The Nick Bare Podcast - 051: 5 Life Lessons From Building An 8-Figure Business

Episode Date: January 29, 2024

Today, I'm reviewing five life lessons I've learned while building an 8 figure business. Following the process doesn't always guarantee success, and the world won't comply with your needs, but I've learned that I am more capable than I thought, and I believe you are, too. Choose to be a high achiever, say no to mediocrity, and build something you are proud of. Enjoy! Save 10% at BPN Supps: https://bit.ly/nickbare10audio Follow for more:  IG: https://www.instagram.com/nickbarefitness/ YT: https://www.youtube.com/@nickbarefitness Topics: 0:00 Intro 1:57 Welcome 6:31 Backstory 10:49 The process doesn’t guarantee success 14:24 The world doesn’t comply to your needs 25:27 You are more capable than you think 41:02 Control 44:35 High achievers 52:26 The value action gap 54:51 Your most valuable skill 1:01:48 Be cautious of the norm

In today's episode, I am sharing five life lessons that I've learned from building an eight-figure business. In 2012, I started Bayer Performance Nutrition out of my college apartment with a $20,000 loan, no experience in business or entrepreneurship, but I was so passionate and committed to the journey and the process. And in year one, we did $20,000 in revenue. Year two, $20,000 in revenue. Year three, $20,000 in revenue. And from there, a lot of things changed and we scaled. And I've documented this entire journey on YouTube.

So if you want to watch all that we've done to build this brand to where it is today, just go search Nick Bear on YouTube. I've been documenting my life since I landed in Texas in 2014 and started scaling this organization. And today, we are doing eight figures in revenue on our way to becoming a brand that generates $100 million in annual revenue. Those five life lessons are number one, just because you endure the process does not guarantee a successful outcome. Number two, you are more capable than you think. Number three, high achievers don't like those who accept mediocrity and vice versa. Number four, your most valuable skill is highly effective communication.

And number five, be cautious of blueprints, norms, and standards set by external parties. Guys, thanks for tuning in and let's dive into today's episode. You know, I do a lot of thinking on my morning runs. And this past week here in Nashville, Tennessee, we got obliterated, I guess to Tennessee's standards, obliterated with some snow and some ice. Now, I grew up in Pennsylvania, so I'm no stranger to snowstorms and ice in freezing rain. But in Pennsylvania, we had the resources to clear the road. Lays Salt. Growing up, we'd get maybe a two-hour delay before going into school. Occasionally we'd get a snow day, but it was rare. And then when I moved from Pennsylvania to Texas, I realized that not

every state has the resources to handle some crazy weather conditions. And then after being in Texas and moving to Tennessee, I realized, well, Tennessee also doesn't have all the same resources to handle all these weather conditions. So the city has essentially shut down here in Nashville, but I've maintained status quo because I realize there's a standard I've set for myself. I'm going to maintain that standard regardless of a lot, not all, a lot of circumstances. So I share that story before going into the, the meat and potatoes of today's podcast episode because during my runs this week,

I've done a lot of thinking. I'm always doing thinking when I'm running, but there was a lot of solitude on my runs this week. And I've shared this in the past, but my three non-negotiables for the morning. One, wake up early. Two, move your body and sweat. might not be sweating when it's literally zero degrees on a morning run, but move your body at the least.

And then create moments of clarity to achieve solitude. Those three things. Wake up early. Move your body. Solitude. And that's why I run every morning, more so for the mental benefit and the physical benefit. Again, I've talked about this to. extreme lengths, but I'm a firm believer in those three non-negotiables in the morning.

And as I was running this past week, I realized I was out there alone. There was really no one else running. Normally in the morning, I'm running by groups of people and other runners, but a lot of people decided to stay inside, run on a treadmill, use their gym, sleep in, maybe. And I'm not to do my own horn by any means. I'm not. It's not what I'm trying to do, but I'm telling that story because I'm such a firm believer in setting a standard and holding that standard and being consistent in the way that you show up day in and day out. Every single day. No matter what life throws at you, no matter what obstacles arise,

or headwinds are crushing you in the face, you keep showing up consistently, day after day. And you do that for a long period of time, sometimes over a decade, and you see the result of all of that compounding consistency that has gone into the work to achieve an outcome. So through some of my thoughts this past week and spending a lot of time on the roads of Nashville, Tennessee,

alone, seeing no one else in very few vehicles and cars running in zero degree temperatures on ice through snow, which for some of you listening might be a normal thing every single winter. And I applaud you. But I had a lot of moments of clarity and solitude. And I came up with this episode that I want to talk about today. and it's the five life lessons that I've learned from building an eight-figure business.

