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  • Ep135:Navigating Personal Bonds and Political Views

    Ep135:Navigating Personal Bonds and Political Views

    · Welcome to Cloudlandia
    In this episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, Dan and I have a thought-provoking discussion on balancing political views with interpersonal dynamics. Dean shares delightful tales from mingling with influencers in Toronto, like Joe Polish and Evan Carmichael.The intersection of politics and entertainment is examined using Taylor Swift as an example to explore the idea of keeping various domains of life separate. Dan emphasizes the growing importance for political figures to focus on their designated roles. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS We discuss the balance between political views and personal relationships, sharing anecdotes from our own experiences and the importance of keeping these domains separate. Dean shares stories from his recent social gatherings in Toronto with influencers like Joe Polish and Evan Carmichael, highlighting the social dynamics of such events. We explore the intersection of politics and entertainment, using Taylor Swift's political expressions as a case study, and reflect on how public opinion can be influenced by celebrity endorsements. We examine the underlying economic factors driving societal changes, emphasizing the costs of money, energy, labor, and transportation as key drivers beyond political discourse. Dan highlights the resilience of the entrepreneurial spirit in adapting to political landscapes and the role of the U.S. Constitution in shaping American society. We take a nostalgic journey back to the 1950s, discussing cultural elements like TV dinners and the Mickey Mouse Club, and how these shaped our personal stories. We reflect on dietary changes and the shift towards healthier habits, sharing insights on the enduring freshness of certain foods and the importance of sustainable eating practices. We emphasize the importance of building good habits, using personal anecdotes to illustrate how small, consistent changes can have a profound impact over time. We explore the concept of accountability buddies and consistent routines in managing personal health, highlighting the significance of protein intake and balanced diets. We conclude with a philosophical reflection on human nature and the challenges of making lasting lifestyle changes, underscoring the importance of long-term vision and ethical behavior.

    Links:
    WelcomeToCloudlandia.com
    StrategicCoach.com
    DeanJackson.com
    ListingAgentLifestyle.com

    TRANSCRIPT

    (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)

    Dean: There we go, mr Sullivan. Ah, much better. Okay, great that was my AirPods for some reason. Or, dadiki, you're not the first one to say it, so I'll just put it on. We'll go old-fashioned here, just on speaker. Dan: Yeah, yeah, sometimes old fashioned here just on speaker. Dean: Yeah, yeah, sometimes old fashioned works, you know, sometimes yeah, I can give you an example. Dan: I can give you an example Oxygen you know, been around for a while. Most people don't give it a thought. Most people don't give a thought, and yet, and yet, it's. Dean: I find I appreciate it, you know of a thought and yet, and yeah, that's yeah, I find I appreciate it. You know well, I have, you know, as you know, I have a new appreciation for oxygen, whereas a couple of years ago my lack of oxygen was a problem. But yes, yeah I fully appreciate oxygen. We were saying how we just so everybody knows we had a little false start on the cast. We had static, so the first minute or so was we decided to switch over to this mode here. But we're saying I'm in Toronto right now, as is Dan. We had a nice brunch yesterday and I was sharing with Dan that. I had dinner with Joe Polish last night and Evan Carmichael and Chad Jenkins and Krista and I can't remember her last name, dan, but she lives in Vancouver and South Africa. Yeah, she's in 10 times. Dan: Well, anyway, I was noticing, I was just looking. They've been doing the polls on Taylor Swift coming down on the side and it's made absolutely no difference. It's made absolutely no difference. One way or the other, it hasn't made any difference, and what it tells me is that the vote is sort of locked in for the presidential. Dean: Yeah, it was locked in. Dan: Yeah, it's made a difference for her in that there's a lot of people who are getting rid of their Taylor. Swift tickets and get off. When you get off the trail you're in the weeds, get back down as much as you can. You know, and it's not particularly anything to do with this particular election, but my sense is there's a there's a growing desire on the part of people that if you're in one area of life, stay in that area of life. Don't come and, you know, don't make all of life a political stew you know, like you know everything else. Dean: And you know I wonder if there's any examples where that has worked out for people in anyone I was mentioning yesterday at the brunch that you know reminds me of the dixie chicks debacle in 2001. Yeah, and the documentary you know that came out afterwards. Shut up and sing but what, uh? Dan: and that was before. Dean: You know that was really, that was before the internet and cancel culture. So that was mainstream media driving that. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I just say, you know, I like my categories distinct and separate. I don't want the you know, I don't want them all mixing up with each other and you know, and I by the same token, in the political realm, I would prefer that the politicos, you know, the people who run for office and run office. They don't attach themselves to other areas of life. You know, just do your politicking and, you know, be good at it and when the time comes, get out. And, you know, work on your handicap. You know. And yeah, it's interesting, you know, and yeah it's interesting, and I think what it is? It's the technological, the easy technological means to mix things together. You know, I mean you see a series of five second flashes or two second flashes and it's like everything that's important is everything else and nothing means anything more than anything else, and that's not really true, you know. I mean, that's not true for any person. There's definitely things that are more important than other things, and I just don't like being told that you should mix everything together. Dean: I agree, I mean the whole yeah, it is. Yeah, I think you're right, Stay in their lanes. We don't want everything, yeah all, becoming moral issues or anything you know. Dan: Well, they all become political issues. The problem is, everything is reduced to a common denominator, that everything has a political meaning, and you know there are those who you know who do that. But I don't do that, you know I have great friends who I know I have great friends that don't vote the way that I do and the way they vote has no bearing whatsoever on my friendship with them. Dean: Yes yes, I agree A hundred percent. Dan: As long as they don't bring up the subject. Dean: They don't try and convert you Exactly. Dan: No. Dean: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I find that same thing. That's really. I mean remember it used to be more you know. It used to be like a private matter kind of thing. Right, like people would. You'd never really discuss it, but now it's like everything. Everybody's got a megaphone and everybody's very especially on the polls. I think we're definitely more polarized than I remember us being. I just remember the debate the other night. Watching the debate was just such a series of you're a liar, no, you're a liar. No, you lied about this, you're a liar and the whole. I mean, that's all it was. My favorite ever debate moment was Obama-Romney in 2008. Obama was responding to Romney suggesting that under his you know, maybe it was 2012. Dan: Yeah, probably it was McCain in 2008. Dean: Yeah, because under he was proposing that under Obama the Navy had less ships than they did in 1910. And Obama, just without skipping a beat, said yeah, that's right, and there's also less horses and bayonets. I don't know if you noticed, but they have this new thing called aircraft carriers where we can actually fly the planes right off of the ships. I mean it was just so funny that bring, there's less horses and bayonets. I mean that's pretty funny. That was probably prepared for. You know you like to think that's off the cuff, but I think that had to have been what could possibly mitt accuse us of, or maybe he said no what? Dan: what I suspect is what I suspect is that uh mitt had tried to line out previously in some other situation yeah, and you know, you know which goes to show. You only try your lines out for the first time, right? Dean: Don't do it for the second time. Dan: Right, yeah, yeah, so anyway. But I think what happens is that I was noticing that there's a real distinction between Trump, on the one hand, and Obama. Is that everybody feels they know Trump? And very few people feel they know her and even after 90 minutes of a debate, you still don't have a handle on who this person is. You know who is she is, you know and, and yeah, and I think that in the end they're going to, they're going to vote for the known quantity Risky. Dean: It's going to be various things that I'm seeing. That's my take. Dan: I mean, you know, that's my take anyway. Dean: The things I'm seeing now on my algorithm. What they're presenting to me is the I saw, you know, side by side or above and below video of her saying one thing, you know in 2020 or 2022 or whatever it was in the past, saying taking a hard stance on something, and then, in 2024, saying exactly the opposite of what she said in the you know in that time, and so very well done of letting her, in her own words, show how she's flip-flopping. Dan: Yeah, I mean, I'm a straight ticket voter. My first election was 68, and that was. They changed the voting age when I was 24, the in 64, so I was 20 years old and the voting age at that time was 21. And then they changed it in the next four years, so I the first time I voted was 68 and I've been straight ticket ever since then you know, why tell you know, why Tell me, you know why I'm straight ticking. It's simpler. Dean: It's simpler. Dan: This is who I am. Yeah, it's like we're wearing the same clothes every day Having the same uniform. But the whole point of it is that I vote on the basis of entrepreneurism. Which party seems to be more supportive of entrepreneurism? And it's definitely one and not the other, and it's been that way for 32, 56 years. It's been that way for 56 years. So that's my criteria for voting. It's the same thing here in Canada. You know, because I voted both countries, because I'm a citizen of both countries. Dean: Oh, very nice, and you are too, and you are too, and you are too, I am too. Dan: Yeah, yeah, if you care to exercise your vote. My franchise, they call it. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Your franchise. Yeah, but it's Peter Zion who I'm a great fan of and he said you know, the United States as a country, as a landmass, you know, given their position in the world geographically and looking at their demographics, have so much going for them that Americans are the only people in the world who can treat domestic politics strictly as a form of popular entertainment. Domestic politics strictly as a form of popular entertainment. And you know, and that's what I get, is that there's, you know, and I wrote a book about two quarters ago called the Great Meltdown, and what I said is that probably politics is secondary to the cost of four things the cost of money how much does it cost to have money? Interest rates, you know, what kind of return on money do you have? The second thing is energy cost of labor. So that's m e, l, and then t is transportation, and in every case the united states has the lowest cost on the planet and that means that that's going to determine things. Those four costs money, energy, labor and transportation are going to be the dominant factor and I think that politics is a dog that's being pulled together, pulled forward by those four, you know, by those four factors in society. People don't really, they don't experience them necessarily that way, but they experience that things were better four years ago than they are today. You, know, somehow they have a feeling about that, and so you know. So it's like the ocean. Everybody talks about the waves and the wind, but really it's the current that makes the difference. And I think economic factors are not winds and waves, they're the current. Oh, that's interesting. The news is about waves and wind and storms and everything else, but that's not what determines things. Dean: That makes a lot of sense. Yes, yeah, the currents are what goes underneath, as always moving in a direction for sure. I remember when Oliver Stone did the movie on Putin, where it was like an interview type of series. I don't know whether we've talked about that or whether you saw it, but his whole he was saying, you know, because Putin has seen so many presidents come and go all the way since the first Bush, right, he's just been the constant. And his analysis was that he sees all these men come and they have, you know, the desire for change and they have ideas for change, and the people, you know, they present those ideas and the people vote for them. But as soon as they get into office, what he called the men in the suits come and tell them how it really is, and then there is no change, and that's the current I think that you're talking about is, and then there is no change, and that's the current I think that you're talking about. Everybody would talk about the deep state or the you know the thing, the behind the scenes, the big picture stuff that you know it's mostly the whoever's at the helm is really winds and waves, you know yeah. Dan: Do you think that this was truly an understanding of the united states or he was just reflecting what was true? Dean: in the Kremlin, maybe I mean, but it seems so Because my theory is that there's bureaucratic families in Russia today. Dan: You know they're the result of intermarriage over a century. They were the behind the scenes people when the czar was there. They were the behind the scenes people when the czar was there they were the behind the scenes people, and they don't have political views, they just have a way of getting things done, you know, like and, and the survival of their family is the most important thing. Remember I'll switch countries here remember that guy who went on a murder streak in Norway and he walked into the parliament and he shot up the Norwegian parliament and then ran out and then he took a boat over to an island where he really did some damage and I think he killed a large number of sort of teenage children, and these were all the children of the people who were the bureaucrats. They were. You know they were upper echelon people, but they were government bureaucrats. They were sort of faceless people. Dean: You didn't know them. Dan: And he says you don't make any change unless you kill the bureaucrats. He says you don't kill the politicians, you kill the bureaucrats, they're the. You don't kill the politicians, you kill the bureaucrats, they're the ones you want to kill. Yeah, and kill the next generation. And the Norwegians, of course, don't have death penalties. So he's up, you know, working on his rubric cube or something. But it's really interesting. A lot of people don't think of that. I bet in Washington there's families who were upper echelon people in 1900, and they're still upper echelon and they intermarry like aristocracy. There's bureaucratic aristocracy and they intermarry and everything else, but they're never seen. They're never seen. You never know who these people are, but they do have power really in any way. Dean: And you know, I just look at how little, and I don't know. This may be ignorant, but how little it seems to have an impact on my life in a way that I can do anything about it. You know, and that's where I think entrepreneur, capitalism like as long as capitalism's allowed and we're allowed to pursue our self-interest, that's really the biggest driver of everything. Dan: Yeah, we're making money on election day, right Personal agency right of our own outcomes. Yeah, you know, and I've been talking. You know there are people who are just the opposite of you and they're intensely involved in it and they said you know what happens if all the people we don't like get elected? And I said you'll have a good, you'll have a good entrepreneurial year. Dean: It's being adaptable. Right, You've got to deal with what the situation is, what the current is. Dan: Yeah, but my take is that if you spend some time reading the Constitution, and there's a lot of neat videos, educational videos Probably the best source of this is Hillsdale College. It's a college in Michigan and their whole thing is that America is a unique country because of the Constitution, and so they put a lot of effort, they put a lot of money, they put a lot of time into making sure that the students really comprehend what the Constitution really does. Dean: And. Dan: I've not been there but I've. You know I became interested in it because it's not much bigger now than it was when it was enacted in the 17th, and you know it's not. It's changed very little. It's changed very little. I heard the phrase that, if you typed up the Constitution in 1789, I think is when it was enacted a single space so a single space typed, it would be 23 pages in 1789. Dean: And if you were to do it? Dan: today it would be 27 pages. They've added four pages in 230 years, almost 250 years, and in the very first paragraph of the Constitution it says this is the supreme law of the land. Okay, so the Constitution, that document, is the supreme law of the land. Nothing else can be higher than the Constitution. And then they put in a whole set of rules where it becomes very difficult to change the Constitution. So if you have an amendment to the Constitution, you got to get two-thirds of the House of Representatives to vote for it, two-thirds of the Senate and then three-quarters of all the state legislatures, so roughly, you know 37 states. The legislature would have to vote for it. And it better be a persuasive amendment. Dean: Better be compelling. Dan: Yeah, exactly, yeah, that's you know, and everybody tears their, you know, and everybody rips their clothing and tears the thing and they said, yeah, but it's a bunch of white guys in the 1700s and I said yeah but they did a good job. You know there was about. There's maybe about 3 million of them you know, total population 3 million and they were just the Atlantic seaboard and look where it is now. I think they did a good job. Dean: Yeah, yeah, exactly. I think you're absolutely right. That's kind of the thing. At the underpinning of it is the individual pursuit of it's all about the individual. Dan: It's all about the individual. Yeah, the whole thing is geared to give individuals unique freedom to develop themselves. Yeah, so I'm kind of for that and that helps. Dean: That's kind of like you know, that's appealing to entrepreneurs yeah, I'm I the direction that's going in. Dan: I'm inclined toward that direction. I kind of like that direction yeah. And so my sense is there isn't much that will happen in any election that's going to alter a 250-year momentum in a particular direction. I just don't think there's much. I mean it might be useful for entertainment purposes and everything else, and I vote. I always make sure I vote, but I go to bed at 9 o'clock. On Election Day and I just check the results in the morning Three weeks later to see who won. No, I get up the next morning and I check in. Dean: In any case, the last few times it's been. You know the real. No matter who won air quotes, it's always some question and contested and you know it'll be weeks before the final decision is made, kind of thing. Dan: Well, I just think it's a poor career choice where you get paid for being outraged. Dean: Yeah right. Dan: Yeah, I think you know I really haven't developed this thought very much, but I think so much of the complexity of society today is that there's just so many of us and we're electronically empowered. Dean: Well, you hit it on the head right there that there's so many of us with a megaphone, that everybody has the megaphone, everybody has reach to all the others and you can collectively get on a you know, collectively gather momentum with you know what everybody is saying. You and I were talking at brunch yesterday. I've been reading the Same as Ever book by Morgan Housel that she recommended and it's fascinating. It really is interesting and yeah, that kind of you know. All of this is the same as ever. Everybody's been the winds and the waves have always gone in one direction, but the current is everything. Have always gone in one direction, but the current is everything. Dan: Yeah, yeah, I mean he makes a really great case for evolution. He says you know, evolution. He says it's roughly about 3.8 billion years that we can from the early, I guess the earliest cell life. He's using that as the starting point and he says you know, a lot of things have gotten worked out over 3.8 billion that you probably can't reverse. You know 3.8 billion. So it would behoove you to pay attention in what direction evolution is going and basically how it operates. Basically how it operates and it's you know, and it doesn't have to make big changes at any point along the way. It just makes, you know, thousands of little changes, little alterations, but they're not reversible, unnoticeable, yeah yeah, yeah. And you know and I can appreciate that, being in my ninth decade, I can appreciate that that I made decisions when I was 12 years old that were good decisions, and I'm profiting from these decisions 75, 80 years later. Dean: Yeah, that is so funny. Yeah, it's amazing if you think all the way back like that. You know the decisions when you were 12 years old were in the heart of the 50s Right, the golden. Dan: Yeah, yeah it was. That was a golden era Boy that was a TV's in every car and every drive, yeah, tv dinners, yeah, yeah, especially, especially the TV dinners. Yeah, especially the TV dinners. You know, that was a big deal. And you know Mickey Mouse Club you know Right. I mean and that. Dean: What more do you? Dan: want. Right, mine was what's her name? Last name was Tracy, oh, doreen, tracy, doreen. Dean: Tracy, okay, yeah, yeah. Dan: Apparently, she was the most popular and she's the only one I met. I spent about three days of her traveling as a USO show in Korea in 1966, 1910. It was neat, you know, just having her. She was you know, she was 10. She was, you know, 20 and everything else. She was 10, she was 20 and everything else. But a nice person, very talkative and really self-reflective. I sense that this is a person who thinks about things very deeply. And she said you know, this is my last entertainment event, what we're doing here in South Korea with the USO show, which is the nonprofit organization that provides hospitality and entertainment for US military. And she said you know, I'm not. I was as talented at 12 as I am today and said I haven't gotten any more talented but, I was more talented at that time than other 12 year olds. So she said I got to be a mom. But she says I, you know. She says I've hit my head on the ceiling of being talented, and now I have to. Now I have to go back and I have to start a new career and she went back and she became a talent manager for Warner Brothers and she was from that period, you know, when she went back, when she started doing that, right straight through until she was 65 and she was well regarded as a, you know, a really first class talent manager. She had Frank Zappa. Frank Zappa was one of her. You know assignments? Okay, yeah, because he was with Warner Brothers. He was with Warner Brothers recording. Dean: Oh wow, very interesting. Dan: Yeah, but I found her a very, you know, very upbeat, very positive person, very engaging sort of person. You know, just three days about five shows and that was it. I never thought about it again until the Internet came along and I you know, just you know, I just looked her up and yeah, she had done that. And then when she retired from Warner Brothers she started a jazz and blues club in Hollywood and then she died about eight years later, she died of cancer. Dean: Oh yeah. Dan: But it was for someone I was. You know, I was right in there with Mickey Mouse Club when I was 12 years old. Dean: Yeah, you were. That's who the show was for. Yeah. Dan: Right, yeah, yeah, I mean you had Pepsi, you had chips and you had Hostess Twinkie. I mean you had Pepsi, you had chips and you had Hostess Twinkie. Dean: I mean it's a balanced meal. Yeah, a balanced meal. Wow, twinkie's been around that long, yeah, yeah. Dan: I'll tell you something. I talked to a nutritionist at Canyon Ranch about the Twinkie. And he said if you had a Twinkie from 1956, you had never opened the package. And he said you went down to the supermarket right now and you bought yourself a this year's Twinkie. And you opened them up. There's no difference. They taste the same the one from 1956 is just as fresh as the one that you bought this afternoon. Dean: Like Pop-Tarts. That's what Jerry Seinfeld said they never go stale. Dan: they can't go stale because they were never fresh they were yeah, okay, the prize is find an organic part of a twinkie. Dean: There's nothing organic about this treat joe was just telling me about this research that's all coming out now about seed oils and things that he's talking about. I think there's a book called Dark Calories I think is what it is but some crazy amount of our calories in the normal American diet like over 30% of our calories come from these oils? Dan: Yes, exactly, yeah, you know like corn oil canola oil. Yeah, and all the. You know the difference. Yeah, I mean, that's one thing. That Babs got on about a year ago Only butter. Either olive oil or butter? Yeah, butter. And that steak yesterday was good with the butter, wasn't it it? Dean: really was. Yeah, so we should tell we found a new. For years we have been going to the same two places Jacques here in Yorkville, or Le Select Bistro for our Saturday, and we tried for the first time in frenchie, frenchie in, which is essentially in the lobby of the hilton hotel in the business district, in the business yeah, so we had some interesting experiences, but that steak was really well was the steak was really good yeah, yeah, and it was medium rare, it was perfectly medium rare, and I particularly, and they knife selection ceremony steak knife selection yeah, and he brought a box of this. Dan: This is kevin brought the steak knives and he opened it up and and I said there were six of them, and I said do you, kevin, do you recommend one of these which? Dean: one do you recommend? Dan: he said I think this year, I think this was a good year, so I think I picked up one of them, you know I over tipped him because he was responsive. Dean:He was very, very responsive. He really was responsive. Dan: Yeah, because they had a rule that breakfast ended at 11, but lunch didn't start until 1130. And I said so do we have to wait? And he says no. He says do whatever you want Order whatever you want and I'll take care of it, but anyway, it was really good. And I'm really hooked on steak. You're the. You're the fault of this. Dean: You know you're the cause because you convinced that it's my inch, I got you on blue t-shirts and now steaks. This is all, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah I'm working on fountain. I change your direction. Dan: I change in your direction slow enough that you don't get a big head about it. Dean: Right, oh, that's great. I love that. Slow enough that I don't get a big head about it. Dan: That's right yeah. Dean: That's funny. Dan: No, but I'm not seeing a huge difference. I mean I never got in trouble. I mean, like I'm not someone who huge difference. I never got in trouble. I'm not someone who is in big trouble physically and everything else, but the weight goes up over time. Right now, I'm about 15 pounds heavier than when I graduated from high school and I was in good shape because I played three sports you know all four years. I was always in a sports team and during the summers I caddied at the golf course. Dean: So that kept me in good shape. Dan: Yeah, yeah, and but the thing about it was I eat very well at meals. It's between meals that get me into trouble. And that's because of that's because of cravings. And I noticed that if you eat a lot of beef, you don't have cravings. That's the truth. Dean: That is absolutely true. The satiety is high. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Yes, yeah, I find that too. But I also find, dan, like I've been, you, doing, uh, carnivore for the last little while here, and I noticed a difference, like in terms of that. But there have been times. It's not a, it's not a straight path to the moon here. There's some veering of things and I noticed that even the slightest little. You introduce something into a thing and it gets a foothold. You're right that the cravings and the easy to veer off path for a little while Low enough that you don't notice it. Dan: There's a part of us that has to be a watchdog. There's part of us that has to be vigilant. You know, and and you know and I think they're good habits. Basically, the watchdogs are good habits and and you know that it's an interesting thing about people who have good habits and they're, you know, using other descriptions about them they're ethical, they're moral you know they're law abiding, and what they found is that those people have the best sense of a long future. They find that morality and legality and everything that we admire in people is actually a function of how long their future is, how far they can see, and they can see that something they do today either supports their positive long future or it would undermine it. And one of the tests they've done is inner city children who are members of gangs Okay, robbery of some sort and what they find is that their sense of the future is never more than 24 hours. Is that their sense of the future is never more than 24 hours? And so they say, if I do this now, can I be in trouble in 24 hours? And you know, you stop some kid on the street, you force him to take off his sneakers or his jacket. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Are you going to get in trouble in 24 hours? Probably not, wow. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Yeah, so you're being moral and being ethical and being law abiding is a function of how clear you are about a longer future, where today's actions really matter. Dean: Yes, well, that brings you know. That's funny. That kind of ties in with what you. We were talking in Palm Beach six months ago about this behaviors right. Bringing bringing their here, meaning just identifying what are the. It was just kind of funny that the timing of it because I was sharing with you that I had looked at the. You know, if you look at here and look backwards and say what are the behaviors and habits that got me to here, I heard somebody say one time if you look around, just take it all in, look around you and everything that is a reality in your life right now. This is what all of your past decisions created, right. All your past decisions and behaviors led to this moment, everything you have right. And I thought, yeah, when you shared with me the bringing there here is looking forward and identifying if this, if I could describe the here I want, the now that I want, what does that look like in the here, what are the behaviors that support that future? Dan: Yeah, yeah. And I think the big thing is what are your habits today? That would be the habits you would want 20 years from now. Which habits do you have already formed? And then that picture of you 20 years from now. If you look at a day in the life of you say, well, I want this habit. And then you have to say, well, if I'm going to have the habits, then I might as well start those habits today. You know, you know yeah, and and that what I mean habits is that you do the right thing without thinking about it yeah, and the cape, I mean the things, it's. Dean: So I was had, uh, breakfast with joe this morning. We were talking about, you know, six, six months ago I really had no idea how to cook, or it's hard to say. I see you that you got you know 57 or eight years into my life and never really learned to cook or anything. And now, you know, between my instant pot and my air fryer, you know I'm cooking up a storm here, making delicious steaks and chicken and salmon, everything. What a life changing like skill and it's just a natural thing. Now I know I've got the whole process. It's a habit. I know I've got the whole process. It's a habit, you know. Once you know the habit, it's the. You know the process. I do it all kind of in to preheat for three minutes and while that three minutes is happening, I'm seasoning the steak with salt pepper and just a little bit of Montreal steaks rub and then by the time I get that done, the air fryer is preheated. I just put it in for, depending on how thick it is, three or four minutes per side and then it's done. So the whole ordeal is, you know, 13 minutes from the idea of having a steak to your first bite. Dan: And so you know, and now you're becoming an internet influencer yeah, that's exactly right, that's right, that's exactly right. Yeah, yeah, rabbi jackson. Oh, there's rabbi jackson again. Yeah, but you know, this is how we learn from each other you know yeah, I mean he doesn't mention it. Morgan Housel, in the book you're reading, same as ever, but I've seen it many times that the two main habits that humans have that move things forward are one imitation see something that somebody else is doing, and then repetition you get a good thing going and then you just repeat and repeat. And it's so interesting. I saw a little. I was going through the news programs this morning and there was a commercial and it was Bill Gates was a commercial, and it was bill gates, and and you know, and here's bill gates, you know, and he really is truly boring, he was born boring. He's a very boring, he's a very boring thing. But you know he's boring with 50, 50 billion or 100 billion, whatever the amount of money he has. Dean: But now he's saying sorry, go ahead. I said sorry, go ahead. Dan: Yeah, I think that. And he's saying there's no question now, we just have to get rid of fossil fuels. Yeah, he says we've come to the point now and it's just. And then he brings in all sorts of people who are talking about the breakthroughs that will be possible, and Anthony Fauci is one of them on the program and everything like that. But the question is, Bill, you were using fossil fuels to go to Jeffrey Epstein's island. What was that all about, oh boy? What was that all about, oh man? What was that all about, oh man? I don't know if he ever went to the island, but he hung out with him in New. York City. And you know, and yeah so, so anyway, but you know, I think we're coming back. I just have a sense. Maybe it's just me that I'm becoming aware of something, but I have a sense because the things that are being talked about, like the Morgan Household book you know there are some things that you can bet on are always going to operate in a certain direction. You know, and I get a sense, we're getting there, I mean. But I'm, you know, I'm into new things. You know I'm creating more new things at 80 than I was at 50, and I'm involved in more new things at 80 than I was at 50. And I'm involved in more new things at 80 than I was at 50. So I don't think it's just my sense of what's happening to me. I get a sense from reading the news and everything like that that it's not so easy to change human nature. Dean: Yeah, I think you're right, but it's also yeah, that's why it's when you make these gradual changes, natural selection of better habits kind of thing, make a big impact. You know like I think, yeah, yeah, the natural selection, yeah, I mean I never got. Dan: You know, I've been influenced basically because I get full medicals, you know, with David. Hasse, I mean top to bottom medicals and you know, he says, you know you're carrying too much weight, you've got too much fat. And I said, and he says, you know, think about this, think about that. And I said I'm not going to do anything where my weight loss is more than a pound a week and so I started the steak. Steak diet you know, yesterday I had steak for breakfast, steak for lunch, steak for dinner. Other things too, you know, had some small potatoes. I had broccoli and French fries with you. Dean: And anyway. Dan: and but I mean, if you look ahead 20 weeks and you're 20 pounds down, that's a big deal. I don't want to take on an unnatural diet for a period of time and then go back to my old diet. I want my entire habits of eating to change permanently of eating to change permanently. Dean: What I've learned from JJ Virgin is that it really is about the protein first, of getting the amount of protein for your target weight, kind of. That's the thing. That number one priority is getting 180 grams of protein, you know, and then and then adding on whatever, while staying in that your caloric thing. But I find that, man, if you're eating that amount of protein, the protein is the satiety thing that it just is the gift that keeps on giving. You know, you don't get those. It's the most. Dan: Even burning, yeah and it's where the, where the muscle comes from yes, exactly, yeah, yeah, so well, that's interesting. Dean: That that's a really good. Do you measure? Do you wait? How often do you weigh yourself? Dan: every day, every morning yeah okay, I've got a little journal and I log in. Dean: I've got a little journal and I, yeah, yeah that's been a big thing. I have the the. You know my JJ has really been my accountability buddy in all of this. I chart everything that I eat and chart my weight every day and my sleep score and my steps. And I, you know, send a little photo, photo story to her every day and that, yeah, it's good to chart and see the the progress you know I had an interesting and a friend who has maintained his weight at a in a you know five pound band for band for as long as I've known him and he shared that at one point. He stays between 178 and 182 or three as the band that he's in constantly. And he told me he got up to 230 pounds at one point, wow yeah, and then he lost all the weight. He got up to 230 pounds at one point, wow yeah, and then he lost all the weight, got down to 180 as his ideal. But he weighs himself every day and he uses a green light, yellow light, red light system that if he's 178 or 179, it's green light, he can eat whatever he wants. If he wants to have dessert, fine. If he wants this, whatever, fine. And if he's 180 or 181, he's yellow light and it's like, just, you know, caution kind of, for taking it easy. But if he gets to 182 it's red light and he has to go, stay on the path until he gets back to 178. So he's never had to lose more than five pounds, you know. So it's a really interesting thing. If he knows he's going on a vacation or something, he'll get to 178 and then do what he wants on vacation and maybe he gains five pounds on vacation, but comes back and immediately on the straight and narrow. Slow and steady wins the race. Dan: Yeah, this is Dean and Dan having a deep philosophy hour. This was the Sunday philosophy hour with Dean and Dan, that's right. Dean: The double D philosophy hour. That's right. Dan: Yeah, the Calry philosophy hour. Anyway but that's great. Then we'll be able to chat again this evening Over some meat, Over some meat. Yeah you you're gonna have to do with burgers tonight that's right, familiar. Dean: But anyway. So all you guys are more or less coming together, I guess right probably well, joe, yep, joe and me and chad, I think we'll all be over together. All righty, it's all very exciting, dan, I will see you in a few hours. Dan: Thank you okay. Thanks, dean.
  • Ep134: Transforming Tranquility into Financial Growth

    Ep134: Transforming Tranquility into Financial Growth

    · Welcome to Cloudlandia
    In this episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, We contrasted northern summers' climate and lifestyle possibilities with those of Florida. The conversation shifted to exploring humanity’s relationship with money through storytelling and belief. Practical lessons included effective pricing, leveraging qualified leads, and attracting high-quality clients using books. Finally, the discussion provided entrepreneurial growth strategies like setting a quarterly cadence, applying profit activators, and valuing long-term relationships. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS We discussed the serene and picturesque landscape of Canada's cottage country, including the unique charm and beauty of its lakes and legends, as well as the renowned Group of Seven artists. Reflections on the contrast between the tranquil Canadian summers and the balmy climate of Florida, noting the ideal summer months in Canada. We explored minimalistic lifestyle choices that gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the simplicity of a carnivore diet and practical wardrobe strategies. We delved into the whimsical nature of financial decisions and the power of belief and storytelling in investment decisions, with a focus on how a stock's value is influenced by future narratives. We discussed critical elements of pricing strategies, including promise, price, and proof, and the importance of pre-qualified, motivated leads in business, particularly in real estate. Dean shared insights on leveraging books as tools for attracting high-quality clients, highlighting a successful collaboration that did not rely on upfront financial incentives. We explored the eight profit activators and how smaller, intimate workshops can be as effective as larger gatherings in growing businesses. We emphasized the importance of long-range investment thinking and nurturing long-term relationships with prospects, as well as the value of quarterly goals and structured cadences in extending professional careers. We highlighted innovative health practices that can prolong peak earning years and enhance productivity, such as the benefits of continuous health improvements and monitoring. We discussed the potential for creative and productive growth during challenging economic times, drawing insights from historical examples and a book that explores enduring human behaviors.

    Links:
    WelcomeToCloudlandia.com
    StrategicCoach.com
    DeanJackson.com
    ListingAgentLifestyle.com

    TRANSCRIPT

    (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)

    Dean: mr sullivan mr jackson welcome to cloudlandia. And, uh, keep your feet on the mainland, that's exactly right so you are calling from the northernmost outpost of cloudland and canada at its best beautiful weather it must be perfect right now. Dan: Right, I just got out of the lake. I was in the lake 15 minutes oh my goodness, wow I'll be, very deep, like a week. Dean: Oh yeah, is it. Dan: Uh, that's very yes, that's quite cold. I mean, this is our one, two, three, four, fourth day and so I'm used to it now, but uh bracing yeah, yeah, because the nights have been very cold oh, I think the nights have been. Dean: The nights have been very cold, yeah well we got enough heat or we got enough heat to go around here. Dan: Yeah, yeah, you've had some. You've had some variable weather, should I call it that? Dean: yeah, exactly, I was just telling. I was just telling I need to. Uh, I'm ready to have snowboarding back in my life. That just makes more sense to me. Dan: Yeah, this is perfect. I mean, there's a lot of your. Our listeners may not know this, but there's this great romance to the cottage country in Canada. Dean: Yeah. Dan: First of all, there's a lot of lakes. I mean there's literally in the thousands. I'm not talking about the big lakes, I'm not talking about the great lakes. I'm talking about, like ours, for example, is two miles by two miles. It's almost a circle. It's two miles by two miles, but there's a circle. It's two miles by two miles. But there's a legend that there's a hole in the middle, a very deep hole, and in the logging days they hooked chains to each other and put a weight at the end of one of the chains and then they kept putting the chains down and it went down a thousand feet and it was still not hitting bottom oh my goodness, it's a portal to the center of the earth you know it invites all sorts of adventures, loch Ness. Well, we haven't seen that, we haven't seen that it's fresh. Yeah, well, loch Ness is a freshwater lake, but no, but there's a romance. There's a whole school of art called the Group of Seven and these were seven artists who did these amazing, amazing paintings. Not really natural. They have a real interesting quality to them and they were done from the teens till probably the 40s or 50s probably a 40-year period, seven artists. They're very famous and in Toronto at the Art Gallery, the Ontario Gallery of Art, they have a whole wing that's just the paintings of these men. And then there's a town north of Toronto called Kleinberg and they have a whole museum. There's a whole McMichael gallery. And I never get tired. I've been here for 53 years and I can go in there and just sit for an hour and look at the magnificent art that these people created. Dean: It is beautiful, yeah, yeah you're right, yeah, canada in the summertime. I can't imagine anywhere nicer, you know any of those temperate things. London or England is very nice in the summer. All of Europe, I'm sure. But yeah, it's just, I'm realizing Florida's a little hot yeah, you're late to the realization. Dan: No, I mean I've realized it all along. Dean: It's just that you know. Yeah, I'm starting to re-realize it. Dan: Well, you had some comparison. You had a wonderful week in Toronto in July. Dean: Yeah, three weeks I was there. Dan: Marvelous there. Dean: That's what I mean, you're realizing that Florida's hot. Dan: You know, just between us, Florida's really hot during the summertime, you know, just between us. Florida is really hot during the summertime. Dean: It was just. It was that contrast. I mean spending three weeks in Toronto June and July is it doesn't get much better. It's the perfect time. Dan: So well, there's June and July, and then there's winter. Dean: That's right. Dan: Actually, I think we're in for a long fall this year. Dean: Yes. Dan: And I'm doing this on 80 years of experience that when you have a very green summer, which means there was a lot of rain. We had more rain this year than I can remember since I've been here, and what it does is that the leaves don't turn as quickly, and so we can expect still green trees at Halloween this year. Dean: Oh, wow, Okay, Looking forward to coming back up in a few weeks. I can't believe it's been 90 days already. I'm super excited about having you know a quarter, a coach quarter. Dan: You've had a coach quarter. You've had a coach. You've had a coach quarter. Dean: That's what I mean. I'm very excited about having these coach quarterly Toronto visits in my future. This is yeah, yeah, it's very good. So there I have had. Dan: You've been thinking about things? Tell me you've been thinking about things. Dean: I have been thinking about my thinking and thinking about things all the while. This is, I think I'm coming up another, I think I'm coming up on a month of carnivore. Now, yeah, what it's very interesting to me, the findings. You know it really it suits. It seems like it's a very ADD compliant diet. Dan: Yeah, in that it's really only one decision. Because it's just one decision. Dean: Yeah, is it meat? That's the whole thing. It's like the Is it? Meat or is it fasting? Yeah, it's the dietary equivalent of wearing a black shirt every day. Dan: Well, I wear a navy blue shirt every day. I took that strategy from you. It struck me as a very useful lifetime strategy. Dean: And I got into it during COVID. Yeah. Dan: Because that was my COVID uniform I had. Basically I had jeans and a long sleeve shirt long sleeve t-shirt navy blue by Uniqlo, a Japanese company, and they're the best, they're the best, they're the best. I bet I've worn the one I'm wearing today. I bet I've worn it a hundred times. So it looks pretty much out of the package. Dean: Yeah, it makes a big difference. So there's lots of these arguments for these kind of mono decisions. Dan: So I'm kind of thinking that through, you know, and seeing other places where that kind of thinking applies you know, yeah, what I notice more and more is that my life is really a function of habits, yes, and you got to make sure they're good habits. Dean: Yeah, I'm thinking and seeing that more and more. Like I was looking in some of my past journals over the last week or so, I was looking back, like back to, you know, 2004, and just kind of randomly, you know, selecting the things. And you know, I do see that you're only ever in the moment, right, because every entry that I'm making in the journal is made in real time, so I'm only ever there, you know, and that habit I often I wonder how many miles of ink lines I've written if you were to, if you were how many times I've circled the globe with my journals. It'd be a really interesting calculation, you know. But you realize that everything you've been saying about the bringing there here is really that's absolutely true, like the only thing I'm doing. The common thing of that is I'm sitting in a comfy chair writing in my journal, but you're never, you know, it's all. But it's funny to look back at it as capturing the moment, you know. Dan: Yeah, you know, it's really interesting. I see a lot more articles these days on journaling and just in the context of Cloudlandia and the mainland, it seems to me that it's a way of staying in touch with your preferred mainland by journaling, because every day you're conscious, you're thinking about your thinking and I think, as Jeff Madoff and I have had a number of conversations about this, that as the world becomes more digital and I see no end to the possibilities that you can apply digital technology to something there's a counter movement taking place where people are deliberately reconnecting with the mainland in a conscious way. Dean: Yeah, I'm aware of that. Dan: I mean, carnivore is about as mainland as you can get. Dean: That's the truth, especially when there's something primal about cooking. Dan: The only thing further than that would be if you were eating yourself, which, in a sense, you are. Dean: It's so funny, but there is something magical about that. Can I tell? Dan: you not as full bore as yours, but this is my 33rd day of having steak for breakfast. Dean: Yes, Okay, did you open up the air fryer? Have you had an air fryer? Dan: steak yet. Oh yeah, it's downstairs. We have one at the cottage and we're going to get a new one at the house. Dean: And what's your experience? You brought it with us. Dan: It's not my experience, it's Babs' experience. Dean: I mean your experience of the eating. Yeah, oh no, it's great. Dan: Yeah, oh no, it's great, it's great, it's delicious. Yeah, it's super fast, I mean it's super fast and it's great and, yeah, I'm thinning out a bit, losing my COVID collection. I'm starting to get rid of my COVID collection. Yeah, belly, fat and fat otherwise, and that's great and I do a lot of exercise when I'm at the cottage we have. There's a stairway, a stone stairway that goes down to the dock 40 steps, and so I do it today. I'll do it six times up and down. Dean: Oh my goodness, wow. Dan: And then we have about a I would say, three quarters of a mile loop up the hill, through the woods and back down, and I'll do that once today and I'll do two swims. I'll be in the lake for two swimming sessions and I noticed I really do a lot more exercise here and the whole point is to have it carry over when you get back to the city. Jump start yeah, I've got a great book for you, and the whole point is to have it carry over when you get back to the city Jumpstarting. Dean: I've got a great book for you. Dan: Do you read on Kindle or do you buy actual books? Dean: Yes. Dan: Yeah, that's two questions. Dean: Yes to both. You do both Often. I'll do three Often. I will do the Kindle and the book and the audio. Dan: Yes, well, there's a great book that you'll like, and it's called Same as Ever. Dean: Okay, I like it already, but tell me about it. Dan: And the author's name is Hosel H-O-E-S-E-L First name, I think, is Morgan Hussle. And what he shows? He's got 23 little chapters about things that are always the same and it's thought-provoking and he's an investor. You know he's an investor, but he talks about that. Humans, for the most part humans get smart at everything they do except one. What's that Money? That's probably true. And he says people are more fanciful when it comes to money than almost any other part of their life. Okay. Dean: Well, that's interesting. It's giving me an option to buy his follow-up book which is the Psychology of Money. Dan: I should get that too, too why not? Dean: yeah, all right, he's got some great line. Dan: I mean he quotes other people. He's got the greatest definition of a stock you know, like stock market stock he's got the greatest definition of a stock. I I don't think I think he's quoting somebody, but that a stock is a present number multiplied by a future story. Dean: Ooh, that is true, isn't it? A present number multiplied by a future story that is so good yes. Dan: Isn't that great. Dean: It's so good and true, it's got the added benefit of being true. Yeah, I mean, it's really. If not, what else it's guessing and betting, right? It's like we gauge our guessing and betting on we guess and bet on the strength of our belief in the story. Dan: A present number multiplied by a future story. Dean: Yes, that's wild. It's funny that you say that's a very interesting. I was thinking about a pricing strategy for a client and he was saying I'm sure this has been. There's probably somebody who's said this before, I don't know who, but I was looking at it as that it's a combination of the promise and the price and the proof. And proof is really a story right, a belief that if you have him, you're, if there's something going wrong. Yes, proof is yeah, I mean it's either that, yeah, it's either. You know the promise is the articulated outcome of what you're going to get, that you want that promise, but then the price is a factor of how much that promise is worth and your someone else yeah and the confidence that it's going to happen. You know, it's a very interesting thing I was thinking about it in the context of our real estate that the realtors are will happily pay 40 of a transaction, up to 35 or 40% of a transaction. That's a guaranteed transaction, like a referral. If I say, you know, if you send somebody a referral they'll pay 40% because the promise and the proof is that you already got it. So you're willing to pay 40% for the certainty of it. But when you say to buy a lead, you know to buy leads for $5 or $10, there's not as much. You don't have the proof that those leads are going to turn into into transactions. So there's a risk. There's a risk involved in that. It's really, it's pretty, it's pretty amazing. I've been because you know I do a lot of real estate, lead generation and all kinds in all kinds of businesses. Lead generation and I've really been one of the distinctions I've been sharing with people is the, because a lot of times people ask well, are they good leads? You know, and it speaks to the, yeah, you know objective, yeah, you. Dan: And joe you, you and Joe Polish have a great definition of what a good lead is. I don't remember the exact formula, but it's pre-qualified, pre-motivated. Dean: Yes, predisposed you know predisposed. Yeah. Dan: And one of the things that when we were doing the book deal with Ben Hardy and Tucker Max, before we approached Hay House, Tucker asked me a question. He said well, you're not taking any money, you're not taking any advances, you're not taking any royalties for the book, which was true. So that was a real straight deal. You know why? Because it's a mono decision. Dean: Yeah. Dan: I'm sorry. The book is a capability for me and that's worth all the upfront money. Dean: Yes, yeah, you know, and that was the advances. Dan: You know, the advances were really good advances. I mean, they were six-figure advances. Dean: And. Dan: I said, the reason is I don't want to think about that. I just want to think about the capability that I have 24 hours a day, all around the world of someone picking up the book and reading it, and it's a pre-qualified person. It's a pre-qualified person, in other words, the person who's picking up the book and reading it would have the money and the qualifications to be in the strategic coach. The other thing is that it would pre-motivate them. They're predisposed because they picked up the book. They're pre-qualified because it's meaningful to them. And then the next thing is they'll give us a phone call. You know they'll read the book'll give us a phone call. You know they'll give us a phone call. Or just go on. You know, go on to the website and read all about coach and everything like that. And so Tucker said so we sell a thousand books. What would make you happy in terms of actual someone signing up for the program? And I said one. Dean: Right and probably, probably. Dan: I would want a hundred people Just trying to take care. This is why I'm going to come and do the eight profit Activators. Yeah, and the reason is that those books were right at. About the three books that we wrote were right around the 800,000. Wow, wow, and I could easily say we've had 800 clients pick it up, either picked it up and called us, or called us and we sent them the books. Yes, but it's a marvelous system because it's who, not how, in spades is that I have salespeople out there every 24 hours and they're finding, finding new interested leads, they're developing the leads and we don't have to spend any time until they give us a call. Dean: I think that's fantastic and it's doing. You know, part of the thing is I. This is why I always look at books as a profit activator three activity, which is educate and motivate. That people get educated about the concepts of who, not how, or the gap in the game or the idea that 10 times is easier than two times, and they see examples and see that this really fits, and then they're motivated to call and get some help with that. I'm such a fan of books and podcasts as the perfect Profit Activator 3 activity. Dan: Yeah, I've been thinking a lot about our previous podcast where you took it through the what's the value of your leads. I'm actually a really fan of that yeah. Dean: I love metrics. I'm a big metric. Well, metrics to me are when they are objective and measurable. They are a proof. Dan: Well and predictable. They're predictable too. They're a proof. Do a certain amount of activity, you can get a predictable metric. Dean: I've discovered a metric very much like Pareto in lead distribution. It just got, you know, hot off the press with Chris McAllister, who you know as well. Yeah, chris, so we've been doing a collaboration on, I've been helping them with lead generation and I asked him to do a I've been calling it a forensic census of what's happened with the leads right and leads who've been in for more than a hundred days. So we just looked at the. That's roughly three and a half months basically, and you know, of all of the leads that we had generated, 15% of them had sold their house with someone else, and so you look at that we did the math on the thing, that is the opportunity cost. That is the exact thing that worked out, that the amount of that worked out to be over half a million dollars in lost opportunity. Dan: Well, and that's where. Yeah, no, it wasn't lost, it was just a cost. Dean: Yeah, that's exactly right. Dan: The money went into the wrong bank account. The money went into the wrong bank account. That's exactly right. The money went into the wrong bank account. The money went into the wrong bank account. Dean: That's exactly right. So now that's encouraging right, because I've got now three different forensic census analysis from three different parts of the country with three different realtors that all point to exactly the same thing 15 of people who've gone through a hundred days will do something, and so that is. That's encouraging. You know, I think if I, if you look at that and start to say OK, there's a pulse. That it means that the market. Dan: The marketplace has a pulse. Dean: Yeah. The lie rating and that we're generating objectively good leads, meaning people who want to do. What the promise of the of the book is, you know, yeah. So, that's very exciting. Dan: Yeah, you know, it's really interesting changing the subject slightly. So this author that writes the book Same as Ever that I just mentioned, he said that basically, when you look at the last hundred years, the decade of the 1930s was absolutely the most productive decade in US history. Wow, Based on what. And he said just how much got produced during the 1930s. Dean: Are you talking about the New Deal? No, he's not talking about the New Deal at all. Dan: He's actually talking that the reason was it was the worst decade economically in the United States history because of the Great Depression, but he said it was also the most creative and most productive. And he said that creativity and productivity don't happen during good times, they only happen during bad times, the reason being the things that you thought. Let's put it this way you're going into the 1930s it was one of the hottest stock markets in the history of the United States the 1920s per capita, if you do it in relationship to the population and then suddenly it just stopped and everything that people believed was true, everything that they knew was predictably true, didn't happen. And everybody woke up and said, oh my God. Well, everything we've been going on doesn't work. And he said that's the spur to creativity and productivity. It's not profitability, because the profitability happened in the 1940s and 1950s, but the productivity, the creativity, creating new things that were productive, happened during the 1930s. He said there's no decade like it in US history in the last 100 years and I found that very striking. Dean: I can't wait to read it. Dan: I found that. It's a thin book. Dean: Okay, I was going to say I like that's my favorite. That's my favorite and accessible words. Dan: I like that too. It's a win. And it's a good title yeah, he doesn't use more words than he needs. Dean: I like that. Dan: It goes back to your. I'm coming awake to Dean Jackson's 8 Profit Activators. Dean: Oh good, after 12 years, this is good news. Dan: I'm a tourist, I'm a late bloomer. Dean: I'm a late developer. Dan: You know, but it wasn't that it was stored away, but it wasn't brought right in front of me. But I think there's a lot of very interesting insights that you have here. Dean: Yeah, that's true, and I just find more and more it's. You know it's the same, just feel like it's. So when you look at this one thing you know, if I think about my one thing is this you know, working on the all the applications of this one model and seeing deeper and deeper layers of how it actually how it fits, you know, it is like you asked me 12 years ago what would be fascinating and motivating because I had come out of you know, 15 years I think we I think we were both sitting in our kitchen when this happened, yeah, yeah our kitchen. Yeah, and I remember I was. Dan: I remember I was using that I was I. I remember it distinctly because I think it's the last time I used the landline. Isn't that funny? Dean: that's amazing. Dan: Yeah, yeah, because I had to sit up next to the counter because we've only got one landline. Dean: And. Dan: I said I've got this. So I had to sit on a stool next to you know a counter and I remember the conversation. Dean: I do too, and it was because I was coming out of 15 years of applying these eight profit activators to the growth of one specific business and Joe Polish had just taken that framework and started the I love marketing cast and I realized that's my. I was realizing how applicable that kind of operating system that I had developed for, you know, growing our own business was applicable to all kinds of businesses and that was my fascinating thing and doing it in small groups as opposed to 500, 700 people at a time, and to this day, it's still now 12 years later, yeah. Dan: Yeah, can I ask you a question about that? If you did it differently. Could you do it with a group of 100? Dean: Yes, absolutely, and we've done it with you know, I've done it with 40 or 50. Dan: Yeah Well, if you can do it with 40 or 50, you could do it with 100. Dean: Yeah, once you get past like 14 or so, the way the dynamics change. At about 14, more people, you end up having fractured conversations, and so that's why, the way you do the workshops, you have the opportunity to have people have those conversations, but in groups of three or four, yeah, so rather than having breakouts. Dan: Well, and then there's a tool that everybody's doing the same. Yes, yes. Yes. Dean: You're exactly right. Yeah, and that's an. All of them are all the eight profit activators are there, are tools, you know, there are thinking ways for it and yeah, but it's just such a you know I want to ask you another question to what degree if you think about I think you said you've done about 600 from last conversation of your small groups, that'd be 50 groups, basically 50, 50 sessions. Dan: To what degree do they need to know their numbers to go through the process? Dean: well they. The challenge or the thing is that they don't even know that these metrics exist. So I work from the standpoint of they really, if I can give them the experience of it by. They know the top line and they know you know what they're doing. But it doesn't require the granularity to get the impact of it. You know, to understand. That's where they can get their best intuitive sense of what that is and every single person has a realization that. Let's just say, even the just understanding how to divide the revenue into before unit, during unit and after unit is a big revelation for people and then they realize, you know, a lot of times I was just doing a consultation with a home services company and in home services it's pretty standard to spend, you know standard to spend you know 12 to 15% of their revenue on advertising. But they do a lot of things and they don't know often exactly what's working. But when I pointed out to them that if we take you know, 30% of their business is coming from repeat people who've already done business with them, yet they're measuring the 15 percent on that gross revenue, so their actual before unit cost is is way more because they're spending all the money in the before unit and not really spending much if anything on the after unit, even though it's bringing in 30% of the business. You know and it's so funny because I was sharing with them too I was like to take this attitude of so they do HVAC and air conditioning and so I like for them to think of all the households that have one of their air conditioning units in it to be climates under management, you know, is to get that kind of asset that they've got 20 000 climates under management, and to take that and really just kind of look at what they could do even just with the after unit of their business. You know, it's so. It's always eye-opening for people like to see when you start looking at those numbers and say, wow, I had never, I never thought of it like that. Dan: You know one of the things John Bowen and Kerry Oberbrenner and I are doing a collaboration on establishing the real numbers for entrepreneurism. Dean: Right. Dan: In relationship to wealth and in relationship to happiness, relationship to wealth and in relationship to happiness. So John is arguably the top coach in the world for financial advisors at a very affluent level. So all the clientele are very, so that would be for, and they'd be looking for, families. It would be sort of families and they'd be entrepreneurial families, okay, and I think that the sort of the preferred look is where the net worth of the family is in the 20 million and above level. Okay, and these are the advisors. So John's clients are the advisors who do this, okay. And two years ago we did a survey where we compared the entrepreneurial clients or the entrepreneurial clients. What we surveyed was John's clients as entrepreneurs. Dean: Yes. Dan: Okay, they're entrepreneurs, and there were about 1 of them, 1300. And they were compared to 800 strategic coach clients and we saw all sorts of differences. One of them was the who, not how, factor, that generally our clients made more money per person and worked fewer hours than John's 1,300. Yes, okay, and fairly significant. I mean like percent, different percent. And the other thing was that our clients expected to be busy. They expected to be active entrepreneurs for a much longer period than his clients. Dean: Well, that's the greatest gift right there when you look at it. So you, as the lead by example of this the lead dog. Dan: Yeah, you know what they say about dog sleds you know the dogs in a dog sled. Yeah, if you're notthe lead dog, the future always looks the same. Yes, exactly so I'm not looking up anybody's rear end. Dean: Yeah, right, exactly. Dan: Anyway, but the big, thing, if you say we don't have real proof and it would take 50 or 60 years to take a long study to see that we're actually extending people's actual lifetime. But I would say right now we could probably establish really good, really good research that were extending their careers by probably an average of 15 years at their peak earning. Dean: Yeah exactly. Yeah, think about that like in the traditional world. So at that you know I'm 58 now and so in the traditional world it'd be like you got seven years left, kind of thing. Right, it's a traditional retirement age, or what. Dan: And then coach, you'd have 22 years. Dean: I got 22 more years, even just to get to 80. Yeah, you know like that's the thing, and I just proved that it's possible. Dan: Yes, that's what I'm saying. Dean: Yes, that's what I'm saying, yes, that's what I mean. And to be you like, look at, you know one of the. You know the elements when we do the lifetime extender, when you ask people so how do you want to be on your 80th birthday? And you're saying you know, well, how do you want to be health physically? And you're saying, well, how do you want to be health physically? Well, I want to be climbing 40 states of stairs six times a day, swimming twice and hiking around my property. I want to be, recording podcasts. I want to be writing books, I want to be holding workshops, I mean developing thinking tools, all those things. I've been thinking a lot about cadences, you know, and you've really kind of tapped into this cadence of of the quarter. Quarterly cadence is because your days are really largely the same with an intention of moving towards quarterly outputs. You, you're creating quarterly books, you're creating new quarterly workshops and tools. And am I missing anything Like do you have annual goals or objectives? Dan: Or is everything in terms of Well, the only, there's only one. The only one thing that we have, that's annual, would be the Free Zone Summit. That's once a year. So, for example, every week I'm working on the summit which is in February next year, and so I'm always listening in the. So I have a series of speaking sets that people can, and I'm looking, yes, to a large group of people, half of whom aren't actually in the free zone. You know half of them next year, half of them won't even be, you know, in strategic coach. They're team members, free zone members, they're clients of the free zone members and everything like that. So it's a challenge to me because you know coach people, know the routine, you know they come in, they understand what a whole day looks like thinking about your thinking. But for some people this is the first time in their life and the trick is, after the first hour they all feel as part of the same group and they're thinking you know. So anyway, it's a. It's an interesting, but that's only my annual thing. Dean: Yeah. Dan: So I've you know I give a lot of thought to it. I work on it right now, six months, before I'm working on it every week. Dean: Yeah. Dan: But that's the only one that is, and I wouldn't want to, no, exactly. Dean: Do you? It's interesting that you say you're working on it every week. Do you have? Do you account for that in your calendar or do you just consciously like? Or do you say? Dan: Some of it is just, some of it's just my time and it's, it's a certainty. Uncertainty worksheet. So I'm always working within the certainty. Uncertainty, this much is certain already. This is uncertain. So then that's the next week. You have to have certain things move from uncertainty to certainty. Yes, we got the pat. We just got the patent on that, by the way, so that's a good tool. That's good. Yeah, yeah so, but I'm constantly my ears are constantly open. In all the workshops, people are dropping topics. You know. I said, yeah, think there's a, we got a role for you and you know, we got a role for you, because I want to get to people ahead of time, because some people don't come to the summit. So if you spot them as a speaker, you want to make sure that something else isn't scheduled during the time when they come. So, yeah, it's going to be in Arizona this time. Dean: That's what I hear. Dan: It's all very exciting. Dean: Anyway it's very exciting. Dan: You mentioned the quarter. I really take quarters seriously. Other people have quarters, but they don't spend much time thinking about the quarter. Dean: I said it's available. Dan: It's sitting around there. You know, quarters are just sitting around. How much productivity, creativity, profitability can you get out of a quarter? Dean: Yeah, I like that. That's my observation. Right Is that you're the tools of applying three days focus days, buffer days, in a quarterly cadence for the rest of your till 156. Dan: 304. I have 304 left. 304 quarters left. Yeah, 304 quarters. You know David Hasse, whose clinic I can't, you know I can't recommend enough to people, but so we started two years ago with him. So it's August of 2022. We started working with him and we've had eight quarters and when we first came to the very first meeting in Nashville Maxwell Clinic, he said so what are we going to do with? your health over the next 312 quarters right, he had me at hello he had me at hello oh yeah and we've done a lot in the last eight quarters we've done yeah, you know there's a lot of work and but yeah, he's got a deep dive program. It's really terrific. I mean it it's testing, testing, constant testing, and he's very alert to new stuff in the marketplace you know new breakthroughs. Dean: What's your noticing now of your new needs in all these stairs that you're doing? Dan: Yeah, the big thing is I have no problem going up. It's tender going down, and the problem is it's a 50-year-old injury and about 49-year-old injury and so the cartilage is completely restored. Okay, and that's a breakthrough. Stem cells can get things working. Stem cells, can you know they can? What stem cells essentially do is wake up the cells that are supposed to be doing the work or repairing them. Dean: Hey, buddy, get back to work. Dan: Yeah, and the, and this is detectable, this is measurable where? Dean: they are. Dan: So I always thought I'm missing a cartilage. And I went down there, so they and when I say down there it's Buenos Aires, in Argentina, and I've done five, four, four sessions, four sessions in five month period. And now my cartilage is the same thickness going from almost no cartilage in my left knee. It's the same width. You know, the thickness of the cartilage is the same as it was before the injury in 1975. So that's great, but it's still painful. So now he says what's happened is that there's been damage to the ligaments on both sides. And so now I go first week of November to Buenos Aires and they do stem cells on my ligaments, ok, ok, and then we'll see. We'll see what happens there. So wow. Yeah, it's a matter of subtraction. You know you subtract the cartilage as the problem and then you submit and we'll see where it is. But I would say that the drop in pain in a day, in other words from morning till night, it's probably down 90%. Wow, that's amazing. But what's missing is the confidence to start running, because I want to run again and so I've been 15 years without running and my brain says don't run. So I have to relearn how to run. And how about Babs? It's completely fixed. That's amazing, isn't it? Yeah? And the cartilage that was cartilage too, yeah, fixed. That's amazing, isn't it? Yeah, the cartilage that was cartilage too. She, yeah, she had influence, she had actually. She had bone inflammation and she had missing cartilage. So the cartilage is back and I think hers would be equal to mine. The pain is down by 90 wild, wild, that's. Dean: It's amazing, isn't? It yeah we're living in. We're living in amazing times. Well, I'm counting on it. Yeah exactly. Dan: You know it's a present number times a future story. Dean: What a great thing. By the way, that book is going to arrive today, according to Amazon. For me, the money book. The other one will be here tomorrow morning. That's just so, like that's the best thing. Dan: Why can't the I mean after you order it? Why aren't they knocking on the door right now? What's wrong with this world? Dean: That's what I'm thinking. Is that why people call senators? Is that what I need to do is alert my senator? Dan: about this. Yeah, I actually had a great conversation with Ted Budbutt. Dean: Oh yeah. Well, that's great, great US senator from North Carolina, yeah and I just saw that Robert Kennedy just endorsed Donald Trump. He dropped out of the race and joined MAGA. Dan: Yeah, I think it's probably. I was figuring it's worth 3%, do you think? Yeah, that's really interesting. Yeah, I mean, he brings a lot to Trump obviously brings a lot to it, but he brings a whole issue that the Republicans haven't been focused on at all and his whole thing is really about what the food industry is putting into food. Yeah, that that is very dangerous, very negative, very harmful. That's been his big thing, and Trump just came out and said I think we're going to really take a major look at this. Dean: You know, it's very interesting to note that Joe Polish was sort of a catalyst in this regard. Oh yeah, that's pretty amazing. I just sent him a note. Dan: I just sent him an email. I sent him an email. I said RFK Trump always said you were the greatest connector that I've ever met in my life. Dean: Yeah, that's the truth, isn't it? And now you think about the historical impact. You know of this. I think that's you know. It's amazing. He's in his unique ability, for sure. Dan: Yeah, yeah, but yeah, just born unique ability to connect people, positively connect people. Yes yes, yeah, there's all sorts of industries where it's negative, but this is positive, so good. Anyway, back to our metrics, back to our metrics yes. Yeah, well, I think you're working out a whole economic system based on this. I think this has got the making of a complete economic system. Dean: Yes, it really does, the more that I see that each of them have and I'm very aware of naming the metrics right, of naming the metrics right like so out, because each of the before, during and after units all have their own, you know, their own metrics that are universally present in every business but they're differently calculated, you know, and once people have that awareness it kind of builds momentum, like they really see these things. They've never thought about a multiplier index in the during unit, or they've never thought about a return on relationship in the after unit or revenue From where you are right now? Dan: which one is where you are right now? Which one is most important for your own? Dean: you know your own money making for me, I think, one of the most. Dan: I mean you got eight, I know yeah, yeah, the eight are all engaged, but right now August of 2024, which is the one that you're really focused on right now rev pop revenue per unconverted prospect. Dean: Yeah, that's a multiplier If you've already got. You've got a lot of times when we take the VCR formula and kind of overlay on top of it. The excess capacity that people have is often a big asset, you know, and so it's very yeah, it's fun to to see all these at work. You know, as I start to you know, overlay them on so many different types of businesses. Dan: Yeah, no, I'm just really taking I was. Shannon Waller's husband was reading this, same as every book His cottage is. Their cottage is about 10 minutes walk from our cottage and I just picked it up and I've converted almost completely over to Kindle. So you know, so I had it within minutes. Dean: I picked it up. Dan: I read a chapter and I said I'm going to download this. So I downloaded it and I've been reading it for the past four days. But I asked Bruce. We were out to dinner last night and I said Bruce and Bruce is an investor he had a career with Bell Canada. He was 35 years, 35 years with Bell Canada Got a good pension and then he went into investing and I said this is about long range thinking, this is a very long range thinking book and it's almost like these are 23 things that are always going to be the same how you factor that into your investment philosophy, okay, yeah. And then he has a lot of references to Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett because, they're the long range, they're the most famous long range investors and Charlie's dead this year. But Warren Buffett said he said this year. But Warren Buffett said he said you know it's, the biggest problem with investing is the combination of greed and speed. You know, people want a huge payoff and they want it as fast as possible. Yes, and he said you know. And Warren Buffett, he says you know, you can't produce a child in a month by getting nine women pregnant. Dean: It's profound and true. Dan: It's a formula for complication in your future life. Dean: Yeah, exactly. Dan: Yeah, if each child has claims on half of your net worth, you probably have diminished your future. You probably have diminished your future. But anyway, and he says, the proper question is what's the investment I can make that has the highest return for the longest period of time? Dean: Yes, I love that. That's great. Dan: Well, if you take your eight profit activators and see them as separate investments. Dean: Which I do. Dan: And each of them is growing in return. That's really the only stock market you actually need. Dean: Yes, that's what dawned on me with this revenue per unconverted prospect is I try and get people to think about their before unit as making a capital investment. Dan: Well, you are in time attention, probably money, probably money too. Dean: Yeah. But most people think of it as an expense because they're running ads competing for the immediate ROI. And it's such a different game when you realize that the asset that you're creating of a pool of people who know you and like you and are marinating, you know that it makes a big difference Because the gestation period is, if you looked at the people that come into coach for the first time, if you were to look at their ad date in the CRM of when they first showed up on your radar, whether they opted in for something, that it's going to be a much bigger number than seven days. You know that they came in, they got, they talked to somebody and signed up. It's going to be a you know, a much longer period of time and the yield. This is the only way that having that revenue per unconverted prospect really gives you a way of seeing how valuable the people who've been in your pond for three years, five years, seven years I'm sure you have people who have been swimming around Strategic Coach for several years before they become. Dan: One of the big changes that we're making is to switch the attention to those people away from the sales team to the marketing team. That's smart. Because, I have a framework for the salespeople and every time I meet with them, we have 14 full-time salespeople and every time I meet with we have 14, 14 sales full-time salespeople and I say yeses, reward you, noes, teach you and maybes, punish you. So, I said, every week you're looking at your call list, you have to grade them yes, no. Or maybe at your call list, you have to grade them yes, no. Or maybe and I say, go for the yeses first, Get the no's as fast as possible, Okay and make them earn their way back into your prospect list. Dean: In other words just say no. Dan: You know it sounds like you're not going to do it. You know about us. We've had a conversation. We've got great materials we can send you constantly. But you know I'm not going to bother you anymore. And then there's maybes that are just trying to have an affair. Dean: Right, exactly. Dan: No, she isn't with us anymore. But we had a woman who is a salesperson and she had 60 calls over a six-year period with this person. I said I don't know what's on your mind, but he's having an affair. That's funny. It's a nice female voice. He gets to talk to her every month or so. It's an affair. That's exactly right. It's so funny. Anyway, we've shot way past the hour. Dean: Oh my goodness, Dan Well, it was worth it. It was worth it. Dan: I don't know for the listeners, but I found this a fascinating conversation. Dean: Well, I find that too, so that's all that matters. If we had good, come along the ride. Dan: I agree with if we were having a good time. I think they were having a good time I think, I'll talk to you next I'll talk to you next week. Thanks dan, bye-bye. Great, okay, bye.

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  • Ep133: Unlocking Literary and Entrepreneurial Secrets

    Ep133: Unlocking Literary and Entrepreneurial Secrets

    · Welcome to Cloudlandia
    In this episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, We glean valuable insights into writing methods by contrasting Stephen King's solo approach with James Patterson's collaborations. We explored the benefits of a second-person narrative and tailoring content for specific readers. We talked about an entrepreneur who built a candy empire by recognizing an opportunity and exemplifying the power of vision, focus, and innovative thinking. His story highlighted how early experiences shape goals and the importance of collaboration. Additionally, this discussion examined how US elections impact businesses and underscored innovation and marketing's crucial roles. Lastly, we covered strategic concepts like revenue per unconverted prospect and discussed books' significance in education.SHOW HIGHLIGHTS I explore the contrasting writing styles of Stephen King and James Patterson, focusing on King's solo approach and Patterson's collaborative method. I discuss the benefits of writing in the second person to create a more engaging and conversational tone for specific audiences, such as experienced entrepreneurs. I share the story of a young entrepreneur who successfully identified a market gap and built a low-sugar candy company, emphasizing the importance of single-minded focus and methodical growth. I delve into the significance of visionary goals and collaborative efforts in driving entrepreneurial success, using personal anecdotes and experiences as examples. I analyze the impact of US presidential elections on business sales, highlighting how different election outcomes can shape various business landscapes. I introduce the concept of revenue per unconverted prospect (rev pup) and its role in strategic business planning, particularly in understanding client gestation periods. I examine the financial dynamics of a signature program, discussing how a $15,000 fee per participant can generate significant revenue and emphasizing the importance of capital investment in lead generation. I highlight the role of books in attracting and educating prospects, particularly those published with Hay House, and their efficacy in creating qualified leads and fostering deeper understanding among participants. I discuss the benefits of a high-protein, low-carb keto diet and share personal plans, including a trip to the cottage and trying a new French establishment, Cafe Balloud. I reflect on the importance of focusing on one thing for entrepreneurial success, using the example of a young entrepreneur who built a low-sugar candy empire and the notion of always striving to go further in one's pursuits.

    Links:
    WelcomeToCloudlandia.com
    StrategicCoach.com
    DeanJackson.com
    ListingAgentLifestyle.com

    TRANSCRIPT

    (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)

    Dean: Mr Sullivan, mr Jackson there he is Well. Yeah, I had a great week. Yeah, I'm very busy. We started a new book. The previous one went to the printer on Tuesday and we started the next book on Thursday, so this is the fastest that we've gotten to a new one. Oh, I like that Right into the next. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah don't know what stephen king, the author that's his habit of he writes for. You know he writes every day a certain amount of time and as soon as he finishes one of the end on one if it's halfway through a session he gets a new sheet of paper and starts the next one. He doesn't like sit on his laurels, he just gets right into the next one. It's very interesting. Dean: Yeah, I'm wondering because I don't really know much about him. Is he right strictly alone? Dan: and then, yes, you know, yeah, like, so it's a very interesting thing that he's like a rugged individualist, whereas you know, james patterson is definitely a who, not how, collaborator, you know, and prolific at it. He's got a really, really interesting process in that he does extensive outlines for his books and then he collaborates with someone to fill it in, to do the actual right, and then he gets with them and gives notes and so the book is a hundred percent. He's the author. I guess you can say, and then, but gives the, but gives the co-author the latitude to take it, exercise their creativity or whatever and how it goes. But he's got the basic. You know, he's created the outline and the story art Pretty extensive outlining process he has I took a I don't know whether you've ever seen and the story arc Pretty extensive outlining process he has I took a I don't know whether you've ever seen. There's a website called Master Class and they have, like the best in fields, doing a master class on their thing, and so James Patterson was one of the first. He did a thing on writing and yeah, it's very, it's very well done. Do you think they actually reveal what they actually do? Yeah, I think so. I mean it's from seeing the things. Yeah, he actually shows actual outlines, outlines, and you know, I imagine there's nothing you know. Sharing the process is very empowering for other authors, just like I think you don't keep one and has observed you, observed you doing it. I've got one right in my backpack right here, right now. I've got the everything is created backward book right here and I just think this format, it's so you know, it's, you're so consistent in the output of it, it's amazing. Dean: Yeah, I just wonder. There was a story of a martial arts master in. Asia, china, and he was known throughout the land as the greatest martial arts master. And then he had a student who was just prodigious he was a prodigy. And so he had a student who was just prodigious he was a prodigy. And so he taught him. And then the student went off and made a name for himself and then came back one day and he says as far as I can see, there's just you and me, he said to the master, and he said so why don't we settle it right now to see who's actually the master? Okay, and so they did it and the student had his master at a great disadvantage. And then the master pulled out a trick he had never seen before and defeated the student. And the student said I thought you taught me everything he says, except for one thing. Dan: Great, I love that, except for one thing. Dean: I love it, and I'm not saying that I have one thing, but I'm saying that there's something that happens in a creative process that involves a lot of other people. So I have Shannon Well, I do my outlines to be my version of James Patterson our fast filters, and so I do the fast filter, which is basically the structure of each section of the book the introduction, there's eight chapters and there's a conclusion, so 10 sections and each of them has a fast filter with a best and worst. And I do everything in the second person, personal, so I'm always talking to you you know, whoever the reader is, I'm always talking to. the reader allows me to do is to bypass, research being a too quick start. I'm not heavy on the research side, right, and what you're depending upon is the research that the reader has already done in his or her life. That this makes sense, and that's you know, that's the second. Dan: That's. That's a. That's a real secret. You know that. Like it, it's really. It's the best to read as well, because it feels like a conversation, feels like you're just talking to me and explaining something that is that you wouldn't have, as if you were just writing a letter to me about it. Dean: Well, you do that when you're talking. I mean you know, I mean, I think you you use the second yeah everything I do it's the same. Dan: I do the same every email that I write. All of that is that because that's the I think that's the most engaging right. Dean: Like people, it's easy to get engaged with that when it feels like it's just you and me, and so I'm just trying to think here of the, because I'm only talking to a certain kind of person, you know. Dan: I'm not writing for the world. Dean: I'm only talking to one, someone who's an entrepreneur with experience and with success, and so I'm simply reflecting in my talk what I already know about this person's life. Dan: I think that goes a long way, that one of the great, like you know, models of that is thinking about one person as if you're writing a letter to one person, or even a small workshop filled with whoever you're, you know, whoever filled with the right people and only speaking to those Something to that you know where you're not. You don't try and I think people often in marketing writing especially, they are trying to accommodate or change so that, just in case these people aren't this or that, they don't know about this. And I'm like you know what you gotta like avoid. You gotta let go of the bottom 20% and write as if you're only writing for the top 20%. You're writing to the people who want to do what it is that you're doing, not, you know, leaning on your back foot kind of thing. You're leaning into helping the people, the tippy top group. That really want what you have, and don't hold back on that, you know. Dean: Yeah. Yeah, it's really interesting. I made it. I think I mentioned this on a previous podcast, but I made a decision as I was approaching you know my current age. I said you know I've been Well, that's something everybody can do, you know approaching your current age. Anyway, I just made a decision I wasn't going to do any speeches anymore to big rooms. The only public presentations I would do would be to entrepreneurial audiences, but I would only do it in the form of a thinking tool. I wouldn't try to tell them how the world is or where I see the world going. I simply say I have a thinking tool for you. And what it relates to is you know something that happens to entrepreneurs and I'm going to ask you a bunch of questions about it and then I'm going to have you think through your answers and everything like that, and then I'll have you talk to each other, and then we'll come back and we'll just share insights. And that relieved me. I didn't like public speaking and the reason was that I knew I was only talking to about a small percentage of the room. Dan: And. Dean: I didn't know who they were. You don't know which ones, right? Yeah, I didn't know who in the audience, and then you're trying to make it appeal. Dan: Just even subconsciously, you're trying to make it appealing to everybody. Yeah, yeah, just uses a lot of energy and this is, you know what, this way, doing these, I would argue, you know, doing these 90-day books, quarterly books that you're doing is way more impactful than doing speeches to big crowds. Dean: This is really the big thing and I've sort of refined it about my decision about not giving talks to large groups. Talks to large groups when I'm in the office either the Toronto office or the Chicago office the coach will frequently say can you come in and talk to the group? And I'm always a bit puzzled. I don't know what to talk to them about. What I've done recently is that I have a big table in the cafes Toronto or Chicago and I say I'm going to have lunch and anybody who wants to come in and talk to me, you can come in and have lunch with me. So usually about eight people, and that works out really great because the only people who show up are the people who actually want to talk to me. Dan: Yeah, exactly that's great. Great, I like that. Yeah, that's my favorite. My preferred style, too, is just that is the here I am. Ask me anything, you know, that's the way I can show up the best for things you know. Dean: That's yeah, that's always been. Have you been that way all the time, or is it developed? Dan: I think it's always been my preference. I have the capability to do a prepared presentation. It's not my preference, but I just like being able to customize the message to whatever somebody wants to hear. You know, so a lot of time I don't do really I don't do prepared like keynote talks anymore. I much prefer like fireside chats kind of thing, where we'll do an interview and I can take it where. What I'd much rather do Q&A, because it can be directed in whatever they're specifically interested in and I can think quickly and articulate an answer. So they're not going to stump me. I know that much. So I prefer that and I think it feels to people there's a more, there's a different energy to it's an improv theater element to it right where it's flying without a net and you know you, there's always that danger that somebody is going to stump you or ruffle you or whatever, but they're not so that that confidence to be able to do it. And I've done enough thinking about my core ideas that I can adapt them with, you know, simplifying stories or examples that work, Of course, I think one of the things that's true about both of us. Dean: we've been out there long enough that people who really want to get in touch with us know how to do it. Dan: All right, exactly, yeah. Yeah, I was just thinking about that. I was thinking that on the way over, I'm in Orlando right now, I'm in the Tesla mobile podcast recording studio parked under an h80 tree today, and but I was on the drive over. I was thinking about that different. Just doing some assessment things on the different types of like if you're doing a wealth matrix or whatever, in terms of one of the things we do with our listing agent lifestyle things is this balance between daily joy, abundant time and financial peace, and I was thinking about the different kinds of advantages that people can have. I have complete time freedom. Basically, I have very little demands on my time in a recurring way, so I have self-direction on what you know you would call freedom of time. Dean: You know I would call that freedom of time. Exactly. I think the term that you're looking for, dean, is freedom of time, that's so funny. Dan: But the other thing is along with that time I was joking with somebody the other day. You know I'm in the middle of a project for myself here but I was saying to them that just jokingly, you know I've got access to Dean Jackson for free. And I look at that as one of my greatest assets access to me for free? Dean: Yeah. Dan: Anytime, anytime, that's exactly right. Dean: If he's in a good mood. Dan: If I can only wrangle him, you know, wrestle him down. Dean: If I can get his attention, if I can get his attention. Attention I can only get him to apply himself. Dan: That would be the thing right yeah we'd be on to something. But I think that the other thing is you know, you know, as far as vcr, you know, assets go, this, I've got so much, so many vision capabilities. You know like I, I know a lot of things that can be applied to a lot of things, and it's really the. You know the job. The struggle, let's say, is to direct that to one thing. You know, it's like the, it's like you. I remember we talked about offer briar one time that he you know, I was just. Dean: I was just as you said, that I was just thinking of him you know, exactly at that moment that you said his name. I was thinking about him, isn't that? Dan: funny that you, you know, I remember you telling the story of being with him and I've had the same conversations with him that his model, his technology, just for people listening. He's a brilliant guy. He's able to simplify learning and teaching models so he can really teach somebody how to learn anything and become a master at it in a very compressed amount of time and become a master at it in a very compressed amount of time, and his, you know, assertion is that he could do this for anything. It can be any skill that somebody wants to learn, and I think you were one of my favorite stories. You were at a dinner with him. Dean: I believe you were in Israel, right, tel Aviv, yeah. Dan: And said well, I'll let you tell the way you described it no, I just. Dean: it was a, you know, a very short comment. Dan: And I said. Dean: I said, you know, I think you really want to be known for this, for being able to teach anybody anything. But the problem is you can't focus on one thing. And you only become really well known if you can't focus on one thing, and you only become really well known if you can do one thing, really great. And you know, and he just laughed and he smiled, and you know he, he nodded and agreed, that was true and you know, and that's where I think it's very important to have guidance from outside of. You know what's the best thing for you to apply your talents to, your one talent, your greatest talent, what's? The best thing to do for that. And you know and what would you think with VCR? What would be the? Dan: Well, that's where I'd go. You know, is that this is? You know, even the marketing, you know is certainly the one. It's one thing, but there's so many applications of that you know, that's where I struggle, but what? Dean: would be? I guess I'm asking the question again what would be the best? I mean the, you know. I mean even in the strategic coach. I'm for entrepreneurs, you know the strategic coach is for entrepreneurs talented, successful, ambitious entrepreneurs. I say yeah, but not all of them. Not all of them. You can check off those three boxes. I'm for the ones who are really driven to collaborate with other entrepreneurs to create a new thing, that hasn't existed before. So, you know, and I think this gets more refined, Wouldn't you find? of who you would spend your time with 10 years ago that you wouldn't spend time with them today? Yeah, no, I think you're absolutely right. Dan: I think there's, yeah, there is that. Yeah, no, I think you're absolutely right. I think there's, yeah, there is that. I was it's so. I was, just as a sidebar, was listening to a podcast the how I built this podcast with Guy Raz and the the thing that one of the most recent guests was this young, the young lady. She's 26 or seven now. When she was 21, she started a company to make low sugar gummy bears and evolved that product line to other low sugar gelatinous treats and the company is called Smart Sweets and four years after building it, she sold 80% of it for $360 million, you know, as a 25 year old or 26 year old, in a four year period. And it's just, I mean, it's amazing, right, that one thing focus of doing that it unfortunately feels like it's the way is one thing. If your goal is building wealth, it feels like, I guess. Dean: Was that her intention to do that, or was that a stroke of I? Dan: think she wanted to. You know she wanted to create. She saw a gap in the market for low sugar candy right, that people like candy, but they're, you know it's so high in sugar and corn syrup and all the bad things, right. So she was looking for healthy alternatives and and there were really none. And so she figured, boy, if I could get, if I could figure this out, there'd be a, I think, a big market for it. Dean: And she was right. Dan: I mean she was definitely right and yeah, but went through. You know that whole process and you know, immediately kind of hit a third stride with it. But you look at, you know, the simplest businesses, you know, like that, imagine at some point beyond the idea and the execution of launching it that it's a different. It's a different game than the, it's a different game than the idea and the, the blueprints kind of thing, you know. And there's something that's I'm sort of resistant to or I find it hard to. You know, focus on just taking one thing all the way, kind of thing you know, that's been like. I look at. You know you look at, I see it among my. It's one of my most successful clients. You know that they're focused on one thing we crack the code on the marketing and create a multiplier for it that drives for the next three or four years and then they sell. Dean: You know it's a big yeah but single-minded focus for that period of time it's an interesting thing because that's a particular payoff for doing one thing. In other words, you know 300 million or whatever at 26, but you can also have a method that you constantly want to be growing and you know, the success is sort of a byproduct of the method. I would say that I have sort of a one thing, but it isn't a payoff or an event, it's actually it's a process you know, and but it's. I think part of it is just always be creating new things and then, to give evidence that they're actually new things, have it in the form that other people can use them, like thinking this is one you know or workshops you know, or quarterly books and and everything else. But but I I like yeah that's true. Dan: Yeah, like I look at that, that you're in a lot of ways, you know, I look at this as your Jiro dreams of sushi kind of you know experience of pursuing mastery of collaborative thinking tools for ambitious entrepreneurs at the highest level. You know, with a trillion dollar free zone, you know economy as the, you know, at 100 years old, that's a very, you know, that's a very ambitious north star right that that's the direction that everything is heading and it gives you enough, there's enough, uh, variety in the constant creation of new things. And I think there's something elegant about this quarterly book cadence supported by quarterly workshops and that model with new tools and a organizational support for, in the wake of what you're creating, that you're always on the lead. You're always on the lead ship in the armada, car-charging the course and heading to the $15 trillion future right and bringing on the free zone people on the lead ship and everything behind an armada of other coaches and the signature program, the 10 times program, all kind of headed in that same direction. Dean: Yeah, I would say that it really stems from an experience I had. I think it was about 10 years old and I've mentioned this that I was out walking in the fields of the farm that I grew up on. It was in February, you know, very clear, bright day, cold but very bright and sunny. I think it was still 54. The airliners were still mostly propeller. I think this was a DC-6. It struck me that it had four engines. It was either flying from Cleveland to Chicago or flying from New York to. We were in the flight path of those type of destinations and I was watching and all of a sudden I just got this feeling. It was a question that came to me and it's saying I wonder how far I can go, and that's kind of framed it for the last 70 years. I wonder how far I can go, and that's kind of framed it for the last 70 years. I wonder how far I can go. I've done this Now I wonder, and whenever I hit one level of measurable achievement, measurable success, then the question always comes to me Now I wonder how far I can go. So I think that's my one thing, I think that's my. One thing is just that it's a question, it's not an answer, it's actually a question now I wonder how far I can go and that requires, you know, being in good health, being, you know, having energy and that requires having, as you say. I've got a lot of organization that gets formed out of the creativity because it becomes doable by other people, like having coaches do the workshops. And you know, I meet clients now who have been in coach for 25 years and it's the first time I've ever met them, but they've been working with the other coaches for 25 years and that's kind of proof that you're doing something useful. You know, it sort of indicates to me that this stuff is real. Somebody who would maybe be attracted to coach because of a book they read, or they saw a podcast or something, but they do it through another coach. They're never actually in my workshops, they're in somebody else's workshops. And when I meet them, I'm always very pleased that there's enough substance and enough impact to the stuff that's being created that they don't have to be with me. Dan: I think that's right, that you've got enough like yeah, I mean you, a strategy circle and an impact filter are going to work, no matter who explains them. Right, when they explain them and they go through the process, it's like it doesn't require any. You know, there's not any creativity required in the telling of that, it's really self, it's built into the tool and any anybody can share that. Yeah, that's the. But you know you've got kind of that framework. I look at that as the. You know, in my world, that framework of the eight profit activators, the breaks and blueprint, is a is one thing. I look at that as one thing. Right, the but the application of it. You know there's this different, I guess, in teaching the application of it, helping people apply it to their own businesses. Dean: How many would you, how many would you say, have taken at least the it's first three days right, it's a three-day introduction. Dan: Yeah, the three-day. Dean: Three-day. How many, would you say, have taken it now. So I would say that probably. Dan: well, let's say 10 times, maybe 600, I'd say Do people do it again? I'd say Do people do it? Dean: again yeah. Dan: I've had people who've come many times Because it's one of those things where you never step in the same river twice or you never play the same golf course twice. It's the same round of golf even if you play the same course. The eight profit activators are the thing and it's just literally layering on. There's always constant improvement and new nuances within each of the eight profit actors. So if people are working on their before unit or their during unit or their after unit, there's all these layers of you know building on top of it, and once they've had an experience of it, you know now that you've actually applied something and something's going that unlocks, kind of the next thing you know, you get to see, okay, now, what could we do? Kind of thing. You know, and it's really, it's very interesting. Like my, one of the things that I've been really leaning into is one of the biggest frustrations I have. I'll explain something that's a real thing going on here. Real thing going on here is that in the before unit, which is the first four profit activators, and they're all about identifying your ideal client, compelling them to raise their hand, to start a conversation, educating and motivating them so that they know that working with you or doing whatever it is that you do, would be the right thing. And then making a compelling offer that makes it easy for people to get started and we get people to think about that before unit as a separate entity from their during unit, which is the unit of the business that does the thing that you do. So let's say the strategic coach workshop process, like once somebody is in strategic coach, that would be the during unit of it, right? So the before to act as a supplier to the during, and what they're supplying is new registrations for strategic coach workshops, new workshop enrollees, and the way that we try and do it is set up like a prospect vending machine as opposed to a slot machine. Most people do slot machine marketing where they put money in and they pull the lever and come on seven hoping that something will happen. And a vending machine is very predictable. Right, you're doing a vending machine. You have to select, even though there might be a dozen things in a vending machine. You have to select even though there might be, you know, a dozen things in the vending machine. You have to select what's in a1 and press a1 and it tells you what the price is and you put that money in. But you push the button and out comes your whatever it is that you asked for and so we try and line that up for people and the most predictable, the way to really do that as a vending machine is to think about the investment in the before unit as a capital investment versus an expense-based approach. Where most people are running expense-based approach, they want to run the ads, get somebody to come online and then buy right away, before the credit card is due at the end of the month to pay for the ads. Right, that's what everybody's looking for. But I look at it that if you take a capital investment approach of generating your ideal prospects and taking a bundle of 100 of those and then not measuring your ROI until 100 weeks from now, your ROI until a hundred weeks from now is the what's the ROI on marching that bundle of 100 leads that you made a capital investment of 500, a thousand $2,000 in. What's the ROI over 100 weeks versus the next hundred hours? You know which is what most people are focused on, and so I, where I run into challenges with people, is getting through what I call the Van Allen belt, where it's you load up your a hundred, or you know however many you load up a hundred leads that you've generated, however many you load up a hundred leads that you've generated and then the Van Allen belt is getting them through that period where you haven't done a transaction yet and it feels like you're spending money and you're, you know, keep loading passengers on the rocket kind of thing, and but nobody has, nobody has bought yet, and that getting people to stick with that through the Van Allen belt and then get the ROI is a big obstacle and I see it happen again and again. It's one of those things, literally people stopping three feet from gold. Dean: I really grasp what you're saying. I was just thinking how do you conceptualize that for the people who are actually involved in the activity? Dan: Well, that's the way I'm describing it now. Dean: I mean, if we put together marketing and strategic coach with sales and Strategic Coach, I would say we have it's a quarter of the country, a quarter of the company you know, easily 30, easily 30, 30 individuals and and and what they create is really educated, enthusiastic, first workshop participants. Basically that's what they create and it's interesting. This year we'll do 1,000. Like, we'll have 1,000. Dan: New registrations. Dean: You mean, yeah, new registrations, and then the price went up this year, so there's more. I mean, we were about 980 last year and we'll be slightly over a thousand. And one thing I've noticed is there's a fall off in sales in presidential years. Oh, yeah. When the US is having a presidential election and the toughest period is about the three months before the election. Dan: The reason is that yeah, right the election. Dean: The reason is that, yeah, right now. The reason is it makes a difference. It's not necessarily who wins the election, but you kind of know how to adjust your you know, you kind of adjust your journey once you know, who's going to be the president. You know, and this year there's very definitely a difference. You know, I would say it's the greatest philosophical difference. I've probably seen in my entire lifetime. Dan: I have a perfect example. I have a client who is an immigration attorney and they're, you know, right now talk about. There couldn't be a greater polarity of possibility in. November that they're. You know they're right on the thing of ready to pivot that if one side gets in it's all about immigration and getting legal. If the other side gets in it's all about staying here, deportation defense. You know it's a different. It's amazing how that kind of thing can have a polar difference. Dean: Yeah, and I just noticed that. I mean, I've been through, we're in our 35th years, so there's been eight presidential elections over that, and I just noticed there's a holding back. That happens usually summer to the, unless it's pretty well clear that an incumbent president is going to get reelected. You know, and that's happened a number of times. Anyway but that. But the interesting thing about it is that I think it was Peter Drucker said there's only two things, there's only two areas of profit in a company. One of them is innovation and the other one is marketing. Dan: Right. Dean: Everything else is an expense. Yes, but I don't think that's true. I think everything should be looked at as a capital investment, right, like I? Dan: look at one of the things that we help people look at. I don't know that I've ever shared this with you, but I think it would be a very interesting metric for you to have just an awareness of, for, even for strategic coach, that one of the greatest comforts for people is knowing what their I call it their revenue per unconverted prospect. A rev pup we refer to it as, and that's a number that, if you take of all of the new people that came into strategic coach in the last 12 months, you're saying that's going to be a thousand for this year and the amount of revenue that generates divided by the number of unconverted prospects that you've identified through your market. So imagine that there are. Everybody kind of comes through a process of somehow getting in your world. They've opted in for something or they've asked for something or signed up to come to a workshop or the Zoom workshop or an intro, or they were referred, all of that thing. I'm sure there's a pool of people who you have communication with that have not yet decided to join the program. But all of the people that did join the program came from that group and most people don't have a sense of the gestation period of people being in your world, right, because sometimes people come into your world, they have one conversation, they learn all about it and say I'm in. That's a great outcome, but the majority of people will have a exploration period, you know, where they're kind of learning about and observing and getting immersed in the environment. And so that number you know, let's say that the a thousand people and let's say would you say that a blended average of fees would be 15,000. Would that be there between signature yeah and yeah I mean new people coming can only join signature, yeah. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Yeah, so what was how much is the signature program? Now it's, I think it's 15. Ok, so 15,000. So you know, 15 million dollars in new revenue from the before you, which would be. Dean: Well, it's more than that, because the uh, that's 15,000. No, it would be. Yeah, it would be, let's just say 15,000. Yeah, cause new people coming in have to start at signature level, right, so yeah, I mean, it's more than that for us, because 80% of that is in the U? S and everything gets translated back, so so just for around numbers. Yeah, but let's say 17. Dan: So 17,000, that's $17 million on 1,000 new people. And so we take that 17 million and divide it by the number of prospects in your email database that you're emailing your newsletter to, emailing your things to. So let's say that's 100,000 people. Dean: It wouldn't be that high 50,000? 50,000, yeah. Dan: So you take that 17 million and divide it by 50,000. Yeah, take that 17 million and divide it by 50,000. And whatever that number is, you're rev-pup. And so let me just do the math real quick on that. So, 17 million divided by 40,000, that's $340 per prospect per year is where you get a little more granular. And looking at this is looking back and seeing what was the ad date of them. When did they first come in? Because some of them may have been in for 30 days and some of them may have been in for 30 months or you know whatever, or three years or more. And that gives you a good sense of what your annual. So you look at that and, on terms of capital investment, if you can add people into, you know if you make a capital investment that generates new leads for let's even say $34, you've got an immediate 10, you know return on that. Very interesting when you start looking at it like that. You know. Dean: Yeah, I mean the, the, and first of all it's it's an accurate number because all the money's up front with us, so you know that we have that money before they do their first workshop, do their first workshop and the interesting thing about it is the difference that the three books have made. Dan: You know, the big books the Hay House books and you know, I was very interested in. Dean: Ben Hardy's offer. You know that he would write the books because I just don't have the stamina to spend. It's basically at minimum it's a 12 month process with the publisher. I mean Hay House moves a bit more quickly than other publishers do. I mean you can start there. They're looking basically like 12 months. They'd like to turn a book around in 12 months and the books have done wonders for us in creating qualified leads. It's not the case that people read a book and they sign up for the program, it's that they make a phone call and the other thing is people may not have read the book and read the books, because usually they read all three and they come through a referral and they phone and then we send them the books and they read the books. Ok, so the books are useful either way. And one of the things that I wasn't sure of it because we never had this capability before. But you know, I would say, since the three books have come up one way or another, you know it's a large number of people who signed up for the program because of the books. In other words, that it was, that it was sort of, um, it was the biggest sense of proof that this was the right thing for them. Dan: Yeah, I mean the book itself. In that way, when you're putting out like a book, that's being, you have the reach of amazon and other bookstores and people kind of. There's an interesting environment for people to discover a book organically right and people talk about it and all of that stuff. So you're not really. It's not that you're having to push the book out to people. There's a they're kind of drawn to it, right, and amazon has a great engine of you know if you like that. Dean: You probably like this yeah, they're a great capability, yeah yeah, anyway like there was a new workshop, not this past week but the week before, and they had about 35, there were about 35 new people and I just laid the word out for them that if anybody wanted to come in and talk to me at lunchtime they could. Okay, and immediately the table was filled, you know the table was filled as soon as lunch break. And the thing that I was struck this was their very first workshop. How much they knew about the program. I was very struck by this. And they were asking me questions about the concepts and the tools that in many cases they won't get to for three years. They were asking me because they were mentioned in the three books, the tools mentioned in three books, and so that's been a big. So that's been a big, that's been a big gem, very exciting, right. Dan: Like I mean, it's kind of I love to hear when things like that happen, you know. But that a book is a very is a really great profit activator three tool educate and motivate. And that's really it that you're getting mind minutes of attention. And that's the crown jewel if you can get somebody's mind and attention focused on taking in a new thought that resonates with them, that they say, oh, that makes, that makes sense. That's the thing. So then when you make an offer to join the program, it makes all the sense in the world, right. Dean: Yeah, we're just starting consultation with Hay House right now on the book that we wrote with Jeff Madoff Casting, not Hiring. Yeah, we think that may be the number four. The number four book. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, we think that may be the number four. The number four book. Dan: Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, I think that's great. I mean, that's very exciting. I haven't seen Jeff in a while. Dean: Well, he's been busy with his play. He came back yesterday from London because he's been auditioning this whole week and they're going to go for an early 2025 start of his play in London. Oh, very nice. Dan: Wow In the West End. Dean: In the West. End, is equal to Broadway. Dan: Right From a theater standpoint. Dean: I said it's taking off. Oh yeah. Well, you knowago was a big deal chicago's. You know. They had a 10-week run in chicago and they got great reviews. It's just that chicago is a bit in a funk as a city that there's so much negative things happening and people don't want to be downtown after dark right that puts a crimp into theater. Yeah, yeah so we'll see next week, because the democrats are having their convention and, uh, the pro-palestinian people have said they're going to tear the city apart if they have to oh my goodness, oh my goodness, yeah, wow, they need good jobs. They need good jobs yeah. Dan: Well, it's less than a quarter and it'll be over. I can't believe. It's almost. You know we're more than halfway through August right now. It's almost here. Dean: It'll be here, and then the next campaign starts. Dan: Yeah, that's exactly the impeachment campaign That'll start whenever, whoever. No, it's not the impeachment. Dean: But even the presidential cycle is never about. Dan: Oh, yeah, yeah. Dean: Like I mean, the moment they the one ends, they start the next one, you know anyway. But yeah, but yeah. I think I think the what happened to the Democrats I think they're not going to have the ground troops to support this because they were there was so much uncertainty with Biden that I think and I mean she's only attractive right now because she's not doing press conferences and she hasn't had, she hasn't had a debate. I don't think she she'll stand up to full public. You know, full public right, I'm sure I don't think I don't think she has the experience and I don't think she's the type of person who stands up well to that sort of thing. So anyway, that's my guess. That's my guess, and if I'm ron, I'll still have a really good entrepreneurial day the next day. Even the day of that's right and I go to bed at 8 o'clock, so it doesn't matter. Dan: Oh, my goodness, Is that true now 8 o'clock yeah? Dean: No by 9. Dan: No. Dean: Certainly I'm in bed by 9. I'm certainly in bed by 9. Wow, and I get up early, I'm a morning person. Dan: Yeah, yeah, well, it's working, it's all working. Dean: Yeah, yeah, it's very good. I got a lot out of your description of that and there's a lot of protein in what you're talking about there. Right, that's the thing. Not carbs, no carbs. All meat, all protein. Yeah, that's the thing. Not carbs, no carbs, all meat All protein, keto marketing. Dan: That's exactly right. So you are on your way up to the cottage for the last hurrah for the season. Yeah. Dean: Wednesday, so it'll probably be two weeks, very nice. Dan: And then I'll see you. I'll be back pretty soon, in September, less than a month. We'll lock in Table 10. Maybe we can do Cafe Balloud as a new place, as a new Our new French establishment for lunch. It'll be awesome, okay, all right, dan, I'll talk to you soon. Dean: You too, okay, bye.
  • Ep132: Screen Time Evolution and Digital Dynamics

