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Welcome to the VICI Code, where we unlock real stories of small business owners who've battled chaos, crushed doubt, and conquered their challenges.
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Faith, family, and finances.
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No fluff, just raw, honest conversations that decode the path to victory.
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One story at a time.
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What is up?
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Thank you for joining us today as we explore our latest purpose-driven journey, winning without losing, where we learn about integrated leadership performance, how to dismantle the relentless ambition trap, implement the CTC daily operating system to protect your energy, and ensure the professional success never comes at the expense of health and family.
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What do you do when the multi-million dollar dream you built from a side hustle suddenly faces the reality of administration?
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Most leaders would hide.
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Today's guest used that moment as a catalyst to redefine what winning actually looks like.
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From the boardroom at Coca-Cola to building and then losing a consumer brand empire, Dan Richards has seen the peak and the valley.
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Now he is the architect of the cut-through clarity CTC system, helping founders win at work without losing at home.
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Dan and I connected in our elite mastermind group.
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And let me tell you, he is a special ops coach for the soul of the executive.
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Having lived this high octane life of a corporate climber and the crushing reality of a business entering administration, he doesn't speak from the textbook.
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He speaks from the scars of experience.
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His CTC system is the perfect mechanical match for the Vici pillars, specifically in how it bridges the gap between professional winning and personal presence.
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We are exploring the long-term impact strategy.
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We're diving into why clarity at home is the secret fuel at performance at work.
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As always, we'll filter Dan's journey through the Vici pillars faith, family, fitness, and finance.
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Dan, you know I'm excited about this episode.
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Welcome to the show, brother.
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Let's go.
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How good was that?
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Thanks, man.
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What an intro.
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So I'm jumping straight in, man.
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Nitty gritty.
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You know, you climbed the corporate ladder at one of the biggest brands on earth and then scaled your own multi-million dollar business.
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But you said the your most valuable lesson came the day you had to place your own company into administration.
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Take us into that room.
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What did that moment reveal about your identity that success never could?
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Well, man, it's uh it actually gives me chills like even thinking about that moment.
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But um essentially I'll I'll take it back a couple of steps because there was a real pivotal moment that happened a couple of years before having to make that decision to put the company into administration.
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And I had a so I had the company for about eight years at this at that point, and my business partner and long-term friend, uh, an investor in in the brand of steel, uh, suffered a heart attack and was end up in hospital.
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And essentially, you know, after spending a fair bit of time in a coma, the family had to make the decision to turn off his life support.
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And it was at that point that, you know, my whole world kind of got flipped on its head, right?
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You got your your business partner, your investor, a guy who, you know, you you kind of bounce everything off, your day-to-day operations.
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It's a guy that you go to battle with every day.
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Um, all of a sudden he's not there anymore.
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And you just do what you can, you pick up the pieces.
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You know, I've pretty much kept building the business for the next couple of years, but then unfortunately, uh his estate wanted to call in his his investment loan.
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And at that point, the business literally could not afford to pay out that loan, which was going to force the company into administration.
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So, you know, that process going through the reality of you've just built this thing for 10 years, you have one of your best mates, business partners gone, you've invested so much time, energy, and effort into it, and you're kind of left with no option but to to kind of wind it up.
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Yeah, and at that moment, man, it was it was tough because you all your identity is tied up to a business, you know, like when you've put so much energy and effort into it, that's all you know.
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Yeah.
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So yeah, man, that that was um one of the hard decisions to make.
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I remember I I said to the wife, because at this stage, our son, uh Jet, he was only he would have been not even a year old, or pretty close to a year old.
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And I remember I was working all around the clock, getting all the papers ready for administration.
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And anyone that's gone through that process, it's it's not a fun process to go through, right?
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So worked around the clock and made it happen, and then that was the moment, man, where I kind of uh had to reconnect with who I was.
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Yeah.
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No, thank you for your candor and you know, just your vulnerability on that one.
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It's I can't imagine, I haven't gone through it, but it sounds terrible.
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We when I when I see clients go through audits, I just I I you know my heart breaks for them.
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I mean, and that's a big part of like what we do is try to, you know, help clients be audit proof.
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Uh, because you never want to see somebody go through that.
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And I can imagine that's got to be the same level, if not worse.
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So, you know, let's let's let's jump over to this the the cut through clarity system, though.
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Let's let's bounce back, right?
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You know, you work with leaders who are winning at work but losing energy.
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Tell us about the CTC framework.
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How does a leader actually cut through the noise of a high growth business to find the clarity needed to lead themselves first?
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Yeah, well, where this where this came from was obviously that moment when I had to step away from distilled, I took the family to Bali.
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And we went to Bali for a good two-week holiday, switched off.
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And this whole CTC system, the cut-through clarity system, was born there.
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Essentially, I put myself through this process around um, you know, how do you how do you reconnect with who you are, what's important to you?
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And for me, it was family, friends, and it was business.
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And it was obviously health's a huge part of that as well.
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So then we we built this framework out called CTC.
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Now, in a nutshell, essentially what it's all about, it's about how do you ensure you show up as the best version of yourself first and foremost.
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So, you know, we both train, it's a very important part of our our routine.
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Um, so health, health obviously are a major pillar, but it's also about how do you put boundaries in place around what's actually important.
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So you can get to work, show up as the best version of yourself, deliver great outcomes, and then still be able to get home to your family, spend that quality time with your partner, with your kids, re-energize and get back at it.
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And that's essentially what CTC is it's a daily operating system that gives you the frameworks to be able to operate at the highest level without having to give up.
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Like, how many times have you seen leaders that are really successful at work, but they're unhealthy?
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Their family need never sees them, their kids are just like wanting their attention.
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And that's sad, man.
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Like that, that to me is like the whole reason we build businesses is to enjoy more time with our friends and loved ones.
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You know what I think when I see that, Dan?
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I I wonder to myself, when I see those types of people, how are they winning at work?
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How are you winning at work when your health isn't good and you know, family life is just pushed to the side?
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I mean, it's sad and you know it's almost commendable at the same time.
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It's like I I without, you know, the the the steadiness of of my home life and my my fitness and eating right, there's no way I'm doing what I'm doing, you know, on a day-to-day basis.
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So it's it's on one hand, it's like it's it's a miracle.
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On the other hand, it's like really sad.
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Like, how are you keeping it together, man?
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Do you know what I think it is, man, is that is that there's there's these finish lines that we put like we put them out in the universe.
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It's like, you know what, I'm just gonna grind it out until I get to that vacation with my family.
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I'm just gonna work my ass off.
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I'm gonna finally get there and I'll I'll get to spend two weeks with my family and enjoy it, and then I'm back at the grind again.
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Or, you know what, when I get that promotion, I get paid that little bit of extra cash.
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It's gonna mean all this suck sacrifice is all worth it.
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And we keep doing this to ourselves, and what we've got to realize is that it's actually not true.
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Like you're giving up so much time and and quality time with your family at the cost of this uh a surface level success.
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Well, and then you're you're you're you're you're when you find that it's it's spent on material things too, not memories.
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You you you go through your life and like you know, you know, one more email or this or that.
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And I I noticed like at one point, like going on vacation, I just couldn't really enjoy it because I was you know thinking about work.
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And you know, that that takes training, and I'm sure the CTC system, you know, works with um executives to to battle that.
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So my question is is why is empathy a high performance metric in your system rather than just a soft skill?
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Yeah, so empathy for me goes across multiple different pillars.
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It's empathy to yourself, right?
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And it's empathy to the people around you.
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So for me, it's about showing up as the best version of yourself as a leader, and then showing that same, that same care and empathy to your team.
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So whoever the team that you directly lead or or you know um inspire within your own organization.
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And one of the things that I find is when leaders operate from a level of clarity, so they know what's important to them, they know how they can make an impact, their teams look up to that, right?
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If you show that empathy and allow them to also live in that same alignment, like man, it's such a cool place to, it's a good environment to be around.
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You walk into organizations where their leader lives and breathes that, like it's a different feeling.
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The energy is totally different.
