Unlocking the Ultimate Edge with Ricky Frank

Unlocking the Ultimate Edge with Ricky Frank

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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 joined in the studio today with a good friend and somebody you are gonna love, Ricky Frank. How you doing, brother?

I'm doing great. Thanks for having me. It's awesome.

Yeah, this is good. It's been a coordination for us to put this together, but it's gonna be well worth it.

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Ricky Frank’s Journey: From NFL to Business

You've got a company and you've been doing this for 37 years. We're gonna jump right into it. When you talk about unlocking the ultimate edge for people, this is a topic that resonates deeply with our audience — entrepreneurs and professionals who are always talking about unleashing their potential and creating their best life.

And you've literally been living and breathing that for 37 years. In fact, you had a company that grew to number one on the Inc. 500 list, correct? Everybody talks about 10x and things like that — you went 36,000%. That’s what, three zeros?

Yes sir, 36,000%.

So do me a favor. Tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and what led you up to this point, because that could make for many podcast episodes. But just give us a little bit of your backdrop so they understand where you came from.

Sure.

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The Turning Point: Embracing Personal Development

I never would've expected that I'd be in this arena. Sometimes your career finds you. In a million years, I never would've thought this, but I was trying to pursue an NFL career. And really, the NFL stands for “not for long” for most of us. For some people, it’s longer, but for me, it was definitely “not for long.”

I had just been cut by the Dallas Cowboys and found myself in my Volkswagen driving back to New Jersey, wondering, What do I do now? Like a lot of people who come out of sports, I was lost. I was living in my grandpa's basement. I didn’t have much money, and my uncle — who worked for Southwestern Bell — was the GM for a beeper company. Beepers were the big technology back in the day, so he got me a job as an account executive, which basically meant I was a salesman.

I got a bag of beepers and traveled around the tri-state area, sometimes two or three hours to an appointment that was only ten miles away. I’d sit in traffic, driving stick shift, thinking, Oh my gosh, this is hard.

'Cause you were just trying to be an NFL player, right? And now you're a beeper salesman in a parking lot selling to who knows who.

Exactly. One moment I was training to be an elite athlete, the next I was selling beepers in New York City high-rises. I had some friends who said, “You gotta come see this guy. He’s into personal growth and development.”

Now, I grew up in New Jersey with an Archie Bunker-type grandpa who said, “You don’t need that stuff. Get a job.” That was the plan — the 40/40 plan: 40 hours a week for 40 years. That was my programming. I was resistant. But after a month of my friends bugging me, I finally went to see this speaker.

I’ll never forget it — the Holiday Inn, Bridgewater, New Jersey. It’s like your first kiss; you never forget your first meeting. I sat there, arms crossed, typical New Jersey attitude. I was broke, making maybe 800 or 900 bucks a month selling beepers, and here’s this guy in front of the room, dressed sharp, clearly successful.

Then he said something that changed my life: “Ricky, if you keep thinking like you’re thinking and doing what you’re doing, where are you gonna be in a year, five years, ten years, twenty years?”

That hit me. I looked at my grandpa, who was living on social security, and my dad, who was on the same track, and I thought, He’s making some good points.

Long story short, I listened. When the session ended, I followed him into the bathroom like a fool and said, “I gotta talk to you.” He said, “Can I finish my business first? We’ll talk outside.” But that moment hit me — when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

And that was the start of your personal development journey, right?

Total. I had read As a Man Thinketh by James Allen before that — phenomenal book — but I didn’t really know how to apply it. When I saw this man living what he taught, I thought, I gotta be around him. He told me to meet him after, and that meeting set the course for my life.

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear — and sometimes he’s standing right in front of you, challenging how you think.” — Ricky Frank

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The Importance of Being Coachable

That experience opened my mind. I realized if I wanted more, I had to become more. My plan had been the NFL — peak physical performance, ultimate potential — but now I was entering the world of personal development, peak mental performance, ultimate human potential.

And finding someone who could teach you — that’s key. I’ve noticed athletes tend to be very coachable.

Exactly. The good thing about being an athlete is we’re trained to be coachable and teachable. We’re like trained seals — we want that pat on the back, that “attaboy.” So it was perfect for me to come into this new world thinking, Coach, put me in. I’m ready to perform.

And it sounds like that coachability carried you through the business world as well. You’ve gone on to speak around the world, train thousands, and coach high performers — all because you stayed teachable.

