May 5, 2024 • 64 mins
Have you ever wondered how a childhood curiosity can blossom into a full-blown entrepreneurial venture? Business consultant Ryan Drake joins me to unravel this mystery, sharing his transition from Neopets aficionado to a sought-after expert in the consulting realm. Together, we explore the essence of channeling passion into profitability, the beauty of embracing failure as a catalyst for growth, and the art of crafting a life brimming with intention and fulfillment.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome back to the man that Can Project podcast.
I'm your host, lachlan Stewart.
So good to have you here Nowthis week.
I have a very cool conversationA bloke that I connected with
in Australia before I wasleaving, ryan Drake.
We connected online.
I was a guest on his podcastyou may have listened to the
recording I posted a couple ofweeks ago where he hosted me and
(00:25):
since then we've become reallygood friends.
We've got a lot in commonaround business and life and we
have great conversations, so Iwanted to get him on the show to
unpack and unlock his brain.
What you can expect to learn onthis episode is turning your
ideas into a business, somonetizing your passion, how to
(00:46):
embrace failure and turn it intosuccess, other things around
the power of being present andplanning for a meaningful life
All things that I really lovetalking about and it ties into a
little advertisement thatyou'll hear throughout this
episode around theself-discovery program.
Now, I'm still toying aroundwith the name, but one thing
(01:07):
that I know is true when youhave a vision for your life and
you understand who you are andwhat you want, it's very easy to
make decisions and create acompelling future, right when
you're doing things that youlove.
When you're achieving goals,making progress, you will be
more confident.
As a result of being moreconfident, the areas of your
(01:28):
life that matter most willthrive, and that's why I put it
together, and it's somethingthat you guys will get a notion
template, along with theworkbooks, et cetera, and you'll
get to see it updated in realtime, and the cool thing about
that is that it's something thatyou can continue coming back to
and, like I said, I'm stillplaying around with the name,
but it will be your essentialbattle plan for your life that
(01:50):
will be broken down into so manydetails that, by the time it's
built out and you're finishedwith it, you're going to have a
great understanding aroundwhat's important where to spend
your time.
If I were to say to you, lockie, show me or fill out a 12-week
game plan, you would know a goalthat you could select and the
plan that comes with that.
So make sure you check it out.
(02:11):
Man that Can listeners that'syou, who is listening right now.
You will get a 15% discount ifyou use the man that Can project
discount code, which is TMTCP15at the checkout.
Enjoy it.
It's only $47 and it will onlybe staying there for a limited
time only.
Let's get into the episode.
(02:32):
Welcome back to the man thatCan Projects podcast.
We are cracking into the 570snow, which is uncharted
territory for the show,obviously, but I've learned so
much.
I have been privileged to be inconversations with incredible
people, like the man virtuallysitting across from me, ryan
(02:54):
Drake.
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Thanks for having me.
I'm so excited to be here,Lockie.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Mate, we connected through social media.
We then went for a very longlunch, which was incredible, and
have had a number of catch-ups.
I was on your podcast and everytime we catch up the
conversations go in a milliondifferent directions, but I
always walk away with newperspectives, new ideas and I
(03:21):
feel almost challenged to bebetter and to raise my own
standards.
And I love being part of thoseconversations and I believe
conversations like that, which Iknow we're about to have, would
have benefited me so much whenI was younger if I could just be
a fly on the wall to aconversation like this.
So I know that our audience isgoing to be, you know, buckle up
(03:42):
, we're on for a big one here.
But, mate, at the moment inyour life, you've got so much
exciting stuff happening.
You're currently businessconsulting and you help people
scale through systems, processesand automations.
You weren't born that way.
Can you give us an overview ofhow you've gotten to this point?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Yes.
Well, I think life has this inhindsight, and I always reflect
on Steve Jobs' quote about youcan never connect the dots.
Moving forward, you can onlyconnect them.
Looking backwards, Life kind ofhas these lots of full circle
moments, I think, where I guesseven as a kid, you have some
(04:25):
aspiration or some insight intowhat you'd like to do.
Perhaps you move away from thatand then you somehow find that
passion or excitement againexpressed in some other avenue.
And so I would say how I landedin what I do now started when I
was seven, eight years old,playing Neopets on the internet,
(04:48):
and at the time Neopets waslike the biggest website on the
internet with like 20 millionvisitors per month, but it was
pre-Facebook.
It was an opportunity to playgames online when Flash Player
was a thing and Meet inCommunity and I got exposed to
(05:12):
coding.
I got exposed to the kindnessof strangers on the internet in
a lot of ways, and if I thinkback to what we're taught now as
adults and what we try toimpart on children don't talk to
strangers, don't give away toomuch like sensitive information
about yourself Well, back thenyou had all these like cartoon
(05:35):
avatars of people, but you stillask them who they were, what
they're about.
Lockie, I distinctly rememberhaving conversations at like
nine years old with some ofthese people I met and they
introduced me to Benny Benassias a DJ and I was like, wow, I
like house music.
I didn't even know that I likedhouse music, so-.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Benny Benassi.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Yeah, like one of the OGs and like knowing how to
code on Neopets helped when Iwas in high school and friends
were asking questions about youknow how to format my MySpace
page.
So all those designs and I kindof thought for a long time
these were little gimmicks andfun little side projects.
(06:21):
I never knew that they werefull onon careers for people
until later and I was faced withdropping out of university and
I did that, did some remotesales work for a business and
then learned that oh, peoplewrite code for a living and make
a fair bit of money from it.
(06:41):
I wonder if I could teachmyself some of that.
And because I knew a little bitfrom when I was younger, that
sort of sparked my wholecuriosity and get like doing
that again.
But I think and was it?
Speaker 1 (06:55):
was it the sorry to interject is.
Was it the curiosity in makingmoney that made you want to go
down that path, or the curiosityof the coding?
Speaker 2 (07:08):
I've always just scratched my own itch.
I feel I truly believe thatmoney is just a byproduct of
being on mission but being inservice as well mission, but
being in service as well.
So I think if I just did thingsfor money, I would get bored,
(07:30):
because there's so manydifferent things that you could
do, for example, when faced withlaunching a sustainable
athletic apparel line.
So when I started CrossFitgoing back like eight years, we
launched a label and I learnedso much about the manufacturing
industry.
And you're presented with theopportunity of do you go
(07:52):
directly to China, print theshittiest piece of clothing,
slap your logo on top and make afortune, or do you go with the
best manufacturer that you canafford that meets all your
ethical standards?
I think you're constantly facedwith these moments where your
(08:15):
values are then presented to youin a decision.
So a lot of the time, honestly,lockie, I've just been
following my curiosity did Iknow that playing neopets would
then help me with my space,would then help me with like a
career?
Not necessarily, it was justbecause I thought at the time it
(08:36):
was fun, I enjoyed it, it camesomewhat easy to me and kind of
lived a lot of my life that way.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
There seems to be a pattern that I'm starting to
recognize from a lot of thepeople that I've interviewed who
are extremely successful intheir chosen area, and a lot of
that has come from almosttrusting their gut or their
intuition around what theyactually enjoy and allowing
themselves to explore that,rather than running the
(09:08):
traditional path of once you'vereached this age.
Video games, for example, areno longer acceptable.
Once you reach this age, thenyou can't take risks.
You now have to think aboutfamilies, et cetera.
And look, that is a safe path.
You can pretty much guaranteewhat the outcome is going to be.
So, for those who lovecertainty and those who like the
(09:30):
idea of that specific outcome,awesome.
But I know that a lot of peoplethat listen to this show aren't
happy and they're scratchingtheir head wondering how do I
find more joy in my life?
How do I find more joy in mylife?
How do I find more fulfillment?
How do I spring out of bedreally genuinely excited about
(09:51):
the day that's in front of me?
And the only possible way thatI believe you can get there is
by exploring and investing timeinto your curiosities.
I believe we're in a fortunatetime and I know we're definitely
going to dive into this, wherealmost anything that you enjoy
(10:12):
you can monetize now you cancreate a business out of.
And that's what really excitesme and I want to really dive
into further with you today.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Man like straight away, just for those listening.
If you thought your ideas aboutmaking money was stupid, just
remember that there is a $100million a year brand of yellow
sponges that has a smiley faceon it, called Scrub Daddy Right.
(10:48):
And there is a guy who, if yougo to Iwanttodrawacatforyoucom,
has made $300,000 selling $10pictures of him drawing cartoon
cats and posting them in themail to anyone in the world.
(11:10):
You mentioned something reallyinteresting, lucky, about
certainty, and the more Ireflect on certainty, the more I
believe that it's an illusion,because we look for these false,
tangible things to hold onto toprovide a sense of security
when, in actual fact, realitytells us that there is nothing
(11:34):
that is certain about our future.
We walk out the door of ourhouse.
There is a possibility of usbeing hit by a car, of us being
hit by a car, electrocuted bylightning, suffering from a
heart attack.
Ziz, right Ziz, a famous guyfrom 10 years ago, youtube.
I grew up YouTube, god.
(11:56):
He passed away because he wasin the sauna, had a heart attack
at 22.
And so you never know when yourtime's up, I think.
One interesting thing perhapsabout if we look at successful
people versus unsuccessfulpeople well, both of them have
(12:16):
the same goals a lot of the time.
They still want to make money,they still want to succeed in
their business, their life,still want to drive the nice car
, have the nice house.
But if you look at what they'vebeen able to create for
themselves around certainty,it's what if you made then?
(12:42):
Continue to increase yourself-belief and self-respect by
honoring your relationship withwho you are.
So your word, your deeds, howyou then show up.
And if you create thatrelationship with yourself, does
(13:03):
it really matter what you do?
Perhaps not, because you have asense of certainty within that,
whatever you put your mind andyour effort to, you're going to
succeed.
It doesn't mean it's easy.
It doesn't mean that you knowthe pathway forward.
Mean that you know the pathwayforward, but instead you know
(13:30):
that you've built up enoughinnate trust and wisdom to then
say, okay, cool, well, I learnedthis lesson and now I trust
myself to not make that sillydecision again and continue down
that pathway.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
What would that process then look like if you
were going back even to yourselfat a younger age?
Ryan, and you're going fromNeopets to MySpace to then
starting your clothing apparelor launching your first business
.
How did you develop thatabsolute certainty in self to
(14:01):
take those risks?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Yeah, great question.
I think one thing that I firsthad to look at was changing my
relationship with the idea offailure and being able to
redefine that for myself,because so often I think, when
(14:23):
we hear the word failure, wecome up with a very dense energy
right, it feels all engulfingand like our life is over and
that we have somehowdisappointed people and let
ourselves down and not performed.
Let ourselves down and notperformed.
(14:49):
And so I think maybe failureand fear are two sides of the
same coin, because often, if youask people about them being
afraid, being scared to dosomething, what they actually
highlight is that they're afraidof failing, so they never want
to try.
And if we understand that thatis the dynamic that stops a lot
of people, well, instead I hadto change that failure turned
(15:10):
into what if it was lessons?
What if life was just acollection of lessons?
This was data that I couldinstead use to reinforce my
decision making moving forwardin life.
So if I saw it instead as thefaster I rack up lessons, the
(15:32):
more life experience I have,then it encourages me to try.
