Clarity in Chaos: How Strong Leadership Drives Business Results

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Cherokee Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Joshua Kornitsky: Hey, welcome back to Cherokee Business Radio. I am professional EOS implementer Joshua Kornitsky, and I’m your host today. And I am excited to share with you a really, really unique guest that we’re going to talk to in just a minute. But I want to remind everybody that today’s episode is brought to you in part by the Community Partner Program, the Business RadioX Main Street Warriors defending capitalism, promoting small business, and supporting our local community. For more information, please go to Main Street warriors.org. And a special note of thanks to our title sponsor for the Cherokee chapter of Main Street Warriors. Diesel. David. Ink. Please go check them out at DieselDavid.com. And as I said, I’ve got a really, really special guest in the studio with me today, somebody that I’ve known for a while, but who really takes a different look at things. So I want to introduce everybody to Farrell Middleton. He is the founder of The Bell Curve of Life, a unique teaching program and author of A Performer A Environment, a Roadmap to Enhance Your Performance and Upgrade Your Environment. After a successful 36 year career in residential land development and home building, Farrell transitioned into his second career as a teacher, professional speaker, and discovery expert, and an author in 2022. His mission really is to focus, uh, in his mission and focus are to cultivate a level performers and a, and a level environments to drive personal growth and organizational health. If both can be achieved, success will follow and failure will be rare. A Georgia Tech honors graduate Ferrell brings decades of leadership experience to every session. Drawing on his real life insights to inspire meaningful change. Welcome, Ferrell, it’s really a joy to have you here.

Farrell Middleton: Well, it is great to be back. Josh, thank you so much for having me. I always love my time here at the innovation spot with you guys. I love it.

Joshua Kornitsky: There’s there’s a lot to talk about today. And I think it’s at a really good time because there is a lot of folks who need a lot of help. And I think you’re kind of uniquely positioned to help them. So only to help people understand sort of that background because we breezed through it. Tell us a little bit kind of the origin story of, of what brought the man to the table that’s here today. What, what led to that?

Farrell Middleton: Okay. Gotcha. Well, thank you so much again for having me out today. But again, as you said, I was a lifelong homebuilder, my primary career, but I’ve always wanted to be a teacher of sorts in my second career. Josh it’s been a lifelong desire. And I decided I’m only 61 years old and I’ve got a lot of years left. I just wanted to provide a different service to society. So in my early 50s, about ten years ago, I started deciding what it is that I wanted to do with my second career, and I developed the unique program again. It’s called The Bell Curve of Life. And the premise here relates to our. Everybody remembers from middle school the bell curve 20% in the upper category.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah, some of us weren’t so high up on that bell. But yes.

Farrell Middleton: You’re right. You know what? Everybody’s in the lower part. It’s something. Okay, let’s be clear. But 20% in the upper category, 60 in the middle and 20 in the lower. And from my program this relates to behavior skills, performance and results. And my goal is to get individuals in the top 20% of the curve in the areas of life that matter to them and those closest to them. It’s got to matter. It’s got to move your needle. I want people to spend time in areas that are going to provide value to them. And again, like I said, those closest to them, either family members, business associates, personal friends, whatever that may be. And so that was the that’s kind of the genesis of it. And basically when you have three people, you have a bell curve. Let’s be very clear relative to any particular skill or whatever the case may be. So that’s the general premise behind it. And so I’ve been doing this for a few years now. I love what I’m doing. I’m making an impact in people’s lives. I’m here to help people live a better life. Josh personally and professionally, that’s what I do.

Joshua Kornitsky: So let me back up and ask a few things. Question number one, which came first, the book or the the approach?

Farrell Middleton: The approach came first. Oh, yes. I never intended to write a book. I was not a good writer in high school. In college. Let me be very clear. I’m a math guy. Okay, let me be clear. So I never thought of myself penning a book. Uh, so the concept of everything came before the book idea. So.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay, so so as you refined it and it’s important to help people understand this, right? I’m a, I’m a professional EOS implementer. I’m, I am a franchisee of a global corporation that’s using 25 years of accumulated knowledge to teach businesses a set methodology. You created everything you’re doing. I’m grateful to Gino Wickman. He he created everything I teach. Yeah, but you’ve created everything you teach. And and I’ve always kind of been in awe of that because that’s a whole different animal than than what I’m offering.

Farrell Middleton: Fair enough.

Joshua Kornitsky: Right. So, so what, you know, was 36 years.

Farrell Middleton: 36 years.

Joshua Kornitsky: 36 years in, in the building and, and, uh, residential development space. Correct.

Farrell Middleton: Yes.

