900. Q&AF: Handling Major Setbacks, Finding Your Mission & Workplace Troubleshooting
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What is up guys, it's Andy Purcell and this is the show for the realest. Say goodbye to the lies, the fakeness, and delusions of modern society and welcome

motherfucking reality guys today we have q and af that's where you submit the questions and we give you the answers now you can submit your questions a few different ways the first way is guys email these questions into ask andy at andy for seller.com or if you want to call in you can uh go click on the q and af episodes on youtube there's a link right underneath the video submit your question and uh maybe we'll put you on the show so you could do that um

Now, if this is your first time listening, this is Q&AF. We usually run this on Mondays. And then throughout the week, we have shows within the show. Tomorrow, we're going to have CTI, which stands for Cruise the Internet. This is where we put topics on the screen. We speculate on what's true, what's not true, what our little theories are on things. And then we talk about how we, the people, have to solve these problems going on in the world.

Throughout the week, we may have real talk. Real talk is just 5 to 20 minutes of me giving you some real talk. You might call it a rant.

It is what it is. And then we have occasionally 75 Hard Versus. That's where people who have completed the 75 Hard program come on the show. They talk about how their life was before, how their life is now, and how they use the 75 Hard program to get their shit back on track. Okay? If you're unfamiliar with 75 Hard, it is the initial phase of the Live Hard program, which you can get for free at episode 208 on the audio feed. Again, that's 208 on the audio feed. It's not on YouTube.

Okay, if you're unfamiliar with Live Hard, it is the world's most popular mental transformation program ever.

and you can get it for free. Okay. There's also a book. The book is not free, but it is much more in depth. It's available on my website, andyfurcella.com. It's called the book on mental toughness. It covers the entire Live Hard program, plus a whole bunch of other chapters regarding what mental toughness is and how to utilize it to build the life that you want. Now, one thing about this show that's different than every other show

is that we don't run ads on the show, all right? I don't take money from corporations that tell me what I can and can't say, finance the show completely out of my own pocket.

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Share the show. All right. Yeah, man. What's up, dude? What's going on, bro? Nothing, man. Not a whole lot, dude. I thought that was Zeeshan's magic carpet riding in, bro. I heard the music.

I thought I heard a little snake coming. I hear a different sound. I hear a different sound when I grab one of the great ones, but yeah, no dude. What's what's what's popping, man? We got Q and A's. Yeah, man. We missed a couple of weeks on them. Yeah. Shit happens. Hey, it's, it's a busy time of year. This is, this is the busiest time of year for me personally. You know, we got summer smash. We have a bunch of new things going on. This is kind of when we're starting to plan for next year.

And, you know, I got a real job. I'm not a professional podcast. Well, I am a professional podcaster amongst other things. Yeah. It's on the resume. YouTuber. You know. Backyard cookouts. What? Huh? Professional joke teller. Is that what it is? Well, you're not. Yeah. I'm amateur. All right. I am amateur. No, man. Yeah. Nothing much, man. Just, you know.

uh you're looking skinny dude thanks man what's going on thanks man dude listen anxiety stress uh crack cocaine crack actually we know it's not working out no honestly what it is dude i just uh this because you know i've had a few uh you know big pushes where i would go and then fall off right

And like, you know, every time I've approached it a little different. And this time I was like, all right, just do basics. Don't fucking eat too much. And I'm getting at least 10,000 steps a day. It's real simple, dude. So just move it. Now, like, you know, I've realized, because I'm down like 35 pounds right now since like March.

None of my suits fit. So the bullying works. Bullying does work. I mean, it's always worked. It was just in different phases. But no, man, you know, just hitting my steps, eating healthy and within reason and just moving, man. Well, it's working, bro. You look good. Thanks, man. None of my suits fit.

No, too big too big really like bro. I'm kind of a good feeling though It's way better feeling than when they don't fit the other right no for 100% There's no doubt but like bro I put this fucking suit on the other day cuz I had a few to go to and I put this fucking suit on I look like a fucking giant cardboard box. Is it one of your nice suits? No, but those don't fit either really we got called chat. They'll they'll redo it though. He'll fit him for you. Really? Yeah, okay Well, yeah, I mean but like there probably be a lot of fabric coming out like brother fucking rapid like it's weird. I

But, yeah, no, it's good. It's good. You know, so I'm on it. I was 278 this morning. Good. And so I'm going to keep moving and then, you know, just slowly work back in. What's the goal? My goal, I would like to be like 255, 260. When are you going to start lifting? That's what I was about to say. Like, I'm going to start, like, working that back into it. Yeah.

