The Human Pillar: Building the Builder First
A critical mistake among modern builders is obsessing entirely over outward strategy while completely ignoring what they are mentally consuming on a daily basis. As leaders, we are always taking in data, but the ultimate executive inquiry is deciding whether that consumption makes you more courageous or quietly more hesitant. In this episode, featuring profound insights from speaker, coach, and entrepreneur Sandra on episode 70 of the I AM CEO podcast, we break down why you must continuously build the builder before you can successfully scale the business.
The Functional Reality of “Positivity Brainwashing”
In the technology sector, the phrase “garbage in, garbage out” dictates software development; the exact same standard applies to your psychological capacity. If you are constantly consuming fear, market comparison, or other people's limitations, taking bold action becomes structurally impossible.
True execution within the Human Pillar requires the intentional deployment of tools like books, audio, and empowering podcasts to engineer a resilient internal environment. This isn't about ignoring real corporate hazards like revenue metrics, team friction, or client retention struggles. Rather, it is about recognizing that what you repeatedly choose to listen to directly constructs the automatic voice you hear in your head when dark operational crunches occur.
Engineering a Teflon Mindset for New Levels
The core takeaway for any CEO is that every single new level of scale brings a brand-new set of problems to resolve. Navigating these milestones with persistence and stubborn commitment requires feeding your mind with things that reinforce real operational possibility instead of draining your momentum.
By adopting the executive framework that challenges are not happening to you, but are happening for you to build redirection and deep organizational resilience, you create a strategic edge that makes your focus completely bulletproof. Ask yourself this heavy question: “What are you repeatedly consuming today that is quietly dictating how you view your capabilities and your enterprise?”. Protecting your mental inputs is the definitive lever required to silence hesitation and unlock your true leadership altitude.
Previous episode: https://iamceo.co/iam2869-personal-brand-vs-business-name%ea%9e%89-stop-hiding-build-trust/
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Transcription:
Gresham Harkless 00:00
Builders, we are always consuming something. Question is whether what you're taking in is making you more courageous or does it make you more hesitant? That's a powerful question that came up in episode number 70 of the I Am CEO Podcast with Sandra. Sandra is a speaker, coach and entrepreneur who helps passionate people with big dreams break free from what's holding them back and step into the lives that they ultimately love.
If you're building something meaningful, you're in the right place. This is the I Am CEO Podcast. I'm gresh, and for over a decade I've had the honor and the privilege of Learning directly from CEOs, entrepreneurs and business owners just like you on how to build. After recording more than 1600 episodes, one thing has become clear. Success isn't about following someone else's blueprint. And as I like to say on the show, if you run your own race, you can't lose. Even when we feel the journey should be a straight and linear path, what I've come to find out is success is a lot more like a plate of spaghetti. So in this special segment and episode, I'm starting to curate and share some CEO hacks and CEO nuggets that I've been dying to share. Drawn from thousands of episodes with phenomenal guests that have provided awesome value on the show, but also my 10 years of business experience as well too. These lessons are designed to strengthen the foundational principles that every business is built on and guided by a simple equation that we always go back to with our content. Visibility plus resources times connections equals success. This is practical wisdom you can apply almost immediately, so be sure to check out the show notes for more resources and next steps on how to level up. And of course, enjoy this special episode of the I Am CEO Podcast
Builders, we are always consuming something. Question is whether what you're taking in is making you more courageous or or does it make you more hesitant? That's a powerful question that came up in episode number 70 of the I Am CEO Podcast with Sandra. Sandra is a speaker, coach and entrepreneur who helps passionate people with big dreams break free from what's holding them back and step into the lives that they ultimately love. And the actual nugget I want to drill down a little bit more on is actually her CEO hack, which is positivity brainwashing. Now, I know that phrase might grab your attention, but the idea behind it is very, very, very practical. Sandra talked about intentionally filling your mind with empowering podcasts, books, audio, audio and even tools like Audible to build out where you want to go. For builders that Matters tremendously because the environment you build is not just physical, it's also mental, too. I often say on the show, in order to reach the altitude that you want, you have to make sure that you have the environment. That environment will influence the altitude that you fly to and how high that you go. So if you're constantly consuming fear, comparison, negativity, or other people's limitation, it becomes harder to take bold action and bold steps. But if you're intentional about what you're listening to, read and repeat, you're creating a different internal environment. And here's one of the beautiful things about this time that we're in right now is that we can literally open up a book on our phone. We can go online and read something that's positive. We have a lot more control over the environment that we have because of the technology that we have at our fingertips. Where does this come up to the human pillar at CB Nation? Before you build your business, you have to keep building the builder. You have to keep paying attention to that environment and continue to put in what things you need. And technology they talk a lot around. Garbage in, garbage out is because what you put in is what comes out. So being very intentional around those things that you're putting in, you're consuming the podcast, the blogs, the music, the people that are around you. What things that they're saying? They're not that. No, get me wrong, you're not going to be able to create a perfect environment where you never hear any negative or have any negative thoughts. Because I think us as humans, sometimes we skew that way, and we can sometimes get very fear based in many different ways. We're not trying to run away from a bear anymore, but we are trying to run away from what we perceive to be equivalent to a bear in our lives. And that has evolved and changed over time. But it's imperative that you're aware of that and you're aware of how you can intentionally create that environment that allow you that greater likelihood of succeeding. Sandra talked around keeping going, going, persistence, resilience, commitment, and being stubborn when the mission actually matters. And persistence becomes a lot easier when your mind is being fed with things that reinforce positive possibility. Possibility instead of things that actually drain it. Think about this. It's something that I try to remind myself of over and over again. Things are not happening to me. They're happening for me. When you have that mindset, it doesn't matter what happens to you. You become Teflon. It becomes something that really is there in order to help you out. Even the biggest and hardest challenges that I've been through and that you might be going through are there for you to do something. It might be there to create resilience. It might be there for you to be redirected. I often go back to when I tore my Achilles tendon that I feel like if had I not done that, I wouldn't be chatting with you and having this conversation today. I probably wouldn't have had the podcast, I wouldn't have done the blog. All those things happen because of that quote unquote dark moment and the idea that it's always darkest before dawn. Now this is not about pretending everything is positive. Builders deal with real problems. As I mentioned myself. Revenue problems, team problems, client problems, confidence problems. These are all things that come up and continue to come up. This idea of new levels, new devils, where whatever level you reach, you're going to have a new set of problems that you're going to be dealing with. But what you repeatedly listen to becomes part of the voice you hear when things get difficult. The nugget I carry with you today is protect the input, because the input shapes the builder. Here's something we're thinking about a little bit more. What are you repeatedly consuming that is quietly shaping how you see yourself in your business? Because sometimes the next level requires a stronger strategy and a stronger environment that you need to build, and sometimes it just requires a stronger internal soundtrack. If you've been feeling yourself being pulled back into fear or hesitation, this conversation with Sandra is definitely one that that will resonate with you.