It encourages me to makemistakes, because in the process
I learn how not to do something, and I think of Edison, you
could say, failed 999 timesbefore he created the light bulb
(15:55):
, or he learned 999 ways how notto create one.
A lot of life has to be lived.
It's not from a textbook.
If we think about business.
Gosh, I don't know anythingthat I've learned about business
through a book.
Everything's been battle-testedand understood.
(16:16):
You can read the bestnegotiation tactics, about
leadership and communication.
You can read stuff aboutfinances and how to manage your
finances, but you don't knowwhat it's really like until
you're slapped in the face withreality and you run into a
challenge and then you're reallytested on who you are and your
(16:39):
values.
In those moments Same withfitness.
And I can imagine for yourself,lockie, when you're in the hole
or you're in the dark place ona big run what are you faced
with?
You're faced with yourself andyou're learning about okay.
Well, is this the point where Iquit?
Is this a point where I stop,or is this a point where I keep
going?
And if you do stop again,there's a lesson in that.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Is there a moment that springs to mind for
yourself where maybe you havestopped, and could you share the
learning from that?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
so many, so so many things.
Um, let's, let's talk about ahigh school example.
So I chose not to play first 15rugby in year 11, I think
because what I wanted to do wasenjoy my year, not be confronted
(17:32):
with the challenge of training.
So I switched to football andthen ended up scoring a whole
bunch of goals, but I would havebeen in the first team.
I didn't even put myself in aposition to try for it.
But they called me up and thenthey wondered why I was missing
from training.
And it was because I didn'twant to play that year.
I didn't want to play notbecause I didn't want the
accolades, because that wouldhave been awesome and having the
(17:53):
whole school cheer for me, thatwould have been cool.
I didn't want to play because Iin my head was staring down the
barrel of wow, this training isgoing to be hard.
How do I juggle this withschool priorities, all of this
sort of stuff on my plate?
Speaker 1 (18:12):
So to talk, a moment ago, you mentioned how you
redefined what failure is.
Would you almost suggest for alot of people as well to
potentially redefine whatsuccess means to them?
I feel when I was able todefine what a successful life
(18:35):
could potentially be for me,something that excited me,
something that I loved the ideaof, I then was able to focus,
and I then was able to focus.
And when I was able to focus, Iwas able to make the necessary
sacrifices, I was able to knowwhat to say no to, which is a
huge thing subtraction overaddition, as a number of people
(18:58):
have said to me a lot recentlyand because of that, I was able
to build the life that I've gotnow.
I was literally reflecting onthis earlier I don't talk about
it a lot and I think you'vechallenged me on this a bit,
ryan where I've got a prettyincredible life.
Actually I do.
It's not pretty, it's fuckingawesome, and I often don't like
(19:22):
talking about it so much becausethere's a lot of people who
aren't in that position, and Ifeel like I'm unique in the fact
that I took action, maybe whenI was younger you know, 23, 24
was when I first decided.
You know the life that I nowlive was what I wanted, with the
freedom, the flexibility, thepeople, the, et cetera.
(19:46):
And I'm very careful with how Italk about it and what I say and
what I believe, because a lotof other people have chosen
different paths and maybe havedifferent responsibilities and I
think now I'm starting torecognize that that is a
disservice to people, because Ihave the keys to.
I believe I have the keys tohelping people unlock this idea
(20:07):
of earning a great income, beingan awesome husband and
potential dad one day, but alsobeing a good mate and living a
good life.
And I do believe, regardless ofwhere you're at, it's possible
to create, and that's where Ithink why we get on so well with
your systems and yourdelegation and a lot of the
stuff that you do.
(20:27):
You almost are like a secretweapon in my life in regards to
how I've created that, and Ithink having more conversations
openly about it and my idea ofsuccess and your idea of success
and your idea of failure canhelp other men start going well.
What does success actually looklike for me?
(20:48):
Now I've decided that that's mydefinition of success.
Now we can get to work.
What are the tasks or theaction items or the skills or
the people that need to be partof this for me to make that
possible, and what's a timelineas well, of course.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Well, can I ask you first, in case you haven't
shared this before, for thosewho are new listening what is
your definition of success foryour life?
Because I'd love to know.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
My definition of success for life is to enjoy the
things that I choose to do on adaily basis and have the
freedom to do that.
And for me it is one having thehealth to be able to enjoy all
the opportunities that come myway, whether it's running a
marathon or going on a hike orjust having energy to keep up
(21:37):
with all the stuff that we do.
We travel a lot, we're at a lotof events.
I'm working to have thevitality for that, but it's also
having the connection within myrelationships, people who add
value to my life, who support me, who challenge me.
It's to have freedom, andfreedom for me is having the
financial means that I can sayyes to all the opportunities
(21:59):
Money is not an issue but alsothe flexibility that I can
travel with my wife or live inAmerica, should I choose to, or
live in wherever I want, or be astay-at-home dad.
And then, finally, theexperiences.
You said it before, ryan, wherebooks are awesome, podcasts are
(22:20):
awesome, but learning throughdoing is what makes life, and
being able to know theexperiences or the things that
I'm curious about and have thepeople that I love most sharing
in those experiences is what myidea of success is.
So I can quantify that, eventhough that's like a very broad
(22:42):
statement.
I have an idea of the numberfrom the finances.
I have an idea of my benchmarksfor health to allow me to do
that from output and input.
With recovery, I have an ideaof what I value in the personal
standards I hold within myrelationships, okay, and I have
an idea of the shit that I wanton my life's resume when I'm 90,
of the experiences and theadventures that I want on my
(23:03):
life's resume when I'm 90, ofthe experiences and the
adventures that I want.
So, because of that, when itcomes to planning my week, when
it comes to planning my month,it's easier for me to fill in my
time with meaningful stuff ormeaningful experiences.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
So thanks for asking that.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
That was cool.
I love that.
What about for you?
What is it for you, Ryan?
Speaker 2 (23:23):
I think you nailed it before you shared was you have
to understand first and foremostwhat your personal definition
is, because otherwise it's veryeasy to fall into the trap of
listening to the podcast orlistening to your friends talk
about what success means forthem.
And until you've defined it foryourself, sometimes and I'm not
(23:47):
sure about you Lucky, but I'vefound definitely in the past is
chasing other people's versionof success, chasing someone
else's version of what it meantto be fulfilled or have meaning
in life.
And it's actually reallyimportant then, I think, to
check in with yourself, withwhat it is you want and then
(24:13):
find models for it.
And, by the way, I love thatwhat you just said and I hope
everyone listening actuallyappreciated that.
Lockie's answer then was veryprofound, because he talked a
lot about how he felt and themeaning and the significance
that he can extract from theday-to-day.
(24:35):
What Lockie didn't say is howmuch stuff that he had or how
much money in the bank that hehad.
You basically just gave a keylesson, a key unlock to life
itself, which I believe was inyour answer around how you've
defined success being anintrinsic thing versus extrinsic
(24:56):
external stuff.
If you find yourself chasingthe extrinsic goal there's
always going to be more moneyyou can make.
There's always going to be moremoney you can make.
There's always going to be morestuff you can have.
But what you said was that thetime freedom like love, the
(25:17):
flexibility to choose, those arestill quite intrinsic things
and have meaning to you,powerful distinction.
So I just really wanted toreflect that back.
That that was awesome, mate.
Very similar I think you said itso perfectly in the first
(25:38):
sentence is just being able toenjoy, enjoy life itself, enjoy,
enjoy the moments.
I think for me when I'm reallypresent.
So if I am present to themoment, interesting, interesting
(25:59):
thing to think about is life ishappening right now.
I believe then I have the mostaccess to success and the joy of
life in this particular momentif I'm present to it.
If I'm stuck in anxiety or I'mstuck in depression, then I'm
(26:20):
either in the future or I'm inthe past.
Depression, then I'm either inthe future or I'm in the past,
and either of those statesactually robs me from being
present and that's what sucksaway my joy.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
If I can be here right now and I can be connected
to you and what is from thefuture and reflecting upon the
past is important to enjoyingand having a better present I
(26:54):
very rarely spend any timethinking about the past.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Uh, the reason for that is purely because the past
has happened and it's done andit's, I think, in a lot of ways,
if we reflect on what I couldhave done differently, that can
serve some usefulness.
You know people might arguethat well, well, we are doomed
(27:22):
to repeat history if we don'treflect on the past.
Possibly, I think so much ofour suffering comes from living
in a state outside of wherewe're at, and you can see it in
people's minds, like if you'represent with somebody and
they're thinking, they'reanxious about everything that's
happening, or they're soconsumed with a breakup that
happened three years ago theydon't have their life.
(27:44):
Their whole life is actuallydictated through one event, as
tragic as it may have been, andso their future is so
constrained by the past In termsof like weekly reflections and
(28:04):
that sort of thing.
Yes, I think some of thosethings are really good and you
can, I find utility in thosethings.
But how do you get to the futurestate anyway?
Well, turn around um and saidthat you wanted to run the 100
(28:30):
kilometer race at mountkosciuszko this year when you're
back in australia.
Phenomenal, like that's afuture goal for you, lucky.
But if you then didn't do anytraining in the lead up to that?
But your training is thendecided on today, in this moment
as well, and you then face withthat decision of will I train,
will I not?
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Yeah, could I add to that?
I feel, actually I believe,that if you're someone who is
just, you know a lot of peoplesay and I've said it a lot I'm
just starting my personal growthjourney, or my self-development
journey, or the journey tobeing a better version of myself
(29:17):
, I feel there is a lot of valuein reflection, because there's
a lot of life experiences thatmaybe I haven't thought about
week to week, as you and I bothdo that a lot now, so you don't
need to spend a great deal oftime.
I personally found a lot ofvalue in thinking about areas
(29:38):
where I'd fucked up and thoughtabout what was my role in that
and how could I, if I'm in asituation in the future, do that
better?
How would the idea of who Iwant to become show up?
I agree with you that as timegoes on and you start getting
clear on who you want to become,it's more so about being that
(29:59):
person in this moment, right now.
You have a choice.
Then continually holding on tothat.
A lot of people really love tojust hold on to the shit.
It's why, as you said, whenyou're not living in this moment
, people are anxious, they'redepressed, they're traumatized
(30:20):
and my belief is you've got tofind a way to live a life where
that's not impacting you,because, regardless of what's
happened and look, I haveempathy towards everyone who's
experienced bad shit, I do.
However, if you want to live agreat life, you have to find a
(30:42):
way to make peace with that andthen start being in this moment.
That version of yourself thatyou believe you need to be to
get those outcomes there's.
It doesn't need to be cloudy.
It's black or fucking white andpeople you can.
There will be people who arelistening to this and they don't
like that.
That it's black or white.
The way that I overcame a lotof shit in my life, and I'm sure
(31:06):
the same for you, ryan was justgoing okay, that happened,
didn't like that, but this iswhat I now want for my life.
Let's focus on that.
Let's do that.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Lucky.
Have you heard this?
I love sharing this story.
It's this analogy.
So I don't know who told methis, but basically a guy had
just moved into Beverly Hills inLA Wealthy guy, he was a runner
, fancy, yeah.
(31:38):
So he was exploring hisneighborhood and he went for a
run on his first day in theneighborhood.
So he ran around the block.
It was beautiful.
