Podcasts about genius network

Networking doesn't have to feel gross - and Joe Polish is living proof. In this episode, Marie sits down with the founder of Genius Network (dubbed "the most connected man on the planet") to dig into what genuine relationship-building actually looks like. You'll learn how to be a generous giver without getting taken advantage of, how to build rapport fast, and why asking "what's in it for them?" is the key to unlocking unlimited success. If you prefer video or want closed captions, you can watch all our episodes on YouTube → http://www.youtube.com/marieforleo COME SAY HI! Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/marieforleo  Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marieforleo Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marieforleo X: http://www.x.com/marieforleo MORE RESOURCES FOR YOU: Watch my Free Masterclass: 3 Sneaky Mistakes that Kill Productivity & Tank Profits → https://www.marieforleo.com/freeclass Get Your Personalized Revenue Plan & Get More Clients in 30 Days → https://checkout.marieforleo.com/get-more-clients-in-30-days Build Your $250K Offer in Minutes Using My Proven Frameworks → https://checkout.marieforleo.com/build-your-$250k-offer If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review!

With the Co-Authors of The Greater Game and Dan Sullivan of Strategic Coach and John Bowen of CEG Insights Louis Diamond speaks with Dan Sullivan of Strategic Coach® and John Bowen of CEG Insights about founder dependency, enterprise value, and the architecture behind scalable businesses. In Summary Many advisory firms grow successfully while remaining highly dependent on their founders. Dan Sullivan and John Bowen argue that the difference between a successful practice and a valuable enterprise comes down to architecture. Louis sits down with the co-authors of The Greater Game to discuss founder dependency, enterprise value, intellectual property, and why some businesses scale beyond their owners while others do not. The conversation offers advisors a framework for thinking differently about growth, succession, and long-term optionality. The Storyline Many advisors spend their careers helping clients build valuable businesses. Far fewer stop to ask whether their own firms are being built the same way. That tension sits at the center of Louis Diamond's conversation with Dan Sullivan, co-founder of Strategic Coach®, and John Bowen, founder of CEG Elevate Group and CEG Insights. Their new book, The Greater Game, challenges a common assumption about growth: that bigger businesses are simply the result of working harder, adding more clients, or improving existing systems. Instead, they argue that enterprise value is created through architecture—the deliberate design of a business that can scale, transfer, and thrive without its founder at the center. The discussion introduces a framework for understanding why some entrepreneurs remain trapped in optimization while others build enterprises that compound in value over time. Along the way, Dan and John explore founder dependency, intellectual property, succession planning, strategic partnerships, and the role advisors can play in helping entrepreneurial clients navigate each stage of growth. For advisors, the framework creates an important mirror. The same forces that limit enterprise value for entrepreneurial clients often exist inside advisory firms themselves. The result is a conversation that extends well beyond business growth and into questions of optionality, transferability, and what ultimately makes a firm valuable. Topics Covered Enterprise Value Creation Founder Dependency Risk Business Architecture vs. Optimization Intellectual Property & Scalability Strategic Partnerships & Leverage Succession Planning & Optionality Legacy, Impact & the “Greater Game” Mindset > Download a transcript of this episode… Listen and Learn Highlights for Advisors What is The Greater Game—and why does it matter to advisors? (17:57) Dan and John introduce the framework behind their new book and explain why advisors should think about it both for entrepreneurial clients and for their own businesses. Why do only a small percentage of entrepreneurs create exponential enterprise value? (22:24) The discussion explores the difference between “architects” and “optimizers” and why most business owners remain focused on improving what exists rather than designing what comes next. Why is founder dependency such a significant valuation risk? (35:00) John explains how businesses that depend on a single individual often struggle to scale, transfer, or command premium valuations. How does expertise become intellectual property—and why does that matter? (35:00) The transition from expertise to transferable systems may be the most important bridge in the entire framework, creating leverage that extends beyond the founder. What prevents many advisors from fully serving entrepreneurial clients? (18:00) The conversation examines why most advisors are well-equipped for traditional planning needs but less prepared for the governance, succession, and enterprise-value challenges entrepreneurs eventually face. What does the next game look like after you've already “won”? (50:00) Dan and John discuss why many successful entrepreneurs and advisors eventually shift their focus from accumulation to significance, impact, and legacy. What's the single most important move an entrepreneur can make? (52:30) Dan shares the concept of Unique Ability® and explains why simplifying around your highest-value strengths often creates the greatest multiplier effect. Key Takeaways Enterprise value is created through architecture, not effort. Many successful businesses continue to grow while remaining highly dependent on their founders. The firms that command premium valuations are often built differently from the start. Founder dependency acts as a hidden valuation discount. The more a business depends on one person, the more difficult it becomes to scale, transfer, or sell at a premium. Intellectual property is often the bridge between a practice and an enterprise. When expertise becomes codified, transferable, and repeatable, value begins to exist independently of the founder. Advisors and entrepreneurs often face the same challenge. The same founder-dependency issues advisors help clients solve frequently exist within their own firms. Strategic partnerships create leverage that expertise alone cannot. Many of the most successful entrepreneurs grow through collaboration, ecosystems, and coordinated expertise rather than attempting to solve every challenge themselves. Most advisors are trained to solve early-stage problems. Entrepreneurial clients eventually require guidance around succession, governance, scalability, and enterprise value—areas that extend beyond traditional planning. The next stage of growth is often not about growth at all. For many successful entrepreneurs, the question eventually shifts from accumulation to significance, impact, and the legacy they want their business to create. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY5xOB8GTQY Quotable Moments “The exit multiple is downstream of the architecture.” “The difference between a three-times and a fifteen-times multiple is often whether the business depends on the founder.” “You have to simplify in order to multiply.” “We're not talking about a 10x game anymore. We're talking about a 100x game.”     FAQs Why do some advisory firms command higher valuation multiples than others? Dan Sullivan and John Bowen argue that valuation is often determined long before a transaction occurs. Firms that reduce founder dependency, codify intellectual property, and build transferable systems typically command higher multiples than those built around a single rainmaker. What is founder dependency and how does it impact enterprise value? Founder dependency occurs when clients, revenue, and decision-making remain concentrated around one individual. While those businesses can be highly successful, advisors find they are often more difficult to scale, transfer, or sell. What is the difference between an architect and an optimizer? An optimizer focuses on improving an existing business model. An architect builds systems, intellectual property, and structures designed to create leverage, scalability, and long-term enterprise value. What does Dan Sullivan mean when he says “100x is easier than 2x”? The concept challenges entrepreneurs to stop thinking incrementally. Rather than working harder within the current model, transformational growth often comes from redesigning the model itself through better leverage, collaboration, and systems. How can advisors better serve entrepreneurial clients? Many entrepreneurial clients eventually need guidance beyond investment management, including succession planning, governance, intellectual property strategy, and enterprise value creation. Understanding where a client sits in their business journey can help advisors provide more relevant advice and coordination. What is the expertise trap and why does it matter for advisory firms? The expertise trap occurs when critical knowledge, relationships, and processes remain inside the founder's head. Until that expertise becomes transferable and repeatable, enterprise value often remains limited regardless of growth. Dan Sullivan and John Bowen argue that valuation is often determined long before a transaction occurs. Firms that reduce founder dependency, codify intellectual property, and build transferable systems typically command higher multiples than those built around a single rainmaker. Founder dependency occurs when clients, revenue, and decision-making remain concentrated around one individual. While those businesses can be highly successful, advisors find they are often more difficult to scale, transfer, or sell. An optimizer focuses on improving an existing business model. An architect builds systems, intellectual property, and structures designed to create leverage, scalability, and long-term enterprise value. The concept challenges entrepreneurs to stop thinking incrementally. Rather than working harder within the current model, transformational growth often comes from redesigning the model itself through better leverage, collaboration, and systems. Many entrepreneurial clients eventually need guidance beyond investment management, including succession planning, governance, intellectual property strategy, and enterprise value creation. Understanding where a client sits in their business journey can help advisors provide more relevant advice and coordination. The expertise trap occurs when critical knowledge, relationships, and processes remain inside the founder's head. Until that expertise becomes transferable and repeatable, enterprise value often remains limited regardless of growth. Related Resources The Greater Game by Dan Sullivan and John Bowen Strategic Coach® CEG Elevate Group The Greater Game Dashboard Diamond Consultants Advisor Transition Report Dan Sullivan The world's foremost expert on entrepreneurship in action, Dan Sullivan has spent the past five decades empowering business owners to reach their full potential in both their professional and personal lives. His strong belief in and commitment to the power of the entrepreneur is evident in all areas of his company, Strategic Coach®, and its successful membership community. Dan is married to Babs Smith, his partner in business and in life. They jointly own and operate The Strategic Coach Inc., with offices in Toronto, Chicago, and the UK Dan and Babs reside in Toronto. John Bowen John J. Bowen Jr. is the founder and CEO of CEG Elevate Group, the holding company that includes CEG Worldwide and CEG Insights. Through these companies, he helps elite financial advisors serve fewer, wealthier clients exceptionally well while building more valuable and scalable businesses. Before founding CEG, John spent 26 years as a financial advisor and built a $2 billion wealth management business. That firsthand experience grounds CEG’s work today across advisor coaching, enterprise programs, empirical research through CEG Insights, and practical frameworks for advisors who want to move beyond practice growth to enduring enterprise value. John is the author of 21 books on wealth management, entrepreneurship, and success. His newest book, The Greater Game: Your 100x Blueprint for Exponential Growth, Freedom, and Legacy, co-authored with Dan Sullivan of Strategic Coach, will be published by Hay House Business in May 2026. Today, John and the CEG team work with leading advisors and enterprise firms — including some of the largest advisor organizations in the United States — to help advisors deepen relationships with affluent clients, build scalable practices, and design lives of greater significance. NOTE: The views and opinions expressed by the guests on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Diamond Consultants. Neither Diamond Consultants nor the guests on this podcast are compensated in any way for their participation. View the transcript of this episode… Architecting 100x Growth: A “How-To” From Legends Dan Sullivan and John Bowen A conversation with Louis Diamond and Co-Authors of The Greater Game, Dan Sullivan of Strategic Coach and John Bowen of CEG Insights.      Louis Diamond: Welcome to the latest episode of our podcast series for financial advisors. Today’s episode is Architecting 100x Growth: A “How-To” From Legends Dan Sullivan and John Bowen, a conversation with the industry’s top coaches and co-authors of The Greater Game. I’m Louis Diamond, and this is the Diamond Podcast for Financial Advisors. Mindy Diamond: At Diamond Consultants, we help elite advisors identify the right environment for their businesses to thrive, whether that’s at a wirehouse, boutique, or independent firm. With nearly three decades of experience, we’ve guided thousands of advisors and represented more than a quarter of a trillion dollars in assets transitioned. And each year, one in four advisors managing a billion dollars or more who change firms are our clients. Our process is education-driven and based on building relationships, starting as your strategic partner well before you’re even thinking of a move. To schedule a confidential conversation, call us at 908-879-1002. Wondering why advisors change firms and where they’re headed? Are transition deals going up or down? Those very questions and more inspired us to create our annual Advisor Transition Report. It’s the award-winning data-driven resource designed for advisors that connects the dots between the motivations around movement and the firm’s appetite for top talent. Arm yourself with the knowledge you need to make smart decisions. Download your copy at diamond-consultants.com/transitionreport. Louis Diamond: Most entrepreneurs and many advisors spend years optimizing for growth without realizing they’re building a business that still depends entirely on them. Revenue and complexity grow; enterprise value, transferability, and freedom often lag far behind. Dan Sullivan and John Bowen argue that the issue isn’t effort or intelligence; it’s architecture. No doubt these are familiar names in the wealth management industry, but just to set the stage, Dan is the co-founder of Strategic Coach, and John is the founder of CEG Elevate Group and CEG Insights. Together, they spent decades coaching and studying high-performing entrepreneurs and advisory firms. Their latest book, one they joined forces on, The Greater Game, lays out a very different framework for thinking about growth, one built around scalability, transferrable value, and long-term leverage rather than incremental optimization. What makes this conversation especially relevant for advisors is that the framework cuts both ways. It applies to the entrepreneurial clients that advisors serve, as well as to the advisory firms themselves. And in many cases, the same founder dependency and expertise trap that limits a client’s enterprise value is quietly limiting the advisor’s business too. We talk about the difference between operators and architects, why 100 times growth can actually be easier than two times growth, where businesses tend to stall as they scale and how advisors can start thinking differently about their own firms, particularly when it comes to enterprise value, succession, and long-term optionality. It’s rare access to a conversation with two of our industry’s legends whose advice and counsel has not only helped to transform the business lives of many of our listeners, but also my own. So let’s get to it. Dan and John, thank you both for joining us today. Dan Sullivan: Thank you, Lou. It’s a real pleasure. John Bowen: I’ve had the privilege of joining you before, but never with my co-author, Dan Sullivan, and I’m excited to share what we’re doing because I think it can make a big impact in our advisor industry. Louis Diamond: No doubt about it. Yeah, this has been an interview I’ve been very excited to host. So let’s jump right in. Dan Sullivan, I think you are a man that needs little introduction. So many advisors in the industry are fans or clients of your firm, Strategic Coach, but for those who aren’t as familiar or need a refresh, can you just give some quick context into why you started Strategic Coach and what the company does today? Dan Sullivan: Yeah. Well, it goes back to 1974. I was a copywriter at BBDO, the Canadian branch of BBDO, big global advertising agency. It still is. But I’ve been sort of a lifetime coach. I remember once when my mother finally caught up with what I was doing in life and I was describing what I was doing, she says, “Well, you were doing that when you were a child. You were talking to adults and you were asking adults about their experiences.” And I said, “Yeah, I could do this when I was eight or nine years old, but it took me a long time to get a business model wrapped around it.” But I jumped out in 1974 and started coaching anybody, but it actually turned out that entrepreneurs were the best people to coach because they would write a check on the spot and they would make a decision on the spot and I needed cashflow and I did it. So I’ve been personally, as a Strategic Coach, which was named by someone else. You’re just out there trying to get cashflow to pay for the rent. So I started in ’74, and I was lucky and it really relates to your target audience, Lou. Right off the bat, I got what are called top-of-the-table life insurance agents. And that was really, really great because life insurance agents are purely a conceptual business. So someone can get a new idea at breakfast and they can have a new business by dinnertime just because they can change their mindset. And that moved on. And I did that for 15 years, just one-on-one, 1970s, 1980s. And then, I’d had enough experience that we turned it into a workshop program in 1989. We’ve been at it ever since. So I was at a talk. Joe Polish is a great friend of ours, Joe Polish with Genius Network. And he had a speaker there, and he says, “You’re one of the original gangsters, aren’t you? You’re one of the first people.” And I said, “I don’t know if I’m the original, but I think I’m the only surviving one.” So it’s 52 years that I’ve been doing what I’m doing. And I had the good fortune to meet John in around 2009. John, was that the year? 2009? John Bowen: Yeah, in the little economic downturn that everybody knows about here. Dan Sullivan: Yeah. And John had a great coaching program and we had a great coaching program. And over the years, we’ve talked a lot about what makes a entrepreneur exponential in their thinking. And finally, about two years ago, we decided, let’s write a book about this. And that’s the new book, which is called The Greater Game. That’s where this all started. It’s just been a great pleasure because we sync very well. Louis Diamond: Amazing. And Dan, I think a lot of people likely know you either from Strategic Coach. I know I’m personally a big fan of two of your books and I know of others, The Gap and The Gain and Who Not How. We’re going to talk about your new book, but I think it’d just be helpful. Can you talk about the key premise of some of your prior books, The Gap and The Gain and Who Not How? Dan Sullivan: As a result of my membership, I’m a member in other groups. And so Joe Polish of Genius Network fame, he’s been in my program for 28 years, and I’ve been in his program for 15 years. And there was a writer who was in one of the first Genius Network workshops, and he approached me. And I created a lot of books, but I create small books and they’re self-published. I do a book a quarter. I’m 82 in about three weeks. So when I was 70, I said, “I’m going to give myself a 25-year project. I’ll write 100 books in 100 quarters.” And this is quarter number 47, and I’m writing my 47th book. But they’re little books. They’re 60, 70 pages. They’re one-idea books. And Ben Hardy, who was, at that time, the number one writer on Medium, which is a blogging type medium, he approached me, and he said, “I know you don’t write big books and you don’t have publisher books. But,” he said, “if you ever did,” he said, “I’d like to collaborate.” And that was a great good fortune on my part. So we produced three books in five years. The first book was Who Not How. Who Not How basically says when you have a goal, the biggest problem with the goal, you’re excited about the goal, but you’re not excited about doing it. So you find “Whos” who help you and you build teamwork around it. And that was a big seller. And then, we had another concept which was called The Gap and The Gain that entrepreneurs, depending on how they measure their progress, can be perpetually unhappy or they can be perpetually motivated. And it all depends on how they measure their progress, how they measure their goal setting and their goal achievement. And then the third book, which has really turned out to be the big one, up until this book, this book will be bigger. It’s called 10x Is Easier Than 2x. So hence, Coach, everybody has a 10x game plan. Whatever number they want to choose, revenues, personal net worth, whatever, you have a framework of 10x, which is sometime in the future, but you use that future framework for deciding what you’re going to do today that will end up as a 10x result. I thought that was going to be our formula for the rest of my life until I met John. And then John is a great AI practitioner. And I began to realize that that 10x is now becoming 100x for really top-notch entrepreneurs, but the 10x is easier than 2x. And we just crossed the million mark with the three books, which is really good. And it’s great for lead… we’re having people show up and they’ve really bought into what Strategic Coach is. We have a good size company. We’re not a small company. We have 120 team members. We’re in five centers: Los Angeles, Vancouver, Chicago, Toronto and London, England. But it’s been really great because we’ve really grown with technological change and it’s basically, we teach people how to think about their thinking. And Lou, you were in for three years, both in-person and virtual. So you know what the starting structure of it is, but I’m in love with entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are crucial characters on the planet, but mostly they operate alone and what we’ve done is create a community for them. Louis Diamond: Fantastic. Thank you, Dan. And John, I think perfect segue to you, because I know you’ve spent your career serving and helping entrepreneurs as well, mostly within financial services or within wealth management. And you’ve been very kind to share some of your amazing research on advisors serving entrepreneurial clients in the past. But for anyone who’s missed those episodes, similar question for you, can you share what your companies do? CEG Elevate, CEG Insights, your new research, and then we’ll dive into your exciting new book. John Bowen: Thank you, Louis. And Dan and I are very excited about just entrepreneurs in general. Dan is, because he’s working with them directly. The best clients for financial advisors are entrepreneurs, largely, if you’re going to go high net worth, ultra-high net worth. So we have a company, CEG Elevate, which is our parent company. Two of the companies that are really interesting for this podcast is CEG Insights and this is our research arm. And we’ll study about 20,000 high net worth, ultra-high net worth clients this year in depth and 6,000 up to 7,000 we’ll do just of entrepreneurs. And this is in the partnership. Lou, I invited you up to… We were skiing two years ago in Park City and you couldn’t join us. But Dan and I made a deal to do a 25-year partnership studying entrepreneurship, one for Strategic Coach and his coaching clients, but really the opportunity for financial advisors. And it’s probably just as well because I came down, and I think, Dan, you were 80 at the time and I was 69. I’m 70 now. And I was skiing with a whole bunch of 40-year-olds, and they’re all going, “You guys are way too optimistic.” And Dan and I are just getting started on this. And the other company that’s applicable is CEG Worldwide, where we have the privilege of coaching and training some of the top financial advisors, those aspiring, and also working with the enterprises to really help move up market and do this great experience. Louis Diamond: Fantastic. Dan, question for you. What was the core problem you and John were trying to solve in your new book, The Greater Game? What is it that existing frameworks weren’t touching? And then John, I’ll have a follow-up question for you after that. Dan Sullivan: Yeah. Well, by the very nature of what we do, we’re not going for wannabes. We’re not going for entrepreneurs who hope to be really successful someday. We’re engaging with and we’re registering into both of our communities, people who, they’re already great. They’re already doing so many things right, but they’re kind of doing it unconsciously. They just have a unique ability for growth. They have a unique ability for networking and expansion, but the very, very core is they’ve done it on their own. And they’ve done it out of intuition and they’ve done it out of ambition and motivation. But their biggest problem is that they’re really lonely. I’m in my sixth decade now of coaching entrepreneurs, and people say, “Well, what’s the number one problem that entrepreneurs face?” And I said, “Loneliness.” They can’t explain themselves to the family they grew up with. They can’t explain themselves with their lifetime friends. They have thoughts about how they’re operating. And they take enormous pride in their ability to transform difficulties into breakthroughs, but they don’t have anybody to talk to. So what we’ve created is a community where when you walk in the room, everybody in that room immediately understands you. Everybody immediately applauds what you’ve done. Everybody is inspired by you. So my framework is I call, “What you’ve done on your own, you’re great. You’re a winner already, but who do you talk to?” You have to hide a lot of your success because they just won’t understand what it is that actually motivates you. And the beauty of the partnership with John is the vast majority of our clients are in 70 or 80 different industries, so they’re not peculiar. We start off with financial services, especially life insurance. But what I notice is that all the difficulty they get into life is they’re trying to communicate with people who don’t understand them. And what we’re saying is, “Stage one, you did it on your own, you’re great by any standard whatsoever. You check all the boxes for being a successful person, but you don’t really have any way to actually check out how other people are doing this.” And so we’ve created a community, and John has created a community where people, immediately, there’s understanding. And not only that, but there’s opportunity because they’re unique in their own ways. Every one of our entrepreneurs has created a very, very unique pattern of success that if they were with 10 other people, they could learn from this. If they were with 30 other people, they would learn even more. So that’s what we’ve done. So stage two is now joining a community where everybody gets you. Louis Diamond: Interesting. And that’s the premise of the book. We don’t want to have people not buy it, but what is the greater game? What’s the game that folks are playing and pursuing and how do you make it greater? Dan Sullivan: I tell you, what I’ve always been lacking, I’m sort of intuitive like most entrepreneurs are. We’ve done about 300 times growth since we started the program. But it’s intuitive. I don’t have any research to back this up. I’m low on fact finder. I find, generally speaking, the best facts are just the facts that I make up, but at a certain point, you’d like to have some actual research to back me up. So I’ve gone as far as I can go with our company without real research. Then John comes into the picture, and now we got some real research. And I will say this, this is generally true. It’s not just a problem with me that I don’t have research. I find that entrepreneurism is one of the least researched subjects on the planet. And John comes along and he’s done all the backfill for how entrepreneurs actually perform and I’ve got research to prove it. Louis Diamond: Perfect. Yeah, John, question for you. So what is The Greater Game? And then, how do you think it relates to what financial advisors have been missing? John Bowen: One of the things that we as financial advisors all want to work with people who have already won. And there’s no better group than entrepreneurs, successful entrepreneurs. If we look at people with 25 million or more of investible assets across all households in the US, 90% are entrepreneurs. And at the 5 to 25 million of investible assets, it’s three out of four. So at CEG Worldwide, we’ve always wanted to really understand advisors. And we said we’ll partner with Dan and his passion with entrepreneurs, we’ll go ahead and study them so that we can bring insights on how we can better serve them. And the very first thing we want to do is understand, yeah, there’s very different stages that we see of entrepreneurs and we talk about the whole concept of The Greater Game. And the idea here is we wanted to identify… And I’ll share some PowerPoint slides. I know a lot of us are listening and I just want to walk through this, but Louis will have it in show notes, his team will. We really saw four areas. The first one was level one, stage one was foundation for freedom. They had ambition, the vision, but they really needed security. And Dan calls this, and I love this term, “cash confidence.” But it’s really using a financial advisor to have security. And one of the things, the last time I was on with you, Louis, we talked about there’s 59.2% of entrepreneurs who want to switch advisors because they don’t believe they have that security. And that’s kind of the foundation. And this is why you’re never going to read a more friendly financial advisor book for entrepreneurs than this because in our coaching program, we’re developing workshops and so on to bring this message out. And then the second level is where now we saw… and there were four levels. Dan and I identified 5.4% of these entrepreneurs that were just killing it and they were going through all four levels. The second level was energy for expansion. They