Now, to give a little backstory, I started BPN, Bayer Performance Nutrition out of my small college apartment at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2012. It was between my junior and senior year of college. I took out a $20,000 loan

with a military-associated bank, USAA, launched the brand, told my dad I was going to make a million dollars that first year, and we are far from. His response was, Nick, if it was that easy, everyone would do it. He was right. We did $20,000 in total revenue that first year. In year two, we did $20,000 in revenue. In year three, we did $20,000 in revenue.

So I had to learn how hard it was and embrace the challenge of, building a business, bootstrapping a business from zero to where it is today. And we're an eight figure business. So I've learned a lot. Building a brand, building a company, building a business is the hardest thing I've ever done.

You learn how to get punched in the face every single day and get knocked down and stand back up and keep walking forward. and punched and fall and stand up and move forward over and over and over again. And you become very resilient and adaptable through a lot of those beatings. But I'm very grateful for that experience. I've learned more about myself, people, leadership, and resiliency more from this experience and anything else in my life. and I think it's really important to recognize that what you take from one experience,

it's not necessarily siloed in that one area of life on its own. You know, what I learned in the Army has been applicable to leading a team and building a brand and training for marathons and fitness competitions and pushing myself beyond what I thought was physically and mentally my top end, truly my cap. And then training for marathons and races. What I've learned there has been applicable to my family and my faith and building a brand and vice versa and so on and so forth. We learn these things in life, but they're not siloed to that one thing.

There's parallels across every other thing we do. But I think it's really important to recognize that. Like what I learn here, let me like, let me truly digest and dissect that and see where it's applicable to other parts of my life. That's what I've done. And that's what I want to share with you today.

There's probably 50 things, 50 life lessons. No. There's probably 500. Like literally probably, 500 life lessons that I could share with you in a podcast episode. But to boil it down to five, the five that I thought about over the last week on these morning runs, especially the five most applicable and relatable to me right now, there's things that I want to share.

So I hope as you listen to this episode or you watch this episode, because the title is, you know, the lessons I learned from building an eight-figure business, whether you're a business owner or not, whether you're an entrepreneur or not, these lessons have crossover. They have crossover and they're more applicable than just building a business or operating a brand. and they have more crossover than you probably think. So the first one, the first life lesson, you know, in the past year,

we've talked a lot about enduring the process. This first lesson is just because you endure the process does not guarantee a successful outcome. That's probably hard for a lot of people to hear, but it's so true. you know, oftentimes I talk about enduring a process

is absolutely essential to get from point A to point B. If there's like this big objective, this big goal that you want to accomplish, there's no way you're going to get there unless by sheer luck, luck at some level of building and winning the lottery.

but you're not going to get from point A to point B, you're not going to accomplish your greatest goals and ambitions without enduring a process. A long, challenging, hard, beat down UFC style of a process. And there's a lot of joy in that. There's a lot of reward in that process. You know, one of the things that James Clear says is, to have fun is to enjoy the journey, right?

That is the fun in all that you do. It's not the finish line. It's not necessarily the win or the success, but it's the journey itself that is fun. That is a process. We have to learn how to enjoy that process. But just because we truly endure it and we embrace it and we work our asses off,

through it. Even after all is said and done and that process is over and we finally get the opportunity to be tested, whether this is in your business or a race or for a job promotion you're working on in your professional career, you are not guaranteed a successful outcome. So a lot of people are going to ask the question, well, why even try? In that case, well, you got to give it a fight and chance. And if it was guaranteed, I don't think we would be willing to fight for it. Just as hard as we do when there is something on the line. If we knew just by committing time and energy and some resources to a process,

we are guaranteed the outcome that we desire at the end of it. Would we fight for it as much? No, absolutely not. That's what makes it so exciting. That's what makes it so fun. It's what makes it so addictive and enjoyable. We enjoy the process because there's something massive on the line at the end of it. It's either a win or a loss.

or success or a big failure. But here's what I've learned about this is I've worked with a lot of people. I've managed and I've led a lot of people. It's that oftentimes people expect the world or they expect people in society to comply to their wants and their needs. So say you're working for a business And the business has a mission That business has objectives, goals,

financially, or mission driven. And you don't necessarily agree Or align with some of those objectives Or the mission or the vision any longer. So you start operating in that business In your role outside of the businesses goals. You become a solo individual within the organization.

