Welcome to the “Making of a DM.” Why I fight to pay the bill—this is going to be a good one. So, with that said, let's get started.
Mark: Hey, there. It’s your boy, Mark Evans DM. Hope you've had an amazing last seven days. Things over here have been absolutely insane. We’ve had a lot going on.
On Monday, I took my son out shooting. I don't know if you guys watch me on IG. If you don't, it's @MarkEvansDM. But the first time he's ever shot, he was so excited. I met a highly high-level professional in that world, which is awesome. Super excited to do a lot of stuff with him and his name is Dale. Stay tuned on that. I’ve got some cool stuff there working. [01:08.7]
But as my boy, Sean, always says, always get your house in order, just teaching the kids about how important it is to protect yourself, more importantly, how to be responsible with something so powerful. See, the thing is guns don't kill people. People with guns that don't know what they're doing or do know what they're doing kill people. But I just want to teach my kids and my wife and myself how to become a better person around a gun, not be so scared around them, be a little bit more conscious of where they're at, be more conscious of where, if shit hits the fan, kind of what their plan is, the contingency plan for myself, my family, etc.
I did that and then had date week, date day, I should say, on Thursday. If you follow me on IG, you know I had a pretty rough day, I think, yeah, not “I think”, on Thursday, a lot of stuff going on a lot, a lot of craziness. These are the days you're crying. These are the days you're just pushing forward and saying, Shit, just come one, one more minute, one more minute. Not one more hour, one more minute. Just let me get by one more minute. A lot of things are going on. [02:09.4]
This is the world of an entrepreneur. It doesn't happen daily, but that's where real entrepreneurship is made. I don’t want to get sidetracked on today's show, but really today is about something very big that I believe has been monumental in my success and in life where I’m at today. I don't consider myself a success story. I’m just getting started. I’m just learning like you. I’m excited for what the future holds.
But as I get back, last night, me, Deena and the kids, we got back from Watkins Glen, hanging out with my buddy, Sean, for his first race out there and I got to meet and hang out with Jason Harward, who races Lamborghini, and just cool stuff hanging out in the pit, hanging out in the garage and all that stuff, watching eight or nine crew members just work just super quiet. You'd hear a pin drop in there when they're replacing a transmission. I mean, someone takes five hours. They did it in an hour. It's really cool to see. [03:01.8]
It reminds me of business, right, a lot where things are just moving a hundred miles per hour, and a lot of the stuff you're doing today, you're thinking it doesn't really matter, but what matters is that you're learning the actions and activities and the effort and, more importantly, the dedication of doing the activity and implementing it, so when those moments do happen, you're prepared. It's like life. Most people are under prepared.
My goal in life is to always be over-prepared, overly wealthy, overly healthy, overly equipped with firearms, overly equipped with having access to things. Hopefully, I don't ever have to access some of this stuff I have access to that I’ve got in my possession, right? Because if you're pulling out these contingencies, some of them, it is literally a whole other animal.
But as I’m sitting there and just I’ve been around a lot of wealth of yachts and $300-million yachts, this and that. I’m always amazed. Remember, you’ve got to remember, I’m a hillbilly kid from small-town Ohio, so I’m still a hillbilly kid from small-town Ohio, just I’m evolving and growing, and have all these cool businesses and a lot of neat things going on. [04:04.0]
But I’m sitting there at this racetrack and people have $500,000-cars everywhere. I mean, literally, every car is 300, 500. I think the cheapest car is probably 160 and that's just a basic track car just to learn on, 160,000 that is. The tires are $1,800 a piece. There are obviously four tires on the car, so what is that? $7,200 per race and they run two races a day, so you're spending about 15 grand on tires a day.
Plus, you’ve got transmissions. Like I said, Jason's transmission went out, that was $60,000 because they had to throw one in and they had to buy one and they rebuilt the other one for 30-ish. Then you’ve got the crew, nine people, and you’ve got the semi. You’ve got the other cars. You’ve got the people. You’ve got the car. You’ve got the flights in and out on the jet. I mean, to do a weekend like this these guys are spending 200, 300 grand a weekend easily, and there are a lot of people. [04:59.0]
See, it's funny because when I used to be a kid, my dad loved NASCAR and you're in the stands and you see all the cars going around, which is cool I guess if that's what you're into. But, for me, when I watch this stuff, I’m looking at it through a different lens. When I’m back in the garage, I’m paying attention. Every person in there is making money or they wouldn't be there, right? The staff. That costs money. Then the sponsors on the cars, and then the semis and the fuel, and the tires and the transmissions, and this and that, right?
