December 31, 2024 • 23 mins
Unlock the secrets of strategic thinking and transform your entrepreneurial journey with our latest episode of the Owner's Odyssey. Drawing inspiration from Keith Cunningham's "The Road Less Stupid," we promise to guide you on fostering clarity and innovation amidst the chaos of business ownership. We'll share personal stories and insights that illuminate the power of asking the right questions to drive both personal and professional growth.
Imagine creating a dedicated space for uninterrupted thinking, where you can reflect and strategize like never before. That's exactly what we explore as we discuss the impact of strategic and emotional thinking on managing life's challenges. Just like athletes who must balance proactive planning with reactive responses, business leaders can benefit from a disciplined approach to decision-making. Through relatable sports analogies, we highlight how prioritizing objectives over personal pride can prevent costly misdirection and maintain focus.
In this episode, we also dive into the art of journaling with intention and how it can enhance your personal development. Discover how altering your approach to self-reflection can unlock deeper understanding and clarity in your decision-making process. As we revisit Cunningham's financial lessons, reminiscent of Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," we emphasize the power of maintaining focus and harnessing the right questions to achieve your desired outcomes. Join us for this compelling discussion filled with gratitude and inspiration.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hello and welcome to the Owner's Odyssey, the podcast
where we delve deep into thetransformative stories of
courageous business owners whohave embarked on an
extraordinary adventure.
I'm Zach Jones and I'm BrookeGattia.
We're here to explore the reallife experiences of
entrepreneurs.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Each episode, we'll embark on a quest to uncover the
trials, triumphs andtransformations of remarkable
individuals who dared to answerthe call of entrepreneurship.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Like all adventurers, our guests have faced their
fair share of challenges,vanquished formidable foes and
braved the unknown.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a
seasoned business owner orsimply an avid listener hungry
for captivating stories.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
The Owner's Odyssey is here to help you level up.
So join us as we embark on thisepic expedition.
This is the Owner's Odyssey.
Let's start our adventure.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
So today I thought we'd do something a little bit
different and, rather thaninterview people, take just a
short little conversationbetween us to talk about a few
things that probably have beeninspirational or help as
business owners.
As business owners, I thinkthat as we're talking to people
(01:29):
and we're hearing their journeyand what things they've been
successful at, what thingsthey've not been successful at,
I think there's also just thosequick little things that I've
learned along the way that havebeen really helpful to me, and a
lot of them come frominspiration from other people,
(01:49):
topics that they talk about.
So I'm a big reader.
I love to.
If you went into my house whenwe remodeled, my other half
loves Legos and I removed allthe Legos from the house because
we didn't have enough space aswe had kids coming in and then
it was time we were stillrunning out of space and my
(02:10):
other half looks at me and says,hey, you know all those books,
we need to put them in a box.
And I'm like no, you can't putmy books in a box.
And she was totally like Nope,you made all my Legos go to the
basement, all your books.
I'm like dang it.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
You're right, you don't get rid of the Legos
before the kids.
Right, right, right I know.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
So I'm a big book person.
It's therapy for me, like notomorrow, but I'm not a huge
business book person.
I think I get through the firstlike three chapters and I'm
like that's just, I'm good, um,but uh, I think I was talking
with Paul when I was firstmeeting with Paul, which we've
(02:49):
known each other for like two,three years and literally I
don't know, we just talk aboutrandom things that have inspired
us and ideas, and move veryslow with all of them, but we
have fun, fun, and Paul hasalways had brilliant ideas and
things and like, hey, you shouldtalk about this person.
So he enlightened me to andthis is what I kind of want to
(03:12):
talk about today for like five,10 minutes.
Our little clip for the day umis uh, what is his name?
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Keith.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Cunningham.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
It's morning.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I'm chit-chatting through.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Zach called it.
Huh, zach called it, you werefried.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Oh yes, I'm totally fried, it's Monday morning and
I'm like here.
But he wrote this book calledthe Road Less Stupid.
I did say that, right, correct,Correct.
I found this book hugelyhelpful and I use it a lot in
conversations with a ton of myclients and just business owner
(03:55):
friends when we're sitting downand chatting.
But he basically says shut upand think, Like slow down, stop
up and think, Slow down, stopand think.
And as a business owner I feellike I'm running a mile a minute
.
I have all of the stupid hats,Sorry they're not stupid.
(04:19):
He would yell at me the HR hat,which I love my people, but gosh
, it's like okay, I now need tomake sure that I'm mentoring and
inspiring.
