WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.720 tell me your name if you want to tell me your 00:00:02.720 --> 00:00:06.820 last name or not or um where you're located and 00:00:06.820 --> 00:00:10.960 the name of your business and or books uh well 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:14.099 my name is burt terhart so the last name is terhart 00:00:14.099 --> 00:00:16.920 it sounds if i were to spell it it would sound 00:00:16.920 --> 00:00:18.460 impossible like everyone asks how do you say 00:00:18.460 --> 00:00:20.760 it but no it's very simple burt terhart i'm uh 00:00:20.760 --> 00:00:25.640 i live on a small island uh west of vancouver 00:00:26.109 --> 00:00:28.629 in British Columbia, Canada. So I'm very fortunate 00:00:28.629 --> 00:00:31.550 to live on a little piece of paradise. It's about 00:00:31.550 --> 00:00:33.990 the size of Manhattan Island, but there's 4 ,000 00:00:33.990 --> 00:00:37.049 people that live here. So I grew up in a very 00:00:37.049 --> 00:00:41.590 small town, so this suits me just fine. So the 00:00:41.590 --> 00:00:44.090 name of my primary business is LeadBrain .ai, 00:00:44.250 --> 00:00:47.049 which is an offshoot of two other software companies 00:00:47.049 --> 00:00:51.030 that I've built up and then sold. I'm also the 00:00:51.030 --> 00:00:54.229 CTO of one of Canada's largest medical clinics. 00:00:54.829 --> 00:00:59.530 Most of my adult life, I've been entirely focused 00:00:59.530 --> 00:01:03.729 in IT and in the healthcare space. I've been 00:01:03.729 --> 00:01:10.010 fortunate enough to be leveraged into a niche, 00:01:10.150 --> 00:01:13.829 which is always a good thing. The books I've 00:01:13.829 --> 00:01:16.709 written are all a little bit different. They're 00:01:16.709 --> 00:01:18.829 sort of adventure -type explorer books. I've 00:01:18.829 --> 00:01:22.609 written a book called Sir Salty Goes to Sea, 00:01:22.689 --> 00:01:24.409 a child's book. I've written a book called 90 00:01:24.409 --> 00:01:28.629 Feet of Waterfront, which is a book about my 00:01:28.629 --> 00:01:31.769 50 ,000 or so miles of sailing. I've written 00:01:31.769 --> 00:01:35.930 a book called... Canada coast to coast by canoe 00:01:35.930 --> 00:01:38.250 because I paddled across the continent by myself. 00:01:38.569 --> 00:01:41.329 And I've written a book about sailing solo nonstop 00:01:41.329 --> 00:01:46.790 around the world called 265 and Counting. What? 00:01:47.370 --> 00:01:53.930 Okay, well, I think I was lost for words for 00:01:53.930 --> 00:01:56.450 a moment. And in my mind, I'm like, what don't 00:01:56.450 --> 00:01:59.540 you do, birds? What don't you do? I don't sing. 00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:04.219 I can't sing to save my life. I like that. Totally. 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:07.620 So I guess, as I mentioned, when we were off 00:02:07.620 --> 00:02:10.479 screen, because you have so much going on and 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:13.099 so many things, you tell me where we're going 00:02:13.099 --> 00:02:16.120 to go with this and I'm going to follow. Well, 00:02:16.259 --> 00:02:19.199 I think one of the things that's I've been very 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:22.300 well, I've made a choice in my life to say no 00:02:22.300 --> 00:02:24.699 to the things that I'm passionate about. And 00:02:24.699 --> 00:02:28.060 that's that's led me to. That's led me to live 00:02:28.060 --> 00:02:30.520 this extraordinary life. It's transformed my 00:02:30.520 --> 00:02:32.620 life in ways that I never could have possibly 00:02:32.620 --> 00:02:36.400 imagined when you first start out as an entrepreneur 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:42.199 or on some wild, crazy adventure. And part and 00:02:42.199 --> 00:02:46.979 parcel of that is trying over the course of my 00:02:46.979 --> 00:02:49.199 career, trying to inspire young entrepreneurs 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:52.479 or people of all ages to live their dreams, whatever 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:58.900 that might be. I'm adamant about trying to encourage 00:02:58.900 --> 00:03:02.569 people to... to step outside the box that they're 00:03:02.569 --> 00:03:04.409 living in. And we all live in boxes. That's just 00:03:04.409 --> 00:03:06.729 the way the world is. We just have to live and 00:03:06.729 --> 00:03:11.949 thrive in boundaries. But there's nothing wrong 00:03:11.949 --> 00:03:14.530 with having a look outside those boundaries and 00:03:14.530 --> 00:03:17.569 seeing how your life might change. As long as 00:03:17.569 --> 00:03:19.590 you're aiming up, of course, how your life might 00:03:19.590 --> 00:03:23.629 change for the better. And that's certainly true 00:03:23.629 --> 00:03:26.729 in business. It's certainly true when you're 00:03:26.729 --> 00:03:29.509 trying to do something a little bit outside. 