were very motivated, they were excited about getting up and really the intellectual property, and Dan’s been one of the big leaders in this, is so much of what we know… And as I go through this too, I want every one of the advisors to think about it’s not only your entrepreneurial clients, this is for you too, is having this intellectual property, getting it out of your head so that your business is not founder-dependent or personality-dependent. You’ve got this enterprise. And then, the third level where it really took off was collaboration and multiplication. And Dan talked about the power of community and this is so big. And for advisors, the community is often working with other professionals, the accountants, the attorneys, the investment bankers. Matter of fact, when we survey, we found that 40% of the people with 25 million or more that they invest with an advisor came through an investment banker. So creating that community, teamwork, having the right team and then autonomy. Can you step away from your practice? The entrepreneurs step away 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, making that independence, moving from the founder-dependent to the enterprise. And the last level was exponential. And this is all along the way, the AI opportunities to accelerate this and augment this is really real, but the agency where the blue ocean, creating new markets, then getting the commitment and courage. And at each of these levels, we saw different entrepreneurs just really taking off. And one of the things that’s so important, Louis, for what we’re talking about today is advisors all are ready to treat stage one, the foundation for freedom, but they don’t really understand the other stages, and that’s really what entrepreneurs want. So if you want to work in this market, it’s very important for you to understand what you can do to help. The difference is often for an entrepreneur, a three to five multiplier versus 15, the level one or stage one to stage four. And this is where it gets really exciting. Louis Diamond: This would be a question for John. You found, and he’s mentioned it, that only 5.4% of entrepreneurs operate as architects versus optimizers. Can you explain the difference between those two personas? John Bowen: Well, I’m going to set up the research and let Dan really bring it home. But Dan and I came up with this framework, The Greater Game and the 10 Multipliers, and we’ve got that and we’re putting it in order and we wanted to really confirm. And everything we do is empirical research. So we reached out to 1,000 very successful entrepreneurs, 1,016. And it became very clear that the 5.4% of them were actually executing on all these levels and they were just distancing everyone else. And what we came up with, and Dan mentioned it earlier, that his book, 10x Is Easier Than 2x, but we said, what we’re seeing… and we’ve got a whole bunch, I think it’s 26 stories in the book of entrepreneurs, we’re seeing so many people blow this out that 100x is easier than 2x, and it forces a whole different mindset where if you’re optimizing, you’re kind of looking incrementally. But when you step back as an architect, big picture, wow, huge opportunity, both for entrepreneurs and advisors that are entrepreneurs to make a real big difference. This is something you’ve really coached to and had the privilege of working with thousands of entrepreneurs helping them on that journey. Dan Sullivan: Yeah. One of the things that was confusing for me, Lou, when I first started coaching, because everybody who came in to coach, you remember when you came into your first Chicago workshop, that everybody in the room was motivated. I’m not a motivational speaker. I don’t have to motivate the entrepreneurs who are in Coach. They’re already motivated. The problem is the focus of their ambition and focus. And what we discovered was that there were two types that showed up. I didn’t really understand it, but they’re what I call status-oriented entrepreneurs. And what they are when they were a kid, they didn’t have anything. Their family wasn’t at the top of the pole. When they were born, they grew up in a certain community, but there were certain people who lived in the right part of town and they had really big houses and everything about their lifestyle was way above everybody else in the lifestyle. And they saw the lack of what they had, because of the way they were born, that they were going to match it. But the matching was based in not only what the big home looks like. They’ve got other homes, they’ve got vacation homes. They belong to clubs. There’s clubs for the winners, and the losers aren’t part of those clubs, golf courses and boating clubs and everything else. And what I noticed was their motivation was simply to get to that point where they had the same sort of status. And they’re interesting for a while, but once they’ve gotten to that level of status, they’re not interesting anymore. They go on cruise control at that point and they just want to stay within that framework. But the really interesting entrepreneurs, and we really highlight them in the book, it’s just about growth. So when they get to one level, they say, “That’s great. Okay, now I’ve got a new baseline and now I want to grow even further.” And we have one story, very, very interesting. When he came into my Chicago workshop, I met him and he said, “I’ve got a big engineering company.” This is Paul VanDuyne. He’s out of the Quad City area of Iowa. And he says, “My ambition for your program is for three years, I’m just going to plan my retirement.” And I said, “Well, we’ve got some thoughts about that.” So I said, “Just do your first workshop and we’ll talk about it 90 days from now.” And he came back and he had an entirely different game plan, and he’s grown basically 250 times in his last 13 years. He’s completely transformed the industry that he’s in and he had this growth. So what we’re looking for in The Greater Game, we’re looking for those entrepreneurs who are already successful, but they don’t see any stopping point. They’ll grow to one level and then they say, “Okay, that’s the new baseline. Now I grow to another level.” Meanwhile, three years ago, what happened is the world got a new capability called AI. AI, you’re not talking 10x. If you use it properly… a lot of people are in the very early stages here, but we can see the ones who are applying it for growth. John has set up an entire research structure just to measure the people, and what are the people who are just motivated by growth? They don’t see any stopping point. They don’t see any retirement age. They’re just growing. They’re in better health now than they were when they started their ambition. One of the great breakthroughs we’re having now is the impact of AI on physical fitness and health right now. And so you have 70-year-olds now who are way more ambitious at 70 than they were at 50. So we think a whole new world is being created in front of us, but there isn’t the research to measure what the real winners of this new game are actually doing. And The Greater Game is a lot of Strategic Coach thinking tools, but it’s also the phenomenal research that John is doing, and we’re measuring exactly what are these people who just constantly grow, what are they actually doing? John Bowen: Louis, if I can jump in, I want to go back to Paul just for a second because he was going to do something classical, and Dan is also my coach and I was going to do something similar. Paul told Dan that he was going to retire at 65, and his wife. And he were going to open up a little mom-and-pop coffee shop. And the reason so many of the entrepreneurs are caught in the 2x optimization is they’re grinding it out. They’re working harder to be more successful and the desire to do that isn’t very high. That’s why you retire. On the other hand, what we found, the ones working on 100x are building platforms and ecosystems. They’re architected. And as we were writing the book, CEG grew by 58%. I’m going to give a lot of credit to the book, because as Dan and I were working on the processes, I wanted to walk all the talks. This is where the world is changing. I want everybody to think as a financial advisor, you’re being served twice, one with The Greater Game, they don’t care about a few basis points on returns. That’s table stakes. So much of the level one is taking care of the investment side, mitigating taxes, taking care of the areas, protecting the assets, some charitable planning, maybe shoot in some succession planning. I can tell you only 6% of the entrepreneurs actually feel they’re getting that from you, but that’s only level one. If you can help them from each of the stages, stage one through four, and help them create that vision, they’re going to love you to death. Because many of them want to continue in this path and create tremendous value, bigger impact, not creating legacies in the sense of enduring legacies, but active legacies. Last year, my wife and I set up a private foundation. I called it The Greater Game Foundation. I just love this so much, the difference that you can make, and I want to do it while I’m living, not while I’m gone type of thing. I think that’s one Dan and I very much share. Louis Diamond: Awesome. You wrote the book 10x Is Easier Than 2x, but now you’re claiming 100x is easier than 2x. How can that be the case? Dan Sullivan: The interesting thing, one of my points of proof on the original idea, the 10x Mind Expander, I use a lot of what the entrepreneurs have already done to prove the future. In other words, I said… You’ll remember the exercise, Lou. And I said, “I want you to pick your best number.” Everybody’s got a best number. It’s revenue, it’s net worth, whatever. And I said, “I just want you to multiply by 10.” And immediately there’s this reaction. He says, “You know how hard it was to get to just where I am 10 times?” And I said, “Well, you’ve already done 10 times. You’ve probably done 10 times twice. So let’s go back to the beginning. When were you 1/10 of where you are right now?” And they can nail it. They can tell you the year, they can tell you the month when they were 1/10 of where they were. And I said, “Let’s write the actual structure that got you from 1/10 to where you are right now.” And there’s five stages, and usually it’s an event, it’s a new relationship and all of a sudden they get a big check. And we measure, as entrepreneurs, size of check is a good scorecard. When you’re first starting, you got a $10,000 check, that was the biggest check. But about five years later, you get a $100,000 check, and all of a sudden it seems strange at breakfast, but by dinner you’ve normalized the idea, “Well, I know what it’s like to get a much bigger check, a 10 times check.” And so I have them create five growth stages that took them from where they were 1/10 to where they are right now, and I said, “Now let’s go back and talk about doing 10 times more.” And what they recognize, 80% who’ve got them 10 times the first time is going to be the same. It’s relationship, it’s having a great team, it’s having a simple approach that always works and it’s about the kind end customer. It’s not about them. It’s about who is it that you’re being a hero to in the marketplace. Because the truth is people don’t want to have a lot of relationships as they grow. They’d like to have one relationship to grow. They’d like to have an advisor who’s growing with them. But then John introduced me to the whole world of AI and I said, “We’re not talking 10 times anymore. We’re talking 100 times.” I said, “If you apply this new form of thinking, because it is an entirely new form of thinking, to what you’re doing right now, you can see that 10 times is going to happen just by doing three or four things where you’re eliminating waste, you’re eliminating things that just don’t work anymore, changing relationships, changing teamwork, changing collaborations in the marketplace.” But meanwhile, this new world of thinking is making you healthier. It’s making you more fit. So where before you thought you wouldn’t have the energy at 70, you now have more energy at 70 than you had at 50. So you’re the only one who says when it’s going to stop. I’m 82 in three weeks. We’re having this… I’m 82 and I’m way more ambitious at 82 than I was at 52. And the world is, because the world outside in terms of technological capability and access is way, way bigger in my 82nd year than it was in my 52nd year, and I love the growth. I have to tell you that the greatest point where AI is going to have the impact is going to be making money. The big titans, the Metas, the Googles, the Nvidias, what do they have in common? It’s about the money and where AI is being applied most is how you do new things with money. So that’s where the 100 times now comes from. I’ve normalized it. I said, “We’re not talking a 10x game anymore. We’re talking 100x game.” But the number on the scoreboard isn’t the issue. The scoreboard is, are you actually having fun? Louis Diamond: Yeah, we call it living your best business life. That’s our major barometer in charge. John, I don’t know if you could pull up your slides again, but I want to talk about the bridge between stage two in your pyramid to stage three. So that’s from expertise into scalable property. Can you explain how this relates to a financial advisor or an independent business owner and why this concept is so important for the valuation of a business? John Bowen: The book, it’s written for entrepreneurs, but I wanted to create some bridges while we’re together with Louis on really what’s going on for financial advisors and how you can help them. So if they’re at our stage one, Dan and my stage one of The Greater Game, and they want to go to two, they’re kind of dreaming oftentimes, and we want to help them begin creating the architectural structure. And as an advisor, this is really going to encourage everybody to read chapter two, The Greater Security. It talks about really the VFO, Virtual Family Office structure that they want, and you got to help them get financially solid, building personal wealth outside of the business, tax, estate, insurance, business structure. That’s what we all do today. Then though, if they want to move from level two to three, what we find over and over again, advisors are not equipped to do this, because what we’re taking is that founder where everything’s in its head, we’re now helping them move from just having that expertise to having scalable property. This is that codifying the process of building IP that’s transferable. And this is where the real valuation changes. Now, I’m not asking financial advisors to be the IP experts, but what the entrepreneurs want is they want somebody to help them curate and then coordinate between each of these levels. We go from three to four that the founder is indispensable, oftentimes at three. Now we want the team there to be invincible. And it’s not just the individual team as Dan was talking about. It’s the community. The collaboration is where this really takes off. The noise of AI is making it harder to market, but by partnering, particularly as financial advisors, we can very quickly have groups. One of the reasons why I’m collaborating with Dan, I want to help our financial advisors to work with entrepreneurs. Dan wants that research. So this is the natural collaboration. But they’re interested here in governance, self-managing teams. One of the things that Strategic Coach is brilliant at, the pre-transaction they want. And what we find so often is the indispensable discount. So many businesses sell, if they sell at all, they’re selling for three to five times multiplier, not advisory, but traditional businesses. Well, if you can make it to four, all of a sudden you’re now talking to 10 to 15 times multipliers. And think of it as if I’m a buyer and I’ve been involved in 50-some transactions, what happens is if the business is the guy, the gal, they’re the business, then you’re buying a very expensive job type thing. So let’s just keep a simple one. They’re having a couple million dollars of EBITDA. And let’s say the high range of that, five times EBITDA is $10 million. Well, the difference at 15 times two million is 30. Now, a few basis points I don’t really care about. I really care about capturing that difference. And because there’s a machine working without, I can buy that machine and generate that cash flow and it’s also taking advantage of the vision. And then when we get to level four, this is where most advisors make the biggest mistake is, “I’ve won. I’m at level four. I’ve got tremendous wealth.” Okay, but I’m now looking at significance. And I do want to go, “It’s not enduring legacy I’m looking for. I’m looking for active legacy. I’m looking for family governance.” Do I want to continue to build it like Dan and I’m doing at 70? I’m building the business so I can continue doing it as long as I want to do it. At the same time, and I love the impact we have and I know you do too, Louis, for the impact you have. Why not build the platform that’s going to allow you to do that as long as you want to do that? And if you don’t want to do it, let’s create the most value to transfer. When you start having conversations like that with families, entrepreneur families, it just changes, and very few advisors can do that. And that’s what we’re finding. We have a coaching company, training company, we train those things. They’re winning, quite honestly, almost 100% of the time because entrepreneurs didn’t know that was available to them. Louis Diamond: Interesting. It seems like the difference between stage two in your pyramid, to leap to stage three or four, that seems like a pretty massive pivot point for valuation for building a scalable business, having a self-managing company, et cetera. Do you find or have you seen that advisors or entrepreneurs that are in stage two themselves, they kind of pattern-match when they’re working with their own clients and kind of manage their own clients into stage two, or is it not really connected? John Bowen: I think that once you get the bigger picture and see the greater game, you can help your clients. That is a very small percentage. Remember, it was only 5.4 of when we surveyed successful entrepreneurs were actually playing the greater game, all four levels, the 10 greater multipliers. So I think what we tend to do is we get stuck on what we can do. And all the training is for level one for financial advisors. We don’t know how to guide them through the other levels. And really, the big difference from two to three, Dan and I’ve talked about this a lot, and I think Dan’s one of the biggest champions of this, is collaboration, putting together strategic partnerships. It could be with your competitors. This is for entrepreneurs, competitors, it could be various vendor partnerships. But the ability to open up markets that way when you have now put together in level two your IP, value creation’s huge. For advisors, it’s putting together partnerships with centers of influence. When we survey top financial advisors, 70% of their best clients came through COI, Centers of Influence with accountants, attorneys, investment bankers, and so on. Well, let’s do it on purpose, be successful on purpose. Louis Diamond: Dan, question for you. In all your experience working with successful financial advisors, insurance producers, probably any entrepreneur, what do you feel are the most common things that folks do unintentionally to really hurt their enterprise value even long before, or if ever, they decide to sell their business? Dan Sullivan: Yeah, I think the biggest thing is they stay entirely within their industry. One of the first questions that we ask our entrepreneurs when they come into the program and where you see it most is in the professions: lawyers, accountants, engineers, architects. I’ll say, “Well, what is it that you are?” And they’ll say, “Well, I’m a lawyer. I’m a tax lawyer.” And I said, “Are you a tax lawyer or are you an entrepreneur who has a specialty in tax law?” Okay. It makes a big difference, because if you see yourself as a tax lawyer, then you’re saying that you’re a better paid factory worker. You’re a manual laborer. But if you’re an entrepreneur, it’s a fairly recent idea in human history. There’s always been entrepreneurs, but it wasn’t until about the beginning of the 1800s that you start seeing this really different class of people in the marketplace, who, it didn’t matter how they were born, they were taking advantage of some new multiplier technology. Steam power being a great example. Around 1800, steam power came on. And anybody who had a bright vision for themselves and had the wherewithal to figure out what needs could be satisfied with a new technology, all of a sudden they became rich. They became rich. And it was very disruptive, because up until then it was based on aristocracy and you were born into wealth or you were born into poverty. There was no crossover. So what we’re saying is anybody who comes into Strategic Coach, I said, “I’m not going to tell you anything about your particular industry.” I said, “You know all the best practice people in your industry and they have workshops and they have conferences and you go to them, but they don’t know how to be entrepreneurs. You know how to create a really well-paying job, but you haven’t created a company.” A company is a totally different realm and I would say the vast majority of entrepreneurs, 95% of entrepreneurs haven’t really created a company. They’ve just created a really well-paying job which requires their presence and their attendance. I said, “You don’t get any payout for your company. If you’re the company, you need to have a structure.” I’ll give you an example. We started the company in 1989, and we’re about 270 times what our first year revenues were, and that was a great year. I was very happy for the first year, but we’re about 270 times. Along the way, what I did is I created other coaches so it wasn’t just Dan, the coach. So we have 16 other coaches. And I’ll give you a little example. In 1994, that year our company did 144 workshop days, 36 per quarter. One coach: me. Last year we did 600 workshop days and I did 12. 588 were done by other coaches. And our coaches are great. They’re clients who have coaching instincts and they do it. So about four years ago, I met one of our clients who’s an M&A specialist, and I laid out all the facts just in conversation, “This is our revenues. We have no debt. It’s repeatable income, around 70% is repeatable for one year.” I put the whole structure together. And I said, “So right off the top, I don’t have any relatives on staff.” The first thing they look for, “Any relatives working for you?” And he gave me a number. It was a big number. It was probably four times revenue for that year. He said, “We got a lot of structures.” Then something happened in the marketplace, and this is a great breakthrough that the US Patent Office sometime in the last 10 years recognized that up until about 10 years ago, to get a patent, you had to have a technological component for what you were doing. Sometime in the last 10 years, the patent bureaus decided that the internet is the technological component. So they’ve introduced education and entertainment as patentable processes. So in the last three years, we’ve gotten 82 patents. 82 patents. And these are our thinking tools, Lifetime Extender, Free Focus and Buffer Days. You know the routine that you learn in the first three days, and we’ve got 82 of them. We’re averaging about 25. I get a new patent about every two weeks. So I saw this M&A specialist, and I said, “This has happened in the last three years.” And he said, “Immediately it doubles the valuation of your company.” So what John’s saying here, as you go through the four stages, more and more you get paid for your creativity, retail, you get paid for your retail. But if you structure it, you record it, you package it, it is even greater than what you got paid for your creativity. Louis Diamond: Super interesting personal anecdote, and I appreciate you sharing that because that definitely did drive the point home for me. I see the applicability to probably any industry, but especially to any financial advisor. Dan Sullivan: Oh, yeah. Louis Diamond: The best RIA firms, the best advisors, they pretty much all start off with a cult of personality founder who’s the rainmaker. And then the practices that really grow and scale and are valuable are more platforms. That’s what private equity wants to invest in. And those are the firms that get the higher multiples. Dan Sullivan: Yeah. So the big thing is there’s a really, really great IP lawyer. He’s in our program and he’s made the breakthrough, and he’s the first IP lawyer that doesn’t charge by the hour. He charges by the patent. If the IP lawyer charges by the hour, it’s a very slow patent. If he charges by the patent, it’s a very fast patent. But the big thing, he showed a slide that in just big corporations, 1980, you took big corp, Fortune 500, the S&P 500, more than 80% of their valuation was tangible. It was property, it was real estate, it was fleets, it was equipment. Last year, more than 80% were intangibles. It was your ideas, intellectual. If you look at Elon Musk, it’s all intellectual capital. If you look at Meta, you look at anything, it’s intellectual. It’s not tangibles. So we’ve entered into that new world and AI has introduced us to that new world. It’s new processes, new structures, new approaches and it’s really interesting. It’s hard for entrepreneurs to get their idea that your creativity is actually property. Louis Diamond: It sounds like the ultimate challenge for anyone listening is translate your process, your ideas, the stuff that you’re doing by instinct as you both had said, and turn it into something patentable or something repeatable that another advisor, another executive, another owner can pick up and deploy and scale. John Bowen: We share the process in chapter four. It’s the fourth greater multiplier. And we actually share Caldwell, the attorney that Dan’s talking about, his story and the value creation. He’s now the major player in that space. And this is where we as advisors, we’re given a twofer, Dan and Louis, is that you can help your clients, but you can do this yourself too. You’ve been involved in a number of large transactions. The difference, I had a $2 billion advisory practice I sold in ’98, and we sold for 16 times earnings. And a big part of it, we were in that blue ocean. We had agents that we created and strategic process that would run without me, and it did type thing. And it continued to grow and went for about 10 fold what I sold for a number of years later. This is something that’s very real. Louis Diamond: Absolutely. I got two more questions for you guys because I know you’re both busy. For an advisor who feels like they’ve won the growth game, they grow 10, 15, 20% per year, they’re charged up, they’re on the Barron’s list, the Forbes list, they’re hitting their AUM milestones, they built an amazing team, they have a family member in the business. They have everything that anyone could want. What does the next game look like for them? What’s the next frontier once you’ve achieved all those things that from the outside looking in, seems like you have it all? What’s the next game to play? John Bowen: Well, we’re going to both say The Greater Game, but the- Dan Sullivan: Well, tell them about the dashboard, John, because the book is just part of the deal here. It gives you the landscape. There’s a great tool that comes with the book. So tell them about the dashboard. John Bowen: Really what we wanted to do is to create kind of a community just around the book. Dan and I and team built a dashboard. We were very creative on naming, thegreatergamedashboard.com. You can go in and we’re now studying every month over 500 successful entrepreneurs. We have that data in here. You’ll be able to see how you compare at each of these stages, the four stages, the 10 multipliers. And you’re going to get specific recommendations. This is for entrepreneurs. But again, you should do it. If you’re a financial advisor, you have an equity ownership, you should definitely be doing it as well. And one of the things that we see over and over again, and Louis, you probably see this a lot in the conversations. They have advisors who have already won. They don’t know what the next game is. And it’s easy to check out at that point. It’s easy to frustrate the next generation of leaders and so on. If you take the time to really see what the opportunities are and architect to realize that vision, you can create, whether it’s selling the practice, creating tremendous value there or designing a role for yourself, maybe it’s executive chairman type for that business that you can guide it with the vision and what you’ve brought and strategy. But bring that team up. That’s going to create so much value, so much impact and you can design it for the life that you want. And that’s where I get very excited. Louis Diamond: I can hear the passion in your voice. Dan, let’s finish with you. Given all of your experience working with entrepreneurs, advisors, business owners, et cetera, what’s the one move that you’ve seen the most successful entrepreneurs in your orbit make that’s changed the trajectory of their firms and their life more than anything else? Dan Sullivan: I’ll answer it in a little roundabout way. Periodically, I have a thinking tool. I said, “If everything was taken away from you as an entrepreneur and they moved you 1,000 miles away, what’s the one thing that you would take with you? It has to be portable. So what is the most portable thing that you have that you would start over again with the greatest value that you had created previously? What would it be? And then you would rebuild what you’ve already created, but you would do it much faster. What would be the one thing?” It’s an interesting thought. But in our concept, it’s called unique ability, that there’s something about you, as an individual, that first of all gave you enough confidence to become an entrepreneur because it’s risky. It’s a risky proposition. It’s guessing and betting and it’s risky business and it’s unique ability. So the starting point for all growth in Strategic Coach is that there’s something about you that’s absolutely unique. You don’t have any competitors on this and it has two qualities. One is that you’re so good at it, you don’t take it seriously. You’ve done this since you were a child and it just comes to you naturally and you don’t see the significance of it. When you’re in Coach, you start seeing the significance of it. And the second thing is you just absolutely love doing it. It’s what you love doing most of all. It comes to you naturally. You don’t even have to think about it. And then you begin to realize that anything else you’re doing as the founder and the owner of your company, probably somebody else can do. So you’re doing 20 things, but really you should be doing three things. The other 17 things still need to be done but not by you. And that’s the breakthrough. You have to simplify in order to multiply. Louis Diamond: I absolutely love that. I know when I was in Coach, that was my biggest takeaway or realization was figuring out what my unique ability was because I think the two components,

