S2-E43: Are You Being Pushed by Pain… or Pulled by Purpose?

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Deep End with Eric Triplett

Episode: S2-E43: Are You Being Pushed by Pain… or Pulled by Purpose?
Date: May 4, 2026
Host: Eric Triplett, “The Pond Digger”
Guests: Members of the TWT Contractor Circle, including Erica, Nathan, Nick, Phillips

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Overview

In this powerful, mindset-shifting episode, Eric Triplett and his inner circle of contractors dive deep into the “push versus pull” theory of motivation. The conversation explores the critical difference between being pushed by pain (reacting to problems) and pulled by purpose (driven by a bold vision). Eric and his guests share real experiences from their journeys—facing predictable ruts, building big visions, overcoming limiting beliefs, and implementing practical systems around leadership, training, and accountability.

Whether you’re a contractor, team leader, entrepreneur, or ambitious self-starter, this episode challenges you to examine what’s driving your growth, and gives you actionable tools to shift from a reactive to a proactive, vision-driven path.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Push vs Pull Theory: Are You Reacting or Proactively Pursuing?

• Push = Pain: Most people don’t change until pain forces them, whether it’s dwindling bank accounts, burnout, or hitting rock bottom. This is "reactive as hell"—it’s damage control, not intentional growth.
  • “Most people don't move until something hurts bad enough. There's some pain associated with it... that pain becomes bigger, and then all of a sudden they're pushed in a different direction.” (Eric, 02:30)
• Pull = Purpose: High performers are “pulled” by a compelling vision. No crisis needed—they’re energized and get after it because their future is magnetic.
  • “That's when your vision is so damn clear, so exciting, so meaningful that it literally drags you forward... you move towards that vision because you want to, not because you have to.” (Eric, 03:39)

Notable Quote

"People would rather live in a predictable hell than an unpredictable heaven... It's just safe."
— Eric Triplett (04:35)

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2. The Pain & Pleasure Principle and the Power of Vision

• Inspired by Tony Robbins' “pain and pleasure principle,” but evolving it into push (pain) vs pull (purpose/vision).

• Example: Taxes—people procrastinate until the pain of not doing is greater than the pain of doing (07:40).

• Vision Work: Eric shares his process of articulating a huge, clear vision and writing it down, sharing it publicly, and letting it shape daily decisions.

  • “...putting it out into the world, you get people that are, you know, being cheerleaders and applauding you and excited about it, and you get others that are hating on it.” (Eric, 54:25)

Notable Quote

"If you can create a vision big enough that it pulls you in that direction instead of you being pushed... there’s the difference between the push and pull motive, right?"
— Eric Triplett (10:40)

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3. Leadership, Team Training, and Cultural Transformation

• Eric’s Shift: From self-improvement focus to relentless hands-on team training. Daily sync meetings, role plays, and personal development are part of the new culture (13:15).

  • His realization: “I'm not training my guys well enough... Since I’ve been training my team members, they are more excited. They see that there's a bigger vision.” (Eric, 13:14–15:00)

• Leveraging “Pull”: A big, shared vision inspires the whole team; tangible results like increased revenue-per-employee already showing.

Notable Quote

"Most contractors think that revenue per employee is simply, I have to charge more ... but you'd be amazed if you just start training your team how to become better, not just through osmosis."
— Eric Triplett (15:00)

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4. Team Members’ Real Talk: Owning Your Motivation & Taking Bold Steps

Erica’s Journey:

• Moved from reacting to pain in a dissatisfying job to consciously building a business pulled by new possibilities.
  • “I had to dig really deep. ... It's not money. Money isn’t the purpose right now, but now it’s starting to...” (Erica, 17:57)
  • She doubled her business by investing in ads and training, pushing past limiting beliefs.
  • “Now that I’ve [trained], $17,800 in advertisement. Doubled my business. Doubled my team.” (Erica, 20:12)

Nathan’s Breakthrough:

• Realized the value in investing in employee training, even if it was hard to watch the short-term cost.
  • “...it’s hard to watch ... but, you just have to gamble it, I guess.” (Nathan, 29:30)

Nick & Phillips: The Power of Direct Action

• Nick’s shift: from hiding behind online forms to actively pursuing his dream clientele—dentists—with a tailored cold pitch, thanks to Phillips’ coaching.
  • “You got to look at what you have in front of you, what you love to actually do... and then apply to that.” (Phillips, 47:11–50:32)

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5. Systems, SOPs, and the Messy Middle of Scaling

• As teams grow, so do the operational challenges. The group discusses implementing SOPs (standard operating procedures):
  • Eric: “For the past 30 years ... there’s a human SOP. It’s me. But now, I can write it out ... and hold people accountable.” (31:44)
  • The daily sync and meeting rhythm helps keep teams aligned and accountable (33:13–35:55).
  • “The stress starts to go away when you get aligned.” (Eric, 35:55)

Practical Peer Advice

• Create Jobber tasks to reinforce SOPs at the right moments in daily workflow.
• Feedback loops: Document via email and texts for compliance (esp. around labor law).

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6. Final Tactics, Takeaways, and Challenges

• Market to your dream clients: Get in their rooms, comment on their posts, build relationships intentionally—online and off (52:08).
• Set Vision Publicly: The act of “speaking it into the world” increases accountability and opportunities.
• Training Drives Results: Don’t rely on osmosis—train daily, role-play, coach.
• Be the ‘Pull’ Leader: Create a culture and a future so vibrant people WANT to follow.

Final Challenge (Eric, 54:07)

"Are you being pushed by pain or are you being pulled by your vision?... If you don't have a vision big enough to pull yourself out of bed every morning... you're just going to be living that predictable hell instead of like this unpredictable vision you really got to figure out how to do."

