S2E362 Behind the Curtain: How to Have a Great Year Buffini Style

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "Behind the Curtain: How to Have a Great Year Buffini Style"

Podcast: It’s a Good Life
Host: Brian Buffini
Guest/Co-host: Anna Buffini
Date: January 6, 2026
Episode: S2E362

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Episode Overview

This lively and heartfelt episode pulls "back the curtain" on how Brian Buffini, founder of America’s largest business coaching company, approaches starting a new year with momentum and resolve. Joined by his daughter Anna Buffini—formerly a top-tier equestrian now working at Buffini & Co.—Brian answers candid questions collected from clients and event VIPs, diving deep into mindset, habits, goal-setting, and maintaining resilience through the ups and downs of the entrepreneurial journey.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Starting the Year With Momentum

• Reflection and Review:
  • Brian emphasizes the importance of reflecting and reviewing the past year, both personally and professionally. He recounts organizing his office and journaling as part of his ritual (03:04).
  • “Read yourself full, but write yourself clear.” – Brian Buffini (04:01)

• Planning and Execution:
  • Plan after reflection. Even a flawed plan, when executed with energy, is better than a perfect plan never actioned.
  • “A bad plan executed violently beats the perfect plan never done.” (05:37)

2. Difference Between Goals and Resolutions

• Define "Resolution":
  • Brian explains that most people don’t set resolutions, and of those who do, very few succeed (07:18).
  • True resolution is about being “resolved,” about having “steel in the structure” for your commitments.

• Commitment and Accountability:
  • Goals must be written, stretch you, and be connected to something you’re willing to “suffer for.” (08:15)
  • “The word passion comes from ‘paseo’ which means to suffer. What do you want to suffer for?” (08:17)

3. Why People Quit and How to Persist

• "Quitter’s Day" & The Habit Drop-Off:
  • Most New Year's resolutions fail by the second Friday in January, as measured by activity drops on platforms like Strava (10:11).

• Developing Habits: • Habits are everything; “You are what you repeatedly do."
  • If you slip, “forgive yourself and move on—start tomorrow.” (12:10)
  • “Success is one day at a time.” (13:45)

4. Finding Joy in the Journey, Not Just the Destination

• Anna's Olympic Dream:
  • Anna discusses pivoting from an Olympic goal, wrestling with guilt and questioning if her ambitions were selfish (14:12).
  • Brian counters: “You don’t know how much is too much until you do too much… It’s not about mythical balance but a balancing act.” (14:21)
  • Most cherished memories often come from the journey, not the achievements.

• Daily Gratitude Practices:
  • Brian shares a new ritual: refusing to put his foot on the floor each morning until he’s prayed and listed what he’s grateful for (17:33).
  • Anna counters negativity by listing 10 things she’s grateful for to “snap herself out” of funks (18:05).

5. Navigating Life Transitions and Identity

• Transition and Identity:
  • Anna publicly shares her decision to end her Olympic pursuit (19:10).
  • Brian addresses the universal challenge of transitioning life roles and detaching identity from achievements or roles: “No one gets out of this without having their identity shook.” (20:06)
  • The practice of non-attachment helps with flexibility, adaptation, and creativity.

6. Resiliency, Grit, and Pushing Through Hard Times

• Life as a Series of Changing Seasons:
  • Be resilient, flexible, and embrace life’s constant changes.
  • “Everything changes. We don’t want anything to change, but that’s the nature of things.” (24:52)

• Patience With the Process:
  • Success comes from sticking to a process—even if you’re not naturally patient, patience with the process is key.
  • “Don’t stop at the 10-yard line.” (29:25)

• Perseverance Over Quitting:
  • Most aren’t aware how close they are to breakthrough when they quit.
  • “The strongest thing I’ve done is become unattached to things.” (21:40)

7. Practical Advice for Kickstarting the Year

• Get Small Wins to Build Momentum:
  • The number one need in hard times is momentum. Start small, set a 10-day goal, and celebrate the win (29:38).
  • “One win at a time. Set a small goal, achieve it, and keep going.” (30:50)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Read yourself full, but write yourself clear.” – Brian Buffini [04:01]
• “A bad plan executed violently beats the perfect plan never done.” – Brian Buffini [05:37]
• “You are what you repeatedly do.” – Brian Buffini [11:03]
• “The word passion comes from ‘paseo’ which means to suffer. What do you want to suffer for?” – Brian Buffini [08:17]
• “You don’t know how much is too much until you do too much.” – Brian Buffini [14:21]
• “I won’t put my right foot on the ground until I start my day with gratitude and prayer.” – Brian Buffini [17:33]
• “No one gets out of this without having their identity shook.” – Brian Buffini [20:06]
• “Don’t stop at the 10-yard line.” – Anna & Brian Buffini [29:25]
• “The number one thing people need is momentum... Set a small goal, achieve it, then set a bigger one.” – Brian Buffini [29:38; 30:50]

