Isolation is the Enemy of Excellence with Aaron Walker: An EOFire Classic from 2021

0:01Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire. The only daily show interviewing the world's top entrepreneurs seven days a week. Today, we're pulling a classic episode from the archives and we'll be breaking down how isolation is the enemy of excellence. To drop these vibe bombs, I brought Aaron Walker into EO Fire Studios. Aaron has founded more than a dozen companies over the past 41 years. He spent a decade meeting weekly with Dave Ramsey, Dan Miller, Ken Abraham, and five other amazing entrepreneurs. He is the founder of Iron Sharpens Iron Mastermind and the author of View from the Top and the creator of the Mastermind Playbook, an incredible resource for starting, running, and scaling masterminds.

0:39In today's foundation, we talk about how you've got to build relationships before you need them, how in a mastermind group, other people's perspective is the number one asset, and how to invest in the right people who have integrity and great character and oh, so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Aaron and our sponsors. Is this your year to grow a successful business? Attend the world's highest rated business growth workshop taught personally by Clay Clark and now featuring football star Tim Tebow and President Trump's son, Eric Trump at thrivetimeshow.com slash EOfire.

1:11Again, request life-changing tickets today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EOfire. If you've ever considered launching a show on YouTube, I may have the solution for you after launching a very successful show on YouTube in 2024, MicroStrategy Today. I've learned a lot on what it takes to create a successful show and have launched a one-on-one mentorship program called YouTube 100. If you want to jump on a call and learn more about this program, shoot me an email, john at eofire.com. This is the year of YouTube. Let's go. All right, Fire Nation, for the fifth time, we have Aaron Walker here on Entrepreneurs on Fire.

1:54And today we're talking about isolation being the enemy of excellence. You heard me break down how awesome Aaron is in the introduction. And we have a lot of things we're going to be talking about when it comes to isolation. This is Aaron's new passion project. He's going all in on this. And Aaron, I just want to ask you a question directly to dive right in. If we're going to actually, as entrepreneurs, as human beings, reach our potential, you believe that we have to have not just trusted advisors, but non-biased trusted advisors. Can you say hello to Fire Nation and then expound upon this statement?

2:35John, thank you for having me. I was sitting here thinking why I've been on here five times. And it's one of two things. Maybe I can't get it right. You're just trying to help me get it right. Or there's a couple of nuggets I've added along the way. I'm going to hope it's the latter, and that's what I'm just going to assume. Man, thank you for having me on your show. It's always awesome. Well, we love it, brother. And listen, it's not actually the latter because you haven't added a couple nuggets. You've added countless nuggets to Fire Nation, not just a couple. So keep it going, brother. I'm looking forward to this conversation.

3:11You know, you called it my passion project, and that's right, because I'm really seeing the value that people are receiving as a direct result of having these non-biased trusted advisors. And the reason it's important that they're non-biased is that if they can gain or lose anything as a result of giving you information, pointing out your superpowers or your kryptonite or blind spots, then maybe you can only take it at that value. But when they're non-biased, they don't have anything to gain or lose. And they are trusted advisors, somebody that really aligns with your core values, your mission statement, then they can be trusted.

3:50And so, I think that this isolation thing has really, really hit us hard, you know, since the pandemic. And it was there before, but now it's more important than ever that we get these people around us. Aaron, you're a very humble guy. And pre-interview, you made it very clear that you don't want to talk about yourself. I mean, there are some past episodes of Entrepreneurs on Fire where we get into your story. So please go back and listen to those, Fire Nation. But you really just want to add value. You're a very humble and giving person. But I am going to, you know, really just take what I can as a host here because I do want to talk, you know, briefly if it needs to be about your board of directors.