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Notable Quotes and Moments with Timestamps

• "People would rather live in a predictable hell than an unpredictable heaven."
  — Eric Triplett (04:35)
• "If you can create a vision big enough that it pulls you in that direction instead of you being pushed... that’s the difference between the push and pull motive."
  — Eric Triplett (10:40)
• "I’ve been thinking completely different about this... it's the training aspect that we're all swimming in the same direction."
  — Eric Triplett (15:00)
• "Now that I’ve [trained], $17,800 in advertisement. Doubled my business. Doubled my team."
  — Erica (20:12)
• "Sometimes it's just a complaint. It's not really an objection."
  — Eric Triplett (22:53)
• "For the past 30 years ... there’s a human SOP. It’s me. But now... we can write it out and hold people accountable."
  — Eric Triplett (31:44)
• "You got to look at what you have in front of you, what you love to actually do - and then apply to that."
  — Phillips (47:11–50:32)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:30–07:00: Push vs Pull explained; “predictable hell” vs “unpredictable heaven”
• 07:40–10:40: Pain & pleasure principle; importance of vision
• 13:14–15:00: Eric’s journey—deep dive on team training and vision-sharing
• 17:57–24:00: Erica’s story: overcoming limiting beliefs, investing in growth
• 28:59–35:55: Nathan and Erica on SOPs, documenting processes, scaling teams
• 47:11–50:32: Phillips’ direct call-out to Nick, practical sales/marketing shift
• 54:07–End: Eric’s challenge—living by vision, not pain; call to build a pull-driven future

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Takeaways & Action Steps

• Audit your motivation: Are you moving forward because you’re in pain—or because your vision is pulling you?
• Build and share a compelling vision: Write it, hang it on your wall, speak it, and share it with your circle.
• Level up training: Don’t rely on osmosis—implement structured daily or weekly training for your team.
• Systematize everything: As you grow, leverage SOPs to sustain alignment and accountability.
• Engage dream clients proactively: Whether through “guerrilla marketing” or strategic social engagement—don’t wait for customers to come to you.
• Join a mastermind or circle: Leverage the support, challenge, and perspective of like-minded leaders.

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Resource Links Mentioned

• TWT Contractor Circle (Facebook Community): For peer accountability calls and ongoing growth
• contractorsalesecrets.com: Free resource on sales techniques from Eric
• Pond Trade Magazine: For industry depth and professional knowledge

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Episode Mood & Tone

Supportive, bold, and candid. The circle doesn’t shy away from hard truths—but combines accountability with tactical, lived experience and a “builders-at-heart” camaraderie. Eric models both humility (owning his learning curve) and vision-driven leadership, pushing listeners to “go deeper” rather than settle for mediocrity.

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If you want more than a predictable hell, this episode is your call to articulate and bravely pursue the vision that will pull you—and your whole business—forward.

Transcript

[Eric Triplett]

Welcome to the Deep End with Eric Triplett, the pond digger. This is the show for contractors, tradesmen and entrepreneurs who want more from their business and from themselves. Eric brings decades of experience as a seven figure contractor with expertise in leadership, sales systems, and the discipline it takes to build something real. Shaped by years in the aquatics world. His insights are rooted in precision, craftsmanship, and performance. If you're done skimming the surface and ready to go deeper, it's time to dive in.

