Invest In Yourself - with Adam Lamb

You wouldn't drive a car with a one flat tire. Most people are driving their life around with like three flat tires. They need to have all of those things working at the same time to build and also leave by example. Understanding the value of time, the value of information, the value of personal growth, a lot of times people don't value it. And that's one of the first of the guys people, I'm like, "Tell me how much you invest in yourself." They're like, "What are you talking about?" There's time, like you can watch podcast read books. But are you also maybe putting money towards yourself to try to find a return? To me, it's true freedom is being that authentic version of yourself. This is who I am if you see me at the gym. This is who my pastor gets. This is who my wife gets. This is my kids get people I work with. And that is the most freeing. This is the 365 Driven Podcast. The four cornerstones of success are wealth, health, mindset and relationships. I'm going to introduce you to those who demonstrate excellence in these areas. I'm Tony Watley. I built and sold companies for millions. He came a best-selling author and now lead thousands of entrepreneurs within the 365 Driven Society. Let's get started. Welcome back to the 365 Driven Podcast. Today we've got a great guest. That's an exemplary leader in many different capacities and entrepreneurship and public service. And I wanted to bring him in here. I actually met this guy at a car show. We're hanging out and I saw this guy and we're talking about cars. And I was like, "I could tell this guy's got some good core values." Just like I do because he's a fit guy. He's an older guy. He's still fit and he's talking about business and he's got nice cars. And his wife was with him as a time of Michelle and got to meet her. And it was a cool first meeting. And we've kind of run into each other a few times at different car shows here in the woodlands, Texas area. And it's time to get him on the show to talk about what he's doing best. So Adam Lamb, welcome to the show, my friend. Thanks so much. Thanks for having me on the show. And yeah, I think if I can talk about cars and business and leadership. Listen, I'll tell you something that the fact that you pointed out that was with my wife, it matters. Because you know, some people don't like this conversation, but I judge a lot of men by how they interact with their wife. Like just to start off the conversation, maybe uncomfortable, is like if you're a different man when your wife's around versus when she's not around, it's a red flag. And so I think you get to see the true man when their spouse is with them. And that's like, if I'm doing business with somebody, you're going, I want to meet your wife. I want to see who you might be when they're around, too. So like you mentioned that, made me think of it. No, that's a good topic. I've actually heard that before. And I very much agree with that. And also would add to another layer to that, as if they're not with their wives. I always say go do an interview or a first meeting at a restaurant. It's because I want to see how they treat the service. Yes. You know, are they present? Are they on their phone? Like there's so many things that when we're in a position to perform, right? And like even this podcast, right? Like if I were out the phone and I was like, you know, you got this guy. And but some people don't have that self-awareness. And then it's like, man, this is going to be a complicated partnership or relationship. And so just that engagement matters. Actually, there's a guy I was looking to maybe support in the political arena. And I want to just spend time with them. We went and shot some clays at this event. And so I just want to ski. I just want to, you know, it's easy when we're performing to one another in almost like interview style. But how do you react in this, right? And it's like, in the guy degree, how can we connect it? Present. I felt, you know, there was it was showing. He was just, I got to see an authentic version of him in that matters, right? And I think going on about the path of leadership, which we'll get into this conversation is, you know, being able to, you know, see the force through the trees with people can save you a lot of time and heartache and find great people, a players to be on your team as well. Well, I think the only thing that I would change at a car show, if you were to see me with my wife is I probably wouldn't be there as long, right? She gave us about 30 minutes, maybe an hour. And she's like, can we go do something? That's fun. She loves cars, but she can't sit there and just yap about cars with people and look to too many cars. So yeah, that's kind of funny. Yeah, but you just find something else to do that. Look at him. You move it. That's it. So give me some backstory because I don't know much about where you came from or what got you into the direction that you're going or the businesses that you went into. Because for you guys, I don't know. He got really into the healthcare businesses, but I want to hear the story of leading up to that. Yeah. Well, yeah, sure. I grew up, I was born in Pontiac, Michigan, right? So, all right, you don't wonder your car guy, Detroit area, right? Yeah, for sure, so I grew up around a lot of Detroit muscle, which made me gravitate more to the exotics. Because you know, we always focus on what we don't have with. I didn't see a Lamborghini in person until I think I was like, in my 20s. But I grew up, yeah, I grew up in Michigan. Ray, single mom, dad took off when I was seven, so I didn't have much leadership. And probably for the better, I think he wouldn't, he wouldn't have been a good influence. So, single mom, she's secretary. Did everything she could to provide for my younger brother and I and kind of figured it out. I was a rebellious young person, which I think served me a little bit later, meaning I'm not following the path. He told me to fall. I'm going to go figure out my own way, which can be a bad path. But if you don't have, if you have good leadership, it's a bad path. If you have bad leadership, sometimes it's good to find your own way. And I barely graduated high school and got it. I worked in nightclubs and just kind of chasing the world. Partying, you know, like I was making 80 grand of your cash, driving a Cadillac, working some of the biggest nightclubs in Detroit. I was like this is, this is, yeah, high speed, high action lifestyle. Yeah. And then I met my wife and I was like, wait a minute, this is a high caliber woman. Maybe I actually want to get married. Maybe I actually do want to have, it was at this story in my head of like, marriage is all-end and I didn't have a good childhood. So I don't want to bring some kid into this world. I think a lot of people have that story. But my heart was to like, actually, wanted those things. I wanted a great marriage. I wanted to be a great father. I wanted to create impact in the world and build stuff. And so kind of through hers or to see that shift. At some friends that worked at a mortgage company, it's called Quick and Loans, you probably heard of it. Yeah. Before that, it's called rock financial. Just brick and mortar, traditional, you know, we're a suit, like a bank type thing, on sign paperwork. And then they transitioned to being a brick and mortar to like the largest online lender in the country. So I get to see that transformation. I was good at it. I was good at sales. Good to get to know people. I enjoyed that role. But my passion was health and fitness. So like, even as in high school, like