495 | How to Balance Lean Operations with an Abundance Mindset

Jan 21

[00:00:00] Chaz Wolfe: guys. You are not going to believe this story about how Jake turns the U S government into his sugar. Daddy spending 1. 5 million in just 45 days. Thank goodness for Elon Musk. Getting rid of all this Tom foolery in the government, creating the D O G E the doge. We talk about it all today. Grab your pens and your paper.
[00:00:20] We're diving in.
[00:00:21] Jake Isaacs: It's January my man.
[00:00:24] Chaz Wolfe: January, 20, 25, Hey dude, you know, it always happens. It's so funny how, you know, the holidays come and it's like within great anticipation, right? You know, everybody's excited to get to see family and, and,~ uh,~ do the holiday thing. And then that, then, you know, Christmas comes and then, you know, a couple days later, you know, ~uh, ~new years and then the whole new year's idea, especially around,~ uh,~ you know, entrepreneurship.
[00:00:47] We talked about this in the last pod of,~ uh,~ You know, setting goals and doing the thing. And then like, boom, it's January. And then like, boom, boom, it's like second week of January. Like, well, wait a second. How, how did we get [00:01:00] here? And, and then, you know, before we know it, we're going to be halfway through January and, and most people haven't really started on the things.
[00:01:09] And, and at least for me, it feels like, you know, especially with all the snow, there's just the last couple, a little bit has been a little lethargic, you know, feeling a little,~ uh,~ no, like get with it, you know,
[00:01:21] Jake Isaacs: Yeah. I don't feel like I've been shot out of a cannon at the beginning of this year. I feel like I'm molasses dripping out and it's just. To your point, taking a little bit of time,
[00:01:32] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, well, and I think that,~ um,~ you know, the acknowledgement of that, this, it's not, you know, the situation is what it is, but the awareness of, okay, we got to kind of, we got to get this thing rolling. I mean, obviously we've been doing stuff. It's not like we've been snoozing for nine days in January, but,~ um,~ in fact, we've been.
[00:01:49] You know, gathering the Kings is, is,~ uh,~
[00:01:51] Jake Isaacs: cranking.
[00:01:52] Chaz Wolfe: cranking, catching some, some momentum. ~Um, ~our app is blown up and we got families from all across the country, but,~ um,~ you know, as far as like a, like a, [00:02:00] like get things in the motion, you know, we're, you know, it's like almost not, not a fabrication, but like a, like a cranking of the wheel.
[00:02:06] Like sometimes you just got to manually just get her going, you know? ~Um, ~but once we do. Things will things will all be well.
[00:02:15] Jake Isaacs: This may depress you, it may not depress you. As we sit here at the beginning of January, recording this episode,~ uh,~ we are officially 1 24th of the way through 2025.
[00:02:31] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. No, it doesn't depress me. I think, I think it's a, it's a sharpness of time, you know, ~um, ~there was like,
[00:02:37] Jake Isaacs: An understanding.
[00:02:38] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, exactly. And I think it's a, it's maturity, right. To, to be able to look at time in a specific manner of reverence, you know, ~um, ~a couple of years ago, I had somebody that I was eating lunch with and he asked me if I knew of the app parent queue, And I downloaded parent queue and I haven't really used it since then because I've this [00:03:00] what I'm about to tell you that I got from it.
[00:03:01] I have used in other formats. ~Um, ~but I, you know, I put in my, my kid's date of births and, and it immediately tells me how many days I have left with them.
[00:03:11] Jake Isaacs: Oh,
[00:03:11] Chaz Wolfe: It's calculating until they turn 18 until, you know, they've, they're grown and then they're out. But it was immediate, like. Oh my goodness. Wait, what?
[00:03:19] Jake Isaacs: yeah.
[00:03:21] Chaz Wolfe: I
[00:03:21] Jake Isaacs: Talk about a sobering effect.
[00:03:23] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. And so that's how I feel about the, you know, the one 24th. Okay, fine.~ Um, ~have I been a good steward of the first 24th of the year in some ways? Yeah. Heck yeah. In other ways, like, dang it. It's already been nine days. We got to roll, man. Let's go.
[00:03:43] Jake Isaacs: ~Uh, ~you know, there are a lot of things that are happening in our world, not just our world. Gathering the Kings, Kansas City The, the greater global scale, what I was hoping to have a conversation with you today [00:04:00] around,~ uh,~ without getting red or blue political is I would love to talk to you about the need that the new administration has for developing the department of government efficiency, the, the doge
[00:04:18] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah.
[00:04:19] Jake Isaacs: and how this concept of a man with relatively no political background.
[00:04:27] But as a successful entrepreneur coming in and trying to create systems in a government that doesn't really have a lot of oversight and systems. And I know that sounds weird because the red tape of doing anything with the, I mean, if you've been to a DMV lately, you know, it's, there's a lot of hoops to jump through.
[00:04:51] Chaz Wolfe: That's right.
[00:04:52] Jake Isaacs: So, ~uh, ~but just your thoughts around this concept of efficiency.
