S2E17: Gino Wickman and Mike Paton | How to Create and Live Your Best Life

Gino Wickman, founder of EOS Worldwide, creator of EOS®, and author of the forthcoming book, The EOS Life, shares five things it takes to start living your best life. Gino walks through the journey he underwent to define the five components of the EOS Life, how he started living it himself, and how visionary entrepreneurs can get on track too.

A Vision Of Life For Visionaries

Gino has been a wildly successful entrepreneur since his 20s. A true Visionary himself — and also the son of a Visionary — Gino thrives on helping other visionary entrepreneurs thrive. Through the years he noticed that too many entrepreneurs felt like they weren’t able to have their ideal lives, and Gino knew he had something to offer. That was the driving force behind writing The EOS Life: helping visionary entrepreneurs live the best life possible.

Living the EOS Life has five components:

1. Doing what you love
2. With people you love
3. Making a huge impact
4. Getting compensated appropriately
5. Having time for other passions

Gino’s message is primarily aimed toward Visionaries, although he adds that leadership teams can certainly benefit from them, too. His point is that if you can get the Visionary to have a good perspective on what living their life well looks like, then everyone else in the organization will follow suit.

Your Core Values Are Your Launching Pad

In order to start living your EOS Life, you need to discover your core values. These are three to seven characteristics that define who you are most fundamentally. Then, ask yourself: Does everyone in my organization share these core values? If so, are they in the right seat? If not, Gino says it’s time to start firing people. It’s not that they’re bad people; they’re just bad fits for you.

Once your organization is filled with people you love, Gino urges to start expanding. Find investors, vendors, and clients who share your values. Then move to your personal life — ask yourself, “When I spend an hour with this person, do I walk away feeling uplifted and fulfilled? Or do I feel less-than?” Spend your energy on people who energize you.

Seek Appropriate Compensation

Gino has noticed that many entrepreneurs struggle to get comfortable making a lot of money. 

[24:11] “You have to decide for yourself what compensated appropriately means. Simply put: If you’re sitting out there and you don’t feel you’re making enough money, then you’re not being compensated appropriately in your mind. You’ve got to start to move the needle in that direction.”

If you want to earn more money, figure out how to add more value to your role. Those who take bigger risks get bigger rewards. When you’re creating real value in the world, don’t be afraid to charge appropriately.

Make Time For What Excites You

Living the EOS Life didn’t fully come naturally to Gino. While the first four components came easily, he found it hard to have a personal life and follow other passions. Like any true Visionary, working was his sole passion for a long time.

Gino had an “Aha!” moment that changed that for him. Ever since, he has consistently made time for things like cycling, going to movies with his wife, travelling, and being with family and friends.

If you don’t know what your passions are, a good place to start is to think about what makes you excited. Gino stresses that you get to choose what passions to pursue. Go with what brings you energy.

If something brings you joy, it’s a passion. Lean into that.

Learn More:

• The EOS Life
• EOS Worldwide

Also Mentioned In This Episode:

• Dan Sullivan’s Strategic Coach®