Loading summary
Michael Grigory
Wake up.
Josh
Your competition is asleep. It's you against the world. And if you want to win, we need to get a few things straight. Your business is a mental war. Your success is a mental war. And making money is a game. And the game of money starts in your mind. This podcast exists to help you weaponize your brain through advanced marketing mindset and money concepts. To have what others don't, you need to know what others won't. Your future fortune awaits. Welcome to the War Plan Podcast. Foreign welcome back to the War Plan podcast. How the heck are you? Is it okay if I over deliver and help make you tons of money? Because I have a special treat for you. I got some friends in the house, but they're not just normal friends. Okay? Not the hold my beer friends from high school who I love. I deeply love these people. But these are business expert, multimillionaire, killing it, crushing it marketers that help small business owners like you make money. So let's have a conversation. I'm joined by Michael Grigory, okay? The founder of Click Call Sell, a multi seven figure agency. He's been in the home service game for a long time. He was the head of marketing for a multi billion dollar franchise before he went out on his own. He's actually too smart for his own good. Great guy. Great, great guy. Like Donald Trump would say, a lot of knowledge to help you. And then my buddy Neil, who just got here from South Korea because he's a global world traveler, he's like always in Mongolia living with yak herders, but he also has a multimillion dollar business and he's a founder of a franchise that's crushing it. And then of course, Eric Kelly, who's one of my business partners here at Warplan. He has the best beard you've ever seen. He actually walked away from a seven figure business to work here at Warplan. Let's just talk for 30, 40 minute guys. How the heck are you? How's everybody feeling?
Neil
That was the best intro ever.
Josh
Okay, so. So that's the voice of Neil. Michael, why don't you say hi?
Michael Grigory
Also the greatest introduction I've ever heard in my life. Just give me that 30 second snippet about myself. I'm gonna put that on my website.
Josh
Everything is marketing. Marketing is everything. And then, Eric, how you doing, my Viking friend?
Eric Kelly
I'm doing great. I get to enjoy that sort of intro all the time working here, so. Never gets old.
Michael Grigory
Does he just walk in and just say, welcome, everybody say, it's going to be the greatest Day.
Josh
Yeah, I got my podcast button, you know, you gotta turn it on throughout most of the day. I'm a recluse, I'm quiet. Eric is always like, we need to like have business meetings. I'm like, no, leave me alone. I'm going to H. I'm thinking, I'm in my head. But when you gotta make content, it has to be edutainment, right? So what I thought would be cool to talk about is success as a category. All of you guys every day work with small business owners trying to change their life and live the dream. And all four of us watch people bang their head against the wall, totally fail, self sabotage and destroy their own chances of succeeding, which is frustrating. And then of course, if you're like me, you've done that to yourself repeatedly as well. So the topic, success. Start thinking, what are some of the reasons people don't get what they want even when they know what they should be doing? What comes to mind when you think about that?
Neil
Damn, that's a deep question. Love you guys. Pawning it off to me first with this one. First.
Eric Kelly
You'Re up.
Neil
I'll try to answer this from the perspective of franchisees and what I'm saying. So I run a company called Made this Cleaning. It's a fully remote cleaning franchise. Folks in the Airbnbs and residential, a lot of the people joining our system are escape the 9 to 5 crowd. So they leave their corporate job. It's their first time in entrepreneurship. They're just getting involved. So we have about 30 locations now and oftentimes I see the same pattern kind of happen over and over and over of why people don't move faster. And I, I've thought about it quite a bit. For me, I think it's that they don't really have conviction it's going to work. So a lot of times people shoot themselves in the foot by not betting on themselves too big at the beginning. The truth of what I understood and what I learned especially from working with this guy Josh over here, is that all the big money happens later on. And I know at least when I started I was a side hustler, I was working in finance, typical job, hated it. And I would take a little bit of money from the profits of the business and store it away for like a rainy day, like a little squirrel, and just store it away. And it wasn't even much, but I felt like it was safety that I was looking for. And I think in hindsight I shot myself in the foot by doing that because I Was just afraid of betting on myself because I wasn't sure it was going to work. I see the same thing with a lot of our franchisees is they're like, oh, I hit 10,000amonth in revenue. Let me start saving this $200 in cash flow. I have, like, as if this is going to change your life. Right. And a lot of it stems from fear. Is the same way I kind of grew up. I didn't grow up with much money. So a lot of that, you know, ingrained in my head is save spending money is bad, all those kind of thoughts. I think that's a big reason why new entrepreneurs struggle at the beginning.
Josh
And a lot of your franchisees have like an employee corporate background. Right. So they're bringing that employee mindset into their business, which doesn't work good.
Neil
No.
Michael Grigory
Right.
Josh
You have to deprogram them. Talk about that for a second.
Neil
I'd say it takes a long time to deprogram the employee mindset. Right. Employee mindset is, you know, a lot of, as Josh would say, it's not asymmetrical movements. What I mean by that is, you know, you clock in and you do your hours, you get out, you get paid a certain amount, maybe get 3% salary raise. That's kind of it. There's not much upside in the growth of the business or in the growth of your career, I guess a certain level in business, though, you have those crazy, wacky, outsized returns. But you don't know that when you're first getting involved in business. Right. You're coming from this mindset where everything's very linear and you don't understand that if you put a lot more hard work, maybe it doesn't pay off immediately, but eventually it fricking skyrockets. It just takes time to do that. But a lot of people in a 9 to 5 mindset, they don't see that. Right. They're so used to very linear growth. And especially in a 9 to 5, if you work really, really hard, what's going to happen? Your manager takes all the credit. Like maybe you get a pay raise, maybe get a pat on the back, maybe get a slightly better bonus. But it's not like an astronomically different outcome. But people don't understand that in business, that's actually how it works. And if you're coming from a 9 to 5 mindset, that's your frame of reference. What else are you going to think? Right. That's all you know. And I think that causes. It takes a while to get out of that you have to experience some of those wins yourself before you realize it's actually possible. And to be honest, for me, it took years to understand and like deprogram.
