Special Guest Expert - Mike Lofton: Video automatically transcribed by Sonix

Special Guest Expert - Mike Lofton: this eJw1jl1rgzAUhv9LLnblTCvWolAG4sCy6tZJB9uNZEl0WZMcSY6VUfrfp4Ndvh_nOe-VcLAoLbb4M0iSkZoERFmPzHLZKkGydBsncbJKAsJHj2BGL91fECXrJN5EAWGcwzgT_s10uwpIp6QWrWVmgXZKy5l7npjrPcmuZHR6tr8QB59ROk1T2AP0WrJB-ZCDocKpi6SXiC6nnq5N33L4KMu3yrrN4TN_OTbFq_fbpxTzsjh-PzCNOyOFYnceRsflTsBkNTBxml8FBBXqZUm1r4v8uXjPT82-fmya-0qd5QE6BBuaIZ6bHTjDcK4u8nb7BfdTYA4:1lJqEn:RqHUUhaVKfXGcxCgRGQ4tlH46Ek video file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Narrator:
So here's the big question. How are entrepreneurs like us who have been hustling and struggling to make it to success, who seem to make it one step forward only to fall two steps back, who are dedicated, determined, and driven, how do we finally break through and win? That is The MIND BODY BUSINESS Show.

Brian Kelly:
Hello, everyone. And welcome, welcome, welcome to The MIND BODY BUSINESS Show. Whew, baby, we have a phenomenal, phenomenal guest waiting in the wings. Going to bring him on very soon. His name is Mike... Mike Lofton, and he is an amazing, amazing young man who has figured it out. What has he figured out? He's figured out the keys to success in business, and the reason I bring on amazing people like Mike is so that you can learn from people like Mike and then simply model. That means copy. Do what they did. There's no reason to recreate the wheel and do it all on your own, because that just takes a lot longer. Doesn't it? Once you get to that point, it's going to be a lot easier road for you. It's something that took me many, many years to figure out and get through this thick skull. That it's okay. It's okay to ask for help. It's okay to get tutelage. It's not only okay, it should be your responsibility so you can get there quicker and serve more people faster. Yes, The MIND BODY BUSINESS Show. It is a show that I had put together for you, for entrepreneurs, and it's a show for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs. And it's successful entrepreneurs. Only successful entrepreneurs come on this show. And the reason is what I just specified earlier. So you can learn from them. Not only the things that are great that you should do in business, but also the lessons they've learned that you can avoid and not make those same mistakes. Equally as important. And so this show is about what I call the three pillars of success that I learned over the course of over a decade of studying only successful people. And what I found were these three patterns that kept bubbling up to the top over and over and over. And I realized, my gosh, these are the keys, the patterns, the pillars to success. Can you guess what those three might be. They're on either side of me right now if you're watching on video? Yes. It's mind, body and business. So mind being mindset. And that is every successful person that I studied had a very powerful, very positive and most importantly, very flexible mindset. They weren't born with these things. They all worked on them individually and developed them over time. Body, to a person, they take care of themselves. Nutritionally, what they're taking into their body. Physically, they're exercising on a regular basis. Doesn't mean that they look like an Adonis or an atlas or an Arnold Schwarzenegger who was in his prime working out. No, that's not what I'm saying with the working outside of things. It is that they continually, on a regular basis, move and exercise to keep their body healthy. And like I always say, the mind and body are a team. More importantly, the mind and body are your team. And if any one member of that team, of any team talk about sports or anybody, if any player or a member of a team is not operating at a peak level of performance, then guess what happens to the team as a whole? It's not working at a top level of performance either, is it? And then there's a business. Business is so multifaceted. You know, these guys and gals that became very successful that I studied, they had mastered various skill sets like sales, marketing, team building, systematizing, leadership. I could literally go on for a long time about all the different various skill sets that it takes to not only build a successful company, but to maintain it and grow it. And the good news is, look, here's the thing. One person, in my humble opinion, doesn't have time on this planet to master, truly master, every skill set necessary that I just... Just the ones I talked about already and there are many more. But if you master just one, just one skill set, and you can master more than one. But if you master and focus on one skill set, and I already mentioned it... Was actually one of them that I mentioned, then you're good. You can then have a thriving, successful business. And that one skill set is leadership. And I'm so excited because the gentleman you're about to listen to and learn from Michael Loften, that's his specialty. He is a phenomenal leader. He's figured it out. And now we're going to bring him on very, very soon to show you exactly how to do the same. Real quick, another phenomenal trait and attribute of very successful people is that... To a person, all those that I studied, are very avid and voracious readers, and they're not just the readers of any books. They're the readers of books that have impact on them and in their lives. So with that, I'd like to segway really briefly into a segment I affectionately call, "Bookmarks".

Narrator:
Bookmarks! Born to read. Bookmarks! Ready, steady, read. Bookmarks brought to you by ReachYourPeakLibrary.com.

Brian Kelly:
Yes, there you see, ReachYourPeakLibrary.com. One quick note, and that is to take note, and that means take out a pen and pad of paper or whatever it is you like to take notes on. It could be on your computer if you have room while you're watching this. If you're on your phone, get out a pad of paper instead of actually clicking away and going to another resource, because I'll guarantee you that Mike has several resources as well. Maybe it's a book. Maybe it's a website like ReachYourPeakLibrary.com. My advice to you is write it down, and then visit it later after the show. Why do I say that? Because I've learned from many years of speaking from stage that the magic happens in the room. And if people like during a physical seminar, and I'm speaking from stage and I'm about to give that one golden nugget. I know it's a golden nugget because I had presented it many times before. And right at that moment I see someone in the crowd get up to walk out of the room. Maybe to go to the restroom or whatever. And I just think I feel bad for them. They're going to miss out on what could have changed their life forever. And Mike Lofton is going to be saying many things. And you never know. It could be that one thing that could change your life forever. And you took your gaze away to go click and look at another resource that you heard about on the show. So just do yourself a favor. This isn't for me. This is for you. And take notes and then go back and visit those resources later. Alright. That is my soapbox moment. Reach Your Peak Library. I had this put together, this website, and I kid you not... With you in mind. Here's the thing. I did not read voraciously my whole life. In fact, I'm fifty-six years old now, and I didn't start reading like really reading until I was about forty-seven. So less than a decade. And then I realized my gosh, this is powerful. This can be life changing. Just reading books. I never thought it could be that powerful. So I began reading and consuming voraciously. And what I decided to do is start cataloging all of the books that had a profound impact on me either in business life or personal life or even both. And so I put them here on this website. Every button you see in here goes to Amazon and you can just go grab a book, and the whole purpose of this is for you to find that one next book or that one first book. You don't need to go through this entire list. Find the first one that jumps off the page and resonates with you, and go read it. There's no need to waste time. We want to we want to be efficient with our time. We want to be action takers. Get in that habit, taking massive, immediate, and consistent action. So find a book that jumps off the page. Go click on the button. Buy it on Amazon in whatever form you you prefer. Could be physical book, hard copy, soft paperback. It could be Kindle. Could be audible. My favorite is audible. I like to listen, but just do it. Do it quickly, and if you don't see a book on here, find another book from another person that you know is successful. And ask them what's their favorite read. That's that. That has ReachYourPeakLibrary.com. My gift to you, literally. That is there not to make money. It's there to give you a resource that you can go to. Speaking of resources you can go to. I think you know where I'm going with this. It's time to bring on the man of the hour. Let's do it right now.

