Dragon's Gold: The Magic of Mindset

No Off Switch: Jason Wright on Relentless Growth & Resilience

• Justin Mills • Season 1 • Episode 14

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Episode Summary:

What happens when you refuse to quit—no matter what?

In this episode of Dragon’s Gold: The Magic of Mindset, Jason Wright shares his relentless entrepreneurial journey—from starting a lawn care business at 14 to navigating the toughest year of his business in 2024. He opens up about the darkest moments, the game-changing lessons, and the mindset shifts that helped him rebuild stronger than ever. If you’ve ever struggled with self-doubt, market shifts, or the pressure of entrepreneurship, this conversation is for you.

Key Themes:

  • How resilience and adaptability helped Jason rebuild his business
  • The importance of lead generation & automation in scaling
  • How a near-death experience reshaped his outlook on success
  • Why self-doubt & imposter syndrome are common but beatable
  • How to build a business that thrives in uncertainty

What You’ll Learn:

  • How Jason built multiple businesses & survived two corporate exits
  • The BIGGEST mistake entrepreneurs make when scaling
  • The importance of taking control of lead generation (and how he does it)
  • The mindset shift that changed his approach to success
  • His near-death hiking experience and how it shaped his resilience

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About Gold Dragon Investments:
At Gold Dragon Investments, our mission is to bring joy to others by helping them win the game of investing — helping every client become the hero of their financial journey. We believe that wealth is a tool, but joy is the ultimate outcome.
Through meaningful partnerships, we strive to empower our investors to create freedom, and build lasting legacies of purpose, fulfillment, and wealth.

Join Us on the Adventure:

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome once again to another episode of Dragon's Gold:

The Magic of Mindset. Today we have the pleasure of having an amazing guest, Jason Wright, founder and CEO of Intentionally Inspirational, also published author, public speaker, coach, mentor, and an amazing human from all accounts. And today we're going to be able to share some of his story with you. Jason, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me, man. Glad to be here. Yeah, pleasure, Well, let's dive in. Let's go to the origin story. Where did it all begin for Jason Wright? Yeah, so when I was a kid, the most exciting thing for me in the world was fishing. Loved to fish. Originally from Indianapolis area, so I had little farm ponds and stuff all around me. And I was about 14 and I remember I got the new Bass Pro Shops catalog in and I showed my mom. It the master catalogs had all the new gear. And I said, Hey, check this out. There's some new stuff I want to get. My mom's like, Whoa, whoa, whoa. We're not buying you any more tackle. I was like, what do you mean? haven't seen what's in here. She's like, you have more fishing tackle than anybody I know. I was like, well, I've got to get this stuff. She said, well, I suggest you figure out how to buy it because I'm not paying for it. OK. So at 14, I lived in a cul-de-sac. There was three other homes that always had the most overgrown yards. And I knew them. So I just went and knocked on three doors and I said, hey, how about I start cutting your grass? 25 bucks a week. I'll take care of the weed eating, the blowing, all that. They're like, OK. So they all hired me. and I had 75 bucks a week cash and no bills and that was my first taste of entrepreneurship. I needless to say, I got the tackle I wanted Fast forward to high school. I get out of high school. I work in an oil change place for six bucks an hour. Hated the work, hated being there at 8 a.m. or whenever they told me. There was nothing that I enjoyed about it. Didn't like the people. All the people were like felons that I worked with and or shady stuff going on. was like, I don't want to be here. So at the time, my girlfriend's dad was like, why don't you start cutting grass? I was like, it's kind of funny you say that. I used to do that. I still live in the same neighborhood, so I'm sure I can replace this income. So started cutting grass in the neighborhood, doing landscaping, and built this company up. And it got big enough that I needed to quit college or go full time with the business and everybody around me. Said you need to go to college, you need to get that degree, it's the only way you can be successful. So I listened to it when I shut it down and always regretted it. It always bothered me because I always wondered what if, right? Where would it be today? So I made it in the corporate world about seven years, decided that I just don't like people telling me what to do. I don't like people dictating my hours, my income, my creative freedom, et cetera. So I quit corporate not once but twice and finally figured it out and became an entrepreneur full time for myself. think it's amazing that the experience that you had being able to go in, learn what you didn't like, grow from that experience, keep expanding, try something again, still realize that this isn't your niche, And I think that the idea is, that it's, it's always a constant evolution, You're always growing and putting in that time, getting those reps, getting that experience. helps to teach you what you like, but also what you don't and what you're willing to accept and what you're not. And then If you can make choices, take action and move forward on that, the sky's the limit. So we talk about leap of faith and I think you've shared some of the pieces there, but like, when did you know that you wanted something more? Getting that taste of entrepreneurship at such a young age, And being able to get the tackle, It may seem small to some people, but I think it's massive to you and to the experience that you had in being able to grow in that. When did you know that you were destined for something greater? And did you feel when you took that leap into action? It's an interesting question because there's a variable here that comes into play at that point that we're not talking about yet, and that is my wife. So my wife is not an entrepreneur. Her mind does not work like mine. And for everybody listening, you may know exactly where I'm going, but just because I have the calling doesn't mean I'm going to be able to sell it to the wife and the two small kids. So I was working at a company in HR and that's seven years in corporate. was between HR and sales and safety. All of them involve people. So it's pretty similar skill set to be honest, but I was working for a company and the owner, the founder was high school educated, worth about 300 million bucks, very successful guy, but he wasn't a very nice guy. And I just, got so tired of the daily commute to the west side of Indianapolis and the traffic and all this stuff. And I was like, if this joker can build this empire, surely I can build enough of a company to pay my bills from home. Like my initial motivator was I don't want to commute anymore. Not that like it would be nice, like I'm not gonna do it, like I'm gonna stop. you know that creates some tension, because my wife's like, well what if we're not ready? And I'm like, well I guess I'll figure it out, because I got to a point where I was like, I'm not asking, like I'm not doing it anymore, and you don't work, so buckle up buttercup, here it comes. Right, so for me the initial thing was, I just have to kill the commute, and I'll worry about the other stuff later, and surely I can pay my bills online. So I just kind of reached my breaking point with that job. I just had enough, man. I just was like, I'm doing this because everybody keeps telling me I have to, and I don't want to do this anymore, Life is not long or promised. I don't want to do it anymore, so I'm over it. So typically in business, when I get pissed off, I generate results. I get focused. I take action immediately, And that was the moment. But like I mentioned in my opening, I quit corporate twice. So what I did at that point did not work out so well. So I hear pain drives action, And feeling that just having to make a change. I think too, when you talk about your wife, and I can speak from personal experience and say that, well, she's my rock, she is my everything. She's part of the reason that I work so hard, her and my three children. But you're right, they're not always on board with. those adventures that you're like, let's go. And they're like, no. think that it's really important to think about the people that are along our journey, Very commonly we can attach to people or people attached to us, and they're an anchor that hold us back from the dreams and the vision that we have. And sometimes you have to find out how can I, if you really want to and value that relationship, how can you bring them along? And sometimes you