Josh
That mindset because you are optimizing for security.
Neil
Oh yeah, that's the best way.
Josh
I was just talking this morning with Michael about that. Like there's kind of three phases that I see people go through. You have like the orphan phase. When you're an orphan or new in business and you have an orphan mentality, you're optimizing for survival and you'll kind of stay there, meaning you'll only just survive. And what's interesting to me, if you have a really small lifestyle and you need 30 grand a year to survive, these people that are orphan mindset, they'll build a hundred thousand dollar revenue business and they'll make the 30 grand, they'll make what they're supposed to make to survive, but that's it. And then they get stuck there. And then the next phase is like the son daughter phase, where you don't have imposter syndrome as much you believe, like you deserve to be where you are. Like you're competent enough to get a result. But that's when you're optimizing for security. So orphans optimize for survival. Sons, it's not that you think you're a piece of crap and you're totally failing. You're just, you're over optimizing for security. And then to go big, you have to do crazy scary things that scare the crap out of you. And that's the king, like the king phase. Not king like your fancy king, like servant king. You have a big vision where other people can build solar systems inside the universe of your vision and you're really going for it. And you're risking capital and your time and your reputation and you could look foolish. And that's terrifying. That's this whole other thing. But that's what it reminded me of when I heard you say that.
Neil
Freaking nailed it. And I would also add one thing where at least when I was in a 9 to 5 and escaping, I was escaping pain, right? Which is like a big great motivating factor. Like my parents weren't making much money. I wanted to help them out. I didn't like my job, I wanted to quit. That motivated me to keep going even if things weren't going as well. All of a sudden I was making, you know, three grand a month in profit. Now I'm like, oh, this is sweet. I'm living in Colombia. This money Goes a long way. Like I didn't really need as much money and things kind of stalled. Right. Because the pain was now gone. But there wasn't really much pooling me versus just keep on doing what I'm doing. Right. And it's hard to find that.
Josh
Yeah. It reminds me of like a lot of people start a company to escape pain, but they're not starting their company to pursue a dream.
Neil
Yeah.
Josh
They're not running towards something, they're running away from something. And once there's enough distance away from the scary tiger that was going to eat them, they just kind of stopped growing. Right. Michael Click call sell. You've worked with a gajillion people. Been a conquer coach for a long time too. You have a heart to serve. People like you literally love small business owners. I know, it's authentic. I've known you for years. What's your take on this whole conversation?
Michael Grigory
I literally do love them. That is a very true word and assessment of it. I get more joy out of watching other people succeed, I think than even watching myself succeed. And just listening to you speak, Neil and Josh, it's like this was therapy for me. Just like I was. You're speaking to me directly. So hope anybody listening kind of reviews that. Three words that came to mind as Neil was talking and through your question were mindset, control and opportunity and going back to just survivability. A lot of people that start especially in like blue collar small businesses, they have a smaller mindset. They don't even know what it is to think about a nine figure company. Like they can't even fathom the opportunity. I had a moment this year, my son's birthday. My life is completely different today than it was seven years ago. And so a whole day of partying and fun. We had a wild animal park come to our house and snakes and pets and zoos. It was crazy. It was like the craziest day.
Josh
50 people in my house tell me there was a monkey.
Michael Grigory
No monkey.
Josh
Is there a monkey?
Michael Grigory
No monkey, no. We had like a 15 foot snake though.
Josh
If you have a monkey at a birthday party, you're like, baller, get a monkey next year.
Michael Grigory
There's nothing more. The monkey will happen. You're invited the whole family. So anyway, at the end of the day, there's a complete mess. More presents, toys than I've ever seen. And I'm getting frustrated because I'm telling my son Thomas, I'm like, thomas, clean up, clean up, clean up, clean up, clean up. And I realized that my frustration was Frustration out of like pure abundance. Right. I had created this world that seven years ago I would not even imagine, or as a child, certainly I could not have imagined a birthday that my son had. And so that kind of goes back to the mindset and how you're just always like moving the goalposts forward and forward. So you have to have this mindset of abundance and being that world changer. And it's hard for people to like, step outside. But podcasts like this, communities that allow you to change that mindset are super important.
Josh
How do you think you did change your mindset?
Michael Grigory
Surrounding myself with people like you. Listening. Yeah. Really One thing that I really like talking about is the importance of coaching and mentoring. Every single person has the ability to coach and mentor somebody. You have an experience, you have something that you can share to somebody else, but it's the desire to coach, the desire to mentor. Because when you teach somebody, you're able to learn from their experience and their perspective. And the more perspectives that you can have, the more powerful you become as a mentor yourself.
