CEO Lounge

Don’t Quit in the Middle: Entrepreneur Mindset + Weekly Wins That Keep You Going - EP 3

• Derrick Thompson & Joselyn Flores • Season 1 • Episode 3

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Most entrepreneurs don’t fail from lack of talent — they quit in the middle… right before it starts working.

If you’re building a business and you feel stuck, tired, or unseen, this CEO Lounge episode is for you. Derrick and Joselyn break down the middle season of entrepreneurship — the nights no one claps for, the discipline it takes to keep going, and how to protect your entrepreneur mindset with weekly wins that stack into real momentum.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
✅ How to stay motivated when results are slow
✅ Why “applause” is a trap (and conviction is the fuel)
✅ The 1:00am grind story that built the foundation
✅ How to set weekly goals, celebrate wins, and avoid burnout
✅ How to know if you’re in a breakdown… or on the edge of a breakthrough

📌 Want more CEO Lounge clips + the full episodes? Subscribe today!

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CHAPTERS

00:00 Protect your mindset in the middle
00:55 Welcome + why “the middle” matters
03:55 “Nobody claps for the nights you don’t quit”
06:05 The 1:00am office grind story (what people don’t see)
10:40 Leading without applause (conviction vs attention)
13:15 Why most people quit in the middle
15:35 Weekly wins: how Derrick stayed motivated
17:45 Rewards, discipline, and celebrating progress
20:00 Leading yourself before leading a team
30:05 Applause vs conviction + “breakdown or breakthrough?”
36:25 Someone is always watching (even in the unseen season)
41:35 Fatherhood + “no turning back” mindset
42:40 Redefining success: time, freedom, and peace
44:25 If you feel unseen: what to do next
50:20 Audience Q: What do I focus on first? (and when?)
52:35 Audience Q: Mindset + gratitude in the middle
58:00 When plans take longer than expected (resetting)
1:00:14 Closing encouragement
1:00:38 Bonus: 12:20am “this is what it takes” clip

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#EntrepreneurMindset #StartupLife #BusinessOwner #Leadership #CEO

Mindset And The Unseen Work

SPEAKER_03

Yes, Derek. Can you talk a little bit about mindset? So, how can an entrepreneur that's in the middle protect their mindset so that they can make it through to the reward?

Welcome To The CEO Lounge Live

SPEAKER_05

You know, you may have a support system that believes in you, and all that's great. Okay. But you ultimately got to be the biggest believer in what you're doing because you can get into your own head. Make sure that you have weekly goals, that you're accomplishing those goals, that you are celebrating those wins in even the smallest way. And that can help just get your mindset happy about what you're what you're accomplishing. Because it is it is a my game. It's very, very, very mental. And you'll have a lot of forces, internal and external, that will try to pull you away from it. All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the CEO Lounge. This is the latest episode. We are live from Relevant Media Solutions Cary, North Carolina. We've got a live studio audience. What's up, y'all?

unknown

Woo! Woo!

SPEAKER_05

Yes, yes. Bringing the energy, the heat, the fire. But most of all, I've got my co-host, Jocelyn Flores. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_02

Doing great. Excited.

Why The Middle Season Matters

SPEAKER_05

Yes, yes. So thank you so much for joining me on this Journey CEO Lounge. This is uh a special episode as we talk about uh the middle part, the middle part, what what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur. And um I know you're gonna dive into that more, but uh, I'm excited about this. I'm excited about this real talk series. I feel like I can let my hair down, you know, all the hair that I have, and and and talk about you know the the journey. This is gonna be fun. This is gonna be fun to talk about what it really takes. We want to inspire you. If you're looking to start a business, looking to make a career change, you can do it. Um, but we're gonna give you the real. We're not just gonna, you know, sugarcoat it and show you uh how we've you know gotten rich quick and whatnot. It's gonna take hard work, but you can do it and it is worth it. And uh we're gonna talk about the middle, the most important part.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. No, I'm very excited. Uh, I think when we first started, um, and everything was kind of coming together, and then we got the blueprint series, and we're like, oh, that's perfect. You know, this series where we can at the very end also give you actionable steps to take and resources. But then while we were talking, some of the conversations we realized were kind of taking a turn from actionable steps and resources, and but we were like it kind of a venting session, and like, oh, that that's good. And like, oh, you know, like wow, I feel so much better being able to talk to this to somebody who understands or to hear this perspective. Um, and then we were like, this is the real talk part of this, yeah. Um, about that those areas where not a lot of people see, not a lot of people like to talk about, um, but where it's so important for young entrepreneurs or anybody who is in that place to see that, oh, he made it, but there was a moment where it didn't look like this. Yeah. Well, that's where I want to be. But there was a point in time where it didn't look that way. And all I'm seeing right now is overnight successes. All I'm seeing is if I can do it, you can do it too. Right. Um, you know, and but it's like, no, but like, show me, help me get through this middle part. That's right. Help me get through the this area that's not so easy.

SPEAKER_05

This this is it. This is the um, you know, to keep the relationship analogy. This one is it's time it's time to clean the bathroom. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's time to do laundry. Yeah, laundry. It's time to mow the lawn, it's time to do that kind of stuff, right?

SPEAKER_02

You're no longer going on dates where like I'm fully dolled up in makeup, like now, now you get to see me in sweats. That's right, that's right. No makeup on, yeah, like that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07

That's right.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and I mean that's your life. Yeah, that's real. That's real. Yeah. So um, there's a quote I heard, and I want to, I'm gonna say it and I want you to give me your feedback on it.

No One Claps For Not Quitting

SPEAKER_07

Okay.

SPEAKER_02

So nobody claps for the nights you don't quit. What's your take on them?

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, because if anybody's being real, uh, you think about quitting a lot. You know, so those are successes for sure. You know, when you're able to, and I don't know what percentage you would have put on it, 80%, let's just say, of being successful as an entrepreneur, really in anything, is sticking with it. You know, you know, you kind of look back at, you know, those in high school and those that you say, man, I never would have thought they would have done that. You know, how did they do that? You know, or the people that you thought were gonna be, you know, amazing in something and maybe didn't. A lot of it is just sticking, sticking with it. Yeah is is a very important part. So the the the days that you you know don't quit, the days that you're able to push through, push through those tough times, that's what uh separates those that get over that hump and get to that stage to where you can really start to enjoy it. Yeah, you know, uh enjoy what what you've done.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. And so I'm so excited to be able to talk about that because again, in the beginning, you know, um, I would hope that everybody has a support system. I understand that everybody, not everybody does, but in the beginning, a lot of people are clapping you on, they're cheering you on, like, you got this. And then of course, once you're bringing in, you know, everybody's also clapping for you because they they want a piece of it or they want to be a part of this. Um, but what happens when there's nobody clapping for you? Nobody's clapping for you. Um they're like, you're like, hey, I started new, yeah. You started that two years ago. Like, we know, we know. Exactly. Yeah. Um, and you we've talked about this more than once, but it's like famously now the story between at least us and like what a lot of this is built on, yeah, is that one time where you had to go back to corporate America. Um, and we've discussed that, you know, it wasn't necessarily a choice that you made because that was your only option. Right. Um, but you have reached a point where you had employees under you. You weren't just thinking about yourself anymore. Right. You wanted to make sure to keep them on, right? Not just because you wanted to keep them employed, but also because this benefited the company.