When you start lifting, you know that weight loss gonna slow down a little bit Yeah, and I think that's like it's a mental fuck-up at least for a minute Yeah, it's a mental fuck-up because I but dude you can't work bro. As long as you keep hammering away Yeah, the scale doesn't fucking matter. Like what matters is did you do the shit or did you not do the shit? If you do the shit

Even if the scale doesn't say the number you want you're gonna look the way that you should look Yeah, you know like I always used to tell myself. I'm like bro. I need to get down to 235 Do you know what I would look like at 235 crack it? I would look like I had like I was sick you know and and you know I happen to look pretty good at like 255 and that's not the number I like but that's where I look the best yeah, you know so I

I don't really pay attention to it. - Where are you at right now? - I'm like 260. - Yeah, yeah. That to me, I think that's when you look the best 'cause you look dense, you know what I'm saying, in a good way. - Yeah, but it's like, as I get older, I start to feel better being a little bit lighter. And like, it sounds stupid. - No, no, it doesn't. - It sounds stupid because you don't think five pounds makes a big difference. - It's a big difference. - But it does, I'm so in tune 'cause I've been training for 30 years.

I can feel a big difference. Like if I get like one pound above 260, I feel I could feel it. If I get like, if I be, if I get to like 265, I feel like it's a 30 pound difference. So yeah, that's wild. Yeah. But it's good because when I was heavier, like, you know, a lot of you guys don't know, but I was 350 pounds when I was that big, bro, I could gain,

20 pounds and not notice it because I was always wearing like shit to hide it and I was wearing like, you know workout shit all the time and you can't really see the difference you just kind of get bigger and smaller of the same shape and Dude, you could put on you know, 20 pounds and not really notice it and I don't know man It's I've struggled with my whole life. So I'm very empathetic to people who who go up and down and you know, that's that's one of the benefits of the 75 hard program dude, like, you know when I

I really started it seven, eight years ago, living that way. And I'd be, dude, I haven't, even when I was not able to work out for like a year and a half for my shoulder thing, I didn't go backwards. Yeah, for sure. You know? For sure, man. It's about just developing the ability to adhere, not go crazy. I think that was my thing. Like, I wanted something that like was sustainable and like, not every day. I mean, you know how it is, bro. Like, we're busy, bro. There's more than just podcasts in here. And so it's like,

I know I can get 10,000 steps a day. Yeah. Like, no, like even if I'm just chill. Okay, cool. Let's go outside the lap. You know what I'm saying? That's very sustainable right now. And then once you get a street going, you don't want to bust it. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So yeah, no, it's good though, man. But it is Monday. So let's, let's make some people better today. I got some good ones for you. All right, good. I got some, hopefully we got some call-ins, man. Let's, let's get Jordan on the phone. Let's give him a call. Jordan. Jordan. What's up, dude?

DJ, what's up, man? What's going on, man? You are live on the air. What's up, Jordan? What's up, Andy? Appreciate y'all taking the call. Yeah, for sure, bro. How are you? Where are you at right now? I'm about 20 minutes south of Nashville down in Thompson Station. Oh, that's cool. Beautiful country down there. That's a good spot. It is. So what do we got for us today?

I'll give you a little backstory and then I'll ask the question. About a month ago, I tore my pec completely from the bone. I just had a surgery. This is by far the biggest setback I've ever faced. I knew you had that major shoulder surgery a few years ago too. One thing I've noticed is that when people go through major setbacks, whether physical or whatever else, two things usually happen. They either spiral out, get a lot worse,

They come back better than they were before. It's interesting from the people I've talked to that reach out, they're like either, I'm so sorry this happened or what an opportunity you've got here. I think you're going to look back and be happy that you went through this. That's kind of tough to see in the moment when you're going through it. I guess my question for you is,

after a major setback, like you went through with your shoulder surgery, something that you can't just get over in a week, six months, 12 months, two years. What did you learn about yourself in that process that you didn't know prior that helped you come out stronger than if you still use today? Bro, it's funny that you bring that up. We were literally like before we called you, we were literally just talking about this. Yeah. Andy doesn't get these questions ahead of time. So like we, we, I was just talking about going through that.

Two minutes ago before we called you That's perfect timing Yeah, for sure, man Look, dude I get where you're at It's demoralizing To have an injury that Literally keeps you From training, and it's a completely different thing You know, one of the things that And for those of you guys that don't know Back in 2021 I completely Destroyed my shoulder I tore my

My supraspinatus my labrum my rotator cup my bicep tendon and I had to have major reconstructive surgery to fix it And I went through about an 18th 18 month recovery on it Uh to where I really couldn't train. It took me five months to be able to put my arm over my head Uh, it was it was brutal. So that's what jordan's talking about and uh

At the time that it happened, I was in the best physical shape I had ever been in. And I had worked so hard to get into that shape. And then like literally I was in that shape for like a week. And then that injury happened. And so it was super demoralizing, bro. And so I understand where you're at, dude. Like that's I felt that same way.

I went through, you know, it almost sounds goofy, but I went through like this weird, like grieving process where I was like, you know, having these conversations with myself, like, you know, fuck, this is, you know, I can't believe this happened. Why this happened to me? Why? I didn't deserve this. I did this. And, and dude, so you, you kind of go through this like big emotional dip. And, and I would say that stuck with me for a while. Um,

I would say I was like that for a good six months, but what I did do during that time is I still did what I could. I did every single thing that I could. In fact, the day I had my shoulder surgery, I did cardio after the shoulder surgery. So I kept moving. I kept trying to eat the best that I could. I did everything that I physically could do.