Joe Polish sits down with Strategic Coach Founder Dan Sullivan and The CEO of CEG Worldwide John Bowen to explore the research-backed framework behind their new book, The Greater Game — a 100x blueprint that reveals why only 5.4% of Entrepreneurs are playing a completely different game than everyone else. Together they unpack the shift from Founder-dependent businesses to scalable ecosystems, the finite-vs-infinite game divide, and why AI is less a technological revolution and more a cognitive one. Here's a glance at what you'll discover in this episode: The number that reveals whether you're winning or losing the only game that matters... and why 94.6% of Entrepreneurs are optimizing a game that's already coming to an end (you've probably already done 10x without calling it that — what you do next is the whole point) Dan Sullivan's quiet observation after 52 years and 7,000+ Entrepreneurs... the exact moment a successful person stops growing isn't failure — it's something far more seductive, and almost no one catches it in themselves (the first exercise he runs at Strategic Coach is designed to show you you've already crossed the line once) Joe typed a question into AI and got back the most brutal case study in modern business history... Blockbuster, Kodak, Borders, Toys "R" Us — and the one invisible shift every company on that list missed before it was too late (this isn't a technology story — it's a thinking story) Why John Bowen started three new companies on his 70th birthday... and the dashboard he and Dan built for roughly $2,000 that a top vendor quoted them $50,000 a year to provide (his tech team called after the first meeting and said "we'll just build it and give it to you tomorrow") The four-hour version of something that used to take Dan Sullivan four weeks... and what it reveals about the only AI upgrade that actually changes your trajectory (this isn't about using AI more — it's about using it in the right direction entirely) What Joe Polish teaches Genius Youth Members that no business school has ever covered... and why writing handwritten postcards in an age of AI might be the single highest-leverage thing you do this week (the killer app of 2026 is not what anyone is selling you) If you'd like to join world-renowned Entrepreneurs at the next Genius Network Event or want to learn more about Genius Network, go to www.GeniusNetwork.com. Show Notes: The Book: The Greater Game and the 5.4% Dan and John's new book — published by Hay House and instantly a #1 Amazon bestseller — grew out of a 25-year research partnership to study what separates the highest-performing Entrepreneurs from everyone else. Their research across 7,000+ Entrepreneurs found that 94.6% are still optimizing the game they're in — while only 5.4% are architecting a completely different one. The book maps out exactly what those 5.4% are doing. The book's central premise: "Every system that got you here is optimized for a game that's coming to an end." From 10x to 100x: Dan's Framework Dan has been coaching Entrepreneurs to 10x since the 1990s — starting with an exercise where he had Clients identify when they were one-tenth of where they are today. Everyone in his program had already done 10x without labeling it that way. When he challenged a Client who said they couldn't go 10x in three years, the Client responded they could do it in 15 — and then voluntarily suggested doing it again. That's when the 100x idea crystallized. Dan's thesis: give yourself a long enough time horizon, use AI as a genuine collaborator, and constant growth becomes the natural state — not the exception. The Four Levels of The Greater Game Level 1 — Foundation for Freedom: Vision, security, and financial confidence. Getting off the couch. Level 2 — Energy for Expansion: Motivation and IP development. Dan has built an extraordinary amount of intellectual property; John and Joe have too. Level 3 — Platform / Ecosystem: Moving from Founder-dependent to a scalable system. John's own company grew 58% while writing the book — by walking the talk of this level. Level 4 — Agency: Creating markets. Courage, commitment, and building an ecosystem where you're generating the category itself. Finite vs. Infinite: What the Game Shift Really Means Finite game: competing for market share, managing dependencies, staying indispensable personally, reacting to market pressure. Business value: 3–5x EBITDA. Infinite game: designing an ecosystem, multiplying unique genius through others, engineering your own absence, redefining the market. Business value: multiples that reflect systems, not the Founder. Joe's examples (finite → infinite): Blockbuster → Netflix, Kodak → Apple, Borders → Amazon, taxi companies → Uber, Toys "R" Us → Lego. The pattern: finite players optimize the current game; infinite players keep changing what the game is. Dan's real-world example: Paul Van Dyne came to Strategic Coach planning to retire at 65. He went on to take his engineering firm from #40 to #1 nationally in nine years through M&A — and now plans to build his gourmet coffee shop inside one of his medical centers. AI as a Cognitive Revolution Dan's framing: AI isn't a technological revolution — it's a cognitive revolution. He compares its impact to the introduction of zero in mathematics, which made economics, double-entry bookkeeping, and science possible. Practical example: Dan used to need four weeks to structure a new book. With AI, the same work takes four hours. He now writes a new book every quarter. John's vibe-coding story: his Team built the entire Greater Game Dashboard for roughly $2,000–3,000 using Lovable — after being quoted $50,000/year from a top vendor. They own the code and iterate freely. Joe's counterpoint: the killer app today is being fully human — knowing how to bond, connect, and think for yourself. "Write with your hands, think with your brain."  The Greater Game Dashboard John built this free interactive tool at TheGreaterGameDashboard.com to put the book's framework into action. The 15-minute assessment shows you exactly where you stand relative to peers and the 10 Greater Multipliers. The dashboard automatically calculates what your company is worth to a buyer today — and shows how each improvement raises that number. Dan calls it the greatest tool he's seen in 52 years of coaching Entrepreneurs. Monthly updates include an Entrepreneur Pulse confidence index. Useful whether you ever intend to sell or not — knowing your number changes how you invest in your business. Building Great Teams: Cast, Don't Hire Dan's principle: Strategic Coach treats itself as a theater company — with backstage and front-stage roles. They don't hire for jobs, they cast for roles. Every new hire is there to free up someone already in the company. Babs Smith built the Strategic Coach Team around Dan from the start — several Team members have now been with the company 20–30+ years. Beware the Founder-as-salesperson trap: if you're great at selling, you'll hire the wrong people — you'll confuse their excitement for the role with fit for the role. John, Joe, and Dan all find talent primarily through communities — mastermind groups, Genius Network, Strategic Coach — rather than ads. Great people seek out great people. Dan's upcoming book (Hay House): Casting Not Hiring. IP as a Strategic Asset Dan has had 82 thinking tools patented by the US Patent Bureau (none rejected), with 75 more pending. Each patent is a borrowable asset — you can borrow up to half the appraised value, creating a private intellectual property bank. Joe Polish's company operates as an ESOP — all Team members become equity owners after a vesting period, creating a true ownership culture without requiring employees to buy in upfront. Genius Youth and the Human Connection Advantage Joe's Genius Youth program focuses on skills AI can't replicate: human connection, handwritten notes, cold plunges, cooking and hospitality, ethical influence. Joe's 2026 Genius Network Annual Event —  features Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler (Authors of We Are as Gods), live robots, and a mystery musician on 300M+ albums. Resources: The Greater Game (Book) — Dan Sullivan & John Bowen The Greater Game (Audiobook) — narrated by Gord Vickman, Hay House Business TheGreaterGameDashboard.com — free 15-minute assessment & company valuation tool 10xTalk Podcast — Subscribe — 10xTalk.com 10xTalk on Apple Podcasts Strategic Coach — Dan Sullivan's coaching program Genius Network — Joe Polish's community for elite Entrepreneurs Joe Polish's Genius Network Annual Event CEG Worldwide (John Bowen) — research and coaching for financial advisors Cleator Ghost Town, Arizona — Joe's 40-acre ghost town & the Cleator Bar and Yacht Club Inside Strategic Coach Podcast — Episode on Hiring — Dan Sullivan & Shannon Waller AI Killed the Modern Company (Video) — Peter Diamandis & Salim Ismail Why Microsoft AI Chief Predicts AI Automation of White-Collar Work in 18 Months — Fortune / Mustafa Suleyman

Learn how to leverage AI agents to build faster, smarter, and more profitable businesses without burning yourself out. AI agents are no longer something you plan for in the future they are working right now for the founders who are paying attention, and in this episode, I sit down with one of my favorite people on the planet to show you exactly what that looks like in practice. We go deep into how AI agents are being used today to automate creative work, produce films, manage workflows, and even build the software that builds the software. If you have ever felt like you are falling behind with AI, this conversation is going to light a fire under you, because the scoreboard has reset and the window to get ahead is open right now. Mike Koenigs is a 5x serial entrepreneur with five exits, a 19x bestselling author, a stage 3a colorectal cancer survivor, and the guy founders call when they are ready to build their next act. Peter Diamandis calls him an arsonist of the mind, and Tony Robbins has said he is an extraordinary man who brings insights so valuable that you need to take advantage of what he has to offer. Mike has taken the stage at MIT, NASA, the United Nations, Abundance 360, Tony Robbins events, Strategic Coach, and Genius Network, demonstrating hands-on AI systems in real time. He is the founder of The Superpower Accelerator and AI Accelerator, co-host of two top 1% podcasts, and has spent four decades working with companies like Sony, BMW, and 20th Century Fox, as well as hundreds of entrepreneurs building high-net, low-overhead businesses they actually love. KEY TAKEAWAYS: AI agents can fully automate creative workflows including scriptwriting, mood boards, video production, and voiceover without needing a large team behind you. Your competitive edge is not the tools you use but the context, experience, and creative thinking you bring to the way you use them. Mike's go-to AI stack includes NotebookLM, Claude, Manus, Replit, and Gemini, and with those tools alone he can build almost anything he needs. We are moving from an output-based economy to an outcome-based economy, and the founders who will win are the ones who lead with creative thinking and critical problem-solving. AI does not have taste and does not know what finished looks like, which means your vision, judgment, and experience remain your greatest assets. The biggest trap in AI is not falling behind but getting pulled into infinite possibility without clear constraints, which costs you focus and precious time. Building agents that handle repetitive background work frees you up to operate as the architect, the creative force driving outcomes rather than the one doing the manual lifting. The founders who come out ahead are the ones who wake up curious every single day, embrace discomfort, and keep showing up to learn and apply before anyone else does. Connect with Mike Koenigs: aiaccelerator.com/free Growing your business is hard, but it doesn't have to be. In this podcast, we will be discussing top level strategies for both growing and expanding your business beyond seven figures. The show will feature a mix of pure content and expert interviews to present key concepts and fundamental topics in a variety of different formats. We believe that this format will enable our listeners to learn the most from the show, implement more in their businesses, and get real value out of the podcast. Enjoy the show. Please remember to rate, review and subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss any future episodes. Your support and reviews are important and help us to grow and improve the show. Follow Charles Gaudet and Predictable Profits on Social Media: Facebook: facebook.com/PredictableProfits Instagram: instagram.com/predictableprofits Twitter: twitter.com/charlesgaudet LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/charlesgaudet Visit Charles Gaudet's Wesbites:  www.PredictableProfits.com www.predictableprofits.com/community https://start.predictableprofits.com/community  

Most business failures aren't caused by bad math or poor market conditions—they fail because of people. Whether it's an unethical partner, a struggling employee, or a leader paralyzed by imposter syndrome, the "human element" is the most volatile variable in any venture. But how do you develop the instinct to see a bad deal before it signs?In this episode, R. Kenner French sits down with Andre Norman, the "Ambassador of Hope." Andre didn't get his business degree from an Ivy League school; he earned it by rising to the top of the prison hierarchy and later refining those skills at Harvard and the London Business School. Andre shares the raw, unfiltered lessons he learned while navigating the most dangerous environments on earth and how those same principles apply to 250-billion-dollar companies and family dynamics alike.What You'll Learn

Joe Polish and Dan Sullivan go live to cut through the AI noise and deliver real value on unique ability, reclaiming your time, and staying front stage. Dan also shares his 85-day "Yesterday Creates Tomorrow" experiment and why it may be his most powerful personal breakthrough yet. Here's a glance at what you'll discover in this episode: How Unique Ability is the center of your entrepreneurial system, and how to create a team that supports it so you can focus on what energizes you (instead of draining you). Why most entrepreneurs are one-person shows...but how building a real company/team will set you free to focus on what you do best. The 4 freedoms that Dan teaches, and how mastering them can change your life. Why trying to get better at your weaknesses could be creating "really strong weaknesses", and what you can do instead. The powerful shift that happened when Dan stopped working in his "office" and built his business around what he loves to do. A simple, but powerful question you can ask yourself to avoid distractions and do less but achieve way more. Why pain often drives behavior more than motivation, willpower, or discipline... and how you can turn it into your biggest advantage. If you'd like to join world-renowned Entrepreneurs at the next Genius Network Event or want to learn more about Genius Network, go to www.GeniusNetwork.com.

Joe Polish and Dan Sullivan kick off the new year with a powerful conversation on time, ambition, and how Entrepreneurs can stay calm, focused, and fulfilled in a rapidly changing world LIVE. From creating a "great yesterday" to redefining ambition, connection, and progress, this episode delivers practical wisdom for building a better business—and a better life. Here's a glance at what you'll discover in this episode: The unexpected question Dan asks people that immediately changes how they think about their future, their health, and what actually matters. A subtle shift in how Dan thinks about time which he says is helping him stay present and surprisingly calm, even as everything accelerates. Why Dan believes most people misunderstand chaos, and how accepting a few uncomfortable truths can actually be stabilizing. How AI changes what it means to think well, and why being human may become more valuable, not less. A different way to think about ambition that challenges the idea that you eventually "run out of gas." A single question that can interrupt overwhelm and open up options you weren't seeing before. Why pain explains more human behavior than motivation, discipline, or willpower ever will. Dan's personal definition of a well-lived life and why progress, contribution, and self-acceptance all matter. Why we chose to do this conversation live and interactive instead of tightly produced and polished. If you'd like to join world-renowned Entrepreneurs at the next Genius Network Event or want to learn more about Genius Network, go to www.GeniusNetwork.com.

Joe Polish and Dan Sullivan host a LIVE, unscripted 10x Talk episode on why ambition isn't a limited resource—it's a capability you can develop for life. You'll learn how alignment, free days, courage, and human connection (especially in an AI-driven world) keep Entrepreneurs energized, productive, and excited about what's next. Here's a glance at what you'll discover in this episode: Why ambition isn't something you "use up," and how treating it as a capability creates an endless flywheel of growth. The prime directives Dan and Babs use to protect alignment, independence, and momentum—so nothing (and no one) gets between them. The Lifetime Extender exercise that instantly expands your timeline, reignites motivation, and changes how you make decisions. The real reason Entrepreneurs lose ambition: trying to eliminate courage—and the hidden cost of losing excitement. How to use AI without losing the human edge: systematize the predictable, humanize the exceptional, and reclaim your time and attention. If you'd like to join world-renowned Entrepreneurs at the next Genius Network Event or want to learn more about Genius Network, go to www.GeniusNetwork.com.

Joe Polish and Dan Sullivan continue their conversation on commitment, entrepreneurial freedom, and building company structure that expands creativity instead of restricting it—with a deep dive on hiring, delegation traps, and Dan's new "Casting Not Hiring" framework. Here's a glance at what you'll discover in this episode: The "Company vs. Job" Reality Check: Why most entrepreneurs secretly built a high-paying job—and the simple test Dan uses to tell the difference. Reverse Delegation: The silent trap where your "help" creates more work—and how to spot it fast before it becomes your new normal. The 90-Day Truth Window: Why Dan won't let a wrong-fit hire linger—and how acting early saves you months of pain. Casting Not Hiring: Dan's theater-style framework that replaces job descriptions with roles, so your company performs like a great production. Buy Back 10 Hours a Week: The simplest move that can return 500 hours a year—so you finally have time to create, not just cope. If you'd like to join world-renowned Entrepreneurs at the next Genius Network Event or want to learn more about Genius Network, go to www.GeniusNetwork.com.

Joe Polish and Dan Sullivan unpack why Entrepreneurs stall when they treat growth as a transaction—and how commitment ("will that builds skill") creates transformational results. They cover lifelong learning, referability habits, and Dan's 100-books-in-100-quarters project as a model for creating the future through commitment. Here's a glance at what you'll discover in this episode: Transactional vs. transformational: why "provisional" commitments stall growth Will ↔ Skill flywheel: commitment builds capability; capability strengthens commitment Lifelong learning mindset: treat programs as investments, not costs "Creative insurance": why Dan doesn't decide event-by-event—he decides for life Handling dropouts: empathy without enabling; relationships over extraction Referability Habits: show up on time; do what you say; finish what you start; say please & thank you Recovery insight: rebuilding self-trust by keeping your own word If you'd like to join world-renowned Entrepreneurs at the next Genius Network Event or want to learn more about Genius Network, go to www.GeniusNetwork.com.

When you're running events, the difference between manipulation and value creation determines everything. Today on More Cheese Less Whiskers, we're talking with Joe Polish for an incredible conversation about what really makes events work.  Joe's been running Genius Network for years and he shared exactly how he thinks about creating what he calls "happy client experiences”, where people walk away with more direction, confidence, capability, and clarity. We traced the evolution from those early Tony Robbins events we both attended in the '90s to Joe bringing billionaires like Richard Branson to his events, and most interestingly, why he didn't advertise Bobby Kennedy, Jordan Peterson, and Tucker Carlson at last year's annual event even though they were speaking.  We talk about Joe's framework of great food, great location, great people, and great conversations - but the real insight was his distinction between being admired versus being useful. What really stood out was Joe's observation that success traps are harder to escape than failure traps, and how he uses my "compelling offer is 10 times more powerful than a convincing argument" principle to think about every aspect of his events.  This whole conversation is a masterclass in understanding the 8 Profit Activators through the lens of high-ticket event marketing.

