In this solo episode of Business, Finance & Soul, Shaun Enders breaks down why meaningful success in life, business, money, health, and relationships almost always unfolds over years, not weeks or months. Drawing from personal experience in entrepreneurship, investing, parenting, and athletics, Shaun explains how discipline compounds, why modern life is engineered against patience, and how learning to sit comfortably in the delay can change your future.

If you're building something that matters and wondering why it feels slower than expected this episode will help you reframe timelines, trust the process, and stay committed to the long game.

🎯 Topics include:

• Delayed gratification vs instant gratification

• Long-term thinking in business and finance

• Discipline, compounding, and consistency

• Parenting, investing, and life goals

• Why the payoff takes time

00:00 – Welcome & The Arc of the Payoff
Why success often shows up in waves, not straight lines

02:25 – Wrestling, Trauma, and Learning Delay Early
How sport and adversity taught long-term thinking

04:30 – Delayed Gratification Is Compounding in Disguise
Good decisions vs. bad decisions over time

06:05 – Indulgence Today Is a Tax on the Future
Diet, discipline, and conscious tradeoffs

08:00 – Discipline vs. Distraction
Two simple questions to audit your daily behavior

10:15 – Social Comparison and Financial Drift
How lifestyle creep quietly derails long-term goals

12:20 – What If the Goal Takes 10 or 20 Years?
Why timelines matter less than direction

14:25 – Journaling, Vision, and a Decade-Long Payoff
Living a reality imagined ten years earlier

15:18 – Staying in Discomfort Without Tapping Out
Delayed gratification isn't waiting—it's doing

17:05 – Parenting, Business, and Invisible Payoffs
Why some rewards don't show up for decades

19:20 – The Long Game vs. the Now Game
Saving vs. spending, building vs. reacting

20:15 – The Five-Year Payoff Myth
Trusting the work before the reward

21:00 – The 30-Day Delayed Gratification Challenge
A practical exercise to build pride and confidence

https://www.youtube.com/@Businessfinanceandsoul

www.BusinessFinanceAndSoul.com

www.CallTSG.com

When the pandemic hit, Ben Albert lost his job, his identity, and his direction. One small action, opening his laptop and messaging strangers on LinkedIn, changed everything.

In this episode, we break down how to rewrite your internal narrative, why resilience beats talent, and what it really means to be "valuable before visible." Ben shares the real reason some creators break through while others stay stuck, plus practical tools for reinvention, storytelling, and building meaningful relationships.

If you're ready for a mindset shift or need the spark to start your next chapter, this one's for you.

00:01 — Ben's turning point: Losing his job and the moment he opened his laptop to reinvent his life.
02:00 — Reaching out to strangers: How LinkedIn became his lifeline.
04:05 — Reinvention & identity: Why we must rewrite our story at different stages of life.
05:30 — Good habits vs. bad habits: The power of "disintegration."
10:18 — What successful people share: The truth about resilience and doubling down on strengths.
13:11 — "Valuable before visible": Ben's philosophy and the Taylor Swift example.
18:07 — Networking myths: What most people get wrong.
19:21 — Introverts & anxiety: Tools for showing up when you're nervous.
23:04 — Reframing fear: "What's the worst that could happen?"
28:28 — Why some creators break through: Consistency, differentiation, and momentum.
31:42 — Showing up fully: Why performing for small audiences matters.
37:08 — Replacing his income in one year: How Ben built momentum brick by brick.
46:18 — What makes a great guest: Listening over scripting.
50:26 — Crafting your personal story: The Lighthouse & Foghorn method.
55:53 — The one question to ask daily: "What's awesome about that?"
58:03 — What drives Ben today: Travel, freedom, and building a life he loves.

Connect with Ben Albert:

https://realbusinessconnections.com/

Podcast:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/real-business-connections/id1537115928

https://open.spotify.com/show/6GIUXbsHXx0OSgPFED1sg8?si=3dce5e380e0e4a43&nd=1&dlsi=517b62461e8a4f83%20

Linkedin:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/realbenalbert/

Connect with Shaun:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaunenders/

Transition Staffing Group www.CallTSG.com

www.BusinessFinanceAndSoul.com

If you are enjoying Business, Finance and Soul, please leave a 5 star review on Apple and Spotify.

In this episode, Shaun talks with Kira Shishkin, Founder & CEO of informed.now, a text-based news concierge that keeps you informed without draining your energy. They dig into what's broken in our current news ecosystem, how bias is often intentional, and why going straight to primary sources changes everything. Kira also shares his framework for evaluating ideas, teams, and timing, what founders get wrong when pitching investors, and how to protect your attention like a superpower in an age of noise and AI hype.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Why our "information diet" is broken and how informed.now works

• How primary sources help cut through bias and sensationalism

• Kira's process for testing ideas before building a business

• What most founders get wrong in investor pitches

• Simple questions to decide what's actually worth your time and attention

Timestamps (Key Moments):

• 00:01 – Welcome & why Shaun invited Kira

• 02:50 – Growing up in Ukraine & Israel and seeing information wars up close

• 07:35 – How informed.now stays neutral and focuses on primary sources

• 27:58 – Kira's framework for evaluating ideas, teams & timing

• 50:12 – AI: what's overhyped and what we're underestimating

• 58:40 – A pivotal setback that shaped Kira's resilience

Connect with Kira:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirashishkin/

Informed.now

Connect with Shaun:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaunenders/

www.BusinessFinaceAndSoul.com

www.CallTSG.com