Doing the Work with Rob Dube

george grombacher 0:02
Rob Dube is the co founder of image one. He’s an author. He’s a speaker. He is the visionary of the 10 disciplines for managing and maximizing your energy. Welcome to the show. Rob.

Rob Dube 0:13
George. Thanks for having me. I’m so grateful to be with you today. Good morning.

george grombacher 0:17
Good morning. I’m excited to have you on. Tell us a little about your personal lives more about your work. And what motivated you to put pen to paper for the book.

Rob Dube 0:26
Yeah, thank you. Well, thank you for asking about my personal life. I’m married 33 years. I have two kids. I live in Michigan, they live in New York City, it breaks my heart that they left us. And hopefully one day, they’ll come back to the nest, but they’re happy. And that’s all that matters, I think. Sure. So. But yes, thank you for asking. On the business front, thank you for sharing a little bit about my bio there. And yes, I been an entrepreneur since the age of 14, I started sewing Blow Pop lollipops out of my walker with my best friend, buy them for a nickel, sell them for a quarter great margins, easy business. We loved it. So that entrepreneurial bug bit us early, we had all sorts of businesses through high school and college. And we started our first business that you mentioned image one in 1991, right out of college out of our basement, and we grew the company sold it once bought it back in the middle there. And the two of us still own it today. But we don’t run it we have a CEO who runs it we sit in on the board of directors and an owner’s box is as you might refer to it as, and somebody’s much more capable than us is taking it to hopefully new heights. And so I spend my time as visionary of the 10 disciplines, which is a coaching program that helps driven entrepreneurs and leaders free their true selves. And so we could talk a little bit about that as we go along here.

george grombacher 1:57
Yeah, I appreciate that. You You are the beneficiary of some really, really long quality relationships.

Rob Dube 2:05
Yeah, yeah, thank you for asking. Way back in maybe a little over 20 years ago, when my business partner and I were running into one tripping over ourselves, we had the great fortune to meet a guy named Gino Wickman. Very well known for Eos, also known for the book traction. At that time, he was just starting this business where he was going to help entrepreneurs gain control of their businesses. And although I was skeptical, we brought him in. And he really, really helped us gain control as he says he would do. And along the way, the two of us struck up a very deep friendship, we would meet, you know, every year many times a year at Starbucks and just talk about life, not about business. And fast forward over 20 years later, the two of us teamed up and wrote a book together called shine. And we’re bringing this message of doing inner work for leaders and entrepreneurs to the world.

george grombacher 3:12
I love it. And when I mentioned you were the beneficiary great relationships, I was really referring to your wife, 33 years and then and then your founding partner, but turns out turns out there’s three, probably even more

Rob Dube 3:25
than that. And those two are true as well.

george grombacher 3:29
So there’s, there’s got to be something there, right? Because we have a hard time figuring ourselves out. But your evidence that to have I have to imagine that when you got to the point you’re like, oh, you know, I think I’ve got a lot to offer talking about this inner work that you probably perhaps do that innately because you have these great relationships or, or maybe you’re extremely thoughtful and mindful.

Rob Dube 3:53
Yeah, thank you for that. Yeah. So you know, just to circle back to the relationships. And I love that you brought that up, and I appreciate it. You know, my best friend Joel Perlman, and I, you know, we’re brothers by another mother, I’m sure many out there listening can relate, you might have one of those on your of your own. But when we started our business together, you know, the first thing that we decided was going to be most important for us was that we would always be open, honest and vulnerable and how we even thought of that when we were 21 I have no idea. But business would always come second. You know, we wanted to make sure that we supported each other in our life’s journey. And so, you know, if the business had to slow down, or we needed to have more income coming out of it for different reasons, you know, we were always always going to support each other first, and that was really helpful. You know, I had experienced a great deal of trauma and abuse growing up. And so as I was into my early 20s You know, I was really struggling and my wife was just a rock for me. But I knew I just wasn’t a great business partner or a great husband. And I wanted to be better intuitively, I knew something was not right. And so went, you know what? I went to Joel. And I said, God, you know, I need help. I don’t know what to do. And he just said, Hey, have you ever thought of talking to a therapist? Now, that was, you know, 30 years ago, and back then wasn’t quite as common as it is today. Thank goodness, it’s common today. But, you know, that was kind of the first step that I took into understanding who I was, and what was going on inside of me to help really release a lot of the blocks that that I had, from, you know, many of the circumstances growing up.

george grombacher 5:51
I really resonate with everything you just said. And it is impressive and mildly surprising that that early 20 year old people were talking about being open and honest and vulnerable, but credit you for that, and your business partner for that and to recognize that you’ve had trauma in your life, which I think the vast majority of us have. Do you think that the key there was that you wanted to be better?