it's, you know, what I loved about it is like, you can be poor and still be in shape. I mean, like you're not like malnourished. But like, you could still work out. You can still, I was driven. It was like something I was like, you can't buy this. You know, I fitness, you have to do it. I don't care how much money you have. You have to put in the work. And I liked that about it. So I was really attracted to it. You know, when we grew up in an era of like, Stallone, Schwarzenegger, like all these guys, Chappenores, like I wanted to be like, these guys, like, I think it's also how do you do it. So I really liked health and fitness. And I, and again, I barely graduated high school, couldn't get past pre-algebra hardly, filled every language arts class I ever had. Hate, the story in my head was I hate school, I hate learning. But I just wasn't learning anything I liked. I don't want to read about men. I want to read like how the body works and nutrition out. So I really started self-educating. So I was really passionate about health and fitness. And so I'll tie these two together. So I'd cook and loans, work in their headquarters, and we had a gym there. And like, guys like Dean Gilbert, who's like the CEO, the owner, like some of these executives at the company that they were like, hey man, you're fit, you carry your food around, like what are you, some of your hacks? And so some of these guys wanted to pay me to help kind of like advise their health. And I'm like 26, 27, 28. And so I'm helping them along the path. And these guys are in their 40s and 50s, which I'm 46 now. And they kept asking more questions. And I was learning about hormones and how the testosterone declines and all that kind of stuff, done a ton of research, had issues myself. But when I was young, I'd load testosterone. I got into testosterone at 25. Because I had low testosterone. I have a 70 year old at 25. They don't know why either I bang my head too much or just stick their injury from ice to race, BMX, stuff like that. But anyway, I got into testosterone, young. And it made me go down that path. I was like, I love that. I love learning it and finding out about it. And then these guys were like, I found out. I'm like, they probably have a hormone issue. So I'm getting your blood work. You should have your doctor check. And they come back to me and they're like, dude, my doctor doesn't know what this stuff is. And I'm like, what? And I was like, well, I got a doctor out of Miami. And I figured out how I could work with this doctor out of Florida, who's really good at health and hormones. This is like 2011, right? Yeah, way, way before the trend of now. Now he is more common here about this. Yeah, no one even knew what this was. And so, and I figured out a way, because these guys, you're hiring me to do their health coach. It was just like kind of a concierge. I've like, let me, hey, here's the paperwork. Fill this out. I'll get it back to them. Here's the blood work. Go to your, here's the closest location to your house. This is kind of white glove concierge. Just 'cause I really look up to these guys. I wanted to learn about money and business from them. And they wanted to learn how to get fit and healthy and stuff like that for me. So that was, it was a cool exchange. And then eventually one of the guys was like, man, you should start a business doing this. And I was like, man, you should start a business doing this. like, dude, I don't, I don't know how to store a business. He's like, you have a business. He's like, you're collecting money, you're offering a service that's a business. But again, I had a story of like, well, I didn't go to college. I didn't go. Well, I don't know how to, I don't know. Like, I don't have a health care background, right? I had all the stories that prevented me from doing it. And a lot of people continue their entire life for that story, right? And especially, it was a lot. A lot. You and I hang in a different crowd and we're used to hearing these kind of conversations, but most people carry that same story. And I was the same way. I thought you had to be rich to make money and you had to do this and that to make money. And nobody in my entire family ever owned a business. So like, why would I think I was ever going to want a business? You know, I had stories about money that, you know, rich people did bad stuff or they had all these degrees or all these other things. Like, no, you just work hard, solve problems and provide a service. So learning that and I was like, well, okay. So in 2012, I served my first company as a nationwide telemedicine company. So I like, I read, you might talk about boring, reading DEA paper, like all this stuff to understand how you can legally do it. And so launch that and kind of scale that company. And I was fortunate to have a few like celebrities and people like that that were clients of mine. You know, people that you see in movies that got jacked for movies, like some of those guys were guys I got to work with. Not ex-athletes and some of that stuff. So I had a pretty cool circle that started this thing off where it'd be kind of, it was like referral only. You know, it's kind of neat that in a humbly, I just have these guys, you know, the one Super Bulls, I don't know, they works. I was in big like, I didn't follow the sports and all this stuff. And I think they liked it. But so I built that over the course of time. And then, and then it had a couple like, you know, I built the supplement company, sold that but it was like, tried it, built it, wasn't super successful but kind of sold it off. And so I had a few things, you know, just learned along the way. Right, it's been a lot of time, money and effort learning along the way. And then when COVID hit and everybody's trying to figure out telehealth, well, I mean, you know, again, most doctors don't understand the hormone optimization. They're good at treating symptoms. And so I had 150 physicians that were clients of my platform that worked with the doctors, they did this. And these guys are calling me and going, hey, you're the telehealth guy. My clinic's closed or whatever, my office is closed. I see, can't see patients, can you help me out? And I started coming in and helping them with their practice on the telehealth side. But then I saw these other efficiencies, like patient acquisition and funnels and offers and all these other things that they're like, dude, I don't know what you're talking about. - Yeah, they're terrible. - Historically, medical professions are terrible at digital marketing. - Yeah, in any business in general, and part of it's they just, they don't learn any of it. And I think there's part of the system of keeping them in the hospital system versus being independent, right? Good point. And so I started consulting in that space. And one thing that really helped kick off my career too is in 2019, I got to meet Tony Robbins, worked at Tony for a little bit. And then in '21, when he was launching his company, life force, he's like, "Hey, we helped me do it." They're like, "Yeah, partner with me." And I was like, "Yeah, you're my superhero." Of course, I would. And so I got to be partners with Tony. I mean, it's still on launch life force. And then kind of like, once Tony taps you, you've obviously passed some sort of sniff test from the business standpoint. And then, so fast forward to today, I can consult for about a dozen different large healthcare companies from 10 million to half a billion shareholders and some of those. And then I coach and consult for physicians. And then, we build companies in healthcare. So we build