The Power of Vision and Leadership: Lessons from Dan Gomer

The Power of Vision and Leadership: Lessons from Dan Gomer

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Welcome back to the Daily Mastermind. George Wright III here with your daily dose of inspiration, motivation, and education. And we're going to share some great thoughts with you today. I got a special guest and I am, I'm really excited about this guest because I think at the end of the day there's a lot of individuals that come across in the vein of real estate and real estate development.

And Dan is definitely one of those individuals that I would say from all of the stuff that I've read and looked at really cares about investing in, leadership and growth and the team that he has out in Colorado.

So Dan Gomer's background is that he was originally a science teacher, basketball coach. But after leaving public education, he set his sights on real estate and he really honed his skills. He's a professional that is now building a very successful team in Colorado, but he's an author of three books.

He's focused on personal development, all of the stuff that we align with. So Dan, welcome to the program, man.

Thank you. I really appreciate you having me on and thank you for that introduction.

Yeah, no I'm super glad that you're here. And at the end of the day, I think we're going to share some stuff that people will really enjoy.

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Dan Gomer's Journey into Real Estate

You've had an interesting story in the past, so give us a little bit of the backstory and help individuals because a lot of people are looking for success. Most of our listeners are business owners, CEOs, high achievers, but they might be looking at a shift in their career. They might not, but you had a pretty interesting story.

So tell us how you jumped into this real estate channel.

Yeah I always wanted to be a teacher ever since I was like 13. I taught a lab that my teacher was super cool and she's like, why don't you teach this class to your peers? So I spent a day in her classroom teaching my peers.

That was interesting. So ever since then I wanted to be a teacher. After a few years in public education, though, I realized it just wasn't a good fit for me. The environment wasn't a good fit for me. And I always loved the art, but just didn't really like the job. So we started going around asking people, what do you do for a living?

What do you do for a living? What do you like about what you don't like about it? And eventually just landed on real estate. I did a lot of construction work and I decided, you know what, I'm going to flip houses. And this was in 2010/2011, and did that for a little while. And then eventually transitioned into real estate sales.

And did that for a little while, and was pretty successful with that. And once again, burned out again and was actually on my way out of real estate. Because I wanted to coach and teach and be an author and a speaker and all those kinds of things. And found a new opportunity within real estate to grow my team and go back to what I love to do, which is teaching and education and helping other people grow.

And so now that's what I'm really focused on is just bringing good people into the team, helping them grow personally and professionally. 'cause that's what I, that, that's what fills my cup, I could get, yeah I still sell real estate. But given the opportunity, I'd be fine with not selling any more houses and just helping other people grow.

You hit a principle that's so key. And I always tell people this, it's not so much what you do as much as you love to do. And, you started in that field of teaching and you like working with people and helping to educate you applied that into real estate and hit some burnout and things.

And it could be because you didn't really align and feel like you were probably grinding and not necessarily feeling like you're applying your skill set. But I think that is the key. Do you feel like because you've had a lot of success in real estate, do you feel like it's because you've found a way in real estate to really focus on your unique talent that you're passionate about and enjoy doing?

Because burnout is a common thing for all business owners, but especially with people I've found in real estate and sales and things like this.

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Battling Burnout and Finding Alignment

So talk to us about that burnout and then talk to us about how you stay Focused on what you love to do because it's hard to stay focused on being passionate about working with people If you've got to be focused on transactions and things like that talk to us a little bit about that

So yeah, that's a loaded topic right and I actually Teach a lot of classes here in Denver and the class that always gets the biggest attendance is my class on battling burnout Wow, okay.

I figured You know because I've burned out numerous times. Like I'm sure you have, and probably some of the people watching this and, I guess if I had to really encapsulate it, when I think back to the times that I burned out, I was out of alignment when I really wanted to, I like money.

I was still making decent money. I was making really good money when I burned out in sales. But that's just not my driving force. Money's great. The house is nice, whatever. But that was just not doing it for me. And the more that I lean into the things that I love, which is, I love Seeing somebody say, Hey, I need some help.

Okay, cool. Have you tried this? And they try it and it changes their life. Like literally changing their life to me is way more valuable than money. And so when I was focused on grinding, which I needed to do, by the way, there's times in our life. Brian, we just got to deal with it. And I'm glad that I did.