[00:04:59] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. [00:05:00] Yeah, man. I love it. I mean, there's, there's a factor to. You know, to Elon specifically, that is a little,~ um,~ I don't wanna say scary, but maybe unbridled, you know, and you know,~ um, ~what's he going to do next? And part of that, I think is what makes him so great because, because you don't know, and, and he takes whatever he does pretty seriously.
[00:05:28] ~Um, ~you can look at his history and, and see massive. You know, just records of success. And so from that angle, as a fellow entrepreneur, as a fellow person that just like really enjoys efficiency and like not wasting time,~ um,~ I'm, I'm excited for that because I think it's going to clean out a bunch of,~ uh,~ Inefficiencies clean out about a bunch of inefficiencies.
[00:05:47] That means probably policies and people saving a bunch of money. Sure. But that's going to have some positive and negative impacts on what we call our economy.~ Um, ~I think all that's in the [00:06:00] short, in the short term though, you know, ~um, ~because as, as AI continues to progress, as money flow continues to move,~ um,~ away from traditional sources.
[00:06:12] ~Um, ~you know, I, I, You know, I'm not sure if, if it's a, you know, a, a one world global system, you know, that everybody has a universal income, right? I, I don't know how many years it's going to take for, for there not to be a need for a lot of human capital, you know, ~um, ~even just, just the other day, I was talking with somebody else about the.
[00:06:37] The dynamic of family and how that's changed over the last 100, 200 years. And so if you think back 100 or 200 years ago, the dynamic of family was based out of survival, right? And so, you know, like you didn't go too far from your parents house and you got married and, and you, you had kids and, and you're all kind of like farm the same land and, and you, you know, you,~ uh,~ you [00:07:00] cultivated life together because that's, that's how you survived.
[00:07:02] And if you go back much further than that. It was, you know, you had 12 wives and as many sons as possible so that you could have a little army so that the next little tribe over didn't come as. You know, take your wives and things. And so, you know, ~um, ~that's all survival. And so today my world is not determined around me needing family members or, or anyone else for that matter, to survive.
[00:07:28] Right. Like I have, I have the ability to survive in this life and take care of my wife and kids without the quote unquote help of, you know, my, my,~ uh,~ my, my brother, sister,~ uh,~ dad, mom,~ uh,~ farmer family around me because that's just not how the world works anymore. And so in that same fashion now, fast forward at a hundred years, does, does the need for human capital, human labor?
[00:07:56] Farming,~ um,~ you know, building materials, [00:08:00] manufacturing, does that all eventually go away? I don't know, man. Seems like it would seems like we'll continue to progress in that way. You know, I don't know if I don't know what that means for, you know, 2025 specifically, but I think that there's going to be a tug and a pull between technology, AI,~ um,~ you know, and, and things like Elon getting in and going, Nope, this doesn't work anymore and cleaning up a bunch of stuff, which is going to make a whole lot of things more,~ uh,~ affordable.
[00:08:29] But it's also going to remove a lot of opportunity. For humans that currently hold those positions, right?
[00:08:36] Jake Isaacs: I admittedly am not a Twitter user or an ex user, and I have no opinion of the platform at all. It's not my preferred method of social media. I know that there are a lot of people that are really crazy about it. They love it. It's where most people in the generations younger than us get their news. But when Elon took, I don't know if you know [00:09:00] this, when Elon took over Twitter, the workforce immediately within the first six months went from 8, 000 employees to 1, 500, that's an 80 percent reduction in workforce. I haven't heard anyone complain about it's harder to use. They're not getting the same benefits. Like it is seemingly the platform continues, the benefit continues, but 80 percent of. The human capital cost is gone. And so now we're more efficient and effective. And initially you're like, Oh my gosh, that means that 80 percent of the people lost their job, that might be true.
[00:09:46] It also gave 80 percent of the people to go find something else that they're passionate about or to propel them into their next career or their
[00:09:58] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. They were working in a position that wasn't [00:10:00] needed anymore. How happy could you be in a position, you know, like that? And, and not to, not to, you know, like you said, kind of pass over the, the, the loss there potentially, but you know, this is America. There's a lot of opportunity and especially in today's world, there's not, I mean, if you want a job, then, then you can go find one.
[00:10:20] ~Um, ~and, and. There's no better place in the world to go start a new skill anyway. And so, ~uh, ~I think there's a lot of opportunity,~ um,~ in the opportunity of loss, right?
[00:10:32] Jake Isaacs: It just is wild to me as someone who operates their life with a certain level of intentionality around things and, and how my career has been predicated on developing systems where there is chaos, right. Providing organization to chaos. It's crazy that we need to implement a department of efficiency.
[00:10:57] And this is such like a, a burr under [00:11:00] the saddle moment for people. They're, you know, they're just all hot and bothered about this idea.
[00:11:07] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, anytime something gets, you know, kind of fat and happy, right? Like you've got this inefficiency or this,~ uh,~ slow moving thing that's bloated. I mean, that's really what it comes down to. Organizations get like this government organizations, you know, private organizations,~ um,~ you know, there's been plenty of times in, and even in our own businesses, you and I, we're, we're looking at things,~ um,~ or, or,~ uh,~ companies that we're helping and it's like.
