536 George Rivera

[00:00:00]

Success That Steals Life

Jeffrey Feldberg: There's a version of success nobody warns founders about. This is the one where revenue grows, the team expands the business, looks impressive from the outside, and yet your life quietly disappears inside it. 

Meet George Rivera

Jeffrey Feldberg: George Rivera knows that version intimately. Before launching Buyback Time Formula, George built and scaled multiple seven and eight figure businesses, including a supplement brand that surpassed $200 million in sales.

He spent decades in the trenches of direct response, e-commerce, real estate and operational leadership, learning what most entrepreneurs only realized too late. A business can make you wealthy while stealing the very life you are trying to build. What makes George compelling is not just the scale, it's the reckoning behind it.

He's lived, the burnout, the pressure, the family tension, and the identity shift that comes when you realize a hustle is not a strategy today through the buyback time formula. He's helped founders reclaim [00:01:00] countless hours a week, redesign their company so they stop being the bottleneck and build something that creates freedom instead of dependency.

George's work sits in that rare space where business design becomes personal truth, not just how to grow faster, but how to stop losing yourself while doing it.

And before we hop into the podcast, a quick word from our sponsor, Deep Wealth and the Deep Wealth Mastery Program. We have William, a graduate of Deep Both Mastery, and he says, I didn't have the time for Deep Both Mastery, but I made the time and I'm glad I did.

What I learned goes far beyond any other executive program or coach I've ever experienced. Or how about Bruce? Bruce says, before Deep Wealth Mastery, the challenge I had with most business programs, coaches, or blogs was that they were one dimensional. Through Deep Wealth Mastery, I'm part of a richer community of other successful business owners.

The idea shared forever changed the trajectory of the business and best of all, the experience was fun. And we'll round things out with Stacey. 

Stacey said, I wish I had [00:02:00] access to the Deep Wealth Mastery before my liquidity event, as it would have been extremely helpful. Deep Wealth Mastery exceeded my expectations in terms of content and quality.

And you know what, my Deep Wealth Nation, why they're saying this is because Deep Wealth Mastery, it's the only system based on a nine figure deal. That was my deal. And as you know, I said no to a seven figure offer, and I created a system that we now call Deep Wealth Mastery that helped myself and my business partners, welcome from a different buyer, a different offer, a nine figure exit.

So if you're interested in growing your profits, preparing for a future liquidity event, if that's two years away or 20 years away, and you want to optimize your post exit life, Deep Wealth Mastery is for you. Please email success at deepwealth. com. Again, that's success, S U C C E S S, at deepwealth. com. We'll send you all the information about Deep Wealth Mastery, otherwise known as Scale for Ultimate Sale. That's where you want to be. You want to be with other successful business owners, entrepreneurs, and founders just like you who are looking to create market [00:03:00] disruptions.

And they want to lock in their financial freedom and have success and fulfillment. 

That's the 90 day Deep Wealth Mastery Program. It has your name on it. All you need to do is take the next step. Send an email to success at deepwealth. com.

Deep Wealth Nation welcome to another episode of the Deep Wealth Podcast. Well, deep Wealth Nation, let me ask you this, when it comes to your time.

How are you doing on that? Do you have any time? Are you working seven days a week, 26 hours a day? You just don't have the time and you're burnt out, you're tired, you're afraid, you're frazzled, and your time is well. Yeah. One day I'll get my time back. Well, what if there was a better way, and you're probably saying Jeffrey.

Well, what's a better way? If there was, I would've found it. No, you haven't, but you've come to the right place. We have a very special guest in the House of Deep Wealth. You heard it in the official introduction. We have a fellow founder, entrepreneur, and author, a podcast maestro George, welcome to the Deep Wealth Podcast.

It's an absolute pleasure to have you with us. Now, there's always a story behind the story. So George, what's your story? [00:04:00] What got you from where you were? To where you are today. 

George RIvera: Yeah. Thank you, Jeffrey, for having me. 

A Father’s Final Lesson

George RIvera: So it really began this is 11 years ago now, in 2015. My father started the year, his 40th year of his medical practice, very successful.

And early on in the year he got diagnosed with cancer, given a few months to live. And fast forward 10 months or so into the year. He's a couple of weeks before passing away, and he tells me, don't miss Leo's games. I miss too many of yours. Oh wow. And that hit me like a ton of bricks when he said that.

'cause first flashback to the nineties when I played basketball in high school young teenager and out of about, yeah, 40 games I'd say. My dad only attended one of those games. I remember I looked to the stands after scoring a basket where I'd hope I'd see my dad's big smile there, but nope, completely empty.

But my teammates would score and their dads were cheering like crazy. And I remember looking at another dad and I was like, I wish that was my dad. And I didn't know how [00:05:00] to process that. I'm a young teenager, but fast forward to that time in 2015 when he said that it was this beautiful closure to, trying to understand what that was in my life.

But then the other side of it, probably the more important side, because that was more current, is that. Oh my gosh. I'm version two of my dad all over again. I am being the quote great provider that he was. I'm doing the same thing, but I'm doing that in exchange for my presence. And like I said, he mentioned my son's name in that statement, and his name's Leo.

He was. Just almost a year at that time. And I'm already missing the moments of the first, first of a child, the first time that he's walking, talking, and just doing different things. And I'm depending on my wife to send me videos and pictures and with a little message in the text of, Hey, you missed another moment.