Yep. My mentor had me write down ten things I wanted to learn at every training, and at the top of every list, I wrote, “How to stay coachable and teachable.” I wanted to keep that mindset forever. It’s like reps on the football field — every time, you want to get better and better.

“We’ve been born to succeed but programmed to fail — and my mission became helping people rewrite that programming.” — Ricky Frank

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Lessons in Resilience and Mindset

You’re an individual with great personality and energy, but you also had a huge setback. One of the most important principles in business is resilience. I know you teach on that, so I’m curious — were you just open to opportunity, or what helped you become so resilient and transition into this career that you’ve now been dominating for 37 years?

That’s a great question. In sports, failure is fertilizer. You fail constantly — maybe you lose that last rep, but you can’t dwell on it. You have to move on. We always called it the “next play” mentality. You win or lose a play, but it’s over — next play.

Sports trained me for that without me even realizing it. I was 25 or 26 at the time, but I had already been programmed by athletics to bounce back.

You had been conditioned through sports to be resilient.

Exactly. That was my advantage. But when I started working with entrepreneurs, CEOs, and high achievers who didn’t have that training, I realized — resilience can be taught.

Right, because many of our listeners face setbacks daily. How do you help people build resilience if they didn’t grow up with that kind of conditioning?

So in my company, Forward Fast, one of our taglines is “Accelerate Your Success.” The foundation is this: build a mindset and a skillset for life.

When I ask people which is more important — mindset or skillset — it’s always split 50/50. But the truth is, it’s mindset.

You can train your mindset. We’ve been born to succeed, but programmed to fail.

By age five, most people have heard “no” more than they’ve heard “yes.” They’ve been doubted more than they’ve been encouraged. So I spend a lot of time helping people rewire their mental framework — breaking that limiting programming.

That’s powerful. How do you help people reframe their failures so they can use them to grow?

Let me tell you a story. Back in 1981, I was serving a mission for my church in Kansas. It was freezing cold — we’d been knocking on doors all day and getting rejected at every one. My hands were numb. I didn’t even have a proper winter jacket, just a thin London Fog trench coat.

Finally, one guy opened the door. He looked like the guy from Tool Time — beard, flannel shirt, big grin — and said, “Come on in.” I was just happy to get warm.

When I walked in, I saw the walls covered with beautiful artwork and sculptures. I asked him, “How did you get so good?”

He looked at me and said, “Son, you’re gonna make a thousand mistakes. Hurry up and make ’em.”

Fail faster.

That lesson stuck with me for life. Whether I’m coaching football players or entrepreneurs, I tell them the same thing — throw a thousand passes, make a thousand pitches, and fail your way to mastery. Every mistake gets you closer to success.

That’s such an incredible principle — viewing failure as the gateway to success.

Exactly. You have to stack your failures. In order to be successful, you’ve got to fail — and the faster you fail, the faster you learn. It’s okay to turn that competitive switch on. You’ve got to be hungry.

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Building a Winning Mindset

How do you define “the ultimate edge”? Because that’s obviously a core framework of what you teach. What does that mean to you?

The ultimate edge is not seeing yourself as you are, but seeing yourself as you can and should be — and helping others do the same.

Most people are stuck in the wrong movie playing in their head. I ask people during training, “What movie is playing in your mind — Friday the 13th or Rocky?”

Because if you’re not visualizing yourself climbing those steps and raising your arms like a champion, you’re projecting defeat. That mindset affects everything — your body language, your confidence, your energy.

You’ve got to reprogram and rewire that movie in your mind. Stop living from the past — what your parents, teachers, or even bad coaches told you — and start living from your potential.

I had a college coach who made me feel so small. That experience taught me how I never wanted to make anyone else feel that way. That lesson has shaped how I coach thousands of people today. I lift them up, not tear them down.

That’s incredible, and it ties into something I’ve seen too — when you start operating as your future self, from that higher vision, you stop accepting excuses. You start performing at a different level.

Exactly. Where you are now is the result of your current beliefs. But if you start thinking and acting from where you want to be, you’ll rise to that level. That’s what I teach people — to operate from their future, not their past.

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The Wealth Wheel: Balancing Life’s Aspects

Let’s talk about your framework. When you work with people, how do you guide them through transformation?

I start with what I call the Wealth Wheel. It’s a circle divided into six key areas: emotional, spiritual, mental, physical, financial, and social.