He was observing all thebeautiful homes around him and
as he comes around the cornerback to his house he hears this
dog wailing.
It's making some noise.
He's like oh, that's odd, it's5.30 in the morning.
(32:01):
It's quite early for a dog tobe in so much pain.
But he didn't think much of it.
The next day he woke up, didhis run Again, beautiful, he
loved his new neighborhood, cameback around the same corner,
heard the dog in pain againThought wow, maybe the owner's
(32:22):
moved away, maybe they've lefthim for a little bit.
If the dog continued wailing,he'd go and check on it.
So he woke up the third morning,again beautiful in the zone,
loving his run.
He then decides, because hecould hear the dog continuing to
(32:43):
wail, to go and find the house.
As he runs up to the house hesees an old man in a rocking
chair sitting on the deck withthe dog wailing next to him.
So he thought to push himselfin through the gate.
Said Sir, have you realizedthat your dog is wailing?
It's in a lot of pain.
(33:04):
He said oh yes, the dog knowsthat it's sitting on a nail.
All the dog has to do is standup and it would be out of pain.
And isn't it interesting how somuch of our suffering is not
from the situation but from howwe then think and reflect on the
(33:25):
situation.
So to your point.
Sometimes I don't think we needa process for everything, like
if you lied about a situation oryou didn't follow through and
you want your word.
Do you need 20 journal promptsand to sit in meditation for an
hour to figure out why you didit, or can you just make a
(33:48):
decision that you're not goingto lie the next time?
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Yeah, we don't need to give meaning to everything
every time.
It's just like that fuckinghappened, cool.
Next, I've learned, I'm goingto continue forward and I think,
do you feel, part of the reasonwhy people struggle with that
is a lot of people don't haveinterests.
(34:11):
And I'm going to think out loudhere because I actually have
not thought about this, I'm justpopped in the mind from where
the conversation is so happy tobe challenged and corrected for
sure.
Do you feel?
A lot of people love to hold onto trauma, love to wallow in
the pity, because it makes themfeel significant, because they
don't feel like they have muchelse going on in their life.
(34:33):
They maybe are in a job thatthey hate, a relationship that's
toxic, they're overweight andextremely unhealthy, that the
only thing that really makesthem feel validated or
recognized is poor.
Me with this experience.
And then people go oh, it'sokay, ryan, that's completely
fine.
What are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Depends what context you're in.
You can find like there's areason why depressed people are
going to hang out with depressedpeople Because the depressed
person and the happy personcan't be in the same room.
They will repel each other.
The depressed person will thinkthat the happy person is
annoying as fuck.
And can you find a whole groupof people to validate the reason
(35:20):
why your life sucks yes, whyyou're overweight, why parenting
is hard?
I'm not discounting that at all.
You can find a whole group ofpeople.
Just to reflect back youropinion.
(35:41):
I challenged all of my clientson a retreat recently.
I said guys, your relationshipto busy is contextual.
But if you throw the word busyaround and you go into a room
with Elon Musk, how do you thinkyour version of busy would
stand up in the same room?
He probably doesn't use theword.
(36:02):
He probably doesn't use theword.
So yeah, I think to a degree,and sometimes we are sneaky
bastards ourselves, right,because we can be smart enough
to then go and get sympathy forpeople who will be apologetic to
our situation, to makeourselves feel better yes, we
(36:27):
all know those people in ourlife that we go to.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
Yep, I've got one buddy and he will be listening
to this, mr gardell, and he doesnot tolerate shit or moping
around.
He'll call you on your shit andpull you out of that hole and
he does it in a very unique waywhere it doesn't make you feel
(36:50):
bad but it makes you go wow, Ican't believe what I was just
talking about, whereas somepeople will sort of validate
that and make you feel good inyour wallow.
But if you think about itrationally, I have an idea of
how I want to impact people, asI'm sure most people do.
And if you don't, that'sprobably something to redefine
(37:13):
with how would the mostsuccessful version of yourself
show up and impact people andmake people feel that everything
else doesn't matter?
It's noise?
When you think about being oneof those individuals who says
I'm busy and I am guilty ofsaying that, so I'm definitely
not coming from a perfect placethere but when I think about
(37:37):
when I say I'm busy it's justbecause I've added too much or I
have allowed too many thingsinto my area of attention or
onto my calendar, the only wayI'm not going to be busy is to
say no to things and to set, youknow, prioritize my time.
(37:57):
Okay, I do it very well overhere in the States, like very
well.
When I'm in Australia, I havemore meetings than anyone that I
know and it's chaos.
My life is out of chaos andit's day and night, and people
who know me well cansignificantly tell the
(38:17):
difference between how I amright now as opposed to how I am
in Australia, and that'snothing to do with Australia at
all now as opposed to how I amin Australia, and that's nothing
to do with Australia at all.
It's to do with the routinethat I've set up and how I
prioritize my time and what I'mfocused on.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Would you say Lockie, though for yourself if you use
that situation, because I canrelate when I moved to Bribie so
Bribie Island about an hournorth of Brisbane Bought a house
there during COVID, moved therefor eight months and then was
isolated, but it meant that Icould work.
Would you say that that type ofroutine you kind of established
for yourself?
In the US now, where you guysmoved for opportunities,
(39:03):
australia ends up being thiskind of holiday and so if you're
on holidays you do have adifferent routine, which would
be to see people you enjoy, seepeople you haven't seen for a
long time.
Um, so the context and theenvironment in which your
routines operate are differentand you've allowed those
(39:24):
connections I, I thinkdifferently.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
I feel that every year I'm learning.
Every year I have new ideasthat I would like to test, that
I feel could make my life better.
I know the power of habit.
The power of how I'm showing upin my life and how I'm showing
(39:53):
up in other people's life makesit very hard for me to implement
the change, because my life'snot shit, my life's great and a
lot of people's lives are notwoeful, but they're not where
they want them to be.
And I think because of that,it's've learned over the years.
Around my ideal day, what'sgoing to make me happiest?
(40:28):
I could do.
I could build from a blankcanvas, and that's exactly what
I've done.
I've wanted to for years.
Ryan, not meet with peoplebefore midday.
I found it very hard because Ihad done that for years.
That to do that it would havenot only been a change in my
life but my client's lives, andI was fearful that that would
(40:53):
ruin my business.
Okay, so it's almost like thiswhole burn the boat.
It wasn't necessarily that, butI do believe and this is why
I'm a massive believer inshifting your environment if you
truly want to change something.
It's hard to do.
I should have done this yearsago, but I didn't.
But now I'm seeing the benefitsof it and I was literally
(41:16):
saying to someone this morningthat if I move back to Brisbane
I can't live where we lived.
I have to find a newneighborhood, and it's nothing
against the neighborhood that Iwas in, it's just I truly
believe that if I end up backthere, I will go back to the
same habits, the same me, andthat version of myself was
(41:39):
highly productive but highlyfucking stressed.
And was I as happy as I am now?
No, no way in the world.
So I want more of what I've gotnow, and that means controlling
the environment and startingfrom a blank canvas wherever I
move.
Speaker 2 (41:55):
So, Lockie, can you share a little bit for those
people who are listening andthey're noticing that life is
okay, it's not terrible.
They might live in Australia.
Great, they might live in thesestates.
You're obviously talking aboutstandards that you have now set
for yourself with where you'reliving.
What are some of thosestandards that have raised the
(42:19):
quality of your life foryourself?
Speaker 1 (42:22):
Dude, I feel like you're interviewing me here.
We're going to swing this backaround, oh this is great.
Speaker 2 (42:27):
It's so insightful.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
To answer your question, the standards that I
have is I've shifted a lot frombusiness being the absolute
everything and, more to yourpoint, I've become a lot more
systemized.
I've become a lot moreprocess-driven.
I've become a lot moresystemized.
I've become a lot moreprocess-driven, which has freed
up the ability to know that I'llget the jobs done that I'm
required to get done every dayin a smaller amount of time.
So, because I didn't prioritizeit previously, I was just
(43:00):
always on, always going, and itwas like chaos, it was like a
duck on top.
Actually, people probablydidn't see me as calm.
I was pretty always on, alwaysgoing, and it was like a chaos.
You know, it was like a dark ontop.
Actually, people probablydidn't see me as calm, I was
pretty erratic, but underneathmy feet were just going, whereas
here it doesn't matter whathappens in my day.
I know I just need, you know,five hours roughly to get
everything done.
If that right, I'm very, verysystemized and structured to get
(43:24):
everything done, if that right,I'm very, very systemized and
structured.
And the standards that now Ihave is I'm finished work by six
, apart from every Tuesday,which is where I do late night
calls.
I exercise every morning, youknow, up until midday it's locky
time, I can do whatever I want.
It's golfing at the moment.
It could be running, it couldbe going for whatever, Whatever
(43:44):
that is.
It's golfing at the moment.
It could be running, it couldbe going for whatever.
Whatever that is, it's my time.
Then, from sort of midday to two, I start getting in the work
zone.
It's reading, catching up onthings, and then from two I'm on
, but that's generally untilabout six.
So that's four hours roughly,except for the Tuesdays.
And the standard that I upholdis I know what areas of my life
need time and they need timeevery single day.
(44:07):
It's not weekly or monthly,it's daily.
Like, my relationship and mymarriage is extremely important.
My health and my mental healthare extremely important.
Hanging out with my buddies orbeing on the phone with my
buddies important.
Having time to work important.
So every day there is timethere for those things and I'm
not stressed because I know thatI've made time for it and I say
(44:27):
no to things that rob me ofthat time.
So, what about you?
Speaker 2 (44:34):
Yeah, well, I think you have to be a guard of your
time.
And again, there's so much metastuff happening in your answers
that sometimes I feel likepeople can listen passively to
what you just shared and notengage.
But there is so much thatLockie just said which I love
(44:56):
around.
You have to guard your time.
But here's the interestingthing If you don't guard your
time, then you can prostituteyourself out and what you really
then say to the rest of theworld is hey guys, I'm available
for everybody and everyone cantake a piece of me own time to
(45:25):
nourish my mental, physical,spiritual, emotional well-being,
gone out the window becauseI've prioritized somebody else.
I've prioritized investing inthem, whatever it might be.
And so people who hit you upfor a free coffee or whatever,
it's really easy just to wastetime.
But often I think a reallypernicious quote is time is
(45:49):
money, and people buy into thisidea.
Time is not money.
Time is infinitely morevaluable than money.
They're printing more moneyevery single day.
You will not get more time.
And so if you change yourdynamic again, coming back to
what we were saying earlier onabout the building, the
(46:11):
self-trust and the self-respect,if you respect your time and
somebody else's, you would neverwant to waste it.
And then what it allows you todo and what I love in my
relationships is, even if Idon't speak to someone for a
little while, as soon as I'mwith them I'm on like that is me
(46:32):
and them.
Phones are off, I get to bepresent.
That is the most importantperson in my world, right there,
and then, in that context, ifI'm on the phone with them, it
also means then it's not ahaphazard check-in call, I'm
calling them on the drivebecause I'm bored between
(46:52):
meeting.
Like to me that's actually lazycommunication, because lucky is
just the afterthought, forexample, versus man.
Let's be really intentional.
I want to ask you about thisthis podcast super intentional,
lockie and I spoke about it.
