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The Brian Buffini Show
S2E356 How High Performers Launch Their Year - a Conversation with Jon Acuff
00:32:11
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- [00:03]
A
Welcome to It's a Good Life, the podcast for entrepreneurs where it's all about growing yourself and your business. Here's your host, founder of America's largest business coaching company, Brian Buffini. All right, well, the top of the afternoon, and great to be joined by everybody today. Many of you, obviously, you know who John Acuff is. You've seen him as part of our seminars and part of our events and part of our training in cfsp. And what's happened is, again, through our mutual friend Bill Hampton, a great friendship has formed. And the more I get to know this guy, the better he is, the deeper he is, the more value he has to offer. So, John, we're just honored to have you. Thanks for making the time for us today. And we're going to get a chance to be asked some questions by the coaches later on here. But thanks for joining us today. I really appreciate it.
- [00:51]
B
I'm honored to be here, Brian. The answer is always yes. When Brian Buffini asks me a question.
- [00:57]
A
Well, it's great stuff. We're going to dive in a little bit. I'm going to ask a few questions. You know, this time of year, John, the coaches start digging in. You know, we've got our blitz programs coming. We've got all these things. We're lining up for the new year. But also, this is the time of year when our coaches go into this heavy mode of planning and prepping our clients so they can have a great year. It's been a couple of rough years in the real estate space, and even our clients that are doing well have been, you know, taking on a little water and struggling with it to some degree. So to be honest with you, I've been studying goal setting. I've been at this for 40 years in goal setting, and I never thought I'd learn anything more about it at this stage. I thought I'd read all the books on it. And then here comes Acuff, and I'm like, how do I learn something new about goal setting? That's unbelievable. And then on top of that, all of your development work and all these different books you've created as we're talking here with the coaches today, we know that a successful year doesn't start January 1st. You know, what do we need to do to set ourselves up for success in an upcoming year like this?
- [01:56]
B
Well, I mean, I think. I think of things in simple ways. I love simplifying complex ideas. So the idea of how do I have an amazing year or a remarkable year? I'd boil it down to what I would say are a couple Cs. So you need clarity, you need courage, you need community, you need consistency. And then this last one is obvious. You need coaching. Great, great coaches have great coaches. When you and I talk, when, whenever we get to have dinner out in beautiful San Diego, you're always telling me about who's coaching you, where you're getting extra wisdom from, who you're connecting with. So really it comes down to that. Do you have the clarity about what you're going to do? Is there courage for what's coming? Because it's a big, bold year, especially in real estate. It's never boring in real estate, but it's extra exciting this year because of everything that's happened. Do you have community? Do you have consistency? And is there a coach that's helping you get better? I those five Cs, if you start in that ballpark, you're in a great spot.
- [02:56]
A
Well, obviously, I think, you know, one of the things we do with people is we do these business consultations to help them get clear on what they're trying to find. And then I think courage is the one that is kind of a fresh perspective here for me because we have a great community. You know, we have tens of thousands of people in community. We have community groups that meet every month. They have community with their coach. The consistency we, I mean, that is the day to day job of every coach at Buffini Co. Is helping people be consistent and then that's what they're doing as a coach. But when you say the courage for what's to come, give us your insights on that. Because I just think it's kind of an older concept. It's kind of something we don't really talk about much anymore. But when you think about courage for what's coming, what does that mean to you?
- [03:39]
B
Well, I just see a lot of high performers. And if you're part of this coaching network, you're a high performer because they're so good at some things, the new things they have to do. They sometimes judge that initial discomfort as something must be wrong. And what I'm saying about courage is the only way to know you're outside of your comfort zone is if you're uncomfortable. Like that's actually a sign that you're headed in the right direction. But sometimes people go, oh, wow, I feel afraid, I feel uncomfortable, I feel discouraged. And then they want to stop. And what I'm saying is, no, you should go ahead and know. I, I'm going to feel this way and that's actually the appropriate feeling because I'm doing things I haven't done before. If I'm stretching, I'm trying things I've never done before. I'm going to need extra courage in that moment because I know there's going to be challenges, I know there's going to be obstacles. And that's what I mean by courage is almost pre planning it. So say like I'm not going to wait until I'm in the moment to stir it up. What would it take if it was December, if it was January 15th, whatever day you're kind of leaning into your year, I know I'm going to need more courage in February. I know I'm going to need more courage in March. There'll never be a day where I wish I had less courage. So knowing that ahead of time, not just the planning, not just all the things we put together detail wise, how do I pre plan some extra courage for those moments where I'll be so glad I went ahead and packed it for the journey, not waited until the moment was overwhelming and then thought, oh, I got to stir up some courage and it's even harder.