Josh
Yeah. So I used to call myself a professional dot connector because I've literally learned more from looking under the hoods and into the brains of a thousand small business owners than I even did from building my own businesses. Because you start to see patterns. And I think everybody thinks their situation is unique. Like, no one understands me. Life is pain. And they have black eyeliner and hair that hangs over one eyeball. But they're like, no. It's so hard. It's like, no. Actually this is exactly what always happens. And there's nothing unique at all about your situation. And you notice that working with a lot of people, right?
Michael Grigory
100%, yes. And so that's one of the messages I try to get across. And even from my perspective, coaching Neil, awesome. Thank you for that opportunity. The hundreds and hundreds of people I've coached is I have never actually been exactly where you are. I've never owned a seven figure home service business. But as an analyst, I've analyzed the people that have been wildly successful. The Ryan Johnson's, the Neil's of the world, the people who have just taken something successful. So I can not bottle up only my experience, but bottle up every single person that I've worked with experience to connect those dots and tell as well as my own.
Josh
And you said mindset control. Was that the next thing? What did you mean by control?
Michael Grigory
Yeah. So learning how to give up control, but not through abdication, but through delegation, is you are not going to be able to Build a seven, eight, nine figure company by yourself. I don't know any millionaires that said, oh, I did this all is me. I'm the only person that have that built this business and it's all due to me. It's being able to give up control and allow people to control their own destiny through giving them the opportunities to thrive and survive. Um, it's so powerful when you are able to allow somebody else to take control of a department and creating a minimum viable system that you can grow and build together. Because everybody has a skill set. There's going to be five things that you have to do in business. You're going to love to do two, not mind doing two, and there's going to be one or two that you absolutely hate doing. Find that person, the who, not how, that's going to allow you to execute.
Josh
I think that's another example. Like wanting to maintain control is another example of optimizing for security. You don't want to give up control because it feels like a threat. It's risky. You might fail, which means you're in the son daughter phase, which means you're optimizing for security, which means you'll have a level of success, but it's limited, right?
Michael Grigory
Absolutely. Yeah. And then opportunity comes from. There's two. You have internal and external customers. Right. You have your internal customers, which is your employees. And you get these. We were talking about this morning. You have these people in your organization which are a players. They're totally awesome individuals and they all have an incredible skill set. And you also have your clients and you want to give opportunity to everybody in your community to thrive. And your growth will be directly connected to the success that you create for your internal and your external customers.
Josh
That's some fire fire stuff. Let's go to Viking. Our Canadian brother from another mother, Eric Kelly. You work with a lot of people here at Warplan, more than you did in the past. Really? Like we have hundreds of people you're interacting with. What's your take on this whole thing? Why don't people succeed?
Eric Kelly
I think they forget a principle that I've been focusing on a lot lately when I've been interacting with people. Especially when it comes to one of the things that we offer, which is our software. There's an element of sowing and reaping and I think a lot of business owners underestimate the principle of sowing and reaping. They have to sow the seed to reap the harvest and sowing seed. If you've ever done Anything agricultural. I used to have a garden. I loved it. I actually would spend hours on it. I don't look like that kind of guy. But you have to get in the dirt. You have to get your hands dirty to get the seed in the ground, to make sure the soil is in the right ph. And if you're really nerdy about it. But eventually, through curating that work, you get a harvest. And sometimes you're sowing into up leveling your mindset. Sometimes you're sowing into your systems and processes. Marketing is absolutely the principle of sowing and reaping. You are sowing seeds in your marketing to reap a harvest later. And I think they underestimate that process and sometimes how hard it can be. I know through my life and my progression as a business owner, I mean, I was a client of Michael's. I was coached by Josh for many years. And that process of sowing into that new mindset is. It can be painful, but what you reap later on is really beneficial. So I think sometimes they forget that there's a process. It's not instantaneous. They don't just do a thing and all of a sudden they're a new person or their business isn't changed overnight. They have to sow into it and wait and water it. And the sunlight needs to come along and then it. Eventually they'll get the harvest. That's the thing that I'm seeing most commonly.
Josh
Do you think people just are waiting to get lucky or. Because I don't think. It's just that people are lazy. Right. Why do they have a gross misunderstanding of how much effort is required to get a big result? That's the question for everybody too.
Eric Kelly
I think part of it comes back to the different stages you were talking about with the son, daughter, the orphan. When you're an orphan, you're looking for the state to take care of you. You're looking for someone that's not related to you to take care of you when you're a son and a daughter. My sons depend on me for their survival. I give them clothing, I give them shelter, I give them food. And then there comes a point when you realize, no, no one's coming to save you and it's on you to survive. Right? I think that's part of it. And I think we're just. That's our human nature. We, from childhood, we expect our parents to take care of us. Right? I think that's a big part of it.
Josh
Basically, all small business problems go back to some weird childhood Stuff. Absolutely. I'm completely convinced at this point it's identity. That's like 90% of it. Which is also why I think narcissistic bad people crush it. Like they just get rich because they are like I'm friggin awesome. Everyone's worse than me. I deserve everything and I'm a gift to the world. And even though that's insane and they're delusional and bad people, if they think that's true, they just go do stuff and it works. Right? Then you have like the really good people chronically overthinking everything over engineering. They're making a career out of getting ready. They're laying the groundwork and then they do like little actions and they're. I don't know. What do you think, Michael? Neal?
Neil
There's a kid at my high school, I remember his name's Jackson Long, he was like D student, you know, always got in trouble, to be honest. Like one of the stupidest kids in school who's currently like the richest guy.
Josh
Jackson, Jackson, pull yourself together.
