Daron Earlewine w/ Rogue Collective – DT 428

Summary

Dirt Talk by BuildWitt Episode DT 428: Daron Earlewine w/ Rogue Collective Aired: March 26, 2026

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Episode Overview

Host Aaron Witt welcomes back Daron Earlewine, founder of Blackbird Mission and Rogue Collective, to discuss the pursuit of purpose in business and life. The conversation journeys through work-life balance, leadership, personal growth, and the larger philosophy of creating a fulfilled, impactful existence—framed both for the Dirt World and beyond. Their candid exchange touches on everything from the realities of travel and diet to the deep philosophy of human purpose, leadership, and the evolving culture of the construction/trades industry.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Challenge of Consistency and Balance (00:00–03:50)

• Both Aaron and Daron open with the day-to-day struggles of maintaining healthy habits, especially while traveling for work. They discuss how the travel lifestyle, often considered adventurous, can lead to less consistency in routines, which impacts physical and emotional health.
• Daron explains the key strengths of his wife as revealed by the Strengths Finder assessment, highlighting how a need for consistency can cause stress during periods of upheaval.
• Quote: “Is it conducive to mental, spiritual, physical health or… are you putting yourself in a challenging environment?” — Daron (03:47)

2. Relationships, Sacrifice, and Non-Traditional Lifestyles (04:08–08:00)

• Aaron speaks about how a lifestyle consumed by work and adventure complicates relationships, contrasting his current life with more conventional paths.
• Daron draws parallels to athletes and other professions with “weird” or intense schedules, noting people in such lives often connect more easily with others on similar paths.
• Quote: “If you have chosen a life that is not normal, it’s tough…I think to have relationships with people that aren’t willing either to...don’t have a strong adaptability…” — Daron (06:39)

3. Embracing Being “Weird” and Excellence (08:00–12:51)

• Inspired by a tough-love baseball coach, Daron recounts advice to embrace being “not normal” as essential to reaching higher levels of performance; mediocrity is the norm, and standing out takes deliberate sacrifice.
• Aaron and Daron riff on the idea that “inputs = outputs.” If you want above-average results, you need above-average effort—and often, a willingness to be different.
• Quote: “Once you start to understand the math…if I want to be above average, I need to do more than the average people…just inputs, outputs.” — Aaron (09:35)

4. Passion, Sacrifice, and Not Settling for Mediocrity (12:00–13:58)

• Daron asserts that humans shouldn’t settle for mediocrity, viewing life as a divinely-given opportunity to sacrifice for something meaningful.
• This leads to a discussion about people who are “successful and weird”: is their weirdness a cause or effect of success?
• Quote: “I don’t think as a human being it’s okay to settle for a mediocre life.” — Daron (12:00)

5. Authenticity in Communication and Role Models (14:01–17:12)

• Aaron shares his preference for learning from entrepreneurs, athletes, and other meritocracy-based fields over celebrities and actors, valuing authenticity and tangible achievement.
• Both praise comedians for their insight, intelligence, and ability to “own a room,” with Daron crediting his own speaking style to early Eddie Murphy stand-up.

6. Mastery, Learning, and the Value of Repetition (20:05–25:15)

• The conversation turns to the importance of learning from masters, regardless of vocation. Being a “curator” of the best ideas and practices, then filtering them through one’s unique style, is valuable.
• They discuss how skills—especially communication—require years of reps, critical thinking, and reflection.
• Quote: “Everybody’s a communicator, but few people have the skill of communication.” — Aaron (25:42)

7. Finding Purpose: Created on Purpose and for Purpose (27:43–33:19)

• Daron lays out his life theory: every person is “created on purpose and for purpose.”
• Uncovering true purpose is about curiosity, reflection, and recognizing one's own gifts and passions, not blindly following societal or parental paths.
• Aaron reflects on how easily a person’s calling can be diverted by circumstance or societal pressure.

8. Systemic Barriers and the Struggles of Modern Society (33:20–35:30)

• They acknowledge the system doesn’t always reward individuality and passion, especially for the working/middle class, who are often just fighting to get by.
• Quote: “That alone, that’s such a silly conversation to have because I have zero impact on the higher education system in America…” — Aaron (95:25)

9. Playing the "Wrong Game" and Redefining Success (35:30–40:29)

• Daron critiques the Western game of success—consumption, possessions, and power—arguing that true fulfillment comes from creativity and service, not accumulation.
• He uses the analogy of a snowmobile in the desert: you can force yourself to function outside your design, but you’ll struggle.

10. Learning from Pain and Failure (39:42–41:15)

• Both agree that the greatest lessons and growth come from failure and struggle, not from ease or success.
• Quote: “Every great thing I’ve learned in my life has come from failure and from struggle.” — Daron (39:43)

11. Trades, Human Nature, and Worth (41:16–49:46)

• Both men revere highly skilled tradespeople and reflect on the gratification of creating and serving, contrasted with modern life’s emphasis on consumption and personal service.
• Aaron stresses his personal journey toward being “less and less worthless,” developing practical capability, and finding confidence in self-sufficiency.

12. The Centrality of Relationships (49:46–52:20)

• Daron brings in the idea: “Life is relationships. Everything else is just details,” theorizing humans are uniquely made for deep relationships and community.
• Their conversation covers the moral distinctions between humans and animals, as well as the core of human creativity—our ability to shape the future.

13. Creating the Future & Generational Responsibility (54:35–57:58)

• They debate why some generations do not seem to prioritize building a better world for the next. Daron sees a “factory defect” in human nature—a default self-focus—that undercuts long-term societal progress.

14. Two Worldviews: Separation vs. Connection (58:24–82:10)

• Daron outlines two foundational worldviews:
  • Separation: Centered on scarcity, certainty, perfection, and self-preservation—leading to division, competition, and suffering.
  • Connection: Centered on abundance, mystery (accepting uncertainty), fallibility (embracing failure as learning), and others-focus—leading to growth, hope, and love.
• They tie this framework to business, leadership, and personal wellbeing, with Aaron reflecting on his own experiences of moving from a self-preservation mindset to one of service and connection.
• Quotes:
  • “If there is a source…why don’t I get connected, stay connected?” — Daron (89:55)
  • “All I have to do is my best; whatever else happens, happens.” — Aaron (71:53)

15. Mystery and Humility in Belief Systems (72:14–78:41)

• They critique dogmatism in religion and life, advocating for humility and a willingness to seek and walk together into the unknown.
• Aaron expresses admiration for people of deep faith in other traditions, advocating respect and connection instead of separation.
• Quote: “How about you and me stay connected, Aaron, and we search the mystery?” — Daron (74:49)

16. Micro Impact and Focus on the Individual (93:06–94:51)

• Changing the world requires a micro, person-by-person approach, not just grand-scale transformation.
• “Businesses don’t grow; people do.” Growth and transformation in the industry start with serving and developing individuals.

17. Leading Change: The Role of Leadership Generations (98:40–100:34)

• They discuss the inevitability of generational turnover in the industry. Change is often driven by new leaders with a fresh, people-first vision (e.g., companies like Blue Sage).
• Sometimes progress in companies only happens when tenured leaders retire or move out of the way.

18. Investing in People vs. The Resistance to Change (103:10–105:50)

• Training and investing in people’s overall wellbeing (mental, physical, financial) creates engagement and loyalty that directly impact business performance.
• They recount the experience of a company (Blue Sage) investing in personal as well as technical training, emphasizing the transformative effect on morale.

19. Building the Positive Model Instead of Fighting the Old (108:38–110:18)

• The best path is not to be anti-old ways, but to model a better future: “You can’t sustain a world-changing movement that is against something.”
• They stress gratitude for the previous generation’s achievements while carving a new path that fits today’s world.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On purpose: “You were created on purpose and for purpose. You’re not an accident… The sooner you can get clear on understanding your purpose, your design, then you… have stacked the deck in your favor.” — Daron (27:43)
• On skill-building: “No one starts as a professional. Yeah. The first reps are always bad, you know, because they’re first. But understanding that idea of, like, everyone can grow and develop if they want to.” — Daron (27:55)
• On communication and impact: “Anybody who has impacted the world in any kind of grand way… has been an effective communicator. There is no outlier.” — Aaron (26:04)
• On business and people: “Businesses don’t grow, people do. So we’ve got all these businesses, but… we just have big clumps of people that get together and do work. We call them businesses…” — Daron (93:54)
• On transformation: “It’s fixing the factory defect and coming back to actual factory specs.” — Daron (82:03)
• On embracing the new: “So instead of criticizing that old model, I’m just gonna go all in on this new model, which is kind of what we’ve been doing all along.” — Aaron (108:40)

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Important Timestamps for Segments

• 00:00–04:08 – Opening: Diet, travel, consistency
• 04:08–08:00 – Work/life balance, relationships, unique lifestyles
• 08:00–13:58 – Embracing weirdness, striving for excellence, not settling
• 14:01–17:12 – Authenticity, role models, comedians as archetypes
• 20:05–25:15 – Learning from masters, building communication skills
• 27:43–33:19 – Foundational life purpose & design
• 33:20–35:30 – System/cultural barriers to pursuing passion
• 35:30–40:29 – The “wrong game”: redefining success and fulfillment
• 41:16–49:46 – Trades, the value of creating, and individual worth
• 49:46–52:20 – Life is relationships; what makes humans unique
• 54:35–57:58 – Generational patterns, building a better future for others
• 58:24–82:10 – Deep dive: worldviews (separation vs. connection)
• 93:06–94:51 – Making a difference person-by-person
• 98:40–100:34 – Leadership, generational turnover, and the future
• 103:10–105:50 – Investing in people, overcoming resistance to change
• 108:38–110:18 – Building new models, gratitude for the past

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Final Thoughts

This episode weaves practical, philosophical, and spiritual threads—that to create fulfilled lives and strong industries, one must seek purpose, embrace learning and failure, value authentic relationships, and focus on building, not just criticizing. In the “Dirt World”, as in life, the future is forged one person, one choice, and one act of service at a time.

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Find Daron Earlewine:

• roguecollectivecoaching.com
• Dirt Theology (every other Friday morning on BuildWitt Connect)

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For further resources and episode links, see the episode's show notes.

Transcript

[Aaron Witt]

This Dirt Talk podcast episode is with Darren Earlyone, who's the founder of Blackbird Mission and most recently Rogue Collective, a coaching platform for leaders who want to discover and live out their God given purpose in business. We're a huge believer in Darren's mission and he's been working with more and more Dirt World people. So I have had him on in the past, if you haven't listened to that episode, a lot more of his backstory. But I wanted to have him back to shoot the poop about what he's been working on. And we get into all kinds of stuff. So with that, enjoy. I mean, my diet's pretty good at this point. I keep it pretty tidy. Yeah, but you're traveling a lot now too. It's tricky when you're traveling.

[Darren Earlyone]

It's so tricky. Like that's my wife and I were talking about that, that it's like, know we shoot for like an 80, 20, you know what I mean? Like 80% of the time you're going to be on 20%, you know, things are going to happen. Yeah, but yeah, because I. What I've got to do and I'm traveling enough now that like, I got to realize when I'm traveling, like, I think my brain was often, or at least in the past, like travel was adventure.

[Aaron Witt]

Sure, right.

[Darren Earlyone]

We're going on a vacation. Right. We're going to have fun, whatever. In my personality, it's like, hey, I'm on a trip. It's. It's an adventure. And I'm realizing, no, like it's just work. And you're doing this for the next five days. Like, you can't just do whatever you want diet wise. Like you got to be. But then you realize that going out and eating often, like, you got to be on it. You do.

[Aaron Witt]

Oh, it'll get you so quick. But it's tricky too because like you're speaking at these events, which, like Napa, for example.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Everybody there, they don't travel that much.

[Darren Earlyone]

Right.

[Aaron Witt]

So it's, it is kind of a vacation for them. So they're able to get the blueberry muffin and this and that, but. But you can't eat like everybody else is because you're doing it every week. You know, if I go nuts at a hotel buffet every time I'm speaking Now, I'd be 30 pounds overweight by next week.

[Darren Earlyone]

Well, and I think I'll say this gently, I guess, is not that I want to be like judging people, but you also realize, like, if you see somebody who like they Definitely could drop a hundred lbs, right? You're like, well, my plate can't, like, I can't eat, like, I can't eat like that guy's plate because obviously that guy's plate looks like that often. That's why, you know, he is in the place that he's at. Weight wise, it's like, so, you know, it is a balance. But I think it's something that, like, I'm enjoying trying to figure that part out, but I think it's maybe anything. Like, I was just talking to my wife this week, and so she just got strength Strength Finder certified to coach it. And so she's been doing this deep dive into strengths and everything, and we've taught that for years, but she just got certified in it and it was really intriguing. She was sharing with me on the way down yesterday. Is she. Three of her strengths are responsibility, responsibility. Deliberate. I think it's called deliberate. Consistency and communication is another one. I can't remember what her fifth one is, but the. She was talking about how since the first of the year, our life has been so inconsistent. Like, we've been traveling. She went with me to Arizona when I was speaking at the Napa Conference. We stayed a day later because it was so nice and there was like a snow. We're staying another day. Then we just had a bunch of stuff. And so she was talking about just paying attention to just her, like, internal feelings, emotions, the way her body felt, just being like, stressed and making the connection of, like, in a season of time where life has been inconsistent, her strength and need for consistency and to create consistency was causing, like, a level of stress. Sure. And so it's even like understanding what your life looks like and what the rhythm of it is. Is it conducive to mental, spiritual, physical health or is it, are you putting yourself in a challenging environment? You know what I mean?

