(UN)Conventional Wealth

Defining what certainty means to you is an essential step in living a fulfilling life. The Certainty Operating System is a framework for achieving certainty on your terms. On this episode, Dan shares what he defines as certainty and how to orient towards taking the most efficient path forward to get what matters most in your life.

Key Takeaways

• Defining what certainty is for your life.
• Overview of the Certainty Operating System.
• Why our tendency is to orient towards "more" as individuals.
• Taking the most efficient path forward with optimization.
• The backstory to "burning the boats".
• What it means to play your game, and achieve certainty on your terms.

Resources

• Visit CertaintyU.com to Learn More about joining the CCA Program (Certified Certainty Advisor) or get updates from Dan's private Telegram Channel here.
• Rigging the Game Book is now available, learn more at www.riggingthegame.com/book
• Get the news that gets you closer to what you want with Certainty News.

Enjoyed the Podcast? Be sure to subscribe on iTunes and leave a review. We love to hear your feedback and we’d love for you to help us spread the word! Intro Music by: The Marshall Law Band. 

When is having more not enough? When it isn’t bringing you closer to anything that matters. If “more” isn’t getting you what you want, it’s time to take a new approach. The first step? Deciding exactly what it is that you want.

On this episode of the Rigging the Game podcast, Dan lays out the first commandment in achieving certainty, closer vs. more, the “more” mindset we’ve been conditioned to follow, how to use your mental flowchart to make decisions based on your actual priorities, and thinking in terms of relative change as you get closer to what you want out of life. Listen in for the clarity you need to start achieving certainty.

What You’ll Learn

• Why money isn’t the only currency that matters
• How to filter out the actions and paths that won’t bring you closer to what you really want
• How following this first commandment gives you back your time, energy, and resources

And more!

Favorite Quote

“The game is, recover, reallocate, resources, because we want to put in the least amount of effort, least amount of risk, and have the most amount of options.” - Dan Nicholson

How To Get Involved

Visit CertaintyU.com to Learn More about joining the CCA Program (Certified Certainty Advisor) or get updates from his private Telegram Channel here.

Enjoyed the Podcast? Be sure to subscribe on iTunes and leave a review. We love to hear your feedback and we’d love for you to help us spread the word!

Intro Music by: The Marshall Law Band. 

After a long delay, Dan Nicholson is back and better than ever. This episode is a short one intended to catch you up on what to expect in Season 2 of the Rigging The Game Podcast (hint: more unconventional advice that will show you how to Play Your Game and fund your Solvable Problem TM). 

Key Takeaways

• Interviews with Graduates from CCA discussing how they've applied core principles to their life.
• Expect a breakdown of the 4 Commandments to Financial Certainty

Resources

• Visit CertaintyU.com to Learn More about joining the CCA Program (Certified Certainty Advisor) or get updates from Dan's private Telegram Channel here.
• Learn more about Dan's Book at www.riggingthegame.com/book
• Get the news that gets you closer to what you want with Certainty News.

Enjoyed the Podcast? Be sure to subscribe on iTunes and leave a review. We love to hear your feedback and we’d love for you to help us spread the word!

Although companies now have a dizzying array of tools and systems on hand to make day-to-day operations run smoothly, no amount of cutting-edge software can take the place of strong leadership and a desire to serve clients at the highest level. 

Tony Banta is the co-founder of the Client Success System, along with his wife Suzanne, and the host of The Client Whisperer™ Show. The entire process is designed to provide business owners with not only the systems, but the behavioral shifts they need to optimize their clients’ journeys and get them incredible results. 

On this episode of the Rigging the Game podcast, Dan and Tony discuss the practice of recognizing the systems that govern everything in order to optimize for the best possible outcomes, taking a fluid, process-based approach to making changes within your business (or even your clients) as opposed to a binary approach, ensuring that the help you give your clients lasts in the long term, and why your systems will remain useless if you don’t have a strong focus on value creation. Join in for a necessary reality check on what your clients actually need. 

