Dragon's Gold: The Magic of Mindset

Heroes Aren’t Made on Accident: Rob Cook on Grit, Grace, and the Long Game of Wealth

• Justin Mills • Season 1 • Episode 23

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Episode Summary:

Failure isn't final. And the grind? It's worth it.

In this powerful episode of Dragon’s Gold: The Magic of Mindset, Rob Cook shares his raw, real journey through multiple career pivots, startup setbacks, and deeply personal struggles including infertility, financial pressure, and doubt.

What emerged from the ashes was a business built on service, a mindset grounded in faith, and a mission to help others create wealth with purpose.

Key Themes:

  • What to do when your “plan A” falls apart
  • The darkest moment in Rob’s journey—and how he kept going
  • The cost of failure and the compound return of persistence
  • Why you need vision and values to build something that lasts
  • What true success looks like (hint: it’s not just money)

What You’ll Learn:

  • The mindset that helped Rob build a thriving business inside a CPA firm
  • How to overcome failure with faith, strategy, and structure
  • Why self-control is real power
  • How to reframe rejection as part of the process
  • What it takes to lead with humility, intensity, and heart

Tools & Weapons

  • Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki – The “red pill” mindset shift that changed Rob’s view on wealth
  • Profit First by Mike Michalowicz – The financial system Rob teaches clients (and uses himself)
  • Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink – The book that helped Rob take total responsibility
  • Four Disciplines of Execution – The framework for reaching long-term goals
  • The ONE Thing by Gary Keller – A focus tool that guided his growth
  • Real Power Is Self-Control – “You’re only powerful if you can control it”

