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We were very good kids when it came to that, very respectful.
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He was walking away, he stopped, he turned back, got right up in my face, and he's like, Larry, I just want to let you know something.
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He goes, I think you're the dumbest.
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And he called me an MF or mother to my face for not going to college.
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And I can remember, like it was yesterday, thinking to myself, like, I am going to make more money than you ever made in your entire life.
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And I'll tell you what, until I wrote that book, my first book, Born or Maid, I did not realize how much that had driven me.
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It was a little bit of a grudge, but I held to this against this guy because he had said that to me for no reason.
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Like I was a nice kid.
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I should go up and shake his hand.
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That one situation could have been one of my most pivotal moments.
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Now, I've been able to take negative energy, and I tell people this all the time, and turn it into motivation.
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And I believe that.
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Like, right, there's there's this voice over here, and this voice over here.
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This is negative.
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Well, I'm gonna grab that negative and throw him over here and use that energy.
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So now I got twice the power on the positive side to drive and motivate me.
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Welcome to Purpose Driven Success Podcast, where real journeys, mindset shifts, and strategic insights meet purpose-driven success.
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I'm your host, Mo Salami.
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Every week we dive into real conversations with high-achieving founders and leaders, uncovering the mindsets, strategies, and takeaways that help you define and achieve success on your own terms.
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Welcome to another episode of Purpose-Driven Success.
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And the word I'm going to use for today's episode is humdinger.
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We are in for a humdinger of an episode today.
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And write it down, mark my words.
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Larry G.
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Dix II is a speaker, mentor, and entrepreneur who built success from the ground up on a simple but uncompromising principle.
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Do what's right, especially when no one's watching.
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Larry's journey began at 18, loading lumber in the Texas heat, where discipline wasn't a concept, discipline was survival.
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From there, Larry went on to build a multi-million dollar manufacturing business, invest in real estate, and launch a cattle ranch, all whilst testing himself in endurance racing and motorsport challenges that demanded more than ambition alone.
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Today, Larry teaches leaders and entrepreneurs how to operate with clarity through his do what's right framework.
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And that comprises decision, discipline, determination, and deliver, helping high performers rebuild identity, cut through the noise, and execute with integrity when pressure is at its peak, and the stakes are real.
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Larry G Dix II, welcome to purpose-driven success.
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Mo, thanks for having me, man.
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I'm all excited.
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I want to hear about me too.
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Awesome.
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I could have told the longer version.
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We're in for the humdinger, like I mentioned.
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Larry, so obviously we've spoken before, we had a pre-call, and it's so funny.
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I just want to be really transparent.
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So Larry and I had a pre-call a few weeks ago, and I've met tons of people in my time, tons and tons and tons of all levels of what you can call whether it's success or fulfillment or whatever, and they've done incredible things.
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And when I met Larry for the first time, something happened that never happens with me.
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I went into this fan mode because I think when you get to that intersection of thinking, oh, I need to step up, really like step up my level, even if your level's not so bad.
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This had been on my mind for a while.
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And Larry and I had a prequel, and all of the beats in that conversation was just like Larry was just an epitome of step up, step up, step up.
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So just wanted to share that.
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Larry, before we get into the frameworks and the ideas, I just want to start with your story.
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Well, I grew up with two amazing parents that always made me and my brother feel like we were number one.
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And they were in every sporting event, everything that we ever did, even if we settled a bench, which quite frankly I did quite a bit, especially in basketball.
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And they were just wonderful.
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We had a wonderful life growing up in South Texas and getting to run around the woods and do fun stuff and chase rattlesnakes and poke them and throw rocks at cows or whatever.
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It was just a great life.
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And my mom and dad put a big emphasis on work.
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He had to work hard.
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My dad, I watched my dad graduate from college when I was 12 years old.
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And he grew up dirt floor poor, living under people's houses.
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He had a tough life, and his father beat the crap out of him.
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He broke that cycle and he kind of set that standard that you break the cycle, whatever you got to do to stop that.
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And he did.
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Now he was a hard man.
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And my mom was an amazing mother because she had this tenacious just fight in her.
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And my brother and I both got that really from her.
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So I was not going to college.
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My dad was very disappointed with that.
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I didn't really know that until later on in life when he said get a job.
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So I went and got a job working at a lumber yard.
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My first position was called a yard dog, which basically means you are a human forklift.
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This was 40, 42 years, 44 years ago.
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This was before we had a lot of technology.
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And I realized very quick in the hot Texas sun that man, on asphalt, it's hot.
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And I was very driven to try to get ahead and do something big.
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I always just had this incredible drive that I wanted to be successful, whatever that meant.
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And I didn't even really know what it meant at the time.
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I'd been thinking I was going to be a millionaire since I was 15 years old.
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And 50 years ago, you didn't know what that meant.
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It was kind of whatever.
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It was just a number, right?
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Now we throw that number around like it's nothing.
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And so I moved up in this company very, very fast.
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I never forget one day I was loading a truck and on top of this truck by myself, and I was doing what's called a banding machine.
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And I see all the outside sales guys walking up on this parking lot, and they're driving nice cars and they were wearing nice shirts and they were starched.
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And I was like, man, that's what I want to do.
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I want to go to that level.
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And fast forward two and a half, three years later, I was the youngest outside salesman in the history of the company.
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And they started investing in me and putting time in me and saw some potential that I didn't see.
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And you can kind of fast forward, but ultimately got into sales, worked at a trust plant, which I own now, and was found I was good at sales.
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And then they let me run a trust plant at 26, built one at 29, and then started my own at 34.
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I actually was on the process of building a second one.
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And so I just had this insatiable drive to just be better than the next guy, whatever that meant.
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And I had a little bit of a chip on my shoulder because I didn't go to college.
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And it was a pretty big emphasis in town and where we grew up in Austin, which was the University of Texas.
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And a lot of guys I worked with were graduates from there, and ultimately they ended up working for me.
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And I just had this will to just outwork other people.
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And I think you and I talked about it.
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I never worry about things because I just know I'll outwork you.
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And it gives me confidence, right?
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That I know that no matter what, I'm willing to get up early and stay late when the average guy doesn't want to.
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They talk about it.
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But when it really matters is when it's time to do it.
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So how fundamental would you say outworking everyone has been as a key to your success?
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I think it's huge.
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I do.
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You hear a lot of people say that it's not like I coined it, but it's true.
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If you're willing to spend an extra hour five days a week at work, that's 260 hours a year of additional time that you can gain an advantage over someone else.
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And so, yeah, you can do that.
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You want to set the standard where you're the guy there early, the guy there late.
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And you may not think people are paying attention to that, but there's somebody's paying attention to that.
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And there were a lot of opportunities in my life where I got opportunities because they knew I was willing to do whatever I had to do and I would come in early and they could depend on me.
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I was a very dependable person and still am to this day.
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Yes, you are, as you proved, but today's cool.
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That's a story for another day.
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When you think back to starting at 18, loading lumber in the Texas heat.
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Sounds like a movie, right?
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What did success mean to you at that time?
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And how has that definition changed since then?
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Oh, for sure.
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It was little steps, right?
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It's like the way I do everything in my life now.
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It's like I see something.
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This was like I wanted to be a supervisor, so I became a supervisor.
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I wanted to be an outside sell, so I took a job inside the store as a stalker, but it gets me to the next step.
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And so everything I've ever done is to ultimately to get to the goal, whatever that goal is.
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And the goal changes all the time.
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Sometimes we get to the point we're comfortable.
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I've never been comfortable, and I don't know why.
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I don't know that that's a blessing or a curse.
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So it's no different today than it was 45 years ago.
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It's just a different target, but it's always the next step.
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That's what I always think about as the next step.
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I don't get too far ahead of myself because what good does that do if you can't get over this hurdle?
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And so I just have always kind of been the guy that just I wanted to be an outside sales, so I became an outside sales.
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I wanted to understand management.
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So I started back then, you listen to cassette tapes, right?
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And you would read a book or read magazines.
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We didn't have access to technology and information like we so you had to put some work in to get that information.
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And I was just always willing to do it.
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I had a library card when I was working at Striplin Blade because I would go to the library, but because that's where you got technology.
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You had to go to a bookstore to get a book, right?
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I couldn't afford to buy books, so I went to the library and got them for free.
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And Larry, taking me back to the earliest version of yourself, work in those long days.
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What did a hard day's work look like?
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And what were you telling yourself when nobody was around to hear it?
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The Bible talks about this mind, body, spirit, and it's the mind.
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So you got to get your mind under control.
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And I didn't really understand how hard I'd worked on that really till much later in life.
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And I was just always able to put myself in a different spot.
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When you're out there working and you're getting just beat down, it's hot and you're sweating, you're making$4 an hour, and you see the guy next to you making$8 an hour, and you're like, how do I get there?
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And you just got to keep your head down and just keep driving, right?
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I love that I heard it a while back.
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Anything worth happens uphill, right?
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And when you're running, if you're a runner, what do you do?
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You drop your arms down a little bit, you lean forward, and you just drive.
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And that's what I always was able to do.
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I never really got into some serious pity parties when it came to work.
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I could get emotionally pity parties, but I just never allowed myself to get caught up in the fact that I wasn't good enough.
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My parents always told me, if you're going to be a ditch digger, be the best ditch digger you could be.
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And so even when I was stocked in lumber, I just wanted to be the best.
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So I learned that if I ran and they would see me running across with the black hot 120-degree asphalt, they were like, hey, that kid's got something.
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So I was willing to go take that extra step, maybe that extra run, where the average person wouldn't.
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And so I just, again, I guess it always felt like I knew that I could outwork the next guy.
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That just helped drive me all the time.
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I still believe to this day that if the world were to end tomorrow, we all gonna start over.
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I feel like I'm gonna win because I know at 62 years old, I will still outwork you.
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Now, it maybe take me longer days, and you may be able to do it in 10 hours, it may take me 14, but I'm still willing to work 15.
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And that's the difference.
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And I think about things that now, as I've gotten older and more philosophical, I'm always looking for things that are bigger than me.
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Right?
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You got to have a goal that's bigger than you.
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My wife's security, my grandchildren's security, my adult children are fine.
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So it's stuff that's bigger than me.
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Hearing so much good stuff here, Larry.
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And how much has intention setting?
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You mentioned some age 15, you said I want to be a millionaire, and how much has proximity played in your life?
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You mean proximity to other people?
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So, for example, you mentioned you wanted to be in sales on inside sales, so you were on the outside and you wanted to be a millionaire and you just set that intention.
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So how much in other than those two examples, how much did in or even including those two examples, how much did set an intention and proximity to other people, proximity to opportunities, how much has that played and being intentional with those things, how much has that played a part in your trajectory?
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So I had one major goal, right?
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That was to be a millionaire.
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My goal was actually to be a millionaire at 30.
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I don't know where I came up with that.
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I remember that specifically because I told my wife, Sheryl, now I've married 42 years.
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I told her that when I was like 19, I would be a millionaire when I'm 30.
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I think one of the things that helped me, intentional or non-intentional, was I was willing to pivot.
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If you had asked me when I was 18 years, 15 years old, you're gonna be a millionaire.
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How are you gonna do it?
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I would have looked at you and said, I have no idea.
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But so what happened was I went to work at the lumber yard.
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I saw an opportunity, I took it.
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I was at outside sales, the economy collapsed.
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They gave me an opportunity to go into outside sales into a trust manufacturing facility.
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I was willing to pivot.
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So I never got locked in, like, oh, I'm gonna do sales design, I'm gonna do this process.
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It's just like whatever, whichever way I had to go to get to the main goal, I was willing to do that.
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I think people get stuck on this idea that I'm gonna do this, this, this, this, this, this, to this.
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Well, that may not be where the opportunities are.
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So you have to be willing to pivot.
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So if something happens and you got a brick wall, right?
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Well, you've either got to go under it, through it, over it, or around it.
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Well, most people think, oh, well, I just got to drive through it.
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Well, you could be standing back going, well, I just move over here to the left, five degrees, and 20 feet, I'll get around the wall, and then I'll be right back on my goal.
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And that's where I think people get locked in.
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I'm always willing to pivot and learn.
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And if it's something different, I'm willing to take the chance and go do it.
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So I never got locked in on one specific thing.
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Maybe that's because I didn't have a college degree.
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There was no plan B for me, right?
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When they say burn the boats.
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I just did whatever I had to do.
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And it just never affected me.
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If they needed me to take the trash out, I took the trash out.
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Larry, one of the things that you're known for, and it's even in your frameworks, is discipline.
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And was there ever a specific moment where your discipline or push-through, no matter what approach, stopped working?
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And what was happening?
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And what did you realize in real time?
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No, I can't, as far as something's very specific.
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I remember there were times that I had significant doubt about things.
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Like in 2010, I was on the verge of bankruptcy and didn't know what to do.
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And I was struggling mentally.
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I drank a lot.
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I was in a really, really bad spot.
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But I was able to push myself to the limit of that, like, no matter again, it was that same thing.
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Like, I'll figure this out, right?
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One of our kids said something the other day and it shocked me.
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And it all of a sudden I remember is they're always like, Well, Dad, your comment is always, well, we'll just figure it out.
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And I thought, you know what?
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They're right.
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That's what I did.
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And so even if I had those moments, I just figured it out.
00:16:56.439 --> 00:16:59.399
So I never, I never really do you struggle?
00:16:59.559 --> 00:17:01.319
Sure, I struggle day by day, right?
00:17:01.399 --> 00:17:02.199
That's just life.
00:17:02.279 --> 00:17:03.240
That's the mind, right?
00:17:03.319 --> 00:17:08.839
The mind is a avarice amount of negative, positive, whatever you want it to be.
00:17:09.079 --> 00:17:10.279
So I never really had that.
00:17:10.360 --> 00:17:18.039
I can go back and say, like, there was one moment that make or break on my entire life of discipline, but I always depended on it.
00:17:18.200 --> 00:17:19.799
So I just always pushed around it.
00:17:19.880 --> 00:17:21.319
I just figured it out like the wall.
00:17:21.559 --> 00:17:24.680
You just move, just make a 12 degree angle, move.
00:17:24.759 --> 00:17:25.480
You'll get around it.
00:17:25.640 --> 00:17:27.559
May take you a little while, but you can get around it.
00:17:28.039 --> 00:17:29.240
So awesome.
00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:40.680
Yeah, I really like this concept of pushing through because the alternative is to go straight into conversations about burnout almost before anything's been done.
00:17:40.759 --> 00:17:43.480
I haven't lifted the pen yet, and I'm speaking about burnout.
00:17:43.720 --> 00:17:45.640
Obviously, burnout's a very real thing.
00:17:46.039 --> 00:17:52.279
Larry, you built across multiple arenas, manufacturing, real estate, ranching, racing.
00:17:52.759 --> 00:18:00.120
Where did you feel the most internal friction or burnout that others might not have seen?
00:18:00.440 --> 00:18:03.000
Oh, definitely during the housing downturn.
00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:07.799
Well, the first thing I did was when I started my business, I ran completely out of money in six months.
00:18:07.960 --> 00:18:08.680
Like I was broke.
00:18:08.759 --> 00:18:11.319
I had no money, didn't even know I was going to make payroll.
00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:13.880
Those are the things that nobody talks about or sees.
00:18:13.960 --> 00:18:17.240
I guess everybody talks about it now, but it was brutal.
00:18:17.400 --> 00:18:18.920
So what I did was I doubled down.
00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:20.600
I hired two outside salespeople.
00:18:20.759 --> 00:18:23.720
I literally did not know how I was going to pay them.
00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:29.400
And the first guy sold a$35,000 job, and the guy paid up front.
00:18:29.640 --> 00:18:30.040
Right.
00:18:30.200 --> 00:18:35.000
So I didn't have a plan, but I was willing to take a chance and it paid off.
00:18:35.240 --> 00:18:41.880
And so I just kept driving, and the one outside sales guy still works for me 26 years later.
00:18:42.279 --> 00:18:43.240
I took a chance on him.
00:18:43.320 --> 00:18:45.560
I remember sitting there and he goes, Well, you're so new.
00:18:45.640 --> 00:18:47.400
And I literally did not know I was gonna pay this guy.
00:18:47.480 --> 00:18:49.160
And he's like, I just don't know if I should make this chance.
00:18:49.320 --> 00:18:52.759
And I looked at him, I said, Harry, I said, Here's what you can look at.