Narrator:
It's time for the guest expert spotlight. Savvy, skillful, professional, adept, trained, big league, qualified.

Brian Kelly:
And there he is, ladies and gentlemen. It is the one, the only Mike Loften. Yes!

Mike Lofton:
Hey!

Brian Kelly:
Welcome to the show, my friend. We go way back. I mean, we've been talking for what? Almost 40 minutes? You know, we go...

Mike Lofton:
Forty-two is what I came up with.

Brian Kelly:
And that's what I love about what I get to do, Mike, is because the people like you that come on the show, it's an instant friendship. I mean, instant. It's like I knew you already. Your father who's been on this show. Same thing. Lloyd, what an amazing guy. I know you're his son and you love him, but I love him too.

Mike Lofton:
I'm sure he's watching. So don't don't get his head any bigger than it already is.

Brian Kelly:
Well. Since I'm not his biological son, I can do that. And then, you know... If I did that a lot, it'd probably make you suffer, which wouldn't be a good thing. That's okay.

Mike Lofton:
No.

Brian Kelly:
Hey. Before we get going, a few pieces of housekeeping I like to call it. And that is we do have a couple of sponsors. And so you see over Mike's left shoulder, the right side of the screen if you're watching this live. If you're listening to it on podcast later, there is a logo here that says The Big Insider Secrets. And that's a website: TheBigInsiderSecrets.com. And if you stay with us live until the end of the show, then you will have the opportunity to enter to win a five night stay at a five star resort, compliments of the big insider secrets. And that is all run by a very dear friend of mine, by the name of Jason Nast, and they have provided this beautiful, unique gift that we get to give away each and every show. It's phenomenal. He's been personally on three of these such vacations stays himself to make sure it was legit. You're not getting whisked away into a timeshare of any kind and spend hours of your your quote unquote vacation not in vacation, learning that... No, it's not that. It's a beautiful, wonderful hassle free vacation stay. I hope you stay till the end, and I hope you win. And there is more. There is more. If you're struggling with putting a live show together and it's overwhelming and you want a lot of the processes done for you while still enabling you to put on a high quality show and connect with great people like Mike Lofton. And grow your business all at the same time, then do yourself a favor, head on over to CarpetBombMarketing.com. Carpet Bomb Marketing, saturate the marketplace with your message. And one of the key components that is contained in the Carpet Bomb Marketing course is... This is one of the components you will learn how to absolutely master. I kid you not is the very service we use to stream our live shows right here and actually right now on The MIND BODY BUSINESS Show. And over the course of over nine years now, I and my team have tried many of those quote unquote, television studio type solution, software solutions, et cetera, for live streaming. And I'm here to tell you Stream Yard is the best of the best. It combines supreme ease of use along with unmatched functionality so you can start streaming high quality professional live shows for free with Stream Yard now. So later head on over to the website you see on the screen if you're watching. For those of you listening, it's ryp.im/streamlive. All one word. So ryp.im/streamlive. Take note of that, write it down, and visit it later. Because we are now going to get into it with the one and only Mike Lofton who is here to help. To give you the secret to his success. So before we get in, I'm going to formally introduce him and give him the respect he deserves. A living example of achievement, Mike Lofton has taken his experience as a leader in Fortune 500 companies and used it to help new and seasoned entrepreneurs streamline their business strategies, connect with their customers in new ways, and up level their lives. I like that. Mike has worked with everyone from the cashier starting their first job, several business owners, lawyers, doctors, and sales professionals in multiple industries throughout the United States. And as my voice starts to leave me. Welcome to the show, Mike.

Mike Lofton:
That's alright, man. You got the message across.

Brian Kelly:
We're not even close to being done. So everyone watching this is like a five hour show, just so you know. I'm kidding. There we go. Oh, this is a vocal ease. It takes a second. It's a throat saver,and I'll prove in a minute. It'll come back. And that is by a mentor of mine, Mel Cutler and his wife Kate. Own the company that provides vocal ease. It's on Amazon. I'm not getting paid anything for this. It's just something that... If I find something that works, I promote it always, always. Not looking for something in return. So, Mike, on to you. We got your bio down. You have a great story. I can't wait to get to that, that you were telling me right before the show. And we know kind of your accolades from a high level. And the thing is, is I like to go a little bit deeper and find out what really got you where you are: successful. And in that, I like to go into the first part of the three pillars of success, and that's mind and mindset. And so for you, getting up every day, knowing there are arduous task ahead. There are issues to resolve. There are problems to be solved every single day because entrepreneurs, people think it's super simple. Once you get it rolling, it actually gets more and more complex as you get more successful. So for you, Mike, what is going on in that big, beautiful brain of yours when you get up in the morning? What is motivating you to serve more people and to crush it even farther each and every day?

Mike Lofton:
So for me, motivation comes down to fear. Over the course of my career, you know, if you go back to the beginning of me in business. I dropped out of high school when I was 17 and got my GED, but we joked earlier that my dad's probably watching. And the whole premise that I was horrible at math in high school, like horrible. Dude, if you dropped me in a pre-algebra class right now at high school or college. Pick. Put me on a pre algebra class, I will have a nuclear meltdown. But you put me in a business setting, put a PNL in front of me, asked me to analyze return on investments or increasing profitability. Payroll percentage... Doesn't matter. I feed off of that stuff. So in high school, it just wasn't for me. And so I dropped out of high school. I ended up working at Wal-Mart at 19 as a loss prevention associate down in Lake Havasu, Arizona. Running around, catching shoplifters, having the time of my life, making what I thought was good money at the time. And ultimately ended up becoming a store manager at Wal-Mart and fear for me, through my time at Wal-Mart and later on at Lowe's and then a sales manager at a payroll company, it all came down to fear, but I didn't use it in the right way. I let that fear stop me from doing what I thought I wanted to do differently. As opposed to that fear to push me from behind. And I think over the past couple of years, that's been my motivating factor. I do not want to turn around and be 70 years old and say, man, I wish I had done this. I wish I wasn't afraid to do something different. And that's not a slam against people that stay in the same company for thirty, thirty-five years. That just wasn't for me. So my motivation is fear. What's going to happen if I don't do this? If I don't come on your podcast, am I going to be upset with myself and simply out of fear, or do I use that fear to understand that this is a step in the process of ultimately getting where I want to be? Which is a successful business consultant on a much larger scale than we already are.

Brian Kelly:
And I guarantee you, if you said... If you didn't come on this podcast, you would have been upset with yourself.

Mike Lofton:
Absolutely.

Brian Kelly:
Shameless self plug there.

Mike Lofton:
I could have come up with a hundred different reasons not to do it. What are people going to think? What if only a few people watch? People are going to think that I suck. That's fear, right? As opposed to, man, this is something that can never be taken away from me. It's an experience that I'm going to be able to use moving forward. But more importantly, me talking about fear, I guarantee there's somebody right now listening, saying I am afraid to do something different. And this guy's talking exactly the same mindset that they're having right now.