You don't contribute to the team effort any longer. You start becoming resentful and angry and pissed off because what you think is best for the organization and the company is not what everyone else thinks. and because everyone else, all the people on that team, the business as a whole, because they haven't complied to your wants and needs, you become angry. And like I said, resentful and mad. That is immaturity. That is truly the wrong way to approach life.

You know, in life, society, communities. people, businesses, co-workers, they are not meant to comply to your wants and needs. And that's probably also hard for a lot of people to hear and realize. Because believe it or not, we all have to be honest with ourselves. When there is something that is going wrong or something that happens in our lives, we usually think how does this affect me? Not how does this affect everyone else? How does this affect me?

And we put ourselves first and then we start to solve for our own good and our own problems and the outcomes for ourselves as opposed to the team and the entirety. That's just the reality of it. That's how we as human beings operate and think. we are responsible for all and entitled to none.

We are not entitled to a successful outcome, but we are responsible to show up and endure that process with every ounce of effort, every ounce of care and passion that we can find and dig deep down into our soul. we are responsible to put forth that energy. But we are entitled to no outcome. We fight for the outcome.

We fight for the chance to succeed and to win, but it is not guaranteed. This is the way I like to think of it. Now, you ever come across someone who thinks they are entitled to something just because they put the work in? And just because they showed up and put in the work, they automatically assume that they're going to get, they're going to be entitled to the end result.

And if they don't get the end result, they are angry. They are mad and it's a bad person to be around. If you ever heard the phrase and the saying, say, hey, who peed in your Cheerios? If you don't ever get what you want, and the outcome after enduring a process doesn't work out in your favor, it's okay to sit there in front of your bowl of Cheerios

realizing that someone just peed at them. And you're looking at your bowl of Cheerios and you're thinking, gosh, dang it. Someone peed at my Cheerios. Now, some people will approach this and they'll sit and they'll sock in that misery for a long period of time. And they carry that around with them.

They carry around that bowl of Cheerios sitting in a bunch of pee. And they take it everywhere they go. And they let everyone know around them. And they're angry that someone peed in their Cheerios. That's one way to approach it. These type of people, they carry this negative energy this anger, this pessimism around because there's pee in their Cheerios.

But then you have another person who completely approaches this situation differently or someone peas in their Cheerios and they dump it out and they pour another bowl. And there they are. A brand new bowl, ready to eat, no pee,

moving on, just like that. That's what happens when you fall off the horse. Instead of laying on the ground, faking an injury, hoping someone comes and saves you and takes care of you and coddles you, you fall off that horse, you get right back on, and you keep riding.

It's setting a standard, holding that standard, and continuously show up to execute regardless of the success or failure of that outcome. What I'm truly trying to share with all of this is that it's more important to learn from the experiences that we go through, but don't allow it to affect your ability to make sound decisions. Now, I recently just read one of Craig Groschell's book, new books, called Think Ahead. And within this book, he talks about the enemies of excellent decision making. And there's three.

Now, these three enemies of excellent decision making that I'm going to share with you, I would love for you to think of it in the context of if you dedicate all this time and during a process and after that process is done, you don't get what you want. You don't achieve the successful outcome or the victory or the win.

You can't allow that to affect your sound decision making because the enemies of excellent decision making are that we are overwhelmed. we have decision fatigue, making too many decisions on a daily basis. We're afraid, so we don't make a decision, and we're emotional. When we're overwhelmed, we're afraid, and we're emotional, we make poor decisions. And we often make poor decisions when we dedicate time, energy, resources, something, and it doesn't work out in our favor.

So we've become angry and resentful because the process didn't comply to our wants and needs. We didn't get what we wanted out of all of it. And we're entitled, or we think we're entitled to a result that we worked so hard for. And now we're sitting there with our Cheerios in front of us covered in P.

That's not the way to approach it. The way to approach it, approach it is that you get punched in the face, you get kicked to the ground after working so long and so hard towards an objective and you get back up and you keep working. That's one of the greatest lessons I've learned since starting this business almost 12 years ago. It's that I've dedicated a lot of time to a lot of different projects and a lot of different people all to serve the same mission and the greater good and larger audiences. And through that journey, the amount of times I've been punched in the face, more,

not necessarily in a real sense of getting punched in the face, but figuratively punched in the face. The amount of times I've figuratively been punched in the face and kicked to the ground to the point where I'm like punched in the face and then kicked on the ground and then someone comes over and throws dirt on me and rubs it into my eyes. The feeling of just being that broken, it's really easy to stay down there in the fetal position and just sulk in the pain and the sorrow. It's a whole lot harder to get up and keep going.