00:03:30.699 --> 00:03:33.560 outside the ordinary like like walk across a 00:03:33.560 --> 00:03:36.340 country and it's certainly true you know when 00:03:36.340 --> 00:03:38.539 when it comes to uh things that we're faced with 00:03:38.539 --> 00:03:40.680 every day like like relationships it's it's important 00:03:40.680 --> 00:03:43.340 to always be aiming up and it's important to 00:03:43.340 --> 00:03:45.919 sometimes step into hard things because life 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:49.300 is not supposed to be easy there isn't a giant 00:03:49.300 --> 00:03:51.360 button on my desk that i can push when you know 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:54.560 when things get hard you know if you want to 00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:58.479 if if if If you have a vision, of course, and 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:01.860 you want to realize that vision, if you're actually 00:04:01.860 --> 00:04:04.219 aiming up, if you're actually trying to do something 00:04:04.219 --> 00:04:06.520 to better yourself or your community or your 00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:09.759 relationship or anything, then by definition, 00:04:09.819 --> 00:04:13.020 it's going to be harder than aiming down. Literally, 00:04:14.460 --> 00:04:17.379 it's easy to roll down a hill. It's much, much 00:04:17.379 --> 00:04:22.899 harder to turn around and walk back up. that 00:04:22.899 --> 00:04:25.319 keeps me getting up every day is knowing that 00:04:25.319 --> 00:04:27.240 every now and then i can put a smile on someone's 00:04:27.240 --> 00:04:29.779 face or i can inspire someone to do something 00:04:29.779 --> 00:04:31.939 that they that they may have thought was too 00:04:31.939 --> 00:04:34.939 hard or too far or impossible or beyond them 00:04:34.939 --> 00:04:38.819 and i'm living proof that that isn't that isn't 00:04:38.819 --> 00:04:40.019 the case at all because you don't have to be 00:04:40.019 --> 00:04:44.079 smart good looking tall short or anything like 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:47.060 that Good and talent does not necessarily mean 00:04:47.060 --> 00:04:48.759 you're going to get anywhere in life. All you 00:04:48.759 --> 00:04:51.699 have to do is keep saying yes. If you're willing 00:04:51.699 --> 00:04:54.199 to say yes, then chances are you're going to 00:04:54.199 --> 00:04:57.100 get places where you can't possibly imagine when 00:04:57.100 --> 00:05:00.279 you first start out. And I love that. I love 00:05:00.279 --> 00:05:02.740 that. You're so passionate about what you're 00:05:02.740 --> 00:05:05.160 saying and how you're speaking about it. And 00:05:05.160 --> 00:05:09.240 I believe, and I'm going to ask you to correct 00:05:09.240 --> 00:05:13.759 me, but you said earlier. that you spent some 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:16.259 time in your life saying no to the things that 00:05:16.259 --> 00:05:19.079 you were passionate about am i correct yeah yeah 00:05:19.079 --> 00:05:21.439 absolutely and it every single time it's been 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:25.040 to my detriment yeah because you you simply you 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:28.100 in order for you to succeed if you have a vision 00:05:28.100 --> 00:05:31.060 because we're it and it's i'm glad that we're 00:05:31.060 --> 00:05:33.920 talking about visions because they're they're 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:35.620 different than goals and they're different than 00:05:35.620 --> 00:05:38.339 um necessarily ambitions a vision means that 00:05:38.339 --> 00:05:43.069 you have a very complete um perspective and view 00:05:43.069 --> 00:05:46.250 of where it is you you want to be so that the 00:05:46.250 --> 00:05:48.310 colors are perfect the the imagery is perfect 00:05:48.310 --> 00:05:50.769 the sounds are perfect it's more than just some 00:05:50.769 --> 00:05:53.290 sort of fleeting ideas so in order for you to 00:05:53.290 --> 00:05:56.250 to realize a vision you have to have you have 00:05:56.250 --> 00:05:58.829 to be emotionally invested you have to be physically 00:05:58.829 --> 00:06:01.290 invested you have to be intellectually invested 00:06:01.290 --> 00:06:04.569 and you have to be spiritually invested in those 00:06:04.569 --> 00:06:07.569 and those are the four pillars of success i haven't 00:06:07.569 --> 00:06:09.980 i haven't I haven't said anything about finances. 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:16.759 People can turn basically nothing into extraordinary 00:06:16.759 --> 00:06:18.980 multi -million or multi -billion dollar businesses. 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:23.040 Every business starts with an idea. If you're 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:25.139 passionate about that idea and you're fully invested 00:06:25.139 --> 00:06:31.060 in it, then that idea can come to fruition. Finances, 00:06:31.060 --> 00:06:32.720 of course, help and you'll need it at some point, 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:34.100 but you need to be emotionally, spiritually, 00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:38.579 intellectually. And physically invested in what 00:06:38.579 --> 00:06:41.180 it is, in that vision. And if you are, then the 00:06:41.180 --> 00:06:43.819 chances of you succeeding are through the roof. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:46.060 And the times that I've turned down my passions 00:06:46.060 --> 00:06:47.899 is when I've not been fully invested on those 00:06:47.899 --> 00:06:50.139 four pillars. And it's been to my detriment. 