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- [00:00]
Dean Graziosi
There is no more. One try. I will persist until I succeed. I will crawl across glass, I will break through steel, I will climb a mountain, whatever it takes. It's not, I guess I'll give it one or two more tries. It's you just try until you find you burn the boats. There's no B plant. Today.
- [00:16]
Cody Sanchez
You are going to hear from a man who I think will teach you more in an hour and a half than a four year business degree. He has partnered with Tony Robbins, he's partnered with Matthew McConaughey. Dean Graziosi is his name.
- [00:28]
Dean Graziosi
Somebody has already done what you're hoping to do. Stop trying to figure out how and start thinking who. Who has already made a million in this space and I haven't? Who has already bought multiple companies, who has already doubled the size of their marketing or double side of their business? And then do everything in your power to understand what they've done. If they offer coaching, get it. If you can be a mentor for free, get it. If you can build reciprocity by doing something for them, first, do it.
- [00:53]
Cody Sanchez
You've said before that one of the biggest business hacks is, is that true?
- [00:57]
Dean Graziosi
Being in business is. It's not easy, it's not faint at heart to buy a business, to start a business, to scale a business. Every level is a new devil. All that shit happens. And if you have a partner that says, yeah, who are you to do it even a little bit? You're scared to death compared to someone go.
- [01:14]
Cody Sanchez
Hi, I'm Cody Sanchez and this is the Big Deal podcast. For those who are willing to do the work to get what you want. Today, we are actually going to do the work for you. You are going to hear from a man who I think will teach you more in an hour and a half than a four year business degree. And you can also save the $200,000. He's the guy call when things are going wrong in my business or when I want things to go really, really right. He has built businesses to hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. He has partnered with Tony Robbins, he's partnered with Matthew McConaughey. And he's sort of what I often think of as the man behind the scenes when it comes to a lot of the biggest names, you know, building really big businesses. Dean Graziosi is his name. We're going to talk about building businesses, we're going to talk about making money. We're going to talk about what to do when people you love even tell you that something's not possible for you, we're gonna talk about how do you have a marriage that you actually like, or maybe an incredible marriage? And we're also going to talk about what does it take to win in all aspects of your life? But certainly if you care about business at all. Without further ado, let's go to Dane. You've said before that one of the biggest business hacks is a happy marriage. Is that true?
- [02:23]
Dean Graziosi
I think it's a hack on everything. And I can only go through two experiences. One, I've been in a marriage that failed, and I take full responsibility for probably being the majority of the reason it didn't work. And when you're in something like that, when you're in a relationship, that's not empowering, not fulfilling, right? And again, not blaming the other person, but it's not right. You don't even realize how much of a drain that is. That when you wake up and it's on your mind, you wake up and you realize maybe there's not intimacy or maybe there's not connection in your life, but doesn't matter. I could power through with business. I'm so strong with business. I. I just got this right. But I'm blessed to see I can only talk through experiences. I'm. I'm. I'm really fortunate to see the other side of that. You know, when my relationship ended and there was a gap, I had two children. And I'm like, and I won't go too deep in this, but the fact of the matter is, I just said, I'm going to be a single dad. I'm going deep on daddy, on fatherhood, and when they're off to college, I'll consider a relationship. But I remember I was with my partner and friend Tony, and he's like, but if you were going to get in a relationship, what if you just wrote down all the things that would be an absolute must in a relationship and all the things that were unacceptable in a relationship. So I remember writing all that down, and when I got done something pretty profound hit me. I realized, wow, you're pretty full of yourself. You want all of this, but to get that, you better be the man that attracts and keeps that. And don't just be the facade that gets it. It's like, don't get the deal in the door and then be horrible with customer service. Like, if this is who I'm going to be to attract that woman, I better become that man. And it was probably the biggest shift of my life. Like, I wanted to be the man that attracted that. So, long story short, I'm blessed. You know, my wife, Lisa, I don't have an Instagram marriage. I'm in love. I have the love of my life. We're eight years in. She's my best friend. She's just. It's. It's everything that was on that sheet. But I'm trying to stay the guy that deserves that. Right? But once I had that kind of marriage where I could call and it takes somebody special to be married to a crazy ass entrepreneur. I met your husband on the way in. I want to just. I want to go. I'm like, I'm sorry. Thank you. I love you. Come here. Let me, let me. Let me just give you a little pat on the back. Right? Yeah, I just want to, like, give him a hug. Go. I get it. Right? But, like, the difference of feeling empowered. Like, as you know, it might be date night and we're supposed to go to a dance recital on date night. I'm just being overly, you know, just for. For story reasons, but I know I've called my wife and said, babe, I am so sorry. I. I'm in the middle of closing this deal. I can't make dinner. I'm not going to make the dance. In prior relationships, it might be like, oh, my gosh, you always put work first. How could that be my wife now? And maybe because I give her what she needs, she would say, babe, we live this lifestyle because of you. You go kick ass in that meeting. I'll make sure the kids feel good and we'll do dinner tomorrow. I have goosebumps sharing it because that. That relationship is. My business has doubled since I met her.
- [05:18]
Cody Sanchez
You guys, I know if you're listening to this podcast that you care about growth and you are going to be one of the few builders in this world, and we need you more than ever. So, one, I'm just thrilled you're here. And if you think that this podcast episode is valuable for you, imagine what it can do for others in your life. So often we share the funny, really ridiculous, useless things on the Internet. Do yourself and maybe somebody you love a big favor and pass this episode along to them. Share it with them, letting them know that you care and that you want them to be successful too. Builders are rare. We need more of them. This is your chance to share the show.
- [05:53]
Dean Graziosi
My. My relationship with my kids has gotten better. I'm better. I'm just a better human being. And the only reason I'm sharing that is because I know both sides. So if you're in. I know this isn't a relationship podcast, but if you're in a relationship where you don't have the support, do whatever it takes to get the support. Let them see you. Let them be vulnerable with your feelings because I'm telling you, that little bit of extra support, because being in business is. It's not easy. It's not for the faint at heart to buy a business, to start a business, to scale a business. Every level is a new devil. Every time there's something you question yourself, like, who am I to do this? Who am I to get these eyeballs? Who am I to own this business? All that shit happens. And if you have a partner that says, yeah, who are you to do it? Even a little bit? You're scared to death compared to someone go, Cody, you freaking got this. You're a badass. If you don't see it in you, I see it in you. So my business has grown. Who I am as a man has grown. So if you're in it, try to fix it. If you're single and you're looking, make sure it's somebody who can. You fuel their dreams, so hopefully they fuel yours.
- [06:53]
Cody Sanchez
It's so true. I mean, I think the best business deal I've ever done is the deal with my partner. I mean, and I say that frequently, you know, that was the best contract I ever wrote. And the reason is because I actually have found, and I find it again and again with entrepreneurs that when you don't have it, you don't think than an incredible.
- [07:08]
Dean Graziosi
You don't even know what you're missing.
- [07:10]
Cody Sanchez
Yeah, yeah. You're like, it's fine. But then when you do have it, you're like, dear Lord. And it's not to make people feel bad if you don't have it. Because I've been in a terrible one that I take.
- [07:17]
Dean Graziosi
Yeah, I'm raising my hand if you're not seeing me. Hands up high.
- [07:20]
Cody Sanchez
But, man, if you can prioritize what you got, it's really important. So one other question on marriage before we go into more business stuff is what is the secret then to having an incredible marriage?