telehealth companies. We build, you know, regenerative medicine companies. We find anything that someone might need. And that's kind of the entrepreneurial, you know, playbook of World War R at today and what we do. You know what I like about the whole theme is you've, you've picked a lane that you're very interested in. You're very passionate about the health and fitness industry and dedicated a lot of time, money and resources and the learning, that kind of subject and became an expert in that, built different types of businesses in that category did well with that, got recognized by one of your mentors to be a part of that. But the whole thing that I'm following is that you stayed in your lane and you enjoyed that lane. And I see a big mistake with entrepreneurs nowadays that are true, they're two like scatterbrains. They're always trying to do different things. And they're hearing about real estate over here and RV parks over here and, you know, peptides over here. And it's just like, they're always distracted. And I think, you know, these people usually just never do any. Well, do well at all because they're always so distracted of everything outside of their expertise. - Yeah, and I think that was that early part when I was seeing kind of tried some things, probably, you know, that 2012, that 2017, where, you know, you're, something's working, but here's the reality is everything's built in the boring stuff, right? You're ADD like me and you're chasing the fun stuff and the flashy stuff. So I can't keep a car hardly 12 months 'cause I'm always like, I want one another experience. And so yeah, that most entrepreneurs are kind of ADD and they're looking for the distraction that's more fun and exciting than the boring stuff that's required to build and scale. And that was me too. So I'm like, oh, what about this, or I could do that? Or I could, you know, I could grow weed. And I was like legal in mission. And I'm like, I don't smoke weed out. Okay, but like, why would I grow weed? You know, it was just like, you're just pursuing these little things to, and you're right. Being laser focused on what you love and seeing the opportunity of how you can, you know, make money and have a big impact and continue focusing that, doubling down on that just makes a lot more sense. And then as you get more skills and become more disciplined, I think you can diversify what you do, but not early. Otherwise, you're gonna scatter your energy. And I call it ROE, return on energy, right? So this return on investment we talk about, but is there a return on your energy that you're putting into something? Or is it just, you're just letting your ADD run the show instead of staying focused on the boring stuff and building? - Yeah, most of the most successful entrepreneurs and investors that I know, that's one thing of advice they tell you is they only invest in things they know. Yeah, like there's endless ways to invest and make money. There's, you know, you'll never find the end of that. But if you stick with what you know and invest in what you know and what your expertise is, you have a lot better odds than someone just coming out of a cold. - Yeah, I call that HLV, human life value. And so, I look at, like if you're like, hey Adam, let's go open a bar. I'm like, look, number one, I don't drink. Don't want to work at a bar. I don't understand margins. So I can look at them and I'm like, it just doesn't, I'm not against it. It just doesn't align with my value, right? And so when I say, well, I look at investments, the companies that I'm invested in or shareholder in, I bring value to that company. I mean, yeah, just, it's like, hey, we're doing oil rigs over here. Like maybe, you know, there's like some speculative opportunity and those can be great things or whatever. But I'm like, I don't know anything about that. It doesn't interest me, you know, that even crypto took me a long time to even try to mess around and pass it right way too late. So in any time I come into it for your example, it's like, ah, it's not my thing. Like, and it doesn't really work. And it's like, just stay in your lane and do the boring stuff. - So have you been diagnosed with ADD or is that something that you just kind of feel like you have with the carriers? - I mean, working with as many doctors as I work with, I've got to check all the boxes. - Oh, yeah, they're like, you're just slightly, like, stuff, learning issues growing up. And they're like, you're just like, they're like, here's why it's good in business because most people see what's in front of them. Now, you're seeing from behind and coming back the other way. And so it's like being an excellent problem solver and some of the things. So it's gifts, younger as a story of, I'm an idiot, I'm a bad learner. I'm not a good student. I've just, but, you know, having someone tell me, like these are some of the things. Now, again, I don't subscribe to any diagnosis of like a, from a victim standpoint, I just, I understand that going 100 miles an hour and wanting variety and wanting to do 50 different things at once. Part of how my brain operates, but being able to control that versus allowing that to be an excuse to not do what you need to do is a difference in maturity and growing. - Yeah, I love that answer because I've seen too many people really hold onto that excuse of being diagnosed ADHD, ADD, and then they go, "Oh, I can't do this because I've got this." And that's to me is the victim mindset. You and I both don't believe in that kind of stuff. And I've had numerous guests on the show that have that exact same situation. And they've achieved all kinds of levels of sex and different variations of life. So understanding that, you could use it like you said as a tool, like you know what your strengths and your weaknesses are, or you can use it as an excuse. And unfortunately, I think a lot of people look for an excuse to justify whether or not at. And that's just one of the easy labels that can hang that on 100%. It versus again, at a story that didn't have a dad around, struggle without the hall, single my, all that didn't go to college. - Yeah. - It's like, "Yeah, man, but that story doesn't serve tomorrow." And it's a, in your life, you have to look at it and say, "Hey, everything's kind of up to me." You know, like, I'm sure you, yeah, maybe you're abused or like, "I'm sorry," but there comes a certain point to just say, "I don't want to stay there mentally," or maybe physically, "I want to go here," which is the possibility, which a lot of people struggle with. The problem's easy 'cause the problem is already, it's existed, right? So like if I have a bad history, it's easy for me to go back to history, it's certain. And so we can connect to that. Versus the possibility of like, "Hey, man, I'm gonna build a $100 million company. "I want to help 10,000 doctors do this." I want to, let's say, "Well, that requires you to take action, "have a plan, and that's accountability." I'd rather just point blame back at the past 'cause I can't fix that, I can't control it, so I can bounce back at it. It's like, dude, the clock's ticking. You're, you know, like, you're 40. How often do you get mad about the thing that happened at 10? - Yeah, I think it's a big issue. I mean, when we see politics, we see all kinds of stories and things going on right now, and just kind of people driving in different directions. And, you know, it all comes back down to personal accountability. And nobody likes to hear that. People that are exhibiting that, like to hear it, but everybody else is not. They don't want to hear that as a