Do you see ambition as a fixed trait or an ever-expanding capability? In this episode, Dan Sullivan reframes ambition as the platform for all growth. Discover why ambition expands with every capability you build, how it empowers collaboration, and why this mindset leads to greater innovation, freedom, and lasting entrepreneurial success. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:What inspired Dan to redefine ambition as a capability rather than a destination.Why his greatest goal is simply to become more ambitious over time.How traditional views of ambition create unnecessary burdens for female entrepreneurs.Why seeing ambition as a limited resource holds people back.How shifting your perspective allows ambition to drive every new capability. Show Notes: Ambition is not a destination but a capability that creates all other capabilities. The spark behind every new skill or achievement is your ambition to grow. Ambition expands with use, much like a muscle that strengthens with repeated resistance. Gaining one new capability naturally increases your ambition for the next. You can decide to increase your ambition long before you know the specific projects you will undertake. True ambition is abundant and does not come at others’ expense. Empowering your own ambition can inspire and multiply the ambition of others. Society often misrepresents ambition as competitive or distasteful, yet entrepreneurs can transform how it is understood. Education rarely addresses ambition, leaving many people isolated in how they think about it. Ambition should not be defined by limits, like a “gas tank,” but as an ever-expanding resource. The 4 C’s Formula®—commitment, courage, capability, and confidence—depends on ambition to power growth. Viewing ambition as a capability eliminates gender barriers and unfair expectations placed on both men and women. Ambition grows through collaboration, teamwork, and creativity rather than isolation. Focusing on your next capability creates a self-sustaining cycle of personal and professional growth. Resources: The 4 C’s Formula by Dan SullivanThe Bigger Future™ Countdown The Gap And The Gain by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy Unique Ability®
If you’re an entrepreneur, you’ve taken complete responsibility for your financial welfare, choosing to make a living based on what makes you unique. When entrepreneurs get frustrated and start focusing on what isn’t working, it means they’ve strayed from their uniqueness. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller explain how to recognize when this is happening and how to get back to finding business success doing what you love and are great at. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:The specific type of economic role every entrepreneur is uniquely designed to fill.The single root cause behind every problem an entrepreneur experiences.Why entrepreneurs get frustrated without knowing why.How to become hypersensitive to anything that will throw you off track. Show Notes: Your Unique Ability® is the innate talent you’ve been honing since birth, characterized by high energy and exceptional results. When children play, it’s a way for them to discover what they’re great at and love doing. Entrepreneurs create value for other people by doing what they’re very good at and find easy to do. Most people don’t bet their futures on the abilities that make them unique. Frustrated entrepreneurs become preoccupied with what doesn’t work. The most effective way to solve problems is to strengthen what works, not to dwell on the problems themselves. Strategic Coach® helps you become an objective observer of your own performance. You’re the only person you have a total lifetime responsibility for. Once you’ve figured yourself out, you can focus on being in great teamwork and collaboration with others. Powerful external collaborations are simply the linkage of unique capabilities between organizations to create new market value. Your role as an entrepreneur is to use what works for you to solve a "not-working" problem for someone else. Every transaction in the marketplace is ultimately about freeing someone else up to do more of what works for them. Resources: Unique Ability® The Gap And The Gain by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy
Do you think your business must always depend on you? In this episode, Shannon Waller and Program Coach Gina Pellegrini reveal how empowering your team and building a business that runs without you creates true entrepreneurial freedom. Learn why letting go, focusing on your strengths, and shifting your mindset lead not only to business growth but to more energy, impact, and joy.Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode: The early clue that revealed Gina’s entrepreneurial spirit.The turning point that inspired her to launch her own business.How she scaled her consulting company to remarkable success.The game-changing impact Strategic Coach® membership has had on her career.How her company transforms the way financial advisors work with their teams.The innovative new project her business is developing.What she finds most rewarding about coaching in The Strategic Coach® Program. Show Notes: True entrepreneurial growth happens when you design a business that thrives without your constant management. Outsourcing key activities like scheduling frees you to focus on vision, growth, and meaningful client relationships. Building a Self-Managing Company® starts with hiring, trusting, and empowering team members to take real ownership. Owning your role as a leader means knowing when to let go and allow others to shine. Team members should be treated as an investment, not a cost. Experienced, long-term team members create trust, efficiency, and a shared shorthand that eliminates friction and builds momentum. Pursuing personal passions outside your main business can energize you and is made possible by the right team support. The Impact Filter™ tool provides clarity, commitment, and a practical road map to execute on new ideas without falling into overwhelm. It’s important to take time to measure how far you’ve come (“The Gain”) instead of only chasing what’s next (“The Gap”). Your journey as an entrepreneur impacts not just your bottom line but your freedom, joy, and well-being. Resources: The Appointment Scheduler by Gina Pellegrini What Is A Self-Managing Company®? Unique Ability® Bella Gina Boutique The Gap And The Gain by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy What Free Days™ Are And How To Know When You Need Them The Impact Filter™Kolbe A™ Index
Do you strive to stand out or fit in? In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller challenge the myth of equality and reveal why entrepreneurs are hardwired to pursue uniqueness. Learn how comparing yourself to others can hold you back, while focusing on being usefully different fuels impact, happiness, and growth in life and business. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:Why developing uniqueness demands a fundamentally different mindset.The most effective way to immediately stand out from the crowd.How the pursuit of equality traps people in endless competition.Which path is right for entrepreneurs, and why.The costly mistake of trying to be both unique and equal. Show Notes: You can choose to be unique or equal, but never both. Entrepreneurs succeed by leaning in to their unique skills, not by blending in. The question of whether to be equal to others or to be unique often arises early in life. Focusing on being useful, not simply “fitting in,” sets you apart and attracts opportunities. Being equal and being unique represent fundamentally different psychological and emotional worlds, and your thoughts and mindset will shift depending on which you pursue. Unique individuals are self-referential, while equal-focused people constantly compare themselves to others. Someone who focuses only on uniqueness creates their own games. Anytime you create something new, it disrupts the status quo. Fairness means consistent rules, not identical outcomes for everyone. The best collaborations happen among unique individuals playing by shared rules. Entrepreneurs will only be successful to the degree that their uniqueness is seen as increasingly useful to other people. Resources: The End of Average by Todd Rose Unique Ability® Bill Of Rights Economy by Dan Sullivan The Gap And The Gain by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy
Worried about competitors copying your ideas? Dan Sullivan reveals why context—not just content—makes your thinking truly unique. Learn how The 10x Mind Expander® tool helps entrepreneurs reframe their past successes as springboards for growth, why AI is creating exciting new contexts for creativity, and how to protect your best ideas while staying ahead of the curve. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:How adding context helps you understand yourself as an achieving entrepreneur.Why stealing content won’t work for you.The best way for creative thinkers to partner with AI.Simple ways to add valuable context to content. Show Notes: For 36 years, Strategic Coach® has delivered new thinking tools every quarter. AI isn’t just a tool—it’s a game-changing context for how we create and communicate. A 10x revenue goal feels impossible until you realize that you’ve already done it before. Past growth holds the clues—look back to see how you’ve already achieved 10x jumps. To grow 10x again, simplify. Keep what works and focus on the few key changes needed. You likely have 50% of what you need for your next 10x leap—your experience proves it. Entrepreneurs accumulate a lot of content (experiences, data) without necessarily knowing what it means. Context transforms content—it’s the difference between “what happened” and “why it matters.” Strategic Coach thinking tools give brand new context to content, helping entrepreneurs reframe their past to unlock their future potential. Recognizing how you made a previous jump allows you to see content differently. You have to be willing to go through fear, uncertainty, and discomfort to get to a new level of normal. Content can be stolen, but it falls flat without context around it. Resources: The 10x Mind Expander by Dan Sullivan Unique Ability® Perplexity