I'm glad I'm not in that position anymore, but I needed to do that for myself. I needed to prove that I could be successful in terms of money. I had to do that. I had to walk through the fire there. But it didn't fill me up. It was just part of the journey. And in terms of burnout right now, what I really try to focus on when I start to feel that come in is There's really only two things that I can shift that are going to help me.

One is my environment and the other one is my mindset. So I started asking the question, what's happening around me? Do I have control over anything that's around me? Can I hang out with different people? Can I quit my job? What can I change around me? And number two, the things that I can't change around me that I don't have control over, a mean boss or whatever it is, right?

How can I change my mindset around that environmental issue so that I can deal with it in a healthy way so that I'm not beating my head against the wall.

I love that. I think that's probably why you have such a successful team too, though, is because you are surrounding yourself and they're surrounding themselves with you to be able to focus on that.

I think those are great strategies. Change your environment or change your mindset. And that probably applies. It definitely applies to every profession out there.

I think sometimes we also, what I found, we don't just accept the fact that burnout is part of the process, you try to avoid it, you're worried about it and all this and that. I do want to point back to something else you said, because even though I believe that those strategies, absolutely, changing your environment, changing your mindset are key.

You said something really good, which is, you were misaligned. And I think burnout is caught, you can look at the root cause and you can look at what the strategies are you can do with it. And the root cause usually does come from misalignment or also, wouldn't you think maybe people are getting too focused on the outcome?

Like they're too tied to the outcome. It's not getting me what I want. I'm not getting the results I want. So they're so tied to it. Maybe this goes to the mindset you were talking about, but misalignment. So how do you, and maybe that fits into your mindset part as well, but how did you align yourself again?

Cause I, I want to really emphasize that and then come back over to the strategies. What did you do or what does somebody do if they feel like they're out of alignment with what they're loving?

When we were talking before this, I told you a little bit that I have a coaching program that I developed. I really, at this point, only use it internally with my team. But it's called The Playground. And the whole point of it is we spend 10 weeks asking two questions: What do you want and why do you want it?

And then we spend 10 weeks experimenting with it and playing with it—hence, The Playground, right? I think if I do this, then I'll get this result. And we just play with it until we get down to the core of what we really, truly want, and then build on top of that.

And so when I find myself getting out of whack and I'm like, Okay, I've got to change. I want to change my mindset about this thing that's happening, I go back to that. Okay. What's my relationship to this thing? How am I talking to myself about this thing that's driving me crazy? Do I have to keep doing this thing? What do I really want? Why do I want that?

And I just started getting really curious about all of it. And what I found is that the more that I get curious and I focus on trying to figure that out, that practice in and of itself usually moves the needle.

Hey, I'm not fixed, but it moves the needle.

No, look, I think you're absolutely right. There's always different ways to look at things, but I think that's the power of surrounding yourself with the right people.

You even mentioned, when we were talking before, coaching and mentoring. Sometimes you're in the weeds, you're in the grind. You can't see it yourself like someone else can. Sometimes it just helps. Like I'll have mentors that I just talked to and just talking it out really helps.

So I really do believe in the power of that mastermind mentoring, surrounding yourself with the right people.

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Leadership and Time Management Strategies

But let's switch gears into more strategies and tactics. You have been a leader, training leaders and so on. And so one of the things that I wanted to ask you is:

What are some insights into your kind of time management and leadership philosophy? Because most of the people that are listening to this show are business owners and CEOs and things like that. So they're in some sort of a leadership position. How do you structure your time? How do you structure your time and what are some of your philosophies on how to be a leader in your organization?

Yeah. So on the time management side, it's really pretty simple for me. I wouldn't say that I time block, but I day block. And real estate might be a little bit different from some of the people that are watching this, but Mondays are my days to clean up the weekend.

Because the weekends are super busy in real estate. And then, so every day—I won't go through my whole schedule—but every day I've got blocks and it's Hey, somebody wants to—like, we're doing this interview—I wouldn't do this on a Monday unless I absolutely had to, because that's not what Mondays are for.

I really focus on that. And in order to do that, the first step though, is we have to know what our major to-dos are. If we're not clear on the goal and the objective and all the daily things that need to happen in order to get there, it's all just a complete waste of time.

It all comes down to starting there, and then blocking out the time.

In terms of leadership, man, that's a great question. And it's gotta be one—I’m sure you can relate to this—it always changes, right?

How I lead today is totally different from how I led five years ago and 10 years ago.

I wish I knew what I know now when I was coaching high school basketball.

