Episode 186
On today’s episode we go through things that get us pumped up and motivated to get to work and achieve our goals. Way back in 2021, episode 4 of the Firing the Man podcast was titled “How to Be More Efficient & Productive with Your Time” where both Ken and I enjoyed a glass of scotch and talked about things that got us motivated. That episode ended up being one of our most downloaded podcast of all time and after one of the FiringTheMan listeners (shout out Suzanne) mentioned that she loved that episode, we are going to revisit this topic.
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00;00;00;01 – 00;00;24;02
Speaker 1
Welcome everyone to the Firing the Men podcast, a story for anyone who wants to be their own boss. If you sit in a cubicle every day and know you are capable of more, then join us. This show will help you build a business and grow your passive income stream in just a few short hours per day. And now your host serial entrepreneur is David Shoma and Ken Wilson.
00;00;24;04 – 00;00;46;19
Speaker 2
Welcome, everyone, to the Firing the Man Podcast. On today’s episode, we go through things that get us pumped up in, motivated to get to work and achieve our goals. We back in 2021 on episode four of the Firing The Man Podcast, which was titled How to be More Efficient and Productive with Your Time. Both Ken and I enjoyed a glass of Scotch and talked about the things that got us motivated.
00;00;46;20 – 00;01;00;22
Speaker 2
That episode ended up being one of our most downloaded podcasts of all time, and after one of our Firing Demand listeners shout out, Suzanne mentioned that she loved that episode. We are back to revisit that topic. Can What’s going on, man?
00;01;00;22 – 00;01;24;11
Speaker 3
David How are you doing, man? Well, we’re not in the studio. This is a virtual podcast, and so I’m pumped to be on and share with the audience today. I think we’ve got a good message to share. Motivation is much needed, you know, especially and we’re primarily in the Amazon FBA space and it’s in e-commerce in general. I think with the COVID hangover or sales swamping, anytime you’re faced with adversity, you need, you know, motivation really helps.
00;01;24;12 – 00;01;25;05
Speaker 3
Yeah. What do you think, David?
00;01;25;06 – 00;01;53;02
Speaker 2
Yeah, I think especially in this profession, you know, I were about 50 feet from where I sleep and about 30 feet from where I hang out with my family in the living room. Right. I work from home. And if you compare this profession to, say, like an NBA basketball player that has an intro song and people cheering them on, you kind of need to create an environment that gets you pumped up and motivated because you’re kind of fighting a faceless enemy and oftentimes you’re by yourself.
- Hardcover Book
- Clifton, Jim (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
00;01;53;03 – 00;02;11;10
Speaker 2
And so that like sense of community that you’d be getting pumped up with isn’t occurring. And so they’re certainly things through like my morning routine that are part of this, like getting me in the right frame of mind to get into the office and get to work. And so let’s get into it. So anything else you want to add on that before we dive into our list?
00;02;11;11 – 00;02;29;26
Speaker 3
The only other thing I would say is like you made a good point. And I think like it’s it’s crucial to share with everybody. Like, I personally try to make these motivation and tactics into my daily routines, into my weekly routines to break up the monotony. Because you said like yourself, like you weren’t working from home unless you like mass, you build it into your schedule.
00;02;29;26 – 00;02;46;06
Speaker 3
It won’t it won’t just naturally motivate you. Maybe. Maybe it will. I don’t know about my doesn’t I have to, like, build these into my daily schedule and weekly schedule. And so, you know, as the audience is listening to this, try to like, think up your daily schedule on your weekly schedule and how you can bake in some of these, you know, these strategies and tactics.
00;02;46;06 – 00;02;47;20
Speaker 3
So, David, what’s your first one?
00;02;47;26 – 00;03;08;18
Speaker 2
Right. So this is a YouTube video by Jocko Willink titled Good. It’s a short YouTube video. And I’ve actually here’s how I use this. I downloaded this to my phone and this is my alarm clock. At 5 a.m. every morning, I hear Jocko waking me up, and I have to tell you, my wife hates it, but I find this to be really motivating, so I’m going to read through it.
00;03;08;18 – 00;03;30;00
Speaker 2
However, I think after listening to this podcast, you should go check it out because in Jocko is like grumbly grumbling Navy SEAL voice. It’s just sounds way better. So here we go. How do I deal with setbacks, failures, delays, defeats or other disasters? I actually have one fairly simple way of dealing with these situations summed up in one word good.