Joshua Kornitsky: What did you take out of that that helped you build this? Is this based on, you know, I presume, were you managing people? Were you elevating people? How did how did the roots of this begin?

Farrell Middleton: Okay. Uh, no, that’s an excellent question. Thank you very much. Uh, yes, it started with that again. I started my career 40 years ago. I graduated from Georgia Tech in 1986 with a degree in building construction. And I’m one of those very few. I used my college degree the very first day of my professional career, which was with a company called Colony Homes back in June of 1986.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Farrell Middleton: But I was a manager at the age of 22. And aside from the physical nature of what we did with developing land and building houses, I’m a relationship guy. I you know, we all do a lot of reflecting at this stage in our life. Like I said, I’m 61, so I reflect back, but I’ve been a people person my entire life, and the product or service that we provided was a very necessary one, a very emotional business as well. Let me be very clear.

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh, 100%.

Farrell Middleton: Home building. It really, really is. But not only did I get valuable relationships and growth with my internal associates, but my external partners, the trades that helped us build the houses, bankers, mortgage professionals. I was exposed to professionals at a very early age with them running their own businesses. And how did it, uh, how did that work with my business and the services we provided back towards, you know, to each other? And so with regard to that, aside from what I call hard skills, which is the knowledge of what you do on a daily basis, the tasks that people perform, everybody’s got them. Uh, but I am now focused on soft skills. And you can take your soft skills wherever you go. And I think I learned with my, uh, again, being a manager at the age of 22, running a department and then having, um, negotiating abilities with trades and things like that. I was an operations guy. I got to know a lot of people really, really fast in my career. And I was also customer facing very early homebuilding is a pretty unique, uh, service, you know?

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure. And I think, I think it’s important that people understand the distinction. Right? You were you doing, um, like one on one custom home building or were you doing mass development, home building or both?

Farrell Middleton: Uh, I was a high volume guy, so I would put me in the mass, uh, side of that. I would not make a very good high end custom home builder. All right. I’ll just, I won’t get it out of the way right now.

Joshua Kornitsky: But the reason that I asked that is you still, you had to have those soft skills to make that resonate with people and to get people to want to spend money.

Farrell Middleton: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, it was a big, big deal. And the other part of this as well, back when the customer interaction thing, and this is not what I was an operations guy. And so I wasn’t in the field, uh, you know, with a hammer and tool belt and all that kind of stuff.

Joshua Kornitsky: No, I understand, yeah, I understand.

Farrell Middleton: But what happens in residential construction is very young people, women as well, that are field superintendents, they might be engaging with their customers at the age of 22 or 23 in the biggest purchase of their life. Sure. So there’s an incredible exposure there. Just to human nature, uh, and how you deal with people’s emotions and very stressful situations making the biggest purchase of their life. Generally speaking, there’s a lot that goes into that. And so I was just able to learn and grow and absorb. And that’s the fundamental basis of my program now. It’s just like I’ve been alive for 61 years. This is 61 years of me being on the earth and how I can try to help other people live a better life.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, so then then let’s, let’s ask, uh, let me ask a few questions about the bell curve of life and, and in particular, and I’m going to blend the line between the book and what you actually teach. So you, you may need to help steer me in one direction or the other because I want to give accurate information while I ask you my questions. My first question is, so let’s talk about what an A performer is. I know from from a set of standards that I was raised with and that I managed with what I consider an A performer. How do you define an A performer?

Farrell Middleton: I define an, A performer as someone. And I’ve identified in my main program eight traits of a performers. Okay, I’ve got 11 chapters in the book on a performer, but it starts with attitude. Uh, my first chapter in the book. And I lead almost every session I have with an attitude, uh, conversation. Josh, your attitude is the aspect or facet in life that has the most influence over your success and happiness. Other people and circumstances can influence it, but they can never control it. That is up to the individual. And so I start out with this. If you can maintain a positive attitude as often as possible, you can’t have 100% control all the time. You’re going to have good days and bad, all that stuff that makes life go around. But if you can do that, I believe most circumstances can have a favorable outcome. And so I start with that. But then I tell you my, my second topic, it’s chapter two in the book is wake up frame of mind. I am having unbelievable success and interaction with this topic.

Joshua Kornitsky: You can tell us a little bit about it.

Farrell Middleton: Absolutely. Your day starts when you pull your head up off your pillow. It’s going to set the tone for whether you’re going to have a good day, a mediocre day, or a poor day. And yes, other factors come into play with children and pets and traffic and weather and just all that stuff. And all the.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yellow crap in.