00:18:52.920 --> 00:19:00.120
I said, if we make this 25 years from now, you're gonna look back and go, Man, I took a chance and we did something great.
00:19:00.759 --> 00:19:01.560
And you know what?
00:19:01.640 --> 00:19:02.600
He goes, Okay.
00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:05.400
But I sold him on the dream.
00:19:06.120 --> 00:19:07.800
There you go, there you go.
00:19:08.279 --> 00:19:24.120
So I was on LinkedIn the other week, the other day, the other week, and I was reading a great philosopher, and the great philosopher said, and I'll paraphrase, it was along the lines of with entrepreneurship, you're either on the way up or on the way down.
00:19:24.200 --> 00:19:26.040
There's never like really stasis.
00:19:26.440 --> 00:19:32.279
And so either you're on the way up, on the way down, and it's just that ride, that journey.
00:19:32.440 --> 00:19:37.560
The great philosopher, you might recognize you you're writing this on LinkedIn, by the way, is your good self.
00:19:37.720 --> 00:19:39.480
So talk to us a little bit about that.
00:19:39.560 --> 00:19:45.560
And I'm thinking about early stage entrepreneurs that might be listening to this conversation.
00:19:46.120 --> 00:19:46.440
Sure.
00:19:46.519 --> 00:19:48.360
So you get the initial high, right?
00:19:48.519 --> 00:19:55.000
That's my story, is like I talk about everybody sees you at the peak, but they don't see you when you're going in or coming out, right?
00:19:55.080 --> 00:19:57.080
That's the thing that nobody talks or sees.
00:19:57.240 --> 00:19:59.320
They just see, oh, and you got lucky, right?
00:19:59.640 --> 00:20:01.400
The entrepreneurial dream is amazing.
00:20:01.560 --> 00:20:05.480
You start a business, you have all this, you I raised$250,000 from a guy.
00:20:05.800 --> 00:20:09.480
And what they don't talk about is that six months in, I was broke.
00:20:09.560 --> 00:20:11.480
Now I'm not going in, I'm at the bottom.
00:20:11.560 --> 00:20:14.040
Like I literally don't know how I'm gonna make payroll.
00:20:14.279 --> 00:20:14.759
Right.
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:20.680
And so you just gotta always know, even as an entrepreneur, it's gonna be sexy for the first six months.
00:20:20.840 --> 00:20:22.519
And then after that, you're gonna find out.
00:20:22.680 --> 00:20:27.320
And what happens with, and there was a guy I saw a few months ago, he talked about this now.
00:20:27.480 --> 00:20:39.880
So there's this amazing high, and then there's this low that you know, most entrepreneurs quit down here when all you got to do is drive, keep coming, you'll come back out, and then they don't ever make it to here because they always quit.
00:20:40.040 --> 00:20:44.519
And I think about how many times I know people that quit.
00:20:44.680 --> 00:20:49.960
Like in the 08 through 12 American Great Recession, so many people quit.
00:20:50.040 --> 00:20:51.400
Now, a lot of guys got taken out.
00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:53.240
There was nothing you were gonna do about it, right?
00:20:53.320 --> 00:21:01.240
There were just sometimes, and I was one of the I almost got taken out, but I was willing to do whatever I had to do honestly and ethically to stay in business.
00:21:01.320 --> 00:21:07.240
And I filled vending machines at night for three years, but nobody talks about that part of the cavern, right?
00:21:07.400 --> 00:21:09.480
Everybody just goes, oh, now they see me now.
00:21:09.640 --> 00:21:11.320
And they're like, oh, oh yeah, wow.
00:21:11.720 --> 00:21:12.519
He got lucky.
00:21:12.600 --> 00:21:13.800
I'm like, lucky.
00:21:14.040 --> 00:21:20.120
I had there's three peats in there, but if you think about it, there's six valleys because you're going in or coming out.
00:21:20.200 --> 00:21:28.360
There may only be three, but you think about there's all the way down, all the way back up, and then you get this little bitty peek, and everybody goes, Oh man, look how good you're doing.
00:21:28.680 --> 00:21:34.200
But as an entrepreneur, you're fixing to get your butt kicked because you're probably going back down again.
00:21:34.279 --> 00:21:35.480
You just got to be ready.
00:21:35.800 --> 00:21:38.360
But there's light at the end of the tunnel, and just keep driving.
00:21:38.519 --> 00:21:40.840
And I may be broke next year, who knows?
00:21:41.160 --> 00:21:44.600
But you just keep driving, keep pushing, and move on.
00:21:44.759 --> 00:21:47.240
But yeah, I love that analogy about the peaks.
00:21:47.320 --> 00:21:56.360
I just I think that's the perfect entrepreneurial experience as you are in the going in or coming out of the valley 90% of your career.
00:21:56.840 --> 00:22:00.279
I'm thinking maybe it was oh wait, maybe it was the vendor machine.
00:22:00.440 --> 00:22:01.640
You just gave the example.
00:22:01.880 --> 00:22:06.680
What's the moment, Larry, that sticks with you where things didn't go the way they should have?
00:22:06.759 --> 00:22:11.480
And what did you do immediately after that moment that most people would never see?
00:22:11.960 --> 00:22:14.759
My number one thing was when I ran out of money.
00:22:15.080 --> 00:22:20.519
I was able to, in my mind, I meet with this guy and he goes, Larry, you're never gonna make it unless you hire salespeople.
00:22:20.759 --> 00:22:26.200
Well, I'm sitting there trying to get this guy to give me work from another manufacturer, but he was a wise old man.
00:22:26.279 --> 00:22:28.279
He goes, You'll never make it doing it all yourself.
00:22:28.440 --> 00:22:35.080
So that's when I went out and hired two salespeople when I didn't literally know how I was going to pay them.
00:22:35.240 --> 00:22:36.840
And I was willing to do that.
00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:39.240
There's something about youthful exuberance.
00:22:39.320 --> 00:22:46.200
It's hard to be an old entrepreneur, old man entrepreneur when you're young, because you just feel like you can just conquer the world.
00:22:46.360 --> 00:22:50.840
I went back and looked, I didn't even know it when I was writing my book.
00:22:50.920 --> 00:23:00.600
We were in a recession when I started my manufacturing business, but I had so much gumption that there was no way I could fail that I just did it anyway.
00:23:01.400 --> 00:23:02.600
I didn't think I would fail.
00:23:02.680 --> 00:23:06.840
I just failure was never even, I never even thought about it until about six months in.
00:23:06.920 --> 00:23:09.800
I'm like, oh crap, this is not good.
00:23:10.600 --> 00:23:10.840
Well.
00:23:11.320 --> 00:23:12.440
Did that where did that come from?
00:23:12.519 --> 00:23:15.080
Where did that mindset, that drive come from?
00:23:15.240 --> 00:23:24.279
Because it sounds like you have like a long-term thinking, just mentions the ups and downs, and like a really solid, rock solid mindset.
00:23:24.360 --> 00:23:25.640
Where did that come from?
00:23:25.880 --> 00:23:28.440
No, I again I think it was parental.
00:23:28.600 --> 00:23:32.200
We were never like, oh, here's like do this and I'll pay.
00:23:32.279 --> 00:23:34.120
Like around the house, we had to work, we had to do things.
00:23:34.200 --> 00:23:35.160
We had to mow the grass.
00:23:35.240 --> 00:23:38.360
We had to help my dad build things and chop, chop down trees.
00:23:38.440 --> 00:23:40.519
And that was just that was just life.
00:23:40.680 --> 00:23:42.040
There was a key moment in my life.
00:23:42.200 --> 00:23:43.160
I've told this story a few times.
00:23:43.240 --> 00:23:45.000
I don't know if I ever told on a podcast.
00:23:45.240 --> 00:23:46.759
I'm 17 years old.
00:23:46.920 --> 00:23:48.360
I graduate from high school.
00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:52.040
I'm 142 out of 147 in my class.
00:23:52.440 --> 00:23:58.040
And that's not real impressive when your father graduates, you see your father graduate from college, right?
00:23:58.120 --> 00:24:00.680
So you're like probably not going to college.
00:24:00.840 --> 00:24:03.800
I'm working in a sports complex in Texas.
00:24:04.040 --> 00:24:05.560
And I'll never forget this.
00:24:05.720 --> 00:24:07.160
I just graduated high school.
00:24:07.320 --> 00:24:10.120
I'm walking across this field, sports complex.
00:24:10.200 --> 00:24:11.000
It's beautiful.
00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:15.480
And I see one of my dad's friends walking up to me and he comes up to me and he started chatting.
00:24:15.560 --> 00:24:20.840
And I was always a very nice young man, very respectful, because my dad was always like, yes, sir, no, sir, no ma'am, yes, ma'am.
00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:24.200
We were very, very good kids when it came to that, very respectful.
00:24:24.360 --> 00:24:29.480
And he was walking away, he stopped, he turned back and got right up in my face, and he's like, Larry, I just want to let you know something.
00:24:29.640 --> 00:24:31.000
He goes, I think you're the dumbest.
00:24:31.080 --> 00:24:36.040
And he called me an MF or mother ever to my face for not going to college.
00:24:36.200 --> 00:24:46.440
And I can remember, like it was yesterday, thinking to myself, like, I am going to make more money than you ever made in your entire life.
00:24:46.680 --> 00:24:53.960
And I'll tell you what, until I wrote that book, my first book, Born or Maid, I did not realize how much that had driven me.
00:24:54.120 --> 00:25:00.920
It was a little bit of a grudge, but I held to this against this guy because he had said that to me for no reason.
00:25:01.080 --> 00:25:02.840
Like I was a nice kid.
00:25:03.160 --> 00:25:06.920
But now I look at it, I'm like, man, I don't even know if he's still alive or not.
00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:08.680
I always have to ask my dad the guy's name.
00:25:08.759 --> 00:25:09.960
I should go up and shake his hand.
00:25:10.040 --> 00:25:14.519
That one situation could have been one of my most pivotal moments.
00:25:14.680 --> 00:25:22.040
Now, I've been able to take negative energy, and I tell people this all the time, and turn it into motivation.
00:25:22.519 --> 00:25:23.640
And I believe that.
00:25:23.800 --> 00:25:26.759
Like, right, there's there's this voice over here, this voice over here.
00:25:26.840 --> 00:25:27.640
This is negative.
00:25:27.800 --> 00:25:31.080
Well, I'm going to grab that negative and throw him over here and use that energy.
00:25:31.160 --> 00:25:36.440
So now I got twice the power on the positive side to drive and motivate me.
00:25:36.519 --> 00:25:41.960
And that one guy, seriously, that really jacked with my head in a good way.
00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:43.320
What a great anchor.
00:25:43.400 --> 00:25:46.759
And perhaps he didn't mean it in that way, but what a great anchor for your progression.
00:25:47.480 --> 00:25:47.720
Who knows?
00:25:47.800 --> 00:25:49.080
I he may not even have said that.
00:25:49.160 --> 00:25:55.320
I don't even, honestly, I can see him saying it, but maybe he didn't call me MF, but that's what I remember.
00:25:55.480 --> 00:25:56.840
And it makes a great story.
00:25:57.000 --> 00:25:57.640
That's what I remember.
00:25:57.720 --> 00:25:59.640
And I can tell you what, it motivated me.
00:26:00.040 --> 00:26:01.560
So just a quick divert.
00:26:01.800 --> 00:26:03.080
So speaking about college.
00:26:03.160 --> 00:26:06.600
So obviously college is important and all that great stuff.
00:26:06.920 --> 00:26:16.120
And one of my philosophies is that, well, I I guess I heard it somewhere, but I agree with it so much, is there's more than one way to get to heaven.
00:26:16.360 --> 00:26:20.519
Meaning, in this context, for sure, college is right for some people.
00:26:20.759 --> 00:26:23.560
College might not be right for other people's trajectories.
00:26:23.720 --> 00:26:26.120
And then college is for the best for some professions, right?
00:26:26.200 --> 00:26:27.400
There's some that just need it.
00:26:27.560 --> 00:26:28.600
What's your take on that?
00:26:28.759 --> 00:26:36.279
I'm thinking of a person that's listening to this and they've gone to college, or maybe they haven't gone to college, different pathways, different trajectories.
00:26:36.519 --> 00:26:38.279
What's your take on that in general?
00:26:38.440 --> 00:26:46.680
What I just mentioned, as in there's more than one way to get to heaven, meaning college is right for some, college is essential for some situations.
00:26:47.240 --> 00:26:52.200
And frankly, training or another direction is right for others.
00:26:52.440 --> 00:26:56.600
Well, if you can find something you're good at, like I was really good at sales.
00:26:56.680 --> 00:27:02.759
Like I clearly, my mom told me, I can remember she's long dead now, but she's like, Yeah, you were talking to people when you were three years old.
00:27:02.920 --> 00:27:03.240
You know what I mean?
00:27:03.320 --> 00:27:04.519
This is what you always used to tell me.
00:27:04.600 --> 00:27:06.279
So I was born a sales guy, right?
00:27:06.360 --> 00:27:11.080
I was always willing to sell and got a good smile, and I would learn a product.
00:27:11.560 --> 00:27:15.080
So find something you're good at and then just master it.
00:27:15.160 --> 00:27:19.400
Don't try to find something you're passionate about or you like, oh, I like riding horses.
00:27:19.560 --> 00:27:22.519
Well, that's fine, but you may not ever make any money at it.
00:27:22.759 --> 00:27:23.800
You may not be great at it.
00:27:23.960 --> 00:27:26.840
Find the stuff that you're really, really good at.
00:27:27.000 --> 00:27:28.759
And maybe I just thought about this.
00:27:28.840 --> 00:27:32.440
So there's a profile system out there called DISC, D-I-S-C.
00:27:32.920 --> 00:27:44.040
Maybe we should start having kids take that early on in life and find out because what you figure out is you're trying to conform to all these things in society, but you may not be any good at them.
00:27:44.279 --> 00:27:47.240
Like, I'm never going to be an engineer, right?
00:27:47.480 --> 00:27:51.480
You may be an engineer, you speak what, five languages or some crazy thing like that.
00:27:51.720 --> 00:27:54.519
I'm not, I can barely speak one, English, right?
00:27:54.759 --> 00:28:02.519
So it's you find out what you're good at and then you master it and you get around people that are going to make you better at it.
00:28:02.680 --> 00:28:21.400
And now with technology and the wealth of information we have, you could argue, Mo, that you could almost become an engineer without going to college now, from an intellectual standpoint, because of the amount of information that's out there for free.
00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:28.519
So your original question, I always think find, figure out what you're good at and just start to master it.
00:28:28.680 --> 00:28:34.840
There was a guy, I think it's Maxwell, he talks about say you're a five, a six, a seven, and an eight on these four different categories.
00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:38.920
Well, why would you work really hard at a five to try to become an eight?
00:28:39.080 --> 00:28:42.360
Why wouldn't you go work on your skill that's an eight and become a ten?
00:28:43.000 --> 00:28:45.400
Because there's not too many tens on anything out there.
00:28:45.480 --> 00:28:52.040
And that's where I think we get confused and we think, oh, well, I want to do this, or we get sucked in on this because of social media.
00:28:52.279 --> 00:28:53.800
Doesn't mean you're any good at it.
00:28:54.040 --> 00:29:00.120
I had to teach myself how to read really, really well in my 30s because I realized I needed to understand comprehension.
00:29:00.200 --> 00:29:02.920
I had to put a lot of effort into that, right?
00:29:03.400 --> 00:29:08.279
And so I just think college is great for certain things.
00:29:08.360 --> 00:29:11.560
And obviously, you can't be a doctor, lawyers, engineers, and everything.
00:29:11.640 --> 00:29:21.640
But if you're just going to be a business guy, go work for Mo, who's running a business and have Mo teach you everything he possibly knows, which is real experience, right?
00:29:21.960 --> 00:29:32.360
Real understanding of people can read cash flow and understand balance sheet, but until you realize you live bad cash flow, I don't think you ever understand it.
00:29:32.440 --> 00:29:33.960
It's just numbers in a book.
00:29:34.200 --> 00:29:37.480
So, Larry, you have the concept of do what's right.
00:29:37.720 --> 00:29:41.480
Where did the idea for do what's right come from in real life?
00:29:41.640 --> 00:29:51.960
Was there like a specific decision or a season where you just realized I need a new operating system and this city operating system, do what's right?