00;03;30;01 – 00;03;47;25
Speaker 2
This is something that one of my direct subordinates, one of the guys who worked for me, a guy who became one of my best friends, pointed out. He would pull me aside with some major problem or issue that was going on, and he’d say, Boss, we’ve got this thing, this situation, and it’s going terribly wrong. I would look at him and say, Good.
00;03;48;00 – 00;04;05;18
Speaker 2
And finally, one day he was telling me about something that was going off the rails. And as soon as he finished explaining it to me, he said, I already know what you’re going to say. And I asked, what am I going to say? And he said, You’re going to say good. He continued, That’s what you always say when something is wrong or going bad.
00;04;05;18 – 00;04;22;13
Speaker 2
You just look at me and say, Good. And I said, Well, I mean it because that is how I operate. So I explained to him that when things are going bad, there’s going to be some good that will come out of it. Oh, the mission got canceled. Good. We can focus on another one. Didn’t get that new high speed gear we wanted.
00;04;22;19 – 00;04;42;04
Speaker 2
Good. We can keep it simple. Didn’t get promoted. Good. More time to get better. Didn’t get funded. Good. We owned more of the company. Didn’t get the job you wanted. Good. Go out, gain more experience and build a better resume. He got injured. Good. Need a break from training? Got tapped out. Good. It’s better to tap out in training than tap out on the street.
00;04;42;09 – 00;05;07;01
Speaker 2
Got beat Good. We learned unexpected problems. Good. We have to figure out a solution. That’s it. When things are going bad, don’t get all bummed out. Don’t get all bummed out. Don’t get startled. Don’t get frustrated. Know just look at the issue and say good. And so that I really like that. And I think it definitely applies to business because undoubtedly there is going to be something that comes up like in Kenny.
00;05;07;01 – 00;05;23;06
Speaker 2
You know, you and I have been really a lot lately dealing with problems. If you let those get you down, it will absolutely crush you and you’ll burn out. And so I like this perspective. It’s a good way to start my day and it really gets me pumped up. So, Kenny, have you heard that? Have you heard that YouTube?
00;05;23;08 – 00;05;38;22
Speaker 3
I have not heard that YouTube clip, but I saw Jocko willing his talk live last year, a traffic and conversion summit. And he is a monster like he is a wealth of. Yeah. When he enters the room, like he takes command like. So I’m going to go and watch that.
00;05;38;22 – 00;05;45;26
Speaker 2
I like check it out and into all of our listeners will post a link to it in the show notes. So Ken, what do you got at the top of your list?
00;05;45;29 – 00;06;11;06
Speaker 3
All right. So number one, unfortunately, we can’t play any music because we don’t want to get sued, right? And so we’ve already have enough problems. So we’re not going to get sued on the music. And so but we will post links in the show notes to if we have any music or videos and so probably might know the number one pop song of all time to get me pumped up and motivated not only for work, like if I’m going to go for a run, if I’m on a train lift, whatever I’m doing.
00;06;11;08 – 00;06;29;13
Speaker 3
This is the number one song that gets me jacked up and it is by for minor. And the name of the song is Remember the Name. And if you listen to that song, it will motivate you. You’ll be jacked up, your heart rate will start racing. You’re going to want to go out and go for a five mile jog or something, or you’re going to want to do something.
00;06;29;13 – 00;06;47;14
Speaker 3
And so that is my number one song for motivation and I’m going to give a little bonus kicker. I grew up in the country and so I don’t really like country music too much, but every once in a while want to like tug at me a little bit. And this one recently when I drive, I’ve been listening to like a little bit of softer music to kind of tamp down on my road rage.
00;06;47;14 – 00;07;06;02
Speaker 3
And so this one popped on the for you a few weeks ago and I heard it. I’m like, I really like this. And so this this singer’s got a really kind of all southern raspy voice and the lyrics are just really cool. And it just makes you it just thinks of like it makes you think of me. It makes me think of like, working hard, grinding it out, and it just gets you pumped.
00;07;06;02 – 00;07;26;15
Speaker 3
And so this song is called Nos on the Grindstone by Tyler Childs. I hope I’m that butchering the name, but that one there. Go take a listen to that one. I think you’re really like it motivates me. It makes me think of hard work and just pushing through, you know, when you’re when you’re burnt out, when you don’t want to work anymore, when you don’t want to do anything, that one just kind of helps me push through.
00;07;26;15 – 00;07;31;03
Speaker 3
And so we’ll put links to both of those in the in the show notes. David, have you heard either of those?
00;07;31;04 – 00;07;46;29
Speaker 2
I have, yeah. The four minor song I’m a big fan of. And I’ll tell you if you could and it’s it’s really interesting, like what music can do for a person. Like if you were to take the feeling that you get after listening to the for a minor song and put it into a pill, everybody would want that pill.
