How to Create a Winning Life with Bobby Sausalito

In this episode: 

Bobby Sausalito, a comedian, commentator and Internet personality (most notably recognized on Instagram as @takenaps), joins Christina to drop some major words of wisdom. We’ll cover his journey into entrepreneurship, how he went from 1,600 Instagram followers to 40,000 in 7 months and the decisions he made to get to where he is now. Queue the takeaways!! Enjoy!  

Christina Lecuyer’s Bio:

Christina Lecuyer is a former Professional Golfer, a three-time reality television competitor, Confidence + Mindset Coach, Motivational Speaker, and Founder of Women with C.L.A.S.S. Mastermind, as well as Decide It’s Your Turn: Women’s Weekend. Christina’s mission in life is to empower people to fully live in their purpose, confidently and successfully! 

Bobby Sausalito’s Bio:

Bobby Sausalito™ is a comedian, commentator and Internet personality most notably recognized on Instagram as @takenaps. He is a self-proclaimed “loud mouthed New England guido” living in South Florida and making comedy videos about politics, the economy, current events, real estate, roasting, travel and dubious observations.

Bobby has amassed a social media presence of over 60,000 followers and earned over 10 million video views in less than a year. He has been featured on a number of major podcasts including the Real AF Podcast with Andy Frisella, the Dropping Bombs Podcast with Brad Lea and many others. 

Resources and Links:

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating on iTunes and leave us a comment about what you’d like us to talk about that will help you realize that at any moment, any day, you too can decide, it’s your turn!

Full Episode Transcript of How to Create a Winning Life: 

Christina: Y’all welcome back to the Decide It’s Your Turn podcast, I’m super stoked for today’s guest. If you follow, @takenaps on Instagram, I’ve been following him and right after he blew the fuck up due to a political video he did, and you guys know where I kind of stand on all of that, but today’s not about that.

I’ve been following Bobby Sausalito for a few months now, and I love his mindset on everything that he does. He just happens to be very, very funny at the same time. So Bobby, I’m super stoked that you’re here today. Thank you. 

Bobby: My pleasure. Glad to be here.

Christina: Yeah, amazing. So I love your unwavering faith in yourself.

I love your unbelievable belief in yourself. I obviously saw  the video that went viral of yours and I applauded and gave you all of the mad props. But then I was listening to Andy Frisella’s podcast and I was like, “Holy shit. I know that guy I’ve messaged him a little bit.”

And then that’s when I reached out to you, but I had never realized what a mindset you have. And so a couple of the things that we’ll touch on today, because obviously this podcast is all about decision and the power of deciding it’s your turn. But tell me a little bit about yourself. Give the audience an introduction for those who don’t know you.

I don’t know how they wouldn’t, because you’ve actually become this absolute internet sensation, who I just fucking love your videos so much, but tell the audience a little bit about yourself, how you kind of became this internet rock star that you are right now. And we’ll go from there. 

Bobby: Well, that’s a, that’s a tall order.

I mean, when I was 18 years old I realized that I wanted to be an entrepreneur and I didn’t want to work for anybody anymore, ever again. That was kind of always the mission, be autonomous, be as free as possible, do whatever I want for the rest of my life. And I just decided that the internet was at an early stage and I was interested enough in it that that could be my vehicle, that would ultimately take me to the promised land.

So I pretty much figured out that I love graphic design. I love being creative and I liked building websites. So I just isolated that as my task and figured if I start something at 18 years old and do it for the rest of my life, it’ll make me very wealthy, very successful, very free. And it will allow me to do anything that I want in life whenever it comes around, because I could tell very early on that the internet wasn’t going anywhere and that was going to be the vehicle that would take me there. 

So I just focused on building websites, built an online business, built an internet entrepreneurship business based around building websites and doing online marketing, always knowing that somewhere along the way that I’d find the way to focus it on my own magic as opposed to building up everybody else’s businesses. So I did everything from restaurants to authors, to doctors’ offices to nightclubs and event companies and everything in between. I learned about all these businesses, what I liked about them, what I didn’t like about them.

And all along the way, I was just building up my own understanding and way of processing and handling life to be the most that I could be. And I just so happened to get focused on political stuff because I wanted to be financially free and aware of what was happening in the world. I started making some funny videos and the rest is kind of history. 

Christina: Yeah. So for those who don’t know, and I love this because a lot of the people that have followed me have made a decision that they too want to be an entrepreneur or they too want to create their own destiny. And so many people say, oh yeah, easy for Bobby to say, because he has 40,000 followers and he’s been on these big podcasts and all of the things.

But there’s a caveat to that. I would love for you to tell people how that is not the freaking truth. 

Bobby: Yeah. So, what’s not the truth is having the audience in the first place?

Christina: Yeah, the fact that this has been a brand new thing to you, you created content for a really long time before you became relevant.

Bobby: Yeah. So that’s the thing is that what I realized very, very early on was that it’s the best example that I give. The analogy that I usually give is I used to play a lot of video games when I was younger. And I used to play wrestling video games or boxing video games. And your character would have all of these different attributes, like speed, agility, endurance, strength, and a variety of different things.

And what I realized is that in order to be successful, I need to make sure that I’m lifting all of these different attributes consistently over time so that I can seize on an opportunity when it comes. I can’t just be really strong. I can’t just have a lot of endurance. I can’t just have a lot of agility.

I have to have all of them raising at the same time simultaneously so that I can seize opportunities as they kind of present themselves. So I knew that the internet was the answer. I knew that building websites and communicating online was the answer. I just didn’t know what angle or what particular way that it would look.

So I was like, let me beef up my graphic design, my ability to write, my ability to understand and navigate how to grow businesses online, my understanding of how to manage finances, how to manage people, how to manage a team, how to manage my time, how to manage my motivation, how to stay focused, how to navigate through adversity, how to navigate partnerships.