This is how my brain thinks, by the way. I’m just sharing with you, if you peel back my brain, kind of what I’m thinking about. I’m not mesmerized by, oh, my God, you're a driver. I’m mesmerized. Who the hell? What do you do all day long to generate the kind of wealth or revenue you need to be able to do this? By the way, this is a hobby. To run a race team, you're running seven or eight races a year, easily a million to two million a year, just bare bones to scrape by, to have fun. You win a trophy, spray champagne on each other and have fun. [05:55.0]
Don't get me wrong, a lot of amazing business deals are going down in these environments. A lot of great connections are going down in these environments, and you'll learn a lot about people in these environments because you see how they want to win, how they want to race, how they're building their team, how their team acts. These are all character traits of business leaders, business owners, because it's like you’ve got to build the team. People are getting scouted all the time to be the best engine builder, the best team leader, etc., right?
Anyway, again, like I said, I didn't want to get sidetracked by him, but I’m just getting back from that, so it's super fresh and I got to hang out with the guys and my wife and kids. I always want to show my kids behind the scenes and experience stuff that I never even knew existed, to be honest with you, as a child, but they get to talk. They get to see all the hard work.
I mean, these guys are busting their ass, by the way. There’s a lot of hard work behind the scenes and a lot of learning, like they don't just jump in a car and take off. They're sitting there watching 40 hours of videos of how to hit the track, how to hit the corners right, how to shave two seconds off their time, etc., etc., etc., constantly. [07:06.4]
By the way, these are character traits. These are things that they've built through their life and their businesses, and then they’ve carried it over into the track. We're always educating. We're always knowledging up.
Knowledge equals power when it's implemented, and that's what they're doing, like Turn 2, do this. Turn 3, try this. Turn 4, tweak on this. Then you've got the pit crew telling you to execute here, slow down here, speed up here. Here's why. Inside apex, outside apex. Push harder here. All these things, which is cool.
But as I’m sitting there in Watkins Glen, I’m fighting my friend to pay the bill sort of. It sounds silly. We're kind of fighting to pay the bill. I do this with all my buddies, by the way. We're always fighting when we're hanging out over who's going to pay the bill. I typically always have a cool slick way to get inside, get my credit card to them before anybody arrives or whatever, and I typically get the bill and I love it. [08:03.5]
I love paying the bill. I'm proud to pay the bill. It makes me feel good to pay the bill. It makes me feel amazing to watch people just smile and know that they can get what they want, and know that it's handled and taken care of, respectfully. It's not an ego thing. It's a feel-good thing for me. I’ve busted my ass to be able to do that, and to be honest with you, I’ve pretty much done that my whole adult life. I’ve always picked up the bill. I’ve always said, “I’ve got it.” I do cool stuff. “Don't worry about it. It's on me.”
When I’m at these events, like I said, with Sean and them, and I’m watching. I’m trying to help people do what I do that I’m able to do. I have a lot of cool friends. I have a lot of great people in my life and I ask myself why. This is thought-auditing, by the way, and really what it comes down to is I’m constantly creating simple gestures, which could create massive opportunities, create, generate massive relationships. [09:03.8]
See, you're sitting here listening to my podcast show. Maybe you know me, maybe you don't. Maybe you're brand new. Maybe you've been following me for a long time. What I mean by simple gestures, for example, and I’m giving you real life stuff, this just happened, I’m at the race. I’m in the garage, talking to a guy from Iowa, one of the crew members, and he's like, Man, it's been a long day. I wish I had a cigar for their night, blah, blah, blah. I have cigars in my truck and I was like, Dude, I’ll get it. I’ve got you cigars. How many do you guys want?