Rob Dube 6:18
I think it certainly helped. But you know, what’s interesting is I was in pain, and it hurt, you know, and I was depressed. You know, I had OCD, I was always anxious about everything. And that’s just a very challenging life to live. And, you know, I didn’t want to go too dark. And I was very concerned about it. And of course, that manifests into my relationships with the people closest to me. And I just somehow knew I could be better. And I needed to somehow find some light in there. And, you know, I think that was a big driver for me, was just to kind of get out of that pain.

george grombacher 7:03
Was it with with the 10 disciplines helping people to find their true self? Yeah. For lack of a better term, were you worried that this is going to be too squishy or too soft? For for entrepreneurs?

Rob Dube 7:19
Yes, I well, I shouldn’t say I was worried. I know it’s going to be actually, yeah, yeah. And Gino. And I even in writing the book, we said, you know, this isn’t going to be for everybody. But you know, sometimes, much like Gino was when he created Eos, and wrote the book traction, sometimes we’re people are a little ahead of the game. And I truly believe that we are here. And the response to the book. And the work that we’re doing has been tremendous. That said, you know, in talks that we give, you know, sometimes there’s some, there’s a good percentage of people in the room, that it just doesn’t resonate with right now. And that’s okay. Like, you know, everybody’s on their journey. And, you know, some people will feel connected to this and, you know, really want they desire inner peace at a different level. And I think that’s the people that are going to be drawn to the work we’re doing. Yeah,

george grombacher 8:18
I respect and appreciate that. You talk about this is, a lot of this is designed for folks that are really driven. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Rob Dube 8:29
Yeah, for sure. So you know, if you are an entrepreneur, so sole practitioner, if you’re a leader of a company, or leading a team, you know, or that sort of thing you’re driven. And that means you are in a small category, in this world. There’s over a billion people, human beings on this earth, and they’re not all driven. I mean, look around you, you can tell that most people aren’t driven actually. So it’s important to recognize that. And the next thing that’s important to recognize is that it’s a blessing. And it’s a curse. And, you know, for those that are driven, there’s sort of a badge of honor that can go along with that, you know, a lot of people look at really successful people, and they’re impressed. And that is sometimes one of the things that drives us for whatever reason, we want recognition, maybe we didn’t get that at a certain point in our life. And now we want it. And we see that when we work hard and good things happen. We get that recognition. Sometimes we think we’re going after financial freedom, or things or experiences and things of that nature. But we all know that at the end of the day that those things don’t make us happy. So, you know, how can we manage this driven nature that we have? Well, we have to understand the part of it That’s the actual curse. Because we have this superhuman stamina, this resilience, this strength that most people don’t have, we have the ability to continually get knocked down and pop right back up, like, like nothing happened. And what that does is it can damage not only ourselves, but the people around us. It can lead us to burnout, and it can lead lead us to burn out the people around us, because we’re just going so fast, and they don’t understand it. I can’t tell you how many driven people I bet around whose significant others or you know, really important people to them in their lives, ask them like, when are you going to slow down? And they don’t have an answer to that like never What do you mean, I’m not even going fast, I don’t understand. I like to equate it to running a race. So if you’re running and you’re ahead of people, and you’re looking back, and they’re back, they’re huffing and puffing. And for you, it’s not that challenging. You’re saying, Come on, come on, hurry up, catch up, catch up, and they’re back. They’re saying Slow down, slow down, don’t I don’t want to catch up, I need you to slow down. So that’s the curse. And so it’s important that we don’t wreak havoc on the people around us. But still us are driven to make a huge impact in the world. And so that’s what we teach in our book and in our courses is how to how to go about doing that. So how do you do it. So it all starts with a strong foundation or framework in your life. And that’s what the 10 disciplines teach. These are 10 things, ways that you will live your life that will bring you absolute clarity on the decisions that you make in your life, they will provide you with something that you give up freely, which is your greatest asset called time, we spend more time focusing on our bank balances and managing that than we do managing the the one thing that we have great control over but give up very easily, which is that time. And when you get your time back, you have to use it really wisely. It allows you to be fully present with the people around you. It provides you with a clear mind to recognize the types of decisions that you’re making, the feelings that you have the emotions that are going on inside of you, and the thoughts that are swirling around. And when you have awareness of those, you’re able to work on what’s happening there, and make changes in your life show up in that moment between stimulus and response, which for us is a millisecond didn’t show up as a better human being a better leader, a better spouse, a better, you know, husband, a better father or, or mother, you know, a better person in your community. That’s really what it’s all about. And when you’re able to do that, from a business standpoint, you’re going to be more successful. Because you’re just so clear about how you’re using your time you do the things that matter most the things that you know are going to make the most impact in you stop allowing your boundaries to blur, which happens all the time with all of us. We say yes to everything. And it sucks our time and drains our energy. And so we have to get really good. And that’s what the 10 disciplines do. They help you understand yourself better get really clear, and then create those strong boundaries in not let them blur.

george grombacher 14:11
I love it. I have this image of a mind of, of Luke Skywalker going to visit Yoda wherever that was, and it’s the hero’s journey. Have you got this immense power? But if we don’t harness it and control it, then it could destroy everything.

