486 | Forget Work-Life Balance, Here’s What Actually Works for Entrepreneurs

Nov 18

Chaz Wolfe 0:00
I don't see balance and growth being the same. I don't know if you can be balanced and growing. I'm okay with being grateful where you can be okay with where you are current achievements, the current stage of life, but I'm not done. I think growth requires too much movement and too much forward progress in order to remain balanced.
Jake Isaacs 0:23
Welcome to driven to win. Today's episode is a game changer for entrepreneurs caught in the struggle of balancing work and life. Join us as we dive into the myth that's holding you back. It's that concept of work life balance. Our guest Chaz Wolf, a serial entrepreneur and founder of gathering the Kings, will share why striving for balance can be a losing battle, and how true success comes from the different approach altogether. He'll introduce us to this idea of work life obsession, the real practical strategies to help you create alignment between work and your personal life. If you're ready to escape the hamster wheel of balance and start building a fulfilling, sustainable life. Grab a pen and paper because this episode's for you.
Chaz Wolfe 1:04
Dude, Chaz, work life experience. Man, I mean, balance doesn't exist. What are we talking about here? I
Jake Isaacs 1:09
know, and this is such a common misconception. Man, every time I hear some hipster millennial talk about work life balance, I just want to grab them by the hair and ask them if they actually know what they're talking about.
Chaz Wolfe 1:22
Yeah, I think the work life balance myth has been around a lot longer than, you know, the millennial hippie or whoever you just described. I think what people are aspiring to is, is peace, right? It's fulfillment. It's, you know, like that place of, oh, it's just a kind of a hard truth to swallow, especially as entrepreneur, that if we want freedom, there's never really an exhale moment. And that sounds like, oh, like rest is bad. And, you know, 10x everything and, but it's not right. It's the idea that if we if balance doesn't exist, then then what does exist? If we can just be honest with ourselves, then we can, then we can be okay with what actually exists for an entrepreneur, because balance doesn't exist, there maybe are moments, right? Like, there's been moments probably in our lives, we can think back and be like, Oh, that was a really, like, peaceful moment or a balanced moment. I had a guy on the podcast a couple years ago, and he was like, describing it like a wave, like, literally, like the balance of being on a wave, like you do all this work ahead of time to catch the wave, and for like, a few seconds, maybe a few minutes, you're balanced on the wave, but then, boom, it comes crashing down again. And is the work ahead of time? Wrong? Is the crashing and getting back up afterwards? Wrong? Well, no, and, but you're gonna miss both of those seasons of life, if you will, if you're only focused on those few minutes of balance. You know what I mean?
Jake Isaacs 2:59
Yeah, the thing that I have a problem with around this concept is balancing the notes, taking from one to give to the other to make it equal. Yeah, and I don't want to take from anything. I want it all to be abundant. I want it all to be successful. I want my scales on the ground because they're weighed down.
Chaz Wolfe 3:20
Yeah, I just get, like, my my skin kind of crawls when I hear the word balance. If I can just be honest, maybe that's relatable, maybe that's completely unrelatable. I really don't know, nor do I care, I guess. But for me, when I hear balance, I think contentment, and I'm okay with being grateful, right? We talk about inside gathering the Kings grateful, but not done. And there's a spirit of gratefulness where you can be okay with where you are, the current achievements, the current stage of life, the ups, the downs, the good things, the bad things, you know, the things that we still need to work on, family or business or whatever. But I can be in this moment, currently present and be grateful. Be okay, but I'm not done, and so being to me, balance represents just like, like, just like, being in this like, state of I don't know, just never. It's not growth. I don't see balance and growth being the same. I don't know if you can be balanced and growing. I think growth requires too much movement and too much forward progress in order to remain balanced. And so I guess when I think of balance. I think of this, like, quietly, perfectly stagnant thing that's balanced where, when I think of growth, personal growth in my like, just who I am, growth as a dad, growth as a husband, growth as a business owner, growth in my income, growth in in my faith. I mean, I don't think of any. Any of those things as stagnant. And so for me, it's just really hard to even say balance, because it just though,
Jake Isaacs 5:08
yeah. And to your point, you know, I think people are just parroting it because they haven't been taught another concept. And so that's really what I'd like to dive in here today with you about. Is, is if work life balance is false, or if it's a misconception, if it's something that entrepreneurs are are misplacing their thoughts or trust into, what's the alternative?
