UJ Ramdas, Jayson Gaignard and Chris Plough On Partnerships and Burning The Ships

The Fail On Podcast with Rob Nunnery - Fail Your Way To An Inspired Life

Today, we have a crazy episode from inside a jeep in the Bahamas with three rotating guests. First, there is UJ Ramdas, co-founder of Intelligent Change and the co-creator of the Productivity Planner and the hugely popular Five Minute Journal. Next, we have Chris Plough who you became familiar with in Episode 011. Chris built, ran, and sold an eight-figure global consulting and hosting company. We also have Jayson Gaignard who you heard from in Episode 001. Jayson is the founder of MastermindTalks and the author of Mastermind Dinners.

The first half of the episode will be myself, Chris, and UJ. Jayson joins us for the last half of the show. We discuss why it’s so crucial to always be looking for ways to get uncomfortable. We also chat about whether it is better to go solo in business or find a partner. UJ shares how to figure out your strengths and improve your self-awareness, and how to properly build a team.

Key Points From This Episode:

• Hear as UJ Ramdas shares more about his vision for Intelligent Change.
• Learn more about the goals and intentions of the Fail On Podcast and why it was started.
• Find out at what point Rob overcame his fear and turned his knowledge into action.
• Hear how your point of comfort makes it harder to make decisions versus a point of pain.
• Discover how different personalities in business lead to different business decisions.
• Find out more about solo endeavors versus having a partner in business.
• Understand why you need to make sure you are aligned with what you really want.
• Hear why Chris says that having core knowledge of yourself is critical.
• Learn about the difference between control of a company and partnerships.
• Find out why UJ defines failure as data.
• Jayson talks about his take on partnerships and why he prefers working solo.
• Understand what it means to get clear on and truly define your perfect day.
• Hear why having a really strong value fit cannot be overstated in any kind of partnership.
• Find out about some of UJ’s struggles and challenges in building a great team.
• Learn why respect is fundamental when it comes to partnerships and relationships.
• Understand why getting to know people before diving into partnerships is crucial.
• And much more!

Tweetables:

“I’m a human being having experiences through time and space that are evolving over time.” — @ujramdas

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[0:04:02].1]

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” — @ujramdas

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[0:29:09].1]

“This is what it’s all about; leaning into something that is different.” — @chrisplough

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[0:30:12].1]

“The common feature of all your dissatisfying relationships, is you.” — @JaysonGaignard

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[0:33:38].1]

“Business at its core is to make money.” — @JaysonGaignard

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[0:37:28]:1]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

UJ Ramdas — http://www.ujramdas.com/

UJ on Twitter — https://twitter.com/ujramdas

Intelligent Change — https://www.intelligentchange.com/

Productivity Planner — https://www.intelligentchange.com/products/the-productivity-planner

The Five Minute Journal — https://www.intelligentchange.com/products/the-five-minute-journal

MastermindTalks — http://www.mastermindtalks.com/

Jayson on Twitter — https://twitter.com/jaysongaignard

Jayson’s book, Mastermind Dinners — https://www.amazon.com/Mastermind-Dinners-Relationships-Connecting-Influencers/dp/0692360026

Jayson’s podcast, The MastermindTalks Podcast — http://www.mmtpodcast.com/

Chris Plough — https://chrisplough.com/

Chris on Twitter — https://twitter.com/chrisplough/

Kolbe Personality Tests — http://kolbe.com/

Richard Feynman — http://www.feynman.com/

James Wallace — http://www.wallace.vc/

Daniel Pink — http://www.danpink.com/

Malcolm Gladwell — http://gladwell.com/

Phil McKernan — http://philipmckernan.com/

Cameron Herold — https://www.cameronherold.com/

Spoke Club — http://www.thespokeclub.com/

Luxy Hair — https://www.luxyhair.com/

Alex Ikonn — http://www.alexikonn.com/

John Gottman — https://www.gottman.com/

Malcom Gladwell’s book, Blink — https://www.amazon.com/Blink-Power-Thinking-Without/dp/0316010669/

Andy Drish — https://andydrish.com/

The Foundation — https://thefoundation.com/

Transcript Below

Read Full Transcript

EPISODE 012

“UR: Having a really strong value fit cannot be overstated in any kind of partnership. You have marriage, or business partnership, or whatever. Even with the employees that especially like along kind of core team that you’re looking to build. That kind of fit, it’s so important to have that. Because if you do, then everything seems like magic and if it don’t and everything seems like hitting your head against the wall.”

[INTRODUCTION]

[0:00:31.1] ANNOUNCER: Welcome to The Fail on Podcast where we explore the hardships and obstacles today’s industry leaders face on their journey to the top of their fields, through careful insight and thoughtful conversation. By embracing failure, we’ll show you how to build momentum without being consumed by the result.

Now please welcome your host, Rob Nunnery.

[INTRO]

[0:00:57.1] RN: Hey there and welcome to the show that believes you are destined for more and that failing your way to an inspired life is the only way to get there. Today, we have got a crazy episode from inside a jeep in the Bahamas with three rotating guest. We’ve got UJ Ramdas, cofounder of Intelligent Change and the co-creator of the Productivity Planner and the hugely popular Five Minute Journal. We’ve got Chris Plough who you became familiar with in the previous episode. Chris built, ran, and sold an eight figure global consulting and hosting company.