Neil
Currently probably the most successful guy from my high school. Just crushing business. And it kind of underlined to me when I realized that of like how little smartness actually matters in business. And it made me realize like how much smartness actually kind of shoots yourself in the foot. Like I'm. I overthink a lot. I probably overanalyze things a lot and I realize like how little that actually matters when you're actually in business. Most of it's just doing it just like bum rushing up the mountain and just doing it.
Josh
Right.
Neil
And the people who are like too stupid to realize and overthink it typically win. And the people who overthink and over strategize kind of like lose.
Josh
And so well, they win way slower.
Neil
They win slower. Yeah, it's like you said, they're doing like fake productivity. They're getting ready, they're doing the analysis. Paralysis. All these things I did. Right. So I actually think only it's bad to be super smart just because if you might overanalyze things.
Josh
You've heard of Dunning Kruger?
Michael Grigory
Yeah.
Josh
Right. And I talk about this a lot. Or did you have a thought, Michael?
Michael Grigory
No, I was. You go ahead, say what you're going to say.
Josh
Well, I was just going to say and actually spoke at a small business conference in Plano, Texas, Wednesday. And I was telling the room, I'm like, where are my overthinkers at? Because I do this, you know, and all these hands go up and they giggle And I'm like, what if I told you the reason that you overthink is actually because you're smart? So Dunning Kruger is like this psychological phenomenon. It's been studied. It's not really theoretical. It's. It's actually observable truth that people with a high IQ have an. A tendency to underestimate their ability. If you have a high iq, you should be logically aware of all the stuff that you do not know, of all the things that could go wrong, et cetera, et cetera, because it's really real that there is more that you don't know than what you do know. And things could go wrong on a full moon on the second Tuesday of next month, and you know that. And because you're smart, you over plan and overthink everything. Whereas someone with a low iq. I'm not saying people are idiots if they don't overthink, when. All I'm saying is if you don't overthink, success is easier. And so, like, ignorance is bliss. It's like Uncle Larry who's like, hold my beer, right? And they just go and do stuff.
Eric Kelly
I think we need more Leroy Jenkins in the world, Right. For those of you who don't know who's Leroy Jenkins? So it's a viral clip from many years ago from World of Warcraft, and all these guys in their clan are gathered up together and they're making their plan to rush the castle on this online game. This one dude goes. Got it. Leroy Jenkins. And just runs and storms the castle. But it's one of those things, like, the guy was not about planning. He's like, I'm just gonna go in and slash everything. But the other thing, the Dunning Kruger effect's really cool. But I learned a couple of weeks ago about Cantor's Law. Have you guys heard about Cantor's Law?
Josh
No.
Eric Kelly
So this is from somebody. Her last name is Cantor. She's at Harvard. And it means that as Cantor's Law is essentially during the middle stages of any significant change or project, it can often feel like things are failing. And this is where a lot of people give up. Even if their end result is successful, they look back at the process and they feel like it was a total mess because the most challenging and uncertain parts of the process happen in the middle phase. And so the Cantor's Law effect, that's where a lot of people give up.
Josh
Oh, man. So.
Eric Kelly
Right.
Josh
Myron golden talks about how disruption always follows intention.
Eric Kelly
Mm.
Josh
This is deep. Like, don't. Like. If you say you're gonna lose weight. You're definitely gonna get presented with birthday cake the next day. Like, it's not gonna happen. You haven't seen birthday cake in six months. You've never been around birthday. You weren't even thinking about birthday cake. Like, things like that happen all the time. Like, you're gonna make a change. You're gonna make a shift. There's resistance. Steven Pressfield, in the book the War of Art, talks about the resistance. And most people view resistance as evidence that they' so, like, they hit the darkness, they hit the wall, and they're like, oh, that means this is dangerous and scary and bad, and I shouldn't do that. And we go back to comfort zone. A seasoned entrepreneur knows that it's actually evidence that you're on the right track, which is so counterintuitive because, like, you walk into the dark cave and you're like, the hair on my arm is standing up and I'm terrified, and it feels like I'm going to die. Great. I'm doing it right. But that's so counterintuitive. Oh, I mean, we're getting really, like, abstract here. But what do you guys think about that?
Neil
I mean, it's funny enough you mentioned that book and Resistance, because that's something I'm talking about. I made this live as well, which is coming up our conference, which is the concept of why we cringe at resistance. And, Josh, you taught me this. But, like, for example, if you're going to work out, everyone knows this. If you're going to work out and you're pushing on weights and it's too easy, you're not gaining muscle. Everyone knows that if there's resistance, you're actually going to gain muscle. Right? A lot of resistance in life. Like, everyone knows it's part of it.
Josh
But when it's a law of nature.
Neil
It'S a law of it. But when it comes to business and personal development, all of a sudden, if you hear resistance, you're like, holy shit, I'm doing something wrong. Which is counterintuitive.
Josh
I can't swear on my podcast, Neil. Now I'm. Holy dang it.
Neil
Take it. Yeah, yeah, there we go.
Josh
Actually, that's actually not a swear word. Did you know the word shit is an acronym for store high in transit?
Neil
Ah, there we go.
Josh
Because back in the day, bags of fertilizer on old wooden boats like the Santa Maria and the Mayflower, if it got wet in the right conditions, it could spontaneously combust and boats would explode because of bags of manure. Did you know that?
Neil
Is this real?