[Aaron Witt]

Well, that's actually been hard for me when it comes to relationships. That's always been a point of friction. Like, I had a great, great time in college with my girlfriend in college because we were, you know, adventuring all the time and traveling all the time, but we were doing it together. Whereas, whereas now with, with the company, my life is very adventurous. Very adventurous. So when I come home, I don't want to adventure. I, I, I don't want to eat out.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

I don't want to stay up. I don't want to do anything. And it's, and it's like, that's why I'm still, that's why I'm still single. Like a big, big part of it is because I am just so consumed with what I'm doing that and, but, but now that I'm in my 30s, I'm like, I'm trying to see it from their perspective a lot more like, well, it's, it's my life, but it's not their life. So they don't necessarily care. Like that's not their reality.

[Darren Earlyone]

Right.

[Aaron Witt]

And I have to be understanding of that if I want anything to persist.

[Darren Earlyone]

Sure.

[Aaron Witt]

Because it just doesn't really work otherwise. I mean I, there was, there was early in the business I dated a nurse and nurses work hard, but for 36 hours a week, you know, three 12s.

[Darren Earlyone]

Right.

[Aaron Witt]

So that's four days off. Whereas I was on a seven day week schedule. And I'm still on a seven day week schedule.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

So. So over four days a week, you know, 60% of the, of the week just to be like, what are we doing? And it's like, what do you mean what we're doing? I'm, I'm working.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah. Well, I think about, you hear about like, you know, like musicians and actors and actresses, like people that have a very untraditional life structure. Like oftentimes they, they're looking for somebody in the same industry because it's like, I get it, you know what I mean? Like my son, you know, plays college football and for him it's like, it's similar. He, he's single, he would, he would like to not be soon.

[Aaron Witt]

Sure.

[Darren Earlyone]

But he's like why I'm in this football life is like I almost have to date another D1 athlete. Yep. Because they're not going to get it. Like what do you mean you have to go to recovery? What do you mean you got to go to another workout? Like what do you mean you have another practice? What do you mean you have another meeting? Like when, like, or like you're saying like for him, by the time he gets home at 9:30 at night, I mean if he's got to study, whatever, but he's done because he's waking up every morning, he's got to be a practice at 5:30 in the morning. Like if you, if you don't do that. Right. Or at least have a, an appreciation for it of like why would you put yourself through this kind of life?

[Aaron Witt]

Sure.

[Darren Earlyone]

Well, because I'm passionate about it. I love it. But yeah, I think when you, if you have chosen a life that is not normal, it's tough I think, to have relationships with people that Aren't willing either to don't have a strong adaptability, strength within them.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

Or they don't have something that, that mirrors it, you know.

[Aaron Witt]

Well, it's, it's, it's, it's not just. It's tough on friendships too. Especially just as I've gotten further in life.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Just people start to, you know, it's, it's. You're not all that far apart when you're starting, but then as time elapses, that gap just widens and widens and widens. So with some people it's like they're fantastic. But all that, that I have in, in, in common with them now is our childhood, which is fun like to, to shoot the, with some of the people I grew up with. Like, you know, remember this, remember that, remember this, remember that. And then that's it. You know, there, there's not a. Because they're. And not saying my life is better than their. It's just so different. It's like they've got two kids and a spouse and a beautiful house and a career. Whereas I'm over here still above somebody's garage, no family, just redlining every day in a very different way. Like there's just. There's only so much you can talk about.

[Darren Earlyone]

It's interesting. My youngest son, he goes to these hitting lessons with this guy and he's the head scout for the Chicago White Sox. So. Dude knows his stuff. And he's freaking so intense. Like, I love it like more youth sports people need a coach like this because he doesn't sugarcoat anything. I mean, he'll be like, that swing's terrible. Like, I wouldn't give you a scholarship. I wouldn't even look at you like until like it's like. And what's funny is like, my son's 15. Like he can handle it, but sometimes he'll break it down on like an 8 year old kid that's like, this kid has no idea what's happening. But all that to say he ended. They do like a 13 week thing in the winter. And he always gives these speeches. I love these speeches. Like, this dude should write a book. But his speech, them at the end of it was, he was like, I'm not normal. He was like, I'm usually the weirdest person in every room I'm in. And he was like, in. These guys I work with, he named off, you know, a bunch of pro guys that play for the White Sox. And these guys, he was like, these guys are weird. They're not normal. And he's like. And they love it. Like, like they, they don't care at all that you think they're weird, right? Their work ethic, their focus, their determination. They're like all these the things that have allowed them to excel, to become pro athletes, like they had to embrace a long time ago. I'm not going to be normal and I love it. And he gave this whole speech and I was like, dude, that's freaking gold.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

Because like the status quo, normal is usually pretty mediocre or worse.

[Aaron Witt]

Well, and once you start to understand the math, like, okay, if I want to be above average, I need to do more than the average people. And once you start to, it's just inputs, outputs. Yeah, that's all there is to it. And once you understand that, it's either, and I've had to tell people, it's like you're either going to have to do more or adjust your expectations because it's fine too. If you just want to. Dude, if you just want to have a job and have a family and watch football on Sunday and if that's your thing, by all means, like then, then go for it. That's, that's fantastic. But don't expect, you know, to be going to the Bahamas for the, for the winter, you know, you know, that kind of thing.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah,

[Aaron Witt]

it's just inputs, outputs though, that's all there is to it. And I think it was Peter Thiel in his book, I don't know, maybe not in one of these books I've read for what, you know, whatever it is, the question is like, are these people weird because they're successful or is being weird a prerequisite to get to that level of success in whatever category they're in? And it's like, it's probably a little bit of both. I think you have to be comfortable with standing out and being weird. But then the further you get, the more you typically have from a means perspective to be even weirder, you know, like to really lean into it in a way.

[Darren Earlyone]

Well, Aaron, it makes me think about our conversation last night of like, you know, you're explaining to me your all consuming passion for what you guys are doing with build wit in the dirt world. And you're like, I know, it doesn't make sense, right? I know that's weird. But I'm like, we were talking about last night. It's like, no, I think it totally makes sense. And I don't think it's weird, I don't think it's status quo, but it makes Sense to me. Right. Because it's like you have found something that you're passionate about that you're willing to suffer for. And I think the sad part is personally like I don't think and I we want this to come off judgmental, but like I don't think as a human being it's okay to settle for a mediocre life.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah, I agree.

[Darren Earlyone]

Like you've been given a gift. Sure. Right. You think about the talk about the math on the fact that you actually exist like you know, one in multiple, multiple millions of the fact that you actually got a chance to shot to walk this planet. And to be like, I've been given this amazing, you know, in my opinion, divinely given gifts to, to live a life on this planet. And like, yeah, I'm just going to consume, I'm just going to, you know, it be for me. I'm just going to try to be mediocre. I'm just going to try to exist. It's like, I don't think that's okay, but I, but I think it's interesting of like, I don't know people, we think they're weird, but I don't think it's a thing where it's their success that made them weird. I think for a lot of people, like they found something worth sacrificing for.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

That's more than just ease, pleasure, popularity, whatever it is. Now I think there's some people that are weird because they're just weird people. Right. It's not about like, I think sometimes you see people who like, let's say maybe I'm being too broad on this. But you know, you see, you know, you're famous, rich, actor, musician, whatever, and they get to this level of fame, whatever. And it's like all of a sudden you're just like, you just got weird. Like you just can't like be okay being with regular people. I think that's, I think that happens when you become so self absorbed, maybe you don't think about what it's like to be on the other side of you because maybe you don't have to because you have millions of dollars and everyone just serves you and does whatever you want. No one tells you no. And so I think you get. So maybe self absorbed, you become your weirdness is a detachment from relationship, detachment from people. I think what we're talking about as far as being weird or not normal is like I'm willing to make sacrifices for the good of something other than myself.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. I think of like Steve Irwin.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

You know, who was just full. Like this guy just loves lizards. And I, like, not a single person can refute that. He's just so psyched on lizards. And, and I am psyched for him. Like, I don't even care about lizards. But when he's talking about him, I am all in, man. Like, like, yeah, get rid of, get rid of my dogs. I'll, I'll take some lizards when this guy's trying to sell them to me. Yeah. It's. It's like that. Like, I don't, I don't. I place very little value on what actors say.

[Darren Earlyone]

Sure.

[Aaron Witt]

And, and what musicians say because it's very performative and there's a lot of smoke and mirrors in that world. And they're actors, they're pretending to be something they're not for their job, which I think is like, it's never sat right. I always, I like to look at and it's not, you know, I like people in business that have built something from the ground up. I admire those people greatly. And then athletics, I think, is another phenomenal world. It's like. Because it's a meritocracy.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

And not, not perfectly. Like, I have plenty of problems with the NFL. Like, I think the NFL is a complete racket in a lot of ways. But if you look at the stories of these individual athletes and what they've done, like you either perform or you don't.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

And that's that.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yep.

[Aaron Witt]

In which I have a ton of respect for. So that's where I, I've always gravitated toward either self made, quote unquote. I know no one's self made, but self made people in business or athletes is what I've found to be the most compelling. Some military examples as well. Historical examples as well.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Anything time tested.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

That's. That's typically where I find at least my most of my inspiration.

[Darren Earlyone]

I like that. I like that. Yeah. It is interesting that old Hollywood actor world. But yeah. You, you get famous pretending.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. It's. I mean I've listened to a lot of podcasts with, with actors recently and I don't know. And maybe it's my. Maybe it's something in my head that goes into it knowing they're an actor. But it's just like it does. There's something off about it. I don't know how to explain it, but it just like it lacks this sense of authenticity in a way. Whereas I also. Another category I love. I've just fallen more and more in love with Is come holy. Like, they are just the one. They're funny.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

But like, I think to get that funny and effective in this world and in where comedy has gone.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

You, you have to have a certain level of intelligence, self awareness and work ethic. Like, and there's a bunch of different flavors of it too, which I love. Yeah, I love it. But I, I, I, I think they're, they're, they're people worth looking at.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

And not putting on a pedestal. I don't think you should put anyone on a pedestal. But yeah, you can get some really interesting insights from, from, from people in that category.

[Darren Earlyone]

Since I was a kid, I've always been drawn to comedians. Probably not the healthiest obsession. When I was like in sixth grade, my buddy had a VHS tape of Eddie Murphy. Raw. Nice is raw. Sure. But Eddie Murphy was a freaking comedic genius. And what I didn't realize is, I mean, we watched it like every weekend at my, at his house. My parents would have gone nuts if they knew we were watching Eddie Murphy. Wrong. They probably still don't know. Don't watch the podcast, mom and dad. But what I didn't realize, it wasn't till I was probably in my 20s, is when I would speak. Like, I absorbed some of Eddie's timing, of his setting up of his joke, his punchline, his pauses. Like, and I, as a sixth grader, I didn't know, I mean, I didn't know that I was, you know, a big part of why I was put on earth to be a communicator, but it was like my soul knew I'm watching Eddie Murphy not to laugh. I'm laughing, you know, and I'm not just drawn to it because it's like taboo and wrong to my family, but like, it was a masterclass to me of this is how you communicate and own a room and take them on a journey. And so I've always been drawn to comedians of like, not just, you know, their jokes, but like watching that there's, there's this genius of, I know how to, to capture you in a moment, surprise you with a thought, like, you know what I mean? And yeah, I think it's an, it's an amazing gift and, and you see a true brilliance. I love Dave Chappelle right now. I've had for a while.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

Because Chappelle, I think he's like a modern day prophet, man.

[Aaron Witt]

He's in there. Something. There's a lot to be said for longevity.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

And he's been at it for, I don't Know how long now?

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

But, like, best in class.

[Darren Earlyone]

Well, his ability to set up a story where he's telling a story for a very specific reason, potentially a critique upon society or critique on something that's going on. Right. And some of his critique, you know, very controversial. But for one, he has the boldness to say what he thinks. But I'm always amazed that he'll start a story and you're like. And he's telling it for a while, and you're like, where's the joke? Yeah, but he knows. He's setting up like he's. I'm going to say this to make a point. Then at the end of it, I'm going to hit you with a joke, and then 20 minutes later, I'm going to pull that back through a thread of another story in a way that surprises you where, like, I've now made a critique on this story and on this story, but made you laugh in the process to look at the insanity of whatever that is. And I'm like, dude, that's brilliance.

