Why 80% of Entrepreneurs Fail (And How You Can Win) | Dean Graziosi | EP 82

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Entrepreneur DNA

Episode: Why 80% of Entrepreneurs Fail (And How You Can Win) | Dean Graziosi | EP 82
Host: Justin Colby
Guest: Dean Graziosi
Date: August 22, 2025

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Overview

This powerful episode of The Entrepreneur DNA welcomes renowned entrepreneur, educator, and New York Times bestselling author Dean Graziosi. Dean and Justin pull back the curtain on the realities of entrepreneurship, exploring why 80% of entrepreneurs fail over five years—while sharing the mindsets, strategies, and personal stories that can help you beat those odds. With vulnerability and actionable advice, they dive deep into the critical importance of growth, mindset, resourcefulness, and persistence, showing that every entrepreneur can win—if they’re willing to evolve and do the uncomfortable work.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Most Entrepreneurs Fail and How to Avoid It

[03:49–06:00, 25:27–27:58]

• The Stats: 80% of entrepreneurs fail within five years; 50% in the first year.
• Main Reasons:
  • We're programmed for a career (employee) mindset, not for entrepreneurship.
  • Entrepreneurs often feel alone; lacking support, guidance, and proven models.
  • Failure is frequently due to missing out on learning from those who've succeeded.
  • Most people are afraid to take uncomfortable action or invest to "collapse time."
• Dean's Advice:
  • "Model proven practices, take uncomfortable action. There’s no magical money machine." (Dean Graziosi, 25:27)
  • Seek guidance, take advantage of coaches and communities—don’t try to go it alone.

2. Growth Mindset, Adaptation, and the Ongoing Entrepreneurial Journey

[06:37–09:39, 12:15–13:49]

• Dean shares that even after 30+ years, his journey is about continual growth and evolution.
• "We die when we stop growing." Retiring can lead to loss of purpose—even after great financial success.
• "Kids don't do what you tell them to do; they become who you are." (Dean Graziosi, 07:57)
• The entrepreneurial journey is not just about making money and quitting—impact, growth, and stretching oneself are the real rewards.

3. Resourcefulness vs. Resources

[12:56–13:49]

• "If I could leave my kids money or resourcefulness, I’d choose resourcefulness every day of the week." (Dean, 12:56)
• Having resources (money, connections) isn’t enough—being resourceful makes the difference between surviving and growing.

4. Dean’s Origin Story and the Power of Resourcefulness

[13:53–17:25]

• Raised in a humble, hard-working household, Dean saw the struggle of his single mom and decided early to retire her.
• Started entrepreneurial ventures as a teen: firewood business, flipping cars, buying/renovating real estate.
• By 24, he’d retired his mom and bought homes for both parents.
• Significant Quote: "I wanted to be wealthy at a young age so I could take care of my mom. Just 100% retire my mom. Which I did at 24." (Dean, 14:45)
• Behind-the-scenes struggle: self-doubt, family naysayers, stress, all-nighters, major financial risk.
• "Every level has a new devil." Each step up brings a new challenge (17:25).

5. The Entrepreneurial Tradeoff: Safety vs. Fulfillment

[19:44–22:51]

• Dean recounts how an old friend chose a “safe” union job, retiring at 50, only to feel he “missed it” by not being present for his family.
• "I missed it." (Dean’s friend, 20:46)
• Fulfillment comes from blazing your own trail—even if it’s harder, it allows you control, flexibility, and a life by your design.

6. You Don’t Need to Choose: Creator Mindset in Any Role

[24:25–25:18]

• Dean and Justin debunk the idea of “either/or”—it’s possible to be entrepreneurial even with a traditional job.
• The path is about growth, serving, and creating—regardless of your “main thing.”

7. Coaching, Community, and the Self-Education Industry

[25:49–30:59]

• “It’s hard to fail when you model someone who’s already forged the path.” (Dean, 25:49)
• Self-education is exploding—from a $100 million/day to a $1 billion/day industry (projected $1 trillion/year by 2027).
• Modern culture is shifting to value specialized knowledge and direct mentorship over generic degrees.
• Key Stat: "76% of people who get a degree don’t use it right now; 55% who do don’t like their job." (Dean, 26:45)

8. Dean’s Five Pillars to Entrepreneurial Success

[31:32–34:19]

1. Decide what you want and who you need to be to get it.
2. Commit fully.
3. Take massive, uncomfortable action.
4. Be willing to be uncomfortable consistently (“new levels, new devils”).
5. Remove time expectations—commit for as long as it takes.

• Memorable Quote: “I will persist until I succeed. There is no way not to succeed if you just keep going.” (Dean, 33:49)
• Micro-wins matter; success is built brick by brick—and most people give up just before hitting their breakthrough.

9. Mindset: Getting Out of Your Own Way

[42:08–49:36]

• Both hosts get vulnerable about their struggles with self-worth, their backgrounds, and the role of “the dark side” in motivation.
• “Sometimes you have to go to the dark side. If I don’t take this action, I’ll become my mom and dad.” (Dean, 47:57)
• Change your story: If positive vision boards don’t work, focus on what you don’t want to become.
• "Put a picture of you at 90 years old in the wheelchair and you know you missed the whole damn thing. Do whatever it takes." (Dean, 49:36)

10. Forgiveness, Reframing, and the Power to Change Your Story

[50:39–55:51]

• Dean shares a profound story about forgiveness, the influence of family trauma, and how your perception determines your reality.
• “Our perception is our reality... In a moment, you can realize God gave you that dad so you could be this woman.” (Dean, paraphrased, 55:51)
• Blaming hardships for what went wrong and for what made you who you are can reframe your mindset for growth.

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• "Every level has a new devil."
  Dean Graziosi [17:25]
  (The more you grow, the bigger the challenges, but that's where fulfillment is found.)

• "I missed it."
  Dean Graziosi’s friend [20:46]
  (On realizing the cost of living a “safe,” unfulfilled life.)

• "If I could leave my kids money or resourcefulness, I’d choose resourcefulness every day of the week."
  Dean Graziosi [12:56]

• "I will persist until I succeed. It has nothing to do with ‘I’ll persist until the money comes in.’”
  Dean Graziosi [33:49]

• "Sometimes you have to go to the dark side… If the vision board isn’t working, put a picture of the person you don’t want to become on it."
  Dean Graziosi [47:57–49:36]

• "Model proven practices, take uncomfortable action. There’s no getting rich overnight."
  Dean Graziosi [25:27]

• "Our perception is our reality… fifty years of stress just fell off her place. She changed her past."
  Dean Graziosi [55:51]

• "You don’t have to do it alone. The 80% failure rate is just because they didn’t have guidance."
  Dean Graziosi [06:00]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Dean’s early story & resourcefulness: [13:53–17:25]
• Tradeoffs of a “safe” career vs. entrepreneurship: [19:44–22:51]
• The self-education industry explosion: [25:49–30:59]
• Dean’s five pillars to success: [31:32–34:19]
• Mindset, motivation, and the “dark side”: [42:08–49:36]
• Forgiveness & changing your story: [50:39–55:51]

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Takeaways and Action Steps

• Growth never stops—Entrepreneurship is a lifelong journey of personal evolution, not a destination.
• Don’t go it alone—Find mentors, coaches, and communities to tap into proven models and support systems.
• Embrace resourcefulness—It’s more important than resources themselves.
• Reframe failure and pain—Let what you don't want to be drive you as much as what you aspire to become.
• Persist longer than anyone else—Micro-wins accumulate; most people give up just before they turn the corner.
• Forgive and reframe your past—It can become your greatest asset.
• Be willing to pay the “success tax”—The journey is long, and filled with new challenges at every level, but every step is worth it.

