Repisode 945. Be A Gomer Not A Guru

This episode is all about being wrong on the way to being right.

We’re wired to want to be right. To look smart. To avoid mistakes.
 But that mindset kills growth.

In this riff, I challenge you to flip the script. I’ll show you why being wrong isn’t just part of the process—it is the process. When you embrace failure with humility, you pick up shelf experiences, sharpen your skills, and keep your mind open. You stay a learner, not a know-it-all. A Gomer, not a guru.

If you’ve ever felt stuck because you didn’t have the “right answer,” this one’s for you.

You don’t need to be perfect.
 You just need to be willing.

🚀 Ready to take it further?

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Transcript

0:01

All right. 3, 2, 1. Let's get it let's talk about your willingness to fail and why it matters more than just being so fixated on being right. One thing is I was, as I was driving to the gym this morning, the notion that just kept popping up in my head, and that's kind of my quiet time when I'm on the way to the gym. I turn everything off. I think it's important that you have that alone time and so that 15 minute ride to the gym, that's my alone time and I just sit there and kind of kind of riff on things. Like I said, it's kind of my morning meeting and the thing that just kept bubbling up for me this morning is from Ray Dalio's book Principles. It's the idea of being wrong on the way to being right and being wrong on the way to being right is how I try to approach everything these days. See, when you're trying to prove that you're right. You shut down any chance of learning something new. You're rigid, you're defensive, you're opinionated, and you're just trying to protect your identity. Instead of identifying what are your blind spots, what areas do you need to learn, what areas are you just so adamant about defending versus. Gaining an understanding, but see when you're wrong on the way to being right, dude, this is what keeps you open. This is what keeps you humble and you're willing to look foolish in the short term so that way you can gain something far more valuable. In the long term. See, it's an exchange of what it is, so I, all of my experience, I suspend that I'm willing to look foolish, only for a short time, so I can adopt new skills and adapt it to my everyday experiences. When I do that and I get proficient at that, then all of my experience gets snapped onto that and now I've got a new set of skills. But the only way that that's gonna happen is you have to be willing to be wrong on the way to being right.. This is just how you get better. I mean, we, we could all get better. We all have areas of improvement there's so many more benefits that you get on being wrong then always being right. Think about it. I mean, when you're willing to be wrong. This is how you sharpen your skills. This is how you learn new angles. This is how you improve your collaboration with others because you're open, you're open to their ideas. You're not just trying to shut them down and tell them how you, uh, how you know better you pick up efficiencies. Efficiencies that you didn't even know were, were missing. You find new ways and better ways of doing what you've always done. That's what, that's the biggest defense line, right? Well, we've always done at Disolve, this is the way I've always done it. It's just the way I am and you're just, dude, you're just, you're just crying out that you just want to continue to depreciate, that you want to continue to erode. And sometimes man, when you're wrong on the way to being right, you're gonna get these shelved experiences. I like to call it. So it looks like today you can't even use those things, but you put 'em on the shelf, you do it, you put it on the shelf. You don't get all big lipped about it. You put it on the shelf and who knows, bro, A decade from now, you pull it off the shelf and you use, because you did it a decade before. Now you can use it right then and there, and you're more adapted. And you can instantly adapt that to whatever environment that you're in. And everybody else is scrambling trying to figure things out. You're like, got it. You snap it in and you go with it. This is what makes you undeniable in the marketplace, unshakeable in the marketplace. Think about that. You wanna be unshakeable, unflappable. You have to be willing to be wrong on the way to being, right? I mean, let's just stop the bus right there. Lemme just ask you a just a point blank question. Are you trying to prove something or are you trying to grow? Because see, a lot of people just live by the, I told you so. Principle. They do. And so they'll actually sabotage something. Just prove a point. But that ain't growth, bro. That's nothing but ego. Here's the point I wanna make. Don't be a