[Aaron Witt]

Sure. Yeah, it's. I. I watch comedians in the same way, and Dirt World's been great for me as well, watching these. I mean, we've had some of the best speakers in the world.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Every year.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Like, not once every year.

[Darren Earlyone]

Every year.

[Aaron Witt]

It's unbelievable. And I'm always watching them. How are they telling stories? How are they teeing things up? How is their pacing? What are they telling jokes? How do they open? How do they close? Like. Yeah, I'm just. I'm just studying their style. How do they interact with the audience? Where do they go on the stage? Like, Marcus Sheridan is super interesting to watch because he's walking through the damn crowd. And even some of the stuff I've talked to him about after, he's like, you control the room. You can dictate the level of energy within that room.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

And if you don't, don't expect anything significant. You got to get out and take it. And it's like. And you. And then you see him do that and you're like, damn, this is unbelievable. And it's made me so much more effective as a communicator. So much more effective.

[Darren Earlyone]

I think the point of there is, like, we're talking about in communication because we're both communicators. But I would say, you know, for someone, you know, watching, that's not a communicator. The point of, like, as soon as you can discover something that you have a unique ability to do, I don't care what it is. You know what I mean? It could be a teacher. It could be a firefighter. It could be a nurse. I mean, you could, you know, run a construction crew. Whatever it is, is when you find your lane, the key to, like, watch, model, observe, learn everything you can from the best.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

You know what I mean? Because, like. And I think some of it is. I know there's some speakers or people, like, in our lane where, like, I can't do what they do. Like, they're different than me. Their whole Persona and how they communicate. Like, I appreciate it, but I, Like, I'm not that.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

I'm this. So then I'm drawn to, like, people. I can learn that. And I think there was a part for me where a couple years ago, a mentor said to me, he said, darren, you're a really gifted curator. And I, like, I needed to hear that because I would beat myself up and be like, dude, I'm a fake. Like, I'm a. I'm like, I'm a. You know, I'm a fraud. I'm just stealing other people's stuff and using it and. And then, you know, realizing. I mean, there's nothing new under the sun, Right? Like, there's, like, everything is. Eddie Van Halen said it this way. He said that. That every artist is a sponge in a filter.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

Right. You're always absorbing influences, right? And then, like, you. Then you filter them out, and through your creativity, whatever that is, you squeeze that sponge and it comes out. Right. And it's a product of all that thing. And being able to look at it and going, yeah, Like, I'm not ripping people off. I'm doing research. You know, I'm curating the best of what I can actually bring in and give to people. And so I think there's a part of that, of figuring that out, of how do you expedite and exponentially grow? Like, realize I got to become a sponge of everyone around that I can get access to that does whatever I want to do better or best. How do I get input to that, pull it in, curate the best of it so that I can create, you know, the best output of whatever my life is.

[Aaron Witt]

Well, it's like, you want to learn the core principles from them, but then apply them to you.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Not apply them to you.

[Darren Earlyone]

Good point.

[Aaron Witt]

If that makes sense. Yeah, it's. It's. I've always tried to, like, so what's the core principle here? But then how do I. Like, I'll never be Marcus Sheridan. That's Just not my thing.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

That's not my style, man. I can't do it. But I can apply some of his principles on how to better channel energy, how to control room, how to set things up properly to then be more effective as me.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

I think being more and more of you, though, requires. It requires reps, but then it requires critical thinking and requires reflection and. And then time. Yeah, it just takes time. Yeah, I think it just takes time. Like, it's. It's so easy to think, especially in people, because you can't see the progress that they've made over years. You just see them as a human being and everybody kind of looks the same in a way. Like, that's what's so fascinating is like, you look at a. I'll be on a plane. It's like everybody looks the same. Kinda, you know, like everybody.

[Darren Earlyone]

Human beings.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. And you have.

[Darren Earlyone]

No one has a tail.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. But without context on any one of these people.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

I don't really know what's going on in, like, what the experiences of any of these people have been. I have no clue.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

And there's some context clues, but, I mean, one of these guys could be rich. One of these guys could be a vet, you know, one of these guys could be a doctor. I don't really know. But one of them could have traveled the world. One of them. This might be their first time on a plane.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Who the hell knows? I don't know. I don't know what point I was trying to make was. But. Well, you can't see the progress. So you see someone like Marcus and you're like, well, he's just so good, man. And I. I'm a terrible communicator. But you don't see the 20 years of reps that he's put in to get to that point.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

And 20 years ago, he was probably just as bad as everybody else and might have had some gifts here or there. And I'm not like, I'd say that for any speaker, not just Marcus, but like, I think communication. I think everybody's a communicator, but few people have the skill of communication. Does that make sense? Like, I feel like only a few people have actually approached communication as a skill.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

And have sharpened that sword, pencil, whatever it is, and then have wielded it in. In various ways. But the way I've always looked at is like, listen, if I want to have an outsized impact on the world, I have to figure out how to communicate. Anybody who has impacted the world in Any kind of grand way.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Has been an effective communicator. There is no outlier. Jesus, mlk. Abraham Lincoln. Yeah, go down the list.

[Darren Earlyone]

Keep. Yeah, keep reading them.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. And. And they didn't. You know, I can't speak on behalf of Jesus, but, like, Abe Lincoln, he didn't start, you know, this class act guy that could, you know, navigate a room no problem. He had a miserable life for a very long time. MLK Jr like, very, very up and down, all around history.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

It wasn't like, we see the. This. The famous I have a dream speech in front of hundreds of thousands of people in the mall, and you think, well, that guy, he's just a prophet. He has what I don't have. But then you read about his life and you're like, wait a minute, he was just kind of a normal dude. And there's some other stuff there, you know, but just up, down, all around, like. And it was just. He was. He had a lot of opportunities to practice his speaking through ministry.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

It's probably one of the most effective ways to become a speaker.

[Darren Earlyone]

It helps.

[Aaron Witt]

It helps. Yeah. For.

[Darren Earlyone]

For 25 years, I spoke every single week.

[Aaron Witt]

You do it every week.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Which is incredible. And that's the only way to get better at speaking.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

But. But from a construction perspective, like, if I'm a crew leader, if I have a crew of even five people, I have an opportunity to address and to speak every day.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

And I can. I mean, if. If. If I were a crew leader right now, Foreman, I would be thinking, how can I make this 10 minutes with the crew every morning more and more effective.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yep.

[Aaron Witt]

How can I make my interactions better? How can I communicate more clearly? How can I get others to participate? And that, I think, is where the magic really happens.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah. When I think, you know, I've heard it said, it's like everyone's a novice when they start. Right. No one starts as a professional. Yeah. Like, the first reps are always bad, you know, because they're first. But understanding that idea of, like, everyone can grow and develop if they want to. But I do think there is a key part to discovering early on, like, who am I and what was I actually put on Earth to do? Because it's like a big part of my. The theory that I want people to at least get curious about is what I say every week on my podcast is. And we can call it a theory. I think it's a fact. We'll just put it out as a theory today, is that you were created on Purpose and for purpose. You're not an accident. Like, there is great care and design put into who you are as a human being, who you are, why you do what you do, what you do best, where you find passion, all these things. And the sooner you can get clear on understanding your purpose, your design, then you have, like, now I have. Have. Have, you know, stacked the deck in my favor of the potential of me living the best life possible.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

And. And I think there are signposts all of the time. We talking last night, right? Like, is there are. There were signposts. If you look back at, like, you know, little Aaron Witt's life, like, you know, elementary school, junior high, high school, like, was it what it is now? No. But you can see the seeds of passion, the seeds of focus, the seeds of. Of. Of curiosity, like, the things that you are interested in, things you bec. With, like, all of those things. Like, you didn't get those. Like, they didn't give you a degree, right? And be like, here's your degree. Oh, here it is. This. Now I make sense. Like, and everybody comes to that a different way. And I think, you know, you can be more intentional about it. But what makes me sad is when I watch people who They've never really gotten curious of, like, what was I actually intended to do? What is my actual calling? What are the things that I, like, you're saying that I can become exceptional at? I'm just going to go get a job, or I'm just going to go, you know, do what people. My parents told me to do or whatever it is. And I think that's a place that maybe. Coming back to our conversation about people that are willing to become weird, that are willing to become different, like, I think they have to have something deeper than just, you know, money or prestige or whatever it is that does it. I think it's when you start having. Where your life starts to make sense, and there's an integrity to, like, what you're doing and what you want to become. And once you find that, like, you start finding the things that, like, I'm having exponential results for, like, normal amount of input is one of the ways that I. You start to see, like, when you discover the things that you're great at, if you're good at communicating, you're like, I didn't have to work real hard for this to go actually pretty well. Like, I'm learning these things a lot quicker than it seems like other people have. Like, I'm gaining insight that just. This just makes sense. And just seems normal. And I think the sad part about that is oftentimes I think people miss their, their, their calling or some of their greatest strengths because they discount it. That it's just like, well, this is just it. It's so easy. They assume that it's just easier for everybody else.

[Aaron Witt]

Well, I, I also think part of it is there. The system just does not really reward it. Like, I got super lucky. I got super lucky. I. There's. I've always had this physiological response to equipment. Like since I was a kid, there was something physically within me. When I see a bulldozer pushing dirt. Hey. I mean, it's like a moth to a flame.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

I've got to go over there.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

And I can't explain it. So I had that. Which isn't crazy. Unique, but it's, it's unique. It's not. The average person doesn't have that.

[Darren Earlyone]

Correct.

[Aaron Witt]

But I mean, there was, there were a hundred things that also had to happen for me to even end up in construction, like in the world I grew up in. My parents, when I told them, hey, I'm going to go get a job as a laborer at a construction company. Yeah. They should have said, the fuck you are.

[Darren Earlyone]

Incorrect answer.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. Yeah, the fuck you are, buster. You're going to law school.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

My dad was a lawyer. That's probably like the odds are that that is the outcome. Like, you're not getting a job in construction. That is for. That is not for people within this, this category. That's not why we've worked our entire lives to tee you up and sent you to private school and spent all this money on your education to go be a laborer on a construction crew in Phoenix, Arizona. You're going to law school. I could easily be a miserable, miserable son of a bitch right now as a lawyer. Yeah, easily.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yep.

[Aaron Witt]

And so like it just takes one of those things for it to get thrown off. And so that's why I do empathize with people that struggle with even just college in general. College does not reward anybody thinking for themselves. There's no reward for doing anything out of the ordinary.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Just follow instructions, you get your degree and then college is built for. To cater to the, the majority of the economy, which is big business. Big business does not reward creativity.

[Darren Earlyone]

Correct.

[Aaron Witt]

Does not reward individualism. It just rewards. Just do what the you're told. And the better you can do that, the more money you're going to make. And now the more money you're making, the nicer house you have the nicer neighborhood you're in, nicer car, and now you're cooked. Yeah, you are cooked. And that is, like, I would argue, best case scenario in some ways. The other side of it is you just look at how much cost of living has changed over the past decade, how unaffordable housing is right now, the cost of groceries, how everybody's being taxed right now, this and that. Like most of America can't even think about a hobby. Yeah, they just have to think about, listen, like, I have to work two jobs, three jobs to just live right now. So that's great, being passionate about something. But like, I don't even have the luxury of a hobby, a simple hobby, because I've got to work to support my family of three at home, which is, is, is an increasing portion of, of America as the middle class has been just abused and obliterated. It's just shoved everybody to, to either side, further on either side than ever before. So the people that are doing well are doing better than ever. They're stacking it up. Most of them are fucking miserable because I've been around a lot of them. They are not stoked individuals. So I don't, I don't envy them either. But then a majority of the country is on the other side. Increasingly, increasingly, increasingly, that is like, my car's expensive, my living's expensive, my utilities are expensive, groceries are expensive. What do you want me to do? And it's a troubling place to be.

[Darren Earlyone]

I think it's because we're playing the, we're playing the wrong game.

[Aaron Witt]

I agree.

