In a candid conversation, Speaker A shares insights from a walk with his entrepreneurial 18-year-old neighbor, who faces a pivotal decision after a college mishap. They explore the true motivations behind choosing college over business, addressing the emotional barriers and societal pressures that influence decision-making. Speaker A emphasizes the importance of aligning choices with desired outcomes and the willingness to sacrifice for success, contrasting short-term comfort with long-term goals. He advocates for confronting fears of failure and committing to the path that leads to one's aspirations, using personal anecdotes to illustrate the necessity of unbalanced effort for extraordinary achievements. Speaker B introduces the podcast's theme of customer acquisition and retention, while Speaker C encourages audience engagement and sharing the podcast.
"And when we make these choices, I think just as important, if not more important, is the story that we are telling ourselves about why we made the choices and what that tells us about who we are."
The quote emphasizes the importance of self-narrative in understanding why we make certain decisions and how it reflects on our identity. It suggests that the reasons we tell ourselves about our choices are as significant as the choices themselves.
"Welcome to the game where we talk about how to get more customers, how to make more per customer, and how to keep them longer, and the many failures and lessons we have learned along the way. I hope you enjoy and subscribe."
This quote outlines the podcast's objective, which is to provide insights into business growth strategies, specifically in customer management and entrepreneurship, while also reflecting on past mistakes and learnings.
"What's going on? Everyone want to tell you a story that may be applicable to you if you're an existing entrepreneur, a new entrepreneur, or somebody who's about to make a big decision in life."
Speaker A introduces a story that will unfold throughout the podcast, which is intended to resonate with entrepreneurs and those at a crossroads, highlighting the universality of the decision-making process.
"Yesterday I had a conversation that transpired between me and an 18 year old who's now a freshman in college. And I wish I could have recorded it, but there are a lot of kind of decision points and lessons and thought processes that we walk through together that I think will be valuable for many because it's honestly the same decision making process whether you're making a multimillion dollar decision or you're making a relationship decision or whatever it is."
Speaker A recounts a discussion with a young college student, highlighting that the decision-making process in this scenario is analogous to other significant life choices. This quote sets the stage for exploring the student's dilemma in more depth.
"And so I said, what's your plan? He said, well, I think I'm going to try and fight this thing and give college another shot. And I wanted to walk him through this because I wanted him to make any decision for the right reasons."
Speaker A challenges the student to consider his true intentions for wanting to continue college, suggesting that making decisions for the right reasons is crucial. The quote implies the importance of aligning actions with genuine motives.
"So do you think that taking genders, literature studies, and history of aztec culture, whatever, is going to be more interesting to you now than the stuff that you studied in high school, which was, again, general literature, is that going to be interesting to you?"
This quote reflects Speaker A's attempt to make the student critically evaluate his academic interests and whether they align with his college curriculum, questioning the value of the education in relation to his personal interests.
"Do you feel like you can have fun without going to college? Do you think that you could not spend $200,000 in four years of your life and still have fun in that same period of time if you weren't at college but still with other people who are your age?"
Speaker A challenges the student to consider if the social aspects of college are worth the time and financial investment, suggesting alternative ways to achieve personal satisfaction outside the college environment.
"Do you think it's possible that you want to go to college because it's a socially acceptable shield for you not being successful in entrepreneurship?"
Speaker A introduces the idea that the student may be using college as a socially acceptable fallback to avoid the stigma of failure in his entrepreneurial pursuits. This quote probes the deeper psychological factors influencing the student's decision to attend college.
"But I think that that is such a core issue for many of us, is that we present these socially acceptable solutions to ourselves when deep down, the reason that we're doing them is not for the right reason."
The quote highlights the common tendency to rationalize our decisions with socially acceptable reasons rather than acknowledging the true, perhaps less flattering, motivations.
"But then now we have to start looking at what's the emotional driver that's preventing you from doing it, right?"
This quote emphasizes the need to explore the emotional barriers that hinder a person from acting on a decision that logically aligns with their goals.
"The mindset that I approached it with was, I will not outwork everyone, but instead I will outsacrifize anyone."
The speaker shares their personal approach to success, which was based on the willingness to sacrifice more than others, rather than simply trying to outwork them.
"Because if you're newer or you have a job, or it doesn't matter where you're at in your life, a lot of times, especially when we're younger, there's fewer big branch points, right? But as we get older, we have to commit and trade off something else, right?"
The quote discusses the inevitability of facing significant decisions as one matures, each requiring a trade-off to commit to the chosen path.
"The stories that we tell ourselves create the identity that we have, right?"
