948: NO ONE bigger than you will do THIS! (an important reminder for all of us...)

WEBVTT

00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:01.143
Hey, what is up?

00:00:01.143 --> 00:00:04.310
Welcome to this episode of the Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur podcast.

00:00:04.310 --> 00:00:25.012
As always, I'm your host, brian LoFermento, and in today's Solo Sunday episode, we are going to talk about, for sure, the biggest difference between myself as an entrepreneur versus me 10 years ago as an entrepreneur, and this advice and wisdom comes from, for sure, my single favorite book of all time.

00:00:25.012 --> 00:00:38.802
I'm going to reveal what that book is, why I reread it every single year and, yes, of course, I'm going to share with you those nuggets of knowledge that I've picked up that, in hindsight, make up the biggest difference between myself now and 10 years ago.

00:00:38.802 --> 00:00:40.223
I'm excited about this one.

00:00:40.223 --> 00:00:43.648
Let's dive in one.

00:00:43.648 --> 00:01:07.388
Let's dive in Some huge bonus points to those of you who are very long-term listeners who, as soon as I teased in the intro to today's episode that I'm going to talk about my favorite book ever, a lot of you who have been here since the very beginning probably immediately knew exactly which book I was referring to, because I've been talking about this book since probably the first 50 episodes of this show.

00:01:07.447 --> 00:01:11.361
And here we are, almost a thousand episodes in and I'm still talking about it.

00:01:11.361 --> 00:01:19.269
And the reason why is because I do reread this book every single year and don't worry, I'm going to totally spill all the beans here in today's episode.

00:01:19.269 --> 00:01:25.748
But first I want to tell you why I reread this book every single year, because I remember I used to.

00:01:25.748 --> 00:01:35.849
When I heard people say, oh yeah, I've read that book 50 times, I used to always think to myself why it's the same book, like, do you just have a really bad memory and you can't remember what's in there?

00:01:35.849 --> 00:01:40.292
But the truth is, every single time I read this book, two things happen.

00:01:40.292 --> 00:02:28.375
One I pick up something new, and that what's awesome is that different things or the same things resonate differently with us at different stages in our life, based on different things, that we're thinking different things, we're experiencing different things we've experienced there's so many different ways that the same content can hit you in the right moment, and that's why usually at the end of these solo Sunday episodes, I feel like I've made it a bit of a habit recently where I say I hope this episode hit you where you needed it to today, because I just openly acknowledge as a content creator that not all the content I create or the things I say are going to hit you where you need it in any given moment, because we're all in different places, we're all in different head spaces, we're all in different parts of our entrepreneurial journey, with our own thoughts, our own limitations, our own scenarios that we're going through.

00:02:28.375 --> 00:02:35.743
So that's the first thing that happens every time I reread this book is I pick up something new that hits me differently in that moment.

00:02:35.743 --> 00:03:08.325
And the second thing that happens to me every single time I reread it is I remember those snippets that really resonated with me in years past and it just gives me cause for reflection, where I sit back and I go, whoa, I remember when this was the exact advice or perspective or mindset shift that I needed to get through the things that I was going through a year ago, three years ago, five years ago, 10 years ago, and so that's why today's episode it's the time of year I'm rereading it right now.

00:03:08.325 --> 00:03:09.251
Total spoiler alert.

00:03:09.290 --> 00:03:13.544
I'm actively reading this book right now, and it's because it is the single book.

00:03:13.544 --> 00:03:19.926
If there was only one book that I was ever allowed to read ever again, time and time again it would be this book.

00:03:19.926 --> 00:03:23.140
It is for sure the most impactful book of my life.

00:03:23.140 --> 00:03:29.508
It's the only book that I read every single year, and I always take new things away from it.

00:03:29.508 --> 00:03:32.490
And the book is called the Magic of Thinking Big.

00:03:32.490 --> 00:03:34.343
It's by David J Schwartz.

00:03:34.343 --> 00:03:37.031
It's incredible, the Magic of Thinking Big.

00:03:37.031 --> 00:03:37.733
Definitely check it out.