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Important Timestamps

• Intro & Setting the Stage: 00:02 – 02:54
• Reflection, Planning, Execution: 02:54 – 06:32
• Resolutions vs. Goals: 07:15 – 09:39
• Why People Quit; Staying on Track: 10:10 – 13:46
• Perfectionism & Guilt in Goal Pursuit: 13:46 – 18:25
• Endings & Identity: 18:25 – 22:03
• Resilience, Adaptation, and Perseverance: 22:03 – 29:38
• The Power of Small Wins & Final Advice: 29:38 – 31:37

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Announcements & Upcoming Events

• Buffini Coaching Live:
  January 22, 2026 – Free virtual event: practical systems for managing the cycle of effort and rest, and breaking psychological barriers (23:06, 31:04).

• Podcast Format Update:
  New "variety show" format set to launch St. Patrick’s Day 2026.

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Tone & Vibe

The conversation is uplifting, candid, and humorous. Brian’s storytelling is rich with Irish wisdom, personal anecdotes, and practical analogies—ranging from golf to horses to "the 10-yard line." Anna’s openness about her own transitions and struggles adds depth and relatability. Their familial warmth and mutual respect shine throughout.

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Recommended For

• Entrepreneurs seeking a motivational, principle-based reset for the new year.
• Anyone looking to understand the why behind resolutions, goals, and the power of habits.
• Those facing major transitions or struggles with identity, perfectionism, or perseverance.

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This episode is as much about “having a good life” as it is about building a good business—small, practical steps taken with resolve, adaptability, and gratitude.

Transcript

[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. Top of the morning to you. Brian Buffini here and can I say top of the year to you. I'm glad you joined me today. We're really excited to get your year off to a super start. In December of last year, we did our bold prediction show from what we call our Buffini Coaching Live. And we had 35,000 people join us live as we did our bold predictions for this year. And we also do something else at these events, which is we have a very special group of VIP guests, couple hundred folks. We do a meet and greet, we hang out, we have a time together the night before, we hang out during the time and then we have a special session after the broadcast is over. And people kept coming up to me. I was. My daughter Anna has recently joined Buffini & Co. And many of you know Anna. I've had her as a guest on the show as part of her pursuit of her Olympic journey as a world class horse rider. And people said, oh, you're joining your dad? I go, she's like, yeah. She goes, I always wanted to hear your dad talk about this. I've always wanted to know this from your dad. And so Anna turned to me at the end of the night, she goes, a lot of people are asking a lot of questions, dad, why don't we do an episode like that? So we thought to start the year off fresh and new and we have all kinds of exciting plans for the show and what we're going to do here. I'm going to introduce you, my co host today, Anna Vafini, who's armed with a bunch of questions that people want to know on how to get off to a strong start. So, daughter.

[B]

Welcome. Hey, dad. I'm so excited to be here with you today. I am very grateful and excited about my new role as a social media manager. I absolutely love it. And yeah, we got so many questions at BCL and we thought this was a great way to actually have you be the star of the show. Put you in the hot seat. It's been amazing to see the inner workings of Buffco. I've seen you come home and heard you talk about work for my whole life, but I've never actually been in the office day to day and it's a really incredible place and I can see why it's done so incredibly. And yeah, we just wanted to see how you think. Pull behind the curtain a little bit and, and get some of your thoughts to people's.

[A]

Questions. Okay. Well, my goal at the end of this is that my daughter still likes me and my wife still wants to stay married to me. So that's my number one objective. And maybe we can help some folks get off to a good.

[B]

Start. Well, it was my choice to.

[A]

Work for you, so that's.

[B]

Good. It's. We're lucky. We're lucky. We're best.

[A]

Friends.

[B]

Yep. Okay. We say this every year, but I can't believe it's already 2026. Every new year feels so exciting and hopeful, but I know entrepreneurs can feel like each year they're starting from scratch. You, though, always seem to hit January with a ton of momentum, and you're just ready to go. How can the rest of us set ourselves up to start like that? And if we weren't prepared, what can we do.