Brian Kelly:
Fear has this way of telling you that... Your subconscious is basically telling you that, that is what you need to do. It's not what you need to run from it's what you need to run to. And that's happened so many times and going through and becoming NLP certified neurolinguistic programing certified. That's a huge component of it where we do discuss and address fear head on and we're not talking that fight or flight kind of fear. We're talking about fear of failure, fear of of judgment and all those things that go on in everyone's head that's a human being on this earth. But another way to look at fear is... Another word is resistance, because that's what it puts into you and your mind and hesitation. And so something you would normally jump at, you're now resisting or hesitating because you're worried about the unknown. What's going to happen if I fail? The only thing that's going to happen if you fail, you're going to get one step closer to success. That's what needs to be rewired in one's brain, is to fail and fail often and be good with it. And you know what? You're going to get ridicule from friends and family members even that just don't understand what it takes to become successful. And the only reason there are so few people that have really crushed it is because there are only so few who are willing to go through that, in my humble opinion.

Mike Lofton:
Well, here's the thing, though. There's, what, three-hundred million people on the planet? So Susie Q 729 on Instagram doesn't like your video, so what? It's just, it's not relevant. And that's easy to say. It's a lot harder to do it, and put yourself out there and start doing what you really want to do. If you can figure out how that fear pushes you to get where you want, as opposed to allowing other people's fears of their own failures to be projected onto you, you can't start that business. No one would want to do that. I mean, what what happened with Jeff Bezos, right? I mean, when he started Amazon, he was the laughing stock. Who wants to buy books online? Okay, well, how'd that work out Border Books? You know, if you had listened to that negative feedback and use that, the fear to say, well, maybe they're right, where would he be today?

Brian Kelly:
And that's that's always a sign to look for when someone... If you have a new idea and you're going after it and you're getting a lot of people saying that'll never work. Well, then you're probably down the right going down the right path. What is her name? I forgot her name, the founder of Spanx. She literally just said this. Sarah? Gosh, I'm sorry. I forget her name. She's married to Jesse Esler, who is an author of two books are online on my site, ReachYourPeakLibrary.com. Amazing. She's been on Shark Tank as well. She literally just talked about this very topic and said that had she listened to everyone who told her not to go down this path and build or create these seamless pantyhose that every woman on the planet now wears, because of her, then she wouldn't be where she is today. Actually the good advice is to listen to those people, and then just do the exact opposite of what they're telling you.

Mike Lofton:
Do the exact opposite. Right. And and people do that I think. They project that negativity out of their own insecurity or their own lack of self-esteem. So when you say an idea that you're thinking of doing, you're creating Spanx. We'll use that as the example. For them, within five, ten seconds, their own feelings go through their brain of starting an own business. What would that look like? And immediately the response is well, that's a dumb idea. Why would you want to do that? And you've got to figure out how to navigate through that. If you believe in it... In yourself, you've got to shut all that stuff out. And a lot of being an entrepreneur is shutting out people that aren't supporting you and bringing in people that are saying, yeah, this sounds like a crazy idea, but you may be on to something. Those are the people that you want in your circle.

Brian Kelly:
Exactly. You want people like this guy next to me, Mike Loften in your circle. I'm not kidding. You want those kind of people in your daily life. Not saying he's available for you to talk to him every day, but you want people like him. So if you find somebody who's willing to mentor you and coach you and help you, as long as you're giving value in return, then by all means get in those kind of circles. Thank you, Dayna, for... Sara Blakely was a name I was looking for. I don't know. Do you know this Dayna Moody person?

Mike Lofton:
I believe so, yeah.

Brian Kelly:
I love it. Thank you, Dayna. I appreciate you straightening me out. I think, I don't even know if I said Sara. It doesn't matter if I'm right or not. The bottom line is the result, and Dayna had it. And that's awesome. That's your business partner? Yes?

Mike Lofton:
Yeah, yeah. That's my business partner.

Brian Kelly:
Dayna came up with the result. Mike is all about results. Who wants results out there listening and watching? Everyone should be raising their hand physically or mentally, and that's all what it's all about. The journey is the journey, but the journey is there for the result. And yeah, you can enjoy the journey. It's fine. Enjoy it, because you know what the result is going to be at the end. That's why it's so dang-on fun. Going through all those stumbling blocks. All the resistance and the hesitation, the speed bumps, everything that goes through your mind that you learn over time to just quickly shuck away. Like you were saying, go the opposite way. It's also true with your relationships with certain people. Is to be okay with firing some of your friends because they can drag you down to their level. They don't want you to succeed because then you won't be hanging out with them and you're going to be out there in their minds driving Lambos and in mansions and they're going to be in their little to two room apartment or wherever they're at. Right? They don't wanna be left dangling.

Mike Lofton:
With that. I mean, last year, my my wife and I had some friends that that we hung out with pretty regular. The dad was my son's baseball coach. We hung out with them, barbecues. They live in the neighborhood. And last year when I was working on a consulting thing, an issue came up. It was a Sunday. We were supposed to be barbecuing at my house. And I'm in the backyard on the phone. I've got my airpod in, and I'm dealing with a pretty serious issue that could have turned into a legal problem. And I'm coaching the CEO through that. And a couple of days later, I invited those same people and another neighbor back over to the house. And he had made some snide comment in the text message about, well, why would you invite us back over? You're just going to be on your phone the whole time. I immediately cut ties with them. I knew he was trying to be funny, but at the same time, my other friend that was over said, hey, dude, we're going to go home. Appreciate the invite. I know you got a lot going on. And then he called me an hour later to check on me to see how things went. Right? Completely blew up the whole barbecue, but my friend checked on me and said, dude, I understand things happen. You got to do what you got to do to be successful. Somebody else that was more of an acquaintance than a friend wanted to talk trash. Well, I don't need that in my life. I need people around me that are going to understand, hey, this dude pushing to do something, I need to support it. Even if that negatively impacts a barbecue. Right? It's just... You got to have those people in your life that are going to be there no matter what, even when it's uncomfortable.

Brian Kelly:
Yeah. The people that support you and lift you up, it doesn't have... I mean, a barbecue. It doesn't matter what the situation is. It's, what is their mindset like? They're there to tear you down to make them look better. That's the bottom line. Katherine Gruenberg said me because we're asking was asking who wants results? That's when she raised her hand. And sounds like she knows you as well, because I'll bring that up in a second. And there's this a guy you may know. First name, Lloyd. He said this guy sounds like he was raised right.

Mike Lofton:
This is the equivalent of your dad standing at a school function and yelling louder than everybody else.