What's happening, rockstars? Welcome back to the Deep End podcast. Triplet here and we're building better contractors, better leaders, better human beings, and just better versions of ourselves. That is the goal. That is the mission here. And today's episode comes straight out of our weekly compass call that we do inside the TWT contractor circle. And I think the topic hits really hard. It's basically called push versus Pull. It's the push pull theory, if you will. And if you really understand this theory, it might even piss you off a little bit because it exposes exactly why you might be stuck exactly where you're at. And if you're really getting after it and you're thinking and you're constantly, like, becoming this better version of yourself, you're going to think back to many, many years ago, maybe about someone telling you about having big visions and big dreams and you need to, you know, have bigger visions, right? And then you think you did it, but you didn't really do it. And today, like, you might even realize you sh. You know, you wish you would have started a whole lot earlier by having that big vision or that big dream. And I imagine some of us might even believe that it's time to change the dream to even bigger than it already is. Because the closer you get to your dream, you should be pushing it out a little bit farther to keep you motivated and pulling in a different direction. Have that vision pull you that way. So most people don't move until something hurts bad enough. There's some pain associated with it. They wait until the bank account gets too low, relationships are strained. They wait till they get fired from a job, right? Instead of leaving the job that you hate, they just stick around till they get fired and that pain becomes bigger. And then all of a sudden they're pushed in a different direction. That's the push, because pain forces movement and it works. But, man, it's reactive as hell. And you're not really in control. You're just responding to damage. You're doing damage control, right? But there is another way to live. And I think some of the people that you look up to that are really crushing it in life, they're living the pull. And that's when your vision is so damn clear, so exciting, so meaningful that it literally drags you forward. There's no crisis required to get you to move in that direction because the vision's pulling you. There's no rock bottom necessary. You wake up and you move towards that vision because you want to, not because you have to. And the truth is most people don't want to admit it, but a lot of, of people, people that I know, a lot of them are living in what I call the predictable hell. Like it's, they have a predictable income, they have a predictable retirement, they have a predictable, you know, weekends. A lot of people don't love that. They just, it's just safe. In that format of life, you don't really feel alive, but you just know what to expect. And the idea of chasing an unpredictable heaven is scarier than just living with a predictable hell. And so today we break that down in a conversation with some of my inner circle peers. But it gets you to think about where you're operating from, why it matters, and how to shift from being pushed by pain and being pulled by your purpose. I hope it moves you like I've been moved recently. Let's jump into it. What's up everyone? Welcome to Weekly Compass. 208. I think it's 208. I don't think it's 209. It's getting close. We are loading up on the days. Here's one thing I want to talk to you guys about right off the get go is a push versus pull. Okay, Motivations. Let's start right there. But first of all, let me go back one little quick step. We did change these calls to 9:30. For over three years we've been doing it at 9am and I want to tell you the vision of my business is so compelling that that is why I, I slid our date by just 30 minutes. Okay. You know how everyone knows how important this call is to me and this group is so very important to me. So as you can imagine, three and a half years, like I have not deviated from this. So for me to deviate from this, this call frame of 9:00am Pacific to 9:30 Pacific is really, really important. And so this is going to tie into exactly the, the push versus pull motive or motivation, I should say. So this is, this is, this is going to date back to when I first met Joe the fish guy on the call right now, okay, the very first personal development book I ever read was from Tony Robbins, Awaken the Giant Within. And I remember something very distinctively about that particular book where he talked about the pain and pleasure principle. And we make so many. We make so many decisions in our lives about to either avoid pain or to get pleasure. Like, that's. That's the pain and pleasure principle. And of course, you know, Robbins breaks it down brilliantly, but it's something that has stuck with me for all these years. Now I started thinking about. I've always thought about it as pain and pleasure, but now I want to talk about the difference between push and pull. Like that difference between being pushed away from your predictable lifestyle or having an unpredictable something pull you towards you. Okay, so let me give you an example. We just had an interruption. I'm so sorry. Okay, so listen, people would rather live in a predictable hell than an unpredictable heaven, okay? Because I'll just take a job, for example, okay. And hopefully my employees are motivated enough by me to let this be exciting to them. Okay? If you're in a terrible job, imagine the people in your life that hate their job, but they don't doing anything about it because it's predictable. They make a predictable amount of money. They have a predictable lifestyle, and, you know, they're just. But they're stuck. They can't make these improvements. They maybe complain a lot, this kind of stuff, so that they'd rather live in that unpredict, that predictable hell than to go and take risk for something that is heaven because it's unpredictable. That's where the pain and pleasure comes in. And to help drive this home a little bit is to talk about taxes. We all love our taxes, right? But they're a pain in the butt unless you have everything on lock and you have a great tax person and you've got perfect organizing tools, you have people on your team that work for you. You know, you got to do the taxes. You're like, oh, what a pain in the ass. It's so much of a pain for me to want to do taxes that I'm going to avoid that pain, right? But then all of a sudden, April hits, and you start to get a little bit nervous, and now the pain is starting to swell for you not to get them done on time. And by April 15, the pain of you not doing the taxes is overcoming the pain of you doing them. And that's when you switch. So the pain switches on that point. So one thing that I've been working on tremendously hard since February So it's been a few months. Is creating a big enough vision to there and, and speaking it, not just thinking it, but actually putting it out into the world and talking about it, telling my community, telling my family, telling my friends, telling my employees, telling my customers that I want to build a $50 million brand. I want to hire, I want to hire 100 top tier employees that have beautiful lifestyles. And I want to integrate, I want to be the, the forefront of integrating backyard water features in people's yards and to bring wildlife. I don't have it perfectly done yet, but I want to, I want to be a big factor in, you know, connecting humans with not only nature, but protecting wildlife as well. So that, that aligns with the mission for my wife. Now that's my mission for my business. Now this is going to go to the push and pull principle back to having this job, right? So if someone worked somewhere and they made a certain amount of money and they were living unpredictable lifestyle, the pain would come. If they get fired now, they're fired. You can either wait to get fired or lose the job, the company goes out of business or whatever, and then you have to make this change, right? That's just being reactive to your environment. But if we can create a vision big enough and compelling enough in the future for, for something to pull us towards that, right, the $50 million brand or the ultimate job that you want or you know, you know, living wherever you wanted to do, like, whatever, if you can create a vision big enough that it pulls you in that direction instead of you being pushed into a different direction because you got fired. There's the difference between the push and pull motive, right? And we have control over that, especially as business owners, right? We have control this as like an employee, you have an, if you're an employee, you listen to the podcast, right now, like, you literally have to just create that compelling vision. Now. I've always had it, you know, bouncing around in my brain. I want the brand to be bigger. I want to make more money. I want to, you know, hire more people. I want a bigger truck fleet. I want to, you know, build bigger water features and touch more people's lives with water. And it's always been like this thing, right? But until I put it down on paper and I have it hanging on my wall right here. It's literally hanging on the wall right here. I have it hanging on the wall and in my house as well. So. And then I talk about it and I make posts about it. And the crazy thing is now I'VE found myself in different rooms. People are like, oh, you want that? Some, some people are like, good luck, good luck with that. Like, that's not possible, right? And then I have. Other people are like, finally, bro, that's so sick that you want to do this. I want to do this too. It's really similar now. Like, hey, come and hang out with me. Hey, come and talk to me. Hey, come and get on my podcast. Hey, like, so just by putting it out into the world, it, you know, it, it becomes an accountability thing. Like, I would rather work really hard to make this thing happen. Even if I fell a little short, maybe I only get to $30 million brand, maybe, all right? But hopefully I'll get to 30 million and all of a sudden it'll become 75 million. And then I'll have to push past 30 harder to get to that. And even if I fall a little shy, if I'm constantly pushing forward, I'm getting better than I was today. Something's constantly pulling me because as you can imagine, this, this 50 million dollar brand is probably 10 years away. So what is that? What do I have to do in the next year, in the next three year and five years to get that to happen? There's going to be things that happen in my business that I don't even realize yet. Opportunities aren't even going to show up until I put it out there into the world. So as soon as you make that, it's like the gravitational pull. As soon as you put something out there, a dream big enough to really pressure you to pull, you imagine it's a rope and they got a pulley up there and it's pulling you towards it. Because your brain is constantly thinking about what do I have to do? I'm already thinking differently. How am I going to make this a $50 million brand? I know a $65 million brand what they did. I know a 20, $30 million brand that did what they did. And I know a, a twenty million dollar brand in the same industry that I'm in right now that I know what they did, what am I going to have to do? Which, which of those three different factors is pulling me in the direction that I want to become? Right? Or maybe I'm carving my own path and using some of the theories that I've seen and some of the proven methodologies that have driven companies in more direction. Right? And I'm getting coaching and I'm doing training. And one of the things that is really important to me is moving forward is I Thought a lot about this is what I want to do is have more revenue per employee per year, like their value, right? So every time I hire an employee, I know I'm going to make this much revenue for the season. Right? And I think I've been thinking completely different about this. I've been thinking about this so wrong for so many decades. It's crazy. I just thought we work harder, we work longer, we, you know, create some more value. We get out there, we'll be able to charge more eventually. Right? Well, what I was missing was training my team. So oftentimes, can you make sure that dog doesn't go out? I'll get. Give me his. Give me his leash.

[Nick]

I'll hold it.

[Eric Triplett]

Give me just a minute.

[Erica]

I'll be right on.

[Eric Triplett]