And here's what I can tell you, man. You know, when you're where you are, it's hard. It's hard to see the other side of where you're going to come out. But having gone through that myself, what I learned about myself is that

I have made a permanent change in my ability to push through and persevere and handle very tough situations where things don't go the way that I want them to go. You know, when things don't go the way we want them to go, we kind of,

You know, depending on who you are, I'm just not used to that. You know, a lot of people, you know, nothing ever goes the way they want it to go because they're not willing to do anything to make it go that way. But when you're willing to do anything that you can to make things go the way you want them to go and it still doesn't go that way, it's very fucking frustrating. But here's what I'll tell you, dude. When I look back on that time now, I think it was like the ultimate test. I think it was a huge test. You know, we talk about test days being, you know,

I don't want to work out today, but did I get it done? And the reality is, you know, that's a small test. But you really don't know what you're made of or who you are until something big tests you, until something that, you know, you can't get through in one day. And that's what you're going through. And I think the way you should be looking at it, dude,

Is that you're going to push through this? You're going to, you're going to get to the other side. And I think you will be glad that it happened to you because it will reaffirm that you aren't a bitch. You know what I'm saying? And just for lack of, of, uh, of vocabulary, you know, I, I think it's a good opportunity to prove to yourself that, uh,

You're not going to let something major derail you. I think it's a great opportunity to build confidence and trust and self-esteem and worth at probably the biggest scale because it's one thing to like, you know, let's say do 75 hard or have some sort of goal and hit it. But it's another thing to have to push through something where you're literally not allowed to do certain things that you would normally do. So, yeah.

Yeah, dude, I can, I understand where you're going through. I went through the same thing. It was a huge mental mind fuck, but after going through it now, um, I'm physically better than I was then. I'm,

three years, four years older than I was then. That was a big concern of mine too. I was like, shit, dude, like, am I too old to get back where I was? And, uh, and, and it, and I, and I have, and I've surpassed it and I'm proud of myself for it. And I think, you know, as long as you keep things in check, you know, do what you can keep moving, keep your diet going. And, uh, really dude, I think it'll come back sooner than you think.

Yeah, man, this is... I relate to your story so much because I had just finished 75 hard. I took a group of guys through it. And then I was on, like, day 24 of phase one. And...

basically that ended that second workout and I'm definitely, you know, mid thirties in the best physical shape of leanness, fastness, strength that I've ever been. And now we're just trying to get back to baseline. Um, it's a pretty big, you know, mind hurdle like you're hitting on. Yeah. To look at back of 20 years of weight training. And now, uh,

Just to get to where I'm at, my arm capsized in six weeks and I can't move it. So this has been super helpful. Well, I will tell you this. It comes back super fast. So at your age, your muscle memory is pretty set in.

I would recommend, you know, making sure you're eating enough protein regardless if you're able to train or not. That'll help with muscle wasting and make sure you're moving, dude. You know, keep as much of the good momentum as you can. One thing I did is I did 75 hard during my injury, but I did it with just two cardio workouts a day. So I would just do one inside and one outside.

So that allowed me to keep my discipline in check, keep it operating at a high level. And that way, when I healed, I was able to kind of jump right back into it. And dude, you know, we've all seen this before, bro. Like think of all the people that have an injury like this. And then, you know, like you said, like,

which is what we were talking about before we called you, you know, they, they go all the way back. They go, they, they go to literally an untrained human and, you know, they gain a hundred pounds and then they got to dig out of that hole. And I was just telling DJ and the guys here, one of the things I'm most proud of, and I think you will be too, is that I was able to basically confirm to myself that,

that these changes and who I am are permanent and real. Because if they weren't, dude, I would have been 350 pounds again. You know what I'm saying? I 100% get it. Yeah, bro. That's a big appetite over here. Yeah. Just keep, just do, just do what you can and try to keep the habits and the ability, you know, the mental sharpness in check. And I think you're going to be fine, man. It's just frustrating right now, dude.

I do have a little extra on this question. So I did put a lot of, I guess, my mental strength and mental toughness. I guess a lot of it did come from the physical pursuit, and I'm sure you can relate to that too. Did you just dive more into books, not being able to go as hard? Because I'm not a big runner, but I enjoy running, or I do it because it's tough and it trains the brain.

But right now, I mean, I can't run for 12 more weeks, you know, and weight training is not coming around anytime soon. So was there any other kind of tools? Did you feel that too, I guess?