[Darren Earlyone]

And I think for me, any truth, for it to be truth, it has to be applicable everywhere. Right? There can't be something like, well, this is true for upper class white Americans and this is true for, like, people in the Middle East. Like, no, whatever's true needs to be true across the board. And I think that that's a, a deception and an illusion that I think we have been coached to believe in America is like for me to be able to find a sense of purpose for me to be able to do, you know, what I was put on earth to do? Like, I have to have these things. This has to be working. I've got to have a nice car, I've got to have a nice clothes, I've got to have. But then the pushback against that is you can go and find story after story after story of people all over the world where it's like, yeah, they didn't have any of that stuff, but they have peace, they have joy. They're actually accomplishing great things for their community. They have found something that is not about possession, it's not about power, it's not about popularity. They have found something, something noble for their life that does not equate to any of those things. And so I think that's something, I get it. Because it's what we're spoon fed from the moment we're old enough to read and listen and hear of, like, this is what life's really about. Get more, get yours, do this, you know, and that will always disappoint. That is not what we're. In my opinion, we were put on earth to be a part of. But it's like once you can begin to realize, like, I'm not going to play that game anymore because it's not like, you know, one thing I tell people all the time is like, you're not a human doer, you're a human being. Or you weren't put on earth to be a human doer. Meaning this is the things I do, I'm put on earth to do, to accomplish, to work a job. Like that stuff you will do, but it's not who you are. And when we get those out of order mixed up, like we're in a losing game that we weren't created to play. And can we get through it? I remember a guy was listening, told you about that book I was reading by the Jewish rabbi, Thou shalt prosper. He used this illustration of taking a snowmobile into a desert. So you take a snowmobile into a desert, it'll work. Like you can get around, but it's going to be really hard on the snowmobile. It's not going to be very effective, right? I mean, it's probably going to break down. Like it's not going to work. Like it's created to work. But you put a snowmobile in snow, right? You're like, oh my gosh, this thing, this is what it's made for. And this illustration was like so much of what we're doing as human beings. I don't care if it's in the dirt world, if it's in the medical field, if it like come up with whatever industry it is, is. We don't know what we're supposed to do as human beings. And so we're basically snowmobiles in sand. And like, well, I'm getting around. It's like, are you getting around? Well, like, are you breaking down mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually? It's like, well, yeah, I, I Barely exist. Well, maybe it's the environment. Right. And I think there's a part of that of, like, I think sometimes we have to get curious about. I think a lot of times the pain and the struggle in what's not working in our life to find ourselves to where we really need to be. And I think that's a part that's tough for us as human beings because we're where we're failing, where there's pain. I mean, we hide from that, we bury that, we ignore that, because we think it's an indictment that something's wrong with this. But, man, I think a lot of times I wish I could learn really Well, I wish I would have learned where it worked out in life, where you learned the best things about life through your successes. Mm. But I've yet to.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

Every great thing I've learned in my life has come from failure and from struggle.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

And if we see failure and struggle as an indictment on me that there's something wrong with me, I don't think we ever get to the place of actually discovering the gold that comes through those struggles, that comes through those failures. I think they're actually, you know, negative emotion, negative situations, whatever it is. For me, I think they're always an invitation from God to come in. Like, he's saying, hey, like, you've been doing it on your own, trying to figure it all out. Like, doesn't seem to be working out. Like, you can go that direction as long as you want. But, man, I'd really like to teach you actually how to live the life that you were created to live. But embracing and getting really compassionately curious in the face of failure and struggle is not usually high on many people's lists.

[Aaron Witt]

Well, and to that point, it's an active process. Like, you can be teed up for this life, but it's like, you've got to do the work too. And it's like, all right, if you want to go over there and keep beating your head against the wall, by all means, you can go do that for 73 years. And a lot of people do. Like, you've. You've gotta, you've got to do your part. As you're saying this and as I'm thinking this through as well, I was talking about how I look up to, like, self made business people and athletes. The category of person that I look up to the most is by a mile, is anybody in the trades that is highly, highly skilled. I can watch those people work.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

All day. Anybody that at any kind of skill. An operator, a carpenter, a welder, loggers, miners, you go down the list. But there are these guys that like, you know, they're doing exactly what they should be doing. And it is the coolest, the absolute coolest thing to see.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

And I think that, like, that's why I'm so obsessed with this world is it doesn't just drive humanity, but it aligns so nicely with human nature, like human beings. I think part of the struggle and suffering that we are enduring right now is because we are in an environment that is very foreign to us and does not align with human nature. Like talking to people on computer screens. That's just not how we work. No, it will never be how we work.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

We've only been doing it for like a few years. Yeah, it's not working and it's already not working. But, but we've been at this thing for tens of thousands of years. Like the fraction of a fraction of a percentage of our total time, like it's brand new, but it just, it does not align with, with how we work and, and how we were made.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

And that's what I love. And I think that's why there's partially. That's why there's so much satisfaction within the world that I get to spend a lot of time in. By the grace of God. It's incredible that I get to spend so much time in this world is. Is that it's aligned with human nature. It's suffering, it's shared suffering. It's creating.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yep.

[Aaron Witt]

I think creating is very important.

[Darren Earlyone]

Massive.

[Aaron Witt]

Most everybody's consuming, but to create and to create every day and to create something that benefits those around you and your community. There's very few places in the, in the modern world that offer that.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Which is, I think, pretty extraordinary.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah. That's a phenomenal observation.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. And it's, and it's, it's, it's. I, I always run the risk of over romanticizing it, but I'm telling you, it's been a really interesting observation. I've spent enough time in this world now, and I've brought enough people into this world that have never been in, that have never interfaced with the trades or construction at all. And every single time there is this. You can see it in somebody. It's just like childlike excitement. That is. I cannot believe this. Like, this is how the world works. And you're like, this is how the world works. And they just, once they see it, you can unsee it. And most of the people we've brought in that a lot of them have left the company. You know, through all the trials and tribulations we've had over the years, most of them are still around within the industry somewhere.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Almost all of them have not actually left the industry in some way, which I think is fascinating because again, once you find this world in any capacity, there's this, there's this human component to it that is, is not present in modern life.

[Darren Earlyone]

Well, I think some of it where my brain goes is I feel like this, the, the predominant narrative of life, at least in, you know, upper middle class America is like, as I get, the more success I get, the more people I hire to serve me.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

Like, as I elevate, I become less of a servant. Right. I don't mow my lawn, I don't clean my house, I don't wash my car. I don't like, let me come down the list to where it's like, and there's some wisdom of buying your time back for things. I get all that. Right. But just that thought of like is, you know, and I guess it's honestly been that way since kings. And you know, like I have servants because I'm the king or whatever it is. So we're all in this rat race to become the king. Meaning that I think as I elevate, then I serve less.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

And I think that unplugs our soul from a, the source of what it means to be human. Like, you're talking about the idea of, you know, a shared goal, shared suffering, you know what I mean? Creativity, servanthood, creating for the good of other people. Like it's the essence of the dirt world. But all of it is like, it's what I do is serve and create. So I think that is, you know, for me, it's like, I believe, right. We're made in God's image. Well, what does that mean? Well, he's the greatest creator and he's the greatest servant. So when you're creative and you're servant hearted, what I do, I create for the good of others. It's soul connection that, that makes your life work. When we buy into a system and try to figure out, okay, how do I consume right to the level of my life is basically just about me and others serving me. I mean, you don't have to read too many leadership books to see, like, I mean, from John Maxwell to, I mean everyone, right? Is the greatest leaders are the greatest servants. Right. As you, as you go up the food chain, you don't just sit up there and consume your way to the top. Right. You actually, I mean, you got to invert the situation, you know what I mean?

[Aaron Witt]

Well. And you have to spend time with society. I think that's part of the problem is these like, like this elite class, they're, they're living in a different world. It's a different world.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

And you go to these places and you're like, like Aspen's a great example. You go to Aspen, you're like, this is not real life.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Like this is, it's, it's almost like this make believe land. Like, like you, like you're going to the playground. You know, it's just like the, is this place, like this is crazy planet. It's a, it's different. It is a walled garden and, and, and it's created that way. But then if you're not interacting with society and then that's my problem with a lot of these people is like, well, we're the ones we know best. So we're actually going to tell everybody how to live. It's like, well, if you haven't been to the grocery store in seven years.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Are you most qualified to be telling people how to live just because you have billions of dollars? That's where it starts to break down a little bit. And so I think if you completely, if you completely remove yourself and make yourself worthless, it doesn't just, I think erode your, like your perspective on the world, but I think it erodes you as a human being. Like, like I want to be less and less worthless. Like I want to have more worth. I want to be capable of more as an individual. Because I came up in a world in which I didn't have to do a lot.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

We had people taking care of everything.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Seriously, like I've always had my house cleaned. I've never had to clean house. I've always had a landscaper like you go down the list. Yeah, that was kind of the world I came up in. But the, the now being an adult, like, sure, I want some things taken care of for the sake of time because I do have to leverage, I do have to maximize my time with my schedule now. But I want to be less and less worthless. Like, sure, I can call someone to fix this, but why don't I try to figure it out myself? Myself which, and when I do, I build a little bit of confidence. Like I do feel better. You know, the first time I changed a tire, I was like, yeah, dude, like I did. I'm the man. Yeah. Yeah. Like, seriously. And it's so silly. It's like, wow, you didn't know how to change tires? Like, no, I'd never changed a tire until I got a flat tire.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

You know, as a 17 year old or whatever was, it's like, well, I'm gonna have to figure this out. Yeah, I figured it out. And it's like, hell yeah. Like, dude, I am the man right now. It's such a good feel. It's so funny how something that simple can. Can feel so good and build your sense of confidence. But that's what I've thought a lot about is like so many people in the world. I mean, you go to an airport and just look around and you're like, like, how incapable are people now? I want to be the opposite. I want to be capable. I want to be worthy. I want. I want to be the guy that people are calling when they're in a pickle.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Because they know I can handle shit. That's a valuable position to be in, not just for those around you, but for you, like as an individual.

[Darren Earlyone]

I think, yeah, well, and I think that fixing tires, fixing the sink, building the fence, all of that, very, very helpful. But for me, my greatest passion is like, it's a quote I curated from Gary Smalley of life is relationships. Everything else is just the details. Like, if you look at the uniqueness of what it means to be a human being, my opinion, theory, we can test it together, is we're created by a relationship for relationships. And when you look at that, it's like all the different things from creativity to like, morality. Right. Like, if we were to pull up on YouTube and watch, you know, some safari thing right back downtown right now. I went out last night, walked down Broadway a little bit. There's a safari convention in town.

[Aaron Witt]

A safari convention.

[Darren Earlyone]

I don't even know what that means. I just know that there is a safari con. I saw people with safari things. Anyway, if we were to go on a safari and we watched, you know, and they were like, hey, we're going to go out and watch, maybe we got see some elephants hunting. We'd be like, ooh, exciting, right? And if we got to see an elephant hunt down a zebra and watch elephants eat the zebra.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. Like, oh, what kind of safari are you going on, man?

[Darren Earlyone]

I mean, an intense one, you know, lions, you know? Did I say elephants?

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. What kind of elephants are these? What's going on?

[Darren Earlyone]

I met lion. Lions eating zebras, Right? We watched the lion hunt the zebra. Phenomenal. Watch it eat the zebra. We're gonna go. I mean, could you. Can you believe that we got to see this moment of just nature and it's awesome and man. And maybe we'd be like, ah, a little. That's kind of a lot of blood. But like, like, wow, okay, what if you accidentally looked over your backyard fence and your neighbor was eating your neighbor? Right. We would. There would be a massive problem.

[Aaron Witt]

That would be problematic.

[Darren Earlyone]

Problematic, Right. We're calling the authorities. It's making the news. We're disgusted. We can't believe this is happening. What's wrong with this person? And it's like, okay, listen, how can I be in the animal universe and I can go and actually pay to watch a lion go eat a zebra and go, beautiful. Actually just the way it works. But if you eat your neighbor, like, we've got an issue. Well, maybe. Maybe there's something massively different about being a human being and being an animal. Right. Like, I ask this all the time when I'm working with companies. I say, what do human beings uniquely create? I'll ask you, what do human beings uniquely create, Aaron?

[Aaron Witt]

Our environment. We manipulate our environment.

[Darren Earlyone]

Okay. I mean, bees kind of create an environment.

[Aaron Witt]

Oh, sure. Yeah. So I guess relationships, other people.

[Darren Earlyone]

Communities, other people. Well, I mean, horses create other horses.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

So other creating of your own kind, not unique to humans.

[Aaron Witt]

Sure. I don't know.

[Darren Earlyone]

Okay, this is where we get with everybody I ask, which is in. In. Now, here's the test. What do silkworms create?

[Aaron Witt]

Silk.

[Darren Earlyone]

Correct. What do apple trees create?

[Aaron Witt]

Apples.

[Darren Earlyone]

Okay, so you are unbelievably clear on what silkworms were put on Earth to do.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

And what apple trees were put on Earth to do. But I just ask you what human beings uniquely create of which you are one of.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

And you're like, ah, not real sure this is a problem. Right. So we're talking about this game that everyone's playing. The confusion that comes around to it. Could it all be for the fact that, like, we don't actually know what we're on. Put on Earth to do. So somebody says, hey, you're put on Earth to make money. Okay, I'll try that. Oh, shit. That didn't work out very well. Oh, hey, you're put on Earth to just consume. Okay, I'll try that. That didn't work out very well. Hey, you're put on Earth to have power and authority of other people. Make people serve you. Like, we try all those things and what happens? It deteriorates in our souls, become rotten and society Becomes what it is and what you're talking about. We have all these haves and all these have nots and they don't seem to care about them. And it's like. Because we don't know what we're put on earth to do. My theory is not created by me, but what if human beings were put on earth. Right. Created for relationship by a relationship. And the reality of human beings are put on earth to create futures, which I believe you give the future to beavers. What's the future look like?