Can you build a retreat business that isn't bound by location—and actually expands your impact? In this episode of The Retreat Leaders Podcast, Shannon chats with long-time health and fitness expert Alison Katschkowsky about building a hybrid retreat business model that combines the power of in-person transformation with the scalability of online programs. Alison shares her 30+ year journey from brick-and-mortar fitness to digital expansion, and how she now helps other entrepreneurs add retreats as a powerful layer to their business—without overhauling their structure. They dive into: The power of hybrid models (and how they outlive fads) How retreats can enhance your brand, not distract from it Creative ways to offer transformation in both in-person and online formats Alison's behind-the-scenes plan for her luxe Amalfi Coast retreat If you've been wondering how to blend the best of both worlds—connection and scale—this episode is your blueprint. Retreats aren't just an event—they're a business growth strategy.   Connect with Alison https://thealisonk.com/meet-alison   The Retreat Leaders Podcast Resources and Links: Learn to Host Retreats Join our private Facebook Group Top 5 Marketing Tools Free Guide Get your legal docs for retreats Join Shannon in London  Join our LinkedIn Group Apply to be a guest on our show   Thanks for tuning into the Retreat Leaders Podcast. Remember to subscribe for more insightful episodes, and visit our website for additional resources. Let's create a vibrant retreat community together!   Subscribe:  Apple Podcast | Google Podcast | Spotify   -------------------------- Transcribed With Podsqueeze Shannon 00:00:00  Welcome to the Retreat Leaders podcast, your sanctuary with retreat experts. Where we spill the tea on retreat success. Here we dive into crafting transformational guest experiences. Talk about how to avoid pitfalls and unlock marketing secrets. Whether you're a seasoned guru or a budding enthusiast, we've got the inside scoop for you. Join us as we learn how to flourish in this magical world of retreats. Hey guys, welcome to or welcome back to the Retreat Leaders Podcast. Today I am so excited to say that not only do I have an amazing guest, but she's becoming an amazing friend and soon to be business partner, which we cannot wait to talk about that we're going to drop some little, little hints about what we have in store. But Alison, welcome to the show again. Alison 00:00:49  It is always a good day in my world when I can talk to you, Shannon. So it's. Shannon 00:00:52  All good. Amen. I feel the same. So, Allison, why don't you just refresh for those who maybe did hear your show or just let people know who you are and what brought you to this point. Alison 00:01:05  My name is Allison Koski, and you don't have to say that. For those of you listening, most people just say Allison K. But just so you know, when you look at my last name, the c h is silent. So it's really just Katz Koski. So it's a little bit easier to say, but Allison K works. So so and I my background is in health and fitness. I've been in the health and fitness industry for over 30 years. I was a very successful brick and mortar business owner for a lot of those years, until I started going online about ten years ago. That's about when I started doing retreats. It was probably 2013, 2014, something in there when it was really still a very new concept. And so what I figured out was, is that the big question back then was, is do we need to just now that online is becoming big and everyone was moving their business online. It was like, you know, well, we're just going to go in this direction. Alison 00:01:56  And so my argument was always, you don't have to choose one. You can do both. And then when the pandemic hit, everybody went online. And now what's interesting is, is that everybody's going back to adding some kind of in-person, because you and I are both seeing this in the retreat space. It's just it's blowing up there. Everybody and their mother is thinking about retreats now, which is great. It's great for us. It's great for the industry. But but I just think there is there is a lot of opportunity there for so many people. Shannon 00:02:24  I love this. One of the things that Alison and I talked about before we recorded is, is kind of the topics which Alison and I could spend, honestly, you guys weeks on this podcast talking about business and retreats and, and all of that good stuff. but one of the things I thought would be really relevant is a hybrid model. And Alison, you are the queen of this. You help people build this. So tell me what that looks like for the retreat industry. Shannon 00:02:49  What does that even mean when I when we say hybrid model? Alison 00:02:51  Before I get to that, let me just kind of give my little analogy when I talk about the hybrid model, when we think about a hybrid model, what are we really talking about? We're really talking the best example I can offer for people because I'm a big analogy person. The best example I can offer for people is think about the hybrid car. What is the hybrid car? Do the hybrid car allows you to use gas or electricity? Right. So it's both. And so one of the selling points is because it's a hybrid model, the car can go further. You can get further on a tank of gas. Therefore it's the maintenance is better right. It will cost you less in gas in the long run. So you see there, not the car. Literally. There's no choice made as to whether or not you go one or the other. The same thing is true when we do the hybrid business model in our business. Alison 00:03:39  Now back in 2012, 2013, 2014, when the online space was really blowing up, this is when social media was really becoming the thing. you know, a lot of people were starting to think this is kind of the direction that I want to go with my business. And in my industry, it was blowing up like crazy. Then what happened when the pandemic hit It is that everybody went online. And the good news is, is that we could go online because it was available. But the bad news is, is that people sort of got away from being in person. And now what we're seeing because it's 2025, is that really the best combination? The best plan is to combine both. And one of the things that I started doing back when the online space was really getting big was that I started slowly dipping my toe in the water of online. And what did that look like? It looked like offering like online challenges, like connecting with people online. And then of course, when the pandemic hit, it was like you had to go all in. Alison 00:04:38  And for me and a lot of other people in my industry, I had to basically start over. Basically my business as I knew it went out the window, but it was time for me to put my money where my mouth was and really make it work. And that's what I did. And that's one of the things that I really teach my clients how to do today, because you don't have to choose. That's the beauty of it. Shannon 00:04:57  That is the beauty of it is that you don't have to choose, Jews, especially today. Because you're right, Alison. You know, years ago, I mean, well, to be honest with you, years ago, the online business was not, you know, obviously what it is today, but you kind of felt like you had to fall into one or the other categories. So you're you're absolutely right. Tell me. Alison 00:05:15  there are a lot of people today that still feel like you have to fall into one or the other, because these are conversations I have every day with people when they say, well, I can't really be myself online, I can't really. Alison 00:05:25  It just doesn't feel the same. I'm not good at it. Or they'll say about in person, well, that's just not really what I do. This is what I'm used to. And this is kind of the conundrum that we found ourselves in. Shannon 00:05:36  Hey, retreat leaders, pause that retreat planning for just a second, because I've got something you do not want to miss. I'm headed to London this October to host a live event that's all about teaching you how to host a retreat that's not just transformational, but actually profitable. Imagine sipping tea or champagne with other like minded leaders while mapping out your next sold out retreat. It's happening at the gorgeous Waldorf Hilton in London. I'm spilling all the secrets from pricing to planning, marketing to mindset, and you'll walk away with a strategy you can actually use. No fluff, no BS, just results. So head to Retreat Mastermind training and come join me across the pond. Yeah totally agree. I hear that all the time. As well as just people saying, well, my business is online, they're not going to want to meet in person, or the other way around. Shannon 00:06:26  You know, everything I do is in person. So you're right. It is. Sometimes we get pigeonholed and we just assume that it has to be in that that way. Can you? Can you give us an example of maybe somebody you've worked with and like what this looks like in real life when somebody is considering it a hybrid model? Alison 00:06:41  Well, I mean, there are actually lots of examples. But one example pretty much right now is I have a client right now who has an in-person, primarily in-person business. This is how people work with her. They come to see her, they book an appointment with her. She has some online resources, like she has an e-book and she has some other things, but it's really hardly the same thing as having an experience with her. And one of the things that we're actually working on right now is building out a retreat piece to go with her in-person business. Now, that might not seem like a typical hybrid model, but what she has to do is literally build an online presence to go with that in-person offering. Alison 00:07:21  Because in order to offer retreats, if you have a successful in-person business, is is that you have to be always reaching more people. So this is something else that we hear a lot of people say where they say, well, I don't know that my people would want to go on a retreat. I don't know if my people would want to do something in person. And so my question is always, how do you know that they don't? And so what we have to always ask ourselves is, what are we doing to consistently put ourselves out there and have us meet more people and expand our audience? And that's really what it's all about too. Shannon 00:07:53  I'm biased, of course, but for me, if there's anyone that I trust and I work with in any capacity or just consume their information. I would love to fucking get in person. You know what I mean? Like, whether it's a conference or a mastermind or a retreat, whatever it is. I mean, I don't, you know. Yes, there are I'm sure there are people in this world who are incredibly introverted. Shannon 00:08:14  And just like that just makes their skin crawl. But for the most part, I think there's a good audience for anybody doing anything online that they could create an in-person experience. Alison 00:08:26  Yeah, and the energy is just different when you're in person. Like, think about it, when you go to an in-person event, it's very different than if you're on a, say, a zoom call or a group networking session or something online where you see everybody's faces and they're just, you know, squares on the screen. You can still talk to people because I think human connection can still be meaningful that way. But it's not the same thing from being in person. Shannon 00:08:49  I agree, I agree, and I'm grateful. Right? We're grateful that we have these online tools that we can do these things. But I'll be honest with you. so I belong to Genius Network. It's an incredible Networking group. It's really a servant group. That's just incredible. And every month we meet either online or in person, you can choose one or the other. Shannon 00:09:07  Right. So that it fits your schedule. And I'm super. I hope they don't hear this. But the online I like minimize it. I'm doing other work. It's still just as good information. It's just badass. But I'm over here multitasking. I'm answering text messages whatever. The in person lights my fire so much that when I get back home I am like, bring it! We are. We're fixing to make some shit happen. And so yes, am I grateful that we have the tools available? Absolutely. do do I think, though, that we get more or at least a very vibrant, different, action packed energy from in person? Yes, I do. Alison 00:09:47  Yeah. And I just think that to piggyback on what you just said and to sort of finish my thought from before is that you really want to think about the hybrid model from two vantage points, really. And this is what I have found works the best with most people. It's like the example that I just gave of my current client, who has the in-person business, and we're adding a retreat. Alison 00:10:05  And so you might be sitting there thinking, well, that's too impersonal elements. Well, you're right, it is. But she's also building an online presence to go with it. That can still be considered a hybrid model. The other way to look at it would be if you primarily serve your clients online, whether that's a membership or an online program or a mastermind or whatever group coaching program. And then you insert some type of in-person retreat experience, whether it be a private retreat, a small group retreat, a boutique retreat, or even a small group summit, right then that is also can be considered a hybrid model that the advantage, the commonality with both of those is, is that you've taken your expertise and you're monetizing it in a number of different ways, and that is really what it's about for the future. Shannon 00:10:51  Amen. Hallelujah. Oh my goodness. You're speaking my language. I'm hoping that there's people listening to this that either have been considering retreats or are in the retreat business because you're right either side and are thinking creatively how they can add that other aspect. Shannon 00:11:05  So if you are hosting retreats, how can you add on that online aspect, which, by the way, continues to support the people that you are working with or who've showed up, right? And then if you're online, how can you incorporate in-person events? I mean, I know you and I are like, duh. This is a no brainer, but I'm hoping that there's like creative juices that are flowing for people on either side going, ooh, I could do X, and X doesn't have to look like what Allison does, and it doesn't have to look like what I do. Alison 00:11:33  Like X could be a number of different ways. Shannon 00:11:35  Yeah. And I love that you're like it could be a summit. It could be a mastermind. It could be a gathering. It could be a retreat. It could be look, it could be whatever. and same thing for the online portion of it. It could be coaching, it could be group coaching. It could be mastermind. It could be, Yeah. Shannon 00:11:51  I mean, it literally could be all the same names that you use for the other side. It's just structured differently. in the content is provided, however, it is that you like to provide content, So. Alison 00:12:00  Yeah. And you just. Well I think too. For people listening, I think what you want to always keep in mind is, is that the object if you're an entrepreneur now going into the future, the object is really about your personal brand. It's about what are you about? And what do you stand for? What, what are you for and what are you against? And it's like when you look at being able to offer a number of different ways that people can access you. So in a way that, I mean, people could come into you from your website, from a newsletter, from a challenge of some type, from an online program that you're offering. But don't discount those in-person opportunities, too, because there's a number of different ways that you can monetize all of what you do. Alison 00:12:42  And then that sets you up not only financially better for the future, but it puts you in a position where you're always meeting people. And when you're a business owner, you can never know too many people. Shannon 00:12:53  Okay, so I love that we are talking financials a little bit because as people who have listened to my podcast know, No, I'm in the retreat business, not the retreat hobby. And so Allison and I and our good friend Aaron now daily have conversations about this. And also hint, hint. This will be part of what we launch. And I think we're launching it in October. October. Yes. So stay tuned. But yeah, we're launching it in October. But it will be happening in 2026. Anyhow, we're all about how can we increase our business and our profit? Totally. and this again, is to me a no brainer if you're doing really well on the online space. Dude, add that that in-person space and it just contributes to your bottom line and vice versa. Shannon 00:13:42  You're still serving the same people. It's still in your genre. It's all connected. It's just a different way of delivering the information and adding more profit to your bottom line. Alison 00:13:53  Yeah. And also, I think to what I just want to say, again, for people listening is, is that it really? You know, I don't want to make it sound like we're just sitting here counting money and money bags. It's not about greed at all. You know, it's really about being able to serve at a much higher level. And when you're when you're able to offer somebody a transformative experience, like something in person, like a retreat or a group event or something, you're just adding massive value for them and you're adding massive value for yourself. And it's a win for everybody. Shannon 00:14:24  Yes. See? Speaking the same language win win, win, win win for everybody. I just love that so much. The other thing that we kind of talked about real briefly is the business logistics side, right. So whatever your your LLC is or your company or your formation, you've started it off at X, it's, you know, online or it's retreats. Shannon 00:14:45  There's no need at the beginning to, to do anything differently. Right. I mean, Alison, you were just talking about this. Tell us about your journey, about how that was and then now what you are thinking of doing in the future because of. Alison 00:14:55  Yeah, when I, when I first started doing retreats, I got to be honest. I I'll tell you, because my background is in health and fitness. I thought it was going to be a fitness weekend. That was kind of my initial vision was to do these boot camps, these workout camps. And I'll tell you, and this is probably a really bad analogy, but I'm just going to say it my, my, my inspiration for doing it was watching programs like The Biggest Loser, where people would just go somewhere and they'd stay for a few days or. And in that case, it was a lot longer. And that's not really what I had in mind, but it was taking people out of town somewhere where we could really focus on themselves. Alison 00:15:30  And since at the time I was 100% working in fitness, operating a very successful small studio with a small team, I thought, this is a no brainer. This is a great way to give people kind of a family type experience, you know? And so over the years, that vision kind of morphed into something a little more boutique like as I started getting more involved and interested in personal development and, you know, daily self-care strategies. I've always loved to travel. And so I sort of found a niche in providing what I like to call a futuristic, visionary experience. One of the things that I use in all of my retreat programs is the use of a compass. I talk all about the direction that you're moving, the direction of your future, being aligned with your future self, etc., etc. so that's a lot of what we do. But now, back then, all I was thinking about was offering. This would be a really fun experience to offer for my clients. I wasn't even thinking about starting another business. Alison 00:16:25  You know, I was just thinking, ding ding ding! This is a way to help more people. This is a way to give them more. It's going to be fun for me. Let's just try it and see what happens. You know, and I started off as really small groups. And then they grew and they grew to like 6 to 8 people traditionally, which is usually about my sweet spot. And so now ten, 12 years later, at some point, what I'm looking at in the next year or two is branching off the retreat part of my business and starting a whole separate company, because I'm traveling more and more as as are you. And, you know, there's a lot more that's on the horizon. Ahead that's going to be tied into this direction for me. And so what I want people listening to understand is, look, dip your toe in it first and kind of play with it and make it work for you. And then if it makes sense down the road, then we can certainly talk about what that looks like as a business. Shannon 00:17:18  Yeah, I, I totally agree. Yeah. I love this so much. So if you haven't gotten anything else from this podcast, expand your horizon and think creatively about how you could add either the online portion or the in-person portion to your current business model. Alison's contact information will be in the show notes. She is the master at helping you brainstorm this, build it, envision it, get it going. So please contact her. And she's got an incredible retreat coming up in Italy. Allison, about that retreat in October. Alison 00:17:52  And at the time that we're recording this, it's we have four rooms open, and I'm partnering with a colleague of mine who lives over there, and she speaks the language and she's a phenomenal health coach. And we've got an amazing program where we've got introductions into private family vineyards and wineries and gardens and things that you're just not going to find. If you go on TripAdvisor or Google and look for the the cool thing to do on the Amalfi Coast, which is where we're going to be. Alison 00:18:19  So if this kind of speaks to you, then I definitely would encourage you to reach out because I'm really expecting these rooms to fill up fairly soon. Shannon 00:18:27  Love it. They absolutely will. So Alison, thank you so much for being on the show and I can't wait to release our big stuff coming in the future. Alison 00:18:35  So we're going to have to, we're going to have to come back and do another episode about that. Shannon 00:18:39  Oh, no. Absolutely, absolutely. Alison 00:18:41  Yeah, 100%. Shannon 00:18:44  Thanks for listening to The Retreat Leader's podcast. Learn more at the Retreat. See you next time.

Dan Sullivan and Joe Polish unpack the mindset, health, and tools that turn ambition into the master capability for exponential success. Here's a glance at what you'll discover in this episode: Why 2x thinking keeps you stuck in busyness while 10x frees you to focus on what really matters Dan's definition of ambition as the “master capability” that fuels all other growth The power of agency—and why Entrepreneurs fail when they give it away How Dan cut his workshops from 144 days to 12 while scaling Strategic Coach 20x+ The hidden trap of lifestyle Entrepreneurs vs. the mindset of true growth Entrepreneurs Why health, testing, and longevity practices are non-negotiable for sustaining ambition How to spot treadmill effort vs. ladder growth in your business and life Why retirement kills creativity—and why growth entrepreneurs never stop contributing Simple tools to reframe your progress and prove 10x results are always possible How environment, peers, and collaboration multiply your impact exponentially If you'd like to join world-renowned Entrepreneurs at the next Genius Network Event or want to learn more about Genius Network, go to www.GeniusNetwork.com.

Hey retreat boss—it's time for a heart-to-heart. In this solo episode, Shannon Jamail gets real about a truth that most retreat leaders avoid:

Joe Polish and Dan Sullivan explore how ambition and agency, rooted in generosity, drive lasting success. A behind-the-scenes look at their Hay House project on building authentic, impactful relationships. Here's a glance at what you'll discover in this episode: How combining ambition with agency creates unstoppable momentum in business and life Why over-giving without boundaries leads to burnout—and how to avoid it Practical ways to deepen relationships by asking better questions and being truly useful If you'd like to join world-renowned Entrepreneurs at the next Genius Network Event or want to learn more about Genius Network, go to www.GeniusNetwork.com.

In this solo episode, host Shannon Jamail gets fired up and shares exactly what it means to level up as a retreat leader—and why it goes way beyond fancy goodie bags or extra plush pillows in your yurt. Fresh off a transformative retreat teaching experience in France and actively learning from high-level masterminds like Genius Network, Shannon lays out how growth happens through mentorship, aligned community, and being in the right rooms. She also gets real about the flood of new "retreat coaches" in the industry—and why it's more important than ever to vet your mentors and follow leaders with lived experience, not just big promises. If you're ready to stop playing small and start treating your retreats like a real business (with profit, purpose, and power)—this episode is your loving wake-up call.   What You'll Learn: What “leveling up” really means in the retreat world Why who you surround yourself with determines your growth How Shannon's trip to France & Genius Network shifted her leadership A no-fluff truth bomb about BS in the retreat coaching industry How the Retreat Leader Membership can give you the support you've been missing Why treating retreats like a business (not a hobby) is non-negotiable for success     Favorite Quote: "You don't get to the next level by doing the same things and hanging with the same crowd." — Shannon Jamail Read our full blog here with this link   The Retreat Leaders Podcast Resources and Links: Learn to Host Retreats Join our private Facebook Group Top 5 Marketing Tools Free Guide Free Top 11 Tips for Building an Email List  Get your legal docs for retreats   Thanks for tuning into the Retreat Leaders Podcast. Remember to subscribe for more insightful episodes, and visit our website for additional resources. Let's create a vibrant retreat community together!   Subscribe:  Apple Podcast | Google Podcast | Spotify

Dan Sullivan and Joe Polish dive deep into the Entrepreneurial mindset of “guesses and bets” — the essential approach to navigating an unpredictable future. They explore how risk, resilience, and values-driven decision-making shape lasting success in business and life. Here's a glance at what you'll discover in this episode: Why Every Big Move Is Just a Guess and a Bet: Think you can predict the future? Dan reveals why even the most advanced AI and data-driven forecasts can't eliminate the uncertainty of business. Here's how the most successful Entrepreneurs embrace risk.. The Hidden Reason Entrepreneurs Burn Out (And How to Avoid It): Most Entrepreneurs don't retire because they've “made it”—they retire because they're tired of the relentless cycle of uncertainty. Joe and Dan break down why staying in the game requires mastering the emotional rollercoaster of making decisions with no guarantees. The One Mindset Shift That Turns Your Biggest Failures Into Wins: What separates those who bounce back stronger from failure versus those who never recover? Discover Dan's approach to making breakthroughs through negative events—and how his own bankruptcy and divorce led to some of his greatest insights. Why Some Entrepreneurs Keep Winning While Others Quit (Hint: It's Not About Intelligence or Talent): Every entrepreneur faces fear, but what makes some keep going while others fold? Joe and Dan dissect how the ability to respond to negative events—not avoid them—is the real key to long-term success. Why ‘Follow Your Passion' Is Terrible Advice for Entrepreneurs: Many people believe that passion leads to success. But the TRUTH is that following your TALENTS, not your passions, opens up the biggest opportunities. Here's how to utilize this to create more profitability and success for you and your business… The Art of Ethical Betting (How to Make Money Without Leaving a Trail of Wreckage): Every Entrepreneur makes bets. But how do you ensure yours aren't at the expense of others? Joe and Dan unpack the ethical framework behind making bold moves in business without sacrificing integrity... If you'd like to join world-renowned Entrepreneurs at the next Genius Network Event or want to learn more about Genius Network, go to www.GeniusNetwork.com.