have to understand where do you cut ties, It's an important piece to know and to consider and it's not something that's always top of mind, but I think that it's, key. and I call it the fellowship, the, people that go along this journey with us, the inspirational individuals, the mentors, the coaches, and sometimes just the friends who would you share along your journey has, filled that role or those roles. It's a good question. I'll say this before I answer that, but in my experience, most people, especially when we were getting started, who I told about my dreams were negative. Family, friends, neighbors. I was very, like most people, you're hurt and you're offended, but then you realize it's not about me at all. It's about them. It's about them telling you what they can't do and then they substitute them and put your name there. So a quote that I heard, it's not my quote that that helped me a lot in the beginning was be careful who you tell your dreams to because if you're not and you tell the people closest to you and they don't say what you want, they can mentally wreck you, take you out the game before you even start. For this question, I'll give a shout out to my buddy, Kyle Cooper. I've known him since fourth grade and since day one, he's been a believer and like you're to do everything you want to do. And he's still that way to this day. So a couple of friends. And there's some others, but I want to give him the shout out because he never said one negative thing or never introduced any doubt into the equation, even when things weren't going well at all. and all you need is one, you need one person to be like, bro, you got this. And that's, all you need. You need one person to echo what you believe to be true. And it can make all the difference in the world. Shout out to Kyle. That's amazing. I love that you had someone in your corner that helped to support you there. And I think there's a lot to be said about that that unconditional support in the sense that never negative word or a nay say, right? Yes, things happen. It's not easy. It is tough. You will fall and skin your knee and in some cases fall on your face. The reality is, is who's going to be there to help you get back up again, brush you off and say you got this, keep you going. And to be able to have someone in your life that that gave you that kind of support is a gift that I'm grateful that you had. Absolutely. So on those moments when you fall and skin your knee got back up, right? The trials, the tribulations, moments of pain. I think over time, there are many situations. Are there any specific trials or tribulations that come to your mind that you would share? And how did you overcome them? Yeah, so think initially, so when I quit corporate the first time, I look back at that young version of me and go, you idiot. But I didn't even have a plan, bro. I told my wife we're going to start these neighborhood magazines, and I didn't really want to do it. But I got her bought into that idea, and I was like, I'll figure it out. But I had no plan at all. So like most people, I ran out of time and money and had to go back. So that was. pretty rocky, especially when I'm like, hey, I'm going to quit again. Remember how well I did last time? It was a complete failure. So that's tough. the mistake I made is I went from initially from an income to zero, then tried to build something from zero with no plan. Didn't work. The next time I quit corporate, I still had a full-time job. And then every second I wasn't there, I built something up. And then my wife's actually the one that said, now it's time to quit. because I know you're never going to stop. So that's the smarter thing. But then once I quit that job is, you know, can I pay my bills every month? So that piece is tough because there's a lot of can I do that? Will this work type of thinking? But there's been several times throughout the last 10 years of the business has kind of peaked and then dropped in the market changes. Offers that used to work don't work anymore. 2024 was probably my hardest year. for some different reasons, but yeah, there's always going to be times where things are going good and then times where they stop going good. It's kind of like if you, crypto investor, I love crypto, they're very volatile charts. All coins are volatile and businesses are the same way. It's never going to be a straight upward trajectory. There's always going to be setbacks and curve balls and things that come up. you know, the piece of will this work? Can I do it? You know, that was tough, but I've got that box checked. But being ready for the next storm is a big lesson from last year So you just have to know what's coming and lean back into what got you through it last time and stay calm You can't freak out you can't panic and you have to be willing to course correct very quickly as well think having that speed, that reaction, being able to course correct, as you say, is so integral, Recognizing what's working, what's not, Cut the chaff not doing you any good and then lean in hard on the stuff that is working. And recognize that what's working today may not work tomorrow, And setting up that shoring up, being prepared for the next storm, Batten down the hatches, be prepared to be able to weather so key. I think about what you said about going into corporate and then leaving, Trying the new thing, failing at it, Going back to corporate because you got to live, right? Funny thing, food doesn't put itself on the table. and I loved what you said when your wife was the one who said, all right, it's time to cut because I know you're not going to stop, I know you're to keep going. And I think that moment right there where You knew you weren't going to stop. You believed it, but you did it so hard and so much that people around you started recognizing like, he's never going to quit this. He's going to keep going. And then to be able to come back and support you, I think there's a really deep lesson there and understanding that it doesn't come easy. It doesn't come fast, but if you're willing to put in the time, the effort, the energy, and don't quit, you can achieve anything you put your mind to. Yeah, absolutely. And for me, this kind of goes to a crazy place. But when I told my wife and I was serious, like, I'm willing to lose everything for this because I don't have an off switch. Like, I'm willing to lose the family. I don't think I will because I believe in enough. At that time, I was like, I know enough of what's working. It's going to work out. But I'm not stopping no matter what. So buckle up or don't. that's hardcore. But it's not a joke. don't have an off switch. So people are like, when will you stop doing stuff? When I die. I can't sit around, dude. can't. Christmas Day is about the only day of the year when I'm tapping the sides of the couch trying to hang out for a day. I like instant gratification. What I mean is yesterday I cleaned my garage for 10 hours. I love