SPEAKER_07

Yes.

Two Jobs, Family, And 1 A.M. Nights

SPEAKER_02

Uh so there was a moment where you were uh full-time job, full-time business owner, full-time dad, full-time husband, full-time human being who also has the friends and the life and all this stuff. Um and I remember you telling me a story about one night you were in the office, and it's 1 a.m. It's one in the morning, everybody's gone. Um, you walk out, lights are off, the only person in the room, uh, in the building is the janitor.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And you took a video of that night. And then you sent it to a friend. Uh-huh. And then you kind of sent something along the line along the lines of uh, you know, like either what it takes or the things that people don't see. Oh yeah. Yeah, or something like that. And, you know, the kind of moment like no one claps for. Um but the kind that builds everything that comes after.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And so when you told me that, uh it you know, it it definitely impacted me the the thought of just envisioning that, you know, tired, probably, most likely, working a full day, then going to the office and working another full day, that's right, uh, and then leaving, and everybody's gone. You're the only one there.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um so let's talk about that 1 a.m. video.

SPEAKER_07

Okay.

SPEAKER_02

Tell us about that night and what made you take that video.

The Janitor Video And Its Meaning

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, just it was so spur of the moment. Um, you know, it was a long day. I had a couple of nights, say a week, where that was planned. I in order to make the business thrive, I had to put the had to put the time in. And I was working a full-time job, so I couldn't work on it during, you know, eight to five or whatever. So it's funny, like 6, 7 p.m. was my lunch break. So it was just the the the craziest thing, you know. Retro traditional lunch time was my breakfast. Yeah. So it was just different with the days that I was putting in at that time. But um it was a Thursday, um, long day. I remember coming out the side door, and I could, you know, heard that, you know, the vac vacuum cleaner was running. And, you know, custodian was there vacuuming. And it just hit me. And I think I had a had a few challenging, you know, things that I was dealing with uh at the time um for that particular day. And I remember looking at the time, like, man, and this is another thing that would happen. I would start hitting my wife up about 11 p.m. Right. And then it would be a question of, okay, was she gonna stay up or was she gonna go to bed? Yeah. And we had an understanding because it was, you know, routine, she was fully on board, she knew, you know, I had my nights where I came home at the regular time, but then I had the nights where I had to, you know, go in and work. And then I had one day on the weekend where I would do this as well. So that's how I would take care of both. But I remember coming out the side door, hearing the you know, vacuum cleaner, and it just all hit me, and I was like, man, you know, most people aren't doing this. You know, and I remember feeling different at that particular, it was just something, it was something I had done tons of times. And yeah, to go back to 11 o'clock, I start, I would start hitting her up 10:30, 11 o'clock. All right, I think I'm gonna head out of here in about 30 minutes. I think I'm gonna hear about 30 minutes. And then it would extend because more things would happen. I'm like, okay, hold on. I'm working on a few more things. All right, it's gonna be 12. All right, it's gonna be 12:30. So then one, I'm finally walking out, and I'm like, no, for real this time. Like I've already put my backpack on, so I'm walking out the door.

SPEAKER_02

She's already asleep.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, right, exactly, exactly. The shout out to the wife.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

Weekly Wins And Built-In Rewards

SPEAKER_05

Um, and so, yeah, so I I just heard it and was like, man, you know what? Let me let me actually re-record this. And I recorded it, and I remember saying something to the effect of, you know, those of you that want to be an entrepreneur, um, this is what it takes. Um, I was like, you know, you see the glory part, you know, you see the philanthropy, and you say, hey, I want to have a business, I want to give money to great causes and do all these great things. I was like, oh, that's great. But this is the work behind the scenes. You know, you may see me picking up my son from school at three o'clock, right? But you don't see me leaving here at 1 a.m., right? There's a price that goes with all of that. And so I just remember that vividly, and I sent the video only to like two or three people. I think I sent it to my parents, of course, my wife, and I sent it to Mike Sims, Mike Sims, VP of TNT Creative Group. And Mike always brings that video up. Yeah. Because he wanted me to put it, he wanted to put it out.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

And I was like, nah, I don't, I didn't do it for that.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

It was just more internally for me. And I was like, at some point, and now's probably the time, because we'll probably show it with this. Yeah. I was like, but I just knew, and that's another, that'll be a whole nother show, is timing. Timing is everything. And um, I just knew the timing wasn't right, but it was just something that I just Lord just told me, capture this, capture this is part of your journey. And I and I did. I have some other videos too from back in the day that just chronicle the journey. But I did that from time to time, knowing I get deep down inside, I knew I would get where I want to go. And I knew that story was gonna inspire people. And I wanted to have proof of what the journey really was, other than me saying it.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

So yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So then you would you say you did realize then how much those nice nights would mean to you now? Or is it now you're realizing in I I I knew then.

SPEAKER_05

I I did know for sure. Um, I definitely knew, but it's still different after the fact, no matter what. So it's almost like, you know, you know, with the family or, you know, the kids and whatnot, like you know how special the time is, and you know, everybody tells you the time flies, and you know it's flying, but still, once it's passed, you still look back and go, man, that went fast. So I knew what was happening and I realized it, but I still have an even greater appreciation looking back.

SPEAKER_02

Do you see that video differently now versus when you first took it?

SPEAKER_05

I'm just more proud. I guess that's really the the the impact. I'm proud that I was able to do that.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

So that that's the feeling that that I get as well as just being proud of it.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, because it takes a lot.

SPEAKER_02

That you were able to do like all that what that video signified was like a little bit of a few years.

Discipline, Self-Leadership, And Focus

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, the time. So not filming the video, but I'm proud of the fact that I had a routine of several nights a week getting home no earlier than um, you know, midnight. Um, and having that day on the weekend when I would go and spend the entire day and just all those things. I'm proud of that. Um, and I'm happy of what that's been able to uh create.