Well, for me, dude, you know, my life is pretty hectic every day. You know, I'm always working on new projects. It's just the nature of my life. So I wouldn't say that I, you know, poured more onto that or even poured more into it either. I personally just did what I could, you know, when I couldn't.

and by the way i didn't run one time i just walked every time um yeah yeah and you know dude it's it's not about the physical exertion it's about the adherence to the pattern all right it's about saying hey these are my five six things i have to get done today did those get done yes and then that contributes to your discipline and it builds that skill set up so it really doesn't matter bro if it's you know reading

pouring yourself into a new project or, uh, you know, learning something new and bro, you know what, this is a great time to learn some new shit. We're going through this big change in society where, you know, AI is becoming a real thing. And, you know, maybe, maybe you could use that to pour yourself into something else like that. But,

I would recommend at a bare minimum, dude, that you keep the structure going the best that you can. That way, whenever you heal, you're very quick to come back. And let me tell you, bro, remember, you're mid-30s. I was 350 pounds at 36.

Okay, so you're way fucking ahead of me, bro. So like just keep that in mind No, man, I appreciate it. This is great. Yeah, dude. Look I Feel ya. I understand how hard it is mentally man. I

But it's a good test because, dude, there's going to be other things in your life that aren't going to go your way. There's going to be things that happen that, you know, we don't want to deal with, but we have to deal with. And that's just the nature of being a human being. And these kind of things prepare us for the really hard things. And so I would try to look at it like that, brother. And I would, you know, just remember, you're going to be fine. You're going to come back better. And you're going through a test, bro. And it's just up to you to pass it.

Man, that's awesome. Again, I appreciate it. I was one of the MSCO OGs, so to speak. I've been listening. I was 24, and I think if you took a look at my life, you'd probably see that. Ken, thank you guys a lot. You guys keep doing the show. We'll keep sharing it. All right, bro. I appreciate you, Jordan. Hang in there, bro. All right, man. Talk soon. Take care.

Yeah, dude, that's got to be a tough thing. I guess just battling the awareness of how much momentum you actually have going and being aware enough not to fuck it up.

when big setbacks like that happen. Like that's gotta be the toughest piece of that. Cause I feel like a lot of people lack that. Like they're not realizing like how much steam they actually have moving forward. So it's like, oh, that's whatever. I'll just fucking, I'll fall off. Well, sometimes these types of situations where you can't do the thing, like can't do it. Yeah. Actually create a situation where you appreciate it even more when you're through it. You know, like one thing, and I didn't mention this on the phone, but I should have.

Is that going through that dude? Like there's not really a day now that I go in the gym and I'm like, oh this fucking sucks Yeah, like I'm very When I came back from that injury, I mean I couldn't lift my arm over my head Yeah, you know, I remember putting a 10 pound plate on the road. That's what I'm saying I was just getting ready to say that when I when I started training again when I got hurt I was shoulder pressing four plates Okay

When I started back, I was shoulder-plussing a five-pound plate. Five pounds. Okay? So, I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a part of me that was like, how the fuck am I going to get back to where I was? But lo and behold, I'm back there. So, you know, it's the same shit, bro. You do what you can every day. You stay consistent. You push a little harder. And...

Things happen, man. And it's a good metaphor for life. That's why I love weight training so much in terms of like how parallel it is to your success in life. It's just every day monotonous shit over and over and over and over again. And, you know, every two weeks you notice a little bit of improvement and a little bit more and a little bit more. And over the course of, you know, a year, you're a completely different human.

And, um, it's just a very strong parallel to how business works, which is a whole nother, like kind of confusing thing to me because I see a lot of people in fitness who are totally fit. They have all the discipline to, you know, eat the right amount of food, do the training, drink the water, but they suck at everything else. It's like, fuck bro. Like it's the same thing. It's the same thing. You have the skillset. You just got to apply it over to here, you know? So, um,

yeah man it's just it's a test you know are you going to pass it or you not and some people do

And some people don't. And I think most people don't. I think most people don't pass the test and they end up getting worse and they stay there. And then they tell a story for the next 20 years. Man, I used to be in great shape, but I blew my shoulder out. And then, you know, in 89. Yeah, right. Then you're like, yeah, when was that? Yeah, well, it was in 1997. And it's like.

What the fuck you been doing? It was almost 30 years ago, man. Yeah. So, like, it's just, you know, I don't know, man. It's a test. You're going to pass the test or you're not. I love it, man. I love it. We got it right in. Let's go to question number two. Guys, Andy. Hi, Andy. Hi.

I'm an entrepreneur at a local business, local small business in my hometown. I first started six years ago at a basic entry level position and using the lessons from your podcast, I have moved up all the way to top management under the owner, which I've been for the past two years now. My question for you is, where do I go from here?

I'm a very ambitious, high driven individual who wants to keep climbing the ladder. But the owner of the company has seemed to lose his hustle and has actually started downsizing our crew from at one point nine guys to now three. I don't want to start over, but I'm nervous that I'll just be stuck in limbo. Any help is appreciated. Thank you for your time. What business do you say? Do you say? No, just small, small business. Didn't really didn't really say it all. No. OK, well, first of all.

You're not starting over, okay? Because you've developed this massive skill set that most people will never develop by applying the things that you've read and learned and listened to into your career for real, all right?

I'm going to toot my own horn here. We give away fucking gold here, bro. Like gold. But here's the reality. Most people don't do it. They will listen. They will come to the events. They will go to everybody's, you know, they'll buy everybody's books, go to everybody's retreats, do all this shit, but they don't fucking do what they know to do.