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Yeah, and when you don't see it, when it's not there, it hurts.
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And it's a big part of why I wanted to, you know, have my own business is I just I got sick of saying, man, I could do this better.
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Then I finally told myself, well, then go do it.
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Then go do it.
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Go create the culture that you want, you know, to to work in.
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Um so and I I encourage anybody, working for yourself.
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Yeah, there's challenges, there's there's tough times, and that's what we talk about in these in these podcast episodes, you know, that it's doable, you can do it.
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You know, the most successful people, look at Dan, look at me, look at some of these other guests that have been on there.
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You know, we we have dark moments, and that's gonna be there, but like we stay in the fight, you stay in the fight, you know, you be consistent, be disciplined, and you know, work on your leadership.
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Um absolutely have strong foundations, like that's really important.
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Have really strong foundations that you can lean back on.
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100%.
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You know, in the finance and uh fitness pillars, we talk about ROI and energy.
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You create a CTC active.
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How does the daily operating system help a founder protect their energy and follow through on goals when the world is constantly demanding their attention?
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Love this, love this topic.
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So for me, man, this is all about how do you so I created a tool which I'm happy to obviously give to any of your listeners, but it's an energy audit tool.
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And essentially you go online, you put in 20 of your current activities in your calendar, and you rate those based on how much energy does it give you and how aligned is it to your goals.
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And that's personal and professional goals.
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And man, it's so crazy to see how many things we do day in, day out that actually don't even align to our personal professional goals, that just eats up our time.
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And you know, the I heard this quote once that if you don't prioritize your time, someone else will, and your calendar becomes their priority, it's not yours, right?
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And that's so true.
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100% so to loop back to your question around how does cut through clarity or CTC active play a role in this, it's a daily operating system.
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So every day you go into the app, you I've got five non-negotiables that are in there.
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So there's literal, and this comes you know heavily from Dan Martell, a guy that we worked with.
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It's like you've got to exercise, you've got to read, you've got to review your goals, you've got to um do your uh your daily routine, whatever that is, evening or morning, and then you've got to do some evening reflection, like journaling.
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Yeah.
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So that's part of it.
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Then you're also reviewing your goals, you're reviewing your one-page clarity plan, which is essentially like your your business plan for yourself, like for your personal and professional world.
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So by doing this, it it keeps you in the zone daily.
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So it's not like this plan that you do and you stick it in the drawer and you never look at it again.
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It's literally on your phone in an app that you keep referring to every single day to keep your line on what's actually important.
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I love that.
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And what is the one habit most seven figure founders are missing that would save them 10 hours of stress a week, you think?
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Look after their health, man.
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100%.
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Like literally.
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It's not complicated.
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It's like allocate some time so you can shop as the best version of yourself, right?
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The amount of people that literally will do everything they possibly can to make sure the business is successful, but they're like they're they're the one that's copping it.
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Like their health's not great, they're not eating well, they're they're surviving on caffeine, and it's not it's not great.
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Like, if you just fix that one habit, look after yourself first and foremost, fill your own cup up and then go and deliver some some results in your company.
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I guarantee you the how effective you are in the in the workplace will be tenfold by just looking after your own health and well-being.
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So true.
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And I I don't know, I I was actually on a golf course earlier today.
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I had golf league today, and just as I was playing, I just it comes this dawns on me often, but I just say to myself, you know, like no matter what's going on in life, good or bad, like all I want to do is be healthy.
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I just want to be healthy.
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I want to take care of myself, I want to be because I can do anything if I'm healthy, right?
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I can change careers, I I can get through bad days, I can have an even better day.
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Just, you know, taking care of my body and and being healthy.
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I mean, even when when I do get to hang up the the you know, the business and I and I'm spending time with you know, God willing grandchildren someday, I want to be able to be fit and active to be able to keep up with them, you know.
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Um it's everything, dude.
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Joe, can I just share one little story with you?
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It's it's um it takes me back to why it's so important.
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So when I went through all that stuff with Distill my last coming out to wind up, the only reason I feel like I got through that was because I had an emphasis and focus on my health.
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Yeah.
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Because mate, there was days where I didn't want to keep going.
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There, like literally my wife, Marquine, she won't mind me sharing this, but she behind my back called my best mate, my mum, my dad, and said, Can you just please call Dan and check in on him, you know, at least once or twice a day?
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Because she was worried that I was gonna do something stupid, you know, because of how much pressure and stress I was under.
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And you know what?
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If I if I didn't go to the gym every morning and I wasn't looking after my health and well-being, I reckon that who knows what could have happened because I would have been in a really weak and vulnerable state.
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Bad thoughts, man.
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Yeah, yeah, man.
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Heart hard in the body, hard in the mind, and you can battle those those bad thoughts for sure.
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100%.
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Now let's shift the focus to family a little bit and the presence uh uh and the presence deficit.
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In the family pillar, you talk about leaders who are physically at home but mentally still in the boardroom.
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We talked about that a little bit earlier in this conversation already.
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How do you coach a high performer to switch off and give their family their best version rather than just their leftovers?
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Yeah, this is something I'm I'm I'm so passionate about, Joe.
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Like it's it's so sad when you when you see leaders get home to their their family and their loved ones, and they're literally getting the leftovers of the energy that uh because they've been sucked drive it all day.
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And and even then it's distracted energy too.
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It's like they've still got their phone on, they're still answering emails, they're still responding to text messages, phone, the phone will ring, they'll think it's important.
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And one of the things I always say to my leaders that I coach is that you know, some uh are in jobs where they might be saving lives, but one of the things I always say is like, is is the job that you're doing, is it literally saving lives?
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Can that call, can that email, can it just wait till tomorrow?
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Like the time that you allocate to your family is so important.
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And by you respecting that time and showing your team that you also respect that time, you're you're giving them the confidence that they can do the same at home as well.
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So it's kind of like what so I try to do this thing where if you pull up at home, spend five minutes while you're in the car, just quickly look at the phone, check if there's anything urgent you need to respond to, respond to that, return any phone calls that you might need to return.
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And then as soon as you walk in that door, put your phone on charge in the bathroom, in the kitchen, put it out of sight, out of mind, and spend spend that time with your family.
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And you won't regret it.
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And guess what?
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Your team will watch you do that and they'll respect you for it as well.
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Yeah, and and I can speak from I I do that.
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I'll I'll get home.
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And sometimes my wife will make fun of me because she's like, you know, what are you doing in the car?
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Like, I'm trust me, I'm doing this for everybody.
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Let me just get through this.
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Boom, boom, boom.
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I get home.
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I put my phone on the charger, uh, in the kitchen, get the big island, and we I I once it's on the charger, I put it in the con in the drawer and I shut it.
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Do I check it a couple times throughout the night?
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Sure, but like it's gone.
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I I'm I'm making eye contact with people, I'm listening, active listening.
00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:37.839
So um that that is definitely uh some great advice that I can actually say works for me, Dan.
00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:38.799
Yeah, for sure.
00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:45.759
And also, like, I think it's important if you start implementing this as a leader, be honest with your team on why you're doing it.
00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:54.720
Because if they're trying to ring you and you would normally answer the phone at night, and now you're not answering it, and if you haven't communicated to them why you're doing it, it might feel a bit weird, right?
00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:56.559
It might like, why is he ignoring me?
00:17:56.559 --> 00:17:57.920
Why is he not answering my calls?
00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:04.400
Where if you actually be open and honest, say this is what I'm doing because my family's important to me, that time's really important, and it should be for you as well.
00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:06.720
You watch how much more respect you get.
00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:12.000
Well, and here's some good advice when you're when you're interviewing people, set that tone during the interview.
00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:19.440
I tell people if family's not your most important priority, um, or you're you're you know, this is not the right job for you.
00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:25.839
Like if you're missing, you know, recitals and and this and that, like that's so much more important.
00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:36.319
And actually, at Vici, it's like, you know, yeah, it's a it's a it's 40 hours a week, but really like if you're getting your work done, I don't care if it's 35 hours, go go enjoy life, right?
00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:38.240
Like that's that's more way more important.