    Ep132: Screen Time Evolution and Digital Dynamics

    · Welcome to Cloudlandia
    In this episode of Cloudlandia, Our stories highlighted agricultural aspects of central Florida and comparisons of population densities in the U.S. and Canada. We also reminisced on television’s evolution from shows like Romper Room to the first color programs. We reflected on limited past options versus today’s unlimited streaming and the importance of managing screen time given continual new choices. Additionally, the discussion explored social dynamics considering Dunbar’s number theory contrasted against digital reach on platforms.SHOW HIGHLIGHTS Dean discusses the strategic advantages of living in Central Florida, particularly in Winter Haven, which is centrally located and offers easy access to both coasts. We delve into Winter Haven's rich agricultural heritage, highlighting cattle ranches, orange groves, and other rural aspects of Central Florida. There's an interesting comparison between the population densities in the U.S. and Canada, including reflections on Ontario's geographic size and its southern location relative to many U.S. cities. We take a nostalgic look at the evolution of television, from classic shows like "Romper Room" to the advent of color TV with hits like "The Price is Right," and how this contrasts with today's streaming culture. The episode includes reflections on how past limited screen choices have evolved into today's endless streaming possibilities, and the impact of this shift on modern screen time habits. We explore the concept of social reach and relationships in the digital age, discussing the Dunbar number and how platforms like TikTok and Instagram have changed the dynamics of personal connections. Insights are shared from the new book "Casting, Not Hiring," which introduces the VCR formula—Vision, Capability, and Reach—as a framework for modern success. Through real-life examples and personal stories, we emphasize the importance of aligning vision, capability, and reach to achieve significant accomplishments, using figures like Safali Shabari and Max Martin as case studies. The episode also discusses the importance of choosing the right tools and staying committed to ongoing exploration and self-improvement. Finally, the conversation underscores the necessity of conceptual ability to see how one can be useful to others and leverage their capabilities, vision, and reach for collaborative success.

    Links:
    WelcomeToCloudlandia.com
    StrategicCoach.com
    DeanJackson.com
    ListingAgentLifestyle.com

    TRANSCRIPT

    (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)

    Dean: Mr Sullivan, mr Jackson, you got through Hurricane Week. Dan: Not quite Hurricane Week, Tropical Storm Week, but we did oh. Dean: Tropical Storm A notch down in the hierarchy. Dan: That's one of the good things about living in Winter Haven. It is actually a haven from winter. We are in the center. We are perched on high dry, sandy land, so there's no storm surges, nothing like that yeah, so you're a long way from the coast, aren't you? Well, I'm actually an hour and 15 minutes from either coast. We can get to either side and we can get to virtually almost every beach in two hours. Like it's such a centrally located, we're almost in the exact geographic center of peninsular Florida, so I can get to Jacksonville in three hours and Miami in three hours and pretty much everywhere you want to be within an hour. So it's good. Dean: So I have a question because I've been there. Where is the big cattle ranching country? Is that south of you or north? Dan: It's surrounding us, but sort of north and south in the central. If you think about the middle of Florida, basically aside from the Orlando-Tampa corridor which is like this swath that goes all the way across the state from Tampa to Cocoa Beach, that area is very developed but above and below that the center is much like the Australian outback in terms of the density of population. And north of I-4. In that area there is equestrian and rolling hills and there's a lot of equestrian properties there and ranches. South of that is where you'd find a lot of the cattle ranches, sod ranches, orange groves. All of that is in the center and then you get all the way down to the Everglades and then the Everglades is one of the big national parks, it's the Everglades. Dean: Yeah, alligators I was actually on something that was described as the biggest cattle ranch, not only in Florida, but one of the bigger ones in the United States. Yes, and we drove at least 20 miles on the ranch before we got to buildings. Dan: And it was interesting. Dean: It was interesting. They had a lot of pigs wandering around and I asked them were they in the pig business? And they said no. It's just that every week or so the trail hands would like something besides beef. Dan: Right, go out and wrestle them up a hog Right. Dean: Yeah, yeah, have a barbecue, have a. Dan: Yeah, well, you can actually not too far from here you can do hog hunting, where you can go and hunt hogs in the forest, yeah, all natural. Dean: It's not. So. It's not silicon valley that we're talking about here no, we're really not. Dan: We're talking about, you know, rural florida. This is why I know, yeah, you know you look at Florida and you know people talk about population density and stuff, but there's a lot of land in Florida that is undeveloped. I mean there's a whole south of I-4, there's another highway that goes all the way across the state, called Highway 60, and through Lake Wales, and it's very undeveloped. I mean there's really nothing. All the way from Tampa to Vero Beach is where it goes and it's virtually. It's the only place I've been in Florida where you can, on certain parts of it, look as far as you can see in any direction and see nothing. I mean it's that. And somebody has bought up like 80,000 acres around what's called Yeehaw Junction, which is where the Florida Turnpike intersects with Highway 60. Where the turnpike, the Florida turnpike, intersects with Highway 60. And you could see easily that you could duplicate the entire I-4 corridor, like Tampa and Orlando, along Highway 60 with plenty of room to spare. So I'm not worried about the you know population increase in Florida. Dean: Yeah, it's really interesting. Peter Zion and one of his frequent you know he has his. You know he has videos every three days. Yeah, and you. But he was talking about all the developed countries, which would be mostly European countries, and you know Australia, new, zealand. You know he said that the US is by far the country with the least population density. I agree with that. Dan: Most any state, even Ontario you look at as densely populated as the GTA is. Once you get beyond the GTA it's pretty sparse in Ontario. Dean: Oh yeah, oh yeah I mean, yeah, there's an interesting thing. Just to give you a sense of how big Ontario is. First of all, ontario is a province in Canada, for those listening, and it's roughly about from north to south it's about 1200 miles, and from east to west it's 1400 miles. It's actually it's as big as mainland. It's almost as big as mainland Europe Isn't that amazing Without Russia when I found out. Not counting Russia. Dan: I heard when I found out you could drive north from Toronto the entire distance from Toronto to Florida and still be in Ontario. That's pretty amazing. Dean: Yeah, that gives you a context for it and most people don't realize that Toronto itself is further south than almost 20% of the United States. Dan: People don't realize that Ontario dips down no below that. Dean: No, it wouldn't be that much, but it is south of Minneapolis, south of Seattle, I think, it's south of Portland, you know, and then it's quite a bit south. I think it's south of Boston, it's south of you know everything like that. Yeah, maine all of it. It's about as south as you can get actually, yeah, but I think it's the most populated large city in the world, furthest north large city in the world oh, wow I think it's further south. I think it's further north than moscow oh, wow interesting. Yeah, yeah and yeah, and it's getting bigger, it's getting bigger. Well, there you go. Dan: Well, everyone. I'm waiting with bated breath to hear the great air fryer experiment from the Four Seasons beaches. Dean: Has your air fryer arrived. Dan: Oh, it's on the counter. Dean: Okay, it's on the counter. It's on the counter, it's been plugged in, but it hasn't been used yet. Okay, okay, we sort of inch our way into these new technologies. Dan: I got it, just unpack it and set it there for a little bit and just kind of let it live with it. Dean: Well, it's been a week now and we haven't used it. Why don't we use it? So anyway, but it is sitting on the counter. It's a ninja. Is that the kind you have? Dan: I think I have a breville is the name of uh mine. But did you get the one then? Did you get the one that steven palter posted? I have no idea. Oh okay, that's uh. Dean: So, oh yeah, that's fab you have to appreciate how little I take into this sort of thing, exactly right. Dan: I love that. Dean: There will be a who who's between me and the air. Dan: That's right? Dean: Oh, dan, that's the best Any technology in the world. I can guarantee you there will be a who between me and the technology. And I said what do you think? And I look for people who really love interacting with technology. I want that person between me and the technology and I'll ask them what's it do? What's it do? Dan: I'll tell you what I'm working on. Dean: What will it do for the thing I'm working on? Yeah, yeah, I love that and I've been pretty constant on that. I mean, you know, I was constant on this when I was six years old. I just always let some other human investigate the new technology. Dan: Yeah, and yeah. Dean: So I've lived a disconnected life when it comes to technology. What explains that? Dan: Well, I was thinking, you know about you, and I was thinking how you have the gift of being kind of brought into an era where television wasn't even a thing Like your earliest childhood was electronic free, I thought. But were you like? So you were born in 1944. And so it was six years. Probably Do you remember when you got exposed to your first television. Dean: Yeah, I think I was maybe. Yeah, I think it was around 52. I mean I had seen it, I'd been in other people's houses right they had television, but actually having our own television, I think it's maybe eight years. I was eight, so you got all the way to you. Dan: Think about this. You got all the way to eight years without being exposed to anybody else's visual bombardment of electronic propaganda or otherwise. Right, your visual input into your mind was largely formed through your own imagination. Yeah, you. You had to work, you had to create these visual pictures in your mind. Yeah, did you guys, did you? Dean: listen to radio, and I was assisted by radio. Dan: I remember radio had a big impact on me. Dean: And yeah, oh yeah, sorry, sergeant King of the Yukon. And yeah, there was Amos and Andy. We listened to Amos and Andy, andy, we listened to Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy and then there was one that my siblings, my older siblings, listened to at night, which was called the dark museum, which scared the daylights out of me and the shadow. Dan: We listened to the shadow so was that the family activity no, no. Dean: Here you have to get the full impact okay, sorry sorry. Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men. The shadow knows. And then you had a 30 minute. 30 minute example of human evil. You know it was great but you had to do all the visuals. You know I, you were the visual director of all these radio programs. Dan: So was this? Everybody in the family gathered in the living room sitting on the couch listening to the radio like this. Is that what was going on? Dean: Yeah, there was sort of a. Yeah, there was sort of a dining room actually where you could listen. There were a number of radios. There was a radio in the kitchen, there was a radio, I think, someplace else, and it was a big house, a farmhouse, yeah, and I remember listening, imagining, you know, imagining. There was another series called Sky King, sky King, which became a TV station you know, and the Lone Ranger. We had the Lone Ranger. Dan: So there was a lot of variety, uh-huh and so, and then, in 1952, eight years old, you get your first television set. Dean: I think, so I think that would have been about then, yeah. Yeah, because I remember the first presidential election was 52. And I can remember that being on television. Who was the? Dan: president, was that Ike Eisenhower? Dean: Yeah, I like Ike, that was Eisenhower's first term. I like Ike. Dan: Now you know that's a really interesting thing. Do you remember, like your new routine when the television came? Were you watching TV every day from that period on? Or were your parents limiting the TV, or was everybody gathered around and limiting the TV, or was everybody around? Dean: and watch the TV. Yeah, I mean it was a frequent. It was a frequent activity once came in, that's all I can say I don't know, I don't know if I watched every day, but there you know, there were favorite shows. I think Arthur Godfrey was one of the early shows, the variety hour, and yeah, no, children's. I think there wasfrey was one of the early shows, the Variety Hour, and yeah, no, so Children's. I think there was Howdy Doody. Howdy Doody was. Dan: I think one of them Doody time. Dean: Yeah, and I think Soupy Sales was on and yeah. Dan: Yeah, I'm just thinking how. Yeah, I remember Romper Room. I just saw a video of Joe and I at the I Love Marketing event and I was saying we had all the people streaming from all over the world and I was doing a little Romper Room and about half the people in the audience knew about Romper Room and half didn't. Dean: That was kind of interesting. Dan: I remember I see Bobby and Johnny in their magic mirror. I used to hide behind the sofa so she wouldn't see me miss joan miss joan, miss joan. Yeah, so I was thinking about it was good, I mean I mean it was good, but it wasn't. Dean: It wasn't the major part, you know, of your you know it was only during weekdays, it was only at night and uh yeah, and on weekends I don't really there was. I don't know what the years were, but you know you got. You know, somewhere along the line you had jackie gleason and you had ed sullivan and you had other things like that, you know. But I wasn't. I can't say I was captivated because I was usually out. You know, I was outside, we lived in the country and I was out and I had really gotten hooked on reading. So I was doing a lot of reading back then. Yeah, interesting, but it is kind of what about yourself? Dan: I mean, you were born in the television age. I was born in the television age, you're right. And so every day, you know, I mean, yeah, tv was part of every day. And I was just the reason. The context for me thinking about this was thinking about how recent, you know, as each layering availability of content became unlocked kind of thing, our, you know, screen time has dramatically increased. And I was thinking all the way back to you. That's why I was thinking about you is, you know, literally your first six or eight years there were no screens, there were the only, you know, the cinema of the mind. That was your, that was your entertainment, your imagination. But I remember, so when I remember when we got our first color television right Around 19 or some early like that, and I remember the first show that I saw in color was the Price is Right with Bob Barker, and then All in the Family with Archie Bunker. That was, so you know, in the 70s. It was the Jefferson and Sanford and Sand and then all these. You know, the 70s, I think, was the golden era of television, you know, with all these shows becoming. You know, I remember Star Trek and you know all these, the Rockford Files and Starsky and Hutch, all the Love Boat, all these shows, these iconic shows in the seventies. But you only had, you know, basically the three networks was Canada, we had the CBC and TV Ontario. So those were the things and I remember as a kid, when the TV guide would arrive, we subscribed to the Saturday Star, the Toronto Star, that would arrive on Saturdays and that would have the TV guide in there, and I remember they would have it laid out like a you know a. Gantt chart, or whatever the time, the grid of times, to show you what was on. Dean: It was like a matrix. Dan: It was like a matrix you could see yeah, so it would list there were, you know. Dean: Every day had a matrix from yes till night 13 but you only had the three. You only had the three. Dan: There were 13 13 channels, yeah, to choose from three networks. And I remember the you know organizing my saturdays in the winter around the cartoons. You know like okay, so I would have a highlighter which was recently invented in that winter around the cartoons. You know like okay, so I would have a highlighter which was recently invented in that or newly introduced or whatever to our household, but I would have the highlighter and I would like highlight my. I would do my programming. You know I'm going to watch. I'm going to watch the Justice League at you know eight o'clock and then I'm going to watch the Justice League at you know eight o'clock, and then I'm going to watch Batman at nine, and then I'm going to watch Shazam and then Scooby-Doo, and then it was the we're all about why CBS or ABC's wide world of sports. That was like a big thing. And I remember now how much of my childhood was around synchronous and scheduled programming Because there was no other option. If you wanted to see that show, if you wanted to watch the Waltons that was on my mom's favorite show you had to watch that on Thursday nights or whenever the Waltons were on, you know, and Little House on the Prairie, and it was like your selection, your decisions were made. It wasn't like what should we watch tonight? Of the like now, infinite choices available to us, but we actually spend probably more as a percentage of our time not you, but collectively watching, consuming screen content. It's just been an observation. I've had some of these conversations. I'm getting really conscious of really being aware of my screen time and trying to be more discerning. Dean: I was just thinking now that you've got me thinking about it. I left home in 62 when I was 18. And I can't remember until I was 40 actually having a television during that 20 years or 22 years. I went 22 years and you know I don't remember. I remember people having televisions that I would go and watch things, sports things like that but, I went 22 years so, and then, of course, I haven't watched it in the last six years, so I've got pretty close to 40 years of my life when I didn't watch television Half, almost half my life. So I think it's never been a big deal for me. Dan: Right, think now like I look at kids now, like you think about the technological sophistication and facile nature of technology to eight-year-olds today, compared to Dan Sullivan at eight, you know is pretty amazing. But your experience in the outdoors to the average eight-year-old you know? Dean: it's so funny. I never see very rare. Dan: It's very rare, even in the 70s. Like growing up, you know the whole period of my childhood like from you know, six to 12. Six to 12. You don't see the same sort of pack of kids roaming around on the street that we saw when we were, when I was growing up anyway. I mean, you know, I grew up in the suburbs so we had like a very active, you know social ecosystem. We were outside all day, every day. You know social ecosystem. We were outside all day, every day you know, playing and making things up and riding our bikes and exploring the ravines and the sewers, and our parents never really knew where we were either. I mean we were. The idea was you got up and you had breakfast and you got out and you came home when you got hungry or when the streetlights came on at night. That's the deadline, you know I heard a comedian talking about that that it was so laissez-faire when we were growing up that they had to run ads on TV at night that said it's 1030. Do you know where your children are? Had to remind our parents that they had kids. Oh, so funny and true, you know. Dean: Yeah, it was really interesting, Really interesting. We in London we have our favorite hotel where we stay in London. Dan: And across. Dean: They've taken a whole old industrial area and they've completely transformed it. So they have a hotel and then they have condos and then they have shops and there's a courtyard in the middle and you cross one of the courtyards and there's a Japanese restaurant there. I remember being in there one night and there were six teenage girls, Japanese girls 16, 16, 17. And there were six of them at the table and each of them was on their phone during the entire meal. Dan: Yeah they're all talking in direct with other people. Yeah, so funny, right? Dean: They're not even there even when they're in the presence. It struck me that their world is actually inside the phone. Well, that's my point. Dan: That's the whole point of Cloudlandia. Cloudlandia is the real world. That's where we all live in. Cloudlandia. Dean: Not me. Dan: No, when I say we all, I mean society, everything. I have to have a permanent disclaimer. Dean: You're saying a large number, a large percentage, a large percentage, a large percentage, and Sullivan excluded A large percentage of people. Yeah, yeah. And it's honestly a different world. I mean, yeah, I can't make too many comments on it because I've never really experienced that you know. Dan: So we've got a young guy in our, in our go-go agent platform. He's a young realtor in Guelph, ontario. He's in his mid twenties, just getting started on his career and stuff. He's lived in Guelph his whole life and one of the strategies that we teach people. Dean: Nice city. Dan: Yeah, guelph is a is beautiful, yeah, so he's grown up there. You know, really, you know good looking young guy, very personable. I think he's got a big future. But one of the strategies that we encourage people is to gather their top 150 relationships, the people that if they saw them at the grocery store they'd recognize them by name and stop and have a conversation with them. Right, and the hardest thing, the funniest thing is he, after racking his brain, could only come up with 88 people on his list of 150 people. And I thought to myself like the population of Guelph must be 150,000 people right In the Guelph area I mean, it's pretty good size city. I thought you know you look at this right that there's a kid who has grown up largely in the internet world, right, like largely on in Cloudlandia, and that's the real thing. The reality is that if you go outside of his bedroom and walk around on the street, he only knows 88 mainland people and he's surrounded. I was teasing him that I said are you telling me that you've lived your entire 26 years in Guelph and all you know is 88 people and you're walking around surrounded by 149,920? Npc is a gaming term, dan for non-playing characters, because all of these online video games GTA or Grand Theft Auto and all these things that are kind of photorealistic things. All the people that walk around in the background are called non-playing characters or NPCs. Ground are called non-playing characters or NPCs. And I said that's really what you're telling me is, you've spent your whole life in Guelph and you only when you step outside your bedroom, know 88 people. That's a problem If you're in a business that is a mainland business. Mainland business right. Dean: All houses are 100% firmly planted on the mainland, as are the people that inhabit those homes. Dan: So it only makes sense that you need to get an outpost on the mainland, not in Cloudlandia, you know. Dean: Yeah, I was just thinking, I was just caring of my company company, my team members. There may be some new ones that I don't know, but I certainly know 100. And then my free zone program. I've got 105 in there and you know, some of them. I have to check the list to get their name, but you know I'd be over. I'd be over 150 with those two groups. Dan: Yeah, but there's. Dean: And then there'd easily be another 100 with the 10 times group, and then there would be 20 with Genius Network. Yeah, I'd probably be 300 or 400 anyway. Dan: And it's a really interesting thing. There's a lot of thing around that. Like Robin Dunbar, the evolutionary psychology anthropologist from Oxford, he is the one that coined that or discovered that information that the 150 is the magic number. You know, that's the number of relationships that we can manage where we recognize people and have, you know, a current status in their life kind of thing, in their life kind of thing. And that goes back to our first kind of days of playing the cooperation game where we would be tribal and have 150 people and that was a security thing. If you didn't know the people around you, that was a threat. Right, you had to know everybody. So, that's part of it. If it got to 150 150 what would happen is they would split up and go off and, you know, form other tribes. But that was. There's so many naturally occurring ways that that happens, but I just noticed you know how so much of it is for me personally. Like my Cloudlandia reach is a hundred times or more my mainland reach. Like if you just think about the number of people that I know or know me from in Cloudlandia it's way bigger than the number of people that know me in Winter Haven, florida, in my own backyard, you know. Dean: Yeah, well, it's very interesting. You know good FreeZone partner Peter or Stephen Poulter. You know, with TikTok he's got he's probably got 100,000 people who believe that he's their friend, he's their guide, he's their friend, yeah, yeah, but he wouldn't know any of them. Dan: Right, that's exactly right. Dean: So it's very. Taylor Swift probably has 100 million easy, probably more who know her? Dan: Mr Beast has 350 subscribers. You think about that. That's a measurable percentage of every person on the planet. When you think about that, almost that's, yeah, more than. Dean: It'll be interesting to see what he's like at 40. I wonder he's pushing 30. He's pushing 30, now right. Dan: Yeah, I think 26 or 7. Dean: Yeah, yeah, it'd be interesting to see what that does, because we only have really interactive relationships with a very small. I mean you talk about Dunbar's 150, but actually if you see who it is you hang out with, you know in the course of a year. I bet it's less than 15. Yeah, that's less, yeah, but yeah, yeah that's less, yeah, but yeah, I think, these numbers, you know, these huge numbers that come with quadlandia, do they mean anything? Do they actually mean anything, though, you know? Dan: um, well, I think that what I mean to that? Dean: do they have any? If you have that large of a reach, does it actually mean anything to you? Dan: It certainly from a monetary standpoint it does. From a relationship standpoint it's sort of a one-way thing, yeah, I was talking to one of our social media. Dean: We have a social media team here and I said can you bring me up to date? We have a social media team here and I says can you bring me up to date? I'm out there a lot every day, aren't I On Facebook and TikTok and Instagram and everything I said? I'm out there. And LinkedIn I'm out there a lot. And she says oh, yeah, every day there's probably about you know, five to ten new messages are going out from you and I said, that's interesting Because every once in a while I run into someone and someone says boy, I really liked your Instagram the other day and I said yeah, well, I aim to please. That's your whole thing, yeah, but I have no idea what's going out. Dan: And that's, you know, that's only going to be amplified when you take, when AI starts creating or, you know, repackaging a lot of the let's face it, you've got a lot of content out there. You've spoken a lot of words, You've been, you know, if we capture, everything you say basically is captured digitally right. Dean: Yep, Danny's got a lot to say. You do. Yeah that's right and you've got your. Dan: You've got the whole organization. You're the happiest. He's very expressive. Dean: Yeah, he's very expressive. You got a lot of milk, yeah, yeah. Well, anyway we're. I think we're going to start our next big book. We did the three with Ben Hardy, which have been a huge success. And I sent Ben a note. I said it was your idea to do these things, so without your initiative none of this would have happened. And of course you wrote the three books, so without your writing none of this would have happened and we've had really good results from hot leads coming in to coach from the books. It wouldn't have happened if you hadn't done that. But you know the publisher is giving us a call every month Say do you have a new book, do you need a new writer and everything. But we're ready to go. Dan: We're ready. Dean: And I think so it's going to be. I think it's going to be the one that we're doing with Jeff Madoff casting, not hiring. Yeah, it's a nice punchy, you know, it's another one of the punchy titles and so that will come out in coach form in the first week of September. Dan: So that'll be all printed. Dean: I think it went. I think it goes tomorrow to the printer and it'll be printed up. And you know, I don't know what it is, but I think a lot of people are fooling themselves about reach because they're lacking vision and capability. They think if you have reach, you've got something. But I think, if you don't have all three, you don't have. If you don't have all three, you don't have anything. Dan: Well, I think it's, if you have capability if you have capability. Dean: If you have capability but no vision, no reach, you have nothing. If you have vision but you have no capability and reach, you have nothing. You got to have all three. Dan: Yeah, you know it's very interesting. Chad Jenkins and I were talking, you know he's one of the bigger advocates for the VCR formula vision, capability, reach, about the you know the secret of that for people that you know whether we were to express them in capital V or lowercase v and capital C, lowercase c, capital R, lowercase r to see that where somebody self I see a lot of situations where people have a capital C capability that gets discovered and all of a sudden they're thrust into reach that they have no idea, no vision of what to do with. And it's very interesting. So someone that comes to mind. There's a woman, safali Shabari, who I met in Toronto through Giovanni. She was a guest or speaker at one of his Archangel events capital C capability for parenting and that kind of advice and she got discovered by, you know, Oprah and all the mainstream. So she was kind of thrust into the spotlight that was now shining a light on her capability, which brought her tremendous, acute onset reach that she really doesn't have, in my observation, a vision for how to navigate, you know, or what to do with that. They're an abundant reach asset with no vision. You know, to connect the two and I think that happens a lot. I think that happens a lot, that people get thrust into a spotlight and they, you know, have. And often you can have reach without capability too, and that's a problem too, and that's a problem. But if your reach is a result of somebody discovering your capability, that is a big. That's the formula I was. you know I've often talked about Max Martin as a role model you know the guy who's written all the number one songs on the radio that when I really started looking a little bit deeper into it, what I found out was that it was really through the reach of of Clive Davis that Max Martin's capability became. You know that he became Max Martin capability became. You know that he became Max Martin and because he was just a guy in Sweden producing great music, with a capital C capability of making pop songs, you know, and Clive Davis, when he discovered that he, as the president of Columbia Records and the founder of Arista and Jive Records, all of these subsidiaries, he had tremendous reach to both artists and their audiences. Visionary, to pair his artists with this Max Martin capability to create this capital VCR outcome of you know, all the success that Max Martin has had. And it was only through that pairing of a capital C capability with a capital R reach and a capital V vision then it all really became a big thing. Dean: This is my observation. Dan: This is all like live, you know developing, you know thoughts here around it, because I constantly. I run that filter constantly in background, filter constantly in background. But that VCR formula is, I think, a very relevant collaboration tool, that if people were really aware of their capabilities and had transparency to other people's vision, capabilities and reach, that's where the big connections happen, you know. Dean: Yeah, I think it requires a fair amount of conceptual capability that you can. You can sort of depersonalize your situation enough to understand what your capability would mean to somebody else. And you have to have a conceptual ability to see what reach would mean. For example, I was on a podcast on Friday. I was a guest of someone who is a key player in the land development industry across the United States and he's in COACH. So he asked me a lot of questions about coach and I went through and I explained. He's got 10 years in coach and he talked about what each of those concepts meant to him and everything else. And then his podcast is going to go out to 5,000 key players in the land development land development business in you know probably 25 or 30 states and everything else. And so at the end he says you know, I'm going to send this out and I'll send all the coach information, everything else. And I got off the call and I said that was easy. Dan: That was easy. Yes, that all you had to do was stay in your C lane of your capability. Dean: I just stayed in my lane and said what we had done. And then I talked about where I thought we would be with Coach when I was 100. I'm 80 and Coach was 100. And that's kind of a significant statement. It's not the sort of thing you would hear every day from an 80-year-old of what things were going to be like when they were 100 and much bigger at 100 than at 80. And it was really interesting, but that was like an hour middle house and you know I'm just talking, you know really good conversation, a lot of back and forth and you know, both of us asking the other questions and everything else and I said that's pretty cool that goes out immediately to five thousand. That's immediately goes out to five thousand people. Dan: Uh, yeah, yeah I mean that's pretty mean, you know, when you think about this, so of staying in your, in your lane of that's. Part of the great thing is that these things are largely plug and play, you know, like, and it happens. That's why I say a multiplier. You know, with the formula vision plus capability multiplied by reach, that reach is a multiplier. Dean: Well, they're actually. Yeah, I think what it is that two of them are addition, but the third one's a multiplier. Dan: Yes, that's exactly right. Dean: In other words, you can have vision plus reach multiplied by capability. You can have vision plus capability multiplied by capability. You can have vision and capability, vision plus capability multiplied by reach. You can have vision plus reach multiplied by yeah, yeah, yeah but, I, think it's like two of them are inside of our parentheses. You have, you know yeah, then the other that's multiplied by the third one. Dan: Yeah so it's very. Dean: I'm convinced it's three yes From the triple play. So I'm thinking about a tool right now where I said who's got the big idea, who's got the big idea, who's got the ready-to-use capability, who's got the ready-to-use capability? Dan: And who's? Dean: got the ready-to-use reach? Dan: Yes, you know that's fantastic. That would be a very useful tool. I think that's a really useful framework for collaboration. Yeah, it fits so well with our whole free zone operating system, you know? Dean: yeah, because we're surrounded by those those capabilities. Dan: Everybody's got a capability in the form of, uh, their self-multiplying company that they've already kind of established. To get to that point right, most people undervalue. They mostly undervalue their own capabilities and reach. They don't see them as assets in most cases. Dean: Well, even when they have vision, the vision isn't really useful to anyone else. It's only useful to them Right. Dan: Vision isn't really useful to anyone else. It's only useful to them, right yeah? Dean: I mean your vision has to have a lot of room for other people. Dan: That's what. So, chad and I've been talking about this there's the horizontal vision is within your own capability channel. You know they see vision, maybe within how to improve their capability, or internally. All their vision is within the walls of their own company. But where the real benefit comes is with horizontal vision. I said vertical vision is within your own company vision. I said vertical vision is within your own company. Horizontal vision is being able to see what your capabilities paired up with, recognizing someone else's vision that your capabilities could help or how someone else's reach could enhance your capabilities. You know all of those that vertical or the horizontal vision is where the collaborative creativity comes yeah, yeah, there's so much yeah I think you're right that there's, you know, articulating, the thinking tool that helps you recognize and assess what your unique probably unique ability fits within a capability right. That's a thing in your organizational unique ability and your unique teamwork all fit within that capability channel. Dean: Yeah, it was really funny. I was when was it Thursday? I think I was. When was it Thursday? I think I was invited into a workshop here in Toronto and it was the lead master's group. Okay, so the lead master's group is the lead group of all the people who are still at the signature level after 20, 25 years. Okay, and they haven't jumped to the 10 times. They haven't, you know. Their next group would be 10 times. Dan: And they're a long way. Dean: They're a long way off from free zone Anyway, but we're introducing the triple play straight across the program. This quarter. So everybody's getting the triple play. And there was a group, probably about 40, maybe 40 in the room and I would say, three got it, three got the triple play Understood, yeah. And they said, yeah, well, why would I do this? And I said well to differentiate yourself from everybody else. Yeah well, I'm not sure why I would do that and everything else, and so this is why I put the emphasis you have to have a conceptual ability that's apart from you. You're just seeing something that exists, that's big and it's powerful, but it exists outside of you. It's not you. Somebody else's capability exists outside of you. Somebody's vision exists outside of you. And somebody's reach exists outside of you. And you've got to be able to see this as a reality that exists in the world, whether you want to use it or not. These abilities, these capabilities, vision and reach is outside of yourself. Vision and reach is outside of yourself. And then you have to say if I'm going to use what other people have, how do I have to be useful to them, that they would be agreeable to that, and I think that takes a lot of conceptual ability to see how you could be useful to other people. Dan: Yeah, I agree with that, that's true. Dean: Yeah, I think there's. I mean, if you can only see within your own framework, you're not going to be VCRing anything. Dan: Right, exactly, you're only going to be trying to increase, you know, or improve your own limited vision within your own situation and working on your own capabilities, and only with your own reach. It's real. That's where it's like linear. That's linear, yeah, and you know exponential is plugging in to ready to implement reach, vision and technology or capability. Dean: It's really funny because huh, well, yeah, it's who, not how. But you have to see the who's as existing, completely independent of you. They just exist. They're out there, they're doing their thing and they're not going to be interested in you unless there's a big payoff. In other words, they have to see and it was very interesting because when I talked to like first year and strategic coach, you know first or let's say, signature level first or second and people will say well, you have such great people here at coach, how do you find great people? Dan: And I said you know where I live, you know I live in such and such place. Dean: We don't have great people like you find great people. And I I said you know where I live, you know I live in such and such place. We don't have great people like you have great people. And I said I suspect you do have great people, they're just not looking for you. Yeah right, how? How do you have to be such that other great people would be interested in you as an opportunity? Dan: Yeah, yeah, amazing you have to have something compelling you do you? Dean: have to have something compelling. Yeah, not convincing, but compelling. Dan: That's right, you know, shaped with a what's in it for them. Yeah, viewpoint, you know that's. I think Joe's book is amazing to set. I can't. It's one of those things that I can't believe nobody has written that book until now, you know. But just that whole idea of thinking about your vision, capabilities and reach from a what's in it for them perspective, with other people, what you can do for other people, it's almost one of those things that it's so powerful. Dean: That's true. That's true of all new things, though. Dan: Yeah. Dean: I can't believe somebody hasn't thought about this before. Uh-huh. Right right, right yeah. Dan: Oh man, that was. So there was George Carlin. He had a thing, a little you know comment where he was saying how the English language is so incredible that you'd think everything that's possible to say has already been said, you know. But he said I'm going to say things tonight here that have never been spoken in the history of the world. For instance, he said hey, marge, after I finish sticking this red hot poker in my eye, I'm going to go out and barbecue some steaks. Nobody's ever said those words in the history of the world. So it's not. Everything hasn't been said. I thought that was pretty funny actually. So there, yeah, Well we've spent an hour. Dean: We did a good hour, I think so. Dan: I always enjoy these conversations. Dean: Yeah, and. I'm going to, I think yeah you ought to zero in on the tools. You know that, yeah, and I'm going to. Dan: I think, yeah, you ought to zero in on the tool. Dean: You know that I'll give some thought to it, but this is your tool, not my tool. I'll give some thought to it. I love it, All right. Dan: Okay, talk to you next week. Bye. Dean: Okay, bye.
  • Ep131: Weathering Change and Creative Evolution

    Ep131: Weathering Change and Creative Evolution

    · Welcome to Cloudlandia
    In this episode of Cloudlandia, we explore how weather predictions and media sensationalism influence public views, especially regarding storms like impending Tropical Storm Debbie. Drawing on past hurricanes and climate patterns, we examine the normalized perceptions of living with these events. Additionally, we delve into the evolution of creativity through technology and mind-altering substances. From early stone tools to therapeutic uses of psychotropics today, innovation is traced alongside historical cultural explosions. Comparisons are drawn between eras like the 1960s and perceptions of creativity now. These chapters emerge from a common thread of challenging assumptions, spanning climate activism, human creative drives, and digital changes. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS Dan and I discuss preparing for Tropical Storm Debbie in Florida and the normalization of living with hurricanes. We delve into how media influences public perception of weather events and examine Bjorn Lomborg's critique of climate activism, discussing resilient polar bears and the myth of the Maldives sinking. We explore the evolution of technology and creativity, from early stone tools to the influence of mind-altering substances on human history. We question whether the creative explosion of the 1960s was an anomaly and consider if today's society is experiencing a creative drought. Insights from a recent Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson podcast are shared, focusing on the impact of psychotropics on human culture and creativity. The conversation transitions to the benefits of the carnivore diet and personal experiences with diet changes, including the use of air fryers for cooking meat. We highlight the importance of critical thinking and self-interpretation in navigating the abundance of unfiltered information available today. Platforms like Real Clear Politics and Perplexity are discussed as valuable tools for accessing diverse perspectives and balanced information. We note that major corporations have yet to profit from AI investments, despite substantial funding, and discuss the potential reasons behind this trend. The episode concludes with a reflection on the importance of discerning what information to allow into our thinking, emphasizing the responsibility we have in the age of information unfiltered.

    Links:
    WelcomeToCloudlandia.com
    StrategicCoach.com
    DeanJackson.com
    ListingAgentLifestyle.com

    TRANSCRIPT

    (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)

    Dean: Mr Sullivan, mr Jackson, welcome to Cloudlandia. Dan: And I hope you're enjoying all the extraordinary benefits of your own four seasons. Dean: I really am. We're battening down the hatches. We're just getting ready for Tropical Storm Debbie, which is making its way through the Gulf of Mexico, beating towards the coast of Florida. Dan: And it's so funny, yeah, yeah. Dean: So it won't be. It's apparently it's going to be a lot of rain and wind and stuff for us. You know I'm so I'm very close to the highest point in peninsular Florida, so we're not going to get flooding, we're on high dry. Dan: That puts you at about 60 feet above sea level. Right, you know it's so funny. It is funny I think I can see. Dean: Let's see sea level reading. There's, yeah, the highest point in. Florida is three feet above sea level, which is Bock Tower, which you've been to, and so, yeah, so we're sitting here ready to go. But you would never know, dan, what's coming, because right now it's still. It's slightly overcast, but it's still. Yesterday was beautiful, today slightly overcast. You'd never know what was coming if it wasn't for the big. You know buzzsaw visuals in the news right now, but seeing it marking its way and with a huge, wide swath of the path of the potential storm, you know. Dan: When you first moved there, did it take you a while to get to normalize the fact that, yes, we get tropical storms, we get hurricanes. Dean: Yeah, Exactly Did it take you? Dan: two or three times before you said oh well, I guess it's just normal. Dean: It is normal, that's exactly right, and every year you know what I would say. It's so funny that there's never a year in memory that I can remember somebody saying, or the news media saying should be a light year for hurricanes, this year Doesn't sell newspaper or drink advertising. Dan: I remember, after Katrina, but Katrina didn't really hit it for it. It hit Louisiana. Dean: Yeah right. Dan: But I remember the alarmist saying well, every year it's going to get worse. Now and then there was almost a year, maybe two years, when they didn't have any hurricanes at all. Dean: Yeah, exactly that's what's so funny, right? It's like the things like you know, and it is funny how the whole, how it all has cycles you know, because California, you know, had the. You know everybody's talking about the water levels in California. Now you just it's all reported right now that you know Lake Tahoe is at the highest maximum allowable level for Ever, ever, yes, exactly, it's at its peak, it could be poor flooding. Yeah, exactly, it's like 15 feet off of the highest level allowed and because of all of the snow cap melting and all the stuff. But anyway, it's just so. You know, I definitely see those. It's all part of the balance for our minds, you know yeah, it was really interesting. Dan: Did you ever read bjorn lawnberg? He's, uh, danish. He started off as a you know you know a card carrying climate. You know, I don't know what you call them. I guess they're called climate activists. Dean: Okay, yeah. Dan: I feel that I'm very activated by the climate, so I don't know, what the distinction is there. Are you activated by the climate? I am, you know. When the climate is this way, I'm activated this way, and when the climate's a different way, I'm activated a different way. He wrote an amazing article in the Wall Street Journal. I think it was Wednesday and this past Wednesday, and he just points out that, first of all, the whole climate activism movement is an industry. There's a lot of jobs that are financed by the climate. It might be in the millions the number of people who make money off of doomsday predictions about the climate. So whenever a movement, someone once said everything starts off as a cause and it's just the people emotionally involved. In other words, they said we're not paying attention to this, we have to pay more attention to this. But then when government gets involved, it becomes a movement because large amounts of government money start flowing in a particular direction and then it becomes an industry. The fourth stage is it becomes a racket. I think we're in the climate racket period right now. Yeah, but Bjorn Lomborg was going back to 20, 25 years ago when he had a revelation that the climate does change. But he says that's the nature of the climate. The very nature of the climate is that the climate changes. But he said the first, if you'll remember this, with Al Gore, this was right around when he lost. Dean: Yeah, it was right around 2001. Dan: Yeah, yeah, he was right after the 2000 election Right 2000 election and I suspect he needed some money. So he started the movement and he used the polar bear as an example. There was this one polar bear who was just floating on a very small ice sheet, you know. And they said, you know the bears will be gone within 20 years because of the warming. It turns out the population in the last 20 years has doubled. The number of polar bears has doubled, even though it's gotten warmer. According to the climate racket people, it's gotten warmer, but the polar bears, you know, have been around forever. I guess they know how to adapt to changing conditions. Dean: They were all grizzly bears. Dan: They were all grizzly bears at one time. I don't know if you know that. Dean: I did not. That's where they started. Dan: Yeah. They found the white yeah, they rebranded it as polar bears, I guess extended their territory and that was it, so they've doubled since Al Gore's warning. And then the other thing was that the let's see, there's two more. Well, I'll mention number three. Number three is that all the low islands in the Indian Ocean were going to sink below sea level. The sea level was going to flood the Maldives and some of the other things, and for the most part, all of them have expanded their landmass in the last 20 years. They've actually gotten bigger. They've increased their height above sea level by possibly six inches. Dean: Oh man. Dan: You'd appreciate that. Living in Florida, so it hasn't happened. The other one was the deaths from warming. Last year in the United States I don't know if it was last year or the year before, I don't know if it was last year or the year before 25 times more people died of extreme cold than died of extreme heat. So if you're a betting man, I call it the Gore factor, that if Al Gore says something, bet the other way. Dean: Ah right. Dan: Yeah, yeah, this is you know. Dean: The man is impossibly rich because of his creating a movement, creating an industry, and now it's a racket. Yeah, I mean, it's amazing how invisible he is now. I mean he really is like I haven't seen or heard anything from Al Gore. I can't remember the last time. Dan: Well, it's passive income now. Dean: Right, just stay quiet, stay low. Dan: Just stay quiet, just stay quiet. The dollars just keep rolling in yeah, yeah. But it's interesting. My suspicion is I've been thinking about this because I'm writing my next quarterly book. We just wrapped up Casting Not Hiring, which will come out in September this one with Jeff Madoff, this one with Jeff and it really really worked. This book really worked the Casting Not Hiring but the next one is going to be called Timeless. Technology, and the idea here is that technology is a way of thinking. It's not so much particular technology, but it's a way, and my been that it's actually one of the crucial factors. Technological thinking is one of the crucial factors that differentiates humans from the other species, and what I mean by that it's the intentional and yet unpredictable utilizing stuff from our environment to enhance our capabilities. Dean: And. Dan: I did a search on perplexity what would be reckoned from perplexity doing a search of what would be sort of the 10 early breakthroughs, the technological breakthroughs, and one of them was just stones that you could throw. You could pick up a stone and throw it and it actually changed how the human body evolved. Is that the ability of using our hand and our arm and getting that tremendous arm strength that you can throw a stone and, you know, kill something. Right Kill an animal or kill it. Kill another human yeah, and everything. Dean: I wonder even about that, the evolution of technology, like that, like thinking a rock and then realize that, hey, if I just chisel this away now I make this sharp on this end. Dan: And now all of a sudden we got an axe, you know yeah, and then actually they think that glue was an early adaption, that you could take sticks and stones and put them together. You could glue things together and you could actually. So they looked for probably really sticky saps or something from trees you know that they would use. Then pottery, of course, and it's interesting with pottery that the very earliest samples that we have. clearly they took clay and made it into some sort of cup or yeah, a bowl of some sort, but whenever they find it and it goes back hundreds of thousands of years they can detect alcohol. They can detect that there was alcohol, which kind of shows you how early that must have been. Consciousness transformer that's what I call alcohol. It's a consciousness transformer, would you not say? Dean: Yeah, I mean I was listening to Joe Rogan. I had Jordan Peterson on his podcast just recently. Dan: That's a good podcast partnership. Dean: Yeah, yeah, and he was talking about the, you know psychotropics and the things that are. You know that psilocybin and all the all of those things, marijuana was all what was sort of responsible for the revolutionary change that happened. You know the difference from the fifties to the sixties and his thing was, you know, in the mid to late 60s. You know that's what started the whole. Every single one of those things was made schedule one, narcotic and illegal and completely controlled right, and that his thing is that we haven't seen anything revolutionary, like any kind of change happening from since then, since the 60s, into now. Dan: Which kind of indicates that it's good enough? Dean: Well, it's just kind of funny. You know, like that, you wonder what the you know where he was kind of going with that, but he was using as an example like the creativity in the 60s, like he talked about the difference of the car. Even the cars and the things, the designs of things that were being made in the 60s are iconic and desirable and different than, like you compared to, you know, a camaro or the muscle car, this, the corvette, and the things in the 60s compared to like nobody wants your 19 camaro. That's not desirable at all, not in the the way that the 60s, Except maybe NASCAR. Dan: Except NASCAR, I think Camaros have a very niche use because they're really souped up. Mark Young, his team has won. At the latest count, his team had won three races this year so far. Discount this team had won three races this year so far and he was talking about it at the podcast dinner that we had after doing the podcast, the four-person podcast. But Camaros always play a very active role. They establish themselves as this amazing niche, you know, souped up, NASCAR type of car. But I really take what you're saying there that there's been no blockbuster new designs of cars that have really you know that you think that they'll still be around. In other words, these are real breakthrough cars. Yeah, Just going a little deeper into the Joe Rogan, Peterson, the Jordan. Dean: Peterson conversation. Dan: Did they go any deeper into why the creativity was then? But the creativity hasn't gone any further. Dean: Well, I think it was Joe's sort of. You know, I'm halfway through the podcast right now, but his basic assertion was that those access to those drugs or those not I will call I use the word drugs those, those we could say technologies are new. Access to those things opened up the part of the brain that is creative linkers, like that that's really they're saying all the way back, like going, if you take it all the way back evolutionarily, that they believe, like what you just said, back in, as far back as they go, there's access. You know they're seeing alcohol in, yeah, as mind-altering things. They would revere mushrooms, mushrooms were abundant and things that were mind-altering. And you think through all of these things, even in Indian or Native lore, that the peyote and the things that were, that part of a trip out of reality is a rite of passage or a thing that activates another part of your brain. You know, makes the connections that aren't otherwise accessible. Dan: Yeah, I'm totally, you know, I'm convinced that's probably true. Dean: And I think that we're starting to see now that these hallucinogenic what do we call it? Not hallucinogenics, but psychotropics. What's the right word for? Dan: it Psychotropic, I think. Dean: Yeah, so whatever now in treatment of PTSD and addiction and all of these beneficial things that are coming as part of using it therapeutically and but because it's just now starting to become more accessible or more active, it used to be like you've always heard we you and I both know a lot of people that have gone down the Iowa or the you know version and have had, you know, all sort of mind altering experiences doing that. I've never done it, yeah. Dan: I mean, I mean, it was very interesting. I was at Richard Rossi's Da Vinci 50. This was the last one I was I think it was february and scottsdale and two or three there. We had two or three coach clients there who were just doing a look. See, you know if they wanted to join the previewing and they were having a conversation about psychotropic drugs and they asked me if I had experimented and I said you mean, right beyond dealing with my own brain every day? You mean I said I have to tell you I don't have time for that stuff. Just dealing with my own brain every day is sure, you know, it's a full-time job. You know, because it's switching, it's switching channels continually and it takes a full-time job. You know, because it's switching channels continually and it takes a lot of work to get it focused on something useful. Yeah, I just wonder about that because it's when one of the political parties went really strange. I noticed the Democrats, since, well, kamala seems to me to be a sympathetic candidate for the president. Dean: Unbelievable, this is all craziness. Dan: Yeah, yeah, but they're using the word weird to describe the Republicans. Dean: Yeah. Dan: If there was ever a weird party. I mean, this is sheer projection, this is psychological projection. You know of weird, you know. Dean: Yeah, but it's amazing. Dan: That's when the Democratic Party changed, and it changed quite radically. I remember speaking about you know, psychedelics. I was in the army in Korea for two years. Us Army. Dean: And. Dan: I came back to the West Coast. When we flew back, we went into Seattle. I had a brother who was a professor at University of San Francisco, so I took a jump down to San Francisco before I flew back to my home in Ohio and he said I'm going to show you something really interesting. And he took me to Haight-Ashbury. This is the summer that Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco, became really famous and it was the beginning of the whole hippie movement. And he walked me around and I could tell by interacting with him that he wasn't just an observer, you know that, he was actually a participant. And he didn't do him any good, because he eventually dropped out of, you know, being a professor and became more or less a vagrant. Dean: Tune in turn on drop out. Dan: Yeah well, he dropped out. He dropped out and then, about I would say, 12 years later, he committed suicide. Oh, no, and yeah, I mean, he's the one real casualty in my family. But I remember him how unreal his conversations were starting to become when I talked to him about this. You know this, and he was never and he was very smart. He was very smart I mean before that he was very bright and he was sort of practical and he became a professor, a university professor. Dean: That says something right there. Yeah, yeah. Dan: Yeah and anyway. But that was my first awareness, that was my first introduction to it. I mean, I mean I didn't drink alcohol until I was 27 years old. I never drank until I was 27. Wow, I'll have a glass of wine, that I'll do anything, but I've never I've never actually enjoyed. I had pot a couple of times back in the early 60s, 70s and I found it disconnected me from other people. Alcohol does just the opposite. Alcohol kind of connects you. It does just the opposite. It kind of disconnects you and so it's very definitely. it's a reality since that period of time. But the one thing I want to say is that there's a really interesting thing the Democratic Party, up until the late 60s, was the party of the working class you know, working class, blue collar workers, and they had a real disaster in 1968 because they had huge riots in Chicago. So it's interesting In two weeks they'll be in Chicago and I think they've done one previous convention in Chicago. I think one of Obama's conventions was in Chicago. But anyway, they made a decision that they were no longer the working class and I think it was the result of all the tremendous growth of the student population as a result of the baby boomer generation. So between between, I think, 1940s, when the baby boomer generation starts to 64. Ok, and that would be 18 years there were I think it was, I don't know the exact number, but there was like 75 million babies who were born during that period and the front end of them were going to university in the 60s boomer generation. And so they saw the party start looking. Well, these are our future voters. They're not blue collar workers, they're college students and graduates and professors, and then the entire new working cadre. They're all going to be professionals. They're going to be professionals. And they changed their entire focus in 1960. I think it was in 1969 or 70. George McGovern, who was a senator at that time, did a commission and said we're no longer the party of the working class. And and so they're not, you know, 65 years later. And it's funny because the Republicans were always considered sort of the Pluto class, they were the class of the rich people, and now they've just shipped positions. So 60 years later, it's the billionaires and it's the college professors and media people and the bureaucratic class the government bureaucrats they're the Democrats. And the working class class the government bureaucrats they're the Democrats and the working class is the Republicans. Dean: Yeah, the Midwestern. Yeah, that's true, yeah yeah, yeah yeah. Dan: And Trump is the working class billionaire. Dean: Yes, that's true. I wanted to say it is kind of I'll use the word weird. What is kind of weird about this increased use of the word weird to describe the Republicans now is that it's so widespread. It's like the it's the Democratic talking point now. Like I love the videos now that kind of expose, the, you know, the Democrat party line sort of thing, and it happens on both sides actually. But I mean this idea of that, you know, with the media, all the soundbites are, you know, planting that thought that Republicans are weird, that this is weird. Dan: They're testing it. It's just that it's. I think it's hard for them to say it plausibly. There's no traditional values that the Democrats represent. Yeah, but it's interesting. And now I'm especially interested in your Joe Rogan, Jordan Peterson podcast. Dean: And I'm going to watch that after. Dan: Watch that and Jordan Peterson I think I mean the two people together is a very interesting partnership for a podcast, because I think Jordan Peterson is, you know, came out of the university class. He was a professor here in Toronto and where he became. He became very famous for his book, which was basically very popular Rules for life you know, like before you leave your bedroom in the morning, make your bed and, yeah, stand up straight. You know, stand up straight and when you visit with your, your friends and meet their parents, be the sort of person that their parents would like to have come back as a guest. Pretty basic, fundamental rules of life. But then he really became infamous, if you want to call it that here in Toronto, because he had a real objection to the whole university class saying that people could be whatever gender they wanted to be, and they could self-identify, and they were opposed to the he and her or he and she thing, and he said no, he said I'm not going to do that. He said if it's a female, I'm going to call her she. And they said oh, this is an attack. This is an attack on equality. This is an attack on diversity. This is an attack on inclusion. So he became very famous and it actually ultimately had forced him his hand to leave the university. He was called up and they said we're going to take away your professional degree and everything like that. Right, right, okay, which you know. I think there's something weird about that. Dean: I mean just my own opinion here, but yeah and I think Joe knows him. Dan: I think he's had Joe's had conversations. Joe Polish has had conversations with Jordan Peele. But all his videos where he's being interviewed by people who obviously don't like him, he comes off really well. He comes off as the sort of sane, rational person in all the you know, in all his interviews. I enjoy watching him. He strikes me as being kind of on the depressed side. You know he seems not to. I think he's a psychologist. I think that by training. And anyway, but I think it's interesting because this all started with the conversation of alcohol on the ancient pottery. Dean: Yeah. Dan: You know our thing here, but I think that probably throughout history, generation by generation, place after place, they found substances which can alter their consciousness, and I think it's probably been with human beings forever. Dean: Yeah, these whole. You're absolutely right, that whole yeah. Dan: It's not as good as steak for breakfast. Dean: No, I'll tell you what Dan. Dan: I have Steak for breakfast. Steak for breakfast. I just started it 12 days ago and it makes a big difference. Dean: You've started Carnivore. Dan: Well, not Carnivore, but I just don't have Cheerios for breakfast. Dean: Ah, right, right, Protein for breakfast. Yeah, I've been this week has been because I've been leaning more and more, as you know, working with jj on prioritizing pro no, babs was telling me about your call, abs was telling me about your call yesterday yeah and your air dryer. Dan: Your air, my air fryer. Dean: Yeah, and I'll tell you your air fryer and I made yesterday, yesterday for the first time, the most amazing ribeye in the air fryer. That was so juicy and delicious it was and so easy. I mean literally. I took the ribeye, I put salt and pepper and just a little bit. Dan: Yes, came out just like so your adventures get around you. Now I know, yeah, you're absolutely right. Dean: But I mean that's just, it's so good, who knew? Dan: Yeah, I mean yeah, it was I texted that. Dean: Well, we've got the whole. I'm very fortunate that you see second hand through, babs, but you know there's been a real support network, a gathering of what we're lovingly calling Team Dean on a text thread, and so I texted a picture of that last night to the group. Dan: Let's keep Dean in the mainland for a while, right? Dean: We don't want him drifting off into Glanlandia for eternity At least until we can get my mind melded up there somehow, right, but this week has been a breakthrough. Like this week I've been, this is the first week of full carnivore, like only meat. Oh so I started on Monday and it's been, you know, an interesting thing. But I had my highest weight loss week since we've been doing this by by this and I actually feel great. It took a couple of days to kind of get through the Van Allen belt of carbohydrate craving, you know. But now that I'm in, I'm through, I'm out of the atmosphere, I'm kind of floating that I think I can do this, you know, perpetually here for a while, and one of the reasons yeah, yeah Well. Dan: yeah well, I mean you talk about the air fryer, but there's a direct connection between the management of fire and your air fryer. you know, I mean hundreds of thousands of years and the human, the first humans who got a handle on fire. You know, it happened, probably accidentally, it was a lightning strike or something. But then they began to realize once we have fire, let's find a way of keeping it going. So we have access and that was a huge jump, because eating raw meat almost uses as many calories as you're getting from the meat, In other words you really have to work to digest. Let's call it steak. You know the steak. It takes a lot of calories to digest it. You really have to work to digest it but once they added fire to the mix and you could cook the food it made it much easier to digest and you got your calories much easier, yeah, but the other thing is that it's filling it's very filling, I mean the more carnivore you are, the less you're attracted to the sugar. That's the truth, easy caps. I mean, I don't feel particularly hungry. I had breakfast around 8 o'clock this morning Steak. I have steak and avocado. Okay, it's ribeye, but we're going to get. As a result of your yesterday information, babs is going to get an air fryer. We're going to get an air fryer, and then Stephen Poulter had even more. Dean: I saw that. He put up a fancy thing, exotic thing you would know that Stephen tracked it down, because that's what Stephen does. Dan: Yeah, but it's very interesting this getting enough calories to do interesting mind work. It's about if you're going to. I read a report that one of the great advantages of North America is right from the beginning. Right from when the first people came to the East Coast, they had a lot of protein right from the beginning. There was lots of game. There was lots of fish, you know. They had a lot of game and Americans have. Except for two periods of history, during the Revolutionary War and, I think, great Depression, americans have always had as many calories as they wanted. But there's a reading that high-level mental work requires roughly, you know, in the neighborhood of above 2,000 calories a day. You have to have 2,000 calories to be doing mental work. Dean: That's interesting. Dan: Yeah, yeah. And North America, the US and Canada have always had enormous amount of calories, protein calories, you know. So you can do hard labor, you can do high level of mental work. Makes for an industrious, you know, makes for an industrious population. Dean: Yeah, yeah, that's really you know. Jordan Peterson has been carnivore for five years. Dan: He's been carnivore for five years, yeah to save his life really. Dean: Right. Dan: And he mentioned that. Dean: you know he looks at when the that everything got shifted when they came out with the food pyramid in the 70s, that was not by any nutritionist but by the agriculture department to get people getting grains and breads and stuff as the foundation of a healthy lifestyle, healthy nutrition plan. Dan: That sounds like a four-stage cause movement, industry, racket. Racket yeah, I think it's now at the racket stage yeah, you know I mean halfway when we go. We were at the cottage for the last two weeks and halfway to the cottage is tim hortons. Tim hortons, okay, and I will tell you, based on your present heading in life, dean, you've probably been to your last Tim Hortons, because there's nothing in there that's actually good for you. Dean: Right, right, right, right. Yeah, that's true, isn't it? Dan: I mean that's something I call it Tim Hortons, where white people go to get whiter. Dean: Oh man, Do you go up 400 when you go to the cottage, Like do you go past? No, we go 404. Dan: We go 404. Dean: Okay, so you don't go by Weber's. Dan: No, weber's is good, weber's is a high-protein, but that's what I mean. You don't pass that on your way to your cottage. Dean: You're one freeway over on your way to york, got it, you're one. We go one freeway over right, right, right. Yeah, I got it. Yeah, that's interesting, but that you know there's a great example what a canadian institution you know tim horton's corner, really it's, uh, it's funny, yeah, but I had a thought about, you know, jordan Peterson being. You know like I think that where the revolution has really discussion of is this the best of times or the worst of times? My thought was that the battle for our minds is the thing. Yes, you're absolutely right, but just like cancel culture, I think we're in a period where our access to more information that's not being just packaged and filtered for us. We have access to unfilled information, and I think that you're seeing a resurgence, that we're moving towards in big swaths of categories, that the consensus, things that actually make a difference, and that we have access to more and more people who can do that, plus the diagnostic tools that we have support and show which methodologies are the most. And we're starting to see that in. You know, just like cancel culture was able to, the reason that we brought on cancel culture is that the consensus we were able to, everything was being exposed. You know that more people had a voice to say to, to the checks and balances kind of thing of being observed, and that when people find out things, you know you've got access to that. So I see things like nutrition, like it's like I'm noticing a trending, you know, more examination of christ, of Christianity as a thing that's becoming more mainstream as well, and that's just an observation of you know, seeing all these things. You know. Dan: yeah, One of the things that's really interesting is the variety of choices that you can make that actually cancel out a whole other part of where the information or news is coming out. You know, for example, I haven't as I mentioned, I haven't watched television at all for now more than six years, and so what ABC thinks, what CBS thinks, what NBC thinks, what NPR, public television, msnbc, cnn think about anything I'm not the target here anymore because I don't know what they're saying about anything but I found all sorts of sites on the internet that I find really interesting. Real Clear Politics is my go-to. First thing in the morning I always look at Real Clear Politics, and what they do is they just aggregate headlines for the entire spectrum. So if you want to go to all the other sites, you can go there. But what they find, you know. I find that they're making pretty widespread choices of what goes on there. In other words, if you're left wing politically, you'll find articles on RealClearPolitics. If you're right wing, you'll find real clear. But one of the things I find really interesting is when they mentioned the most popular articles for the last seven days, for the last 24 hours. They're all right wing, they're not left wing. So interesting. Although, yeah, I've never seen a left wing article be most watched or most read during the last seven days or the last 24 hours. They're all using the definitions of what would be left-wing or right-wing in today's setting. So it means that the people who are going to RealClearPolitics are mainly right-wing and they're interested in knowing what the left is saying, wayne, and they're interested in knowing what the left is saying, but they're not really. They're not really reinforcing themselves with the articles. I mean a and you can tell just by the nature of the headline, which where the bias is whether it's left or right and in any way. And but the interesting thing is how much I'm using perplexity now. Dean: Me too. Dan: Yeah, and I just got this format Tell me the 10 most important aspects of this particular topic. Five seconds later, I got the 10. And what I find is it's having an effect on my mind that there's never one reason for anything. There's always. I mean, I use 10 reasons, but if I did 20, they could probably do 20, you know but what it does? It gives you a more balanced sense of what's true, okay, but I've discovered this on myself. I mean, if you talk to 100 people, maybe three of them are using perplexity and perplexity. You know I may. I know there's other sites but it does for me what I want it to do. It gives me a background to think about things, and is that? What you're talking about is non-controlled? Dean: Because it's my question. Yeah, like that's what I think is that we've got access. Dan: It's my probes my probes that are revealing the information. Dean: Yeah. Dan: No one is packaging this for me. It's that I'm asking clarify me on this particular subject and bang you know within a matter of seconds I have clarification. Dean: Yeah, yeah. Dan: Is that what you're saying here? Dean: and I, but I think that the onus is on us to do our own interpretation and, you know, measuring whether this fits with what we think. Whereas, you know, we were sort of when we were exposed to information like all of our whole adult lives, up until the last say, you know, 10 years has really been filtered through the lenses of the mainstream media, like I think about curators, often curators, curators. Yeah, they were the curators. Yeah, or the guardians, local minority. You remember, I mean, even in the closest thing was I remember when City TV came out with Speaker's Corner. Dan: You remember that they would have a little booth set up and you could go in and speak your mind. Dean: Yeah you could go in and speak your mind and that's how you got to think, see what other people were thinking. Otherwise, you had to go to Young and Dundas and you know, on the corner there and hear everybody up on their soapbox or whatever it was. That's always been. You know, that's kind of where everybody's megaphone now is. You don't have to go out to the corner where all the people are. You can sit in your basement and you've got a megaphone to the whole world. Dan: Yeah, you know, this probably helps explain something. I read an article Friday, I downloaded it and I read it about three or four times, and that is that none of the big corporations are making any money on AI. Right, they're investing enormously in it, but they're not making any money on it, and I think the reason is that it wasn't designed for them. Dean: Ah right. Dan: It was designed for individuals to do whatever the hell they wanted to do. And if anything, it works against the corporations, because if people are using AI to pursue their own interests, that means it's time and attention that they're not giving to the corporations. Yeah, yes. Dean: And I would say there's a real panic. Dan: I would say there's a real panic setting in, because it's when ChatGPT came out. Everybody said, oh, now this is going to enhance our ability to get our message across. Well, that's only true if people are paying attention. But what if the impact of AI is actually to take people's attention away from you? Dean: Yeah, it is changing so much. So I mean yeah, it is changing so much, you know. Dan: I mean. Dean if you're going carnivore, Tim Hortons' messaging isn't getting to you. Dean: Yeah. Dan: I mean All that money they're spending on Tim Hortons' advertising is wasted money on you. Wasted on me. Dean: That's exactly it. Yeah, it's so amazing how to waste your money on Dean Jack. Dan: How to waste your money on Dean Jack. How to waste your money on Dean Jack Uh-huh. Dean: Man so funny. Well, yeah, I should. This would be great, though, to get a. You know, start spreading the word about the air fryer. Get an air fryer deal. I mean, the salmon and the steak are amazing. Dan: And apparently JJ thinks pork chops are good. That's right. So you got the whole good. That's right, exactly. Dean: So you got the whole scoop. Dan: I love it that you've got a buffer between you and the technology. Well, she controls the checkbook, so she might as well get the information, because she controls the checks. Yes, and Babs has been my authority on eating since I've met her. I mean that's one of the great benefits of being in relation she's always been good about that. You know, my life is two parts, before Babs and after Babs. Dean: Yeah, I know Absolutely. I'm much healthier since I've met her. Dan: I'm much healthier since I met her. Yeah, Anyway, yeah, but it's really interesting. You know that what you're introducing here to the Cloudlandia conversation is that we now have the opportunity to be much more discerning than we were before. Dean: Yeah, we have not only the opportunity but the responsibility, and that's what I think we wrestle with is that we can't just take all of the information and take it at face value to realize that that there's a level of building your own internal filters. Timeless Technology is that we're looking for advantage. Dan: That's what. I established right at the beginning is that you're looking for an advantage that, for a while, other people don't have, because that improves your status. That improves your status that you have an advantage, and it creates inequality. One of the things that people don't realize is that every time you create a new advantage, it creates inequality in your surrounding area, okay, and then other people have to respond to that, either by using your advantage, like imitating your advantage, or they canitating your advantage, or they can create their own advantage, or they can try to stop you from having your advantage, and I think that depends on your framework. So I think a lot of cancel culture is people not wanting you to have that advantage, so they won't let you talk about it, they won't let you do certain things and I think the cancel culture has probably been there right from the beginning, it just takes different forms. She's a witch, yeah, yeah, there's a witch, yeah, yeah. Can I tell you something about? That the salem, and also the ones that happened in Europe the witch thing, was. It was moldy grain, so usually the witch seasons happen to do happen when there was a lot of rain. Okay, and the grains got moldy and my sense is they created, they created, and so that a lot of the Fermenting. Yeah, there was a fermentation, but also it drove people a little bit crazy and there's a lot of investigation now of the which periods. Dean: Okay, salem is the most famous US. Dan: But it didn't happen. It didn't except for Salem Massachusetts. But they had several really wet seasons where the grain got moldy and my sense is that people were getting fermented grain on a daily basis and it drove me kind of crazy, yeah that made him weird. Dean: Weird it made him weird. I saw james carville. James carville said that the democrats should stop saying they're weird and start calling them creeps. Weird Weird is creeps as a label. They're creeps, you know yeah. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Yeah, yeah. Dan: I think it's funny to see. I would love to hear. Dean: I'd love to hear a podcast or a panel interview between you. Know, luntz the. I forget what his first name is Jeffrey Luntz? Is it the Republican wordsmith guy? I think it's Jeffrey. Dan: Luntz, I don't know him oh. Dean: Luntz yeah. Dan: Jeffrey Luntz. He's the one who does the panel discussions, that's right. Dean: And he gets the messaging, for he's the Republican wordsmith and James Carville is essentially that for the Democrats. I'd love to hear that. Dan: Yeah, I think James Carville is essentially that for the Democrats. I'd love to hear that. Dean: Yeah, I think James Carville is now. He's like the crazy ant upstairs. Yeah, I think so. Right, right, right. Dan: Because the last couple of weeks he said you know you better get over this mania real fast that you're having with Kamala Harris and he says, because he said you have no idea what's coming back against you. It'll take the Republicans three or four weeks to figure out what the target is here, and he says you better get over this real fast. He says it's going to be incredibly hard work over the next three months to get to the election, make sure your grains are dry here, don't get that fermented grain brain. Make sure your powder is dry too. Yeah, yeah, but it's an interesting thesis. This is where we've added a new dimension to Cloudlandia the psychotropic part of Cloudlandia yeah, I agree. Dean: There was a. Dan: Greek player, one of the Greek writers, playwrights. He talked about a place called Cloud Cuckoo Land. Dean: Okay, that's funny. Dan: Yeah, and he was talking about people who would just go off and make up new stuff and everything like that had no basis in current reality and he called it cloud cuckoo land. You know well, you know we've had a lot of that over the last 50 or 60 years yeah, I think what we're really introducing. Dean: Dan is the intersection you know the venn diagram of the mainland cloudlandia and Danlandia or Deanlandia. That's the one that we can actually control. Is Danlandia, yeah. Dan: Well, the big thing is, if you truly want to be a uniquely creative individual today, the resources are available for you to do it. Dean: Yeah. Dan: But you got to be really discerning about what gets allowed in across the borders into your thinking that's it exactly. Dean: Yeah, All right Dan. Dan: Yeah, I mean, yeah, I have to jump too. One thing about it is I'm going to watch that Joe Rogan church because I think that's interesting. Dean: I have to watch that Joe Rogan George because I think that's interesting. Dan: I have to laugh when Joe Rogan had. Dean: Peter Zion for a loop. Dan: I've never seen Joe Rogan thrown so much for a loop, because Peter Zion is nothing if not confident about his point of view. I mean, he's a very confident guy about his point of view and Joe wasn't ready for it and about every you know, every 90 seconds he said holy cow, oh wow. Oh yeah. Dean: Oh, I got to watch that one too, jesus Christ yeah. Dan: And you can see Joe sitting there. He said yeah he said next time I have this guy on no pot for 24 hours beforehand. This is moving, this is moving. I'm too slow here. I can't keep up with this you know, Peter Zion is like a jackhammer when he starts going you know he does a whack, whack, whack. Yeah, that would be Actually Jordan Peterson and Peter Zion would be an interesting one. Two brains, yeah, yeah, for sure. Maybe Elon Musk as a third person, jordan Peterson and Peter Zion would be an interesting one. Mm-hmm, Two brains yeah yeah for sure, Maybe Elon Musk as a third person. Dean: Imagine a panel. Yeah, exactly, there was a great. There was a show called Dinner for Five and it was a. It was an entertainment like movie one, where they'd have different directors and actors at dinner, just a mix of people and having just recording their conversation. No real thing. Jon Favreau did that show it was really great. Dan: No curating really. Yeah, anyway. Dean: Okay Dan. Dan: Very entertaining. We'll be here next week, yes, I always enjoy these. Dean: They go so fast. Yeah, thanks a lot. Okay, thanks, dan, I'll talk to you soon. Bye.
  • Ep130: The Digital Economy and Its Impact on Productivity

    Ep130: The Digital Economy and Its Impact on Productivity

    · Welcome to Cloudlandia
    In this episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, we have a thought-provoking discussion around AI and its future implications. We introduce Juniper, an advanced voice-based AI capable of tasks from writing to coding, giving insight into emerging technologies. We explore impacts like the attention economy, where value emerges without physical costs. Success stories like Mr. Beast showcase uniqueness and AI's potential to tackle real issues. The episode delivers a well-rounded look at AI capacities and societal changes. References to early smartphone adoption phases parallel today's AI capabilities. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS We discuss the potential of voice-based GPT-4.0 AI, specifically highlighting "Juniper" with a Scarlett Johansson-like voice, and its various applications from writing to coding. We compare the current adoption of AI to the early days of smartphones, emphasizing that we are only beginning to understand AI's full capabilities. We explore historical productivity trends, noting a decline since 1975, and question whether modern technology truly enhances productivity or just alters our perception of it. We debate the role of technology giants like Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla in shaping productivity and economic measurement. We reflect on the mid-20th century advancements such as electrification and infrastructure, and compare them to today's computing power and its economic impact. We discuss the concept of the attention economy and the creation of value from digital products without physical production costs, using digital creators like Mr. Beast as examples. We consider the potential of AI in solving real-world problems such as city traffic congestion and climate understanding, rather than just creating new opportunities. We emphasize the importance of practical solutions and specific use cases to fully leverage the capabilities of advanced AI technologies. We touch on the economic shifts in the digital era, including the rise of digital transactions and the non-tangible realm of digital innovation. We highlight the unique nature of success in the digital world, using examples like Mr. Beast and Taylor Swift, and discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by new technologies.