I'm like great, and I thinkpeople need to have a healthier
(47:18):
respect for their time as well,their time as well, cause I I
didn't used to and I think Iwould be late to things and
meetings and catch ups withfriends.
I'd be habitually late to stuffand I just thought it was
perfectly acceptable and okay,because they were my friends,
that they would be forgivingthat I was 10 minutes late, and
(47:43):
actually it was reallydisrespectful.
Disrespectful because I wasn'tin communication about it.
So, yeah, I just loved what youshared then, um, and in a lot
of the same ways.
Those things are important.
I also love having calls in theafternoon and moving shit to
the afternoon now so that youcan just do your hard stuff in
(48:06):
the morning, where you need moreof the brain capacity, or just
either if it's work or doingthings for yourself.
Speaker 1 (48:15):
Speaking about intention, and we'll tie this
into systems, processes andautomation.
The intention for me in a lotof the work that I've done now
is how can I be more efficient?
I think something to understandfor a lot of people is when
you're learning something new,it will take time and you won't
be very efficient.
(48:35):
So an example of this is Ibelieve you can have everything,
just not at once, but you canbuild to it.
So what I mean by that and theidea I have around this is I'm
in a position where I know howto create money.
I could always create more 100%, so I'm not once again saying
I'm the guru at making bankmoney, but enough Health, always
(48:59):
feeling awesome and in a shapethat I'm comfortable with my
shirt off and relationship.
Feeling awesome and in a shapethat I'm comfortable with my
shirt off and relationship, andI wasn't able to prioritize
those and give time to those allat once in the beginning, when
I, you know, 2014, when I guessI was becoming, you know like.
(49:19):
This is what I need to do withthis area to get better.
It took a lot of time, my coldcalls.
Building a business took a lotof time 12 plus hours a day for
years because I was refining myskill and learning how to become
more efficient.
I then went to health.
I've always been fit andathletic but I was shocking with
recovery.
I was terrible with mynutrition.
So I said to myself let's startlearning about that.
(49:41):
And I've tried vegan, I'vetried vegetarian, I've tried
keto, I've tried.
You know, I've tried it all andI've tested it and figured out
what works well for my body.
That's an investment in timeand learning that stuff.
And now I've got an idea of howto eat well for myself very
easily.
The same with relationship.
You know relationships arecomplex right Communication,
(50:02):
negotiation, problem solving,listening, empathy.
You know all of that.
And that took time and becauseI've yeah, sex, I'm shocking at
that too.
Now those things have taken timeto the point where you now can
do it really efficiently, likeif someone came to me with a
problem around X, y and Z, likehealth, I could design a program
(50:24):
and understand the solution forthat in no time.
Same with relationship, like Ifeel very good at that because I
have learned how to become moreefficient and learn how to cut
the fluff.
And going to what you're doingnow with helping businesses, I'm
not going to say doing now,you've been doing it for ages.
But what you do with helpingpeople become more streamlined,
(50:45):
systemized, automated, is youhelp them cut that fluff so they
then can focus on the mostimportant things that need to
get done in their business tofree up time to invest in other
areas of their life, which to me, moves us towards work-life
harmony, where it's like I don'thave to work 14 hours a day to
make the money that I need tosurvive.
(51:06):
I can actually work four hoursa day, spend some time with my
wife, go hit some golf balls andlife's fucking awesome.
So can you talk me throughwhere your obsession came with
what you do now?
Speaker 2 (51:21):
Yeah, well, I when I first.
So I dropped out of universityand I was doing remote sales and
then I spoke to the developerof this company that I was doing
sales for and he told me aboutsoftware engineering.
So I found a way to learn aboutthat.
(51:42):
I moved to Sydney.
So I found a way to learn aboutthat.
I moved to Sydney, did anintense bootcamp.
I think I shared with you,lockie, that, like the story of,
I pitched the Airbnb right.
So, as a 18 year old, I'mstaying in this penthouse in
Sydney, overlooking SydneyHarbor and paying like 270 bucks
a week, eating cereal, watchingthe cruise ships come in and
(52:04):
out wild, um, and it's you never.
You never fully appreciate whatyou've got till it's gone.
So when you can't do that everymorning, then you realize how
beautiful it was.
Uh and, and that codingbootcamp was like the most
intense thing I've ever done inmy life.
And that coding boot camp waslike the most intense thing I've
(52:26):
ever done in my life, justmentally fatiguing.
Came back, started working fulltime for an agency, a marketing
company, and I always said tomyself, if I were to go and work
for somebody else, I'm going tomaximize all the skills and the
(52:47):
learning and the lessons,because, underneath it all, I've
always wanted to be anentrepreneur, grow my own
business, do my own thing.
So probably a strategic move interms of like working for a
startup and juggling so manyhats.
I worked in San Francisco for abit.
I worked in San Francisco for abit.
We worked with some of thebiggest brands on the planet
(53:07):
doing like billions and billionsof data.
Like dealing with billions andbillions of data.
One year I fucked up themessaging to Coles at Easter
time so I sent the wrong messageout to like 150 Coles users
150,000 users of the Coles app.
That's fun.
(53:29):
And basically, lockie, I justwanted to figure out how could I
do my nine to five job moreefficiently so I could get the
work done faster, which startedmy whole.
Yeah, as you said, obsessionwith like systems and saving
time, and I think a lot of it'sdriven through the lens of life
(53:55):
is short and the older I'vegotten, the more I've
appreciated that sentiment.
You know, I think we hear thatour whole entire life.
That sentiment you know, Ithink we hear that our whole
entire life.
When my grandmother passed away, you know, that week she called
to speak with us and I think atthe time I'm like 12 or 14,
(54:19):
didn't want to talk to mygrandmother, I'd just spoken to
her earlier in the week.
So I said to I distinctlyremember I said to my mom I'm
like I'm watching the Simpsons,I don't want to talk to my
grandmother, I'd just spoken toher earlier in the week.
So I said to I distinctlyremember I said to my mom I'm
like I'm watching the Simpsons,I don't want to talk to grandma
right now.
So my mom talks to grandma andthen she passes a few days later
and again in hindsight, youreflect on some of those moments
(54:42):
and you're like I could havemore present with my grandma.
The simpsons replayed everysingle, every single week.
So, underlying all of that, Ithink ultimately it's about how
do we maximize the joy and thefulfillment that we have whilst
we're here and, you know, justsuck every morsel out of life
(55:10):
because we don't know how longwe're here for.
And you've read the studies asmuch as I have, where, when
people who are 80 years old havebeen interviewed about what
they regret, they regret all themoments that passed them by and
they weren't present with lifebecause they chose something
else instead of being with thepeople they love.
(55:30):
I've never heard a sick oldperson in the hospital bed
asking to kiss their Ferrarigoodbye or their piles of money,
so it's like, okay, how can youenjoy more of life and free
yourself up from doing the stuffthat you don't have to do or
(55:50):
want to do, um, so that yourgenius, your skills, your
giftings can then be expressedin the work that you do?
And how do we figure out a wayto maximize not only fulfillment
but also profit from doing that?
Speaker 1 (56:07):
It's such a good way to think about things.
Previously, when I had anemployee mindset and what I want
to give meaning to that is Iused to think time for money.
So the more hours I worked, themore money I made.
That was my outlook, so itdidn't matter if I was efficient
or not, I didn't care.
I was like, if I can draw thisout another two hours and it's
(56:29):
easy, I'll do that because it'sworth another 40 bucks to me.
Then, when I shifted to, I'mworking for myself.
How can I maximize profit inminimal time while still
delivering an incredible result?
I shifted things and I wouldlove for people to start
adopting that mindset because itdoesn't just need to align with
(56:50):
business, and it doesn't justalign with business or profit or
money.
It aligns with going back towhat we spoke about a moment ago
, where you want to book in thecalendar, like a calendar invite
to catch up with your buddies,because it's intentional, like
what are you hoping to gain fromthis engagement?
Same with a date night, asopposed to just coming home and
sitting on the couch.
(57:11):
It's like this is anintentional date night.
I want to date you again, whichmeans let's make it fucking
exciting and a lot of peoplelack intention in their life
because they just don't have thetime, they don't have processes
or they don't have systems, akameetings or time allocated
(57:31):
during their week to do thethings that are really important
to them, and it's just shiftingyour perspective from you know,
I can draw this out.
That'll always be there for me,grandma will always be there
for me.
My wife will always be therefor me too.
How can I maximize my time withthem right now?
Speaker 2 (57:49):
Yeah, and I think sometimes you go I think just on
that as well wherever life isat for you and you're listening
to this wherever this podcastfinds you.
I think it is worth taking amoment to reflect on what is and
isn't working for you in yourlife, and if something is not
(58:14):
working be that relationships,your health, your business
there's things that just maybeit's kind of working, but not in
all the ways that you envision.
I hope that you've actuallygotten something from this
beautiful man here as well andthat this is a prompt to reach
(58:36):
out to him and have aconversation, because he has.
I said this to you as welllockheed online is like
one-tenth of the, the epic humanthat he is in person.
You know he's the same person.
You get the same heart, but hisbrain and how he thinks about
(58:58):
life in the world and we've hadsome really beautiful
conversations there's somethingthat he can offer and if he
couldn't help you then he'dpoint you in the right direction
.
But I think, getting present towhat you're after in your life
and defining the success and thelessons that you've had and
(59:22):
what you would like life to looklike.
Some people might havediscounted 2024 already, because
we're in the middle of April,or instead you can look at it as
wow, I've got the rest of theyear.
There's so much upside, there'sso much potential still.
That's your job to go andfigure that out and to surround
(59:42):
yourself with people who canhelp you get there.
Speaker 1 (59:46):
Ryan, we could talk for hours and I think we will
definitely be doing a lot moreepisodes about specific things
that pop to mind.
Where can people find you?
Because I do encourage people,especially business owners, to
reach out to you, because I dobelieve that with the right
systems, processes andautomation aka bit of AI yeah,
(01:00:08):
baby, you will get time back andthat time could be invested in
other areas of your life.
That will make it more joyful,will make it more meaningful,
will make it more rich in thetime that you've got here.
So where can people find you?
Speaker 2 (01:00:22):
You can find me on LinkedIn, instagram, my website.
Shoot me.
Can people find you?
You can find me on LinkedIn,instagram, my website.
Shoot me an email if you wouldlike, if you're up for that.
So, ryan at ryandrakecom or atit's ryandrake everywhere.
So Instagram's probably theplace I hang out the most, but
(01:00:43):
that'll be the best way.
Speaker 1 (01:00:45):
Ryan, thank you so much for jumping on.
Thanks for challenging me.
Thanks for it was a funconversation.
I always really honestly enjoyit when it's a bit of a two-way
conversation, which sounds weirdbecause I'm interviewing people
, but I just feel we get tounpack things to a greater depth
and there's more story involved, which I personally love.
I appreciate all the work thatyou're doing and giving me your
(01:01:08):
time and our friendship as well.
Speaker 2 (01:01:10):
Thanks, man.
I really appreciate being here.
It's such an honor.
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:01:16):
And everyone listening.
Check the show notes.
All the links for Ryan will beavailable.
Share this with someone thatyou know will get value, and I
always love it when I see peoplewho share it on social media
and tag me.
