Freedom Blueprint Show

How to Have Crucial Conversations

Ryan and Gabe interview Sean to talk about the crucial conversations you should be having and how you can show up as a better leader, business owner, and relationship partner. The guys dive into why it’s important to have one-on-ones with your team members, get to know them on a personal level, and the tough topic of raising children. Key Takeaways: * Who is Sean and what is his superpower? * Sean shares what it was like to meet the football player Terry Bradshaw. * It’s important to be calm during an important conversation. * We often make a way bigger deal of how a conversation went in our heads than how it actually went. * How did Terry Bradshaw calm Sean down? * Ryan shares his tips for keeping calm in a high-stress situation. * The most common way people deal with tough conversations is by avoiding them altogether. * Always go to the positive firsts. It really helps ease the tension in the conversation. * Gabe shares how he creates an environment for his team to open up in. * How can you coach someone to improve their performance if you don’t have the heart-to-heart conversations with them? * If there’s something going on in their personal life, it could explain why their performance isn’t up to par. * How do you instill these important life skills and characteristics in your children? * Gabe had a father who created so much pressure for him. * Why do grandparents do so much better than the actual parents? Experience? * What makes someone a successful parent? * How does Sean encourage his team? You ask them how you can help them. * Just have the tough conversation. Resources: Freedomblueprintshow.com [https://www.freedomblueprintshow.com/] Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High [https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Conversations-Talking-Stakes-Second/dp/1469266822]

What Got Us Here, Won’t Get Us There

Jon, Ryan, and Gabe discuss their plans for the future and where they hope to go. What got them to this level of success will not get them to the next level of success. As business owners and leaders, you always have to be constantly adapting to new things. Our three co-hosts share what they’ve learned throughout the years and how to show up better, smarter, and make a bigger impact on the people they’re serving. Key Takeaways: * If you keep doing the same thing over and over, you’ll never go forward. * Ryan is constantly trying to think and move 5-10 years ahead. * Why is it important to think 25 years out? * Ryan shares his long-term financial goals. * You really need better people around you to get to the next level. * How do you transition bad (but critical) people out of your organization? * Ryan recently acquired two businesses. What are some of the struggles Ryan is facing right now? * What is Jon’s long term vision and plan? * Gabe shares what his vision is for his business. * Meaningful relationships are the key to happiness. * Emotional intelligence is key in business. Ryan had to really commit to managing his emotions and not reacting emotionally to things he couldn’t control. * Ryan realized he was being way too hard on his son and he wanted to change that. * The more you change and the more you learn to treat people better, the bigger of an impact you make on people’s lives. * Being tough on people has a lot of negative consequences. It’s not an effective management approach. * Being open to mistakes allows people to relax and actually get more things done. * What are the guys doing to put them in uncomfortable situations? * You have to make a conscious effort to nudge yourself closer and closer outside of your comfort zone. * If you want to make an impact on people’s lives, you have to put yourself out there, even when you don’t want to. * Gabe is grateful that his team holds him accountable and keeps him moving forward. Resources: Freedomblueprintshow.com [https://www.freedomblueprintshow.com/] The 25-Year Framework by Dan Sullivan [https://www.amazon.com/25-Year-Framework-21st-century-entrepreneurial-continually-ebook/dp/B082M3YQTG]

A, B, and C Players. When to Hire and When to Fire?

Jon, Ryan, and Gabe discuss how to identify, vet, and hire your key team players. You never want your company to be 100% filled with A players. They are always looking for the next best thing and it’s difficult to keep this kind of employee engaged. B players are good, they get their job done, but they’ll never push beyond that, and C players — you have got to watch out for these guys as they can really drag the business down. Key Takeaways: * Let’s talk about A, B, and C players. * How do we define A player? * It’s risky to hire A players! * You don’t want your business to be filled 100% with A players. * You don’t want an entire team filled with Michael Jordans, for example. * Gabe shares his opinions on why you need a good mix of A, B, and C players. * Gabe had one of his employees leave because they wanted to be a manager, and he didn’t think she’d be a good fit for it. * Ryan always has a million questions on why someone wants to leave their current job. * True A players never stop looking for jobs. * How does Gabe vet whether a potential hire is going to be a good fit? * As a business owner, you can get overly optimistic about a potential hire. * What is a definition of a B player? * When people are under pressure, all their skills go out the window and the only thing that remains is their character. * Can you train someone on their character? * The guys share their tips and tricks on how they conduct the reference check. * Identify your C players and get rid of them. They will drag your company down. * Business owners spend a lot of their time on C players. You gotta stop this. Resources: Freedomblueprintshow.com [https://www.freedomblueprintshow.com/]