Brian Kelly:
Love it. You're so blessed to have such a supportive, loving dad. And I know you know that we were talking about it in all seriousness before the show. So thanks, Llyod, for coming on. I appreciate you so much. You've been such a great support. And then here's what Katherine also said. One month coaching with Mike and the Lofton Approved team, that's the name of his company, Loften Approved, has already added so much value to my business, exceeded my business goals this month. There's the results, ladies and gentlemen. And she was not paid, at least not by me, to come on the show and say that. I know it wasn't by Mike either. Then we have. Oh, my goodness. Yes. So, and Dayna business partner. Thank you so much, Kathy. We love to hear that from people we help. Yeah. And tell me about that, Mike. I mean, a lot of people are driven by different things. One is money, one is serving others. But when you hear feedback of people that you are able to have impact on in their lives, is that not like the greatest feeling on the planet, no matter how much money resulted from it in your pocket?

Mike Lofton:
It's awesome, man. For me, it's always been that way. If I'm mentoring somebody because they want to get promoted or they're trying to make a career transition. For me, it's personal. You know, we talked about my past earlier when we first got on. But, man, I spent years miserable making a ton of money. I mean, when you're when you're twenty-five making well over six figures, that's great, but then when you start to move through life and you're like, well, cool, I made one-hundred and fifty thousand this year. I made two-hundred grand this year. But I hate going to work. It's a miserable feeling. So when you see stuff like what Kathy just put, who's working on her own social media management project and supporting people online through building websites and that type of stuff. SEO, all that fun stuff that goes on that I don't understand, it's all German to me. To see a comment like that, is somebody going from one situation to another on their journey. And every step that you can be a part of that to me is just ecstatic because I know what it feels like. I know what it feels like to go, hey, I want to get to this point and what a crappy road it can be sometimes to get there.

Brian Kelly:
Yeah. You know how wonderful it feels. And you want that same feeling for others.

Mike Lofton:
Absolutely.

Brian Kelly:
And that's what I love about what I get to do on this show, because people like you, Mike, and every one of my guests experts are the same way in that manner. Where it's about serving others, it's about helping others. And it's rarely, the topic is rarely ever centered around the concept of just money. And one thing I want to make clear to everyone that money is necessary. It is important, but if your primary focus is on money and making money. It's just history has shown that your business, whatever you happen to be in, is going to be short lived. It's not going to last. Your passion won't be there. There'll be so many reasons. If you are going service and heart centered first, it will last much, much longer and become much more successful. Will it take time? Yes. Will it be worth it? Oh, yeah.

Mike Lofton:
You're 100 percent right, Brian. I just got done with a consulting thing that honestly really upset me that ended and made me sad to a certain extent that it ended. Because it was your example that you just gave. The owner was so focused on making money. Everything else in between was was just a dog and pony show. The employees weren't being taken care of. The clients weren't being taken care of. And everything was this rat-race to increase profit. And that's great. It's business, trust me, at Wal-Mart and Lowe's, if I wasn't increasing profit, I would have been a store manager. But you have to do it in a sustainable way. And everything that I've seen working with business owners, if all they're focused on is I want to make another hundred grand this year, they're probably going to make fifty thousand less than they're making right now because they're not focused on the entire picture to get to that hundred grand. And that's disappointing when you see it. Especially when it's a good idea, or the business owner came up with this concept that you're just like, holy crap, this can be huge. And then there's their shortsightedness on money. It ruins it. And it's sad to watch it happen. It really is.

Brian Kelly:
That's the word. Sad. Definitely. Yeah. It's like for those that might be stuck. Look, Mike started at some point. I started at some point. When we first start out, we are absolutely money centric because we got to make money to pay the bills. Right? And that's okay. Everyone goes through that phase, and once you start getting to that, okay, I've got a stable thing going here and I'm getting some profit and income and I'm getting a little more comfortable financially. Now, you're going to naturally flow, most people do, into serving and being there for others because that's really where the sweet spot is. And if you can start out with that mindset even better, it's just the way to go. And I think in my humble belief, as we were all put on this planet to help each other, not to nash at each other and smack each other. You know, talk them down at barbecues, it's there to lift people and help people and be there for people. I don't know. I just think the world you know...

Mike Lofton:
There's some negativity right now, dude. There's enough of that nonsense. As entrepreneurs and business owners, your goal should be trying to help the next person. Because even if you want to be selfish about it, you helping them, you'll learn something.

Brian Kelly:
That's so true, you're going to learn and you're going to grow. You're going to learn stuff about yourself that will help you to go even higher and help more. That's what this is all about. I hope Mike Lofton makes as much boatloads of money as he possibly can. He and Dayna together as a company, I hope they just absolutely crush it. Why would I hope that? You know, it's like all those rich people? Well, I look at people like Mike and Dayna and say, they are those people that will take that wealth and convert it into helping more people.

Mike Lofton:
Absolutely.

Brian Kelly:
Spread it farther and wider. I want their financial growth to be exponential. They'll build bigger teams. They'll scale. They will impact more lives in a positive manner. So bless Mike and Dayna and their company, and let's just rain the cash down on so that they can go out and make the change in the world that they came here to do.

Mike Lofton:
Right. That's that's our goal, man. And I think entrepreneurs that are listening, it's easy to get caught up in what other companies or your competitors are not doing well. Right? That's easy to do. The problem with that is, again, a shortsighted. When I was running big-box stores, I always went to the other stores within the same company. Even if I knew I was merchandised better than them, I had better customer experience. Whatever the metric or KPI was. Even though I knew I was better than that store, I still went there because I wanted to find things that they were better at so I could bring that back to my store. So the more that I'm bringing back that someone else is doing well, don't be shortsighted in thinking oh, well, you know, this pool company, we're kicking their butts all over the place. For now you are. That that may be a reality, but what are they doing that is better than you? And then how do you adapt to that? Because that's like a crucial foundation of being a business owner and entrepreneur is adaptability and understanding that the landscape is going to change. Two years ago, who would have thought this covid stuff? And how many small businesses closed because of it. Restaurants closed and I use the analogy of think back to the big days with Circuit City who shopping it at Circuit City lately. Nobody, because it doesn't exist. Because they chose not to adapt. So now with social media and the Internet and the constant changing environments that businesses are operating in, you have to be willing to adapt. Sometimes that means looking at your competitor and going and they're doing better than me in this category or in this area. I need to figure out how to get a leg up on that so you can stay competitive and stay in front of the customers that you want to retain.

Brian Kelly:
I agree, Katherine. So valuable and on point. There's no doubt. Excuse me, I don't know what's going on with my throat today. This is weird. It's like, you know, when you talk about looking at your competitors or those that, you know, you're already doing better than. It's like taking that lump of coal and getting the diamond out of it. Right? It's finding that diamond within what looks like just a lump of nasty, you know, stain ridden coal that's going to get you all dirty. But it just reminds me of a story, a very quick one, that I went to witness a speaker. He had a two day event. The way that this person treated the crowd was deplorable. It was unbelievable, Mike. I was blown away that this was happening. But the thing is, he did some things during those two days, I thought that was effective and it was not in an icky way. I can use that, and when you can get past the superficial, the surface of all the things you don't like about something and you can start pulling out the gems, the diamonds, and then utilize that going forward... I literally. So this is back, I was telling you before the show, Mike. I was the lead trainer for my mentor, and I trained one half of his event. One day of his two day events. And I took this idea back and I said, hey, man, I just learned this really cool approach, this technique. What do you think about my implementing in the intro when we frame the whole event? And he said, yeah, let's do it. I explained the whole thing to him and I've used it ever since and it was a positive thing. So I totally resonate with you on that to say, yeah, go to your competitors, go to those who you already know you're better than. Even if they're a team member, they're your own store branch. But find out there's always... Isn't there always, always a way to improve where we are tank? Is that right?