And, finally, to help uscontinue getting more awesome
guests like Ryan on the show,leave a rating and review on
YouTube, on Spotify, on Apple,whichever platform you listen to
(01:01:40):
.
It really helps us out.
Thank you, guys, for tuning in.
We'll see you next time.
Welcome back to the man that Can Project podcast.
I'm your host, lachlan Stewart.
So good to have you here Nowthis week.
I have a very cool conversationA bloke that I connected with
in Australia before I wasleaving, ryan Drake.
We connected online.
I was a guest on his podcastyou may have listened to the
recording I posted a couple ofweeks ago where he hosted me and
(00:25):
since then we've become reallygood friends.
We've got a lot in commonaround business and life and we
have great conversations, so Iwanted to get him on the show to
unpack and unlock his brain.
What you can expect to learn onthis episode is turning your
ideas into a business, somonetizing your passion, how to
(00:46):
embrace failure and turn it intosuccess, other things around
the power of being present andplanning for a meaningful life
All things that I really lovetalking about and it ties into a
little advertisement thatyou'll hear throughout this
episode around theself-discovery program.
Now, I'm still toying aroundwith the name, but one thing
(01:07):
that I know is true when youhave a vision for your life and
you understand who you are andwhat you want, it's very easy to
make decisions and create acompelling future, right when
you're doing things that youlove.
When you're achieving goals,making progress, you will be
more confident.
As a result of being moreconfident, the areas of your
(01:28):
life that matter most willthrive, and that's why I put it
together, and it's somethingthat you guys will get a notion
template, along with theworkbooks, et cetera, and you'll
get to see it updated in realtime, and the cool thing about
that is that it's something thatyou can continue coming back to
and, like I said, I'm stillplaying around with the name,
but it will be your essentialbattle plan for your life that
(01:50):
will be broken down into so manydetails that, by the time it's
built out and you're finishedwith it, you're going to have a
great understanding aroundwhat's important where to spend
your time.
If I were to say to you, lockie, show me or fill out a 12-week
game plan, you would know a goalthat you could select and the
plan that comes with that.
So make sure you check it out.
(02:11):
Man that Can listeners that'syou, who is listening right now.
You will get a 15% discount ifyou use the man that Can project
discount code, which is TMTCP15at the checkout.
Enjoy it.
It's only $47 and it will onlybe staying there for a limited
time only.
Let's get into the episode.
(02:32):
Welcome back to the man thatCan Projects podcast.
We are cracking into the 570snow, which is uncharted
territory for the show,obviously, but I've learned so
much.
I have been privileged to be inconversations with incredible
people, like the man virtuallysitting across from me, ryan
(02:54):
Drake.
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Thanks for having me.
I'm so excited to be here,Lockie.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Mate, we connected through social media.
We then went for a very longlunch, which was incredible, and
have had a number of catch-ups.
I was on your podcast and everytime we catch up the
conversations go in a milliondifferent directions, but I
always walk away with newperspectives, new ideas and I
(03:21):
feel almost challenged to bebetter and to raise my own
standards.
And I love being part of thoseconversations and I believe
conversations like that, which Iknow we're about to have, would
have benefited me so much whenI was younger if I could just be
a fly on the wall to aconversation like this.
So I know that our audience isgoing to be, you know, buckle up
(03:42):
, we're on for a big one here.
But, mate, at the moment inyour life, you've got so much
exciting stuff happening.
You're currently businessconsulting and you help people
scale through systems, processesand automations.
You weren't born that way.
Can you give us an overview ofhow you've gotten to this point?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Yes.
Well, I think life has this inhindsight, and I always reflect
on Steve Jobs' quote about youcan never connect the dots.
Moving forward, you can onlyconnect them.
Looking backwards, Life kind ofhas these lots of full circle
moments, I think, where I guesseven as a kid, you have some
(04:25):
aspiration or some insight intowhat you'd like to do.
Perhaps you move away from thatand then you somehow find that
passion or excitement againexpressed in some other avenue.
And so I would say how I landedin what I do now started when I
was seven, eight years old,playing Neopets on the internet,
(04:48):
and at the time Neopets waslike the biggest website on the
internet with like 20 millionvisitors per month, but it was
pre-Facebook.
It was an opportunity to playgames online when Flash Player
was a thing and Meet inCommunity and I got exposed to
(05:12):
coding.
I got exposed to the kindnessof strangers on the internet in
a lot of ways, and if I thinkback to what we're taught now as
adults and what we try toimpart on children don't talk to
strangers, don't give away toomuch like sensitive information
about yourself Well, back thenyou had all these like cartoon
(05:35):
avatars of people, but you stillask them who they were, what
they're about.
Lockie, I distinctly rememberhaving conversations at like
nine years old with some ofthese people I met and they
introduced me to Benny Benassias a DJ and I was like, wow, I
like house music.
I didn't even know that I likedhouse music, so-.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Benny Benassi.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Yeah, like one of the OGs and like knowing how to
code on Neopets helped when Iwas in high school and friends
were asking questions about youknow how to format my MySpace
page.
So all those designs and I kindof thought for a long time
these were little gimmicks andfun little side projects.
(06:21):
I never knew that they werefull onon careers for people
until later and I was faced withdropping out of university and
I did that, did some remotesales work for a business and
then learned that oh, peoplewrite code for a living and make
a fair bit of money from it.
(06:41):
I wonder if I could teachmyself some of that.
And because I knew a little bitfrom when I was younger, that
sort of sparked my wholecuriosity and get like doing
that again.
But I think and was it?
Speaker 1 (06:55):
was it the sorry to interject is.
Was it the curiosity in makingmoney that made you want to go
down that path, or the curiosityof the coding?
Speaker 2 (07:08):
I've always just scratched my own itch.
I feel I truly believe thatmoney is just a byproduct of
being on mission but being inservice as well mission, but
being in service as well.
So I think if I just did thingsfor money, I would get bored,
(07:30):
because there's so manydifferent things that you could
do, for example, when faced withlaunching a sustainable
athletic apparel line.
So when I started CrossFitgoing back like eight years, we
launched a label and I learnedso much about the manufacturing
industry.
And you're presented with theopportunity of do you go
(07:52):
directly to China, print theshittiest piece of clothing,
slap your logo on top and make afortune, or do you go with the
best manufacturer that you canafford that meets all your
ethical standards?
I think you're constantly facedwith these moments where your
(08:15):
values are then presented to youin a decision.
So a lot of the time, honestly,lockie, I've just been
following my curiosity did Iknow that playing neopets would
then help me with my space,would then help me with like a
career?
Not necessarily, it was justbecause I thought at the time it
(08:36):
was fun, I enjoyed it, it camesomewhat easy to me and kind of
lived a lot of my life that way.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
There seems to be a pattern that I'm starting to
recognize from a lot of thepeople that I've interviewed who
are extremely successful intheir chosen area, and a lot of
that has come from almosttrusting their gut or their
intuition around what theyactually enjoy and allowing
themselves to explore that,rather than running the
(09:08):
traditional path of once you'vereached this age.
Video games, for example, areno longer acceptable.
Once you reach this age, thenyou can't take risks.
You now have to think aboutfamilies, et cetera.
And look, that is a safe path.
You can pretty much guaranteewhat the outcome is going to be.
So, for those who lovecertainty and those who like the
(09:30):
idea of that specific outcome,awesome.
But I know that a lot of peoplethat listen to this show aren't
happy and they're scratchingtheir head wondering how do I
find more joy in my life?
How do I find more joy in mylife?
How do I find more fulfillment?
How do I spring out of bedreally genuinely excited about
(09:51):
the day that's in front of me?
And the only possible way thatI believe you can get there is
by exploring and investing timeinto your curiosities.
I believe we're in a fortunatetime and I know we're definitely
going to dive into this, wherealmost anything that you enjoy
(10:12):
you can monetize now you cancreate a business out of.
And that's what really excitesme and I want to really dive
into further with you today.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Man like straight away, just for those listening.
If you thought your ideas aboutmaking money was stupid, just
remember that there is a $100million a year brand of yellow
sponges that has a smiley faceon it, called Scrub Daddy Right.
(10:48):
And there is a guy who, if yougo to Iwanttodrawacatforyoucom,
has made $300,000 selling $10pictures of him drawing cartoon
cats and posting them in themail to anyone in the world.
(11:10):
You mentioned something reallyinteresting, lucky, about
certainty, and the more Ireflect on certainty, the more I
believe that it's an illusion,because we look for these false,
tangible things to hold onto toprovide a sense of security
when, in actual fact, realitytells us that there is nothing
(11:34):
that is certain about our future.
We walk out the door of ourhouse.
There is a possibility of usbeing hit by a car, of us being
hit by a car, electrocuted bylightning, suffering from a
heart attack.
Ziz, right Ziz, a famous guyfrom 10 years ago, youtube.
I grew up YouTube, god.
(11:56):
He passed away because he wasin the sauna, had a heart attack
at 22.
And so you never know when yourtime's up, I think.
One interesting thing perhapsabout if we look at successful
people versus unsuccessfulpeople well, both of them have
(12:16):
the same goals a lot of the time.
They still want to make money,they still want to succeed in
their business, their life,still want to drive the nice car
, have the nice house.
But if you look at what they'vebeen able to create for
themselves around certainty,it's what if you made then?
(12:42):
Continue to increase yourself-belief and self-respect by
honoring your relationship withwho you are.
So your word, your deeds, howyou then show up.
And if you create thatrelationship with yourself, does
(13:03):
it really matter what you do?
Perhaps not, because you have asense of certainty within that,
whatever you put your mind andyour effort to, you're going to
succeed.
It doesn't mean it's easy.
It doesn't mean that you knowthe pathway forward.
Mean that you know the pathwayforward, but instead you know
(13:30):
that you've built up enoughinnate trust and wisdom to then
say, okay, cool, well, I learnedthis lesson and now I trust
myself to not make that sillydecision again and continue down
that pathway.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
What would that process then look like if you
were going back even to yourselfat a younger age?
Ryan, and you're going fromNeopets to MySpace to then
starting your clothing apparelor launching your first business
.
How did you develop thatabsolute certainty in self to
(14:01):
take those risks?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Yeah, great question.
I think one thing that I firsthad to look at was changing my
relationship with the idea offailure and being able to
redefine that for myself,because so often I think, when
(14:23):
we hear the word failure, wecome up with a very dense energy
right, it feels all engulfingand like our life is over and
that we have somehowdisappointed people and let
ourselves down and not performed.
Let ourselves down and notperformed.
(14:49):
And so I think maybe failureand fear are two sides of the
same coin, because often, if youask people about them being
afraid, being scared to dosomething, what they actually
highlight is that they're afraidof failing, so they never want
to try.
And if we understand that thatis the dynamic that stops a lot
of people, well, instead I hadto change that failure turned
(15:10):
into what if it was lessons?
What if life was just acollection of lessons?
This was data that I couldinstead use to reinforce my
decision making moving forwardin life.
So if I saw it instead as thefaster I rack up lessons, the
(15:32):
more life experience I have,then it encourages me to try.
It encourages me to makemistakes, because in the process
I learn how not to do something, and I think of Edison, you
could say, failed 999 timesbefore he created the light bulb
(15:55):
, or he learned 999 ways how notto create one.
A lot of life has to be lived.
It's not from a textbook.
