Embracing Capitalism With Ryan Moran

Entrepreneur, Writer, World Traveler, Comedian, Actor, and Investor – Ryan Moran

Why Ryan thinks capitalism is the best thing that drives our progress (and why it’s NOT a dirty word the majority thinks it is). How to stay resourceful no matter what’s coming and why government can’t solve your problems. How to stop screwing yourself over with the “Good old days” attitude and how to focus your attention on the things that actually move you forward. The right frame to have when you measure your accomplishments that Ryan learned from Peter Diamandis. (Get this wrong and you’ll always be miserable and beating yourself up.) How to take advantage of what your brain does best – comparing things – without falling for its tricks! Going faster by removing things from your life. Is that possible?

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast:

Check out RyanDanielMoran.com for more info.

Thanks so much for listening!

Transcript: Download

Jamie: Welcome to Eventual Millionaire. I'm Jamie Masters and today on the show I'm trying to keep a straight face as much as humanly possible because my very good friend, Ryan Moran, is dancing and trying to mess me up on purpose. He runs capitalism.com.

Ryan: It's so hot; you'd love it, Jamie.

Jamie: Which is so impressive. You need to stop.

He told me in the beginning that I can say his bio is he's very hairy and funny?

Ryan: What does that do for you, Jamie?

Jamie: But he's also honestly awesome and runs Freedom Fast Lane and Freedom Fast Lane Live, which is an event here in Austin, Texas this December 9th and 10th.

Ryan: That's a reason to dance.

Jamie: All right, I'm done. Thank you so much for coming on the show today.

Ryan: We need positivity today. The world feels so gloomy and dark in the world so let's dance it off. Dance it off, Jamie. Here we go.

Jamie: Okay. So we have no music and I'm dancing. You guys have to be watching the video, otherwise this is awkward and weird. So let me say this. I looked at my schedule this morning. It is the day after the election that we are recording this video, and I see my friend Ryan from capitalism.com; uh-oh, are we going to talk about politics and/or not but?

Ryan: Sure. That's not why I'm dancing, just so we're clear. But I think we've got to talk about it. How do you not?

Jamie: So first of all, why are you so happy? Second of all, tell me about capitalism.com and I want you to define it in your way.

Because I feel like you're the man. I feel like you're the guy that's going to change some stuff, so.

Ryan: Thank you. I can do a lot of pushups. The reason I am so happy is because I choose to be. I know a lot of successful people who are really friggin miserable. And the thing I see different about the ones who are really happy is they practice active appreciation and they just choose when they are going to be happy. So that's the answer to your first question.

Capitalism.com is just the idea that the best way to make the world a better place, the best way to change the world is to make a lot of money. Because by the byproduct of you changing the world, you make a lot of money. I think the profit motive is the best way that we solve every problem. I don't care if it is global warming, or energy, or poverty, or I don't care what it is. Whatever problem you want, the best way for you to solve it is through the profit motive. I would challenge just about anybody to give me a problem that could be better solved by government, with the exception of defense.

This is the one area that I will say that's why a government exists. But apart from that, every problem that we argue about on a regular basis could be solved better by profit markets and the profit motive. That's why entrepreneurship is so important; that's why conversations like this by you humanizing capitalists, because most of the world thinks that it's just a bunch of greedy one percenters who are hiding behind some wall somewhere. That's why doing what you do is so important because the more entrepreneurs we have, the more problems we solve, and the better world that we have. Boom sauce.

Jamie: Drop the mike. All right. So one of the reasons why -

Ryan: Not really, though. We actually need a mike for another half an hour or so.

Jamie: Just for a little bit. We're totally going to get off topic. Okay so what I want to say, though, is one of the reasons why is started this to begin with was to have more people with integrity have the money, right? Because I think that's what you're saying. That's a huge piece. We need people that actually care about other human beings in order to have sort of the leverage, right?

Ryan: Yeah. But I think in today's world, that is becoming almost automatic. You have to create value in order to be successful. And the only exception to that is when enterprise gets in bed with government. Because then you have distorted markets. But here's my argument, Jamie. I think that the very nature of you initiating a transaction is value creation. So by you having products and services, or by you being a coach, or by you having a blog that sells things, or by you selling physical products; the very nature of there being a transaction means that someone said these dollars are not worth as much to me as the thing you're offering.

And providing you do what you promise, then you have created more value and that's a really, really good thing. So I think the way that we solve our problems is not necessarily by waiting for somebody else, not for more government programs; but by you doing something and creating something of value.

That's what entrepreneurship is; that's what capitalism allows and I think that's how we progress as a society.