So it’s like all of these different pieces and skills came along the journey of just knowing that I need to focus on a bunch of different things simultaneously and wherever the opportunity is the greatest will present itself when the time is right. So I didn’t say, I’m gonna be an Instagram person.

I just started building up all of these attributes that I knew would ultimately benefit me down the line and turns out each of those little lessons that were learned along the way ended up being extremely crucial when this particular opportunity presented itself as a way to level up.

Christina: Yeah, I love it. So you originally started creating or producing, or I don’t even know what you want to call it, creating social media comedy skits, basically like quick few minute videos when you were building a house in South Florida, is that how this kind of came about? 

Bobby: Yeah. It’s basically the story.

I had an Instagram for many years, I started in 2013 pictures of my dog, pictures of a tree, picture of a river or whatever, just normal stuff. Never really thought much of it. Even though I was an internet person, I never knew how to quite market the entity of me. I knew how to market my web development business and other people’s businesses, but I didn’t know how to apply it to myself.

It’s like, I didn’t know exactly what I was, but my folks and I decided to invest in a spec house, we decided to buy a house, bulldoze it, build one from scratch, with the intent of selling it. And as I saw the house begin, the first thing that I saw was a porta-potty out in front of the lot.

And I was like, that’s hilarious. Why would the first thing be a port-a-potty of all things to bring here? Why would it be that? Because I didn’t know anything about construction, so I just went out one night and just made a little funny video. Like, yo, if you guys need to take a dump, you know, come by, here’s the address, like come drop some heat at my new house.

And people were just DM-ing me at a rate that I had never seen before, you know? 10 DMS. It’s like my friends, my hundred people that I was friends with. And they’re like, this is hilarious. You got to do this again. 

So every day after work, because it was right next door to my house. Every day after work, I would just walk over there and look at what the guys did for the day.

Oh, we got a stick. We got a log. We got a tube over here. Look at this. And I just did it every day for eight months. And the following kind of created itself, but by the time the house was done, I only had like 1200 followers and now the house was built and I had no more content. So it’s like, so I just started talking about political stuff because that’s what I was already focusing on just in life.

Christina: Oh, I love it. So I want the people to understand that this was very organic. This was just you being you, adding some comedic value or adding some value about perhaps even building a spec house. I love it because so many people try to be someone that they’re not, and this is obviously your exact personality.

This is who you are. You’re like, oh my God. There’s a shitter in front of this light. Come on down and people just thought it was funny because that’s who you are. You’re a funny guy. And so you created that. And then all of a sudden you’re like, okay, what else am I going to talk about that I’m super interested in that you have some knowledge and value in, and I love this because you said this on one of the podcasts that I was listening to you on. You said something along the lines of people actually share your content because it’s what they are thinking or it’s what they actually want to know about the situation that most people are afraid to share. 

And I thought it’s so interesting because like that is clickbait really it’s because like, yeah, shit, that’s exactly what I’m thinking, but I am not the person creating the funny video in order to share it so proper. And I love that.

Bobby: Yeah, no, I’ve found that to be true. It’s like as much as I understood about social, you don’t know it till you know it. It’s kind of one of those things that’s an enigma. It’s like not only do you have to practice it, but it also has to work.

And then you have to apply that practice later. What I didn’t realize for the longest time is I thought I knew what people wanted and I thought I had to fit into a spot that was what would take me there, but the thing is, and then ultimately took me there. The thing that was ultimately the best was me just doing whatever I actually wanted to do.

We hear that message, but it doesn’t resonate with us. It couldn’t be that simple. No one cares that I care about making donuts in my kitchen, like who cares about that? But that’s the reality is we’re all these multifaceted people and people really do care about those things a lot. 

And that’s the thing that I’ve kind of learned the most from this is that people are so interested in stuff that you’re already interested in. We don’t even realize it. 

Christina: Exactly. Do you know how many people come to me and say, Oh, well, I’m not that special. There’s nothing-

I’m like, Oh yeah, screw you. That is so special. The person that could actually do that. So many people that wish that they could do that as well. Like you, obviously you’re a great speaker. You know, I have the confidence to jump and talk to anyone. People are like, Oh my gosh, that’s so crazy that you’re able to do that.

I’m like, oh, that’s totally normal, what are you talking about? So I love that you point that out. 

Bobby: And the part about what you were talking about about people not being able to say it is like. What I realized also what I think I mentioned on the other podcasts that you heard is that when someone listens to a song, that’s like they wish that they could say it’s like a greeting card that writes what you wish that you could portray, but you don’t feel like you have the ability.

It’s much easier to say this is how I wish I could represent myself. This is how I wish I could communicate. It’s like when people see information online that they want to share, basically what they’re saying is, is like, this is me saying this, this is because I couldn’t do it any better than this.

And that’s the thing is like, when you listen to a song that you like, or you listen to a rapper that you like, or someone else that you look up to, you’re just saying like, this is me speaking. Me sharing this podcast is me showing you that I’m intelligent enough to know that this is the right thing.

I can’t possibly deliver it as well as this right now, but here, let me kind of co-sign this and be the one that serves it to you. 

It’s like sharing funny memes. When you share a funny meme, it shows that you’re funny enough to recognize that this is funny. You didn’t even have to make it. So it’s like, it becomes yours.

So when I say things, or when you say things that resonate with people, they’re just like, yes, yes. That’s exactly how I would have done it, but here it is in a nice, pretty package. Isn’t this a perfect reflection of me?

Christina: I love that. Do you think this is true? Because I’m listening to you say that, and I’m wondering, do you think in the climate that we live in at the moment, so many people are afraid or don’t have the confidence to be themselves that they have to share other people’s content in order to be like, yes, I believe this, but it’s funny the way he says it’s all, let him say it. 

Bobby: I think it’s a combination of a variety of different things, which is that number one, not everybody is good at communicating.