SPEAKER_02

And then having to wake up the next morning and go into your job. Right, and then yeah, and then picking up your son after school and dropping off, and then on nights going back to your office and working and like all of those things where you are not um you are not just uh an employee for this company, you are not just the owner of this business, you are again, you're also a full-time father, you're also a full-time husband, you're also and we'll talk a little bit more about that five family dynamic and like what it takes, um, and how a lot of that sometimes is really what makes all of this possible. It does. Um, but why do you think the middle season is where most people give up?

SPEAKER_05

Oh man, because that's that's the tough part. That's that's where it gets real, you know. Again, like you said, yeah, it's fun. It's fun to create a logo, it's fun to create a name, yeah. You know, tell everybody what you're gonna do and all that. And yeah, that's the fun part. But now when it's time to really, oh shoot, you know what? I didn't I didn't make any money this month. And I've got to still believe and sit here and put the work and nothing's coming in yet. You know, it's it's very similar to a diet, you know, is what what I would probably equate it to of, you know, it's easy to, or buying a book, you know, it's easy to start, it's easy to go sign up for a weight plan. Yeah, you know, it's hard to when you're starving and it's 8 p.m. not to go and eat something. You know, that's the hard part. Yeah, you know, it's it's easy to. I have a whole library of books, it's very impressive, right? But how many of them have I read? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a whole nother thing.

SPEAKER_02

We don't talk about those.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, we'll leave them.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Um, so I'm gonna be like very honest with everybody, right? When we, because um, we meet a couple of times, of course, to discuss these topics. And the very first time that we met to discuss this, I was so ready. Because initially, this episode was gonna be titled The Loneliness of Leadership.

SPEAKER_07

Yes, that's right.

SPEAKER_02

Uh, and then when we as we kept discussing it, we realized, okay, maybe that's not necessarily the best topic because um while we touched on it, we realized what we were talking about more was what it really takes.

SPEAKER_07

Yes.

Conviction Versus Applause

SPEAKER_02

But I came into that first meeting with you, kind of fully prepared for you to complain and for me to be like, yeah, this is so hard. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like all together, like, yeah, look, look at me. I'm struggling so much, and man, you know, like have pity on me, or woe is me, or look. But what really shocked me was that I kept asking you questions about, like, you know, um kind of along those lines, and you kept giving me answers that I was like, wait, is Derek like not from this world? Because why are you not complaining about these things? But there was something that you said, um, like you mentioned, you know, um, and I said, How did you not lose that momentum? How did you not lose that excitement? How do you and you're like, well, I I made sure to give myself wins.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And whether it's a monthly win, a weekly win, that there was always something during the week that like I was looking forward to or that I knew, or something that I accomplished. Um, so you mentioned that even in that middle season, you found ways to stay motivated by those weekly wins. Yeah, um, can you talk about that a little bit? Like, how do you define what a win looked like each week?

SPEAKER_05

Or yeah. So there were a couple of things. So yeah, I would have my wins or my rewards. So it was two things. One, you have to have goals and things that you're going to accomplish uh every single week. So it's you know impossible to say, okay, daily, you know, day daily wins. Um, because that, you know, if you if you're juggling multiple things, that can be hard every single day to, you know, do something and feel accomplishment for your venture if you're not in it full time yet, if you're in that transition. But weekly, yes, you now you can't let a week go by and you have not accomplished something. And it doesn't have to be huge, but if you accomplish 52 small things in a year, that equals up, you know, to be to be pretty pretty large. So um could be, you know, sometimes it would be just creating a a detailed plan on how we were gonna, you know, move into a new uh a new segment. You know, how how are we gonna go into the um the education uh you know industry? How are we gonna break through that? I would create a plan for that. That may be, you know, a detailed uh process. This is before Chat GPT. Okay, so I could have fast-tracked some of that stuff, right? But um, you know, think things like that. And then the rewards of okay, kind of similar again to a diet, to where, you know, a lot of successful diets have built-in cheat meals, built-in cheat days. And on those last few days, you're really looking forward to, oh my gosh, okay, if I can just get to Sunday, oh man, have that meal, you know, I'm gonna really enjoy it and I can get right back to it. This is kind of a similar type of uh a journey. Yeah where, you know, I may, if I'm able to, you know, accomplish everything that I wanted to that week, then we may, you know, go out to you know a fun celebration dinner. You know, you don't have to wait a year to accomplish all these things to celebrate. Celebrate, celebrate weekly, have some fun. It may be just going and buying an ice cream or something like that, but just being aware enough, um being in the moment to realize that you're you're doing this. Yeah, you're doing it. Yeah, and reward yourself and acknowledge it. Yeah, that's that's one of the keys.

Someone Is Always Watching

SPEAKER_02

And I remember like speaking about that, where a lot of times we think so far off into the distance or just big picture. And we kind of gotta like minimize it sometimes and break it down because if all you're looking for is to like that one day where you can say, you know, like I I made it because of whatever it is that I'm measuring success by, um, and and that's gonna take you a long time to get there, or you maybe not everybody has a different journey, but what's gonna keep you motivated now in the moment, you know, sometimes that far away f image isn't enough because you're not giving yourself things to be proud of in the moment, to be proud of now, things that you accomplished, even if they're not, like you said, giant things, especially when you're starting out, but you can be proud of yourself for the small things that you accomplished.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, exactly. I I would even go if I could, I would try to golf on like Sunday. And that would be like a good out and kind of get me away from it and be a celebration and to kind of mark that week. Yeah. And mark of okay, you did it. You know, you you you stacked another successful week together.

SPEAKER_02

Um, why do you think it's so important for leaders to see progress even in those small doses?

SPEAKER_05

Man, you have to because it it's again, it's easy to get discouraged. You will think about quitting. You will think, you know, you'll see your friends that have nine to five and driving a nice ride and everything. And everybody tends to make things look great.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

So you see people that aren't, you know, staying up late crazy nights and doing all the things you're doing, yeah, and it looks like they have more than you, and you're like, okay, what am I doing wrong?

