45: Growing Pains & Pleasures... - a podcast by Steve Larsen: Automated Downline Recruiting

Hey, hope everyone's doing well out there. Though I want to be publishing a lot more on here in the future. And partly, hope everything's going well for you. It's Christmas here. Or two days after, now. Just wanted to reach out to you guys again and I hope you're doing great. It's been snowing a lot here. It always reminds me of making snow forts. I skied like crazy growing up. My dad was on track to, he was gonna be an Olympic downhill skier. He is very fast on moguls. He was extremely fast at moguls. He still won't tell me the highest cliff he jumped off of.
But, anyway so ... I come from a long line of adrenaline junkies. And people who push boundaries. Anyway, the snow here in Boise, Idaho always reminds me of skiing. I grew up in Denver, though. And the mountains here are not quite as big in Boise as they are in Denver. I kinda miss it, to be honest. I wish there were bigger kind of better mountains. The mountains here are tiny in Idaho on this side of Idaho, anyway.
Anyway, hey. I hope you are doing great though. I love the game of business. I love what it does to people and how it makes them stretch and grow and become something else and brand new. So for me, I love vacation, obviously as much as the next person, but man, after three days of time off, I am itching to get back to work. So I got up super early on the 26th and I just started working. I think I worked for 12 straight hours.
Is it an issue? Probably. But there are worse things, so I guess. I wanted to real quick just acknowledge a quick story. A lot of you guys know that I'm in the Army. I'm literally about to get out. I was an officer in the Army for a while and really enjoyed that. Before I was an officer, I was enlisted. Actually went through basic training. Really enjoyed it, loved the chaos in a weird way. It was actually when we were sitting down and doing nothing that was actually harder for me than when it was crazy. Which I don't know if my head's just kind of messed up like that or I don't know. It comes from the adrenaline junkie side of the family. But, there was this mentality. You got to understand that when I went into the Army, I was like significantly older than a lot of the other people. We did it for a lot of reasons.
Number one: I just wanted to. I wanted to know what that was like. I wanted to learn how to push myself and things like that. I already knew how, but you know. I think it goes back to the adrenaline junkie side of the family a little bit. Like I really wanted to go to crazy zone a little bit. And it was fun. And I enjoyed that. But there were ... multiple times. I was a bit older. And I was married, which immediately set me apart from a lot of people. I had a kid, which really set me apart from a lot of the other people. I was about to graduate college, which really, really set me apart. I'm not saying above. I'm not saying I was better than. Nothing like that at all. I'm not trying to say that.
But what I am saying is that I was just in a very different place in life than a lot of the other people that were there. I didn't realize that I'd been with a bunch of 17-year-olds and I was 25, married, had a kid, almost through college. There was some life lessons that I had had that a few of the people had not had there. And vice versa. I'm not saying I was any better or anything like that. But I learned a really big lesson while I was in there. Especially when I was in basic training.
I'm struggling to find words to say this. I should have probably thought that part through of this a little bit more. I definitely know where I'm going with this, guys, I'm just trying to figure out what ... how to say this. Don't be afraid of progression because of feeling a little bit of discomfort. You know what I mean? There was an attitude of ... there was a few guys I would talk to and I'd be like, "Hey, look. This is my goals in life. What do you want to do?" And you get really close with your fellow soldier buddies. We call them brothers and sisters. I mean, literally. It's ... I have struggled to find a connection with people the way that I've found it in the military. It's because shooting live rounds around each other, you know what I mean? Like ... the amount of trust is insane. But there was ...
I was talking to a ... this happened many times. I'm having a hard time finding a specific example in my head of it. Possibly I should have thought through that part a little bit more. But like I ... please understand the lesson here that I'm trying to say. There was many times I would go talk and I would say, "Hey. Look, what do you want to do in life, what do you want to do in life?" And again, I was on a different area of life than most of the people there. I was literally like eight years older than a lot of people there. Married, kid, almost through college. Right? So I had certainly addressed the topic in my own head of what do I want to do with my life. Whereas a lot of other people, other of kids, honestly, that were in there with me ... had not.