Farrell Middleton: The sky. That stuff? Yeah. This time of year, for three weeks that we get, uh, you know, uh, barraged by pollen. But it starts with put your head up off your pillow. And I believe it, actually, the stage is set the night before. Now, I’m not a sleep expert. I’m not a clinical psychologist. None of that stuff. I’m just a regular guy. And I believe if you can put your head down on your pillow at night in a good frame of mind, you got a pretty good chance of waking up in a good frame of mind. To me, that’s just common sense. And so when I engage with, uh, my, uh, you know, people in my, my classes and we get on this topic, everybody’s raising their eyebrows like, you know what? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And about a third of the people, um, comment when we get done that, that is one of the most impactful topics that we talk about. So a performer, you know, wake up ready to go. Um, next, you know, self-esteem, relationship building communication skills, if you can have a positive outlook and develop healthy relationships and communicate well on a routine basis, that’s a performer type stuff.

Joshua Kornitsky: And let me clarify on that one because the first two. Anybody can do meaning you can you can wake with intent. You can to some degree. Control your attitude. Right, right, right. But, but that relationship building, um. I would hazard to say, having known you for a while, something you’re pretty good at. But it’s hard when you look at a fully grown adult in the workforce to, to understand that. What you’re really looking at is an accumulation of skills and experience. Correct. Do you help people understand? Because not everyone has that innate skill. And the truth is no one has it innately. It has to be cultivated. Do you help folks cultivate and understand how to build relationships?

Farrell Middleton: Absolutely. Yeah, it’s a big part of it. Like I said, I’m a huge relationship guy. There are three types of relationships. Family, personal and professional, generally speaking. And there are tangents off of those, as we know. But those are your three main categories. And something somebody told me and again, family, you know, we all have family dynamics. Don’t need to get in all that. But I got, I got some Wackadoodle.

Joshua Kornitsky: Ain’t that long.

Farrell Middleton: Oh, I know, yeah, I got some wacky stuff. And then your personal relationships are your, you know, your church group, your friend groups, uh, athletic leagues, uh, you know, book clubs, things like that. You engage other people, engage with or outside of family and outside of work. And then of course, the professional relationships, which are obviously your work, uh, business associations, uh, you know, chambers of commerce, things like that. But someone told me years ago, and I have never, ever forgotten this. And this was mainly in my personal life. Relationships are a 60, 40 split between two people. And what that means is if each person can put in a 60% effort as often as possible, you have a chance of having a strong, solid, long term relationship. For example, my wife and I, we met in high school. We’ve been together for 45 years, married for 39 and we have a great relationship. But does it take work? Oh, you better believe it takes work on both of us. Everybody knows this. You’re going to have good and bad, but healthy. 60 over 40. If you can go into a relationship, no matter what kind it is, with that type of an outlook, you’ve got a chance of developing deep, strong, healthy relationships.

Joshua Kornitsky: What I love about that perspective of yours is, and I should clarify, I have a 23 year old daughter and a 17 year old daughter, and I’m very proud of both of them. But one of the biggest challenges as as I have gotten to know many of their peers. One of the biggest challenges is understanding, particularly when it comes to business, which is relatively new to my 23 year old. And my 17 year old’s not quite there yet, although she does have her first job.

Farrell Middleton: Excellent.

Joshua Kornitsky: Is that, um, when you are in a business relationship, people have, in my experience, um, Confuse that with the personal relationship from a perspective of if you want to maintain it, it requires effort. And you’ve just illustrated that because even if I’m not trying to sell, convince or, or get you interested in what it is that I do for a living, if I want to maintain that relationship, I can’t wait. I can’t take the approach of, well, you’ll call me.

Farrell Middleton: Absolutely. Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: You know, and I can share with you, and we know many of the same people, the people that immediately stick out in my mind are the folks who are very intentional. And like clockwork, about every 4 to 6 weeks, I get a check in just a yeah, just a ping, whether it’s a text, an email, or a quick phone call. Hey, just wanted to see how you’re doing. Um, but they stay top of mind.

Farrell Middleton: Absolutely. Yeah. And one thing on that, that’s an excellent perspective as well. And what my main tip for developing healthy professional relationships, this is very complicated. Whoever’s listening now. I hope you’re with me. This is a really, really tough one. Are you ready?

Joshua Kornitsky: I’m ready.

Farrell Middleton: Return every phone call, text, or email in an appropriate time frame. If you can do that, then you will be regarded as a trusted source. Someone that’s reliable, someone dependable people can count on. Return every phone call, text, or email in an appropriate timeframe and appropriate has. You have varying methods. Urgency is different from circumstances, that kind of thing. But if you can do that, people will know that you’re there and they can count on you. It is unbelievable how simple that is, but it is crazy, crazy challenging to get this to happen sometimes. You know what I’m talking about.

