Why Showing Up Still Matters (Even When You're Already Successful)

[00:00:00] Speaker A: But that just, like, hit me with like, ah, why, why am I even thinking this is a problem? What if I thought through the lens of I fucking love this and not just like an affirmation in the mirror that I don't believe, but like, you, you imparted that not as words of fakeness, but I felt that that hit me of like, wouldn't like, isn't that a better way of being. [00:00:22] Speaker B: Hey, welcome to the Agency our podcast, where we help web design and digital agency owners create abundance for themselves, their teams and their communities. This week we're joined once again by Simon. He's CEO and head of growth at Seriously Good Design. And in this episode, we're exploring why showing up still matters even when you're already successful. We dive into Simon's belief in surrounding yourself with new thinking, how he engineers ROI from live events, and why unstructured, organic conversations might just be a better approach to gaining objective assurance. Lots of buzzwords. We also talk about the role of mentors in helping agency owners get clear on what's next and how letting go of the guru Persona can actually unlock better results for your audience. All that and a whole lot more. I'm Troy Dean. Stay with us. Ladies and gentlemen, Simon Kelly. Welcome back to the Agency Hour for what I believe is the final installment in this season of the Agency Hour podcast. Is that right? [00:01:19] Speaker A: It is good to be back. We had a plan to do 10 and see how that goes. We've been varying between themes and topics. So interested to hear from. From from listeners if there are getting around what they've thought of the last couple and they haven't all been me, but yeah, I'd love to know, should we keep going? Is there a better theme? What should we do less of? What should we do more of? And see if we can do another season. But for now this will be the last one. [00:01:46] Speaker B: And so what we're going to do is I'm going to ask you to text Simon on his phone number, which is 04. Probably best way is to hit us up on YouTube. Go to the YouTube channel, go to one of the Agency Hour podcast episodes, go to this one actually, and give us some feedback on what you. Which I know no one is going to do, which is fine because who's got time to do that, right? Or you can just email supportagencymaverics.com which again, no one's got time to do that. No one cares, right? [00:02:12] Speaker A: You used to have in your signature call me anytime. Like call me. [00:02:18] Speaker B: I did. And I had a Skype phone number. [00:02:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:02:20] Speaker B: And so, but he. One of the things we were going to do, one of the things we've been talking about doing on this show is to have a phone number where people can call in and leave a voice message. So I think we should do that. Right. If we do this again, like, I mean, I'm going to keep doing the podcast. Whether or not you come back is yet to be decided, but we're going to do, we'll do, you know, more episodes and I think we'll have a dial in number which no one will ring. I promise you, no one will call it. And, but we'll set up a dial in number. People can dial in and ask a question and then we'll play the question on the show and we'll answer the questions on the show. Right. No one's going to do it, but we should do it anyway just to. [00:02:53] Speaker A: See, to have that offer. It's actually insane because. And I had to kind of reframe my thinking here because, like, we know each other and I've like, worked with you and talked with you for ages. So forgetting that you're like, I've seen a lot, we've shared Airbnb and I'll just leave it at that. So what happens on tour. [00:03:18] Speaker B: Stays on Facebook. [00:03:19] Speaker A: What happens when tour goes on YouTube, just live streamed. And, and like me being here on this, I don't, you know, I don't under, under estimate or under gratefulness this opportunity to be here to ask questions because I think lots of people would like give their left arm to be able to be like, can I talk to Troy? I just have this burning question. So for those people, you. Yeah, I know. Like, and that's great that you think that because you, you, you're a gracious human being and, and modest sometimes. And so the opportunity to be able to be like, I have an agency, I've got business. I'm trying to make this work. I'm trying to support my family. I'm trying to grow with AI. Like, I can ask, I can get a direct line, ask a question, get it answered. [00:04:01] Speaker B: Max, didn't you look into this? A couple of weeks ago you had this. A couple of weeks ago, Max was looking at this, right? Did we get a phone number? Have we got a phone number yet? Max is looking at me like he doesn't know what I'm talking about. [00:04:12] Speaker A: A couple of weeks ago, didn't we talk about. [00:04:14] Speaker B: Speak Pipe. Speak pipe. Let's do it. Let's set up Speak Pipe. I tell You. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to set up speak pipe. We're going to. We're going to have a phone number that you can call. And by the time this episode goes live, we will set up speak pipe. We will have a phone number that you can call and you can ask a question. And we will play the. If anyone does this, by the way, we will play the question on the show and we'll answer the question. Right? We'll make that happen. And so we will publish that phone number with this episode somewhere, wherever you're listening to this episode or watching, we'll put the phone number in the show notes. You can ring that phone number. It'll probably BE in the U.S. i imagine, because that's where the bulk of our audience are. We might try and set one up in Australia, too, I don't know. And you can ask a question and we'll answer it. If that. If, if. And if people. I'll tell you what, we'll give it. We'll give it a month, and if no one uses it, then we'll turn it off. How's that sound? [00:05:08] Speaker A: Sounds good to me. [00:05:09] Speaker B: Great. Yeah. So now here's this is. We're going to Bali next week, right, for our mavcon, which is now you and I ran the first mavcon, which is the live event that we run for customers. We ran the first Mavcon seven years ago. Seven years ago in Oscar was. It was just before his first birthday. We were in San Diego. We're in Mission Bay at the venue in San Diego in June, and we ran MAVCON for 12 members or whatever it was, and we put what, fucking sticky notes all over the windows and went out in the boat and drank beer and all that good stuff, had a great time. And this year we're going to Bali, and It is the 21st MAVCON. So we're actually celebrating our 21st birthday in Bali. Yeah, 21 events. We've run 21 events. That includes our online events. I think we've run a handful of online events. We've been to San Diego, we've been to Santa Monica, we've done it in Melbourne. We did it in. We did it in Thailand. [00:06:13] Speaker A: Koh Samui. That's right. [00:06:14] Speaker B: We went to Koh Samui. Now we're going to Bali. And so, you know, we've been to Santa Monica. A lot of people have been to these events over the years, and a lot of people can't make it. Why do you Keep going to these events. I keep going to these events because people pay me and I have to turn up and it's contractually obliged to do that. Otherwise I wouldn't go. But other than that, why do you go to these events? Why do you keep turning up? Apart from you usually get up and speak and flex a bit, which is good. But apart from that, as an agency owner, why do you do it? [00:06:44] Speaker A: It's being around the kind of thinking that I don't get exposed to enough online or in my day to day. So like as the owner of the business, I want to hear from other business owners. I don't want to watch a YouTube video, I don't want to read another article. I want to, I want to know what's. I want to cut through all of that to know what's been applied practically and is working through the lens of doing stuff, trying, failing and what's working. So being around those, that kind of thinking just. I just can't help but level up. It's great. So sure. [00:07:20] Speaker B: Can't you do that? Like, do you have to go to Bali to do that or San Diego or like. [00:07:25] Speaker A: Yeah, well, the good thing is someone else is organizing the whole thing, so I just have to rock up. So there's that bit. So on the one hand I could be like, all right, I'm going to set up the event, I'm going to invite all these people, try to get them there. Do the mc, like have a reason for them to come along? That's expensive in itself. Or Troy's doing it and I'll rock up. That's a lot easier. And it's a good like. And Bali's great. It's excuse to get. [00:07:50] Speaker B: It's expensive, right? [00:07:51] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:07:51] Speaker B: I mean, it's expensive for you to go, right? [00:07:53] Speaker A: So time investment, cost investment, taking three people out of the business to come along. [00:07:58] Speaker B: How do you measure the roi? Because I've been. Look, dude, I've been. We've been running events like this for seven years, right? Even before that I was running some meetups. I ran. I think the first mastermind I ran was in Philadelphia in 2014 or something. We did New York in 2016. So I've been doing this for over 10 years. Running events for over 10 years. I've been attending conferences and events like this for 15 years, right? And I just spoke at the High Level Summit. I've got my lanyard here somewhere. Last week I went up and spoke at the High Level Summit and I'm just about conferenced out, right? Like, I had this premonition. I was talking to Max yesterday. I had this premonition. Well, I'm in Bali next week. It's Monday morning, I'm in the pool doing backstroke, you know, getting my stomach sunburnt. And it's like five to nine, and Max and Jane are like, troy, Where's Troy? Come on, get out of the pool. We've got to go. And I'm like, ah, fuck off. Do it yourself. Like, I'm just gonna hang out in the pool. Like, just come and stand at the pool and ask me questions if you want. Like, I'm done. Like, I'm almost. I'm almost conferenced out, right? So why. And so here's what happened. I went to the High Level summit. I spoke on the Tuesday morning at 9:45-10:45. I walked into the room at 9:15 Tuesday morning, got my badge, got my microphone, got up on stage, spoke from 9:45 to 10:45. By 11:00 clock, I was out of there. I was up in the room, packed my bag in a cab and I was out. I was there on the Sunday night and all day Monday did not go anywhere near the conference because I find them exhausting. Right, so how do you measure ROI now? Maybe that's just because, you know, I say this humbly, but from getting out of the Uber and checking into my room Sunday night, I was stopped by about half a dozen people who wanted to shake my hand and say, you know, I'm a follower and nice to meet