Josh
This is really real. And so these bags of manure would sit on the bottom, on the floorboards. All those boats were always very wet. So instead they stamped them with the acronym S H I T and put them on shelves because it was this massive. You're gonna die and explode your boat hazard. And that's where it came from. Bags of manure. Fun fact.
Neil
Today I've learned.
Josh
Anyway, sorry, I chased a rabbit. Michael, did you have something you're going to say? What do you think?
Michael Grigory
My biggest takeaway so far is it comes down to desire and intent. If you have the desire to be a world changer and your intentions and your heart is in the right place, then just go for it. And you will always gain followers in a tribe because you have your heart in the right place.
Josh
Yeah. And Myron golden talks about the law of advancement. Like, basically, you can't get the muscles without the lactic acid. For a tree to go up, it has to first go down. For your muscles to get stronger, it has to temporarily get weaker. For a bird to learn to fly, it has to fall out of the nest. This is a thing that's inescapable. It's a reality. And so we shouldn't be so shocked when it's like, harder than we thought. The other thing I notice is people invent outcomes for themselves. What I mean is they're going to launch a business, launch a service line. They're going to make a million dollars this year. What? They have a goal or an intention, but what they do is they attach to that intention what is supposed to happen and when it's supposed to happen, okay? And they're just making it up. So they're like, I'm going to launch a business and make 10,000amonth by January 1st. You can't say that. You don't know what's going to happen. You have to commit to the process, not to the outcome. Because you can only control the inputs, not the outputs. And it causes misery because then we're breaking this fake expectation that we invented and it caused you to feel, like, bad, and then you move slow again, and then you shrink back in your hole. And, you know, how do we set goals without. And this is why some people don't even set big goals, because they're used to setting them, missing them, feeling bad. And so they don't set them. How do we set a goal but divorce ourself from the outcome? This is deep, okay? And Hormozi talks a lot about This. I asked Myron golden to his face one time. I said, do you set goals? He told me no. And I knew he was going to say that now, but what he told me is that I have targets. And now it's like, semantics. It's like, well, what does target mean? And why? Why not just call that a goal? And what are your thoughts on that? Setting goals, having arbitrary expectations, the feelings of negativity when we miss our target, whatever.
Michael Grigory
Yes. You mentioned Alex Shamozi, Myron Goldman. Huberman also talks about just getting more dopamine about the journey other than the destination, is making those into small pieces.
Josh
Self the reward.
Michael Grigory
Yes, exactly. And then when you get to the point of that reward, what typically happens is you sell your business. You've worked so hard to get to that moment, and then you're. The down is so big because you feel like your purpose has been taken away. However, if you can make your purpose in these smaller chunks and the reward is the journey itself, that's when the success really takes off.
Josh
Oh, that's fire.
Neil
Yeah.
Josh
Make the work is the payoff.
Michael Grigory
Yes.
Josh
And then whether you sell or don't sell or you hit the goal or you don't hit it, you're getting a dopamine, you're feeling peace while you're progressing and growing. Regardless if you hit January 1st or not, it doesn't make any difference because you're committed to the process, not to the payoff.
Michael Grigory
Yes.
Josh
Your happiness is hinged on the process, not on the treasure in what you're.
Michael Grigory
Doing, because you're giving yourself purpose by the process.
Josh
So good. Okay, what else should we talk about? Religion and politics. I got a meeting coming up in, like, 20 minutes, but. Eric, did you have something you want to say?
Eric Kelly
Yeah, I think goals. It's really interesting. So I have a really unique personality type, and I didn't fully understand this until I talked to Mandy Keen, who you guys know. Shout out to Mandy, because she really unlocks something for me in my brain. By nature, according to all the things that she saw, I derive extreme fulfillment from conquering a goal. It's something innately in me. But what I found is I still do the little wins because I see myself fulfilling. It's like the thermometer for a fundraiser. When I see the things stacking up towards getting to the top of the thermometer, that's the dopamine along the way. Right. And it keeps me going. So I had a goal to get in shape almost exactly two years ago from the day we're doing This, I was sitting in a hospital bed thinking I was having a heart attack, right? I was almost £300 and I had young kids at home. And I was like, this is not for me, right? And it couple months after that when I actually started working out, to be completely honest. But I started on this path. So that's what gets me up at 4 in the morning, that's what gets me in the gym at 5. And every day that I go to the gym, I'm like, okay, this is getting me towards my satisfaction of conquering a goal. Right. And so goals, targets, you know, things you're aiming for, they're just, they are semantics. It's really how you're looking at it. Because it's true. A lot of people go, I'm going to get this big, hairy, audacious goal, the BHAG that they've, that's been around for like 20 years. But they don't think about what's along the way. And they're like, oh, I didn't hit it. Missing the whole opportunity. Like, if I miss a goal, which I have, I look at it as an opportunity to sit down, diagnose what happened, and actually improve myself so I can hit it again next time or change the goal, you know?
Neil
Yeah, I guess one thing I would add to that, at least on my perspective, I think it's. I've had a really hard time, and I still have a hard time divorcing the outcome from like your actual feelings. I think it's easy to say and easy to conceptualize, but it's really hard to do in reality. For me, the only thing which has actually worked is actually hitting some of my target goals. And of course the goalposts inevitably move. But kind of having that fulfilling feeling like I've at least hit the base goals I came up to, I feel good about it. So if I start to miss further goals, like maybe this coping mechanism, I feel a little bit better. Cause I feel like I've accomplished what I wanted to and I'll still progress, I still will measure progress as opposed to outcome. For me, that's the only thing which has actually worked, which is hitting a certain base level amount and then focusing on the progress as opposed to adjusting my mindset.
