How to find your “IT” so you give it your “ALL” with Paul Cummings

Serial entrepreneur and author of It All Matters – Paul Cummings

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Paul Cummings is an amazing serial entrepreneur and author of “It All Matters”, which Is full of timeless truths and universal wisdom to help you success in anything that you do! Paul has no doubt in the “power of belief.” Even though he faced many adversities and challenges in his life, he never stopped believing in his dreams. He achieved his dream of $1 million free and clear before he was 30! Through his desire to serve and give to others, Paul developed skills and techniques in leadership, goal setting, and sales.

Here’s what you will learn from Paul Cummings:

– How to find your “IT” so you can give it your “ALL”!
– Doing positive affirmations and to convey it behaviorally
– Knowing that competence is a building process
– How to make your small activities lead to your ultimate dream
– Knowing how to take care of your money to become successful
– How to define your strengths and weaknesses
– How to find people with expertise to do your weaknesses

And much more…

Tune in and listen: How to find your “IT” so you give it your “ALL” with Paul Cummings

Paul’s Website:

PaulCummings.com

Transcript: Download

Video Transcription provided by GMR Transcription Services.

Jaime:	Welcome to Eventual Millionaire. I'm Jaime Masters, and I am so excited to have on the show Paul Cummings. You can check him out at PaulCummings.com. He's an amazing serial entrepreneur. And he also wrote a book called It All Matters. And I'm so excited to dive in, because I thought this was just gonna be another book about this stuff, but it was actually full and I'm gonna show it, just so you know of worksheets and things to do, and actual things to take action on, instead of just a whole bunch of words about stuff. So, thank you so much for coming on the show today, Paul. I really, really appreciate it.

Paul:	Oh, you're more than welcome. Excited to be here with you.

Jaime:	Well, and it's amazing. What I want to do is sort of go over pieces of this. But before we go into the crazy book, I want sort of a bit more of your story. So, tell us how you got into entrepreneurship, in a short version, of course. We were just talking about how you've done all the artwork in your house, and had gallery shows. You've done a lot in your life. So, let's go on a short version of who you are.

Paul:	Yeah, I think real quickly, I started out in the business of sales at 19. I was bored stiff in college, I'll admit it, even though I made sure my kids went. And I had this entrepreneurial spirit, and I just wanted to go build something of my own. So, I went in the business of sales first, just to get some background. I had a lot of success. And then I decided to open up a real estate firm, probably younger than I should've. But, we just took the same principles of just enthusiasm, energy, excitement, training process, and tried to find a unique way to present ourselves in the market. Built a pretty sizable company, exited that really young, 26. 

And then I opened up my training and education business, and just a very, very goal directed person. Big dreamer. I always had that little question, "What one dream would you dare to dream if you knew you couldn't fail?" So, my first dream was I wanted $1 million free and clear before I was 30, that nobody could take away. And I pursued that like a heat-seeking missile. And so, that's really how it all started for me. I'm just one of those people that has to have that next adventure, that next goal, that next target. And so, I just kept trying to add a zero, right? My first goal was $1,000.00. Then it was $10,000.00, $100,000.00. Then it was $1 million. And just not being fearful. And just going and doing what you love with a lot of passion. So, that's how it all started for me. I just wanted to be the captain of my own ship. I don't think I made- I didn't make a good employee.

Jaime:	None of us do. And that's the funny thing. Everything you said just now is a lot of the people that are listening right now. Like, "Oh, before 30! I can't stop moving forward. I have a thing that I can't get rid of." But why'd you say you think you started it too young?

Paul:	I think when I started the real estate business too young, for a lot of young entrepreneurs. You know, at that time what I had was big goals, big dreams, big vision. But I didn't have all the process in place. Would I change it now? Probably not. But at the same time, I made a lot of mistakes early. I mean, there was a lot of lost lesson, right? So, you'd experience a loss. But I had this ability to look inside of that and say, "What's the lesson? What's that teaching me, so I don't have to repeat the behavior?"

Jaime:	Which is a perfect segue, by the way I know I interrupted you but because you have life lessons in here, so you're like, "The pain I went through created this book." Right?

Paul:	It's really true. That book is all story-based. And it really and truly will help any young entrepreneur, from that standpoint, that it's just I tell people it's like rain. It's real. When you walk through it, you get wet. That's why that book's like that.

Jaime:	Okay, and while I was going through it, it's stuff that I also run my clients through, and I'm sure you run an education training company on this same stuff. So, what I wanna do I mean, I gave you a little heads-up notice. I usually don't do stuff like this. I usually don't go based on books at all, by the way, but -

Paul:	You don't have to. Let's just talk.

Jaime:	No, no, I like it. That's a caveat to how awesome it is. No, it's usually because I avoid them, and get the audio book. But what I would love is to find out, not only what are your favorite parts, but what seems to be the most impactful pieces that we can talk about for entrepreneurs, for everybody listening. So, let's go through a couple, like three to five of them.

Paul:	All right, well let's just take the first step. I always tell young entrepreneurs, "There's one question you really need to answer, and that is, "What do you really want?"" Because so many times, I mean, even today, I've been working with a CEO of a really big company over in Europe. I mean, $4 billion in sales. Started scratch ten years ago with a piece of paper. We all sat in a room together with sticky notes, charted a mission, a vision. No employees. Today there's 6,000. But still, I ask Robert every year, "Okay, great. But what do you really want now?" 

And until you know what you want, it's really hard to build what I call directed competence. Sometimes we have competence in areas that don't actually help us drive our dream. But I wanna help people become confident about the things they need to do to see the dream become real. 