00:29:52.279 --> 00:29:54.680
Yeah, I think it came from a guy named Alec Beck.
00:29:54.759 --> 00:30:00.759
He died, God, he was only 50 years old, died in a plane crisis, a guy I worked with, and he was really big on integrity.
00:30:00.840 --> 00:30:02.519
So he built a business around that.
00:30:02.680 --> 00:30:06.519
All the management team was held in very, very high standard.
00:30:06.600 --> 00:30:09.560
Like, if you stole a pen from his office, he would fire you.
00:30:09.720 --> 00:30:12.360
Like he put such an emphasis on this kind of stuff.
00:30:12.440 --> 00:30:17.000
And I'd started Apex, had this little bitty cheesy business car and had a little truss on it.
00:30:17.080 --> 00:30:19.720
And I remember driving, I was on Route three.
00:30:19.960 --> 00:30:24.519
I'm driving and I'm thinking about this, and I'm like, do what's right.
00:30:24.759 --> 00:30:26.360
And it's biblically based.
00:30:26.519 --> 00:30:30.920
And I've always been a very devout Christian, whatever that means, trying to get it right.
00:30:31.240 --> 00:30:37.320
And I was like, man, that's and I came home and I remember telling Cheryl, I'm like, hey, I'm gonna make my mission statement, do what's right.
00:30:37.400 --> 00:30:39.000
And she looked at me like, what?
00:30:39.640 --> 00:30:40.840
Like she didn't get it.
00:30:40.920 --> 00:30:41.720
But I did that.
00:30:42.600 --> 00:30:48.680
Fast forward 25 years later, they're on all my shirts, all my stuff, and people are like, man, I love that mission statement.
00:30:48.840 --> 00:30:56.920
I'm like, yeah, do what's right because I did that not, I didn't do it for my customers or my employees.
00:30:57.080 --> 00:31:04.440
I did it for me because it gave me a constant reminder that I needed to do the right thing no matter what.
00:31:04.600 --> 00:31:08.920
And then I was able to apply that not only to my business, but to my life and my children.
00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:11.480
They understand like we do what's right.
00:31:11.640 --> 00:31:15.720
Even if it cost us money, we're gonna do the right thing.
00:31:15.800 --> 00:31:19.240
And then I instilled this into all my people that I work with.
00:31:19.400 --> 00:31:25.080
And so now people like that work with my business, and I've got 26-year employees.
00:31:25.400 --> 00:31:28.040
We never question about, oh, I wonder what Larry would do.
00:31:28.120 --> 00:31:29.880
They're always like, we do what's right.
00:31:30.120 --> 00:31:32.680
We do what's right, no matter what.
00:31:33.480 --> 00:31:35.240
And that's where it came from.
00:31:35.400 --> 00:31:44.680
So it was a culmination of years of stuff, and I'm not gonna sit here and tell you I did it right all the time, but I can tell you what for the last 26 years, I feel like I have.
00:31:44.920 --> 00:31:46.440
And that's where I did it.
00:31:46.519 --> 00:31:52.600
And then if you look at ATEX's logo, it's a the new one, it's a reverse eight refresh sign.
00:31:52.680 --> 00:31:54.440
So the circle is in reverse.
00:31:54.519 --> 00:31:56.840
There's a point, and it's pointing to God.
00:31:56.920 --> 00:32:00.040
And that's when 2017 I gave my business to God.
00:32:00.200 --> 00:32:02.680
And that's again, do I get that right, everything?
00:32:02.840 --> 00:32:03.560
No, sir, I don't.
00:32:03.640 --> 00:32:08.120
And but I tell you what, it's a constant reminder, like, hey, Larry, this isn't your business.
00:32:08.279 --> 00:32:10.519
This is God's business, do and do what's right.
00:32:10.759 --> 00:32:21.320
But all that it just kind of works together, and it's really there for me that I share that story with everybody else so that they can see that, hey, this is what I'm talking about.
00:32:21.800 --> 00:32:27.160
And I was on route three, I can see exactly where I was at, right next to the Pope Ice chicken.
00:32:27.320 --> 00:32:27.960
I remember it.
00:32:28.120 --> 00:32:30.120
That was 26 years ago, by the way.
00:32:30.440 --> 00:32:31.320
I remember that.
00:32:31.880 --> 00:32:35.160
Larry, that's such a great value piece, do what's right.
00:32:35.400 --> 00:32:41.800
And I don't know if you recall on our last conversation when you mentioned to do what's right, and I was just like, that works.
00:32:41.880 --> 00:32:42.840
That's just so amazing.
00:32:43.080 --> 00:32:56.279
Larry, so what belief about success did you have to let go of, abandon in order to become the leader and the mentor and the business owner that you are today?
00:32:56.680 --> 00:32:59.880
Well, stuff doesn't mean anything, really and truly.
00:33:00.120 --> 00:33:01.480
You impact people's lives.
00:33:01.560 --> 00:33:02.600
I had to let all that stuff go.
00:33:02.680 --> 00:33:04.440
I was, remember, I said I wanted to be a millionaire, right?
00:33:04.519 --> 00:33:05.240
One of the time I was 30.
00:33:05.560 --> 00:33:13.720
So I was very, very driven by money and status started dwindling pretty early in my life, but I was still accumulating.
00:33:13.880 --> 00:33:16.680
I I you look, I'm trying to create long-term wealth.
00:33:16.759 --> 00:33:20.120
I'm not trying to get rich, but now it's just stuff, right?
00:33:20.279 --> 00:33:25.560
I find myself downsizing more and more, like because it just none of it matters.
00:33:25.800 --> 00:33:27.960
And money is just a tool.
00:33:28.120 --> 00:33:33.080
It doesn't create a value of who you are or whether you're successful or not.
00:33:33.240 --> 00:33:38.680
It's just a tool that we all have to use to get to whatever goals you may have.
00:33:38.840 --> 00:33:46.759
I know people that make$50,000 a year that I would argue are happier than me because they're just they're content, right?
00:33:46.840 --> 00:33:48.519
They're they're in their own box.
00:33:48.759 --> 00:33:51.160
Money is just a resource.
00:33:51.560 --> 00:33:54.519
So, and I do know one thing for sure, Mo.
00:33:55.240 --> 00:33:57.160
It doesn't matter how much money you make.
00:33:57.320 --> 00:34:01.320
I tell people, you know, I'm gonna cuss on your show so you could beat this out.
00:34:01.480 --> 00:34:07.880
If you're an asshole, I don't care how much money you have or don't have, I'm not hanging out with you.
00:34:08.440 --> 00:34:10.360
Because your money means nothing to me.
00:34:10.519 --> 00:34:18.119
I I like to be around joyful people, people that enjoy things or happy and just forgiving, right?
00:34:18.279 --> 00:34:20.360
Don't understand I'm broken and that's okay.
00:34:20.440 --> 00:34:22.679
But yeah, the no to answer your question, money.
00:34:22.920 --> 00:34:27.079
It money and things, it's it has it's just it's just stuff.
00:34:27.559 --> 00:34:29.480
I I don't I don't care.
00:34:30.759 --> 00:34:42.039
It's such another amazing insight for you, Larry, because it's a theme that's run through the last four episodes where the guest has said money in in their way, money and stuff.
00:34:42.360 --> 00:34:53.159
I bought Lamborghinis, all this other stuff, and I did this, and I got the multi-huge mansion and all this other stuff, second home, third home, fourth home, to come to the conclusion that it's just stuff.
00:34:53.400 --> 00:34:57.559
So for the listener listening to this, it's it's all stuff.
00:34:57.719 --> 00:35:00.440
So I love the frameworks because there are four D's.
00:35:00.599 --> 00:35:13.400
And when you think about your own journey, Larry, which of these four decision, discipline, determination, and deliver was the hardest for you personally to master?
00:35:13.559 --> 00:35:16.199
And what did that look like in real life?
00:35:16.519 --> 00:35:18.199
I'm I'm good at making decisions.
00:35:18.360 --> 00:35:22.039
I'm a very determined man, and I'm very and I have a lot of discipline.
00:35:22.119 --> 00:35:24.039
So I'd probably say delivery.
00:35:24.599 --> 00:35:26.199
This has been the hardest one for me.
00:35:26.359 --> 00:35:30.920
The great thing about all four of those skills that I like to talk about a lot is they're all very trainable.
00:35:31.079 --> 00:35:32.039
You can gain these.
00:35:32.199 --> 00:35:34.119
Are they easier for some people than others?
00:35:34.359 --> 00:35:39.079
I have all these great ideas, but I was never really good at following through on that.
00:35:39.319 --> 00:35:43.879
I could make the decision, I just never could make the decision come to fruition, right?
00:35:44.119 --> 00:35:46.759
And so add those three, for sure.
00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:51.639
Delivery has always been the hardest because that's kind of like the icing on the cake, right?
00:35:51.719 --> 00:35:55.960
It's the get it out of the oven, put this pretty shiny stuff on it.
00:35:56.039 --> 00:35:59.079
I was just never great at that part of my business.
00:35:59.319 --> 00:36:05.239
And so unfortunately, until six months ago, I struggled with that in my business.
00:36:05.319 --> 00:36:13.079
And I hired a chief operating officer that could help me make it make this follow-through on my final delivery.
00:36:13.239 --> 00:36:17.879
And it has changed my entire business model because I that was where I struggled.
00:36:18.039 --> 00:36:31.239
My they tell me if I didn't have the 3Ds, I wouldn't be where I am today because the discipline, the determination, and the delivery or in the decision process, I never would have survived my business.
00:36:31.559 --> 00:36:38.679
And now I'm like, oh my gosh, I think I'm gonna be able to do more in the next 20 years than I did the previous 62.
00:36:39.480 --> 00:36:45.879
Just by something that simple is because of those four, I was not good at delivery.
00:36:46.199 --> 00:36:51.799
Well, one more time decision, discipline, determination, and delivery.
00:36:52.039 --> 00:36:55.239
And I think it's EOS that says the EOS system.
00:36:55.480 --> 00:37:00.440
So they say that the strategy part is the hardest.
00:37:00.519 --> 00:37:05.399
And two percent of entrepreneurs, maybe I get the figures wrong, but the we we get the idea here.
00:37:05.559 --> 00:37:14.679
Two percent of entrepreneurs are are great at the strategy part, but that's the piece that not everyone can do, and that's the piece that you've mentioned you're great at.
00:37:14.839 --> 00:37:25.079
And the delivery part, most are good at this or can figure it out or get a team on all that great stuff, but it's more so the strategy that most entrepreneurs struggle with.
00:37:25.239 --> 00:37:28.679
So you you mentioned that's that was your strong, your your strong part.
00:37:28.920 --> 00:37:38.199
So, what are the daily or weekly systems that you rely on to stay aligned with your standards when your motivation disappears?
00:37:38.839 --> 00:37:41.159
Well, my motivation disappears a lot.
00:37:41.559 --> 00:37:45.000
That's what it's there every day.
00:37:45.159 --> 00:37:47.319
So, so I call it the foundation now.
00:37:47.399 --> 00:37:48.839
There's one of the terms that I use.
00:37:49.079 --> 00:37:50.119
That's in my keynote.
00:37:50.199 --> 00:37:56.199
I talk about like I get up at four o'clock in the morning, I'm trying to push that back a little bit, trying because I'm realizing I'm not getting enough sleep.
00:37:56.359 --> 00:37:58.119
And so I put both feet on the ground.
00:37:58.199 --> 00:37:59.879
The first thing I do is I pray.
00:38:00.199 --> 00:38:01.000
No matter what.
00:38:01.159 --> 00:38:02.199
I never miss a day.
00:38:02.359 --> 00:38:04.440
And I put my feet on the ground and I pray.
00:38:04.599 --> 00:38:07.559
And then I go through and I have this regimented process.
00:38:07.719 --> 00:38:19.399
I turn my coffee pot on, I lay out my supplements, I drink lemon water, and I can go and I read two newspapers, I spend two hours, I go to my gym, and then this is, and again, starts building.
00:38:19.480 --> 00:38:20.839
You're building this momentum.
00:38:20.920 --> 00:38:22.440
So six o'clock, I'm in the gym.
00:38:22.519 --> 00:38:25.719
I'm gonna work out an hour and a half, three hours, depending on what I'm doing.
00:38:25.799 --> 00:38:37.639
But the first thing I'm gonna do is I'm gonna read my daily devotion, I'm gonna read my Bible, then I'm gonna work out for an hour and a half, just thump my body as hard as I can to be on running, rowing, functional fitness, whatever I have to.
00:38:37.799 --> 00:38:49.960
Then I'm gonna go sit in a sauna for 20 minutes and I'm going to sweat, and that's where I spend my time praying again, which is very hard for entrepreneurs because our minds are typically going in a hundred different directions.
00:38:50.119 --> 00:38:54.599
So it's again, it's a discipline, it's a it's a determination, it's a training process.
00:38:54.759 --> 00:38:59.239
And then so the way I figure it is by 8:30, 9 o'clock, 7:30, whatever.
00:38:59.319 --> 00:39:01.079
I sometimes I have to be on calls earlier.
00:39:01.159 --> 00:39:03.559
And I move my schedule around, my workout.
00:39:03.799 --> 00:39:11.879
And I always feel like that if Mo comes at me at 8:30 in the morning, you ain't touching me, big boy.
00:39:11.960 --> 00:39:12.599
Because why?
00:39:12.759 --> 00:39:15.799
Because I'm already four, four and a half hours ahead of you.
00:39:15.879 --> 00:39:17.000
And I've done all this stuff.
00:39:17.079 --> 00:39:20.199
Again, a foundation I can spread out, I can look.
00:39:20.279 --> 00:39:26.599
And like if you come to me, you better be ready to fight because I'm gonna, I am already way ahead of you.
00:39:26.759 --> 00:39:32.279
And so that gives me so much confidence because the average person is not doing that.
00:39:32.440 --> 00:39:38.599
And I actually, more than that, 95% of the of the country, the world is not willing to do that.
00:39:38.920 --> 00:39:40.759
Again, willing to get up in four o'clock.
00:39:40.920 --> 00:39:42.839
I hate getting up at four o'clock in the morning.
00:39:43.000 --> 00:39:45.239
I hate getting in my cold plunge.
00:39:45.799 --> 00:39:52.119
But I do it because I know if I do it, you're not willing to.
00:39:52.279 --> 00:39:55.239
So therefore, I have a huge advantage over you.
00:39:55.399 --> 00:39:58.759
Now, you may still kick my butt, but I at least already got one advantage.
00:39:58.920 --> 00:40:00.279
I got the confidence.
00:40:00.599 --> 00:40:02.679
And attitude and confidence does help.
00:40:02.839 --> 00:40:03.719
Attitude effort, right?
00:40:03.799 --> 00:40:10.119
So I'm putting in the effort, and then I have the attitude that I am going to whip your butt if you come after me.
00:40:10.440 --> 00:40:11.639
Not physically.
00:40:12.440 --> 00:40:14.920
You said something, you said a few things really interesting.
00:40:15.079 --> 00:40:21.399
You said something so interesting there, which was you're not motivated a lot by paraphrase.
00:40:21.960 --> 00:40:27.559
How much does identity play a role in the fact that you just show up?
00:40:27.879 --> 00:40:28.359
Period.
00:40:29.719 --> 00:40:31.000
Yeah, that's interesting.
00:40:31.079 --> 00:40:32.759
I never thought of as an identity.
00:40:32.920 --> 00:40:37.079
Yeah, I guess I do because I in my mind I'm always like, I'm gonna show up.
00:40:37.159 --> 00:40:40.599
Like today, I do I'm doing a million meters on my rover.
00:40:41.079 --> 00:40:44.039
So I have a really good friend of mine, and we're right on.
00:40:44.119 --> 00:40:45.079
So this month was tough.
00:40:45.159 --> 00:40:46.519
I traveled 16 days.
00:40:46.679 --> 00:40:50.839
We know we need to get about 100,000 meters a month, and we'll be done by October.
00:40:51.079 --> 00:40:55.319
Well, I just busted 100,000 today, 101, 960.
00:40:55.480 --> 00:41:03.480
So I know if I do another 10,000 tomorrow, I'll get 110, which won't be my worst month, be my shortest number of days, but I did a 109.
00:41:03.559 --> 00:41:07.719
But last month I did 156 because I was pregaming for this one.
00:41:07.960 --> 00:41:14.359
So anyway, every row, I today I was on that rower for about 44 minutes, 43, 44 minutes.