you and blah, blah, blah, which I get, and it's awesome. And, you know, 10 years ago that I would have been on cloud nine. Now it's just. And I love these people, but now it's just, it's a distraction and a bit of a hindrance. You know what I mean? It's like, just fucking give me some space, right? And maybe that's just because I'm a bit old and I've been doing this a long time and I'm. And it's. It's like, because here and what said before, like, I'm not humble. But what I know to be true is that meeting me or your guru or whoever it is in real life is not going to change anything, right? It's like, it's. It's not gonna, it's. You're not gonna come back to the office, go, well, I just. I went and met Tony Robbins. And so now all of a sudden, I'm gonna change my daily habits and have a new outcome. It's not. The only person that can change your daily habits and change your outcome is you. Doesn't matter if you meet Jesus Christ or Santa Claus or Troy Dean. It doesn't matter. Right? That's just, for me, that's just like, I don't know, like, I, I, in the back in the day when I was younger and starting out and I wasn't so jaded, I would go and meet my mentors and the gurus that I followed online and I would be very excited about it. I would also come back and within a couple of months realize, you know, that I have to make change. I'm the one that has to change things. So my question for you is, how do you measure ROI on these events? And how do you, what do you do after these events to make sure that they're not just a little bit of, you know, mental masturbation or a business holiday, which, if that's what it is, it's fine. But let's just call it for what it is. I'm doing a great job of selling this, aren't I? You should all come to, you can't come to Bali. It's sold out. But if, you know, if there were. [00:11:18] Speaker A: Tickets, hang out by the pool. Yeah. So. Well, I will answer those questions right now, but I do want to, after that, circle back to what you're saying around, like meeting the people that you admire or aspire to be. Doesn't change anything because I have a slightly different perspective from my own perspective around that. But first, how do I measure roi? So something I learned from Brooke Castillo, or just heard from Brooke Castillo and decided to take that on and was like, it's like ROI for something like this for me. And I'm saying it like it's for everyone, but like, it's, it's a decision to make it a return on investment. So I'm going to go to this and I'm going to choose to make this a 10x return for my business. So that's the decision. Not like I'm gonna go there and like, passively, I could be like, I'm gonna go there and, you know, I'll just be open and see what happens. That's one way to look at it. And that's, that's fine, but that's not going to be the thing that's gonna help me filter through the information that'll come. Cause there'll be potentially lots and it's not all gonna be relevant right now. So how, what, what of if there's three things that I can take away three things that I can take away implement and be like, oh, of course we were trying this stupid thing and these people have solved that thing already. And it's probably not you on stage solving those, but it's at the round tables, it's at lunch, it's the other people doing things through the guidance and leadership of that happening that I think will be able to pick up those things and create roi, not just. Not just passively get roi. So that's how I measure it by. By deciding to make it happen. And I haven't always done that, for sure. And I have definitely not received ROI and be like, well, nothing changed because I did nothing differently. Okay, great. Okay, well, now you're gonna have to do something differently. So I'll keep coming to these things for that reason. But I get, I totally get conferenced out through the energy of the different people, but I don't go to that many. So it's not. [00:13:10] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:13:12] Speaker A: Okay, I'm fine. I've been house sitting for like two years, traveling around in a van. So I'm like, the pendulum's ready to swing and let's go to Bali. [00:13:19] Speaker B: Yeah, you're ready for some more grownups, right? Yeah, yeah. And I guess it is like, and again, I say this, you know, at these events because I publish a podcast and, you know, speak my opinions on YouTube and have a blog and we have a program and all that kind of stuff. And I've spoken at events and I put myself out there as not. Not a guru or an expert. I put myself out there as just someone who's figured some shit out and is sharing their knowledge. Other people position me as a guru or a rock star. I've never said that I'm a guru or a rock star or any of that kind of shit, but other people, I understand why other people see me like that. And so what? And again, I just say this because the experience is very different when you're at a conference like this, when you're in that position, because. And you've experienced this a little bit as well. I mean, when you were out in the States and people are like, oh, my God, Simon Kelly from Australia's here with, you know, Mavericks Club. And it's like, you, you, you people, you just get. People just tell you their life story, right? And it's like you, Once you've heard 30 life stories in a day, it's like, oh, for sake. Like, I, I get it. And I empathize with all of you and I love you all, but please, like, I'm not your psychologist or your life