well, it literally just started with, okay, I've done that thing three days in a row now. And then when I wake up on the fourth day and I'm really battling with myself, I was just in that headspace. Okay, I don't want to break my streak. So I'm going to do this. I don't feel like it. But it was just willpower that got me over the hump of now I'm just the kind of person that behaves this way.

29:54 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because like, honestly, and I'm really grateful for it. And there's a part of me, it just feels like luck, but that I've been able to develop like disciplines. We've talked about it before, like with health and certain like nutrition and food, stuff like that. I don't have to think about it a ton now because it's just kind of how I do things. It's not much of a struggle anymore because I've just adopted it as part of my identity, but it took a lot of mornings and afternoons and evenings to... of me questioning what kind of person am I going to be? Yeah. And just choosing out of sheer willpower. And so in some ways, when I think about that, it gives me hope because it's like, God, these areas, I'm really frustrated.

30:34 I know that I can apply that same like, okay, I'm not going to go home from the office until I do that thing. Because that's the kind of person I want to be, right? Yeah. I know if I do that long enough, it will become my nature. Yeah. Not second nature. It'll become my nature like these other things have. But man, I forgot how mentally hard it is. It is. It's so hard to get to that point. It's hella hard. And I think part of the wrestling match is the value that we place on it. And I don't know. I mean, again, this is live. We're just kind of wrestling with this stuff as well as you are is I go, okay, when I look at certain things and I see that it's fairly easy for me to create a discipline in a certain way, but then I watch somebody else and it's like, they're really...

31:17 really struggling. I mean, you and I, we have different strengths and weaknesses and there's things that are easier for me than you and vice versa. And if I'm not careful, like I look at that and I look at a challenge maybe that you have versus what I have. And I'm like, to me, it's like, I almost make a value statement. Like, sure. How am I, I guess, how am I trying to word this? Well, it's some version of what the fuck is wrong with you. Yeah. It's like, well, why is that so hard? Important enough. Yeah. If it's important enough, you'll just make that shift. Well, then if I'm honest, I know that someone could look in my world and see that there are certain things that I just suck at. And they're asking themselves the same question. And so, okay, well, what do I do with that? Extreme ownership. Who cares? I'm not solving other people's opinions.

31:57 Yeah. But I think for me, it's just a matter of, okay, when I'm really struggling to create a discipline in something or do something long enough to where I create a new habit, there's got to be an assessment I do where I go, is this really valuable to me? Like, am I really looking at this and saying, no, I want this because it's important. This is a value that I can commit to. Hmm. Because it feels like in those moments where I make that connection, like physical fitness for me, I'm not as consistent as you. Because I have these moments where the value of it isn't as front and center for me. And a lot of things, it might be my headspace with the work.

32:38 It might be headspace with all sorts of different things. But I have this moment where the value of it... isn't as weighty and therefore it's more difficult for me to be committed to it. Whereas I always feel like I can have a level of discipline with the business. Just about always because there's no question mark in my mind and the value of it. And so I think part of, what I guess I'm trying to dial in on is when I'm hearing somebody like our strategic partner talk about something and why it's important to the business or the strategy, there is part of me that in my maturity now, I'm starting to think of that and say, okay, I'm going to need a moment to really absorb whether or not I do believe that's valuable. Because until it really is valuable for me, I'm going to struggle to execute the discipline.

33:20 Yeah. Gosh, James Clear, that book, Atomic Habits, there's just so much in it along this topic and creating change. One of the things he talks about is how when you stick with a certain behavior long enough, it starts to bear fruit that is motivating in and of itself. Oh, right. Right? Like we've talked about this with regard to physical fitness. It's like the moment somebody starts to see the product of their labor in the mirror. Yeah. Yeah. They see themselves and they have this, holy shit, I like the way I look more. Yeah. Like they actually feel better about their appearance in the mirror. That alone is a huge motivator to not sleep in the next morning.

34:01 Yeah. Yeah. or to pick up the weights after work. Right. Right. But in his book, he talks about how that's true of every single thing in life. It's not 21 days to a new habit. Yeah. It's until we start to experience the benefit and the benefit becomes its own built-in motivation. Yeah. You know? A flywheel concept. Right. And I think that applies to everything. You know, we had this really incredible conversation with Andy McCabe this last week and talked about his journey with his alcoholism. Yeah. And this didn't come up specifically, but I think just knowing him and like the thing that keeps him sober is all of the benefit. And this is true of my other friends who are in recovery. And so I think it just applies to everything.

34:43 It's like once we start to experience the fruit of that behavior change... it becomes easier to maintain the behavior. But that's the hurdle. Like some things take 30 days and some things take a year. Yeah. And I'm finding that some of the discipline areas that I'm trying to sort out are the kind that take a while. It's gonna take a minute. It's just like, it's reordering. I mean, part of it is the habits, some of the habits I have in place are habits that I've been subconsciously cultivating. Like I have certain ways that I do things that up until this point in my life haven't held me back enough to get me to focus on them. And so some of these things, like some of these habits, some of the ways I work in things that now are starting to become a barrier for me or a limitation for me have just kind of worked.

