The Seamus Fox Podcast.
This podcast has been created to share real life experiences from inspiring people in all walks of life, those who have engineered change in their own lives through a shift in thinking and beliefs. I want to share my own journey and have others share theirs so that it can help inspire others to crete the internal changes thats needed to create long lasting life changes.
The Seamus Fox Podcast.
Finding True Contentment Through Vision and Leadership
Transform your excuses into results with insights from transformational coach Will Polston on this captivating episode of "Conversations that Matter." Will shares how his father's career dissatisfaction and depression shaped his belief that money equals happiness, recounting his teenage ventures in finance and the life-changing moment he experienced through neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) at a Tony Robbins event. He reveals his mission to prevent others from facing the same suffering as his father, providing deep reflections and practical advice on finding true fulfillment.
Next, we highlight the inspiring journey of a young entrepreneur who started with paper routes and reselling clothes, bravely navigating the rapid growth and hurdles of founding a renewable energy company. Uncover valuable lessons in leadership and vision as our guest delves into the importance of pursuing one's passion and overcoming limiting beliefs. Learn what qualities make an effective leader, including the genuine desire to help others improve and the ability to create a compelling vision that inspires teams to thrive.
Lastly, we explore the concept of bucket lists as both a future aspiration and a reflection of past accomplishments. Discover how a well-maintained bucket list can serve as a powerful tool for goal-setting and achieving, and how to avoid the trap of "when-then syndrome." We also discuss the importance of aligning business and personal values, emphasizing how understanding and aligning employees' goals with the company's mission can foster growth and retention. Tune in for practical insights and inspiring stories that highlight the significance of living a life aligned with your values and aspirations.
We are live Guys. Welcome back to the podcast Conversations that Matter. I am with Mr Will Polston this morning. Well, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2:Thank you very much. Grateful to be here.
Speaker 1:Well, for people that are listening in and don't know who you are and what you're involved in, could you give us a wee snippet of who you are, what you do right now?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. So yeah, my name's Will Polston. I have a North Star mission in life to empower people to transform excuses into results and live a life that they love. So that's kind of high level in terms of breaking it down. I've got a coaching and training company. I work with ambitious driven entrepreneurs predominantly, and then I have a few other businesses that are all aligned with that same ultimate mission that I mentioned right at the beginning.
Speaker 1:Fantastic. Well, what I like to do is kind of take it back a wee bit and find out a wee bit more about who you are and how this path was created. What was it like as a young Will Paulson growing up? Where did you grow up and what were those early inspirations like?
Speaker 2:I had a very fortunate childhood. I'm super grateful, you know we we went on holiday every year. I had food in the fridge, clothes on my back. I was really fortunate in that respect. But one of the things I remember growing up was how much my dad hated his job. So he would get up at five o'clock in the morning, get home at seven, eight o'clock at night and he'd bring the stress and the frustration of work home with him. And I don't know if people listening to this can relate to this, but he was one of those people that when he walked in the room you could just sense an energy, and people that when he walked in the room you could just sense an energy, and it was an energy that I just didn't want to be around. So I chose to sort of avoid him I guess you could say um because it was just this constant stress and anger and frustration.
Speaker 2:Anyway, fast forward a few years, um, when I was about 10 years old, I remember coming home from school and my dad had quit. Um was at home and he'd quit his job to set up a business with one of my uncles. And long story short, after a few months after him having left his job, the, um, the, the business didn't, wasn't going to go ahead and my dad fell into what we would call a depression, slept in a separate room to my mom, curtains shut all day, didn't leave the house all the stereotypical stuff you'd expect. And then, um, at that age I remember being around 10, 10 years old and just thinking hold on a minute. Uncle mark, billionaire, really happy. Uncle steve, multi-millionaire, really happy. Dad, when he worked in London, stressed and frustrated, but certainly happier than he is now, where he doesn't leave the house. He's got no money. It's obvious. Money equals happiness. That became my belief as a 10 year old. So I then became that teenager that was buying and selling sweets and ducking and diving and doing what I could to make money multiple paper rounds and buying stuff out the paper and selling it on eBay, you name it.
Speaker 2:I then fast forward throughout my teenage years. I then eventually found myself working in financial services and that was all around a belief that I wanted to be a multimillionaire, because I believe that if I was a multimillionaire then I'd be happy and life would be amazing. Then I had the fortunate experience by working in financial services, stumbling across personal development. Fortunate experience by working in financial services, stumbling across personal development. So about 15, 17 years or so ago stumbled across personal development in the form of neuro linguistic programming, and the reason that I was using and learning nlp really simply was just to be able to influence people better so I could make more money by selling to them. That's that's what it was then.