4:36These are your trusted, non-biased advisors. Talk to us about that so that we can help paint a picture maybe about how you got to having such an amazing board of directors and how we can maybe mimic you, how we can stand upon the shoulders of giants, how we can try to copy greatness and do that for ourselves. You know, it was actually about 21, 22 years ago that this concept of masterminds was even introduced to me. And those that have listened to previous episodes of your show are familiar. Dave Ramsey and I have been friends about 30 years. I was one of Dave's first sponsors. Sponsored the show about 21 years, and we built a real relationship during that.

5:22And a couple of decades ago, we were at a concert, and he came up and said, man, I want you to join a mastermind that I'm going to start. And I'm like, I don't even know what a mastermind is. That's a new concept to me. And he laughed kind of like you just did. And he said, just come to the office and I'll introduce it to you. Well, to fast forward, like there's not a week in 21 years that I've not been involved in a mastermind group. You know, we met in Dave's office for about a dozen years with other friends that you know well, like Dan Miller and Ken Abraham and Jeff Mosley and Ron Doyle and many of those guys, Tommy Summers.

5:59But Dave and Dan kind of headed it up in the initial stages with Ron Dole, and it's radically transformed my life. I mean, these are people that are those non-bias, trusted advisors, people with similar core values, similar mission statements, and it was a safe place for me to go. Like the first couple of months, like I was a fly on the wall. I'm like, man, I don't even want to tell them anything. But when I started listening, and then they all started sharing about challenges they were having professionally and even relationally, there were some challenges and some of them with problems, you know, related to their children.

6:38I'm like, man, they're, they're more screwed up than I am. And I said, this is a good place for me because these people have become vulnerable and transparent and that allowed me to do the same. And so I was able to take that veil down, that facade down. And I was going like, I'm hurting, like this is an area I need help. or I would come to them with an idea that was kind of half baked and they would like, man, you need to slow down. You need to meet this person. You need to use this resource. You need to refine this. And then I came out of there with something that I would consider amazing. And that's just what we've been able to do now for over two decades.

7:18And then when we introduced Iron Sharpens Iron Mastermind about eight years ago, I said, I want to replicate that. I want other people to experience what I have with this trusted board of advisors, kind of we call them our board of director. And it has radically, John, transformed so many lives over the course of these past eight years. And, yeah, I just wanted to share with others. Well, listen, entrepreneurship, as you know, Aaron, as Fire Nation does know, for those who have experienced it, it can be a very lonely place. You know, hence the focus of this entire conversation, which is how isolation is the enemy of excellence.

7:59It's not the ally. It's the enemy of excellence. You don't want to saddle yourself, Fire Nation. You don't want to do this in isolation. So at some point on our journey, we're going to get scared. We're going to be anxious. We're going to be fearful of something that's happening in this world. Maybe it's within our little bubble. Maybe it's something that we can't control outside of our bubble. Who do you, Aaron, borrow courage from when you're running low on that? Yeah, you know, it has to be the people that you've been willing to spend the time with to build the relationships prior to needing it.

8:33Oftentimes, people try to build this rapport and these relationships with people during a crisis or during the time of their biggest need. And I urge people and I caution them at all times, listen, you've got to do it prior to needing it. And you've got to reach out and be transparent and vulnerable in front of people, spend time with them, call them, walk with them, help them with their projects. And then when it's your turn, right, you can borrow courage from them to allow you to enable you to make decisions. I'll tell you one recently that just happened. We did a live event here in Nashville and we'll call him Billy for this interview.

9:12It's not his name, but we'll just call him Billy. Billy was afraid. He's been in ISI for about five or six years. And he said, quite honestly, I've done very good, but I'm at a place right now that I've never been. I've never been confronted with a situation in my business like this. It's my first time here. And I know intellectually what I need to do, but I just can't pull the trigger. I'm afraid. I mean, it's an upper limit challenge. So for two hours, the men at his table encouraged him, pointed out, if you don't do it, this is what's going to happen. If you do do it, this is the possibility.