[A]

Now? That's a big one. Obviously, you know, I've mirrored what I do into our coaching program, so we have a season of kind of reflection, reviewing what we do and then planning. And so, you know, me, like, you know, thankfully, you and I are. The older you get, the more like me you're figuring out you are, which is a terrible thing to find out. But, you know, their little OCD I got going on, which is you see me when I've got, when I'm making a change, right. All of a sudden the office gets totally organized. All of a sudden, all the papers gets thrown out, shredded, done. And I go through my phone, I'll go through from January to the end of the year, and I'll go through my phone and I have a little journal and I'll write out things that happen. And last year was a crazy year for me, as you well know. And a lot of business changes, mom passing. Lots of stuff happened in our life, in family and home and business. And so I kind of review that, and then I get settled with that. So even if you're starting the year off and you haven't done that, you had a crazy holiday season, you can still do that. And what I like to do is read myself full, but write myself clear. And so I think that bit of preparation has to happen. You can't just Netflix, binge, watch a bunch of shows and now you're good to go because watching doesn't do any restorative work for the.

[B]

Mind.

[A]

Yeah. And so I, I, I'll think about all the things I review, what I found. Like, I went for a walk on a beach today. You know, San Diego in the wintertime. I hope they keep telling people how terrible California is because, you know, we get these flat sand beaches. I walked for four hours the other day and the reason is I was memo journaling in my phone and I just kept going further and further and further. The next thing I know, I'm. I started in Solana beach and now I'm down in Del Mar and I'm. I went past Dog beach and I went all the way down to Torrey Pines Beach. I'm like, man, I am like miles away from my car. But now I feel very processed and very focused. And I think on one hand, for an entrepreneur, there's an overwhelming feeling like you're starting again. Obviously, in our system, we believe working by referral, that's compounding. So what you did last year should help you in this year. But there's also an excitement to a new year. Like a golfer feels this. A golfer will play golf. And you've taken up golf now and, and you have a terrible nine holes. Well, you hit the 10th tee box and for some reason it's like, it's a new.

[B]

Day. New day. It's true. So much.

[A]

Hope. Or you play horribly and you show up the next round and you're like, oh, it's gonna be fine. You.

[B]

Know.

[A]

Yeah. So I'd say there is a sense of that, but there's also an excitement of that and it's part of the being the entrepreneurial journey. So I just think you gotta review, you gotta, you know, reflect on that and then you gotta plan. Yeah. And then here's the key. I mean, a bad plan executed violently beats the perfect plan never.

[B]

Done.

[A]

Yeah. So whether my plan is perfect or not doesn't really matter. It's going to be executed on with vigor. We're starting off the year strong and Buffco's thumping. I'm thumping. And life is.

[B]

Good. Yeah. No, that's awesome. I mean, it really makes me think in my career I didn't necessarily have the best horse to compete with or, you know, the most expensive horse. And we were competing against these huge corporations. But I know I out prepared every single one and that's what allowed me to have.

[A]

Success. Sure. Winning national championships and world cups and all kinds of things that you did, but. And then that's where we're the same. And that's why, you know, Buffco is not the biggest company in the world, but we have a very outsourced influence.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Yeah. Like one out of Every ten homes in America sell through.

[B]

Us. It's.

[A]

Incredible. And all over the world, and we just have tremendous influence. But it gets down to preparation. It gets down to, you know, having a plan, then gets down to execution. You actually have to do.

[B]

It. Yeah. Speaking of people not coming to San Diego, I went to a Chargers game last year, and it was Chargers versus Philly. Monday Night Football, and the entire stadium was.

[A]

Philly. I know. Well, they left San Diego, where we have ferociously loyal fan base, and they went to LA, where they're not in the top 10 teams up there. So we love the Charger still, although just pains us, they left us.

[B]

Painful. Okay. A recent study from Drive Research states that 80% of people who set resolutions say they feel confident they can stick with them through the year. However, a Forbes study shows that only about 25% of people stay committed after just 30 days, and less than 10% ultimately achieve. What's the difference to you between a goal and a.

[A]

Resolution? So, I mean, you could speak to this pretty well, can you? It's actually, the data is much worse than what it says there because 80% of people don't set resolutions because they say they don't work. So the fact of the matter is they're only analyzing the 20% who even have the chops to do it, so. Oh, those resolutions don't work. Well, the word resolution means to be resolved. To be resolved, you better have a little fricking steel in the structure. You know, I resolve to be married to your mom for the rest of my life. Here's the thing. You know, you guys kid around all the time, like it has never entered into either one of our minds to ever be in a place other than that. I know there's people. Listen, they've been through divorces and all kinds of stuff. I'm not questioning their resolve. I'm just saying that's what my resolve.