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Final Thoughts

This episode offers a raw, practical, and deeply motivational map for anyone starting or struggling on the entrepreneurial path. Dean Graziosi and Justin Colby reveal not just how to survive the journey but how to win—mentally, emotionally, and financially. For aspiring entrepreneurs, or anyone seeking their next breakthrough, this is required listening.

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Follow Dean Graziosi

• Instagram
• Thrive Event — Free annual event with Dean & Tony Robbins
• Mastermind.com

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Transcript

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[Dean Graziosi]

Tony always says to get the the most energy it takes to put a rocket in space is the first 10ft. Did you know that to get that big heavy thing once it's in space hits the button 10,000 miles an hour.

[Justin]

That's right.

[Dean Graziosi]

But to get that rocket off. So if you got to focus on a bigger future to get the rocket, great. But if you got to go to the dark side and say, if I leave my life the way it is, I'm going to get to the end of my life, realize I missed it. Realize I left me on the table, I never jumped in the game. I missed the thing I want to do with my wife or my husband and my kids, like, feel that pain. If you need to do whatever it takes to get the rocket to come off the ground and and that. That's like when people say, no, you don't want to go the dark side, screw that. Whatever it takes to move you in the direction you do. So what my one of my things is. Yeah. Change your story, change your life. You've heard all that stuff. Try a different approach. If you're focus, if you have a vision board of the, the car, the life, the dream. Screw that. If the vision board isn't working, put a picture of the person you don't want to become on it. Put a picture of you at 90 years old in the wheelchair and you know you missed the whole damn thing. Whatever it takes.

[Justin]

Entrepreneur DNA, family welcome back to an incredible episode. This is going to be one you're going to want to rewind, relisten to rewatch time and time again because I have a dear friend, someone who has changed the game for millions and millions and millions of people and continues to do just that multiple times New York time bestseller entrepreneur extraordinaire and someone that all of you should be following and looking up to. He's a genuine guy. Dean Graciosi is here.

[Dean Graziosi]

Good to be here, man.

[Justin]

Yeah. I'm excited about this one. We, it's funny because we've been playing in the Phoenix market together for, for, in my case, 18 years for you. You've been doing this now 30 years.

[Dean Graziosi]

Yeah.

[Justin]

And we've spoken on each other's stages and you've keynoted a lot of the same stages. But you have a big mission that I want everyone to understand because I'm in, in total alignment with the mission that you are on in this chapter of your life. Because it doesn't matter if you're my age, your age, or if you're 20 years old, it's the same thing. And it's about growth. It's about your mindset completely.

[Dean Graziosi]

You know, I have been doing this a long time and thanks for the invite and thanks for those watching listening right now. I know you got lots of other options I think you're really going to enjoy this time because I'm here to serve.

[Justin]

Yeah.

[Dean Graziosi]

And after 30. I've been an entrepreneur for 40 years in this industry for 30. Ish. I hope I figured out some stuff by then to avoid pitfalls for people and allow you to hit the gas in certain areas. That's what I hope to achieve today is allow you to overcome the obstacles goes faster in the areas that you should. But one of the things that there's a million great things we could talk about. But why is it that 80% of all single entrepreneurs being Someone says, I'm done with this career or I never want the career. I'm doing my own thing. Whether it's real estate or the self education industry like Tony and I are in. I've been in real estate for almost 40 years. Yeah, literally almost. I bought my first deal 41 years ago. I was just doing the math in my head. But why is it that 80% fail after five years? Did you know that number?

[Justin]

Yeah, 80%. I thought it was even a shorter time, Right?

[Dean Graziosi]

Yeah. So in the first year, 50%, but by year five, 80% are gone. And I think that's a byproduct. I think there's a couple things. One, I think we get programmed to have a career mindset and it takes a little bit too long to get out of that. So maybe we could touch on that today. Number two, I think so many crazy entrepreneurs, most of your friends and family don't understand. They think you're nuts. You want to do this big bold thing. I think you're a little bit alone. And when you're alone, sometimes you're trying to do it on your own and you forget to model proven practices. And then secondly, you don't have the assistance to say, hey, I'm stuck here. What do I do on this pot? Nobody in my family understands this. How do I get the money? Or how do I manage this? Or how do I build a culture? How do I make my first hire, my 20th hire? What do I do with the extra money? Do I reinvest it? Do I reinvest it my company? Do I put it alongside? Do I put in the stock market? Should I buy crypto? Like all those things happen in this evolution and I've experienced all of them. So I'll let you, you know your audience better than anyone and I'm here to serve. So you could take that in any direction. Because I think, let me just tell you, I think that 80% failure rate is just because they didn't have the guidance. And I think we have the opportunity to absolutely crush that, especially where the.

[Justin]

World is going and especially in that. Right away, I'm going to make sure all of you are following Dean. He's everywhere. Again, follow him on Instagram and all the places. Because he's someone that you really genuinely look up to, I think. And I don't think I'm pretty sure 100 you are the heir apparent to our guy, Tony Robbins. I mean, you are just that much of an impact to so many people across the world. So I thank you very much thank you. You said a word that is. Is triggery for me. Evolution, evolve, adaptation. I've done this for 18 years in the real estate space. I graduated UCLA in 2003. And so I've only. I've never had a W2 job ever. It's just unique. Right?

[Dean Graziosi]

That's. That's a right thing.

[Justin]

That is a rare thing.

[Dean Graziosi]

That's really rare.

[Justin]

And I have a degree that I could have. I just didn't. Went straight into door to door sales from there. Got into real estate, of course, at 2007. Why not get into real estate in 2017? Really? In time to get in real estate.

[Dean Graziosi]

Yeah, I remember as well.

[Justin]

But evolve, evolution, adaptation, iterations. You said it yourself and we're talking offline about it. Like the iterations of Dean are growing and will continue to grow. Right. You're Talking about a 30 year career and even more in the real estate space. But like, you're not done. And I think a lot of the people need to understand your own philosophy. Why is Dean not done? I mean, you. In all intents and purposes, guys, I'm out. It's been fun, right? You absolutely could have done that 10 years ago if you wanted to.

[Dean Graziosi]

But I don't know if that creates the best version of me for my wife or the best version of me for my kids. Right. I think we were put on this earth to grow. I think we die when we stop growing. I think I watch so many people retire and they don't know what to do themselves. They golf themselves to death and then they're looking for something else. I even have friends that would exit for 100 million, 500 million. I have a friend that exited for a billion dollars and thought, this is what I want. And after three months he's like, my family's not going to look up to me anymore. And he's starting a new business right now because he's like, I want kids. As a parent, you know, kids don't do what you tell them to do. They become who you are.

[Justin]

Right.