- [07:32]
Dean Graziosi
You know, when. When people ask me that, I think what comes to mind, and I don't know if this is the best secret I'm just going to give is you can't keep score. Keeping score ruins relationships. Everyone's partnerships too, right? Like, if I was looking at a partnership I've watched so many times through the years, why is everybody so, like, attracted to opening up a restaurant? I Never knew that. You hardly find a restaurant that makes money, but everybody wants one. Maybe it's the significance or the. I don't know. But I've watched forever picture a great chef, right? I'm 56, so I've been on this earth for a while. I've been to restaurants, and I've watched this chef in the background where the food is amazing. And somebody convinces them, hey, why would you just be a chef? Let's start the new restaurant. I'll put up the money. I've had friends do this. They put up the money, they get a great chef, they come up with a great concept, and they launch the business. At first, the marriage is amazing. The relationship, the business marriage is really great. Cook didn't have the money. Money, know how to run a business. But then all of a sudden, the chef's back there 70 hours a week, not seeing his family. And the partner who put the money in hasn't changed. Same person. He comes in with his friends, rounded drinks for everybody, and the scorekeeping starts. I'm back here slaving over this hot stove, I'm trying to make incredible. He's out there drinking, pretending to be the big shot. It's my food. And then the person with the money said, you would have never done this if I didn't give you the money and show you how to start a business. And the end is inevitable. And it's the same thing I believe in marriage. You come home after a long day working, and if it's your significant other and say you come home, it's like, man, I worked my butt off all day and I came home and there's no. There's not even dinner on the table, right? I'm just using this as a dramatic experience. And then you think to yourself, wow, that's so disrespectful. So that night, you go to bed, and instead of laying cuddle next to each other, you're keeping score. You lay on the opposite side of the bed, and your significant other goes, well, what the hell? Why is he so cold? Or why is she so cold? And then all of a sudden, the scorekeeping, well, he's not there when I need this and he doesn't there when I need this. And all of a sudden, intimacy dies first because you don't feel like being affectionate with someone that you're keeping score with. And. And then resentment comes in. And once the resentment there, it's. It's done, right? And I gotta tell you that there's this little hack. What if and this takes a while. This is hard. And if we're the wrong person who just abuses it, then that's a whole different story. But what if you felt love when you gave it, and that's the only payback you had? When you look at Chris and you know he's there for you, he does whatever it takes. And there's something, you know, makes him happy. Maybe it's breakfast before he asks and he gets up and there is breakfast made, his favorite meal. And just sitting there and he eats it. What if just seeing his smile was enough to make the score even without him saying, oh, Cody, you're so amazing. Thank you so much. I appreciate you. Can I do something for you? Like, and it creates this. I'll be honest with my partnership with Tony. My. My relationship with my wife, I can't do enough for, and she can't do enough for me. And it's. We fight to, like, outdo each other. It's crazy. But. But I built that partnership with Tony as well. We're partners in multiple companies. We co founded Mastermind together and all these other companies. We can't do enough for each other. Like, if he's going through something, has to have a little surgery on his eye or something, I'm like, what can I do? Take everything off his plate for three weeks and I'll call his assistant. I'll call. All the crap comes to me. 100% of it comes to me. And don't tell him. And then he finds out. He' oh. And then he'll do like. So instead of keeping score, like, the first phase is don't keep score. The second phase is, how do I do more for you than you do for me? And it builds this thing that, you know, the other thing, too, Cody? It took me. I'm 56. Like I said, it took me a. It took me decades to figure this out. So it's not something that comes naturally.
- [11:15]
Cody Sanchez
You guys just heard us talk about acquisitions. If you guys have ever thought about buying a business. I don't know if you know this, but we have what I think is the best, best education system in the world for doing acquisitions, for buying businesses, and now for scaling businesses. If you thought about wanting to buy your next business or right now you have a business and you want to scale it. My goal is we at contrarian thinking, have everything you need to do that. And so if that's you, I guess I'm talking to you today. You can go to ContrarianThinking Co, click on our education and Right there you're going to see ideas for how you can buy your first or next business and how you can also scale your next business. We have taught more than 5,000 people how to do M and A mergers and acquisitions to date. People have bought hundreds of millions of in businesses so far. And my goal is that you become an owner if you aren't already one. So I hope you join us on the journey. ContrarianThinking co. Check out the education section. It's so good, though. I've actually never thought about it that way because, man, it would be pretty easy. I mean, you are huge on the Internet. You have millions of people that follow you. You've helped millions of people over the years. And Tony is also huge on the Internet. You know, maybe one of the most famous business people in the world, hands down.
- [12:27]
Dean Graziosi
Right?
- [12:27]
Cody Sanchez
And it would be very easy for somebody like that to continue to say to a partner, I don't need you anymore. And that's probably what happens a lot is like, you know, that starts the one side could feel a different way. And I think that's a really cool.
- [12:40]
Dean Graziosi
Way if you just take it out of your mind. I mean, think about this. There are times when we do like, we're doing a big event, right? And a big. The 60 days 4 event is insanity, right? You put in a million, million, three people in an event, there's a gazillion moving parts, and I'm the architect, and I'm in that like, I'm in the thick of it. But Tony's 47 years of being a business leader, he could make one phone call and solve millions of dollars worth of problems or make millions of dollars. I. So when I'm in it, I don't go, wow, I'm putting 70 hours a week in, Damn it. He's not. I'm like, man, this combined talent just brings so much value to the world. And because he worked so hard for 50 years, he could make one call and like, so I just find a way to appreciate everything. And then on the opposite side, he does the same. So if you can find that in your marriage or your business relationships or if you're buying a business and the person that's still going to stay on, find a way to appreciate what they do, try to outdo it. And there's. Here's the thing. What trips it up, different personalities. You might be a conservative. You buy a business where the person's a liberal. You might be religious and Christian and they. They're an atheist. Find a way to Appreciate something about them, do more for them than they realize. And. But then there's a point. You might do more for people for a certain point and realize, no matter what I do, it's not enough. And maybe that's the trigger of time to pull the exit chute.
- [14:00]
Cody Sanchez
How do you know when to pull the exit shoot? How do you know when somebody is taking advantage of you and you are giving too much?
- [14:07]
Dean Graziosi
You know, I think, you know, in the beginning of a business relationship or aura, you know, first dating Chris, right? Everything is wonderful. Right or wrong, there's not enough. You can't do enough for that person. Well, like, if they have a seed in their tooth, like, oh, it's so cute. And then if it doesn't, like, if you're not feeling that way in a year, it's like, why do you always have freaking seeds in your tooth? Right? It's like, same thing, different experience. What I always thought about is, what if you're in a relationship, you're not sure, like, it should this be over business or personal? And you just treated the next 90 days like, the first 90 days, you were a little more respectful. You actually did active listening, looking in your significant other's eyes. What did you have to say? What was your day like? What if you did all the things, like, when you were thinking about, you know, the first time you were going to hold hands or kiss, you're like, I'll listen for four hours if I get the kiss. Like, you know, then you're like, what are you saying, babe? Could you just spit it out? Like, you know, all these things evolve, right?
- [14:57]
Cody Sanchez
Never do that. Yeah.
- [14:59]
Dean Graziosi
Yeah, me neither. I've never done it once. I didn't. I just asked what time it was. I don't need to have. The watch is built. Right. Like, but what if he did that for 90 days? And at the end of 90 days, if you didn't get anything back, if it didn't spark any reciprocal actions like that, I think it's time to take a look deeply at that relationship.
- [15:16]
Cody Sanchez
I love that. Yeah, you're really big on. You know, if you have an action you want to take, you need a deadline. And I've heard you say that many, many times.
- [15:25]
Dean Graziosi
Absolutely.
- [15:26]
Cody Sanchez
What does that look like in practice? So I have something that I want to do. I put it on my calendar, and I say, by this date, I will have achieved xyz. How do you instigate that in your actual. In your life?
- [15:37]
Dean Graziosi
Love that. You know, it's something. I'm big this year because this year our business is growing just, I mean I love watching the business growth that you're having right now, but it's beyond well deserved and people need you now more than ever. So I love watching all that you're doing for the world and I mean that. And, and I feel pretty cool. I've built multiple hundred million dollar year businesses. I've exited from business. I'm working harder than ever before because I love it. Like I want to fall dead doing this at 97, you know what I mean?
- [16:03]
Cody Sanchez
You actually know because I know you as a human. I love it all the time.
