The Game with Alex Hormozi - Can you be a happy CEO? #wartime | Ep 134

Episode Date: June 27, 2019

Being uncomfortable will shape me into the person I want to be. Today, Alex (@AlexHormozi) talks about the challenges of being a CEO. He also talks about his experiences, his thoughts on what comes after, and the hard truths that he has learned.Welcome to The Game w/Alex Hormozi, hosted by entrepreneur, founder, investor, author, public speaker, and content creator Alex Hormozi. On this podcast you’ll hear how to get more customers, make more profit per customer, how to keep them longer, and the many failures and lessons Alex has learned on his path from $100M to $1B in net worth.Timestamps:(2:36) - Discomfort never stops if you desire growth.(7:31) - Constantly challenge and improve yourself to grow.(10:48) - If you want it, it's your path. Embrace discomfort to become better.(14:23) - When big, delegate and communicate effectively.(17:10) - Balancing satisfaction and growth for entrepreneurs and customers.Follow Alex Hormozi’s Socials:LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Twitter | Acquisition

Hey, what's going on everyone? If you guys are having a sexy Saturday. Um, anyway, so it is 622 a.m. on Saturday here in Austin. And I don't know, it's, I feel like the content inspiration is waxen wane and I spent a couple weeks of not really making anything and then probably like four pieces in the last two days. So this one is something that I've just been, I don't know, it's been on the back of my mind. And so for those of you, this one is not going to be a tactical one in terms of how to make more money with your gym. But it may be something that just might make you, I don't know, feel less alone.

So I told this, can you be a happy CEO? And I want to, I think I'm half making this for me because I guess when I started out like my first gym, I thought that if I hit X, I would be, I would, it would finally like, be over. You know what I mean? The stress that I would have, the anxiety levels that I would have about running a business would be over once I made extra revenue, once I just had another 50 customers. And then what's interesting is that I feel like whenever you look at these milestones and maybe you remember this when you started working out, like it might have been a deadlift, like, man, when I did lift 315, when I did lift 405, when I did lift 495, whatever it is, it's like, then I'll be there, right? And what's interesting is that as you approach those things,

then the actual goal that you previously said, once you get close to 405 and you actually did lift 395, 405 actually doesn't seem that sexy anymore. You know what I mean? It just seems like, well, it makes sense that I'd hit it because, you know, we're already here, right? And so I was having a conversation with Sean Finter, who had a restaurant group that did, I think they did 50 million, something like that, and now he helps restaurants, you know, basically do what we do with Jim Lunch, but he does that with.

restaurants and he was talking we were having a really deep conversation and he's had some unbelievably hard things that have happened to him in his life like things that I wouldn't wish on anyone and he was saying I think that entrepreneurs a lot of them tend to have come from stressful pasts and so we tend to be some of the only people who can deal with the stress and the consistent anxiety that comes with running a business right because most people don't can't handle it right it just don't or don't want to you know what I mean? And there's both sides of that. And I think that like for us on the entrepreneurial journey, like, I just want everyone to know it like it doesn't end. And so I guess the prerequisite

for this is that if you desire to grow, the discomfort does not stop. I am more uncomfortable now than I've probably been in a really long time. Like my problem, my stress levels now are are probably like second highest. I would say they're not as high as when I opened the first facility, but they are almost as high. And it comes from an entirely different set of problems. And so if you desire the continual growth, which most of us do as entrepreneurs,

then I think that we have to get out of this, and I'm half saying this to myself to remind myself of it. But like we have to get out of this, like once I hit X, it'll be okay. Once I hit Y, it's going to be okay. And like I spelled out the math on one of the one of the videos that I made about how like once you hit X like you know So we're like if I just hit a million dollars in my gym then it'll be okay But the thing is is is that if you run a business that has a 20% margin or 30% margin whatever it is

In order for you to hit the million dollars you have seven hundred thousand dollars of liabilities and if you net it two hundred and fifty thousand dollars then you know that if something went wrong within four months everything that you worked for the last year is gone it's depleted and then And the thing is that level just continues. You know what I mean? If you make $10 million and you take home $3 million, then you have $7 million of liability, which means that in five, six months,

like everything that you could have worked for could be gone. And so, you know what I mean? And so like that anxiety doesn't end. And so, I mean, one of the things that I'm working on is, you know, as we continue to go up, is like learning to try and try and quiet your mind. You know what I mean?