I go to my truck and get them, I think eight cigars and I give them eight cigars. He's like, How much? Are you on Venmo? I’m like, Dude, you don't have to. You don't owe me anything. What are you talking about? And straight up, my brain doesn't think about what I’m sharing with you. I just do it because this is a muscle I’ve built over my years. Listen to what people are actually saying, solve the problem. Man, I wish I had some cigars. Cool. It's not, Hey, man, did you know there's a cigar place right down the road? Right? And/or what kind of cigars do you want? I’ll go get you some. The angles, cigars for them, one, it requires a lot more effort. The other one is solving the problem. People remember that shit. [10:06.0]
I hand him some cigars and I see him the next day. He was like, Dude, oh my God, that was amazing. Me and the guys hung out, had a couple of drinks, smoking cigars. Appreciate that. Again, let me know how much I owe you for the Venmo. “Again, you don't owe me anything, but by the way, here's eight more cigars.” I actually gave him more. Simple gestures. I don't even know what these cigars cost. Let's say $10 a piece, so I give them $80 in sticks each day, whoop-de-do. Why is this a big deal? Why are people always pinching pennies, squeezing the penny so hard Lincoln's nose bleeds to try to get ahead of life? I don't understand it.
Me and Sean Whalen went through a simple gesture, had no financial-exchange gesture. Sending a nice note to someone is a nice gesture. Letting them know you're thinking about them is a nice gesture. But Sean and I kind of met. We kind of talk about this still, but if you read his book, How to Make Sh*t Happen, you'll realize there are only two pictures in the book, Me and Sean, and these are real pictures of me and him. [11:09.8]
Once in a blue moon, actually often, we'll snap a picture to each other. I’ll snap a picture to him smoking a stick and saying, “Hey, man, keep kicking ass,” or “Hey, man, thinking about you.” “Hey man, hope all is well.” Simple gesture. He does the back to me. I do it back to him. I thumb it up or I heart it up, whatever, through social and throughout the years. Two, three, four years later, another simple gesture. “Sean, do you want to hop on the yacht with me and the Caribbean?” He hops on the yacht. First time I ever met him face to face was him pulling up in a dinghy in the crystal blue water, hopping on the back of the yacht I chartered. “What's up, Sean?” as he's getting off. We're hugging, bro hugging, as if we know each other, and we've met each other and we just start talking shop. [12:02.6]
See, this is how simple gestures turn into massive opportunities. I do not do this on purpose. I just do it. I’m not sitting there like, Okay, if I send 72 messages to this individual, this XYZ is going to happen. The truth is I do it all the time and a lot of times it never comes to fruition anytime soon. I’m not doing it to manipulate the situation. I’m doing it to connect.
See, a lot of people are like, Mark, that's 180, you know what I’m talking about, the cigars. That's $160. I don't have that kind of money to be tossing around every day, every hour or whatever. I’m not saying you have to. This podcast show you're listening to, a simple fucking gesture, could you be simply posting it on your wall, sharing your insights? Did this show help you or not?
Hey, check out the DM gear.
Hey, follow Mark. He's got some cool shit going on. He has helped me and he can help you, possibly, too. [13:02.8]
It's free. When I do a post, you could like it. Shit, everyone can do that. It's free. But again, take the extra initiative.
Thumbs up. Rocket ship.
Hell, yeah, Evans.
Boom, DM. I love it. Keep up the great work.
Go to look at any post. There are 300 likes, 15 comments. Which one do you think gets the recognition long-term? I would recognize you if you kept commenting in a positive manner and sharing the stories once in a while. If it hits home for you, share. I’m not saying everything. But, literally, me and my boys, we like and we comment on every single fucking post. It's a cadence. It's an action that must be happening if you want to get the maximum results. [13:57.3]
Most of you are doing a lot of what I’m saying. You like a lot of shit, but very few of you are commenting. Very, very few are even sharing. “Mark, I don’t have anything to say.” Yes, you do. Just say it and share it. You don't have to say dick. Just share it. Come up with a word like me. I like to do the rocket ship or the fire, or facts or boom with the big bang thing. It's a separator. I’ve been doing this for years.