Joshua Kornitsky: So I joke with, uh, with a friend of mine that I’m going to, I’ve ready, I’m ready to write my book. And the title of my book is have the decency to return a phone call. And when you open it up, it will have one page that says have the decency to return a phone call and that’s it. That’s the entire book. Okay. Because look, I get it. We’re all busy. And I know now with all the different types of automated outreach that goes on, people get peppered and hammered. But a good friend of mine, another implementer up in Nashville, shared with me, and I’ve taken this approach. I answer every LinkedIn message I get, even if it’s just to say no, thank you. And you know, the number of folks that and I’m not gonna lie, I’ve got 3 or 4 kind of canned responses because some of them are offering me opportunities from previous careers that I’m no longer involved in. Fair enough. So I have a copy paste to say, hey, I’m not doing that anymore, but thanks so much. Um, you’d be shocked at how many. Thank you for responding that I get that. It’s just that because we all know most of that outreach is automated. We all know that most people don’t take the time to respond at all. Yeah. Uh, but I’ve also picked up some interesting opportunities from taking ten minutes out of the day to do that.

Farrell Middleton: Sure. No, I think that’s an excellent. I try to do the same thing. I might not be as good as you are about that, especially with like the unsolicited type stuff and that kind of thing. But, you know, we have to decide. Yeah. But I think it’s amazing because what I’ll do is, and I try to be very, um, considerate of this. If someone is reaching out to me in a solicitous, solicitous way, solicitous, soliciting, yeah, whatever it may be, I follow offering services. Yeah. I’ve got tongue tied there. Uh, I if I’m not interested, I’m going to thank them for reaching out. But I’m not interested so that they can move on to someone else that may be interested. I try to be considerate of that because I think it matters. And I think if people could do that, it’s a respectful thing to do and people get it.

Joshua Kornitsky: Courtesy has not yet gone out of date.

Farrell Middleton: I agree and I cannot explain AI, AI.

Joshua Kornitsky: Ai can fake.

Farrell Middleton: It, it can fake it.

Joshua Kornitsky: So so we have attitude. We have the wake up mindset. We have, uh, relationships and take us to number four. And I know there’s eight, but let’s get to number.

Farrell Middleton: We’ll go to number four. Communication. There are two halves to being a good communicator. Number one is delivering your message in a clear, crisp and concise fashion, no matter the makeup or size of your audience, especially if there is a performance standard or a requirement. I was a home builder. I had to communicate well, that kind of thing. The other half of being a good communicator is being a good listener. And this is eye contact, body language, lack of distractions. And if the deliverer of the message is not being clear, crisp and concise, what should you do? Ask for clarity so that you know what you’re supposed to do. Again, especially if there’s a performance expectation based on the engagement. And one thing that I tell people, I’ve had random people come up at networking events and they know I’m, let’s say I’m in the coaching arena, which is the right place to be. They say, hey, is there some kind of tip you can give me. You know, just off the cuff. Absolutely. Be a better listener today. Everybody can be a better listener. And whether you’ll be a better family member, you’ll be a better personal friend. You’ll be a better working associate, be a better listener today. And it’s something you can do it right now. That’s the free tip of the day.

Joshua Kornitsky: My dad used to tell me, don’t just wait for your turn to talk. Listen to what they’re saying.

Farrell Middleton: Absolutely.

Joshua Kornitsky: And it’s it’s a shocking fact that particularly in, in an engagement where there might business might be an outcome. Oftentimes people are telling you what they want or need.

Farrell Middleton: Absolutely.

Joshua Kornitsky: Often times, and my lifelong goal is to ask better questions. And as I’ve improved that skill, sure enough, people tell me what their challenges are or what their needs are so that we can find some common ground and whether or not business results is secondary. But at least I then understand them. And that’s the beginning of that relationship.

Farrell Middleton: Yeah, yeah. And one other thing as well that I’ve learned, I’ve gotten more comfortable with this. And I think you probably have as well. I tell people what I do, I’m a professional speaker as well. And you wouldn’t believe how many, uh, engagements I’ve gotten by just randomly saying I do professional speaking. Like, would you come speak to my group? Sure. I will let people know what you do. And they will. They’ll know it and they’ll be able to, you know, be able to connect with you on that. It’s amazing.