But through repetition and through more exposure and experience of that beating, you become pretty resilient and you become very strong. And that's something I'm really proud of. Over now, almost 12 years of being beat down a lot of starting with zero and trying to figure out how to build a brand, build a business, lead a team, and getting punched, kicked, and beaten. I'm so grateful for that experience because, as I've learned, even when you endure a process and you sink everything you got into it. On the other side, if you failed or you lost and it didn't end up the way you wanted to,

sometimes it's just the way it works out. But you got to take what you learn from that, get up, keep going. The second life lesson, you are more capable than you think. I have a lot of stories about this. this. In the past 24 months, this has been drilled into my mind, into my body and into my soul. And I had to learn it the hard way. And only in these last, I would say, three to six months, did I really learn the power of this? In the last three to six months, after building a brand for 12 years almost.

That's how new and fresh this life lesson is for me. You know, I had Matt Boudreau on the podcast twice. And the first time was a few years ago. The most recent time was probably a year ago. And I was talking to Matt about parenting. Because after my last conversation with Matt, I think Charlie was maybe around six months old. Charlie now is 18 months old.

And I asked him the question, what is it one thing that parents do wrong in the process of raising kids? Trying to raise good, value-based children. And how do you become the best parent possible? I was genuinely curious. And he said from his observation, Matt is an educator.

He's a speaker. He's an entrepreneur. He's a parent himself. From his observation, too many people try to outsource parenting. I found this so interesting. And he said that most people get to a point where they don't think they have the skills, the knowledge, the capabilities to parent properly. Now, Matt would argue that we have this DNA code embedded into our body, into our minds, which is intuition that tells us how to raise kids.

Now, there's right ways to do it, I guess, and wrong ways to do it. But people who were born hundreds of years ago did not have access to. other people's lives on Instagram or YouTube or Google, for example. But based off of their small communities, intuition, the genetic code that makes up their mind, body, and spirit, you just know certain things that kids need. When they cry, they're probably hungry or tired, so they might need food or a nap. and we just listen, observe, react, and serve our children

to raise them as well as possible. But now we think that we need to outsource everything. We need to outsource our information of what should they be eating. How should they be eating? When should they be eating? How should they sleep? When should they sleep?

What should they sleep in? What does a normal kid look like? What does an abnormal kid look like? What's a regular kid? versus a irregular routine. We outsource all of our thoughts, opinions, actions to other people who are quoted experts because we don't believe in ourself

that we have the capabilities to parent the way that our gut and intuition is telling us to. That's one of the things I took away from my conversation with Matt, for example. And then I had a conversation with Bejurus Kulian, very impressive entrepreneur, immigrant entrepreneur. And I asked him the question, what's one thing that holds people back

from achieving their full potential and greatness? And his response was the story. The story, people tell themselves. People tell themselves they're not smart enough. They're not rich enough. They're not tall enough. They're not strong enough. They're not strong enough.

They're not confident enough. They weren't born from a certain social status or into a certain family or geographic location. People tell themselves a story of why they can't get to where they want to be based off of their past, their history, their upbringing. That's the mistake. The mistake is the story. It's not actually the past or their social status or how much money is in their bank, but it's the story that they tell themselves. So taking away from what Matt has said and what Bedros has said,

the issue is that we try to outsource everything, even our own thoughts, opinions, approaches, mindset, because we don't think we are capable enough to do the things that are required to reach our greatest goals and objectives. I'm here to tell you right now, that's the issue. That's the problem. That's what I've learned in these last three to six months

is that I am much more capable than I ever thought I was because I also thought that I had to outsource things in terms of the business when it got to a certain point. point because of the story I told myself. So I built BPN through content, through media, through social media. I started the business in 2012, like I said, in my college department at IUP in Pennsylvania. And then for the first three years, I mean, we struggled when I say we. It was literally just me in my college department.

and then I moved the company with me when I got stationed at Fort Hood, Texas in 2014 after being in Fort Benning, Georgia for a year. I built the brand organically through storytelling, through social media that I started when I got to Texas in 2014, two years after starting the business, through a belief system, through a mission.

This is a side note, but right now I'm reading a book called For the Culture that I highly recommend. Amazing book. And this book talks all about why we follow certain brands, why we attach to certain business models

or people or personalities. And it's not because of a irresistible offer. You'll see ads every day all day. 25% off this. Save $20 here. Buy this, get one free. You know, free, irresistible, discounted offers, irresistible offers being thrown in our face at all times. That's not why we fall in love with brands. That's not why we decide to

join the tribe or congregation of something else. We buy into a congregation or a tribe because of the belief system and network. We're attracted to brands because their brand's belief in mission resonates with our personal beliefs in mission. That's how you decide who to follow, what to follow, what tribe you want to be a part of.

