Preface

Jon Perry  00:09

Good morning, and welcome to a very special edition of the Master Mind Library. I’m Jon Perry, the Reach Architect. And to my right is

 

Derek Egeberg  00:15

Derrick Egeberg, the Approval Coach.

 

Jon Perry  00:17

So one of our favorite authors that we talked about is Andy Andrews. In one of his books, he talks about a preface that shows up after chapter five. And the interesting thing is a preface is normally at the beginning of the book, it’s kind of like the author’s notes that they want you to read or the summary of what it is, before you get into what it is kind of minimizing the whole effect of getting engrossed in the story, if you will, or in the subject matter. So we are going to now do a preface on why we’re doing the Master Mind Library after you’ve already listened to maybe 2,3, 4 of our episodes. So Derek, why are we doing this? Why are we putting ourselves through the time and energy to read all these books and to film this and to put it out there?

 

Derek Egeberg  01:03

I think a couple of reasons. Number one, personal growth you and I committed a long time ago, how do we grow as much as possible, and part of this is just holding each other accountable. So if you agree to do it, and I agree to do it, then if I don’t do it, I’m letting you down. And if you don’t do it, you’re letting me down. So it’s personal accountability, its growth. And it’s also a lot of fun, because some of these books have some great information that, you know, one of the books we’ve talked about you had on your shelf for six years, and you never picked it up because you didn’t see the value in it. So part of it is finding the values in the authors that as Andy Andrew says, some of these authors pour out their hearts for 20 bucks $25 a book. And sometimes we just don’t take that value at at the the value that it is we look at the face value and say, Hey, I got a free book, or it’s only $20. So for me, it’s personal growth, it’s accountability to somebody that I really enjoy as a friend. It’s building a dynamic community of people who want to be part of this discussion, and really see the excitement of the growth of people who want to catapult themselves to different levels in life.

 

Jon Perry  02:13

That’s an excellent way of saying it. Yes.

 

Derek Egeberg  02:15

So Jon, why are you committed to this Master Mind Library, and this is your Preface.

 

Jon Perry  02:22

I really think that the biggest thing that has helped me through this process is perspectives from other people. We are all in different places, in in our lives at different times, literally every day, something happens and it changes how we see the world, whether it’s a ripple or a tsunami, everything changes every single day for us. Where I was 10 years is not where I was five years is not where I was today. So if I read a book 10 years ago, and I read a book five years ago, and I read a book today, I’m going to potentially get three different perspectives on it. That’s a, that’s a long time to generate those perspectives. Whereas if I had met with somebody who the 50 year old minority business owner and a 22 year old factory worker, and a 36 year old, single mother, and 75 year old retiree, and they read all the same book, and they share their perspective at once with me, that is going to greatly enhance what I can get out of this amazing tomb of knowledge for that I paid 15 to $25 for in a much more rapid fashion than me waiting 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 60 years to potentially get the same perspectives. I will never understand what it’s like to be a woman in this country. Because I’m not a woman. It is interesting to hear what women think of books that I really like and what I think of books that they really like. I need these perspectives to grow quickly, because that’s what I’m about at the moment. I want to grow. And so by having the Master Mind Library, I see it as the easiest way and the least expensive way to grow quickly, professionally, personally, developmentally to grow Zig Ziglar I think dubbed it audio car University where he back in the day they used to have audio cassettes, you can plug in your car when you’re commuting and traveling and just learned because your dedicated audience. Now today we have audiobooks and it’s very easy for me to get up in the morning, walk my dog, 6, 8, 10 miles and listen to a book or two and pull out pieces of information that could potentially be life changing for me and my family. I also really enjoy that. I get to go on this journey with my friend and hear his perspectives of these books and somebody I respect and trust so that as I’m going through it by myself, it also holds me accountable for doing it. Because if I’m not doing it, then I can’t expect you to do it. And so it holds an accountability factor for growing, and not just standing still.

 

Derek Egeberg  05:19

So you, you said perspective, and I think that’s one of the biggest things is, is having. We’ve read books on disc profiles and personality profiles. And you see, you know, whether you’re a D and i and s or a C, and Andy Andrews had animals that he used, but it’s the perspective because I think my perspective is right, you think your perspective is right? And generally, neither are 100%, right? It’s something right over there. But it’s the perspective of, maybe I can glean a little bit more information, and not go through the pain of the full learning curve.

 

Jon Perry  05:52

Exactly. I don’t want to make the mistakes. I also don’t want to wait too long to make a decision. And so this getting a little bit more input from a little bit larger audience pool helps enable me to create rapidly changing views to bring my focus on what how I view the world.

 

Derek Egeberg  06:14

Okay, perspective question for you. Yes? Do you do more for the pleasure and reward or more for the avoidance of pain?