[Dean Graziosi]

We have to model the practices that we have to model who they want to be. I mean, what I know about being married to the love of my life and being a dad is. But all of them have made me a better man because my, my actions determine who I am, not my words. Right. So with all that said, I think, I don't think the entrepreneur journey is about let me do this so I can get out. I think it's what ignites passion in front. It allows us to. And we could Talk about this. It allows us to overcome the resistance that most people allow to dictate their lives. It allows us to make crap up in our head and then make it real and someday go, I dreamt about that taking a walk, and I got goosebumps right now. Yeah, I was on a beach. It wasn't even a beach I could afford to be on, taking a walk. And I thought, someday I'm going to flip a house a week or a house a month, or I'm going to. I'm going to own 30 doors. I'm going to own commercial. And if you had anybody near you, they'd be like, what are you talking about, Justin? You just graduated for. You're knocking on doors to make money. Like, that's what. I'm going to be 57 this year. Like, this phase of my life, I look back and realize that was the end. That was the real success. The success is, yes, I could quit and live five more lifetimes. And I'm working harder right now than ever before. My partner and dearest friend in the world, Tony Robbins. Working. Working harder than ever before because we get to make an impact. We get to give back and we get to stretch ourselves. Like, that is life. I don't mean ignoring dance recitals and missing date night. I'm not talking about that. They are. They are exclusive to each other. But, gosh, the opportunity to make stuff up and make it real. I think it's the. It's what gets me going every day.

[Justin]

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[Dean Graziosi]

You make an Airbnb a vrbo. Picture a vacation rental with a host who's showing you every room like you've.

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Never seen a house before.

[Dean Graziosi]

Now get rid of them. There you go.

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No host ever.

[Dean Graziosi]

Now it's a vrbo. Make it a vrbo.

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[Justin]

You know, you I believe in something that we have mutual friends that talk a lot about this, but there's kind of this four pillar or circle ecosystem mind, body, connections and business. Right? You are a shining example. I mean, look at you. You just gave your age away. You didn't have to, but you look like you were younger than me.

[Dean Graziosi]

No, I don't. Fuck that.

[Justin]

I mean, brother, at the end of the day, you'd care about your body because it's in my opinion, it starts with the mind, that belief system of, you know, I'm not going to go attempt because so and so is going to be snickering about me or waiting for me to fail. That's where it all starts. And this is your brilliance. In my opinion, your brilliance is helping people out of that. In my opinion. You've done a lot in life and you've done. That's my goal, but it is a genuine brilliance. And so I want to kind of connect that within this episode. Because entrepreneurship, it's brutal. I don't think there's a better way of saying it, but as brutal as it is, it gives you the the highs of all highs that you will never get.

[Dean Graziosi]

As yeah, I want to. I want to. I want to push back on that for a sec because it is brutal. And you need to be resourceful once you get resources. So we could talk about resourcefulness too. I mean, my kids, if I could leave them money or resourcefulness, I would choose resourcefulness every day of the week. I want my kids to be able to in a burning building, out of money relationship going wrong. They can find the resourcefulness to get out, to fix it, to thrive. Right? That's right. Because resources alone. Why do people who hit lotto lose it? Why do trust fund kids end up derailing? Because they have resources, but no one taught them resourcefulness. Right. I want to tell you a story. I don't think I've ever shared this publicly. I've shared it in a small group of people as you. I've never worked for anybody in my life. At 17, I saw both my parents work really hard and have not much of anything other than a trailer park as a kid. Then we all have our story. Right. To school some days without lunch money. Right. And told my friends I wasn't hungry.

[Justin]

Right, right, right.

[Dean Graziosi]

But I always had this, like, I'm doing my own thing. I'm not going to be like. And my main reason, we all have a reason. And let's use that reason. It could be the rocket fuel that gets the rocket off the ground. It starts, the momentum is. I watched my mom work three jobs to make nothing. She cleaned houses, she cut hair and she painted houses. She'd come home at 9 o' clock every night. My dad left when we were three. Didn't really support her. So she just hustled. Never complained, never said a word. And all I remember just, I think I was seven, thinking to myself, I'm going to retire her. Like, you know, my sister was resourceful as heck. She was 4 years old than me. We'd come home, make dinner for her, we'd do the laundry.

[Justin]

That's great.

[Dean Graziosi]

Right? And, and you know, in it, I wasn't like, poor me. I didn't know anything different. It was just what we did for my mom because she was hustling. So it was that desire for me to be successful. I wanted to be wealthy at a young age so I could take care of my mom. Just 100%. Retire my mom.

[Justin]

That's right.

[Dean Graziosi]

Which I did at 24. And I've been sending her a check every week since I was 24.

[Justin]

Congrats.

[Dean Graziosi]

And she's still alive. Thank you. Thankfully. And I got to do that. Right. Bought her the house that she wanted. Bought my dad a house that, like all those I get to do those things. Right. But my point is, when I was in high school, I was. I had a firewood business, and I was. So I would sell cords of wood, mostly to my teachers.

[Justin]

That's great.

[Dean Graziosi]

So Mr. Pagnotta, when I was failing science, and I'd give him a discount on a quarter wood, I just have to say I got a B plus. I didn't get the A, but I got the B plus, right, Mrs. Minisi? I got a B plus. And anyway, so I. I was cutting and selling firewood, and I had. I would buy wrecked cars, fix them up, and sell them. And then.

[Justin]

How old are you with the firewood?

[Dean Graziosi]

17 cars. 18.

[Justin]

Keep going. I'm connect that.

[Dean Graziosi]

19. My first house with no money down. I flipped my first house at 19. I didn't flip it. I bought an old rundown mansion, like, destroyed. So I'd work on cars during the day. So I'm gonna get to my point. I promise you I'll get to my point about entrepreneurship. So I would work on cars during the day when I was 19, and then at night, I'd go eat, and I'd go to this old rundown. It was an old, big mansion in our town. And every night, I learned to be a plumber, a carpenter, a sheetrocker, a tile guy. I did all of it back then. And I had all my buddies my age helping me.

[Justin]

That's right.

[Dean Graziosi]

And I remodeled this old place into nine apartments. So I. I'd work on one while I lived in it. Soon it was ready, I would rent it, and I'd move in another one that was half ready. And I went through the whole house.

[Justin]

Just brilliant, by the way.

[Dean Graziosi]

By the time I was. By the time I was. And I was using the cars that I was flipping during the day to fund this. And, I mean, it was a shoestring budget. When I was done, it shifted my life because I had nine apartments. I lived in one of them, and I. Back then, I made five grand a month net. And then I put washer and dryers, and that made me another 800 bucks a month. So I was like $5,800 a month profit, and I lived for free. Talk about a foundation.

[Justin]

Unbelievable, right?

[Dean Graziosi]

So it shifted my life. Like, all my. I was in the car business and the house business. So I would buy a wreck car. So I'd be in a car for half price, and I didn't pay any rent or I didn't pay a mortgage. And that gave me. Then I took everything I made, and I bought my next house and bought my next house. And by the time I was, you know, 22, I think I had 30 apartments and I started fixing. I started, I bought raw land, subdivided, started flipping houses.

[Justin]

But think about the confidence not to keep, to take you away, but like the confidence you built in yourself, your abilities, your resourcefulness to be able to flip cars manually, do the labor on this. You're building certainty and confidence, which I believe.

