In this episode of 'The Tactical Empire' hosted by Jeff Smith and Shawn Rider discusses balancing the challenges of opening a new brick-and-mortar gym business while managing family responsibilities during the holiday season. The discussion emphasizes the importance of maintaining discipline, finishing the year strong, and not coasting through the holidays. Jeff and Sean share personal anecdotes and strategies about integrating family time with business commitments. They touch on the significance of keeping one's word, managing expectations, and planning effectively to maintain productivity. The conversation also highlights using December to organize and focus on personal growth, fitness, family, and business planning.
Join Jeff Smith and Shawn Rider in this episode of The Tactical Empire as they discuss strategies to finish the year strong without compromising family time. Learn about their experiences and insights on integrating work and family life, especially during the challenging end-of-year period. They emphasize the importance of keeping promises, maintaining productivity, and leveraging support systems. Tune in for practical advice on balancing responsibilities, ensuring a successful business, and creating a fulfilling personal life.
00:00 Introduction: Finding the Will to Fight Back
00:31 Guest Introduction: Shawn Rider
00:38 Opening a New Business: Challenges and Excitement
01:49 The Importance of Finishing the Year Strong
03:25 Balancing Work and Family During the Holidays
06:44 Navigating December's Productivity Challenges
15:25 Maintaining Integrity and Keeping Promises
18:52 Closing Thoughts and Community Engagement
[00:00:00] How do you find the will to fight back against a world that wants to keep you sedated, averaging, stuck in place? Join us for the tools and strategies you need to create a life of abundance, discipline, and high achievement. This is The Tactical Empire, with Jeff Smith.
Jeff Smith: Welcome to another episode of The Tactical Empire. I am joined by Sean Ryder. What is up, my man?
Shawn Rider: We're just drinking from a fire hose here at the end of the year, my man. I mean Opening up a brick and mortar business, heading into the holidays. It's been a real good time, but it's been exciting. So, uh, hopefully you guys have settled a bit on your travels and you're locking it down for Christmas month.
Jeff Smith: Hey man, if it was easy, everybody would do it, right? Let's go. Yeah, I love it. I [00:01:00] love
Shawn Rider: If I wanted to just wake up and go to a 8 to 4, I would do it.
Jeff Smith: Yep, absolutely.
Shawn Rider: It's what my wife does and she loves it. So she, she does that and I'll handle the, uh, the flying by the seat of my pants, uh, job.
Jeff Smith: Well, congrats on getting that open, man.
I know it's been a long time coming and, uh, it'll be good. I'm sure we're going to talk about it in detail as you guys get going, but.
Shawn Rider: Let me get two to three weeks in and then we will talk, uh, all things opening a franchise, a brick, brick and mortar metabolic gym franchise. So definitely lots of lessons, um, from my past owning, running a gym business without any guidance versus opening a business with all the guidance.
So two ends of the spectrum I've had experiences with.
Jeff Smith: Sure.
Shawn Rider: But I mean, this is perfect. Uh, you, you posted something, uh, the other day that definitely resonated and it's, uh, uh, you know, something that we talk about often in the inner circle and it was, you know, you, you often hear [00:02:00] people talk about the weekends and they're like, look, Friday night to Monday morning.
That's whatever percentage of your week. Like that's a huge chunk of your week, 42 percent or whatever the math works out to be, you know, two and a half days out of seven basically, um, but they, they don't think about the same thing in regards to the year, right? So I feel like right around. Right around Halloween, people start to coast and pull back a little bit.
So that was a little over a month ago. Here we are in December. Um, this recording is probably dropping mid December. So you guys are coming up on the, on the, the week before Christmas and your post was, you know, don't, don't coast into new year. Like this is one month out of 12. That is a huge chunk. Of the year, whatever it is, eight, eight and a half percent of the year.
So finish strong, finish what you started. Uh, if you surpassed your goals, get a little extra juice out of that lemon, so to speak, uh, but this out of this also out of respect for, Hey, like enjoy the holidays, spend time with your family. Like, listen, [00:03:00] I texted you last night. Cause yeah, you're, you're a good buddy and business partner of mine.
And you texted me out of the blue. It was like, Hey, uh, good luck with metabolic opening tonight. Um, so I appreciate that. And I responded to you. Yes, it's been a crazy day, uh, but I'm gonna Open the gym, run a class, watch my coach run a class. And then my entire family's going to the Christmas parade, right?
Like you can, you can push hard and still have time with your family. So I'm going to let you pontificate on what spurred that comment to you and really what, what you want people to know about ending the year on a high note and pushing to the end.
