2472 - Building a Self-Sustaining Business for Greater Profit and Work-Life Harmony with Lifeonaire's Jason Wojo

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0:46Visit podverified.com if you'd like to be featured as a future guest. I'm Josh Elledge. Let's get into it. With us right now, it's Jason Wojo, PhD. Jason, you are the author of Business for Life, Build a Profitable Business that Gives You Your Time, Freedom, and Life Back. You are the CEO and owner of Life and Air, found on the web at lifeandair.com. And you are a fellow podcaster. You're the host of the Life and Air show, which we have all linked up over 300 episodes. Congratulations. It's great to have you, Jason. Thank you so much for joining us. Super excited for our conversation, man. Before we get going, talking about your superpowers and absolutely this topic, I love, love, love, love, love talking about just quite simply because I think a lot of folks that are in, you know, the kind of the world that we operate in, a lot of folks that listen to this, you know, they've risen to the level of foundation.

1:46founder and uh you know there's a it's it's it's there's a lot of stress there's a lot of responsibilities and a lot of demands on our time and um we likely set very very high expectations on ourselves even today uh no matter what stage of business we have but we're going to get into that jason before we do i always love finding out what high level leaders do for fun uh and kind of geeking out on when they're not at work uh tell me what you've been doing so man i am uh I'm geeking out on it, but also struggling with it, is I am trying to learn an Avenged Sevenfold guitar solo. Totally not what you expect from me.

2:23I'm not like this heavy metal guy on the surface, but I'd listen to it in the gym, and I've been playing guitar forever, man. So I'm wrestling with a song called Nightmare. And it has been a nightmare, actually, to try to get to learn this and get it right. You know, I got it pulled up right here. I'm going to listen to it in your honor afterwards. Yeah, man, I got to tell you, like, I love going to there's, you know, of course, I've seen, you know, Metallica several times. But, you know, I love going to local bands or tribute bands that will play. Like we have a really good couple of Metallica tribute bands that come through here.

3:02We've got Pantera there. I don't really love Pantera, but, man, I love them because they put on such a good show. And when you see live music like that, like the vibe in the crowd is just so great. It's like, you know, these are folks that, you know, may not necessarily hang out, you know, in real life or, you know, or maybe they might disagree online if they were to be on Facebook together like, you know, a lot of other folks. But man, in that moment, it is just such a it is such a community. It's like such a fraternity welcome to all. uh and you know it just it's to me you know especially like growing up metal was just therapeutic like I was like really into like speed metal thrash metal a lot of like skate rock and stuff and you know as a as a gen x or kid like it was just like you know I I really was therapeutic and even today now um I'm sorry I don't mean to keep glabbing on about myself I want to hear more about your guitar solo here but you know just how awesome it is now uh to play the music um that you may or may not have appreciated, you know, when you're younger or whatever, but, um, yeah.

4:12So when did, have you always played guitar? So I started in eighth grade and I remember, man, it's funny. Um, I remember telling myself if I could just learn how to play stairway to heaven, like I get the chicks, I'd be good to go. And then my mission would be accomplished. Well, it doesn't work that way. It's just like business too, right? Like you, you learn one thing or in life and one thing, and then it's an, you're on, you're on the next mountain, right? This is the next goal. So I've been playing for quite some time now, man. I've been in bands, And actually, what makes this even funnier is I play in the worship team at our church.

4:42It's a mega church as well. So here I am like, you know, rocking out metal like on the side and then playing church music on Sundays. I love that. I suspect you don't play Hail to the King from Event Shemfold. That one doesn't make the set list. I absolutely love that. But, you know, what's your favorite part about, you know, kind of noodling or just, you know, working on music? Yeah. So for me, man, music has been one of those things that I have been able to kind of disappear from life in. So, like, I grew up a super introverted, kind of dorky and very socially awkward. So guitar was something that I could sit in my room by myself, not social.

5:29Like, I remember in college, all my roommates, my friends are going to parties. And I was that guy who, if I didn't go with a friend and if they left me, I would be, I'd roll out because I was so scared to meet people and talk to people. And so guitar was like my, my savior. Like, so I play four, six, eight hours a day sometimes. And I just get lost in it. And I, and I, the thing with guitar, and this is something I've found universally across my life as well, is like, I love things that you can improve in and there's no ceiling. Like you can always get better. Yeah, the never ending hobby, you know, unlike, you know, some things like, you know, you might be really into a show and then the season's over.

6:08It's like, OK, well, I guess I got to wait for, you know, next year until next, you know, Game of Thrones starts or whatever. But that music, that guitar is always sitting there ready for you. And, you know, it's also what I love about it. And I'm sure that this I mean, I think we'll just transition right into what you do. Tell me about the value of hobbies and passion projects like this when it comes to a very healthy founder or entrepreneur or leader lifestyle. I think as business owners, we tend to, and you mentioned this a second ago, we tend to get swept up by the allure of business. I think of business as almost like we have the odyssey coming out here.