guru, be a Gomer. Don't be a guru, be a Gomer. Those of you who are my age, you probably know Gomer Powell. Those of you who don't know who Gomer Powell is, look it up on YouTube. Gomer Powell. I don't know what military branch he was in, but he was just this big, goofy, goofy, all shucks kind of guy, and I mean, he just, he wasn't trying to run around. Proven how smart he was. He was. He'd be the first one to tell you. I don't know. That's what I wanna be. I don't wanna be a guru. A guru knows it all. A Gomer says, I don't know it all. He doesn't know everything and he's open to learning. That's the guy I wanna be. I wanna be the Gomer. I don't wanna be the guru because this is how. You and I can stay flexible in thought and adaptable in the long run and be relevant in the long run. That's another thing too, man, we don't talk enough about is being relevant. I, I think back to Coach George Raveling and you know, he's, I don't know what he is, 87 years old and he's had a very storied life. But one thing that he talks about, and I talked about this in like episode 3 26, back in the days, what was that? Back in 2017. And I know the number 'cause I just listened to it the other day. But he wants to be relevant. He works to be relevant. Even at 87 years old. He said, I, I just, I work to be relevant. And so he hangs out with people who are younger than him. Studies, things that he knows nothing about. I mean, he's like, it's easy for me to just hang out with a bunch of other 80 year olds, but what will I learn from that? All we're gonna do is share war stories. All we're gonna do is piss and moan about how, you know the world is going to hell in a hand basket. He's like, I just wanna stay relevant. So as the market changes, I wanna change with it. See, he's a Gomer, very smart man. He's a Gomer. He doesn't live by his accolades. He doesn't throw that. He's a hall of famer in your face. He doesn't bring up in every conversation that he has. Dr. Martin Luther King's notes from the I Have A Dream speech. He was actually working security as a young man behind Dr. Martin Luther King. And when Dr. Dr. King finished the I Have a Dream speech, he folded up the notes and Coach Raveling was like, Dr. King, can I have that? Dr. King handed it to him, didn't know it was gonna be what it was gonna be. I mean, he was just right play, right time. That's like a Forrest Gump kind of scenario. You're like, okay, that's what happens. But see, he's, he's, he's stayed a gomer even in his eighties, man. That's the kind of guy I wanna be. And bro, this is a fight, man. This is a fight you gotta constantly, because the older you get, the more closed off you're gonna try to be because you've done it your way for so long. But doing it your way has only gotten you to here. What about elsewhere? You can't just, you can't think on this level. And b, just with this experience and, and this has gotten you here, but everything's changing. So you're gonna continue on a straight line or even start the, the, actually a straight line. But as things move, that line gets further and further and further away. And so you're gonna continue to erode, not knowing 'cause you're so proud of what you know. And everything's changing. Everything is growing, everything is moving up. Are you, it's a question you gotta ask yourself. It takes a willingness, man. That's what growth takes. It takes a willingness, a willingness to be wrong, a willingness to gain experience, a willingness. To learn from someone who's younger or has less experience. Will you, uh, do you, do you slap people in the face with, oh, I've been doing this for, you've been doing this 10 minutes. I've been doing this for 20 years. You don't know that? No, bro. I learn from anybody. I don't care. I brand new salesperson. Bring it on. Somebody who's not even in sales, bring it on. You gotta have that willingness. A willingness, bro. Also, I don't think we talk enough about a willingness to laugh at yourself. I mean, think about it. I mean, what you gonna share a beer with somebody and laugh about if, if you're just always trying to be right? What about the times that you were wrong, but also how it played out in the long run? Because being wrong right now, it only looks wrong right now, but this is how you win. This is how you succeed because you just boom, boom, boom. Reps, reps, reps. Experience, experience, experience. Skillset, efficiencies, collaborations, connections, and openness. We get it all wrong, man. Being wrong does not mean that you failed. It means that you're failing and failing is a process. It's just how you get better, but also, and because you're willing to fail. This is how you get bold. This is how you get independent. This is how you earn your freedom. You wanna be competitive in the marketplace. Be willing to be wrong on the way of