Rob Dube 14:25
Yeah, you’re right on to George. I love it.

george grombacher 14:31
And I bet talking about you wanted to be better and that was a motivator driver and you were in pain. How do I know if this is something that that I how do I know? Because if my resting, it could just be that I am in pain and I don’t even realize it?

Rob Dube 14:46
Yeah, we have an assessment. Once you know it, you can go to the 10 disciplines.com and right on the page, you’ll see take the assessment and there’s 20 questions it will take you three to five minutes It’ll give you a sense of where you’re at with the framework in your life that creates the time and the calmness or space in your mind. And then how close you are to freeing your true self. And once you have that assessment, you can start paying attention to the different questions where you answered on the lower side, and you can shine light on those areas of your life, to work to improve them. And we encourage people to take the assessment every 90 days, because it’s unlikely you’ll ever be at 100, that means you’re enlightened. And most of us are not going to ever be enlightened. And that’s okay. And in life ebbs and flows. So what’s great is just having a resource or a tool in our toolbox, where we can see oh, wow, I’m off track with that. Let me refocus over there, shine that light, get back on track, and that creates inner peace.

george grombacher 16:01
I think that that is it’s such an important thing to be revisiting every 90 days and to be checking in, I look at that I am I am a little bit closer. Because I have to work just for me personally, I’ve heard the phrase, oh, I’m a human being not a human doing. I’m like, No, I’m a human doing. And I’m trying to become more of a human being. So it’s like a function of I’m gonna do this, but how long is gonna take? Because I’m gonna get a white man thing pretty fast? Because I do. Thanks. I love it. What are your thoughts on that?

Rob Dube 16:35
Oh, what are my thoughts on that? Well, you know, we are doing a lot. So I think you’re onto something there. There’s no question. I always like to say, I always like to ask this question is, what’s that all about? Why are we always doing, you know, what, what is it within us. And as we start to peel back the layers, and take off the suit of armor, that is keeping us way down from becoming our true self and freeing our true self, you know, the answers start to come, and then we do less. But it doesn’t mean we’re not productive. I think this is where it starts to scare people, they start to think they’re going to lose that edge that got them to be so successful. And in fact, you don’t need an edge to be successful, you don’t need a chip on your shoulder. Actually, you will be so much more successful with that clear mind when you take off that suit of armor. And again, using the running analogy, if you imagine running in a suit of armor, or running and shorts and a T shirt, what how are you going to fit? How much quicker Are you going to finish the race, with shorts in a T shirt much quicker. And so that lightness that we all have within us can come out and and so in allow us to just be but also be and make impact. And maybe doing is something we reframe in our life.

george grombacher 18:13
That’s really well said, appreciate that. So that’s certainly that certainly sounds like a lot to gain right? There are things that I can have I can feel better, I can have that peace of mind, contentment, whatever the term is that I’m interested in finding better relationships happier, feeling better. What What kind of pushback do you get if, if any, from engaging in this work?

Rob Dube 18:46
I think the main thing that people struggle with is change. It’s scary. And so when you start looking inside, it starts shining big, big spotlights on areas of your areas of your life that you’ve been ignoring, sometimes for decades. It could be traumas, it could be, you know, things, challenges that you dealt with in your life could be relationships that you’re dealing with at this moment that you just don’t want to deal with. It’s too scary. It’s going to shake up your world. And so for many, they’re just not ready. And, you know, my message to them is, you know, pay attention. And when you’re ready, you know, do the work. And because at some point, it’s got to be done. It all comes to the surface at some point.

george grombacher 19:37
Yeah, that’s a great point. We can only hold down and bottle up trauma for so long before it does. It does come out and it’s right. Either we can take it out a little bit of a time or it can just explode. That’s

Rob Dube 19:50
right. And always remember if you move the needle 10% That is huge growth huge So you don’t need to go 100% 10% Is is major movement in your life. And so just know like, this does not need to be an overwhelming thing, start where you are, and move it 2% or percent six 810. Take a breather, if you need to. You don’t have to go all in and conquer the world, and conquer yourself. Just know that we’re here to grow. We’re here to learn. And part of that is learning about ourselves. And it’s really a beautiful journey, if you’re willing to take it. Love it.