Mike Lofton:
Absolutely. If you don't think there is your business is already dead. It may be next year, maybe five years from now. I can't tell you the timeline, but if you don't think that you can do better or you don't think that you can learn from your customer or from your competitors. You're dead. I mean, there's just no other way to put it. And that's the adaptability and the self-awareness of being a small business owners. You have to be self-aware enough to know, hey, I'm not good at this or I'm not proficient in this part of running a business. You need to be able to admit that and then get people on your team that are.

Brian Kelly:
Oh, you just said it! I was waiting for that. He didn't say, ladies and gentlemen, Mike didn't say go out and learn how to do it. What did he say instead? Go out and find somebody who can do it. That is gold, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you weren't clicking away on something right there. That is the goal... Is To delegate to those who already have the skills that you have not yet developed. And that will get you so much further. Oh, thank you for saying that.

Mike Lofton:
I give you the example, and I mentioned it earlier. I'm horrible at academic math. Again, if you put me in a pre algebra class right now, Brian, you're going to have to send an ambulance. It's not going to be good. Okay? So what am I going to do? Am I going to go get online and take all these courses to go from being crap at pre algebra to okay, I got a C in pre algebra. That same exact time that I spent and effort that I exerted doing that. If I went and spent that on something that I'm already passionate about or good at, what's the ROI going to be on that? I mean, it's a no brainer. So understanding where your weaknesses are and then going and finding people that are going to do that for you. It's interesting to me sometimes where again, as entrepreneurs, I get it, man. We created this. We created this company. We created this idea. That's only sustainable to a certain point. There's only enough bandwidth in that. If you started a company five years ago, things are drastically different in every sense of business than it was five years ago. So I've I've talked to entrepreneurs and business owners that they're like I spend eight hours a month processing payroll because I know how to do it. Cool. Let's think about that. That eight hours that you're sitting down processing payroll and time sheets or whatever it may look like, that's eight hours you could have spent on marketing, engaging with your your employees, engaging with your customers, doing market... Like that is eight hours of your time. And what I tell entrepreneurs is what is your average hourly rate as an entrepreneur or a business owner? And it's the truth if you're making X amount of money a year, you have an average hourly rate, and if you're spending that money doing things that other people can do for you, so you have the time and the bandwidth to grow the company, man, that's that's worth its weight in gold.

Brian Kelly:
I literally just went through this today, Mike, and it was actually a combination of yesterday and today where I'm in a rebuild process... A migraine. And it's a very complex thing to discuss. But suffice it to say, there's a lot of moving pieces to it. And I'm primarily doing all of it just because I have the knowledge to do it. And I finally, after digging so deep, found a piece to carve out and hand off to a team member. Literally just created a training video right before this show. I am not kidding right before this show...

Mike Lofton:
How did it feel?

Brian Kelly:
Oh, liberated. I went down and spoke to my wife, I had like 15 minutes before I was going to come on with you right before the show. I just told her all about us. Oh, my God. I feel so good that I found... I was looking hard, Mike. I wanted something to offload because it's so complex. It would have taken me far longer to train it than I could have finished it five times. You know what I'm saying? So there are times when it is that way, but always be looking for the solution to outsource the stuff you shouldn't be working on. I should not be doing that one piece. And thank goodness I'm not going to be. And I can concentrate on a much, much harder stuff that I'm really good at to finish it and finish it quickly so I can move this this beast of a wonderful machine I've got going forward. So I'm right there right now. It's great advice.

Mike Lofton:
Good. Yes. And it's liberating. Like you said. Once you're like, oh, my gosh, I don't have to do that anymore. Yeah. Now go spend that time and energy developing your team or helping your sales staff or whatever it is that's actually going to grow your business.

Brian Kelly:
Well, when it comes to a team, how important is it to you, Mike, to have an actual team that fits? You know, good team members? I mean, what do you look for in people when you're looking for someone else to add to your team to help offset those those kinds of tasks that you should not be doing?

Mike Lofton:
I think first thing is personality. A lot of people don't realize that you apply for a job and you don't get it, and you you think you checked all the boxes. But a lot of the times it's the personality piece of it. You may have all the experience and check all the boxes, but that hiring manager or that business owner is like and they're not going to get along with the team. Right? Like, that's the reality of it. It doesn't mean that you suck. It doesn't mean anything negative. It's the personality. So that's number one for me is I'm pretty open. I'm transparent. I'm blunt. I need people on my team that can understand that that's not directed towards them. That's my operation. And then too, the skill set. I don't want people that have the same skill set as me. I want people to have a completely different skill set, because if I surround myself and I have a team of Mike Lofton's. I'm going to be stagnant pretty quick. I'm going to be happy because everything's happening exactly the way I want it and they're going to be doing exactly the way that Mike Lofton would do it or Lofton Approved. But the flip side of that is that's teachable. Like, you can teach people your expectations and I tell people you teach people how to treat you. Right? I mean, that's that's a reality, so I can teach people how to operate within the organization, but I need them to have skill sets that maybe is lacking currently as opposed to just another person that fits in with the team. So those are the two. It's the personality, then it's the skill set.

Brian Kelly:
I love that. And if there were just a team of Mike Loftons who's going to do the pre algebra? I mean, come on.

Mike Lofton:
Listen, I need somebody to do that type of stuff. Absolutely.

Brian Kelly:
And it's so cool because I'm bringing on lots and lots of people. It's a long story, but I go through apprentice's that helped me and they're only with me for three months at a time. It's known the day they start... Their termination date is known. They're not going to make any money from it. They're going to learn experience from it. And I learned how to pick people by creating a system. Go figure. It's automated. Hint, wink, wink. But if they get through the system, which will take them additional time beyond what they had to do to apply to get into this whole matchmaking service, if you will to begin with. Then I know already that they're a fit. It is proving it, and there are other things that I look for as well as. Mindset. It's drive. I don't look for experience anymore. One of my first apprentices who came on who had very, very, very little experience in video editing, she wanted to learn it. She had this insatiable drive, Mike. And I've gone through about twenty-seven apprentices now over the course of two years, and by far she was the best video editor I have ever had. She had this much skill in it. So skill doesn't always equal great employee or team member. It's what you said personality. I think that encapsulated it real well because that includes mindset, that includes drive. That includes, you know... And look at their resume. My God, if they don't even capitalize the letters of their first and last name... I'm like your... I don't even I don't only turn the page.

Mike Lofton:
Right.

Brian Kelly:
There's no attention to detail at all. How are you going to do it when you come into my company?

Mike Lofton:
Right.

Brian Kelly:
You know... If their description, their open little blurb, is one sentence long instead of some that do maybe a paragraph. I'm like one sentence? You didn't feel you need to spend enough time to explain who you are? Then, no. You know, there's all these little intangibles that I love. I love that part of it. The sifting and sorting, because it's gotten it down to where it's really fast for me. Really fast.