00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:48.960
So I usually set that tone early, Dan, um, so that they already know, like, yeah, you know, I'm off the clock, I'm with my family, I'll get to it when I can, and I expect them to be the same way.
00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:50.079
Good on you, man.
00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:52.559
That's not there's not a lot of leaders that live and breathe that.
00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:53.359
So good on you.
00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:54.240
Hell yeah.
00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:55.920
All right, let's jump back into fitness.
00:18:55.920 --> 00:18:57.359
You know how I love fitness.
00:18:57.359 --> 00:19:02.000
Um, you mentioned that success shouldn't come at the expense of health.
00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:07.759
When you were building your consumer brands, how did your own fitness and well-being suffer?
00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:13.599
And what is the non-negotiable you live by now to ensure you don't repeat that mistake?
00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:15.440
Yeah, good question.
00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:20.640
For me, when I was building distill, it was it was around the clock.
00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:26.319
Man, I was I was all day, all night working, and and I was still training.
00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:27.039
That's the thing, right?
00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:28.720
I was still getting up early, I was still training.
00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:33.039
But what I wasn't, I wasn't getting quality sleep and I wasn't spending quality time with my family.
00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:38.640
So so what I do now, it's it's it's strict boundaries and it's literally I've got blocks of time.
00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:51.920
So my calendar, some some people call me a crazy, but the people that come into our world, the cut through clarity world, they love it because essentially our calendars are now um booked out in time blocks that are color-coded but also are protected.
00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:58.799
So for me, it's like if I'm if if I'm building any business or coaching anyone or consulting, it's like we've got things in time blocks.
00:19:58.799 --> 00:20:04.400
So when we in the morning for me, it's gym time, non-negotiable, it's 3:30 till 5.
00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:08.240
I get home, I've got deep work time, which is when I'm tackled with the biggest priorities.
00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:10.240
It's when I've where I've got no noise.
00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:17.519
Then when we get to the office, it's like unless a meeting has an agenda with a clear outcome, it doesn't even make it into my calendar.
00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:23.759
So then all of a sudden, you've got all this time, energy, and effort that you can throw at things that are actually important.
00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:24.079
Right.
00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:24.480
Right?
00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:32.079
So then when you get to five o'clock when it's time to get home, or four o'clock, get home to your family, you feel like you're not burning it at both ends.
00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:33.119
We've all heard that call, right?
00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:34.160
Or the saying before, right?
00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:35.119
Like burning at both ends.
00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:38.319
Like you're not doing that because you're protecting both ends of the spectrum.
00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:43.279
You're waking up looking after yourself, you're working hard through the day, and then you're getting home to re-rejuvenate.
00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:50.960
So for me, it's having that structure and that priority around what's actually important to you, allows you to shop as a better version of yourself during the day.
00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:55.039
I'm going off script a little bit here, but you're up at three, my man.
00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:58.960
You you know, at five o'clock, you know, you gotta be exhausted.
00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:05.839
I mean, I know like you're you you have a good routine, and you know, I know that working out actually gives me energy more in the in the day.
00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:08.400
So what does what does the evening look like for you?
00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:10.960
It must be like dinner and then bed.
00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:14.240
I mean, when when do you when are you in bed, man?
00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:28.079
Yeah, well, it's um you've you've got a family, you know it's like I've I do have a routine where I like to be in bed by a certain time, but when you've got a a three-year-old son that's you know climbing over your face and not wanting to go to bed, it it kind of slows things down.
00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:33.359
But uh for me, mate, so I get home from work typically between sort of four and five.
00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:34.799
I pick Jed up from daycare.
00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:36.240
That's one of my non-negotiables.
00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:38.720
If I'm around, I pick him up from daycare.
00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:42.720
It's one of the happiest things that I possibly like, yeah.
00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:53.039
Man, when you go to daycare and your son sees you or your daughter, and they their eyes light up and they go and they like run across like palming everyone out of the way on the way to get to you.
00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:56.880
Like, yeah, that shit that that's that's so good for the soul.
00:21:56.880 --> 00:21:59.279
Um, so I I try to do that as much as I can.
00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:03.519
And then We get home, we kick the footy, we play a bit of basketball.
00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:13.839
My son's obsessed with basketball, so we we go out outside and we play, and then the wife's normally home by then, so then we have dinner as a family, and then we're winding down.
00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:23.200
We're either reading a book with Jet in bed or where we might watch a TV show together and then we put Jet to bed and then mate, I'm in bed by 7:30, 8 o'clock.
00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:25.200
Oh, that sounds like a right.
00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:25.920
Yeah.
00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:30.000
But again, it's like that that window gets condensed because I'm up at 3:30.
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:32.880
So it's kind of if I don't get to bed at that time, I feel it.
00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:37.440
When I wake up at 3 30, I feel the lack of sleep if I don't get it in.
00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:41.680
Is your is your wife in bed around the same time or is she up a little bit longer?
00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:47.359
Nah, she's she's uh likes to stay stay up a bit later, so she'll watch a couple of TV shows.
00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:53.359
You know, she's obsessed with Gray's anatomy at the moment, which literally it's the hardest thing to fall asleep to.
00:22:53.359 --> 00:23:00.079
But so she'll so she'll watch that and then um yeah, she gets up sort of 7 30 for breakfast.
00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:09.759
Yeah, my wife you likes my wife somehow she gets the most energy in the entire day, right around when I'm ready to go to sleep.
00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:15.359
I'll get in bed, I'll turn the TV on just to kind of like wind down for a second.
00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:21.759
And um, at that point, that's when she can't wait to talk to me about all the things that she didn't already talk to me about.
00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:23.759
I'm just like, I thought we were done.
00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:24.880
I'm trying to go to bed.
00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:26.000
No, no, no.
00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:27.920
Uh I kid, she's she's great.
00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:31.839
She lets me do all the things I need to do to be the best version of myself.
00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:34.400
So she's great, but it's funny, just different patterns.
00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:36.960
And you know, I don't whatever works for her, you know.
00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:42.400
I try to lead by example and she takes what she what she likes from what I do, and you know, we make it work.
00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:45.920
Um Joe, just just just on that one, bro, before we before we move on.
00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:49.119
How important is having the right partner at home?
00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:52.240
You know, for me, Mikey is such a rock, man.
00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:55.839
Like she she helps out when I when I need the help.
00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:57.599
She's there emotionally when I need her.
00:23:57.599 --> 00:23:59.200
She's uh such a good mom.
00:23:59.200 --> 00:24:01.519
You know, we got another baby on the way at the moment.
00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:11.359
So like just if if anyone's listening now, like just don't underestimate how important having a really solid partner at home is to building a successful business.
00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:14.400
Yeah, it's it's irreplaceable, man.
00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:16.480
Like you it's a game changer.
00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:22.480
You you take you remove that piece, it's like removing, like one of it's removing one of the pillars, man.
00:24:22.480 --> 00:24:29.119
You know, you can't keep everything up and do everything that you want to do without, you know, a stable uh home life.
00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:31.759
So it's for sure, it's important.
00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:34.079
And and so is faith, which is our next question.
00:24:34.079 --> 00:24:40.400
In terms of faith and values, you focus on long-term impact rather than the short-term gains.
00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:50.160
How does uh having grounded sense of purpose change the way a leader handles the relentless ambition that can often lead to burnout?
00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:52.480
Yeah, it's uh another great question.
00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:56.160
And that this is the first part of the cut through clarity program, actually.
00:24:56.160 --> 00:24:57.039
So I love it.
00:24:57.039 --> 00:25:02.160
One of the things that I identified early was that a lot of leaders don't actually know why they do what they do.
00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:04.880
And that's it's sad to think that, right?
00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:08.000
Like it's it's the both their personal life and their professional life.
00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:11.279
When you get into it, into the weeds a little bit and go, well, what are the what's the reason?
00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:14.079
What's the values behind why you want to do that?
00:25:14.079 --> 00:25:20.559
And you get clear on it, and then you go, okay, well, and then you get one layer deeper, like the sew that, like, well, why do you want to do that then?