And oh, by the way, I have toget some work done for my
clients and I got to make surethat they're feeling connected.
And oh, by the way, I have areally not happy client that I
got to deal with.
And oh, we have to do somemarketing.
And yeah, by the way, our TV isnot working in our office space
(04:44):
, so can you get that fixed?
All those things that start topile up on you and I have
children and a spouse and I wantto read my books, so all of
those things.
You just start moving, moving,moving and all of a sudden it's
six months and you, all of asudden, it's six months and the
(05:05):
last time you slowed down anddid any strategy sort of thing
has been a long time.
And Paul's totally sitting hereshaking his head, just for
those who can't see that part ofthings.
But like there's some like thisis this is business, like
ownership, like you're goingcrazy and you have to create
space to just think, and Ireally appreciate it.
(05:29):
He actually gave what he doesbasically every single day, no,
twice a week, I think he said,or something on a pretty regular
basis, but not too crazy.
He has a thinking chair in athinking room.
The thinking chair has nowindow-facing space, there is no
(05:49):
electronics in his thinkingspace and he has a pad of paper
and a pen and he writes on thepaper a question and he sets a
timer for like 20 minutes, 15,20 minutes and he writes his
question and then he puts abullet down and he answers the
(06:10):
question and then he putsanother bullet down and he keeps
going and he always puts abullet after each one of these
like answers that he does.
So he sets his timer and hestarts just answering the thing
and the thought pattern is one,all the shit is gone, you just
push it, pull it out of yourspace Like I'm going to just
think.
And two, by putting thesebullets on, he is leaving space
(06:36):
for there's always anotherthought, like you're not done.
Like you done, you keep kind ofjust dump and when you're done,
your timer goes off.
You now spend another five, tenminutes reading over your stuff
and circling kind of what piecesyou need to kind of build off
of, and I don't know.
(06:57):
I loved that concept.
And then he would go throughhere are all these business
questions and he'd have chaptersof little stories and be like
how do you deal with inspiringpeople?
What's your roadblock for yourmarketing?
Various different questionsthat he has been challenged over
(07:20):
his life.
But he's asking business ownersand I don't think there's a one
set question that needs to beasked for everybody.
But I think the point is, haveyou asked yourself questions?
Have you shut up?
Have you stopped doing stupidthings like just running and
(07:42):
just moving, and have youdigested, kind of, what are your
roadblocks and things that aregoing on?
And I just I'm not a big personwho says you go to those
courses that say, hey, this willfix everything for you.
There's no such thing.
There is no.
We're all so different.
We all come at it with suchdifferent trauma, such different
(08:04):
um uh advantages, uh, all ofthe stuff that builds into come
from different cultures,whatever those things are, um,
that impact how you make yourdecisions and there isn't just a
one stop all, but reallyteaching you how to think
through your problems and slowdown, and you probably know a
(08:26):
good amount of them already andI just it was it's basic Shut up
, think, write it down.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
What's his tagline at the end of every?
Speaker 2 (08:35):
chapter.
You'll thank me for this.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Stop and think you'll thank me for this later.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Yeah, stop and think you'll thank me for this.
Stop and think you'll thank mefor this later.
Yeah, stop and think you'llthank me for this later.
Every single one of hisquestions.
And yeah, cause you will likeyou'll it.
Um, I don't know.
It was one of my favorite booksI highly recommend.
Not favorite it wasinstrumental business book that
I didn't just get lost in thefirst.
(09:03):
You know two chapters.
Now, to be frank, I haven'tread the whole dang thing all
the way through because it's alot of questions, but I read a
good amount of it and it'schapters I could pick up at any
point in time and jump aroundand do different things, and so
it's I if I'm recommending alike helpful for you to get
through your journey.
(09:23):
That's just not a one-stop shopthing.
It is a really brilliantthought pattern and people talk
about it all the time.
You need a journal, butsometimes I'll talk to people.
I just journal.
I just sit there and say thesame thing I'm moaning and
groaning about.
I totally stopped myself fromsaying the B word because I'm
(09:44):
not sure if I'm supposed tochange.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
It does change the streaming category, it does.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
So I thought I would like I do have to check a little
box.
Yes, I won't, I won't do that.
But yeah, you just sit there andyou're like just vomiting your
junk and you're just repeatingyourself over and over again,
and so sometimes journalingperpetuates some thoughts.