- [05:11]
A
So it's been interesting and let's talk a little transparently here. You and I have had a chance to have a lot of meetings about a lot of conversations. You know, you're this nine times New York Times bestseller as speakers who are on the circuit, you're booked as much as anybody needs or wants to be. And you've decided to go and build a business which 99.9% of speakers don't do. And we've had a chance to connect on that because 30 years ago I made a decision not to do the speaking thing, but to build a business. And the speaking came out of that. What's interesting for me is I'm in the middle of, after 30 years of doing this, rebuilding my business, it's funny you talk about this courage piece because you have to get over if you've been doing business a long time, you have to get over, oh my gosh, I got to redo this again. Or oh my gosh, that's broken. Or oh my gosh, we got to do that. And I've gone from kind of the five stages of grief to almost back into the same spot you're in, which is I'm now I feel like I'm back in a startup. I feel like I'm back in that entrepreneurial journey. And once I have that mindset now I have the courage for it. Like I'd say, okay, as opposed to, I'm looking in the rearview mirror of regret. I'm looking out the windshield of it. So you have walked away from what was a superbly comfortable lifestyle. You're hugely regarded in the speaking circuit. You've had all these books. You have the publishers lined about the door to stuff your pockets with money to write a book. You're a great writer, and yet you'd made a decision to go do something different. So maybe you could talk a little bit autobiographically about your own courage and what you've done specifically. How do you go through it? How do you go through the fear, like the doubts that have crept into your mind? How have you had the courage for the job that you're now doing?
- [06:49]
B
Well, somebody asked me the other day how I handle criticism. And my. My answer was initially poorly, and then I get better. But my first response, so if you said, how am I doing brave things? I'd say in a terrified way. But then I get to the bravery. So I just think, Brian, one of the things I've noticed about people in their 40s and 50s is that oftentimes they think they're burned out, but I would say they're bored. I know more people who are bored than burned out. We did a study for one of my books where we asked 3,000 people if they're living up to their full potential, and 96% of them said no. 96%. So they knew they were capable of more, but they didn't know what to do with that. And so my own journey, I came to that spot. I came to a spot where I felt like I was going to get bored. I felt like I was rusting a little bit. I felt like I hadn't been challenged, I hadn't been doing brave things. And it's challenging to kind of willingly leave your comfort zone. I always say, like, you can change via one of two ways, a crisis or a choice. And, man, the choice is better. I don't want you to need a rock bottom to change your life dramatically. If you. If you get. If you get to it, like a crisis or a choice, I'd much rather you choose it. And so I felt like, okay, let me choose this. Let me work with our mutual friend Bill Hampton, and let me see what we can do together. Let me try to expand the things we do. Let me learn how to be a leader, Brian. I mean, the reality is I've been an individual contributor to. For the first 11 years of my business. In the last year, I've I've started to take some baby steps into learning leadership. And wow, it's given me great empathy for every boss I ever had that was, you know, had a knucklehead named John Acuff, you know, that didn't know what it was like to be led. And so now as a leader, I'm getting to learn new things and it's challenging and the idea of the buck stops here. But I would just say one thing you said to me that meant a lot. I, I remember you said, there's a lot of entrepreneurs who say, well, I don't want somebody's livelihood based on me when they have to make that jump. And it feels scary to go, I'm a solopreneur and now I'm going to hire people I don't want. That's a lot of pressure. And you said, well, the reality is, if you're a family man, you already have that pressure. You have kids that depend on you or spouse that depends on you. Why are you not worried about that too? Like, adding the other person who you don't really know. That's the lighter pressure. Like, and that for me was an eye opening moment of, okay, I'm already doing some brave things. Brian pointed. I'm already supporting Jenny and Ellie and McCrae, and I want to see if I'm capable. And so for me, when people say, because I've had friends say, why do this? Why go to all this trouble? Why don't you just do 50 speaking events a year, write a book every two years. Why do this? And I always push back and say, well, ask a bird why it still flies. Because it's a bird. Like, ask a horse why it runs. Like, I can't imagine a world where Brian Buffini goes, you know what? We, we helped enough people like the idea like you. If there's a thing Brian Buffini will never say to me, it will never be like, hey, John, I helped all the real estate agents that needed help. Like, I can. I'm done. Like, you will never say that to me. What you'll say to me is, there's a new one entering the market today and I'm betting on her. And I want to give her the coaching and the tools to really thrive in this. I don't know her yet. She might be in Omaha, might be in Chicago, but I'm going to keep creating this company to serve that person. You're not. There's no world where at 70, you go, yeah, I think I'll just do golf. I think I'LL watch Law and Order, SVU reruns. Like, that's not happening because you're built to serve. And so when I got to the edge of what I felt like was me kind of getting bored and me kind of being, like, playing small, I chose to change versus waiting for a crisis.