Your Money or Your Life: A Book Review!

Jon, Ryan, and Gabe talk about the book they recently read together, Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin, where it talks about how you see money and it gives you a deeper perspective on how you can have a better relationship with money. Money can be an uncomfortable subject for many people, but this is why it’s important to bite the bullet and really take a look at it because it can really be revolutionary and eye-opening to see how you spend, why you spend, and whether you want to keep down that same path. Key Takeaways: * Ryan’s rule is that he will never go on a road trip for more than six hours. * Jon has decided to relocate to Florida for seven months! * Today’s episode is a book review from Vicki Robin. * In the book, Jon really likes the purposeful intention concept on how you spend your money. * What is money, really? * There are additional costs to chasing money. * What is your hourly rate? Once you have this number, now you know when it makes sense to do something, or not do it. * Most of the time in society, we worked very little. Our modern age has sort of corrupted this. * Ryan’s dad is in his 90s and still working. He said he likes to work because retirement equals death. * In the book, Vicki defines what work really is vs. what you do for money. * Jon really wants a little more runway with his financial situation, which means he’s willing to sacrifice a little bit now for a better life two years from now. * Grinding isn’t hard, but grinding every day without getting results is very hard. * You’re not going to have nice things at the very beginning because you’re busy hustling to reach the next level. * What advice do the guys have when it comes to grinding without seeing the results? * Track how much money you’ve made throughout your entire life. How much do you have to show for it? * Jon really liked the dollar-per-hour exercise. It really puts things into perspective. * Gabe knows his team has problems with money and they bring those problems to work. If you can get the money piece right, they’ll be happier and more productive people. * Jon thinks the word “need” is a very disempowering word. * Reframe your mind to “I want” or “I get to” instead of using the word need. Resources: Freedomblueprintshow.com [https://www.freedomblueprintshow.com/] Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence, by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez [https://www.amazon.com/Your-Money-Life-Transforming-Relationship/dp/0143115766] Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World, by Cal Newport [https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Minimalism-Choosing-Focused-Noisy-ebook/dp/B07DBRBP7G/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Digital+Minimalism&qid=1615899494&sr=8-1]

A Year in Lockdown: A Recap in Real Estate

Gabe, Jon, and Ryan recap what they were going through in the business when everything shut down in March. Hindsight is always 20/20 and everyone tells you to buy when others are fearful, but boy, psychologically that’s easier said than done. The truth is, we don’t know when the bottom really is and it can be a hard pill for the mind to swallow when your recent investments keep losing cash. The guys talk about some of the critical lessons they learned throughout this process. Key Takeaways: * How do the guys feel about the year 2020? Let’s do a recap. * The guys who struggled the most had the $50K budgets for marketing. * Gabe lost half of his sales pipeline. * Ryan also lost money and wasn’t sure what to expect. It was like it was 2008 all over again. * It’s so hard to have a good frame of mind when everything around you is falling apart. * You want to buy when there are panic and fear, but that’s easier said than done. * It’s so critical to be flexible and nimble when stuff changes. * Ryan is just not willing to risk everything in order for him to have an “influencer’s life.” * When a society gets prideful, they start to get greedy. * Jon is preparing for the downturn and is hoarding cash right now. * The market can stay irrational for a long time. * The more cash you can generate, the better position you’ll be in when there’s a downturn. Resources: Freedomblueprintshow.com [https://www.freedomblueprintshow.com/]