So, that's be first, just that question, if nobody took anything else out of this today. And it's not a simple answer. Because I've seen people that are worth $100 million not be able to answer the question. And I've actually seen those people who have everything on earth, but they're not happy, because they're not really working towards what they really want out of their journey, right? What's that legacy piece for you? What is it you're pursuing? So, that'd be first.

Jaime:	Wait, wait, wait. I'm slowing you down on that one, because I need to dive into that one times ten. Because, a.) I haven't heard of directed competence, which makes a thousand times like that's ridiculously important, and I don't think people create that nuance. But before we get into what that is, and how you go deeper into that, how do you answer that question? Because it sounds simplistic, and it's like, "oh, you just write the answer. But like you said, some people can't answer it. What do you do? Do you suggest people go meditate and chill, or like have it come to them, or write everything down, or -"

Paul:	You're actually not that far off. I went to a cabin in Sapphire Valley, North Carolina with a journal. I'm a huge journaler. Every night I ask myself two questions. "What did I learn today?" I answer it. "What did I give today?" I answer it. And then, I write a closing question, "What's my expectations for my day tomorrow?" So, I've done that every day since I was 19. So, that's where the fabric of the book came from. And I've never missed a day. 

But here's how you answer it. You get away with a blank sheet of paper. I think you need to go someplace where there's nobody there to contradict your own thought, because they will. And you need to have a real one-on-one with you. And for me, I sat there literally I don't mind telling you, Jaime. I sat there and couldn't put pen to paper. But I finally wrote this simple little thing down. I want to leave it better than I found it. That was it. And then, all of a sudden, I knew that was it. I don't care what it was, whether I was teaching, whether I was buying real estate and re-doing it and flipping it, whether I was attacking a new project, I just wanted to leave it better than I found it.

And if you traveled with me and were around me, that holds true today. With every person I meet at the hotel counter. With the lady in the Starbucks line this morning. When I said to her, "Hey, I want a Triple Grande Latte and whipped cream, but it has to be made with a smile." And when I got to the window, she had written me a note on the cup, and put a smiley face. Well, I think I left that better than I found it. So, getting away and finding that simple, driving, core philosophy of you, right?

And then, the three things that make that real for you is just that little thing I teach, "You be you. Understand who you are. Be true to yourself. And stay unique." Once you get your "it," then you can build your "all." But you just gotta find and people misinterpret that title. That "it all matters" part. It's finding your "it." Then you can determine your "all." Then you know what matters. So, it's really different than what it looks like on the cover.

Jaime:	Yeah, because I was like, "Crap, it all matters. Darn it, now everything is now a thing, right?" And making that caveat is huge. When you wrote that down, did you know that that was it? And how do because, no offense, I second-guess myself all the time like, "Well, I thought that was it, but maybe it's not, right?" And my logical brain goes crazy. Even if I've been in the woods and been able to write things down, and it feels so real. You come back to reality sometimes and go, "Am I really like that all the time?", or whatever those pieces. How did you know?

Paul:	Well, I think it was a slow-building thing. But I'll tell you real quickly, because it's kind of an interesting story. What happened next is, once I'd written that down, I actually kinda got chill bumps on my chill bumps about it. I was sitting on the back of this wonderful little cabin watching this waterfall fall, and it was amazing. And I went down there the next morning, and I was walking around. And then I went, "My goodness. That thing, "Leave it better than you found it," you know, where's the execution piece in that? How do I make that real? 

And I thought about a book I'd read about military code of conduct, and that every division of the military had a code. And it's what kept people alive when bullets were real. It let people function in adverse circumstances, right? Which, any small business owner that might be watching this, listen, we got bullets being fired at us every day, right? I still have credit cards that are mad from when I started my company, because I was borrowing from one to pay the other one off. You know, they're still screaming at me. So, and my wife, when I mortgaged my house for the third time, as we were growing the business and trying to do things. 

And all those things we do, we put ourselves at risk. And I went, "You know what, I need a code. Paul Cummings needs a code of conduct, so that this little mission of leaving it better than I found it is so substantively real, cognitive to me, that it affects behavior, informs choice, develops conduct. So, I don't want to bore you. But I sat down with a sheet of paper the next day, and I wrote this thing when I was 21 years old, on my 21st birthday, April 14, 1978. Sounds like this, it's in your book. 

It goes like this; I'll go fast. 'I hereby promise to begin today to manifest the personal greatness I know lies within me. To improve the quality of my life, to learn more, laugh more, care more, share more, and rest more. I control my personal destiny. I recognize if it is to be, it's up to me. This is the day in my life I'll summon the courage to face my fears, and turn them into the stepping stones of success. I will be the prisoner of nothing. I am someone special. I will live my life at level ten every day, every time, without fail, no exceptions."

Now that creed that I wrote hangs in schools all over America today. I've got a client that tattooed it on her back. I do. I can read the whole creed on her back.

Jaime:	That's impressive.

Paul:	She sent me a picture I wasn't ready to open, of her back with the creed on it. And I was like, "Oh, my God, I think that's real." But that became, you know, we proceed towards our dominant thought. And so, I've said that creed every day out loud since I wrote it.

Jaime:	Every day out loud? I mean, I knew you had said it a lot when you said this, but oh my gosh, every day out loud?

Paul:	Every day out loud. First thing when I get up in the morning, I say my creed. I state my positive affirmations for my day. My "I will" statements, my "I am" proclamations. I'm a real believer that if we eat our own dogfood, we get to enjoy the meal we want to enjoy. And you know, in business, that's really important. You're the messenger of the mission, and you've gotta be able to convey that behaviorally. Where people see it in you, not just hear it from you.