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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 Rob Cook, Director of Strategic Tax at Bement & Company. Rob, welcome to the show. Thanks so much, Justin. I'm excited to be here. And I as well, my friend, I've been looking forward to this interview. So let's dive in. Let's start with the origin story. Where did it all begin for Rob Cook? Well, it began on a cool night and no, I'm just kidding. No, if I were to say what's my origin story to kind of where I am, honestly, it kind of goes back to college. I was one of those people who even growing up as a kid, I was kind of an old soul. You know, those kids that you're just like, you need to like enjoy being a kid type of thing. I was one of those. And I was one of those that even from a young age, I always was trying to think like, what do I want to do with my life? Kids would say like, I'm going to be an astronaut. I'm going to be a firefighter. And I was always one of those that was like, Well, everyone can't be an astronaut or a firefighter. That sounds cool, but what am I gonna be, right? And so was always curious as a kid, always asking questions, always trying to figure it out. But the problem was I was always interested in a million things. I love the saying, jack of all trades, master of none. But I love the back half of the saying that most people don't know, which is better than a master of one. And that's kind of me. I've done so many random things and I love learning new things all the time and it served me really really well especially in what I do now but it's just as a kid it was really difficult because I'd be like well I don't know what I want to do so when get into college I had brought eventually like four criteria it's like okay I want to do something that makes enough money that my wife doesn't have to work I know it's a bit old-school a little bit traditional but I grew up in a house where my mom didn't have to work and it was one of the biggest blessings for us as kids And so I just wanted to make it so that it was an option on the table for our family. Number two, I grew up with my grandfather, was a small town entrepreneur, and I loved my grandpa. And so I wanted to do something where I owned my own business. I owned my destiny at the end of the day. Number three, I wanted to do something I felt like was actually doing something meaningful. I was never going to be a person that was just a drone. I just do not have the personality to just sit there and say, you must do X. And I'm going to be, I'm going to say, well, why? If you can't explain to why, then it's probably stupid and we should do it differently. But if you have a good reason why then sure, we'll do it type of thing. Then number four, my faith is incredibly important to me and my family. I joke that my life because I'm a CPA by background, a CFP, I passed level one CFA exams and things. You heard my title. I'm director of strategic tax at a regional CPA firm. But like I joke that my life is faith, family and finances in that order. And so The fourth criteria for me was that had to do something that would actually give me the time and the flexibility to be able to be a great dad. Cause I honestly believe that this whole, you do need to hustle. need to work hard. And I do work very, very hard. But I also know that my two year old little boy will want to play with me when he's four, because I play with him when he's two and he'll want to talk to me when he's 14, because I talked with him and played with him when he was 10, For me, those are my non-negotiables. I honestly went into college thinking I was gonna be a dentist, because as a dentist, it fit that criteria for me. I was like, okay, great. But then, I mean, I'm 6'5", about 245. I am not a small guy. And my wife jokes that my hands would have never fit into anyone's mouths, but I was job shadowing a dentist one day and I almost fell asleep while standing up and I was so bored. And I'm like, hmm, okay, maybe this is not the best career for me. And so I started to look around and I had a natural inclination towards accounting, actually. I took the introductory accounting class and it was just fascinating to me. I was the kind of, I'm the kind of person that like I mentioned as a kid, ever since I was little, I was always asking, well, why, why, why, why? And business and the way the world works has always fascinated me. Like that's why I loved hanging out with my grandpa in the summer on his property. As a kid, like my summer job was my grandpa had a bunch of property and I go and I basically like fix fences, mow lawns and help them out around his property all day long. That's what I would do. And I loved hearing him tell stories about what was going on in his business and the investments that he was making. because it was so interesting. talked to me almost like I was an adult, even though I wasn't. I was only like a 15, 16 year old kid, you know, at the time, but he would explain it to me. Like I could really actually understand it. And he'd get this twinkle in his eye when he would tell me about, yeah, I got this really cool deal that just did this, you know, type of thing. And I think he just appreciated someone that actually wanted to like listen to him tell his stories, but I loved it. And so when I got into accounting, it was like, all of sudden I had this framework within which to be able to ask why. and finally be able to apply this world of numbers that told stories now to me that I could read and I could go, that's doing this or that's going to, oh, that's cool. Or I see where this is going or wait, why they do that? That's really dumb. Cause that, wait, what? You know, like to me it was fascinating. It was really, really interesting. And so I just kind of started to just go down this accounting route. Like, okay, I guess this is what I'm going to do. Now got to find something in this world that kind of fits that four criteria. And I actually took an internship with a really, really large accounting firm. It just so happened that the school that I went to happened to be one of the top three accounting programs in the country. And so I like to say that, you God's in the details of our lives. I thought I was going to school to be a dentist and coming to find out I was actually going to get a master's degree in accounting. And it just so happens to be in one of the top three accounting programs in the country. Rob, there's so much that you just spoke about that I would love to unpack a couple of details because there's an incredible amount of value going backwards and starting with what the most recent, you talk about going in and completely unintentional, going in with one expectation, one trajectory and intend to be a dentist. And then it turning out that it literally one of the best three schools for the career you actually chose, right? and the one that you gravitated towards more naturally. So I think exactly as you just said, those details, those opportunities that arise, we don't always understand what value we will have in the moment or what we will experience in that moment. But when we reflect and look back, we realize that we were right where we needed to be at that time. I think it's so powerful. One of the other things I want to touch on, and I think this is quite frankly, I'm saying this because it's personally incredibly impactful to me. I love the story about your grandfather because I can