00:03:37.733 --> 00:03:39.246
I mean, I have a physical copy.

00:03:39.246 --> 00:03:41.288
It's an absolute disaster at this point.

00:03:41.288 --> 00:03:44.048
It has gone through many moves with me across the country.

00:03:44.048 --> 00:03:48.811
Many times it's I don't know where it got wet, but it definitely got wet somewhere along the way.

00:03:48.811 --> 00:03:50.883
So, yeah, that's the name of the book.

00:03:50.923 --> 00:04:08.830
I'm rereading it right now and I came across this advice in this chapter that made me realize it's the biggest difference in myself now versus 10 years ago, and I wanted to do an episode about it today because it is something that we, as entrepreneurs, we continue to face.

00:04:08.830 --> 00:04:17.072
We always face the negators, the negative forces that are around us, because, quite frankly, there's a million negative forces around us.

00:04:17.072 --> 00:04:19.151
The news is a negative force.

00:04:19.151 --> 00:04:23.627
Just turn the TV on and you're going to be convinced that the world is ending, quite literally.

00:04:23.627 --> 00:04:30.151
There are people who are saying that on the news every single day, week, month, year is that the world is going to end.

00:04:30.151 --> 00:04:32.478
So, spoiler alert the world has not ended.

00:04:32.478 --> 00:04:41.774
They've been saying that since the beginning of the 1900s, but we're still here and I hope that we are here for a heck of a long time from here, but there are so many different negative forces.

00:04:41.904 --> 00:05:07.331
There's the person who just even I want to bring this as an example because it's a small one, but I remember 10 years ago oh, this one used to get to me and I'm curious if you, as a fellow entrepreneur, or you as a entrepreneur, ifur, if this also bothers you, because I just I can so clearly remember this is that when people would say, oh, are you still doing that soccer blog, it just felt like they were diminishing it.

00:05:07.331 --> 00:05:14.055
The words that they were choosing was these small words like oh, are you still doing that soccer blog of yours?

00:05:14.055 --> 00:05:53.291
And that drove me crazy and in so many ways, I actually haven't talked about this publicly in a long time, actually, if ever in this show's history, but if we rewind, obviously recently we celebrated this show's eighth birthday eight years of doing this show and almost 1000 episodes and I don't know if I've ever explicitly called this out, but the night that this podcast started, someone who I was with for a long time it was a four-year relationship and I remember I was excitedly sharing all of my big ideas with her and I said, oh my gosh, I wanna do this and I wanna do this and I just feel like having a podcast at the center of it would be really cool.

00:05:53.291 --> 00:05:55.769
And she said to me that night she said why?

00:05:55.769 --> 00:05:57.372
Why would anyone listen to you?

00:05:57.372 --> 00:05:59.536
Like, what makes you think that that's a good idea?

00:05:59.536 --> 00:06:00.899
You have all these crazy ideas.

00:06:00.899 --> 00:06:07.187
Why would anyone listen to you?

00:06:07.187 --> 00:06:14.733
And so that was not only the end of that relationship, but it was the very beginning of this podcast episode, although I will say that it factored in and I'm really proud of myself for rising through it.

00:06:14.733 --> 00:06:34.632
And that's why I'm really excited to share with you the excerpt from the magic of thinking big today that I've pulled out, because we all face that, whether it's someone we're dating, whether it's even worse if it's a spouse, if it's a family member, if it's a parent, if it's a aunt or an uncle, if it's a dear friend of yours, even if it's a stranger, we all face detractors.

00:06:35.033 --> 00:06:38.446
Trust me Ask.

00:06:38.446 --> 00:06:38.908
We all face detractors.

00:06:38.908 --> 00:06:40.896
Trust me ask anyone who works behind the scenes at the entrepreneur to entrepreneur podcast.

00:06:40.896 --> 00:06:45.269
We get our fair share of emails of people especially, you know, entrepreneurs are an egotistical bunch.

00:06:45.269 --> 00:06:59.468
We all have egos, and that motivates us in good ways as well, as it also has some shadow sides to it, and so we get a fair amount of emails where people say, oh, who makes you think that this person's good enough to speak about sales or mindset?