Jaime:	Okay, yes! Sorry, I wanna just let you keep going, but one of the things that I loved, especially in the book, like, "Why live at level five, when you can live at level ten?" And a lot of entrepreneurs want to live at level ten, but don't understand the real-ness that you were just saying. So, the positivity and the keep moving forward, and that piece, is huge. Like, the fact that you do it every single day is not something that many people can say.

Paul:	Well, let me tell you how old that is, though. And I'll tell you where I got the idea. I'm one of those guys, I believe you ought to be an alcoholic, and I'll tell you what I mean by that. You need to drink from good books until you're intoxicated on wisdom. So, I am like a huge consumer of alcoholic wisdom. I drink it and drink it and drink it. 

And I read this book, old book, Think and Grow Rich. And this simple little thing in there was that Andrew Carnegie, first industrial billionaire ever, stood in front of a mirror every day. And for the entrepreneur, listen to this. He's flat broke, and here's what he said. "I will be a billionaire. I will be a billionaire. I will be a billionaire. I will be a billionaire." He said it ten times every day until he was. Out loud. At the top of his freaking lungs. 

And I'm thinking, "Okay, time out. Who am I to contradict that, right?" If it worked for Carnegie, and you can lay claim to the things you really want. And saying them is important, because you're building your own that's what I meant by directed competence, about controlling mindset, yeah, and defining it.

Jaime:	So, I have so many ways I could go in this. Okay, so, I am obsessed with neuroscience, and how things go, right? And so, when we talk about affirmations, they're like, "Okay, affirmations are great. But the feeling behind it also really, really, really matters." So, if you don't believe the "I am a billionaire?" and this is why a lot of people have issues with affirmation just like, "Well, if I don't believe it, and I just keep saying it, is that really helping me move forward towards whatever that path is?" So, did you always believe it? Or was there a point where you did not believe it, and then came into believing?

Paul:	Well, I think there'd be different verticals in that. I will tell you, I always believed I'd be able to acquire the wealth. And I can't wait to answer that last question today, and I'll tell you why I believed it. But I believed I would, because I knew I was gonna be disciplined enough to make decisions around that. That I could produce the revenue, but more importantly, save it. Which, I know a lot of people that produce it don't have any. 

But the bottom line for the whole thing for me was, competence is a building process. You know, competence is like if you go out and you do some certain thing in a sales process. And if you do it enough, and you collect enough positive reference to that behavior, then it becomes habit. And so, I think you have to get in the habit of believing your own affirmations. And I will tell you just back to what you said, because it's so insightful saying an affirmation because someone told you to say an affirmation is really not a meaningful and impactful way of developing mindset or using neuroscience. 

The key is, have you tied the small activity to the biggest dream? If you believe that little thing you're saying is gonna take you to that bigger thing you want, then conviction occurs. And when you're convicted about something, the substantive messaging takes on a different reality to the person saying it. 

Jaime:	Okay. So, that's exactly what I was gonna say. You seem like you go all in, and I say that commitment to the outcome is what counts. That's a theme that runs through all my interviews, right? And you're like, "Conviction." It's the same thing, it's the, "I want that, and I know that that is possible." And therefore, we just keep moving forward. But tons of people have read that book. Tons of people listening right now have read that book, and have not done that, and/or they have, and maybe they just don't feel like it worked for them. So, what about that process made you, a.) Go all in? Or is that just your personality, and you were born like that, and we're all screwed?

Paul:	No, I'll tell you what it was for me. It wasn't the first time I read it. It was a friend of mine who told me there was a secret formula in the freaking book. And I read the book, and I didn't know what it was. Okay, so then, to be honest, I felt stupid. And my grandfather told me, "Stupid's when you don't know. Ignorant's when you do, and you repeat it." So, I didn't wanna be ignorant, so I read the book again. And I read it and read it and read it, and all of a sudden, I was like, "Wait a minute. You gotta see the goal in your mind's eye as if it's already real. I bet that's part of that formula." And it was an inherent little thread that ran through all these great people's lives he'd studied. 

And then, the next thing in there that was so subtle that most people miss, is if a goal doesn't have a starting date and completion date, it's just a wish in disguise. So, I didn't have my goals written down. I knew what they were. I was one of those, "I've got them all right here, Bob," right? Well, that's not the formula. And then, the goals have to be written down as an "I will" statement. You can't be in the "I hope to, maybe someday should get around to it." Because I tell people all the time, you keep going, "Well, I know I should, I should, I should," and you should all over yourself. And you end up sitting in a pile of should, and it doesn't smell very good.

	So, getting that little piece, of it's gotta be, "I will." And then, the whole exchange rate piece is so subtle in that book. That if a goal doesn't make you stop doing one thing and replace it with another thing, it really is not a goal.

Jaime:	Ooh! Okay, tell me more about that.

Paul:	Okay. So, for instance, when I told you I decided I wanted to paint. There's only 24 hours in a day. There's 86,400 seconds. You manage minutes and moments. Your life becomes magical. So, what are you doing with those tics? I didn't have any space in the 86,400. So, you know what went away? When I wanted to learn to paint, I stopped playing golf. And I love golf. I enjoy golf. But I wanted a new creative spark. I wanted something that was gonna add fuel to me, not just spend time doing something I love.