What You’ll Learn 

• What the signs in a company’s bathroom can tell you about the culture of the organization itself
• How to troubleshoot the standard process to fit the results to your client’s needs (because we don’t all fit perfectly into the average)
• Why treating your clients like the boss is a disservice to you and them, and the process Tony uses to prevent this issue entirely
• And much more!

Favorite Quote

“I quickly found that the best code, the best software solutions were powerless in the face of dysfunctional leadership and dysfunctional organizational structures. And as a systems engineer, that bothered me. So that spurred the next decade of my career of getting out from behind the computer to figure out what makes leaders and teams and organizations tick.”

- Tony Banta

Connect with Tony Banta: 

• The Client Whisperer™ Show

How to get involved

• Visit Dan Nicholson’s website - Nth Degree CPA’s and the Rigging The Game to learn how he helps small business owners cultivate good accounting and tax practices to achieve their financial goals. To rig the game to win and to set the outcomes that you want in life and business.
• Get the news that gets you closer to what you want with Certainty News.

Enjoyed the Podcast? Be sure to subscribe on iTunes and leave a review. We love to hear your feedback and we’d love for you to help us spread the word!

There are plenty of ways to approach serving your clients. For instance, lots of service providers out there will simply ask what it is that the person wants, take them at their word, and simply accomplish the task at hand. But the ones who stand out above the rest know that there are so many levels beneath that conversation to explore. 

Mark Fujiwara was raised to run a business. From early childhood, he was witness to the inner workings of his family’s restaurant - and when that restaurant eventually shut down, Mark took what he had learned and applied it to his budding career as a stockbroker and his general love of numbers. From there, he went on to found what he refers to as a “family office,” through which he provides the highest possible level of service to each and every client, going far deeper than simple accounting. 

On this episode of the Rigging the Game podcast, Mark and Dan dig into the process of figuring out the “point” of what you’re doing for your client and focusing in on the one or two things that matter most to them, the unconventional methods Mark has used to excel at a given task (even something as small as selling pork buns), and how to engineer your conversations with clients to get beyond “more money” and dive into the heart of what they really want for themselves. Tune in to take your client service to the next level, and the next.

What You’ll Learn 

• What gross food-eating contests have to teach us about the art of rigging the game
• How Mark assembled his team of professionals, from physicians to air travel experts, to better serve his people
• Why working remotely during COVID-19 actually lends us a huge advantage in one very important way
• And much more!

Favorite Quote

“It's not the technical strategies, all the sophisticated, complex solutions you can do for clients. What really matters is delivering what exactly the client wants. And in doing this process over and over again, I found that my real value is understanding who the people I’m dealing with, what they really want and need and just really dive in deep into all the insights of their goals and their needs, situation, concerns, anxieties, what they really want to accomplish.”

- Mark Fujiwara

Connect with Mark Fujiwara: 

• Markfujiwara.com

How to get involved

• Visit Dan Nicholson’s website - Nth Degree CPA’s and the Rigging The Game to learn how he helps small business owners cultivate good accounting and tax practices to achieve their financial goals. To rig the game to win and to set the outcomes that you want in life and business.
• Get the news that gets you closer to what you want with Certainty News.

Enjoyed the Podcast? Be sure to subscribe on iTunes and leave a review. We love to hear your feedback and we’d love for you to help us spread the word!

Sometimes, small actions lead to huge outcomes. Daily blog posts turn from a simple exercise in journaling to new parts of your business (or even a new business) you never planned on. In any case, finding what fulfills you is an excellent first step. 

It goes without saying that most of the unconventional people in the world don't fit into any one mold, and Chris Small is no exception. Originally an attorney, Chris found that his interests lay less in the law and more in the realms of building systems, sharing his wisdom with other law firm owners and creating high-quality content. Currently, Chris owns a law firm alongside his consulting business, and a media agency, all of which tie together what fills Chris up and drives him forward. 