Speaker 2:As I was getting more and more into nl LP, I was finding more out about myself and personal development in general. And then 11 years ago I went to an event with a guy called Tony Robbins, who people may have heard of if they're interested in personal development, and that's where I had what I call my lightning moment. And it was in that moment 11 years ago where, bam, it just hit me and and I cried my eyes for about 15 minutes because in that moment I realized my real driver was nothing to do with money. It'd never really been about money. It was doing my dad and how my dad hadn't achieved certain things he was capable of and the impact that had on him and my mom and me and my family and a whole host of other people, and I vowed I don't want anyone else to go through the suffering that he went through and we went through as a result of them not achieving what it is they're capable of fantastic man.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of things already um trying to unpack. Can we take it back a wee bit then? Well, to um, when your dad had finished that, uh, his career and then the other business didn't actually start up, and he was kind of depressed, like how did he get his way out of that and what impact was that having on you as a family? Yeah, it was strange.
Speaker 2:So what happened was so he hated this job, and I sort of try and look at it now from.
Speaker 2:Obviously I'm seeing it from a very different position now, as an adult, as I did when I was a 10-year-old, right, but he was in a job that he hated. He was given this opportunity that, for him, was going to give him freedom, a job that he hated. He was given this opportunity that, for him, was going to give him freedom, and he arguably put all of his eggs in one basket to go and make this, this happen. Um, and it didn't happen. What I suppose that did happen, how it changed stuff for us, was my. I mean, I'm one of four, I was the eldest of of four, so I would have been 10. I've got sort of a baby sister who's 10 years younger than me, so she would have been born, and then there would have been my other brother and sister who were three years younger than me. They're twins, so you've got four kids under 10. My mum didn't work because she looked after us. I was like 10 so I could walk home from school, I could be at home on my own, but it was like my baby sister, who I was seeing going to like this childminder. Then to this childminder because my mum was working multiple jobs to try and keep a roof over her head, um, so that affected me because I saw that the impact that had on my mum and my interpretation, my perception was that it was making her sad and and I didn't like that. So that was the situation there.
Speaker 2:In terms of how things then changed for him was essentially, there was another olive branch from what was my mum's friend's husband who had a business. He said, well, just come and work for me. And it was definitely not an industry that he wanted to work in I wouldn't have said but it was just something that gave him the ability to um do something. That wasn't the job that he hated. Now, what's interesting now as well is that I believe a huge amount of my dad's stress back then was um and again this is my perception we've never actually really had this conversation was was his inability to effectively manage people, because I'm sure you've worked with enough business owners shameless that.
Speaker 2:How many people they, they jest, but I think it's it's a dangerous jest is how much easier would business be if you just didn't have staff? Yeah, now I think the complete opposite. How much easier is business by having staff? But what? What's the difference is the person's ability to lead and communicate effectively and delegate appropriately and not abdicate to the detriment of them themselves or the outcome that they're getting. So if, if I'm honest, I look at it and think there was a huge amount of um of of, there was a huge lack in my perception of um willingness to step up and and in my book, literally the uh that the dedication is in in in the book here is, is to my dad, because I wrote this book. Saying that for anyone that's watching this on youtube or on social media or whatever, is because everything that I've put in the book is stuff that's been super useful for me and helpful to learn, but it's everything that I wish that he knew 25 years ago yeah, fantastic.
Speaker 1:Um, and I suppose back 25 years ago or when he was coming through well, there was no real such thing as personal development or learning about leadership, or maybe there. I suppose there was, but it wouldn't have been as mainstream as it has now. You, you wouldn't have seen people at that time going and reaching out to a coach and a mentor and trying to become a better leader and learn about that um.
Speaker 2:I don't know. I think there was. There definitely was, because you you look at the, I mean tony robbins. He's been around since the 80s. You got people like um l nightingale. You've got people like um. Would it have been as?
Speaker 1:easily accessible or even easily as um acceptable to go and do I?
Speaker 2:I definitely think so. When I say some of these names, I am super mindful that a lot of them are american and in america they were running tv commercials. You know, tony robbins used to run tv commercials and a lot of these people running tv commercials and seminars in in in america. I mean, do I know of anybody that can say that they used to watch personal development tv commercials in the uk? I don't think they've ever existed.
