Jeff Smith hosts another episode of The Tactical Empire, featuring guest Shawn Rider. They share tools and strategies for creating a life of abundance, discipline, and high achievement. The discussion reflects on the recent in-person meetup with their group, focusing on the deep connections and actionable takeaways the participants gained. The meetup emphasized informal yet purposeful structure, exercises to compress time, and real-world applications to eliminate friction and speed up progress. Participants shared letters to their future selves, addressing their current challenges and envisioning their successful outcomes. The episode encourages listeners to join their community, which focuses on fitness, family, freedom, and finances.
In this episode of The Tactical Empire, host Jeff Smith and guest Shawn Rider discuss strategies for achieving a life of abundance and high achievement. They reflect on their recent in-person meetup, highlighting how informal planning and deep personal connections among participants resulted in significant takeaways and actionable insights. The meetup featured exercises designed to compress time and address pressing issues, fostering a community of servant leaders dedicated to helping each other overcome obstacles. Jeff and Sean emphasize the importance of eliminating friction and reducing drag to achieve faster progress in personal and professional goals. They encourage listeners to join their free Facebook community, Tactical Empire Community, for further engagement and support.
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
01:53 Meetup Reflections and Takeaways
04:05 Deep Connections and Networking
07:20 Exercises and Personal Growth
19:26 Eliminating Friction for Success
22:20 Conclusion and Call to Action
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[00:00:00] How do you find the will to fight back against the world that wants to keep you sedated? S stuck plates? Join us for the tools and strategies you need to create a life of abundance, discipline, and high achievement. This, this is the tactical implied with Jeff Smith.
Jeff Smith: Welcome to another episode of The Tactical Empire. I am joined by Sean Ryder. What's up, man?
Shawn Rider: It's, you acted like you were surprised with your facial expression. You, you're surprised that I'm here
Jeff Smith: surprised by the guest. No, I, I was actually trying to, uh, put my do not disturb on and it took me a, a half second to, to make sure I was punching the right buttons,
Shawn Rider: so
Jeff Smith: I'm good, man.
How are you?
Shawn Rider: I did see that your, your wife told you it's not your tone that bothers her. It's your [00:01:00] face. So Yeah, you should,
Jeff Smith: you should comment that, that that was about one specific, uh, back and forth that we had. And she usually says that she doesn't like my tone or whatever. Um, and so yeah, she said, no, it's, it's not your tone, that's the problem.
It's your face. And I was like, and that made me laugh my ass off just 'cause like the way she said it was hilarious and she just.
Shawn Rider: Well, if, if that conversation happened after you left her for three or four days for the meetup, um, she can, she can say whatever she wants to you. She was Oh, solo parent. It,
Jeff Smith: it wasn't, it, it wasn't about a current fight.
It was, it was like recollecting about communication styles and uh, and certain situations. So it was funny because communication. What's
Shawn Rider: that? No one needs to know how to communicate. Goodness. Well, my man. I'm good. Uh, you know, back into the swing of things, we, we can do a little a a r today after [00:02:00] action review of the in-person meetup.
And, uh, we're gonna do a little follow up with the guys in the inner circle this week, uh, for their takeaways and, uh, their action items and, and things that they wanna, uh, get done in this quarter. But, uh, I think this, this time around, we, we focused on, um. Obviously we want them to leave with a game plan for the quarter, but I, I feel like this one was almost like, what can you do right now?
Uh, like specifically right this second in the next 24 hours. So, uh, not to make that the topic of the day, but let's just kinda, uh, pontificate on how was the meetup for you? What, uh, what takeaways did you have? What did you like, uh, about this meetup? What stood out to you?
Jeff Smith: It's strange because I. That it, I think it was the best one that we've had yet by far. Um, the, the connections just keep deepening, um, which is strange, but I, I tried to spend a lot of time thinking on that because like, it's, it's [00:03:00] not been the same group of people that have come. Um, so the, the only thing I could deduce from that is that like there's been enough people that have been around long enough.