And I'm just like, ah, very painful. So when he said that, I said. That is gonna end right here. No more of this stuff. This is gonna change right now. Actually, [00:06:00] it's gonna start tomorrow because today I'm working 16 hours

and the proverbial 

Jeffrey Feldberg: tomorrow it'll start tomorrow. 

George RIvera: Yeah. And so I was living in the whole tomorrow thing for three years and so yeah, that's how this whole thing started was my dad's pretty much deathbed statement, deathbed confection of him missing my games and to not repeat his pattern.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Wow. I mean, my goodness. Well, firstly, condolences on your father passing away. Never easy when anyone passes away, especially a, a parent.

The Lie Of Doing It For Family

Jeffrey Feldberg: And so I'm wondering, George, it's easy to look back now, but when you're in it, you're in it. It's like the frog in boiling water. You just don't know it before it's too late.

So I'm wondering, when you look back at the version of you, you're this hard charging founder and entrepreneur. You're doing all these things on paper, you're winning. But to what you're sharing with us. Well, hey, yeah, Jeffrey, I was losing some time. I wasn't there with the family. What was the lie that you were telling yourself?

That you were believing you're drinking your own Kool-Aid? [00:07:00] Well, this is why I'm doing what I'm doing. What was that lie that was resonating with you back in the day? 

George RIvera: Yeah, I'd say the big lie is just like I'm doing it for my family, and it's like the family never asked for that, specifically. The family never asked for, yeah, let's go ahead and make as much money as you can.

We don't need you at home. Like they never said that, but that's essentially what they were. Receiving and I would justify that over and over in my head that yeah, I'm doing it for my family. Yeah. I give them nice homes, nice cars, trips to Europe. That should be fine. When in reality, I've got my wife living like a single mom.

My children living like they have no dad. And so I realize that this cannot continue, but like I said. I kept pushing it until tomorrow because all of the business fires that kept pulling me back in. I thought I was delegating, but it would just boomerang back up to me. I'd rob from the future and just say, it's quicker if I do it myself, and it is in the moment, but I'm training the team to depend on me.

And the moment I step away, the whole thing falls apart and I have to [00:08:00] come back in and rescue it. So yeah, it's this constant just living on edge and it's, yeah, I know I need to be with my family, but who's gonna do all this other stuff and I gotta pay the bills, support the lifestyle. And so, yeah, that's just the vicious cycle, the vicious lie that I tell myself.

And I've noticed a lot of other people tell themselves the same thing. 

Jeffrey Feldberg: Yeah, so interesting. 

Stop Being The Bottleneck

Jeffrey Feldberg: As you're talking with that, you're actually bringing me back to one of the very first questions that we ask. So when someone joins the Deep Wealth community and specifically they're going through the Deep Wealth Mastery System, the very first question we ask, and we're specific about this, we say, okay, Jeffrey.

Does your business run without you? Yes or no? Nothing in between. I don't want any stories. And George, we usually get stories and ums and ahs and, well, let me tell you about this. And sadly, even if there's a leadership team that the founder is paying terrific money for these incredibly talented people.

When we speak with leadership team, it's. Well, no, we don't run the company. Everything's gotta go through the founder. And so I, I hear you on that [00:09:00] because to your point, and ideally, and what we promote here at Deepal is the business has got to run without you and Deepp Nation. I want you to go to the show notes because in the show notes, everything that we're talking about is gonna be there, but there's also the opportunity for you to pick up this tried and proven system, the buyback time formula.

Pick up George's book. Go through that. It'll bring you into a world that you never thought was possible, and you'll learn all the strategies, the tips, and the insights that are there. 

Delegating Outcomes For Freedom

Jeffrey Feldberg: Let me ask you this, George, very high level. When a founder is going through your system now, what part of that identity of that person has to be put off to the side in a new identity?

Comes forward. So as I'm implementing the formula, what part of me is being either born or reborn? It was always there. But this lie that I'm telling myself, the business needs me. I'm the only one that can do this. The business is better off with me doing this as opposed to someone else. What's the new Jeffrey that's showing up?

George RIvera: Yeah, well, the belief of I'm the [00:10:00] only one that can do this needs to completely change and you need to be open to the opportunity and the fact that other people can do the things that you shouldn't be doing way better than you can do it. I used to have this philosophy of, okay, if I'm a hundred percent, then somebody at 80% should be good enough and I can just live with that 20% breakage, if that's what you can call it, or whatever.

The 20% difference. I realized when I get out of the way, they take their, what I would call, 80% to one 20 compared to my a hundred. And I'm like, why the heck was I even doing that in the first place? And when I did this with my first initial thing where I didn't just assign the task, but I delegated the outcome so that they knew what the outcome looked like, that's when I first.

Got my first taste of freedom. And when I did that, I got addicted to get doing this more and more with other things and I was like, oh my gosh, this thing works and I'm all in. So it takes to see a little bit of that initial success, that delegating the outcome, does work. And when you do that. You cannot [00:11:00] unsee that, and you wanna do that with everything, but it starts with that first step.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And George, absolutely agree with what you're saying. Even if it's 80%, even if it's 70%, 75%. The difference there, and to what you're saying, and deep palpation, think about this. If somebody on your team is focusing exclusively on this one area, even if they're 80% as good as you, well that's 80%. All of the time.

And George, to your point, if as a founder we're doing what we do, right, and we bring the right person, these A players on board, hopefully they're smarter than us, they're better than us, but even if they're not, that's all they're focusing on. And it'll take the business that area to the next level. So I'm wondering, when you're working with your clients, it's one of my favorite questions in this type of scenario.