I didn't even have books in 1996 that I’ve written. I didn't write a book until 2006 to be exact, November 21, 2006, to be ultra-exact when my first book came out. But I used to grab books that I really liked to change my life and I’d buy them in bulk, 100 at a time, and then I’d get to one of those stamp places and I had a stamp made that said, “This book has been gifted to you by Mark Evans DM.” I never once took a fucking penny off that book. I’m buying them. I spend the money. [15:06.0]
I could be at a bar. I could be at a sporting event. I could be at a restaurant. I could be at church. I could be anywhere, and if I’m connecting with someone and I feel like I have a book in the trunk of my car that could change this fucker’s life, you damn well better know that I’m going to stop the conversation and say, Yo, I’ll be right back. I’ve got something for you, and I’m going to run my ass out to the car and I’m going to get a book, and I’m going to give it to him and I’m going to tell him, I’m gifting this book to you because I feel like this XYZ could help you.
I’m not doing it for money, clearly, because I’m fucking spending money to do it, but I’m doing it as a gesture because I care and I want to connect, and when this muscle is worked on and leaned on, it changes people's lives. It lets them know that you're fucking actually listening. It lets them know that you actually care and you want to help them. [16:02.2]
As I’m sitting there, years later after I’ve met Sean socially, on social media, I should say, and then now we're sitting in restaurants, fighting over the fucking bill and then I go to staff and I’m like, Yo, come on, man, and she's like, Well, he's more intimidating than you. It reminds me of how I grew up.
Again, I’m not knocking it. This is just the reality of it. We've got dinner with another couple. Actually, I don't think I ever … maybe we did as parents. I don't remember as a kid, but as kids, getting older, say, 18, I remember sitting around and people are like, Yo, man, let's go to dinner. Keep in mind, this was dinner where dinner means Applebee's half off appetizers and half off beers, right, or whatever. There would be four of us and they're literally looking at the bill saying, Hey, man, did you get the appetizer wings? Did you get this beer or that beer? Keep in mind, the bill is $20 and it's like, No, man, I didn't get that. I only owe 3.20. You owe 4.50, blah, blah, blah. I’m like, Give me the fucking bill. I’ll pay it, the whole thing. But it's weird to me. [17:11.8]
First of all, I always think, should you be going out to dinner if you're worried about that kind of shit? I personally don't think you should. I think you should keep your fucking ass at home. I think you should hunker down and get to work, and make real fucking money and have way different problems than a $20, $50, $200 bill, dinner bill. I’m being serious.
Everyone out here, most people out here are Mickey Mousing their way to wealth, or they say they are or they're acting like they are. If you're fucking dicing up a bill, I don't care if it's two people or 200 people, you pick up that fucking bill. I’m telling you, this is how I roll. Anybody that knows me knows this is one hundred percent the truth and me and my buddies are fighting about it. Who's going to pay it? If you ain't rolling around with a bunch of fuckers that don't want to pay the bill, you need new friends and you don't want leeches. You don't want people that are pissed off. [18:06.2]
Literally, we’ve got dinner. Even my in-laws get mad when I buy, because I buy all. I want to. It makes me feel good. I’m proud. I’m honored to buy for the people I love, the people I care about, the people I’m rolling with. It’s always funny because it is a game, and the bill, my father-in-law gets pissed when I pay and he doesn't. I’m not trying to take from him. I’m trying to pay the bill. It's a game. It's fun to me. I love to pay the bill.
I’ve worked hard to pay the bill, and these are simple gestures as you get and grow tens, 20, 30, 50, 100, if not, thousands of simple gestures to different people in my life that now I’m able to call my friends. We're buddies now. Not because I’m better than anybody, but just because I simply am offering gestures. [18:55.7]
Not only that, let's be straight up, the guy in the crew didn't even know who I was, nor does it matter, but I gave him cigars. I have nothing to get out of it. I just want to make him happy. I want him to see him light up. I want to give a gift. I want to give a gesture, and that simple gesture, like, let's be honest, maybe he's like, Dude, who the hell is this guy?
I’m rocking the DM hat, the DM shirt. My kids are, too. He's like, Who the fuck? What the hell does DM mean? Right? Deal-Maker. He's sitting on the toilet maybe at 5:00 a.m., getting ready for the day, and he's looking me up, starts following me, starts connecting with me. Who knows? Before you know it, maybe I’ll have a fucking racecar team and I need help and he's going to raise his hand and say, I want to help you because I remember, 14 years ago, Mark, XYZ happened.