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The Importance of Vision and Culture

So my philosophy now—a big component of my philosophy is—that it all starts with really identifying the vision of what it is we're creating. Why does this team exist? What's the point?

And how can we find some—and I've heard this for years from lots of different people, and it always sunk in and made sense—but for some reason, right now, it is just hitting home so hard how important this is because it's going to dictate the kind of people that we surround ourselves with, that we bring into the organization.

It's going to determine our culture. It's going to determine our goals. It's going to determine everything. Like, we have to know what the vision is that we want to create. And then we surround ourselves with the right people that fit into that culture.

And I think one of the things that held me back for so long from really diving into that is—and it was a very quiet voice—What will people think? What if you hold people accountable to a standard that's important to me as the leader, and what if they don't see that as important?

It doesn't matter. What do I value? What is my vision?

And then take—I still take input in. But built on the foundation of my vision, here's the kind of person I want to be surrounded by. I'm going to create that. And there are plenty of people who are going to reciprocate that.

And once you have that kind of clear vision and that clear group of people around you, and that culture—man, that's when things start to blow up.

Yeah. I think culture is huge and you are absolutely right. True leaders try to build a culture and it starts with your vision. A lot of people don't have a vision. That's why they follow leaders.

And even some leaders don't have a clear enough vision. So they're shiny object, they're going every direction from Sunday and they're bringing in, they may bring in big producers that don't share the vision or the culture and it disrupts the whole team.

So having clear vision, I think is a—it was a very important thing. It has to line up around that. And so I think that's a big one. And not only that, but it's helping other people to determine their vision. Cause that's where you really get people to align with you is they feel like you're helping them to accomplish their life as well.

And if you go back to burnout as a leader, it's really frustrating when you don't have alignment with the team.

And so you're like, Hey, this is something that I value—you should value it! And they don’t even know that you, as the leader, value it, right? There’s no communication. There’s no alignment. It gets exceptionally frustrating.

And so that's when burnout as a leader begins to seep in. But when you make those value systems and that vision really clear, and everybody starts to develop that culture, it becomes a lot more fun too because it's there—everybody's marching in the same direction.

*Yeah. You really do have to drill into the, like you said, what do you want and why do you want it? Because otherwise, I think that's what a lot of people are dealing with right now is they're looking up and they're going, Man, I don't even know why I'm grinding. What am I grinding for?

I don't even, I don't even, I don't even have clarity around that. And if I am, it's not my vision. It's somebody else's vision. Most people are working for somebody else's vision, so I think that's huge.

I was going to ask you—and this is an interesting topic to maybe hit for a second.

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Dan Gomer's Book and Daily Routines

You wrote a book, I'm Full of It...And So Are You. So tell me the meaning behind that and why you wrote it. What made you decide to write a book other than being a teacher and stuff? What was the reason you did it? And what's it mean?

That's a good question. Why did I write it? Honestly, there was a fair amount of just—it was therapeutic for me, quite frankly, just to get all of these ideas out. So I did write it honestly as much for me as I did for anybody else.

But really, the whole concept of it is intentionality. We all influence the world every single day, whether we try to or not—the person that we honk at in traffic, the barista that we treat like crap, or nicely, or whatever, right?

Without even trying to do it, we are constantly influencing the world. If we're going to influence the world, why not bring some intentionality to how we're showing up in every single moment? And then we can actually intentionally change the world.

So I originally wanted to call it World Changers, and my wife told me it was too grandiose. So she made me change it. But that's really what it's about. It's about—we're all world changers, whether we want to be or not. So if that's the case, why not become intentional about it?

And if we're going to become intentional about it, we have to understand who we are and how we operate and why we do the things we do. So that we can change them.

I love it. Yeah. I think that is a great play on words too, because it is an attention-getter, but it really has a deeper purpose, deeper meaning, which I figured you probably did. That's why I asked about that.

So let me, before we end here with our show, I wanted to ask you if you have any strategies that you feel right now are important on a daily routine. You probably have a daily routine. I find most high performers have daily routines. What do you recommend? What are your most common successful daily routines that you feel like help you to stay on track with what you're trying to accomplish?

Yeah. A routine. Yeah, exactly. Start with that. Just a routine. Because mine has changed over time.

I was doing yoga for a really long time and I had some shoulder injuries and stuff, so that changed. For me, the big ones are:

I wake up at the same time every day. And I have a very consistent routine every single day. So it looks the same.