I make myself to be a student of communication, a linguist, a writer, whatever you want to call a writer. Not everybody has that skill. Not everybody has the ability to speak outwardly number one. So I think that that’s one. 

Some people just lack purely like lack of self-confidence for sure. And then other people just don’t want to be out there. They don’t want to make themselves susceptible to being the target. It’s nice and easy to go into an audience for example, and just sit quietly in the audience and clap and be like, well, I’m funny, I’m at this comedy show, but I don’t want to be up there with everyone looking at me.

It’s like nobody wants to kind of step out and take the shots. So it’s much easier to just kind of stay in the background. I don’t necessarily know that it’s always lack of self-confidence or necessarily fear. It’s just that I think what a lot of people also feel plagued by is doubt.

They doubt that if everyone looks at them that they’ll have the chops to serve up something that’s of the same value as all the other people. When I first started making videos, I thought I would be a business guru, motivational guru and I remember I can’t do this until I have success in business. I can do motivation, but everyone can do motivation.

Everyone can rah rah. So I’m like, I’d rather have some real substance and be like a business guy, but I can’t be a business guy unless I have a successful business. So I started to build that up. But what I realized about political commentary and humor is that it’s subjective. Like the master of that can be anywhere within the scope and still have a valid point. If I’m giving a perspective on a matter, I don’t need 13 years of experience to give a valid perspective on it. Same with humor. I could be a 20 year old comedian, just as well as I could be a 40 year old comedian. Whereas a 20 year old business guru is not the same as a 45 year old business guru. And not that it’s always about age. But a lot of the time it’s about experience. 

So finding that place where I could be relevant and valid and feel that I have enough value to bring when I step out on the stage without feeling doubt that I don’t have enough experience to justify somebody’s time being spent paying attention to me was an interesting bridge that I was able to cross by talking about comedy and political stuff, because I don’t need to have a $10 million a year business to give a relevant opinion on a political matter or say something that’s funny.

Christina: Yeah, I love that. You know, you talked about having the willingness to do that. One thing that I know about you, because I’ve watched your content for a while, is that you have, we’re very similar. This is I think one of the reasons why I was drawn to you. You have unwavering faith that you will be successful and that you are 100% going to leave a massive impact on this planet.

And one thing that I think that successful people do is they have the willingness to be the 1%. They have the willingness. I’ve had a lot of really successful people on this podcast. I had a sports information professional, what he called himself on this podcast. 

And he was willing to take every fucking hit that there is because he 100% knows what it takes to be a 1% in the world. Doing what you do, especially since it’s politically based, you have got to be willing to step in the fire and take a few of those hits. And I think most people are unwilling to reach their highest potential because they’re unwilling to get uncomfortable in the fire.

Do you believe that’s true? 

Bobby: Yeah. I mean, I’ve been focusing a lot in recent years on mindset and understanding that the battle is won internally and lost internally as well. And that self-reliance and that self-awareness has been crucial in my journey to figuring out how I’m going to navigate my way through each individual thing.

I feel like when I reach the kind of absolute truths that I know to be sure I never waiver from them. Cause it’s like you can’t unknow truth, it’s like  reaching the next level of the video game. It’s like, you can’t go back once you see that light. And one thing that I realized along this journey is that, again, the battle is won inside your mind, and it’s lost inside your mind. Number one. 

And number two is that if I were to be great, if I were to be the greatest that I ever could possibly be, I would need to believe that unwaveringly now until forever and be consistently taking action steps to lead myself to that place. There can never be a time where I’m like, well, I don’t know.

Because as soon as I doubt it, everyone else doubts it. It’s the same way in dating, for example, it’s like, if you go in not thinking that you deserve to talk to this person, you’re already out. It’s the same as a business deal, like you walk into a business deal and you have a doubt, they can taste it.

Just seeing it in you. It’s like just a little flicker of your eyelash or a look in the wrong direction or a hesitation in your words. Those cues are very easy to pick on and the most perceptive person that sees and hears what you’re doing, saying, and acting is you.

So it’s like how you think you self defeat or you self elevate. So it’s just like, it’s all in here (taps head). You can control it inside and out. You have to eat all of your failures, but you also get to bask in all of your success because you know that not that you did it alone, but that it was purely your drive that got you there.

And even though obviously there’s assistance from other people and other information, you know that you can take full control of all the loss, and that allows you to take full control of all the wins as well. 

Christina: I love that so much. One thing that you talked about that I’ve heard you talk about is the fact that you literally don’t look at anything as a failure.

Failure is not even a thing to you. Talk about that because I think people in this world, especially are – what other worlds? People in this day and age are so worried about failing. That’s the number one thing. People come to me and want to build their confidence, want to succeed, want to start the business, want to do whatever the hell it is that they want to do.

And so many people are worried about failure, and I’m just like, there is no such thing. It’s all just a lesson. And if you view it like that, you’re not afraid of anything. I’m literally not afraid to fail because I’m like, fuck it. I’m going to fail a million times. That’s how I learn what works.

Bobby: Yeah, no, all of my, all of my greatest advances have come at the heels of great failure. And it’s like, if you’re not failing it means you’re not taking enough risks. I always found listening to successful people in their stories was always so helpful. And you hear a variety of different ways to get to the mountaintop, but there’s a lot of things that are just extremely consistent and failure always seems to be one of them. 

And when I think about all the times that I’ve tried things and failed and the lessons that they taught me, it’s like, you almost want to fail more. I’ve heard this other quote and I don’t want to butcher it right now, but it’s something along the lines of the only failure is in giving up.

And if you’re consistently failing, you’re figuring out what not to do, which means that there’s less things out there that you can fail at because you’re eliminating all the things that could possibly get in the way. All of the greatest successes that I’ve had have come because at a time where there was a decision to go left or right, I knew that I failed going right before, so now I can go left this time and I win that time. 