And that's the difference. And you have taken the information and you've applied it to your life and it's made you and reaffirmed to you that these are the things you need to do to be successful. So no matter what, if they close the business today, you still have this experience and the skill set to go provide value to anyone else really doing anything. Because no matter what it is you're doing, whether it's

you know, you're working on cars or you're building a house or you're working in IT or AI or fucking CPG or any of this shit. The principles of success are always the same.

So you are not starting over. So just remember that. And a lot of people won't change their career paths because they're afraid of starting over, not realizing that they're not going to start over because of all the experience they've had. They're going to go right into wherever they go and they're going to provide a bunch of value and they're going to move the fuck up real fast if they get in the right place. And that's, that takes some discernment. But,

If you want to stay where you are, you probably are going to have to have a talk with the owner and say, and this is what I would say, and this is real shit, okay? Owners get tired. They get tired, all right? Running a business is hard. I've been doing what I do for 26 years now.

I'm fucking, I'm fucking tired, bro. The only re I'm not doing it for myself anymore. The only reason I go hard anymore is for everybody around me. It's not about me anymore. And if someone has, and that's been for about 10 years, just so we're clear, the only

Most people never come to that understanding that they have an obligation to the people around them. They just never figure it out. And that doesn't mean they're bad people. They just don't think about it because that's not what society says. There's no business guy besides me telling CEOs, hey, man, you know, you have an obligation to your employees to create a good life for them, too.

Most people that are operating a business look at their employees as if they are just cogs in the wheel Hey fire that guy. Hey replace that guy. Hey do this and then they ask me well, how do how can I build a great culture? Well, you can't because you don't give a fuck about your people Okay, so and that doesn't mean they're bad people That means they've never opened their eyes to that reality because it's it's it's not what people talk about so having a conversation with him saying hey, man, you know

We've put a lot of effort and time into this business and we care a lot about it and you know we noticed that you're kind of slowing down and We get it like you've been doing this a long time You could do whatever you want with your business, but that kind of puts a limit on what we're trying to do man and I'm not like threatening you or anything like that, but we would like to continue to grow the business keep kicking. I yeah, yeah, so

Is there a way that we could continue to grow the business and, you know, pick up some of this weight that you've been carrying for so long and continue to grow our careers and then have that conversation with him? If he says no, then, you know, you say, okay, well, I'm going to, I have to look out for myself. And, you know, that, and that becomes a different conversation of where you're going to move on to or what you're going to do. But a lot of times communication just solves these things, man, having a real talk. Hey,

we've been working really hard for this business and we noticed we went from nine guys to three guys are you checking out are we good yeah or do you have another plan oh well you know i'm getting older and you know this is we're pretty good and i want to spend time with my family and this okay cool how would you feel about us taking the reins do you trust us to run the company we could do this and this and this and then go to them with a plan

Because, dude, a lot of guys, they don't feel like their team actually wants to grow the shit. You know, a lot of owners, bro, they're dragging their team. And, dude, I'm going to tell you, when you drag people for fucking, it's heavy. So presenting him with an opportunity to grow the company with your effort and your teammates' effort is probably going to be well-received by him if you go to him with a plan. So, yeah.

That would be how I address it first. I would go have a conversation. I would have a plan. Hey, we can do this. And then, you know, I would see what he says. And if he says, no, I'm not interested in that, you know, I would say, okay, well, is there an opportunity for us to buy the company from you? Would you finance us to buy the company from you so that we continue going? Would you like lay out the options of what potentially could be

And, you know, maybe something will happen. And if it doesn't happen, like I said in the beginning, you're not starting over. You already have a skill set. You've been doing very well with it. So you go find somewhere that you can fit in that is committed to growing. I would say, too, also, you guys have to be very selective about where you go to work as an entrepreneur. You know, not all careers and jobs are not created the same. Being with a company,

especially a small to a mid-sized company that wants to grow and win is a huge deal. It's rare. It's rare and you have to be able to identify it as an employee. Otherwise, you'll waste your fucking life, right? Is the company moving forward? Are they trying to grow? Do they have big goals? Or is the owner 20 years in and kind of just happy where they are? If you sign up to go work for that second option,

You're automatically kept by the owner's lack of initiative to grow the company at this point in time anyway. You see what I'm saying? Absolutely. So just a little add-on to that question is you guys have to understand that you have to be aware of the direction of the company before you take the job if you want your career to grow. And I think a lot of people are just like, I got the job.

