0 Tolerance entrepreneurialism and my definition of help...and why focus is a lie. Ep 76

In a discourse on productivity and management, the host unpacks the concept of the 'zero tolerance entrepreneur,' redefines 'help' as the act of giving attention back, and debunks the myth of focus, advocating for the elimination of distractions rather than sheer concentration. He emphasizes the importance of reducing noise and distractions in one's environment, which can be as simple as streamlining wardrobe choices or as complex as managing communication with employees and family. By advocating for a minimalist approach to both professional and personal life, he suggests that attention is a finite resource that can be optimized by removing unnecessary tasks and interactions, leading to a more potent and effective entrepreneurial existence. The host concludes by encouraging entrepreneurs to establish clear communication expectations and to become 'boring but rich' by focusing on fewer, more impactful activities.

• Speaker A introduces the three topics they will cover: the concept of the zero tolerance entrepreneur, their definition of help, and why focus is a lie.
• The speaker expresses a desire for the audience to share the content with managers or employees to foster understanding.
• The podcast is intended as a sequel to a previous video about attention as the new entrepreneurial gold.

Everyone. Happy Tuesday. Hope you guys having an awesome week so far. Kicked it off strong with a nice Monday. I have a short video that I wanted to make for you today or podcast, depending on how you are consuming this content.

The quote sets the tone for the podcast, indicating that Speaker A has planned content for the audience and acknowledges the different ways the audience may engage with the material.

So there are three topics that I jotted down in my notes that I wanted to cover today. One is the concept of the zero tolerance entrepreneur. The second topic is my definition of help. And the third is why focus is a lie.

Speaker A outlines the three main topics they will discuss, providing a roadmap for the content of the podcast.

And so the first one, I'll do this in reverse, like middle order. So it's two and then the third thing and then the first thing.

The speaker indicates they will present the topics in a non-sequential order, starting with the second topic first.

• Help is defined by Speaker A as giving someone attention back, making them more potent, able, and powerful.
• Entrepreneurs often find that others think they are helping but are instead draining the entrepreneur's attention.
• Help involves restoring attention taken by insecurities or lack of confidence, as exemplified by gym owners aiding clients through fitness.
• Speaker A suggests that help should result in a person being more capable in various aspects of life.

But my definition of help, one of the hardest things for people to understand who aren't entrepreneurs is that most of the time, they're not helping you. They're usually hurting you.

Speaker A challenges the conventional understanding of help, particularly in the context of entrepreneurship, suggesting that what is often perceived as help can actually be detrimental.

And what I mean by that is that the definition of help, as I understand it, you can google it or whatever, but as I understand help, help is giving someone attention back.

The speaker provides their personal definition of help, focusing on the concept of restoring someone's attention as the primary mechanism of assistance.

So someone becomes more potent, more able, more powerful as a human being because they have more marbles in their marble bowl.

Speaker A uses the metaphor of "marbles in a marble bowl" to illustrate the idea that help should increase a person's capacity to act and be effective in their endeavors.

Now, for us, as gym owners, we help people by giving them the attention that was taken by their insecurities or their lack of confidence or their lack of energy.

The speaker gives a specific example of how gym owners provide help by addressing their clients' insecurities and energy deficits through fitness, thereby returning their attention.

And so if you can put marbles, if you can collect marbles for someone and put them back into that bowl, they are now more able.

This quote reinforces the metaphor of collecting and returning attention to someone, likening it to adding marbles to a bowl to enhance their abilities.

• Inverted help occurs when individuals believe they are assisting but are in fact causing more harm than good.
• Employees who are emotionally reactive can drain an entrepreneur's attention, increasing the "noise level" in their environment.
• Executive assistants or admins who require constant decision-making assistance can be a source of distraction rather than support.
• The overall noise level in an entrepreneur's world is indicative of whether they are receiving help or hindrance.

And where this ties into the people who play in your sphere is that a lot of people have what we would call inverted help, which is they think they are helping, but they're actually hurting you by taking their drains.

Speaker A introduces the concept of "inverted help," where actions intended to assist actually result in attention being drained from the entrepreneur.

An example of that would be someone who's an employee who constantly comes in and blows stuff up.

The speaker illustrates inverted help with the example of an emotionally volatile employee who disrupts the work environment, thereby consuming the entrepreneur's attention.

And what I mean by that is they just take a whole bunch of attention from you because they have things going on in their life that they have not handled yet.

This quote explains how an individual's personal issues, when brought into the workplace, can become a distraction and reduce the entrepreneur's capacity to focus.

Another example of that would be like if you have an executive assistant or an admin who continually pings you all day long to make decisions for them, are they helping you or are they hurting you?

Speaker A provides another example of inverted help, highlighting how constant interruptions for decision-making can impede an entrepreneur's productivity.