Anytime I would say, "Hey, I want to go do this, this or this." A lot of times, the answer was, "Oh. Yeah. But then you gotta do x, y and z. That's kind of hard." Like, "So what?" It's the same attitude, same mentality a lot of times that I'll see from people when I'm on stage teaching. Okay? A lot of you guys don't know, I worked for two years at a place called ClickFunnels. I still technically do for the next day and then I'm done. Or two days. And then I'm done, which is crazy. I'm actually leaving my job over MLM. Okay, because it's going well and I practice what I preach and I'm not here blowing smoke. Okay? I'm telling you exactly what I do.
But there was this mentality of hey, let's not do something ... or let's not pursue something. Let's not go for something in life simply because it's challenging. I hate that. I hate hanging out with people who believe that. I hate ... and I'm using hate for ... on purpose. I hate it. It is some of the most ... it makes me feel like there are walls around me. It is some of the most controlling, constricting attitude I've ever experienced in my life. Or if somebody else is like that, like I ... have a hard time. Maybe it's a personal issue of mine, but I have a hard time spending time around an individual who believes that. That hey, let's not go from something simply because it's going to be challenging.
Man, I do crap because it's challenging. I like it. You know what I mean? I do that on purpose. Some of you guys are like, "Steve, what does that have to do with MLM and my own MLM?" Everything. It has everything to do with it. Whatever you're doing right now ... and I'm not trying to poke fingers or peg you and say, "I got you, I know exactly where you are. I've been in your shoes before." Like no. Everyone's different. We all come from different walks of life. But I bet ... if you are brand new to MLM or even if you're experienced, a lot of times, it's the first place that people go when they're still in a job. I came back to MLM to do this after I've been selling things online and things like that. I came back to it. So, if you're working for another person, the thing that I'm trying to put across and the thing that I'm trying to tell you is that ... this business will require your growth in a way that you probably may not be thinking about. Which is fine.
MLM and business and entrepreneurship in general requires you to grow. As a person. It requires you, why? Because if you have not mastered simple things like ... hey, let's go ... let's make sure we get up on time. Or hey, I can't shower appropriately. Or ... there's simple things in your life that you've not actually accomplished. How can you expect to accomplish other bigger things? That make sense? It requires your personal growth. And then when you add in the other human element of other people being on your team, other people that you've got to work with, their backgrounds, how you inspire them to be leaders. How you pass down the gauntlet to them as they keep recruiting, as they keep selling? How on earth can you do that if you've not addressed personal things inside your life yet?
What I'm trying to do is I'm trying to help you realize your own situation in a very clear, candid way. Very clear. If there is something in your life that you do not like, you have the ability to change it. And I invite you to do so and I honestly invite you to realize that it probably is affecting your MLM business in ways that you probably aren't thinking about. I'm going through those lessons too, all the time. I'm going through them a lot. A lot.
In your MLM, as you are sitting there and you're thinking through, you have this one problem in your head. I don't know what it is. It's specific to you. It's specific to your own thing. There is an issue. There's an obstacle or something inside your head that you're trying to get around. What I'm trying to tell you is I'm trying to help you realize that that obstacle is the way. Okay? I'm trying to help you realize that the obstacle is the way. I'm trying to help you realize that you should not get numb to where you are. It breaks my heart when someone who has failed a few times before, they start to drop down their expectations for their own selves. Then they get a little bit numb. Then they start justifying. Then they start saying things like, "Oh, I won't do this because it's challenging."
Does that make sense? Guys, embrace. Okay, this is definitely from the Army. There's a time it was raining ice and sleet. It was an ice storm and it covered everything in like a quarter to half inch of ice. It was down on power lines. It was ... terrible. This was the middle of basic training and I certainly know there are other more intense trainings that basic training, but it was still intense in some scenarios. It was cold, it was freezing. They took advantage of the fact that it was snowing ice and raining ice and sleet. So we would stand in shorts and t-shirt out in the middle of it for ... I mean, hours. Just to toughen us up, which was great. Which is why I went there. It was fun. In a weird way, it was fun. I really enjoy that.
