An Open Mind And A Willingness To Learn Go A Long Way Toward Your Success with Kawan Karadaghi
An open mind, the first step to mastery is apprenticeship. Find something you are interested, then find an expert doing it as a mentor. It’s important to immerse ourselves in order to learn. We may find it’s not what we thought and we need to move on. We might just find it’s exactly what you thought it was with an opportunity to learn. Show up and be willing to work
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About Kawan
Kawan Karadaghi stumbled into fitness and journeyed his way into becoming a master trainer. He wouldn’t be where he is without mentors and business partners. He now owns and helps operate gyms. Kawan now serves as a guide to help others find their strengths. He also hosts a podcast called ValueVerse to talk about the stories of mastery, growth and success.
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An Open Mind And A Willingness To Learn Go A Long Way Toward Your Success with Kawan Karadaghi
Sun, 6/27 4:15PM • 43:35
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
people, business, sales, fitness, helping, buy, find, personal trainer, gym, day, product, mentor, instagram, big, thought, person, selling, work, questions, message
SPEAKERS
Kawan, Roy Barker
Introduction
Roy Barker 00:08
Hello, and welcome to another episode of The Business of Business Podcast. I’m your host Roy. Of course, we are the podcast that brings you a diverse set of topics in the business world from a wide variety of guests want to talk about some things that may be enlightening, and maybe things we didn’t think about, as well as give you solutions to some things that keep you up at night. Today, we’re fortunate enough to have one Kawan Karadaghi. And he stumbled into fitness and journeyed his way into becoming a master trainer.
He wouldn’t be where he was today without his mentors and his business partners, he now owns and helps operate gyms. He serves as a guide to help others find their strengths. Kawan also hosts a podcast called Value Verse to talk about the stories of mastery, growth and success. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to be with us.
Kawan 01:02
Roy, thanks so much for having me on. I love the work you’re doing. I strongly believe it’s important for the world to hear.
Roy Barker 01:08
Well, awesome. Thank you very much. And you know, we’ve had a few conversations prior to this. And I think that, you know, we have a lot of information a lot to unpack. So we’re just gonna jump in first, and tell us a little bit about your history. Kind of how you found yourself in, you know, in this space, and we’ll go from there. Yeah, Roy.
Kawan 01:27
So, you know, I basically was, when I moved to Los Angeles, I initially moved there to pursue a career in entertainment. And in doing so, you know, you have plans. But no, as always joke around the universe, life has different plans for you, right? So I stumbled upon working out. And I found that I was actually Okay, at doing that. I love the immediate, you know, result from doing something and getting a result from it, right. So I got into fitness at that age in my in my late 20s there and mid to late 20s.
And it just kind of stuck, you know, I have a lot of credit to people around me that that helped me find that. And to, you know, help me allow me to explore that even more. So I got into it, because it first it the changes it made on me. Then eventually it would become my life there. And it just sort of fit my personality. And everything that I believed in, which was, you know. Improving yourself, knowing yourself and working on your strengths and weaknesses. And then somehow translating that to helping others.
Find Something You Love
Roy Barker 02:38
Yeah, I think a couple things you’ve said that really resonate. Is number one, finding something that you love. Because even if you can make a lot of money, if you get enough hate in your life or hating to do whatever you do is just in the end, it’s not worth it. So, you know, finding something that resonates. But then the other thing is the mentors and your partners. And it’s just surrounding yourself with good positive people that can, you know. That you trust that can be give you some good advice. Help you through these tough times. Things that maybe you’ve seen. Or they’ve seen before that you’re bumping up against. So, you know. To me. Those are a couple of the huge foundations of trying to do anything on your own.
Kawan 03:18
That’s absolutely right. It’s funny, you brought that specific point up. I posted something on my on my Instagram, yesterday, my Instagram story, it says the first step to to mastery is apprenticeship, you know, find a mentor and level yourself up, right? You know. Find somebody that’s doing kind of what you want to do. Or that has knowledge in what you’re doing and and shadow him or her. And ask questions. And truly take on the role of just open mindedness and and being that student so not not knowing the answers is okay. Not, you know, shutting yourself out is the key takeaway there. To be able to say, Okay, I don’t know as much but I’m willing to learn I’m willing to put the work in and show up.
We Don’t Have All The Answers
Roy Barker 04:02
Yeah, and I think that’s a misconception that we have a couple of them. Number one is that we were supposed to have all the answers. Which, you know, even when I look at hiring people. I know if somebody tells me they got all the answers, big red flag. When I’m looking for somebody that knows. Hey, I don’t have the answer. But I can go get that answer. I know where to find it. I have the resources to acquire that information much, much more important. But also, I think that well, also the our egos Don’t let us say, I don’t know that.