	So, all of a sudden, I said, "Okay, golf's gone. Every moment I spent on a golf course, I'm gonna spend in a room with a canvas." So, that new goal, that new directed behavior, made me choose. And I tell people, "You will be shocked, if the goal's the right goal, how quickly you'll begin to identify so many things you do that are not actually meaningful. They, in many cases, are meaningless. And you're just in a habit of it.

Jaime:	Yeah, I know. We need that then, too. You run a training company, so of course I knew you had wisdom. But now we have to break down, apparently, everything that you say.

Paul:	Well, I just love to teach, if you can tell. The thing for me is like, there's so many things w're told we have to do to be successful in business, and I'm gonna tell you, not so much. 

Jaime:	Alright, tell us all the things. Because we need to hear these things.

Paul:	Well, here's the one irrefutable one. If you don't take care of your money, you're never gonna be successful. Period. The end. That one's real. And young entrepreneurs just don't get that. 

And my son is building an amazing company right now. He's an entrepreneur, too. It's called Pass It Down. He's got nationwide notoriety about it. It's a tech company. And I told Chris, I said, "Chris, from the day you start your company, 20 cents of every dollar that comes in in revenue, you need to put away and never touch. Budget around the 80 percent, because if all you had was the 80, you'd figure out how to live on it. And then, you'll be wealthy. Money won't be what you'll be after. It'll be, how do you make that something bigger, and do better things with it."

	I'll give you another one. So many companies over-meet. So many companies just meet and meet and meet and meet and meet. And let me tell you, not so much. You may not need to do that. You need to have a vision that burns so brightly it eradicates doubt. That's something you need to do. You can't put that one aside. So, take care of your money. Have a vision that burns bright. 

You've gotta have goals that are real to the people you want to help you reach the goals. And so many times, our goals are so I-focused, so I-centered, that the young entrepreneur knows the goal, and we're passionate, we're driven. And so what if no-one else understands it? Well, that's only gonna take you so far. So, you gotta define goals in other people's terms where it actually becomes a catalyst for them reaching their personal goals.

I'll tell you another thing that young entrepreneurs are never taught and I run an incubator, and I work with young entrepreneurs all the time is relationship equity is everything. You know, people go, "Well, you're only as rich as the money you have." No, you're not. You're as rich as the relationships you've built, and the money they have, right? The combined net worth of the people that trust you is your net worth. So, build relationship equity. And how do you do that? You gotta invest time in people. And it's gotta be about them, not about you. So, that would be on the list. 

But other things we get caught up in, you know, we get caught up in doing a lot of things we're not good at. And I have a t-shirt I wear. You may or may not like this. It says, "I don't do anything I hate that other people accept pay for."

Jaime:	I love that! What do you mean? I hate dishes and laundry. I don't do any of that stuff.

Paul:	Anything I really don't enjoy, I have found people with expertise, and I've compensated them to do those things, so that I can focus on the things that are my strengths.

Jaime:	Okay. Can we say more about this, because that's the other piece. So, thank goodness, I have a personal assistant. Because I hate dishes. I hate a lot of that stuff. It's harder for entrepreneurs to flesh that out. It's easier to go like, "In business I'm not a huge fan of this or this." But I'm talking about in life. Because it seems like you're that kind of guy, right? So, give us some examples of trajectories, that you have other people doing things for you, so we get a good picture on what can be outsourced, or changed. You know, so we don't have to do the crap.

Paul:	Okay. I'm very diligent about paying attention to my money, but I don't wanna manage it. I want people that are really good at that to do it, because I'm better at creating it, right? I tell people all the time, I can make it rain. And any moment I'm doing something that doesn't allow me to do what I do really well, which is to teach, to film, you know, I mean, I did 2,000 new e-learning videos last year. 2,000 last year. But, Are You Learning component is an incredible product for us. We distribute content all over the world, and globally today.

I'm great in the studio. Never walked in there with a note. Never had one of those teleprompters. In fact, what we do, I walk in a studio, and someone hands me a word. And then I will do an entire day, 80 videos, on that word, and we'll have a new course, without a note. We just go. It's all extemporaneous, and we fly. We don't do re-takes. So, I have people that take care of the money side of it for me. 

	Another thing. I have property that I own, that I love. And I don;t like driving up to my home and it not looking nice. So, I have one of the highest paid outdoor engineers on earth, who takes care of all my properties for me, and makes them amazing when I come home. And I love that, so I don't do that.

Jaime:	That's a title, outdoor engineer? We didn't even know that was a title! Okay.

Paul:	I call him an engineer. It makes him feel better, and I love him. His name's Martin. And then, I have a personal assistant that's been with me for years that retired last year, and it's just been like my left arm and my right arm going away. She did everything. I'm notorious. 

Like, I'm about to leave here and go on a 34-day speaking engagement, that's taking me through Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and then over to Dubai, and then over to Birmingham, and then to London. Okay, if it were left to Paul, I'd book those flights the day I was leaving. I would get a hotel while I was in the Qantas lounge. I don't let that incremental clutter get in my head. So, all that little stuff like that, so I have someone that does it for me, so we can actually book tickets ahead of time and all those kinds of things. So, anything that takes me away from my core mission, which is to teach, leave it better than I found it, then I get other people to do that. 

Now, don't come in my kitchen and cook, because I love to cook. And I just want you to sit down and, you know, I tell people, "You need face insurance when you eat my food, because you're gonna slap yourself, it's so good." But, you know, there's things I love, and I don't let anybody in that space, because I wanna do it. But the things I don't, I find other people to. 