- [10:30]
A
Well, it's so good. It's so good. And I'll just speak autobiographically myself, where I, a hundred percent, had gotten to the point where I was burned out. And I thought I was burned out because of volume and pressure, and I was actually burned out because I was disconnected. I was disconnected from my staff and disconnected from my customers. And that's where the burnout came from, that level of boredom. And the truth of the matter is, what's invigorated me like no other. Like, I candidly, like, I'm more lethal right now than I've ever been as an entrepreneur. Why? I don't need the fame, and I already have the fortune. So.
- [11:03]
B
Okay, that's a dangerous man. That's a dangerous man, Right?
- [11:07]
A
So I don't really care what people think of me, and I've done well. And now it's like I am pouring myself into my staff so they can pour themselves collectively into our members and our customers. And then I'm finding new and innovative ways to bless our clients. I mean, I'm. I'm fired up. In fact, I'm excited. I can't wait for you to come and join us. In January 22nd, we found this innovative studio out of Vegas that is unreal. You're going to be blown away. Of all the presentations you've been a part of, you and Henry Cloud and myself. And then we're bringing in Ken Coleman to kind of squeeze the orange and make the orange juice flow between the three of us so people can have a great year. But, like, here's the studio. I've done 2,500 seminars, and now here's this studio where we have this live audience. We'll have 25,000 people join virtually, like, not even like this, John. It's like they come full screen. You're connecting. You're looking them in the eye, and they ask a question. It's like the most intimate communication. And it's just like, it's gotten me so jacked up about presenting again and interacting again. And so, by the way, thanks for doing that. It's going to be great. Let me ask you this. What's the feeling like now you've stepped in, You've stepped into this entrepreneurial endeavor. And your background's not built for you, right? Your dad was a pastor. You've worked in jobs for years. You did become a solopreneur by doing the books and doing the speaking. How does it feel right now when you get out of bed every morning now that you got. You got a payroll to meet, you got training programs, you got all this stuff going on? What does it feel like for you now?
- [12:35]
B
I would say it feels scary and exciting. Scary on the one hand, where I'm getting asked questions I don't know the answer to. Like as a speaker, I know the answers. Like, I learned that set of questions over 12 years. And just like you doing the road. And so I know all those answers. And so I'm getting asked questions I don't know the answer to. I'm making mistakes. And, you know, somebody said that to me the other day. They said, okay, well, how's the leader? How do you make sure you always know what to say in the moment? I said, I don't. I often have to apologize the day after. There's no playbook where you have the whole playbook for humans. Like, no, you're gonna, you're gonna blow it. And so I'm learning, you know, on the back end how to go, oh, hey. And then, Brian, I'm just learning really small things that I wouldn't have learned unless I got in the trenches. An example would be recently, my team was like, hey, we want you to review this thing. And I didn't need to review it. And how I said that was, I don't care, I don't need to see it. And you want to deflate a team? Tell them I don't care about a thing they've worked hard on. Yeah, you're working with me. You know what I should have said? I trust you to make the expert decision. I trust you because you've done such a good job on this. Same exact result, completely different feelings with your team. So now I feel like in a year or two, I'll be able to write a leadership book. And I feel also like a lot of people. You know, I always joke, you can always tell when somebody's never led. They've just written a leadership book and you go, oh, those ideas are great until they bump into humans and unfortunately they're everywhere.