relate. My grandfather was my hero and I respect that so much. And I'm sure that he enjoyed having those conversations with you as much because of that aspect, right? Because his family is loving. He was teaching the next generation of his legacy, right? And so he's planting seeds. my, so my dad and my grandpa are like my heroes, I would say. And ironically, it's my dad and then my grandpa on my mom's side, because my grandpa on my dad's side died about two months before I was born. And although I felt very, close to him, I never knew him. And so my grandpa on my mom's side, I think he felt like almost this obligation to kind of really try and step in and fill that role and try to be super grandpa, fill two roles. And I will admit, I was in a highly unique situation growing up. I look back in hindsight and I go, okay, that is not normal. I actually lived within about five miles, a five mile radius of about 95 % of my family on both sides, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, everybody. Like two of my cousins were my best friends growing up. It wasn't kids at school. It was my cousins. And so I had a very unique situation and grandpa lived close enough that I mean I live 5-10 minutes max from grandpa's house on the property and I would see him all the time. He came to all of my sporting events like there was a joke that you could hear my grandpa in the stands of the football games. Just like bellowing from the stands. You know to the referees type of thing like that's just that it would you need I look back and know that it was unique but I was incredibly blessed honestly to have them so close. That's amazing. And you talk about family, right? So faith, family, and finances. Family is such a huge thing. And whether it's one person, whether it's a huge tribe, the reality is that those oftentimes are some of the tightest relationships, and or sometimes we can learn some of the best lessons on the way that we interact with them, right? Because not everybody, unfortunately, gets along incredibly well with their family, right? Which is an unfortunate reality. unfortunate reality. that we all did. That's what I said. I know that this was an unusual circumstance. No. And, and, and how lucky were you for that? And that's fantastic. Also, it didn't happen from a reason you had to be a part of that, right? You could have pulled yourself away and isolated and not been with that family, but, not shared stories and adventures with them. But you, you chose to put yourself out there. You chose to have those, those relationships to nurture those relationships and you, as much value as you gain from them. Realities is that I'm certain just based on our time talking, I'm certain that you added a lot of value to them as well. speaking of adding value to others and thinking about the journey that we go on is not alone, right? Call this the fellowship, the journey that we take along with people. I recognize you've spoken of your grandfather and your father, but who would you say in that fellowship, the mentors, friends, the people that have come along the journey with you that have been most impactful. there's a couple of different people that come to mind immediately. little context here might be helpful. So, I told you as a kid I was the old soul type of kid. Well, I was given a blessing at my church at one point, and in the blessing I was told to pay attention to the people around me and learn from the examples of various leaders you could say or mentors and so from even a very early age I paid really close attention to who was in my circle and who I wanted to learn from and or learn what not to do from certain people. Oh 100 % just as valuable 100 % so and when you ask that question the very first person that came to mind was a gentleman by the name of Sean Murphy he was actually a family friend he was a lawyer in the local area but he was just genuinely one of the kindest men I had ever met in my entire life. Brilliantly smart, had been a college football player, athlete, but just like so, he had the kindness, is like his hallmark attribute. And I remember as a kid being like, I wanna be like that. Like I'm a naturally pretty intense personality, of fire is a good analogy for me generally, just there's a lot there, but. Sean Murphy was just like, he had this ability to just connect with people. And people just feel like he just loves them. And they love him. And I could be naturally abrasive if I really wanted to. And so I think you, in your mentors and in the people you learn from, you naturally tend to connect with and find learning from those who have attributes that you desire generally, or who you want to emulate in some way. And he was certainly one of those for me. Another one is actually my brother-in-law. My sister and I are only a couple years apart. My brother-in-law is a couple years older than me. And they met when their first year of college. And even from when they first met, I could tell he was different, generally. And as I've gotten older, I've just come to love and respect him more and more and more. And now they've been married for 15 years at this point. But he, tell my, I tell anyone who... happens to come up with it, there's only one family member who I'd go in business with and that's him. Because I know that I can completely and implicitly trust him. Period. And he's also the kind of person, he has a saying that I've since stolen from him because I just think it's so good. He says, you know, you can accomplish a lot in life when you don't care who gets the credit And I've seen him live that mantra over and over and over again. He was the kind, he was like the fifth person at this little tiny tech startup here in the Salt Lake Valley here in Utah that blew up and eventually IPO'd. But he was the kind that he didn't care, he'll sweep the floors, he'll clean the bathrooms, he'll make copies, he'll take care of anyone who needs it and help in any way that needed to be done. And he just... because of that, learned so many things, got so many opportunities, made such a positive impact. mean, like, he's financially completely independent and free and he only works now because he wants to on certain projects that are just fun for him type of thing. But he's not like a centimillionaire or anything, or a billionaire, but he's more than financially fine. But he got everything that he got because of that mantra. You can accomplish a lot when you don't care who gets the credit. And I think it's so true. I love it. And I agree completely. think I'm a big, I'm a bit, I love quotes. And I will tell you, hearing that right now, like that one got written down, it's gonna be added to the book because it's such a powerful thing. I think that if, when people operate, and there's something else that you said there that was so powerful, and that's the word trust. Trust is such a powerful value. And it's not just about You have to trust yourself and be honest with yourself, with others, right? Both personally and professionally. And it's so much easier, even though oftentimes it can be hard because maybe it doesn't feel, you know, nobody likes to say they messed up, right? But when you're honest about a situation, you can then make educated decisions on how to address the problem. You can move forward without that baggage, right? And that's emotional, that's reputation. And so I just think that that's such a huge item between being kind and trustworthy. And