Joe Polish is the Founder of Genius Network, an exclusive group of renowned and successful entrepreneurs. He is an established marketer and has helped thousands of businesses, from large corporations to small family-owned companies, generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. Additionally, Joe is the Founder and President of Piranha Marketing and the host of three top-rated business and marketing podcasts, including I Love Marketing. He is also a passionate philanthropist and the Founder of Genius Recovery, which works to change the global conversation around addiction and recovery. In this episode… Many entrepreneurs struggle to stand out in a crowded market, build authentic relationships, and create a lasting impact without burning out. Despite working harder, they often miss out on strategic opportunities that come from real connection and clarity in communication. So, how can business leaders market smarter, not harder, while also growing meaningful networks and purpose-driven success? Marketing expert and entrepreneur Joe Polish shares many insights for solving these issues through relationship-first strategies, direct response marketing, and storytelling. He emphasizes the danger of chasing profits over purpose and encourages listeners to shift their focus toward giving and creating value. He outlines practical tips such as mastering the fundamentals of storytelling, avoiding transactional relationships, and investing in personal development through books, mentors, and masterminds. Joe also shares lessons from his journey, including how addiction recovery and resilience shaped his approach to entrepreneurship. In this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast, Dr. Jeremy Weisz interviews Joe Polish, Founder of Genius Network, about building relationships that drive business success. Joe explores how giving without expectation builds trust, the role of direct response marketing, and how storytelling can transform your business. He also discusses overcoming adversity, top book recommendations, and the importance of meaningful follow-up.

Dan Sullivan and Joe Polish dive into the Entrepreneurial framework “Make it up, make it real, make it recur” and explore how true innovation is built and scaled. They also unpack the ethics of creation vs. imitation, the power of collaboration, and how to know when it's time to walk away. Here's a glance at what you'll discover in this episode: The 3-Part Formula That Separates Real Entrepreneurs From Wannabes: Most Entrepreneurs get stuck in the idea stage or fall into a cycle of “starting and stopping.” Dan reveals his powerful framework that helps Entrepreneurs turn ideas into reality and create repeatable success. The Hidden Business Killer That Could Be Right Under Your Nose: Dan talks about the surprising factor that secretly derails more businesses than bad products, poor marketing, or lack of funding... The Collaboration Formula That Turns Pure Creativity Into a Money-Making Machine: Some people are brilliant at making things up, but they fail at making it real. Others can build great systems, but they lack vision. Dan and Joe discuss a case study of a creative genius and his business-savvy partner—one who was lost in artistic chaos, the other who turned the vision into a thriving company. If you've ever struggled to turn ideas into income, this might be the missing link... Why "Swipe & Deploy" Might Be Costing You More Than You Think: In an era where “funnel hacking” and copying competitors is glorified, Dan and Joe pull back the curtain on what's really happening behind the scenes. They expose the fine line between smart modeling and outright theft—and why Entrepreneurs who rely on copying are unknowingly building a house of cards that's bound to collapse. How to Avoid the #1 Mistake That Ruins Great Business Collaborations: Ever entered into a business partnership that started off exciting… only to turn into a nightmare? Dan and Joe unpack why most partnerships fail, the critical elements of a successful collaboration, and why the worst ship you can board is a partnership—unless you follow this ONE KEY RULE... The Uncomfortable Truth About Knowing When to Walk Away: Most Entrepreneurs know when to fire an employee. But what happens when YOU are the bottleneck? Dan shares a rare behind-the-scenes story of walking away from a million-dollar project—and why knowing when to “fire yourself” can be the ultimate power move. If you'd like to join world-renowned Entrepreneurs at the next Genius Network Event or want to learn more about Genius Network, go to www.GeniusNetwork.com.

In this episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, we start with Dan's recent experience with stem cell injections, a journey filled with both challenges and relief. This discussion transitions into the inspiring story of a Vietnamese massage therapist who built her career in Canada, highlighting the diverse paths in the healing professions. Our conversation then shifts to the political landscape of Canada. We analyze the unique dynamics of minority governments and consider the influence of international figures like Trump on Canadian politics. We also discuss the role of central banking figures in political negotiations and reflect on the contrasts between Canadian and American electoral perspectives. Next, we explore the parallels between political and economic systems, examining the shift from traditional hierarchies to modern digital frameworks. The conversation covers the challenges faced by third-party candidates in the U.S., with a focus on Robert F. Kennedy's independent run, and delves into the economic tensions between China and the U.S., considering their impact on global trade relations. Finally, we reflect on the importance of creative consistency and the power of legacy. Whether it's maintaining a long-term streak of publishing or creating innovative tools, we emphasize the value of continuously producing impactful content. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS We explore the intricacies of stem cell treatments and discuss my personal experience with multiple injections, sharing insights on the healing journey alongside Mr. Jackson. The conversation transitions to Canadian politics, where we delve into the complexities of a minority government and the influence of international figures like Trump on Canadian political dynamics. We examine the parallels between political and economic systems, focusing on the evolution from hierarchical structures to digital frameworks, and discuss the challenges faced by third-party candidates in the U.S. electoral system. The geopolitical dynamics between China and the United States are analyzed, highlighting the differing geographical and demographic challenges and the economic tensions resulting from tariffs and trade negotiations. We reflect on the value of maintaining a long-term creative streak, discussing the importance of consistent output and deadlines in driving productivity and ensuring a legacy of impactful content. The discussion touches on the strategic importance of filling the future with new and exciting projects to ensure personal growth and innovation, contrasting past achievements with future aspirations. We explore the significance of creativity in producing meaningful content across various platforms, from books and workshops to podcasts, emphasizing the role of personal reputation and motivation in maintaining a steady output. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: Mr Sullivan, Dan:Mr Jackson, Dean: there he is. How are things in your outpost of the? Dan: mainland. Well good, I had a convalescence week. They really packed me full of new stem cells. And the procedure is things aren't good if I'm not feeling bad. Dean: That's what I'm saying. It's along the lines of we're not happy until you're not happy. Dan: How's that for a closing argument? Dean: That's good, that's good. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Things aren't good if you're not feeling bad. Dan: I got the procedure on the Thursday of last week, not the week we're just finishing, but the week. So Thursday, friday, saturday and it was almost one week later, exactly on Thursday, almost the same time of day, and all of a sudden the pain went away. Dean: Okay, how long was it Acute onset? Did you have to travel in pain? Dan: Yeah, well, I did, but they drugged me out. Yeah, they had sedatives Right when they were doing the procedure and then you had takeaways. Dean: Yeah, A goody bag. Dan: Nothing like a good drug. Yeah, exactly, especially a pa pain killing drug and and they're real big on this but went full force this time I had eight different injections, both ankles, both knees, even the knee. That's good they do it to reinforce what's already there. Reinforce what's already there. And then tendons the tendons in the calf, tendons in the hamstring, tendons in the quadriceps and then on both hips, both hips, so the left leg is the. You know in the spotlight here and when you're it's like you're experiencing inflammation in the ankle, in the calf, in the knee, in the upper leg and then the hip at the same time the leg doesn't want to, the leg doesn't want to work, right exactly yeah yeah, so that's the big problem, but actually I'm feeling pretty chipper today that's great, so that. Dean: So it took a week to get that. Is that usual or was this an unusual? Because I don't think I've ever heard you mention the pain. Dan: Usually it was a couple of days, but they got me while they had me. Dean: Well, that's good, and today you feel noticeably better. Dan: Now, yeah, I was noticing that we have a long-term massage therapist who comes to our house. Dean: Oh, my goodness. Dan: She's been coming for 33 years. Vietnamese Wow A boat person, actually, someone who escaped on a boat when she was a teenager, actually someone who escaped on boat when she was a teenager. And you know, really, she grew up, her grandmother was. They didn't have things like registered massage therapists, everybody just did massage, you know grandmothers especially, and so she learned from her grandmother. You know, even before she was 10 years old and so she's you, she's 60 now, 60 now. So she's been at this for about 50 years and she's availed herself of almost every kind of therapy training that there is. I mean, it was she was working till she was 45, from teenagers to 45 you know, paid for it before she ever got registered, she ever got. oh, oh my goodness, yeah, and I asked her about that. And the licensing is only really needed if the patient is claiming insurance money yeah. So they won't give me a patient any? Well, I never asked for it, I mean. I find I'm trying to get through my entire lifetime by having as little direct contact with government as possible. Dean: That's the best. I love that. Yes, that's great. Dan: I know they exist and as far as garbage being picked up, streets being repaired, police stopping crime. I have no complaints about paying for that, but I know I have to have some involvement but I don't try to expand it. Dean: That's so funny. What's the tone in Canada? Now here we are, you know, a week after the big debacle. Dan: Well, I don't know the debacle. They basically first of all didn't really decide anything because they had a minority government before for Americans. Americans only have winners and losers, but in Canada you can have someone who's half and half. Dean: They're half winners and half loser. Dan: Yeah, they're like. You know. It's that less than half the country voted for the winner. That's right. But the winner got more votes than the second place because there's more than one party. You know, americans don't believe in anything. That's not a winner or a loss. You know. That's one thing. I've learned since I've been in Canada. Americans, there's only two possibilities You're a winner or you're a loser. There's no halfway. There's no participation prize for showing up and being engaged, I think, the prime minister. He's an economist and we have a thing that it would be like the head of the Federal Reserve. In the United States you have a central bank which is called the Federal Reserve, and in Canada it's called the Bank of Canada, and then in the UK they have the Bank of England, and this man was both governor of the Bank of Canada and the governor of the Bank of England. He's a lifetime bureaucrat. He's never been anything except a bureaucrat and his first job is to negotiate with Trump. Right exactly, and nothing in his background has prepared him for this experience. Dean: Yeah, that's so. It is true, isn't it? I mean the whole, I think it feels like from this view. Dan: They kicked a can both the US and Canada. Dean: And the you know. The very interesting thing is that this vote definitely feels like a not Trump type of sentiment. You know more than it did yes. Dan: There's no question in my I mean there's no question in anyone's mind that Trump was the issue. Dean: Yeah, yeah, Pierre Polyev's probably going. I was so close. If that election had happened any time between November and January, it would have been a whole different story, you know. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was. I think. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, I think it was that the you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was. I think. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, I think it was that the you know Trump actually putting his gaze on Canada, really, didn't happen until after, you know, after he was inaugurated after he became president, I think you're totally correct. It was from November 5th to January 20th, yeah that would have been Kaliev's window. Yeah, but yeah well, you know there's a little history to this. A lot of people don't know it, but Canada was a major country you know in world affairs pretty well for most of the 20th century, pretty well for most of the 20th century, and part of the reason is that they were the big backup to the British Empire, like in the First World War and the Second World War. The major supplier of manpower and armaments and everything else came from Canada that backed up the British. I mean, the British were really in the eye of the storm for both of the wars, but their number one ally right from the start of the two wars was Canada. Canada was the big player. As a matter of fact, in 1945, the end of the Second World War, Canada had the third largest navy in the world and they had the fourth largest air force in the world. Think of little canada little canada yeah, and they played a huge part in the cold war. You know the rcmp, the, you know the mounties most people think of them as people in red coats riding on horses, but actually they were the. They were actually the dual they were were the combination of the CIA and the FBI. They were all packed in one. And they were a major player, because the United States, canada, was the country that was in between the United States and the Soviet Union. So I'm going to sneeze. Oh, there I go, yeah, that's completed, anyway, anyway, and their intelligence services were first class and everything. And then when the cold war suddenly ended in 1991, the end of 1991, all of a sudden their importance in the world just disappeared. So we've been and they've had to fake it yeah, it's interesting. I mean canada, I guess, and that's basically that and the you know you had some good prime minister you had. You know the liberal crechin wasn't too bad because he was a long time tough guy in the liberal party and harper I thought was, and my experience of being in Canada, which is 54 years, I think, Harper was. Dean: Well, he's always widely regarded as that right. Dan: He's by far the best prime minister and he wasn't confused about what Canada should be for, what it should support and everything like that. And then you came. You know, obviously they got the next character from central casting. You know, they just said send us, send us and he's by hands down. I mean, if you really talk to the liberals quietly and in private, they said you know, he's kind of a disaster, he's been a disaster for 10 years and you know. I mean they just don't have much gas in the gas tank anymore at that party and there's a general pushback against left-wing parties going on in the world right now. You can see it in Britain. They had the elections for local councils. You know local councils, which is it's an odd, you know it's an odd sort of election, but they have it sort of like midterm elections in the United. Dean: States, you know and Nigel Farage. Dan: Who's the you? Know, he was the Brexit, he was the brains behind Brexit. I mean, very clearly, if that had been the general election, he'd be the prime minister right now and he wants to just detach Great Britain completely from Europe and have the attachment with the United States, and I think that's going to happen. What's disappearing is this sort of wishy-washy, left-wing mushy-ness in the world right now. The world's going very binary in my sense. That and a $9 latte you got yourself a deal. Dean: Oh, my goodness. Dan: Is that what it's come to? Dean: Is that what it's come to? Is that what it's come to? The $9 latte? You know, it's so funny. I'm going to be back up in June, of course, and I'll be setting up residency in Yorkville there for several weeks, and last time I was there I was surprised by the. You know I usually get Americanos which are now have been replaced by Canadianos, but it's a whole new whole new, whole new logo. Dan: Yeah, I mean, how can I be against patriotism? Dean: I think so, and it's so amazing, though, to see like just the lengths that they're going. You know, I mean pulling all the. That was the big news when I was there. Dan: And I'm wondering if it's. What I noticed is that Canadians are demonstrating every aspect of courageousness that doesn't cost you anything. Dean: Well, I think that it's going to cost. I mean, you know, there I saw, is it Doug Ford or Mark Ford? Doug Ford was up, you know, in the liquor store in the LCBOs saying how they've pulled all American brands out of the LCBO and that you know they're like taking a stand about. But that total buy of the LCBO is $3.2 billion is what they're saying. The liquor market is $340 billion. So less than 1% of the whole. It's not even too little to measure, even you know. Yeah. Dan: Well, they can do it because the LCBO is Liquor Control Board of Ontario. Dean: The largest. Dan: The largest on the planet, Not just the largest in North America. Dean: the largest on the planet. Dan: There's one bureaucratic office that you know that's, that's a lot of liquor. Yeah well, you know it's, it's a bit. You know you're dealing in symbols here, it's sort of symbol. I mean, it's not yeah, it's not actually. It's not actually real courage. You know it's not real courage. It's symbolic courage you know, it's a symbolic. Symbolic, and you know, but that's part of life too, you know. And you know, I'm really noticing. Do you ever, in any of your video viewing, do you ever watch the Bill Maher show? Yes, I do, yeah, and I watched him in the old days and I watch him. You know, I don't actually watch television, but I get YouTubes. I get YouTubes of it, you know. And Trump invited him to come to the White House or the White House or Mar-a-Lago. I don't know if there is Mar-a-Lago, and you know Barr, who has been. I think actually. Dean: Focally anti-Trump yeah, yeah. Dan: well, trump had printed up a document which said 60 insults that Bill Maher had insulted Trump or Bill Maher had done it. And he wanted to give it as a present to the president and he said you know, these are my 60 insults of you. And Trump said oh, can I sign that Trump autograph? That's the best, and Maher came away and he says you know, can I sign that? And Trump autographed it. That's the best, I autographed it. And Maher came away and he says you know, I want to tell you it's not a crazy man in the White House. He said I was treated, you know, it surprised me how gracious he was and you know how just open to having a chat and everything like that. Well, he's just been slammed by the left wing that he would even show up and that's all this fake symbolism, you know, but attack the only guy on the Democratic side in the United States who is actually positioning himself differently is this guy Fetterman from Pennsylvania. He's the senator and he's someone who really hasn't done anything in his life, but through just the way politics were working, I think he had a state job and then he ran and he's got mental issues. I mean, he's had mental issues, but he's been a voice, a lone voice. You know a singular lone voice of somebody. He said you know politics, you try to find common ground and wherever you can find common ground with the opposition, you sit down with him, you talk about it and the public benefits if you can get an agreement there. Well, he's just been. He's just been cast out, but he doesn't really care. He doesn't really care, so you know yeah anyway, but it's an interesting time and you know what? I've got a thesis that politics takes on gradually. It takes on the form of economics. Okay, so that, however, the economics of society, the structure, you know, how do things get created, produced and where's profit being made Ultimately politics takes on the same kind of structure. So if you think of the industrial revolution, when everything was defined by big pyramids organizations, you know you had people at the top and then you had either big factories or you had big administrative companies that did the work out in the world. For the factories, you know the research, the marketing and distribution out into the world of manufactured products. After a while, government took on the same form, the big pyramids. Government always is the last institution to figure out what's going on. Dean: That's interesting, it's true, right, because everything has to trickle up. Dan: Yeah. So starting in the 70s, you started to get a change in the structure and you went from the big pyramidal structures to basically the microchip networks. Everything started more and more to be on the framework of computers, individual computers communicating with other individual computers, you know communicating with other individual computers, first hundreds and thousands and then millions, you know, and gradually. But the central principle of the microchip is binary, that in the digital code things are either a one or they're a zero. Okay, and so what I noticed over the last, probably starting in the early nineties, you start getting you're either on one side or the other side. But my sense is that politics is just imitating how the economic system it's a digital economic system. That's what we're talking about on. Welcome to Cloudlandia. What allows this amazing communication that we can make digitally depends on ones and zeros. And what I noticed is that the entire political structure, you know all the players in the political structure. You're either on one side or you're on the other side. If you're in the middle, you don't count. Dean: Yeah, and that's you know. It's interesting. You were talking about the third party system. I think that the interesting thing is, the United States is really a three party system. There's three parties, but really, you know, in a two party system, I think that's really what it is, but there's a large majority of people who are more moderate. Right now, it's binary in terms of you're Democrat or Republican. That's really it, and there's never been, there's never been, you know, a real outsider opportunity. I mean, you look at, you know, ross Perot. Maybe he was the got the farthest. Well, they're a spoiler. They're a spoiler. Dan: They're not, they could never be the lead party. Dean: You know, they're just a spoiler party. Dan: Yeah, and the reason is because of the Electoral College. You know that. I remember being at Genius Network in the year before the election, so the election was last November, so it was the previous November and Robert Kennedy was running. Robert F Kennedy was running. And then the Democrats made it impossible for him to be a contender, a Democratic contender. So he went independent and I remember him. He came twice, he came twice to Genius Network. Dean: And. Dan: I remember the first time he came, everybody was excited. You know he's going to be the next president and I said, yeah, yeah, I said well, you know if you want to know how the game's played, you got to take the game box and flip it on the back and read the rules. And I could tell you he could take 30% of the total vote. You know that would be. You know that'd be something like 45, 50 million. Unheard of yeah 45, 50 million and he wouldn't get one electoral vote. Dean: Right. Dan: And I said, and they said well, that's just absurd, that's just absurd. And I said nope, that's how the rules, that's what the rules are. I said, learn what the rules are. And that's why I think it was so easy for them to jump. I mean, if he had run right through to the end of the election and you know, like he was showing up on election night, you know and he got 3% of the three. He could have gotten tens of millions of votes and gotten, maybe, but wouldn't have won a single electoral vote. Dean: Right. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Yeah yeah, I like your approach and mine just being in it but not of it. It's like I appreciate the things Well it's entertainment yeah, it's, you know. Dan: It's entertainment that costs you a lot more than cable, that's exactly right. Dean: And you know what the good news is, dan? There's no tariff. There's no tariffs on good ideas, no tariffs in Cloudlandia Tariff free. I think that's the big thing. Dan: If it doesn't weigh anything, there's no tariff. Dean: That's right. That's right. If it doesn't come in a box, there's no tariff. That's exactly right. That's right. If it doesn't, comeia is so. Fascinating to me is just seeing how unstable the mainland things are becoming. Dan: You start to see the Cloudlandia future. We're in a period where we're going to see the greatest amount of chaos and turmoil in the tangible I'll talk about the tangible economy, yeah, but I think it'll be about probably a decade and then things will be remarkably stable. Dean: How do you see this playing out? Because I've been curious about that too. You see this playing out like so, because I've been curious about that too like what is the end game of all of these? You know the I guess you kind of take this intersection of what you know, the populations and the, you know the movement to cloudlandia, and then these, the political to Cloudlandia, and then the geopolitical climate. You see all these things like what is the unintended? We wonder now I've heard different things about China, all these countries or whatever, that Trump is imposing the tariffs on, the reaction, the rebound reaction of that. Is that something that Peter Zion has talked about? Or is that what's your take? I know you've read a lot and observed a lot. Dan: It's very interesting. I think he's very conflicted. I think Peter Zion is very conflicted right now, and the reason is that he made predictions 10 years ago. I'd say it was 10 years ago, about how he saw the world changing. It produces all sorts of interesting insights. And the first one is that, basically, as a country, the future of your country past, present and future of your country is really determined basically your geography, where you are on the planet and what kind of geography you have, so your placement on the planet. I'll use an example of let's use China as one and use the United States as the other. The China is basically a land country rather than a maritime country. If you look at the map of China, where it shows the cities, most of the cities are inland in China. Even Beijing is not close to the ocean. You have two big ports. One of them is Shanghai, which is actually up the river, but it's got a very wide mouth to the river, and then Shanghai and the other one was Hong Kong, and so they're basically Hong Kong, hong Kong and so they're basically a land-based country, but they border on 13 other countries who have a passionate hatred for China. These are enemies, they're surrounded by enemies. There's nobody who likes them, and one major country that's offshore is Japan, and there's nothing but pure hatred between Japan, and everybody else has an adversarial attitude towards China. So that's China. Then you take the United States. The United States sits with 3,000 miles of water on its eastern shore, 5,000 miles of water on its western shore shore, 5,000 miles of water on its western shore, and then it's got just. The only connector is the Mexican, and it's 200 miles of desert and mountains. And then on the north you have 3,000 miles of pot-smoking Canadians. Dean: Terrorists hiding pot-smoking Canadians. Dan: Yeah, terrorists who had a plan for tomorrow but forgot what it was. So the US really doesn't have to. China has to totally defend itself. You know they have to spend an enormous amount of their budget defending their borders where the US really doesn't. I mean there's they talk about, you know, the Canadian-American border they talk about. You know that, you about that actually there's just nothing there. It's just fields and there's farms, farms certainly in the West, in Manitoba, saskatchewan and Alberta where. I'm sure the farms are partially in the United States, partially in. Dean: Canada, you could just walk right across. Dan: Yeah, oh, yeah, it's you know, and everything like that. So one thing is the US really doesn't have to. By the standards of the world, the US doesn't have to spend much money defending itself territorially. The other thing is demographics, and it's what your population looks like. Do you have mostly, is it mostly young people? Is it mostly middle-aged people? Is it mostly old people? And the US is China probably by 10 years from now will have more people over 60 than people under 20, which means that they become more and more of a top-heavy population. And these people are past working age, they're past investment age, but they're not past being in an expense age. So more and more, the cost of your society is older people, and you have fewer and fewer workers who are producing, fewer and fewer workers who are paying taxes, fewer and fewer workers who are, you know, who are investing, and you have older, older population. That's just consuming and it's just consuming. Yeah, so these are the two big things that you have to think about. It's China and the US and tariff. A tariff that the United States places on China is five times a heavier penalty than one that China places on the US. Dean: And the. Dan: US, like Trump, everybody else in the world. He put it 10 percent, 25 percent, some of 50 percent. On China, he put 145 percent and apparently there's riots going on in China right now because the factories are closing down really fast. You'll see within the next three months, you'll see next month. So it'll be formal new negotiations between the United. States and China. Now that's the central issue as we go forward what's the relationship between these two countries? It's like after the Second World War? What's the relationship between the United States and the Soviet? Union the basic attitude is that we'll just keep applying more and more pressure and wait them out and they'll collapse. So that's what I see the big game for the China. Dean: And do you think that the net of this is that will bring back? Like what is everything? Is that setting up you know what kind of the playbook that Peter Zayn was talking about, the absent superpower of the US, sort of moving away from dependence or interaction with outside? Dan: No, no, I just think it's a one-on-one that the United States is going to have with every other country in the world. So there's 200 countries according to the United Nations. There's 200 countries and every one of them is under some sort of broad trading agreement with the United States. And the US did that basically for security reasons, because they said we'll make it easy for you to trade, but your military strategies and your security strategies have to have to be in alignment with us. And when the Soviet Union collapsed there was no need for that, but it just went on by inertia. Basically, it was just something that carried on. It was a good deal for everybody else, but not such a great deal for the US. And Trump comes in, you know, and Trump is nothing if not a dealmaker, you know. So what he says is every country now you make sure you send somebody to Washington because we're going to do a dealmaker. So what he says is every country, now you make sure you send somebody to Washington because we're going to do a different deal. So I think probably within a year you'll have probably the US will have deals with, if not China, they'll have deals they already do with China, south Korea, india, vietnam in that part of the world, the Philippines, australia, and so everybody will be in the new American deal except China. And probably within a year you'll have more than 100, maybe 130 countries who now have new deals, including Canada. We'll see what Canada does, because Maybe a year from now we'll be back to drinking Americanos at Starbucks. Dean: I wonder. That's what I wonder. Dan: It's just amazing to me, why stop with Canadiennes? Why don't we go to Ontariannes? Uh-huh, exactly, toronto. I mean, if you're going that route, why not go all the way? Dean: Toronto, yeah, York. Dan: Villano. Dean: Uh-huh right, that's the thing I stay on the island there. That's right. That's so funny, yeah, so that's I mean, you know? Dan: I mean I'm just an amateur observer here and I'm just picking up what I see happening. But the big thing is to have every deal that the United States has as separate with each individual country, no broad multilateral agreements. And so the big thing is that the word tariff is a bit of a distractor. It's not actually a tariff. That's the penalty if you don't do the new deal. So that's how they do it. He says let's do a deal because right now you guys can sell stuff into the United States with hardly any expense, hardly any. But you make it very difficult for us to sell our stuff into your country. And so let's do a new deal. Let's do a new deal and so let's do a new deal. Dean: Let's do a new deal. How's this affecting the dollar, by the way? Dan: It's down. As far as I can tell, it's down about five cents. It's from 144 to 139. I think it's 138. I think it's 138.5, something like that, but a year ago it was at 132 or 133. So it's still five, six cents above, yeah, yeah. It's a good deal. Dean: Yeah, Still a good deal. Still a good deal. Yeah, it's so funny. Well, Dan, I've been looking. I've been continuing on the dip into history, continuing on the dip into history phase, looking. It's been a fun thing. Every week I've just kind of been randomly selecting a core sample of my journals from the last 30 years now and it's very interesting to look through and see those things. I've been thinking about streaks too. Like you know, this last your 70s of 40 books in 10 years is a pretty good streak. I was thinking back that Dan Kenney has been publishing his newsletter monthly since 1992. And I think about that. You know 33, 34 years, this year of a you know, around 400 newsletters 16 page, just single space, nothing, no special, no design, nothing like that around it, but just that. You know, essentially just along the lines of what your global thinker. Global thinker was just like a series of essays kind of thing. I guess is what you would call it right, but that's kind of what Dan's done for 34 years. Yeah, pretty amazing. And I was thinking, you know I've done, I've had 30 years now of very consistent output to an audience of one, and I sure realize what a you know what an amazing body of work this is. Dan: I hope that audience of one is appreciative. Dean: Yes, exactly, very appreciative, you know, and it's so funny, right? Dan: You're playing a high stakes game here. Yes, exactly. Dean: I've had one satisfied subscriber for 30 years, you could lose your target market in a bad week, you know. Uh-huh. Dan: Exactly. Dean: Yeah, I mean, it's kind of funny, right, but I could see, you know, all these things they start. This is where they start and they in Manly specifically, and I was talking, this was the very beginnings of the who, not how. So this was August of 2015. And I think it was November of 2015 at the annual event that I sort of talked about that idea of the thing. But it's funny, this was scientific profit making came out of this, that journal, so that looked at the breakthrough DNA process as so very yeah, it's just the, you know, I think, the decision that you've, you know that consistent output gallery, I guess we'll call it or distribution model. It's a very it's really. Do you still journal internally? Or how do you what gathers, the notes and the thoughts that make the quarterly? Dan: books. Well, I have the. You know I have that series, the one new book every quarter. I have the new tools. Dean: Now my goal. Dan: I'm not up to speed yet on the complete capability of doing it yet. But, my goal is to create one new thinking tool every week okay, yes and and that I don't have, you know, a public need for that in other words that the tools are for new workshops. It's to keep the system supplied. You know, and I have. You know, I and I have free zone workshops every quarter, just three of them, but I have four Zoom two-hour workshops every month. So if you line them up and then I have podcast series I have podcast series. So there's really hundreds of activities that are in the schedule really on January 1st, you know on January 1st, you'd look out and say by December 31st how many scheduled public if you call them public impact activities do I have? Dean: You know it'd be over 200,? Dan: certainly yeah. You know one thing or another, and they all require the creation of something new. You know right you know, and one of the things that I've. You're on a really interesting subject here, because each of these has public impact, you know a book does. There are people who read the book, there's workshops, people who attend the workshops, people who listen to the podcast. And then the new tools themselves, which have the necessary. They're necessary to keep the program new. You know the workshops, and I have teams that take what I'm doing and they apply it to the workshops that I don't coach. We have the other coaches. And then the other thing is that, you know, within the last two or three years we realized that the tools can be patents, and so we're up to 61. Now we have 61. And so these are all one thing that they really keep me busy. Okay, and I'm very deadline responsive. I really like deadlines. I really like it, you know, because I mean, for you and me, we've got one problem what's important enough in our life that we would actually focus and concentrate on it, that we would actually focus and concentrate on it. And I find deadlines where other people, my reputation as at stake, really is very important for me because I get real serious. You know, I'm pretty lenient with me failing myself. I'm not lenient with failing other people. Dean: Right, yeah, me too, that's right. Dan: Yeah, my reputation is very important to me, so you know I don't want the word going around. Dean: Dan's starting to lose it you know no way, yeah, no way. Dan: Yeah, he's fading, he's fading, you know, and anyway. So that's really it. But I came up with a concept, just to put a name on something, that what makes people older not physically but physically, ultimately, but what makes you older intellectually, emotionally, psychologically is that your past has more living another day, that your past is going to fill up with stuff. So you have to work at filling your future up so that the stuff in your future is much, it's much more valuable than what you had in your past. So what I try to do is always favor the future in terms of stuff. I'm going to create stuff. I'm going to do that. It keeps getting to be a bigger game in the future than I ever played in the past. So that's sort of the you know that's. You know the essence of the game that I'm playing with my own life, with my own life, right. Dean: Yeah, this is really, I mean, and that's kind of, do you ever see? I mean, there's no real. Dan: I imagine you'll keep this cadence up continuously that there's still to do the to do 40 more 40 more quarterly books in your 80s 57, I'm on 43, I'm on 43 right now, so it's 57. Dean: 57 more. Dan: Yeah, which is oh, no, no no, is that no? Dean: how many are you For the 10 years? Dan: you're still going to go quarterly? Yeah well, I'm on quarter 43 right now so I see, right, right, right, yeah so. And the quarter. Actually, we're starting it this week. We just put one to bed and the next one starts this week. So that's 57 more and that takes me till about 95. I'm about 95 years old. 57 divided by 4 is 16 and a quarter 16 years and one quarter. And then I have my podcast and the workshops and everything else? Dean: yeah, how many of your podcasts are weekly podcasts like this? Dan: no, I don't have any weeklies we have. We have a certain number for each of them and sometimes, you know, I don't think there's any podcast exception. You and jeff would be the most podcast, jeff madoff, that I yeah, and that wouldn't be 52 weeks. That would be, you know, maybe 30, 35, because we have times when we're not able to do it right, exactly off weeks, not many, but we do yeah. Dean: Yeah's very so that's, you know, looking forward. For me, that's kind of a good thing here. You know this. I'm going to join you in this quarterly cadence here, you know, as I look forward for the next 30, the next 30 years, I mean I already write enough volume to do it. It's just a matter of having the stuff in place. If only I owned a company that makes books. You know they don't have to. Dan: They could be you know, books you can write in an hour, 90 minutes say. Well, the big thing with Dan Kennedy, I mean, if you look at his monthly newsletter if he would take three of them and put them into a different format. He could have oh, yeah, oh for sure, Absolutely. Dean: That's my thought, right. My outlet is really these emails that I write. I think they're really episodic thought kind of thing. I think they're really episodic thought kind of thing. So I'm just really going to get into that cadence of having that output. I think that's going to be a nice valuable thing, Because I look back over the, I look at this 30-year inflection point here, you know, and look at what's changed and what's not going to change you know, and it's very interesting when I start getting to the bedrock things, like if I look at lifestyle design, you know, purpose, freedom of purpose, freedom of relationship, freedom of money, all of those things that I'm very like, consistent in my desires and I think everybody is like, for me it's really, I look at it, that you know what's not gonna change in 30 years. I'm, I want to get eight hours of great sleep, everything. I want to wake up, I want to eat great food, I want to have, you know, two or three hours a day of creative work and have fun. And that's really the, that's really the big game, you know, row your boat gently down the stream, that's the, that's the plan, you know. But I think that having these, I think having these outlets, you know, I think that's really been the great thing. When you have all these workshops and the tools, you've got a gallery for everything. Dan: Yeah, Well, and you know, I mean they get better. I mean, I mean the teams that are involved in this. I mean, there, there isn't anything that I do that doesn't involve a team. You know the workshop team, the book team, the podcast team, you know the my artists, my writers, you know? The sound engineers and everything like that. And and it gives structure to their lives too. You know like they basically and they get better things I notice every quarter things happen faster, easier there's. You know we're getting them done. The overall quality keeps improving from quarter to quarter. I can take a book. You know, like if I took book 30 and compare it to book 42, which we just finished on Friday. I mean the quality of it is just much, much higher than it was. Dean: And. Dan: I don't really angst about this you know, I just know when people. They're really good at what they do and the teamwork keeps improving and they keep getting better quarter by quarter. It's going to improve the product and I'm a great belief that quality is a combination of successful consistency and duration times. Duration that you have a consistency where you can get better at something. You do it once. Second time you do it better. Tenth time you're ten times better at it. Compound interest yeah, that's really Like compound interest, yeah. Dean: Yeah, and that consistency over that time, that trajectory is only going up and better. Dan: Yeah and then it pays for it. You know it pays for itself. You can't be in a net deficit money-wise with these things. They have to pay for themselves. Like right now. I would say that the quarterly books in the podcast the podcasts are, you know one person's, you know one or two people, right, exactly the tools totally pay for themselves because that's the basis for getting paid for the workshops. Dean: Right. Dan: And of course they have IP value now. Dean: Do you have your? Are the books available on Amazon? Yeah, quarterly Amazon, yeah, quarterly books yeah, yeah, yeah. And do they sell organically? Do you sell those? 0:48:43 - Dan: Oh, yeah, oh yeah, yeah, I mean, yeah, I mean it's not a big, you know, it's not a big budget item, you know and everything like that my whole thing is just that the entire production costs get paid for in a year yeah, I get it yeah, yeah that's awesome, yeah yeah, and, and you know, and you know it's part of our marketing, you know it's part of our market but they yeah, and every once in a while one of the little books becomes a big book, and then they write for them. Dean: So then, they really pay for themselves. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I love it. Well, it's exciting, it's got a whole lot. It's like a farm. Dan: I have sort of an agricultural approach. These are different crops that I have. You keep the soil healthy and pray for good weather. Dean: Yeah Well, it's quite an impressive like. When I look at my Dan Sullivan bookshelf, you know it's like quite a collection of them and consistently I mean the same look and feel of every book Every quarter. Yeah, amazing. Dan: Thank you. Thank you Appreciate it. Dean: Yeah. Dan: You're being impressed with. This was my intention that's exciting. Dean: Right from book number one, propose a contest. Dan: Let's do it. Dean: I think I could do that too. I'll race you back. We went from roaming the streets of Soho in London to being in Strategic Coach in Toronto with a book in hand. Dan: Speaking of which, I'll have Becca get in touch, but our next call will be in London, so we're in London, we leave next Sunday We'll be in London. So it won't be on the Sunday, though, because I'll be jet lagged and Becca will arrange in London. So it won't be on the Sunday, though, because I'll be jet lagged and Bab Becca will arrange for you With Lillian. Dean: Yeah, that's fine, yeah, so that's awesome. Dan: And then I'll be up. We'll be seeing you in June. We'll be seeing you. Dean: That's exactly right. Dan: Yeah. Dean:* Yeah, awesome. Okay, have a great day. Take care. Thanks, dan, bye.