If we think about business.
Gosh, I don't know anythingthat I've learned about business
through a book.
Everything's been battle-testedand understood.
(16:16):
You can read the bestnegotiation tactics, about
leadership and communication.
You can read stuff aboutfinances and how to manage your
finances, but you don't knowwhat it's really like until
you're slapped in the face withreality and you run into a
challenge and then you're reallytested on who you are and your
(16:39):
values.
In those moments Same withfitness.
And I can imagine for yourself,lockie, when you're in the hole
or you're in the dark place ona big run what are you faced
with?
You're faced with yourself andyou're learning about okay.
Well, is this the point where Iquit?
Is this a point where I stop,or is this a point where I keep
going?
And if you do stop again,there's a lesson in that.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Is there a moment that springs to mind for
yourself where maybe you havestopped, and could you share the
learning from that?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
so many, so so many things.
Um, let's, let's talk about ahigh school example.
So I chose not to play first 15rugby in year 11, I think
because what I wanted to do wasenjoy my year, not be confronted
(17:32):
with the challenge of training.
So I switched to football andthen ended up scoring a whole
bunch of goals, but I would havebeen in the first team.
I didn't even put myself in aposition to try for it.
But they called me up and thenthey wondered why I was missing
from training.
And it was because I didn'twant to play that year.
I didn't want to play notbecause I didn't want the
accolades, because that wouldhave been awesome and having the
(17:53):
whole school cheer for me, thatwould have been cool.
I didn't want to play because Iin my head was staring down the
barrel of wow, this training isgoing to be hard.
How do I juggle this withschool priorities, all of this
sort of stuff on my plate?
Speaker 1 (18:12):
So to talk, a moment ago, you mentioned how you
redefined what failure is.
Would you almost suggest for alot of people as well to
potentially redefine whatsuccess means to them?
I feel when I was able todefine what a successful life
(18:35):
could potentially be for me,something that excited me,
something that I loved the ideaof, I then was able to focus,
and I then was able to focus.
And when I was able to focus, Iwas able to make the necessary
sacrifices, I was able to knowwhat to say no to, which is a
huge thing subtraction overaddition, as a number of people
(18:58):
have said to me a lot recentlyand because of that, I was able
to build the life that I've gotnow.
I was literally reflecting onthis earlier I don't talk about
it a lot and I think you'vechallenged me on this a bit,
ryan where I've got a prettyincredible life.
Actually I do.
It's not pretty, it's fuckingawesome, and I often don't like
(19:22):
talking about it so much becausethere's a lot of people who
aren't in that position, and Ifeel like I'm unique in the fact
that I took action, maybe whenI was younger you know, 23, 24
was when I first decided.
You know the life that I nowlive was what I wanted, with the
freedom, the flexibility, thepeople, the, et cetera.
(19:46):
And I'm very careful with how Italk about it and what I say and
what I believe, because a lotof other people have chosen
different paths and maybe havedifferent responsibilities and I
think now I'm starting torecognize that that is a
disservice to people, because Ihave the keys to.
I believe I have the keys tohelping people unlock this idea
(20:07):
of earning a great income, beingan awesome husband and
potential dad one day, but alsobeing a good mate and living a
good life.
And I do believe, regardless ofwhere you're at, it's possible
to create, and that's where Ithink why we get on so well with
your systems and yourdelegation and a lot of the
stuff that you do.
(20:27):
You almost are like a secretweapon in my life in regards to
how I've created that, and Ithink having more conversations
openly about it and my idea ofsuccess and your idea of success
and your idea of failure canhelp other men start going well.
What does success actually looklike for me?
(20:48):
Now I've decided that that's mydefinition of success.
Now we can get to work.
What are the tasks or theaction items or the skills or
the people that need to be partof this for me to make that
possible, and what's a timelineas well, of course.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Well, can I ask you first, in case you haven't
shared this before, for thosewho are new listening what is
your definition of success foryour life?
Because I'd love to know.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
My definition of success for life is to enjoy the
things that I choose to do on adaily basis and have the
freedom to do that.
And for me it is one having thehealth to be able to enjoy all
the opportunities that come myway, whether it's running a
marathon or going on a hike orjust having energy to keep up
(21:37):
with all the stuff that we do.
We travel a lot, we're at a lotof events.
I'm working to have thevitality for that, but it's also
having the connection within myrelationships, people who add
value to my life, who support me, who challenge me.
It's to have freedom, andfreedom for me is having the
financial means that I can sayyes to all the opportunities
(21:59):
Money is not an issue but alsothe flexibility that I can
travel with my wife or live inAmerica, should I choose to, or
live in wherever I want, or be astay-at-home dad.
And then, finally, theexperiences.
You said it before, ryan, wherebooks are awesome, podcasts are
(22:20):
awesome, but learning throughdoing is what makes life, and
being able to know theexperiences or the things that
I'm curious about and have thepeople that I love most sharing
in those experiences is what myidea of success is.
So I can quantify that, eventhough that's like a very broad
(22:42):
statement.
I have an idea of the numberfrom the finances.
I have an idea of my benchmarksfor health to allow me to do
that from output and input.
With recovery, I have an ideaof what I value in the personal
standards I hold within myrelationships, okay, and I have
an idea of the shit that I wanton my life's resume when I'm 90,
of the experiences and theadventures that I want on my
(23:03):
life's resume when I'm 90, ofthe experiences and the
adventures that I want.
So, because of that, when itcomes to planning my week, when
it comes to planning my month,it's easier for me to fill in my
time with meaningful stuff ormeaningful experiences.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
So thanks for asking that.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
That was cool.
I love that.
What about for you?
What is it for you, Ryan?
Speaker 2 (23:23):
I think you nailed it before you shared was you have
to understand first and foremostwhat your personal definition
is, because otherwise it's veryeasy to fall into the trap of
listening to the podcast orlistening to your friends talk
about what success means forthem.
And until you've defined it foryourself, sometimes and I'm not
(23:47):
sure about you Lucky, but I'vefound definitely in the past is
chasing other people's versionof success, chasing someone
else's version of what it meantto be fulfilled or have meaning
in life.
And it's actually reallyimportant then, I think, to
check in with yourself, withwhat it is you want and then
(24:13):
find models for it.
And, by the way, I love thatwhat you just said and I hope
everyone listening actuallyappreciated that.
Lockie's answer then was veryprofound, because he talked a
lot about how he felt and themeaning and the significance
that he can extract from theday-to-day.
(24:35):
What Lockie didn't say is howmuch stuff that he had or how
much money in the bank that hehad.
You basically just gave a keylesson, a key unlock to life
itself, which I believe was inyour answer around how you've
defined success being anintrinsic thing versus extrinsic
(24:56):
external stuff.
If you find yourself chasingthe extrinsic goal there's
always going to be more moneyyou can make.
There's always going to be moremoney you can make.
There's always going to be morestuff you can have.
But what you said was that thetime freedom like love, the
(25:17):
flexibility to choose, those arestill quite intrinsic things
and have meaning to you,powerful distinction.
So I just really wanted toreflect that back.
That that was awesome, mate.
Very similar I think you said itso perfectly in the first
(25:38):
sentence is just being able toenjoy, enjoy life itself, enjoy,
enjoy the moments.
I think for me when I'm reallypresent.
So if I am present to themoment, interesting, interesting
(25:59):
thing to think about is life ishappening right now.
I believe then I have the mostaccess to success and the joy of
life in this particular momentif I'm present to it.
If I'm stuck in anxiety or I'mstuck in depression, then I'm
(26:20):
either in the future or I'm inthe past.
Depression, then I'm either inthe future or I'm in the past,
and either of those statesactually robs me from being
present and that's what sucksaway my joy.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
If I can be here right now and I can be connected
to you and what is from thefuture and reflecting upon the
past is important to enjoyingand having a better present I
(26:54):
very rarely spend any timethinking about the past.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Uh, the reason for that is purely because the past
has happened and it's done andit's, I think, in a lot of ways,
if we reflect on what I couldhave done differently, that can
serve some usefulness.
You know people might arguethat well, well, we are doomed
(27:22):
to repeat history if we don'treflect on the past.
Possibly, I think so much ofour suffering comes from living
in a state outside of wherewe're at, and you can see it in
people's minds, like if you'represent with somebody and
they're thinking, they'reanxious about everything that's
happening, or they're soconsumed with a breakup that
happened three years ago theydon't have their life.
(27:44):
Their whole life is actuallydictated through one event, as
tragic as it may have been, andso their future is so
constrained by the past In termsof like weekly reflections and
(28:04):
that sort of thing.
Yes, I think some of thosethings are really good and you
can, I find utility in thosethings.
But how do you get to the futurestate anyway?
Well, turn around um and saidthat you wanted to run the 100
(28:30):
kilometer race at mountkosciuszko this year when you're
back in australia.
Phenomenal, like that's afuture goal for you, lucky.
But if you then didn't do anytraining in the lead up to that?
But your training is thendecided on today, in this moment
as well, and you then face withthat decision of will I train,
will I not?
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Yeah, could I add to that?
I feel, actually I believe,that if you're someone who is
just, you know a lot of peoplesay and I've said it a lot I'm
just starting my personal growthjourney, or my self-development
journey, or the journey tobeing a better version of myself
(29:17):
, I feel there is a lot of valuein reflection, because there's
a lot of life experiences thatmaybe I haven't thought about
week to week, as you and I bothdo that a lot now, so you don't
need to spend a great deal oftime.
I personally found a lot ofvalue in thinking about areas
(29:38):
where I'd fucked up and thoughtabout what was my role in that
and how could I, if I'm in asituation in the future, do that
better?
How would the idea of who Iwant to become show up?
I agree with you that as timegoes on and you start getting
clear on who you want to become,it's more so about being that
(29:59):
person in this moment, right now.
You have a choice.
Then continually holding on tothat.
A lot of people really love tojust hold on to the shit.
It's why, as you said, whenyou're not living in this moment
, people are anxious, they'redepressed, they're traumatized
(30:20):
and my belief is you've got tofind a way to live a life where
that's not impacting you,because, regardless of what's
happened and look, I haveempathy towards everyone who's
experienced bad shit, I do.
However, if you want to live agreat life, you have to find a
(30:42):
way to make peace with that andthen start being in this moment.
That version of yourself thatyou believe you need to be to
get those outcomes there's.
It doesn't need to be cloudy.
It's black or fucking white andpeople you can.
There will be people who arelistening to this and they don't
like that.
That it's black or white.
The way that I overcame a lotof shit in my life, and I'm sure
(31:06):
the same for you, ryan was justgoing okay, that happened,
didn't like that, but this iswhat I now want for my life.
Let's focus on that.
Let's do that.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Lucky.
Have you heard this?
I love sharing this story.
It's this analogy.
So I don't know who told methis, but basically a guy had
just moved into Beverly Hills inLA Wealthy guy, he was a runner
, fancy, yeah.
(31:38):
So he was exploring hisneighborhood and he went for a
run on his first day in theneighborhood.
So he ran around the block.
It was beautiful.
He was observing all thebeautiful homes around him and
as he comes around the cornerback to his house he hears this
dog wailing.
It's making some noise.
He's like oh, that's odd, it's5.30 in the morning.
(32:01):
It's quite early for a dog tobe in so much pain.
