Mark Pentecost
Appearances
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
I said, dad, I'm thinking of moving to Florida and buying a golf course. And he said, son, you could just join one.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And I said, yeah, but we can give jobs. We can own it. I can have meetings. I, you know, it works, our colors were green and black. I'm a Michigan State guy, so green. That's good, at least you're from Michigan. Yeah. Oh, I vote, I root for you guys once a year. That's good, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's good. And I had black for Johnny Cash. I love Johnny Cash. Wow, that's cool. So black and green.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
So instead of roll out the red carpet, we'd roll out the green carpet. That's cool, yeah, yeah. So we'd run these green carpet events, explain the business, show people how they could make extra money. And it, you know, we went from, we did 40 million that year. And our goal was to get to 100 million. So I like making up things.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
So we said, one team, you know, one dream, we're all together, 100 million. Wow. And we're at 40, went for 100, looked at what do we need in our team? What do we need to do better? We did 240 that year. Holy cow. Now, how much does it cost to buy a golf course? Uh, you know, back then it was, it was like, I don't, I think it was like five, 6 million. So not as bad. No, a lot more expensive now.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Yeah. Wow. Now I'm building them. I got nine holes on the Island. I got 18 at the ranch.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
I think it was a secret sauce. Really? Yeah. Definitely moving out of Michigan. Now, at the time, taxes weren't very favorable for business in Michigan. Florida was very welcoming, no state tax, quite a savings. So just making the move was a good idea. But a great idea was saying, what if we ran the office out of, because we don't want to be normal. I hate the word normal. We want to have fun.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
People come, you know, I'd have a lot of our sales force were women. And quite a few of them are like, I don't play golf. And I'd be like, oh, that's all right. We're going to tee off of tennis rackets. Or we're going to have, we had a dunk, water dunk thing. And we put a guy in it and let him play. throw things at it and dunk. We made it fun. Yeah.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And so all of a sudden people will like to hang around and are attracted when there's a good energy and it's fun. You know what we do, which was, I think back just amazing, but the golf course I bought didn't have a patio outside. So we built a patio with some fire pits. We would run meetings to explain our products and how you could be a salesperson.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And then afterwards, this was better than my seminars. We'd go out there and sit around the fire pit. Wow. I owned the course so we could open the bar and have drinks and cocktails and food. And we did things like we wrote our dreams on a paper and put them on lanterns and float them in the air. I mean, we just did things that, you know, what was holding you back.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
We'd write it on a paper and burn it in the fire pit. I mean, we just did things that I think were different at the time. And again, it was a good idea, but then this was a great. And then we outgrew the golf course. I actually built our kind of like a campus on a marina looking over the water.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Again, trying to make it an experience, not a, you know, when I was trying to find the right office, you know, the realtors couldn't understand what I was trying to do. And I'd be like, no, you're not. You're not. I don't want to be in an office complex. I want to be an experience.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Now you know the word.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Number one, I think, is really an important one because for a lot of people, they got to start dreaming. You know, they've been stuck. They haven't. So the very first step is to get in the game. You've been sitting up in the stands watching someone else's. Maybe you're working a job that you're building someone else's dream. Yep. And for myself, it was get permission to get in the game.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Start dreaming. And, you know, someone will say, I just have a little dream. No, no dream is little. It's a starting dream. You know, mine was just more cash, $500. That's what I was excited about. How do I make an extra $500 a month? Yeah. Yeah. And I was so excited about that. It gave us freedom. Yeah. And so number one is to get in the game, give yourself permission, you know, to start dreaming.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Okay. Because most people...
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Well, it really lines up what you just said because 500 was mine. I was working with this company, and they were having a convention, and I thought, I want to go down and find out. We were selling long-distance usage on a wall phone. I mean, Google that later. You'll know what a wall phone is.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
So I went down to see what this company was about, and while I was down there, a guy was a former math teacher, walked across the stage with a $10,000 check for that month.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And I went from $500 a month to, I think, $10,000 is doable. Interesting. So it wasn't to a million all of a sudden. It was 500, and that was a big dream for me. But then I saw that guy. So our step number two is see it and say it. You know, some people are visual. They need to see it. Some people, they need to hear it.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
So, you know, the second step of our seven, first one, give yourself permission, get in the game. Number two is say it or see it. So what is your goal? You can't, you know, if we're going to go on a trip today, we don't get in the car and just start driving. We go... Where do you want to go? Same with dreaming. So what's your dream? And then, you know, I've had so many people I've worked with.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
I had a good friend. He wanted his car. He never thought he could afford the car. And he went down to the dealership, got in the car, smelled the leather. took a picture with him there and he took the picture and he put it on his mirror in the morning when he shaved. So every day he'd get up and see it and he'd see it.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
The funny part was his wife was seeing this and she said, you're never gonna get the car, you're not gonna get, well, that was his goal. You know, he put, here's the path to get the car. He drove that car home. Next morning he got up, there was a picture of a diamond ring on his mirror.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
I think you can't say it enough because if it's something, you know, it's like a seed you're planting. And if it's planted here, I think you start saying it. I wouldn't say too much, but you say it a lot because either you're nervous it's not going to happen or you're afraid of it. And so I think the more you say it, the more you're convincing yourself, I can do this.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
If you said to me, Mark Pentecost, the teacher coach, when I left teaching – You know, I was now looking at that guy at 10,000 a month. If you said, you know, Mark, someday you're going to have a big branch and you're going to have a private island, I would have laughed at you. I couldn't skip the steps.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
I hit the 10,000 a month and I told a friend that I get to that. I'm going to, get out of teaching, do this full time. And I remember I hit it and hit it a couple months. And the guy said, Hey, I thought you said, and I said, well, you know, I went to college for this and I have insurance. And well, finally I said, I got to do it. If I don't, you know, I'm putting handcuffs on me.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
So I stepped away from teaching middle of the year. I had a team that year, I was 18 and two. Basketball team. I had every kid back. I mean, it's a team you dream for. Basketball team. Basketball. So I'm 18 and two, varsity basketball coach of this small town. And I said, man, I got a chance at life here. I got to go for it. So I resigned coaching. I resigned teaching.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
The next month, my money went down. scary. You're thinking to yourself, I should have kept it. Why don't I go back? Yes. All the things we think in life. I'm thinking people are going to laugh at me. I left the college education to go out and, you know, are my family going to be destitute? And then about two months later, it took a big jump, a big jump, and it just never stopped. Really?
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And so I think that happens in life. You know, we're worried, well, people, they don't pay your bills. Who cares what they say? And yet, We think that way. Yeah. And so for me, I don't think you can say it enough. I think that saying is what gives you the power. That's beautiful. What's the third step then? Third is limit on the offense.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Go from a defensive mindset, understanding no matter what you do, you're going to take risk. I call it the resiliency quotient. Every how many times you get knocked down, you got to get back up. So I was a math teacher. So if you get knocked down three times, you got to get up three times.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
If you divide how many times you get knocked down by how many times you get up, as long as it's greater than one, you're good. If it's zero, you're out of the game. So for me, there's good risk and bad risk calculated. But I told you a few minutes ago, you know, the worst risk in the world is taking no risk at all. A hundred percent. Wow.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
I don't, I don't know. there's a lot of things I would, I call it turn the dials. You know, I turn the dials to get the business going more. So there's things I would go back and wish I did. Maybe hire a person sooner. Maybe, you know, we talk about one of them are the people you surround yourself with. You know, I realize now I do a quadrant and I have the two parts is encouraging and
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
not encouraging, has done it before, not done it. And so now when we hire, and I do this for the people you put around yourself, but if you've got a business, I do this in the business. So the A plus person you want is someone that's done it and is encouraging. I call them dream clingers. You want to cling to them because they know. You could have some that's done it before,
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
but they're not real encouraging. You can have a few of them around because they have experience, but you can't have too much negativity around you. No, you can't. The third one was someone that's very encouraging but never done it. Now, you could take some of them with you on the ride and coach them up, and they'll learn skills.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
But the dream killers are the one that I realized I kept some of them around me too long, and I hired some at the office. Those are people that are discouraging, and they haven't done it. And I find you almost got to give people permission to— You know, when we started being really successful, some people would say, oh, you're outgrowing some friends. And no, you weren't outgrowing friends.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
There was just, you had new interest and new excitement and you needed a different skill set around you. New people around you. Yeah. And so I, you know, for me, I always relate to coaching the right mindset. Starting five's got to be in the game.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
But that's, it's your life. Coach it to win. That's true. You know, I look back and I think how many people are afraid to let someone go. Like, it's amazing how, because we like people and... You're like, I can't let them go. Yeah, and you build a relationship with people. But you let them go, and two weeks later, you're like, ooh, best thing I've ever done. Why did I wait so long?
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
All right, I'll take that.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Forwards, get back up. Your resilience. Get back up. Yep. If you get knocked down, you know, I call it my Rocky, you know, Rocky story there. I've spent some time with Sly, and I love him telling his story. And you're going to get knocked down. Just know it. You're going to hit potholes. Everything's not going to be. And when you do, you just know, okay, I'm built for this. I'm getting back up.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And we were knocked down. You know, there was – I got caught in a lawsuit one time. I had never – Had a big business, so I hadn't been in lawsuits. And that, there's no fun in lawsuits. It does not fun. Unfortunately, in life now, today, It happens. But at time, I remember going, oh, Lord, please get me out of this. You know, only people winning are the lawyers. And how do I?
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
But if you're coached through it, you know, OK, look, throw myself a good people, let them handle this. The best for me was not trying to do everything, realizing what am I good at? Hire others that do what I'm not good at. I could I could have done the books. I could have done accounting. I was a math teacher. But that would kill me. I want to be thinking marketing ideas.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
I want to be leading from the front, charging the hill. And so it surrounded me with people that could give me a good foundation and take care of those things. Wow. When did you feel the most stress in your life? There was a few times. Was it the lawyer time? Was it pre-business? Was it during the business? It was, you know, there definitely were times. it was a different stress.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
There were times when, you know, my wife, Cindy, when we got married, she said, I really would like to be at home when the kids are at that early age and raise them. And I'm like, Hey honey, I want to support you in that. And it's awesome. You know, you don't want other people raising your kids. And, um, And yet, when I looked at our bills into the month, I'm like, this isn't easy.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And we both were committed to it. And she was doing some daycare so she could earn money at the same time. I was doing extra jobs. And so that was hard. But, you know, there was no quit. You were just trying to survive. Later, there were things that would happen. You know, the lawsuit was not a fun one. When I first moved just to Florida, 25 families. So they're finding doctors, churches, schools.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And I'm like, what did I do? All these people are counting on me. But that's a different—and looking back, it was almost— fun. We all did things together. You know, we were buying boats to go fishing. We were buying quads to be at the ranch. We were the golf course. We would work hard. If we were doing great, we'd close the company down like at noon and play golf.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Yeah, that's cool. It was awesome.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
That's such a good question. I think one is realizing you're not in it alone. Again, if you build the right team around you, you know, I look at it as planting seeds. You know, you plant your seeds in the right ground, fertile, good ground. It's going to grow. You plant those same seeds in some barren ground over here, they're going to die. Yeah.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
So I learned I had to have the right teams around so I didn't feel I was alone. So when that stress hit, I had people to say, hey, I got this covered. I got this covered. Go do what you do well so that we can grow this together. Yes. That's when I became the best, when stress was so heavy. Cindy and I walked. You know, we definitely in our faith know that No matter what, he's got it anyway.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
But me being able to trust, I think giving people hope. I've, you know, when you say about the dreams, I know going through the cancer thing, all of a sudden you realize life does end. We think it goes forever, but it doesn't. It does end at some point. And I'll never forget, I had this girl, her name was Crystal, single mom, three kids. And she had joined at works. And, yeah.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
You know, we talk about how to be debt free. We talk about dreaming. And she had earned... It was gathering at my house. She had earned to come over. And afterwards, Crystal would come up. She'd come up to me and she had like tears coming down. And she gave me a hug. And she said, Mark, I want to tell you... Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Yeah, great, great question, Lewis, because, you know, I think people get stuck. I was stuck. And in the book, I actually call it stuck between a rock and a hard place, because the rock is you got people depending on you. Yes. So, you know, I couldn't just go try something. You're married, you got kids, and you're like, I got people depending on me. But yet you're dependent on
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
on this job thing to get a paycheck every month. And for me, insurance. So I was stuck. And I think a lot of people are stuck. And they're like, what do I do? And then also, I was hungry. I had this inner thing that I was made for more, but I didn't have the vehicle. So I was searching. I'm a teacher and a coach. Now, what I know today, I'm still a teacher and a coach.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Thank you.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
I just got a whole different classroom that I'm coaching now. And that's why I was excited to do the book, because I really want to inspire people. To me, dreaming's a muscle. The more you use it, the bigger it gets. Yes. And we think, well, my dream's small. No dream's small. It's just your first dreams. And they're going to keep getting larger.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
I agree. You know, I'm a little more private. I great friend of mine. I think the world of him is Dick Vitale. Dick's 85 and just did the Duke game on ESPN. He just beat four cancers. Crazy. Yeah. And Dick puts it all on his social. I mean, he's showing at the doctor. He's hooked up. And I'm like, you know, that's that's not me. I can't do that. Yeah.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
But I realize my calling then is to help find, you know, cures for it, help support him with the pediatric. And so I think we all have our own, you know, I really don't say much about it or say it, I'm just going to live hard and play hard and have fun and do it until I can't. We all face that. There's no one listening to us right now that can play on the offense.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Uh, I think, um, we talked about, about find your people. Oh yeah. Your team. That was fine. Find your people. Yep.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Well, and this is a key part for your own life, but also if you run a business, because what will kill your dreams fastest is what I call the dream killers. That's someone that's not encouraging and never done it. Yes. Think about that, Lewis. How many people are all excited about something today? They go home and tell their favorite uncle. Yeah. who's never done something like this in his life.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And they go, oh, that won't work. And a person goes, oh, okay. And quits. That's a dream killer. Dream killer. So make sure you're not listening to the dream killers and make sure you're not hiring them in your business because they will kill your business, kill your dreams. Okay, number six, what would be that? You know, this one I put in because I had to learn it. Celebrate your wins.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Well, My wife and I, you know, I'm teaching coaching. Like you said, it didn't pay a lot. I think I was making $40,000 a year teaching and coaching all together. I was lining fields for softball. I was umpiring games. I was throwing basketball camps. You know, just make extra money. And so, yeah, I was hungry. And we were trying to figure it out. And we lit it up.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Oh, man, yeah, this is huge. So important. Yeah, what I found I was doing is I was so focused on the finish line. I'm sprinting hard, get to the finish line, say, yeah, I did it. And then immediately go to something else. And I realized, and I had a good friend with that. Like, Mark, listen up a little, you know, celebrate the milestones, not just, you know, trying to get to the finish line.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And there's a balance. I think everything in life's a balance. And for me, it was like, okay, we just, we threw a party at my ranch and we get ready to do another one. But we were celebrating 20 years of It Works. I had a little big town came down and sang. We had fireworks. We had the greatest night. And I thought, why do I wait 20 years to do that? Let's show our family, our people around us.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And early on, it could be a date night. Hey, honey, I'm going to really be working hard. This month, there won't be many free, but at the end, we're taking a weekend and we're going to do a lock in at some favorite place of yours or, hey, it's movie night. We still with our kids, we pull the kids in and said, hey, dad might miss a few games. You know, there used to be coach teach.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
I'm at everything. But now I'm like, hey, I got to work. I got to work. Might have to travel, might have to do some stuff. But we wrote, we called it a dream board. We started, you know, Lewis, what would you like if we have a great, and you know, one of my kids was like, I want a hot tub. All right, let's put the hot tub on the list. You know, we'll put it on the deck.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And one was like, hey, I want to go on a safari. I mean, we wrote these things down. So we had everybody, even though I was the one out there doing it, we were all invested in it. And so celebrate your wins, I think, is a big one. That's huge.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
I'm grinning big because congratulations. It's so exciting. But I remember when we first started the business, we have three kids. And we had, you know, taking vacations. So we're like, all right. No vacation. We're going to do this vacation. And then Cindy and I had the big dream was vacation. We had never been to Hawaii, and we decided we want to go to Hawaii without the kids. Oh, wow.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
So our big dream, our big focus was if I could accomplish this, we're going to Hawaii with no kids. And that was our big dream. Okay, vacation, and then vacation without the kids. So you're down the road with that one, but someday you'll be thinking of it.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
We got into a network business back then. A bunch of coaches was doing something. And we had a small goal, $500 a month. is what we needed. I told people I wanted more cash and bills at the end of the year. And it was hard. But my wife and I said, OK, if we want something different, we got to do something different. So we thought we were too busy. I'm teaching, coaching.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Well, that's because we call it the dream cycle. So you've got to have the dream, and then we've got our plan. And then I actually do this, and it works. When someone first started selling product for me, they were part of our field team, I'd have them do a dream board. And what I found was people's – it's like sticking your toe in the water to see if it's cold.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
So they'd do a dream board, but it would be – not really putting themselves out there. What I found was after they went through the cycle a couple of times, all of a sudden they'd say, hey, I want to do over on that dream board. So we called it the re-dream. So in this, we actually call it the re-dream where, you know, you've done a dream, you've taken it through the cycle.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Now you want to re-dream and go bigger, go bigger, go bigger. And so we literally called it a dream board than the re-dream just because people wanted to do over to go. And I think you'll always be in that cycle, you know, like myself. You know, it was to buy a house in Florida. Then it was to be on the water. And then the island thing was crazy. You know, someone brought me that.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And I was – I kind of – at it in front of Cindy because I thought for sure she'd say no. And she's like, we ought to look at it. And I'm like, oh, really? You know, I couldn't dream like that in the beginning. But you get that dream muscle going, it starts to be anything's possible. That's cool. And so really, I'd say to the person, we got to get started. We got to get you in the cycle.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Who are you surrounded with? You know, how are you giving yourself permission? And so the re-dream's a biggie. So is the dream cycle the part of the seven steps or is that something separate? No, the dream cycle is just you've gone through it. You've dreamed. You've accomplished. Now you celebrate. So dream, celebrate, re-dream. Do it again.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And it's the seven pillars, the steps there that get you there. Okay. And then I add at the very end the secret sauce because I think the secret sauce, this is the extra.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
No, seven was dare to re-dream. Dare to re-dream. Gotcha. Okay. Yep. You've done it once. Yep. You now, and again, my favorite saying is this one now, the dream you're most proud is a dream you're afraid to say out loud. Now, in the beginning, you don't trust me yet, so you're doing the dream cycle, but now you've done it. Now I'm saying to you, come on, tell me the real dream. Wow.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
What do you really want? You're holding back. What's in your soul? Yeah.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
The secret sauce is, you know, when I first... We all want freedom and abundance. And I... Cindy and I... You know, we believed we'd be blessed if we gave. So, you know, we grew up that you make so much money and you give back, you get back. And we were always taught when you give, your hands are out like this, and now God can bless you back. And I do believe that.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
But I think it's bigger than that. I think just like dreaming, your dreams get bigger. When you're giving... It fills something in you. If you're helping with a cancer cycle, if you're helping with organizations that are really changing the world, you want to give more. So now I say we give so that we can give more and we give more. And that person that said to me, when's enough enough?
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
I realize it's never enough because the more we do. The more we can give. So the secret sauce is start giving. Yes. Because it'll fill you up. And the more lives you can change, the more you're excited to go after your own dreams and be bold because you get to give more.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
We're really our faith, so going to church, taking care of the three kids. But we freed up one night to work a business. Now, looking back, seeing how it worked, I would free up more nights. But back then, one night was a lot. And then the other thing that really helped me was I saw some people that had done what I wanted to do. I saw a guy that was a teacher and had started a business.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
I think there's a direct correlation because the person that doesn't give is trying to hold tight to stuff. And if you're holding tight like this, this is mine. I'm not giving it up. It's mine. You're not in a mindset of abundance to give more. So when my hands are like this, because I'm giving to you, I'm out here to go, let's go. We'll build this bigger. We'll give more. We'll do more.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And I look at Cindy and I, if you would have said, I'm not going to tell you because the crowns are going to come in heaven, not here. But if I think of what we've given, you know, here to give $100 when I was teaching was a lot, was tight. You know, today when it's millions and millions and you're like, how did that happen?
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
It's because the more you gave, the more blessings in your business exploded. So I think it's a direct correlation myself.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
That's such, you worded that very well. I think it's the same way as we're talking about if you're stuck in life and you're saying, how can I dream when I can't pay my bills and the boss is terrible and he tell me what to do and I come home and the baby, I think it's the same thing. It's a discipline. And if you'll start in the little things, as it gets bigger, you lose what that amount is.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
You know, if you said, I'm going to give millions and millions, you're laughing and go, I can't even pay my phone bill. You know, what do you mean? And yet I think it's a discipline. And the more you do it, it works. Wow. And that's how it grows. It works. It works. It works. That's our plug in.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
You know, good question. I think in each season I've had different coaches. I think in high school there were two coaches that were amazing. Both, you know, I played tennis and basketball and I coached math. They were both math teachers. One was my tennis coach, one was my basketball coach. Huge influence, very competitive.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
I, you know, were taking charges on a half-court concrete thing there, and I thought that was normal. I think, no wonder I'm so crazy competitive. And then I remember going to college and talking to a lot of people there, and I realized a big mentor I didn't realize was my dad. You know, my dad went from farm in Tennessee to work in the factory in Michigan.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
You know, you'll pick up a lot when you listen to this. I probably speak the worst English in the world. My parents were from Tennessee. I was raised in the north. Recently, someone said, Mark, do you realize Closemity is in a word? And I was like, what? And, you know, and Worcester doesn't have an R in it. I didn't. So, you know, we laugh about that.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
So you had a model. And so all of a sudden – and I think that's one of the things I talk in there is, you know, I think when you're dreaming – You've got to sometimes say it out loud. Sometimes you got to visualize. So me seeing someone, I knew it was possible. You got a model and kind of like a mentor, essentially.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
But my dad came up at 18, got a job on a factory, was going to night school, He would come home. I have one brother. There's two. And he'd say, all right, let's compare report cards. And so I got to college and realized my dad was a big mentor. I didn't even realize the example he set. You know, back then at GM, you work seven days a week.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
We'd see dad on weekends and he'd be working nights or afternoons and you wouldn't see him. So, you know, dad was. And then I started teaching and coaching. The football coach there. gave me the book Rich Dad Poor Dad. And it talked about the difference of an employee or owning the business. And it opened.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
So I think at each level, there was a coach that opened my mind to something that made me go, wow, I want that. Wow.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Oh, I think, you know, I have a couple. I would say later in life, it's harder to get new friends because you kind of... You know, now you have quite a bit and people may want something or, you know, I don't mean that bad, but that happens. But I'd say I've got two right now. One's helping in business. I had never – our family had business. And a great guy –
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
It was in Jersey, and he kind of took me under his wing and said, let me help you. And his name's Keith, and he just did a great job of kind of protecting me too, but making sure we were making good decisions. And then there's a pastor out there, I'd say Jensen, that just has really made sure that we could balance.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
You know, Jensen has a way, tremendous preacher, but he speaks so softly that when he talks, you have to lean in and lean in. And he's the same way offstage as he is when he's on. And I, you know, I really like how he's same thing. He wants to make sure someday God says, well done. And and so I'm like, yeah, that's what I want. So, yeah, that's beautiful.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
You know, she's just been all in supporting. It's funny. I shouldn't answer to Swell getting in trouble, but I will. You won't show this part, right? No. You know, I would say sometimes we were younger. We were high school sweethearts. Wow. So we've been married 47 years. 47 years. Yeah, she used to pray for her. She needs it. She's been with me that long.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
But I would say sometimes the devil has a way of getting in your head. You're thinking one way. I'm like, she's holding me back. Where later I realized, no. She's protecting you. She protected me and kept me from imploding. Wow. And what we came, her strength was scheduling. behind the scenes, really keeping a good foundation so that I could come out here.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And, you know, we first started the business and we started making money. I would go every night of the week and we made a deal, you know, all right, Sundays, we're not going to work. Family, here's what we're going to do. You can never turn it off as an entrepreneur, really. You've got to learn to turn it off. Put that phone over there, but that might be the call I need.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And so I realize now, and I'll tell people, just because there's a lot of, for Cindy, it was my foundation, realizing we're a team, realizing when I felt like maybe, It wasn't support. It was really great support because she was keeping me from. But I would tell people that feel like they don't have a supportive spouse, find out their love language.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Where's the potholes?
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Because I, you know, when I used to go out working at night and she'd be like, are you going again? If she gave me a lead and I made a sale that night, send her flowers.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Then she started giving you a list, go every night, you know, or, and keep doing that. Yeah.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Right. And maybe I said flowers, maybe it's a night out dinner. Maybe it's leave my phone at the house tonight. Uh, whatever that lovely, or maybe she goes out, you know, or it's the bubbly bath and you're with the kids. So to me, it's, it's being intentional. You gotta, you gotta, us guys can be a little done sometime. Like, really? I miss that. And so, yeah.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Yeah, and I tell people, this guy didn't know me. I saw him, and I went, that's what I want to do. And I tell people today, you know, whatever your dream is, find someone that's been there, done it, so that you can see. One, it helps you in your mind know it's possible.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
I think communication. Never take yourself too serious. I tell people all the time, don't use the word I. If you say I, you're in trouble. It's we. We're going to do this. It's what we are doing. Mm-hmm. And I think really trying to think about what does that other person need right now? You know, what's something that fills them up? And I still get it wrong.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
We were talking the other day how I was talking to a friend and he goes, my wife's like, why can't you help with the laundry? And I was, I was, I was shooting the socks into the clothes basket thinking I was Larry Bird. And, and, uh, You know, I think it's both realizing he's always going to act like he's 12 years old and she's going to need me to help and support.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
So I think it's just finding that common support for each other and what time out you need in life.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Thank you.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Yep. You know, I'm really excited about it. First time I've ever done it. We have a mutual friend, Rory. Yeah, Rory Vaden. He's like, hey, this is what we're going to do. And I'm really excited. You know, we did a Western movie at the ranch last year. I've got, we really were blessed. A lot of the actors and actresses were on the upswing and they're really hitting some big things.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
They're going to be there with us. Nice. Some of the people have been very impactful. When I said Jensen the other day, he's going to be with us. I believe yourself is going to pop in. I'll be there too. Good. I love it. I'm doing it. And, you know, when I first heard we're going to write a book on dreaming, I was thinking sometimes people say, oh, you're just a dreamer.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And I was like, wait a minute. I'm not sure I like that as a superpower. And then I got to realizing there's two types of dreamers. There's a dreamer of the night. They dream. Then they wake up and go on about their same life. Or dreamer of the day, I call, gets up and takes action. So when we're talking about your dreams, we're talking about going to take action. Dreamers of the day.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And I've decided I want to be a professional dreamer. I'm so excited about it. So when we do this, it's April 3rd, and we bring it in early. you know, mind thinkers like yourself that does dream big. I mean, in a short period, I can, I can tell I'm excited to learn more of what you've done yourself, especially what sport you play. You could have played for me.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
I love it. Yeah. But, you know, to me, we're going to inspire people dreaming that day. And if they're stuck, we're going to get them unstuck that day. And I don't know how someone's going to sit still. I think it's online. You'll be able to see it. And people that are watching it, be ready because you won't be able to sit and watch this.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
You're going to be pacing and walking and your mind's going to be being blown. So I'm really excited about that.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
You know, there's quite a bit we're doing right now. But with the book, I really want to focus on just what really gets my heart is pediatric cancer. And it's one thing my age to go through cancer. It's my age to say, well, I know sometime it ends, Louis, but I'm ready. If it ends, I'm ready. But when I watch these young kids, it breaks your heart. Yeah.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
We really focus with pediatric cancer, work with the V Foundation, work with Moffitt, and we're just going to make it. We're going to find cures for cancer. And like you said a little while ago, if there's just one or two or three, I think there's going to be thousands and thousands that we're able to help through their cancer journey, live longer, and that's our goal.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
We're going to give quite a bit to it.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
The dream you'll be most proud is the one you're afraid to say out loud. Oh, man.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
I'd say, hey, there really is a heaven. So have faith, because I think some people think they don't have to worry about that. I would say have faith. God's real. Make sure. that you have a belief there. Two is laugh more. The world was serious enough. Let's laugh. And you were born to dream. So dream, baby dream. You know, to me, that's, I want to, I want to scare myself.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Some of the dreams, if it's to get cancer free for all pediatric kids, let's do it. Let's find the cures. Whatever it is. So I would say just dream big.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
I think greatness is when you, whatever your talent is, you've gotten the most out of it you can get. I think greatness comes in all shapes and forms. And your greatness is probably different than my greatness. But I think greatness is whatever skills, whatever you are made for, you've gotten the most. I think that you go...
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
I watch, you know, what games do I enjoy watching when, man, those guys are exhausted at the end and they're high-fiving when team one, but they're exhausted because they left it all out there. I think greatness is someone's on the court and has laid it all out there and they got nothing left because they put it all out there. That's greatness. There you go.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Thank you.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
I think that's important. One of the steps I talk about is who you surround yourself with. And I think that's having a mentor. And I think sometimes I come up with these sayings, but I think sometimes... If you don't surround yourself with the right people, dreams will die. You surround yourself with the right people, they can thrive.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And I think a lot of times maybe somebody wasn't successful at something they really wanted, not because of anything they did, but maybe they didn't have the right team around them. Oh, it's so true. And I'm, you know, I'm a basketball coach. And so I'm always thinking, who's your starting five? Who you surround yourself with? Who's on the court with you?
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Sometimes you got to put someone on the bench because they're, and I think we don't give ourselves permission sometimes to separate ourselves from people that maybe are dream killers.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Well, mindset is so important. I'm glad you said mindset. I changed the way I was living. I was living on the defense. Life would punch you in the gut. I just do extra jobs and get my bills paid and the car starts rattling, the washing machine's not working, something. Now you got punched again. And when I went from the mindset of just letting life come and trying to react to
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
to going on the offense. I'll tell my grandkids, I tell them, look, live on the offense. You know, because what happens, say football, you go to prevent defense and the other team always scores and you never win. When you're living on the offense, You're dictating. You're making decisions for you. You're deciding what I'm going to do.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And then I remind them when you score, you get to do the end zone dance. And I think life's supposed to be fun. It is fun. And celebrate those things. So for me, it was a mindset shift. And it was, I'm going to live on the offense. You know, a lot of times you're afraid to take risk. But I tell people there's good risk and bad risk. You know, you want to be calculated.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Life with punching a gut. I just do extra jobs and get my bills paid and the car starts rattling, the washing machine's not working, something. Now you got punched again. I went from the mindset of, of just letting life come and trying to react to going on the offense. When you're living on the offense, you're dictating. You're making decisions for you.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
You don't want to go to Vegas and just push everything in the table. You're taking calculated. But at the same time, the biggest risk of all is doing nothing at all.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Don't take, yeah.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And so that was going on the offense, changing my mindset, and really being selective who I surrounded myself with.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
You know, I looked for what I needed, like myself. I'm pretty positive thinking all the time, optimistic. So I'd come in and go, you know what would work? And then I would, you know, I got a great friend now, you know, 40 years. Back then we were just getting to know each other. But I called him Dr. No. He would say no. You know, I'd say, hey, I got an idea. And he'd go, no. All right.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And I'd be like, oh, what? He goes, well, yesterday you had that idea and today... And I realized I needed that in my life. I needed someone to say, you know, now it was a two-way street. One time he called me and we're probably about five years into It Works. And he said... You know, we're not making payroll. You're having to put extra money in. You've borrowed some money to put in.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
You're going to bury yourself. I think we need to shut this down. Five years into your business. Yeah. And I'm like, I never thought that that was an option. And I remember thinking, no, we can't. And honestly, I didn't have a plan B. I don't want to go back to teaching. And on that salary, I'm getting used to. And so... We had to look at a new strategy.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And so sometimes I'll say to people, putting the right people around me, Doug made me face, you know, and Sandy's doing the same thing, expecting that same result. I had to change. But Doug caused me to do that. Now I had other people I like surround myself with positive people. They give me energy. We'll come up with an idea. You know, what do you think of this?
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And you're like, well, I do, but what? And all of a sudden you're binging it off. And all of a sudden it's, I call it a whole nother level. You know, you got... Okay, idea. Good idea. Great idea. Oh, another level. So when I build our office building, my house, I always add a whole nother level. So people realize that's just part of our life. How do you take it to a whole nother level?
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
You know, now I'm intentional to find them. Back then... you know, one of the steps is say it and see it. And I didn't realize this about myself. So I started the business in Grand Rapids, Michigan. And at some point I realized I had a big sales force and they didn't like coming to Michigan in the winter.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
I never looked anywhere else. So I decided I'm going to move the company to Florida. Picked up the whole company. I think I had 25 employees and we all picked an area in Florida that we could see the golf and do it. But I would go around the office saying, I'm thinking about moving to a company in Florida. And they'd be like, yeah, right. And I kept doing that.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Well, what I know now, I didn't know then. I wasn't saying it to them. You're saying it to yourself. I'm saying it to myself. Can I do this? Is it possible?
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And I realized the more I said things, I was convincing. So, you know, one of my favorite quotes is, the dream you'll be most proud of. is the one you're afraid to say out loud. Oh, man. Gosh, that speaks to me right now in my life. Well, and I challenge people. When you shave this morning, when you put your makeup on, what are you afraid to say out loud? Because you're afraid of it.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
The very first step is
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
And for me at that time, so I went even farther. I said, you know what? I'm going to move the company to Florida because then I can entertain and we can go out on boats on the water. I love to play golf. So then I said... You know what? Instead of an office building, I'm going to buy a golf course. Wow. This was my biggest sales job. Come on.
The School of Greatness
7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)
Besides Cindy saying yes to me marrying me, I convinced her I needed a golf course because we could use the banquet facility to do meetings. You bought a golf course? I bought a golf course. Come on. So- Funny because you got to reset your mind, like we just said. My dad says to me, my dad worked 40 years for General Motors factory line.