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Building Entrepreneurial Legacies & Leading with Discipline
88 Plays2 years ago
Welcome to the newest episode of The Better Contractor. In this episode, we embark on a transformative journey through life in the entrepreneurial landscape. Join hosts Brent Oberlink, Tucker Willms, and Travis May as they delve into the intricacies of entrepreneurship, personal growth, and leaving a lasting impact in the business world, in the contracting industry and beyond.
Explore the power of discipline and consistency in shaping business success, as the hosts reveal the daily habits and mindset shifts necessary to thrive in competitive markets. From early morning gym sessions to intentional relationship-building, discover how strategic choices can drive business growth and personal fulfillment.
"Building Entrepreneurial Legacies" also delves into the transformative power of mentorship in shaping entrepreneurial trajectories. Drawing inspiration from mentors like John Maxwell, the hosts emphasize the invaluable role of mentorship in fostering leadership skills, strategic thinking, and resilience in the face of challenges.
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Transcript
Introduction to Guests: Tucker Wilms and T-Ravs Travis
00:00:11
Speaker
Welcome to another edition of The Better Contractor. Today, I'm joined by Tucker Wilms, who we've had on the show before. Good morning, Tucker. Good morning. And our typical sidekick, T-Ravs Travis. What's up, man? I think that it was normal dude last time, and now it's T-Ravs, so we're still looking. It's T-Ravs, man. I used to always do that with everybody. You got the first letter of your name and then something else after. So I don't like it, but it'll work for right now, I think.
The Power of Discipline and Consistency
00:00:42
Speaker
Today we want to talk a little bit about the power of discipline and consistency. So kind of a not specific to lawn care and landscape necessarily, but something that a lot of you guys can use, whether you're starting a business here, just getting going, or just need a little kick in the butt to kind of get things, you know, going again. Maybe you've kind of fallen short. Maybe you need to kind of reevaluate some stuff, but hopefully this podcast can help you guys in that regard.
Tucker on Discipline and Long-term Goals
00:01:09
Speaker
So Tucker, I know you're,
00:01:11
Speaker
Both of you guys are kind of crazy about 4 a.m. stuff, I know. I'm not that dude. I'm not the 4 a.m. guy. My wife's a night owl, so 4 a.m. is not possible. But however, there may be a few times where we cross paths at 4 a.m. because we've not went to bed yet. You just got up. So anyway, so I kind of want to talk to you guys a little bit about what this routine looks like. Because if you look at discipline and consistency and you look at it in terms of success,
00:01:40
Speaker
The one thing I've noticed is I've watched people who are successful. They are conscious of what they are doing. They don't just do stuff just to be doing stuff. They don't just follow the crowd. When they started their business for the most part, they were probably doing something differently than what their friends or other people their age were doing. And I looked back, I started this business when I was 24. Not that that's super young, but a lot of people are still wanting to have a lot of fun at 24.
00:02:09
Speaker
That wasn't something that particularly was important to me at that age. I wanted, I was very future thinking and I was very aware that what I do now will contribute to who I become later. So that wasn't something I struggled with, but I see a lot of people struggling with that of, well, I want this future life, but I don't necessarily want to do all this right now.
Speed of Decision-Making Influenced by Family
00:02:30
Speaker
And you've got to put in the work now to get the future life that you want. Um, I just got to curious Tucker, we'll start with you, but,
00:02:38
Speaker
What are some things, like you're what, 26? 26, yeah. 26. So you started this business, incredibly young. You went to college for a brief bit. You decide, hey, this isn't for me. I want to get this business going. So you did that at a young age. What were some things that you were doing differently as you got this business kicked off, even now that others around you were not doing that, maybe like, Hey, you know, this is what got me to where I'm at now versus if I hadn't been doing this, I wouldn't be there.
00:03:08
Speaker
I would have to say the speed in which I try to make decisions and attack the day. It's kind of odd related to this, but my dad died so young, he died in 64, and my dad's brother died so young in the 60s. I've always thought, shoot, man, I might only have 40 years left. I don't know. So if I'm going to be successful, let's make it happen now. I want to enjoy it. Can't count on retirement to start enjoying all that. So I've always kind of lived with, I might not have long, so let's make it happen now.
00:03:39
Speaker
I like that. And, um, I think it's Ed has told us or talked a little bit about like beginning with the end in mind.
Time's Urgency and Maximizing Life
00:03:46
Speaker
So like imagining almost like your end. So your funeral or your whatever, but living your life accordingly so that that is, you know, the biggest funeral, the most people showed up, you know, people talk about how much impact you made, um, whether that success and business or success relationships or all of the above. But I do like that because it gives you a sense of urgency.
00:04:08
Speaker
You know, so I always wear a watch and it's not because I don't have the time on my phone. The watch symbolizes to me that that little second hand is always ticking. And that's just a reminder that there needs to be some urgency to your day into your life. Not that you want to be stressed out all the time, but you don't get just a limitless time on this earth. And if you want to make things happen, that serves a great reminder to do that.
00:04:37
Speaker
Travis, what about you? You went in the military at what age?
Future Self and Motivation
00:04:42
Speaker
19, so. And then served what? Two or three tours, right? Yeah, eight years, some active, some reserve, but did two tours in Iraq in the Marine Corps. I mean, the time thing, I mean, it's, I think logically everybody understands, going back to both of what you were saying,
00:05:05
Speaker
Logically, everybody understands that. Yeah, I've only got so much time and it's finite, but it's so abstract. It's hard for people. There's some psychologists that people have a tough time with seeing the future self and it's actually the brain disassociates yourself with the future self and you almost see it as a different person. So you behave and you react differently.
00:05:32
Speaker
when things are happening to you now because you can see that as you and the impact of you. But when you're looking at the future self, your brain disassociates that and it doesn't have the general impact of you now. And so that's
The Impact of Death on Life's Priorities
00:05:48
Speaker
why a lot of people have a tough time doing things that would benefit them in the future because you see that as a different person and it doesn't have that emotional attachment.
