Episode Overview

Title: The Big Secret, Making AND Keeping Commitments
Host: Russell Brunson
Podcast: The Russell Brunson Show
Date: October 10, 2017

In this insightful episode, Russell Brunson dives into a game-changing but often overlooked principle for success: not just making commitments, but keeping them. Drawing from personal experiences with coaches, stories from his entrepreneurial journey, and examples from his business community, Russell explores the crucial difference between intention and action, and explains how being truly coachable is about following through—no excuses allowed.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Value of Coaching and Being Coachable

• Personal Coaching Philosophy (01:20)
  • Russell explains why he always has at least one coach, sometimes several. “If you want to be successful… find a coach to actually coach you through it.”
• Teaching His Kids About Success (01:53)
  • He recounts telling his kids that the secret to success in anything—school, sports, music—is to find great coaching and be willing to listen.

The Definition of ‘Coachable’

• Wrestling Story — Early Lessons in Coachability (03:10)
  • Russell recalls a formative experience with wrestling coach Greg Williams, now at UVU. The coach praises Russell:

    “You’re not the most talented, but one of the most coachable.” (04:05)

  • Most people say they’ll listen but don’t act. Being coachable means “just doing what the coach says.”
• Dan Henry’s ‘Perfect Webinar’ & The Excuse Epidemic (06:00)
  • Russell highlights Dan Henry, who followed his ‘perfect webinar’ guidance and made a million dollars in five months, then wondered out loud why others didn’t replicate the same success.

  • “He went into the Clickfunnels group... was like, ‘Hey, guys... Why aren’t you guys all just doing that?’ ... and it was basically 170 excuses why people hadn’t done it yet.” (06:15)

• Common Excuses
  • Russell reads through the typical objections: “I’m still working on my slides,” “I’m not really a pitch person,” etc.—highlighting how most people aren’t taking action.

Accountability and Specificity in Commitment

• Current Coaching with Jeff Woods (07:55)
  • Russell describes his own current coaching arrangement with Jeff Woods, who holds him highly accountable. Specificity is paramount!

    “When are you gonna have these done?”
    Russell: “Friday.”
    Jeff: “That’s not specific enough for me. Friday at 4:30 my time.”
    Jeff: “If you don’t have it done by Friday at 4:30, we’re canceling the call for next Monday.” (08:55)

  • Russell admits that even he, a self-proclaimed coachable person, let himself off the hook and failed to fully deliver on a commitment.

The True Secret to Success: Making AND Keeping Commitments

• Key Insight:

  “People that succeed in life… They're good. Not just at making commitments… but at making and keeping commitments.” (11:10)

  • Anyone can declare intentions (“I’m gonna lose weight, I’m gonna make money”) but few follow through. The differentiator is follow-through.
• Personal Confession and Growth (12:00)
  • Russell honestly shares his own struggles with this:

    “I failed one of my commitments from this week, and it sucks… I know better than that. Like, I’m someone who makes and keeps commitments. And I didn’t on one of the things.”

  • This vulnerability reinforces the episode’s central lesson.

The Sales Analogy: Selling Excuses vs. Selling Solutions

• Quote by Alex Hormozi (13:15)
  • At a recent event, Alex Hormozi made a telling remark:

    “Every sales call you're on, someone's getting sold. Either you're selling them on the product or service that they need, or they're selling you on the excuse why they can’t get it.”

  • Russell applies this to life: you’re either “buying the excuse, or buying the thing you actually have to do.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If you want to be successful, whatever it is… find a coach to actually coach you through it.”
  (01:53, Russell to his kids)
• “Most people, I tell them what to do… they don’t do it. You’re really, really coachable.”
  (04:05, Coach Greg Williams quoted by Russell)
• “Dan’s very coachable. And then there’s like, 170 comments from people… basically 170 excuses why people hadn’t done it yet.”
  (06:00, on Dan Henry’s Clickfunnels post)
• “So many things I could walk you through from a coaching standpoint… but it was just making me make sure I do it right.”
  (08:20, on coaching calls with Jeff Woods)
• “All successful people… they're good at making them and good at keeping them.”
  (11:35, on commitments)
• “Alex Hormozi… said that every sales call you’re on, someone’s getting sold. Either you’re selling them… or they’re selling you on the excuse why they can’t get it.”
  (13:15)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:20 — Importance of always having a coach
• 03:10 — Lesson from wrestling and coach Greg Williams
• 06:00 — Dan Henry’s ‘perfect webinar’ case and the prevalence of excuses
• 07:55 — Coaching with Jeff Woods and being held accountable
• 11:10 — “Making and keeping commitments” is the key to success
• 13:15 — Alex Hormozi’s sales analogy and application to personal accountability

Actionable Takeaways

• Find a Coach: Success in any field or pursuit increases dramatically when you have the right coach.
• Be Coachable: Don’t just listen—take action on what your coach tells you.
• Make Specific Commitments: Be precise about what you’ll do and when you’ll do it.
• Keep Your Commitments: Don’t let yourself off the hook or accept your own excuses.
• Write Down Your Commitments: This week, Russell vows to “write down all commitments I make” and ensure he keeps each one.

Final Thoughts

Russell provides an honest, actionable reflection on the hidden driver separating the successful from the rest: keeping commitments—especially to yourself and your coach. The difference comes not from information but from execution, accountability, and refusing to buy your own excuses.

For more deep dives like this, subscribe to hear Russell’s weekly playbook for growth—both in business and beyond.