But of reaching out to other business people in the same space. Now, if you operate next door, same block. There may be a little pushback. But I think if if there’s enough geographical distance. There’s not a huge business overlap. I think people would be very surprised. That business owners are willing to give up their time and their knowledge to help somebody. You know, we all want to help people
Kawan 05:00
That’s exactly right. And I’m, you know, Guilty as charged of doing that. I’ll find people that you know, that are doing something. Or are successful at doing something. And I’ll either approach or call or reach out via email. I may not get a response. But I’ll try over and over again. And I’ll usually present it in a form of either relating to a topic that they know about. Or offering my service. And something that I can do first and then saying. Okay, now, after doing that, is there some, can I ask you a question. You know, can I can I get something. A knowledge or anything like that. And most people will be surprised or willing to help.
You know, when I started off as a, as a personal trainer. I went up to the master trainers at the time. And I asked them how they became successful at doing what they’re doing. And that question, you know, changed my life. It changed my trajectory of the career. Because they told me what, what they did. And they helped me avoid, sort of the pitfalls that I was either going to get into. Or, you know, stumble upon trial and error. So, I firmly believe and, you know, reaching out to businesses. Like you said, geographic, as long as there’s no competition, direct competition. And then just just getting you know, tidbits and nuggets. If you if you do enough of that. You’ll save yourself, you know, just so many years of, of trial and error.
Surround Yourself With Good People
Roy Barker 06:18
I knew these guys that they. They had a roundtable of about six or eight of them. That they were in similar to different industries. But they would all meet once a month. Breakfast or lunch and talk about things. because even though I may not understand exactly. You know, a problem that’s going on inside of the gym. If this is more of an employee problem. If I’ve had this same struggle with the situation, and now you’re bumping into. That, it’s like, you know, that is a benefit, say, look, you know, here’s some things I’ve done, here’s some things that, you know, don’t do this, it didn’t work.
It didn’t work well, or it didn’t end well. But, you know, just those little things. You know, you use for a lawyer, who’s your seat, you know. Just all these things that we can gain from just taking the time to build those relationships. But you know. I think like you said, I like what you said about you tell them out, seeing how you can help. I think we can’t just take take take. We have to be a be, we have to be in a mindset to give as well.
Kawan 07:16
100%. And I think that’s something that’s forgotten. A couple things that that get forgotten or forgotten. There rather, is no people forget to that no one really bothers to ask questions, right? They don’t they don’t say, let me, let me let me ask this person, right? Do you see so many successful people doing something that that you want to do. But no one bothers to say, hey, how’d you do it?
Or let me look, can I ask you something? Can I can I bench my ego real quick and say, Hey, you got something for me here. And the second thing is. You got to give to get you know, in business. So many people want something from you. And, you know, people are used to that all the time. So if you want to something for yourself, you got to offer something up.
And I always try to go in with that. I’ll go in and it’ll be something small, you know. You’ll be amazed. Give somebody a good review. You know, on anything, and they’ll say, wow. You know, that’s nice of them. And now you can in turn when you do enough of that, and not in a superficial sense. But in a sense of truly just wanting to collaborate and help each other out.
Roy Barker 08:17
Yeah, you can’t underestimate the importance of that at all. So the one thing I like about, and the one thing that interested me about you being a guest on here. Is a couple things. Is self improvement. Because I know that is a big part of the fitness industry, people come to personal trainers, because they want the self improvement.
But we can also look at this from a business aspect too. Is that to be successful? You know, we have to look at ourselves every day, what are we doing? what’s working, what’s not working? out? You know, we have to measure, how do you measure make these tweaks during our daily live. And I would venture to say, it’s like training. If you want to run a marathon or if you want to lose weight. I can’t come to you and say, you know, it’s Sunday one, I’m really looking to lose 100 pounds by next week, you know, maybe the end of the month.
And, you know, we have to manage these expectations. But the same with an entrepreneurship. We can’t come in and say, hey, I’ve got an idea for a business and I want it to be wildly successful next week, you know. We all hope that happens. But this is a journey and it all starts with small steps and really evaluating what we’re doing.
Kawan 09:32
That’s exactly right. You know, and for me. It started off as the in the health aspect. That i when i when i saw that I had and what I always tell and why. I always tell you know physical activity is because there’s a couple things that happen when you you get out of your, your head space there. So when you start moving and you start working out or doing anything physical, it could be walking. No fascinating phenomenon that happens is transient hypofrontality. Right which means your prefrontal cortex goes offline. Part of your brain shuts off, and you’re allowed to sort of get out of your head a little bit, right.