00:06:00
Speaker
So that time component of like, I've only got so much time, you logically understand, but it fails to motivate people a lot because it stays in the logical realm. And you always do more to help yourself than you will potentially for other people in most cases. And you view in that person that time is impacting as your future self, as somebody else. Yeah, you're like, I got it. Yeah, it's going to suck for that person.
00:06:30
Speaker
you have to really work at trying to marry those two together. And I think that I know that's been the challenge for me too. But when it comes to discipline of you doing something now that's going to impact you, potentially you view it as negatively now for this other person in the future that you don't necessarily see as yourself. Yeah, I get it. But I think funerals and things that have happened, like we've all been
00:06:58
Speaker
just seems like the last several years. There's just been a lot of death or struggle or health issues and you can attribute that to whatever you want. But, um, I think through, through like the military and seeing people that have been close to us die, uh, being through war time. And then I spent time, uh, overseas outside of the military for the government. When you lose people, I know that's been the impactful thing for me in that
00:07:27
Speaker
That's emotional. It's real. It's present and especially if you know their extended family And you can see the impact that that's had for better or worse and it can resonate with that introspective piece a little bit more like yeah, man, I Know that they wanted to do so much more or they had family or they had goals and hopes and aspirations and you see it an unwritten letter or a
00:07:52
Speaker
or a partially written letter or books over here of something that they were studying or a project that you were talking to them about and knowing that that was something that they were passionate about and that it ended. I think some of those times have really resonated with me about how you don't really appreciate and love the things that you have in your life now and a value proposition to you of weeding out what truly doesn't matter and
00:08:22
Speaker
trying to find the things that really do and people in relationships and, um, the things that truly add value and that make you happy. And then trying to invest in those. I think those are the times that it really resonated with me more. Yeah. And I think death has a powerful impact on the relationships too. Cause you realize, you know, you'll hear about or know someone that passed away, like you said, young.
00:08:48
Speaker
Well, then all of a sudden it becomes a deep realization that that could be anybody. That could be me. That could be someone way close to me. You know, so then it makes you realize I need to actually live, say, do the things now because there's not a guarantee for a tomorrow or whatever.
00:09:06
Speaker
Todd, you were getting ready to say something right when I started. Yeah, yeah.
Reflections on State of Affairs and Legacy
00:09:10
Speaker
Yeah, you know, I know we're heavy on the death thing right now, but really, I think about that quite a lot. Like, what if I died today? Like, what would I leave my family with as far as what state of the business? Like, what state of my life and what finances and all of that, everything that plays into it, like what relationships need mended, all of that sort of thing. I think about probably more than most, because it's like, if I left today,
00:09:34
Speaker
I would want to leave them in a good position. And so like, if I, if it's not currently a good position, then it's like, what do I need to do right now to make it? And so like, that's constantly on my mind. And then like, what was the impact that you had? It's beyond just like the financial piece, but yeah, the people in my life, do they really, truly know me? Uh, did I impart the things on them that I wished I would have? Did I uplift them? Was I impactful? So,
00:10:03
Speaker
I've got two boys, two young
Recording Thoughts for Future Generations
00:10:05
Speaker
boys. Also, the traveling. I've always been a big quote person. I love history. I love studying history. I think it can give us insights into future states and you can modify or you can model yourself after historical things and examples. But I've always loved quotes. I've always kept quotes typically on my phone. But for my boys, I
00:10:31
Speaker
I started keeping two journals for them. So got like the leather bound with acid-free paper. And so I started taking all of those because each quote or each thought or a book that I came across that was really impactful or helped shape some thoughts or frame things, I'd always keep it. And so those were always impactful for my life and I'd go back and reference them. And so I got two journals stamped the little initials on them and I copied all of those notes in there. And as I come across other things or
00:11:00
Speaker
impactful sayings or things all added to that. And it's just meant to eventually when they get old enough, there's enough pages in there that hopefully they'll continue it or they'll get a glimpse into my life of the things that were impactful. But it's kind of timeless things that I think would resonate with them too. Who knows? They might throw it out or it becomes a table prop to stable it. But in my mind, I think it'll be helpful. But
00:11:26
Speaker
but stuff like that, like, uh, impactful things that live beyond you. Did I have an impact? Uh, something, if, if I got taken out of the life early or even late, like what type of life did I live? Get my seventies or eighties. What type of impact did I have through that? And what was it? I think that's huge. And I like that Travis, cause it kind of brings everything in life together. So you got the business aspect you've got, and you got this family,
00:11:53
Speaker
slash relationship impact that you can make with
Discipline in Historical Figures
00:11:56
Speaker
people. And that could be blood family that can be mentor, mentee, friendship, whatever. But we all have that huge ability to impact a lot of others. And I, I don't normally watch old movies and I'm drawing a blank. I think it's called us a wonderful life. It's old Christmas movie. We watch it every Christmas, but that whole movie, the very, basically the end of it is he basically passes
00:12:18
Speaker
and he's able to see the impact that he had made on people's lives, basically looking as if he had died. And it's basically all these little things that he had done for people or whatever it was, little impacts. But he realizes that if he was gone, never was there, that little moment, that person's trajectory in life went that way instead of that way. And then that impacted his three children.
00:12:46
Speaker
So then their whole life or their whole family was a little bit different because he wasn't in their life and he didn't impact them. And that for whatever reason, that was a huge, like I said, I'm not an old movie dude, but that was one of those I'm like, that's cool. I mean, that really makes you think about it. You know, the small interactions you have with people. Did that derail the day?
00:13:06
Speaker
or did that actually build them up and actually maybe change the trajectory of their life? And you can do that with your own kids. You can do that with mentees, mentors, you know, all these different relationships or just friends, you know, that you meet. But you had mentioned history earlier and I had wrote down a couple of notes. A lot of these people in history, when you read about them, they're basically these larger than life characters usually. But there's two things or three things really that they always have.
00:13:33
Speaker
And it kind of goes to the podcast topic is discipline and consistency. We've not really talked about consistency, but these larger than life leaders were usually always visionary. They had this great big vision. They communicated to people. Yeah. And more than anything, they were consistent. They kept up with that vision through the bad. And the third point was they never give up. So it's kind of related to the consistency, but they didn't give up. They had this vision and they were going to see that through whether that took three years, 10 years,
00:14:03
Speaker
30 years, they were consistent in that belief, consistent in that discipline. And discipline had to, you know, for a lot of these characters, like we think certain things in life are rough now, you read about what some of them went through to still have that consistency and discipline, even with those trials. Like that's huge. That is huge. For sure.