[00:11:32] You know, the, the, the need is, is not matched with, with what the current team looks like, you know,~ um, ~and, and that happens as you're scaling, growing, trying to take care of things. Like, I don't think it happens out of, of malintent, you know, government. That's a little different. It's not a, not a private business and that's happened over decades, right?
[00:11:51] Just, you know. Unfortunately, and you know this better than I, because you've, you've worked closely with government agencies, but you know, they have a budget and if they don't use it, they lose it. And [00:12:00] so everybody's literally encouraged to spend, even if it means on menial things that we don't need, because, because then we're going to lose that budget.
[00:12:08] ~Uh, ~next quarter, next month, next year. And,~ um,~ it just, there's just no efficiency, especially in the spending, which is why we have the problems that we have and take that by one department times, however many thousands of, of,~ uh,~ budgets that there are, you know,
[00:12:23] Jake Isaacs: Yeah, I mean, we could have a whole separate conversation and podcast around.~ Uh, ~my experience managing funds for the United States government. It was a
[00:12:34] Chaz Wolfe: you should just talk about that for a second, because your experience is unique and you know, whether you want to give exact what you were doing or not that, you know, whatever, but you know, your, your experience with. With budgeting and government funds, I think, would be illuminating to some of the listeners.
[00:12:50] Jake Isaacs: Yeah. ~Uh, ~so when I decided to leave the hospitality industry, I was looking for something that was more altruistic in my life. And one of [00:13:00] the areas that I received a lot of fulfillment and joy when I was working inside of the hospitality industry was around the concept of human trafficking. ~Uh, ~and let me just.
[00:13:11] Make sure I'm not mincing words. I didn't get joy out of human trafficking. I got joy out of working with organizations, helping to combat human trafficking in and around the United States and hotels, no matter where they are, are hotbed for that. And so I had the opportunity to sit on a couple of different boards and work with some different,~ uh,~ local and federal agencies around that concept.
[00:13:35] And so when I left hospitality, I wanted to find something in that vein and found an NGO in Phoenix. That was working with unaccompanied minors that were coming to the United States borders and being put into ice and DCS detention centers.~ Um, ~and so these are children ages. The youngest child that we put into care was six months old.
[00:13:58] So six months old to [00:14:00] 18. And,~ uh,~ what we did is we managed a couple of million dollars. ~Uh, ~22 million to be precise million dollars,~ uh,~ of government aid around helping these children,~ uh,~ get out of the ice and DCS detention centers and into temporary foster care. Very fulfilling job. Incredible.
[00:14:22] Like drove me away from that job was just the waste.
[00:14:29] And. Lack of flexibility around how the money was spent. And so as an example, Chaz,~ uh,~ and I know I've talked about this with some of our gathering, the Kings members, I had 45 days. At the end of 2022 to spend 1. 5 million and it had to get spent and I'm a fairly prolific [00:15:00] shopper, but spending 1. 5 million in 45 days was really difficult.
[00:15:06] And then I'd have these like dumbass conversations with our government representative. And it was like,~ uh,~ Hey, I need to buy baby formula. Cause we just decided to take a six month old for you guys.~ Uh, ~that we. We've never done this before, but we, there are certain needs that this six month old has that we didn't budget for
[00:15:27] nine months ago when we wrote our budget.
[00:15:28] Cause we didn't think we were going to do it. So I would love to take some money from my technology budget and apply it to buying baby formula. No, you can't do that. I'm confused. Why can't I do that? Well, that's not how that money was earmarked. And so what ended up happening is I had a closet full of Mac books that were sitting on shelves.
[00:15:50] That we had purchased for future employees and children that were
[00:15:54] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah.
[00:15:58] Jake Isaacs: But if I didn't spend the [00:16:00] money in that technology budget, that budget was going to be cut in half or, or reduce the following year. And so I've got tens of thousands of dollars to buy equipment, but I can't buy a hundred dollars worth of baby formula for a month.
[00:16:14] And it's just maddening. It doesn't make sense. And the regulation and, and, and oversight is in place, but it's broken. It's really broken. There's no common sense applied to it.
[00:16:27] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. Yeah. I think that the common sense piece is what entrepreneurs excel in, right? Like a lot of entrepreneurs aren't, you know, these high degree earning, you know, ~uh, ~and many are. ~Um, ~but we think, we think from a place of, does this make sense? Not, you know, how can I, how can I create, you know, ~um, ~you know, create a budget.
[00:16:51] For things that aren't needed yet, not be able to use it for things that are needed just because things pivoted and changed. And obviously we know [00:17:00] that as entrepreneurs, that things pivot and change all the time. ~Um, ~which, you know, can, can actually lead to a little bit of a downfall because, because you probably didn't have a budget because you probably didn't think about it because you are, you know, using, you know, red funds for, for green activities or, you know, however you're going to categorize those things, you know, but there's gotta be, at least from like the government perspective, there's gotta be someone.
[00:17:21] In this case, it's, it's going to be,~ um,~ you know, Elon and,~ uh,~ and,~ uh,~ Vivek,~ uh,~ to come in and, and,~ um,~ create efficiency with common sense, you know, getting rid of things that aren't needed. And that's probably a good chunk of it, dude. ~Uh, ~I think a lot of it's just not needed, you know, the 6, 500 employees.