Chaz Wolfe 5:31
Yeah. I mean, it's work life obsession. It's like, well, wait a second, you want me to work more? Yeah, work less.
Jake Isaacs 5:39
Explain, explain the meaning of work. Like, what work, life, obsession, please?
Chaz Wolfe 5:44
Yeah, I think we have to. I mean, the word that we're changing out is balanced for obsession, right? And so as an obsessed individual, I'm all in, right? Like, there's no, there's no going back there, there's no, there's no Plan B's, you know, I've made the decision. I cut off, you know, the, you know, I burn the ships, if you will, I cut off all other options. I'm freaking doing this thing. And if I can apply that mentality to all areas of my life, then I think that's going to achieve growth or winning in all of the areas in my life, and I think that's actually what we're after. I don't think we're after balance. I think we're after fulfillment. I think we're after a fulfilled life, and for me, especially as a high performing entrepreneur, spouse, parent, you know Son of God, you know someone who who wants to give and and serve all these things, like, I'm not going to be fulfilled unless I'm operating at the highest possible level for me. And the beauty of that, even just growth mindset, is I'm going to get to a place where it's like, okay, cool, I've reached here, but, but now what's next? And so there's always a what's next, or a next version of of me, or my marriage or my business or my success, or my faith, and so in all these things, it's like a constant press, which I believe requires the obsession that's part of also the fulfillment. It's not like I'm reaching a destination in my faith or in my lifestyle or in my marriage. My obsession is with growth or with pushing the limits and finding out who Julie and I are in our marriage, or what my family is and my children and my grandchildren that don't even exist yet. Or, you know, my business and the possibilities that that my businesses can can create, not just for me and income wise, but for my team and and for for the community and all the people that that impacts. And so it's like for me, like fulfillment is like going after those things, running after those things, like reaching for those things. And I think that's actually what most entrepreneurs are truly after, because I've seen it time and time again where a performer, an entrepreneur, high achiever, achieves something amazing. They sell a business, or they they reach some level, and they go right, they reach that quote, unquote balance, and within hours, maybe days or weeks, they're depressed. They're all sorts of turmoiled on the inside, stress, stress and anxiety, just like when they had a business that was all sorts of problematic and stuff. And so it's not actually the achievement of any sort of level that's, that's the balance or the fulfillment, it's, it's the journey. And so for me, if I'm obsessed and I'm really, truly all in, I'm going to be pushing on this thing until I am no longer breathing, and hopefully in whatever comes next for the ages to come in heaven or wherever I'm going to be, I'm going to be with Julie, and we're gonna be pressing these things just as obsessively as I am. Now I like to think that I'll be king in the next stage as well. Yeah,
Jake Isaacs 8:50
I love that. When did you recognize that this concept of balance was misaligned with your personal values?
Chaz Wolfe 8:59
Yeah, that's good. Well, I've never used, I've never even like the word balance is literally just, it makes me think of average, just well, but obsession is winning, and so, you know, in the last couple years, as we've built out, you know, the gathering the Kings community, this idea of winning in all areas, living the exceptional life has has really formed up. And it's, it's it's been who I am. But it's not just Chaz, like, This is Jake. This is a Mac cool horn, or a Gary curly, or plenty of our other members. It has nothing to do with Chaz. This is, this is a message for high performers of dude, if you're all in and you're not all in in all areas, are you really successful? Okay, great. So you make a million dollars a year, or ten million a year, take home, or you have, you're in the best shape of your life. But if, dude, if you have a sucky marriage, and you have those other things, I don't want what you have, or if you have a great marriage, but, but you you can't, or can't provide financially because your business is in turmoil. You. I don't want what you have. So to me, really defining down what, what am I obsessed with. And so for us, we talk about this, this definite chief aim that that gathering the Kings has as a community, which is to win in all areas, to live the exceptional life and and if I'm obsessed with winning in all areas and being average, or, you know, being balanced isn't even in my vocabulary, and it makes my skin crawl. And on top of that, I'm in a room of other people that also feel that way. Can you imagine the energy and the and the focus and just the like, pressurized, you know, brainwashing of winning. You know, you're in a room of winners, you're either going to be pushed out. You know, it's not like every member that's been part of gathering the Kings is obsessed with winning. Well, guess what? They don't last very long, because the room of winners creates an environment of like, really all in winning. And you're either going to figure it out how to press and win in all areas or or not, and that that's just something special, of course, special to gather in the Kings but, but I think that it's inside of each one of us. It's just a whether we like look that man or that woman in the in the mirror, and, you know, decide to become that person. You know what I
Jake Isaacs 11:15
mean? Yeah, no, I think that's good. So we've got this concept of, of work, life, obsession and and I love it. I'm on board with you, but let's bring this concept down to the tarmac. Let's talk tactics for the listener who's like, Yeah, but Chaz, you don't understand I don't have enough time, or you don't understand my situation. What are some of the dangers of an entrepreneur or business owner trying to go out and achieve this concept of balance?