- [16:07]
Dean Graziosi
And, and every year I'm trying to evolve as a leader because what I realize, and I know you're realizing it now, to go to that next level of business, like whatever got you here, there's a core competency, there's something or several things you do better than anybody on the planet. And what I realized, I was really good at creating incredible products. I was really good at marketing, operations, finances, those things. I just duct taped those together and band aid them forever. I was so good at selling that the money covered the, the problems. But when I wanted to build a real business, I realized the skill I had to learn was leadership. And leadership is not project management. I've promoted so many great project managers to leaders and I love them as project managers and wanted to shoot them when they became leaders because a leader is more of like a kindergarten teacher. You have to understand different personalities. This one thinks through their ego. This one needs a pat on the back. This one I have to go to lunch with once a month. This one I got to listen to their story. This one I just need to give love. This one I just need to leave alone and they do their thing. Stop trying to be like a leader, figures out the human condition. And it took me a long time to really understand that. Right. And a good CEO has different relationships with each person. So long story short, I tried mastermind the company that Tony and I own. It's growing and I love this company and I every year I say how can I be a better leader? So a long answer to your short question, how do I set a deadline I didn't forget is this year I've gone to each department and I'd say what are your goals? What's your goals? And when I have a department, give me 10 or 12 goals. I realize if you have 10 or 12 goals, none of them are important. When I say which is the most important and they say they're all important. If they're all important. None of them are important. I said, if you had to narrow it down to 1, 2 or 3, what would they be? Oh, that's really hard. But if you had to, and I just give the framework, what is going to move the needle in your department? There's lots of things that are nice to have. What is the need to have that? If you accomplish this, you would, you should get a raise, you should get a promotion. The company moves forward. What are they? So I had all the departments, hundreds of employees, narrow it down to the most important things. And then I said, and I draw as a pyramid. So picture the top is goal. Right. The next one down is. Okay, so what are the constraints holding you back from achieving that? Like what is it? Well, not like. No, no. If we had to know. Well, I don't have some. Okay, great. The constraint is you need a right person in that place. Could it be a system you're missing or do you actually need a person? A lot of times like, oh, if I had a better system, I wouldn't need the person. So what is the constraints? How do you solve them? Or how do you widen the circle to let me and others help you solve it? And then the third thing is only four steps. The third step is how are you going to measure your progress? Right. How do you know you're actually moving forward, winning the game? And then the fourth answers the question you asked. The fourth is the deadlines. When are you going to have it done by? I think by January. January what? Mid January. January what? January 9th. Done. I'm here to help you get that done. So we went from 15 tasks. Picture if each thing has three constraints, you have 10 goals, each thing has three can say you have 30 constraints. That's why people and you know what ends up happening is you go, oh, that one's got a lot. I'll just go with this other thing because I have so many things going on. I'll work on the easier one. You don't even know your brain does that. But when you narrow it down and go, crap, we have to, we want to do back end sales so people can enjoy this amazing coaching program we put together. Right. Okay. What is the goal? The goal is to do a million dollars a month helping people be a part of a program that actually transforms their life. Great. What are the constraints? We don't have the salespeople to do it. Great. Then your whole focus over the next 90 days should be getting the salespeople. What are the constraints? I don't know if I can find them. Do we do them in person? Do we do them in virtual? Great. That's the things we have to solve. How do you know if you're winning? I need to hire two a week. Great. What's the deadline? Three months from now. Great. All of a sudden, that person has those four things, and that's all they should focus on.
- [19:51]
Cody Sanchez
That's so good. I have like a to do list in my mind right now of all the things I have to do listening to you, which is what happens every time we talk, by the way. Let's talk about. Let's imagine that there's somebody out there right now and they're listening and they haven't made their first million bucks. They maybe even haven't made their first hundred thousand dollars. I know it's so hard to overly simplify this, but what was the biggest unlock for you to make your first million dollars? Because you have made. You know, I'm not the irs, but you've made millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions. But that very first million, I think, is the hardest. So what would you say to somebody who hasn't made their first million yet? What do you have to unlock?
- [20:31]
Dean Graziosi
Oh, wow. So many. Such a great question. There's so many things that I think about, but if it really. If you really boil it down, and I don't want. I want to give business tactics. Let me do that on the second half. But the first one have. Have you with all the people. You get amazing people to sit in this chair. You've met such incredible people. You have. I mean, you just surround yourself with great people. If you look at the common denominator of successful people is they have just a little bit more hunger than anybody else. Right. I mean, you think about it. Why do most people who hit lotto go broke because they have resources, but they don't have resourcefulness. So if I think about it like I'm going to give you a tactical answer, I can tell you about marketing, I tell you all about those things, and I want to talk about all that today. But foundationally, maybe because I've been in this industry so long and I've built multiple companies, is if you don't have a hunger that's super strong when you hit obstacles, when things go wrong, you go, oh, I can't believe that happened. All right, let me give it one more try. Compared to, there is no more. One try. I will persist until I succeed. I will crawl across glass. I will break through steel. I will. I will climb a mountain. Whatever it takes. It's not. I guess I'll give it one or two more tries. It's. You just try until you find the answer. And the most successful people, you know, even in your own life, as you're listening or watching right now, you know that they didn't set, like, three failures. And then I go back to the job I hate. It's like, there's, you burn the boats. There's no B plan. And that is something that. That's why Tony and I work so hard on helping people have an unstoppable mindset. And then we give them a business plan, because you can give the greatest business plan to somebody who's not committed, or you can give a crappy business plan on a yellow pad to someone who's committed and hungry. And I'll take them 100% of the time. So the first thing is hunger. And that hunger leads to resourcefulness, and that resourcefulness leads to persisting till you succeed. That's number one. Number two is, I wish someone would have told me this earlier in life. And I know you have found it way earlier than I did, but you have to model proven practices like that. That is just. I mean, I know it sounds simple, and you're like, maybe I'm just a reminder service for everybody listening or watching today, but somebody has already done what you're hoping to do. Stop trying to figure out how and start thinking who. Who has already made a million in this space and I haven't. Who has already bought multiple companies? Who has already doubled the size of their marketing or doubled size of their business? Who has broken through from one shop to 50 of them across the country? Who has already done it? And then do everything in your power to understand what they've done. If they offer coaching, get it. If you can be a mentor for free, get it. If you can build reciprocity by doing something for them first, do it because they have the plan. And most people don't even know that they have the plan, but you could extract it. So hunger and modeling proven practices.
- [23:33]
Cody Sanchez
It's so good. Yeah. We always say, first you imitate, then you iterate, then you innovate the other way around.
- [23:41]
Dean Graziosi
You know, oh, that's so good. Oh, that was. That was the clincher. Is not the other way around.
- [23:45]
Cody Sanchez
Right. Because everybody was like, well, we'll go ahead and try this thing. And it's like, why? Well, my gut says, so what's your gut based on? You know, do you have. Do you have a history of proven success in this? Have you modeled proven practices. We're not curing cancer here, unfortunately. Like, we are doing things that other people have already done before. So I think that's. It's so big, you know? And it kind of takes me to this random next idea from you, which is you have helped millions of people create a ton of wealth in their life. That mindset part I didn't used to understand. I used to think tactics just because that's how my brain works. I'm like, just give me steps one through seven. And I didn't realize that most humans will fail miserably if you just give them the how to instead of the why, to which I learned from you guys. You've also partnered with some huge names to break through in a way that isn't normal for most people. Can you tell me about the time that you partnered with Matthew McConaughey on your big, huge event? What happened? And how did you talk one of, like, the world's biggest celebrities into sharing how he lives his life?
- [24:51]
Dean Graziosi
Yeah, great question. That was so much fun, by the way.
- [24:54]
Cody Sanchez
It looked so much fun. I was texting you, like, is he as cool?
- [24:57]
Dean Graziosi
Yeah.
- [24:57]
Cody Sanchez
Tell me if he's not.
- [24:58]
Dean Graziosi
Yeah. And I remember texting back, like, he's actually cool. Like, he's just the coolest dude. Like, I'll put it this way. His work ethic is off the charts. And I'll tell you, I'll answer the question, but his work ethics, off the chart. And I'll start from the beginning. The beginning is I listen to Greenlights. Did you listen to the book?