35:28 And so I've done them for 20 years. So there's an element of undoing, I think that it just makes it harder to start to experience the benefits or it just takes longer to undo some of those things, to rewire some of those things in our brain. Yeah, no, I agree. you know, I think just kind of, here's where I'm kind of landing the plane. I mean, personally, and this is, you know, you're going to give us a summary here. Yeah, it's kind of a summary. We've done that in a while. Yeah, no, it's more like, I think this is how I'm thinking. This is the preacher in you. Give us the four point wrap up. This is the preacher, dude. Okay. And then we'll do the altar call. I probably need one. All right. So I think first where my head's going right now is I have to take stock of what I want. Like not in passing, not distracted, not in the midst of Xbox and movies and conversations and outings with people, but me, myself and I.

36:17 is the starting place. I think eventually you reach out then to significant others, business partners. Like there is a collective conversation that needs to take place. But first it's just like getting real with myself. What do I think I'm capable of and how bad do I want that thing, that experience, that outcome, that life? And then there's this kind of questions that I have to ask myself before I go running into my next networking group or my next like hanging out with beer buddies on Friday to talk about all the cool shit I'm going to do in my life is I have to ask myself, like, is that important enough to you that you're willing to make the sacrifices and the changes in your behavior? And more importantly, how you think between your two ears in order to create that outcome.

37:03 And I think I have a habit as a kind of like a natural born, like, I don't know. I'm very positive. I'm an, what is it? What, you're positive? Yeah, you're a natural born optimist. Optimist. I was going to say killer, but I was like, you know. No, that's a wish. Okay, so I'm an optimist, right? Like I always see what's possible, what could be. And I'm really quick to buy into that and start talking about it. And I think that there is a profound disconnect between me being able to do that for others in the world around me and what I'm able and capable of doing for myself. Yeah. And so there's just this reality I'm trying to take stock. So anyways, where I'm at right now is I just want to slow down long enough to identify what I want. Visioneering goes back to our time with Rachel, right? I need to visioneer what I want in my life.

37:45 And then as part of that, I need to take inventory and ask myself if I really am committed enough to do hard shit for a long enough period of time that it changes who I am. And if I can't really sit down and say yes to those things, I need to stop fucking talking about it. Like I need to stop acting like that's what I'm going to do with my business. I need to stop acting like that's what I'm going to do with my relationships. Because look, everybody can say they want a 10 million, 20 million, 50 fucking million dollar business. Very few of us have what it takes to actually drive an organization to meet that demand. The discipline. The discipline. The ability, as Mark Springer would say, to relentlessly execute. And so where I'm at right now is I'm doing inventory about me, my partnership with you, and this organization.

38:28 And I'm asking myself, what do I want? And as part of that, I'm saying, if I want that, do I really want it enough that I'm willing to commit to this hard shit long enough to change me? And from there, then I can begin identifying or reorienting the way I hear people when they talk to me or give me advice or consulting in regard to my business and my vision. right? Because it's like, now instead of me just hearing the thing and being all motivated, I'm taking inventory of it and I'm saying, okay, this is going to require a lot from me. Don't just get motivated because somebody said they got 12x at the bar. Ask yourself if you've got what it takes to do that in your business. What will it demand of you? And are you willing to make the sacrifices and the commitments to discipline to change who you currently are, to become the person it will require you to be to achieve the vision that you have for yourself And that kind of scares the shit out, if I'm honest.

39:20 Right? Because it's a lot easier for me to have, you know, an IPA and get kind of all amped up and talk big shit about what we're going to do and how we're going to do it. That's a far cry different. I think part of what you're talking about too is just getting honest. Getting honest, man. You know, because I think there's lots of ways to skin the cat. Yeah. You know, the other thing that was really interesting with this partner, what they've recently built, they built a huge thing. Yeah. And it was when they actually decided that they were going to stop working 100-hour weeks. Right. Yeah. So there's an interesting angle to this. I think getting this clarity and deciding what you want and putting the disciplines in place to achieve that. I think at times the thing that we want doesn't require us to grind ourselves down or burn ourselves out or do the whole thing.

40:03 like burning the candle at both ends. You're right, yes. Like he had made a decision, he had come out of that and had made a new commitment of, I'm not going to work more than 50 hours a week. Yeah. Which I just think is such an interesting wrinkle to his story. Perhaps someday we'll have him on the podcast to talk about that. But- Oh, we definitely will. He's epic. But I think what you're really talking about is getting honest and saying, okay, what parts of me do I need to change or modulate in order to be the person that can actually chase that vision that I have? Yeah. Well, let's go back. I mean, dude, go back to the calendar example. Yeah. Okay. I didn't say I'm now adding three hours at either tier of my day to do more.

