tell me your name if you want to tell me your
last name or not or um where you're located and
the name of your business and or books uh well
my name is burt terhart so the last name is terhart
it sounds if i were to spell it it would sound
impossible like everyone asks how do you say
it but no it's very simple burt terhart i'm uh
i live on a small island uh west of vancouver
in British Columbia, Canada. So I'm very fortunate
to live on a little piece of paradise. It's about
the size of Manhattan Island, but there's 4 ,000
people that live here. So I grew up in a very
small town, so this suits me just fine. So the
name of my primary business is LeadBrain .ai,
which is an offshoot of two other software companies
that I've built up and then sold. I'm also the
CTO of one of Canada's largest medical clinics.
Most of my adult life, I've been entirely focused
in IT and in the healthcare space. I've been
fortunate enough to be leveraged into a niche,
which is always a good thing. The books I've
written are all a little bit different. They're
sort of adventure -type explorer books. I've
written a book called Sir Salty Goes to Sea,
a child's book. I've written a book called 90
Feet of Waterfront, which is a book about my
50 ,000 or so miles of sailing. I've written
a book called... Canada coast to coast by canoe
because I paddled across the continent by myself.
And I've written a book about sailing solo nonstop
around the world called 265 and Counting. What?
Okay, well, I think I was lost for words for
a moment. And in my mind, I'm like, what don't
you do, birds? What don't you do? I don't sing.
I can't sing to save my life. I like that. Totally.
So I guess, as I mentioned, when we were off
screen, because you have so much going on and
so many things, you tell me where we're going
to go with this and I'm going to follow. Well,
I think one of the things that's I've been very
well, I've made a choice in my life to say no
to the things that I'm passionate about. And
that's that's led me to. That's led me to live
this extraordinary life. It's transformed my
life in ways that I never could have possibly
imagined when you first start out as an entrepreneur
or on some wild, crazy adventure. And part and
parcel of that is trying over the course of my
career, trying to inspire young entrepreneurs
or people of all ages to live their dreams, whatever
that might be. I'm adamant about trying to encourage
people to... to step outside the box that they're
living in. And we all live in boxes. That's just
the way the world is. We just have to live and
thrive in boundaries. But there's nothing wrong
with having a look outside those boundaries and
seeing how your life might change. As long as
you're aiming up, of course, how your life might
change for the better. And that's certainly true
in business. It's certainly true when you're
trying to do something a little bit outside.
outside the ordinary like like walk across a
country and it's certainly true you know when
when it comes to uh things that we're faced with
every day like like relationships it's it's important
to always be aiming up and it's important to
sometimes step into hard things because life
is not supposed to be easy there isn't a giant
button on my desk that i can push when you know
when things get hard you know if you want to
if if if If you have a vision, of course, and
you want to realize that vision, if you're actually
aiming up, if you're actually trying to do something
to better yourself or your community or your
relationship or anything, then by definition,
it's going to be harder than aiming down. Literally,
it's easy to roll down a hill. It's much, much
harder to turn around and walk back up. that
keeps me getting up every day is knowing that
every now and then i can put a smile on someone's
face or i can inspire someone to do something
that they that they may have thought was too
hard or too far or impossible or beyond them
and i'm living proof that that isn't that isn't
the case at all because you don't have to be
smart good looking tall short or anything like
that Good and talent does not necessarily mean
you're going to get anywhere in life. All you
have to do is keep saying yes. If you're willing
to say yes, then chances are you're going to
get places where you can't possibly imagine when
you first start out. And I love that. I love
that. You're so passionate about what you're
saying and how you're speaking about it. And
I believe, and I'm going to ask you to correct
me, but you said earlier. that you spent some
time in your life saying no to the things that
you were passionate about am i correct yeah yeah
absolutely and it every single time it's been
to my detriment yeah because you you simply you
in order for you to succeed if you have a vision
because we're it and it's i'm glad that we're
talking about visions because they're they're
different than goals and they're different than
um necessarily ambitions a vision means that
you have a very complete um perspective and view
of where it is you you want to be so that the
colors are perfect the the imagery is perfect
the sounds are perfect it's more than just some
sort of fleeting ideas so in order for you to
to realize a vision you have to have you have
to be emotionally invested you have to be physically
invested you have to be intellectually invested
and you have to be spiritually invested in those
and those are the four pillars of success i haven't
i haven't I haven't said anything about finances.
People can turn basically nothing into extraordinary
multi -million or multi -billion dollar businesses.
Every business starts with an idea. If you're
passionate about that idea and you're fully invested
in it, then that idea can come to fruition. Finances,
of course, help and you'll need it at some point,
but you need to be emotionally, spiritually,
intellectually. And physically invested in what
it is, in that vision. And if you are, then the
chances of you succeeding are through the roof.
And the times that I've turned down my passions
is when I've not been fully invested on those
four pillars. And it's been to my detriment.
Yes, yes. And so when you explain this to an
entrepreneur or someone that says, I have an
idea. And that idea is often just random, sometimes
created by others, right? Because now social
media is so in your face right now, this idea.
I love the way that you explained the difference
between a vision and an idea. Someone says, hey,
Bert, I have this idea. Where would you go to
develop them to understand? that the idea and
the vision is different to guiding them to getting
their vision to be more at front and more present
rather than the idea? Well, I think you've hit
the nail on the head in that you simply have
to ask them questions that literally start filling
in the blanks. So the death knell of any idea
is that everybody, Bert, I have an idea. Everybody's
going to want this. And the first thing that
I say is, I don't want it. So that immediately
disabuses them of the notion that everybody wants
it because I don't, which forces them to think,
to start polarizing their audience, to say, okay,
some people are going to want it and some people
don't. And the most important thing that you
can do with an idea or one of the most important
things is to understand who doesn't want it,
who's not going to be invested in this idea,
because that allows you to spend time, energy,
and resources with the people that do. It doesn't
make any sense to spend time, energy, and resources
on people or audiences who don't want the thing
that you so desperately want them to have. So
you're going to be much farther ahead. And you
see this with people who are really good at marketing,
people who are really good at… developing ideas
and visions. They're very quick to polarize their
audience. And in this day and age, we see a lot
of that, but we see a lot of it in a very malevolent
or malicious sort of way. You can do this in
a way that's beneficial, firstly to those people,
because you're not wasting their time, and then
you're not wasting yours. So that's the first
thing. You have to understand that this isn't
for everybody, which then forces you to think
about who it is that you're actually speaking
to. And if you can do that, if you can try to
then and a better idea of of of the person up
here every ideal audience the more for your vision
becomes you understand the language they use
the unders you you understand I'm Maybe what
demographic you understand or maybe what age
group. Because if it's an idea or a product or
a business, then clearly if I'm selling Ferraris,
that isn't for everybody. If I'm selling hats
with New Zealand on them, that isn't for everybody.
So it's this idea of an ideal customer. People
give that – I don't think they give that enough
attention because that helps you fill out. your
vision. Again, it helps you fill in the blanks.
It helps you color it. It helps you understand
the language that those people are using. It
also helps you understand where those people
are because they're not everywhere, right? They're
not everywhere in the world. People tend to congregate
in cliques. So I'm a sailor, for example. sailors
tend to be one very opinionated sadly so we're
not talking about sailing and the other thing
is that they tend to be you know near the water
because that's where sailboats are and they tend
to be you know grouped and people that motor
boaters people that don't necessarily like sailing
it's different so this this this understanding
your your vision you can get at that there's
a bit of a back door through it and it's very
valuable if you're an entrepreneur to understand
the back door has to do with your ideal customer
yeah Yeah. And it's and I know it was it was
just a question just based off the top of my
head, because I believe that that as I continue
to keep speaking with so many entrepreneurs,
business owners, corporate individuals, C -suite,
they often tell me that a vision, like you said,
has has some spiritualness behind it. I also
believe that the vision will take you further
than the idea. Because you have so much passion
and you're invested, as you mentioned, mentally,
emotionally, intellectually. And so I love the
fact that you have defined it in a way for someone
to say, do I have a vision? Do I have an idea?
And with that being said, with all that you've
done and all that we're talking about, I know
that things. As you developed into who you are
and where you are today, I would love to know
about your vision. OK, so that's a very big question
because it's important to understand, I think,
firstly, that your vision doesn't have to be
singular. So all these disparate things that
I've talked about, you know, paddling and sailing
and entrepreneurship and health care. healthcare
focus are all tied together by a common thread.
And that common thread happens to be part and
parcel of my vision. So my vision certainly,
right off the top of the bat, it has to be that
I want to wake up every morning and know that
I'm making a difference. Firstly, not just in
the people that are close to me, like my family
and my partner. I hate to call her partner because
this is a terrible word. It doesn't begin to
sort of, it doesn't begin to say anything about
how I feel about her. But anyway, so people have
to excuse me for that. So I want to make sure
that I'm making a difference in these people's
lives. So professionally, the clinic that I've
done all this work for, we see a thousand patients
a day. That's a lot of patients, and there's
20 doctors and 20 staff that help the doctors.
So my vision is to make sure that whatever I'm
doing, I'm helping as many people as humanly
possible. I'm trying to put a smile on as many
people's faces as I possibly can. I'm trying
to inspire people all the time. um excuse me
whether it's whether it's with lead brain and
small business whether it's in the clinic whether
it's a book or whether it's um you know obviously
being on a on a podcast with you i think that's
like it's it's a big part of of how i'm trying
to move through life and how i'm trying to i
mean i would describe my vision is how i'm trying
to move through my life you know day to day literally
almost moment to moment because we can only live
in a moment all i have is a moment i have a moment
with you i want to be fully invested with you
and i want to make sure that i'm giving you as
much value as possible. And I'm not just saying
that because we're here, but that's the vision.
That's my vision. That's how I want to move through
life. And I can do that in many of these disparate
contexts, but they're all bound by this one common
thread. So I hope that isn't giving you the 60
,000, not the 30 ,000 for you, the 60 ,000 for
you in my vision. And it's perfect because as
I was listening, it's all geared towards making
sure. you do what your heart says is kind and
loving for everyone. And that's on the entrepreneur
side. That's on the medical side. That is on
sailing and paddling. I feel like you're leading
in love, right? And wanting to share what you
have with so many other people. And you can do
it in so many different ways. I've never, I would
have never. I never thought to come on here and
hear about you canoeing, paddling, 265. I mean,
what have you not done? But I personally, I want
to say, like, that's very inspiring to me. And
it's something that you don't often get. Yeah.
Well, I think that when I said that, you know,
I've never said no, I try not to say no to things
that I'm passionate about. If you're passionate
about it, then clearly you love to do it. Yeah.
Clearly, you love to do it. And if you love to
do it, then you can be fully invested in it.
So one of the things that I've – because I'm
fully invested in these things, I work 100 %
at them. One of the things I've noticed about
really successful entrepreneurs is that they
work really hard, and they work really hard for
a long period of time. And one of the things
that allows them to work really hard for a very
long period of time is they don't think it's
work like someone else might think of it. They
love to do it. They're absolutely passionate
about it, and they don't view it as something,
oh, I have to get up and I've got to do this
today. So Steve Jobs wrote that in his autobiography.
He said that you've got to be able to look in
the mirror and decide that you actually love
what you do. Otherwise, you're doing the wrong
thing. that's a very simplistic way of saying
it. And it doesn't work for a lot of people because
we all have our moments where, you know, we're
not at our best, but look in the mirror and go,
you know, who is that guy? What the heck is he
doing in my mirror? Like, how did he get in the
bathroom? I don't even recognize that guy. So
we all have those moments, but you know, it's,
it's interesting that you talked about, you know,
being passionate and loving the things you do
and they are totally and completely related.
And you can't have one without the other. You
literally have to lead with that foot. And you
can do it in a corporate sense by, if you're
an entrepreneur, by ensuring that the culture
that you create inside the business that you're
trying to run is the best possible environment
to achieve that particular result that you can
create. And it's on you because you're the...
you're the person in charge. My dad would say,
if things are going south, you shouldn't fire
the janitor. It ain't on him or her. No, it's
on you, right? So you're responsible and you
can create those kinds of environments where
people love to come to work. People love what
they're doing. People understand that the contributions
they're making, not just to... not just for their
own sake, but for the business and for the community
and for their audience at large, by being embedded
in a culture that they're completely invested
in as well. And that's your biggest job in my
mind. Your biggest job in the C -suite is to
create this culture. that people actually want
to come work for you. Because if I want the best
people to come work for me, then I better make
sure that I have the best environment for them.
Otherwise, they're not coming, right? They're
just too smart to work for you if their office
is a garbage can in the back of a warehouse.
They're not coming. No, not at all. And, you
know, I didn't find that out in regards to the
C -suite. I just briefly I started off in a position
just answering the telephones and then I made
it to the C -suite. I made it to the COO and
I realized, number one, that I really liked being
I really liked answering the phones because when
you're at that space and in that place. if you
have a different passion or vision for the company
you now have to uh marry the ceo and all the
the ceos and and what if they don't have that
vision so i found it to be much more challenging
to be in c -suite because they didn't have the
same passion they didn't have the same goals
they didn't love people the way that i love them
so what i do i just quit accidentally i was just
like Okay, because down, you know, while answering
the telephone, everyone, there was a passion
to ask questions and to be curious and to, you
know, and you don't really get that. You're the
answer up here. You get to you, you know, you
it's crazy how how that happens and how things
can change. But being an entrepreneur, as you
mentioned, or even being in a C -suite and having
that passion and that love for what you do will
definitely flow. And I love that. And I like
that. Well, speaking of flowing, you sailing
and you canoeing. Why wouldn't that be the case?
Right. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, it's it's amazing
what you do when you when. Well, firstly. let
me commend you for being brave because you have
to be very brave to, to, to, to have worked so
hard to, you know, to get someplace that you
really, really wanted, thought you wanted to
be, realize that it's maybe not quite right.
And then, and then go in a different direction.
So my hat's off to you for being brave because
that that's not easy. And a lot of people end
up being trapped as a result of that in a, in
a place that they wouldn't, you know, they wouldn't
necessarily imagine. that they would be trapped.
And in so doing, you learn something about yourself.
And in that process of learning, that's what
I mean by things that can be transformational
in ways that you may not imagine. I guarantee
you, I don't know anything beyond that story.
But I would bet dollars to donuts that the place
that you are now is better. Because, number one,
the choice you made was hard in the moment. So
anytime you're faced with a decision, and there's
all kinds of reasons for this to be true, but
from a practical point of view, anytime you're
faced with a decision and you choose the harder
decision, as long as you're aiming up, of course,
the harder decision is always the right decision.
So if you get confused about something, but what
you should be doing, if you break it down into
the smallest possible thing. the smallest possible
thing that you can do or you can control. The
one that's harder is almost – is invariably the
right direction to go. So there's always this
– you can always be – there's a moral compass.
Well, I shouldn't say moral compass, but there's
a compass that will guide you, whether it's business
or anything else, and you simply have to – break
a task down and then look for this thing that's
slightly harder. So the simplest way to describe
it, I guess, for people to understand is if I
want to get fit and I'm lying on the couch watching
Netflix, chances are I'm not getting fit. But
I know I have to go to the gym. So what do I
do? I can sit up, right? I can literally stop
lying on the couch and sitting up. Sitting up
is harder than lying down. And then I can say,
well, I can get to the door, which is harder
than sitting on the couch. And then I can open
the door and get in the car, which is harder
than turning around and going back on the couch.
So I can keep making these slightly harder decisions.
And it seems incredibly trite and trivial. But
if you do that, if you keep making this slightly
harder decision, you'll end up in the gym every
single time. Every time. And when you're there,
you can go, well, I can sit on the bench, right?
Or I could pick up a weight. What's harder? And
that has gotten me around the world, across the
continent. It's made me millions of dollars.
It has never it's never failed me. And if you
look historically and in in any context that
you want from Marcus Aurelius to Alexander the
Great to, you know, to the business tycoons that
we know and sometimes hate that they've got there
because they're slightly making sometimes a little
bit harder decision. So what you so I'm not I
don't know anything more about your story, but
I I would bet again dollars to donuts that you're
in a better place because you make the slightly
harder decision at that time. So I could stay
here or I could leave because I don't know. This
is – I'm going to go. Yeah, and you're right.
You're right. I think it's the scariest things
that have the biggest impact on life. And once
you do it, you don't know. how you made it through.
To be honest, as I was telling that story, I
don't think I tell that story very often, but
I'm reading this book called 10X is Better Than
2X. And it tells you to identify the things that
you went all in on. And that just came to me
when I was speaking to you. So with that being
said, for those that are listening, life isn't
easy. It's just not going to, I don't even think
it's meant to be easy. It's just this thing that
you have to take leaps and bounds and steps and
small steps and big steps. But if it's where
you want to go, then you'll take those steps.
And I love the fact earlier you were talking
about being present and in the moment. You also
spoke about now, you know, these are things that
you can't wait till later to do. So it's super
important to find a vision. Right. And to have
that understanding. And with that being said,
I don't want to take too much of your time. I
have a favorite question. OK. What are the greatest
joys of what you do? Oh, I think that, well,
the greatest joy is simply that I know that I'm
making a I know that I'm making a difference.
So even though it might be hard, I know that
I'm making a difference. um and i know i'm making
a difference in in certainly the lives of patients
like that that's a very big deal like i started
in the healthcare business And at one time, I
had 2 ,500 doctors using software that I had
written. So even though it was hard and the work
was hard and, of course, managing all those doctors
is hard. Have you ever worked with doctors? Then
everyone in the office knew that we were making
a difference, not, of course, in the doctors'
lives because we're making their life easier,
but it was differential diagnostic software and
patient management software and clinic software.
So we were making a difference in the lives of
people, like real people. And that's very satisfying.
And so that – think how – and this is, again,
it sounds so trite. But you can make the difference.
You have no idea of the – you have no idea what
the difference you can make in someone's life
by simply putting a smile on their face. I remember
being completely and utterly uplifted and totally
turned around by – Something that a small child
had said, and I found out about it sort of third
-hand when I was sailing. And I don't know this
little guy. I've never met him. But I know what
he did, and I know the place I was when he said
that. Basically, I'm talking. So I was sailing
around the world, and there were thousands of
kids around the world following this trip. and
every now and then um the rule was if you email
me i email you back so i'm still emailing all
these people anyway um and i'd hurt myself and
i was feeling sorry for myself and i i literally
couldn't move in the boat i was strapped down
because i'd hurt my you know i got thrown around
and this little kid had said something Every
day in class or every week, they would say, where's
Bert? Where's Waldo? They'd show me on the world
map in the middle of nowhere. I'd written something
and they would read it. There was this little
kid who said something inadvertently. They said
that to you when I went to the equivalent of
West Point. They said this thing in military
college to you. That completely turned me around.
It stopped me from feeling sorry for myself.
And that little kid putting a smile on my face
completely turned around pretty much that whole
thing, that whole great big I'm going to sail
around the world by myself sort of thing. So
when you throw a pebble in the pond, you have
no idea where the ripples are going to end up.
And you can do that by just walking, by just
carrying yourself kindly as you move through
the world. And that's not always easy because
you're not always at your best. But I know it
can make a huge difference. I know it can make
a huge difference in people's lives. Thank you
for being here today. I'm really happy that you
tuned in to Vision Pros Live. I'm looking forward
to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue
to move forward. This is going to get more and
more fun. We'll have more and more engagement
as well. We'll invite people to participate in
the show. And thank you for giving us your time
and attention. Have an excellent time building
out your vision and becoming a vision pro yourself.