- [14:04]
A
Or it's like, you know how many times in my 30 year career putting on events that I hired a leadership speaker? And while I was backstage, I'm going, that person's never let anything. Like, it was obvious I'm like, you can tell how it works, brother.
- [14:17]
B
You can tell. So even in my moments of fear, I'm excited about the, the depth that's coming with it. I'm excited about the. My, my. I'm learning how to say I need help. Like, I, you know, I didn't hire Bill to help because I'm perfect and have it all figured out like, I need help. And so even saying that, because again, ego wise, I had my two little pieces of my business dialed in and now I feel like I'm learning how to walk again. And that requires help. It acquires experts.
- [14:45]
A
Well, I'll tell you something interesting in my own biography here, and I haven't even had a chance to update you on this. Never was it in my intention that any of my kids would ever come work at the company. We always champion them to be their own person. Dad has a big shadow. Be your own person. Find your own gifts. Do the thing that God's called you to do in the last 120 days. As of today, four of my kids now work for the company.
- [15:07]
B
Oh, wow.
- [15:08]
A
And one of the reasons is they're bringing their gifts. They went outside and they used their gifts in other places. And now what's happening is they see that a, there's great opportunity. They believe in the mission. They've always believed. They've grown up with it since they were babies. But now they see dad needs help. And it's the first time that my kids have ever seen dad needs help. You know, I'm rebuilding an organization, we're rebuilding our mission. We're refocused on things, and things are coming together fabulously. I mean, we've had the best August and September we've had since 2019. But my kids see a vulnerability with their dad they haven't seen as a leader before. Because I was always 10ft tall and bulletproof, right? So one by one, my kids see, okay, he needs help. I can contribute. I want to be part of it. And out of nowhere, out of nowhere, a 30 year business that I've actually built in such a way so that my kids would never work for me. And now they're all coming out of the woodwork. And it's a fascinating thing. It's a fascinating thing.
- [16:02]
B
Are you guys bringing it home? I know because we're friends. Family dinners are an important part of your life, of your ecosystem. Has it changed? The family dinner, meaning they're bringing stuff to the table and going, hey, dad, that thing we tried today.
- [16:17]
A
Because my kids know how I've Been wired for so long, you know, I think about this stuff all the time, and so on, so forth. And my bride does a great job of creating that safe haven. We got great boundaries and we have great connections and we have that Irish sensibility around the dinner table. So there's a lot of in Ireland where you say the word crack, you know, it's fun, it's humor. It's as loyal as my kids are to me when I get home, man, they're, they're. They're going to cut that up as good as anybody.
- [16:42]
B
You know, it's back to dad mode.
- [16:44]
A
So. Yeah, and we've really made a commitment not to, you know, because. And here's one of the beautiful things about it. They all report to different leaders in the organization. So at the end of the day, I'm not gonna have a conversation with them. Cause I don't want to undermine the person they report to. Because it's like, hey, no, they have their own person, they have their own career, they're earning it in their own right. They've all started in the entry level spot and then are killing it as they're doing it. But they all have a boss who's not me.
- [17:09]
B
Oh, sure, good point.
- [17:11]
A
Yeah. So, no, that's good. But it's an interesting thing. And if you'd have told me six months ago all the different dynamics and the changes in the whole thing, including this, I would never have thought it was possible. So I think one of the things as a leader is we always think we have to have all the answers. The second pressure is we always have to be right. And the third thing is we don't have to say, hey, I messed up like that somehow, that the whole thing's going to come falling down. It's one of the great problems in our current political class. Because in our current political class, which demonstrates leadership, by the way, they have come to the conclusion you never admit to the mistake, you never concede weakness. So on the news, we know all the channels and all the different media and alternate media that pumps out that's now politically driven. The political class we live in and the world we live in, you never admit to a mistake ever, because you'll be attacked like hyenas. But the truth of the matter in the real world, like you said, it's like, hey, you need to. And I do. I mean, I just stood in front of a thousand of my clients the other day and apologized for certain things that were going on. And my mailbag was overwhelmed by people going, that was so great. I really appreciate that. That inspired me more than anything. We had two days of content, four world class speakers, but me saying, hey, I'm sorry we messed up here was the biggest lesson they got. So you know how it is. You know how it is, you know.