I can't tell you how amazing this book is that I'm reading right now for the culture. Highly recommend it. I have the entire BPN team reading this book right now, and I believe it's going to be really powerful for our entire team going into 2024. One of the mistakes that I made while building the business is because I build it organically through media, through a belief system and a mission values that people

resonated with and were attracted to and decided to join me. And the business grew year over year, over year, after sharing those beliefs in that mission and those values. And build a really strong tribe. Really strong tribe. I didn't have the confidence at a certain point that I had the capabilities to take the business to where it needed to go. because I just assumed, oh, here I am.

Nick Baer, born in central Pennsylvania. No one in my family were entrepreneurs. My dad's side of the family were dairy farmers. My mom's side of the family was mainly military and blue collar workers. So no one of my family had this entrepreneurial spirit. No one knew e-com and no one was in the sports nutrition dietary supplement business. I can tell you that much. So coming from that background and building a business,

bootstrapping a business to a certain point, I just assumed, well, I got it to this point. Now it's time to outsource the work to experts in the field. People who are smarter than me. People who know more about business than I do. I just didn't think I was capable to take it to that next level. So I started bringing in advisors and experts and people to help me. And what I realized that process is we're all just trying to figure it out.

We're all just trying to figure out how to build something. How do you solve problems? How to address what's happening and implement solutions to scale and take it to the next level and reach more people and maintain brand story and belief and mission. We're all just trying to figure it out. It makes me think of this conversation I had with Sam Parr a few months ago when he was on the podcast. And he was telling me how he was doing this speaking engagement and he had to show up backstage. And when he showed up backstage, there were all these other speakers for the event.

and some of these speakers were renowned business owners and entrepreneurs whose businesses were worth billions. Some of the smartest people on the planet. And he walks into this backstage and sees just the caliber of speakers that are about to go out and speak with him. And he was intimidated and kind of felt like an impossible. to be around these people. But then as he started talking to them and spending some time around them backstage before they all went out,

he realized they were all dealing with the same issues he was dealing with. They were all nervous for the speech. They were all nervous that they weren't going to say the right things. They were all nervous that people were going to call them out for not being as smart, educated, or impressive as they were portrayed

to the outside world. And Sam realized, holy crap, these people are just like me. They're just trying to figure it out. We're all just trying to figure it out. I took a mental note of when Sam said that and really thought on that.

Because I think we all, we all get to a point in our life. And as I just shared, I've been there too, where we think we've tapped out our full potential and capabilities. And we assume it's time to outsource to someone or something else who's going to come in with this grand plan and strategy and execute. And it's like magic.

It just works. But then you realize it doesn't work like that because I've tried it. I've outsourced it. I've hired. I've fired. I've brought in people to help with strategy and advise. And like I said, the one thing I've learned and realized is that they're just trying to figure it out as much as I'm trying to figure it out. The truth is we are more capable than we think.

And we can accomplish so much more than we probably will ever believe we will or we can. But there's only one way to figure that out. I'm not telling you don't ask for help when you need help. I'm not telling you that you don't need advice from others, although you should be careful about who you ask and take advice from. I'm not saying any of that. I'm not saying that you're going to do this on your own because you need a team. You need help.

You need other people in your corner who are helping you. But the reality is that you don't have to outsource everything. and you have to realize that everyone is in the same situation and position of just trying to figure it out. So you can either stay in and figure it out or you can outsource it. But when you outsource it, you lose control, you lose touch, you lose impact. You can jump back in at any point in time, but you lose some of that momentum. that's the reality. And what I've learned in these last three to six months is I have much more ability,

capabilities to own other parts of the business that I didn't have the confidence to own previously. And after realizing that, that builds a whole new level of confidence, not arrogance, but confidence. You are more capable than you think. you got to be in control.