And so like, can you be a happy CEO? I think what happens is like, at least for me, I oscillate between being bored because the team needs to move forward, scale, et cetera, in order to execute the next thing. Or there's a crisis, right? And so I think, I think Rob Group, when he was out here, said he's like, business is problems every day punctuated by moments of crisis. And so, which in some ways is really morbid when you think about it. But I think that that's – and so what happens is like if we actually do get to a problem, point we were like, I don't know what to do. We usually thrust ourselves into a, either a new project, a shiny object, right? Or B, we go in and break ship, you know what I mean? And that's

because a lot of times, a lot of us came from adversity when we, you know, started out in life. And in a weird way, we're comfortable in chaos. And I think it's one of the things that makes entrepreneurs unique, but also it can be our downfall is that like sometimes we just, we shake things up. And sometimes things don't need to be shook up. And so, um, and so, um, Like, can you be a happy CEO? I don't have the recipe. And I just want everyone to know that, like, I don't have it figured out. I get stressed all the time.

I get anxiety all the time. When I read a comment that someone posts that's negative, it'll ruin my debt. Like, it will. You know, I try to say that it doesn't, and I try to coach myself through, like, why. Like, you know, I go through the same things I tell everyone. Law of large numbers, if you have 1,000 clients, if you have 2% that are assholes or 2% that are having a bad day, whatever you want to say, like, that's 40 people, you know what I mean, or 20 people or 30 people that would say something negative because 3% of people are having a bad day. But the thing is as the business grows, like that percentage is a lot of thing. It's a lot of words, a lot of things to take, you know what I mean, to hit.

And so it's this balance that, like, at least for me, I continually try and strike between rationalizing. the big numbers of understanding that when you have a bigger business, there's going to be statistically. You know what I mean? I feel like Elon Musk is like the coolest guy in the world. He's trying to save everyone. You know what I mean? Like being a good dude and he's like,

and I listened to him on his Joe Rogan podcast and he just seemed so stressed. And I'm like, man, this guy's just trying to like save humanity and like make a green planet and get us to Mars and like have electric cars and solar panel. You know what I mean? And like, he's so stressed. You be like here it in his breath.

You know what I mean? And he's like, no one would want to be me. And I like I like felt this like absolute like connection to the, I'm like, I get that. You know what I mean? Like it's stressful. And so I just I think part of me is saying like if any of you were like stressed and you're like, man, like when does the stress end? I can tell you that it doesn't end when you make more money. I can tell I mean, I'm just telling you from my just from where I'm at now, I can tell you that it does not end when you make more money.

I can tell you that shit gets harder and you have to get better. And so the level of discomfort that. that you're going, as long as you, this is assuming the assumption, taking on the assumption that you want to grow and growth is your, you know, primary thing as a person, but like you're going to constantly put yourself into these situations that you're not comfortable in because you're not good enough, right? What is required is higher than what your best is, which means that you need to improve your best, right? And so back to what I was saying

before about like having to balance understanding that law of large numbers is that there's going to be a certain amount of people no matter what you do. that will be unhappy, just like if you have, like I said, if you have a thousand customers, I mean, it's almost virtually impossible to get a thousand happy days. You know what I mean? But on the flip side, still taking absolute responsibility for anything that is negative that comes your way. And so it's this balance of like always wanting to maintain the open heart so you can

receive these hits. You know what I mean? Because like in some ways, I feel like I have to feel the hit. I have to feel sad. I have to feel angry. I'm angry at myself, not angry anyone else, but like angry about something that didn't go well, that someone said and balanced that need to fuel those emotions so that I can take action on it versus understanding that I can't always be upset.

