Latest / Forget The Noise / 8. Power of Networking "Sum of Five" | Featuring AJ Cappuccitti
Transcript
- Tharun Binu: Is it motivation something you want? Discipline is something you need. Obsession is something you have to have. I'm gonna show you what I wanted, how I got it, and how I was obsessed to get there. So this one is gonna be fun. I told you I'm gonna get Ease into it. The first few I really want to be like serious. I want to tell you exactly who I was, what I was doing. This one though, we're gonna talk about my book. And I am actually really proud of this book. It's finally the first thing tangible where I feel like I finished, but I didn't finish. And I'll get into that later, but why it felt like that because I do want someone to take something out of this. I don't want this just to be a summary of what I wrote. let's start with. What the book is. So the book is actually called The Sum of Five. And with The Sum of Five, it's about networking. And I've read so many of those self-help books, it gets tiresome. Like I feel like I'm in school, I don't care. I don't want to follow a graph. And I needed something a little bit more, I guess, entertaining. To read. And I feel like a lot of people out there are reading so many like self-help, self-development, information books, but they're not taking away from it what's important. There's so much information in there that it doesn't even resonate with you with what season you're in. It really just pulls you away and just says, You need to do this and you need to do that. And this is gonna get you here, and this is what I did. And it's like it doesn't even like resonate with you. 99% of the time, I hate to say it, you're not even at that level. Of the person that wrote that book. You're not there. So why are you reading it, wasting your time trying to implement something that you're not even ready for? Sure, you might learn a lesson and learn that you're not ready for it, but be honest with yourself. And that's what I want this book to be. It's like this is really a core value of mine where I think it can benefit someone no matter where they are in their venture. Between personal development and business, networking will never ever disappoint you. It'll either teach you you don't align with this person or you do, and there's an ROI to it. Which I think is so important. I built my business on networking. I have the following, I have the resources, I have the clientele because of networking. I built relationships with people that trust my work now. They've got to know me. That's I'm so like in your face on social media because like this is me, me, me, my favorite topic, me. And I want people to get to know me and I want to network with them so we build those relationships. So my book is about the typical someone that works in a job, things fall apart, and he doesn't realize how important and how connected the five people he deals with every day that he completely overlooks are. And then the whole story wraps in and you know it's a typical story, you know, this happens, that happens, he realizes this, that happens, which is great. And it's simple, it's a fun read. I didn't make it a hundred chapters, I think it's 34,000 words. You rip through it in a day, day and a half. And I really feel like it's gonna get people back on pace to read something that's gonna fulfill them. They're gonna get resources out of it, but then on top of that. Like it's entertaining. It's not mundane. It's not boring. It's not painful. You're not forcing yourself and just skimming through words that you're not gonna take anything out of. It's real realistic. It's a book you probably hand a young teenager and they'll relate to it. And that's what I wanted to create because I got tired. I got bored. There was so much stuff out there that I read and I feel like I wasted my time reading because I'm like, now where I'm at, I'll resonate with it now. I'm not gonna I didn't resonate with it back two years ago. Sure, I know where to find the information, but now I'm gonna go through the information twice. And that's one thing I promised myself, I'm not gonna make this book about. It's gonna relate to everyone. And secondly, it's like my dream job, I know this is gonna sound crazy, was to be a writer. Ever since I was a child, I always wanted to be a writer. And I never thought I could be a writer. Wasn't like some successful high school or college or university grad with like straight A student or a straight A student or anything like that. I did well in school, but I just never pictured myself being there because I didn't believe in myself. With my mom passing, my dad not being around, me always feeling like I was trying to catch up to people, I didn't feel like I had the authority to write a book. I didn't give myself enough credibility. And this book put the stamp down that I do. And that's what the really cool thing about the book was. And the spin on the whole thing was: you'd think I'd be proud of myself writing a book. And sure, yeah, I patted myself on the back. But like I said, 2026 has been one of those years where the burners are on 150%. And my wife went away with my daughter for a weekend. My son was working all weekend. And I sat down and I started cranking through my book. And for two, three years, I said, I'm gonna write a book, I'm gonna write a book, I'm gonna write a book. Because I got into rooms around people that all wrote books. I'm like, I could do this too. But I never actually put my mind and my time into it. And in a weekend, start to finish, I had that book done. And it doesn't take away from the quality of it. It shows that the quality can be there if you dial into it, if you make it a non-negotiable, if you give it the time it deserves and the attention it needs. And I'll say straight out, that was it's a good book. I enjoyed it. I had friends read it, they all liked it. And the funny thing is that when I was done that last word, I didn't feel like I was accomplished. And that is a result of me being in those rooms. Because the minute