These are 17 conversations maybe Millions in my 20s number one I was Going back and forth between quitting my Job and starting a gym or starting my Entrepreneurial Journey another early Mentor he sat me down and said man I've Been listening to you waffle for months Now he said at some point you're not Going to know anymore you just have to Jump he said it in a way that made me Feel like a pansy I realized I didn't Need more information I'd already done All of the research I just needed to Decide the definition of decision comes From the Latin decadari which basically Means to cut off or kill off question Was which future was I deciding to kill Off was it the future that I was in Currently that I didn't like anymore or Was it the future that I had the Potential to accomplish the dreams that I had by not deciding I was actively Killing off the future that had my Dreams and then I needed to choose which One I wanted to kill number two very Beginning of entrepreneurial journey I Didn't know how to sell anything man a Mentor just said do you want to know the Secret to sales I leaned in I was like Yes please I like had my notepad out and Said the secret to sales is making an Offer so good people feel stupid saying No and that obviously became the Subtitle of my 100 million dollar offers
Book I kept thinking that I had to learn How to like try and manipulate going Through sales scripts and building Rapport and sure some of those skills Are useful to have when it's so much Easier to just find things that people Really want Chick-fil-A doesn't need to Sell you on chicken sandwiches they just Have amazing chicken sandwiches and People go buy them and that forever Changed how I created new products Created new Services was I started with How do I get the most people to say yes And then work backwards number three my Next mentors was a 10 billion dollar Co He always said you got to go slow to go Fast he kept repeating it to me over and Over and over again you only unlock the Compounding which later on grows Significantly faster than the erratic Activity of small thing here small thing Here new thing here new thing here then Just doing the same thing for an Extended period of time and so what Feels slow in the micro looks fast in The macro when you look at the Trajectory over a long period of time But what looks really fast in the micro Is usually really slow in the macro Because people can never get that Compounding start harnessing because They're always starting back over at Ground Zero whenever you change Something the one cost is guaranteed is
That change will have to get paid for And what isn't guaranteed is that it's Going to work you know you have this Fixed cost which is how you should see It is that whenever you change something You have to pay a price number four the Next lesson I learned was in level of Effort one of my really mentors who told Me about flyers I thought I needed to go Put a lot of Flyers out to get business Put out 300 Flyers so I called the Mentor back up and I was like hey this Didn't work and he said you know what Was your test size what do you mean by Test side and I just put out 300 total You just laughed 300. you're not gonna Know anything with 300 he's like we test With 5 000 and then we do 5000 a day After that five thousand a day 150 000 Flyers a month I might have been doing The right thing all along but I was just Doing far too little of it and at that Point I decided that whenever someone Gave me advice I wouldn't let the volume Of activity to be the reason it failed But I just hadn't done enough of them or I hadn't done them long enough I see so Many smaller younger entrepreneurs who Do something for Too Short too little Time not enough volume that they might Have been doing the right thing they Just didn't wait long enough or they Didn't do enough of it number five I was At actually a mastermind and I saw a guy
Get up and he seemed so disorganized and He said yeah you know we're making three Or four hundred thousand dollars a month It's like we've been stuck here for a Few years Layla and I were actually Together at this point we both looked at Each other and we're like if this guy Can do it we can do it it was one of Those moments that beliefs are broken Because what you find out is that they Are made of the same thing as you rather Than write off this guy's such an idiot Despite bite him being an idiot he's Still more successful than me imagine if I used my work ethic and my intelligence And when I shifted my perspective from That way I was able to start using other People's successes to fuel me rather Than to make me feel bad it switched From wanting to cast stones at people to Being inspired by them and thinking if They can do it so can I within six Months of seeing that conversation Happen we were already doing a million a Month number six at a different event I Went up and I spoke and I told my whole Plans if I wanted to build this national Gym chain be America's next gym the guy Who ran the Mastermind said you know What Alex I don't think you should do That at all I was crushed and he said I Think you have a level 10 skill set and A level two opportunity one of those Simultaneously incredibly encouraging
Things and Incredibly heartbreaking Things so it's a very like emotional Moment for me he was both encouraging me To say that I could have been doing more And this person from the outside put a Bar up that was significantly higher Than what I was shooting for and that Stretched my Horizon for what I was Capable of and I think getting around People who can do that for you is one of The most valuable things you could Possibly have in your life what he Didn't say was a level two opportunity As he was defining it an opportunity That has low leverage there wasn't a Very good compounding vehicle for Capital the fact that I was successful In what most consider a shitty Opportunity he saw as the skill sets That would create a much bigger win Later if you are in a lower level Opportunity I wouldn't say be upset About it I would say you're learning With extra resistance against you you're Getting stronger now and then when you Go onto the moon where gravity is Lighter you just knock it out of the Park number seven it was a private event It was ten people everyone was doing Eight figures or more a year and I got Invited a guy came up to me and this guy Had done 27 million dollars in a single Bag holy this guy's made more in a Day than I've been my entire life he
