In this episode of the Level Up Show, Edward is joined by Brandon Fluharty, VP of Strategic Accounts Solutions at LivePerson. Being a workaholic almost had devastating consequences for Brandon when, at just 31 years old, he suffered a stroke. This served as a wakeup call for Brandon who then made changes to his lifestyle, and in his sleeping habits in particular, to better take care of his health. Ironically, letting go of the hustle culture which glorifies sleep deprivation has resulted in him closing more and bigger deals than before. Brandon shares his project Be Focused. Live Great. as a result of his own self-discovery. He learned the perfect balance of 4 hours of deep work and 4 hours of meetings as the middle ground that checks productivity without compromising other aspects of his life and health. He shares his Thrive Score which is a combination of the above metrics. When he has his highest Thrive Scores, that means he felt his best and he was also producing his best. When it comes to the future, Brandon is highly optimistic about the prospects of web3 and blockchain. It is of great interest to Brandon how people can now own pieces of the internet and the radically different way of thinking gen z has about entrepreneurship, work, and time.
HIGHLIGHTS
1:42 Brandon’s story: A stroke at 31 and prioritizing health afterwards
5:15 The lifestyle of a pro athlete and a soccer career
8:04 The importance of sleep and how to improve yourself TODAY
12:09 Becoming a long-term thinker, adopting stoicism, and finding your values
17:51 Be Focused. Live Great. is a the result of a journey oin self-discovery
20:29 Deep work and how to reorganize your life for success
26:05 Brandon’s future and plans for next success story, Blockchain and web3
33:28 Connect with Brandon
QUOTES
2:12 “The only conclusion we could draw was how hard I was working, constantly grinding around the clock, consuming caffeine at all hours to keep pushing through.
That was a wake up call and certainly changed my outlook on life and work. And I’ve really started to prioritize my health and, ironically, have closed more deals, bigger deals, instead of working the old way which is hustling.”
6:06 "In sales... We don’t have an agent getting us the best contract, we don’t have a sports psychologist helping us work on the mental side of the game, and so what we default back to are simply archaic ways of not just selling, but ways of working."
7:16 "Through the pandemic, when I went back to that year of almost being in Europe again with a consistent schedule, going to bed at the same time, managing the holistic view of myself as an individual, I made myself better as a human being and, by default, I had better sales outcomes."
14:49 "When I shifted from extrinsic values—needing to be on the leaderboard, needing to make President's Club every year, having that attachment and that desire—letting that go, and having myself be guided by intrinsic value...
You’ve gotta find more meaning and your “why” in what you do so you can stick with it and continue to grow.”
20:41 “Stop multitasking and focus on concentrated, high cognitive effort to accomplish big things in life, so I started measuring how much deep work I’m doing.”
31:40 "Imagine bringing that into today's business environment. We create a new way of operating in one company that could be open source and then, through smart contracts, it could be iterated upon and everybody participates in growing it and benefiting from what that produces."
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