00:25:20.559 --> 00:25:21.920
Like, why is it so important to you?
00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:23.759
And you get that next layer deeper.
00:25:23.759 --> 00:25:26.960
Once you understand that, like everything just makes a lot more sense.
00:25:26.960 --> 00:25:33.440
The way you plan your day, the way you spend your time, the things you do and don't do, the people you want to be around, the people you don't want to be around.
00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:39.519
But until you get really clear on that, around why that value, that value piece, it's um, it's really difficult.
00:25:39.519 --> 00:25:46.319
And you can then that's again why I can understand why there's so many leaders out there just burning it like it's like rubber to just rubber spinning.
00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:53.039
They don't get any traction because the the underlying core reason why they get up every day isn't clear.
00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:54.880
Yeah, it's really not clear.
00:25:55.200 --> 00:25:55.440
Yeah.
00:25:55.440 --> 00:26:13.440
So I I feel like I I feel like you know, I've been a lot stronger in my faith over the last few years, and I feel like that's really actually helped me be able to manage my stress and put things in perspective because you know, you have to it it I believe in Jesus, right?
00:26:13.440 --> 00:26:19.599
And you know that that belief is is non-negotiable if you're a Christian.
00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:31.039
Like it it's it's like you have to believe that he's you know looking out for us, he's doing things, he's putting these challenges in front of us to make us better, he's rewarding us and like all that, right?
00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:34.079
So it's like I can step away or bad things can happen.
00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:38.960
I can be like, well, you know, there's something I gotta learn from this, and it's not gonna crush me.
00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:44.880
Uh it's uncomfortable, but at the end of the day, like tomorrow's a new day.
00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:52.240
And you know, so my faith has really helped me manage a lot of different areas in my life.
00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:58.640
Parenting, you know, uh, you know, being a husband, work, being a leader, all these things.
00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:00.240
My faith has been really important.
00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:02.400
So I'm glad that's like where you guys start.
00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:03.680
It's I think that's so important.
00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:04.559
What's your why?
00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:05.519
What's your purpose?
00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:07.680
Because that will get you through so much.
00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:08.640
It needs to be, man.
00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:16.319
I've got I've got leaders that I coach that that are are really ingrained in their faith, and it's and you can you can just see it in the way they operate every single day.
00:27:16.319 --> 00:27:18.799
And how it's almost like their decision matrix.
00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:26.000
Like when when they're when they when they've got to be, when they're faced with something really tough, they always go back to their faith, right?
00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:37.359
So and then there's other there's other people that I coach that don't necessarily have a strong connection to Jesus or or to whatever faith you choose, but they've got a really solid value system, right?
00:27:37.359 --> 00:27:40.480
And it's it comes back, and you know what, mate, it's normally family.
00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:53.839
It's like they they're doing it because they want to they want to do great things for their family, and it's like that in its own right, like as long as you've got something you can always come back to as the solid rock on why you do what you do, you can pretty much get through most things.
00:27:54.079 --> 00:27:54.319
Yeah.
00:27:54.319 --> 00:27:56.160
Well, it just puts it in perspective.
00:27:56.160 --> 00:27:57.839
What what am I doing this for?
00:27:57.839 --> 00:28:04.480
Why am I getting up this early in the morning to to to read scripture and work out and and meditate?
00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:10.799
Why am I going to bed early instead of going to you know the bar and hanging out with the guys?
00:28:10.799 --> 00:28:15.680
You know, why why am I doing all these things and like real simple?
00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:18.720
That this this is the most important thing going on in my life.
00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:21.440
I even say it to my wife, and that it has to be this way.
00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:26.319
If if your faith is not more important than me, I I don't know what what's gonna happen, right?
00:28:26.319 --> 00:28:27.680
Yeah, yeah.
00:28:27.680 --> 00:28:28.799
Absolutely.
00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:33.279
Well, listen, dude, we're at rapid fire, we're at rapid fire section right now.
00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:35.759
So I'm gonna rattle off the next three questions.
00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:38.480
You give me the qu the answer as soon as you can, right?
00:28:38.480 --> 00:28:47.279
All right, first question the biggest lie high performance high performers tell themselves the more hours mean, you're more effective.
00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:48.880
Yeah, I agree.
00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:53.279
One tool to realign your day in under five minutes.
00:28:55.759 --> 00:28:56.880
Oh, this is a good one.
00:28:56.880 --> 00:28:59.759
I'll just say any meeting with no agenda, decline it.
00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:01.039
Love it.
00:29:01.039 --> 00:29:04.480
And then sometimes we refer to Vici as victory.
00:29:04.480 --> 00:29:10.319
What does victory look like for Dan Richards today versus ten years ago?
00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:12.960
More quality time by family.
00:29:12.960 --> 00:29:18.400
And my and if I go back ten years ago, man, it was all about how do I get more money in the bank account.
00:29:18.400 --> 00:29:19.119
100%.
00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:21.440
100%.
00:29:21.440 --> 00:29:23.759
All right, man.
00:29:23.759 --> 00:29:27.279
So I just got some closing remarks before we jump in.
00:29:27.279 --> 00:29:34.799
Uh, because I I know our clients, my our audience is definitely gonna wanna um hit you up, but you know, I just want to recap real quick.
00:29:34.799 --> 00:29:43.440
Clarity is the fuel for performance, and rebuilding after failure isn't just about the money, it's about realigning what matters.
00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:47.759
If you're winning at work but losing at home, it's time to cut through the noise.
00:29:47.759 --> 00:29:52.079
Connect with Dan at LinkedIn, Instagram.
00:29:52.079 --> 00:29:56.799
Um you can find those links in the show notes.
00:29:56.799 --> 00:30:05.680
Um, but I know he is at dan.richards.au on Instagram, and you'll see his uh LinkedIn link also.
00:30:05.680 --> 00:30:08.720
Uh Dan, what do you got for our listeners today?
00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:14.400
Yeah, so as I mentioned earlier, mate, I've got uh an energy audit tool, which that's a lot of fun, right?
00:30:14.400 --> 00:30:21.200
You just you literally, if you just uh send me a DM message, um just use VICI on and send that through and I'll I'll shoot the link across.
00:30:21.200 --> 00:30:30.799
Um essentially you go on there, you put in 20 of the activities that you've currently got in your calendar, and uh you rate them based on energy, energy resource.
00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:37.359
So to how much energy does give you a drain, how much uh alignment is it to your goals, and it will give you a zone.
00:30:37.359 --> 00:30:42.640
Is it a fuel zone, trap zone, hobby zone, um, or friction zone.
00:30:42.640 --> 00:30:50.960
Now I'll tell you right now, most leaders that I work with, they spend a they spend about anywhere between 30 to 40 percent of their time in trap or friction zone, right?
00:30:50.960 --> 00:30:55.680
So if you can just eliminate half of that, that's a lot of time back in your calendar.
00:30:55.680 --> 00:30:57.839
You can reinvest into stuff that gives you energy.
00:30:57.839 --> 00:31:02.880
So if you if you send me a DM, I'll shoot that link across to you, and it's a free tool and go your harvest.
00:31:03.200 --> 00:31:04.240
Outstanding.
00:31:04.240 --> 00:31:07.039
Um, that's it for us for today, Dan.
00:31:07.039 --> 00:31:09.359
I think we could do this probably for another hour.
00:31:09.359 --> 00:31:11.119
So we're gonna have to cut it somewhere.
00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:12.000
I loved it, man.
00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:17.279
Thank you so much for your candor and for your expertise and sharing all those stories.
00:31:17.279 --> 00:31:25.759
Uh, for our our listeners, protect your energy, prioritize your presence, and remember the real victory is one at home first.
00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:28.319
We'll see you on the next episode of the VICI Code.
00:31:28.319 --> 00:31:35.599
Thanks for tuning in to the Vici Code, where the underdogs rise and the numbers finally make sense.
00:31:35.599 --> 00:31:38.319
If today's story hit home, share it.
00:31:38.319 --> 00:31:43.839
And remember, faith fuels a fight, and your comeback is already in progress.