Some people call it Ritos law or the 80 20 principle. Yeah, Jeffrey. 20% of these reasons here of why founders tell me that they're the only ones that can be doing it or that they don't have time. [00:12:00] It's creating 80% of the challenges, otherwise one those opportunities for them. Are there some general patterns that you're seeing when you first start working with your clients?

With the founders of, yeah, Jeffrey. These are the ones that are really holding us back. 

George RIvera: Yeah. 

Calendar Guardrails That Work

George RIvera: I'd say one of the biggest things that I see with founders is that there's just no guardrails in their calendar. And just having some guardrails will initially or instantly prioritize the tasks and the activities that they're doing in their business, and it's gonna force them to prioritize should I even be doing this to begin with?

And if I am. How do I do it in the most efficient manner? Because when you don't have any guardrails to your calendar, that's where people find themselves saying, I just don't have enough time. And I guarantee you it's not really a time issue. It's more of a structuring your calendar and working on the things that you should be doing kind of issue and I've heard it before where founders will say, oh no, my mine system's different and unique, and I guarantee you it might feel that way to you.

But once you get the process down and you delegate that with true ownership, not just. Tasking it [00:13:00] down, then you'll see that system that is so like proprietary is gonna be easily repeatable because right now it just lives in the founder's head and they've never had a way in, in, in most common cases that I see to, of getting that out there and documenting it properly, showing them what the outcome looks like, and then properly saying, you own this now, communicating that clearly.

So that's the first step to getting some of these more, what I'd call complex or what we might think is complex. Pass off the plate of the founder so that the business can grow without them. 

Jeffrey Feldberg: Absolutely. You're preaching to the choir here at George Life, everything that you're saying. So when you talk about guardrails, can you give us some examples of putting some guardrails in our calendars to protect ourselves from ourselves?

What does that look like? What's going on there? 

George RIvera: Yeah, absolutely. So like for example, when I work with a client, I might say, okay, we're going to 30 hours a week mass. That's the time we're committing to, to working in the business. And over time adjust according to the founder's goals, but that's like where we start and that instantly will compress all the activities that they're doing and [00:14:00] force them to prioritize.

But also we need to plan some white space for thinking in the business because. The job of the founder or the role of the founder should be to bring in revenue for the business and bring in opportunities to grow the business. Not doing things that are important in the business, but doesn't necessarily move the needle.

Those are the activities that need to be off the plate of the founder. So when you structure their calendar, keep it tight. I. People figure a time that they wanna be done working for the day. For me, it's five o'clock central time I am done. And anything that I didn't get in that day rolls over into tomorrow in a structured format.

And so that's the first thing I recommend is just structuring the calendar and you'll see how quickly other things fall into place when you respect those guardrails. 

Jeffrey Feldberg: And so it sounds like with a calendar, either mentally or actually in the calendar itself, we are blocking out certain times. So in your case, as an example.

Hard stop, five o'clock onwards. Maybe you're putting something in the calendar. It is George time or family time or [00:15:00] something else, so it's, Hey, I just don't have the time available. How do we deal with maybe a strategy that you can suggest of? It's always, well, yeah, it's five o'clock. One more email, one more call.

One more quick minute. It's just gonna take a few minutes. It won't be that long. Oh, it's really important. I just want to get to that today. 

George RIvera: And I get that's a common temptation because it just feels like I'm just doing it now so I don't have to do it tomorrow. I would be very careful to give into that because then once you start bending the rolls, there's really no stop.

And you'll see fast forward 2, 3, 4 months and all of a sudden your calendar guardrails are no longer there. So as, as painful as it might be in the beginning, because we're breaking years, maybe decades of habits, I encourage my clients to stick to the guardrails because. Once you get this a few months down the line, I hear it takes 21 days to establish a habit.

Once you have that established, you're gonna think so much clearer. It's gonna make the time that you actually do work much better because you're no longer like spreading your thinking across the day and diluting the [00:16:00] energy. So that would be my biggest reason is to establish the pattern and then the time that you stop, that's the ideal time to give back to the family.

Most of the founders that I talked to were like the me of 10 years ago. We're given our all to the business, and yeah, maybe there's a season to do that, but at some point that starts to cost your presence at home. So if we're doing it to get our presence back at home, then let's have a hard stop and we'll make a habit of rolling.

Anything that didn't get in today, we'll roll it into tomorrow. 

Jeffrey Feldberg: And what I'm hearing you say is, Hey, as important as it may seem at that time, let's take the long-term view. If we fast forward a year or five years, 10 years, are you really gonna remember that? Did it really make that much of a difference?

And George, there's always exceptions. I would imagine though, if we put the outliers off to the side, the short answer is no. It's not gonna make a difference. You're not gonna remember it. Being with your family, being with your children, being with your loved ones, that is gonna make all the difference. 

Time Problem Or Courage Problem

Jeffrey Feldberg: So I'm wondering if you'd agree or disagree with this.

Would love your thoughts on this. If what some founders are [00:17:00] calling a time problem, is it actually a courage problem? 

George RIvera: Yeah, that's a great question. I do believe it. It is a courage problem. It's something that the founder has to say. Things are changing and it's not gonna be like it used to be. And that does take courage to, to essentially turn the boat.