Chaz Wolfe 11:43
Yeah, I I'm gonna use an example that I've used with sales people and entrepreneurs for a long, long time. Everybody understands the the feast or famine, you know, phrase. And, you know, I know your dad was in sales and and I've trained 1000s of sales people. So they get this. Entrepreneurs get this as well. Like we eat what we kill, right? In essence. And so the feast or famine phrase comes from these massive swings in income, up and down and up and down. One month we're eating filet mignon. The next month we're wondering if we can even buy food at all, right? And that reality is only true because of one reason, that sales person or business owner does not keep the pipeline full. Let me explain practically, inside of a business or as a salesperson, you don't keep enough leads worked through your sales process to always have sales right, like I remember being a salesperson years ago, and the expectation was three sales a week, and I consistently produced 912, 1517, deals every single week, not just one time. I had plenty of buddies that would, you know, get 789, maybe even 10 sales, and they'd earn some like, you know, a day off or something like that, but, but then the next week they'd have zero, right? And that's that feast or famine we were talking about. Well, how is it that, you know, Chaz wolf was able to produce at such a high level every single week? There was really nothing special about me in that other than I understood this one thing, I always filled the pipeline. I was absolutely obsessed with filling the pipeline. So on Friday afternoon, when that guy who had nine or whatever for the for sales, that was, you know, celebrating his best week ever, was off the phone and over there on the side of the office that was celebrating, good for them, good for him, all good I already had, you know, more sales than he did that day, and I'm on the phone. I'd already made two or 300 phone calls that day. This is a real, real situation, because I got approached many times on a Friday afternoon, going, Dude, you're still making phone calls. You got the most sales in the entire center. It's like, Yeah, dude, but I need sales next week and the week after, because I'm trying to, I'm trying to hit the highest levels every single week. And so with that mindset, the feast or famine or the the the balance that we're after, it's like that, oh my gosh, the best week ever, or the best commission ever, or we had the best month in my business ever.
Unknown Speaker 14:07
And
Chaz Wolfe 14:10
as soon as you out breath, as soon as you just take your foot off the gas, that's when, like, bow, you get smacked upside the face, right? And as a salesperson, that just looks like no new leads into the pipeline. And so then, therefore, eventually it catches up with you. We know this to be true, but it still happens. Why? Because we allow the Now, you might be hearing this right now you Jake, or someone listening and going, Well, dude, you can't you can't be all in all the time. Can you like you never rest? Chaz, well, no. First off, I absolutely believe in rest. I believe in a Sabbath. There's all sorts of principles around tactical and calculated rest, but even if we're going to go biblical here, he rested at the end, after all the work was done. And. So if you take that same concept into your business, same concept into your marriage, into your family, into your health, into your faith, into the things that bring us joy, aka the, what we call lifestyle, then then I, I'm like, Well, what's next? Okay, so yeah, I worked out this morning. But the next thing for me, because I'm obsessed, is, well, what am I eating today? Does it serve me? Right? Did I? Did I? Did I send my morning text message to Julie, affirming her for something wonderful that she did yesterday for us or for the kids or or just something beautiful about her? Right? Because I'm obsessed with building that relationship. So how does that practically look? It's taking that mindset of, quote, unquote, constantly filling the pipeline, never taking an out breath, calculating my rest, and so that way on Saturdays, or when I have a moment to be done this afternoon and I walk downstairs and I have my normal routine with the kids, like that's all calculated, and it's on purpose, and it was on at the specific time. So hopefully this is making sense. I went kind of long on that answer, but I was trying to give uh, multiple assets, or uh, perspectives on the answer.