Joe Polish and Dan Sullivan dive deep into the historic economic shift unfolding in the U.S., from reciprocal tariffs to the resurgence of American manufacturing. They explore how these changes could transform the global economy, reduce national debt, and spark a new era of entrepreneurship and growth.  Here's a glance at what you'll discover in this episode:  The U.S. Was the World's Salesman—Now It's the Buyer: Dan and Joe discuss the historic economic shift that's turning America into the world's most powerful customer, forcing global manufacturers to play by new rules or get left behind. The 80-Year Illusion of Free Trade—and the Hidden Cost Americans Have Been Paying: Dan exposes why free trade never truly existed, how the U.S. was economically handcuffed for decades, and why that era is coming to an end. Inside Elon Musk's Role in U.S. Economic Policy: From tracking every government check to auditing inefficiencies, learn how Musk's AI-powered financial oversight could slash national debt and rewrite the future of government spending. Trump's Biggest Move Yet: The Trillion-Dollar Tariff Strategy That Could Reshape the Global Economy: Here's why Trump's economic playbook is sending shockwaves through international markets—and why foreign corporations are scrambling to relocate to the U.S. The “Nice Idea” Fallacy—And the $36 Trillion Question No One Wants to Answer: Dan shares the single most powerful question that exposes bad economic policies and explains why most politicians refuse to ask it. The Historic Moment No One is Talking About, But Will Shape the Next 50 Years: Why the U.S. is poised to enter an economic warp drive, and how tax cuts, manufacturing shifts, and a fundamental power shift could transform the financial landscape for entrepreneurs. If you'd like to join world-renowned Entrepreneurs at the next Genius Network Event or want to learn more about Genius Network, go to www.GeniusNetwork.com.