00:14:26
Speaker
So I look at those and I think, you know, those are good examples. I know Travis, you like history as a whole. I've always been one of those people. I like studying individual people for how they impacted and stuff like that and how they led, you know, so it kind of goes there to this larger than life character that impacted and made a huge difference in their world that sometimes ends up making a difference for hundreds of years. And, you know, we study and read about them, you know, 200 years later. And we, we talked about this on,
00:14:53
Speaker
One of the other ones may be culture and mentorship. But those historical figures are humans. They've got flaws. And it's easy to throw the baby out with the bathwater. The things that resonate through culture about those individuals are the snapshots in time where it was apparent at that time or later, sometimes after they died, that what they did was great and that it had a huge impact.
00:15:22
Speaker
And a lot of times that wasn't altogether apparent when they were going through it. They were villainized, chastised, ridiculed. Some of those people died in utter poverty and ultimately in austere conditions. And they never got to see really the fruit. Sometimes they did. But I love historical figures. So there's two quotes I did say. I like quotes.
00:15:48
Speaker
but that kind of frame up the why I love history so much. One that came from my dad, he really loved history, but now my personality too. And that there's a quote by Mark Twain and a quote by Winston Churchill that, so Mark Twain is history doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes in that the tool that human behavior and society have patterns and will continue to repeat what drives humans, what drives human behavior and needs always kind of stay consistent
00:16:18
Speaker
you'll use the tools of your time or what's happening in the culture so it'll have variations.
Learning from History in Shaping the Future
00:16:23
Speaker
But we typically kind of repeat stuff over and over based off human behavior and drive. And then Winston Churchill is the further, it's kind of paraphrasing, but the further backwards you understand, the further forward you can see. And that's more of studying people's past examples, studying history. And it kind of goes hand in hand in that we've been around on this earth for a long, long time. And just about every scenario has been played out.
00:16:47
Speaker
Again, things will have changed based on society or tools. But if you want to see within a few degrees what your behavior is going to give you, you can go back and look at what did other people do? How did they approach it? What was the impact? And you can find kind of patterns or pathways that you can follow or avoid. And it kind of goes back to that mentorship piece. I'm talking about historical. Most of the time they're dead. But in the context of discipline too, and the mentorship that piece that
00:17:16
Speaker
we talked about on an earlier podcast of you can find positive examples and negative examples. And one, realizing that everybody's human, you can still extract and history does a good job of extracting the highlights of people's lives. You can do some of that too in current times of find the model, the behavior and get disciplined about what are they producing and how it's the outcome they have. And if I want to have a similar trajectory and outcome,
00:17:44
Speaker
I can probably model that behavior and even better if they're still alive and you can talk to them and have a dialogue that might actually change with AI here soon. You can have dialogues with historical people who have bodies of work, but, um, and then the negative two, like I see what they've done or the person they are and the impact that they've had for negative ways in the people around them, the atmosphere of the business. Uh, and I, I probably should avoid doing that. Um,
00:18:11
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's key. And I, somebody their day had asked me like when I was 19, 20, 21, like that college age, you know, basically how did I, you know, do the good behavior and stuff like that? Like why, why didn't I go out and have the fun that some college kids have? And it was that for me. So my personality, even from a very young age was always very observant of other patterns of behavior and where that got them.
00:18:37
Speaker
I didn't realize that until I was a little bit older, but like I would just watch people. A lot of my mentorship growing up was by observance. I would watch people. I would see these actions, these behaviors ended up doing this for those people. And it just became a very real, real, real thing to me that if I do this, that usually equals this and I don't want that. And I see these people doing this. I admire them. I like their life.
00:19:03
Speaker
So if I can model that behavior and even do better, maybe, because I've actually studied at some, then that should give me this within a, you know, a box, you know, it's not going to be perfect necessarily, but it is going to be a completely different outcome than these behaviors.
Influence of Observing Others' Behaviors
00:19:18
Speaker
So I think kind of very realization or a strong realization that your actions do matter yourself in a year will probably be what you're doing or not doing right now.
00:19:28
Speaker
And when we talked a little bit before these, we started recording about like friends, not that you want to go pick friends that only have an advantage to you. That's kind of faking away, but being mindful that your friend group, the closest five people, 10 people to you is going to have an impact on you. They're either going to push you. They're going to kind of promote the good behavior or they're going to pull you back.
00:19:53
Speaker
And they're going to maybe even want you to fail. I've seen, you know, not friends of mine, I say, but I've seen friends like that where they don't have a desire to go to a certain level. And when they see you try to go there, it's almost as if they kind of want you to fail because they didn't really want to do all that work anyway. Um, so you see some of that. So. You know, being mindful and putting yourself in the right circles for where you're wanting to go or where you're wanting to be, you know, I'm someone who.
00:20:21
Speaker
Like, for example, again, not to be my own horn, just talk, we're talking about discipline and consistency. I'm someone who doesn't drink. The reason I don't drink is I do not see an advantage to it. That's always kind of been my philosophy. You know, if you put faith or religion, I know some religions of faith don't, don't agree with it. I'm even removing that from it and saying, I just don't simply see a benefit.
00:20:43
Speaker
if there's not a benefit, I don't really see why to do it. That's not me saying, you know, I'm against other people doing it, you know, we each live our own life, but that's just my take on it, is I just simply don't see the benefit, therefore, I don't do it. Anyway, I was curious, we were talking about in the beginning, a little bit about like having a structure to a day.