Jeff Smith: Yeah, yeah, because I mean, we are about integration, right?
Like, you're, you are like this evolving organism, and if you try to separate yourself from your job, from your family, and like, silo all this stuff out, you're just gonna create so much friction. And you're going to be operating at just such a low frequency with [00:04:00] regards to like optimizing what you're doing that it's, it, it's, it's a failed way for me to operate.
And I think that most people that I watch, um, don't understand that at first either. Like you try to silo yourself off. I got all those lessons from the corporate world because you're, you're Jeff and. State farm khakis and fucking polos during the day in the cubicle, and then you're Jeff someone else as soon as you step out of there, right?
Um, and, and so I learned those terrible lessons from the corporate world. And, and I tried to put on this different persona as I went to work and then separate from it as you leave. But what, what you have when you get that separation is that you have that Sunday night anxiety, that Monday morning anxiety.
That holy fuck, I don't want to go put on that persona Monday morning again. And, so, not to get totally off topic, but like, that is what brings about that issue. And that's why, like, being integrated in all areas, where you guys are taking your [00:05:00] family to the gym, where you're taking your family immediately to the parade, and you're able to do it all, because maybe you didn't start until 11 o'clock in the morning your day, and then it ran until 8 o'clock at night that day.
Um. And, but, but everyone was involved throughout. So you checked all those boxes, you spent time with your kids, like, and, and you did work and you did open a business and do all the things, right. And I think people miss the mark on that. They try to get really specific on what they're doing for a period of time, but going back to what you're talking about, um, about not coasting out of Thanksgiving.
Yeah, I said that is a, that is a self help post for me personally, because. I, I would challenge anyone to love Thanksgiving more than I do. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday by a long, long shot. And it always has been. And it's because it's because I came out of the corporate world. You're always guaranteed [00:06:00] Wednesday through Monday off.
I like drinking beer, I like hanging out, and I like football, and, and I like my family. And so, like, that is literally, like, the guaranteed weekend where you've got that space to do all those things. And it's just, it's, it's a great weekend. I don't know. I love it. And, uh, food, family, and football, there's not much better than that.
And, uh, so, I enjoy that. But coming out of it You do have like some sort of a, a little bit of a hangover and then you look at your schedule going into the final month. And for me, I know that I want to be productive and I know I want to operate on a high level and knock out my critical tasks. I also know that it's a very challenging month because for people that are trying to get a lot done, there's also a huge percentage of people that are trying not to get a lot done.
And so for people that are business owners and for [00:07:00] people that are investors and people that are buying real estate, doing all these things and making these moves and doing banking transactions. It is a, it is what I believe to be the most challenging month of the year, because you are fighting against a, a tide that that tide is overwhelmingly in the opposite direction of zero productivity.
And you are trying to get people to do what you need them to do on a regular basis. And so it is really just one of those times that you have to lock in and understand that you. Have to do what you can possibly do. And up to that point, and then you have to just let the rest go. You talk about giving yourself grace to like, enjoy the time with the family.
Enjoy the holidays. Of course. I, I, I agree with that definitely, but I think there's another level when you're talking about business and productivity and making money that you have to also be graceful with like, have you done everything that you possibly could do to get the ball moving? [00:08:00] Because oftentimes, I mean, we rely on other people to get shit across the finish line, like in every facet of life.
And if they're not in the office from, whatever, the 20th until the 5th, there's only so much you could do. And so, like, a lot of times I plan my schedule so that we can move things forward as hard as I possibly can, but then I also Plan a lot of operational stuff, like I'm going to go back and review a bunch of things and button up a lot of things on my personal end from a business standpoint, from an investing standpoint, what can I do to make my time productive if my refi doesn't do shit for 15 days?
Like, what am I going to do? Am I going to sit on my ass and do nothing for 15 days or just be pissed about it, like, and ruin the holidays for myself and likely those around me? Cause I'm bringing negative energy. Like, no, [00:09:00] like that's why I try to mix them up. I try to mix it up. Like I can do what I can do and push it all the way to that line.
And then I schedule other things that are like housekeeping. Operational planning type things as well. And so, because I think it's a good time to do that and you can always do that without anyone else's reliance.
Shawn Rider: I've actually never thought of that side of the coin on how you're trying to push forward at the end of the year and the masses are not, and how that's going to create excessive friction and that it does be a problem.
So it's always
Jeff Smith: for me. Like, my personality, it makes me become a dick. Like, so I have to, I have to temper that. Because I'm like, I sent you that shit on Tuesday, it is Friday. Why on earth would that not be back to me now? Like, cause I have a sep I mean, you have an expectation of turnaround time and things like that, and then you have a level of patience, and then I have a level of no more patience.