And then I get further down the line and there’s another crossroads and I have to make a decision. And then it’s like, Oh, I did that in a different iteration way back when, let me avoid that one again.

So now you move at a more expeditious rate through your failures because you can identify commonalities between one failure and the next. So essentially the more failures that you have, the more reference points you have to avoid failure going forward. So it’s just like failure is the prerequisite to success.

The less failures you have, the less success you ultimately will have. 

Christina: Mm. I love that so much. I hope everyone hits that back 15 second button two or three times and relisten to that because it’s so freaking true. And so many people, if you could learn that lesson faster, you would be successful faster. And you’d be much happier too, because you’re so less concerned about what everyone else is doing. 

Do you believe that you’ve always been this way or how have you trained yourself to think this way? Because so many people believe that they can’t learn these things or this isn’t how I was raised or this isn’t what normal people think. I’m just not like those people. 

Have you always been this way or what have you done to train yourself? 

Bobby: I don’t know that I always have. We’re always getting better and I think that one of the things that’s been really kind of crucial is not having a victimhood mentality and not allowing myself to feel sorry for myself. 

And a long time ago, you know, one of the key things, cause I’ve been working from home for 13 years now and you better believe that there’s been a lot of times that I’ve sat here at this very desk and been like, what am I doing? Like a million times. I couldn’t tell you. 

And I’ve had very very good days where I’ve celebrated and there’s no one in here but me and I’ve had very, very bad days where I’m very frustrated and upset where there’s no one in here, but me and a lot of the times to give my parents a lot of credit, they were a sounding board when I had these freakouts and they would oftentimes be on Mondays.

I’d be talking to them on a Monday afternoon. They’d be like Brett, or they’d be like Bobby, it’s Monday. And I’m like, oh like you’re right. So it’s like every Monday I would come in after a long weekend. It’s like my bank account would be a little bit further down. I would work late Sunday night and I’d get in late on Monday and I’d be moving sluggish through the day.

And then by the end of the day, I didn’t make enough money that day. And I’d be frustrated by it. And what they would say is they’re just like, look, just relax, everything is moving along. It doesn’t always have to go up and down every day. So they kind of helped me find that equilibrium where it’s just like, if you don’t have such violent swings up and down, then you’re more in control of how you’re approaching each individual problem.

And then on top of that, I’ve understood over time that my own discipline is the only way that I’m going to get there. And I’ve also realized that like, I constantly think about this one thing, which is if I had a billion dollars, let’s just use that as the number. If I had a billion dollars, what would my day look like?

It’s like, how would I measure success? Now money is, let’s say money’s no object. Right? Cause we always are like, well it’s money. I gotta work harder because of money. I can’t go to the gym because of money. I have to work hard or whatever. I try to think if I was a billionaire, what would my day look like?

How would I, how would I approach this? When I get worked up about this? Would I do yoga? Would I go to the gym more, would I move slower? Would I be relishing in the sunshine or doing whatever I want? And I try to remember that if I can follow that dictate now, the only thing missing is the billion dollars.

It’s like the success is already there. It’s like, I already feel successful. I haven’t had a boss in 13 years. I never could have imagined that I’m here talking to you. And this is me moving my brand – amazing! The success is already there. So it’s not so much about what it will be. It’s about the everyday living of that success is just living a carefree life.

One of my favorite quotes of all time is an unhurried sense of time is in itself a form of wealth. And it’s like, I’m just chilling. Like this is sick. And if I could look back and be like, okay, don’t you remember when you were 34 chilling in Florida, not a care in the world, looking at the beautiful trees, walking the dog in the sunshine, waking up with no alarm clock, talking on a microphone at your computer and making videos for fun.

What a beautiful time, who cares about the billion dollars? I’m already rich, you know, that’s the whole point. 

Christina: Oh, my God, my people are going to be like, no wonder you had this guy on your podcast! We’re so similar, when you’re talking about this, cause I always tell my people that are worried about selling something out in their business or like, will it work?

I’m like, okay, cool. How would you show up today if it was already sold out? Everything that I do, I’m like, fuck, it’s already sold out. Okay. It’s already sold out. How would I show up in my business? How would I show up with my clients? How would I show up with my husband? How would I show up in my life if it was already sold out?

Perfect. I do all of these same exact fucking things, and I would do it without worrying about what’s going to happen if I don’t do it because when you do that, you act different. I don’t have to be worried about things cause I’m like, it’s already sold out. I’m the person who sells out everything.

Of course it’s going to work out like this is all gravy. I used to play professional golf and in the beginning of my career, I was always like, okay, I have to be hustling. I have to be hustling. I have to make this work. And I think that there’s a season for that. Right.

I love when I asked you to do this podcast, you’re like, yep, absolutely. And maybe this is just my interpretation, but I think in the beginning you have to say yes to everything. 

I heard Jesse Itzler say that one time in the beginning, you say yes to everything, and then you earn the ability to say no. And I love that, but for me it was like, how do I want to create my life? I want a life that I love, not just a business that I love. I want to be able to go and have a glass of wine at 12 o’clock on a Wednesday if I choose to. You know what I mean? I want to be able to play my old man money games at my country club once a week. Cause that brings me so much fucking joy. 

I understand that sometimes I have to work until two o’clock on a Saturday, but I do that because I show up as the best version of myself. And so I love, love, love, love, love that you said that. 

This is kind of like turning a page here, but one thing that I think I even learned from you when you were talking about this, and I think I could even do a better job from it, is on your social media, which you hang out mostly on Instagram. That’s where I hang out as well. You went viral basically overnight. You went from, what did you say? Like 1600 followers to like 40,000 followers or something like that?

Bobby: Yeah. It was the first, the first day where I had 1100 or 1200 was on August 20th and today is March 18th.

So it’s been about seven months to over 40,000.