Balancing Fitness and Family
00:21:05
Speaker
And I know, you know, for me personally, fitness is important, you know, to me,
00:21:11
Speaker
Fitness is my drug of choice, I guess. Like there's nothing that makes me happier than going to the gym. Some people that sounds weird. You know, if it's a Friday night, I would much rather be in the gym by myself with my headphones in than at a bar with a group of people talking about unimportant stuff. So, you know, fitness is one thing, you know, family is another one, you know, Tucker, you and I both mentor people, you know, through a program here locally,
00:21:40
Speaker
We probably mentor even more than most because we sometimes mentor past that program, which is awesome. That's actually being a real mentor So having neither one of us have kids so right now, you know That's kind of become like the familial parental type thing of pouring into the next generation So and to me that all has to have a balance, you know, and that's where a lot of people I think are
00:22:03
Speaker
You know, so for the most part, I
Defining Success Beyond Business
00:22:05
Speaker
try very hard. If I'm at work, I am at 100% at work. I'm all in on this task, whatever I'm doing, phones off the side on vibrate. Um, I'll have like favorites can call through, you know, family, basically just for emergencies. But then when I'm not at work, for the most part, I try, I don't always succeed. But if I'm with family or mentees or whatever, the phone's off the side again, and I'm not doing work. Um, but as those daily habits, I was kind of curious.
00:22:33
Speaker
to see what some of the daily habits you are. Cause I do believe that true success is being well-rounded and multiple things. Like a lot of people will view success as, Oh, that's just business. I hit a successful company. And I think I've said it here before. If you just have a successful company, but you're a terrible dad, a terrible husband, you don't pour into anybody or impact your community whatsoever. You're not a success. You just made a bunch of money. You're not a success because you've not made an actual impact on your world.
00:23:02
Speaker
Because if business is the only thing you have, the moment you die, somebody's going to take your job as CEO and that business will live on past you. You yourself made no impact. Nobody's going to be talking about so-and-so in even five years, unless it was just they were a terrible human being, don't be like them. So what are some of the behaviors, consistency, disciplines, Tucker, that you think you have that kind of make a well-rounded and how do you fit all of that in? I know a lot of people, it's the time constraints.
00:23:31
Speaker
that prohibit a lot of these different disciplines outside of work or outside of whatever. Sure. Well, before I get to that, back up to your inner circle thing, what am I?
Influence of Close Relationships on Potential
00:23:41
Speaker
I mean, I'd say like the number one mentor for me would be John Maxwell. I've never actually got to meet him, but I've read so many of his books and listened to his podcast. And I have made a note here in the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership that a well-known book of his, law number 11 is the law of the inner circle. It says a leader's potential is determined by those closest to them.
00:24:01
Speaker
and that plays exactly what you just said. If I'm around people that don't have the drive, in fact, I've realized that over the past five or six years, the people that I used to spend time with,
00:24:12
Speaker
that are okay with just living and nothing wrong with them. I call it a mediocre lifestyle, but if they're okay with that, that's not my speed. Like I want to be growing and building and developing something and making people better. Not that they don't want that, but if they don't want that at the same degree that I do, I just don't jive with them. So I don't necessarily spend nearly as much time anymore with them. So not that I'm against them, but back to this law, I want to be around people that are going to make me better. So I'm moving on that. Now to your question about like,
00:24:42
Speaker
the habits.
Consistent Morning Routines for Productivity
00:24:43
Speaker
So my wife and I are both very busy. So we have to find time. We have to make time to spend together. And so that's one of the things we do at four o'clock in the morning. We both get up and go to the gym and then have breakfast together and then go about our days. And so for the first three hours of our day, we get to spend together. And that's huge because in the evening we're all so busy and working late, she gets home late, whatever, whatever happens. And it would almost be, if we didn't have that time in the morning, we wouldn't get to spend time together.
00:25:12
Speaker
It's kind of a two for one, we're prioritizing our health, but also prioritizing time together. So really, really blessed in that respect, because it works hand in hand. So, but that plays into business as well. I find over the past five or six years, I've done exercising and kind of waves where I've been really big into it and then off of it for a month or two, and then really big into it and then off for a month or two. And those dips that I have in the month or two that I'm off,
00:25:40
Speaker
everything comes down, like business productivity, the way I feel, like anxiety goes up, all the negative parts of life increase whenever I stop prioritizing the gym. And so I've found for the past, I don't know, six months or so, I've been hard at it. And I'm like, I'm not going to slow that down because I can see the trend on what happens when I do slow down, everything else suffers. And I think as a business owner, as a leader,
00:26:07
Speaker
If I'm suffering, the people that I'm leading are suffering because I'm not getting the best version of me. So I think about that quite a bit. I've got to be at the top of my game so I can help increase their livelihood. So yeah, stuff like. Yeah. So, you know, our human body is definitely the culmination of all these different things, the emotional, the family, the physical, you know, the success.
Choosing the Hard Path: Work and Fitness
00:26:30
Speaker
And like you said, when one of those parts is off, it will throw the rest of those things off as well. And I think discipline and consistency is so important. There's days it's going to be hard, you know, to get up and do that early workout or to do whatever. And that's just life. You know, and there was somebody their day on a podcast that was talking about both avenues are hard. So Avenue One is getting up, doing all that work, doing everything. That's hard. However,
00:26:58
Speaker
And that's usually what people think. That's too difficult. I don't have the time. The flip side is, if you don't do those things, you have health issues. Not that you won't have health issues anyway, but you probably have more if you don't take care of yourself. You'll probably have family, spouse, those types of issues. You have all these other things now that, well, guess what? Those are all so hard. So you basically get to pick this hard or this hard. Personally, I'm going to pick this one and hopefully stay above some of the other drama in life.
00:27:27
Speaker
Man, I think about that a lot. I dumb it down even more. I just tell myself, going to the gym's hard and being fat's hard. Which one do I want to be? Both been both. Exactly. I can swing both either way and quickly. I'm more of the opposite of the gym. I'm more of a midday break or evening workout guy. But again, I think we mentioned earlier on my wife's a night out, so the 4am stuff's
00:27:52
Speaker
a little difficult for this guy. But either way, though, like, that is such an important time for me, because for me, it's, it's actually to kind of clear the mind, you know, especially if it's an evening workout. But it also it just, I don't know, it makes you feel like you're doing something physical for you, you can accomplish it. Travis, what's the you and all that? So there was on a podcast to you, I think it's actually Jocko podcast,
00:28:19
Speaker
But they were talking about, and this was early on, I think, in their series of, I think it was Echo, which is his counterpart.
