The Daily Habits That Create Lasting Success

In today’s episode, I sit down with Dylan Gaitman of the Disrupt, For Good podcast to discuss how gratitude, intentional living, and consistent daily practices create lasting success. We talk about becoming a student of your calendar, recognizing when ego and fear interfere with your potential, and aligning your actions with your values. I share why small commitments compound over time, how prioritization helps overcome procrastination, and why making money should serve a greater purpose of helping others and having fun. We also discuss the importance of asking for help, embracing abundance, and surrounding yourself with people who can accelerate your personal and professional growth. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Today, we're talking about gratitude, fear, persistence, living by your values, becoming a student of your calendar, and the daily practices that can ultimately change the trajectory of your life. David, welcome to Disrupt for Good.

• 0:14Speaker 01

  Thank you for having me. I couldn't imagine a more aligned show to be on as I wrote the book, Connected to Goodness, Compassionate Capitalism, Unstoppable, Creating the Life You Love, all with understanding how we disrupt for good.

• 0:28Speaker 00

  I love it. It's perfect. I'm glad we're aligned and I've been following you for a while now. And I feel like we have so many values that are aligned. And I'm so excited to hear your thoughts on what entrepreneurship looks like and really daily values. And I think we should just jump right into it.

• 0:46Speaker 01

  Me too. Thank you.

• 0:47Speaker 00

  So you bring a remarkable amount of positive energy into a room. Has that always come naturally to you or have you learned how to cultivate that?

• 0:58Speaker 01

  Both. It came naturally to me and like anyone who reaches the levels of potential that they desire. LeBron James was born with a higher basement, but has an incredible ability to enjoy the consistent everyday, persistent without quit pursuit of his potential. Kobe Bryant, the same way, born with amazing skills and capabilities, a basement that's very high. So when it came to being positive and happy and energetic and inspirational, I was born with a very high basement. But that's not to say that I haven't developed it, just like great athletes, by consistently, persistently pursuing my potential and learning to not interfere with that potential.

• 1:42Speaker 01

  Instead of trying to go get more potential or go get more of something, I have shifted the paradigm to figure out what I'm doing to interrupt it, disrupt it, or interfere with it.

• 1:51Speaker 00

  Right. And also taking that and growing with it over time and allowing it to help you become that person that you are today is awesome.

• 2:00Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 2:01Speaker 00

  Right. You teach gratitude as a daily practice. What changes in someone's life when they practice it consistently?

• 2:10Speaker 01

  First of all, remember, the easiest, fastest way to get to where you want to be is to say thank you. Thank you before you go to bed. Thank you when you wake up. The problem is, and this is for everyone to remember, just remember the simple things to do are simple not to do. There's nobody in the world, when I tell them that gratitude will change their life. If you could do it every single day, 30 straight days, that I guarantee it will impact you. I guarantee it at a tremendous exponential level. But yet, even myself, it took me nine months before I could say thank you, before I went to bed and when I woke up every single day without missing a day. Because the simple things to do are simple not to do. But why does gratitude have so much impact?

• 2:55Speaker 01

  Because it is a capability that creates not only the right thoughts, but the right perception and the right meaning. And that right meaning is what is an indicator of your intentions of what you do, say, think, feel, and believe. And those influence your behaviors and your behaviors create the results. So when you say thank you every single day, before you go to bed or when you wake up, what you're doing is you're creating thoughts, perceptions, meaning, intention, and behaviors that are aligned with what gets you to where you want to be or better, which is finding light, finding love, and finding lessons in every person, place, thing, circumstance, or event that you encounter every single day. And so if you're capable of practicing gratitude daily,

• 3:41Speaker 01

  you will see the acceleration, the aggregation, and the compounding outcomes and results that you desire or even better.

• 3:48Speaker 00

  Absolutely. Even finding the little things on days that you are finding to be the hardest of days. And I'm reading behind you, Don't Do Business with Dick's book, which I love the title, by the way. It's extraordinary. It's so true out there. People are just sometimes so thoughtless with how they act and intentionless. And I think that it's true. People sometimes don't realize the little things in life and can't really appreciate what's really out there. And I love that your philosophy really is so important to really hone in on day after day.

• 4:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's so, so important not to drift through life, to have a definiteness of purpose, to live with the power of intention and utilize your divine direction to get to where you want to be or better.