Joshua Kornitsky: As a host here on Business RadioX, almost all of my radio related discussions start with, you know, please share. Tell me what you do. Right. And the number of people from solopreneurs to multi-million dollar companies who talking to CEOs, talking to owners who can’t articulate well in a relatively short space, what they do always surprises me. And that’s to your point, that clarity of message, there’s truth to to rehearsal. There’s truth to practice. Yes. Come up with a short response to. What do you do? Don’t try to. You don’t have to be funny. You don’t have to be clever. Yeah, I sell, you know, elevator carpets, whatever it is, so that people can then understand clearly what it is that you’re offering and, and be as concise and direct as possible, because people do get lost because they want to tell you I do everything. It’ll take 30 minutes for me to read you this list.

Farrell Middleton: Yeah, I agree with you and I’ve subjected myself to that before. And you know what? I’ve gotten better at that as well. Let me be very clear. I’ve gotten better delivery. We’re all we’re all working on it.

Joshua Kornitsky: There is.

Farrell Middleton: No.

Joshua Kornitsky: Done. Farrell.

Farrell Middleton: That’s a great point. Just yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: Today and how well I did today. And, and I think that that, that goes back to what you were talking about regarding confidence and in your program, helping them understand we’re human. You know, sometimes, sometimes I know I’ve, I’m still doing it today. I suspect you are as well. Sometimes I put my foot in my mouth.

Farrell Middleton: Oh.

Joshua Kornitsky: I say something stupid, and I don’t mean to. I’m not trying to be stupid. Yeah, sometimes stupid just happens.

Farrell Middleton: It just does. Well, one thing very quickly is when you meet someone, you have about seven to 10s to make that first impression. Make it count. Make it count. It is. It is unbelievably important and powerful.

Joshua Kornitsky: Ah, I believe it was, uh, the author, Malcolm Gladwell in one of his books, and I shared this with my doctor, uh, that some study somewhere that patients with a new doctor make their entire decision on whether or not this is the right doctor for them in less than 20s.

Farrell Middleton: Okay.

Joshua Kornitsky: Based on, you know, the the way and I’ll find that for you because that’s a good, a good stat, but basically based on the way that they walk into the room and the questions they ask and the attitude they have, hey, this sounds all very familiar. Uh, that that quickly they’ll decide whether or not this is going to be their doctor.

Farrell Middleton: That’s fascinating.

Joshua Kornitsky: And we probably have all at one time or another had very positive. And I know we’ve all had very negative experiences in that environment. And that’s an environment you got to be comfortable in.

Farrell Middleton: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: And even if it’s just for a colder checkup, you still don’t want to deal with a jerk.

Farrell Middleton: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So no, that’s a that’s a great point.

Joshua Kornitsky: But so we’re halfway through your list and I want to stop and ask you before we get to the other four or if we’re going to hold this back so that people can find out or at the very least, reach out to you.

Farrell Middleton: Okay.

Joshua Kornitsky: How on earth do you get this information across to folks?

Farrell Middleton: Okay. All right. Great point. Well, I wrote the book. Of course, it’s available in all the right places, uh, audio versions out there as well. Uh, but I do, um, private sessions with companies. Uh, I will do, I like about ten people in a group is, is really optimum number, but it can go anywhere from 8 to 12, you know, that type of thing.

Joshua Kornitsky: Is it all senior leadership?

Farrell Middleton: Is it.

Joshua Kornitsky: Anybody.

Farrell Middleton: Can be senior leadership. It can be anybody. My a my a performing material can relate to any people of any level of activity, authority or responsibility. Okay. It’s just it’s life skills. It’s what I do well.

Joshua Kornitsky: And I think that’s a really simple way to express it, right?

Farrell Middleton: It is. Yeah. Anybody can get some benefit out of it.

Joshua Kornitsky: But I want to learn about what you do on Saturdays.

Farrell Middleton: Okay.

Joshua Kornitsky: Because obviously being being a coach and a teacher and a speaker, people can can reach out to you. But I want to know about Saturday.

Farrell Middleton: Okay. Well, thank you so much for asking. Yeah. I have developed a new part of my program and it is called 60 Minute Strategic Workshops.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Farrell Middleton: And my program and I was, uh, started out several months ago, late last year with two Saturdays per month. And, uh, I’ve switched to one Thursday and one Saturday per month now just because of scheduling issues and things like you learn as you go. Sure, we all know, but this is an opportunity for people to come explore concepts to drive personal growth and organizational health, which is what I do. So I have a 60 minute a performer workshop and a 60 minute a environment workshop. And in those we will review the eight components or the eight traits of my A performers. And I’ve got seven components to the A environment. In one hour. We will review each of those items in there, and everyone will develop a roadmap for how they can make improvements in their life that day. And I’ve got a self-evaluation form with a rating scale of one through five. Again, not very complicated.