Christina: Yeah, that’s incredible. And one thing that, you know, I think even Brad Lee out on his podcast, which is, uh, you know, obviously Brad’s very, very successful, but one thing he was kind of grinding at you about was, well, how are you monetizing this?

How are you monetizing this? Which by the way, Bobby has. If you are in the political spectrum of wanting funny ass merchandise, Bobbysauce.com has some of the craziest funniest stuff ever. But one of the things that you talked about was you listened to your people. And so often when I’m helping people start their businesses, I always say like, what do your people want?

Not what do you want to give them? But what do they want? They always give you the feedback of what they want. And I think what you said is all I do is put out content super consistently and keep adding value and it’s going to figure itself out. And I want everyone to understand that time and time again, because so many people feel like they have to be pressuring or selling things, but you’re like, you’re doing the exact opposite.

You’re like, I’m just being consistent as fuck and adding value and people telling me exactly what they want to buy from me. 

Bobby: Yep. Yeah, exactly. And the thing is too, is that I’m very receptive to the social cues and in business, I’ve always kind of subscribed to the idea where it’s just like, I know best because I have experience and therefore they will buy it because I know that it will work.

Whereas in this particular iteration, this particular project, I’ve been very, very receptive to the social cues and listening to what people are saying. I don’t allow it to dictate where I go all of the time. I’m not going to just waver at any moment because of one opinion or the other. But I try to keep a pulse to it, which videos are getting more views, which ones get more comments, which do people share more frequently.

And I try to adjust based on those things so that I’m always giving them what they want and what they want to consume while not wavering away from what I want to do anyways. So it’s like this delicate balance where you can’t be entirely dictated by them. But you also don’t want to entirely be dictated by just your own, your own mindset.

So it’s like finding that balance has been key and I’ve been much more receptive to the social cues with this project than any project that I’ve done in the past. 

Christina: Yeah. I love it. And one thing that I think that you do super, super well that I believe I’ve done well over the years, it’s my Instagram bubble, you know, the story bubble? It’s never gone dark in four years.

So like in four years, I have never not posted a story and I am super fucking proud of that. I even climbed Kilimanjaro and I made sure my team had like, literally when I had no internet, I made sure that they were going to post something, even if it was like two stories a day. 

But my consistency, like people think that there’s some fucking secret or some shit. Right? And I’m like, no, no, no, no. Let me tell you my biggest secret is the fact that I am unbelievably consistent. People have faith in me. Even during the pandemic, my business exploded during the pandemic. And I think one of the reasons why is number one, I was the person who’s like this will 100% help me, not hurt me. I will 100% thrive during this time when everyone else was like watching Netflix, I was like, fuck you. I’m going to lap people right now. But that was, and I’ve always been in the mindset of this is not even a thing. I am totally fine. Life is now. I’m not going to let one day be wasted to kind of put a pause button on life.

This is now. But I think even during that time, people were begging for something to be consistent. They were begging for some sort of safety, because everything was so all over the place. Right. And if I showed up every single day, and I think that this is something that you were talking about.

If I showed up every single day as the highest version of myself, if I showed up every single day as the business owner who doesn’t waver, who doesn’t have a bad day, and it’s not saying that I’m like fucking not pissed off about 90% of the shit, but I show up as the highest version of myself, what does that person look like on a daily basis?

So the people that need me can 100% know that person. I know her. She is going to be here today. She’s going to have the exact same mindset and she’s going to show up that way. And I think that that is something that you have done really, really well over the last seven months is you post your video every single day and your people know that they can count on you.

Even if it isn’t the greatest video of the day, they know that that video is going to be up there and there’s so much to say about that, that people just don’t understand. 

Bobby: Yeah. Yeah. Like the way that I look at it is, there’s so many parallels in life, but if you can rely on something, if there’s a reliance, it becomes a habit.

And if something can become a habit, especially something that has some type of business connection or any connection for that matter, if you can get something to a habit level, then it’s like, I don’t just rely on it. It’s like, I need it. I expect it. It’s almost an addiction. I love that feeling where I watched the same show every Monday.

And I know that every Monday it’s there. It was some holiday on Monday so they didn’t have one this week. You’re like, Oh!! You sat down with your dinner or whatever and you’re like on the couch ready for it. And it’s not there.

And that feeling it’s like withdrawal. It’s like, you don’t have that habit. So I was just like, if I could just find a way to set myself up to something that I could reliably produce at a consistent rate. It wouldn’t necessarily matter all of the fluff around it so long as it had that reliable consistency and like, doesn’t have to be perfect.

It doesn’t have to be long. It doesn’t have to be well-produced. It doesn’t have to have perfect lighting. It doesn’t have to have all those things. It just has to be good quality me consistently so that I can rely on it so that it becomes so that they can rely on it. It becomes a habit. And then they become addicted to it.

And that’s the thing, if you can have an addictive product and addictive business and addictive personality and addictive flow of content, you can create that reliance. And then people really need it and if they need it, then it’s like, without it, you’re losing them. 

So if we could only build any business that has that type of reliance, it seems to me like you have kind of unlimited upside for success because if anybody could have that feeling, then in theory, many, many, many people could have that feeling.

Christina: I love it. One thing that you said was the fact that like, we literally live in one of the greatest times of existence like a hundred million percent. Like we literally can create a video that could go viral across the world, which you’ve done, at any moment in time, completely free from the frickin comfort of your chair in your house in Florida in the middle of a pandemic.

You know what I mean? Like it’s just one of the greatest times ever, you know? And I think something too that’s really to be said here is like, I know that there’s a ton of people that are like, look at me or look at my guests or whomever it is and be like, Oh yeah, that’s easy for you to say it. Or, you know, whatever it is.

I think something that people hopefully eventually understand is that there is no difference between me, you, Brad, Andy, all of them. The only difference is that we literally started and took action and just kept going. Like there’s no fucking difference whatsoever. It’s just your willingness to keep going and take the action and have the unwavering faith.