if you don't care who gets the credit, you can accomplish so accomplish so much. You put all that, yeah, right? Ego is Your Enemy is a book that I think is a powerful one. we'll talk more about tools and weapons in a minute, but incredibly valuable. I'm going to ask along the way, so often, Rob, it is a bumpy journey. There are moments that are not comfortable. Are there any trials and tribulations, things we call it running the gauntlet, any moments that might come up that you would share with our listeners that you grew from? my gosh, I could give you a half dozen different experiences. I mean, like, here, what I'll do is I'll give you the arch of like my career up to this point and my journey generally, and then I'm gonna focus on like one moment that was really dark, generally. at the darkest hour is so we're going there. So let's do it, baby. go there. So just the arc generally. So we start off my story in college and like figuring out, okay, I found accounting great. Well, that's just the beginning of the story. I wound up going and working for Ernst & Young, one of the largest accounting firms in the world. And that was a journey in and of itself for the four years that I was there. it's a grind. Get out of that, go into wealth management, realize that this is not what at all that I thought it was. And I... really kind of start to hate it. I wind up leaving and joining a fintech company doing tech, B2B fintech sales, even though I'm an accountant by background, and this one I was a CFP and I passed the level of a CF, I had all this technical background, but then also now I'm doing sales and growing a startup and then that winds up failing and then I go back into public accounting again and along the way during these, on the side I've started multiple businesses that have all failed in different ways. And then I'm back in public account again, hating my life, because I'm back where I had started in beginning of my career and trying to figure out what the heck I'm going to do. I wasn't hating my life. Actually, it was a lot better the second time around than the first time around, but still not where I wanted to be. So I started another business on the side and that business starts to really grow. And then that's what really led to kind of where I am now. But in the midst of all that, there's a lot of setback, heartache, frustration. And for example, when I was in that FinTech company, there was a moment. The FinTech company that I was a part of was burning alive. were burning cash faster than we could possibly make sales. And we were doing everything in our lives to figure out how can we sell better, how can we make our product better, how can we continue to grow this. We had taken some money, we had obligations to investors. There's a lot of pressure in that particular scenario. My brother-in-law and I, we're like the main sales guys in this particular venture. And at the same time, I had used our software to start a little... kind of financial planning almost type of business on the side. But I was like, oh, I'm going to do something that's totally different. I want to bring high quality advice to the masses because there's a lot of crap advice out there. a lot of crap guys pretending like they're financial advisors and they're just either sloughing insurance or they're just trying to get people to give them money so they can sit on their hands and act like they're investing for them type of thing. And so my tagline was like, world class advice for the cost of your gym membership. sounds really, really great, except for the fact that you don't make any money, especially when you don't have a lot of people, if it's at the cost of like a $20 gym membership on a monthly basis. So I had this business that I'm spending hours and hours in trying to grow it, and it's growing, but I'm not really making any money, and it's just, it was a terrible business model, honestly. So I've got this pressure of this startup that I'm intensely focused on. I've got this. side business where I like, I know I don't want to be here forever. I want to do my own thing, but it's, I just keep failing. This is like the third version of a different type of business that has failed at this point for me. And on top of that, in my personal life, my wife and I have been having infertility issues. And it's been five years since we've had our little girl and we have tried multiple rounds of IVF and IUIs and all these things that are supposed to help us get pregnant. And my wife is the kind that she's just this amazing woman. And ever since she was a little girl, all she wanted to be was a mom. When they asked her in school, what do you want to be? She I want to be a mom. And she can't be a mom. Now, the Lord's blessed us and the blessings of modern medicine made it possible we have three kids now and we are incredibly grateful for our little kiddos. But for that five year stretch, when that's like the desire of your wife's heart and you're literally doing everything that you can and you feel like you're failing in your job, you feel like you're failing to provide financially and failing to provide in terms of reaching your goals and your potential and you're failing your family you feel like, that is a very, very, very dark place to be all at one time. And I remember being on my knees and looking to heaven and saying, God, what am I doing wrong? Why? Why does this hurt so bad? Why do I have to go through this? And I know that's not the right question. This is a terrible thing to ask, but I can't help it. This is, this hurts. hurts. And not just one way, it hurts in so many ways. Why do I see so many other people and it seems like it's so easy? Why does it seem like I make these connections with these amazing people and they keep growing and I feel like I'm just stuck no matter what I do? And now it's dragging my family. you know, I just, I felt so guilty. Begging for answers. And yet the only answer I kept getting was just keep moving. Trust the process. Keep moving. Rob I literally have goosebumps right now man. So powerful. And you know what's crazy though? With hindsight, I can look back now, because that was about four years ago, three, four years ago. I look at what I do right now, I could not do what I do without that specific experience. Like I needed to go out of public accounting and go into tech sales and learn from my brother-in-law and a couple of other brilliantly smart people how to actually sell. And what does that process even look like? And I won't even pretend like I'm a great salesman, but like to learn how to do it. Like I am right now building a business within the side of another business. I'm selling constantly, all day long. I would be lost if I had no clue how to sell. I look at the lessons I learned in that startup as it failed in terms of understanding how to create value, understanding what people actually want, understanding how to articulate and think about growing a business and what are the actual real levers that actually move things forward to help you be successful. That was invaluable. I could not do what I do now if I hadn't gone through that, but I'll tell you right now, I hated it. It was the worst. It hurt so much every day just trying to get up and try again with no hope of success. But you just kept going, right? And that's. all I could do. So often people quit just before they win, right? So it's the story of three feet from gold. Napoleon