reason. - Yes, we're all, there's so much within our own control. Yeah, if I'm focused on, like you said, politics, some party they're doing this and it's like, hey, do you, how's your marriage? How's your health? What's your financial game plan? Like, you know, in this parts of where it's like, oh yeah, but that requires me to take a counterpart. - Requires? - No. - But then I got to take aim in ownership. Can I just blame those people for the thing they're doing over there that doesn't even affect my life and, you know, it's goofy, but you're right. It's just an excuse to deflect responsibility. - Yeah, we both see way too many people getting online nowadays, especially on X, just complaining about all kinds of things, politics, Trump, Biden, whoever. They're just complaining about every single thing and you click on their profile and you could tell that their core values are shot and they're not even taking care of themselves first. Which is, yeah, that list, how's your fitness? How's your business? How's your relationships? - Yeah. - They're not even paying any attention to that kind of stuff 'cause they're too busy looking around everybody else and complaining about stuff and, you know, I think what I said, I'm in a post a few weeks ago of us relevance this one, try to remember it. Is it something about, you're not allowed to complain about politics until you have all your other shit in order. - Yeah, that's good. - You thought, I mean, it should. - Don't go fix yourself first. - Which is what I spent most of my life not really caring. - I'm like, they're liars and they're liars. - Yes. - Like, what I have to make sure I pay attention to is keeping my house in order. - Yeah, well, it's my house is in order. So it's like, we talk about leadership. It's leadership starts with me. I have to address my flaws. I gotta do the work I gotta do on me. Then I can set a standard and lead by example to my family and then I can lead a team and then I can lead maybe within my community. And that's, I think, how it should look. And then the further out you're concerned, should mean that you figured out a lot of stuff in between who and that. So if you wanna go change, you know, green energy or something like that, well, there's be a lot of stuff. You better have some stackable evidence between here and green energy that you figured out to show that you're responsible enough and you've done the process and the work to really have an opinion on that. Not just 'cause you went to school or studied something. But it's holistic, right? Otherwise, it's like you and I were car guys. And you wouldn't drive a car with one flat tire. Most people are driving their life around with like three flat tires, right? It's like, oh, I got money. But relationships, no spiritual relationship. I'm not healthy or it's like you're super jacked, but like you can't hold a job. You can't have a girlfriend. Like, you know, so it's strange to me. So for me, I'm like, I need to have all of those things working at the same time to build and also lead by example. - And I'm a big fan of stoicism. I'm sure you've studied as well. I can tell by the way you exhibit your life. The summary of stoicism for most people who are not familiar and I know a lot of listeners are as we talk about it is just controlling what you can control. You can only control what you control. You can't control other people. You can't control what politicians do. You can't control what your neighbors or you can't control what anybody says on the internet. You can't control when things are going to happen to you. But you can control your own actions, your own thoughts, your own words. And I like that you kind of painted that picture of leadership. It seems like it's in layers and it grows and expands and influence it. But it starts with that in our core like you as an individual. Like how are you leading yourself? And believe it or not people, if you're a leading by example and you're doing things the way you say you're going to do, it's going to be pretty evident. People are going to spot you and understand that this person does exactly what they say they're going to do. And you're going to gain more respect for that next level of leadership. Like he talked about maybe it's the families of the next level. Individual, then family, then friends, then peers, and it kind of grows and grows like that. I think the problem nowadays, Adam, is with the internet, a lot of people want to skip steps. Well, they want to, it's lack of authenticity and that through integrity, right? So it's like if I can show something and I can get time to believe something about me, that maybe it's not true, but I can hold up that belief for the world. And that's a lot of social media influence. There's so many people you meet, they got all the followers, they got all the stuff, you meet them in person. You're a total fraud. And that can be a hard part of, I think, guys like you and I that are like legit and we can get mixed in with the, hey, you're out. And I'm like, I can't even enter the conversation of some of the definitely get that. And I get that. But he's going, I'm sure you do, too. Yeah, and it's like, I'm just going to let them go. Because as soon as I can get it, I'm like coming right down the floor, right? I'm just, again, we can't control what other people say or do, right? Yeah. But you know, I love the stoicism piece. And I think the simplicity of it, too, is responsibility. And I'll use analogy of, let's say you and I are the car show. And you ding my car with your car. Well, I was like, your fault, probably. But I'm still responsible how I respond, how I react, my emotions, right? And I think a lot of people that's like, when the blame is somewhere else, responsibilities out the door and the stoicism, and there's a piece of that of just, I know I'm responsible for my thoughts, my emotions, all those kinds of things. And when I'm so focused on that, maybe you've read or heard of the book, Extreme Ownership by Jack. Oh, yeah, for sure. For the change in my life. Because I spend a lot of my time being a victim. I spend a lot of time blaming on, I didn't have a dad, or all these other problems on the roads like, dude, own it all, own every part of it. And the part of it that's beautiful is sitting here today in front of you and having zero regrets in my life. Does that mean I have no mistakes? Oh, dude, my mistakes would stack to the moon. But I'm so grateful, and gratitude's a big part of it, just to be here where I'm at in this moment, that all of those things had to happen. Is there stuff out of them different? Yeah, but you can't control it, again, can't control it. So it's like, and so I'm just grateful for being here. And I'm grateful when I stay grateful for why I'm here, for I'm here, I'm more likely to see the plan and the possibility and the path of the future. I'm inviting that in versus, you know, driving, looking to my rearview mirror. Yeah, but being present's hard enough for most people because they're typically just focused on the past. And it's not always the negative past, right? A lot of times people are like, we joke about the Uncle Rico's who were like the high school quarterback. And so people leaned too much on the past and what they did 20 years ago. And they're not really focused on today and they're definitely not focused on tomorrow because they're just kind of going through the motions. It's a routine, it's the same old, same old, every single day. We run into these people 10 years down the road and they haven't changed the situation. They're still complaining about the same things. And it's