it. I love it. My back didn't love it, but I can go out there today and go, look what I've done. Look at all the trash. It's not here. So I'm always doing stuff productive. I'm always moving the needle forward because that's what I enjoy. So there is no off switch for me. And that's the way I was born. was committed enough with it. I was like, I'm not stopping this pursuit no matter what. So if you leave, it'll break my heart. But I'm still not going to stop. And she's like, dude, you're nuts. And I'm like, and for that reason, we'll be fine. Yes, yes right there and for that reason right you'll be fine. That's it because you will not quit and I Love that I Want people to rewind and just listen to that one more time just to hear because it's so important, You no matter what comes you will not stop. So that said feel like everyone has an opportunity or rather a moment where the pain is so great that do consider throwing in the towel. And I'm curious what moment was that for you and how did you overcome it? Yeah, so my moment was August of this last year, 2024. So 2023, we had an amazing year in business. Personal income was amazing. Well, far better than anything I would have ever dreamed of. And then you get on wave and you think this will never end, nothing will ever change. It'll just keep drawing like this forever, year over year over year. reality struck. 2024, a lot of our focus for clients a year ago now, was real estate investors, specifically capital raisers. And we still work with those, but that's all we worked with. The narrow niche helped us get to a level, but in order to grow, we've got to expand beyond that niche. When you look at some of the biggest companies in the world, they figure out ways to broaden their offerings for that reason. Look at Amazon. They're into everything and serve everybody. So... I was too narrowly focused on a niche and the market had shifted. the biggest lesson was I was a hundred percent reliant on other people for my leads. Critical, critical mistake. And it had been fine. It had worked fine all the way up to that point in my business since I started. So what happened was in August, had a buddy came down from Indianapolis. live in coastal Georgia now, right by the Florida line. He came down and I had this realization I was like revenue keeps dropping month over month we're not getting any leads the people we're targeting nobody's interested in buying anything which is really weird And like nothing's happening to business. I don't know. I don't know how many more months I can go on before we start seeing real pain financially. Real pain. Just bleeding cash. Just bleeding everything. And I was like doing the numbers and I was like, I don't know how to get out of this. I don't know if I'm going have enough time to turn this ship around. So there was a period of about three or four days where It wasn't like I'm going to quit. It was like I'm going to run out of money and go out of business and lose my house. Like I don't know what to do because nothing happens overnight. So I had to bring my wife up to speed with the situation and she didn't seem to get it. I was like, no, let me fill in some numbers for you. So then she's. You know, kind of floored and shocked and how does this happen? Well, it happens gradually. And then you reach a point and you go, if we continue down this path another three or four months, we're in serious trouble. Like we're living in the truck maybe. like that was harder than can I pay my bills? Can I make the business to go to the peak of the Hill? I never even thought I might've have to defend this Hill someday. Like I never thought I might have to. Protect what I've built not from another person but from changes in the market or whatever the case might be so the Empire was under attack and I had no walls and no guns and no plan and we're just getting our butts handed to us so Pretty freakin dark man, but I literally was like I don't think I can get out of this I don't know how I have no idea how to get out of this So there's the dark moment when you're ready. I'll tell you what we did about it I absolutely am like on the edge of my seat. Tell me how did you get out of that? So step one is the buddy that came down was name is Travis great dude. He's super super even keeled and consistent like that's his personality It's exactly the person I needed there at that time because I was able to share most of this with him as I was having these realizations and We smoked a bunch of cigars and sat by the pool a lot. I was able to like slow down the noise and actually hear my own thoughts and What I figured out was if somebody else came to me in my scenario, what would I tell them to do? For some reason, it was easy for me to come up with the solution then, but when I put me in there, I couldn't see it. I was like, need more booked calls. So how do I get more booked calls? Everything I'm going to do, I'm going to focus on generating my own leads. And I did that and nothing happened. And I knew from experience, if I keep doing this stuff every day, someone's going to book a call with me. And if I book enough calls, people are going to start buying. So what we did is we came up with a little bit different offer. We targeted industries and I just became focused on generating our own leads. And finally, people started getting on the calendar. And finally, after about four months, I figured kind of what was working and what I could double down on for 2025. And I also sold a piece of property that we owned in Wyoming, which gave us a big influx of cash that saved my butt. So. My buddy said, what do you think about selling that? I like, I don't want to talk about it. And then like two days later, my wife's like, hey, what do you think about selling this? And I was like, all right, let's sell it. Like that's a sign. And it was in Wyoming. So when we listed it, the agent said, hey, it was in September. She said, hey, it's winter here. So don't expect this thing to move to like May or June. It's just how it works. I'm like, okay, that's not going to help me. But it's sold in five days. Cash buyer. And I was like, so there's the lifeline that gives me what I need more than anything right now. It's time and money. So because of that, we figured out some things that are working, Trump getting elected, it's not political, it's great for business. So we're seeing a lot of things kind of course correct, but we're getting clients in new industries and I'm taking complete ownership of our leads. And that's what I should have been doing 10 years ago. So for that reason, we're going to come out of this tougher, leaner, meaner, more focused than ever before. But I was literally at a point where I was like, even if I sell all my stuff, I'm going to have to sell this house. Like I'm going to have to unload everything really fast. And I don't even know if it's fast enough. some of it was maybe overreacting fear, but some of it wasn't. It was a