You know what I mean? That things aren't going fast enough, that things aren't going. And the things is like the problems that you experience when we go up. So I'll tell you some of the things that I'm dealing with right now. So I'm super excited. We're going to be opening up the, so. the gym watch portal has been 100% redone. I actually finished it six weeks ago,

but it had to go through compliance. And so, like, that's a new thing is that when you get bigger, like all of the things that I do now have to go through a legal team, and then they send everything back with edits, and then I have to redo everything again, and then you send it back. And then eventually it's like, okay, I'm willing to take on X amount of risk to, you know, and I'll post it. And it's exhausting.

It's soul crushing. Like, I'm not going to lie to you, like, it's fucking soul crushing. And like for somebody who wants to solve problems quickly, it kills me. And, and, you know, on the flip side, if I want to, like, paint the picture of, like, what is coming out next, right? Like, I so desperately want to tell everyone, like, the problems that you were experiencing are things that we are working on. But whenever I give specifics, my customer service director comes to me and she's like, dude, like, all of our customer service is getting blown up every single day since you made that thing. Like, when has it happening? When is it happening? And she's like, it's killing my team's morale.

And so it's like, I have, you know what I mean? Like it's, I think Ben Horowitz wrote the book, the hard thing about hard things is that like a lot of the decisions that we have, like they're not, there's like no right answer. You know what I mean? Like, there's no right answer. And so, and basically the discrepancy between like hard thing one and hard thing two is like, you just feel stress.

You know what I mean? Like you feel like you take the slack between the decisions on his anxiety. And I'm trying not to do that. You know what I mean? But I guess part of me is just making this to say that like, like it literally, it does not end. You know what I mean? Like it doesn't end. Like making more money doesn't change anything.

Growing your business, I mean, and there's some gyms in here who know because they went from a solo operator to a seven person team. You know what I mean? They're like, man, sometimes I feel more stressed now. And I'm like, believe me, I get it. We have 120 employees. I get it. You know? But that's part of the, it's just like you ask yourself the question.

do I want to grow? And if the answer is yes, then it means like, then this is my path. You know what I mean? And this is the path that I'm going to take because me being uncomfortable is the thing that's going to shape me into the person that I want to be, which is better than I was yesterday, right? And so that's, it's hard. I'm just, I'm just making this to say that if anyone here is struggling, like,

I, like, it's hard. Like, there's a reason that most people don't get into business and there's a reason most people don't stay in it, right? I think David Gaggins was saying, so I went to the, so I was at the Arnold because we were the title sponsor for the charity. And so they had this really, like this back room where they did this award ceremony for the Hall of Fame. And so like Dave Gaggans was there and like four other like unbelievable champions that I should, I should remember the names up because they were all like super duper people. But anyways, Dave Gawkins got up there and spoke and he was like, you know, like 80% of the people who drop out who sign up to become a Navy SEAL drop out on their own election. They choose to leave.

And so they don't get kicked out. They choose to leave. And I don't put me on the number, but it was a high percentage of the guys who choose to leave. And I just like, I remember that. And I was speaking with Joe Hubert yesterday because he was at our three-day quarterly. And then he and I did it one day afterwards because we're planning on all the stuff that's coming out for the gym lawyers, which is really, really cool. But he's like, I feel like it's just like how much can you endure? you know and I don't know why that stuck with me but it's like it's in some ways it's like you

kind of have to see yourself as the boxer who either you can say like the one who gets knocked down and continues to get back up over and over you're like rocking the movie or like just like how much punishment can you endure like trudging through the snow of like this journey and like the path to growth is is an uncomfortable one I mean they call it growing pains for a reason you know because like it's painful like growing's not fun most nation real quick if you are a business owner that has a big old business and wants to get to a much bigger business going to $50, $100 million plus. We would love to talk to you.

And if you like that, we would like to hear more about it. Go to acquisition.com. You can apply anywhere on the page and talk to one of our team and see if we can help you get there. And so it's like we self-elect to say like, I want to grow. And then in some ways we're surprised when it's painful. Right. And so I guess I'm saying that half to myself is like, you know, we want to grow. we have this desire to change things.

And in order to change things, we need to change who we are. And it's not comfortable. And so then, you know, we take it out on our spouses. We take it out on our employees. We take it out on, on, and you know, we just take it out. You know what I mean? And we try not to, and then we feel bad about the things that we said or things that we did or how we said them or how we did them.