Joshua Kornitsky: Keep it simple.

Farrell Middleton: Poor. Moderate. Satisfactory. Superior. Outstanding. As we move from topic to topic, rate yourself right there. And I believe initial gut instincts are generally fairly spot on. All right with us as individuals. So by the time we get done in an hour they’ve got a roadmap. What are the areas they need to work on if they have some twos and threes? Well, let’s work on the twos and threes. Everyone will have a different takeaway from this. That is the absolute beauty of this material is everyone that I sit with has their own takeaway because their own person with their own circumstances and things like that. And so I offer two of each of these on each day. I’ve got 9:00, 11:00, 1:00 and 3:00.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Farrell Middleton: They are in person, but I have now gone virtual with them as well. Okay. Every one of these is available virtually. And so I had my first one of those last week. Lady joined me from her office across town, and she joined us from 9 to 10 and then from 11 to 12. And it was fantastic. So from a convenience standpoint, this is really, really good, but this is going to be a game changer with this virtual access. Unbelievable. Immediate value comes out of these workshops.

Joshua Kornitsky: So the way you just described this is very different than any other type of coaching I’ve ever heard of because you’re. And I understand why now that you’ve given us some context, but you’re putting personal and professional into the same type of session. And I would have had you not explained the first four of of eight concepts on a performer, I would have said, no, that’s crazy, but I get it because I know that that wake up mindset, that attitude, that confidence, that relationship that absolutely applies to both sides of that of the coin and that you absolutely could have that conversation with six people in a room where half of them are talking about business, and half of them were talking about life.

Farrell Middleton: Absolutely.

Joshua Kornitsky: Because I don’t think you haven’t given me the understanding, and I don’t necessarily know that it matters which way you’re taking it, because it’s valid information and learning on either side.

Farrell Middleton: Absolutely, yes. All the principles can go into personal life as well. And one of the other main premises of what I do is there are so many outside factors that affect us every single day, the highest of level, whether interest rates, government influence and other people. Those are the four main ones. Every principal in my program is 100% under the control of the individual. Adopt and embrace them and you will live a better life. So, for example, government influence. We have two major things going on right now in the world. At least two, two. Yeah, two really big ones that are they’re sucking up all the news time. It is basically the war over in Iraq, which is having worldwide effects, obviously, that type of thing at our level. Right. Joshua, you and I, we don’t control that right now. There’s nothing we can do. We have to be aware of it. Yep. Got to be sensitive to it, whatever it’s going to be. But we can’t control that. We can control what we’re doing right now. That’s the key. The other is the government shutdown with TSA. I couldn’t imagine having to go to an airport right now. Un believable. I am so disappointed in our government leaders. It’s unbelievable. And I think probably 95% of the people might agree with me, right?

Joshua Kornitsky: I would I would say at least 95%. And no matter a politically, it’s just bad for everybody.

Farrell Middleton: It’s bad. It’s just bad. And luckily I don’t have to go to the airport.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah. I’m grateful I don’t have any immediate business for myself.

Farrell Middleton: Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: And so because driving right now wouldn’t be an option either.

Farrell Middleton: Yeah. That’s right.

Joshua Kornitsky: The price of a plane.

Farrell Middleton: Yeah, exactly. So. Anyway, so, you know, part of that is what I do with that is, and that’s where everybody’s gonna have a different takeaway. And the thing is, if somebody comes to see me in on my next one, which is in a couple of weeks on Thursday, they could come back in a year and get a totally different takeaway. Sure. Because their life circumstances have changed. This is a snapshot. Where am I right now in my life, and what are some areas that I can focus on right now to make improvements in areas that are going to matter to me and those closest to me? That is the key.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah, I can see that.

Farrell Middleton: Yeah. Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: And it makes sense to me that it’s going to be a perpetually moving target.

Farrell Middleton: Mhm. It is. Um, people are always growing. They’re always changing.

Joshua Kornitsky: So Saturdays and Thursdays and in, um, where do people learn more about that?

Farrell Middleton: Uh, my website, the bell curve of Life.com.

Joshua Kornitsky: Which we publish all, you know, all your links, but I still wanted people to know and you have the schedule there.

Farrell Middleton: Got the schedule there. Yeah. I’ve got three months on the website. Uh, and actually I’m going to be updating. I’ve got, um, just finished March last week. I’m doing two per month, just one Thursday and one Saturday per month. That’s it. Uh, and so I’ve got, uh, April dates on there may dates. I’m going to be adding June in the next couple of days. So there’s plenty of opportunity to look in the website register right there through Eventbrite. It’s very easy register either for in-person or virtual right there on the website.

