Show Notes:

02:19 – We can learn a lot from paperboys. [John Morgan] “I’ve always been fascinated with paperboys. They’re 10 or 11 years old, and they’re tied to this job every day. Rain, sleet, snow, grouchy customers, bad customers, but they do it every single day. I believe those paperboys are lions. Warren Buffett was a paperboy. Oprah Winfrey was a papergirl. When I meet people, especially my age, I ask them if they were a paperboy or a papergirl. And when they tell me they were, it’s like my own little Briggs Meyer personality test. I know who I’m dealing with.”

13:09 – Swim upstream. [John Morgan] “There’s always resistance from vision-blockers. There’s always somebody trying to stop you. Anything that’s worthwhile will not be easy. Sam Walton had a rule: swim upstream. When people tell you that you can’t, that just means that they can’t. When people say no, it really means yes. You have to make sure that you understand that a lot of people are trying to stop you from being great because they know that they can’t be great. And misery loves company.”

20:20 – Avoid becoming comfortable. [Mike Papantonio] “Being too comfortable draws you into becoming average. What happens when you become too comfortable? The biggest problem lawyers have with burnout — the reason they end up with drug problems and alcohol problems and five marriages and kids that they can’t control — is that their life isn’t all that balanced. The reason it’s not balanced is because they’re doing the same thing the same way every single day. And people end up just becoming so average. They become so focused that they have burnout.”

23:15 – Stand your ground. [Mike Papantonio] “If you can walk into a room and have a thousand people disagreeing with you, thinking that what you’re saying is ridiculous, and still feel good…then you’re on the right side. You’ve got to have a real commitment to what you’re doing. I often remind myself how much this matters. I have to do that every day.”

33:16 – Culture trumps all. [Brian Panish] “The most important thing in a law firm is its culture. If you have people who are committed to the firm’s goals, then you’ve got a strong culture. But if you have people who are complaining and saying negative things, then it starts going around the firm unless you have strong leadership and a consistent culture. That culture defines who you are and what you want to be. For us, our culture is getting the best results for the clients and doing the best work. We’re going to continue to do a great job and build our brand and our reputation and continue to get better. And if you do that, you’re going to be successful. But if people don’t want to work, then I’m the first to tell them that they can go ahead and leave.”

38:00 – Compete with yourself. [Brian Panish] “One time I was fishing with my dad and these guys across from us were catching all kinds of fish. I was getting frustrated that they were beating us, but my dad said, ‘In life, you need to compete with yourself, not others.’ We see what other firms are doing and I have respect for them, but we try not to focus on them as we run our own practice.”

45:40 – Winning is about elevation, not motivation. [Tim Grover] “Winning is hard. Everybody’s looking for that easy path. That’s why there are so many individuals out there who sell motivation because that means you’re going to keep buying. I don’t sell motivation… I sell elevation. The big difference between the two: elevation is internal and motivation is external. Nobody can ever take your elevated mindset away. They can take your motivation away because you got it through somebody else. But nobody can take away what you earned on your own.”

52:30 – You can win every day. [Tim Grover] “Kobe Bryant said winning is everything. We have opportunities to win every single day, but a lot of us can’t even see them. You have to go get them first, and it’s a feeling that you just can’t describe. It may not be in the sports industry, but how about being your own cheerleader and putting that same effort into something that’s that important? I have no problem with an individual who did everything they possibly could and failed. I have a problem with the individual who didn’t.”

1:01:55 – What are you willing to sacrifice? [Mark Manson] “We all want the same stuff. We all want a nice house and a cool car and a great relationship and tons of sex and money and fun and a great family. We all want the same sh*t. There’s nothing particularly interesting or unique about that. The thing that makes us who we are is what we’re actually willing to sacrifice and what we enjoy sacrificing.”

1:06:48 – There is no meaning in life without struggle. [Mark Manson] “A prerequisite for happiness is a constant source of struggle. It’s funny because if you look outside the realm of emotions, this is just an obvious thing in other aspects of life. To have a healthy body, you have to constantly put it through stress and strain. To have a healthy career, you have to consistently surmount and overcome challenges. If you’re working in a firm and you’re literally not accomplishing anything, obviously you’re not going to be promoted or given more responsibilities. In every other aspect of life, we just understand it as obvious that you need to struggle to progress. You need struggle to remain healthy and happy, but for some reason when it comes to our emotional life, we have this weird expectation that we should just be able to be happy. We shouldn’t have to deal with anything.”

1:12:41 – Controlling the power of the alter ego. [James Lawrence] “During the 50 is when that alter ego [The Iron Cowboy] came because I had to dig to a depth that I’ve never been to before and go into that extreme flow state. It requires you to put on your uniform and be something different. That alter ego is not a bad thing. People associate ego with a bad thing. It’s not. It’s getting your mind into a state where you can accomplish something that nobody else thought was possible. I’ve learned how to channel this individual when needed or when I’m backed into a corner and things get ugly. When it gets tough and things aren’t going well and adversity and hardship are in front of you, you’ve got to be able to put on your tough boy uniform and power through it. An alter ego is just a good cue or a weighted way to trick your mind.”

1:14:08 – The responsibility is yours. [James Lawrence] “It’s so easy and quantifiable. You eliminate any type of excuse or entitlement, and you show up and do the work. That’s seriously as simple as that can get. Everybody needs to stand up, look at themselves in the mirror, and go, ‘I’m in this position in my life because of me. I need to take full accountability for where I am. I’m broke? It’s my fault. I’m rich? It’s my fault. I’m fat? It’s my fault. I’m fit? It’s my fault.’ Once you can get to the realization that you’re taking accountability for where you are in your life, only then can you start to make the changes that you need to.”

1:23:04 – Redefine difficulty. [Colin O’Brady] “All of us — every person listening — we all have untapped reservoirs of potential to achieve extraordinary things, particularly when we can shift our mindset toward the positive and choose how to react in tough situations.”

01:25:31 – The O’Brady theory of relativity. [Colin O’Brady] “Too often, we’re stuck in this zone of comfortable complacency. So rather than thinking about one to 10 in a linear plane, I think about it as a pendulum swinging back and forth. I’ve realized to experience the 10s, you also need to embrace the ones. You need to put yourself in challenging circumstances.”

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EPISODE RESOURCES & REFERENCES
John Morgan:
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Mike Papantonio:
Resurrecting Aesop by Mike Papantonio
Inhuman Trafficking by Mike Papantonio
Yaz Lawsuits
In Search of Atticus Finch by Mike Papantonio

Tim Grover:
Relentless by Tim Grover
Winning by Tim Grover

Mark Manson:
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
The Buddha

James Lawrence:
The Iron Cowboy Website
Operation Underground Railroad
1st Phorm

Colin O’Brady:
The Impossible First by Colin O’Brady
Colin’s Latest Expedition | Everest-Lhotse Traverse
Beyond 7/2 Non-Profit