00:41:14.599 --> 00:41:19.799
And that was just showing up, knowing that I had to do it.
00:41:19.960 --> 00:42:42.679
And the identity thing is I know without a doubt, no one else is probably willing to do that, with the exception of my buddy Phil, who does get on the rower.
00:42:42.919 --> 00:42:45.639
We talk, we text every morning to help each other.
00:42:45.799 --> 00:42:50.519
So, yeah, identity is I identify in the fact that I know I'm going to, and most people won't.
00:42:50.679 --> 00:42:52.679
Because it's it's mind-body spirit, right?
00:42:52.919 --> 00:42:59.159
This thing right here, the Bible says mind, body, spirit for a reason, because this is your problem.
00:43:00.039 --> 00:43:01.719
And that's maybe it's the identity.
00:43:01.799 --> 00:43:06.839
Like I identify in the fact that I will do it no matter what.
00:43:06.999 --> 00:43:11.559
Today is 982 days that I have not missed a workout.
00:43:12.039 --> 00:43:12.519
Wow.
00:43:12.679 --> 00:43:13.159
Wow.
00:43:14.439 --> 00:43:16.599
Holding some space for what you just said there.
00:43:16.839 --> 00:43:23.479
982 days, not missed a workout, and waking up at 4 a.m., it's not a decision process.
00:43:23.639 --> 00:43:24.119
Do I get up?
00:43:24.279 --> 00:43:24.999
Do I not get up?
00:43:25.079 --> 00:43:26.919
It's an identity piece.
00:43:27.319 --> 00:43:28.919
This is what Larry does.
00:43:29.239 --> 00:43:42.039
So, Larry, how do you how do you make hard right decisions when the easier option might be more profitable, more comfortable, more socially accepted?
00:43:42.439 --> 00:43:48.119
Walk us through your decision process of always making that hard right decision.
00:43:48.999 --> 00:43:50.999
Well, the first thing is it's the right decision, right?
00:43:51.079 --> 00:43:54.439
From an integrity and ethical standpoint, that's got to be your baseline.
00:43:54.519 --> 00:43:59.079
Like that's that's not like the high watermark, that's like the low watermark.
00:44:00.439 --> 00:44:02.279
Yeah, that's just the standard.
00:44:02.519 --> 00:44:05.159
And that's the making the decision to do that.
00:44:05.959 --> 00:44:11.319
You do the discipline, it becomes and determination becomes that, and then ultimately deliver.
00:44:11.639 --> 00:44:16.039
So the the first standard is is it do what's right, right?
00:44:16.199 --> 00:44:17.799
Is it the right thing to do?
00:44:18.119 --> 00:44:18.839
And that's it.
00:44:18.999 --> 00:44:21.079
And if it's not, I don't care.
00:44:21.239 --> 00:44:26.599
If you you could pay me a billion dollars, I'm not selling my soul.
00:44:26.919 --> 00:44:28.439
I'm just I'm not going to.
00:44:28.599 --> 00:44:29.559
I just won't.
00:44:29.719 --> 00:44:33.079
I've and I've walked away from deals where I could have made a lot of money.
00:44:33.239 --> 00:44:43.319
And if it's not ethical or doesn't, it seems even slightly squeamish, or if you the guy you're getting will the deal with, you've heard rumors, I won't do it.
00:44:43.479 --> 00:44:45.559
Birds of a feather flock together.
00:44:45.959 --> 00:44:51.319
And Larry, what's uh what's a leadership habit you've had to learn the right way?
00:44:51.639 --> 00:44:57.959
Something that maybe in the past you didn't value but early on, but now you realize changed everything.
00:44:58.359 --> 00:44:59.239
Being honest.
00:44:59.399 --> 00:45:01.719
When when I say honest, I'm not talking about being honest.
00:45:01.799 --> 00:45:04.599
I'm talking about being honest with the person you're talking to.
00:45:04.759 --> 00:45:06.759
Like, hey, you're not cut out for this.
00:45:06.999 --> 00:45:09.239
Do them a favor and tell them the truth.
00:45:09.639 --> 00:45:11.639
You try to as a sales guy, right?
00:45:11.719 --> 00:45:15.799
As a nice guy, you look, I don't like hurting people's feelings, right?
00:45:15.959 --> 00:45:17.319
I beat myself up enough.
00:45:17.399 --> 00:45:19.239
I don't need to hurt anybody else's feelings, right?
00:45:19.319 --> 00:45:20.919
I beat I hurt my own every day.
00:45:21.159 --> 00:45:27.879
And just being, if I could have done a better job of that, I think I would, I would have had more of an impact.
00:45:28.039 --> 00:45:31.479
So I'm really starting to try to really work on that kind of stuff.
00:45:31.639 --> 00:45:33.799
Just tell people the truth.
00:45:34.359 --> 00:45:43.559
You try to help people, like, oh, they're trying to start a business or something, and you'd be like, somebody's gonna be like, I'm just gonna tell you, I think it's a really, really bad idea, and here's why.
00:45:43.799 --> 00:45:47.079
Or I don't think you're set up for this, and this is why.
00:45:47.319 --> 00:45:49.319
And just be upfront with people.
00:45:49.719 --> 00:45:52.039
I I never I didn't do a very good job of that.
00:45:52.199 --> 00:45:58.279
I it just it was just because I didn't want to hurt people's feelings, but really it's not about hurting people's feelings.
00:45:58.359 --> 00:46:00.759
You're really saving them from themselves.
00:46:01.319 --> 00:46:18.679
So I wished I would have been more honest with people when it came to those kind of decisions and not sugarcoat stuff and just because I'm known as being very blunt about certain things, but then when it comes to if I'm gonna, if you ask me a question, I'm like, I don't think it's really a good idea, I would just say, ah, no, I think you're fine.
00:46:18.919 --> 00:46:21.799
Instead, I'd be like, I'd be like, Yeah, I think it's a terrible idea.
00:46:22.039 --> 00:46:23.079
And they'd be like, what?
00:46:24.119 --> 00:46:26.279
So, yeah, being honest in upfront.
00:46:27.079 --> 00:46:29.319
Larry, I just want to get your view on this.
00:46:29.639 --> 00:46:42.519
So, a lot of times we make excuses for other people, and I am such a fan of there are so many resources out there, coachings out there, mentors out there, books out there, whatever it is, to go figure it out.
00:46:42.599 --> 00:46:44.519
As you mentioned, it's something you do.
00:46:44.679 --> 00:46:47.719
And I reference Jack Canfield.
00:46:47.799 --> 00:46:50.199
He has a book called The Success Principles.
00:46:50.519 --> 00:46:53.799
And I always remember the first time I read chapter one.
00:46:54.119 --> 00:46:57.799
And chapter one says, take responsibility.
00:46:58.679 --> 00:46:59.399
That's it.
00:46:59.639 --> 00:47:01.079
Take responsibility.
00:47:01.319 --> 00:47:09.879
And I would love to get your take, Larry, on the concept of taking responsibility.
00:47:10.439 --> 00:47:11.719
Well, to me, it's easy.
00:47:11.799 --> 00:47:13.719
I think that's leadership 101.
00:47:13.799 --> 00:47:16.679
You are as the entrepreneur, you are responsible.
00:47:16.839 --> 00:47:22.919
Like I have 40 employees, and I am responsible for every single one of them's actions.
00:47:23.559 --> 00:47:24.359
Period.
00:47:24.599 --> 00:47:32.519
And so for me, that's such an easy thing because it's it's one of the greatest leadership roles you can have is just owning it.
00:47:32.599 --> 00:47:35.239
Like I don't, I'm not an I guy, I'm a we guy.
00:47:35.399 --> 00:47:38.039
So if somebody makes a mistake, I don't go, oh, well, so-and-so did this.
00:47:38.119 --> 00:47:39.719
I'm like, well, we messed up here.
00:47:39.959 --> 00:47:40.919
We did this.
00:47:41.079 --> 00:47:43.239
That was my responsibility to follow up on.
00:47:43.479 --> 00:47:47.639
I should have had something in place to be able to avoid that type of situation.
00:47:47.799 --> 00:47:49.559
And then when you have it, be responsible.
00:47:49.719 --> 00:47:52.519
Set up the thing so that in the future it doesn't happen again.
00:47:52.759 --> 00:47:55.559
Responsibility is kind of leadership 101.
00:47:55.799 --> 00:47:58.199
You are ultimately responsible.
00:47:58.519 --> 00:47:59.159
Period.
00:47:59.319 --> 00:48:01.799
And if you don't like it, then don't be an entrepreneur.
00:48:01.879 --> 00:48:04.119
And sure and heck, don't be a leader.
00:48:04.759 --> 00:48:05.399
Period.
00:48:05.639 --> 00:48:06.119
Love it.
00:48:06.279 --> 00:48:07.239
Love it, love it, love it.
00:48:07.319 --> 00:48:12.119
Since ever since I read that phrase, it just seems like you just said it 101.
00:48:12.199 --> 00:48:14.199
It's just how it should be.
00:48:14.599 --> 00:48:24.679
So for someone, Larry, for someone listening to this who feels successful on the outside, but they feel misaligned on the inside.
00:48:24.999 --> 00:48:32.599
What's the very first do what's right decision they need to make today, even if it's uncomfortable?
00:48:32.999 --> 00:48:34.599
You were never a mistake.
00:48:34.839 --> 00:48:35.879
You're not a mistake.
00:48:35.959 --> 00:48:40.759
You just got to get in there and that's a that's a deep question for all of us, right?
00:48:40.839 --> 00:48:41.639
And that really is.
00:48:41.799 --> 00:48:57.639
Yeah, when you're struggling, I one of the things that I do is if I'm having a really, really bad day, is I will like get on the roller or I got a machine that's called an assault bike, and I just get on that and just kind of work it out for 20 minutes.
00:48:57.879 --> 00:49:08.039
It does give you a lot of clarity and it does burn a lot of anxiety because this anxiousness that we all have through our minds and stuff like that is a huge help for that.
00:49:08.279 --> 00:49:12.919
Look, you're not a mistake, you're not perfect, but you just got to go kind of figure it out.
00:49:13.079 --> 00:49:18.519
And I tell you, if you're not doing this as an entrepreneur, I didn't do this until much later in life.
00:49:18.839 --> 00:49:25.079
Do psychological profiles or CIPIs, there's disc, there's a there's another one I can't remember.
00:49:25.479 --> 00:49:26.279
But go out and do that.
00:49:26.919 --> 00:49:28.439
My other crickets is another one.
00:49:28.679 --> 00:49:29.479
Yep, that's one.
00:49:29.639 --> 00:49:30.759
Yeah, what is that one though?
00:49:30.839 --> 00:49:31.879
What is that one called, though?
00:49:31.959 --> 00:49:32.679
There's a name for it.
00:49:32.759 --> 00:49:34.759
Is that but it anyway, it doesn't matter.
00:49:34.919 --> 00:49:37.799
Any of these, even like what Moe said, go do those.
00:49:37.879 --> 00:49:40.199
I tell you what, they are very enlightening.
00:49:40.359 --> 00:49:42.679
And don't take it and just read it yourself.
00:49:42.839 --> 00:49:48.359
Get with a professional, spend$300 on it, whatever you got to do, and get a true analysis.
00:49:48.599 --> 00:49:52.679
You're not broken, you're just different.
00:49:53.159 --> 00:49:54.279
You're just different.
00:49:54.439 --> 00:49:56.199
That you're you're not a mistake.
00:49:56.439 --> 00:49:59.799
It's like Mo, you have incredible skills of asking amazing questions.
00:50:00.119 --> 00:50:01.159
What a gift, right?
00:50:01.319 --> 00:50:02.999
What a gift, right?
00:50:03.399 --> 00:50:10.199
I don't have that meeting necessarily that great of a skill, but man, it doesn't mean I'm broken, just means you're better at something than I am.
00:50:10.439 --> 00:50:11.959
And that's okay.
00:50:12.279 --> 00:50:19.159
So guys, if you remember at the top of this episode, I said we were in for a thumbdinger of an episode.
00:50:19.559 --> 00:50:24.439
And put your hand up right now if we've delivered a thumbdinger of an episode.
00:50:24.679 --> 00:50:28.279
Larry, thank you so much for your insights today on the episode.
00:50:28.439 --> 00:50:32.199
If somebody wants to learn more about you, where do we send them to?
00:50:32.519 --> 00:50:43.799
So you can go to Larrygdixii.com or the bone the born or made podcast.com and we will reach back out to you, reach out to us, follow us on social media.
00:50:43.959 --> 00:50:48.279
We've got Build Not Born is our second book, and our first book was Born or Made.
00:50:48.519 --> 00:50:49.639
You can get those on Amazon.
00:50:49.719 --> 00:50:50.919
You can reach out to us anyway.
00:50:51.319 --> 00:50:55.479
Those two ways are absolutely the quickest and fastest way, and I will respond.
00:50:56.599 --> 00:50:57.639
Awesome, awesome.
00:50:57.799 --> 00:50:58.359
So honored.
00:50:58.439 --> 00:51:00.839
Larry, so great having you on the podcast today.
00:51:00.999 --> 00:51:05.079
Have an amazing rest of today, and we'll speak the next time.
00:51:05.159 --> 00:51:05.559
Ciao.
00:51:05.719 --> 00:51:06.279
Look forward to it.
00:51:06.359 --> 00:51:06.759
Bye-bye.
00:51:08.039 --> 00:51:11.319
Thank you for listening to Purpose Driven Success with Mo Salami.
00:51:11.639 --> 00:51:15.559
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review.
00:51:15.639 --> 00:51:18.759
It's one of the best ways to help others discover the show.
00:51:18.919 --> 00:51:22.999
You can find links and resources and show notes at our website.
00:51:23.159 --> 00:51:29.879
And if today's episode inspired you, check out one of our other insight-filled, value-packed episodes.
00:51:30.039 --> 00:51:37.479
Next week we'll have another amazing guest, so stay tuned for even more real stories and actionable insights.
00:51:37.719 --> 00:51:46.359
Work on your mindset, work on your skill set, and always move in the direction of the result you want before you see the result you want.
00:51:46.519 --> 00:51:50.039
And until next time, do the best you can consistently.
00:51:50.359 --> 00:51:51.159
Ciao.
00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:03.520
We were very good kids when it came to that, very respectful.
00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:08.880
He was walking away, he stopped, he turned back, got right up in my face, and he's like, Larry, I just want to let you know something.
00:00:09.039 --> 00:00:10.400
He goes, I think you're the dumbest.
00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:15.439
And he called me an MF or mother to my face for not going to college.
00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:25.839
And I can remember, like it was yesterday, thinking to myself, like, I am going to make more money than you ever made in your entire life.
00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:33.439
And I'll tell you what, until I wrote that book, my first book, Born or Maid, I did not realize how much that had driven me.
00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:40.320
It was a little bit of a grudge, but I held to this against this guy because he had said that to me for no reason.
00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:42.159
Like I was a nice kid.
00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:43.759
I should go up and shake his hand.
00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:48.320
That one situation could have been one of my most pivotal moments.
00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:55.840
Now, I've been able to take negative energy, and I tell people this all the time, and turn it into motivation.
00:00:56.399 --> 00:00:57.520
And I believe that.
00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:00.560
Like, right, there's there's this voice over here, and this voice over here.
00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:01.520
This is negative.
00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:04.879
Well, I'm gonna grab that negative and throw him over here and use that energy.
00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:10.560
So now I got twice the power on the positive side to drive and motivate me.
00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:27.920
Welcome to Purpose Driven Success Podcast, where real journeys, mindset shifts, and strategic insights meet purpose-driven success.
00:01:28.239 --> 00:01:30.560
I'm your host, Mo Salami.
00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:44.239
Every week we dive into real conversations with high-achieving founders and leaders, uncovering the mindsets, strategies, and takeaways that help you define and achieve success on your own terms.
00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:49.920
Welcome to another episode of Purpose-Driven Success.
00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:54.400
And the word I'm going to use for today's episode is humdinger.
00:01:55.280 --> 00:01:58.959
We are in for a humdinger of an episode today.
00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:01.040
And write it down, mark my words.
00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:01.760
Larry G.
00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:11.599
Dix II is a speaker, mentor, and entrepreneur who built success from the ground up on a simple but uncompromising principle.
00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:16.159
Do what's right, especially when no one's watching.