Mike Lofton:
But see you went through the experience of figuring it out. You created a system that works for you.

Brian Kelly:
Right.

Mike Lofton:
And that's... Kudos to you, because that's not easy to do, especially in a fast paced environment where, you know, that's what creates turnover and attrition in your employees... Is you're so focused on the right now, you've come up with a great plan that is helping you think long term as opposed to just hiring somebody because you need a video editor. Then two weeks later, you find out they're no good. So you get rid of them, and it's just this revolving door. You've got a system in place which is great. I mean, that's every entrepreneur should be thinking of something like that.

Brian Kelly:
I'm really excited because I'm going to be able to build a massive team of my own, that I'm going to use the same exact technique. And this has been like a big trial period for me. I'm developing leadership skills beyond where I started by far by working with these. I'm learning what works with leading people versus what doesn't. I'm learning that positive reinforcement is so much more powerful than negative. I knew that from day one when I was a kid. When I was a teenager coaching kids in sports, that positive reinforcement, I could take lesser gifted athletic kids and beat the bejeebers out of very gifted athletic teams who had a coach that just would beat on them for every little mistake they perceived to be a mistake. So it's just learned so much from life that when you when you learn it and then you apply it, then you get to see the rewards from it.

Mike Lofton:
Want me to give you two things about leadership?

Brian Kelly:
Absolutely.

Mike Lofton:
Can't versus won't.

Brian Kelly:
Oh, yeah.

Mike Lofton:
I'm a firm believer in that. So once you have an employee in your organization, everything comes down to can't or won't. As a leader, if your employee can't do something, it's your fault. Can't boils down to they can't do it because they don't have the tools, the resources, the training, the experience. Think of all the can't's that that go on in a daily business. It sucks, but it's true. It's your fault. If your employee can't do their job, it's because of you that didn't that didn't provide it. Now won't is a whole different thing. And so how do you know if it's a won't? Well, if you've seen them do it at least one time, the way you expect them to do it, then you know they can. And then if they're not doing it, it's because they won't do it, which now you've got to dig a little bit deeper to find out what's the won't. But it took me a while to get my mind wrapped around that. Leadership that was on my team, they they'd be frustrated with an employer. Susie isn't doing this the way that she's supposed to. I would respond. Well, was it can't versus won't? Let me go find out. Right. And then they'd come back. Well, she can't do that because she didn't have the new sign into the system. Like, listen, you can't jump to just assuming that people suck because people don't come to work and want to do a bad job. I mean, human beings do not wake up in the morning and go... You know what? I feel like doing a crappy job today at work. I mean, it may evolve into that out of spite or whatever the issue be. But at the core of of humans, we want to please other people. And in the workforce, we want to please our boss. We want to feel good about ourself. We want to do a good job. So, man, step back and understand as a leader, if somebody isn't doing their job because a can't, that's you. You got to get involved, figure out what the solution is and get them to the point where they can. If it's a won't. That's a whole different conversation that that you've got to work yourself through.

Brian Kelly:
Yeah. And I love that. I resonate wholeheartedly with that. And that's where the leader is, what I call taking cause for the situation. Taking responsibility. In the beginning when you first start doing this, it's kind of a a smack on your ego. In the beginning. And then when you do it several times, you realize the result is much greater if you do it, and the ego just doesn't care anymore. You just say this is the right thing to do. And so it's like exercising, you know? You're exercising different parts of your brain... Of your mindset. And the more you can be a cause about everything in life, period, not just with employees, but with your spouse, with your kids, with your loved ones, whoever. The more you can take responsibility, a position of responsibility, it doesn't mean it's your fault necessarily like outright. But could you somehow be responsible for that situation being there? And when you get that and you really understand that and integrate that into your being, then life gets so much easier in so many ways. I just know this from experience, and I can tell you do as well, Mike.

Mike Lofton:
It's true, man. I've remember when I was twenty-two (ish) at Wal-Mart as an assistant manager man, and I feel bad to this day. If I could remember the employee's name, I would love to get a hold of her. I'm serious, and we needed people to go outside and push shopping carts. And I was this firecracker assistant manager that was trying to show off. So I'm rounding up people to go outside and grab shopping carts. One-hundred and ten degrees outside here in Vegas. I walk up to this employee, and I said had any outside to push carts. And she said to me, I can't do it now. I didn't understand the concept of can't versus won't back then. She said, I can't. And I didn't even listen to her. I laid into her. That you won't argue with me. I'm the manager, dah duh dah duh dah. That she ran off crying. I said, well, I got to go pushcarts. The next day, the store manager called me in the office and he said, What the hell happened yesterday? And I said, What are you talking about? So was there an issue with carts? I said, no. I went out. I got people to go outside and he said her name. To this day, I feel horrible about it. He said, did you know she was pregnant?

Brian Kelly:
Ugh. Yeah.

Mike Lofton:
I was like, oh, my God. Like I was so caught up on my role that I didn't listen to her can't and her can't was I can't pushcarts because I'm in a high risk pregnancy. It's one-hundred and fifteen degrees outside. If I had just said, well, hey, what's going on? It would have been a totally different outcome. It took me months to work through that problem through the store because guess what? Word traveled around to 600 people. Mike's an a-hole. He made so-and-so go outside and push shopping carts. So it's the journey you go through. But it doesn't make it any easier when you think back to things that, man, you just totally screwed up.

Brian Kelly:
Yeah, wouldn't it be nice if we could go back and do go-backs and take-backs and, you know, reach out to people... We all have that. We all have regrets. I think we're all human and we jump to conclusions, you know, and it can depend on so many factors. And we are our own worst critic and the hardest on ourselves. But, you know, the fact that you have this reaction that just tells the essence of you, Mike, and I think you have everyone's permission to say let it go. And I'm sure she's fine now. And your intentions weren't that way. And we all know that. No, you just didn't know. And we've all done this, every one of us.

Mike Lofton:
Thirteen years ago, I learned a lot since then. But I think it's important as an entrepreneur and a business owner to think back to.. Man, what are situations that happen to you? What are situations that you inflicted on other people and learn from them and make sure that as you move forward, you're creating the environment that you want your people to feel safe in.

Brian Kelly:
And it's important to recognize that people, you know, life gets in the way sometimes. Life happens. And oftentimes when someone reacts to you personally and you take offense to it. It's never personal. It's because they have something going on in their life that's bothering them most often. There's a great book by Don Miguel Ruiz called The Four Agreements. And one of the agreements is don't take anything personal, because most nearly every time it's not personal. That's on both sides, bad or good. These are great. My gosh, I want to learn more about your business because I just looked at the clock and I can't believe it. I did say we're going to go five hours. Maybe I meant it, but we're getting close to the end already, which I cannot believe. What I wanna do is find more about your business and what your target market is and and what kind of people you help and serve. Did I lose you? There we go.

Mike Lofton:
There we go. Alright.