[Dean Graziosi]

And you know, and when you're in it, you don't know that. Here's what I want to say. I got to say that grand description, but I didn't share all the suffering I did in silence or my father saying, hey, it takes money to do that stuff, kid. You're going to lose everything. My dad didn't talk to me for three months once because he told me I was biting off more than I could chew. We don't come from that side of the tracks. You didn't go to college. We don't have money. You got to accept that you're probably going to work for somebody like that is. My friends thought I was crazy. So here's the part I was getting to about entrepreneurship. Because every level, if you want to write something down, write this down. Every level has a new devil. Every level has a new devil. So I told you the fun part. I didn't tell you the part where I stayed up all night stressing, ran out of money, had to apply for five credit cards at once so the banks wouldn't all see that I was doing it on my credit score. And then as soon as I got all five, went to the bank one day and did 80, $90,000 in cash advances to finish real estate deals. And then stress out of my mind that if I didn't pay it in 30 days, it's 22% interest. And you know, you can go down that road of what could be wrong. And then you got to just. So all those invisible. The things we do in the invisible.

[Justin]

That's right, you do. I, I, in the dark, I feel.

[Dean Graziosi]

A connection to you. Even though we've only, you know, we've hung out several times. I, I know who you are. I get to know you more and more. But I have an affinity, attraction to a friendship because I already know all the stuff that you had to do when no one was watching.

[Justin]

That's right.

[Dean Graziosi]

I already know all the stuff you had to do at home, listening, wherever you are, when no one was watching. So we already have, we're already kindred spirits.

[Justin]

Before you start, there's no doubt like.

[Dean Graziosi]

But here's what I'm gonna say. As I was doing this real estate stuff and making those moves of credit cards and borrowing money and hustling and all day at the collision Shot, you know, the place where I'd fix my cars, and all night laying tile and grouting and shoot rocking, a lot of my friends would come by, like, hey, we're going out. Let's do this. And I still had fun.

[Justin]

Sure.

[Dean Graziosi]

And like, dude, you're killing yourself for nothing.

[Justin]

Yeah.

[Dean Graziosi]

You're working, so. And I remember, and. And I'm not gonna share his name, but one of my dearest friends growing up, his parents and my parents were friends. I knew him since I was 4 years old. One of the sweetest humans you ever met in your life. Like, if you met him, they love this guy. Yeah. And we were about 20 years old, and I'm hustling. And his uncle was the head of a union in New York City. We lived about an hour out of the city, hour and a half out of the city. And he said, dean, all this craziness. My uncle is going to make me a shop steward in the city. I'm going to make 1400 bucks a week.

[Justin]

Yeah.

[Dean Graziosi]

You know, back then, you got to figure out how long this is 1992. Right. I'm like, oh, my gosh. And he said, I'm going down there. He said, I don't have to worry. I don't have to risk. I just have to take the train in every day. And I'm set at 50 years old, Dean. I could retire and be done. He's like, stop killing. Why don't you just come down on me next week? And I never went. And I have to tell you, through the years, I always thought about that conversation of, like, as a career, you might think, oh, the guardrails are up. It's safer. But is it. Is it. Does it have its own devils? And so the moral of the story is this. I went down this path that looked like the adult crazy roller coaster. I got this. I got this. Oh, my God. I'm never gonna make it. I'm gonna fail. My family thinks I'm crazy. My cousin stopped talking. My girlfriend broke up with me. Because I'm a dreamer. All these things, and it seemed like was just skimming along.

[Justin]

Yeah.

[Dean Graziosi]

We were together about a year ago in my little town where I grew up.

[Justin]

And you're still friends with him?

[Dean Graziosi]

I am. I see him. I see him.

[Justin]

But I love that so much. And you have no idea.

[Dean Graziosi]

So in my Little town I grew up in of 5,000 people. I. I bought a 20 acre farm. So we have, that's pond and organic vegetables and apple trees and we go there in the summer, right? So I hang out with him a couple months ago and he said something that, really, when you say entrepreneurship can be brutal. But he said to me, hey, I used to think you were crazy. He said, but I gotta tell you something, you were right, I was wrong. He said, ready for this one? He said, I missed it. I'm like, what do you mean you missed it? He said, I got up before my kids woke up to get on the train to go to New York City. And I got home, they were asleep. He said, I missed all of it from where I retired at 50. They're off. They're off living on their own life. He said, I missed it. And when I think of brutal at the end of my life, that's brutal. That is the one that punches you in the face and says, why the hell didn't you break the norm? Why didn't you step out of your comfort zone? Why didn't you find a way to have resilience, to overcome hesitation, to overcome the resistance that, I mean, starting your own thing, you have to overcome resistance. It doesn't seem normal, it doesn't seem right. But on the other side of that storm is the life worth living. So I have been, and I'm not knocking anybody that has a career. Thank God we have people that we employ that workforce. I totally get it. So if you're gonna be employed, great. But still adopt this mindset of growth and overcoming resistance and persistence and resourcefulness. Because then in the career you have, you'll be at the top of your skill. You'll get paid the most, you'll get the most promotions. And just. You gotta remember, every thing has its own devils. Every level has a new devil. But whatever path you do has it. But you gotta weigh the odds. If I'm in control of my decision, if I get the opportunity to make my own decisions, that I can make my kids breakfast every day, that I can take them to school every day, that I can be there for dance recitals or softball practice. That means I get to control my calendar. What is that worth? Is that worth all those sleepless nights?

[Justin]

A thousand times over, 100%.

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[Dean Graziosi]

This is.

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[Justin]

You said something without saying it, but the creation part. I know you believe in this fully and so do I. But even if you have a W2 doesn't mean you can't be a creator.

[Dean Graziosi]

Absolutely.

[Justin]

I don't believe it's this either or world. I think it's an and. And even if you have a W2 and I don't care what the w.

[Dean Graziosi]

Yeah, you do real estate on the side or you build a course on the side of you coach on the side. Amazing.

[Justin]

I mean, literally, that is your sweet spot. You can help someone today. If you aren't following Dean, go to Dean. He has an event. Thrive is coming up.

[Dean Graziosi]

Thrive.com like guys thrive70.com 70.com but this.

[Justin]

Is part of your genius, dude. And I've been following you now for the however long you've been putting out books.

[Dean Graziosi]

Right? Yeah.

[Justin]

I mean you show people that it's not black and white. It's not this or that. It is an and. And if the and becomes your main thing, then lean into it. But it doesn't have to be your main thing.

[Dean Graziosi]

And my message. Thank you. It's been my message for 30 years. I also say there's no such thing as a magical money machine. You got to learn from people who have already forged the path.

[Justin]

That's right.

[Dean Graziosi]

And you got to take uncomfortable action. That's like you want to know the ingredients. There's no getting rich overnight.

[Justin]

Yeah.

[Dean Graziosi]

Model proven practices take uncomfortable action. You help people, you coach people through real estate because you got 18 years. Yeah. Somebody could go figure out in 18 years or you can collapse almost two decades, that's right. Into days by saying no, no, no, don't do this, gotta do that. But you still gotta do the work.

[Justin]

So why don't people take. You've been in the coaching space and education and mastermind space for longer than me. Why don't people understand that and say that investment to collapse time.

[Dean Graziosi]

Here's what I'm saying. Cause I've been doing this long enough. I wanna tell you that it's becoming more and more eye opening to people and go, wow. And I think it's just, I think it's the way the culture prepared us. It's like, no, you go to college, you go to high school and then you go to college and you get a degree. And the only people that can teach you that is a professor who's never actually done what it is they're teaching you to do. Like I'm not knocking professors, there's some great ones out there, there's great teachers out there. Some teachers change my life. But there's others that are teaching stuff that don't have their ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to actually put it into play.

[Justin]

That's right.

[Dean Graziosi]

Right. But that's what we've been programmed to do. Right. Did you know even degrees, did you know that 76% of people who get a degree don't use it right now?