There was a phrase that we'd all kind of just tell each other. It'd be like, "Hey, look. Embrace the suck." In the middle of it is where the growth comes. Embrace the suck. Later on, after that, they closed the cafeterias that were near to where our platoon was. So, we ... they would drive food into us. But they couldn't get as much in as they normally would to the rest of the soldiers that were out there. So we got a significantly smaller amount of calories than everybody else who was in basic training for about five weeks.
That was ... guys, I was not overweight when I went in there. I could lose a little bit now. But I lost 15 pounds in that last little bit because we were hardly eating. And I'm not a small guy. I'm a tall guy. One of the things everyone says to me usually is, "Hey man, you're way taller than I thought you would be." When they meet me in person. It's like a repeated thing people say to me. I eat a little bit more than the other person who's all tiny and small because of that, obviously.
But, embrace the suck. Does that make sense? Whatever is rough right now in your MLM, you know what the obstacle is. What's the thing that you should be doing? What's the thing that causes you the most discomfort in your business right now? Is it recruiting? Is it selling the product? Is it talking to people? Is it just getting out your freaking door and just saying hi?
I'm actually not that good of a person one-on-one. I'm not. I'm a little bit more shy than people probably think I am. That's a hard thing for me. I have a hard time ... there's a reason I use automation and internet funnels to sell my stuff all through itself. It's because I don't want to go talk to people. I don't want to go walk around the streets. I don't want to go to the mall. I don't want to go and clobber people in hotels, lobbies. You know what I mean? I don't like that personally. I'm not good one-on-one like that, usually. I'm fun on stage. I'm fine doing one to the masses. But oh my gosh, one-on-one, I have a hard time with that a little bit. I don't know why. It gives me a little bit of anxiety. That's a personal flaw of mine. But I've had to learn to embrace the suck. Get through it, grow from it and build whatever I can from that.
Does that make sense? All I'm trying to say is, the big lesson with what I'm trying to say here. I'm sorry ... I know I've been fumbling around just a little bit more than a normal podcast with you guys but I'm trying to tell you to take a serious stock of where you are. And please, for the love, don't get numb to your current situation. Guys, the job that I am leaving is one of the most cushy, awesome, amazing jobs that thousands of people will and are fighting for. Right hand guy to Russell Brunson at ClickFunnels. Right hand funnel builder. In his office daily for two years. My desk is next to his.
When we were in our older office, I was literally one arm's length away from the guy. Now I think I'm three or four. In the same room, though. Do you understand what kind of marketing knowledge and status quo gets created in the very room that my very desk was in? Paid very well. Percentage of product sales a lot of times. Guys, and I'm leaving it. Why? Oh my gosh, you guys. So many people have reached out, telling me how stupid I am. How dumb of a move that is. Why am I doing it? I'm embracing the next phase of my growth. It's what I'm trying to get you to do and it's what I've been struggling to try to get across in this episode is for you to take stock of your current situation. That's what I did.
I turn around and started talking to myself. I started realizing that where I was, however cool it was, however amazing it was. Not that I couldn't learn more, but where my peak is, where my goal is. Where I actually want to get was not in that room. That was a very painful thing for me to acknowledge. It actually caused me a little bit of mental ... it was a hard thing for me to realize. I started almost kind of freaking out a little bit because I realized that what I wanted wasn't in the place that I was at, which was so amazing.
Think about that. Put yourself in that situation. I don't care if you love your job. Is it where you want to be in five years? In 10 years? In 15 years? In 20 years? Is it? If it's not, for the love I am not telling you to quit your job but my gosh, start getting real about where you are and the scenario you're in. Do not get numb to the situation you're in. Do not fool yourself with how good it is. Do not fool yourself and start pushing away your dreams and throwing water on the fire in your heart because of where you are. Don't let others do that to you.
I let other do that to me for a little while. Of course, we've all done it. And of course, it happens in repeated ways. The goal for you is to keep the flame alive inside your own heart. And realize where the heck you're trying to go. Are you doing what you want to do? If the answer is no, it's time to make a dang change. Turn around and start looking around where you are. And MLM very well, if you choose it to be, can be the vehicle to get you out.