In this episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, we start by discussing the unpredictable nature of Toronto's weather and its amusing impact on the city's spring arrival. We explore the evolution of Formula One pit stops, highlighting the remarkable advancements in efficiency over the decades. This sets the stage for a conversation with our guest, Chris Collins, who shares his insights on balancing fame and wealth below the need for personal security. Next, we delve into the intricacies of the VCR formula—proposition, proof, protocol, and property. I share my experiences from recent workshops, emphasizing the importance of transforming ideas into intellectual property. We explore cultural differences between Canada and the U.S. in securing property rights, highlighting the entrepreneurial spirit needed to protect one's innovations. We then examine the role of AI in government efficiency, with Elon Musk's technologies revealing inefficiencies in civil services. The discussion covers the political and economic implications of misallocated funds and how the market's growing intolerance for waste pushes productivity and accountability to the forefront. Finally, we reflect on the transformative power of technological advancements, drawing parallels to historical innovations like the printing press. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS We discussed the VCR formula—proposition, proof, protocol, and property—designed to enhance communication skills and protect innovations. This formula is aimed at helping entrepreneurs turn their unique abilities into valuable assets. We touch on the unpredictable weather of Toronto and the humor associated with the arrival of spring were topics of discussion, offering a light-hearted start to the episode. Dan and I share insights on the evolution of Formula One pit stops, showcasing human innovation and efficiency over time. We examined the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in protecting their intellectual property and explored cultural contrasts between Canada and the U.S. regarding intellectual property rights. The episode delved into the implications of AI in improving government efficiency, highlighting how technologies reveal civil service inefficiencies and drive accountability. We reflected on the transformative power of historical innovations such as the printing press and electricity, drawing parallels to modern technological advancements. The conversation concluded with reflections on personal growth, including insights from notable figures like Thomas Edison and Peter Drucker, and a preview of future discussions on aging and life experiences. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: Mr Sullivan. Dan: That feels better. Dean: Welcome to Cloudlandia, yes. Dan: Yes indeed. Dean: Well, where in the world? Dan: are you? Dean: today, toronto. Oh, you're in Toronto. Okay, yeah, where are you? Yeah? Dan: where are you? Dean: I am in the courtyard at the Four Seasons Valhalla in my comfy white couch. In perfect, I would give it 73 degree weather right now. Dan: Yes, well, we're right at that crossover between middle winter and late winter. Dean: You never know what you're going to get. It could snow or it could be. You may need your bikini, your Speedo or something. Dan: I think spring in Toronto happens, I think somewhere around May 23rd, I think somewhere around. May 23rd, and it's the night when the city workers put all the leaves on the trees. Dean: You never know what you're going to get. Until then, right, it just might snow, and they're stealthy. Dan: They're stealthy and you know, I think they rehearse. You know, starting in February, march, april, they start rehearsing. You know how fast can we get all the leaves on the trees and they do it all in one night they do it and all. I mean they're faster than Santa Claus. I mean they're. Dean: Have you seen, Dan? There's a wonderful video on YouTube that is a comparison of a Formula One pit stop from the 1950s versus the 2013 Formula One in Melbourne, and it was so funny to show. Dan: It would be even faster today. Dean: It would be even faster today. Oh yeah, 57 seconds it took for the pit stop in the 50s and it was 2.7 seconds at Melbourne it was just amazing to see. Dan: Yeah, mark young talks about that because he's he's not formula one, but he's at the yeah, he's at the level below formula one right, every, uh, every minute counts, every second counts oh, yeah, yeah, and uh, yeah, he said they practice and practice and practice. You know it's, it's, if it can be measured. You know that there's always somebody who's going to do it faster. And yeah, yeah, it's really, really interesting what humans do. Dean: Really interesting what humans do. I read something interesting or saw a video and I've been looking into it. Basically, someone was saying you know, our brains are not equipped for omniscience, that we're not supposed to have omniscient knowledge of everything going on in the world all at once. where our brains are made to be in a local environment with 150 people around us, and that's what our brain is equipped for managing. But all this has been foisted on us, that we have this impending. No wonder our mental health is suffering in that we have this impending when you say our, who are you referring to? Society. I think you know that's what they're. Dan: Yeah, that's what they're saying like across the board. Dean: Who are they? Yes, that's a great question. Dan: You know I hear this, but I don't experience any of it. I don't feel foisted upon. I don't feel overwhelmed. Dean: You know what I? Dan: think it is. I think it is that people who feel foisted upon have a tendency to talk about it to a lot of other people. Dean: But people who don't feel foisted upon. Dan: Don't mention it to anybody. Dean: It's very interesting. Do you know Chris Collins? Do you know Chris Collins? Dan: He wrote the really great book collection called I Am Leader. Dean: It's really something. He's a new genius. He's a new Genius Network member. Dan: Oh, Chris, oh yeah, oh yeah, chris, yeah, does he have repair shops? His main business is auto Auto. Dean: Yeah, oh yeah, chris, yeah, he does. He have repair shops His main business is auto, auto, auto dealership. Dan: He does auto dealerships. Dean: Yeah, that's right. Dan: Yeah, chris was in. Chris was in the program way back with 10 times around the same time when you came 10 times. He was in for about two years oh okay, interesting. Yeah and yeah, he was at the last Genius you know, and he's got a big, monstrous book that costs about $300. Dean: Yes, I was just going to talk about that. Yeah. Dan: We got one, but I didn't have room in my bags, you know. Dean: I budget. Dan: You know how much. Dean: I'm going to take and how much I'm going to bring back, and that was just too, much so, yeah, so yeah, yeah. He's very bothered. Oh, is he? Okay, yeah, I don't know him, I just I saw him. Dan: I got that what he talked about was this massive conspiracy. You know that they are doing it to them or they're doing it to us interesting interesting I don't experience that. What I experience is mostly nobody knows who I am. Dean: That's the best place to be right. Dan: They only know of you. Somebody was saying a very famous person showed up at a clinic in Costa Rica and he had eight bodyguards, eight bodyguards and I said yes, why is that expensive? That must be really expensive, having all those bodyguards. I mean, probably the least thing that was costly for one is having is having himself transformed by medical miracles. But having the bodyguards was the real expense. So I had a thought and I talked to somebody about this yesterday. Actually, I said my goal is to be as wealthy and famous just to the point where I would need a bodyguard. But not need the bodyguard just below where I would need a bodyguard, but not need the bodyguard Just below, where I would need a bodyguard, and I think that would be an excellent level of fame and wealth. Not only do you not have a bodyguard, but you don't think you would ever need one. That's the big thing, yeah. Dean: I love that. Dan: That that's good yeah that's a good aspiration yeah, yeah, so far I've succeeded yes, so far you are on the uh. Dean: Yeah, on the cusp of 81 six weeks seven weeks to go yeah, getting close. That's so good. Yeah, yeah, this. How is the new book coming? Dan: Yeah, good, well, I've got several because I have a quarterly book. Dean: Yeah, I'm at the big casting, not hiring. Dan: Yeah, really good. Each of us is delivering now a chapter per week, so it's really coming along. Great, yeah, and so we'll. Our date is may 26th for the everything in um before their editing can start, so they will have our, our draft will be in on may 26th and then it's over to the publisher and you know there'll be back and forth. But Jeff and I are pretty, jeff Madoff and I are pretty complete writers, you know. So you know it doesn't need normal. You know kind of looking at spelling and grammar. Dean: Right, right, right. Is that how you? Are you writing as one voice or you're writing One voice? One voice, one voice. Dan: Yeah, but we're writing actually in the second person, singular voice, so we're writing to the reader. So we're talking about you this and you this, and you this and you this, and that's the best way to do it, because if you can maintain the same voice all the way through, that's really good. I mean, jeff, we have a different style, but since we're talking to the reader all the way through, it actually works really well so far, and then we'll have you know, there'll be some shuffling and rearranging at the end. Dean: That's what I wondered. Are you essentially writing your separate, are you writing alternate chapters or you're writing your thoughts about one chapter? Dan: We have four parts and the first three parts are the whole concept of businesses that have gone theatrical, that have gone theatrical and we use examples like Ralph Lauren, Four Seasons. Hotel Apple. You know who have done Starbucks, who have done a really great job, and Jeff is writing all that because he's done a lot of work on that. He's, you know, he's been a professor at one of the New York universities and he has whole classes on how small companies started them by using a theatrical approach. They differentiated themselves extraordinarily in the marketplace, and he goes through all these examples. Plus he talks about what it's like to be actually in theater, which he knows a great deal about because he's a playwright and a producer. The fourth part is on the four by four casting tool and that's got five sections to it and where I'm taking people, the reader, who is an entrepreneur, a successful, talented, ambitious entrepreneur who wants to transform their company into a theatrical-like enterprise with everybody playing unique roles. So, that's how I've done it, so he's got the bigger writing job than I do but, mine is more directive. This is what you can do with the knowledge in this book. So we're writing it separately, and we're going to let the editor at the publishing house sort out any what goes where. Dean: Put it all together. Dan: Yeah, and we're doing the design on it, so we're pretty steadily into design projects you know, producing a new book. So we've got my entire team my team's doing all the backstage arrangements. Jeff is interviewing a lot of really great people in the theater world and you know anything having to do with casting. So he's got about. You know probably to do with casting. So he's got about probably about 12 major, 12 major interviews that he'll pull quotes from and my team is doing all the setup and the recording for him so so. Jeff. Jeff showed up as Jeff and I showed up as a team. That's great. Oh, that's great, that's awesome yeah, yeah, in comes, but not without six others, right, right with your. Dean: You know, I had a friend who used to refer to that as your utility belt. Right that you show up and you've got strapped on behind you. Dan: You've got your design, got it writing got it video, got it your whole. Yeah, strapped on behind you, you've got your design Got it Right. Dean: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dan: And capability crew. Yeah, and to a certain extent I'm role modeling the, the point of the book, you know, and the way we're going about this and and you know, and more and more so, I find probably every quarter my actual doing um of production and that gets less and less and I'm actually finding um, I'm actually finding my work with perplexity very useful because it's getting me better at prompting my team members yes yeah, with perplexity, if you don't give it the right prompt, you don't get the right outcome. You know, yeah, and more and more I'm noticing I'm getting better at giving really, really, really great prompts to my artists, to the writers who are working with me, the interviewers, everything so, um, yeah, so it's been very, very helpful. I I find uh, just in a year of perplexity, I've gotten much more uh precise about exactly what I want. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Yeah, defining right. I mean that's pretty. Yeah, yeah, that's really great. And knowing that, a lot of it, so much of that prompting, that's the language that's been adopted for interfacing with AI, chat, gpt and perplexity. Dan: The prompts that you give are the things. Dean: But there's so much of that. That's true about team as well, right? Oh yeah, being a better AI prompter is a better team prompter. Yeah yeah, being a better AI prompter is a better team prompter. Dan: Yeah, yeah, and you know I have a book coming out Now that I'm talking to you about it it may be the next book that would start in June and it's called Technology Coaching Teamwork and it has like three upward arrows that are, uh, you know, in unison with each other. There are three and I said that I think in the 21st century all businesses really have three tracks to them. They have a technology track, they have a teamwork track and they have a coaching track in the middle and that um in the 20th century, we considered management to be the basis. You know, management is the basis for business but. I think management has actually been um superseded, um by um superseded by electronics, you know actually it's the electronics are now the management, the algorithms are now the management and then you have the people who are constantly, you know, creating new technology, and you have human teamwork that's creating new things, because it's ultimately humans that are knocking off everything you know right. And then in the middle is coaching, and coaching goes back and forth between the teamwork and the technology. Technology will always do a really shitty job of coaching yes, I bet that's true, and teams will always do a sort of shitty job of uh knowing how to use technology and there has to be an interface in the middle, that's a human interface and it's a coaching, because coaching takes in a lot of factors, not just action factors or planning factors, but it takes in aspirational factors. It takes in learning factors. It takes in, you know, all sorts of transformational factors and that's a, that's a mid role. Yeah. Dean: Yes, yeah. Dan: And if you look at what you do best, it's probably coaching. Dean: Yeah, I wonder. I mean that's kind of. Dan: Joe Polish. It was Joe Polish, where he probably does best. He's probably a great coach. Dean: Yeah, I think that's true. Yeah, I think that's true. I've really been getting a lot of insight around going through and defining the VCR formula. You know proposition, proof, protocol and property. That's a. I see the clarity that. You know. There's a different level of communication and intention between. Where my I really shine is between is propositions and proof, like getting something knowing, guessing. You know we were. I was going to talk today too about guessing and betting. I've been really thinking about that. That was a great exercise that we did in our workshop. But this idea that's really what this is is guessing. I seem to have this superpower for propositions, like knowing what would be the thing to do and then proving that. That's true. But then taking that proof and creating a protocol that can be packaged and become property is a. That's a different skill set altogether and it's not as much. It's not as much. My unique ability, my superpower zone, is taking, you know, making propositions and proving them. I'm a really good guesser. Dan: That's my strength yeah. Yeah, I think the what I'm doing because it's, um, I'm really thinking a lot about it based on the last, um, uh, free zone workshop, which I did on monday and, uh, you know, monday of the week before last in toronto, where you were yeah, and and then I did it on Thursday again and I reversed the whole day oh really I reversed the whole day. I started off with guessing and betting and then indecision versus bad decision. And then the afternoon I did the second company secret and it worked a lot better. The flow was a lot better. Company secret and it worked a lot better. The flow was a lot better. But the big thing is that people say well, how do I? Um, I I just don't know how I you know that. Um, I'm telling them and they're asking me. So I'm telling them every time you take your unique ability and help someone transform their DOS issues, you're actually creating perspective. Intellectual property. And they said, well, I don't see quite how that works. I don't see how that works, so I've been, you know, and I'm taking them seriously. They don't see how that works. So I said, well, the impact filter is actually the solution. Okay, because you do the DOS question with them. You know, if we were having this discussion a year from now and you were looking back over the year, what has to have happened for you to feel happy with your progress? Okay, and specifically, what dangers do you have that need to be eliminated, what opportunities do you have that need to be captured, and what strengths do you have that need to be maximized? And there's a lot of very interesting answers that are going to come out of that, and the answers actually their answers to your question actually are the raw material for creating intellectual property the reason being is that what they're saying is unique and how you're listening to it is unique because of your unique ability so the best thing is do it, do an impact filter on what your solution is. So the best solution is best result solution is this. Worst result solution is this. And then here are the five success criteria, the eight success criteria that we have to go through to achieve the best result and that is the basis for intellectual property. Dean: What you write in that thing. Dan: So that's where I'm going next, because I think if we can get a lot of people over that hump, you're going to see a lot more confidence about what they're creating as solutions and understanding that these solutions are property. Dean: Yes. Dan: That's what I'm saying, that's what I'm thinking. Dean: Yeah, that's your guessing and betting yeah yes I agree and I think that that uh you know, I mean, I've had that to me going through this exercise of thinking, through that vision, column you know that the ultimate outcome is property, and once you have that property, it becomes it's a capability. Dan: It's a capability. Now right, that's something that you have. If it's not property, it's an opportunity for somebody to steal something ah right exactly. Yeah, I just think there's an inhibition on the part of entrepreneurs that if they have a really neat solution but it's not named and packaged and protected, um, it isn't going to really do them any good because they're going to be afraid. Look, if I say this, I'm in a conference somewhere and I say this, somebody's going to steal it. Then they're going to use it, then I I can't stop them from doing that. So the way I'm going to stop people from stealing my creativity is not to tell people what I'm creating. Right, it's just, it's just going to be me in my basement. Dean: Yeah, I bet no. Dan: I bet the vast majority of creative entrepreneurs they're the only ones who know they're creative because they're afraid of sharing their creativity, because it's not distinct enough that they can name it and package it and project it, getting the government to give you a hand in doing that Right yeah. Yeah, and I don't know maybe it's just not a goal of theirs to have intellectual property. Maybe it's you know it's a goal of mine to have everything be intellectual property, but maybe it's just not the goal of a lot of other people. Dean: What do? Dan: you think. Dean: I think that once you start to understand what the practical you know value, the asset value of having intellectual property, I think that makes a big difference. I think that's where you're, I mean you're. It's interesting that you are certainly leading the way, you know. I found it fascinating when you mentioned that if you were, you know, were measured as a Canadian company, that it would be the ninth or something like that. Dan: Yeah, during a 12-month period 23 to 24,. Based on the research that the Globe and Mail Toronto paper did, that the biggest was one of the big banks. They had the most intellectual property and if our US patents counted in Canada because I think they were just, they were just counting Canadian government patents that we would have been number nine and we're. you know, we're a tiny little speck on the windshield, I mean we're not a big company, but what I notice when I look at Canada very little originality is coming out of Canada and, for example, the biggest Canadian company with patents during that 12-month period was TD Bank. Yeah, and they had 240. 240, I mean that might be how many Google send in in a week. You know that might be the number of patents. That wouldn't be necessarily a big week at Google or Amazon or any of the other big American, because Americans are really into Americans are really, really into property. That's why they want Greenland. Dean: And Panama. Dan: And Alberta. Dean: Panama, alberta and Greenland. Dan: And the Gulf of America, yeah, the Gulf of America and property. Dean: Even if it's not actual. They want titular property. Dan: Yes. Dean: Yeah, yeah. Dan: And I haven't seen any complaints from Mexico. I mean, I haven't seen any complaints. Maybe there have been complaints, but we just haven't seen them. No, no, from now on it's the Gulf of America, which I think is rather important, and when Google just switches, I mean, google hasn't been a very big Trump fan and yet they took it seriously. Yeah, now all the tech's official. It's interesting talking to people and they say what's happening? What's happening? We don't know what's happening. I say, well, it's like the end of a Monopoly game. One of the things you have to do when you end one Monopoly game is all the pieces have to go back in the box, like Scrabble. You play Scrabble, all the pieces go back in the box at the end of a game. And I said, this is the first time since the end of the Second World War that a game is ending and all the pieces are going back into the box, except when you get to the next step. It's a bigger box, it's a different game board, there's more pieces and different rules. So this is what's happening right now. It's a new game the old game is over, new game is starting and, um, if you just watch what donald trump's doing, you're getting an idea what the new game is. Yeah, I think you're right, and one of the new game is intellectual property. Intellectual property I think this is one of the new parts of the new game. And the other thing is it's all going to be one-to-one deals. I don't think there's going to be any more multi-party deals. You know, like the North American Free Trade Act, supposedly is the United States, canada and Mexico In Europe. If you look at it, it's Canada and Mexico, it's Mexico and the United States and it's the United States and Canada. These are separate deals. They're all separate deals. That's what I think is happening. States, Canada and these are separate deals. They're all separate deals. Oh, interesting, yeah, and that's what I think is happening. It's just one-to-one. No more multilateral stuff it's all one-to-one. For example, the US ambassador is in London this week and they're working out a deal between the UK and the United States, so no tariffs apply to British, british products oh interesting yeah and you'll see it like the European Union. I was saying the European Union wants to have a deal and I said European Union, where is the European Union? You know where is? That anyway, yeah yeah, I mean, if you look at the United Nations, there's no European Union. If you look at NATO, there's no European Union. If you look at the G20 of countries, there's no European Union. There's France, there's Germany. You know, there's countries we recognize. And I think the US is just saying if you don't have a national border and you don't have a capital, and you don't have a government, we don't think it exists. We just don't think it exists. And Trump often talks about that 28 acres on the east side of Manhattan. He says boy, boy. What we could do with that right, oh, what we could do with that. You know they should. Just, you know who can do that. Who can do? United Nations, switzerland, send it to Switzerland. You know that'd be a nice place for the send it to there, you know like that and it just shows you that that was all. All those institutions were really a result of the Second World War and the Cold War, which was just a continuation of the Second World War. So I think that's one of the really big things that's happening in the world right now. And the other thing I want to talk to you about is Doge. I think Doge is one of the most phenomenally big breakthroughs in world history. What's happening with Elon Musk and his team. Dean: Yeah, I know you've been really following that with great interest. Tell me what's the latest. Dan: It's the first time in human history that you can audit government, bureauc, audit government, bureaucratic government, the part of government. You don't see Millions and millions of people who are doing things but you don't know what they're doing. There's no way of checking what they're doing. There's no way for them. And it was proven because Musk, about four weeks ago, sent out a letter to every federal employee, said last week, tell me five things that you did. And the results were not good. Dean: Well, I think the same thing is happening when people are questioned about their at-home working accomplishments too. Yeah, but that's the Well, lamar Lark, you know. Dan: Lamar. I don't think you've ever met Lamar. He's in the number one Chicago Free Zone workshops, so we have two and a quarter and he's in the first one. And he has all sorts of interesting things. He's got Chick-fil-A franchises and other things like that, okay, and he created his own church, which is a very I have met Lamar yeah, which is a very American activity. Dean: It creates your own church, you know yes yes, yeah. Dan: That's why Americans are so religious is because America is the first country that turned religion into an entrepreneurial activity. Got yourself a hall. You could do it right there in the courtyard of the Valhalla. How many chairs could you? If you really pushed it, how many chairs could you get into the courtyard? Let's see One, two three, four, five, not like the chair you're sitting on. No, I'm kidding. Dean: I'm just envisioning it. I could probably get 50 chairs in here. Dan: You got yourself, you know and set it up right, Get a good tax description yeah, you got yourself a religion there. That's great. And you're kind of tending in that direction with the word Valhalla, that's exactly right. Dean: Yes, would you. Dan: I'd pay to spend an hour or two on Sunday with you. Dean: But here's the big question, Dan Would you be committed enough to tithe? Dan: Oh yes, oh yes. Dean: Then we'd really be on to something you know. We could just count on you for your tithe to the church. That would be. Dan: That would really get us on our feet, but anyway, I was telling this story about Lamar. So he and his wife have a friend, a woman, who works for the federal government in Chicago, and so they were just talking over dinner to the person and they said, well, what's your day work, what's your day you know when do you go into the? office. When do you go into the office? When do you go into the office? And she says, oh, I haven't been to the office since before COVID. No, I know we are the office. And so they said, well, how does your home day work? And she says, well, at 830, you got to. You got to check in at 830. You check in at 830, you go online and then you put your j in at 8.30. Dean: You check in at 8.30, you go online and then you put your jiggler on Jiggler, exactly I've heard about this and they said what's the jiggler? Dan: Well, the jiggler moves. Your mouse keeps checking into different. It keeps switching to different files, positions, yeah, yeah, files. And that's the only thing that they can record from the actual office is that you're busy moving from one file to the other. And he says, well, what are you doing while that's happening? She said, well, I do a lot of shopping, you know I go out shopping and we have you know, and they come back and it goes from. You know it'll stop because there's coffee time, so we'll stop for 10 minutes for coffee and then it'll stop for lunch and stop for afternoon coffee. And then I checked out and I always check in five minutes early and I always check five minutes late, that's amazing, isn't it? that's what that's what elon Elon Musk is discovering, because Elon Musk's AI can actually discover what they did, and then it's hard for the person to answer what were the five things you did last week? You know, and the truth is that I think I'm not saying that all civil servants are worthless. I'm not saying that at all. You have it right now. It's recorded here. Your mechanism is recording that. I'm not saying that all civil servants are worthless but I do think it's harder and harder for civil servants to prove their value, because you may have gone to five important meetings, but I bet those meetings didn't produce any result. It's hard for any civil servant and you can say what you did last week. I can say what I did last week, but you were basically just meeting with yourself. Yeah, that's I saw somebody and you produce something and you made a decision and something got created and that's easy to prove. But I don't think it's easy in the civil service to prove the value of what you did the greatest raw resource in America for taking money that's being spent one way taking that money away and spending on something else. I think this is the greatest source of financial transformation going forward, because about 15 states all of them Republican states have gotten in touch with Elon Musk and say whatever you're doing in Washington, we want to do here, and I just he believes, according to his comments, that every year there's $3 trillion that's being badly spent $3 trillion you know, I got my little finger up to my mouth. $3 trillion, you know, this is that's a lot of you know, I'm at the point where I think a million is still a big deal. You know, trillion is uh, yeah, uh. Dean: I saw that somebody had invented a uh algorithm reader. They detected an algorithm in the like a fingerprint in the jiggler software. Oh that, yeah, so that you can overlay this thing and it would be able to identify that that's a jiggler that's a jiggler. Dan: That's a jiggler yeah, you got to because behind the jiggler is the prompter. Dean: The jiggler busters. Dan: Yes, exactly, he was on. He was interviewed, he and six members of his Doge team, you know, and how they're talking about them being 19 and 20 year olds, about them being 19 and 20 year olds. These were part. These were powerful people who had stepped away from their companies and their jobs just for the chance to work with the Elon. One guy had five companies. He's from Houston, he had five companies and he's taken leave from his company for a year. Just to work on the doge project. Yeah, and so that guy was talking and he said you know what we discovered? The small business administration, he said, last year gave 300 million dollars in loans to children under 11 years old wow to their to that a person who had their social security number, their social insurance number. Right, and during that same year, we gave $300 million in loans to people who were over 120 years old. Dean: Wow. Dan: That's $600 million. That's $600 million, that's almost a billion. Anyway, that's happening over and over. They're just discovering these and those checks are arriving somewhere and somebody's cashing those checks, but it's not appropriate. So I think this is the biggest deal. I think this changes everything, and I've noticed that the Democratic Party is in a tailspin, and has been especially since they started the Doge project, because the people doing the jiggling and the people who where the checks are going to the run I bet 90% of them are Democrats the money's going to democratic organizations, since going to democratic individuals and they're going to be cash strapped. You know that they've been. This isn't last year, this goes back 80 years. This has been going on since the New Deal, when the Democrats really took over Washington. And I bet this I bet they can track all the checks that went back 80 years. Dean: I mean, this is that's really something, isn't it? I was just thinking about yeah, this kind of transparency is really like. I think, when you really get down to it, we're getting to a point where there's the market does not support inefficiency anymore. It's not baked in. If you have workers for instance, most of the time you have salaried workers your real expectation is that they're going to be productive. I don't know what the actual stats are, do you know? But let's say that they're going to be actually productive for 50% of the time. But you look at now just the ability to, especially on task-related things or AI type of things um, collins, chris no, chris johnson's um, um, oh yeah um uh, you know the the ai dialers there, of being able, there's zero. Dan: They were doing, um, you know they were doing. Maybe you know the dialers were doing. You know, because some of the sometimes the other, the person at the other end they answered and they'd have a you know five minute call or something like that. So in a day in a day, like they have an eight hour thing they might do you know. 50, 50 call outs 50 or 60 calls yeah, his. Ai does 25,000 calls a minute. Dean: Exactly that's. What I mean is that those things are just that everything is compressed. Now there's no, because it's taken out all the air, all the fluff around it. What humans come with. You're right what you said earlier about all the pieces going back in the box and we're totally reset. Yeah, I think we're definitely that you know yeah and the thing thing about this. Dan: What I found interesting is that the request coming in from the states that they moved the doge you know the process department of government efficiency that I. I think he's putting together a vast system that can be applied to any government you know, it could be, and, uh, and, but the all the requests came in from republican states, not from Democratic states, waste and abuse and waste and fraud. probably for the over last 80 years, has been the party in the United States which was most invested in the bureaucracy of the government you know. And yeah, I mean, do you know anybody who works for the government? I mean actually, I mean you may have met the person, but I mean, do you know anybody who works for the government? I mean actually, I mean you may have met the person but I mean, I don't know. Do you do, do you know anybody who works for the government? I don't believe, I do, really, and I do, and I don't either right, I don't I don't, I don't, neither you know I mean, I mean everybody I know is an entrepreneur everybody I know is entrepreneurial. And yeah, the people who aren't entrepreneurial are the families. You know they would be family connections of the entrepreneurs. I just don't know anybody who works for the government. You know, I've been 50 years and I can't say I know anybody who works for the government but, there's lots of them. Yeah, yeah so they don't they. They're not involved in entrepreneurial circles, that's for sure. Dean: It's Ontario Hydro or Ontario Power Generation. Is that the government? No, that's the government, then I do. I know one person. I know one person that works for the government. Dan: All right, Send him an email and say what are five things you did last week? Yeah, what? Dean: did you do last week? Dan: Oh my goodness, that's so funny, impress me. Dean: Yes. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Yeah. Dan: I think it's a stage in technological development, I think it's a state, just where it has to do with the ability to measure, and this has been a vast dark space government that you can't really, yeah, and in fairness to them, they couldn't measure themselves. In other words, that they didn't have the ability, even if they were honest and forthright and they were committed and they were productive, they themselves did not have the ability to measure their own activities until now. And I think, and I think now they will, and I think now they will, and, but but anyway, I just think this is a major, major event. This is this is equal to the printing press. You know this is equal to to electricity. You can measure what government does electricity. You can measure what government does In the history of human beings. This is a major breakthrough. That's amazing. Dean: So great Look around. You don't want a time to be alive. Dan: Yeah, I mean depending on where you work I guess that's absolutely true. Dean: I've been listening to, uh I was just listening, uh just started actually a podcast about uh, thomas edison, uh this is a really great podcast, one of my great, one of my great heroes. Yes, exactly, the podcast is called Founders. Dan: Founders yeah. Dean: Founders. Yeah, david Sunra, I think, is the guy's name and all he does is he reads biographies and then he gives his insights on the biographies. It's just a single voice podcast. It's not like guests or anything, it's just him breaking down his lessons and notes from reading certain reading these biographies and it's really well done. But he had what turned me on he did. I first heard a podcast he did about Albert Lasker, who was the guy, the great advertising guy, the man who sold America and yeah, so I've been listening through and very interesting. But the Thomas Edison thing I'm at the point where he was talking about his first things. He sold some telegraph patent that he had an idea that he had created for $40,000, which was like you know a huge amount of money back then and that allowed him to set up Menlo Park. And then at the time Menlo Park was kind of out in the middle of nowhere and you know they asked why would you set up out there? And no distractions. And he created a whole you know a whole environment of where people were undistracted and able to invent and what you know. If they get bored, what are they going to do? They're going to invent something, just creating this whole environment. Dan: Well, he wasn't distractible because he was largely deaf. He had childhood injury, yeah, so he wasn't distracted by other people talking because he couldn't really make out. So you know, he had to focus where he could focus. And yeah, there is actually in my hometown, which his hometown is called Milan, ohio. I grew up two miles. I grew up I wasn't born there, but when I was two years old, we moved to a farm there. It was two miles from Edison. His home is there. It's a museum. Dean: Milan. Dan: Ohio and that was 1830s, somewhere 1838, something like that. I'm not quite sure. But there's a business in Norwalk, Ohio, where we moved from the farm when I was 11 years old Ohio, where we moved from the farm when I was 11 years old, and there's a business in there that started off as a dynamo company. Dynamo was sort of like an electric generator. Dean: Yeah, and we had dynamo in Georgetown. Dan: on the river, yeah, and that business continues since the mid-1800s, that business continues, and everything like that. My sense is that Edison put everything together that constitutes the modern scientific technological laboratory. In other words that Menlo Park is the first time you've really put everything together. That includes, you know, the science, the technology, the experimentation the creation of patents, the packaging of the new ideas, getting investment from Wall Street and everything. He created the entire gateway for the modern technological corporation, I think. Dean: I think that's amazing, very nice. I like to look at the. I like to trace the timelines of something right, like when you realize it's very interesting when you think and you hear about the lore and you look at the accomplishments of someone like Thomas Edison or Leonardo da Vinci or anybody, you look at the total of what you know about what they were able to accomplish, but when you granularly get down to the timeline of it, you don't, like you realize how. I think I remember reading about da vinci. I think he spent like seven years doing just this one uh, one period of projects. That was uh, um. So he puts it in perspective right of a of the, the whole of a career, that it really breaks down to the, the individual, uh chapters, that that make it up, you know, yeah, and it's funny, I've written about somebody, Jim Collins the good to great author. I heard him. His kind of hero was Peter Drucker and he remembers going to Peter Drucker and he had a bookshelf with all of his books. I think he had like 90 books or something that he had written, Peter Drucker, and he had them. Jim Collins set them up on his bookshelf and he would move a piece of tape that shows his current age against the age that Peter Drucker was when he had written those things and he realized that at you know, 50 years old, something like you know, 75% of Peter Drucker's work was after that age and even into his 80s or whatever. Dan: Yeah, most of my work is after 70. I was just going to say yeah, exactly, I look at that. You look at all of the things and then at 70, yeah, yeah, the actual stuff I've created is really yeah, that's when I really started to produce a lot after 70. Dean: Mm-hmm. Dan: Yeah, a lot of R&D. I did a lot of R&D. Dean: Right. Dan: Exactly, yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know, my goal is that 80 to 90 will be much more productive than 70 to 80. Yeah, I was talking to someone today interesting, very interesting physical fitness guy here in Toronto and he's a really great chiropractor so he's working. So I have I'm making great progress with the structural repair of my left knee. But there's all sorts of functional stuff that has to come along with it and he's my main man for doing this. But he was talking, he's 50, and he said you know, my goal is that 60 to 70 is going to be my most active part of my life, you know, from mountain climbing to all these different really high endurance athletics and sports, and so we got talking and I just shared with him the idea that the real goal you should have or which covers a lot of other areas is that, if you're like my goal for 90, I'm just going on 81, my goal for 90 is that I'm more ambitious at 90 than I am at the present. Dean: And. Dan: I said that's what that almost seems impossible, impossible well, well it is if you're just looking at yourself as a single individual yeah but if you're looking at yourself as someone who has an expand team, it's actually very possible. Dean: Yeah, yeah yeah, you're mine are those potato chips no, it's a piece of cellophane wrapped around something. That was the word right Retired. And they've been retired for about five years or so and I hadn't seen them in a couple of years. But it's really interesting to, at 72, the uh, you know the, just the level you can tell just physically and everything mentally, everything about them. They're on the, the decline phase of the thing they're not ramping up. You know, like just physically they are, um, you know they're, they're big, um cruisers. You know they've been going on cruises now every every six weeks or so, but, um, but yeah, no, no, uh, no more golf, no more. Like you see, they're intentionally kind of winding things down, resigning to the yeah. Dan: Yeah, it's very interesting. I don't know if you caught it in the news. It was, I think, right at the end of January. But you know the name Daniel Kahneman. Dean: I know the name. Yeah, thinking fast and slow. Dan: Fast thinking slow yeah, he committed suicide in Switzerland. Dean: I did not know that. When was that he? Dan: was 90 years old, I think it was January 28th. Dean: And it was all planned out. Dan: It was all planned out and he went to Switzerland to do it, because they have the legal framework where you can do that and everything else. And I found it so interesting that I did a whole bunch of perplexity searches and I said, because he was very influential, I never read his book, because I read the first five or 10 pages and it just didn't seem that interesting to me and it seemed like he had. You know that he's famous for that book and he's famous for it, and it seemed to be that he's kind of like a one trick pony. You know, he's got a great book that really changed things. And then I started looking. I said, well, what else did he do besides that one book? And it's not too much. And he did that, you know, 40 years ago. It was sort of something he did 40 years ago. Dean: Wow. Dan: And I just said gee, I wonder if he, you know, he just hasn't been real productive. Wonder if he, you know, he just hasn't been real productive, not not starting in january, but he hadn't been real productive over the last 20 or 30 years and he did that. Dean: Uh, and anyway, you know, I don't know. I don't know that I've been living under a rock or whatever. I didn't even realize that this was a real thing. I have a good friend in Canada whose grandfather is tomorrow scheduled for assisted. It's a big thing in Canada. Dan: Canada is the most leading country in incidents of people being assisted in committing suicide. Dean: Yeah, and. Dan: I have my suspicions. It's a way for the government to cut checks to old people. You know like assist them to leave. You know I mean it's just. What a confusing set of emotions that must bring up for someone you love. Confusing and disturbing about his committing suicide and it's really a big topic, you know, because he was saying you can always get on top of whatever you're experiencing and get useful lessons from it, right? Dean: and I said. Dan: I said, well, you must have reached an empty week or something. You know I I don't know what, what happened I, you know I mean right and uh, cause I I'm finding um the experience of being 80, the experience of being 70 and 80, very, very fruitful for coming up with new thoughts and coming up with new ideas right, you know and what, what is still important when you're uh, you know, still important when you're. you know what is even more important and what is even more clear when you're 80. That wasn't clear when you were 50 or 60. I think that's a useful thought. You know that's a useful thought, yeah, but it's really interesting. I never find suicide is understandable. Dean: I know, yeah, I get it. I see that you think about that too. I've had that. I've had some other people, my cousin, years and years ago was the first person kind of close to me that had committed suicide, and you know. But you always think it's just like you, I can't imagine that like I. I can imagine, uh, just completely like disappearing or whatever you know starting off somewhere else, like complete, you know, reset, but not something that that final, you know. Dan: You know, I can understand just extreme, intolerable pain you know, I mean. I can, I can, I can totally get that. Dean: Yeah, yeah. Dan: Yeah, I mean, it's just you. You just can't go through another day of it. I I just totally understand that but, where it's more of a psychological emotional you get a, got yourself in a corner and that, uh then, um, you know, I don't really, um, I don't really comprehend what's going on there. You know, I I obviously something's going on, but I you know, I, I obviously something's going on, but I, just from, I've never had a suicidal thought. I mean, you know, I've had some low points, I've had some, but even on my low points I had something that was fun that day you know Right Right, right Right. Or I had an interesting thought. Yeah, right. Dean: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I'm yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah. Dan: Well, I'm glad we hit on that topic because I said, you may think I know that the person doing it has a completely logical reason for doing it. It's just not a logic that can be explained easily to other people yeah, when you're not in that spot. I get it, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah anyway this was a good one. This was a good one. Yeah, now okay, wait actually yeah, I'll be calling from chicago next week. Dean: Okay, perfect I'll be here, yeah, um, yeah, I want to. I'd love to, um, if we remember, and if we don't, that's fine too, but if we remember, you brought up something the I would love to see and maybe talk about the difference between uh, you know, between 60, 70, 80, your thoughts of those things. Yeah, you're getting to that point I'm 22 years behind you, so I'm just turning 59 right before you turn 81. Dan: So that'd be something I'll put some thought to it. I love it. Dean: Okay. Dan: Perfect, thanks, dan. All right, okay, thanks, bye.