- [18:32]
B
Yeah, yeah. Foreign.
- [18:36]
A
You're joining us January 22nd for this Buffini coaching live. And it's going to be a hoot. It's going to be a great experience. I got you Henry Cloud, myself and Ken Coleman. It's just we could go off to the races. But one of the things in looking at your work, I saw that University of Scranton research that said 92%, you know, people, they set a New Year's resolution that fails, you know, within 10 days. But there's 8% who succeed. No one ever talks about that. No one ever talks about the people who actually succeed. What does it actually take for someone to start the year? Make the commitment, draw the line in the sand. They got the clarity, they got the courage, they got the community, they got the consistency and they got the coach. What does it take to be one of the 8% that actually gets the win?
- [19:16]
B
Well, I mean, I think a big part of it is having the right amount of goals. We did a study where we asked people how many goals they were working on and the average person had 28 goals. And if you try to juggle three balls at a time, it's doable. Five's pretty hard. 28 is impossible. So sometimes what happens, Brian, is people get stuck between optimism and realism. And as a leader, you have to hold what feels like two opposite things in your hands at the same time. The optimism of I can accomplish anything in 2026, and the realism of here's the resources I have, here's the timing I have. Leaders are always holding opposite things. Another one that great people that achieve goals, the 8%, they do one thing, they hold, accept, like uncertainty. They accept the uncertainty of life. Things are outside of my control and they increase certainty. So they do everything they can to increase the certainty of how the business is going to go, how their health journey is going to go. They do all the tools, all the resources, and then at the same time, they accept the uncertainty. Because if you don't, Brian, like one of the soundtracks we say is rigid goals are fragile goals. So if you have a rigid goal where I have to run at the same time every morning, there's days where you and I are running and gunning and we're out in San Diego or you're out In Vegas and you're doing a studio and there's no. Brian gets up quietly at 4am and writes poetry for an hour and listens to his favorite, you know, whatever, and then, like, goes on a long walk with his bride and then stares at the ocean like, no, you're going. You woke up in a hotel that you'd never been to before, and you're going, going, going. But you accept that uncertainty of that day. But you also have a lot of things you've done to make sure that the things go well. So I think that's what people that are in the 8% do, is they make peace with the tension between optimism and realism, and they accept the uncertainty. You told me five minutes ago, six months ago, I wouldn't have thought I'd have these four kids here. Boy, that was a beautiful uncertainty. Hooray. Sometimes they're not. Sometimes it's government shutdowns. I travel for a speech. I have no control over whether TSA goes, nah, we're not doing that today. And I go, oh, I gotta drive to Orlando. Somehow that's uncertainty. But I'm also increasing the certainty because I don't wait till the last second to get to the event. I can control that certainty. So that, to me, is what the 8% do really well.
- [21:37]
A
So I've had a chance to meet with your bride. She's an absolute star, and she's your. If you're the kite, she's the string.
- [21:44]
B
Yeah, yeah.
- [21:45]
A
She's a realist. She's a truth teller. She's a great mom. What does goal setting look like in the Acuff household? How do you guys do it as a family?
- [21:53]
B
It looks like a lot of conversation. I think, you know, you kind of go, what separates a great marriage from an average marriage? Because the norm is average. So I think a lot of it is. We have a lot of conversations. We'll have them on a small level on, hey, what does your week look like this week? Let's talk through what you're doing, what I'm doing, and. And on a bigger level, like, hey, where would you like us to be in six months? And on a daily level, like, I asked her yesterday, hey, what would. What could I do today that would make you feel really loved? And she said, oh, you know, just this kind of thing. And it gave me an answer. And so I think the mistake a lot of high performing people make is that they're very specific about their career goals and very casual about their relationship goals. They kind of hope their marriage is Good. Like jazz, like it just develops on its own. And. And that's not how it works. That is, I always say an awesome marriage is never accidental. It's never accidental. And so for us, I would tell you that Jenny and I don't do the things some people love to do. Like a four day retreat where they go away into the mountains and they rehash all their problems for the year and they plan and that's not what we do. Some people love that. That doesn't work for us. We have a lot more daily touch points, weekly touch points week where we're like, I'll say, what are you praying for our kids? I want to get on board with. I want to pray in the right, the same direction you are. Because talk about something that'll unite goals. How are you praying for Ellie? She's about to graduate college. How are you praying for McCrae? She's a sophomore. So those touch points unite us in a common purpose versus I have my life, she has her life. And then hopefully we connect some way accidentally.