[Justin]

No kidding.

[Dean Graziosi]

Yep. And 55% of the people who use it don't like the job they're in. Do that math. Oh, right.

[Justin]

That's a tough life.

[Dean Graziosi]

So what? People are people. So you could just look at this industry, we call it the self education industry, Tony and I, people learn from you. They learned specific, specialized knowledge.

[Justin]

That's right.

[Dean Graziosi]

Right. Tony and I teach people in our, in our event that we're doing, we teach people how to unlock a life experience, asset, a skill, an expertise they have and turn it into a course, a product, a program. Just what you do. Right. We teach specialized knowledge. We've been doing it collectively for 70 years. We know how to do this thing. You have to do the whole degree. Just know the thing that you're doing, you, real estate, know the thing to get deals done. Right. But I just think it's been such, it was the fringe for a long time. You know what I Tell people again in this almost 30 years in coaching and creating books and courses and programs, Tony longer than me is the only one, I think, in the space longer than me. That's why I love the partnership we have. But think about if you were at a dinner table 20 years ago. Yeah. And you said to somebody, hey, man, I'm trying to do real estate. I got a coach. The dinner party be like, what do you mean you got a coach? Yeah. Like, are you on a sports team?

[Justin]

That's right.

[Dean Graziosi]

Right. Or I got a coach to help my marriage thrive. Or I got a coach to be a better dad. That's right. Or I got a coach to be in better shape or eat healthier people. Like, what the hell? You need to coach. What do you mean, got a coach? Right. But I want to tell you, it's changing. Be at dinner with a group of people right now and say, you got a coach? And somebody will say, oh, me too. I have one that's helping me through this. I have one for helping me night train my children. I have one to help me. Right. It's becoming more popular because people are realizing I. I can go back to college and get general knowledge. I go really wide to learn a little bit of the thing I want to do for my life, and I'm probably not going to use the degree. Or I could take 18 years and figure out how to be a badass in real estate. Or I could work with Justin and collapse time to cut him a check to gain proven practices and be pushed to take uncomfortable action. You. You put those. It's hard to fail when you're modeling somebody who's already done it. Somebody already forged the path. They knocked down the forest, they knocked down the trees. They have the map, and they're going to stand alongside you and go that way. Don't go that way. No, no, no. Straight, straight. You got this. Like, I mean, the num. The numbers prove it. This. This industry used to be this big. It.

[Justin]

Absolutely.

[Dean Graziosi]

When Tony and I not first started in this industry eight years ago, we decided to create a company called mastermind.com and share with everybody what we do. In case you want to take your life experience and do what you do, right. Not only do real estate, but teach others how to get started, why should they struggle?

[Justin]

If you can have any vertical, you can tell anybody. It doesn't matter.

[Dean Graziosi]

Every vertical, right. We have people that are in real estate and then they come and said, but I've been doing yoga for 40 years. I really want to teach on yoga. And they blow up. That's it. Or we have this amazing woman, she kills it in real estate. You know what? She's helping women do it through menopause because she said it almost destroyed her whole life and she found a natural way to get through it. Now she teaches women how to get through menopause. Like a badass.

[Justin]

Yeah. How cool is that? How cool is that?

[Dean Graziosi]

Right? So just so you know, this industry was tiny when Tony and I seven years ago decided to create this company and teach people to do this. You know, Jim Rohn changed Tony's life. Tony changed my life. Why don't we let everybody in on it?

[Justin]

That's right.

[Dean Graziosi]

So long story short, it was about a hundred million dollar a day industry. Three years ago it was a billion dollar a day industry. And the latest report said by 2027 it'll be a trillion dollar a year industry. Because people are going general knowledge. Not for me. Don't want to waste time through my own trial and error. Who has done what I've already, who's already done what I want to do and how do I cut a check for speed. So I don't think you could be better positioned to be in this industry. Especially those I talked to this about John, that while we were walking up here, especially those that have a heart to serve, that want to not just sell but want to absolutely deliver the shortcut to people. Those that, that have a desire to impact others, find purpose for themselves and can do the work to extract it. I, I think it's, it's probably the greatest thing on the planet. I mean I've done real estate and this, I love both.

[Justin]

Yeah, I love real estate. I'll never be out of real estate, but I'm more the heart to serve. Right. And that is love.

[Dean Graziosi]

Do you love one of your students crushes a deal?

[Justin]

No.

[Dean Graziosi]

Is there any better feeling?

[Justin]

There is no better. I highlight it all the time. I don't highlight my flips where I make 75 grand, I highlight theirs. Because that's the proud moment. That's the big brother, the smaller figure, like they did it. I have a, and you'll appreciate the crap out of this. I have a guy, he has two full time jobs, nine to five and then he goes and works at in and out at the night until 2 in the morning. He has three children and a wife and he's on four deals since January in my community.

[Dean Graziosi]

I love it.

[Justin]

The only reason is because he just does the thing I advise him to do. To your point, proven model, I've done it 18 years. I just need you to do it and be uncomfortable. So he finds time in the morning, he. He finds time on the weekends. He does what others aren't willing to and he gets the result others don't get. Right. And you know that to be true. I'm. I'm curious to hear your, your answer to my four pillars to success. I've asked every incredible entrepreneur this. The first one is you have to decide what you want and who you need to be to get it. That is the first pillar. It's all one pillar. Decide what you want. And I actually think there's a 00 through 5. The first is you have to dream big enough to know what you are looking to do. That dream has to be there. Right. But then you gotta decide what you want, who you need to be to get there. Right. Number two, you gotta take massive. You gotta commit to it. Number two is you gotta commit. Three, take massive action. This is the uncomfortable part you talked about. It is always uncomfortable. New levels, new devils, it's never familiar because you're at a new level. Yeah, it's going to be uncomfortable. Right. Number four is be uncomfortable. And number five, this is where I really believe why you're such a great person for our space is because you echo this and I know it to be true. Is remove all your time expectations on the result you're trying to achieve.

[Dean Graziosi]

Yeah. If you do that, that's a great one.

[Justin]

You start to unfuck your mind about when you're going to get the money, how much like all the things that you're kind of doing it for. You say, I'm going to go as fast and as long as I need to do to achieve the thing I need to achieve. And you and I know this. True. That goalpost keeps getting kicked down the field, Right. Oh, I loved it.

[Dean Graziosi]

But no, I love. I don't get back to this. I love those five Ogmundino. I geek out on writers every once in a while. I got on all his stuff. The world's greatest salesman. A bunch of great books, right?

[Justin]

Yeah.

[Dean Graziosi]

And the world's greatest salesman, he writes about 10 scrolls. To be the world's greatest salesman. It really is 10 scrolls. I make my kids read it. They read it like once a quarter, my older kids. But he's got a scroll in there is. I will persist until I succeed. It has nothing to do with. I'll persist until the money comes in. I'll persist till I get my first sale. I'll persist until my friends and family believe in me. It's just I'll persist until I succeed.

[Justin]

That's right.

[Dean Graziosi]

There's no way not to succeed if you would put the word persist right. If you just keep going. And in there he said, and he wrote this book probably 50 years ago. He said, how did we ever get to the point where we thought the prize was at the beginning of the journey, it's at the end. And he said, we don't know. It's not our job to know. I love this saying, it's not our job to know how long the journey is and how he equated it is. We don't know how many corners. I look at those corners as obstacles.