This episode of the Rigging the Game podcast features Dan and Chris discussing how Chris landed where he is now by "scratching his own itch," how to decide what it is that you actually want, in business and in life, and resisting the "yo-yo" mentality in order to set up sustainable, fulfilling habits that take you where you want to go. Listen in to find your ideal and start pursuing it. 

What You’ll Learn 

• Why the common image of a business that goes from 0-100 very quickly is misleading
• How to start to navigate the pressures and comparisons of those around you to get to what makes you happy and fulfilled
• What philosophies Chris has in mind that make up his idea of a perfect day
• And much more!

Favorite Quote

“You have to take some action. If you want to see results in your life, you have to be willing to put some work in and find a way to enjoy the process. You have to find some way to be able to wake up every day and do the things that you need to do to get to where you want to go.”

- Chris Small

Connect with Chris Small: 

• Unconventionalattorney.com

How to get involved

• Visit Dan Nicholson’s website - Nth Degree CPA’s and the Rigging The Game to learn how he helps small business owners cultivate good accounting and tax practices to achieve their financial goals. To rig the game to win and to set the outcomes that you want in life and business.
• Get the news that gets you closer to what you want with Certainty News.

Enjoyed the Podcast? Be sure to subscribe on iTunes and leave a review. We love to hear your feedback and we’d love for you to help us spread the word!

Have you ever taken time out to examine the factors that make up your idea of success? For many of us, those factors come from our upbringing, our peers, or others in our industry. So, in your case, who’s at the wheel? 

Justin and Michelle DeMers met in college as fellow art students, and as they built their first photography business together, they came to realize that simple beauty isn’t enough to sustain actual meaning or satisfying success. There has to be more. The two of them combined their strengths - Justin’s vision and Michelle’s organizational mind - and created a life and a way forward filled with success and impact as they define it.

On this episode of the Rigging the Game podcast, Dan sits down with Justin and Michelle to discuss the path they took into a world of independent creativity, how putting in the effort to connect deeply with clients changes the game, and structuring a business (and therefore a life) that helps you play your own game to the best of your ability. Listen in to embrace what makes your way the best way. 

What You’ll Learn 

• Why Michelle and Justin believe that beauty should be backed up by substance - and how it impacted their business in the early days
• How to gather social proof from clients without damaging the relationship by making it transactional
• Why seemingly risky choices may actually be a necessary, and safer than you think, part of your upward trajectory
• And much more!

Favorite Quote

“Take a pause and make sure that you're actually going in the direction that you want, not the direction that others may think is more attractive or impressive. And make sure you've got good support to help you make the change when change seems hard or when it's uncertain. But if you can see that where your path is taking you is not where you want to be, you need to make a change somehow.”

- Justin and Michelle DeMers

Connect with Justin and Michelle DeMers: 

• Social Proof Club

How to get involved

• Visit Dan Nicholson’s website - Nth Degree CPA’s and the Rigging The Game to learn how he helps small business owners cultivate good accounting and tax practices to achieve their financial goals. To rig the game to win and to set the outcomes that you want in life and business.
• Get the news that gets you closer to what you want with Certainty News.

Enjoyed the Podcast? Be sure to subscribe on iTunes and leave a review. We love to hear your feedback and we’d love for you to help us spread the word!

Have you ever sought advice from someone you trust, only to walk away feeling like that advice just didn't fit? The secret to action steps that actually work for you is in knowing the difference between the factors in your life that you can change and which ones you simply have to withstand.

On this episode of the Rigging the Game podcast, Dan talks through the nuances that make up financial readiness, recognizing group indexing vs. personal indexing, and how to put these concepts together for optimal decision-making. Listen in to stop feeling powerless. 