Okay. So, thank you, thank you, thank you. Sorry for the interruption. So something crazy happened is I've been training myself. I've been reading all the books, I've been doing the podcasts, I've been going to training, I've been paying coaches, I've been doing all that stuff. And then, you know, I come in and I help my team get better, a little bit better. But now I'm literally training with my team every single day now. Whatever I can do to make them become better. You know, I did a little training on a UV filter today. You know, some of you guys that are pond guys that you'll. You'll can appreciate this. If you're not a pond guy, maybe you can appreciate this. But I've had guys that are on my team that have been here for three years, five years, 10 years, and they understand UVs. They know how to install them. They know when to change the bulb because I tell them to. And they know how to plug them in, and they know how to get them all tight, but they don't know how to articulate it to the client, why they need it, when they need to change bulbs and when to do those things. And so I literally had a meeting with six guys out here this morning. It's like, why would we change the bulb on Mother's Day? Why do we have to do that? And everyone had a radically different answer. And they didn't even explain it really well. And I was like, wow, this is on me. I'm not training my guys well enough. So since I've been training my team members, they are more excited. They see that there's a bigger vision, so they're working harder because they know that. That there's room for them to grow underneath that business. So the by you putting out this big vision into the world, you yourself, what you want to become, if it's big enough, if it's thrilling enough, if it's compelling enough, it will pull you in that direction. And the really cool thing is it will pull the O's that around you in that direction as well. So I think that most contractors think that revenue per employee is simply, I have to charge more for my work. I have to become better at sales so I can sell the job for more. I have to get my brand bigger so people are going to be, you know, have more desire to work with me because I'm an artist or whatever your reason is behind your brand that people want to work for you. Right. We think that we just have to raise our prices and get better and make the brand better. But you'd be amazed if you just start training your team how to become better, not just by through osmosis. Well, they've been around me for five years. They should know that's not good enough anymore. You have to literally train them. So I have made this commitment to train with my team every single day. People on my team that I've known for years and years and years. I'm watching them literally become better right before my eyes by doing these role plays. Sales training. I've been watching them doing the training for personal development, and it's part of our culture now. And I'll tell you, I'm already getting more revenue per employee through, like, osmosis. Not through osmosis anymore. We rely on osmosis just to be around me. You're going to learn. No, it's the training aspect that we're all swimming in the same direction. We all are aligned. We all want results. And so with that in mind, I just want to inspire each and every one of you guys to think about, are you in the pull or are you in the push? Motivation period. You know, did you just start to grow your business because, you know, you couldn't pay your bills and so you have to make a little bit more money? That's you just being pushed. Oh, I got to cut back my expenses. I got to do this. That's just your business pushing you, right? I want you to create a vision big enough to where it's pulling you in that direction. It's a very, very different dynamic. So I want to leave you with that. I want to open it up for, and hopefully it's inspires someone here to. To create a big dream and tell everyone, are you a contractor looking for growth Training and to level up your contracting business. If so, join the TWT Contractor Circle. It's our free Facebook group where like minded professionals go to share insights of success, strategies for growth and a place to find some accountability. In fact, we have a powerful accountability call every Friday with a live Q and A session at the end. And whether you're seeking advice, collaboration, or just a supportive community, this is a place for you request to join today and start building a valuable connection with me as well as our amazing network of contractors. Tango, Whiskey Tango. That's TWT Contractor Circle on Facebook. I'll see you on the inside. Now back to the show. Erica, I thought you would be first to talk.

[Erica]

I know you well, I don't, I don't want to be a hog. That's the thing is I don't want to always just be like. And so I was giving people space.

[Eric Triplett]

No, we want, we want to hear from you because I know you've experienced this. I know you have.

[Erica]

Oh, yeah.

[Eric Triplett]

Both directions.

[Erica]

When I left the hospital, like, I just wanted to get out of the hospital. Like, I'm like, I just want to replace my hospital income. I want health insurance to be able to put money into retirement. So I did that and then I hit up. I hit six figures, low six figures my first year. Then I coasted because I didn't. There was nothing else pulling me because my husband makes good money. Like, I live a comfortable life, like, whatever. So I had to dig really deep. I'm like, what is the purpose? Because it's not money. Money isn't the purpose right now. But now it's starting to because I'm like, okay, we can have this lake house. Okay, I want to be able to pay for the kids wedding. When it comes to that time, I want to be able to do all of these things. And that obviously takes money that I don't want my husband to have to break his back for. Because now that we're getting older, I'm seeing it like when he comes home, he's, you know, he's a little bit more tired. I'm like, oh, maybe I should start being more intentional with this. And then with the poop scooping thing, I'm like, can I really do a million dollar business? Like, is that even possible? I was putting my own, like, limiting beliefs on it. But I've seen several poop scooping companies that have done a million plus, $5 million plus. So I'm like, okay, they can do it. I can do it.

[Eric Triplett]

Nice. Because a lot of times we're like, we think like, oh, well, they're in a. They're in a different area. Their area will allow it. My area. Can't do it. You know, you start to come up with excuses why you think you can't instead of the reasons why you can.

[Erica]

Well, yeah, it's like, I'm not smart enough. I don't know how to do those things. And then like, you were talking about getting in the room with people. I thought that these people were just so highly intelligent. And that's not the case at all. They're just willing to take risks. They're able to move quick and they get people. And that was a real thing. Is like building the team. So I. I seen exactly where my issues were. I was afraid to spend money. I wasn't getting the knowledge out of my brain to be able to train somebody else to be able to do the thing. And now that I've done that. $17,800 in advertisement. Doubled my business.

[Eric Triplett]

Nice.

[Erica]

Doubled my team. I know, right?

[Eric Triplett]

So cool.

[Erica]

Doubled the team. And I'm having, like awesome conversations with people from the training that I have gotten from you, which. Check your Instagram dm. I sent you a message today.

[Eric Triplett]

I will. I'll check it. I can't wait.

[Erica]

Yeah.

[Eric Triplett]

Is it something. Is this something you could share with us on the call?

[Erica]

Yeah. Yeah. So during your sales training and especially with Joe too, when you guys would have those conversations and leave that awkward silence, as you know, I struggled with that because. Just blabbing. And I had a customer that called me today. I charged his card and I've already had issues with him. And he's a hard nose. Right. He's a. He is a business owner that owns a business that owns a job, and he doesn't charge enough money to be able to make money. So he doesn't think that I should be able to make money. And he is just beside himself that he gets charged $112 a month for a weekly service that takes 10 minutes and that I automatically charge his card on file on the 1st of the month instead of the end of the month. And I just went back and forth and I would love to actually share the recording because I record my calls now and I just left space for him. I answered his question directly and just allowed him to process what it was that I said.

[Eric Triplett]

Okay, I'm looking at this podcast I just did. I just put it out April 24th. How much money is enough? And it's exactly this topic because, you know, when you're running A business, and you're providing a premium service. It seems expensive. And someone will be like, well, I'm a doctor, I'm a lawyer, and I don't make, you know, I don't make, you know, $250 per hour or 500 per hour. It didn't take you 10 minutes. You charged me 100 bucks. But they start doing the math in their head, and it's like, who are you to tell me how much that I'm worth and what my business costs to run? You know, it's. That's a really, really tough one.

[Erica]

Well, I just explained to him, I said, come on, Dave, you know that I'm not just charging for the time that I'm on your property. You own a business. You know how this goes. Then he said, what? He said. I said, hey, I. I operated 110, $120 per man hour, and I charge accordingly. Less space. And I said, and we charge what we charge so we can have reliable staff that shows up to do a good job. Yeah, yeah, it was great. I loved it.

[Eric Triplett]

You know, sometimes. Sometimes that. That is just a complaint. It's not an. It's not really an objection. You know, so sometimes he's like, you charge so much money per hour, and so we take that as an objection. But a lot of times it's just a complaint. It's just like when you walk outside, you're like, holy, it's cold out here. Doesn't mean you're not going to go outside. You're just going to get a jacket and complain about it a little bit. Doesn't mean that you're asking Mother Nature for a discount to, you know, change the weather, you know, just doesn't mean that they're asking you to change the price. They're just going to complain about it. And that's. You can complain about it.