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:55.560 Yes, yes. And so when you explain this to an 00:06:55.560 --> 00:06:58.980 entrepreneur or someone that says, I have an 00:06:58.980 --> 00:07:05.470 idea. And that idea is often just random, sometimes 00:07:05.470 --> 00:07:07.910 created by others, right? Because now social 00:07:07.910 --> 00:07:12.329 media is so in your face right now, this idea. 00:07:13.170 --> 00:07:16.230 I love the way that you explained the difference 00:07:16.230 --> 00:07:21.009 between a vision and an idea. Someone says, hey, 00:07:21.050 --> 00:07:25.189 Bert, I have this idea. Where would you go to 00:07:25.189 --> 00:07:28.720 develop them to understand? that the idea and 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:31.660 the vision is different to guiding them to getting 00:07:31.660 --> 00:07:36.000 their vision to be more at front and more present 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:39.199 rather than the idea? Well, I think you've hit 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:41.180 the nail on the head in that you simply have 00:07:41.180 --> 00:07:44.220 to ask them questions that literally start filling 00:07:44.220 --> 00:07:47.060 in the blanks. So the death knell of any idea 00:07:47.060 --> 00:07:50.759 is that everybody, Bert, I have an idea. Everybody's 00:07:50.759 --> 00:07:52.879 going to want this. And the first thing that 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:57.420 I say is, I don't want it. So that immediately 00:07:57.420 --> 00:08:00.160 disabuses them of the notion that everybody wants 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:02.600 it because I don't, which forces them to think, 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:05.800 to start polarizing their audience, to say, okay, 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:07.379 some people are going to want it and some people 00:08:07.379 --> 00:08:08.939 don't. And the most important thing that you 00:08:08.939 --> 00:08:11.759 can do with an idea or one of the most important 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:15.519 things is to understand who doesn't want it, 00:08:15.560 --> 00:08:18.199 who's not going to be invested in this idea, 00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:20.920 because that allows you to spend time, energy, 00:08:20.939 --> 00:08:23.829 and resources with the people that do. It doesn't 00:08:23.829 --> 00:08:26.209 make any sense to spend time, energy, and resources 00:08:26.209 --> 00:08:30.269 on people or audiences who don't want the thing 00:08:30.269 --> 00:08:35.090 that you so desperately want them to have. So 00:08:35.090 --> 00:08:37.570 you're going to be much farther ahead. And you 00:08:37.570 --> 00:08:39.529 see this with people who are really good at marketing, 00:08:39.629 --> 00:08:44.490 people who are really good at… developing ideas 00:08:44.490 --> 00:08:47.309 and visions. They're very quick to polarize their 00:08:47.309 --> 00:08:50.509 audience. And in this day and age, we see a lot 00:08:50.509 --> 00:08:53.909 of that, but we see a lot of it in a very malevolent 00:08:53.909 --> 00:08:56.429 or malicious sort of way. You can do this in 00:08:56.429 --> 00:08:59.289 a way that's beneficial, firstly to those people, 00:08:59.409 --> 00:09:01.250 because you're not wasting their time, and then 00:09:01.250 --> 00:09:02.769 you're not wasting yours. So that's the first 00:09:02.769 --> 00:09:04.710 thing. You have to understand that this isn't 00:09:04.710 --> 00:09:07.230 for everybody, which then forces you to think 00:09:07.230 --> 00:09:10.049 about who it is that you're actually speaking 00:09:10.049 --> 00:09:12.899 to. And if you can do that, if you can try to 00:09:12.899 --> 00:09:16.960 then and a better idea of of of the person up 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:19.940 here every ideal audience the more for your vision 00:09:19.940 --> 00:09:22.519 becomes you understand the language they use 00:09:22.519 --> 00:09:26.850 the unders you you understand I'm Maybe what 00:09:26.850 --> 00:09:29.269 demographic you understand or maybe what age 00:09:29.269 --> 00:09:32.169 group. Because if it's an idea or a product or 00:09:32.169 --> 00:09:35.470 a business, then clearly if I'm selling Ferraris, 00:09:35.470 --> 00:09:41.490 that isn't for everybody. If I'm selling hats 00:09:41.490 --> 00:09:43.830 with New Zealand on them, that isn't for everybody. 00:09:44.110 --> 00:09:49.070 So it's this idea of an ideal customer. People 00:09:49.070 --> 00:09:52.649 give that – I don't think they give that enough 00:09:52.649 --> 00:09:55.470 attention because that helps you fill out. your 00:09:55.470 --> 00:09:58.629 vision. Again, it helps you fill in the blanks. 00:09:58.629 --> 00:10:02.110 It helps you color it. It helps you understand 00:10:02.110 --> 00:10:04.029 the language that those people are using. It 00:10:04.029 --> 00:10:07.169 also helps you understand where those people 00:10:07.169 --> 00:10:09.649 are because they're not everywhere, right? They're 00:10:09.649 --> 00:10:16.450 not everywhere in the world. People tend to congregate 00:10:16.450 --> 00:10:20.720 in cliques. So I'm a sailor, for example. sailors 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:25.899 tend to be one very opinionated sadly so we're 00:10:25.899 --> 00:10:28.919 not talking about sailing and the other thing 00:10:28.919 --> 00:10:31.259 is that they tend to be you know near the water 00:10:31.259 --> 00:10:33.039 because that's where sailboats are and they tend 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:36.360 to be you know grouped and people that motor 00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:38.240 boaters people