stories, it's like bro, like why haven't you done anything about it yet, you know? Maybe someone's listening to this. Like why haven't you done anything about the things you complain about yet? Yeah, and it's tough. And I think for me, and maybe you can relate to this, it becomes a level of isolation because my tolerance to be in those environments is very low, right? Meaning that it's like I got acquaintances and, you know, relationships that's, like every time I'm with them, I gotta hear about their college football years and I'm like, bro, you're 50. I want to talk about what you're going to do. What are you working at? What is the thing in yourself you've identified that you've been aggressively workout? Like for me, 2026 is like, I need to be more peaceful. I need to find more peace, more presence. Even recently, like wearing this, you know, device and watching my sleep. And like, so if you and I talk, I'm going to be like, oh, man, you check your HRV, I'm doing mine. I'm doing this, I'm doing this, doing all these things because I'm so focused on the present, how can I learn from the present and improve the future? And I think that most people miss that because again, there's a level of accountability and uncertainty that scares them versus always talking about the past and believing like that, you know, 'cause there's no uncertainty there. It isn't, and people love that. They gravitate to it. And it's a tough way to really enjoy an abundant life by living in the past. - Yeah, one of the sentences that resonates in my mind and I wish I could attribute it to whoever it came from. But it goes to something like, I'll paraphrase. It says, spend less time around people who talk about "Remember When" and spend more time around people who talk about "Imagine When." - Yes, I love that. That's beautiful. - You know, I feel back so I have those friends and it's like, I love them to death. - I love them. But I'm not gonna, they're not gonna elevate you. They're not gonna push you. They're not gonna. - They have, before the July text, like, yeah. It's tough to have conversations because I wanna be there and listen or if they reach out and they have a question or something that can maybe provide value, happy to, but like, I couldn't go out of vacation with you. I'm gonna go nuts, you know. And people don't understand that. I'll never forget some things that I remember wanting to talk to this like pretty successful business guy. And he's like, you should join my mastermind. And if I was like, join your mastermind, I wanna have a conversation with him. He's like, I charge $5,000 an hour. And I'm like, what a jerk. Who's he thinking, you guys? But what I've realized over time too is just people will waste your time. Well, don't get it. Like, I get it now. Like, there's certain people I will pay five grand, ten grand, whatever, just because I want to be able to get that information from them and I understand the value in it. 'Cause people that won't pay, usually won't pay attention. And so it's like, again, I share this like a little tidbit story of like the evolution of understanding the value of time, the value of information, the value of growth, personal growth. And then a lot of times people don't value it. And this one, the first thing I ask people, I'm like, tell me how much you invest in yourself. And they're like, what are you talking about? And I'm like, there's time, like you can watch podcasts, read both of them. But are you also maybe putting money towards yourself? To try to find a return, you know, and that and it took me a long time My ego is in the way of like coaching masterminds or some of those things like it's like it's not weakness Dude all the guys that everybody worships on TV and Sunday or they're basically like they'll have coaches Multiple coaches a lot of times. Yes. Yes, and it's like that that's a part of it too I think because it pretty close to the leadership and personal growth of like if you've never made the move of like Paying even if even if you pay money to be somewhere. You're like it wasn't for me. You learned a lesson Yeah, and then you can find the next thing right and so I've done that too And so I think there's different aspects of how we can check ourselves on personal growth It's like what am I doing? I read sometimes or like I read a book every two weeks or it's like I'm signing up to committing my time And my money to be in this thing because I'm looking I'm expecting an outcome of personal growth for the future So I think that stuff's important too You know, I think sometimes people get too clouded with all the different opinions and all the different Strategies and frameworks. They're paying attention to too many things. They'll listen to ten different podcasts like this They'll go read all the books from all the big names They'll join two or three you know hot, you know really low-level group coaching things with some guru that's Flexing a Lamborghini for them. All right, then they're trying to consolidate all this information and try to come up with an action plan They're confused as hell and I'm not a big fan of that. I always think like if you're gonna hire a mentor Work with that mentor. Yes, you know, you reach a level that maybe you're not gonna grow from that and you need to get to the next one And that's great because you should eventually graduate from mentors But I think too many people just try to take all these inputs and then they get kind of frozen and they don't do anything and And it kind of annoys me like I want to even coach people if they're working with another coach I'll say I'll tell you what I'd love to work with you, but go ahead and finish up what you're working on over there And you know, I'm not gonna rush you on that but when you when you're ready come work with me Because I don't want to have the the batting heads and like well mother guys had this and you know It's just it's like what are you doing like why are you paying people if you're not gonna learn from them? Yes, no that that's that's great. Well said and I think a part of the two is just that the personal commitment of You know, it's like you could tell me hey Adam, I got a thousand bucks for you up in Dallas. I ain't driving to Dallas for a thousand But there's a lot of people who would fly drive up there Look just it isn't me and so but there's certain you reach certain levels and I think business and how you value your time That and I look at that because I believe like if you don't pay you don't pay attention and to your point There's there's other part of like just I'm gonna bring in as much information as possible, but I don't have any skin in the game, right? So that are all the podcasts all the books, but they're not really taking a lot of action because there's no accountability and There also there's really no skin in the game other than the time that they've spent but they still don't value their time that much because they don't value The money and the time together and they don't want they they want to why they don't go anywhere, right? And they feel it because a lot of us we want the feeling of The Lamborghini or something like that, but we don't really want to do the work To get the right and so I think there's a part of this in the internet It's great the social media of showing you what the feeling could look like and it's oh, just take a picture and front This and get the likes in the comments, but it's not real and our in our brain knows it's not real And in that we constantly feel out of integrity with ourselves Which was a slippery slope of just leaning back into the the false you