[B]

Is.

[A]

Yeah. So when I set a resolution, the key component is, as I've taught millions of people, is you got to commit it to writing. It's got to be a goal. It's gotta be something that stretches you. It's gotta be something you're willing to suffer.

[B]

For.

[A]

Yeah. And again, passion. Right? Passion. People think passion is, oh, I want my purpose, I want my passion. A lot of young people think this is a flowery, joyous escapade. The word passion means is from the word paseo, which means to suffer. What do you want to suffer for? You know, since you were 10 years old, you're out of bed at 6 o' clock every morning, seven days a week, and finishing oftentimes 11 o' clock at night to pursue your dream of being the best in the world at horse riding. And I, in my opinion, you did achieve that. You just. The old man couldn't quite afford the horses you need to compete with Glock and the German government and the Queen of.

[B]

England. I'm proud of.

[A]

Us. Yeah. But the point is, you gotta be resolved. And so to me, the word resolution is brilliant. You know, the President of the United States sits behind a Resolute desk for the last 200 years. And so I just think we gotta be resolved. And so I want to make the resolutions as they're in the current parlance, are an idea of what I'd like to have or be. It's got to go from that into. I did an episode years ago. The power of a made up mind. It's got to go into the power of a made up mind. A written goal, visual reminders, coaching, accountability, mentorship, someone on the journey with you, you know, a buddy that's trying to achieve something. And then everything you have, you know, we're promised in this country life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And to me, the pursuit of those resolutions is what happiness.

[B]

Is. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. I love. I mean, your resolve with mom made a big impact in my life because I need a lot of accountability. Even though I'm very driven and very passionate, accountability really helps me get my goals done. And it's just, it's funner to do life with friends. And your resolve to be married to mom and have such a strong marriage gave me five siblings that I get to be accountable with and have as best friends. So that made a huge impact on my.

[A]

Life. You're quite the.

[B]

Crew. All right, I want you to guess, when do most people stop pursuing their New Year's.

[A]

Resolutions? So there's a lot of different numbers on this. People say quitters day is like February 8th or whatever. And then some people say it's like the third week of January, the 10th of January, whatever else. All I know, there is a freaking Quitters Day. Most people don't make it five or six weeks and they're out the.

[B]

Door. Okay, so there is a quitter's day and we went off Strava. So they analyze hundreds of millions of logged activities and recognize the drop off point as the second Friday in January where most people abandon.

[A]

Exercise. Yeah. Now look, I get it. And you know, here's what the other part of it Is like, we all eat too much over the holidays, feeling fat. Let me get on the horse and do some things. And speaking of on the horse, you know the drill. How long does it take to introduce a new discipline to a horse? You know, and you got to do it over and over. And what happens when you miss a day? What happens when you miss a week? What happens when you miss a couple of weeks? So that's the business I've been in for 30 years, which is trying to help people develop new habits. You know, next week we have Charles Duhig on because he's the king of habits. Habits are everything. And you are what you repeatedly do. So, okay, you start out with a resolution. We have the quitters day. Great. Here's the thing. There's plenty of those people, like, that's the majority of people. Majority of people are not healthy. The majority of people are not happy. The majority of people are not wealthy. The charity of people are not joyful. And you just got to decide if you want to be the majority of people or not. Yeah, you want to be happy and you want to be healthy and you want to be joyous. You want to be successful, you want to pursue your dreams. It is a choice. It's a choice. I'm talking to people. Majority of people. I mean, this goes all over the world, but the majority of people I'm talking to are in the western hemisphere. Most of them are in the United States. And they need to wake up every morning, kiss the ground where they live, what opportunities they have, and then go get.

[B]

It. Yeah. And a lot of people we have listening and watching this do have some good habits, are pretty resolved, but it's still hard. So for anyone who already feels their new habits slipping, what's one simple practical thing they can do this week to get back on track and make those habits.

[A]

Stick? I just think forgive yourself and move on and start tomorrow. You know what I mean? The thing with eating, and it's the pursuit of perfection that kills us.

[B]

All.

[A]

Yeah. Right. And so. Oh, I gotta eat perfectly. Well, if you eat perfectly, you probably won't do anything else in your.