6:54By the time people hear this, they'll already be out. and you know in the Odyssey there's a scene about you know the sirens in the seashore and they're singing to the sailors and attracting them and that's this but it can be that you know a very dangerous allure because you can absolutely destroy everything else in your personal life if you let it seduce you and I get it because the accolades of business the root financial rewards the pats on the back the recognition all of that the significance feels great but I've found that people that get sucked into business headfirst oftentimes have a catastrophic wake of damage in their personal lives, whether it's the relationships or their health or their hobbies.

7:33And so it's been, it's been one of these things that's, and admittedly is a difficult, it's a difficult balance to maintain or seasons to kind of progress through. But I believe like it's absolutely critical or else one day you're going to wake up and you're not going to have anything or anyone around you. And you're gonna find yourself really kind of with a lot of regrets. I really would like to get straight to your book to talk about this. The website you have specifically for your book is businessforlife.com. Jason, tell us about the book. So to make a long story short, I had multiple businesses early on my entrepreneurial journey.

8:13Part of that was ego. Part of that was entrepreneurial ADD. And I very quickly found out that I could not balance all those adequately and have personal life. Went through a divorce. I hit rock bottom. I was living in one of my, at that point, one of my businesses was real estate investing and I was living in one of my rehabs. And I realized that if I wanted to actually have both a life and business that I loved and that I appreciated and that were both successful, I kind of had to go back to the drawing board. Otherwise, I'd just repeat history. And so what I really understood, and it took me three and a half years to put this together, is a framework to help business owners really, number one, strategize very, very clearly what you want your life to look like.

9:00And not in a high 50 ,000 foot view, but very tangibly, what do you want your life to look like on an average weekday? and then how can you actually remove yourself from the day-to-day of your business if you want to so that the business can at least grow some legs on its own and have some foundational stability so that you're not doing all the work and that you can and also you can turn business off when you go home because that's the other half of this is you know the mental game of actually unplugging and not you know thinking about your to-do list while you're tossing a baseball with your kid?

9:33It was just this morning that I was talking to my wife and I was expressing how grateful I am that I got to be so available for my kids when they were younger. They're older now. My youngest is now about to turn 21. I'm sorry, my youngest is about to turn 21. And, you know, now they're adults and I'm so proud of them and we have a great relationship. But, you know, I'm just I'm really grateful that, you know, we I made sacrifices and I probably could have had maybe a lot more financial stability, you know, maybe a little bit more, you know, less stress money wise. but I tried to balance it because I did recognize, hey, hanging out with my kids is kind of fun.

10:30But I know that that's not always the case. You said something in a post here on LinkedIn, grind through your 30s and 40s so you can finally enjoy life later. What's wrong with that? Yeah, but if you do that, there's a number of problems. Number one, you've probably missed out on your kid's childhood. Number two, you've also sacrificed your most healthy years physically to work. And there's also something I love this. Bill Perkins said this. He talks about a memory dividend. So all those experiences that you have when you're younger compound for you over time so that when you get older, now you can reflect and enjoy those things over and over again.

11:08The problem, and I get it, right now there is a hustle culture mentality out there. and listen if you if you're if you take the time to create your perfect life vision which is kind of like a really comprehensive view of what you the life you want to live and if all you want to do is work I will not criticize or judge like I'm happy for you I will cheer for you if that's what you truly want the problem is when most people kind of fall into this default of work because of whatever they're afraid of the the finances falling apart it's it's It's an ego thing. It's looking for, you know, their identity, whatever it is like that.

11:47But most people, when you fall into that, you just sacrifice all these other things without recognizing it. And so the reason I'm really, I've found myself even, you know, I have three kids, all girls, pray for me. I got a 26, I got a 26 and an eight and a five-year-old. And I don't work when my oldest is out of the house, but my two that are home, I don't work when they're home, period. So until they go to school, like it's, it's time with me when they come home from school, I'm done. So like that for me is way more valuable. And that's why I tell people like, sometimes you might even want to work more once your kids are out of the house.

12:25Now, if you don't have kids, you might be wondering like, how does this apply to you? And the truth, the truth is you still have a very limited window of things you can do physically. If you're a physical person that you're not going to do when you're, when you're older, Like you're not going to most likely, you know, hike Kilimanjaro when you're 85 or you're not going to be able to do the things, you know, that you were when you were, you know, 20, 30, 40. And I, man, I'll tell you right now, I'm turning 53 here soon. And I notice it like I real, there's a big, there really is something that happens.

12:56Like it happened to me in my late forties where you just really, your body changes. And like, I'm so grateful that I had those memories early on. Yeah. Yeah. So you got to experience being a dad pretty early, if I'm doing my math correctly. Yeah. Well, so actually, so yeah. It forced you into a role that maybe you weren't ready for, but life said, no, you're going to get ready. It was. Well, so this is kind of a long story, but she's my adopted daughter. I met the mom when she was pregnant. Okay. Got it. Got it. Got it. And the real dad took off, so I stepped in. and um but i'll tell you to your point earlier about you know trying to find this financial footing i'm i'm very much more acutely aware of like my presence with my daughters now than i when i was when with my older daughter because like i was still trying to find my footing i was still developing these these concepts and so she didn't get quite the same dad that my younger girls have now um now luckily we've recovered that and so this is where i want to encourage all the business owners out there who are parents, like the way we show up for work and for our family is a model for our kids.