being right. Stop trying to hit the money shot every single time. This is how you stay sharp. This is how you handle adversity. You embrace uncertainty. This is how you never settle again. This is how you beat complacency. Take it on. Take it on. Take it on. Don't be so proud of what you know. Okay, good. Congrats. Now, what else? Don't ever settle on that. Gotta check your mindset today. So I'll leave you with this. Are you doing things just because you've always done 'em this way? Are you trying to prove someone else wrong? Instead of gaining an understanding how to get better, try something new, be willing to be wrong. On the way to being right. All right. I may be wrong, but I think this message is right, is right on time. So where are you right now, man? Where do you find yourself? Do you find yourself? And, and it could be, you know, if you find yourself a little stressed out, a little ready to just kind of go off on people, a little pissed off at work. This is what you want to ask yourself, man, you, you just want to, this is probably proof positive that you're just really proud of what you know. And you're not willing to grow what you know. There is no grow in what you know. It's what you don't know. What else is there? It's why I'm a fan of random reading. Reading something new, fresh. Every day, 15 minutes. Listen to bro. Grab a podcast that you've never even listened to before. Listen to it. Find you know what's a book? Here's, here's a cheat code for you. Find a book that you've been wanting to read. Maybe somebody gifted it to you. Look up their name in the podcast directory. Podcast app. Look up their name in the podcast app. And you know, they're trying to sell the book. So listen to a few of those interviews. You'll get the meat of the book and you don't even need to read the book. I love to read. But if you want kind of a another way of adapting to new skills and who knows, you may get what you need out of the book, or you may, based on their interviews, you may say, what I thought the title was about was how it was gonna be relevant for me. Doesn't really work for me. Okay, good. You just saved yourself 29.99 or whatever the hell it is. Alright, enough about that. With that, please make sure that you share the show with someone else. This is the only way that we grow the show, dude. We are, um, let me shout out some new cities here. Madison, Alabama, big Lake, Texas, Wexford, Pennsylvania. All my people there in France and Canada, Sweden, United Kingdom, Mozambique. We're there. This is what's, here's what's beautiful. Total sidetrack. Maybe should be another episode, but I mean, here I am in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and the message is being sent out there to Mozambique. From right here where I'm at. This is why, man, you have to. Everybody's a badass at something. This is why you need to share your expertise. Just put it out there. It's, it's not you. You're not putting it out there to get famous or anything like that. It's just somebody could benefit from what you have to share, but they'll never benefit if you're not willing to just put it out there. And as you put it out there when you teach something, this is one reason why I get on here. When you teach something. This is how the, the more I teach it, the more I explain it, the deeper I learn it. It's actually a way of me learning. So I don't get on here to pronounce, let me, you know, here's, I'm smart. No, I just, here's what I read. Here's what stung my soul. Here's how I see it. How do you see it? I just, I just deliver a message. In the, in the way I see it. I almost named the podcast the way I see it. Um, but you know, it's just, and that's why you need to put something out there. And when I say put something out there, it could be just in your community. It could be just on your feed. It could be in the written word, it could be in a picture, it could be in a quote. It could be. I, you know, a a few lines of explanation, whatever it could be in a video, it could be in a podcast. There's so many different mediums. But see, we don't do enough of that because what we do is, is we look at someone else and we say, oh, well, I'm not like them. You're not supposed to be like them. They are who they are. You need to be who you need to be. All right. Enough about that. I get off my soapbox please. Saying all I say. Be sure and share this show. We're getting out there, man. We're all over the world. Top 3% podcasts in the world. And my quest, my goal, and you're gonna help me get there, is to be the top 1% solo podcast in the world. Top 1%. I don't have to be number one, but I wanna be the top 1%. Why? Because it's available. All right, everything's available. Alright, with that, let's get outta here. Keep it simple. Keep it moving. Never settle. Stay tough. Peace. I.