[B]

Day. Yep.

[A]

Okay. I mean, oh, no. No vegetable oils and no this and no that. Well, you certainly won't. That means, A, you're not gonna eat out anywhere. B, you gotta be preparing your meals all the time. Oh, see, you gotta go and get every organic meal together and so on. Now your mom can do this because she's created her world and she has the little Irishman out there working his butt off every day to make.

[B]

Sure that I know she goes, here's what you're.

[A]

Having. Right, Exactly. But I just think it's one day at a time. You know, there's two men got together a long time ago who came up with a 12 step program for people to overcome addiction. And there was genius and wisdom. There was, there was wisdom from God in what happened with those two guys. And they ended up, you know, with their 12 step program, which has changed the lives of millions and millions of people. But the overall philosophy is one day at a time. And I think success is one day at a time. I think attitude is one day at a time. I think faith is one day at a time. I think marriage, one relationships, business is one day at a time. We all want to control everything, but the one thing you can do is I can control my attitude for this day. I can control my effort for this day. And if I owe a bunch of money and I feel overwhelmed, well, geez, one day is not going to solve everything. But one good day can lead to another good day, and so on, so forth. One good decision financially means you don't make a bad decision. One good health decision. Okay, great. You know what? The office brought in pizza today. I didn't have any. It was one good decision. So I think it's one day at a.

[B]

Time. Yeah, I mean, control what you can control. That's it. Okay. So, speaking about the pursuit of perfection, for years I chased a huge goal of trying to make the Olympics. It meant a lot of sacrifice, not just for me, but for our whole family, especially you in particular. There are so many times I wondered, is this too selfish? How does someone know they've set the right goal? And what mindset shift do we need so we can go after a big dream without getting stuck in.

[A]

Guilt? Yeah. And sometimes. Look, I can tell you this phrase, this is a difficult one to answer, but it's. I don't know how much is too much until I do. Too.

[B]

Much?

[A]

Yeah. You know, everybody talks about the mythical balance and then how people say there's no such thing as balance. And I just say it's a balancing act. It's a balancing act, you know, for you. You had a dream and we pursued it to the health, and you pursued it in a way like no other. And you had a world class coach and we had everything we could do to win a gold medal and you won all kinds of championships and you're, you know, one of the best riders in the history of the United States. And all those Kinds of great things at a young age. Amazing. But the truth of the matter is my favorite moments, like the people who wouldn't know horses, like you could go to Aachen. Like Aachen is the show that is to your sport what the Masters would be. The.

[B]

Golf.

[A]

Yeah. And you go there and in the Germans, you know, they just idolize this Sport and they. 50,000 people. And it's an amazing festival. And you've. I don't know. How many times were you.

[B]

Talking?

[A]

Three. Three. I mean, amazing. Every time represent your country and it's basically going to the.

[B]

Masters.

[A]

Yeah. And everybody would say that. Or when we went to the World cup and the World cup was spectacular and the stadiums chanting your name and all this kind of stuff. And you're on a little. A little horse that had no business being there. And he'd come in six, which was a.

[B]

Miracle.

[A]

Yep. Okay. But my favorite moments were having a cup of tea out in our backyard. Or we have this arena and it's cold in San Diego in the mornings, in the winter. People don't think that, but it can be in the 40s and 50s. I'd have a little jacket on, a cup of tea, and I'd sit down in my little director's chair and watch you and Guenther go through your routines. And I saw some of the most special things I ever saw in the back of my own home. So I think that's where the joy is in the journey. And when I think of your career, I love those moments. I have videos shared of your accomplishments and I've told stories of you coming back from the being down in the dumps to coming back and winning and doing all these things. But those moments in the backyard watching a world class human being and trainer like Gunter Seidel with his students, at one with this horse, doing things that very few people on planet Earth can do and just enjoying it. And no one was there except me. And those are probably. That's probably my favorite emotion or memories of your whole.

[B]

Career.

[A]

Yeah. Those probably isn't what come to mind for you. And it probably is also. I'm blind to it myself. Whether it's one interaction with a client, one life changed, one meet and greet where people line up for three hours to talk and take a photo and share a little bit of their story. That's the.

[B]

Magic.