- [25:14]
Cody Sanchez
The book's incredible. I got the book, and I don't like celebrity memoirs. Do not care.
- [25:18]
Dean Graziosi
So a couple of things. Why I respected it. First off, he didn't come at it as, like, a memoir of a star. What he said was, I've been journaling for 30 years. I found all the journals, and I geeked out for six months and went. He went through all his old journals. He said some of it was painful, but he found the patterns that led to success and the patterns that led to failure. And I'm like, how could you not listen to every single word of 30 years of success and failure? Right? So then he tells this amazing story in the book, and he's got the voice. Like, he's just got. You know, like, it's just like. And I remember I get to the end of the book, I'm like, oh, I want more. Like, did you feel that way at the end of the book? So I had a mutual friend, someone that knew Matthew knew me. I'm like, can you do me a favor? I'm gonna record a seven minute voice memo. Can you just ask McConaughey to listen to it? And I left him a message. And fortunately, he had already watched my stuff. He loved Tony's stuff, so that gives you a little benefit. But I just said to him, I know this sounds completely crazy, but this book was so good. When it was done, I wanted more, and I think the world needs more. McConaughey. And this is what I said to him. I said, books are very inspirational, but courses can be very transformational because it's video. You give homework, you give assignments, you give challenges. Like, go do this right now. Stop. Stop playing this video. Go do the work. And I explained the difference of inspiration versus transformation. I said, I think you owe it to the world to create something next level. That it actually turns it into not just an inspirational book, a program. And he got back, he goes, all right, let's do it. And the man went all in. Like we talked about it closed, decided the deal. We said just to be partners on it. He brings Matthew McConaughey. I bring the experience. So Tony and I in our world. And I said, imagine the collision of your people and our people together, right? So what I love about the guy, he flew down, spent a week at my office. We stayed up till midnight every night. And he obsessed over every sentence, every word on is this the way to transform? Is this the way to change people? And we called it road trip, the highway to more. So everything was like, how do you have more joy? How do you have more cool? How do you have more time, right? So everything was through this lens of more. But I gotta tell you, it was fun. We're sitting around a table, and he can't help it, right? So he says. I said, oh, that story. You remember the story when he goes to Africa and fights the guy and it's amazing story. So here's what's cool. This is what I get for an entire week, which is fun, is he can't help himself but to stand up and tell the story in Matthew McConaughey style hands. And then I'm sitting there like this, and I'm like, am I really gonna fight this guy? And I look around at my team because we're all captionists. I look at my team, they're all like, the girls are like, will you take your shirt off? Like that. You know what I mean? Like, he's just the coolest guy in the world. And Anyway, so long story short, we do this and we have two and a half million people. So we did a live event, and at the live event, we offered his course. Not only did we have two and a half million people watch, on day one, we probably. He probably is the best selling course in history in one day. Tens of thousands of courses sold that day. People fell in love with it. But I'm gonna end it with this talk about the guy being cool. He gets off, we get done. He's like. I said, what'd you think of that? He was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. And I said. I said, why? He said, well, usually I read someone else's script, I'm directed by somebody else, and someone else edits it. He goes, I got to play me today. That was. He goes, that's cool. Because you know what'd be even cooler? Let's do a couple shots of tequila to celebrate. I'm like, you are the coolest man. I haven't done a shot of tequila in a decade. I'm back there. We have it on video. Did a couple shots with me. He's like, should we do three or three make you fuzzy. I'm like, three makes me fuzzy. Two's good. Anyway, that's. Yeah. And thank God he's cool.
- [28:52]
Cody Sanchez
Cuz it would be such a.
- [28:52]
Dean Graziosi
What a disappointment it would be if he was like, yeah, yeah. Hard worker, amazing husband. All he does, Camila, is she was with him every single day to midnight. I mean, he came seven days. And then when we did the launch, the actual event, she came for four days. She was there every night, a part of every experience, given incredible feedback. He loves her to death. He's an incredible dad. So he's someone you keep forever. I love that someone you keep.
- [29:20]
Cody Sanchez
You know, it made me think about the opposite of that, which is I think when you're trying to have big success, we all have people, friends, sometimes family, loved ones who say, you can't, you know, why would you do that? Who, like, don't want you to go grow when you are about to have what you think might be a huge breakthrough. So what do you do to not let other people hold you back from the things you want in life?
- [29:44]
Dean Graziosi
So I give little reference points, like little things in my head that I can remember. And this one is, don't dim your glow without realizing sometimes we have people in our life that think we're a dreamer, which most people do. Entrepreneurship is a lonely road. Being a dad of four, there's nothing worse than Going to a five year old birthday party where you don't know one other parent you don't know. And you got to have conversations with people that this is going to sound horrible, like maybe this is rude to say, but like they're just. It's a different path to be career oriented than to be the crazy person that put your life on the line, put your money on the line, put your family on the line. You risked everything. You go up and down, all the stuff that happens in the invisible. It's just a different philosophy, right? Oh, my God. What was your question?
- [30:33]
Cody Sanchez
What do you do to have other people not stop you from achieving your dreams? Those. Like I think about it, like, for instance, I remember when I was first starting out in my business, I had a family member that basically said I was in finance at the time, I was working at, I think I was at Goldman. And my family member looked me right in the face and said, biggest mistake of your life will ever be trading the names Goldman Sachs for Cody Sanchez.
- [30:59]
Dean Graziosi
Oh. Oh, my gosh. What?
- [31:02]
Cody Sanchez
And they love me.
- [31:03]
Dean Graziosi
No, I get it. So. So the way I look at it, when I'm saying even. Even being is most people can't see what you see. So you know Trent Shelton, right? Love Trent. And he said one day he was on our stage, I invited him to speak during the McConaughey event. Right. So he is just doing what Trent does best. And he said the exact thing he said, no one saw my dreams. He was an NFL player, now he's going to be an influencer. And he said his first year, his mom would. When he'd do a video, his mom would say, you're doing such a good job, baby. It would be the only comment, you know, and people were reaching out. And he said he had this dream and he said one day he realized and whatever your beliefs are, he realized God gave him this prescription, like a pair of glasses. And he said, when I put my dreams on my glasses, I see crystal clear the man I'm becoming. He said, but my wife and my sisters, my people in my life, if I give them my glasses, it's blurry. So how can I expect them to see the vision that I have? He said, God gave me this prescription, this dream, this goal on my heart. And when he said that, it's like, wow. Like, the only thing I could say is, it is the biggest question I've gotten in 40 years is how do I get my wife on board? How do I get my husband on board? How do I get my family on board, they think I'm crazy. And what I'd say is, you can't let someone who's not achieving and hasn't done what you want to do give you advice. It's like your broke friend telling you how to get rich, your single friend telling you about relationships. And you got to remember this is downloaded in your heart, your soul. And you got to find a way to just not dim your glow to match the people around you. Because I truly believe the biggest regret we could ever have is getting to the end of our lives and realize we missed it. I mean, life's going fast, and we only got one shot at this. I don't want to get to the end and go, I played small because my husband didn't believe in entrepreneurship, or I played small because my parents thought college and this career was better. I think it'd be the biggest regret of your life. I think you would ask God or the universe or whatever you believe in, like, can I go back and do it again? So what I do to get my. Like, to push me, not only thinking, don't dim your glow, I also think about, I have that opportunity now. Like, if I got to the end of my life and said, can I go back and do it over? It's almost like, wish granted. Like, you're back there right now. Today's your day. Today's your day to go. I don't care what they think. I love them. I respect them. I'm not going to ask their permission anymore. I'm not going to ask their advice anymore because they're not qualified for advice. I'm going to find somebody who's already done what I want to do, and I'm going to use them as my inspiration. That's my new mission. That's my new path. And just like the Theodore Roosevelt man in the arena, right? I don't want to be in the stands with someone else's name on the back of my jersey critiquing how they're playing. I want to be in the field where they say, getting bloody, getting marred. And at least at the end, I'm going to paraphrase this terribly. But at the end of that, if you don't know it, go Google, man in the arena at the end, it says, at least I know that I went out in the field and I tried my hardest and I got back out when I got knocked down. But at best, being out in the game allowed me to live into who I'm meant to be, Right? Like, you want to be in the game. I want my name on the back of the jersey. I'd rather have my name and say, we lost the game, but you fought like hell than being in the stands going, oh, he should have done that.