[00:17:36] It's not that they, I don't know how many of them quote, unquote, were needed at Twitter, but clearly they weren't needed, you know, and that's just kind of a harsh reality is that man, we were, you know, producing what, what, what were we producing, you know, and so I guess that's, that's the same approach that they're going to take, you know, with, with,~ uh,~ the government agency efficiency or the efficiency agency.
[00:17:58] And,~ um,~ I'm, I'm looking forward to it.
[00:17:59] Hey [00:18:00] Kings and Queens, Chaz Wolf. I want to talk to you about something that's super important to me. We put a lot of time and effort, we meaning myself and my team into this podcast, into the content that goes out every single day. And if you have been getting any sort of value or insight from this, we want it to be able to reach other business owners too.
[00:18:18] So we would love if you would like comment, share, leave a review, post, share again, all of the things. On social media, on all the different platforms, or even on the podcast mediums of Apple and Spotify. We would love to be able to get our content into more hands, more entrepreneurs, so they can grow their business as quick as possible.
[00:18:37] Together, we are building a community of like minded entrepreneurs who are committed to growing their businesses to new heights. So let's do this. Let's help each other grow.
[00:18:46] Jake Isaacs: When I would go into a new hotel and, you know, be tasked with turning around. Around the operations and the culture and all of that stuff. ~Uh, ~I would make a list mentally. And if I heard you say, well, that's the way we've always done it. [00:19:00] You got put on a certain list and that list was, we need to find a way to off board you as quickly as possible because that mindset is so toxic.
[00:19:08] The, the, we've always done it this way. That's there's no innovation in that mindset.
[00:19:16] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, we talked about this,~ uh,~ not, not in the fixed,~ uh,~ mindset perspective, but just a few nights ago we, we did our first,~ uh,~ generation next call. ~Uh, ~and so for the, for the listeners that don't know inside of the GTK community, we have begun,~ um,~ providing entrepreneurial support,~ uh,~ to, to kids and teenagers.
[00:19:33] And so all of our members. ~Uh, ~had, had,~ uh,~ all their kids that kind of fit, you know, like an eight years old and above frame. And gosh, we had, I don't know, probably 50 kids or something there on that zoom call and super fun. But we were, we were talking about a growth mindset, which is obviously the opposite of the fixed mindset that you're talking about.
[00:19:49] But. How can, how can I get an eight year old or an 18 year old to recognize that, you know, ~um, ~doing something for the first time and being bad at it. Okay, fine. [00:20:00] Sure. And I get to learn unto improving with the attitude that next time I'm going to be better. And,~ uh,~ or guess what? I made mistakes in this thing that I was supposed to do and, and, okay, cool.
[00:20:13] I get to learn from those. So that way, when I either do this thing again in the first example, or in this example, when I get to do something like it, I can't tell you, there's so many times where we go through things. We were just talking about this earlier today on some things that we've been working on marketing wise.
[00:20:26] It's like, man, that didn't really work out the way that we had hoped, but, but because I learned that then I can apply that to this. Gosh, I'm so glad I learned that. And that didn't cost me money. Then I got to learn how to do that type of marketing,~ uh,~ that we were talking about and,~ um,~ and it all, and it all works out later for the person that has the growth mindset, the fixed mindset you're talking about,~ uh,~ that the employee or heaven forbid the, the entrepreneur.
[00:20:51] I mean, goodness. I can't imagine that that company, well, first off, it's a bit, if it's a big company, it's, it's a, it's probably, you know, like [00:21:00] stagnant, if not a declining growth,~ um,~ if it's not yet a big company, it never will be because that's not how you get to a place of having more than a company that just, you know, basically serves, you know, just you, which is, which is really just, you know, kind of a solopreneur, you kind of own your job and,~ uh,~ and there's nothing wrong with that, but, but that's not, that's, that's not,~ uh,~ an entrepreneur, that's not a, You know, a full blown business, you know?
[00:21:26] Jake Isaacs: It's exciting times. It's, it's exciting times for, for potential change in future. And,~ uh,~ I'm, I have a lot of anticipation to see what comes of it because it's not just Twitter, right? He has this reputation of being able to do a lot with a little, and I know that that your phrase for 2025, I don't know that you've publicly said this, but I'm going to say it for you.
[00:21:54] Your phrase for 2025 is. Is how do we do more with less, or how do we do [00:22:00] a lot with a little?
[00:22:01] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. Yeah. It's funny. As you were saying that out loud,~ um,~ he is kind of known for, for creating these big things with, with a whole lot less than people think that's necessary. I mean, even take a look at, you know, space X you'll, and that wasn't even like, you know, with less, it was, you'll never be able to do this sheer.
[00:22:24] This is not possible. And, and,~ uh,~ I think, People like Elon, people like entrepreneurs like us love hearing this can't be done. And we're like, Oh, thank you for fueling the engine. And, and then of course he goes and does a rocket and all kinds of other stuff at like, you know, a 92nd of the cost, you know, of NASA, which is just insane.
[00:22:48] That's insane.
[00:22:49] Jake Isaacs: Okay.
