SPI 844: On My 42nd Birthday.

SPI 844: On My 42nd Birthday.

Announcer: You’re listening to the Smart Passive Income Podcast, a proud member of the Entrepreneur Podcast Network, a show that’s all about working hard now, so you can sit back and reap the benefits later. And now your host, he actually gets a stomachache when he puts on ChapStick, Pat Flynn.

Pat Flynn: Today, it’s my birthday. Well, the time that you’re listening to this, I was able to record this ahead of time, but it is my birthday today, December 6th, It’s also Matt’s birthday. Matt, our former CEO, who’s still with us in the company. He’s just moved to a different position. And he is also a baby from 1982. Yes. If you didn’t know, we share the literal exact same birthday.

So Matt, happy birthday to you as well. And on this birthday, I just want to say again, thank you for all the birthday wishes. I know I’ve probably received a ton already from a lot of you and we’ll continue to receive them. Thank you in advance for that. Thank you to those of you, especially in the SPI community, who’ve sent me some private messages.

I appreciate you. This has been a really crazy year for a number of reasons, especially here in the Flynn household. My son is now in high school. My daughter is now in middle school. It’s the first time they’re both at now separate schools because they went to a K 8 school. And now there’s two drop offs in the morning.

There’s several different pickups. My son is in the marching band, so there’s that. There’s just a lot going on. So it’s been an absolute wicked year, but I’m having such a joy being a part of all that stuff with the kids and everything they’re up to. But I’m also starting to put on some years, right? I’m 42.

And hopefully I’m not making any of you offended who might be a little bit older, or excuse me, wiser. But I feel that as I grow wiser as well, I always want to continue to share the things that I’m learning. And, you know, now at this age, there’s a few things that I want to share that have made a big impact that may or may not help you.

Hopefully all of it does. And if you are a youngin in the crowd, somebody less than 40, I mean, I know there’s even kids who listen, which is awesome. Some of you listen together while in the car or with your families. And I just am so grateful for, for all of that. And that time that you have together is so, so important, which takes me to my first sort of lesson.

And that is your time is the most valuable resource. the most valuable resource. You can always make more money. You can always find a way to make more money and ways to generate more revenue are never going to run out, but you’re never, ever going to get your time back. And as an entrepreneur, especially prioritizing what truly matters is so crucial.

High impact activities, delegating wisely, understanding that you can’t do it all, but what are the things that you love to do? And what are the things you’d love to say no to? Never underestimate the power of saying no. Time is absolutely your most valuable resource. And at 42, time just continues to go even more quick.

Unlike my grammar, that’s going the opposite direction. I often reflect on how quickly time is passing by, and I see it in the kids and how quickly they’re growing at this age. That’s a part of it. But also part of it is, I just, I feel like, The years go by so much faster. I feel like it was just yesterday that my wife and I were clinking glasses of champagne to bring in 2024.

And we’re just, you know, less than 30 days away from doing that again for 2025. And it just seems to go faster and faster. I feel like a part of the reason why I felt that especially this year is not just because of all the activities and everything that was going on, but I tried really hard to also find time for myself.

This year in fishing and a lot of activities. I also have the new Pokemon hobby and those kinds of things where I can almost kind of get into a flow state when I’m doing those activities. And what I’ve learned about being in a flow state is you almost always experience faster time in those moments.

And so it’s a little bit of a catch 22 or a double edged sword because when you are having fun, when you were in those flow state moments, when you are challenging yourself a bit, time is going faster, but those are the most fun moments. And when time is going slower, which I want it to go slower, well, that would likely mean nothing interesting is happening that perhaps I’m not pushing myself as hard as I could, or I’m not having fun in the work that I’m doing.

So I want to have fun. I want to get into flow state, but that’s just going to mean the more I Learn how to do that, the more I have intentions to do that and put it in my calendar and actually honor that the faster time is going to go by. And this past year, there was a moment where a mentor and friend of mine, Dan Miller, had passed away.

