207: Are You Too Ambitious? ft. Jason Duncan

January 19, 2024

Join us in this introspective solo episode of "The Root of All Success" with your host, The Real Jason Duncan, as he delves deep into the thought-provoking question: "Are You Too Ambitious?" In this captivating episode, Jason explores the fine line between ambition and overambition, unraveling the layers of self-awareness that play a crucial role in achieving true success.

As The Real Jason Duncan reflects on his personal journey and experiences, he shares compelling insights into the consequences of unchecked ambition. Drawing on real-life anecdotes and lessons learned from both successes and setbacks, he provides listeners with a valuable perspective on balancing ambition with practicality and mindfulness.

Throughout the episode, Jason engages in a candid conversation with his audience, encouraging them to evaluate their own aspirations and consider whether their ambitions align with their core values and well-being. Listeners will be inspired to reevaluate their goals, reassess their motivations, and find a harmonious balance between ambition and a fulfilling life.

Tackling topics such as burnout, the importance of setting realistic expectations, and the impact of societal pressures, this episode of "The Root of All Success" is a thought-provoking exploration of the complex relationship between ambition and success. Jason's genuine and relatable storytelling style creates an immersive experience, making this solo episode a must-listen for anyone striving for personal and professional growth.

So, whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a seasoned professional, or simply someone navigating the twists and turns of life, tune in to "The Root of All Success: Are You Too Ambitious?" for a captivating and enlightening journey towards a more balanced and fulfilling pursuit of success.