Jamie: Okay. So what I want to do with this interview is I actually got a text from one of the small business owners that I coach, and he was sort of asking - he's like, personal question, here. And it was so poignant, literally ten minutes before we hopped on the line. Like what does this election mean for small business owners? Not millionaires, not people with a ton and ton of money but like the small business owner with a family. They're like, does it even matter democrat/republican at this point? What the heck is the point, and what do we do and what do you think the predictions are, besides [inaudible] anyway.

Ryan: Well, I totally was wrong in this election in terms of my predictions so you probably don't want to listen to my predictions. Although I did call for the Cubs to win the World Series at the beginning of this y ear. But I got the election wrong. So here's my take. My take is very similar to Jim Rhones, back in I think it was 1989 after the '88 election.

And he was sitting around a table and all these industry experts and millionaires and successful people said: Jim, what do you think the world's going to look like a result of this election? And he said: about the same. What do you think is going to happen in the economy? I think it's going to be about the same. What do you think the opportunities are going to look like? I think they'll be about the same. I think the only changes is you; is how you respond. Look, the government is not capable of changing your life. You are only capable of that. The government can't improve your business. Only you can do that.

The government can't solve most problems. Only you can do that. So the entire impact really comes down to how people respond. I think if you are a resourceful entrepreneur, this is the most abundant time that you could be living through, regardless of who won last night, at the time that we're recording.

Regardless of the situation. If the Supreme Court comes out and says the election was - it wasn't Hillary who rigged it; it was Trump who rigged it and we're changing the results of the election, that wouldn't impact your ability to do business, to solve problems, and to create value. So I think regardless of what happens, I think regardless of what the stock market does in response, it is still the most abundant time ever for you to be an entrepreneur and to be creating value. And if you come at it through that lens, you're going to be just fine.

Jamie: Thank you so much for saying it. So people think that I live in a happy bubble. And I'm like yes, because whether things are bad there's opportunities, or whether things are good there's opportunities. And it doesn't really matter, as long as when we're moving forward we're making the best choices we can and to stay happy.

I just spoke in Bangkok, Thailand, and I quoted you specifically. I asked if I could read the entire thing. This is the amazing ' so the reason why I read it, though, is because I really do feel like we're on this up and down roller coaster as entrepreneurs, let alone the government and all that other stuff. But we were on this up and down roller coaster and we let our emotions and what's happening on the outside really affect our internal world. And you talk about that in the specific article, and we'll definitely link to it because it's freaking amazing. But can you sort of sum up your thoughts on that specific piece?

Ryan: On that specific piece, if I were to sum it up I'd say that our attention is the only thing that we have to filter through the things that we want and the things that we don't want. And there's all these things in competition for our attention, and you could also put them on things you appreciate. Or you could put them on things that your thankful for. Or you could put them on the problems that you're going to solve, or the problems that are affecting you. The only thing we have control of is our own attention.

So I've noticed in my life, and I think this is what you're referencing, that in my life I hit these certain points, and I hit these goals and I want something different. And then I remember the good things from old times in my life and I pine for them and I miss them. But I also have this wanting of something else in my life. So I start off that article by saying when I was a kid, all I wanted to be was a millionaire. Now that I'm a millionaire, all I really want to be is a carefree kid. When I was childless and alone, all I wanted was to have kids. I love my daughter.

My daughter is distracting me over in this area that you can't see. I love her to death. But I sometimes miss that days when I was alone. When I ran a small business, I wanted a big business. Now that I've got a big business. I miss the days when it was small. So we tend to pine for these memories while longing for something different at the exact same time. Could we like screw ourselves any more as being human beings?

So the only filter we have is our attention and what we put our attention on. And at some point in your life, you will move through this and look back and say this was the good old day. At some point, like the future will come, and you will look back on today, something in your life right now or a relationship that you're in, something that you're hustling, that thing you're working so hard for, the investment that you made, the conference that you went to, the people that you listen to; and you'll say man, remember when things were so good?

For example, when we were going through this election, at the peak of all the hostility I turned to a friend of mine. I was like, how good does Mitt Romney look right now? And he says to me: oh, man, I would do anything for Mitt Romney right now. But at the time of the election, Mitt Romney was like the boring, out of touch candidate that nobody relates to, right? And now we're at a different point and we look back and we're like, how good does Mitt Romney look? Like those were the good old days.