- [23:30]
A
It's interesting, you know, my bride and I, we've done that and we do four days, but we used to do two days away. And then you, six kids and a lot of obligations it became one day. And then we found out it was the Sunday evening meeting and then the Sunday evening meeting would get thrashed a couple of times a month and so on, so forth. And we've learned how to do it, I would say today we've learned how to do it on the fly. We've learned to do it on the flight. Like we were on a flight together not so long ago. And I have something I'm going to watch and she has something she's going to watch. I have a book backup I'm going to read. And you know, she goes, hey, you know, we haven't done this in a while. We just took out the journals.
- [24:04]
B
That's great.
- [24:04]
A
And started working. That flight was the quickest flight we ever had. And I was like, boom. I'm disappointed when the plane landed in Texas and it was like, oh, boy, you know, that 2 hours and 45 minutes just zipped by. So again, now we're married 35 years. So it helps, right? And I think, you know, you talk about this dynamic of this rigid is fragile, like one of the things again, that's great. Today, like, I have interviewed a bunch of people. I have become a morning ritual guy. I have my things I do and, you know, I do my reading, I do my journaling, I work Out, I take a sauna and I jump in a cold pool. I mean, that's my deal. There isn't one of those in Vegas. Okay? There's not one of those on the trip to Colorado on Sunday. I mean, those things get thrown up. And then sometimes it's, you get a call at 4 in the morning and you have to go meet a need and something happens. And so if everything has to go perfect, you're a fragile person. So it's kind of like, all right, what's the one element? You know, for me, I'm big into contemplative prayer. I do a little 20 minute deal. And I may grab it at a, at a completely different time on a totally different. As I got one thing done today. I got one of my seven disciplines or one of the five, whatever it is. And the same thing with the goal setting. Now, one of the things that's interesting and it'll be interesting, we have a bunch of coaches on here today is so we taught a bunch of people how to set goals. We have processes for goals. We do their real strengths, profiles, we know their natural motivators, how to communicate with them, all that kind of stuff. And one of the things that we run into and this will be great also in person. I know you're going to get asked this question on the January 22nd broadcast, but I have a ton of people who've been with me for decades, who've achieved tons and tons of goals, who are now finding it very hard to set a goal. They've achieved more than they ever thought they would. They've checked off more boxes, they've taken the trips, they've acquired the house, they bought the rental property, they've lost the weight, they've done the things. And now when they sit down to write goals, there's a bunch of blank papers staring at them. I'm just curious. And again, just, you know, off the top of your head. You're the king of off the top of your head. What do you tell the people who've been doing it a long time, who've achieved an awful lot, who've been goal setters and goal getters? And now the goals are like, it's like eating arugula. Yeah, I'll do it, but it just, I'm not finding any inspiration there. Sure.
- [26:16]
B
I tell people new seasons deserve new scorecards. If you're in a new season, get a new scorecard, okay? You achieve what you wanted to in the last season with the last scorecard. You got the house, you got The Porsche, you did the thing. Awesome. That's, let's celebrate that. Let's be excited about that. You're in a new season now. What's the new scorecard going to be? And where I see leaders that excel at that is they tend to turn to service. So if you excelled at a thing, they tend to go coach it, they tend to go teach it, they tend to find the next generation and go, man, I didn't get here alone. I had wise mentors that serve me. So Brian, when I talk to a 22 year old, part of that is me passing down what Brian Buffini passed to me. Where I go, hey, you're 24 and you know, I sent a 27 year old five books just the other day. He said, hey, I'm doing this thing I'd really love. You know, do you have a good book you'd recommend? And I sent him five books and you know, because I was like, oh, here's what you should try. So I think if you feel like you're at a season where you've accomplished a things great, like go find a way to teach that to somebody else. Go get connected to people. Few things re encourage you like people. It's the whole he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. And so if you're having a hard time figuring out goals you're excited about because eventually like if you, if money was the goal, you get the money and then you go, what now? If, if the position at the company was the goal, you get to the position, you go what now? And, and I think people are a great answer to the question what now? And if you find yourself in a new season, it's probably time for you to draw a new scorecard.