very real that, we're not making the money we made a year ago. a very humbling experience and I will never get myself in that again. No way. think that very last statement is so key and you'll never get yourself in that position again, right? You learn from it. And now you know how to avoid that situation. now you've you've built those walls, you've put up those guns, you've done what you need to in order to protect the empire, And something very important in my mind's eye is you mentioned that it didn't happen overnight. The downhill descent right the slope you're riding high you're on the top of the mountain and you think you know You staked your flag and you don't see anything changing Suddenly you look back you're like wait a minute. How did this happen? Like where did this come from? and I think that a lot of times people They don't realize that Pieces are gradual like things grow over time or degrade over time And I think that to that point, a lot of people want instant gratification. They want the immediate win. They say, I want to be a millionaire overnight or I want that big house or I want all the whatever the material is. Right. Or even if it's something that's more philosophical in nature, even to that point, in order to ascend mentally or physically to a point, if you want a perfect body because you're working out all the time again, that doesn't happen overnight. All of those things take time. effort, energy, discipline, right? Recognizing what's working and then doing more of that. Looking back, recognizing how far you've come. Great. I'm making forward progress. Maybe it's not as fast as you want it to be, but as long as you're consistently moving forward, because either you're moving forward or you're falling back, right? Like there really is no stagnation. So being to see that and recognize the growth you made the comment about maybe over overreacting a little bit, maybe it wasn't as bad as you thought it was, You it wasn't going to be good, Maybe you weren't gonna lose everything, but it felt like that. And my point in saying it that way is feeling is such a powerful driver, like it's real to you. Whether someone else looks into that on a vision, they see something different than you do, you're the one in it and you feel it. that can help you win or it can drag you down depending upon how you harness that perspective and that focus. Yeah, perception is reality. Perception is reality. Absolutely. makes me think of your friend Kyle, no matter where you were at with your business, always giving you that support, Cause his perception is you are going to succeed. And sometimes that's the fan of the flame. Like that's the little bit that we need the boost to say, you know what? Yes, I can. and to that point too, you made a comment about sitting around, smoking the cigars, having a conversation. bouncing the idea off of a friend, And then turning around and saying, well, if someone else came to me and asked me these questions, how would I suggest to them to get out of it? And so my point, when you remove yourself from the situation and you look at it objectively, it can really change when you look at a situation through an outside perspective, it gives you the ability to make decisions that are not emotional, And sometimes taking the emotion from that situation is what you need. I've heard people talk about coming to these great realizations or feeling overwhelmed, going to sleep, and then waking up the next morning with a fresh perspective. So the idea in that simply sometimes you have to just remove yourself from the moment, And then come back and look at it with fresh eyes. I think that that's a powerful lesson that anybody who's trying to achieve success can benefit from. It's interesting what you say about that. So I kind of noticed that last year as well. If there's a big decision, but it's not pertinent that I make it now, sleep on it or walk away and come back and you'll have more clarity. It really is true. You'll like this. So when I told Kyle about what was going on this summer, he's like, I'm not worried. You'll figure it out. I was like, but dude, you don't understand. He goes, it doesn't matter. It's you. You'll figure it out. he wasn't even worried. He wasn't even remotely worried. I wouldn't say that I figured it out yet, but I would say, because I'm cautious to say that, I would say that the trajectory that we're going is quite encouraging. I like how you mentioned that you're cautious. Like you don't even want to say that you figured it out, even though yes, you've changed trajectory Things are now starting to move in the right direction, You already know what success is. You've achieved it, So you know that you're on the path back to it, but you're reticent to say like, I've got it figured out. No, I'm going to keep working at it. And it's a constant evolution. It's a constant effort and change. It's always a work in progress, And sometimes it's more messy than others, but being able to see that forward progress and then making sure that you're employing the lessons that you've learned from the experience, both from 10 years back when you started your business to three or four months ago from when you were at a moment of the darkest hour in that pain. all of it has been an evolution and a growth that you've achieved over time. And that. really made me pull one thing away. And I just made this up on the fly, but this is true. whether it's good or bad, it all begins and ends with mindset. like you said, even if I'm walking one foot in front of the other, it's gonna be painful, it's gonna be messy, it may feel like I'm making no progress, but eventually you're gonna able to look around and go, oh, I've moved down the road. timeline for stuff is unknown. was never, I'm still not a real patient guy, but in business you don't have control over the timeline. So you might as well say, I'm going to do this until I get X result. It may be tomorrow, it may be in 39 years, you have to be willing to commit the same to either, otherwise you're going to give up and it's not going to work anyway. Hmm. I really liked that Jason, having a goal, having a vision, setting that goal and just recognizing that regardless of the timeline, I will achieve it. Right. Having that belief and things don't always work in the timeline that we expect. Very commonly do not, right? Setting, setting these massive goals for the future is really important. I think to have, I call it the lighthouse right in the distance. Like you see, it gives you a beacon and allows you to course correct. But when you're in it, whether you're on the ship or your ship is capsized, like you still got to get to the lighthouse. You got to right the ship and you got to keep going. So being able to look up from the storm and see where are you and learning from the experience. And as long as you're not dead, you still got more to go. Right. So I think that's a huge. So. Successes, I call it the dragon's