Episode 270: A Journey of Deals and Growth

Season #1 December 27, 2023

DealQuest Community, as the holiday season approaches, I find myself contemplating the concept of an ideal life. It's a question that often lingers in our minds, especially during this time of year when we reflect on the past and look towards the future. The truth is, tomorrow is not promised, and we have witnessed countless examples of this in our own lives and in the world around us. It serves as a stark reminder that we must strive to live our ideal lives now, rather than waiting for some distant future. In the context of the DealQuest podcast, I ponder how deals can help us achieve our ideal lives. Deals, in all their forms, have the potential to drive growth and create opportunities for us to live the lives we truly desire. Whether it's a merger, capital raising, joint venture, or even a small-scale agreement, deals can be transformative if approached with intention and purpose. As someone who has been involved in deal-driven growth for over three decades, I have witnessed firsthand the power of strategic deals in propelling businesses forward. But deals are not just about financial gain or expansion; they are about aligning our actions with our deepest desires and values. It is crucial to ask ourselves why we are pursuing certain deals and whether they truly contribute to our ideal lives. The holiday season provides an opportunity for introspection. It is a time to evaluate the choices we have made and to envision a brighter future. We must question our motivations and ensure that our deals are not driven solely by external forces or societal expectations. Instead, they should be in harmony with our authentic selves and the lives we genuinely want to create. Building a business or making investments should not be solely for the sake of growth or validation. It should be a means to craft the life we desire. I recall a theme from my EO forum years ago that focused on the "ideal life now." It's a powerful concept that reminds us to seize the present moment and make the most of it. Tomorrow is uncertain, and we owe it to ourselves to live our ideal lives today. As we reflect on the past year and prepare for the new one, let us consider how we can have more of our ideal lives now. Deals can play a significant role in this pursuit. They can be the catalysts for growth, fulfillment, and alignment with our vision and values. By embracing deals that resonate with our deepest desires, we can create a life that is truly meaningful and purposeful. Happy holidays and may the new year bring you closer to the freedom and prosperity that your deal quest holds. • • • For my full discussion, and more on this topic and topics not featured on this blog post: Listen to the Full DealQuest Podcast Episode Here Corey Kupfer is an expert strategist, negotiator, and dealmaker. He has more than 35 years of professional deal-making and negotiating experience. Corey is a successful entrepreneur, attorney, consultant, author, and professional speaker. He is deeply passionate about deal-driven growth. He is also the creator and host of the DealQuest Podcast. Get deal-ready with the DealQuest Podcast with Corey Kupfer, where like-minded entrepreneurs and business leaders converge, share insights and challenges, and success stories. Equip yourself with the tools, resources, and support necessary to navigate the complex yet rewarding world of dealmaking. Dive into the world of deal-driven growth today!

Episode Transcript

Corey Kupfer:

DealQuest community. This is a special holiday message and the holiday episode of the DealQuest podcast. And listen, whether you are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, nothing anything else whether it's just a great time for you to be with family or take off time for yourself, whatever this time of year means to you during the, this end of the year coming into the new years, I wanted to, first of all, tell you how grateful I am for all the support and growth we've had on the DealQuest podcast, but I also want to talk about.
The context of why we do deals and really at a much deeper level around this time of the year because there are so many drivers. People know I talk about mindset a lot. And I talk about why we're doing deals. And, there are so many things out there that drive people. To certain things, whether that's just success in their career.
That's as entrepreneurs to build their companies generally, whether that is [00:01:00] around doing deals that can either be healthy drivers and aligned drivers and things that really move us towards. What we really want to achieve and create the lives we want. And then there are drivers that are unhealthy.
Maybe it's, ego, maybe it's outside judgment of forces or, things that, you think are going to make you happy in life. If you are bigger, better, busier, whatever it is. And I think, if we're doing, I'm not big on right or wrong, the judgment of other people, but I sort of feel like we're doing the holidays, right.
But taking this time of year. In the right way, or let's just say there's an opportunity to use this time of year to be contemplative about why we're doing what we're doing, what the opportunity is at the end of the year to evaluate what we have done and how to come into the new year more positively and not having it built upon any reaction.
Anything that's happened in the past. And, , 1 of the things to think about is. Hey, [00:02:00] why are we doing the things we want to do? Why even do deals? I mean i'm going to focus on deals because this is a deals podcast, but I ask questions like why do I have certain people in my life? Why do I have certain habits?
Why did I spend time on this particular thing? Is that really aligned for me and what I want to do? And when we apply that to deals and thinking about why we have done the kind of deals we've done or maybe not done Certain deals or the deals we may want to do going forward again As anybody who listens to this podcast knows, I'm not just talking about M& A and capital raising, but that could be part of it, but any kind of deal, joint ventures, strategic alliances, licensing online affiliate deals, sponsorship deals, real estate investment deals, you name it.
, what I would question is, if we're not doing those deals, If we're not making those decisions to create a better life for ourselves and to achieve the goals and the vision that we truly have from a very internal connected place. [00:03:00] Then why are we doing it? Right. I know many people who've built their companies, whether it's through deals or organic growth or whatever, to be bigger, better, and they're driven by these outside external forces or to prove something or, whatever it is for them.
And then they find out I'm not happy. I know there's an old joke that says, as an entrepreneur, what an entrepreneur is somebody who is willing to work 80 hours for themselves to work to avoid working 40 hours for someone else. And there's some truth in that, especially in the beginning, you know, when you're trying to lift the thing, but if we're not building our businesses or our investments.
Or any other kind of the deals that we're doing to create the life we want. Many years ago, we had a theme in my form. I've talked to us a little bit around the ideal life now. So, around this time of year, I would pose the question to you. What is your ideal life now? Cause tomorrow's not promised.
We've all had examples in our lives and in the world that we were aware [00:04:00] of that, could unfortunately sometimes harshly and critically bring that to our focus. That tomorrow's not promised, and whether that's you're not being here at all and not being healthy enough to do all these things you dream about.
So how do you have more of your ideal life now in the context of the topic of this podcast? How can deals help you get there? I think that's what I want to leave you with in this holiday season. As you're doing your contemplation, how do you have more of your ideal life now? And how, or if even, I think there's often a way, how can deals help you get there?
And we'll be here for another year if any more to come and supporting your deal driven growth and you're learning about deals and you're hearing from experiences from other people around their deals, their successes, their failures, how they have successfully done deals to help create that ideal life and to be aligned with their vision and values and places where they've [00:05:00] made mistakes and for me as well.
So we'll be here for you on that journey. Let's just take some time. How do you have more of the ideal life now and how can deals play upon that? All right, folks, until next week, take care. Happy holidays. Happy new year. Much love.

Episode 270: A Journey of Deals and Growth

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