9:50And he heard that same theme around the table. So he gathered a general consensus from these people. And he said, I'm going to borrow your courage and I'm going to go do these things that you tell me. Like I don't have the strength to do it on my own, but I'm going to do this because I trust you people. people he'd been meeting with now for five or six years. So he went out, he went to the clients and he told them exactly, there were six specific clients that he had to deal with. And he told them, he said, this is the new program. This is the new price. And I just want you to know, this is what we've got to do.

10:25Now he said he was fear and trembling inside, but he presented it with confidence. All six of them bought the new program at the higher price. And it was a game changer. So he came back to the group and he said, without you men, I would have never done that in a million years. That's just one tiny example of hundreds that I could share with you because we do have that glass ceiling. We have these upper limit challenges for whatever reason. It may have been the way you were raised. It may have been a previous experience. It could be something personally or relationally or spiritually, financially.

11:00I don't know the situation, but you've only got one lens. You've only got one life experience. And when you're able to share and get that consensus from the multitude, right? It's a general consensus from these non-biased, trusted advisors. The chances are that eight people saying the same thing is going to go a lot further than you alone. And that's the reason that I say you can borrow other people's courage when you don't have any of your own. I love that. And thanks for giving that specific example. That really just makes things real when we get to hear that. And I'm going to go on a little bit of a rant here, but this is kind of an eye opener for me because I've believed for a long time, everything that Aaron has said.

11:42And then I was watching this show called Alone. And to get real quick on this, Alone, essentially they drop off like 10 or 15 survivalist experts, like way up in the Northern Canada woods in the fall. And then they are all five, at least five miles apart from each other. They have zero interaction with each other and they just got to survive by themselves, completely by themselves alone. And these are like massive introverts at the beginning of the show, because listen, this is what survivalists are. They want to get away from humanity. And that's one thing they were all like, I just can't wait just to get away and just to be amongst nature.

12:18And I'm sick and tired of being around people. That was a very common theme. I will tell you, every single one of them, not like after, you know, five days or 10 days, but after like 20 or 30 days, it just clicked with them that they were so missing contact with other humans. They were so missing interactions, engagement, conversations. They were craving that even though they thought they were such introverts and they were introverts on some levels. They still, they're just innate core human being needed connection and needed others. And that's us, Fire Nation. We are there. We need each other and we can have each other in the form of this mastermind or this group that's going to be holding each other accountable.

13:06It just makes everything better. And don't go anywhere because we have a lot of awesome stuff coming up when we get back from thanking our sponsors. Is this your year to grow a successful business? Are you looking to learn the proven processes and success systems that have been used to create thousands of millionaire success stories? See thousands of success stories and testimonials from real people just like you who Clay Clark has mentored and coached into prosperity at thrivetimeshow.com slash EOfire. Clay's proven business coaching program is month to month and it costs less money than hiring a minimum wage employee.

13:38Yes, it's month to month and it costs less money than hiring a minimum wage employee. Schedule your free personal 13-point assessment with Clay Clark himself today at thrivetimeshow.com slash eofire because Clay only takes on 160 clients and only allows 300 attendees to each business conference. You will interact with Clay directly. See thousands of real success stories and learn about attending the Thrive Time Show two-day in-person workshop featuring football star Tim Tebow and President Trump's son, Eric Trump, today at thrivetimeshow.com slash eofire. Become the next success story. Schedule a free consultation and request tickets to join football star Tim Tebow and President Trump's son, Eric Trump, at Clay Clark's next business conference today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO fire.

14:25So Aaron, a lot of people will tell you, hey, don't listen to anybody else. Deafen your ears to all outside advice. Close your eyes and just drive forward to your goals. But you believe in something called OPP, other people's perspectives. perspectives, how can other people's perspectives actually end up being our number one asset? You know, the reason, John, is because, as I mentioned earlier, like you've got one life experience. John Lee Dumas has one life experience. You've had impact and influences from people around you. But as much as you want to see it a different way, it's difficult oftentimes.