Josh
What I used to struggle with was if I gave my best effort and failed, that meant that I was a failure. So I would set goals and then partially try, because then it's like, oh, it wasn't even a failure. I didn't even try. But if you actually go all out and it doesn't work. That's like emotionally risky feeling. Does that make sense?
Neil
How do you get over that?
Josh
I don't know. Just quit. I think, give up.
Michael Grigory
You do it again and again.
Josh
I think one way to get over it is just by thinking thoughts like this, having conversations like this. The older I get, the dumber I realize that I am. I think there's a level of humility that comes with thinking thoughts like this long enough and I don't have the answer. What I know is that when I hang out with people who think really big, it's hard for me to think small. I know that a big thing that's helped me a lot is learning how to not just love myself, but like myself. That doesn't mean justify all my inadequacies and character flaws, but, like, how can I have compassion on my own self? How can I view myself as a 6 year old that knows nothing and is trying his best? Because a lot of people that I coach privately, they want me to hold their feet to the fire. They're like, hold my. Why aren't you holding my feet to the fire? And I'm like, listen, like, your feet are charred. You're hard enough on yourself. I don't need to do that thing. Like, you don't need that. But we, like, abuse ourselves or mean to ourselves. So I think part of the way to get over it is to just like yourself, have fun and be okay with not being perfect, which is an illusion in the first place. I don't know, what do you think about that?
Neil
I think it rings true. I mean, it's easy to make money.
Josh
When you're having fun.
Neil
Yeah, 100 agree.
Josh
And all of us are walking radio transmitters of, like, energy. And if you're like at peace in yourself and I'm a believer. Right. That doesn't mean I'm religious. I'm actually not religious at all. I think religion is evil. But that's a different podcast. Jesus Christ is literally real. So what does that mean for me in the way that I radio transmit? Well, what it means is that I know whose I am and I know who I am. Whether I'm delusional or not, I am 100% fully persuaded that I have a mission, a mandate, a purpose, and a destiny that can't fail over a long enough time horizon. Even if it looks different than I originally thought. And having that, it just does stuff in you. And I think people are trying to use their success as a way to discover their value and their purpose versus knowing your Value and your purpose and then stumbling your way towards maximizing. It's some sort of inverted thing. You know, it's like, I could be crazy and wrong, but I believe it's true. People like Myron Goldin have a very abnormal level of certainty. Last time he was in Texas, I took him to Chipotle, and he hobbles in there. Cause he had polio and he hobbles. He goes in there. And you can't take this guy anywhere because he's so magnetic. And by the way, it's not an act. It's not a show. He's not trying to perform. A lot of people that start podcasts or make content, they're trying to be what they think people want them to be instead of being like, this decisive identity is secured thing, and he's that. And so we go to Chipotle and, like, literally the employees in the back of Chipotle are, like, walking around the counter, coming to our thing. They're like, who are you? He's so magnetic. It's because he knows who he is. He knows whose he is. He has this. He's totally at peace with sales. The less you need a sale, the easier it is to get a sale. And all these things. It's like quantum. Like, I just made a podcast about quantum because Albert Einstein, at the end of his life, started almost going crazy because all the rules of physics are inverted and broken when you get to subatomic particles and, like, Newtonian physics. And I was up at 1am watching a documentary on Isaac Newton because I'm a dork. Like, it doesn't make sense. It's like the spirit realm. It's like the veil. Now we're getting into some really good stuff. What do you. What do you think about all that crazy stuff I just said?
Neil
I had a couple thoughts, actually, which came up, which. The two things which really resonated. And you've taught me before. Josh, too. If you don't have the confidence yourself, borrow confidence.
Josh
Yeah. Like, you can borrow it.
Neil
Yeah. Like, for example, zero interest. Like when. When Josh or Maya, when Josh or Mike are like, oh, Neil, like, you are really good at what you do. I'm like, oh, wow. These guys who are way bigger than me actually think I'm actually something. Whatever. That's borrowed confidence. And that made me feel very confident.
Josh
It's critical.
Neil
Huge. And the other part, just the community part, if you're around other heavy hitters who think big, it's almost impossible not to do big things. It's kind of like how I felt, by the way, when you guys told me that, like, you know the scene in the Matrix where Morphus is like looking at Neo and he goes like he's starting to believe. It was kind of like that for me. I'm like, oh, I'm starting to believe now it makes sense because you're borrowing other people's confidence in the right communities who have the right mindset. It makes things move a lot easier and a lot more fun.
Eric Kelly
Well, and I think you get to, you see people that are being great, like whatever your view of greatness is, they're just operating at a whole different level. And what I've found and what I've been told, and I see it in myself, I think there's three fundamental ways that people respond to greatness. Either they see a business that's working the way they want it to, but then they look at their own, or they see some father with their kids or somebody else's marriage. And social media is actually horrible for this because we do the comparison game. But they look at it at someone's greatness in a certain area and they go, they're either inspired by it, they're intimidated by it, or they're jealous of it. And one of those three will make you successful if you're inspired by it. You're like, you guys have been in rooms where you're like, I want to be the dumbest guy in the room or I want to be the poorest guy in the room. And that's your attitude because you know, being in that room, you're going to learn something, you're going to grow and be great. If you're intimidated by it, you're not going to engage, you're not going to have community, you're not going to want to be around it. And if you're jealous of it, that's when you go, well, well, what you don't understand is that doesn't work in my market. Or they don't know they haven't had my life or my background. And we have all these excuses and we just have to decide how we're going to respond to those things. And it overcomes that self limiting belief.