[Justin]

That's right.

[Dean Graziosi]

We don't know how many corners we need to get around before our prize is there. So you're working hard and you're like, there's the corner. You get around it and you look, there's nothing. And then you work again. You're like, oh my God, I finally got around it. And you go around the next one. There's nothing. And the way I look at it is some people might get blessed and have to go around two corners.

[Justin]

That's right.

[Dean Graziosi]

Others might have to go around 20. And we don't know. I just equate that to I got to pay my success tax. Like, I need to pay maybe God, the universe. The success tax auditor is like, dean, you're a troubled child. I wasn't. I'm just saying, like, you got 22 failures. Number 23, your life changes and how many people give up? 18, 14. You got to persist until you succeed. And one more thing about that fifth one, because I like it so much, is what if you measured your accomplishments like Kaizen? It's one little step at a time. One little. Like you listen to this whole podcast. It's a pat on the back. You read the next chapter, you go to the coaching program. If you want to learn what Tony and I are doing, register for the event. Everything should be a micro winner. And if you look at micro wins, the most successful people I know, you know, Tony and I have a great group of humans. We put together a high level mastermind, no different, but one common thread is measuring micro wins. And the byproduct is you don't even know when the first sale comes. Think about that. Think if you're like, hey, listen, I'm getting a coach. I'm going all in. I'm taking uncomfortable action. I'm not letting this old limiting belief stop me. I'm not letting my sister who tells me I'm a dreamer talk me off my path. I'm going to make that offer. Oh, I got to get on a call. Oh, my God. I got to talk to somebody. Or I got to, to go on camera or I got to film a course. Oh, it's uncomfortable, but I'm doing it, I'm doing. And all of a sudden you're chipping away. It's like, I made the call, I filmed the course, I did the thing, I did that thing. And then all of a sudden, one day over here on the side, there's a sale made, and then another and another. Imagine if your goal wasn't the thing, it was just becoming a better version of you knocking down one hurdle at a time. And you won't even recognize when your first success comes. Next success comes. You know how many people I've said I didn't even realize I was a millionaire? Like, I've met people like, I just had my head down, like, going, I looked up one day, I was like, I'm here. And then, like, putting my head back down. Let's keep going. Yeah.

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[Justin]

And that's the journey is, is there's no. I mean, I love the. The new levels, new devils. Because that has always been the case for me. Every time I push harder, I go further. There's always like, wow, that's a big brick wall. How the hell am I gonna get around that? And the thing that I believe that you've done, I've done so many others, is we say, okay, but we're going to. We're gonna get around that brick wall, right? And that level of consistency and persistence is what will create anybody. I don't care if this is your first day of listening to this episode, you want to get an entrepreneurship. If you're Sitting here and you are trying to aspire to be an entrepreneur. This is your guy. Thrivein70.com free event, right? That is happening. You have mastermind.com I mean, I'll tell you real quick.

[Dean Graziosi]

And this is not a shameless plug. It's thrive70.com Tony Robbins and I, once a year we go live and for three days, about three hours a day, we just pull the curtain back on entrepreneurship. Specifically in the lane. If you were going to do it, you'd be doing on real estate.

[Justin]

That's right.

[Dean Graziosi]

I taught real estate for 20 years. Right. Love it. Still tell everybody to get in real estate. Still love real estate, still buying deals. I bought a lot of deals in the last two years.

[Justin]

There you go.

[Dean Graziosi]

But what we're teaching in that three days is why every single human being on the planet, when they've acquired knowledge in their skill that you know, in their, in their career or a life experience that you know, they went through a divorce, it was horrific. Now they're on the other side. Kids are thriving, they're thriving. Ex is thriving. Like it doesn't matter. We've all had a life experience, a career skill or a passion we have that is extremely valuable to someone else who you know how to package it because it condenses that time.

[Justin]

That's right.

[Dean Graziosi]

So over three days we're going to show people why every single one of you should consider being in the knowledge industry. It might sound like a big word. It really just means how to extract that asset of your life experience, how to package it. Maybe you want to be a consultant, maybe you want to create a course. Maybe you want to create a workshop, a mastermind. Maybe you want to write a book. We're going to show you how to extract it, identify it, and get some assistance through AI that thinks like Tony and I on how to create that and then how to market it and how to turn it into a business. We do it once a year. We have 800,000 to a million people register. And I think we're moving the world. I think we're, I think we've created a mission.

[Justin]

I mean, I watched yours last year. This is. Guys, if you are aspiring or maybe you're in it and you're struggling and you need some of the secrets. 30 plus years, 40 years in the real estate space, like you two are the top of the pinnacle. Right? I say that with all humbleness. You guys have achieved what every one of us in the education space or the product space want to be at. And so for saying that you two should be totally proud of yourselves. I'm sure you are, but I want to make sure you know.

[Dean Graziosi]

Yeah.

[Justin]

How much we appreciate it. So thank you.

[Dean Graziosi]

Thank you. And we do it for free once a year, so I'd love. I'd love for you to check it out. It's definitely one of those things that if you miss it, you have no idea what you're missing. And the last thing I'll say about it, the only thing I always tell people is pretend you paid a thousand bucks for it. Because a three day event with Tony, myself, we got some amazing guests coming. My friend Matthew McConaughey is coming because we turn. I. I read his book Green Lights. I loved it so much we turned it into a course. Then we did that big launch.

[Justin]

No kidding.

[Dean Graziosi]

We had two and a half million people show up on the.

[Justin]

Kidding.

[Dean Graziosi]

Yeah. It was insane.

[Justin]

What a great book, by the way.

[Dean Graziosi]

Yeah. Oh, I love that book. So we. So he went down that journey. He took his journaling of 30 years and turned it into a course. And in one day, I think we had probably one of the best selling courses in history that day. That's wild, right? Tens of thousands of courses sold in the first couple hours and people went nuts over. My whole point is we got great people coming, we're delivering great value and we're charging nothing because we want people. You said before, Tony and I are insanely passionate about getting people who are dying to just grow to live into who they're meant to be, not who they're settling to be. So we do it free once a year. And the only reason I'm saying that is because if you cut a check for 50 bucks, 500 or 5,000, you'd show up. Sometimes we do free. You register like that was free. Don't discredit it. We go all in for these three days.

[Justin]

Yeah. You know, I always say people pay attention what they pay for.

[Dean Graziosi]

Yeah. True story.

[Justin]

And so I just, I would urge you, act like you spend a thousand, act like you spend ten thousand, but show up every day and don't do the, the stereotypical like, oh, well, yeah, but I got to leave now because I got to go do this thing.

[Dean Graziosi]

It's only three hours a day.

[Justin]

Solve that thing for three hours. You know, solve the issue so you can really pay attention to what they're going to be delivering because, you know, you two are great at so many levels. But I want to pour a little bit more into this mindset side let's do is my newer passion because I realize my strength is people. I think that we saw each other and you're like, God, Justin, there's that connect. You are a server. Like, that is who I'm meant to be. I told my grandmother, who was a teacher, then a principal, then a. Like a district manager, if you will. She just. I told her when I was six years old, I was going to be a teacher.

[Dean Graziosi]

Six.

[Justin]

I knew it. I knew it. Dean.

[Dean Graziosi]

Yeah.

[Justin]

Now, the form of structured in school teaching versus what I'm able to do today on podcasts and in my coaching program, different. But I've always known I had the heart to serve. And you two, you both do as well. But part of what I want you to impact people today on this episode is helping them get out of their own way. And I think that's just a mindset shift.