40:44 It's helping you prioritize where you're allocating the time. I'm being more effective in where I'm allocating my time. But what it required was for me to do something I've never prioritized before. And that was analyze where my fucking time's going. So it's like part of me was as motivated by the exercise as anything. And so I think you're spot on. And I hope that's not what people are hearing. When I say make sacrifices or do uncomfortable things, I'm not actually talking about work more. Yeah. I think more than anything, what I'm saying is you've bought mentally into an idea of what is possible and who you are and how you do it. And I think the challenge is the hard shit is to lean into something that's not naturally you and find out that becomes a super tool that lifts you up, you know?

41:29 It's the, yes. Yeah. And I can't remember what book it was. I wish I was better at remembering books and authors, dude. Some smart person refers to this as the beginner's mind. Oh. Because I think that's what we're actually talking about here is it's a willingness. It's in our egos, hate it. It's a willingness to hang in and adopt the beginner's mind. It's a willingness to be and do things that feel very uncomfortable and awkward and that you're not good at right now. Yeah, there. It's a willingness to hang there long enough to where you develop that new skill or that new capability, that new capacity. And I just thought of that as you were saying that. I'm like, shit, that is what I'm feeling. It's that resistance to, no, I don't want to.

42:11 I don't like to feel like I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. And even worse, I don't like to look like I don't know what I'm doing. That is it, dude. But it's stepping into those places that you don't yet have a competency so that you're capable of doing this next big, huge thing in front of you. That's right. It requires you to put on the beginner's mind and start, in some cases, kind of start fresh. And it is really uncomfortable. And I think I see that in our clients. I think that is the thing. Yeah, it's good. That we get to where we are because we develop competency. And then we hit this point where it's like, you know what? I am incapable right now of running a 50-person company.

42:52 And I don't even know what it's going to require. I don't know how to be that person. And then you find somebody that tells you how to do it. And it's like, holy shit, this is different than when we had 10 people. Yeah. And I got really good at running a business with 10 people, even up until we had 30. And it was falling apart around me. And now I have this whole other, I need to be a different type of person. I don't like this feeling of not knowing what I'm talking about. I don't like this feeling of, in some cases, my people being smarter than me in this way. That's it. Beginner's mindset. It's actually the name of the show. That's what we're going to title it. The beginner's mind. The beginner's mind. Yeah. That's great, man. That's it. I think you hit it.

43:32 I don't think there's a better way to describe it. Guys. I didn't even know what I was hitting until. Yeah. I mean, I think he, I actually saw the light bulb light up over your head as that idea came out. Hey, listen, guys, if our shows have value to you, certainly please keep listening and tell your friends about it. Another way too is if you own a restoration company and you are trying to prepare for an exit. I mean, maybe you've reached the point of your career where it's like, hey, I want to cash in. I want to sell my business so I can go and do other things in my life. but you know there's work to do in your business to get it ready, to get the maximum value. We call it enterprise value. One of the places you can start is by going to our website. Just make contact with us. Our team will send you a link to our health and value assessment.

44:14 It is awesome. It's something we've been working on for the last few months. It's live now. So just go to our contact page, send us a quick email. Our team will reach back out with a link to the health and value assessment. And then we'll go over that with you. We'll essentially do a free consultation. You can kick the tires with us and what does it look like to hire a consultant? And we can also go through the results of your assessment and walk through, okay, where are the gaps in your business? Where are the opportunities? What are the areas of health that you can optimize in your business to make it the most attractive to an investor or buyer? So you reap the biggest reward from it. But the interesting thing is, is that a lot of times when people go through this assessment, what they discover is, you know, if I get my business exit ready, all of a sudden there's no need to sell it.

44:57 Yeah. Now you want to keep it. Right. And so that's the irony, right? As we optimize our businesses is once we get them ready to sell, to get the biggest possible multiple, we realize, holy cow, I have a cashflow machine here that I actually like working in. I love it. like my team. I have things set up in such a way that I don't need to sell it if I don't want to. So anyways, if that's where your head's at and you're looking for a consulting coaching partner, that's a good way to start. Just reach out to us. You can also DM Brandon or I on LinkedIn. We'll send you the link to the health and value assessment. We're getting ready to add it to our website. So it'll be simpler in future episodes. It's part of the top secret reboot. It's top secret, but that part's ready. So anyway, reach out to us till next time. Okay, gang, we'll see you.

45:40 All right, everybody. Hey, thanks for joining us for another episode of Head, Heart, and Boots. And if you're enjoying the show, but you love this episode, please hit follow, formerly known as subscribe, write us a review, or share this episode with a friend. Share it on LinkedIn, share it via text, whatever. It all helps. Thanks for listening.