00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:25.759
Larry's journey began at 18, loading lumber in the Texas heat, where discipline wasn't a concept, discipline was survival.
00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:41.680
From there, Larry went on to build a multi-million dollar manufacturing business, invest in real estate, and launch a cattle ranch, all whilst testing himself in endurance racing and motorsport challenges that demanded more than ambition alone.
00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:49.360
Today, Larry teaches leaders and entrepreneurs how to operate with clarity through his do what's right framework.
00:02:49.520 --> 00:03:05.599
And that comprises decision, discipline, determination, and deliver, helping high performers rebuild identity, cut through the noise, and execute with integrity when pressure is at its peak, and the stakes are real.
00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:09.680
Larry G Dix II, welcome to purpose-driven success.
00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:11.520
Mo, thanks for having me, man.
00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:12.240
I'm all excited.
00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:14.000
I want to hear about me too.
00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:14.960
Awesome.
00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:16.560
I could have told the longer version.
00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:18.879
We're in for the humdinger, like I mentioned.
00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:24.000
Larry, so obviously we've spoken before, we had a pre-call, and it's so funny.
00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:25.439
I just want to be really transparent.
00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:39.199
So Larry and I had a pre-call a few weeks ago, and I've met tons of people in my time, tons and tons and tons of all levels of what you can call whether it's success or fulfillment or whatever, and they've done incredible things.
00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:44.879
And when I met Larry for the first time, something happened that never happens with me.
00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:56.080
I went into this fan mode because I think when you get to that intersection of thinking, oh, I need to step up, really like step up my level, even if your level's not so bad.
00:03:56.240 --> 00:03:58.000
This had been on my mind for a while.
00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:07.599
And Larry and I had a prequel, and all of the beats in that conversation was just like Larry was just an epitome of step up, step up, step up.
00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:09.680
So just wanted to share that.
00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:14.639
Larry, before we get into the frameworks and the ideas, I just want to start with your story.
00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:21.439
Well, I grew up with two amazing parents that always made me and my brother feel like we were number one.
00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:29.120
And they were in every sporting event, everything that we ever did, even if we settled a bench, which quite frankly I did quite a bit, especially in basketball.
00:04:29.279 --> 00:04:30.399
And they were just wonderful.
00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:39.759
We had a wonderful life growing up in South Texas and getting to run around the woods and do fun stuff and chase rattlesnakes and poke them and throw rocks at cows or whatever.
00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:40.800
It was just a great life.
00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:43.680
And my mom and dad put a big emphasis on work.
00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:44.720
He had to work hard.
00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:48.480
My dad, I watched my dad graduate from college when I was 12 years old.
00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:51.279
And he grew up dirt floor poor, living under people's houses.
00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:53.680
He had a tough life, and his father beat the crap out of him.
00:04:53.920 --> 00:05:00.079
He broke that cycle and he kind of set that standard that you break the cycle, whatever you got to do to stop that.
00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:01.040
And he did.
00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:02.800
Now he was a hard man.
00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:07.920
And my mom was an amazing mother because she had this tenacious just fight in her.
00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:10.639
And my brother and I both got that really from her.
00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:13.360
So I was not going to college.
00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:15.199
My dad was very disappointed with that.
00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:18.399
I didn't really know that until later on in life when he said get a job.
00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:20.480
So I went and got a job working at a lumber yard.
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My first position was called a yard dog, which basically means you are a human forklift.
00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:28.879
This was 40, 42 years, 44 years ago.
00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:31.839
This was before we had a lot of technology.
00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:37.120
And I realized very quick in the hot Texas sun that man, on asphalt, it's hot.
00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:41.439
And I was very driven to try to get ahead and do something big.
00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:46.319
I always just had this incredible drive that I wanted to be successful, whatever that meant.
00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:48.240
And I didn't even really know what it meant at the time.
00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:51.600
I'd been thinking I was going to be a millionaire since I was 15 years old.
00:05:51.839 --> 00:05:53.839
And 50 years ago, you didn't know what that meant.
00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:54.720
It was kind of whatever.
00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:55.680
It was just a number, right?
00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:58.480
Now we throw that number around like it's nothing.
00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:02.480
And so I moved up in this company very, very fast.
00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:09.279
I never forget one day I was loading a truck and on top of this truck by myself, and I was doing what's called a banding machine.
00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:16.319
And I see all the outside sales guys walking up on this parking lot, and they're driving nice cars and they were wearing nice shirts and they were starched.
00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:18.079
And I was like, man, that's what I want to do.
00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:19.439
I want to go to that level.
00:06:19.759 --> 00:06:26.000
And fast forward two and a half, three years later, I was the youngest outside salesman in the history of the company.
00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:31.360
And they started investing in me and putting time in me and saw some potential that I didn't see.
00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:40.959
And you can kind of fast forward, but ultimately got into sales, worked at a trust plant, which I own now, and was found I was good at sales.
00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:47.519
And then they let me run a trust plant at 26, built one at 29, and then started my own at 34.
00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:49.920
I actually was on the process of building a second one.
00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:56.879
And so I just had this insatiable drive to just be better than the next guy, whatever that meant.
00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:00.160
And I had a little bit of a chip on my shoulder because I didn't go to college.
00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:05.759
And it was a pretty big emphasis in town and where we grew up in Austin, which was the University of Texas.
00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:11.519
And a lot of guys I worked with were graduates from there, and ultimately they ended up working for me.
00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:15.199
And I just had this will to just outwork other people.
00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:16.560
And I think you and I talked about it.
00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:20.959
I never worry about things because I just know I'll outwork you.
00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:23.759
And it gives me confidence, right?
00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:29.360
That I know that no matter what, I'm willing to get up early and stay late when the average guy doesn't want to.
00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:30.639
They talk about it.
00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:34.160
But when it really matters is when it's time to do it.
00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:41.839
So how fundamental would you say outworking everyone has been as a key to your success?
00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:43.040
I think it's huge.
00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:43.439
I do.
00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:47.199
You hear a lot of people say that it's not like I coined it, but it's true.
00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:58.879
If you're willing to spend an extra hour five days a week at work, that's 260 hours a year of additional time that you can gain an advantage over someone else.
00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:00.480
And so, yeah, you can do that.
00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:04.000
You want to set the standard where you're the guy there early, the guy there late.
00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:08.879
And you may not think people are paying attention to that, but there's somebody's paying attention to that.
00:08:08.959 --> 00:08:18.000
And there were a lot of opportunities in my life where I got opportunities because they knew I was willing to do whatever I had to do and I would come in early and they could depend on me.
00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:21.920
I was a very dependable person and still am to this day.
00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:24.959
Yes, you are, as you proved, but today's cool.
00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:26.480
That's a story for another day.
00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:31.360
When you think back to starting at 18, loading lumber in the Texas heat.
00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:32.720
Sounds like a movie, right?
00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:35.039
What did success mean to you at that time?
00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:38.320
And how has that definition changed since then?
00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:39.919
Oh, for sure.
00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:41.279
It was little steps, right?
00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:43.200
It's like the way I do everything in my life now.
00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:44.480
It's like I see something.
00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:48.559
This was like I wanted to be a supervisor, so I became a supervisor.
00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:56.960
I wanted to be an outside sell, so I took a job inside the store as a stalker, but it gets me to the next step.
00:08:57.120 --> 00:09:02.000
And so everything I've ever done is to ultimately to get to the goal, whatever that goal is.
00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:03.759
And the goal changes all the time.
00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:05.519
Sometimes we get to the point we're comfortable.
00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:07.519
I've never been comfortable, and I don't know why.
00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:09.600
I don't know that that's a blessing or a curse.
00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:13.360
So it's no different today than it was 45 years ago.
00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:16.960
It's just a different target, but it's always the next step.
00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:19.679
That's what I always think about as the next step.
00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:25.440
I don't get too far ahead of myself because what good does that do if you can't get over this hurdle?
00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:31.039
And so I just have always kind of been the guy that just I wanted to be an outside sales, so I became an outside sales.
00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:32.240
I wanted to understand management.
00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:34.879
So I started back then, you listen to cassette tapes, right?
00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:37.679
And you would read a book or read magazines.
00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:43.200
We didn't have access to technology and information like we so you had to put some work in to get that information.
00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:44.960
And I was just always willing to do it.
00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:51.840
I had a library card when I was working at Striplin Blade because I would go to the library, but because that's where you got technology.
00:09:51.919 --> 00:09:54.159
You had to go to a bookstore to get a book, right?
00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:57.360
I couldn't afford to buy books, so I went to the library and got them for free.
00:09:57.600 --> 00:10:02.799
And Larry, taking me back to the earliest version of yourself, work in those long days.
00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:05.120
What did a hard day's work look like?
00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:09.519
And what were you telling yourself when nobody was around to hear it?
00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:13.120
The Bible talks about this mind, body, spirit, and it's the mind.
00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:15.279
So you got to get your mind under control.
00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:19.840
And I didn't really understand how hard I'd worked on that really till much later in life.
00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:23.840
And I was just always able to put myself in a different spot.
00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:34.399
When you're out there working and you're getting just beat down, it's hot and you're sweating, you're making$4 an hour, and you see the guy next to you making$8 an hour, and you're like, how do I get there?
00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:38.000
And you just got to keep your head down and just keep driving, right?
00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:39.679
I love that I heard it a while back.
00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:41.600
Anything worth happens uphill, right?
00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:44.399
And when you're running, if you're a runner, what do you do?
00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:47.759
You drop your arms down a little bit, you lean forward, and you just drive.
00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:49.840
And that's what I always was able to do.
00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:53.840
I never really got into some serious pity parties when it came to work.
00:10:53.919 --> 00:11:00.559
I could get emotionally pity parties, but I just never allowed myself to get caught up in the fact that I wasn't good enough.
00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:04.240
My parents always told me, if you're going to be a ditch digger, be the best ditch digger you could be.
00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:07.759
And so even when I was stocked in lumber, I just wanted to be the best.
00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:16.879
So I learned that if I ran and they would see me running across with the black hot 120-degree asphalt, they were like, hey, that kid's got something.
00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:23.200
So I was willing to go take that extra step, maybe that extra run, where the average person wouldn't.
00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:28.320
And so I just, again, I guess it always felt like I knew that I could outwork the next guy.
00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:30.720
That just helped drive me all the time.
00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:35.679
I still believe to this day that if the world were to end tomorrow, we all gonna start over.
00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:41.200
I feel like I'm gonna win because I know at 62 years old, I will still outwork you.
00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:48.320
Now, it maybe take me longer days, and you may be able to do it in 10 hours, it may take me 14, but I'm still willing to work 15.
00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:50.159
And that's the difference.
00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:56.639
And I think about things that now, as I've gotten older and more philosophical, I'm always looking for things that are bigger than me.
00:11:57.120 --> 00:11:57.440
Right?
00:11:57.600 --> 00:11:59.919
You got to have a goal that's bigger than you.
00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:04.639
My wife's security, my grandchildren's security, my adult children are fine.
00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:06.480
So it's stuff that's bigger than me.
00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:09.279
Hearing so much good stuff here, Larry.
00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:13.679
And how much has intention setting?
00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:21.679
You mentioned some age 15, you said I want to be a millionaire, and how much has proximity played in your life?
00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:24.639
You mean proximity to other people?
00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:33.039
So, for example, you mentioned you wanted to be in sales on inside sales, so you were on the outside and you wanted to be a millionaire and you just set that intention.
00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:51.519
So how much in other than those two examples, how much did in or even including those two examples, how much did set an intention and proximity to other people, proximity to opportunities, how much has that played and being intentional with those things, how much has that played a part in your trajectory?
00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:53.840
So I had one major goal, right?
00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:55.440
That was to be a millionaire.
00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:58.000
My goal was actually to be a millionaire at 30.
00:12:58.159 --> 00:12:59.519
I don't know where I came up with that.
00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:03.840
I remember that specifically because I told my wife, Sheryl, now I've married 42 years.
00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:07.039
I told her that when I was like 19, I would be a millionaire when I'm 30.
00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:13.360
I think one of the things that helped me, intentional or non-intentional, was I was willing to pivot.
00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:17.600
If you had asked me when I was 18 years, 15 years old, you're gonna be a millionaire.
00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:18.399
How are you gonna do it?
00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:20.879
I would have looked at you and said, I have no idea.
00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:23.759
But so what happened was I went to work at the lumber yard.
00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:25.919
I saw an opportunity, I took it.
00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:28.879
I was at outside sales, the economy collapsed.
00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:34.399
They gave me an opportunity to go into outside sales into a trust manufacturing facility.
00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:35.840
I was willing to pivot.
00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:40.399
So I never got locked in, like, oh, I'm gonna do sales design, I'm gonna do this process.
00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:45.120
It's just like whatever, whichever way I had to go to get to the main goal, I was willing to do that.
00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:50.399
I think people get stuck on this idea that I'm gonna do this, this, this, this, this, this, to this.
00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:53.279
Well, that may not be where the opportunities are.
00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:55.919
So you have to be willing to pivot.
00:13:56.159 --> 00:14:01.519
So if something happens and you got a brick wall, right?
00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:04.720
Well, you've either got to go under it, through it, over it, or around it.
00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:07.440
Well, most people think, oh, well, I just got to drive through it.
00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:17.200
Well, you could be standing back going, well, I just move over here to the left, five degrees, and 20 feet, I'll get around the wall, and then I'll be right back on my goal.
00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:19.440
And that's where I think people get locked in.
00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:23.200
I'm always willing to pivot and learn.
00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:26.639
And if it's something different, I'm willing to take the chance and go do it.
00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:29.519
So I never got locked in on one specific thing.
00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:31.440
Maybe that's because I didn't have a college degree.
00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:33.039
There was no plan B for me, right?
00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:34.639
When they say burn the boats.
00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:36.480
I just did whatever I had to do.
00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:38.559
And it just never affected me.
00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:41.519
If they needed me to take the trash out, I took the trash out.
00:15:53.559 --> 00:15:59.079
Larry, one of the things that you're known for, and it's even in your frameworks, is discipline.
00:15:59.319 --> 00:16:07.959
And was there ever a specific moment where your discipline or push-through, no matter what approach, stopped working?
00:16:08.039 --> 00:16:09.159
And what was happening?
00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:11.240
And what did you realize in real time?
00:16:11.879 --> 00:16:14.919
No, I can't, as far as something's very specific.
00:16:15.079 --> 00:16:21.079
I remember there were times that I had significant doubt about things.
00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:26.120
Like in 2010, I was on the verge of bankruptcy and didn't know what to do.
00:16:26.199 --> 00:16:27.719
And I was struggling mentally.
00:16:27.799 --> 00:16:28.600
I drank a lot.
00:16:28.839 --> 00:16:31.399
I was in a really, really bad spot.
00:16:31.639 --> 00:16:37.399
But I was able to push myself to the limit of that, like, no matter again, it was that same thing.
00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:39.559
Like, I'll figure this out, right?
00:16:39.879 --> 00:16:42.679
One of our kids said something the other day and it shocked me.
00:16:42.759 --> 00:16:48.360
And it all of a sudden I remember is they're always like, Well, Dad, your comment is always, well, we'll just figure it out.
00:16:48.600 --> 00:16:49.799
And I thought, you know what?
00:16:49.879 --> 00:16:50.360
They're right.
00:16:50.439 --> 00:16:51.159
That's what I did.
00:16:51.319 --> 00:16:56.279
And so even if I had those moments, I just figured it out.
00:16:56.439 --> 00:16:59.399
So I never, I never really do you struggle?
00:16:59.559 --> 00:17:01.319
Sure, I struggle day by day, right?
00:17:01.399 --> 00:17:02.199
That's just life.
00:17:02.279 --> 00:17:03.240
That's the mind, right?
00:17:03.319 --> 00:17:08.839
The mind is a avarice amount of negative, positive, whatever you want it to be.
00:17:09.079 --> 00:17:10.279
So I never really had that.
00:17:10.360 --> 00:17:18.039
I can go back and say, like, there was one moment that make or break on my entire life of discipline, but I always depended on it.
00:17:18.200 --> 00:17:19.799
So I just always pushed around it.
00:17:19.880 --> 00:17:21.319
I just figured it out like the wall.
00:17:21.559 --> 00:17:24.680
You just move, just make a 12 degree angle, move.
00:17:24.759 --> 00:17:25.480
You'll get around it.
00:17:25.640 --> 00:17:27.559
May take you a little while, but you can get around it.