Here's what I've learned about control. I want to share this. You have the ability, you have the responsibility, to be in the driver's seat. It's too easy when things don't go your way, when you endure the process,

you don't have a successful outcome. It's really easy to blame others for what happened and why you're not where you want to be. But you got to be in control. You have to realize that things that are happening in your life, things that are happening in your professional career or to you personally or your family, we're fighting every single day. Big problems and small problems. More small problems daily

and these big, massive traumatic experiences. But we have to have to be. We have to be. We have to be, to be responsible to be in the driver's seat and block and tackle all these things that come up. Now, here's what I've learned as my faith has gotten stronger, is that we have to be responsible to be in control, but the reality is we're only in control of so much. Who's in control? God's in control. That is the truth. God is in control of the outcome of our lives.

life and our circumstances and our situations. That's the truth. And I've learned that as my faith has gotten stronger in this past year. However, relying on God to guide you in the right direction does not excuse you to live a life of laziness. I've had a conversation with Steph about this recently. Now, I get back from these morning runs sometimes. There's a lot going on in my head.

and I'll just bounce some of them off her as I'm trying to just dissect and digest these thoughts that are in my head after this run. And we were talking about this where ultimately God is in control of our lives, right? But we still have to be in the driver's seat. And sitting back and saying, I'm not going to take action until God, guides me in the right direction. I'm not going to take action until God gives me a sign of what to do. If that sign never comes, you're just sitting there not taking any action on anything. And that's not being, in my opinion, faithful or obedient. That's being lazy. There's a difference

between being lazy and trusting in God. So I wanted to leave off with that. You are more capable, you are more more capable than you think or believe. Trust me. When things get hard, you need to really lean in. Don't be afraid to ask for help, but don't feel they need to outsource everything. And be in control. Be in the driver's seat.

The next life lesson, this is a Nick Sabin quote, paraphrased a little bit. And there's an advisor I have. in our business. Lots of experience, true professional, great mentor and friend. And he has helped me tremendously, not just from the business side of mentorship and guidance and advising, but also just personally. As I'm growing, as I'm building my family, it's been amazing and he sent me this quote by Nick Sabin about two weeks ago and it's been on my mind

like crazy and paraphrased it goes like this high achievers don't like those who accept mediocrity and people who accept mediocrity don't like high achievers. I knew this quote struck a nerve in a lot of people because I shared this on my Instagram story. Sometimes I just share things on my Instagram story to get a gut reaction from people or share just what's on my mind and what I'm thinking about. And oftentimes I share things right after a morning run, which can be good, can be bad. After you finish a morning run, you know, endorphins are flying everywhere. sometimes on these morning runs, I will stop midway through because there's something on my mind that is so strong and I'm so passionate about.

And I will record a video like screaming at the phone. I mean, you might pass me downtown Nashville at 6 a.m. some mornings and see me in short shorts and no shirt screaming at a phone because I either want to remember something that's on my mind. or I'm literally recording it and I'm dropping it into the BPN general Slack channel for some motivation and inspiration before they start the day or a new week. And I shared this on my Instagram story coming back from a morning run because I cannot get it out of my head. High achievers don't like those who accept mediocrity. And those who accept mediocrity don't like high achievers.

Now, the reaction I got when I shared this was a split difference between people who were offended, who were probably those who accept mediocrity, and those who are loving it and resharing it and praising it. And those were probably the high achievers. And it makes sense. People who accept mediocrity are typically people who complain. Woe is me.

I put in all of the work. I endured the process, but the result wasn't great. And now I'm going to blame everyone and anyone else. And I'm not going to take responsibility because I am entitled to that outcome because I put in the work and I didn't get what I wanted out of it. Boo, who? Those are people who accept mediocrity. Here's the thing. High achievement, and I want to make this very clear, high achievement is not determined.

by financial outcomes. It's about standards. Because I got some responses when I shared that on my Instagram story of it's not all about the money, bro. It's about the journey. There was nothing in Nick Sabin's quote

that talked about money or financial outcomes. High achievement is subjective. It is determined. That success is determined in a way that you define high achievement. High achievement is a bar.

That bar is a standard. And people who aim towards high achievement, they set that bar really high. And they don't break that bar for anyone or anything, given certain circumstances. This brings me back to that morning run that I've been doing this past week in the snow in the ice and zero degree temperature.

I know there's some people who are listening to this podcast who resonate with this message because you guys are high achievers. You might live somewhere like Alaska, for example, that gets his weather all the time every year for weeks or months out of the year. And you're waking up and you're putting on your warm clothes and you're going out and you're enduring the process and bracing the suck and putting in the work.

Because you've decided to set that bar really high and hold that bar. One day when I was running this past week, I passed one person. You know what's crazy? I pass this person going through Belmont University. My run route goes from where we live through Belmont University,

through Vanderbilt, and then into downtown Nashville. So I'm running down Belmont University campus. and I'm seeing this other runner running up towards me. We're about to pass each other. No other cars, no other runners on the road. It is snow, it is ice, it is freezing outside. And you know what this person said as they ran by me?