Brian Kelly:
Yes, what I want to do is find out more about your business, Mike, in the short minutes we have. I was checking the clock and I'm like, wow, we're almost at the end already. We haven't even discussed your business directly. And I really want people to know what you do, you and your partner, and so that they can have an avenue to reach out and say maybe you could be a fit for them. So if you wouldn't mind, I want to pull up your website and just give people an idea of what it is you guys do. Who's your target market. What kind of problems you guys solve for people. If that's okay with you?

Mike Lofton:
Yeah, absolutely. Let's do it. So our company is Loften Approved. It's a play on a phrase that kind of follow me around through my career where people didn't want to come to me with a completed project or completed idea unless it was Lofton Approved. So that's just kind of stuck. And our goal and mission is to help business owners be Lofton Approved. So whether it's a startup needing assistance with securing SBA loans, getting business licenses, going through tax planning, all that type of stuff. We can start there with startups all the way up to company strategy and full blown HR support. We love going in and doing group trainings and exercises in sales organizations and really like what you've got here on the screen with Britney at Patriot Exhibit Services... Man she was growing just at this massive rate last year and needed help with this organizational structure. So policies, procedures, employee handbooks.. That's kind of, my partner Dayna, that's kind of her side of it. And then my side is the business piece of coming in and analyzing a review on investments and increasing profitability and corporate structure. Those type of things. So really, from complete startup up to several hundred employees. We can absolutely come in and and assist small business owners with really any concern that they have going on. And what we're noticing right now and the thing that we're getting contacted about the most is restructuring. As an entrepreneur and a business owner, last year, you had to change your entire business model for the most part. Your employees were working remotely, your sales organization changed. How you receive leads changed. Well, now we're in 2021, and things are starting to open back up. Well, now what's going to have to happen? You have to do it all over again, but in a different dynamic because there's still going to be some residual from 2020 that's going to change the way that your company is structured. So that's really what Dayna and I do. And we love doing it, going in and helping small business owners get the results that they need today.

Brian Kelly:
Fantastic, and the best way to get a hold of you guys. What is that?

Mike Lofton:
Lofton Approved. Head to the website, go to LoftenApproved.com. You can schedule free 15 minute consultation to chat about whatever it is you want to chat about. That's the easiest way. Or you can email me direct Mike@LoftonApproved or [email protected].

Brian Kelly:
And Dayna is D-A-Y-N-A?

Mike Lofton:
That is correct.

Brian Kelly:
Make sure we get that. And I wanted to put it up... You said to contact you. Okay, I see it. So I just want to show people that are watching. So they go to the contact us link on our website. Is that true?

Mike Lofton:
That's correct.

Brian Kelly:
And just click on that. There it is. Schedule consultation. You heard it, 15 minutes free. Find out if you're a fit or if they can help you. There it is. Everything. Phone number, his email address, talk to Mike or Dayna. And the one thing you said before we came on that really rung with me, I like that, was that you said you rarely, if ever, have to outsource anything because you have access to every resource you need.

Mike Lofton:
Yeah, one of the benefits of working with us is everything is in-house and everything, meaning you can't make a business change if you've got more than two or three employees. You can't make a business change without affecting your employees. And what we're noticing that people are going through is they're working with a consultant, but it's a one facet or maybe it's two facet. Well, with us, if we're going to help you make a business change, you're also going to have the person that it's going to help with, HR. Tax planning, CPA, securing SBA loans. We have a CPA that we work with, social media management, website design. We have somebody that we work with. So really, it's not necessary for people to contact us and then have to go contact five other people. We're going to put you in contact with those people that we trust that work with our clients to make sure that that client's having a great experience with all facets of what they may need to transition through.

Brian Kelly:
You're kind of like the business version of a building contractor.

Mike Lofton:
Yeah, that is true. We call it... We kind of joke around internally. It's a business in a box. Right. We've got the box, and we want to get your business in it.

Brian Kelly:
And that's great that it can all funnel through the same entry point so that there's that continuity that's going on. The communication is improved. And I'm saying this because most usually go into all these disparate services that have nothing to do with each other and don't communicate together because they don't want to. They're not part of the same end game. And I love the way you guys have assembled. And so Mike has just solved any issue that anyone might have about not having all the skill sets necessary to get a business thriving. He's got access to all the skill sets you need including himself and his partner. There you go. What is that worth? Well, that's going to depend on that conversation between you and Mike and Dayna. And if you're a fit... I'll tell you right now, one thing I learned over time, Mike, was if something doesn't cost very much, you usually get about that much in value in return. If you don't put skin in the game, it's very likely you will not get much from the result. I have no idea none what you guys charge. I hope it's a large amount of money because the results you're getting from people we just had one on on the air live that I didn't talk to before and you didn't talk to before. And she's on here singing your praises. The results are there and you've got the lineage. My God, with Lloyd, you've got an incredible father who's helped along the way as well. So there's no doubt in my mind the results are there. So whatever Mike is charging and he'll have that talk with you guys and say, well, where are you now? And this is the ROI we can get you. I just... So Mike I just went through a thing where I went, this was a lofty thing, but the guarantee was I will get one million dollars in sales and it will cost me two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars for their services.

Brian Kelly:
What part of no brainer is there a no brainer about that?

Mike Lofton:
Right?

Brian Kelly:
I will trade two-hundred fifty K for a million every day from Sunday, all day, multiple times. Can I do this more than once? You know? So that's the kind of discussion. It not about how much it costs. It never is about how much it costs. It's about what is the result going to be at the end. That will... Mike won't give you this service unless it gives you the result that will far surpass any fees they've collected. And it may not be immediate. It's going to take time. It's going to take investment. Then good. When you invest, you're going to put some sweat equity on your end, because this is a two... It's not just Mike going to do everything for, it works that way. But you will be there every step of the way, and he's going to help you. And all you gotta do is follow his lead, his and Dayna's lead. And you know what? Results are there.

Mike Lofton:
Yeah. And I think more importantly, what is important is paying for the experience. So you don't have to go through the same roadblocks.

Brian Kelly:
Yeah.

Mike Lofton:
I've already been through him, whether it's in the corporate space helping start ups. I was the chief operating officer for a social media management company here in town that went from the owners garage to over two hundred employees. Man, I had to live some pretty uncomfortable things to go through that. So I love being able to help business owners not have to go through some of the same uncomfortable situations. I already did it. Let me help you navigate around that, because it's not fun sometimes.

Brian Kelly:
And like I was saying, the onset, it's better to delegate than it is to try to reinvent the wheel. And why go through that pain when you don't have to do? All it takes is some skin in the game. And and again, the results so far surpass whatever investment that you're going to put in initially. I have one question. I like to leave the show with, Mike. We've already gone over three minutes, which I'm glad we're not in any kind of network, or we'd be shut down already. This is the beauty of live on these venues, but out of respect for everyone watching, listening, out of respect for you, your dad who's still commenting. What I like to do is ask this one final question. I do this with every guest expert who's been on the show, and I found it to be very profound in the results. The answers that came back... And it's really cool because, you know, some people, it takes them a moment. And there's dead air time. That's okay.

Mike Lofton:
Okay.