coach. Like, it's amazing the kind of that people tell you. It's like, why are you telling me about your childhood trauma? Like, I'm not equipped to deal with this. Like, I can help you grow your agency, But. And so it is. It does. It just gets kind of exhausting, I think, because you. And because you're listening, you're taking on so much of people's stories and. Which is an honor and a privilege, but it just. It does get a little exhausting. So anyway, I'm. That's all I'm going to say about that. [00:14:57] Speaker A: No, no. [00:14:58] Speaker B: So if I'm in the pool at Mavcon, just, you know, jump in the pool and let's talk about the footy or something. But, you know, try to avoid telling me a life story if we're in the pool, you know. [00:15:06] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:15:07] Speaker B: Unless you've got a gin. Unless you come bearing a gin and tonic. And then, you know, maybe that's the olive branch. [00:15:12] Speaker A: Let's make it reciprocal. [00:15:14] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I like it now. Yeah. And so you think spicy mug is. You think meeting your mentors is. Is in real life, is. [00:15:23] Speaker A: Is valuable, generally speaking? I think it depends on how you approach it, because when I first was hunting you down to. To see if you were a real human and if I wanted to listen to the things that you would say, your way, like, yeah, this is. We'll see how this goes. Your way of being. Your way of being was important for me to absorb. Like, not what you're saying, it's how you're saying it. And, like, you said something and it. Fuck it. Like, your way of saying it changed my life. [00:16:04] Speaker B: Wow. Jesus. [00:16:05] Speaker A: So you. So. No, no, in a really good way. In a really good way. And I, like. I'm a little. I don't know about ashamed to admit it, but, you know, I've said that now. We were. We were in your office at. At a Revolver upstairs, where you were with. With gin. Not the alcohol, but the human. [00:16:21] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:16:23] Speaker A: Well, yeah, so we were walking to. To get a coffee. There was, like, just upstairs, I think, a pod, machine, whatever. There was something in the. In the kitchen. So we're going over to have a coffee. And I was like, you were upbeat and you were energized. Maybe was your 10th coffee of the day. I don't know, maybe you were drinking gin. But anyway, you were upbeat and you were energized and I was a little demotivated. And I was like, oh. Like, I was thinking in my head, like, you know, working with clients is. Is difficult. And I want to kind of bond with Troy over how. How difficult clients are. Was my. I didn't realize I was thinking that, but on reflection, I was kind of thinking that, and I was like, you know, how. How is it, you know, you've got to. You kind of have to meet these, like, deadlines and get this. Get this work done, and you're under pressure. It's like, it's really hard doing that for customers and clients. Hey. Expecting you to just be like, yeah, I know. Like, you know, what a nightmare. Something like that. And you go, I fucking love it. And I was like, whoa, shit. What do you. What do you mean? And you articulated that in the way that you get to work on, like, the launch. You were doing lots of launches back then, I suppose. Yeah, you would. And maybe your launch burnt out, conference burnt out. It's a different world for Troy right now. [00:17:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:33] Speaker A: Values have changed. But your experience back then either. So you know, exactly what you valued at that time is different to what you value at this time. Yeah, but that just, like, hit me with, like, ah, why. Why am I even thinking this is a problem? What if I thought through the lens of I love this, and not just like an affirmation in the mirror that I don't believe, but, like, you. You imparted that not as words of fakeness, but I felt that that hit me of, like, wouldn't, like, isn't that a better way of being. Isn't that a better way of approaching this, you idiots? Clients are difficult. Yeah, great. And now you were. You talked about this on recent episodes. If I think through the lens clients are difficult, I'll go out of my way to prove that clients are difficult and look for more evidence to back up that belief. You through the lens of I fucking love this, will go looking for more opportunities to fucking love something. And that. That just hit me so high, like, dude, you can. This is a choice, man. You can choose to enjoy this, or you can choose that this is hard. [00:18:31] Speaker B: So that's interesting. I mean, the context is that I'd spent, you know, my 20s driving around the country trying to sell shampoo and. And hairspray to hairdressing salons in the middle of fucking nowhere. And so working on the Internet, building websites for clients for me, I felt like I'd landed in heaven. Right? So it's. It is relative. And, I mean, I absolutely hated my job as a traveling salesperson. And, you know, staying in crummy hotels and, you know, the middle of rural Victoria and getting up in the morning and, you know, trying to sell expensive shampoo to a hair salon that didn't give a. Literally getting kicked out the door. And so, relatively speaking, it's, it's, it's been incredible. But the, you know, very different experience. But I think what's interesting you mentioned here is like the thing about the conferences that I find that you can't