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Episode Transcript

welcome to the root of all success with the real Jason Duncan a podcast that explores how the world's most powerful entrepreneurs unlocked success and how their stories can help you do the same a successful educator turned entrepreneur Jason has built multi-million dollar businesses that have been featured in Inc magazine and Entrepreneur magazine his life's Mission now is helping entrepreneurs live what he calls #the exit lifestyle introducing tedex speaker mastermind leader author entrepreneur cigar fishing anado motorcycle Enthusiast and host of the root of all success the real Jason Duncan the real Jason Duncan hey welcome back to another episode of the root of all success it's me JD thank you for being here and happy New Year I'm recording this on the 10th of January so uh we're only 10 days into the new year and I don't know exactly when this is going to be scheduled to be released but I'm grateful that you're here I'm going to share some personal information with you today so this this podcast today is going to take a break from the norm uh I'm going to share with you a little bit about what's been going on in my life over the last I don't know 90 to 120 days since I guess really the beginning of October last year um if you are a subscriber to my newsletter you've seen a little bit of this information I've slowly been sharing this over the last couple of weeks and I've been getting a a huge outpouring of support emails text messages phone calls people reaching out saying hey how are things going what can I do to support you is there anything you need and I appreciate that more than you could uh you could absolutely ever imagine because the the last 90 days have been the worst 90 days of my entire life um you know I I put that against the fact that I've lived a pretty Charmed Life you know I grew up in a home with loving parents good family my parents are still married after 51 years of marriage I'm married to my best friend in the world she and I have been married 28 years we have two beautiful and healthy wonderful adult children um and you know we we have everything we need right I mean we're we're never looking for food we're never looking for transportation or housing we have everything that we need so I've never experienced loss um like I have now I'll explain that later but I've never experienced loss no one close to me died in an unexpected way of course I've had grandparents pass away but that is to be expected as as people grow older but my parents are still alive my my brother's still alive you know my my wife's dad passed away a little early you know and and that was very sad but in terms of just total loss in my life I haven't experienced that I've I hear a lot of influencers and podcasters and people on stage and books talk about overcoming significant challenges maybe it was poverty or an abusive parent or or AB or sexual abuse or drug addiction or or whatever it might have been and I just didn't I haven't had that experience until now and uh the last 90 days of 2023 were uh like I said by far the worst and most hellish 90 days of my life and why why why did that happen over the course of the next few um weeks I'm going to be uh revealing little more details about what happened uh today's podcast is not necessarily about the details of what happened but more about what I've learned and um you know just I'll I'll kind of say it this way the the last 90 days for me have um I've got some notes on the screen I'm going to be referring to just so I don't leave anything out but the last 90 days of 2023 was a business challenge that I never saw coming that led to an outcome that I could have never anticipated and I'm still reeling from it I feel like I've been in the eye of a category 5 um crap store I'll just say it like that clean it up a little bit but a category 5 craft storm for the last 90 days and I don't um I don't want it to I don't want this podcast to come off selling like it's it it was not anything that I had to do with or it wasn't my fault although there is plenty of blame to pass around and I could share in a personal conversation exactly why it happened I do accept the responsibility for my part of that but for the most part um this was this did not happen because of things that I did or didn't do necessarily and that probably that's probably what makes it even more painful is that I'm having to um deal with the Fallout of something that I didn't necessarily cause or create and that Fallout is affecting nearly every aspect of my life my my relationship with my wife my relationship with my friends my health my faith my emotional state everything has been affected by this now I'm here to say just to kind of keep it keep this on the positive note is that my relationship with my wife and my kids and my friends is all still healthy and good I'm so blessed that I have such a supportive wife um blessed that I have supportive friends who've reached out to me and express concern and and have supported me with prayer and and uh with counsel wise counsil that I needed and and it's Times Like These that I realize what King Solomon said in the Book of Proverbs about there is wisdom and many counselors because I've needed them over these last 90 days I had a good friend of mine reach out to me on New Year's Day and uh he I I I guess I had only I've only posted any I've only posted on Instagram once in the last 90 days now if you follow me on Instagram at the real Jason Duncan which you should go do you'll see lots of posts Daily Posts in fact in fact of me interviewing other people on my podcast and my team handles that I have not been posting those but they're just interviews of me just clips of interviews of me interviewing people on my podcast um but in terms of posting personal information or me out hanging out with friends or just a post of me walking in the morning or exercising I haven't done any of that because frankly haven't had the energy to do it nor have I had the attention to pay attention to that um but on New Year's Day posted I posted um a little bit more of a personal it wasn't even a picture it was just hey last night days have been tough I'm really excited that new the new year is here I'm looking forward to a new year and I had a friend reach out to me who possibly listens to this podcast so that you you'll know who you are but he we got together that day and and we went for a drive and he said hey so so what what's going on and I shared with him what was what's been happening he was shocked couldn't believe it and um he said that he saidwell what have you learned and fair question but I was still so much in the middle of the trauma reeling from the trauma that I hadn't really contemplated what I had learned and um but this week this week I actually sat down this being the first full work week of 2024 I sat down and started to write out what are the lessons that I've learned what have I learned in my time in hell um because the last 90 days have been hell and uh they were it was an I was an unwilling participant in it but I had to participate because there was no other way around it and so I've come up with 10 lessons that I've learned and I'm G to I'll share with you briefly all 10 I'm not going to go into depth into all of them I am going to go into depth on one today which is actually going to be the content of my newsletter success and balance weekly that's going to come out next Wednesday on the 17th of January and if you haven't subscribed to my newsletter I would recommend you go do that so go to the real Jason duncan.com and just scroll to the footer and there's a little button there it says newsletter and you just put in your name and your email and you get the newsletter and I send out one newsletter per week and then other I probably send out four or five emails a week on a regular basis mostly just here's Recaps of podcast here's some resources you might need but one one a week every Wednesday I send out a newsletter of content that I write personally and um so the uh the newsletters over the next several weeks are going