Maybe it's like turning the boat in the middle of the ocean. It's not a quick and simple thing. And it might be sound easier than it is to actually do in real life, but it does take courage to want to say that I'm done doing it the old way and here's a new way to do it. Because now you're communicating with your team differently, and some of them might be shocked a little bit at the change.

They're like, well, we're so used to just handing you stuff and you always finish it for us, and now you're telling us we have to like go through a process There could be some initial pushback depending on how loose the system was prior. But yeah, it does take courage to say. This is the old way. It wasn't working.

It's not working for me now, and this is the new way and I'm gonna make the steps to make it happen. 

What Your Team Really Hears

Jeffrey Feldberg: And before I ask my next question, I'm gonna share one of my favorite surveys. So there's a [00:18:00] company out there called Glassdoor. We actually speak about this in the mastery program. And Glassdoor is where a company's team members, the employees, they will go and they'll give very honest reviews.

Of, well, what the company is like to work for. What's the leadership like? How's the culture? Why that's important is if I'm going to raise some capital, raise some investment, or if I'm gonna be selling the company, I wanna know what the investors are gonna be finding out about my company before they find out about us, or even if I have no plans to get some investors in or sell the company.

My future clients are likely gonna go to Glassdoor and hey, this company that I'm looking to work with, what do they really like behind the scenes? So Deep Nation always see, is your company in Glassdoor? If it isn't, it should be. And if it is, what are your people saying about that? So with that said, what was interesting is Glassdoor did a survey, this is going a little while back, and they asked people who had either been in the position for quite some time, or they took a new position, a new opportunity.

Why did you stay, or why [00:19:00] did you leave? And at first blush, my initial instincts were, well, it was probably the money. They're either getting paid a lot or they got another opportunity, whereas too much money to say no to. Interestingly, George Money was at the bottom of the list. What made the top of the list?

What's the vision of the company? How are the founders? How are the leaders? What's the culture like of the company? And so with that in mind, here's what's coming to mind in terms of my next question. When as a founder, we are being too involved. Everything has to go through us. What are we telling our team?

Not operationally, but psychologically, what's the team walking away with? Not on our words, but on our actions. We'd love your thoughts on that. 

George RIvera: It's that the founder, you don't trust your team. You're not confident in their ability to do the job, and you're telling them and training them by your actions is, everything needs to run through me even if you're not like literally saying that.

And so if you make yourself so [00:20:00] available that your team can constantly ping you for feedback and you don't. Give them the guardrails to protect your time, so, and have other methods of approaching you in a structured way, then yeah, it's just like open season on your time and you lose that role of leadership.

And I think that most founders think that they're like being good leaders by being available 24 7. But essentially you're just training the team to be dependent on you and it's not. Good leadership skills because you're not teaching them or showing them how to think on their own and provide solutions on their own, even if they're fully capable of doing that.

And so, yeah, I think the biggest thing is just it. passes down a lack of trust and the ability to complete something on their own, and it keeps the founder tied as the bottleneck in the business. 

Buyback Time System Walkthrough

Jeffrey Feldberg: And so as you're talking about this, we've gone through, okay, here's what's going on. Here's what is, this is what could be.

Let's fill in the gaps now. So George, I have either, at the very least, I've picked up your book, the Buyback Time Formula, [00:21:00] or even better, I'm now working with you. You're my mentor, you're my coach. I'm in your community. What's your secret sauce? Can we roll back the curtain? So what does it look like in terms of how long does this typically take?

What are some of the results that I can see? What would I likely be feeling in that in-between stage where this is all new, it may not be so comfortable. Walk us through your system. What does it look like? 

George RIvera: Absolutely. I mean, at the end of the day, we wanna remove the founder layer by layer of the responsibilities that lie on their shoulders.

And we do that by delegating the outcomes, not just the tasks. So there's a process for that. But to give you an example, say on onboarding call, what I love to do is picture the outcome at the beginning and I'll say, look at your calendar six months from now and block out a couple of weeks for your two week vacation that we're gonna take.

Founder's gonna take. And usually they like pause, take a deep breath and say something like two weeks, I can't even step away for an afternoon without something falling apart. Then I look back at them 'cause [00:22:00] we're on Zoom or we're like sitting across each other at the table. I'm like, great. Then you need this more than you know if that is your response.

And so I'm like just affirming that you're in the right place if that's how you feel. And so the next thing that I tell 'em is because the clock starts right now, that's how you're gonna make it. And so when they can take two weeks off and the business. In their heads, oh my gosh, it's gonna fall apart.

Well, no, it's not gonna fall apart. In fact, it's gonna actually grow without you. That's how we know that we've reached the level of success with what we're implementing here. And so it starts by identifying in the first two weeks, in the first 14 days, we're gonna see what the low hanging fruit is, keeping them trapped in the business, and we're gonna free them of that, and that's gonna get them a number of hours back initially, anywhere from five to 10 per week quickly.

Then in the first 90 days, the goal is to have version one of our entire setup, and that means removing them from the bottleneck, getting them anywhere from 20 to 30 hours plus per week back, and that's time that they [00:23:00] can use for whatever they want. I suggest giving it back to the family and there are frameworks for that as well.

And then the two week vacation. So. People think, okay, great. We're gonna get there. but yeah, we're, how are we gonna do that? 

Absence Rehearsal And Stress Tests

George RIvera: 'cause this is some cold Turkey trip we're gonna take. 'cause I know we're gonna do what's called an absence rehearsal test. So remember on the onboarding call, you said you were freaking out at an afternoon.