Speaker 2:You know um, so it was as widely accessible in. Certainly here in the uk. Probably not um, but I don't know. I wasn't born till 1989 so I can't. I can't comment um on whether that was the case or not, but there was definitely people um doing it. But yeah, I suppose it wasn't as mainstream. That's one of the benefits. I mean, we were having a chat just before we went live about social media. One of the benefits of social media and platforms like podcasts and YouTube is that we have huge access to knowledge that for centuries and centuries and centuries was only accessible to the elite few, and we're in a really fortunate position that that isn't the case anymore.
Speaker 1:True. I suppose the downside of that is the bombardment of it and the confusion of which way to go on that as well, too. So when you were 10, 11, 12, and then you started to go out after school and create a business, what was the first business that you went into Will, and what was it that was driving you towards that business? What were you inspired by in it?
Speaker 2:So if I break down my 10 years, the first, the first thing that I was doing and if you want to call it a business, I suppose it depends how you define a business when I was 12 or 13 I was buying stuff off ebay wholesale and selling it in school. So is that a business? I don't know. I mean all sorts of gadgets like little stickers that would light up, you'd stick on your back of your nokia 3210 live strong bands. I remember buying live strong bands for a pound and selling them for 10 pounds when you just couldn't get them. Um, and that's 10 pounds. I think that was 10 pounds 25 years ago. 20 years ago was a lot of money. It's a lot of money now. Still right, 10 months, but for a kid back then anyway. Um, so I was doing that kind of stuff. Then I um different, multiple, different paper rounds and then I was buying clothes off of eBay or buying clothes off of the newspaper and sell it on eBay and doing things like that, so that that was that component.
Speaker 2:I then tried with a friend and and failed to set up a second-hand ski wear business. So there was a company near us. A woman out of her back shed used to sell second-hand ski gear. So all the people that would go skiing and buy new gear every year, she would buy it off them for cheap and then resell it to people that wanted sort of low-cost second-hand ski gear. And then she packed up.
Speaker 2:So I thought me and my mate, we could do that end up buying loads of ski gear, um, that we never ended up hardly selling any of it. It's all still stuck up in my parents loft, loads of it, um but um. So then there was that, but the first proper proper business, I suppose. Um, I had a soiree when I was about 20 of trying to set up something whilst I was still running. My job didn't really work out. And then the first thing that I really properly did when I was 24 was me and a friend set up a renewable energy business, and that was what I'll call the first proper business. So we went from a standing start to having 85 staff within about 18 months.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that's fantastic. What did you learn, then, in that first business? Well, about leadership, that kind that your father wasn't really aware of.
Speaker 2:Good question. What did I learn? Okay, so in in an interesting turn of events, a couple years into that business, um, the government changed legislation so that business it was renewable energy, solar panels here in the uk and a few other renewable energy um services and and then the main reason why people would buy solar panels back then, or one of the main reasons, was that it was very attractive because there was something called the feeding tariff here in the uk which meant you were paid a lot of money for your excess energy that you made that you sold back to the grid. When they removed the feeding tariff, literally overnight, the business pretty much collapsed because it just didn't make sense to have the, the big sales team. I mean we had 50 people in a call center, 10 people out on the road doing what was known as door canvassing. We had 15 people out, 10 to 15 people a week actually out selling um and covering a from memory it's like a hundred mile radius of essex, so pretty much the majority of the southeast.
Speaker 2:What I learned was, when that business failed, I learned to actually pursue the thing that I really, really wanted to do and I think, one of the things that my dad never did from a back then was the thing that he would have really loved to do.
Speaker 2:I don't think that he ever actually did, and that's the thing that.
Speaker 2:That that's the thing that I and I suppose the other big lesson is not to let the limiting belief hold you back, as in for me, the limiting belief for a long time was I'll be successful when I'm successful, then I'll do coaching and whatever else, whereas I think his limiting belief was in around like, having staff is a headache. And for as long as you think having staff is a headache and I don't dispute that, there are times when staff can be a headache but if you make it an overall generalization, then you will stay a one-man band. And don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with being a one-man band. Some people haven't, if that's what you want, and the huge amount of work that I do is trying to get people to ensure they're doing the thing that they want, not the thing that they think they can get, because there's a big difference and a lot of people do the things they think they can get. That is not what they want, for reasons you know there's a whole, whole array of different reasons and um yeah, that's the.