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

So, you know, it's easy to question question yourself, have imposter syndrome and all those types of things. So it it it's very important to to do that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

But um, you know, with that, and we discussed this a bit too, where it's you are starting this journey of entrepreneurship. Um let's say your goal is to eventually have a team. To have multiple people.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

But you cannot lead others until you learn how to lead yourself. Yes. And so that element of discipline. And that's the discipline that keeps you looking for weekly wins. That keeps you on that schedule. That keeps you. What did it look like for you practically to lead yourself during that time? Before, you know, even before a team, before even you had any employees. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. Um di difficult for for sure. But um, you know, I I knew I knew where I wanted to go. I knew I needed a team to get to where I wanted the business to be. And so I I focused on really it was a lot of discipline, but I focused on that first position. You know, that first how I remember so funny now as it feels so long ago. I was like, if I can just get a graphic designer, oh my goodness. Because I was doing everything. I was building, building sites, I was doing graphics, I, you know, it was coding, I was doing all these things, which a lot I don't do really any of that anymore. But I remember, I was like, man, if I could just get a graphic designer, oh my gosh, everything will be amazing. And I remember getting that. Going, oh man, wow, it's great. And then it shifted. Man, if I can just get a web developer, oh man, okay, I got the graphics done. If I can just get a web developer, man, okay, got that.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

Redefining Success As Freedom

SPEAKER_05

Oh, if I can get a back-end developer, and it just, it just, you know, snowballed into again having those wins and you know, having that. But the the discipline, I think a lot of it came from as far as if I were to take you into my mindset, it was the alternative, is what ultimately drove me. The mindset of, and the alternative of I don't, I do not want to ultimately for me personally, there's nothing wrong with it, but for me personally, I did not want to work a nine to five, and then I wouldn't want to work for anybody. And so that's what drove me. And the alternative was so, okay, this may be hard right now, this staying up to one in the morning, but I'd rather stay up to one in the morning and get this done than have to, for the rest of my life, work for somebody. So that's what got me, got me through ultimately if I were to sum it up at the highest level.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Cause I remember I was discussing this and um you mentioning it, which was the part that I was like, wow, you're built differently. You know, like, and sometimes we there's that element of like some people everybody's everybody's different.

SPEAKER_07

Yes.

SPEAKER_02

Um, and there are some things that either you have it or you don't.

SPEAKER_07

Yes.

SPEAKER_02

Uh, and there are things you can learn, you know. But um where you know, when I was asking about this, where you're again working, we can say two full-time jobs, and on top of everything else that we've already mentioned.

SPEAKER_05

And I carry two laptops all the time.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. And and I asked you like how hard that's how hard was that. Um, how exhausted were you? And I remember you saying, like, you know, I didn't really feel like, yes, I would be physically tired, but I never felt like, oh, this is such a burden.

Advice For Those In The Middle

SPEAKER_05

No, no, no, it was more excitement of man. I it was more of the thirst of wanting to get to that point, to get to one laptop. That was a big thing. Like, man, I wanted to go on a trip or be able to go somewhere and travel because I'd have this huge bag. My bag was so big, my wife would always complain about it. Like, good gracious, why is that bag so big? Why is it so huge? I was like, I need all this stuff. You know, something happens, and some sometimes I might get a call and there'd be a fire at work, and I'd have to literally pull over to the side of the road, turn my hotspot on, turn something on, do something real quick. Like, I remember all those things. Um, and so I remember being like, man, when I can get to, when I can get to just one, get get get a light bag and just kind of calmly, you know, just kind of, you know, stroll in, I'll be, I'll, I'll be doing something. But yeah, just having having those different goals and mindsets, never looked at it as a burden. It was just more excitement of, man, just knowing how great things would be for me personally, the way I'm built, the type of lifestyle that I want to have, I was driven by what was to come. And I was willing to do anything to get it.

SPEAKER_02

It's like your motivation, you were your kind of your own hype man, you know, during that time. Like, of course, and well, uh you, you, your wife and your son, and but as far as like overall, yeah, again, in that in those areas, nobody was seeing, like your clients did not see if anything was like, they cannot see this part, right?

SPEAKER_07

No, that's like a job.

Audience Q&A: What To Focus On

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, they didn't know you had a job, and that's like, but they didn't see the people aren't seeing again your employees um to know that like you went back to corporate America to keep them on. And it's like it things like that that I'm sure that they were very grateful for. Um, but things that at the end of the day landed on your shoulders, your responsibility, your burden to carry and not theirs, doing this for them. Right, that's right. And it's so many times uh in this, you know, uh journey as entre entrepreneurs, and especially as you start scaling into a team, and like those things that a lot of times you're gonna have to do for your employees behind the scenes that they don't even know about. Yes, but it's to keep them on to do this, yes, and and they're they they sometimes they don't know about it. No, so you just in your mind, like I just did this thing for all of you. Right. And I'm not gonna receive probably one thank you because I don't want you to know.

SPEAKER_05

Right, right. That's I just want to keep that and and that's why it's so funny because you're making me think um and doing such a great job of co-hosting this, you know. Um I look back and I cringe and I'm embarrassed on the things that I used to complain about when I worked at a company. You know what I mean? Like in this day, like now, being the you know, the owner and entrepreneur and whatnot, and I think of like all the responsibility and the sacrifices that I make for things, and then I'm embarrassed by the stuff that you know I would complain about being, you know, on the other side of like, oh my gosh. You know what I mean? So yeah, yeah, it it it it's funny. Funny to me now.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, to be able to see that and not be on the end, and you're like, No, I'm just kidding. You have great employees, you have great employees.

SPEAKER_05

We ran out of Kramer in the break room. What type of company is this? Oh my god.

Audience Q&A: Protecting Mindset

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, but uh yeah, and those things are like again, you're you're leaving at one in the morning.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um and that's also time where you knew why you were doing it, right? Right. Um, and I know that he is so like I mean, we were discussing uh before today, like when was it, a couple of days ago, you took your son to a concert and he had the best time ever. We were watching the clips of them just Playboy Cardi. Yeah, Playboy Cardi. I didn't want to mess up the name again. Uh called him Cowboy Cardi earlier today.

SPEAKER_07

My bad.

SPEAKER_02

My bad. Um, and and I'm sure you're like watching the you showed us a video of him jumping up and down and having the best time ever. And being able to do that for him now uh meant some nights where you weren't coming home. Right. And some sacrifices have to be made, but now you're like showing us videos of look at him and his friends enjoying this concert. Yeah. Great seats, having the time of his life.

SPEAKER_05

And he lives a great life.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. But in those moments, you know, but that's why you did it.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, oh yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, that's why those nights were worth it. Um, those sacrifices, those nights where, you know, um you probably weren't coming home for dinner that day. And even though that's an agreement between you and your wife, sometimes, you know, as parents, like, how do you explain that to your to your child? Yeah, um, but it but now I'm now I'm sure he's like not mad at it.