Really, it's just the general noise level you have in your world. If things get quiet, you can think more clearly.

The speaker suggests that the level of distraction or "noise" in one's environment is a measure of whether help is genuine, with a quieter environment being conducive to clearer thinking.

• Circumstances play a role in allowing individuals to exhibit their desired characteristics.
• Stress and limited attention can lead to increased reactivity and emotional responses.
• External pressures and disruptions can lead to a loss of focus and task deviation.

"Your circumstances allow you to exhibit the characteristics of yourself that you always want to have out there. When you're stressed, when you're spread thin, you don't have a lot of attention, you don't have a lot of bandwidth. You become more reactive and then you become more emotional."

This quote emphasizes that the environment and situations one faces can either enable or hinder the expression of their ideal self, particularly under stress.

• Focus is misunderstood as a concept; it's not about concentrating harder but about removing distractions.
• Focus is achieved by limiting the number of tasks and potential distractions in one's environment.
• The speaker introduces the concept of "boring but rich," implying stability and lack of chaos are financially beneficial.

"Focus is a lie as a concept because I don't think that people apply it the way it's intended to be applied. You don't focus by thinking about something harder... The only way you focus is by removing other things."

This quote challenges the common understanding of focus, suggesting that true focus comes from eliminating distractions rather than attempting to overpower them with effort.

• Personal communication preferences can significantly impact one's stress levels and efficiency.
• The speaker dislikes voice messages due to their inefficiency and the tendency for people to ramble.
• Text messages are preferred for their brevity and the ability to control when to engage with them.

"I really don't like getting voice messages. It bothers me because I hate having to listen to someone for 30 seconds when I could have read that in about 3 seconds."

The speaker is expressing a personal preference for text over voice communication, highlighting the importance of efficiency in message delivery.

• The speaker values a quiet environment to avoid stress and maintain focus.
• Strategies such as using carpeting to reduce echo and wearing noise-canceling headphones are employed to create a silent workspace.

"I like keeping this area quiet. It's carpeted for a reason. I don't like the echo. I like it quiet."

This quote reflects the speaker's efforts to control their auditory environment to minimize distractions and maintain mental clarity.

• It's important to communicate annoyances and preferences to others to improve or end inefficient communication cycles.
• Addressing small irritations can prevent them from becoming larger issues that detract from focus and productivity.

"But if you have these little pings, these little twangs of like, man, it kind of annoys me. Communicate it and either fix that communication cycle or end it."

The speaker suggests that addressing minor annoyances through communication can lead to a more efficient and less stressful environment.

• Organizing one's space, such as labeling and hanging clothes, can reduce time spent searching and increase efficiency.
• The speaker acknowledges that while they are not inherently neat, organization systems have been implemented to address specific annoyances.
• Cleaning and organizing spaces like garages can provide psychological relief by reducing the mental load of unfinished tasks.

"I have everything labeled. So it's like daily t-shirts, workout t-shirts, workout shorts. And I have them on hangers now instead of in drawers because... Drawers, because then I have to look for stuff."

This quote illustrates the speaker's method of organizing personal items to minimize time wasted and reduce frustration, contributing to a more focused mindset.

• Focus is not about exerting more effort but about managing distractions.
• Addressing small distractions can significantly increase one's ability to handle larger challenges.
• Solving minor issues can provide clarity and enhance problem-solving capabilities for larger problems.
• The speaker emphasizes the importance of focus for personal improvement and success.

"So focus is alive, because it's not about focusing harder or ignoring things. It's about handling those things that are taking from you, no matter how small they are, because each one of those things can get added back to the bowl and make you better, right?"

This quote explains that focus is dynamic and involves dealing with distractions rather than just trying to ignore them. By addressing these distractions, one can improve their overall capacity for focus.

"How many times have you fixed something, and then the next day, you look at a problem that you thought was insurmountable, and then all of a sudden, you're like, oh, that's really obvious. It's because you have more attention. Literally, you become better."

The speaker suggests that by solving smaller issues, we can free up our mental capacity, making previously difficult problems seem easier to solve.

• The speaker advises entrepreneurs to simplify their workload to achieve growth.
• Reducing the number of businesses or projects can lead to increased productivity and profitability.
• The concept of "do less, boring but rich" is highlighted as a pathway to success.

"And so the advice that I give most people is, I'm like, do less. There's no way you can handle all that stuff. Do less. Boring, but rich. Do less. And all of a sudden, they're like, dude, I went from three businesses to one, and now we're making three times as much money."

This quote advises entrepreneurs to focus on fewer tasks or businesses to improve efficiency and financial success. The speaker has observed that simplifying efforts can lead to increased profitability.