If you just got the job and the place is dying, it doesn't do you very, very much help. You know what I mean? It's not very good. I like the point, too, about, I mean, even because it is a mind, you have to shift your mindset. But, like, you know, let's say, you know, your company cut three people out, right? Well, that's three salaries that are open now.

so can i do some work that they were doing that you know what i'm saying like can i can i make myself more valuable yeah but it's not just money man it's long term like yeah you might get a raise and and even if you got a 50 raise today is that all you ever want yeah yeah you know what i'm saying yeah so that's deep it doesn't this person here does not sound like they are going to be satisfied regardless of how much money they make i know a lot of people come to work and they want to make money but

There's also a different kind of person. There's the kind of person that wants to build and wants to create and wants to become and evolve and grow. And the money's great, but more so they want to contribute to something that's building. And there's not many people like that, but there's enough. And he sounds like one of them, whoever that wrote that in. They just love the fucking game. Yeah. There's people that do. I'm like that. I don't.

necessarily care that much about the money at this point you know now that's because I have some you know but but the reality is is like I'm all the things I'm doing I'm doing for a purpose they're not for the paycheck yeah and you know I found that to be much more fun and fulfilling I'm having more fun now than I ever had and I don't even take a paycheck for my companies anymore

I'm having more fun. I come in here. I work with the teams. I have fun with them. You know, I help them grow. And it's because the mission, it's the mission, it's the purpose, it's the. And I think, you know, when we look at people who are depressed and unsatisfied with their lives, the number one thing that we can identify is that they work very hard with no real purpose.

Purpose, you know like it's very hard his work for what? Yeah, like dude working hard is not the only thing that matters You have to work hard with an outcome in mind if you show up to work hard and there's no long-term outcome in mind whether it be more money or whether it be a purpose or whether it be some sort of mission

You're you're you're gonna get burned out bro. Like you're gonna hate your life because it's just straight monotony with no reward and We can go like all of us do and hit the rock as hard as we can every motherfucking day But once in a while we want those fucking rocks to break, you know And if you never have one that breaks dude, you're gonna burn out so you have to you know, you have to be

Cognizant of that, you know, and then there's jobs that pay a lot but don't have a mission, you know And that's that that's the same thing. So people are unhappy - exactly you're gonna be miserable dude, and maybe maybe

Maybe it's different for you. Maybe your mission is outside of work. Maybe your job allows you to finance your ability to travel and do missionary work or something like that. But you got to have a purpose, bro. And the purpose has to be real. And so many people just don't have one because our society doesn't really cultivate purpose.

There's not a lot of companies that are purpose-driven. Now they're becoming more and more popular because the younger generation has identified that that's how they want to work and live. They want to work, but they want to work towards something, not just towards a paycheck.

But it's still few and far between. And if you look at how our society is portrayed in the propaganda, which is our television shows and our movies, what's it do? It says you wake up, you go to work, you go home, you eat dinner, you go to sleep, you

You wake up, you go to work, you go home, and it's just this repetitive cycle. No one talks about what we're actually trying to accomplish and what we're trying to do. Like even with this podcast, we have a fucking mission. Our mission is to open motherfuckers eyes to their role in, uh,

Truly revolutionizing culture. Okay. Our mission here on this podcast is to create the understanding that we will never fix society unless you fix yourself.

we do that through personal development we do that through awareness of what's going on in the world and then we do it through comedy okay so everything that i'm involved in has a purpose and i don't think people think about that enough they don't think about like what am i trying to do here

And the ones who are just trying to make money, it really never lasts. Now, there is people that, like, all they care about is money, but that's just not most people, man. No. No. I love it. I love it. Well, we got one more question. Let's get a call in here. Let's get Tommy on the phone. Let's give him a call. Hello? Tommy! Hey! What's up, dude? What's going on, DJ? Nothing much. You got Big Andy here. What's up, Tommy? What's up?

How's it going, guys? Good, bro. How are you? Not too bad for a Friday, man. Not too bad. Where are you calling from, Tommy?

From Oxford, California, man. Oh, sick. I'm sorry. Yeah, sorry to hear that. You know, I don't necessarily align with all these politics over here. There are some good people out here. We're just teasing you, bro. California's a great place. It's just there's enough crazy people to make it crazy. The weather's nice. Yeah, it is nice. It's the best fucking weather ever. Yeah.

It's 975 degrees right now. Oh, man. Beautiful. Sun's shining, man. That's what's up, dude. So what can we help you with today? So just a little background story, man. I am a project manager slash superintendent for an underground pipeline company out here. Oh. Tommy's running the pipe.

Pipe layer. Hey, that's my best pickup line at the bars, bro. Anyways, yeah, I've been with this company for about 10 years. I started at the bottom as an apprentice and kind of worked my way up all the way to the position I'm in now.

But this crew that I have an issue with, they, I mean, I've been with them for the past five years and they started working under me and they made a stupid decision that kind of cost us our reputation. And now the owner wants an answer out of me. So what am I going to do as far as firing or reprimanding the whole crew or just form it in charge? Problem is, I mean,

One of the main guys in charge of that crew is my dad. So it's like, okay, how do I kind of approach this? Well, what happened? We're installing a new water system for a good customer of ours that we've been doing for about five years. They took a shortcut and they tried to hide it. And then one of the inspectors came back and saw it and blasted us all over emails and everything saying we're trying to fuck over, fuck them over and hide stuff from them.