(10:10):
But I think, if you can figureout how to change the way you
reflect and journal and putspace to and you know people
talk about vision boards andputting out your goals and all
of those things which are alsovery, very helpful I think that
journaling and learning how tothink through, I have a problem
(10:32):
or I don't.
Do I have a problem?
Sometimes you simply have toask yourself do I have a problem
?
Yes, I mean, and that's a yesor no, but like what would be,
like things that are going onthat you kind of have to talk
through.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
I don't know, that's my.
I think his power from that isuh, the power is in the question
, the quality of the question,not in the quality of the answer
.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
So really think about what it is you're trying to
solve and you know, asking theright question gets you better
direction than just answering.
You know what's my vision.
That's easy to just jump intoand get a direction, but you're
going in the right direction.
That gives you the best benefit.
What you didn't mention aboutKeith Cunningham is he's the
(11:16):
subject of a another famous book.
What book is that?
Rich Dad, poor Dad, he's theRich Dad, poor Dad, he's the
rich dad, poor dad.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Really.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Robert Kiyosaki.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
yeah, that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Yeah, he made a ton of money in real estate in the
early, well late, 90s I'm goingto say 80s, 90s, 2000s and then
lost his arm leg and everythingelse in 2008.
He was overleveraged.
Everyone thought real estatewas just going to make money,
his arm leg and everything else.
Um 2008 he was over leveraged.
Everyone thought, you know,real estate was just going to
make money and he was in thehole for a lot of money.
I think.
(11:48):
Uh, I think it was a hundredmillion dollars or something,
just crazy and uh.
So that's where he then gottogether with a lot of his
friends and said, okay, I'mwriting this book.
What?
What can we do?
And my sort of thoughts on thisbook is it's the modern-day
version of I Think and Grow Richby Napoleon Hill.
(12:11):
You know, he was, I think, dale, was it?
Carnegie asked him to writethis book, so he went to Ford,
he went to 100 different peopleand I think you know, 100 years
later, nearly, or 80, 90 yearslater, cunningham had been
through it.
And when that was done, I didsome made some fundamental
(12:32):
errors that if you looked at myportfolio, it was all in real
estate.
I was highly leveraged, makingtons of money and then bang, you
lose everything because of youknow this subprime mortgage, you
know banks, you know goingbankrupt.
Whatever happened in 2008layman's, I think, was the first
one that happened late 2007 butuh, yeah, he lost an arm and a
(12:55):
leg, went bankrupt and uh, andthen regrouped and recovered and
I think he says at thebeginning of like that that's I
did not realize he was the sameas see you come up.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
You know all of these fun stories, um.
But yeah, he did talk at thebeginning of how he he just lost
it all and he definitely had toslow down and go.
What the heck happened, um?
And you hear stories like thatof people all the time where
they just tank like they justburned something and they sit
(13:27):
back and they learn from it andthey grow and it was hard and it
was painful, but taking thetime to reflect and learn about
what it is.
And there's small things.
I have small things all daylike okay, that didn't go very
well.
What do I need to learn andadjust from?
And sometimes it's just me.
I walked into the office in agrouchy mood.
Maybe I could learn how to likenot bring my shit.
(13:50):
We can edit that bit out or not?
Anyhow.
(14:10):
So I think our kind of quickthing for today's little podcast
is if you haven't picked upKeith Cunningham, if you haven't
picked up Rich Dad, poor Dad,that's a cool book too.
It's very interesting thoughtpatterns as you're raising your
children too, it's true, you cantell more if you want to.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
It's interesting, I feel like.
I don't know if I haven't readit, so I don't know if he
acknowledges this, but it seemslike there's a benefit, an
inherent benefit, to taking timefor strategic things, for
strategic thinking, emotionalthinking, kind of like planning
thinking, because these are thethings that you can't shut off
(14:52):
in your brain.
So it's not really a questionof like do I want to do this or
do I not want to do this.
It's like do I want to set timeaside for this and kind of then
, like you almost free up therest of your time to just run
the route and shut your brainoff and stop thinking about it
when you know you've got thethinking chair there or whatever
(15:15):
your dedicated space is.
When you don't, you're kind ofalways spot-checking yourself
and also, in a kind of verypseudoscientific, probably not
actually helping you.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Causing anxiety, not a great space for things Right
right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Yeah, running a business, I think, is a bit like
running.
I used to run programs for alarge aerospace engine company
and if you don't plan, if youdon't get the right direction,
you'll spend a lot of money andI've seen it absolutely going
(15:54):
the wrong direction.