Jake Isaacs 16:09
Yeah. No, I appreciate that. I want to circle back to something that you said, Because I experienced you doing this a couple of weeks ago. I have a member inside of gathering the Kings who's getting into real estate syndication and real estate wholesaling, and you had such some tender, fatherly advice for him. You remember the conversation I'm talking about? Oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah. So, tell me a little bit about that. Tell me a little bit about that advice, because it's around this same concept of the out breath,
Chaz Wolfe 16:35
yeah, for sure. I mean, he's, he's getting into wholesaling. You know, there's a lot, a lot of successful guys at wholesale real estate, and he was really excited about it. And we were actually at a real estate conference when we were talking about it, and and he's getting all jazzed. And I knew he was going to go back home and kind of launch this new thing, new phase of his life. And, and I encouraged him, he's a young guy, and I encouraged him that he's going to get a deal. He was like, I know, Dude, I'm so excited. I'm like, no, no. Like, let's just think about this for a second. Let's come off of cloud nine. Yeah, it's gonna be awesome. You're gonna close deals, but like, I really mean, like, in the next like, 30 to 90 days, you're gonna close your first deal, probably because of beginners luck. It's not gonna be any skill set that you've developed yet. You're just gonna happen to come across a homeowner that needs to sell. You're gonna happen to find an investor, and it's gonna just kind of happen, it's gonna fall on your lap. It's gonna be magical. It's magical. And you're gonna make five or 10 or $50,000 and you're gonna be looking at the absolute most money you've ever held in one check. He's like, I know. Like, dude, you gotta, like, deposit that and forget you even have it. He's like, Well, what do you mean, like, like, to save it? I'm like, Well, yeah, I'm not talking about the the principle of saving. I'm talking about the principle of don't celebrate too long, you know. Like, cool. It's your first deal, you know, call me, call Jake, you know, call a couple other guys in the group. Like, let us congratulate you if you need to, like, you know, buy a, buy a, an extra foot long sub at Subway that day because you wanted to give yourself a thumbs up. Like, cool, but like, no cars, no. Like, watches, no, no. Like, don't be dumb, right? Because you haven't, you haven't done anything. Congratulations on your first deal, amazing. Forget that you even have it, and be so obsessed with the next deal, because that's the only way to fight this feast or famine, to be all in, to be obsessed. And it doesn't mean that you never can, you know, congratulate yourself and never buy nice things, or, you know, get a trophy of sorts. Sometimes you have to create your own trophies. And I'm all about it. I bought, I bought this watch earlier this year, but, but it was calculated within the right time, and we did it in a super special way. That's what I was trying to help that guy understand, is that you can be all in, but it can be calculated the rest or the trophy or the watch, or whatever, it can be calculated to where it doesn't destroy the efforts that you've been putting in. That exhale doesn't have to destroy the efforts. You can still exhale. You can still congratulate yourself. You can still buy the watch, but do it in a way to where, when you exhale, you don't get freaking sidelined by the by the linebacker because you weren't paying attention. You know what I mean?
Jake Isaacs 19:06
Yeah. No, I think that's great, yeah. But you know, the thing I appreciate about you is that you're willing to say these things to people, right? You're willing to have this conversation with this guy and encourage him, and also let him know that this doesn't mean anything. And you know, I think so many people to the point that we made earlier, so many people don't really have verbiage for anything else but work life balance in their life. And so when we talk about work life obsession, it hits people over the side of the head as something that's brand new. They don't necessarily understand it. So again, talking tactically here for you know, Johnny listener, how can adopting this idea of obsession create more fulfillment inside of their life? Yeah,
Chaz Wolfe 19:53
well, I mean, we get dopamine hits from winning buddy, you know, like when I, when I when I. When I do what I say I'm gonna do, I feel amazing about myself, which is fulfillment, right? And so it doesn't matter if you wake up at 430 in the mornings and work out. It doesn't matter if your journey right now is in the process of losing a lot of weight, like I mean, if for anybody that knows you, they know that you're in the process of losing a lot of weight. That's not, that's not chazz's journey currently in health, but we can both be winning today in our health and and when you have that perspective, it doesn't obsession doesn't mean perfection, right? Obsession doesn't mean comparing yourself to to Chaz or to Jake, because, you know, Jake's leadership's a bit leadership ability, and ability to to organize himself is like he's from Mars or something. You know, I don't, I don't organize myself the way that Jake does. And so does that? Does that make me a not able to to to run a business. No, do I need to