- [34:17]
Cody Sanchez
You know, it's so true.
- [34:19]
Dean Graziosi
Yeah.
- [34:19]
Cody Sanchez
My favorite line is there is about those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. And, and it's, it's what, what reminds me of is that it's not just about victory, he says, just as equally nor defeat that other people who don't try, they also don't feel what that feels like because there's so much learning.
- [34:41]
Dean Graziosi
And the other side of defeat is when you win. It's just that much. It's that much. It's that much. So much more empowering because you know both sides, rather than living kind of this flat life.
- [34:54]
Cody Sanchez
Yeah, yeah. The. The sweat and tears are worth it. That is for sure. You know, one thing I was thinking about is we talk a lot about the difficulty how hard this is, the hard work that happens. And I think that's really important for a million, like when you want to make your first million. But is hard work really the only thing that matters?
- [35:21]
Dean Graziosi
No, no. I mean. And I know everybody listening probably knows that. That to be true because, you know, I remember driving to my office. I live in Phoenix. So your parents live. Right. Did you grow up in Phoenix?
- [35:31]
Cody Sanchez
Yeah.
- [35:32]
Dean Graziosi
Yeah. So, you know, summer's in Phoenix.
- [35:33]
Cody Sanchez
Yeah.
- [35:34]
Dean Graziosi
Right. What's that?
- [35:35]
Cody Sanchez
Not fun.
- [35:35]
Dean Graziosi
Not fun. But I remember somebody ask me that question about hard work when I drive to my office in summer when it's 113 and there's a bunch of guys on top of a flat roof putting tar down. And I remember the day I saw him, and I remember literally saying a prayer for him. Right. Because I did that kind of work when I first started. Right. But they're not working harder than me. I mean, I'm not working harder than them. Sorry. I'm not working harder than them. They're on a roof at 109 degrees. That tar is hotter than that. It's probably 150 to them. They're all wrapped up so they don't get sunburned. They're working hard, but they're not in the right boat rowing in the right direction. And I wish all of them the best. And some of them are like my grandparents who were immigrants to this country and they had to start that way. And look where I get to be two generations later. So they might be planning the foundation for their grandchildren to live into who they're they can be. Right. So it's. It's not just hard work. It's a combination of that hunger and hard work. But being in the right industry, that's growing, not dying. It's about modeling, proven practices. It's about not giving up. It's about stamina. It's about moving forward. It's about realizing that the prize is at the end of the journey, not at the beginning of the journey. All. All those little things are all part of it. So. So hard work alone isn't enough.
- [36:52]
Cody Sanchez
Yeah, I think that was a big lie that was told to me too, you know, when I was young. And it's not a malicious lie, but it's a real one, which is, you know, the harder you work, the more money you make. And I do think the harder you work, the more opportunities you get.
- [37:06]
Dean Graziosi
Of course. Oh, absolutely.
- [37:07]
Cody Sanchez
Seize those. But I'm wondering, so if we say now, you know, it's not just hard work, how do we. How do you figure out what work matters? How do you figure out if you are doing the work that will make you more money or just being busy?
- [37:21]
Dean Graziosi
Yeah. So good. I think I used to draw this on a. On a whiteboard and picture like a bullseye, right? There's an outer ring, smaller ring smaller, and then the dot in the middle. And there are things that you do that I do that when we do them, make us the most money in our company. Right. If I had to ask you, what do you think moves the needle for you the most? Is it. Is it relationships and negotiating deals of buying a business?
- [37:49]
Cody Sanchez
Relationships. Hiring.
- [37:51]
Dean Graziosi
Right. So let's just say I'm just gonna throw out a crazy number. When you are in that center circle, you make $10,000 an hour. Excuse me. And then the outer rings and outer rings. There's stuff that you still do, we all do, that someone would do for $20 an hour. True, true. Right. And you just like in a hypnotic rhythm. You don't even realize you're still doing certain things. You're still searching emails and you're still staying up doing text messages like, oh my gosh, AI could do this. Or someone else could do it some. I could automate this. I could delegate this, or I could just eliminate this. Right? But each of us, if we can build our businesses and thinking through. There are certain things I do when I do it, it's a thousand an hour, $10,000 an hour, $100,000 an hour. Whatever it is, because it's so unique, I would just say polish that diamond. Get better at the thing that moves the needle the most. Try to recognize that. And that's where your energy, your effort should go. And then it's, how do you get an roi? By letting people do the stuff in the outer ring. And it's an evolution. It doesn't happen overnight. The way I used to explain it is kick all the stuff. You could get somebody 20, $30 an hour. Can you make 20, $30 an hour doing the thing you do? Everybody goes, yes, I absolutely can. Great. Then hire somebody to do that outer ring. I don't know if it's a personal assistant that stops you from going into Home Depot and stops you from dropping your dry cleaning off and stops you from grocery shopping and stops you from cleaning your house. Get somebody to do that, but replace that time immediately with the needle move. And then as you get more and more in business, you get closer to the ring. There might be a time where something's $300 an hour, but you know you're making 3,000 an hour. So you still hire the COO who's that much money, because you get to do your thing. And I think that's just a different way to look at it. I gotta tell you a quick story is my. My mom came to visit me, I don't know, probably seven, ten years ago. I live in Arizona, she lives on the East Coast. So she comes out, and this has been my philosophy forever. And the reason I work so hard is I retired my mom when I was young. My parents split. She didn't have money. She worked three jobs. My. If I look back on my most. My first memory of wanting to be successful is to retire my mom. One of the sweetest women in the world. I like to think of her as a badass without a blueprint. Like, she's such a good woman, she just didn't know what to do with herself. So she cut hair, cleaned houses, painted houses. Just manual labor to get. So long story short. But she worked hard her whole life. And one of the reasons I worked hard is because of her. Anyway, long story short, she comes to my house and she's there for a couple days, and she said, babe, I realized your garbage bins are filled. When do you drag them out to the street? What day comes, I'll bring them out for you. I'm like, I don't know, Mom. She goes, what do you mean? When do you take the garbage out? I said, I never have. She goes, you've lived here for five years. She goes, baby, don't tell Me? You pay someone to take your garbage out. I said, I don't just pay somebody take my garbage out. I pay people to change my light bulbs to go fill up my gas in my car. And I named all those things. She goes, oh, my God, I think you got too big for your britches, honey. And I said, sit down, Mom. You've never made more than $30,000 in your whole life. Let me tell you how it really works. When someone's getting gas in my car, changing a light bulb, mowing my yard, taking out my garbage, picking up my dry clean, I'm in there writing my book, or I'm writing a sales letter, or I'm building a new course, or I'm doing new training. And when I'm in that computer working, I might make $10,000 an hour. They mow my lawn for 60 bucks in that hour. Which one should I do? And I remember my mom, she got it immediately. She goes, this is why I'm always broke. I always was broke. Like she got it. I mean, no one ever just taught her that simple philosophy. So I tell her that as an example, what moves the needle in your life and do more of it. And as you do more of it, get people to help you with the things on the outer rings and through time. The greatest gift would be that you live in your core competency. And that's where real businesses.
- [41:35]
Cody Sanchez
It's so true. I think people don't tell other people that because society makes us think that it sounds bad. They make us think that it sounds bad to say, I hire somebody else to fill my gas tank. I hire somebody else, they go, oh, are you too big for your britches? That must be nice.
- [41:51]
Dean Graziosi
No, I have more impact to make. Exactly. And the person.
- [41:54]
Cody Sanchez
But you have to.
- [41:55]
Dean Graziosi
And the person doing that. And the cool part is the person doing it appreciates the job that they get to do that.
- [41:59]
Cody Sanchez
You're being too rational. This is not how it works.
- [42:02]
Dean Graziosi
I'm sorry, no common sense here. Let me do the opposite of common sense.