And, for me, that helps me that’s kind of how it started, I was able to work out and I would come back, and I’d have a fresh perspective on problems and things. So I always say, you know, go small, with, with something that, you know, that, that you can build efficacy and, and, you know, physicality really, really helps with that, and then coming back to those to those issues, and then revisiting those. And that could be anything on a business level to, you know, enrolling in a class, you know, picking up a business book on education, and strength are going to be the the two things that will always pay back tenfold and dividends for you.
So, you know, my message there is, it starts getting getting you know, out of your head by getting into your body a little bit by doing some movement, and pick up, you know, insightful books and people around you that, that help push you to further heights and then work on yourself go small, you know, people try to go for the, for the big, you know, as I’ve heard quantum leap, right, they, they try to go for this big jump, and then they find themselves short. And then they look back and say, Well, what happened, right? And, you know, nothing’s gonna change unless you practice it daily. So whatever it is that you can chunk down in a small thing that you can do, you’re going to build a habit. And over time, that thing just compound enormously.
Roy Barker 11:26
Yeah. Yeah, I think the the part that goes on that is consistency as well. There’s a great book, it’s kind of older, but it was called the slat. Edge. My one of my favorite books. Okay, so you know, yeah, that’s like this guy, he talks about, you know, let’s just take the weight loss journey is that, you know, if you eat a Big Mac every day, and you quit eating one for one day, it’s not going to make that much difference.
But he quit eating it for every day, you know, in the comments that he uses, I think baseball a lot, like, you know, the, the guy that goes out and he hits like 500 extra pitches every day. You know, he does it one day, not much result. But you do that over a year. Now, all of a sudden, you probably increased your batting average and increased your paycheck at 100%.
Kawan 12:17
And that goes for everything down to, you know, fitness, it goes down to sales, it goes down to every little thing that you do time is the X Factor, right? Everything happens over the course of time, as he says which kind of Jeff Olson the author, there is one of my favorite books, because that people don’t see the long term view of things, right, they see the short term, they see the day to day, but you got to step back and say, Okay, what happens over time.
If I do this, right, if you go up and, and you make 10 sales calls a day, it might not seem like many calls, but over the you know, the course of, you know, a week that’s 70 sales calls, right? You’re gonna get two or three sales, right? It’s just it’s the consistency of doing it daily. And that’s, that’s the beauty I found in fitness because I knew that if I did that my the dividends would pay back tenfold. So it’s all about just seeing that geometric long progression that as humans, it’s so hard for us to see.
Roy Barker 13:16
Yeah, in a talking about sales, you know, I usually try to relate that to the agrarian, agrarian society, you know, back in the 1800s, is, you planted the seed, you have to cultivate it, and then you can reap the harvest where, you know, a lot of times, especially in sales nowadays is like, you know, you get the phone calls, like wandy, are you ready to buy? Well, no, not at this moment.
And as like, we’re off, you know, it’s not, we don’t cultivate that we’re off to the next, you know, shiny object, but and it’s the same in, you know, in business, and I’m sure in fitness, as well as you can’t just decide today, you’re you, even though you decided that you want to make that change, you have to manage your expectations, that man, this is a long haul. I mean, why they call it a marathon, not a sprint. So when we set up our marketing and everything like that, we have to take that into account.
Because the other thing I see is people jumping around, and not giving things long enough to play as like, Oh, I spent some money on a Facebook ad last week, you know, I ran it for three days, you know, spent $30. And then now I’m off to Instagram and I’m doing this I’m doing insights all over the place instead of maybe just backing up making a plan, sticking with it. And that’s the other thing about like the having more things in, in play, especially when we talk about marketing is that, you know, we have a plan with multiple aspects and then we take this for the long road, you know, maybe we could tweak it as we go.
But it’s the same in business. I mean, you have to give it a chance to develop, reach out, you know, people and especially the higher dollar you get and I’m sure that you met I see this diversity in your space that, you know, selling the memberships takes one methodology where when you start selling the Pat training packages, something totally different.
Kawan 15:15
That’s absolutely right. And you know, paying attention to the data, just touch up on that point is is an important one, right? If you don’t give enough time for that data to, to accumulate, you got nothing to really, you know, base it off of so an exercise is the same thing, people will jump on exercise program to jump off. I said, Well, you never really gave a chance to take off there, you got to, you got to stick with a daily and that’s, you know, regardless of the way that you feel, right, I see, you know, em gray, who wrote the article on the common denominator of success was successful people willing to do the things that unsuccessful people weren’t willing to do.