    Links:
    WelcomeToCloudlandia.com
    StrategicCoach.com
    DeanJackson.com
    ListingAgentLifestyle.com

    TRANSCRIPT

    (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)

    Dean: Mr Sullivan, who is that person that gives the directions when we start the podcast? Dan: Well, I'm not sure the one that says this podcast this call may be. Dean: You are the first one on this conference phone call, oh my goodness, who is she? Dan: Who is she? She's a bot. She's not real. She's a bot. She's not real. She's not real. She's not real, she doesn't sound. Dean: I've heard worse sounding bots. Dan: Dan, I have been experimenting, playing around with chat GPT-4.0. And I use it primarily in voice mode, meaning, you know, I just say things to it and it has an amazing Scarlett Johansson-like voice that has zero, not at all like Siri or Alexa. You know where those voices definitely sound like. They are bots. This, my GPT-4O I think her name's Juniper is the voice that I chose. She sounds like a real person, I mean, and has like real tone, real inflection, real like conversational feeling to it and I realized that I don't think we really understand what we have here. I mean, I look at it and I think, imagine if that was a real person. Dean: Now, when you say we, who are you talking about? Dan: I mean the collective royal we I I'm sorry I've never been around yeah, I just think we as a when I say we, we as a society or we as the people collectively using this, it reminds me of this Seinfeld episode where Kramer got this or Jerry got his dad, this wizard organizer, and they always use it as a tip calculator, like the least of all the functions that it has. They're just excited that it's a tip calculator, and I feel like that's the current level of my adoption of Juniper. Dean: Yeah, I think the big thing is what you let's say, a year from now, level of my adoption of Juniper, you know, yeah, I think the big thing is what you let's say a year from now. You're using Juniper for a year. What do you think will be different as a result of having this capability, new capability? Dan: Well, I think it's operator, you know, I think it's operator dependent, you know, I think it's up to me what I think if you said to me. You know, I think it's up to me what I think if you said to me listen, I'd like to introduce you to Juniper. She's going to come here and she'll be within. She's going to follow you around. She's going to be here within three feet of you or discreetly out of sight, whatever you, but whenever you call she'll be right there. She is a graduate level. She is a graduate level student. She could pass the bar. She knows everything that's ever been recorded, she speaks every language. She never sleeps, she can write, she can draw, she can do graphics, she can do coding Whatever you like, and she's yours 20 to a month. Have fun, yeah, do you think you'd use it Well? that's my question is that it feels like I'm not using it and I have it. That's essentially what I have. I've got it in my pocket. You know how they said. You know the iPod was launched with the promise of a thousand songs in your pocket. Well, I think this is really like. You know, an MBA or a PhD or whatever you want in your pocket is essentially what we have, and I find it very interesting. Dean: No, I think it's unique, you know, and it's brand new. But what problem did you have that this solves? Dan: Well, I think that it's not per se a problem, but I think that we're I really have been observing and thinking, and I've said it you know in lots of our conversations, that I think that 2020, you know, if we take the 50-year period from 1975 to 2025, that we've pretty much set the stage now for a new plateau launch pad kind of at the same time. I don't. I think that once we understand and people you know, I think it's almost like the iPhone had the app store, that became what Peter Diamandis called the interface moment. Right, that was the you know, that allowed, once people realized that the capabilities of the iPhone to both measure geographically where you are at any precisely at any moment, the gyro thing that can detect movement, the sound, the camera capabilities, the touch screen, all of those things, Well, people realized what the baseline capabilities of the phone were. They were able to architect very specific, you know, starting with games very specific ways to use the capabilities that are very specific ways to use the capabilities that are built into the phone and I think that right now it's almost like it can do anything, and I think that we need to figure out the very specific use cases and I think we'll see people. Dean: You keep saying we, but I don't think we is going to do it. I think you know, who we are. Do we have a cell phone number? Do we have a street address? You know, I think you're having a very interesting personal experience with the new technology. Yeah, I don't know, I don't know if anybody else is going to be in on this, but the big thing is, how are you going to set it up so that you can prove that this is valuable? I mean, let's say, three months from now the time you come back to. Toronto for your next strategic coach pre-zone workshop things you're going to test out and see if the inclusion of this spot with a very sexy Scarlett Johansson voice. This isn't the issue that she sued somebody for. Dan: I think it's, I don't know actually this voice is. It's not exactly her, but it's, you know, it's that tone and things. Dean: So yeah, so. Dan: I don't know that. It's a pleasing voice, much more pleasing and personal than Siri or Alexa, for instance. Yeah, but yeah, I think you're absolutely right it does come down to and I think that's where the paralysis of you know the it can do anything, but you know what would be you know where my mind goes. Dean: It's which, how that I already have, but am I going to assign this capability to so that I don't have to spend any time whatsoever interacting with this bot? But my who's a you know who's a live human being working for a strategic coach would that person actually work? Do this, you know, and actually and I tested out for three months what are you getting done faster? So, for example, we have an AI newsletter that rewrites itself every two weeks and chooses new content, designs it and goes out and it uses up one hour of my Linda Spencer, who's one of my team members on the marketing team, and it's very interesting, I mean we have about 2000 people who read it and they grade it and everything like that. But the only thing I have to do every two weeks she said here's the news, here's the results from the last newsletter, here's the design and contents of the next newsletter, yes or no? And I'll go through. I say, yeah, looks good, send it out, right. Yeah, now, that's not freeing me up, because we never had this capability before. It's a new capability, right, and it's been going for about nine months now and people will talk to me about it and you know everything like that and everything like that. But I haven't seen that it's made a huge difference in the crucial numbers of strategic coach, which are marketing calls. Are we generating great leads that people are talking to us about? Are they signing up for the program? Are they whatever? So the normal measurements. So I think, with any technology, the first thing I would establish before I got interested in the technology is what are the crucial numbers that we have that tell me that our business and myself are moving forward? And then, whatever I'm going to use the new technology for, it has to have an impact on those numbers. Yeah, I think that's yeah, because you know the amount of productivity. I'll use the United States as an example. You mentioned 1975 to 2025, 50 years of individual productivity in the United States was much higher in the 50 years before 1975, since it has been for the last 50 years since 1975. Even though there are these amazing books and that about how productivity is going through the world with the microchip. But the actual numbers which are gathered by the US government, the US Treasury Department, us Department of Labor, indicates that the level of individual productivity has actually gone down in the last 50 years even though the excitement level of productivity has gone through the roof. Dean: By what measurement? What are they deciding? Is product? Dan: Dollars of economic activity per hour per worker. Okay, that's how productivity is measured. Dean: The number of workers. Dan: You have the number of hours they work and the amount of economic dollars that their hour of activity produces. The productivity was much higher total for the entire all workers. Dean: But is it all productivity or personal productivity? Like are you saying no all? Dan: productivity? No, the entire GDP of the economy, measured by the number of workers. Yeah, okay by the number of workers it's going down, it's down. No, yeah, since 1975, it's not as great as it was from 1925 to 1975. So that 50-year period the productivity levels in the United States were bigger than the last 50 years. Dean: Wow, that seems. That's surprising. What do you think that means? Dan: Well, a lot of people are really excited and involving themselves in technological activity that produces absolutely no productivity. Yeah, they're very excited, they're very excited and they're getting very emotionally connected to this activity. But you know, I'm not saying that's not a great thing, I'm not. Maybe they're having more fun, Maybe they're you know, maybe they have. Dean: What actually counts as GDP. Dan: Well, GDP is amount of sales amount of sales. Dean: Okay, so would the advertising sales that Mark Zuckerberg makes for Facebook count as GDP, or is it only in physical, like you know, shippable goods, or whatever? Dan: Well, whatever, uh, you have a dollar spent on something that constitutes a sale to sale. Dean: Okay, so advertising, so Google and Facebook and Netflix and all of those things count as GDP? Sure, okay, all right, then that seems impossible. Dan: It seems impossible, but it's true. Dean: That's pretty wild. Dan: Yeah yeah. I'm not saying that Mark Zuckerberg isn't making a lot of money. I'm not saying Mark. Zuckerberg isn't productive. My feeling is that the technology is created, makes a lot of other people non-productive. Dean: Yeah, and I wonder I mean that's a do you think you know if you measured that in terms of the total population versus the workforce? Is that what? In terms of the total population versus the workforce, is that what you know? I'm just looking for some explanation of this right. Dan: Somewhere along the line, there has to be an economic transaction for it to constitute and everything else. See, this is the difference. Yeah and everything else See this is the difference? China talks about its GDP, but they don't use the same term that everybody else in the world uses. They use the economic value of what they've produced. So they can produce a million machines and they're sitting in a warehouse and they count that as GDP gross domestic product. But there was no sale, it's, you know, they spend it, it was an economic activity. There was a transaction there, but there was no sale. So I think that's the big thing. It doesn't count unless there's a sale. Dean: GDP, doesn't it? Dan: doesn't count as GDP unless there's a sale. Somebody makes money, yeah. Dean: Okay, money Okay, yeah, yeah, I mean, it's pretty. Dan: No, I'm not saying it's not exciting. And here's the. Dean: Thing. Dan: Maybe it's an A&I, it's what I would R&D stage. The last 50 years have been R&D stage. For the next 50 years, which are going to be 100 times bigger of GDP. Okay, that may happen, but it's not happening yet. Dean: Yeah, yeah, I mean it's pretty, yeah, it's pretty wild. I mean you can definitely see, like the capabilities of you know, you can definitely see this replacing many customer service interactions, for sure. For instance, it's like a you can definitely see that going away, that there's not going to be a need for humans manning a customer service telephone center, for instance you know, yeah, I mean if it's good, I mean if it's good you know, and it depends upon the service that's being talked about, but if it's good, you know, maybe it does See, efficiency is not effectiveness. Dan: You know, and effectiveness is that you made a sale. Efficiency is we took all the activities leading up to a sale and we made them more, faster and easier. Yeah, the question is did you get a sale out of it? Dean: Mm-hmm. Dan: Mm-hmm, yeah, so. I don't know, but I think there's a bit of a magician show going with a lot of different kinds of technology, you know. I mean, it was like somebody was saying, you know, they were talking about EVs and specifically they were talking about a Tesla, and specifically they were talking about a Tesla. And he says do you know how much faster zero to 60 is in a Tesla than any gas-powered? Or you know, and I said, to tell you the truth, I don't know. Dean: To tell you the truth. You know. Dan: Geez, you know All the things I've been thinking about since last Monday. I'm sorry, I just didn't get to that one Anyway. And he says well, it's easily a second faster. I said good. I said now, where do you do this? There isn't any way. We're in greater Toronto, the area of greater. Toronto 6 million people, where you can go from 0 to 60 on a city street in two seconds. You know and everything like that. He said, yeah, but boy, you know, I mean, just think of that, how much faster you can go. And I said, yeah, but Teslas don't go any faster in Toronto than any other car, that's true, and usually they're stopped. Dean: Yeah, that's exactly right yeah. Dan: So I think the Tech Magic Show, I think it multiplies people's imagination, but it doesn't multiply their results. You know, I think there's something about it. And I think this is great. I mean what you're telling me. I've had some really boring people on the other end of a phone call and Scarlett Johansson would really liven it up a little bit. Dean: Absolutely yeah, yeah, exactly. Dan: Yeah, I was noticing that Cleveland hired Jack Nicholson and they still use it. It must have been 20 years ago. All the announcements, the regular announcements like don't leave your bags unattended, and things like that, oh right. There's a whole bunch of just what I would call airport announcements, and they have Jack Nicholson doing it and you stop and listen every time it starts. You know it's very effective and I'm sure and I'm sure Scarlett, I'm sure Scarlett Johansson would do a good job too. Dean: Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, it's so, it's so funny. I mean, that seems. I'm just dumbfounded by the fact that productivity has decreased in the 50 years that we're talking about here. Dan: Yeah Well, think of the 50 years, though, and you gave me that great book. Dean: Yeah, you gave me the book that was 1900 to 1950, 1925. Dan: But 1925 to 1975, the entire country was being electrified. They're laying in lines and everybody was the farm that I was on. I was born in 1944. That farm was electrified in 1928. So it was only 16 years that they had electricity. Right, and you know they were putting in the entire water systems. The Tennessee Valley Authority was putting in all these dams and the electric plants. You know Lake Mead as a result of the Hoover Dam. They were putting in all those dams and that just produced enormous jumps and the cars were going in, the gas systems, all the infrastructure for gasoline was going in. It was just a monstrously productive period of time. And then all the production that went into the second world war, which they then had as productive capability after the war stopped and so they had all the manufacturing capabilities you know and you know and so. But there's to see the thing is, the real jump that's happened is the jump in computing. There's no question. Dean: There's been a monstrous jump. Dan: It's a billion times since 1970. It's a billion times. That doesn't translate into money, and money is what productivity is based on. How much more money are you making per hour of human labor? How much more money are you making for our human labor? Now maybe somebody will say well, we got to start counting the robots in our GDP. Something is doing work. Yeah, Just I mean wow, wow, wow, the only problem with you know the only thing about robots, though they're shitty consumers. Dean: Yes, exactly that's so funny. Yeah, they don't buy anything you know. Dan: Yeah, A computer is a good worker, you know. It doesn't take breaks, doesn't get sick you know doesn't form unions anything. You know it doesn't go home, it doesn't have a house, doesn't have furnishings doesn't need furniture doesn't go out to eat. Dean: Right, right. We're definitely in a stage right now where there's opportunities more than ever for economic alchemy, creating money out of nothing, seemingly compared to 1975. I'm not sure how that happened, I think, since in the digital world we're essentially creating money out of ether, you know, out of attention, even in a way that if we just take the attention economy or the portion of the money that is derived from the advertising world in, where it was print ads, television ads, radio ads those were things that were kind of happening in 19, right and, but they were selling sort of physical goods, whereas now I remember having a conversation with Eben Pagan about this, when I did a book Stop your Divorce in 1998, when it was when PDFs were just coming to be a thing where you could create a digital document that didn't require printing a physical book and you could email that or somebody could download it. And I just realized that you know, in that we've literally sold $5 million of a picture of a book not physically printing. These thousands and thousands of books, it's literally no zero physical good. That's why I wondered about whether the GDP is only measuring you, because we're definitely in a time where you can create money from nothing and the way that was driven was from Google AdWords. Dan: You can't create anything from nothing. No, I mean nothing physical, any. You can't create any. I don't think you can create anything from nothing there. No, I mean okay, nothing physical. Okay, that's what I mean. Dean: Yeah, like you look at it, that the book, you know we created the book and turned it into a pdf that was put on a website that there's no physical manifestation of it's, only digital. You can only see it online. People would search on Google for save my marriage or how to stop a divorce, or any of the keywords we could magically get in front of those people on their screen. They could click oh, stop your divorce, how do I do that? They click on that. They read this digital. It didn't cost anything other than what was paid for was that we paid google for the, you know, for sending that, you know the ability to display that person, that opportunity to somebody. We paid google every time somebody clicked on that ad and then they would buy the book and it would automatically take them to a page to download the book. There was no inter, no human interaction and no physical exchange. It was all 100 digital and that was where, you know, I started referring to that as alchemy, really like creating money out of of bits. You know, yeah, yeah, that's so that. Dan: Yeah, I think there's no I think there's uh no question that we've moved into a what I call a non-tangible realm of creating value, creating property and everything else, but at the end of the day it all adds up somewhere where this constitutes an economic transaction and as far as the accountants care, they don't care whether it was something physical or sold or everything. There's taxes that are taken out of that. I don't see the remarkable difference. You're using a different medium, but there is work that goes into that. And you had a big payoff with one, but there were another thousand people right at the same time you were doing that and their results? They put in a lot of work, they put in a lot of effort and it didn't produce any money whatsoever. Efforts go into GDP, your efforts go into GDP and there's way more of them than there is of you. So it brings you the overall results down and you know so and we kind of know. We kind of know that. You know productivity numbers. You know, like, on a year I know people talk about well, that productivity is going to go up by 20% as a result of that. Well, that may be true for a single company, but that's not true for the industry they're in, because their new thing going up by 20% may actually make obsolete 5 or 6 or 20 other companies who have had productivity that a year before, but now they have no productivity at all. So their loss of productivity is balanced against the gain of productivity. Dean: Yeah, that's interesting. I guess you think about that. That could be true in all the casualties of the digital transition here, right Like, what do you look at? Dan: Well, certainly the advertising world, certainly the advertising world, I mean before Mark Zuckerberg and before Google, newspapers like the New York Times. Dean: Daily. Dan: Edition was very thick. Dean: Yeah. Dan: And half of it was advertising. Now it's very thin okay because, they don't have the same. Yeah, but there's winners and losers, you know, in this, and you have a technological breakthrough, you have far more losers than you do winners. Dean: Yeah, I'm looking at like I was just listening to an interview with that Tucker Carlson did with someone I forget who, some former CBS correspondent you know, and they were talking about the new. You know what's really changed now is the reach capabilities you know, like Tucker really primarily being on his own platform but using the reach of x has, you know it's the audience is accessible to everybody, as opposed to him in the beginning of their careers, the only way to get reach was to be signed to a, a digital, or assigned to a traditional network where the eyeballs were. But, now the eyeballs are accessible to everybody and it really becomes these are my words, but it's more of a meritocracy in a way that you're you know that it's available for everybody. The cream definitely can rise to the top if you've got a voice that people resonate with. Dean: Yeah, I mean, and Tucker's a star, tucker's a star. He's got his following, he's got probably a couple million followers. Whatever he was big when he was on Fox and he had the top numbers on Fox and everything like that, but there aren't two of them. Dean: Right, and you can't replace him with an AI either. Dean: No, but what I mean is we pick out the winners. It takes a lot of losers to get to a winner, you know and I think this is more extreme in the Cloudlandia world than it is in the physical world- you know. I mean, I think there's a thing called network effect and the network effect is you can only have one Amazon. Basically, you can only have one Amazon. Because, the nature of Amazon is to suck everybody's customers up into one destination. There aren't five Amazons competing with each other, and that's what digital does. A person like Taylor Swift couldn't have existed 20 years ago. They wouldn't have had the reach. Yeah, that's true, and she's got the reach today. I mean she's coming along and she's got a lot of things going for her. She's very attractive, she's very productive, she pumps out songs all the time and the songs seem to resonate with a mood in the public right now. And everybody's got their cell phones and everybody's got that. And what I'm saying is, if you have one Taylor Swift, you can't have two. Well, yeah, that's. Dean: I mean it's, I wonder you start to see that she's just a, she's one voice, right Like I look at, I've been following rabbit holes like up the chain. You know and I start so Taylor Swift is a good example that many of her biggest hits and biggest success have been in collaboration with Max Martin, who is a producer who I often talk about and refer. Second, he's got the second biggest number of number one songs to his credit, right behind. He just passed Paul McCartney or John Lennon, and only Paul McCartney is ahead of him. Now he's about five songs behind Paul McCartney. What I realized is, you know, there's a way that it's kind of like you get max martin's voice is really what is, you know, behind most of the the most popular music, or much of the most popular music, and yet not many people could pick him out of a lineup. And then then I went another layer up. It just dawned on me, like in the last couple of weeks here, that the real catalyst to Max Martin's success was Clive Davis. Who is? Do you know who? Clive Davis is the former, or still, record executive. Dean: He was the head of so far, your records so far. So far, you're introducing me to a lot of new people. Dan: Okay, great well, I, I just love this that. You know, max martin, I've been saying, as that's the thing, like you think about one thing Max Martin's one thing has been making hit records. Right, that's all he's done. Making pop songs since 1996, or what is first number one. But if you trace it all the way back, the catalyst to it because he was in Sweden, there was a group years ago called Ace of Bass and they had a number one song. But when you go all the way back to how that happened, it was because Clive Davis, who was the head of Columbia Records and all its subsidiaries, arista and Jay Records, and all its subsidiaries, arista and J Records and all of these things, he found that song. He's like a guesser and better. He was guessing that song is going to be a hit and he signed Ace of Base to bring them to America. So he plucked this obscure Swedish band out of and brought them to America and on the wave of that, created the opportunity for Max Martin to work with all these great artists that happened to be under the direction of Clive Davis. And if you go even one layer beyond that, the guy that owns Bertelsmann, you know G Music Group in Germany. They own almost all the record labels, kind of thing. It's him seeing Clive Davis and putting up a million dollars for Clive Davis to start this record label. It's amazing that it all, kind of you know, goes back to capital allocation. Dean: But the big thing is none of that has to do with any productivity. Dan: Yeah, that's the thing I wonder, you know, I mean that really. Dean: No, well, what you're talking about is. You mentioned a name. Yes, and he does this and he's very successful and he's famous for being successful. But at the same time that he was doing what he was doing, there were 9,999 who were waiting on tables and doing this on weekends and nights, yeah, okay, and they weren't making any money at all. So what. I'm saying is when you pick a winner out and you see, see how productive they are using new technology you also have to account for the people who are using the new technology and not making any money at all, and therefore it's not more productive. Yeah. Dan: Yeah. Dean: And I mean, you know we haven't talked about him for a while, Mr Beast. Yeah, and people say, see what you can do when you're 18? You won't see anything because he's so unique. And he has such a set of circumstances that there's nothing that he does that is repeatable by another person. Dan: I mean, yeah, he just became just in the last, I haven't heard anything about him. Dean: Is he still doing stuff? I don't know. Is he still doing stuff? I don't know. Is he still doing stuff? Yeah, yeah, he just became. Or is he retired at 28? Dan: No full steam ahead. Dean: He's got a 300-foot. Dan: He just became the number one subscribed channel in the world. He was the number one individual but there was this T-Series channel in India, which wasn't a person a different thing. Now he's the number one thing. He's now working on an Amazon show. He's taking his stuff to to amazon still full steam ahead with his, with his videos, but he's doing a big game show series in uh with under the amazon banner yeah, yeah, yeah. Dean: it's really interesting because you know again I go back that it seems to me that a lot you know and I've made this statement before is that a new technology comes out, or a new form of a new technology comes out. A whole series of people say I'm going to create a new company based on this technology and I want you know, I need some early investors. I need investors to get there, and so there's a whole industry for doing that in Silicon Valley and other places, and so billions are raised, not just for the one you know, not one investment, but for let's say 50 investments. And none of them go anywhere, none of them go anywhere. Dan: You know, nothing happens, okay, but people did make money because it's based on a Ponzi scheme kind of thing that the early investors get paid out by the late investors who end up pulling nothing and everything else. Dean: None of that represents productivity. Right A lot of action, a lot of excitement, a lot of money, but no productivity. And we're seeing that with AI. Goldman Sachs, the big investment bank, came out that, going on two years since open AI, we just don't see that there's any money to be made with this, except if you're like the chip maker, NVIDIA. They make a lot of money and they're very productive, and I think the reason is that I think that AI, if I look at the next 10 years, I think it's going to be very effective, it's going to be very useful and it's going to be very important for solving complexity problems that we already have on the planet. Okay, and you know, a great example is just large city congestion complexity, like Toronto, I think, may have the worst traffic congestion in North America. Dan:I did notice a big difference in that, even in the five years since I was there. Dean: Yeah. And the main reason is that they're making new cars, but they're not making new roads. Dan: Yeah, and I noticed that they've actually added a lot of bike lanes too, which have taken out some of the actual lanes. Dean: Yeah, Actual lanes, yeah, yeah, so without some new kind of solution to congestion and I think AI is the perfect tool for this and that all the traffic lights, all the traffic lights in the city are a single system and you're just changing the frequency of the lights changing and everything around the car changing the frequency of the lights changing and everything around the country, and there's a sort of a master view, how you know you can reduce the amount of people just stuck in the city by 40% if we just get all the lights. That's a complexity problem. Dan: You know and for example. Dean: The other thing is they haven't. You know, for all. The study of weather is probably the most complex system that we have on the planet and to this day they have no notion what effect clouds have on climate. You know they don't. They really. Clouds are just very complex. So if you had the ability to, I mean, they know different types of clouds and different things that happen when you have different types of clouds. They know that, but there's no unification of their understanding of the cloud system. And so you'd have to apply it to that. Now, you're not creating anything new with this. You're solving an existing problem. With this, you're solving an existing problem. My sense is that the best use of technology is always to solve some problem that you already have not create a new opportunity that's interesting. Dan: So maybe that's how I mean yeah, go ahead. I was just saying maybe that's how I should be thinking about my relationship with juniper yeah, what? Dean:what complexity problems do you have? Dan: Exactly what complexity problems do I already have that Juniper could solve for me? Dean: Yeah, like getting out of bed in the morning. That's a complexity problem. When does my first coffee arrive? Exactly yeah, why am I still thinking about this? Why at this late date. Dan: Oh man, that is so funny. Dean: It is funny. Dan: The funny thing is I posted up on Facebook right before we got on our podcast today. I took a picture of my. I have these. I have these Four Seasons Valhalla coffee cups and I took a. I made a coffee before our here and I posted up a picture of it right Pre-podcast caffeination, prior to the prior to our podcast here. So I'm fully caffeinated. I'm on the, I'm on the juice. Dean: Yeah, I will tell you this. Chris Johnson, great thinker in the FreeZone program he's got it's not his system, he's licensed his system from someone else but he had 32 callers to set up meetings with their primary salespeople for his company and he's in the placement business. He finds really good high-level people to go into construction companies and engineering companies. And he was telling us that his 32 human callers could make 5,500 phone calls and produce a certain result in a day of phoning. And since he's brought in his AI system, they can do 5,500 in an hour and produce a better result of people agreeing to phone calls. Well, that's productivity. Dan: Yeah, I guess. So yeah, pretty amazing huh. Dean: And he let go his 32 humans. Oh, my goodness. Wow, so this is AI making outbound phone calls? These are all AI and they've got complete voice capability of responding to responses and everything else. And then they get better every day. They have sort of upgrades every day for it. And that's productivity, that's productivity. Dan: Yeah, there's, yeah, that's a. That's an amazing story. An amazing story, I mean, you start to see, I just look at the things, even when we had the AI panel at FreeZone in Palm Beach. You're just seeing the things, even what Mike Kamix is able to create and the things that Lior is doing. You just think, man. Dean: I think we're early. Dan: Yeah, absolutely, we're early. Dean: Yeah, I mean I think we're in the first or second year of the internet with us, right? Dan: Exactly, I agree. That's why I say, that's why, in my summation here, I'm kind of thinking you know 2025, give it another 18 months. It's only 18 months old now when you really think about it. Right, this is it's 18 months, and give it another 18 months and we'll see that people you're already starting to see that people are taking the AI capabilities and they're honing it into an interface. That is, a logo maker, for instance, or AI. You know that it's already honed into the ability to specialize in making logos based on your prompts, or and I think that's where that's what I meant by the interface moment is people are going to start carving out, packaging very specific outcomes from the capabilities. Like, if we have these capabilities, what can we do and just deliver that specific outcome, rather than the capability to create that outcome that's why it's funny that that's kind of parallel to what I've been saying. I've seen people that are taking and training large language models based on your you know, all of the you know let's call it all the Dan Sullivan content that's been out there and then touting it as you know, having Dan Sullivan in your pocket, that you can ask Dan anything of it in your pocket, that you can ask Dan anything. But I think the ability to ask you anything isn't as useful as the ability to have Dan ask you things. Yes, I think that's the question. Dean: So in the last quarterly book, and the one we're finishing right now. So it was everything is created backward, where the tool we featured was the triple play, and then the next one is called casting, not hiring, where the tool is the four by four casting tool. We call it the four by four casting tool, and this is where I'm asking them questions. Dan: Right, okay. Dean: I don't see any value whatsoever of them asking me questions. Dan: Right. Dean: Because I'm not getting the benefit of the question. Some software program is handling it, so I'm not learning anything and I've got a rule that I don't involve myself in any activity where I don't learn something new. Dan: Okay. Dean: So there's getting the benefits, but plus we'd be competing with ourselves. Dan: I love it All, right Well off, we go. Dean: I will phone you next week I'll be at the cottage. I'll be looking out at a mystic blue lake while I'm talking. Dan: Oh, wow. Dean: It's really good yeah. Dan: Awesome. Well, have a great week, okay, and I'll talk to you next week. Thanks, thanks, dan. Bye.
  • Ep129: CoachCon and the Art of Growing Older

    Ep129: CoachCon and the Art of Growing Older

    · Welcome to Cloudlandia
    In this episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, I reflect on the successful launch of our inaugural CoachCon conference, which brought together 350 members of the Strategic Coach community in Nashville. The vibrant energy of Music City and the exceptional facilities of the Music City Center made for an experience surpassing expectations.Our discussion centers on cultivating the mental fortitude needed to remain anchored amid future-focused hustle. We connect this to aspects like political endurance while acknowledging the enrichment that unfolding daily actions alone confer on tomorrow's potential.SHOW HIGHLIGHTS We recap the inaugural CoachCon Conference in Nashville, noting the participation of 350 strategic thinkers and our partnership with Agile for event organization. I share my personal stance on cowboy attire and backyard barbecues, highlighting a preference for distinctively non-Western wardrobe choices. We reflect on aging and the evolution of long-term vision, contrasting my early career's short-sightedness with the strategic foresight demonstrated by successful individuals and families. I celebrate another birthday and contemplate the depth of understanding that comes with each passing year, using the experiences of Kathy Ireland as an example of life's cumulative experiences enriching future visions. We explore the importance of journaling and manifesting desires into reality, discussing how projecting our goals into the future contributes to personal growth. The discussion covers the importance of crafting a future-focused vision, especially as one grows older, to avoid feeling diminished with age. We examine the significance of living in the present moment and how our current actions lay the foundation for future success. Personal insights are shared on the perception of time and the possibility of slowing down our experience of it through heightened consciousness. We speculate on political endurance and the uncertainties in the political arena, likening it to a horse race with a focus on the candidates' abilities to sustain a full term. The conversation includes a mention of upcoming travel plans, expressing a commitment to continue these enlightening conversations from wherever life takes us, whether it be a London hotel or a Cleveland suite.

    Links:
    WelcomeToCloudlandia.com
    StrategicCoach.com
    DeanJackson.com
    ListingAgentLifestyle.com

    TRANSCRIPT

    (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)

    Dean: Mr Sullivan. Dan: I am back from Nashville. Dean: That's what I hear. I am excited to hear all about it. It looked like a real party it was a total party. Two parties. Dan: Yeah, so providing some context for the listening audience. We had our very first community conference and I say that because you did not get invited unless you were connected to someone in the strategic coach community and it's our first conference of this kind called CoachCon. And as a result of it. I already committed at my birthday party, which was on the second night, two-day conference, second night and I said we're going to have one in 26. So we're thinking we'll do this every two years Okay, that's amazing. Yeah, and we had 350, which was good for, you know, our first experience. Dean: And. Dan: I will say that we're really committed to Nashville. Nashville is just such a great city to have a conference. It's just. The city itself has an enormous amount of energy and the Music City Center is just a marvelous venue. It is so big it staggers your imagination. It's two blocks long by almost two blocks wide, and if you look at it from the air, from above, it looks like a guitar. Dean: Right, right right. Dan: Yeah, which you wouldn't do in Toronto. Dean: It would have no meaning, it would have no meaning. Dan: It would have no meaning in Toronto. Okay, it would. Dean: And anyway I was working with go ahead. I was just going to say not to say that Toronto has a pretty wonderful convention center facility too, downtown, yeah, but Nashville has a great. Dan: Nashville has a great Nashville has a great convention center. That's the truth. Yes, yeah, as a matter of fact, one of the smart moves we made as a company is that we immediately hired a convention conference company called Agile. I think they're from Kansas City and Minneapolis. They have two branches to their company and so, right from the very beginning, our team members were working with their team members to create the event, and this was a year and a half in planning, and they just are the perfect interface between yourself and then the venue itself, who have their own team. So it's really it's really a triple play of three teams working together to create the event. Dean: And I mean it's such a, it's such an engine. I had such flashbacks, you know, seeing the footage that was coming out of there of the room and the setup and the way everything was. Or you know that we did an event roughly twice that size every month for 14 years. You imagine, like the engine that it takes to put that, to put that on the logistics of it. That was what the main event was. We'd have, you know, 600 or 800 people every month. It was something. Dan: Yeah, are you speaking about one of your? Dean: events. This was with Joe Stumpf when we did the buy referral for the real estate agents. That was what we did. Dan: Oh, that was where you did it, that's where you did it that's where you did it yeah, that's right well, here I'm trying to impress you and you're just tolerating me no, I mean there's some. Dean: There's an exciting energy around a uh, a big event like that. I mean there's, but it's a very different energy. Dan: Yeah, wasn't it in Nashville 14 times. Dean: No, we did. We were all over the country. We did one a month. We did one every month for 14 years. Wow. Yeah exactly so Nashville was in the rotation that's like 168. Dan: That's like 168 conferences. Dean: Yeah, we did over 200, actually is what it was, but that was like a circus coming to town every month, every month, yeah. Dan: Anyway, I was talking to one of the black backstage crew. I was talking to one of the black backstage crew. You know who'd do the get you ready for going on to the front stage and I said we have 350 people. If you had other conferences going on at the same time. Our size, how many could you have? And he says I think around two dozen dozen we could be doing in the same building at the same time. But then when you get outside of the music center it's just filled with all the sorts of clubs yes and broadway, which is their big party street, is about two block, two blocks away, and there's lots of hotels. Dean: There's lots of hotels around, so's lots of hotels around, so you can feed into it. Dan: I was at the Four Seasons in Nashville. Dean: Of course you were. Yeah, did you get a hat and some boots to celebrate your 80th birthday? The Nashville way? Dan: I did not, and I'll tell you, my approach to cowboy hats and cowboy boots is about the same as my approach to backyard barbecues, and that is, I will celebrate my 80th birthday without ever having participated, actually organized one of those, and so it's on the list that I'm going to try to get through my whole life without doing I love it. Dean: That's the greatest thing. Dan: Dan. Dean: I can't tell you how many times I've used the. You know people are going through their whole life hoping to never have to meet you. Dan: I was having. Dean: I had lunch with an attorney friend who's a personal injury attorney and you know he works primarily with people in accidents and I said you know the challenge with his marketing is that it's acute onset and you know nobody is preparing for or anticipating the need to meet you. Dan: And I said in fact most people are hoping to go their entire life without ever having to meet you and if they get to, good for them, you know, yeah, funny, yeah, yeah, some people's marketing challenges are more severe than others yeah that's exactly right, well, yeah you know, as you know to be being that we're right at the beginning, when I started my coaching life, which was 50 years ago, in 1970, the people which was called Top of the Table and the table is a previous organization which started, I think maybe 50 or 60 years before, which was called the Million Dollar Roundtable, and it was a certain amount of sales qualified you and you got to go to the acronym mdrt. That was the thing, and. But in the early 70s they had gotten together and said let's take a top 500 in the world and and establish ourselves as the top of the table. Okay, and so right off the bat, in 74 and 75, I had one who was just a great friend and promoter of what I was doing at that time, because it was just being out there testing out this thing called coaching for entrepreneurs. And then very quickly I got others because they talked to each other a lot without seeing each other as competitors. And one of the things that I really remember is just getting really, really deep into how life insurance agents operate. And it's a tough marketing proposition because you have to engage people in a conversation about what's going to happen after they die. I mean, that's the premise of life insurance and the other thing is you're doing it for other people. And really you're doing it, and I had one of the great ones. These were, in the first instance, they were all Toronto-based, that's where we were, and I remember this one he would deal with, very wealthy. One of the things that attracted to me to these top life insurance agents is that their entire clientele were entrepreneurial. Okay, they didn't have corporate people, they had people who created their own businesses. And I remember this one agent here in Toronto. He said the first thing you have to zero in on again, it's a difficult sale is what the individual, who's a wealthy individual? What do they love that they want to be remembered for having been a great person after their life? What is it that they love that they would ensure and he said so. He had this line of questioning with. That went something like this he said first of all, as we talk about this, do you love your wife? And the person would say no, not really, not really. He says do you love your children? That would be a flat no. And he says no, I don't love my children. He said do you love your employees? And he says no, I don't love my children. He said, do you love your employees? And he says no. Finally gets to number four is do you love your reputation such that after you die, people will say you know he really loved his wife, his children and his employees? He says yes, I do love my reputation, and he says, ok, let's ensure your reputation. He says until you find out what someone loves, you might as well not talk about your legacy, and everybody has a different one. So the big thing everybody has a something that they want to be remembered for. So he says that's the thing that we have to ensure. Dean: And it's amazing. Amazing, isn't it, that there's always the reason behind the reason. Dan: It's funny yeah well, well, there's ultimately. There's the reason, the others aren't a reason you know, and actually that's true, yeah, and you have to find out what makes the person tick. You know, know, I mean everybody who lives for a long time and is very active in doing it has something that's right at the center you know, and I think it's idiosyncratic. Dean: What do you mean by that? Do you mean, that it's? Dan: I don't think it's predictable. Dean: Okay, right. Dan: Yeah, there's a deeper. I don't think everybody is Well. If you have the money to be different, then you're different in the way you want to be different. I mean we're talking about people who can write a check and they can write a big check. And what do they write the check for is the big question. And they're not doing it out of need, they're doing it out of want. Dean: Right. Dan: My contention is don't do things out of need. Do them out of what you actually want, because that represents much more of who you actually are than doing things because you need to do them that's an interesting because that's why or is that why you spent so much time 25 years. Dean: I remember you saying you made a commitment to every day writing what do I want. I journal for 25 years. Yeah. Dan: And because I was coming off a divorce and bankruptcy which coincided on the same day, that was, August, August 15th 1978. Dean: Yeah. Dan: And you know, divorce and bankruptcy qualify as two bad report cards. Dean: Right. Dan: Right right right, yes, I mean any way you interpret it, it's a bad report card and so you know I was kind of in a state and one of the neat things when you go through a divorce and bankruptcy, people don't throw parties for you to have you come and explain it you know they give you a lot of peace and quiet of your own, you know, yeah. So I had about four or five months after August to think this through and I said you know, the reason why these things are happening is I'm not telling myself what I actually want. You know I'm assuming certain things about other people. I'm expecting other people expectations, assumptions about other people and other things. And I said, you know, I think the key here is that I'm not actually telling myself what I want. Dean: And so. Dan: I said myself what I want and so I said so. Nobody cares if I was divorced and bankruptcy, and nobody really cares whether I amount to anything you know you know, and I was 30, 30, 34 years old at that time. And once you hit 30, nobody cares you know, it just, we invest a lot in younger people until age 30 and then they kick you out of the nest and anything that's going to happen in the future, you're going to do it on your own. You're not going to get a government grant to do it. And so I said, well, what I'm going to do is I'm just going to have one goal here. So I said, well, what I'm going to do is I'm just going to have one goal here. For the next 25 years, every day, I'm going to keep a journal and I'm going to write in it something that I want, With one constraint I'm not going to use the word, because I'm not going to use the word. I just want it, I just want it. And I did that, I did it for 25 years I missed want it, I just want it, and I did that. I did it for 25 years. I missed 12 days. There are 9,131 days in 25 years including the six leap year days, and so it's 9,131. And I did them on 9,119 days and my relationship with Babs came out of that. The whole strategic coach came out of that. You know and all sorts of things, like the lifestyle I'm living and you know why today I don't have to think about money at all because the money's there and you know, and the type of people I'm spending my time with. So it feels good, but that that the other thing is I. What it proved is I have the ability to stick with something for 25 years, right on a daily basis on a daily conscious basis. Dean: So still journal. Do you, uh, do you still journal? Dan: well, Dean, that's a really great question. I do journal, but it's in the form of using my tools on a daily basis. Dean: I got you Okay, so you're thinking about your thinking every day, like my fast filter, my fast filters. Dan: Yeah, you know fast filters. I'm saying what I want. It's just mutated into different forms. I want it's just mutated into different forms, but there isn't a day that I go through where I'm not stating something that I'm planning to achieve sometime in the future. Dean: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's really. That's something I'm coming up. Next April will be 30 years of, you know, daily journaling. Yeah, I mean of sequential, and I actually have all of the journals. It was April 1995. I would journal. I was always someone to write down my thinking, but not in an organized, archival kind of way. But April of 1995 is my journal number one the official like keeping that. Dan: So next year is the 30 years. Yeah, and it's so funny that you know, like you said, I think more than half your life. Dean: Yeah, that's exactly right. I just turned 58 on Friday and that was a you know, you mentioned you know at 30, I noticed that you did it at 29. Yeah, that there's a different you know different experience level at 58 than there is at you know 29. Dan: Oh yeah. Dean: Yeah, I remember when I first started with Strategic Coach in 1997, year one that was, I remember the three-year kind of vision thing was it was difficult for me to even like see three years into the future because everything up to that point had been constantly evolving. You know, and I just remember, as in real estate, you know, when I was young, starting in real estate, I remember there was talk of the, you know, halton hills the town where I was, had just released their 20 year plan and I thought to myself, man, that's like that's forever, that's a lot. I don't never get here. You know, 20 years, I can't imagine that they're thinking that far ahead. And I had a couple of experiences like that. One of the largest sale that I ever made was to an italian family that was land banking. They bought land on the corner of ninth line and steels in halton hills that wasn't going to be developed. Dan: we we're talking about Toronto. Yes, right, exactly Greater, Toronto area. Dean: Yeah, in Halton Hills that was like the outer edge of the greater Toronto area and their expectation was that this was going to be land that would be developed in 40 years and that was almost exactly true as to when it, you know, came about. It's just kind of that was their model. They would, you know, go, they were a development family and they would go out to the edge and buy the land that was inevitably going to be the development. So, you know, they owned a lot of land in Brampton and Mississauga that were, you know, at the time, rural areas that they bought, you know, 20 years previous, in the 60s, at that time, knowing that was going to be developed later on and what an interesting like long term vision, like that. But that tell that story, because I always like to have you know kind of I look at my birthdays, I like to have like a day of reflection and looking forward and you know real and yes, uh, two days ago was your birthday, that's right, yep, and so you know, looking, I have a completely different understanding and experience of what 25 years is, yeah, than I did when I was 29, right, and so it's like, not you know, because I can still remember cracking the you know seal on journal number one, april 1995, virginia Beach. That was the you know day one journal one, and I still I can transport there, you know know, right now. It's just amazing how your mind I'm just like I'm sure you can immediately remember your lunch that you had on the day you got bankrupt and divorced. You know, you probably recall that right there, but you couldn't imagine it was actually a good lunch yeah, that right yeah because it was on the credit card you were about to turn in. Dan: Yeah, the interesting thing about it is I've been working on a concept and I was reminded of it because for our top guest speaker at the conference we had Kathy Ireland, the very famous model. Dean: Oh, wait, it wasn't Joe Polish. Dan: As I said, we had our top speaker. It was Kathy Ireland. Joe was good. He was one of the three main speakers. Right yeah he should be delighted with that. Yeah, he should be delighted with that. Dean: Anyway. Dan: Kathy Erland talked about how her intent was not to become a model. Not that she was against becoming a model, but that was never her intention to be a model. And she was just approached when she was on the beach in Santa Barbara California when she was 17. On the beach in Santa Barbara California when she was 17. And an agent came up to her and said you know, I think there's a niche that if you wanted to become a model, you would really, you know, sort of a tomboy she's. You know, she was very athletic, she was very muscular and she, you know, she sort of had freckles and you know, and she did wonderfully for 15 years from age 17 to 32. And she was on many covers of magazines, especially Sports Illustrated, and but then when she was 32, she just decided to stop and while she was a model, she had taken a crack at creating different kinds of businesses, so it wasn't something new, she said. I always knew I was going to be an entrepreneur and that the modeling gave me a bridge from where I was born, where I grew up, to the outside world. And then she stopped at 32. And for the last almost 30 years's created a three and a half billion dollar global company. And it was really great. We have jeff madoff interviewers, so jeff, is how I know I had. Jeff is how I know kathy, because he had her as a guest at a marketing class that he teaches at one of the New York universities. But one of the things I found in common with her she said I like getting older because you just know so much more, and one of the things I'm really appreciating at 80 is that I can really I can think of my life in terms of at least seven decades. You know, the first one's a bit sketchy, you know, because you hadn't really become conscious. Dean: But you've recalled being out in the woods. Oh, no, no. Dan: I have very good memories below 10. And I think I've enhanced them some, but you have what's possible over long periods of time, you know and what you will stay with over long. I think one of the principal pieces of knowledge that you get as a benefit of getting older is you have a very clear idea of what exactly what you will stick with over a long period of time and we're just, and we're just trading reports here of something you stuck with and what I stuck with over a long period of time, and young people don't have the advantage of doing that that's exactly right. Dean: Yeah, you can't imagine and it's very interesting to see how I spoke things into existence in that journal, leading up to them, like describing what I want, and to see how they started out as a seed in the journal and then became reality. You know, something it's interesting to see and you wonder, you know, part of it is to keep that, you know, keep that rolling, keep it now looking forward in the next five. It's as you say, it's, you know, your I love about you at 80 is that your, you know future is still bigger than your past and that's kind of an exciting thing. Dan: Yeah, I will say. This doesn't naturally occur just by living years. Dean: No, no you have to be. Dan: I mean the. To make the future bigger than your past at 80 takes a lot of. Dean: Yeah, especially when. But maybe that goes to what your print too. Right, just achievement is a thing, that's a motivator for you. For the sake of parties, for the sake of parties. That's all the bigger parties. That's all the bigger parties. That's great, yeah, yeah. Dan: Someone was asking me that. You know, when I looked at the conference that we just had in Nashville, wednesday and Thursday, people said, well, how would you plan a conference? I said, well, I didn't plan the conference. It was my team members to plan the conference. So it was my team members to play in the conference. But I said my attitude toward the conference is what the party is going to be like on the final night. Yes, I work backwards from the party. What has to happen for it to be a great party? Dean: Right. Dan: Well, this is very exciting, that now it's just coincidentally, two years from now, we do it at the same time. Dean: That be, yeah, first week of may is a good day. Dan: It's a good time, it's good and we would do it at nashville and we would do it at the music city. I mean, we're far enough ahead on the schedule that we know it would be your 60th birthday. Dean: Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that'll be right in time for peak Dean on my health journey here. You know that'll be Back to my. Dan: That was the year of the peak Dean. That's exactly right, it's almost, like you know, a periodic visit of the northern lights. Yeah, yeah. Dean: No, I think that's very exciting. Yeah, and I've already said even more. Dan: I've already yeah, you put it in the calendar. It'll be the week of your birthday, probably okay, I mean I don't know what the week looks like, but let's find out now. Dean: I'm yeah, but yeah, nashville, early early 2026, may 10th is a Sunday. Yeah, it won't be that, it won't be on a. Dan: Sunday no, but it'll be the week. It'll be the week before, it'll be the week before. But the thing is now that they've done it once and we've got a date in the calendar. First of all, they can put the date in the calendar and they can get the event company plugged in. And they can get the event company plugged in, they can get the reservation at the Music City. They can get the hotel bookings I think the hotel bookings most hotels you can't get in for about six until six months before. Dean: But as early as you can. Dan: And yeah, we had a lot of bookings at the Four Seasons and you know, and we came in from the airport on Tuesday or on Tuesday? No, on Monday we came in, am I right? Dean: here. You came in on the Monday, yeah, because we spoke last Sunday yeah, I think I came. Dan: We came in on the Monday, yeah, and and we. But when we arrived, there was this whole meeting party of Four Seasons personnel. They came up to us and treated us like they liked us oh right, imagine that yeah, which I take regardless of what their motive is it doesn't matter, it still feels just as nice. Dean: Yeah, I think that's great. Mr. Dan: Sullivan is the general manager of the hotel. Oh, we're so happy to have you, Thank you. Thank you very much and a very friendly guy, yeah. So anyway, I'm going to work on this. The value of age. You know, there's a lot of people and I'm noticing them, because I'm starting to notice how people who are getting up in years I won't say they're my age, but they're getting up in years are falling into the general narrative of how people act when they get older and I'm just so convinced that they feel diminished because they haven't constantly worked on having their future bigger than their past. Yes, there's a point where they stop creating their future whenever that was there, was you know, well, and I think that you really have. Dean: It's a discipline that I constantly have to get myself to turn and have my gaze future focused, because as you do get older, you start that there's more to look back on. You know, and you spend a lot of time revisiting the past, but all the action is in the future. Dan: There's nothing, nothing you can do about the about the past, but yeah, but what I do is that I the past, if I remember. It can only be raw material for creating something new for the future. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Like when I go back and I remember a situation, I'll say now what did I learn from that situation that I can use in the future? You know, I don't accept the past's interpretation of itself. Dean: Yeah, say more about itself, yeah. Dan: Say more about that. Yeah, and I had a friend for a number of years who I'd gone to college with and we've, you know, we have been in touch for 20 years and he said you don't have any nostalgia, do you? You don't look back and have an emotional. And I said no, I mean, first of all, I was given a chance, you know, when I was having the experience, to appreciate what it was Okay. So it had a momentary opportunity to really imprint me with its importance. But if I'm looking back from 20 years ago, it's my interpretation of what it means to me going forward, not the interpretation. And I'm noticing, with the boomers, you know, there's nothing more disgusting than a nostalgic boomer. Dean: Yeah, like thinking about back in the day. Is that what you mean? 60s? Dan: well, 60s, you know, that's the usual. The 60s and 70s, you know, and they were going to turn the world on its head. And then they became civil servants, they got jobs as government employees or they became teachers and everything else. And then you get with them and they go back and they say, oh, those were the days, and everything like that. And it's kind of, but I have this notion that up until 30, society really supports you. Society invests in you, the government invests in you, the community invests in you, your parents invest in you, the teachers, everybody invests in you. And at 30, they cut it off and they set you free. And it's like I say about people say well, e know they have very high purchase. When the chicks are born, you know they're hundreds of feet up the eagles, and then on one day the mother eagle, just there's little eagles, they have wings. You know they have feathers, they have wings. She just pushes them all out of the nest. They have wings, she just pushes them all out of the nest. And the ones that don't hit the ground know how to fly. The ones who hit the ground, you don't have to worry about them. Wow yeah, and I think society at a certain point they just push all the 30-year-olds out of the nest and they want to see if you can make anything. Is there anything different or unique, and if there isn't, you just, more or less metaphorically, you hit the ground and you're nothing more than what things were before. Dean: There's nothing new. Dan: There's nothing new, but I pushed myself out of the nest when I was 18 years old, so the time until I was 30 didn't really mean anything. Dean: Right. Dan: But I don't comprehend nostalgia, because my emotions are in the present, they're not in the past. Dean: Yes, yeah, and that's what you realize, even in the future. I think when we were talking in Palm Beach earlier this year about the, you know the main thing is the future is really only shaped by the behaviors and habits and happens Really. Dan: The future is shaped by your present capabilities. Yeah, so I don't want to be looking backwards, as I'm living the present. I want to be fully alive because it's my up-to-dateness with the present that determines the quality of the future. Dean: Yes, yeah, bringing there here. Dan: Yeah, it's really interesting. We had a whole raft of speakers. Dean: Yeah, tell me about some of the highlights. What were some of the highlights? Dan: Well, I didn't get to all of them, because I went to every hour. You had a breakout session. I went to it, but there were different streams and tracks. I mean they're all going to be videoed. I mean they were all videoed so everybody's going to be able to see them. But I went to one and they had a couple of futurists there and I wasn't impressed. I wasn't impressed, and more and more over the last 10 years, since we did the collaboration with Peter Diamandis to create Abundance360, I always knew that people could be trapped in the past, in other words, that they were doing every day trying to hold on to the past. Okay, but I'm just as convinced now that people can get trapped into the future. They can get trapped, that they can't really be aware of what's going on right now because their mind is in a realm that hasn't happened yet and one of the things I know it makes them very nervous, makes them very anxious, anxious. And the thing that I found really interesting about these two speakers, the husband and wife team, was that they were making up all sorts of crazy words to describe what's happening, and you should be aware of this. And they had a word called templosion, which you know temp is, I guess, a Latin word for time, something and implosion, which I guess adds on a notion of explosion and that we're in a period of templosion, where there's hundreds of different ways that you're going to have to choose your life. Dean: And. Dan: I was sitting there and I said no, well, I know, 20 years, or I know 20 years from now, exactly what my life is going to look like. I don't know the details but, I, know it's going to be a direct extension of what I'm doing today. Dean: And. Dan: I know 80 percent of it. It will be expanding. I'll meet all sorts of new people. There's all going to be, but what's happening in the rest of the world and what other people are doing really don't, it doesn't really matter to me that much. Dean: I like that. I mean, that's what I realized in the journaling. I have two things. You something you said about. You know that spending time, you know, in the future is there's a lot of temptation or opportunity to just stay constantly planning and thinking about the future without actually you know, I've been using the word applying yourself. You know, I found that it's in our minds the things that motivate us to actually do something. We only do things in the present. So our own, you know our, you know our behaviors extended over time are what we define as habits, but it's really the behavior that's to be done today. You know, and I realized that writing in your journal and thinking about or planning for, or architecting or doing all these things that are future gazing is not actually applying yourself, it's not actually putting anything on the record. It's the equivalent of to the committee in our brain that actually controls what we do. It's the equivalent of quietly sitting in the corner coloring. Because no matter what anything that you do in your journal. The great deception is that it feels like that's actually making a difference. Right, that you're actually accomplishing something, but it's not. Until you break that barrier of getting it out of your head into and on the permanent record in the form of an action or a behavior. It's not going to do anything. Dan: Well, I think the big thing and I think it's a hard realization. I think it's maybe one of the harder realizations that nobody has ever lived in the future and nobody has ever lived in the past. Yeah, you only live in the moment. You know, and it and a lot of people just aren't capable of being conscious of the moment because their attention is being either dragged back backwards or pushed forwards and they're thinking about next, they're not thinking about next year. They're not thinking about, they can't think about next year because everything's happening right now. They can't think about 10 years ago, because everything's happening right now, and I think being present-minded is hard. Yes, I think it takes really an enormous amount of mental muscle to actually just be aware that things are happening right now and the way you handle things right now basically makes the future. Dean: Yes, that's the only thing that makes the future. It's the brick by brick layer. Dan: You know what I mean it's really the truth. Dean: It's that in the tapestry or whatever, that we can only see the accomplishment of it. But you realize that you can. Dan: I bet in the world of brick layers it's what a person can do in a day that really puts them at the top of their craft. Dean: I think you're absolutely right. Yes, and it's only on the reflection. You know, great walls are only built on the you know, compilation of daily accomplishment. Dan: Yeah. Dean: You know the thing is you can change any of it at any time. You know the thing is you can change any of it at any time. That's what I realized is in reflection, you know, when I was thinking about those, the elements of a perfect life, and really getting down to the, you know how DNA has, you know, the five elements of it, that if you look at the DNA of a perfect life, it's, you know, the elements are me, like everything. If I were to strip me naked and drop me on a deserted island, everything I have there, that's me, the portable things. Then time is life's moving at the speed of reality. 60 minutes per hour in perpetuity and you're always doing something in there, then environments are the things that are. You know. You basically put yourself in or you've been put in to an environment. That is your version of what's happening here, where, geographically, where you are, that where you live, what you have, what you do, all of those things are environments and you could, in theory, all of those things are environments and you could, in theory, move your, so I mean, you could completely change your environment. That's what you're thinking of the immigrant, right of you could leave everything behind and go change the environment and decide everything that you're going to do. Then the element of people meaning all the people that are around you, and money. So the combination of all of those five things are what create what we would call a life, you know, and I love like I find that infinitely entertaining too, you know in terms of yeah, the other thing is that, uh, one of the things that was predicted for me by other people is that as you get get older, time speeds up. Dan: Okay, and since I 70, I've experienced just the opposite. Time slowed down during the 70s and the years just took their time, and I think the reason is, I think it has to do with consciousness. You know, and I think that you know when you're, you know when you're a child, you're learning everything. So you're, you know, you're, everything is kind of new and you're exploring it and everything else, and then, as you get on, a lot of your experience you already knew that. So it's not significant, okay, but I think what happens with a lot of people, they are never actually creating their experience. There he is. I got a phone call that interrupted our phone call oh man, how rude somebody named Stephanie ok and. I immediately hit just to say you have no right. You're trespassing, that's right. Yeah, be gone. Where did I leave the thought that I was on? Dean: Well, you were talking about consciousness. That's what you were saying. Dan: Well, I think consciousness is the number of times during any time period that you're actually conscious of what's happening to you Okay. And I think it's massive when you're a child, because everything's new, right, but as we, let's say, we're now 20, we've actually mastered a lot of things that were new and now they're known, actually mastered a lot of things that were new and now they're known. I think, therefore, the number of situations when you're 20, that you're suddenly struck by something new is less than when you were, you know, four or five or six years old, okay, and so you're moving quickly from one moment of consciousness to another. And when you're six, it might be 20 things a day. That's a long day, but if it's 20 times a week when you're 20, that's a faster week, and if it's 20 times in a quarter, when you're 50 that's a really fast quarter and when it's 20 times, when you're 20 times in a year, when you're 70. I think that whether time is going fast or slow depends upon the number of consciousness things about something new that's happening in your life. And I found over the period of the last 10 years. I was back to having suddenly new conscious things that were happening. You know many times. You know many times a week or a day and time slowed back down, so it's actually being conscious. Dean: That's really, you know, that's almost like Euclidean, that's like euclidean geometry, you know yeah, that that harmonizes with something that I heard about. Why it the perception is that it moves faster is that when we're looking back, the routine reads as one experience, right? So you're looking back at the thing, if you've been, if your life becomes waking up in the same place, driving to the same job, sitting at the same desk, interacting with the same people and you look back over time at that, that all reads as one experience and it's only the new and novel consciousness moments that you were just talking about that get registered and recorded that single experience for some people may have. Dan: Another year just went by. Dean: That's exactly right and that's what oh well, that was fast where that was fast. Dan: Where's the time go? Where's the? Dean: time go. Dan: It's not a function of time, it's a function of consciousness. Right, that's exactly right, and we've had at least five conscious things in the last hour. I love that, Dan. We've done each other a favor over the last 60 minutes. Dean: I'm very excited about the culmination, the 60th. I'm reframing CoachCon as a peak theme celebration. I'm just I'm taking it for me, that's what it's. Dan: Not that you didn't have something to live for before, but we just put some kind of put a cherry at the top of your whipped cream. Yeah. Dean: I've had something that I was already on the path of you know, and that's kind of that's kind of great. Yeah, I just celebrated nine nine weeks of the peak Dean path here, so that's all it's very exciting. Dan: That's been a good nine weeks, hasn't it? It really has. Dean: Yes, it shows the whole you know thing of accountability and the plan and Somebody else's executive function, that's exactly right. Dan: Now I'm looking honestly. Dean: That's the thing Now. I'm looking for that in my you know, in deciding in my productivity now, in all the times that I'm, because I realized what an abundance of time I have you know, and very. I have what you would call very little environmental drag on my life in terms of time, commitments or obligations or people or other things, so it's a huge palette to play on Attempts on the part of other people to use up your life. Yeah, exactly, there's no claims to it, that's exactly right. So I've got no excuse. So now it's just like I get to architect this amazing adventure here. Dan: You know the thing that's going to be the highlight in the election campaign. It might happen in the next week or two where Trump finally sends the judge in the current trial in New York over the edge. He says I'm sending you to jail, and then the United States is just fixated on. Trump. He won't be in a normal cell. Of course He'll have a phone. Of course he'll have a phone and he'll be messages from Rikers Island, which is the main jail and he'll have lineups of everybody wanting to get his autograph and his picture taken in Rikers. And you know he'll be giving campaign speeches to all the prison guards and everything else. And meanwhile President Joe will have to be reminded who he is again and what his job is. Dean: Oh, my goodness. Well, we got six months. That's the exciting thing here. Dan: This is very exciting. This is very exciting. This is very, this is a and. And people say, isn't it a tragedy? I says what's a tragedy? And they said just the preposterousness presidential campaign. And I says, well, it depends on how you look at it. Because a lot of people say, well, this is crucial. You know the future, the world depends upon this. And I said, well, america has so much going for it, the United States has so much for it, it's got so much leadership at every level of activity that Americans are the only people on the planet in the history of humanity that can just treat domestic politics as a form of popular entertainment. Oh man, so I don't think you're approaching this correctly. You think that this is actually important, but it's entertainment. And then the question is who is the most entertaining candidate? And that I can predict yes. Dean: It would be amazing to see it all unfold, how it plays out. I still see Las Vegas still has all the odds makers still have Donald Trump as the winner. Dan: Yeah, I think it's in the 60s. Well, it depends on whether they're doing it with all the candidates or just the main two. But I think the betting markets I check every couple. I think the betting markets I check every couple weeks, the betting market. Yeah, it's been generally 60, 65 and you know and you know, which is surprising, because a lot of the big, wealthy democratic donors could be gaming the market, you know, just throwing a lot of money into the market. But but these are the las ve. I mean Las Vegas puts a bet on everything, so it's probably some legitimacy to what their bets are. Yeah, yeah, and it goes deeper than a particular issue. You know, it's just like. You know, it's almost like which one of them could actually be there at the end of another four years, and I think that's part of it. Holy cow yeah yeah, that's exactly true yeah, it's like a horse race, where you're betting to see if any of them could actually get to the finish line right oh my goodness, we know they could be at the starting gate. We just don't know which one's going to actually finish you know, yeah, that's so that's amazing, yeah all righty are we uh on next week? yes, nope, I'm on a plane trip to london on sunday of next week. So and the week after I, yeah, the week after I can do it from a hotel room in cleveland okay, perfect, but I'll have to give you the. I'll have to give you the date of the time. Dean: Okay, no problem. Dan: And I might have to get you up early. Dean: That's okay. It's my only thing on these Sundays. Yeah it's my only thing, so it's the highlight of my day Okay thank you, thanks, bye, bye.
  • Ep128: Balancing Health and Habit

    Ep128: Balancing Health and Habit

    · Welcome to Cloudlandia
    In this episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, I reminisce about our wonderful experience at the recent Cloudlandia conference at Canyon Ranch in Tucson facilitated by the legendary Joe Polish.We discuss the importance of maintaining an active lifestyle through routines like DEXA scans. Our conversation explores cultivating daily habits that balance productivity and creativity without overcommitting. Wrapping up, we tackle the nuances of time management as entrepreneurs and commitment levels' impact on execution. Discover how dependability and prudent social media actions shape future opportunities, drawing from Kevin O'Leary's wisdom.SHOW HIGHLIGHTS Dan and I delve into the significance of the series' theme song and its role in their listening routine, based on Chris's reflections. We discuss Chris's trip to Tucson and their perspective on the moderated conference experience led by Joe Polish at Canyon Ranch. We highlight the importance of maintaining consistency and improvement over time, drawing upon the eight profit activators as an example. Dan analyzes a typical day at Canyon Ranch through Chris's recount, emphasizing the value of health checks like the DEXA scan for body composition. We explore the paradox of having ample free time yet facing a lack of productivity due to multiple options. Dan and I discuss the various levels of commitment and how they influence the ability to complete tasks, especially in the entrepreneurial environment. The chapter on trust, money, and social media is explored, examining the challenges of relying on unpredictable and the personal ethos of dependability. We assess the intertwined nature of trust, money, and social media, referencing Kevin O'Leary's perspective on the potential long-term impacts of public actions. reflect on Chris's strategy for managing time and commitments, including his rule against traveling for marketing purposes. The episode concludes with us having a candid conversation about procrastination, commitment, and the challenge of executing tasks without external scaffolding.

    Links:
    WelcomeToCloudlandia.com
    StrategicCoach.com
    DeanJackson.com
    ListingAgentLifestyle.com

    TRANSCRIPT

    (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)

    Dan: Welcome to Cloudlandia. You know, the theme song to this series might be the song that I've listened to more in my life than any other song. Dean: Oh, that's funny I like it. Dan: I was going through the archives and I said you know, I don't think I've listened to any song as much as I have this song. That's so funny. Yeah, I love it Good music though. It's good music. Dean: And good message. Dan: And it, I love it, it's good music, though. Dean: It's good music, yes, and good message. Dan: And it's good message. Dean: It's always a reminder. So welcome back. You've been on the road, arizona. Dan: Yes, how was that? Oh, it was great. We were in Tucson for about five days at Canyon Ranch, and the weather was absolutely superb. In Fahrenheit terms it was roughly about 75. Dean: Yeah, perfect right. Dan: Clear, cool nights, blue skies, no rain and the genius was great. Joe is really in the sweet spot. Joe Polish is really in the sweet spot because he's controlling it now with his interviews and I think that's terrific, because he had six different guests and if they're just giving a presentation, it can be from bad to really great. But what Joe provides, he just does a framework and of course he directs them with questions and he knows the audience, he knows the speakers, so he's doing a great job of moderating and I think that's a terrific move. Dean: I like the new setup too that he's got there, the stage with the kind of environment that's good, nice, the kind of environment that's good, Nice. Dan: Well, let's Proves that, if you just stick with some things long enough, you know it turns really superb after a while if you keep making improvements. Dean: Wow, I can't say enough about that being true. I was really. I've been thinking that about the. I've been going back looking at the eight profit activators as the example of how long you know I would say I've been working on this for 30 years, unconsciously, and the last 20 of it consciously and the distinctions, the reliable, that I've generated from all the ways that we've applied, all the number of data sets and iterations and different applications that are still like, it's just kind of great. It's a shortcut to really identifying what needs to be done, and every new iteration of a durable playbook is adding new distinctions. So much certainty in the things. I just can't wait to see, you know, the next 20 years of that real like dedicated application, because it's not going anywhere, you know. Dan: Yeah, I think you know I'm sort of a stick with things for a long time. Dean: Yes, yes. Dan: And I mean, if people are telling you they're getting value out of it, their checks indicate yes, yes, things going in a workshop and I'm, you know, I'm always seeing new things and and everything like that. But you know, we were. I was just reflecting that this is 35 years for the program, the workshop program, and it's pretty much not too different in 2024 than it was in 1989. I mean 2024 than it was in 1989. I mean it's basically you're doing thinking processes, you're chatting with each other individually, you're having general discussions, there's visuals to represent what's going to happen and all the money's up front. Dean: Yeah, I mean, listen, I call those things durable contexts and what you've got there, like the strategic coach program and the workshops, it's not unsimilar to what 60 Minutes has going for it, the. It's been the same context in sunday night 7 pm tick, tick, tick three long form stories on the most fascinating things in the zeitgeist right now. That's never going to get old. That's really. You know, it's like the same thing. You look at quarterly meetings gathered with your peers thinking about your thinking in a group of people who are thinking the same way. So I think that's the cheat code is understanding what those durable contexts are and allowing the content to fit within that. You know. Dan: Yeah, there was a great old parody, I don't know 20 years ago, and it's the new marketing manager for Coors Beer and he's saying yeah, and he's in a meeting with Mr Coors the current Mr. Coors and he says yeah. He said yeah, we've done a lot of research and you know we feel that the color that we've been using for the labels of Coors beer are not up to speed with what people really like and therefore we're suggesting that we switch the color of the labels. And Mr Coors says I like the color we've got. He says yes sir, yes sir, Mr Coors. Dean: Yes, sir, we're going to go with the color. Dan: And he says we feel that you know the typeface that we're using, the Coors typeface, is from the. It's really from the 19th century. And he said so we're suggesting this new typeface. And Mr Gores says I like the typeface the way it is. Dean: He says yes, mr Gores. Dan: And then he says we're thinking that the bottle is very in old shape, you know, and it's not really up to date with modern design and therefore we're recommending this new shape of the bottle and we want to change the color of the bottle too. And he says to Mr Kors says I like the old bottle and I like the color we've got. Yes, mr Kors, okay, we're all set to go on our new campaign right, that sounds like your conversation when they wanted to change the fonts right, yeah, yeah, yeah, I like Helvetica. We're going to stick with. Dean: Helvetica Awesome, I love it. Well, Dan, what was your? What's a day in the life in Canyon Ranch? You've been going there now for as long as I've known you. Dan: Yeah, 1990 was our first trip, so this is our 55th visit and many years. We've gone twice, twice. Well, it's a nice place, it's very congenial, it's very comfortable and it's well kept up. And, you know, the food is good. They have terrific massage therapists. I mean, they have dozens and dozens of massage therapists, some of them, one of them we have we've been seeing her for 25 years, you know, and there's just a nice quality. It's very predictable, there's no tension, it's very laid back, and so I get up in the morning and, you know, once we're set to go, I'll go out for a walk, and they have a two mile loop around the property oh wow and one of them is quite a challenging hill, okay. So what I could do is I go out and I start working the hill from top to bottom and I do that. I do that for about a half hour. You know. Dean: Up and down, you know gets the heart rate up yeah and now with my repaired knee I was gonna ask do you feel? Dan: the difference. Yeah, yeah, it's. Uh, there's a bit tenderness about especially coming down it's going up is fine, it's coming down. That puts more stress on your knee right and then then we go for breakfast and there's two choices they have sort of a very informal cafe and then they have a restaurant with full menu. And then I do a lot of reading. I read the Wall Street Journal on six days of the week and Babs and I just agree when we're going to rendezvous for lunch. Dean: She does a lot more. Dan: She does a lot more consultations. She does more investigating new things, which eventually I introduced to some of them. But she's much more active. She gets more tests than I do and I do one test probably every year for 20 years since the body composition. Oh, yeah, like a DEXA scan, right, right, dexa scan, yeah, and it's the gold standard as far as I can tell. You know, and then you compare and I got 20 years of records and you know, need some more care. Things are okay here and you know you go there and then the afternoon I'll have at least one massage a day and I do that. But I do a lot of reading. I've got my detective stories, my thrillers, my international geopolitical thrillers, and you know I'll wander around around and I get my steps in, I get my three rings on my apple watch bin and we meet for dinner. We usually do it pretty early and we you know and come home and I'll check the news, internet news and read some articles and then I'm off to bed and multiply that by five days. Dean: Do it again. Dan: Yeah, and you feel revived. Dean: Yeah. Dan: But I, you know, I mean at after 35, 50 years of coaching and 35 years of the company and the program. I don't really get that stressed out for my work. Right, I mean you know I'm in my unique ability. I have certain things to do every day. Dean: There's deadlines. Dan: There's always lots of projects going, and so it's not like to go on to free days, which Canyon Ranch always. Isn't that much of a change for me from? The way I operate on my workday. I'm never doing more than three projects for the day. I have lots of time between projects. I only hold myself accountable for getting three things done a day. My scheduler, Becca, always makes sure I have at least a half hour between anything that involves a meeting with someone else. And yeah, so that's pretty well that I mean. But I get a lot done. I mean I'm more productive at 80 than I was at 60. Dean: So yeah, that's my thing. How much of your time during the week like when you're on a typical home week, work week is scheduled like synchronous and scheduled with other people, versus you saying these are the three things I'm going to work on, or are they always involving other people? Dan: No, I have days when it's just me getting my part of a project done that has to be then sent off to somebody else. But I have days when there's no meetings. The vast majority of them are Zoom meetings, not in-person meetings. Dean: And I have a regular schedule the workshops are in the schedule. Dan: The two-hour catch-up calls that we've introduced for Zoom they're in the schedule. I have podcasts they're scheduled. The only thing that's left up to me is creating new tools. Dean: Right. Dan: You know, and the other thing is new chapters of the current book and that goes off, and then we have recording sessions and so on. But I would say that if I look ahead at a year, 85% of that year is going to be totally known on the first day of the year. Dean: Really, yeah, yeah, like with scheduled slots for when it's happening, yeah. Dan: Very interesting. Yeah, and I've introduced a new rule in 79, that I will never travel for marketing purposes. Dean: Right, exactly. Dan: Yeah, and I will never give a speech. I'll do an interview, but I won't do a speech. Dean: Right or. Dan: I'll put an audience through a thinking tool, but I won't give a speech, so my days of speechifying are in the past, right, right, right. And I won't give any speech for publicity purposes, I only give a speech for marketing purpose. I mean, I'll only do a public, you know, presentation and a movie tool only for marketing purpose. I'll only speak to audiences that are qualified clients, qualified prospects. Yeah, yeah, and that's basically an easygoing tourist's life. Dean: Yeah, exactly, I forgot, that's another thing. Dan: You have a birthday in about three days, right? Dean: That's right. May 10th that's exactly right may 10th. Dan: It's yes, right yeah, so that's what is that friday? Dean: that is friday, yeah, yeah. So that's that one little thing, that one week of time where I'm only 21 years younger than you. I catch up on you for a little bit and then you take over again. Dan: Yeah, I have to give you a teaser before I frustrate you. Dean: Okay, let's hear it. Dan: Yeah, no, it's 20. Dean: You get to be 21 years younger. I got you Right, right, right. Dan: Then it gets taken away from you. Yes, exactly, just when. Dean: I think I'm catching up. Yeah, yeah, a little boost. That's so funny. Yeah, I've forgotten that we're both Taurus. That's something we are very similar. I think that's why we have such an easy friendship. I think because we're essentially a lot alike, I mean our whole being. Dan: I think we're essentially lazy luxury-loving innovators. Dean: Lazy luxury-loving innovators, I like it. Dan: That's pretty true. Dean: It's the truth. You're absolutely right. Yes, yes, yes, in the best sense of all of those words. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah, and I think both of us exhibit sort of a lifestyle that's different from what we learned when we were growing up. Dean: That's true, yeah, I don't know what instilled it in us, but it was self-discovered. Really, Nobody taught us this. Dan: And we both like shortcuts. Dean: We both have a passion. Dan: It's very interesting I haven't actually driven a car in the city of Toronto in easily 25 years. Dean: I think that's amazing yeah. Dan: And you know I have a limousine company that handles all my scheduled stuff. And then Babs. You know we're very much in sync in terms of what we like to do for entertainment and for socializing we're very much in sync, and what it's allowed me to do is to really notice shortcuts in the city because I'll see. You know, I'm a real map addict. I like maps. And I'll see something I said. I wonder, if you go through this alleyway here and you come out here, whether it's a shortcut when there's busy times and I got about 20, 25 of them in the city that Google doesn't know about. Dean: Oh boy, okay, yeah, you've got the knowledge. Dan: Yeah, I got. I've got the knowledge. Google stays within the framework of what are considered official streets. You know they it doesn't, and probably they have to do that. I mean, that's not, it's not their job to be doing it and and so one of the limousine drivers said, you know, he went to the president of the company, the owner, and he says, you know, we should have mr sullivan up here, he knows more shortcuts than anyone I've ever seen and and the owner of the company. Why would we want the trip to be any shorter? Dean: Unbelievable, huh. Dan: Isn't that? Dean: funny, that's the best. Why would we want it to be any shorter? Dan: No, and I can see his point of view, I guess. Dean: but wow, I can't tell you, dan, how much I'm looking forward to being in Toronto. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Really am. Dan: Now you're coming in. When are you coming in? Dean: On a. Dan: Monday. Dean: The workshop's on a Monday the workshop is on Monday, right the 20th, so I think I'm going to come in probably the week before. I'll probably come in. I may come in at the very latest the 17th, and so I would be available for a table 10 or whatever table they assign us on the 18th, if that works in your schedule, and then I'm going to do a breakthrough blueprint on the 27th, 28th, 29th. So I'm going to stay for at least two weeks. Dan: Are you staying at the Hazleton I? Dean: believe so. Yes, there are the four seasons. Dan: one of the two yeah, because our wonderful French restaurant in Yorkville is gone. Dean: I know exactly. Dan: Jacques Bistro. You know, they basically packed it in at the end of the previous year, so the COVID year started in March 2020. So right at the end of 2019, they packed it in and their son you know, their son and daughter were. I was leaving this was right at the end of the 2019, I was there and I was going down the steps and he said Mr Sullivan, do you mind if I have your picture taken and we're putting together sort of, you know, a panorama of all the longtime guests? And I said sure, and then they they always closed down for the month of January, july too, yeah, yeah, in January, and they never came back. After January it was closed, and so I don't think they were sensing anything, but I think they had just more or less packed it in without telling anybody Because it's all gone. Now it's some other business. It was a very small restaurant, I know because it's all gone now and it's some other business. Dean: You know it's. It was a very small restaurant. Dan: You know I mean they may do, for they may do for almost 40 years with about at most they might've had 40 seats in the restaurant. That wasn't a very big restaurant Right. But let's Select is good, let's Select they sold. The two partners sold. They had been with it for 40 years and they sold and it's. You know the menu is smaller. There's some things not on the menu that I liked, but you know it's great. Dean: Have you been to? There's the new French restaurant in Yorkville, off of you know where, if you go Bel Air basically that where Bel Air meets Yorkville if you continue across Yorkville in that little alleyway, there's a new French restaurant. I think. Yeah, they didn't last. No, they didn't Okay. No, cause they came in just before. Dan: COVID right, yeah, they didn't last. Oh, they didn't Okay. No, because they came in just before COVID right? No, they didn't last at all. Okay, yeah, and I'm just trying to think. Dean: Sophia Is there another? Sophia is another one. I think it's new, but I haven't experienced it. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Yeah, you know, there were a lot of casualties from the, you know. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Actually, Yorkville has gotten a lot less interesting because restaurants have gone out and retail stores have come in oh interesting. It doesn't have the same entertainment value that it did. Dean: Interesting, I may have to rethink Where's the new? Where would be a suitable place for a guy? Dan: like me, the Hazleton is really good. I mean, they're one restaurant there is really good, but you know I would go for Le Select, just for old time's sake. Dean: Of course, yeah, yeah. Dan: And we'll put it in the menu. I have a whole bunch of medical things. Usually on Saturday I go to my biofeedback program. Dean: I go to osteo-stron and I get my hair cut. Okay. Dan: But I can leave off the two medical things that day and just get my haircut. Dean: Okay, fair enough. Dan: And we'll, yeah, put it in for 1130. Would that be good? That's fantastic. Dean: I love it. Dan: Yeah, yeah, it's not table 10 anymore, but we can get the same table, yeah, and that's where we. Dean: That's where we, that's where we launched the podcast series the joy of procrastination was launched right there. Dan: Yeah, what are you thinking about procrastination now, after all these? Dean: years. I think it's amazing. I mean, I think this whole idea of the you know as a superpower, I think it's absolutely true. What I still I'll tell you what I'm personally working on right now is my ability to do what I say I'm going to do. At the time, I say I'm going to do it without any external scaffolding, and I'm realizing that. You know, I'm just now eight weeks into the health program that I'm doing with Jay and Team Dean all together there, and what I've found is that's working really well because it's created the external scaffolding and support and exoskeleton that allows me to stay on track, or create that bobsled run, as Ned Halliwell would say. And so now my attention in May here now is turning to myself. I have, Dan, an abundance of time. I have, all of you know, a consulting client that I talk to on Tuesdays at one. I have a my real estate accelerator group on Wednesdays at three, and then on alternate Thursdays, I have my co-agent call and my email mastery call, and so, all told, it's four to six hours a week of synchronous and scheduled requirement. Right, Then I basically have 100% of all of my time available, and I do. I've always sort of you know having free time leads to having the ability to be creative and do things, but what I find is I often end up in a paralysis of opportunity. you know of that I could do this I could do this, I could do this, I could all of those intentions. You know that I could do this, I could do this, I could do this, I could all of those intentions you know. But I very rarely get anything done. Fits and spurts right, and so that's what I'm really kind of. I'm really trying to figure out the formula for me on that. Dan: That's why I was curious about you know, you know, I would say this that I, if I didn't have obligations, or commitments. Let's say commitments, yeah, like I have, I have commitments. I wouldn't be very productive just on my own Right. I mean, I won't do something just because I want to do something. To see it, it has to involve my team and it has to involve my clients, otherwise I won't do it Right. And so I always have deadlines related to those two parties, and I really like deadlines. I really like deadlines because, you know, and usually I get it done just before it's needed. And the reason I like that is if I just have enough time to actually and I don't have any more time, I just have enough time to get something done, then I'm totally focused. If I've got more than enough time to get something done, then I'm totally focused. If I've got more than enough time to get something done, then I can be distracted by something else Me too. Dean: I realized I started thinking about a progression of the way things are going to get done. Most certainly is synchronous and scheduled is 100% certainty that it's going to get done. Then kernis and unscheduled is also getting done, like that's what other my consulting clients or the people that I work with we don't have necessarily every tuesday at one o'clock or whatever it may hey, are you available to talk? You know, on this day and we put it in the calendar and but it's not like recurring, that, it's not locked in obligation. I usually keep my calendar. You know I schedule those things about two weeks out. And then the next level up then. So that's synchronous and sort of unscheduled, but we'll do it. Then the next thing is asynchronous with a deadline, is likely to get done, but the thing where I want to be is asynchronous at my discretion and that's the most joyful thing, but nothing ever gets done. Dan: That's the reality, right? Yeah, it's really funny. I was having a conversation about it was with someone at Genius Network. You don't know them and they were talking about how they're really into Zen. Know them, and they were talking about how they're really into zen okay, and and you know the oriental, you know that you detach from, you know physical reality, more or less yes, and, and I said, you know I've read things about them. You know I've read things, but reading things about zen isn't them right you know, it's not them. You know, and and said the one thing I've noticed about people who are really deeply into Zen they're not real go-getters. Dean: Interesting yeah. Dan: Yeah, because for them, the things of the world, they're not really real. Dean: You know they're sort of delusional. Dan: And anyway, and I said, I have a really enjoyable engagement with the world. Yes, and it's entrepreneurial, so that makes it more enjoyable. I have nothing in my life that involves dealing with people who are in bureaucratic, private sector, bureaucratic or public sector. I have no nothing to do with anyone like that, and so everyone I mean my entire environment. I'm hearing an enormous amount of sound. Dean: Sorry about that. Dan: What I notice is that I live in almost like a complete entrepreneurial universe. I mean both business-wise and also socially you know, so I don't really know much about what's happening outside of the entrepreneurial world. I mean, I read it. I mean I read it on the internet, but it doesn't really impact on me. You know, I mean taxes do, inflation does and everything like that, but not in a serious way. And the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Canadian dollar is very comfortable right now. Dean: It's about $1.37. Dan: Okay, yeah, I always enjoy that. Dean: It's a nice offset. Dan: Yeah, people say, why do you live in Toronto with the taxes so high? And I says, well, it all depends on where your money is coming from. Dean: Right right, right right, and you know the patents are. Dan: We're up to 19 now. We have 19 patents so far. And that has its own asset value. And yeah, so it's really nice right now At 80, it's really at age 80. So it's really nice right now at 80, it's really at age 80. It's really nice. Dean: Yeah, is that so? I am curious, though, if so, the deadlines. If we think about that progression right Of synchronous and scheduled, synchronous unscheduled with a deadline and asynchronous at your discretion, where's your power zone? Are you able to spend time productively in asynchronous at your discretion, or does what drives your thing be the deadline? Dan: No, I let other people schedule my life. I let other people schedule my life. Okay, yeah so all the dates in the calendar are someone else's schedule and then they have their schedule for me to get the material in, because it always involves some sort of teamwork. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Before a workshop, you have to get the new artwork in according to the production team's schedule, not my schedule. Right and I have some really good rules with that. If it's 80%, good we're going to go with it, even though. I got a better idea at the last moment. I never load them up with last minute requests because from the audience's standpoint it's 100%. It's only our judgment that is 80%, right, exactly. Dean: They don't know. It's 100% of what they got. That's exactly right. Dan: Yeah, I don't know that there was something better that could have been done. They don't know that, so I'm pretty easy with them. Every once in a while there's a last-minute thing and because I never bother them very much, they're up to it. But if it was a steady diet that they had of the last minute, then you'd lose their ability to respond at the last moment. So I never take advantage of that, except there is some situations where you know it's a good idea to do it. Dean: Yeah, that's exactly right. How much of your time is spent brainstorming and sketching and thinking, like, working out an idea for a thinking tool or the content for a book? Because I imagine that's kind of where it all begins. Right, you're coming to the table, yeah, with the idea this is the book I'm to write, and how much of it is you, uh, I'm really curious about, like because I've discovered you know, my power verbs as part of our discussion through the joy of procrastination. But what would be? Do you have time like that where you're? Do you have a notebook that you use, or do you sketch, or do you know? Dan: I'm pretty much um. I'm pretty much a fast filter person, so yes, uh I get the idea and then I go through and I say this is the best result, worst result, and here's the five success criteria. Dean: And by the time I finish. Dan: By the time I finish, the first fast filter I'm launched and then it's right into the introduction, the chapter one, chapter two, chapter three, you know. So yeah but I was talking to a new member of genius network. A great family actually, a father and two sons all joined and it's called the pompa method and it's, you know, getting rid of all the metals in your body and everything. You're living with mold and everything else and so much of sickness comes from heavy metals in your bloodstream and it comes from very, very serious negative impacts of having mold in your house and I think you would be more in danger of that than we would here in toronto. I think florida's can be sort of damp, you know things. I would say that uncared for physical things in Florida deteriorate pretty fast, don't they? Dean: Yes. Dan: And anyway, and he didn't really know me at all, like there was no prior knowledge, when we met and I started talking and he says you know, I'm doing everything well, but not writing books. And he says I have some sort of block to the book. And I said do you have a book in mind? And he says, yeah, I've got notes and notes. And I said you know, the easiest solution to writing your one big book is not do that. What you want to do is write 100 books. Dean: Right. Dan: Yes, right, yes, book. And he says, well, how do I think about that? And I says, well, do you have a good chapter already? If you were going, to write a good chapter in your you know. You know it's a good idea, it's one chapter, it's one idea. Could you write a book on one idea. And he said yeah, but I've got so much more to say. I said I know you got we all do. I said we all got a lot more to say, but we don't have to say everything right now. We can say one thing right now and I showed him one of my books and he said, oh my God, oh my God, but it's so short. And I said yeah, and you can read it in an hour. Dean: I said it's big type too. Dan: It's 14 point type and it's Helvetica, very easy to read. And it's got lots of subheads. You could get the meaning of the book if you just read the subheads. If you didn't read all the text. Just read the subheads and the titles. You could get the meaning of the book, or you could read the cartoons or you could listen to the audible or you could watch the videos, know everything else. And it was like he, it was like a religious conversion. And he says, oh my god, I've got so much things that could become small books. And I said, yeah, the ebook. Research indicates that if your book is less than 60 pages, you'll'll get 85% complete readership out of it. Dean: Mine are 44. Dan: I only have 44 pages in a book and so, going back to your question, I don't have to do much brainstorming because I've done the same format over now. We're just completing number 38. Dean: Yes. Dan: I totally know One of the big problems of writing a book for the first time. Well, how long is it going to be? Dean: and what are the? Dan: chapters going to be. I know it's got an introduction, it's got eight chapters and it's got a conclusion, and then it's got a little section on the program in Strategic Coach. And then it's got a little section on the program in Strategic. Dean: Coach. Dan: So that's why I like repeating good formats, because you're not doing all this guessing. What's it going to look like? I know, I mean, I know what it's going to look like, I know how long it's going to be, I know what the pages are going to look like I know that. So that forces people to procrastinate and stop and everything else, and I've removed all that execution complexity right up front. And then I've got nine other people who are responsible for the finished product Right right yeah, and. I've got deadlines for them. Dean: The deadlines. Dan: You know they're already in the schedule. Basically it's a two-month project to get the book finished and all my deadline dates are in the schedule. They're just presented to me. These are the deadlines I said okay. I'm cool. So see, I'm being managed by other people's schedules and that takes a lot of the uncertainty on my part out of the way. Dean: Yeah, you know, what's funny is I've been thinking about my, because I'm very reliable in synchronous and scheduled things Meeting deadlines and meeting deadlines. Yeah, I'm never, you're never late, you're never unprepared. That's exactly right. That's why synchronous and scheduled for sure I would say you're never unprepared chat at somebody's event or as a guest on somebody's podcast, where I don't have to prepare what I'm going to talk about. I do it in the thing and that's why having the format that I've chosen for my More Cheese, less Whiskers podcast is the guest, is the focus, and I've been preparing for this conversation with them for 30 years and I bring all of that with it. I don't have to think about it ahead of time. So synchronous and scheduled, 100% gets done and it's right in my go zone. What I have been thinking about is if there were a way to think about signing myself to. Have you ever heard the term an FSO contract? It's in the entertainment business. People will contract with a entertainer's company for services of Dan Sullivan. So it'd be entering into a contract with strategic coach FSO Dan Sullivan and that would be a really interesting thing. If I had a way of thinking about myself, detached from myself, as a thing that I could tap into for services of Dean Jackson, it would be an interesting you know, I'm just applying it to myself. Dan: I don't trust the guy to show up Right, exactly, that's the thing He'll be on the way and he'll see something interesting. And then, yeah, you know you have to track him down. It's too much work, you know but I'm like you I'm very reliable as it comes to you know, you know commitments to other people. I'm very reliable. So I said and it's not work for me to do that. So you know, I just never, ever want to disappoint you know, I just never ever. Yeah, and but when I'm just dealing with myself, well it's, it's really loosey goosey, you know. Dean: Right. Dan: Yeah, He'll find some excuse, you know, you know he's very slippery. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Yeah, the neighbor's dog ate the homework. You know, you know, he's very slippery. Yeah, yeah, the neighbor's dog ate the homework you know, everything like that. Yeah, and I I put myself in the gap when I'm doing that, but what I've done is, over the years I've made things I'm really intensely interested in public offerings, in other words, I'm presenting it to an audience and I just things that I'm really intensely interested in. I've connected now with making money. Dean: Right. Dan: And you know, the making of money really makes things official. Dean: Yes, yeah, so yeah, very, I mean it's taken a long time. Dan: I mean, I'm not saying this, was you know, but more and more as I've gotten lazier. Dean: Right. Dan: Anything that I'm actually interested in doing better make money. Right right right, isn't that funny. Dean: That's still the motivator, even though as time goes on 1600s, early 1700s. Dan: He said the making of money is probably the most innocent thing that humans can engage themselves, involve themselves with. He said making money it's really clean, you know it's sort of a really clean activity and there's an exchange and you feel a real sense of accomplishment and achievement. You know, there's just something about something where it has to be good for both sides. It's got a much higher energy impact to it. Dean: It's good for me, it's good for them, and it's not just double the pleasure, it's 10 times the pleasure yeah, and I mean, you know the nice thing about it is that to do it sustainably, there has to be a durable exchange of value. You know it has to be. Yeah, that's what's so? That's what I mean. That's what's so clean about it. Right Is everybody wins yeah. I love that. That's what I love about marketing, you know, is that it's just such a great. I feel really great about being a connector in businesses who can really add value to people and getting the message out to the people who can need that value as much as possible. Dan: And you know the thing is, it's actually the creation of something new, that didn't exist and then, once the exchange has been happened, it exists something new has been created and you know, and it's a, it's kind of proof that you're real. Yes, right, right it's a, it's kind of proof that you're real. Yes, right, right, you know, I mean you have people involved in various you know involvement of psychiatric treatment and you know they said, well, I don't know if the world is real, I don't know if I'm real, and I said well, if you're only asking your opinion, it's going to be hard to pin down. Dean: Yeah, right on. Dan: You have to get some proof from someone who's not you that you know that what you do is valuable. Dean: Yeah, yeah, that's what the that's the true, that's the great thing about capitalism, you know is that it's? Voluntary. It's voluntary, right yeah? Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was watching. You know the Shark Tank guy. He's Canadian, kevin O'Leary. Yeah, yeah, I was seeing him and he was saying he was just telling the protesters on the campus that it's being noted in the job market who these people are and they don't realize the price that they're paying and they have masks. And he said, doesn't matter, we're picking up your eyeballs. He said that every single person who was involved in the january 6th you know the- yes they. Within about two months, they knew who every individual was and where he was, because the technology is now so good. And he said. They're being used at the university campuses by the police and everybody else and every one of you who's upsetting campus life and is doing that, it's noted that you were doing this and if your resume tries to present you're a different person from who you are in the student protest, doors just will be closed to you. You will never get any direct message that you were in the protest, but you'll notice over the 10 years after you go to college and go out in the marketplace that you don't have much opportunity and it's a really good talk. Because he says you think there's no cost to this. There's a big cost to this talk. Because he says you think there's no cost to this, there's a big cost to this. And he says you think you're inflicting the cost on someone else. I have to tell you, over 10 years the cost will be inflicted on you. And I just thought it was a neat little talk. Dean: Yeah, he's a pretty smart guy, I mean just like as a philosopher, you know. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah and anyway, but I found it interesting that you know this rears up every once in a while. It's a bit like a fever, you know that. But this is very well planned. All these students have been in training for the before they actually show up as a protest. They've been in training by, you know, by activists. You know trainers and the activists who train them are never there. They train them and then you know they're off camera and you know they're tracking down the money sources. These people are being paid, you know. I mean they're actually being paid to do this and everything like that you know and everything like that. But it's an interesting thing how it's harder and harder to do things in secret these days. Dean: I was just thinking that, like back in, you know the fifties and sixties, seventies, eighties, even. You know everything now is is on, everything is on camera. You have to assume that you're every move. Dan: Yeah, they're probably you know, communicating with other people on social media. You know they're yeah they're not just doing this in quiet, for right five, six, five, six days in a row, I mean they what got them out, you know, into the movement was probably social media. Hey, we're going to do this and nothing else. And you should come to a meeting and we're going to do this. And you know, I think late teens and early 20s people don't think too much about that, you know, they don't really think that it shows up. But we're, you know, in our company, we really do extensive social media searches when we have a job, you know, a job applicant. Dean: Oh, you do, oh yeah, deep dive. Dan: Yeah, yeah, deep dive. We had one woman and she came in and you know where our cafe is in the. Toronto office. And she came in and she was sitting out in the, you know, in the reception area and something about her just caught my attention. And then she came in and she was just perfectly done up, you know, I mean her clothes were great. Dean: And. Dan: I watched her as she went through the cafe back to Babs' office and I said she's just too perfect. I said there's something wrong here. And afterwards she left and they were saying, boy, what a resume. She has a resume and everything else. I said there's something too perfect about her. I said I get the sense that something's off about her. So they went searching and they found out that she had a whole separate life as a burlesque dancer. Oh really, wow, that didn't show up. That didn't show up. And she even had a you know like a brand name for who she was in her other work. She had a completely you know and she was in clubs and they're sort of not public clubs and everything like that and not that there's anything wrong with being a burlesque dancer If that's your, you know. I mean, I mean it's not really my, you know my favorite form of entertainment. But you know, but the fact is that she hid the other part of her life, and that's the sense that I got. There's something too perfect about her. There's another side of her that's not being seen, so it will be discovered. If you have another life besides the one that you're presenting, it will be, discovered. Yeah, there's no hiding now, right yeah, and the simple way is just be who you are. Dean: Ah, that's exactly right, that digital split. Yeah, and the simple way is just be who you are. Ah, that's exactly right, that digital split. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know, and the people that we really have long-term relationships with invariably are people who just do they. There's not another them. Right, yes exactly Right, right, right yeah. So anyway, did you learn anything about the way I approach things? Dean: I did. I mean, I think that's you know your organizing context. Like you know, I've been thinking about it in this terms of imagine, if you applied yourself, you know, and this is the applied portion of things and it sounds like your, the fast filter is the gateway into the applied world, right it's? yeah that's that starts. That makes it real because you're making it up and then you're making it real with a fast filter, yeah. And then that, when presented to your project manager or one of your project managers, you know you use the term, you know I mean executive function. Dan: You know you're lacking in executive function. I don't think that's true. I think, from a creative standpoint, you retain a lot of total executive function. I think what I've completely delegated to other people is management function. Dean: Yeah right. Dan: It's not executive function, it's executive execution function. I've got the starting execution, but then there's got to be a handoff. Starting execution. But then there's got to be a handoff and after the making it up stage then I have to hand it off to other people. Dean: I used to try to do the management function and I'm just no good at it. Yeah, and you know you're. The thing about the quarterly book is a. You know that's a viable construct. You know that's a durable context, that you're 38 quarters into a hundred quarter adventure, you know yeah, yeah, and that you know. So there's that sort of rhythm, contextual rhythm, that sticks with it. Dan: Yeah, yeah, that sticks with it. Dean: Yeah, yeah. Dan: It's kind of a future time commitment. You know, like I'm not, I'm 40% through a 25-year project, so that means I've got, you know, I've got 2039, that I hit At the end of 2039, I hit quarter number 100, you know yeah right, and you know, and that gives me an incentive to make sure you're there. Yeah, right, exactly. Oh, that's so funny. Whatever it's going to take, make sure you're there, because you know it won't do if it's just 95. Dean: Right, yeah, no, that's exactly right. I love it. Well, I found this very it sounded very interesting. I appreciate it and I'm very excited about table 10 reunion. Yes, so I'll set that up on the 15th or whatever. Dan: Yeah, you know what I'll do is. I'll say to the Maitre D just for today, can this be table 10? Dean: Yes exactly. Dan: It's only table 10 when Dean and Dan are there, that's exactly right. Dean: I know exactly where the table is, no matter what we call it, it's still there. I mean it's still there, I'm going to put it in Dan at 1130 on the 15th Perfect Table 10. Table 10. Dan at 11.30 on the 15th Perfect Table 10. Table 10. I like that. Dan: All right. Dean: Okay, thank you, so much Are we on next week Yep. We'll be back from Nashville Perfect. Dan: Yeah, we get back on Saturday, so this is great. Dean: Perfect. Dan: Well. Dean: I'm sorry I'm going to miss the big birthday bash, but I'm sure it'll be wonderful and we'll have exciting things to talk about next week. Yeah. Dan: Yeah, good. Dean: Thanks Dan. Dan: Okay, bye.
  • Ep120: Strategies for Enhanced Productivity

    Ep120: Strategies for Enhanced Productivity

    · Welcome to Cloudlandia
    In today's episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, Dan and I discuss the paradox of achieving more through minimal effort. Exploring concepts like the 'Crucial ABC Questions' and the 80/20 rule, we uncover how sometimes the best approach is to simply stand still—how inaction itself can be a powerful strategy. We share insights into the transformative nature of strategic scheduling and how it can liberate our lives from daily logistical burdens. By entrusting details to others and focusing only on meaningful tasks, forward-thinking time management elevates our experience and enables richer collaborations. Touching on varied successes, we reflect on the diverse challenges public figures face and the support networks shaping their approaches. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS We explore the concept of achieving more by doing less, focusing on the 'Crucial ABC Questions' to isolate growth problems and find their least-effort solutions. Dan and I discuss how inaction can sometimes be the most effective action, particularly when it leads to strategic delegation and efficiency. We delve into the 80/20 principle, highlighting how focusing on the 20% of efforts that yield 80% of the results can enhance productivity. Strategic scheduling is presented as a tool for life liberation, allowing individuals to indulge in what truly matters by delegating logistics to others. We share personal stories and insights on how public figures manage their time and the impact of their support systems on personal and professional growth. I share my approach to problem-solving by considering whether inaction could solve the problem or what is the least effort required to achieve the goal. We highlight the significance of having others manage your structured calendar to allow for freedom of choice and richer life experiences. Reflecting on success and fame, we examine how various degrees of support systems and self-reliance influence celebrities' lives and careers. Strategies for entrepreneurs on managing time and maximizing productivity include asking key questions to reduce time spent on issues and preparing for future growth. We discuss the importance of personal routines and structure in providing a sense of security and time management, and the philosophy of avoiding unnecessary risks.