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 1635: Benjamin Hardy challenges the conventional wisdom of "following your passion," arguing that mastery, success, and happiness come from developing rare and valuable skills rather than chasing preexisting interests. Drawing from Cal Newport's So Good They Can't Ignore You, Hardy explains that confidence and passion are byproducts of excellence, not prerequisites. By continuously investing in yourself, building meaningful relationships, and generously applying your skills to help others, you not only achieve financial success but also cultivate a deeper sense of purpose and fulfillment. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://medium.com/thrive-global/how-to-develop-mastery-make-millions-and-be-happy-cd9743c40d12 Quotes to ponder: “If you want to love what you do, abandon the passion mindset (‘what can the world offer me?') and instead adopt the craftsman mindset (‘what can I offer the world?').” “Passion comes after you put in the hard work to become excellent at something valuable, not before.” “You're happiest when you're growing and giving.” Episode references: Strategic Coach by Dan Sullivan: https://www.strategiccoach.com/ Genius Network by Joe Polish: https://www.geniusnetwork.com/ Mindset by Carol Dweck: https://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Psychology-Success-Carol-Dweck/dp/0345472322 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 1635: Benjamin Hardy challenges the conventional wisdom of "following your passion," arguing that mastery, success, and happiness come from developing rare and valuable skills rather than chasing preexisting interests. Drawing from Cal Newport's So Good They Can't Ignore You, Hardy explains that confidence and passion are byproducts of excellence, not prerequisites. By continuously investing in yourself, building meaningful relationships, and generously applying your skills to help others, you not only achieve financial success but also cultivate a deeper sense of purpose and fulfillment. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://medium.com/thrive-global/how-to-develop-mastery-make-millions-and-be-happy-cd9743c40d12 Quotes to ponder: “If you want to love what you do, abandon the passion mindset (‘what can the world offer me?') and instead adopt the craftsman mindset (‘what can I offer the world?').” “Passion comes after you put in the hard work to become excellent at something valuable, not before.” “You're happiest when you're growing and giving.” Episode references: Strategic Coach by Dan Sullivan: https://www.strategiccoach.com/ Genius Network by Joe Polish: https://www.geniusnetwork.com/ Mindset by Carol Dweck: https://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Psychology-Success-Carol-Dweck/dp/0345472322 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joe Polish and Dan Sullivan discuss the concept of the second company—a powerful strategy for Entrepreneurs looking to expand their influence and impact beyond their primary business. Dan shares his observations from coaching over 7,000 Entrepreneurs and highlights the patterns he's seen in those who successfully develop multiplier businesses. Here's a glance at what you'll discover in this episode:  A Second Company: The Secret to Multiplying Your Success (Why every thriving Entrepreneur needs a "second company" to amplify their impact, reduce workload, and multiply their influence—all while staying focused on what they love most.) Value Creation Monopoly: The Ultimate Competitive Edge (Dan's revolutionary concept of a "value creation monopoly"—why true dominance in your field doesn't require cutthroat tactics but an unmatched ability to deliver transformative value.) Turn Ideas into Assets: The Genius of Strategic Byproducts (How Dan and Joe transform everyday Entrepreneurial efforts into high-value byproducts, creating businesses that thrive.) The Center of It All: Why Your First Company is Your Greatest R&D Tool (Find out how your first company can become the hub for innovation, fueling all future endeavors while keeping you in the driver's seat of your passions.) Avoid the Entrepreneurial Trap of ‘More is Better' (Why scaling too fast or chasing endless growth might sabotage your long-term vision—and how Dan and Joe keep their businesses profitable, focused, and fulfilling.) The Freedom Formula: Make It Up, Make It Real, Make It Recur (The powerful Entrepreneurial secret that allows you to innovate boldly, delegate effectively, and create the vision you want.) If you'd like to join world-renowned Entrepreneurs at the next Genius Network Event or want to learn more about Genius Network, go to www.GeniusNetwork.com.

Joe Polish and Dan Sullivan engage in a deep-dive conversation about the political landscape following the inauguration. They explore Donald Trump's impact as a political figure, his marketing genius, and his ability to mobilize a movement unlike any in modern history. Here's a glance at what you'll discover from Joe and Dan in this episode:  What Trump Learned From the Founding Fathers, Lincoln, and Roosevelt (Discover why Dan compares Trump to the four most consequential presidents in American history—and how their lessons shaped his approach to leadership and innovation.) Why Trump's Entrepreneurial Mindset Made Waves in Washington (Dive into Trump's decision-making process, his love for workers, and the Entrepreneurial edge that both baffled and infuriated the bureaucratic establishment.) The MAGA Movement: Bigger Than Trump? (Why Dan believes the MAGA movement will outlive Trump, its historical roots, and what makes it the first true working-class revolution in modern U.S. history.) Trump's Communication Superpower: The Laser Pointer Analogy (The strategic genius behind Trump's most controversial statements—and why they leave his opponents chasing distractions while he closes deals.) The Art of the Counterpunch: Trump's Rule for Endless Winning (Trump's philosophy of never attacking first—but never stopping once provoked—and how it forged his political and personal brand.) The “Big House” Rigged Against You: Why Everyday Americans Love Trump (Understand Dave Chappelle's analogy of Trump as the ultimate insider-turned-outsider and how this perception fuels his enduring popularity.) The Decision-Maker-in-Chief: How Trump's Lightning-Fast Judgment Shapes History (Behind closed doors, Trump is described as a gracious listener with an uncanny ability to make decisive calls at breakneck speed. Discover how this talent for processing complex input and acting swiftly has driven his success—from the boardroom to the White House—and why it's key to his vision for America's future.) From Apprentice to Commander-in-Chief: How Trump's Media Savvy Transformed U.S. Politics (How decades in media and entertainment prepared Trump for the world's most scrutinized role, and why his presidency is the ultimate performance of his career.) If you'd like to join world-renowned Entrepreneurs at the next Genius Network Event or want to learn more about Genius Network, go to www.GeniusNetwork.com.

Joe Polish and Dan Sullivan tackle the realities of Entrepreneurial overwhelm and share actionable strategies to turn chaos into clarity.  Here's a glance at what you'll discover from Joe and Dan in this episode:   Why Overwhelm Isn't the Problem—And the Surprising Way to Turn Competing Priorities into Powerful Collaborations (Discover the "Triple Play" method Dan Sullivan uses to align conflicting demands and free up mental energy for what matters most.) The Hidden Gold in Disarray: How Joe is Reinventing His Genius Network Headquarters for 10x Impact (How a $2 million remodel, including hormone-boosting lighting and a library of marketing treasures, is setting a new standard for entrepreneurial spaces...) Are Your Thoughts Competing or Collaborating? The Mindset Shift That Can Transform Your Productivity (Discover how Dan's framework helps entrepreneurs align their scattered ideas and find clarity in the chaos.)  The Secret Weapon for Entrepreneurs Battling Overwhelm—And Why Slowing Down Might Be the WRONG Advice (Why redirecting resources, not reducing ambition, is the key to thriving under pressure.)  What Entrepreneurs Can Learn from an Iron Cowboy's Relentless Pursuit of the Impossible (How the story of James Lawrence, who completed 101 consecutive Ironmans, inspired new perspectives on pushing boundaries.) From Indigestion to Innovation: How a Simple Tool Can Help Entrepreneurs Digest Complexity and Reclaim Control (Why Keith Cunningham's advice on business “indigestion” resonates with overwhelmed entrepreneurs everywhere—and how the "Triple Play" offers a solution.) If you'd like to join world-renowned Entrepreneurs at the next Genius Network Event or want to learn more about Genius Network, go to www.GeniusNetwork.com.

On Today's Episode – Mark opens with introducing returning guest Joe Polish (bio below). We learn a little about who Joe is and what he does. Then we move to Joe talking a bit about the event that you all heard about on last week's show where Mark, Joe and others were in a Texas Prison talking to inmates. Tune in for the crazy stories, and all the topics with this extraordinary guest. https://joepolish.com/ Joe Polish is the Founder of Genius Network®, one of the highest level groups in the world for Entrepreneurs. He also curates the Annual Genius Network Event and the 100k Group ($100,000). Genius Network and 100K is home to some of the most successful Entrepreneurs alive. Joe has also helped build thousands of businesses and generated hundreds of millions of dollars for his clients. He has been featured in INC, Fortune, Forbes, Success, U.S News & World Report, among others, and has spoken at Stanford University. Joe also hosts three of the top ranked marketing and business podcasts, including iLoveMarketing.com, 10xTalk.com and GeniusNetwork.com. Recent projects include: Cleator, a 40-acre ghost town he purchased with partners (www.WhatsYourCleator.com). His documentary “CONNECTED: The Joe Polish Story,” premiered at the historic TCL Chinese Theater (formerly Mann's Chinese Theater), and his documentary “Black Star” won the Audience Choice Award at the Sedona Film Festival. Joe's mission with Entrepreneurs and Genius Network® is “to build a better Entrepreneur,” and his mission with Genius Recovery is “to change the global conversation of how people view and treat addicts with compassion, instead of judgment and to find the best forms of treatment that has efficacy and share those with the world. Read his book, “Life Gives To The Giver” at www.JoesFreeBook.com His newest book, What's In It For Them, published by Hay House, released Nov 1, 2022.

Have you ever wondered if you have an addiction? Maybe you have openly struggled with one or know someone with one? As an addiction medicine physician, there are more people than the studies estimate who live with an addiction, either because they don't know yet or because no one is asking them the questions to have it be documented. People pull me aside at social events and want to ask me if they have an addiction to their prescription pills for sleep, anxiety or pain or to things like work, exercise and adrenaline.  I wanted to share this specific episode on addiction and its antidote connection because the risk for addictions is higher than ever.  Our modern world - with increased isolation, social media dependency, and decreased authentic community - creates conditions that make addiction more likely. The increasing rates of anxiety, depression, and overwhelm in our society mean more people are vulnerable to using addictive behaviors as coping mechanisms. In fact, it is a hidden epidemic. Many people are "functional addicts" without recognizing it because society normalizes various addictive behaviors. This makes it critical for each of us to understand the underlying patterns that drive addiction. Whether it is to be mindful of our own vulnerability or to navigate recovery with better success than the traditional approaches, addiction is something we all need to understand now.  I'm honored to share a powerful conversation with Joe Polish, founder of Genius Network® and Genius Recovery. Joe's journey from nearly losing everything to addiction to becoming one of the world's most connected entrepreneurs offers hope and practical wisdom for anyone touched by addiction - whether personally or through loved ones. We will be answering the question, “How does creating genuine connection and safety accelerate healing from addiction?” In this episode, you'll discover: How addiction is a survival strategy to disconnect from the pain of stored trauma in the body The four essential pillars for sustainable recovery: community, biochemistry, environment, and trauma work Why unlearning harmful patterns is often more important than learning new ones Practical tools to move from shame into courage How to build genuine connections that will buffer us from an addiction and support long-term healing for those in recovery For more information and show notes, please visit our website: https://biologyoftrauma.com/biology-of-trauma-podcast/