15:07And I I think that in a mastermind group, other people's perspectives are the number one asset for being in a mastermind group. Many, many times I've gone to the group before with ideas and they would present something to me and I would be like, I didn't even know to know that. I didn't even know that that was possible. I didn't even know that this thing existed. or they would take conceptually the idea that I was presenting, whether it be relational or personal, professional, whatever it may be, and they would have a whole different slant. And I'm like, no one has ever shared that with me. I didn't even know that you could even propose that that was an option.

15:50Many, many times I've taken that approach because the council said do that and it worked out amazing. And if I had done it from my perspective, it could have failed miserably. You know, I talked to Jeff Hoffman, the guy that started Priceline, and he said that 10 % of everything he reads has nothing to do with anything of interest to him. And he said that 90 % of his best ideas come out of that 10 % reading because it just opens up a whole new world. And so the masterminds for me, I think I'm a pretty sharp guy, but quite honestly, the things that I have brought to them in a very small incremental way, they have expounded on it to the point that it's allowed me to be successful in other arenas.

16:39And so I think without a question, it is the perspective that is the number one asset that these groups can bring you. Aaron, let's get down to it. How can we find our people? How can we find our tribe? You've got to look in an area that you're wanting to grow in. And I think that two of the things that are paramount, wherever that location is that you're looking for the person, is you do want to find somebody that's a bit ahead of you. You want to find somebody that's walked down the trail before, somebody that knows where the landmines are. I also think it's very important that we align with people that have similar, not exact, core values.

17:22And for us, you know, I'm always looking for people that relationships matter most because that's my number one core value. I'm looking to make it amazing. Now, it may not be amazing by everybody's standards, but by my standards, it's amazing until I learn a different way. I'm looking for people that have no excuses. Like I hate excuses for anything. I think personally, everything is figureoutable. And I look for people that have that positive, optimistic mindset, not the pessimism, not the we'll never figure it out. Like get out of my face. I don't want anything to do with you because I want people that have a mentality of everything is figureoutable.

18:03And then finally, for me, it's truth before opinion. I'm really looking for the truth, not just opinions. And so So I want to surround myself with people with similar attributes. The other thing, John, is you've got to do it slowly. That's the reason that it's taken me time to build Iron Sharpens Iron Mastermind is because we're looking for the right people, not people that are just willing to pay, but people that align themselves with these core values. That's what I've been able to do over the years. And that's why I've had many, many friends that have walked with me over my 43 year journey in business is because I take the time to invest in people, reach out, talk to them, find out their counterparts and who they are, find out the things that are really motivating and driving them, find out if they are a person of integrity, find out a person if they have great character.

18:54And then when you find these people and it starts to materialize, you dole things out slowly to them. You want to be able to go to them and give them something, see if they can be trusted. You and I have had a lot of personal conversations over the years. And I feel like I'm a person that can be trusted. Otherwise, you wouldn't confine in me, nor I would you if I found out that you weren't a person of integrity and character. So I think all these attributes are what we're looking for. And when you find that you want to assemble these people into an organization, call it board of directors, peer advisory, mastermind, whatever.

19:30It's just people that you can surround yourself, that you can do life with long-term. A lot of value bombs there, Fire Nation. One thing I just want to rephrase, or not rephrase, but repeat that Aaron shared that I just loved was truth before opinion. Truth before opinion. Always strive for that because if you can get the truth, the value there will be incredibly high. Now, Aaron, you run every single decision that you make through your core values, and you also have a mission statement as well. Share what these are so that we can have an example of like what that would look like and what that would sound like.

20:10And then take us through an example of this process. Yeah, I appreciate that. I don't wanna be redundant on the core values. I've mentioned those earlier, but the mission statement is helping ordinary people become extraordinary in all that they do. And whatever your mission statement is, just align with that, Make every decision based on your mission statement. If it doesn't get you there, then eliminate it. It's like, no, it's a good thing. I could make money. That is a possibility. But if it doesn't align with your mission, we're all called here. We have a purpose. We have a mission. This world would not be the same without you, ever, who's listening.