[Erica]

Yeah, that's. I didn't offer him a discount. I didn't offer anything. I just heard him out and was like, yes, that's what we charged. That's what you hired us for. For a service to be provided. We provided it. And then he said, okay. I said, all right, have a good day.

[Eric Triplett]

And you got good at that by training with Joe and I in the. In the TWT contractor, Power Circle. Right? Well.

[Erica]

Well, yeah, hearing that. So hearing you guys leave the space and just have the conversations. I've taken that. And then over. I mean, spring rush, we had over. I think we had over 800 phone calls, maybe over a thousand phone calls that we took. So Just repetition.

[Eric Triplett]

Those calls. How do you take all those calls?

[Erica]

It was chaos this spring rush. I had three. It was three people answering the phones.

[Eric Triplett]

Just like 50 calls a day, probably. Right?

[Erica]

It was. It was mad.

[Eric Triplett]

Wow.

[Erica]

Yeah. I was just calling people back and doing the best that we could, and we dropped like, we were really only at like a 35% conversion rate. So I know that next year I need. I need four or five people answering phones during spring rush.

[Eric Triplett]

Yeah. Speed to lead is going to be a big deal if you can get to them faster, because if you have that many calls coming at once, you have only three people getting to them. That might be an hour, two hours, three hours later before you get to them. You know, they say something like, it's something crazy like if you can get to the call within 60 seconds, which seems extraordinary, but, you know, like a $50 million brand seems extraordinary, but until you set it and figure out how to get there. Right. But if you can get to them within 60, 60 seconds, your chances of conversion go up 900%. Contractors, if you're sick and tired of not making enough money, you might suck at sales and you don't even know it. Or worse, you suck at some sales and you actually think you're good. Before you get upset with me, I sucked at sales, too. And for a long time. Here's the difference. I pulled my head out of the sand and I forced the change. That's why I know what you're up against and how you too can turn things around for you and your family. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I got really uncomfortable. I trained hard. I studied books and podcasts, videos, courses, role playing, and I took guidance from mentors and coaches while spending thousands of dollars. But trust me, it was all worth it. I mean, I turned my struggling company into a profitable seven figure construction business. I put together a list of the critical sales techniques that I use to flip my business from surviving to thriving. And I call it my contractor Sales Secrets. I want to share the list with you with no, no expense. Just to get you moving in the right direction. It's my way of contributing and giving back to my community and the construction industry that I know and I love. The list is available to [e-mail] I promise you, with these sales secrets, some grit and discipline, I know you can dramatically change your life. So stop what you're doing right now and go to Contractorsalesecrets.com that's contractor sales Secrets. 900.

[Erica]

Oh, I believe it. Because Answering those phone calls just like we had talked about. Because I remember the reservations I had where I didn't want to hop on the phone. And I was trying to figure out how to do your method via text message. It just, it doesn't have the same essence. And my demographic is changing. It is now the boomer generation that is really needing our services because a lot of these women are losing their husbands and their husbands have done everything for them. And these women are just trying to figure out how to piece their lives together and move like, and keep things normal. So hopping on the phone with them and going through those, the motive, having the conversations with them, taking the time and slowing down and leaving space, it's just, I mean, Eric, you've helped my business so much. It's like tremendously.

[Eric Triplett]

Thank you so much. Yeah, I'm just looking up. I was looking something up real quick. The boomers, baby. Boomers are early. They're in their early 60s. The oldest boomer is in their 80s. I was listening to this tremendous podcast the other day. I don't remember which one it was. Might have been Patrick Bet David or Tim Pool or something like that. But they were talking about how the voting is going to be changing in the next 10 years, seven to 10 years. Because right now the boomers are the ones that are doing most of the voting. Like, those are the people that get out there and vote mostly right now. Charlie Kirk had an impact on that was bringing younger generations into voting. But they started talking about how today they need to be trying to politically influence like 12 year olds. Like, because in the next eight to 10 years, most of the boomers might not be out there voting as much because they're getting old. Right. So you just said your demographics have changed because now the, the, their husbands are dying because they're in their 60s to 80s. But now imagine in seven to 10 years, you're going to have to be marketing differently because your demographics are changing again. That's what's fun about this. I don't know if it's fun. It's the challenge about it. You can make.

[Erica]

Well, it's interesting. It's. And you learn a lot when you get on the phones and you have these conversations and you have, you listen to the stories, then it's like, okay, now I'm really understanding what's going on here. Like, now I know how to speak to you. Now I know actually know how to market my business.

[Eric Triplett]

Okay, so cool. All right. Me, Erica and I are hogging the whole thing up. Who else Wants to talk?

[Nathan]

Yeah, no. I had the epiphany moment where I needed to give my guys more training. I mean, even just the simple using jobber, I mean, like, the amount of stuff that was. When I sat down, started going through billing and realizing, like, what these guys were doing on there was just crazy. And then I've even gone as far. One of my newer employees, she. She's really good at ponds, but aquariums, she's just kind of weak on. And I have a buddy who is solo and he only does reef tanks. And so I ended up talking to him because I know he's been having back pain. And I said, hey, if I paid my employee to come with you and shadow you for a couple weeks and help you, because I know your back's been bothering you, would that work for you? And that's been amazing with how much he's been able to grow just by going and doing that. Even though, like, it's hard to do. And, like, it's like watching, like, how much I'm paying hourly to an employee who's bringing in nothing, you know, it's hard. It's hard. It's hard to watch. But, you know, you just have to gamble it, I guess.

[Eric Triplett]

Well, that. That's just more testimony to the fact that when you train your employees on things, they just get better. And that's going to translate to more money for you.

[Nathan]

That's the goal.

[Eric Triplett]

Yeah.

[Nathan]

Is being able to put more reef tanks onto her plate and she feels comfortable going to those.

[Eric Triplett]

John Grant's on the call today. Augustine, we got. We're rolling.

[Erica]

I actually hired a woman to help me with my phone calls. It's a friend of mine that I was like, I just need help. Can you help me? She's like, yeah, sure. But she is really good at writing SOPs. So she came in and, like, the messy middle, and she's like, okay, this is chaos. And so she's actually been like, documenting and writing SOPs and creating like, a SOP hub with, like, videos and links and Google Docs. And I'm like, okay, this is how we're actually going to extract all of this craziness out of my brain to be able to make it, like. What is that word? Replicable. Whatever that word is.

[Eric Triplett]

Replicatable.

[Erica]

Yeah, whatever you said. Because, like you said, as you're trying to train a team, it's hard as the owner, I think, to slow down enough and take a deep breath to be able to properly train somebody. And so I like what Nathan did, where you kind of sent him off with somebody else. Because I do that in my staff. I'm like, charles, Brittany, you train because you're going to do a much better job than me.