Well, we're gonna take an afternoon off. After the 90 days? We're taking an afternoon off. So it's gonna train your mind that, yes, I can take an afternoon off and the business doesn't fall apart. So what happens? Maybe accounting didn't get an invoice, email or fulfillment, didn't get some notice. Okay, maybe it comes a few hours late, that doesn't break a business apart.

But now we know that if we're gonna take an afternoon off, we need to tie up that little leaky bucket. Then we'll take a couple of days off in the middle of the week, and then maybe another little leaky bucket gets exposed, and we tie that up. And now as we go into the two week vacation, we have already stress test our systems.

In a real world [00:24:00] scenario. We've also. Train the founder that the world will not fall apart if I take some time away from my business. And we've also established the key metrics in the business that every founder needs to know on a daily basis, so that all the founder needs to have is a quick snapshot at a same time every day of the main five to eight key metrics in the business so that they can see that not only is business good, it's also growing, and that relieves their nervous system and they can.

Plug into the family and be fully present on their vacation instead of worrying about their business. And then they come back and they're refreshed and basically, we're just there now, making sure that we're implementing everything properly, staying true to what we've committed to and yeah, just enjoying the time that we get back.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And George. There was two words that you said just now. Absolutely love, stress, test. And great example of that is when I have my yearly physical stress test is done, where I am walking or running for a period of time, well, how's my heart rate responding [00:25:00] physiologically? How am I doing? Because if there's gonna be an issue, I wanna know about that now before it's too late.

And in Deep Wealth Mastsery program, actually step four. Due diligence. One of the things that we ask the founders to do is exactly what you're talking about. Hey, let's do some stress tests on the business. And I love what you're saying. If you can't be away for an afternoon, how in the world is the business gonna grow without you?

Founder Freedom Blueprint

Jeffrey Feldberg: So let's see what those weak points are and let's, once we see that, okay, great, not great that it happened, but great that we know about that. So we can now address that, get rid of that and get out there and let me share something with you because sometimes you're never. The prophet in your hometown and what I share in the Deep Wealth community and with Deepal Nation, there are members in Deep Wealth Nation in our community, George, they're working fewer than 10 hours a week.

In the business, not because they have a business that's on the decline. It's actually, it's a thriving business. Some of 'em are huge businesses. They're in more of a board of advisory role. They have the right people doing the right things. [00:26:00] The pushback that I get on that is, yeah, Jeffrey, that's a one-off.

And can't happen, or that can never happen to my business. My business is different. Can you share for deep health nationwide, that's actually the way things should be and how you're helping founders and the people going through your system go to something that's like that, that they can achieve that.

George RIvera: Yeah, absolutely. And I totally get that concern 'cause that was my concern as I was uh, working myself outta my founder prison to reach the ultimate freedom that I was desiring. 

Systems Over Hustle

George RIvera: And so, yeah, it's basically getting everything out of the founder's head that's keeping them trapped in the business as the bottleneck.

And once that's out of the head and into systems and frameworks that you can properly delegate with ownership and showing them what the outcome looks like, that's when freedom starts to happen. And like I said earlier, you get addicted to it and you want to do it to everything that, that you can think of that you know that you shouldn't be doing.

Then what that does is in those low hours that you're working per week, you are working in your zone of genius, no longer bogged [00:27:00] down by these random questions and pings that you get from your team. Because context switching is one of the killers of productivity when you know you're working on your zone of genius, in my case it's sales and marketing, and then I get a question about a tech issue, then I have to stop that side of my brain to address something else.

Then to come back and try to think of where was I, and then oh. I'm done working for the day or whatever might happen. It completely destroys the creative mind and the zone of genius that every founder should remain in. So when you get all that stuff off of your plate, those smaller hours that you work are dedicated to bringing in revenue for the business.

So at a high level, sometimes people don't understand the concept is, how can I make more money by working less? That just doesn't make sense, but this is how you do it. It's not, you're not neglecting all of the tasks that the business needs to run. You're essentially delegating that intelligently and you're only focused on your zone of genius, and that's how businesses grow while working less.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Absolutely love that. 

Interruptions Kill Genius

Jeffrey Feldberg: George and Deep Nation, one thing I want you to think about is what George was just [00:28:00] talking about, because you're right, George, you just reminded me of a study we talk about in Deep Wealth Mastery. There's a researcher, her name is Gloria Mark, and she did a study exactly on this of when I get interrupted, the interruption could be a phone call, it could be an email, it could be a ping going off on my phone.

Maybe I have a notification from one of the apps. Doesn't matter what it is, every interruption she found on average it took 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back into the zone to get back into focusing. So we do a quick thought experiment here. Let's just call it 23 minutes, and let's just say it's an eight hour day.

And I know for what we're talking about the symptoms here, people are working more than eight hours than they shouldn't be. But let's just take eight hours a day. So in a typical eight hour day, if I'm doing the math correctly, it's something like 20 interruptions. 20 interruptions. That's eight hours is taking me to get back into the zone.

Well, the day's over before it began. And so think about that Deep Wealth Nation. What is this costing you? Because the business isn't running without you because you don't have some of that [00:29:00] downtime. And George, I don't know about you. Some of my biggest breakthroughs happen when I wasn't in the business. I was off doing something else.

I get this flash through of an idea. Wow, let's do that. And bam, we created market disruption or profits go up. So I'm absolutely with you. Let's eliminate where possible, those distractions, and let's make sure we have the right people on the right bus, on the right seat doing what they're doing. 

