Episode Transcript
Hello and welcome back to Simple Wins. I want to talk to you about what I learned from watching a recent conversation I heard from someone who has been a massive figure in the business and real estate world for years: Grant Cardone.
Now, I’ve followed Grant’s work for a long time. The whole “10X” philosophy, the aggressive sales mindset, the larger-than-life persona—it’s all stuff that either inspires you or, frankly, intimidates you. But I recently watched a long-form, in-depth podcast interview with him, and it revealed a side of the man that I think often gets lost in the social media clips and the stage performances. It was less about the bravado and more about the blueprint. It was about the real, gritty, often unglamorous choices that built the empire.
So, I sat down with my notes, and I want to walk you through the three biggest lessons I took away from watching this conversation and dissecting the principles that actually drive results.
The first lesson, and perhaps the most profound one for me, was about **the myth of balance and the necessity of surrender.**
We’re all obsessed with work-life balance, right? It’s the holy grail. We want to be crushing it in business, be the perfect partner, the perfect parent, have a six-pack, and meditate for an hour a day. And when we don’t achieve that, we feel like failures. But Grant’s perspective on this was a complete reframe. He was asked point-blank how he balances being a business titan with being a family man. And his answer wasn’t about a perfect schedule. It was about seasons of life.
He said, and I’m quoting directly here: **“I think everybody sees me being a good father today but what you don't see… is all the years that I wasn't a husband or a father and the price I paid.”**
He didn’t have kids until he was 51 years old. He didn’t get married until he was 48. For 25 years, from age 20 to 45, he described his life like this: **“There was no balance. There was no such thing as time balance… It was just pound, pound, pound, grind, suffer, sacrifice, repeat the process… There was no reward time. There was no vacations. There was no fun times. There was no golf.”**
Let that sink in. A quarter of a century with a singular focus. He admitted he wouldn’t have been a good husband or father then because his entire being was dedicated to one mission: achieving a level of financial security that would later allow him to build the family life he wanted. He wasn’t trying to be everything at once.
This leads to the concept of surrender. He made it clear that every major transition in his life required giving something up. He said, **“I have never made a transition that didn't require me to to surrender something. You have to surrender something.”**
To get the family, he had to surrender the “single, roving planet Earth” lifestyle. To level up his business, he had to surrender the massive 35,000-person events, which he explicitly stated he will “never do those again.” It’s a strategic surrender. You let go of one rung of the ladder to grab the next one.
And then he dropped this absolute gem about modern fatherhood that just clicked for me. He said the time balance thing **“requires that you try not to be everything.”** He elaborated: **“Just because you don't change diapers doesn't make you a good dad… I don't have to change the diapers. That is not a requirement for me to be a good dad.”**
Now, taken out of context, that could sound bad. But in context, it’s brilliant. It’s about defining your role based on your unique strengths and the needs of the family, not on some societal checklist. For him, being a great dad means providing an environment where he can spend quality time with his kids—which for him included homeschooling so they could “roll with” him—not necessarily being the one to do every single task. It’s about intentional contribution, not obligatory participation. This idea of focused seasons and strategic surrender completely reshaped how I think about my own goals and the pressure to ""have it all"" right now.
**(Short pause)**
**Adam OLeary:** The second major lesson was about **the true engine of a powerful brand: substance over spectacle.**
We live in the age of clickbait and viral drama. It’s easy to think that attention—any attention—is good attention. But Grant made a critical distinction that I think most influencers and content creators get dead wrong. He talked about the difference between views that are merely entertaining and content that actually builds a valuable, lasting brand.
He gave a perfect example from his own social media. He had one post get 429,000 views on X. Right below it, another post got only 25,000 views. To most people, the first post is 17 times more successful. But here’s what he said: **“The one with 25,000 views is going to make me a thousand times more money.”**
Why? Because the high-view post was about a political issue in Los Angeles. It was drama. It got people riled up. The low-view post was about his new business model of buying real estate with cash and integrating Bitcoin. It was a substantive business announcement.
He explained the fatal flaw of chasing drama: **“It's going to get a bunch of views, but it never converts. That that's what these dumb [people] don't understand. They don't convert because the guy came for drama. He didn't come to get something of value. He came to get drama.”**
The drama audience is fickle. They’ll watch, comment, and move on to the next outrage. The business audience, however, sees the substantive post and thinks, “Wait, what is this strategy? How can I learn more? How can I get involved?” That’s an audience that converts. That’s an audience that has long-term value.
He summed up his entire daily focus by saying his top three jobs are to **“promote… build things to sell… [and] make decisions that sell to the marketplace that market and brand something that causes people to be like, I want to know more about this guy.”**
Paying all cash for $600 million in real estate? That’s not just a financial move; it’s a **“marketing decision first.”** Distributing investor returns monthly instead of quarterly? A marketing decision to build trust and stand out. These are substantive, impressive actions that *are* the marketing. They build a brand known for performance, not just for loud opinions. This was a powerful reminder to always ask: Is this content just creating noise, or is it building a foundation of real value?
The third lesson was a quick but brutal attack on **the prison of self-imposed labels.**
The interviewer mentioned that he considered himself an introvert, and Grant’s response was immediate and dismissive in the most empowering way possible. He said, **“I don't even believe the introvert extrovert thing. I think all these labels were completely made up to deceive people of their true potential.”**
He lumped it in with a host of other labels—ADD, ADHD, bipolar, even being “too fat, too skinny, too white, too brown, too young, too old.” He called it all **“[bullshit]”** designed to limit us.
His point was that we behave differently in different contexts. You might be “shy” in one situation but the life of the party in another. His philosophy? Confidence isn’t a personality trait; it’s a byproduct of competence. He said, **“The better you're at something, the more you like it. If you don't know what you're doing, you're not going to… be confident about what you're doing… The way to get confidence is through doing… and then you start appearing confident.”**
It’s not about fixing who you *are*; it’s about improving what you *do*. If you’re not confident speaking on stage, it’s probably because you haven’t done it enough to be good at it. It’s not because you’re fundamentally an “introvert.” This mindset is incredibly liberating. It moves the focus from an unchangeable identity to a changeable skill set. It tells you that you can become confident in anything, you just have to put in the reps. You have to, as he said, **“do a lot of [stuff].”**
So, to recap what I learned from watching this deep dive into Grant Cardone’s world:
First, **embrace seasons and strategic surrender.** You can’t have it all at once. There are times for grinding and times for reaping. Be clear about what season you’re in and be willing to surrender what’s holding you back from the next level.
Second, **build your brand on substance, not spectacle.** Chase conversions, not just views. Make business and marketing decisions that are so impressive they become your best advertising.
And third, **reject the labels that limit your potential.** Confidence is earned through action, not bestowed by personality type. Focus on building competence, and the confidence will follow.
This conversation was less about the “10X” hype and more about the 10,000 hours of focused, often lonely, work. It was about the intentional choices behind the success. It was a masterclass in the fact that what looks like an overnight success is almost always a decades-long story of grind, sacrifice, and smart surrender.
Thank you for listening. I’m Adam OLeary, and I’ll see you in the next episode.