Go on more. They said, go one more. They knew of the brand, they knew of the belief, they knew of the mission. That's two high achievers. who set a bar and don't break that bar, who set that standard to hold the standard, regardless of how cold it is,

regardless of what the weather is, regardless of what other things are happening in life, because if it matters to you, you will make time. It's two high achievers running past each other. And I say this very humbly, because I recognize I set my bar really high and I hold that bar.

regardless of what happens. And I'm proud of that. But it's two high achievers running past each other, recognizing the work that is going in consistently to uphold the standard, which was set.

Those who accept mediocrity might have decided this past week to not train at all. And you know what? If I'm not going to train, I'm not going to stay on top of my diet. If I'm not going to stay on top of my diet,

I might as well drink some extra alcohol. And that one week turns into two weeks. That two weeks turns into three weeks. You know what? I'm going to like chill and not listen to any podcast or read any books this week. I'm just going to binge watch Netflix. And I'm just going to let all things kind of just fall apart

because the weather got bad. And the weather is allowing me to justify not holding my standard for every other. part of my life. There's this thing called the value action gap. And high achievers ensure their actions reflect their values. I actually never heard of the value action gap until I literally just Googled for articles.

What does it mean when people say their values are one thing, but their actions don't reflect that? That's how I typically use Google. So I have this concept of my head. head and I'll literally just type out everything I'm thinking of. And Google is so smart that it'll recommend the articles that you are exactly looking for regardless of how many typos you've added into that sentence. It's amazing, truly amazing.

But Google recommended this article to me called the Value Action Gap, which essentially explains what happens with so many people who accept mediocrity. The value action gap is when you say your, values in life are one thing. My values are consistency and that I'm a person of integrity. You can trust me. I'm loyal. I'm hardworking. But then you look at their actions that they take on a daily basis, not on their worst day, but a combination of their worst and best days. And you realize their actions don't actually align or reflect what they say their values are. And they say their values are. so many people say that they're loyal, but their actions prove everything but loyalty.

Some people say they are a person, a man, a woman of integrity, but they can't be trusted with anything. The value action gap is when people say their values are one thing, but their actions don't reflect. is often the outcome and behavior of someone who accepts mediocrity in their life and not a high achiever. Again, high achievement is not about financial outcomes or success, but it's setting that bar, setting that standard and holding that standard. The next life lesson is that your most valuable skill is highly, effective communication.

I like to think of it in this way. People often get communication, effective communication, wrong. They think it's just talking to people, but it's the way that we talk to people. And when I think of highly effective communication, I think of honesty.

I think of being brutally honest. I think of someone who confronts confrontation and doesn't avoid it. It's someone who has the hard conversations about what is necessary. And think of it in terms of like a chameleon. You know, the lizard, the chameleon.

A chameleon, no matter what environment it goes to, it changes color to blend in. So like right now I'm on this wooden table. And if a chameleon crawled up on this table, it would change colors to blend in to the table. Think of people in your life, and maybe this is you. I can tell you right now,

like I used to be this type of person. I'm not proud of it, but I was. We're based off of the environment you are in and the people that you are surrounded by, you change who you are or what you're saying or what you're agreeing to based off of what that group of people

are talking about. or saying because you don't want to be the odd person out. You don't want to be a person who creates conflict and addresses confrontation. You want to avoid confrontation at all costs. So you just blend in. That is not effective communication. Now there's a difference between being adaptable and loosely standing behind your beliefs. Being adaptable is being in an environment.

or an ecosystem or a group of people and being able to adapt to that environment to support and be a part of. There's a difference between being adaptable and then joining a group of people and talking about things that you don't believe in and loosening your beliefs so that you are accepted or are accepted

or liked based off of values that you don't actually hold. That's dangerous. That is ineffective communication. That's not only bad for the way that you communicate or lead, but you lose every foundation of value that you stand upon. That's your reputation. That is your legacy. Highly effective communication is, in my opinion, the most important skill that we can learn to,

maybe not master, but improve upon for your relationships with your wife, your husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, fiance, your family, your kids, your coworkers, your team that you lead or your boss that you report to, highly effective communication is so important because it helps avoid actual conflict. It helps minimize resentment and anger. It honors expectations and outcomes. People can't read your mind.

And I used to think this. I used to think that people were just supposed to understand what I was thinking. You know, I would get mad at the result of someone's work or the presentation of someone's project because it didn't align with what I expected. And as I'm sharing this, I'll tell you right now, I'm still not perfect. There's oftentimes where there's things in my head that I expect. but I don't share. And then when someone goes and works on a project

and presents me with what is final and it doesn't match what was in my head and things that I didn't share, I get mad, I get angry, I build a resentment. And I take a step back. I'm like,

you know what? I actually didn't effectively communicate what I was wanting or looking for or needed. So I can't be mad at anyone else, but myself. That's highly effective communication. It's sharing what you're thinking of and how it's meant to be done and providing more insight, but also standing up for your values and your beliefs and your expectations.