[Aaron Witt]

A lot of dams.

[Darren Earlyone]

A lot of dams.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. Damn. A lot of dams. A lot of running water, man. Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

You got a lot of dams, Right. Congratulations. That's what the beavers do. We're put on Earth to create the future. We have the intellect, the creativity, the ability to communicate all these things that are given to us. The lions don't have it. The beavers don't have it. The silkworms don't have it. You're a human being. You're a gift to this world. So what. What are we creating? Because whatever the next five to 10 years look like, next 15, next 20, however long it is, we're going to be the ones that create it.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. And we're living in what others have created.

[Darren Earlyone]

There we go.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. Hence why everything is out of control because of the good old baby boomers. Just take, take, take. But that's my. That's my opinion.

[Darren Earlyone]

It's to. Could be statistically proven.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. The numbers do suggest. Yeah, but that does.

[Darren Earlyone]

Ma had said last night.

[Aaron Witt]

But. But this is what confuses me because that. That to me is obvious. Like you can judge a. You should judge a tree by its fruit.

[Darren Earlyone]

Fruit.

[Aaron Witt]

That. It makes perfect sense to me. And the concept that is I should make a better future for my children and future generations than. Than I've enjoyed that to. That to me again, makes perfect sense.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

But a lot of people's actions do not align with that at all. It's like, how can I maximize my time here? And. And. But this is where I think human nature kicks in. And, and. And I think there's. We're wired to hoard and to go get as much as possible for us. Like there's even just this obsession to passing on wealth to the next generation to like your kids.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah. I think that's a factory defect.

[Aaron Witt]

It's. It's just strangest thing to me because it's like there's this huge obsession to. To go hoard a bunch of money and then go pass it to this next generation that's have no. Nothing to do with creating it in the first place. And then it probably will destroy them. Like statistically speaking, it does. Like, and so why, why te your kids up for likely failure? Like, that's to me where it just gets so confusing and everybody's kinda out for themselves in a lot of ways, which I struggle with.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah, I think it's because.

[Aaron Witt]

And I am. I mean, I guess I am in a lot of ways. I prioritize me first. But even, yeah, even in business there's just. I see so many, like, even people I've respected along the way, they'll make decisions that are just like, like, so clearly just in their interest, which is like, I get it. But there's also a bigger picture here and I've thought about that a lot over the past few years. It's like, I clearly see that this is a problem and I clearly see that this is problematic for your business. That said, can you explain to me how we're just supposed to keep down this path indefinitely? Like, how does that pencil out for me? I'm in my 30s. Like, I've still got a long ways to go. I'm not exactly like optimistic about the future on this trajectory. It's just been like this internal conflict that I've had.

[Darren Earlyone]

Here's how I see it. I don't think it was how we're intended to function. I think it's a factory defect that we're living in. I heard a guy teach, I learned this from a guy this past year. So let's go back to the first story of humanity coming from the Pentateuch or the Old Testament. Jewish scriptures, Christian scriptures, Muslim scriptures. First story, we've got Adam and Eve in the garden, right? And they're given paradise. Yeah, it was baller Freedom. Yeah, right. They're free. Everything's provided. Abundance. Hey, you have purpose, you have peace, you have meaning. And this is the way it's supposed to function. Right? You look at the story, the one thing there are not to do is to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Was there a tree? Maybe. Is it all completely factual story? Was there a snake? Was it? I mean, I'm going to go with I think probably, but I think the story is teaching us this. And I hadn't seen it this way till this past year is I always kind of struggle with. What do you mean the knowledge of. Like, why was the knowledge of good and evil? Like, why, like wouldn't we want to know what's Good and evil. But looking at it as the option was be connected to the source of all life and creativity. Allow him to bring you to abundance, to let you live in freedom, to let servanthood and love and all these things be the thing that governs your life. Stay connected to the source. Or the other option was, is detach from the source and rely on your own knowledge and ability.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah, make yourself the source.

[Darren Earlyone]

Make yourself the source. So in that story, what created the separation between God and man and what created sin that creates all the pain and suffering in the world, if you will? Well, it's a desire that the source of my life is my knowledge of good and evil or just my knowledge itself, my possession, my knowledge, my understanding, my was me, me, me. And so I think, like, now we're getting real philosophical, but I think sometimes we've got to come back and go, what are the foundations of which the world's being built on? Right. Well, if everyone's over here going, well, my reliance is on my knowledge of good and evil and wisdom and like, then it's all about me. And the more I get, I'm going to make it more about me. That's just what it has to be because it's about me. Whereas this side of things, this, that. One of the. This, another guy taught me this issue. This, we taught it at Dirt on. I taught this on Dirt Theology a couple weeks ago on Billboard Connect. There's two worldviews that dominate the world. One of my mentors, Jamie Winship, taught me this. Two worldviews. This is the only two options in my opinion, separation and connection. Okay? So here's how the world operates that we see it. It operates under a separation, the separation worldview. Here's the four tenets of a separation worldview. It starts with scarcity. So how I see anything is how I see everything. Okay? So I see the world through the lens of scarcity. There's not enough, period. Enough what? Put something in there. I'm going to see it as not enough. There's not enough time, there's not enough money, there's not enough people, there's not enough resources, not enough food. There's not enough love. There's not enough. There's just not enough.

[Aaron Witt]

Which a lot of people operate under that.

[Darren Earlyone]

I would say the mass majority of the world. And the tough part about that one is you could kind of prove it sometimes, right? Well, there's not enough food for the world, really. There's not enough food on this planet right now to feed all the people. In the world. Is that true? I don't think so, no.

[Aaron Witt]

It can't mathematically be.

[Darren Earlyone]

No. We can produce.

[Aaron Witt]

We wouldn't have the population. We do.

[Darren Earlyone]

We can produce enough food to feed the world. Why don't we? Well, because someone who's in power and control with the scarcity mindset has figured out. Well, wait a second. If I have this and you need it, I can charge you for it. I can manipulate this situation.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. And if you're hungry, you're easier to manipulate.

[Darren Earlyone]

Correct. Okay, so scarcity. Everybody's operating of a scarcity mindset that drives to the next point of a sc. Of a separation mindset, which is certainty. I need to know. I need to be right. Right. I need to be right. I need to know. I need to be certain. Right? Because there's not enough. So I can't waste time in being wrong. I've got to. I've got to make sure that I know what I'm doing. And when there I think there's not enough and when I think I'm not certain. And if I have to be certain. So if I am certain on something and you see it differently, what are you?

[Aaron Witt]

Wrong.

[Darren Earlyone]

Correct. So you're wrong, I'm right. And every part of the separation worldview, what we do is separate. So we can't work together to figure out this issue that we have.

[Aaron Witt]

Aaron.

[Darren Earlyone]

Right. Because there's not enough. So when we get into competition, I'm going to find a way to separate from you relationally. Right. I'm going to make you an enemy. And then when I have the way that I see something, well, I have to be certain. Because if I'm not certain, I have no confidence. I don't know what's going on in life. So now you're the enemy. You're them, I'm us. We're going to separate. That drives me to the next point of the separation worldview. Perfection. I have to be perfect, which I'm not. So then I hide in my entire life.

[Aaron Witt]

There's a lot of suffering in this one.

[Darren Earlyone]

It's all suffering.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

It doesn't work.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah, but there's a lot of people. Because it. This one doesn't. It's not as clearly wrong, if that makes sense. Like it's not as obvious that it's wrong.

[Darren Earlyone]

Correct. Correct. But if you start, if you begin looking at the world as you know it all, you will see a separation mindset. There's not enough. I have to be right. I have to be perfect. That leads to this. The Fourth point of a separation worldview is self focus, self protection, self preservation. This is what drives our whole world.

[Aaron Witt]

Which, which I've been very guilty of. Like, that's, I've as I've dug through how I got up as a kid, like post, post divorce, my life was tumultuous, to say the least. The divorce was actually the, the starting, the start, starting line, not the finish line.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Oddly enough. And so I became an adult and went to college. I was just like, I just pulled the shoot, man. Pulled the shoot. I'm out later. I'm going to go preserve myself. Which has created a lot of challenges from a relationship standpoint within my family that are still on the mend or still open wounds. Yeah, but that, again, that's so easy to do. Self preservation. And I see that everywhere. And I've, I've gone down that path too. Even recently. Like, I think I might have talked about it before. It's like last year there were more weeks than I would like to admit. That was like, so how much money do we need to make payroll? How much and how much is in the bank account? Which just sucks. Yeah, it's a grind.

[Darren Earlyone]

It's a grind.

[Aaron Witt]

And it was not the first time we've been there. But I would, you know, start to be like, well, worst case scenario, this whole thing blows up. But I'm good, you know, because I know everybody. I could go get a job tomorrow, sure. I'm fine. And then I'd be like, what the are you doing?

[Darren Earlyone]

Like, govern your own ass.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

Whoa.

[Aaron Witt]

Like I, I, I, I caught myself a few times. Like, dude, you, like, that's out. That's totally out of line. Like you are just worrying about you. You are just trying to be like, well, I'm gonna be okay. And it's like, that's not the program. That's not, that's not the game here. And then I, as I'd catch myself, I would then kind of reel myself back in, which was a really good exercise. And thank God I've spent the time on my mind and awareness over the years to even have the ability to do that.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

But I had to catch myself a few times. Like, oop, I was just going down the self preservation track. Let's get off that. Because that's, that's not good for anybody.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah, but that's, that, that's how the world operates.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

Like, if you see somebody self protecting, self promoting.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

Why are they doing that? Because they're trying to be perfect. They're trying to Be certain because there's not enough. And here's the deal. If this world is only what we can see and we're just robots put on earth or just animals, we're just a little bit more evolved than the lion. That's why we don't eat our neighbor. Right. And there is no source of all creativity of love, of servant if it doesn't exist. Right. That's all we got. So let's freaking win the game. Sure. Which is what majority of people are trying to do. I'm trying to win the game.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

Right. Here's another option. Could there be another worldview? I believe there is. Right. Called the connection worldview. Other people could call it a kingdom worldview. Here's how this works. There is a connection. Everything is connected. First and foremost. I was put on Earth to be connected to the source. The source of all love, creativity, innovation, grace. Like connected to God. I didn't create myself. I was put here on purpose and for a purpose. In this connection worldview, instead of scarcity, there's abundance. Right. As humans, we were put on this earth for freedom and for abundance. There's enough. There's enough opportunity, there's enough time, there's enough money. Like, oh, for everything I want everything I really want. Well, I didn't say that. Right. But there's enough. Why is there enough? Because it's provided by a limitless source. Now if my life is all about my knowledge of good and evil. No, I'm not connected to the source. I'm trying to be self sufficient. I'm going to run out of resources pretty quick. How about you? Right. But if I'm connected to the source, the tap's always on.

[Aaron Witt]

But that is true. But I've learned there is a. You have to give up your sense of control and your desire to control

[Darren Earlyone]

to get that meaning, you have to surrender. Surrender to the fact that you're not God.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. That. That you don't actually control outcomes.

[Darren Earlyone]

That you don't rely on your knowledge of good and evil.

[Aaron Witt]

Which is, which is really hard.

[Darren Earlyone]

Like I, I would love to be God. Wouldn't you?

[Aaron Witt]

But I mean you're right that most people live. I've spent probably a majority of my life there. I would say unknowingly. I think. Yeah, we all have. That's where that's like, like that's baseline. I think that's what's hard is that's baseline.

[Darren Earlyone]

Correct.

[Aaron Witt]

You. And, and, and you can go back to baseline at any time.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yes.

[Aaron Witt]

And, and, and so as long as you're like, you have to be constantly putting in the work. That's what, that's where like physical health and wellness has been really good for me is, is because it's like I've had to accept that this is the rest of my life. This isn't a program. I'm not like, what are you training for? That's not how this works.

[Darren Earlyone]

Training for life.

[Aaron Witt]

I'm training for life. And I will be going until I die. That's it. And if I take my foot off the gas for one moment, we're gonna head down a path we shouldn't. Like, I've got to keep my foot down because even if I let off a little bit, I'm going to revert right back to that, that, that more natural state that I'm. That everybody I think is getting pulled back to that fear based state that let's just eat a bunch of food state, you know, in a lot of different ways. Even as a. I've heard this framed as a country in democracy. Like democracy is not the average. That is not the state of affairs in the world. You have to make it happen.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

And if you stop making it happen, it will revert back to an authoritarian style society.

[Darren Earlyone]

We will separate.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. Because.

[Darren Earlyone]

Because there's not enough.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah, because that is.

[Darren Earlyone]

And I need to be right.

[Aaron Witt]

That is that natural state and I

[Darren Earlyone]

need to be perfect. So I'm at a self protect. I'm gonna self promote.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. But when. I mean, and extrapolating this to, to at least, you know, business for me has been a playground in a lot of these lessons. And it's been, I don't know, maybe 18 months of or so of me being like, you know, I don't control the outcome here. I can do my best. I will do my best. I have no say in how this actually works out though. And I think the first time you do it is really scary. It is. But then there's this, there's this crazy sense of peace with it. Like, oh man. Okay. So all I have to do is my best.