SPEAKER_05

Oh yeah, no, no, not not mad at it at all. And the thing is, they never felt it was cool because again, we had a system. They never felt neglected. Like he, we would have, you know, a weekend time, we would always go, you know, shoot ball at the park. We, you know, I took him to school every day, picked him up still three days a week. So we had that time. Um, a wife, you know, she didn't feel neglected. We had, I had my scheduled days where I'd come home, have dinner, um, you know, go out to eat on the weekends, you know, do our thing, take our trips. So I've had a miraculously, you know, even though I was doing a lot, it's like every single minute was utilized for something and uh whatnot. So you was able to not have anybody um, you know, make sure everybody got what we do.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, but that's why, again, it's so important um to learn how to really leave yourself in that discipline. Um, of you know, I feel like in my life, that's an area that I can improve so much on. Like making sure every second is uh every minute has a purpose. And so I look at you and I admire that so much. In my mind, I go, how did he do it? And then when you were telling me, you know, there was such a schedule put in place and you made sure that every minute was you guys, but learning to because if you don't, um, there was something you said to me one day, and you were like, um, when you have nothing going on, you can be as disorganized as you want to be.

SPEAKER_07

Oh, yeah.

Audience Q&A: When It Takes Longer

SPEAKER_02

Uh but when you have all of these things, you can't afford to be disorganized. Because how would have it worked with all of those elements you know going into play if you hadn't had that structure and and that discipline to discipline yourself to make sure, like even if you're tired, I'm getting up and I'm and I'm doing this and I'm showing up for the people that I still want to show up for. Absolutely. Um, so I I admire that so much. That area where again, nobody nobody's clapping for you.

SPEAKER_05

No. Um don't do not know. It's just you doing what needs to be done, you know, and you know you know what the end goal is and you know it's gonna be worth it, and that's gotta that that's gotta be enough.

SPEAKER_02

And that's why you really have to be so sure of like what your goals are. Yes. And not just your goal, but what motivates you. Um, like I want to ask you, what's the difference between leading for applause and leading from conviction?

Closing Thanks And Final Word

SPEAKER_05

Oh man. So yeah, you definitely have to leave from conviction because applause comes and goes. You know, that comes and goes. Again, it feels great when you get it. Yeah, yeah, it feels great. It won't won't lie. But that's that's that's temporary. You'll you'll constantly be. I think from applause, that's probably it might not be the best of the let me let me, I'll just say addiction. Okay. All right. Like, you know, there's an addiction, that first taste of whatever it is, because there's many things you can be addicted to. It's like it's so amazing, then you're chasing that. And it's never like that first, right? And so that's kind of similar, probably for applause, where you know, that applause is like, oh man, and you're just chasing it, chasing it, chasing it. And you're never going to be able to, you know, ultimately, you know, have that. And so you've got to go from conviction, you have you have to feel the um strongest about what you're doing because you're gonna have naysayers, people are gonna question, especially after it's been a year or two. You haven't been where maybe you said you'd be or other people think you should be. Can you still, you know, stay with it? Yeah, that's what that's what you know determines if you're gonna get there or not. And your conviction is what's gonna get you through. You've gotta, you know, believe it. And uh again, there's that breakthrough. Once you have that breakthrough, you know, you're you're good to a degree, but you've got to push until you get to that. And sometimes we don't know if we're having a breakdown or a breakthrough. And they can feel the same.

SPEAKER_02

I was like, preach, preacher. Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_05

Now I gotta give, now that's from Tim Ferris. Okay, uh, the four-hour work weeks. I gotta give him props for that. I got that from his book. But that's one of the best things I've ever read.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

Was are you having a breakdown or a breakthrough? And they can feel the same.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

And you've got to determine which is which. And a lot of times, because when you're about to break through, yeah, you are typically you're like on the verge, it feels like a breakdown. Yeah. And that's when a lot of people quit.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

And a lot of times you quit right before you're above.

SPEAKER_02

And you never know what's around the bend. Like you never know that you almost made it, but um, but you missed it. And that's why, you know, with like entrepreneurship and wanting to be um a CEO and want to wanting to have a team, uh, you really have to figure out like what is leading you. Yes. Right? Like, is it because you're really passionate about this thing? You want to build something that matters, you want to build something that is going to give you financial freedom, that it's gonna help your family, that's gonna help other people, or are you like, well, I want people to look at me. I want to be seen. I want to be, I want to hear the applause, I want to get the recognition. Um, because it and if that is what you're after, then that's not gonna sustain you. If that's what you're after, it will not sustain you because for most people, for most people, unless you are again one of those overnight successes, that that is not the story for for the majority, there are going to be moments where you feel like you're in a desert, yes, where you're not seeing results or where you're not seeing the result. Or let's say you you saw results and you were so excited, but then you stayed at that, you you're staying at that same level, and you're like, I can't figure out how to scale. I've been, I'm not in a bad place, I'm somewhat out of a comfortable spot, but I can't seem to scale it. Uh, and that's a completely different episode too, the scaling. We'll have more on that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

With with documentation. Yes, that will be more a blueprint series.

The 12:20 A.M. Grind Memo

SPEAKER_02

Um, but but being able to stick through it, I remember I was telling you the story, and even though it doesn't have to do with entrepreneurship, but yes, with leadership. Um for seven years, six, six and a half years, um, I was the president of a nonprofit organization. Yes. And um that story is a very long one, very long story short, right? Um, I was elected for seven um, and every two years you go up for election. Uh, about at the end I decided not to run again. It was time for me to move on to other things. Um, but it's or it was a religious organization, and we have two major events every year. Yeah, one in November, one in July. Um thousands of people come. I'm in charge with my team, right? We had a regional team, the regional team broke down into district teams, uh, five different districts. So overall, it was a it was a very large number of people leading. Um, but at this July event, it's our convention. And on the third night, the closing night, uh, it's where they call one by one the leaders and people clap for you, right? And at the very end, they call every district and like the VP of Virginia, the VP of Columbia, the VP of uh the districts, and then they'll go, everybody send up for the regional team and they'll call the names. And then at the very end, it would be the president, be like, and your regional president, and they'd say your name. And I would walk in, and I always felt so I've just never been good at that stuff. Um, but I remember I was telling you, we uh every December would be our meeting with all of the teams um and our regional board, like the one, the only people above me, and that was our regional board. And like my very first year I was in there, I was like 21 at the time. Again, this is a religious organization, so I'm also working with a ton of a lot older men, yeah, um, a bunch of pastors and all this stuff. And I I came in there like ready to like, you know, be like, no, you're gonna take me seriously. But point is, long story short, at the very end, my bishop came up to me and he said to me, This is where leaders are made. He was like, not on those stages where everybody's clapping at you. That's right. Not on those stages where all the attention and these large events, like, but in these meetings where you have where nobody sees the work that gets done. This is where the whole year gets planned. This is where you fight for your dates, for your funding, for your this, for all that stuff. Where and that always stuck with me. Right. Because so many people, they they so many people crave that attention and they crave that, but all of that is beautiful, but those moments are fleeting.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

It's all it's those behind the scene moments that make that happen. So, like, what it, you know, if you're if you're if all you want is that applause, yeah, that's not gonna sustain you. Oh, yeah. Because a lot of times you're not gonna get a lot of times you're gonna get people angry at you, people complaining, or you don't you're not booking as much as you would want. Um, so like, you know, I would ask yourself, like, what is what is keeping me motivated? A conviction to this, absolutely, or or the applause.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

We also spoke about, you know, even though we're talking about this middle season, um, somebody is always watching.