Fitness' Impact on Total Well-being
00:28:26
Speaker
They're both heavily into fitness. Jocko Willink is former Navy SEAL. And then his counterpart on their Echo, Charles, is for, I think, Division I football player, big guy. But he made a comment of, if you want to do one thing that impacts every aspect of your life, it's fitness and health.
00:28:49
Speaker
Like literally that the way you feel about yourself, your body's an organ, there's chemical components here that release endorphins that your brain also is an organ to you. Going through difficult things, pushing yourself, those have impact that resonate beyond just the physical workout, but pushing yourself physically. But if there was one thing that you could see, you could get smarter, you could develop a new skill at something.
00:29:15
Speaker
You can increase your wardrobe. You could do individual things that would all potentially improve your life in individual capacities. But if there is one thing that you could focus your energy on that has a monumental impact across all of it, and then over time, it's fitness and health and taking care of it. And it's just a revelation that 100% is true. And it almost trumps all the other things.
00:29:45
Speaker
So Marine Corps, obviously, fitness is paramount. You're still young, too. Predominantly, the military taps into youth. And for most part, you don't have an issue. Your metabolism is still there. And you can eat as much crappy food as you want. And your body's going to process it. And you're still going to look trim. It starts to catch up as you get older. And then, so I did.
00:30:12
Speaker
And that was probably the stuff when I was working overseas in Afghanistan that was in my late 20s, early 30s. I was probably the fittest and best physically fit as I've ever been. Having the CrossFit back then, did the paleo diet. That was crazy. Not sustainable. But then came back and rediscovered food laziness. And it's, it's...
00:30:41
Speaker
It's fascinating how quick you can lose all the gains and the fitness and then to try and recover back on that, but the discipline. So as we were talking before we hit record, yeah, I'm like Tucker at 4 a.m. Wake up and it's a forced behavior. And what we were talking about is we're not morning. I think Tucker was saying he's not a morning person either. I'm not a morning person. I hate mornings. I'd rather stay up all night. But like for me, it started before kids, but
00:31:11
Speaker
and it was partially driven out of work, but then it even is more relevant with kids that whenever I try and do the workouts later in the day, it seemed like something would always overtake it in that if I had it midday or after work or something, work or projects or another priority would come in and it would push it and then it was too late or I'd run out of time or something always seemed to push that. And so 4 a.m. So wake up at 4.
00:31:41
Speaker
Try to shake the cobwebs off, get my brain functioning. By 4.30, I'm doing something physical. And I've got about an hour block before other things. But at 4 AM, nobody's competing with your time. There's nobody else up. There's no other priorities. Nobody else has booked meetings, typically. The kids are still asleep. The wife's still asleep. And that time is yours. And so I'll typically
00:32:07
Speaker
Even after that, I'll have a book on tape or something while you're showering, but that time is yours. That's all been forced behavior, but the discipline of it's not necessarily easy, but having that mental thing in thereof, it's going to be tough one way or the other. Might as well choose the one. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's important to note that
00:32:32
Speaker
you know, you mentioned we're both not morning people. Yeah, I do not enjoy getting up at four. In fact, I'm probably the most negative person on this planet between four and 415. And so I think it goes back, I heard a quote once it says, what you prioritize gets done. And it's so simple, but it's but it's so true. And so I we prioritize fitness. And if that's going to be a priority, when does it need to get done in our life and our schedule, which happens to be at 4am. So it's like,
00:32:58
Speaker
Alright, if it's really a priority, you'll get it done. So for the people that say they don't have time, really, that just aggravates me when I hear them say that. Because it's like, that's not true. You just don't make time. Like you choose to prioritize other things. So it's not easy. It's not like we wake up for people who want to do it. Not like we wake up at 4am, jump out and are excited to go lift. It's not it at all. It is.
00:33:22
Speaker
It's a bit of a nightmare for the first few minutes anyway, getting up and getting going, but it's a priority, so it gets done. I would say that carries over into anything in life. If it's a priority, it'll get done. If it doesn't get done, then it's a clearly, it was not a priority. Talking about the circles to you and the circles of influence and the not drinking or pivoting away, were you ever like a heavy drinker, Brent? No.
00:33:48
Speaker
It was kind of a continuation for whatever reason. So your, your family, uh, the environments that you were in, even at a young age, it just, yeah, they never did. So it just wasn't there. Um, and then the only thing I ever was was fat for a while, because I love food, but it was about a three year period, I think. And then, uh, funny enough, my, my wife's niece, my niece, it was new year's day. I think I probably told, I know Tucker knows this story. So I was like 20.
00:34:17
Speaker
or how old I was is right after college. So in college, I worked out all the time, kind of like what you said earlier, ate what I wanted. It really didn't affect that much. I started this business was on the road a ton for those first two years for sales and just trying to get jobs and stuff like that. So I lived basically out of my truck. It was in hotels or would come home and stay a weekend or something here and there, but on the road all the time in broke. So fast food was the food of choice. It didn't take long.
00:34:45
Speaker
to, that's the only time since college that I've not really been in the gym was that period of time. So going from, you know, working out, being a college kid, having that metabolism to then not having that metabolism anymore, not working out and living off of fast food for three meals a day. That doesn't take long, but anyway.
00:35:06
Speaker
I was always a gym guy. I always loved it, even in high school college. Anyway, so it's new year's day and our niece was little. She slept with us that night and she rolls over that morning and it puts her hand on my stomach and she, and she called me Bubba. She couldn't say Brent, which I always hated being Bubba, but I was like, Oh, you know what? You're cute. You're two, whatever. One year old. I'll live with Bubba and she rolled over. She passed my stomach. She's like, I love you fat Bubba. I'm like, hold up. This is it. I'm not, I don't want to be Bubba and I definitely am not going to be fat Bubba.
00:35:36
Speaker
And I think I weighed 240 at the time. That was new year's day, 2009 by July. Uh, I was at one 65, so two 40 to one 65. And then after that built and tried to build back up on some muscles and that was 2009 and says 2009. I'm not really never, I've never really skipped a workout really. I mean, there might be a week where I'm sick, but outside of a week timeframe since 2009, I've not really skipped.