So, similarly with a business,you've got all this option all
this time, you've got 24 hoursin a day, and if you don't set
the direction for you and foryour business, then you may be
on a path to failure.
But think of it then, whenyou're leveraging people that
(16:14):
work for you, if you set themoff in the wrong direction and
don't or don't have the checksand balances in place to say,
okay, give me a plan, tell mewhere you're going, and just let
them run loose, they may bespending, you know, weeks I've
done it spend weeks of goingdown a path that will not
fulfill the initial requirementof what you're trying to do.
(16:37):
So setting back and thinkingand understanding and planning,
putting your goals in place, isfundamental to business, and the
more I delve into differentbusinesses, the more I realize
that they don't do that.
And this is you know goals andobjectives and setting personal
(16:57):
goals.
People just don't know how todo it.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
I think we underestimate how reactive we
are as humans as well.
The work that is drawing yourattention is almost never what
you should actually be workingon in that moment.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
But then if you sometimes don't respond to the
things you need to react to, itcan blow up into something more.
So, prioritizing reactions,it's kind of like my new
software we have.
There's a triage space.
You don't ignore it but youkeep the priority things at
priority and you appropriatelyschedule the rest of it.
(17:37):
But you have to be in the right.
You have to be very clear inthinking and planning and to
know what is in the rightcategories of stuff.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
And also be able to put processes in place that
afford you that space, which istough too, it's tough when you
find you're like oh this processdoesn't give me time to
prioritize appropriately.
And then, yeah, you've got abigger question.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
And then back to your point about coming into the
office and not being in a goodspace when you I see this with
sports you know you see someonewho's angry.
They're either going to bebrilliant at what they do or
they're just going to tank.
And if you can get only I think, 10 or 15% will thrive being
(18:28):
angry and being getting betterat what they do and doing
phenomenal things.
Most people will tank becausethey'll, you know, like if I'm
playing against you and all of asudden, you know you upset me,
I want to be considering, youknow, harming you as opposed to
playing my game and that's whathappens I see it in.
The best one I see it in isgolf.
(18:49):
You get under someone's skin.
They're not going to be, excuseme, they're not going to be
hopefully hitting you over thehead with a golf club, but you
can psychologically overpowerthem by just simple, as the
British call it, gamesmanship.
Or in cricket, it's sledging.
(19:12):
It's a word that is used.
I taught someone that recentlyand he went that's brilliant.
And he looked up on me.
He went oh, a, it's a word thatis used.
I taught someone that recentlyand he went that's brilliant.
And he looked up on me he wentoh, it really is a word.
Yeah, I just told you I didn'tmake it up but it's this, it's
this.
Uh, you know you're in cricketand us just beat pakistan,
actually in new york.
Uh, for the first time ever,they they drew, but they won
(19:33):
because of back counting orwhatever.
Who?
Who knew that?
You know, cricket, probably thebiggest game in the world,
followed by more people, becauseyou know, a billion people in
China, in India watch it, inPakistan another half billion
people but the.
So there's 11 people on the onthe pitch that are fielding and
then it's like baseball, butyou've got two people in the
(19:57):
middle and the fielders, andthen the batsmen are talking to
each other and trying to puteach other off and as the bowl
is coming down, then the batsmanon one end is probably giving
him something to think about.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
It's like the catcher in baseball, like talking smack
to someone.
Absolutely, it's all mentalgame.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Yeah, and sledging is a is a classic one.
I've played, done it a littlebit.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
Oh, I'm sure you've done it a lot.
That's one of those.
I feel like my go-to phrase inthat sort of context is like or
maybe more an argument,argumentative kind of space
where you're at odds withsomebody.
There's a lot of times whereyour options are like you can be
(20:43):
right or you can get what youwant, and there's not
necessarily a right choice there.
But I think you have to leaninto one space or the other
because typically, when you arejust you know, asserting
confrontation, or you know yourinherent correctness or whatever
(21:03):
it is then like you'rediametrically opposed to that
other person and nothing elsecan get done.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
When you're coming in , when you're angry, you're like
I just want to be right and notrealizing you just totally
butchered the goals you weregoing after for your pride and
your ego, and that's a hugequestion that I often have to
ask myself is how much is my egogetting in the way of, like,
whatever needs to happen here,and it's a huge piece of
(21:33):
business, piece of it.