Speaker 1:It's like the are you playing, not the loser, you playing the one? I think that's where a lot of people kind of sit. It's comfortable enough, I'm on my own, I don't have to listen to anybody, I can do my own thing, as you said. Great if that's what you really want to do. But do you really want to go to the next level and you need to just deal with those insecurities? What are the things that you see, then, with the guys that you're working with and coaching right now, well, who are doing really fantastic in business and who've kind of developed those skills as leaderships, what are the standard things that they have, that they've embodied the traits and stuff that make them good leaders?
Speaker 2:um, one of them is a genuine desire to want to help others improve, so knowing that, like by them, having an interaction with them, they can be better. There's a few people that I can think of in my career or in my life's, as a client or as an employee that they leave a better person because of it. You know whether that's their upskilled, whether it's their mindset, whatever, whatever that might be. So I think that's that's one of the components that a lot of the people that I really look at I think one of the other ones is they have an amazing vision. They have a vision that people at I think one of the other ones is they have an amazing vision. They have a vision that people buy into, which is one of the traits that makes them a great leader. Um, yeah, what else would I say?
Speaker 1:For yourself even running a company at such a young age with the renewables to gather a team like you did at a young age as well, too well, it takes a lot for people to actually buy into someone at such a young age. They go out and canvas and go out around the doors. What was the vision that you had at that time? To bring people in and lead them at that time Because you've obviously got a bigger vision again even though, but yeah, um, the.
Speaker 2:The vision back then was we. We actually wanted to become the uk. I forget exactly how we used to say it, but it was along the lines of we wanted to become and it wouldn't have been said like this, but for all intensive purposes we wanted to become the best renewable energy business in the uk and the best, uh, without having to pull up all of the old material. We're talking maybe 12, 12 years ago this year. Then that started, but, um, that that was something that people bought into. And also we, we did a huge amount of training with people when, when somebody started with us before they did anything. That, bearing in mind that this is a comparison thing. So you would go to other companies and they would sit you down. You would spend 30 minutes sat next to somebody that's been doing it for a week themselves, and then you were given a script and then you were told to get on the phones and get calling people. We would spend two days doing training with people, educating them on the solar market, what it is, our products, what makes us different, our values, like. We really invested heavily into training. Um, and it's funny actually. I mean I I actually had somebody reach out to me about a month, six weeks ago, who worked for me in that business. He now actually lives in Ireland. Funnily enough, he's in Belfast and he now has a recruitment company. They're doing multiple million pounds a year. He's got 20 plus staff and he literally said well, so much of what I do and what I've learned and how I operate now is because of what you taught me back then and that, for me, is something that makes me feel pretty good. You know, it's just knowing that there's those principles that are being applied and you forget, don't you? You forget that if you're just doing your thing, you never.
Speaker 2:I talk a lot about the ripple effect, and the ripple effect is when you achieve your full potential. Not only does it benefit you, but it benefits your family, your friends, your community, society, humanity, the universe. That's the ripple effects, and you never really know the impact that you're having. But when you get those messages from people that were 10 years ago, 11 years ago yeah, I mean, I had a conversation probably four years ago, so I I guess there was a part of me in whatever way that people saw that had some sort of leadership traits from quite young. So I remember first ever being a captain of my ice hockey team when I was under 14 so I'd been 13 years old and then I was pretty much a captain every single year, whether it was an assistant captain or captain for the next 20 years.
Speaker 2:And one of the things I really vividly remember was there was a funnily enough, he was a business owner um, that was one of the dads that was managing the team and the level of professionalism that he installed at underfold.
Speaker 2:We got these folders with all of our training programs for the year and strength programs and duck things for diet, and there was just a level of professionalism which was probably one of my first insights into, I suppose, being trained to perform better. And I remember saying to hicks I've got the old folder and I brought it out, I showed it to him. I said, do you remember these? And he was like wow, where have you still got that? And and I said like this still sticks in my mind because I remember loving this training and realizing it was making me better as an individual at 13 years old. And it's things like that that he probably just thought, oh, I'll just do this thing because it'll be helpful, but doesn't realize the profound impact that that had, and maybe the domino effect that that's had on the rest of my life fantastic man.
Speaker 1:Um, what do you think is the thread? Well, that has been through all of what you've done, because for me I always look at like from a young age of seven, I've always got involved in sport and health and fitness and, even though I wavered away in two different parts of life and some destructive for a certain period of time, but there's always been a thread the whole way through everything that I've done. What's the thread for you all at the minute? That's been the whole way through all the things that you've done in your businesses, right up to this point.