00:06:59.468 --> 00:07:01.192
Or I could have talked about that even more.

00:07:01.192 --> 00:07:03.545
We get our fair share of detractors.

00:07:03.545 --> 00:07:07.978
We all do in business, and that's really setting the tone for today's episode is.

00:07:08.245 --> 00:07:38.307
I just want to openly acknowledge that that's a thing, and so now I want to share with you just that one excerpt that 10 years ago, it gave me the strength to go through what I went through that I just shared with you eight years ago, where someone who was near and dear to me, the most important person to me aside from family back then, someone that I was with for four years, and it gave me the strength and the perspective I want to say that it gave me the perspective to power through that sort of detraction.

00:07:38.307 --> 00:07:41.718
And so let me just let me read the excerpt for you.

00:07:41.718 --> 00:08:01.360
This excerpt is from the Magic of Thinking Big by Dr David J Schwartz, and here is the excerpt beginning this group maybe two or three percent of the world doesn't let pessimism dictate, doesn't believe in surrendering to suppressive forces, doesn't believe in crawling.

00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:05.096
Instead, these people live and breathe success.

00:08:05.096 --> 00:08:08.435
This group is the happiest because it accomplishes the most.

00:08:08.435 --> 00:08:13.004
These people become top salesmen, top executives, top leaders in their respective fields.

00:08:13.004 --> 00:08:15.975
These people find life stimulating, rewarding, worthwhile.

00:08:15.975 --> 00:08:22.117
These people look forward to each new day, each new encounter with other people as adventures to be lived fully.

00:08:22.117 --> 00:08:30.750
Let's be honest All of us would like to be in the third group, the one that finds greater success each year, the one that does things and gets results.

00:08:30.750 --> 00:08:43.998
To get and stay in this group, however, we must fight off the suppressive influences of our environment To understand how persons in the first and second groups will unwittingly try to hold you back.

00:08:44.465 --> 00:08:45.486
Study this example.

00:08:45.486 --> 00:08:53.836
Suppose you tell several of your average friends with the greatest sincerity, someday I'm going to be vice president of this company.

00:08:53.836 --> 00:08:55.000
What will happen?

00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:57.270
Your friends will probably think you're joking.

00:08:57.270 --> 00:09:05.354
And if they should believe you mean it, chances are they will say you, poor guy, you sure have a lot to learn Behind your back.

00:09:05.354 --> 00:09:08.125
They may even question whether you have all your marbles Now.

00:09:08.285 --> 00:09:13.437
Assume you repeat the same statement with equal sincerity to the president of your company.

00:09:13.437 --> 00:09:14.746
How will they react.

00:09:14.746 --> 00:09:17.995
One thing is certain they will not laugh.

00:09:17.995 --> 00:09:23.134
They will look at you intently and ask themselves does this person really mean this?

00:09:23.134 --> 00:09:30.759
But they will not, we repeat, laugh, because big people do not laugh at big ideas.

00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:38.658
Or suppose you tell some average people you plan to own an expensive home and they may laugh at you because they think it's impossible.

00:09:38.658 --> 00:09:45.177
But tell your plan to a person already living in an expensive home and they won't be surprised.

00:09:45.177 --> 00:09:49.976
They know it isn't impossible because they've already done it.

00:09:49.976 --> 00:10:02.191
Remember people who tell you it cannot be done almost always are unsuccessful people are strictly average or mediocre at best in terms of accomplishment.

00:10:02.191 --> 00:10:05.337
The opinions of these people can be poison.

00:10:05.337 --> 00:10:10.740
Develop a defense against people who want to convince you that you can't do it.

00:10:10.740 --> 00:10:16.696
Accept negative advice only as a challenge to prove that you can do it.

00:10:18.684 --> 00:10:23.154
That's the end of the excerpt that I wanted to share with you from the Magic of Thinking Big by David J Schwartz.