So, yeah, so our recommendationat the end of this podcast is
and we get no kickback, so youknow, go buy a book.
The Road Less Stupid, take sometime, think, and I think it'll
be very powerful to kind of getthrough and find the right
(21:56):
questions.
I think it'll be very powerfulto kind of get through and find
the right questions.
I think that's half of it.
Sometimes I sit down and justwrite out questions.
What are the questions I shouldask myself for 20 minutes and
then have other thinkingsessions to think through them.
And actually it's been a littlebit since I've done it myself
so I maybe should take my ownadvice.
But anyhow, Absolutely.
Well, thanks for joining us.
(22:17):
Thank you Bye.
Hello and welcome to the Owner's Odyssey, the podcast
where we delve deep into thetransformative stories of
courageous business owners whohave embarked on an
extraordinary adventure.
I'm Zach Jones and I'm BrookeGattia.
We're here to explore the reallife experiences of
entrepreneurs.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Each episode, we'll embark on a quest to uncover the
trials, triumphs andtransformations of remarkable
individuals who dared to answerthe call of entrepreneurship.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Like all adventurers, our guests have faced their
fair share of challenges,vanquished formidable foes and
braved the unknown.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a
seasoned business owner orsimply an avid listener hungry
for captivating stories.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
The Owner's Odyssey is here to help you level up.
So join us as we embark on thisepic expedition.
This is the Owner's Odyssey.
Let's start our adventure.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
So today I thought we'd do something a little bit
different and, rather thaninterview people, take just a
short little conversationbetween us to talk about a few
things that probably have beeninspirational or help as
business owners.
As business owners, I thinkthat as we're talking to people
(01:29):
and we're hearing their journeyand what things they've been
successful at, what thingsthey've not been successful at,
I think there's also just thosequick little things that I've
learned along the way that havebeen really helpful to me, and a
lot of them come frominspiration from other people,
(01:49):
topics that they talk about.
So I'm a big reader.
I love to.
If you went into my house whenwe remodeled, my other half
loves Legos and I removed allthe Legos from the house because
we didn't have enough space aswe had kids coming in and then
it was time we were stillrunning out of space and my
(02:10):
other half looks at me and says,hey, you know all those books,
we need to put them in a box.
And I'm like no, you can't putmy books in a box.
And she was totally like Nope,you made all my Legos go to the
basement, all your books.
I'm like dang it.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
You're right, you don't get rid of the Legos
before the kids.
Right, right, right I know.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
So I'm a big book person.
It's therapy for me, like notomorrow, but I'm not a huge
business book person.
I think I get through the firstlike three chapters and I'm
like that's just, I'm good, um,but uh, I think I was talking
with Paul when I was firstmeeting with Paul, which we've
(02:49):
known each other for like two,three years and literally I
don't know, we just talk aboutrandom things that have inspired
us and ideas, and move veryslow with all of them, but we
have fun, fun, and Paul hasalways had brilliant ideas and
things and like, hey, you shouldtalk about this person.
So he enlightened me to andthis is what I kind of want to
(03:12):
talk about today for like five,10 minutes.
Our little clip for the day umis uh, what is his name?
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Keith.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Cunningham.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
It's morning.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I'm chit-chatting through.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Zach called it.
Huh, zach called it, you werefried.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Oh yes, I'm totally fried, it's Monday morning and
I'm like here.
But he wrote this book calledthe Road Less Stupid.
I did say that, right, correct,Correct.
I found this book hugelyhelpful and I use it a lot in
conversations with a ton of myclients and just business owner
(03:55):
friends when we're sitting downand chatting.
But he basically says shut upand think, Like slow down, stop
up and think, Slow down, stopand think.
And as a business owner I feellike I'm running a mile a minute
.
I have all of the stupid hats,Sorry they're not stupid.
(04:19):
He would yell at me the HR hat,which I love my people, but gosh
, it's like okay, I now need tomake sure that I'm mentoring and
inspiring.
And oh, by the way, I have toget some work done for my
clients and I got to make surethat they're feeling connected.
And oh, by the way, I have areally not happy client that I
got to deal with.
And oh, we have to do somemarketing.
And yeah, by the way, our TV isnot working in our office space
(04:44):
, so can you get that fixed?
All those things that start topile up on you and I have
children and a spouse and I wantto read my books, so all of
those things.
You just start moving, moving,moving and all of a sudden it's
six months and you, all of asudden, it's six months and the
(05:05):
last time you slowed down anddid any strategy sort of thing
has been a long time.