But he didn't think much of it.
The next day he woke up, didhis run Again, beautiful, he
loved his new neighborhood, cameback around the same corner,
heard the dog in pain againThought wow, maybe the owner's
(32:22):
moved away, maybe they've lefthim for a little bit.
If the dog continued wailing,he'd go and check on it.
So he woke up the third morning,again beautiful in the zone,
loving his run.
He then decides, because hecould hear the dog continuing to
(32:43):
wail, to go and find the house.
As he runs up to the house hesees an old man in a rocking
chair sitting on the deck withthe dog wailing next to him.
So he thought to push himselfin through the gate.
Said Sir, have you realizedthat your dog is wailing?
It's in a lot of pain.
(33:04):
He said oh yes, the dog knowsthat it's sitting on a nail.
All the dog has to do is standup and it would be out of pain.
And isn't it interesting how somuch of our suffering is not
from the situation but from howwe then think and reflect on the
(33:25):
situation.
So to your point.
Sometimes I don't think we needa process for everything, like
if you lied about a situation oryou didn't follow through and
you want your word.
Do you need 20 journal promptsand to sit in meditation for an
hour to figure out why you didit, or can you just make a
(33:48):
decision that you're not goingto lie the next time?
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Yeah, we don't need to give meaning to everything
every time.
It's just like that fuckinghappened, cool.
Next, I've learned, I'm goingto continue forward and I think,
do you feel, part of the reasonwhy people struggle with that
is a lot of people don't haveinterests.
(34:11):
And I'm going to think out loudhere because I actually have
not thought about this, I'm justpopped in the mind from where
the conversation is so happy tobe challenged and corrected for
sure.
Do you feel?
A lot of people love to hold onto trauma, love to wallow in
the pity, because it makes themfeel significant, because they
don't feel like they have muchelse going on in their life.
(34:33):
They maybe are in a job thatthey hate, a relationship that's
toxic, they're overweight andextremely unhealthy, that the
only thing that really makesthem feel validated or
recognized is poor.
Me with this experience.
And then people go oh, it'sokay, ryan, that's completely
fine.
What are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Depends what context you're in.
You can find like there's areason why depressed people are
going to hang out with depressedpeople Because the depressed
person and the happy personcan't be in the same room.
They will repel each other.
The depressed person will thinkthat the happy person is
annoying as fuck.
And can you find a whole groupof people to validate the reason
(35:20):
why your life sucks yes, whyyou're overweight, why parenting
is hard?
I'm not discounting that at all.
You can find a whole group ofpeople.
Just to reflect back youropinion.
(35:41):
I challenged all of my clientson a retreat recently.
I said guys, your relationshipto busy is contextual.
But if you throw the word busyaround and you go into a room
with Elon Musk, how do you thinkyour version of busy would
stand up in the same room?
He probably doesn't use theword.
(36:02):
He probably doesn't use theword.
So yeah, I think to a degree,and sometimes we are sneaky
bastards ourselves, right,because we can be smart enough
to then go and get sympathy forpeople who will be apologetic to
our situation, to makeourselves feel better yes, we
(36:27):
all know those people in ourlife that we go to.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
Yep, I've got one buddy and he will be listening
to this, mr gardell, and he doesnot tolerate shit or moping
around.
He'll call you on your shit andpull you out of that hole and
he does it in a very unique waywhere it doesn't make you feel
(36:50):
bad but it makes you go wow, Ican't believe what I was just
talking about, whereas somepeople will sort of validate
that and make you feel good inyour wallow.
But if you think about itrationally, I have an idea of
how I want to impact people, asI'm sure most people do.
And if you don't, that'sprobably something to redefine
(37:13):
with how would the mostsuccessful version of yourself
show up and impact people andmake people feel that everything
else doesn't matter?
It's noise?
When you think about being oneof those individuals who says
I'm busy and I am guilty ofsaying that, so I'm definitely
not coming from a perfect placethere but when I think about
(37:37):
when I say I'm busy it's justbecause I've added too much or I
have allowed too many thingsinto my area of attention or
onto my calendar, the only wayI'm not going to be busy is to
say no to things and to set, youknow, prioritize my time.
(37:57):
Okay, I do it very well overhere in the States, like very
well.
When I'm in Australia, I havemore meetings than anyone that I
know and it's chaos.
My life is out of chaos andit's day and night, and people
who know me well cansignificantly tell the
(38:17):
difference between how I amright now as opposed to how I am
in Australia, and that'snothing to do with Australia at
all now as opposed to how I amin Australia, and that's nothing
to do with Australia at all.
It's to do with the routinethat I've set up and how I
prioritize my time and what I'mfocused on.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Would you say Lockie, though for yourself if you use
that situation, because I canrelate when I moved to Bribie so
Bribie Island about an hournorth of Brisbane Bought a house
there during COVID, moved therefor eight months and then was
isolated, but it meant that Icould work.
Would you say that that type ofroutine you kind of established
for yourself?
In the US now, where you guysmoved for opportunities,
(39:03):
australia ends up being thiskind of holiday and so if you're
on holidays you do have adifferent routine, which would
be to see people you enjoy, seepeople you haven't seen for a
long time.
Um, so the context and theenvironment in which your
routines operate are differentand you've allowed those
(39:24):
connections I, I thinkdifferently.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
I feel that every year I'm learning.
Every year I have new ideasthat I would like to test, that
I feel could make my life better.
I know the power of habit.
The power of how I'm showing upin my life and how I'm showing
(39:53):
up in other people's life makesit very hard for me to implement
the change, because my life'snot shit, my life's great and a
lot of people's lives are notwoeful, but they're not where
they want them to be.
And I think because of that,it's've learned over the years.
Around my ideal day, what'sgoing to make me happiest?
(40:28):
I could do.
I could build from a blankcanvas, and that's exactly what
I've done.
I've wanted to for years.
Ryan, not meet with peoplebefore midday.
I found it very hard because Ihad done that for years.
That to do that it would havenot only been a change in my
life but my client's lives, andI was fearful that that would
(40:53):
ruin my business.
Okay, so it's almost like thiswhole burn the boat.
It wasn't necessarily that, butI do believe and this is why
I'm a massive believer inshifting your environment if you
truly want to change something.
It's hard to do.
I should have done this yearsago, but I didn't.
But now I'm seeing the benefitsof it and I was literally
(41:16):
saying to someone this morningthat if I move back to Brisbane
I can't live where we lived.
I have to find a newneighborhood, and it's nothing
against the neighborhood that Iwas in, it's just I truly
believe that if I end up backthere, I will go back to the
same habits, the same me, andthat version of myself was
(41:39):
highly productive but highlyfucking stressed.
And was I as happy as I am now?
No, no way in the world.
So I want more of what I've gotnow, and that means controlling
the environment and startingfrom a blank canvas wherever I
move.
Speaker 2 (41:55):
So, Lockie, can you share a little bit for those
people who are listening andthey're noticing that life is
okay, it's not terrible.
They might live in Australia.
Great, they might live in thesestates.
You're obviously talking aboutstandards that you have now set
for yourself with where you'reliving.
What are some of thosestandards that have raised the
(42:19):
quality of your life foryourself?
Speaker 1 (42:22):
Dude, I feel like you're interviewing me here.
We're going to swing this backaround, oh this is great.
Speaker 2 (42:27):
It's so insightful.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
To answer your question, the standards that I
have is I've shifted a lot frombusiness being the absolute
everything and, more to yourpoint, I've become a lot more
systemized.
I've become a lot moreprocess-driven.
I've become a lot moresystemized.
I've become a lot moreprocess-driven, which has freed
up the ability to know that I'llget the jobs done that I'm
required to get done every dayin a smaller amount of time.
So, because I didn't prioritizeit previously, I was just
(43:00):
always on, always going, and itwas like chaos, it was like a
duck on top.
Actually, people probablydidn't see me as calm.
I was pretty always on, alwaysgoing, and it was like a chaos.
You know, it was like a dark ontop.
Actually, people probablydidn't see me as calm, I was
pretty erratic, but underneathmy feet were just going, whereas
here it doesn't matter whathappens in my day.
I know I just need, you know,five hours roughly to get
everything done.
If that right, I'm very, verysystemized and structured to get
(43:24):
everything done, if that right,I'm very, very systemized and
structured.
And the standards that now Ihave is I'm finished work by six
, apart from every Tuesday,which is where I do late night
calls.
I exercise every morning, youknow, up until midday it's locky
time, I can do whatever I want.
It's golfing at the moment.
It could be running, it couldbe going for whatever, Whatever
(43:44):
that is.
It's golfing at the moment.
It could be running, it couldbe going for whatever.
Whatever that is, it's my time.
Then, from sort of midday to two, I start getting in the work
zone.
It's reading, catching up onthings, and then from two I'm on
, but that's generally untilabout six.
So that's four hours roughly,except for the Tuesdays.
And the standard that I upholdis I know what areas of my life
need time and they need timeevery single day.
(44:07):
It's not weekly or monthly,it's daily.
Like, my relationship and mymarriage is extremely important.
My health and my mental healthare extremely important.
Hanging out with my buddies orbeing on the phone with my
buddies important.
Having time to work important.
So every day there is timethere for those things and I'm
not stressed because I know thatI've made time for it and I say
(44:27):
no to things that rob me ofthat time.
So, what about you?
Speaker 2 (44:34):
Yeah, well, I think you have to be a guard of your
time.
And again, there's so much metastuff happening in your answers
that sometimes I feel likepeople can listen passively to
what you just shared and notengage.
But there is so much thatLockie just said which I love
(44:56):
around.
You have to guard your time.
But here's the interestingthing If you don't guard your
time, then you can prostituteyourself out and what you really
then say to the rest of theworld is hey guys, I'm available
for everybody and everyone cantake a piece of me own time to
(45:25):
nourish my mental, physical,spiritual, emotional well-being,
gone out the window becauseI've prioritized somebody else.
I've prioritized investing inthem, whatever it might be.
And so people who hit you upfor a free coffee or whatever,
it's really easy just to wastetime.
But often I think a reallypernicious quote is time is
(45:49):
money, and people buy into thisidea.
Time is not money.
Time is infinitely morevaluable than money.
They're printing more moneyevery single day.
You will not get more time.
And so if you change yourdynamic again, coming back to
what we were saying earlier onabout the building, the
(46:11):
self-trust and the self-respect,if you respect your time and
somebody else's, you would neverwant to waste it.
And then what it allows you todo and what I love in my
relationships is, even if Idon't speak to someone for a
little while, as soon as I'mwith them I'm on like that is me
(46:32):
and them.
Phones are off, I get to bepresent.
That is the most importantperson in my world, right there,
and then, in that context, ifI'm on the phone with them, it
also means then it's not ahaphazard check-in call, I'm
calling them on the drivebecause I'm bored between
(46:52):
meeting.
Like to me that's actually lazycommunication, because lucky is
just the afterthought, forexample, versus man.
Let's be really intentional.
I want to ask you about thisthis podcast super intentional,
lockie and I spoke about it.
I'm like great, and I thinkpeople need to have a healthier
(47:18):
respect for their time as well,their time as well, cause I I
didn't used to and I think Iwould be late to things and
meetings and catch ups withfriends.