    Links:
    WelcomeToCloudlandia.com
    StrategicCoach.com
    DeanJackson.com
    ListingAgentLifestyle.com

    TRANSCRIPT

    (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)

    Dean: Mr Sullivan, Dan: Mr Jackson. Dean: There we are Back again. Dan: I have a question for you. Dean: Okay. Dan: Are there any problems you're solving today by doing nothing? Dean: Yeah, I love it. It's like a paradox. You know, I had a great time at our workshop this week going through that, the exercise. I've been thinking a lot about it, actually, like I really have over the last several days. I've been writing a lot of things and so I could share some of the things, but yeah, I'd like to hear one. Okay, so let's preface it. I love, by the way, how our podcast is really just one continuous conversation that we jump right into everywhere. Dan: Last one, so for anybody listening. Dean: Let me try and take my shot at explaining your. What do you call the tool? What do you call the thinking tool? Dan: The crucial ABC questions. Dean: The crucial ABC questions. So my understanding of it, having you explain it to me and having gone through the exercise, is that there are some number of goals or obstacles or things that you want to do. Dan: And I call them growth, I call them growth problems. Growth, In other words you have plans for growing something in your business life? For your personal life. But there is a problem. And I like the way, if you solve the problem, then the growth happens. Dean: Yeah, I like the way of thinking about a problem not as an emotional negative thing but as a math proposition. You know something that there is a solution, and that's really what we're looking for here. The problem, finding the problem is really the biggest, the biggest path to getting the solution. Dan: Yeah, you know you mentioned a math problem. That's like multiplication five times X equals 20. Right, okay. If you figure out what X is, then you have the. If you figure out what's relationship is between five and 20, then you've got a solution to the problem and you grow. Dean: I like that. So I think that the preface of identifying the problem you got to have a problem, so identifying the problem and isolating it to one particular thing can be a multi variable problem, you know. But one of the one of the variables of the problem is then to ask yourself is there any way I could accomplish this? By doing nothing, yeah? I think, that's really a great thing. Is there any way I could accomplish this by doing nothing? Dan: And. Dean: I think that alone, you know, is a really good way of doing, of thinking, because it lets you think about, you know, just as a solution. Is there a way to do this with doing nothing? Then, once you acknowledge that in 99 times out of 100, the answer is going to be no, yeah, that you then move on to be, which is what's the least that I could do to accomplish this or to solve this. Yeah, really, I'm a big fan of the. I'm a big fan of, you know, everything fits into the stand. The 80% approach is a great way of thinking about this. Could I get most of what I'm looking for with 80% of this. And you know the corollary to that 80, 20 and what's the 20? 20% of this to get 80% of the result. I think that's a really good. I think thinking paths that opens up for you and then see the magic is is there a? Who could do my minimum? I think that is the ultimate. That's the. You know we identified it as the. That's the way to. That's the way to pray while you're smoking versus smoking while you're praying. Dan: Yeah, yeah. Dean: I'll tell that again because I you told it on our last podcast but I've been thinking of all sorts of different applications of the smoking and praying yeah, the way I heard it was gentlemen goes to see the priest and asks him you know, is it, can I smoke? Well, I'm praying, and the pastor or the priest says well, you know, prayer is supposed to be a reverential thing and you should come with reverence. And so, no, I would say you shouldn't smoke while you're, while you're praying and anyway, and it came back several weeks later and within conversation, was asked go father, when should I pray? And the father says well, the Bible says you should pray without ceasing, should be in constant prayer and communion. And he says, so, should I pray while I'm gardening? Because, yes, being in nature and being with being present, you should definitely pray. Should I pray while I'm walking? Well, yes, you should pray while you're walking. Can I pray while I'm smoking? It's so funny simple syntax change that gets you to the outcome completely different than when you presented. Dan: It's a totally contextual yeah it's a totally contextual change, and so, going back to the three questions, so the first one is the way I can solve this, by doing nothing. If there's something you have to do, then what's the least you have to do. And if there's a least that you have to do. Is there someone who can do your least for you, with the result that you're solving the problem by doing nothing? Yeah but it's an interesting thing. Well, what's changed in your mind? I mean, when you put the three questions together, because this really starts with a conversation that created the entire podcast series that we've been doing for quite a long time? We've done quite a number of years We've done I think this is. The total is about 215. So this is episode 215 of our never-ending conversations, but it originally came back from my appealing. I just dropped a line when we were at a restaurant, los Select in Toronto and I said you know, I've been thinking about procrastination, and procrastination is an avoidance of something that really you're exhibiting. You're actually exhibiting wisdom because you know from your entire history of what works and doesn't seem to be working. The goal you have here, when you say this needs to be done, and you say, well, how am I going to do that? Well, the goal is an appropriate thing, it's exciting, it motivates you know it motivates some kind of action. It's just that you're not the one who's supposed to actually be doing the thing that you want. So it relates directly back to procrastination. Dean: I think, I think that it's in the same family, same root, yeah. Dan: It's a sense of family resemblance Exactly. Dean: Well, so I'll tell you the evolution of my thinking around. It is, you know, lillian is coming by today, lillian my assistant, and so I mentioned to you that one of the ways that I've been kind of applying this thinking is in my eating, in my meals. And you know I went to the process of with Jay Virgin, you know, we kind of outlined some great meal choices, 10 kind of power meals for me that are available here in Winterhaven through Grubhub and Uber Eats to be delivered. And I discovered the pre-arranged delivery you can arrange, you know, up to four days ahead that they will deliver at certain times. And so I've taken that was cut to the point of if I take that, if I want to eat great meals, is there any way I could do nothing about this? Well, there's not really any way because you have to arrange and eat the meals right. So what's the least that I could do and that led me to the pre-arranged things in combination of those meals, and factor my factor 75, that I've got some meals that arrive at my house once a week and they're very easy. They just, you know, require a couple of minutes to eat up, but they're perfectly portioned, already done, and delicious and nutritious and ready to go. And so my next level, thinking of this now from spurred from our conversation this week at in our FreeZone workshop, was to think okay, can I, is there a way I could have my portion of this done by someone? And so Lillian and I are going to experiment this week with her pre-arranging the meals to be to arrive at 12 o'clock and six o'clock, so mainly the 12 o'clock one that I that needs to arrive, because typically I use, I do, the factor meal for dinner. But that's going to be the experiment this week is here's the 10 meals. Dan: I don't really care. Dean: I don't really care which one it is, but let's rotate through them and at 12 o'clock something delicious will arrive at my doorstep without me having to do anything but eat the meal and I think that's, I think that's going to be my workaround for not having to, you know, really not having to do anything but eat. Dan: So does the? You have the 12 o'clock meal and the six o'clock meal. Are they different every day? Well, you got a map. If you just are talking about different combinations of two, and you basically have 20 things to work with, the combinations are in the thousands. Dean: Yes, that's exactly right. I think that's true. And it doesn't really it doesn't. There's no duds. You know I order, like the. I order six meals from Factor. So there's six days of the. You know six of those meal options I order from Factor and there's usually 30 plus meals to choose from. So I do have some favorite ones that and sometimes they're different and each week there are 30, but there's probably they probably rotate in you know several different ones Like yeah, so I'll see which ones I really which ones I like, and I may even be able to with a little bit of coaching. Thank you for reminding me of that. Then I'm going to look at that and see there's only so many variations. I'll just tell Lillian which factor ones I don't like. Dan: Yeah, but it's enormous the number of combinations because you're and there's actually, if you go on the internet, there's things that'll give you the different combinations. Like it'll give the different numbers you know, and it's a lot, it's really. It's really. I'm not sure it's over a thousand, but it's certainly in the hundreds. You know which. Dean: I'm very excited about the. So I'm very excited about that possibility, you know, because that's going to free up and I think there's something you know it's a great analog for everything. The next thing I've been doing is taking that and applying it to my content creation. Dan: Yeah. Dean: And I was just this morning going through the process of, you know, really getting to the point of what my, what is my core thing that I really like to do. So I'll say I'll talk a little bit more about that, but let's explore what you were saying. Dan: Yeah, let's go you know the interesting thing about bringing Lillian into the, you know, into the process we have a caterer who caters the meals for our workshops. So then, they could say 18 or 19 years. You know, and yeah, and my rule is any meal for the catering can be you can. You know, you can make the meals for the clients anything you want to think, but there has to be chicken, turkey chili, chicken chili. Right, right Then there has to be some kind of coleslaw and there should be some parmesan cheese, right? So my variation from day to day is which do I put in the bowl? First the parmesan cheese, the chili or the coleslaw, regardless of what else is on the food line? But then he makes our meals for Babzame at home, and this is lunches and dinners the same setup that you have, and it's really interesting because there's about it probably rotates. The salads have a variation, maybe three or four different kinds of salads, like. What's really interesting is the entrees, and they could vary. Let's say, there's 12 variations, 12 variations, and I never know what's coming for today, tomorrow or the next day. So something familiar, something we like, something we've had before, and then every once in a while he throws in a new one, right? So my sense, with Lillian doing the ordering it adds a little bit of surprise. Yeah, a little surprise, because you're saying, yeah, I wonder what's going to show up today. Yeah, you know, and it won't be the same as yesterday and it won't be the same as tomorrow. Right, and so I think it adds a little variety to certainty. Dean: What it removes is discretion. It removes variation and room for you know if it's all within this band. You get variety, but it's all from an approved playlist. Dan: You know, yeah, On a completely different, on a completely different, a completely different dimension. The way my year works. I don't like scheduling. Dean: Right. Dan: Okay, I don't like being responsible for scheduling. I don't want to be responsible for other people scheduling, so I work, and I've worked with a series of managers who do the various activities and my, you know really great EA Echamiller. Dean: Okay. Dan: And so, if you look at my entire year, I have 210 work days. Okay, so let's just talk about the work days 200. I have 100 and I have let me just think this 100, 250. 250, 250, 250. And 210 work days, which include both focus days and buffer days. Yeah, and 155 free days 155 free days, which adds up to 365. This year I've got a sort of an anxious decision to make because there's one extra day. I'm feeling the I'm feeling the pressure. I'm feeling the pressure that extra day in February. I'm oh geez. You know what will I do with it. You know it's eating me. It's eating me, dean. Dean: Well, you're going to be, is that? Are you going to be in Palm Beach then? Dan: Geez, I don't know. You know because I'm told where to show up. What is? The date of Palm Beach. You know, you know you're defeating me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Dean: Oh yeah, but I will be told when to go. You will be in Palm Beach, dan, of course. So, no for the summit. That's what I mean. I mean I will be in Palm Beach for that extra day. Well, 29th is when the extra day is I mean the extra. Dan: There's an extra day in February but the truth is 366 days in the year. Dean: So you know, I understand. That's the symmetry, the elegance of it being that February. Dan: Well, that's taken care of them. Dean: We can have a super happy fun day. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a day when I'm responsible for nothing. Dean: I think we should see if we can work to do that together that day. That would be a very nice day. Dan: Yeah Well see, just by expressing the problem life, I've solved it. Dean: Yeah. I think, that's probably a great idea. Dan: Is there any who can do my least effort here? You did it for me. So thank you very much, yeah, anyway, but the whole point is, my whole year looks like this it's all scheduled by other people, and so I have a right of refusal on this, and I have a right of free arrangement. My whole schedule from January 1st to the end of December is scheduled, and then there's free spaces. Every focus day has some free space in it. Every buffer day has free space in it. And then as far as the free days go, it doesn't specify too much of the activities, except things that have to be scheduled ahead of time things that have to be chosen ahead of time, like dinner engagements, but that's all done. I mean that's all done. So what would happen in Toronto? I'd be in the cottage. I wouldn't be in Chicago, because Chicago is strictly a work trip and everything We'll be down in Palm Beach. It won't be just for the conference. We'll have a day before and a day after, and going to Phoenix next week, I'm going to Argentina the next week and everything but everything that needs to be scheduled ahead of time is scheduled by someone else, arranged by someone else, so it allows me just to show up, but all these scheduled things are what I've said, that I want to do, or together, babs and I want to do. And then somebody else works out the scheduling and the arrangements and everything that's needed, putting transportation together, and it just allows me to move from day to day without the pressure of indecision. Have I scheduled that? And I can't believe the number of people who are incredibly successful who are still scheduling their own things. I just can't believe. Why are you doing this? Why are you doing this at this point? And they say, well, I don't like someone else telling me what to do. Dean: And. Dan: I says they're not telling you what to do. They're saying this is what you wanted to do and we made the arrangement for you. Dean: Yeah, exactly Great. I mean that's really. I'm laughing, dan, but for years that's been me. I mean I've been resistant to scheduling my take on. I mean it was right in my declaration of independence, kind of thing my freedom charter is my number one way of defining success has been I wake up every day and say what would I like to do today. I realize now that I've missed out on a lot, because it could be so much better if I were to just change one word is I wake up every day and say what would I like to do tomorrow. The future. Dan: I mean, that's really, that's the better, that's the real freedom. Yeah, you just changed smoking and praying. Dean: Yes, that's exactly what. I did, dan is because you're limited by what you can arrange. When your choice is today, when you're waking up and saying what would I like to do today, you're limited by what's available for the day, whereas if I say what would I like to do tomorrow, and tomorrow being an operative word for not today but in the future, what could I arrange today? That's really you know what it's the difference, dan. It's the difference between having conversation like this six weeks before February 29 and coming to the conclusion that, hey, it's a possibility that we can have a super happy, fun day and maybe we can make that happen for us. But if I were to wait until February 29 and wake up and say, what would I like to do? That I'd like to spend the day with Dan, I were to call you on any one of those days and say, hey, what are you doing today? The odds of us being able to spend that day together are slim to none. Dan: Yeah. Yeah, you mentioned your declaration of independence. But I said, if you're severely constrained by the lateness of your, you know, identifying something and getting ready for it, it's really not a great life. It certainly doesn't sound like liberty and it doesn't sound to me like you can pursue happiness. Dean: That's the truth. Yeah, it's really. I mean. Dan: Yeah, it's an interesting thing and, as you know from previous conversations and that I was bound in my late teenagers that I was going to go into theater, okay, and I'll say I dabbled with it for about five years. You know I actually was involved in the theater at, you know, an amateur level. I was involved with it but you know, I was in maybe 10 productions and one role or another. And the big thing that you begin to realize by the entertainment world is that people become stars. And I'm going to say two factors are here. They become stars because they are increasingly freed up from doing anything except entertain you know they're completely afraid of. And I'll say the other factor the reason they want to be a star is because they don't have to do anything except entertain. So there's both an effect and a cause there, but they're exactly the same. They're motivated not to have to do that. And I was reading once about, you know, moving in baseball from the minor leagues to the major leagues the top minor league is a huge jump to the major leagues and I consider sports a form of entertainment, so I'm relating it back to the same conversation. Okay, and the. I remember the shortstop, you know, and there was a year when about 12, 12 shorts in the major leagues came from the same town in the Dominican Republic and it's apparently short. It's the world center of major league shortstops. Dean: Okay, world head club, uh-huh. Dan: And you know, through a translator, because he doesn't speak English through a you know an interviewer asked him what do you notice, the biggest difference, biggest difference of being in the major leagues? And he said I don't have to wash my own laundry. He said I don't have to carry my own bags. Dean: Yes, I love that you know it was something, something a very similar conversation with someone this week who was I talking to about this I think I was talking more, I was having a conversation with Taki about that this week that thinking about, you know, pro sports like thinking about the athletes and the you know, thinking about the structure of the NFL, for instance, if I were an NFL quarterback, that there's very little that an NFL quarterback has to do other than bring themselves to be to perform on the day, right, that there's all of the everything else. Talk about, you know not having to do the carry your own bag or wash your laundry or anything like that. There's a very, very structured way of the of an NFL week. It's broken up into, you know, 16 weeks kind of thing, right as the main thing, and each week starts with a very organized structure and flow to the week where there are free days and focus days and buffer days. Of course Sunday is the big focus day that everybody you're ready for that. But you know Monday they I saw a you know week in the life of a NFL player and so Monday they watch film and get treatment for you know, their injuries or whatever you know body recovery kind of things. Tuesday is an off day, a free day. Wednesday is right back to practice, and Wednesday, thursday, friday, same Saturday is a travel day if they're going to you know a new city or whatever. And then Sunday is game day and everything is all 100% organized around them. There's lots of exoskeleton and lots of scaffolding to keep that. And a lot of hoos, a lot of hoos and mentioning Tataki, like the difference between that and professional tennis or golf even. You know there's some structure around the tournaments, but the individuals you know you're responsible for everything. You know it's all self directed and it's completely meritocracy. There's no signing a 10 year max contract in tennis. You have to win every week in order to win. You know, and I thought that's really. You know, it's really. I could probably do some therapy about my life choices, of why you know choosing tennis and golf as sports as opposed to continuing with team sports. You know. Dan: Yeah, I think the big thing I had a phrase because I actually went to see Frank Sinatra back in, you know back in the 70s. Dean: And. Dan: I came up with this line. One of the things you notice about Frank Sinatra right off the bat is Frank Sinatra does not move pianos. Right, Exactly oh that's so funny, you know he's got a whole team that comes in the day before sets up everything you know. I mean there's with a performance like Frank Sinatra there's literally dozens of people who are specialized, people that handle his whole trip, his whole lodging you know, and everything Great stars, taylor Swift to bring it up to the present moment. Dean: I mean she's probably got an army. Dan: She's probably got an army of people. You know, and uh 55 trucks to you know to bring the entire you know the entire physical set, the entire physical set, including the technology, and yes, and, and everything else, yeah, and. But you can see the difference to me. I remember Keith Richard Richard's of the. Is it Richard or Richard, keith? Dean: Richards. Dan: Yeah, richard. Keith Richards made a documentary film on Chuck Berry who so many of the 60s you have to remember that the stones started in the 1960s and he made a documentary film on Chuck Berry and it was a bit of. Keith Richards described it. He says it was a bit of total, almost admiration and worship for the musical skills of Chuck Berry but at the same time almost a sense of disappointment and kind of resentment towards Chuck Berry because he never built any kind of structure around him. Okay, thank you. And so he did this documentary for him that sort of traced him from his very poor, poor beginnings in the St Louis area and you know, and then. But he never. He went big simply because of his talent and the you know, the media for spreading his talent through the airwaves. And he became famous, but he never really took advantage of it. He really took it. You know he was playing that county fairs and everything throughout his career. Okay, but he inspired maybe hundreds or thousands of people who became successful in music just because of the sheer wizardry of his. You know his songs, his voice, you know his ability to play a guitar and everything else. So they did it and there was Bruce Springsteen was saying that he was like an 18 year old or 19 year old and was a, you know, got a really lucky gig at a fair in Pennsylvania county fair or something like that and as backup to Chuck Berry and he was just amazed. So they all got there about five, six hours. All the musicians got there five or six hours. And you know, four, five, four hours, chuck Berry's not there. Three hours Chuck Berry's not there. One hour Chuck Berry's not there. 20 minutes before the presentation, chuck Berry comes in, ignores the musicians, goes in to see the manager and comes out with a bag that's got his money in it in cash and then he just starts tuning those instruments. And finally Bruce Springsteen goes up to Chuck Berry and says Mr Berry. He says yes, boy. He says what are we going to play? He says what do we going to play, boy? We're going to play Chuck Berry music. That was his prep. Dean: That was his prep yeah. Dan: The name of that movie. Dean: I need to watch that because. Dan: No, just plug in. Keith Richards, yes, Just his you know documentary on Chuck Berry. He'll come up with it. But there's a great scene near the end of the movie where they go back to a theater in St Louis where, when he was growing up, chuck Berry had to sit in the balcony because he was black. It was, you know, wasn't segregated, that they couldn't go to the theater, but they had to sit in a certain section where they didn't have drinking fountains and didn't really have bathrooms, you know. And then they put on an actual performance in that theater as part of the documentary and it just shows the complete circle of him, starting when he couldn't be in the main part of the auditorium, certainly couldn't be on stage, and then being the star, and, but one of the things, they went and visited his home, which he had and this had, you know, his entire life. I think it may have been his parents home, but he had the home and it was pristine. You know it was beautifully kept up, not a, not a, you know, a rundown part of town, but not in a rich part of town either. It was you know sort of a modest house and everything you know, everything was kept up. It was you know, it was nothing rundown about it. And he was just taken through the house and they went to a door and he opened the door and their shelf on both sides were paint cans and paint brushes. And Keith Richards said what's this? He says well, you know, sometimes I didn't have gigs all the time, so I was a house painter. He says I paint houses. Wow, he says yeah, but yeah, but you know, that's in the past. That's in the past. He says why do you still keep? You know the brushes were fresh, the cans were cans. He says why are you keeping that round and check where? He says well, you never know. Dean: Oh, you never know. Wow, I would have to watch this. That sounds fascinating. Dan: Yeah. Dean: I love things like that, so that's really I think that'll be a good find. Good Now, I know what I'm in. Dan: Yeah, it's just a really, but he didn't believe in who's you know he just didn't believe in who's you know? Is there a way I can solve this problem with doing nothing. No, well, yeah, is there a? Way of solving the problem of too much fame and success without doing. Without doing anything? Dean: Yes, yeah, right, right, right. I mean wow, I mean yeah, I'm fascinated that I haven't heard about this before. So I almost like I just love that. Dan: Yeah, it's a long time ago. I mean, it's a long time ago. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Maybe something I saw 25 years ago. Dean: I remember it very distinctly. Dan: I remember it very distinctly yeah. Dean: So what has your insight been? In now, you know taking this out to the check writers as we say. What has been your experience? The reception of the ABC, thinking. Dan: Well, I think it's a very simple, what could very much be a daily tool, because things are always coming up which are things to be solved you? Know, and I mean so. For example, if you handle three of them today, the amount of time you thought you're going to have to spend on them has been severely reduced by simply asking the three questions Is there any way I can solve this by doing nothing. What's the least I have to do, and who could do my least? Well probably you were thinking that might take five or six hours and it probably takes 30 minutes. Okay, right. You know, it sort of takes 30 minutes, and I find usually the thing that the entrepreneur has to do is they have to communicate clear results for the right person, in other words, clear results to be achieved by the right person, with a clear understanding of why the projects were important and what are the measurable success factors of the project, which we call an impact filter. Dean: I was just going to say. If only there was an easy tool to convey that. Dan: There is one. It's called the impact filter, but if you handle that, then you've watched yourself probably four or five hours today which gives you time now to prepare for tomorrow. Okay. So you want to get yourself that you're not looking at today's growth problems. You're looking at tomorrow's growth problems, yes, okay. And you know, and what I've noticed with me is then that day I can put the. You know, this is a newly created tool, but before what I do is I can say okay, all clear and communicated about tomorrow, then I can move it another day in the future. And I keep buying myself days in the future by using this tool. I mean this has just occurred to me, you know, since I have one, as I created the tool for myself. And if it worked for myself, then there's a chance it'll work for the entrepreneurs. But then I have a full quarter now behind me of it working with the entrepreneurs and then I just move it more and more into the future. But I think it's you know, it'll already be in the client website for their tool inventory so that they'll be able to do it. But if you just had a habit of always the day before you're solving tomorrow's problems. I like that, that's when that really works over 25 years. Dean: Yeah, that's the consistency thing. Right is spending some time. What would I like to do tomorrow, and tomorrow being the operative for in the future? Yeah, I've been. I've been constantly evolving and experimenting on myself with different ways of organizing things like that, and you know, the gotten down to the plank, the pixel, the minimum unit of time being the 10 minute, the 10 minute unit where we have 110 minute units in a day, basically to up, deploy. And I've been following those hundreds all the way up right like so. 100 minutes is basically to 50 minute focus finders, which is the thing I have the most, that's, the most immediate control over right what am I doing in the next minutes about about this. Dan: Yeah. Dean: And then the 100, 100 hours is basically 8am Monday morning till noon on Friday, is basically 100 hours of time linearly. And that, you know, if I take that NFL type of structure of week, if you're looking at them that way, that's a big, that's a nice Focus. You know that that feels like that. And then a hundred days is Essentially a quarter, you know, looking at the things, with some little buffer in between them, you know, like giving room for some free days and things Aside, but, and a hundred weeks is really you can do almost anything in a hundred weeks, yeah. Dan: And so, yeah, I think that's the thing is I. I don't use my Apple watch for a lot of things, but the one thing I do is the timer and you know they have a timer app and my my favorite is 30 minutes you know, 30 minutes and and in other words, something may happen that requires a couple hours. I simply say what's going to get done over the next 30 minutes. Yeah, okay, and the thing that I find is true that if I didn't have that 30 minutes, when I look at what did get done over 30 minutes because I had the 30 minute framework, I Always get much more done in the 30 minutes, 30 minutes. Then I thought or I get 30 minutes worth of work done in 20 minutes. But if I didn't have the framework and it would always take me much, much more time, right because, I would take score, a score of commercial breaks. Dean: I know, and that's exactly true, right, like I do exactly the same thing. I've been thinking about what I really do, like my thing is running things through. I've been calling it the Deenatron 3000 that I've got the brain. There that I can operate right and yeah, if I treat it like a wood chipper, that I've got to feed stuff into it. They have it working. But I've got a. But the thing is to pile up. You know, like when I look at the things is to have the hopper loaded up with sequential. What is the? What are the next things that I'm going to do on that Stuff? You know, the 10 hours thing, what are the next 10 hours about? Because I noticed that the Deenatron 3000 doesn't really care what it's working on. It is very open to Suggestion, right, and that's why I would say that jumps yeah. Dan: I would just say that's true about the human brain and yeah. Dean: Generally as long as the brain really doesn't get. Dan: The brain wants to work on something and it does really care what it is. Yeah, it could be good or it could be bad. It does not care. It makes no moral distinctions. It makes you know. You know it Work on bad things just as with as much enthusiasm as working on good things. Dean: Yeah, it'll work on one thing the same way. It'll work on everything you know and if you're putting on the, you know, putting on some direction of it, feeding in, setting up a context for what it is that's Happening this hour, yeah, really, or this 30 minutes, that's, yeah. I think it's just adding, you know, a contextual Management layer in a way. Dan: Yeah, you know, it's like having not and then checking out if you're actually a manager. Dean: Yeah, right exactly. Dan: Yeah. Dean: I'm not a manager. I'm not either. Dan: I'm not a man manager, and you're not either you know I have to delegate Management, I mean. And the other thing is memory you know I delegate memory and I have. I always have someone with me. I remember there was a famous platform speaker, I think in the 90s, okay, and we were at Genius. We remain platform at genius. I'm pretty sure it was genius. It couldn't been the 90s, because genius didn't exist, it was some other. No, I think it was a big you know industry Conference and I was and I was on. I had been on before lunch and this guy joined me at lunch and and he was talking. You know, we should really work together and and so I was interested, you know, interested in the conversation, anything you know. Usually when somebody says we should work Together, usually means that he'd like me to work for him, you know. In any way, and so I just given my talk and I had my team of I didn't have team members, but there were clients Strategic coach clients at lunch with me and he was talking away and we were chatting everything and then all at once he looks at his watch and he says, oh my god, I'm on in three minutes I'm. And he says, here, I just will hand us a bill. He don't have to rake on a rush dog. And this guy was more famous than I was, I mean, as a platform speaker. He was times more famous than I was, but I had spoken in the morning at like 11 o'clock. I had had an hour and Someone came and got me at 9 o'clock and took me backstage and set there, you know. And we sat there and and I had three team members. I never traveled without three team members. Yeah, and the team members take care of arrangements and this person does that, you know, but I would never ever be. You know, just arriving. You know, just arriving, checkberry style. I would never just be arriving, I would already be there, I would already matter of fact, what I'd like to do with speeches is go out and talk to the members of the audience, because I Pick up. Q I pick up. Dean: Q's. Dan: You know, it's like Jay Leno who, if you got there. He was already there two hours ahead of time and he was chatting with you know, and he was just picking up material. Do you know what? Dean: Sorry but go ahead. I was gonna say, just on a similar thing, tony Robbins, who we were playing golf this is maybe ten years ago now, almost playing golf one day we're talking about I know I'm being successful when my declaration of it, we're talking about those things that you know, the number one thing, when I, you know, wake up every day and say what would I like to do the day, and Tony, when we were talking about it, he looked at me and he said dude, I don't have one of those days till March, and this was January, right, and his whole thing was a very different. He had that. He definitely had a what would I like to do tomorrow Approach to his life, because even in playing golf we were gonna. We were filming some video things for a program he was doing. So he arrived at my country club you know, two SUVs deep to six people and that you know assistants with assistants and the camera guys in the sound guy in the body, body guards. Yeah, the whole thing, and that is true, like I played golf with him in in In Fort Lauderdale he was done in Palm Beach, but I played golf with him and literally they arranged the, they arranged the tee time ahead of and behind and have a, you know, to Security ahead and behind that are following the, just following, you know, a hundred yards behind us at all times. Very funny, right by not just keeping these buffers around around whatever, a very different approach yeah it's whatever system he's required. Dan: But you know, I don't know. My feeling is timing and scheduling is idiotic and cratic. It's completely All in individual how an individual, what story they tell about their past and what story they're telling about their future. And that determines what the structure of today looks like that. So it's a structure and my, my sense is I don't, I never like being rushed. Dean: Okay, I always want to be. Dan: I always want to be prepared. Yeah and I don't like sudden surprises. Dean: Yeah. Dan: I really don't like sudden surprises and therefore, in order to Get that Structure around me, I give this, that same right, to all the people who work with me. They don't have to rush. There'll be lots of preparation before him. Then there'll be no surprises. It's very smooth, it's very calm. Everybody gets just to, gets to focus and you know, focus on what they're doing and then this just floats through time. This little system, you know, flows through time. Now, yeah, I deliberately played such a low key person throughout my career that I don't need security. Yeah yeah, yeah, and my, my sense of the sense of success Be as successful and well known as you can without requiring a security person. Dean: Right, yes, yeah. Warren versus Mark Zuckerberg. Dan: Well, Warren Buffett, you know he flies by himself. He flies by himself. You know he's just got his briefcase because he comes in and goes out the same day. And you know he's got a private jet and he gets picked up my limousine company is actually his limousine company when he comes into Toronto and he wants to sit in the front seat with the driver and he just gets to the driver all day and when he arrives at a place or someone's standing, you know they're standing on the curb, you know, yeah, on the sidewalk, and they take him in and he comes out, and you know pretty. You know, pretty much on time, and then he goes home. You know, you know he has his lunch with whoever and then goes home. Mark Zuckerberg has 24-hour security and the number of people involved. For him, his family and his chief officers is like 70. He's got like 70. He's got secret escape rooms, he's got tunnels and you know, and you know, I think, what your structure around you reflects, whether you think it's a safe world or a dangerous world. I think that's great. I think it's a safe world as far as I'm concerned. Yeah, yeah, I mean, I know it's dangerous for others, but I don't feel, I don't feel, or I stay away from places that are dangerous. Right yeah, it's like somebody gets Arrested in Russia and then you know America's got this thing is. You know that the country will come to your rescue one way or another. And I said why are you in Russia? What? Why are you even visiting there? Dean: I went right. Dan: Yeah or China. I wouldn't go to China, you know, I would even go there you know it's like the joke about that. Dean: You know what my yeah, I heard about these guys that were, you know, died in a base jumping Accident. Right, and I said that's this one thing. I know with certainty that my tombstone will never say Died in a terrible base jumping accident. Dan: Yeah, what are those flying suits that people right? Dean: exactly yes, is that base jump? That's what I was talking about and I think it is called. You know, I don't know what it is, but the human flying suits, but that's what they do. They jump off they jump off a cliff and, basically, just like those, they float, they've got a parachute. They've got a parachute yeah. Dan: Yeah, and you know, I've seen videos of the ones where it worked. Yeah, yes exactly. They don't show you. They don't show you the other ones. Yeah, that's exactly right. Yeah, why are you doing this? Yeah? Dean: I'm never gonna die in a park accident. Dan: Yeah, but I think it's, you know, different nervous system. You know, I think every nervous system is unique, you know, yeah, yeah, who's the guy who did in Yosemite Park there was a. It won the Academy Award and he did it with no ropes, you know, he just had his hands and feet. Dean: Oh. Dan: I don't know. Dean: Yeah, well, Linda Well. Dan: Linda, now that's a whole family. Dean: Yeah right rope workers. Dan: Now, this is the guy. He's a free climber. Oh, okay, right, right, and they all capitan is just a sheer cliff from top to bottom. You know, yeah, I think it's a couple thousand feet and anyway, and it usually takes climbers where they're using, you know, they're using the things that they drive into the rock and then they put the, you know, and they usually takes them A day and a half to do it, not you know, which requires that they stay overnight. They have to sleep right and that's you know and everything else. I think he did it top to bottom in about two and a half hours yeah. I just thought wow and he had a film crew at the bottom and at the top and that they were filming the film that became the you know the free solo. Dean: Was that what that was? Dan: Yeah, I don't know. I don't know what, anyway, but he just went to top to bottom, okay, and her bottom to top and in a Insanely short period of time. But he told the film crew that they wouldn't get any money. He said I am, you're only getting half the money and you won't get the other half, that if I fall and kill myself you don't catch it on film. Wow you know, and they're kind of leaning out at the top. You know they have, you know they have wires in that that keep them safe, which requires a certain you know a certain amount of courage itself to do that the people at the top but thinking that the guy bait might fall. And yeah, everything you know and everything but different nervous system. I don't have that nervous system. Dean: Me neither, me neither. Dan: Well, we covered a lot of territory today. Dean: We really did yeah. There's a lot of nervous. Dan: There's a lot of nervous systems that couldn't do what we're doing. Dean: Where we go, exactly yeah. Dan: Yeah, well, what's the script here Script it's listening to. It's listening to what he says next. That's so funny. Well, what are you gonna say next? I don't know until he says it right, we know we're gonna start with. Dean: Welcome to Cloudlandia. Yeah yeah, anyway very enjoyable. Dan: Always next week. I'm in just arriving in Argentina, so to be the weekend after yeah, I saw that we got a email from. Dean: I love that, you know. Becca and Lillian, just keep us on Triad ever. Dan: I just see it on. Dean: I don't even have to put the Podcasts with Dan on the calendar. What we put on the calendar is no podcast with Dan. Dan: That's the yeah, there's more uncertainty to that, isn't? Dean: there, that's exactly right. Dan: Yeah well. Dean: I'm excited about the possibility of the 29th. And oh, okay that present, but I think that would be fantastic. Okay, okay, thank you, Bye, thanks Bye.
  • Ep124: Dissecting the Fabric of Time, Commerce, and Personal Growth

    Ep124: Dissecting the Fabric of Time, Commerce, and Personal Growth

    · Welcome to Cloudlandia
    SHOW HIGHLIGHTSWe discuss the chaotic nature of daylight savings time, including its agricultural origins and debate over its current usefulness.We examine the historical development of measurement systems, particularly the metric and imperial systems, and their impact on cultural standards.I share personal anecdotes about adapting to metric measurements in Canada and look forward to a trip related to a stem cell project in Buenos Aires.We delve into the dynamics of capitalism and intellectual property, using Amazon's business practices as an example of market trend capitalization.We recount war stories from the frontlines of commerce and highlight the significance of trademarks in protecting intellectual property against knockoffs.Peter Zeihan joins us to provide a macroscopic view of global events and dissects the interconnected fabric of our world.We explore the influence of geography on politics, discussing factors such as Florida's appeal for real estate and the impact of political strategies on elections.We chart a course through personal development by focusing on the transformative power of daily habits and the pursuit of personal growth.I detail my health journey and the benefits of mentorship, high-protein diets, and habit stacking, as well as the challenges of technological transitions.We emphasize the neutral nature of habits and the importance of accountability in crafting disciplined routines for a life well-lived.

    Links:
    WelcomeToCloudlandia.com
    StrategicCoach.com
    DeanJackson.com
    ListingAgentLifestyle.com

    TRANSCRIPT

    (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)

    Dean: Hello there, mr Sullivan, mr Jackson. You know, your Loudland announcer, who welcomes us to the call, always promises there's going to be others, but there never is. There's just one, just us. Dan: We're waiting for others to join. I am other. Dean: We're waiting for others to catch up. Dan: That's exactly right. Dean: Well, how? Dan: did you? How do you feel you're an hour short? Yeah, I don't like this. Dean: I've been confused about five times so far today. Dan: Okay. Dean: Part of the reason is my watch and my cell phone are in another time zone and that's reflected. Dan: My computer is still in Toronto. Oh, my goodness, that's so funny. Are you in Chicago right now? Oh, got it Okay. Dean: Yeah, it's a little F you from winter, you know you get this little kick. Dan: Okay, I'll leave, but I'm taking an hour with me. Dean: I mean, I mean it's go ahead. Dan: I was gonna say we can't complain because we got an extra day this year. We got 24 extra hours, so I guess we deducted it from that surplus. Dean: But that's in the past and that is, in the past, yeah, that's right, you know, I haven't really studied where that came from, but I think it has to do with farming Daylight savings. Dan: Yeah, I think it was to absolutely to extend harvest times in the summer. You know, work more. Yeah, I thought we were trying to get rid of it. We, as a you know that's the inclusive version of they thought they were trying, we try to try to get rid of it. Dean: Yeah, no, I haven't. I haven't really devoted an hour and a minute of time to that particular project. Dan: I know, Florida is. I know Florida is like Arizona is considering staying on daylight savings time at all times and not yeah, and I think there were a lot of states that were looking to do that and I thought, oh boy, what a, what a mess that would be. It's already enough of a nuisance that Arizona doesn't participate. Dean: You know I would vote for keeping it. Yeah you know why? Dan: Because it's quirky, it is a little bit quirky, and you know what for me in? Dean: Florida and I like quirkiness and other people, so why wouldn't I like quirky in the time system? Dan: Well, you know, it's the only way that I mark the season changes. That for me is like the transition into, you know, spring, summer, and then I know, when we get to to light savings, we get fall and winter. That's the only thing. It gets darker earlier. Dean: Yeah, it's really interesting because when this is, I'm changing the context here, but it has to do with weights and measurements. You know the metric system is a French creation. It was created, I think, during Napoleon's reign and you know he tried to standardize in uniform, make Europe uniform, because he wanted to be emperor of Europe, you know, then emperor of the world. You know folks like him sort of have those type of ambitions and so up until then, you know you had what is commonly called the imperial system of measurements in in the UK, great Britain. You know pounds and inches and miles, you know and you know, and Fahrenheit, you know, was the measure measured. And then you know, europe adapted the metric system. And but once Brexit happened. This is in 2016, the merchants who were permitted to go back to the imperial system for weights in stores oh wow, growth grocery stores. But the bureaucrats who run the you know who run the system in Britain. Dan: So you have sort of. Dean: I think it's a bit of an entrepreneurial versus bureaucratic standoff. And so it's a real mishmash in Great Britain now, and I kind of like that, because almost everything else about Great Britain is a mishmash. Dan: I think that's so funny. You know, it's like the. Dean: I like mishmashes. My favorite kind of food is a mishmash. Dan: There was a Saturday Night Live skit where the they were, you know, they were founding settlers, founding the United States and deciding, you know, the guy was saying how we would adopt a system of measurements. That would be, you know, there'd be one foot, is the thing, and they'll be three feet in a yard and the whole, you know, just made no sense because the metric system is such an easier system. You know how many feet in a mile. And they were saying nobody knows you know why it'll? Dean: you know why it'll never happen in the United States? Because of sports. Oh yeah, 100 yards for football 100 yards, a 350 foot home run, seven foot center. Yeah, exactly Right. Dan: Right, Right yeah but in Toronto. Dean: Well, they try to impose it on the sports reporting in Toronto, but nobody pays any attention to it. No, you know. Dan: I mean. Dean: I've never switched over. Dan: I've been in Toronto for 53 years, 1973, I think, is when the system international started. So you know, my first grade was Imperial, second grade was Si, so we started learning, you know, metrics and second grade, but I still think in Imperial I mean, it's so funny, we're always doing the conversion you know, yeah, and it's especially scary when it comes to temperature, because zero really means something in Fahrenheit, but it's, you know, it's sort of wishy washy and metric. Dean: Zero is like 32, 32 degrees. Yeah right, Exactly yeah, 32 degrees. The only place where it meets is 40 degrees minus 40 degrees. Dan: So it's exactly the same. Dean: Yeah, but who wants to have that experience? Dan: Oh man, that's so funny. So when is your next Buenos Aires? Dean: trip. It'll be Saturday, two weeks, so two weeks from yesterday. From yesterday and this is our fourth, and this may be then the last quick trip. And it'll probably be six months. Six months Now, we'll do six months and then probably, depending on how it shows up, six months from now. I'm talking about stem cell here stem cell treatments. And how are you feeling? Dan: Are you starting to notice the difference? Dean: I'm feeling great. Yeah, the biggest thing is there's still soreness in my knee. And but I feel very confident about it. You know, I mean before there was soreness in my knee and I wasn't feeling confident because, barring any kind of therapy, it was going to get more sore in the future and I have definite confidence that'll be less and less until the soreness disappears, you know because, the cartilage is definitely regrowing. Dan: I was going to say is there evidence Like do they quantitatively measure the? Yeah, you do it with an. Dean: MRI. The MRI can show what it was, and what I learned is that it doesn't layer from bottom to top like the new cartilage. This is, you know, exactly my cartilage that I lost in through an operation, through an accident, in an operation in 1975, so long time ago. And so in those days they just, you know, it was broken, it was torn, so they cut it out, you know don't need anymore. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they would glue it back together now they have a surgical clue now that they could glue it back together, but the but what it does, it comes in vertically. So it's this constant extension, like it's you know, it's a half of an inch, and then it's an inch. Yeah and it's very interesting how it comes in. It comes in sideways so it doesn't come in. You know it doesn't come. That you establish a base and then it builds on the base. Dan: Right. Dean: So it's anyway, but I can feel the difference going up and down stairs. That's where my you know my daily measurement is really that more and more I'm walking up and down stairs. Normally. Yeah oh, that's great. But the biggest thing is the brain stuff. Because they have an IV, you can't inject things into the brain, you have to. You know a thing called lymph which create a pathway into your brain. So you have the lymph sites one day and then two days later they put an IV and the cells are actually custom designed for the brain so they, once they get into your blood system, they go automatically through the new passage way that the lymph sites have created and then they go into your brain. But I really noticed in my EEG tests and then neurofeedback program that I'm in that my concentration, my focus, you know, not being distracted is improving enormously. Oh, that's amazing, yeah. Dan: That's awesome. So you've got, for example, we're. Dean: You know we're 13 minutes into the podcast and not once have I forgotten that I'm talking to you. Dan: Hey, there we go. I like that, that's good news. Dean: Yeah, you know, you count your progress where you find it. Dan: Yeah, that's so funny. So I have something for us to look at next for next time. I was talking with someone and they were sharing with me this guy, yanis Verifakis. Do you know him? Have you heard of? Dean: him? Yeah, I think I have heard the name, but I'm trying to think where. Dan: So he's just sent me a video called capitalism has mutated into something worse and he's talking about this. You know cloud. You know cloud migration or whatever, and how those things are, you know, really owning our. Well, I don't know enough to say. I just wanted to ask. I'm wondering if you had heard about him. But essentially saying, companies like Amazon, like these big companies, are fiefdoms that control our. You know the way we see things like. You know your Amazon store, for instance, when you go to Amazon, is very different than my Amazon store. You know, based on everything that I all my, all the data that they have about me, kind of thing. You know when it used to be in on the mainland, when you would go to downtown or you'd go to the shop area, you'd have all the stores. Everybody sees the same. Everybody sees the same thing. It's more of an equal landscape sort of thing. But now you know there's advantage in knowing. You know, in having this established. You know data that everybody that's what they really have is access to. You know amazing amounts of data. So this cloud, the cloud, is really changing. Who's winning in the? You know, even in a global sense, but borders and everything don't really matter anymore. It's not about that. I wonder if that kind of resonates with what you know Peter Zion is saying. Dean: But yeah, I think Peter Zion saying exactly the opposite. Dan: Okay, that's why I'm very curious, right Like that's you know yeah, he's saying borders matter more than ever. Okay. Dean: Because of transportation. Okay, so Amazon, you can do anything with Amazon, but it's got to be transported. Dan: Yes. Dean: And transportation is the great constraint you know, and so, for example, one of the problems that Amazon has with crime is traffic congestion in cities. You know so that they're promised that we can deliver it in. You know, if you order this morning, you'll have it by noon. Dan: Yeah, I've had that happen. Dean: If traffic permits. And then there's the labor costs of actually finding drivers that'll do this. You know, for more than just a short period of time. So you always have to be thinking of the labor costs. And yeah so so my sense is yeah, he's of a school. Whoever this man is, I'm suspecting that it's a man. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dean: Does he identify? Does he identify as a man, I mean? Dan: yes, I think so. Dean: Okay, anyway, and yeah, it's the same thing. Capitalism doesn't really change. It simply changes the environment in which capitalism is being used, because it's really a methodology for growth. You know capitalism is? You know, first of all, it's about pricing, and Amazon are the great price competitors in the world. I mean that's. They introduced a whole new way that you know, whatever it was, the total cost of getting it to you and the price you had to pay, they could pretty well out compete anyone else. That's capital. Dan: That's capitalism you know, and they're moving property. Dean: You know they're moving property from. You know, actually the Amazon never owns any property. Dan: You know they they're just really, unless they do create or white label or do things themselves, they're pretty robust at that that. That that's been one of the things. That that's been one of the things that they have as an advantage is that they Create their own brand of stuff, that they see things that are, you know, new products or new things that are Selling, and then they create their own version of it or white label their own version of it you know, and it's very interesting yeah. Dean: Yeah, we've had not like a product per se but we've had a continual Conversation with the Amazon because with the three best-selling books that we did with them Hardy, the book comes out on a Monday and by Friday there's another book called who, not how, and it's the summary of who not how and you know you can kind of create a summary of any book now with artificial intelligence in about 10 seconds, you know 10 seconds, and then there. So our book will be listed on Kindle and you know. And and then immediately, within a month, you'll have a first one in five days, but in a month, if it's really selling, you might have seven versions of summary of who, not how, and we said, you know this is kind of Toddry, you know we talked to them and we've had about five of them, five or six of them taken down Because it's too close to our stuff, it's almost, you know yeah, but that, and did you register the trademark on who, not how? Yeah, that's and that's where we get them. That's what we get them with, because you can't, you can't, you don't have Exclusive control over a book title. You can have 10 books with with you know. With you know, by the same name, there could be 10 books out there called who. That's how. Right but you can't have been hardy, and what they were doing they had you know. Summary you know who, not how, by Dan Sullivan and Ben Hardy. Well, that that you're crossing the line there, you know, right, you know, and it's like flies and mosquitoes. You know, you just make sure you have good screens. You know and you make sure you close the door and everything but it's a constant. It's a constant thing but you know, and maybe it does as good. I don't know if it does as good. Somebody buys the summary and then they say hey. I better read the book, you know so. Dan: I don't know but. Dean: But it's no different from knockoff Rolexes in Hong Kong. Dan: Yeah, I see what I'm looking at. The thing now, the one right after it is it's not the how or the what, but the who succeed by surrounding yourself with. Dean: Yeah, I mean that's yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, but you know it's Babs gets angry at it. I just considered it, as you know, it's like it's mosquito season, you know. Yeah, but I would say capitalism is no different now than it was in In the marketplace of Rome, and but it changes its methods. I mean it changes its presentation. That changes, but this thing about capitalism is changing. Let's create conscious capitalism, let's create humane. There's just capitalism and there's somebody's emotional response to it. Dan: Right, yeah, yeah, that's yeah. Dean: I mean Peter Zion. I mean, I've read so much, peter Zion. I could Sort of tell, you know, one thing we know is that the United States is better at it than any other country. Yeah, it's not universal. Dan: I think it's that like. It's very, it's really interesting. I watched some of his. I watched some of his videos, which I was fine and insightful, and I'm always surprised that you know he gets three or four hundred thousand people a day watching his dispatches. You know they're always it's really well done. He's good at articulating things and it's fascinating to me. Dean: It almost makes you want to go to Colorado too right. Dan: Yeah, it's beautiful, right. I mean it's almost yeah yeah. Dean: He says yeah, I, I'm Very easily communicating to you from thirteen thousand feet Everything which is kind of said you must be really in good shape you know, yeah, so yeah, but he's fairly. He's faster responding than anyone else in the world. An event happens on Tuesday. Dan: And by. Dean: Thursday. He's got an explanation for why it's happening. Yeah he's really remarkable. He's in my lifetime I've never come across anyone like him. Dan: Yeah, it's really like I'm. It's it seems like such a macro level view of things that I'm always. You know I'm kind of fascinated why you're so fascinated with this. Like I mean, when you've read the, the book, you said like seven times or something. Dean: I mean well, his latest book, yeah, seven times complete, yeah, seven times complete. Yeah, and you know, and what I'm looking for is there. You know, with anything, when I read them, yeah, is there sort of a deeper level that he doesn't go into, or and so what I did is I just came out with my latest book, which is the great meltdown you know, and then I Explained that wherever you are on the planet, you're constrained by the cost of money, the cost of energy, the cost of labor and cost of transportation and no two places are equal in risk and Relationship to those four constraints and the US is just that keeping those four costs the lowest of Historically. I mean right back to the beginning. They've just been better for all sorts of lucky reasons, mainly because their geography. Dan: The geography is so good. Dean: I mean we talked about Florida, that Florida is proof that God loves. Real estate agents in the state of Florida. Yeah, because you have on the East Coast. You have three, three waterfront. Dan: That's right exactly the ocean side and two intercoastals, and same all the way yeah the same all the way up the Gulf too. Dean: Yeah, the Gulf that goes all the way to Texas. But thank, you and the north of Florida goes all the way to Virginia. I think Virginia or Maryland is still you know, the inner. And what it does is it prevents large storm shroom actually hitting the mainland, because that buffer zone of the inner coastal, you know, just stops big waves, it stops everything. So, yeah, so any anyway. I mean you don't really have to go into the Atlantic Ocean very much once you start if you're taking a boat trip Private boat trip down the East Coast, if you start at Virginia. Dan: Really go down the intercoastal all the way yeah. Yeah, yeah, started an apple receiver proves that God favors. Dean: Yeah so funny. Yeah but you know, people are always trying to create a standardized global version of reality. That's been happening forever. But those four costs means there can be no standardization because it's I mean, it's different in or it's different where you live than it is in Tampa. Dan: Yeah, it's really interesting. I guess there's regional, like when you think about it's transferable on every level, right, like the whole, because the cost of transportation you know has, you know, the further away, the more remote you are, the more costs to get something to you. And so even if I think now I see kind of the thing that you're talking about, like if you go to a place where the labor costs are lower, perhaps you've got a balance with the cost of transporting the reduced goods that you've done back to where they're going to sell. So it all has to balance out. Dean: Yeah, well, I mean you can take the huge migration from New York, you know, from New York state, to Florida right now. And you know people explain it politically and everything. But just compare the four melt costs between you know the cost of money is lower in Florida, the cost of energy is lower in Florida, labor and transportation the costs are lower. And I mean there's a lot of political issues that make things expensive or inexpensive. But you know, I mean that. For example, the court case where Trump was found guilty, you know, two, three weeks ago for something that's an antiquated law from 150 years ago that's never been inflicted on anybody. That in a business negotiation he said his company was worth 1.2 billion and it turned out it was only 800 million and that's called negotiation. Dan: Right right right. I mean, I mean, I mean right, that's the whole thing. Is something is only worth what someone's willing to pay. Dean: Yeah, yeah. And they said well, this is fraud, but nobody was harmed, you know nobody was like any negotiation, nobody was harmed. You agree on a price and you know the banks made money. The other side made money, he made money. And well, the word is going out now don't invest in New York, don't do business in New York. Dan: I mean the moment that hits and. Dean: but the governor said, well, that's not what we meant by it. I'm sorry. Oh boy the horse is out of the barn, you know yeah right. Dan: I mean that's pretty crazy. I saw Kevin O'Leary was talking about just that, that he was saying he's having some good weeks right now. Yeah, that's the death knell for a New York investment. It's nobody's gonna do anything there, that's easy. Dean: So your melt cost just went through the roof just as a result of that court grilling. Dan: Yeah, this is. That's pretty wild, and so in big news we saw that Super Tuesday last week and Haley's out, but not endorsing Trump. That's not throwing, not, you know not. Dean: Yeah, well, she's likely the warrior in. Yeah, I don't have legs and arms left, but these are mirror flesh wounds. Dan: That's right, I can still bite you. I can bite your kneecap, yeah. Dean: And for the life of me I don't know what her game plan was, because I mean, she didn't do him any harm, but I just don't know. You know what her game was and doing what she did, do it. Dan: Right, did you have to think she? Dean: was bad. She was betting that the court system is going to stop him from being the nominee and that she would Right. Dan: And I was just going to say that was. I thought that that's her game plan is hang in there. As to just the last one standing at the end, yeah. If Trump does get you know taken off the or disqualified or whatever which by the way what do you think the likelihood of that is? Zero Zero likelihood Okay, so and I felt especially after the Supreme Court case last week where it came up, because of the Colorado. Dean: Yeah they sort of the states can't take them off, right. Yeah, and the nine Supreme Court, just as it was nine, did not. Dan: It's not an enormous. Dean: I mean you can't run a rick, you can't run a country this way, and I you can't have 50 states having different rules about who can run for. Dan: Right, exactly. Dean: Yeah, yeah. Dan: Yeah. Dean: That's what the Supreme Court's for. You know, that's in the Constitution. Yeah and yeah, but I don't really know. I mean maybe she'll get a talk show on, you know, but you know I can't figure out where what her future is based on this performance, you know right. So yeah, but I mean, yeah, politics is, you know, politics is not entrepreneurial, it's an entrepreneurial business, you know you know there's clear cut winners and losers, and she's a loser right now, right. Dan: And it's very interesting to see what the you know the RFK effect here. What's that's gonna who that's going to affect more? Do you know what the projection is or who is that? Dean: going to hurt more. Yeah it's hard to say you know really. No, I mean, I saw him because Joe Polish had a man yeah, genius, and you know. I mean a lot of it. They were talking. They weren't talking about politics. Dan: No. Dean: And then we went to dinner. We went to dinner at somebody's house in Scottsdale and I was kind of say he's really sort of an ideal candidate for the president of the country that no longer exists, like if he had run in the 70s or 80s he would have led the Democratic Party. I mean he would have made it, but I don't think the country exists anymore. That would elect him president. But if he got 3 or 4 percent more of one party's voters, then he makes a big difference. Dan: That's what I meant. He's like the green box on the roulette wheel, but he's the little edge that's going to the wild card in this. That could make it's not just black and red, it's not 50-50. He's a viable third party. I mean it's funny because we're definitely a three-party country in a two-party system. Really, that's the thing. Dean: Yeah, I mean it's made a difference in some elections like 2000. Well, yeah, Ross Perot got Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton would not have gotten elected. But the other one is Gore lost because there were 50,000 Ralph Nader votes in Florida. Dan: That's big. Dean: I mean he lost by 500. He lost by 500. Yeah, that was never brought up. Well, it was the Haining Chats. Dan: Haining Chats. That's right, that is so funny. Those words are fun. I've got some friends named Chad. I've got a couple. Dean: I don't want to hate any of my friends who are named Chad. Dan: Which one do you want, willardson or Jenkins? Dean: Yeah, chad Johnson is one of our coaches. Oh there you go yeah, I've never had so many Chad's in my life, that's funny, it's not a common name either. No, but it must be contagious. Dan: Yeah, I was like go through. I'm realizing Dean's not as common as you might think either. Dean: Yeah, yeah. Nobody gets called Bob or Tom or anything like that anymore. You know they're all the same. Yeah, exactly Exotic names, anyway, but yeah. And so the other problem was that with Gore nobody brought this up, but he lost Tennessee as home state I mean even as home state didn't vote for him. So there was a, you know but it's been more recently, although in 1948, I think, there were four people who got significant votes. Truman, sitting president, won, but he didn't win with 50%. He won, you know, 40, 46. Dan: Yeah. Dean: So yeah Well, I don't think a third party can ever win unless it's replacing one of the, unless it's replacing the one of the existing parties you know, yes, and that hasn't happened since the 1800s. Dan: Right yeah, did you watch the state of the union? No, I don't watch television. No, okay, but I meant the. You saw the highlights, or the summary or any highlights of it. I haven't had a chance yet to even see. Dean: I mean. What I saw is I've seen angry old people talking to themselves on the street. Dan: Right, exactly, and that's a video that very cleverly showed that he's given the same speech four times in a row. You know he's got the same exact talking points and it was so funny they'd show it from, you know, from 2000, and then they'd show 2000, this year, you know saying exactly the same, the same lines, and it's just. It was pretty funny, actually I was amazed. Dean: There was. I love that Well, did you ever? When Disneyland California Disneyland opened up, they had recreations. You know they were in plastic or rubber form of Abraham Lincoln and you know, George Washington and that. Yeah, the hall of presidents, right, right, but they're, you know, their arms moved and their lips moved because they had they had little tubes that had fluid in them and you know it would. They would manipulate the tubes, you know, and their hands would move. And they didn't show this at the state of the union. But were there a lot of those little hoses coming up behind him? I don't know. Dan: Watch Joe move. Watch Joe move. Dean: He's like so lifelike. Dan: Yeah. Dean: It's really. It's really the closest I've seen in. You know, a high stakes election president of the United States is as high as it gets when. It's like the emperor's new clothes, you know. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Nobody wants to mention that he's really. You know, this is the leader of the free world and say, geez, you know. Dan: Oh man. Dean: Yeah, you know. But you know you root for the home team whoever is the captain, you know regardless of who the captain is, you know so. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Anyway, but yeah it's interesting. But you know, somebody was saying I have a longtime Canadian member of the strategic coach goes back to the 80s actually, and I had breakfast with him last and he says you know, I just you know you know, he says I know Biden's bad, but I just can't, you know, I just can't stomach the fact that we would have Trump again. There's something about it, and you know he was going on for about five, 10 minutes. And I've had other situations in Toronto where Canadians are voicing their displeasure and I said you know, I read the US Constitution once a year. It doesn't take long to read, it's only typewritten. It's about 27 pages, you know. Dan: And most of it's just. Dean: You know, it's a set of rules, you know, and I said nowhere in the US Constitution does it say that American politics have to be pleasing to Canadians. Dan: Any more than the Guinea. Politics have to be pleasing right. Dean: Yeah, yeah, I mean, you can be on the happiest convenience matters? Not at all. Dan: That's so funny. Yeah, I can't wait to see how it all unfolds. I mean, certainly it's going to be an amazing six months or whatever we've talked about. Dean: Yeah, no, I just if you just say it's not politics, it's entertainment. Dan: Yeah, that's exactly right, pretty good entertainment, you know. Yeah, yeah, switching topics. Here I was. I've mentioned, I've been playing around with the, with the Adams. Dean: Yeah, did you get the connector for the? I did. Dan: I got that and on Monday I need to Connect with the gentlemen that sent it to me because, yeah, because, yeah, I need to figure out how to yeah the problem I explained. Dean: Yeah, I explained in my email that. Yeah, it's done in FileMaker which no longer exists, so it's hard to Transport it. Dan: It's hard to. He offered to, he offered to transport something that no longer exists. Right, exactly but he offered to help me, walk me through it, so I'm gonna yeah them up on that, yeah cuz. I do want it, I do want to try it, but it's been very interesting to watch this just the way. This is Claire, yeah, yeah, it's just. It's so satisfying to see I've had, you know, it shows I've got ten reps down of my habit of waking up and drinking 500 milliliters of water, first thing that you can stack. I'm looking, you know, to stack all these things. It's been. This was a great week. Dean: I have been working with JJ verge you know, I got your, we got your phone message, you know yes, yeah, where you yeah, yeah, together. A little Dean, you have witnesses now. Dan: Well, that's exactly it, right it's. I said to Joe like, well, behind the scenes, while we were in Palm Beach, there was so much kind of rallying and you know, going around in the most supportive way possible for, you know, to help me get on track. You know, weight-wise, health-wise and, and you know Joe Polish has been just above and beyond you know, in orchestrating and you know organizing all of this I mentioned last week. You know he came and spent a few days with me and really helped me get things on track. And I've been working with JJ. So you know this was my first week, you know, full. Joe left last Saturday, so this was my first week with JJ. But having the daily accountability and systems around, you know what I'm doing. It's certainly a who, not how type of thing is really you know the importance of having a who that's kind of Onboard and guiding things. But I get into this nice I'm accountable for in the more I send JJ, then you know the daily Story of yesterday, kind of thing with. She's got me hooked up on a Coronameter app which basically tracks my macros the protein, carbs, fat and calories of everything that I eat. She's helping with my you know menu selection and all this. So in the morning, after I drink my 500 milliliters of water, I Way every day and take a picture of the of the screen scale. Scale, yes, exactly. And then I send her my aura results for my sleep and readiness and yesterday's activity and Yep our goal. You know I was on average when we were looking at it before. I would average, you know, 2500 to 4,000 steps a day would probably be the average, with you know probably 3,000 plus 3200, the kind of median of what, how many steps I would get in a day. So we've set now 4,000 is the baseline, the minimum steps that I get every day, mm-hmm, and so I send her that activity to show what that is. And then my Chronometer and she's got me focused on Protein. First, eating, my, you know, getting, you know, almost 150 grams of protein per day, which is really it's a lot. I mean, that's it's. I never hunger. I'm never hungry and it's almost like getting into the routine of trying to lead, lead with that and stay well, I mean your body knows when it's had the necessary nutrition, and protein is the champ for giving nutrition. Dean: Absolutely complex, complex carbs and you know, and yeah, I mean yeah, you can. You know you can eat 5000 calories of Simple carbs and you feel hungry. Dan: Yeah, yeah. So this, you know this target. Dean: So I'm plus water make. Water makes a big difference, absolutely. Dan: Yeah, yeah, so it's been great. So the we you know tomorrow will be the you know the kind of Week on week weigh-in. But I'm already down like three and a half pounds from. So you know most 1%, 1% of that's the target I guess is 1% of body weight per week is a good to keep on and You're just getting in the habit and the routine and you know that every week she'll be in the cloud, that's exactly right, that's the goal 57 right now, you'll be 80, I'll be 58 in May. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and so yeah, so yeah. Certainly taking this long-term view of by my Well, it's habits, I mean yes, that's all it is, you know. Dean: What I was thinking, because I knew we probably Talk about this topic today, but I was thinking about just looking at habits as reality and they're either working for you or they're working against you, and that's yes, you know that's not an opinion, you know it's. It's just that you can tell whether the habits are supportive. Or that's supportive and the other thing I was thinking about, the gap in the game. And I think that if you just think in terms of replacing bad habits with good habits. Yeah, you stay in the game. Yes, and I think the gap is that you need to be penalized for your bad habits. You know I think there's a internal thing. You know that you should feel guilty, you should feel shame about your bad habits. I said they're just habits, right exactly. I said they're just habits, right, exactly, I said they're just habits, right, exactly, and that's. Dan: And so this, really this thing like looking at this week here, and I think that I had lunch with Leo or Weinstein yesterday. I went over to the Four Seasons in Orlando and we had a nice three and a half hour lunch and this was a lot of what we you mean Mr Good at everything. Mr. It's so. It's almost unfair, isn't it? Yeah, the guy's just so smart and everything Right. We had some great. We had some great conversations and yeah, this was. You know the fact that there's nothing else you can do but what I'm doing habitually on a daily basis. That's the only path. It's not. That's the thing is there's no, it's not like this monumental effort because it's a big mountain to climb, you know. To get to the top of, you know, mount 100 pounds or whatever, you know, the ultimate benchmark is. But to climb to the top of that mountain just requires that you've got to take steps every day. There's no possible way to get to the top in one day, and that's where it. Dean: And nobody gets more than one day every 24 hours. Dan: That's exactly right. So having that benchmark of 1% a week as what you can safely and consistently lose is just that, it's just stacking those things, and a day a week is the perfect, I think, amount unit of measurement, because it's you can't really that's the most important, more than the daily even you know like the variation in one day. It's more important over a week that you take that. So that's all I'm focused on is the week, and we're already at the routine I've already got. I'm very comfortable with consistency and habit, so I don't need a lot of variety in things. If I find certain things we've got now some meal combinations that really work for me, and if I can just, you know, stay on that track and continue to have the accountability, I think it's an inevitability, you know, is just the watching it happen. Well, it's like you're a profit activator, I mean just moving that to another thing. Dean: I mean, if you're doing all late and they're all contributing to a profit, it strikes me there's no, there's nothing to fix. Dan: Right, exactly. Oh, it's so funny, right. So, yeah, it's so funny. I mean just identifying that the key thing for me is just to continue raising the benchmark, right, like I'm raising my from 4,000 to 5,000 steps it's the minimum on my way to 10,000, you know, yeah, Do you measure steps or does that matter to you? Dean: I mean, it's not my main focus, but if I get the right number of steps, I get the high number of attendees on my activity. You know, and every, you know, every quarter or so I raise the number. You know the stuff. So I do right now probably average around 6 or 7,000. And yeah, and I've done 10,. You know, on some days, you know, when it's kind of walk in nature day, I'll get more than that. But you know but I'm doing a lot of things like my big thing that I've been working on for four months is I never get in trouble with my meals. I get in trouble with snacking between meals, and so I've eliminated that and I'm down, you know, five or six pounds just by doing that. Wow, yeah, yeah. So you know. Anyway, first of all, kudos to just you know. It really strikes me that Dean Jackson doesn't do anything and stick with it unless it makes intellectual sense. That's true, probably, yeah, no, I mean. Yeah, I mean unless I mean you know your habits and you know your. Yeah, we all have a measurement system on what constitutes progress. Yes, and my sense is until you get the way of something you can do every day, yeah, it's an intellectual satisfying, you don't do it. Dan: Yeah. Dean: And a lot of people try to make it emotional, emotional, you know that you know and everything that, but you can't sustain it. Dan: And even if it is, even if you get to the point, I agree with you 100%. By the way, I don't perceive it as emotional, but you know that often that's. You know well what's the cause of this kind of thing you know. But the reality is that even if you were to uncover an emotional issue, that still requires them that intellectually you have to figure out what's the mechanics of what needs to actually happen. You know it's like getting to the bottom of an emotional issue isn't, on its own, going to solve the problem, the same way that you know, figuring out the mechanics of what actually needs to happen. Yeah, happen, yeah. That's really the bottom line, but I'm very encouraged. This feels like a very different level of, you know, systemic change. Dean: That's happened here, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well it's a process you know. The process consists of you know and you keep. Every time I talk to you, you're adding some new habit to it. Yeah. Dan: Yeah. Dean: And my sense is that once you get the momentum of 10 good habits, you're motivated to have 20 good habits. I agree 100%. Dan: Yeah, I agree, because that then becomes a great game. You know, that's the I love to game-a-five things. That keeps us interested, you know. Dean: Okay, I have a meeting in. Five Minutes with Daniel White. Dan: Okay. Dean: And who's staying with us in Chicago? Dan: Chicago. Dean: Awesome. So, but I'll be, I'll. I have you in my calendar for next Sunday. Dan: Awesome. I'm not so we're going to be in Toronto next Sunday. You are going to be because on my calendar it says no Dan podcast. Dean: Yeah, but we have, but I will be there, okay, perfect. Dan: Fantastic. Dean: And in the same time. So Okay, Perfect Okay. Dan: Bye, bye, bye.
  • Ep123: Innovative Habits for Personal Achievement

    Ep123: Innovative Habits for Personal Achievement

    · Welcome to Cloudlandia
    In today's episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, I share insights from my experience at the Cloudland Summit. We discuss the carefully constructed approach to selecting impactful speakers and crafting their messages. Dan and I explore deeper implications of habits. From influencing personal growth to organizational culture and nations. Recent tech and political events show how biases stem from ingrained habits. We cover self-tracking progress through a daily habit-scoring system and cooking's role in health, wealth, and innovation. Overall, it's a thought-provoking look at intentional living and leveraging the mundane for extraordinary results.SHOW HIGHLIGHTSWe discuss the Cloudland Summit and how major tech breakthroughs often come from the convergence of three pre-existing technologies.I share insights from my upcoming book "Everything is Created Backward," suggesting that innovation stems from remixing the past.We explore Perplexity, an AI tool that aids in research by suggesting further inquiries and providing references.We analyze the creation of iTunes as an example of innovation by combining existing elements in novel ways.I introduce the 'Top 50 Tool' I've devised to identify and refine daily habits that shape our lives and future selves.We examine the role of present habits in shaping our future selves and the effectiveness of setting goals for personal growth.We touch on the biases of Google's chatbot and the financial repercussions of such biases on a company's valuation.We discuss the number 51's significance in politics and business and the importance of counting fundamentals.We talk about the transformative power of cooking habits on health and wallets, and the broader implications on personal and national success.We tease the introduction of a new tool designed to track and score daily progress, highlighting the importance of consistent habits.

