IAM2373 – The Importance of Work Ethic in Achieving Success
Special Episode by Gresham Harkless Jr.
Gresham Harkless shares an update on his journey during week three of his franchise brokerage training.
He reflects on how quickly time has passed since starting, particularly since “Live Week,” a more intensive training session.
A key point he discusses is the reality of business success—it often appears to come quickly, but in truth, it’s the result of years of hard work and learning.
Gresham mentions his drive to outwork himself and improve by 1% each day, emphasizing the importance of work ethic in achieving success.
Despite not being in the ideal place to start his new venture, Gresham believes that taking action and moving forward, even before feeling completely ready, will set him up for success in the long run.
- Blue Star Franchise: http://bluestarfranchise.com
- Browse the Franchise Inventory: https://bluestarfranchise.com/franchise
- Is franchising right for you? Check this out to see: http://bluestarfranchise.com/assessment
- Franchise CEO (A CBNation Site – coming soon) – http://franchiseceo.co
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Transcription:
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Intro 00:01
Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview?
If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.
Gresham Harkless 00:28
Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast. And this is a special episode of our I AM CEO Podcast.
And this is actually going to be a snippet of a snippet, so to speak. I'm just doing an intro because I've been starting to document my journey into starting what is now called Blue Star Franchise.
We're also going to do a kind of sub site within CB Nation called Franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that.
But just wanted to give you a little bit more insight, give you a little bit more color in some of the aspects of why I'm actually doing this.
Because one of the things I was doing as I was going through training to start up this new business was realizing and hearing from the founder of FBA, the Franchise Brokers Association, that it'd be really cool to document your journey going through and building this out.
I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises.
But frankly, if you're starting anything, any type of business, I think it's really cool to kind of just even see the journey and how it's been going from there.
So I'm going to share a few of those snippets from the, from the first couple of videos that have been created.
But definitely, of course, subscribe to our YouTube, check out a lot more where I figure out exactly where we're going to post this.
So I'll have that information that's available to you. But regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing.
The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build and needs you to be your unique self.
So make sure to run your own race, because nobody can run your race like you. This is Gresh signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.
Just like that is day 21, week three of the franchise brokerage journey. It's hard to believe it's been about three, I guess four weeks since I started training.
Well, not even started training since think since Live Week to where I'm at now. Live Week was basically when we went to go train to kind of learn, basically an eight hour day all week about what it was to be like a franchise broker.
And I think that this is probably the first week where I'm going to be more embedded, more in both of the businesses, all the businesses, I guess you can say.
So it's exciting, but at the same time, it's just like you want to make sure that you're doing all the things that you want to do to be successful.
One of the things that really kind of resonated with me today is that sometimes we forget about what it's truly like to run a business.
We see the quick wins, we see the people that are quote-unquote, instantly successful. And the quote that kind of resonates with me is that, and I say a lot on the podcast, is that the secret to overnight successes takes 10 to 15 years.
[restrict paid=”true”]
I mean, here, 10 to 11, eight years, whatever that number might be. The point is that the success that you see is not a result of just what's happening right now.
A lot of times success is a result of what has happened years and years prior. There's even like this meme that I always remember where there's a, I think a plumber that someone calls and they call him or her to fix whatever the issue is, and they've been working days to try to figure out what the issue is, call the plumber.
The plumber comes in, fixes it in like 10 minutes. And it's like, okay, are you going to charge me for the full hour or two or the service call or whatever it is, because it took 10 minutes.
It's like, you're not, I'm not charging you based off of the 10 minutes I took. The reason that I'm charging what I'm charging, which is the full amount, is because I put in all the time and hours to learn how to do it in 10 minutes.
And so the reason I bring that up is because so many times when we go through the journey, we forget about laying that foundation, putting the bricks in place to be successful.
And while we want that, instant success is rarer than I think people want to truly say. So when I think about this franchise brokerage journey, I think about me hopefully being able to get a little bit more of an advantage by being able to have the digital marketing business, by having the resources for entrepreneurs and business owners.
But at the same time, I really wanted to tap into this. ‘m going to outwork myself. I'm going to be better than myself. I'm going to get 1% better every day.
And I think if I am trying to defeat Gresh, so to speak, and progress and to get better, then having that mentality is going to be huge.
Because I believe strongly in work ethic and how work ethic can lead you. It sets you up for success.
But when people don't put the work in. In many different aspects, then I don't feel like we should be wondering why things aren't going the way that we want moments ago.
And frankly, putting in work ethic and doing the things doesn't mean you're working on the right things.
It doesn't mean that you're going to be successful. But I think when you get in the mentality of trying to do all the things that you can do to increase your likelihood of success, you can't say that I wish I would have did this or I wish I would have did that.
If you put the time in, it may not go exactly where you wanted to go. It may not be part of what's in the cards for you or your destiny or what God wants for you, I would even say.
But it doesn't mean that you didn't do everything you could do. So my mentality is always like, what can I do?
What are the things that I could do to try to increase my likelihood of success and let me do all those things. And I'm definitely focusing on the sales and the marketing.
I'm definitely focused on the lead generation now that one other really big thing that I talked about a little bit in the videos is that I felt like maybe March or April was the best time to kind of start this because literally I'm not even in the place that I'm at now.
Celebrating this past weekend with my wife, our anniversary went to training, bringing on different people, setting up systems in the digital marketing business.
All these things are happening at the same time. So this was not the ideal time, but I felt like by getting a little bit closer to where I was, I'd be able to set myself up for success a lot more.
So that's just what I really wanted to focus on, is just like, how can I continue to kind of take the steps to be successful and how can I move before I'm ready?