And in business, right, I don't wanna set the studio up. I wanna walk in the studio and teach. So, I don't get involved in any of that. I don't know how to code, but I own a huge Internet company. So, I found great people. I know how to interface. I know user experience. I can sketch and draw that stuff out, but I couldn't code anything, right? But I own a business that's based on that. So, I had to find experts. So, it's kinda that thing, finding what you're great at. Putting yourself in a position to do that more often. And be willing to let go so you can grow at the stuff that you know has to be done, but you don't wanna do, right? If you don't wanna do dishes, get a dish engineer, and let them do your dishes.

Jaime:	I should totally call her a dish engineer. She'd love it. so, tell me how you figured that out? Because and I've talked about this in previous interviews, too, because I think it's important that we don't, as entrepreneurs, put enough emphasis into figuring out our strengths. We kinda know what they are in general, right? I didn't know I was really good at interviewing; I love this too much. 

Paul:	Yeah. Well, you're very good at it.

Jaime:	Aww. Until I started it, though, I had no clue. I thought I was an art and an engineer for a long time, right? And so, when we're going through life, trying to figure out what you're good at, I tell people to take assessments, but what other way is there? Besides just knowing what you love and what you don't love, how do you figure that out, or how do you tell people how to figure that out?

Paul:	Okay. Well first of all, if you'll ever have me back, we're gonna need to do this again, and I'll tell you why. That thing you just mentioned about assessments. We have conducted more of those for companies than anybody I know. We have our own assessment tools, which are [inaudible] [00:25:13]. Yes, we do. They're all web-based. We never start a relationship with a customer without doing a complete OFI Index, Opportunity for Improvement Index. Every single person, every single role, every single dynamic of their business.

	Having said that, let's go to the strength thing. I am not a fan of the majority of and I could name them, but I won't of every one you've heard of. Because here's what they do. They go, "Here's a list of your strengths." Then, they give you, "And here's the definition of the strength. Now I want you to appraise yourself on this wonderful little scale of that key competency based on this definition." Well I submit to you, that's flawed from the beginning, and here's why. 

So, let's just say that intelligence is one of the core competencies in the intellectual competency makeup (and it is.) But intelligence to a person that may be working on Maseratis at a high-end Maserati store is not the same intelligence to a friend of mine that is running a place called Good Dogs, which is a hotdog stand that is amazing in Chattanooga, Tennessee. And she's making a fortune, because she's brilliant. But her level of intellect and directed intellect that word again'is different than the intelligence this guy over here needs to work on the Maserati. So, who should define the competency?

Jaime:	Yeah, themselves.

Paul:	So, I have people. The first step we do is "Look, here's the competencies. Define it as it applies to your role, goals, and dreams. Then appraise yourself, and apply the word consistency to it. Are you consistently operating within the framework of that competency, based on your role?" 

Then we do the strength finder with our clients. It's really a great exercise. We give you five minutes, and we want you to write down every word you can think of that you might even remotely think you're strong in, right? Whether it be beautiful, bald, bright, creative maybe you wanna use a word like equilibristic, which is on my list?the balance between that which is great and that which is small. The moment in time that you know that you know, right? That feeling of equilibrism is really a beautiful thing. So, we have them write all these words down. Because I tell people, you're as strong as the number of ways you can claim your strength.

And you can literally expand your strength set by being willing to give yourself enough credit. To say you're strong. And the moment you can claim it, then you can develop it. But working off somebody else's these companies, they give a, "Here's 20 strengths." "Well, I don't wanna use yours. What about mine?" Right? 

We had a kid that was a skateboarder that came to our thing. And he wrote down that he was double dutch bus. I'm like, "What is that?" He goes, "That's when you have the perfect ride. And that's what I want my life to be." Well, it meant something to him. It meant something to him. That was different. Nobody would've written that phrase down, or that word down. But in his mindset, it was him visualizing himself having the perfect ride every time he was in a skateboard competition. And he was one of the best in the world at it. 

So, I just think you gotta be careful in the assessment piece. If you're doing an assessment created by someone else that has already predetermined your parameters they've already defined the word then who are you really analyzing? Whose strengths are you really defining?

Jaime:	But I think that key point that you were just saying, which I don't think enough people embody, is the confidence to say that you're good at this thing. Because we're, especially a female, they're taught, "You're humble, and you're this, and you're sweet to every right?" We're all these things, and when I started getting more confident, people were like "Hmm," right? Or like "Oh, now we're going to arrogance." And that was like the bane of my existence. I did not want to be called arrogant. I'm like, "No, no, no. I'm not like that at all. No, no, no, no!" Right? Like, "Please don't think that!" And then I was like, well man, no, arrogance is when you can't back stuff up. I can back stuff up, so that's confidence, right?

Paul:	Right. Well, you know that Elwell Rogers said, "Hey, you know, if it's fact, it ain't bragging." Right? Some of that age-old wisdom's really good. You know, another thing about that. I've got a really good friend who's female an amazing, I think the best female singer on the planet unbelievable artist. We actually toured for a year together, did something called a Music and Message tour, and raised tons of money for battered women and children all over the United States. I took a - 

Jaime:	See, you do everything. What'd you say?

Paul:	Yeah, but long story short, here's what she's telling me. She said, "I just wish I could tell every woman, 'Live out loud. No apologies.'" Your humility is in claiming that victory. You know, I mean, that's such a powerful thing. I've got three daughters. And listen, they're all so bold, it's crazy. I mean, just crazy. And they're not arrogant. They are confident. And they're amazing at what they do. But, it's because they're living free like that.

Jaime:	Okay. I know we're going down different paths every time, but I love this. We're never gonna get to all the pieces of the book. You guys, go get the book, blah, blah, blah. Okay. So, I have a daughter also, right? And so, it was interesting ? 