This quote underlines the power of self-narrative in forming our identity and how our decisions are intertwined with the stories we tell ourselves.
"So if you have four years and $200,000, if you invest that in college, versus investing $200,000 and four years into learning, into trying to start your own business, which of them, after four years, do you think will get you closer to your goal?"
The speaker challenges an individual to consider the opportunity costs of attending college versus directly investing in a business, in terms of aligning with personal goals.
"I sacrifice my 20s, straight up. I sacrifice them. And I'm not saying it's the right path, but I want to make sure that whatever decision you make, you make it for the right reasons."
The speaker reflects on their own sacrifices, emphasizing the importance of making decisions for the right reasons and being aware of the sacrifices involved.
"I think that's such a deep message, because where we are is because of the stories that we have that have led us to be who we've become."
The quote emphasizes the importance of our life stories in shaping who we are today. It suggests that our past experiences and the narratives we've constructed from them are foundational to our current identity.
"And when we make these choices, I think just as important, if not more important, is the story that we are telling ourselves about why we made the choices and what that tells us about who we are."
This quote highlights the significance of self-reflection on the reasons behind our choices. The stories we tell ourselves about these choices can have a profound impact on our self-concept.
"The only way this grows is through word of mouth. And so I don't run ads. I don't do sponsorships. I don't sell anything."
The speaker is explaining the organic growth model of the podcast, which solely depends on listeners sharing it with others.
"My only ask is that you continue to pay it forward to whoever showed you or however you found out about this podcast, that you do the exact same thing."
Here, the speaker requests listeners to share the podcast in the same way it was shared with them, emphasizing the community-driven nature of the podcast's expansion.
"And part of entrepreneurship is failure and being able to deal with failure and how you come back from failure."
This quote underscores that failure is an inherent part of the entrepreneurial process and that resilience in the face of failure is crucial.
"I think if you can simply name the fear of what you are afraid of, it allows you to face it, and it removes the power it has over you, because then you have clarity."
Identifying and verbalizing one's fears is portrayed as a strategy to weaken their influence and gain the clarity needed to move forward.
"And so when you think about a maybe versus a never, then I'll take a maybe over a never for any day of the week."
The speaker is advocating for taking risks and pursuing possibilities, even if uncertain, over not trying at all and facing guaranteed non-fulfillment.
"There was a point in my life where I wrote down all the things that I had to additionally give up because I was at a point of just rubber meeting the road and I had to push harder."
Reflecting on personal experience, the speaker highlights the importance of recognizing and accepting the sacrifices required for entrepreneurial success.
"I don't believe that anything great was ever accomplished by someone who is balanced. I think that it takes extremes, it takes extreme effort. It takes unreasonable sacrifice in order to achieve things that are unreasonable."
This quote emphasizes the speaker's belief that balance may hinder the pursuit of greatness, suggesting that significant achievements require extreme efforts and sacrifices that are not typically considered reasonable.
"What you do for a season of life doesn't have to be forever, but sometimes it does have to be for that season."
The speaker acknowledges that while sacrifices may not be permanent, they may be necessary for certain periods in life in order to progress towards one's goals.
"If you were competing against someone else who was a coder... who do you think will be further along?"
This quote is part of a hypothetical scenario presented to illustrate the advantage of focused effort over a more balanced approach when competing in the same field.
"Do you think it's reasonable or unreasonable that he would be further ahead than you? He's like, reasonable."
The speaker uses this rhetorical question to highlight the logic behind the focused effort, suggesting that it is reasonable to expect that someone who dedicates more time and energy will progress further.
"I sacrificed my fitness for periods of time... There were times where I did not sleep as much as I probably should have."
The quote reveals the speaker's personal sacrifices made in pursuit of success, acknowledging that these choices were not necessarily "good" but were part of the journey.
"Russell Brunson pitched for five straight years on stages unknown before he became Russell Brunson."
This quote serves as an example of the long-term, behind-the-scenes effort and sacrifice made by someone who later achieved notable success, reinforcing the theme that significant effort is often unseen in the early stages.
"I think if we can simply look at what is the decision that's going to get me to where I want to go, which of these do I think will be better? And then what is the sacrifice that's required?"
The speaker suggests a decision-making framework that involves assessing the potential benefits of a choice, the sacrifices it entails, and one's willingness to make those sacrifices.
"So that the decisions are not made for us by life."
This quote emphasizes the importance of proactive decision-making rather than passively allowing circumstances to determine one's path.
"I don't know where you're at in your life and I don't know what decisions you're facing, but hopefully this provides value for you."
This quote indicates the speaker's desire to share their perspective in the hope that it might assist others in their decision-making and pursuit of success.