[Darren Earlyone]

There you go.

[Aaron Witt]

Whatever else happens, happens. And it's like, okay. I think some people use that as an excuse to not do what they should be doing. I agree it's a very slippery slope. But you know, I think you inherently

[Darren Earlyone]

know when it opens the door. So if there's a source. Right.

[Aaron Witt]

And I keep interrupting you.

[Darren Earlyone]

No, it's fine. I love we're playing ping pong with the time. I love where it's going. Because you're setting me up for my next point is if there's an abundance and I'm connected to the source of it. Right. Well, then I could probably just surrender. Right? Which then takes me to the second tenet of a connected worldview. Mystery. Certainty or mystery. Let's play that out. How much do you think you really, really know how it works?

[Aaron Witt]

I know less and less as the days go on.

[Darren Earlyone]

Correct.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. It's dunning Kruger effect.

[Darren Earlyone]

Correct. The longer I live, I'm like, I'm not sure.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

I don't know. Like, I don't know how people get up every day. I told my wife the other day, like, I'm for Lent. I got off of social media. Cause it just pisses me off. Because whether I'm listening to somebody on the right or the left or whatever, people get on and they're so certain about their perspective of whatever is this in the world, and this is the thing, and they're wrong and we're right and this thing. And I'm like, man, I've lived for 48 years and I'm not really sure. Like, I can see both arguments, whatever it is. And I'm just realizing there's a whole bunch about life that I don't know.

[Aaron Witt]

But I would say one of the top offenders of that is organized religion.

[Darren Earlyone]

I would agree.

[Aaron Witt]

And that's what's really turned me off about organized religion is when some guy's up there saying. Or somebody is, this is how it is. I'm like, dude, you have no idea.

[Darren Earlyone]

Correct.

[Aaron Witt]

Like, who made you the one that. That knows exactly what's going on? And I would say that's like, it's so. But it's so silly to. When you see it, too, you're like, how can't you see this? Like, right. You're missing the whole point here.

[Darren Earlyone]

Like, how do we have hundreds and hundreds, hundreds of different denominations in the church? Well, because somebody said, well, I know. Yeah, I'm certain, right? I'm certain that this is the way that God is and the way it's supposed to be. So you have to believe the exact way that I believe it, or you're out. Because we're gonna end. Meaning I'm gonna separate from you. We're gonna make you the enemy. And then everybody that we've agreed that we know what we're right. Here's what. Here's the next part of the separation worldview, right? Perfection. We ought to be perfect in following all these rules. And if you're not perfect, what do we do? We vote. You off the island. We separate. What happens if we get into a.

[Aaron Witt]

Careful talking about islands nowadays.

[Darren Earlyone]

I know, Seriously. But what if we get to the place of, like. No, it's abundance and it's mystery. Like, I don't know. Yeah. So how about this? How about you and me stay connected, Aaron, and we search the mystery?

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah, but this is, like, this is one of my problems with. And I'm. I'm a Christian, but this is one of my problems with Christianity is when people are like, this is the way everybody else that's not in this program is wrong.

[Darren Earlyone]

Correct.

[Aaron Witt]

And I go to the Middle east and it's. It's. It's very extraordinary to see a whole society on a single operating system. And I have nothing but respect for these people.

[Darren Earlyone]

Sure. Absolutely.

[Aaron Witt]

And how serious they are about this, this faith, that. That is beautiful. That is so extraordinary in so many ways. And I could never go there and be like, wow, all these people are wrong. I could never do that. To me, just makes no sense. I don't necessarily believe in a lot of what they believe. I believe in my system, my set of beliefs. I do think that this is the correct thing for me, but for me to say it's not correct for them, that just completely breaks down for me.

[Darren Earlyone]

Well, I think.

[Aaron Witt]

I can't follow it.

[Darren Earlyone]

But I think the tough part is they would tell. They would tell you you're wrong.

[Aaron Witt]

Yes. So that's what I said, and that's fine.

[Darren Earlyone]

So I think so often for me, and I learned this from my mentor Jamie, he says religions are gangs. They're just gangs. Right. The Crips and the Bloods and whoever else. And the 6th street gang. Right. There are these gangs that are trying to prove that their certainty and their perfection and separate from everybody. For me, like, I don't want to be religious and I don't want to convert Muslims to be Christians. I don't want to compute people to be Christians. Here's what I want to figure out. Is Jesus real? Was he real? Was he really the son of God? Is he really the source of truth? Is there a source? Is he the source? That's what I'm seeking. I'm discovering. I believe that he is. How does that work? It's a mystery. How does God do anything that he does? I don't know. It's a mystery. I'm learning it. And here's what I want to do. I want to stay connected to him as the source and walk into this mystery. I want to stay connected to you. As we pursue like, how about this? Could we all agree, let's pursue truth and peace and love and hope and kindness and goodness and gentleness, self control, faithfulness. Let's pursue these things because I think they create a good future.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. And that. But, and that's what I've easily subscribed to. It's like, you know, like, where I'm at is like, was Jesus around or not? I don't know. I don't know. Like, I don't know if anybody knows nowadays. Like, I don't know. But like, the principles here are very

[Darren Earlyone]

solid, seem to work out pretty well.

[Aaron Witt]

And, and so the, the whether I know or not, like, to me is like, like where I'm at. Like, I don't really know, but I can subscribe to living this way or striving to live this way and really think, like, what would Jesus do? Well, he probably wouldn't, you know, swear at grandma when I'm in traffic when she cut me off, you know, it's sure. But, but it's like, it's this, I think, beautiful operating system that is, to me, it makes perfect sense.

[Darren Earlyone]

It's kind of like a connection worldview.

[Aaron Witt]

Yes, yes. And it's this. Abundant, abundant. And don't judge history. Be kind. And like these very sound human principles that I am more than on board with. I'm like, this is really something. And, and the more I've leaned into it, the better I've become. And, and, and in, in like

[Darren Earlyone]

a human type way.

[Aaron Witt]

In a human type way. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah. Well, it drives you to your next point of the connection worldview, which is fallibility, failure, as opposed to perfection. Right. Abundance, mystery, fallibility. How do you learn anything in life?

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. Eat, you fail. Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

How'd you learn to walk? I failed.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

How do I learn to eat? I failed. How did I learn to speak whatever language I'm speaking poorly. How did I learn to be a communicator? I was bad at it. I failed. Like, so, like, if I can embrace, here's the worldview. There's an abundance. I'm connected to the source. It's a mystery. I'm not sure how it works. So with mystery, what do I choose? Like surrender and faith. So I live by surrender, faith, reliance. And I'm not going to know perfectly. There's a mystery about it. So I can actually stay connected to you. And we're figuring out then, failability. We're going to fail. We're going to learn. The whole process is just failing and picking yourself back up, learning Growing, learning, growing, learning, growing. And so like I don't have to separate from you when you drive your car into the, into the, you know, your proverbial wall of life. Oh my gosh. Aaron effed up big. No one call him, ignore him. Failure. It's like no, that's part of guess what he disturbed did he probably just had an opportunity to learn a massive thing in life.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

And guess that's what we do. We learn another. A word for that would be fate would be hope. I'm learning. And whenever I learn something, guess what I gain more? Hope. So abundance, mystery, fallibility. Last one is others focused, which is love, faith, hope, love. And the greatest of these is love. That I think is the invitation we have of how do we begin to decouple ourself from the game this world's playing. The game that you're probably playing within your business, right? The game that's driving you to cope with alcohol and drugs and spending and sex and porn and overworking and whatever it is. Because you're trying to make sure you get enough. Because there's not enough. You're trying to make sure that you're doing it right and better than everybody else. You're trying to make sure that you're putting perfect and all you do is you're just self consumed in everything you're doing or and keep doing it. Because guess what? The mass, mass majority of the world is operating under that premise potentially as human beings, not human doers. We could step over here and go, well could it be possible that there's actually a source? Yeah, I could actually make a pretty good point about that one. If there was a source of all things, could I actually be connected to that? Would that bring in abundance? Yeah, actually it would. Okay, well cool. Now do I need to actually understand how all that works? No. I can embrace a mystery and walk into faith. Okay, cool. Well then what about the fact that you're going to screw it up a bunch? That's okay because that's how I learn. Like that's called grace. That's called hope. That's called learning. And if I could let go of those things, maybe I could actually say, hey, guess what Aaron, it's you and me. Let's stay connected, work for the betterment of all of us as we walk in this connected worldview. And maybe because we're actually human beings that are given the charge and a calling to create the future, we could create a better dirt world one person at a time. Because we're operating from the from what I would actually say is the way we were created to actually function.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

It's fixing the factory defect and coming back to actual factory specs.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

For me, over the past year, this has transformed the way I see everything in my life.

[Aaron Witt]

It's really, I mean, it makes perfect sense. And like, funny enough, that's been the exact path I've been walking for about, yeah. 15 months or so since the beginning of last year. It's so funny, like, just that whole thing I was thinking earlier, just before you got here, even failure. We talked about it in the executive meeting today. But it's been, it's been so funny because again, I've been, I've been at it for enough years now where there's like, enough of a data set.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

But since I started this publicly at 22 and now I'm going on 31 this weekend, maybe I don't even.

[Darren Earlyone]

You start to just this weekend, maybe. Is it your birthday?

[Aaron Witt]

What day is it? Is it the 20th?

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah. February. Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

So my birthday's Sunday.

[Darren Earlyone]

Okay.

[Aaron Witt]

But you just kind of forget. Like, I, I, I didn't even, I even think about it until today. I'm like, oh, oh, okay. But I, I, so, so I, I've been at it for long. I have messed a lot of stuff up along the way, and it's been really weird because most of my mistakes have been public for whatever reason.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Because in this, in this, in, in some even, even as a business owner, like, your mistakes are public, you know, amongst those that, that are around you.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

And it's such a. Because, and I've been thinking about that because I've had people remark to me, like, wow, it's been, it's just been a, it's been very enjoyable to, to watch you grow and watch the company grow. And I'm like, oh, yeah, I guess. Yeah, it's all kind of been out there, but it's partially by design because it's like, I'm not afraid. That's one thing I'm actually quite, quite good at. I'm good at being like, yeah, I screwed this up. This sucks. That's it. You know, it's, it's, it's, it's. I, I, I guess I've been better at it in business than personal relationships.

[Darren Earlyone]

Okay.

[Aaron Witt]

I can be much better at it in relationships.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

But in business, I've never had a problem just admitting, like, like, one, I screwed this up, or two, I don't know what I'm doing.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah. But I think you strike me as someone who has a ferocious appetite for learning.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. That's not to say it doesn't suck. No, I don't enjoy.

[Darren Earlyone]

No, it hurts like hell.

[Aaron Witt]

It's terrible. Which is why I'm like, well, how do I do better? This sucks. Like, I don't want to do this again. Yeah, but you're going to. Non stop. Stop.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Non stop.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah. Hopefully you don't implode your whole life. Yeah, right. There are some failures that are tough to come back from. I saying there aren't. There's not real damage and shrapnel things that happen from failures. Like it's. I'm not. This is not some pie in the sky. Everything's perfect. Like it's hard, it sucks, right? But it, but hiding from it or resisting it, like it's a guarantee you're not going to do anything perfect. Now, hopefully every year around the sun, right, you get a little bit better and you realize, hey, maybe you don't walk that close to the, to the cliff. Right. Because last time I fell off. That's wisdom. Yeah, right. And I was reading a book earlier this year, don't remember which one it was. And the guy talked about that you really ever, rarely ever meet an 80 year old that's really mid. Right. When you meet an 80 year old, they're either the wisest, nicest, most loving, caring, awesome person you've ever met or they're the most crotchety. Mean, right? Why? Because every day you're becoming. We're becoming every day. So hopefully if we can walk in abundance, mystery, failure and others focus, what happens is as we're connected to the source, we keep growing in wisdom, we keep growing in grace and in love and in joy and all these things. And so by the time we get to be 80, were like, hey, you know what? Like the failures got a little bit more spread out and not quite as massive. And I actually am, I actually have wisdom and how like the word wisdom, I think in the Hebrew literally means skilled at living. I've become pretty skilled at living. I'd like to get to 80 and be like right now at 48, like you're getting ready to turn 31.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

Right. You couldn't write me a check big enough to go back and do my 31st year of life.

[Aaron Witt]

And funny enough, I was just, I was with a bunch of students in their 20s, early 20s, Wednesday.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

You couldn't pay me enough to go back to zero. Yeah. And so that's such a funny remark when people are like, what I would do to go back to. Like, that's not how my life has worked out. I'm just, every year I'm like, this is only cooler.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yes.

[Aaron Witt]

This is better and better and better. And that's something I admire my father for. Is every year on his birthday or every New Year's he'd be like, this is. Or, or I think it was on his birthdays, like, this has been the best year of my life. Best year of my life. And he would genuinely mean it.