replicate online is the conversations that happen from the meeting room to lunch, the walk to the pool or the walk to dinner at night, right? Those conversations are because you can watch the sessions online, you can hang out in Masterminds online, you can network in Slack, but it's those water cooler conversations, really. It's the ad hoc offhand conversations where people aren't on stage, there's no performance involved, we're not teaching anything. We're just hanging out as humans having a conversation. Those are the most valuable conversations, I think, that happen at the conferences. And so if there's, if there's. In fact, this is why I think Chris Lemmer, when he does Cabo Press, kind of does an unconference. I mean, there are no sessions, there are no speakers. They just hang out in the pool and chat. And it's like, well, that guy over there is doing this. You should go and chat with them. And Jane over here has got 14 team members based all around the world. Go and talk to her about managing a remote team, right? And there's no hierarchy. There's, you know, it's a complete unconference, which is something that if we continue to do live events, and that's a big if because, you know, something has to change for me in terms of doing live events just to keep me invigorated in the process, right? If I'm to continue to run live events here for our customers, the format needs to change, I think, right? Being I love being on stage. As you know, I'm a, I'm a born performer. I love the attention. But it's also in this context of what I'm doing right now with this business, it's very exhausting. And I also feel like I've done it. I feel like I've, I've said everything there is to say about growing an agency. And if you're still here and you're still looking at me for the answer, it's like I'm now kind of getting a little bit pissed off. It's like, well, have you not been fucking Paying attention. Like go and read the blog, listen to the podcast, follow the, like it's all there. What do you, what are you here asking me questions for in San Diego? Like just go and watch the YouTube videos or listen to the podcast. It's like it's all, I mean, I'm going to write a book at some point. Like it's all there. Do you know what I mean? And so I'd rather just hang out at the pool and have those organic conversations that come up without structure and without agenda. I think that's the future of, of events. That's the kind of event that interests me. [00:21:38] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, I can, I can totally see that. I remember we were talking to Ed Dale around running the first event because we were like, okay, well here's what we're thinking. And then we were, you brought him in to get some advice from him and your memory might be slightly different and more accurate than mine, but he was like, guys, you're working way too hard here. Let me just simplify this, what you want to do. And like he's like, this will be more valuable and this will be way less work for you. So you don't end the day pissed off out of energy and not want to hang out with anyone. So you get them to be working with each other, masterminding, get the post its up and they're, they're, they're masterminding. They're not looking to you for every answer to every question. You set the frame, set the context and they, and they get to work. And that not, not saying, you know, do that again. But that's, that was like, wow, wow. It's like you're working way too hard and probably not getting as good of a result by trying to be the rock star. Not intentionally, but trying to be the guru, trying to be the person. And the event that we ran in Melbourne, it was like I was so stoked and proud. Put the workbook together, put the agenda. But it was fucking exhausting. And probably way better that they're just like, hey, go have sausage rolls together and have a drink, have a coffee. That would have probably been just as. They don't need more information. This, we literally have all of the information a robot will tell us, whatever answer, whatever at any time. That's not the thing that they're lacking. [00:23:06] Speaker B: That's right. That's right. Well, I mean, you know, the whole. [00:23:12] Speaker A: When I say they, I mean in that sure, sure me, I'm not liking sure sure. [00:23:16] Speaker B: This, this, this whole business model is interesting for Me, because like, you know, I like what I, I, what is it that people like? And maybe, you know, the five people that are listening to this can tell us. Once we set up our Speak Pipe page, you can send us a voicemail and let us know. But what is it, like, why do people look for a mentor or a coach, right? Like, for me it's not about information because I realized a long time ago that whatever you need to learn, you can research it online if you know how to use Google and YouTube. And now, you know, AI chat GPT, Claude. Claude's amazing. You know, get poppy AI. I'm going to put my affiliate link in the show notes here for Get Poppy AI because Get Poppy AI is amazing. It's incredible, right? It's a, it's a whole new level of AI and the default, what I've learned is that a bunch of AI nerds hanging out and Get Poppy. The default engine they use is Claude over ChatGPT, right? So this is why I've kind of pivoted to using Claude. Anyway, any information you need you can find very quickly. What why I want mentors is because I want to know what I'm supposed to do next. I want to know what not to do because it's probably not