What You’ll Learn 

• How to tell the difference between rhythms you can't control and decisions you can
• What steps to take once you've isolated the data of your individual lifestyle
• How to stop trying to solve the unsolvable and make your decisions count
• And much more!

Favorite Quote

“Oftentimes folks haven't thought about the rhythm thing versus decisions and they're always trying to solve every problem. And we need to be able to separate out what's an actual problem versus something that's not.”

- Dan Nicholson

How to get involved

• Visit Dan Nicholson’s website - Nth Degree CPA’s and the Rigging The Game to learn how he helps small business owners cultivate good accounting and tax practices to achieve their financial goals. To rig the game to win and to set the outcomes that you want in life and business.
• Get the news that gets you closer to what you want with Certainty News.

Enjoyed the Podcast? Be sure to subscribe on iTunes and leave a review. We love to hear your feedback and we’d love for you to help us spread the word!

Many of us dread tax season. But have you ever thought about ways you might shift to make the tax code work in your favor? Tax time gets a lot less frightening when you've got a plan to drive down your taxes and save for the future. 

On this episode of the Rigging the Game podcast, Dan digs into Wealth Acceleration and lays out the exercise that will help you align your behavior with the tax code to your best advantage, as well as an example equation for turning a minimal investment into a massive amount of money.    

What You’ll Learn 

• Why the tax system - whether we like it or not - is intrinsically fair
• How different business entities get taxed (and how you can start to figure out where you want to be on the quadrant)
• How to choose what you accelerate with your money
• And much more!

Favorite Quote

“If your specific objective is to accelerate wealth, then you want to drive down your tax, take that extra money reinvested in things that are going to grow and accelerate.”

- Dan Nicholson

How to get involved

• Visit Dan Nicholson’s website - Nth Degree CPA’s and the Rigging The Game to learn how he helps small business owners cultivate good accounting and tax practices to achieve their financial goals. To rig the game to win and to set the outcomes that you want in life and business.
• Get the news that gets you closer to what you want with Certainty News.

Enjoyed the Podcast? Be sure to subscribe on iTunes and leave a review. We love to hear your feedback and we’d love for you to help us spread the word!

Remember the last time you let an exciting idea fall by the wayside? Maybe it was too risky, too time-consuming, or you got discouraged at the thought of someone else having done it first. How do you tackle the mental blocks and execute your ideas effectively?

Andrew S. Kaplan began his Shatter the Mold podcast with the idea of helping others transition out of group-think and towards expanded perspectives and individual thought. Ironically, the name itself is an escalation on “breaking the mold”, and it’s exactly that intent that drives Andrew as he teaches his audience to forge a unique, well-informed path forward.

On this episode of the Rigging the Game podcast, Andrew and Dan break down the ways that each piece of your life connects with the others – and how to recognize the framework, the future of current social media platforms as we progress and shift our focus, and the practice of harnessing the power of storytelling to access your audience on a biological level. Join the conversation to get the most from your ideas. 

What You’ll Learn 

• Why you should pursue different ideas boldly (and why being timid could cost you)
• How to establish your authority before you begin selling to an audience
• What you can do to fireproof your business structure against burnout and maintain balance
• And much more!

Favorite Quote

“I just want to give people a new way of looking at things so that they can make better decisions and wiser decisions that will help them. Everyone, their life, whether it's business, health, relationships, whatever that might be.”

- Andrew S. Kaplan

Connect with Andrew S. Kaplan: 

• Shatter the Mold podcast
• It Doesn’t Matter What You’re Selling

How to get involved

• Visit Dan Nicholson’s website - Nth Degree CPA’s and the Rigging The Game to learn how he helps small business owners cultivate good accounting and tax practices to achieve their financial goals. To rig the game to win and to set the outcomes that you want in life and business.
• Get the news that gets you closer to what you want with Certainty News.

Enjoyed the Podcast? Be sure to subscribe on iTunes and leave a review. We love to hear your feedback and we’d love for you to help us spread the word!