Become The CEO Of Your Own Life With Rylee Meek

Rylee Meek (@theryleemeek) is an entrepreneur, coach and podcaster. Rylee is the host of The King's Council Podcast and the founder of King's Council Coaching. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about how to be the CEO of your own life, the importance of balancing the 5 power pillars of life (spiritual, mental, emotional, financial and physical), why he always finds time for the gym, how to become a better communicator, why he believes that how you do anything is how you do everything, the best advice he has ever received and much more!

Find out more about Rylee Meek here: https://ryleemeek.com/

Anybody that looks at you will think you make time for the gym. You are super busy with everything in your life. How important is making time to go to the gym for you?

“Oh super important. I am a big morning routine guy, more so rhythm than routine. If I can’t get the blood going in the gym then my mind juices can’t get going. Also we have only got one body, if we can’t operate that well then we can’t operate business well.”

What do you think is the difference between a morning rhythm and a morning routine?

“I think that a routine is such a negative word. Maybe that is just me, but it’s like a budget, We have a negative connotation to certain words. With a routine it’s like here we go again… I choose to call it a rhythm so it helps my mindset shift from the routine.”

We all have these moments in life where things change for us. What was your big bang moment?

“Oh man. So at the age of 15, and I have been an entrepreneur since the age of 15, but I took a job for one day. This was a “job” where I was getting an hourly wage. I thought I would make some money and eventually buy a car like all high school kids want to do. I worked an 8 hour shift at minimum wage, which was $5.15 an hour at the time. So I worked 8 hours and got like $40. There was no way I was doing that again. I walked out feeling frustrated, not that they valued me at that amount but because I allowed them to value me at that amount. That’s the day where I’m like I am not doing that again. I looked at ways that I can bring value to the market and I’ve been doing that for nearly 20 years.”

So what was step 1 in this process?

“It was the environment. I grew up in a small community with 1,000 people in the entire town. I knew I had to be intentional with my time because there were not a lot of entrepreneurs I could gleam from. So once a month I would drive up to Minnesota and attend these events called Success Training Seminars. I just got in a room with like mindsetted people, they thought differently but had the same goal in mind, which was progress. I seeked out these groups, found mentors and read books. My journey was 5 hours each way so I listened to CDs and audited my thoughts. Why did I think this way? It was mainly down to the way that I grew up. If we think ‘Why do we think that way?’ It’s probably down to what an aunt’s friend said when we were younger.”

How did a Craigslist ad change your life? Do you remember what it said?

“Oh I will never forget what it said! I was coming off a failed business venture at 24 and wondering what to do next. So I had a business valuation company, a fitness center, I was just seeking new opportunities. I literally had $673 in my bank when I saw this ad. It said ‘Work 3 days a week and make $10,000.’ I thought yeah, right! But the ad did its job and got me to click on it. That ad opened my eyes to a new concept of selling and have never heard of before. It completely blew my mind in leveraging my dollars and my time. Ultimately, it has changed the direction of my life.”

A lot of people want to start their own business. What are 3 things you would say that people have to do to start?

“The first thing that anyone can do is set up an LLC [Limited Liability Company]. Do it. People think they need to figure out a product or a service or how to sell it. Just set up the LLC, it’s the easiest part and a box you need to check. It’s great to get into the routine of checking off the boxes and you feel accomplished. It costs $160 to set up an LLC, then get the bank account and you are in business. If you don’t know what to sell, seek out a mentor or a coach and look for opportunities. People say ‘If you follow your passion then you never work a day in your life.’ I say that is BS. When COVID went down, I looked at what I can bring more value to a market place and package it into a way that people wanted it. They say ‘You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.’ No, but I can put salt in its oats so that it is thirsty. So set up your LLC, look for opportunities and bring your passion with you.”

You talk a lot about the 5 power pillars. What exactly are those?

“OK so we got mental, emotional, physical, spiritual and financial. I really believe that these pillars, we need to be operating in life like a CEO would operate a company. CEOs have marketing, fulfilment, HR… If you are thinking about running a company, you adjust the levers and control the ship. You aren’t necessarily doing it all, but you are leading the ship and directing it. If marketing struggles, it all suffers. We host these events called CEO of Your Life where we promote the health of these pillars. Then you can put yourself in control of these positions. People call it the work/life balance, but if you are balancing then something is losing. I believe that it is a wheel with 5 spokes, if one spoke is broken, we are limping around because the wheel won’t work.”

What do you think is the best advice that you have ever received?

“Oh man. The best advice I have ever received? I didn’t exactly receive it but I learned it. At 15 I learned that I need to be around certain people and be intentional. This is why we have these neural pathways, because it was the environment we grew up in. When a baby shark is born and never taken from a fish tank, it will never grow from its birth size of 8 to 10 inches. But if you take that shark and put it in the ocean, it will grow to 15 or 20 feet. This is because the environment affects the growth. If you don’t like where you are, you have to change your environment. Time is your most valuable thing, not time. Where you invest your time is where you will reap what you harvest.”

You are a fellow podcaster. What is the biggest thing that you have learned since you started your podcast?

“So I have done 2 podcasts. The Sales Conversion Podcast, which is now on hold, selfishly I did that to learn from people. I generated decent 7 figures from inviting people onto the podcast and then doing business together. It was an incredible experience. It was being intentional of me having products and services, inviting people on and doing business. A lot of The King’s Council episodes are solo episodes. I am very intentional about what I am talking about, for example the 5 pillars. It is about going from student to teacher to master, where you can teach it. It’s been epic in learning and teaching people and has taught me a lot about preparation.”

I end every interview talking about gratitude. What are 3 things in your life that you are grateful for?

“Standing here right now doing this podcast being alive and being here now as number one. Number two, being grateful for life in general. Thirdly my spouse, she has been incredible.”

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