The, like, they become like the glue, like the instantaneous people that know each other and then they pull in all the new people. Um, but I mean, that was as good a group as we've ever had for sure. Um, and they just took to each other very quickly. Um, it started talking business, started talking like real shit, like right off the bat.
And uh, it, it made for a really compelling two or three days. Like, and, and where people. Covered a lot of ground in a short amount of time. And, uh, so you got in a room and, and it, it became very clear that everyone was there, shared values to an extent, like, like a, a certain framework of how like we should be handling our stuff.
And, uh, from there, like you, you get your own uniqueness, uh, and, and your [00:04:00] own, um. Kind of style you can put to everything that you want to do. But, um, the, the best things I saw out of it were, um, how well the guys networked, how well they got to know each other, um, how sticky those relationships became very quickly.
Um, you saw people like pair off with each other during the workouts and things like that, that like were really interesting to watch. Um, there was just like no barriers. Everybody was comfortable with each other the whole time. And, um, I. Then, then we started solving problems and, and people were very open and active about, like forthcoming with their information and their contacts and everything else.
And we, we got some problems solved very quickly. And that's, that's the kind of culture that, that we've been trying to curate and develop is like, like, because that community. Especially now that we've put it on the back end and it's like designed to be the legacy group. The inner circle is like, if you're gonna be in that group, you've gotta be helpful, you've [00:05:00] gotta be a connector.
Because like otherwise, I mean, you're wasting your time in there because I feel like that's the heart of everybody else. It's, it's like a bunch of servant leaders that are willing to help each other and give phone numbers and give connections and give plugs to like directions, um, when people have roadblocks or impediments at any point in time.
So. I, I was stoked by it. We had some people come in that poured into us that are ahead of us in, uh, maybe age and experience and, um, certain areas and, and they brought a lot of wisdom to the table as well, which was super helpful. Um, I think it, it had the guys asking some different questions than usual as well.
So I, I, overall, man, I'm stoked about it. Ready for October, ready to start planning the next one. Um, it, I, I'm really looking at some, some ways to get to ensure that there's a lot more people there. 'cause it, it's a really great group of people, but if we grow it to, uh, like just a, a little bit bigger than it is, um, I, I think it'll be even more [00:06:00] powerful with a few more people in the room.
Not too many to water it down, but like there, there's some, there's still some room for some, some higher level energy in there.
Shawn Rider: Yeah. Uh, I don't really disagree with anything that you said there. I think this was a, a, a really great meetup. Arguably our, our best one. Um, for the reasons that you stated. I think we have some guys that are, you know, veterans in the group, uh, and, and have the longevity of expecting and knowing what to expect at these things.
So they're definitely, um, helping facilitate. How things go and, and like you said, pulling in the new guys. Uh, I feel like if I, if I zoomed out a little bit, I feel like this one, uh, for lack of a better term, we had a lot more informal, uh, planning, which I think cultivated better connection. Uh, maybe that's not.
Maybe that's not why it felt that way, but it was really good. Like we had day one, we were basically in the room minus lunch from nine [00:07:00] until, you know, 9, 9 30 until four 30. And when four 30 came around, like I looked at my watch, I was like, shit. Like I need to go to dinner 'cause I eat at five. I didn't know we were, I like, the day went by really, really quick, which means the present presentations were good and the work, uh, you know, I was able to get into flow state to do the work.
I think the work was great. Um. Thursday we did, you know, writing a letter to yourself three, three years from now, uh, but that, that even though it was like three years from now, you were looking back, which is why I think the people that shared, uh, inside the group and on some guys used it as a, a post on their Facebook pages.
You, you read it. You read it based on like what they're going through now. So even though it was looking back three from three years ahead, it was really like an in the moment thing. And then one of the questions you had asked was, what are the three things that you need to do, or conversations that need to be had or tasks that you need to do in the next 24 hours to change who you are to get what you [00:08:00] want.
Um, and that was a really interesting, I mean, I've done a lot of exercises and that's, that one was, uh, different. Because it, it literally, two of my three required two of the other guys in the group. And then the third one required a guy from my local area. So, uh, all three of two of those could be, were knocked out.