SPEAKER_05

Always.

SPEAKER_02

Even in the unseen season, somebody is always watching.

SPEAKER_07

Yes, they are.

SPEAKER_02

Um, whether it be your family, whether it be your co-workers, whether it be, you know. Especially. Yeah. Yeah, especially, right? So in the middle season, there's no spotlight, no applause, but somebody's still watching. It could be your kids, your team, your clients. What do you think? Um, sorry, who do you think was watching you during that time? Maybe even quietly, and and maybe they were even shaped by watching you.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, tons of people. So um, especially early on, there were a lot of people that knew me that then started started businesses and started very similar businesses there. So that showed that, you know, uh, I don't think any of those are still going now. But um, not not a shot, not a shot. But uh that was that's that's definitely, you know, Ripple effect and people that were watching. Yeah. Um, family for sure. You know, I think my son is definitely molded by a lot of what he's seen. I'm seeing a lot of things that he's doing that shows that he's been paying attention and what he's seen. Um, my wife certainly um is paying attention also from a you know a trust factor because there's a lot she trusts me explicitly with so many different things, you know, from a financial standpoint, from a time standpoint to who I'm whom I'm around standpoint, all so many different things, you know. Um and so um, but definitely watching to just see how things are continuing to progress. She sees all the work behind the scenes, she sees that. So I know she's she's been watching and very proud. Um, family, but then you know, co-workers. Yeah um a lot of again, a lot of my biggest referrals have been from people that I've worked with in the past. Um, and so that just shows again somebody's always watching clients, um, our clients are always watching, they're always evaluating. Um, you're as good as your latest piece of work. And so you can be doing great for a client for years, but you start slipping, they notice that. Yeah, they're watching. But yeah, um, and and you know, even here in the room, there's many, many people here that I know, you know, watching. You know, Robert, I met met Robert here at uh at a dinner, you know, event. And um that was a quick, quick engagement. But again, there was something about that interaction that stuck for both of us to bring us to where we are, where we are are now. Um, Cole, I was just telling him filming here today. Um, so it's on the flip to where I'm always watching.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05

You know, most of the people that work with TNT are people that I've had interaction with before.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

And I was watching. And I noticed certain things that they did when they didn't know I was watching.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

And that's what impressed me. Um, and that can go both ways. Yeah. That can go on the good side, and that can also go on the bad side when you don't think I'm watching, and I notice something, and it's like, oh, okay. Make another thing. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, that it it comes to you.

SPEAKER_02

And that, but that's so important to know because you uh you think nobody's clapping for me. I'm I'm not getting the attention I want right now, or you know, the one that it that's pleasing. Uh we gotta be honest with ourselves. It always feels good to be noticed, it always feels good. But somebody is always watching. Yes, and so maybe that determines. To not quit, even though things aren't going the way you want them to, is the motivation somebody else needed to not quit. That's right. You know, or maybe that that drive, that discipline is what somebody else needed. And those small things that you may think, oh, but I don't have the tens of thousands that I want right now, or all those clients. But your you your discipline could be motivating somebody else. Your determination could be motivating somebody else. You never know who's watching. And the reality is that there is always at least one person. And there's somebody who's either watching you for motivation or watching you because they're going, oh, I know that they're not gonna make it. You know, I know that they're so somebody's either watching you because they believe in you, or they're watching you because and you want to prove this one right and this one wrong. You know, sometimes like it's okay with wanting to prove people wrong.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, no, I love that. That's a great that's that that's it. I I fully endorse that source of motivation. I fully endorse that source of motivation. Um John Um Sternstein from Stern Security. Uh, he's a good friend of mine, has a very successful cybersecurity business. Part of his motivation was when he started, uh, there was someone that he said that said, well, this won't last more than I forget what it was, a couple years and whatnot. And he just had a huge 10-year celebration. And he's still to this day, whenever he has a milestone or a celebration, he acknowledges that person that doubted him. Ah, love it. So yeah, no, I love it. Love it. I fully, I fully, fully endorsed that for sure.

SPEAKER_02

How do you think being a dad influenced the way you showed up as a leader?

SPEAKER_05

Um, it it just added added responsibility and you know gave me another factor of there's no there's no turning back.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

There's no turning back. It's similar to when I moved out of the house and my dad took my keys. And it was like, dang, okay, this just became real.

SPEAKER_07

Like I can't, I can't, I can't go back now. Right.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, it's like I I can't go back now. Yeah. But that was the best thing he could have done because it really made it real like, okay, I have there's one thing, you know, when you have a safety net, when you have a security blanket, you know, it's easy to fall, fall back. You know, when you have monies and money and savings and you know you're fine with you, dip it into it, you know, you will. But if you clearly in your mind say, okay, no, there's no way, like this has to work. I have to do this. I can't go back. I can't go there. That's another gear and mindset that will always get you, get you where you need to go.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. How would you define success now? Do you think it's you you see it differently?

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, yeah, I definitely see it different. I mean, before, you know, money. Money, money, money, money. You know, yeah. Um, and again, money's great, and money, money then allows you to have these other things that I'm about to say. But the focus for me now, I I say um success is more, you know, your your your time, you know, what you're able to do with your time. Of course, you have that money for that. So I I fully get that. But those are things that I I cherish more. You know, I cherish it more. Um, the the the time, the freedom of choice, um, being able to not take certain projects, you know, that that is very freeing and very rewarding. Um, because when you know when you start now, you feel like you've got to take everything. Oh I gotta take it, take it at all costs, that type of thing. So those are success. Um, being able to pick and choose who you surround yourself with.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

You know, I'm very picky, cautious of my inner circle. Um, you can look in this room and see that.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

So um, yeah, you have to have a certain spirit about you, certain way about you for me to really mess with you. Um and so, and trust is a very, very big, big thing for me. Um, so all those are, you know, ways that I I kind of measure success, being able to be around who I want to be around, yeah, do business with who I want to do it with, um, you know, and have the time to do certain things. That's what you know success is for me. For those quiet moments, you know, being able to sit in a club chair like that, that's one of my greatest pastimes, honestly. Being able to sit in a club chair and just have that peace, yeah, that's that's success for me right now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