And, and that’s, that’s kind of in a nutshell, when it comes to that you got to be willing to do it and continue to do it. You know, the training was, it came so easy to me, because for me, it was, Oh, well, I believe in this. And I can I can sell something I believe and so I was overjoyed in what that was because I was basically you know, as they call it a transference or the doozy as of right, I was I was giving other people what I had found, and what helped me and how that was gonna help them. So when it came to memberships, it was a smaller sale. And I was like, Oh, it’s not the kind of the same transference.
Really. So how do I, how do I do that, and it came down to, you know, allowing them to feel it and giving them the product that’s kind of sort of different by connecting with them on a more closer, closer level than just given them the real estate of the gym and just saying, Hey, good luck out there. You know, it was it was Hey, Larry, I’ll meet you, I’ll tell you which way to go. And I’m here for you to support you. And just given that value over and over and over again until they trust you.
The Trust Factor
Roy Barker 16:57
Yeah, yeah, definitely trust in like, are two important factors in that. But I love that transfer of enthusiasm, because it doesn’t matter what we do. You know, I’m the same way I don’t, I enjoy sales, but I really need to be selling something that I believe in, I couldn’t, you know, I wouldn’t make the good because I like to do that I’m excited about this product. And you know, I want to share it with you, that’s what this is all about. I take it that way, instead of me trying to actually sell you on something, you know, I want to get you to buy in and believe it exactly like I do.
Kawan 17:30
That’s right. And and I think that just comes from a place of, yeah, obviously you want to, you know, make sure that you’re helping this person in the right way, but just being honest with them, and, and, you know, allowing for those sort of fluff and all the other things to fade away and just just helping this person help themselves.
And that’s kind of the hardest thing to translate because it’s you can’t really, you know, everyone’s so different. So you communicating to them is so is so key. So you kind of got to know who you’re talking to and meet them where they are at the same time. You know, it’s if I’ve talked to someone a certain way, and it might not appeal the way that the other person was starts, you got to kind of know what angles they want and what they’re looking for, you know? Yeah,
Ask Questions
Roy Barker 18:16
we talked about that a lot, too, is the that exploratory visit whether you know, like you maybe it’s in person, maybe it’s on the phone, but you have to ask the right questions, and you have to ask thoughtful questions. Because when, you know, when somebody calls you and says, Hey, I want to train, okay, there’s all kinds of I want to train to run a marathon, an Iron Man, maybe I just want to train.
So when I walk up the stairs, I’m not huffing and puffing, you know, maybe I want to make this an integral part of weight loss. There’s so many different variables, but I think that’s where in sales we kind of fall short is we don’t ask all these questions so that we can try to focus our, you know, our conversation on what is it that you really want? What is it you really need? What is my product really going to do to fix for you?
Kawan 19:05
That’s exactly right. And for me, a big part of it was I would get so the first, you know, couple of years that have gotten into her first couple weeks, excuse me, I would, I would be so excited about it that, you know, I was used to just talking to people and that was kind of it. And I think the most important thing for me was that after every, you know, consultation or something that I had, I would always sit back and the ones that didn’t buy.
I would ask myself what what we got missed, What didn’t I listen to? And and what did I either not go over so that improvement in itself is kind of what helped me sort of, you know, get better at each one and do a better job of listening or doing a better job of delaying someone’s fears or a building that trust and, and that’s kind of you know, the message and improvement there is it doesn’t you know, ignore sales either sales requires you to Constantly revisit and and make yourself sharper and better, right, which kind of leads to, to the reinvention.
But I had gotten so good at talking about and being happy that when someone was finally ready to buy, I think it was the first one, I was shocked, I thought I wasn’t really expecting that because I thought we were just gonna tire I was getting ready for you to leave. And I was I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know how to use the computer, right? So I had run around trying to find my manager. And then you know, I thought, wow, you know, this person kind of believes in me because you’re the product right? As the personal trainer, you’re the person that is going to you’re selling yourself, you’re selling your services, your your ideologies, your math, your science, right, your philosophy.
So get it getting that was was was very awakening, because then I knew I had to deliver on that. And that’s, that’s the important thing, it’s doesn’t end at the sale, you got to go the extra mile to deliver, you know, your product and make sure that they, they they see that and they get what they pay for. Yeah,
Roy Barker 20:57
I think that’s an important part, too. You know, we’re talking about asking the right questions that helps us with that follow up if they don’t buy on the first go around. And, you know, the reality is, I think the smaller dollars you get, he probably that sales cycle is a lot smarter, quicker than high dollar. But I don’t know, the last estimates I saw is that you have to touch somebody maybe eight to 12 times before they buy, you know, on average. So, you know, always kind of plan. Okay, if this doesn’t close today, how can I follow up? And if we ask these thoughtful questions, then I think it makes it easier to have a not just a Hey, are you ready to buy yet?