And before he passed away, he sent a video to a few people, and I was a lucky recipient of a private video from him, that basically said that he was going to die soon. Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and it just takes a person’s life in a very quick way. But he had the time to shoot these videos out, and to basically say thank you.

He thanked all of us for being a part of his life and he was able to have this incredible send off where he was able to say that he had fulfilled all of his dreams that he was able to do everything he wanted to do in the time that he had. And so he was very, very sad to go. And we were all sad that he was going to leave, but he was also very happy with his life and how it turned out.

And that definitely hit me hard and it helped me reflect on and realign with what is important in life. And at 42, it’s the little time I have left with the kids. It’s my health so that I can extend that life as much as I can. It is the relationships, which takes me to number two, relationships over revenue, relationships over revenue.

It’s interesting because when you build relationships, especially as an entrepreneur and a creator, those ultimately find a way to just as a byproduct become revenue and not in a direct manner like if I become friends with this person they will make me money or they will sell my product that can happen but if that’s the reason you’re becoming a friend with someone then that’s the wrong reason and then it’s never going to happen but long term success comes from building meaningful connections with your audience your team and your peers. Right it’s not just about scaling your business but also about fostering genuine relationships that bring fulfillment and allow for support over time you getting and receiving support, but you also giving support that is fulfillment as well.

And I often say that I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the relationships that I had built in the entrepreneurial space ever since 2010 when I finally stepped out of my comfort zone and started to be a part of this network and build my own, uh, there are, I mean, there’s countless numbers of people who I can thank for helping me get here. There’s gonna be more people to think and I have you to thank the listener, you know, and and new Relationships come across my path for the next things that I’m working on. Right like Stephanie who is working with me Over at Atria my publisher over at Simon Schuster for my next book coming in June next year.

That’s huge. And that relationship with her and my agent, Christy Fletcher, I wouldn’t be six months away from publishing the biggest book of my life if it wasn’t for them. So relationships, relationships, and not just starting relationships, but a relationship can only be a relationship if it’s maintained.

And that means Genuinely checking in and seeing how a person is doing. Remember this exercise that I shared that was once spoken here by Jordan Harbinger, who said, if you go to your text messages on your phone and you scroll all the way to the bottom, hopefully those are people that you don’t want to necessarily keep in contact with because you probably haven’t contacted them in a long time.

If you see somebody there at the bottom of your text message list who you should be keeping in touch with, well, now’s the time to reach out and say hello and reconnect, rekindle that relationship. Because if you dig your well when you’re thirsty, it’s already too late. Number three, lesson number three, adaptation is survival. As you know, trends rise and fall and there’s things that come about and then leave and then come back and come back in different ways. The businesses that thrive aren’t those that resist change. We’ve seen it before when Facebook made changes to their Facebook pages. A lot of people resisted that change and then got left behind.

The change from just blogging only to multimedia like podcasting. A lot of people who really were like, no, I’m going to stick with a blog and not go to where other people are listening to more dynamic content. I’m going to stick to my guns. Well, they got left behind and eventually ended up turning their thing into a podcast in many cases.

And now with video as well, and even short form, right? I had refused to adapt to short form. I said this here on the podcast last year, and then I decided to adapt it into the work that I was doing and find a way to make it work. And it’s been amazing. And instead of worrying about innovation, just knowing that it’s coming and embracing it and pivoting to it when needed. Not in a reactionary way, but in an intentional way, and I think that’s the difference between somebody who quote unquote adapts and fails because they’re reactionary versus adapts and survives because they’re being proactive. They’re learning and discovering as they turn a new page, and we’ve turned a new page here at SPI with community.

In 2020, we launched SPI Pro. 2022, we launched the SPI All Access Pass, and then we combined the two into one community that is now known as the SPI Community where we have different levels of interactions and different tiers that you can get involved with, but it’s one community, it’s one big room now with a lot of spaces that you can connect with other people who are going through similar journeys and similar struggles and challenges as you.

And if you aren’t a part of the SPI community yet, it is the number one place to learn, not just online business. Yes, we have all the premier information there, but if information alone were the key, you would already be successful. It’s the connections and the community and the people that you’re around while on your journey for feedback, for accountability.