And, like, that [00:10:00] can often evoke, like, emotion out of me that I don't want to be putting forth. Cause I, I don't need to burn bridges. Like we're going to all get to it the first week of January. So like, but yeah, to your point, ooh, December is a, a rough month for me personally, because I've seen it over and over again.
Shawn Rider: Yeah. And I like how you said about, um, you know, we, we, we need other people. And I know that statement was probably made in the realm of, uh, if you're in real estate and you need contractors, you need this and that, the other. But like for me right now in this season, uh, thankfully my in laws are local and like obviously over the past two years.
You know, I haven't needed much help outside of like, Hey, uh, mother in law, can you pick up the kids on Tuesdays, Thursdays? Just give me an extra 90 minutes of work. Um, but now it's like, because we, like, I want to be on site at night and my wife is taking the night classes, uh, you know, the kids need to be at the in laws for two [00:11:00] hours or more a couple of times this week.
And like, for me, that eats at me. So there's like, there's like a, you know, a dichotomy there. It's like. I'm opening this gym. I want to be present. I'm doing this, but I've been so locked on like my family time. Um, and I just need to recognize that like I am helping my family by building something outside of us and it is perfectly fine for my kids.
To, to be around a mother in law and it's not, it's not like it's a random babysitter, right? My mother and father in law and they're, they're going to gymnastics tonight, but I'm going to be able to leave the gym early because another coach is coaching and go pick my kids up from gymnastics, right? So they're not somewhere, they're not at someone else's house.
So I fight with that personally. I don't know. I mean, you guys are traveling families. You guys are around each other all the time. But did you like fight that? Uh, back in the day where it was like you, you want to be a present dad and then, you know, you also have to get shit done. So that, that mind battle that I have is something that I have to talk to myself about a lot.
Jeff Smith: Well, I [00:12:00] mean, that's the entire emphasis behind the inner circle ultimately is that we all deal with this. The yin and yang of like, hey, um, what are we giving up to make this decision or this choice? Like I'm going to go coach this class. I'm going to go do this sales call. I'm going to go do that. You're, you're trading something.
For that, and, and oftentimes for us, it's, it's time with our kids, time with our spouse, connection with our loved ones, whatever. Um, and, and for me, I think the big thing is to answer your question, absolutely. Yes. I think everybody deals with that every time, but you have to understand that like you're in a season, you're, you're just in a season of life.
And, and, and you have to find the outlets to check all the boxes during that season. And then you have to bust your ass to make sure that season's not a fuckin three year season. It needs to be a three month season, not a three year season. And, uh, and then just open communication with your kids and stuff like that.
I mean, just like, hey, this is what we're doing and this is why. [00:13:00] This is how long it's gonna last, most likely. This is what we need. Kids understand so much more than you think they do. And then like when they're 10 or 12, they're so much cooler than you anticipated because you, you did have all those discussions like, Hey, I would really like to be home with you tonight, but this is what we have to do when we have to hire this role.
And this is why, and, and they're going to get two years older and they're going to explain it back to you and regurgitate it to you and you're gonna be like, holy shit. So it's fun.
Shawn Rider: I'm beating myself up over today, but like yesterday, my daughter was off school, so I kept my son home from daycare because they weren't off, right?
And I spent, I spent literally all day. With my kids, we did run some errands, we did go to the gym to help set up, and they got to run around and play while I was there, and, uh, you know, as they tried to knock some things over, I yelled at them for a second. At a brand new gym, don't make a hole in the wall.
Uh, but like, I spent all day with them. So it was perfectly fine that they had two hours with the in law last night, and then tonight they're going to have a couple more times with them. But tomorrow, I did [00:14:00] dedicate my, I did dedicate myself to picking my kids up from school every day this week. So like today.
I could be at the gym with our team or like the founders of matter in town. Like, and I was like, no, I made a commitment to my daughter and my son that I'd pick them up from school. So I'm going to go at two 30 minutes later, I'm leaving, going to pick my kids up, then take them to, it'd be so easy for me to let the mother in law pick them up, but I promised my daughter, I said, I'm picking you up from school.
every day this week. Um, and so I, I hold pride in that. And then tomorrow I'm going to pick them up and I'm going to take them to the gym. Then the mother in law's picking them up from there instead of me taking them. So like. You know, I'm just trying to, I'm taking it one day at a time as like today, this is what I can do to be present with my family tomorrow.