[Eric Triplett]

We are working. I. I finally have an understanding of why SOPs are important. I finally have that, you know, so now from Digital to video, SOPs, you know, because the only thing I've done for the past, I don't know, 30 years is there's a. There's a human SOP. It's me. I just got to tell everyone, this is the sop. This is how you do it. This is how you do it. No, no, this is how you do it. But now, you know, the difference is now I can write it out one little single task and be like, this is how we do it, Erica. And you read it. And I go like, do you get it? She says, yes. And she sign and be like, okay, cool. And then when Erica maybe does it wrong, I'd be like, hey, remember this sop? Maybe you should read it again. Watch the video. Read the digital file. Like, let me print one out for you, right? And then if she keeps messing it up, I'd be like, maybe you don't like working here, Erica. You know what I mean? And then they're like, wait, wait, wait, wait. I'll get it right. You know, it's. It's. It's crazy, but, you know, it's easy. When you have 1, 2, 3, 5 guys, you're like, yeah, I'll just be the human SOP. But when you want to scale, when you want to get past that, if you want to stop the chaos, it has to be something that you can train with and something that you can hold people accountable with as well.

[Nathan]

I mean, I have five or six guys, and as much as I would love to be on top of them all the time, it's just, you know, like, I've noticed, like, it's like you can't pay attention to their timesheets constantly or just going over and checking their work. It just doesn't work.

[Eric Triplett]

Are you. How often are you syncing with these guys?

[Nathan]

I mean, I talk. I talk to them on the phone every single day as a team, but, like, actually, no, just individually, one on one.

[Eric Triplett]

Okay, so let me just share with you what's been incredible for me over the past two months. Basically, yeah, about the two months, and it's still incredibly messy. You can ask Joe. Joe just wants to, like, strangle me sometimes because it's still messy in the middle. But for the longest time, I've done a 6am sync meeting with my team, but mostly it's been about, you take this truck, you take that truck. Go have a good day. Be careful. You need a trailer, you need a gas car. It's been like that. But over the past couple months, I meet with my team, 6am sync, it's about 30 minutes and as a team, we're there together. So if there's one SOP or like, hey, this is how we fill the folders out. This is why we're struggling to get the billing done correctly, because you're not doing it like this. This is how we do it, right? So instead of telling each individual guy, you know, three times over the course of three months because they screw it up all the time, we just meet right there, we talk about it daily. And then we're also doing an all team meeting. I've talked about it on the podcast before and on the coaching calls because it's a book. It's. It's teamwork right here. This is the book, Teamwork. This is like my bible right now. So we do a daily Sync meeting for 15 minutes to get aligned with where everyone's at. So not only do I spend 30 minutes with those guys in the morning, then I spend 15 minutes with them. So I'm spending about 45 minutes with my team as a team and then I'm doing one on ones, 15 minutes with everyone every other week. So it's like a lot of meetings, but I feel like I can see the end of the tunnel where there's going to be less chaos in my life because it's just chaos. And so what happens as business owners when we get to this point, we're like, hey, we got 10 people. There's so much work. I just can't believe it. Because you've been the human SOP for 10 years or 20 years or 30 years, and then you get to this point where there's 10 people and it's totally messy and you're like, I don't want to scale. If I get 20 more, if I get 20 people on the team, my workload is going to just double, triple. It's going to be so, so much work. It's so hectic. And that's when the, the SOPs and the standards and the meetings and the syncing, that's when it starts to make sense. And that's what I didn't know. What I just, I just didn't know what I didn't know back then, but now I know.

[Nathan]

Definitely. I mean, Just trying to get them on board to fill out jobber when they're at the actual job site and not at either at the end of the day or two, three days later where it's like, hey, you guys, like, you didn't fill out anything.

[Eric Triplett]

Well, we, We. We're getting better about it. We're not perfect, mj. We're not perfect there yet. Right. But we're definitely better than we were two months ago, right? Yeah. Yeah. Two months ago, we were having that problem. We only met once a week for half an hour, 45 minutes as a team. And as soon as we went to daily all team meetings and a daily AM sync for 30 minutes, like, those problems have almost worked themselves out. And it's been frustrating. Like, you just want to kill every one of your employees every day. You know what I mean? Like, every day, all day long. I just want to kill this person, to kill that person, that person to show up and like, you know, but now it's like the stress starts to go away when. When you get aligned. Because I wasn't aligned with these guys back in February. I thought we were, but we weren't. I'm like, hey, here's Jobber. I have Jobber. You have Jobber. We're aligned. That's not the case. You know, until you do it this way and I do it that way, and we both do it this way and we both submit the stuff that way, that's when we become aligned. And without those daily sync meetings, it would. It just was never going to happen. Hey, it's tripola here. Let's be real. In a world of reels, swipes and virtual trends, it's easy to forget what really moves the needle. Pond trade magazine isn't chasing clicks. It's preserving the craft of water features, arguably the last stronghold of long form education in our industry. Where real pond builders, koi pros and innovators share their knowledge unfiltered and unrushed. You won't find gimmicks or clickbait in pine trade. You'll find depth, detail, strategy, story. From advanced filtration systems and aquatic plant care to retail strategies and contractor spotlights, pond trade is where the best in the business speak freely and where the next generation of pond builders learn what it really takes. If you build ponds for a living, maintain them, design them, or dream about doing it all better, this is your magazine. Delivered free, written by professionals respected by the entire industry. This isn't just content for the algorithm. It's content for legacy. Subscribe now. @pondtrademag.com Stay connected to the heart of the pawn world. Now back to the show.

[Erica]

I have a question, Nathan. So for your jobs, if you don't mind me asking, how many jobs do you have per day? Like per technician?

[Nathan]

Anywhere between five to eight.

[Erica]

Okay. So do they have set times?

[Nathan]

Yeah, so I have a few clients. There are a few guys that they're, they're good at setting their own schedule. So I kind of, I'm hands off with them. Like they, they'll call their clients and get it scheduled with them and figure out when they're going. And then the other four of them, I sit and do their schedule and I do the times and I'll call and confirm the clients for them if they're clients that need to be confirmed. But usually I've gotten pretty good at getting people on a set schedule.

[Eric Triplett]

Cool.

[Erica]

So what I have done is if I need my technician to do something extra, I will actually create a task on jobber and I'll put it in as task and I will assign it a time and I will place that right after or right before that scheduled visit. So it's. So they see it, it's like a reminder. So you could do something along the lines of finish this job's notes before you move on to your next job. So then they have to actually physically mark that off, that it's done.