Now, heaven help us if eight years from now we're looking back and just the hostility and the nastiness of this election and saying it's the good old days, but at some point you will look back on today and say: man, I really miss that. And you don't see it right now, unless you consciously take the attention and put yourself in a place of appreciating that. And so I try to take natural, intentional time to just pause and remember what I appreciate. Because there's something about now that I'm going to miss later.

And if you don't catch it now, when are you done? Like, all this work that you're doing, when do you get to enjoy it if you don't pause and consciously appreciate it? If not now, then when? Because later, when you get that thing that you want, the bling-bling, or the million dollars, or the $10 million business, or the date with Jamie or whatever it is that you're waiting for; you will just get there and you'll want something else unless you pause...

Jamie: Well, not a date with me but other than that?

Ryan: We'll see.

Jamie: It's hilarious that you said that because this is my journal and we talk about - there's a gratitude piece. And this morning I wrote: the sky didn't fall after the election. That was the thing that I actually, literally wrote. You guys can look at it if you want. Because I really feel the exact, same way. And unfortunately or fortunately, I think this is both an asset and a curse; entrepreneurs want more. When I was 8, my mantra was program because that's normal for an 8-year-old little girl, right? But it's like this innate, weird thing in our brains. All of my clients are like; yeah, but I just want more; I want better. I just want a little more.

Can we just? you know, whatever this is is great; thanks, appreciate it. And how do we get more? And it's an amazing thing because it makes us strive, right? This is why entrepreneurs are amazing. We solve more problems, we see more opportunity. And yet, it sucks sometimes. So how do you mitigate that in your own brain, like tactically?

Because it's one thing to be like: be happier; and it's another thing to actually be happier.

Jamie: One is on the business side. We were talking about Peter Diamandis privately. Peter Diamandis does a great job of looking back and saying look at where we've come in the last hundred years. Yes, we hear about all this bad stuff that happens on the crisis news network. But look, 100 years ago people died of friggin' toothaches. And now 100 is the new 80, or new 60, or whatever he says. So we've come a long way, practically - for me, it has all been about time horizons.

So if I look at today, I'm going to find something to be pissed about. If I'm looking at this hour, I'm going to find lots of things to be pissed about because I've got all this email and all these Facebook messages, and all these things I've got to get back to. When I look at the last year, I may or may not have accomplished everything that I wanted to accomplish.

But if I look at where I was a year ago and say have I made progress, it's really hard for me to argue that I haven't. if I look back ten years, have I made progress, ten years ago?

Jamie: Wait, how old were you ten years ago?

Ryan: I was 19. So I was blogging from my college dorm room.

Jamie: Things are a little better; a little better now.

Ryan: Yeah, so I've made a little bit of progress in ten years. So what do I want the next ten years to look like? The longer time horizon I can operate in, the more successful I am, and the better I'm able to make decisions. If we're making short-term decisions, the worst I tend to perform. I don't know if that's the case with everyone but it's the same thing with decision making and planning as it is with evaluating progress. At what time horizon are you comparing things to? Our brains only know how to do one thing, and it's compare. It's how we evaluate everything. So what's good? Whatever bad was. What's hot?

I met a guy from Siberia once that came to Cleveland when it was 30 degrees out and he's like: oh, it's so hot here; I don't know how you handle it. Because he had a 90-degree change. It was like negative 50 back in Siberia. So I was freezing my nads off. It's just a comparison. That's all our brains know how to do; evaluate anything. What's beautiful? What's ugly? What's good, bad, successful; it all depends on what you're comparing yourselves to. Fact: Facebook causes depression. Why? Because we are inundated with all the happy things that other people are doing; all the great memories. I had a really crappy day, once. This was like two weeks ago. I had a really crappy day.

I was feeling really miserable. And I took one picture with my daughter that day and everybody was like: man, it looks like you had a really great day. I was like no, mother licker, I had a terrible day. That was like my one good spot. They're like: man, you must be happy all the time. That's all we see is everybody else's happy stuff.

So naturally, if we feel bad for a hot second, we're going to think that we're the only one that is miserable. So if our brains only know how to do is compare, then you can manipulate the game and just change what you compare yourself to. For me, the best solution I've had for that is comparing myself to a previous version of myself on a long tim horizon. So tactically, that's how I manage happiness.

Jamie: I adore this. And it's funny, I heard somebody call Facebook "nose book." And when I was in Bangkok and did that speech, I actually made - not made but I asked everybody to leave Facebook off their phone. Because I really feel - I agree with you 1,000 percent. When we're looking at what we can focus on versus what we should focus on, it makes a huge difference. And how do we look towards the future constantly when our reality is here? So when you have those ridiculously crappy days, because I - and this is the funny thing.