[Darren Earlyone]

Mean it. Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

And it's like, isn't that how it's supposed to be? Like, but, but most people don't live like that. And, and it's so, it's so. And, and, and, and this. Even the certainty in your, your lifespan is so simple. Is so silly in a lot of ways. Like even counting on. Yeah, I should at least live till 74, which I think is average in the United States been declining for men. Go figure. I should, I should have at least 74 years. Like even that assumption could die tomorrow is so silly. Is so ridiculous. It's just like, and then once. But once you start living that way, like it's hard to go back, I guess.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Once you start operating in this world. Because it's so much better. Yeah, it's so much better.

[Darren Earlyone]

I agree. Yeah. That's what I love about, you know, my, the mysterious place where I'm trying to understand more about what I think the Source is from what he's revealed to us is the crazy part is that he loves us so much that he's given us so much free will that he's like, you don't have to do it this way. If you want to stay, you can stay separated. And most people do. Yeah. Why? Because they want to rely on their knowledge of good and evil and they don't want to surrender because they don't trust the Source. And there's some good reason from what I feel like religion has put out in the world of why people would be like, I don't trust God. Right. And that's fair. My invitation would be maybe just step back into the mystery and see where it guides you.

[Aaron Witt]

You.

[Darren Earlyone]

But the beauty of it is if there is actually a source that created it all, you got to get there. Once you get there. Like, how about this? If the Source is willing to teach you how to do it, I think

[Aaron Witt]

like, why, why not?

[Darren Earlyone]

Why not? Yeah, like, oh, because I want. I'm a self made man. I'm doing my own. Well, I don't think so. It doesn't seem to be working very well for us.

[Aaron Witt]

No.

[Darren Earlyone]

So, like, oh, well, if there's a source, why don't I get connected? Stay connected. And here's the good news. In the connection worldview, he never wants to separate. What do you mean? When I fail? Huh? No, you're still there. When I don't even know. Yeah, right. He's still there. That's the best part. Like, hell, yeah, I'm a teacher. Like, that's the invitation. And that to me, that's the greatest thing. It's like, not about, like, I gotta go to church and I gotta do all the right things. I'm never gonna screw up. No, I'm gonna continually screw up and stay connected. That's the joy of it. Because I get to be taught by the source of all life. Like, okay, or I could just try to figure it out on my own. I don't know anything.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

I just keep screwing stuff up and barely learn. I don't know that for me, man, it's brought so much peace and passion in, like, when I'm pursuing. And it's made me want to stay more connected and to be a greater servant of other people, to help them walk that you know as well and discover those things for themselves. Like, and the cool part is like. Like, I keep beginning being given amazing opportunities to step into that, that I can. That for me, I'm like, how the heck is my life? How do I. How am I doing? And it's like, it's this gift. Like, wow.

[Aaron Witt]

It is. It's. I'm in the same boat. But I do right now, I do flip between that more finite worldview because I think that's where the country's been for a very long time.

[Darren Earlyone]

I think that's where the world's been

[Aaron Witt]

and where the world's been for a very long time.

[Darren Earlyone]

Thousands of years.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. Yes. Yeah. But I. I think if you look back to how the country, the United States of America began, it was a lot more in line with that much better system seemed to be. And it's been over because again, it's just the way humanity works over. Over time, it will be eroded. Is just the state of affairs. And. And it's been so eroded at this point. That's like what happens. And that's when I start to spiral a little bit. But then I pull myself out of it was like, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. 1. I don't have any say in that, so can't dictate any of that whatsoever. I am just going to Keep walking this path of being the best individual that I can be and doing my best so that hopefully when the opportunity presents itself, if and when I have the ability to serve in the unique way that I should serve, to hopefully create a better future.

[Darren Earlyone]

When I think you do it every day walking through the halls of buildway here.

[Aaron Witt]

We do, we do that too. Yeah, yeah. On a more micro level. Yeah. I'm a very macro.

[Darren Earlyone]

I get it. I agree.

[Aaron Witt]

I'm a big picture guy. Yeah. And so I'm always thinking, yeah, where's the world going?

[Darren Earlyone]

I understand.

[Aaron Witt]

Which is. It's a blessing and a curse.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah. That's how I live too. What I always have to remind myself of is like whatever grandiose, big macro idea I have, it really doesn't hold a lot of weight. If I can't, I'm to going micro macro in a micro level.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

Serve and love the people closest to me.

[Aaron Witt]

Well, and, and that's a great, a great call out. That's where it all starts. And, and, and, and I think making a difference in the world, it's just one person at a time.

[Darren Earlyone]

I agree.

[Aaron Witt]

There's no, there's no way to scale that. There's no easy way to do it. It's just one individual at a time. That's it. And you scale it by, you know, making individuals better who then go out and make other individuals better. But it's still, even as it works its way out, it's still just one person at a time.

[Darren Earlyone]

Well, and that's my great hope for the dirt world. Yeah, mine too, is like, human beings create the future. Well, right now, the future of the dirt world looks a little bleak mathematically. Well, the good news is we're human beings that are given the opportunity, the invitation to create a different, different future. And like another one of my friends used to say, businesses don't grow, people do. So we've got all these businesses, but we don't actually have businesses. We just have big clumps of people that get together and do work. We call them businesses, but it's just we've got a bunch of people. We got about 10 million people. And here's the cool thing is like, if all 10 million people just decided, I'm just going to make sure on the Mac Mike micro level that I add value and serve and love the people that I can actually touch. Right. People would grow, people would change. The dirt world become a better place.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

Because the dirt world is relationships. Everything else is just the details.

[Aaron Witt]

When. And that's where again, that's where I've changed my messaging further and further to what if we just take care of ourselves? What if this isn't an external problem at all? And even talking about college like that alone, that's such a silly conversation to have because I have zero impact on the higher education system in America. And it's a multi trillion dollar industry.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah. That's not looking for you to fix it either.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. That wants to keep it that way.

[Darren Earlyone]

Hey, what's Whit done? Get him in here to fix this situation.

[Aaron Witt]

Do, do, do. Like, do I really think I'm gonna make a difference on that? No. Yeah, but I don't need to. That. It's, it's, it's irrelevant. All I need to do is make an impact on those in the industry. And that's what's. Again, it's, it's, it's. It's kind of that, that first model you pointed out, like, well, we need more people. Let's just go get a bunch more people. We just need to bring more people doing. Whereas like, whoa, what if we just cared for the people that we have? Even if we cut turnover in half, what does that do? Well, that gets us a lot better off. Well, why don't we start there?

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah. What if probably the 70. Over 70% of people that are completely disengaged at work and don't give a. At all. What if they really felt cared for and loved and developed and they started giving you 50% more.

[Aaron Witt]

Whoa.

[Darren Earlyone]

work?

[Aaron Witt]

That's that. Yeah. So I, I think like it's, it's very idealistic, but yeah, if you just cared for your existing workforce, they would be more productive. You'd cut turnover. You probably wouldn't even need to recruit the people you think you do.

[Darren Earlyone]

Possibly. Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Pretty wild.

[Darren Earlyone]

And here's, here's my hope. There are, are companies that are starting to get it.

[Aaron Witt]

Oh yeah, there are.

[Darren Earlyone]

I'm getting a chance to work with some of them and I freaking love every second that I get to work with them and seeing the changes that people are making in their lives. Right. What I'm doing in the dirt world, like I've never even been on a piece of machinery. I don't know how to do any of it.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

I'm sure they're probably not going to let me because it's expensive and I could completely jack something up. Fair. Right. Somebody's going to give me a chance to do something. Something anyway. But I'm, I'm helping people change their lives and here's What I. What I think is going to happen is over the course of the next five to 10 years, the companies that buy in, the companies that begin to operate from a more of a connected worldview, the companies that begin to actually say, our greatest resources, people. And we actually are here just to develop the lives of people who just happen to be doing dirt work. Those companies will begin to create the future of the dirt world. They will succeed, they will dominate, they will rise above.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

And the ones that don't will probably cease to exist.

[Aaron Witt]

Yes, that's my hope. There's some regulatory capture. You know, some. Some of the rules are a little. Oh, there's some stuff going on that's like. Well, but yes, that is my. That's my game plan.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Like, that's the way to do it. Just make the companies that want to care for their people better.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

It's not that hard. It's hard. It's. It's not that. It's not that complicated. It's simple.

[Darren Earlyone]

Very simple.

[Aaron Witt]

It's hard.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. So it is hard.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

And it will take a long time,

[Darren Earlyone]

but because dealing with people is really hard, that's the most difficult thing you ever do.

[Aaron Witt]

Well, well. And it requires change. And change requires the turnover of a generation, typically. And so some of it is just time. Like, you know, I even had a conversation the other day. He's like, how do I get these. Some of these. These older guys to buy in? I'm like, well, you can do your best, but the reality is some of them are just not going to buy in.

[Darren Earlyone]

Sure.

[Aaron Witt]

A lot of them are just not going to buy in. True. I talked with a big, big contractor, very, very recognized, very successful, kicking ass when it comes to building a whole next generation within their business. Dramatically different. Their senior leader said, we've turned over every senior executive position within the past five or 10 years.

[Darren Earlyone]

Really,

[Aaron Witt]

the whole top of the organizations turned over.

[Darren Earlyone]

Over.

[Aaron Witt]

Which is, I think, what also needs to happen. Yeah, I think there's just also, like, it's optimistic to think that the previous generation is going to come on board. And some of them are.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

But some of it is just. It's just going to be attrition, and there's also going to be big companies that don't get it, that will not get it, that are not set up to get it. They will, they will go away at a certain point. And that's. And you have these new companies coming in up like a blue sage, for example. They're not that old in the grand scheme of things, like, you. You used to have to have 75 years of experience to, you know, to. To become a sizable construction company. They're not that old in the grand scheme of things. Dude, they're cleaning house. They're kicking ass. And sure, they have their problems, like, any. Any company. We have our problems. You have your problems, this and that. But that's a great example, too, of, like, there's this whole other generation that's not encumbered by this way. We've always done it. Holy shit.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Fasten your seatbelts, because they are about to move faster through the industry than any company has in a very long time.

[Darren Earlyone]

One I spent, you know, I was out. I go out. I spend every other month, I go out and spend a couple days with their team. And this was cool. This year, they decided that they were going to invite 17 of their superintendents to be a part of our training program with Road Collective. And after the first day, Dylan had somebody come up to him and say, hey, I just want to say thank you for today. Because never in my life have I had a business, my job, ever invest anything in me for my sake. Like, I've been sent to training to run this better or do this better or perform better for the company, but, like, you know, for you to invest in me, for my life to be better. Yeah, they were like, I've never. That's never happened in my life. Like, thank you. You know, for him, it's like, you know, brought the people. I'm not saying everybody has to do this, but for him, like, he's bringing the team over to his house, they're having lunch together. Like, you know, I mean, all this stuff, and it's like, when you look at that and I hear this, you know, often, well, we don't have time to take people off the job and do these different things. It's like, like, okay, but tell me this. You took a day for this person. It was like 90 minutes with me, another hour, and like, a small group thing. And the rest of the time they were getting trained on how to actually develop people through build wood and proof and walking away going, this business is different. They care about me. They're. They're going to invest over the next eight months. They're going to help me become the best person I can be at work, but at home and at play for. For potentially no impact, too. Like, they're not teaching me to be a better operator. Yeah, like, you're telling me that the rest of the, like, 90 minutes with me, you're telling me that for the rest of the time that month that person's not going to be more engaged, they're not going to work harder, they're not going to feel like they care more for the company and they're not going to care for them or the relationships around them. Like it's going to transform. But it's like, like in, you know, and I'm seeing it in the lives of the, of the team at Blue Sage. Are they perfect? No. Will they ever be? No. Why? Because failure is how they learn. They're going to fail. They're not going to be real sure how the things work out and how they don't. But I can tell you they sure as heck are connected to the source and they're going, we'll just keep going because guess what, there's an abundance of opportunity out here.

[Aaron Witt]

But that, and that's what we counsel with Bill would improve is like, okay, cool. Your operators are the world best, which I'm sure they're not. Because I've never seen, I've never seen a whole company of the world's best operators doesn't exist. But you're saying you don't want to invest like in your people's mental well being, in their physical well being.

[Darren Earlyone]

Right.

[Aaron Witt]

In their financial well being. Like to me it's like, isn't that common sense?

[Darren Earlyone]

I, I seems to make a little sense.

[Aaron Witt]

Right, Seems to make sense. But, but I'm, I'm, I'm now to the point where it's like if somebody wants to, to be poopy pants and Les, like, well, you know, we don't have time for this. I'm like, okay, okay, that's fine. Yeah, that's okay. You keep doing what you're doing and keep expecting the results you're getting. I hope you, I hope you like the results that you have because that's,

[Darren Earlyone]

that's what you're going to get.