Paul:	How old is she?

Jaime:	She's eight. 

Paul:	Just wait five years.

Jaime:	Don't say that!

Paul:	She won't do it to you, because you're her mom. But when a girl turns 13, a dad spends four years trying to figure out what life means anymore. It's like the invasion of the body snatcher. Something happens.

Jaime:	Great. Awesome. This is gonna be a great this is what everybody says, "Oh, wait. No, this is gonna be really crappy, when she's older." "Thank you so much." Okay, so tell me how to help. Because at the beginning, you said, "Oh, I sent all my kids to college," even though you didn't. Which is interesting, because most of the people that I interview right now either don't use their college degree, or don't send their kids to school because they don't think it's worth it. So, I wanna hear that. But then, give me some tidbits for my daughter. Or, for anybody's kids, that are dealing with this stuff.

Paul:	Okay. Well, let's start on the college thing. I didn't finish that story, okay? Because they didn't all finish. You know, my oldest daughter was very much like me. She started and went, "Nah, that's not what I wanna do. I wanna go in retail. I wanna sell. I wanna go do amazing things." My second daughter 'let's talk about girls for a minute' she started college, then she fell in love with a guy. She was working at Best Buy. They met, they fell in love. And they have three kids now, two twin boys and an older boy, eight years old and three - four. But she went back to school and finished at top of her class, and finished her degree.

	Then I've got a son that made a career out of college. Bachelor, two bachelors. Masters, Juris Doctorate degree. That's the kid I told you that started the business. And uses none of it. This kid runs a technology company after he became a lawyer. After he got all these degrees and all this stuff, he didn't do anything in law, right? He clerked for the Supreme Court Justice in Louisiana for a year, but after that he started his own company.

	My son Ryan just hated school. He's very much like me. He's out in LA working in the film business now. My youngest daughter Kobe's at SCAD, Savannah College of Art and Design. She's my little creative replication of her father, but she's a beast. She's stronger than I've ever been at 20. She will do more than I've ever done. I can tell you that without fear or contradiction. Nowhere close. She is just the most incredible person I've ever met. 

So, here's what I tell you about your kids. I never asked my children, "What happened at school today?" I never asked them a silly question, because you know the answer's gonna be bad. So, I think the most important thing for parents is the questions we ask. 

You can change a life with a question. So, I would ask my kids, "What do you look most forward to about tomorrow?" I would ask my kids, "What was the most exciting thing that happened today?" I never asked them about class. I never focused on that. I focused on goals. I talked to my kids about having visualization laws, and putting pictures up of the things you want. My daughter had pictures of all these art colleges all over her wall from the time she was this big. Ended up right where she planned to be.

So, I think giving your kids that feeling and that sense you hear it all the time, it's a little trite you can do anything. Well, you can! But telling them that they came to the earth equipped for greatness, they came here designed for accomplishment, and then having them understand self-accountability is more important than me holding them accountable. I'm like, "Listen, if you can live with a 'C', and that's what you wanna be, go live with it. But why would you settle for 'C' when 'A's available', Why don't you just go find out what lies at the end of you being your best self?"

And that's what I'd tell you to tell your daughter, "What would lie at the end of you being your best self?" Because she'll find her unique greatness, whatever that is.

Jaime:	Okay, I love all this, and I love hearing from somebody that also has five kids. And even though I know the show is not about kids, I think learning the pieces of entrepreneurship through what we teach children, because it's simple, also, by the way, and I wish I'd had this. My parents were not entrepreneurial. I wish I had that way back when. So, everybody that's listening, you can do the same thing for yourself. Even though we're talking about kids, just please know that it's still gosh-darn relates the exact same way, and it's kind of a little bit more simplistic. So, if you can only take one piece, take that instead. We can go on so many tangents. Okay. 

So, I know we have to start geez, oh, yeah, go ahead. Oh my gosh, so fun, yes. No, I have to have you back on the show. Let alone for the assessment side, but now we will just keep going on forever. Because there's 125 strategies. And we started with one, and we went on a rampage of amazingness. So, give me, before we have to ask the last question, give me one other little strategy or tactic or tip or whatever. Because we only got through one. Well, we got through a lot of what's in the book, but not in a specific format. So, give me one other one, and then we'll go wrap it up.

Paul:	People will think this is an age thing, so I wanna put a disclaimer. It's not. There's a statement in the book, "It's never too late to become the person you might have been, or would like to be." And I think that is the most hope-filled thing, right? You look in the world today. Everybody starts marriage; it doesn't work out. But people beat themselves up over it for the rest of their life. And here's what I tell people, 'Listen. Every single action in your life is like the next paragraph in your book. But it's not the end of your book. And your story can be re-drafted, re-written. You can pivot at any time." 

I mean, listen, I did a speech at a big inner-city school in Michigan. A friend of mine asked me to go speak in Battle Creek, Michigan, one of the most well-known inner-city schools in America. It's gotten a really bad black eye. The press has given these kids these labels that are so wrong. I walk in that place, there are 1700 kids in this place. 81 different dialects, I mean, unbelievable. 

At the end of my speech, this group of 20 kids were selected to stay and just sit down. I sat on the edge of the stage and talked. This little girl started talking. She was probably 15 years old, and I thought I was talking to Maya Angelou's daughter, for God's sake. And I looked at her, I said, "What do you want? What do you really want?" She said, "Mr. Cummings, it's not that complicated. A chance.' That's it. Two words. And I thought to myself when I left there I spent the whole day at this school is that really asking too much? 