    Links:
    WelcomeToCloudlandia.com
    StrategicCoach.com
    DeanJackson.com
    ListingAgentLifestyle.com

    TRANSCRIPT

    (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)

    Dean: Mr Sullivan, yes, it's Welcome to cloudland at time. Dan: Amen. I heard it's being recorded, so that's half the job right there. Dean: Yeah, and it's never going to let you down. Dan: That's right, Well, yeah what a what a whirlwind week. It was so good to see you and babs and everybody. Dean: We were shooting for one meal and we were shooting for one meal and that kind of ended up as five. Dan: Yes, what what can happen. Oh, that's, yeah. Nothing wrong with that. I like it. They were all playful. Dean: Yeah. Yeah, it was really interesting because I spent probably a day preparing for the Friso summit for our listeners. We just had our annual being the top level of strategic coach and and we have this every year it's it's a meeting Squeezed in between two drinking parties. Oh man, that's funny. Yeah, the meeting is so you can recover for the first from the first drinking parties so that you're ready to go for the second one. Dan: And I'll tell you what. I sold that to those pokeballs short, that was those are delicious. Dean: Yeah, I always find that alcohol is the almost failproof Of 10 times multiplier. There you go one dollar invested in alcohol Somewhere along the line, that always produces the 10 times positive result. Dan: Oh, good, that's noted. Dean: Yeah, I'm not sure that marijuana does that. Dan: Oh no. Dean: Yeah, yeah, anyway, yeah, but I spent a day on that conference and. What I did is we chose the speakers and then alanora called each of them to see if that was okay and we specified the topic, and that was all done by you know, alanora. And then what I did is I wrote a fast filter for each of the speakers, not on what they were going to talk about, but how they were going to talk, okay. And I thought it worked really well. I thought it worked really well. Dan: It really did. I mean the panels were, you know. It seemed like the whole thing moved quickly. Everybody was bringing valuable insight, even just the. The resources they were recommending, especially your. The ai panel, was fantastic, not too much. You know I I immediately came back and started using perplexity and I downloaded perplexity as so let we should probably set the stage for what perplexity is as a chat, gpt alternative and combined with kind of Google and yeah, well, it's interesting because I've done it on about 10 different Questions, you know. Dean: I asked a question and then I get an answer and uh then, but it's got Uh two neat things about it. At down below it has three more questions that you might ask. Okay, three more. Dan: Um, yeah, on the topic. Dean: That first of all gives you the original answer, and then it suggests three more things you might look into. But, at the top it's got four boxes and these are references that you can go to that indicate where it got you know the information to answer your question. And if you do all, if you do the first thing. And what I was asking was mark mills, who is a tech Thinker. He thinks a lot about what technology is doing to the world and he mentioned in one of his books it's called the cloud revolution that if you look at technology, almost all the breakthroughs happen as a result of combining three existing technologies. And he goes back and he goes rake back to Samuel Morris in the mid 19th century with the telegraph, and then he comes all the way forward to not to ai, but to when how the internet came into existence. You know, he puts the internet and talks about the three things that had to be there first before you could even think about Creating this new technology. And the reason is I'm writing a quarterly book right now which is called everything is created backward, and and what I mean by that is that you can't you can't create the future out of the future, because there's nothing there. Dan: Right right. Where's the stuff you know First of all, I've never been rendered in the simulation. Here it's unrendered. Yeah, nobody's ever been nobody's ever been there. Dean: You know they I mean. But the problem with it is that you have to do a awful lot of convincing With something you try to create out of the future, you know and but I gave the anxiety. I just wrote the first chapter, but the actually the introduction, and I use itunes as the example that steve jobs simply took three things that already existed. One was the mp3 player, which he apple already had. The ipod Okay, it already had millions of people already using the ipod, so he had a build-in. He had a build-in audience to go through with something new. The second thing is that nabster had already pretty well figured out how you use the internet to download single songs. Yes, okay and their only problem with their model was that it was illegal. They were stealing, they were stealing and that's that. Never has long shelf life. Dan: They were sharing something they were sharing. Dean: No, they weren't sharing, they were stealing. They were stealing other people's property and making money on it. Yeah, that's called theft, and and then apple had its operating system, so it was the mp3 player, the nabster innovation with the internet and the apple, you know, apples operating system for all of its computers, which it had many more already existing Customers, you know customers were already using it. And then he put it together and he created iJudon. You know it was an app that went on your apple platform and you could download music and then put it in your ipod. Dan: That's great and you're right, like it's. I see the triple play the things now I can. Just I'm looking at it. Dean: I mean, if you look at, artificial intelligence and work backwards as a result of three things. I haven't really analyzed that, but it seems to be three things that had to exist before, and so what I'm suggesting in the book is that the key to your future is actually what you're doing with the past, your past experience, what's available to you, yeah, and so that's. I think that's a tremendous breakthrough. I think this is a keen insight. Dan: Yeah, I mean, what was a keen insight for me? My biggest takeaway from the free zone. Dean: I was looking for a little bit more excitement on your part. Dan: No, I'm totally excited and this is where it's. It's related to what you're saying that when we had the conversation about Looking back at the habits that you've established, oh, yeah, now, yeah, that's what I meant is that, looking working Backwards, like that, everything that we've created right now is the some, you know, the accumulation of all of the Daily habits that I have instilled, right, the behaviors and habits and choices, and that only you know. I think it goes in that. I think that fits with what you're saying, that you can't. It's not about, you know, picking something in the future. When you said, what are the habits, what are the daily present habits of future dan or future dean, of where you want, and that's the real thing is that having to establish, though, those habits? Yeah, I've had a couple more thoughts. Dean: I've had a couple of birth thoughts since we talked in palm beach about how you could approach this, and so one of things and I have a tool that I've created which really hasn't gone into the program at all. It's called the top 50 tool and it's just a page and it's got 50 boxes, okay, and what you do, and what you do is when you have a number of things. So let's just Apply it to the present project. You have 50 existing daily Habits right now. Everybody does, you know everybody in the world and I'm just arbitrarily picking 50. Yeah, my sense is it's if you put all the habits, the little things that you've woven together to produce who you are today. Yeah you know it could be in the hundreds, you know hundreds or thousands, but you know it fills up the time. Yeah, you can account for it. Yeah, in the 24 hours, and then the waking hours. Probably there's probably habits you have at life and nighttime which bear Examination. But I said okay. So the first part of the project is just create a sheet. That's got, you know, it's got 50 boxes. You know five by 10, okay, okay, and number them one through 50. And then just you know, and every day as you go through, observe something else. For example, in our house I do the dishes, okay. Mm-hmm babs cooks and I do the dishes. So usually it hangs around, you know it hangs around. We have supper. You know we have not so much breakfast, but we had lunch and dinner and there's dishes and I just put them next to the sink, close to the dishwasher, and then I go about doing something and then I, and then you know I open the dishwasher and there's a previous meals already, clean dishes there, so I have to unload it and you know, put everything in the shelf and then I load it. Okay, and it's not a kind of how that I really like doing, but it's the agreement, you know Okay, so within the last three weeks I've adapted as soon as the meals finished, I do the dishes, okay. And in order I put the dishes in the dishwasher, and in order to do that, before the meal I look at the dishwasher and I unload it and put everything away so that when the meals finished, it's just a matter of rinsing the dishes and putting them in a dishwasher. Well that's two habits. That's two habits right there. Okay, so they would go down in boxes. You know two of the boxes, okay, but once I do it, and I'm doing it the way that I would like to see it, see me doing it in the future, you know. And you know, and sometimes we have staff in the house and they do it so that it gets taken care of, but it's not my, but when it's just Babs and me at our home and at our cottage. You know, two homes in Toronto, and a home in Toronto, a home in Chicago and then a cottage up north in Canada. Anyway, and I'm the dishwasher, you know. Dan: And I had to do it. Dean: So I said, since I'm gonna be doing this for the rest of my life, I might as well you know kind of improve it so that I actually enjoy the activity. Dan: Yes, I really like this, Dan, Like you're saying the same thing. I mean the things that have been triggered from our conversation about it in Palm Beach. You know, Like you just described, it's one of those things If, even if you ask yourself the question is there any way to not do anything? I mean, the thing is that the dish has gotta get done. Dean: Well, the other thing that's part of my relationship with Babs, you know, and she's commented a couple of times during the last two weeks and she said I really like it that you get it done right away. Yeah. Dan: Oh, there you go. Yeah, that's your target audience. Right there, I'm getting social proof from your target audience. That's the exact thing. Dean: This is. I can tell you, this is my number one target audience. Yeah, so let's say you go through and you fill up your 50, okay. You know, you get them. You know, maybe I'll take you two or three weeks and you just notice little things. You know how you get up in the morning, you know, you know how you get ready for the day and everything, but there's a lot of little habits. There's a lot of little habits there, and then you sort of reach 50 and you say now, how many of these? How many of these tomorrow, can I improve? I'll look at the habit. And then I'll say to myself how would I like this always to be going forward? And then you do it that way. You do it that way, and then you have to attach a point system to it, so you're scoring every day. Because, I don't stick to things I can't score. Dan: Right, well, you may like, dan, there's James Clear just launched his. Adams app, which is Adams A-T-O-M-S, and he's the guy that wrote you know Atomic Habits and this is exactly what you are talking about here. You know you can make, you can create habits that you want you can, and it gives you prompts or you can track. It's almost like wind streak in a way, right when you're adding things on it, but daily you can. So I set up my first habit that I set up just on Wednesday or Thursday I downloaded the app. Actually, I set up that I said I want to start with the first thing in the morning that I drink half a liter of water, the 500 milliliters of water. The first thing that I do when I wake up to rehydrate and do that. So I've done that. Now I've had Thursday, friday, saturday, sunday four rounds of that and it tracks your streak and it shows you your progress and so I've had four total repetitions so far. And the way they set it up is you put a purpose around the habit, like why you're trying to do this right. So the habit is that it's always like a place and a time and a reason. I think right, so it's a vote. And when they do your thing, when they give you the report, it's like congratulations, that's four votes for your healthy dean or whatever You're making. Every day you're making a vote. Dean: I think that's great yeah. Dan: I'm voting for this. So habits is the name of the, or Adams is the name of the app on iTunes. Dean: It's done in the app store, right. Dan: It's in the app store and it's just a yellow stacking yellow with like a white stacking thing. Dean: But yeah, I've periodically over the last dozen years been conferences for James's, you know, and I've always enjoyed his take on things. Dan: Yeah, and that's I mean. I like this Dan a lot. This is kind of gamifying thing. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Now. Dean: I can tell you what my if you call it my top 50 tool. Then there's a little arrow in each of the boxes and what you do is you press the arrow and it takes you to a page where you develop your criteria for what constitutes a great habit. Okay and then you attach numbers to the to that, and there's room, I think, for 10 criteria. Okay, and then you go through, and one of them is that I want to be more and more doing habits every day that are going to last the Rest of my life. Yes so that's that would be one criteria and I give my, I can establish the range, and and then you all you have to do is the criteria for one, and then that applies the criteria to all of them, and Then, as you go along, you start improving the criteria, and the moment you improve the criteria, it improves it for all of them. Okay, and then, as you go through, you notice that certain certain habits get a better importance score than others and it automatically, automatically prioritizes the 50, that this is number one, this is number two, this is number three. Rate to 50. What do you think about that? I really I mean would you? Dan: like to get that. Dean: Would you love to get? Dan: that. Where would one get one of these? Dean: Only from a particular person. Yeah, and it's right. Now, it's a file maker file, a file maker no longer Exists, but that this continues to work. Okay, this continues to work, okay, so I'll just send you the file maker oh, I like that a file maker form and, as you're going along, what it does is it give. I mean, I think the combination of the atom, the atom app and this tool probably Complets the circle it might be. Dan: I mean, I'd love to discuss what you're describing. Dean: Here's the tip sounds like as you go along, there's habits that are less important and they don't belong on the top 50. So there's another backup 50 and that they're in the backup 50. Dan: Okay, the farm team. Dean: Yes. Yes you can't have major league without a farm team. That's exactly right. Dan: I, like you know what's very. What's really interesting about this, dan, is if I was really Reflecting on my accumulated daily habits, right, if I look at what are my observable habitual behaviors? Right, and I went through the way I went through it was looking at the vignettes of each day, like looking at a timeline from the, the moment I wake up and and I was saying, you know, I have established Really good sleep habit of you know, my sleep window is Very uniform, my, you know, I woke up this morning I'm, you know, 8786 on my sleep and readiness score for my or ring. I get enough deep sleep and all that. So I've established that habit of Really a really good sleep window there. Then I started looking at, you know, my observable, if we were just somebody was following me around, logging my movements, like in a computer program or whatever, like just line items like Lining, describing every step or everything that I took part of. It is, you know, look, replacing now looking for the opportunities, like where do I want to establish this habit? And I think that little window of you know right, when I get up the first, you know the first hour of being awake. What do we want those habits to look like? Yeah, would future deans habits be? Dean: You know something there are constraints and deans, future habits. You know what? They are deans present habits? Dan: are yes, that's exactly it. I get it and that's what you're saying. I'm like you. Dean: Do anything in the future now you can't do anything in the future. You can only do things in the present. Yeah, the future. Dan: That's exactly right. Dean: Yeah, but I've been around the tech people and you know I mean, like the environmental movement, no more fossil fuels. That's a bullshit, is such a bullshit goal Because 80% of all the energy on the planet comes from fossil fuels. Okay, the other thing is that the people have these kind of goals are really not very good at getting anything done. Dan: Yeah. Dean: They went to university. They've been in university for six years, you know they've been in school since they were four years old. They've never actually done anything in the real world, you know and. But they're going to change the entire structure of the world and the problem is that it's not a plausible goal. Like no fossil Fields, you know, the other one is no borders. You know the thing we shouldn't have borders. Well, there are borders and people will kill for the borders. Yeah, right, but the thing is the people who set these type of goals in the future are some of the most incompetent people on the planet and it's really interesting that the the way you described it there. Dan: All these people, they're not accountable for the day we have. They're talking. They're just going and admonish people about this future. There's no fossil fuel because it's not actionable. Dean: It's not actually, and what they're trying to generate is tax money. They're trying to generate Donations. They're trying to but without ever producing any kind of satisfactory result you know, yeah, because they're just painting the ideal. Dan: And I wonder, how do we do that in our own lives? I mean, well, the big thing. Dean: Well, one of my things that have occurred to me is that all your goals for the future are actually you Operating, you personally as an individual operating at a higher level of capability, you know I mean you know, if you have a, you have one house and you have a house, another house that's bigger, it's better. You know it's got far more, it's more in the right place, it's. You know it's got about 10 Better criteria that you could say. And you say, well, that's my goal and I said no, that's actually the result of you being a Different and more productive person in the future. So every goal you have to bring back that it's you as a person operating at a higher level. You're making more money, you know, and that's number one. You know, yeah, and in order for you to make more money, you've got to look at what you're doing right now to make money and improve it. There may be, between you and that house, there may be, 10 Improvements that you have to make to how you're making money right now. Yes, yeah, this is yeah maybe eight profit activators. Dan: Which one? Dean: all the profit activators are habits, aren't they? Dan: they are, yeah. Yeah, you're absolutely right with metrics. I mean, that's part of the thing I think is that's measurable, right, everything you're describing. That be a good habit horrible habits. Yeah, huh, yeah, and I was dawned on me how long these habits, many of them, have been established. Like, I like your idea of the ranking of the habits. I mean that's it's, you know the numbering them, you know there's probably a Habit you know, but this is endless pursuit. It feels like you know an endless. Well, it's a daily person. Dean: It's a daily improvement activity. You know because what I'm finding? I've been doing this for about four months. Daily habits, and the first one and what I've been doing is I've been going to Buenos Aires. I've done it three times, for the fourth that's coming up in two weeks. And and there's basically six weeks before visits to Buenos Aires. So I said I'm going to create a 42 day cycle of changing certain habits. Okay, oh, wow, anchors is something right. Well, you anchor it in time, you give it a, and then so that's. You know, six weeks is 42 days. It's an odd time period and that intrigues me, you know. So I've got these 42 improvement, 42 day improvement periods. Dan: And then I say Just a lot to support the 42 is that. You know they say it takes 21 days to establish a habit and 42 is just twice that. So you get two cracks at 21 days to establish. Dean: You just explained why I did it. You just explained why I did that, but I didn't know that. Dan: There you go. No, that's great, though right Like that's a. Dean: I'm doubling down. Yeah, yeah yeah, I hadn't seen that. I had not seen that. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Anyway, but what I did? The first one, it was very simple no snacking between meals. I don't get into trouble with meals. I get in trouble with what happens between meals. Okay, okay. Dan: And. Dean: I aced it, I aced it, I aced it over 42 days, and then I started adding so the second one had two or three habits, the third one, you know, the 42, because I'm getting used to it, okay, and you know. And then all of a sudden I said pay attention to all your habits and just do it right. If there's something you have to do that day, do it the way you would like to have it done in the future, and then give yourself points for that. You know, and so. But there's an enormous Well. First of all, there's a dopamine hit to it, because it means that every day is valuable for learning and growth, and that's a, you know, that's a great thing. Dan: This is fascinating because that dopamine is healthy. Good, you're the beneficiary of the dopamine compared to like watching. Dean: You're your own dealer, yeah. Dan: Be your own dopamine dealer. Dean: Be your own dealer. Dan: That's a great title for a quarterly book, Ben. Dean: I just logged in. Dan: I mean, that's the truth. Dean: You never know. Anytime you talk to Dan, to Dean, you're going to get a new quarterly book out of it. Dan: Sometimes you get a major market book out of it. You never know. Dean: That's a good habit, that's a good habit. I don't know what it is about, dean, but anytime I'm around him I can count about you know, half a year down the road, and something he said is now a book. Oh wait for this. Dan: You know what the elegance of your 42, the 42 days, six weeks is? That you could get two rounds of that per quarter. It's just another nice, elegant fit. Dean: Well, you can get basically 42, you can get two rounds and basically oh right, then a quarter yeah. Dan: You can yeah 12 weeks. Dean: And then you get some free days to. Yeah. Dan: Go wild, I'm better. Yeah, enough of this structure. Dean: Enough of this structure, you know. But the interesting thing about it is you're actually, every time you improve a daily habit, you're exponentially improving your future. Yes, yes. And it's the only way. Yeah. And the thing is, there's certain habits you would like to change today, but you have to change some other habits before you can get to it. Yeah, so yeah, I'll give you an example. I've been listening to people talking about intermittent fasting. Yeah, Like you go a weekend without eating. I said no, I'm not anywhere near that. But what I've noticed is on Saturday and Sunday I can have 16-hour periods between meals. Dan: Okay, yeah. Dean: And I said, you know so, on Saturday we have dinner at three o'clock in the afternoon and then I don't eat again until so that's nine hours before midnight, and then I have, you know, I eat breakfast at seven and then that's 16 hours. Dan: Okay, yep. Dean: And that's intermittent fasting. Dan: Yeah. Dean: And I can do the same thing on Sunday over Sunday night and breakfast. So I said, no, I'll just start off. Once on a weekend I'll do it. And now I'm at the point where I can do it twice on a weekend. You know people said well, you know, it doesn't matter, unless you do it for a couple of days. And I said I can't do it for a couple of days. Dan: Right. Dean: My habits. Don't support it yeah. Dan: Yeah, and I mean I don't know what to do about it. Dean: So whenever people say you should do something, you have to check back and say, ah, interesting, but my habits don't support what you're talking about. Dan: Right, right. Yeah, this is amazing. I mean, I'm not really a dashboard and scorecard, but you're totally in control of that. Dean: You won't. Dan: Yeah, you're the only one who knows the habits? Dean: You're the only one that knows how you want the habits to be in the future. Here. Dan: Yeah. Dean: There's complete agency here on the part of an individual. You know, and you can know all the ramblings of other people about what you should do and you have to do this. No, it's not so. It's bullshit Right. Dan: Yeah, yeah, I mean this is yeah. And then there's a. There's a guy, rob Dierdek. I don't know if you know him. Dean: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I did mention him. Dan: Okay, yeah, that you know. Everything that we're talking about is exactly. You know what he's on board with. Everything he's talking about is Dave Tuchad, chad Jenkins. Dean: Willard oh Chad Jenkins. Dan: Chad Jenkins I gave him and Steve Dastante actually, yeah, Rob Dierdek back to back two podcasts called the most unrelatable podcast episode you'll ever listen to. And it was him describing to the what ends he goes to track and quantify and establish his daily habits. And it's fascinating, I mean just to see, you know, make things inevitable, you know. Dean: Yeah, and there one thing that makes you appreciate that nervous systems are really different. You know human nervous systems are really. You know, what appeals to one person doesn't appeal to other people, and I think that's a tough nut to crack for a lot of people, because they want what they're doing to be the truth. And I said well, it is the truth. Dan: It is the truth. Dean: It is the truth, but don't go beyond yourself with it. You know, you know and and I think it has a lot to do with your you know your early experiences in life, what you got used to doing, what you like to do, things that you didn't like, and I think and these are forming before we have the ability to be conscious about them. Dan: How many of your habits Dan in on looking at your list are 50 year old oak trees? Oh, yeah, yeah, I mean some of the habits are oh yeah. Yeah. Dean: Some of them are. Some of them are beyond 75 years. Dan: Right, and some of them you know. Dean: I'm probably not going to fool around with those. Dan: No. Dean: Not at first, not at first. Do not take on a 75 year habit. Right, exactly, yeah, but it's really interesting Now, as you know, this happens to if we we can shift the context. I've been very interested in the, the reason why, in the last two weeks, google has lost $90 billion it's market value because of that Right. Because of a stupid AI chat. Okay. Dan: Yeah, I don't know what happened, so you know well what they do. Dean: it's a new chat chat bot that, when you put in directions, it'll create graphics for you. Okay, Okay. I'll give you an example. A guy says can you give me a picture of Vikings? And it comes back and they're all black. Dan: Okay. Dean: Now. Vikings were the whitest people in the world. Dan: Yes, right, right. Dean: Northern European. Not much sunlight, you know. Dan: Yes. Dean: So, anyway, and that says show, give me a picture of the founding fathers of the United States. And there are a whole bunch of them sitting on that table and a number of them were black. So what? Okay, so just giving you the general context, that what's being reflected in the Google chat bot is the dominant political views of the organization. Interesting, isn't it so? And they're getting such backlash. Well, their stock valuation went down by 90 billion in about a week and a half, 90 billion they just dropped, you know, their stock value. Now I would interpret that as someone giving you feedback. Right, right. Dan: Right. Dean: Right, you know, because what a stock price is an estimation of the future value of something you know and what I realize is that now they're scrambling. They had everybody had to work all this weekend to correct the problem. But the problem isn't their chat bot, the chat. The problem is Google's dominant thought process. Okay, so what's being reflected in any organization's cloudlandia presence is what their mainland habits are. I mean I don't think you can communicate too much beyond what your dominant habits are as an individual and as an organization. Dan: Yeah, this is you know, and I wonder if that so you're thinking like the Google things as reflecting their own biases are coming through in the stuff that it's how do I? Dean: that they have a bigger game to change how people think you know I think they do. You know, and you know, and you know, and maybe they shouldn't be that ambitious. Maybe they should just change the way that they think. Dan: Yeah, there's no. It's so amazing to me that there really is no. Like it's difficult now to get objective stuff, to get objective information without that. You know I saw that sort of you see it coming through in the biggest companies like Google, all the media, the mainstream, meta, meta, yeah, that, you see the whole. You know I look at. I was sharing with you the headline, you know, when Donald Trump just won South Carolina by a landslide. You know over 60% of the votes, 39% to Haley, and the headline on Drudge was 40% of Republicans don't want Donald Trump. It was like, what an amazing like flip of not mentioning the historical trouncing that she got in her own home state. Dean: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah well, you know you know, in politics and in business the number 51 is really important. I tell people you know, when you own a business. There are two numbers that matter 51 and 49. 51 is the same as 100%, 51 is the same as 100% and 49 is the same as zero. Yeah, you don't understand the difference, the crucial difference, between 51 and 49, you're gonna have a rough life. You're gonna have a rough life. Yeah, and he has won three more tomorrow, and they were. You know, they were equal to the that he's been achieving everywhere else. He's now. There's now been seven states and he's won all seven. Yeah, but 40% of people don't want him. Dan: Yeah, 40% of Republicans don't want Donald Trump. That's right. Dean: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the interesting, I think next Tuesday there's 15, you know, there's like 15, it's called. Super Tuesday Super Tuesday, yeah yeah, super Tuesday, and probably he'll be up by 22,. It'll be 22 to nothing by the end of Tuesday night, you know. And he said, and she'll be saying I'm gaining on him. Dan: Gaining on him. Don't give up yeah. Yeah, yes but it's like, it's like 22, 22 flesh wounds. Right, exactly, yes, I'm not dead yet I'm not dead yet Just a stump. Dean: no legs, no arms, but I can still bite you. Dan: Yeah, yeah, I can still bite you I can't quite. Dean: I can't quite figure out what her lawn game is by doing this short. You know her short term activity. I can't figure out what her lawn term plan is. Dan: Yeah, this. I mean what a year this is gonna be. It's gonna be a great year. Dean: This is a I think this is a tectonic shift year, and it's not just in the States. That happened in Argentina when we were down there, the new you know the new government that came in. It happened in Holland. It's kind of happening all over the world right now that people who know how to count are replacing people who don't know how to count. Dan: Yes, so amazing, Dan. I'm excited about the, about this, the 50. I'm excited to get that too. Dean: Yeah, I'll, I'll be in the office tomorrow and I'll have our tech team send you it. And it's just, you know, you just punch on it and it opens up and it's self-explanatory. There's it's called the top 50 tool. And then you know, you use 50 boxes on the first page and then you have a backup page that has 52 and you just start listing them and then you wanna grade them in terms of their priority as a habit, and then I think it fits in really well with what James is doing. Dan: Yes, I'm just that's the only habit I've established on there so far, but I think it's really, yeah, it's really, I think gonna be a great thing because you can anchor it to times, you know, like when you want to, when you want to establish this habit, like you were saying the dinner, the dishes, is what are you, how are you triggering that in measuring? So you're saying-. Dean: Well, you never lose if you do a habit that's from the past and it's not what you want in the future. You don't lose points if you do that. There's no losing points. You can only gain points, okay. Dan: Okay. Dean: So I've got a daily scorecard, okay, and like in the first 42 days, in. I've got a total of 122 points for you know, sticking to no snacks between meals. Dan: Oh good, that's great. So you're keeping like the tally of it. Dean: Yeah, I'm keeping a tally. And then when I go back to Buenos Aires and I said, next time I'm coming back and I you know, I don't remember exactly, but I added two or three more habits, you know, to it and as you're going through the day, you're becoming more and more conscious of your daily habits. If you do it 10 days in a row and you're tracking habits, the next habits on the list will suggest themselves to you. You don't have to go looking for them. You know you don't have to go looking for them, they're looking for you now. Dan: They want to get points they want to get points and they build. You get the momentum of the feedback too, right? Yeah, you know. Did Babs know what you're up to, or did she? Yeah, and just your observation. Dean: She's starting to do it herself. I mean, she was inspired to start. You know, start doing it. She won't do it to the maximum way that I do, because that's not what she does. But she knows she's with me, so she knows things will get better. Dan: Right, right right. Dean: Yeah, I'm around a good habit-forming person. I mean, that's just, I'll just hook on and I know things will get better, but anyway, yeah, and. But you know, what it's doing is that all humans are completely equal and that they only get 24 hours per day. That's true. Dan: That is true, your comment, the speed of reality. Dean: That's the speed. That's the speed of reality. Dan: Yeah, and I don't. I mean, it's funny when you say it. When I first started thinking about it I thought you know, is that too obvious? But it's, yeah, I think it's one of those. It's been right there. Dean: Well, the other thing that I can tell you a lot of the problem they're having in their life is they don't account for that truth, right? Dan: yeah, I think that's really the thing, right. It's tuning into the speed of reality and looking at the only times. The only time we can really have any action is today, and there's a hard stop. I mean, there's a hard stop on it that your sleep, you know, is a. There's no possible way for us to do anything tomorrow. Dean: Yeah, and the only impact you can have on yesterday is what you're changing today. Dan: Yes, and that's the thing I was having. So Joe Polish came up, came back with me from Palm Beach. He just left yesterday, but he spent three to four days with me here and I mean, we went through, we set up my total environment here for success, you know, in terms of eating, and we went through my kitchen and cleared out everything that isn't supporting the habit of future healthy being right, and we went through that kind of it was. So we were talking about the four C's two is the commitment, and then courage and capability. And so we went I don't cook and I've never cooked. I've never. You know, yeah, I've never cooked. No, don't really have any skill in that, but we went. Dean: That means that if we catch you cooking, we know something that's deeply wrong. That or? Dan: deeply right. I mean we went and got an Instapot. I don't know if you've heard of this device, but so the Instapot is a miracle vessel. I mean, you just put stuff in and push a button and then it cooks. It's like. So we went to the grocery store and we got some, you know, some organic chicken legs and chicken thighs and chicken breast, and we got some grass-fed ground beef 90-10 and we got some. We've had some. We've cooked the entire the whole four days that he was here. And so the thing is now I left this with a new capability, right Like. So now I've got and I said to Joe it's kind of like reframing. I think it's almost like getting back to my, to building a primal habit of going to the grocery store and hunting some dinner, hunting food. Right, go, hunt some chicken and bring it home and clean it and cook it and enjoy and eat it, you know, but how easy Rather than having food hunting you. Absolutely, that's exactly right. And so that capability, you know, like we, we literally just take the chicken, wash it some salt and pepper, put it in the pot, put some potatoes in there on top, whole, you know whole, just washed, you know, Yukon gold or gold potatoes, put it in there, press the button 11 minutes and it's the most delicious. Whole, you know whole, some. No, no oils, no anything. It's just so clean, right, You've got organic chicken, you've got the stuff, and it's delicious. And then we, you know, got on the pan. I learned some pan skills right Of being able to, just with some butter in the pan, you know, grass fed, organic butter, of course, and putting. We got some steaks that were like, thin cut. We got some pork chops that were thin cut, ground beef, all of those, just the same thing, just taking the meat, salt and pepper and a little bit of, if I wanted to add any spice or whatever to it, cook it on, you know, both sides, and there you go. We even chopped up zucchini and squash into little medallions and sauteed them in the in the pan. So this capability now of being able to see this is a better habit to do than well driving through somewhere, right. Dean: The big thing is that it's got a future reference, that you have a sense of who you'd like to be in the future as an individual. You know and you can only be that in relationship to the habits that you form right. Because you know, there's part of our day which requires focus. Concentration because it's new stuff, yeah, and therefore the habits have to be good. When we're not focusing directly on the activity, you have to have great habits, you know yeah and and yeah. the book I just came out with the great meltdown is that the US is the top country in the world because it's got the best widespread habits of people using innovative skills to lower the cost of money, lowering the cost of energy, lowering the cost of labor, lower cost and no country in the world can possibly match it. You know, yeah, yeah, the prices of things are up and down, unpredictable around the world, and but the US has a habit of always trying to lower the cost of anything. you know yeah and other countries don't have this, and so you know. You can see the difference between Canada and the United States right now. I mean it's really extreme. From the last time you were here, the difference the average per capita income in the United States is now lower than the per capita income of Mississippi. Dan: Wow, the United States, the in. Dean: Mississippi is number 50 and per capita income and the average. Canadian is now below, below the per capita is in the low Wow, yeah, I wasn't. Dan: it wouldn't have expected that. Dean: Yeah, and not only that, they don't freeze to death in Mississippi. Right that's exactly right. At least I got that going for them and that's basically. You can measure it from when the president, prime minister, came in, has been going downhill since this prime minister came in because he wants to save the world. Dan: Yeah, it's interesting, right, that's been funny to watch the. You know my algorithm, for you know, sending me things, video clips and stuff is now I get a lot of those, Pierre Polly. Dean: Yeah, yeah, smart guy. I had breakfast with him about five years ago. Yeah, smart guy, very smart, yeah, and from Alberta French speaking from Alberta, that's a pretty good. You know, that's a pretty good background. Dan: You know he's got a triple. Dean: That's a triple play Canadian that's a triple play for a Canadian. That's French, french. Dan: I mean that's, he's got it all covered because, it just doesn't get it. Dean: And then his wife is from Venezuela, she's a refugee. So she knows what a country gone wrong early looks like yeah, oh, that's funny. Yeah, yeah, and you know, so so anyway, but you can just see the difference that the United States is better at handling milk costs than Canada is. Dan: Yeah, wow. Well, dan, I'm excited, this is great. Seven days? Yeah, well, I'll tell you the tool I can promise you you'll have the tool by this time. Dean: Not this time, but by the end of the day. Tomorrow you'll have top 50 tool and just play around with it. I mean it's self-explanatory, you don't have to. There's no rule book that comes with it. You'll just play with it. Just remember, in every square where you put something, if you press the arrow it takes you to the criteria page. Okay, perfect. Dan: I'll do it. Dean: Yeah. Okay, then I'm interested in the teamwork between the top 50 tool and the Adams app. That'll be really interesting because I've been lacking a daily scoring system. You know, people won't stay with something unless they can score on a daily basis. That's the truth. Dan: That is true. Dean: Yeah. Dan: I can't wait. Dean: All right. Dan: I'll see you. I can't wait. I'll have it tomorrow. Dean: All righty. Thanks, Dan. I'll be on next week if you are, I am absolutely Okay. Dan: Okay, thanks, dan, okay, bye, bye.
  • Ep122: The Fusion of Innovation and the Natural World

    Ep122: The Fusion of Innovation and the Natural World

    · Welcome to Cloudlandia
    In today's episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, we reflect on serenity in nature and technology, drawing parallels between Cloudlandia and meticulously raked sand. Woven into our talk is AI and how it's changing everything, from Evan's course helping us out at work to all the crazy experiments shaking things up. We get into how innovation unexpectedly boosted my creativity, which we're calling "exponential tinkering". As our annual event nears, lessons in "exponential thinking" add to the anticipation of a reunited community and potential for growth. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS Dean and I explore the serenity of Cloudlandia and how it parallels the peacefulness found in Japanese Zen gardens, reflecting on the role of imagination in experiencing digital spaces. We discuss the success of Evan Ryan's AI course within our company and how it has encouraged experiments with AI across different teams. Dean introduces the concept of "exponential tinkering," highlighting how AI is revolutionizing the arts and content creation, with a nod to OpenAI's Sora tool. We contemplate the cultural shift toward immersive experiences like VR, while expressing skepticism about their long-term utility and appeal. Dan recognizes the importance of integrating existing consumer experiences to create innovative products, using Apple as an example. We highlight insights from Mark Mills' book "The Cloud Revolution" on the strategic importance of reshoring supply chains and repurposing shopping centers into logistics hubs. We compare Tesla's success to the sustainability challenges faced by other electric vehicle companies that are more dependent on government subsidies. We share anecdotes about the Soviet-era's illusion of luxury, and how modern-day explorers uncover the true state of Soviet infrastructure. We examine the declining enthusiasm for venture capital in the tech world and the concept of "cruel optimism" that can be prevalent in this sector. Excitement is expressed for our upcoming annual event, stressing the value of 'exponential thinking' and the potential growth of our community.

    Links:
    WelcomeToCloudlandia.com
    StrategicCoach.com
    DeanJackson.com
    ListingAgentLifestyle.com

    TRANSCRIPT

    (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)

    Dean: Mr Sullivan how are you, mr Jackson? Dan: Well, welcome to Cloudlandia. I'm sitting out in my courtyard and it's a little bit of a cold, rainy morning. I don't know if you can hear the rain gently falling in the courtyard. It's relaxing. Dean: Do you have an? Dan: umbrella over your head. No, I'm in a. I have a covered, a covered area here that I'm sitting at about. I don't know what you call it, like a lamina or a loja, I don't know how it is, but it's a covered underroof thing, that's attached to my courtyard. Dean: What you're saying is that there's something between you and this guy. That's exactly it. Dan: I'm not getting rained on, I'm under covered, as they say. Dean: Yeah, well, it's sort of a poignant, almost like a Japanese. Stay right, yeah, this almost feels like a Japanese Zen garden. Dan: here I hear the like the little the water coming off the roof of a tile roof, so that it's very Japanese Zen actually, because the there's a spout that drains the water down into a drain. Yeah, so nice. Dean: Yeah, it's very interesting. When I was a teenager I sort of fell in love with Japanese culture. This would be early 60s, late 50s, early 60s and you know I read the literature, I looked at the artwork. I was interested in their architecture, their history, and then in my military. I was drafted into the US military and got sent to South Korea. And I'm an R and R. Rest and relaxation, that's what they called it. Dan: R and R I went to Japan. Dean: I went to twice, oh nice. And my memory is of being in the mountains, at a place where they really didn't speak English I don't know even now if they you know, having Americans who was part of their experience, but it was perfectly understandable. I mean, the hospitality was so great. But I can remember being in one of these little rooms where they had. They had sliding doors that would open up and you could see the mountain, you could see the water. And I remember it raining, but I was warm and I had tea. And I was sitting there and it sort of corresponded to what my teenage visions had been. I always remember that. Dan: That's great. I love it when stuff like that happens. Well, this would definitely be the kind of day that would be conducive to tea. Dean: And sitting out here. Dan: It was kind of a Zen garden that I have in the courtyard, so it's nice. Dean: Yeah, yeah. Speaking of Zen, there's a lot about the jump from the mainland to Cloudlandia that has a Zen-like quality to it, tell me more, tell me more, especially now with the. A lot about it, well, a lot about it. You have to imagine, in other words, that you only get as far in Cloudlandia as your imagination will go. I'm really seeing this. I'm kind of being a creative collaborator with Evan Ryan, still in his 20s, but he's been investigating artificial intelligence for the last 10 years, so he's well into it. So basically his adult life has been and he's got a very thriving business and he's got clients from all over the planet. But he wrote one book which was superb. It was called AI as your teammate and he put it together into a six-module coaching course for companies and our entire company went through that. Dan: Oh, wow. Dean: So it's six to our modules and just to the main. Purpose is just to get people over the hump that this is any scarier than any technology that they've already mastered. It's just a new technology. And it did wonders. It did wonders and I can see the last module was probably four months ago and I can see the investigations and the experiments that are going on across the company, each person sort of focusing on something different. And then Evan is writing a new book and I just shared an idea with him and maybe it be a topic that we would discuss today. But I said, there's all sorts of predictions being made by people about where AI is going and where it's going to take us, and both exciting and scary. The predictions are both exciting and scary and what I realized that all these predictions, no matter how expert the person tried to present themselves, was just one person's prediction. And more or less their prediction for everybody else was simply what they wanted to do for themselves, Right. Dan: Yeah. Dean: And I think Mark Zuckerberg and there's all sorts of people the big tech people and government people and everything, corporate people and I say you're trying to make this a prediction for the world, but it's only probably a prediction for you that this is the direction and what I realized is that there's an exponential breakthrough with AI and it's in the area of tinkering, which is a neat word, yes, Tinkering. So Evan and I talked about it and he's going to. You know, he's developing the idea as exponential tinkering. Dan: And I really like it. Oh, I like that. Dean: That's a good yeah, what a nice combination of words, because, there are kind of two words that are jarring when you put them together, that's very good. Dan: I like that a lot. Dean: Yeah, so what are you tinkering? Dan: with. So I'm tinkering with a couple of things right now and deep into the. Are you talking about technology things? Dean: No, yeah. Well, technology, or specifically AI, are you tinkering at all with it, seeing what it can do? Dan: I'm starting now to. Did you see the latest thing a couple of days ago? The release of Sora, the video creation tool. Now, that was OpenAI did that right. OpenAI has just I think it's only very limitally open to their top tier, you know, data users or whatever, but the demo reels of it you know, showing what it's capable of, and I mean it's certainly you see now where that's the final piece of the puzzle here, like two things have happened in the last 30 days that have really kind of cement where I see this going. I've been predicting here that 20, that you know, almost like the big change 1975 to 2025 will kind of look and the you know all these exponential improvements reaching the top of the asymptotic curve that there's You're using big words. Dean: Yes, so Asymptotic, asymptotic. I think that deserves a subhead for our listeners. Dan: Okay, Well, asyn, in math when you do exponential, it's exponentially increases, increases, and then it reaches a point where it's just marginally like improving slightly. You know, like there's not really the exponential leap, for instance, of going from. If we just take text, we've gone from, you know, writing it on papyrus or having people hand write stuff. Dean: Chiseled as on. Chiseled as in play. Dan: Whatever. And then Gutenberg was an exponential leap in that, but it got better in terms of when we were able to, you know, create digital photocopy and things like that, and we got to the text file where you could digitize text and that became a PDF. And now so everything you know, the functional like improvement in text, has really reached the top of. There's nowhere really to go from everything ever written available instantly on any device you have. And that same thing has been over the last 25 years, kind of cascading series of those with increasing complexity of them, right? I think it's not. That's the easiest thing to fully digitize is text. And then pictures were the next thing, that you could digitize pictures so we can transfer images, then moving pictures right? Audio, sorry, was next after text, audio images or images, videos. Now we're at the point where you know every piece of media video, audio, text or images is completely digitized. It's available on any device at any time you want it. And this next piece that's falling into place is the ability to generatively create, from description, images and videos that you can describe. And so when you take this Sora, and you take Dali and you take the all the things that are converging with the, with the AI, and we'll give them another two year runway, which would even sort of double their time that they've been in our world Mainstream they'll be fully cemented into the mainstream use. And then you look at what's happening with the release of Apple's new Air Pro goggles, or whatever they're calling them. Dean: Vision Pro. Dan: Vision Pro. Dean: And that is. You know everybody who's going to use any of this. Dan: Exponential tinkerers. Dean: Yeah, but that somebody who's doing it tinkerers. Tinkerers is just someone who's doing it for their own purposes. You know they're not trying to create something for anybody else, they're just for example, I gave you the example that I've had a real interest in. You know, I wrote a new book and I had. I was writing a new book and I had one chapter finished and it was how we put our company together, and the chapter was unique ability teamwork. That, basically, a fundamental difference between coach team members and other team members is that we everybody operates according to their own unique ability within unique ability teams. Okay, so that's that, but I've always had a fascination with Shakespeare. You know he's one of my five. Dan: Yes. Dean: You know, five lifetime role models Shakespeare, because he was not only a great poet, a great playwright, a great you know creator of, you know, creator of plays, but he was also a tremendous entrepreneur and he, you know, he created the first company that was self-sustainable and he created a new theater and everything else. So he was very entrepreneurial and seems to have made a pile through theater. And anyway, but I was always fascinated with the language form that was operating in London in the late 1500s and 1600s. So Shakespeare is 1560, 1560, 1660 years and it was called iambic pentameter and it was a structure where there's only 10 syllables per line. You get to the 10th syllable and then you go to a new line, and so I had one of my team members actually go to AI, go to chat GPT and say we would like to translate Dan's copy into iambic pentameter and it was back in 24 hours. Dan: You know came back and I was just fascinated. Dean: I was just fascinated with it because I thought differently about my own thoughts when I saw them come back in a different language form. In English but about a different structure. So I was sitting there, I was reading it and I gave it to some of our team and I said what do you think about this? And they said, wow, I get totally new thoughts from reading it. It's, you know, the basic ideas, but they're in a different language form. And I said now what I'd like to do is I hear it like it here. It's spoken, you know, by someone who was really great with Shakespeare's language. So it was a very famous actor who we have their recordings of, and so we open my team member, Alex Barley, who is British you know. So he's from the UK, so he has a feel for this type of language and he has a feel for theater. And then he worked with Mike Canig's, great friend of ours and. Mike. Mike gave him two or three other AI programs that he could take a look at and about four days later I get this wonderfully eloquent reading of a whole chapter in Iambic content and I listen to it every week. I listen to it every week and it does things for my thinking. Okay, and I've shown it to a few people. This is a you know. A number of people have listened to it and they're all say, wow, that's amazing. Dan: You did that. Dean: Why'd you do that? Why'd you do that? Dan: Why'd you do? Dean: that Just tinkering? I was just tinkering and I just. I kind of said you know, if I put this together with this and maybe put the two of them together with this, I wonder what it sounds like. And I have no intention of, I have no intention of going any further with it, but it really serves a purpose, that it really influences my own thinking and I've noticed that my writing has changed as a result of listening to this for three or four, three or four months, you know, I just I just get a different take on my own ideas. Dan: And. Dean:I call that tinkering, I just call that tinkering. Dan: I like that. Dean: And I believe that with AI, what you have, there was always tinkering in the technology world, but I think what AI does, it makes, it allows tinkering to be exponential. Dan: That's interesting. So there's, I'd say, yeah, you're, there's an artistry to it in a way. Dean: You know, in that there's, it's kind of like doing something for your own pleasure for your own yeah, and your own enhancements you know you see, you see an extension of a capability that you already have, but you can see new dimensions of the capability that you already have and that in itself is the reward, that in itself. And people say well, are you going to? You know, I tell people and they say oh, so are you going to actually produce this? And you know, you know like we produce our books. And I said no, I'm just doing it for my own reasons. Dan: I just like the feel of this. I just like the feel you know and. Dean: I do not think I'm unique in this experience. I think there's a hundred million people doing the same thing with something that kind of fascinates them. Dan: And I wonder if that's the artistic expression gene or something. I mean, that's our internal desire to chase our whims. Dean: You know, in a way, yeah, that's one of the great joys of the the reason I'm saying this is that we're always making the predictions about who the giant tech giant is that's going to dominate this and I said one I don't see it emerging. I think all of them are scrambling like mad so that they don't get left behind. But I don't think the idea of tinkering really exists in that world. You know quarterly stock prices, investments that's what they're looking for, you know, and everything else, but I don't see the dominant player, even. You know, even open. Ai is the dominant player. Dan: Have you had some experience? Have you tried the vision pros yet? Dean: No, I don't like goggles. Dan: I don't need. I mean I'm not inclined either. Dean: They're anti social. Dan: I wonder you know it's going to be. I know there'll be a lot of people at Free Zone next week that have them that are, so we'll get a chance to try that for sure. But I know my kenix has it. Dean: I know Leo as his one of the things that I always look at their past stage right now, but it'd be interesting checking their lives down six months from now whether they're actually using them. Dan: That's what I'm curious about, right Like it's so. Dean: I don't need to be first in with anything. Dan: Right, exactly, yeah, yeah, I think that this chasm it's getting, you know, I think it's getting wider and wider, this that there's even now, nuances of going deeper into Cloudlandia, because I think that's like immersively diving into Cloudlandia and I think that there's. Nick Nanton just posted a thing about some big movie director who was tweeted about. You know, just spent the day editing this is a feature movie, mainstream movie director saying you just spent the day editing in the Vision Pros with, in collaboration with his editor, on a big screen. They are theatrical, like movie screen size and just fascinated. He said. Dean: you know, no headache, no anything so I don't know, yeah well, where I think and I felt five, ten years, well, let's say five years ago when people were talking about visual reality, okay. Dan: Yes. Dean: And Peter Diamonis had a lot of proponents of this at Abundance 360 and I was sitting there and I said first of all, every everything that I've seen I find boring and the reason? because what you're seeing is the creation of one brain, and if it's not an interesting brain to begin with, the result of their creation of a VR program is exponentially less interesting. Okay, and what actual reality is good? You know, I look out in my yard and you have the same opportunity there. I look at them and I've got these seven giant oak trees in their yard, I mean they're a hundred, and ten hundred foot oak trees, and the reason I love those trees so much is nobody created them. There was no intention for this to happen. It was just a lucky acorn. Dan: Right the result of it. Dean: I mean they produce thousands, millions of acorns in our yard and it's just squirrel food you know, and and it's the nonintentionality that interests me, it's not the somebody's intention, okay, and one person's story really doesn't interest me for the first time if it doesn't include a lot of other people's stories you know, in other words. You're putting that together, so I don't know. I mean, I think there's a fundamental obstacle to all technological breakthroughs, and it's called human nature. Dan: Yeah, this is where that's. What I wonder, is the goggles? Them sound like it. Just it feels like, wow, this is a you know, unless we're at a point where I think the improvement of the vision pros is that you can actually see out of them. Dean: Well, you can see out of them and it's got the thing that I think is really going to make a difference, and that's all augmented reality. Yes, exactly In other words, you're looking at a real thing. Yeah, there are useful pictures, useful data, useful messages on it, and there's useful capabilities, in other words, there's like email and, I'm sure, the design. You know design tools and everything that you can do and that, I believe, is good, but it'll only, it'll take hold where the use of this speeds up an economic process that already makes money. But you can speed up an economic process. Dan: I'm seeing that, if everything is, you know, being shaped to drive us deeper into this cloudlandia existence here, that everything's happening in the goggles, that I was just had coffee with Stuart, my operations guy, and we were saying how it seems like there's a trend towards you know, I have you ever heard the term hostile design for architecture where the Starbucks one of the Starbucks here in Winter Haven just went under when it's 10 year renovation and they completely turned it into like a basket robin's? where it's all the character of you know a basket robin's. There's no sense of that third place kind of you know origin that Starbucks started with, where, when Starbucks was first getting started in the 90s, they had, you know, nice design, comfy chairs. It was inviting to come and get a coffee and sit and you know gather kind of thing. And now it's essentially designed with the hey, keep it moving, keep it moving kind of vibe to it. There's no, nothing about the chairs, the seating, it's just literally one long banquette with facing single wooden chairs. You know that, on and round table, so there's no comfort or invitingness to come and linger. Dean: Well, they commoditize, so you know. In other words, yeah they start off at very special places. Yeah, and you know you could go in if you could use it as an office, it could be your office all day if you were I think yeah. Dan: I think that's what happened is that post as we got into the last ten years where it became more, you know, wi-fi is ubiquitous and, you know, demanded in public spaces like that. That you know I was saying to Stuart. My theory about it is that in the 90s and early 2000s the internet was still a place that you had to go to right, like you, yeah, had to go to your computer to go there, and these third places were, of you know, an important part of you're putting that aside and you're coming to this third place to be there and as laptops and Wi-Fi and all these things made it possible that people could go and set up shop in the Starbucks and spend the whole day there, that became defeated, the whole purpose. It wasn't a third place, it was the place. 0:25:06 - Dean:You know, yeah, and the other thing it became every place. You know, I mean, when you commoditize, it's every place. And, and you know, I mean you know. And the other thing is that there was a fundamental change in the Starbucks culture and I can say exactly when it was. It was in the 90s and I think it was probably around 1995. They said there's a risky part of our future and that is we can't guarantee that we're always going to have good baristas okay, because the real right. The real skill I mean of Starbucks is who is? Where the baristas who can do the coffee, just right, and they said we can't. You know, it's too risky and that we become too dependent on these people, you know and they said we've got to make it mechanical and what they did immediately is that their espresso drinks, you know, whatever form it came in, was only 80% as good, but it was predictably 80. The moment you give away quality in order to achieve quantity, you've lost all uniqueness. Yeah. I agree, yeah and that's what they've done. And now the other thing is that they created their own competition because people seeing how a coffee operation works, they went to Starbucks University and got their degree, you know, and it probably take a year to do that and they went out and created their own independent coffee shops. So I think those unique coffee shops still exist, but they're not trying to take over the planet yeah, it's really. Dan: It's interesting. I'm looking for places like that, but you just it's kind of a sad thing. It's almost like you've talked often about the, the black cab knowledge of the drivers in London that they have London, I think London. Dean: London, birmingham and Manchester, I think they have, but the black cabs are the best cabs in the world. Yeah, okay, they're, just there's nothing to compare of what an experienced black cab driver with the black cab experience in the world. There's just nothing like it, and it takes you three years of dedicated study to even pass the test to become a black cab driver, you know and it's very interesting that all of that now can be. You know, anybody in their Honda Civic equipped with their iPhone, has the knowledge right on their phone well, actually it worked out, it didn't work out in London right, because Uber came in and they said well, you know, the Uber guys got it, but they have no feel for the city right and yeah, and so within six months of Uber coming in and actually threatening black cab developed its own Uber software, so now they have the Uber software plus the knowledge of the driver yeah, right it's like AI, an AI program defeating world champion, chess champion okay, yeah and within a year, the chess champions just said okay, we've upped the game and now it's us, plus our AI program, against each other. Dan: Yeah, it's very. You know, it's a-. Dean: Humans are infinitely smarter than technology. Dan: Yeah, it's a fascinating time to be approaching your 80th birthday right now too, you know, looking into the next decade here. Yeah, what are you guessing and betting on for the next few weeks? Dean: I'm betting that people's grasp of their past is now their trump card. Okay, that the future is completely and totally unpredictable, okay as far as I'm concerned. I mean, I think you could predict the future more in the 19th and you know the book you gave me, the 1990, the great change I would think was called the Great Change. If I think back to 1950, where I was alive, I think that the first grade teacher and I had a first grade teacher in 1950, sister Mary Josephia. Sister Mary Josephia, sometime, first grade she says the reason why you're learning this now reading, writing and arithmetic is that when you graduate from high school because nobody went to college in those days- you know, you left high school and you went and got a job. She says everybody's going to be looking in the job market at how good you are at reading, writing and arithmetic and showing up on time and finishing what you start and saying please and thank you and everything else. And she was totally correct. In 1962, exactly what she predicted was true. Okay, so try a first grade teacher in 2024, can she predict anything about what a first grader will experience 12 years later? Dan: Yeah, no chance yeah. Dean: And that's just a general condition on the planet. I just think the future is no longer predictable. So what's the unused resource? The unused resource is your past. Dan: Say more about that. What do you mean? The unused resource? Dean: Well, first of all, it's unique. I mean, if I sat down with you and asked you questions about your past and it went on for a year day in day out for a year. Not one thing that you say about your past during that year is anything but unique to you. That's true. Yeah, exactly that's where all the raw material is for creativity. It's not in the future, you know and it was so funny because I remember four or five times in abundance 360, peter would invite in people from Google, okay, and they had these moon shots, okay, and what was interesting about them? They were predicting new things in the future that hadn't been imagined yet, okay. And it seems to me like sparse ingredients, but it was what they were up to and there was presentation after presentation and they had videos on YouTube and everything else. And I said is there any customer experience in this? No, there was no customer experience. They were just making it up, you know, and they were sort of, and these teams were in competition with each other who could come up with the most convincing thing? That didn't exist. And then I kept track of it and over a 10-year period they shot all those projects down. They never went anywhere. Dan: Wow, yeah, they never went anywhere. Dean: Yeah, and I said, all you do is let's find three examples of things that people are already enjoying, and can we put them together in a new way and create something new where people already have experience? With at least a third of the new thing you know, and that's what Apple does. Apple never does anything. First they sit there and they say MP3 player, napster, making money doing this Internet. Let's put the three of them together and see where they go. Dan: Yeah, that's smart. They were doing triple plays and didn't even know it. Yeah, well, maybe they were, Maybe they were yeah that's your clever observation of it, right, exactly, yeah, put a framework over it. Dean: There's a great technology thinker by the name of Mark Mills, and he wrote a really interesting book called the Cloud Revolution. Okay, and it's really worth a read. Okay, and what he said? If you go backwards 100 years and you look for all the major technological breakthroughs that have more or less been the mainstream of the last 100 years, he says they you always discover it was never one thing, it was always three things. Dan: Oh really. Dean: He uses the radio, he uses electricity, he uses internal combustion, he uses cars, he uses airplanes, he uses, you know, motion pictures and all the major things air conditioning and everything, and he shows the three things that went together before the breakthrough was possible. Oh wow, and part of the reason is you're putting together already existing habits. Dan: Yeah, that's really. You have to piggyback on something that somebody's already doing, right. Dean: Yeah, that gives them their existing habit, even though you're adding. You know you're adding factors that are two other habits. But you have to get people something solid to stand on before you ask them to take a step into the new. Dan: What was the name of that book? Dean: again, it's called the Cloud Revolution. Okay, the Cloud Revolution. Yeah and he uses an interesting example and this is a prediction he's making for the future. He said, with reshoring take place. So that's one factor the supply chains are going to get shorter and shorter in the future, because COVID sort of proved to everybody that relying products that came from a hundred different places and required 5,000 miles of ocean travel to get to us wasn't reliable for the future products you know, foods and everything. So what? The major thing is that you're going to try to have supply chains were important with things as close as possible to where the customers are. And he said that's one trend. Okay, that's reshoring, that's that process of bringing your manufacturing and your industrialization back to close to you. That's one factor. The other factor is no longer obsolete shopping centers, Okay. And he said let's suppose that you just take every obsolete shopping center and you turn it into a combination of warehouse, factory and distribution center, Okay. Okay, All the existing infrastructure is built in. That's already zone. It's got huge parking, it's got some massive, big spaces like the big anchor stores, some massive big spaces. You already have delivery docks, you have truck docks that go underground and people go yes and everything. And he says but it's obsolete for the purpose it was created for. But he says if you think about it as a nexus point for trade supply routes in other? Words the raw material will come in and then supply routes going out to the actual customers. And he says all of a sudden you got a new use. But people are used to shopping centers, people work in shopping centers, you know and everything else he says well, you know, and they have major, usually they're situated where there's major transportation routes, there's major highways, there's, you know. I mean probably the best shopping centers are in places that have, you know, highway access. They have air airline, you know, ups, and so that he says just look, look at a lot of stuff that already exists. Put it together in a new way and people's habits already supported. Dan: That's smart. Dean: Yeah. Dan: I like those things, so that fits in with the whole. Jeff Bezos, you know what's not going to change in the next 10 years model, looking not at what's going to change, but what's not going to change, because that's what you can anchor on. Dean: Yeah, it's kind of like I'm just watching all the EV companies, the electric vehicle companies, with the exception of Tesla, because they've got a unique, established niche. I don't think any of the other companies that are based on a profit motive are making that forward, shutting, cutting back. Volkswagen is cutting back, gm is cutting back, everybody's cutting back, because they're losing anywhere from $30,000 to $70,000 on a vehicle and it doesn't look like it's going to get any better. Okay, and then, but what made it unnatural is the fact that you had to have massive government insistence for it to even get off the ground. Dan: Yeah, you just kind of hit something on the head there, because Elon Musk has definitely thrown his hat over the fence on electric vehicles and it is dominating the market for it, because he's all in on that, which is something that Ford and Volkswagen and all these companies can't do. They're not, they're only like dabbling in the electric vehicle markets, you know. Dean: Yeah they did it because there were massive subsidies, there was math, you know, and the states like California were mandating. You know, you know, and by 2035 we won't have any fossil fuel vehicles. Okay, and you know, if the strong arm of government's gonna come on and just forbid the alternative, well, of course we're going to invest our future in it. But those governments are going to be thrown out. I bet the government in California is throwing out within 10 years, I mean you know, by the way, that that just reminded me of something. Dan: I just watched the Tucker Carlson interview with Putin. Did you see that? Dean: Yeah, Parts of it. I saw a part Okay. Dan: Yeah, yeah, nothing extraordinary about that. That wasn't what I was getting to. But while Tucker was in Russia, he did a series of short Videos that were just kind of exploring what is it actually like in a, you know, post sanctioned Russia that you know, yeah, since they put sanctions in place and you know, and it was funny because he was describing, you know, like every visual that we have of, you know, communism in Russia is, you know, empty shelves and limited supply and limited Choice and utilitarian things. So he went, he did a interesting series where he went to a Russian Supermarket to see, okay, so what is it like like? What's day-to-day life like in Russia under sanctions during wartime? And it was, you know, the most fascinating like grocery store where you go in and it's the shelves are stopped with Everything you could imagine, all these things. It's a beautiful, clean store, very modern. Everything about it was amazing. They filled up their basket with what would be, you know, a week's worth of groceries for a family of four kind of thing, what you would get if you were kind of feeding a, a family of four and they, you know, found everything. They they wanted a beautifully you know, fresh baked bread, all the staples that you could need. They filled them all up. They all him and the producers kind of guessed that they would have, you know, $400 or 400 worth of groceries if they were buying it in America, kind of thing which was their frame of reference and Turns out they got all of that stuff for like a hundred and four dollars is what it's what it costs. Dean: Yeah, don't you find it fascinating that he found the one supermarket in all of Russia where that was. Dan: That's what I wonder. That's what I want. Dean: No, that's not you think he went there just have passers-by on his own, I don't like to go. Oh yeah, yeah, the Soviets had one in Moscow. It was right near the Kremlin. It was called gum GUM, if you look it up on Wikipedia. Huh, capital G, capital U, capital M, and you went in and it was just well-dressed shoppers, everything you know, I think that's that's might have been where he was. That might have been it, oh yeah, and it's, and it's a show place, it's a show play and that's what they found when they found out the history of it. Shoppers would go in and they would come out the front door and then they go around the block, go through the black door Backdoor and give back everything that they had bought, and then it was restocked on the shelves. Dan: Oh boy. Dean: They were all actors. Dan: Oh, wow, very interesting. I wondered the same thing, because they did. He went to a subway station that he admittedly said was the most beautiful. So we never seen a subway station as nice anywhere in in America and it was. They showed the footage of it. You know, beautiful artwork and chandeliers and steam, cleaned cleanliness and, no, no graffiti, all of those things. And it did have the sense of. Is this a show place? Because there's an interesting YouTube channel. There was a gentleman from the UK and his channel is called bald and bankrupt and what he does is he goes just solo with a single camera and he was touring all these Soviet Territories. All the outposts, you know, like that were the height of the thing, to compare, and every one of it is Just like everything is run down. And you know all of the Soviet Union, you know post Communism is completely, you know, run down. And what you would expect, right, what you would that, your Vision of it, and I think that you kind of just hit it on the head. That's that it's more likely. Dean: That's like a show place or a yeah that that subway system was put in the 1930s. Okay, they had the boss of it, was cruise ships, cruise ships came in the fame Because he put in. But there was. There was no Limit on cost and there was no limit on how many people died. Building, they asked, made about 20,000 workers died. Putting in the subway system Okay and and, but if those are not cost you pay any attention to, then you can build anything in the world. But, if you wanted to go to another city and see the subway, they wouldn't let you do that. You could only see the subway. That they, because subways were a bigger deal you know in the 1930s or 1920s. Then they are now. You know, because most people don't use the subways. But in Europe, you know, where people don't have cars and they live in very dense populated areas, subways make sense. I mean 80 percent of the Public transportation in the United States I'm talking about buses and subways and commuter trains is the greater New York area that once you get outside the New York area, only 20 percent of the public public Transportation public transportation exists because everybody's got private transportation. Dan: Yeah exactly right. Dean: I mean you got your own. I mean you got a plush Travel vehicle called the Tesla X. You know it's kind of neat. You don't use it 99% of the time, but it's nice having you know. Dan: You know what I said. I was talking about you. Yesterday the I was had to drive somewhere that was about an hour away, just over an hour Actually. Dan said a new high watermark for my migration north. I went just about a half an hour north of I for the first time since. What's it like? Dean: I mean do you need oxygen? Dan: I mean you know I was using the self-drive, which is just name. You know it's only in named and as it has a nervous breakdown if you take your hand off the wheel for more than 30 seconds at a time. But I said you know Dan Sullivan has it figured out. Dan Sullivan has had self-drive since 1997. Dean: You've had true self drive, self automatic, self drive you know it's an interesting thing, but what I notice, you know I'm just developing the reason. This thing about the past is interesting because I'm writing my new quarterly book right now and it's called Everything Is Created Backward, and what I mean everything that sticks is actually created by starting with the past and picking the best of, and I think three things is really a formula. I mean, there might be things where it's five things, but I think three is useful because you can go looking for three, okay, and what I'm seeing is that the tech world has basically ground to. A lot of people don't know this, but the investment part, the venture capital part of the tech world, has just hit a wall. I mean, there's a massive amount of money available, but nobody wants to invest it because so many things promised as new things in the last 10 years really haven't amounted to anything. It's about, I think about less, maybe around 10% of IPOs. You know, initial public offerings have panned out Okay. That's a high risk that you have a nine you know, a nine to one chance of losing your money if you invest in something new, and I think the hype factor for getting investment has lost its energy. Dan: Yeah, that's changes everything. This changes everything, oh that's no good, then that's a sure sign that it's doomed. Yeah, this changes everything should be your signal to run away. Dean: Yeah, and you know I mean, but it does change everything for certain individuals and this is the mistake. It's like Joe Polish calls this cruel optimism. Dan: You know cruel optimism Okay. Dean: Yeah, and he has a great take on this, and he said that that when it comes to you know, because he's very interested in addictions and how one gets off an addiction, and he says there's thousands of predictions that if you do this and do this, you get a work for you. And he said what's true about it is it'll work for somebody, okay, but it's their willingness for it to work that actually makes it possible. And so there's a lot of human agency to things turning out the way you want. If you take complete ownership and it has to work for you, probably it'll work. But if you think it's going to be done to you and you don't have to do anything probably it won't work. Yeah, that's a very yeah, but I thought it was. But he says it's very cruel Because when it doesn't work and it doesn't work, and it doesn't work, your addiction gets more powerful. Dan: I said to somebody I've been talking about. I've often talked about the difference between, in marketing, a slot machine versus a vending machine, and that's a great analogy. It's often the way that most businesses take on marketing. They put money in the slot machine and they pull the lever and they hope that something happens and they're surrounded in a room by all the other entrepreneurs. Dean: Yeah, we got two out of three. Or we got two out of three oranges. Dan: We got a trend going here, that's right, so everybody's pulling their slot machine and they're all in the same room and somebody hits the jackpot and they all flock over to that machine. Look at the crowd, See see, see, it works. They're like yeah, trying to do the same thing. And then you know every all the testimonials that you see. That's exactly what that reminded me of. It's cruel optimism that sometimes see it does work, but they're usually talking about something that happened quickly and to a great extent and once. And it's not the same as the predictable vending machines. Not every time I put in the dollar I get $10 out. Dean: But you know, one of them has. One of them comes with a dopamine factor and the vending machine doesn't come with the dopamine factor. Dan: That's the truth, isn't it? Yeah, but we're all seeking that excitement of the the lot machine. Yeah, it's a cruel optimism, that's funny. Dean: I think it's a good. I think it's a good title. You know, he everything but and. But. It has that somebody else's formula for the future is going to work for you. You know, so I have a. You know I have a little saying that in order to create a more, bigger and better future, you have to first start by creating a bigger and better past. And the reason is the past is all yours to work with. The future is nobody's to work with. Dan: Right. Dean: Yeah, and so my feeling is the greatest breakthroughs with the new vision pro, you know and you know the other AI technologies that are coming along with it is that my feeling is that the best breakthroughs for this will be actually an industrial work, where you're actually dealing with existing engineering. You're existing with existing infrastructure and I think quality control is going to go way up, as people can check out every system you know and they look at, you know they go backstage, they go into a boiler room and they can do a check with their goggles on of every piece of machinery and they have a checklist, does this check and does this check and nothing gets missed. And I think it's going to. The great greatest breakthrough is going to be an industrial quality control. I think that's where it's going to be most used Wow and warfare. I mean all the 35, the latest jets. They operate as six pilot, six plane units. And all, every one of the pilots is aware of the other five pilots and what they're doing. Okay, and they operate as this six person unit, their radar allows them to see 500 miles out in all directions. Okay, and they can see any threat coming, probably two or three minutes before the threat sees them, which makes a big difference, you know. So yeah, somebody said, all breakthroughs happen in three ways, all human, technological breakthroughs. Number one is weaponry. Okay, that's number one, number two is toys and number three is porn. Dan: So there's a triple play right there in the making. Dean: There's a triple play. I mean, if you can check off the box, if this is good for warfare, it's good for play and it's good for porn you got yourself a winner. Dan: Oh my goodness. Dean: That's funny, I like within three days. The biggest complaint about Apple's new vision pro was you couldn't do popcorn on it. Dan: You can't I mean, it's funny, isn't it? That's the way, that's the thing, oh man. Dean: Now, instead of being horrified by that, you're being told something important. Dan: Yes, exactly that's great. So this, this is the week, dan, this is our yeah, so we'll be in. Dean: Orlando at the four seas, in Palm Beach at the four seasons. So Thursday evening will be arriving there. I've got all day Friday completely free. And but we already have Saturday for dinner and Sunday dinner in the calendar with others who have requested it. Dan: Okay so so I got lots of time. Okay, so that's my plan Initially. I may come down Friday then, but Saturday was when I was going to arrive, so maybe, let's you know, put Saturday lunch for sure, yeah, if that works for you yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah and yeah. Dean: So we're completely, you know, completely flexible with those days All my materials for printing have to be in by Tuesday this week. Dan: Okay, so you're gonna. You're a relax and it's all underway. Dean: Yeah, it gets printed out of Chicago and it'll be sent to the team when they get to Palm Beach. It'll be in the four seasons and they'll just have all the materials for the workshop. Dan: Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Okay, well, worst case scenario be Saturday at lunch, maybe Friday. I'll come down on Friday, okay. Dean: What'd you get? What'd you get out of today? Dan: Fascinating, I think this whole. I like this idea of the exponential thinker. Dean: I think that I will be there. You should chat with him about it. There's so many people. Dan: I'm looking, really looking forward to seeing everybody it's. I can't believe it's been a year. Dean: You know, yeah, yeah, yeah. So there, anyway, I think we're gonna have a good. We're gonna have a good, a good event. We have about 70 free zoners and we have another 90 guests. Dan: Oh my goodness, wow, okay, great. Yeah, so hopefully that will yield some new free zoners too. Dean: Yeah, okay, dean, see you on Saturday. Thanks, dan, bye, and just let Becca know, you know, and she'll work things out. Dan: Okay, that sounds great, okay, okay, thanks, bye, bye.
  • Ep121: Intellectual Property in the Era of Innovation and Adaptation

    Ep121: Intellectual Property in the Era of Innovation and Adaptation

    · Welcome to Cloudlandia
    In today’s episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, we embark on a reflective journey through the lens of history. We examine the perceived hardships of modern life compared to past decades like the 1950s and 1960s.Drawing on personal experiences, I note how some aspects of the human condition remain unchanged despite technological and social evolution. Shifting to practical topics, we discuss strategies for leveraging intellectual property, especially during economic downturns. Adapting to changes and maintaining resilience emerge as significant when transforming ideas into tangible assets. SHOW HIGHLIGHTSIn this episode we reflect on how technological advancements have transformed personal and societal challenges compared to past decades.Dan examines the prevalence of mental health discussions in contemporary society versus the silence around such issues in the 50s and 60s.We explore the philosophical implications of our tech-saturated age through the ideas of Italian philosopher Augusto del Noce on atheism and technology.Dan and I question if the abundance of knowledge and advancements in AI truly contribute to happiness or complicate our understanding of the world.We consider whether technology, like virtual reality, adds new dimensions to life or repackages what has always existed. discussions on the military's use of advanced technology, such as eye-controlled systems, and its trickle into civilian life.We share insights on the transformation of media consumption habits and the strategic benefits of converting intellectual property into tangible assets.I underscore the importance of adaptability and resilience, especially when leveraging intellectual property during economic challenges.Dan and I share personal experiences, noting that while the geographical footprint expands, human connection and existence remain constant.We ponder the impact of innovations on our daily lives and the need to adapt to chase tangible achievements in the face of technological change.

    Links:
    WelcomeToCloudlandia.com
    StrategicCoach.com
    DeanJackson.com
    ListingAgentLifestyle.com

    TRANSCRIPT

    (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)

    Dean: Mr Sullivan,Dan: Mr Jackson,Dean: it would be a tragedy if these calls were not recorded. It really would. Dan: That would be the truth. Dean: Isn't it nice? Dan: that they're automatically recorded and we don't have to remember to do it. Yeah, just feels organic, so welcome back. Yeah, it's been a few, a couple of weeks here. Dean: Yeah, you know, here's a, here's a thought that I was just pondering, that it seems to me that, as cloud by India expands people's real world experience not real world, but mainland experience they're both. Mainland experience seems to be more challenging and seems to be, in some cases, more vaccine and more traumatic. Okay, do you have some exhibits? That's my thought, that's my cheerful thought for the day. Dan: Do you have some exhibits for your argument? Dean: Well, there's such an emphasis now on meltdown, people having nervous breakdowns, which I don't remember at all growing up, you know 50s 60s? I don't remember any talk like this, but now it's constant, every day. You know people. Dan: And it's everywhere right. Dean: Like now this is. Yeah, I mean everywhere that I know it's much of the world in humanity that I don't know, but everywhere I know, it's not so much that the people that I'm talking to, our experience, and it's not that it's a narrative. You know that. You know these are the most trying times that humans have ever had, and I said well, first, of all. I don't even know how you would know that you know? Dan: how would you know? How would you know? Yes, I mean, if you haven't been there, you probably your knowledge of 150 years ago is probably pretty slim. Dean: How about the dark ages? That would have to be pretty yeah. Dan: Well, I, you know, I don't know, you know, I don't know. Dean: I mean, I think it's a comparison, and I think somebody's got a point to make. When they say the dark ages. Well, they probably weren't dark for the people who were in the dark ages. They probably weren't dark for the people who were in them. Dan: Right, exactly, that's so funny. Dean: Well, the Roman. Dan: Empire seemed to have a pretty good time, didn't they? Dean: Yeah, well, you know, life is life. You know, you know, and yeah, it's a discussion I have with people who are talking about the future and I said I'm going to guarantee you one thing about the future is that when you get there, it's going to feel normal. Dan: And we're going to. It's funny. Dean: I think that would be disappointing to a lot of people, because they think that the future is going to transform them. And I said well, not anymore than the past. Did I remember how? Dan: to find the old. I would say these are the good old times. Yeah, like that's the reality. Is wherever right now. It's just the distance of it right Like if you're thinking. You know, in the past, that was just a reflection of a moment in the present. At one point you know, yeah, well, the reason was we were thinking about the future. Dean: The reason was we were. We were at Genius Network this week and the subject of Apple's new Provision goggles came out. Okay, I don't know if you've experimented yet I haven't. And not, but they said this is going to change everything. Dan: And I said wait a minute. Dean: You're in a half. Ai was going to change everything. And you know I got up this morning and you know my life doesn't feel that much different than when the day before AI was introduced. Yes, at. Dan: GVT. Dean: Yes, and I said and so I began thinking about that that you're using basically a Cloud Landia phenomenon to save. That phenomenon is going to change everything. And and I said, well, you know, I mean who's talking. I mean my question is who's talking? Maybe it's going to change you, but you know, for most people there I mean half the world won't even know about it 10 years from now. Dan: Yeah, like that's. You know, it's so funny. It reminds me of the. You know, how do you? It's like asking a fish how do you like the water? Yeah, yeah, they don't have any recollection of what you're reading. The water, yeah, gen Z is now. You know, all the Gen Zs have no idea about a world without Internet and social media and everything on demand. I mean, they have no idea about there being three channels on TV that broadcast everything to everyone at the same time and not when you watch what they put out. I mean, that's pretty, it's pretty amazing, right, and it was in black and white. Dean: In black and white, on a dream. Dan: Yeah. Dean: You had to jiggle with the antenna to make sure that you're receiving that day. Yeah, you didn't think anything strange about it, that's just. You know, that's just what you had to do. Dan: Eating your TV dinner and it's tinfoil plate and your Jiffy popcorn. Dean: I remember those as being quite tasty. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Isn't that? Dan: funny though, dan. I mean, I do think about that a lot. I just I extended the southerly boundary of my footprint on the planet a couple of weekends ago. I was down in. Miami, in Brickle, at Giovanni Marceco's Archangel event. He invited me down and yeah, so it was just a you know another world. You know expand everything happening. You know people bustling around all in there, certainly a lot of traffic, every you know on the mainland things are Largely status quo, you know, and getting more. Dean: Yeah, you got to pick your time. You got to be more intelligent about picking when you decide to travel these things you know, but I got a feeling that's been that way, you know, Since we could transport ourselves. But I think the question I have is. What is it about, the president? That's not okay with you you know, and. I did this diagram, which I'm going to develop into a thinking exercise. I love that. Yeah, and it's, and I think you've seen it, I think you've seen it and what I have is a sheet of paper and the diagram goes from lower left to upper right. Okay, and down at the bottom there's a little circle and that's at the upper left. Upper right is a bigger circle, and underneath the little circle is here, and under above the Bigger circle in the upper right-hand corner is there, and then I draw a line that's got an arrow head you know, it's a straight arrowhead and it's called striving. Dan: And I said I'm. Dean: This is a portrait of your entire life. I'm going to tell you your as entrepreneurs. So I'm just going to tell you your entire life is. You're here and you're striving to get there. Striving, I said how many of you remember, this is the way it was at 10 years old, 30 years old, some of you 50 years old. I can remember 70 years old. Okay, that was just what I say. So let's say you start at 10 and now you're 60 years old and One thing is absolutely true you have a lifetime, 50 year habit every day, lifetime habit reinforced, of being here but striving to get there. I said so With that very pure habit in place. What do you think the chances are? At 60, you're going to be there. Dan: That's it's so, it's profound Right, but it fits in with the cap and the game too, in a way. Dean: Yeah, so actually 10 years ago. The reason I'm bringing this up is 10 years ago I Decided that I'm there and now, the job is not to get anywhere. The job is just to expand the quality and quantity of the there that I'm at mm-hmm okay and, and I had this exercise and you did, which is called your best decade ever, and I decided, when I look back, that I've achieved more Between 70 and a couple months, 80 70 to 80. I've achieved more in the last 10 years than I did in the previous 70 years. Dan: And what do you? Did you set out with that as your intention, or did you know? Is that my? Dean: intention. I just made a decision. I remember that 10 years ago, when I was 70 and yeah, there was, if you remember, there was a big party and I mean, how can I forget? Dan: you just recently forgave me for lying to you. Yeah there was a. Dean: Dirty lying culprit Involved in that and I love him in spite of that. Dan: I love, there we go, thank you. Dean: Thank you and anyway, but I was reflecting that I'm there, you know, I'm there and there's no. And it shows up in two ways, dean, and it is that I've noticed, and I this just occurred to me one day, because people say Would you like to meet so-and-so, and I said not really right really, and I don't have any particular reasons, it's like yeah, somebody said who's the person that, if you could, you would love most to have dinner with and I said Jackson. I said, certainly someone I know, certainly some what I know knows. You haven't met them yet. And I said, nah, I can't think of anyone you know. And they said yeah, but you know, yeah, I mean, is there anyone in the you know that's gonna be different in the future and I said yeah, but that just that's built into the formula. I said you know, every year we bring you know close to a thousand new entrepreneurs into the program and I know a lot of a thousand there's gonna be. You know a handful of them that I really get to know and they're you know, they're bright, they're exciting, they're ambitious, they're creative, they're doing all sorts of interesting things. I so, just as matter, of course, I'm gonna meet them and they said no. But you know, I mean, would you like to meet Taylor Swift? I said no, what would we talk about? And somebody was gonna introduce me Actually the I was described to this person. That person said I'd really like to meet him and it was a famous politician. They'd like to meet this guy. And so they said would you call him because he'd really like to talk to you? And I said but I don't have anything to say. He may think of a reason for meeting me, but I don't have any reason for meeting him, you know. And I've got so many really bright people that I know. That I'm having great conversations with I don't you know, I don't really want to. It would be a lot of effort, you know a lot of effort. Yeah it would be a, it would be a guess and a bet. Dan: Where I'm working with I'm working with guarantees, you know so. Dean: Anyway. But the other aspect of this where's the place in the world? You haven't been yet. I said can't think of any. You know that you'd like to really go to. I say I can't think of any. Right you know, maybe when I'm in London I'll head in the northwest direction rather than you know the other directions. Have already gone in to see what's five or six streets away and I know in. London. You're in London, you're always running into something new. No longer, no matter how long you're there, you're doing that. So I've got those two things and I think it's a function of the decision I made 10 years ago. You know that there's nobody I particularly want to meet. There's no one, a particular Place that I want to go, and I think the reason is because I've decided that. Dan: I'm there. Do you know? What's so funny, dan, is that is very similar thinking to what I did in 1999 with the. I know I'm being successful when I'm thinking about that. It's being is the state of being here. You can only, you can only be in the present doing it's being right being yeah, it's really interesting. Dean: I've been reading this several volume series by this Italian philosopher, truly a philosopher. Augusto del noce died around 1990 and it's on atheism. As it seems, that is Last 25 years of his life. He was just zeroing on this one subject of atheism, which is kind of a new thing on the planet, you know, goes back the beginning of it is maybe 400 years ago and it probably coincides when we to have the tools and we started to have a financing to do things scientifically, you know, and people notice that as they, they develop scientific concepts and then technology enabled them to measure In a way that they hadn't been able to measure. They discovered brand new things and they just said, since we have this growing ability and it seems like it'll grow forever why do we need God? So, why do we need heaven when we can create our own heaven here? And that was a guess in a bet and it's. It Seems to me that they haven't really been successful. But anyway, I was, I was just. I've read a couple of them twice and I'm on a new one right now, and he's just introduced this vast universe of different thinkers who contribute some aspect To what we would call atheism today. You know which is essentially the denial of that One there is a God and number two, that a God is needed. You know that perfectly okay, ourselves. And and since I've been writing that, I've just been increasingly aware of the topic, the subject I started the conversation with, on my part today. Which was, it seems to me, as we develop these incredible technological abilities. So there's no question that AI. I don't know anything about the new ones, so I don't have any opinion on it, but to that it's not making people happy right Like perfect. Dan: You know, there's great words that I heard Peter Diamandis talking about one time a perfect knowledge that you can see that we're moving to a place where we're wearing let's call them sunglasses now you know like goggles, not the big thing that apple just put out, but that's if we liken that to the first cell phones that were those big brick Cell phones. If we, you know, link that down to, if we take the progress of those, you know VR and AR, you know goggles to be more like, you know, super thin Sun glasses that just look like glasses and we couple that with the advancement in VR or in, you know, ai, in our pocket or attached to our Wrist or whatever, however that goes, that we will reach a point where we know we would have access to knowing everything about everything that's known by visual or auditory cues, right like being able to walk through A city and have, through facial recognition, everything about a particular person, or to walk through a forest and see every, you know, animal butterfly, you know all of those things then there's not going to be any mystery of things. I think you know, like if you just Fast-forward these things, the speed. Dean: Friction is what you're getting out of Peter D Amonus saying this. Dan: I'm saying, I'm looking, what Peter D Amonus said he was the one that I first heard say those words perfect knowledge and I'm translating it into when we're headed now, where we see that it's not too far of a stretch to see the combination of chat T AI and the, you know, ar Sunglasses augmented or virtual reality Sunglass or glasses to be able to view the world through those lenses and have reflected up on the screen or in front of us All the data about somebody or about anything that it sees. You know, it's really almost the way. You know, the need for the more friction Involved ways of gathering knowledge would have been like if you had to let's say you saw this amazing Flower or something out on a walk you'd have to remember, remember it or draw or make notes of it. Then you'd have to go to the encyclopedia you know a botany and you'd have to go through, or even go to the library and look in the dewy decimal card catalog system for Flowers and look for a book that you could scan through to find that maybe somebody has documented what this particular, what this particular flower is. The friction of gathering knowledge was so, you know, so involved in friction, and the more that you Knew, the more that you could store in your, in your brain. That was sort of a measure of Intelligence, right, or a measure of the fact that you knew stuff. That's an advantage for Things. But now if we get to a point where everybody has perfect knowledge, you don't. You have to look at it and see okay, that's the, you know Whatever that, whatever that is, or that person is this, or this product is this or that I'll get you. Dean: I'll give you someone who has a yearly experience of I'm very smart. You know him Peter Steven Poulter. The. IVF doctor and he says you know the thrill of being in this field because the all, basically most medical breakthroughs happen in the Pregnancy and like the first year of life. So most you know if you watch where the money goes and Medical science, it has to do with pregnancy, conception, pregnancy, birth and then probably the first year of life and the other one is the last 12 months of life. Okay, and that's Experimenting to see if we can keep someone alive. You know, beyond, yeah, normal and he says that. He says from my perspective as a Doctor and a scientist, he said every year it seems to me that we know 10 times more About pregnancy because he's an IVF doctor and vitro realization, and he's a great you know, and the Statistics gathered by the US government Indicate that's true he's in the top top. You know five and and he says but the problem is that when you know 10 times more, you're is set with the 10 times greater Universe of what you don't know. Dan: That the 10 times new knowledge has opened. Dean: Yes, yes okay. So, and I was just pondering this, as people are saying well, dan, have you tried out? There's a new provision, yet I haven't. Dan: I said no, I haven't. Dean: I haven't answered two questions. I don't have the answer to two questions. They said what's the questions? I said does this Experience a provision? Does it increase or decrease? Dan: I bet it just where would you put your main line, dopamine? Yeah, you don't even have to move your hands anymore. Dean: Yeah, yeah, that's the first question. The second thing, the second question I have if I don't do it, am I missing anything? Dan: I, you know. What's very interesting too is that to me, the visual that I'm getting also is that Even chat, gpt and all of those things are decidedly backward-looking, meaning it's only trained on what's known knowledge. Dean: Yeah, I'll actually. All creativity is backward-looking. Okay, I mean if it's worth anything, you know. Dan: I mean. Dean: I mean, the apple is really great at this, because apples never first to do anything, you know as right. Dan: There's a highly valued. Dean: You know on a consistent basis they're most highly valued corporation in the world. But they've never actually Done anything new. Just do what already exists a lot better. Dan: Wow, yes, so you wonder what is? So the probe and there is anything new. Dean: What I can see about the provision, because the goggles already exist. It's you know, it's an upgrade on you know what, palmer, lucky probably created the bag and then, you know emails already. They say you can do emails with your eyes and you know you can do search with your eyes. Dan: You can you know everything else. Dean: But I said, these things already exist. They're just pulling together and integrating something that wasn't able to be done. That the same time, you know, and you know it's really pricey, I mean it's, you know, I mean it's reassuringly expensive. They've tried other goggles how much is your program? Reassuringly expensive, that's that I'll tell you. The sales team is gonna have that line tomorrow. It's what? And they say, well, why is it? Reassure me? And I said you know, you know who's not going to be in the room. What they're doing is already exists with the US Air Force, and then All the pilots, that everything they, those pilots, do, is done with their eyes. They have this screen. That's not a screen. I mean, there's no screen, but they see a screen. They see the and they operate with five other planes. So almost every Mission where they sent one of the new hyperjets, the pilot feels himself as a group of six. He's a member of a group of six and he can tell exactly what the other five are doing. You know he doesn't have to turn. It said he doesn't because he can see it on the screen. Plus, he can see 500 miles in all direction. This is all done with the eyes. These pilots have to train themselves to do Everything with their eyes. Well, that already exists. You know they're bringing that down to a civilian, civilian thing. But you know the whole question I have are the stakes big enough that I would teach myself a new skill? Dan: Mmm, right, or does it fit, can you? Well, that's it right. This is. I've been Test-driving, by the way, dan the, and it gets good reaction. They can I. Is there any way for me to get this without doing anything Is a good place to start. Dean: Well, check your limit on your card. Yeah, and first of all it's an anti-social activity because you're putting goggles on, so nobody's going to be around you when you have your goggles. But Mike Kenix was there the other day and Mike said you know, he says you have your mind, has no grasp of you until you've done it. And I says that's fair. I said that's totally fair. I understand that the question Is there enough of a compelling offer that I would even want to have experience? And I think that would be measured measured in the mainland, not in, not in Kauvalandia, I think, whether it was worse. I think whether anything is worth it. It really has a function. Does it register? Is it measurable? Progress in the mainland, right, I think you're right. Well, I'll give you an idea, your studio, your great studio which, yes, we'll have our will have a copy of in September or October of this year. I'll see that the team is in there now. We have eight studios. I have eight studios and they're gonna be you know, up-to-date technologically and and but the thing that compelled me to, first of all, for us to Follow your lead and really investigate what your studio is doing, one of our team members whose key to the Execution here came down to Orlando you know, yes you're. And went there and they said it's fantastic and they're very helpful and they'll help us any way we want, and. But the thing was suggest how much you get done in the mainland was what prompted us to look into it. Dan: Yeah, I mean, that's it's so. You know, that was kind of that before you brought it up, even thinking, I remember the day sitting in the cafe writing in my journal about okay, I want to start doing more video stuff, and asking myself the equivalent of that. You know thinking, because I'm definitely trained in thinking who, not how. But I caught myself really going down a how path of thinking okay, what do I need? You know, at least two of these. I need two cameras, I need lighting, I need what am I going to have for the background? I was already visualizing how I would rearrange one of the rooms in my office to be the, you know, always ready studio kind of thing. And then it really dawned on me about that that it's already there. Is there? That's the equivalent of is there any way I can get this without doing anything? And we literally went, you know, straight there and set up, signed a contract and recorded the very next morning. I mean, it's just so funny that the pressure not allowed and I realized that was you know. I was at the end of the 12 weeks. I signed a 12 week contract that. I had already, you know, I had 12 weeks worth of content in you know, created and already documented, and we hadn't even reached the point of what one of those cameras would cost. Dean: Like. Each of them got three cameras that are $6,000. Dan: You know the microphones are $1,000 each. The that sound for the studio environment. I mean the whole thing, the software, the all of it. It's a crazy thing when you really start thinking about it's the only way to do this without doing anything, and that's part it's so parallel you know I've been talking about. Imagine if you apply your self SELF, sphere is things around you. Is there somebody else as a service or someone that you know that could just do this without you having to do anything? Dean: Yeah, the thing is that I'll you know, I can think of some team members that. I'll encourage and we'll you know we'll finance it. Have some finance. Who would be interested in looking that provision and see what application it would have to the normal course of business, of speeding things up, making things easier, you know, and everything, and so funny. I was having a conversation with someone and he said I mean, he was texting you know and about. We were with him for about two hours and he probably texted you know 15 times to our hours and received text and you know and to our he's excuse me, I just have to take five minutes to do this. And so I said what would you see on the average day that you're involved in texting busy? And I said, and I suspect, if you do it on five days a week, you actually do it on seven days a week. Dan: Yeah, exactly. Dean: I don't think you take a weekend off from this habit. So so anyway, and he says well, you know, a light day is maybe a hundred texts and you know, a really filled, filled up day is 400 texts. Dan: And. Dean: I said you know that you're lower number, 100. That's more than I've done in my lifetime. Dan: More than more texts than you've done. Yeah, yeah, 100. I haven't done 100. Dean: I haven't done 100 texts in my lifetime. I mean, yeah and it's, and that would be 95% to Babs, you know and you know, and mostly I use emojis. I've become very Egyptian. I can do. I can do hieroglyphics with emojis and I can get a message and I like it. You know thumbs up times three. You know times. Dan: Smiley guy with sunglasses you know, I mean, you can do a lot of creative work with emojis, but except that we're apart. Dean: The only reason I'm doing this because we're apart, you know we're not in the same location, otherwise we just chat. But the thing is that this person, when I look at what he gets done, I get sometimes more done than he does in a day, certainly in a week or a month, you know, a week, a month or a quarter I get 10 times more done and I don't do any of it. You know, I don't do any of that stuff. Dan: Yeah. Dean: I bet. That's part of the I mean it's not profitable productivity, it's the feeling, it's dopamine busyness yes, I agree 100%. Dan: That's exactly where I that's what I've been catching myself, you know is this is really taking a look at that and realizing how much of this is, you know, really counterproductive. You know a lot of ways. I was saying I had a breakthrough blueprint at celebration last week Monday, Tuesday, wednesday and we were talking about, you know, 19,. I was bringing up the idea that you and I had been talking about the 25 year frames, and you know we're talking about your 70 to 80 best decade ever, and how. You know, three years I'm going to be 60 and then it'll be 20. The next 25 year framework I'll be 85, you know. So, looking back 28 years ago you're not discussed like that takes you all the way back to, you know, 1996, 1995, whatever that, whatever that is and realizing that everything that we look at right now that is so important to our lives wasn't even in existence. Then you know, like we, I still remember in 1997, when internet was just starting to become mainstream and it was definitely a place out there that you went to go to. You know you would go to the internet from your primary world on the mainland and it was a distraction, it was something it was starting to dip into. Maybe you know TV time or something that you would do otherwise. And then I remember, you know, gradually it became more and more, and 2007 I view as the tipping point, when we started with the iPhone bringing the internet with us and the app world becoming vital functions for going through our days. And now we're at a point where it's so woven into our existence that it's like water and we don't even remember, you know, I mean, all the talk now is what would happen if the grid went down. Indeed, dan, what would happen if the grid, the internet, went down? Not the power, not electricity, but let's say that the network goes down. So many things would be, you know, so many things would be messed up. We don't know how to survive without it. I was joking about that article. I remember, in the New York Times or GQ, I think it was magazine had a journalist that they sent, you know, to try and survive in New York City for a week where their only means of contact with the outside world was the internet see if he could make it. And he searched, you know, in this bulletin board, and he found this restaurant, this Chinese restaurant that had a menu and they would. You could order delivery on the internet, you know, and he slowly survived with those things. But now it's so exactly the opposite that it would be challenging to survive in New York City a week without the internet you know, it's just so how things have switched. You're the closest thing you're the closest thing I know of to being, you know, amish in the I've been involved in it. Dean: Yeah, I mean yeah, and one is, my life is not that much different. I mean, I certainly made use of the technology. I mean there's no question and I enjoy the. You know, I enjoy the internet and I mostly enjoy it for YouTube, I would say YouTube yeah, because I can get really in-depth, one-hour explanations of a particular topic you know, and Peter Zion is very good at his eight minute, 10 minute, 15, very, very good at it and. I really enjoy that. And then I'll watch all the action scenes out of Denzel Washington's new Sicily film, you know and. I mean, you don't have to watch a whole Denzel Washington movie to get the essence, you know it's about 20 minutes of really hardcore violence, you know. Dan: Yeah right. Dean: And he, you know, and he wishes the other person hadn't gotten him into this situation. He says no, I was just going about my life here. You know, it would have been better if you left me alone but here we are, you know and you got about 10 seconds to decide whether you're going to live or not, you know. So I'm just looking at my watch right now and three seconds to say you know, and I enjoy that, it's like a little you know palate, you know refreshing. And then I'll go back and I'll look at some question that occurs to me. I wonder you know what happened in this historical situation? Sure enough, you can find one or two or three you know, yeah movies, or you know videos, or something on the internet. you know and you can do that and it's very conducive for my ADB brain to have that activity and people say well, how much. You read a lot. No, I told people you know I haven't watched television at all, and Joe I. It'll be six years that I haven't watched nothing. All the football. I haven't watched any of it, Nothing. I haven't watched anything, but what I've discovered is that no football game has more than 10 minutes of action. And so I just watched the highlights. And then I don't want to see the highlights for the other teams, I just want to see the highlights for my team. That's about six minutes. And I said, geez, all those games I spent watching hour after hour on television. I could have gotten 10 or 15 of the men and the time it would take to do it, but you know, you kind of zero in on what's the dopamine part of the exercise. You know the activity so, but I resist the notion that this is going to change my life. I just resist the idea. Well, this changes everything. And I said, well, you know, speak for yourself you know, change anything for me, right? Dan: And we're both tourists. Dean: We're both tourists, yes, and we will sacrifice no pleasure for something new. Dan: Right, oh man, that's so funny. Dean: Any existing pleasure. We will not put that on the table as a bet. Dan: Yeah, we like our current pleasures, that's right. Dean: Oh yeah, so you know, and the thing is, the world is made up of all sorts, and so you've got to have the people who are, you know, the people who are just crazy nuts about the future, you know and you know, and there's people who say well, you know, as far as human nature goes, I haven't seen anything particularly new in 79 years. Right, interesting, I'm not saying not interesting. I just haven't seen a lot of new stuff happening with the fundamental change in people. Dan: Right yeah. So how are you? How are you looking at your next best decade ever? You're months away, days away. Dean: Yeah, the big thing is that we've discovered a great capability in the last two years, and that is that our thinking tools, coach tools, seem to translate easily into patents. Okay, so we started in April with a big batch. We you know we put in dozens of applications and they're starting to come in and we've got 12 now since April, we've got 12 patents and these are, you know, these have asset values. They're like every patent is like you created a house, you know, and it's got a marketplace value. The moment you get the asset, you know, you get the you know notification from the patent bureau that this is now a patent. And there seems to be something good about our thinking tools. You know strategy circle, pre-focus and buffer days. There seems to be something about our thinking tools that resonate with what they consider to be a patent. You know, something that can be granted a patent. So this is very exciting, because all we're doing is taking stuff that's been created over the last 35 years and giving it an asset value beyond just getting paid for it in workshops, you know. So it's it's growing and we're not doing that. It's a whole team of other people. We just write it a check. And you know a year later, we get back an asset that is, at the minimum, 10 times more you know, greater than our investment. Dan: I mean that's you know 10 to one in a year is pretty good to return that investment. Dean: So I'm very excited about that because we just have vast Dean. You can't believe how much stuff we've got in the store room. You know just a sheer number of ideas that we have and all of them are popping up in my mind. We're going back through documents I created 25 years ago. I said, geez, that was a great idea, but it had no present use so it didn't have a value. But here you can take everything and increase the value. I would say, the next 10 years, the amount of asset value we will create in intellectual property and on patents will equal the total amount of, will be the total amount of revenues we've created since 1989. Wow, yeah. So that's what I'm excited about. Dan: Wow, and that's where the program is. Dean: That's where the program is going. I mean, Dean, if you went through all your, all your notes, all the notebooks that you created and everything else. I bet there's a gold mine there that it can't. Dan: No, I understand that intellectually, I understand that there's lots of that. I get that. I just I can't. When I have a hard time wrapping my mind around is to what end? You know like. I wonder what the. Dean: If you were ever in, you know. First of all, that tells you that its property is the fact that you can barrel against it, not that we need it. Dan: Right. Dean: And I will tell you, we had this scamper a little bit during COVID and we had this scamper a little bit during the meltdown in 0809 where we lost the bottom of our program. I mean the revenues for the people who were at the lowest level. We just instantly lost it, you know, for a year and a half or two years, and unfortunately we went into our own reserves, our own personal reserves. Dan: Absolutely. Dean: And we could. You know we could finance the company but it was nervous. Used up weeks of her time you know, I don't want to hear you just call a number and you say I'd like to. You know the way it's all set up now with the, you know, the appraisal companies and then the loans loan companies. It's all set up and we'll get to know all those people. So the assessed value is up to date every day, and so it puts you in a position where your cash confidence. I like the game that the strategic coach represents and I just wanted to go on and on, and I don't want to be, wasting time with nervous crises, right exactly. Dan: Yes, it's a good way of putting it nervous crises, that's a. Dean: Yeah, yeah, I mean, there's creative crises, but the nervous ones I could do without, right? Oh, that's so funny. Is there any way I can solve this problem? By doing nothing? That's right, I'm not doing anything. Dan: Well, that's as close as you could get. I guess, when you think about it like that seems to me perfect knowledge. Dean: Yes exactly All this numbers. Dan: Yeah. Dean: I don't get the value of knowing everything you know I don't get the value of instantaneously knowing what would. Yeah, and besides, we already created that technology. Dan: Who was that? Who was the famous? You know the old story of the gentleman that said he doesn't need to know those things. He has a button on his desk and whenever I need to know anything I'll push that button and seven men will show up in here and one of them will know the answer to what I'm looking for Henry Ford yeah it was Henry Ford, that's right. Dean: Yes, I could summon someone, but we've already created the technology for perfect knowledge. And you're going to say, dan, what is the technology? Dan: for perfect knowledge. Well, what is it? Dean: Dan, it's called God. Okay, so they don't have access to it. But they said, no, we're going to get off, we're going to get away. You know, and I'm not joking here, because when you read these books, you realize that it's a desire not to be dependent upon at all, upon the entity that created you. And I said, well, I'm okay with it, right, right. And they say, well, it's like you're dependent upon God. And I said, hey, well, first of all, I'm very comfortable to know that he exists, or she, whatever, in this transgender age Anyway. But I have a feeling. You know, I've had a feeling since I was a kid that I'm connected to something that's transformative and it's way above my ability to know things, and you know I'm okay with that, I don't lose any energy over that, but I think there's this one of the. In reading these many books on atheism I automatically translate. When I read a lot that is very deep subject and a person has spent their whole life doing it I always think is there some aspect of this that I can just capture and write a quarterly book on? And it came to me after I've been reading El Noce, the Italian philosopher, for about a year and what I came to is a title. I always go for the title. Dan: Yeah, of course that'll see. Dean: Yeah, and the title is atheism is very hard work. Dan: Oh boy. Dean: It's very hard work. Yeah, these guys people were atheists just have to. I mean, it's 24, seven. I tell you there's no harder work on the planet than being an atheist, oh my goodness. Because they're on the lookout for anybody who even suggests that there's a God, and you know it, they get angry and they you know they have to get into an argument. I said, geez, that's a lot of work, that's a lot of work. Dan: Yes, it's so funny, dan, and observant and true, it's like those things. It's funny. It's like those isms, right, like veganism. Yeah, you know, yeah. Dean: I mean you can't sleep, compel even jelly. I mean you can't relax, you can't sleep. I mean isms. Dan: I mean you know except quick start ism. Right, yes, you watch Dan Tucker Carlson's interview with Putin. Dean: Yeah, I think Tucker Carlson did himself a lot of good, uh-huh. Dan: I think so Absolutely. Dean: Yeah, I mean, he wasn't any different with Putin. Dan: You know, I mean, this is the guy who's gonna get you thrown off the top of the building. Dean: You know he didn't see many more you know, yeah, he's got more sex than he is with anyone Anyone. You know he just Right, right right. As a matter of fact, there's a couple of situations where he just kind of broke out laughing. Yes, exactly. Dan: I can't believe. Dean: You just said that. Dan: Right, but it was very interesting to hear Putin's history lessons. You know, going all the way back. Dean: Yeah, well you know, you gotta look at it from their point of view. They are the easiest country historically to invade. I mean they have about 13 different gateways where enemies can send their troops. It's a flat country, you know. Dan: Yeah. Dean: I mean US has 3000 mile moat on the east and they have a 5000 mile moat on the west and they've got pot smoking Canadians on the north, you know, I see their no threat, oh my goodness. And then you have the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean on the south and then where they're connected to Mexico, it's 200 miles of desert mountains. I mean you can die before you can get across that thing. So the US, but Russia is just the opposite. I mean not only can people invade, they've been invaded 50 times since his 800 number, you know, whatever the year is. I mean Right, they have real honesty, got reason for being paranoid. Dan: Yeah, it's so funny. I thought it was funny when he was saying how you know, he asked about joining NATO. I thought to myself because this isn't the whole purpose of NATO to protect against Soviet expansion. Well, let's get in on that. Why don't we join that too? Dean: But you know you got to look at it from his you know, I mean you don't have to agree with his point of view, but you at least have to know what his point of view is. And if I was his point of view, I mean he was born to nobody and he you know. Through diligence and hard work he got to be a colonel in the KGB. And I have to tell you if you were in the Soviet Union before it collapsed there was no more better job and status in the world than being, you know, a, you know, up and coming officer in the KGB. They got to travel, they had their own stores, they could have somebody arrested and killed. You know, you know pretty easily, and everything else I said you know. You can see it. He took his career, took a real drop when the wall fell. You know so well. Dan: Dan, we said it all. How do we do it? How do we do? I mean, we said it all really, but there's always knowledge though there's always more. Dean: That's exactly right, yeah, the one thing about what knowledge is being made up on a daily basis, so I don't know how the word perfect fits in there, right? I mean, we just created over the last hour, we just created some new knowledge. Dan: That's exactly right. That's what. So it's visually like. It's really interesting. That's my vision of that. It's future blind. You know that GPT it's all only feeds on what's already been created. Dean: Yeah, you know but there's still got to be some, if technology had feelings, which I don't think it does. I think AI should be more nervous about humanity than humanity should be nervous. Dan: Right. Dean: What are they going to come up with today? You know? I mean I feel like we've got it all organized every night and you know, at the morning and the morning we get back and the rock is down at the bottom of the hill again. We've got to push it up. That's so funny. That's so funny. Yeah, I think it's technology that's trying to keep up with humanity, and not the other way around. Dan: Well, I'm excited, dan. It's almost a couple of weeks. Yeah, we've got a calendar date. Dean: Yeah. I tell you we're going down the Thursday before we're arriving in the evening of the Thursday before. So, we've got Friday, saturday, sunday, monday. I think we got four days and we're at the four seasons. Dan: Yes, that's great. When are you leaving? Dean: Wednesday, the day after you know the day after the yeah, yeah, okay, yeah. Dan: So we will have some time. We're on track. Dean: We're on for next week. We're on for next week I like that, okay, perfect. Yeah, great Dan, we'll have a great week then. Great Dan, I will talk to you next week. Dan: Thanks Okay, bye.
  • Ep119: Mastering Time Management