That's pretty cool to me. That's the shit I think about. I’m not thinking about that moment. That moment is cool. I get to help someone, put a smile on their face. But you know what is really fucking cool? Fifteen years from now when I need a pilot for my jet, his best friend is a pilot who flies jets. He’s like, Dude, I know you're a good dude because you did XYZ. Meet my friend. Friend, meet. Boom, solved my problem. Now he gave me a gesture. [20:11.8]
See, the thing is most people are out here looking for the problem. Most people are out here talking about the problem. I’m listening for solutions. I want to solve the problem.
I need cigars.
Boom. Here's cigars.
I need a mechanic.
Boom. Hey, do you know my buddy? Boom. He does this.
Hey, man, I need this done on my house. Hey, do you know a roofer?
Yes, I do. I know four roofers. Call them. Hit them up.
It's not like, Well … government is not really on my side right now. What do you got going on, man? Whoa, $12 a cigar. Geesh. Yeah, I smoke one a month. I can't afford $12 a cigar, but, man, must be nice.
If you're rolling around with fuckers that talk like that, you should straighten up or just admit that you're one of them, right? [21:02.3]
Simple gestures will lead to massive, massive opportunities. Charities. Make a $20 donation on someone's behalf that you care about and love in their name. I don't turn down gifts. I get gifts often. Recently I invited some guy to come and talk to my 36 guys in the DM Family, and this is a high-level guy generating many millions of dollars. I’ve been valuable to him. He's very valuable to me as well, through what I’m talking about, planting seeds and conversating and being there for them.
What does he do? He does what I do. He sends a gift and says thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to allow me to speak to your tribe or your group. It was a blast. If there's anything I can do more to help, let me know. No fucking wonder this guy is crushing it. See, the thing is, most people are spending all their time on strategies to fucking manipulate the system, how to do less to get more. [22:06.4]
Do you understand how much energy and time myself and my team puts into gift-giving? Not just for outside people, but also team, if it's your birthday, if it's your anniversary, if it's a big moment in your life. All these guys are out there talking, How to create loyalty in your company, and then they fucking suck at being loyal. You do, as the leader. There's nothing loyal to you because you can't even be loyal to yourself, so how the fuck is a loyalty class going to help you by maintaining staff.
True story, and I’ve shared this before, someone on one of my teams in one of my companies, she lost her son to a very terrible situation. They didn't have the financial means to do what they wanted to do to take care of the burial. My number one core value in all my companies is Care 360, care for yourself, care for others. You have to care for yourself. If you don't, you're not here and you can't help other people. [23:07.2]
We shared the story with the team. My COO and team leads shared this story with me and the team. Of course, I’m going to match anything and everything and we're going to make sure that the burial is proper, and we'll cover the tab and we'll let her take as much time as she needs off, paid.
Do you know what that does to culture? Do you know what that does to the team? More importantly, do you know what that does to this individual that we were able to help because we're genuine about our bullshit, our message that we say? Everyone else is bullshitting around here and we're actually doing it.
Why would you leave a company that would do something like that for you at that kind of moment? Why would you not be positive in a workforce when that shit is going on behind the scenes on the daily? This isn't a one-off thing, by the way. This happens. Heaven forbid, people passing away like this happening often, but we have things happening in life every day, like I said, anniversaries, engagements, birthdays, baby showers, kids get all kinds of shit. Every opportunity for you as a leader, to be able to make someone's day a little brighter. It plants a seed. Simple gesture. [24:14.3]
I’ve been doing money trees for years. I’ve been doing books, like I said, for many, many years. I’m sending my mom. By the way, I don't just do this with people that I don't know that I’m trying to get to know. I do this with my fucking mom.
My mother-in-law, I just stopped by on Thursday because I was having a bad day, so I had to brighten up someone else's day to make me feel better, so I drove over. I stopped and got a couple of flowers and stopped by just because. “I was thinking about you,” and that's the truth. It's my mother-in-law.
The next day, I sent my mom flowers, “Thinking about you.” She kept popping up in my mind. I don't have to send some crazy long letter. I don’t have to be some wordsmith or a writer. I said, “Mom, thinking about you. Love, Mark.” Made her day. Made her week. Made her fucking month probably.