And then we feel worse. You know what I mean? And we're like, God, like, why am I, you know, why am I messing this up so much? like, you know, like I asked for this, you know, and so I wish I could say like I have this this great solution and here's my four-step plan to how you can be a happy CEO and I just, I don't have it. You know what I mean? Like I don't have that solution. I can just tell you that it's hard in that if you feel like it's hard, you're not alone and that all that all that happens is that

the hard changes and it becomes more complex. One of the hard things that I have now, just in the current season, is that like, we are so big that I cannot, I cannot, I cannot take the team on my back. And so we have a smaller business. You can go and do everything. But once you are big enough, there is an amount of work that, like human capacity, like you cannot do it, right? is impossible. And so you have to watch things burn and have to fix it from afar by pulling levers by influencing people and doing it in a way that allows them to take ownership of those things and communicate those things without being stressed, without being short, without being what you don't want to be, you know what I mean, to those people. And it's hard. It's super

heart, you know, and hearing, you know, hearing just anything, you know, that negative that happens, you know, in the, in, in the, in the, in the group and and having to be like, we're working on it, but I can't tell you that we're working on it because then people, then because then my customer service blows up, you know what I mean? And working on something and having it perfect and then sending it to compliance, you know what I mean, and having it torn apart and having to start again, you know what I mean? And doing that process again and again, and it feels like Sisyphus, who rolls up the boulder on the hill, only gets to the top and have it roll down again.

And that's what he was banished for for it's great mythology. But it's like you feel sometimes like you're just rolling this ball up the hill to have it roll back down again. And there's nothing we can do about it. It's not circumstance. It's us. You know what I mean? It's me.

Like, I have to be better. And so, anyways, I'm only making this to, partially document, I guess, the season that I'm in right now. You know, we're rolling out some really amazing things for legacy, like some really, really amazing things in the next eight weeks that are going to really, really make a big difference. But it just, it takes a lot of work and it takes a lot of people, a lot of moving carts, a lot of logistics, a lot of, you know, like everyone gets involved.

And right now, I just posted our Instagram. that uh like i have basically one month to do everything like four massive projects and so for me it's wartime um it's like i have to get all this stuff done and this has to happen um and so if you guys want to join me on 30 days of just crushing life at least crushing work and then trying to manage life while you crush work um then you're welcome to join me but uh anyways just say i love you guys i mess up all the time like i'm constantly inadequate for the needs of our customers for you guys and you know balancing the understanding and this is kind of for everyone that the nature of

humanity is that we're never satisfied and so that comes from us the entrepreneur but also from your customers you know like I remember when like I just used the Amazon example because it's easy but like when Amazon started doing you know prime shipping it was like oh my God 2D shipping is amazing right and And then what happened after that was one day shipping happened. And then when you get two day shipping, you're like, what the hell, Jeff? Like, where's my package? And then same day shipping happened, right?

And two days feels like an eternity. And so, you know, can you imagine, you know, when they started this, they're like, two day shipping, we're done. You know, like, let's just call it a debt. Like we crushed it. Like we're amazing. We're Amazon, right? And then within six months, that just becomes the status quo.

And so, like, I think the reason that we have to get better is because human beings are never satisfied. And so what used to be amazing is now status quo. And so you have to deal with the negativity that comes with that. That before, like, you can't wish, like, why is, why am I getting this reaction now? And I didn't get it six months ago. And it's because people adapt. People adapt. People get used to things.

And so what used to be, and so like, your best is no longer good enough because what is required is better than what you are. And so I'm just trying to continue to remember that and just continue to remember that it's it's about growth and that growth is painful and that we asked for this or at least I did. So anyways, guys, hope you guys have a sexy Saturday, a super productive Saturday and or maybe a super restful Saturday. It depends on where you're at. But I'm going to be, this is going to be team no days off for the next 30 days. I have so many things that I need to get done in order to launch these four projects. But I can guarantee you that gym community will be much better off as a rule. So anyways, keep being awesome.

Thank you for tuning in. Throw a like or comment if any of this made sense to you. And tag a friend if you want. Last love. Bye.