Speaker 2:So there's a few things I could think of. Um, probably the the most common through everything is wanting to, is is is wanting to make a difference. It's not even make a difference, wanting to be able to help my mum. That that's probably the thing that if, if I think back to, because I like nowadays I can say, yeah, pretty much pretty much everything that I do is designed to get people to transform excuses into results and live a life they love. But when I was 13 or 14 or 18 or 20 or 21 or 22, was that the case? Absolutely not, it really wasn't. And then I suppose I think about what was was, was playing ice hockey, something that was trying to. So, if I, so there's no matter. I think about my mom, but then also I think, actually, if I, if I really wanna the other golden thread, if and this is maybe chunking up a bit too much too high I just wanted to make my life better.
Speaker 2:Have a better experience, yeah, better experience. Have great experiences, yeah, have great experiences. I suppose you could call it as have a unique lifestyle. Even now, I'm learning to fly. I've nearly got my pilot's license. That's a unique lifestyle. Even now I'm I'm I'm learning to fly. I've nearly got my pilot's license. That's a cool experience. When I used to live in South Africa I mean even talking about that you know I lived in South Africa that was a cool experience. Learning to scuba dive when I lived in South Africa, that was a cool experience. Deciding randomly to just go in a helicopter just because I wanted to go in a helicopter, like these types of things.
Speaker 1:So there's, there's definitely a thing around experiences for sure. Have you read the book day with zero by bill, uh, bill perkins? He kind of talks about that. He talks about, um, what most people are shaving and investing money for, which is, which is fine, but he's all about experiences. You know, your life is essentially, essentially a memory bank of experiences, but so many people are putting things off until retirement, they're putting it off to their 60s and their 70s, and then the things that you can get the experience when you're 60 and 70 isn't the same as what you can get the experience at 40 or 50 or 30. Because, even though you might go and do the same thing and he gave a great example I think it was in Russia, in one of the what do you call that square in Russia, I can't remember the name, but there was a big.
Speaker 1:There was a building like a church, and he said, when he was there, because he was in his 30s, 40s, I think he was able to actually scale the steps and get up onto the church and get a full experience of it. But I looked down and I could see the 60 year olds and 70 year olds who were on the tour going to do the same thing, look at the same thing, but not able to scale the steps and get a full experience of it. So I thought it was powerful, because when you look at that it's like, right, well, I'm putting everything off until 50, 60, 70s and I'm saving for that time, but then the things that you actually get, the experience and the quality of that experience, is just not the same.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that's super powerful. So I don't even know when I did it, but I decided sometime to start writing in my phone a bucket list. But what I did is I also did a bucket list of all the things I've done. So I mean, as it stands at the moment, there's 54 things on my bucket list that I've done and there's 76 things on my bucket list that I want to do, and all I do is each year. So 76 things is a pretty long bucket listen. Look, not everything is super, super, super out there. Um, I don't know like I'm trying to find some like one of them on my bucket list is run a sub 20 minute 5k. Um, um, I don't know where it's. Uh, learn chess to like a decent standard is is on my bucket list, for example. Um, and they're in this way.
Speaker 1:Probably on that, was it. What's that? Sorry, learning to fly was probably yeah, learning.
Speaker 2:So there's a few flying related ones on here. So, yeah, have, have my, my private pilot's license. That's one which will be done this year. Um, one of them actually is just to go to an airport, knowing I'm going away for two days but not know where I'm going when I'm at the airport. So just to turn up to the airport and basically pick the next flight of wherever I'm going and pack a bag somewhere hot, something cold, and just just go like whatever. Like pick a budget I don't know, like 150 quid or whatever, and go right, whatever flight I can get on within the next six hours as near to 150 quid as possible, whatever it is, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go there and it's gotta be at least one one hour away or something, so that, I think, just be be fun and it'd just be a little bit of an adventure.
Speaker 2:Um, but but what I do each year like one of my things which did I do it I think I actually might have done this one was I wrote a let. One of my bucket list things was I want to write a letter for myself in 10 years time. So then I'll create the letter and I'll put it in a drawer and I won't open it for 10 years. So not everything's these big, crazy, extravagant things. But then each year I just pick out five things that I want to do. So this year there's five things that I picked. One was go and visit Buckingham Palace. We've done that. Um. Go on um this particular train. We went on, did my private pilot's license, which I'm doing this year. One of them was watch a sunrise at a beach. So I've never, I've never watched. So again, they're not all the big, extravagant, crazy things, don't? Some are.