By now, but more of, Hey, did you find another gym? Are you? You know, have you started walking? Are you doing anything, you know, whatever their issue was, you can kind of address that, or something else I’d like to do is just maybe find an article in the newspaper or in a you know, online nowadays, but you know, you find an article that speaks to what they were thinking about. And so I just have like five prospects and maybe even customers that I will send this email to and say, Hey, I saw this, I thought you might enjoy it. And then here are three bullet points that I really found interesting. I thought you would like you know, just like that just stay in front of them.
Provide Value
Kawan 22:17
That’s exactly right. I think you nailed it. I’ve read a simple book that by Gary Vee that stuck with me. And it was it’s still repeat to me to say it’s it was so easy and simple as give value, give value, give value ask, right. And for me in the gym, it was finding someone and saying, Hey, I like what you’re doing. I try this, you know, hey, this is cool. You know, what do you need help with? What is it that you’re looking for?
Okay, great, and not trying to press your agenda all the time, you know, just just keep giving value and keep giving value. And then eventually that person says, You know what, this guy’s got a lot of knowledge, he can probably help me a little bit. They got to come to that realization, you know, and once they come to that realization, they trust you. They say, Okay, now I’m ready to go. And now you have someone that’s that’s bought in, and then you’re gonna make great strides and have a beautiful relationship together.
Roy Barker 23:09
Yeah. Yeah, two points. I think there’s one is that sometimes when we give this knowledge and advice, we can actually show people how difficult the situation is. And they come to realize that, hey, I really do need this guy’s help. You know, a lot of times people are scared, like, Oh, I don’t want to give anything away. But then, you know, it’s like, uh, well, just like in your business, you know, I can come in and sit down and work on a machine, probably without much help. But I’ve had a personal trainer that he designed so many other activities for us to do.
Didn’t have any, it wasn’t him standing there counting reps on a weight machine. I mean, he had all these contraptions that he had me working on. And so, you know, the value in that for me was that he had all this knowledge of all these different things you can do. And so sometimes sharing that knowledge, I think, really leads people to the point of man, I need this guy. You know, I’m not doing it on my own. And the second point, sorry, I didn’t. One more thing I was gonna say about that is that sometimes it’s that reverse psychology to I’ve actually had people that and they were kind of waving if the in this and I said, Well, maybe this product isn’t right for you. You’d be right. Yeah, that’s
Kawan 24:25
that’s exactly right. I’ve read that before and allowing them to say, Well, wait a minute, you know, what, why is that? Why isn’t it right for me? Yeah. And that’s a great question. They can ask themselves, right.
Roy Barker 24:38
Yeah, we just, you know, I don’t know I’m just not a pushing. I don’t want to, I want because what I have found is when you push somebody to be a client, they usually turn out it turns out bad. It just is not a good relationship as much as like you said, if they trust you, they want to work with you, then life is pretty good after that. So I think You have to, you know, my personal opinion, I know, there’s some people like I you gotta, you gotta be pushing, you got to be harming them all the time, why aren’t you buying, you can afford it, you know all but we never know other people’s positions and so whether it’s time money, whatever, you know, you have to be respectful of that.
Find a Mentor
Kawan 25:18
That’s right that the mentor that had, you know Josh well more than later with my memberships was was Dan Sussman they they both had a different way of doing things but essentially got back down to they’re both were, you know, excited about what they they believed in and one guy was great at being in the moment being excited, truly excited about it, because he believed in it. And then he really did a good job of simplifying what that was right. So not just not a lot of just talk and peaks and valleys and, and emotion, but rather, you know, clarifying that message for that, so that they could grasp it and say, Okay, this, this makes sense. Because less is more for him.
And then, you know, my, my mentor, Joshua would do a better job of getting them emotionally bought in as to seeing why this product was going to help their their future and what and what they want to do so. So given them the promise of the future, and what what that holds for them, if they if they do that is paramount as well. So, you know, David and I, as well as my other business partner, he kind of he’s in though in the way of explaining things better and helping you choose options to find out what it is. There’s no right or wrong, it’s, it’s one of those strengths are for you, and then finding out how to just, you know, really use those without going back to trying a bunch of other things that that may or may not work.