to be about the lessons that I've learned so here are the 10 lessons I've learned through my time in hell and the the terrible ordeal that I've had and I'm still going through it I I I kind of feel like that the category 5 uh feces storm I'm in the eye of it because everything seems to have kind of died down for a little bit at at this moment in time but I suspect that it's going to continue to blow up over the next four to five months I I don't this is not over it's going to continue um but I but I want to share with you these lessons so here are the lessons that I've learned number one I've learned trust but verify trust but verify you know um probably one of the fundamental lessons that I've learned is the importance of trust with the dash caution trusting people is crucial of course but it's equally important to verify that trust and Blind Faith can lead to unexpected challenges and it's a balance that I'm determined to strike moving forward and I'm going to dive into that deeper maybe on a future podcast it was actually the subject of newsletter that came out today the second lesson I've learned is temper your Ambitions and I'm going to talk more about this in this show today but I'm going to go through the rest of the top 10 lessons that I've learned first just real briefly and then I'll come back to that one temper your Ambitions lesson number three that I've learned is recognize the poison of self-consciousness you know caring too much about what others think can be a silent poison um that affects our happiness it affects our choices and I've realized the importance of staying true to myself and focusing on the opinions only of those who truly matter to me like family and close friends and of course God you know the he's my main audience that I want to please one of my life goal goals is to have lived a life that pleased Jesus and my wife like those are my my two main audiences that I want to please Lesson Four is understand the truth about debt and leverage my perspective on debt and leverage has evolved significantly throughout this process because let's face it anytime you have business troubles you probably have financial troubles and that's exactly what's happened to me um now my perspective isn't about never borrowing money but it's rather rather I want to I want to look at using it more wisely than I have in the past and there's this sweet spot between avoiding debt and avoiding debt entirely and and recklessly overleveraging and finding balance I think is the key so lesson number five is appreciate the importance of Leverage in business relationships you know I've learned through this ordeal and others um like it although nothing has been even close to this but I've learned that having leverage in business relationships is vital and allowing others to hold on to too much power can lead to undesirable outcomes it's crucial uh to remain in a balanced Dynamic relationship to ensure Mutual success between you and the people you're in business relationships with and there's so so much about that that I've learned number six I've learned to discover the power of exercising your true purpose and what I've learned here is that exercising your true purpose doesn't always mean that you're going to make a massive impact on the world it can be just about making a positive difference in your corner of the world whether it's through your work or your daily actions it's really boils down to to quality over quantity lesson seven that I've learned is harness the power of mindset you know I I've done a deep deep study into mindset over the last year and a half and I think that this situation is my final exam and mindset matters and over this past year diving into mindset and and how it impacts Our Lives I've realized how important it is it's incredible how our thoughts can shape our reality and developing a resilient and positive mindset is a GameChanger and it's even though I've had some very very depressing days and some moments of absolute anguish it's harnessing the power of my mindset has really been the one thing uh well not the one thing but one of the top things has helped me make it through this lesson number eight is uncover the secret about loyalty and betrayal you know loyalty I've learned isn't always what it seems and people that you think are loyal may not stand by you in times that are challenging or struggle and it's essential I've learned to test that loyalty and to understand who truly has your back when the going gets tough lesson number nine is value the importance of financial reporting you know in the world of business which this whole problem was is business focused uh I believe that financial reporting and financial numbers is key and keeping a close eye on those numbers can help you make a difference and making informed decisions and avoid potential pitfalls and it's a lesson that I've learned the hard way and then the 10th lesson is overcome the thief called worry you know worry is a thief it's a thief of joy and productivity it accomplishes nothing but it steals your peace of mind I've come to understand that worrying doesn't change the outcome it only robs you of your present moments so those are the top 10 lessons that I've learned and and I and I want to dive into lesson number two today and I I don't know why I'm necessarily choosing lesson number two except for the fact that I just finished writing the newsletter on this topic which is going to come out next week in success and balance weekly but temper your Ambitions let's take a quick break to thank our amazing sponsors for making this podcast [Music] possible as an entrepreneur I know that you have to deal with sales on a regular basis I mean every entrepreneur does and if you aren't paying attention to sales as an entrepreneur you're not going to be an entrepreneur for very long but I've got a sponsor of this show called dub that helps you bring the personal back to sales if you want to figure out how to improve content creation imp improve client trust uh improve your sales process decrease the sales cycle because we all know time kills deals if you want to increase client bookings and increase conversions you need to take a look at Dove there's a special offer for dub for listeners to the root of all success at thejason duncan.com SL duub and that's dub what dub does I've been using this for years I'm a huge fan and I'm so honored that they're our uh primary sponsor of the podcast but they have helped over 60,000 businesses around the world communicate better to make sales easier to make sales more personal and it's built dub is built for growing teams I mean you can set up video emails you can set up custom onboarding you can do admin reporting uh anything you need around video and sales and automation dub is there you can try dub now your conversions to sales are waiting all you got to do is go to thejason duncan.com SL duub and there you're going to get two weeks for free to try dub plus you're going to get 50% off your first two months of dub you can't you can't beat that so go check it out go to the real Jason duncan.com /d duub thanks for listening to our sponsors now back to the show you know there was a I read a book in uh I think it was October of last year which was right in the beginning of the storm and it's called 10 rules for Better Living and it was written by manly P Hall you can you can listen to the book for free on YouTube I would highly recommend that you do that it's a short book it's not very long and uh there isn't anything in that book that was startling or world shaking or groundbreaking but this one rule that he had it didn't set well with me at first and and his rule was temper your Ambitions temper your Ambitions and what I it it didn't really sit well with me because after all in our in our world of of of of Entrepreneurship C significantly an entrepreneurship we look at people without ambition with suspicion we look at them as not fully being committed to um to to entrepreneurship if you don't have ambition you're not committed and I I um I've learned that tempering your Ambitions really is is is a vital is a vital key to