Said fat pitches in life don't come very Often when it gets easy is when you need To go hard otherwise there's someone Who's 10 times bigger than you who's Going to take everything you have and Not even think twice about it that was Literally fueled by that one Conversation if you're like wait how are You doing three or four hundred thousand A month taking over 300 I had like no Employees and I was making it all myself You do have one of those opportunities That comes up in your life when things Start working really well that's when a Lot of people ease off the gas that's When they go easy when it gets easy is When you go hard because you don't have That many fat pitches in a lifetime you Might get two or three and you just Gotta crack the out of it when it Comes and expect that you're going to Sacrifice some short term for some long Term later number eight the same event a Different guy came up to me he said You're scared well you're like doubling Every month with this current thing like Why do you want to start a supplement Business what if you just spent three Times as much on marketing and didn't Start us up on the business I didn't Start the supplement business I actually Delayed it for 18 months in the next Three months we tripled the ad spend and Went from 400 to 780 780 to a million
From a million to 2 million just the Next six months because of that piece of Advice and I think the underlying part Of that advice is that when something is Going well oftentimes entrepreneurs Think great I won how can I get another Win but the real win is just doing 10 Times more of that thing the hardest Part is getting product Market fit it's Getting people to want to buy The Thing Once you have that you don't need to Innovate that anymore all your Innovation has to go through how can we Do more volume number nine the next Lesson was from a guy who had a big E-commerce brand so he was doing like 30 Million a year at the time and I was Like oh my God this guy is God he gave This huge presentation that was like two Hours long he said so pick a percentage Whatever it is 10 20 of your marketing Spend and put that towards new ideas Expect to lose it but when you're losing It you're gaining the lesson you're Gaining the experience and what happens Is he's like you know four out of five Times my crazy ideas fail he's like but One out of five they crush and become The Leading Edge Innovation that pushes Us to the next level I immediately took A number and I wrote down what my new Learning budget was going to be and it Gave me permission to spend money Without a return immediately you think
Big picture he just extended my time Horizon for a return and so rather than Saying I have to make my money back Immediately within 30 days of me Spending this I said if I extend my Horizon over my lifetime if I spend this Money I will learn and be better and I Will learn faster than somebody who Doesn't I just gave myself a budget to Say it is acceptable to lose this and Then I committed to that and that was a Huge pivot point for how we were able to Scale and try new things and I looked Forward to spending on my learning Budget every month and it just gave me Permission to be creative knowing that It would be okay to fail number 10. the Next one I got from a pastor between Layla and I he gave us a single piece of Marriage advice that we have taken today We have used countless times in our Lives both in our marriage personally And professionally in the business he Said if you don't agree don't move Forward it was such a simple piece of Advice because we have always made our Decisions together and if we don't agree We slow down a lot of times we impose This false sense of urgency on ourselves When there's almost nothing that is Urgent like unless you're going to die Which is the only real urgency then a Lot of times taking an extra second to Think okay is there something we're
Missing is there a frame that we're not Seeing if we don't agree first question We always ask is what information are You using oftentimes one of us will have Data that the other person doesn't Because we have the same values and same Mission we do ultimately come to the Same decisions that has saved me so many Mistakes number 11. I went to a big half A billion dollar Mastermind so there was Like 10 of us there and the total sales Of everyone in the room is about half a Billion dollars but I was still among The smaller ones I think we were doing 30 or 40 million dollars a year at the Time and plenty of guys there we're at 100 you know 200 Etc what do they have Are they smarter are they working hard Are they sacrificing more like they had A bigger total addressable Market they Had a bigger Tam they were going after Just a much wider audience so you start Small so the riches are in the niches But at a certain point you do need to Open up the aperture so like Facebook Started with you know college right that The niche and then slowly spin it over Time I had to open up my eyes and say You know what maybe I can go broader in Some way number 12. this was one of the First billionaires that I ever met I'd Been stuck at 30 to 40 million for like Three years there was a lot of learning That I was trying to do in this period
To break through that wall I was telling Him all these things that I was doing to Try and grow my business and he just Laughed he said it's not about you it's About everybody else and what he meant By that wasn't like me versus customers Or anything like that he was like all You've been telling me is what you're Going to do you need to have a stable of Stallions you need to give people a Slice of the pie and let them get rich Too and up to that point I had hoarded Everything I was like you know what got Me from a 100 million dollar Top Line to 500 million dollar Top Line doing less And getting really smart people to help Me out and giving them a Big Slice it's About Talent it's about people you have To get other people who can make Decisions on your behalf and you feel Not only that they were as good as your Decisions but even better because the Beginning your jack of all trades master Of none but you need to have Mastery in Every Department of the business in Order for it to scale and you can either See that as I have to learn everything Or the faster way which is I can go buy It through through other people who've Already given 10 years if I can get 10 People who've all spent 20 years in Their respective departments I basically Have 200 years of experience and if Every person in the organization has