14:08And it's either a model is like, hey, I want to be like mom or dad, or gosh, I don't want to be like them because I feel like their work is more important. One of our coaches, so in life, you know, we have some coaching. And one of our coaches several years ago, this is long before she was a coach for us, her daughter got her a diamond paperweight for a gift. And she said, Oh my gosh, this is so sweet. Thank you so much. Like what made you think of a diamond? And her daughter said, because you're married to your work. And I, can you imagine that? Like for you? Yeah. Like talking about a stake to the heart.

14:44Right. And so, um, so we get to model this stuff. And so like my oldest daughter was in, was in Italy. I'm sorry. She was in Europe for eight months last year. And I got to go visit her and spend a couple of weeks in Italy with her. So like, I love that I get to do this now, but like, It's a hard lesson I had to learn. And if somebody else can avoid that, then I'd encourage you to consider that. So obviously, strategizing and creating automation, delegating within our organizations, within our companies are going to be really critical. There's a lot we could unpack there. What's the first step to saying, I need to get a handle on my business because it is just sucking my soul dry?

15:25Like it is, it is taking not just my hours physically, but it's also draining me emotionally, mentally, where I'm just, you know, I'm with my kids, but I'm not present or I'm with my family. I'm out on a, you know, we're doing something together as a family and I'm stressing about work. I like, I know what that's like. It's, it sucks. Where, how do we, how do we break out of that? So the first, the first thing to do is really, I mean, and that is an acknowledgement that something has to change. and really if i think what you've got to do first is is really commit to yourself like what is most important to you and and make it draw that line in the sand and make it a non-negotiable and so once you've decided that there are still obviously tactical and strategic things to do it's not like you can just decide and then let the business burn down so one of the very first things i encourage business owners to do after they've created this vision for what's most important for them and how they want to prioritize their their life is create what i call a business architecture map which is essentially a think of a back in back in school, we had these tree diagrams, or a mind map of all the different parts of your business.

16:31And so with this tool, what you'd be able to do is identify all the different components, tasks, processes, positions, everything that all the moving parts of the business. And that will give you the roadmap now for the things you mentioned. So the first round is gonna be like, hey, what shouldn't be here at all, because it doesn't meet our litmus test as to productivity, this isn't worth, you know, all the effort or the resources we're devoting to it, what's not giving us the revenue that we desire based on these margins, et cetera. From there, now you can look at what can I automate, meaning what are the things that I can get off my plate?

17:03And by the way, I love this because this is growing exponentially now, especially with AI. And so we have an opportunity to really reduce some of the mental overload that comes through managing a team. Now, listen, I love managing and working with and leading a team. However, automation in some cases is the right choice because it shows up the exact same way every single day. It doesn't care. It's not going to fall asleep in the bathroom and take long lunch breaks. And then we have delegation. But this business map really is the tool to help you organize all that, to give you that first tangible step towards a business that doesn't need you for everything.

17:43Your website, lifeandair.com, or actually you can go to businessforlife.com. And you can get to what I love that you put together is you've got a tab on your website. It says book resources. Do you mind sharing for our friend that's listening to our conversation? They're feeling that itch. You know, they want to make a few, flip a few switches in their life. Jason, where do they go from here? Yeah. So the best thing to do is really, if you are a reader, I'd encourage you to pick up the book. Right here. Just downloaded it myself. I'm holding up on my screen. I mean, the audio book is going to be coming out.

18:20Kindle and paperback. Oh, sweet, man. The audio book is going to be coming out here pretty soon. I can't give it an exact date. But really, I think it really comes with a commitment and the belief that you can actually have a great life and a great business. That really is the foundation. It's like, if you believe you're never going to get in shape, you're not going to go to the gym. So why would you bother? And so if you think that you're only going to have to choose a great life or great business, that you will never attempt to do that. This is where your beliefs... And by the way, just to be clear, I am not someone who's, I'd say, like a new age belief kind of driven person.

18:55But I do see this as being a pivotal decision before you even make those tangible steps in your business. So if you believe it's possible, you're going to create your business map. You're going to eliminate, automate, and delegate. And it's a cycle that goes on throughout the evolution of your business. But eventually, at some point, you will be able to step out of the day-to-day. My current work schedule is about 20 hours a week now, and that feels pretty good. By the way, I know it's not consistently always like that because there are busy seasons to life and business, but that's something that people can look forward to, I think.

19:31I love it. You are a podcast host, Jason. Your podcast is The Life and Air Show. We've got that linked up. You can also access both the podcast and the book and how to work with Wojo, which, again, you can find all of that at businessforlife.com and lifeandair.com. Jason Wojo, it's been great having you. Thank you so much for the conversation. Good luck with that. Good luck with your solo. I appreciate it, Josh.

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