October 1, 2019

Tom Bilyeu: Why Mindset Is Everything – The Rich Roll Podcast

Check out The Rich Roll Podcast Episode Page & Show Notes

Key Takeaways

• Everything in life comes down to your value system: 
  • What’s your identity?
  • What are your beliefs?
  • What are your habits/routines?
  • (You can tell the outcome of someone’s life just by looking at their answers to these questions)
• Stop valuing yourself for being good at something and start valuing yourself for being willing to learn
• The formula for fulfillment: “Work your ass off to get very good at something that you care deeply about that allows you to serve other people”
• Don’t chase money – the struggle is guaranteed but the success isn’t
  • “I rather be poor doing something I love than rich doing something I hate”
• Your mindset is EVERYTHING

Intro

• Tom Bilyeu (@TomBilyeu) is an entrepreneur best known as a co-founder of Quest Nutrition
  • He’s also the host of Impact Theory
• Check out the Podcast Notes from Tom’s appearance on The Peter Attia Drive

Books Mentioned

• Tom read Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman at 12-14 years old and it changed his perspective on life
• Tom highly recommends reading Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
  • The takeaway from the book: Intelligence and skills aren’t fixed, you can grow in both areas

Starting His Podcast

• Although there are a ton of people doing interview podcasts, there’s always room for the best
• To takes interview prep to the extreme
  • Before he has someone on his show, he’ll spend a ton of time reading their books, listening to their other podcast interviews, and reading articles about that individual
  • For every hour Tom spends with a podcast guest, he spends about 12 hours researching and learning about them
• The best thing about having a podcast is that it gives you the chance to meet and learn from people who otherwise wouldn’t give you the time of day

Values & Mindset

• Everything in life comes down to your value system: 
  • What’s your identity?
  • What are your beliefs?
  • What are your habits/routines?
  • (You can tell the outcome of someone’s life just by looking at their answers to these questions)
• Stop valuing yourself for being good at something and start valuing yourself for being willing to learn
  • When you hit a point of inadequacy, remind yourself that you are a learner and need to put in the work to develop the skills needed to move forward
• Your mindset is EVERYTHING
  • Tom highly recommends reading Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
    • The key takeaway from the book: Intelligence and skills aren’t fixed, you can grow in both areas (as long as you believe you can become better)

The Short Version Of Tom’s Life Story

• As a kid, Tom gravitated towards being a comedian
  • Being funny allowed Tom to socialize with others and also stopped bullies from picking on him
• In college, Tom dropped comedy and instead focused on film school
  • After failing film school, Tom went back to comedy but realized he wasn’t prepared to dedicate his whole life to the craft 
    • So, Tom went back to focusing on filmmaking, doubled down, worked hard, and became quite good
• Early in his life, Tom knew he wanted two things: to have 6-pack abs and be a millionaire
• Down the road, Tom joined a startup with two entrepreneurs that mentored him and taught him business skills
  • After working with them for a while, Tom co-founded his own company – Quest Nutrition
• It took Tom 15 years to build Quest into a billion-dollar company that he eventually sold
  • He then used the money to build his own studio and podcast show
    • He’s now pursuing his original passion: storytelling and filmmaking

Becoming An Entrepreneur

• Tom doesn’t think of himself as a born entrepreneur – he had to learn everything from the ground-up
  • For the first two years working at a startup, he didn’t say anything on conferences calls except “good-bye” because he knew he had to learn before he could contribute to the conversation
    • “I had to learn to be an entrepreneur”
• When building a company, put employees first, then customers
• Even if you’re an employee, don’t act like one – act like you’re an owner and you may eventually become one
  • If there’s something that needs to get done, but it isn’t your job, just get it done
    • To improve, you need to get out of your comfort zone and work like hell
      • “The harder I worked, the better I got”
• With enough work, you can transform both your body and your mind
  • By working out, Tom transformed his body by gaining 60 lbs. of muscle 
  • By studying business, Tom transformed his mind and eventually started his own company

Building Quest

• Starting a business like Quest wasn’t easy – even back in 2009 there were 1,600 companies making protein bars
  • One distributor told Tom, “I need another protein bar like I need another hole in my head”
  • However, Tom saw a gap in the market – protein bars either had 0 sugar and tasted horrible or had 40 grams of sugar and were terribly unhealthy
    • When manufactures turned down Tom and his partners, they decided to buy their own equipment and started manufacturing the bars themselves
      • For the first year, it was just Tom in a hairnet and white gloves making protein bars
• How did Quest Nutrition grow so quickly?
  • Tom never tried to specifically sell the product, he just aimed to give people value by providing healthy food recipes and tips
  • Their team also used social media and mirror marketing
    • If one consumer discovered a delicious new recipe that included their protein bar, they would repost it on social media
      • Tom used social media to create a community of people sharing health tips and recipes
• Growing Pains:
  • Quest was growing so fast that they bought a new space and figured it would fit them for 3 years, but they had to buy an even bigger space just 6 months later
  • The company needed a ton of new staff so they put out open job positions for anyone, even if they were convicts
    • Tom met tons of people with potential during this time – this shaped his belief that there are a lot of talented people out there who could do more with their lives give an opportunity and some guidance
• Tom went on to start Impact Theory after selling Quest for a billion dollars
  • The best thing about money? – It will allow you to DO extraordinary things, but it won’t MAKE you an extraordinary person

Life Advice

• No matter what field you’re thinking of entering, there’s always room for the best
• If your goal is to be successful, your wants must become your needs
• Don’t chase money – the struggle is guaranteed but the success isn’t
  • “I rather be poor doing something I love than rich doing something I hate”
• It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in life, the only thing that matters is who you want to become and if you’re willing to pay the price to become that individual
  • “You get to choose what you want to do tomorrow”
• The formula for fulfillment: “Work your ass off to get very good at something that you care deeply that allows you to serve other people”
  • Your skills have utilities: People that build houses aren’t just building a property, they’re building a home for a family to live and grow up in
• Whenever you’re stuck, ask yourself: “Who is living my idealized life?”
  • For Tom, that person was Walt Disney because of the incredibly positive impact he had on people
    • “I want to tell stories that empower people, period”
• Unless you want to be where you are for the rest of your life, you need to learn new skills

Additional Notes

• Tom’s highest priority is his marriage
  • You have to keep the physical and emotional spark going – Don’t become roommates!
• All you really have in this world is how you feel about yourself when you’re by yourself
• Don’t value yourself for being smart or talented, value yourself for being a learner
  • Don’t say: “I’m not good enough”
  • Say: “I’m not good enough yet”
• Tom doesn’t use an alarm to wake up unless he has an early morning meeting
• Tom’s morning routine: Working out > Learning > Meditating
• Tom’s preferred method of book consumption: Audible
• Tom believes in the future people will be able to upload their consciousness into computers 
• Tom read Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman at 12-14 years old and it changed his perspective on life
• Tom has two fears: His wife dying and brain damage
• Motivation is the neurological equivalent of candy
  • It’s short and sweet, but you need something of more substance
• Humans are the ultimate adaptive species
  • Who you are isn’t nearly as important as who you want to become
    • (So start acting like the person you want to become)