And that's ultimately what I wanted to do. That's what I am doing. And we'll definitely see as I continue to record how this goes.
Please let me know if there's anything I could do to help. And of course, looking forward to giving you more and more updates.
Intro 06:41
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast, powered by CBNation and Blue16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.
Check out the latest and greatest apps, books and habits to level up your business at CEOhacks.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.
Title: Transcript - Wed, 29 Jan 2025 16:34:31 GMT
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2025 16:34:31 GMT, Duration: [00:07:16.15]
[00:00:01.52] - Intro
Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I Am CEO Podcast.
[00:00:28.46] - Gresham Harkless
Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I Am CEO Podcast and this a special episode of our IMCO podcast. And this is actually going to be a snippet of a snippet, so to speak. I'm just doing an intro because I've been starting to document my journey into starting what is now called Blue Star franchise. We're also going to do a kind of sub site within CB Nation called Franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that. But just wanted to give you a little bit more insight, give you a little bit more color in some of the aspects of why I'm actually doing this. Because one of the things I was doing as I was going through training to start up this new business was realizing and hearing from the the founder of fba, the Franchise Brokers association, that it'd be really cool to document your journey going through and building this out. I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises. But frankly, if you're starting anything, any type of business, I think it's really cool to kind of just even see the journey and how it's been going from there. So I'm going to share a few of those snippets from the from the first couple of videos that have been created. But definitely of course subscribe to our YouTube, check out a lot more where I figure I exactly where he was going to post this. So I'll have that information that's available to you. But regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing. The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build and needs you to be your unique self. So make sure to run your own race because nobody can run your race like you. This is Grass signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.
[00:01:53.96] - Gresham Harkless
Just like that is day 21, week three of the franchise brokerage journey. It's hard to believe it's been about three, I guess four weeks since I started training. Well, not even started training since think since Live Week to where I'm at now. Live Week was basically when we went to go train to kind of learn, basically an eight hour day all week about what it was to be like a franchise broker. And I think that this is probably the first week where I'm going to be more embedded, more in both of the businesses, all the businesses, I guess you can say. So it's exciting, but at the same time, it's just like you want to make sure that you're doing all the things that you want to do to be successful. One of the things that really kind of resonated with me today is that sometimes we forget about what it's truly like to run a business. We see the, you know, the quick wins, we see the people that are, quote, unquote, instantly successful. And the quote that kind of resonates with me is that, and I say a lot on the podcast, is that the secret to overnight successes takes 10 to 15 years. I mean, here, 10 to 11, eight years, whatever that number might be. The point is, is that the success that you see is not a result of just what's happening right now. A lot of times success is a result of what has happened years and years prior. There's even like this meme that I always remember where there's a, I think a plumber that someone calls and they call him or her to fix whatever the issue is, and they've been working, you know, days to try to figure out what the issue is, call the plumber. The plumber comes in, fixes it in like 10 minutes. And it's like, okay, are you going to charge me for the full hour or two or the service call or whatever it is, because it took 10 minutes. It's like, you're not, I'm not charging you based off of the 10 minutes I took. The reason that I'm charging what I'm charging, which is the full amount, is because I put in all the time and hours to learn how to do it in 10 minutes. And so the reason I bring that up is because so many times when we go through the journey, we forget about laying that foundation, putting the bricks in place to be successful. And while we want that, instant success is rarer than I think people want to truly say. So when I think about this franchise brokerage journey, I think about me hopefully being able to get a little bit more of an advantage by being able to have the digital marketing business, by having the resources for entrepreneurs and business owners. But at the same time, I really wanted to tap into this. You know, I'm going to outwork myself. I'm going to be better than myself. I'm going to get 1% better every day. And I think if I am trying to defeat grash, so to speak, and progress and to get better, then having that mentality is going to be huge. Because I believe strongly in work ethic and how work ethic can lead you. It sets you up for success. But when people don't put the work in. In many different aspects, then I don't feel like we should be wondering why things aren't going the way that we want moments ago. And frankly, you know, putting in work ethic and doing the things doesn't mean you're working on the right things. It doesn't mean that you're going to be successful. But I think when you get in the mentality of trying to do all the things that you can do to increase your likelihood of success, you can't say that I wish I would have did this or I wish I would have did that. If you put the time in, it may not go exactly where you wanted to go. It may not be part of, you know, what's in your, you know, in the cards for you or your destiny or what God wants for you, I would say even say. But it doesn't mean that you didn't do everything you could do. So my mentality is always like, what can I do? What are the things that I could do to try to increase my likelihood of success and let me do all those things. And I'm definitely focusing on the sales and the marketing. I'm definitely focused on the lead generation now that, you know, you know, one other really big thing that I talked about a little bit in the videos is that I felt like maybe March or April was the best time to kind of start this because literally I'm not even in the place that I'm at now. Celebrating this past weekend with my wife, our anniversary went to training, bringing on different people, setting up systems in the digital marketing business. All these things are happening at the same time. So this was not the ideal time, but I felt like by getting a little bit closer to where I was, I'd be able to set myself up for success a lot more. So that's just what I really wanted to focus on, is just like, how can I continue to kind of take the steps to be successful and how can I move before I'm ready? And that's ultimately what I wanted to do. That's what I am doing. And we'll definitely see as I continue to record how this goes. Please let me know if there's anything I could do to help. And of course, looking forward to giving you more and more updates.
[00:06:41.37] - Intro
Thank you for listening to The I Am CEO podcast, powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at imceo. Co. I am CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Check out the latest and greatest apps, books and habits to level up your business@ceohacks.co. this has been the I Am CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.
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