Inside Strategic Coach is a practical resource for entrepreneurs, or anyone with a growth mindset. Hosts Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller share breakthrough insights, educational success stories, and insider know-how, gained from working with thousands of successful business owners, worldwide.

Do you believe ambition fades with age, or can it actually grow stronger? In this episode, Shannon and Dan discuss how ambition evolves over time, share Dan's desire to be even more ambitious at 90, and reveal how transforming ambition into action can lead to growth and fulfillment at every age. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:<ul><li>How Dan’s strongest ambition relates to ambition itself.</li><li>What you can gain by sticking to what you’re great at and love doing.</li><li>How Dan came up with the goal of living to the age of 156.</li><li>Ways you can lean into expanding your ambition.</li><li>Why it’s easier to move forward than to maintain your position.</li><li>Why some successful entrepreneurs get discouraged when they think about their ambition.</li><li>The dire consequences of giving up your ambition.</li></ul> Show Notes: People begin to feel old when they stop making commitments—and stop prioritizing courage. When entrepreneurs focus exclusively on doing what they’re great at and love doing, their impact multiplies. When combined with technology, the results are exponential.   Since your skills and capabilities will be much greater 10 years from now, your goals can be much bigger in 10 years too. When you’re ambitious, all sorts of unexpected opportunities and experiences become available to you. When you view ambition as an action, it becomes something you can invest your talent, skills, and time into. Ambition is a skill made up of a number of subskills. When your brain normalizes the idea that you’re going to live far longer than normal expectations, it changes your understanding of the present. Time only speeds up when you think you’re running out of it. Being unable to imagine yourself with more ambition in the future robs you of your power in the present. No one’s interested in being in teamwork with someone who’s stopped growing. Your real age has to do with what lies ahead of you—and your imagination. What human beings most look for in other human beings is commitment and courage. Commitment and courage create capability. If you’re more committed and more courageous, it’s easy to be more ambitious. Confidence is the reward for acquiring a new capability. With a higher level of confidence, you can make greater commitments. To make any significant improvement or change in your life, you have to be 100% committed to doing it. You only truly start aging when you give up your ambition. Resources: <a href="https://uniqueability.com/" style="color:rgb(5,99,193);">Unique Ability®</a> <a href="https://www.strategiccoach.com/resources/quarterly-books/my-plan-for-living-to-156" style="color:rgb(5,99,193);">My Plan For Living To 156</a> by Dan Sullivan <a href="https://www.strategiccoach.com/resources/quarterly-books/the-4-cs-formula" style="color:rgb(5,99,193);">The 4 C’s Formula</a> by Dan Sullivan

Inside Strategic Coach: Connecting Entrepreneurs With What Really Matters

What Ambition Looks Like At 80

Entrepreneurs always want to be moving forward. What determines whether they’ll be able to is their understanding of the difference between cost and investment. In this episode, business coaches Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller talk about the growth mindset that lets you improve for the rest of your life—versus the mindset that means you’ll forever be stuck right where you are. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:<ul><li>The reason why small entrepreneurs are small entrepreneurs.</li><li>Why you won’t get a return on investment if you think of team members as a cost.</li><li>Why becoming a Strategic Coach® member isn’t a cost, but an investment in yourself.</li><li>Why it’s dangerous for your team members if you think of them as a cost.</li><li>How to switch from operating in costs to operating in investments.</li></ul> Show Notes: Some entrepreneurs have essentially only created a job for themselves that doesn’t go anywhere. If you see hiring people as a cost, you might just do all of the work yourself. When entrepreneurs do everything themselves, 90% of what they do doesn’t actually make sense for them to do. Investing in team members means you’re freed up to do better work, and that will easily pay for the investment. When you hire someone, you’re investing more in yourself than in the other person. If you consider someone to be a cost, that person will know it. Making an investment is a risk, and it can require courage. Someone who treats other people as costs treats themselves the same way. With an investment, you'll put an enormous amount of thinking into it to guarantee that it’s successful. When you’re making an investment, have a goal for the return and a deadline for that goal. Resources:<a href="https://www.strategiccoach.com/resources/quarterly-books/casting-not-hiring" style="color:rgb(5,99,193);">Casting Not Hiring</a> by Dan Sullivan and Jeffrey Madoff