Speaker 2:But um I mean ones go to space, for example, which is pretty out there. Um, but that, but that's. But that comes back to experiences. Yeah, so 74 things seems a lot, but actually if you pick off five a year, then yeah, it's doable 100.
Speaker 1:What did you think then? Well, because this is a, this is a big thing, and you'll hear this time and time again and you'll see it, especially in the self-development space that and you've touched on it already which is when I just get here or when I just earn x or I just get my business to this point and you said that you were pushing and changing and growing and getting kind of um ahead financially, what didn't change for you when you kind of had the business and the income coming in and and what all the trappings that you thought that you wanted needed, what was the thing that didn't change that you thought would, when you got that the feeling feeling of contentment, like putting putting the feelings of peace, contentment, calm, relaxation on a outcome, and I still get guilty of this.
Speaker 2:Now I have to do the work myself. I'm not perfect on this, don't get me wrong, but just thinking that I call it when-then syndrome. When I achieve this, then I'll be okay. When I achieve that, then I'll be all right. When I get this, then I'll be content. And so many people, they're just chasing and chasing and chasing and all that ever happens is the goal just moves. It becomes well. Oh no, I got it wrong. It wasn't having the, the four-bed house, now it's the six-bed house. Oh no, it wasn't having the BMW, now it's the Porsche. Oh no, it wasn't the Porsche, it's now the, the Lamborghini, or um. Oh no, it wasn't having um 10,000 pounds in the bank, it's now having a hundred thousand pounds in the bank. Whatever it is.
Speaker 2:So the, the key is the feeling, and if you want to over summarize it, you've got like external success and internal success. What is success? Success is subjective, but I believe that any goal that anyone ever sets deep down is to change the way they feel. So the great thing about that is, you can change the way you feel in the moment. So there's a principle which many people have have heard of, which is um the be, do have principle. So most people do something to have something, to be, something.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna do loads of work, have loads of money, then I'll be happy, for example, that was my belief back then whereas actually you go, oh what, how do I want to be now?
Speaker 2:Well, I want to be content, I want to be grateful, I want to be peaceful.
Speaker 2:Okay, so what work do I need to do on a daily, weekly, monthly basis to fill those feelings now, whether it's affirmations, whether it's gratitude, whether it's breath work, whether it's um self-love in the form of exercise or reading or learning, to fill those feelings now? Now, don't get me wrong, you still go and do the work, so you might still do the work and then you may end up having loads of money, but the difference being is that, rather than if maybe doing the work and getting the result makes you feel that way for a fleeting moment, the difference is you're feeling it the whole way along the line, and I think that's really the the key if you can feel how you want to feel whilst you're working towards things like the stuff I still want to have. I still want to have the pilot's license, I still want to have certain material things because they give me an experience and I want to have those experiences and do those things and share those experiences with people.
Speaker 1:But the difference is is not putting myself in the position that I'm putting all of the how I think I'm going to feel when I get there yeah, and it's um, it's so powerful because I think that, as entrepreneurs, business people, people who are driven towards creating more and being more in their life, so many people do that it's like, right, I can't feel happy, I can't feel fulfilled, I can't feel content until I get X in the bank. And it's that hedonistic approach, isn't it? The hedonistic treadmill that people are on constantly, and then the hedonistic adaptation that you get as soon as you get that goal, and then it's right, right, well, it mustn't have been that, so that's the next one. What do you think, um, working with guys that you're working with right now? Well, is it, uh, coming from who we've started under with dr dimartini? Do you feel that it's a values thing a lot of the times, that there's a conflict there, that people don't really understand what those real values are, and it's an injection of values, the chess x, y and z definitely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, I, I think it's, it's definitely. Well, I think it's. If you want to over summarize it, it's. It's a lack of education. Yeah, it's that, they just don't know.
Speaker 2:Coming back to that same thing, we were speaking about half an hour ago, which was 20 minutes ago around. Well, what was it back then? Well, maybe there wasn't access to the personal development, there wasn't access to the knowledge or the information. People just do not know this stuff. They don't have that awareness, they don't have the knowledge to know the. And most schools I want to say most schools, not all schools, most schools don't equip people to think like that. They're more concerned and listen. Schools don't equip people to think like that. They're more concerned and listen. We don't need to go down the rabbit hole of the schooling system right, we'll be here all day but they just don't equip people with the tools to be able to think or act differently or to be able to operate from a place that is focused around fulfillment.