- [42:05]
Cody Sanchez
That's not how this works on the Internet. But it's a beautiful unlock because it's the truth. And what would you rather do? Do you want to feel right and virtuous, or do you want to win and actually make massive impact? And I think more people should want to make an impact and win than signal that they are somehow a good person through non action. What does it take to make a hundred million dollars? Is it just more of the same?
- [42:30]
Dean Graziosi
No, I think I said it earlier, but every level Has a new devil. Right? And. And you and I have had conversations about this. The thing that got you out of eat, like, like the thing that gets you out of Egypt doesn't take you to the promised land. So you can as a, as a rugged individualist. I heard that term, so I'm kind of just utilizing it. But, like, as that driver that has a core competency, good at finding businesses, good at making things happen, that takes you to a certain level. And then there's this phase where your business skyrocketed here. And I'm just going to share this with everybody. This is the part when it skyrockets. And right at that edge, whether it's 10 million, 20 million, 30 million, you think you're going to crack because you're doing all of it. I'm on the road. Like, using example, I'm doing the podcast. I'm on the road. I'm the one on social media. I'm the one that's making the decision. I'm the one closing the deal. Oh, my God. I don't even know if this is worth it. I'm about ready to crack. When you start hearing people say, I wish I had a twin. I wish I had the perfect operator. I wish I could hire the CEO that takes all this off my plate. That is the time that you need to obsess on leadership skills. That is the time where you have to learn how to bring in the right generals and how to get a team behind you and alongside of you where you collectively, there's, in my opinion, there's no way to go from 10, 20, 30 to 100 without a team where all of you are in the same boat, all rowing in the right direction and not you babysitting. I'll tell you the other thing I did wrong for years is I was really good at hiring young, amazing soldiers, like a players that I could see their potential and mentoring them and training them to be amazing and turning them into leaders that worked at five, $10 million a year. It didn't work at the higher level because I'm already maxed out of my brain. I'm already like, I. I don't even know if I have time to go to the bathroom today. Right. Like, what do you mean? There's a dance recital today. Oh, my God. Right? Like, I remember all those moments and you don't have the time to mentor for three years to make that general. Right. I think I'm just using terms soldier versus general. So there's this time where you have to build such A strong culture and be so good at bringing people in that you got to bring in generals who immediately adapt to your culture and they're the wind behind your sales. They got your back. They talk amazing about you when you're not in the room. They understand you're a crazy ass entrepreneur that changes stuff and invent stuff and for your kind of company. My kind of company, it doesn't mean it's all the same. There was a crazy ass entrepreneur who started it. You need operators and people on the team that know how to work with entrepreneurs. Not the typical traditional company and CEO and cfo. And these are decisions and these are the. It's like, no, we're a little crazy, but the craziness got us here. So I think the 20 to 100 is understanding leadership, bringing in generals and getting everybody aligned. And you know, culture can. You can go down a road of culture forever. It's really, you got to get people with the same values as you. And when you do and you align, it is magical to watch that next level.
- [45:22]
Cody Sanchez
Yeah, it's so wild early on. I think the problem is a lot of people listening, if they're new in their entrepreneurial journey, will be like, shut up leadership, shut up culture, shut up hiring. Of course, it sounds too far away. It's like, tell me how to make the money right now myself. But then what I found is like level two, three, four entrepreneurs, the only thing they want to talk about is leadership and hiring. Yeah, they don't want to talk tactics at all. Because at a certain point, it's not the tactics that'll get you there. It's like, tell me what your org chart looks like. How do you incentive align compensation plans? You know, what is an equity payment plan look like? And so if you can start getting interested in the boring things that you almost don't quite understand.
- [46:00]
Dean Graziosi
They're coming because they're coming. Yeah. And here's the cool part is think of it, think of it this way always. If you did it in an 8020 split, 80% of your time should be focused on the company you are. And 20% should be on the company you're becoming. So if you think through that lens, what Cody and I are saying is you don't have to focus obsessively on leadership at 100 million. If you're ready to do your first million, we're just showing you the path. We're future pacing you so you can see it when you get there. But I would say you have to work on the company you are but if you just spent 10 or 20% going, but when I get there, what should I do? Maybe I'll just start reading one leadership book a quarter just to see. And slowly these little tactics and all we get to like what I hope today. I know there's a million things you could be doing, but if you're listening to us today, all I hope is that we shorten the learning curve for you. If there's something that would have taken you a year on your own, five years on your own, you go, maybe I could do it in eight months instead of a year, maybe I could do it in three years instead of five. And that's the gift of modeling proven practices. Because I've already failed more than, more than most, right? So why fail in the areas where I failed when you can learn it sooner?
- [47:07]
Cody Sanchez
You're also a genius at the first stage of a company that matters all the way through to billion dollar companies, which is product creation and figuring out, do I have an offer and a product that is not going to be something I have to muscle people into buying continuously, but going to be so good that they're going to thank me for selling it to them. How do you know if your product or business is a good one and whether you should leave it or you should run with it?
- [47:37]
Dean Graziosi
This might sound a little fufu, but if you fall in love with your clients, if you create something that you would create for family, sell a product, a service, and if your family went into the business and got served, how would you feel? How would they feel? So I know that sounds a little, like I said, a little, but you gotta fall in love with your clients. If you fall in love with your clients, then you fall in love with their outcome. Whether you're a service business or a product business you fall in love with, they use the product and oh my God, they, they used your coaching, oh my God, they used you in, in a service, you know, to service their home and their car. Oh my God. It was amazing, right? So if you fall in love with the client, you fall in love with the product and the outcome, then there's no way you can't feel good about selling it and promoting it, right? When people ask me, how do you stand in front of the McConaughey event, hundreds and hundreds, thousands of people live and you sold this product. Because I watched this guy work his tail off and it was so such a good product. I never felt like I was selling, I was doing people a disservice if I didn't let Them know about it.
- [48:45]
Cody Sanchez
It.
- [48:45]
Dean Graziosi
Right. So you said, how do you know is it a product or a service that you would recommend to everybody? Because when people ask me, and I'm just gonna say, I know I just said this, but people ask me, what's the secret to selling at such a high level? Is you don't have to like your product, you have to freaking love it. Right? And it doesn't mean it has to be perfect out of the gate. But start with the thing you love. Ideate iterate, look at the ch. Get feedback from the customers, adjust and tweak. And when you know it's better than anybody else, they're. There's just this extra push of marketing, there's this extra push of sales. There's a lot of times people ask me, can I give you a quarter of a million dollars a day for consulting? And I really don't have time for doing. But sometimes if I really like the person, I will. And when they talk about their product, I could tell they don't love it. I could tell they like it, but they make excuses. Well, people don't use that kind of thing anyway. Oh, it breaks any. Oh, that's what everybody does in our industry. I'm like, you'll never have a marketing team or a sales team because you're the leader and you're not absolutely in love with it. And sometimes it might be boring. When I say, go back to drawing board, fall in love with your product again. Like when you first launched the company before it got diluted, before someone else was the part of the fulfillment and you don't even look at it anymore. Go listen to your customer service calls. Go look at the feedback. Go Google your name online and your product and read all the shitty stuff on there and make your product better. You'll automatically build a different sales department. You'll automatically build a different coaching department. And then you don't care. Then, then you want to go to 100 million, 200 million, a billion because you get to change more people. They have a better experience.
- [50:15]
Cody Sanchez
It's so true. And you know what's so interesting is that most people won't do that second part, which is instead they'll make excuses why they said that online.
- [50:27]
Dean Graziosi
That person's lazy. They don't like anything. They don't like the dinner. They don't.
- [50:30]
Cody Sanchez
Right, Exactly. And we have a rule at our company that you're never allowed to talk badly about a customer ever.
- [50:37]
Dean Graziosi
I love it.
- [50:37]
Cody Sanchez
It's not that the customer is always right. I don't actually believe that.
- [50:40]
Dean Graziosi
I don't believe that either.
- [50:41]
Cody Sanchez
But you are never allowed to talk.