00:10:23.154 --> 00:10:37.011
Now, I love that because whenever I experience those detractors in my life, whether it's in response to an email that I get, or whether it's people who laugh at an idea that I share with them, I'm always thinking big.

00:10:37.011 --> 00:10:48.899
In fact, rereading this book is challenging me to think even bigger all over again, and I'm for sure going to be talking about that throughout Q4 here on the show and way beyond into 2025.

00:10:48.899 --> 00:10:58.875
In fact, it's going to be an exercise later this month here in October, our entire team is flying up to Boston and we're doing our in-person quarterly retreat, which is where we get work done.

00:10:58.875 --> 00:11:01.099
We work on big projects together, but we also think.

00:11:01.099 --> 00:11:02.249
We think big.

00:11:02.249 --> 00:11:26.092
We think differently, and this is going to be one of our exercises is to challenge ourselves individually and as a team to think big, and a large part of that is the recognition that small people nobody who's done more than you will ever laugh at your big ideas Small people those are going to be the ones that laugh at your ideas because they are the ones that can't do it.

00:11:27.044 --> 00:11:35.275
And so today I really wanted to make this episode because, for me, I'm very fortunate in the fact that it's something that's changed for me over the past 10 years.

00:11:35.275 --> 00:11:49.330
Now, obviously, I have 10 years of entrepreneurial experience, I have 10 years of wins in various capacities, I have 10 years of losses that have taught me that losses are not final, and I also have 10 years of maturity and life and all of those things that come with it.

00:11:49.330 --> 00:11:55.331
However, what I really realize is that it is that perspective, it is that vantage point.

00:11:55.331 --> 00:12:04.731
When I do get a piece of hate mail which I promise you like I can't stress to you enough while I'm here on the air, we do get it as literally just email.

00:12:04.731 --> 00:12:13.048
Anyone on my team Don't even ask me email anyone on my team about some of the emails that we get as a show Laura, for example, who you're going to be hearing from on the podcast later this month.

00:12:13.048 --> 00:12:14.552
She manages our inbox.

00:12:14.552 --> 00:12:18.219
If you go to our website and you fill out that contact form, that's going to Laura.

00:12:18.664 --> 00:12:58.996
She sees a lot of messages from people who are listeners, which we're super grateful for all of you but we also hear it from other entrepreneurs, other podcasters, just other people who think that they have a voice that needs to be used for negativity, and we see all of those things and I'm so grateful for this reminder, this perspective that I gained from this book all those years ago, because every time I see those detractors, every time I see these negative messages, not only is it a reminder to me of hey, keep pushing, do bigger things, let this be a challenge to yourself, but it also puts it into perspective that this person isn't doing anything big.

00:12:58.996 --> 00:13:02.077
There's no chance, because big people don't reply that way.

00:13:02.077 --> 00:13:04.918
Big people don't serve as detractors for others.

00:13:04.918 --> 00:13:14.958
And so for all of us as entrepreneurs, and into 100% of you wantrepreneurs excuse me this is a real threat.

00:13:14.958 --> 00:13:19.054
It's a real threat in all of your businesses, all of our businesses.

00:13:19.054 --> 00:13:21.441
It's a big threat in all of our growth journeys.

00:13:21.441 --> 00:13:27.462
It's a big threat to the way that we think, the way that we see the world, the way that we find opportunities.

00:13:27.462 --> 00:13:34.000
I'm telling you, it can be a blindfold if you let these detractors shape the way that you see the world.

00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:38.510
And so it's so important for us to have this reminder.

00:13:38.772 --> 00:13:52.096
If someone responds to your proposal in a really negative way, let's say, you send a proposal out for $10,000 or $20,000 or $2,000, the dollar amount doesn't matter but I know that all of us are going to send proposals out in our lives.

00:13:52.096 --> 00:13:55.937
And let's say you send one out and the person goes that's absolutely ridiculous.

00:13:55.937 --> 00:13:58.385
What makes you think that you could charge that much?

00:13:58.385 --> 00:14:00.230
This is an absurd proposal.

00:14:00.230 --> 00:14:06.303
I was interested until I found out that you charge $3,000, $10,000, $30,000, $100,000.