And Paul's totally sitting hereshaking his head, just for
those who can't see that part ofthings.
But like there's some like thisis this is business, like
ownership, like you're goingcrazy and you have to create
space to just think, and Ireally appreciate it.
(05:29):
He actually gave what he doesbasically every single day, no,
twice a week, I think he said,or something on a pretty regular
basis, but not too crazy.
He has a thinking chair in athinking room.
The thinking chair has nowindow-facing space, there is no
(05:49):
electronics in his thinkingspace and he has a pad of paper
and a pen and he writes on thepaper a question and he sets a
timer for like 20 minutes, 15,20 minutes and he writes his
question and then he puts abullet down and he answers the
(06:10):
question and then he putsanother bullet down and he keeps
going and he always puts abullet after each one of these
like answers that he does.
So he sets his timer and hestarts just answering the thing
and the thought pattern is one,all the shit is gone, you just
push it, pull it out of yourspace Like I'm going to just
think.
And two, by putting thesebullets on, he is leaving space
(06:36):
for there's always anotherthought, like you're not done.
Like you done, you keep kind ofjust dump and when you're done,
your timer goes off.
You now spend another five, tenminutes reading over your stuff
and circling kind of what piecesyou need to kind of build off
of, and I don't know.
(06:57):
I loved that concept.
And then he would go throughhere are all these business
questions and he'd have chaptersof little stories and be like
how do you deal with inspiringpeople?
What's your roadblock for yourmarketing?
Various different questionsthat he has been challenged over
(07:20):
his life.
But he's asking business ownersand I don't think there's a one
set question that needs to beasked for everybody.
But I think the point is, haveyou asked yourself questions?
Have you shut up?
Have you stopped doing stupidthings like just running and
(07:42):
just moving, and have youdigested, kind of, what are your
roadblocks and things that aregoing on?
And I just I'm not a big personwho says you go to those
courses that say, hey, this willfix everything for you.
There's no such thing.
There is no.
We're all so different.
We all come at it with suchdifferent trauma, such different
(08:04):
um uh advantages, uh, all ofthe stuff that builds into come
from different cultures,whatever those things are, um,
that impact how you make yourdecisions and there isn't just a
one stop all, but reallyteaching you how to think
through your problems and slowdown, and you probably know a
(08:26):
good amount of them already andI just it was it's basic Shut up
, think, write it down.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
What's his tagline at the end of every?
Speaker 2 (08:35):
chapter.
You'll thank me for this.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Stop and think you'll thank me for this later.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Yeah, stop and think you'll thank me for this.
Stop and think you'll thank mefor this later.
Yeah, stop and think you'llthank me for this later.
Every single one of hisquestions.
And yeah, cause you will likeyou'll it.
Um, I don't know.
It was one of my favorite booksI highly recommend.
Not favorite it wasinstrumental business book that
I didn't just get lost in thefirst.
(09:03):
You know two chapters.
Now, to be frank, I haven'tread the whole dang thing all
the way through because it's alot of questions, but I read a
good amount of it and it'schapters I could pick up at any
point in time and jump aroundand do different things, and so
it's I if I'm recommending alike helpful for you to get
through your journey.
(09:23):
That's just not a one-stop shopthing.
It is a really brilliantthought pattern and people talk
about it all the time.
You need a journal, butsometimes I'll talk to people.
I just journal.
I just sit there and say thesame thing I'm moaning and
groaning about.
I totally stopped myself fromsaying the B word because I'm
(09:44):
not sure if I'm supposed tochange.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
It does change the streaming category, it does.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
So I thought I would like I do have to check a little
box.
Yes, I won't, I won't do that.
But yeah, you just sit there andyou're like just vomiting your
junk and you're just repeatingyourself over and over again,
and so sometimes journalingperpetuates some thoughts.
(10:10):
But I think, if you can figureout how to change the way you
reflect and journal and putspace to and you know people
talk about vision boards andputting out your goals and all
of those things which are alsovery, very helpful I think that
journaling and learning how tothink through, I have a problem
(10:32):
or I don't.
Do I have a problem?
Sometimes you simply have toask yourself do I have a problem
?
Yes, I mean, and that's a yesor no, but like what would be,
like things that are going onthat you kind of have to talk
through.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
I don't know, that's my.
I think his power from that isuh, the power is in the question
, the quality of the question,not in the quality of the answer
.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
So really think about what it is you're trying to
solve and you know, asking theright question gets you better
direction than just answering.