00:17:28.039 --> 00:17:29.240
So awesome.
00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:40.680
Yeah, I really like this concept of pushing through because the alternative is to go straight into conversations about burnout almost before anything's been done.
00:17:40.759 --> 00:17:43.480
I haven't lifted the pen yet, and I'm speaking about burnout.
00:17:43.720 --> 00:17:45.640
Obviously, burnout's a very real thing.
00:17:46.039 --> 00:17:52.279
Larry, you built across multiple arenas, manufacturing, real estate, ranching, racing.
00:17:52.759 --> 00:18:00.120
Where did you feel the most internal friction or burnout that others might not have seen?
00:18:00.440 --> 00:18:03.000
Oh, definitely during the housing downturn.
00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:07.799
Well, the first thing I did was when I started my business, I ran completely out of money in six months.
00:18:07.960 --> 00:18:08.680
Like I was broke.
00:18:08.759 --> 00:18:11.319
I had no money, didn't even know I was going to make payroll.
00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:13.880
Those are the things that nobody talks about or sees.
00:18:13.960 --> 00:18:17.240
I guess everybody talks about it now, but it was brutal.
00:18:17.400 --> 00:18:18.920
So what I did was I doubled down.
00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:20.600
I hired two outside salespeople.
00:18:20.759 --> 00:18:23.720
I literally did not know how I was going to pay them.
00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:29.400
And the first guy sold a$35,000 job, and the guy paid up front.
00:18:29.640 --> 00:18:30.040
Right.
00:18:30.200 --> 00:18:35.000
So I didn't have a plan, but I was willing to take a chance and it paid off.
00:18:35.240 --> 00:18:41.880
And so I just kept driving, and the one outside sales guy still works for me 26 years later.
00:18:42.279 --> 00:18:43.240
I took a chance on him.
00:18:43.320 --> 00:18:45.560
I remember sitting there and he goes, Well, you're so new.
00:18:45.640 --> 00:18:47.400
And I literally did not know I was gonna pay this guy.
00:18:47.480 --> 00:18:49.160
And he's like, I just don't know if I should make this chance.
00:18:49.320 --> 00:18:52.759
And I looked at him, I said, Harry, I said, Here's what you can look at.
00:18:52.920 --> 00:19:00.120
I said, if we make this 25 years from now, you're gonna look back and go, Man, I took a chance and we did something great.
00:19:00.759 --> 00:19:01.560
And you know what?
00:19:01.640 --> 00:19:02.600
He goes, Okay.
00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:05.400
But I sold him on the dream.
00:19:06.120 --> 00:19:07.800
There you go, there you go.
00:19:08.279 --> 00:19:24.120
So I was on LinkedIn the other week, the other day, the other week, and I was reading a great philosopher, and the great philosopher said, and I'll paraphrase, it was along the lines of with entrepreneurship, you're either on the way up or on the way down.
00:19:24.200 --> 00:19:26.040
There's never like really stasis.
00:19:26.440 --> 00:19:32.279
And so either you're on the way up, on the way down, and it's just that ride, that journey.
00:19:32.440 --> 00:19:37.560
The great philosopher, you might recognize you you're writing this on LinkedIn, by the way, is your good self.
00:19:37.720 --> 00:19:39.480
So talk to us a little bit about that.
00:19:39.560 --> 00:19:45.560
And I'm thinking about early stage entrepreneurs that might be listening to this conversation.
00:19:46.120 --> 00:19:46.440
Sure.
00:19:46.519 --> 00:19:48.360
So you get the initial high, right?
00:19:48.519 --> 00:19:55.000
That's my story, is like I talk about everybody sees you at the peak, but they don't see you when you're going in or coming out, right?
00:19:55.080 --> 00:19:57.080
That's the thing that nobody talks or sees.
00:19:57.240 --> 00:19:59.320
They just see, oh, and you got lucky, right?
00:19:59.640 --> 00:20:01.400
The entrepreneurial dream is amazing.
00:20:01.560 --> 00:20:05.480
You start a business, you have all this, you I raised$250,000 from a guy.
00:20:05.800 --> 00:20:09.480
And what they don't talk about is that six months in, I was broke.
00:20:09.560 --> 00:20:11.480
Now I'm not going in, I'm at the bottom.
00:20:11.560 --> 00:20:14.040
Like I literally don't know how I'm gonna make payroll.
00:20:14.279 --> 00:20:14.759
Right.
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:20.680
And so you just gotta always know, even as an entrepreneur, it's gonna be sexy for the first six months.
00:20:20.840 --> 00:20:22.519
And then after that, you're gonna find out.
00:20:22.680 --> 00:20:27.320
And what happens with, and there was a guy I saw a few months ago, he talked about this now.
00:20:27.480 --> 00:20:39.880
So there's this amazing high, and then there's this low that you know, most entrepreneurs quit down here when all you got to do is drive, keep coming, you'll come back out, and then they don't ever make it to here because they always quit.
00:20:40.040 --> 00:20:44.519
And I think about how many times I know people that quit.
00:20:44.680 --> 00:20:49.960
Like in the 08 through 12 American Great Recession, so many people quit.
00:20:50.040 --> 00:20:51.400
Now, a lot of guys got taken out.
00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:53.240
There was nothing you were gonna do about it, right?
00:20:53.320 --> 00:21:01.240
There were just sometimes, and I was one of the I almost got taken out, but I was willing to do whatever I had to do honestly and ethically to stay in business.
00:21:01.320 --> 00:21:07.240
And I filled vending machines at night for three years, but nobody talks about that part of the cavern, right?
00:21:07.400 --> 00:21:09.480
Everybody just goes, oh, now they see me now.
00:21:09.640 --> 00:21:11.320
And they're like, oh, oh yeah, wow.
00:21:11.720 --> 00:21:12.519
He got lucky.
00:21:12.600 --> 00:21:13.800
I'm like, lucky.
00:21:14.040 --> 00:21:20.120
I had there's three peats in there, but if you think about it, there's six valleys because you're going in or coming out.
00:21:20.200 --> 00:21:28.360
There may only be three, but you think about there's all the way down, all the way back up, and then you get this little bitty peek, and everybody goes, Oh man, look how good you're doing.
00:21:28.680 --> 00:21:34.200
But as an entrepreneur, you're fixing to get your butt kicked because you're probably going back down again.
00:21:34.279 --> 00:21:35.480
You just got to be ready.
00:21:35.800 --> 00:21:38.360
But there's light at the end of the tunnel, and just keep driving.
00:21:38.519 --> 00:21:40.840
And I may be broke next year, who knows?
00:21:41.160 --> 00:21:44.600
But you just keep driving, keep pushing, and move on.
00:21:44.759 --> 00:21:47.240
But yeah, I love that analogy about the peaks.
00:21:47.320 --> 00:21:56.360
I just I think that's the perfect entrepreneurial experience as you are in the going in or coming out of the valley 90% of your career.
00:21:56.840 --> 00:22:00.279
I'm thinking maybe it was oh wait, maybe it was the vendor machine.
00:22:00.440 --> 00:22:01.640
You just gave the example.
00:22:01.880 --> 00:22:06.680
What's the moment, Larry, that sticks with you where things didn't go the way they should have?
00:22:06.759 --> 00:22:11.480
And what did you do immediately after that moment that most people would never see?
00:22:11.960 --> 00:22:14.759
My number one thing was when I ran out of money.
00:22:15.080 --> 00:22:20.519
I was able to, in my mind, I meet with this guy and he goes, Larry, you're never gonna make it unless you hire salespeople.
00:22:20.759 --> 00:22:26.200
Well, I'm sitting there trying to get this guy to give me work from another manufacturer, but he was a wise old man.
00:22:26.279 --> 00:22:28.279
He goes, You'll never make it doing it all yourself.
00:22:28.440 --> 00:22:35.080
So that's when I went out and hired two salespeople when I didn't literally know how I was going to pay them.
00:22:35.240 --> 00:22:36.840
And I was willing to do that.
00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:39.240
There's something about youthful exuberance.
00:22:39.320 --> 00:22:46.200
It's hard to be an old entrepreneur, old man entrepreneur when you're young, because you just feel like you can just conquer the world.
00:22:46.360 --> 00:22:50.840
I went back and looked, I didn't even know it when I was writing my book.
00:22:50.920 --> 00:23:00.600
We were in a recession when I started my manufacturing business, but I had so much gumption that there was no way I could fail that I just did it anyway.
00:23:01.400 --> 00:23:02.600
I didn't think I would fail.
00:23:02.680 --> 00:23:06.840
I just failure was never even, I never even thought about it until about six months in.
00:23:06.920 --> 00:23:09.800
I'm like, oh crap, this is not good.
00:23:10.600 --> 00:23:10.840
Well.
00:23:11.320 --> 00:23:12.440
Did that where did that come from?
00:23:12.519 --> 00:23:15.080
Where did that mindset, that drive come from?
00:23:15.240 --> 00:23:24.279
Because it sounds like you have like a long-term thinking, just mentions the ups and downs, and like a really solid, rock solid mindset.
00:23:24.360 --> 00:23:25.640
Where did that come from?
00:23:25.880 --> 00:23:28.440
No, I again I think it was parental.
00:23:28.600 --> 00:23:32.200
We were never like, oh, here's like do this and I'll pay.
00:23:32.279 --> 00:23:34.120
Like around the house, we had to work, we had to do things.
00:23:34.200 --> 00:23:35.160
We had to mow the grass.
00:23:35.240 --> 00:23:38.360
We had to help my dad build things and chop, chop down trees.
00:23:38.440 --> 00:23:40.519
And that was just that was just life.
00:23:40.680 --> 00:23:42.040
There was a key moment in my life.
00:23:42.200 --> 00:23:43.160
I've told this story a few times.
00:23:43.240 --> 00:23:45.000
I don't know if I ever told on a podcast.
00:23:45.240 --> 00:23:46.759
I'm 17 years old.
00:23:46.920 --> 00:23:48.360
I graduate from high school.
00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:52.040
I'm 142 out of 147 in my class.
00:23:52.440 --> 00:23:58.040
And that's not real impressive when your father graduates, you see your father graduate from college, right?
00:23:58.120 --> 00:24:00.680
So you're like probably not going to college.
00:24:00.840 --> 00:24:03.800
I'm working in a sports complex in Texas.
00:24:04.040 --> 00:24:05.560
And I'll never forget this.
00:24:05.720 --> 00:24:07.160
I just graduated high school.
00:24:07.320 --> 00:24:10.120
I'm walking across this field, sports complex.
00:24:10.200 --> 00:24:11.000
It's beautiful.
00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:15.480
And I see one of my dad's friends walking up to me and he comes up to me and he started chatting.
00:24:15.560 --> 00:24:20.840
And I was always a very nice young man, very respectful, because my dad was always like, yes, sir, no, sir, no ma'am, yes, ma'am.
00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:24.200
We were very, very good kids when it came to that, very respectful.
00:24:24.360 --> 00:24:29.480
And he was walking away, he stopped, he turned back and got right up in my face, and he's like, Larry, I just want to let you know something.
00:24:29.640 --> 00:24:31.000
He goes, I think you're the dumbest.
00:24:31.080 --> 00:24:36.040
And he called me an MF or mother ever to my face for not going to college.
00:24:36.200 --> 00:24:46.440
And I can remember, like it was yesterday, thinking to myself, like, I am going to make more money than you ever made in your entire life.
00:24:46.680 --> 00:24:53.960
And I'll tell you what, until I wrote that book, my first book, Born or Maid, I did not realize how much that had driven me.
00:24:54.120 --> 00:25:00.920
It was a little bit of a grudge, but I held to this against this guy because he had said that to me for no reason.
00:25:01.080 --> 00:25:02.840
Like I was a nice kid.
00:25:03.160 --> 00:25:06.920
But now I look at it, I'm like, man, I don't even know if he's still alive or not.
00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:08.680
I always have to ask my dad the guy's name.
00:25:08.759 --> 00:25:09.960
I should go up and shake his hand.
00:25:10.040 --> 00:25:14.519
That one situation could have been one of my most pivotal moments.
00:25:14.680 --> 00:25:22.040
Now, I've been able to take negative energy, and I tell people this all the time, and turn it into motivation.
00:25:22.519 --> 00:25:23.640
And I believe that.
00:25:23.800 --> 00:25:26.759
Like, right, there's there's this voice over here, this voice over here.
00:25:26.840 --> 00:25:27.640
This is negative.
00:25:27.800 --> 00:25:31.080
Well, I'm going to grab that negative and throw him over here and use that energy.
00:25:31.160 --> 00:25:36.440
So now I got twice the power on the positive side to drive and motivate me.
00:25:36.519 --> 00:25:41.960
And that one guy, seriously, that really jacked with my head in a good way.
00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:43.320
What a great anchor.
00:25:43.400 --> 00:25:46.759
And perhaps he didn't mean it in that way, but what a great anchor for your progression.
00:25:47.480 --> 00:25:47.720
Who knows?
00:25:47.800 --> 00:25:49.080
I he may not even have said that.
00:25:49.160 --> 00:25:55.320
I don't even, honestly, I can see him saying it, but maybe he didn't call me MF, but that's what I remember.
00:25:55.480 --> 00:25:56.840
And it makes a great story.
00:25:57.000 --> 00:25:57.640
That's what I remember.
00:25:57.720 --> 00:25:59.640
And I can tell you what, it motivated me.
00:26:00.040 --> 00:26:01.560
So just a quick divert.
00:26:01.800 --> 00:26:03.080
So speaking about college.
00:26:03.160 --> 00:26:06.600
So obviously college is important and all that great stuff.
00:26:06.920 --> 00:26:16.120
And one of my philosophies is that, well, I I guess I heard it somewhere, but I agree with it so much, is there's more than one way to get to heaven.
00:26:16.360 --> 00:26:20.519
Meaning, in this context, for sure, college is right for some people.
00:26:20.759 --> 00:26:23.560
College might not be right for other people's trajectories.
00:26:23.720 --> 00:26:26.120
And then college is for the best for some professions, right?
00:26:26.200 --> 00:26:27.400
There's some that just need it.
00:26:27.560 --> 00:26:28.600
What's your take on that?
00:26:28.759 --> 00:26:36.279
I'm thinking of a person that's listening to this and they've gone to college, or maybe they haven't gone to college, different pathways, different trajectories.
00:26:36.519 --> 00:26:38.279
What's your take on that in general?
00:26:38.440 --> 00:26:46.680
What I just mentioned, as in there's more than one way to get to heaven, meaning college is right for some, college is essential for some situations.
00:26:47.240 --> 00:26:52.200
And frankly, training or another direction is right for others.
00:26:52.440 --> 00:26:56.600
Well, if you can find something you're good at, like I was really good at sales.
00:26:56.680 --> 00:27:02.759
Like I clearly, my mom told me, I can remember she's long dead now, but she's like, Yeah, you were talking to people when you were three years old.
00:27:02.920 --> 00:27:03.240
You know what I mean?
00:27:03.320 --> 00:27:04.519
This is what you always used to tell me.
00:27:04.600 --> 00:27:06.279
So I was born a sales guy, right?
00:27:06.360 --> 00:27:11.080
I was always willing to sell and got a good smile, and I would learn a product.
00:27:11.560 --> 00:27:15.080
So find something you're good at and then just master it.
00:27:15.160 --> 00:27:19.400
Don't try to find something you're passionate about or you like, oh, I like riding horses.
00:27:19.560 --> 00:27:22.519
Well, that's fine, but you may not ever make any money at it.
00:27:22.759 --> 00:27:23.800
You may not be great at it.
00:27:23.960 --> 00:27:26.840
Find the stuff that you're really, really good at.
00:27:27.000 --> 00:27:28.759
And maybe I just thought about this.
00:27:28.840 --> 00:27:32.440
So there's a profile system out there called DISC, D-I-S-C.
00:27:32.920 --> 00:27:44.040
Maybe we should start having kids take that early on in life and find out because what you figure out is you're trying to conform to all these things in society, but you may not be any good at them.
00:27:44.279 --> 00:27:47.240
Like, I'm never going to be an engineer, right?
00:27:47.480 --> 00:27:51.480
You may be an engineer, you speak what, five languages or some crazy thing like that.
00:27:51.720 --> 00:27:54.519
I'm not, I can barely speak one, English, right?