How do you feel when someone gives you a simple gesture? How do you feel when someone leaves an amazing comment on your post? How do you feel when someone shares it? If you've ever written a book, how does it feel when someone leaves a nice comment? [25:08.8]
My podcast show, I read that shit for fuel. We all have bad days. I go where you guys are going and then you say, Oh, I have nothing to say. I don't have any money, blah, blah. Dude, that kind of shit, that's the stuff that makes me feel fired. I don't need your money. I don't care about it. I want to help people, but I help people get a lot of money. I'm good at that, and then we do other stuff together.
I’ve invested in more ventures this year than I ever have in the last 10 years. I have friendships and relationships that are being deepened right now because of all the bullshit going on in the economy and the world, because we're seeing who's who, who's sticking with who. How are you really rolling? We're forging. We're sharpening the axe. How do you feel when someone stops their day and then knowledges you for something? Recognition. [25:58.1]
By the way, let me just be very crystal clear, I don't do what I do every day for recognition. You can ask my wife. What do you want, Mark? I don't need anything. I just want everyone to be healthy, happy, and I want to crush life. That's what I want. I don't need a car. I don't need a house. I don't need a gift. I just need the gift of love. I just need the gift of caring. I just need the gift of going, growing. That's fun to me, growing.
When my wife asks me what I want for Christmas or what I want for my birthday or whatever, I’m like, That's a great question. Let me think about it. But tell me, what are your goals? What are your dreams? What do you want? See, I want to give. That's my personality. It makes me feel the most amazing and it's not about big stuff, just big stuff. It's cool to give that, too. When I gave my dad his Corvette, that's a gesture of life for me and for him. That's my fucking father that would do anything for me, but he would just be as happy if I sent him a letter, which I do often. [26:58.0]
When was the last time you gave someone a gesture that cost zero? Because you can't use the excuse that things cost money. The likes, the shares, commenting on the podcast show, commenting on iTunes, giving five-star reviews, commenting on posts. Sending a letter, snapping a picture, shooting a text, shooting a video. “What's up, man? Thinking about ya. Here's what's up.” You can do all this. The problem is most people are so caught up in their life that they don't even think about this stuff.
Every day, every week, every month, every year, my team and I are thinking about this shit all the time. To give you another example, three of my salespeople went out to California last week on the company's dime, which is awesome. They get out there—we don't have to do this. We want to do this and my team is excited to do this—and I call on Wednesday at 10:30 in the morning. We're like, They're leaving their family. They're going out West Coast. How do we just make a little bit extra impressionable? They're going to go there and make more money, make more connections. It's awesome. That's cool and all, but what about them? [28:14.5]
Each person that got into the room got a quick note and a quick gift when they arrived in their hotel room. We knew they'd be traveling all day. They get in a room, just an extra special gift. Very few people do this,
guys, very few. Again, I’m doing it because I care. I’m doing it because I’m thinking about them. I’m doing it because I appreciate them hustling like they are. We're doing this as a team, by the way, Colleen, Kathy, Patrick and I. This is stuff we're coming up together with, but it's always a conversation.
How do we make it more memorable?
How do we make it more impactful?
How do we give to them?
How do we acknowledge them?
How do we let them know?
When you make a sale, your first sale, in any of our companies, you get a nice plaque with a letter. When you sell in one of our other companies, your first sale on e-comm, you get a plaque with a letter. We want to acknowledge you. We want to connect with you. We want to let you know we're paying attention and you matter. [29:07.7]
How does it make you feel when you get flowers? How does it make you feel when you get that box of cigars sent to you unexpectedly? How does it make you feel? We just got back to the house. True story, the people I took on the trip, actually my brother-in-law to be exact, and my sister-in-law and brother-in-law took their two kids with us to a Monster Jam obviously for free, and it was awesome. I’m glad, like I said, to do that kind of stuff and I don't expect anything. I just want the kids to have fun and us parents to connect, and Deena to get to hang out with her brother, her mom and all that good stuff.
But we got back and they sent us a nice gift of cupcakes. That's not my gift because I don't want to eat that stuff. I do, but I can't. I can't be doing that right now. But the kids loved it and the gesture anchors, and they had a blast. To me, that's what this shit is about. It's not about more and more and more and more. To me, it's about give, give, give, give. [30:00.7]
I want to keep giving. I want to give at new levels. I want to do more charitable stuff. This year, I’ve given more than in the last 10 years, literally, and I’m looking to give a lot more. I want to do more. I want to be more and I want to rule with more great people that are in that same mindset.