gold. Achievements, things that you've experienced and most importantly, and you touched on it, mindset, something that you've learned that you'd share with the listeners. What are some of the pieces of gold that you've experienced? Yeah, it's stuff you've heard before, but I'm just sharing it with you from my own experience. But anything that you want or put your mind to, you can have and can achieve. So you can't let your past experiences define you. You can't let other people place limitations on what you can and can't do because they don't have any impact on it. So if you want to make a million dollars a year, somebody else doesn't get to tell you it's not possible or it's not going to happen. They can say it, but you need to get to the point where you just don't listen to them because it has no effect on you getting there not getting there. You got to believe in yourself. And you've got to understand that people that achieve things that you want, they're not better than you. There's nothing special about them. They may have been doing something longer, but it is all certainly possible. Anything's possible. I like the word impossible, right? In the word itself, it says I'm possible, right? Like you can do anything you put your mind to. you shared so much value in this so far, and I'm really grateful, Jason, for you sharing some of the story. I, if I recall, there was a moment and I'm asking this because I want to put things in perspective. So I'm under the impression that you enjoy going on trails or hikes or something of that nature. And I think that there was a fairly precarious moment in your life. Would you mind sharing that with us? Must be talking about Mount Charleston in Nevada. So I like the outdoors, hunting, fishing, a little bit of hiking, all that good stuff. I can't remember how long ago it's been. It's been years ago. I lived in Indianapolis at the time, Indianapolis area. And a buddy was like, hey, you want to go to Vegas with me and hike this mountain with me and my brothers? Okay, I've never really done anything like that before. He's like, we'll need to take water, but it'll be fine. So he told me what to buy as far as a bag. It's a pretty big bag, man. So we go out there and I have some hiking sticks. My knees bother me sometimes, some hiking shoes and all this water, man, all this water. And there's an app called All Trails. And if you look at Mount Charleston in Nevada, hits the highest peak in the state. It's like 11,900 feet at the peak. So when we're going out there, he starts saying, man, we're going up a vertical mile and like, I don't know, a mile or two is really steep, like extreme, right? So none of us are ready for this. And it's like the most physically grueling thing I've ever done in my life. Like I'm out of shape. We're going into this crazy hike and it's like, was it 17 miles is the full deal. And the plan was to hike up to a spot and camp and then finish it day two and come back down. Well, we get up to the spot to camp and we're all just done. Like it's so hard. We have so much weight and water in our bags. So we set up camp and the young guy in the group is like, hey, I want to go to the peak tonight. And was like, have fun. And he's like, well, it's just across this field, like this flat field. And then it's right there. And we come right back. Well, I'm here. I guess I'll go with you. So I take a bottle of water and a snack and a little flashlight. And I did take a coat because it was a lot cooler up there than it was when we started. And he had about the same. The other two guys stayed behind. Well, we keep going and going and going and going and we finally, you know, we're like, we lost? We're way out there. We've been going for hours. We passed some people that we saw in the morning and they're like, what are you guys doing up here? Like we're trying to go to the peak. They're like, it's another five miles to that way. I'm like, my God, I don't want to do all this. So the last mile or two, it gets really, really cold and really, really steep. And I actually have a picture. We made it to the top. the last. The last little bit was like a 20 or 25 % drain, it was brutal. The air was thin, so we both got altitude sickness or dehydrated or out of water or out of food. We get to the top and it's, I don't know, 40 mile an hour winds and probably in the 20s. So I'm putting on a coat, I'm soaked in sweat and shorts. You know, I get this really cool picture of me holding the American flag on the top and you can see like three states from up there. And then I have this realization, my God, we have to go back. Like, I don't know how we're gonna go because you're on a little goat trail, right? It's barely defined trail and there's nothing there, you're on a mountain. So we were like, We gotta go back. We're up here in the dark. We have no resources. So we just start walking as fast as we can. And we have to keep stopping because we're both dry heaving and we're really sick. Just feeling awful. So we walked for about three hours as fast as we could. We kept a pace and just go, go, go, go. And we'd get lost. We couldn't find the trail and we'd kind of find it. I guess we had headlamps. his was flashing low battery. I don't know that mine was, but... It was flashing low battery before we got to the peak. So it just didn't look good. We couldn't find the campsite. we had no cell service. And we started just getting really scared. There was a moment where I was like, I gotta just come to grips. I may not survive this. I may not get out of here, right? It's freezing cold. We're soaked in sweat, no water, no food, and just, I mean, feeling awful, awful. And it's like every step is like extreme pain in the knees and just feel I'm not in shape. Like we've probably gone 12 miles at this point. And I got a call out to my wife and she answered and just randomly out there. I got a little service and I just told her kind of the scenario. I said it's not it's not it's not a good situation. She's like, what does that mean? I was like. It's possible it's the last time you hear my voice. She's like, nah, it's not gonna work. Figure it out. Like, you've got a wife and kids, you're just gonna have to figure it out. And I was like, okay. So, kept going, kept going. Finally got a call into these guys and they came and found us and we got back to the camp. We were freezing cold and starving. So, we jumped in sleeping bags, we ate for about 20 minutes and the wind and the cold at the campsite was brutal. And they said, guys, we can't stay here tonight. What are you talking about? Like, we have to go back to the truck. So we had to go down another six miles back down the mountain. it took, I had one break for about 20 minutes. It was 18 hours of hiking. Kind of a day hike turned into kind of a survival scenario, but it was, man, it was pretty, if those other two guys wouldn't have been with us, I wouldn't have made it back to the truck. I mentally didn't have it in me. I was