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh that’s good.

Farrell Middleton: And we’re setting up and we’re done. Yeah, it’s just the world is so easy these days with stuff like this. It is so easy. And what I like to say is from a personal growth development and educational standpoint, this is a layup. Me and my team have done all the heavy lifting. All you have to do is sign up and show up, and you will not be disappointed with the results.

Joshua Kornitsky: And how long are the sessions?

Farrell Middleton: 60 minutes. One hour.

Joshua Kornitsky: That seems like a pretty, uh, disposable amount of time. People can find an hour.

Farrell Middleton: They can. I think they can find an hour. And you know, part of this, it takes you an hour to go have lunch. It takes an hour to watch a news program, which none of us want to watch based on what we just.

Joshua Kornitsky: Talked.

Farrell Middleton: About. Yeah, but I know that that’s what it is. One hour. It’s a one time visit. And one of the things that I talk about, I do a lot of networking like you do, and I’m out there, you know, in the world with what I’m doing. We commit lots of quality hours every week and every month for repetitive things like business association lunches, BNI groups, powercore, uh, you know, um, providers, all the great stuff out there.

Joshua Kornitsky: Right?

Farrell Middleton: It’s many, many hours per month. I want 1 or 2 hours in your entire life and I promise you’ll leave with stuff you can do better.

Joshua Kornitsky: And if I’m there for Thursday or Saturday or both, I presume I’m going to be learning different things every time.

Farrell Middleton: Uh, yeah. Well, it’s just a one time thing. It’s a performance. It’s one do a.

Joshua Kornitsky: Performer, one.

Farrell Middleton: A environment. I’ll do them over and over and over again. It’s just repetitive. This is it. This is the only material. It’s just 1 or 2 hours and that’s it. And you’re done. Unless you want to come back and see me in another year or so. Whatever the case may be. But no, this is it. This is so simple, and I believe that this is just the best. And it’s $80 per session per year, 80 bucks. It’s a no brainer.

Joshua Kornitsky: A whole lot cheaper than than what most people would even even if it was just a personal, uh, consultant consultation. Absolutely not be that that inexpensive.

Farrell Middleton: And, you know, of course the math has I got to get people in the room. Let me be very clear. I’ve got people online. I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s a numbers game like everything else is. So I am hopeful that this will provide value and people will see that in one hour. And for $80.

Joshua Kornitsky: Have you gotten pretty positive feedback?

Farrell Middleton: I’ve gotten excellent feedback on it. That’s excellent feedback on it. Uh, I’m making a difference in people’s lives. They’re standing up, they’re walking out. They’re thinking, you know what? That was worth it. That was really worth it. And so that makes it that makes it that much more beneficial. Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: I’m really happy to hear the impact that you’re making. I, I will tell you, having known you for as long as I have now, I’m not surprised at the impact you’re making, but I am. But I am happy to hear it. And I know that it’s coming from your heart that this is, uh, this is not you trying to build a self-help empire. This is you just trying to help people.

Farrell Middleton: That’s it. That’s what I want to do. Like I said, I’m 61 years old. I’ve done a lot of stuff in my life, done a lot. I’ve been a successful career, the whole thing, good family life, all that kind of. We’re grandparents now, which is wonderful.

Joshua Kornitsky: Congratulations.

Farrell Middleton: You’re maybe not too far away from that. And let me be clear, it is better than anything anyone has ever told you. It’s wonderful. A little, a little little. You said she’s 23. You know, you got a few years. But I hope when we have our second grandson on the way, we’re so excited about it. But, uh. But no, uh, it’s just it’s where I am. Like I said, I’ve got so many years left professionally that, uh, this is what I do now. And I just, I’m a practical guy with practical experience. I just want to help people live a better life. It sounds kind of corny and cheesy, but. Josh, that’s what I’m about these days. I’ve done a lot and I have a lot to share.

Joshua Kornitsky: I think that that’s a fantastic life mission. Mhm. And you said that you, uh, you use a five point scale for self-evaluation, self evaluation. Where would you put yourself?

Farrell Middleton: Uh, let’s see. Well, overall, overall, I would probably put myself at about, uh, about a four. I think overall, we can always do some work here and there in that type of thing. And I’ll tell you, one of the things that, uh, one of the other eight is starting the day consistently. This is, I’m getting a lot of traction out of this. If you’re supposed to start your day at 8:00, it’s 8:00. Yeah, not 9:00, 930. And I’ll tell you, that’s one thing I’m struggling with right now. I was a very I lived a very structured life for 36 years, up early at the office at 7:00, home by 6 or 7:00 at night, whatever avail on the weekends, very, very structured. Now I’m doing stuff on Saturdays, um, here doing this on a Tuesday morning. I’m struggling with that in my new career.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah, weirdly flexible in ways that you just haven’t had to account for.