[Nathan]

Yeah, yeah. No, I, well, I, I, what's it called? I've like, I've implemented, I use the On Jobber, they have the forms, the job forms to make sure that they're filling that out after every job. But it's just like I said, some of them, they're like, oh, I was in a rush and I wasn't able to fill it out or, you know, there was no reception at that job and I couldn't get onto the app. And then, yeah, so I've had that. And then getting them to take lunches, that's been, I have one out of the five guys of my full time employees that actually will take a lunch and mark it down.

[Erica]

Gotcha.

[Nathan]

So that's been, that's been the tough one.

[Eric Triplett]

That's tough, Nathan, because one day when they, you know, get fired or they quit because they're mad about something, then they go to the EDD and then they say that you never let them take lunch and the jobber proves that they never got lunch because you're an awful, mean, hairy boss.

[Nathan]

Well, so I have, like, that's why, like I document, like, I put it into email and text message. It's like, hey, you got, you haven't taken a lunch all week. What's going on? Why haven't you taken a lunch and everything? And I, they, they almost always respond, oh, sorry, like I forgot or I didn't, I didn't want to just get through my day. And so I didn't take it. And it's like, okay, but you need to take that 30 minute lunch. I mean, I've had guys in the past that are so bad about it, I'm like, I will pay you for your lunch. Just take it. I need you to mark it down. Because it's not just, it's not just EDD that you get in trouble with. It's also on through the payroll. You get in trouble with.

[Eric Triplett]

Well, the EDD are lunch.

[Erica]

Is that important?

[Eric Triplett]

Yeah. In California. Yeah. You have to give them a 10 minute break in the morning, 30 minute lunch before 5, at 5 hours or sooner. And then you have to give them a 10 minute break in the afternoon. Like that's law. Like they'll just shot. They'll decapitate you if you don't, you know, edd, if the employee reports you, you're guilty. There's no proving innocence. And then they just cut your head off. You just die.

[Nathan]

Welcome to California.

[Eric Triplett]

Welcome to California. Welcome to California. So here's the thing. I know you don't want to hear it, Nathan. I'm not trying to give you like, I'm just telling you what we do. Like it's policy. You have to take lunch. And if you violate policy, you can be fired for violating policy. It's, it's just like you can't come to work drunk. Or we fire you. You can't not take lunch in the daytime. Or we can fire you. Like that's policy. Right? It's, it's pretty important. Yeah, pretty.

[Nathan]

I just, they, I don't know, they probably realize, they know that if I fired them, I'd be drowning with the amount of like being able to try to replace somebody I fired somebody. That's kind of where.

[Eric Triplett]

It's a tough spot where I'm at. I hate that spot. All right, who else wants the floor?

[Nick]

I just want to give a shout out to Phillips. We had a interesting conversation yesterday and it was an eye openening experience that I needed.

[Eric Triplett]

Can you share it?

[Nick]

Yeah. I don't know whether you know this, but my phone number is nowhere. I've removed my phone number from all forms of everything and I was using forms on my website, jobber forms for people to reach out. And when you, when I say it out loud, I realize how crazy it is to think that I can create an influx of clients that I want, you know, good clients that I want based on that system. And I guess in my mind I thought I could build that. And I know it's buildable. I know in reality it can be built, but it's very difficult and I just haven't done it. I haven't put the time in to do it. So Phillips pointed that out. One thing led to another. We talked about how I started my business, who my first clients were, and we talked about expanding where that started, which is the dentistry sector. And we talked about putting together a role playing model where I can practice talking to dentist owners and talking about building that out, about installing reef tanks for, for these types of clients. It's not a, it's not a new concept. I did it probably 10 years ago, but I don't know if I probably didn't do it as well as I could have. So we're giving that a go. I gave myself about a week to get a couple of tanks in really good shape and work on this new pitch and start finding all the dentists in a 10 mile radius to start implementing this strategy. So just want to say thanks to, again to Chris for having that conversation.

[Eric Triplett]

Sick. Did, did you add your phone number to Stuff now or you, you just stick with that?

[Nick]

Not yet. I'm not going to be having them call me. I'm going to be calling them.

[Eric Triplett]

You're going to pursue them, right?

[Nick]

Or walking in and being like, hey, is, is Bob here? Okay, I need to talk to Bob.

[Eric Triplett]

Can I talk to Bob? We have to work on some cold call stuff with you. Me and Joe can help you with that. Okay, yeah, let's do that.

[Phillips]

Yeah, exactly. You change to like that cold call, like first time elevator pitch kind of vibe. That way you're just right there at the client you want because you can't expect them to be looking for you. But you know what your dream client

[Nathan]

is, so get after that.

[Eric Triplett]

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You want to tell your side of that story, Phillips? When you saw it, like, was it because, you know, you're really intuitive when it comes to marketing and online stuff. A lot of contractors, you know, suffer from being able to see that stuff, those blind spots.

[Phillips]

Yeah, I would absolutely love to throw it out there because me and Nick have had this conversation about his website. I actually gave him a detailed list of what he do change on his website and he did what felt comfortable and not what I told him to do. So we've been going at this, you know, for about a year, trying to get moving to the next step. So it was right off the bat, I just wanted to know, how many calls did you get last month? And the answer was zero. And it was like, okay, so you got everything set up for your jobber platform. That's where you want to get all your forms filled out. How many forms did you get in April? And he's like, tells me the numbers ends up being what, four in the last six months? So there's no influx in existence. And the biggest thing is I was honest with Nick. I just said, dude, I don't, I don't feel you're ever enthusiastic about what you do. I just, I never feel it. I never see it. Like, what's shaking, bro? Like, you even want to do this stuff? And he's like, no, I don't want to do palm clean outs. I don't want to do this. And then we went back to like, well, where the hell? What the hell you been doing this for? Like, what? What's going on? And so that takes us back to 2007, you know, when he got his first client dentist through a relationship and then that built his first aquarium. He loves dope ass aquariums. Well, it's like, okay, then build dope ass aquariums. But that's not what he's telling the world he is. And he's also blocking them from communicating with him, putting walls up rather than opening the door saying, I am the king of badass tanks. Let's go and build them. So take all that away. The digital world we all know Nick gets stuck into. He wants to research, he wants to look, he wants to do again. He wants to chat. GBT it two more times. He to wants before he does anything. Drop it all, Close your computer, print out the list, the dentist office, and you walk into him. You take the digital part out and go back to guerrilla marketing one on one. Hey, what's going on? You guys could use a tank here. Here's a picture of the gorgeous one down the street from your competitor. Because dentists are competitive. So it's like all these things just trying to get his brain wrapped around you. Got to look at what you have in front of you, what you love to actually do of what you're doing, and then apply to that. So I really. I stopped him the whole point. He was calling for role play. And I'm like, wanted to make sure we're role playing the right role play. And it took this hour conversation to realize you don't need the eight vital question role play. You need the elevator cold pitch. How do I walk into a dentist's office and get myself to build them a tank and want it? And then on the other side of that, going to LinkedIn. The trick that I told him the reason you find out his name's Bob and not Dr. Kasalevich. Like, it's because you went to LinkedIn, you found out the dentist's office, found his real name. You go up to the counter and he talked to Bob real quick. You talk to Bob real quick. Well, everyone's weird because, like, why isn't he calling Dr. Slovovich? Like, no, Bob, someone's your friends out here. And then now you all of a sudden have this weird conversation of someone who thinks he knows you, and then just, boom. And that's where the elevator pitch has to start. So it's like, write that elevator pitch and practice that with us. Role play that over and over. Let me be Bob. Let you be Jim. And you got to come in and tell me, make me want this, even though I didn't even know. I know you were one of this, but I need this. Why? That's because your competition's got doper one. Look.