be more organized than less organized? Yes, okay, great. How do I win in in my business by being more organized today. How do I win in my marriage today? Maybe, maybe your marriage isn't the greatest right now. Okay? And so maybe, you know, like, you need to have some building blocks. Maybe you just need to start paying attention to your wife. Maybe there's a scenario where you just need to support her, not have her expect, expected to support you all the time. I don't know what the dynamic is, but maybe it's not exactly where Julie and I are, and that's okay, and Julie and I are where, you know, maybe some other couple is, but I'm not comparing myself to that. I'm saying, How can I win today? Because I know that if I can find wins today, then I know that I'm headed in the right direction. And that's what, that's what really the obsession comes down to. It's not even just like the the the achievement we talked about, not getting to the fulfillment of a great marriage or a business that's producing hundreds of millions of dollars, or whatever you think the end line is, it's the process of getting there. It's the process of losing the weight. It's the process of eating right? It's the process of, you know, I have a reminder on my phone that pops up literally every day at 5am to send the first affirmation text to my wife. And I sit there for a minute and I go, Okay, what happened yesterday? How did Julie bless me? What? What is her value? What did she do yesterday, or maybe the last couple days that I can affirm her in? Maybe it's just because she's just incredibly beautiful, and I want her to know that I am so thankful to have her as my wife. Whatever it is that happens every single day, at 5am not because I was a perfect dude, but because I learned that tactic of winning, and I consider that winning now I was like, Okay, there's my text message reminder. I I sit for a couple minutes, I decide what I'm gonna send her. She's passed out asleep, has no idea that I send the text message to her until a couple of hours later when she wakes up. But that's winning.
Jake Isaacs 23:00
Yeah, that's great. You've talked about how you have optimized different tools to make sure that you're winning. And an argument that I hear all the time is, well, that's not genuine, and that's not coming from a place of the heart. How would you counteract that statement? Chaz, yeah,
Chaz Wolfe 23:20
and so, just to be real specific, you're saying that, you know, if I set a reminder to affirm my wife that may not, maybe that's not genuine. Or if I set a, you know, a reminder to reach out to someone that I think is special to me or whatever, is it genuine? Well, first off, you trying to remember every day at 5am is probably not likely going to happen, like if we're just honest, right? So first off, I'm self aware enough to know that I need assistance, and that assistance is part of me being organized. And so when the reminder pops up, I then take the opportunity in that moment to be genuine and go what happened yesterday? What did Julie do or, what? What value did she bring the kids? Like, what, what can I affirm her in? And that's the same thing in my workout. Like, sometimes the fact that I just got up and worked out was good enough, yeah, sometimes it's like, no, I'm, I'm past that. I need to work out hard, or I'm in the process of gaining weight. Like, what do I need to do today? I need to, I need to complete my workout. I need to really press hard on these muscles. I need to, I need to do the right things to recover. I need to make sure I'm eating the stuff that I've said I'm going to eat. It's not about perfection, is, I guess, what the reality is? It's, it's about me pressing on the next version of me constantly. And that might seem overwhelming. Somebody might be listening right now. We've had, we've had people that have joined gather in the kings and been like, Whoa, I don't know, man, like, this is kind of a lot, and good, good if that's a lot. And. And that doesn't work for you, bro, I understand, but that's what winning looks like. And if you're okay with not winning in a specific area, I don't think anything less of you, but, but running together probably isn't gonna feel very good, you know. And that's really, I guess, the power of the mastermind. We're kind of, you know, jumping over a little bit. But if I can, if I can surround myself with people that are as obsessed or more obsessed with me. I mean, we've talked about Derek a couple of times. Derek is a member of our community, and he's ran his first 100 mile ultra marathon, dude. I cannot tell you how many times I've thought to myself, I'm gonna run a triathlon or maybe an iron man one day, but, but, dude, I can't swim. I mean, kind of but not really. So my thoughts around an Iron Man are really like, Hmm, I wonder if that could even be possible one day, dude, I'm telling you right now, since seeing Derek cross the finish line at 2am on 100 mile run for 20 plus hours, I believe it's possible that I can learn how to swim a couple of miles, and I can bike, however, 3040 miles, and then I can run a marathon. I've never done any of those things, other than ride a bike as long as they do, but I've never done any of those things. Do I think it's possible? Or Sure do? I think it's more possible after seeing Derek do it, or at least run the 100 miles? Absta Freaking literally, yeah.