    Ep119: Mastering Time Management

    · Welcome to Cloudlandia
    In today’s episode of Welcome To Cloudlandia, Dan and I reflect on the lost art of letter writing and how corresponding through history has helped shape our podcasting discussions across time. We speak about the meaningful routines that have guided creative minds, from the structured elegance of Victorian letters to our own cherished Sunday rituals. We also explore memory-boosting techniques like visualization and repetition, applying them to maximizing focus and managing time efficiently through life’s challenges. The discussion spotlights approaches for evaluating routines that enhance well-being as work dynamics evolve, touching on parallels with societal shifts like the Great Depression.SHOW HIGHLIGHTSDean reflects on the joy of podcast recordings and the historical significance of letter-writing, drawing parallels between Victorian correspondence and modern podcasting.Dan discusses the role of structured routines in creative individuals' lives throughout history, including segmented sleep schedules influenced by lighting and caffeine.We explore the ABC questions as a tool for personal growth, helping to identify challenges that lead to immediate development when addressed.Dan compares time management to a strategic investment, emphasizing focused work sessions and revisiting effective past habits for increased productivity.We examine the impact of COVID-19 on workplace habits and the lasting effects, akin to those experienced during the Great Depression.Dean highlights the SELF acronym for personal efficiency and discusses the changes in commuting and work relationships due to the pandemic.Dan emphasizes the importance of aligning with one's natural rhythms post-retirement and the significance of consistent sleep schedules for overall well-being.We delve into the life game analogy, illustrating the impact of 'crowding out' bad habits with good ones for a harmonious existence.Dean discusses the importance of delegation and efficiency in daily routines, sharing his meal planning strategy that ensures balanced nutrition and time-saving.Dan speaks on being selective about new habits at his age, focusing only on those that will last or reinforce existing beneficial habits.

    Links:
    WelcomeToCloudlandia.com
    StrategicCoach.com
    DeanJackson.com
    ListingAgentLifestyle.com

    TRANSCRIPT

    (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)

    Dean: Mr Sullivan. Dan: I'm Mr Jackson. Dean: You know, I look at my calendar and I get this little ding on my phone that tells me we're coming up to podcasts with Dan, and it's always this little spur of joy that comes over me and I wonder where will our adventures take us today? Dan: Yeah, it's a tough bet. Dean: I'm guessing it's going to be somewhere wonderful and I'm betting on that. Yeah, yes. Dan: Yeah, yeah. Well, you know it's a nice structure because, other than my podcast with you, sunday's not a very interesting day for me. Dean: Exactly. It's the highlight of the day and we've picked a good time. Dan: We've picked the perfect time. Dean: It kind of invisibly, you know, non-obtrusive in the day, we get the morning kind of ease into it, and then right around now is when we start thinking, okay, what are we going to do today? And here it is, and then we've got the rest of the whole day after this. Dan: You know I read the last year a history of Victorian England. So this is basically 1830s till you know 1890s and 60 years, and there are people, you know very notable leaders and you know notable for other reasons, who would write up to 30 letters a day. Yes, and have them delivered by courier if they were in the city. Dean: Yes. Dan: If in London and there were some individuals that they wrote to virtually every day and then we get a return, yeah, and so the interest, the interesting thing about it is that the stain in touch with certain people and trading ideas goes back a long time. Dean: Yes. Dan: The UK probably had the first best postal service, you know which, and they had great courier services. Since I said, yes. And so our podcast is like sending a letter, you know, and, but you don't have to wait for the response. Dean: I really like that. You know, because all the way back you think about all of that. You know the back as far as we can see, even almost. You know, every book of the New Testament in the Bible is letters. It's, you know, letters to, to. You know Paul's letters to the Ephesians or to the Colossians or to that's. It's an interesting thing. I read a great book Richard Rossi turned me on to it years ago about the daily routines of notable people, like all the way back in time, and it was very interesting to see. You know, in the 1800s and the 1700s there, whatever is kind of known about the routines of, you know, different composers or writers or artists or whatever. It is pretty, pretty similar among creative people all across the board. They would, you know, they would kind of wake up and ease into the day with some coffee and you know, reading or whatever. Then they would do some, they would do some work and then they would break for lunch and maybe go for a walk and then do their. There was almost exclusively. They all did their correspondence where it was. You know what you were just talking about. They'd get their letters and they'd write their letters and that was the equivalent of. Dan: And read their letters. And read their letters. Dean: Yeah, read their letters and then in the evening they would meet with friends and you know and not, and then read or whatever before going to bed and they were pretty much typically all in bed Pretty early. That was the routine of the thing. Because there were less dopamine, I think was harder, you had to earn dopamine back then Right, yeah, yeah, I mean, I didn't get excited. Dan: What keeps you excited? Did you also you know, when you were reading about the letter writing habit to do also come across the fact, which I found interesting, that and this obviously would be, you know, upper class people, because it required light, but that they wouldn't sleep through the night, like they wouldn't go to bed and sleep. They would have couple of sleeping periods where they'd go to bed and then they'd get up in the middle of the night and required light. So they obviously could afford candles or oil lamps, and they would. They would spend a couple hours writing and reading and then they go back to bed for their second, for their second night time, did you? Dean: come across that I did a couple of a couple of times and that was, I think, a pretty common practice back when people would kind of go to bed with the sun right and as the sun went down they would kind of not long after that go to bed. But it wasn't I don't recall it being the most common thing because a lot of these people were I don't know when that practice. Actually I'm familiar with it. I'm not sure when it was popular and when it stopped. Dan: I think you had to have light you know, generally speaking, light was hard to come by. You know, one of the things that I'm always a bit irked about when they show, you know, movies that are historical movies, you know, in other words, they're dealing with a historical period and it's, you know, it's a palace or it's a castle or something, and it's right. There's hundreds of candles, you know, like hundreds of candles or there's fires? I don't think so. I think it was pretty dark. I think it was pretty dark. I mean, the biggest thing which created nighttime you know, awake nighttime for us was probably kerosene you know, which you could have kerosene lamps and then gas lamps, you know you had gas systems and yeah, where you didn't have to individually fill the. And, as a matter of fact, we were both in London over the during the last 10 years when they were digging up the entire city to replace gas lines have been put in the 1880s and 1890s. So it was they had been in the ground for 130 years and my sense is that there is a case to be made that it was lighting and also caffeine that created sort of like a second day for people. I just talked about a second night, second sleeping night, but also the all of a sudden when you had light available or places that had light and you had caffeine, people would work. You know, into the evening people would work. I think caffeine to a certain extent created productivity. You're not well you're a coffee drinker aren't you. Dean: I am. Yeah, I have coffee in the morning. Yeah, I'd say two o'clock is the latest, but primarily it's only in the morning. Dan: Yeah, I don't have anything after noon, after 12 noon. I don't have coffee, but you were talking about the habits of famous people Coffee was a good piece of it. I have a new tool I'm creating, you know, just to get people in touch with kind of things they always do without really reflecting on it. And it's called best lifetime habits. Okay, and generally speaking, a lifetime habit is a habit where you do it pretty well every day. Dean: Yes, and I think that's. I have some of those for sure, like everybody does. Yeah, and you know there's. The thing is like. I think it was you that once said nobody looks for new habits except for the ones they are already accustomed to, right? Dan: Once we already have. Dean: And for me I've, because it's constantly the fun game, you know, of trying to systemize your. You know, systemize things, look for the best way to, you know, be get as much happiness and productivity as you can out of your days and kind of go with the flow. I've really determined that my the flow, for me it really falls into zones and I remember I had a great conversation with Ned hollow well, and you know he was saying and I've shared this with you before that you know he was saying when you think about my days, like a bobsled run and set up the bobsled track that you get in at the top and it slides and winds you through the course and you end up at the end with touching all the touch points that you want kind of thing, and otherwise we end up going through the day like a toddler and a picnic. And that is absolutely true of me and I'm sure of you. So my hybrid of that, my most recent iteration, because I'm constantly evolving it, thinking okay, this is the you know, this is the new routine here. So my, I've been looking into zones and the thing that is absolutely true always and will continue to be true, is the constant of life moving at the speed of reality, 60 minutes per hour, seven days a week, you know, 24 hours a day. That whole thing is very that's a locked in place system that we can't nothing we can do about that. We can only move through that time in in real time. And so there are certain things I look at that my I try and set up my hybrid of the bobsled run is a compromise. That is like setting up a slalom run for skiers. You know when you go you have to go through certain gates. You know you have to go around this gate to get to the thing. So my basic things are setting it up, that I like to. If I set a constant of waking up at 7am, which is a natural and normal thing for me to do, I don't think there's any reason for a human to wake up at 5am. But you are different than me and that's a total different world, right? So I wake up at 7am, I can do that effortlessly without an alarm clock and it feels good, right? Then this first zone I look at, my next like gate that I'm trying to get to is 10am is the perfect time for me to do focused you know, focus finders 50 minute focused sessions from 10 o'clock till noon, and that's a big zone for me. That if I can steer everything to that, where I am in my the spot where I'm gonna do whatever, the optimal environment for my focused work is 10 to 12 is the perfect time for that. I've. Recently I went through with Jay Virgin. I went over for dinner with Tim and Jay and you know we were talking about, you know I had her go through with me and we picked out some power meals for me from Grubhub and Uber Eats to have on rotation right. So we picked 10 meals which are delicious and wonderful and protein first sort of meals with protein and vegetables. And I found the. I've been using the pre-arranged delivery on the app where I can last night set up to deliver one of those meals at 12 o'clock so that I don't have to think about it. And at 12 o'clock I know that my first meal is arriving at noon. Then the next zone then is the afternoon, is the time for anything. Any appointments that I have or any Zoom workshops or client appointments or talking with anybody happens Tuesday, wednesday, thursday between one o'clock and six o'clock, and so that zone is reserved for any time obligations that I have for involving other people. And then six o'clock is the second time when either one of those meals arrive or I've been subscribing to a meal service called Factor 75 and they deliver these great meals that you get a weekly shipment of it. So I get seven of these meals, six of these meals, sorry delivered once a week and they're all hermetically sealed and chilled and all you have to do is warm them and they're delicious and the right calorie balance and everything like that. So it takes variation out of that process there. And then the other zone then is seven o'clock to 10 o'clock in the evening and then reading, and in shutting it down I'm in bed, basically, or on my way there, by 10 and lights out by 11. And so that routine, that zone is really the most natural thing. There's lots of ways for me to optimize within that, and I think that it really comes down to really preparing in advance for those two hour my focus sessions. I can tend to be ready to do the focus work but not know specifically what it is that I'm going to work on, so I've been really focused on using those times. To use my golf analogy a goal, optimal environment, limited distractions, fixed time frame. So I lay out my when we were talking about who, not how, in the initial stages, one of the you know, basecamp one is to who up. A thousand hours was the goal and I started really thinking about those thousand hours as capital allocation. But then realizing you can really, I can really only allocate, you know, 10, 20 maximum of those hours in a week. And so it's being more intentional with those allocations and realizing that not all the hours are equal, you know. And so realizing that the if. I focus on if I can get two or three of those focused hours in a day. That's a win for me. Oh, yeah, you know. Dan: Yeah, yeah, the I just during the last quarter and it just relates to the last point, and I've got a lot of comments on the previous points, but the last thing you said was this freeing yourself up. And so during the last quarter I am still going and it's called the ABC questions and it's I think you did this. I think you did this yes. Dean: I just got my package just arrived. Dan: Yeah, I called for Thursday yeah, yeah. Dean: And the. Dan: Zoom workshop on. Thursday, and but what was interesting about it is that these are the. What you're applying it to is what I call growth problems. Dean: Okay, and I've never, never. Dan: Used that word before, but it's a problem which, if you sell that, there's growth that immediately follows and then and then a area of your life time money. You know relationship, yeah. And so you just brainstorm and then you pick three of them and write them out, and then the first question is there any way you can solve this problem by doing nothing? Okay, and I've done about six of these and I'm going to turn it into an actual, you know, an actual tool that I use on a frequent basis. Okay, a desktop tool, and the answer is usually no, but then you immediately identify the thing that you do have to do. Okay, so, and six cracks, that would be 18 growth problems. I've never said yes, there is something I can. This is something that I can solve by doing nothing. Okay, but, it forces you to think about it. Then the second question is what's the least you have to do to solve the problem? And now we're into who, not how, territory. Dean: Yes. Dan: Okay, the moment you say no, there is something I have to do, but usually it's just a communication. And in my world you use a fast filter to communicate. You say this is you know, this is the project, this is the best result, this is the worst result, and these are the five measurements of success. Okay, and then the third question is there a? Who can do my least? Dean: Yeah, exactly, it's like the do you know what it's all in the syntax right Is when you think about is there any way you could do nothing? No, that's impossible. You have to do something. Okay. So what's the least I could do? And then can I get somebody to do that, and the answer then is that you're doing nothing which is fantastic. It's like it reminds me of a story, dan, of the gentleman, the guy that went in to see the priest and was asking him if it was okay to smoke while he's praying, and the priest said well, praying is a very reverent thing. You should be respectful, you see, yeah, so you can't. Yeah, so no, no, you can't, you shouldn't smoke while you're praying. Dan: It's the wrong question. Can I pray while I'm smoking? Dean: That's exactly it. Dan: Cause a few months later he comes back and he said father when should I pray? Dean: And he said well, the Bible says you should pray without ceasing. And he said should I pray while I'm gardening? Well, yes, you're in nature. You should pray while you're gardening. Dan: Can I pray while I'm? Dean: walking. Can I pray while I'm smoking? Of course you can. Dan: Of course you can, exactly yeah. Dean: So I think you've stumbled on that same logic. Dan: Well, the thing is, it's gotta be able to humor to it. Yes. Dean: You know people say well. Dan: I said well, think it through. You know, yeah, and I said, the reason is that entrepreneurs of a certain nature anyway, my years in mind have a tendency to immediately throw themselves into a new possibility and it upsets your schedule. You know, it upsets your schedule, it upsets your team work and everything else, yes. So my whole point is you know, I've got a lot on my plate. Is there any way that I can get away with just 10% effort, just 10% effort, where I was thinking of 100% effort for the day? Is there any way that I can get 100% result with a 10% effort. You know it's always you know. But going back to the habit thing and my, you know your best lifetime habit, I would ask two questions best lifetime habits that you were doing it once but you haven't been doing it, and the other one is things that you're doing and they can be reinforced Because a lot of people, if they think about their life, they can think about at a certain time. You know they did this and it was great for them, but somewhere, for some reason, they got off track with it and just ask them if they you know, would it be worthwhile getting back on track with this particular habit? Dean: You know, while I'm thinking about it, dan, you're that progression of can I do nothing? What's the least I can do? Is there anybody that could do that least? That really harmonizes with my acronym, for you know, imagine if you applied yourself S-E-L-F, and it's the interesting thing is that S is for meaning is there some service or person or you know, something that you could, that could eliminate the need for you to do that? And if that, if you don't have something in your sphere, then the next thing would be E, which is energy, which is your energy. What do you have to do? L is leadership, meaning could you instruct somebody else to do what needs to be done? And F is finances. You could finance it. So, is there a way? No, it's about applying your self, your sphere, your energy. That's the one we want to least do leadership and finances. And so the only thing you're applying your energy to do is to figure out a way that you could turn it into a leadership opportunity to ask somebody else to do it. Dan: Yeah, and it's really interesting. Have you thought about that? Or what a profound change that the restrictions of CODET have have, how they've impacted people's work habits? Have you given any thought to that? Dean: I think about it all the time. I mean your own, obviously your own obviously yeah, but yeah, I have a feeling I told somebody. Dan: I said you know, I talked to a lot of adults when I was a kid who had talked about the great depression and how things that have been available weren't available and how their you know, their daily, weekly behavior changed as a result of the Great Depression. And I have a feeling, covid, which I mean the United States the Great Depression lasted 10 years, 29 to 30. And it didn't end until Pearl Harbor when the Second World War started. For the United States it didn't really end, so it was 10, 11 years. It was the you know, great depression and people's attitude toward money, towards work, you know where they lived and everything else was really altered by the, you know, by that 10, 11 year period here it was about really, you know, it was about two and a half years, let's say, and it's still being affected, you know, and what happened is that people's habits changed in a very significant way you know, And I was saying, you know, it's going to be hard to get a lot of people back to their job, you know. And what happened is that they were so busy they didn't have time to think about why they were busy. And so I said, you know, they were out for three months and they said I never realized how shitty the commute is. I called it the three shitties. The first thing, that's three shitties. Yeah, how shitty it was and how shitty the work was. You know, I would go through a shitty commute back and forth every day. The work was really shitty and the, you know, the people I was working with were really shitty. Dean: And. Dan: I never realized it because I never had time to think. You know, and now I have time to think and I think that it's a fundamental, lasting shift, like it'll last for the rest of people's lives. But, you know, the younger people will, you know, kind of be forced to adjust to what the older people's habit change was. You know, Of course, younger people's habits were enormously changed and the biggest thing, they're finding that truancy rates are at an all time high. I mean schools are back and you know they're back in person. But COVID taught kids that you know showing up for school is optional. Dean: Yes, yeah, and it's so. I mean, what's happening at Strategic Coach now regards to, you know, remote working, and how have you adapted to that? Dan: Well, we have one rule and the rule is everybody has to be there on Wednesday, and the reason is that Wednesday's, wherever it is, whether it's in London, or whether it's in Los Angeles or Chicago or Toronto, Wednesday's always a workshop day. It's always a workshop and so more people have to be in anyway because of the workshop and we just said Wednesday and people said well you know, you know I'm not, you know I'm not on the front stage on workshop days, so why do I have to come in? And I said and Bab sorry, this is not me, bab, the other team leader says because the rule is on Wednesday, you're here. Yeah but yeah, but the rule is Wednesday, you're here, Okay. Dean: So we have that. Dan: And then the other thing is now we have four workshop days a year, every quarter starting. We're just starting this. It's a full day workshop but it's just for the teams wherever they are and we have to get, and they have to be there in person so they can meet other people. I mean we had 23 new hires from January to January you know, and they haven't met the best. Majority of you know people that they're working with and everything like that. So we're making adjustments. You know we're making adjustments. We had our best year ever, so it can't be all bad. You know we had our most sales and I mean you know the boxes that you would check off. That says that this is a great year. We got all the boxes last year, so it's not like we're in trouble or anything because of the new arrangements or anything else, but there is a value in people really firsthand getting to meet the people that they work with. Dean: And in. Dan: June, everybody in the world comes to Toronto. You know everybody in our. You know California, chicago. Dean: London and. Dan: Toronto everybody's here for two days, for two days. But you know, you just make adjustments to things as they go along. Dean: Yes, but that's very yeah, that's good, I think that's. Dan: But you know, it's really interesting that if you take the money that people don't have to spend to commute and then the time saving, it's quite a bonus that they've gotten in a very short period of time. Dean: Yes, yeah, I mean you think about just the hours back of the commute. Even if it's 30 minutes, like even if you're local, it's still 30 minutes. Dan: Yeah, and there's not just the time, there's the getting ready for the 30 minutes. Dean: That's what I mean, yeah. Dan: So 30 minutes is an actual commute time. It's an hour, you know, do it. So it's twice a day and our team works 220 days. So, that would be 440 hours and then discount the one where they have to come in, but it would be 80% of that. And yeah, so you know, 80% of 440 is, you know, 350, somewhere around 350. So that's 350 hours. And then there's the gasoline cost, and I don't think any of our one or two of our team members have an electric car. But you know, Right, yeah, so anyway, but there's, you know, there's everything involved with the car parking. Dean: So, dan, I'm curious now about your day, how your, you know, or we kind of rhythm do you run your personal operating system? Dan: Yeah well, mine is really based on four things. It's doing workshops, it's everything involved in creating a book and podcasts, and then it's the preparation for those things. So three things that are products, and then there's three things I don't. I hardly do any marketing or selling anymore, I just think I have two three hour sessions a year. So from being the main salesperson 30 years ago to being just a little special treat you know, and that's that's an enormous time saving. I mean, I used to go to trade shows where it was like a four or five day trip, you know and you know and. I never travel for marketing. Right now, I would just. I just wouldn't even entertain it. The answer would be no. Somebody says hey, yeah, we'll make you a P. I said no, not going to do that. And the reason is we got great, you know, our marketing and sales that other people are doing is doing the job. Yeah, so that's it. So so that remains the same before COVID and after COVID. It's just that there's very little travel involved in most of that. Dean: That's great and so, but in your what about your daily rhythm or how you're, the day daily routine of, if we're writing this for the, for that book 100 years from now? Talking about the 2020s. The great Dan Sullivan, how he would spend his day. Dan: Well, I differ slightly, and when I get up, then I understand. Yeah, because if I'm not up by 530, it's unnatural. Yeah, you know, I I like getting up at 530. Tell me automatically I'm an hour and a half ahead of you. Dean: Yeah, but you know I think it's so funny. I had breakfast with Robin Sharma in Toronto when I was up last and you know I was joking with because he of course very famously started the 5am club as the thing and you know it's. I joked with him. I said I feel like people it'd be a you know, better for people to join the nine hour club, to get nine hours of sleep than it would to get up at 5am. Dan: Yeah well, I did a sleep course during the summer, Great. Yeah yeah, Michael Bruce. Dean: Yeah. Dan: I had to log a diary every day. Dean: I remember and you were he was staggering, usually making you stay up till 1030 or something, 1030 was 1032. Dan: Yeah, I mean, what it was is to make the time you got up constant. And he started us off with me and then Babs. Babs joined me. But he sleep deprived me and then we gradually got off my sleep sedative, got off my Adderall. Dean: So I haven't had. Dan: Adderall. I've only had one Adderall in the last six months and then, and so the reason was drugs like that, including the sedative. You don't have to get sleepy to go to sleep, because you take a sleep sleep. And you don't have to be rested when you get up in the morning because you take an Adderall you know so, but what gets lost in that is your natural sleep pattern. So yeah, now I'm, it's about 17 hours. He says that's the right period that you get at least 17 hours of waking time. But, I don't. I need 16, you know I. You know you modify it as you go on, but it's been great, you know. But you know I'm up early. I've always been up early. I grew up on a farm sports, I was in the army. You know I always get up early. I like, I really like getting up early you know, but of course, finally, I'm not a late night guy. Dean: Right yeah, so your, what time are you asleep Then? Normally? What time is your? Dan: wake at eight hours so we're in bed and out in eight hours, and that agrees with both of it, I mean when you're living with someone you got to and you're in the same and you're in the same bed. Well then, you know you're going to synchronize the hours, yeah, yeah. But it was kind of funny because New. Year's is a totally uninteresting day to me. New Year's Eve, right. And people say so, did you stay up? And I said, ah, we were in bed at nine, you know. And I said you know, you know when it was, you know when it was midnight somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. That's when I went to bed. Dean: Yes, right, it's so funny. Dan: Yeah, yeah, but yeah, I mean, my best creativity is in the morning. Dean: Yes. Dan: And I think yours too. Dean: Yeah, yeah, that zone, you know I like to, so I try, and I like to have one 50 minute session for me in that seven to 10 zone where I can just be a toddler at the picnic in my journal, thinking thoughts that I didn't know I was going to think. Right, that's, that is great for me and I've taken into, I've adopted your, you know your practice for 25 years of asking what do I want? That's really what that is about. Is my thinking, about my thinking in that time, right, in that 50 minutes and that way. But I also want to then make sure that I'm being the steward of those two hour block, the focus sessions, so that I'm allocating and stacking up here I mentioned, you know I have a thousand hours of that, but I can really only, I only focus and this is always. But my latest iteration is that I'm only stacking up, kind of the next 10 hours. What is the thing? How am I going to allocate the next 10 hours? And of those, what are the two or three today? Dan: that. Dean: I'm going to, that I'm going to do, and that's been. You know so much. I've got such a great, you know, such an abundance of ideas and things that I could do. You know it's the. It takes really curating and discipline in a way to to realize that in order for those things to get done, they have to happen in real time. You know, and that's because the what and how kind of things are shape shifters, you can puzzle on those and figure those. You figure out what you need to do and how, how it needs to be done or even who is going to do it. But the all, the applying yourself, happens in the when and the where. That's the most important thing. That's what I lack in my. That's my executive function disorder right. Dan: You know all you can you know to be useful to other people. The only thing you can do is actually tell you. Tell other people what you do, not, what they should do. I never even tell people what they should do, and my reason for that is we only get to play in the present, you know so the only game day we have is the hours available to us. You know, from rising to, you know going to bed. Yeah, we're all playing on the same synchronauts, yeah, but who you are in the present is really a function of your story about what your past is and what your story is about your future. We don't actually live in those realms and that tells me that who people are in the present is absolutely unique, because the story they tell themselves about their past and their future is completely made up by them, and they might communicate 1% of that to somebody else, but the 99% is them having a conversation with themselves both forward and backward and forward. So you know, unless you can understand what people's past and future is, it's hard for you to comprehend how they actually arrange their dates. Dean: Yes. Dan: And yet it makes total sense to them. It makes total sense so, more and more as I go along you know I have to even with people I've known for a long period of time and talk to a lot. You know I always have to remind myself that in understanding this person, I have probably less than 1% of the information that they have. Dean: Yeah, the inner world. What's going on in there? Dan: Yeah, and for most people they're not even conscious that they're making up their past. You know? I mean past is the past. You know that happened. I said well, yeah. I'm not disputing the fact that it happened, but your interpretation of what happened is the important thing here you know, and two people can have what looks like to be an identical experience and come up with very different stories about what the you know what the situation was. And so and the other thing is the future. So you know, and I follow, I've got a file on my Evernote and it's about people who think they can predict the future. You know. Dean: Wow, okay, yes. Dan: And I said, they can predict the future, but they can't even predict their tomorrow. Dean: Right, that's interesting. Dan: It's like climate. You know climate. Dean: Yeah right. Dan: Climate actually doesn't exist, it's a thought. You know and what climate is in a particular location, 365 days of temperature and you know weather conditions. Yes, the average weather conditions for 365 days. That's what climate is. It's a abstraction that gets created by averaging a large number of a large number of days. You know. Dean: Yeah. Dan: People have talked about the climate and I said well, you know, the real problem with getting people really engaged emotionally with the climate is there's not a single person who's actually experienced climate. We just experience weather. Dean: That's an interesting thing that, really, when you think about what you passed, is it's the tapestry of this woven thread of all of the things that you actually did. Yeah, I mean, it's certainly it's the weather of, it is the when and where of what did you do? Yeah, what were you? Dan: Yeah, and there's a lot of abstractions, like society. Dean: I've never experienced society. Dan: I experienced Dean, I experienced Babs, I experienced Joe Polish. I don't know the things society I've never. You know society should do this. I don't think society got the memo, you know. Dean: Right. Dan: Society is not Consistently yeah, or? We're destroying the world? I said I don't think so. I don't know what's the world, you know? you know, you know, and we may be destroying ourselves, you may be destroying yourself, but I don't think we're destroying the world, you know. I mean you know the world's taken. Asteroid hits. The temperature has gone up 100 degrees. It's gone down 100 degrees. You know where I'm talking to you right now. You know, 15,000 years ago it was under 100 feet of water. You know, and you know, I'm right on the shore of Lake Ontario. Dean: Yeah. Dan: And yeah, the shoreline used to be Castleoma. You know how high Castleoma is you? Dean: have to go up to get the Castleoma. Wow, so my, so my Yorkville was underwater. Dan: Yeah, oh yeah. Yeah, yeah yeah, that's what's going on, actually. Yeah, quite a bit of us going on. So the big thing is that people create these abstractions and then the abstractions become their reality, over which they have no controls. I mean, if they didn't have any control over their personal reality, boy, they sure don't have any control over things that are an abstraction, you know, and isn't it interesting, though, that so much of everything is an extra abstraction. Dean: When you look at these things, you know we look at all the things, the collective abstractions that we all participate in is certainly most geography. I believe that Africa exists, but it's only an abstraction to me, because I've never been to Africa Me either. I've never been to Buenos Aires, but I'm going to take your word for it that it's really there. Dan: Yeah. Dean: That's interesting. Dan: And it's closer to Africa than it is to Toronto. It's actually closer to Antarctica than it is to Toronto. Dean: You can't go to Antarctica, Dan everybody knows that. Dan: Yeah yeah. Yeah. So the big thing why habits are good on a daily basis is because they're not abstractions. These are neural pathways that you're creating in your brain that encourage you to do this tomorrow rather than a whole bunch of other stuff that you haven't thought about. But my sense is, you know, and the thing I'm going to get across here, that success is a function of productive habits, times, longevity, you know it's productive habits, namely that you're doing this on a daily or frequent basis and you're doing that over years, and it's like compound interest, you know, and yeah, but, you have to make the deposits, to make the transfer. Dean: It's so funny. I was playing around with a visual metaphor for how the constant moving of the speed of reality. Have you ever seen the? Have you ever seen the video game, the guitar hero? Have you seen on visual or anything? Dan: No, I haven't. Dean: So guitar hero is a game where you have this guitar but you've got, instead of strings, you've got these color buttons on the neck of the guitar. So it's yellow, green, blue, red, you know whatever those things are. Then your imagine, do you know how the title sequence to star Star Wars is coming, like when the words are coming at you and you're kind of moving. Okay, so you're looking down the neck of a guitar and you're moving towards it, or it's moving towards you, and as the notes get to this line, you press the red button and then, when the green comes to the line, you push green and then you push yellow or whatever it is to make to play the song that's coming, but it's moving and if you miss it you miss the points, right. So I thought about the way that musical Tetris that's exactly it. Okay, there's perfect example. Tetris is coming at you. So you've got this. You know, as it's moving, we're in control. Our focus can only be on one thing at a time, right? So if you're focused on, you know in our hundred ten minute units that we're getting throughout the day our ten Jackson units. As we were referring to our hundred Jackson units is that we can be in one lane kind of thing for that. So we're moving the joystick or the controller over to be in this activity. Right, and looking back at the record of what we're leaving behind is the wake of what we actually did in those minutes. Right, so you could be neutral where you're just sitting there doing nothing, but you could be in the sleep lane for eight hours. Of that on the record you could be. You know you wake up at 5.30 and by six o'clock I think you're working out by then. Right, is that your trainer arrives. So you look back at the. You look back at the permanent record that you're leaving in your wake is at six, is yellow, with your trainer or whatever, consistently over time that you're getting into those things and the more you know erratic those things are, it leaves less of a pattern over time, right, but that's where you get that. So the consistency, my observation of it is to, if I could try and tighten up those things so that in those bands that from 10 o'clock to 12 o'clock, I've established the consistency over time of dedicating those two hours to the most important things that I can be doing, that's going to have an impact, you know. Dan: Yeah, well, it's all very interesting, you know, because I think a lot of people just don't comprehend who they are today as a function of consistent past habits, yeah, and who they're going to be in the future is a series of consistent habits. And you know, and I was reading, charlie Munger is the width and wisdom of Charlie Munger, warren Buffett's partner, who just died about a month ago, and he said you know, you can have a lot of raisins, but they're in addition, it's half raisins and half turds. We call the dish turds. Dean: So you have a lot. Dan: You have good habits, but you have a lot of bad habits. We call the result bad habits, even though there's good habits along the way. So I think you know it's part of your self knowledge is to increase one and decrease the other. Dean: Yeah, I was just thinking about my, you know. You look now the deposits of over time, the 12 o'clock and six o'clock perfectly balanced meal Delivered without any variation. Or you know, human error in that thing that over time that tapestry is going to be a different pattern, right? Dan: Yeah, and the thing is because a lot of other things are responding to it, you know I mean your brain is noticing a difference, so it's got to make adjustments. You know your brain yeah, make adjustments in your social life. Yeah, make adjustments and everything like that. That's why you don't have to think about 30 things If you got three good things to think about the other 30 will have to adjust to the three. Yeah, and I never try to change bad habits, I just tried to crowd them out with good habits. Right, I think what I, you know, evolved in thinking today, I want you to pay a lot of attention to them, you know. Dean: Yes, I think a realization I had today, dan, is I was thinking to myself could I establish that meal system without doing anything? Is that literal? Well, I don't have to cook and I don't have to buy groceries to do anything. I only have to decide which I want and place the order. But if I look, that's the least I could do. But now, as I think about it, I could get Lillian, my assistant, to do to. I said these are the 10 meals, let's rotate them around, and I want them to arrive at 12 o'clock and six o'clock and not have anything to do. So there is a way that I could do that without doing anything. Dan: Yeah, yeah, and they're not wasted because they go in the fridge, you know. Dean: So oh no. I would eat them anyway. I have to eat them. Yeah, I have to eat. Yeah, exactly. Dan: Yeah, well, of course. I mean that's the way ours are done. You know Christopher, who's the caterer for our workshops, he does Babs on my Meal and lunch and dinner, and then our back to our EA, looks at our schedule, whether we're going to be at home or not, and then she, you know we have guests in the raving house, and then she asks us questions about it and we, you know we'll give the answers. And then she's in touch with the caterer and the meals arrived. You know the meals arrived and basically lunch and dinner, like for the weekend. They would come on Friday afternoon and their guests for Saturday and Sunday. Dean: Yeah. Dan: I love that, yeah, yeah, I mean, and you know. But the big thing is I noticed, going on the 80, I'll be 80, you know four months, hey, yeah, and what I noticed is that I don't really start anything new these days. If it's not something I'm going to stick with for the rest of my life, okay, or it's going to reinforce something else that I'm going to stick, that I'm already doing, that's going to last for the rest of my life. Dean: So yeah. Dan: Yeah, so I'm very selective about anything new, you know, and you know, people say hey this is really interesting. So I said, don't think so. I don't think this is going to be a rest of my life experience you know, and so but on the other hand, I'm going a lot deeper into things that you know. I'm really interested in things that really support the new things, that support the thing that I'm already doing. Dean: I'm really yeah, and our podcast is one of those. Yes, one of those. Dan: Yeah, so you can. You know pretty well, figure, as long as you're up to it, I'm up to it. Dean: That's great. I like it, yeah, yeah. Well, it's been an amazing conversation, as always I had no idea what adventure we were going to go on, but this was really enjoyable conversation. Dan: The one thing I should tell you is that when you're in Argentina, it's not uncommon for dinner to start at nine o'clock at night. Dean: Right. Dan: Okay and which which, so you can take dinner time and then, after dinner and going to bed, which kind of dictates that Argentinians get up later. They get up later in the morning and I said this tells you why the US and also they have the two hour break. Dean: Yes, the middle of the day, you know and. Dan: I said. So this kind of tells you why the US is ahead, because Americans get up early and work all day. Yeah, I think on a one developed countries. Americans work a lot more than certainly anybody in Europe. Americans work a lot more than anyone in. Europe, I think probably anyone in South America, probably not. Southeast Asia. I bet Southeast Asians work more than Americans do. Yeah, but anyway. But that's just the habit of the culture. It's a workout. I mean, america is a work culture. Dean: Yes, I love. It, okay, well, I guess I will see you on Thursday. Dan: Oh well, have a good day I got a lot of great stuff for Thursday. Dean:It's all very exciting. I'm going to read the. I got the new book for the or yesterday, so I'm going to read that. Dan: Awesome, all right. Dean: Okay, Dan, I'll talk to you next week or I'll see you Thursday. Dan: Okay, thursday Thanks, thanks, gene.
  • Ep118: Weathering Politics and the Evolution of American Homes

    Ep118: Weathering Politics and the Evolution of American Homes

    · Welcome to Cloudlandia
    In today's episode of "Welcome to Cloudlandia", Dan and I discuss the unexpected cold weather that recently swept through Florida and Ontario. We talk about how the weather can affect our moods and the emotional connection between climate and architecture. We share personal stories about winters and pay tribute to oak trees that stand steadfast throughout the seasons.We also consider community planning and how neighborhoods can either embrace nature or ignore natural elements. Additionally, we explore innovative housing, such as modular and 3D-printed designs, while considering ideas on population growth. The future of shelter looks promising.Finally, we wrap up by examining the impact of advertising on media polarization and the changing news landscape.SHOW HIGHLIGHTS Dan and I discuss the unexpected cold in Florida and Ontario, touching on Seasonal Affective Disorder and the psychological impact of weather on mood. We pay tribute to the significance of oak trees and their presence through the seasons, exploring how community planning can integrate with nature. Dan reminisces about the grandiose architecture of the Gilded Age and contrasts it with the simplicity and utilitarian focus of modern home designs. We explore the historical context of Craftsman-style homes and the influence of income tax and antitrust laws on architectural styles. We delve into the topic of U.S. population growth predictions and Peter Zeihan's perspective on the country's capacity to double its population without feeling more congested. The conversation shifts to the current political landscape, analyzing the dichotomy between Biden and Trump, and the challenges faced by third-party candidacies. We examine the accuracy and influence of betting markets on political forecasting and their reflection of public sentiment. Dan describes the impact of the pandemic on education and considers potential long-term effects on future generations. We discuss the shift from advertising to subscription models in media, considering the New York Times as a case study and touching on media polarization and the influence of digital giants. The episode concludes with reflections on the concept of climate as a statistical average of weather and historical climate patterns, challenging the narrative of global warming.

    Links:
    WelcomeToCloudlandia.com
    StrategicCoach.com
    DeanJackson.com
    ListingAgentLifestyle.com

    TRANSCRIPT

    (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)

    Dean: Mr Sullivan. Dan: Mr Jackson Well well, well. Is it hot or cold? Didn't forward that to me. Dean: Well, it is middling. I would say it's a little bit of a cast, but I think it's on its way. We had yesterday like the first day in several weeks that I felt a warmth in the air. There's been. We've had a bit of a cold overtone to everything. Dan: Yeah, I think cold in Florida in January is worse than cold in. Ontario. Yes In your brain yeah. Dean: And especially disappointing for people who come from Canada expecting. Dan: I was contemplating this on the plane flight we flew it to Chicago yesterday afternoon and I was complaining at how oblivious I am generally to weather. Like I know, there are people who I don't know what the exact term is, but they have seasonal, seasonal mood disorder or something like that. Dean: Seasonal affective effective disorder. Yeah, Sad. Dan: Seasonal affective disorder. Right, yeah, and you know I don't exactly know what goes on there, but the only thing I can say I don't have it, yeah, exactly. Dean: I don't mind overcast either. That's funny, but you know I am 24 years now into a snow free millennium with only two asterisks, and those asterisks are both because of you. The only time I've seen snow in this whole millennium is on the occasions when I've been in Toronto in the winter because of the cold In the winter, because of going to 10 times when you started the 10 times program, and then I believe there was one time in Chicago that there was some snow, usually three out of the four dates you get away with no snow, but there's always that December till, you know, april time when it somewhere in there you might end up with some snow. Dan: Yeah, well, we have snow on the ground, I mean fresh to overnight, but the sidewalks are already dry, naturally, and I already arranged. Dean: I already arranged, with the powers that be, to put the asterisks beside my thing, because although I've seen snow and been in the presence of snow, I've not had snow touch me, so the purity of it is intact, although the technicality of it is. Dan: I've been in snow, so yeah, I remember our very first client from Australia mid 90s, from Sydney, and he came to his workshop in Toronto one winter and his wife came with him and he got a call from her while he was at the workshop that she had gone outside in a snow head fell on her. Dean: In Australia or in no. In in Toronto, all right, a snow head falling on her. Dan: It's the first time in her life that a snow she was talking about a flake. Dean: She was talking about a flake yeah yeah, I got it A snow. Yeah, usually you can have as many as you want. Dan: Front all you want, yeah. But I have very memorable childhood winters of hiking through fields and woods in the snowy season, and you know, and of course when you're six years old, the snow is deeper than it is when you're 80. Yeah, but I, so my I have a real warm spot in my heart about snowy treks, you know, and imagining that you're a member of, you know, an arctic exploration, everything things that you do, you make up, you know, you make up, you know romantic images based on your reading regarding snow. But I like the forest seasons. I'm a real fan of the change from one season to the other. And then, you know, we have these massive oak trees in our lawn. We have seven that are you know well over 100 feet and and they're real friends because we've had them now for you know, for at this particular spot, we've had them for 20,. This is our 22nd year. And you know and I just you know they're kind of friends, you know they're kind of dependable friends. Oaks tend not to disappoint, you know they're not they're never late, they always show up, you know that's exactly right. Yeah, and but, it's just interesting to watch the change of the scenery and our lawn based on what happens to the oak trees over the course of an entire year. Dean: Well, you, you have not yet been to the four seasons, Valhalla but we are surrounded by 150 year old oak trees. It's like a park. Right out in front of my house. I have a big one that spans over the driveway. It's beautiful. Dan: I think these are called they're in the south there's this variety. They're called pin oaks. I don't know what the actual name Live oak. Well, live oaks are the best. Dean: That's what I think we have, because they're they spread. You know, they've got quite a nice canopy. Dan: When an oak tree is alive, that's the best. Dean: Oh, I see, oh, yes, that is. Dan: You know, You're always a bit worried about the dead ones, the dead oaks are the best yeah, oh my goodness you crack me up. Dean: I'm constantly amazed that they come and so that tree in front of my house. We've got them all throughout the whole neighborhood here and they come and they'll like lop off entire branches, like entire, not just the little things but big things, and they'll just keep going and grow right back and shape the way, because often it'll they have to trim around because the limbs will come over my house right and if it were to fall it would be a problem. So they always keep it outside the perimeter of the roof. Dan: Well, it must have been interesting because, to you know, the zoning in your place must have taken into account that you can't cut down the oak trees. Dean: Yeah, that's true, that's everything is built around them and our H away takes care of all of the landscaping. So everything it's all uniform. It looks like a park so you don't have, you know, different levels of care being taken. Everybody's at the whole, the whole place looks great. Dan: So no opportunity for status right. Dean: That's exactly right and they owe that tightly deed restricted. Like you're, absolutely right, Like it's. You know, every house is the same brick. There's approved tile, they're all tile roof. You have to have a tile roof, you have to have copper flashings, you have to have this Valhalla brown as any exterior paint the windows, everything. It's all you know. They started in the late 80s building in here and they've, you know, as recently as two years ago. The last, the last home was, was built in here, but there's only 50 homes in here but you wouldn't be able to tell. You couldn't tell which ones are new and which ones are from, you know, 1980s, and that's. It's kind of nice, it's cool, but we've had you know I say it's funny. You say it's an interesting thought that no opportunity for status in here. Because so when I moved in here 22 years ago now 2002, I was by far the youngest person in here and thought I was would joke that 20 years from now I'll be old enough to live in here. And this is a my neighborhood like. Right beside me, three of the four houses to my right were referred to at the time as Citrus Barron Row, where these guys were, all you know, in their 70s and 80s and had built the Citrus. You know they were all sort of competitors in the Citrus business in Polk County. At one time Polk County produced more Citrus than the entire state of California and so so these guys were all there. My neighbor across the street was the guy who started Steak and Shake, the restaurant chain, and when he died he he left $20 million to Indiana University for the Kelly School of Business Wing there, and the my neighbor who moved in there is now the own company called Colorado Boxed Beef and they are like an Omaha Steaks type of thing. So anyway, fascinating people but very like low key. You never know about any of them that they're who they are, and I think that was part of the intention of the community, you know when they built the community. But it's very interesting. Dan: Yeah, it's really interesting the reason I brought up the status thing, relationship to a, you know, a design community, you know just use the word design community and the first one actually was in. I think it was in New Jersey. And it was called Levittown and it was designed by a man by the name of Levitt, and that was the first design community that was where individuals could buy homes. I mean there were sort of during the industrial age, growing you know in the 1800s there was, there were company towns. you know where the corporation, the company, would design all the homes and you know, they would do it on the cheap. They would do it on the cheap, and they're actually. There's a town outside of Chicago called Pullman. Dean: And. Dan: Pullman was the cars. Oh yeah, pullman cars right. Pullman. Dean: Pullman cars, Rail rail cars, right yeah. Dan: And the railways. Yeah, and that was a design company town and all the businesses were owned by the company and the only people who could live there were people who worked for the Pullman. So you've had that type of thing. You've had that type of thing, you know. You know it's probably from the beginning of industrialization, hershey, Pennsylvania, kind of that way too. Dean: Yeah, Kohler, Wisconsin yeah. Dan: Kohler, wisconsin. Yeah, and so the. But I think Levittown was actually. It's worth it for people to look it up. It's a very interesting thing. Dean: Yeah, I remember seeing some documentary about it. Dan: And it was huge. I mean it was huge, it was in the thousands of homes. Dean: Yes. Dan: And yeah, and then you know, the idea caught on. Dean: Yeah, well, that was what, as the evolution of you know, as cars became the big thing in the highway system, you know you could have. That was where the suburbs really began. That was one of the first suburbs of Firecall. Yeah, yeah, very interesting that actually started that really started in. Dan: I read the history of the Victorian age and Great Britain which, last you know, is basically from the beginning of Queen Victoria, which was, I think, 1820s, 1830s, right up until she died and she was in for more than 60 years. And but the big thing was the expansion of the London rail system. You know it kept going further and further out and you know London Americans who have no idea of what you know a city train system looks like, because London has seven that I visited. They may have more, but they had seven major railroad stations and these are huge. These are as big as you know. They're like Grand Central Station but there's seven of them. And then the lines go out like the, you know like the, like a clock face that go out, you know and, but they kept pushing them further and further out, and one of the big things was that you could live right on the rail system and they started building these suburban towns, not with the uniformity that you're talking about with you know, with your, your community, but but that whole idea of the suburbs became a big thing, you know, and and that it changed things economically, it changed things politically, changed things culturally. Dean: And that's. Dan: That's very interesting thing. And you know and contrast that with where we have our home in Chicago, that right after the war it was sort of a factory or it's right near the airport and they built all these boxes you know, and they were just streets and streets. Yeah, yeah, and they were the same. They were, you know, not big but completely uniform, and I think around that happened probably for a period of 10, 15 years, straight up till the 60s, and then the. Park Ridge, the town that I live in, passed a law that if you build the house, it couldn't be. It had to be different from the two houses on each side of you. Dean: Oh, wow, that's interesting. I wonder about that, Like the. This evolution would be an interesting, like you know, seeing the architectural journey because, if you go back to, have you ever been to Newport in in Rhode Island? Yeah, newport, rhode Island, have you ever been to see the? Vanderbilt mansions and all those things. Dan: Well, they were called cottages. Dean: They were called Newport cottages, exactly. I love that yeah. Dan: Yeah, they had 40 rooms, you know yeah. Dean: So when you look at it in a world pre-income tax and pre-antitrust all of those things- I think income tax probably made a difference. Probably. But, you look at that, that gilded age of where opulence was the thing, that's where you get all those, you know, huge mansions, in New York City even, and the whole thing. People were, they were big and there's nowhere. You know, across the street from me there is a new development. So one of the Valhalla was kind of out, you know, surrounded by 350 acres that one Citrus family owned for years, right there's almost a mile on Lake Eloise of Lakefront, and there was no houses on it, it was all just orange groves. And so recently, you know, a few years ago, they sold the land and now they're starting to develop this neighborhood, this new, you know, giant subdivision called Harmony, and the houses they start the first phase, like in the last, in the last year, they've, you know, made quite amazing Headway on it. But damn, the houses that they're building have as much character as the houses in the board game monopoly. They're just little Boxes that they're putting right beside each other on all of these things. And the two-story houses look like the hotels In monopoly, you know, and there's no, they're just boxes with windows and a two-car garage and a driveway and Zero Character. You look at the homes that were being built in the, you know, in the 20th year. They 1800s, 19, 120s. The homes were all Craftsman style homes, you know, like there was some artistry to them. Now, in every way, it's really come full circle to pure Utilitarian. You know, utility, just what's the? yeah right angles with very little, you know very little. Dan: Yeah, it's really, really interesting because you know there's kind of a Van vanity that goes along with the times. You know another yeah well, we do things better than people did a hundred years ago. Well it was very interesting that a hundred years ago you could go to the Sears and Roba catalog. Yeah and you could go, where you could buy a house of the and, and they would have pages and pages of different styles, and, and what you would do is you would order it you know, yeah, and you had to pay. You had to pay for it. You know you had to send a money order. You had to Western Union that you know you had to send a telegram and then the money would be secured at the other end and about five days later, by train and truck, your house kit would arrive, and then you had to engage with a local builder and the local builder would just follow the manual and would put up a house, and some of these houses were 10, 12 Room houses, you know yeah yeah, they had big porches and everything else. And then you could modify them. I mean, you could modify them, you could paint them whatever color you wanted it. There's actually a town in Michigan, frankenmuth, which is sort of a German theme. It's sort of one of those theme towns. You know where. It's a German town, so they have a big October fest there every year and you know they have German restaurants and I suspected happened because there were a lot of German immigrants to that area of Michigan. But they have more intact lived in Sears and Roboc houses than any other community. Dean: Oh, wow and and. Dan: But if you go to, you know, if you go to Google and you just put in Sears and Roboc houses images, you'll see the bit, you'll see all the pictures of these houses in there. It would be considered sort of lavish today, these houses, you know. But it was just you know it just arrived by train. You know it was big curtain after curtain. Everything Funny that we've kind of come. Dean: We've kind of come full circle on that. Now. The biggest trends are, you know, pre modular manufactured manufactured homes yeah, that they deliver, and even now 3d printed homes and I think it's probably gonna be a combination of that of 3d printed and Modular yeah, interior things that's gonna be. But you know, you look at it, it's like we're still have you seen in any? I don't haven't followed it, but population projections for the United States over the next 50 years. Have you seen what's the projection? Dan: So they're three, you know, they're mid is probably, you know, and that's a lot of illegal people who became legal you know, so there's a ton of illegal People in the country right now right and everything. But they estimate. You know that the US is going to grow pretty much at. You know, if you look back 30 or 40 years probably, you know probably the same rate of growth to you know, one or two percent per year that population grows and but they're the Peter Zion in his books and I thought about him a lot on the pre bird podcast. Yeah, but he said that the United States still has so much land. Oh yeah not, that's not settled. I mean it's. You know, it's geographically established. And everyone but he said the US could. This was. He was using three 330 million as the base number there and he said if you doubled the population 660 million the country wouldn't feel any more crowded than it does now. Dean: Yeah, that's very interesting and I can attest to that for Florida in itself, yeah, but we was Hard. Dan: As for it is like 30 million now, I think it is. Dean: No, it's on its way to 30 million in by 30. By 2030 it should be 30 million. Yeah, it's 20, 24 million or something right now, but we're the fastest growing. They are alternating between Texas and, but we grew last year at 1200 people a day, you know. So we're growing a city the size of Orlando every year. Yeah, and there's plenty of part of the reason. Dan: Part of the reason, I think, is the retiring baby boomers. Dean: Oh, yeah, yeah. Dan: And in other words, that I may be an anomaly, that I'm 80 and I'll be 80 in May and I don't feel the cold doesn't bother me. You know, right, cold weather, but there's a lot of people, you know, I mean if you have arthritis. You know the cold bothers you, you know and other things. But you know, I know I have no thought of ever and Babs would be with me here. No thought of ever living as our permanent home anywhere but Toronto right and. But we visited, our favorite is Arizona, so we go to. Arizona a lot during the year, yeah, and. But I have no, you know, I mean there wouldn't be anything under. Well, one day We'll be able to go and you know they'll spend. Dean: You know, spend you know, six months, yeah, some warm, and that doesn't really. That's playing into Florida's hand in that it's still part of the dream for many people. Oh yeah, it's you know you when we were talking about guessing and betting, that you know I think that's a pretty certain guess that from you know what's not going to change in the next 20 years, that you know right now still we're in the middle of the, the baby boom, baby boomers turning 65, there's going to be 10,000 people a day turning 65 right now, which will be 2028. Dan: 2028 is the year when all people born during the baby boom era are now older than 65. Yeah, 2028. Dean: Yeah, so you look at that and it's like in the Northeast that is almost like you know. It's almost like mandatory military requirement. Back it up. This is where you get shipped to. Dan: This is where you get shipped to yeah, yeah, yeah and, of course, the Northeast is by far the most expensive from a government standpoint is the most expensive part of the country. Yeah regulation and taxes. Dean: Yeah, you know. Dan: I would say from New Jersey right up to the Canadian border. You know that there's a movement south. I mean, obviously Florida has great attractions. You know, other than, but even economically, that your tax and regulations are way more tolerable than in the. Northeast. Yeah, you know I kid people who are from California, you know I. You know who are in the plant base. New York not so much New York, but California. It's easier to pick on New York than it is, or pick on California than it is. New York, california was the dream place. You know, you went to. California. That was the great dream, and I said so at some point. Are you thinking about moving to the United States? Dean: That's funny. Yes, exactly. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I've got a client who's from Montana Bozeman, and he's. I said why is Bozeman so popular? And they said it's, it's. It's the closest place in Montana that you can be near the United States. Dean: Okay, it's so funny, those places, there are lots of those like. We've got a client in Miami, in South Beach, and they said that's the refrain, that's their clients. What they like about South Beach is that it's so close to America. You know, you can certainly be in it, but not of it there. That's the truth, you know, yeah, yeah, I think that's kind of what you know every, that's what's kind of buoying. You know Ron DeSantis, his, you know his polling is. You know, the only reason he's even in the running is because of you know people looking at what he's done for Florida. His whole campaign was make America Florida. Dan: But that would be, you know, that would be candidate who just has had no United, no experience outside of Florida. Dean: Absolutely Right, I think that's it. Dan: Each of the states is a country and people. You know people have their. You know the whole notion that everything should be like one place. Dean: Yeah Right, that's not it. Dan: I mean, there were a lot of rookie mistakes that he made. You know you, yeah. The other thing is that he's running up against somebody who's done two complete national campaigns before this one. He's a great organizer I mean President Trump is. Dean: I think everybody is. I think everybody is baffled by his. I mean, it's not even close the lead that Trump has over everybody else in the polling and in the you know the things. It's just what a year this is going to be, you know, to see how this all plays out. Yeah, and I think some cases. Dan: some cases are going to, especially at the level of the Supreme Court, and one of them is, of course, the appeal to the Colorado move. Dean: Oh yeah. Dan: Trump can't be on the ballot and I think if the justice the justices, I mean it'll the Supreme Court will overturn it, but I think the justices would be smart to make it 9 to 0. Yeah, because this is and it's just an interpretation of one of the amendments the 14th Amendment, and that's you know, and, and they're going to establish that, and then that becomes the precedent. So all the other states, like Maine or anybody else is thinking about it can't do it you know, and that's the role of the Supreme Court are to interpret the Constitution. Dean: Yes. Dan: But that'll be seen as a big win. And then there's another one that he has where there's a special prosecutor who's after him and there's he appealed the special prosecutor that he needed to ruling and they said, no, this is your issue, you have to go through the court system. And that was a win for Trump. And and the whole point is everybody's desperately trying to get the actual trials because he's been indicted in before the election. But there's all sorts of ways that you can delay it into the future. You know, and anyway, so I was reading that the whole notion of January 6 and the insurrection, you know that's the key issue here, that January 6. And insurrection, but none of the charges against him are mentioned. The word insurrection, you know they mentioned. You know it's tax things that he hit documents with him, you know you know when he left the White House and everything like that. But I don't think they're going to stand up to scrutiny and but everyone that he wins now is like his poll numbers go up when he's indicted. His polls numbers go up when the retirement is overturned his poll, numbers go up. Dean: Yeah. Dan: But he's 24 seven. The thing that the media know is that when they have anything about Trump, they get higher viewership and there's more advertising dollars and so they're caught because they'd like to take him down. But everything they do to take him down increases his poll numbers. Crazy, yeah, but it's interesting. But it's interesting like the. You know, my Jeff Maddoff and I did a podcast last Sunday and we were comparing the phenomenon of Taylor Swift, the phenomenon of Trump. Oh, wow. Completely different. You know completely different world and everything but but each of them has created a movement that people feel that they can participate in. Yeah this is. Nobody in the music industry has what she has as a movement and nobody in the political realm has what he has in the. You know it's a nationwide movement. Yes that you feel you can participate in, and but it's amazing to me how heavy the field is. Dean: You know, in terms of like, it's really only Biden and Trump. There's no real viable, no candidate. I mean even as much of a. You know we saw Robert Kennedy in Genius Genius network and you know they as running as an independent, which is, you know, that's a non-starter and there's no, that's not a difficult. That's not a difficult bet to guess. Even if he is a reasonable, you know it has some things and you start to see now even know there's nobody coming Behind, is not even any alternatives. You know like you look at Vivek Ramaswamy and yeah, you know, although he kind of has Obama Undertones to reminds me, like as a speaker and articulator, communicator, but I don't know, for me he it's just the tone, that it's more important to him to be right, that he was a win. The argument you know through, yeah, clever Elecution yeah. Dan: I don't know how that win the battle, but lose the war. Dean: That's what it feels like to me. Right like that is just kind of that. It just has. Dan: It's more important to him the real motivation is to prove that he's smart enough, or whatever you know yeah, and you know, I mean first of all the times we're in dictates whether people think that somebody's viable or not. And I mean this is a time of tremendous change. I mean, it's probably the Most change since the second world war. I would yeah that, the overall changes that we're going, and and everything gets Shaky and unhinged just when you have a big, when you have I just looked at like last night. Dean: It was so funny. I looked at the you know the odds Makers, the. I found a cumulative thing and it's it's all trump. Trump is the the Betty market. Dan: the bedding, yeah, the bedding market is all on trump, and that's yeah. Dean: Yeah, and the betting markets. Dan: They were wrong with trump the first time. They you know they were they. I mean they had Hillary, like Day before the election they had heard like at 85, 90 percent, you know, yeah. So so people say yeah, yeah, but that was a fluke, that was a look and I said, yeah, but what if the candidate candidate himself, is the fluke? Dean: Right, exactly. Dan: No, but I did. Dean: Of all of the field. It wasn't. It's not like an 80 percent thing there, I think it was like 40 percent Likely, which is the top of all of the. Dan: That was against the field, including everybody including, but what you go head on head, they all have trump Biden and it's like 60 versus 60 40, you know oh, wow, okay that's interesting and yeah, and that's what people are betting on, but that those, the betting markets, can be gained and and I'll give you an example was brexit, which happened, you know, in the may, in may or june, I think of 16 before the presidential election, and the interesting thing is that debates are a big thing in Great Britain and they're televised and there were 10 of them in the six months leading up to the actual vote on brexit Britain leaving the European Union and and I watched them and with every debate the Leave side had all the emotional issues. The Stay side had a lot of intellectual, intellectual arguments and they were you know, they're British, they're very articulate. It was, you know, it was well said on both sides. But the the thing that really cracked the back against the stay side Was the european union decided, about three months before the campaign started, that they were going to regulate the electrical, electrical charge of teapots in Great Britain and everybody had to get rid of their teapot because they were using not too much. And this was coming from Brussels, you know, from the European union. You just lost it. You screw around with her because every If you have to change your tea cup, then every every day at three, three to five o'clock. You're talking right, get out of the european. You're not talking about. Dean: You're talking about the football players. Dan: You're saying let's leave Britain those suckers. They can't tell us, you know. So it's always like the bud light. One thing in the united states I said that was a crack, that was like an earthquake you know, that you're fooling around with our beer, can't you know you can't yeah you know, you can't fool around with our beer, can't I so funny you know and I think it's always comes down to a gut issue very emotional that everybody gets like everybody gets they're pulling around. It's like you know, when they closed down all the schools, all the states that closed down the schools for it, they didn't close down the schools, they, they closed, I mean the individual schools for one reason or another. Can you know? Could you know have special reasons or anything? Else yes there wasn't coming from the top. There was no really on the schools and they did enormous damage. We now know that there was enormous damage Done to those people right at the early stage, when they're starting to learn how to socialize or, you know, and I think we're going to see a damaged generation, maybe two damaged generations in the future, who, you know, had too much time on their hands alone. Yeah, my, my feeling is, and it strikes me right now, that trump just has a monopoly on all the gut, emotional issues. Dean: I agree, like you look at, it's pretty amazing how Cloudlandia has really shaped the way we think about these elections, like I think, as cloudlandia has really become the primary place that the elections have. Probably you know, it seems they've become more contentious or more divide, dividing, and I don't know how to clear enough Remember you know what that happened. Dan: Yeah, no way that happened. Yeah, and there I had a really good article on this and I had to do with how the media gets its advertising dollars. Right, okay and, first of all, the media got their advertising dollars taken away. Okay, because facebook and google have 70 percent of the ad money. Now just those two companies. Yeah, okay, so a lot of the media had to turn to a Subscription model so for example, let's take the new york times. Yes and you know not my, you know it's not a paper that represents my political interest, but I always found it an informative paper. There were always good articles up until I would say, probably 10 years ago, okay, and and the reason was they made their money from newspapers that went to the street every day. Know that and whoever wanted to buy the new york times would buy the new york times. Yes but they were very thick papers. The daily new york times was a paper and you know a lot of the pages. I mean 40 percent of the space was. Advertisers you know, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, what happened then? When the, the advertising dollars went away, they had to go to a subscription model and therefore they just moved to the part Of the population whose politics agreed with the new york times, and they lost everybody. His politics didn't agree with the new york times. And the same thing happened on on the other side of the political spectrum. So, for example, great bark, which is now a powerhouse On the, you know, on the internet that a strictly an internet. That's strictly an internet media company. Dean: Yes, town hall. Dan: Yeah, news news max town hall. These didn't exist. They really didn't exist. You know, 10, 15 years ago but, what people going to drift from the you know the media sources that they used to go go to because it just favored one side of the political spectrum. Look for new opportunities and these other, these other real, clear politics is another one real court pox has as emerged, and so that's what polarized things was the disappearance of advertising dollars. Dean: Or the. You know, it's really interesting that you just brought something up that I thought about, that. You know the New York Times print edition, you were any. You had to get the whole newspaper and so you're getting all of the things, but when you're online, it's all parsed out to the individual articles the clickbait and who they're attracting, and then it made more sense to lean into the audience that you are attracting, right, that's. So the bias became more pronounced, I think right or evident. You couldn't, on balance, balance it out in the entirety of a print edition of the newspaper, because it's only individual articles and pages that are getting attracting the traffic, you know. Dan: Yeah. Dean: That's something. Dan: Yeah, so I mean there's many other reasons besides that particular one. But from an economic standpoint that was the main economic reasons why polarization has happened, and you know, and it's become much more subjective to the reporting has become much more. You know, they're not reporting on the facts, they're interpreting the facts and commentating on the facts. So you don't have reporters anymore, you have commentators. You know. You know the reporters are building them the political message into the reporting of the facts. You know, and I mean, for example, you can't get any reporting on global, on weather you know weather, you know extreme weather without somebody interpreting as just another sign of global warming, which is, global warming is not a scientific issue, it's a political issue, right, right, right, yeah, yeah, the science doesn't support it. I mean, yeah, it's going up, but we're coming out of an ice age. Dean: You know, we've been coming out of an ice age for 10,000 years, and that's what I meant, that's what I always fall back on that, dan, that somehow we lifted ourselves, the planet somehow lifted itself out of an ice age without the aid of combustible engines and fossil fuels. Yeah, so somehow that was the it was possible. You know it was happening before. Dan: Yeah where I live in Toronto. I was under about 500 feet of ice Right. Dean: Right, right. So, the big thaw. Dan: Yeah, it takes a while, you know, for glaciers to actually, you know, and it's just a gradual warming up and then there's periods when it, you know it dips down. You know that you got ups and downs and you know the temperatures. You know the temperatures, you know, and there's fluctuations. You know the the heat. Climate doesn't actually exist. Climate is a statistical average. All the weather, like, yeah, where Valhalla, where you are, the climate in Valhalla is totally determined by 365 days of temperate. You know of weather and they're just measuring it and they call that the climate. But, nobody experiences. Nobody experiences climate. Dean: We experience weather. Dan: Yes, climate is just, it's just an abstract term to measure. You know, all the weather in one place and climate change Even, yeah, even, in Valhalla, probably, where you, where you are, are you shaded by the oak trees? Dean: We not particularly. I mean it's, they're there. No, it's not. The whole house is not shaded by oak trees, but there is shade in the neighborhood, yeah. Dan: Yeah, but it's really interesting that if you where you go for coffee. It might be an annual average. It might be one degree warmer where you're getting your coffee than where people live. Dean: Oh, global warming. Dan: Yeah, well, you know, it's kind of like I was thinking about all these yeah. Dean: It's like you know Deming I was sort of in rereading Deming lately and you know one of his, his, the funnel experiments, where they would, you know, move and adjust the funnel based on the last result. So it's kind of, and that created the greatest variation by you know adjusting with each data point, as opposed to you know adjusting the system. Dan: Yeah, well, here's the thing, that one of the you know you had the polar bears as one of the symbols of global warming. Remember the polar bearer thing? This was Al Gore. He got on the. You know the polar bears, the actual, actually the population of polar bears, and there aren't a lot of them, but you know, they're in a particular latitude, above a certain latitude line, going or going around the world, and their populations actually increased since he started making a prediction that they would be gone right now. So they've actually increased. But the other thing, that the other thing is really interesting are the Maldives. The Maldives about a thousand islands in a cluster in the Indian Ocean and the Maldives have been petitioning the UN that they need to get a lot of money because you know they're sinking in the sea. The average height of the islands. You know, and there's, you know, there's a thousand, I think there's a thousand in the what's called the Maldive Islands, and you know, it's about two feet above sea level. So they said well, you know, in 30 years we'll disappear. So we have to have massive money to redirect our population. And but actually the the geography of the Maldive Islands, maldives, has actually increased over the last 30 years. They've got now more land than you know, than they had. You know. And all of a sudden you say, well, why'd that happen? Well, they said, we're trying to figure out why it happened, you know, and what about the problem we're? Trying to. We're trying to figure out why it happened. You know which? One is that everything that we were saying before was based on ignorance. Dean: That's a good explanation. Exactly. Dan: Yeah, but what I was going to say? I was just thinking about this the other day. When you look at every cause, you know political cause, you know whatever cause you have, it's about money. Okay. Dean: Yes. Dan: And every movement is a money making machine. Dean: Yeah, that's. It's pretty cake or wrong really following the money. Dan: It all comes down to Jerry McGuire. Show me the money. I'm going to explain any movement on the planet. Where's the money moving? Is the money coming in or is the money going out? Dean: Yes. Dan: Yeah, it was so funny because the Israelis, I think, 10 days ago, killed, I think, the number three Hamas guy who was living in Beirut. Wow, he was worth four billion a year. You know he made like four billion a year. And they've got the top six and they said you know we're going to find you and we're going to. You know we're going to kill you, but the top guys who don't live in Gaza, they live in Qatar. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Qatar. The pronunciation is Qatar. They're living in Istanbul, they're living in Beirut and I bet these are nervous people. Dean: I bet yeah, yeah, could you imagine? I mean, that's kind of. It's an interesting. I had dinner with Leigh, or Weinstein, the other night, two nights ago, and you know we were talking. I didn't realize this, but you know he said there's only 15 million Jews in the world, the world, yeah, I would have thought it was way more. I mean, that seems such. Dan: Well, it tells you the impact of the Holocaust or the Second World. Dean: War yeah. Dan: Without the Holocaust, there'd be now 35 to 40 million 40 million Jews. I saw a projection once. That's how devastating. Dean: It was, yeah, at one point. Yeah, the Holocaust was probably 40% of the Jews. Which, yeah, if you implicate, I mean track that out. It's just like you were saying, yeah, probably 30 or 40 million, that would have. That would have been. I mean it's pretty, it's crazy, and the eight of them are in Israel or whatever, right, so that's. Dan: No, it's not that high. Dean: No, it wasn't it. Dan: Actually Israel, just to surpass the United States, had six for the, you know it's not a fast growing a population. Dean: Israel matters. Dan: And I think they're at. The Jewish population now is could be maybe seven. It's on the way to seven, yeah. Dean: Okay, so I wasn't that far off, yeah. Dan: I think New York City itself has, New York City itself has two million. Dean: Wow. Dan: Two million. Yeah, yeah, that's wild. Yeah, you know they have a lot of history, you know. I mean, you want to know about what's happened to them over 3,000 years. Yeah, they've got a lot of history to talk about, you know, and what a self-granted is, and so so, anyway, yeah, it's really interesting, but they're not confused about who their enemies are. Dean: Right, yes. Dan: Anyway, I think it's meal time for you. Dean: Yes, that is exactly right. I have wonderful. Dan: What are today arriving? Dean: Well, today Dan today, Dan, I have the Tuscan grilled pork chops arriving today with some broccoli, it's so good, it's very good and so yeah, I'm excited this so far this has been a really good. You know, removing of discretion in the pricing. Dan: Row number one do not give Dan Dean Jackson discretion. Dean: Right, exactly so. It allows, it allows rational Dean to make decisions for future team. Dan: Yeah, and I get to enjoy them and it's projected into the future. Dean: Yes. Dan: We're into the future. Dean: Yes, which is great, and so that, just for people listening, have discovered with in collaboration with Jay Virgin, we discovered we've chosen 10 power meals for me that are available on Grun Uber eats, and, using the pre order feature, I'm able to establish these deliveries at 12 o'clock and six o'clock and so bookend my days with these pre healthy meals. So so far, so good. Personal wisdom, yes, fantastic. So stay tuned. Dan: Yeah, anyway, this was really good and this is about weather and location and dwellings. Dean: And very interesting discussion. I love it. Well, have a great day, dan. A week, great week in Chicago, and then are we on for next week. Yeah, yeah. Dan: I'm back in Toronto next week. Okay great, I can try. Yeah, all right. Okay good Thanks, bye, bye, okay.
  • Ep117:Observations on Perception

    Ep117:Observations on Perception

    · Welcome to Cloudlandia
    In today's episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, we take you on a journey through history and our complex relationship with time and its perception. We discuss hidden economic forces that shaped pivotal history and debate if we live in the "best or worst of times." I share my experience with breaking free from television, only to be pulled back by sporting thrills and gripping shows, a reminder of how addictive media can be.As we wrap up our discussion, we reflect on exciting developments on the horizon. We celebrate entrepreneurs who have adapted their businesses to thrive online.

     

    SHOW HIGHLIGHTSDean talks about time perception and the fascination with having foreknowledge of events, particularly in the context of financial markets and the desire to possess tomorrow's news today.We explore the human ability to adapt to a wide range of temperatures, humorously comparing our ancestors' robust survival skills to modern reactions to climate change.Dean reflects on the concept of whether we are living in the best or worst of times, citing both the remarkable conveniences of modern life and the psychological challenges posed by the battle for our attention.Personal anecdotes include Dean's success in abstaining from watching television for over five years, despite being tempted by his loyalty to sports teams and the immersive experience of a Netflix binge.There's a discussion about the skepticism surrounding medical advancements and the difficulty in discerning credible health information in an era of conflicting opinions.We examine the impact of technology on spontaneity and control in our lives, touching on smart devices and drawing a parallel to the controlling nature of HAL 9000 from "2001: A Space Odyssey".Dan shares insights on entrepreneurship, reflecting on the adaptability required to thrive in the digital age, such as the growth of his coaching program and the shift from in-person workshops to online formats.We delve into the process of book production, noting the importance of releasing work to make room for new ideas and discussing technological advancements that have expedited the process.Dean talks about integrating AI chat into books to allow readers to interact with content and contemplates whether AI could help guide readers through material by asking questions.Coordination for an upcoming trip to Chicago is mentioned, where Albie will be joining Dean and Dan, indicating excitement for the visit and the promise of future stimulating discussions.