Farrell Middleton: I never, I never had to do this. And sometimes I have early meetings, sometimes I don’t have my first meeting until noon. And so I’m.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s a funny thing.

Farrell Middleton: I tell you, I’m struggling with this. I’d give myself a two on that right now out of five. Yeah, so I look I work on these things all day every day as well.

Joshua Kornitsky: And I think that’s very humanizing for you to say. I’m a five on everything because I created this well. Yeah, good luck to you. But yeah, I imagine that the, the one thing that you that’s sort of in between the lines that, that you said and it touched on something we talked about sort of before we started, uh, the broadcast is, I think it’s interesting the way that you give permission to people to understand it’s just not always going to be a five.

Farrell Middleton: It’s not no, the world doesn’t work that way.

Joshua Kornitsky: And, and I love that aspect of what you’re coaching people on because that’s just reality. It is. And you will be set up for perpetual disappointment. If if again, leaning into the learnings that my children have taught me. If you believe what you see on social media, no matter where you’re seeing it, you’re seeing a highlighted, edited highlight reel of somebody pretend life.

Farrell Middleton: Good point.

Joshua Kornitsky: You will always be disappointed because it’s not limousines and private jets and yachts, because that’s just not realistic.

Farrell Middleton: It’s not.

Joshua Kornitsky: And to understand that nobody’s living at a needle buried on five, because that’s just not how the world works.

Farrell Middleton: Yeah. Well, one of the other topics in my program, I’ve got a bunch of material, but one of them is there are five work days in a week. One’s going to be really, really good. You wish you could just bottle it up and open it whenever you could. Doesn’t work that way. Three you’re going to be good enough and one’s going to be kind of crappy. And sometimes that crappy day is just getting home through the front door is going to feel like an enormous victory that day. But hopefully you put your head down on your pillow in a good frame of mind. You wake up the next day in a better frame of mind and you go, have a better day. It’s a bell curve.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s the biggest takeaway that I get from this discussion and something I’ll certainly take home to share. Uh, let me ask last question. What is one takeaway you’d like people to know about the bell curve of life?

Farrell Middleton: Uh, I think my best takeaway here is that I have not created or invented anything. All I have done is taken principles that were all aware of that we all live our life through every day, and I have packaged it in a very crisp and concise way that’s easy to share. I’ve got the book. Uh, you know, I’m a professional speaker, so I’m able to deliver it well. And I’ll say that with all the confidence in the world, I deliver this message very well and people receive it very well. Come spend some time with me. And my promise is the material will be delivered in a way that you can walk out of there, and you can make improvements in your life personally or professionally that day. That’s my promise.

Joshua Kornitsky: You don’t even have to get in the car. You just do it over Zoom.

Farrell Middleton: Do it over Zoom. That’s right. Yeah, do it over Zoom. Just like, sign up and show up. That’s all you got to do.

Joshua Kornitsky: I can’t thank you enough. And. And I have to tell you that I’m leaving here with a whole lot of new thoughts in my head.

Farrell Middleton: Well, that’s awesome.

Joshua Kornitsky: Thank you. And that’s the to me, that’s that’s the best ingredients for success. Anytime that you can help somebody think about things in a new way, that’s a win.

Farrell Middleton: I think it is as well.

Joshua Kornitsky: Um, my, my guest today has been Pharrell Middleton. He’s the founder of the Bell Curve of Life. It’s a unique teaching program. And he’s also the author of A Performer a Environment, a Roadmap to enhance Your Performance and Upgrade your Environment. After a 36 year career in residential land development and home building, Pharrell transitioned into his second career as a teacher, professional speaker, discovery expert, and author. His mission and focus, as we heard today, is to cultivate a level performers and a level environments to drive personal growth and organizational health. If both can be achieved, success will follow and failure will be rare. Farrell, thank you so very much for sharing your knowledge and your wisdom with us. I also have to thank today’s episode. Or excuse me, I have to take a moment to thank, uh, the Cherokee Business Community Partner Program, the Business RadioX Main Street Warriors, defending capitalism, promoting small business, and supporting our local community. For more information, please check out Main Street warriors.org. And a special note of thanks to our title sponsor for the Cherokee chapter of Main Street Warriors Diesel David Ink. Please go check them out at diesel davidk.com. My name is Joshua Kornitsky. I am a professional EOS implementer and your host here on Cherokee Business Radio. Thank you so much for joining us. We’ll see you next time.