Talent vs Hard Work… Who REALLY Wins?

Success isn’t just about talent—it’s about discipline, consistency, and mindset. In this episode, we break down the real difference between fast success and long-term success, using the “tortoise vs hare” concept. From real estate to entrepreneurship, this conversation dives deep into what it actually takes to win in the long run—and why some people burn out while others build empires.

🎙️ In this episode:
 • Discipline vs natural talent debate
 • The “tortoise vs hare” success mindset
 • Why consistency beats short bursts of success
 • Real-life examples of wealthy mindset shifts
 • The importance of staying in your “zone”
 • How exposure to success changes your belief system

🧠 What you'll learn:
 • Why showing up daily matters more than talent
 • How to avoid burnout and stay consistent
 • The mindset shift that unlocks bigger opportunities
 • Why success is possible for anyone
 • How environment and exposure shape your beliefs

⏱️ CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS
 00:00 Intro
 00:08 Discipline vs Talent
 00:40 Tortoise vs Hare Debate
 01:05 Growth, Exposure & Confidence
 01:48 Burnout vs Consistency
 02:27 Breaking Down Matt’s Journey
 03:47 Passion vs Speed of Execution
 04:57 Motivation & Influences
 06:10 The Rise of Conor McGregor
 06:58 Mindset Around Wealth
 07:34 Redefining “Rich People”
 09:21 Millionaire Mindset Story

📢 About the Podcast
 Anything & Everything with Matt Reyna is a real, unfiltered podcast where we talk business, mindset, real estate, and life. Conversations with real people, real experiences, and real game.

📌 Connect With Matt Reyna

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattreyna2023/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matt.reyna.12 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mattreynaspodcast

#podcast #mattreyna #mindset #success #entrepreneur #discipline #motivation #consistency #business #selfimprovement

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Like, how important would y'all tell everybody that discipline is? Discipline, mindset, schedule, you know, your systems.

SPEAKER_00 0:08

So, like, and and we kind of see it from both. Like, you have those like naturally talented like individuals, and you just see those grinders, right? And it's kind of like the rabbit and the turtle, right? There's gonna be that one person that's gonna show instant success and they're just gonna blow up right out the blue, and then there's just the ones that just kept showing up every single day. So it doesn't matter on which side of the coin you're in. But I think if you were to show up and you get to choose all right, I'm gonna be the rabbit or I'm gonna be the turtle, like you still have every chance to win. It just depends on if you're gonna show up.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

So are y'all the rabbit or are y'all the turtle?

SPEAKER_00 0:42

I think I'm the turtle.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

I think I'm a cross between the two.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

I was gonna say I think you're more of a turtle because you blew up, you blew up fast. Yeah, especially in the academy days.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

Yeah, in the academy days, I I was not scared to be on everything. Um, and how old were you?

SPEAKER_00 0:57

Like 24, 25? Yeah, that was what I'd like 24, 25. Everybody knew Mark. Like every event, Mark was there, or Mark was speaking or something like that.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

I became I became very introverted as I got uh as I aged, and I think it had a lot to do with me opening a branch, hiring loan officers, and not trying to overshadow them anymore, to be honest. Yeah, um, but now I'm back. Y'all gonna see me everywhere. That's great. That's great.

SPEAKER_00 1:21

You can't you can't take LeBron out the game. Look, he's still sticking around. Like, that's the one thing I never got. Like, go sit down. Well, well, see, this is the thing I never got. I was like, You're still performing at a super high level. Why do you want to quit before it's too soon so that way you could regret it later on? Oh, how much did I leave on the table? And and that happens a lot. I speak to a lot of people, they they have all this success, and they're like, Man, I can't wait to be done with this. Why? Good point, like you're so fucking good at it.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

And it's it has bringing back the tortoise and the hair concept. You will have people that are more of the tortoise and those that are the hair that get there fast, but then they burn out. So it doesn't matter which one you are, just be consistent. Find your rhythm, find your jam and stay in it. Whatever it takes to stay in that jam, that's kind of the secret sauce.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Yeah, I like what Martin said that you could be what you're just saying, that you could be either one because I think it just depends on your personality, your mindset, your goals, all of that. Martin, am I the tor uh the tortoise or the hare?