Hill says it wonderfully when he shares that story in Think and Grow Rich. And I think that so often people have this dream, this aspiration, they see on social media people achieving success. Much like you said a moment ago, Rob, you see all these other people, right, with their family or their wealth, their winning business, et cetera. me. How are they doing this? I'm not at this point. What's wrong with me? so often people end up comparing themselves to others. And the reality is, that you're not in competition with anybody other than yourself, right? This is your journey. This is the steps that you're taking. And much like you mentioned, going through that crucible is ultimately what allowed you to succeed to where you're at now in your life. And you never would have achieved the success without learning those painful lessons. And you wouldn't have achieved it without continuing to move forward. often people throw in the towel because it's hard. Well, yeah, it is. And anything worth it really oftentimes is. the people that succeed in making work, yeah. you say to yourself, I know this is going to be hard, it will be harder than you think it's going to be. And do you think it's, is it because not just the mind, it's when you're in it, it's the feeling, right? It's easy to think about, this is gonna be difficult. But when you're in the moment and you really feel that discomfort, that pain, that terror, that guilt, as you said earlier, when you're in that moment, that's when it's hardest to pull yourself through. And that's when you need the most resolution to achieve your dreams and just keep going. Well, like, I remember on some of those days, like, I would wake up in the morning and just feel, ugh, like this, this is weight. Like, I am, I am the kind that I am naturally pretty high energy, I am intense, I'm a go-getter, I will grind, baby, grind! Like, I'm okay with that. But like, even me, I remember laying there and being like, Let's go again. Let's go again. Day 90 of this grind, know, day 300 of this grind, day 900 of this grind. yeah, it's that feeling. It's just, and like I said it a few minutes ago, but like, I think it's really true. It almost feels hopeless. It feels like, why am I even doing this? Right? Like that's the natural thing to like ask yourself. Isn't it insanity to do the same thing over and over again? And it's like, yes, it is. But also at the same time, even if you can't feel it, you're moving. And it's only with hindsight that you really see it. It's only with perspective that you can start to put the pieces together. But that sure as heck does not make it easy. Certainly does not certainly does not but it makes the success all the more sweet right when you look back and realize gratitude. No, so much gratitude. Like, I mean, like I'll admit, like I just 4X'd my business last month and like all I could say was like, you know, instead of my prayers now being like, what the heck? This is horrible. This hurts. You know, now it's like, I just have to say thank you. Cause I honestly like, yeah, I've done a lot of work. Yeah. I've done a lot of these things, but like, I also know that it's not me. Like I said, it's a team game. There's all these things that going on. There's so many other forces. I'm just grateful at this point. Grateful to have what I have. That's incredible. What an awesome story for you to share and how inspirational, which is entirely the intention of this podcast, how inspirational to the listeners to hear this and understanding that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and you just gotta keep going, right, till you get it. And it may not be tomorrow and it may not be the day after, right? You may grind to day 900 plus, right, and still not understand. But if you have the vision, have the dream, you have the goal, you have the intention, and you just keep going, you will achieve success. You just can't stop. The thing that I think is awesome is when you've been grinding for years and you've been plodding along and you keep trying to get better, you keep trying to improve, you keep trying to learn the lessons, but you're just not getting where you want to be when it clicks. You can feel it and it just gets you excited. You just want to throw fuel on fire. Just like, go baby, go baby, go baby, go. It's just, it's just, like I said, there's just so much gratitude, so much excitement now and you can even sense it. that feeling when you get it, like what an incredible feeling, right? And the thing is, that you earned it, right? Like it didn't come easy, it came hard, right? But you earned it. And that again, makes it just a little more sweet. Rob, I'm gonna ask, we call this the hall of heroes, If there was a statue of Rob Cook And there was a plaque on there that said a message that you could share with future generations. What would you want it to say? It would probably say some combination of the following things in some way. Something like... Never forget that you're worth it. That you can do it. That it's worth it. The grind is worth it. The pain is worth it. There is a purpose to it. Even if you can't see it. and heroes aren't made on accident. Ever since I was a kid, I have felt called to something. And I'll admit, I still don't know what that is. And I don't think that I'm anything amazing or great. I'm just me. But I have been blessed with great experiences because I don't give up. And because I just keep trying. But I still believe that God has given me certain capabilities or energy or vision or however you want to think about it. Combination of any of the above, honestly. a kid asked me a little while back, he's like, how do you just, how do you keep doing this? Like, how do you keep going? I'm like, I don't know how to tell you if you don't have it, you don't got it. If you don't want it bad enough, if you're not willing to go hunt it, chase it, fight for it, claw, tooth and nail until you can't breathe, then I don't know what to tell you. I've had that feeling, that vision, that fight. So if I were to say, what's the plaque? The plaque could be something like, don't give up. It is worth it. You are worth it. You can do this. But it will not be easy. Heroes aren't made on accident. Love it. Absolutely love it, brother. I think that there's so much in what you've said, the lessons, the experiences that you've shared, the opportunities that you've had in your life that didn't come on accident that you had to work for. And sometimes it's just being in the right place because you keep putting in the right effort, because you keep pushing forward. You never know the path that you're going to go down. You know the vision that you have, but you never quite know what doors will open for you. along the way. never know. Like had you asked me even three years ago, four years ago, hey, are you, do you want to live in Utah? I'd have like, no, wouldn't even crack my top 10. you're be back in public accounting? Frick no, I hate public accounting. Public accounting is the fricking worst. And I'm an accountant by background, right? Never would have said that. And yet here I am and I love it. I love everything about what I'm doing right now. And I am so grateful. So awesome. Gratitude is something that I feel everybody should feel. And what I mean by that is not just having it, but truly feeling it. Really genuinely being grateful for even the sun on your face, the sound of the birds singing, small