Somebody posted on my Facebook page the other day that I have this uncanny ability to get everybody's secrets. I don't think they're secrets. I think people love to share what's real and be vulnerable, and I don't feel like we get a chance to do that very much. Because I tell people oh, I hear all the crap from all the amazing, successful people. I work one-on-one with ridiculously amazing, successful people and I hear their ups and downs, too. And yet we never share that stuff. And it is so freaking common.

I spoke about vulnerability, I spoke about relationships, I spoke about my divorce in Bangkok and people came up to me telling me that they were battered by their girlfriend. Like huge, successful people, like crazy stuff where we never share this. And yet, everyone is going through it. And then we feel like we're the idiots, you know what I mean? Going like oh, how come I can't figure this out? Nobody can figure this out. Everybody has ups and downs. So when you are in it, and there are crappy things, how do you bring that perspective back up?

Are you just constantly reminding yourself? Like on your crappy day two weeks ago, what the heck did you do to try and make it better?

Ryan: I was just speaking with Cameron Harold. I call him the 100 million dollar man because he's taken I think three companies from like 1 million to 100 million; he's just like the master. And he's great for my audience because I speak with a lot of brand builders and physical product sellers, and he has clients that he works with to take from 1 to 2 million to 50 to 100 million. He's just got a knack for this. But I was talking with him and he's got this rare ability of making things grow through removal, not through addition.

So our temptation is to always add stuff to the mix, right? Just blend more up and have even more stress. Something's wrong so I've got to fix it, so I've got to do more. And he's got this unique ability to remove things. He and Dan Sullivan are the only people that I've seen be able to do that. Of: oh, this is what you're doing? Why don't you remove this and then you'll go faster. I never though to do that.

So I asked Cameron. I was like, with this unique ability of yours, do you ever get stressed or are you just happy all of the time? And he's like, is that a joke? And it's like no, you must just never get stressed, right? And he's like - I'm gonna botch this but he said something to the effect of I was clinically treated for anxiety for being high strung and stressed all of the time. And I was like, whoa, okay, hold on; back up the bus. Because let's talk about this, because I fully expect you to be like no, I'm just pretty much happy all the time.

What he said to me was that going - and he actually has a chapter about this in his book, Double Double but he basically analyzes at certain stages of the entrepreneurial roller coaster, you're going to be good at certain things and you're going to really suck at certain things. So you are going to really suck at PR and selling when you're in the dip of your entrepreneurial career.

When you're in the stupid, ignorant optimism where everything's great, nothing's ever going to be a problem; that's when you should be selling, that's when you should be doing PR. It's a really bad idea to look at your team when you're in a bad mood because you'll want to fire everyone. Everybody's an idiot when you're in that space. So there are certain times when you just feel really powerful, and there are certain times that you feel really powerless.

A good piece of advice that I got from Greg Reid was he said you never make big life decisions when things are going poorly. You get through that time, you wait until you're back on the up and up, and that's when you can actually make good decisions. Forgive me for beating a dead horse and being a broken record but I have found that the greater horizon that I can look at in terms of time, that's when I'm able to make really good decisions. So you operate within the capacity you have at that time.

You make your best decisions within that long horizon and you actively appreciate the good things that are going on every day, because there's always something to be thankful for. There's always things to appreciate. I like to go into the office when I'm in a particularly annoyingly good mood and say it's a big day today, guys. Why? Because it's today. There's always something that we can appreciate. You always have a choice in today. So there's never a reason to be down and out.

Jamie: I love your - you're one of the only other people that is as happy as I am consistently [inaudible]. But I think that's the funny thing, is that when I started getting into business, I thought feelings were negated. So I'm trying to get in touch - for a female, not so in touch with my feelings. I've been working on this for a ridiculously long time. Funny thing is, when I started doing these interviews, over and over and over again people are talking about their feelings. And I was like, what does that matter? But it really does.

Because like you said, on an up day we make different decisions than on a down day. And so how, number one, do we figure out what day to do what, or what season of your business to do what? I feel like that's where the sweet spot is of people trying to figure out this whole rigmarole of business.

Ryan: I'm going to answer that by saying if you're making a decision because you're reacting to something, it's usually a really bad decision. If you are making a decision because you are planning something or planting something, or if you are just watering a seed that happened a long time ago, that's usually a good thing. So this is kind of a silly practical example. You and I both run successful podcasts, right? How many people in the last year were like: I'm going to start a podcast because I see everybody else starting a podcast?

