In this episode of The MFCEO Project, The CEO and his co-host, Vaughn the Impaler, discuss the recent mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado, and debate whether or not more guns should be on the streets.
00:07:12.400It's not like we're immune to the idea that our country is so pristine and so perfect that we could never become what we never wanted to be.
00:07:21.280I mean, obviously, the founding fathers thought that that was a possibility.
00:07:25.480Yeah, because that's where they came from.
00:07:27.080Otherwise, we wouldn't have the Second Amendment.
00:07:30.280Like, I can't even, I'm just glad I have this outlet to where, like, people can't immediately, like, talk back, so I don't feel like I need to punch them in the face.
00:07:38.280You know, like, dude, you're a fucking moron if you can't understand the purpose for having an armed civilian force in our country.
00:07:46.280Now, I will tell you something that will make you smile.
00:07:48.720As much as every time some tragedy happens, and it's politicized by the people who want to control all the guns and get rid of it and just crap on the Second Amendment,
00:07:58.620every time something like this happens, guess what happens?
00:08:44.940Like being someone who, when you encounter a difficulty or something you can't figure out, are you the person, are you the type of person who's going to solve that?
00:08:54.400Well, you know, the funny thing about that is, is that goes, that's such a huge topic on macro and micro level because all value created in business is created through problem solving.
00:09:06.660Whether it's a company creating a problem or creating a product that solves a problem, whether it's an employee inside of a company who solves problems and then therefore makes themselves more valuable so they earn more pay.
00:09:19.360You know, you can, you could talk about this on such different levels.
00:09:24.220I mean, what, what level are we wanting to hit on this today?
00:09:28.100Well, the level you start with on everything, which is the personal level.
00:09:32.420I mean, something that I think you very much agree with is that there's no problem in the world that anybody is going to be able to face if they're the problem in their life.
00:09:42.640Well, I think, I think we've gotten to a point in society, just like we talked about the, the, the gun thing this week.
00:09:47.880We talked about the Syrian refugees a few weeks ago where everything that somebody does causes some sort of repercussion or offense or, um, you know, bad reaction that so that people are afraid to be the problem solver anymore.
00:10:03.940And guys, what you don't understand is it doesn't matter if you're an entrepreneur and everyday Joe, you know, if you want to achieve a success in life, you're going to run into problems and becoming more successful and quote unquote rich and, and financially well off.
00:10:17.880It is, is, is a result of your ability to solve problems, whether it be, if you work at auto zone, whether it be, if you work at McDonald's, whether it be, if you're a CEO of a fortune 500 company, it's all comes down to your ability to solve problems.
00:10:34.640And that's where your value is going to come from.
00:10:37.140Um, you know, the first, the first problem that people are going to have to solve, obviously, you know, when we talk about this, I think is themselves, right?
00:10:47.040You know, it's almost like getting out of your own fucking way.
00:10:49.420Um, you know, I've said this so many times that, you know, everything starts with you.
00:10:53.840It's not a single problem that you're really going to be able to solve in life.
00:10:57.740Um, that doesn't require you to solve the problem of you first.
00:11:04.520Um, you have to make sure that you're thinking right.
00:11:06.980You have to make sure you have the right attitude.
00:11:08.260You have to make sure you have the right perspective and the willingness to do what it takes to solve problems that face you.
00:11:14.820And that could be problems such as, you know, my neighbor, you know, is his dog shooting on my yard or my boss is, you know, not allowing me, um, to make my own decisions or, you know, my coworkers aren't doing their jobs.
00:11:32.340And people are afraid, I think, at their core of even having little bitty, you know, quote unquote confrontational discussions that end up productive, that it keeps them from ever really solving anything, which keeps them from creating value, which keeps them from making money or being successful in their life.
00:11:52.860But, you know, there's, there's one thing you talk about all the time.
00:11:58.380So it's, it's very easy when you're facing a problem or a challenge to just back up against the wall, hide in a corner and say, Hey, I'm not going to do anything about it.
00:12:05.220But the most successful people, they focus on solutions, not problems.
00:12:25.780I mean, for me, you know, my experience is that first of all, for me, I'm most comfortable in that state of uncomfortableness of looking for the solution.
00:12:38.660That's where all the good things come.
00:12:40.820That's where all the productivity comes from.
00:12:42.460That's where all the gold ideas come from.
00:12:45.300That's where all the progress comes from.
00:12:46.980And I don't know a single entrepreneur or successful person out there that doesn't feel the same way.