Brian Kelly:
Some get it immediately. That's okay, too. The interesting thing is that it also can be a little bit personal, and it's been a profound experience for me to ask this question and witness the answers that come back and I can't wait for yours. But before we do that real quick, I promised everyone at the onset of this show that they could find a way to win that five night vacation stay at a five star resort. And I'm a man of my word, so I keep my promises. And so let's do that right now. Real quick. And so in the beginning, I said, take notes and don't take your gaze from the show. But now I think Mike would agree that will give you permission for just a moment to pull out that smartphone and bring up your text messaging app and just do the following. Where you would actually type in the name of the person you are going to text instead type in this phone number. And that is, and you want to write this down because I'm going to leave this quick and get back to Mike for the big question, So write this down. Three-one-four-six-six-five-one-seven-six-seven, and put that in where you would type in the name of the person you're going to text and then where you would actually type the message, you know, where the emojis go. No emojis necessary here. Instead type in two words separated by a hyphen or a dash if you prefer. And those two words are peak (P-E-A-K) dash vacation altogether. Peak-Vacation. Go ahead and do that right now and then be sure to check your phone quickly after you do that. You will get an automated response asking for one more piece of information, and that will be your email address, because our automated system will then alert the winner through email of the fact that they want and the next steps to take to get that five night vacation stay at a five star luxury resort. Compliments of The Big Insider Secrets. My buddy Jason Nast and his company. I'm so grateful to them for making this available. Alright. Back to the man of the hour.

Mike Lofton:
Yessir.

Brian Kelly:
Or hour plus now. Yes, so. Are you ready for this, Mike?

Mike Lofton:
I'm ready.

Brian Kelly:
Of course you're ready. Here's the cool thing about it when it comes to the answer. There's actually no such thing as a wrong answer. It just flat out doesn't exist. The cool thing is just the opposite is true. The only correct answer is yours, and that is truly the only thing that makes this personal. Isn't that cool? And again, it may take you some time. That's okay. Whatever it takes for you is perfect because it's your answer. It doesn't matter. It's going to be your show in a minute after I ask the question. So you do what you want with it. You have the power.

Mike Lofton:
Let's do it.

Brian Kelly:
As Arnold would say, the power. Alright. Here we go. Are you ready?

Mike Lofton:
I'm ready.

Brian Kelly:
Alright. Mike Lofton. How do you. Define. Success.

Mike Lofton:
Define success. Alright. I would define success by your ability to separate the micro and the macro. So what I mean by that is from a macro standpoint, you know, that this is your goal and this is where you want to get to. No matter what that looks like. If you already own a business, this is where you want to be. If you're thinking about starting a business, you know where you want to be. The micro is understanding that it's a process to get there. So for me, I know where I want to be and I know that I want Lofton Approved to be the top business transformation company in the country, but in order to get there we have to execute the micro things each day with small goals that will ultimately get us where we want to be. And as long as we're doing that and as long as I'm doing the things necessary, that's successful because it will get me to that macro goal.

Brian Kelly:
I love what I get to do so much because of responses like that. Here's the interesting thing, Mike. This is, I don't know, show one-forty-one... One-forty-two. One-hundred and forty one, one-hundred and forty two. Somewhere around there. And no two people yet have answered that the same exact way. That's awesome. It blows my mind. And so with your permission and I'll ask it again when I'm at that point, what I'd like to do is compile the answers of past guests and put them in the books.

Mike Lofton:
Sure.

Brian Kelly:
And so it'll be a compilation. And I've already got the dot com for anyone out there, but it's called How do you how do you define success? There's no website there yet. I just have the dot com and that'll be a book that it will be a collaborative of you and so many other amazing people before you. There may be several books. I don't know how big this is going to end up being with the transcribed word, but it's phenomenal. I appreciate you, and I mean that. I appreciate you for who you become. For Lloyd, for being a great dad and helping you along the way. Yeah. Catherine, boom the biz edit.

Mike Lofton:
The biz.

Brian Kelly:
Yeah, that was a boom moment for sure. Alright. Well, I'm going to allow you to do one more thing if you're okay with it. And that is for anyone out there that let's say they're a budding entrepreneur, they're looking toward, you know what? This whole working for other people is not working for me. I really want to break out on my own. And if they're about to embark and they're at that moment and a grizzled veteran like you, Mike, who's been through the highs, the lows, many more lows than highs in the beginning. What would you say to them as a piece of advice that if you were that person back when you were young, would love to hear and follow and it would have taken a lot of the pain away from your your journey? What kind of advice would you give that new budding entrepreneur?

Mike Lofton:
I'd say get your house right and what I mean by get your house right is get your personal house right. If you are living in a three-hundred thousand dollar house, but you're okay living in a seventeen hundred dollars a month apartment, move into the apartment. If you've got friends around you that are worried about going out and partying and doing all the things that's going to take away your time to get where you want to be. That macro that I just talked about... You've got to get your house right and you've got to make sure that you've got people around you that are not going to allow you to get off track, because as you go through this, it's painful. It is excruciating, painful to go through the highs and lows. And if you're worried about flossing on Instagram. If you're worried about all these other things to impress people that don't even like themself, because that's that's a reality is a lot of people don't even like themselves. So why are you worried about impressing them? Get your house right. Put your head down for five years and you will not be disappointed with what the end result is.

Brian Kelly:
Boom. Get your house right and five years. I love both of those. It does take time. There is no there's no like drive through. There's no instant food. It's not going to happen. There's no fast food. There's no fast business. There's no fast success. Unless you win the lottery and then most people will just self sabotage and spend it all anyway. So thank you, Mike. I appreciate you for coming on. You've been phenomenal. My gosh, with the lineage you have, how could you not be? Appreciate you so much. And everyone who came on, the supporters that came on to speak good words that we know are true and integrity based. And appreciate all of you for coming on as well. And look, all you listening on podcast after the fact, appreciate you spend the time. This is time well spent. I know this from hosting the show for now, nearly three years, that each and every time I personally learn something new and empowering to take me to another level. That is why my business is booming presently because of people like Mike, because I am a product of the product when I say take notes and learn from them. Model them. I do that very thing. And so appreciate you once again, Mike, for giving such great value. Everyone reach out to him, find out if he's a fit for you and your business. Don't make the mistakes. There's no need to that both Mike and I have made in so many before. Go to somebody who's been through it. Who can get you through those trying times. Who has the resources available to do all of those things in those skill sets that you most likely do not have, because I don't know anyone human that does have all those skill sets mastered. And so what a great resource and what a great person. Mike, appreciate you beyond words.Thank you, my friend.

Mike Lofton:
Thank you, Brian. It was fun, man. I appreciate it.

Brian Kelly:
Alright. On behalf of this amazing guy named Mike Lofton. I'm your host, Brian Kelly of The MIND BODY BUSINESS Show. That's it for tonight. It's a wrap. Thank you all for coming on. Until next time, we will see you again. Until then, so long and be blessed. See you later, everybody.

Mike Lofton:
Thank you.

Narrator:
Thank you for tuning in to The MIND BODY BUSINESS Show podcast at www.TheMINDBODYBUSINESSShow.com. My name is Brian Kelly.

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