Jamie: Oh, my gosh I get so many emails, yes. Wait, let me say this story because I feel like this is extremely important at this moment. One of my mentors, a futurist, amazing, I just had him on my show was like: Jamie, I want to start a podcast. And I go, who's your audience? And he goes, Fortune 100 CEOs. And I go, do they listen to podcasts? And he said no.

And I'm like, okay thanks. He's like okay. That was a two minute conversation; done, right? Sorry; continue.

Ryan: I had a conversation with Jordan Harbinger, who runs an even more successful podcast. I said, what;s the secret to your podcasting success? He said start in 2008. That is the secret to my success.

Jamie: Darn it! We hate you, Jordan. No, I get it. I get it.

Ryan: Yeah, really. So if you are reacting to something or chasing an opportunity, and you're not willing to commit a year of suckitude to that commitment, then you're probably reacting to something. If we look at YouTube channels, businesses, Amazon products, retail stores, everything has some sort of a timeline; usually 12 months or more of proving the concept before it's successful. So are you willing to do that? Are you willing to either plan or water that seed that you planted?

If you're reacting, you're operating through the crock brain. You're reacting to some sort of fear-based part of you that is seeing fear and then needing to make a reaction out of that. So I know I get the most stressed when something happens and my reaction is now I need to go sell something. My sales process sucks. And then I react to something else along the way, and my team is like, where are you taking us?

So if you're reacting to something that is happening outside of you rather than intentionally deciding or working the plan that you already decided, that's the difference. That's the difference in time horizon. Because we react to things for 24 hours. We plan and water for 12 months. And that's the difference.

Jamie: I know. One of my greatest friends, when I'm like, nah, she's like go take a nap. And I'm like, okay. Right?

Ryan: I'm too stressed to nap.

Jamie: I know, seriously. But being able to try and do all of those things and then know that this, too shall pass, it's so simple and yet so poignant for everything that we're absolutely doing.

I know that the sun will come up tomorrow and all will be well in the world eventually. So let me ask you this, because I know we talked about the future. And you have Peter Diamandis coming to your event, which I am so excited about. Everybody coming to Austin, you can hang out with me and most likely see Ryan in all of his glory, gorgeousness, right? (Inaudible)

(Crosstalk)

Ryan: I'll dance for you.

Jamie: Last year he had a cardboard cutout of himself that was literally like up to his shoulders. It was the funniest thing.

Ryan: There is a story behind that. We'll do that on another podcast.

Jamie: Oh, my gosh. Okay. Oh, my gosh. But there's going to be amazingness when we're there. One of the reasons why I'm really excited, though, is Peter Diamandis because he talks about the future of technology and where we're moving, and I know you like that, too. So let's tell especially the business owners that sort of aren't in this world of really paying attention to this; tell us a little bit more about that. We've done this a little bit before with you on the show, and a couple other people. But I want to revel in the excitingness of what is coming in the future. So give us your enlightenment.

[00:30:00]

Ryan: I think the 9 to 5 job has been disrupted at this point. I like to call lit a dinosaur. It is basically going away. And what we have done is we've freed up all this creative output that is now we're starting to see the results of. We're starting to see it through the maturation of the internet. We're starting to see it through virtual reality. We're starting to see it through the sharing economy. This whole idea - one of the reasons why I just don't trust government to get anything done or to do anything is because they're making decisions based on their pattern of the world.

Individuals; when we think of government decisions, those are individuals making decisions on their pattern of the world that's out of touch with us. Out of touch with enterprises, out of touch with the next generations, our kids. And we're starting to see that mature. What I think we tend to discount, we talk a lot about what that's going to destroy, or what jobs are going to be automated as a result.

I think what we miss is all the new abundance that is going to be created that we can't even see right now. Like when we look at virtual reality, do you have any idea how many businesses are going to be spawn and grow as the result of virtual reality? It's going to be ridiculous. Can you imagine? Like, at some point I'll be able to sell virtual reality tickets to Freedom Fast Lane Live. Like, you can come meet Peter Diamandis and myself, and go on a date with Jamie through virtual reality rather than actually coming to the event.

What does that do to the cost of the event? What does that do for your experience to be able to stay there and still meet somebody almost face to face? The amount of abundance that happens as the result of that type of technology is incredible. And the people who drive that are entrepreneurs. So there's no reason to be afraid of it because the entire purpose of capitalism is to solve problems and make money in the process.

So as long as you continually have your barometer tuned to - what is the word I'm looking for? If you're paying attention to the target market that you serve and the problems that you solve, then all the things that are coming up just make it more exciting for you to be able to solve that problem. So I'm very optimistic in terms of where we are going and where we are headed, and what entrepreneurs are going to be capable of. The only people that are going to be negatively affected are those who are takers rather than creators. And takers need to be eliminated from the marketplace anyway, and I think that is happening at a faster and faster rate.