Do you embrace the fear that comes with chasing bigger goals, or do you let it hold you back? In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller explore why excitement and fear are inseparable for ambitious entrepreneurs—and how reframing fear as fuel, not a foe, is the key to lifelong growth and fulfillment. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:The specific types of fear entrepreneurs experience when pursuing big goals.How Dan experiences both fear and excitement with a current project.The two things that entrepreneurs can do with their fear.Why status-seeking entrepreneurs eventually lose their ambition.The cost of eliminating fear from your future. Show Notes: Growth is like a coin with two sides: excitement and fear. Entrepreneurs need to normalize fear as a regular part of their journey. Committing to a bigger future goal naturally brings up fear about whether you can achieve it. Real growth requires pursuing something more exciting—and more challenging—than what you’ve done before. Many people lose their ambition because they’re stopped by the fear that comes with it. Entrepreneurs are driven to ensure their future is bigger than their past. Status-seeking entrepreneurs focus on external markers of success while growth-oriented entrepreneurs measure success internally, by their own progress. It takes courage for entrepreneurs to keep moving. Expect failure along the way—it's part of the growth process. For growth-minded entrepreneurs, fear isn’t a necessary evil; it’s a necessary resource. Stopping growth means losing the new capabilities that come with it. When you stop growing, you may feel uneasy about others who continue to grow. For status-seekers, ambition is a destination; for growth-seekers, it’s a capability to develop. Growth-oriented entrepreneurs compare themselves only to who they used to be, not to others. Resources: The 4 C’s Formula by Dan Sullivan
Just because someone excels in their role doesn’t mean they should interview new hires—especially if they’re a salesperson. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller reveal why great salespeople often make the worst hiring decisions, how to spot the right evaluators for your team, and the mindset shift that separates a persuasive seller from a discerning buyer. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:The role of a job seeker in an interview.The role that an interviewer should be playing.Why Dan isn’t involved in the hiring process at Strategic Coach®.A secret ingredient in the Strategic Coach hiring process.The powerful question you should ask every prospective customer and team member. Show Notes: Salespeople shouldn’t conduct interviews because they’ll treat every interaction like a sale—focused on overcoming objections rather than evaluating fit. Great salespeople are wired to close deals, which means they’ll prioritize getting a "yes" over finding the right candidate. A sales-driven interviewer risks hiring the wrong person simply because they couldn’t resist "winning" the interaction. As the person doing the hiring, you’re the buyer, not the seller. It’s the job of the applicant to convince you they’re the right fit. It’s not the interviewer’s job to get the applicant excited about the position. Your hiring team should be dispassionate evaluators—think poker players, not persuaders. The best hires are those who sell you on their ability to contribute to your company’s future. Confidence in hiring comes from being decisive, not from convincing someone to join. Trust your instincts—if a candidate feels off early on, that feeling rarely improves over time. Resources: Unique Ability® Free Zone Frontier by Dan Sullivan How To Improve Business By Asking Good Questions Always Be The Buyer by Dan Sullivan Your Business Is A Theater Production: Your Back Stage Shouldn’t Show On The Front Stage