[00:22:52] Chaz Wolfe: it at such a low cost that you still didn't even know how I did it. I mean, how can we apply [00:23:00] that to our businesses? I mean, that's, that's, that's the mantra that, that Jake's talking about, that I had developed for this year, you know, that actually felt like it was a little bit kind of, you know, heavenly download more with less, no bloat, no extra, no, no,~ uh,~ you know, like it.
[00:23:17] It's okay to be comfortable, but let's be lean, you know, in business and in, in,~ uh,~ you know, just really all the decision making. I mean, all the other areas of our lives as entrepreneurs are so impacted by how we choose to do them. You know, what does it mean to have a lean marriage? What does it mean to have a lean, you know, obviously a physical body?
[00:23:37] Okay, sure. But,~ uh,~ what does it mean to be a lean parent? You know, to do more with less. You know, I don't know. I think, I think that,~ uh,~ you know, in general, you know, the, the old phrase that, you know, the, I'm going to say it wrong, but, you know, good times create.~ Uh, ~hard men or it's reverse hard times, hard men create good times.
[00:23:58] Yeah. And then, and therefore I'm, I'm [00:24:00] starting to say it right there, but.~ Um, ~that, that, that downward,~ uh,~ spiral or that, that,~ uh,~ waterfall effect there is, is kind of where we are. Like we've created some amazing times and there's kind of some soft people. And, and so we need to restructure and shake things up in a bit.
[00:24:19] ~Um, ~you know, we've kind of gotten the, you know, we're bloated, we're not lean, you know, as a country, as a government, as a, as businesses, you know, you know, I don't know how you can be. We just came out of COVID money. You know, I, I just sold one of my,~ uh,~ franchise locations last year and, and,~ um,~ you know, the trajectory, you know, it's funny how the sales, you know, are, you know, steady, but growing.
[00:24:39] And then COVID comes and it's like, you know, record year, record year, record year, you know, I'm about to acquire a company here in Kansas city, same thing. 2021, 22, even 23, just shoot, shoot, shoot. Incredible years. And in the negotiation, it's like, Hey guys, cool. [00:25:00] Like, great. I'm so glad you had your record year last year.
[00:25:02] I'm not buying that company though, right? Because guess what? Let's look at this year and that's okay. Like we got it. We, and I felt like I priced the business that I sold accordingly to that. And I was pretty open with the guy, but,~ um,~ you know, the scenario is, is like, I can't, I can't buy COVID money. We were bloated then, right?
[00:25:19] You had extra money, you were investing, you, you know, people were, were buying edible arrangements because they just had the extra funds. And, you know, we do, we do things like that. When we're bloated, but when we get lean, we make different types of decisions, right?
[00:25:35] Jake Isaacs: So speak to me real quickly about, and, and, you know, maybe you have forecasted this or haven't forecasted this, but how do you continue to have an abundance mindset? And live in abundance, but still be lean. And, and when I go back to the example of the government, you know, the United States has been the beacon of hope to the entire world.
[00:25:59] And [00:26:00] we've been spending so much money in outreach and trying to promote democracy and promote safety and security to other parts of the world. And that's cost us a lot of money, which is, which is created this environment that the United States is nine, the States is abundant. But also to your point, we got bloated.
[00:26:18] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah.
[00:26:18] Jake Isaacs: how do you have both lean and abundance?
[00:26:22] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. I mean, the word that comes to my mind is prudence, right? ~Um, ~and just because one is prudent and, and, and I guess I can look up the definition real quick here, but you know, ~um, ~or maybe Sandy, if you can put it in the, in the notes for me, that'd be kind of cool.~ Um, ~you know, the, the, the definition of prudence is so diverse.
[00:26:45] Here it is right here. Marked by wisdom or judiciousness,~ uh,~ shrewd in the management of practical affairs, cautious, discreet, thrifty, frugal,~ um,~ and there are some, some examples there, but you know, thrifty frugal. [00:27:00] I'm not, I'm not as much of a fan of those, but I think it's still, it's, it's part of the word, I guess is what I'm trying to say.
[00:27:05] It's not just. You know, ~uh, ~cautious or, or,~ uh,~ frugal. It's the element of wisdom inside of those things, because guess what? There are times. You can, you can have abundance, you can have an overflow, but then you can take that money or that whatever is being overflown or overflowed and, and not be a good steward of it.
[00:27:30] And so if, if it's my objective to be a good steward of all the resources, my time, my money,~ um,~ my family, my, my team members, you know, my community, like all of my resources, if I, if I truly want to be a good steward,~ um,~ then I look at those things. With responsibility and just because I have an abundance mindset, meaning I can always go get more right now.
[00:27:56] I can't always go get more time. Okay. This [00:28:00] situation has passed. Or this too shall pass or I'll get another chance tomorrow. Some of those things are applicable with time, but for sure with resources, right, specifically around money. Okay. So I can have an abundant mindset that, you know, I can always go make more money tomorrow, or, you know, that, you know, I had a, I had a loved one pass, but I can, I can build another relationship tomorrow.
[00:28:22] ~Um, ~I can't get those specific things back, but, but my abundant. Mind is, is,~ uh,~ always, I'm not going to, I'm not going to stop in the lack and, and, and my life is over because I'm out of this resource. I don't actually think I'm out of this resource. I'm going to pivot and, and then, and get that resource through another channel of sorts, right?