Jamie: It is kind of insane to see all the Facebook lives about Elon Musk and oh, we're going to go to Mars, and we're going to do this and we're going to do that. And it's ridiculously impressive to see the forethought of it. Like, this stuff is evolving and coming anyway, no matter if it's 20 years from now or 100 years from now, or 500 years from now; something is changing. We consistently evolve. And the whole point of - some of the books like Abundance that Peter Diamandis wrote, or Bold, or one of those books is that technology is advancing at an exponential rate.

And as we look at that, there's no real going back, right? I mean Elon Musk the other day - I think it was Elon Musk - said something about there's a 90 percent chance that we're living in the Matrix. When you start listening to some of this stuff, you're like okay, wait, do I need to be paying attention to any of this stuff right now? So what do you think a small business owner should be paying attention - I love this stuff because I think it's really interesting. But do you think everybody should be paying attention to this? Should we be looking for the opportunities in this new tech because of this new stuff? Where do you think we should go with this information?

Ryan: So I don't, and I also don't think Elon's right that we're living in a simulation. I don't think we are.

Jamie: I'm a philosophy minor; we could talk a lot about this forever.

Ryan: Awesome.

Jamie: We're not going to go down that path but okay, yeah.

Ryan: So I don't think that most small business owners need to be paying attention to this stuff. I think it's fun for s to flap our gums and talk about them.

But to actually be paying attention and? It's the same thing of like? Ty Lopez likes to tell this story about when he hung out with Elon Musk. And he was saying Elon said: so, do you think that Tesla could benefit from doing all this Snapchat stuff that you do? And Ty's like, yeah. And he goes into this process of all the ways that Tesla could benefit from Snapchat. And Elon says, okay. Well, actually what I think I need to do is just make a more affordable car. And soon after, he released the Model 3.

Jamie: And it went crazy.

Ryan: Because like there's all these things that we could be distracted by, but are they really serving the purpose of the people that we're trying to help and serve? I tried Snapchat for like a week, and I just can't do it; it's not my thing. I can't make a difference that way so let's not do it. If we're constantly chasing the new thing that's hot, we're reacting. So are we reacting or are we planning and planting' And if you want to make strategic investments there because you think it will help your clients and customers, go for it.

But I think for the average small business or the internet entrepreneur, I think that's fun to talk about but it's completely irrelevant right now. And I think we just distract ourselves by trying to do what's cool rather than what actually makes a difference in our clients and customers. I know for me, I have this habit of? I'm the visionary on the team. So I map out the vision on the whiteboard and then I immediately want to do all of it at once. It's my blessing and my curse at the same time.

But where I do really excellent work is by focusing on something small and doing that better than anybody and letting that success carry the next piece of the puzzle. Doing that so well that it carries the next piece of the puzzle. But trying to build things that are coming down the pipeline that don't affect you or your customers right now I think is a distraction and a reaction, rather than you planning for the future.

Jamie: Thank you, thank you. So I feel like as entrepreneurs, yes we are ridiculously impatient bunch.

We want everything right now. And we feel like we can do it because we are so capable of so many things. And then we split our focus like crazy. So I recommend the book, Essentialism over and over and over again. But it's sometimes when we're in it, hard to see the forest for the trees. Especially like just a few minutes ago, we were talking about Jordan Harbinger and how we should have started a podcast in 2008. Well, how do we know if that was the thing for us upcoming if we don't know what's upcoming?

And that's why we feel like we need to be wide instead of deep, which I think is hard to determine because we're consistently being battered by all of the new and the shiny. And that's what we love. We're entrepreneurs. We love new and shiny. So how do you, on a day-to-day basis, stick - because distractions, right? Determining an opportunity versus distraction, very important but how do you actually determine what that is as you're going down the pipeline of all of these other things coming at you at once?

Ryan: Yeah, it comes down to a couple questions. It comes down to who do you serve, where do they hang out, and how do you solve their problems.

So for me, I am very, very comfortable in front of a camera and in front of a microphone. I'm not so comfortable just micro blogging about things on social media sites. I'm really terrible at social media, Jamie; I just can't do it. And there's people who say you need to be all over social media, and you need to be doing this and this. I can write a really kicking, awesome, converting email. That's just my skill set. So I'm going to build email lists, and I'm probably going to neglect Instagram. I have like a dozen posts on Instagram. I just can't bring myself to do it.