I mean, I can't think of anything else in this world, any other skill that is potentially greater than effective. communication. And one thing that compliments effective communication very well is empathy. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Understanding and emotional connection. And lack of empathy is a sign of immaturity and arrogance. It is our responsibility. It's our obligation to effectively show with our actions and communicate with our words, our empathy, being empathetic for other people. It's a vital skill for leadership. It's a vital skill for being a part of a team. But in my opinion, the most valuable skill that you can work on and achieve. is highly effective communication.

And the fifth and final life lesson that I'm going to share with you is to be cautious of blueprints, norms, and standards set by external parties. Here's the truth. There's no rules. There are laws,

there are rules in certain parts of our life depending on where we live and what we do. And we have to follow these rules because if we don't, we might go to jail, we might have a huge, expensive fine,

it might get us in trouble. But in other areas of our life, rules don't exist, or at least not hard-coded rules. But there's these norms, these blueprintsy standards that are set by societies and communities and cultures

and industries that you're expected to follow. And when everyone starts following these rules that don't actually exist, the byproduct of production ends up looking identical between one person and another, one business in another.

And it lacks originality, it lacks authenticity. Some of these rules, I'll give you an example. There's bluepresenter. Blueprints and rules on how to build a business. Well, you get to follow step one, two, three, four, five, six. And if you don't follow those six steps, you're probably going to fail. Some of the best businesses, the most successful businesses,

the businesses that have stayed true to their roots and their beliefs said screw those six rules. We ain't doing that. And those are some of the most badass brands out there. outside of talking about business, we have these society rules to tell us we have to find a partner by a certain age, get married by a certain age,

have kids by a certain age, retire by a certain age. And if we don't do those things based off a certain time and milestone accomplished, we are deemed a failure, a mistake, a setback.

We are delaying the milestones of life to live out what these external parties in society are telling us what is right versus wrong. Some of the best ways, strategies, and the most fun that I've had building the business has been by giving a big middle finger to the rules that everyone else follows based off of an expectation of a blueprint or a norm. And oftentimes the people who are selling you a blueprint, or a standard way of doing one thing or everything is often a guru who hasn't done it themselves.

Be cautious of these blueprints. I've brought people into my business before when I lacked confidence because I didn't think I had the capabilities to take it to where it needed to. go based off my lack of experience and knowledge as an entrepreneur, a seasoned entrepreneur, business owner, operator, executive. And I've worked with outside parties to help me grow and scale the business, which I thought at the time was the right thing to do. And what I realize is they come in and sometimes they want to learn about the business,

sometimes they don't. and they want to apply a blueprint or a standard that they have tried and tested before that has worked for countless other businesses and clients and it's going to work for you because it has this magic formula of success

and it never does. It always fails. My expectations are always high and they are never met because there is no perfect way of doing one thing. And one thing, one blueprint is not applicable to everything and anything. If there's one place that blueprints work, it's in architectural planning because there's permits required.

There's roles and regulations and laws in which you have to build certain things, certain ways to meet code so that everyone can follow a plan and build this thing, which may look unique. but at the end of the day is just a modification built off of all these other construction projects and buildings and architectural plans.

That's a one place that blueprints should and need to exist. But when it comes to building the life you want, when it comes to building the family you want, when it comes to building the business that you want and desire, there's no blueprint, there's no norm,

there's very few rules, or at least less rules than you think there are. And the standard set by external parties are usually bullshit. That's one of the greatest things I've learned in almost 12 years since starting and building this business is that you are in the driver's seat.

You control the architectural plans of how you build this thing, the way you build it, what it looks like, what it feels like. like. Same thing goes for your life. Same thing goes for your business. You have to be cautious at these blueprints and these norms and these standards set by external parties because they are often created to guide us in a similar direction towards what is acceptable. And they are often

created not by the high achievers, but those who accept mediocrity. It's to control us from achieving absolute greatness in our full potential. So those are the five life lessons that I wanted to share with you that I have learned and implemented over these last 12 years of building bare performance nutrition through hardship, through struggle, by getting my teeth kicked in, pushed to the ground, and dirt rubbed in my eyes.

But I am so thankful. for all those experiences. Thanks for tuning in, guys, and we'll see you in the next episode.