Uh, one was knocked out at lunch right after that exercise. The next one was knocked out at dinner. And then, uh, over the, I was texting the other guy that was local, uh, to get some stuff and we were shooting emails back and forth. So that was really, really cool to do that exercise. But I do feel to, to, to build off what you said and build off what I said.
Um. In regards to, there were more opportunities for deeper connection that was built in, I think, differently this time because what I was saying was Thursday was in the classroom. Then Friday we did, we did the gym at Billy's gym and uh, guys had their little pods. And then we had to let everyone know like what our most pressing issue was personally and professionally.
And that was. Super [00:09:00] informal, but it was super impactful. And then, you know, we went back to the hotel, cleaned up a bit, then we went to Topgolf, which again is informal. You're having fun while you're having conversation. Uh, there was no real like, pure guidance things that day, which I, I think is unique for what we normally do on Fridays.
But I like that a lot. Um, with all that being said. What was the outcome of that, of that? The outcome of that was you really, you didn't it. It's not just conversation. It wasn't just connection. I think this meetup will be the meetup where we look back and we're like, that meetup was the catalyst to the partnerships.
Right? The last meetups, some partnerships came out of it specifically with, with me, I already, I, I had a partnership coming outta that one. This one, I'm coming out of that with that partnership still intact, but also agreements with two other guys. To look at doing a different, uh, fix and flips basically.
So my long-term investments here, and then working on a fix and flip. Every, you [00:10:00] know, four to six months with these other guys separately. And so I, I saw a lot of that. I saw a lot of questioning other guys' business strategies and changes, uh, and people were questioning them to see if they were a right fit for them.
People were asking about franchises, people were asking about partnerships. Uh, one guy in particular was, uh, in the gym space and then kind of move laterally into the med spa space. And, you know, it's just a, a. A different scale at which he's working at now, and a lot of guys had questions about that. So I look back at this one, the classroom stuff was great.
Uh, but I look back at this one as an observer to the conversations and I believe the partnerships that came out of this one.
Jeff Smith: Yeah. Yeah. I, I don't know if it's so much partnerships as much as it is, um. Like we got, we got real deep because of the informality of, of the structure of what we did. We got real deep on the kind of the [00:11:00] skillset of each person and what they're doing and what they're working on.
So maybe, maybe you didn't find a true partner in the sense of the world, but you found an ally that has shared interest in what you're doing. Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. Because like for me, my perspective is like, not all those guys that were having conversations were actually looking for partners.
Yeah. They were looking for like, guys, guys doing the same shit. Right. So that like, hey, can, can we bounce ideas off each other? I'm gonna do it in Texas. You're gonna do it in Illinois and, uh, let, let's, let's use each other as resources. 'cause like I'm stuck here or I'm dealing with a permitting issue here.
Like, which is. What we've always been going for. Right? And so, like, I, to me that's what was super special. Uh, full transparency. I was a little dicey on Friday's schedule, meaning like I was a little nervous at how it was gonna go and the perception of how it was gonna go and, and what I found during that period due to like my ability to ad lib and kind of think on the fly [00:12:00] and like what I would want out of it if it was like my ideal meetup.
I mean, it kind of is. So like whatever. But, uh, the, it, it was, it was the, the exercises accompanying with what we were doing. So there was nothing that was not purposeful that we did throughout the day. And I think what it did was it really framed the thought process and then, which then led into the framing of the conversations.
Mm-hmm. Because, because like what I didn't want to come out of Friday was like, well, we. We didn't really work on work stuff, supposedly. And, and like what I saw was more guys got it. They got the intention of what they were supposed to be doing while we were doing this other stuff, right? So like, you're working out, you're taking care of your fitness, but we're also like networking and, and we're also solving problems because the assignment was bring us your most pressing problem, if you could take care of it right now, personal or professional in the next week or [00:13:00] so, whatever.
Mm-hmm. And, uh. And so like, it led to that like thought process while they were working out, and it led to deeper conversations in that they had to share those type of things. Mm-hmm. Right. So, I mean, it was cool. I, I, I enjoyed it, but like, that was my concern is like for me, probably Wednesday to sa, Wednesday to Friday night, Wednesday to Saturday, WA was exactly like.