- [50:42]
Dean Graziosi
Back, even with someone who isn't. Right. I always find the essence of truth.
- [50:49]
Cody Sanchez
Yeah.
- [50:49]
Dean Graziosi
Right. Like, we do provide customer service. That's great. But why are we taking six hours to get back to people? Can we get it to three?
- [50:55]
Cody Sanchez
Yeah.
- [50:56]
Dean Graziosi
Can we get to 30 minutes? Like. Like there's always a glimpse of. Of truth in it. And I think if you have the courage to read the critics, it doesn't mean you have to cave. It just means take that advice. Because I mean it. It is the. The greatest gift you could give your entire company is to love what you do.
- [51:15]
Cody Sanchez
Yeah. It's very true. And you can feel it.
- [51:17]
Dean Graziosi
Yeah.
- [51:17]
Cody Sanchez
Like, when you sell something, I can feel from you the energy that comes from the fact that you actually think. I mean, you call it like getting your customer to want to ask you for the next step.
- [51:29]
Dean Graziosi
Yeah.
- [51:29]
Cody Sanchez
Which I love. So maybe you could talk a little bit about that. I think a lot of companies die because they try to sell somebody one thing once, and so they're trying to get this whole universe of people to buy one thing from them once. A lot of successful companies, they get one customer and they want to serve them for life, which is what you obsess about. Can you talk about how to get customers for life and how you can get them to say thank you for offering them the next step continuously?
- [51:54]
Dean Graziosi
Yeah. A great question. So maybe. Maybe I could use it through the lens of a live event just because it'd be the same model of any company. So what I love to think about is the end in mind. And at the end, I ask myself three questions. Who's my ideal client? Right. What is their ideal outcome when they use our product? And what product would supply that? I know it sounds like. Does not. What everybody was not really just thinking. Like, for example, if Tony. If somebody's going to work with Tony and I and we're going to teach them how to create a workshop or a mastermind or create a course or write a book. At the end result, who I love working with is people really hungry. They're just not sure what to do. I don't want people that have bought and sold. Bought a million courses on how to get rich for doing nothing because I can't serve them. I don't want people that. That don't want to do the work. They just want the outcome because they're never gonna. They're never gonna be an ideal client for me. So if I know our Ideal client is someone who is hungry as heck. They're brilliant without a blueprint, let's say that, right? They know they want to do something different. They're unfulfilled in their current business or their current career. They want to do something different. They're hungry, they're willing to do the work. Cool. Ideal client. Love you. Number two is what is their ideal outcome? We show them a path, they don't give up on themselves. They get an unstoppable mindset. Then they have a blueprint to start and scale their business. That's the ideal outcome. They're making sales online and they feel some purpose in their life. Right? The third thing, what's the ideal product? Well, I need the training. I need some AI that thinks like Tony and I, we need some accountability to help you when you get stuck. All the things I wish I had when I first started, right? So if I know that's my ideal client, my ideal outcome, ideal product, then I work backwards on all the marketing I do, whether it's a free podcast or a book I'm selling. I want to market to those people, knowing they're going to end up there. They might end up in our world, they might end to a high level mastermind or something like that. But my marketing, I want to deter, I want to attract those I want and push away those that I don't. So my marketing looks for the brilliant without the blueprint. The hustlers, the hungry ones, they're finally fed up with leaving their life the way it was. And if I do that, then they're going to stay in my ecosystem forever. And then the way I look at it is each product you build, I'm sorry I'm doing this through a live event or kind of our company's face, but I hope it relates to every business. Is I look at building every piece of your company. So good. That's like, gosh, that was so good. What's next, Right? So your book, amazing. As soon as I started reading it, I just see, I posted immediately about it and I. But it was amazing. And if I read that book, just like I read McConaughey's book, I read McConaughey's Book. I'm like, what's next? It wasn't. And this is where people mess up. Some people think, hey, I need to upsell all this stuff. Like there's nothing worse than a service provider that comes over. It's like 50 bucks, we're going to clean everything in your house. And then they get there. It's like, well, it's actually 500 because we got to change the thing. Like it feels sneaky rather than saying it is so clean, everything's done. Your stuff is good. Hey, while I'm here, would you like. There's just a subtle difference between how much can we sell people or how do we meet them at these different levels. So in our business, Tony and I on, you know, In May, on May 15, we're doing a three day event. For example, we're going to give massive value to people for three days. No obligation, it's free. But we want to deliver so much value that a group of people go, heck, if I want to be in this industry, I want to work with them. And at each level I try to create everything they need, right? So for us, somebody who says, I just want this, this what they're offering is unbelievable, I'm in. But I wouldn't deliver so much value that if they go, hey, I kind of need more help that they go, these guys were so good. Hey, do you have what's next? So the way I look at it, for any business, your lifetime value of your client determines everything, right? I promise you, no matter what business you're in, if you are a one and done every Monday, your business starts over again. Every Monday you're fighting for new clients. What about building a product so good that anything they need in advancements of that, they stick with you, right? If I read your book, I would be hoping that you had a coaching program and I hope if I crushed it in your coaching program that you have a consulting pro that would help me buy companies or help me understand how to grow this business. Or I would hope that someday, if I'm killing it, I could be in proximity to you and you had a mastermind, no matter what it cost, that I could ask you questions directly that would. You would be doing people an absolute disservice if you didn't have all those pieces in your company. And again, if you can make it so when you do the first thing, it's so good, people go, you over delivered on that. What's next? Because what people don't realize, it is way easier to get a happy client to upgrade than it is to go find another brand new client in your door. And if you think about advertising, probably if you own a business, you know, you spend money on advertising. Who wins in advertising?
- [57:08]
Cody Sanchez
Facebook.
- [57:09]
Dean Graziosi
Yeah, Facebook. Who else wins in advertising? You know who wins in advertising? Those that can afford, afford to spend the most to acquire a client. So if you and I have similar say. We both have a service business. We service air conditions, right? We're in the AC business, right? If you're a one and done and your customer's lifetime value is, hey, we go see this person once and we get an average $1,000 for a client with a $200 profit, whatever it is, right? But I service them so well. And while they're there, they say, oh my God, if I need this and then I need this and then I need this. At the end of the year, your clients worth a thousand to you. At the end of the year, my client worth 5,000 to me. When I go to advertise, I could spend two grand to acquire that client. You can only spend 300. Who wins, right? So it's not just a matter of selling more, it's about serving them at every level. Knowing your lifetime value, you should know six months, one year and three year lifetime value, reverse engineer. And that's what you can afford to acquire a client. And most people don't do that. They're one and done and that's why they struggle.
- [58:09]
Cody Sanchez
Yeah, you taught me that actually. Because in finance, you know, when I, what I did previously in private equity, when we buy a company, you know, we have these LPs, we have them sort of trapped for like five to seven years, right? We don't have to continuously sell them in that way. If we get a return at the end of five to seven years, they're with us again for another time. But as I've gotten into this space and thought about education in particular, when we created the book, I wanted to make sure that the book had every single thing in it that they needed to.
- [58:36]
Dean Graziosi
And I accomplished it.
- [58:37]
Cody Sanchez
I think so. And that was my goal. I was like, we are, we're not going to hold anything back. Everything goes in there. But the problem is that if you only have the book but you don't have a hand to hold, I think your success in buying a business, well.
- [58:48]
Dean Graziosi
Think about the greatest gym you could ever go to. Think of a gym that holds nothing back. They have the greatest equipment. They have an oxygen chamber, they have hot sauna, they have red light therapy, they have spin, yoga, free weights, everything. It's got everything you need to get in shape. But what do most people need to get in shape?
- [59:10]
Cody Sanchez
Accountability.
- [59:11]
Dean Graziosi
Accountability. So the way I look at it in our space is give them everything they need. If they can accomplish it on their own. Amazing. That's how you get a good reputation. Cody wrote a book that's everything you need raising my hand, though. I need someone to help me. I need somebody to keep me accountable. That's how they go. Cody, you have anything else? Can you hold me accountable? And then you. It's. It's usually one more thing, especially in this space, but maybe you can relate it to any business you're in. It's usually not more stuff that you share. It's helping people actually do the thing that's in the book.
