We did it! We hooked 100 episodes of the Big Fish Cares podcast! What a long journey this has been for a passion project that started as a way to help other business owners like me. To celebrate our centennial episode, we welcomed no other than Gino Wickman, founder of the Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS®) and so much more. 

Gino came on to share some more insight into the revelations he had that prompted him to write his latest book, Shine, and start the Shed and Shine podcast with Rob Dube. 

Episode 100- How to Balance Ambition and Inner Peace as an Entrepreneur

Understanding Your Shit 

Have you ever felt like you were “too much” for the people around you? Many entrepreneurs learn to fold in pieces of their personality, dim their light, or play small to better fit into school systems, workplaces, or social circles. Gino calls this the cocoon. While meant to protect us, we end up smashing down feelings while understanding the traumas weighing us down. 

Discovery 1: I am driven. 

I had boundless energy as a kid and young adult, and I still do. I move at a speed and with an endurance that most can’t match. Research says only 10% of the population has this genetic “blessing/curse.” And only 3-4% of the population are driven entrepreneurs. The rest are usually highly driven athletes, salespeople, Navy Seals, or stockbrokers. (Interestingly, only ~5% of the general population have adult ADHD…coincidence?) Are you one of the few?

Gino calls this a blessing and a curse. The blessing for people who are driven is that seemingly endless energy. The curse? People who are driven also do a lot of mental, physical, and emotional damage to themselves and others around them. 

Driven entrepreneurs don’t have the same dopamine hit as others from achieving a goal, which means they’re addicted to more and more endorphin hits. Addicts use different things to numb the pain. Driven entrepreneurs tend to be the hardest on themselves, especially when making decisions.

Homework: Read Driven by Dr. Douglas Brackman and Rocket Fuel

Discovery 2: All decisions are made out of love or fear. 

After listening to Gino describe this discovery, I understood how many of us make decisions dozens of times a day by reacting out of fear. We fear the embarrassment of being discovered as a fraud or that people will judge us by whatever skeletons we hide in our closets. So we armor up and thicken the walls of those cocoons with alcohol, drugs, or whatever other addictions numb our pain and give us the illusion of feeling safe. 

Plus, driven entrepreneurs tend to be incredibly curious, risk-taking people. You know the old saying, “Curiosity killed the cat.” Well, our curiosity may not have killed us, but it definitely got us into more trouble (read trauma) than the average person. 

But, if we make decisions based out of love, we shed those layers to reveal our true selves. Gino said that when we make decisions based out of love, we don’t feel the dread or excitement that the ego gives us. Instead, we feel nothing. For a driven entrepreneur, this can sound profoundly counterintuitive. 

Homework: Read Untethered Soul by Michael Singer and Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday

Discovery 3: It is possible to be driven and have peace.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to be an all-or-nothing kind of guy. I go hard and do everything I can to have an impact on the world. But in the past that has been at my own expense to my health and well-being. I used to believe that the other side (the love, peace, and inner calm woo-woo shit) wasn’t for me. I was too driven. 

Gino found, though, that it is possible to create balance and have both. Obtaining an enlightened state with inner peace won’t dull your edge as an entrepreneur. Gino says it actually makes that edge stronger and helps people vibrate at a higher frequency. He coined the term FLOWt™ (a combination of flow and float) to label that sensation.

Homework: Read Shine by Gino Wickman and Rob Dube and Letting Go: The Pathway to Surrender by David R Hawkings 

Enlightened Gino

Gino is someone I’ve looked up to since I first read Rocket Fuel during my own entrepreneurial journey. During our conversation, Gino talked about how climbing the mountain to reach the pinnacle of external success won’t bring you true happiness. He’s found that real joy comes from the peace and fulfillment that comes from inside by allowing your true self to shine. 

Part of finding that real joy means letting go of all the trauma in your life. You may be holding the trauma and pain of multiple generations inside you. 

Breaking that cycle by facing and embracing your pain can be one of the hardest things you’ll ever do. But the people in my life are worth it. I’m worth it. The world deserves a fully present, fully open Benny. 

The world deserves that much from you, too.