• 4:32Speaker 00

  Absolutely. You encourage people to take inventory of their values. How can someone tell whether their daily choices actually reflect those values?

• 4:44Speaker 01

  They can do it by understanding their response to the ego enacting itself. So whenever there's uncertainty, which is all the time, whenever there's circumstances that we didn't plan, which is all the time, our ego says, I must defend myself. I must prove myself, or I must control the uncertainty, the uncontrollable. And we respond to it. We respond to it with a need to be right, offended, separate, inferior, superior, anxious, frustrated, angry, guilty, resentful, or worried. All of these interfere with our divine direction. And so by taking inventory of our values of gratitude and forgiveness and accountability,

• 5:27Speaker 01

  and our ability to live inspired to apply our why, we now can look for the clues, the patterns, and make better choices by seeing how am I responding to the ego? And if I see the pattern of a need to be offended or worrying to that are inherently genetically and energetically inherited by me, when I get worried, I know it's a duplicative interference. Not only is it interfering with where I want to be or better, but it's wishing for what I don't want. And so the only response to that is not to out logic it or analyze it, because that will never change your emotions. Not to go over it, under it, through it, around it, or resist it. Not to lie to it, cheat it, manipulate it, or deny it.

• 6:09Speaker 01

  But when my mind, body, and soul are on fire with the need to be offended or worrying or any of the other that I mentioned, I simply stop, breathe through my nose, remind, remember, and recollect with my God, my source, the infinite, something bigger than me that loves me, protects me, promotes me more than my mom. And I roll into my divine direction of what is it I truly desire today? Who can I help and who can help me? And how best can I assign time to clear that distance of resistance, knowing that every problem in every day already has a solution? It's just a lapse of time before it becomes a resolution, a re-solution.

• 6:52Speaker 01

  And so I'm shortening the distance of resistance through this wisdom and faith that there's something bigger than me when there's no evidence or the evidence is contrary to where I want to be, that I'm going to get there.

• 7:05Speaker 00

  I think having that purpose and having the ability to reflect and really change that mindset is so great. Because people sometimes have a challenge and really can't figure out how to move past those fears. You say we should be students of our calendar. I mentioned it in my intro. I'd love to really understand what that looks like and what would someone learn about themselves by looking honestly at how they spend their time. I work at Serhant. I think you know this. And Ryan is a big believer in the 1,000 minute rule, which is basically how you allocate your time throughout the day. So I'd love to hear how you basically believe in the students of our calendar method.

• 7:49Speaker 01

  Yeah, time is everything to me. And we have to even take a step back to understand, why did God create 24 hours, right? When he knows human experiences from the time our heart starts till the time it stops, why did God separate it by 24 hours? That journey is separated by 24 hours. It's the only certainty of every day. Everybody is gifted 24 hours a day, except for the last day of their life, they could be cheated. All right. So with that 24 hours, we have to understand why God create that 24 hours for us to live our lives. Well, I'll tell you why. So everything doesn't happen at once. And because of technology and social media, it seems as it so much more is happening at once.

• 8:31Speaker 01

  And this is what's causing the feeling of overwhelmed. It's causing procrastination. It's causing mental health issues, because human beings can't handle everything happening at once. And that's why God created time, so that it doesn't happen at once. So what do we need to do? We need to study time, not look at our calendars. We need to study, pay attention, and give intention to what we do, say, think, feel, and believe for that 24 hours. We got to have non-negotiable time that says, no matter what, I'm going to have a minimum amount of time every day, no matter what the circumstances of the day are, seven days a week for my sleep, my health, my family, my faith, my finance, the study of time, and the relativity, the meaning of that.

• 9:16Speaker 01

  And then with the other 12 hours, I'll be non-negotiable. I'll be negotiable. I'm sorry. There'll be circumstances and I'll prioritize according to the circumstances. But the 12 hours, majority of it being sleep is non-negotiable. No matter what happens, I'm not going to miss. And if I do, I'm going to super prioritize it the next day. So I don't miss two times in a row. I look at, sorry, I study planned and unplanned time. I study non-time and scheduled time. I study paid for time and unpaid for time. All of these things that I study, I'm intentional about the use of my time. I vacation every day.