You know what's my vision.
That's easy to just jump intoand get a direction, but you're
going in the right direction.
That gives you the best benefit.
What you didn't mention aboutKeith Cunningham is he's the
(11:16):
subject of a another famous book.
What book is that?
Rich Dad, poor Dad, he's theRich Dad, poor Dad, he's the
rich dad, poor dad.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Really.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Robert Kiyosaki.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
yeah, that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Yeah, he made a ton of money in real estate in the
early, well late, 90s I'm goingto say 80s, 90s, 2000s and then
lost his arm leg and everythingelse in 2008.
He was overleveraged.
Everyone thought real estatewas just going to make money,
his arm leg and everything else.
Um 2008 he was over leveraged.
Everyone thought, you know,real estate was just going to
make money and he was in thehole for a lot of money.
I think.
(11:48):
Uh, I think it was a hundredmillion dollars or something,
just crazy and uh.
So that's where he then gottogether with a lot of his
friends and said, okay, I'mwriting this book.
What?
What can we do?
And my sort of thoughts on thisbook is it's the modern-day
version of I Think and Grow Richby Napoleon Hill.
(12:11):
You know, he was, I think, dale, was it?
Carnegie asked him to writethis book, so he went to Ford,
he went to 100 different peopleand I think you know, 100 years
later, nearly, or 80, 90 yearslater, cunningham had been
through it.
And when that was done, I didsome made some fundamental
(12:32):
errors that if you looked at myportfolio, it was all in real
estate.
I was highly leveraged, makingtons of money and then bang, you
lose everything because of youknow this subprime mortgage, you
know banks, you know goingbankrupt.
Whatever happened in 2008layman's, I think, was the first
one that happened late 2007 butuh, yeah, he lost an arm and a
(12:55):
leg, went bankrupt and uh, andthen regrouped and recovered and
I think he says at thebeginning of like that that's I
did not realize he was the sameas see you come up.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
You know all of these fun stories, um.
But yeah, he did talk at thebeginning of how he he just lost
it all and he definitely had toslow down and go.
What the heck happened, um?
And you hear stories like thatof people all the time where
they just tank like they justburned something and they sit
(13:27):
back and they learn from it andthey grow and it was hard and it
was painful, but taking thetime to reflect and learn about
what it is.
And there's small things.
I have small things all daylike okay, that didn't go very
well.
What do I need to learn andadjust from?
And sometimes it's just me.
I walked into the office in agrouchy mood.
Maybe I could learn how to likenot bring my shit.
(13:50):
We can edit that bit out or not?
Anyhow.
(14:10):
So I think our kind of quickthing for today's little podcast
is if you haven't picked upKeith Cunningham, if you haven't
picked up Rich Dad, poor Dad,that's a cool book too.
It's very interesting thoughtpatterns as you're raising your
children too, it's true, you cantell more if you want to.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
It's interesting, I feel like.
I don't know if I haven't readit, so I don't know if he
acknowledges this, but it seemslike there's a benefit, an
inherent benefit, to taking timefor strategic things, for
strategic thinking, emotionalthinking, kind of like planning
thinking, because these are thethings that you can't shut off
(14:52):
in your brain.
So it's not really a questionof like do I want to do this or
do I not want to do this.
It's like do I want to set timeaside for this and kind of then
, like you almost free up therest of your time to just run
the route and shut your brainoff and stop thinking about it
when you know you've got thethinking chair there or whatever
(15:15):
your dedicated space is.
When you don't, you're kind ofalways spot-checking yourself
and also, in a kind of verypseudoscientific, probably not
actually helping you.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Causing anxiety, not a great space for things Right
right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Yeah, running a business, I think, is a bit like
running.
I used to run programs for alarge aerospace engine company
and if you don't plan, if youdon't get the right direction,
you'll spend a lot of money andI've seen it absolutely going
(15:54):
the wrong direction.
So, similarly with a business,you've got all this option all
this time, you've got 24 hoursin a day, and if you don't set
the direction for you and foryour business, then you may be
on a path to failure.
But think of it then, whenyou're leveraging people that
(16:14):
work for you, if you set themoff in the wrong direction and
don't or don't have the checksand balances in place to say,
okay, give me a plan, tell mewhere you're going, and just let
them run loose, they may bespending, you know, weeks I've
done it spend weeks of goingdown a path that will not
fulfill the initial requirementof what you're trying to do.