• The speaker does not run ads or sell products on the podcast.
• They request the audience's help in spreading the word to assist more entrepreneurs.
• The speaker values the power of reviews and sharing to extend their reach and impact.

"Real quick, guys, you guys already know that I don't run any ads on this, and I don't sell anything. And so the only ask that I can ever have of you guys is that you help me spread the word so we can help more entrepreneurs make more money, feed their families, make better products, and have better experiences for their employees and customers."

The speaker expresses the desire to help entrepreneurs without the use of advertisements or sales pitches, asking the audience for support through reviews and sharing the podcast.

• Effective communication is essential for maintaining attention and reducing distractions.
• The speaker suggests setting defined communication cycles with staff and even with one's spouse to streamline interactions.
• Managing communication helps in handling the increased noise that comes with scaling an organization.

"You can even do that with your spouse. Leila and I have defined communication cycles, we really do, because it makes our life easier."

This quote illustrates the speaker's personal practice of setting clear communication expectations to minimize distractions and improve the quality of interactions.

• Having a clear vision is important for growth and impact.
• To reach a large-scale vision, one must continuously develop and acquire new skill sets.
• Feeling stuck often indicates a need for more attention to learn and grow.
• The marketplace and clients are indifferent to personal challenges; the solution is to regain focus.

"The habits that it will take in order to create the infrastructure to actually impact 10 million people is that you are going to need to morph ten times over and to become someone much bigger and much clearer than you are right now."

The speaker emphasizes the need for personal development and change to achieve ambitious goals, suggesting that one must evolve significantly to create the necessary impact.

"If you feel like you are stuck right now, it's because you have not enough attention to acquire the next skill set that you need to acquire in order to move up the ladder."

This quote identifies a lack of attention as a barrier to acquiring the skills needed for advancement, implying that focus is critical for overcoming feelings of being stuck.

• The speaker advocates for a zero-tolerance approach to distractions in entrepreneurship.
• Eliminating bothersome elements allows entrepreneurs to focus on their goals.
• Simplifying and focusing lead to easier resolution of complex issues.

"And so my ask for you is just to become a zero tolerance entrepreneur."

The speaker encourages the audience to adopt a mindset that does not tolerate distractions, suggesting this approach is key to becoming more effective and successful.

• Recognize and eliminate tolerances in your personal and professional life.
• Delegate tasks that you dislike or are not necessary for you to personally handle.
• Implement solutions that save time and reduce stress, such as hiring help or using delivery services.

Like, all of the little net bites, they add up the messy sink that you walk past, right? [...] If you're like, man, I hate cleaning, that would be something that is loud for you, then pay someone, get that attention back, and then you can apply it in other areas.

This quote emphasizes the importance of addressing small annoyances ("net bites") that accumulate and distract from more important tasks. It suggests delegating tasks such as cleaning if they are particularly bothersome, thereby reclaiming attention and energy for other areas.

• Build a home environment that caters to your preferences and maximizes your time.
• Consider alternatives to tasks you dislike, such as setting up a home gym to avoid traffic and waiting times.
• Use services like Instacart and Amazon for convenience and time-saving in household chores.

So we have a home gym because I don't like traffic. I don't like leaving in the morning. [...] $150 a year. And you get groceries delivered to your door in an hour.

This quote details specific strategies for increasing convenience at home, such as having a home gym to avoid the inconvenience of traffic and using grocery delivery services to save time and avoid the hassle of shopping in-store.

• Analyze your schedule to identify tasks that may not require your direct involvement.
• Understand that personal life issues can drain the same pool of attention as professional tasks.
• Manage your attention carefully to maintain productivity at work and handle personal matters effectively.

Look at your schedule. Look at the things that are on there. Look at how necessary they are necessary for you to actually be the one doing it, right.

The quote advises a critical review of one's schedule to determine which tasks necessitate personal attention and which can be delegated, thereby conserving one's attention for the most critical activities.

• Encourage deliberate and intentional communication within your team.
• Avoid unnecessary interruptions that can disrupt focus and negatively impact the business.
• Foster a culture where team members learn to solve problems independently, reducing their reliance on you.

And if you have any staff who you're like, man, I want you to understand that if you communicate with me, it has to be deliberate. It has to be with intention.

This quote underscores the need for purposeful communication with staff, advocating for a structured approach that avoids unnecessary distractions and contributes positively to the business's growth.

• Share personal experiences and choices to illustrate points, such as wearing a favorite shirt.
• Use a casual and friendly tone to connect with the audience and conclude the conversation.

You like my new shirt? Layla got it from me. She got, like, one of my lululemons all blazed. I thought it was pretty cool. Anyways, bye.

The quote provides a personal touch to the discussion, showcasing the speaker's personal life and preferences, and offering a lighter moment before signing off from the conversation.