things that we take for granted on the daily. Perspective and perception. Perspective being the view that you look at it from. And perception being the lens that you see it through. And when you can look at things through the lens of gratitude, they talk about rose-colored glasses, it changes everything. And it's not just what you feel, because it is super relevant to that. but it's also how you treat others and the gratitude that you express to others. And what I think a lot of people don't realize is how much our actions impact others. have gratitude for something and you share that kindness and appreciation with others, you literally can change lives because the impact that you have, the ripples that you make in the wake of that gratitude will be shared with others. and they will share it with others and so on. And a legacy is planting a seed in a garden you will never see. And so planting those seeds of gratitude, something that is a beautiful thing that continues to pay in ways you never knew. Always. with that? So this idea of, you know, a legacy is planting seeds in a garden that you'll never have. When we say it like that, it sounds so poetic and it's like, yeah, that's so great. That's true, because it is. It is great, and it is true. But planting a garden from which you never see the fruits is not an easy thing. I learned this when I was a teenager, actually. So I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A lot of people will call us Mormons. And so I served a two-year mission for my church. You know those guys in the white shirts and ties riding around on their bikes? Like that was me. I went to Houston, Texas, of all places. Very, very exotic. But I went Spanish speaking. And so I was the big white boy in the middle of the Latino ghettos, the Southwest Cholos, you know, type of thing. Like they knock on the door, la migra. They thought it was immigration. And then they all like run away. Okay. But I learned that lesson of planting seeds that you will never see there in Houston, Texas. Because... I mean, like some people learn this knocking doors, doing solar sales in the middle, know, summer sales in college. I learned it as a missionary, but it was in my mind, it was almost, it was far more painful than just knocking on doors. Cause if you knock on doors, you're not getting sales. mean, it's actually not making money, but you can go get a job somewhere else. But when your faith is something that is an integral part of you that you deeply believe in, that your love for God is what has driven you to sacrifice two years of your life to go and do this. And people reject you constantly. or tell you that you're stupid, or tell you that you're in a cult, which is totally not true, by the way, in case anyone's wondering, or tell you whatever it might be, that you're just this weird person all the time, and it's something that you love, that you just wanna share with them because you love it so much, it hurts so much more. And I would argue, because of my intensity, because of my qualities or flaws or attributes or whatever you want think about it. Because of certain things, I was not the most effective missionary in terms of having lots of people who wanted to get baptized into our church as a result of me teaching people. But I continued to work every single day. By the standards of missionary work, I was relatively unsuccessful. I was very unsuccessful, honestly. But I knew what I knew and I was willing to go every single day and continue to get rejected and continue to keep trying even in the face of all those things. And I remember, so in our church we have these things called temples. It's slightly different than like the typical church building. I was sitting in the temple at the end of my time as a missionary and feeling like an absolute failure. Because like you talk about this idea of planting seeds that you'll never see, I felt like I had planted for two years and saw maybe a couple of sprouts. I had a couple of beautiful experiences for which I'm so grateful for and people who I love with all of my heart. But on, know, if you look at the bigger, you know, measure me against the other missionaries, I was an absolute failure. And as an 18, 19, 20, 21 year old kid, I felt like such a failure. And I remember sitting in this temple just almost on the verge of tears, like, God, I'm so sorry. I have given you everything. You know I have. You know that I've tried so hard for the last two years and I've not been that successful. I'm so sorry. And in response, feeling God say to me, well done, thou good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in a few things. I'll make you master of many. I remember just literally almost bawling. Just this feeling of love and of gratitude and appreciation. people say God doesn't exist. I'm sorry, I know that he does, period. And in that moment, that was one of those times in my life where I knew that he was there. so when you said that statement of sometimes the legacy is planting the seeds that you'll never see, well, yes it is. But it doesn't make it easy, and whether that's entrepreneurship or the kindness that we give to other people or the small things that we do on a daily basis, they do add up into a lifetime, a millennia of goodness. But that doesn't make that moment easy. Hindsight gives us gratitude and we can feel goodness from it, but it doesn't make the moment easy. Rob, you make a comment earlier about sacrificing two years of life. And I would actually argue that it's not a sacrifice, it's an investment. And so again, the idea of perception and perspective. so thinking that through and then being able to look back in hindsight and see that in fact it was an investment and that it does. pay returns, right? It compounds. made the comment earlier. And so like, it's crazy to think about all those moments and how they build and how when you look back and you look at the foundation that you've created and how they've helped to grow, not just what you've been able to help, but how it's helped you and the lessons you've learned. And then what you've been able to do then for your family and friends, right? It's all interconnected. And when we find those lessons, right, which is again, something that's so important. Part of this entire podcast, the reason I'm doing this is to share these stories with people so that people can learn from the lessons of others, right? And how cool that technology allows this to be shared literally across the world, right? And it's not just in my neighborhood, but I can share this with anybody that wants to log in and listen and like and subscribe. So I'm super grateful. in, like like and subscribe. But it's just, it's so powerful and I know how much value I have gained from this conversation and I know that I'm gonna look back and reflect and think of even more things and be so grateful, right, for the lessons learned. Rob, I want to ask you, we call this tools and weapons. So resources, things that you've experienced, books you may have read, courses you've taken, is there anything that you would share with the listeners that may help them on their journey? so many things, honestly, that I could share. Do you have a particular topic that you... Oh, it's completely what's relevant to you, right? I mean, this is your story. right? I mean, this is your story. there's a reason why this bookshelf sits behind me and it's organized from most to like least valuable, my