What would you say to somebody who's in their middle right now? I mean, they're putting in the hours, they are putting in the work, they are disciplined, they're they're they're you know, they haven't faltered. They're going, they're going. Yeah, but they're not seeing those results and they they're feeling unseen, they're feeling exhausted, um, even though they're doing all the right things.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, first of all, kudos to them. Kudos for doing it. I love, I love seeing, hearing, being around people that are on their journey. There's those that are in that middle. You know, I have to sometimes I feel like I have to pull back sometimes because it's so much that I would just want to do for them. And, you know, I mean, help us. I love, I love that. Um, but I would encourage them to think about find find that that motivation. Um, think about the alternative. You know, for me, that was my biggest driving force was the alternative.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

You know, think about that alternative. Is as low as you may get, as down as you may get, because you will, think about that alternative.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

And know it's you're doing this for for a reason. Yeah. Um and you don't want to look back and go, man, dang, you know, woulda, coulda, shoulda. You know, the worst, one of the worst things I feel in life is to have regret of, especially when you really feel like you could have done something.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

And you didn't happen because you didn't didn't stick with it. You know, that that sucks. So, you know, don't be in that situation. You know, really do everything you can to see it through. Uh, because when you break through, it's it's absolutely amazing. So that that that would be be my my advice.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. And I um love that quote that we said at the beginning, but the nobody claps for the nights that you don't quit. Uh, and every night that you don't quit, it's a success. It is. And it's a win. That's a win. Like clap for yourself. Like, yes, nobody's gonna clap for those nights because they don't see those nights. Yes. Um, but one day, you know, they'll you'll see the fruit of that, and so will they. But just know, yeah, there is that middle area. Yeah, there is everybody's gonna go through that middle area. It's every journey includes one. Um, and the journey of entrepreneurship includes one. And some may last longer for others, some may be shorter, depends on your story. But anybody who's made it went through it.

SPEAKER_07

Yes.

SPEAKER_02

And they would probably tell you, stick by because you never know when you're around, you never know when you're gonna take that turn. And like you go, I'm so happy I didn't give up. Yeah, I'm so glad I kept believing in myself, even if other people didn't believe in me.

SPEAKER_05

Yes, yes. It's a big just getting just stacking another week of hanging in there is huge. It's similar to golf, you know. Tiger would say his slide, his pars were bigger than his birdies. You know, just those long, those long putts where we were able to just stay at the same score and not go down, like that was huge just to keep that, keep that momentum, you know. Um, yeah, that's that's a big part of the journey.

SPEAKER_02

We've there's a person that has constantly been mentioned throughout this entire journey. Well, two people, right? Uh your son and your wife. Um, but your wife really, I'm sure, also took a lot uh of work on her hands too to help you uh make all of this happen. So I'm sure you want to shout them out and anybody else because you also can't do this alone.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, we definitely cannot cannot do it alone. Um, you know, there's so many people that have to thank, but definitely my wife has been amazing through this whole journey. Um, like I said, has trusted me to go the places I've gone um to you know spend and invest, you know, ways. Me personally trusted me to invest money in ways and not invest in other areas. Um her investing, uh, all of that. So she's been amazing. My family's been amazing, son's been amazing, everybody. But then with this idea CEO Lounge, um it's been an idea that I had for over 20 years. You know, when I first started in business, I wanted to chronicle other businesses because that's what I would watch a lot of.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

Um, and so now with the event of the podcast and whatnot, it's different. But this has been uh just a you know great journey. We just started. You know, definitely want to thank you for joining me with this. Uh, I want to thank um so many people in the audience here, Jalen. Jalen's been amazing. You know, we've been talking for a couple years about this, about different topics, different ideas. So many people have contributed so much to this. Debbie in the crowd has contributed, has helped film some of our pilot shows. So many people have contributed to make this happen. So definitely want to thank everybody.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. And I want to thank you. I think you're such an inspiration. I've been learning so much throughout this whole process. Um, so I'm so excited about other people being able to hear from you and learn from you. Um, and even this, again, like these real talks of like what it really takes and learning from your experience and being able to see somebody who I admire, somebody who I would say, you know, I want to be there one day, and being able to hear the stories of how it got you there. Uh, I think it's so important for us to hear. So I'm sure everybody else would agree the same. Anybody who listens to this can learn so much from it. Um, so thank you so much for giving us a platform to be able to talk about this.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um yeah, so what would you uh last words to anybody encourage them on this journey?

SPEAKER_05

Just, you know, and I want to take a couple questions here from the audience before we go. But yeah, just stick with it. Stick with it. Um, surround yourself by the right people. If you have people that are giving you negative energy, you know, try to separate yourself from that. You can do it. Believe in your conviction and uh make sure you have those weekly wins. Those weekly wins, celebrate yourself, celebrate the milestone, and uh hit us up, message us. Um in the comments, you'll see all of our resources as well as how to get in contact with us. But reach out if you're you're dealing with anything, if you have any questions specifically, uh send them to us and we will answer them. So uh that would be the advice I would give you. You got this, you got it. All right.

SPEAKER_00

Well, do we have any any questions from the audience? Whenever you're building something, you notice as more you learn, there's so many different skill sets that you need to acquire. And, you know, when it comes to running a business, there's leadership, there's finances, there's sales, there's marketing, there's all these different facets that you have to focus on. How do you know what to focus on and when? Yeah, what and when.

unknown

Wow.

SPEAKER_05

No, that that's a great one, man. Um, there is a lot. And if it's just you and you want to be careful on, you know, there's a line between when you need to bring people in. And so you don't want to bring people in too late, but you also don't want to bring people in too early. Um, so there is a line for that. What I would say is it all comes down to planning, uh, ultimately, is what it all comes down to. So um, and there's tons of resources now, much more now than there's ever been. So there's a lot of resources to help you with all of those other pieces of the business that you need. I I would say the part that you definitely don't want to skimp on and don't want to um try to do yourself unless you have a really strong um um um history with this would be the finance side, you know, the accounting. So I would say definitely get get a good accountant, you know, to help you with that from the financial side, the book side, make sure that's straight. As long as that's that's good, you know, you can work through through everything else. So I would say, you know, as you're planning your resources, as you're stacking your money to break free, start your business, um, make sure you have someone that can help you from the financial side. And then from there, make a plan. Make a plan of all the areas that you are responsible for and um see how you can have that outline to outsource what and when. So start trying to do, you know, as much as you can yourself and then break off one by one, break off each piece one by one, and just take it in steps like everything. Because otherwise, like all that we talked about, it can become overwhelming. So that's the best way is once you visually see it, then it's not as it's not as daunting once it's once it's down on paper. So yeah, that that'd be my advice. Thank you. Thank you. All right, we've got another question, Robert from the audience.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, Derek. Um, can you talk a little bit about mindset? So, how can an entrepreneur that's in the middle protect their mindset so that they can make it through to the reward?