Learned everything from you then it's Only one brain and one lifetime that is The limit of the organization that thing Is what got us past the 30 to 40 million That was a huge breakthrough for me Number 13. the next conversation I had Was really the one that pushed me over The edge I have a famous friend I was at His house and we were sitting at the Kitchen table and I said don't you get Tired of all these weirdos like Messaging you stuff and like sending you Threats and like three people a week Stopping by your house like trying to Climb your fence like it's not like not Fun he said if that's the price I have To pay to make the impact I want to have Then I would pay it every day of the Week for whatever reason it just like Stabbed me in the heart and it made me Feel like if I want to spread a message If I want to help more people that There's a cost to it having now been a Little bit the other side and having More recognition and whatnot is that Fame has pros and cons there are cons But I believe that there are more Pros Than cons are there things that are Inconvenient now absolutely you get Stopped every time you go to dinner like You get distracted it's harder to be Like private public if you have a bad Day you can't do it because someone says Hi and it's the one time they're going
To see you there are things that are Gone but the pros outweigh the cons you Get amazing people who will come and Want to work with you you get amazing Teammates who otherwise would never know You exist who also have the same Mission Have the same values and it creates Significantly more alignment and real World value in terms of economic value How much money you make by having people Inbound coming towards you I used to Talk about people make guns I was Like you know do cold Outreach and run Ads like don't talk to me but now having Been on the other side of it I can tell You that it was mistake number 14 big Influencer I said hey you're way further Ahead of me like how do I just shortcut This thing and so he said hey start Making content on every platform so I Did that and then I came back six months Later and I said hey look we went from Zero to you know 200 000 people in our Audience in six months and you noted the Progress but I was like what's your Blueprint what's the what's the model Give me the flow chart he said dude we Don't have a flow chart anybody's trying To tell you that is trying to sell you a System you just need to do so much more Volume than you currently are he said Just pull up your Instagram and pull up My Instagram so I pulled it up pulled it Up he had posted five times I had posted
Once he's like pull up your LinkedIn Pull up my LinkedIn get posted 7 in Times I'd posted once platform by Platform you get pulling one up and he Was embarrassing me with the amount of Content he was putting out compared to Me so in the next six months I put 10 Times the content out and we grew 10 Times faster the interesting lesson I Learned from this is that there are Principles that are ubiquitous the more Work you do the more you get so the Boring work applies to everything in Business whether it's relationships Whether it's cold calling whether it's Making content the more you do the more You get number 15. the next one is about Investing I was actually a pretty big Pansy when it came to investing and this Was the Breakthrough I had I had all This money and people were like I've got This real estate deal I've got this Crypto thing when you have lots of money Deal flow is not a problem what I didn't Have was a set of rules or parameters And you have to make those otherwise you Get too much decision fatigue you waste Too much time doing diligence on deals Reading having multiple phone calls Having lawyers come in and then deciding Not to do it this one conversation I had Changed my life he was telling somebody Who had a lot of real estate experience If you were to put a circle on this
Table what percentage of your brain Knows real estate he was like I guess 85 Okay what percentage of your brain knows Stocks and stuff he's like 10 or 15 he's Like that is your new capital allocation Parameter 85 of your net worth should be In real estate 15 should be in stocks And it was so simple for me I know Business and so what do I invest in now Only businesses only risky if you don't Know what you're doing I can write a Five or ten million dollar check and be Fine if I know if it's a business Because I understand I know what Pitfalls are going to come up like I get It sticking with that just forever made My life simpler because now when deals Come to us I'm like that's just not in My wheel and I can just immediately say That so the amount of time and effort And lawyer calls and conversations that That saved me has paid so many dividends And now are investing doing Significantly better because it's what I Know and I feel comfortable with it and I can move way faster number 16. Leverage behind a product Naval has said You only sell because you know how to Market you only Market because you know How to build a product an exceptional Product is a quadratic relationship with Your audience good marketing or good Sales is a linear relationship if you Make an exceptional product something
That's so unbelievable that people Cannot help themselves but tell other People about it one person buys the Product and they sell two two tell four Four Tel eight how do I do that you work On it and you keep work on it and you Don't make new products until the first One's right and if you're like that Might take years that's why good Takes time 100 million offers that book Continues to sell more copies every Month with zero advertising dollars Actually less work in the long run to Build a better thing than it is to build A shitty thing and then have to spend The rest of your time marketing and Selling it you want to have leverage in Every aspect of your business and the Product is the strongest one number 17. The last one I learned from Uncle Warren The power of brand brand was always this Amorphous thing that I thought was Complete BS I was like you can't Quantify blah blah blah but the thing And quantify brand and that is what I Learned from Uncle Warren he said the Amount that you can charge above the Commoditized version of your product the Delta there is the power of brand if you Have a t-shirt that can sell for twenty Dollars normally and can sell for a Hundred dollars with your brand on it All of that pricing power goes to bottom Line which is why Warren Buffett invests
In Brands it's one of the strongest ways To retain pricing power the brand itself Becomes a huge compounding vehicle Because the audience and the awareness Around the brand compounds