    Links:
    WelcomeToCloudlandia.com
    StrategicCoach.com
    DeanJackson.com
    ListingAgentLifestyle.com

    TRANSCRIPT

    (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)

    Dean: Mr Sullivan. Dan: I'm almost tapping in here. Dean: Almost. That's exactly right as close as you can get without going over. We're you know we're going to be 12 hours away from it here, it's all very exciting. Dan: Yeah, yeah, we were talking to Kim Daniel. He now calls himself. Daniel White and he phoned us from birth Australia from the future from the future from the future. So they're already. They're already into New Year's yeah, that's so funny. What a weird world, what a world for a world, you know. Dean: I saw an infographic that there's an island. There's two islands up where Russia and Alaska joined. They're separated by three miles. You can see the other island. I like it once called tomorrow Island or something. What the American side is. You know 24 hours difference because it's right after the straddle the line divides them is the international date line. So they're three miles away, and yet they're 24 hours apart. Yeah that's really interesting. Dan: You know people often have these quizzes. You know it's either you're reading the quizzes or you're being asked the quiz. Yeah, and it's. Dan: if you had one superpower, what would it be? Have you ever had anything like that, so many? I have you know I think about or you were you were a witness to this question being asked. And mine is that I would like to have tomorrow morning's Wall Street Journal yesterday. Yeah, exactly Exactly. How great would that be, that could be. Dean: The thing is literally what you should. That could be a loophole, Dan. Maybe we should go to these islands and subscribe to the Wall Street Journal on tomorrow Island. Oh man. Dan: Now take a bit of work. I mean, you still have to learn what to look for, and you know you'd have to have the means by which you could, and but that just reminds me. I think everybody would like to have that superpower. Dean: They would like to have advanced understanding of the future Well you know what's so funny is one of the things that I wanted to talk about today, because it's, you know, explore. This idea is because I ranked it up there as one of the top concepts of the year for me, and that is guessing and betting, and essentially, what you're saying is it's absolutely true. The reason that would be so valuable is that it would bring certainty. If you look tomorrow and see what the closing stock price of a any stock was today. If you knew that in advance, that it starts out at X and it's going to be X plus. Y at the end of the day, you're betting with certainty, and that's a pretty interesting. That's what I really thought about the that concept, and I'd love to hear a little more, because well, I think it's, I think it's been. Dan: It's a thought that's been in the human brain since the first humans. Dean: Yeah, I agree, you think that not knowing, I wonder where. I wonder how would that have manifested itself then in the beginning? Knowing where, the, I guess what would it be? Knowing where, the where the food is going to be, or something. Dan: Well, I think, you know, I think probably it manifested itself in the first days of people just noticing the weather, you know, like wherever they were, that you know, that. I mean I think they probably, if you did Colby's back then, like a Colby profile that that the earliest humans really varied in terms of you know what they were skillful at and what they focused on Okay. And. But my sense is that there were some people who were more conceptual, who could notice patterns better than others. And they could make sort of predictions which you know as it regard weatherers. That regarded, the wildlife around them or the you know. The you know availability of food. They would immediately go to the top of authority and in whatever group they were, because they just had a sense of what was going on and a better sense of tomorrow than anybody else did. Dean: Yeah, that's really yeah must have freaked, I mean, imagine, not knowing with. I guess the first certainty would be well, even though the sun went away, it's going to come back up again, Yep, and then getting that certainty that, okay, there it is. And wait a minute, it's colder this time of year than what's all this white stuff. I subscribe to the Gary Halbert philosophy. He had a saying that God gave us a sign by planting palm trees in all the places that were suitable for human habitation. So if you wake up and you don't see any palm trees, keep bending south. That's his philosophy. If you see palm trees. Dean: You know you're in the right place. Yeah. Dan: Yeah, and then you know you, it's very interesting. Everybody worries about global warming or they are making large amounts of money warning about global warming. I think that's more of a ladder than it is that they're actually worried. I think they've discovered a new way to make money? Yeah, but but if you think of the variations in temperature that humans can deal with, okay. So, for example, in North Africa, in the Sahara, people go about their business when it's 120 degrees up, 120 or plus, you know, in the Sahara. And at the same time there I've been in Alberta in Canada, when it was 44 below and everybody went about their business. Speaker 3 Yeah, so that's a difference, that's a difference. Dan: Fahrenheit wise, that's a difference of 164 degrees Okay. And humans at one end, people are going about their business. That's the other. They're going about their business and they're freaking out about a one degree change, one or two degree change. And I said I mean, who of us doesn't go through that, even you know, in idyllic spots like where you live? Yeah, there's still a variation of 20 to 25, maybe 30 degrees during here, right, Right. Dean: Yeah, no, it's been. It's been a little cold here Like I. Literally, I almost had to wear socks with my shorts today, dan, it's that's how chilly it was, wow, yeah. Yeah. Dean: And I have a hoodie on Wow. Just to stay one because I'm committed. I'm still sitting out in the courtyard have you done trauma? Dan: Have you done trauma therapy on this? Dean: No, you know, the funny thing about I mean, what they call the whole climate change is, you know, if we look back, it's a fact, scientifically accepted, that we were in an ice age at one point and somehow, without the aid of fossil fuels and combustible engines, the earth warmed itself out of an ice age. And now we're having a nervous breakdown that we're gonna, because of combustible engines, throw the whole thing off into. Dan: I don't know, it's just See as an entrepreneur talking to an entrepreneur. That proves to me that there's money to be made in nervous breakdowns. Dean: Give people nervous breakdowns. That's the thing, yeah, yeah. Dan: You know, it's like the Jerry McGuire movie. Remember Jerry McGuire movie. Dean: I do. That's a great movie. Where's the? Dan: money. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Show me the money. Show me the money, show me the money. And I think that when you're trying to analyze any event on the planet which is being interpreted in economic, political well, not economic but political, philosophical terms, I say I think your first question has to be okay, who's making the money? here yeah right. Dean: That's absolutely true, absolutely true, and it's gonna be. Yeah, I think that you know I was sharing a couple of weeks ago the idea of my contemplation on whether this is the best of times or the worst of times. Dan: And the answer is yeah. Dean: That's exactly right. But what I realized is that there's, in terms of every physical measurement, every convenience, access to information, democratization of virtually everything. It's the very best of times. There's never been a better time than now, and on the worst, the best things that I could come up with are the most, you know, the things that would qualify as making it the worst of times, where all the battle for our minds and it's that creating those there's a lot to fixate on. You know that really has nothing to do with us in. You know, in reality, like when it's all mental, the inner game is really the battle, for Dean Landia is strong, you know. Dan: Yeah, I think it's true, and just to bring you know the latest update, I'm now in my Almost six, five and a half years of not watching television. Dean: I know I thought like amazing. Dan: Yeah, and, but this was sort of the test for me this fall, because I'm from Cleveland originally and. I have the normal sports loyalties. Like I rude right, you know, I root for the teams I rooted for when I was eight years old and the Cleveland Browns are having a really quite an extraordinary season as the result of a 38 year old quarterback. Yeah, I've heard his name Joe Flack, oh, oh. Who was sitting on a. Who is sitting on a couch Watching television or lying on a couch? Six weeks ago, when Cleveland went to their third quarterback of the year, went down and they brought him in. And he's been easily the best quarterback in the league over the last four or five years. Yeah and Just, I mean he's. Here's the Hollywood ending that they go to the Super Bowl and this guy comes off the coach and wins the Super Bowl. That's a great. Dean: Yeah, it's the Kurt Warner story right. Dan: Oh yeah yeah, this is even more because Kurt Warner was about 31 or 32, yeah, when it happened, but this guy's 38. He's he played 16 years and nobody wanted in this year. So it's just got all the makings of a great just a terrific Hollywood script you know, and. But ask me how much? What? How many minutes of Watching the Cleveland Browns this fall have I done? Dean: well, you told me your secret Was that you watch the YouTube summary of the game. Dan: Well, first of all, I watch whether they won or lost right, okay, perfect yes. If they lost, I don't watch the summary if they win. I watched the video. And what I've discovered I? Dan: what I've discovered is that no football game has more than 10 minutes of actual highlights. Speaker 3 Right. Dan: Yeah, and then? The one I like the best is where they just show your team's highlights when they want, which is about five minutes. Yeah right right, right. Dan: So rabbit pan. First game was 97 Jim Brown, olive fame and perhaps the greatest running back of all time. It was his rookie season and he broke the one game rushing record Day for touchdowns 200, 200 plus some yards. That was my first and I was addicted. It was like drugs, right. You know, you don't you give the first sample away free, and then the drugs do the selling for the rest of my life. Yeah and so anyway. But, tempted as I may be, this fall I did not watch a minute of television. Dean: Wow, that's great, and you know I'm watching the. Dan: I'm not watching the highlights TV, as a matter of fact, I'm looking at the TV. It's across the room for me. And. Dan: I don't even know where, I don't even know how you turn it on, oh, boy. Fantastic. It's like the Dark Ages. I've lost abilities that the Romans said. You know the whole. Dean: You know, on the other side of that spectrum is Yesterday. I had two amazing things happen. So yesterday I Got up and I got coffee, and sometimes what I'll do is I, like Jerry Seinfeld had a series called comedians in cars getting coffee and it's just a fun. You know they're 10 minute episodes, 10 12 minutes kind of thing. I think I'm someone in, so I sometimes I'm having like coffee, I'll sit there and I'll watch a comedians in cars getting coffee, and so I turned on Netflix to do that. And Netflix has this thing of pushing to your home screen, you know, through your algorithm or whatever, the thing that would be the most interesting to you, probably. And there was a series called money heist, which was a big thing. You know, in 2020, when we were all in Lockdown based, this money heist series came on and everybody got, you know, fully addicted to it. It was really well done. It was just from Spain and it was Dubbed with English voices, but really well done. So, in any event, the third installment of this money heist series was front and center on my Netflix home screen yesterday and I Ended up no, this was Friday, sorry, I ended up watching the whole series on that Friday and the funniest thing, dan, is that I, for the entire day, thought it was Saturday and I didn't realize until the end of the day that I got an extra day. Do you have those things where in the holidays the days just kind of blend all together? Because I haven't had. Or anything you know and the way you do that, in the way you do. Dan: We each, we all have our own approaches, you know, right on that was so. Dean: That was the funniest thing. I watched the entire series of Fantastic and, but it felt like I just borrowed from my leap year day. Dan: Something got that day. Now I'm thinking got. Dean: I said something got heisted. That's exactly right. Dan: That is exactly right. Well, you know, everybody makes a big deal about this today, but I don't think it was any different. Everybody wants to make Case that the world and humanity has never experienced before, of what we're experiencing to work, and I resist that thought. And I say well, first of all, we don't know, do we? I mean we? I mean we don't know what was going on in the world when we were five or six years old, you know, I mean yeah. I mean, we were just struggling together handle on walking and running and Everything else. But people make all these things like Something like this has never happened before in human history and I yeah. I said first of all, vast majority of people haven't got a clue what happened 10 years ago so you know. I mean and you know some of some people it's last week and. Anyway, and I said actually probably, we all want to believe that our own age is something special. And I said okay, well, that's something to remember that regardless of what age you're in, people want to believe that it's sort of special. Okay, and I get that, but my sense is it's always been special. One it's always been special, or two it's never been special. And but if you go back, and If you go back and read the thinking of people, where we actually have the documents Greek 2500 years ago, totally understandable, translated and Very thoughtful and you could learn a lot from these guys. Okay so so are there people smarter today than our Air stock? I don't know, because I'm not sure how you would compare a smartness over in 2500 years. Dean: Well, I mean, I think you can point to certain things. I mean you can point to Even just in. Let's just take medicine. You've just returned from your second trip to Buenos Aires to get stem, stem cells for generating cartilage in your knees Right and others and others. Dan: So it's turning into. It's turning into repair and also prevention. So they're now doing proactive stuff for you know your brain and your vascular system and everything. Dean: Oh, I remember. Yeah, so you know. I remember walking in Regents Park in London with Jamie Smart. We were walking around and he was telling me, you know he had written his new book at the time Clarity was out and he was saying how, in the 18, people thought that bad smells cause disease and so people would walk around with posies and fragrant things to ward off disease. And turns out that it was germs that caused this disease. And so when you think about, you know, 2,500 years ago, advancements in medicine, you know we were, I mean, leaching and you know bloodletting and all of these sort of you know superstitious things I think were happening and they were thinking that some diseases were demonic possession. You know that's really what was going on, that bring people had seizure, that they were possessed by the devil or by demons. And so now you fast forward to today and we have DNA that with certainty can point to what your genetic predispositions are, and stem cell, you know, can go in and repair or modify those things. I don't know. Dean: I mean, I think that we are, I think, life expectancy. So I think in many ways we're constantly ratcheting forward society, right, and I think, with now access to you know it used to be. If you just take even 50 years ago, you know it used to be that all of the research and development and advancements in medicine were all done in silos, where you know proximity to those people or you know had to be around. And now we're at a point where every advancement that's documented and available is, you know, instantly analyzable by artificial intelligence and machine learning. So we have access to not just our own thinking but the analysis and you know computation skills or whatever, to everything to the hive mind. You know. I think that's really what we've evolved to. Is that you know it's not individual thinkers who you had to. 2,500 years ago you had to be in at the Agora to listen to Aristotle talk, to get the wisdom of Aristotle, or somebody had a scroll that had written down something that he said. You know Now it's like everything I don't know. It's such amazing things that we have access to everything that's ever been said and can project forward in the style of what Aristotle would say today about certain situations. Like you told me, your story of having something interpreted and written as Shakespeare would write it in the Iambic pandemic right, and so I don't I mean, it's like in certain things any argument that today is not a pinnacle of achievement or Well yeah, I think we I've been, you know, pondering over the years what constitutes smart, because it's very clear to me that you can find examples of people thousands of years ago. Yeah. Dan: If the person were in the room and you could understand the language they were speaking they would strike you as being very smart. Speaker 3 Yes. Dan: Okay, and the couple of weeks ago in Congress we had three presidents of prestigious universities who, over a period of about 15 minutes, indicated that they're not very smart Harvard, mit and Penn, okay. And they were asked a fairly simple question Would anything happening on your campus in advocating genocide to Jews, with that constitutive violation of code of conduct? And they couldn't answer the question. Somebody 2,500 years ago could answer the question. So my sense is it's kind of like you're as smart as who you hang out with. Yeah. Dan: And you're as smart as your ability to deal with the your own unknown factors, like we all have unknown factors, and so my sense is that intelligence and smartness has to do with your creative response, or your either creative or reactive response to kind of the conditions that you're living in. You know. You know, and, for example, it's pretty well known now that the people of the South Pacific pledged all over just understanding the color of waves. They could see that there were different variations in the color of the water sea water and they could make predictions based on that. I doubt if there's any human beings today who can do that. Yeah, but I wonder yeah, I mean that's so the thing that I'm saying, I think that human intelligence is kind of a constant and you know, people in the earliest humans were kind of smart in relationship to their circumstances and we probably couldn't survive for a day what they could survive for a year, you know, because we didn't have their knowledge and experience. So I think we have access to great medical breakthroughs right now, but I haven't met a regular doctor yet that knows any of those breakers. Dean: Right? Well, because there's a whole. Dan: I just use my general. I just use my general practitioners for drugs drug dealers. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Good drug dealers. Dean: Yeah, but there's a whole. You know there's a whole, especially in these medical things. There's a lot of. That's one of these nervous breakdown things that there's a whole lot of. For every advancement or every miracle cure or protocol, there's someone, there's a vocal and official sounding opposition to it. Yep. Dean: It's really. This is where it's really difficult. Dan: You can count on that. Is to discern what the yeah, because somebody's pension is at stake, somebody's reputation is at stake, somebody's livelihood is at stake because of something new, because of something new Because they stopped growing 20 years ago and they've been on autopilot and suddenly they've been interrupted. Something new what we've? Dean: got to stop. Is you look at something as devices, as vaccines? That's been the. You know the number one kind of contention in the last four years is the whole. You know the on both sides. You know it's either is it a miracle or is it killing you Is. You know and you don't know the normal answer. Dan: The answer is yes, and the answer is yes. Dean: Yeah, I mean it's so funny. But true, right Like so. Dan: I mean the whole thing, that there was some wisdom, that they had before COVID, which they disregarded. One is that what you have to do is go for the 65-year-olds and older and protect them. Yeah. Dan: Protect the humans that are over 65. That's because there's a likelihood they've got a lot of other conditions that this will put them over the edge. This new thing will put them over the edge. Okay, no they want to start at six months old, they want to start at a year old, you know. Yeah. Dan: I mean, the masks were bigger than the child's head, you know Right, and everything like that. It had nothing to do with medicine. It had nothing to do. It had a lot to do with control. Yes, yes, and I don't know if we've learned anything about vaccines over the last four years, but a large portion of the public has learned not to trust healthcare experts. Public Right, especially public healthcare, that's what we've learned. Yeah, I mean, that's what we've learned Exactly. Dan: Yeah, like, don't go to the water hole at sunrise or sunset, right? Yeah, I mean, that's the truth. Dean: Right. Dan: I mean creditors show up for easy eating. Yes, you know. So my sense is a lot has been learned over the last four years, but I don't think it had anything to do with vaccines. Dean: Yeah, yeah, I agree, and that's, I think, from the you know, for the general public, for people you know observing this, it really creates the sense of you know, nervous, breakdown level things, of you know that there it feels like you're there's no right answer, that it's wrong. You know that you're either COVID's going to get you or the vaccine's going to get you and you can't make the right decision. People are not there's no uncertainty in the decision. Dan: Are your Tesla is going to explode. Right, exactly, or they're going to you know, and there's the thing, right. Dean: That's all part of it. That's what your Tesla is going to be shut down. You know that the government's going to control. Yeah, I mean, there's so much, yeah, I love this. Dan: You know, I mean I'm not. Babs loves her Tesla and she has the same model you do, and she's had it for six years and she loves it and I love Babs, so it works. But I really liked my Beamer. I really liked the Beamer we had before. Dean: You know what? Dan: It didn't get any smarter in the garage overnight. And when the car goes into the garage when the car goes into the garage before dark and we close the door. I don't want a smarter car. When I pick up the phone, oh my goodness. Dean: You know, what's so funny is I think it's so presumptuous, so fun. I wake up, I get in the car and it tells me it's nine minutes to Haven Bakery, haven Cafe. It's like telling me that. Or at Honeycomb Cafe, it's telling me nine minutes, traffic is okay. It's presuming where I'm going. Dan: Well, why can't you just take a chance? I wonder how the traffic is going to be this morning. To see that there's a pleasure has been taken away from me. Yeah yeah. Dean: It's so funny, right? I don't have any, you've got certainty and I just push the button and let it drive me there. So that's the greatest thing you know. It's so funny. Dan: Yeah it's like you know it's 2001,. Stanley Kubrick's movie. What was the astronauts name? I forget, but that Hal was talking to us. What do you think you're doing? Was it Doug? Or I'm trying to think he's. Hal Dave. Dan: Yeah, hal was the computer you know yeah. Which is just IBM. You know, if you take IBM backwards, you come up with Hal, but anyway, and it's saying what do you think you're doing, dave? You know, like that. Dan: It's nine minutes to the coffee show, Dave. Dean: Right. Why are you turning left? Speaker 3 Yeah, yeah, why are you? Dan: even wondering Goodness, that is funny though that your car. Dean: You wake up and your car is smarter it was. Oh man. Dan: Oh, you said it at the beginning. You said it was the beginning. Dean, that's all a fight and competition for your brain, that's what it is. Dean: It's the absolute truth you know, and I think that you, you know, I think you've cut off the good portion of that access to your brain by removing yourself from programming television and you're becoming the program director. Dan: Well, think about this as an entrepreneur, that if you want to know the distinction between an entrepreneur, and a non-entrepreneur you know and I think about this a lot because I've been at it for 50 years right now, and I've asked that question a lot, you know. Do you think entrepreneurs are born? And I said well that I couldn't attest to it. Yes, they were born, but you know, or you know, is it learned? And I said well, I don't know the answer to that question, but I would say that the entrepreneurs I know were on a path that was decidedly different, probably before they were 10 years old. They weren't going along with the crowd, they were. they were doing something individual, kind of on their own because, they were very curious about something, and most people who aren't entrepreneurs were more socially addicted. You know what did the group think and what they had, but if you think about that, you're a self programmer. The big thing about entrepreneurs is that we're self programmers, in other words, we program the next day, we program the next week, we program. You know, here we are on New Year's Eve and both of us are programming the next year and it really doesn't have to do with anybody else's programming. Dean: Yeah, that's the greatest thing. This is going to be a big 2024, it's going to be a big year. I mean you're about, you're going to turn 80 in. Dan: May, yeah, and it's 50 years coaching 50 years coaching since and the company. The program is 35 years old, so yeah, they're at 35th and yeah, I mean, yeah, they all three of them happened this year, but but I mean we just came off our best year ever. I mean just in terms of you know new people into the program and everything else. Yeah, we hit 52, which was great. 952 new people in the program that's awesome, and except for two presentations, I didn't have anything to do with that. That's a real, that's a real good measurement for me. Dean: Yeah, for sure. And now this year, this will be your first year with only free zone workshops. Dan: No that was. Dean: This was your first year. Dan: Yeah, this I stopped, I stopped. I'm just trying to take one. Did that Cross over? That's what I'm wondering, yeah. Dan: No, it was January of last year, January. Dean: Okay, so this year was yeah, I've gotten a full year full year with only free zone. Dan: Yeah, right, and you know, really caused a lot of tension for a lot of people in the company and everything else and I said, well, it's going to happen sometime. Why don't we just make it happen right now? Yeah. Dan: And you know there was pushback and you know the usual sort of thing. But my way of creating change is just to create a vacuum. Yeah, right, something's going to fill it. Speaker 3 Throw your hat over the fence. Yeah. Dan: So I announced in the middle of just trying to take care. I announced in the middle of 2021. So it was June of 2021. At the end of 22, I'm not going to do any more 10 times workshops. Right, yeah, I remember. Dan: People said, well, how are we going to do this? And I said my security clearance doesn't go that high, I just have no idea. I just know that after the end of next year I'm not going to do any 10 times workshops. Okay, and. I've done this enough in the past. People and Babs and I had already worked this out, so that wasn't Babs and I are saying that something's going to happen. Well, that's not negotiable. Dean: Right, yeah, that's awesome. Dan: But we have five coaches, who you know, who had to jump to the next level, and they did a good job and the renewals are more or less the same as if I was doing the workshops at the end of the first year, pointing off here, pointing out there. So you know, and you know, and I think we had 180 people who moved from the signature level to the end times. So that was great. Dean: Oh, I didn't have a. Dan: I didn't have anything to do with that, and the more things that can happen in the company that I don't do or don't even know about, the better I feel. Speaker 3 Yes, yes, that's yeah that's pretty exciting, I'm talking about. I'm talking about. Yeah, no, I bet it. Dean: I'm sure any dip in the you know 10 times conversions or whatever was offset by people in 10 times who want to stay with Dan moving up to freedom. Imagine that was offset by that. Yeah. Dan: Well, it pushes. It pushes both ways. But the one thing that we realized, that I hadn't thought of that. Really worked out great, and it's only because of COVID. It's the two hour. Zoom workshops, yeah, so every quarter. Dan: I do six two hour 10 times workshops and I do two hour free zone workshops and that little two hour thing, which was only possible because of COVID Nobody, nobody watched Zoom before. Covid has made a world of difference. It's made a world of difference. So I was only going to do that for a year and now I'm going to. I've extended it to the end of 24. And I like that yeah. Dan: But I like it, I like it and everybody else likes it, and it seems to work. But I don't think that would have ever happened if I hadn't just said no more full day in-person workshops. Dean: Right, yeah, that's fantastic, so you're coming up now. This is interesting, then the when did your quarterly book? Did that start on your birthday? That was the end of the end of 2014. Dan: So next December it'll be book 40. Dean: Right, okay, there you go. And we're just curious about your intention and your plan for your 80s being the best decades. Dan: Well, I'll do 40 more books because I'm not to 100 yet. So, and they're getting better. I mean, I can tell the feedback from our longtime clients. They said you know the books are really, they're really getting more interesting. They're not just program tools that you're explaining, you're doing right, doing all sorts of different things, but the insight I had, dean, was that a lot of people spend years, even decades, on books Okay, which, yeah, aren't finished, which aren't finished, right, and they they maybe have 20 or 30 chapters and each of the chapters are kind of interesting, not equal to each other but their interest. I said, why don't you just take one of the chapters and turn it out as a book? And of course you and I went through the early days when you could do this quickly, when you had the 90 minute book idea and are continuing to do that. And then I think it was who was it that came up with they could turn a book around in a week for you if you just send it in for them. Who is that Amazon? Is it Amazon? Yeah, I think it's Amazon Exactly. Dan: Yeah, amazon yeah, and we use. Dean: yeah, I mean it's yeah. Dan: And yeah, and perfectly good, you know, perfectly useful, and but we've got our own. You know print shops here in Toronto and it's a lot cheaper than in the US. We found out that a point to realize for you living in the States that getting a book printed in Toronto is about 40% cheaper than getting a book printed in Chicago, dollar for dollar. You know Canadian dollar. Dean: Wow, Even after the exchange rate right. Yeah, yeah. Dean: After the exchange rate yeah, yeah, you're, yeah. The other thing is yeah, my head. Dean: You know it's not a unique. You have a one of one style of book. That everything about it, from the double cover to the thickness of the color cover, to the paper stock on the inside and the color scheme, and you know it's one of one. There's no, there's nothing else like it. Dan: Yeah, and I've told people you know you're sitting on books. I mean you're always talking about writing the book. But where's the book? You know, why don't you just get the book finished? And they said well, you know, you know. I said I said you're thinking about it too much, you're not executed. I said just get the book out there. I said it's not going to change the world, it's not going to be a bestseller, they're not going to make a Hollywood movie out of it. So Right. And what it does is it gets some old ideas in your head out so that you can have some new ideas. Dean: Yeah, the truth isn't it. Yeah, I mean, that's kind of what a collection to going all the way back to book number one and then to book, you know, whatever you're at now I'm working on 7 right now. Yeah, yeah. Dan: Well, I get a lot out of it and of course we've got great teamwork inside the company when we started with your team actually the first one. Dean: I remember the first couple Thinking about your thinking that was the first book. Dan: And then you know, some of our team members said well, we could do this, and we could do this, and we could do this. And I said that's great. Plus, the technology just keeps improving. I mean, if you think I started that in. Where's the technology today compared to where? it was in 2014,. Dan: You know. Yeah, yes. Dan: So my cartoonist Hamish McDonald. I estimate that every year I get the productivity capability of another Hamish just because of the upgrades to software and hardware. Dean: To the tools he's able to use and deploy. Dan: Oh. Dean: Yeah, oh yeah. Dan: I mean, like I'll, we're right at the end of the book I'm working on. So we're just working on the conclusion and the program where we describe strategic coach. Those are the last two sections. So on Tuesday I'll sit down and we'll sketch out what the cartoon is going to be for the conclusion. I've got the outline, with the outline copy all done, so we can read it. Yeah. Dan: And we'll sketch it out and we'll have another meeting on Thursday and he'll be 90% finished Full color. Yeah. Dan: And we do a little tweaks and then in the last 10 minutes we say well, let's look at the next section and he'll sketch it out, and on Monday of the following week he'll be finished with the cartoon. Book one that was a 10 day process for. That was a 10 day process for one sections cartoons. Dean: Right, well, it's wild. And now I guess you know I mean book 36,. You've got all of the ear. You've evolved it into all of the ways to consume. Now you know that you've got the cartoons and the audio and the video. Dan: Yeah, so we're going to do one new thing that Dean and we could talk about this. We're going to do one new thing, probably the first quarter. I'm going to take one of the books and we're just got it down to choice of three and we're going to create an AI chat on just that book. Okay, so the entire knowledge base will just be the words that are in that particular book. And then we'll use, and Leor Weinstein is helping us with this. Dean: And then. Dan: So in addition to the audio, the video, the cartoons, the text, you'll also get the AI and you can ask the book questions and it'll answer you. Dean: Do you think, dan, this is? I've had this in this conversation. Maybe we could have a whole discussion around this, but because I you know this is a very real capability of AI right now, but I think that there's. I would rather have the AI ask me questions and guide me through the process than me having to ask the questions. Yeah because that requires me having included yeah it requires work. Yes, that's exactly right. We're inquiring, you and I, how that's exactly right, and I would much rather I would love to have an AI coach me through applying this to me. So it was hey that hey, hey, hey yeah. Dan: Well, I think you should go get in the car and take a 15 minute, 15 minute drive to the car. Dean: I think that's not you know, because somebody else. No, no, no that's brilliant. Dan: That's brilliant. Let's talk about that. Yeah because somebody else that actually indicates some intelligence, doesn't it? Dean: Yes, but the thing is that you know that application where, if I could go through a track, it's like a guided thing. If you could train the AI as a coach in this to guide somebody through where they're at and how this would apply to them, like somebody had, because somebody was training up a Napoleon Hill that you could chat with Napoleon Hill and you could ask him any questions. And I just realized that much better experience. Dan: You could have one from Jerry Spence. Yes. Dean: How great would that be right, Jerry Spence coaching. Dan: Well, he would ask you all sorts of adverts questions before you know that's, that's his book is great, by the way, you put me on to him. Yes, you know more or less his autobiography. But nice person, I mean he comes across. I mean probably a prick if he was the opposing lawyer in a trial, but he seems like, if you had him on your side, you'd feel good about him. Dean: That's exactly true. I need to reread that again. That how to argue and win every time is one of my top wisdom books. Dan: Yeah, Anyway what did we cover today? What are two or three things that we covered today? Dean: So follow the money, follow the money. Dan: Yeah, we found out about what the Hamas is about. All the money was in Kedr, you know the country of. Kedr. The three top people were worth 6 billion, 5 billion and 4 billion. So that's what Hamas is all about is about money, you know, and their racket. Dean: That's amazing. Dan: Anyway, yeah, but okay, follow the money. What's in the other thing? Dean: Yeah, I think your strategy. It's always amazed me this last five years of your disconnecting from programming. Dan: Yeah other people's programming. Dean: Other people's programming. Yeah. Dean: I think that's a big thing. One thing we did not get to talk about that I want to maybe present next time is I watched another Russell Barclay video and they're talking about executive function and the. It's really an interesting distinction but the difference between you know what and how, knowing what and how is not effective. That the ADHD brain is not. It's not inhibited in the knowing what and how to do. It's the when and the where. That is where executive function comes in and I found that that's absolutely the truth in a real. It sounds so simple and obvious, but it's the absolute truth. That's the thing about you know. Imagine if you applied yourself. Applying yourself is only evidence in the when and the where, both where, when and where. Future and when and where is this going to happen and when and where did it happen? You know what actually happened. That's the an often those don't align. I find for me that's the biggest. That's the biggest disconnect is knowing what I want to do, knowing what you know, how it needs to happen, even projecting when and where, but the alignment of you know missing the exit kind of be interesting with the intention. Dan: That'd be an interesting question, yeah because, the appropriateness of things is really not the what or the how the appropriateness is really the when and where it makes appropriate or inappropriate, you know yeah. Yeah, great topic. Dean: Yeah, how about for you? What was your take away from today? Dan: Yeah, I think that the big thing that I'm zeroing in is the bet that human nature is fairly constant and that changing times simply means humans using different capabilities that they've already developed for new purposes, but the basic human nature remains fairly constant, and the more I mean it was, you know, was Jeff Bezos was asked what do you think's going to change most in the next 10 years, and he said the thing I'm most interested in what are the 10 things that aren't going to change? Yeah next 10 years, because you can actually bet on those. Yeah bet on those better than what is going to change Awesome. Dean: Well. Dan: I think we, I think we, each of us, says on our part today I think so Absolutely. Dean: I can't believe it. Let this quickly Alas, it did so, yeah, and. Dan: I'm we're in the schedule for Albie in Chicago next week. But we're in the schedule, so I'll talk to you from Chicago. Dean: I love it. That sounds great. All right, happy New Year, dan, to you and Babs. Have a wonderful night. Okay, we'll talk to you soon. Bye.
  • Ep116: Creating Conversations That Drive Business Forward

    Ep116: Creating Conversations That Drive Business Forward

    · Welcome to Cloudlandia
    Today on Welcome to Cloudlandia, we explore the effectiveness of small gatherings and the meaningful conversations that can be had through them. We talk about how small workshops help establish a richer exchange where each voice can fully engage. We examine the nuanced difference between self-promotion and truly understanding clients, inspired by Walter Payton's philosophy of emphasizing outcomes over features. Entrepreneurs rethink their approach after test-driving innovative thinking tools highlighting benefits. Later, we unpack exercises that optimize communication and outcomes. The 'who, not how' focus and 'self-milking cow' concept streamline processes.

     

    SHOW HIGHLIGHTSDean explores the influence of group size on workshop conversation quality and how smaller groups encourage more unified discussions.A new thinking tool inspired by Walter Payton is discussed, which prompts entrepreneurs to emphasize outcomes and benefits in their market presentation.We touch on the importance of 'field reports' over 'book reports' for showcasing tangible, real-world business success stories.Personal testimonials from entrepreneurs highlight the Strategic Coach program's transformative effects on both their personal lives and businesses.Dean shares insights on achieving "dream come true" outcomes for clients, stressing the importance of being genuinely interested in clients' experiences.A health practitioner's journey is spotlighted, from selling a low-cost ebook to offering a comprehensive service for reversing type 2 diabetes.The concept of the 'self-milking cow' and the 'who, not how' approach is examined for improving efficiency in lead generation and client relationship management.Initial success stories from the real estate division's accelerator program demonstrate the practical results of innovative business models.Dan shares his personal health journey with stem cell therapy and neurofeedback, noting improvements in cognitive function and overall wellness.We discuss the role of blockchain and smart contracts in protecting intellectual property, with a nod to Dean's experiences after returning from Argentina.

    Links:
    WelcomeToCloudlandia.com
    StrategicCoach.com
    DeanJackson.com
    ListingAgentLifestyle.com

    TRANSCRIPT

    (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)

    Dean: Mr Sullivan. Ah, mr Jackson, welcome back to. Dan: Cloudlandia. The world is still going on as it was before. Dean: It was the best times it was. Mr Times, welcome back. You've been expanding your footprint on the planet. Dan: I have. I have yeah, I've got to do something about that. I'm maybe a new pair of shoes or something like that. Yeah, we were at Genius in Scottsdale and then we were in Chicago for a week and we did the smaller free zone workshop, which is different because you know, it was about 20. We had about 20 and it's very interesting. I've never really quite figured out what is the optimal size group where you get the best conversation but it's just different. You get different kinds of conversations. I agree, yeah, yeah, yeah. Dean: I find out with my breakthrough. Blueprint events same thing, Like. what I find is 12 is the maximum size If you want to have one conversation. We're around one boardroom table, everybody could see the whites of everybody's eyes and keeping the conversation all front and center. When you get even to 14 people, you get into a situation where you end up having fractured conversations. You got a conversation over at this end of the table and it's less. Yeah, it's harder to have a breakout conversation in a small group of 10 or 12 than it is in 14 or 16 or 20. Dan: Yeah, very interesting. Yeah, we push for the 40 to 50, and then we have individual breakout groups throughout the day and make sure it depends on what your objective is. I think with your case it's very important that they get a unified sort of understanding of the eight profit maximizers. Dean: Activators. Dan: Yeah, activators, yeah, I think you should make a maximum, since you're going for profit anyway, I think you that's right. Dean: Yeah, that's exactly right. Dan: You're putting in the work. You're putting in the work anyway. Dean: That's the advanced program. Dan: We'll start out with the activators yeah, yeah, first they learn the activators where they're again. We just gave you 50 more years of future, just in a single conversation. Yeah, I tried out two new tools and the thinking tools in the free zone workshop and one of them really had a big impact and it's from a quote from Walter Payton, who is a very famous, running back in the national football league Hall of Fame, chicago Bears and he had and I heard this about seven, eight months ago Reddit and it has just kept bouncing around in my head and usually when that happens over a period of months, I'm supposed to do something with the thought and the thought is when you're good, you tell everybody. When you're great, everybody tells you. Dean: Right, that's very good, and so I like that yeah. Dan: And I came up with a one page layout structure where they can put in certain experiences, and but you know, I had them do. One was when you're good, what do you tell them? And then the other column was when you're great, what do they tell you? And then we had a brainstorm for two minutes each for each column and they wrote down about five things on one and five things down on the other and the statements were starkly different. They were for me. I did the sample copy and they were starkly different. Yeah, and I wonder what you think about that, because I haven't really put names to what's happening there. But, it seems to me that, first of all, we're using our experience on the left hand side, which is the good side, as a contrast to the great side, and we're saying this is what we do and this is how we present it, and this is the steps that you'll go through, and this is this. These are the names of the tools that you're going to be using. Dean: But on the other side. Dan: They're completely different and they the comments they come back or how they've taken the tools and used them and what they've done to their life. Dean: That's my initial thought, that I think that on the left side the good side I think that people would tend to focus on features of what they and on the right side would be reporting of benefit. I think that's a good. That's probably accurate, that they're talking in terms of results and the left side would be talking about the process and result, ideas and outcomes. I think you could have a whole vocabulary of left and right. Dan: Very interesting, because what I did then is pick the three best from both sides, so there's a little lower column and they pick the three best. I says you can rewrite them based on your first draft, your first draft and now you do a second draft. And then I say I'd like you to go to the triple play sheet and see if you can combine left and right in three of the arrows. That starts the triple play. And they did. And then they go through the pink boxes and then they go through the green boxes and then they go into breakout groups and they talk about. They came back and to a person when we got back they said I've got to completely rethink how we're presenting ourselves in the marketplace. Dean: Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it? The whole when you start looking at it's a difficult thing for people to think about presenting outcomes or the benefits of promised land, the destination, and especially if you are at the hypothesis stage that you're projecting what the results, the intended results, are, compared to reporting on the documented, actual results. That's whether it's a theory or a real thing. I think that's probably part of when you're good, when you think you've got an idea that some outcome is going to be and you think that this process is what's going to get the outcome, and you have to, you know, hype that up a little bit to get people excited or in intellectually involved in the idea that this outcome is possible, which is very different than a field report. I call it often difference. We use the term of book reports versus field reports and yeah, but he's got, a field report is an actual, documented, here's what happened on the outcome kind of thing as opposed to. I think if we go this way, we'll get the results in theory. My calculations tell me. Dan: Yeah, what was interesting was people zeroed in on your statement and it was mentioned two or three times that the left hand side, where you're telling your good story, it's a convincing argument. The right hand side, it's a compelling offer. Dean: Yes, that's the. That's exactly it. That was my thought. Yeah, that's why I say that is that a compelling offer is 10 times more powerful than a convincing argument, and that's when you're at the level when you're at the level where you can make a compelling offer is because you have certainty around it. Right, that's what's compelling. I think I was thinking about that a lot like the guessing and betting is that when you're what you're trying to, if you're focused on the left side, the good side you're trying to present enough convincing arguments to get people to place a bet on there but they're the one you're trying to get them to place the bet, and that's the whole purchase order versus receiving doc. analogy of that you're going to the purchasing department trying to get them to write and fund a purchase order to get a future delivery of a result or an outcome, whereas if you were able to go to the delivery, you're able to go to the receiving doc with the results that you're met with open arms. It's interesting, right? That's a yeah. Chris Rock, the comedian, once said about crack nobody sells crack, crack sells itself. You got some crack in your mouth. People will be knocking on your door at three in the morning. Dan: You don't have to go out in the cell. Yeah, oh man yeah, the sample does the selling. Dean: That's exactly right. That is exactly right yeah. Yeah, and I think that's really the thing when you look at the. What was the? What was some of the highlights of the great side? Dan: What were some of the highlights that stood out, or even yeah, I was just thinking because I was a genius network last when in not this past Friday and Saturday, but the week before and. I didn't have any presentation during the during the two and a half days. Yeah, that was I was streaming, by the way, yeah and. But I was running in the hallway when we were out on breaks. I was running into strategic coach clients who've been in the program for 20, 25 years, but this is the first time I've met them because, they've had other coach. They've had other coaches and at least three of them came up to me and they almost had tears in their eyes. I said I just want to tell you this has transformed every part of my life. Dean: Wow. Dan: Just being in the coach Wow. And I talked to them where they were before they came in the coach and what the difference was as a result of going to the workshops and and it was pretty, pretty steady throughout the two days when I was just out wandering, when there was, someone else would be with them and they'd say things like this saved my life and everything like that. And I was just noticing but I really didn't tell the other person what strategic coach was, except that it had a transformative effect. And I think the there's another thing. We I talked about convincing argument and compelling offer, but I think the other thing is that on the left, you're aiming for a transaction. On the right, you're hearing about a transformation. Yes, agreed, yeah, yeah, that's. And I told people that if you don't, if you don't have anything that you can think of, that you would write down. On the right hand side, on the great side, I said marketing isn't your problem. Dean: Yeah, that's exactly right. You've got to be able to. You've got to, and once you're able to document the outcome, that's what. That's funny, because that's exercise number one that we do. I have a breakthrough blueprint starting tomorrow at celebration, and one of the way the first thing we start out is with the dream come true on both ends. We define the equation as what would be the dream come true for you. First off, what is it that you're looking to build? What do you really want from your business here? Let's start with that, and what are you really good at? I get to get people to strip away the goggles that they've been looking through of their existing business. This is what typically they get caught in. That left side of this is what we do, but I say I was trying to get them to think we're talking about new. Now. We're talking about business, new business that you haven't already done. So what are you capable of right now? That's why I say that people like what is it? What's the best thing that you could do for somebody? If they would just get out of the way and let you do it for them Without not what you can convince them to pay for or not what you can constrain through the current delivery system that you have in place, just what is what's the best outcome that you could create for somebody would be a dream come true for them and then who? would that person have to be? And that's where we then segue that into profit activated number one, which is select a single target market. Dan: It's really interesting that and that's another distinction. Taking what you just said and going back and looking at the when you're great, when are you great tool, if you died and people showed up at your funeral, which side would they talk about? Yeah, I went through Jesus. I went. He told me about all sorts of profit act. It was really great. I'm not sure it did him any good. We're at his funeral so. I don't know if it did take any good, yeah, but I just think that one thing that it requires for you to fill in the right hand side, the great side is that you, first of all, you have to be interested in what people's outcomes are. You have to be interested in what their actual experience is there and you have to take them seriously. You're getting real market research? Dean: Yes, yeah, that's why I say this is. It's amazing to see what people talk about when they imagine the best thing they could do for somebody. What they're capable of is far more than what they're currently offering to people, and it's so funny because that's the way that their business is set up is to. Their delivery pipes are calibrated for what they think they can convince people to pay for. It's not anything to do with what the outcome is. It's very interesting to me to see this play out again and again, because people light up when they get into describing the outcomes, because that question demands an outcome. It's not about what's your best, what's your process, it's about. That's why I say what's the best thing that you could deliver for somebody? The dream come true experience for them. That would be that you're capable of what's the best result you could deliver, and it's amazing to see that people are often there. We went from had one conversation with a Health practitioner who was doing they had a real protocol for reversing type 2 diabetes and they were selling a $17 Eba about it right, like trying to get people, and I was saying how could you? What would be the best thing that you could do for somebody if you could Charge $17,000 for it, what would be? What it's not knowing the protocol, it's complying with the protocol, is the issue right? And if you could deliver the result, if you could reverse their diabetes in spite of them? That's where the real Thing would you know. And where I got that was I had read at that time, I had finished reading, I think it's Alan Dyke world had a great book called change or die. And Did you ever read that book? Dan: doesn't rain. A bell no. Dean: Oh, it was very interesting. I give you the short kind of summary version of it that the premise of the book is if your life depended on you changing, do you think that you could make a change? And and yeah, the evidence says no. The evidence says no where you can't and the evidence that they used. They took different scenarios, one of which was heart patients, cardiac patients, people who have just had bypassed surgeries, and you would think like that's a life or death situation, that People you've had it and I'm sure the doctor says you listen, you need to Straighten up here and fly right. You need to change your ways or you're gonna die and they go back and some crazy number like 80 plus percent of people who have had bypass surgeries One year later have made no significant changes in their lifestyle. And it's it was very interesting. So Dean Ornish created a protocol where he convinced mutual of Omaha to Divert cohort of people who were eligible for bypass surgery that the insurance would pay for, which at the time was Over a hundred thousand dollars for per patient to have that. So he diverted them into an intervention program where they sequestered them for 30 days and controlled every ounce of food that went in there in their body. They had access to counseling and group work and Meditation and stress management and yoga and physical therapy all of these things. Starting stripping back to just really addressing the why, the issue of why are they doing? The behaviors that led to this, this issue and the average after the 30 days result was an average weight loss of 28 pounds, of reduction in the angina by 96%. People who couldn't climb a flight of stairs were walking Two miles. This whole complete turnaround of Things in 30 days. And then at 30 days, they sent them home with access to a chef and a personal trainer and counseling and group you know, group counseling as well for a year and then they were on their own after the year and At the end of three years, 77% of the people had Maintained the changes that they made in the in the program because they built the change from the inside out and Also from the outside in. At the same time, it was they were removed from the environment that made their bad decisions and took their Took willpower out of the equation, took the other things, that just totally immersion for 30 days where they saw the benefit of the things without having the white knuckle the. Willpower to comply with the protocols. I thought, man, that's very interesting, because that's the same thing that happens in any type of Change. Right, that was just a really good, that was just a really good example of it. Can you see the same thing? Dan: my approach. Yeah yeah, my approach would be different. They won't make a change if they don't have a new future. That's bigger than what the life that they've been leading. So that must happen. That must happen in the test that they In the vision. They envision themselves almost acquiring a new capability by making the change that creates a bigger future. It's really interesting in the political campaign. I'm just looking at it and it's driving the Striving. The journalist is driving the pollsters, is driving one side of the political spectrum. Absolutely crazy that With Trump you have at least four indictments which the Prosecutors are hoping him to put him in jail there by making them in there eligible for the election next year. But actually there's nothing in the Constitution that says that's true, doesn't say you can't be under indictment and get elected president of the United States. But the other thing is that his numbers keep going up with each new indictment and they can't comprehend that and because on their side of the party and indictment would be the end of your career. And they're trying to figure out why an indictment on his side the other thing is, as far as I can tell, the president Biden right now is Trying to get us to believe that things are really good. Things are really good and that Biden economics has Really been a breakthrough for the United States. It's just that when people don't go to the grocery store, they don't feel that way when they go to the gas station. They don't feel that way. And and that their line seems to be. Who you gonna believe? Are you gonna believe us or you gonna believe your own line? I the nearest. Are you gonna believe here? And but what Trump says is mega, make America great again. Let's make a great again yeah, and it just seems to be to me a more compelling offer. Then, yeah, things are better than you've ever had them before. It just seems to be a better offer. Yeah, one seems to be a tempt at a convincing argument and the other one is a compelling offer and part is a lot of American yeah, I think his whole thing that if you stack it up, it is all. Dean: Let's talk it out. Think about that. Is that what's happening on the left side and the right side? No no correlation between left and right politically. Dan: Yeah. Dean: I just. Coincidentally, it turns out that Trump's Big things are all compelling offers. Make America great yeah. Build the wall America first him. Drain the swamp yeah. Those are all outcomes that are Compelling in themselves. Dan: Let's prevent China from cheating us and soft the way we've been yeah let's stop the endless wars, the endless wars and Everything. And he's just picking up and I think he's operating on the right side of the First of all is he's operating on the great side because he's got to work great and there's as compelling offer make make America and just you. Dean: I was gonna say you talk about great. I saw an interview where he was. They were pressure him into picking a side between Ukraine and Russia, like who's in the wrong? This was prior to Israel and I'm not same kind of thing and his answer was I want people to stop dying. That what a great like Car right it's. I want people to stop dying. They're killing themselves, they're killing each other. That's yeah. Dan: Yeah yeah, and it just struck me that they are making up stories on the left-hand side About, about he's a dictator and he's appealing to the worst instincts of the American people and everything like that. But my real sense is he's speaking a completely different language that people on the left don't understand. They, they, they talk, and it's the difference between Talking about efficiency and talking about effective. You know they'll say, well, we're doing things more efficiently than we were before. Yeah, it's just that you're doing things more efficiently that we don't really want. Dean: Right. Dan: Yeah that's. I'm glad you're making yourself feel good about what you're doing, but nothing that you're doing really makes us feel good. And anyway, I just find it find it interesting that one of them has a greater grasp of what people's experience. Dean: Actually, is yes, yeah, that's, yeah. That's a pretty, it's a compelling exercise actually. Get a great have a great, a great outcome. So what, then, is the action from that? What? What's the? Yeah, when you presented that as an exercise, to what end? What's the next? What's the? Dan: the I made it like got my results in the go-around when we were wrapping up the exercise because every person in the room said I've got some redesign To do in terms of our message and what we're actually doing to generate great site commenter. Are we doing the things that would generate that, the same thing as I think one side is doing and the other side is being on the one side, you're describing what you're going to be doing with them and on the other side. You're going to describe how you're going to experience as Result of going through the protocol as we are going to know what would be an example of people having completed the Profit activator, so you're later. What would be some of the things that they would say a year later? Dean: Yeah, so certainly my, I have. I have an engine that delivers leads for a. I've generated a thousand new prospects from a book that I wrote and as a download, and then on the lead conversion Process that they're they've, they're collaborating with people at a higher level in terms of the delivering the outcomes for people, opening up a whole new who now, I'm excuse me, who, not how opportunity up like a perfect example that we're going through right now in our real estate division is I have, excuse me, all of the things that that people can do to get certain outcomes. Everything that we talk about is tied to a, a key metric, a deliverable outcome for people, and so I went through and looked at each of the outcomes that we're delivering, meaning, let's say, for getting referrals and repeat business. Our key metric for that is that we manage their relationship portfolio for a 20% annual yield. So our thing is that they have a hundred and fifty people that know them, like them, trust them, and that they should be able to generate 30 transactions from that outcome now I went through and looked at all the things on the left side that you have to do to get that and I started looking at it from the self milking cow a the who, not how, way of what. If we were responsible for helping them, that kind of the Jordan Peterson model, right adapted for this Situation. What would we do if we were responsible for helping them? And I started realizing there's very little that requires them. I could do Under with our team. We could do do almost everything for them and the things that we can't do could be done in 130 minute phone call a week with a coach. And so we could, from that 30 minute milking session, get all the milk that we need to pasteurize and turn into the products. We could Identify who their top 150 are. We could get them set up in there in their go agent CRM. We could we have the world's most interesting postcard that we could print and mail To all of their people. We can create a Google map that drops a pin when all of their top 150 are and then each week we could have a conversation with them and say, dan, who are you showing houses to this week? Who are you going to see about selling their house this week and we could look on the map and See if you're showing houses in the beaches. You could look and see okay, I've got four people in my top 150 that live in the beaches in the certain neighborhoods where I'm going. If there's a townhouse complex, say Riverrun, we could send an Email or a text to those four people and say hey, dan, I'm showing houses in Riverrun this week and there's only a couple for sale right now. Have you heard anybody Talking about selling? Maybe we can match them up with this couple for a job bro or whatever it is, just do market making activities. So, those things alone, we could do all of the work and I went through for all of the outcomes getting referrals, multiplying your listings, converting leads, finding buyers and getting listings. Those are the, the bankable results that we, that we focus on and I identified that we can literally do every piece of it, and since I've started describing that to people, we just launched our accelerator program in November and I've been positioning it as a personal trainer. Like working with a personal trainer, where you will meet with you once a week, except, unlike working with a personal trainer, we're gonna do the sit-ups and you're gonna get the six pack. That's really, that's a compelling offer, right? Yeah we'll do the sit-ups you get. The six pack is as compelling an offer as we can make. And so we're now six weeks. Six weeks into that proof Certainly proof that life's not fair, exactly. So we're six weeks in and it's very, but it's really. We're positioning it as a combination of Really super skilled virtual assistant who's actually gonna do the work, compared to a coach who just tells you what to do but it's not gonna do it for you. So it's really all that sweet spot. But even then, dan, it's still getting everything set up and going through things I said so much of it is just about Getting things into orbit. Like once the systems are set up and once the things are in place, it's much easier. But you have to go through this, the van Allen belt, where you're getting pummeled with meteorites and space junk and Fear, and there's all these thoughts that that people have because it's new to them and they're good, everything they've got to make sure everything fits with their brand, and there there's a lot of questions and then what's gonna happen and all of that, that stuff. But very already people are getting Results. We'd send some may, sent out their first world's most interesting postcard, got a eight hundred thousand dollar listing and as a referral and then sold that person another house. I'll all and closed it all in this first six weeks. Somebody else did. Some of the listing multipliers had an open house. Mm-hmm found a buyer for that house and so it all works. It's just the getting understanding what those the bankable results are, what the outcomes are. Dan: Yeah, the interesting thing I did another tool in addition to the when are you great, and it's called crucial ABC questions and what you do as you have people brainstorm, growth problems. In other words, there they have a real opportunity for growth, but there's a problem and and you have them do that for a couple minutes and they can do it in their personal life, they can do it in their business life, whatever suits them. And Then you ask them take each of the growth problems and you ask them three questions, abc. And a is there any way I can solve this problem by doing nothing? And the answer is usually no, they have to. They have to communicate something. They have to. They have to communicate. Maybe it's a decision they have to make and and, but that clarifies them that it's a lot simpler than them, because when you hear about problem, this is gonna is gonna require a lot of time. There's gonna require a lot of effort and I'm already doing a lot of things and now I got a selfless problem. But if you ask the first question, is there any way that the problem can solve itself? All of a sudden, it clarifies your thinking down to a very simple level and then the question be, as what's the least that I will have to do to solve this problem? Dean: Okay, and again. Dan: It refines what you came up with. Question a and. I have to communicate, what's the fastest way I communicate and to whom? And in such a way, that's it for me, then I don't have to do anything, I just have to communicate. I just have to communicate one thing. And then the third question, which I think I'm gonna see what your response to it is who's the? Who can do my least? Dean: I Agree with that a hundred percent. That fits now neatly with a tool. I've been working on that's. I've been calling three L's and Whenever we're not getting something done, it usually falls into three Categories. It's either a logic problem, meaning we don't know what to do. That's so we got to figure out. Do you know what to do about this Situation? And then, if you do know what to do, the next thing is a logistics Problem. Do you know how to do this or what actually needs to be done, what are the sequential steps? And I like that idea of what's the least that you can do logistically to get this handle and if you know what to do, and and you know what needs to be done and how it needs to be done. The third is Olympic problem that there's some emotional block, something that you're not taking action because your thinking is off on this, and that is watered down From I heard somewhat Andrew Tate. Actually, I heard a thing he talked about. There's only three reasons that he was using Broke, the only. There's only three reasons you're broke it's either lazy, arrogant, or You're lazy, stupid or arrogant and I thought those are like down the emotional words all the way up to 11. But I started looking at it that if you take stupid as the dialing the thing is Yours. Dan: As much easier to take your three else as much easier to take and the reason is you can be a perfectly good person, intelligent person, a creative person, but you don't understand the logic of the situation. That's perfectly acceptable and you don't know the logistics yeah you don't know what the logistics and the limbic one is. You hadn't thought about it, but now that you bring up the topic, yeah, there is an issue. Yeah, I'll give you a really great example of that. We had a Prezone client about three or four years ago and he came up with a great technological breakthrough in the medical industry that allowed, using virtual reality, allows students and medical colleges to experience every organ and his case it was the face and the head because he was. He was a cosmetic surgeon and he and he and instead of seeing that as a two-dimensional illustration in Textbook, they put gone goggles and they actually walked into a room. That was the inside of the organ and then it had 17 different elements to it that spoke to you when you put a laser beam on. So he had laser beam, he was at his oculus you know oculus flies around and then he had a laser beam and when he talked to it would explain itself and then it would say how it was connected to another thing in the organ and he could just go in 360 degrees and the whole the organ would announce itself to us. It would describe itself to him and the. He showed it to medical schools and they went Gaga. He showed it to technological companies and they went Gaga and. Anyways, that's where he was when he demonstrated it to us in free zone. And then, 90 days later, I came back and I said how's it going? You got, have you launched with anything? He says nah, there's, there's some, some issues. I haven't started out yet and Anyway, and I couldn't see how any of the issues would relate to being successful in the marketplace. All you have to do is walk somebody through it. It's crack, right, show them, show it to them right, have them just go through and it sells itself. So then 90 day, another 90 days, so we're a half a year down the road and we're talking you still. I said I had to chat to you about this and he said I said yeah, I said let me take a, let me take a, you know, let me guess what I think your problem is here. And yeah, he says okay. I said it's okay for you to split half of what you've earned up until now, but it's not okay to split 50% of the future. And he said yeah, that's exactly it. And I said how long have you known that this day was coming? And he said 17 years. And I said okay, that's good, you're practiced at it. And I said so if it's three years from now and nothing's changed, is that okay for you? And he says no, it's not. I said two years, no. I said one year, no. I said next 90 days and he said no. I got him down to two weeks and he started everything in motion the first week after the program. And that's a. That's a that might be all three. Three packed into one. Dean: It's the progression right, like it's usually. It is the way you just described, that's it's Olympic thing and that clarity, once you really understand that, that's the big and it gets you. That's more like you can walk through then what the action is. Dan: But you realize that yeah, yeah, but I don't like that notion of stupidity and lazy. There's lots of reasons people are broke. They're not Exactly. Dean: And that's what I said in. The noble thing of the lazy is really that it could fall down into that they don't know the logistics of what to do or they're busy is a very noble thing that they would go into, that they're too busy, and then that's what I did is that's how I dialed them down to logic. Dan: Yeah, I try making a. I find moral insults never work. Dean: Absolutely. That's exactly right and that's where, when you break it down clinically like that, the logic, logistics and limbic, those are the. Dan: Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, I think you got a winner. Dean: We'll put that up there with VCR formula. That's good. Dan: You got a winner. Have you gotten a smart contract on the two of them yet? Dean: No. Dan: I have not. Yeah, you should give Kerry Oberbrunner a call. He can have them date stamped today. Call him. Call him and he'll, just within 24 hours, he'll give you a black chain smart contract, both of them. Dean: I like it. Dan: Yeah, I like it. That way nobody will be able to steal break into the season's Valhalla and steal your latest ideas. Dean: It's all happening right here. Yeah, the idea lab at the four seasons, valhalla. Dan: They'll probably just take off over the golf course and you wouldn't be able to track them down. Dean: That's right, exactly so funny. Are you in Toronto for a while now, or what's your First a? Dan: week, and then we're back to Buenos Aires next Saturday. Dean: We go back to Buenos Aires another week. How's your new knees? Dan: The knee, we were told takes six months for the missing cartilage to regrow. So they said you won't really feel a difference for three months after we did it, so we're a month away, but I will tell you the IV that we did for RAIN, where they put stem cells into our brain is noticeable progress. I really will notice the difference and it shows up in another sort of therapy that I'm doing, which is neuro potential, and I think I've described this to you and I do it once a week when I'm here, and I've done it three times since I came back from Argentina, and what it is that they put sensors on my hip 19 sensors, and it's like a net. We're, we're, you have to go to do that again Right at Alan Expressway in Shepherd. It's just above and I had to check whether I needed a passport or I need right extra oxygen with me or shot, yeah, yeah. Dean: And they told me. Dan: No, yeah, they told me they probably advanced, and they. You can just Come from the beaches to that area now without any worry, you can actually do it without worry now. And but what it is? It's 40 minutes I've done. I had done 30 in the last year and showed noticeable progress. And I'll tell you what the progress is that I've been diagnosed with a backward brain OK, and I've been doing a backward being that in the middle of the night I'm doing creative, productive work that I should be doing in the middle of the day, yeah, and in the middle of the day I am attempting to dose and and that would probably be one of the reasons why Adderall was a very attractive drug for me, because it woke me up Over a long period of time has negative effects on your nervous system. So anyway, I came back and here's how it goes, dean, when you go through the 40 minutes, probably five, six times, the screen will go black and the sound goes out, even though the movie keeps going on. So you're watching a favorite movie. I chose Foils War really whopping good British production from 15 years ago, about a homicide detective who is solving murders during the Second World War. So that's called Foils War, and he's getting resistance from higher officials because there's dodgy dealing going on with higher officials in the British government that are wealthy people who are trying to protect themselves. So anyway, it's very grossing, and usually five, six times during the 40 minute period the screen will go black and then what happens is you don't have to do anything, your brain just notices that things have gone dark, the sound's gone off, it was correct, it was the input back. So it's a constant feedback. And then you get better at it. And then the technician you have a technician sitting with you and she, they're all she's. She will increase the difficulty for next time and that's gone out now for about 30, 30 sessions. Before I went to Argentina and, and really noticeable results, when I do intelligence test, mental test, you can see the difference. That's actually done it and now mostly so. Anyway, I come back a week after we got back I went to my first session and I go 40 minutes and no blackouts and no, no loss of sound, and I get to the end of the session. Now these technicians are very rigorously connected that they give human feedback for what's going on. They're just, they're just adjusting the sensors or whatever they're making notes, but they're making notes, but they're not telling you what the notes are. Dean: No reinforcement or stimulus. Dan: I get to the end of the first session and she looks at me with a big smile and she said that was fantastic. She said I've never seen that before. Yes, she said, I've never seen anyone go through all 40 minutes without this being going out. Now it did blur a little bit, but it never, went black and the sound didn't go up. Okay, that was three weeks ago. And then two weeks ago I did it again and it just edged into the black once, even though she had increased the difficulty. She had increased the difficulty just a little bit, went in half a second and then it came back and that was it. And yesterday I went in 40 minutes and no black, no sundown, even though she had increased the difficulty again. She said this is quite exceptional. She said I have not seen this kind of progress being made. I think it's because of the stem cells to my brain, which I will get again the week after next month? Dean: Wow, are you still going to osteosteostrong, or is that the place? Dan: Yeah, I was in osteostrong yesterday. Yeah, Interesting. I haven't been doing much other work exercise so I've maintained basically where I am with osteostrong and really good. I mean they have a thing called double standard. When I do double standard, I'm strong enough my legs, my arms and everything else. So it means that I haven't lost any strength over the last 14 months. I haven't lost it, which is good, which is very good, and actually I've actually gained strength. I've showed plenty of progress. Dean: But so far. I had a nice Zoom with our osteopath friend from London who was in the three years on Intra. Dan: Tehira, tehira, tehira, yes. Dean: He's very passionate about osteo. Dan: Very passionate, yeah, very passionate, yeah. He just needs to do one little mindset change. Is mindset change? Do you want to know what it is? I do, of course. He wants to save the world. Dean: Yes, I got that great tune. He wants to save them from something that doesn't present as an imminent danger. It's a chronic long. You don't have any evidence that there's anything wrong, until you fall and break your hip. Dan: He's got a limbic obstacle, you hit it on the head. Dean: You hit it exactly there. It's so funny that you said he wants to save the world. My advice to him I said we've got to prove evidence. It's so funny because I hadn't heard you go through that exercise. But all the things that he was talking about are left side things. That are the things I was showing. I said to him it's very interesting, but what could you do that would make let's call it that liver puddleans. How could we make headline news that liver puddleans have the strongest bones in the world or that there's eliminated? The downside of this that was something that, if you're going to save the world, you've certainly got to start. I heard that one time Bono from U2. There was a movie called Killing Bono, but for years they would be dubbed as the second best band in Dublin. If your goal is to be the biggest band in the world, you've certainly got to be the biggest band in Dublin. If we're going to save all the world from the negative impact of osteo health. How could we start with liver pool and make liver puddleans that help with bones in the world. Dan: My attitude is can you do it with one person? Dean: First question can you do it with? Dan: one person. I said, if you can do it with one person, I think you know 50% of what's needed to do it with 10 people. Dean: Then you get to 10. Dan: Now you know 50% of what it takes to get 100 people. Just work up your capability and confidence. That way it's a lot easier. Dean: That's the scale-ready algorithm. Once you figure out how to do it, once you've got some evidence. But until you do it a second time or for 10, you're so right on. That's how we approach marketing problems. Dan: I called the Singapore model. Singapore was a lawless Southeast Asia primed all the criminals within the 1,000 miles of Singapore. This is where they went. They had their warehouses there, they did their deals there, they recruited people. Singapore became independent of Great Britain in 1965. It was mainly the work of one family, the Lee family. They're still in charge. It's 60 years down the road and they're still in charge. It's a big harbor, it's one of the better harbors in Southeast Asia. They said let's get together some muscle People who know how to give hard knocks to hard people. They went in and they said in the first six months we cleared the entire block that surrounds on land, the block of houses and buildings that surround the harbor. At the end of six months they're crime-free. They did it Not without pushback but they overcame the pushback. Then they said over the next six months, let's clear two blocks in from what we've already achieved. Dean: They did Now they had three blocks. Dan: This was the most important real estate from a commercial standpoint in Singapore. Then they said now we're going to go four more blocks in. By the end of the next six months we'll have seven blocks. The criminals all got the message and left the city. Dean: Wow, that's pretty amazing. Yeah, that's the wisdom right Is getting it into the thing of one. Dan: Get a foothold that you can learn from. Dean: Yes, I agree. Dan: Yeah, I think that saving the world First of all, I don't even know what the world is. I don't know what saving. That means I wouldn't know where to start. I wouldn't know how to keep score. When do I actually get to be happy? Dean: Yes, so amazing. I love it. I can't believe it's been an hour, but this was fantastic yeah. Dan: I'll be just arriving Next week. I'll just be arriving and playing this series. It'll be the wheel. I'll just see Becca, because we're time difference, two hour time difference. Let's see if we can sneak one in during the week. Dean: Okay, I'll never no no. Dan: Dean and Dan, don't do sneaking. No, that's exactly right. Dean: I'll leave it in tension. Dan: Becca will be with us. We take Becca with us, so Becca will do it. I just do it right at the Four Seasons Hotel and playing this series. Okay, no, anyway great to chat. Dean: Okay, dan, I'll talk to you soon. Bye.
  • Ep115: Creative Investing and the Search for Wellness

    Ep115: Creative Investing and the Search for Wellness

    · Welcome to Cloudlandia
    In today's episode of Cloudlandia we weave through various topics. Dan shares his journey with stem cell treatments, from the miraculous changes in his mobility and pain to the improvements in Babs' condition post-injections. As we delve into regenerative therapies, discover the future of diagnostics where AI and DNA merge to transform healthcare. I also recount surprising neurofeedback session benefits and reflections on technology's paradigm shifts over time. Our discussion explores Indify's pioneering artist venture capital model and investing in human potential, drawing inspiration from visionaries like Musk and Jobs. Lastly we examine managing our digital lives, I offer tech fasting insights and preview Toronto's upcoming free zone community event with excitement.

     

    SHOW HIGHLIGHTSDean discusses his personal experience with stem cell therapy, describing a noticeable improvement in his chronic pain and mobility two weeks post-injection.Dan highlights the significant pain reduction in Babs' big toe following her stem cell treatment and mentions the vascular IV treatments they both received for energy improvement.We explore the impact of artificial intelligence on diagnostics, transforming biological signals into digital ones, which Dean experienced firsthand from the early days of the internet.Dan recounts the advancements in technology, from limited television channels to the current convergence of AI and DNA, which he has observed over the years.We delve into Indify's venture capital model for independent artists, discussing the strategy of partnering with musicians for a 50% ownership and the successful returns seen since 2020.Dean reflects on the importance of investing in human creativity and potential, drawing parallels to the entrepreneurial mindset and success stories like Elon Musk and Steve Jobs.Dan talks about the art of digital survival, sharing his personal experiments with tech fasting and the creation of a 'red box' to manage the influx of digital information.We examine the shifting media landscape from advertising to subscription models and how Dean has adapted his consumption of news and current affairs through an aggregator.Dan and Dean discuss the inescapable nature of human biases, the illusion of complete neutrality, and how being aware of our biases can influence conscious decision-making.The episode concludes with an announcement of Toronto's upcoming free zone event in June, coordinated by Tammy Coville, and a look forward to creating new memories in the city.

    Links:
    WelcomeToCloudlandia.com
    StrategicCoach.com
    DeanJackson.com
    ListingAgentLifestyle.com

    TRANSCRIPT

    (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)

    Dean: Welcome to Cloudlandia. Dan: Ah, you have a very resonant place to this morning. Dean: Well, you know what I did. I came in on the app today and so we'll see. And over the last week we had some intermittent disruption. So to try this this week. Maybe it's a different level of unpredictable variety I called it unpredictable variety, that's right, we roll with it and yeah, and there we go, yeah. So everybody wants to know, dan, how is the $6 million man doing with his biomegase here? Dan: Yeah, yeah, pretty good. So we're talking on a Sunday and just the past Thursday was two weeks. And you know I got to figure in the placebo factor here, and I think I mentioned this last time that when you have a pain and you don't have any solution for it, you try to avoid the pain, and so you kind of? A you kind of a focus on it. You rearrange your posture and your body to avoid the pain. Dean: Yes. Dan: But since I had the stem cell injection, I came back and the pain didn't seem any different. But I was confident about it that I now had a pain that in, according to prediction, in six months I won't have the pain. And so I'm not avoiding the pain and I'm you know, I'm walking downstairs without holding out to the rail and just depending on my leg. But I will say in the last two or three, three days I've I have noticed an improvement, so that I'm getting from. You know, we have top to bottom we in some cases I'm going to flights, yes, and and yeah. So I told Dr Hasse David Hasse, who's in the free zone with us because he's the arranger for all this. Anything else I do, I go through his clinic, so he's the one who arranged everything in Buenos Aires yes, and I tell him. I said I'm, I'm naturally a self producer of placebo's. Dean: And I said I think it's part of my. Dan: I think it's part of my character. I had nice said actually isn't strategic coaches? Not what strategic coaches? Producing your own placebo's, that's the best. Dean: I love it yeah. Dan: Yeah, so anyway, all friends, but I will tell you this we had three different treatments. I did and Babs had a fourth one. So Babs had a big toe, inflamed bones and her big toe. And the pain is way, way down after two weeks. And both of us had vascular IVs, so this is where the stem cells are put you know it's an IV, so it goes in over 40 minutes. Dean: It wasn't an injection. Right, right Right. Dan: But it's, the stem cells are geared just to your vascular system, so just you know, the veins has sent. And so I feel quite a bit more energy, and again, I'm not discounting the placebo effect. And the third, the third thing that I did Babs did vascular two and I did brain cells. So these what they do is that they put lymphocytes in on day one and then on day three they give you a IV for the, for your brain cells and the lymphocytes. I don't exactly understand what they are. Okay, I know they're neither Republican or Democrat. I do know that. Dean: They're NDP. Dan: Right, exactly, yeah, I know that I know they don't have a political characteristic about them, but what they do is they actually create pathways through what's called the blood brain barrier. Okay, and what I understand is that the brain is very protective of itself, so it doesn't allow any foreign thing to come in To the brain. But it'll accept limbo sites and they're just little, they're kind of temporary pathways and they die after about a week or two. But what happens then is the stem cells that are geared to your brain can go through those pathways and and I'm doing a program called neuro potential, which is bio feedback program, and I'm doing a neuro potential program called neuro potential Bio feedback program, and I did session 30, 29 and 30. I've been doing that for about a year. And what it tests you on is when you're watching a movie and I picked a favorite movie which was foils for British detective, homicide detective series Long time ago, 15 years ago. Very intriguing, very good acting. And so I went Saturday ago and I did it. And usually what happens during the course of the session? You're watching the, you're watching the screen and then all of a sudden the screen will go black, the sound will go out, but the movie goes on and your brain notices this and it readjust itself so that the screen comes back and the sound comes back. And normally during a session it'll happen four or five times and there's nothing you can do. All you do is the brain just adjust itself and that adjustments are actually making improvements to how your brain operates. And I've been doing it and my EEG tests, which are a battery of screen tests that I do every quarter, indicate that my brain has improved quite a bit over the last year. But this session, the first time now I'm talking about a week ago, saturday not once during the entire movie did the screen black out and or the sound go out. And the first time it ever happened. And the technician they have technicians there who you know they will. They put your sensors on your brain and then they you know they're there all the time and she said I've never seen that before. She said I've never seen it, certainly haven't seen it with you, but she said I've never seen it with anyone. And these people are these train? These people are trained not to be enthusiastic. Dean: And they're just there, related to your, to the stem cells or yeah, well, it's the only thing that's changed, it's it's gotta be right, yeah, it's gotta be, and she up the difficulty. Dan: So when I do it fairly easily, she'll up the difficulty and the and yesterday I went and it sound went out three times but the screen did not go black and and she said that's amazing because she said you're even stronger this week than you were last week and that was a real breakthrough week. So I think, that's and this is the only thing where I have outside reference. That's testing. So, yeah, so, but my energy has been real good from the overall. But I think the big thing is that I am now convinced this specifically from the stem cell thing that we're going through and also other things that I've been doing for the past year that now anything in the body, if it can be diagnosed, if there's something off, if something's not performing right, something's not working period or, worse than that, it's something wrong is happening. I now am convinced that if it can be diagnosed, it can be repaired and it can be regenerated. So that's yeah and, and I've been and I've been going on. I've been going to faith for the last 36 years in this regard that this would come. Dean: Yeah, and I mean you know, you look at, I heard Joe Rogan had well, he always has all kinds of interesting people, but he had no. Gary Brecca on. I don't know him no well, he's kind of an interesting story, I don't. I mean, you know, like anything. When you hear him on you know he kind of breaks into the scene. He's the guy that kind of turned Dana white around. Dana's lost all kinds of weight and reversed his oh yeah, I know Dana white, he's the. Dan: Yeah, you see ultra fighting. Dean: Yeah, that's exactly right, yeah, yeah, the US, and so he. This guy's background was as a I don't know what the right word for what he did, but it was some sort of for insurance companies. They would predict your lifespan. So it was like advance. What do they call that in insurance mortality rate guessing as the rate of the yeah yeah, so actuarial. I guess, would be kind of based on statistical groups kind of thing, and what they do is this is based on records, on your, on measuring, like genetic markers and and blood work, and they can predict, he says, within you know months of somebody's life expectancy and mm-hmm very interesting, right. So Dana came in and he had, you know, very elevated triglycerides and you know certain other markers that were really kind of degenerative. And he's 53 years old and his they marked his life expectancy at 63.6 or something like that and it was really like an eye opener for him to see that have that sort of you know, mortality check on what you're, what's going on in your body, and he basically says all these things are, you know, they're starting to give out years and years before they're actually the end of it. So it's not a mystery kind of thing, it's just that way you know, and so he's, you know, done all the things that he recommended and he's already added, like you know, 12 years to his life expectancy already, and that it's kind of, I think, when you're right, that we're at a stage where we're started learning all the repair models of things that yeah to be able to to regenerate. I'm still amazed that even the fact that DNA exists like how do you even tune into something like that, right? Like how did somebody even discover that's a thing is just like beyond my imagination. Dan: You know it's yeah well, electron microscopes was the. Yeah well, I mean with you know the actual day break through there's some great stories about that aren't really on point here, but we could go into them. But the point I'd like to bring. This is all cloud landia. This is all these are cloud landia capabilities that have come into existence, because the I was talking to Peter DM on this, about this, and I said it's clearly a lot of things that were predicted by a lot of people 10 years ago happened, happened okay they haven't happened to the degree that they're happening, but they're not to the degree. But I would say that the application of digital measurement to your body has gone way beyond what anyone was predicting at the ability to, at the most minute level, to sell your level of actually measuring and then having comparisons. You know comparisons because these are large model. These are large model. You know, when somebody says you are, you know a certain age, like if you take Dana White and they said 53 and they his prediction was for 63 what they were doing was measuring against millions and millions of other tests that they've done on other people right that used to take yours to put the facts together and now it takes minutes. Dean: Yeah and it wasn't even possible. Dan: Years ago I put those no, no, yeah, no, I mean, you know I, my first doctoring counters were in the 1940s, so this is 80 not quite 80 years ago, and the best you could hope for back then was that the doctor had a good bedside manner well, three out of four doctors prefer Chesterfield cigarette actually it was camels actually it was camels, and it was. It was actually seven out of those seven out of eight who a doctor. Seven out of eight doctors who smoke prefer camo camels. No, this is a great. This is a great ad campaign. We shouldn't be frivolous about this. It's really sold a lot of camels, I'll tell you. Dean: I wonder what those things like. If we look forward, you know, fast forward, 40 years from now, what are we going to look at? As you know, so stupid and obvious back in you know that we haven't been paying attention to well yeah, you know, I always say that a depressed utopian, a utopian who's depressed. Dan: Our people get depressed by the absence of things that haven't been invented yet. Yeah, exactly, there's so much that has been. I'm missing all these things. I said what exactly are you missing? Well, I don't know, but I'm missing it. Dean: I don't know yet yeah, exactly I don't know what I need, it's so funny, I just saw somebody in on Facebook, one of the there's a local group called it. You know, if you grew up in Georgetown, you remember, you may remember group and it was pretty these things. And somebody showed you know Georgetown cable was. You know halton cable was becoming available and they were offering, you know, service on on the nine channel for our listeners. Dan: Today, we're not talking about George town in Washington. Dean: DC. Right, exactly, we're talking about. Dan: We're talking about your town, a lovely veil north, and is it more west than north? Dean: I'm trying to think it north. I know the go train goes there, that's exactly right, it's the last outpost on the on the go train and that was the thing they were offering now service on channel two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, eleven and thirteen, and I remember those days, like you know, 1970 something when we got our first color television and I got the table you know that was, that was the thing. Wow, what a world. Yeah, but just back to the. Dan: You brought up a subject right at the beginning of our talk here DNA. It's actually been the merger of artificial intelligence and DNA that's producing all the amazing diagnostic tests. Because they can now do, then? What they do is they convert biological signals to digital signals okay and now they can do 10,000 tests either on something that exists in the time that it would takes to do one manual test ten years ago. So 10,000 to one, that's, that qualifies as exponential in my world, I would say so yeah, I would say so. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I'm banking on that. You know, and as you know from our conversations of a long time ago, that I was Babs and I were on this path in the 90s, you know, in the 1990s so we're 30 years down the road now but I knew you could tell. I mean, I read a lot. You know, the internet has been a great tool for me of just letting my brain go wild on the internet and it finds this and kind of. I find your brain kind of finds what you were looking for, but you didn't know you were looking for it, that's the way I explain it do you? Find that I do. Dean: I had some experimenting this week, actually, based on our conversation last week that you know you mentioned. You kind of let your brain just go and do what it wants, but let's just I mean almost like with an agreement that let's just, at the end of the day, let's get these three things done, and I don't care what you do or when you do it, but let's just go ahead, let's get these three things done. But I got a. Dan: I got. I've been thinking about our conversation too and I said but it's finding it for some reason, and I think using a I language here, that's somewhere in the past you gave your brain a pump prompt, just like with a chat, gbt, you gave it a prompt that. If you ever come, if you ever come across something like this, alert me to this. You know so my sense is that you've been programming your brain To look for a certain things Since you know. Since the beginning, you've been prompting your brain to look for certain things and All of a sudden it comes across a plane and then you wake up and say, gee, that's neat, that's neat. I didn't know that, but somewhere in the past you gave some sort of prompts, I think, to tell your brain, if you ever yeah, you know, if you ever. Dean: See something like this Just let me know right away, because I'm interested in it one of the things that I came across this week was, you know, in relation to our conversation about melt, about money, energy, labor and transportation all going in rising cost of those, and I, you know, been thinking about money, like access to money, and I'm seeing there's more and more versions of intelligent money coming, you know, being the thing of Empowering Creators in a way. So I looked at, I found out about a company called in defy, which is taking a venture capital kind of approach to creators, musicians, particularly independent artists who are, you know, making Music, and they're partnering with them for, you know, 50% ownership of Whatever comes out of what they're they're producing and it's really, you know, they may not produce, like, compared to the music Label industry, the model where they would, you know, sign an artist and do a full album and of those things these are really but those who are already existing. Dan: That was already. Yeah, here's their here they're doing music and musician futures. Dean: Yes, that's exactly what it is and that's a really interesting Model, like typically there, you know, with a particular like a song, for instance, they may invest $30,000 to produce a single Song and artists, but they're showing that the you know, the typical Return on, even like them, that to be they're not talking about hits, but things that either they showed investments of their typical investment of $30,000 has returned $110,000 so far per one of those that they've done. Yeah, and they started in 2020, you know. So over that period of time, they've kind of tripled their investments and I thought, partner, you know that that level of you know, in the entrepreneurial world I don't know whether that's that you know the rising cost or you know, corollary to that, the diminishing supply of them capital I don't know whether there's different rules for Plotlandia and creative things as opposed to, you know, large scale physical capital, you know. Dan: Yeah, my sense of that is that the smart investors, whether it's in the mainland or whether it's in Plotlandia, are the same person. There are the same, and my feeling is that the smartest investors invest People. They don't fast on things, they don't really invest on things. And so my sense is that the Example you just gave this person has proven in the past that they're actually creative and they always seem to be coming up. They always seem to be coming up with new things, and Some of them have monetized and some of them haven't monetized. So that's the guess, and that's the bet you know. In other words, I'm guessing that you're going to. You already come up with something in the past that turned out to be money-making and I'm betting I'm just gonna Bet on you as a creator that you're going to come up with some good stuff that, properly captured, properly packaged and properly distributed, is going to be money-making. Dean: Would you say I agree. Well, yeah, Patron days it's been oh yeah, yeah in a way yeah. Dan: Yeah, go totally, totally. I mean entrepreneurs are you and I and All the folks that we hang out with are we're self patrons. Yes the difference between an entrepreneur and non entrepreneurs, an individual who's betting on Himself as the future. Well, you did that a long time ago and you know, and I did it a long time ago, and, and so that's why I'm not taken by things. You know, I'm not really taken by things. You know, betting on things like I'm talking about a product or a tech right, I'm not betting on that. I'm betting on the thing possibly being a tool that some really smart human is going to maximize. It's gonna, you know, it's gonna do something. And I was thinking about that with Elon Musk, because there's no reason for his valuations Related to Tesla. You know, if you took the normal valuations of a car company the number of cars you got, the distribution system, you got his. The Tesla doesn't make sense. The valuation that he has for Tesla makes no sense whatsoever. By right, historic automobile standards, right, and somebody was saying that they you know this is, you know this is, you know this is a scam. I said you're missing the point here. They're not betting on the Tesla car. They're betting on Elon Musk coming up with always new things. Dean: That is true, and he, yeah, he's, yeah, he's come up with quite a few. Yeah, I think. Dan: Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs was on that track, but he died. He, you know, he died. I mean because, really, if you take a look at Apple's extraordinary, it's stuff that all goes back to Steve Jobs. Yes and I mean not a big thing since not a really big thing since 2008, right since the iPhone right, I mean, that's really the iPhone. Dean: Yeah, yeah, that decade of, you know, 92,000, 8. That's really. That's where everything happened. I think was a joke about it. Yeah, we talked about it in our analysis of the last 28 years. That none of it you know, but Apple was close to bankruptcy, that they were in trouble 28 years ago he had to borrow from Bill Gates. Yeah, exactly that's. That's kind of that's pretty amazing, right, when you think about everything that's turned around since then and thinking about even Jeff Bezos, who you know, who knew. Dan: Yep, yeah, and you know and so so the the thing about betting, but I always bet on people. You know my whole approach is that this is a person you know who proven track record and part of it is that they cannot do what they're doing. You know one of my yeah that I look at somebody who cannot do the thing that seems to be most valuable and. So I don't have to worry what they're doing when I don't see them. Dean: What's he? Dan: doing I what's? What's he doing today? Dean: I know exactly what he's doing. Dan: He's doing what I bet on. Dean: He's doing what I bet on him doing you know and you know. Dan: So it's a very interesting thing. So, but I think I was going back because we had this conversation. I said, you know, if I go back because I've really been an entrepreneur since really the beginning of the Microchip age in the 70s. They started using the word microchip, I think early 70s, but I read about it in 73 and I started my company in 74 1974, so 50 years next year and. I would say that the microchip itself Breakthroughs and. The ability for there to be something that has a personal computer, which came up, you know, within the first ten years of the microchip and then graphic user interface, which made the personal computer available to everybody, okay. And then the internet, probably software somewhere in there, the whole notion of software, that it didn't have to be hardware. Usefulness of the computer did not have to be hardware, it could just be a program. And then I would say the internet, and then the iPhone, and now artificial intelligence. Dean: Yeah, artificial intelligence that I think what's happening there is. Nobody could really have predicted. I mean, maybe people who knew were predicting, but I don't think people really had a sense of what was really possible with this until now, and I think as a species right now, we're clueless about where this is going. Dan: I said you know. I said you can say anything you want about where it's going and probably you'll be right, but there's going to be a million other things happening to that nobody could have predicted. Dean: Yeah, I mean it's really. Dan: I mean, where are you crossing into this world? I mean, what are you do? We have three or four projects. We have three or four projects going that. Dean: I'm involved in the company. Dan: And so where are you? I'm at the experiment where you experiment. Dean: Yeah, I'm experimenting in the personal, like my personal experience with it. We're not using it as it's not integrated in any way into my company that you're you know our stuff yet, but I can see that it could be. I mean, I looked at, you know, one of the things that we do we have a subscription for. We have two different versions one for realtors, one for financial advisors of a postcard newsletter called the world's most interesting postcard and it's essentially a carrier for referral programming that you as a realtor or a financial advisor would send to your top 150 relationships so that you are programming them to notice conversations about real estate, to think about you and introduce you to the person that they had the conversation with. And it's been, you know, a phenomenal game changer for the amount of referrals that people get, measured as a you know, return on relationship, the percentage of repeat and referral business you get from your top 150 relationships. I haven't had four years we've been doing it for 12 years now a monthly postcard where we have someone research and put together there might be 16, you know just short interesting facts that you put on the front of the postcard and it's got a nice design and so it's easy to read. It's kind of just like you know interesting things and the. I started thinking about, well, if I did what, if I did one specifically for for financial advisors, that all the facts and stuff are money related. And I just asked chat GPT one day. I said can you write to you know 10 short interesting facts about the history of money? And it started, you know writing the things. And then I asked it to you know, make it a little more interesting things. And it, you know, put it out. And I said you can be 20 more. And it was like boom, all interesting. Dan: Yeah, absolutely I say yeah, and you're, you're, you're designing, though, as you go along, there's probably an interactive thing going on between yeah right, I'm just you know there's two a I a. Breakthroughs consist of two a you know the first day I as artificial intelligence, the second one is called actual intelligence. Dean: Yeah, exactly so. Dan: I'm bringing the actual intelligence. Dean: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I said it was so funny, Dan, because I said to it Well, these are great. How many do you think you could? It said well, I can make an infinite number of these. How many would you like? And it was just so funny that I ended up with like 50 of these you know, and just instantly done and I thought you know that's a really interesting thing. Again, those are, you know it's content related. I came, I had this idea of you know I think there are 400 and something cognitive biases that are, and I just started how many, how many of you mastered it Right exactly. And you know it's an interesting thing. I said can you make a three minute video script describing confirmation, bias, the facts about what it is and how it might be, how it might be deployed or come into play and how to defend against it? And it wrote this amazing like just you know, intro this, then scene of this, and then this, and narrator says that there's the script. You know, and it was just. I mean, when you look at the putting together of the different things, I saw this. I saw someone do a demonstration of you know having it write some. It was writing ads, video ads for something, and it they had gone to one of the gone to 11 labs. I think is a place where you train your voice. So it's got your voice. And then it went to another place that had your digital, you know avatar, you know from video of you, and then it combined this AI written script with your voice through your face on your avatar on video and it's instantly translated into any language where your mouth moves and your mouth is saying the words in Japanese or German or French or whatever and I just man, it's just such a like you can see, that's a you know. The distribution of Content like that, you know, is amazing. But then it's still so that's everything I've seen has been Content related, you know kind of yeah, creation and as a multiplier for content creation. But then the bigger you know we've had the conversation that the bigger you know. Picture of that is that our brains we still can't consume At any more than the speed of reality, which is 60 minutes per hour right, it takes us. Dan: Yeah, and the other thing is that we can only think about one thing at a time, you know? I mean, we can't think two things at the same time. Humans just can't do this and you know, and, as you say, it's reality, world, time-based, you know, and really Successful people have learned firsthand just what can get be gotten done in an hour a day and and, and then also it's developed a sense of discernment about just what's worth having your mind on for an hour for a whole day and you know and that you know, and I've dropped I'm noticing I'm shedding all sorts of things as I Approach 80. Just I dropped televisions. I'm in my sixth year now dropping television and and people say, but you're a big sports fan. And I said, oh, I've got a trick. I said I wait till the game. I I've got. I wait till the game, as though I'll use Cleveland Brown says an example and I just checked. I checked the score. You know the scores are in now. It's some beyond game time. Did they win or lose? Well, if they lost, I'm not interested. If they won, then they have a 10-minute video of the highlights and that's my game, you know. Dean: And. Dan: I know they've won and then I just get a chance to see how they won. Okay, if they lose. I don't watch it because I, because that doesn't do me any good, doesn't do me any. I'm already disappointed they lost. Why would I pile on and people said, yeah, but you're missing? All the excitement of the game. And I said I said yes. I said I want to be excited about other things. I don't want to be excited about, yeah, people who are one third of my age, I think. I'm coming through for me or not coming through for me? I want to see the final result. Dean: I've been contemplating Dan because, I I find that embarrassingly. Much of my time is screen-sucking. You know, as our friend, there's a lot of, there's a lot of screen-sucking and I would count television and YouTube and tiktok and Facebook and Anytime my eyeballs are sucking dopamine in through my screen as that time. And I've been experimenting with, you know, disconnecting from the the dopamine device you know, and so this morning was one of those times. I'm trying to get to a point where I can get as far into my day without having any, you know, digital input, and I think that there's a real Face that I could go, you know, all the way till noon with no Contact with the outside world and that, I think, would be a better thing for me. But it's amazing how your body like I went over to the cafe this morning to get some, get a coffee and just sit outside and you know I didn't take my phone I woke up. I still wake up in the. You know the first thing, you know, I checked my phone or whatever. I left it here and I went to the, the cafe, and it's amazing how your brain is Is like saying you know, wait a second, what if anything? What if you? What? Dan: if you break down. Dean: What if you're what? If you get an accident or you need to call somebody here, what? What about that? And then I realized I don't know a single person's phone number. I don't know what single phone number except my office, you know, and not there's nobody there, but that's, it's very funny to me, that's where your mind goes. And then I had that. I took real money because normally I use my Apple pay on my phone to pay for it and so. I had real paper money with me and it was just. It was so interesting to sit at the cafe and just watch everybody you know, all you know, even together screen sucking the whole time and I've been experimenting, see like how much can I Disconnect from that in a proactive way, right, like well, it's interesting. Dan: It's interesting because in the year you're applying the concept of intermittent fasting. Yeah, exactly that, yeah, you're going through. You know I'm going to spend three hours or four hours when. I fast you know yeah. Because your brain will find something to do if you're not right now. Dean: Yes, I'll talk with you fixing. I mean, I remember this is something interesting. I was really going as far as like, how far Down can I go with this? Right, like what would I truly be missing? I do. I use my phone all the time for everything. I mean texting, email, ordering food, you know all of the stuff. Entertainment talking, and I was. I remember there was a show about the royalty, I think it was called the crown, and maybe it was a movie about the queen, but I remember this was struck me as very like, very interesting is that every day at a certain time 5pm, maybe, noon or sometime they would bring the queen a red box. Was everything that she needed for the day, everything that needed her attention, kind of thing. Dan: And. Dean: I thought how neat would that be. What would be interesting if I could, at 5pm every day, get a box that has every thing that I need, like any emails that have come in, any texts that have come in, any you know articles of interest. That would be, you know, something that I would need and I wondered about that getting rid of. Like you know, I check on that judge report and you know I the news. Like seeing different things that are going on in the world and I thought to myself I wonder what happened if I went to, like you know, paper subscriptions to Newsweek, time magazine and the Wall Street Journal as the my connection to the world. Dan:I've gone beyond that because I used to get five papers a day. I got two Toronto papers. I got the Wall Street Journal, I got New York Times and National Post. Well, national Post was Globe and the Post for the two Toronto papers, and then the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, and the fifth one was Business, business Investor's. Dean: Daily. Dan: Yeah, right, yeah, investor's Business Daily, and. But I began to realize that I all those papers. The only thing I was really interested in was the Opinions section. Okay, where the people wrote oversight articles. In other words, they were looking at us something and they were writing that. And then you know politics. I began to notice that in the newspaper world they were making most of their money after a while on subscriptions, because the advertising dollars were being taken away by Facebook and Google and yeah, and they had to go to digital versions on a subscription basis, and what that did is that it polarized the media in the sense that, for example, the Wall Street Journal, I would say 80 to 90% of its subscription probably is center or center right on the political spectrum. There's center right and the New. York Times is barely center, mostly to the left, and I noticed that the Globe and Mail is now center to the left and the Globe and Mail or the Post is still somewhat into the right into the right and the investors business daily only has Opinions on Saturday. They only have a real commentary section. So, yes, Okay. So what I began looking for, I said, well, still hit or miss, because there may be some good stuff or not good stuff. So I went to this aggregator which is called Real Clear, comes out of Chicago and all they do is aggregate article headings and they're almost all. They're all commentary, Okay. So every morning and six days a week they do an update at three o'clock in the afternoon. So you get up in the morning and they have that, and then at three o'clock in the afternoon they have an update. They don't do this on Saturday. Okay, there's one day when they don't do it Right but then they have all sorts of real clear. They have real clear politics, they have real clear policy. They have real clear market real clear world real clear defense, real clear energy, real clear health, real clear science, and those are more. They're picking up a periodicals rather than daily, yes, and so I just get up in the morning and I look and I click on three or four of them and they come for the New York Times as lucky if they get one every day, and some of them have paywalls so that when you go to their thing they're saying well, you can read the article if you pay for a subscription, and that counts them out. You know, I'm not going to pay, I'm not going to sign up for a subscription to get one article. Right so yeah, so, so, anyway. So that's what I've done. So and I'm down now to. Babs gets the post because she likes knowing Toronto things, but I don't bother looking at the, for the last two or three weeks they've had great articles. It's mainly how our Prime Minister is going down the drain which I always find comforting reading. And then the Israeli, israeli Amos situation and that's been a great clarifier, Boy. You really find out where people stand with this particular issue. That's been a really great clarifier herself. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Yeah, yeah. So anyway, but that's how I handle it, I handle it. That's been sort of my red box. Real clear is my red box. Dean: Right yeah that's interesting. Dan: You know what they call that the thing that the clean gets. I don't know what they call it. They call it the red box. Okay, that's what I thought, that's what you know that red, you know that red box she gets every day you know what they call it the red box. Dean: That is so funny, but I thought about experimenting with that, getting a red box and the government has to prepare them for. Dan: The Prime Minister's office has to prepare them for her Right, exactly yeah. Yeah, because they're both in town once a week. The Prime Minister has to come to the palace and you know and deliver in person. You know some of the crucial issues. This is not recorded. No one ever goes. Dean: Right A weekly audience with the Queen Right. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Yeah, yeah, yeah, and the King now I guess? Dan: Yeah, I guess the King. Should we send the red box to the King? Dean: It's kind of hard to say. Dan: It's kind of hard to say, you know it's kind of hard to say King. How do you say King? You know? Because he was in for seven, seven years or so. Yeah, there was a great play, actually was called the interview. I saw it, and I saw it in London, right around the corner from the hotel. Dean: And. Dan: Helen Merrin was the Queen. Helen Merrin was the Queen and that what they did is all the Prime Ministers that she's had, starting with Winston Churchill, right up until last year. I guess there were a whole bunch of Prime Ministers over the last two or three years, so anyway, but she that just talked about it was all made up, because nobody really knows what's that, but they just used topical issues of the time and you know, and whether she got along with the Prime Ministers or not, or and everything else, and it was very, just a really terrific, really terrific play. Dean: I saw Napoleon on Thanksgiving Day. What'd you think? Dan: What'd you think I? Dean: didn't like it Did you see it. I haven't. It was as we like to say, Dan. There was a lot of middle in that movie. Dan: It was all middle it joined in progress and just never left the middle. Dean: There were only two scenes that were repeated six times. There was the drama in the palace and then there was battle scenes with horses and bayonets and cannons and on and on the same battle scenes, again and again, and then back to the palace and it was really. I didn't enjoy it at all, I didn't have. No, it was my shortest movie review ever. I looked at the camera, shook my head and said Nope, and then I hashtagged it Nope, olean, yeah, yeah. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Yeah, and, but I have no real historical knowledge of, you know, of Napoleon, but I did. You know, the most interesting thing was at the end they did a summary of all the people that were lost in battles, like 6 million people. In his period of being the king he lost in battle. That was. That's crazy, you know, 6 million seemed like that, seemed like a lot. Dan: Well, we must use all of them up, because his final battle was 1815. That's when Waterloo was you know the final battle, and then there was not a major European war until the beginning of the beginning of the first World War. So it was 99 years so he must have used everybody up because it took a whole century to stack up again. Yeah, and you know, yeah, I mean a lot of American history, american history really, you know, from the British fighting the French. You know that's really where the American thing starts, it's. I don't know what they call it. You know they call it the seven years war here in Canada, but in the United States it was called the French and Indian war. You, know, and this was 1817, 50s, 1763, seven years. But this is where all the American colonists got their military training, which they then used to go to for self fighting the British. Oh wow, 1717. So George Washington was an American born. You know, they were all British. I mean, they were all British. Yeah, all the colonists were British. And then and anyway, but that takes you right up until he I think Napoleon comes in around 1793 and he was in for 22 years but he totally changed Europe. I mean, he was like a major earthquake that went right across the continent and that really changed things. You know, Hitler was great, Hitler was great. Admirer of Napoleon, yeah. Dean: And that right. Dan: He made, and he made the same mistake. Dean:He invaded. Dan: Russia. Right right right, right right. Dean: That's yeah. So I'm going to save you from from that yeah. Dan: Well it's not a it's not a topic that I'm really interested in. Dean: Right, I've never heard you talk about Napoleon. No. Dan: I just you know, but he, he not only was a significant military person, he was very significant politician. Because that's where we get the metric metric system is from Napoleon. Dean: That's right yeah. Dan: And they didn't have any standard measurements in Europe. Okay, you know, I mean the British had their own. But you know, the British is kind of an organic thing that's developed over time feet inches, feet yards, and everything, stones, yeah, and the lightfully accent, and it's idiosyncratic, it's eccentric, eccentric. The British are eccentric, you know. And he wanted this 100, everything, as you know, and it took all the fun out of it, took all the fun out of measurement, right. Dean: You imagine. Dan: American, American baseball and metric, you know. Dean: American football and metric. Dan: Yeah Well, even the Canadian football. They use yards and peeps and you know everything like that, you know all the funny. Yeah, track and field they don't, because that's more of a European thing. Yeah, yeah, world stage Anyway well, it's really interesting, but I'd like to pick up a little bit more on this couple themes that we've developed over the last a few talks, and one of them, and what I think, is that every human being is a confirmation bias. Okay, say more about that. Well, you're biased according to the experience that's proved useful or not useful, okay, okay, okay, so you've used a term you know to great movies that are not worth seeing a lot of the middle. Okay, yeah, so there's a lot. I don't remember if there was. I don't remember if there was a beginning and or an ending, and Battles and battles. That's right and palace, you know, but I think that really thing because I think that it's impossible for human beings not to have the bias. Yeah, I think that's what I do, what I do think as the smarter human beings know what their biases are and Choose them. Yeah they actually choose them. Yeah, and, and you know, as it just strikes me that this whole notion of neutrality neutrality that you can be unbiased is, I Think it's just silly how could you? Possibly be on. I mean, that's right in the world. You wouldn't survive. Dean: Yeah, yeah. And the words of Milton Friedman to field on at you. Where do you propose we find these angels to organize society Without regards the personal interest or bias? I don't even trust you to do that, Phil. Dan: I've watched that about. I've watched that about ten times. Yeah, that's such a great thing, because you can just see that Phil Donahue just has this sort of fluffy, waffly form of logic. You know, all, all, basically emotion based. You know emotion, yeah, I mean, he didn't have. Our Perspective new Prime Minister here is getting a lot of fight. When you finish here, go on Google and say here, paulie of you know, you know how to spell it, don't you? Dean: yes, okay. Dan: Takes down reporter. Just he just took down a reporter and it was one of the most masterful take downs of reporter Ever, and he did it while chewing an apple. Dean: Oh, I love it. Dan: So he's being interviewed, and he's, and the person says, well, you know, you know, you're taking a very ideological approach. He says ideological, what's that? Well, what's ideological? And the reporter says, well, you know, it's more emotion based. And he says name a name, an example there. Name an example, well you know, and it gets round that he's reproducing Donald Trump and you know that's the ultimate killer, that's the kill shots. You know you call somebody Donald Trump, he's not right. No. And he says, well, a lot of the experts. And he says experts, name one expert and and the reporter did not have a specific piece of information, that was all this fluffy narrative and you could just see the guy was flailing and meanwhile Pierre Polyov is just eating, example, and he says do you have an actual point to this interview? There's some. And the guy you could just see the guy you know. You know they didn't show that, show him in full, but I bet you know there was a puddle under his feet when he was finished. Yeah, yeah, and he's just learned how to deal with this whole issue that they try to catch you on their words. Dean: Yeah, exactly, I don't even know, what that word means. Dan: I mean do you know what that word is? You just used a word I don't know what that word is and he says well, you know, you're doing left versus right and he says Name a time when I've actually said that I've never said love first right. I don't believe them love first right. So I believe in common sense and I'm kind of bored the side that has common sense. So we haven't had any of you just aren't used to it because we haven't had any common sense for the last eight years. So anyway, and he's. I think he's a phenomenal debater, you know because he's been in he's 44 years old and he's been in parliament for 19 years. I think he's a phenomenal debater, you know because he's been in. He's 44 years old and he's been in parliament for 19 years. You know, he's been there since he was 25 and wow, yeah, but it's really interesting to watch it. You know, I mean, and I'm very biased towards his side of. Dean: You have a cognitive bias around him. Dan: I have a total. I have a total cognitive bias. That's funny. Dean: I love it. Dan: Yeah, okay, so anyway, fascinating where this is going, but I think this AI thing is a Much what should I call it here? I think it's a Catalyst for a real mind change and how we think about everything. I think the team with interacting with this technology Is actually introducing us to how we actually think about things. Dean: I think you're right, because you have to bring that to it. Yeah, so you are. You are off to Phoenix. Dan: Yeah, we fly out on Tuesday and then we're there until Saturday morning. We're there until Sunday morning because I can't take more than two days of Sitting in a room and so we're off to Chicago and then we have a Chicago week, we have a. I just have one workshop. I have the free zone on Thursday. Yes, yeah, so so anyway, you know, yeah, it's been a good year. It's been actually it's been a very Sailing kind of year. I haven't had any real-time crunches or anything else. Been a great right, that's awesome. And so then we're back, are you? And yeah, and so June 12th, june 18th, is our first free zone in Toronto. Dean: Oh, you've set the date already. Dan: Yeah, oh great. Yeah, and now I'll just forward Tammy, who is the wizard mastermind of scheduling here, tammy coville. Dean: And I'll just send you. Dan: I'll just forward her announcement. It just came through two days ago, so I'll just yeah. Dean: And we're doing it in June. Dan: I mean, it's not nice starting it off in June? Dean: I love that. I love that I do miss Toronto. Yeah, I love it. Dan: Toronto misses you, I think Toronto misses you oh Honey. I love it. Yeah, there's no more table 10 anywhere. I haven't found a table 10 anywhere. Dean: We're gonna need a new. We'll need a new venue. Dan: Oh well, we'll go. I mean less elective still there and they're still good, so we'll go okay good Okay, perfect Okay okay, dan, have a great trip two weeks. Dean: We'll be back. Dan: I'm sorry. Two weeks, two weeks, okay, perfect, yeah, okay, okay, I'll talk to you then. Dean: Thanks Okay, bye, bye.
  • Ep114: The Art of Self-Management