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, man, your mindset is mindset is is all that you have. So, um, you know, kind of going to what we said before, I would, you know, you have to believe in yourself. You have to, you have to, I mean, yeah, you know, you may have a support system that believes in you and all that's great, okay. But you ultimately, you've got to be the the biggest supporter and the biggest believer in what you're doing because you can get into your own head and that that that can really mess you up. So you've got to believe in it and be strong in that. Um, have those weekly goals, have those those weekly wins, um, so you can see that success week in and week out. But make sure that you have weekly goals, that you're accomplishing those goals, that you are celebrating those wins in even the smallest way. And that can help just get your mindset happy about what you're what what you're accomplishing. Because it is it is a my game, it's it's very, very, very mental. And you'll have a lot of forces internal and external that will try to pull you away from it. But those are the the biggest pieces of advice that I would um would advise you on is that and the the other thing that I would say is be consciously be grateful and thankful for where you are. You know, that's a big a lot of times we focus so much on where we're trying to go, and we get caught up on man, I'm not there yet, and really wanting to be there and what it's gonna be like that we don't appreciate where we are. And that can really get you there. So, you know, it could be a and being appreciative of the small things, you know. You get a contract that's a building block. Be man, be thankful as I don't know what for that. You know, and the more the more you're thankful for what you have, just the happier you are and the more drive you have to to continue. And that's something that I I have a gratitude book now in the journal where I'm I'm noting like what I'm thankful for. Because that's a great way to then keep keep yourself motivated.

SPEAKER_02

Can I add something that real quick and I'll be fast about it? Please. Um, and for me, like I do, I'm a lot, I'm led a lot by my faith, right? So I'm I'm not gonna enter into that too much, but um uh this week at church, somebody was telling their story and it impacted me greatly. And she was saying how a lot of things, uh, and I'm not gonna go too much into it because there were so many lessons from from her message, but one of them was she currently lives in an apartment that's like not very nice, it's not in a great area with her and her husband. And she said, But she decorates it so beautifully. And somebody came and visited her at her apartment and was like, Your home is decorated so beautifully. And they told her, you know, I live in an apartment right now, but I don't want to decorate it because if I decorate it, I'm gonna get complacent. And I know that what God has for me is something greater. He has a home for me. Um and she said, You know, that's beautiful. I believe that I'm gonna have my home too. But right now, this is what I have. And I'm gonna honor what I have right now. I'm gonna honor it so well that I'm gonna decorate it beautifully. I'm gonna make it as cozy as I want it to be. But it's that also honoring what we have right now. Sometimes we want so much more that we don't honor what's already been given to us. And when we really look, we've so much has already been given to us. Um, and it's that element of gratitude. So I just wanted to add that because I know it can be it's a lot easier said than done. But when you look around and you go, Well, let me honor this now. If I honor this well, I will a hundred percent be given more. If I honor this well, that is so true.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, and that that's a great example. That's a great story, yeah. And I agree with that. And and and I honestly, to my core, I believe that at times that's why I was not granted certain things because I wasn't ready for it, because I wasn't honoring where I was. So yeah, yeah, that that's a great, great lesson. Great, great questions, great questions.

SPEAKER_01

I would like to add to what was just being said, but I also have a question. Okay. So I had mentioned this before on the um podcast, but it's a quote from the book The Alchemist. I know everybody knows about it. But one of the quotes, it's something along the lines of like you can't chase gold if you don't know what it takes to get to like silver or lead or something like that, where it's a journey. You you're not gonna know what it takes to get to certain areas or to get to that apartment or that dream house you want, and truly know how to appreciate that if you didn't know what it took to get to some of those like smaller steps. That's it. So kind of appreciating that journey and how the journey is those character building moments, and so every step of your journey really does serve a purpose and to honor that instead of focusing so much on like the end goal. But my question was Um, how do you navigate kind of undershooting what it will take to get somewhere? So oftentimes, like for me, like starting um my journey with cybersecurity, you know, I had these goals of like, by this time I'm gonna have this, by this time I'm gonna be here, it's all gonna work out. But it was one of those things like the more I learned, the more I realized I didn't really know much. And that could be a little bit discouraging. So it's like, how do you navigate kind of coming to that realization that okay, this is gonna take a little bit longer and that uh you don't know as much as you think you do.

SPEAKER_05

Oh, yeah. Another fantastic question. Uh yeah, and I face that. I face that, you know, just because you create a plan and document it and have milestones and whatnot does not mean that it's gonna go that way. And so, and you know, and when I say, you know, celebrate, have you know, weekly goals and whatnot, you're not gonna hit, you know, your goals every every single week. Uh so let me be clear about that. But the point is to have them and to work and to accomplish, you know, work towards those. So and as long as you're doing that and moving forward, you're moving in the right direction. We just don't want to go backwards. So if it's gonna take a little longer, that's okay. Um, it's just a matter of resetting. It's like me. I thought when I left corporate America the first time I was gone, right? Had had a big old party, had a cake, had people came and everything. You know what I mean? And then I don't know, six months later, I was back at a job, you know. So that could have, that would have stopped most people, right? You know, and said, okay, man, this isn't for me. And then the embarrassment and friends knowing it, dang, ah, I see, you know, no, but you know, I knew, okay, this was just this was just somewhat of a setback. I if I just need more one runway. I need to go back, I need to stack some more money, and so I can just have a little more, you know, longer, and I'll get there. So it's just about resetting. So when you Get into the trenches and then you really find out something takes a little longer. That's all it is. It just takes a little longer and you got it. So, yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Great, great questions. Well, thank you for being here. Thank you for tuning into this latest episode. Thank you, Jocelyn. And uh, we're gonna go ahead and get on out on that note. No better way to end. All right. Thank you. See you allows. See you next time. Like and subscribe. So you want to have your own business. I hear a lot of people step to me all the time saying they want to want to have their own business. Oh, I want to have fundraisers. I want to do all the things you do. Well, it's a lot that goes into that. So it is what time is it? 1220 a.m. Friday morning, Thursday night, Friday morning. Uh, finishing up the day, about to go home. Uh text my wife, told her I'd be home at 11:30. It's an hour after that. Still grinding. All you that say, I want to have my own business. I want to, I wanna, you know, work my own hours. I want to call my own shots. Well, there's a lot that a lot that comes with that. Is it worth it? Yeah. A lot of great perks that come with it, but again, it takes years in the making, a lot of hard work, and you don't just come up with an idea and all of a sudden make millions of dollars or become a philanthropist. There's a lot that comes with it. Keep grinding.