When you create people gestures, there's Sean and I fighting over fucking hundreds of dollars, if not, thousand-dollar bills. Other people are fighting about, Oh, I didn’t order an extra ice tea. That's you. They're fighting about not paying the bill. We're fighting about paying the bill.
Think about that for a minute. The people I’m rolling with are fighting about paying the bill. We want to pay it. Most people are fighting that they don't want to pay it. Think of all the energy. Think about how exhaustive it is. It's embarrassing to me when I see people do it. It's embarrassing, for real. Just don't go to dinner. If I had no money to pay for all, I don't go. You can ask my wife, one hundred percent. One hundred percent. If I go to dinner, I want to pay. I expect to pay. I want to pay. I don't care if there are two people, 2,000 people. I pick up the tab. It's just the way I’m trained. It's the way I’ve programmed myself. [31:09.2]
That's not the way I was raised, by the way. My parents are great people. They're great givers. They just didn't have the financial means to do that. But, again, as I’m sitting out back here, overlooking the ravine—you can probably hear me crunching around on the trees and leaves and stuff starting to come down, starting to become very beautiful out here, 68 degrees, perfect out—I think about all the great gestures that have been given to me, all the great gestures I’ve given.
I just do it. I don't like to think about it. Like I said, it's not like I’m thinking about how to manipulate you to work with you. I just want to be cool. I want to be nice. I want to do cool stuff. I want to be thoughtful. I want to be insightful. I want to be problem-solving with you.
If I’m out and about, and I see something that I think you would like, I buy it and send it to you. I do it all the time. If I see something on the internet and I think it's cool, or like I talked about, but my neighbor, Chuck, bought him a cigar lighter, $100, $105, I don't even remember, 100 bucks and change. That's a good gesture. He's my buddy now. He's my neighbor. He wants to hang out. I want to hang out with him. He's got some cool stuff going on. I’m not doing it to get with him. He had a need. I filled it by giving him a cigar lighter. [32:16.2]
Again, this is silly. Simple. It's so simple. It allows me to see the good, listen, and want to really help and serve. So, what are you going to do after you listen to this?
Write a letter to someone. Like their story.
Go to iTunes. Leave a five-star review.
Go on Amazon. Leave a five-star review about the books, MEconomy, Magician vs. Mule, The 10-Minute Business Owner, etc., if you're doing it for me.
It's not about me, by the way. Do it for anybody. But I won't be mad if you do it for me either. I never ask for much. The truth is most of the stuff I asked for is free. I don't need cigars. I can buy my own. I don't need you to pick up my dinner. I'll buy my own. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't reject them. I have people send me cigars all the time. [33:04.0]
Picture, there are 100 people following you. Two people send you something just out of sheer power, just the way the real world works. Which ones do you think come to mind first? The 98 that did nothing, just following you, or the two people that actually took action and sent you something? It could be a nice note. It could be an Instagram message. It could be a Facebook message. It could be sharing your story.
I mean, again, this is the shit I’m talking about. A lot of people follow. A lot of people think they don't have a voice, but your voice matters. See, the thing is what you don't realize is that it matters to you. You're building your own voice every single day or depleting it every single day, by sharing your comments, sharing, commenting on someone, empowering others. That shit matters, dude. You don't know where someone's at. Just because you think it, this is not the case, but because you think someone is above you\, no one is above anybody. Some people are just moving forward faster than others, etc. But everyone has a bad day, multiple bad days a year, right? [34:04.2]
When I have a bad day, which I do often, as we all do, I go online and see all the great comments people leave, what they think about me. “Mark, this book was amazing. It changed my life.” I get DMs every day. “Dude, I was listening to this book and it changed my perspective. I’ve heard this before, but when you said it, it sounded different.” That's the shit that pulls me out of the funk. I don't know these people yet, but I’m getting to know them. They're getting to know me because I comment back on all.