00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:11.439
Welcome to the VICI Code, where we unlock real stories of small business owners who've battled chaos, crushed doubt, and conquered their challenges.
00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:14.480
Faith, family, and finances.
00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:20.399
No fluff, just raw, honest conversations that decode the path to victory.
00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:22.399
One story at a time.
00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:27.440
What is up?
00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:50.640
Thank you for joining us today as we explore our latest purpose-driven journey, winning without losing, where we learn about integrated leadership performance, how to dismantle the relentless ambition trap, implement the CTC daily operating system to protect your energy, and ensure the professional success never comes at the expense of health and family.
00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:59.520
What do you do when the multi-million dollar dream you built from a side hustle suddenly faces the reality of administration?
00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:01.439
Most leaders would hide.
00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:06.879
Today's guest used that moment as a catalyst to redefine what winning actually looks like.
00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:16.879
From the boardroom at Coca-Cola to building and then losing a consumer brand empire, Dan Richards has seen the peak and the valley.
00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:25.680
Now he is the architect of the cut-through clarity CTC system, helping founders win at work without losing at home.
00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:29.200
Dan and I connected in our elite mastermind group.
00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:34.159
And let me tell you, he is a special ops coach for the soul of the executive.
00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:43.599
Having lived this high octane life of a corporate climber and the crushing reality of a business entering administration, he doesn't speak from the textbook.
00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:46.000
He speaks from the scars of experience.
00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:56.239
His CTC system is the perfect mechanical match for the Vici pillars, specifically in how it bridges the gap between professional winning and personal presence.
00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:59.680
We are exploring the long-term impact strategy.
00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:05.280
We're diving into why clarity at home is the secret fuel at performance at work.
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As always, we'll filter Dan's journey through the Vici pillars faith, family, fitness, and finance.
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Dan, you know I'm excited about this episode.
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Welcome to the show, brother.
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Let's go.
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How good was that?
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Thanks, man.
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What an intro.
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So I'm jumping straight in, man.
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Nitty gritty.
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You know, you climbed the corporate ladder at one of the biggest brands on earth and then scaled your own multi-million dollar business.
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But you said the your most valuable lesson came the day you had to place your own company into administration.
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Take us into that room.
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What did that moment reveal about your identity that success never could?
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Well, man, it's uh it actually gives me chills like even thinking about that moment.
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But um essentially I'll I'll take it back a couple of steps because there was a real pivotal moment that happened a couple of years before having to make that decision to put the company into administration.
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And I had a so I had the company for about eight years at this at that point, and my business partner and long-term friend, uh, an investor in in the brand of steel, uh, suffered a heart attack and was end up in hospital.
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And essentially, you know, after spending a fair bit of time in a coma, the family had to make the decision to turn off his life support.
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And it was at that point that, you know, my whole world kind of got flipped on its head, right?
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You got your your business partner, your investor, a guy who, you know, you you kind of bounce everything off, your day-to-day operations.
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It's a guy that you go to battle with every day.
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Um, all of a sudden he's not there anymore.
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And you just do what you can, you pick up the pieces.
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You know, I've pretty much kept building the business for the next couple of years, but then unfortunately, uh his estate wanted to call in his his investment loan.
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And at that point, the business literally could not afford to pay out that loan, which was going to force the company into administration.
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So, you know, that process going through the reality of you've just built this thing for 10 years, you have one of your best mates, business partners gone, you've invested so much time, energy, and effort into it, and you're kind of left with no option but to to kind of wind it up.
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Yeah, and at that moment, man, it was it was tough because you all your identity is tied up to a business, you know, like when you've put so much energy and effort into it, that's all you know.
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Yeah.
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So yeah, man, that that was um one of the hard decisions to make.
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I remember I I said to the wife, because at this stage, our son, uh Jet, he was only he would have been not even a year old, or pretty close to a year old.
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And I remember I was working all around the clock, getting all the papers ready for administration.
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And anyone that's gone through that process, it's it's not a fun process to go through, right?
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So worked around the clock and made it happen, and then that was the moment, man, where I kind of uh had to reconnect with who I was.
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Yeah.
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No, thank you for your candor and you know, just your vulnerability on that one.
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It's I can't imagine, I haven't gone through it, but it sounds terrible.
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We when I when I see clients go through audits, I just I I you know my heart breaks for them.
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I mean, and that's a big part of like what we do is try to, you know, help clients be audit proof.
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Uh, because you never want to see somebody go through that.
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And I can imagine that's got to be the same level, if not worse.
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So, you know, let's let's let's jump over to this the the cut through clarity system, though.
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Let's let's bounce back, right?
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You know, you work with leaders who are winning at work but losing energy.
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Tell us about the CTC framework.
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How does a leader actually cut through the noise of a high growth business to find the clarity needed to lead themselves first?
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Yeah, well, where this where this came from was obviously that moment when I had to step away from distilled, I took the family to Bali.
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And we went to Bali for a good two-week holiday, switched off.
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And this whole CTC system, the cut-through clarity system, was born there.
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Essentially, I put myself through this process around um, you know, how do you how do you reconnect with who you are, what's important to you?
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And for me, it was family, friends, and it was business.
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And it was obviously health's a huge part of that as well.
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So then we we built this framework out called CTC.
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Now, in a nutshell, essentially what it's all about, it's about how do you ensure you show up as the best version of yourself first and foremost.
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So, you know, we both train, it's a very important part of our our routine.
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Um, so health, health obviously are a major pillar, but it's also about how do you put boundaries in place around what's actually important.
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So you can get to work, show up as the best version of yourself, deliver great outcomes, and then still be able to get home to your family, spend that quality time with your partner, with your kids, re-energize and get back at it.
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And that's essentially what CTC is it's a daily operating system that gives you the frameworks to be able to operate at the highest level without having to give up.
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Like, how many times have you seen leaders that are really successful at work, but they're unhealthy?
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Their family need never sees them, their kids are just like wanting their attention.
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And that's sad, man.
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Like that, that to me is like the whole reason we build businesses is to enjoy more time with our friends and loved ones.
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You know what I think when I see that, Dan?
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I I wonder to myself, when I see those types of people, how are they winning at work?
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How are you winning at work when your health isn't good and you know, family life is just pushed to the side?
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I mean, it's sad and you know it's almost commendable at the same time.
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It's like I I without, you know, the the the steadiness of of my home life and my my fitness and eating right, there's no way I'm doing what I'm doing, you know, on a day-to-day basis.
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So it's it's on one hand, it's like it's it's a miracle.
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On the other hand, it's like really sad.
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Like, how are you keeping it together, man?
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Do you know what I think it is, man, is that is that there's there's these finish lines that we put like we put them out in the universe.
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It's like, you know what, I'm just gonna grind it out until I get to that vacation with my family.
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I'm just gonna work my ass off.
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I'm gonna finally get there and I'll I'll get to spend two weeks with my family and enjoy it, and then I'm back at the grind again.
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Or, you know what, when I get that promotion, I get paid that little bit of extra cash.
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It's gonna mean all this suck sacrifice is all worth it.
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And we keep doing this to ourselves, and what we've got to realize is that it's actually not true.
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Like you're giving up so much time and and quality time with your family at the cost of this uh a surface level success.
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Well, and then you're you're you're you're you're when you find that it's it's spent on material things too, not memories.
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You you you go through your life and like you know, you know, one more email or this or that.
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And I I noticed like at one point, like going on vacation, I just couldn't really enjoy it because I was you know thinking about work.
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And you know, that that takes training, and I'm sure the CTC system, you know, works with um executives to to battle that.
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So my question is is why is empathy a high performance metric in your system rather than just a soft skill?
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Yeah, so empathy for me goes across multiple different pillars.
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It's empathy to yourself, right?
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And it's empathy to the people around you.
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So for me, it's about showing up as the best version of yourself as a leader, and then showing that same, that same care and empathy to your team.
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So whoever the team that you directly lead or or you know um inspire within your own organization.
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And one of the things that I find is when leaders operate from a level of clarity, so they know what's important to them, they know how they can make an impact, their teams look up to that, right?