SPEAKER_00 2:27

I think you're the turtle. Tortoise, in my opinion. Explain that. So you've never quit. Oh no. You've you've had other like obstacles kind of come in the way where it kind of maybe slowed you down a little bit, but you kept chunking along. So you never stop, you never say, Hey, you know what? I'm thinking I'm gonna go try something else. No, I don't know. Like it was, it was it was never that. Um, I I think it was just like, hey, now seeing you develop throughout your entire career from armadillo days to transition into real estate, like you were always a really good steward of your craft. And I don't feel like there was a lot of people that they had a lot of the best interests for the clients, but you did like every single time, like every time we have a conversation, like when you're asking questions and be like, Hey, what do you think about something like this? Because you asked those simple questions, it means that hey, you're not just trying to go around it to like maybe uh bid and switch any of your clients, it was always with the mu utmost integrity. And by doing that, I felt that your consistency came in from just not just trying to get a quick lick, but rather just a consistent chucking along every once in a while. Like there's some people that will use a chainsaw to cut the tree quicker, but you're okay with the axe, and that's fine, the job's still gonna get done. Gotcha. See what I mean? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:47

I also I'll add it is okay to be tortoise on some things and hair on other things. Because I'm gonna give you an example of how you were a hair on something else. This podcast. Once you become passionate about something, it's like, how do I get there fast? And then once you fall in love with it, it's like I don't want to stop doing this.

SPEAKER_01 4:07

Well, it's not necessarily how do I get there fast. I think it was just more so that like I saw an opportunity, I'm like, oh man, this is it.

SPEAKER_02 4:16

But you could have drugged your feet and been more meticulous about I need to do my research on what my show's gonna be like and I need to do it, right? Well, no, you jumped your ass in that seat and said, Okay, what do I do now? Let's go.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

Well, this is dude, this has been something that I've been, you know, you know, you know those things that y'all have been thinking about for the past five, ten years, you know. I'm saying that when I get my opportunity, man, I'm gonna be ready to go. You're not gonna have to coach me, motivate me, no, nothing. Of course, I'm gonna take critiques and all of that stuff because I don't know what I'm doing. Yeah, but at the same time, I've always known that that that's one of the things that I wanted to do. So therefore, it's like I think the I think it was Dale Jr. or whatever. It was just like I wanted to drive race cars, you know. And once I got in, he was like, I didn't even know what I was doing, but I took off.

SPEAKER_02 4:57

Well, you know, I'll tell you what, good thing you're not ugly, or else you would have just had to be sticking to radio.

SPEAKER_01 5:04

I have a have a face for radio. Yeah, you got it.

SPEAKER_00 5:07

I'm gonna give you a name to look up because when you talk about like entrepreneur and going get it, Les Brown is probably like one of the best motivational speakers.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

Uh I love Les Brown. I love Les Brown. He ain't over until I win, right? He's he's one of the best, dude. Yes. Oh, who else do you? I listen to Derek Thompson. Oh, Thompson is very good. I listen to um uh I listened to a lot of fitness uh influenced influencers as well.

SPEAKER_02 5:31

Are you into fitness?

SPEAKER_01 5:32

Um no, not really. No. Um Greg, Greg Plitt, um, what's his name? Um ah, golly. Anyway, uh they're they're kind of um escaping me right now, but yeah, it's a lot of them. A lot of you know, you know who I was into? I I think you know for a long time. Well, obviously Kobe, uh Jordan, like that. But Conor McGregor's rise for me, I love the way that he just had this like um almost uh delusional, like like delusional thought of himself and in his grand aspirations. And you saw that meteoric rise, it was just like no business. He wanted it more than anybody.

SPEAKER_02 6:10

Dude, that that that rise he was the right guy at the right time for that kind of publicity and attention.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

They needed it absolutely, yeah. Like the UFC needed that bad because Chuck Liddell had already retired at that time. Who else uh was already out? Two or two.