[Aaron Witt]

That's what you're going to get. At best, it potentially could go down, probably will go down. I'm just going to go to Blue Sage and I'm going to keep trying to make them better. Yeah, that's kind of all we need to do now. Like we've kind of got the people we need. It's not a mystery anymore. Like it started to shake out a little bit even with Dirt World. It's like, that's a pretty good place to start. I can just look at the attendee list. I'm like, this is a good list to Talk to. These are the companies.

[Darren Earlyone]

Those are your early adopters. Right. Huh.

[Aaron Witt]

It's incredible. And like, that's not how we intended it.

[Darren Earlyone]

No.

[Aaron Witt]

But here we are.

[Darren Earlyone]

And they're going to be the most innovative companies anyway, because the people who run them, they have an early, adoptive, pioneering type of mindset. Right. They can see it. And the companies that create the future are led by leaders who can see it before anybody else does. And those leaders can.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

And I don't think you're correct. I mean, beating your head against the wall to try to help someone who is a pastor, perspective type leader get it. They're not.

[Aaron Witt]

No, I've. Well, I've. I've. In my conversation the other day, I've learned this through dealing with people that. That are alcoholics or addicts. I have no ability to get them to. To stop drinking. Are you kidding me? Zero. That I. I can help. I can do my part, but to think that's in my hands is wildly misguided.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah, Correct.

[Aaron Witt]

And so I can, again, do my part, but that's all I can do. It's on them. And it's the same thing with the previous generation. And the way they want to go into the future, it's like, if they don't see it, I'm going to do my best, but I don't need to beat my head against the wall.

[Darren Earlyone]

No.

[Aaron Witt]

Because it's just.

[Darren Earlyone]

And they may be mid. The whole bell curve of early adopters. Mid adopters, late adopters. They might be late adopters. And if they come late to the party, well, that's great. Welcome to the party. We're glad you're here.

[Aaron Witt]

Come on down. Let's go.

[Darren Earlyone]

But what opportunity cost is lost in that process.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah, well. And. And I'm also going to be like, all right, if you really don't want to get on board, I'm going to help everybody else in your region, your market that wants to get on board. And we're going to eat your lunch because we don't have time for this anymore. We've got to get on with the program. And I love that you've been doing it for 103 years, and. And I love that you have so much fucking money and this and that and planes and all this. That's. That's great. But we have a future to build, and I don't have time for this anymore, so can you just take your money and get out of the way? Like, that's. That's all I tell people, too. It's like, dude, I don't fault you for doing what you're doing. I, If I were in your position, I'd be doing the same shit. I'd be just like, like, nah, I'm just gonna keep the train on the tracks. This is pretty good. Because it is pretty good.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

But just, just don't get in the way. Like sometimes they're in the way of progress and it's like, hey, that's when I start to have a problem.

[Darren Earlyone]

That makes sense. Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

I don't, I'm, I don't have time for that anymore. If you're in my way, it will be a problem. I will, I will do everything to make it a problem. And maybe right now I can't make it a problem. But I'm only taking this thing in one direction. This is only going in one way. And I will make it a problem for the greater good. Because we've got to do this in a different fashion. But that it made sense to me, perfect sense to me while reading a book not too long ago. It's. Instead of criticizing the model, the existing model that's not working, make this better model that's just so much. Obviously more effective. And so, and this has been. I talked to Randy about this. It's like, I'm not going to sit here and criticize some guy that's 63 and say, hey, you've been. You're doing it wrong.

[Darren Earlyone]

Right.

[Aaron Witt]

Because he's going to be like, fuck you. I've been doing this for 43 years.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

And it's actually worked out pretty good.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

See that plane over there? Yeah. Do you have a plane? No, I don't. Okay. Well, than kick rocks. You know, which, which I get. It's like. Yeah. But I think we can all admit that it's not working anymore or else we wouldn't have these like very, very bright flashing red lights all over the place from a health score indicator within the industry.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

And so let's go build this much better model that proves that previous model completely obsolete.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

So instead of criticizing that old model, I'm just gonna go all in on this new model, which is kind of what we've been doing all along. But I'm trying to align my messaging with that.

[Darren Earlyone]

And I think there's a part of it where another one of my mentors, a guy named Irwin McManus, I remember him saying this to me. Not to me personally, but to a group of people that I was in that you can't sustain a world changing movement that is against something yes, exactly. Anti movements eventually have a timeline because once you win, you don't have a movement anymore. We were just against that. So to come and can be like, we're against the old model in the, in the dirt world. Well, once you change it, then what are you. Well, we're done. And you spend all your time pissed off, making people mad, fighting battles that don't matter, like trying to change the

[Aaron Witt]

educational system, which is what I've done plenty of.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah. Which, you know, failure, you learn hope. But going like, okay, we bless you, man. You know what? Thank you. Thank you for creating what you created that have allowed us to see how we can make this better. We appreciate what you have done. We can honor the past and we don't have to throw rocks at you like you're saying, but if you could just leave us enough space here, we're going to create something that we're for. This is what we're for. This is what we're for in the future and this is what we're. We are not going to compromise on moving towards creating this future. You know, we bless you, we thank you. We'd love to help. If you want to come over and be a part. Wonderful. But we're not going to, like, I'm not going to pick the fight.

[Aaron Witt]

No, no. And I, I have more gratitude than ever before for the generation that got us here.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

It's unbelievable where we are, but it's like, okay, give me the baton and if you don't give it to me, I will take it. There's only two ways we're going to do this, so just give it and we've got it. Like, let us run with it now. We can do this. And thanks to you, you got us here. Now let us do it. Let us take it from here. Because there's a better way to do this for this period of time. It's not to say how you did it was wrong, but how you did it doesn't apply today's world anymore.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah. I think there's a part there too, of like, how can you innovate that new path, but yet build on all the wisdom of the past? Right.

[Aaron Witt]

I'm begging for that. Yeah, I'm begging for that every time.

[Darren Earlyone]

Let me stand on your shoulders.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah, but, but, but sometimes it's just not possible. Sometimes they're either too crotchety for that. There is that. There's that subsect. They, they, they sometimes just leave. And I don't blame them. They're just so burnt out after grinding for 40 years, they're just like, bro, I'm going to Florida.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

I don't blame them. But that sucks because it's like, bro, like, we need you right now. Like, this is where we need you the most. And I know. I know you want to go play golf. I get it. Play golf three days a week, but give us four. Like, you don't have to work five. But, like, come on. Yeah, we've got. We. We need you more than ever. And so I want to do that. But to think that that's going to be everybody is. Is very naive.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can't take everybody with you. Right?

[Aaron Witt]

No. And some people, frankly, a lot of things have gotten better. For me, the more people have retired, like, sometimes I'll know there's somebody in the way at a company. Okay. Three years go by, they're out. Rub my hands together, like, let's go.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

I told them. Or I. In my head, I'm like, I've got more time than you do.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

And sometimes it does take that.

[Darren Earlyone]

Well, I mean, I love that quote that Jason, you know, said. I think he said it on with you. And he also said it on. On my podcast last week, where the moment when he came to work with Build Whip, he came home from his meeting trying to get a seat at the table at the company was at trying to sell them on this new vision. And as I think it was his wife. No, it was Dan. Dan Briscoe said, how long are you going to be disappointed before you decide to make a change? And, man, that was, you know, a million tons of truth for him. Of like. Yeah. And that. I think, you know, what you're saying is you're seeing some of the perspective of waiting people out or, you know, you know, building with the people that want to get on board. Is there's a part where it's like, you know, how are you going to be disappointed? Before you say, well, we'll just go with a little bit of a different tactic here.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. And. And I try. I'm trying to spend less time in that world now because it is disappointing. And I'm trying to spend. Like, you go to Dirt World, for example, and you walk into that room like, you can't feel pissed off.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

You can't feel bummed out.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

You can't not be incredibly optimistic for the future.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

And I'm trying to spend more time there with the people that get it now, the people that are happy to have us out, inviting us and this and that. And it has changed a lot, but some of it was time as well. It just. It did take some time to position ourselves in the way we are.

[Darren Earlyone]

Well, I told you last night, I loved the moment when I was, you know, last month when I was out with Blue Sage and one of the guys that they've tapped to kind of do some training and development, you know, like a year ago, he was not on board. And it made me think about the video series you guys showed at the summit this year, you know what I mean? Of just how it could work on the job site. And I walk into their office in Beaver, Oklahoma, and it was like, it was pre planned, but it wasn't like, I walk in, he's the first office, and he's sitting there at his desk and he's got one of the Bill Whit and Prove videos on about how to drive a dozer, different, whatever. And he's like. I was with their chief development officer, Wyatt. He's like, hey, Wyatt, Darren, come here, watch this. And he's got it up on the screen. He's like. And it was something about some GPS device on things you could program. I don't know what it was. I'm too dumb about that. But he explained it to me. He was like, check out this video. He's like, I think our machines will do this. I knew it did this, but I didn't know it did this. And if we could train people to do this, you know how much time and effort it would save and how much this would be better, blah, blah, blah. And it was like, so comical, but like, awesome to me of watching it happen real time. If here's a guy that was like, what are we gonna have? These stupid videos, you know, I'm the best, great operator. I'll be the one that, you know. And then him being like, dude, this. This could change the way our whole team operates. And, like, I don't have to, like, talk to him about it. I can show them on the video how to do it. And like, so to watch it go from like a pessimist to, you know, comes to dirt, world sees it. Now he's got. Now he's the one in charge of bringing it, you know, to the whole blue SAGE team and being like, this is it. And it was just. It was so cool for me to be able to be a part of this journey with you guys for three years now, which I can't believe it's been three years.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

But then to watch it happen real time of somebody being like, the light Coming on and being like, this is an asset. This will help us, you know, and then he's the guy, like, convincing the rest of the team, like, hey, this is the new way we're doing it and it's better and we're going to be better for it. It was cool.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah. Well, I've enjoyed this. I didn't know we'd be talking about the purpose of life. And it's where I tend to go.

[Darren Earlyone]

It's kind of my orb.

[Aaron Witt]

I, I love it. Yeah. Yeah. Yesterday you're like, what's the agenda for tomorrow? I'm like, I don't know. We'll find out. I didn't have, you know, the purpose of humanity on, on the list, but here we are. Here it was. Yeah, yeah, no, that, that's, that's why I love talking with you. I'm really happy you're able to come down and love the message you're getting out into the dirt world. It could not be more aligned with the message that we're getting out into the dirt world. And that's why I love the concept of dirt world. It's like, let's just invite everybody in.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

I, everybody that, that's, that's aligned with us. That shares the same values which I think are, in our values, I think are aligned with the dirt world. Go figure.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

But I think you've been a great example of somebody, you, from the outside in, in, in a lot of ways, so to speak.

[Darren Earlyone]

Very much so. Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

But just is very aligned in what you're doing. Like, come on over here. Because there's a lot that you could do within this world and there's a lot we can do together. And, and it's been great. Like, three years in. I think it's going pretty well, dude.

[Darren Earlyone]

I, I, I'm amazed at how much, how much I love it. Like every single company that I'm getting to work with, the people. I mean, the dirt world is full of just phenomenal, phenomenal people.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

And, man, it's, it's a joy. I love every second of what I'm getting to do. And honored to be back on the podcast with you. Second time. I think we need to get, you need to get like, you know, like Saturday Night Live, when you host, like five times, you get like a robe or something.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

So when I come my fifth time, I'm gonna need some type of patch or something.

[Aaron Witt]

Get you something.

[Darren Earlyone]

Fifth time timer.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah.

[Darren Earlyone]

I'm a two timer, so I'm working.

[Aaron Witt]

Yeah, working towards it. It's been fun to have a lot of people that I've had in the past back on.

[Darren Earlyone]

Yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Because I've gotten a lot better podcasting. I've, I have more experience. Life experience. You have more life experience every conversation. I mean, we could sit down every three months and have a different conversation totally at the, at the rate at which we're learning and experiencing and, and it's, it's, it's a blast. It's, it's so much fun.

[Darren Earlyone]

I agree. Love it.

[Aaron Witt]

How do people find what the heck you've got going?

[Darren Earlyone]

Roguecollectivecoaching.com Super. So there's information on there about what we do. There's a link on there where you can just schedule a 30 minute call with me. Just click the button, schedule a call. We'll jump on a call and see if it's something we could work together and make a difference in your business.

[Aaron Witt]

And then you have alongside Jason, Dirt

[Darren Earlyone]

Theology every other Friday morning on Buildwick Connect. 9, 30, 30 Eastern hour long call. Jump on there. I lead it sometimes. Jason leads it sometimes. Now this year we're inviting lots of other people from the dirt world to, to join and to, to host. That week had some phenomenal people part of that. So yeah, we're on Dirt Theology every other Friday on Build with Connect.

[Aaron Witt]

Awesome. And we'll link that in the description.

[Darren Earlyone]

Heck yeah.

[Aaron Witt]

Super. Darren, thanks.

[Darren Earlyone]

Thanks. Appreciate it.