Josh
That's good. Where does identity come from in the first place? Because when you talk about borrowing belief, what I hear when you say that is someone said words to me that made me think maybe I am this other identity. And so like everything comes back to identity in my mind. I was talking to one of my private consulting clients last night, shout out to Rick we were talking about parenting, and he's like, you know, we're talking about all these things, and I was telling him, like, how important it is to speak life into your children. He's like, what does that mean? We're talking about what it means. And my youngest daughter, Judah, she's kind of a pistol, okay? And she's adorable and sweet, but also like. Like, she's her own thing. And she's not like Finley. And Finley is like a cupcake of adorable human who will put herself last and let everyone else walk all over her. So I deal with that one way. Judah, you know, struggles with being patient. For example, one thing I started doing to her is I just tell her all the time, you know what I like about you, Judah? I like how patient you are. Like, you're actually really patient. And she's like, really? I'm like, yeah, I appreciate that about you. And then I just leave or I'm doing something or she'll be patient, sort of barely. I'm like, way to go. Like, you just, like, pulled out your patient card and just like, we're so patient. That's insane. I don't even think I could have that much patience. But you're crushing that. I've probably said this 500 times. And what you'll notice happens is she becomes that thing that I tell her that she is. And that's how God made children to be. So our identity was programmed through circumstance and people that had permission to speak into our life as a kid, Right? And then we believe that that's what we are. If she just thinks she's a patient person, she just is now. Period. And it's effortless, too, because if you just think that you are, you don't have to try to be that thing. You only have to try to be that thing if you're not sure if you actually are that thing. So I'm speaking life now. When we become adults, though, it's hard to reprogram who we think we are. That's why it's easier when you're in rooms like this, because I can speak life into you. And I'm not saying Tony Robbins woo woo nonsense. Like, I literally see what you actually are in a way that I don't think you do. And you could probably see talents and ab in me that I don't. So when you're around people that know how to edify and speak life, it changes your entire life. It doesn't have to feel like willpower to be successful. It becomes more. More effortless Kind of like the narcissist who thinks they're amazing. It's not, like, hard for them to go do the things to get the big result because they're just like, yeah, of course. That's what I. That's what I deserve. You know what I mean?
Eric Kelly
Yeah.
Neil
Yeah.
Josh
And that's why content like this is so important. The people that you have around you, if they're negative, it has an economic and emotional cost that is so big, you might have to cut off relationships. You don't have to be mean, but you might have to prune, get your little scissors out and snippy, snippy their little relationship with your normie friends. I don't know. What are some final thoughts, guys, as we get ready to land the plane?
Michael Grigory
What do you think biggest takeaway for me would be to find a room like this. Find a room of people that inspire you that are where you want to be or doing the same thing that you're doing. And practice active listening, because you may have some inconsistencies between your identity and what other people see in you. And don't be afraid to listen to what other people saying. When I was, I've had a lot of changes in my identity. I went from Michael the musician, the Happy Gilmore of trombone, to a restaurant manager, to a business coach and consultant in franchising, to an agency owner. So my identity has changed a lot. And I remember when I was in the restaurant industry, somebody, like, for the first time ever, said, you know, you're. You're. You're really analytical. You're really good with numbers. And I was like, I think I am really good at numbers. So that active listening when you're in a room or, you know, with people that are, you know, have more experience and more intelligent than, you know, whatever it could be, like, actively listen, because those things are telling you might be your next link to a superpower.
Josh
Ooh, that's good. You can't, by the way, just say, happy Gilmore of trombone and pretend like we can move on. The freaking crap is Happy Gil.
Michael Grigory
So, first of all, I have, like. I don't think I've ever asked somebody if they have not seen the movie Happy Gilmore. Everybody's in the movie Happy Gilbert Gilmore, right? Like, literally everybody American.
Josh
I don't hate America.
Michael Grigory
So, yes, it is probably, like, one of the most American shows ever. So, you know, you see Happy Gilmore, like, practicing for hockey and just getting smacked with the hockey pucks, and all he wanted to do was play hockey until I was, like, 27. That's all I did was play the trombone. Like, that's it. I worked at Outback Steakhouse, bartending, serving, lived in a purple shack, a literal purple shack, and just tried to save as much money as I possibly could to go take the next audition in Jacksonville or Nashville or LA or whatever it was. I'd go take it, I'd lose. I'd come back and do it all over again. And my best friend at the time's like, you need to stop doing that. This, this isn't going to work. You're not a tramone player. And just like Happy Gilmore, like, you.
Josh
Find the trombone career market pretty, pretty scarce.
Michael Grigory
Oh, it's terrible. Yeah.
Josh
There's probably three, 11 jobs.
Michael Grigory
Three in Dallas, I'd say three people in Dallas make a living, like a decent living, a middle class living. So, yeah, you just start to realize that, you know, your passion and love for this thing is not going to create the life that you want. And so you can still.
Josh
So you had to have an identity.
Michael Grigory
Shift, a massive identity shift. Yeah. And just listen to people. And when you're in those rooms, you can, can take cues from people who have more experience or a different perspective than you do.
Josh
Okay, Neil, what are your final thoughts?