[00:28:44] This business folds. No problem. I start another one. My, my, I lose my job. No problem. I get another one. I develop a new skill. I. You know, ~um, ~I lose this family member. Okay. No, not this. No problem. But you get what I'm saying? I'm not trying to be dry and, and, and,~ um,~ dark about it. But the [00:29:00] abundant mindset is my belief that, that there is more somewhere else and that I'm not,~ uh,~ drawn into this scarcity of, oh, no, this is all I've got.
[00:29:10] I have to conserve right now, taking that hat off and putting on the prudent hat. Is I don't necessarily want to conserve for the sake of, oh my gosh, I'm going to run out. I want to be a good steward. And so, okay, I have a hundred of these things, whatever it is, dollars or, or millions or whatever, how do I use these for the best?
[00:29:35] Return on investment, the best experience, the best team, you know, whatever it is I'm looking for. And so, ~um, ~I think that prudence helps me make decisions around using what I have for the best use of that. ~Um, ~and sometimes That could be buying something that doesn't make sense, right? So that's where frugal kind of gets kicked out of the way.
[00:29:56] And, and, and we go on a family vacation or I buy a, I [00:30:00] buy a material thing that maybe doesn't make sense. You know, probably the watch that I own doesn't make sense, you know, but from like a frugal perspective, cause I could use that money in real estate, or I could do, you know, I could do, go do other investments with it.
[00:30:14] And that is how my mind thinks sometimes, but. At some point, the experience or how I feel or what I get to,~ um, um, ~you know, partake in because of the things that I'm a part of or the, the watch club or whatever, the car club or whatever, those things get to then bring me further return on investment.~ Um, ~and so it's strategic at that point, strategic and prudent.
[00:30:34] I kind of put in kind of the same, the same bucket. ~Um, ~and, and I think that that's how we should be looking at it. I, that's why I don't think the government looks at spending, which is what I, I am excited about, you know, the, the doge,~ uh,~ deal, but for us. You know, you, me, the listener right now thinking about our businesses and our families, how can I look at our resources and be a good steward?
[00:30:55] ~Um, ~sometimes I have to say no to something, even if I have the money, I'll use [00:31:00] the example of the watch that I just described. ~Um, ~I could have bought the watch well before I bought the watch.~ Um, ~but, but I specifically waited, I delayed. The gratification because I wanted a it to mean something because that was part of the experience to I had other things that I had earmarked or that said were more important than that.
[00:31:20] And I think that's what prudence is, even though it was sitting there in the account and I could have done it. I waited because that was serving a different purpose. ~Um, ~and so chess, right? That's what we're doing as entrepreneurs playing chess.
[00:31:32] Jake Isaacs: Yeah, gotta have a vision for the big picture. And I think sometimes we get so shortsighted,~ uh,~ with that immediate gratification. You know, we, we both have the opportunity to, to, as young men learn the value of delayed gratification. And I think that. It's hard for people to come out of that delayed gratification [00:32:00] mindset to live in abundance sometimes because they get so caught up in this.
[00:32:04] I'm delaying, I'm delaying, I'm delaying.
[00:32:07] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. But I'll tell you, I'd rather be stuck there than I would in, you know, ~um, ~not being prudent,~ uh,~ being bloated, making poor choices. And then having to revert back,~ um,~ I think that would be a harder transition and, and, and the listener might be experiencing that they might be, you know, maybe they, maybe they, you know, had, had a great couple of years with COVID and, and weren't prudent with the money.
[00:32:31] They didn't save it. They didn't think about the future. I mean, I don't know, right, but what's going to be needed most likely in that scenario is just. You know, some awareness,~ uh,~ or consciousness around,~ uh,~ around what the flow is, whether it's money or whether whatever resource we're talking about, and then recalculating decisions going, okay, I know we've done that in the past, but maybe that doesn't serve us anymore.
[00:32:56] ~Uh, ~or maybe that doesn't serve us in this season that we're in because we've decided that this other [00:33:00] thing is more important. It doesn't mean that the family vacation or the whatever else that we've gotten accustomed to is going to go away forever, but maybe it needs to go away for a period of time because we've determined that this is actually the end result that we're looking for this year.
[00:33:14] And,~ um,~ and that, and that over expense thing. ~Um, ~it doesn't fit in, you know, ~um, ~you know, the family, the family vacation pieces is so interesting. We obviously run a family vacation,~ um,~ you know, mastermind trip and,~ uh,~ and it's not cheap, but it's an incredible opportunity for families to get away. And there's major value in that.
[00:33:32] But at the end of the day, if you're listening right now and you can't. You can't go do that. That's not prudent for you. Then guess what? Like you can go camping for hardly any money at all. And, and if camping is not your thing, then, then figure out something else. But it, it doesn't even have to be about the money.
[00:33:49] Right. And even for us as yes, we're going on a,~ uh,~ you know, Punta Cana Dominican Republic and all kinds of families from all across the country. And yeah. You know, like it's the [00:34:00] experience of it. It's who's going to be there. It's not really like this. I'm just lavish thing that I'm just going to go. I've chosen this way to vacation specifically because in addition to the family vacation, I'm going to get to network with some incredible family or a business owners and,~ um,~ and my kids are going to be around other entrepreneur families.