And I thought for her, she had already decided it was too late. She had already decided she wasn't gonna get out. She had already decided her parameters had been determined by her environment and things around her. Well, that's not true. And I'm happy to say, she has gone and gone to college, and she's doing remarkably well, and I've stayed in touch with her. 

But look, that one little moment made me realize, "How about Paul Cummings? Okay, you big talker. You go around the world. You teach all this stuff. What are you gonna do about this?' So, I went out and created a philanthropic learning center for under-served youth that has now had over 35,000 kids go through it. Where you teach science, technology, engineering, art, and math. Where we become a hub center for kids and teachers and public schools. 

I mean, public schools today. Our teachers spend 31 cents of every dollar supplying their own classroom, and no-one says a word. We'll send a billion dollars overseas to fight someone else's war, but we don't give our teachers supplies. In a public school, you're not allowed to feed a hungry child on test day, because it somehow imbalances the fairness of the exam. Well, that's crazy, right? So those little things, and that's what I would tell people. 

When I say it's never too late, I want to tell every young entrepreneur, listen to me. If you've been struggling, you know what that really means? It means that you're really close to success. They're next-door neighbors. And that moment in your gut where you just feel like you can't anymore, that's just an alert signal telling you, "Hey, time-out.' Minor adjustments. Small steps. It's never too late. 

If you have it all and lose it all, that doesn't mean you can't have it all back, and get it right the second time. If you've wanted to ? go sit down in a nursing home one night, and just read to somebody. I mean, your life can change in such a moment of perspective. Nobody can limit us. Our capacity is ours. And we can blur the edges of our own capacity just by realizing, "You know, this could be the day, the moment, the minute, the conversation, the person." So, that hopefulness, that thing would be the lesson in that book that I would tell you. 

A life well-lived is about just understanding it's not too late. I don't care what's happened before. And I'm not even saying it had to be bad. It could've been spectacular. I had a friend that was on Wall Street. Made a boatload of money, but he was miserable. And he's a high-school basketball coach today in a little small town. And let me tell you something, he's the happiest guy I ever met in my life now. Because he finally went and did what he wanted to do. And he's developed sideline businesses that pay him the same money he was making in New York. He's just happier, right? So, that thing, that would be what I'd tell you.

Jaime:	Okay. So, I know we have to start ending, but I think everybody, yes, to pick up the book. I'll say it a second time. I never say that stuff, but you are extremely inspirational. Because even at this point I'm like, 'Not that I feel like I'm too old, but still, there's always?" listening to how much you've done in your life is so inspiring. And it also makes me go, "Oh, that's so much stuff!" And then you just left me with a really, really good point. So, thank you for solving the question that I didn't ask. I appreciate that. 

	So, I'm gonna ask the last question. What's one action listeners can take this week to help move them forward towards their goal of $1 million?

Paul:	Okay. So, I think the single most important thing you need to do every day, if you really and truly wanna become a millionaire if you really do, and that's a real goal, and that's what this show's all about if you leave home and 95 percent of people do without a well-designed inspirational-to-you action plan, detailed by activity, defined in small steps, that you're willing to hustle and execute around with a positive winning attitude, you're gonna continually have a difficult time creating the wealth you're trying to create.

	And, I know it sounds too simple, but it's one of those fundamental things. You know, it's kinda like brushing your teeth. If all you do is brush your tooth, you're gonna end up with one, right? Well, we all know that. But some people don't brush their teeth. Everybody I meet says, "Paul, I know I need to have a plan." I go, "Great. Show me yours. Show me the inspiring things in it. Tell me where the moments in here that keep you pushing through adversity are? What are the things in your plan that are bigger than your doubt?" So, that would be it. I would just tell you. 

And I spend a lot of time teaching young people how to plan in a non-traditional way. Not the way people do like, "Priority item A, B, C,' big-rock mentality. It's more of, "Okay. No, no, no. What do you find most inspiring? Okay. What are the things that keep you from that?" Let's get the difficult things out of the way early every day, so they don't carry them around. Don't become a prisoner to this. How many times a day do you look at this? Okay. Why don't you just take 45 minutes a day, set it on your calendar, and check this once. The world's not gonna end. I promise you, we're not that important, you know, even though we are. You'll be able to get to it later. So, that would be what I'd tell them.

Jaime:	Okay. I do have a follow-up question on that, though. What if you don't know the action? Or, do you have a resource or something like that, that can help them assess that? Because they're gonna hear that and they're gonna go, "I know how important it is, and I can get pieces, but I don't feel like I can get the whole thing.' Especially people that are beginners, that I hear this all the time, and I'm sure you do, too, like, "What's the how? Like, I don't know the action steps. I don't know the actions to get to where I need to go." 

Paul:	Okay. So, I need you to give me just a big star for this, because the only person that's promoted my book so far has been you. You've been really sweet. Because I came here to honor you today, and did not really sit here and try to praise my book.

Jaime:	But that's why we love you, and that's why I will do it.

Paul:	Okay. I know. So, here's what I am gonna tell you about the book. And I mean it sincerely. That is the most comprehensive book that has ever been written on goal-setting, planning, small-step strategies, and it's chock full. And you said this. There are tool kits, and action plans. So, I believe books are the greatest bargain on earth. You can buy that book on Amazon for $17.00, okay? And if you get one little idea from me out of $17.00 because the real investment's your time, right so I would simply say, the book. 