going to work. So I want to be able to avoid distraction and avoid trying shit that's not gonna work. And I want someone to kind of work with me to go, you should do this now. And also someone who can see the bigger, the much bigger picture and kind of see into the future for me and say, you know, like, I mean, I was, you know, when I had dinner with Nick Tuesday night, we were saying, does software exist in two years time? Like, is software as a service a thing in two years time? Or does AI just build the software that we need in half an hour? Like I need a CRM that does this and this and this. And it's bespoke for this cohort of clients. And AI just goes and builds it and sticks it on AWS and is done in half an hour. Like, do I need, you know, like, does, does pipe drive? Does high level exist in two years time? I don't know. Like, if you think about how fast AI is iterating, right? And so these are the conversations that I want to have with mentors. Is what does it look like in two years time? I don't, you know, and, and like, in terms of like, how do I write a job scorecard? That's fucking easy. If I know that my job right now is to write a job scorecard to hire a project manager. Then finding how to write a job scorecard for project manager would take me 10 minutes if I know how to research and I know how to synthesize information, which I'm good at. But the mentor's job is to help me figure out that's what I should do now. Right. That's why I. But I'm curious, like, why do you seek out mentoring and coaching? And why do you think our clients do? [00:25:57] Speaker A: Something for me is like, is blind spots because I'm. I'm in my own thinking habit, actual act, like activity habits. I'm. I'm doing my thing, thinking I'm doing it well, but knowing that I'm probably not. But I don't know what I'm not doing well or what I'm not saying. So it's, it's just, it's like assurance. I don't really use the word assurance very often, but I work with a couple of cybersecurity companies and assurance is totally a thing. So for my team, as I'm working more with them, they want assurance. So I see them seeking it and I'm like, oh, okay, this is probably what I've been seeking. Because changing direction, changing activity goes against productivity. It goes against building something. So sticking with something long enough to get a result, I want assurance that I'm like one not missing something completely obvious and I'm wasting my time over here. And, and to that, that that is going to have that payoff that I think it's going to have. So I want that assurance from a qualified voice, not an opinionated voice who's just like, I reckon, blah, blah, blah. Well, I want a qualified person to give me assurance. So I want to hire them to help me think. And they have an objective view. Because I'm subjectively being like, but I'm already on this train, like, get off the train, go somewhere else. So that's what I want. Assurance, objective assurance. [00:27:17] Speaker B: Got it? Yeah. And I think, you know, we have agencies present to us looking for the SOPs. You know, what's the SOP for this? It's like, well, and this is what Nick has taught me as well, is that your job is to think. As an entrepreneur and a business owner, your job is to think. I mean, really, as a human, your job is to think. Or, I mean, that's what we do. That's what we can do. I mean, the ability to daydream is we're the only species that has the ability to daydream. You know, every time Oscar says, dad, I'm bored, I'm like, how fucking lucky are you? Bored. You're bored. You know what I'd give to be bored, mate? Far out. Because you know what you can dream up when you're bored? You can dream up anything when you're bored. I'm overwhelmed with the amount of shit that I've got to do and you're bored. You want some of my shit? Let's trade places for a minute. Because I can dream up all sorts of stuff if I just give myself an opportunity to daydream. Because we're the only species that can daydream, right? And so what is it? If you can. If you conceive it and believe it, you can achieve it, right? What? Everything starts in the mind. And so giving yourself that structured space. I think the other thing that I like about coaching and mentoring is that it gives me time, is why I see a therapist usually once a week, as it gives me an hour just to reflect on my life and my choices and who I am and who I'm becoming. And gives me that structured time to just slow down, unplug and think. Right. And you don't have to fill every moment of silence with noise. You can just sit and reflect for a bit. And so that's part of the appeal to me with having. Surrounding myself with people who challenge me to think the things that I'm otherwise avoiding, even subconsciously just filling my calendar with shit to do so that I don't have an opportunity to sit there and think. Because that can be confronting. [00:28:59] Speaker A: Yeah. Psychological discomfort we're avoiding. So it's. Yeah, I was talking to someone yesterday about this that like, great, we've got these AI tools and we've got all these things to, to free up our time. How good is that? We're going to free up our time so that we can load all of that free time with more shit. So then we have no time because we're not making time to use our imagination to visualize, to think of a better future. We're just going to fill it because it's quite uncomfortable to sit there and, and use that imagination part of our brain. [00:29:31] Speaker B: I mean, I, I