- Mogill, Michael (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 292 Pages - 10/18/2018 (Publication Date) - Lioncrest Publishing (Publisher)
00;07;46;29 – 00;08;05;27
Speaker 2
It it elevates your mood. Like it just elevates your day. And so in kind of like keeping this theme going on, Music number two on my list is a song by the script featuring Will.i.am called Hall of Fame. I’m a huge fan of this song. There’s a line in there. You can go the distance, you can go the mile, you can go straight through hell with a smile.
00;08;05;27 – 00;08;15;02
Speaker 2
And I love that I really like that song. And similar to the two that you mentioned, belongs on any Bike getting pumped out playlist. So if you haven’t heard it, check it out.
00;08;15;02 – 00;08;31;07
Speaker 3
Awesome. I’m going to go with my second one. And so this one here, I’ve got a couple of examples for this one too. And I think like this one is really, really crucial for not only motivating you but also helping from burnout, which I think is the same as motivating you. Right? And so it’s talking about your wins.
00;08;31;07 – 00;08;49;07
Speaker 3
This is something that I really never started doing until a few years ago. A mentor of mine was like, you know, you need to like you’re grinding every day. You’re doing this huge list of past. You need to pause and reflect back on wins and what you did accomplish other than like what I used to do was like, have a massive list of all the stuff I need to get done.
00;08;49;07 – 00;09;04;04
Speaker 3
And then at the end of the day, scratch off a few of those. And then I have that same list for the next day. And so now I kind of think about, Oh well, or that day I got, you know, this and this accomplished and that’s a win. And so, you know, celebrating your wins, it’s very, very crucial and it’s motivating.
00;09;04;11 – 00;09;20;01
Speaker 3
You can do it at the end of your day. You could do it at the beginning of your next day. Before you start your day, think about your wins from the prior day, how you want to structure your day, but but take a few minutes, reflect back on your wins so you do make progress. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like we make progress, but we do.
00;09;20;01 – 00;09;38;12
Speaker 3
And it might be in centimeters or inches, but we’re making progress. And if you look at the take back, if you take a step back and look at it over a month, over 12 months, 24 months, there’s a lot of progress. And two examples that I’ve kind of baked into my my schedule is besides my daily wins that I kind of look at my she got those done, boom, knocked them out.
00;09;38;13 – 00;09;57;26
Speaker 3
David, you and I on on our team calls every Friday. We kind of go around the room and everybody shares their wins. And so it’s really uplifting to to hear all of the wins from everybody on the team, like what they’ve been working on, what they accomplished, because sometimes we don’t see what everybody else is doing. And just to hear all of everybody else’s wins, it’s very motivating.
00;09;57;27 – 00;10;15;00
Speaker 3
And the other thing and one of my masterminds, we open that with the same thing. What what what was your win since the last time? And so just hearing other people’s wins is motivating because you’re like, man, they’re crushing it. They’re you know, it’s like, it’s good. You don’t want to go into a room and and let everybody complain.
00;10;15;00 – 00;10;23;08
Speaker 3
If you’re going in somewhere and you’re listening to people complain, you’re going backwards. So find some place where you’re going in and everything is positive and you’re listening to wins.
00;10;23;08 – 00;10;46;00
Speaker 2
I definitely agree with that. And to anybody managing a team, this is something that you absolutely should do. I think it sets a good tempo for a meeting. It’s a good way to get updates from your team on what’s going on. What are some things that your team is excited about and engaged in? You know, as a as a business owner, if you can find that, if you can find what your employees really like working on or what gets them excited, you can hopefully find more projects like that.
00;10;46;00 – 00;10;53;14
Speaker 2
And so I think this is if you’re not doing this, try it out at your next team meeting. And I think it just sets the tone for a great meeting.
00;10;53;14 – 00;10;55;08
Speaker 3
Yeah, absolutely. David, what’s your next one?
00;10;55;08 – 00;11;12;05
Speaker 2
All right. So this one, I have to tell you, I, I was on the fence about including this because this is a practice I’ve done for a while. And any time I’ve shared it with somebody, here’s some of the responses that I’ve gotten. You’re sick in the head. There’s something wrong with you. But this is what gets me motivated.
00;11;12;06 – 00;11;14;09
Speaker 3
What you’re saying is you’re going to be vulnerable with us.