Neil
I think the easiest way to have an identity, to change is simply change your environment. Like, there's a reason why a lot of people go to university and all of a sudden they become a different person, Right. Because they have opportunity to become a different person. They change the environment. Things change. So, like a lot of times, if people are wondering, well, how do I become this big thinker? Like, do I read more books, Do I absorb content? I think a lot of that does help. But getting in the right rooms, changing the environment, hanging out with different types of people, joining entrepreneur groups, like, that's what changes your environment and that causes those rapid identity shifts.
Josh
I agree. Eric, you want to close this out, brother?
Eric Kelly
Yeah. For me, it's always looking at things with a mindset of pursuing excellence over perfection. You know, perfection is a destination and excellence is a journey. And there's a lot of ways that you can break down that when you think of it. You know, a lot of people try to be perfect, but if you're just excellent in the process, somehow you go beyond perfection. Perfection is actually inattainable. Right. So in a lot of the things I do, whether it's leveling up or my work or how I operate or how I have relationship, I pursue excellence over perfection.
Josh
Hey, I hope your brain was challenged. I hope that we just made you money because you think different. If you know things other people don't know, you can do things other people can't do. And ultimately you can have things other people can't have. I highly recommend you give all of your money to Michael Gregory. If you need a marketing agency, how can they reach Click call sell michael click callsell.com?
Michael Grigory
It'S c l I c k c dash a l l s e dash l l dot com.
Josh
That when you spelled it out, it made it more confusing.
Michael Grigory
Well, people do sell like a cell in biology. I'm like, I'm not a biology company.
Eric Kelly
Oh, yeah.
Josh
Okay.
Eric Kelly
You did buy that domain though, right?
Michael Grigory
I should actually.
Neil
I'm about to buy the domain and redirect it.
Josh
If someone wants to build a remote maid service to bolt onto their existing company or they're interested in that, Neil, how do they connect with you?
Neil
Yeah. So if you go to made this franchise.comm a I d t h I s franchise dot com. I also host a podcast called the Freedom Formula Podcast. Feel free to check that out. I talk a lot more about the journey there as well.
Josh
Awesome. And then, Eric, how do people give us all their money at War plan?
Eric Kelly
Go to warplan.com and go from there.
Josh
Yeah, we'll leave it at that. Hey, I appreciate you guys. We believe in you. Keep fighting. There's so much to be optimistic about. Take care. God bless. Do you want to weaponize your brain and turn it into a money making machine? Consider joining Warplan Coaching. You'll get thousands of dollars in exclusive courses and training, a private community, a chance to come to in person meetups at War Plan Studios, and access to myself for Q and A every single month. Want to know the best part? It's free. Plus we'll send you a private weekly newsletter full of money making tips and cutting edge ideas. Just go to warplan.com to sign up. Hey, I'm your biggest fan. I'm rooting for you. We'll see you next time.
Podcast Summary: The WarPlan Podcast – Episode: 8 Figure Roundtable
Title: The WarPlan Podcast
Host: Joshua Latimer
Episode: 8 Figure Roundtable
Release Date: December 10, 2024
Description: The WarPlan Podcast aims to help listeners weaponize their brains through advanced marketing, mindset, and money concepts, emphasizing that business success is a mental war and making money is a game that starts in the mind.
In this episode, Joshua Latimer welcomes a panel of seasoned business experts to discuss the intricacies of achieving high-level success. The guests include:
Notable Quotes:
The core theme of the discussion revolves around the importance of mindset in business success. Joshua emphasizes that business and financial success begin in the mind, framing it as a mental battle where understanding and knowledge set successful individuals apart.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
Fear of failure and insufficient self-conviction are highlighted as major barriers preventing entrepreneurs from scaling their businesses. Neil shares personal experiences about holding back resources due to fear, which hindered his initial growth.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
Joshua introduces a framework consisting of three phases that entrepreneurs typically navigate:
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
The importance of surrounding oneself with like-minded, successful individuals is a recurring theme. Michael and Neil emphasize the transformative power of community and mentorship in shaping one's identity and fostering growth.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
Eric Kelly introduces the principle of sowing and reaping, drawing parallels with agricultural practices to illustrate the necessity of consistent effort over time to yield significant results.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
A significant portion of the conversation focuses on the impact of identity on business success. Joshua and the guests discuss how self-perception and external validation shape one's entrepreneurial journey.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
The panel delves into effective goal-setting strategies, emphasizing the importance of focusing on the process rather than being fixated on specific outcomes.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
As the episode concludes, the guests share actionable insights and final thoughts to inspire listeners:
Michael Grigory: Encourage seeking out communities that challenge and inspire you, and practice active listening to uncover hidden strengths and opportunities.
Neil: Emphasize the power of changing environments to facilitate rapid identity and mindset shifts.
Eric Kelly: Advocate for pursuing excellence over perfection, focusing on continuous improvement rather than unattainable ideals.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
Joshua Latimer wraps up the 8 Figure Roundtable by reiterating the importance of mindset, community, and process-oriented goal setting in achieving monumental business success. Listeners are encouraged to leverage the insights shared by the guests to transform their entrepreneurial journeys, weaponizing their brains to conquer the mental battles of business and finance.
Call to Action:
Final Quote:
This episode offers a comprehensive exploration of the mental and strategic aspects of scaling a business to seven and eight figures, providing listeners with valuable lessons on mindset, overcoming fear, leveraging community, and setting effective goals.