00:12:52.400And I feel like most people in society look to avoid every problem or stick their head in the fucking sand and, and, and pretend like it's not there because they don't want to take responsibility for fixing it.
00:13:04.880You know, and that's, that's, it's nonsense, man.
00:13:08.140It's a passive mentality that will get you no, literally nowhere in life.
00:13:12.600You're, you're not creating any value for anything, not yourself, not your family, not your friends, not your company.
00:13:19.460You know, it just makes you, I mean, what are you doing?
00:13:23.500Whether you were born with that or you cultivated it, it sounds like you just learned how that's, that's your disposition in life.
00:13:31.760You're not going to shy away from something.
00:13:34.280You're going to, you're going to do what you need to do to take care of it.
00:13:36.800So I guess my question, if I can start the conversation with this way is how do you think somebody needs to be oriented just on the very basic level to even think of problems like in problem solving?
00:13:51.400You know, I don't know, man, because I, this is my biggest frustration as, as a, uh, a business owner slash CEO slash leader is that I have a difficult time connecting to the mentality of avoidance of the issue or, um, fear of trying to work a problem out.
00:14:11.220I, I, I have a hard time connecting with that.
00:14:13.940You know, when I like, let's say I have five guys and there's a clear problem in their project that they're working on that nobody's stating it.
00:14:23.500And I walk in, I'm like, I point at it like it's the 800 pound gorilla in the room and say, well, there's your fucking problem.
00:15:14.860Like I use this example in my, um, we had a company meeting a couple of days ago.
00:15:19.880It's, I think it's bred into the, the, the, the, the solving.
00:15:23.520The problem is bred into your character.
00:15:25.940And if it's not into your character, you have to make it part of your character.
00:15:29.160The example I used was, I cannot think of the last time I pulled up into a parking lot where I saw a random shopping cart, like out in the middle of a parking lot.
00:15:40.000That I didn't go grab and put in a cart corral.
00:15:43.440And, you know, I didn't leave the cart out in the parking lot, you know, and I'm not talking about just out in the middle either.
00:15:50.460I'm talking about like, you know, maybe they put the front wheels on the curb and just kept it from rolling anywhere.
00:15:55.840I still go get that shopping cart and put it where it's supposed to be because I see that as a fucking problem.
00:16:00.640And it becomes just part of who you are, where you see trash on the floor.
00:16:04.580You don't think, oh, I wonder who threw the trash on the floor.
00:16:06.960You're like, fuck that trash on the floor.
00:16:45.580And it was funny because I don't know if I told you guys this, that we're looking for a new car.
00:16:50.300We found a car that we thought we'd liked.
00:16:51.860It's a pre-owned vehicle in Columbia, Missouri.
00:16:53.980And so we went to, we went to go look at it.
00:16:56.400And when we got there, like I, this, this guy, this, this salesman or this, this auto dealership has known for like a week that we were coming to see this car.
00:17:05.600So when I got there and I opened it up, guess what?
00:17:19.200And I'm sitting here thinking that car was dirty.
00:17:22.920You couldn't even solve that small problem.
00:17:25.540Are you really going to solve a problem if I buy it from you and maybe there's some problems with it or, or I have some greater need.
00:17:31.920And I thought to myself, no way within two minutes, I knew that there was no way I was going to buy that car.
00:17:37.300But there, therein lies the problem with society is that when people think that they have a sale, they're not willing to go that extra mile.
00:18:04.420How many people have that car been perfectly spotless, perfectly clean, you know, full tank of gas with a fucking ribbon on it and a, and a gap and a thank you card with a fucking gas card, a QT in it.
00:18:26.940They would have read about that and that dude, Joe Smith, salesman, whatever, he would have at least one or two other customers out of that.
00:18:33.540And that's where people short sighted.
00:18:35.160So, you know, instead of, and that guy's looking at it and I guarantee you that, that guy who's, who's that car, he's going home saying, yeah, man, you know, this motherfucker came in, he looked at this car, he didn't buy it.
00:18:47.480He's, you know, blah, blah, blah, blaming you.
00:19:28.380But I know because you and I have talked about this, that there's a huge difference of, of between people who say, who you call problem staters.
00:19:36.320Well, oh, we got a problem and people who are truly problem solvers.
00:19:41.120Dude, we have this core value in our company called accept responsibility.
00:19:44.420And what that means is, you know, when you have a problem and whatever it is you're doing, whatever part of responsibility you have, you have to say, you know, yeah.