We also have Jayson Gaignard who you heard from in Episode 1. Jayson is the founder of Mastermind Talks and the author of Mastermind Dinners. The first half of the episode will be myself, Chris and UJ and then Jayson will join us for the last half of the show but we discuss why it’s crucial to always be looking for ways to get comfortable whether it’s better to go solo in business or find a partner, how to figure out your strengths and improve your self-awareness and how to properly build a team.

But first, if you’d like to stay up to date on all Fail On Podcast interviews and key takeaways from each guest, simply go to failon.com and sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of the page. That’s failon.com and just as an a side, the episode gets cut short and very abruptly around the 45 minute mark due to an ultimate power outage.

[INTERVIEW]

[0:02:30.1] RN: Hello and welcome to a very special edition of the Fail on Podcast. We are in a beat up jeep driven by Jayson Gaignard here in the Bahamas. We got UJ Ramdas, we can’t stop laughing, we have Chris Plough also on the headsets.

[0:02:46.8] CP: I’m the only professional here I think, you guys are a wreck.

[0:02:50.6] UR: We’re doing the first ever podcast on the road in the Bahamas on the island called Eleuthera and it’s going to be a fun time.

[0:02:54.8] RN: UJ, who are you? So people know who you are?

[0:02:57.3] UR: I don’t know man. I forget sometimes.

[0:03:01.2] RN: We got the peanut gallery Jayson who doesn’t have a headset because he only has three.

[0:03:06.8] JG: Equipment.

[0:03:08.8] RN: But he does own the podcast equipment so he did contribute a little bit.

[0:03:12.6] CP: I’ll introduce my friend UJ. UJ is one of the most systematic people I know at hacking productivity, getting to the center of the world and slowly, this robotic man is gaining empathy and a soul. I am proud to be on that journey with him.

[0:03:28.6] RN: Just looking at him. Fantastic intro.

[0:03:31.5] UR: Okay, that was unexpected and interesting. I do not know how to process this.

[0:03:46.0] RN: UJ, would you agree with that or…

[0:03:47.3] UR: I think that’s an interesting kind of take on a side of our personality.

[0:03:55.8] RN: What would your take be?

[0:04:01.1] UR: I’d say I’m a human being having experiences through time and space that are evolving over time.

[0:04:16.5] RN: Now I’m trying to process that.

[0:04:22.2] JG: Journaling. So, UJ helped to create both the Productivity journal, The Five Minute Journal as well as other products and he is…

[0:04:29.6] UR: Productivity Planner but I appreciate your…

[0:04:30.6] CP: Productivity Planner, I do apologize, yes. I’m a user, I just apparently don’t know the title.

[0:04:36.0] RN: Or you used the knock offs.

[0:04:38.4] CP: only on the android but the real thing is coming. But he is, he’s incredibly good though at taking a look at systems, at life, breaking them down, understand them in a much more granular level and then using that to help people forward. If I were to think about UJ, absolutely a life hacker, absolutely a productivity and focus hacker and definitely a student of life.

[0:05:01.1] RN: What’s your vision with intelligent change? Are you looking at creating more products or are you looking to scale the current products?

[0:05:06.3] UR: I don’t see the difference between first and second point, I think both makes sense. New products and scaling current business also makes sense. We’re also — we have about 15% chance of dying on this car ride. The Cliff hangers. Cliff hanger is living man, at this point.

[0:05:30.1] CP: May simply be for us. This is an experience for us.

[0:05:35.1] RN: In the Bahamas, you can drive on the left side of the road and Jayson chooses to drive on the far left side of the road, also called the ditch.

[0:05:42.3] JG: That’s my joke, the group reaction.

[0:05:46.4] RN: Everybody’s laughing, you just can’t hear.

[0:05:48.9] JG: You can add in that.

[0:05:49.6] RN: Well, UJ can’t laugh so he’s processing it still.

[0:05:53.6] UR: No, I can laugh. You guys have heard my laugh.

[0:05:56.5] JG: He’s asking everybody else. What is your intentions with this podcast?

[0:06:02.5] CP: To repeat for those who can’t hear, Rob, what are your intentions with this podcast?

[0:06:07.2] RN: With today’s episode or in general?

[0:06:08.1] CP: No, I mean, in general, what do you hope to accomplish through this beautiful something — insert a word that makes sense there.

[0:06:15.0] RN: Sure. My intention is to — this is an issue I struggled with starting out in business was I was — We’re having a tickle fest. I’m tickling the driver just so you know. No, my intention was, I was really paralyzed by fear starting out and I really wish I had something that was pushing me outside my comfort zone, pushing me to take action rather than just analyzing everything too much.

My intention is to talk to — I want to say inspiring guests like you guys but to talk to guys like you that are really good at taking action and inspiring the listeners to do the same essentially.

[0:07:02.6] UR: All right, cool. Now back to your questions.

[0:07:07.8] RN: All right. What kind of additional products would intelligent change create? Yeah, that’s all I got, no follow up questions, no nothing, awesome, thanks guys. Hope that was…

[0:07:19.3] CP: to be fair, I was leaving space for more and UJ is like, now talk about me.

[0:07:24.8] RN: I just thought it was dead. Everybody’s waiting and there was like five seconds of open time, I just wanted to spare him some discomfort.

[0:07:35.1] CP: I’m very comfortable with open...