I had a busy week! I had the pleasure of hosting a four day retreat at my Waterfalling Estate in Hawaii quickly followed by a three and a half hour keynote/workshop seminar in Miami.
The two events had a lot in common. Both invites came from former mentees who are now their company’s CEO’s. Both participated in my University of Dreams summer internship program while in college and a Bliss Champions retreat in more recent years. Both are also squarely in my life long friend category. And both just so happen to run company’s that have franchises. The events were specifically for inspiring and educating their franchise owners. So I got to meet a lot of young entrepreneurs in just one week.
My primary message to entrepreneurs is to encourage personal development growth. I make sure that they understand what personal development is and what it is not and how it can help them achieve their desires. Then I go deep.
I mentor them on creating a strong decision making process. One that’s far more advanced than simply trusting their gut. One such tool I learned from my best friend Patrick Combs and I love teaching it. I ask the audience a question. It goes like this: Besides money, what are the top five ways you like to be paid?
Most entrepreneurs are so locked in on driving more revenue that sadly, this question draws blank stares from just about everyone. This is a big indication that they have already started down the path of sacrificing everything that matters to them in exchange for business success. You non-business owners reading this instantly see the sadness in this, but as an entrepreneur who was guilty of this for twenty years myself before I woke up, I can tell you that it is the norm. It is THE reason why so many of us end up broken by age fifty, despite all our financial success.
As they work on writing down a couple alternative ways they like to be paid, they start to remember what brings them joy. They even begin to see the genius behind the question. It becomes crystal clear how many things they have sacrificed, unnecessarily, for money. This is step one to discovering a different way to run a company. It’s truly beautiful to see an entrepreneur rediscover things that bring them joy and how excited it gets them to begin incorporating these things into their business. They quickly realize that this will strengthen their business, rather than weaken it.
I then move on to introducing them to tools for building a positive mindset, because as business owners, we all know one truth: Shit is going to happen! How we respond to shit happening will determine whether our business survives and thrives, or takes a significant hit and bleeds out.
I then teach them tools for conflict management. I start by helping them identify the tell tale signs that you are in conflict with another person. Why this isn’t taught in school, or at all, is mind blowing to me. 99% of all pain and suffering is from our thoughts and is actually optional. The largest percentage of our pain & suffering actually comes from conflict with others. I wish I had these tools when I was running University of Dreams. I recommend listening to the audiobook “The Anatomy of Peace” by The Arbinger Institute to learn how to better handle conflict.
Finally, I teach my belief that revenue or income are great for improving your lifestyle, but if you want to become wealthy, you need to get into the asset game. Entrepreneurs struggle with this cause it goes against everything they thought they had to do to become wealthy. They don’t know that they are simply playing a losing game as best they can.
My thirty years as an entrepreneur have taught me that if wealth is an outcome an entrepreneur desires, most are going about it the wrong way and will never achieve it. They are playing a losing hand from day one. Their belief that more revenue is THE only way to become wealthy in business is a false belief. In fact, percentage wise, very few achieve wealth this way.
I am deeply committed to getting entrepreneurs to consider an alternative strategy. One that actually creates substantial wealth while they build their businesses. A strategy that doesn’t require ditching their beautiful company that they have poured their blood, sweat and tears into.
Opening their eyes to some of the realities that entrepreneurs go through is a mind blowing impact for most. Because deep down, they know what I’m saying is true because I was tgem. The evidence is undeniable in their own experiences, but they just might not want to admit that they don’t know another way.
My only agenda in teaching these things is to strengthen them as entrepreneurs. I’m not looking to upsell anything or get them to do something else with me. I’m just sharing my knowledge from thirty years, both as an entrepreneur, but more importantly, my last seven years working with successful business owners who turn fifty-ish and realize that they sacrificed everything important to them for one result - lots of money. Loaded up with money, they turn to a guy like me cause they are ready to admit that they sacrificed their joy, their peace, the love of their spouses, children and friends, and so much time to get to this avoidable point. I’m always glad to help, but I would much rather prevent it from ever happening by catching an entrepreneur early on.
I believe entrepreneurs can have lots of money AND still have joy, peace, and love. Call me crazy! But I fucking now they can. So I’m gonna continue working on strengthening one entrepreneur at a time. A worthy pursuit!
P.S. - Even better if it’s in a beautiful setting, cause one of the ways this Entrepreneur likes to be paid is beauty! In case you haven’t noticed all these years, I love me some water, a nice view and loads of sunshine! Inspiring a young entrepreneur in this kind of setting is pure joy! 🌈✈️😎