That’s really what it is too. It’s like, there is no way in hell I am going to fail because there’s no way in hell I quit. 

Bobby: Exactly. That’s the thing is like, it’s like whenever you are online, I think one of the things that always holds a lot of people back from online is like episode one and people see like episode 703, and you’re like, yeah, like, how am I gonna get there?

And I think another misconception that people have is they’re like, well, if I get to episode 703, then I’m going to have what this guy had at episode 703, which is incorrect, is like, just like you said, it’s just like the ability to not have an end point and just say, this is what my flow is going to be.

Think about this. Here’s another thing to kind of really think about is like, think about people that are so successful that do things that they don’t need to do for no reason. And like, I’m not gonna idolize Warren Buffet, but let’s just use Warren Buffet as an example. Like this guy does not need to go to work.

This dude is plenty, plenty beyond needing to do that. He’s got plenty of money. He’s older. The guy will probably die the day after, you know, he’ll probably have been at work the day before. So the thing to remember is that like, what is success? What is success to you? Are you doing a job?

Because here’s the thing. If you have this idea that you are looking forward to some type of retirement moment, then you’re probably not doing the right thing. It’s like, there is no retirement. This is just like what I want to do. And the things like that, like Brad and Andy and people like that and people that are tremendously successful, like Andy could retire tomorrow, and he’s not. And you know, I don’t want to speak for him, but I don’t think that he’s doing it just so we could get another car or buy a bigger house or whatever. It’s just like, that’s how this guy thinks. He’s like, I want to do better.

I want to help more people. I want to see how far I can go. How successful could I be and how much output could I create? What indelible mark could I leave? What legacy could I leave? What relationships could I create? It’s all part of the same thing. It’s like, what is success? And if you’re doing something that you’re enjoying purely, then there is no end point.

It’s just like, this is just your way of life. And if that is your way of life, then there’s no ending. It’s not work. Yeah, there’s struggles, but there’s struggles with everything. I don’t want to go to the gym every day, but I go to the gym. It makes me feel better. Some days are good. Some days are bad.

It’s the same with work. It doesn’t have to be, it doesn’t have to be rainbows and ice cream every day, but it’s like, as long as you’re just generally living your life and you feel that this is kind of like your highest purpose and it has both challenges, successes, and failures that it’s just like, you are winning.

This is the now. This is the win. This is success. We’re already there. And whether you have a dollar or a million dollars or $10 million or whatever, it’s like as long as you’re healthy, alive, and generally moving forward towards your personal legend, then you’re winning.

Christina: Oh, I love it so much. It’s so freaking good. You know, you can tell me if we don’t want to go there, but I think so many people would probably look at you and your videos and your Instagram and your product and be like, this guy is fucking rolling in cash.

He is literally baller right now. But what I, the reason why I want to kind of mention this is because I think so many people believe that. Unless, they knew how to monetize it. They wouldn’t even begin to start. And I think you like so many people, well, how the fuck is it going to monetize? I have no fucking clue in the beginning sometimes how it’s going to monetize.

But I do know for a fact that if you just started showing up and doing it, adding a ton of fucking value at some point in time, there is going to be a point in which you go, people are asking for that and are willing to pay for that. That’s interesting. Maybe we’ll try that and then you can pivot and you can do it again, like for instance, your merchandise, Bobbysauce.com.

Your merchandise is awesome. Do I believe you’re going to be selling merchandise forever? Perhaps not, you know, like Sean Whalen, he’s obviously created like, um, Oh, my gosh, what is it? 

Bobby: Lions, Not Sheep. 

Christina: Lions, Not Sheep. You know, that’s exactly how he’s taken his brand right now. And he monetizes his merchandise.

That’s kind of like his main business and he’s going to make millions on it. But I remember when I first started to my whole hashtag was #WorthyAF, worthy as fuck. You are just worthy. Right. And I started doing it and that was before dropship and all of the things and it was just such a hassle at this point in time.

That’s just not what I’m willing to do. But at the time that was what I was willing to do because I knew it was going to monetize. My people were asking for the merchandise. So that’s what I was willing to do. So, so when you started this, you were like, Oh, I’m going to become an influencer and make fuck tons of money doing this.

I’m assuming that’s not how this all started.

Bobby: No, it’s not. And I mean, this is the thing, is that money is money is an instrument that allows you to do more things. And my mindset has a focus on money because I have to, we all have to figure out ways to monetize things, but it’s not like I just woke up and I was like, how can I squeeze the most money out of this every single day, all the time?

I understand the long game. And I understand that there is a vast variety of ways to extract value out of something that doesn’t necessarily have to be clear at the very beginning throughout the journey. Now, what I will say to counter that is that if I did not make the right strategic investments and build up the right strategic assets over the course of the last 13 years, I wouldn’t have the ability financially to do this project with the veracity that I have.

It’s because I made the right strategic investments in the last 13 years that I’ve had the financial ability to do this. This project doesn’t make me enough money, that I could just do it full time, but I’m doing it full-time because I believe and understand that it will, it could, and it should. 

And on top of all that, I play the long game. I understand that if I did this three years from now, five years from now that it’s going to grow exponentially and in the same way on the internet when content grows, it often goes like this: 

Graph by GraphPad

And then in the last part, you multiply 10 times X in that last little piece and if you’re consistently good and growing, it has the ability to continue on that velocity going forward. If you look at things like stocks, like you look at like Facebook stock, let’s use Facebook stock as an example. I buy Facebook stock at $40, $70, $100. If you look at the chart, it goes up in that last piece.

In that last 10 to 20% is when it has the most double-down growth. If I had a penny every day and I doubled it for 30 days, how much money would I have? The point is, if we understand that you can continue on that chart, when Facebook was $100 a share, the chart looked the same.