that don't necessarily like sailing 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:40.240 it's different so this this this understanding 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:42.940 your your vision you can get at that there's 00:10:42.940 --> 00:10:44.700 a bit of a back door through it and it's very 00:10:44.700 --> 00:10:46.600 valuable if you're an entrepreneur to understand 00:10:46.600 --> 00:10:48.500 the back door has to do with your ideal customer 00:10:48.500 --> 00:10:53.610 yeah Yeah. And it's and I know it was it was 00:10:53.610 --> 00:10:55.870 just a question just based off the top of my 00:10:55.870 --> 00:10:59.830 head, because I believe that that as I continue 00:10:59.830 --> 00:11:01.690 to keep speaking with so many entrepreneurs, 00:11:02.269 --> 00:11:05.110 business owners, corporate individuals, C -suite, 00:11:05.269 --> 00:11:09.129 they often tell me that a vision, like you said, 00:11:09.289 --> 00:11:14.129 has has some spiritualness behind it. I also 00:11:14.129 --> 00:11:17.289 believe that the vision will take you further 00:11:17.289 --> 00:11:21.580 than the idea. Because you have so much passion 00:11:21.580 --> 00:11:24.139 and you're invested, as you mentioned, mentally, 00:11:24.259 --> 00:11:28.279 emotionally, intellectually. And so I love the 00:11:28.279 --> 00:11:32.399 fact that you have defined it in a way for someone 00:11:32.399 --> 00:11:35.659 to say, do I have a vision? Do I have an idea? 00:11:35.840 --> 00:11:38.940 And with that being said, with all that you've 00:11:38.940 --> 00:11:42.100 done and all that we're talking about, I know 00:11:42.100 --> 00:11:46.090 that things. As you developed into who you are 00:11:46.090 --> 00:11:48.509 and where you are today, I would love to know 00:11:48.509 --> 00:11:54.370 about your vision. OK, so that's a very big question 00:11:54.370 --> 00:11:57.409 because it's important to understand, I think, 00:11:57.409 --> 00:12:00.190 firstly, that your vision doesn't have to be 00:12:00.190 --> 00:12:03.129 singular. So all these disparate things that 00:12:03.129 --> 00:12:04.970 I've talked about, you know, paddling and sailing 00:12:04.970 --> 00:12:09.710 and entrepreneurship and health care. healthcare 00:12:09.710 --> 00:12:11.929 focus are all tied together by a common thread. 00:12:12.149 --> 00:12:14.929 And that common thread happens to be part and 00:12:14.929 --> 00:12:18.830 parcel of my vision. So my vision certainly, 00:12:18.990 --> 00:12:22.629 right off the top of the bat, it has to be that 00:12:22.629 --> 00:12:26.509 I want to wake up every morning and know that 00:12:26.509 --> 00:12:30.190 I'm making a difference. Firstly, not just in 00:12:30.190 --> 00:12:33.610 the people that are close to me, like my family 00:12:33.610 --> 00:12:38.210 and my partner. I hate to call her partner because 00:12:38.210 --> 00:12:41.309 this is a terrible word. It doesn't begin to 00:12:41.309 --> 00:12:43.629 sort of, it doesn't begin to say anything about 00:12:43.629 --> 00:12:45.990 how I feel about her. But anyway, so people have 00:12:45.990 --> 00:12:49.590 to excuse me for that. So I want to make sure 00:12:49.590 --> 00:12:51.110 that I'm making a difference in these people's 00:12:51.110 --> 00:12:54.629 lives. So professionally, the clinic that I've 00:12:54.629 --> 00:12:59.730 done all this work for, we see a thousand patients 00:12:59.730 --> 00:13:02.350 a day. That's a lot of patients, and there's 00:13:02.350 --> 00:13:05.210 20 doctors and 20 staff that help the doctors. 00:13:05.289 --> 00:13:09.830 So my vision is to make sure that whatever I'm 00:13:09.830 --> 00:13:13.309 doing, I'm helping as many people as humanly 00:13:13.309 --> 00:13:17.710 possible. I'm trying to put a smile on as many 00:13:17.710 --> 00:13:21.710 people's faces as I possibly can. I'm trying 00:13:21.710 --> 00:13:25.960 to inspire people all the time. um excuse me 00:13:25.960 --> 00:13:27.639 whether it's whether it's with lead brain and 00:13:27.639 --> 00:13:30.480 small business whether it's in the clinic whether 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:32.759 it's a book or whether it's um you know obviously 00:13:32.759 --> 00:13:35.379 being on a on a podcast with you i think that's 00:13:35.379 --> 00:13:38.379 like it's it's a big part of of how i'm trying 00:13:38.379 --> 00:13:41.019 to move through life and how i'm trying to i 00:13:41.019 --> 00:13:43.139 mean i would describe my vision is how i'm trying 00:13:43.139 --> 00:13:46.200 to move through my life you know day to day literally 00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:48.320 almost moment to moment because we can only live 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:50.440 in a moment all i have is a moment i have a moment 00:13:50.440 --> 00:13:52.360 with you i want to be fully invested with you 00:13:52.360 --> 00:13:54.909 and i want to make sure that i'm giving you as 00:13:54.909 --> 00:13:56.789 much value as possible. And I'm not just saying 00:13:56.789 --> 00:13:58.929 that because we're here, but that's the vision. 