 

Jon Perry  06:24

I think by default, we tried to avoid pain as much as possible, we’re very scared of pain. You know, they’ve done tests that show that somebody would rather give up $5, than to gain $95. You know, it’s one of those weird kinds of things, people are risk averse, yes. And so

 

Derek Egeberg  06:46

Well, the reason I ask is we’ve had some of these books around and I point to gift ology, because that’s one that you mentioned you had had for six years before you picked it up. And it’s the pain of I can’t let Jon down. I hope you feel I can’t let Derek down. Absolutely. And both of us say we can’t let down the Master Mind Library community. Because if we’re not willing to say, non negotiable, additional books, more input and energy and education, and more dialogue, then it stops there. And so part of it is, okay, we want to grow. And we want to see how far this goes in terms of personal growth and knowledge and commitment to a community. But it’s also and I can’t let anybody down. Yes. And so that, you know, again, for everybody’s benefit, Jon, you showed up on a Tuesday, the week, your mom, well, I wanted to be a little bit more gentle. But it was the morning after your mom passed away? That is correct. And for the audience, I think I know the answers. But why did you show up that morning for all of us.

 

Jon Perry  08:00

Because I committed to this process. This was something that before we even sat in a chair we’ve been working on for months. And if you really want to tie it back to things, we were kind of working on it for about three years leading to these points that, you know, you had this idea for your own podcast. And somehow around nine months ago, I floated this idea, and you were all about it as well. And so we kind of piggybacked on your studio so that we could create this, and I gave my word that we would go through with it. And I wanted to do it, right, because you were about also doing it right, which means we had to put this stuff together, we had to show up, we had to be a part of it. Good, bad, high, low thrills, pain. It’s all part of the process. We’re human. We grow.

 

Derek Egeberg  08:58

windows 1.0, to 2.0 to 3.0. There’s a learning curve, and hopefully a betterment of everything going forward, including our own education and our own mindset and our own cognitive abilities, if you will. Absolutely. So. And I appreciate that commitment very much, because I think it speaks volumes to your character. And I think your mom would be proud of the commitment level to a community like the Master Mind Library that you said, You know what I can spare a little bit of time,

 

Jon Perry  09:30

because it’s time we, it doesn’t cost money. It does cost planning, it costs commitment and forethought. And my mom taught me to honor my commitments. I think she would approve of the fact that I made a commitment and I followed through with it. That’s all there is to it.

 

Derek Egeberg  09:49

So would this be the one time she said finally Jon, you follow through on a commitment? Just kidding. But again, from from the Master Mind Library, What do you hope to get out of this journey? I’m curious,

 

Jon Perry  10:04

I hope to improve to be as close to the best version of myself I can be. If I just stand still, the world’s going to pass me by, if I am I running on a bus? Am I running four miles an hour? Or am I running 44 miles an hour as that bus is moving down the street, I would rather be moving ahead and helping be part of the change that I want to see in the world than to sit on the bench and watch the world pass me by.

 

Derek Egeberg  10:40

So same question, different perspective, what do you hope the community gets out of this Master Mind Library,

 

Jon Perry  10:47

I hope that they see that these two knuckleheads from Yuma Arizona, if they can take the time to read a book a week, or more than maybe they will have the time to take, pick a book a month, improve themselves, contribute to the dialogue about these books, get share a perspective that maybe myself or you or somebody else hasn’t thought of yet. And canned, become a slightly better version of themselves along the process. It’s a multiple lane street with cars going in every single direction, there is no wrong decision, there is potentially better choices that can be made. And if we’re not growing, then are we stepping back, I would like to be part of the community at large that is working towards a future for myself, for my kids like to leave a legacy behind something positive in the world than just making sure that my kids are okay.

 

Derek Egeberg  11:55

So I’m going to use some of those same analogies, and I love those. So for me going backwards, what I hope that community gets is what you just said, if this is an eight lane each direction road, we’re all kind of on the same road. But you don’t have to drive the same car. Some people are driving a sports car, some people driving a minivan, whatever you want to drive, and that’s kind of the same. You’re starting wherever you want to start with this knowledge base that you have show up to you which book you want to pick up. It’s up to you which avenue you want to go down as a personal growth. Is it spiritual growth? Is it physical growth? Is it managerial? None of it’s right or wrong. But what I hope happens is unlike a lot of platforms, I want this to be an open dialogue with the people who are willing participants that this becomes something that we bond and we build friendships, and it becomes this ever growing group of people that are committed to one another success because like you said, it comes down to a perspective, you may see a perspective that I’m not aware of, because I’m engrossed in the trenches daily of my life. And I may see the same opportunity in your life in a different perspective. And that’s what I hope the community points out is, there’s nuggets in books that it’s taken 5, 6, 8, 10 times to read before you pull them out. Now, what I hope I get out of it is amazing exponential growth. I hope I leave my children’s children in inheritance. And I’m not talking just money, I’m talking about knowledge and commitment and growth, and seeing what a person is able to do. And I hope, I hope nobody in the community I helped you and I, none of us have to go through something like what Andy Andrews did, where you know, when you listen to his story, being homeless, under a peer, losing both of his parents within a very short amount of time, and seeing what he’s able to grow from that pain, I think propelled him forward. And I hope none of us have to go through the pain, because I can use a little bit of your pain to correct mine before it gets there. You can use a little bit of mine, they can use a little bit of ours, we can use a little bit of theirs. And all of us get to I get to realize that somebody such as John Ruhlin here, poured their heart and soul into a book, and only had to exchange 25 hard earned dollars to learn all of his or her or whomever the authors are, their wisdom that they took the time and effort to put out there. And so for me, I think it’s just realizing that man, we live in the greatest time in the greatest country on Earth that we have all of these assets at our fingertips. And sometimes we get so busy on your multi lane highway that we don’t stop to read the billboard that says there’s a library right here with all of the knowledge and resources you’d ever need.