00;11;14;09 – 00;11;33;18
Speaker 2
I’m being vulnerable. All right. So, no, this is no judgment zone. This is just what works for me. So I also want to say that if if I’m doing something and somebody says you can do it, I obviously like that I would compare that to like an 85 octane gasoline. However, if someone says you cannot do this, it is like rocket fuel.
- Sticker, Billy (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 132 Pages - 07/04/2022 (Publication Date) - ChiroCandy Marketing LLC (Publisher)
00;11;33;19 – 00;11;56;29
Speaker 2
I like that. I like like proving people wrong. I don’t know. I just I find that to be more motivating. And so since 2010, I have kept a list on my phone of whenever somebody says something that is maybe doubtful of my abilities, I put it on my phone and it’s called the haters List. And then on my wall in my office I have it’s the Hall of Fame haters list.
00;11;57;00 – 00;12;15;11
Speaker 2
It’s taped on the back of my door and I’m going to read through these. It’s it’s really five things that were a little mean that people said to me, but it just gives me motivation. So the first one was from a coworker right before I fired the man. And I actually you didn’t say directly to me. I overheard him say this in Here’s the quote David will never make it.
00;12;15;11 – 00;12;31;00
Speaker 2
He will be bankrupt in one year and come back begging for his job back. And when I heard that, I stopped and I typed it in my phone and it made it into the Hall of Fame, in fact, it’s at the top. So the next one is this is from 2000 for I Petty. I’m petty, but this one really stuck with me.
00;12;31;00 – 00;12;47;07
Speaker 2
I can close my eyes and remember right where I was at. And it goes like this. You were born this son of two doctors with a silver spoon in your mouth. That is a recipe for a lazy and entitled loser. And that was from a friend’s dad. And I like again, this is rocket fuel for me. I really feed off of this.
00;12;47;07 – 00;13;02;26
Speaker 2
The next one is from a professor. When I mentioned that I wanted to take the CPA and CFA, they said, Why don’t you aim for something a little bit more practical? Your odds of achieving that is sub 5%. And let’s be honest, you’re not very good at taking standardized tests and they made it into the Hall of Fame.
00;13;02;26 – 00;13;22;08
Speaker 2
One was recently, this was from 2022 when we were right in the middle of the pandemic and talking about starting our first factory. I had talked to somebody in manufacturing in their response was accountants do accounting. They don’t know open factories. Besides, what do you know about manufacturing? And so and guess what? We not only opened one, but two of those.
00;13;22;08 – 00;13;38;20
Speaker 2
And then the last one in this one was from my dad. This was I’m going to explain this when I am done. When you were in high school, you claim to study as hard as you could. However, you fell short on your academic goals. If you take this work ethic to college, you will flunk out in your first semester.
00;13;38;20 – 00;14;02;17
Speaker 2
And so you may hear that and say, What kind of dad would say that to his son in? My response is one that has taken the time to really understand how his kids brain works. And I think my dad is similar in that if somebody doubts him, he kind of use that uses that as fuel. And so I think if he would have said, good job, good luck, you can do it, I probably would not have been as motivated as if you continue on this path, you’re going to flunk out.
00;14;02;18 – 00;14;15;12
Speaker 2
I got a 4.0 this semester and my first semester of college, and it worked. It worked. So this is yeah, this is my Hall of Fame for haters, and I find it to be very helpful. So, Jen, what do you think of that? Am I second.
00;14;15;12 – 00;14;38;14
Speaker 3
That? No, no, I totally disagree with whoever said that you’re sick in the head. I think that those statements have been very impactful to you and hurtful and you’ve used them to motivate you. And so you’ve turned from negative into positive to motivate you. And so I, I do the same thing. Like I have those I didn’t write them down and put them on my door, but I hold them in my head like you.
00;14;38;17 – 00;14;56;15
Speaker 3
I you know, it’s like I think I think probably a lot of people have those and we’re all the haters out there, you know, Hey, you’re motivating us to do better. And so yeah, I disagree with sure messed up in the head and it’s also you just showed them that they’re wrong because you’ve taken that and used it to motivate you.
00;14;56;15 – 00;15;12;24
Speaker 3
And so I don’t I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I think any way you can motivate yourself, you know, I know like Arnold Schwarzenegger from bodybuilding back in those days, he did the same thing. People tell him, you’re never going to you’re not you don’t have genetics. You’re not going to get you wrote it down and used it like I’ve heard that a lot, where people use those to motivate them.
00;15;12;24 – 00;15;24;05
Speaker 3
So I think that’s I think it’s great. And I think what’s good is like you wrote them down and you put them on the door like, that’s front center, right? Like, that’s a reminder of, you know, hey, it drives you and pushes you. And so, yeah, I think it’s great.