00:13:58.990 --> 00:14:00.730 That's my vision. That's how I want to move through 00:14:00.730 --> 00:14:04.549 life. And I can do that in many of these disparate 00:14:04.549 --> 00:14:06.950 contexts, but they're all bound by this one common 00:14:06.950 --> 00:14:10.990 thread. So I hope that isn't giving you the 60 00:14:10.990 --> 00:14:13.809 ,000, not the 30 ,000 for you, the 60 ,000 for 00:14:13.809 --> 00:14:18.470 you in my vision. And it's perfect because as 00:14:18.470 --> 00:14:22.509 I was listening, it's all geared towards making 00:14:22.509 --> 00:14:28.320 sure. you do what your heart says is kind and 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:32.220 loving for everyone. And that's on the entrepreneur 00:14:32.220 --> 00:14:35.019 side. That's on the medical side. That is on 00:14:35.019 --> 00:14:40.559 sailing and paddling. I feel like you're leading 00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:43.679 in love, right? And wanting to share what you 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:47.159 have with so many other people. And you can do 00:14:47.159 --> 00:14:49.899 it in so many different ways. I've never, I would 00:14:49.899 --> 00:14:52.009 have never. I never thought to come on here and 00:14:52.009 --> 00:14:55.889 hear about you canoeing, paddling, 265. I mean, 00:14:55.970 --> 00:15:01.070 what have you not done? But I personally, I want 00:15:01.070 --> 00:15:04.529 to say, like, that's very inspiring to me. And 00:15:04.529 --> 00:15:08.649 it's something that you don't often get. Yeah. 00:15:09.129 --> 00:15:11.570 Well, I think that when I said that, you know, 00:15:11.610 --> 00:15:13.690 I've never said no, I try not to say no to things 00:15:13.690 --> 00:15:15.690 that I'm passionate about. If you're passionate 00:15:15.690 --> 00:15:17.950 about it, then clearly you love to do it. Yeah. 00:15:18.580 --> 00:15:21.080 Clearly, you love to do it. And if you love to 00:15:21.080 --> 00:15:22.860 do it, then you can be fully invested in it. 00:15:22.980 --> 00:15:26.340 So one of the things that I've – because I'm 00:15:26.340 --> 00:15:30.840 fully invested in these things, I work 100 % 00:15:30.840 --> 00:15:32.519 at them. One of the things I've noticed about 00:15:32.519 --> 00:15:34.519 really successful entrepreneurs is that they 00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:38.860 work really hard, and they work really hard for 00:15:38.860 --> 00:15:41.120 a long period of time. And one of the things 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:42.779 that allows them to work really hard for a very 00:15:42.779 --> 00:15:44.039 long period of time is they don't think it's 00:15:44.039 --> 00:15:46.440 work like someone else might think of it. They 00:15:46.440 --> 00:15:48.259 love to do it. They're absolutely passionate 00:15:48.259 --> 00:15:50.779 about it, and they don't view it as something, 00:15:50.980 --> 00:15:53.000 oh, I have to get up and I've got to do this 00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:57.279 today. So Steve Jobs wrote that in his autobiography. 00:15:57.299 --> 00:15:58.879 He said that you've got to be able to look in 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:00.759 the mirror and decide that you actually love 00:16:00.759 --> 00:16:02.240 what you do. Otherwise, you're doing the wrong 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:06.299 thing. that's a very simplistic way of saying 00:16:06.299 --> 00:16:08.179 it. And it doesn't work for a lot of people because 00:16:08.179 --> 00:16:10.159 we all have our moments where, you know, we're 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:11.799 not at our best, but look in the mirror and go, 00:16:11.879 --> 00:16:14.779 you know, who is that guy? What the heck is he 00:16:14.779 --> 00:16:16.519 doing in my mirror? Like, how did he get in the 00:16:16.519 --> 00:16:19.620 bathroom? I don't even recognize that guy. So 00:16:19.620 --> 00:16:23.259 we all have those moments, but you know, it's, 00:16:23.259 --> 00:16:25.200 it's interesting that you talked about, you know, 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:27.179 being passionate and loving the things you do 00:16:27.179 --> 00:16:29.799 and they are totally and completely related. 00:16:31.610 --> 00:16:33.710 And you can't have one without the other. You 00:16:33.710 --> 00:16:37.330 literally have to lead with that foot. And you 00:16:37.330 --> 00:16:41.070 can do it in a corporate sense by, if you're 00:16:41.070 --> 00:16:42.730 an entrepreneur, by ensuring that the culture 00:16:42.730 --> 00:16:44.730 that you create inside the business that you're 00:16:44.730 --> 00:16:47.850 trying to run is the best possible environment 00:16:47.850 --> 00:16:51.549 to achieve that particular result that you can 00:16:51.549 --> 00:16:53.649 create. And it's on you because you're the... 00:16:53.870 --> 00:16:56.009 you're the person in charge. My dad would say, 00:16:56.070 --> 00:16:59.450 if things are going south, you shouldn't fire 00:16:59.450 --> 00:17:06.789 the janitor. It ain't on him or her. No, it's 00:17:06.789 --> 00:17:10.289 on you, right? So you're responsible and you 00:17:10.289 --> 00:17:12.130 can create those kinds of environments where 00:17:12.130 --> 00:17:13.869 people love to come to work. People love what 00:17:13.869 --> 00:17:18.029 they're doing. People understand that the contributions 00:17:18.029 --> 00:17:20.900 they're making, not just to... not just for their 00:17:20.900 --> 00:17:23.539 own sake, but for the business and for the community 00:17:23.539 --> 00:17:28.460 and for their audience at large, by being embedded 00:17:28.460 --> 00:17:32.279 in a culture that they're completely invested 00:17:32.279 --> 00:17:35.980 in as well. And that's your biggest job in my 00:17:35.980 --> 00:17:38.539 mind. Your biggest job in the C -suite is to 00:17:38.539 --> 00:17:41.880 create this culture. that people actually want 00:17:41.880 --> 00:17:43.619 to come work for you. Because if I want the best 00:17:43.619 --> 00:17:45.740 people to come work for me, then I better make 00:17:45.740 --> 00:17:48.119 sure that I have the best environment for them. 00:17:49.059 --> 00:17:50.880 Otherwise, they're not coming, right? They're 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:56.160 just too smart to work for you if their office 00:17:56.160 --> 00:17:58.460 is a garbage can in the back of a warehouse. 00:17:59.579 --> 00:18:05.160 They're not coming. No, not at all. And, you 00:18:05.160 --> 00:18:07.420 know, I didn't find that out in regards to the 00:18:07.420 --> 00:18:11.259 C -suite. I just briefly I started off in a position 00:18:11.259 --> 00:18:15.380 just answering the telephones and then I made 00:18:15.380 --> 00:18:19.400 it to the C -suite. I made it to the COO and 00:18:19.400 --> 00:18:23.779 I realized, number one, that I really liked being 00:18:23.779 --> 00:18:29.200 I really liked answering the phones because when 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:33.160 you're at that space and in that place. if you 00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:37.720 have a different passion or vision for the company 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:43.900 you now have to uh marry the ceo and all the 00:18:43.900 --> 00:18:47.039 the ceos and and what if they don't have that 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:49.880 vision so i found it to be much more challenging 00:18:49.880 --> 00:18:53.900 to be in c -suite because they didn't have the 00:18:53.900 --> 00:18:56.059 same passion they didn't have the same goals 00:18:56.059 --> 00:18:58.720 they didn't love people the way that i love them 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:02.180 so what i do i just quit accidentally i was just 00:19:02.180 --> 00:19:06.150 like Okay, because down, you know, while answering 00:19:06.150 --> 00:19:09.029 the telephone, everyone, there was a passion 00:19:09.029 --> 00:19:13.269 to ask questions and to be curious and to, you 00:19:13.269 --> 00:19:15.049 know, and you don't really get that. You're the 00:19:15.049 --> 00:19:19.440 answer up here. You get to you, you know, you 00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:22.920 it's crazy how how that happens and how things 00:19:22.920 --> 00:19:26.119 can change. But being an entrepreneur, as you 00:19:26.119 --> 00:19:28.960 mentioned, or even being in a C -suite and having 00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:32.339 that passion and that love for what you do will 00:19:32.339 --> 00:19:35.779 definitely flow. And I love that. And I like 00:19:35.779 --> 00:19:37.740 that. Well, speaking of flowing, you sailing 00:19:37.740 --> 00:19:41.079 and you canoeing. Why wouldn't that be the case? 00:19:41.099 --> 00:19:44.380 Right. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, it's it's amazing 00:19:44.380 --> 00:19:47.079 what you do when you when. Well, firstly. let 00:19:47.079 --> 00:19:49.819 me commend you for being brave because you have 00:19:49.819 --> 00:19:52.579 to be very brave to, to, to, to have worked so 00:19:52.579 --> 00:19:54.460 hard to, you know, to get someplace that you 00:19:54.460 --> 00:19:56.240 really, really wanted, thought you wanted to 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:59.880 be, realize that it's maybe not quite right. 00:19:59.960 --> 00:20:02.140 And then, and then go in a different direction. 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:05.339 So my hat's off to you for being brave because 00:20:05.339 --> 00:20:08.160 that that's not easy. And a lot of people end 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:10.839 up being trapped as a result of that in a, in 00:20:10.839 --> 00:20:13.200 a place that they wouldn't, you know, they wouldn't 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:16.400 necessarily imagine. that they would be trapped. 00:20:19.220 --> 00:20:23.779 And in so doing, you learn something about yourself. 00:20:24.059 --> 00:20:26.319 And in that process of learning, that's what 00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:29.240 I mean by things that can be transformational 00:20:29.240 --> 00:20:33.180 in ways that you may not imagine. I guarantee 00:20:33.180 --> 00:20:35.480 you, I don't know anything beyond that story. 00:20:36.019 --> 00:20:42.339 But I would bet dollars to donuts that the place 00:20:42.339 --> 00:20:46.640 that you are now is better. Because, number one, 00:20:46.700 --> 00:20:48.779 the choice you made was hard in the moment. So 00:20:48.779 --> 00:20:52.759 anytime you're faced with a decision, and there's 00:20:52.759 --> 00:20:55.299 all kinds of reasons for this to be true, but 00:20:55.299 --> 00:20:58.859 from a practical point of view, anytime you're 00:20:58.859 --> 00:21:01.859 faced with a decision and you choose the harder 00:21:01.859 --> 00:21:03.680 decision, as long as you're aiming up, of course, 00:21:03.799 --> 00:21:06.160 the harder decision is always the right decision. 00:21:06.339 --> 00:21:09.279 So if you get confused about something, but what 00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:11.440 you should be doing, if you break it down into 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:14.099 the smallest possible thing. the smallest possible 00:21:14.099 --> 00:21:16.539 thing that you can do or you can control. The 00:21:16.539 --> 00:21:20.380 one that's harder is almost – is invariably the 00:21:20.380 --> 00:21:22.480 right direction to go. So there's always this 00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:25.880 – you can always be – there's a moral compass. 00:21:26.119 --> 00:21:27.880 Well, I shouldn't say moral compass, but there's 00:21:27.880 --> 00:21:31.759 a compass that will guide you, whether it's business 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:34.549 or anything else, and you simply have to – break 00:21:34.549 --> 00:21:36.730 a task down and then look for this thing that's 00:21:36.730 --> 00:21:38.950 slightly harder. So the simplest way to describe 00:21:38.950 --> 00:21:41.029 it, I guess, for people to understand is if I 00:21:41.029 --> 00:21:43.589 want to get fit and I'm lying on the couch watching 00:21:43.589 --> 00:21:46.990 Netflix, chances are I'm not getting fit. But 00:21:46.990 --> 00:21:48.670 I know I have to go to the gym. So what do I 00:21:48.670 --> 00:21:52.230 do? I can sit up, right? I can literally stop 00:21:52.230 --> 00:21:54.089 lying on the couch and sitting up. Sitting up 00:21:54.089 --> 00:21:56.470 is harder than lying down. And then I can say, 00:21:56.490 --> 00:21:58.970 well, I can get to the door, which is harder 00:21:58.970 --> 00:22:01.839 than sitting on the couch. And then I can open 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:03.220 the door and get in the car, which is harder 00:22:03.220 --> 00:22:04.980 than turning around and going back on the couch. 00:22:05.299 --> 00:22:07.440 So I can keep making these slightly harder decisions. 00:22:07.559 --> 00:22:10.400 And it seems incredibly trite and trivial. But 00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:12.900 if you do that, if you keep making this slightly 00:22:12.900 --> 00:22:15.279 harder decision, you'll end up in the gym every 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:19.400 single time. Every time. And when you're there, 00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:21.279 you can go, well, I can sit on the bench, right? 00:22:21.380 --> 00:22:24.119 Or I could pick up a weight. What's harder? And 00:22:24.119 --> 00:22:27.380 that has gotten me around the world, across the 00:22:27.380 --> 00:22:29.220 continent. It's made me millions of dollars. 00:22:30.109 --> 00:22:33.250 It has never it's never failed me. And if you 00:22:33.250 --> 00:22:36.630 look historically and in in any context that 00:22:36.630 --> 00:22:38.849 you want from Marcus Aurelius to Alexander the 00:22:38.849 --> 00:22:41.490 Great to, you know, to the business tycoons that 00:22:41.490 --> 00:22:44.150 we know and sometimes hate that they've got there 00:22:44.150 --> 00:22:47.470 because they're slightly making sometimes a little 00:22:47.470 --> 00:22:51.529 bit harder decision. So what you so I'm not I 00:22:51.529 --> 00:22:52.970 don't know anything more about your story, but 00:22:52.970 --> 00:22:55.430 I I would bet again dollars to donuts that you're 00:22:55.430 --> 00:22:57.690 in a better place because you make the slightly 00:22:57.690 --> 00:23:00.029 harder decision at that time. So I could stay 00:23:00.029 --> 00:23:02.289 here or I could leave because I don't know. This 00:23:02.289 --> 00:23:05.549 is – I'm going to go. Yeah, and you're right. 00:23:05.650 --> 00:23:07.789 You're right. I think it's the scariest things 00:23:07.789 --> 00:23:12.089 that have the biggest impact on life. And once 00:23:12.089 --> 00:23:15.869 you do it, you don't know. how you made it through. 00:23:15.910 --> 00:23:18.250 To be honest, as I was telling that story, I 00:23:18.250 --> 00:23:20.710 don't think I tell that story very often, but 00:23:20.710 --> 00:23:23.730 I'm reading this book called 10X is Better Than 00:23:23.730 --> 00:23:27.069 2X. And it tells you to identify the things that 00:23:27.069 --> 00:23:30.549 you went all in on. And that just came to me 00:23:30.549 --> 00:23:33.009 when I was speaking to you. So with that being 00:23:33.009 --> 00:23:37.009 said, for those that are listening, life isn't 00:23:37.009 --> 00:23:41.829 easy. It's just not going to, I don't even think 00:23:41.829 --> 00:23:46.230 it's meant to be easy. It's just this thing that 00:23:46.230 --> 00:23:49.269 you have to take leaps and bounds and steps and 00:23:49.269 --> 00:23:52.269 small steps and big steps. But if it's where 00:23:52.269 --> 00:23:55.250 you want to go, then you'll take those steps. 00:23:55.369 --> 00:23:57.430 And I love the fact earlier you were talking 00:23:57.430 --> 00:23:59.829 about being present and in the moment. You also 00:23:59.829 --> 00:24:03.069 spoke about now, you know, these are things that 00:24:03.069 --> 00:24:07.309 you can't wait till later to do. So it's super 00:24:07.309 --> 00:24:11.480 important to find a vision. Right. And to have 00:24:11.480 --> 00:24:14.039 that understanding. And with that being said, 00:24:14.099 --> 00:24:15.960 I don't want to take too much of your time. I 00:24:15.960 --> 00:24:21.339 have a favorite question. OK. What are the greatest 00:24:21.339 --> 00:24:25.440 joys of what you do? Oh, I think that, well, 00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:28.019 the greatest joy is simply that I know that I'm 00:24:28.019 --> 00:24:29.960 making a I know that I'm making a difference. 