Hero Dopamine Trap

Jeffrey Feldberg: So here's a question for you.

again my own data point, I one with Jeffrey here, if I'm really honest with myself, back in the early days when I was just slagging it out there and doing the grind and everything else. Part of being that busy where I didn't have the time, it was rewarding myself, that feeling of being overloaded.

It was giving me that sense of, well, I am needed, or there's some other kind of reward and it's almost like a dopamine hit. When you look at the clients that you're working with, what's the most dangerous reward that a founder does get when they're staying overloaded? 

George RIvera: Yeah, well, I, you nailed it there with the dopamine hit, and that keeps the [00:30:00] founder essentially addicted to remaining being the hero.

So there's like an identity complex there that needs some loving adjustment there. And one of the things that I like to remind them that is if you want to be a real leader, then you show them how to think on their own versus doing everything for them. That's how a real leader operates. And so. Slowly but surely, and sometimes it happens quicker, but it's that identity shift is where it really has to begin.

Because sure, you could change for a few days, but if your identity doesn't shift, then you revert back to being the hero and you're like, oh yeah, I remember how good this feels. And that's the big thread when founders get their time back. It's giving it right back, doing other things to fill that need.

And so, yeah, the identity shift is key. And finding your dopamine in other ways than being the hero is key as well. 

Jeffrey Feldberg: Absolutely. 

Warning Signs of Chaos

Jeffrey Feldberg: And I'm wondering, let's go back to something that you shared and I completely resonated with that. As founders, there's a better to great likelihood that the initial [00:31:00] intention when we create the business, it's for freedom of time, having financial freedom of schedule, all those other kinds of things that are going on.

And so it's a good intention, but oftentimes as we've been talking about those intentions, well. It goes off track, and we don't even realize it along the way. So let's help Deep Nation begin to really see what's actually happening as opposed to the story that we're telling ourselves in our minds. And so what would be some of the early warning signs?

The first signs that a business is no longer being built for freedom, but now it's perhaps it's the hero complex or the founder's emotional security or the lack of courage, but it's no longer about, yeah, I'm doing this for myself, for my family. Something else has taken over. What would be some early signs of that?

George RIvera: Yeah, I mean, at a high level it's that you can't step away from your business without something falling apart. Most founders, they don't feel overwhelmed because they're too busy. They feel overwhelmed because the second they step away. Something falls apart, or they have that fear that [00:32:00] something will fall apart.

that fear is because they've lived that reality before. So that keeps them in that trap of I need to be here. And that feeds in what we talked about earlier, the whole dopamine of being the hero and fixing the problem. And so, yeah, that's really it in my opinion. 

Family Cost of Absence

Jeffrey Feldberg: And George, as you're talking about that, let's circle back to something else that you actually started off with and that was when we're so busy.

Your father was incredibly busy and had all the right intentions and doing the right things for the family, yet more times not as a child, you are alone or your dad wasn't there at the games that you're sharing with us. And so for Depap Nation, I would love for you to share, not just from your own experiences, also what you're hearing with your clients.

What are we really telling our loved ones? Our children in particular, when we're just absent, we're not there. We're doing it for the business, which is really supposed to be for them. Sure doesn't feel like that for them. So what's the message and the impact that we're having on our children? 

George RIvera: Yeah, the impact is the [00:33:00] business is more important than me.

At least that's the feeling that I felt. And whether that's true or not, that's how it's received. And I don't think that founders intend to say, Hey, I'm gonna do this and not help my family. 'cause we say we're doing it for the family, and I believe it's sincere. We built ourselves in the founder prisoner or we're a prisoner in the jail that we built ourselves.

And we can't really see through the fog of all of the responsibility that we have to see the negative impacts that it's having, especially on our families. And so, yeah, it wasn't until I realized the impact that it was having on my family that I, that really tipped me over the edge of having to do something right now in the middle of all that.

And so that's not what happened to me. 

Identity Shift First

Jeffrey Feldberg: And so George, as we're talking about this, I'm wondering, I'm working with you one-on-one, you're coaching me, or I've picked up the buyback time formula and I'm now applying your system and doing exactly what I should be doing. What typically changes first? Is it the schedule?

Is it the company, is it the [00:34:00] identity of the person? Is it something else? What's the first that typically change? 

George RIvera: Yeah, I'd say first it has to be the identity. You have to have the commitment to want to do this because it is a process and it is gonna be where your team who used to depend on you for everything, you're gonna implement systems to remove that dependency layer by layer.

So it, it's gonna have to be an identity shift to where. Not everything's gonna run through me. In fact, we're gonna remove as much as possible so that the business can keep growing without my presence there. And what that's gonna do, it's gonna free up the founder to give that time back to the family.

It's gonna make the business more valuable for other Investors and buyers wanna look into it, and it's gonna empower your team to make decisions, and it's gonna be a better team as a result. When I first implemented this, I was a little nervous on how my team's gonna take it. They flourished with it and they took ownership and accountability for the various roles that they're in charge of, and it's a beautiful thing to see.

So any fears that I had of doing this quickly went away and it was easy to enjoy [00:35:00] getting my time back as a result. 

Leadership Not Time Hacks

Jeffrey Feldberg: And George, one of the things that came across me when I was preparing for today, I love the strategy that you deploy and it actually begins to take apart these myths that we believe out there.

And one of the things that you're clearly saying, one of the strategies is, Hey, my system is not time management. It's actually leadership maturity or leadership excellence. What would you want d both nations to know about that? 