[Dean Graziosi]

Yeah.

[Justin]

I think that's them realizing they can do this because to me, what is their option? What do they have the option to exist, to be okay, to live in the struggle? Or do they actually have the option to live a big, wonderful, powerful life?

[Dean Graziosi]

You know, I think one of the. If I was watching and things hadn't been going so well in my life, or you tried something and it didn't work out, it might say, well, where you guys are now, it's easier. And I don't say that like you're copying out. Like, that's the emotion I might feel. Right? Sure. And I never want to. And that's something I see in your eyes and the way you talk about your clients and how. Never lose what it felt like. Was there ever a time in your career? I know for a fact there was, but I want you to think about it where you're like, I don't know if I'm going to make it. I don't know if I can do this. There's no doubt, right?

[Justin]

There's been two out of the gate. I can answer right now.

[Dean Graziosi]

And was it so bad that you thought to yourself, maybe it's time to go get a job?

[Justin]

I literally thought I should go be a bartender.

[Dean Graziosi]

Yeah. And let's not talk about just in your. In your heart, the story you were telling. So how. How did that feel? Did it feel? Not desperate's not even word. Like this. Is it like. Like, I guess I'm going to be like everybody else, or I guess I'm gonna be. I mean, I. I don't wanna put words in your mouth. How did that feel when you thought, so I should go bartend?

[Justin]

And this is very vulnerable of me. To say it. And I. I don't know if I've talked about a lot. So my biggest hurdle that I've gone to a lot of therapy over is am I good enough? A lot of therapy. My mom was an alcoholic. My father was an alcoholic. My stepfather was an alcoholic. I essentially kind of raised myself through that. Like, I would show up at home, my mom would be 2:00' clock in the afternoon, she's passed down the kitchen floor. My friend's like, what's wrong with your mom? And I'm like, oh, well, right, yeah. So I had to have that instinct. And so my entire life is, am I good enough? Because I didn't believe I was as a child. Right. So I've had to work through that. So in those moments in business where I immediately go back to, of course you do. I'm not good enough. I couldn't do it. I tried. I gave it my all. I had it. And then I don't. And so, but, but here's, you know, I'll leave it there and I'll let you take over. That would last one night for me.

[Dean Graziosi]

Yeah. So let me ask you something. And this is where you get empathy, and this is where you work harder to get everybody in. Not just the A players, B players and C players. You bring them along, too. What if you weren't designed in a way that it lasted one night? What if it lasted 30 days? That's right. What if it lasted a year? There are people watching right now that went through that and they're a year in, five years, in three months, in just different wiring. Doesn't make you bad. Right. So when I think through that lens, Justin, the reason I'm still at this, the reason I want to make my craft better, I think my events are getting better and better and better. I don't want to live on last year's event. I want to, because I want to reach that person who's a year in thinking. Yeah, Dean. Justin, this is great. Listen to you today. But it's not for me. I'm not sure I tried. I couldn't get momentum. I couldn't. The marketing couldn't start. Nobody would listen to me. What could I actually create? I want you. The A players are coming. I already know that.

[Justin]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Dean Graziosi]

The A players are going to show up. They're going all in. I'm going to do it. I got this. But it doesn't mean you're a B player. I shouldn't even say A players. I should say people with a mindset. Were only last the day. Yeah. Right. If you. Doesn't make you like a B player is a bad thing, it just means a different version. I want to help you, and so do you. Like, I know that about you. Right. So when you start thinking about that, like, when they have this option, it's almost like you're thirsty.

[Justin]

Yeah.

[Dean Graziosi]

And I have a glass of water, and they don't reach her. It's like, what's wrong with you? Just take the water. It's like because of somebody else's mom and dad were alcoholics.

[Justin]

Yeah.

[Dean Graziosi]

They took a different path. Do you ever hear that saying the twins talk about? One was homeless and on drugs. Oh. And one was a millionaire. They use. And they say. They asked the one. It's like, how come you're homeless and on drugs? He's like, how could I not be? My dad was an alcoholic who beat us. And then they asked the twin brother who was a multimillionaire and say, how did you become a multimillionaire? He says, how could I not? My dad was an alcoholic and beat us.

[Justin]

That's right. I think so. It gives me service.

[Dean Graziosi]

Yeah. Because. Because you can't judge people. One is the way that maybe they're wired. It's a weight too heavy to carry. And I believe that every single one of you watching has the opportunity to push that weight off to craft. I don't want to oversimplify things you've heard a million times, but you can craft a new story. You could focus on new things. If how you're going about wanting to be successful doesn't work, shake it up. You know, some of us. Some of us can go to the inspirational side. If I do this, I could be the best version of me. I could take care of my children. I can retire my mom. I can make sure my wife is good. I should make sure my kids are good. I can live into. I can. I can control my calendar. I could set the date if I'm taking my kids to school. Like, for me, somebody to say to me, hey, I'm gonna go to my daughter's dance recital. But I. I have these nightmares of someone saying, oh, no, no, It's a busy day. You can't leave work today.

[Justin]

Right.

[Dean Graziosi]

I would die first.

[Justin]

That's right.

[Dean Graziosi]

Or maybe kill somebody. Right. So that passion drives me, and maybe desiring and focusing on a bigger future drives you stronger than anything. But sometimes. And I was on a podcast, my friend Tom Bilyeu, and he said these words I thought was so strong. We were talking About. He said, sometimes and some people have to go to the dark side. And you know what that means in your case, I'm just going to use you as a verbal. You'd say, if I don't take this action, I'm gonna become my mom and dad.

[Justin]

That's right.

[Dean Graziosi]

That's the whole thing. I love my dad dearly, but my dad was the youngest of 12. He was physically abused, sexually abused. Old school Italian guy didn't get help. And he just, he had, he. He had anger his whole life. He fought with everybody. He had confrontational with everybody. I had a bleeding ulcer at 10 cause I was so scared he'd fight with everybody. Yeah, right. But I could either. I could either become him or I could use him. Saying if I don't take this uncomfortable action, if I don't go after that next deal, if I don't do this big, I might end up as him. And that's a little bit of the dark side.

[Justin]

That's right.

[Dean Graziosi]

Right. And that's okay because I love when Tony Robbins, Tony always says to get the. The most energy it takes to put a rocket in space is the first 10ft. Did you know that? To get that big heavy thing, once it's in space, hits the button. 10,000 miles an hour.

[Justin]

That's right.

[Dean Graziosi]

But to get that rocket off. So if you got to focus on a bigger future to get the rocket, great. But if you got to go to the dark side and say, if I leave my life the way it is, I'm gonna get to the end of my life, realize I missed it. Realize I left me on the table. I never jumped in the game. I missed the thing I want to do with my wife or my husband and my kids. Like, feel that pain. If you need to do whatever it takes to get the rocket to come off the ground. And that, that's like when people say, no, you don't want to go the dark side. Screw that. Whatever it takes to move into you in the direction you do. So what my. One of my things is. Yeah, change your story, change your life. You've heard all that stuff. Try a different approach. Yeah. If you're focused, if you have a vision board of the. The car, the life, the dreams. Screw that. If the vision board isn't working, put a picture of the person you don't want to become on it. Put a picture of you at 90 years old in the wheelchair and you know you missed the whole damn thing. Do whatever it takes.