know the girlfriend online and all these other Groupfully stuff versus the real like you and I physically know each other I started to go the last week or whatever they like we see physically like we there's a part of that in our brains our Human anatomy needs that and when we continue in this false world and this false belief because I can read books about great Entrepreneurs and I can dream about what that would be like and it gives me this false feeling of what it could be like But if there's zero action and then my brain tells me like you're you're you're fake. You're not real You can't do it and then eventually they get stuck in that information overload phase Now I'm going to give some advice to listeners on how to determine who to work with because I think this would be a good topic We're kind of touching on it when I look at potential mentors I tend to work backwards from the challenge or the goals that I would like to achieve for myself and so Anyone listening or watching this try to try to put a dollar value on the problem that you want to solve That's right is this a $10,000 problem that you're trying to solve in your life or is it a $100,000 like use big numbers Is it a million dollar problem or challenge that you're trying to learn how to do right? Once you can attribute a dollar value generally speaking to whatever that problem is You should be willing to invest at least 10% of your own money to go solve that problem Wouldn't you like if I'm selling something and if I gave you $10 and if you could if you give me a million dollars back every time I gave you a hundred thousand I'd be writing a text for a hundred thousand like what what who wouldn't do that right? I shouldn't see but people don't really see it That's a very simplified way of understanding what your investment level should be so if you only have $10,000 problems You should be at least figuring out how to find a thousand dollars to solve that with somebody that learns that can teach you that The other flip side of this is don't go too big, right? Let's say that you are just starting a business and you want to get to one million dollar revenue And that could happen in the first year with the right person But don't go hire the guy that's got a five hundred million dollar revenue company to teach you that because they're cool And they have all the followers you got all the stuff and but it's so far beyond that he can't even remember that level and it's Back when he was at your level the things were completely different than they are today The tools are different the strategies are different. Yeah, so you get a dollar values different So I see that friends mine that they're doing really really well, right? Like they're making millions of dollars a year and they're going to hire you know the the billionaire guy Yeah, a million dollars a year because it's more of a flex and ego Yeah, I'm like you really think they can solve your problem Are you just excited that you get to talk to them 30 minutes once a month? Yeah, it's like it's healthy Yeah, and you could tell people know what I like it's it's it's crazy to me But you're right and because there's a lot of folks to do it then and there's you know Sometimes there's people I can sense maybe you want to work with me because they'd like to just be close And I'm like I don't really see the problem like I don't really see what we're doing together Yeah, I can't have you pay me to just talk it'll it'll kill me. I don't care how much way. I don't there's not a value for that But but you're right with that same analogy. It's the same thing you did for the people I work with I'm like my goal is to 10x whatever you invested me and again for some situation You may have a $10,000 problem like you should be able to find you should be able to pay someone a $1,000 to solve that Pretty that's pretty easy. You got a million dollar problem There's less people that can probably solve that problem for you But if they can and they have done it multiple times I have a great track record dude pay him 100 and someone's some docs in my office here just a few months ago And they they pay me a hundred grand a year I helped them build a 20 million dollar company and I was like do you guys feel like you got your money? They're like we would pay you a million and I was like yeah for next year They're like we're just going yeah, Adam you're charging to your little little you get a raise your rates No, that was a that was a great occurrence, but But the the point that you said it's valid and I think people don't Value themselves and their future and their time enough to see that so I think it's a it's a cool cool conversation Yeah, because here's how the house plays out if you go higher if you go higher over-qualified mentor coach They're going to teach you things on a webinar group or meeting and you're going to fill up notebooks of stuff That's amazing. It's not bad information But you're not going to be able to apply it for 10 years, right? Yeah, so you're going to be not in your head. This is great You're sharing so much and then you're going to just put these in a little book and they're just going to disappear and collect dust because You're still going to be stuck at zero trying to figure out one million and 10 years later when you get the 100 million You know, then maybe you could bust those books out and they're actually useful then right right in It's funny. It's I've never heard anyone else really mentioned that But it's so true. Don't go too much bigger than the problem you are so So I want to get into the entrepreneurship. I guess let's talk about deal Assessment right yeah, you've started and helped scale a lot of different companies We already kind of determined your interest levels and in a health care space But even then there's a lot of different business models. So What do you look at in terms of deal structure if it's something you want to pursue or not? Yeah, that's a great question and yeah, weekly, you know, I'll get some medical device or like even this thing I'm wearing this is a newer company that I think is doing a better job than whoop that with a different model I should have documentation this week. I won't say the company have like you know an equity consulting agree to deal to do But I look at the company. I know I see the problem they want to solve And I see the opportunity for me to be able to solve it right so again I think it's just me being a person of integrity. I will not take money or do a deal with somebody I don't believe I bring that human life value to and so I Look at that first. That's the first lens at human life value Do I see a place that I can provide value forget the money equity? Well, that's self. I don't it is irrelevant right now It's just connect do I see a path for me to provide value if I do Then I have to look at how much value can I potentially provide and I want to look at look at it through the lens of like a win-win of I'm not going to ask for the moon unless I know I can deliver the moon I'm going to ask for here's what I'd like and if things work well some sort of you know Just I just want to always be fair and I always want to have that reputation right that's That's why I get a lot of opportunity. I don't market those things that come to me, which is cool. If people trusted people, you know, or like, hey, this would be something good for Adam. I'm not selling, you know, they're coming to me. And sorry, it's so nice to have that. But I'm just making sure to lines of my values and my ability to create value in it. Otherwise, I don't look at it. I think there's different kind