My dream layout for like a meetup probably. Hmm. Um, because, because I, I don't like the rigid structure of like, give me a whole bunch of information. Sure. Because like I said, like I said, I mean, we all have endless, in endless amounts of information available to us. Like, I can go home and watch YouTube videos all day if I want to.
I can go sit through Tony Robbins on, on you.
Shawn Rider: We present to them every week inside the inner circle. So what you did this time around makes [00:14:00] sense to me for sure. And, and I think it, it played out really, really well. What, um, you know, just so people can see, like how these exercise play out for you and I.
What would, whether you read other people's letters to themselves or their most pressing issues, or you wanna speak to your own, what were some takeaways from the looking back three year letter to yourself or the most pressing personal and professional issue? You can either speak for yourself or what you saw from other guys in the group.
Does anything stand out as a recurring theme or a particular detail in, in those two assignments?
Jeff Smith: The purpose of what we did with that three year writing back to yourself. It, it, like, the idea behind that is like, it, it's, it's to compress time. 'cause what you're doing is in your subconscious, you've got these, you've got these reservations, you've got these impediments for why you're not doing things while you're not moving at a faster rate.
So all we did was go as go to a future state, [00:15:00] future version of ourselves that have already overcome all that shit and been through it. And then we were talking back to ourselves and saying, dude, like you're good enough, you're smart. This isn't gonna be that bad. Like, whatever you're going through now, you're gonna overcome it and like, wait till you see yourself in three years.
Like it's gonna be easy enough. And, and the, the idea behind that is that like, we're all perfectly capable of doing that at any point in time, but how long are you sitting in the. The uncertainty, uh, of the, the work, you know, you should be doing. And, um, so what it was to do was to ask those type of questions and evoke those type of emotions from the, the only person that really matters is the person that's holding you back, which is you.
And so, like, giving yourself permission, giving yourself grace, saying like, Hey, we're, we're gonna make it through this thing, or, or it's gonna be even better than you thought it would if you just get off your ass and go do it. And, um, that that's the intent of the exercise. And so what I saw from the other people's letters in the [00:16:00] group was that like, that's what they were doing.
They, I mean, they were essentially saying that like, Hey. This is just a blip on the radar. Like it's no big deal. Like the, you're nervous about making this deal. Wait till you see the shit we're doing in three years, like Right. And that's the type of thing that, that's the purpose of the exercise because then the, the, the time creep of what would take a really long time, you're now smashing down into today where this week those guys should be taking action on the things that they were.
Being reserved on, and you've seen it in their critical tasks for Monday already. Like some of the shit they're doing this week is like a full quarter's worth of stuff.
Shawn Rider: Mm-hmm.
I think from, from the guys that I saw that shared their letters inside the group and on their personal face Facebook pages, and then with the one that I wrote to myself, uh, you hit the nail on the head there. It, the, the, the recurring theme I saw was like, the guys are acknowledging that they're about to go through some shit.
Where [00:17:00] I feel like other people, they're always hesitant and they. They think that the shit's not coming. Um, but if you're progressing, if you're a high achiever, if you're striving, like there's going to be the unknowns and unknowables, and then there's the, the knowable that you just hope don't happen and, uh, you know, they're probably gonna happen at some point.
So I really liked reading through those letters for the guys and, and, and, uh, like I said, mindset, the same thing. It was like, it was like. You made it past all the shit, you know that there's gonna be more in the future. Um, don't, basically don't lose sleep over this stuff. Wake up, see what's in your control.
See what you can do about it. If you can do something about it, do something about it. If not, give yourself grace to be patient and work past it. Stay focused. One of the things for me, it was like I. I, I'm better at this now than ever before, but I, I think it's gonna be something where like you can easily slip back into old habits when it comes to just focusing on the main thing.
Um, and it's like just being clear on what two businesses am I trying to [00:18:00] build? What, what is not helping me accomplish the growth in those areas. So what do I need to offload? And it goes back and reinforces why I'm liquidating my current real estate portfolio and moving it into a different type of real estate portfolio via partnerships.