Jake Isaacs 26:22
It's inspiring being around people that are doing hard things and pressing into areas of our life that they want to grow in. So if, if you know the listener doesn't have that in their life, my recommendation is, find people,
Chaz Wolfe 26:34
yeah. I mean, that's, that's the obsession, right? Like, I want to win. We're talking about practically, okay, well, what is, what does the obsession of winning look like, or the work life obsession? Well, it's like I should be winning all day. Okay, cool. But like, what does that actually look like? I gotta just divide out my life. We divided out it into business and finance, family and marriage, health, faith and lifestyle. So in those five areas today, how am I winning? And sometimes that looks like running 100 mile race, sometimes that looks like just getting outside and walking, you know, yep. All
Jake Isaacs 27:08
right, Chaz, well, you shared how you have kind of redefined these priorities personally. But can you tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that led you to adopting this principle of obsession over balance.
Chaz Wolfe 27:22
I'm just a winner, man. I don't know if I was actually ever balance after balance. You know, I think we all have maybe a desire in our heart to to have peace or fulfillment, like I was talking about. That's the ultimate, like, what we're after really, even though that that feels maybe a little cheesy, but, but the obsession, obsessive nature of me, slash other high performers and entrepreneurs, I think it's just permission, really. I mean, I can remember, I can remember reading 10x rule for the first time, you know, by Grant Cardone. And, you know, I like a lot of grant stuff. I disagree with a lot of his stuff, but at the end of the day, I had permission, you know, to think a little crazy when I read his stuff. I'm like, ooh, I've been thinking like this, there's a there's other people out there that think a little crazy, like me. Obviously, the sequel to that book is, is his obsession book, you know, and so, so he and I think about obsession in a similar way, but for me, I'm trying to obsess in all areas. Napoleon Hill talks about putting everything back of a goal. And that's kind of language from 100 plus years ago, when he's saying put everything back of a goal. He's saying that in order to achieve something, first off, it has to be specific and it has to be definite, but then you have to put everything else behind it. Like There cannot be two loves. You have to go after this one singular thing. And so that's where I think a lot of people put, you know, whether they mean to or not, they put the business first and then so they're going after the business. And this is exactly what I did, right? Like, for years, probably almost a decade, I was absolutely obsessed in one area of my life, business. And sometimes that's what it takes in order to get a business launched. And there's a season of kind of building and like really going all in and but what I wasn't doing at that time is figuring out the intentional, even small ways to also be obsessed with my wife or my family or my health, because all of those things I just said, You know what? I consciously, or maybe subconsciously, because at different stages of my, of my life, I, like purposely said, Well, I don't have time to work out. That was a very conscious choice. I wasn't really consciously saying, I want to not be intentional with my wife. But that just was a it was a result of going all in on my business. Saying, is that that obsession, obsessive nature, isn't like we all have it as business owners. If you're listening to the show right now, you are an obsessive creature. I'm just giving you permission to make the goal, not just obsessing your business. You know, using that principle that Napoleon Hill talks about putting everything back at the goal, if the goal, if we'll just raise it up a little bit like, zoom out a little. It, and we make the goal the exceptional life, or living the exceptional life, or as we define the exceptional life, winning in all areas. If that's now my goal is to win in all areas, then I now have to figure out how to obsess with the business and obsess in my marriage and obsess with my health, and obsess in my faith and obsess in the, you know, joy and the things that bring us lifestyle. I have to think differently if, if my target is that, rather than putting my health and faith and marriage behind the goal of winning in business,
Jake Isaacs 30:33
is this making sense? Yes, it is.