Are you holding back, waiting for the “right” decision? In this episode, Shannon Waller and Dan Sullivan reveal why taking action—even imperfect action—is the key to entrepreneurial momentum. Discover how making any decision unlocks feedback, reduces anxiety, and activates your best thinking, while indecision keeps you stuck. Plus, learn practical strategies to overcome perfectionism and move forward. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:The importance of making a decision that requires that you take action.How indecision leads to more indecision.What you sacrifice when you refuse to choose.How to get a clear picture of the situation you’re in. Show Notes: Taking action, even with imperfect information, is better than staying stuck in indecision. The problem with making no decision is that you’re not changing the situation that’s paralyzing you. When you can’t make a decision, the pressure builds on you exponentially, as does the feeling of isolation and disconnection from your team and your goals. As soon as you start taking action, you get an enormous amount of information about whether it was a right action or a wrong action.Perfectionism is the enemy of progress. Humans are best when they’re in motion. People become unproductive when they’re not making decisions. You don’t have to make the right decision. You can make a decision, and then make it right. Clarity and confidence come after you commit, not before. Decisive entrepreneurs make mistakes, but they also learn and adapt much faster than indecisive ones. When you’re indecisive, you lose access to your wisdom, experience, and problem-solving abilities. The act of deciding eliminates alternative options and allows your mind to focus on what matters most. Protecting your role and saying no to distractions is a by-product of being decisive about your commitments. The word “decide” literally means to “kill off” alternatives, freeing you from mental clutter and overwhelm. Resources: The 4 C’s Formula by Dan Sullivan The Gap And The Gain by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy The Impact Filter™
An entrepreneur for over 35 years, Gary Mottershead is the founder and president of GCP Industrial Products, the largest U.S. importer of industrial sheet rubber, serving customers across North America. In this episode, he shares the highs and lows of his career, as well as his goals as a Program Coach for The Strategic Coach® Program. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:What Gary considers to be his most important responsibility.How Gary’s entrepreneurial career started with an actual tire fire.How he and his team built up their “crisis muscle.” Why reinterpreting your past and protecting your present is crucial to entrepreneurial success. How Strategic Coach® helps entrepreneurs sharpen their vision. Why Gary chose to write a book—and what he learned from the process.How entrepreneurs can overcome FOMO. Show Notes:If you’re going to bring children into the world, you should look after them.Having a support system at home is vital to the success of any entrepreneurial family.Stability in some areas of your life can give you the energy to handle changes in others.Sometimes, not making a decision is the greater risk.There are things entrepreneurs feel compelled to do without knowing why.Trying to be significant before you’re successful is doing things backwards.The time isn’t up unless you decide it’s up.The mark of an entrepreneur is not how often you get knocked down, but how many times you get back up.You’ll handle a situation more calmly if you’ve experienced something similar before.Being nimble is a mindset.Forgiveness means letting go of the hope for a better past.You can rewrite your own story, keeping only what’s important.The future isn’t written yet—which means you can still shape it.Entrepreneurship is a lifestyle, not just a job.Without intention and direction, too much information can paralyze you.The hardest thing for an entrepreneur is being honest with themselves.You can only help those who want to be helped. Resources: Kolbe A™ IndexAntifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb Nimble Future: Reinterpret Your Past, Protect Your Present, Engage In Your Future by Gary Mottershead Unique Ability® Time Management Strategies For Entrepreneurs (Effective Strategies Only) The 4 Freedoms That Motivate Successful Entrepreneurs The Self-Managing Company by Dan Sullivan
Many entrepreneurs use negatives to make a sale. But why sell fear when you can sell opportunity, and why sell pain when you can sell growth? Dan Sullivan reveals why positive messaging attracts the best clients, how ambition fueled by principles keeps you young, and why your community determines your growth. Learn why the most successful entrepreneurs never retire—they just keep reinventing themselves. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:How selling is both an intellectual and emotional activity.Why fear isn’t something to avoid—but a sign you’re growing.The mindset shift that keeps successful entrepreneurs innovating.How Strategic Coach® accelerates growth for already successful entrepreneurs.The surprising link between ambition, aging, and fulfillment (and how to stay "young" at any stage). Show Notes: Most sales pitches use fear—but fear attracts the wrong clients and limits your growth. Selling has two parts to it: intellectually connecting people to a desirable future result, andthen emotionally engaging them to take action to achieve that future result. To be effective, a sales pitch has to be both convincing and compelling. Instead of pitching that you can remove a negative, focus your pitch on amplifying something positive. You're ambitious because of your passion. You'd like to see your passion have an impact out in the world. Who you surround yourself with determines your trajectory: growth-oriented people keep you young, while stagnant people age you. Status entrepreneurs, as opposed to growth entrepreneurs, eventually run out of ambition. Ambition is driven by strategy. Growth is driven by principles. Your principles are your way of being. The moment you retire from fear, you also retire from excitement. Fear and pain go together, as do opportunity and growth. The biggest thing you're putting at risk when you're growing is your own past. In the Strategic Coach community, you're not the exception—you're the norm. Resources: 10xTalk Podcast with Dan Sullivan and Joe Polish Anything And Everything Podcast with Dan Sullivan and Jeffrey Madoff The Mindset Scorecard by Dan Sullivan The 4 C’s Formula by Dan Sullivan Growing Great Leadership by Dan Sullivan
What if the solutions you’ve already created could generate value for decades—without more of your time? In this episode, Dan Sullivan reveals how packaging, naming, and protecting your ideas transforms them into scalable intellectual property. Learn why your “second company” (your multiplier) could soon be worth more than your entire business—and how to make it happen. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:How to make your solutions valuable by protecting them through intellectual property law.The thinking tool that lets you find the right person for the right role.How you can easily turn your ideas into intellectual property.The importance of sticking to your business model.How you can franchise your ideas.The future of Strategic Coach® over the next 20 years. Show Notes: Your first company, your R&D company, creates solutions for people. Your second company, your multiplier company, packages your solutions as your intellectual property. If you record, package, and name a solution you’ve created, it will have massive ongoing value. Before you put your ideas out into the world, you must protect them. Boredom with your own solutions is a hidden risk—document them before you move on to the next idea. The value of Strategic Coach’s patents will soon surpass 55 years of coaching revenue—proof that IP compounds value. Protecting your creativity isn’t just a multiplier; it’s an accelerator of long-term wealth. A two-company structure makes you immune to market chaos because you control the value of your ideas. Your biggest breakthroughs will come from technology multiplied by teamwork, not from grinding harder. The same business model that built your success can scale infinitely—if you focus on IP, not just execution. Resources: Unique Process Advisors by Dan Sullivan Instant IP Casting Not Hiring by Dan Sullivan and Jeffrey Madoff Unique Ability® Perplexity This Tool Will Help You Make Sense Of The Past AND Take Charge Of Your Future Everything Is Created Backward by Dan Sullivan Extraordinary Impact Filter by Dan Sullivan Growing Great Leadership by Dan Sullivan The 4 C’s Formula by Dan Sullivan
Do you feel torn between the company you have and the one you wish you had? In this episode, Dan Sullivan reveals The Second Company Secret—how successful entrepreneurs leverage their first (real) company to fuel a second (multiplier) company built on intellectual property. Discover how to eliminate tension between the two, protect your creativity, and unlock exponential growth. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:Why your real company frustrates you.Why your imaginary company seems perfect.What you can do with the new Second Company Secret thinking tool.What you’ll come to realize if you closely examine your two companies. Show Notes: Entrepreneurs often undervalue their real company while idolizing an imagined “perfect” version. Your real company isn’t the problem—your thinking about it is. Your most creative breakthroughs feel tied to this unrealized vision, but it lacks traction. Your second company allows you to see the value of your first company. You could be making money at one company while still resenting how much of your time it takes up. Your second company thrives through collaboration, not through your time and effort. Structure and partners are non-negotiable—they’re the multipliers of your vision. You bring the vision and capabilities, and your partners bring the reach. When your second company succeeds, it fuels even greater creativity and innovation in your first. The solutions you create are your intellectual property. Take steps to protect them. Resources: Unique Ability® The V.C.R. Formula Your Business Is A Theater Production: Your Back Stage Shouldn’t Show On The Front Stage What Is An Impact Filter?