Put Egos Aside
Roy Barker 26:38
Yeah. The other thing, you know, again, putting our egos aside is maybe if we’re struggling, or if we’re new, is have somebody listened in on these sales calls. And I’ve done that before, when I’m new, and I, again, I don’t try to hide it. Because if I got if, if I was trying to sell fitness to you right now, I would struggle, and it would be hard and you could, as a customer, you would see that as like, Well what’s wrong with this guy. Whereas you can just have somebody like, Look, you know, my, my colleague, my manager, you know, I’m new, he’s gonna sit down, make sure I cover everything, right. But that’s how you learn.
Because, you know, if they’re good, they will let you go through the process. And then you can debrief after that to say, here’s what you could do better. Here’s how you could tweak that. And I liked the other thing you said there was, paint that picture of what does success look like? I mean, you know, if, if you want to run a marathon, it’s crossing the finish line. Yeah. I did it. But what does success look like if you use this?
Kawan 27:40
That’s right. And one most important thing to do too, is to get you know, a lot of people wait and they push the product, then you get you know, these objections, right, or these people that say, you know, what, I don’t know, an important thing is to get ahead of those and I’ll, you know, find out what those are in the very beginning. That way you can address them and not run into them later on. Right. So for me, you know, one of my messages is never underestimate the power of repetition. You know, a song a fitness translates to so many things in business.
And one of the things that you said that was so true was having someone listen in and then run that, like, I’m a strong believer, now. I would, I would replay or roleplay with my business partners, my mentors and ROI like hundreds of times until I got until I was just you know what they call I think it’s a psychologist theories unconscious competent, right? They, you get so you know, used to doing something that you can do it and you know, if you’re asleep, right, I’m cautious, right. And I just did that over and over and over again, until I was just so familiar.
I had I knew the answers that were gonna come. And I was prepared to have an answer for those answers. Right. So it was it was really just just laying that groundwork. You can’t you know, you’re gonna save so much time and nobody likes role playing. It’s one of the most boring things with your resume. Okay, yeah, Sally have ready to buy this thing yet. But it’s, it’s so important because you you find out how to get across obstacles, how to, to help them and to really, truly get to the solution.
Roy Barker 29:14
Yeah, I mean, you think about it, we in sports, we practice in practice and practice and we practice you know, take baseball, what happens? You know, okay, there’s a man on first this time the guy hits it to the left, what do we do? Now you got first and third, you know, you work through all of these scenarios. So well, you know, you work as a team, but you also as an individual, you have to think Okay, in this situation, this is what I’m going to do and it’s the same with building you know, questions from sales or from prospects, you know, you want to be able to flow be able to give them a you know, a good answer or not.
The other thing too is I am much more. I have much more respect for sales people that say, you know what, I don’t know the answer. answer to that, versus making something up. But, you know, I think if you’re prepared, then you don’t put yourself in that position. But you know, you kind of like you said, you’re prepared for what objections are going to be thrown at you,
Kawan 30:12
which circles back to the hole. If you believe in it, all of this makes sense. If you’re selling something you don’t believe in, don’t do it, because you’re gonna feel bad, you’re gonna feel guilty about it. And that’s, that’s kind of, that’s not what sales is, right sales is, is the transference of a doozy as, as well as influencing someone to help them in a way that will better their life truly, you know, and save them time or save them money or, or buy them in this case of Fitness, Health and a longer shelf life friend.
Self-Care
Roy Barker 30:45
So that’s a good transition, what else I just written down was a self-care. And, of course, it’s easy for you because your business’s self, but I think it’s a it’s a big thing for entrepreneurs and for business man, and I have to be the first to put myself under that bus and say, you know, I don’t, there are things I do to push myself in probably unhealthy ways that, you know, like, not getting enough sleep feeling like if I just stay up late and complete this project, but what I have found in the past is that, that leads to, to other unhealthy habits, like, you know, eating bad trying to get that energy pop and things like that. So talk for a minute about how self care can really help us perform better in business as well.
Kawan 31:37
100% it, I think, you know, I read recently, I’m reading this book called ego is the enemy. And I never really put it this way. But it was he basically says Ryan holidays, if you can’t manage yourself, you can’t manage others, right. And I thought that was that was profound, because it touched back on some of the things as a leader in any business or anything that you’re doing, be it CEO, you know, a sales advisor, and from an even lower level, I firmly believe everyone in their circle of influence, or immediate circle is a leader in that regard, you know, so in that you have to take care of yourself, so that you can take care of others, right.