[A]

Yeah. Just being here with you right now, like this is magic. Doing the show. Like this is what I do for a living. I got up this morning, I'm gonna have a chat with my daughter. Amazing. So I think finding the joy in the journey, finding the little wins in the day. Yeah. Like, for me, I've got this new little discipline. Here's my habit, like, here's my new habit for this year is I take my right foot and I stick it out of the bed. And I won't put my right foot on the ground, actually stick it just kind of hanging off the bed. And I won't touch my foot down without starting my day with a prayer and starting my day with gratitude. So that's my deal. I will not actually take my foot and put it on the ground. And I think of you. Remember the movie We Were Soldiers? He's stepping off the helicopter. That's the image I have in mind. So I won't step on the floor until I talk to my God and ask him for help and. And then give gratitude and then think of the things I'm grateful for right then. Right there. And then I put my foot.

[B]

Down.

[A]

Yeah. And you know what that does? It makes I got.

[B]

Today.

[A]

Yeah. You know, I got today. And I think that's really the best way. That's the way you win the year, by the way. That's the way you win the year, like you got today. Whatever happened before, whatever's going on relationally, physically, financially, emotionally, spiritually, you have today. And for me, no matter what I got going on before, I put that right foot down, that's what I.

[B]

Do. Yeah. Some of you will have to look it up out there, but I've heard there's some signs that your brain can't be negative and grateful at the same time. So one thing I do when I'm feeling that negativity pulled me down, I will, no matter what, list 10 things I'm grateful for every time and help snap me out of.

[A]

It. Yep. Sometimes just.

[B]

One. Yeah.

[A]

Exactly.

[B]

Exactly. Just one. But, yeah, I can really personally speak about the journey being the dream and something we haven't talked about yet publicly. But the Lord has really put it on my heart that my Olympic dream has come to an end. So everybody's finding about that right now for the first time. And I am absolutely at peace about it now. I know this is where the Lord has me. It was not easy when I knew I was supposed to stop. It was a pretty tough six months and a lot of questioning, a lot of doubts. But thankfully, I had you right there with me the whole time, guiding me along. But that being said, when I look back on my career now, I know I gave a hundred million percent every day Every second, every breath. And that truly is why I'm able to come out the other side with no regrets. Even if I didn't get to the Olympics, I think who I am is more important than what I accomplished in the end. And we did accomplish a heck of a.

[A]

Lot. Yeah, I mean, look, there's just a reason I made you a job offer because you're a champion. And that's the deal, is look for what it took for you to be in the game you were in. It was. It's like almost having your own garage and having a Formula one team. I mean, that's basically what you were doing, and you were able to get on the track and, you know, do some amazing things. But I think the big thing is, you know, what you find your identity in for all of us. You know, I talked to a gal the other day, and her kids have both gone to college, and she wakes up every day in floods of tears. And that's the same kind of loss that you were experiencing. It's very challenging because it's what we find our identity in. And we can find our identity in really good things. Like, being a mom is a really good thing. Being in business, a really good thing. There's so many things that we can find our identity in. And then you go through this life and no one gets out of this without having their identity shook. And it's like, oh, my gosh, will people like me anymore because I'm not Miss Olympian, or, you know, I go to parties. You know, you went to parties for 20 years. And yes, I'm the National champion, or yes, I'm on the Junior Olympic team, or yes, I'm on the Olympic Select Committee, and yes, I'm representing America. Those were all fantastic things. And then one day you're like, no, Now I represent 5 foot 9 Irishman who's in the real.

[B]

Estate. You know, proudly.

[A]

Proudly. It's not exactly. It's not exactly going to get you a lot of attention at a Christmas party. So it's who you are and who you become is really what our value is. So, you know, for me, I think there's a lot of things in my life, I have lists and lists of things to work on. Let's listen. Shortcomings. But if I was to say probably the strongest thing I've done as a. On my own journey, just as a man, not as a husband, father, anything, businessman is, I think the strongest thing I've done in my life is become unattached to things. And I credit that to learning contemplative prayer 30 years ago. But, like, you know this. We had a jet for 17 years. I had three of them. The day I sold the jet, everyone around me was bummed out. Not me, because every day I was on that jet, I held it with an open hand. I went, isn't this amazing? I felt no sense of ownership and no sense of connection. I had joy in it all the time. And then when the need was no longer there, very practically said, no, it's time to get rid of it. So I will say this. Whether it be in real estate, whether it be what I'm doing today, not having my identity tied up in it allows me to change. You guys have come along now and we've got, you know, St. Patrick's Day. I guess I can make this announcement. St. Patrick's Day. We're very excited. We. We are relaunching the Brian Buffini show. And it's going to be a whole new type of deal, like a variety show is what you guys are talking. The.