[Eric Triplett]

Boom, bro. How many healthy drinks have you had today? What are you on coffee or Monster, I'm back, bro.

[Nick]

Like, you understand. I was.

[Phillips]

I lost myself for, like, seven months, dude. Medication, pain, bull crap.

[Eric Triplett]

Like, sounds like Phillips is back, dude.

[Phillips]

I'm on fire, bro. I just helped another friend's business with some stuff the other week or two days ago. And, yeah, when. Just hearing Nick, it's like my brain sees. This is how my brain works. Like, I just. I have a passion to help people succeed, and I see what they're missing, and that's what's up, dude.

[Eric Triplett]

Nice. We're glad you're here today.

[Nick]

Wow,

[Eric Triplett]

that's good.

[Erica]

That's got me excited. Like, I'm thinking about Phillips.

[Phillips]

Phillips sounded like the. The sales rally I was on this morning.

[Eric Triplett]

He's back. The guy was.

[Erica]

Yeah, dude.

[Phillips]

The guy was telling him how you just. You just get the name of the main dude and just don't be like, hey, this is Joe the fish guy from this company, trying to reach out Mr. So and so.

[Eric Triplett]

Just be like, hey, so I need

[Phillips]

to talk to John real quick. Like, I'm his buddy or something, you know? That was awesome, Phillips.

[Erica]

Yeah.

[Eric Triplett]

Domination. All right, cool. Let's wrap it up, people. I do have a hard stop in a few minutes. I have another call coming up. But what a. What a great call it turned out to be today. Got any final takeaways? Anyone want to give a takeaway? You guys good? All right, do it, Erica. Do it.

[Erica]

Okay, so when I was thinking about what Phillips was saying, too. If. If Nick has a Facebook, which I'm hoping you have a Facebook page, either a personal one or your business. Find the dentist office, their. Their Facebook page and start commenting on their post, because I'm sure they're not getting a bunch of love on their Facebook pages anyways. So you can start building up a relationship with them online, and then maybe that'll make it a little bit easier for you to walk in because you've already been, like, courting a little bit

[Eric Triplett]

and on LinkedIn and all that, right? Some. Some of those guys have good Instagram pages. There's. There's a couple dentists with good Instagram pages.

[Phillips]

That's Gary Vee's two cents. Just go and give your opinion. Give your opinion. Just start speaking. All of a sudden, it's like, who the heck is current aquatics? Oh, damn. He's at the counter, bro.

[Eric Triplett]

He's at the counter asking for Bob. I'm going out to see him. All right, you guys have a great day. What a great call. I really like. I really like hanging out with you guys.

[Nathan]

On Fridays.

[Eric Triplett]

We'll see you soon. Later, contractors.

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Thank you so much for your ears and attention to the podcast today. I want to leave you with a question to just sit with. Okay. Are you being pushed by pain or are you being pulled by your vision? And I want to talk to you about a vision for a second because I'm guilty of not having big enough visions and big enough dreams in my career here. And I recently really focused on that, really wrapped my head around what it is that I want to do. And I had to raise my belief lid. I had to get coaching. I had to really, like, dig in deep to create this. And so I'm going to share with you my vision right now. You may or may not have already heard this on social media, but the Pond Digger will become a $50 million brand. We're going to employ 100 top tier team members and lead the integration of backyard ecosystems and wildlife rehabilitation, reconnecting people with nature at home. That's my vision. And the more I read it, the more I think about it, the more I tell people about it, the more my brain starts to wrap around how to even make that happen. And the interesting thing is, you know, just like when you put it out into the world, you get people that are, you know, being cheerleaders and applauding you and excited about it, and you get others that are hating on it. And I think that's one of the reasons why people are afraid to put that big vision, that big dream out there. Or they're just too afraid to put it out there and not fulfill it and then be looked at as some, you know, as a loser or someone that didn't get it accomplished. But, you know, if until you put that big vision out there, you're, you know, you're, you'll never find a way to get there. And even if we do fall a little bit shy from it, the goal is to, you know, go for it and figure out ways to make that happen, right? And as we get closer and we want to push past that goal, we just make the goal bigger and keep going. But the thing is, if. If you don't have a vision big enough to pull yourself out of bed every morning, to pull yourself into figuring out how to do it, to pull your team that's around you, to pull your team to want to come in and help you achieve that goal, because their dreams can be built underneath that as well. Until you have that, you're just going to be living that unpredictable. You could just be living the predictable hell instead of like this unpredictable vision that you really got to figure out how to do. You know, when you create a vision this big, you don't have to have all the answers right away, but you have to start to think about how you can reverse engineer this vision and make it happen. But let's be honest, most people don't build something great like this until they're forced to. Like, if they, you know, have something painful happen in their life, that they have to go in a different, different route and then they move on that. But that's a slower, more painful way to live. It's my hope that I've inspired you in some version, some way, and I would love for you to join us on one of these inside the weekly Compass calls. One of these calls, one of these accountability calls that we do every Friday because we're constantly building on how to do these things. Whether it's visions or sales, communications or growing your team or whatever it is, we're constantly pushing to be better each and every week. So I'm going to ask you, are you going to build a vision that actually pulls you forward so you're not waiting for things to break before you can grow? And please, I, I want you to go deeper with us on this and be around some other contractors who are working on stuff like this in real time every single week, every single day. Come and join us. Head on over to Facebook and search TWT Contractor circle where you can hit the link in the show notes. It's a private group. Ask to be approved and I'll let you in. And every Friday, we go live on the weekly Compass call. Just like the one you heard today. Real conversations, real challenges, real growth. No fluffy bullshit. Nothing like that. Just people trying to become the best versions of themselves. So if you're ready to stop living in a predictable hell and start building a version of yourself that will give you this unpredictable heaven, I'll say. See you on the inside.