- [59:43]
Cody Sanchez
It's less right stuff at the right time.
- [59:45]
Dean Graziosi
Yes.
- [59:45]
Cody Sanchez
For them, which is what we've been obsessing on lately. Like, there's so much you can learn about acquisitions, but if you learn about how to finance the deal, and you haven't even figured out what a deal looks like for you, it's going to be kind of useless.
- [59:58]
Dean Graziosi
True.
- [59:59]
Cody Sanchez
So it's like, how do we pace you exactly to the spot that you need so you don't get overwhelmed, so you don't get discouraged? Because I think, and I've heard you say before, that it's. It's not hard to start a business. It's hard to keep going in the business when nothing's worth it working. Right. And so how do you. What do you do when Dean has, like, a night of. Of difficulty and darkness and a business is struggling? What do you do to keep going in the impossible moments in your life?
- [60:26]
Dean Graziosi
Yeah, I've never had one of those. Just kidding.
- [60:28]
Cody Sanchez
This week, today.
- [60:30]
Dean Graziosi
I mean, before I came. You know, I love. I love the question, and you probably have heard this. When people say, as you get successful, are there less problems? And what I like to say is, you know, Jim Rohn, old personal development guy, used to say, for things to get better, you got to get better. So if I translate that into problems is don't wish for problems to go away. Wish to get better at dealing with bigger problems. You know, if you and I are in a room with 10 people and they're all successful, the most successful person in that room handles bigger problems than you do. If they're more successful than you, they handle bigger problems. Right. So when those things happen, when it goes sideways, and maybe because I just time decades in business, I don't like, I think there's a misnomer that, like, oh, I appreciate the failures because it makes me stronger. I hate every freaking one of them. Right. But I do know at this phase of my life that every problem I solve sharpens the iron. No one's ever gonna get me again. I'm never gonna make that mistake again. I solve something bigger I solve something stronger. So what drives me through is two things. I still have my old deep beliefs that got me going in the first place, that I need to be in control of my decisions, my calendar, my like, I want to be that dad. I take my kids to school every day. I make them breakfast. I go, I do as much as I can with my kids. I never want to miss date night. So I have these things in my mind that are like my compelling why that make me put tears in my eyes. So when I'm having a bad day, I'll go all the way back to go. I don't want to go backwards. I want my kids to have choices and I need to be in control of my calendar. Get this shit done. Excuse my language. Get it done. Make it happen. But secondly, I don't love the experience, but I know because of doing it that if I go through the storm, I am a better version of me. On the other side of the storm, I went through a divorce. That was a storm. I'm a better man. On the other side, I've almost gone broke. I almost quit. On the other side of it, I'm a better, stronger man. So I've come to realize that I need to focus on the other side of it and what carries me through.
- [62:39]
Cody Sanchez
Yeah, it's so good.
- [62:40]
Dean Graziosi
If I share one more thing is I work out every day, right? And everybody says, look at those veins, man.
- [62:46]
Cody Sanchez
56, looking good.
- [62:48]
Dean Graziosi
Thank you.
- [62:48]
Cody Sanchez
But it's hot too.
- [62:49]
Dean Graziosi
She is. I gotta stay. Well, that's what I was gonna say when people say, oh, you love working out that much? I'm like, no, I don't like working out at all. I wake up at 4:45 every day and work out before my day starts. No, I don't like it much most days, but what I focus on, and this is, you really hear me on this one. If you get nothing else from this podcast, take this. I don't focus on the workout. I don't focus on how many sets I'm going to do. I focus on my wife is hot as hell and I need to look good for her. I like the way she looks at me. So I focus on, hey, I'm going to continue to look good. I focus on that. My 18 year old and 16 year old, they just started working out. I've never told them to. Both of them work out. My son obsessively because they watch their dad every morning at 5:00 workout, I feel better. I have more mental clarity. I even stack it every day. When I work out, I listen to a podcast or a book. That's how I burn through your book. It's how I listen to your podcast and other people. So I feel like I'm getting smarter, staying looking, trying to look good for my wife. I'm setting an example for my kids, and I feel better. I focus all of my energy on how I'm going to feel when I'm done, and I just do the workout. It's the same thing in business. When the thing goes wrong, when the CEO leaves and takes two employees with you and you're like, how can I get through this? I focus on when I understand what I did wrong, what I did wrong, to hire the wrong person or not nurture that person. When I understand what I did wrong, I'm going to fix it and I'm going to be better off, stronger. My business is going to go up, and I just focus on that.
- [64:08]
Cody Sanchez
Dean Graziosi, it's just like some adrenaline reds the veins every time I talk to you. Where I want to end with is, I think people are going to take a lot from this. There's so many things that they're going to take here. But I've heard you say a line that stuck in my head so intensely, it, like, keeps me up at night sometimes. And the line is that procrastination is the highest form of self abuse. So with people listening today, if you're going to take one thing away, how do you, Dean, make sure that you never become the procrastinator who says they're going to do a thing and never actually does it? And maybe people listening can become that same person and take one or two things and go do the damn thing today.
- [64:48]
Dean Graziosi
So I'm gonna give you two things. I'm gonna tell you a quick story and I'm gonna give you. Remind me the three Cs that helped me change that. Number one. What? All of us as parents, we do the best we can. That's it. So I'm not saying I'm a perfect parent, but there's something I've been telling my kids forever. When my son will say to me, hey, I'm gonna get straight A's, or I'm gonna keep my room clean or I'm gonna eat cleaner or I'm gonna work out. I'm gonna work out seven days a week. The answer I've told my kids forever is like, hey, hey, you don't have to promise me anything, but don't make a promise to yourself that you break because it's a habit I'm gonna work out seven days a week. I'm gonna stop eating bread. Like something as simple as saying, I'm gonna stop eating so much bread. And then you eat bread all week. I'm gonna stop having four cups of coffee. I'm gonna have one. But you still have four cups of coffee. When you lie to yourself, it becomes a pattern. And you get used to letting yourself down. Do not let yourself down. Don't worry about what anybody else thinks, what anybody else feels. If you make a promise in the mirror, be the person that's like, know that your word is freaking iron to you. So that. That like, I watch my kids when they say something. Whoa, before you put that out there, don't like, are you sure? All right, I'm gonna commit to five then, dad. All right, Commit to five. You, I'm not gonna check you. I'm like, if you don't do it, it's your failure, right? So that's number one. Number two, there's three C's I always think about. And the three C's are there. We number first is change. We have to embrace change. We have to fall in love with change. The one constant in our life is change will always happen, no matter what. When you think you got it figured out, stuff will go sideways. When you think you're at the last breath, you figure out how it. And all of a sudden your business starts to grow. We have to learn to embrace change. Do we have to embrace it because AI is coming? Decide not to use AI and watch where you are in a year, if you're in business, you're going to be behind. You'll never catch up. You have to embrace change, especially in this world with technology. And you can't beat. You can't bury your head in the sand. So learn to fall in love with change. Just whatever it takes. Because you have to realize if you don't change, you die. If you want, read the book who Moved My Cheese? Realize you had to go out in the maze and find new stuff. So the first C is change. The second one is courage, right? Courage is the precursor to confidence. Everybody says you need confidence. Confidence only comes after you're playing the game. Courage comes when you have to blindly. It's jumping out of the plane and growing wings on the way down, right? And borrow courage from the past. Borrow something your big personal why, but something that makes you take that uncomfortable action. Because you're not going to build the third C confidence until you're in the game. But then once you do that, confidence becomes intuition, becomes gut feeling, it becomes drive. But at every level, I go back to Dean. This is a big one. We got to embrace this change, right? We got to embrace. I need the courage to move forward. I'll borrow it from the past, whatever I got to do to move forward. And then once I'm in it, I start building confidence through the failure and success.
- [67:35]
Cody Sanchez
So good, Dean. All right, you heard here first. Don't wait. Get going. Dean Graziosi, thanks for being here.
- [67:41]
Dean Graziosi
Great.