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If you show that empathy and allow them to also live in that same alignment, like man, it's such a cool place to, it's a good environment to be around.
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You walk into organizations where their leader lives and breathes that, like it's a different feeling.
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The energy is totally different.
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Yeah, and when you don't see it, when it's not there, it hurts.
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And it's a big part of why I wanted to, you know, have my own business is I just I got sick of saying, man, I could do this better.
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Then I finally told myself, well, then go do it.
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Then go do it.
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Go create the culture that you want, you know, to to work in.
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Um so and I I encourage anybody, working for yourself.
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Yeah, there's challenges, there's there's tough times, and that's what we talk about in these in these podcast episodes, you know, that it's doable, you can do it.
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You know, the most successful people, look at Dan, look at me, look at some of these other guests that have been on there.
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You know, we we have dark moments, and that's gonna be there, but like we stay in the fight, you stay in the fight, you know, you be consistent, be disciplined, and you know, work on your leadership.
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Um absolutely have strong foundations, like that's really important.
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Have really strong foundations that you can lean back on.
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100%.
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You know, in the finance and uh fitness pillars, we talk about ROI and energy.
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You create a CTC active.
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How does the daily operating system help a founder protect their energy and follow through on goals when the world is constantly demanding their attention?
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Love this, love this topic.
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So for me, man, this is all about how do you so I created a tool which I'm happy to obviously give to any of your listeners, but it's an energy audit tool.
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And essentially you go online, you put in 20 of your current activities in your calendar, and you rate those based on how much energy does it give you and how aligned is it to your goals.
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And that's personal and professional goals.
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And man, it's so crazy to see how many things we do day in, day out that actually don't even align to our personal professional goals, that just eats up our time.
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And you know, the I heard this quote once that if you don't prioritize your time, someone else will, and your calendar becomes their priority, it's not yours, right?
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And that's so true.
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100% so to loop back to your question around how does cut through clarity or CTC active play a role in this, it's a daily operating system.
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So every day you go into the app, you I've got five non-negotiables that are in there.
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So there's literal, and this comes you know heavily from Dan Martell, a guy that we worked with.
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It's like you've got to exercise, you've got to read, you've got to review your goals, you've got to um do your uh your daily routine, whatever that is, evening or morning, and then you've got to do some evening reflection, like journaling.
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Yeah.
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So that's part of it.
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Then you're also reviewing your goals, you're reviewing your one-page clarity plan, which is essentially like your your business plan for yourself, like for your personal and professional world.
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So by doing this, it it keeps you in the zone daily.
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So it's not like this plan that you do and you stick it in the drawer and you never look at it again.
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It's literally on your phone in an app that you keep referring to every single day to keep your line on what's actually important.
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I love that.
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And what is the one habit most seven figure founders are missing that would save them 10 hours of stress a week, you think?
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Look after their health, man.
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100%.
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Like literally.
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It's not complicated.
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It's like allocate some time so you can shop as the best version of yourself, right?
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The amount of people that literally will do everything they possibly can to make sure the business is successful, but they're like they're they're the one that's copping it.
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Like their health's not great, they're not eating well, they're they're surviving on caffeine, and it's not it's not great.
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Like, if you just fix that one habit, look after yourself first and foremost, fill your own cup up and then go and deliver some some results in your company.
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I guarantee you the how effective you are in the in the workplace will be tenfold by just looking after your own health and well-being.
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So true.
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And I I don't know, I I was actually on a golf course earlier today.
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I had golf league today, and just as I was playing, I just it comes this dawns on me often, but I just say to myself, you know, like no matter what's going on in life, good or bad, like all I want to do is be healthy.
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I just want to be healthy.
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I want to take care of myself, I want to be because I can do anything if I'm healthy, right?
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I can change careers, I I can get through bad days, I can have an even better day.
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Just, you know, taking care of my body and and being healthy.
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I mean, even when when I do get to hang up the the you know, the business and I and I'm spending time with you know, God willing grandchildren someday, I want to be able to be fit and active to be able to keep up with them, you know.
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Um it's everything, dude.
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Joe, can I just share one little story with you?
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It's it's um it takes me back to why it's so important.
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So when I went through all that stuff with Distill my last coming out to wind up, the only reason I feel like I got through that was because I had an emphasis and focus on my health.
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Yeah.
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Because mate, there was days where I didn't want to keep going.
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There, like literally my wife, Marquine, she won't mind me sharing this, but she behind my back called my best mate, my mum, my dad, and said, Can you just please call Dan and check in on him, you know, at least once or twice a day?
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Because she was worried that I was gonna do something stupid, you know, because of how much pressure and stress I was under.
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And you know what?
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If I if I didn't go to the gym every morning and I wasn't looking after my health and well-being, I reckon that who knows what could have happened because I would have been in a really weak and vulnerable state.
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Bad thoughts, man.
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Yeah, yeah, man.
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Heart hard in the body, hard in the mind, and you can battle those those bad thoughts for sure.
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100%.
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Now let's shift the focus to family a little bit and the presence uh uh and the presence deficit.
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In the family pillar, you talk about leaders who are physically at home but mentally still in the boardroom.
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We talked about that a little bit earlier in this conversation already.
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How do you coach a high performer to switch off and give their family their best version rather than just their leftovers?
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Yeah, this is something I'm I'm I'm so passionate about, Joe.
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Like it's it's so sad when you when you see leaders get home to their their family and their loved ones, and they're literally getting the leftovers of the energy that uh because they've been sucked drive it all day.
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And and even then it's distracted energy too.
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It's like they've still got their phone on, they're still answering emails, they're still responding to text messages, phone, the phone will ring, they'll think it's important.
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And one of the things I always say to my leaders that I coach is that you know, some uh are in jobs where they might be saving lives, but one of the things I always say is like, is is the job that you're doing, is it literally saving lives?
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Can that call, can that email, can it just wait till tomorrow?
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Like the time that you allocate to your family is so important.
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And by you respecting that time and showing your team that you also respect that time, you're you're giving them the confidence that they can do the same at home as well.
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So it's kind of like what so I try to do this thing where if you pull up at home, spend five minutes while you're in the car, just quickly look at the phone, check if there's anything urgent you need to respond to, respond to that, return any phone calls that you might need to return.
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And then as soon as you walk in that door, put your phone on charge in the bathroom, in the kitchen, put it out of sight, out of mind, and spend spend that time with your family.
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And you won't regret it.
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And guess what?
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Your team will watch you do that and they'll respect you for it as well.
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Yeah, and and I can speak from I I do that.
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I'll I'll get home.
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And sometimes my wife will make fun of me because she's like, you know, what are you doing in the car?
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Like, I'm trust me, I'm doing this for everybody.
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Let me just get through this.
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Boom, boom, boom.
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I get home.
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I put my phone on the charger, uh, in the kitchen, get the big island, and we I I once it's on the charger, I put it in the con in the drawer and I shut it.
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Do I check it a couple times throughout the night?
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Sure, but like it's gone.
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I I'm I'm making eye contact with people, I'm listening, active listening.
00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:37.839
So um that that is definitely uh some great advice that I can actually say works for me, Dan.
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Yeah, for sure.
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And also, like, I think it's important if you start implementing this as a leader, be honest with your team on why you're doing it.
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Because if they're trying to ring you and you would normally answer the phone at night, and now you're not answering it, and if you haven't communicated to them why you're doing it, it might feel a bit weird, right?
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It might like, why is he ignoring me?
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Why is he not answering my calls?
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Where if you actually be open and honest, say this is what I'm doing because my family's important to me, that time's really important, and it should be for you as well.
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You watch how much more respect you get.
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Well, and here's some good advice when you're when you're interviewing people, set that tone during the interview.
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I tell people if family's not your most important priority, um, or you're you're you know, this is not the right job for you.
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Like if you're missing, you know, recitals and and this and that, like that's so much more important.
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And actually, at Vici, it's like, you know, yeah, it's a it's a it's 40 hours a week, but really like if you're getting your work done, I don't care if it's 35 hours, go go enjoy life, right?