- [27:51]
A
Well, speaking of new scorecard, I was curious, I kept asking, what's the next book? What's the next book? And you, you started this business, you've been doing all this great stuff, but when I heard you were coming out with a book called Procrastination Proof, as a guy who headed up a coaching company and has had to deal with that head on for decades, you know, talk about this dynamic of procrastination proof and never getting stuck again.
- [28:12]
B
Yeah. So what I've learned over the years is that there's a few problems people will admit to having. They'll say I'm an overthinker, they'll say I'm a perfectionist and they'll say they procrastinate. There's some problems that people go, no, I don't do that even as they clearly do it. And so what I like to do is write about those big, obvious problems, and procrastination is one of them. So for me, if I can get people to recognize they are capable and putting it off is delaying something that could be amazing. In the book, one of the core ideas we talk about is that procrastination isn't a problem. It's actually a solution. It's just not a good one. You could call it coping. You could call it a tool. It's just not the best tool. So people use it because they think, okay, this will get me out of a jam. Like, here's the thing I'm afraid of. So I'll put it off, and procrastination will help me with that. And so what I'm arguing is, no. So I get that you've used it as a tool, but I think there's a better tool that'll actually help you get that thing done. What would that look like? And sometimes we procrastinate because we don't want to feel an array of emotions like shame or fear or guilt. And so we put something off and put it off and put it off. And again, it's a solution. It's just not a great solution. I think there's a better solution. Maybe we could talk about that.
- [29:28]
A
When is the book coming out?
- [29:29]
B
Comes out in April.
- [29:31]
A
Okay. I'm glad you're not putting it off.
- [29:33]
B
No, no, no, I don't. It's funny, Brian. A few years ago, I wrote a book called Finish. And I told the publisher, I want to talk about how I struggle with finishing. And they said, no offense, John, this is book six, so nobody's going to believe you that you have a hard time finishing. And so I wouldn't have written. I couldn't have written this book on book one because I was a procrastinator. But this will be book yet. It's book 11. So I feel good about going, hey, I don't procrastinate. Here's a stack of proof. If you'd like to not procrastinate too. Here's some simple ways to beat it.
- [30:08]
A
Well, we're looking forward to that. And we might have to have you back when the release comes through. We're super fired up about you joining us for January 22nd and being in person and people getting a chance to ask you questions live. So it's. It's a Good Life. All one word. It's a Good life. Dot com. BCL stands for buffini Coaching Live. If you want to register for a VIP seat, you can do that there. And if you want to register for free, you can do that there. We'd love to get your year off to a rocking good start.
- [30:36]
B
Oh, it's going to be awesome. I mean you mentioned boundaries on this, on this interview and guess who we're going to be sitting next to? Henry Cloud, the king of boundaries. So yeah, it's going to. And Ken Coleman's a master interviewer. So what I find is that if you get a handful of people together in the same space, something new happens in that moment because you take one kind of path, another path and it's, it's never the thing you expected. It's always bigger and more detailed and more interesting. So I can't wait to see all those ingredients come together. I'm going to learn a ton. When I get to sit in moments like that, I'm going to learn a ton. I think the audience is going to be really fired up.
- [31:13]
A
Well, we're excited. It's absolutely free. You can tune in. It's buffini.com BCL, the initials BCL, which is Buffini Coaching Live. And you may be one of the lucky ones to raise your hand and ask a question and we'll come right into your living room or your office and right then and there you can talk to Henry Cloud, John Acuff, Ken Coleman and little old Brian Buffini will be there too. So it should be a good time. And I do agree it's going to be a magic experience. I'm looking forward to to. Like I said, I just hope we remember there's an audience cuz I, I expect to get so lost in the moment. It's going to be amazing. So we're so thankful to you for doing it, bud.