00:36:06
Speaker
But now speaking of habit, speaking of something I actually love, I actually am grouchy if I miss a day. You know what I mean? That was scheduled. But that's the one thing that was like a vice for a while was that food and everything else that then became more of a, you know what, I need to make a huge change here and make it a lifestyle change. But anyway, the drugs, I just never saw a benefit. I was always kind of big on if it doesn't serve me, don't do it. So if it didn't serve me, I just tried not to do it.
00:36:36
Speaker
But like with the discipline, so whether it's the waking up early, it's the working out, it's the discipline to do the right things.
Resisting the Inner Voice Against Discipline
00:36:44
Speaker
So somebody framed it once. So Andy Frasella calls it a certain voice in your head. Others say it's a weak voice in your head. But it's the most effective negotiator with you. The other voice in your head trying to get you to steer away
00:37:05
Speaker
Like it is the best salesman in the world because it knows you. Like it knows exactly the thing and can tee up the perfect thing, the logical thing. Like, you know what? Yeah, I mean, it's not going to, it's not going to matter five minutes. And you know what? I probably, my, my body, my body, it knows you're super in tune with your body or time with your family is most important or what I, and it will tee up the perfect negotiation strategy to steer you away. Like, you know what?
00:37:34
Speaker
it's probably your body's telling you that you need some rest. You need to pay attention to that. Or you know what, that extra 10 minutes doing this or whatever for the discipline, is it really going to matter in the grand scheme of things versus this other thing? It knows you intimately and can tee up the perfect negotiation strategy to steer you off. And then once you've done it once, it's easy to do it the next one and the next one. And you stay in discipline with,
00:38:03
Speaker
The workouts, yeah, it doesn't get easier to lose that weight. You work out three times as hard the older you get to see a fraction of the results. So it's way easier to just stay on the path and stay disciplined with it.
00:38:18
Speaker
Yeah, going through 75 hard, probably one of the biggest takeaways I got out of it was that whenever I hear that voice in my head, to do the exact opposite of whatever that is. It's like a trigger when I hear that. I mean, it's as simple as, I don't need to put the dishes in the dishwasher right now. I can do it later. That gets to me like every single meal. I'm like, no, do it now. It needs to be done. David Goggins is the same way. He uses the same
00:38:48
Speaker
terminology as Andy does. Um, but it's that voice is that little voice in the back here and being able to recognize it. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's alive and well in my head. Yeah. I think it's that, like you said, it's the discipline, but then it's also being aware of your actions. So knowing that, Hey, you know, like we talked about earlier, doing things that serve you, but then knowing this action will likely equal this. If you're wanting to be successful when everyone else is going out on a Friday,
00:39:18
Speaker
So we also kind of, one thing that's been big to me over the years, you get seven days a week, you get so many hours in your life, so many hours a week, we all get the same. So if you want to be average, if the average person works 40, they go out on weekends, Friday, Saturday night, they have fun. I put fun in quotation marks because I don't actually view that as fun. Anyway, you do these certain behaviors. Well, guess what? If you do those things, guess what?
00:39:47
Speaker
You're going to have an average life because that is pretty much what average is If you're wanting more and that's not me dissing those that want average. There's We need average I guess, you know There's people that are fine with that and that's their life to live It's not what I want. So if that's not what I want I need to be very aware that I can't repeat the same exact behaviors because if I do That is what my life will look like
00:40:12
Speaker
So instead of working the 40, and this is especially relevant, I think now, because it seems like ever since COVID, the work ethic has just been different amongst a lot of people. And some of these kids that we mentor, I'm like, you guys have a huge opportunity right now to just kick butt in your, in your workplace, you know, going forward because there's so many people, they don't want to really even do 40. They don't want to go above and beyond. Like if you can just show up, put 110% in,
00:40:42
Speaker
go above and beyond like, man, that ladder can be climbed so quick.
Long-term Consistency as Key to Success
00:40:45
Speaker
But anyway, going back to the main point is if you want more, you have to do more. So work a little extra, go above and beyond. If it's a Friday or Saturday night and you're wanting to start a business, but you haven't done it yet. Well, guess what? You probably shouldn't go out and get drunk and wasted with your friends. You should probably keep your butt at home and actually work on actually launching your business, whether that's creating your website,
00:41:09
Speaker
Making some calls, shooting some emails, whatever that looks like for whatever business you want to do. That's what you need to be doing on a Friday and Saturday instead of all the other dumb stuff. That's what will actually serve you. And if you're not doing that stuff, you're wasting your time. You're going to live an average life. And then most likely you're going to get bitter about, Hey, my life doesn't look like I want it to. Well, guess what? It's because you didn't put forth the effort to get it to where you want it to be.
00:41:36
Speaker
So I think for those listening, it's a culmination of the discipline, knowing exactly, Hey, this is what I want right over here. And to get there, that may take five, 10 years, but to get there, I need to refocus what life looks like now so that I can get to that point and then be consistent. So no, that is five years from now, not next week. I can't go to the gym for one week.
00:42:03
Speaker
and look like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 70s and 80s. That is not how it works. That dude put in two stakes a day and two workouts a day to get to that body and probably some other stuff as well. But that took time, lots and lots of time to get to where he got. That's not an overnight success. So with that said, there has to be that realization that I have to have consistency and I have to have discipline.
00:42:29
Speaker
And I absolutely must be aware that what I'm doing today is what will determine my future self in business personally and professionally, whatever. Yeah. And to give a real life example of that for the business owners out there, um, for me, like I have a lot of things that I have to actually get done, like emails and calls and job site visits and things and estimates. So I do all of that for however many hours a week that is, but then the times that I want to quote rest and take a break.
00:42:58
Speaker
I don't wanna just, I think whether it's a waste or not, I don't know, but I don't wanna just sit and do nothing. I'd rather sit and journal and strategize on where could the business go or come up with processes and systems that don't involve me actually going physically doing something other than sitting and thinking. And Jeff Bezos said one time, he's like, what is the main job of CEO? And he said, it's to come up with two or three good ideas every day.