I ask people to rate themselves from zero to ten in each category. Most people’s lives end up looking like a star — some areas strong, others completely deflated. Maybe their financial life is a nine, but their emotional life is a three and their social life is a one.

That visual wakes people up. It’s not about money — wealth is the sum of all these areas.

I like that — your wealth is all those areas, not just your income.

Exactly. You’re only as rich as your balance across them all.

Sometimes, yes, you’ll get out of balance temporarily while you’re pursuing something — that’s okay. But if you stay out of balance too long, you’ll burn out. I’ve seen high earners who are financially rich but emotionally bankrupt.

On the flip side, I’ve seen happy, spiritual people who have no financial direction. You need all six areas in harmony to truly thrive.

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The Power of Goal Setting

So once people identify where they are, what’s next?

The next step is goal setting. Chapter 4 of Think and Grow Rich — on autosuggestion — was the game changer for me. When I got into business 37 years ago, I read that book and went from making $900 a month to $14,000.

That’s amazing. What changed?

It wasn’t me — it was the system. Someone gave me a framework, and I followed it. In my first year, I did 2,200 meetings. They were probably all terrible, but I was consistent.

Chapter 4 of Think and Grow Rich taught me to write down exactly what I wanted, what I’d give in return, and when I’d achieve it. Then I read those goals twice a day — morning and night — when the subconscious mind is most open.

That practice rewired my thinking.

I was living in my grandpa’s basement, making $800 a month, but I set a goal to make $60,000 that month. That was insane. But I read those cards every morning and night — visualized it, felt it, believed it.

My second month, I made $14,000. Then one day, I thought, Why didn’t I set the goal for $100,000? That’s when I realized — the mind truly becomes what you feed it.

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Transforming Your Mindset

That’s incredible. But I know a lot of people who are familiar with that process — they write their goals, read them for a week, and then stop. What separates those who actually create change from those who don’t?

The difference-maker is discipline. Motivation is temporary. Discipline is permanent.

You may not feel like working out today, but discipline says, “Do it anyway.” That’s what builds consistency. Motivation fades; discipline endures.

I kept reading those cards morning and night. That daily ritual transformed my mind. After a few weeks, I wasn’t just reading words anymore — I believed them.

When people came into my office — sharp-dressed sales professionals with attitude — I used to feel intimidated. But after a while, I’d think to myself, Wait a minute. I’m making sixty grand this month.

I didn’t say it out loud, but I carried that energy. That quiet confidence. It rewired how I saw myself, and as a result, how others saw me.

So it’s not just the act of reading cards — it’s the mental transformation that comes from consistent training.

Exactly. The activity trains your subconscious to accept new truths. It’s like strength training for your mind.

When I got that month’s commission check, I didn’t make sixty thousand — I made forty. But you know what my first thought was? Why didn’t I set the goal higher?

That lesson changed me. I realized you fail upward. Every “failure” was a step closer to my potential.

“Motivation is temporary. Discipline is permanent. Don’t wait to feel ready — train your mind until readiness becomes your default.” — Ricky Frank

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Daily Rituals for Success

Let’s shift to daily rituals. We talk about them a lot on The Daily Mastermind. What are the rituals you still do today that have made the biggest impact?

I still use my blue affirmation cards every single day. I’ve written who I see myself as — spiritually, emotionally, physically, financially — and I read those cards morning and night.

I exercise daily — I ride my bike twenty miles and then hit the gym. That keeps me sharp. Physical discipline supports mental discipline.

I love that. And I think it’s important to point out — everyone’s rhythm is different. For me, I’ve found my best focus in the gym. Others may prefer journaling or meditating in the morning. It’s about finding what sparks momentum.

Exactly. The key is consistency. Whatever works for you — do it daily. Don’t just fit it in when convenient.

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Personal and Business Growth

Let’s talk about the balance between personal and business growth. You’ve built companies, coached executives, and run multiple ventures. How do you help people balance both sides?

It’s crucial to realize that business growth follows personal growth.

Over the years, I’ve built and owned multiple companies — cell phone stores, an amusement park, a food business, and of course, my coaching firm. Every one of them succeeded because of the systems and duplication we built — but it all started with leadership growth.

If you develop yourself, your business will reflect it. If you stay stagnant, so will your company.