like, I'm done. I'm broken. I'm done. I give up. my buddy John was like, keep moving. I would sit down, he'd rest with me, keep moving. So I remember when I saw the taillights of the truck, I picked up the hiking sticks and just ran the rest of the way. And I was like, I don't even know how my legs are working because I can't feel them. But that hope is powerful. But the point was, and I told this story on stage at a RaiseFest in 2023, you can do more than you think you can. Again, it begins and ends with mindset. Wow. That was not fun. He had, I have not hiked with that guy again. He asked me again, you would go hiking again? Nope. Not with you. we learned from experience, right? You know, it's unfortunate that you had the pain of the experience, but I'm grateful that you have the strength that comes from that. And what I mean in so many things that you said there in that one experience that 18 hours of grueling pain that started on a on a happy moment, You've got food, you've got water, you've got all the things you need. It's a sunny day, like you can wear shorts, you got a jacket, but you don't need to wear it right now. all the things that seem rosy. And so like that experience of this mountain that you just shared, the vision I have of it holistically in 18 hours is an entire life of an entrepreneur. Right? So like it starts off rosy and you have like this big vision and idea and then it gets hard. You hit certain points at grades where you get to the plateau to where you think that you can set up camp for the night and things change. Your friend says, no, let's, let's keep going a little bit further. You go on. It's much further than you thought it was you get finally to the, to the precipice. And you're able to take that picture, that amazing picture of you holding the American flag, seeing three states, And then you're like, oh, wait, the realization dawns on you. I got to go back. Wait, what? I'm not done yet. And so then then you got to move yourself all the way back. You got to live through the experience. You connect with your wife. You have to break some serious news in the sense that like may not see from me again or hear from me And then. her support to say, you guys got to figure it out. And so it makes me think about what's your why? What's your reason? Why do you want to keep pushing forward? Because it's easy to curl up in a ball and to quit. It's easy to just say, I'm done. But when there's other people counting on you and you have to push yourself through, you find a way. have so much more potential in you and you can achieve so much more than you even believe yourself. You just have to understand why. What's my why? What's going to drive me? What's going to push me through when I think all is lost? And then you get back to camp and you think finally you're done. You finally made it and you're not. You got to keep going. Right. dude. I almost cried. They're like, we have to go back. And I was like, there's a guy. Yeah, they were like, no, take a take 20 minutes. We got to move. And I was like, my God. but that's it, right? Things happen. and frankly, that comment right there makes me think of your 2024, right? The August of 24, that moment, like, damn it. You're like, no, you have to keep moving. Like you don't have a choice or you will die or it will be like game over, right? So you push yourself through and were you able to do it alone? You were not. You need your friends there to support you, right? And when you did stop, cause you ran out of gas, there was someone there to say, no, we can do this. Push yourself through. And then and I love that the very end of all of that, you saw the car, you literally picked up those hiking sticks and you ran to the vehicle. Like if you had told yourself you're going to run that last little bit, you probably would have laughed at yourself. there's no way you would have believed that. But when your why is strong enough, that moment being able to see that's safety, that Like finally, you know, the destination is done. and you find this second wind or this fifth wind to be able to push you through, what an incredible story and an analogy on how much it reflects on life of an entrepreneur. And I'm to make one more comment about this that I think is really powerful. You have that picture up on the mountain and everybody can look at that picture and they can see you smiling with all the like the beauty that's there, the inspiration that it is. But it's the idea of the iceberg analogy, right? Everybody sees that, but they don't know all the time, effort, energy, the blood, sweat, tears that you put into it before and after, right? Keep pushing through. Everyone just sees that snapshot. And I think so often, like with social media, people see the best of everyone's life on there and they don't realize all the stuff that goes on behind the scenes. I just think that that's so much about what you share in that story is, is amazingly relatable. and inspirational. So thank you for sharing that. Yeah no problem, you know what's crazy is five minutes after we got to the peak, it became pitch black out. It's the entire trip back was in the dark at a place I'd never been to and didn't know. It's pretty wild. And that guy's headlamp that was flashing low battery about halfway to the peak. It never died. He made it all the way back in the cold and everything. That's God right there. Like that lamp should have burned out. Actually, I didn't have a headlamp. He was the only one that had one. So he was in front of me and I followed him. That was the only light we had. It never burned out though. It was rechargeable. I forgot about that. I didn't even have a light. Do you see if that light would have burned out? I mean, we would have literally just been aimlessly wandering in the darkness. Pretty crazy. Wow. Jason, thanks for sharing that story, buddy. That's super powerful on so many levels. Well, luckily you made it through, so you now have the ability to pass the torch, You have the ability to share some of this wisdom with others, So that they can go on their perilous journeys as well and hopefully make it through. And so to that point, I call this the hall of heroes, people were to walk through and see a statue of Jason Wright and there was a plaque at the bottom and it shared some lessons what would you want it to say? What would you want people to remember you by? Yeah, no off switch. And what that means is everything we're talking about, man, one foot in front of the other, no matter what. Doesn't have to be fast, doesn't have to be glamorous, but you'll never reach the finish line if you don't keep moving towards it. Love it. No off switch. So what's next? What's the next quest for Jason Wright? Yeah, I really what I want to do this year is I want to get the business back into a more comfortable place, more new clients, grow the team, grow the existing team's opportunities, all the good stuff that we were working on last year, but