SPEAKER_02 6:28

Uh era, so to speak.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

They needed that or else it was gonna fall off, you know? Gotcha, yeah. So as far as okay, the when what we're talking about the external things as well and and the connections, stuff like that, the mentality, but where do y'all say the mentality is, like when it comes to aspiring to do big things, the things that maybe you thought that were out of your reach or or whatnot. Have y'all ever had a lacking in that?

SPEAKER_02 6:58

For me personally, once I realized that it was possible, I no, I did not.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

Can you give a specific example of that?

SPEAKER_02 7:08

Um, the first time I personally shook hands with somebody that was worth millions, I'm like, I know that person. It's not too crazy. Gotcha. That concept. Do you hear what I'm saying? Like growing up, matter of fact, I'll use an example. My dad always used to reference rich people, right? He would always say, This is how rich people think, this is how rich people act, this is how rich people this.

SPEAKER_01 7:34

This is the da da da, right? Real quick. And that rich people that he was saying, oh, were we talking about a millionaire or were we talking about that's just somebody that had money or just somebody had made it?

SPEAKER_02 7:43

And and I'm getting into it. Yeah, he did, he did not ever define what rich people.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

That's that's why I was asking, like, what do you do you think he's rich?

SPEAKER_02 7:52

So that's I'd say that's a good older as you get older and you are listening to that advice and you are following what he's saying, and you get to the point that, well, dad, do you see me as a rich person now? Because this is my mindset. I'm now able to tell you what I'm thinking and doing and the reasons why. And that's not what rich people do. And that's not does that make sense? Sure. Did he use rich or white?

SPEAKER_01 8:16

No, he used rich, he is rich. Okay, no, there isn't. That's it. That's a really good thing. My mom's white. I know, I know, but like even I get what you're saying.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

Yeah, sometimes it flips, right? Like growing up, yeah, you know, uh and that that's a shame, unfortunately. That's the first thing that comes to mind for minorities.

SPEAKER_02 8:32

Yeah, absolutely, and there is my family, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

That that side, yes. And I I don't get it. Like, even my wife, like she it sometimes slips from her. She's from the west side of San Antonio, and she'll be like, oh, so and so. And and like to me, I'm all like I know people that are minorities that are filthy fucking and like I'm just like scratching my head, I was like, Yeah, you just don't know. But it's because I see it all the time. Like, I've I so I one time saw over 500 million dollars in one of my clients' accounts, and then I was just like, he's Mexican, just like so you hit the lotto, huh? No automatic assumptions, inventor. It's just crazy. An inventor. What did he invent? You know, uh when you go to the grocery stores, you know when you go to the grocery stores and you put your you put your groceries.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Nobody gets my references, bro. Nobody gets them.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

You say you go and you you got groceries, right? You're gonna about to check out that conveyor belt. Get out of here. Yeah, wow, that's genius. Yep, necessary. He invented it over 40 years ago. He got the patent. Wow. Every time he sells it, two million bucks. Boom.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

Wow, and you see them pretty much. But that's that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 9:43

Very humble, and and this is the craziest thing, right? So we're I was selling him a property, right? And this this house was it's kind of like a foreclosure kind of thing. Like, that's just what he wanted. He was gonna put money into a passion project. There's a nickel on the floor, right? This happened. I probably walked by it a couple of times, right? Just I don't know. Hey, just making sure they're good. He goes, picks it up, sign of the cross, thank you, God, and put it in his pocket. Wow. He's not like, I got five cents more walking into this house. I'm richer walking out of this house than walking into this house. Right? Yeah, yeah. Exactly right. Where is he from? He's from Mexico, you know, like what part or whatever. And it's crazy. And you know, he might be somebody you want to interview, but he was shot when he was like uh 20 years old, and the bullet went straight through his that was probably a pretty big game mindset, life changer, perspective, all of those things. He everything he would do is gonna be forgotten. Wow, wow, and puts that in the first uh in the front. Like, so he wants to build something amazing for him, and he's all like, I'm just gonna donate this. Wow. That's yeah.