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Like that's that's more way more important.
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So I usually set that tone early, Dan, um, so that they already know, like, yeah, you know, I'm off the clock, I'm with my family, I'll get to it when I can, and I expect them to be the same way.
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Good on you, man.
00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:52.559
That's not there's not a lot of leaders that live and breathe that.
00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:53.359
So good on you.
00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:54.240
Hell yeah.
00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:55.920
All right, let's jump back into fitness.
00:18:55.920 --> 00:18:57.359
You know how I love fitness.
00:18:57.359 --> 00:19:02.000
Um, you mentioned that success shouldn't come at the expense of health.
00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:07.759
When you were building your consumer brands, how did your own fitness and well-being suffer?
00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:13.599
And what is the non-negotiable you live by now to ensure you don't repeat that mistake?
00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:15.440
Yeah, good question.
00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:20.640
For me, when I was building distill, it was it was around the clock.
00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:26.319
Man, I was I was all day, all night working, and and I was still training.
00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:27.039
That's the thing, right?
00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:28.720
I was still getting up early, I was still training.
00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:33.039
But what I wasn't, I wasn't getting quality sleep and I wasn't spending quality time with my family.
00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:38.640
So so what I do now, it's it's it's strict boundaries and it's literally I've got blocks of time.
00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:51.920
So my calendar, some some people call me a crazy, but the people that come into our world, the cut through clarity world, they love it because essentially our calendars are now um booked out in time blocks that are color-coded but also are protected.
00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:58.799
So for me, it's like if I'm if if I'm building any business or coaching anyone or consulting, it's like we've got things in time blocks.
00:19:58.799 --> 00:20:04.400
So when we in the morning for me, it's gym time, non-negotiable, it's 3:30 till 5.
00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:08.240
I get home, I've got deep work time, which is when I'm tackled with the biggest priorities.
00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:10.240
It's when I've where I've got no noise.
00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:17.519
Then when we get to the office, it's like unless a meeting has an agenda with a clear outcome, it doesn't even make it into my calendar.
00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:23.759
So then all of a sudden, you've got all this time, energy, and effort that you can throw at things that are actually important.
00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:24.079
Right.
00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:24.480
Right?
00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:32.079
So then when you get to five o'clock when it's time to get home, or four o'clock, get home to your family, you feel like you're not burning it at both ends.
00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:33.119
We've all heard that call, right?
00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:34.160
Or the saying before, right?
00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:35.119
Like burning at both ends.
00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:38.319
Like you're not doing that because you're protecting both ends of the spectrum.
00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:43.279
You're waking up looking after yourself, you're working hard through the day, and then you're getting home to re-rejuvenate.
00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:50.960
So for me, it's having that structure and that priority around what's actually important to you, allows you to shop as a better version of yourself during the day.
00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:55.039
I'm going off script a little bit here, but you're up at three, my man.
00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:58.960
You you know, at five o'clock, you know, you gotta be exhausted.
00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:05.839
I mean, I know like you're you you have a good routine, and you know, I know that working out actually gives me energy more in the in the day.
00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:08.400
So what does what does the evening look like for you?
00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:10.960
It must be like dinner and then bed.
00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:14.240
I mean, when when do you when are you in bed, man?
00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:28.079
Yeah, well, it's um you've you've got a family, you know it's like I've I do have a routine where I like to be in bed by a certain time, but when you've got a a three-year-old son that's you know climbing over your face and not wanting to go to bed, it it kind of slows things down.
00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:33.359
But uh for me, mate, so I get home from work typically between sort of four and five.
00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:34.799
I pick Jed up from daycare.
00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:36.240
That's one of my non-negotiables.
00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:38.720
If I'm around, I pick him up from daycare.
00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:42.720
It's one of the happiest things that I possibly like, yeah.
00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:53.039
Man, when you go to daycare and your son sees you or your daughter, and they their eyes light up and they go and they like run across like palming everyone out of the way on the way to get to you.
00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:56.880
Like, yeah, that shit that that's that's so good for the soul.
00:21:56.880 --> 00:21:59.279
Um, so I I try to do that as much as I can.
00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:03.519
And then We get home, we kick the footy, we play a bit of basketball.
00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:13.839
My son's obsessed with basketball, so we we go out outside and we play, and then the wife's normally home by then, so then we have dinner as a family, and then we're winding down.
00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:23.200
We're either reading a book with Jet in bed or where we might watch a TV show together and then we put Jet to bed and then mate, I'm in bed by 7:30, 8 o'clock.
00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:25.200
Oh, that sounds like a right.
00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:25.920
Yeah.
00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:30.000
But again, it's like that that window gets condensed because I'm up at 3:30.
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:32.880
So it's kind of if I don't get to bed at that time, I feel it.
00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:37.440
When I wake up at 3 30, I feel the lack of sleep if I don't get it in.
00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:41.680
Is your is your wife in bed around the same time or is she up a little bit longer?
00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:47.359
Nah, she's she's uh likes to stay stay up a bit later, so she'll watch a couple of TV shows.
00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:53.359
You know, she's obsessed with Gray's anatomy at the moment, which literally it's the hardest thing to fall asleep to.
00:22:53.359 --> 00:23:00.079
But so she'll so she'll watch that and then um yeah, she gets up sort of 7 30 for breakfast.
00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:09.759
Yeah, my wife you likes my wife somehow she gets the most energy in the entire day, right around when I'm ready to go to sleep.
00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:15.359
I'll get in bed, I'll turn the TV on just to kind of like wind down for a second.
00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:21.759
And um, at that point, that's when she can't wait to talk to me about all the things that she didn't already talk to me about.
00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:23.759
I'm just like, I thought we were done.
00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:24.880
I'm trying to go to bed.
00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:26.000
No, no, no.
00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:27.920
Uh I kid, she's she's great.
00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:31.839
She lets me do all the things I need to do to be the best version of myself.
00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:34.400
So she's great, but it's funny, just different patterns.
00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:36.960
And you know, I don't whatever works for her, you know.
00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:42.400
I try to lead by example and she takes what she what she likes from what I do, and you know, we make it work.
00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:45.920
Um Joe, just just just on that one, bro, before we before we move on.
00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:49.119
How important is having the right partner at home?
00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:52.240
You know, for me, Mikey is such a rock, man.
00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:55.839
Like she she helps out when I when I need the help.
00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:57.599
She's there emotionally when I need her.
00:23:57.599 --> 00:23:59.200
She's uh such a good mom.
00:23:59.200 --> 00:24:01.519
You know, we got another baby on the way at the moment.
00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:11.359
So like just if if anyone's listening now, like just don't underestimate how important having a really solid partner at home is to building a successful business.
00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:14.400
Yeah, it's it's irreplaceable, man.
00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:16.480
Like you it's a game changer.
00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:22.480
You you take you remove that piece, it's like removing, like one of it's removing one of the pillars, man.
00:24:22.480 --> 00:24:29.119
You know, you can't keep everything up and do everything that you want to do without, you know, a stable uh home life.
00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:31.759
So it's for sure, it's important.
00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:34.079
And and so is faith, which is our next question.
00:24:34.079 --> 00:24:40.400
In terms of faith and values, you focus on long-term impact rather than the short-term gains.
00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:50.160
How does uh having grounded sense of purpose change the way a leader handles the relentless ambition that can often lead to burnout?
00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:52.480
Yeah, it's uh another great question.
00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:56.160
And that this is the first part of the cut through clarity program, actually.
00:24:56.160 --> 00:24:57.039
So I love it.
00:24:57.039 --> 00:25:02.160
One of the things that I identified early was that a lot of leaders don't actually know why they do what they do.
00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:04.880
And that's it's sad to think that, right?
00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:08.000
Like it's it's the both their personal life and their professional life.
00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:11.279
When you get into it, into the weeds a little bit and go, well, what are the what's the reason?
00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:14.079
What's the values behind why you want to do that?
00:25:14.079 --> 00:25:20.559
And you get clear on it, and then you go, okay, well, and then you get one layer deeper, like the sew that, like, well, why do you want to do that then?