It looks a little bit different, but I know that I can lay my head down at night, knowing that I've done everything in my power, like you said, in this season and for the season, to me, it's one day at a time, um, to show presence. To my family. And then [00:15:00] Saturday we're going like an hour in the Maryland, an hour away in the Maryland for the polar express train.
Right? Like we're going to spend all day with our kid, uh, you know, doing that. So I appreciate your words. They're relevant to me right now. I'm assuming they're probably relevant to the listeners of the show. Is there anything that you want to end it on to give them that last little of, Hey. Well,
Jeff Smith: the biggest takeaway that I had from what you just said is that you just, you kept your word.
You have to be, that, that's the most important thing. Especially with your kids. Is that like, if you're gonna tell them something, you better do it. And follow through with it. And I think that that's the biggest.
Shawn Rider: Cause I, I, like last night, I was, it was eating at me. I'm like, I'm like. Oh, I like, I need to be at the gym so I can learn from the founders, like the last little bit, and I was like, no, like Jeff, I literally thought about you because you say that all the time.
Like, keep your word. I was like, Jeff would tell me to go pick up my kids. Cause that's what I told my daughter I would do,
Jeff Smith: but lesson learned. You already opened your mouth [00:16:00] and said that. So. Like that, that is where like a lot of wisdom comes into play over time. You, you become way more measured with your words because if you, if you don't follow through with them, you're, you're breaking integrity.
So yes, to finish up on the topic of finishing strong, like you guys need to do what you can do to set yourself up for a tremendous finish to the year. And it's only so that you're running at like, let's say you want to be going a hundred miles an hour into Q1. You would much prefer to be going 65 miles an hour through December than 15 miles an hour or zero.
And, and that's where the, like you, you talked about eight and a half percent of the year. I mean, it is a significant amount of time. And if you understand that you just let it die on the vine. Like, it's way worse than the, the Thursday through Monday attitude of 58 percent of your year is gone. Because if you do that 58 percent throughout the [00:17:00] year, and then you take December off too That's a tremendous amount of time of your life.
And so you've got to think about that. And it, it's like I said, you've also just got to be like patient with it because there's a lot of moving parts. People are doing all their things and you can't be rude. You don't have to be like a little empathy goes a long way during this time. Right. And, um, especially right now, I mean, it's been a fucking tough few years economically and people are heading into Christmas.
There's a lot of different emotions percolating right now. And so, I, I, but for you, you just need to focus on what you can do. Not you specifically, but everyone listening. Like just, just pick out the things that you can do, focus on your fitness. I mean, this is where the four pillars like lean on them, go back to them.
Focus on your fitness, focus on your family, focus on your money, get everything organized, and then focus on, like, taking time for yourself. The freedom of, [00:18:00] how can you carve out more time for yourself into 2025? Make more decisions, own more of your decisions, and own more hours out of your day. And so like, those are the things I would be looking at doing in December and continuing to make as much progress as you possibly can.
Shawn Rider: I love it. Yep. Right before this episode, I got in the sauna cause that's my daily habit and I knew I wouldn't be able to do it tonight. So I did it this morning. I usually am a morning workout person, but I knew I had to catch up on emails. So after this podcast, I got to run into town to help some guys hang some slat walls on the wall, and then I'm going to get my workout in.
So, uh, you know, the, the, the order of operations of my forefs are, are out of order, but the equation is still getting solved on a daily basis for me. So, uh, hopefully my personal situation and story can resonate with the men. Jeff, I appreciate your words of wisdom as always. All
Jeff Smith: right, guys, um, go out and like and subscribe to our YouTube channel and, uh, join the Facebook community.
The Facebook [00:19:00] community is something we're trying to grow. We're putting more and more free content out there. We got a webinar this week that we're doing or last week. By the time you listen to this, um, you can get the recording if you just send me a message for that. It's on infinite banking systems, concepts, and, um, also the inner circle.
And yeah. You guys just let us know if you have any questions. What we want you to do is carve out more freedom so that you're not doing the anxiety of Sunday evening again. Business owners, I know that you're out there too and you have that same anxiety from time to time. Some of us have it all the time.
And you just don't like what you've been doing. Um, that's what the inner circle is for. We're going to tell you how to take your profits and maximize your profits and create more freedom for yourself so that you ultimately have more choices because we're going to take your dollars and make them make more dollars for you so that you can buy back more of your time and freedom to spend more time with your kids.
Pick them up from school. Anytime you want [00:20:00] open businesses and do other things. Life has a lot more to offer. When you carve back more of your time. Have a great day, have a great week. Kick ass. We'll talk to you soon.