I am leaving my extremely cushy job over it. I have two kids, a two-year-old girl, a four-year-old girl, and a pregnant wife. I'm about to go do this financial move. Interesting, isn't it? Very fascinating. I wouldn't just jump ship without things already in place, which is ... obviously, I'm not doing that. I've always dreamt of being on my own. I've always dreamt of being my own boss. I've always dreamt of having my own businesses. I've always dreamt of employing other people. So I've been doing all of that well before leaving my job. It's the reason I'm launching the product I am on January 4th, in just like a week and a half.
I'm launching it, not again. It's totally new. It's completely different. But I've tested certain aspects of it. I've beta tested it like crazy. There's a seed group, a beta group that's been going with me through it. Or at least been my litmus test for the ideas and things of that behind it. For the last four months. It's already made money. It's made money for other people. It's not willy-nilly stuff. I'm not throwing empty things against the wall that are untested. This is extremely tested. Why the heck would I put the jeopardy of my family, my little kids and my wife, my pregnant wife in jeopardy?
What I had to realize though is that I started getting numb to where I was. I started getting numb to the spot I was in and I started saying, "Oh, it's gonna be challenging." When I realized that I was doing that, I frankly kind of flipped out. It scared me and I started seeing my dreams and my aspirations leave. I started becoming someone new, someone that someone else wanted me to become. This is a move and it will be a move for you. It's gonna be a series of moves. It's never technically over. But it's the steps. I'm sorry, it's a step. It's a series of steps, series of moves of you becoming you. A louder, more real, raw version of yourself.
One of my favorite quotes on the back of a book that I can't remember but I just remember the quote is that, "You don't learn interesting. You unlearn boring." Excuse me. "You don't learn interesting. You unlearn boring." And that's what I'm trying to help you guys realize. Every one of you guys is already interesting. Every one of you guys already has goals, dreams, aspirations. But the thing is, whatever you're trying to go do, whatever you're trying to go get done, you cannot get numb. And you cannot be complacent towards the side distraction that you may have to go through right now called a job, before you get to where you want to go.
And it will happen. Life will. Literally, every time I've launched anything new, anytime I've started anything. Anytime I've put a product out there, whether it's been aged or it's completely new, I always get an onslaught of distractions that come. They come in the form of other opportunities, good opportunities. But it's a distraction. It comes in the form of friends trying to distract me. It comes in the form of other hobbies I suddenly want to get into. It comes in the form of ... it's a constant series of tests, of tests, of tests. So what you're gonna have to do is learn the conviction and learn the grit and the mental fortitude to only dedicate the limited mental shelf space that we all have. You have a certain amount of mental shelf space. The capacity that you have in your head. We all have a limited amount of it.
It is gonna be your task to learn to dedicate your brain to your actual goal and your actual outcome. And screw all the other side things that are gonna be coming your way as soon as you start taking a step towards it. Get rid of any kind of angst. Get rid of any kind of feeling of, "Oh my gosh, it's gonna be painful." Duh. There's gonna be some discomfort. That's where growth happens anyway. The quote that there's no growth in a comfort zone, there's no comfort in a growth zone is far over-said. Oh my gosh, everyone says that. But, it certainly applies to what I'm saying.
So learn to embrace the discomfort because that's where the growth is. Learn to embrace the steps. Learn to embrace the ambiguity of not knowing what exactly is gonna be happening. Does that make sense? That's all I'm trying to say with this episode is that if you don't like where you are, then change it. But get real about it. So real that you tell others. So real that you let others know what you like, what you don't like, what you want. And if you don't know what you want, the easiest thing to do is to start checking what you don't want. I'm personally going through that right now.
My 20 years from now, I have no idea what I want yet. I have an idea, but I really don't know what it is. And I don't want to put too much thought and focus into it, because I'm focusing on three steps in front of me. I kinda know where the middle peaks are in between. I kinda have an idea. The picture is starting. I know from tons of personal experience that I don't need to see everything in between. I just need to know kinda where I'm going. I got to know ... I have to know exactly what the three steps in front of me are to get there. And that's it. I keep my head down and I start working. I start running towards that thing and I go as fast and as hard as I can because I know there's an onslaught of never-ending negativity that will be coming around me. Expect it, love when it happens because it means you're moving, and stop being numb to your current scenario.
That's all this episode is about. Guys, have a good one.
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