143. The Habit that Cost $100MM to Learn and Why It Was Worth It (Part 1) - Keith Cunningham

Jun 11, 2018

Keith Cunningham, business expert who lost $100MM and built habits to make it back, discusses the ONE habit at the heart of his success, the dangers of making decisions based on emotions, and the three questions that can change everything in your business. He also shares his experiences meeting Mr. Milken, the five core disciplines for mitigating risks, and the importance of staying engaged in your business. Lastly, he emphasizes the power of clarity, accountability, and honest feedback, promoting his book 'The Road Less Stupid' and an opportunity to win a free signed copy.

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ANECDOTE

Milken's Scheduled Thinking Time

Keith Cunningham met Mike Milken in a 1980s cable TV financing meeting lasting about 1.5 hours.
Milken scheduled specific early morning thinking time, which sparked Keith's lifelong habit of purposeful thinking.

ANECDOTE

Losing $100M as Tuition

Keith lost $100 million due to not using his intellectual tools and letting emotions drive business decisions.
He views the loss as tuition for a life course, making him $100 million smarter.

ADVICE

Ask 3 Key Risk Questions

Always check assumptions and ask hard questions to mitigate risk in decisions.
Ask three key questions: what's the upside, what's the downside, and can I live with the downside?

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Can you imagine a habit so powerful that it was worth investing $100,000,000 to acquire it? Our guest, Keith Cunningham, joins us for a two-part interview because he literally paid that tuition – but he learned a lot from losing $100MM, and built habits that allowed him to make that money back, plus some.

Now Keith is traveling around the world teaching others how they can acquire this ONE habit that will make everything else in their business life easier or unnecessary, and he wrote a book sharing what he learned titled The Road Less Stupid. We’re studying him closely to see what we can learn and apply in our own business, and Geoff is on a 66-day challenge to make this a power habit that sticks.

Want to win a FREE signed copy of The Road Less Stupid? You just have to do ONE of two things... Leave a review on your podcast player of choice sharing the ONE thing you’re going to do after listening to this episode (or part 2) OR... Share this episode on social media using the hashtag #theONEthing We will select our 3 favorites to win a signed copy of The Road Less Stupid and announce the winners on July 9th!

In this episode, you will learn...

[8:00] The ONE habit at the heart of Keith’s success.
[17:15] How making decisions based on your emotions (as opposed to your intellect) can lead you down the wrong path.
[23:35] The 3 questions that will help you mitigate risk and change everything in your business.
[29:55] The key difference between business owners & business operators (and what you can do to shift from being an operator to being an owner).
[32:15] Your key to success, in anything.

The ONE Thing to Implement From This Episode:

Keith teaches us that the key to success is having the right people doing the right thing at the right time. You need A players on your team if you want to make an extraordinary impact, and one of the hardest things to do in business is hiring and retaining A players if you’re a C player. So ask yourself: Are you an A player? And if you are not, where are you falling short? Get clarity on your deliverable and your outcomes so that you can measure, test, and ultimately achieve A player status.

Links & Tools From This Episode

Learn more at keystothevault.com
Connect with Keith: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn
The Road Less Stupid by Keith Cunningham

AWESOME FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU!

Get more support & accountability: Join the Living Your ONE Thing Community
The Kick Ass Guide To Accountability
Form your first power habit with your 66 Day Challenge Calendar

Mentioned in this episode:

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