00:27:54.759 --> 00:28:02.519
So it's you find out what you're good at and then you master it and you get around people that are going to make you better at it.
00:28:02.680 --> 00:28:21.400
And now with technology and the wealth of information we have, you could argue, Mo, that you could almost become an engineer without going to college now, from an intellectual standpoint, because of the amount of information that's out there for free.
00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:28.519
So your original question, I always think find, figure out what you're good at and just start to master it.
00:28:28.680 --> 00:28:34.840
There was a guy, I think it's Maxwell, he talks about say you're a five, a six, a seven, and an eight on these four different categories.
00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:38.920
Well, why would you work really hard at a five to try to become an eight?
00:28:39.080 --> 00:28:42.360
Why wouldn't you go work on your skill that's an eight and become a ten?
00:28:43.000 --> 00:28:45.400
Because there's not too many tens on anything out there.
00:28:45.480 --> 00:28:52.040
And that's where I think we get confused and we think, oh, well, I want to do this, or we get sucked in on this because of social media.
00:28:52.279 --> 00:28:53.800
Doesn't mean you're any good at it.
00:28:54.040 --> 00:29:00.120
I had to teach myself how to read really, really well in my 30s because I realized I needed to understand comprehension.
00:29:00.200 --> 00:29:02.920
I had to put a lot of effort into that, right?
00:29:03.400 --> 00:29:08.279
And so I just think college is great for certain things.
00:29:08.360 --> 00:29:11.560
And obviously, you can't be a doctor, lawyers, engineers, and everything.
00:29:11.640 --> 00:29:21.640
But if you're just going to be a business guy, go work for Mo, who's running a business and have Mo teach you everything he possibly knows, which is real experience, right?
00:29:21.960 --> 00:29:32.360
Real understanding of people can read cash flow and understand balance sheet, but until you realize you live bad cash flow, I don't think you ever understand it.
00:29:32.440 --> 00:29:33.960
It's just numbers in a book.
00:29:34.200 --> 00:29:37.480
So, Larry, you have the concept of do what's right.
00:29:37.720 --> 00:29:41.480
Where did the idea for do what's right come from in real life?
00:29:41.640 --> 00:29:51.960
Was there like a specific decision or a season where you just realized I need a new operating system and this city operating system, do what's right?
00:29:52.279 --> 00:29:54.680
Yeah, I think it came from a guy named Alec Beck.
00:29:54.759 --> 00:30:00.759
He died, God, he was only 50 years old, died in a plane crisis, a guy I worked with, and he was really big on integrity.
00:30:00.840 --> 00:30:02.519
So he built a business around that.
00:30:02.680 --> 00:30:06.519
All the management team was held in very, very high standard.
00:30:06.600 --> 00:30:09.560
Like, if you stole a pen from his office, he would fire you.
00:30:09.720 --> 00:30:12.360
Like he put such an emphasis on this kind of stuff.
00:30:12.440 --> 00:30:17.000
And I'd started Apex, had this little bitty cheesy business car and had a little truss on it.
00:30:17.080 --> 00:30:19.720
And I remember driving, I was on Route three.
00:30:19.960 --> 00:30:24.519
I'm driving and I'm thinking about this, and I'm like, do what's right.
00:30:24.759 --> 00:30:26.360
And it's biblically based.
00:30:26.519 --> 00:30:30.920
And I've always been a very devout Christian, whatever that means, trying to get it right.
00:30:31.240 --> 00:30:37.320
And I was like, man, that's and I came home and I remember telling Cheryl, I'm like, hey, I'm gonna make my mission statement, do what's right.
00:30:37.400 --> 00:30:39.000
And she looked at me like, what?
00:30:39.640 --> 00:30:40.840
Like she didn't get it.
00:30:40.920 --> 00:30:41.720
But I did that.
00:30:42.600 --> 00:30:48.680
Fast forward 25 years later, they're on all my shirts, all my stuff, and people are like, man, I love that mission statement.
00:30:48.840 --> 00:30:56.920
I'm like, yeah, do what's right because I did that not, I didn't do it for my customers or my employees.
00:30:57.080 --> 00:31:04.440
I did it for me because it gave me a constant reminder that I needed to do the right thing no matter what.
00:31:04.600 --> 00:31:08.920
And then I was able to apply that not only to my business, but to my life and my children.
00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:11.480
They understand like we do what's right.
00:31:11.640 --> 00:31:15.720
Even if it cost us money, we're gonna do the right thing.
00:31:15.800 --> 00:31:19.240
And then I instilled this into all my people that I work with.
00:31:19.400 --> 00:31:25.080
And so now people like that work with my business, and I've got 26-year employees.
00:31:25.400 --> 00:31:28.040
We never question about, oh, I wonder what Larry would do.
00:31:28.120 --> 00:31:29.880
They're always like, we do what's right.
00:31:30.120 --> 00:31:32.680
We do what's right, no matter what.
00:31:33.480 --> 00:31:35.240
And that's where it came from.
00:31:35.400 --> 00:31:44.680
So it was a culmination of years of stuff, and I'm not gonna sit here and tell you I did it right all the time, but I can tell you what for the last 26 years, I feel like I have.
00:31:44.920 --> 00:31:46.440
And that's where I did it.
00:31:46.519 --> 00:31:52.600
And then if you look at ATEX's logo, it's a the new one, it's a reverse eight refresh sign.
00:31:52.680 --> 00:31:54.440
So the circle is in reverse.
00:31:54.519 --> 00:31:56.840
There's a point, and it's pointing to God.
00:31:56.920 --> 00:32:00.040
And that's when 2017 I gave my business to God.
00:32:00.200 --> 00:32:02.680
And that's again, do I get that right, everything?
00:32:02.840 --> 00:32:03.560
No, sir, I don't.
00:32:03.640 --> 00:32:08.120
And but I tell you what, it's a constant reminder, like, hey, Larry, this isn't your business.
00:32:08.279 --> 00:32:10.519
This is God's business, do and do what's right.
00:32:10.759 --> 00:32:21.320
But all that it just kind of works together, and it's really there for me that I share that story with everybody else so that they can see that, hey, this is what I'm talking about.
00:32:21.800 --> 00:32:27.160
And I was on route three, I can see exactly where I was at, right next to the Pope Ice chicken.
00:32:27.320 --> 00:32:27.960
I remember it.
00:32:28.120 --> 00:32:30.120
That was 26 years ago, by the way.
00:32:30.440 --> 00:32:31.320
I remember that.
00:32:31.880 --> 00:32:35.160
Larry, that's such a great value piece, do what's right.
00:32:35.400 --> 00:32:41.800
And I don't know if you recall on our last conversation when you mentioned to do what's right, and I was just like, that works.
00:32:41.880 --> 00:32:42.840
That's just so amazing.
00:32:43.080 --> 00:32:56.279
Larry, so what belief about success did you have to let go of, abandon in order to become the leader and the mentor and the business owner that you are today?
00:32:56.680 --> 00:32:59.880
Well, stuff doesn't mean anything, really and truly.
00:33:00.120 --> 00:33:01.480
You impact people's lives.
00:33:01.560 --> 00:33:02.600
I had to let all that stuff go.
00:33:02.680 --> 00:33:04.440
I was, remember, I said I wanted to be a millionaire, right?
00:33:04.519 --> 00:33:05.240
One of the time I was 30.
00:33:05.560 --> 00:33:13.720
So I was very, very driven by money and status started dwindling pretty early in my life, but I was still accumulating.
00:33:13.880 --> 00:33:16.680
I I you look, I'm trying to create long-term wealth.
00:33:16.759 --> 00:33:20.120
I'm not trying to get rich, but now it's just stuff, right?
00:33:20.279 --> 00:33:25.560
I find myself downsizing more and more, like because it just none of it matters.
00:33:25.800 --> 00:33:27.960
And money is just a tool.
00:33:28.120 --> 00:33:33.080
It doesn't create a value of who you are or whether you're successful or not.
00:33:33.240 --> 00:33:38.680
It's just a tool that we all have to use to get to whatever goals you may have.
00:33:38.840 --> 00:33:46.759
I know people that make$50,000 a year that I would argue are happier than me because they're just they're content, right?
00:33:46.840 --> 00:33:48.519
They're they're in their own box.
00:33:48.759 --> 00:33:51.160
Money is just a resource.
00:33:51.560 --> 00:33:54.519
So, and I do know one thing for sure, Mo.
00:33:55.240 --> 00:33:57.160
It doesn't matter how much money you make.
00:33:57.320 --> 00:34:01.320
I tell people, you know, I'm gonna cuss on your show so you could beat this out.
00:34:01.480 --> 00:34:07.880
If you're an asshole, I don't care how much money you have or don't have, I'm not hanging out with you.
00:34:08.440 --> 00:34:10.360
Because your money means nothing to me.
00:34:10.519 --> 00:34:18.119
I I like to be around joyful people, people that enjoy things or happy and just forgiving, right?
00:34:18.279 --> 00:34:20.360
Don't understand I'm broken and that's okay.
00:34:20.440 --> 00:34:22.679
But yeah, the no to answer your question, money.
00:34:22.920 --> 00:34:27.079
It money and things, it's it has it's just it's just stuff.
00:34:27.559 --> 00:34:29.480
I I don't I don't care.
00:34:30.759 --> 00:34:42.039
It's such another amazing insight for you, Larry, because it's a theme that's run through the last four episodes where the guest has said money in in their way, money and stuff.
00:34:42.360 --> 00:34:53.159
I bought Lamborghinis, all this other stuff, and I did this, and I got the multi-huge mansion and all this other stuff, second home, third home, fourth home, to come to the conclusion that it's just stuff.
00:34:53.400 --> 00:34:57.559
So for the listener listening to this, it's it's all stuff.
00:34:57.719 --> 00:35:00.440
So I love the frameworks because there are four D's.
00:35:00.599 --> 00:35:13.400
And when you think about your own journey, Larry, which of these four decision, discipline, determination, and deliver was the hardest for you personally to master?
00:35:13.559 --> 00:35:16.199
And what did that look like in real life?
00:35:16.519 --> 00:35:18.199
I'm I'm good at making decisions.
00:35:18.360 --> 00:35:22.039
I'm a very determined man, and I'm very and I have a lot of discipline.
00:35:22.119 --> 00:35:24.039
So I'd probably say delivery.
00:35:24.599 --> 00:35:26.199
This has been the hardest one for me.
00:35:26.359 --> 00:35:30.920
The great thing about all four of those skills that I like to talk about a lot is they're all very trainable.
00:35:31.079 --> 00:35:32.039
You can gain these.
00:35:32.199 --> 00:35:34.119
Are they easier for some people than others?
00:35:34.359 --> 00:35:39.079
I have all these great ideas, but I was never really good at following through on that.
00:35:39.319 --> 00:35:43.879
I could make the decision, I just never could make the decision come to fruition, right?
00:35:44.119 --> 00:35:46.759
And so add those three, for sure.
00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:51.639
Delivery has always been the hardest because that's kind of like the icing on the cake, right?
00:35:51.719 --> 00:35:55.960
It's the get it out of the oven, put this pretty shiny stuff on it.
00:35:56.039 --> 00:35:59.079
I was just never great at that part of my business.
00:35:59.319 --> 00:36:05.239
And so unfortunately, until six months ago, I struggled with that in my business.
00:36:05.319 --> 00:36:13.079
And I hired a chief operating officer that could help me make it make this follow-through on my final delivery.
00:36:13.239 --> 00:36:17.879
And it has changed my entire business model because I that was where I struggled.
00:36:18.039 --> 00:36:31.239
My they tell me if I didn't have the 3Ds, I wouldn't be where I am today because the discipline, the determination, and the delivery or in the decision process, I never would have survived my business.
00:36:31.559 --> 00:36:38.679
And now I'm like, oh my gosh, I think I'm gonna be able to do more in the next 20 years than I did the previous 62.
00:36:39.480 --> 00:36:45.879
Just by something that simple is because of those four, I was not good at delivery.
00:36:46.199 --> 00:36:51.799
Well, one more time decision, discipline, determination, and delivery.
00:36:52.039 --> 00:36:55.239
And I think it's EOS that says the EOS system.
00:36:55.480 --> 00:37:00.440
So they say that the strategy part is the hardest.
00:37:00.519 --> 00:37:05.399
And two percent of entrepreneurs, maybe I get the figures wrong, but the we we get the idea here.
00:37:05.559 --> 00:37:14.679
Two percent of entrepreneurs are are great at the strategy part, but that's the piece that not everyone can do, and that's the piece that you've mentioned you're great at.
00:37:14.839 --> 00:37:25.079
And the delivery part, most are good at this or can figure it out or get a team on all that great stuff, but it's more so the strategy that most entrepreneurs struggle with.
00:37:25.239 --> 00:37:28.679
So you you mentioned that's that was your strong, your your strong part.
00:37:28.920 --> 00:37:38.199
So, what are the daily or weekly systems that you rely on to stay aligned with your standards when your motivation disappears?
00:37:38.839 --> 00:37:41.159
Well, my motivation disappears a lot.
00:37:41.559 --> 00:37:45.000
That's what it's there every day.
00:37:45.159 --> 00:37:47.319
So, so I call it the foundation now.
00:37:47.399 --> 00:37:48.839
There's one of the terms that I use.
00:37:49.079 --> 00:37:50.119
That's in my keynote.
00:37:50.199 --> 00:37:56.199
I talk about like I get up at four o'clock in the morning, I'm trying to push that back a little bit, trying because I'm realizing I'm not getting enough sleep.
00:37:56.359 --> 00:37:58.119
And so I put both feet on the ground.
00:37:58.199 --> 00:37:59.879
The first thing I do is I pray.
00:38:00.199 --> 00:38:01.000
No matter what.
00:38:01.159 --> 00:38:02.199
I never miss a day.
00:38:02.359 --> 00:38:04.440
And I put my feet on the ground and I pray.
00:38:04.599 --> 00:38:07.559
And then I go through and I have this regimented process.
00:38:07.719 --> 00:38:19.399
I turn my coffee pot on, I lay out my supplements, I drink lemon water, and I can go and I read two newspapers, I spend two hours, I go to my gym, and then this is, and again, starts building.
00:38:19.480 --> 00:38:20.839
You're building this momentum.
00:38:20.920 --> 00:38:22.440
So six o'clock, I'm in the gym.
00:38:22.519 --> 00:38:25.719
I'm gonna work out an hour and a half, three hours, depending on what I'm doing.
00:38:25.799 --> 00:38:37.639
But the first thing I'm gonna do is I'm gonna read my daily devotion, I'm gonna read my Bible, then I'm gonna work out for an hour and a half, just thump my body as hard as I can to be on running, rowing, functional fitness, whatever I have to.
00:38:37.799 --> 00:38:49.960
Then I'm gonna go sit in a sauna for 20 minutes and I'm going to sweat, and that's where I spend my time praying again, which is very hard for entrepreneurs because our minds are typically going in a hundred different directions.
00:38:50.119 --> 00:38:54.599
So it's again, it's a discipline, it's a it's a determination, it's a training process.
00:38:54.759 --> 00:38:59.239
And then so the way I figure it is by 8:30, 9 o'clock, 7:30, whatever.
00:38:59.319 --> 00:39:01.079
I sometimes I have to be on calls earlier.
00:39:01.159 --> 00:39:03.559
And I move my schedule around, my workout.
00:39:03.799 --> 00:39:11.879
And I always feel like that if Mo comes at me at 8:30 in the morning, you ain't touching me, big boy.
00:39:11.960 --> 00:39:12.599
Because why?
00:39:12.759 --> 00:39:15.799
Because I'm already four, four and a half hours ahead of you.
00:39:15.879 --> 00:39:17.000
And I've done all this stuff.
00:39:17.079 --> 00:39:20.199
Again, a foundation I can spread out, I can look.
00:39:20.279 --> 00:39:26.599
And like if you come to me, you better be ready to fight because I'm gonna, I am already way ahead of you.
00:39:26.759 --> 00:39:32.279
And so that gives me so much confidence because the average person is not doing that.
00:39:32.440 --> 00:39:38.599
And I actually, more than that, 95% of the of the country, the world is not willing to do that.
00:39:38.920 --> 00:39:40.759
Again, willing to get up in four o'clock.
00:39:40.920 --> 00:39:42.839
I hate getting up at four o'clock in the morning.
00:39:43.000 --> 00:39:45.239
I hate getting in my cold plunge.