george grombacher 20:38
Well, Rob, thank you so much for coming on. Thanks for the work that you’re doing. How can people enter into your universe? How can they give us the website for the assessment? Or how do you think the best way to approach this work is always

Rob Dube 20:50
the best to go to the 10 disciplines.com? Everything that you need? Is there, the assessment, information about our programs, our book, all that kind of stuff. So thank you for giving me the opportunity to share that. And I’m very grateful to you, George, for having me on today. It’s a wonderful conversation. You’re very thoughtful person.

george grombacher 21:11
Well, thank you. And certainly likewise, if you enjoyed this as much as I did show, rob your appreciation, share today’s show with a friend who also appreciates good ideas and certainly share it with all the driven people in your life. Go to the 10 disciplines.com and take that assessment, find out where you are at. And I think that if you are like me, who is certainly a driven person, there’s always opportunities to make that incremental progress, which is what it is all about. So again, the 10 disciplines.com Check out the assessment, check out everything else. He’s got a wonderful coaching program and certainly, if you follow the show, you’re familiar with Gino Wickman, and the great work that they’re doing over there. So just a great opportunity. Thanks again, Rob. Thank you, George. Till next time, remember, do your part by doing your best

george grombacher 16:00
So if I want my iPhone, and my Tesla and my Bitcoin to work, we need to get the metal out of the ground.

Pierre Leveille 16:07
Absolutely. Without it, we cannot do it.

george grombacher 16:13
Why? Why is there a Why has production been going down.

Pierre Leveille 16:21
Because the large mines that are producing most of the copper in the world, the grades are going down slowly they’re going there, they’re arriving near the end of life. So and of life of mines in general means less production. And in the past, at least 15 years, the exploration expenditure for copper were pretty low, because the price of copper was low. And when the price is low, companies are tending to not invest more so much in exploration, which is what we see today. It’s it’s, it’s not the way to look at it. Because nobody 15 years ago was able to predict that there would be a so massive shortage, or it’s so massive demand coming. But in the past five years, or let’s say since the since 10 years, we have seen that more and more coming. And then the by the time you react start exploring and there’s more money than then ever that is putting in put it in expression at the moment for copper at least. And what we see is that the it takes time, it could take up to 2025 years between the time you find a deposit that it gets in production. So but but the year the time is counted. So it’s it’s very important to so you will see company reopening old mines, what it will push also, which is not bad, it will force to two, it will force to find a it will force to find ways of recalibrating customer, you know the metals, that will be more and more important.

george grombacher 18:07
So finding, okay, so for lack of a better term recycling metals that are just sitting around somewhere extremely important. Yeah. And then going and going back to historic minds that maybe for lack of technology, or just lack of will or reasons, but maybe now because there’s such a demand, there’s an appetite to go back to those.

Pierre Leveille 18:33
Yes, but there will be a lot of failures into that for many reasons. But the ones that will be in that will resume mining it’s just going to be a short term temporary solution. No it’s it’s not going to be you need to find deposit that will that will operate 50 years you know at least it’s 25 to 50 years at least and an old mind that you do in production in general it’s less than 10 years.

george grombacher 19:03
Got it. Oh there we go. Up here. People are ready for your difference making tip What do you have for them

Pierre Leveille 19:14
You mean an investment or

george grombacher 19:17
whatever you’re into, you’ve got so much life experience with raising a family and doing business all over the world and having your kids go to school in Africa so a tip on copper or whatever you’re into.

Pierre Leveille 19:34
But there’s two things I like to see and I was telling my children many times and I always said you know don’t focus on what will bring you specifically money don’t think of Getting Rich. Think of doing what you what you like, what you feel your your your your your, you know you have been born to do so use your most you skills, do what you like, do what you wet well, and good things will happen to you. And I can see them grow in their life. And I can tell you that this is what happens. And sometimes you have setback like I had recently. But if we do things properly, if we do things that we like, and we liked that project, we were very passionate about that project, not only me, all my team, and if we do things properly, if we do things correctly, good things will happen. And we will probably get the project back had to go forward or we will find another big project that will be the launch of a new era. So that’s my most important tip in life. Do what you like, do it with your best scale and do it well and good things will happen.

george grombacher 20:49
Pierre Leveille 21:03
Thank you. I was happy to be with you to today.

george grombacher 21:06
Damn, tell us the websites and where where people can connect and find you.

Pierre Leveille 21:13
The it’s Deep South resources.com. So pretty simple.

george grombacher 21:18
Perfect. Well, if you enjoyed this as much as I did show up here your appreciation and share today’s show with a friend who also appreciate good ideas, go to deep south resources, calm and learn all about what they’re working on and track their progress.

Pierre Leveille 21:32
Thanks. Thanks, have a nice day.

george grombacher 21:36
And until next time, keep fighting the good fight. We’re all in this together.