• 9:58Speaker 01

  I know the physics of time that two minutes a day equals two hours on a Saturday. If you don't believe me, you, you, you went to Tulane where I went.

• 10:07Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 10:08Speaker 01

  Best school in the world.

• 10:09Speaker 00

  Best school in the world.

• 10:10Speaker 01

  I have for sure. And so did my daughter, by the way, and I, and she thinks the same thing. But you know, what, what's so interesting is we, we realize this in school. I've never met, met a kid on earth who studies Spanish, for example. If you study Spanish 15 minutes a day, seven days a week, you are guaranteed an A.

• 10:30Speaker 00

  Right. You grow the muscle.

• 10:32Speaker 01

  Right. How many kids do you know that studied 15 hours a day? I'm sorry, 15 hours before the test and didn't get an A. So many, it's a difference between being an extra miler where you go the extra mile every once in a while. Use that to justify why you're not where you want to be. Or be consistent with a minimum amount of time every day and get far past where you ever desired. This is true in real estate. Ryan and I talk a lot. We talked about the aggregation, acceleration and compounding impact of intentional time behaviors. His thousand hours, my student of the calendar, Rob Deers Deck's existence app.

• 11:12Speaker 01

  All the great billionaires, millionaires and entrepreneurs that I know, actually celebrities, athletes and entertainers, thousands of them in my network. All have a relationship with time. Some I coach, I'm their time coach to help them understand how to be a student of their calendar.

• 11:30Speaker 00

  It's so important. And I think people waste their time. Like there's something called doom scrolling now where the people literally will sit down, waste their time scrolling all day long. And I'm like, what are you doing? Like there's so much more beneficial things that you can be doing with your time. And sleep is a non-negotiable and eating three meals a day. There's just activities and things that you have going on in your life that you have to prioritize. And there's just things that you can't not do as a human being. Otherwise you're going to suffer and the people around you are going to suffer as well. And it's just not going to work.

• 12:05Speaker 02

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• 12:34Speaker 00

  Your motto is make a lot of money, help a lot of people, have a lot of fun. Love it. And I feel like it's also kind of my motto as well, coming from Tulane as well. I think it's a great motto. How do those three goals guide the choices you make?

• 12:49Speaker 01

  Well, I'll tell you, it's my mission. It's more than just guiding the goals that I have. I was called on to change the world by empowering people when I'm good at. Probably why I went to Tulane and helped develop at Tulane. I've always been good at making a lot of money for the sake of helping others and having fun. Haven't been great at keeping it. I went bankrupt in 2008, lost over a hundred million, but I made it back because I'm good at making money. Now this time I got coaching and teaching and mentorship to keep my money. But the idea is this, is that I've never met anybody, Dylan, who makes a lot of money for the sake of helping others and having fun, that isn't happy. And my mission is to empower people like you, to empower thousands in your lifetime, to empower thousands to be happy.

• 13:35Speaker 01

  A thousand times a thousand, a million, a million times a thousand, a billion. I can change the collective consciousness of the earth by teaching people the capability of how do you create a lot of money for the sake of helping others and having fun? Not a lot of money to be, uh, I'll be happy when, but a lot of money for the sake of helping others and having fun. And so I teach people about abundance. I teach them a framework of values, daily practices and execution models in order to create value in the context of time and in control of our emotions in order to facilitate, to make easy, facile means easy, to facilitate abundance.

• 14:17Speaker 01

  A more than enough world where people give more or given more, receive more and ask for more than more. So they can give more than more, be given more than more, receive more than more and ask for more than more than more. You see, when I'm 80 years old, where I'm going to end up in a world of more than enough of everything for everyone, instead of the people that are giving more and receiving less. See, most people are great at risk, at, at giving, because when we give, we're able and capable of helping other people. And when we're able and capable of helping other people, we're closest to God. We're at our highest self, but we're cheating people when we don't receive, when we don't ask for help. Stop cheating people of their higher self, of being closer to God. So please ask them, are you able and capable?

• 15:00Speaker 01

  Or do you know anyone that's able and capable of helping me? You're actually giving them a great gift. Or if somebody offers to help you, say yes. Don't cheat them like my mom. We grew up so poor and my uncles who were wealthy and our friends, let me help the boys out. You know, let me buy them a car, let me, no, no, we don't need that. It's not about needing it. It's about giving them the gift of capability of being closer to God. She cheated them and she cheated us. So live in this world of more than enough. Give more, be given more, receive more and ask for more than more. Create the infinite loop of abundance of giving and you will make a lot of money, help a lot of people and have a lot of fun.