Simple gestures lead to massive opportunities. It might not come from the individual you think it's going to come from either. You never know. But I do know this. The more I gesture, the more I’ll prosper. The more I gesture, the better I feel about me. It makes me feel really good. I love to see you smile. I love to see you push forward and accomplish big goals and big dreams that have been scaring people forever. I love to see you step outside of your comfort zone. [35:01.8]
Gestures to me are planting seeds to a farmer. The more the seeds I plant, the more crops I can harvest, the more opportunities I’m going to have. It might not be to you, directly with you. It might be through you, right? If I need a pilot to fly my private plane one day, you might have a buddy that is a private pilot, like I said earlier, and you introduce us because we've been creating gestures and conversating. We know each other. We've connected and we’ve fought over the bill. Who's going to pay, by the way? I’m paying.
The power is within you. There are no more excuses. If you've listened to the show all the way through, sit down, grab a pen that works and write a letter. Go on Google Docs, type a letter to your dad, your mom, your brother, your sister, your wife, your spouse, your husband, whoever. Let them know what they mean to you. These are good gestures. “Just thinking about you.” “I love you.” “You're the best.” “I love the way you make me smile.” “I love the way you support me.” “You're a great mom.” “Keep it up.” “I’m here for you, your biggest fan.” Etc., etc. [36:12.5]
I’ve never met someone that said, Evans, stop fucking sending me nice messages. Stop sending me cool-ass gifts. I’ve got a really cool gift. I can't share what it is now because he listens to the show, but I have someone special in my life that I have a very cool gift for, something that is on their dream board. I know it because I know it’s on his dream board and I had someone model one out, and it's not cheap, but it is a very bad-ass gift and it's one that he'll hand down to his kids. I’m sure of it. It's that badass, so I’m excited for that.
I actually have one myself and it will be in my house, in my houses, forever. Hopefully, my kids will carry it down and all that, but it's really the high level of vision. See it in rural form through a model to ultimately get it within a timeframe. Guys like us, it's kind of like we like that kind of shit. We can see it. We can touch it, even though it's a small model of what we're really going after. [37:14.3]
Maybe you want a boat. Maybe you want a yacht. Maybe we want a jet. Maybe we want a cool car, whatever. Just get what you want and make it look like what you want it to look like and put it on your desk where you see it every single day. It starts becoming normal, and then, before you know it, it’s showing up on the tarmac, showing up in your garage, showing up in your bank account, whatever. Whatever this thing is, or things, for that matter, I like to have models, it makes me feel good, and I like to do it for others because some people don't even know it exists, but it does and it's really, really cool.
Again, I’m rambling here for a second, but I’m thinking about you guys. I want you to know, I do appreciate you being here. The show, we're at almost Show 80, I believe. I want to keep going. I’d love to hear what you need help with, though. I don't want to do these shows just to talk the talk. I want to do these shows to give you an advantage to help you in any way I can and guide you to the best of my abilities, so let's get that rolling. [38:09.0]
Shoot me over a DM on Instagram, @MarkEvansDM, or get over to MarkEvansDM.com.
If you want to support the DM brand, guys, we have t-shirts and hats. We don't sell tons of that because I don't really talk about it. It's not my thing. I’m not in the apparel business, but the DM gear is strong. All the DM guys, 50k-a-year guys, are represented. I represent it every day, my kids, other people's kids. It's just really cool to see because it means something. It's not about me, by the way. It's about what you stand for, you're a dealmaker, a dream-maker. It stands for something. It really does. It means a lot. A lot.
If it means something to you, snag some gear and enjoy it and wear it with pride because there's a lot of work behind that brand and a lot of work behind that meaning, and not just on me, but you. You know you're working towards something bigger in life. You're going to get scared, but the DM shirt to me is kind of like my cape. The hat is like my cape to Superman. Sounds silly, but it's true. When I put on my shirt, I’m ready. I put on my hat. I’m focused. It’s go time. It's the DM time. We're dream-makers, guys, of our own life. You're either doing it or not doing it. There's no in between, so get making those dreams come true. [39:15.6]
Please, if the show has helped you in any way, shape or form, leave a five-star review on iTunes. Share it on social. Let the world know what's up.
Thinking about you guys. Have an amazing day. Go out there and make some gestures. Appreciate you. Make today count. Peace.
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