Now at $200 a share or $240 a share the chart still follows a similar trajectory where the multiplication comes towards the end. So I understand the long game of this project, like many others where I’m just like, if I’m gaining followers, if I’m gaining exposure, if I’m making one more dollar today than I did yesterday, or one more penny than I did yesterday that the trajectory will follow me there.

And on top of it, I’m enjoying it. If I was hating it, I surely I certainly wouldn’t be as patient, but at the same time, I’m also still not losing sight of the fact that I need to pay attention to money. I invest in websites. I buy cash flowing websites. It’s something that I do. It takes my attention away from making videos, because I have to focus on these investments.

I just made one about three weeks ago. And I spent all day that I would have spent making videos working on and massaging this investment in getting it going. So it’s like, I don’t have a one track mind. I make sure that I have multiple buckets and multiple income streams, but I understand the long term value of this.

So I’m investing my time into it because I understand the upside potential of it later. 

It is always very important to have an idea of where your income streams are going to come from, diversify them and make sure that you have some type of income trajectory in mind. That has been crucial for me because my investments are the reason I’ve been able to invest so much time into this.

Christina: Yeah, I love it so much. And you know, you do it because you love it and you do it because it’s something that’s interesting to you and you do it because people are enjoying it. And also too, because you know, if you play the long game, it is going to monetize. There is no doubt about it. Where do you see yourself in the next couple years?

Bobby: Well, I think that of all the projects that I’ve ever had, I’ve always kind of had a general idea of where I could go, but wasn’t really sure what it would look like. And I always thought that it would be vastly different than where I was at that time. 

When I was building websites, I’m like, I’m here building websites, but I don’t just want to always build websites. If I was to advance myself three years from now, I think I would kind of largely be doing exactly what I’m doing right now, which is to produce fun videos, invest in internet assets like I’ve been doing, go on podcasts and talk, meet with people, enjoy different social situations with people that I would refer to be as like “hitters”, people that execute at a high level. Meet more of them, hang out with more of them, reach more people, touch more people, have more influence and continue doing kind of like what I’m doing already.

I know that because I’m playing the long game and because I’m having fun doing it, that opportunities will present themselves. And there’s any number of directions that will make sense at any point. It could be broadcast media. It could be video, it could be commercial, it could be skit. It could be enhanced YouTube.

It could be a live event. It could be public speaking. It could be a book. I mean, it could be any variety of things, but I think that it will look fairly similar to what I’m doing now, but with a higher production value. 

If you look at the first podcast by Joe Rogan, or if you look at the first episode of the Ben Shapiro show or whatever else, everybody starts with a crap mic in a crap room with a crap light, and then they get a better mic and then they get a better computer and a better screen, and they get in better shape and in a better environment and studio, it all is just continued investment.

It’s like, I’m always just picking off a nugget, trying to move. My dad has this amazing quote, where he says the cumulative effect of moving several inches a day, every day is far greater than moving several feet at a time, once in a while. So all I try to do is just make sure I move a couple inches every day.

Try to make sure that I’m taking care of myself, that I’m focused on living life and not losing sight of what’s really important. I’m having fun doing it. My bank account is going up and not going down. I don’t need to propel myself to this ultra millionaire status. I don’t need an inground pool or a hot tub right now, as much as I want one. I’m playing the long game and I’m having fun doing it.

All of these things will work themselves out so long as I stay focused, so long as I’m enjoying it. And most importantly, above all things that I just remain healthy. I mean, that is the primary objective that as I get older in life, I realized that like, that must and has to be the number one priority all the time and without it all things, all things fail. 

Christina: I love that so much. It’s so true. You know, it’s interesting. The one thing I had a disagreement about with you when I was listening to a couple of your podcasts, there was one thing I was like, Oh, I don’t agree with that. I don’t know. Oh, well there’s gotta be something.

It’s the fact that you said, you know, I only need me, you were like, I could only rely on me. I take care of me, me, me, me, me. And one thing that I believe is true is you are who you surround yourself with. And I, 100% believe I am where I am now and constantly progressing because of the people that I surround myself with.

I literally want to be only around people who literally make me want to fucking float when I’m done talking with them, when I’m done hanging around with them. I pay for my friends, I’ve done podcasts on this. I talk about, I pay for my friends, mentors, coaches, being in masterminds, being around people who literally propel me to being better.

And so you kind of mentioned that there, but I heard you before say like, I only need me. I don’t need to be around other people. 

Bobby: Well, I think that, I think that’s kind of like a lost in translation interpretation. What I mean by that is that I don’t want to dismiss my ability to be happy to anyone other than myself.

The way that I kind of see it is like, when you enter the world and when you come out of the world, it’s just you, when you die, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but it’s pretty much probably going to be me. I’m just going to be there, dead. Right. 

So what I meant by that is that we have to come into life at a hundred percent and everything else needs to bring us above 100. We need to have all of those other external things brim us out as opposed to fill us up. 

And I don’t want to come into a situation at 94 or 93 and say, I need my spouse. I need my friend. I need my mentor to fill that other 5% that’s missing. I want to come in at a 100% and have other people be in addition to. So what I mean by that is that I don’t want to dismiss any responsibility for being the best, loving life, being happy to anyone other than myself, because I think that it allows us to associate blame to something external. Like, well, if I only had X, if I only had this, I don’t have enough mentors. I don’t have enough of whatever. It’s like this thinking of not enough. 

So what I mean by that is like, is that right? If I can self-contain and you could put me in an empty field alone by myself, could I survive or would I just die?Because I don’t have the right things around me, you know? And that’s kind of what I mean is that level of discipline, it’s almost like a Buddha. It’s like to have that level of discipline where you could just be, to me, is something that I aspire to. Because friends are going to come and go, a spouse could come and go, a relationship could come and go.