[B]

Intu. It's going to be.

[A]

Awesome. It's going to be awesome. But. And again, going to be focused on being a YouTube show and all that kind of stuff. But here's the piece. Because I don't have my identity tied up in this stuff, it makes me flexible to adapt, be open to new ideas and be creative and then go to the next place. And that's what this new year can be for people. It's like, here's my fundamentals. Like, I'm not going to change. I'm fundamentally not going to change. But I keep my hands open because I can fundamentally adapt to what's going on and where the opportunities lie. And that's. That's how people's mindset needs to be for. For this new year. And I just want to say this. If you can mark your calendars for January 22, because January 22, two hours. I'm going to give people two hours that I think can change their life. And so we're going to do another one of these Buffini coaching live. And I'm going to expose people through a methodology that changed my world and has changed the people. We coaches work all the restaurant cycle, which is how to go hard and also rest and live your life and be healthy and happy while you're achieving. And then we're also bringing in. Ken Coleman is going to interview Dr. Henry.

[B]

Cloud.

[A]

Nice. John Acuff and myself on really how to break through psychological barriers. What's holding us back, how to achieve at the highest level. So again, this podcast is going out at the start of the year. So January 22nd, go to buffini.com bcl and just register. It's free. It's amazing. And you can ask these guys questions. We're tightening these things up. They were going three, three and a half hours long. I'm going to do it for two hours. It'll be longer for the live VIP audience, but for the broadcast audience it'd be two hours. No break. Boom. And two hours can change their life. So come and join me for that. I think that'll be well.

[B]

Worthwhile. That's going to be awesome. I got to see the VCL in December of close for the first time. Oh, it was awesome. It was.

[A]

Awesome. I'm excited for the next studio's like the Death.

[B]

Star. Yeah. Yeah. It's so.

[A]

Cool.

[B]

Yeah. I truly believe that you really can't become who you're supposed to become without pursuing your goals, without setting goals and pursuing them. But now that I'm on the other side of pursuing a huge goal, I just want to encourage everyone out there that your dream is truly in your journey. So just make sure to remember that along the way. So we just talked about my middle season, ending my Olympic dream and going through a tough time. So for a person out there in.

[A]

Their. Got some very exciting things in the works now.

[B]

Right? We do have some.

[A]

Very. Yeah, yeah. Life is good. Life is.

[B]

Good. Very good. So for the person in their middle season right now, working hard but not seeing much return, what would you say to keep them encouraged? And when you personally hit that kind of rough patch, what helps you stay consistent? Can you share a time? You had to push through something really.

[A]

Hard. How long you got? Right. How long you got? Everything's.

[B]

Tough.

[A]

Yeah. Like, being in business is a siege. Being in life is a siege. Like, we. We live on a planet that spins. The planet we're we're on right now is moving at thousands of miles an.

[B]

Hour.

[A]

Yeah. And spinning around like a top in the space. The sun comes up in the morning, the moon comes out at night. The fact of the matter is, everything changes. We don't want anything to change, but that's the natural progression of things. You know, you were Anna, the wildflower girl, right? Wild, wild wildflower child. Sudden.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Yeah. Oh, great. That was the cutest period of time when you were five, six years old. Whenever I was, you know what? Embraced every part of it. Well, people get stuck. Oh, I don't want my kid to be five forever. Well, why do you want to be where you are forever? And so I just think this, the mindset is build up the resiliency and the strength and the flexibility to adapt with all the change that come and that need to.

[B]

Come.

[A]

Yeah. I think the other part of it is once you reflect and review and you have a plan and you made up your mind, you stick to it. You have to have the patience to stick it.

[B]

Out.

[A]

Yeah. You have to have the patience to stick it out. And you and I, neither one of us are known for our immense patience except with the.

[B]

Process.

[A]

Yeah. And I watched you hour after hour after hour after hour, day after day, year after year, with some horses that would make it and some horses that wouldn't. You have to be patient to make it. I'm not patient with myself. I'm not patient as a person. I'm very patient with people. I give people a lot of chances, and I'm also patient with the process. Some things you can do quickly and turn around quickly, and some take a little bit.

[B]

Longer. Yeah. So speaking of us both being the most patient people on planet Earth, despite our natural tendencies, we both knew if we wanted to reach our goals that we would have to deny ourselves our impatience. And I think we've both been very patient trying to get our goals, and it's resulted amazingly. There have been many times where you put in work for years before you saw any tangible results. How can we keep showing up when there's a big gap between the work and the.