So rather than trying to roll this rock uphill, let's focus where I'm really, really strong. Where do my customers hang out and already communicate with me, and how do I deliver my message within the context of how I'm comfortable doing that? And then, am I willing to commit five years to that? Am I willing to do that for five years before I expect any sort of a really awesome result?

Because that's what it's going to take. When I started podcasting, I said I will do this for a year before expecting any sort of an awesome result. Most people can't do that. Most people stick to it for nine weeks. They fall out of New and Noteworthy on iTunes and then it's oh, I'm so sad and lonely and now I'm going to chase the next thing.

If we say how do we make a difference, and how are we comfortable and how are we automatically able to create that value, and we know that we're able to do that almost effortlessly and it creates more energy rather than takes away from it; then it's going to be easy for us to put the type of time and commitment into sticking to it to be able to do that. If we look at Gary - Gary V. talks a whole lot about hustle. But he does the right type of hustle because it's perfectly in alignment with who he is. So Gary writes books and he doe videos. That's really where he's gotten the biggest uptick.

But he does video, what, two hours a week? And they cut it up into all kinds of clips and it gets shared all over the place. They've got a good team behind him. But he's really good at for one hour delivering a message and then going and doing keynotes, and having that split up into other messages, and writing books that the first one did okay, second one did better and it continually grew from there. And now he's got this big empire of an audience.

But if he had expected one video to go viral, or one week of doing the Ask Gary V Show, or one week of Wine Library TV to be carrying his message, he would have been done. So it's where you are able to create that content so that you have the ability to have the staying power to carry you through that 12 months, 24 months, five years that it takes for you to really be established in your industry.

Jamie: Okay. So I know we have to start wrapping up in a minute.

One of the things that you said which I think is extremely important is knowing those strengths. And when I was onstage at Freedom Fastlane last year, that was what it was about for millionaires. They know what they do best, therefore they leverage that piece. How can we, though, stay in the small stuff with this big, hairy, audacious goals - you have humungous goals, Ryan, huge.

And yet, we're talking about sending emails. How do we stay grounded in the small while still going after the big and actually believing that that's achievable? Because I feel like doing a hundred videos or podcasting for freaking ever can really get kind of? can I see results already? This big goal is so freaking big, if I don't get even close, why am I even bothering?

Ryan: For me, I have to be okay cutting things that aren't working. Like I have to be okay with doing the 100 videos and then saying that sucked, I don't like it, I don't want to do it anymore and I'm not seeing a result so I've got to pivot into this other area and put another 12 months into the result.

Now meanwhile, I have created all this value. We have created all of this awareness. We now have these followers that we didn't have before. So is it a loss? I don't know. It depends on what you're focusing on. If we can bring that audience into the overall bigger picture, then we've probably done just fine. For me, I see it as an exponential growth curve. My goal is to own the Cleveland Indians. I'm only going to own the Cleveland Indians by doing the small things really, really well. The Slight Edge is one of my favorite books.

It basically argues that the extraordinary successes that we see very rarely happen as the result of big, quantum leaps in our life; they happen as the result of compounding interest on the small things that we do in our life. So what that means for me is I need to do those little things very well, and I need to do them very consistently. And as a result of that, there will be a compounding effect that gets me to where I want to go faster.

But the minute that I try to make it go faster by stepping out of it, I've completely screwed it up. So there is a bit of a grind, if you will, to be able to get the awareness. And then once you have proven the concept, there is the capacity to monetize that and scale that. But that's a grind in and of itself. And that's why most people don't get to the level that they want. So I think the way you stay humble on the little things is realizing that there's a compounding effect to you being in that.

And the only way you can justify that is if you enjoy it, or if there's some aspect that you're willing to commit to because you think it's going to lead somewhere. That's the only way that you can stick to it. That's why I don't pay attention to social media. Because I don't enjoy it, I'm not going to do it, and if I try to do it, I'm going to mess it up. But I can create value and I can create content, and I can create a platform and I can do events because I will enjoy that, and I can do that for 20 years regardless of if there is a result.

And because of that, there will be an amazing result.

Jamie: What you do and the choices you make today matter for everything and what you choose to focus on. I adore this. And you know how much I adore you, Ryan. We need to start wrapping up so I'm going to ask you the same, last question. This time I didn't give you a heads up but you've been on the show before so you should know this. What's one action listeners can take this week to help move them forwards toward their goal of a million?

Ryan: I would look at what you are doing over the five- or six-day workweek, and where you are putting your attention and your time and saying which one of these is planning versus reacting. I think when we are posting in response to the election, unless it is because we are delivering the same value that we have committed to to our clients and customers, that's probably a reaction and a distraction.