00:43:25
Speaker
And I thought, I never thought of it like that, you know, just to sit and to think of two or three good ideas every day. So my breaks or my rest or me trying to sit down and come up with some great ideas on how to take the company to the place I wanted to go. So that's kind of how I try to go above and beyond. Yeah. No, I like that. And that's kind of the whole thing.
Leadership and Vision
00:43:45
Speaker
If you look at leadership, whether that's at home, your family unit, or at work, what you're doing, part of what you're doing is being a visionary.
00:43:53
Speaker
Yeah, you're creating that vision, you're casting that vision, and then hopefully you're following it up with some sort of plan to get there. But Travis, you were getting ready to say something. So, Tucker, would you consider yourself an introvert or extrovert?
00:44:09
Speaker
Man, I took the Myers-Briggs test and I'm 49% introvert, 51% extrovert. So, I mean, I got my days, man. I can handle people for a little while, but then some days I don't want to see anybody. I'm an INTJ, which is kind of a rare one, but I'm very introverted. But I don't mind people like this. So people need to understand introvert means you get your rest alone. So like to me, I'm perfect recharge day is a Sunday.
00:44:38
Speaker
go to church in the morning. I spend the afternoon a little bit with my wife and a little bit at the gym and then hang out with my dogs. That is a perfect Sunday. Like a simplified version of introvert or extrovert is introverts get free charged away from people, extroverts get charged around people. And so both is true too, in that if an introvert spends a lot of time around people,
00:45:03
Speaker
They get drained, and they're emotionally just exhausted and mentally exhausted. It drains them. If an extrovert gets put in isolation, they feed off and get energized around people, and in isolation, they go crazy. It drains them, and they're not performing at their peak.
00:45:25
Speaker
Like I'm more intro, I'm maybe more like Tucker that I'm a little bit, I guess I'm a little bit more introverted than I am extra rude, but I'm a little bit balanced. But I'm very selective. I don't just like being in crowds. I despise that. I hate that. It can be forced behavior. So I think it goes back to earlier part of the conversation of your sphere of influence.
Thriving in Social Settings as Extroverts
00:45:47
Speaker
Some people would listen to this and listen to Brent saying like, I don't freaking go out.
00:45:52
Speaker
If you're going out, you're gonna fail. If you're going out with people in the bar, whatever, you're gonna fail. And it's not necessarily saying, and then Tucker saying, I'll stay at home and with my journal and extroverts like, Jesus, I'd go crazy. Like, so it's not, it's not that they can't go out. And if they're around people or in social environments, that they're going to be unsuccessful. But maybe it's a part of the earlier conversation of
00:46:20
Speaker
When they're in those people populated environments or social environments, who are they around? What are those discussions? Is it drinking and talking about random stuff that's really going to have no impact on life? Or is it around like-minded people that are driving each other and maybe alcohol is involved or not? But those social environments specifically,
00:46:45
Speaker
Is it a positive influence? Are they actually working towards common goals, lifting each other up, helping each other? So for the extroverts out there, yeah, there's a place for that. But it's maybe those spheres of influence when you're in those social settings, what are you actually focused on? Yeah, so if you're getting your tank filled up, you know, as an extrovert does, you know, pick the right people and the right behaviors and stuff like that. And I know for myself, like I said, Myers-Briggs is an INTJ. So
00:47:14
Speaker
And I, I'm not a strong introvert, but I hate pointless chit chat, like strongly despise it. So like, that's one reason I think like the bar scene gets in my nerves so much because once people get drunk, there is no point to the conversation that is happening. And I just check out, I hate it. Um, I don't like, like the business meetups where you just go around and introduce.
00:47:42
Speaker
If I don't think we're going to continue to do business or you're not someone that's going to be long-term, I have no desire to sit there and just do general chit chat. Hey, how's your day? It's great. Oh, uh, kids. Yeah. I got kids and get a wife. Oh, great. You're like 80% of everyone else. Like this is awesome conversation. I got to have a little bit more depth. That is then what fulfills my tank a little bit too. And long as there's that depth, if there's no depth, I'll hang out with my German shepherd man. And he's awesome. He is pretty awesome.
00:48:11
Speaker
We have good talks. I mean, him too. I like to think he gets it. I like to think he gets it too. He's always in agreement. He's always, he's perfect. I think we can probably start wrapping this one up, guys. What do you think? Any last points you guys have? I guess back to the very first thing we were talking about. Have you ever heard of the author, Donald Miller?
Living Life Backwards from Eulogy
00:48:31
Speaker
He, uh, business made simple is, I believe it's his business and he goes around and he basically breaks down how to grow small businesses.
00:48:39
Speaker
And one of the things like when, if you start following a stuff, one of the first things he has you do is write your eulogy and, and then you work backwards from there. And I've never actually taken the time to write that, but just that thought in my mind of like, well, what do I want that to be? Back to what we first said. That's kind of how I've been designing my life. Like what I want that to say. And then what do I need to do in order to make it say that? So I think living with the end in mind is probably a great way to go.
00:49:09
Speaker
It's huge. I know it sounds like you said earlier, that's kind of depressing, but gosh, it's impactful though. Like if you think about it, like if your goal in life is to impact a lot of people to have a certain level of success and stuff that, you know, eventually where he's talking about the stuff that people talk about, you know, after you're gone, they're going to say about you. I mean, gosh, what better way is there to gauge, you know, what you're doing now? Then that, you know what I mean? And I've been to funerals where there's hardly anyone that showed up.
00:49:38
Speaker
You know, and I've been to funerals where there's a line out the door and everybody's actually sad. And they're talking about how they're, they don't know if they're, how they're going to make it without that person around. You know, and I'm like, man, what a stark difference in two different lives. This one, people really didn't seem to care. And this one, people are legitimately like hundreds of people are tore up about.
00:49:59
Speaker
And I'm like, that's what life's about is impacting others. And that's what totally. And they're just to add a benefit for your family. The eulogy is already done. They don't have to worry about that. They just didn't do that. We're good or add that. Yeah. It's already on the cloud, man. It definitely has a little fuel to the fire to make sure you get it done. It's already written. I gotta have to do this stuff. The choice now. Yeah.
00:50:28
Speaker
Now, I think the theme was a little bit of a discipline and that there's no hacks.