[00:34:17] It's, it was still made out of a prudent decision making process, you know?
[00:34:24] Jake Isaacs: No, yeah, it's so interesting. Like that whole concept of, of prudence and delayed gratification and being lean and your vision for the future. ~Uh, ~it's things that really move the needle in people's lives. Like this is a skillset that is really important to teach the young and we're just not talking about it. This society that we've developed is consumerism and it's go buy now and replace soon. And, you know, the newest version is coming out. And so are you buying it? [00:35:00] We've allowed things to become,~ uh,~ status symbols and,~ uh,~ you know, it's not cool to save money. It's not cool to live below your means. It's not cool to be prudent with the things that you,~ uh,~ are talking about here today, Chaz.
[00:35:15] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. It's so interesting because,~ um,~ right. It's not cool to the masses, but you know, for the entrepreneurs,~ um,~ you know, my kids think it's cool, not necessarily to be. Like I said, the frugal, there's, there's a time and a place for that. But to be purposeful, to be intentional, to be, to be well thought out, which is how I think of prudent, you know, ~um, ~you know, and, and,~ uh,~ and for the kids, you know, the spending versus investing conversation.
[00:35:39] We do, we do a workshop for spending versus investing on our family vacation,~ uh,~ for the, for the kiddos. But e every time I've done it, whether it's our own workshops, and I've done that, you know, several times within schools, ~um. ~You know, it's pretty easy to, you know, you, you can draw a clock up there and you say, you, you, you take your time and you go to work and you get, and they say money.
[00:35:59] Okay, great. [00:36:00] And then you take your money and you buy things, right? That's almost instantaneous. And just to your point, it's consumerism. And if I can get them to understand at, you know, eight or 18, that when we earn the money, that the objective isn't necessarily to buy things. Of course, we have to buy things in order to survive, but the objective is not to buy things actually.
[00:36:21] The objective is to buy my time, the objective is freedom and what that looks like is now I have the money, I make a decision on where best this money can go so that I no longer have to take my time and go back to work in order to refill the bucket. Because in the example that I use with the kids is that, okay, great.
[00:36:47] So you went to work. And we always have, you know, pick out fun careers and, and it's kind of fits in with career day and stuff like that in the schools, but you know, you, you went to school and you were a doctor or,~ uh,~ sorry, not school, but you went to work and you were a doctor or a veterinarian or,~ uh,~ you know, ~uh, ~you [00:37:00] know, a teacher or whatever, and they earn money.
[00:37:02] And so I was, you know, give them, give them something that represents money. And,~ uh,~ and then I come around and I have to collect rent and things of,~ uh,~ you know, food and all the basics and it leaves them with something, you know, and,~ uh,~ And then I always have it. Typically, if I, if I make a candy, then they're super excited about it.
[00:37:18] And I have everybody in the room eat that piece of candy because that's what's left over. And they're super excited about it with the exception. Of the one kid in the room who drew the, the, the investor business owner tag, you know, and so they, he ha he, he invests his in his business or in real estate.
[00:37:38] And so the whole classroom, I make him feel really bad. You know, everybody gets to eat their chocolate. And then this one kid, you know, is like, Oh man. And he's, you know, wait, what? Everybody gets to eat theirs, but I don't. And just hilarious with the kids and literally, you know, shoving their faces full of chocolate or whatever it is that I've given them.
[00:37:56] And,~ uh,~ and then I'm like, okay, great. So now it's the next month. What do you got to [00:38:00] go do? You know, well, you got to go back to work to earn more money. Okay. So you went back to work to earn the more money I was like, but actually before you go back to work,~ um,~ that investment that the investor entrepreneur made that came through, it's called a return on investment and they sold the property or the business took off, you know, whatever example I'm given.
[00:38:20] And,~ uh,~ and, and before, before you guys go back to work, let me, let me, let me give him his return on investment or hers. And I come over with this just huge bucket and just dump, you know, all this candy and it just goes all over the desk and all the kids like, wait, what? I want some. And you know, some kids are like snatching some and it's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, you ate yours.
[00:38:39] And this one kid gets this huge pile of candy and ~uh, ~and they're like, oh, that's not fair. And it's like, well, actually a minute ago, you didn't want to share your candy with him, right? All you guys got candy, but he didn't, or she didn't. Now he's got his return on investment or she's got his return on investment.
[00:38:58] And guess what you have to do. Right. [00:39:00] We just determined you have to go back to work. Okay. So go, go on back to work. You got to go to work. You got to put in your time because you got to eat right. You got to pay rent again. I was like, but again, before we do that, does the entrepreneur investor have to go to work?
[00:39:13] Does he have enough to pay rent out of the yeah, he does. So you get to choose now, investor, entrepreneur, whether you want to go to work tomorrow, everybody else has to, and if I can get kids eight or 18, like I say, to understand I get money in and I don't, I don't just buy the necessities. And then eat the rest, you know, buy sneakers or candy or whatever else, you know, for me, when I was that age, it was, it was sneakers, you know, too many pair of shoes.
