329 - From $800 to $200 Million in ten years!

0:00From$800 to a net worth of more than$200 million in 10 years. That's a pretty good story. And I wanted to talk to you about fear, which is something that the more I do mentoring, the more I see in those that I mentor. So let's talk about what fear is and how it can propel you either forward or paralyze you. So I wanted to read you reasonably short, but a piece on Taylor Sheridan, who was a creator of Yellowstone, pretty famous, very successful series with Kevin Costner. But about 10 years ago, he was a number 11 actor on a calling list for a show and was down to his last$800. And so I'm going to read this to you.

0:54When his attorney attempted to negotiate a pay hierarchy an exec told him he probably deserves to make more but we're not going to pay him more there are 50 of him he is number 11 on the call sheet that's what that guy is and that's all he's ever going to be that was the final insult that convinced Sheridan I didn't want to be number 11 on the call sheet for the rest of my life so he got to writing and four years later he turned in a screenplay that became Denis Villeneuve's highly praised Sicario in 2015. The following year, Sheridan racked up award nominations for David McKenzie's Hell or High Water, starring Chris Pine and Ben Foster, making his own directorial debut with Wind River in 2017.

1:49The real game changer, however, was when he co-created one of the most successful modern television franchises Yellowstone. The five-season run featuring Kevin Costner has already spawned two spinoff shows and has three more under development. These results convinced Paramount to let him produce five more passion projects. The Mayor of Kingstown, Tulsa King, Special Ops Lioness, Lawman Bass Raves, and the upcoming Landman. Today, Taylor Sheridan is worth over$200 million and is the proud owner of the historic Texas Four Sixes Ranch, which he now rents out to Paramount to film some of the shows.

2:35How's that for being number 11 on the call sheet? And it's a great example of how you can be motivated by fear. It oftentimes can be a double-edged sword in which it either paralyzes or propels. In Taylor Sheridan's when he heard, hey, that's all he's ever going to be, it absolutely propelled him forward. So if you look at fear, fear can be a driver, and how the fear of regret can push you to take action is something that's very real. Fear of mediocrity, you can be upset and full of discomfort of settling for less than your potential. and then time pressure, realizing that time is finite and that can create a sense of urgency to act.

3:24But whatever it is, there are things in fear that you can certainly look at and say, my past does not predict my future, as evidenced by the Taylor Sheridan story. So what can you do and maybe understand the consequences of inaction? Visualize your life in five to ten years if you don't take action towards your why. Highlight the emotional toll of unfulfilled potential, that's regret, self-doubt, and dissatisfaction, and think about the concept of pain of discipline versus pain of regret. At the end, most people fail to understand that they are going to regret what they didn't do as opposed to what they did.

4:12So how do you turn fear into fuel. First, acknowledge your fear. Accept it as part of growth and not as a weakness. And then follow and focus on the small wins. How taking small steps towards your why reduces fear over time. There's a good example of that in cold calling. You make a cold call and you're terrified and after several cold calls you begin to realize what's the worst that's going to happen. The worst that's going to happen is you don't make the call and take advantage of an opportunity. And then use visualizations. Imagine the success and fulfillment that comes from living up to your potential.

4:54We talk about having your why. We talk about affirmations. We talk about visualization. All of those things can help. So every time we look at a story of a success, most of the time, if not all the time, they were motivated by some feel or failure or underachievement that they just didn't want to accept. And so it helped them to take risks and overcome obstacles, obviously. So what are some actionable tips you might be able to do to leverage fear? And we've talked about some of these. Write your obituary or visualize the legacy you want to leave behind. Create a list of what's at stake if you don't fulfill your why.

5:39Set deadlines to create accountability and reduce procrastination. And then find a mentor or community to help you with your goals and ones that they share. Obviously, we do that in the coaching that I do in the groups that I run. But you can certainly reframe fear as a guide rather than a barrier. The fear of staying where you are should always be greater than the fear of taking the next step. Oftentimes just thinking about what's the worst that can happen. And most of the time, the worst that can happen is you don't take the next step. You don't seize the opportunity. And most of the time, that will eat away at you much more than taking a step.

6:28Understand failure will be part of the process. Not everything will work out. but if you keep at it, if you keep looking at how to improve things, if you have the right people around you, you will fail your way to success, as I often say. So I hope that helps. If you are interested in either learning about business acquisition and the steps or joining one of my mentoring groups, just go over to brucewhipple.com and look at that information. But I hope that this lets you understand that fear is natural. Fear can be overcome and it's usually overcome by facing your fears, taking steps in the things that you're afraid of and eventually that fear will disappear.