That is what’s the difference between what we have to offer at SPI and just a standalone course that you can get anywhere else. So smartpassiveincome.com/community. That’s my little plug here. Number four, passion is not enough. Passion is, I think, the an important ingredient in the longevity of what it is that you do, but passion alone isn’t going to get you to where you want to go.

It might ignite your entrepreneurial journey, but discipline is the key, not passion. It is discipline. It’s grit. It’s creating systems that sustain what it is you’re doing. It’s not having your results affect you, your willingness to keep going. I mentioned this a couple weeks ago or it might have been last week related to my LinkedIn experiment, right?

That’s a part of Adaptation. It’s a part of building relationships It’s the one place that I want to spend more time than anything right now to build for the next three months But I had mentioned that I’m going to go for three months no matter what, and I’m not going to let poor numbers or terrible results in the middle of this entrepreneurial experiment affect the experiment itself, which is a three month experiment.

And now that I’m 42, I understand completely that consistency and execution matter more than motivation alone. You have to have all those things, but a lot of times people say, well, I’m very passionate about this thing, so it’s obviously going to work. I’m going to do whatever it takes, but no, because it’s that grit and discipline when those times are tough, when you’re not getting the results, that is what’s going to separate you and get to the point where yes, this thing can eventually start to, to work and you can see success from it.

And then finally, at 42, I can say that for lesson number five, the older you get, the more you think about the impact that you want to leave behind. And there are some people out there that I’ve heard that, I think it was Mike Tyson, in fact, who said, legacy is a joke. It doesn’t matter. When you die, you’re just, you’re just gone and people are going to forget about you.

Well, I think he’s being a little humble with himself, but on the other hand, I understand where he’s coming from with that. Yes, I want to leave behind a reputation and a business and a legacy for my family. And I want to be somebody who, you know, a great, great, great grandkid down the road can understand had an impact on where the family is and, sure. But I feel like what motivates me is, is thinking about that, which then determines my actions now. Whether or not that actually happens or not. I don’t know. I don’t know. I, I may very well pass and then, okay, that’s it. But I’m not going to let that idea stop me from taking action now, believing that that’s going to happen.

I do think that the legacy is important. It’s about how I inspire my kids, all of you, the impact that you can make the ripple effect, creating value and contributing to the world. And I might not be a Elon Musk type character who is building rocket ships and extending the life of humans in this universe, but I feel like I’m doing my part with the skills that I’ve gained, and I’m very happy with the impact that I’m making right now and the impact that I’ve made on others, I’m very grateful for those who come back and say that I’ve had something to do with their success in one way or another, and I do believe legacy is important. It matters because the people whose lives I’m changing are important to me and whose lives they affect or you affect I could have an impact on that and that to me is legacy. It’s not just my lineage and what people say about me. It’s how the world continues to go even after I pass because of the little butterfly sort of flapping that I’m doing over here on this side of the world that, you know, turns into bigger waves elsewhere.

There’s probably examples of how I’ve been able to impact other people in, in ways that I’ll never, ever know. Not knowing doesn’t change the idea that I’m going to keep going no matter what. I appreciate you for listening in on my birthday. I’m just kind of rambling a bit here in this episode as we close the year here pretty soon.

I’m excited because at the time of this recording, I’m about a few days away from heading to Japan with my family. So the next Friday episode, you might hear a recap of that Japan story again. Spending as much time with the kids as possible at this age before they head out and live their own lives. And we’re just trying to enjoy and savor, savor every moment.

And I definitely savor every moment with you here on the podcast. I’m very grateful for it. Anyway, I appreciate you and thank you for all the birthday wishes. Here’s to an amazing 42nd year life. And I’ll see you on the flip side.

Thank you so much for listening to the Smart Passive Income podcast at SmartPassiveIncome.com. I’m your host, Pat Flynn. Sound editing by Duncan Brown. The Smart Passive Income Podcast is a production of SPI Media and a proud member of the Entrepreneur Podcast Network. Catch you next week!