[00:39:52] Where would I be if I hadn't spent all that money? Right. So if you get them to understand, don't do that yet, invest it first. So it's not [00:40:00] spend first, it's invest first, spend what you have to leftover in order to survive. Sure. Okay, fine. But invest first. And then eventually what happens is that return on investment overtakes.
[00:40:12] You needing to go to work and I can get kids to understand that it's incredible. Actually, when they do, they're like, wait a second. And it's like light bulb, ding, they've just never been taught it before. Pretty crazy, right?
[00:40:30] Jake Isaacs: It's very crazy. And having been in those rooms with you watching that light bulb moment to happen, it is truly one of the most joyful experiences that I can think of. ~Uh, ~because the recognition of, Oh my gosh, there's a different way and it doesn't have to be as difficult as I thought it was. So,
[00:40:52] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. Especially as entrepreneurs that have kids, we can give them, you know, we don't have to give them anything other than the [00:41:00] understanding.~ Um, ~you know, ideally if I can give my kids wisdom and wealth, okay, cool. But even if I can't, even if I don't have wealth,~ um,~ I can give them, I can give them pieces like this, this little example I just gave to you.
[00:41:12] That, that can change the trajectory because at eight or 18, I mean we just did this,~ um,~ this, this first call the other night and I've already followed up with a few families and,~ uh,~ one of the kids has already sold like a hundred dollars worth of cookies. He went that night, he made cookies and the next day he started calling family members to sell 'em and has already made a hundred dollars.
[00:41:29] And it's like, now if I can get that kid to understand, don't spend the a hundred dollars on garbage things, but go buy more cookie batter. Go, go eventually buy a piece of real estate, man. Can you imagine what a 25-year-old. Is doing that. Learn that at 12. I
[00:41:45] Jake Isaacs: yeah,
[00:41:46] Chaz Wolfe: mean, come on.
[00:41:48] Jake Isaacs: yeah, it's exciting. We,~ uh,~ we met a guy a couple of months ago and his daughter, who's 11 years old, has a hundred thousand dollar t shirt or a tennis shoe reselling business on [00:42:00] eBay. And it's, you hear stories like that and you're like, gosh, this is so cool. This is incredible.
[00:42:06] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. As an adult, you go, wait a second. She made how much.
[00:42:10] Jake Isaacs: Yeah. Well, ~uh, ~for the listener, we just appreciate you being here with us this new year,~ uh,~ we appreciate you starting out your year with us. And if conversations like this are interesting to you,~ uh,~ if you don't have people in your life that are talking about efficiencies inside of businesses or,~ uh,~ talking about creating leanness in their own lives or an abundant mentality.
[00:42:35] Chaz, how can they, how can they get more information? How can they find people?
[00:42:39] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. Go to gathering the kings. com. Obviously we've talked about the community here quite a bit, but,~ uh,~ you, this may be your first time hearing it. And so we have a community of entrepreneurs from all across the country. We've all got different types of businesses. What links us together is that we are down to earth.
[00:42:53] growth minded, family oriented. We want more out of life. We're grateful, but not done. And,~ um,~ to be around people like that on a [00:43:00] regular basis,~ um,~ in person and online is, is,~ uh,~ absolutely fueling me to live the exceptional life. And I know that,~ uh,~ many of our members, if they were sitting right here, it'd be like, dude, I'm living the exceptional life because I'm surrounded by people who are constantly,~ um,~ not only doing it themselves, but pushing me to do the same.
[00:43:14] You can go to gatheringthekings. com and fill out an application there. If,~ uh,~ if you think. You and your family and your kids included being around other high performing,~ uh,~ entrepreneur families would be a benefit to you.
[00:43:26] Jake Isaacs: Thanks, man. I appreciate it.
[00:43:27] Thank you for listening to driven to win. I hope that you were able to pull out a few nuggets to go apply into your business right away. More importantly, though, I hope that you're realizing that it takes more to be successful than just being by yourself, doing it all on your own, carrying the weight all by yourself.
[00:43:45] What I have realized, not only in my own journey from multiple businesses and multiple different industries, and now interviewing over two or 300. Other very successful seven, eight and nine figure business owners is that it's tough to do it alone. And so gathering the Kings [00:44:00] exists to bring together successful entrepreneurs.
[00:44:03] In fact, we are putting together 1000 Kings specifically who are grateful, but not done. We're intentionally assembling Kings who fight tooth and nail for their business, family, and communities. And here's what we believe that in the pursuit of excellence in those areas. That it ignites within us, the responsibility to govern power and forge a lasting legacy.
[00:44:26] So if that relates and resonates with you, and you know, that you need people around you, sharp, qualified, other very successful business owners. I want you to go to gatheringthekings. com. I want you to take a look at what we're doing and see if it makes sense for you to be part of our pursuit to 1000 Kings talk soon.

In this engaging episode, Chaz Wolfe and Jake Isaacs dive into some thought-provoking topics, from government spending inefficiencies to the importance of having a growth mindset in entrepreneurship. They discuss Elon Musk's impact on efficiency both in business and potentially in government, offer insights on how entrepreneurs can achieve more with less, and highlight the significance of teaching financial wisdom to the younger generation. The episode also includes practical advice on maintaining prudence while fostering an abundance mindset.

Chaz Wolfe:

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