• 15:42Speaker 00

  I think that's the point of living. That is living and that is fulfillment. And that is just having the best fulfillment out of life. And that's incredible. You talk about turning possibilities into probabilities. What takes an idea from this could happen to I'm making this happen?

• 16:02Speaker 01

  Well, I think it goes even further. Most people, 98% of the people are drifters. If you haven't read Think and Grow Rich or Outwitting the Devil, Napoleon Hill talks about drifting. Most people live in nothingness. They live as tubes, food in, food out. They're rolling boulders to the top of the hill just to see them roll back down every day. Uh, you gotta live with definite purpose by number one, when you know you're what? Nothingness becomes a possibility, a mathematical advantage. This is what I want today, according to the circumstances or not according to the circumstances. And I'm aligning my thoughts, meanings, perceptions and intentions with where I want to be or better. Because if I don't, it will limit my self-image and you never will overachieve your own self-image.

• 16:45Speaker 01

  Two, to take the possibility to probability, I need to know my who. Who can I help and who can help me? To take the possibility to a probability to my perspective, I need to be a student in my calendar. I need to know how am I going to assign time today in alignment with my divine direction? And to take that perspective and make it my reality, I need to do it now and do it next. I need to prioritize my what, my who and my how by the circumstances of the day or my non-negotiable circumstances of the day. Prioritization is the antidote to feeling overwhelmed and procrastinating. It utilizes time the way God provided it to us.

• 17:26Speaker 01

  And then finally, to take that reality and make it an inspired divine direction, I have to apply my why. I need to identify what I'm doing to disrupt or interfere with my goodness, my God, and categorize these things. Is this aligned with my divine direction or interfering with it? And if it's interfering with it, my mind, body and soul will be on fire with the need to offend, separate, inferior, superior, anxious, frustrated, angry, guilty, worried or resentful. And stop, drop and roll, because we all know when you catch on fire, you gotta stop, drop and roll. And if you stop, drop and roll, once again, as we finish up, you will make a lot of money for the sake of helping others and having fun.

• 18:07Speaker 01

  I do want to offer your entire community as we finish up, my book for free. Anyone in your community that emails me, [email protected], anyone, I will sign my book, send it to them, pay for shipping, pay for the book to get you onto a path, a framework, the practices, values and execution model that will guarantee you success, fulfillment, passion and purpose in your life. I promise you, email me, David means beloved, at D is my first initial, Meltzer means servant. Let me be your beloved servant, [email protected]. I'll be happy to do that for your entire community.

• 18:43Speaker 00

  Thank you. You're the best. I'm going to ask you one last question. This has been incredible and I've gotten so much out of this and the entire community will as well. Of all the practices you teach, which has made the biggest difference in your own life or in your kids' lives or around you in general?

• 19:03Speaker 01

  One thing, ask for help. If you want to understand radical humility, find someone who's paid the dummy tax. Find someone who sits in the situation you want to be in. Don't cheat them, ask them for help. Find people who are able and capable of helping you and ask them, especially if you're young. There's nothing that brings a greater joy, fulfillment and passion in my life than young people like you asking me for help. And the fastest way to get to where you want to be or better is find people that sit in that situation. Ask them for help. That's the number one piece of advice I give to anybody of any age.

• 19:40Speaker 00

  Absolutely. And it's like in real estate, when you join the top 10% or top 5% of people who are in this business, who are team leaders and have that credibility and relationship status. When you're 22 years old and want to get involved, you join the best. And they're willing and able to get you involved. And that's what people like I did. And that's the best thing you could do for yourself.

• 20:04Speaker 01

  Well, Ryan Serhant is definitely the best. So you're in the right place, my friend.

• 20:07Speaker 00

  Absolutely. Uh, David, this has been such a pleasure. I can't thank you enough for joining me and always love chatting with you.

• 20:14Speaker 01

  Before to seeing you in New York, my friend. Thank you for having me.

• 20:17Speaker 00

  Thanks so much for joining.

• 20:19Speaker 01

  You got it.