George RIvera: Absolutely. So yeah, time management is just kinda a simple phrase that can mean a lot of things.

I mean, at the end of the day, it's how to manage time better. This is way bigger than that in, in fact, that doesn't even begin to explain the process here. Yeah. We are developing leaders within our company to handle things, to get us out of the day-to-day of the business, to allow us to focus on our zone of genius, and most importantly, to allow the business to grow without us.

And then we're able to take that. Time that we bought back and give it to the family and have that leadership at home that we know that's been lacking because the business has taken it away from us. So this is really [00:36:00] about developing the leader in both sides in the business, developing leaders there, and then as well as at home.

I like to think of the generational impact. When you've got dad back in the house leading the family and the children see dad and just glowing at the presence of Dad. 'cause I've had a number of men tell me ever since coming out with this message, oh my goodness, I didn't realize how much my children needed my presence and I, and it just lights me up inside to hear that because it truly is a reflection of the impact.

My previous career was in direct response selling supplements online. Good products and stuff, but nobody ever said, oh my gosh, your bottle of pills changed my life. I mean, sure they get less joint pain. Maybe a clearer memory, but not really like this amazing transformation. But the stories that I'm hearing from the results of people implementing this is really just exciting. It motivates me to keep going and keep getting the message out. And really it's my dad's message that. He said, and I first had to apply it to myself, but now that I have, I want to get that message out to as many founders as I can. 

Jeffrey Feldberg: Yeah. 

No Regrets Mindset

Jeffrey Feldberg: So George, let's talk about that [00:37:00] because it's an incredibly important point in Deep Nation.

What we're about to talk about now is instrumental. It is a life changer. It's a game changer. George, we can both agree we're not doing this for the sake of doing this. We're not doing this just so we have more time and to do whatever with, we're doing it for a reason, and I love what you just said, is people that are going through the buyback time formula and they're now applying this to their lives, to their business.

They're emotionally, mentally, physically actually restoring themselves and they're showing up the way that they were intended to show up. So what have you heard, not just with yourself, also with your clients in the community of, yeah. With my family or with my life partner or my significant other. This happened or that happened, or I got these comments and it just shocked me how it was the other way.

I'm never gonna go back to that way. Anything that you can share with us? 

George RIvera: Yeah, I mean, one of the biggest ones because of my dad's message is about games specifically. I get a number of dads who will just text [00:38:00] me that they're at the game and a picture of their child dribbling the ball or swinging the bat.

And to me that's just such an honor to, to take part in that it's all the client taking responsibility for where they were and where they are now. But I'm just so thankful to have been played a small part of that. And then I imagine my dad smiling from somewhere. Hey, thank you son for getting that message out because I, I can just tell you like, I was there at.

Deathbed moment. My dad didn't say, I'm so thankful I blew your game for that client meeting or that insert business excuse. Honestly, you'll never remember the name of that client or even what that problem was that you missed your kids' game for, but you will remember whether or not you made an effort to be at those games.

Those things you'll never forget. So my goal is just to, let's be conscious and aware of it now. Let's not wait to then have these regrets. Let's do the best we can now. And I know nobody's gonna be perfect, but now that you can't unknow this stuff. 

Jeffrey Feldberg: Absolutely. And George, let's now speak directly to the founder in Deep [00:39:00] Wealth Nation.

They're hearing us talk, they're reflecting, and they're saying, okay, wow. You know what? As I'm hearing George talk about this, sure. On paper, my business is incredibly successful. Yeah, I've got the trappings and the success and the lifestyle. I now realize it's actually a trap. I didn't realize that before.

It's actually a trap and I'm paying for it in this area or that area. I'm wondering, George, what should be the first honest question that this founder should be asking themselves right now? 

George RIvera: Yeah, I would say, does the business fall apart the moment I step away? Or can I take any sort of extended time off?

That could be a number of hours, could be a day of the week, and does something have to require my presence in order for it to function, run, and grow? And if the answer is yes, then. I'd love to have a chat with you because I think there's some steps that need to be implemented that will get the freedom that you so desire so that you can take that and implement it at home.

Because every founder that I've spoken to, they [00:40:00] feel the lack of their presence at home is causing stress, which is making them less efficient at work. And so this is just a cycle that can affect all areas of your life. So if a founder finds themselves in that position, that's what I was. Born to do has helped these founders find the freedom that they so desire, but they don't believe is possible.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Yeah. It's believing is a seeing, but really seeing is believing and we can go back and forth with that, but de both nation, it's a tried and proven system. It's a formula for you. The heavy lifting has been done. And Georgia, I'm wondering as we're talking about this, let me ask a question and that is, is there a question that.

You and I haven't covered yet an important question that you want deep, both nation to know and hear and understand. 

George RIvera: Yeah, no, this has been a, an amazing conversation, so thank you for having me and, I'm hopeful that it's beneficial to your listeners. No, we covered, just about everything. I think just reiterate the fact that we don't wanna make it to our end days and have regrets.

Let's be aware of that now. [00:41:00] And know that as you are working in your business, you are scaling one of two things. You're either scaling freedom or you're scaling chaos. And if you scale chaos, that's how you make it to your end days. Regretting the moments that you miss. You scale freedom that allows you to get plugged into the moments, not miss those moments.

And by those end days you're gonna say, when I learned that there was another way I did my best, and you can be proud of yourself for that. 

