Sam Bakhtiar is the founder of Fitness Concepts, now a multi-million dollar business. He is also a competitive bodybuilder and car enthusiast. Sam shares how he has rebounded from failure, how he commits to his fitness and success, and the importance of persuasion.   Episode Highlights:  You don’t get any off hours when you’re an entrepreneur, but you’re the one in charge and calling the shots. You need to hire someone to hold you accountable and push you when you’re an entrepreneur because you don’t have a boss to do that. It took Sam 10 years to make his first $1 million, and then only 6 months to earn his second million. Early in his business, he actually faced foreclosure and bankruptcy in the face of the 2008 financial crisis. Sam has had to master the skill of delaying gratification. Money is like bodybuilding, in that you can lose gains just as quickly as you make them. His main avenue for investing is real estate, particularly flipping apartments. Sam believes who you know is more important than what you know. Seeking out new people is uncomfortable, and it’s easier to stay behind your computer and do things yourself, so you have to make it a priority. Sam gives everybody a chance, but he doesn’t give unlimited chances, which allows the most impactful people in his circle to stick around. Commitment is freedom and discipline is happiness. Humans are programmed to be negative, so we have to rewire ourselves to be positive in a more automatic, habitual way. All entrepreneurs need to build their skills in copywriting, persuasion, and marketing. Random Round: a quick series of random questions to get to know Sam.   3 Key Points: Giving up something now for something greater later is a skill and a muscle that needs to be developed. If you treat people transactionally, you’ll get transactional results. Persuasion is not a negative thing, it’s necessary for business success.   Tweetable Quotes:  “What’s the best thing that can happen and what’s the worst thing that can happen? If you can live with the worst thing that can happen, then you should go for it.” –Sam Bakhtiar “If something makes your heart happy, as long as you’re not being a dumb investor, you’re not doing dumb things with your money, there’s nothing wrong with that. At the end of the day you have to be happy.” –Sam Bakhtiar Resources Mentioned: Sam Bakhtiar: https://sambakhtiar.com/ (Website), https://www.instagram.com/sambakhtiar/?hl=en (Instagram), https://twitter.com/fitnessconcepts?lang=en (Twitter), https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_z9K2VaB3DNBxxyzkoIIjw (Youtube) https://www.amazon.com/What-When-Talk-Your-Self/dp/1501171992 (What To Say When You Talk to Yourself) https://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Robert-Cialdini/dp/006124189X (Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion) Visit Travis’ website at http://www.buildyournetwork.co/ (Buildyournetwork.co) Join the Build Your Network Facebook group http://www.buildyournetwork.co/fb/ (BYN.media/fb) Join the Build Your Network University Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/bynuniversity (byn.university). If you want to amplify your network through podcasting apply at https://travischappell.typeform.com/to/Lm38Rt (travischappell.com/coaching) Download the Himalaya App in the https://apps.apple.com/us/app/podcast-audio-player-himalaya/id1275493456 (App Store) orCheck out FranBridge Consulting for premier non-food franchise opportunities: travischappell.com/franbridgeOur Sponsors:* Check out Kinsta: https://kinsta.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices