The Entrepreneur DNA - Why 80% of Entrepreneurs Fail (And How You Can Win) | Dean Graziosi | EP 82

Episode Date: August 22, 2025

In this powerful and deeply personal conversation, Dean Graziosi — legendary entrepreneur, multiple-time New York Times bestselling author, and transformational leader — sits down to talk about the real journey of entrepreneurship. Dean shares lessons from decades of business success, overcoming adversity, building resilience, and creating lasting impact. He opens up about his early struggles, the importance of growth mindset, resourcefulness, evolving through life's challenges, and why entrepreneurship isn't just about wealth — it's about living life on your terms. This is a masterclass in persistence, personal transformation, and creating a life of meaning. -- About Dean: Dean Graziosi is a globally recognized entrepreneur, multiple New York Times bestselling author, and success coach. Over the past 30+ years, Dean has impacted millions of lives through his books, courses, live events, and online education platforms. He co-founded Mastermind.com with Tony Robbins and teaches people how to turn their life experience, skills, and passions into thriving businesses. Dean is also an expert in real estate investing and personal development and is passionately committed to helping others unlock their full potential. Dean Graziosi Socials Instagram: @deangraziosi Facebook: Dean Graziosi YouTube: Dean Graziosi Website: deangraziosi.com -- About Justin: After investing in real estate for over 18 years and almost 3000 deals done, Justin has created a business that generates 7 figures in active income through wholesaling and fix and flipping as well as accumulating millions of dollars of rental properties including 5 apartment buildings, 50+ single family homes, and 1 storage facility Justins longevity in real estate is due to his ability to look around the corners, adapt to changing markets, perfecting Raising private capital, and focusing on lead generation which allows him to not just wholesale and fix & flip, but also accumulate wealth through long term holds. His success in real estate led him to start The Entrepreneur DNA podcast and The Science Of Flipping podcast and education company, and REI LIVE where he’s actively doing deals with members. He has coached and mentored thousands of aspiring and active investors over the last decade. Connect with Justin: Instagram: @thejustincolby​ YouTube: Justin Colby​ TikTok: @justincolbytsof​ LinkedIn: Justin Colby

Tony always says to get the most energy it takes to put a rocket in space is the first 10 feet. Do you know that? To get that big, heavy thing on. Once it's in space hits the button, 10,000 miles an hour. That's right. But to get that rocket off. So if you got to focus on a bigger future to get the rocket, great. But if you got to go to the dark side and say, if I leave my life the way it is, I'm going to get to the end of my life.

Realize I missed it. Realize I left me on the table. I never jumped in the game. I missed the thing I want to do with my wife or my husband and my kids. like feel that pain if you need to do whatever it takes to get the rocket to come off the ground and that that's like when people say no you don't want to go to the dark side screw that whatever it takes to move you in the direction you do so what my one of my things is yeah change your story change your life you've heard all that stuff try a different approach yeah if you're focused if you have

a vision board of the the car the life the dream screw that if the vision board isn't working put a picture of the person you don't want to become on it put a picture of you at 90 years old in the wheelchair and you know you missed the whole damn thing. Do whatever it takes. Ostrvonore DNA family, welcome back to an incredible episode. This is going to be one you're going to want to rewind, re-listen to, re-watch time and

time again because I have a dear friend, someone who has changed the game for millions and millions and millions of people and continues to do just that. Multiple times, New York Time bestseller, Ospreanor, extraordinaire, and someone that all of you should be following and looking up to. He's a genuine

guy Dean Graciosi is here. Good to be here, man. Yeah, I'm excited about this one. We, uh, it's funny because we've been playing in the Phoenix market together for, for my case 18 years for you. You've been doing this now 30 years. Yeah. And, uh, we've spoken on each other stages and you've keynote a lot of the same stages, but you have a big mission that I want everyone to understand because I'm in total alignment with the mission that you are on in this chapter of your life. Because it doesn't matter if you're my age, your age, or if you're 20 years old. It's the same thing. And it's about growth. It's about your mindset. Completely. You know, I have been doing this long time. And thanks for the invite. And thanks for those watching, listening right now. I know you've got lots of other

options. I think you're really going to enjoy this time because I'm here to serve. Yeah. And after 30, I've been an entrepreneur for 40 years in this industry for 30-ish. I hope I figured out some stuff by then. Yeah. To avoid pitfalls for people and allow you to hit the gas in certain areas. That's what I hope to achieve today. It's allow you to overcome the obstacles, goes faster in the areas that you should. But one of the things that, you know, there's a million great things we can talk about. But why is it that 80% of all single entrepreneurs, being someone says, I'm done with this career, or I never want the career, I'm doing my own thing, whether it's real estate or the self-education industry like Tony and I

are in, I've been in real estate for almost 40 years. Yeah. Literally almost my, I bought my first deal 41 years ago. I'm just doing the math in my head. But why is it that 80% fail after five years? Did you know that number? Yeah, I just thought it was even a shorter time, right? Yeah, so in the first year, 50%, but by year 5, 80% are gone. And I think that's a byproduct.

I think there's a couple things. One, I think we get programmed to have a career mindset, and it takes a little bit too long to get out of that. So maybe we could touch on that today. Number two, I think so many crazy entrepreneurs, most of your friends and family, don't understand. and they think you're nuts. You want to do this big, bold thing. I think you're a little bit alone.

And when you're alone, sometimes you're trying to do it on your own and you forget to model proven practices. And then secondly, you don't have the assistance to say, hey, I'm stuck here. What do I do on this spot? Nobody in my family understands us. How do I get the money? Or how do I manage this?

Or how do I build a culture? How do I make my first hire, my 20th hire? What do I do with the extra money? Do I reinvest it? Do I reinvest it? Do I reinvest it? My company? Do I put it alongside?

Do I put it in the stock market? Should I buy crypto? Like, all those things happen in this evolution, and I've experienced all of them. So I'll let you, you know your audience better than anyone, and I'm here to serve. So you could take that in any direction because I think, let me just tell you, I think that 80% failure rate is just because they didn't have the guidance. And I think we have the opportunity to absolutely crush that, especially where the world is going. And especially right away, I'm going to make sure all of you are following Dean. He's everywhere.

Again, follow him on Instagram and all the places because he's someone that you really genuinely look up to. I think, and I don't think I'm pretty sure 100% you are the heir apparent to our guy, Tony Robbins. I mean, you were just that much of an impact to so many people across the world. So I thank you. Oh, thank you very much. Thank you. You said a word that is, is triggering for me. Evolution, evolve, adaptation.

I've done this for 18 years in the real estate space. I graduated UCLA in 2003. And so I've only, I've never had a W-2 job ever. Which is unique, right? That's a rare thing. That is a rare thing. That's really rare. And I have a degree that I could have.

I just didn't. Went straight into door-to-door sales. From there, got into real estate. Of course, at 2007. Why not getting to real estate in 2007, Dean? Brilliant time to get in real estate. Yeah, I remember those days as well. But evolve, evolution, adaptation, iterations.

You said it yourself, and we're talking offline about it. Like, the iterations of Dean are growing. And we'll continue to grow, right? You're talking about a 30-year career and even more in the real estate space. But, like, you're not done. And I think a lot of the people need to understand your own philosophy. Why is Dean not done? I mean, you, in all intents of purposes, guys, I'm out.

It's been fun, right? You absolutely could have done that 10 years ago if you wanted to. But I don't know if that creates the best version of me for my wife or the best version of me for my kids, right? I think we were put on this earth to grow. I think we die when we stop growing. I think I watch so many people retire and they don't know what to do themselves. They golf themselves to death.

And then they're looking for something else. I even have friends that would exit for $100 million, $500 million. I have a friend that exit for a billion dollars and thought, this is what I want. And after three months, he's like, my family is not going to look up to me anymore. And he's starting a new business right now because he's like, I want kids, as a parent, you know, kids don't do what you tell them to do. They become who you are, right? We have to model the practices that we have to model who they want to be. I think what I know about being married to the love of my life and being a dad is, but all of them have maybe a better man.

because my actions determine who I am, not my words, right? So with all that said, I think, I don't think the entrepreneur journey is about, let me do this so I can get out. I think it's what ignites passion in front. It allows us to, and we could talk about this, it allows us to overcome the resistance that most people allow to dictate their lives.

It allows us to make crap up in our head and then make it real and someday go, I dreamt about that, taking a walk, goosebumps right now. Yeah, I absolutely didn't say. Like, I was on a beach. It wasn't even a beach I could afford to be on taking a walk. And I thought someday, I'm going to flip a house a week or a house a month or I'm going to, I'm

going to own 30 doors or I'm going to own commercial. And if you had anybody near you, they'd be like, what are you talking about, Justin? You just graduated for you're knocking on doors to make money. Like, that's what I, like, I'm going to be 57 this year. Like, this phase of my life, I look back and realize that was the, the, the, that was the real success the success is yes i could quit and live five more lifetimes and i'm working harder right now than ever before my partner and dearest friend in the world tony robbins working harder than ever before yeah because we get to make an impact we get to give back and we get to stretch ourselves

like that is life i don't mean ignoring dance recitals and missing date night i'm not talking about that they are they are exclusive to each other but gosh the opportunity to make stuff up and make it real. I think it's the, it's what gets me going every day. As a real estate investor and entrepreneur, I've hired a lot of people. VAs, acquisition reps, lead managers, and I'll be real. Hiring can be a headache. You can get buried in resumes, but barely anyone actually fits the role. It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack, but not with ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter makes the hiring process way easier. They find great candidates for you fast. And right now, you can try it free.

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ZipRecruiter.com forward slash work. ZipRecruiter.com forward slash work. ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. You know, I believe in something that we have mutual friends that talk a lot about this, but there's kind of this four-pillar or circle ecosystem, the mind, body, connections, and business, right? You are a shining example.

I mean, look at you. You just gave your age away. You didn't have to. But you look like you were younger than me. No, I don't talk that. I mean, brother, at the end of the day, you'd care about your body. Because, in my opinion, it starts with the mind. That belief system of, you know, I'm not going to go attempt because so-and-so is going to be

snickering about me or waiting for me to fail. That's where it all starts. And this is your brilliance, in my opinion. Your brilliance is helping people out of that, in my opinion. You've done a lot in life, and you've done... That's my goal. But it is a genuine brilliance. So I want to kind of connect that within this episode because entrepreneurship, it's brutal.

I don't think there's a better way of saying, but as brutal as it is, it gives you the highs of all highs that you will never get as... Yeah, I want to push back on that for a second, because it is brutal. And you need to be resourceful once you get resources. So we could talk about resourcefulness too. I mean, my kids, if I could leave them money or resourcefulness, I would choose resourcefulness every day of the week. I want my kids to be able to, in a burning building, out of money, relationship going wrong, they can find the resourcefulness to get out, to fix it,

to thrive, right? That's right. Because resources alone, why do people who hit Lotto lose it? Why do trust fund kids end up derailing? That's right. Because they have resources, but no one taught them resourcefulness, right? I want to tell you a story. I don't think I've ever shared this publicly.

I've shared it in a small group of people. as you i've never worked for anybody in my life at 17 i saw both my parents work really hard and have not much of anything other than a trailer park as a kid then we all have our story right went to school some days without lunch money right and told my friends i wasn't hungry right right right um but i always had this like i'm doing my own thing i'm not going to be like and my main reason we all have a reason and let's use that reason it could be the rocket fuel that gets the rocket off the ground. It starts the momentum as I watched my mom work three jobs to make nothing. She cleaned houses. She cut hair and she painted houses. She'd come home at 9 o'clock every night.

My dad left when we were three. Didn't really support her. So she just hustled. Never complained. Never said a word. And all I remember, I think I was seven thinking of myself, I'm going to retire her. Like, you know, my sister was resourceful as heck. She was four years old than me. We'd come home, make dinner for her. We'd do the laundry. That's great. Right. And, and, you know, in it, I wasn't like, poor me. I didn't know anything different. It was just what we did for my mom because she was hustling. So it was that desire for me to be successful.

I wanted to be wealthy at a young age so I could take care of my mom. It was 100% retire my mom. That's right. Which I did at 24. And I've been sending her a check every week since I was 24. And she's still alive. Thank you. Thankfully.

And I got to do that, right? Or the house that she wanted, bought my dad a house. Like all those. I get to do those things, right? But my point is, when I was in high school I had a firewood business and I was so I would sell

cords of wood mostly to my teachers that's great so Mr. Pagnotta when I was failing science and I'd give him a discount on a quarter of wood I just have to say I got a B plus I didn't get the A but I got the B plus Mrs. Minesi I got a B plus and anyway so I

was cutting and selling firewood and I had I would buy wrecked cars fix them up and sell them and then I did How old are you with the firewood? Would? 17. Cars?

18. Keep going. I'm going to connect that. 19, my first house with no money down. I flipped my first house at 19. I didn't flip it. I bought an old rundown mansion like destroyed. So I'd work on cars during the day.

Yeah. So I'm going to get to my point. I promise you, I'll get to my point about entrepreneurship. So I would work on cars during the day when I was 19. And then at night, I'd go eat and I'd go to this old rundown. old run down was an old big mansion in our town um and every night i learned to be a plumber a carpenter a sheet rocker a tile guy i did all of it back then and i had all my buddies my age helping me that's right and i remodeled this old place into nine apartments so i'd work on one while i lived in it

soon it was ready i would rent it and i'd move in another one that was half ready and i went through the whole house just brilliant by the time i was by the time i was and i was using the cars that it was flipping during the day to fund this. And, I mean, it was a shoestring budget. Sure. But when I was done, it shifted my life because I had nine apartments. I lived in one of them. And back then I made five grand a month net.

And then I put washer and dryers and that made me another $800 a month a month. So I was like $5,800 a month profit and I lived for free. Talk about a foundation. Unbelievable. Right? So it shifted my life. Like all my friends. I was in the car business and the house business. So I would buy a wreck car.

So I'd be in a car for half price. And I didn't pay any rent or I didn't pay a mortgage. And that gave me, then I took everything I made, and I bought my next house and bought my next house. And by the time I was, you know, 22, I think I had 30 apartments and I started fixing, I started, I bought raw land subdivide and started flipping houses. But think about the confidence, not to keep, to take you away, but like the confidence you built in yourself, your abilities, your resourcefulness, to be able to flip cars, manually do the labor on this, you're building certainty and confidence, which I believe. And when you're in it, you don't know. know that. Here's what I want to say. I got to say that grand description, but I didn't share all the suffering I did in silence. Or my father saying, hey, it takes money to do that stuff, kid. You're

going to lose everything. My dad didn't talk to me for three months once because he told me I was biting off more that I could chew that. We don't come from that side of the tracks. You didn't go to college. We don't have money. You got to accept that you're probably going to work for somebody. Like, that is my friends thought I was crazy. So here's the part I was getting to about entrepreneurship, because every level, if you want to write something down, write this down, every level has a new devil every level has a new devil so I told you the fun part

I didn't tell you the part where I stayed up all night stressing ran out of money had to apply for five credit cards at once so the banks wasn't all see that I was doing on my credit score and then as soon as I got all five went to the bank one day and did $80,000 in cash advances to finish real estate deals

and then stress out of my mind that if I didn't pay it in 30 days it's 22% interest and you know you can go down that road of what could be wrong and then you got to just so all those invisible the things we do in the invisible that's right you do i i feel a connection to you even though we've only you know we've hung out several times i know who you are i get to know you more and more but i have an affinity attraction to a friendship because i already know all the stuff that you had to do when no one is watching that's right i already know all the stuff you had to do at home listening wherever you are when no one was watching

so we already have we're already kindred spirits before you start right but here's what i'm going to say as I was doing this real estate stuff and making those moves of credit cards and borrow money and hustling and all day at the collision shot the place where I'd fix my cars and all night laying tile and grouting and sheet rocking

a lot of my friends would come by like hey we're going out let's do this and I still had fun and like dude you're killing yourself for nothing you're working and I remember and I'm not going to share his name but one of my dearest friends growing up

his parents and my parents were friends I knew him since I was four years old one of the sweetest humans you ever met in your life Like if you met him, they'd love this guy. Yeah. And we were about 20 years old and I'm hustling. And his uncle was the head of a union in New York City. We lived about an hour out of the city, an hour and a half out of the city.

And he said, Dean, all this craziness, my uncle is going to make me a shop steward in the city. I'm going to make $1,400 a week. Yeah. You know, back then, you got to figure how long this is 1992, right? I'm like, oh my gosh. And he said, I'm going down there. He said, I don't have to worry. I don't have to risk.

I just have to take the train in every day. And I'm set at 50 years old, Dean, I could retire and be done. He's like, stop killing. Why don't you just come down on me next week? And I never went. Yeah. And I have to tell you through the years, I always thought about that conversation of like, you know, as a career, you might think, oh, the guard rails are up.

It's safer. But is it, is it, does it have its own devils? And so the moral of the story is this. I went down this path. that look like the adult crazy roller coaster. I got this, I got this. Oh, my God, I'm never going to make it. I'm going to fail.

My family thinks I'm crazy. My cousin stopped talking. My girlfriend broke up with me because I'm a dreamer, all these things. And it seemed like I was just skimming a wall. Yeah. We were together about a year ago in my little town where I grew up. And you're still friends with them. I am.

I see him, but I love that so much. You have no idea. So in my little town, I grew up in a 5,000 people. I bought a 20-acre farm. So we have, that's conned and organic vegetables and apple tree. And we go there in the summer, right? So I hang out with him a couple months ago. And he said something that really, when you say entrepreneurship can be brutal.

But he said to me, hey, I used to think you were crazy. He said, but I got to tell you something. You were right. I was wrong. He said, ready for this one? He said, I missed it. I'm like, what do you mean you missed it? He said, I got up before my kids woke up to get on the train to go to New York City.

And I got home. They were asleep. he said I missed all of it from where I retired at 50 they're off living in their own life he said I missed it and when I think of brutal at the end of my life

that's brutal that is the one that punches you in the face and says why the hell didn't you break the norm why didn't you step out of your comfort zone why didn't you find a way to have resilience to overcome hesitation to overcome the resistance

that I mean starting your own thing You have to overcome resistance. It doesn't seem normal. It doesn't seem right. But on the other side of that storm is the life worth living. So I have been, and I'm not knocking anybody that has a career. Thank God. We have people that we employ that.

Of course. I totally get it. So if you're going to be employed, great, but still adopt this mindset of growth and overcoming resistance and persistence and resourcefulness. Because then in the career you have, you'll be at the top of your skill. You'll get paid the most. You'll get the most promotions. And just you've got to remember.

remember, everything has its own devils. Every level has a new devil, but whatever path you do has it, but you got to weigh the odds. If I'm in control of my decision, if I get the opportunity to make my own decisions, that I can make my kids breakfast every day, that I can take them to school every day, that I can be there for dance recitals or softball practice, that means I get to control my calendar. What is that worth? Is that worth all those sleepless nights? A thousand And time's over. 100%. You said something without saying it, but the creation part, I know you believe in this fully,

and so do I. But even if you have a W2, doesn't mean you can't be a creator. Absolutely. I don't believe it's this either or world. I think it's an and. And even if you have a W2 and I don't care what the WC do. And you do real estate on the side. Or you build a course on the side.

You coach on the side. Amazing. I mean, literally that is your sweet spot. You can help someone today. If you aren't following Dean, go to Dean. He has an event. Thrive is coming. up thrive.com like guys thrive seven zero.com drive five seven zero dot com but this is part of your

genius dude and i've been following you now for the however long you've been putting out books right i mean you show people that it's not black and white it's not this or that it is an and and if the and becomes your main thing then lean into it but it doesn't have to be your main thing it's been my message to thank you for 30 years i also say there's no such thing as a magical money machine. You got to learn from people who have already forged the path. That's right. And you got to take uncomfortable action. That's like you want to know the ingredients. There's no getting rich

overnight. Yeah. Model proven practices take uncomfortable action. You help people, you coach people through real estate. Because you got 18 years. Somebody could go figure out in 18 years or you can collapse almost two decades. That's right. Into days by saying, no, no, no, don't do this. You got to do that, but you still got to do the work.

So why don't people take even the coaching space and education and mastermind space? for longer than me, why don't people understand that and say that investment to collapse time is worth every... Here's what I'm saying, because I've been doing this long enough, I want to tell you that it's becoming more and more eye-opening to people and go, wow. And I think it's just, I think it's the way the culture prepared us. It's like, no, you go to college, you go to high school, and then you go to college and you get a degree. And the only people that can teach you that is a professor who's never actually. done what it is they're teaching you to do yeah like i'm not knocking professors there's some

great ones out there there's great teachers out there some teachers change my life but there's others that are teaching something don't know they're asked from a hole in the ground when it comes to actually put it into play that's right right but that's what we've been programmed to do right did you know even degrees did you know that 76% of people who get a degree don't use it right now no kidding yep and 55% of the people who use it don't like the job they're in do that math oh right That's a tough life. So you could just look at this industry. We call it the self-education industry.

Tony and I, people learn from you. They learned specific, specialized knowledge. That's right. Tony and I teach people in our event that we're doing. We teach people how to unlock a life experience, an asset, a skill, an expertise they have, and turn it into a course, a product, a program, just what you do, right? We teach specialized knowledge. We've been doing it collectively for 70 years.

We know how to do this thing. You'd have to do the whole degree. Just know the thing that you're doing. You, real estate, know the thing to get deals done, right? But I just think it's been such, it was the fringe for a long time. You know what I tell people? Again, in this almost 30 years, I mean, coaching and creating books and courses and programs. Tony, longer than me, is the only one I think in the space longer than me.

That's why I love the partnership we have. But think about if you were at a dinner table 20 years ago. Yeah. And you said to somebody, hey, man, I'm trying to do real estate. I got a coach. The dinner party would be like, what do you mean you got a coach? Yeah.

Like, are you on a sports team? That's right. Right? Or I got a coach to help my marriage thrive. Or I got a coach to be a better dad. That's right. Or I got a coached to be in better shape or eat healthier.

People like, I don't know you need a coach. What do you mean you got a coach, right? But I want to tell you, it's changing. Be at dinner with a group of people right now and say you got a coach and somebody will say, oh, me too. I have one that's helping me through this.

I have one for helping me night, train my children. I have one to help me, right? It's becoming more popular because people are realizing I can go back to college and get general knowledge. I go really wide to learn a little bit of the thing I want to do for my life and I'm probably not going to use the degree.

Or I could take 18 years and figure out how to be a badass in real estate. Or I could work with Justin and collapse time to cut him a check to gain proven practices and be pushed to take uncomfortable action. You put those, it's hard to fail

when you're modeling somebody who's already done it. Somebody already forged the path. They knock down the forest. They knock down the trees. They have the map. And they're going to stand alongside and go, don't go that way. Don't go that way. No, no, no.

Straight. You got this. Like, I mean, the numbers prove it. This industry used to be this big. Absolutely. When Tony and I not first started in this industry, eight years ago, we decided to create a company called Mastermind.com and share with everybody what we do in case you want to take your life experience.

do what you do. Not only do real estate, but teach others how to get started. Why should they struggle if you can help it? In any vertical. You can tell anybody. Every vertical, right? We have people that are in real estate and then they come and said, but I've been doing yoga for 40 years. I really want to teach you on yoga and they blow up. Or we have this amazing woman. She kills it in real estate. You know what she's helping women do? Get through menopause because she said it almost destroyed her whole life. And she found a natural way to get through it. Now she teaches women how to get through menopause like a badass. Yeah. Yeah. How cool is that? How cool is that? How cool is that? Right. So just so you know, this industry was tiny. When Tony and I seven years ago decided to

create this company and teach people to do this, you know, Jim Rhone changed Tony's life. Tony changed my life. Why don't we let everybody in on it? That's right. So long story short, it was about a $100 million a day industry. Three years ago, it was a billion dollar a day industry. And the latest report said by 2027, it would be a trillion dollar a year industry. because people are going general knowledge not for me don't want to waste time through my own trial and error who has done what i've already who's already done what i want to do and how do i cut a check for speed so i don't think you can be better positioned to be in this industry especially those i talked to us about john that while we were walking up here especially those that have a heart to serve that want to not just sell but want to absolutely deliver the shortcut to people those that that have a desire to impact others find purpose or for themselves and can do the work to extract it, I think it's probably the greatest thing on the planet. I mean, I've done real estate and this. I love both. Yeah, I love real estate. I'll never be out of real estate, but I'm more the heart to serve, right? And that is... Do you love one of your

students crushes a deal? No. Is there any better feeling it? There is no better. I highlight it all the time. I don't highlight my flips where I make 75 grand. I highlight theirs because that's the proud moment. That's the big brother, the other figure like, they did it. I have a, and you'll appreciate the crap out of this. I have a guy. He has two full-time jobs, nine to five. And then he goes and works at in and out at the night until two in the morning. He has three children and a wife. And he's done four deals since January in my community. I love it. The only reason is because he just does the thing I advise him to do. To your point, proven model, I've done it 18 years. I just need you to do it and be uncomfortable. So he finds time in the morning. He finds time on

the weekends. He does what others aren't willing to. And he gets the result others don't get. Right? And you know that to be true. I'm curious to hear your answer to my four pillars to success. I've asked every incredible entrepreneur this. The first one is you have to decide what you want and who you need to be to get it. That's the first pillars, all one pillar. Decide what you want. And I actually think there's a zero, a zero through five. The first is you have to dream big enough to know what you are looking to do. That dream has to be there. Right. But then you got to decide what you want, who you need to be to get there. right number two you got to take massive you got to commit to it number two is you got to commit three take massive action this is the uncomfortable part you talked about it is always uncomfortable new levels new devils it's never familiar because you're at a new level yeah it's going to be uncomfortable right number four is be uncomfortable and number five this is where i really believe why you're such a great person for our space is because you echo this and i know it to be true is remove all your time expectations on the result you're trying to achieve.

Yeah. If you can do that, that's a great one. You start to unfuck your mind about when you're going to get the money, how much, like all the things that you're kind of doing it for, you say, I'm going to go as fast and as long as I need to do to achieve the thing I need to achieve. And you and I know this true. That goalpost keeps getting kicked down the field, right? Oh, I love, I love, I don't want to get back to this. I love those five. Um, Augmendino, I geek out on writers every once in a while.

Yeah. He got on all his stuff, the world's greatest salesman, a bunch of great books, right? Yeah. And he, in the world's greatest salesman, he writes about 10 scrolls to be the world's greatest salesman. It really is 10 scrolls. I make my kids read it. They read it like once a quarter, my older kids.

Um, but he's got a scroll in there is I will persist until I succeed. It has nothing to do with, I'll persist until the money comes in. I'll persist until I get my first sale. I'll persist until I'll persist until. my friends and family believe in me, it just, I'll persist until I succeed. That's right. There's no way not to succeed if you would put the word, persist, right? If you just keep going.

And in there, he said, and he wrote this book probably 50 years ago, he said, how did we ever get to the point where we thought the prize was at the beginning of the journey? It's at the end. And he said, we don't know. It's not our job to know. I love this saying, it's not our job to know how long the journey is. And how we equated it is we don't know how many corners. I look at those corners as obstacles.

That's right. We don't know how many corners we need to get around before our prize is there. So you're working hard and you're like, there's the corner. You get around it and you look, there's nothing. And then you work again, you're like, oh, my God, I finally got around it. And you go around next one. There's nothing. That's right.

And the way I look at it is some people might get blessed and have to go around two corners. That's right. Others might have to go around 20. And we don't know. I just equate that to, I got to pay my success tax. Like, I need to pay, maybe God, the universe. the success tax auditor is like Dean you're a troubled child I was I'm just saying like you got 22 failures number 23 your life changes but you and how many people give up 18

14 you got to persist until you succeed and and one more thing about that fifth one because I like it so much yeah is what if you measured your accomplishments like kisen it's one little step at a time one little like you listen to this whole podcast it's a pat on the back you read the next chapter You go to the coaching program. If you want to learn what Tony and I are doing, register for the event. Everything should be a micro win. And if you look at micro wins, the most successful people I know, you know, Tony and I have a great group of humans we put together in a high-level mastermind. No different.

But one common thread is measuring micro wins. And the byproduct is you don't even know when the first sale comes. Think about that. Think if you're like, hey, listen, I'm getting a coach. I'm going on. I'm taking an uncomfortable action. I'm not letting this old limiting belief stop me. I'm not letting my sister who tells me I'm a dreamer talk me off my path.

I'm going to make that offer. Oh, I got to get on a call. Oh, my God, I got to talk to somebody. Or I got to go on camera. Or I got to film a course. Oh, it's uncomfortable, but I'm doing it. And all of a sudden, you're chipping away. It's like, I made the call.

I filmed the course. I did the thing. I did that thing. And then all of a sudden one day, over here on the side, there's a sale made. And then another and another. Imagine if your goal wasn't the thing. It was just becoming a better version of you. knocking down one hurdle at a time and you won't even recognize when your first success comes, next success comes.

You know many people I've said, I didn't even realize I was a millionaire. Like I've met people like, I just had my head down like going. I looked up one day. I was like, I'm here and then like putting my head back down. Let's keep going. Yeah. And that's the journey is there's no, I mean, I love the new levels, new devils, because that has always been the case for me. Every time I push harder, I go further, there's always like, wow, that's a big brick wall.

How the hell am I going to get around that? And the thing that I believe that you've done, I've done so many others is we say, okay, but we're going to. We're going to get around that brick wall, right? And that level of consistency and persistence is what will create anybody. I don't care if this is your first day of listening to this episode. You want to get an entrepreneurship. If you're sitting here and you are trying to aspire to be an entrepreneur, this is your guy. Thrivein70.com.

free event right that is happening you have masterminds.com I mean I'll tell you real quick and this is not a shameless plug it's thrive 70.com Tony Robbins and I once a year we go live and for three days about three hours a day we just pull the curtain back on entrepreneurship specifically in the lane if you were going to do it you'd be doing on real estate that's right I taught real estate for 20 years right love it still tell everybody get in real estate still love real estate still buying deals I bought a lot of deals in the last two years. There you go.

But what we're teaching in that three days is why every single human being on the planet when they've acquired knowledge in their skill that, you know, in their career or a life experience that not, you know, they went through a divorce. It was horrific. Now they're on the other side.

Kids are thriving. They're thriving. X is thriving. Like, it doesn't matter. We've all had a life experience, a career skill or a passion we have that is extremely valuable to someone else who you know how to package it.

because it condenses that time. That's right. So over three days, we're going to show people why every single one of you should consider being in the knowledge industry. It might sound like a big word. It really just means how to extract

that asset of your life experience, how to package it. Maybe you want to be a consultant. Maybe you want to create a course. Maybe you want to create a workshop, a mastermind. Maybe you want to write a book. We're going to show you how to extract it,

identify it, and get some assistance through AI that things like Tony and I on how to create that and then how to market it and how to turn it into a business. We do it once a year. We have 800,000 to a million people registered. And I think we're moving the world.

I think we're, we've created a mission. I mean, I've watched yours last year. This is, guys, if you were aspiring or maybe you're in it and you're struggling and you need some of the secrets, 30 plus years, 40 years in the real estate space, like you two are the top of the pinnacle, right? I say that with all humbleness. You guys have achieved what every one of us in the education space or the product space want to be at.

Thank you for saying that. You two should be totally proud of yourself. I'm sure you are, but I want to make sure you know how much we appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. And we do it for free once a year. So I'd love for you to check it out. It's definitely one of those things that if you miss it, you have no idea what you're missing. And the last thing I'll say about it, the only thing I always tell people is pretend you paid $1,000 for it.

Because a three-day event with Tony, myself, we got some amazing guests coming. And my friend Matthew McConaughey's coming because we turned, I read his book Greenlights. I loved it so much. We turned it into a course. Then we did that big launch. No kidding. We had two and a half million people show up on that launch. Yeah, it was insane.

What a great book, by the way. Yeah. Oh, I love that book. So he went down that journey. He took his journaling of 30 years and turned it into a course. And in one day, I think we had probably one of the best selling courses in history that day. That's wild.

Right. Tens of thousands of courses sold in the first couple hours and people went nuts over. My whole point is we got great people coming. We're delivering great value. you and we're charging nothing because we want people you said before tony and i are insanely passionate about getting people who are dying to just grow to live into who they're meant to be not who they're settling to be so we do it free once a year and then the only reason i'm saying that is because if you cut a check for 50 bucks 500 or 5,000 you'd show up sometimes we do free you're just like that was

free don't discredit it we go all in for these three days yeah i you know i always say you people pay attention what they pay for true story and so i just i would urge you act like you spend a thousand. Act like you spend 10,000, but show up every day and don't do the stereotypical like, oh, well, yeah, but I got to leave now because I got to go do this thing. Yeah, it's only three hours a day. Solve that thing for three hours. You know, solve the issue so you can really pay attention to what they're going to be delivering. Because, you know, you two are great at so many levels, but I want to pour a little bit more into this mindset side. Let's do it. It is my newer

passion because I realize my strength is people. I think that we see. We see. We should. We saw each other and you're like god Justin there's that connect you are a server like that is who I meant to be I told my grandmother who was a teacher then a principal then a like a district manager if you go she just I told her when I was six years old I was going to be a teacher six I knew it I knew it dean yeah now the form of structured in school teaching versus what I'm able to do today on podcast and in my coaching program different but I've always known I had the heart to serve and you two you both do as well but part of what I want you to impact people today on this episode is helping them get out of

their own way and I think that's just a mindset shift yeah I think that's them realizing they can do this because to me what is their option what do they have the option to to exist to be okay to live in the struggle or do they actually have the option to live a big wonderful powerful life you know i think one of the if i was watching and things hadn't been going so well in my life or you tried something it didn't work out it might say well where you guys are now it's easier and i don't say that like you're copying out like i that's the emotion i might feel right sure and i never want to and that's something i i see in your eyes and the way you talk about your clients and and i never lose what it felt like was there ever a time in your career i'm i know for a factor

but I want you to think about it. We're like, I don't know if I'm going to make it. I don't know if I can do this. There's no doubt. Right? There's been two out of the gate I can answer right now. And was it so bad that you thought to yourself, maybe it's time to go get a job?

I literally thought I should go be a bartender. Yeah. And let's that talk about just in your, in your heart, the story you were telling you. So how did that feel? Did it feel, not desperate, it's not even word like, this is it. Like, I guess I'm going to be like everybody else or I guess I'm going to be on it.

I mean, I don't want to put words in your mouth. How did that feel when you thought I should go bartend? And this is very vulnerable with me to say. And I don't know if I've talked about a lot. So my biggest hurdle that I've gone to a lot of therapy of or is, am I good enough? A lot of therapy. My mom was an alcoholic. My father was an alcoholic.

I essentially kind of raged myself through that. Like I would show up at home. My mom would be two o'clock in afternoon. She's passed down on the kitchen floor. My friend's like, what's wrong with your mom? And I'm like, oh, well, right? Yeah. So I had to have that instinct.

And so my entire life is, am I good enough? Because I didn't believe I was as a child, right? So I've had to work through that. So in those moments in business where I immediately go back to, of course you do. I'm not good enough. I couldn't do it. I tried.

I gave it my all. I fucking had it. And then I don't. And so, but here's, and I'll leave it there and I'll let you take over. That would last one night for me. Yeah. So let me ask you something. And this is where you get empathy.

And this is where you work harder to get everybody in, not just the A players, B players and C players. You bring them along too. What if you weren't designed in a way that it lasted one night? What if it lasted 30 days? That's right. What if it lasted a year? There are people watching right now that went through that and they're a year in, five years in, three months in. Just different wiring.

It doesn't make you bad, right? So when I think through that lens, Justin, the reason I'm still at this, the reason I want to make my craft better, I think my events are getting better and better and better. I don't want to live on last year's event. I want to because I want to reach that person who's a year in thinking, yeah, Dean, this is great listen to you today, but it's not for me. I'm not sure I tried. I couldn't get momentum.

I couldn't the marketing couldn't start. Nobody would listen to me. What could I actually create? I want you. The A players are coming. Yeah. I already know that. Yeah, yeah.

The A players are going to show up. They're going all in. I'm going to do it. I got this. But it doesn't mean you're a B player. I shouldn't even say A players. I should say people with a mindset were only last the day. day right if you doesn't mean you like a B player is a bad thing it just means a different version

I want to help you and so do you like I know that about you right so when you start thinking about that like when they have this option it's almost like you're thirsty yeah and I have a glass of water and they don't reach her it's like what's wrong you just take the water it's like because of somebody else's mom and dad were alcoholics yeah they took a different path you ever hear that saying the twins talk about one was homeless and on drugs and one was a millionaire they use and they say they asked the one it's like

how come you're homeless and on drugs like how could I not be my dad was an alcoholic who beat us and then they asked the twin brother who was a multi-millionaire and say how did you become a multimillionaire? He says how could I not my dad was an alcoholic and beat us that's right I've got to give me shivers

yeah because you can't judge people one is the way that maybe they're wired it's weight too heavy to carry. And I believe that every single one of you watching has the opportunity to push that weight off to craft. I don't want to oversimplify

things you've heard a million times, but you can craft a new story. You could focus on new things. If how you're going about wanting to be successful doesn't work, shake it up. That's right. Some of us, some of us can go to the inspirational side. If I do this, I could be the best version of me.

I could take care of my children. I can retire my mom. I can make my wife is going to make sure my kids are good i can live into i can i can control my calendar i could set the date if i'm taking my kids at school like for me somebody to say to me hey i'm going to go my daughter's dance recital but i have these nightmares of someone say oh no no it's a busy day you can't leave work today right i would die first that's right or maybe kill somebody right so that passion drives me and maybe desiring and focusing on a bigger future drives you stronger than anything but sometimes and i was on a podcast my friend tom bill you and he said these words that I thought was so strong we were talking about he said sometimes and some people

have to go to the dark side and know what that means in your case I'm just going to use you saying it's terrible you'd say if I don't take this action I'm going to become my mom and that's right I love my dad dearly but my dad was the youngest of 12 he was physically abused sexually abused old school Italian guy didn't get help and he just he had he had anger his whole life he fought with everybody he had confrontational with everybody. I had a bleeding ulcer at 10 because I was so scared you'd fight with everybody. Yeah. Right. Um, but I could either, I could either become him or I could use him and saying if I don't take this uncomfortable action. If I don't go after that next deal,

if I don't do this big, I might end up as him. And that's a little bit of the dark side. That's right. Right? And that's okay. Because I love when Tony Robbins, Tony always says, uh, to get the, the most energy it takes to put a rocket in space is the first 10 feet. You know that to get that big heavy thing on once it's in space hits the button 10,000 miles an hour. That's right. But to get that rocket off. So if you got to focus on a bigger future to get the rocket, great. But if you got to go to the dark side and say, if I leave my life the way it is, I'm going to get

to the end of my life. Realize I missed it. Realize I left me on the table. I never jumped in the game. I missed the thing I want to do with my wife or my husband and my kids. Like feel that pain if you need to. Do whatever it takes to get the rocket to come off the ground. And that's like when people say, no, you don't want to go to the dark side.

that whatever it takes to move you in the direction you do so what my one of my things is yeah change your story change your life you've heard all that stuff try a different approach yeah if you're focus if you have a a vision board of the the car of the life the dreams screw that if the vision board isn't working put a picture of the person you don't want to become on it put a picture of you at 90 years old in the wheelchair and you know you missed the whole damn thing do whatever it takes I dude you're giving me shivers right now this is gospel people gospel uh I rate So I journal every morning, and part of that is to make sure I keep a frame of gratefulness because you reframed right now when I said being an entrepreneur can be brutal, can be really

challenging. You said, you know what's brutal? Missing your kids every morning and every night, right? And I, by the way, I fully agree. Different, you know, I kind of reshape the frame of what I say. But my first mentor, and I've paid for coaching and Matt just like you have forever. Yep. Was my mom for exactly what you're saying.

she taught me exactly who I didn't want to be when I grew up. Yeah, absolutely. She loved me. She never physically abused me. She just chose alcohol over me. At some point, it wasn't even a choice. It was just she had to, right? But she died early.

She made it very aware that that was of precedence. Like she couldn't pick me up from baseball practice because she was too drunk at the bar to drive, right? Stuff like that. But that was my first mentor. That was my first coach. You know, can I, can't, do you mind if I share something with you? I'm sure you've forgiven your mom. Of course, 100%.

Because that's a tax you will carry forever and you will never be able to start a new relationship. So I, um, I thought I forgave my dad. So my dad, I shared this with you. Maybe one, just one person needs to hear this. Sorry, I'm going to digress, but I know there's somebody watching listening right now that needs to hear this one thing. And I'm going to use you as an example. So my dad, his brothers and sisters didn't talk to him. He didn't talk to his dad when he died.

My dad is married four times. He doesn't talk to any of his exes. And I have a sister that's four years old than me, and they haven't talked in 20 years. And I forgave my dad completely, or so I thought. So Tony and I have been friends for about 12 years. And about 10 years ago, he calls me. He said, hey, come to date with destiny.

I'm like, I'm right in the middle. He goes, please come to this one, right? And I think everybody should go to Unleashed the Power Within or a date with Destiny a month in their life. And he's not going to be doing it forever. So I'd suggest everybody go So I'm at date with Destiny And it's crazy

It's like 12 hour days for six days It's intense You been? No, I've done to unleash Spower They're still a lot I mean still a lot I mean still that times too right So it's funny

I'm a digress to you He was so Our friendship had been building For two years We had not done business the other yet We decided not to do business At the time Because our friendship was growing so well

It's like why cloud it with business I'm doing good help each other where we can. Long story short, I, um, you don't leave. Tony's on stage. I run out to grab some food and he must have had his phone behind the podium and he freaking texted. There's 8,000 people in the odds. He goes, get your ass back here. I'm like, oh, I scarf down my food. I run back. I'm like, what the hell are you doing? You texting like in your pocket? Anyway, I tell it story. Tony does these incredible interventions. So I'm going to tell you this. And if you don't need it, someone else does.

so tony this woman stands up he's going through this shifting shifting your core values and shifting who you are and this woman stands up and he says so what are you working on he said she said i mean i'm still trying to get over what my dad did to me and uh this woman's dressed to the nines she's sitting with her husband two older kids beautiful family so he says tell me what's up so she says my dad italian guy um i just i remember the story so intimate i was standing on a chair watching the whole thing and she said he wanted a boy and he got a girl and during pregnancy my mom had emergency surgery had to get a hysterectomy so he could never have any other kids and i think he blamed me my whole life that i made it so he couldn't have another

boy he was a swimmer wanted me to be a swimmer said i worked my tail off i made it to the state championship i got second place and when i looked up he was gone i had to walk home five miles because yeah yeah i disappointed him So she's telling this thing And you can see the pain in her face Right heavy pain So Tony he's just so magical at it And we do interventions at our events too

That hopefully you're joining this one But Tony's so magical So he's sitting there and he said So yeah I could see that And I knew he's I know what's coming Because he's like my friend I could see that And he said so

How about did he was he successful financially He said no he was always broke Was he nice to your mom No never told her or me That he loved this so he goes Yeah he goes you followed in his footsteps didn't you no business money tight for you she goes

I started my own business at 19 I'm beyond success and she talks about and you can feel her present and you feel about yeah yeah don't tell your kids you love them don't have a good relationship she goes and she's rubbing her husband's head I love this man like I could cry thinking about it and about your kids I tell them I love them every day they're empowered kids they pat their mom in the back

and he goes through all these things and he said then here's what you're going to do today you're going to pick up the phone your dad's still alive yeah you're going to call him and you're going to tell him you blame him that you become the woman you are that you have a successful career you have your own business you have a success i have goosebumps you're a successful marriage you're a successful mom if god didn't give you that father you wouldn't be the woman you are today so if you're going to blame him for the leaving you at that at that tournament you better pick up the phone and blame him for everything he did because you're amazing i watched

10 years fall off her face they actually put a picture up they put a picture up of before her interview when she was talking about being left and a picture now just i'm not exaggerating she looked 10 years younger like a thousand pounds fell off her and that's just an example of what we can do like we can change our past the the perception of our past the perception of our could change in this very moment when people say no but it's a reality i'm like okay two people get in a car accident what's the reality one person says i can't believe you wrecked my car my insurance is going to go up the paint's never going to match this was the car my dreams you ruined it someone else gets out and goes it's tin and metal i have insurance you okay cool what's the reality the reality is

that two cars hit yeah but our perception is our reality she had a perception till 45 years old or 50 how old she was what she was that her dad was to blame for all that went wrong in a moment she realized that God gave her that dad so she could be this woman 50 years of stress just fell off her place she changed her past and all of us have that option. Dean, I appreciate you.

Thanks, bear. I really do. We have to leave it there, dude. Because I can keep going with you right now. Guys, you can see who this guy is. He is as genuine as it gets. If you have any desire to win, to live a bigger life,

To have more money, more freedom, more time, more, this is your guy. Oh, thank you. Thrive70.com. Yep. Thrive 70. It is free. Act like you just mortgaged your house to get there because it would be worth it. You should probably because he and Tony are worth it.

This has been incredible, dude. Well, thanks, but I enjoyed it. It was good seeing you again. Yeah, it was great seeing you. Mastermind.com. I mean, you can find this guy everywhere. Get his books. I mean, literally two or three national bestsellers.

They're all incredible. I appreciate everything you do for us in this world and excited to do this again probably next year. Thanks, man. All right. If this helped you guys, even a little bit, make sure you share this with two people. Make sure you follow Dean Graciosi.

We'll see you on the next episode. Peace.