And for me, I have systems where everything is routinely based, right? So, you know, I started off in working out, I still do that five, six days a week. Then so I wake up in the morning that the first thing I do, is I’m guilty of making, you know, a pot of coffee. And so I get that going, but the first thing I do is I immediately jump into my reading, so that I read about 30 pages in the morning. And some days, I don’t want to do it, you know, but but I make myself do it. Because you’re only a value to those around you.
Depending on how much value you put in yourself and how much you you basically, you know, work on yourself. So, so I do that. And then my second thing is I always meditate in the mornings, right? So I do about a 10 minute, just, you know, mindful meditation on the headspace app, or just sit, no thoughts, no anything and try not to have thoughts if possible. But you just gotta just just sit with yourself there and have that moment to slow everything down and be in the moment, right and then I do my writing. So I journal deal of gratitude journal things that I’m thankful for, then I go get my workout.
And usually I’m done with all that by around on a good day on 7:38am, right? So I’m okay, now, I can take on the day I can do things and do that. So my message there is finding a routine that works for you in terms of having a physicality in there, it could be the easiest thing as as walking, walk for 10 minutes, you know, just just get outside, look at some trees, leave some stuff out there, come back in, I know do a little bit of self care your thoughts and what you’re feeling that day, write them down, write down one goal that you want to do. And my biggest message to everybody there is just go small. Don’t create big, big standards for yourself.
Because you know, and I hate to sound like anything that’s negative there, but it’s just sure to fall apart when you create big, you know, quantum leaps that you got to do it, it becomes a chore like yeah, and then you don’t want to do them. And then you say well, you know that’s that’s it falls off, it’s over. So behind yourself, be allowing yourself the opportunity to succeed by by truly just, you know, lowering that expectation. So self care is critical.
Be Kind To Yourself
Roy Barker 34:30
Yeah. And I think Be kind to yourself to that. You know, sometimes we can have that list of to dues and we get you know, if we got 10 things on there, maybe we get seven things done we wanted to do today. And we spend our time beating ourselves up over these three that we didn’t and you know if we prioritize, we got the most important ones first. Like because you got seven done, pat yourself on the bank saying it was an awesome day because if you could bat 700 you’d be making you know, because zillion dollars in your legs.
But, you know, we just have to. I like the part about being mindful, I have recently started meditating. And you know, what I will tell people is, don’t, again, don’t be too hard on yourself, and give yourself time because with me, it’s hard to turn the thoughts off, and sit there and not have thoughts, and you just have to keep redirecting, but what I have found is, I have better, some days are better than others. If you just stay after it, I think, on average, you will have better days than, than worst days, but it’s difficult.
Kawan 35:36
That’s exactly right. And I think that that’s a beautiful message there on the on the average tip, and also, you know, it’s all about just accumulating small wins, you know, create as many small wins for yourself as possible on daily basis. And you’ll be surprised, you know, over the course of six months to a year, it’s gonna show up big time for you. So, you know, getting out in nature, you know, in and of itself, I just recently read that you’re supposed to spend 20 minutes, three days a week, five hours a week, or three days out of the year, five hours a month, or three days out of the year.
So that’s, that’s guys 25, and three, and that’s supposed to have these effects on your, on your mind, as we’re slowing you down, and get you in a place of, you know, better optimization, it’s all about getting to that place where you’re able to perform, right, and that could be something as easy as going to sleep on time, you know, and it’s, you got to prioritize yourself and enable and in order to do those other things, well,
Roy Barker 36:38
yeah. And one thing I’ve started doing is I usually like to listen to podcast or to music while I walk. But so if I’m on, if I’m at the gym on the treadmill, I still do it. But when I’m walking around the neighborhood I’ve gotten where I’d take them off, and just try to listen to the nature and just have that quiet time. Because really, you know, I do a lot of strategic work. So it’s a lot of problem solving.
Sometimes when I run into a block, if I just get up and go walk, it clears my head that it’s like, the solution comes to you, or maybe creative thinking, if you’re, you know, a new product line or something that you want to do different. It just seemed like everything just comes so much easier when you take the time to kind of get out in front of the computer screen and let your head get clear for a minute.
Kawan 37:27
That’s right, you know, these these top athletes and you know, top business people, you know, they they all have ways that they’re in a constant state of this productivity on this fun, enjoy it. Right? And how do they do that not not everyone is like that people all everyone has problems, everyone has personal things going on. But you know, in fitness, and this translates to business in life, I always say, you know, the growth happens when you rest, right?
When you work a muscle, and you go home and you you have proper nutrients, and you sleep, that muscle grows back stronger. It’s the same thing in business in life, if you if you work all the time, and work yourself to the bone. First of all, you’re not going to have a great attitude and mindset after three, four or five years of that. And second, you know, you’re going to get tired, you’re going to need sleep, you’re gonna need rest, you’re gonna need to reset I know, because I worked myself to the point of exhaustion, you know, 6070 hour work weeks.