Did this, did you, have you guys, what have you guys done to try and make it right? So far, what we did was we took the whole crew off that job right now and put a new, I ended up putting a new crew out there and new foreman in charge. And that's kind of where we're at right now. But the developer, they want answers of what we're going to do. So do you have any indication of how this actually happened? Like who made the call on it?

So far, what I got out of it is it's the four people involved, the four men, the lead guy, my pops, and one of the other guys. So your dad was involved in it? Yeah. That sucks, bro. So what is your superior saying exactly? They just said, you know, it's...

It's your choice. You handle it. How are you going to handle it? I'll back you up. But they're leaning more of firing the one man in charge. But to me, I kind of do just fire one person or everybody who made the mistake or just reprimand them, not necessarily get rid of them. Is this the first time that this has happened? Yeah. Do you know that for sure? It's.

The first time getting caught, I believe. That's what I'm saying. I'm sure there's other issues where they kind of ran into and shortcutted things and didn't get caught. But, you know, I just, I feel disappointed because they were my guys back then. And, you know, my standards, not that. Yeah. Yeah. And so it comes down on you. I get it, bro. Yeah. That's super hard to deal with. You know, like I was actually just having a conversation earlier, kind of similar to that. Not where a...

It's very hard when people that are on your team don't hold the standard and then it falls back on you. And as a leader, that happens literally every time. That's the role of being a leader. And so I can understand how frustrating that is. I guess the thing that I would be concerned with if I were you and I were your superior would be

Is this an opportunity to where they can learn the lesson and never do it again? And if so, then a reprimand may be appropriate. And here's why. Because

A lot of people will just fire a crew. Okay. They'll say, okay, you're all fucking fired. But the problem with that is that when they hire a new crew, the new crew will end up doing the same fucking thing again because they didn't learn the lesson. So the question becomes, did they learn to not do this and why? And can I trust that they won't do it again because of that?

And I can look at this as a cost of their education and development, or is this egregious enough to where I have to fire them? And so I have a similar, not the exact same thing, but I could tell you a million stories, but I could think of one off the top of my head. One time back in the early days of my business,

we were ordering t-shirts and we ordered $12,000 worth of t-shirts. And I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but for us at the time, that would have been the equivalent of us ordering $10 million worth of t-shirts. It was a lot for us.

And the person on my team that ordered the shirts did not measure the proper size on the back of the shirt. So when we got the shirts, the logo was so big on the shirts that we couldn't even use it because it looked ridiculous. And it was all because she didn't measure it properly. And at first my instinct was like, I'm firing her. This is bullshit. This cost us 12. But then I,

I thought about it and I'm like, okay, is this going to happen again if I hire a new person? And the answer is probably. So if I were you, I would determine with your superior, I would take your dad being a part of it out of the equation, okay? Because there's nothing you could do about it. He already put himself in that position. When it comes to these kinds of things, there's a way you can do it and there's sometimes you can't do it.

So take the emotional part of it out of the equation and look at it very simply like this. Are they going to do this again if we keep them? And if you guys determine that they will, then you got to get rid of them. If you can make it to where you know they won't do it again, then you should look at this as an investment in their development.

realizing that if you hire a new crew, they're going to find ways to cut corners anyway. If you've been leading anybody for any amount of time, you'll know that everybody finds a way to cut corners because it's human nature. Very few people will not try to find a way to cut corners. And so the question really becomes,

Can we save ourselves this mistake again? Or are we for sure going to have it again with a new crew? And that's how I would look at it. So if you can reprimand them and be assured that they're not going to do it ever again, then a reprimand would be appropriate. If this is the nature of those guys and they're going to shake their head, yes, and then go do it again and cost the company the reputation, then you got to get rid of them. But I think it'll happen again with a new crew.

So that's what I would talk to your superior about. I'd say, hey, look, here's the situation, man. I thought this through. I appreciate you letting me sort of think this through on my own. And here's what I've come up with. If we hire a new crew, we're probably going to end up dealing with this again because they're going to cut corners. And I don't want that. But I'm a little concerned that if we keep these guys, that they're going to do it again because they already did it.

So how can we make sure that they don't do it again? That way we don't automatically run into it with a new crew. And that would be the way to, you know, salvage your dad's career and also, you know, do right by the company. And then on top of that, there needs to be some extra form of goodwill to try and correct this with the customer. And I don't know what that is because I don't know enough about your business, but it needs to be made right.

So that's how I would look at it if I were you, bro. Does that make sense? No, it makes sense. 100%, man. Yeah. I mean, dude, I've led thousands of people over my career and people fucking make mistakes. People do dumb shit. Sometimes they don't even have a good reason for it. But as long as they don't do it again is what really matters because hiring new people, training new people,

That shit's expensive. It's hard. It takes time. And if they are able to learn the lesson right there on the spot, you know, sometimes you got to give them a smack on the ass, you know, figuratively, but, uh,

You know, it's still cheaper than finding a new crew. It's just math. I mean, let me ask you this, Tommy, while you're on the phone too. Andy, is there anything from his position as a leader that he can learn from this? You know what I'm saying? Like, Tommy, do you think this was a situation where your eye was kind of off the ball, not really on the team, not really, you know, making sure the day-to-day stuff was going on? Like, what's the learning opportunities for Tommy in this situation? Well, I mean, look, I'm going to tell you from my experience is that if you take your eye off the ball,

and you don't have the systems in place to assure that things are done specifically perfectly, you're gonna always drift off the mark.