00:25:20.559 --> 00:25:21.920
Like, why is it so important to you?
00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:23.759
And you get that next layer deeper.
00:25:23.759 --> 00:25:26.960
Once you understand that, like everything just makes a lot more sense.
00:25:26.960 --> 00:25:33.440
The way you plan your day, the way you spend your time, the things you do and don't do, the people you want to be around, the people you don't want to be around.
00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:39.519
But until you get really clear on that, around why that value, that value piece, it's um, it's really difficult.
00:25:39.519 --> 00:25:46.319
And you can then that's again why I can understand why there's so many leaders out there just burning it like it's like rubber to just rubber spinning.
00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:53.039
They don't get any traction because the the underlying core reason why they get up every day isn't clear.
00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:54.880
Yeah, it's really not clear.
00:25:55.200 --> 00:25:55.440
Yeah.
00:25:55.440 --> 00:26:13.440
So I I feel like I I feel like you know, I've been a lot stronger in my faith over the last few years, and I feel like that's really actually helped me be able to manage my stress and put things in perspective because you know, you have to it it I believe in Jesus, right?
00:26:13.440 --> 00:26:19.599
And you know that that belief is is non-negotiable if you're a Christian.
00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:31.039
Like it it's it's like you have to believe that he's you know looking out for us, he's doing things, he's putting these challenges in front of us to make us better, he's rewarding us and like all that, right?
00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:34.079
So it's like I can step away or bad things can happen.
00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:38.960
I can be like, well, you know, there's something I gotta learn from this, and it's not gonna crush me.
00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:44.880
Uh it's uncomfortable, but at the end of the day, like tomorrow's a new day.
00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:52.240
And you know, so my faith has really helped me manage a lot of different areas in my life.
00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:58.640
Parenting, you know, uh, you know, being a husband, work, being a leader, all these things.
00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:00.240
My faith has been really important.
00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:02.400
So I'm glad that's like where you guys start.
00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:03.680
It's I think that's so important.
00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:04.559
What's your why?
00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:05.519
What's your purpose?
00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:07.680
Because that will get you through so much.
00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:08.640
It needs to be, man.
00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:16.319
I've got I've got leaders that I coach that that are are really ingrained in their faith, and it's and you can you can just see it in the way they operate every single day.
00:27:16.319 --> 00:27:18.799
And how it's almost like their decision matrix.
00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:26.000
Like when when they're when they when they've got to be, when they're faced with something really tough, they always go back to their faith, right?
00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:37.359
So and then there's other there's other people that I coach that don't necessarily have a strong connection to Jesus or or to whatever faith you choose, but they've got a really solid value system, right?
00:27:37.359 --> 00:27:40.480
And it's it comes back, and you know what, mate, it's normally family.
00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:53.839
It's like they they're doing it because they want to they want to do great things for their family, and it's like that in its own right, like as long as you've got something you can always come back to as the solid rock on why you do what you do, you can pretty much get through most things.
00:27:54.079 --> 00:27:54.319
Yeah.
00:27:54.319 --> 00:27:56.160
Well, it just puts it in perspective.
00:27:56.160 --> 00:27:57.839
What what am I doing this for?
00:27:57.839 --> 00:28:04.480
Why am I getting up this early in the morning to to to read scripture and work out and and meditate?
00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:10.799
Why am I going to bed early instead of going to you know the bar and hanging out with the guys?
00:28:10.799 --> 00:28:15.680
You know, why why am I doing all these things and like real simple?
00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:18.720
That this this is the most important thing going on in my life.
00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:21.440
I even say it to my wife, and that it has to be this way.
00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:26.319
If if your faith is not more important than me, I I don't know what what's gonna happen, right?
00:28:26.319 --> 00:28:27.680
Yeah, yeah.
00:28:27.680 --> 00:28:28.799
Absolutely.
00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:33.279
Well, listen, dude, we're at rapid fire, we're at rapid fire section right now.
00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:35.759
So I'm gonna rattle off the next three questions.
00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:38.480
You give me the qu the answer as soon as you can, right?
00:28:38.480 --> 00:28:47.279
All right, first question the biggest lie high performance high performers tell themselves the more hours mean, you're more effective.
00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:48.880
Yeah, I agree.
00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:53.279
One tool to realign your day in under five minutes.
00:28:55.759 --> 00:28:56.880
Oh, this is a good one.
00:28:56.880 --> 00:28:59.759
I'll just say any meeting with no agenda, decline it.
00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:01.039
Love it.
00:29:01.039 --> 00:29:04.480
And then sometimes we refer to Vici as victory.
00:29:04.480 --> 00:29:10.319
What does victory look like for Dan Richards today versus ten years ago?
00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:12.960
More quality time by family.
00:29:12.960 --> 00:29:18.400
And my and if I go back ten years ago, man, it was all about how do I get more money in the bank account.
00:29:18.400 --> 00:29:19.119
100%.
00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:21.440
100%.
00:29:21.440 --> 00:29:23.759
All right, man.
00:29:23.759 --> 00:29:27.279
So I just got some closing remarks before we jump in.
00:29:27.279 --> 00:29:34.799
Uh, because I I know our clients, my our audience is definitely gonna wanna um hit you up, but you know, I just want to recap real quick.
00:29:34.799 --> 00:29:43.440
Clarity is the fuel for performance, and rebuilding after failure isn't just about the money, it's about realigning what matters.
00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:47.759
If you're winning at work but losing at home, it's time to cut through the noise.
00:29:47.759 --> 00:29:52.079
Connect with Dan at LinkedIn, Instagram.
00:29:52.079 --> 00:29:56.799
Um you can find those links in the show notes.
00:29:56.799 --> 00:30:05.680
Um, but I know he is at dan.richards.au on Instagram, and you'll see his uh LinkedIn link also.
00:30:05.680 --> 00:30:08.720
Uh Dan, what do you got for our listeners today?
00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:14.400
Yeah, so as I mentioned earlier, mate, I've got uh an energy audit tool, which that's a lot of fun, right?
00:30:14.400 --> 00:30:21.200
You just you literally, if you just uh send me a DM message, um just use VICI on and send that through and I'll I'll shoot the link across.
00:30:21.200 --> 00:30:30.799
Um essentially you go on there, you put in 20 of the activities that you've currently got in your calendar, and uh you rate them based on energy, energy resource.
00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:37.359
So to how much energy does give you a drain, how much uh alignment is it to your goals, and it will give you a zone.
00:30:37.359 --> 00:30:42.640
Is it a fuel zone, trap zone, hobby zone, um, or friction zone.
00:30:42.640 --> 00:30:50.960
Now I'll tell you right now, most leaders that I work with, they spend a they spend about anywhere between 30 to 40 percent of their time in trap or friction zone, right?
00:30:50.960 --> 00:30:55.680
So if you can just eliminate half of that, that's a lot of time back in your calendar.
00:30:55.680 --> 00:30:57.839
You can reinvest into stuff that gives you energy.
00:30:57.839 --> 00:31:02.880
So if you if you send me a DM, I'll shoot that link across to you, and it's a free tool and go your harvest.
00:31:03.200 --> 00:31:04.240
Outstanding.
00:31:04.240 --> 00:31:07.039
Um, that's it for us for today, Dan.
00:31:07.039 --> 00:31:09.359
I think we could do this probably for another hour.
00:31:09.359 --> 00:31:11.119
So we're gonna have to cut it somewhere.
00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:12.000
I loved it, man.
00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:17.279
Thank you so much for your candor and for your expertise and sharing all those stories.
00:31:17.279 --> 00:31:25.759
Uh, for our our listeners, protect your energy, prioritize your presence, and remember the real victory is one at home first.
00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:28.319
We'll see you on the next episode of the VICI Code.
00:31:28.319 --> 00:31:35.599
Thanks for tuning in to the Vici Code, where the underdogs rise and the numbers finally make sense.
00:31:35.599 --> 00:31:38.319
If today's story hit home, share it.
00:31:38.319 --> 00:31:43.839
And remember, faith fuels a fight, and your comeback is already in progress.