00:14:06.303 --> 00:14:14.475
And they think it's absolutely preposterous and they belittle you for your way of thinking and the bigness of your thinking.

00:14:14.475 --> 00:14:32.134
Well, that's a reminder to you that that person doesn't operate at that level, because if you send a proposal for $30,000 to someone who's used to $150,000 projects, why would they flinch, why would they belittle a $30,000 proposal?

00:14:32.495 --> 00:14:56.542
It's just exposing the either expansiveness or limited nature of the other person's thinking for themselves and that's why it's so important for us to have this perspective and that's why it's so important for all of us to learn and embrace this lesson is because we are going to experience people who think smaller than us along this journey.

00:14:56.542 --> 00:14:57.611
It's guaranteed.

00:14:57.611 --> 00:15:00.639
It's not only guaranteed in business, it's guaranteed in life.

00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:01.610
You have to remember.

00:15:01.610 --> 00:15:05.698
Probably 98 to 99% of the world think big.

00:15:06.379 --> 00:15:16.260
It's something that when I meet with fellow entrepreneurs and I always hear them saying gosh, I need to find an extra thousand dollars a month and I'm going through all my expenses and I'm trying to cut this and I'm trying to cut that.

00:15:16.260 --> 00:15:23.716
I just reflect on all the outrageously successful entrepreneurs that I know that say gosh, I need to find an extra $1,000 a month.

00:15:23.716 --> 00:15:26.698
How do I start selling things at a much higher price?

00:15:26.698 --> 00:15:29.679
How do I start bringing a heck of a lot more revenue through the door?

00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:33.797
It's just entirely different ways of thinking.

00:15:33.797 --> 00:15:38.370
It all comes back to do you think small or do you think big?

00:15:38.370 --> 00:15:47.000
Because that's going to dictate the things you see, it's going to dictate the questions you ask and it for sure is going to dictate the answers that you find.

00:15:47.741 --> 00:16:03.859
So, yeah, I mean, obviously we talked about that excerpt today, but really you can tell, I'm just I'm eager to talk about thinking big and that's why I'm super pumped to be right in the thick of it, rereading the magic of thinking big for the first time here in 2024,.

00:16:03.859 --> 00:16:11.134
I'm going to reread it again in 2025 and it's probably not the last time, even this year, that you're going to hear me talk about it.

00:16:11.134 --> 00:16:13.755
So I hope this hits you where you are.

00:16:13.755 --> 00:16:16.802
I hope that it's a timely reminder for you.

00:16:16.802 --> 00:16:25.605
I hope it's a perspective that sits with you and stays with you and that you embrace, and that it sticks with you, not just stays with you.

00:16:25.605 --> 00:16:42.578
I genuinely hope it sticks because, whether we want to admit it or not, there's people out there, there's things out there, there's environments, there's situations that are going to try to detract our positivity, detract our hope and optimism and dreams and visions, and this is how we rise above it.

00:16:42.578 --> 00:16:46.360
It's just this reminder because, truth be told, it has nothing to do with us.

00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:48.998
That's it for me in today's episode.

00:16:48.998 --> 00:16:50.957
I'm so excited.

00:16:50.957 --> 00:17:15.932
I know I say this every single week, but every week when I look at the list of guests that we've got coming on the show, it just reminds me of all the incredible conversations that I'm so fortunate that I get to have and that I'm really grateful that we get to air here on the show for your benefit, for you to grow your business, your mindset, your skills, the way that you serve others, the way that you change your life with your own business.

00:17:15.932 --> 00:17:18.924
So this week you're going to hear from three awesome guests.

00:17:18.924 --> 00:17:22.715
Tomorrow we're kicking things off in episode 949 with Jenny Wu.

00:17:22.715 --> 00:17:25.541
Jenny has got an international story, gosh.

00:17:25.541 --> 00:17:34.497
She did this episode and this interview in not her native language and she absolutely powered through it while delivering immense value.

00:17:34.497 --> 00:17:35.220
And I'll tell you what.