success

um you know this is it's difficult to talk about it really is and I'm being more transparent and and I guess open in this this podcast than I ever have in the past but I I you know when you go through trials like I've gone through here you question everything uh the regret machine starts running over time it never turns off uh it keeps you awake at night it makes you have conversations that continue to pull you into negativity and most of that is not healthy at all I think the only healthy part of that is it made me realize that maybe it was my ambitions that led me to this pace you know if we believe and I truly do if we believe that we are what we think about most often then what I'm dealing with right now as a result of my thoughts as a result of what I've been thinking about for the last 10 to 13

years am I too ambitious is that what caused this I don't know I I'm not sure that the answer to that is as easy as a yes or no but here's what I have learned is that had I not been ambitious in the way that I was and I'm not saying don't be ambitious please don't hear me that to say that but I had not I been had I not been as ambitious as I was in the way that I was I know for darn well I would not be in the position I'm am today now is that my fault is that a problem is that something I shouldn't have done I I don't know those questions again are not as easy as a yes or no but when I look at temp tempering your Ambitions I really want to understand what does that even mean what does it mean to temper your Ambitions what does it mean to to still have them but temper them what does it mean to um to to to balance out Ambitions and I want to look something up here on my computer because I want to I want to make sure I'm I'm I'm I'm doing this I'm saying this right because I I don't want to I don't want to get the words wrong where you hear me hear me wrong

um it's I I I want to be very clear it I'm not saying in everything I'm talking about that ambition is not what you should have because I believe Ambitions are good but I think tempering them is better and it I've learned this in the aftermath although I don't know that I'm totally over the storm but I've had this profound clarity about this

and I confess that my ambitions have led me into a life of complexity that I do not enjoy and my pursuit of large scale influence and material success nearly cost me what truly matters in my life and this period that I've gone through wasn't just a business challenge it was a a life altering experience that has forced me to reassess everything and you know me if you've listened to this podcast long enough you know that the message about anti- hustle culture is nothing new for me the hustle culture that's so prevalent in today's society promotes A Narrative of non-stop work where success is uh is is measured in followers dollars and in public admiration and I have discovered that that narrative is deeply flawed in Plato's Republic which is a huge thing to read and to absorb um he records that in a conversation that Socrates was having with other people of the time other wise men of the time they were all looking for the definition of justice what does justice mean and many proposed their definitions and he said no that's not right no that's not right and Socrates defined justice as this minding your own