I wrote that last word, I have so many goals, I'm constantly moving the goalpost. So I feel like I never actually finished anything. I'm like, this book mentally is gonna be that benchmark. I'm like, I wrote my book, I'm done the book, I published a book. And the funny thing is, I didn't feel like that. You'd think I would feel like that once I finished, and I'm like, what's next? And I already think thought to myself, I could write a second book, I could write a third book, I could publish this, I could start more on my personal branding. And it's amazing, like such a big accomplishment. I think it's like 1.5% of the world writes a book. And when you get into those different rooms and you network with people that are operating at a higher level, something as cool as writing a book didn't feel like enough. And that can go one of two ways. I am comfortable enough that I can look at it and say, I want to do more because I know I can do more. But then there's the other side of it where people don't haven't gone through those hardships we've talked about before where they've learned who they are and they're like, hey, I wrote a book, pat yourself on the back, and they plateau because they're like, hey, I hit a benchmark, I hit a milestone, and they don't accomplish anything more. It's the equivalent of someone like they constantly meet up with and they're like, back in the high school days, back in my day were the best times. I'm like, those are the best times. Like right now is the best time. You're not gonna get today back. So if you do aim to do something big like write a book, publish a podcast, or do whatever you need to do, honestly do not plateau. Pat yourself on the back, you know, take in those wins, appreciate them, don't neglect them, but do not plateau. But I honestly push everyone to do something cool like write a book, because it goes beyond just the words you're transferring to someone else while they're reading it. It goes beyond things like leaving like An impact on someone when they finish that last page. My main goal with writing a book was one, it was a goal to be an author, and two was to leave something behind. And I've talked about this before. And now that I have the book, it's never going away. Like it will never go away. My kids will have it, my grandkids will have it, my great-grandkids will have it, my great-great-grandkids will have it. Like we have archives from 10,000 years ago. So, like this book is there. It's something I did, it's something I accomplished. And it's just another receipt in the deposit box of saying, I'm gonna do what I said I'm gonna do. And day in and day out, like part of this platform is like, I want someone to call me out. And I want someone to like say, you can't do this. Because I tell you right now, I will be the hardest work in the room. And if it's something I wanna do, like I'm gonna do it. And there's nothing that's gonna stop me. And I'm fortunate enough that I have a little bit of freedom that I can do that. I can follow passion projects. But that came with sacrifice and hard work. Like this book. I know it was only a weekend, but I sat there and I worked on it and worked on it and worked on it. And I didn't use AI, I didn't use voice to text. I had this like ego chip off my block where I'm like, I'm gonna type every single word. And again, it's not a huge book, but 34,000 words in two days between balancing game my son to and from work, you know, taking care of the dogs, laundry, cooking meals, like it's everyday stuff. But how many people do everyday stuff and don't accomplish anything? Like look at your week, look at your day. Can you write a book in there? And if you're saying no, you're actually shortchanging yourself. That's the funny part. I started that sentence hoping someone would say, Yeah, you know what, I can write a book. But at the end of it, it was like, no, you know what? I'm gonna call someone out. That's what I love about this platform. We're just gonna go into it. And if we gotta throw, we're gonna throw about it because it's gonna be one of those, like, you can write a book. And you're gonna tell me you don't have time? That that's that's bull. You can. 100% you can. But you're choosing not to. And by saying I can't, you're automatically setting the standard that it's not gonna happen. Like I I don't get the mindset where it's like I can't. It's you don't want to. That's what it resonates to, is that you don't want to. Don't say you can't. Because you can do it if you want to. You just don't want to. It's a choice you're making. Take accountability on your choices. And I'm first want to take accountability on this book. I said it for two years. I preached everyone. I'm gonna write a book. I'm gonna write a book. Like, I had this like chest pounding, and ⁓ I'm gonna write a book, it's gonna be so great. Two years. I talk shit. Two whole years. And it's amazing that finally just one day it just clicked. I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna do it. Because I said I want to. I until I was blue in the face, I said I'm gonna. But the day I said I want to, everything changed. And what is the result of that? It's having a book with my name published on it, leaving something for my kids behind, and having a platform or something tangible to hopefully change someone's life, their perspective, or teach them something. So, sum of five, out now. I really hope everyone grabs a copy. I'll have all the details in the Comments or description below. I'm not sure how all this technology thing works or posting and stuff, but I will make sure I have all the details there. I really love anyone's support. Really hope everyone picks up the book. I really think you're gonna get something out of it. It's not just for me to sell my book. I generally believe it's gonna change your perspective on something to do with networking. So That's another episode in the books. I know this one was a little bit shorter. Next one's gonna be a good rant. I'll find something cool to talk about. And again, see you next week.