Success Through Hard Work and Discipline
00:50:36
Speaker
We live in a world where there's cheat codes and hacks to everything. And I know we've always looked at that inner voice is always trying to tee up the hacker, the shortcut. And you hear it over and over again. And I know I heard this when I was younger, too, that there are no shortcuts. It's discipline. It's hard work. It's grinding. It's dedication.
00:50:57
Speaker
I don't know what I could have said to the 20-year-old or the 18 or 19-year-old to make that resonate, but it's 100% true. Hard work, determination, growing, discipline is the pathway to success, and there isn't a shortcut or there isn't a cheat code for it. But there's nobody that I've met that I look up to aspire that has a life or has achieved the things that, and then every success book,
00:51:27
Speaker
how to book for things all pretty much say the same thing. So there must be something to it that discipline sticking to it. Um, there, there is no shortcut. Yeah. No, I think that's perfect. And I'm the same way I look at like people that I've looked up to over the years still do used to whatever that is. They all had the consistency. They had the discipline. They knew what they wanted. They took the steps. Was there hiccups and trips along the way? A hundred percent there was.
00:51:56
Speaker
But they didn't, for the most part, lose sight of here's where I want to go and here's what it takes to get there. And they didn't let the hiccups derail them. Yeah. You know what I mean? You know, so like, you know, some people seem to let those downfalls because we're all going to have them. Whether that's a completely unforeseen business event, a death or whatever, you know, will be that's life. They don't let that stuff completely derail as well. And I've seen a lot of people let that derail, but you're right. There's no hack.
00:52:26
Speaker
There's no code, but there is the consistency, the discipline and the goal setting.
Observing Successful Behaviors and Choosing Mentors
00:52:33
Speaker
And they all kind of go together. I look at like a 20 year old me, you know, I think just having a mentor like this that just would have really pushed. And thankfully I had a great family mentors around people I looked up to.
00:52:48
Speaker
Um, not necessarily a one-on-one mentor type thing, but like people in the community I looked up to that I thought just, you know, they, they're, they're living life differently and I'm noticing it. So again, I went back to like studying the behaviors I think got them to that point and you know, beat 20 year old me just knowing, Hey, this equals this and this equals that would have been just so, so huge, uh, for me, but yeah, picking your circle, doing all, you know, these things to me, that's.
00:53:18
Speaker
If you're wanting to get somewhere, be aware of what you're doing. Be aware that what you do now will determine who you are later to a point to an extent, um, and do stuff that serves you.
Self-awareness in Achieving Goals
00:53:28
Speaker
If it doesn't serve you, there's a chance you probably shouldn't be doing it. I mean, it's really, to me, it's that simple. And like you said, Travis, if, if you're an extrovert, you need some of that, maybe just think about what that entails. Is that going to a party, getting drunk, you know, doing dumb behavior that may have a consequence for you in nine months or a year or two years.
00:53:49
Speaker
Or does that mean, Hey, I want to pick a different group of friends and we're going to go do an activity that's going to fulfill that extrovert cup, but we're not going to do all the dumb stuff. They're actually going to build me up, lift me up. I'm going to come home even extra recharged because I got my people time and those people actually built me up. It's actually a purpose to the conversations instead of just I'm around people. I need people in my life. So I think being aware of that, um, is used to, especially for the, for the extroverts. Um,
00:54:18
Speaker
Any last thoughts or are we good to? I would say as far as the mentors go, if someone listening doesn't know of somebody personally, if they want to be their mentor, I mean, man, books, like find somebody that is very successful and that's written books and then just dive into that. Like I mentioned before, John Maxwell has probably been my mentor for 10 years and I've never met the guy, read a lot of his books.
00:54:44
Speaker
That was my last thought, actually, right. Right. When I kind of tossed it back to you, I had one final thought and it was actually about self-improvement. That made me think of it. That'd be one other thing I would always make sure you're doing, whether that is, you know, podcasts, reading a book, you know, someone in person, a mentor in person, but constantly throughout your entire life, you should always be seeking self-improvement because you, if you ever think you've arrived, like me, I got everything figured out now at 40, 42 or whatever.
00:55:12
Speaker
Guess what? Your life's gonna go this and it's gonna plateau because you thought you figured it all out and you didn't so having that mindset of like I need to be better tomorrow than today and having that continuous improvement throughout your life is huge and that's like you said I can be Mentors that you know mentors that you never eat that wrote a book or have a podcast that are pouring in the extroverts just man each year when I
00:55:36
Speaker
I can have a mentor that I don't have to talk to a book. There's one other thought on that too. Like reading john Maxwell, you said he's been a mentor for how many years? Probably 10 and or so he's not writing new books. He's not writing
00:55:59
Speaker
He's not having new material, or you know what? He's still running you. The guy's got almost 100 books. I was going to say the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, or he's the one that most commonly everybody go back to. For the John Maxwell, for the books, for the things that have been impactful,
00:56:23
Speaker
When you go back, so at different stages of your life, so even though it might at the podcast, the relationship, the mentorship, the book, the course, the audio, but it's going to mean different things. We're not static. Nature doesn't allow us to stand still. Everything's evolving around us. We're evolving. The experiences have shaped us and changed us. And even when you go back and revisit the thing that was impactful three years ago or a year ago,
00:56:49
Speaker
you see it differently. You're seeing it through different lenses. You had different experiences and other things will resonate or things will be amplified. Like I get that now. I actually lived through, I didn't, I logically understood it, but I went through these three things and I a hundred percent lived that now. Or I was struggling with this and I didn't understand that because I didn't have this experience. And now that I'm dealing with this, now I see how that can help me. And so,
00:57:15
Speaker
always going back through and constantly evolving and constantly learning. And we're evolving for better or worse, we're becoming assets or liabilities to everything around us and we can choose which that is. And it usually involves constantly improving yourself and deliberately. I like that quote, we're constantly asset or reliability. I like that. Yeah, that's really good. I stole it.
00:57:47
Speaker
Travis Tucker. Thank you. Everybody listening. Thank you. If you like the podcast, please share it. If you don't, I guess, I don't know. Don't listen anymore. I guess after this point, but anyway, thank you. We'll talk to you guys next time.