of deals. Like you said, there's, like, I mean, I'd love to buy an air conditioning company. And I'd, like, there's so many, you know, there's so many different things. But what I learned from like Tony Robbins is, it's really smart with everything he's done. I looked for operators. So a business like something like that is like, you have to have a good operator. So if it's a couple or there's a good operating team, because I'm not running the team. I'm not an operator. I built the guy sold my company. I had my telehealth company. I didn't share that. I sold that at 23. I was like, I'm done running a company without having these specific rules of engagement of what I ride. Because I don't really need to. And, you know, I just, I want to live life kind of my terms as much as possible. And that's why I'm going to do it. So I think I just understand the deal structure around how much value I can bring, what my commitment is to bring in that value from a time standpoint. And does it line up with something? I can, you know, I'll have like a medical device thing for like, you know, erectile dysfunction or something. Like, okay, here's this new machine. I'm like, I can brand X-Men introductions, dude. But like, it's just not what I'm into. It's a lot of time. Like, it's cool. I see what it does. Like, let me see. Or, a lot of times, I just connect people. And I'm like, I don't need anything. Just you two, some more stuff. Praise God. If it doesn't work. Goodwill comes back, you know, if he works out for. I'm big and goodwill for sure. Yeah. I'm the same way I look at the deals. And, you know, also one of the factors I look at as a sanity level, you know, because some of these things are going to be a lot more time consuming than others. And then some, you know, you already have the skill set to be able to get that or the contacts or the financial to back it. And then the rest of it, I look at just, is it going to increase or improve my quality of life or decrease it? And that even goes on a client-by-client basis. Some people can be a real pain in the ass. And some people are a joy to work with. And, you know, you can ask qualifying questions and get to those, you know, pretty quick. Nowadays, with enough wrap, you start to see that, you know. 100%. There's plenty of clients I say no to. A lot of deals I say no to. And it's a lot of that. Like I said, my 2026 kind of goal was like peace. Yeah. I think my peace, because when I'm at peace and in this place of just, you know, joy and I love stress. I'm an intense, super intense person. But I know that, like, my power is when I'm calm and unemotional and focused. If something's going to stress me out and frustrate me, I'm not. I just, I didn't, like, like the world cup. I'm like, you know, I'm not going too many people. I don't love soccer that much. I don't know what my nervous system is going to do. I'm like, I watch it on TV and I think I've watched 25 minutes. Total of one soccer game just because it was on my house and a bunch of people. It's just, it's the other parts you going back to that is like there's certain things I care about and a lot of things I don't care about. Right. It's in a lot of the things I don't care about is really a lot of what that does. I'm just, I'm not going to be into it. And so I don't want to like commit to something that's going to be painful for me to do. I want to be, it's like, you know, the political side running for being on the township and all that stuff. Like, it's volunteer, right? I paid money to run a campaign and do that. But, and I'm all in. It doesn't matter if it's volunteer, you're paying me a million dollars a year. I'm all in. Like, I love it. I want to serve. I want to solve problems. I want to bring value. And so it's like, and it could change the piece side of me. And the, like, because you know, it's just you're dealing with government stuff. You're dealing with different personalities. Everybody's got to put everybody in opinion. Everybody's got a priority that may not be aligned. And so, like, you know, you just deal with that stuff. But part of it, too, is I'm also excited when I'm growing. So if I feel I'm growing and I'm like, ooh, why is that bugging here? Oh, this is a problem. We are working on something. Great. And so our problems reveal possibility for progress, right? And so I love that. I love that lens. So if it's something that's not challenging me, it's just kind of boring. And I'm like, whatever. But I like to be challenged and have to make sure I'm providing value to it. So what was the driver? So you're successful. You got businesses. You have a group that you run. You're heavily involved in your church. What made you decide to get into local politics? Yeah, I think it's sort of the conversation with a pastor friend of mine, too. He said something that, hey, you know, local governments don't support government. We get too distracted by like what Trump's doing or the senator and all that. You know, local government really really matters. And I was like, yeah, I agree. I agree with that. And about two weeks later, I had some friends are like, hey, you because I'm on the advisory board for a local nonprofit here. A couple of people from that were like, man, you should run for local township. And I was like, what? You know, I think that's bad. And then I was like, you know, we just shortly after that kind of bought the house we're in now, which is like the foreseeable future home. And I was like, all right, let me check that out. And then, and I just remembered the conversation with that pastor friend. I was like, all right, I agreed. Local governments important. A couple of people who, you know, I think are pretty smart people think that I'd be a good value. Let me see, right? And then you look into it and it's really pattern just pattern started coming back, coming back to you. And eventually I feel like God is like, hey, go. I'm like, I don't, I don't argue. And so, so I put my name in the hat and in one. And it was cool because it was, it was so such a new world again. Learning, get my butt kicked. Everything you think's going to happen is not everything what's going to happen and you just learn so much. But I was beautiful too because I met, made so many new relationships. I was joking my wife like, we have like my mom and her parents are kind of like the only old people that we really know anymore. And now I got like all these older people that just love me that's voted for me. They're like in their 70s, walking blocks, talking about this guy. Like they're my grandparents. And I was just like, I felt so blessed and so humbled. So many people come out support me and just just like it took my level of gratitude and empathy for strangers to a whole new level. And this level of humility too of realizing like man, the higher you're called, the more humble you got to become. And I think that that doesn't happen in politics. The higher they go, the more they think their poop doesn't stink. And and and I saw that. And so it's like I was like, why? I really think I can make a difference. I really think I can impact. And to you know, much is given, much is required. And who knows where that path is. I don't have any big plans for the future behind it. But it's interesting. The attention you start getting, even a, like a township level of different people from Congress to send it to, you know, like want to be around you because you're like a man of integrity. You built some business. You actually done something other than being a lifetime politician and like you say you do what you say you're going to do. And while that's