we've had this little setback here. So getting that stuff back to good place. And then I just want to spend more time, you know, more time hunting. I haven't got to do much hunting since I moved down here, kind of figure that whole thing out for next year. whether it's buying property or leasing or whatever, more time fishing as well. balance it out and yeah, do that. But like as far as financial goals, like last year beat that out of me. There was a period where I became really focused on monetary stuff and none of it matters now. I'd rather have no debt. I tell you what, there's a goal, pay off everything I own. So having no debt when things are going bad would be... it would have everything. It would have taken so much pressure off. So those are some of my goals at this point. Thank you for sharing. I'm curious with what you said it made me consider. So it would have taken so much pressure off. Not having that pressure, would you have pushed as hard? Yeah, because I understood that it's not fun, right? When you're used to kicking butt and you go back into this other mode, that's not fun either. So I would have pushed as hard. Yeah, for sure. It would just taken some of the extreme pressure and stress. would have lessened it up for sure. So there's no way I was going to stay complacent with where we were headed at all. No way at all. Well, that's the same idea and mindset that got you there in the first place, right? To the success levels and pushing yourself through. a firm believer that pressure makes diamonds, And I feel that when you do have that pressure behind, it's amazing the wells or the reserves that you can pull things from, the creativity that it can stimulate, right? As long as you don't let the terror overcome you, So tools and weapons, things that have helped you on your journey, resources, books, programs, et cetera, is there anything you'd share with the listeners that has helped you and perhaps would help them? Yeah, mean, you mentioned some point earlier, Think & Grow Rich So when I was early on in my entrepreneurial journey, I did a lot of reading and there was like the first year was all about reading. And then I was like, all right, it's time to do stuff. So I haven't consumed near as much content for years, but the principles are timeless, right? So remembering that people much more successful than me have much more dramatic stories, right? They have the ups and the downs, but you get people losing. Marriages and losing homes and getting things repoed and living outside and all this kind of stuff never done any of that So there's a lot of people who've walked harder paths Than me, so I remember that but you know podcasts and books like I like them I just don't consume much content these days because I'm generally focused. I would rather create the content than consume it not saying there's not value there is of my greatest tools is my mind and my creativity and the ability to create offers that resonate with people and test offers. that's the greatest thing. As long as you understand how to create offers and test stuff, you can always find a solution, right? gives you more revenue in business, solves all problems in business, has the potential to. So if I can generate more revenue, can figure it out. So hopefully that makes sense. Yeah, absolutely. does. think of wealth is a tool, And joy is the ultimate journey. When you talk about wanting to hunt and fish more, well, that getting on that land, you know, the munitions that you use like that's not free, right? Like, so you need, you need the wealth, the tools to be able to feed that journey and to be able to do what's important to you and to feed the joy, finding that balance, I know some people talk about work life balance. I think frankly, for most entrepreneurs, it's just like you say, no off switch, you have to push, there's no balance. Like you lean hard into it, right? And you keep pushing forward. Because when you saw back and you have that balance, well, then you stop moving forward, you stop moving the needle. And that's my perspective. granted I believe that there's an infinite number of perspectives that could come to talk about that. But theme that I found consistently at this point is that you have to lean hard into it is you're doing to achieve the success because you have to push yourself through all of the pain that will inevitably come with the experiences. Yeah, if you look at like what Alex Hormozi and Gary Vee talk about, it's the same thing, right? The first 10, 15 years, whatever, they're working their faces off, not hanging out and doing stuff. What most people do wrong is they want to do this work-life balance thing, you know, six months into their business. They think they've earned it or think they're worthy, and then they're working for somebody in, eight to 10 months. we live in a world and it's probably a lot of it's social media, but everybody wants the big reward now, but they haven't actually done anything to earn that or deserve that. So life has a way of humbling that and setting that straight. yeah, it's. me think of your mountain mission, you think you've achieved it, you think you've done it, There's more to do, And then when you finally hit that, you're like, wait, no, you're not done yet, whether you like it or not, you can curl up in a ball and die, or you can keep pushing through. You have two choices, Well, no off switch, keep going, let's go. And so. a great quote that applies to everything we're saying. Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face. that wraps up everything we've talked about It does. it's the idea like there's a meme about Rocky, it's getting back up again, you're going to get hit like it's inevitable. but are you going to get back up? And how many times can you get back up? Well, one more than I got knocked down, right? Always get back up. Yeah. I'm gonna tell you, this is my favorite question to ask. if you could be any mythical creature, what would it be and why? Yeah, maybe King Kong, does that count? Of course it does, absolutely, but a big part of it is why? I just like he's fierce. He's got a little bit of a soft side in there somewhere and he's fearless. So all things that resonate with me. I love it. King Kong. Very cool. Thank you, Jason, for sharing. Jason, if any of our listeners want to reach out and connect with you, how can they get ahold of you? best ways website, intentionallyinspirational.com. You can see everything that we're working on and into. Awesome. Thank All right. My friends, thank you for joining us once again to help to educate, inspire, and empower you to turn your dreams into reality, one mindset shift at a time. We'll see you next time.

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Justin Mills

Host
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Aaron Iler

Producer
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Jason Wright

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