read the, the, you know, what's his name? The Almanac of. [00:29:40] Speaker A: Ravikant. [00:29:41] Speaker B: Naval Ravikant. Right. Far out. [00:29:44] Speaker A: Hey. One sentence and you're like, oh, my God, it's. Sit on that one for a month. [00:29:48] Speaker B: I mean, I just think. I just think. I just think if, if you, if you, if you just take a minute and realize how I'll be 52 in September. I know it's hard to believe, but I'll be 52 in September. And, you know, I'm in the back half at least. I'm probably in the back third, I reckon, right? Like, my. If the average life expectancy for a male is about 80, I'm almost in the back third, final third of my life, right? I've had friends die at 46, 56, 58, early 60s, right? So to say that, you know, I remember my grandpa in his final years, you know, I said to him one day, you know, how you going, Pop? And he said, well, I'm not going to start reading any thick books, am I? Fucking hell, Pop. But he said, well, you know, he was about. He passed away about two or three years later, so the reality is he probably could have got through a few thick books, but. But he was a man who was well aware of the fact that he was going to die. Now, I just wonder if you take a moment to really, truly reflect on how short your life is in the grand scheme of things and how insignificant your life is in the grand scheme of things, I wonder how you would choose to spend the moment that you're spending right now, right? If you're hanging out with me on a podcast or you're listening to this podcast, like, is this the best use of your time right now to be doing this? And I wonder, like, because what I learned about from reading the Almanac of Naval Ravikant is something I can't. I don't even know what the phrase was, but there was kind of an overarching theme in that book that's like, he just thinks at such a level that most humans will never get to because we're so busy doing these pointless fucking things that mean nothing, right? That. That just help us stay comfortable and feel safe in our routines, right? It's like, who someone. There was this someone said, if you brush your teeth the same way every single day, how do you expect your life to be different? And what they mean by that is, like, if you drive the same routine to work every day, and you drive the same route home every day, and you eat the same food every Monday night, and you brush your teeth the same way, and you get dressed the same way, and you have a shower the same day every time, the same day, and you go to the gym the same three days a week, how do you expect life to change if you're doing the same thing every day? And so to your point about filling up Your calendar. I just wonder if you. It's a brave choice to look at your calendar and say, my time is worth more than that thing that is in my calendar, and therefore I'm taking it out of my calendar. [00:32:52] Speaker A: Yep. It's like a sign of self respect. Like, I'm gonna gift this to myself. I deserve to be ruthless with my time. Yeah. [00:33:07] Speaker B: And do the thing that brings you the most joy. Now, obviously, we live in reality. We need to do the dishes and pay the bills. Right. But if you're not. If there's not. If you don't have. I don't know, man. I'm down to. I mean, Mondays I don't work. Fridays I do one hour in the morning, and then I'm playing music. Mondays and Fridays, I'm working on music projects for the pure joy of it. There's no commercial business model there. There's absolutely. In fact, it cost me a shitload of money to work on my music projects Mondays and Fridays. And I can tell you now, Tuesday afternoons and Thursday afternoons, I'm also working on music projects. I'm really down to, like, three half days a week in this business. And I'm trying to eliminate that as much as I can, too, so I can really just focus as much as my. As much of my time on playing and listening and creating music videos and talking about music. Right. Because that's the thing that brings me the most joy in my life and makes me a better person. And so the team that I've assembled here are doing an amazing job, and I'm still actively involved in the business, and I probably always will be because it's my business and I'm the shareholder. But I'm actively, intentionally filling my calendar with as much joyous activities as I possibly can. My word for the year is joyousness, which I made up on New Year's Eve camping around the campfire. And when someone said, what's your word of the year? I said, joyousness. And so I just wonder. I challenge anyone listening to this to look at their calendar for the next week and just ask yourself, how much of my calendar is providing joy? [00:34:48] Speaker A: There's a question. Yeah, I mean, I think that's. That's gold. It's a great filter, and it's probably very revealing. And one of the things I've been looking at as well is the question, like, is this serving me? And maybe that's not quite as joyous. It's a little bit, well, quite as, like, uplifted. [00:35:05] Speaker B: Well, it depends on how much you Value joy. I mean, look, if. Value joy. And I'll look at my calendar. Is this serving me? The question is, is this providing me joy? Yeah. And if the answer is no, then why am I doing it? [00:35:15] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, that's great. Value filter. I value joy. Is this serving that value? No, it's not. [00:35:22] Speaker B: Because money, Money can't buy time, right? Money can't buy time. [00:35:36] Speaker