00:17:35.220 --> 00:17:51.500
Jenny is definitely younger than me because the perspectives that she gives with regards to marketing and how to stand out and what she calls her 3X matrix so that you can actually grow your business fast it's such a fresh perspective on marketing and yes, memes.

00:17:51.500 --> 00:17:54.973
You're going to hear all of that in tomorrow's episode 949 with Jenny Wu.

00:17:55.634 --> 00:18:03.493
Episode 950 on Wednesday this is one of my favorite people, one of my favorite entrepreneurs on the planet, christine Watson.

00:18:03.493 --> 00:18:07.261
It was truly a joy and I mean that in every single sense of the word.

00:18:07.261 --> 00:18:19.419
It was an absolute joy to sit down with Christine Watson for Wednesday's episode 950, because, yes, we do talk about joy, but we also talk about joy but we also talk about unrelenting resilience.

00:18:19.419 --> 00:18:24.050
There's so much in there Nature's powers in unlocking personal growth.

00:18:24.050 --> 00:18:30.852
I was all sorts of fired up after this conversation and I personally took a lot of action after it, and I know that you will.

00:18:30.852 --> 00:18:41.022
So you definitely don't want to miss Wednesday's episode 950 with Christine Watson and then 951 with Garrett Foster Gosh.

00:18:41.262 --> 00:18:51.570
Garrett is brilliant in so many different ways when he talks about business, growth and scale and burnout and all the different factors that we face, both good and bad.

00:18:51.570 --> 00:18:57.152
I don't even really want to say that way, but just the harsh realities of what we face, both good and bad I don't even really want to say that way, but just the harsh realities of what we face.

00:18:57.152 --> 00:19:05.338
Garrett has such a simplistic and powerful way of making sense of it all, to actually be able to focus on a blueprint for success.

00:19:05.338 --> 00:19:07.104
So he's extraordinarily wise.

00:19:07.104 --> 00:19:10.032
He is extraordinarily successful.

00:19:10.032 --> 00:19:15.067
You are all in for a treat in Friday's episode, which is 951, with Garrett Foster.

00:19:15.067 --> 00:19:16.971
So all of that's just a bit of a tease.

00:19:16.971 --> 00:19:18.154
Pound that subscribe button.

00:19:18.256 --> 00:19:24.741
We'll see you, as always every Monday, wednesday, friday, saturday and Sunday here on the entrepreneur to entrepreneur podcast.

00:19:24.741 --> 00:19:31.332
Hey, it's Brian here, and thanks for tuning in to yet another episode of the entrepreneur to entrepreneur podcast.

00:19:31.332 --> 00:19:35.281
If you haven't checked us out online, there's so much good stuff there.

00:19:35.281 --> 00:19:42.179
Check out the show's website and all the show notes that we talked about in today's episode at the wantrepreneurshowcom.

00:19:42.179 --> 00:19:44.527
And I just want to give a shout out to our amazing guests.

00:19:44.527 --> 00:19:53.318
There's a reason why we are ad free and have produced so many incredible episodes five days a week for you, and it's because our guests step up to the plate.

00:19:53.378 --> 00:19:55.343
These are not sponsored episodes.

00:19:55.343 --> 00:20:01.792
These are not infomercials.

00:20:01.792 --> 00:20:03.558
Our guests help us cover the costs of our productions.

00:20:03.558 --> 00:20:11.401
They so deeply believe in the power of getting their message out in front of you, awesome entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs, that they contribute to help us make these productions possible.

00:20:11.401 --> 00:20:19.890
So thank you to not only today's guests, but all of our guests in general, and I just want to invite you check out our website because you can send us a voicemail there.

00:20:19.890 --> 00:20:21.232
We also have live chat.

00:20:21.232 --> 00:20:25.082
If you want to interact directly with me, go to thewantrepreneurshowcom.

00:20:25.082 --> 00:20:27.272
Initiate a live chat.

00:20:27.272 --> 00:20:36.676
It's for real, me, and I'm excited because I'll see you, as always every Monday, wednesday, friday, saturday and Sunday here on the Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur podcast.