    Ep114: The Art of Self-Management

    · Welcome to Cloudlandia
    In today's episode of Welcome To Cloudlandia, I share the story of my unexpected adventure travelling to Buenos Aires for a pioneering knee stem cell treatment. I describe how my blood and fat cells were transformed into new cartilage and transported across continents for the procedure. I also recount my partner Babs' experience treating an inflamed toe and the vitality we've regained. Our discussion explores the pursuit of longevity and regenerative medicine's potential to make 156-year lifespans attainable through the normalization of audacious goals. We delve into hopes for abundant years energized by purpose and new ventures. Additionally, I discuss the art of self-talk and strategies like daily focus tasks negotiated through self-management.

     

    SHOW HIGHLIGHTS Dan shares his transformative experience with stem cell treatment in Buenos Aires, describing the process of turning his own cells into cartilage. We discuss the broader implications of regenerative medicine and how it might extend our lifespans and rejuvenate our vitality. The episode touches on the concept of setting ambitious longevity goals, like living to 156 years, to guide life's endeavors and encourage significant projects. Dean talks about the importance of mental self-management and compares it to a daily negotiation to focus on critical tasks. We delve into the balance between productive 'focus days' and the freedom of 'buffer days', and how each contributes to overall productivity and creativity. The conversation includes insights on the internal quest for happiness and whether the 'fountain of youth' might be a state of mind. Dean and I examine the concept of 'Dean Landia', a metaphor for the mental environment we create and have control over. We discuss the entrepreneurial mindset, emphasizing the role of deadlines, and the Danger, Opportunity, and Strength (DOS) and Money, Labor, and Time (MLT) frameworks for success. The episode reflects on how personal goals influence our actions and the normalization of extraordinary ambitions to build confidence. Dean describes his experience with stem cell treatment for his knee injury and his partner Babs' treatment for an inflamed toe, highlighting the physical and psychological benefits they've experienced post-treatment.

    Links:
    WelcomeToCloudlandia.com
    StrategicCoach.com
    DeanJackson.com
    ListingAgentLifestyle.com

    TRANSCRIPT

    (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)

    Dean: I wouldn't have it any other way. Welcome, Mr Claude Ladiak. Mr. Dan: Jackson. Mr Jackson, yeah Well, very pleasant woman who, and you know, I was the first one on today and she said you're the first one to Join the call, the others will join pretty soon and so far, in about seven years, only one person has shown up. So I want to know who the? Others are. Is this the National Security Agency? Is this the Communist Party of China? I'm just trying to get a handle of who the others are. Dean: I think you're probably right once, two or more Gathered that everybody is. Dan: Yeah, but I found that just the two of us is more than enough. That's the truth. Dean: Well, I am excited to hear about all of your Adventures here You've been. You've been all over the world. Here seems like you've been in Chicago. You've been in most exciting Lee Buena Flores. Yes, I'm excited to hear all about the Adventure here. Dan: Yeah Well, spire Chicago goes. I missed the bullets, so that's all I can report on we're not. We're not in the part of the city that's in the crossfire zone, but anyway yeah. Buenos Aires was interesting. It's only the second time I've been to South America, and the first time was just to land in Ecuador, co City in Ecuador, and then we took a flight to the Galapagos Islands and this was as the guest of Richard Rossi, who put together, you know, a gathering that went to the Galapagos Islands and you know the plain lands and one of the islands, and then you take a National Geographic boat and I think it's Linblad and National Geographic and then you know we investigated all the sea life and the animal life which are, you know, very distinct from what's found elsewhere, and that was great, but it was mostly just painting out, with a whole bunch of people that were interesting to talk to. So that's only the first time and that was a long time ago. And then we just do Create the setting here. The context, again, as a result of being a guest of Richard Rossi, has a mastermind group which is called Da Vinci 50, and Babs and I took us two or three years to get our schedule right so that we could Guarantee our attendance at all the different meetings, but the very first one, this was in New Orleans. This was last January. I met a doctor, babs. I met a doctor there from Buenos Aires by the name of Gustavo Mabilia, and, and he told a story about what he's doing with stem cells and these are your own stem cells, white blood cells and fat cells that if you collect them and then send them. It's not an entirely easy process to get them to Argentina, but we got them there and he would then convert them into the stelle, the stem cells that you're having problem with your and your body and I have an orthopedic injury in 1975. I tore my cartilage in the left knee and in those days they would Take out the torn cartilage. They wouldn't do that today, but that's you know, that was the best that was going 48 years ago. And he said oh, we can regrow your cartilage. She said we can the part that was snipped out. We can regrow that cartilage and I said that's cool. That's cool. Yeah, I was convinced that Babs has a chronically inflamed right toe that really impedes a lot of her walking or exercise and it's inflamed bones. So I didn't know that bones got inflamed. It shows up on MRIs when you do an MRI. So long story short, through dr Hasi, who's our main Medical guide and explorer for us in Nashville, tennessee. He's got a clinic there called Maxwell Clinic. He did all the, you know the coordination before us to. You know, make sure that our stem cells were there, make sure that the they turn it into a magic potion I don't know too much more about it and he arranged with for our trip down. So we went. This is so. Yesterday was Saturday, we're talking on Sundays, it was two. Two Saturdays ago we took an overnight flight to Buenos Aires, where it's now springtime because they're in the other hemisphere. Yeah, it's more complicated than I'm telling you, but that's the upshot of it for the week and and so, as far as the you know, the brain cells and the vascular cells, the only thing I can say and I have to be, I think I have to be cautious here, but because I have, like a lot of entrepreneurs do, I have the ability to create my own placebo's. Dean: Right. Dan: Yeah, okay so all. I can say I've come back after the trip and we had. We came back after seven days and and this week I have felt more energized and more confident. Dean: Then I can remember recently sounds like quite an adventure and the upside yeah, gonna be. The upside is gonna be a total new development of cartilage in your knee specifically. Second, what's the Hope for it Like? Are you gonna have the knees of a preteen Swedish boy, or are you gonna Just have the normal knees of 79? Dan: well, basically yeah, I'll basically have the, basically the knee I had before the injury. Okay so that's 48 years, so six months, and the orthopedic is pretty easy for them. I mean, they're doing some advanced work and other parts of the body, but the cartilage is, you know, it's pretty, it's not a complicated thing, right? But what happens is they take my blood cells and my fat cells and they turn, essentially turn it into new cartilage cells and that's. You know, that's what stem cells are that? How? Dean: does it gather. Dan: Yeah, well it's. This was all done in Nashville and. So, what they do is they? You know it's, it's basically a centrifuge and you have an IV in both arms and the blood that gets taken out and it's, and they take the white blood cells out and then you know it's simultaneously they're taking blood out now return it to your body, but they're taking the white blood cells, which is far prior less of your blood than your red blood cells. Okay, actually it was like a two hour, two hour session and it was like a cup full. You know, after a big cup, a big mug full, and so that's the white blood cells and then the fat cells. You go to a plastic surgeon Because they're used to taking you know it's part of plastic surgery of taking out fat cells and so and you get enough they're, they're told how much of each are required for them to basically do a year's worth of. You know we're going to go down probably four times during the next 12 months, starting with the first trip two weeks ago. And they'll have enough just from that one extraction, extraction of both, they'll have enough. So next time I go down I broke both my Achilles tendons in the 1970s. That was a bad decade. That my in 1970s were just a really bad decade anyway. So anyway, and the Structurally, I mean they're shortened because of the surgery, the tendons, are shorter, but they've developed calcification. Oh yeah which reduces flexibility, and it's got pain attached to it. So next time they'll Take my same fat cells and white blood cells and they'll turn it into something that gets rid of all the Calcification and my and my tendons. Yeah, so, and that will give me more push-off, it'll give me more flexibility to go along with the new cartilage. So I think probably, you know, probably I'll be gaining back about 30 or 40 years of Running ability out of my legs, you know. Dean: I always Run for his money yeah. Dan: Well, yeah, I just want to run again. I enjoy running and I haven't been and it's been too painful to do for the last 10 years. And then the whole thing is the overall, the Direct injection. You're just going after a particular issue, but the IV, the, it goes into your brain and it looks for anywhere where your brain cells Are not performing correctly and it wakes them up. So the stem cells don't cure anything, they just wake up the natural cells that are there and they start growing again. And the same thing with the Vax vascular system. That's your, but I. I would say that Knowing that now I have the means to repair anything in my body as soon as it's identified as a problem is Very confidence. Dean: It's very confidence building you know it's very and. Dan: I was noticing that I had sort of blot into Sort of why I know I'm wearing down and I know that there's an end to it at some point, but I hadn't realized how much that was until I got the other thought that, no, almost anything that's going wrong with you you can repair now and you can rejuvenate it, and so that's a. That's a huge confidence builder. Dean: Yeah, and it's really I mean perfectly timely, right as you're entering into, you know, in my ninth decade. Yeah, exactly entering into your ninth decade with the goal of it being the best decade ever which I love that framework, by the way and at a time when normally it would be, you know, physical deterioration happening, you're like physical rejuvenation. Dan: You're going backwards on that thing, yeah, I mean yeah, you know the there's so many factors that are involved in aging, and some of it is just the fact that your cells only reproduce 50 times. Okay, there's a thing which is called the Haflick barrier. This is a I don't know quite what kind of scientists he was, but he found that every cell in the body and there's 20, I think, 26,000 different types of cells in the body, some number like that they all reproduce only 50 times, as far as they can tell, but they don't do it equally. They don't, they don't. They're not doing it at the same time. Heart muscles might be faster, other cells are slower, but it sort of reaches the limit of everything by the time you're 120. We only have one person on record where there's actual valid records of birth who has lived 120. She also lived, she also. She got to 122. She died. A French woman who died about 10 years ago. Dean: And that's the only person that. Dan: I mean, there's all these claims, you know, you know around the world, the people who lived at 200 and 300 and everything else, but they don't have any valid records which actually established that. So anyway, but but most people don't get to 120. Dean: Right, exactly. Dan: Yeah, I mean, even if you only got to 120,. I said, even if you only got to 120,. I said well yeah, I mean, if you're an entrepreneur and you're at top of your game at 60, and you're saying, no, I guess I have to retire pretty soon. Well, the decision to retire is sort of telling your body it doesn't matter how long the body lasts now I mean, it can go really quickly. But if I know I'll be 18 next May and if I know that I can stay in top form for another 25 or 30 years at the top of my game right now, then that's a big deal. Dean: Yeah, I look at, I saw me. You know, bob Barker died earlier this year at 99. And the thing that was going around with that, he got to as close to 100 as he could without going over the big showcase showdown. Kind of close to 100. Dan: But you know George Burns, the comedian, very famous mid-century 20th century, you know, 40s through the 80s or 90s. He had a goal that he was going to do a full show at the Palladium in London, big Venue in London, england, and he did it. And then and I always gave him as an example because he was performing full time in his 90s and then- did an actual 100th birthday. And then he was in a shower about four weeks later, he slept, broke his hip and he died two weeks later. And I said, George, you didn't understand what you did. You should have set another date for when you were 110. Exactly. Dean: Isn't that amazing, I wonder? Yeah, I mean, that's kind of a. You've been programming yourself for 156 for as long as I've known you Since 1987, you know since 19, 36 years right now, yeah. Yeah. So that's kind of you know. You're just approaching or just at the halfway mark there ramping up, gaining speed, gaining momentum. Dan: Well, people say do you really think you're going to live to 156? And I said I know I won't if I don't have it as a goal. Amen. Dean: Well. Danny just setting yourself up for disappointment. Dan: Well not me everybody who ends up with my messes after I'm gone. You know when I'm gone. What do I care? Dean: Exactly, that's the point. I love that. Dan: I love, I laugh. Dean: I tell people that all the time, when you said the just for you, it's just going to be live, live, that's better. There, you go, you're not going to experience the disappointment. Dan: There's a great French philosopher from the 1600s named Blaise Pascal. Dean: And there's a blaze. Dan: There's a Pascal wager. And he says you know, when you think about it, all of us regarding if there's anything after this life, it's a guess. You know it's a guess and it's a bet and he says but let's just take a look at the two bets. There's nothing after you die. Okay. Dean: Okay well that's cool. Dan: The other one is there's a whole other world after I die. And he says it's not so much which makes the best sense after you die. It's what bet makes the sense right now? Because if you think that there is a whole world afterwards and it turns out there's nothing, well you really haven't lost anything, because you know there's nothing, but what? If you believe your whole life there isn't anything after death, and then you find out that there and they said you know, and you said geez, if only I had. Oh my God, if I had known this and he's believing there's a afterlife is a much better bet, psychologically and emotionally, for right now. Yeah, yeah so I'm kind of a. I'm a kind of a Pascal wager kind of guy. Mm, hmm, that, I mean, is so back then everybody you know lived a life that took the natural course. You know I mean living to 60 and 70 in those days was kind of an achievement, with all the different ways you could die back then disease and you know and violence unless you were, unless you were, matthew's a lot. Yeah, yeah, but birth records. Dean: No documentation. Dan: I'm sorry, Matthew's a lot. I'm sorry, but where's your come on? Where's your papers? That's everybody. Dean: Every time I think about muscle, I think about our Aubrey, aubrey de Grey. Yeah and the Missusola prize. Have you heard any updates on that? I've kind of lost the past. No, I saw video. Dan: I saw a video of him talking and I got a feeling that that Living living two or three times more than natural, but not being happy right now is probably Not a good bet, because I didn't get the sense that he was a happy. I didn't get the sense that he was a happy person, you know. So I mean you never know, I mean people who never saw aren't necessarily unhappy, and people who smile all the time aren't necessarily happy, you know. Dean: I mean happiness. Dan: Yeah, an internal disc, it's an internal disposition, yeah. But anyway, you know I'm just reporting back. I'm sort of a bit of a trailblazer in relationship to this stuff, but I'm only. I will tell you, dean, I was thinking about this when I was in Buenos Aires that if I didn't have that goal of living to 156, I wouldn't be doing this stuff right now. Dean: Yeah, that's true, right, you're already in traditionally if you speak about like. I'm beyond refund right now. You know, I mean, you're out of warranty. Right now You're an extra innings Actuarial tables. You're an actual outlier. Dan: Yeah, but I'm really a profit center for the insurance companies. It's just been me paying them, just been me paying them up until now. I love it. Dean: Dan is so great. I think this is like that's one of the great things of you know being alive at this time in particular, just all the access to these things. That's only gonna get better, as we understand. I remember when I went to the first, the first abundance 360 and Richard Rossi's friend, gary Kaplan, was there with us. I think you've met Dr Kaplan. Dan: Oh no, Gary. Yeah, Gary, you know, I see him every, I see him at every defense. She 50 maybe. Dean: You know, he's a great guy Okay yeah. Yeah, I really went to the go out there. Dan: I went to the go out because silence with Gary, so we had a lot of time to talk. Dean: So I've known him for a long time, you know, well, I remember when this was. This had to be Almost 10 years ago, right 9, 9 years ago. Anyway, the first abundance 360, not the very first one, the first one in LA Beverly Hills Hotel there, and you know I'm sitting with him and he was Saying you know, when you look at all the medical advancements that are coming right now, this is back then you said it's gonna. It's gonna seem like we've been Throwing rocks at people to get them healthy, you know, compared to what's actually coming. I mean, yeah, we would describe what you know regenerative, and that's a good word. That's kind of become, you know, newly minted. Regenerative medicine is All the things from the on a cellular level regenerative Regeneration, replacement. You know we're pretty much going to be able to replace everything Before we repair it or repair it. Yeah, replace repair, regenerate right. Dan: And that's pretty cool. So, yeah, I like well, I think, the hmm, I got involved with Peter Diamandas in I'm just trying to think. There was December of 2011, the first before a 360 meeting. We didn't have a name for it, but this was in Silicon Valley and and one of the things that sort of connected Peter and Peter and me Was really the fact that we both had this commitment to living way beyond normal age, you know. But I had a thinking process, you know. Of course it's the first hour of strategic coach, which is the lifetime extender. And he came in at that time and I said you know it's not a goal you can achieve unless you can normalize it as a normal thought. I said you know our brain, and Our brain really resists abnormal thoughts. We, it has to be normal. So I set myself the goal in 1987 that every time I thought of my lifetime I would just think 156, you know, you know, at that time, life expectancy for males you know of my background and you know the thing was 78, so 156 is twice and so it took me about three years before it was just a normal thought. So whenever I you know I'm pushing 80 now and you know, and I said, well, what's my lifetime, I said 156. So at 80. That makes me very ambitious because I know I've got in my own mind, I've got, a way you know, enormous amounts of time left, really twice a lifetime 76 years. Yeah, yeah, I got 76, 76 years to get things done, so it makes me Totally confident about starting new, big, new big things. And I mean your whole life is either happy or unhappy. Unhappy based on the kinds of conversations you're having with yourself. I agree. Dean: I agree a hundred percent. I mean, you realize, I was realizing, I've been thinking a lot about this. You know, this straddling of the mainland and the cloud land via, and those thoughts then brought me into the actual game, which is game land is where at all happened and I realized that how much of you know Dean landia is affected by the inputs and circumstances and the Context and relationships and conversations and environments that you voluntarily Put yourself in, you know, surrounding yourself with the environment that's going to shanty people yeah, people, I mean. Dan: Yeah. Dean: And. Dan: I just had a thought, and that was triggered by your Dean Landia, that I only have direct access to one human being on the planet. You know, and same goes for you, and a lot of people spend their life. A lot of people spend their life trying not to be, not to deal with the one person they have direct access to you know they're hoping they're going to be saved from the proof that they hope something else will save them from the person that they're actually inside of, and you know so. so my, my whole point is why don't you just take ownership for the, the relationship that you have just with this one person, and you know there's new dimension, there's new dimensions presenting themselves all the time. And and the other insight I had and that comes from our conversations, because we're we've got a very similar approach to life on a lot of different fronts and I was thinking, you know, I've been trying to control my brain up until I think, about two years ago. I was going to control my brain and, you know, make sure my brain was focused on this and that. And I said why don't we change the relationship here and take for granted that you want, I have no control over my brain. And the other thing is why don't we just see where it goes every day? Because it's totally unpredictable. I spent one day and just sort of locked in where my brain was going that day and there was absolutely no predictability to what's forever. And I said, okay, why don't we just I'm just going to do it deal with my brain wherever it goes? During that day I wanted to do three useful things for my plans. You can go anywhere you want, but by the end of the day, I want progress on this, I want progress on that, I want progress on that, okay just have fun, you know, do whatever you want, but by the end of the day, if you and I are going to sleep happily tonight, you know, I got to see progress on these three things. Dean: Oh, my goodness, Dan, that's so funny. You know, it's like I've been having these exact conversations with myself here. It's like taking over the management. You know, it's all in that vein of you know, imagine if you applied yourself your FELF, these things of taking over the management, you just you hit it on the head that I only have direct control over one human on the planet and that's me. And I thought about entering and I realized that my brain, my desires, my ambition, my you know vision, the visionary in my brain here is not necessarily the one in control of the, the doing part of my brain, the labor management versus labor right. And so I was thinking about I heard one time that there's a form of contract where a you know production will enter into a contract with an actor or a celebrity, that with their company on an SSO contract which is for services of. So it would be enter, as I thought it's kind of like entering into a contract with my brain here for services of being Jackson and thinking what you just said is like those. If I could just like allocate time and attention to you know I've I've thought a lot about your thing of three, three things a day. How much I'd love to hear from you how, on a buffer day when you are I don't know how you define whether buffer day or focus you've got workshop focus days where those are like the Bob's fled run kind of thing. That you know what's happening on a workshop day. You get up and I'm sure your car arrives at a certain time and you get taken to the workshop and everything is for my computer, or my computer does, because some of them are virtual. Yes, exactly Okay. And then but on the days where I never struggle with those, I realized that everything that I do get done has that external exoskeleton or that scaffolding to make sure that gets done. If you're just in the right, all you have to do is, you know, get in the car and the rest of it is taking place, or open up the computer and sit down and you're. You know you're able to focus and deliver the workshops. But I'm curious about your free range time, where I think I may have, like I crave and do a lot to carve out big blocks of uninterrupted time, only to end up having nothing to show for it. Because, I don't get myself to sit down and do the things that I've carved out all this time to do. I'm curious how, what your experience is on getting Dan to do stuff that requires his own batteries, I guess I'd love to hear your experience. Dan: Here again, I think we're very similar and I think that's why our podcasts are so enjoyable, because to a certain extent, neither of us wants it to end when we get going. But I have one of our models in the strategic coach is a theater model which is front stage, back stage, and front stage is really, whether you have a viable company or not, it's your front stage your profitable front stage impact is what determines whether you're getting paid to take care of everything else, and I don't have to be motivated for a front stage impact. You know, and workshops is an example, podcasts is another example, creating new thinking tools is another example, and writing books is another example, or videos or audios. So these are all front stage. In other words, if I can get this done, then it has a multiplier impact out in the world on other people, and that either me directly interacting with the world, or our coaches or our team members interacting with the world, and that ends up in profitability. Okay, so those are my focus days, but some of the days that are not focused days, I have to be preparing for those days. Okay, but anytime. I think of front stage impact preferably. I don't need to be motivated to do that, I love doing that. Dean: Okay. Dan: And that's my usefulness to myself, that's my usefulness to everybody I engage with. But just going back to my decision over the last two years of just letting my mind wander, when I'm not directly engaged in front stage impact activities, my brain can do anything at once. It can go anywhere and so I don't really care. Before I used to care. I'm not making use of my front stage, my back time, I'm not making it. I said leave it alone, just let it go where it wants to go, let it run, let it go out and frolic, let it explore and everything else they really run. So I mean, it took me till practically age 78 to come to this agreement with my brain, and so I'm either in hyper focus, actually doing the things that make money and spread the reputation and do all sorts of good things, or it's free reign. I really don't care. Dean: And to me what it does. Dan: It frees me up from the tyranny of time and effort. That you're absolutely maximizing the use of your time. I said I don't care about my time and I don't care about my effort, as long as I make a front stage a profitable front stage impact. If it takes me an hour to do that, and it's an hour if it takes me a full day workshop, then it's a full day workshop, but I don't really care about the time and the effort, I just really care about the impact. And then backstage. I just say brain, go and do whatever you want to do, think about anything you want to think about, and I couldn't care less. You don't have to justify your existence. My brain doesn't have to justify its existence when it's not on stage. Dean: That's very interesting when you're creating a new tool. For instance, you introduced a tool on Friday for our pre-melt connection. Call yeah, your melt tool, and what's happening? How does that come about? What's your process? Dan: for that. Dean: That's one of the key outputs that you're providing is new IP and thinking tools for the thing, so how does that come about? If your mind goes, you mentioned you've read Peter Zion's book seven times now. Dan: Yeah, the end of the world is just the beginning. I think it's the most important book in the world. I'm reading and I read it seven times. So it's Peter Zion. Dean: Z-E-I-H-A-N. Dan: And the book is called. Dean: The. Dan: End of the World is Just Beginning and he's written. This is the fourth book that he's written since 2014, where he's just predicting that everything we were expecting to happen 10 years ago ain't going to happen that way, and a whole new world is going to happen. Dean: And he's got very plausible readings. Dan: I'm not going to explain the book here but it has a profound impact on me. But it seemed to me that he was operating at a macro geopolitical level and I said well, is there a simple sort of set of gauges, if you will underneath, that determines in any place at any time whether things are moving forward or they're stagnating or they're falling behind? And I came up, it just sort of fell out of. He doesn't talk about this directly, but after I'd read it a whole number of times, it just struck me that it was the cost of four things that determine this, and one of them was the cost of money. How much is it cost you to get money? And that comes in two forms how much is it cost you to get a loan and how much is it cost you to get an investment? Those are the two main, the financial vehicles that underlay growth. And then your profitability is the third one. Are you keeping a lot of what you're making? Dean: That's savings. Dan: And then the cost of energy and all of its different forms and the cost of labor getting really top notch. You have access to other people's skills, and how much is it cost you to do that? And then the cost of transportation, because we live in a physical world and to move a pound costs money including your own pounds and that costs energy and I just started playing with this. I know we did. I was mentioned on a previous one of our podcasts Mike Kenix, we did it on that and everybody I talked about it. It had a simplifying effect on their thinking. I said this is a good tool. That's all I do If you come up with an acronym and it's. M-e-l-t. And I said I think we're going into a great meltdown next 30 years where everything of those four factors is going to cost more, and you can see it. Yeah, I mean you can see it. All you have to do is read the news every day. Most of this is going up, energy is costing more, labor is costing more and transportation is costing more. And I said so. You know, I think it's a neat way. So what I did is I just introduced a tool to the free zone entrepreneurs, just two days ago, when you were there and I said if this is true, let's just suppose that it's true, that these costs are going to go up for everyone else and what's your biggest advantage and opportunity over the next 30 years? And that's just. That would be a thinking tool, and it has two qualities it's a sudden new thought, it provokes your interest, but it brings your right back to what you, as an entrepreneur, can take advantage of. So those are my criteria for a new thinking tool for a strategic coach. It took me from the time the thought occurred me to Friday, because that's the first time I did it. It took me six months of playing around with the idea, checking with other people you know conversation and then just looking at the news and saying, is the news going in the direction of the theory? You know? Dean: Yeah, and then. So when you like to get it to that tool, state that's part of your when you're letting your mind wander. It's so funny, dan, I've been talking about this idea of the self-milking cow, the idea of embracing your bovinity and realizing that you're the one that can create the milk. And if you set up an environment like I've moved towards, is that we basically have things divided into three divisions. I call it the pastures, which is me out roaming the pastures, you know, exploring and being a happy cow. And then we have got a milking shed and the milking shed is set up for me to come in and be, milked, essentially to turn my thoughts, free range thoughts, into, you know, into digital milk, meaning that we're recording something about my you know I'm doing it either through a podcast or through a Zoom or interview or whatever we've got with my team. And then we have the processing plant, where they take the digital milk and they process it into podcast, courses, tools, anything like that. So I'm curious, like it sounds like one of your pasture roaming activities is reading things like the like Peter Zion's book and your six you know your of daily input from real clear politics and the Wall Street Journal and All the things that you do. You put those all in and then ruminate on them and and then outcomes the things. When you're turning it into a tool, though, are you consciously like? Are you starting with, like illustration, journaling, doodling? What's your, what's your kind of creation process for? Dan: yeah, I do, because our tools come in in One page written. There's boxes and the box. You know the number of boxes, the kind of boxes you have so with with the melt tool. All I did was have it's called your great meltdown and your great meltdown DOS. Okay, so DOS is a previous tool that we have in coach is that and any human activity. There people are responding to dangers that they're fearing loss of some sort. The other thing is opportunities, where they're excited about the possible gain of something. Dean: And then their strength. Dan: These are the things that they already have going for them. And I said I think all human beings, every day, operate within a unique DOS framework of things that are fearful about, things are excited about and things that they're confident about. So what I did is I did a matrix and matrixes are cool, so the cool way of structuring where you have MLT, money, energy, labor, t and then I had four arrows going up for, I think, cost, and then down the side I had danger, opportunity, strength. And then I said to the entrepreneurs, because they're familiar with the DOS, everybody At the level that you're at in coach, the free zone. This is an old tool. This is, you know, 20 years old and some of you have been there 20 years and I said so from your standpoint that all of your clients and potential clients, customers, are going to have the danger of rising melt costs. What's your opportunity in this? Okay. So what's there the opportunity with dangers? What's the opportunity? Yeah. What's your opportunity with other people's opportunities? And what's your Opportunity with other people's strengths? And then you go through it and there's another exercise which I won't go into right here, and you come back and then you just have a general conversation, you have breakout sessions and conversation, and the room goes crazy, you know, and because everybody's done thinking about their thinking, they've talked about their thinking, and they come back and they hear everybody else's thinking and that's what produces the workshop. But the thing that triggers all this motion is that I have deadlines to create new things. Dean: Yes, I got it and that's really how it all comes out and that's, I think, do you have a sense of what your, how much of your time? Is that free range versus you know the structured workshops? And so I guess it's getting left, or more and more Free range. Dan: Well, I would say even on my most intense front stage days. Still, the majority of the day is free range and then when I don't have that type of thing. It's all free range, yeah, but it's not a. Yeah, without a commitment to someone else to deliver something, giving myself deadlines is worthless. Yeah, me too. Dean: I've discovered that about me giving myself a backstage free range deadline. Dan: Well, first of all, I think free range and deadline is a contradiction in terms. Right. Dean: Yeah, this is what I like about the, you know is doing a workshop or scheduling a milking session. Is I know that if I've got a milking session Scheduled, like I've been going to the studio? Yeah you know, on Thursday morning, 10 o'clock to 12 o'clock, and I know that you know I'm prepared for For being milked at that at those times, you know. So I'm either, yeah, doing something myself. Some of the best things that I've done have been just preparing myself to record a State of the Union or a new, you know, record myself as a thought. I do find those a little more that I have to. You know, if I have to have that time set aside, right, that's how I've been. How I did the convert more leads book was I Could free range, I get my thoughts together for this section of the book and then I go and talk that out. So it gives me that structure. One thing that I have realized and that's been very helpful is this idea that Reality you know, the mainland, the real world here, applying yourself, moves at the speed of reality, which is 60 minutes per hour. And, yeah, if I'm going to embark on a project that's going to take 20 hours, that there's no possible way to allocate or Put in those 20 hours without actually putting in the 20 hours and that I can't do it. All at once. So the only thing I've got an infinite. I've got an infinite Opportunity list of all of the things that I could possibly do, but what I've been experimenting with that's very helpful is Just loading in my next 10 hours. What if I? What can I do in the next 10? 50 minute focus sessions that I have? you know that's really that narrow. That helps me prioritize and make a decision, which is the first step of you know my acronym of playing golf a goal, optimal environment, limited distractions, six time frames. So a goal is the decision of what am I going to do at Tuesday from 10 o'clock to 12 o'clock I've got two potential hours that I can allocate there and what am I going to do in those times. You know, that's really been a big help. Dan: Yeah, yeah and. I, you know and I've got a reputation that goes back, certainly the full extent of the Coach program, which goes back. I mean we'll be 35 years Next November. We're in our 35th year of the coach program. Dan always delivers. Yeah, and I have a Absolute commitment to never in any way undermining that reputation. So whatever it takes, dan always delivers, okay me too. And you know if you handle that, whatever it takes to deliver, you know life gets real, simple. Dean: Yeah even though it's sometimes. You've seen that illustration of the you know assignment made, accepted, deadline here the timeline, and then the little five percent at the very end and the 95% all allocated is goofing off. And then five percent, all the work done, while crying. Dan: No matter what. Dean: Yeah, well done, you know, yeah, yeah yeah, because your, your entire reputation is just in terms of commitment, is that you've made to other people? Yeah, and I think, though, our ability to our ability to always deliver, I think has really been, you know, honed because of our, the requirement of us always pulling a rabbit out of our hats growing up. Dan: I think yeah, even in any assignments or anything like that. Dean: We've gotten Really good at improv theater you know, yeah, I. Dan: Well, I think the other thing is if that's true, you always deliver then, what people can't see about that? Are you happy with the time you spend that other people can't see? And I would say that I'm up about 1,000 times over the last 30 years. I'm really happy with the free range time. I'm really happy with all the work backstage that I have to do. I used to be grueling. It was working nights, it was working weekends under severe pressure, and that's not true anymore, because I've got a sense of the framework of the project. I got the sense of the timing of the project. And I said you know and then you know, I've kind of worked out what the deal is with my brain. My brain always delivers at the end of the day. And I says, well, there's two of us that always deliver my brain. If I set my brain three things by the end of the day, have this self, I don't care what you do, You're not accountable for any of your time, but by the end of the day I want these three things delivered. And then I've got my commitments to deliver a front stage. So I've just worked out a two-way deal here. I love it. Dean: That's great. Well, Dan, I never yeah. Dan: I think we're kind of cosmic soulmates, you know, both the payoff and the problem. I think we're. Both of us have tried similar landscape in terms of coming to grips with ourselves. I agree. Yeah, I find these conversations infinitely interesting One takeaway that you got from today, and I'll tell you mine. Dean: So that's my big takeaway for today. It's given myself permission to just roam the pastures, to enjoy my free range, as long as I just hold up my end of the bargain right. That was a night. I got a lot out of that. Dan: Yeah, and I think that I do really interesting podcasts also with Shannon Waller which is called Inside Strategic Coach and people always want to know. Our clients especially want to know how we do, what we do backstage. And I'll just drop this as a topic for her, because I think this the greatest tension that entrepreneurs have is not front stage, but the greatest tension is backstage. Dean: Yeah, yeah, I agree, I agree. Well, I'm excited about next week. Yeah, I want to talk again even more conversation. I look forward to it. Thanks, steve, this is really great, thanks. Dan: Steve, okay, I'll talk to you next time.
  • Ep113: Revolutionizing Health, Wealth, and Tech

    Ep113: Revolutionizing Health, Wealth, and Tech

    · Welcome to Cloudlandia
    In today's Welcome to Cloudlandia episode, Dan shares his experience with stem cell treatments, from his different injections to increased energy and improved brain function. Next, we explore the fascinating realm of intelligent money exemplified by Indify and how it empowers creators by potentially disrupting the music industry through musicians' futures. Lastly, we make a special announcement about our first Free Zone event in Toronto this June. Join us for insights on innovative concepts that can upgrade our lives.

     

    SHOW HIGHLIGHTSWe delve into the world of stem cell treatments, starting with my personal experience and how it has improved my energy levels and brain function.We discuss the concept of intelligent money and how platforms like Indify are empowering creators and musicians, potentially disrupting the traditional music industry.We explore the concept of investing in people and emerging technologies, citing examples like Elon Musk and Steve Jobs.We reflect on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in content creation and the importance of discernment in information consumption.We discuss the concept of media polarization and share our personal experiences with the shift from newspapers to online news aggregators.We mention a play we saw about the Queen's relationship with various Prime Ministers, shedding light on an intriguing historical fact.We explore the topic of neutrality and bias in AI and discuss how it might impact our thinking processes.We announce our first Free Zone event happening in Toronto in June and share our past experiences in the city.We discuss the idea of digital detox and share our strategies for reducing screen time and the benefits we've experienced.We reflect on our experiments with AI in generating interesting facts and video scripts, emphasizing its potential as a multiplier for content creation.

    Links:
    WelcomeToCloudlandia.com
    StrategicCoach.com
    DeanJackson.com
    ListingAgentLifestyle.com

    TRANSCRIPT

    (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)

    Dean: Welcome to Cloudlandia. Dan: Ah, you have a very resonant place to this morning. Dean: Well, you know what I did. I came in on the app today and so we'll see. And over the last week we had some intermittent disruption. So to try this this week. Maybe it's a different level of unpredictable variety. I called it unpredictable variety. That's right. We roll with it and yeah, and there we go, yeah. So everybody wants to know, dan, how is the $6 million man doing with his biomegies? Dan: here. Yeah, yeah, pretty good. So we're talking on a Sunday and just the past Thursday was two weeks, and you know I got a figure in the placebo factor here and I think I mentioned this last time that when you have a pain and you don't have any solution for it, you try to avoid the pain, and so you kind of? A you kind of a focus on it. You rearrange your posture and your body to avoid the pain. Dean: Yes. Dan: But since I had the stem cell injection, I came back and the pain didn't seem any different. But I was confident about it that I now had a pain that in, according to prediction, in six months I won't have the pain. And so I'm not avoiding the pain and I'm you know, I'm walking downstairs without holding out to the rail and just depending on my leg. But I will say in the last two or three, three days I've I have noticed an improvement so that I'm getting from. You know we have top to bottom we in some cases I'm going to flights, yes. And and yeah, so I told Dr Hasse, david Hasse, who's in the free zone with us, because he's the arranger for all this. Anything else I do, I go through his clinic, so he's the one who arranged everything in Buenos Aires. Yes, and I tell him. I said I'm I'm naturally a self-producer of placebo's. Dean: And I said I think it's part of my. Dan: I think it's part of my character. I had nice said actually isn't strategic coaches, and that was strategic coaches producing your own placebo's. Dean: So I love it yeah. Dan: Yeah, so anyway, all friends, but I will tell you this we had three different treatments. I did and Babs had a fourth one. So Babs had a big toe, inflamed bones and her big toe. And the pain is way, way down after two weeks. And both of us had vascular IVs, so this is where the stem cells are put you know, it's an IV, so it goes in over 40 minutes. Dean: It wasn't an injection. Right, right, right. Dan: But it's, these stem cells are geared just to your vascular system, so just you know the veins, as I said and so I feel quite a bit more energy, and again, I'm not discounting the placebo effect. And the third, the third thing that I did Babs did vascular two and I did brain cells. So these, what they do is that they put lymphocytes in on day one and then on day three they give you an IV for the, for your brain cells and the lymphocytes. I don't exactly understand what they are. Okay, I know they're neither Republican or Democrat. I do know that they're NDP, right? Exactly, yeah, I know that. I know they don't have a political characteristic about them, but what they do is they actually create pathways through what's called the blood brain barrier. Okay, and what I understand is that the brain is very protective of itself, so it doesn't allow any foreign thing to come in To the brain. But it'll accept lymphocytes and they're just little, they're kind of temporary pathways and they die after about a week or two. But what happens then is the stem cells that are geared to your brain can go through those pathways and and I'm doing a program called neuro potential, which is a bio feedback program, and I'm doing a neuro potential program and I did session 30, 29 and 30. I've been doing that for about a year and what it tests you on is when you're watching a movie and I picked a favorite movie which was foils for British detective homicide detective series Long time ago, 15 years ago, very intriguing, very good acting, and so I went Saturday morning to the hospital. And so I went Saturday ago and I did it. And usually what happens during the course of the session? You're watching the, you're watching the screen and then all of a sudden the screen will go black, the sound will go out, but the movie goes on and your brain notices this and it readjust itself so that the screen comes back and the sound comes back, and normally during a session it'll happen four or five times and there's nothing you can do. All you do is the brain just adjust itself and that adjustments are actually making improvements to how your brain operates. And I've been doing it and my EEG tests, which are a battery of screen tests that I do every quarter, indicate that my brain has improved quite a bit over the last year. But this session, the first time now I'm talking about a week ago, saturday not once during the entire movie did the screen black out and or the sound go out. And the first time it ever happened. And the technician they have technicians there who you know they will. They put your sensors on your brain and then they you know they're there all the time and she said I've never seen that before. She said I've never seen it, certainly haven't seen it with you, but she's, I've never seen it with anyone. And these people are these train. These people are trained not to be enthusiastic. Dean: And they're just there, related to your, to the stencils or yeah, well, it's the only thing that's changed. It's gotta be right. Dan: Yeah, it's gotta be, and she up the difficulty. So when I do it fairly easily, she'll up the difficulty and the and yesterday I went and it sound went out three times but the screen did not go black and and she said that's amazing because she said you're even stronger this week than you were last week and that was a real breakthrough week. So I think, that that's and this is the only thing where I have outside reference point. That's testing. So, yeah, so, but my energy has been real good from the overall. But I think the big thing is that I am now convinced this specifically from this stem cell thing that we're going through and also other things that I've been doing for the past year that now anything in the body, if it can be diagnosed, if there's something off, if something's not performing right, something's not working period or, worse than that, it's something wrong is happening. I now am convinced that if it can be diagnosed, it can be repaired and it can be regenerated. So that's yeah. Dean: And. Dan: I've been and I've been going on. I've been going on faith for the last 36 years in this regard that this would come. Dean: Yeah, I mean, you know, you look at, I heard Joe Rogan had well, he always has all kinds of interesting people, but he had Gary Brecca on. I don't know him? Dan: I don't know him. Dean: Yeah Well, he's kind of an interesting story, I don't know. I mean, you know like anything, when you hear him on you know he kind of breaks into the scene. He's the guy that kind of turned Dana White around. Dana's lost all kinds of weight and reversed his. Dan: Oh yeah, I know Dana White, he's the. Yeah, you see ultra fighting, yeah, that's exactly right, yeah, yeah, the US. Dean: And so he. This guy's background was as a I don't know what the right word for what he did, but it was some sort of for insurance companies. They would predict your lifespan. So it was like advanced what do they call that in insurance? Mortality rate, I'm guessing. Dan: Yeah, it's the actuary, the actuary, yeah, yeah, so actuarial. Dean: I guess would be kind of based on statistical groups kind of thing. And what they do is this is based on records, on your on measuring, like genetic markers and blood work, and they couldn't predict. He says within months of somebody's life expectancy, and very interesting, right. So Dana came in and he had, you know, very elevated triglycerides and you know certain other markers that were really kind of degenerative and he's 53 years old and his they marked his life expectancy at 63.6 or something like that. And it was really like an eye-opener for him to see that have that sort of you know, mortality check on what you're, what's going on in your body, and he basically says all these things are, you know, they're starting to give out years and years before they're actually the end of now. So it's not a mystery kind of thing, it's just that way. You know, and so he's, you know, done all the things that he recommended and he's already added, like you know, 12 years to his life expectancy already, and that it's kind of, I think, when you're right, that we're at a stage where we're started learning all the Repair models of things that, yeah, to be able to, to regenerate, I'm still amazed that even the fact that DNA exists like how do you even Tune into something like that, right, like how did somebody even Discover that's a thing, is just like beyond my imagination, you know it's, yeah well, electron microscopes with the yeah well, I mean with you know, the the actual day breakthrough. Dan: There's some great stories about that aren't really on point here, but we could go into them. But the point I'd like to bring. This is all cloud land. Yeah, this is all these are cloud land media capabilities that have come into existence, because the I was talking to Peter de Amonus about this and I said it's clearly a Lot of things that were predicted by a lot of people 10 years ago haven't happened. Okay they haven't happened to the degree that they're happening, but they're not to the degree. But I would say that the application of digital measurement to your body has has gone way beyond what anyone was predicting at the ability to, at the most minute level, to sell your level of actually Measuring and then having comparisons. You know comparisons because these are large model. These are large model. You know, when somebody says you are, you know a certain age, like if you take Dana White, and they said 53 and they his prediction was for 63. What they were doing was measuring against millions and millions of other tests that they yeah, I'm not other people that Used to take yours to put the facts together and now it takes minutes, yeah and he wasn't even possible years ago that I put those together. Yeah, no, I mean, my first doctor encounters were in the 1940s, so this is 80, not quite 80 years ago. And the best you could hope for back then was that the doctor had a good bedside manner. Dean: Well, three out of four doctors prefer Chesterfield's. A great Actually. Dan: And it was. It was actually seven out of those, seven out of eight. Who a doctor? Seven out of eight doctors who smoke prefer camo camos. No this is a great. This is a great ad campaign. I mean, we shouldn't be frivolous about this. It's really sold a lot of camos. I'll tell you. Dean: I wonder what those things like. If we look forward you know, fast forward, for the years from now. What are we going to look at? As you know, so Stupid and obvious back in you know that we haven't been paying attention to. Dan: No, yeah, you know, I always say that a depressed utopian, utopian who's depressed. Our people get depressed by the absence of things that haven't been invented yet. Yeah, exactly, geez, there's so much that has been. I'm missing all these things. I said what exactly? Are you missing? Well, I don't know, but I'm missing it, yeah. Dean: It's so funny, I just saw somebody in on Facebook, one of the there's a local Group called it. You know, if you grew up in Georgetown you remember, you may remember kind of group and it was pretty these things and somebody showed you know Georgetown the cable was. You know halting cable was becoming Available and they were offering, you know, service on on the nine channels for our listeners. Dan: Today we're not talking about George town in Washington DC right, we're talking about. Dean: We're talking about. Dan: George town, a lovely veil Norris. And is it more west than north? Dean: I'm trying to think it north and more what I know, the go train goes there. That's exactly right. It's the last outpost on the on the go train and that was the thing they were offering now service on channel two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 11 and 13, and I remember those days, like you know, 1970 Something when we got our first color television and I got the table you know that was. That was the thing. Wow, what a world yeah. But, but just back to the. Dan: You brought up a subject right at the beginning of our talk here DNA. It's actually been the merger of artificial intelligence and DNA that's producing all the amazing diagnostic tests. Because they can now do, then, what they do is they convert biological Signals to digital signals okay and now they can do ten thousand tests, either on something that exists In the time that it would takes to do one manual test ten years ago. So ten thousand to one, that's that qualifies as exponential in my world. Dean: I would say so. Yeah, I would say so. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I'm banking on that. You know, and as you know from our conversations of a long time ago, that I was Babs and I were on this path in the 90s, you know, in the 1990s, so we're 30 years down the road now, but I knew you could tell. I mean, I read a lot. You know, the internet has been a great tool for me of Just letting my brain go wild on the internet and it finds this and kind of I find your brain Kind of finds what you were looking for, but you didn't know you were looking for it, that's the way I explain it. Dean: Do you find? Dan: that. Dean: I do. I had some experimenting this week, actually Based on our conversation last week that you know you mentioned. You kind of let your brain just go and do what it wants, but let's just I mean almost like with an agreement that let's just, at the end of the day, let's get these three things done, and I don't care what you do or when you do it, but let's just go ahead and let's get these three things. Dan: But I but. Dean: I got a. Dan: I got. I've been thinking about our conversation too and I said but it's finding it for some reason, and I think, using AI language here that somewhere in the past you gave your brain a prompt, just like you do with a chat GPT you gave it a prompt that. If you ever come across something like this, alert me to this. So my sense is that you've been programming your brain to look for certain things since the beginning. You've been prompting your brain to look for certain things. And all of a sudden it comes across something and you wake up and say, gee, that's neat, that's neat. Dean: I didn't know that. Dan: But somewhere in the past you gave some sort of prompts, I think, to tell your brain. If you ever see something like this, just let me know right away, because I'm interested in it. Dean: One of the things that I came across this week was in relation to our conversation about melt, about money, energy, labor and transportation all going in, rising cost of those, and I've been thinking about money, like access to money, and I'm seeing there's more and more versions of intelligent money coming, you know being the thing of empowering creators in a way, and I've looked at, I found out about a company called Indify which is taking a venture capital kind of approach to creators, musicians, particularly independent artists who are, you know, making music, and they're partnering with them for, you know, 50% ownership of whatever comes out of what they're they're producing and it's really, you know, they may not produce like, compared to the music label industry, the model where they would, you know, sign an artist and do a full album and all those things. Dan: These are really but those are already existing. That was already existing. Yeah, yeah, here they're here they're doing music and musician futures. Dean: Yes, that's exactly what it is and that's a really interesting model, like typically they're, you know, with a particular like a song, for instance, they may invest $30,000 to produce a single song and artists, but they're showing that the you know, the typical return on, even like they're not to be they're not talking about hits, but things that they showed investments of their typical investment of $30,000 has returned $110,000 so far per one of those that they've done. Yeah, and they started in 2020, you know, so over that period of time, they've kind of tripled their investments and I thought, partner, you know that, that level of you know in the entrepreneurial world I don't know whether that's that you know the rising cost or you know the that, the diminishing supply of capital. I don't know whether there's different rules for Plotlandia and creative things as opposed to. You know large scale, physical capital. You know capital, physical world. Dan: Yeah, my sense of that is that the smart investors whether it's in the mainland or whether it's in Plotlandia are the same person. They're the same, and my feeling is that the smartest investors invest on people. They don't invest on things. They don't really invest on things, and so my sense is that the example you just gave this person has proven in the past that they're actually creative. Dean: And they always seem to be coming up. Dan: they always seem to be coming up with new things, and some of them have monetized and some of them haven't monetized. So that's the guess. And that's the bet you know. In other words, I'm guessing that you're going to. You already come up with something in the past that turned out to be money making. Dean: And. Dan: I'm betting I'm just going to bet on you as a creator, that you're going to come up with some good stuff that properly captured, properly packaged and properly distributed is going to be money making. Dean: Would you say I agree. I mean, do you think you're kind of heading back to the patron days? Oh yeah. Yeah in a way, yeah, yeah. Dan: Oh, totally, totally. I mean entrepreneurs are you and I and all the folks that we hang out with are we're self patrons? Dean: Yes. Dan: The difference between an entrepreneur and non entrepreneurs and individual who's betting on himself as the future. Well, you did that a long time ago and you know, and I did it a long time ago, and so that's why I'm not taken by things. You know, I'm not really taken by things. You know, betting on things like I've talked about a product or a tech. I'm not betting on that I'm betting on the thing possibly being a tool that some really smart human is going to maximize going to. You know it's going to do something. And I was thinking about that with Elon Musk, because there's no reason for his valuations related to Tesla. You know, if you took the normal valuations of a car company, the number of cars you got, the distribution system, you got his the Tesla doesn't make sense. The valuation that he has for Tesla makes no sense whatsoever. By right, historic automobile standards, right, and somebody was saying that they you know this is, you know this is, you know this is a scam. I said you're missing the point here. They're not betting on the Tesla car. They're betting on Elon Musk coming up with always new things. Dean: That is true, and he, yeah, he's, yeah, he's come up with quite a few. Dan: Yeah, and I think Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs was on that track, but he died he, you know he died, I mean because, really, if you take a look at Apple's extraordinary, it's stuff that all goes back to Steve Jobs. Dean: Yes. Dan: And, and I mean not a big thing since, not a really big thing since 2008. Dean: Right, since the iPhone, right. I mean, that's really the iPhone yeah. Yeah, that decade of, you know, 90 2008,. That's really that's where everything happened. I think was. I think about it. Yeah, we talked about it in our analysis of the last 28 years. That none of it. You know Apple was close to bankruptcy, that they were in trouble 28 years ago he had to borrow from Bill Gates. Yeah, exactly, and that's you know, that's kind of. Dan: That's pretty amazing right. Dean: When you think about everything that's turned around since then, and thinking about even Jeff Bezos, who you know, who knew. Dan: Yeah, yeah, and you know, and so so the the thing about betting, but I always bet on people. You know, my whole approach is that this is a person you know who proven track record and part of it is that they not do what they're doing. You know, one of my views is that I look at somebody who cannot do the thing that seems to be most valuable, and and so I don't have to worry what they're doing when I don't see them. Dean: Right, what's he? Dan: doing? What's? What's he doing today? I know exactly what he's doing today. He's doing what I bet on. Dean: He's doing what I bet on him doing, you know and you know. Dan: So it's a very interesting thing. So, but I think I was going back because we had this conversation. I said, you know, if I go back because I've really been an entrepreneur since really the beginning of the microchip age in the 70s. They started using the word microchip, I think early 70s, but I read about it in 73 and I started my company in 74 1974. So 50 years next year. Dean: And. Dan: I would say that the microchip itself is one of the real breakthroughs. And then the ability for there to be such thing as a personal computer, which came up within the first 10 years of the microchip and then graphic user interface, which made the personal computer available to everybody, okay. And then the internet, probably software somewhere in there, the whole notion of software, that it didn't have to be hardware. Usefulness of the computer did not have to be hardware, it could just be a program. And then I would say the internet, and then the iPhone, and now artificial intelligence. Dean: Yeah, artificial intelligence that, I think what's happening there is. Nobody could really have predicted. I mean maybe people who knew were predicting, but I don't think people really had a sense of what was really possible with this until now, and I think as a species right now, we're clueless about where this is going. Dan: I said you know. I said you can say anything you want about where it's going and probably you'll be right, but there's going to be a million other things happening to that. Nobody could have predicted. Dean: Yeah, I mean it's really. Dan: I mean where are you crossing into this world? I mean, what are you do? We have three or four projects. Dean: We have three or four projects going that I'm involved in the company and so where are you? Dan: I'm at the experiment when are you experimenting? Dean: Yeah, I'm experimenting in the personal side, like my personal experience with it. We're not using it as it's not integrated in any way into my company that you're you know our stuff yet, but I can see that it could be. I mean, I looked at, you know, one of the things that we do we have a subscription for. We have two different versions one for realtors, one for financial advisors of a postcard newsletter called the world's most interesting postcard, and it's essentially a carrier for referral programming that you as a realtor or a financial advisor would send to your top 150 relationships so that you are programming them to notice conversations about real estate, to think about you and to introduce you to the person that they had the conversation with. And it's been, you know, a phenomenal game changer for the amount of referrals that people get, measured as a, you know, return on relationship, the percentage of repeated referral business you get from your top 150 relationships. And so I had four years we've been doing it for 12 years now a monthly postcard where we have someone research and put together there might be 16, you know just short, interesting facts that you put on the front of the postcard and it's got a nice design and so it's easy to read. It's kind of just like you know interesting things and the. I started thinking about, well, if I did what, if I did one specifically for for financial advisors, that all the facts and stuff are money related. And I just asked chat GPT one day. I said can you write to you know 10 short interesting facts about the history of money? And it started writing the things. And then I asked it to you know, make it a little more interesting things. And it, you know, put it on. That said you can be 20 more. And it was like boom, all interesting. Dan: Yeah, absolutely. I said yeah, and you're, you're, you're designing, though, as you go along, there's probably an interactive thing going on between yeah, right, I'm just directing, you know, there's two. Ai's AI breakthroughs consist of two AI's. You know the first AI is artificial intelligence. The second one's called the actual intelligence. Dean: Yeah, exactly so. Dan: I'm bringing the actual intelligence. Dean: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I said it was so funny, Dan, because I said to it well, these are great. How many do you think you could? Well, I can make an infinite number of these. How many would you like? And it was just so funny that I ended up with like 50 of these you know, and just instantly done and I thought you know that's a really interesting thing. Again, those are, you know it's content related. I came, I had this idea of you know I think there are 400 and something cognitive biases that are, and I just started. Dan: How many of you mastered it Right, exactly, and you know it's an interesting thing. Dean: I said can you make a three minute video script describing confirmation bias, the facts about what it is and how it might be, how it might be deployed or come into play and how to defend against it? And it wrote this amazing, like just you know, intro this, then scene of this and then this, and narrator says that there's the script, you know, and it was just. I mean, when you look at the putting together of the different things, I saw this I saw someone do a demonstration of you know, having it write some. It was writing ads, video ads for something, and it they had gone to one of the gone to 11 labs. I think is a place where you train your voice. So it's got your voice. And then it went to another place that had your digital, you know avatar, you know from video of you, and Then it combined this AI written script with your voice through your face on your avatar on video and it's instantly translated into any Language where your mouth moves and your mouth is saying the words in Japanese or German or French or whatever, and I just Just such a like you can see. That's a you know, the distribution of Content like that, you know, is amazing. But then it's still so that's everything I've seen has been content related, you know, kind of yeah, creation and as a multiplier for content creation. But then the bigger you know we've had the conversation that, the bigger you know. Picture of that is that our brains we still can't consume At any more than the speed of reality, which is 60 minutes per hour right, it takes us. Dan: Yeah, and the other thing is that we can only think about one thing at a time, you know. I mean, we can't think two things at the same time. Humans just can't do this, and you know, and as you say, it's reality, world, time-based. Yeah, you know, and really the successful people have learned firsthand just what can get begin gotten done in an hour a day, and and then also it's developed a sense of discernment about just what's worth Having your mind on for an hour for a whole day and you know, and that you know, and I've dropped, I'm noticing I'm shedding all sorts of things as I Approach 80. Just I dropped televisions. I'm in my sixth year now dropping television and and people say, but you're a big sports fan. And I said, oh, I've got a trick. I said I wait till the game. I I've got. I wait till the game, as though I'll use Cleveland Brown says an example and I just checked. I checked the score. You know the scores are in now. It's some beyond game time. Did they win or lose? Well, if they lost, I'm not interested. If they won, then they have a ten minute video of the highlights and that's my game. Dean: You know and. Dan: I know they've won and then I just get a chance to see how they won. Okay, if they lose, I don't watch it, because I, because that doesn't do me any good, doesn't do me any. I'm already disappointed they lost. Why would I pile on and People said, yeah, but you're? Missing all the excitement of the game and I said, I said yes. I said I want to be excited about other things. I don't want to be excited about young people who are one-third of my age. I did coming through for me or not coming through for me? I want to see the final result. Dean: I've been contemplating Dan because, I I find that embarrassingly, much of my time is screen-sucking. You know, as our friend, there's a lot of, there's a lot of screen-sucking and I would count television and YouTube and tiktok and Facebook and Anytime my eyeballs are sucking dopamine in through my screen as that time. And I've been experimenting with, you know, disconnecting from the the dopamine device you know, and so this morning was one of those times. I'm trying to get to a point where I can get as far into my day without having any, you know, digital input, and I think that there's a real Face that I could go, you know, all the way till noon with no Contact with the outside world and that, I think, would be a better thing for me. But it's amazing how your body like I went over to the cafe this morning to get some, get a coffee and just sit outside and you know, I didn't take my phone, I woke up, I still wake up in the you know the first thing. You know, I checked my phone or whatever. I left it here and I went to the, the cafe and it's amazing how your brain is Like saying you know, wait a second, what if anything? What if you? What? Dan: if you break down. Dean: What if you're Get an accident or you need to call somebody here? What? What about that? And then I realized I don't know a single person's phone number. I don't know what single phone number except my office, you know, and not there's nobody there, but that's. It's very funny to me, that's where your mind goes. And then I had that. I took real money Because normally I use my Apple pay on my phone to pay for it, and so I had real paper money with me and it was just. It was so Interesting to sit at the cafe and just watch everybody you know, all you know, even together screen sucking the whole time and I've been experimenting like how much can I Disconnect from that in a proactive way? Right, like well, it's interesting. Dan: It's interesting because in the year you're applying the concept of intermittent fasting. Yeah, exactly that, yeah, you're going to. You know I'm going to spend three hours or four hours where I fast, you know yeah. Because your brain will find something to do if you're not right now yes autophagy Remember this is something interesting. Dean: I was really going as far as, like, how far down can I go with this? Right, like what would I truly be missing? As I do, I use my phone all the time for everything. I mean texting, email, ordering food, you know all of the stuff. Entertainment Talking and I was. I remember there was a show about the royalty I think it was called the crown, and or maybe it was a movie about the Queen, but I remember this was struck me as very like a very interesting is that every day at a certain time 5 pm Maybe, or noon or sometime they would bring the Queen a red box. Oh yeah, box was everything that she needed for the day, everything that needed her attention kind of thing, and I thought how neat would that be. What would be interesting if I could, at 5 pm Every day, get a box that has Every thing that I need, like any emails that have come in, any texts that have come in, any you know articles of interest. That would be. You know, something that I would need and I've wondered about that getting rid of. Like you know, I check on that judge report and you know I the news, like seeing different things that are going on in the world and I thought to myself I wonder what happened if I went to, like you know, paper subscriptions to Newsweek Time magazine and the Wall Street Journal as the my Well they're. Dan: I've gone beyond that because I used to get five papers a day. Yeah, you got two to Toronto papers. I got the, I got the Wall Street Journal, I got New York Times and. National Post well, national Post was globe in the post for the two. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Toronto papers, and then the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, and the fifth one was business, business and best investors daily. Yeah, right, yeah, investors, business daily, and. But I began to realize that I all those papers. The only thing I was really interested in was the opinion section. Dean: Okay, where the? Dan: people wrote Oversight articles, in other words they were looking at a something and they were writing that. And then you know politics I began to notice that in the Newspaper world they were making most of their money after a while on subscriptions because the advertising dollars were being taken away by Facebook and Google and yeah, and they had to go to digital versions on a subscription basis. And what that did is that it polarized the media in the sense that, for example, the Wall Street Journal I Would say 80 to 90 percent of its subscription probably is Center or center right on the political spectrum. There's center right and the New. York Times is Barely center, mostly to the left, and I noticed that the Globe and Mail is now center to the left and the Globe and Mail or the post is still Still somewhat into the right. Into the right and the investors business daily only has opinions on Saturday. You know they only have a real commentary section. So, yes, okay. So when I began looking for, I said, well, still hit or miss, because there may be some good stuff or not good stuff. So I went to this aggregator which is called real clerk, comes up Chicago and all they do is aggregate Article headings and they're almost all, they're all commentary, okay. So every morning and six days a week they do an update at three o'clock in the afternoon. So you get up in the morning and they have that, and then at three o'clock in the afternoon they have an update. They don't do this on Saturday. Okay, there's one day when they don't do it Right but then they have all sorts of real clear. They have real clear politics, they have real clear policy. They have real clear market real clear world real clear defense, real clear energy, real clear health real clear science and those are more. They're picking up a periodicals rather than daily, and so I just get up in the morning and I look and I click on three or four of them and they come for the New York Times. It's lucky if they get one every day. Some of them have paywalls so that when you go to their thing they're saying well, you can read the article if you pay for a subscription, and that counts them out. You know, I'm not going to pay, I'm not going to sign up for a subscription to get one article, so right. So, yeah and so, so, anyway. So that's what I've done. So and I'm down now to Babs gets the post because she likes knowing Toronto things, but I don't bother looking at the, for the last two or three weeks they've had great articles. It's mainly how our Prime Minister is going down the drain, which I always find comforting reading. And then the Israeli, the Israeli Amos situation and that's been a great clarifier Boy. You really find out where people stand with this particular issue. That's been a really great clarifier herself. Yeah, yeah, so anyway, but that's how I handle it. I handle it. That's my sort of my red box. Real clear, it's my red box. Dean: Right, that's interesting. Dan: You know what they do you know what they call that? The thing that the queen gets. I don't know what they call it. They call it the red box. Dean: That's what I thought. Dan: You know that red box she gets every day. Dean: You know what they call it. Dan: They call it the red box. Dean: That is so funny, but I thought about experimenting with that and getting a red box and the government has to prepare them for. Dan: The Prime Minister's office has to prepare that for her, exactly yeah. Yeah, because they're both in town. Once a week, the Prime Minister has to come to the palace and deliver in person some of the crucial issues. This is not recorded. No one ever knows. Dean: Right A weekly audience with the queen Right. Dan: Yeah, yeah. Dean: Yeah, and the king now. Dan: I guess I guess the king. Should we send the red box to the king? It's kind of hard to say. It's kind of hard to say it's kind of hard to say king, I'd say king, you know because she was in for seven years or so. Yeah. There was a great play. Actually it was called the Interview. I saw it, and I saw it in London, right around the corner from the hotel. Dean: And. Dan: Helen Merrin was the queen. Helen Merrin was the queen and that what they did is all the Prime Ministers that she's had, starting with Winston Churchill, right up until last year. I guess there were a whole bunch of Prime Ministers over the last two or three years, so anyway, but she had just talked about. It was all made up, because nobody really knows what's that, but they just used topical issues of the time, and you know, and whether she got along with the Prime Ministers or not, or and everything else, and it was a very, just a really terrific, really terrific play. Dean: I saw Napoleon on Thanksgiving Day. What did you think? Dan: What did you think? Dean: I didn't like it Did you see, it. I haven't. It was as we like to say, dan. There was a lot of middle in that movie. Dan: It was all middle it joined in progress and just never left the middle. Dean: There were only two scenes that were repeated six times. There was the drama in the palace and then there was battle scenes with horses and bayonets and cannons and on and on the same battle scenes, again and again, and then back to the palace and it was really. I didn't enjoy it at all. I had no. It was my shortest movie review ever. Dan: I just looked at the camera. Dean: I shook my head and said nope, and then I hashtagged it nope, olean, yeah yeah yeah, and, but I have no real historical knowledge of, you know, of Napoleon but, I, did you know? The most interesting thing was at the end they did a summary of all the people that were lost in battles, like 6 million people in his period of being the king, he lost in battle. That was that's crazy, you know. 6 million seemed like that seemed like a lot. Dan: Well, we must use all of them up, because his final battle was 1815. That's when Waterloo was you know the final battle, and then there was not a major European war until the beginning of the beginning of the First World War. So it was 99 years. So he must have used everybody up because it took a whole century to stack up again. Yeah, and you know yeah, I mean a lot of American history, american history, really, you know, from the British fighting the French. You know that's really where the American thing starts, it's. I don't know what they call it. You know they call it the Seven Years War here in Canada, but in the United States it was called the French and Indian War. You, know, and this was 1817, 50s, 1763, Seven Years. But this is where all the American colonists got their military training, which they then used to good for self fighting the British. Oh wow, 1717. So George Washington was an American born. You know, they were all British. I mean, they were all British. Yeah, All the colonists were British. And then anyway, but that takes you right up until he. I think Napoleon comes in around 1793 and he was in for 22 years, but he totally changed Europe. I mean, he was like a major earthquake that went right across the continent and that really changed things. You know, hitler, hitler was great. Hitler was a great admirer of Napoleon. Dean: Yeah, and that right. Dan: He made, and he made the same mistake. Dean: He invaded. Dan: Russia. Right right, right right. Dean: That's yeah. So I'm going to save you from from that. Dan: Yeah, well, it's not a it's not a topic that I'm really interested in Right, I've never just talked about Napoleon, no. I just you know, but he, he not only was a significant military person, he was very significant politician. Because so that's where we get the metric. Metric system is from Napoleon. Dean: That's right yeah. Dan: And they didn't have any standard measurements in Europe. Okay, you know I mean the British had their own. But you know, the British is kind of a organic thing that's developed over time, feet, inches, feet, yards and everything, and it's the light and the lightfully accent and idiosyncratic. It's eccentric and eccentric. The British are eccentric, you know, and he wanted this 100. Everything is, you know, and it took all the fun out of it, took all the fun out of measurement. Dean: Right, you imagine. Dan: American, American baseball and metric, you know. Dean: American football and metric. Dan: Yeah. That's even the Canadian football league uses yards and feet and you know everything like that, you know all the buddy, yeah, track and field they don't, because that's a more of a European thing. Yeah, yeah World stage. Anyway, well, it's really interesting, but I'd like to pick up a little bit more on this couple of themes that we've developed over the last few talks, and one of them, and what I think, is that every human being is a confirmation bias. Okay, say more about that. Well, you're biased according to the experience that's proved useful or not useful. Okay, okay okay, so you've used a term you know to grade movies that are not worth seeing a lot of the middle. Okay, yeah, so there was a lot. I don't remember if there was a beginning end or an ending end. It's just battles and battles. Battles and battles, that's right, and palace, yeah, but I think that really thing because I think that it's impossible for human beings not to have a bias. Yeah, I think, that's absolutely I think as the smarter human beings know what their biases are and actually choose them, yeah, they actually choose them, yeah. And and you know, as it just strikes me that this whole notion of neutrality, that you can be unbiased is, I think it's just silly, how could you? Possibly be unbiased. Dean: I mean, that's right. Dan: In the world, you wouldn't survive. Dean: Yeah, in the words of Milton Friedman. To fill down at you, where do you propose we find these angels to organize society without regards to personal interest or bias? I don't even trust you to do that, phil. Dan: I've watched that about. I've watched that about 10 times. Yeah that's such a great because you can just see that Phil down to who just has this sort of fluffy, waffly form of logic. You know, all basically emotion based you know emotion yeah. I mean, he didn't have our perspective. New Prime Minister here is getting a lot of fights. When you finish here, go on Google and say Peter Polly of you know, you know how to spell it, don't you? Yes, okay, takes down reporter. Just, he just took down a reporter and it was one of the most masterful takedowns of reporter ever, and he did it while chewing on Apple. Dean: Oh, I love it. Dan: So he's being interviewed, and he's, and the person says, well, you know, you know, you're taking a very ideological approach. He says ideological, what's that? Well, what's ideological? And the reporter says, well, you know, it's more emotion based. And he says name a name, an example. Or name an example, well you know, and it gets round that he's reproducing Donald Trump and you know that's the ultimate killer, that's the kill shots. You know you call somebody Donald Trump. Dean: Is that right? Dan: No. And he says well, a lot of the experts. And he says experts, name one expert and the reporter did not have a specific piece of information. That was all this fluffy narrative and you could just see the guy was flailing and meanwhile Pierre Polyov is just eating example, and he says do you have an actual point to this interview? And the guy. You could just see the guy. You know they didn't show him in full, but I bet you know there was a puddle under his feet when he was finished. That's so funny, dan yeah yeah, and he's just learned how to deal with this whole issue that they try to catch you on their words. Dean: Yeah, exactly. Dan: I don't even know what that word means. I mean, do you know what that word is? Dean: You just used a word. Dan: I don't know what that word is. And he says well, you know you're doing left versus right. And he says name a time when I've actually said that. I've never said love first right. I don't believe them. Left first right. So I believe in common sense and I'm kind of bored the side that has common sense, so you know we haven't had any of. You just aren't used to it because we haven't had any common sense for the last eight years. So that's not used to dealing with. So, anyway, and he's I think he's a phenomenal debater. You know because he's been in, he's 44 years old and he's been in parliament for 19 years you know, he's been there since he was 25. Wow, yeah, so, but it's really interesting to watch it. You know, I mean, and I'm very biased towards his side of the political spectrum. Dean: You have a cognitive bias around him. Is that what you said? I? Dan: have a total. I have a total cognitive bias. That's funny. Dean: I love it. Dan: Yeah, okay, so anyway, fascinating where this is going, but I think this AI thing is a much. What should I call it here? I think it's a catalyst for a real mind change and how we think about everything. I think interacting with this technology is actually introducing us to how we actually think about things. Dean: I think you're right, because you have to bring that to it. Yeah, so you are, you're off to Phoenix. Dan: Yeah, we fly out on Tuesday and then we're there until Saturday. I were there until Sunday morning because I can't take more than two days of sitting in a room. And so we're off to Chicago and then we have a Chicago week. We have I just have one workshop, I have the free zone on Thursday, yeah, so so anyway, you know, yeah, it's been a good year. It's been actually it's been a very sailing kind of year. I haven't had any real time crunches or anything else. Great, that's awesome. And so then we're back, are you? And yeah, and so June 12th, june 18th, is our first free zone in Toronto. Dean: Oh, you've set the date already. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Oh great. Dan: Yeah, and now I'll just forward to Tammy, who is the wizard mastermind of scheduling here, tammy Colville. Dean: And I'll just send. Dan: I'll just forward her announcement that just came through two days ago, so I'll just yeah, and we're doing it in. June. I mean, isn't that nice starting it off in June. Dean: I love that. I love that I do miss Toronto. Yeah, I love it. Dan: I think, Toronto misses you, I think Toronto misses you. Oh, that's so funny, I love it. Yeah, there's no more table 10 anywhere. I haven't found a table 10 anywhere. Dean: We're going to need a new. We'll need a new venue. Oh well, we'll go to the old bed We'll go. Dan: I mean less selected still there and they're still good, so we'll go. Okay Good, okay Perfect. Dean: Okay, dan, have a great trip Two weeks. We'll be back. Dan: I'm sorry. Two weeks, two weeks, okay, yeah, okay, okay, I'll talk to you then. Thanks, okay, bye.
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