A: Pause for dramatic effect. Let it land. [00:35:39] Speaker B: So, you know, where is it? Oh, hang on, there we go. [00:35:44] Speaker A: Wrong. [00:35:45] Speaker B: It was supposed to be done. Done, done. Money. If money can't buy time. [00:35:49] Speaker A: Still haven't worked out how to use that thing. [00:35:50] Speaker B: Hey, I've had it for 10 years. If money can't buy time, then if you look at your calendar and go, why am I doing this thing? Well, because they're paying me. But money can't buy time. The time that you're going to spend doing it is gone forever. You'll never get that time back. So is the money that you're getting for that time worth it? If money can't buy time, the answer is no. No amount of time is worth any amount of money to do the thing. Because I don't believe money can buy time. Money can't buy time because time is gone. You can never get it back. So if you give me $10,000 for an hour of my time to come into your agency and wash the dishes and fucking fire someone who should have been fired months ago, but you haven't got the balls to do it or whatever it is, right? And I go, great, you just pay me ten grand and I had to go through that for an hour. I never get that hour back. That hour of my life is gone. We've all been to see a bad concert or a bad movie and gone. You know, I don't care about the 50 bucks. I want those two hours of my life back because that was a complete stupid movie, right? If money can't buy time, then no amount of money is worth the hour that you're giving up for that money, right? And so therefore the only reason that you should spend that hour doing that thing is if it brings you some kind of joy or serves or is educational or makes you a better person. So if it's not doing any of those things and you're just doing it for the money, well, money can't buy time. So just know that you are sacrificing time for a piss poor amount of money that you will never be able to use to buy that time back anyway. [00:37:38] Speaker A: Yeah, it's tape and there's an investment of time and money coming up as we go over to mavcon. So it's. We're gonna see if that's not. See if it's worth it because that's not a good mindset from my humble opinion. But how will I. Is the question for me. How will I make this a return on investment? How will I make this something that I'm like, I'm so stoked that I went to that. That was awesome. [00:38:02] Speaker B: And I'm sure we all. I'm sure it will be amazing. We'll send a bunch of photos and videos, we'll give you all fomo, we'll publish it all on the socials and I'm sure that everyone will have a great time and it will be, everyone will, you know, give it 10 out of 10 as they do when we do the post event surveys. And I'm sure everyone have a great time. I just thought it was worth having the conversation is like don't think that just going to an event like this is going to change your life. Right? Going to an event like this, being engaged, having conversations, being vulnerable, telling the truth, you know, connecting with people that it's the conversations in between the sessions, they're the things that. Because I'm just going to say the same thing I've been saying for the last 15 years. So, you know, there's not going to be much new from me. Sorry to disappoint. It's the conversations in between the things that are going to be life changing. So. Yeah, exactly. That's right. There we go. That's it. Yeah. [00:38:58] Speaker A: While you're in the crowd, just like just sitting in the front, like cut out, boom. Just heckling yourself. [00:39:07] Speaker B: Hey, this has been fun having you on the podcast. I appreciate your time and love that you've been here for 10 sessions now. Would love to do another batch if the listeners. Listeners want it. We're going to publish the Speak Pipe page. I'm looking at it right now. We're going to, I'm going to sign up immediately after this and we're going to publish a Speak Pipe page so that you can leave a voice message for us on the podcast here. We'll give the. Apparently it's not a phone number. You go to a page, which is great because anyone in the world can do it. You go to a page, you put your name email in your record a voice message, it comes to our inbox, we can play them on the show and then we can answer those questions. So we'll publish those details. And we're also going to, we're going to email our list without, you know, leave a voicemail on the podcast. We'll put it in the Facebook group as well. So we'll get some people leaving messages, which would be fun. Love it, dude. Looking forward to hanging out in Bali in 10 days or whatever it is. And looking forward to drinking some bintang with you around the pool. [00:40:01] Speaker A: Should be good. Talking footy. [00:40:03] Speaker B: Talking footy, exactly. Cool. Thanks for being a part of it. We'll see you again soon on the Agency Hour. [00:40:09] Speaker A: Wicked. Thanks, Troy. [00:40:13] Speaker B: Thanks for listening to the Agency Hour podcast and a massive thanks to Simon for joining us. And honestly, I am looking forward to hanging out with him at the Laguna, which is a luxury collection resort in Bali. Check it out. It's in Nusa Dua. Just look it up. The Laguna Luxury Collection by Marriott in Nusa Dua. It's an amazing looking resort and I can't wait to be there. All right, folks, remember to subscribe and please share this with anyone who you think may need to hear it. I'm Troy Dean and remember, Venus is the only planet that spins clockwise.