I had to learn the hard way and say, hey, it’s time to slow down, you know, you’re getting these messages of, you know, not feeling too hot all the time or not wanting to go to work. These are signals. Yeah. You got to strategize and like you said, problem solve and say, Okay, I need to step away a little bit. So I can come in a little bit harder there and then be be more effective. Take that time out for yourself. 100%
Roy Barker 38:48
Yeah, cuz that’s why we do this, as you know, we do this to people try to get to be entrepreneurs, because they want more control over their time and what they do, but then it’s unfortunate, because we, again, I have I’m guilty of this at times you get into the thing, instead of the dog wagging the tail, the tails wagging the dog, and, you know, you’re letting the business move you around on the chessboard instead of you taking control and move in the business. So always take time, because that’s what it’s worth. In the end. It’s those relationships and you know, we don’t want to lose trying to build a business for our family, but then lose our family in the process of that tension to themselves.
Kawan 39:29
Well, yeah, well said on that and never really thought about that. That’s exactly. That’s exactly it. Yeah. Yeah.
Roy Barker 39:35
Well quite appreciate you taking time out of your day. It’s been an awesome conversation. So tell me this, what is a tool or a habit, something that you do every day? That really adds a lot of value to your life. And you know, outside the meditation and the working out and the exercise.
Habit
Kawan 39:55
I’d say you know, connecting with people is is one of the most important things Things that that we can do as human beings, you know, you can have the best routine in the world. If you’re not connecting with somebody, or having a meaningful conversation, you know, for me, sitting in this podcast with you is one of the highlights of my day because it allows me to connect another individual that we can, you know, share thoughts and feelings with.
That’s, that’s what we’re meant to do, you know, so, you know, Intel has this philosophy, what they call it wandering about, so that, you know, a person from a department will go to another department, and sort of wander and talk to the other individuals in that department, they come back, you know, with more perspectives in the gym is the same way, you know. I was joking around with a couple buddies and I was holding the door, I was working out the other day, and I held the door for a friend of mine, I said, you know, welcome back to the school of strength and improvement, you know, yeah, let out a chuckle.
I went out to the gym floor, and I connected with the, you know, one of our members, there was a Marine, and we had talked, and we were talking about sort of the things of the struggles and the things we’re getting through. The answers are out there with those fellow individuals that you know, are sharing the same thing you are, and you’re not alone, you know, each go out and, and meet them, and then talk about how to strike up a conversation with somebody in your department and, and get to that humanistic level. Right?
Roy Barker 41:17
Yep. That human contact, it’s, it’s very important, you know, we can spend so much time in front of our computer screens that we kind of lose that ability, if we’re not careful. So, now, that’s, that’s good advice. So what kind of people do you like to work with? How can you help them? And of course, how can they reach out and get a hold of you? Oh,
Kawan 41:37
Wrap Up
yeah, absolutely. You know, I’m always in the space that I’m in now is trying to add as much value as I can, you know, to give back what I learned, and, hopefully get back what I learned, and basically, you know, add as much value in their lives in terms of business, you know, health and in terms of that, so I have a podcast called Value Verse where we talk about the journey, the storytelling, of individuals that, like yourself, have, have succeeded on a business level on a life level to help others see that it’s possible or to gain insight from and, you know, I’m on Instagram at Value Verse, the best way to reach me, so you always shoot me a message there, or www.thevalueverse com.
So I’m always open to adding value and to anyone that approaches me in any way that I can. And if I can’t, then I’ll point you in the direction of somebody that that can, you know, so that’s kind of the what I lived by, because, you know, someone did that for me. So I don’t want to be right if I could do that.
Roy Barker 42:37
Yeah, we need to pay it back. That’s for sure. Yeah, it just, you know, I think something I was told long ago was that we are successful because other people want to want to see us be successful, which means you know, we’ve got people behind us helping us out and I think it’s great anytime we can help other people. But yeah, y’all go check out value verse. Appreciate the time very much. that’s gonna do it for another episode of The Business of Business Podcast.
Of course, you can find us on all the major podcast platforms, iTunes, Stitcher, Google Spotify, we’re not a one that you listen to you reach out, I’d be glad to get you added. We’re also at thebusinessofbusinesspodcast.com all the major social media platforms probably hang out at Instagram more than anywhere else. And a video of this interview will go up on YouTube once it goes live. So until next time, take care of yourself and take care of your business.
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