Billy Keels  0:00  

Why authentic appreciation is the most expensive thing you own. Today's episode is sponsored by Billy Keels advisory services. If you want to learn more about how to make your 99 optional, just go to make it optional.com. Once again, that's make it optional.com.

Speaker 1  0:19  

Helping you build freedom without losing your edge. This is the going long podcast with Billy Keels,

Billy Keels  0:32  

why authentic appreciation is the most expensive thing you own is for that senior leader in a big company who considers continues to think to yourself, well, you know, I want to be able to do this, but I have so many other things going on, and now is not the right time. And you know what? I'll get to it eventually. Here's what I want to share with you in this very, very brief episode. As you know, I like to keep these solo episodes very brief. I want to share something with you that I consistently hear in conversations that I'm having, usually in a direct message, and then get on the phone with somebody and have a zoom conversation or whatever, because I know that the insights from what is happening or what I continue to hear, and also my own lived experience, it's going to help you get to a point of clarity that you can make the decisions to what you need to do and want to do for Your Life, and then you can continue to take action. That is the breakthrough. That's what I want for you in this very, very brief episode, I'm even watching the clock just to make sure. So if you're watching the video version, if you see me looking over at the clock, it's because that's what I'm doing. But let me just take you back, because one of the things that you could very easily happen is you start to think to yourself, like there's something that you want to do, but there's never the right time to get started to do it. And I'm really talking to you if you are that senior director, VP, maybe area VP of a big, large multinational company, because you get to this moment, and what if I if you thought to yourself, What if it, if your job is not the thing that's actually keeping you stuck, it's not your job. You say that it's your job, and you want certain things happen well, but, but what if it wasn't the job that was keeping you stuck? And also, what is it? But what if it was what your job was actually giving you that was the thing that was keeping you stuck. You're thinking yourself, well, what do you what's the difference? What are you talking about? Billy? See, the thing that I'm starting to recognize more and more and more is that the most successful corporate executives stay stuck. They stay stuck. But it's not really how you think. And if you're confused over those two questions, I'm going to break it down for a little bit, because here's the thing, because here's the thing, and this is something that I went through myself, and it's something that I recognize with others, and that's why I am sharing it here in this podcast, because if you if you have ever been through it, you're not alone. There are many of us who have been through things like you're going through. There's a lot that's happening as you begin to go through your role, continue to get more titles, and you're at the VP and or the senior director and the VP and the executive VP, and into the C suite. The salaries are are massive, right? Comparatively speaking, you look at someone on the low end, you're making $250,000 all the way into the multi millions in salary, because you're very good at what it is that you do, and all of these accolades are one thing, and when you start to strip it all back, and I got to this point myself, I really just wanted to be able to create a safe space for my family and for myself. And when I mean safe space, I mean not just a physically safe space, but an emotionally safe space as well, knowing that the things that we wanted to do, wanted to to have, wanted to create together, that we were able to do that, both from an economic standpoint and also from a time standpoint. The thing that and as I've kind of gone through this, I've started recognizing that there is a very distinct pattern in our in when, when I break this down for you, it happens really in three phases. There is this there's this point. One of the patterns that I see early on is this pattern of the golden hand cape, the golden hand cuff shuffle. Let's call it that, because I can't think of anything better. But you know, you're going to start when the stocks vest, will the stocks start vesting, and you're like, Wow, this is really cool. I'm going to stick around until the next window. And usually the next window is 2412 to 24 months away, the bonus checks arrive. Oh, this was one of my like, this one got me because I was really good at what I did, and the teams were great. And we were able to have not just the normal salary, which was significant, the bonuses were even better, right? And so you get to a point where the bonus bonuses were arrive, and so you're sticking around until the next bonus check, or to the next big deal, um, or once you get to a certain level in the organization, because once you're in that level, then you were playing that level where it's whether it's at your company or somebody else's company, that's the first thing. So you got this golden handcuff shuffle that's happening. And then, and. Then I put my hand up as well. And this is something that I hear all the time in calls, is there is this idea of you get this certain title, and once you have that senior director, that VP, that executive VP, title, well, what does that give you? It gives you access, not only internally within your company, to resources, to new types of investment opportunities. I mean that the company is investing in you because you're at a higher level. You also get to a certain point where, you know, you get all of these other wonderful benefits that are part of your company, and they all starts to help you feel even better, because it's coming a part of the identity that you have with with the title that comes along with it. And well, you know what? Those are, the first two things, and then, as a result, and usually running in parallel, there's this gratitude or appreciation paralysis, right? You are in paralysis because of all of the wonderful things that you are receiving from corporate. And you are receiving those things from corporate, from the big company, because you are giving a lot, right? Don't forget that part of the concept, and that's one of the things that it's really easy to fall into. But as you get into this paralysis, this and the appreciation paralysis, it's really easy to stop asking the hard questions of yourself, for yourself, for your family. Why? Because you have all of these different accolades and different like very visible reasons and benefits that the that the multinational is appreciating you, right? And so you stop asking the hard questions. You stop that voice that wants to get louder, that says, hey, listen, there's also the way that you can leverage these skills. You can do it to a point where you are able to begin owning something, creating this ownership, all of these things start to happen. And, like, here's the thing, even with all of the things that are happening today, I mean, we're looking at over and over, I mean, even recently, like, the one of the big, big enterprise software players, Oracle, like, you know, apparently, is going to be laying off another 30,000 people, like, of a company that only, quote, unquote, has 160,000 that's very significant. Like my epiphany moment. It didn't happen during layoff, it didn't happen during a reorganization, it didn't happen during a bad performance review, because those didn't happen