00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:33.240 So even though it might be hard, I know that 00:24:33.240 --> 00:24:35.799 I'm making a difference. um and i know i'm making 00:24:35.799 --> 00:24:38.160 a difference in in certainly the lives of patients 00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:40.279 like that that's a very big deal like i started 00:24:40.279 --> 00:24:43.019 in the healthcare business And at one time, I 00:24:43.019 --> 00:24:45.940 had 2 ,500 doctors using software that I had 00:24:45.940 --> 00:24:48.960 written. So even though it was hard and the work 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:51.460 was hard and, of course, managing all those doctors 00:24:51.460 --> 00:24:55.240 is hard. Have you ever worked with doctors? Then 00:24:55.240 --> 00:24:58.380 everyone in the office knew that we were making 00:24:58.380 --> 00:25:01.279 a difference, not, of course, in the doctors' 00:25:01.400 --> 00:25:02.539 lives because we're making their life easier, 00:25:02.619 --> 00:25:04.940 but it was differential diagnostic software and 00:25:04.940 --> 00:25:06.720 patient management software and clinic software. 00:25:06.880 --> 00:25:09.960 So we were making a difference in the lives of 00:25:09.960 --> 00:25:14.140 people, like real people. And that's very satisfying. 00:25:14.819 --> 00:25:18.940 And so that – think how – and this is, again, 00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:21.859 it sounds so trite. But you can make the difference. 00:25:22.039 --> 00:25:25.980 You have no idea of the – you have no idea what 00:25:25.980 --> 00:25:29.440 the difference you can make in someone's life 00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:33.740 by simply putting a smile on their face. I remember 00:25:33.740 --> 00:25:37.000 being completely and utterly uplifted and totally 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:41.170 turned around by – Something that a small child 00:25:41.170 --> 00:25:46.670 had said, and I found out about it sort of third 00:25:46.670 --> 00:25:51.069 -hand when I was sailing. And I don't know this 00:25:51.069 --> 00:25:55.130 little guy. I've never met him. But I know what 00:25:55.130 --> 00:25:59.450 he did, and I know the place I was when he said 00:25:59.450 --> 00:26:03.170 that. Basically, I'm talking. So I was sailing 00:26:03.170 --> 00:26:04.710 around the world, and there were thousands of 00:26:04.710 --> 00:26:07.490 kids around the world following this trip. and 00:26:07.490 --> 00:26:09.809 every now and then um the rule was if you email 00:26:09.809 --> 00:26:11.970 me i email you back so i'm still emailing all 00:26:11.970 --> 00:26:16.349 these people anyway um and i'd hurt myself and 00:26:16.349 --> 00:26:19.490 i was feeling sorry for myself and i i literally 00:26:19.490 --> 00:26:21.150 couldn't move in the boat i was strapped down 00:26:21.150 --> 00:26:23.069 because i'd hurt my you know i got thrown around 00:26:23.069 --> 00:26:26.559 and this little kid had said something Every 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:29.319 day in class or every week, they would say, where's 00:26:29.319 --> 00:26:31.380 Bert? Where's Waldo? They'd show me on the world 00:26:31.380 --> 00:26:34.519 map in the middle of nowhere. I'd written something 00:26:34.519 --> 00:26:38.519 and they would read it. There was this little 00:26:38.519 --> 00:26:43.259 kid who said something inadvertently. They said 00:26:43.259 --> 00:26:46.140 that to you when I went to the equivalent of 00:26:46.140 --> 00:26:47.859 West Point. They said this thing in military 00:26:47.859 --> 00:26:50.960 college to you. That completely turned me around. 00:26:51.019 --> 00:26:52.299 It stopped me from feeling sorry for myself. 00:26:54.749 --> 00:26:57.230 And that little kid putting a smile on my face 00:26:57.230 --> 00:26:59.849 completely turned around pretty much that whole 00:26:59.849 --> 00:27:02.549 thing, that whole great big I'm going to sail 00:27:02.549 --> 00:27:04.569 around the world by myself sort of thing. So 00:27:04.569 --> 00:27:06.130 when you throw a pebble in the pond, you have 00:27:06.130 --> 00:27:08.450 no idea where the ripples are going to end up. 00:27:08.609 --> 00:27:11.410 And you can do that by just walking, by just 00:27:11.410 --> 00:27:15.269 carrying yourself kindly as you move through 00:27:15.269 --> 00:27:17.849 the world. And that's not always easy because 00:27:17.849 --> 00:27:21.680 you're not always at your best. But I know it 00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:24.359 can make a huge difference. I know it can make 00:27:24.359 --> 00:27:26.680 a huge difference in people's lives. Thank you 00:27:26.680 --> 00:27:28.579 for being here today. I'm really happy that you 00:27:28.579 --> 00:27:30.859 tuned in to Vision Pros Live. I'm looking forward 00:27:30.859 --> 00:27:34.400 to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue 00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:36.180 to move forward. This is going to get more and 00:27:36.180 --> 00:27:38.200 more fun. We'll have more and more engagement 00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:40.299 as well. We'll invite people to participate in 00:27:40.299 --> 00:27:42.480 the show. And thank you for giving us your time 00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:44.759 and attention. Have an excellent time building 00:27:44.759 --> 00:27:47.119 out your vision and becoming a vision pro yourself.