Are you prepared for the biggest economic shift in 80 years? In this episode, Dan Sullivan reveals how the new global tariff landscape creates unprecedented opportunities for agile entrepreneurs. Learn why the post-WWII economic order is over, how to adapt your business model, and why being alert, curious, and resourceful is the secret to success in this emerging era. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode: The real history behind today’s tariffs—and why it matters for your business.How WWII transformed the U.S. economy into a global powerhouse.Why the U.S. dollar leads world trade (and why that’s changing).Why the U.S. Navy started protecting trade routes around the world.Five critical strategies every entrepreneur must adopt now.A simple framework to help clients regain confidence in uncertain times.Why China faces unprecedented challenges in this new era. Show Notes: On April 3, the U.S. announced tariffs of 10% for most countries, with higher rates for nations with significant trade imbalances. Post-WWII, the U.S. economy was self-sufficient, yet other countries charged tariffs on U.S. goods while enjoying tariff-free access to American markets. One-sided tariffs led American corporations to offshore factories, costing U.S. jobs and prosperity. Trump’s tariffs are a negotiation tactic to reset unfair trade terms and bring manufacturing back to the U.S. China’s current trade practices make it the primary target of aggressive tariffs (now 125%). U.S. companies abroad face tariffs unless they relocate production home—creating a surge in domestic opportunities for entrepreneurs. You want to be the buyer in every negotiation. The buyer is the one who can walk away from the table. The United States is the best place to sell a product created anywhere in the world because it has the most customers. Tariffs aren’t about fairness. They’re about trade. Entrepreneurs are skilled at responding very quickly to new dangers and new opportunities and developing new strengths in the process. Global supply chains are fracturing, forcing businesses to source locally and regionally. During uncertain times, people feel as though they’ve lost their future. You can help clients and customers rebuild confidence in their future by focusing on their dangers, opportunities, and strengths (D.O.S.®). The 1945–1992 economic order was a historical anomaly, and we won’t see anything like it again. AI reduces labor costs (and creates new opportunities for entrepreneurs as a result). Resources: Perplexity Trump: The Art of the Deal by Donald J. Trump and Tony Schwartz The D.O.S. Conversation® by Dan Sullivan The Great Meltdown by Dan Sullivan Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz
What if leadership isn’t about titles, but about creating new capabilities others can observe? In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller break down the shift from bureaucratic management to self-leadership in the networked economy. Learn the four-step process to transform uncertainty into confidence—and why focusing on problems is the death of innovation. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:The four-step process that always makes you an inspiring leader.Why a goal isn’t a destination.The big difference between a role and a job.Why there are no orders in the network economy.How Dan is finally revealing his process in a new book.Why unique skills are generally wasted in bureaucracies. Show Notes: Self-leadership starts with creating new capabilities—not waiting for permission. Anytime you’re doing something that creates a new capability, and other people observe you doing that, that's leadership. Your activity of creating a new capability gives others the confidence that they too can have the courage to create a new capability. The pandemic created a network economy. Great technologies like Zoom have enabled people to work remotely. Many management activities within a company can now be handled by apps. Bureaucracies punish boundary-crossing, while networked teams reward it. When people get possessive about their territory, it shuts down creativity. Instead of trying to fix problems (or worse, just complaining about them), create solutions that make problems irrelevant. Confidence comes after courage—not the other way around. Resources: Growing Great Leadership by Dan Sullivan The Self-Managing Company by Dan Sullivan The Team Success Handbook by Shannon Waller Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy The 4 C’s Formula by Dan Sullivan
The Strategic Coach® Program has been helping entrepreneurs achieve accelerated growth and personal freedom for over 35 years. Now, Strategic Coach® is excited to welcome a new coach to the Program. In this episode, Associate Coach Erik Solbakken shares his unique journey from chartered accountant to successful entrepreneur, and what excites him about connecting with fellow entrepreneurs. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:How Erik responded after his professional dream was decimated.How Erik’s clients inspired him to become entrepreneurial.What led Erik to The Strategic Coach Program and how it changed his life.How Erik is helping accountants create better business models.What allows an entrepreneur to focus on their purpose. Show Notes: The way to create your future is by reflecting on your past. Entrepreneurship isn't always easy; it's a journey with ups and downs. Your ideal client wants the authentic you, not the pretend you. Self-discovery is a lifelong journey. Capabilities and confidence come from commitment and courage. Being part of the Strategic Coach community means being surrounded by entrepreneurs who can support you through tough times. Strategic Coach thinking tools help you clarify and simplify your thinking. Each time you use a Strategic Coach thinking tool, you gain deeper insights. Every coach at Strategic Coach is also a client, applying the tools and concepts to their own business. Our eyes only see and our ears only hear what our brain is looking for. Strategic Coach is one of the world's greatest philosophy programs wrapped in a business blanket. Resources: The 4 Freedoms That Motivate Successful Entrepreneurs How To Sell Transformation Using This One Question Unique Ability® What You Can Learn From Failure “Geometry” For Staying Cool & Calm by Dan Sullivan Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy The Gap And The Gain by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy 10x Is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy What Is A Self-Managing Company®? Viking Academy™ The Accountant Success Formula™ Accountants Kelowna BC
Is complaining holding you back from your full potential? In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller discuss the surprisingly simple choice between complaining and creating when facing obstacles. Discover how shifting to a creative mindset, embracing courage, and taking full responsibility can unlock new capabilities and exponential growth. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:How complaining allows you to avoid responsibility by justifying why you can't move forward.The Strategic Coach® thinking tool for transforming obstacles into capability and confidence.Why you need commitment and courage before you can gain capability and confidence.The kinds of people that give creativity a bad name. Show Notes: An obstacle feels like something is blocking your progress. There are only two ways of dealing with obstacles: creating or complaining. When you’re in creativity mode, you’re fully engaged with transforming or bypassing the obstacle. To deal with an obstacle, you have to create something new. Taking 100% responsibility is essential for creative problem-solving. Complaining involves blaming external circumstances or people. Committing fully to complaining offers a sense of freedom because you’ve absolved yourself of any responsibility for improving your situation. Few people are entirely creative or entirely complainers. Most are a mix of both. Creativity requires courage; complaining does not. Creators are more likely to be honest with themselves. You attract what you are: complainers attract complainers, and creators attract creators. Resources: The 4 C’s Formula by Dan Sullivan
Organizations have changed a lot over the past 50 years, and it’s vital for entrepreneurs to be aware of these changes if they want to achieve great business success. In this episode, Dan Sullivan, who has been coaching entrepreneurs for 50 years, talks to fellow business coach Shannon Waller all about the changes in companies that have taken place over the past half-century and the very different position that entrepreneurs are in today. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:What gave Dan confidence to become a business coach.How Dan’s desire to coach got married to entrepreneurism.How Strategic Coach® helps entrepreneurs thrive in the current economy.The way to give your team members roles, not just jobs. Show Notes: The invention of the microchip allowed entrepreneurs to have a lot of power and capability they’d never had before. The introduction of the microchip meant large corporations would start to fracture and wouldn’t be as effective or useful. It might take three months to get a decision from large organizations, but entrepreneurs can decide to hire you, and write you a check, in the moment. About every 15 years, the number of employees required in an organization is about half of what it was 15 years previously. Now that small companies with microchip power can be powerful economic forces, government has adjusted to make the process of incorporation faster and easier. We’re partway through a 50-year period in which we’re shifting from large, pyramid-shaped organizations to network-based organizations. Artificial intelligence can do work that used to require many people to do. A lot more people can own companies and have leadership positions now than they used to. Canada, especially Ontario, is one of the easier places in the world to incorporate. Being a bureaucrat in a large pyramidal organization used to be the safest job in the economy, but is now among the riskiest. Being an entrepreneur has become the safest role. Resources:Growing Great Leadership by Dan Sullivan The Great Crossover by Dan Sullivan Your Business Is A Theater Production: Your Back Stage Shouldn’t Show On The Front Stage Unique Ability®