[Justin]

I. Dude, you're giving me shivers right now. This is gospel, people. Gospel. I r. So I journal every morning, and part of that is to make sure I keep a frame of gratefulness because you reframed right now. When I said being an entrepreneur can be brutal, can be really challenging, you said, you know what's brutal? Missing your kids every morning and every night. Right. And I, by the way, I fully agree. Different. You know, I kind of reshape the frame of what I say. But my first mentor, and I've paid for coaching and Matt, just like you have forever.

[Dean Graziosi]

Yep.

[Justin]

Was my mom for exactly what you're saying. She taught me exactly who I didn't want to be when I grew up.

[Dean Graziosi]

Yeah, Absolutely.

[Justin]

She loved me. She never physically abused me. She just chose alcohol over me at some point. It wasn't even a choice. It was just. She had to. Right. But she died early. She made it very aware that that was of precedence. Like, she couldn't pick me up from baseball practice because she was too drunk at the bar to drive. Right. Stuff like that. That was my first mentor. That was my first coach.

[Dean Graziosi]

You know, can I can. Do you mind if I share something with you? I'm sure you've forgiven your mom, of course, 100%.

[Justin]

Because that's a tax you will carry forever, and you will never be able to start a new relationship.

[Dean Graziosi]

So I, I thought I forgave my dad. So my dad, I, I, I shared this with you. And maybe one, just one person needs to hear this. Sorry, I'm going to digress. But I know there's somebody watching, listening right now that needs to hear this one thing. And I'm going to use you as an example. So my dad, his brothers and sisters didn't talk to him. He didn't talk to his dad when he died. My dad was married four times. He doesn't talk to any of his exes. And I have a sister that's four years older than me, and they haven't talked in 20 years. And I forgave my dad completely. Or so I thought. Till. So Tony and I have been friends for about 12 years. And about 10 years ago, he calls me. He said, hey, come to Date with Destiny. I'm like, I'm right in the middle. She goes, please come to this one. Right. And I think everybody should go to a Unleash the Power within or a Date with Destiny once in their life.

[Justin]

100.

[Dean Graziosi]

And he's not going to be doing it forever. So I'd suggest everybody go, yeah. So I'm at Date with Destiny, and it's crazy. It's like 12 hour days for six days. It's intense. You've been.

[Justin]

No, I've gone to Unleashed power still a lot.

[Dean Graziosi]

I mean still picture that times too. Right. So it was funny. I'm gonna digress here. He was. So our friendship had been building for two years. We had not done business together yet. We decided not to do business at the time because we, our friendship was growing so well. It's like, why cloud it with business? I'm doing good. You're doing good.

[Justin]

Yeah.

[Dean Graziosi]

Let's just be friends, help each other where we can. Long story short, I. You don't leave. Tony's on stage. I run out to grab some food and he must have had his phone behind the podium and he freaking texts. There's 8, 000 people in the audience. He goes, get your ass back here. I'm like, oh, I scarfed down my food. I'd run back. I'm like, what the hell are you doing? You texting like in your pocket? Anyway, I tell it story. Tony does these incredible interventions.

[Justin]

Yeah.

[Dean Graziosi]

So I'm going to tell you this and, and if you don't need it, someone else does. So Tony, this woman stands up. He's going through this shifting, shifting your core values and shifting who you are. And this woman stands up and he says, so, what are you working on? She said, I'm still trying to get over what my dad did to me. And this woman's dressed to the nines. She's sitting with her husband, two older kids, beautiful family. So he says, tell me what's up. So she says, my dad, Italian guy, I just, I remember the story so intimate. I was standing on a chair watching the whole thing. And she said, he wanted a boy and he got a girl. And during pregnancy, my mom had emergency surgery, had to get a hysterectomy so he could never have any other kids. And I think he blamed me my whole life that I made it so he couldn't have another boy. He was a swimmer, wanted me to be a swimmer. Said I worked my tail off. I made it to the state championship, I got second place. And when I looked up, he was gone. I had to walk home five miles because, yeah, yeah, I disappointed him. So she's telling this thing and you can see the pain in her face, right? Heavy pain. So Tony, he's just so magical at it. And we do interventions at our events too, that hopefully you're joining us when. But Tony's so magical. So he's sitting there and he said, so, yeah, I Could see that. I knew he's. I know what's coming because he's like my friend. I could see that. And he said, so how about. Did he. Was he successful financially? He said, no, he was always broke. Was he nice to your mom? No. Never told her or me that he loved us. So he goes, yeah. He goes, you followed in his footsteps, didn't you? No business, money type for you. She goes, I started my own business at 19. I'm beyond success. She talks about, and you can tell, and you can feel her presence. And he goes, yeah, don't tell your kids you love them. Don't have a good relationship. She goes, and she's rubbing her husband's head. I love this man. Like, I could cry thinking about it. And about your kids. I tell him I love them every day. They're empowered kids. They pat their mom on the back. And he goes through all these things. And he said, then here's what you're going to do today. You're going to pick up the phone. Your dad's still alive. Yeah. You're going to call him and you're going to tell him you blame him. You blame him that you become the woman you are, that you have a successful career, you have your own business, you have a success. I have goosebumps. You have a successful marriage, you're a successful mom. If God didn't give you that father, you wouldn't be the woman you are today. So if you're going to blame him for leaving you at that. At that tournament, you better pick up the phone and blame him for everything he did. Because you're amazing. I watched 10 years fall off her face. They actually put a picture up. They put a picture up of before her interview when she was talking about being left. And a picture now just. I'm not exaggerating. She looked 10 years younger. Like a thousand pounds fell off her. And that's just an example of what we can do. Like, we can change our past. The perception of our past could change in this very moment when people say, no, but it's a reality. I'm like, okay, two people get in a car accident. What's the reality? One person says, I can't believe you wrecked my car. My insurance is going to go up. The paint's never going to match. This was the car of my dreams. You ruined it. Someone else gets out and goes, it's tin and metal. I have insurance. You okay, cool. What's the reality? The reality is that the two cars hit.

[Justin]

Yeah.

[Dean Graziosi]

But our perception is our Reality. She had a perception till 45 years old or 50, however, what she was that her dad was to blame for all that went wrong. In a moment, she realized that God gave her that dad so she could be this woman. 50 years of stress just fell off her place. She changed her past. And all of us have that option.

[Justin]

Dean, I appreciate you.

[Dean Graziosi]

Thanks, man.

[Justin]

I really do. I own. We have to leave it there, dude. I don't. Because I could keep going with you right now. Guys, you can see who this guy is. He is as genuine as it gets. If you have any desire to win, to live a bigger life, to have more money, more freedom, more time, more, this is your guy.

[Dean Graziosi]

Oh, thank you.

[Justin]

Rive70.com yep. Thrive70 it is free. Act like you just mortgage your house to get there because it would be worth it. You should probably. Because he and Tony are worth it. This has been incredible, dude.

[Dean Graziosi]

Thanks, man. I enjoyed it. It's good seeing you again.

[Justin]

Yeah, it was great seeing you. Mastermind.com. i mean, you can find this guy everywhere, get his books. I mean, literally two or three national bestsellers. They're all incredible. I appreciate everything you do for us in this world and excited to do this again probably next year.

[Dean Graziosi]

Thanks, man.

[Justin]

All right. If this helped you guys even a little bit, make sure you share this with two people. Make sure you follow Dean Graziosi. We'll see you on the next episode. Peace.

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