Speaker 2:You know one of our mentors, dr John Demartini. He has his concourse of wisdom that is essentially designed to help people live more fulfilled lives, and there's a purity to what it is that he shares and teaches, and you and I are both um facilitators of his work and are people better off by knowing that information, understanding their values, understanding their life mission? Doing this? Without a doubt, there's so many people listen to a lot of this there'll be a lot of entrepreneurs that will be listening to this and business owners, and if you were to ask them, what would your business be like if you didn't have a company mission and a company vision and company values?
Speaker 2:And there may be people that are much like micro businesses that don't have them. It's very hard, very hard, to have a team I would say anything of 12 or more without having a clear company vision, mission and values, because you can't create a culture, you it just. It all just starts falling apart. And then so anyone that's got that company vision and mission and values. You then ask what percentage of them have their own vision, mission and values for their own personal life? And it's single-digit percentages, yeah. Yet they acknowledge if they didn't have it in their business, it would be an absolute disaster. Yet they don't have it in their life and I think so many people don't make that comparison.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think you touched on something there, will, that I share a lot on. I actually shared a podcast I recorded there last week on it and it comes down to business values and personal values and I think that for me, and maybe you can agree or disagree that so many businesses kind of get the application of that misconstrued or wrong when they're looking at values, because there's an expectation of certain words and a wall and people they show up and live by those values. How do you help guys? Did you work with a supposed try and get those intrinsic drivers and the internal values matched to the things that they have in the wall as part of their values, their mission?
Speaker 2:yeah, great question. Um, yeah, great question. So what I've found almost always is that even if you try and collectively come up with company values, there's still an overarching question influence from the current company owner or CEO. So it's very rare, in my opinion, to find a CEO of a business or a managing director owner of a business that's still actively involved to some degree, that doesn't have an overarching influence on the values.
Speaker 2:And, um, even when you get the buy-in, yeah, so you can get the buy-in and things might tweak a little bit, but at least 60 percent of that's still going to be really apparent in there. Now it doesn't mean just to be clear. That doesn't mean that that means that the business owner has to set the values. They can still have the conversation, but they will still have to be heavily influenced by that ceo or business owner. And I and I do believe that essentially, generally speaking, it's going to be the that there's going to be a senior leadership team or a few senior people that are still going to set the vision and the mission and, arguably, the values for the rest of the company and then if people don't like those values, they will leave.
Speaker 1:If they don't like that mission, they will leave, but then that will also mean it will attract other people as well what do you feel then can be changed from that perspective and really kind of bringing the values piece together, that actually makes it more meaningful because, as we know, like little bit words plastered up when we hear them a lot of the times, like honesty and integrity and hard work and respect and stuff like that, and you see a lot of that within business and you see a lot of that within business values. But, as you know, and I know, that's not what people are coming to work for. No, what can company owners, business owners, do collectively to understand values better that will actually make a difference for employees and their team well, first of all, is actually understanding what value is, so a value?
Speaker 2:so when you're using these words and again, just to be clear this, I learned this from john d martini and I'm guessing shamus it's the same from you is that the words like loyalty and um and and integrity, these these social idealisms, are not really true, that. So I distinguish different values. I talk about means values and end values, and for me, a means value is something that gives your life meaning. So my top four values are self-mastery, building businesses, creating relationships and building wealth. Pretty much everything that you'll see that I'm doing um is is talking about that, even on this podcast. You know we're talking about self-mastery. We're now talking a little bit about business. I'm getting to build my relationship with you, seamus, and we got to know each other over a few days together a couple of months back and connected on social media and, and now I'm also starting to build a relationship, or you and I are both building a relationship with everybody that's listening to this. So I'm literally living in my values right now. But things like loyalty, I think, having a really an understanding of a principle, which I'm literally living in my values right now, but things like loyalty. I think having an understanding of a principle which I'm a big believer in is that nobody comes to work for you. So, seamus, your staff don't come to work for you. None of my staff come to work for me. None of them do. Nobody goes to work for anybody. People go to work for themselves. Go to work for themselves. Now, what's key is, if you can align their personal desires, wants, needs with the company desires, wants and needs, then you're going to grow.
Speaker 2:One of the first questions that we ask anyone when we're interviewing them is what does your, what was your dream life look like five years from now, personally, professionally and financially? Because what that does is it enables me to have an understanding of well, I now know where they're going before I've shown my cards. I now know what they, what I've got. I'll call it the home advantage. When you're selling or you're interviewing, you've got the home advantage you get to ask the questions that they don't know what you're asking to, so we or why you're asking them. So I ask these questions and I find out. So a perfect example of this was I was interviewing for an assistant um four years ago and we got down to the final interview. And this is when I didn't ask the question first.