business and sometimes more often than not actually entrepreneurs don't mind their own business and I'm not talking about being nosy because I know when we say mind your own business we're actually saying don't be nosy that's not what what Socrates was meaning it wasn't about being nosy it wasn't about being inquisitive it was about if you're a shoe maker make shoes if you're a teacher teach if you're a uh a political uh if you're a political person be be in politics if you're if you're a uh Carpenter be a carp penter if you're what whatever you are mind that business and if everyone minded their business how much better would the world be and that stands in stark contrast the Simplicity of that that understanding what Justice Rel stands in stark contrast to the Relentless Pursuit external achievements my wife and I over this last few months have reminisced many times about the simpler life when I was a school teacher and she worked for a financial adviser and it's a life that we now view with a sense of longing which is an irony not lost on me it's a the extravagances and the fame that I have chased seem trivial compared to the peace and the contentment of those days now I look at that and I say well I we didn't have much money well maybe we didn't but we had enough and and I've had a lot more money than that but I've always had at least enough and these last few months have been a stark reminder that ambition while a powerful motivator needs to be tempered with the the reality of what truly brings happiness and fulfillment in life and the societal push even amongst podcasters and authors like me the societal push for constant ambition and and material accumulation stands opposed to the lessons of minimalism and simplicity and I'm not necessarily advocating for minimalism I think that also goes too far but Simplicity yeah I think that's something I've lost sight of and these philosophies of minimalism and simplicity advocate for less less clutter less noise and more space for what truly and genuinely matters in life and in the Relentless pursuit of more we often lose sight of the richness of a life well-lived you know this show called the root of all success and I've interviewed over 200 entrepreneurs on this show over the years and asked them their definition of success and how I define success like many of those has been kind of rooted in achievement and recognition but the experiences of the last 90 days have reshaped this View and I've learned that success isn't about your bank account or the accolades that you receive it's about feeling safe it's about being contented it's about being fulfilled it's about quality time with family and friends a positive work environment the impact that you wake that you make rather in the corner of your

world and as entrepreneurs and I know you are one because that's why you're listening to the show we all often fall into the Trap of believing that our worth is tied to our work and and to make meaningful impact we got to reach millions of people and I know that that's what I want I we all get tied up in in those vanity metrics like how many followers do you have on Instagram I used to publicly State I wanted a million followers on Instagram because in the my mind it's like I can make a bigger impact that way and and I'd love to have a million monthly downloads of this podcast but I'm nowhere near that but that's what I was driving for and that belief has led many of us myself included down a path of Relentless striving often at the expense of Health relationships and peace of mind but but the question then is what if we redefine success What If instead of of societal of chasing a societal ideal of success What If instead we focus on a life filled with simple Joys meaningful relationships and work that truly aligns with your values and that really is the essence of tempering your Ambitions it's about finding balance that allows that allows us to live and Thrive both professionally and personally it's hash success and balance I think that's that's the hashtag of 2024 for me success and balance feel free to use it just make sure you tag me in so let me let me tell a parable uh it's a parable that has been around for many years and you may have heard it but I want to tell it to you again a businessman was on vacation in a small coastal Mexican Village when he came across a fisherman who had just caught some some high quality fish and impressed the businessman asked the fisherman how long it took to to catch them and the fisherman replied well it didn't take long and the businessman then asked why didn't you stay out longer to catch more fish and the fisherman replied that well I have enough to support my family's immediate needs and the businessman then asked the question like many of us would well what do you do with the rest of your time well the fisherman then explained that he sleeps late he fishes a little he plays with his kids he takes siestas with his wife and he strolls into the village each evening to sip wine and play guitar with his friends he had a full and busy life well the businessman he scoffed and he said look here's here's a business plan for you man I I have an MBA from Harvard and I could help you vastly expand your business so if you spend more time fishing you can buy a bigger boat and with the increased profits you can eventually buy a fleet of boats and instead of selling to the middleman like you're doing now you could sell directly to the processor and eventually you could open your own canery and you would control the product you control the processing you control the distribution and he went on to say of course you'd need to you know you leave this small coastal fishing Village you move to Mexico City and then to LA and eventually to New York where you will run your expanding Enterprise and the fisherman ask well how long will that take and the businessman replied 15 to 20 years but after that that's when it really gets interesting when the business gets really big you can start selling stocks and you can make millions the fisherman said millions really what about after that and the businessman said well after that you'll be able to to retire you can live in a small coastal fishing Village sleep late play with your kids catch a little fish take a siesta with your wife stroll into the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play guitar with your friends and the fisherman just smiled at him and he thanked the businessman for his advice and he said I already have all that I need you know the moral of the story is about understanding what truly makes one unhappy and the irony of chasing what you already have the fisherman in this story had learned to temper his Ambitions against what truly mattered in life and it's a reflection on the nature of happiness and contentment versus the Perpetual pursuit of modern society the Perpetual pursuit of more and it's a reflection of the nature of happiness and contentment versus the Perpetual pursuit of things that we think we want but if we took a closer look we realize that we already have now I don't want you to think that this means that I'm taking a step back from entrepreneurship or business coaching or authoring or or podcasting or speaking on stages no no no despite the profound lessons that I've learned about tempering my ambitions my commitment to entrepreneurship is unwavering I firmly believe that entrepreneurs are the ones that change the world I believe it's a path to financial success and a journey towards realizing your true potential and and living the life that you truly desire it's about creating value it's about making a positive impact in the world and achieving personal freedom but not at the expense of what truly matters I was talking with a friend on a phone this morning and we were both commiserating over this this very topic and what we came to the conclusion was is that really all of this boils down it's more about Simplicity not complexity it's not about being an entrepreneur versus being an employee that's what that's not the binary choice that we're making right now the choice is is the choice is are we choosing Simplicity or are we choosing