That’s why I teach daily disciplines. I even run a program called “Leadership Locker Room” where I train executives to treat every day like practice. Each rep matters — every sales call, every decision, every moment.

You don’t get a fifth quarter in football, and you don’t get extra time in life. Make every play count.

That’s so true. And as a leader, your habits become your organization’s habits. You attract who you are.

Exactly. That goes back to James Allen’s As a Man Thinketh. You attract that which you are.

If you’re disciplined, humble, and growth-oriented, you’ll attract others who are the same. Those are the people who build lasting success — not just short-term wins.

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The Importance of Coaching

You’ve worked with countless high achievers. For those who feel stuck — maybe they’re doing well but not growing — what’s the first step to leveling up?

Find a coach.

Find someone who’s been where you want to go — someone who knows more than you and can show you the way.

If you want to be a brain surgeon, you don’t learn from a plumber. If you want to build a seven-figure business, don’t take advice from someone who’s never done it.

Coaches and mentors help you see your blind spots. They hold you accountable, and they accelerate your growth. Even billionaires have coaches.

That’s so true — elite athletes, CEOs, entrepreneurs. Every high performer has guidance.

Exactly. I run several programs — my Rising Achievers Program for those starting their journey, and an Elite Mentor Program for high-level performers. No matter where you are, growth requires accountability.

Accountability is everything. You can make commitments to yourself, but when you have to report back to someone — when you know your coach is going to ask, “Did you make those ten calls this week?” — that pressure drives results.

And that’s an important distinction — not just having an accountability partner, but having one who’s already achieved what you’re aiming for.

Exactly. The right coach doesn’t just tell you what to do — they teach you why and how it matters. They’ve been in the trenches. They’ve failed, learned, and succeeded.

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Connecting and Growing Together

Before we wrap up, where can people connect with you? Because we’ve got some exciting things in the works with our Authority Media Marketing company — training programs, events, and some major collaborations. But if people want to reach out directly, what’s the best way?

You can go to my website, forwardfastnow.com, or find me on Calendly under “Edutainer” or “Ricky Frank.” My phone number and booking link are there.

And let me tell you — when you reach out, you’re not going to get an AI bot or assistant. You get me. I believe in personal connection. Too many big names have become untouchable; that’s not my style.

That’s what I love about you — you’ve got the experience and the energy. You’re real. And I can tell we’re going to be doing a lot more together.

I’d love that. Let’s make it happen.

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Final Thoughts

For everyone listening, do me a favor and share this episode. There are people out there stuck, searching for clarity and growth, and this conversation could be the spark they need. Let’s spread that energy. And like I always say — it’s never too late to start living the life you’re meant to live.

Ricky, I appreciate you being on the show, brother.

Thanks for having me. It’s been awesome.

Alright guys, we’ll talk to you soon. See you tomorrow.

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About George 

George Wright III is a proven, successful entrepreneur and he knows how to inspire entrepreneurs, companies, and individuals to achieve massive results. With more than 20 years of executive management experience and 25 years of direct marketing and sales experience, George is responsible for starting and building several successful multimillion-dollar companies. He started at a very young age to network and build his experience and knowledge of what it takes to become a driven and well-known entrepreneur. George built a multi-million-dollar seminar business, promoting some of the biggest stars and brands in the world. He has accelerated the success and cash flow in each of his ventures through his network of resources and results driven strategies. George is now dedicated to teaching and sharing his Prosperity Principles and strategies to every driven and passionate entrepreneur he meets. His mission is to empower entrepreneurs globally, to create massive change and LIVE their ultimate destiny.

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You have GREATNESS inside you. I BELIEVE in you. Let’s make today the day you unleash your potential!

George Wright III

CEO, The Daily Mastermind | Evolution X

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About Guest: Ricky Frank

Ricky Frank is a dynamic high-performance coach, motivational speaker and entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience helping individuals and organizations unlock their ultimate edge through mindset rewiring, resilience training and disciplined daily practices. Drawing on his athletic background, his real-world business success—achieving extraordinary growth in a company that reached 36,000% growth on the Inc. 500 list—and his dedication to staying coachable and teachable, Ricky has become a sought-after platform speaker and trainer for business leaders, athletes and high achievers worldwide.

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Social Media & Contact Handles

• Website: forwardfastnow.com
• Instagram: @rickyfrank32
• Facebook: Ricky Frank
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricky-frank-61a21a11b

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