Always have speeders. Yeah for sure. So so yeah, unless you have a governor on the fucking truck. Yeah, right, right So which is why? Why which is why work trucks have GPS and governors? No because they have to they can explain to their people all they want Hey, don't drive like an asshole. It hurts the company if you do but guess what they still got to do it So that's actually a great example

so they still put gps and they put governors because they know a little sticker on the back call if that's how you're driving yeah so systems scale and systems regulate and when you have a team that is moving off the mark when you take your eye off of them

That keeps you from being able to scale because every time you turn the other way and try to grow, they fuck up. So what that tells you is that you need a system to regulate their compliance on the procedures. So I don't know what that is in pipeline, but that would be a systematic procedure or checklist or certification, something that allows for...

For Tommy to have 100% assurance that that does not happen. And so a lot of times, and bro, you, this is a really good point. A lot of times these things are really good opportunities to fix holes in your company's game that you didn't see before. So,

So, yeah, bro, that's how I would handle it, man. It's, you know, if they're going to do it again, you got to get rid of them. If they're not, it's an investment in their education. Because if you hire a new crew, they're for sure going to do it again. That's how I look at it.

Right on. Yeah. I mean, that's definitely what I'm going to do then. I'm heading back to my office right now. I'm going to talk to him. So yeah. Yeah. I mean, dude, it's tough situation, but look, man, this isn't anything that anybody that leads is unfamiliar with. Like everybody that leads people knows about these situations. So, uh, have a talk with your boss, you know, give him the rundown, give him your concerns, ask him for his guidance, uh,

And then ask him what he thinks about the system that should be in place to regulate and make sure. And what that's going to look like too, bro, is it's going to make you look like you really thought it out. And he's going to appreciate that, bro. Like I would start the conversation with like, look, I know you're going to think that I don't want to fire these guys because it's my dad. But here's what I think, okay? If we fire them and we hire a new crew and run these things the exact same way,

This will likely happen again eventually, and we don't want that. If we are able to assure that this crew will not make that mistake again by punishing them in a way that's severe, but not so severe that it costs them their jobs, are they able to learn that lesson and not do it again? And then on top of that, what system can we put in on top to make sure no matter what it doesn't happen that

That that's a well thought out strategy. If somebody came to me with that, I would say, all right, this guy's this guy gets it. He's a good leader. So and then, you know, take responsibility for it. You know, hey, ultimately, bro, this is ultimately Mr. Boss. This is my fault. OK, and here's what I think we need to do to fix it. And I think if you handle it that way, bro, it's all going to work out good.

Love it, man. Tom to the pipeline. I appreciate it. Yeah. Listen, man, it won't be the last time you're dealing with something like this, you know, so it's a good learning opportunity for everybody. Yeah, for sure. A hundred percent, man. But I just want to say thanks, dude. I'm on my third 75 hard and I try to do it every year. Yeah, that's awesome, bro. I'm where I'm at now because of you guys. That's awesome, brother. Well, good work, dude. Keep it up. And, uh, you know, I hope this, this will all work out for you, man. Just, uh, you know,

Run the play I just gave you, dude. I think that's the right way to do it. Awesome, man. Will do. All right, brother. Well, you have a good afternoon, and we'll talk to you soon, bro. Thanks, man. Appreciate you guys. All right. See you, Tommy. See you, Tommy. Yeah. I like that. And I think, too, you got to keep the dad relationship out. It doesn't matter. Yeah, it shouldn't. Unfortunately, it is what it is. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, it's business, man. I mean, a lot of times people get in business with their fucking family and their family is the one biggest speeders that ends up ruining it because they know they can. So, yeah, look, it's human nature, man. People try to cut corners. They try to make things easier. They don't understand that by doing things perfect every time you're instilling a habit in yourself that carries into every area of your life.

it's unawareness you know i don't understand why this matters i don't understand why i should have to do it right and uh this is a good opportunity to show people why it should be done right yeah 100 um you know it's tough when people do that especially when you care about them bro i mean i've had a number of situations over the years where people that i've really cared about have made really bad fuck-ups and

Sometimes I've had to fire them. Sometimes we've been able to make sure it never happens again. It just depends. Are they going to understand why this can't happen or are they not? And you'll know when you talk to them. Yeah, 100%, man. I love it, man. I love it. Guys, Andy, that was three. Yep. Hell of a way to start a week, man. Yep. All right, guys. Well, let's go out. Let's kick some ass and we'll see you tomorrow on CTI. Bye.

Went from sleeping on the floor Now my jewelry box froze Fuck a bowl, fuck a stove Counted millions in a cold Bad bitch, booted swole Got her on bankroll Can't fold, that's a no Headshot, case closed