00;15;24;05 – 00;15;30;28
Speaker 2
Yeah. To everybody in my Hall of Fame. Thank you. You have given me motivation, so I appreciate it. Ken, what’s next on your list?
00;15;30;28 – 00;15;46;23
Speaker 3
So this next one here is this one is very important to me. I kind of like yours where you have some that you’re going to be vulnerable. This one here is like it involves my kids. And so it’s very important. It’s very important to me. And so a lot of times we say, you know, you’re a lot well, kids are.
00;15;46;26 – 00;16;03;01
Speaker 3
I want to do something for my kids. I want to work hard. I want to not only provide for them, you know, give them the things that they need by them, the things that they want, make them happy, make sure they’re happy and cared for and everything. Right? Providing for your kids is a common motivator. This one for me, like goes a little bit deeper.
00;16;03;01 – 00;16;17;22
Speaker 3
So my kids are some perspective. They’re a little bit older, they’re 16 and 18. And so that’s hold my kids are. So now I’m getting to the point where I’m almost through the phase of hopefully I’m almost through the phase of of making them happy and giving them the things they need. Hopefully they’re going to be able to do that on their own very soon.
00;16;17;22 – 00;16;37;13
Speaker 3
And so for me, it’s kind of moved into a phase of modeling for them. And what I mean by modeling for them is I saw something, a poster, and it was very, very impactful, probably a year, year and a half ago. And it showed a picture of a guy, he was in a gym and his son was in the gym and his son was about four years old and he was kind of standing in the corner.
- Belsky, Jared (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 248 Pages - 02/14/2019 (Publication Date) - Mahopac Publishing (Publisher)
00;16;37;13 – 00;16;56;12
Speaker 3
And the the dad was lifting weights and it had like a little bubble. And it said the little boy was just sitting there, just kind of had a little bubble and it had a question mark. And he was watching his dad work out and the saying is like, you know, it’s very tough to sometimes teach kids things. I like sit my kids down all the time and lecture them.
00;16;56;12 – 00;17;11;06
Speaker 3
Don’t stay out late. Don’t you? You know, do you know, just lecture? Lecture. They’re not going to they’re not going to listen to that. Most times they don’t. They just like, okay, I won’t do it anymore, Dad, and leave. And they just don’t learn from that. But what they do learn from is sitting back and watching what I do and what behaviors I’m modeling.
00;17;11;06 – 00;17;24;14
Speaker 3
You know, like I always try to if we’re out in public and and we see someone that’s like homeless or they need help or something, I’m going to go over to them. What do you you know, are you hungry? Do you need water? What can we do to help you? My kids see that. And so they’re going to me.
00;17;24;14 – 00;17;39;27
Speaker 3
That’s going to be normal for them, modeling behavior for them. Another example is, you know, working hard. You know, am I going to sleep in in the mornings or am I going to am I am I going to think like I need to get up and work hard? And so my kids, you know, when they’re up, when when they wake up and they’re like, oh, dad’s already worked out.
00;17;39;27 – 00;18;02;27
Speaker 3
He’s already in his office working like, man, you know, when as they, as they get older and get into that mindset and even now they’re going to think like, you know, my dad’s doing that and that’s kind of normal and I need to be doing that. And so for me, modeling behaviors is very motivating. And so and for my kids, so to to teach them and not only not really to provide for them, to teach them and to help them, yes, lecturing them, that’s a work.
00;18;02;27 – 00;18;23;22
Speaker 3
But when I model behaviors, good behaviors, how I’m treating people, how hard I’m working, you know, am I eating good? And my answers to all the stuff that you want to teach your kids? I’ve learned that modeling your own behaviors is most of the battle. And to me, that’s motivating that. That motivates me to do better with my fitness and my health and my work and in everything.
00;18;23;22 – 00;18;26;16
Speaker 3
And so that was definitely, definitely super motivating for me.
00;18;26;17 – 00;18;47;24
Speaker 2
Definitely. Definitely. All right. So that is the conclusion of artists. I would encourage anybody that is feeling like having a tough time getting motivated to try out a couple of these and also can and I would love to hear what gets you motivated, know what gets you pumped up. So his support at firing the man icon, we’d love to hear what gets you pumped up.
00;18;47;24 – 00;18;50;25
Speaker 2
So thank you, everyone for tuning in and we’ll see you next week.
- Audible Audiobook
- Harvard Business Review (Author) - Mike Lenz, Rachel Perry (Narrators)
- English (Publication Language)