Chaz Wolfe 30:36
So I think that, you know, just the the opportunity that we have is really just to switch the mindset of what is the target? What is Success? Success is not just money, in my opinion, it's winning in all areas or living the exceptional life. And so that now has become the target. I put everything back of that, that goal meaning, I put everything behind that. There is no other love, right? I have one singular, definite chief aim, and that is to live the exceptional life, which means for us to obsess in all these areas. And so, okay, so why wouldn't I want to work life obsess? Because first off, you love your life when you're winning, if you're a high performer, right? Winning brings the the emotional piece and the dopamine that we were talking about. But now I'm like figuring out what next levels look like. Julie and I've been married for almost 17 years together 20 we have an incredible marriage. We have connection and moments and memories that are probably better than most marriages, but I am obsessed with going to the next level and with her. You know what I mean? Like, I'm trying to just break through what's the next thing that we can experience together? Obsession doesn't have to be work, right? Like, I think a lot of people think balance of, like, just want to take a break, right? Well, you probably want to take a break because you're not organized enough in your business, you don't have enough systems, and you haven't hired the right people, because you're probably just running around like a chicken with your head cut off, going, Ah, and that's actually why you're stressed in your marriage, and that's actually why you're not working out, and that's actually why you're not, you know, doing a morning quiet time or reading the Bible, or whatever it is that you do for your faith, and so it probably has nothing to do with you, you know, like not having peace, you probably just need some more organization or some help in your business. You know, if we're getting real honest, yeah,
Jake Isaacs 32:18
let's back up a couple steps here, you talked about Napoleon Hills, put it behind the goal, right? And all. That's great if you have goals. But practically, what are some first steps that the entrepreneur listening can do to shift their mindset or to set those goals? Yeah,
Chaz Wolfe 32:38
well, I mean, we're October, sorry, no, we're November. Geez. I just like lost some time there, or I was trying to add back time. Is what I was trying to do, we're November. What I was trying to say, really was, is 2024 is almost up, right? So it's a perfect time you should be thinking about 2025 don't wait to, you know, January 15 to think about 2025 so it's a perfect time to be thinking about what, what are your goals and and I would just take those five dimensions that is mentioned, business and finance. What are my goals? Is, is there something in my business that I need to get better at? Is there a skill set that I need to learn? Do I need to be more organized? Is there a particular, you know person or position that I need to hire for that would really lever up my action in the business, right? Am I doing things that I shouldn't be, that I should offload or delegate or hire somebody for? What do I need to do to make more money? Like all of those things business and finance, right? And just pick something. It doesn't have to be the moon, like if you got a $2 million business, don't. Don't sit down and talk about how you're going to do 10 million next year. That's ridiculous. Talk about how you're going to do a reasonable I don't know what your growth trajectory is. Maybe it's 2.5 maybe it's four, maybe you're gonna double. I'm all about doubling and tripling. I love doubling and tripling. But my point is is sit down and just pick something that makes sense. Again, going back to winning is not perfection. Obsession is not perfection. It's just about winning. It's about picking something and heading in that direction. And so to do the same thing for all the dimensions, right? We just went through business and finance. But what about marriage and family? What does it look like for you to be more intentional with your marriage? Maybe it's coming to one of our marriage retreats or masterminds or family events. Maybe it's you just saying hello to your wife in the morning, or your husband and saying, I appreciate you. It could just be really, really simple stuff that just is intentional. What about faith? What about health? What about lifestyle? What are the things that bring you joy? Are you doing those things? And so sit down with those five dimensions and just figure out over the next 12 months, what's something that you could accomplish as a goal that would be winning and then just start taking action towards it. Yeah,
Jake Isaacs 34:44
it's that simple. Yeah, well,
Chaz Wolfe 34:47
and so you just the stats of New Year's resolutions, right? Like, you know, I don't, I don't know the actual stats of people who who create goals, but of the people who sit down and think about goals, only 20% of them write them down. Uh, maybe it's even less than that. It might be less than 20% but it's 20% or less, and then of of the people who stick with their goals, the people that wrote them down, are the largest percentage of people. So you can think about it, you can pray about it, but unless you write it down and then join, uh, have an account of accountability, accountability partner, join a gym, join a mastermind group, like you need other energy or other influences around you to push you through, because there's going to be hard days, there's going to be hard months. And, you know, I don't know what the stat is, but, you know, it's 80 90% of people have have completely abandoned their goals by like, March. It doesn't even take that long, right? Yeah, the ones that have that have stuck with it have written it down. They've put people around them that can hold them accountable. They're committed and obsessed. That's good,
Jake Isaacs 35:53
Chaz, as we're wrapping up here, just have one final question or or a series of final questions, probably is more accurate, but I'd love to get your opinion on right. So we're talking obsession, work life, obsession, burnout has become a super popular buzzy word inside of corporate America and the entrepreneurial space these days as well. What advice would you give to an entrepreneur who feels kind of stuck in this cycle of burnout, and they're struggling to blend all of these areas, these five dimensions that you've talked about together.