(16:37):
So setting back and thinkingand understanding and planning,
putting your goals in place, isfundamental to business, and the
more I delve into differentbusinesses, the more I realize
that they don't do that.
And this is you know goals andobjectives and setting personal
(16:57):
goals.
People just don't know how todo it.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
I think we underestimate how reactive we
are as humans as well.
The work that is drawing yourattention is almost never what
you should actually be workingon in that moment.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
But then if you sometimes don't respond to the
things you need to react to, itcan blow up into something more.
So, prioritizing reactions,it's kind of like my new
software we have.
There's a triage space.
You don't ignore it but youkeep the priority things at
priority and you appropriatelyschedule the rest of it.
(17:37):
But you have to be in the right.
You have to be very clear inthinking and planning and to
know what is in the rightcategories of stuff.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
And also be able to put processes in place that
afford you that space, which istough too, it's tough when you
find you're like oh this processdoesn't give me time to
prioritize appropriately.
And then, yeah, you've got abigger question.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
And then back to your point about coming into the
office and not being in a goodspace when you I see this with
sports you know you see someonewho's angry.
They're either going to bebrilliant at what they do or
they're just going to tank.
And if you can get only I think, 10 or 15% will thrive being
(18:28):
angry and being getting betterat what they do and doing
phenomenal things.
Most people will tank becausethey'll, you know, like if I'm
playing against you and all of asudden, you know you upset me,
I want to be considering, youknow, harming you as opposed to
playing my game and that's whathappens I see it in.
The best one I see it in isgolf.
(18:49):
You get under someone's skin.
They're not going to be, excuseme, they're not going to be
hopefully hitting you over thehead with a golf club, but you
can psychologically overpowerthem by just simple, as the
British call it, gamesmanship.
Or in cricket, it's sledging.
(19:12):
It's a word that is used.
I taught someone that recentlyand he went that's brilliant.
And he looked up on me.
He went oh, a, it's a word thatis used.
I taught someone that recentlyand he went that's brilliant.
And he looked up on me he wentoh, it really is a word.
Yeah, I just told you I didn'tmake it up but it's this, it's
this.
Uh, you know you're in cricketand us just beat pakistan,
actually in new york.
Uh, for the first time ever,they they drew, but they won
(19:33):
because of back counting orwhatever.
Who?
Who knew that?
You know, cricket, probably thebiggest game in the world,
followed by more people, becauseyou know, a billion people in
China, in India watch it, inPakistan another half billion
people but the.
So there's 11 people on the onthe pitch that are fielding and
then it's like baseball, butyou've got two people in the
(19:57):
middle and the fielders, andthen the batsmen are talking to
each other and trying to puteach other off and as the bowl
is coming down, then the batsmanon one end is probably giving
him something to think about.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
It's like the catcher in baseball, like talking smack
to someone.
Absolutely, it's all mentalgame.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Yeah, and sledging is a is a classic one.
I've played, done it a littlebit.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
Oh, I'm sure you've done it a lot.
That's one of those.
I feel like my go-to phrase inthat sort of context is like or
maybe more an argument,argumentative kind of space
where you're at odds withsomebody.
There's a lot of times whereyour options are like you can be
(20:43):
right or you can get what youwant, and there's not
necessarily a right choice there.
But I think you have to leaninto one space or the other
because typically, when you arejust you know, asserting
confrontation, or you know yourinherent correctness or whatever
(21:03):
it is then like you'rediametrically opposed to that
other person and nothing elsecan get done.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
When you're coming in , when you're angry, you're like
I just want to be right and notrealizing you just totally
butchered the goals you weregoing after for your pride and
your ego, and that's a hugequestion that I often have to
ask myself is how much is my egogetting in the way of, like,
whatever needs to happen here,and it's a huge piece of
(21:33):
business, piece of it.
So, yeah, so our recommendationat the end of this podcast is
and we get no kickback, so youknow, go buy a book.
The Road Less Stupid, take sometime, think, and I think it'll
be very powerful to kind of getthrough and find the right
(21:56):
questions.
I think it'll be very powerfulto kind of get through and find
the right questions.
I think that's half of it.
Sometimes I sit down and justwrite out questions.
What are the questions I shouldask myself for 20 minutes and
then have other thinkingsessions to think through them.
And actually it's been a littlebit since I've done it myself
so I maybe should take my ownadvice.
But anyhow, Absolutely.
Well, thanks for joining us.
(22:17):
Thank you Bye.
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