Because I've got a friend of mine named Andy Hack who's up in New York. Major, major business owner. Started out as an entrepreneur, I mean, big, huge company today. He just wrote an article, a blog the other day, and said it was the best book he'd read in the last ten years. And he's the best goal-setter I already knew. This guy does IRONMAN after IRONMAN, runs marathon after marathon. Runs a big business. He's the most goal-directed person I've ever met. I just didn't realize that he wasn't 20 years ago when he came to my class the first time. I didn't realize I'd been the catalyst for that little change in his world. 

And he literally is taking the strategies in that book. He flew me up there this is crazy; listen to this and bought 1,000 books to give away, not to people that work for him; to every other entrepreneur in his city. And then, hired me to teach them how to set goals. And he wrote me last night and said, "Paul, our whole community has gotten turned on to goal-setting. We are now a goal-setting community in Amsterdam, New York. And we wanna have you back up in the fall to do another one of these. People's lives are changing.'

So, I would just say, the book. It's 17 bucks. And like, I'm easy. Paul@PaulCummings.com. You go get the book and you read it. You don't feel that way, you write me. We'll talk. But, if you do those tool kits in there, you'll feel that way. So, that's where those plans are, and the steps, and it's so incremental that you can't mess it up. It's Paul-proof. Even I can do it.

Jaime:	So, where do we get the book? Okay, now, tell us where to get the book? Where to get the book? Where to get the book?

Paul:	Well, for that $17.00 price you need to go to the beast of the book business. You'd need to go to Amazon. It's the easiest, quickest, most efficient way. And you can get a digital copy if you prefer that. I'm still the old-school guy. I like to hold a book. 

Jaime:	Well, yeah, you gotta write in it. There's lines. You gotta write in it. I usually do audio books. But I have to write in it.

Paul:	Yeah, so. It gives you the tool kit. So, I would do that. Or, you can go to Barnes & Noble, or Books-A-Million, or any of those online retailers, or the physical stores, too. And I think you'll love it. I think people will enjoy it. 

Jaime:	I do, too. And it's amazing that people don't understand how much of your attention and thought and life goes into this book, versus all this other stuff we see on Facebook and blah, blah, blah. These articles, "Five ways.' 

Paul:	The most challenging thing I've ever done, I will tell you since you're such a strong female entrepreneur, one of the great things in there. On the back of the book, you might notice that Kathy Ireland _ 

Jaime:	Kathy Ireland, I totally did! I was like, "Ooh!"

Paul:	Let me tell you something. The phone rings one day. This is really quick. And this guy goes, "Hi, Paul, my name is," and I said, 'Yes, sir.' He said, 'I'm just calling on behalf of Kathy." I'm like clueless, have no idea.  "And she wanted you to know that she really enjoyed the draft of your book." And I'm going, 'The book's not published yet. What is she talking about And who's Kathy?" I'm thinking, I didn't say. "And so much so, that she's already started implementing the tool kits throughout her company, and she just wanted to say thanks." And I went, "Sir, please don't get mad. Kathy who?" And he told me, and I said to myself, "Wow!" 

He said, "And she wrote this for you, if you want to use it to endorse your book." You know how she got my book? A young female that works for me thought it was ridiculous that we did not have a strong female as an endorser of the book. She took it upon herself to get leather-bound pre-published drafts done, and send it out to female entrepreneurs she respected. And she's the one that sent it to Kathy. She's the one that followed-up. She's the one that got the endorsement, and they're using that book throughout her company. So, that's a pretty great story, right, about that. And I have so much admiration for what she's done after the modeling career, because she's built a billion-dollar business.

Jaime:	So, okay, so when I got the book, I always turn it over and I read things, right? And I was like, "Kathy Ireland," because I've loved her since I was a little girl, right? And then you see after the modeling, and what she's built, it's insane. And I was going to actually ask you about that, and I didn't have a chance to. So, how perfect that that?s how ? 

Paul:	That's how that happened, and it was just an amazing thing. And I love the fact that the person that worked for me felt empowered enough, and emboldened enough, to do that without asking, to be frank. Same person that set this up with you, is Carrie. Carrie's the one that did that.

Jaime:	She's awesome!

Paul:	You know, I mean, I wake up every day. Carrie goes, 'Hey, do you have an hour?' I'm like, "Carrie!' Years I'd be opening on so many shows, and doing so many things. She goes, "But they're gonna love you, because you're just- they're gonna love you!" So, it's been awesome. She's an amazing, by the way, an amazing woman.

Jaime:	Well, and it's just a testament to you as the boss and the owner, to be able to allow- not even allow, but encourage and inspire, talk about it on a podcast about how amazing she is, that she did this for you. So, yay, go her too! So, thank you so, so, much. Like I said, I have to have you back on the show, because I will talk to you forever, apparently. Because I wanna know about the gallery shows, and all sorts of other things, but we'll get to that the next interview. Thank you so much for coming on the show today. Everyone, go pick up the book right now. You can Amazon 2-Day Prime it. Please read it. Thank you so much for coming on the show today, Paul. I really appreciate it.

Paul:	Thank you. Appreciate it. And, by the way, we didn't mention, but purple hat. I didn't know this was an actual video-cast to match the purple hair. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. I honored your hairdo with my purple hat today.

Jaime:	That's awesome. You rock, Paul. Thank you so much.

Tags: Business Owner, entrepreneur podcast, eventual millionaire, how to define strengths and weaknesses, it all matters, jaime masters, millionaire entrepreneurs, Paul Cummings, podcast, positive affirmations, power of belief, start-ups / startups, startup entrepreneur, top entrepreneurs

Categories: All, Featured Millionaire Interview, Millionaire Interviews

Hi I’m Jaime. Each and every week I bring you the top business advice from the people who know best.

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