books from my perspective. So I could literally just turn around here and pick almost any one of these and tell you the lessons that I've learned from it and why it was important and invaluable for me in my journey. So like, here's four disciplines of execution. You want a system in a way to be able to create, to reach your goals long-term, even if it takes a little bit of time, like we've talked about, this is it. Right here. Fantastic book. Inside an organization or out. Doesn't matter. Wonderful. Want a way to be able to run your business profitably so you don't ever have to worry about cashflow issues? This is it right here. Profit First by Mike Mikalowicz. Fantastic book. Implement it. My wife and I, this is the system we use to run our own personal finances even. It's what I teach my clients nowadays is how to do it. want to get outside of the... the typical financial world and actually start to really create real wealth for yourself. Well, the little blue pill is or the red is the red pill from the matrix. I'm I'm chasing right now, uh, is rich dad, poor dad by Robert Kiyosaki to start of, I read this as I sat in my car. I, when I was in public accounting, the first time around, I never got a lunch because we were just constantly so crazy busy. And when I went into wealth management afterwards, I was like, wow, I actually get a lunch. Well, I'm, I'm going to read. So I decided to start reading and I read this my second month in wealth management. And it blew my freaking mind to the point where all of a I was like, seeing things, I'm like, why do we do that? That doesn't make any sense. Why don't we do that? But wait, shouldn't we be doing X instead? And just, it was the little blue pill that blew my mind and part of the reason why I left wealth management. Here's the one thing, the one thing by Gary Keller. What is the one thing such that by doing it, everything else becomes irrelevant or unnecessary? Fantastic question to ask yourself constantly. Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink, okay? Own your life, period. Use no one else to blame but yourself. And the moment that you actually start to do that, the moment you really start to see the solution to your problems. much gold that you just shared in just those books. And I only bring this up because I want to acknowledge that extreme ownership. I love that book. It was fantastic. Yeah, if you haven't it. Yeah. Yeah. And I love how he then takes it and applies it to the business world. I love how those lessons, you get those real time moments and And if there's anyone that enjoys the aspects of tactical warfare or being in the moment, he paints the picture very vividly. But then taking it and being able to put it into a business mindset and how it can be used on the daily in your business is very, very well written. I liked it. I actually, one of my like personal like philosophies or beliefs is that there are lessons in everything that apply to all areas of our lives. It just comes down to whether or you see them and see the connection. And I kind of make it like a game now to like find the connections. So like, like I've got Russell Brunson's books over here, like the .com secrets and stuff that are over here and Alex Ramazi's $100 million offers. Here, like typically books made for more of your online seller and I work in a, you know, CPA firm, regional CPA firm, but I apply those same lessons here because it's still true. A true principle is a true principle period and you can apply it in multiple spheres. It just comes down to actually understanding the pieces of the principle that you can apply. Rob, when you talk about games, so I mean, you may or not be able to see, I've got a few games behind me and every single cupboard that's behind me is packed full of games. I own over a thousand board games. So yeah, yeah, it's my passion, it's my hobby. Like I stopped counting after a thousand. Like I just, it's, it's what I love. And so when you talk about looking at things like a game, I completely empathize with that. And so much about not just personal life, but business, all of it can be like a game. And when you see something, when you're in it, When you pull back and you look high level and you see it from that bird's eye view and you can start to understand not just what you're doing, but what other people are doing. Learn from those lessons, right? Also, it allows you a strategic advantage when you understand that high level piece. And I use this and I say this specifically because you're talking about reading books that may not be relevant to CPAs, but yet they are. And you're able to apply them actively in your business because you know and you understand. Right? And you can take those best lessons and then being able to use that, again, perspective and perception, be able to apply them to your craft, whatever it may be. is a strength to be able to apply those lessons in your daily life, not just for business, but for also personal. the interactions that you have on a daily basis, whether it's the grocer at the local store, right? Or whether it's the bank teller or whether it's your barber, right? Whether it's someone who's helping you, because right, we're all on this spinning rock together. And if you can share the knowledge you've gained and impart that and apply those lessons, everybody wins. And I'm a big fan and advocate of saying when we play games together, we all win. Right? It's not just who walks away with the W. It's everybody wins because we were in the game together. And the best games are collaborative games. Well, I mean, like, that's a board game perspective, that would be different, but I'm saying the best games in life are the ones that you win with other people. Because then have someone to share in the victory with, and usually to carry the load with you. So, yeah, I agree. love it. So my friend, what's next? What's the next quest for Rob Cook? Well, you remember my comment earlier about how like you can feel it when you're on something? Well, I can feel it. So our firm, to give some context what we're doing, so we're Bement and Company. We are a regional CPA firm that specializes in helping the contenders of the world, the people that want to go out and create something amazing and grow. And what I do is that I am the person that comes in and says, okay, We're not just doing your tax returns. We're not just going to historically do everything. We're not just going to just make sure your books are your books, but where do you want to go? How do we get you there? What are the lessons we can learn from dozens of games that have been played and mentors that we can learn from? How can we get you to where you want to be? Oh, and by the way, we'll save you like, you know, 50 grand on your taxes along the way. It's your type of Yeah, it's awesome, right? Oh, it's a really fun game to play. But business is on the precipice of just exploding. I mean it already is. It's exploding in small ways and we just want to we just want to keep going. So our goal is to become a top 100 CPA firm here in the US and I think we will get there in the next three to four years. I'm just super excited ride the rocket and just keep blowing it up. ride the rocket and just keep blowing it up. There's no doubt you will achieve it, right? Just because like we reflecting on everything we've already talked about, you won't stop, you'll keep moving forward and you will achieve that