00:39:45.799 --> 00:39:52.119
But I do it because I know if I do it, you're not willing to.
00:39:52.279 --> 00:39:55.239
So therefore, I have a huge advantage over you.
00:39:55.399 --> 00:39:58.759
Now, you may still kick my butt, but I at least already got one advantage.
00:39:58.920 --> 00:40:00.279
I got the confidence.
00:40:00.599 --> 00:40:02.679
And attitude and confidence does help.
00:40:02.839 --> 00:40:03.719
Attitude effort, right?
00:40:03.799 --> 00:40:10.119
So I'm putting in the effort, and then I have the attitude that I am going to whip your butt if you come after me.
00:40:10.440 --> 00:40:11.639
Not physically.
00:40:12.440 --> 00:40:14.920
You said something, you said a few things really interesting.
00:40:15.079 --> 00:40:21.399
You said something so interesting there, which was you're not motivated a lot by paraphrase.
00:40:21.960 --> 00:40:27.559
How much does identity play a role in the fact that you just show up?
00:40:27.879 --> 00:40:28.359
Period.
00:40:29.719 --> 00:40:31.000
Yeah, that's interesting.
00:40:31.079 --> 00:40:32.759
I never thought of as an identity.
00:40:32.920 --> 00:40:37.079
Yeah, I guess I do because I in my mind I'm always like, I'm gonna show up.
00:40:37.159 --> 00:40:40.599
Like today, I do I'm doing a million meters on my rover.
00:40:41.079 --> 00:40:44.039
So I have a really good friend of mine, and we're right on.
00:40:44.119 --> 00:40:45.079
So this month was tough.
00:40:45.159 --> 00:40:46.519
I traveled 16 days.
00:40:46.679 --> 00:40:50.839
We know we need to get about 100,000 meters a month, and we'll be done by October.
00:40:51.079 --> 00:40:55.319
Well, I just busted 100,000 today, 101, 960.
00:40:55.480 --> 00:41:03.480
So I know if I do another 10,000 tomorrow, I'll get 110, which won't be my worst month, be my shortest number of days, but I did a 109.
00:41:03.559 --> 00:41:07.719
But last month I did 156 because I was pregaming for this one.
00:41:07.960 --> 00:41:14.359
So anyway, every row, I today I was on that rower for about 44 minutes, 43, 44 minutes.
00:41:14.599 --> 00:41:19.799
And that was just showing up, knowing that I had to do it.
00:41:19.960 --> 00:42:42.679
And the identity thing is I know without a doubt, no one else is probably willing to do that, with the exception of my buddy Phil, who does get on the rower.
00:42:42.919 --> 00:42:45.639
We talk, we text every morning to help each other.
00:42:45.799 --> 00:42:50.519
So, yeah, identity is I identify in the fact that I know I'm going to, and most people won't.
00:42:50.679 --> 00:42:52.679
Because it's it's mind-body spirit, right?
00:42:52.919 --> 00:42:59.159
This thing right here, the Bible says mind, body, spirit for a reason, because this is your problem.
00:43:00.039 --> 00:43:01.719
And that's maybe it's the identity.
00:43:01.799 --> 00:43:06.839
Like I identify in the fact that I will do it no matter what.
00:43:06.999 --> 00:43:11.559
Today is 982 days that I have not missed a workout.
00:43:12.039 --> 00:43:12.519
Wow.
00:43:12.679 --> 00:43:13.159
Wow.
00:43:14.439 --> 00:43:16.599
Holding some space for what you just said there.
00:43:16.839 --> 00:43:23.479
982 days, not missed a workout, and waking up at 4 a.m., it's not a decision process.
00:43:23.639 --> 00:43:24.119
Do I get up?
00:43:24.279 --> 00:43:24.999
Do I not get up?
00:43:25.079 --> 00:43:26.919
It's an identity piece.
00:43:27.319 --> 00:43:28.919
This is what Larry does.
00:43:29.239 --> 00:43:42.039
So, Larry, how do you how do you make hard right decisions when the easier option might be more profitable, more comfortable, more socially accepted?
00:43:42.439 --> 00:43:48.119
Walk us through your decision process of always making that hard right decision.
00:43:48.999 --> 00:43:50.999
Well, the first thing is it's the right decision, right?
00:43:51.079 --> 00:43:54.439
From an integrity and ethical standpoint, that's got to be your baseline.
00:43:54.519 --> 00:43:59.079
Like that's that's not like the high watermark, that's like the low watermark.
00:44:00.439 --> 00:44:02.279
Yeah, that's just the standard.
00:44:02.519 --> 00:44:05.159
And that's the making the decision to do that.
00:44:05.959 --> 00:44:11.319
You do the discipline, it becomes and determination becomes that, and then ultimately deliver.
00:44:11.639 --> 00:44:16.039
So the the first standard is is it do what's right, right?
00:44:16.199 --> 00:44:17.799
Is it the right thing to do?
00:44:18.119 --> 00:44:18.839
And that's it.
00:44:18.999 --> 00:44:21.079
And if it's not, I don't care.
00:44:21.239 --> 00:44:26.599
If you you could pay me a billion dollars, I'm not selling my soul.
00:44:26.919 --> 00:44:28.439
I'm just I'm not going to.
00:44:28.599 --> 00:44:29.559
I just won't.
00:44:29.719 --> 00:44:33.079
I've and I've walked away from deals where I could have made a lot of money.
00:44:33.239 --> 00:44:43.319
And if it's not ethical or doesn't, it seems even slightly squeamish, or if you the guy you're getting will the deal with, you've heard rumors, I won't do it.
00:44:43.479 --> 00:44:45.559
Birds of a feather flock together.
00:44:45.959 --> 00:44:51.319
And Larry, what's uh what's a leadership habit you've had to learn the right way?
00:44:51.639 --> 00:44:57.959
Something that maybe in the past you didn't value but early on, but now you realize changed everything.
00:44:58.359 --> 00:44:59.239
Being honest.
00:44:59.399 --> 00:45:01.719
When when I say honest, I'm not talking about being honest.
00:45:01.799 --> 00:45:04.599
I'm talking about being honest with the person you're talking to.
00:45:04.759 --> 00:45:06.759
Like, hey, you're not cut out for this.
00:45:06.999 --> 00:45:09.239
Do them a favor and tell them the truth.
00:45:09.639 --> 00:45:11.639
You try to as a sales guy, right?
00:45:11.719 --> 00:45:15.799
As a nice guy, you look, I don't like hurting people's feelings, right?
00:45:15.959 --> 00:45:17.319
I beat myself up enough.
00:45:17.399 --> 00:45:19.239
I don't need to hurt anybody else's feelings, right?
00:45:19.319 --> 00:45:20.919
I beat I hurt my own every day.
00:45:21.159 --> 00:45:27.879
And just being, if I could have done a better job of that, I think I would, I would have had more of an impact.
00:45:28.039 --> 00:45:31.479
So I'm really starting to try to really work on that kind of stuff.
00:45:31.639 --> 00:45:33.799
Just tell people the truth.
00:45:34.359 --> 00:45:43.559
You try to help people, like, oh, they're trying to start a business or something, and you'd be like, somebody's gonna be like, I'm just gonna tell you, I think it's a really, really bad idea, and here's why.
00:45:43.799 --> 00:45:47.079
Or I don't think you're set up for this, and this is why.
00:45:47.319 --> 00:45:49.319
And just be upfront with people.
00:45:49.719 --> 00:45:52.039
I I never I didn't do a very good job of that.
00:45:52.199 --> 00:45:58.279
I it just it was just because I didn't want to hurt people's feelings, but really it's not about hurting people's feelings.
00:45:58.359 --> 00:46:00.759
You're really saving them from themselves.
00:46:01.319 --> 00:46:18.679
So I wished I would have been more honest with people when it came to those kind of decisions and not sugarcoat stuff and just because I'm known as being very blunt about certain things, but then when it comes to if I'm gonna, if you ask me a question, I'm like, I don't think it's really a good idea, I would just say, ah, no, I think you're fine.
00:46:18.919 --> 00:46:21.799
Instead, I'd be like, I'd be like, Yeah, I think it's a terrible idea.
00:46:22.039 --> 00:46:23.079
And they'd be like, what?
00:46:24.119 --> 00:46:26.279
So, yeah, being honest in upfront.
00:46:27.079 --> 00:46:29.319
Larry, I just want to get your view on this.
00:46:29.639 --> 00:46:42.519
So, a lot of times we make excuses for other people, and I am such a fan of there are so many resources out there, coachings out there, mentors out there, books out there, whatever it is, to go figure it out.
00:46:42.599 --> 00:46:44.519
As you mentioned, it's something you do.
00:46:44.679 --> 00:46:47.719
And I reference Jack Canfield.
00:46:47.799 --> 00:46:50.199
He has a book called The Success Principles.
00:46:50.519 --> 00:46:53.799
And I always remember the first time I read chapter one.
00:46:54.119 --> 00:46:57.799
And chapter one says, take responsibility.
00:46:58.679 --> 00:46:59.399
That's it.
00:46:59.639 --> 00:47:01.079
Take responsibility.
00:47:01.319 --> 00:47:09.879
And I would love to get your take, Larry, on the concept of taking responsibility.
00:47:10.439 --> 00:47:11.719
Well, to me, it's easy.
00:47:11.799 --> 00:47:13.719
I think that's leadership 101.
00:47:13.799 --> 00:47:16.679
You are as the entrepreneur, you are responsible.
00:47:16.839 --> 00:47:22.919
Like I have 40 employees, and I am responsible for every single one of them's actions.
00:47:23.559 --> 00:47:24.359
Period.
00:47:24.599 --> 00:47:32.519
And so for me, that's such an easy thing because it's it's one of the greatest leadership roles you can have is just owning it.
00:47:32.599 --> 00:47:35.239
Like I don't, I'm not an I guy, I'm a we guy.
00:47:35.399 --> 00:47:38.039
So if somebody makes a mistake, I don't go, oh, well, so-and-so did this.
00:47:38.119 --> 00:47:39.719
I'm like, well, we messed up here.
00:47:39.959 --> 00:47:40.919
We did this.
00:47:41.079 --> 00:47:43.239
That was my responsibility to follow up on.
00:47:43.479 --> 00:47:47.639
I should have had something in place to be able to avoid that type of situation.
00:47:47.799 --> 00:47:49.559
And then when you have it, be responsible.
00:47:49.719 --> 00:47:52.519
Set up the thing so that in the future it doesn't happen again.
00:47:52.759 --> 00:47:55.559
Responsibility is kind of leadership 101.
00:47:55.799 --> 00:47:58.199
You are ultimately responsible.
00:47:58.519 --> 00:47:59.159
Period.
00:47:59.319 --> 00:48:01.799
And if you don't like it, then don't be an entrepreneur.
00:48:01.879 --> 00:48:04.119
And sure and heck, don't be a leader.
00:48:04.759 --> 00:48:05.399
Period.
00:48:05.639 --> 00:48:06.119
Love it.
00:48:06.279 --> 00:48:07.239
Love it, love it, love it.
00:48:07.319 --> 00:48:12.119
Since ever since I read that phrase, it just seems like you just said it 101.
00:48:12.199 --> 00:48:14.199
It's just how it should be.
00:48:14.599 --> 00:48:24.679
So for someone, Larry, for someone listening to this who feels successful on the outside, but they feel misaligned on the inside.
00:48:24.999 --> 00:48:32.599
What's the very first do what's right decision they need to make today, even if it's uncomfortable?
00:48:32.999 --> 00:48:34.599
You were never a mistake.
00:48:34.839 --> 00:48:35.879
You're not a mistake.
00:48:35.959 --> 00:48:40.759
You just got to get in there and that's a that's a deep question for all of us, right?
00:48:40.839 --> 00:48:41.639
And that really is.
00:48:41.799 --> 00:48:57.639
Yeah, when you're struggling, I one of the things that I do is if I'm having a really, really bad day, is I will like get on the roller or I got a machine that's called an assault bike, and I just get on that and just kind of work it out for 20 minutes.
00:48:57.879 --> 00:49:08.039
It does give you a lot of clarity and it does burn a lot of anxiety because this anxiousness that we all have through our minds and stuff like that is a huge help for that.
00:49:08.279 --> 00:49:12.919
Look, you're not a mistake, you're not perfect, but you just got to go kind of figure it out.
00:49:13.079 --> 00:49:18.519
And I tell you, if you're not doing this as an entrepreneur, I didn't do this until much later in life.
00:49:18.839 --> 00:49:25.079
Do psychological profiles or CIPIs, there's disc, there's a there's another one I can't remember.
00:49:25.479 --> 00:49:26.279
But go out and do that.
00:49:26.919 --> 00:49:28.439
My other crickets is another one.
00:49:28.679 --> 00:49:29.479
Yep, that's one.
00:49:29.639 --> 00:49:30.759
Yeah, what is that one though?
00:49:30.839 --> 00:49:31.879
What is that one called, though?
00:49:31.959 --> 00:49:32.679
There's a name for it.
00:49:32.759 --> 00:49:34.759
Is that but it anyway, it doesn't matter.
00:49:34.919 --> 00:49:37.799
Any of these, even like what Moe said, go do those.
00:49:37.879 --> 00:49:40.199
I tell you what, they are very enlightening.
00:49:40.359 --> 00:49:42.679
And don't take it and just read it yourself.
00:49:42.839 --> 00:49:48.359
Get with a professional, spend$300 on it, whatever you got to do, and get a true analysis.
00:49:48.599 --> 00:49:52.679
You're not broken, you're just different.
00:49:53.159 --> 00:49:54.279
You're just different.
00:49:54.439 --> 00:49:56.199
That you're you're not a mistake.
00:49:56.439 --> 00:49:59.799
It's like Mo, you have incredible skills of asking amazing questions.
00:50:00.119 --> 00:50:01.159
What a gift, right?
00:50:01.319 --> 00:50:02.999
What a gift, right?
00:50:03.399 --> 00:50:10.199
I don't have that meeting necessarily that great of a skill, but man, it doesn't mean I'm broken, just means you're better at something than I am.
00:50:10.439 --> 00:50:11.959
And that's okay.
00:50:12.279 --> 00:50:19.159
So guys, if you remember at the top of this episode, I said we were in for a thumbdinger of an episode.
00:50:19.559 --> 00:50:24.439
And put your hand up right now if we've delivered a thumbdinger of an episode.
00:50:24.679 --> 00:50:28.279
Larry, thank you so much for your insights today on the episode.
00:50:28.439 --> 00:50:32.199
If somebody wants to learn more about you, where do we send them to?
00:50:32.519 --> 00:50:43.799
So you can go to Larrygdixii.com or the bone the born or made podcast.com and we will reach back out to you, reach out to us, follow us on social media.
00:50:43.959 --> 00:50:48.279
We've got Build Not Born is our second book, and our first book was Born or Made.
00:50:48.519 --> 00:50:49.639
You can get those on Amazon.
00:50:49.719 --> 00:50:50.919
You can reach out to us anyway.
00:50:51.319 --> 00:50:55.479
Those two ways are absolutely the quickest and fastest way, and I will respond.
00:50:56.599 --> 00:50:57.639
Awesome, awesome.
00:50:57.799 --> 00:50:58.359
So honored.
00:50:58.439 --> 00:51:00.839
Larry, so great having you on the podcast today.
00:51:00.999 --> 00:51:05.079
Have an amazing rest of today, and we'll speak the next time.
00:51:05.159 --> 00:51:05.559
Ciao.
00:51:05.719 --> 00:51:06.279
Look forward to it.
00:51:06.359 --> 00:51:06.759
Bye-bye.
00:51:08.039 --> 00:51:11.319
Thank you for listening to Purpose Driven Success with Mo Salami.
00:51:11.639 --> 00:51:15.559
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review.
00:51:15.639 --> 00:51:18.759
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00:51:18.919 --> 00:51:22.999
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00:51:23.159 --> 00:51:29.879
And if today's episode inspired you, check out one of our other insight-filled, value-packed episodes.
00:51:30.039 --> 00:51:37.479
Next week we'll have another amazing guest, so stay tuned for even more real stories and actionable insights.
00:51:37.719 --> 00:51:46.359
Work on your mindset, work on your skill set, and always move in the direction of the result you want before you see the result you want.
00:51:46.519 --> 00:51:50.039
And until next time, do the best you can consistently.
00:51:50.359 --> 00:51:51.159
Ciao.