I was in the top talent program. It happened on a random like Tuesday or Wednesday morning while I'm managing $100 million business across Europe, Middle East and Africa, thinking, wow, these skill this skill set, being able to manage a business lead teams of people, to be able to get to a common goal, like I asked the question like, What am I actually building here? And a lot of you know I'm having conversations with when people come chatting with them through the DMS and LinkedIn specifically, but then getting on calls, and the question comes up all the time, and I had the question myself, what am I actually building here? Like, what do I get to take with me when I go? Well, it's none of the physical assets that belong to the corporate machine. I can tell you that for sure. And so when you start, when you ask that question, I'll share my experience. What I started doing is I got to a point where it was time for me to begin to begin. I had excess cash that was in the bank, and I was just tired of it sitting there. It wasn't making me feel safe anymore. I was starting to feel like it was just eroding on my face. So I started by taking the first step, and that was actually being able to invest. I just wanted to invest. I wanted to get my feet in the game. I wanted to invest in something that I would actually own. I chose real estate as an asset class and through alternative investments. But eventually that voice kept getting even louder. It wasn't just about being able to invest. I wanted to be able to build something that I could build in the way that I wanted to build it and serve the clients that I wanted to be able to serve in the way that I thought was the most appropriate, and create my own ownership, through, through, through building something. And when I got to that point and actually even did an episode, I think it's episode 615 if not just take a look back, but, but the reason I share this story is it goes back to why this authentic appreciation is the most expensive thing that that you are owning, why, when you're in the corporate light, because all of this appreciation for all of the things that you are receiving, don't forget they're coming because you're giving so much, and a lot of what you're giving is to a point where you're building something that, yes, it's great that you can you can hone the skills to build something, but you're building something for someone else. The reality is, is, how can you look at the situation say, Okay, I'm building these skills, this skill set, it's also valuable. And that voice is getting louder and louder in your gut, in your head, and you can't keep ignoring it because it's just going to get louder. And I can tell you because I went through it myself. I went through that moment where it did feel awkward, it felt completely strange, because yes, I took the first step, and yes, it was uncomfortable, and yes, I didn't have all of the information. And yes, I felt like would any. Everybody in my company is going to find out that I'm doing this? Are they going to think that I'm cheating on my employer? They're going to think that I'm not committed to the role, all of those things it made like there was this just uneasiness. And I can tell you, that's a part of the process. It's a part of the process, because when it was when I continue to push through and don't get me wrong, I continue to be in the top talent program until the last moment that I was exited the company right my last corporate stop. So I liked it. I had a great experience. It wasn't even had nothing to do with corporate it was. It had to do with family. It matters why I was no longer in the corporate world, but I built this valuable skill set. I went through the the uneasiness of, well, all of those thoughts and all of those feelings that I shared with you before and when I came out on the other side, very fortunately, when the corporate life ended, yeah, I could look back and I could say, Listen, there were 41 different additional streams of income that were fully owned by my companies, not to imagine the other 417 that were very small ownership portions that I was that was part of ownership with other people, lots of other people, and being able to generate over $212,000 consistently annually, right? That was a good part. But that wasn't the best part. You know? The best part was. The best part was I started realizing that the skill set that I had could be valuable, not just inside the corporate walls, but outside of the corporate walls. It helped me going from being someone who was completely dependent on a paycheck, mentally dependent on the paycheck, to get to a point where I felt completely confident that the role that I was going into in my corporate job, it was optional. I was there because I wanted to be there. I didn't have to be there. I wanted to be there because I loved being able to sit down with CEOs from multi billion euro dollar types of organizations. And that helped, because I knew that I was part of a brand that allowed ownership into or let access into that the same things I was talking to you before, but I knew that my role was optional. I was confident that was optional, and then I was able to use my same skill set outside of the corporate walls while performing excelling in the corporate walls, right? So the reason I share light on this is shine the light on this is because it's very easy for that appreciation that you have to keep you that keeps you anchored. It keeps you from actually pursuing the things that you want to pursue that and starting to muffle that voice that's getting louder and louder and louder, I can tell you, it's only going to get louder, right? And so when you're at a point where you're trying to figure out, like, what is it that you want to be able to do? Well, I'll tell you, it's to realize that you can appreciate and at the same time, you can advance towards your goal, towards your dream, getting to that point where you are confident that you're going into your role every day because you want to, not because you have to. That's when you get to optionality. That's the thing. And so, you know, in the show notes, there's a there's a way of, there's a proven path, like, it's the path that I took. It's a path that I'm helping hundreds of other executives, senior leaders, be able to do that are in corporate. So if, if any of this feels like it's something that you have gone through, or going through, you know, if it's easy for you. Just download the guide. You can take it. It's absolutely free, like just leave your email. That's the only thing I ask. Leave your email and you'll get that. You can stay in touch with us and what we're doing. But more importantly, take that guide and it gives you a proven roadmap, one that has worked in the past, one that is currently working, and one that's going to get you to your goals and dreams so and if it's not you and you know someone who is today is suffering from that authentic appreciation, it's keeping them blocked. Is keeping them stuck. Share today's episode. Be that person that cares enough to share it with someone else, and then don't just share it, just get involved. Help right? Make sure that you pick up the phone, you go to that person, and you talk about it. Go from the theory of what I'm talking about to actually the practice. And if you ever want to connect, know where to find me. You can find me on LinkedIn, as Deon Sanders says, I ain't too hard to find, and we're happy to pick up the conversation there. So in the meantime, and you know what I just want to say? Thank you very much. I am going to be here preparing for the next episode. So go out and like I said, Make it a great day. And thank you very, very much. Bye.

‍