I'd be habitually late to stuffand I just thought it was
perfectly acceptable and okay,because they were my friends,
that they would be forgivingthat I was 10 minutes late, and
(47:43):
actually it was reallydisrespectful.
Disrespectful because I wasn'tin communication about it.
So, yeah, I just loved what youshared then, um, and in a lot
of the same ways.
Those things are important.
I also love having calls in theafternoon and moving shit to
the afternoon now so that youcan just do your hard stuff in
(48:06):
the morning, where you need moreof the brain capacity, or just
either if it's work or doingthings for yourself.
Speaker 1 (48:15):
Speaking about intention, and we'll tie this
into systems, processes andautomation.
The intention for me in a lotof the work that I've done now
is how can I be more efficient?
I think something to understandfor a lot of people is when
you're learning something new,it will take time and you won't
be very efficient.
(48:35):
So an example of this is Ibelieve you can have everything,
just not at once, but you canbuild to it.
So what I mean by that and theidea I have around this is I'm
in a position where I know howto create money.
I could always create more 100%, so I'm not once again saying
I'm the guru at making bankmoney, but enough Health, always
(48:59):
feeling awesome and in a shapethat I'm comfortable with my
shirt off and relationship.
Feeling awesome and in a shapethat I'm comfortable with my
shirt off and relationship, andI wasn't able to prioritize
those and give time to those allat once in the beginning, when
I, you know, 2014, when I guessI was becoming, you know like.
(49:19):
This is what I need to do withthis area to get better.
It took a lot of time, my coldcalls.
Building a business took a lotof time 12 plus hours a day for
years because I was refining myskill and learning how to become
more efficient.
I then went to health.
I've always been fit andathletic but I was shocking with
recovery.
I was terrible with mynutrition.
So I said to myself let's startlearning about that.
(49:41):
And I've tried vegan, I'vetried vegetarian, I've tried
keto, I've tried.
You know, I've tried it all andI've tested it and figured out
what works well for my body.
That's an investment in timeand learning that stuff.
And now I've got an idea of howto eat well for myself very
easily.
The same with relationship.
You know relationships arecomplex right Communication,
(50:02):
negotiation, problem solving,listening, empathy.
You know all of that.
And that took time and becauseI've yeah, sex, I'm shocking at
that too.
Now those things have taken timeto the point where you now can
do it really efficiently, likeif someone came to me with a
problem around X, y and Z, likehealth, I could design a program
(50:24):
and understand the solution forthat in no time.
Same with relationship, like Ifeel very good at that because I
have learned how to become moreefficient and learn how to cut
the fluff.
And going to what you're doingnow with helping businesses, I'm
not going to say doing now,you've been doing it for ages.
But what you do with helpingpeople become more streamlined,
(50:45):
systemized, automated, is youhelp them cut that fluff so they
then can focus on the mostimportant things that need to
get done in their business tofree up time to invest in other
areas of their life, which to me, moves us towards work-life
harmony, where it's like I don'thave to work 14 hours a day to
make the money that I need tosurvive.
(51:06):
I can actually work four hoursa day, spend some time with my
wife, go hit some golf balls andlife's fucking awesome.
So can you talk me throughwhere your obsession came with
what you do now?
Speaker 2 (51:21):
Yeah, well, I when I first.
So I dropped out of universityand I was doing remote sales and
then I spoke to the developerof this company that I was doing
sales for and he told me aboutsoftware engineering.
So I found a way to learn aboutthat.
(51:42):
I moved to Sydney.
So I found a way to learn aboutthat.
I moved to Sydney, did anintense bootcamp.
I think I shared with you,lockie, that, like the story of,
I pitched the Airbnb right.
So, as a 18 year old, I'mstaying in this penthouse in
Sydney, overlooking SydneyHarbor and paying like 270 bucks
a week, eating cereal, watchingthe cruise ships come in and
(52:04):
out wild, um, and it's you never.
You never fully appreciate whatyou've got till it's gone.
So when you can't do that everymorning, then you realize how
beautiful it was.
Uh and, and that codingbootcamp was like the most
intense thing I've ever done inmy life.
And that coding boot camp waslike the most intense thing I've
(52:26):
ever done in my life, justmentally fatiguing.
Came back, started working fulltime for an agency, a marketing
company, and I always said tomyself, if I were to go and work
for somebody else, I'm going tomaximize all the skills and the
(52:47):
learning and the lessons,because, underneath it all, I've
always wanted to be anentrepreneur, grow my own
business, do my own thing.
So probably a strategic move interms of like working for a
startup and juggling so manyhats.
I worked in San Francisco for abit.
I worked in San Francisco for abit.
We worked with some of thebiggest brands on the planet
(53:07):
doing like billions and billionsof data.
Like dealing with billions andbillions of data.
One year I fucked up themessaging to Coles at Easter
time so I sent the wrong messageout to like 150 Coles users
150,000 users of the Coles app.
That's fun.
(53:29):
And basically, lockie, I justwanted to figure out how could I
do my nine to five job moreefficiently so I could get the
work done faster, which startedmy whole.
Yeah, as you said, obsessionwith like systems and saving
time, and I think a lot of it'sdriven through the lens of life
(53:55):
is short and the older I'vegotten, the more I've
appreciated that sentiment.
You know, I think we hear thatour whole entire life.
That sentiment you know, Ithink we hear that our whole
entire life.
When my grandmother passed away, you know, that week she called
to speak with us and I think atthe time I'm like 12 or 14,
(54:19):
didn't want to talk to mygrandmother, I'd just spoken to
her earlier in the week.
So I said to I distinctlyremember I said to my mom I'm
like I'm watching the Simpsons,I don't want to talk to my
grandmother, I'd just spoken toher earlier in the week.
So I said to I distinctlyremember I said to my mom I'm
like I'm watching the Simpsons,I don't want to talk to grandma
right now.
So my mom talks to grandma andthen she passes a few days later
and again in hindsight, youreflect on some of those moments
(54:42):
and you're like I could havemore present with my grandma.
The simpsons replayed everysingle, every single week.
So, underlying all of that, Ithink ultimately it's about how
do we maximize the joy and thefulfillment that we have whilst
we're here and, you know, justsuck every morsel out of life
(55:10):
because we don't know how longwe're here for.
And you've read the studies asmuch as I have, where, when
people who are 80 years old havebeen interviewed about what
they regret, they regret all themoments that passed them by and
they weren't present with lifebecause they chose something
else instead of being with thepeople they love.
(55:30):
I've never heard a sick oldperson in the hospital bed
asking to kiss their Ferrarigoodbye or their piles of money,
so it's like, okay, how can youenjoy more of life and free
yourself up from doing the stuffthat you don't have to do or
(55:50):
want to do, um, so that yourgenius, your skills, your
giftings can then be expressedin the work that you do?
And how do we figure out a wayto maximize not only fulfillment
but also profit from doing that?
Speaker 1 (56:07):
It's such a good way to think about things.
Previously, when I had anemployee mindset and what I want
to give meaning to that is Iused to think time for money.
So the more hours I worked, themore money I made.
That was my outlook, so itdidn't matter if I was efficient
or not, I didn't care.
I was like, if I can draw thisout another two hours and it's
(56:29):
easy, I'll do that because it'sworth another 40 bucks to me.
Then, when I shifted to, I'mworking for myself.
How can I maximize profit inminimal time while still
delivering an incredible result?
I shifted things and I wouldlove for people to start
adopting that mindset because itdoesn't just need to align with
(56:50):
business, and it doesn't justalign with business or profit or
money.
It aligns with going back towhat we spoke about a moment ago
, where you want to book in thecalendar, like a calendar invite
to catch up with your buddies,because it's intentional, like
what are you hoping to gain fromthis engagement?
Same with a date night, asopposed to just coming home and
sitting on the couch.
(57:11):
It's like this is anintentional date night.
I want to date you again, whichmeans let's make it fucking
exciting and a lot of peoplelack intention in their life
because they just don't have thetime, they don't have processes
or they don't have systems, akameetings or time allocated
(57:31):
during their week to do thethings that are really important
to them, and it's just shiftingyour perspective from you know,
I can draw this out.
That'll always be there for me,grandma will always be there
for me.
My wife will always be therefor me too.
How can I maximize my time withthem right now?
Speaker 2 (57:49):
Yeah, and I think sometimes you go I think just on
that as well wherever life isat for you and you're listening
to this wherever this podcastfinds you.
I think it is worth taking amoment to reflect on what is and
isn't working for you in yourlife, and if something is not
(58:14):
working be that relationships,your health, your business
there's things that just maybeit's kind of working, but not in
all the ways that you envision.
I hope that you've actuallygotten something from this
beautiful man here as well andthat this is a prompt to reach
(58:36):
out to him and have aconversation, because he has.
I said this to you as welllockheed online is like
one-tenth of the, the epic humanthat he is in person.
You know he's the same person.
You get the same heart, but hisbrain and how he thinks about
(58:58):
life in the world and we've hadsome really beautiful
conversations there's somethingthat he can offer and if he
couldn't help you then he'dpoint you in the right direction
.
But I think, getting present towhat you're after in your life
and defining the success and thelessons that you've had and
(59:22):
what you would like life to looklike.
Some people might havediscounted 2024 already, because
we're in the middle of April,or instead you can look at it as
wow, I've got the rest of theyear.
There's so much upside, there'sso much potential still.
That's your job to go andfigure that out and to surround
(59:42):
yourself with people who canhelp you get there.
Speaker 1 (59:46):
Ryan, we could talk for hours and I think we will
definitely be doing a lot moreepisodes about specific things
that pop to mind.
Where can people find you?
Because I do encourage people,especially business owners, to
reach out to you, because I dobelieve that with the right
systems, processes andautomation aka bit of AI yeah,
(01:00:08):
baby, you will get time back andthat time could be invested in
other areas of your life.
That will make it more joyful,will make it more meaningful,
will make it more rich in thetime that you've got here.
So where can people find you?
Speaker 2 (01:00:22):
You can find me on LinkedIn, instagram, my website.
Shoot me.
Can people find you?
You can find me on LinkedIn,instagram, my website.
Shoot me an email if you wouldlike, if you're up for that.
So, ryan at ryandrakecom or atit's ryandrake everywhere.
So Instagram's probably theplace I hang out the most, but
(01:00:43):
that'll be the best way.
Speaker 1 (01:00:45):
Ryan, thank you so much for jumping on.
Thanks for challenging me.
Thanks for it was a funconversation.
I always really honestly enjoyit when it's a bit of a two-way
conversation, which sounds weirdbecause I'm interviewing people
, but I just feel we get tounpack things to a greater depth
and there's more story involved, which I personally love.
I appreciate all the work thatyou're doing and giving me your
(01:01:08):
time and our friendship as well.
Speaker 2 (01:01:10):
Thanks, man.
I really appreciate being here.
It's such an honor.
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:01:16):
And everyone listening.
Check the show notes.
All the links for Ryan will beavailable.
Share this with someone thatyou know will get value, and I
always love it when I see peoplewho share it on social media
and tag me.
And, finally, to help uscontinue getting more awesome
guests like Ryan on the show,leave a rating and review on
YouTube, on Spotify, on Apple,whichever platform you listen to
(01:01:40):
.
It really helps us out.
Thank you, guys, for tuning in.
We'll see you next time.
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