Entrepreneurs Can’t Move Forward With Costs, Only With Investments

When Patti Mara graduated from university in the recession of 1989, she couldn’t get a job—so she made one up instead. In this episode, Patti shares how she’s achieved entrepreneurial success, the exciting new project she’s launching to support local businesses, and what she’s learned as a long-time coach in The Strategic Coach® Program. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:<ul><li>The invaluable resource that Patti turned to when she realized she didn’t know how to build a business.</li><li>Some of the most helpful tools Patti learned in her first year at Strategic Coach®.</li><li>The difference between tasks and results.</li><li>The value in separating the fault from the problem.</li><li> “magic” that happens in every Strategic Coach workshop.</li></ul> Show Notes: <ul><li>Entrepreneurship often emerges out of necessity, but being good at making up a job for yourself doesn’t mean you know how to build a business.</li><li>Strategic Coach concepts can dramatically shift an entrepreneur's mindset and ability to build a thriving organization.</li><li>Every coach at Strategic Coach is also a Program member who uses Coach tools and concepts in their own business.</li><li>What you sell is actually the vehicle for how you create value.</li><li>Your business is the value you create to the people you want to work with.</li><li>Everyone wants to feel like they’re winning.</li><li>When team members feel like their roles serve a greater purpose, the whole company culture shifts.</li><li>And once you recognize team members as experts in their roles, you can encourage their innovation and sense of ownership.</li><li>When you empower team members to solve problems rather than to focus on who was at fault, customer interactions get much better.</li><li>Awareness and mindset are more impactful than specific skills when training team members.</li></ul> Resources: Blog: <a href="https://www.strategiccoach.com/resources/the-multiplier-mindset-blog/time-management-strategies-for-entrepreneurs-effective-strategies-only" style="color:#000080;">Time Management Strategies For Entrepreneurs (Effective Strategies Only)</a> <a href="https://www.strategiccoach.com/resources/the-multiplier-mindset-blog/time-management-strategies-for-entrepreneurs-effective-strategies-only" style="color:#000080;">Unique Ability®</a> <a href="https://www.strategiccoach.com/resources/10x-thinking/the-10x-mind-expander" style="color:#000080;">The 10x Mind Expander</a> by Dan Sullivan <a href="https://www.amazon.com/UpSolutions-Turning-Heroes-Customers-Raving-ebook/dp/B084D6QBCF?crid=UNJ1GQMREE6C&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.HVzma8o0s__X1OV6EXoWXA.roCFJUhtKubUZYPgQtGcLN3Q8zb6ocaoWmbDVdLUsIQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=Turning+Teams+Into+Heroes+and+Customers+Into+Raving+Fans+by+Patti+Mara&qid=1734529781&sprefix=turning+teams+into+heroes+and+customers+into+raving+fans+by+patti+mara%2Caps%2C82&sr=8-1" style="color:#000080;">Turning Teams into Heroes and Customers into Raving Fans</a> by Patti Mara <a href="https://www.pattimara.com/upsolutions/" style="color:#000080;">UpSolutions Team Success Program</a> Blog: <a href="https://www.strategiccoach.com/resources/the-multiplier-mindset-blog/what-is-a-self-managing-companyr" style="color:#000080;">What Is A Self-Managing Company®? </a>  Tool: <a href="https://www.strategiccoach.com/resources/tools-and-worksheets/the-positive-focus" style="color:#000080;">The Positive Focus®</a> <a href="https://whonothow.com/" style="color:#000080;">Who Not How</a> by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy Podcast: <a href="https://yourteamsuccess.com/category/podcasts/" style="color:#000080;">Team Success</a> <a href="http://pattimara.com/" style="color:#000080;">pattimara.com</a> <a href="http://wechooselocal.com/" style="color:#000080;">wechooselocal.com</a>

Business Lessons For Creating The Job You Want, with Patti Mara

Entrepreneurs need to be ambitious. But what happens when you achieve your ambition? In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller explain the drawbacks of having ambition as a destination and describe the incredible benefits you can expect when you see ambition as a capability. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:<ul><li>Why Dan sees ambition as an internal capability.</li><li>Measurements you should be making every day.</li><li>What’s made Dan’s life simpler over time.</li><li>How Dan gifts Strategic Coach® members extra years to their entrepreneurial lives.</li><li>What you need to avoid to be continually ambitious, and why.</li></ul> Show Notes: <ul><li>Ambition is a capability, not a destination.</li><li>Simply by continually improving your ambition each day, you’ll experience exponential growth over time.</li><li>Dan Sullivan feels more ambitious at 80 than he did at 50.</li><li>To strengthen your ambition, it’s important to measure your daily accomplishments and strive for continal growth.</li><li>You can measure your progress not just in achievements, but in the ability to accomplish more in less time with greater impact.</li><li>Ambition itself should be measured in terms of increased capability and confidence.</li><li>Simplifying life by eliminating distractions (like television) can reclaim valuable time for personal development and ambitious pursuits.</li><li>Surrounding yourself with growth-oriented individuals, often younger, can inspire and fuel your ambition.</li><li>To be continually ambitious, there are three things you should avoid: celebrity, retirement, and legacy.</li><li>It’s important to focus on being useful and impactful in the present rather than worrying about future legacy.</li><li>Viewing ambition as a capability can also help you feel more fulfilled personally—and have a greater impact on your community.</li><li>Every day, ask yourself what you can do so that you’re more ambitious tomorrow.</li><li>Being around people who aren’t invested in growth is an obstacle to your ambition.</li></ul> Resources:<a href="https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/254033/strengthsfinder.aspx" style="color:rgb(5,99,193);">CliftonStrengths</a>®<a href="https://whonothow.com/" style="color:rgb(5,99,193);">Who Not How</a> by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy

Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller

Inside Strategic Coach: Connecting Entrepreneurs With What Really Matters by Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller

Episodes