Jeffrey Feldberg: Absolutely. And as you're talking about regrets, it's interesting studies were done of people who were having their last days, and one of the regrets that never came up was, I should have worked more, or I didn't have enough phone calls or enough meetings.

And to your point, exactly, the regrets were. Not being with family members or not being there for certain times. And in fact, as we're talking about this, I'm thinking of one of our earlier podcasts, just when we're getting going. Incredibly successful podcast guests who came on, and they actually showed this on the [00:42:00] podcast.

Books were written about them, movies were done about them. And this guest said, Jeffrey, one of my biggest regrets in life is I was so busy building my business that I neglected and lost. Relationships with loved ones that I just wasn't there, and they just gave up on me, and by the time I got some time back, it was too late.

They were no longer there. I couldn't go back to 'em and say, let me make up that time, or I'm sorry that I put you through, that they had already passed away and he was sharing. This is my biggest regret that I never will have that opportunity to get that time back. And so to your point, we don't have to have that regret that it's not an either or.

It's not mutually exclusive. George, I love what you're sharing is, Hey, I can have my cake and eat it too. I can have a successful business. Likely a more successful business and have my time and enjoy it with the loved ones in my life. So it doesn't have to be an either or, it's actually both. And you have a system that does that.

Back to the Future Advice

Jeffrey Feldberg: So that said, let's go into wrap [00:43:00] up mode and here on the Deep Podcast, it's a tradition. It's really my privilege, my honor, where every guest I ask the same question. It's a fun question. Let me set this up for you. When you think of the movie back to the Future. You have that magical DeLorean car that will take you to any point in time.

So George, this is the fun part. It's tomorrow morning. I look outside my window. Not only is the DeLorean car curbside, the door is open waiting for me to hop on in which I do, I'm now gonna go to any point. It could be George as a teenager, George as young child, whatever point in time it's gonna be.

George, what are you telling your younger self in terms of life lessons or life wisdom or, Hey George, do this, but don't do that. What would it sound like? 

George RIvera: Well, yeah. As I get into DeLorean, I close the door, I make sure the flux capacitor's working and all that, and then I go back in time. I'd go back to when I started my business to 1995, and I would just tell myself, follow your dreams.

Follow people who have been where you want to be. Don't listen to people who haven't done what you want to do. Because for too long I was taking the [00:44:00] advice of people who hadn't been where I wanted to be. I wanted to sell products and start a business, and I was taking advice from people who never started a business or sold products.

And I guess you could call it a little regret, but I've gotten past that. But that stalled a little bit of my initial growth is by taking advice from people who hadn't done it. So once I finally got, that's when things really took off for me. 

Jeffrey Feldberg: I absolutely love this. So take advice from people who are where you want to be.

Such terrific advice. And George, to your point, as you're sharing that sometimes in our excitement we will share our vision, our goals, our dreams with our family, and our loved ones. Either they don't understand that perhaps there's a little bit of resentment or jealousy, who knows what, but they can derail from us.

And you're absolutely right. Find people who have been there, they've done that. That can be your mentor to help along the way. And it is a terrific way of shortening the missteps. Still gonna make some, but at least now you're doing it with eyes wide open and it's some terrific advice.

Where to Find George

Jeffrey Feldberg: And just before we wrap up.

Someone in [00:45:00] Depap Nation, they wanna speak with you. They want you to maybe come even speak to their company or they want you to coach them and give them these incredible strategies that they can take back their time and get their life back. Where would be the best place online to reach you? 

George RIvera: Yeah, you can go to buyback time formula.com.

There you'll see the ability to book a time with me, and yeah, we can discuss and chat. There's links to my book there. I host some live events dinners at my home. I post daily on socials, so you wanna come into my world? You wanna start@buybacktimeformula.com. I'm easy to get ahold of and I'm looking forward to the conversation.

De 

Jeffrey Feldberg: palpation. It doesn't get any easier. It's a point and click everything is there in the show notes. Go to the show notes, take up George on his offer. Pick up the book, speak to George. Start implementing the system. You'll be a whole lot better for it. George, that said, congratulations. It's official.

This is a wrap, and as you left to say here at Deep Wealth, may you continue to thrive and prosper while you remain healthy and safe. Thank you so much.

So there you have it, Deep Wealth [00:46:00] Nation. 

What did you think? 

So with all that said and as we wrap it up, I have another question for you.

Actually, it's more of a personal favor. 

Did you find this episode helpful? 

Have you found other episodes of the Deep Wealth Podcast empowering and a game changer for your journey? 

And if you said yes, and I really hope you did, I have a small but really meaningful way that you can actually help us out and keep these episodes coming to you.

Are you ready for it? 

The dramatic pause. I'll just wait a moment. Drumroll, please. Subscribe. Please subscribe to the Deep Wealth podcast on your favorite podcast channel. When you subscribe to the Deep Wealth Podcast, you're saving yourself time. Every episode automatically comes to you, and I want you to know that we meticulously craft Every one of our episodes to have impactful strategies, stories, expert insights that are designed to help you grow your profits, increase the value of your business, and yes, even optimize your post exit life and your life right now, whatever you want that to look like.

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So all that said. Thank you so much for listening. And remember your wealth isn't just about the money in the bank. It's about the depth of your journey and the impact that you're creating. So let's continue this journey together. And from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for listening to this episode.

And as we love to say here at Deep Wealth, may you [00:48:00] continue to thrive and prosper while you remain healthy and safe. 

Thank you so much. 

God bless.