I have my coffee, hang out with my wife and kids before they go off to school and all that kind of stuff. I do something physical—whether it’s yoga or stretching or playing basketball or whatever it is. I’m going to do something physical.

And I'm at my desk no later than 9 o'clock, ready to rock and roll. I've got all that stuff out of the way.

And the other thing that I will add with a routine that has been just huge is I always close my day, and I always open my day.

At the end of the day, I look at what's coming up tomorrow: What do I need to be aware of? Who do I need to call? What do I need to do? What are my top things I need to do, and then the fluff that I might get to?

And then I wake up the next day, sit down at my desk, look at it, and amend it: Is this everything that I need to do?

And it just—it brings intention to my day. Instead of sitting down going, Okay, what do I do? It's: I know what I need to do. I can get started on that first thing out of the gates, and then my day is started. So I’m not wasting time.

That's awesome. Cause I think I've just found that to be the case with almost every successful person I know. Not so much bookending their day, which is what I do as well, but consistency and intentionality.

I like what you said—it's not about the routine as much as having a routine and doing what works for you. Some people, journaling in the morning or meditation is not an easy thing to do. Okay. Some people, like me, as you said, I do something physical so that I can get moving.

But I always want to start my day out right. And I want to end it right. And when you're intentional and you're consistent with it, because a lot of people are doing routines that don't—they're not geared to what will benefit them most. And they're also not geared to accomplish anything. They're just routines.

Like I always go to the gym. What are you trying to accomplish? So I like that consistency and intentionality. That's a big one. I really love that.

And one other thing that I don't know if you've heard of this or not, but Jay Shetty has a thing called TIME. T-I-M-E.

That's a really easy strategy for morning routines. Gratitude—so being thankful. Inspiration—so I've got books on my coffee table and I sit there, pull out a book, and read something inspirational. Meditation and Exercise. Those are the four things I try to knock out every morning.

Yeah, that's awesome.

Look, success leaves clues. He knows what he's talking about. You've been applying it. Almost everyone I know has that routine or a routine, but I also think it's important to note that there's—some of the most successful people I know, just like you said—whether it's something inspirational or meditation or journaling or thought-provoking, it's all designed to help you to be intentional with what you're trying to create in your life.

I tell people all the time: It's never too late to start living the life that you were meant to live, that you want to live, but you've got to be on a path and a plan to do it. You've got to be intentional, and it's never too late to do that either. And especially nowadays, people can get into fields, even the field of real estate, like you're talking about, and make some big waves pretty quickly.

And once again, going back to burnout, we can always change overwhelm or burnout—or whatever the word is—through intentionality. I don't want to feel this way anymore. So what am I going to do about it? And intentionally making incremental shifts to just incrementally change.

Yeah, to make a difference, yeah. And here's the beauty of right now—you're in Colorado, you're building a pretty successful team out there. But the whole reason I started The Daily Mastermind is so people would realize that they can mastermind and get these principles of Napoleon Hill in their life—two or more people in a spirit of harmony, looking for success or growth or a common path.

And you're the type of person that someone needs to surround themselves with. You've got to be around people, but you don't have to be in proximity anymore. You can be—it’s better, I think—but you can be around individuals. So how do people that may have heard this episode, how do they connect with you? What's the best way for me to get people to connect with you?

Yeah, the easiest way would just be to go to dangomer.com. You can contact me directly through there. You can download my books from there, or you can also check out my YouTube channel, The Real Estate Mindset.

I just post a lot of videos about this kind of stuff. And if you go to my website and you download one of my books, you'll automatically get added to my newsletter. And I just do a weekly kind of mindset thing. It’s not necessarily real estate-related or anything like that.

Yeah, that's good to know. And I also, if you're listening to this, you can download his book right from his site. So I'll put all these links in the show notes. So guys, I'd highly recommend you connect. This is about—your network is your net worth. And so connect with Dan and share those mindset principles.

And I'm also going to get over there and get on your newsletter because I love to stay connected that way as well. And I know we're going to probably collaborate and love to have you back over with the Academy. But I really appreciate you being here, man. Like the fact that you're willing to do the show and share your wisdom and your knowledge really shows you're trying to create impact. And so thank you for your time. I definitely appreciate you being here.

Thank you. Thank you for doing this. We need more people talking about it. And so I appreciate you inviting me and putting this together. So thank you.

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Conclusion and Call to Action

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