00:20:20.260Just bringing me the, I already know the problem as the, as like, and you guys who are listening, your bosses, as dumb as you might think they are, they're probably your boss for a reason.
00:20:29.340And they probably already know the fucking problem.
00:20:31.400And the reason they haven't pointed it out is because they're waiting for you to graduate from little baby kid.
00:20:36.740Who shits on the fucking play school toilet to grown man who pisses in the fucking urinal and solves the motherfucking problem.
00:20:44.460Just because they don't come in and say, hey, here's your problem.
00:21:10.740It's, it, it implies that there's nothing you can do about it.
00:21:14.220Look, man, it comes down to very simple, you know, a very simple idea of, of understanding that it takes action to solve that problem.
00:21:23.900And I, I would honestly, like the problem staters versus the problem solvers versus the guy who doesn't even state the problem.
00:21:31.500The problem staters are the most frustrating.
00:21:34.240They're the ones that you really want to like kick right in the fucking ass because dude, those are the guys who, you know, know better, but they're not doing anything to fix it.
00:21:42.880They're waiting on you to direct them or tell them or put a little plan out in front of them instead of taking responsibility, being a leader, being an adult, owning whatever's going on and creating a situation that produces a productive result.
00:22:50.240Do you think all of a sudden Will was a guy who could just squat 400 and something plus pounds, 10, 12 reps, bang, bang, bang.
00:22:56.720No, he had to apply intense pressure on himself by throwing the weight up on his shoulders and doing four reps at that weight, then six, then eight, then moving up.
00:23:06.780It's the constant pressure that drives growth.
00:23:09.820That's when you show your value because then a coach or your employer or your CEO can look at you and say, that's somebody who's willing to throw the weight up on their shoulders, have the pressure come down against them, and they're willing to grow their muscle to drive it up and to make something of themselves.
00:23:26.300People think by protecting themselves, they're going to sit in a corner, pretend like they don't see the problem, that it makes them more valuable.
00:23:33.260It's much more valuable to have somebody who wants to make something happen than somebody who just completes a to-do list that you made for them the day before.
00:23:43.160Dude, I totally, I mean, the guys, I mean, and this goes for any CEO out there, and I know a lot of them.
00:23:51.520Any single CEO I know, the guys that surrounded him at dinner or drinks, the guys who were close, the guys who get invited to his house for Christmas, those are the dudes who fucking solve problems.
00:24:03.780Those are the dudes that they call and I say, hey, Jason, did you notice we had this, this, and this happen?
00:24:29.100And a lot of people, they tell themselves these little excuses.
00:24:32.300They either tell themselves, well, I don't want to, it's like, you know, it's like school, right?
00:24:37.080Like when you're in fucking grade school and, you know, you're getting an A and everybody else is getting C's and they're like, hey, you fucking kiss ass, you're getting A's.
00:24:43.700So they're afraid to go out and solve the problems because they don't want to look like a brown noser or something.
00:24:48.040B, they don't want to go solve the problems because it takes work.
00:24:53.120C, they don't want to go solve the problems because, you know, it's a situation that makes them different than their peers and they don't want to step out and be uncomfortable.
00:25:02.000You know, I mean, the reality of life is that, dude, if you want to make a good living, if you want to make money, okay, and you want to be successful, you have to solve fucking problems.
00:25:13.300You have to not only recognize the problem, you have to solve the problem and you have to anticipate the problem before it appears.
00:25:19.200That's where you get guys who are making the seven, eight figure salaries.
00:25:23.000No matter what level of success that you reach.
00:26:16.800There's a common theme that goes through all of these MFCEO episodes, whether it's kill it every day, whether it's how to lead your team, whether it's Sean Whalen.
00:26:23.780In fact, Sean Whalen, we talked about this a lot in that episode.
00:26:44.060The guy that reacts to negative situations that happen or the guy who anticipates negative situations happening and fixes them before the customer ever even knows it happened.
00:28:00.000Like, dude, that's what I'm talking about, though.
00:28:02.380And that's solving a problem that creates value, that creates a customer, that creates money in your fucking pocket forever.
00:28:09.380You know, and we don't see that in society.
00:28:11.700But how many times have you gone into the shoe store, gone into the restaurant, and all of a sudden they tell you or they try to tell you, no, I'm pretty sure that you ordered 11 and a half.
00:28:20.640You may wear 12s, but you ordered 11 and a half.
00:28:23.360Like, to try to, that's their way of solving a problem.