wild for people to grasp sometimes. Even even on a smaller level than that because yeah, the woodlands, I mean, I've been here since 2008. And so, you know, I've got to see the community grow and evolve and different things get developed. And it's just been cool to watch all that happen. But even on a small level, back when I was a president of the Toastmasters Club, one of the biggest ones in the woodlands area, like just going around town people would recognize you because you see hundreds of people over years go through that program and how it changed their life and it's kind of cool. And then they're referring their friends and family to come join. And so yeah, you can imagine. So I think like I like what you talk about the local government yet to be more humble because we have to actually live with those people that are voting for us. Like they're in direct contact with a lot of times in public. Whereas you get to bigger platforms, you're less around the people like the state reps, they're not around us. DC reps, they're definitely not around us. So they have no idea what's going on at the local level anymore. Yeah, and there's just a part of it if there's one side of it. Again, you know, sort of telehealth company in 2012. So most of my interactions like this. And so it's also a part of just like, like you said, like being around town, meeting people. Like I met my the amount of people I know in person, like that are local to me. Like 5,000 X in 90 days. And it was me. And again, it doesn't go to my head. Like when someone's like a director, lamb, I'm like stop there. Like that's weird. I don't even call doctors doctors. So just like just Adam. I'm just regular dude, you know. And that's a part of it. And I remind a lot of my political friends. So some of the more like we're just township correct. We're not special. Like even when the fourth of July prayed, they did. And the guy's like, I didn't know that's what usually most directors do. And is get in it. And I was like, they're like, Katie, you want to be in the prayer. I'm like, oh, bye. No, I was going to say, I want to watch you. I was going to say it when my family watch it. And I was the only director. And I'm not knocking. And I think it's cool. Like, right. You know, routine and tradition and stuff like that. But I probably, if they were like, hey, this is what we always do. I probably would have done that, but they asked me if I was like. I was like, do you just put me in the back room, like, let me solve problems. I don't need to be up front and center. It's just not really who I am. I want to be, you know, in the executive session, solving the big things that move and shake things for our community. And so I just started a little different for it. Maybe that's a good thing. I don't know. I don't know. I think it goes back to you and your character, though, because we've both been become comfortable putting ourselves out there. And our opinions. And we're okay by living by example and understanding there's literal cameras everywhere. And, you know, like you said, how you act when the camera's not on you or when you're not with your wife. Like, all those things kind of matter. Your character is like, it's either steady or it's fake. And when you have a solid character in all aspects, you don't care if cameras are on all the time. And now that you got, like you said, 5,000 new contacts, you don't really care that you got all these different eyeballs watching you too. watching you too because if you just have that character be able to live in like by an example, then you're okay with that. - Yeah, and I think that to me is like true freedom, is being that authentic version of yourself, right? That this is who I am, if you see me at the gym, this is who my pastor gets, this is who my wife gets, this is my kids get, like the people I work with. - And that is the most freeing, that's like-- - It's super easy. It's way easier than all the other crap that people pull off, man. Is everyone gonna like me? No, I don't care. Like, it doesn't matter, my wife doesn't like me, that matters, it's no life, that matters. I might to do some adjustments of my character and some things like that to work on it, if I get some negative feedback, but like Joe Schmo down the road, it's like you set this and you remember like, bro, I love you, I don't know you, but I don't care. - I'm not. - I can't try to please everybody. I think people, I don't trust people, please. There's anyone who's trying to please everybody. I'm like that person can't be trusted. - Well, now I really enjoy this conversation as I thought I would, right? Thank you so much for having me on yours. This was awesome. - So if people wanna get a hold of you or figure out what you're up to nowadays, what's the best way for them to reach you? - Yeah, I mean, probably go maybe my Instagram, Adam Lam, 33 and DM me, usually I'm in there and respond. - That's probably the easiest thing. I mean, it's Adam Lam, 33 and all my things. So LinkedIn or Instagram or Facebook or whatever. - Got it. - Hit me up. - So I'm gonna give you the opportunity to give the final word to somebody that's been listening to this that they need to invest in themselves, take some action, get the results they've been talking about. What's the next step for them? - Yeah, I think the next step is to get super clear on what you actually want. And the first part of that is if you can get clear on exactly what you want, you have to figure out what the next action step is. If you're struggling to get clear on what you actually want, you need to find somebody that can help you get clear. Most people don't know what they actually want. They just know they don't want what they got. And that's very hard to lead if you don't know what you want. I was using analogy of dinner. Where do you guys wanna go for it? I don't know. It's like dude, it's perfect, right? And so most people do not know what they want. So when you can submit to that potential truth of like, I don't really know what I want. Cool, I also want to help you figure out what you want and then find somebody who's already got what you want and go there. But don't hire somebody who's got what you think you might want 'cause it may have to be what you actually want. So I think if that hopefully that's helpful with Tick-a-Tops, yeah. - Work backwards from your goals guys. - Amen. - Well if you guys enjoyed this episode and you got something from it, this show only grows because you share this show with people and that's how we reach people out. We don't have any ads, we don't have any BS on this show. You guys made this a top 1% show and over, I don't even know how many countries nowadays but love to hear from you guys. If you want to reach me or Adam, send some emails or hit us through the website. We'll be happy to relay the message to him and ask him any questions you have. So with that guys, thanks for hanging out. We will see you on the next episode. (upbeat music) - I appreciate you for listening to this show. Your support has helped this show become globally ranked in the top 1% of all podcasts. I sincerely thank you for that. How would you like to work with me to help your business start, scale or exit? Whether you're just getting started or you've built multi-million dollar companies, we've got different offerings and activities that we've created to help you enhance your business, your life and your bottom line. We have one-on-one coaching, mastermind groups and live events. If you'd like to check those out, visit my website at 365driven.com and I look forward to hearing from you. (upbeat music)