20:52And so you want to capitalize on that. You want to go out. God has gifted all of us to do certain things different and better than others. And then really understand who you are. As I said earlier, relationships matter most. Make it amazing. No excuses. Everything's figureoutable. And then truth before opinion. Those just happen to be ours. You can create your own. And then every decision you make from then on can be run through those core values and your mission statement. And then you don't have to guess whether you should do it or not. Fire Nation, I hope as you're listening to this, you're asking yourself, what are my core values?

21:28What could my mission statement sound like? What could it look like? What could it be? What could it embody? And then making sure that after this episode, you're not just not taking action, but you're creating something like this. So you have a process like Aaron has to make happen. And Aaron, I want you to end with a bang here. Let me hand you the microphone. So give us the one thing that you really want to make sure that we walk away with from everything we talked about here today. Let's really tie it in with this whole isolation is the enemy of excellence. Then share how we can connect with you with what you have going on, any call to action you have for our listeners, and then we'll say goodbye.

22:09Yeah, thanks, John. I appreciate that. You know, we kind of heightened your awareness to isolation being the enemy of excellence experience through this pandemic. And that's the reason that's really been brought to the forefront of my thought, because I was at a place younger years, you know, when I was 30, 40 years old, that I thought I knew the answers. I didn't want to be vulnerable. I didn't want to be transparent. I didn't want to ask for help. I didn't want to let people know that I had obstacles in the way or challenges that I was facing. But my real success and significance came when I let my guard down in front of the right people.

22:49And that's the very reason that we started Iron Sharpens Iron Mastermind. We started an organization that provides a framework to help you excel in every area of your life. We've created so many tools that aid in your goal-making and your accomplishment, your accountability. And I wanted it to be a place that you didn't feel a sense of loneliness, that you didn't feel a sense of isolation, but you had those board of directors, those trusted advisors that you could lean into and help you make every decision that you possibly needed. And I just want to encourage the listeners today to kind of, for yourself, let your guard down, let the veil down, let the facade down and show a handful of people who the real person is so they can help you build on a solid foundation and go forward to maximize your life.

23:43You know, the easiest way to get in contact with us is at viewfromthetop.com forward slash EO fire viewfromthetop.com forward slash EO fire. We have something special just for your listeners, John, and if they'll reach out, I would love to connect. Uh, if I can help you in any way to overcome isolation in your life, get yourself around trusted advisors. We're here to help you all along the way. Fire Nation, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And you've been hanging out with A-dubs in JLD today. So keep up the heat and head over to eofire.com. Type Aaron in the search bar and his show notes page will pop up with everything that we've been talking about here today.

24:30Make sure you visit viewfromthetop.com slash EO fire for that special page in gifts that Aaron has created and assembled there for you. View from the top.com slash EO fire. And if you resonated with today's episode as much as I think you did, why not go in a little Aaron Walker binge? We got a bunch of other episodes of Aaron Walker in the archives. You can hear all of them at your fingertips. EO fire.com. Just type A A R O N in the search bar. Aaron brother, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side.

25:13Hey, Fire Nation, today's value bomb content was brought to you by Aaron and successful entrepreneurs accomplish big goals, which is why I created the Freedom Journal to help you accomplish your number one goal in 100 days. And we're talking step by step. So visit thefreedomjournal.com And I'll catch you there or I'll catch you on the flip side. Is this your year to grow a successful business? Attend the world's highest rated business growth workshop taught personally by Clay Clark and now featuring football star Tim Tebow and President Trump's son, Eric Trump at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO fire.

25:49Again, request life changing tickets today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO fire. If you've ever considered launching a show on YouTube, I may have the solution for you. after launching a very successful show on YouTube in 2024, MicroStrategy Today. I've learned a lot on what it takes to create a successful show and have launched a one-on-one mentorship program called YouTube 100. If you want to jump on a call and learn more about this program, shoot me an email, john at eofire.com. This is the year of YouTube. Let's go.