[A]

Win? Yeah. Faith, hope, and love. Right. One of my favorite verse, one of the seven principles we built the whole company on is don't be deceived. God's not mocked. For whatever person sows that will, they also reap. You'll reap a harvest in due time if you don't give up. And I will say this. I've interviewed hundreds and hundreds of people in this very format here the last 10 years. I've had hundreds and hundreds of famous people at our seminars over the years, and almost every single one of them at some point in time has said what's made them successful is they didn't give up when other people did. And so many people, they don't even know how close they are to the breakthrough when they give.

[B]

Up.

[A]

Yeah. And then what happens is you get better at giving up than you are persevering. So I would just say again, sometimes you need to stop something, review, and then go do something else. I get that. Some relationships work. Some relationships come to an end. All those kinds of things. But ultimately the process of growth and success requires you to persevere. And many times people have given up when they were on the 10 yard line and they were that far away from the win and touchdown and then they give up. And now what happens is they don't recognize that. See, I've done it so many times in my life that I recognize when I'm there. That's why like right now I have hundreds of employees and I've just, as you can tell, we've turned the company around pretty dramatically here. Well, I had to be the first believer and I was doubted on all fronts. I mean you're like, you would say to me, how are you doubted after you've proven yourself for decades? It's just the way it is. It's just the way it is. And so I have to be the first believer and I have to be resolved. I will say in the last six months I've ignored people's advice more than I ever have in my life. Well meaning people who gave me advice because they were adviced for the status quo and I listened to them. I took on board, maybe I adjusted here and there, but I squared up my jaw and said no because I know what I know and I'm gonna do that. And now here we are and everybody's ready to celebrate. But you have to be willing to be gritty like that. You have to be willing to not be a people pleaser. You have to be willing to not be well thought of. You have to be willing to be second guessed by everyone and stick to what you know and stick to what you believe. And the more success muscles you grow emotionally, the more you recognize these places and you just push through and persevere and.

[B]

Win. Yeah, don't stop at the 10 yard lines. Have you seen Chad Powers that show and spoiler alert if you haven't seen it, but he is in the national championship game in college and he drops the ball at the one yard line and then he punches a dad who has a kid with cancer. Knocks the kid with cancer.

[A]

Over.

[B]

Nice. So yeah, don't drop the ball on the one yard line.

[A]

Guys. Yeah, it's a comedy, I.

[B]

Presume. Okay, so my last, biggest, most important question, if everyone can take just one piece of advice from you going into this new year, what do you have to say to.

[A]

Them? The most important thing, especially market driven wise. When markets have been tough, politics have been tough, finances have been tough, life has been tough for a lot of people. The number one thing people need is momentum. So Even if you set a small goal, do everything in your power to achieve it. Like one of the things I used to have people to set 10 day goals and because I wanted people to get a win and when you get a win, you get a little bit of momentum and then you oh, can I get another win? Can I get a little bit more momentum? And that's why, you know, the Irish blessing. May the wind always be at your back. That's really what it's about. The wind always be at your back is that sense of momentum. And so I just think set a goal for something small and go and achieve it and then get some momentum and don't then minimize it. So no, I set that goal. I'm going to achieve it. I'm going to celebrate now go. You know, it's one foot in front of the others. How you climb Mount Everest, it's, you know, 100 at a time is how you get out of massive debt. It's one meal at a time. One walk at a time is how you turn around your physical life. So it's one day at a time like I said. But it's also one win at a time. And I'd say set a small goal, go and achieve it. Then set bigger goals, go and achieve them and keep.

[B]

Going. Sounds amazing. I can't wait for more questions at the next bcl. I'm excited to.

[A]

Begin. That's been great, Anna. Okay, this is going to be fun. I'm curious to see what other questions people have as we go through the year. We're going to do little versions of this. I guess you guys have like a whole format figured out but I'd love to help people get off to a good start. And the Buffini coaching live two hours January 22nd starting at 9 o' clock Pacific Standard Time from 9 to 11. We're going to give them all the tools. We're going to have them actually set goals with me. I'm going to teach them the restaurant cycle and then I'm bringing in three amazing people with great insight and expertise to help people get through the psychological stuff. So go to it's a good life.combcl and come spend two hours with.

[B]

Us. Awesome. I'll see you guys there too.

[A]

Now. We'll see you.