 

Jon Perry  14:50

Absolutely. This is such a unique perspective when you consider how expensive four year universities are today. There are some things I absolutely believe are necessary. I want my doctor to have gone through four years and four years in residency, I want them. There’s a reason why they call it practicing medicine, not mastering medicine, because there’s something to learn every day. You know, my lawyers are the reason why they call it practicing law, you want them to go through all these things, so that they are still learning 10, 20 years later, hopefully, you know, when it comes to relationship management, you can kind of wonder where that $100,000 $200,000 college education is. Because all these books kind of teach the same thing at a fraction of the cost. The big difference is you have to be self motivated. You have to be humble enough to actually be willing to listen to what they have to say. And you have to do you have to enact, you have to enable yourself to execute some of these points and incorporate them into your own life, which is one of the hardest things because change is not comfortable.

 

Derek Egeberg  16:02

Is that from a personal personal position?

 

Jon Perry  16:05

I don’t know. Maybe a little?

 

Derek Egeberg  16:08

It never is. But I think one of the other things I hope everybody in the Master Mind Library gets is the expectation is progress. Not perfection. Yes. And and if there’s one thing I’ve been worried about, most of my adult life is, man, I gotta be perfect. Oh, my gosh, it wasn’t done right. And I’m beating myself up and things just aren’t right. No, no, we’re all progress. And I can say, Jon, I’m proud of you. You’ve lost how many pounds in the last couple of years? 30 pounds. Okay, so you’re down 30 pounds? Because did some doctors say you have to? Or did you commit yourself

 

Jon Perry  16:46

just a series of circumstances were convenience, met opportunity.

 

Derek Egeberg  16:52

So convenience is an opportunity was you’re walking your dog listening to books,

 

Jon Perry  16:56

my dog was. So I had to start walking my dog who’s high energy, and that extended to 6, 8, 10 miles a day. Instead of listen to music, I chose audiobooks. And those went hand in hand. And now a couple years later, I finished almost 600 books in the last couple of years.

 

Derek Egeberg  17:16

So the opportunity again, back for me why I really want to do this is we have the opportunity to review books, yes, we have the opportunity to really see into an author’s mind and kind of learn from them. Like, again, one of my favorite books, Tuesdays with Morrie. Yes, learn this journey of life for 20 bucks. And look, you know, just a commitment to an author or from an author to put this on paper and put these things together. And think I only have to exchange 20 Little green pieces of paper with dead people on them for their wisdom and knowledge. And here’s what I want out of Master Mind Library, we get to go on this journey together. And it’s not, you know, not not unlike what President John F. Kennedy said, it’s, you know, not what the library can do for you. This is a place we’re all in. But what can you do for the Master Mind Library? How do we elevate the enthusiasm and the encouragement and the growth and the knowledge and just the nuggets out of all of these books because I promise, everybody reading this, if you read Giftology, because we got the book here on the counter, I promise everybody’s gonna see one or two nuggets that they want to implement first, or a different tactic to use out of that. And it’s gonna be different than me, it’s gonna be different than you. But if we start these conversations, what could they do for you, Jon? And what could you do for them? And it really is back to the old. You know, one plus one isn’t to one plus one really could be three. You know, we’re catapulting on everybody else’s strengths, growth exponentially. So those are my expectations for the Master Mind Library. Jon, do you have any other randoms I

 

Jon Perry  19:05

think you’ve pretty much covered everything. This is just such a phenomenal opportunity. I do. Thank you for letting us crash your studio to make this happen. And allowing me to inject this idea that has come to reality because realistically, without your toys, it wouldn’t be what we’ve set it up to be.

 

Derek Egeberg  19:25

You know, you’re welcome. Let me say that you’re welcome. And this is the fun project. And again, it’s not unlike you had a book on your shelf for six months. I had a vision, but it wasn’t until there was a commitment with a friend to say, Okay, no, I gotta get this done. And for everybody behind the camera, you know, there’s other pieces and parts to this that will eventually get up and running as well where it’ll be more than just a two person interview. We’d have four or five, six people having a good conversation. But it’s one of those journeys that if you’re going to be on On a growth journey, it’s way easier to be in a group of people than it is to be that lone pioneer walking across the front here, not knowing where you’re going. So my pleasure to open up the studio but this really is the Master Mind Library studio. Awesome.

 

Jon Perry  20:18

Well, thank you very much. I’m Jon Perry with the Reach Architect

 

Derek Egeberg  20:21

and Derek Eggeberg. The Approval Coach. Bye for now. Bye for now.