Do you believe in luck, or do you make your own success? In this episode, Dan Sullivan explores the concept of luck in entrepreneurship. Drawing from 50 years of coaching experience, he reveals how successful entrepreneurs create their own paths, often starting young by seeking opportunities to grow their wealth. Discover how self-made success intertwines with luck in the entrepreneurial journey. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:The top ways Dan has been lucky.Why it’s more difficult for someone born into wealth to become an entrepreneur.The new Strategic Coach® thinking tool that will help you recognize and increase your luck.Why being an entrepreneur requires a lot of courage.How Strategic Coach is run like a live theater company.Show Notes: 50% of your success comes from luck, and 50% of it comes from the ability to take advantage of the luck you've had. An entrepreneur’s success is an act of self-creation. Entrepreneurs create their own income streams and their own capabilities. Entrepreneurs understand intuitively that freedom requires money. It’s difficult to separate luck from skill. The U.S. is an entrepreneurial country created by entrepreneurs. Even the challenges you’ve faced have shaped who you are today. Recognizing the luck you’ve had keeps you centered and grounded. Whether your capability drives your luck or vice versa depends on your perspective. Resources: Unique Ability® Your Business Is A Theater Production: Your Back Stage Shouldn’t Show On The Front Stage
Do you believe ambition fades with age, or can it actually grow stronger? In this episode, Shannon and Dan discuss how ambition evolves over time, share Dan's desire to be even more ambitious at 90, and reveal how transforming ambition into action can lead to growth and fulfillment at every age. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:How Dan’s strongest ambition relates to ambition itself.What you can gain by sticking to what you’re great at and love doing.How Dan came up with the goal of living to the age of 156.Ways you can lean into expanding your ambition.Why it’s easier to move forward than to maintain your position.Why some successful entrepreneurs get discouraged when they think about their ambition.The dire consequences of giving up your ambition. Show Notes: People begin to feel old when they stop making commitments—and stop prioritizing courage. When entrepreneurs focus exclusively on doing what they’re great at and love doing, their impact multiplies. When combined with technology, the results are exponential. Since your skills and capabilities will be much greater 10 years from now, your goals can be much bigger in 10 years too. When you’re ambitious, all sorts of unexpected opportunities and experiences become available to you. When you view ambition as an action, it becomes something you can invest your talent, skills, and time into. Ambition is a skill made up of a number of subskills. When your brain normalizes the idea that you’re going to live far longer than normal expectations, it changes your understanding of the present. Time only speeds up when you think you’re running out of it. Being unable to imagine yourself with more ambition in the future robs you of your power in the present. No one’s interested in being in teamwork with someone who’s stopped growing. Your real age has to do with what lies ahead of you—and your imagination. What human beings most look for in other human beings is commitment and courage. Commitment and courage create capability. If you’re more committed and more courageous, it’s easy to be more ambitious. Confidence is the reward for acquiring a new capability. With a higher level of confidence, you can make greater commitments. To make any significant improvement or change in your life, you have to be 100% committed to doing it. You only truly start aging when you give up your ambition. Resources: Unique Ability® My Plan For Living To 156 by Dan Sullivan The 4 C’s Formula by Dan Sullivan
Entrepreneurs always want to be moving forward. What determines whether they’ll be able to is their understanding of the difference between cost and investment. In this episode, business coaches Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller talk about the growth mindset that lets you improve for the rest of your life—versus the mindset that means you’ll forever be stuck right where you are. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:The reason why small entrepreneurs are small entrepreneurs.Why you won’t get a return on investment if you think of team members as a cost.Why becoming a Strategic Coach® member isn’t a cost, but an investment in yourself.Why it’s dangerous for your team members if you think of them as a cost.How to switch from operating in costs to operating in investments. Show Notes: Some entrepreneurs have essentially only created a job for themselves that doesn’t go anywhere. If you see hiring people as a cost, you might just do all of the work yourself. When entrepreneurs do everything themselves, 90% of what they do doesn’t actually make sense for them to do. Investing in team members means you’re freed up to do better work, and that will easily pay for the investment. When you hire someone, you’re investing more in yourself than in the other person. If you consider someone to be a cost, that person will know it. Making an investment is a risk, and it can require courage. Someone who treats other people as costs treats themselves the same way. With an investment, you'll put an enormous amount of thinking into it to guarantee that it’s successful. When you’re making an investment, have a goal for the return and a deadline for that goal. Resources:Casting Not Hiring by Dan Sullivan and Jeffrey Madoff
Tristan Bailey
So many notes and thinking on growth and progress on friction and growth. As a entrepreneur leaders.