success. So congratulations. so I noticed when you were showing those books, I recognize that you had that that bust of Superman. And so I talk about heroes. I will tell you candidly, I have a mastermind, a counsel that I always reflect and discuss things with in my mind. Maybe it sounds weird, but I like it. I learned this principle from Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich. the people in mine are my second stepdad, Rick, my grandfather. and Superman. And yeah, I mean, all incredibly strong people with wonderful values and morals. And I think for Superman, for myself, and ultimately, I'm going to ask you why you have that there. But I love Superman myself simply because he literally has the strength and ability to take over the world. And yet he chooses to use his powers for good and to help people. And I absolutely love that. I'm gonna ask you why do you have that there? Okay, so I'm gonna give you like the general story and then what it's come to mean for me now. So it started off because I am tall, I have dark hair, I have blue eyes, I was a relatively big, strong kid and that was like, Smallville came out when I was a kid and stuff. so like Superman was always my favorite superhero. I mean, I had comic books of Superman and my family just called me Superman for years. And so that's what it started as, was that. But, similar to what you actually just shared, what it has become is I have things around me, like things that are on the shelf, to remind me about things about myself or who I want to be, or things that are important for me to try and embody. Whether that's in my business, for my kids, for my wife, for myself at the end of the day, sometimes. And Superman has become this symbol for me of real power. I heard saying one time that you real power isn't just your ability to destroy everything it's the ability to control it. To be able to have the ability to do it but choose not to. Like the great man does a great man is not kind until he is put into a situation where he could be unkind and then chooses to be kind. You know a great man doesn't have self-control until he is on the verge of not having self-control and then chooses to maintain his self-control. And so for me, Superman is the embodiment of that goodness, that power. He has incredible power that, like you said, could just literally take over the world. He could literally lay waste to anything. Like, mean, you watch Justice League. He takes down the entire rest of the Justice League easily. Like, no problem. The Flash is like freaking out, running by as he... is able to just like watch him in slow motion. Holy crap, you know, like he's got everything. He's just incredibly powerful. Yet he holds it. anyone else and only lets pieces of it out sometimes. Now it's not an easy thing to do. Like I'll argue, like part of reason I played rugby and I played football and things as kids is because I want to be able to just let it out and just go all out, you know, type of thing. But he is that symbol of that power. And then I got like, like there's this eagle that sits up here on my shelf. I don't know if this can point to it. And I go, the eagle, the eagle head. An eagle sits high in the skies. sees the view, the full view, can come down and be a part of the chicks on the shelf in the cliff and feed the babies, but he also sees the view from the very top, the bigger picture, and is graceful and gentle but powerful too. There's so many things like that I've got around me. And so that's what Superman has become to me. He's become this reminder that, you are powerful. But you are only powerful if you can control it. You can hold it. channel that power, right? To direct it, to focus. You talk about the eagle and I picture like that power itself, but how it can be applied, Like recognizing that with, to be sense we're on the superhero kick, I'll clear it, with great power comes great responsibility, right? And such an accurate and very appropriate quote, especially considering this conversation, which I'm incredibly grateful for. All right, brother, that last question. If you could be any mythical creature, besides Superman, would you be and why? Oh, okay, so my first thought was, well, Dragon. But then I was like, well, that's a bit on the nose because of the name of the podcast. I'll choose something else. So chose like Phoenix because it rises from the ashes and I've had lots of failures. Okay, great. But I think I'm gonna go back to it, actually. think I would say some version of a dragon. Not like a Smaug character from The Hobbit, but like... The dragon was the kind that he fiercely guarded what was his, that he loved, and that meant a lot to him. I am fiercely passionate. I'm a, if you know the Enneagram, it's a personality type, I'm an eight wing nine, which the grizzly bear is like a typical analogy. He's like, we're pretty chill, we're pretty good, but you poke us, poke us, poke us, and if you poke us in the right area, we're gonna come out and we're gonna get ya, you know, type of thing. you when ask a mythical character, that's what I imagine. Like I say the dragon because I, I can spit fire. I can breathe the fire if needed, but I'm not going to go crazy. I've got my spot. I know where I'm at. I will defend to the death the things that I love and that mean the most to me. And I've got some tough skin because I've been through a lot of crap. And that's okay. I'll fly. I can fly, breathe a little fire, it's all good. Meant for something great. anyway, so that's why I choose the dragon at the end of the now granted. I'm a bit biased as I'm sure is fairly obvious, but I Align with everything you just said and completely respect it. I Would respect your opinion regardless right because it's your opinion. I'm just a bit partial to it because I agree completely I think it's awesome. So great. Well, thank you so much Rob for spending the time with with myself and with the listeners today, I'm sure that people are gonna go away with a lot of value from what you've shared. So thank you. Thank you. Thanks for having me on the show. And I hope that something that I've shared today helps someone listening to this. And if you also happen to want to pay less in your taxes, you know who to talk to now. So if rob if anybody does want to reach out and connect with you, how can you reach you? I am actually not on a lot of social media. I am actually only on LinkedIn. mean like technically I have like an old Facebook profile from like 15 years ago or something. But I just I that's one of my things. You got to focus on what's most important in life and so social media is not one of them. I don't even have it on my phone. I lock down. I don't even have any of that. So I got I'm on LinkedIn. You can find me on LinkedIn if you'd like. Just Rob Cook, CPA. Come and find me on LinkedIn. Connect with me. Send me a message. I would love to hear from anyone. And if you want to reach out directly. you're interested in getting some tax help, rob@bementcopmany.com Awesome, thank you. My friends, thank you for joining us once again on our quest to inspire, educate, and empower you to turn your dreams into reality, one mindset shift at a time. We'll see you next time.

People on this episode

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Justin Mills

Host
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Aaron Iler

Producer
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Rob Cook

Guest