So I'd look at what are the things that we're doing right now that we're reacting to, and cut those out in favor of planning for things that are going to get us to that million.

Jamie: I adore this. The only comment I ever did on Facebook last night was the I vote Ryan Moran. So when you run, you have my vote, sir.

Ryan: Thank you. 2048.

Jamie: When you're looking at you and how people can follow you and really pay attention, because you do have an amazing message that I think a lot of people should hear, not only on capitalism.com but on life in general, where can we find out more? How do we find tickets for Freedom Fast Lane Live? Tell us all the stuff. Pitch, pitch, pitch, Ryan Moran.

Ryan: we do an event at the end of the year called Freedom Fast Lane Live where we bring in those who have actually done what it is that we all want to do, which is creating big companies that change the world and make money in the process. And then we distill their strategies and deliver them to the most productive people in the world, which are entrepreneurs. So we take those who have gone from zero to one, one to ten, ten to 100 million and then we take those strategies, boil them into one experience so you walk out with a plan that is actually going to take you to the level that you want.

I did Freedom Fat Lane Live because I have experienced almost all of my major up levels have been the result of two things: going to events and building relationships. But I think that most events suck at both of those things, at creating an experience that both stretches me and allows me to connect with people so I just decided to build the one that I wanted to go to. So Freedom Fast Lane Live is where you actually demystify the things that you think are impossible. They become very normal and real to you.

You meet the individuals who are doing it because they are attendees at the event. They walk off stage, you go with them, you have chicken skewers with them in the VIP room. And at the same time, we intentionally connect you with people who are in your industry or at your level. So you go to structured networking dinners, you go off to certain breakout sessions with those who you're going to connect with that are going to get you to the next step of where you are.

And you also take the strategies that are going to take you from zero to 100 million and every stage in between. I believe that financial freedom comes from building a business and investing the profits. So we do panels of new businesses and how they're launching. We're doing an investment panel on passive income and what they see coming for the economy in 2017. So you walk out with the plan to build a business, invest the profits, grow it and scale it from individuals who are doing it. You mentioned Peter Diamandis.

There's also Jesse Itzler, who is buying ZICO Coconut Water and Marquis Jet. He sold them to Warren Buffet and Coca Cola. We have Alicia Silverstone the actress, because she runs a $10 million supplement company and nobody knows about it, and I think that's friggin cool. The founder of Whole Foods, he runs a $13 billion empire selling commodities and other people's products, which is kind of baffling and impossible to me so we're going to find out the strategies behind that. We have our investment panel.

The thing I'm most excited about is the $100 million dollar panel. There's a panel of people who have all been a part of $100 million companies that are coming together for a new venture. So we're going to say okay, what is your plan to take this to $100 million and what do you contribute here? And then you, Josh Bezoni, based on your experience running a $100 million company, what do you bring to the table? And Aubrey Marcus, founder of Onni, what are you doing here?

Cameron Harold, how are you going to take this company to 100 million? And we're just going to workshop the whole thing. We're doing the same thing with the investment panel and we're basically distilling the entire process into a three-day event in Austin Texas, December 9th, 10th, and 11th. It's also where you can go on a date with Jamie.

Jamie: Oh, don't even - don't say that.

Ryan: We're auctioning off a date with Jamie.

Jamie: You don't know the emails and the messages that I get, Ryan. But I want to say that we just had Jeff Hoffman on the show. I got to hang out with Jeff Hoffman and meet him because of you. And he was hanging out with everybody. I'm like, dude, you've created billion dollar companies and yet, you're just hanging out with all the attendees.

That was nuts. Periscope, when that was still something, I was periscoping a whole bunch of that last year; what can change in a year? But being able to create those relationships, I'm so excited this year; you have no idea. So everybody make sure you let me know if you do come, so that way we can hang out together when we can. So thank you so much, Ryan. Where do they actually buy tickets, though? You didn't say it.

Ryan: Oh, yeah. I'm bad at the pitch part. Freedomfastlanelive.com, and it's in Austin, Texas December 9th, 10th, and 11th.

Jamie: And I'm not an affiliate; I just want to meet you guys. So if you want to go? I have people going, like, oh I want to hang out. I'm like, I want to hang out, too. So we can definitely talk there. Thank you so much for coming on during this most important election-crazy time. But at least we're happy and we're looking towards the future, and I think that's the most important part. Thanks so much for coming on the show today, Ryan.

Ryan: Thanks for having me, Jamie.

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