complexity why complicate things in pursuit of making a huge impact in the world why instead why not instead strive for Simplicity in your Venture whatever it is why not strive to impact the people and the places in your corner of the world rather than trying to affect millions of people why do we need to affect tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people if it costs us what truly matters in life is the stress worth it I don't think so now don't get me wrong I believe that we as entrepreneurs have the ability to change the world one Innovation at a time and and this this entrepreneurial Spirit drives progress Fosters creativity opens doors to new possibilities and it's a force when harnessed with intention and balance it can lead to extraordin AR achievements without sacrificing what we hold dear and through what I teach with exit without exiting I I've always champing the idea that you can enjoy the fruits of your entrepreneurial success while leading a fulfilling and Balanced Life the strategy isn't about stepping away from ambition it's about embracing it wisely it's about building efficient systems empowering teams and creating a business that thrives even as you reclaim the time and energy for life's other passions and these recent trials that I've had in my business over these last 90 days have caused anger frustration sleeplessness um

stress pain

sadness but but they haven't deterred my belief and my path I would say they've reinforced it to a certain degree but I think now I want to focus on Simplicity rather than complexity even if it means earning less money and it's a poignant reminder that we can be successful and balanced at the same time I don't have to chase Millions I don't have to chase all these things that I want in life at the expense of what I already have that I wanted years ago you see I heard somebody say one time that the life that you now have is the life that you cried out and prayed for years

ago so why do you want more I think this whole situation is a testament to the fact that we can be ambitious as entrepreneurs yet still live a simple contented life that we yearn for and the essence of true entrepreneurial success is

balance and as I'm navigating this new understanding these lessons that I've learned I'm going to invite you to Embrace this life of Simplicity of purpose and of joy and if you like I am are feeling the weight of untempered ambition and you're looking for a path forward I want you to know that I'm here to help and I want to talk to you about how you can find balance and fulfillment in your life and both your personal life and your professional life and I want to offer you a free call with me if you want to talk about it it's a breakthrough call you all you got to do is go to the real Jason duncan.com breakthrough and we can explore together how you can temper your Ambitions for a more fulfilling life so these are some Reflections on lessons that I've learned and I hope this is helpful for you if you have any questions about this or anything else just reach out to me I'm on Instagram at the real Jason Duncan you can uh reach me through my website but more than that if you want to talk about your Ambitions and how you can get your business restructured so that you don't waste the most precious years of your life chasing something that you already have I want to help you do that that's what I do as a business coach that's what I do with my masterm the exiter club it's about exiting this Rat Race exiting this this Perpetual desire for more and really embracing what you have and building something significant significant of value so that you can cash in on what really matters life and if I can help you do that I'd be honored to do that go to the real Jason duncan.com breakthrough please please tune in again next week on the podcast uh we'll get back to interviewing some other folks about their stories of success and challenges and failures and whether or not their Ambitions are misplaced so as always I am the real Jason Duncan and Jesus is King attention business owners attention business owners feeling burned out from running your business uncertain if you're nearing burnout take our free 10 question business burnout test at business burnout test.com to discover where you stand with just 10 quick questions you'll learn how to immediately begin making changes to regain freedom and success cut your daily operations time in half improve your quality of life and prepare your business for your future exit without losing revenue or profit visit business burnout test.com now and take the test thank you for listening to another edition of the root of all success with the real Jason Duncan if you've enjoyed this week's episode visit the root of all success.com to access the show notes and other helpful resources follow Jason on social media at the real Jason Duncan see you again next time here on the root of all [Music]

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