Speaker 2:I asked the question in the third interview and the front runner said I said so what does life look like for you five years from now? And she said oh, me and my husband would have sold our house, would have downsized to this little bungalow in this little place in Essex, which I know is very much a retirement place. And yeah, we'll be taking it, we'll be taking things easier. And I was like, hmm, that's interesting because I was on a real uphill. Now the person that was my second choice interview.
Speaker 2:At that point I said what five years from now, what does life look like? And she said I want to be working in a business where I'm making a difference. I've got about 10 years left of work left with me. My kids have just left because they've gone off to university, so I've got 10 years to really throw myself into something and make a difference and then retire.
Speaker 2:Well, in my mind, one person was planning on being retired in five years and the other one I've got 10 years.
Speaker 2:Well for me, if, if they want to be retired and downsized in five years, they're probably thinking about it, at least within the next three in order for that to be the case in two.
Speaker 2:So the output of work is going to be diminishing, but I knew that I was on an uphill with all the various different things that I wanted to do, so that then ended up meaning that the person that actually got the interview was the person that was originally my second choice, because I asked the question, and they've got an incredible work ethic, they're aligned with me and I don't have that fear because now we're four years in. I would be thinking now if I'd had that other person, in a year this person's going to be gone and we only just really after four years got to work together so well that they really know it takes a long time to build a relationship with somebody that's like, I mean, she's my executive assistant but she really knows me and she can handle stuff for me now that I wouldn't have been able to to just hand over to somebody easily. That's just an example and it's a.
Speaker 1:It's a brilliant example because it's not something that a lot of people will do and I think understanding the values and and what people are inspired by and where they're organized and all these different things gives you a deeper understanding of who's actually going to show up in the business for you. I think it also gives you a really good understanding of where to actually put them in your business. Like you might have them in a completely wrong area that they're not really inspired by, even though they've applied for that area absolutely really beneficial and and grow in so many different areas if you just put them in a different position without a doubt, and I also think as well, is that it it helps you get p, he helps buy in.
Speaker 2:Because what I can now do on day one is I can say well, look, this is what you want. I'm building a roadmap for you. It's yours to win, you know you can. It's there, I'm giving you the option. That's there for the taking. It's down to you to perform. So now they're, as you said, intrinsically driven because what's in it for them, like they're coming to work for them, I'm giving them the road mark. I'm saying look, here's everything you want. It's now on you to go and make that happen yeah, 100, and I shared that.
Speaker 1:Like if people, if you've got loyalty as a value in your wall and people are getting their drivers and their intrinsic needs met in a different position better, then they're going to go there and then you'll brand them as disloyal. But they're not disloyal, it's just they're getting their needs met elsewhere. Tell us a bit more about the book. Well, the north star yep.
Speaker 2:So north star thinking, mastery mindset and live a life you love. Um, the book that actually came out a year ago today, funnily enough. Um and uh, yeah, uh, it's essentially four, four main elements. So it helps people create their North Star, which is what I call their life mission. It touched on four main components, so the life mission and goal setting, if you want to call it that Time mastery, evolving thinking, so giving yourself new ways of thinking to be more fulfilled and inspired and achieve more. And then habit creation, which creates that element of discipline. So it encompasses the three-part framework that I work with clients on, which is having absolute clarity, taking intelligent action and having active accountability fantastic and people can get that on all of your social media channels and so yeah social media.
Speaker 2:I mean the probably the quickest and easiest place for most people worldwide is amazon. But yeah, I mean in any, any website that sells books really walter stones, barnes and noble, you name it.
Speaker 1:But if you just go online you can, you can get it fantastic, and before you go, I always ask everybody who comes on as a guest if you could have a conversation with your younger self. What would you have? What would that conversation be? What would you say?
Speaker 2:Um, a topic for maybe another conversation. Um, but it would have actually been save a minimum of 10% of everything you earn.
Speaker 1:Fantastic Something I'm teaching my kids that I didn't learn.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, for people that are looking to get you again, where's the easiest and best way to get you?
Speaker 2:Willpolstoncom and then from that you can find all the social channels and everything else.
Speaker 1:Fantastic. Well, great to catch up with you again, man.
Speaker 2:Thank you very much. Likewise, speak soon. Cheers, bye.