My parents are not going to be around my entire life, whether I want to admit it or not, maybe they will, maybe they won’t, but it’s like, we don’t know. The only thing that we can truly rely on is ourselves. And I think that it’s just really important to remember that we have to come in at a hundred and all these other things should be in addition to that.

Okay. Create a brimming upside outside of it. Not that I’m just going to like cavalier through life alone forever, you know? 

Christina: Well, I actually love that. And it’s good. I love that. I do believe that I am better because of those who I surround myself with. But I also think too, that you’re right. I’m just fine by myself to be good with that.

Yeah. I’m very good with that. I actually said that. So I’ve been with my husband for 17 years and I did a video one time and I talked about like, I literally believe I have one of the greatest marriages because we’ve worked our asses off for it. But I said like, as much as I would absolutely feel like the world is over, I also know too that the world would not be over and I would be okay. 

Like as weird as that sounds to say, because like, God forbid it ever happened, but at the same time too, I actually believe that somewhere inside of me, I would be able to figure it out. So I actually understand what you’re saying.

Very good. Since I do have a lot of female followers, do you have a girlfriend? 

Bobby: I do not at the moment. No. 

Christina: Okay, folks, just so we know – ladies – @takenaps, Bobby Sausalito, let’s be real. He’s a pretty good catch right here. I will have to say, you know, just throwing that out there for you perhaps. Maybe you don’t want me to, but I just did it anyway.

Bobby: Sure did!

Christina: That’s me! Alright. My last and final question, because I have just absolutely loved this podcast so much. I ask everyone this, what is one decision you were afraid to make that once you finally made it, it ended up better than you expected, or if it was a bad decision, what lesson did you learn?

Bobby: Well, I think that. There’s kind of two of them, two major decisions. One was, I originally grew up in Connecticut and I was born there. I lived my entire life there and my social circle was there. And my family was there. 

Everything that I had ever known was in Connecticut. But I decided to move to Florida without any job, any friends, any direction. I just moved to Florida because I knew that that’s what I needed to do in order to live the life I wanted to live, the weather was bumming me out and it was very scary. It’s like I only have so much money. I don’t have a job. I’m running my web design business, but it’s not location based.

I’m purely going raw into the darkness. I had only been to Florida, I think one time in my life before. And I’d never been to South Florida where I ultimately wanted to live. I took a one flight down there for a couple of days, just to make sure and I literally packed up my car, everything I could fit and just moved here.

And the decision to step out of my comfort zone and take on what at the time was the ultimate challenge. Like no job, no friends, everything I ever knew left behind. No family, no connections, not a single thing. Could I build a foundation here from scratch? It was like, it’s like starting a business.

It’s extremely scary, but was probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life. I love my life here. I’ve been so happy here. I go to the beach all the time. 

My folks ended up moving down here, which is amazing. It’s sunny every day. I absolutely love it. So that was one of the greatest decisions I ever made in my life was to take a complete step out of my comfort zone, socially, business, everything I had ever known. That was extremely crucial. 

And I think that the other decision was the decision to just be an entrepreneur. When I had my last job, I remember just thinking to myself, like you have to make a promise, no boss ever again.

And if you make this promise that if you don’t execute on it, you fail. I’ll die before I let this happen. I’ll sell the shirt off my back. And when I say that, I really mean that. And I know that you know that I mean that cause you say the same things to yourself.

It’s like if I was sitting here and all I had left was the shirt on my back or going and getting a job and going against that internal promise. It’s like, I’d sell the shirt off my back. And when I say get a job, I don’t mean go find ways to make money through other conduits. 

What I mean is saying, all right, that’s it. Nine to five or full-time or whatever I’m going to do. Part-time, side job, all those things to keep your operation afloat, sure. But I just mean like fully saying, I’m going to dedicate the primary majority of my time to focusing on someone else’s ability to make money instead of my own.

So that decision was another crucial moment where it was just like the line in the sand. It’s like, if you mess this up, you broke your own promise was kind of the idea. And not that I would jump off a bridge if I had to, if everything went to hell, it’s like, whatever, but it’s just kind of making that mental note to be like, this is your challenge.

Could you do this forever? So I think both of those two decisions were extremely crucial and on top of it, it’s like throughout the rest of my life, I can tell that story. And at that moment I knew that too, because I was like, if this works, cause it will work cause I know it’ll work cause I won’t let it not work.

I could look back in the story of life and I could say chapter 13, move to Florida without a plan, no job, no money, no prospects, no friends. And made it work. Succeeded, lived the best life ever. Chapter 8, decided to be on tour. 

It’s like if you can almost look at how the story will unfold and look at the decision you’re making now and think about where it is positioned in the book of your life looking back, it’s like if there’s a good story to tell, and if it is this monumental moment that deserves its own new chapter. 

You should probably do that thing. And that’s the thing that I kind of think about when I make decisions going forward is like, did that fit into the chapter? Did it make it into the book?

Did that decision go in the book or not? And I try to make decisions looking forward with that mentality. 

Christina: Oh my gosh. That is just an absolute, fantastic place to end you guys. I know you absolutely took so many decisions and so many takeaways from this episode, be sure to take a screenshot of this.

Put it up on your Instagram tag, Bobby and I will be sure to share it, share this with your friends, because there’s someone listening that needs to hear this, that needs to be told that they can step out and create their own chapter, their own books. So, Bobby, thank you so much. This is so fun.

Bobby: Yeah, my pleasure. I appreciate it. And I appreciate you. And I always say, I appreciate everybody’s precious time. The fact that somebody would invest even just a few minutes of their time to listen to what I have to say and what you have to say, I think is a beautiful thing. We have limited time on this earth, so I appreciate everybody that’s taking the time to listen to what I have to say and to you and to everybody.

And I hope that it gave them some value. 

Christina: Yeah, absolutely. Time is the most valuable asset on the planet by far. No questions. You guys, Bobby Sausalito, @takenaps. Be sure to snap this, tag us. And thanks for listening.