Uh, yep. That I think is going to be a physical and actual time weight lifted off of my shoulders, but also that metaphorical on like. Okay. With my current portfolio, if something happens, I, I do have to go deal with it. Even though I have people in place, I have to address it with, with the new portfolio, I might get a text about what happened, but someone else is dealing with it from A to Z.
Nothing else has to come from me in regards to that. And when that transition, I mean, I'm not gonna wait for that transition to be complete to, to push forward the two businesses, but I can foresee again in the future, three years from now. Hopefully it's like a year from now or less that all this gets liquidated.
Uh, my [00:19:00] full focus. Full attention more than it is now will be there. And I don't, I don't have these other distractions. There will be distractions. It just won't be the current ones that I have. Um, and I'm gonna be very strict about how I get involved in anything outside of that. So, uh, it's cool that you said that, 'cause we didn't talk about that before the call.
Uh, that that was the purpose of the exercise, but I definitely noticed that that's what came out of it. So, uh, we can end the, with this. Go ahead, Jeff.
Jeff Smith: No, the, the way, the way you framed that was perfect in that example, we need to like talk about more and more because like when I talk and preach and scream it from the mountaintops about eliminating friction, you are describing that right now in a real time example, right?
Because what you're doing is, is you're eliminating drag so that you can go faster. So when I talk about every quarter, every month, we're evaluating our friction points. And, and like for a lot of [00:20:00] us, especially as men, I think we, we put a bunch of weight on our shoulders and we're like, fuck it, we'll just hump it.
Don't worry. Like it doesn't matter. And, and what you learn as you get a little older and wiser is that like. Sometimes it's better to offload that weight or, or offload any dead weight. And, and what I mean by that is like restructuring your portfolio, like all the shit that you don't like doing becomes drag.
And people don't understand how quickly they could get from A to B if they just didn't continue to do the way things, the way they always did them, in spite of like understanding and internalizing the pain that it's bringing to you right now. You know what I mean? Yeah. This is why people are selling their businesses and shit like that, that they've outgrown those businesses and they have an emotional attachment to them.
But the reality is they become an anchor to what their potential is. And so, um, kudos to you for identifying it, but like the way you tell the story is just a different version of like the way I'm saying it. So it's super helpful [00:21:00] to bring it from another perspective because that ultimately that is what we're doing.
We're, we're reducing drag so that we can go faster. And it, and, and so like that is super important, but you have a, you have a real life analogy to, to pin it to. So yeah, man, I was really happy with the meetup. I'm excited about it. I think the exercises that we did are important. For me, the way I view a, a meetup is like, I don't want to give you information, I want to extract your.
Problems. So like the, the exercises that we do are for you. That meetup is for you because you paid money to be there. You fucking flew away from your family. You spent time with us. Like, I want them to get the information. It's not about me going up there and saying, Hey, I'm Jeff Smith and I've bought fucking a hundred houses and I've got this going for me.
And IRV around my story Doesn't fucking matter at all. All that [00:22:00] matters is your story and where you are at and how we can help you move forward. Like, and, and so like, I really think we balanced it well this time. I think we could do a few things a little bit better, but I, I liked components of it that like you'll probably see in every one of them.
So this is, there, there was a lot of lessons learned that were fun.
Shawn Rider: I like that. I like that. Um, it's gonna spark the topic for the next, uh, podcast episode. So we're gonna leave it at that, uh, with Jeff ending his quote that, uh. His life doesn't fucking matter. Jeff. Send the people out.
Jeff Smith: Uh, if you want to be a part of our group, hit us up.
Um, you can, you can get ahold of us at Tactical Empire on any platform. We run a free, a free Facebook community, uh, the Tactical Empire Community. It is a engaging group that is no cost to you. We talk about infinite banking, we talk about our four pillars of fitness, family freedom, and finances. Um, if that is something that's appealing to you, let us know.
You can always DM us on Instagram. [00:23:00] Both of us answer our dms personally. So if you have questions or wanna put anything to work or want just more information, let us know. Uh, we are here for you. In the meantime, have a kick ass week. Keep dominating Q2 and uh, we'll talk to you soon.