Chaz Wolfe 36:32
Yeah, first off, burnout doesn't burn out, doesn't exist. You're not burnt out. You have lost your way, that's it. You no longer have clarity on why you're doing what you're doing. You're just stuck in the mundane machine of waking up, doing what you do and going to sleep. And so because you have no purpose or no clarity on what you're doing, it no longer is meaningful to you. AKA, you now feel burnout. So let's just first get one thing straight, that burnout does not exist. You cannot burn out by burning the candle at both ends. It does not exist. Okay, there are people who work a lot more than you, who have accomplished a lot more than you. I can just insert one name here, Elon Musk, and he's done a lot more than all of us put together in multiple companies. How is that possible? Well, it's because he has purpose. Okay, so you have to get clarity. If you're feeling quote, unquote, burnt out, it's only because you aren't remembering why you're doing what you're doing. So take some time. That could be two minutes, it could be 20 minutes, it could be two hours, but you need to realign with what you're doing and why you're doing it unto, what is a phrase I use all the time? Why am I doing this? Okay, there might be some things you need to change. Change up in your schedule, change up in in the flow of how you're doing it, why you're doing it, or unto why you're doing it, but, but, but maybe not. It probably is just a realignment with your purpose. Okay? The second thing on, you know, the I guess the practical piece is, you might be overwhelming yourself with, what does winning look like, right? And so I've talked with whether it be members or other entrepreneurs, and it's just a lot, like the business itself is a lot, right? Like, you've got sales and marketing, and you've got your team members and and then you got, you got finances and like, oh my gosh, I don't even know how to read that P L. And now there's budgeting and, and we're thinking ahead for next year, but, like, there's no money in my bank account, but I've got bills that are due, like, just the business that alone is a lot, okay, let alone. Now you're talking about being obsessed with my marriage. And now I'm trying to, like, make sure my wife is taken care of, and, like, super attentive to her, and, and, oh yeah, I got to be the best dad ever. And, and you want me to work out, you know, 14 times a day. And, and I'm supposed to, like, meditate and read my like, what? Just pick one thing and do that one thing, if that's get up at a certain time and do 10 push ups. Good start with that. Do that for a week or a month or six months. I don't know how long you have to do that. You know, I worked out three days a week for probably close to a year, because what I was trying to build was not muscle at that time. It was the habit of going to the gym a minimum of three days a week. Then I went to five then I went to working out hard. I didn't just work out five days a week. I went to the gym with some like intensity. Now I have a goal of of gaining some muscle. The point is, is that there's, there's steps to this thing. You're not going to just all of a sudden be have the best business ever and have the best marriage ever and be the best shape of your life ever. Okay, great, like we can be in the journey of those things. But what does it look like tomorrow? What does it look like next month? And that's probably a smaller thing that you can go after and that you can make sure that you win, because it's winning that we're after every single day, not necessarily the big end result that we've got for the goal. In fact, I don't really even control the results, like I can't. I can set the target. Gonna accept the goal, but I don't control that. What do I control? I control my thoughts and I control my daily actions, right? And so if I can get those two things to work together every single day, little steps to win, and I can, kind of, like, get obsessed with, like, ooh, that felt good. Let me get that little win. Let me get that little win. Now I'm gonna do that. Let me get that little win. And you look up six months later or six years later, and you're like, dude, they're freaking winning. Man,
Jake Isaacs 40:24
this has been so refreshing. I appreciate your perspective on all of this. Chaz, if people need a dose of wolf motivation, where can they find you? Or if they want more information about this marriage mastermind that you've talked about, or this family vacation. Where can they get more information about that?
Chaz Wolfe 40:42
Yeah, go to gatheringthekings.com all of the information about our community is there, including the marriage and family masterminds that we do. You know, lots of stuff for business owners, but you access a superpower when you've got people around you. Doesn't even have to be me. There's also a lot of amazing, successful entrepreneurs winning in all areas in our community, and you just
Jake Isaacs 41:03
got to get people around you, buddy, as always, I appreciate your time, sir, yeah, man, Thanks
Chaz Wolfe 41:08
for Thanks for doing this. All right.

If work-life balance feels impossible, maybe it’s time to stop chasing it. Let me explain… This idea might shake things up, but I strongly think that work-life balance is a myth. That’s right. Instead of aiming for balance, I believe in going all-in with what I call “work-life obsession”— the mindset that helps me win in all areas of life. In this episode, Jake Isaacs and I break down why balance doesn’t work, especially for high-achieving entrepreneurs, and why going all-in in a tactical way can be the key to finding real fulfillment. We touch on how to stay driven without burning out (and yes, why burnout isn’t what you think it is) and practical tips on how to set your goals so you can turn them into wins.

Chaz Wolfe:

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