Scott D. Clary

Founder of the Success Story Podcast (#1 Entrepreneur Pod) | Founder of The Social Club & I write a free weekly newsletter to 321k people.

Start here ➡️ https://newsletter.scottdclary.com

ScottDClary.com / SuccessStoryPodcast.com

📬 scott@scottdclary.com

𝗟𝗘𝗧'𝗦 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧

📧 Email me at scott@scottdclary.com for speaking, interviews, podcasts or any other requests

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Advisor / Partner

On the Success Story podcast, Scott has candid interviews with execs, celebrities, notable figures and politicians. All who have achieved success through both wins and losses, to learn more about their life, their ideas and insights. 

He sits down with leaders and mentors and unpacks their story to help pass those lessons onto others through both experiences and tactical strategy for business professionals, entrepreneurs and everyone in between.

To get more of the Success Story podcast, go to www.podcast.scottdclary.com or www.youtube.com/c/scottdclary.

Your standards should make some people uncomfortable.

If everyone loves your expectations, they're too low.

High standards aren't mean. They're just a filter.

Most people spend their whole lives lowering standards to keep the peace.

Accepting mediocre work. Tolerating flakiness. Letting things slide.

Then they wonder why they're surrounded by mediocre, flaky people.

Your standards don't just affect the work.

They determine who sticks around.

Low standards attract people who want to do the minimum.

High standards attract people who want to do their best work.

It's that simple.

Some people will call you demanding. Unreasonable. Too much.

Let them.

They were never going to meet the standard anyway.

The people who can rise to it don't complain about the bar being high.

They just clear it.

Stop apologizing for expecting excellence.

The right people appreciate it.

—

I write a weekly newsletter where I unpack these ideas.

→ newsletter.scottdclary.com

I’m the founder of WWA, a modern media & marketing agency, the host of Success Story (#1 Entrepreneur Podcast - 50m+ downloads) and I write a weekly email to 321,000 people.

Most people work first and play with what's left.

There's never anything left.

That's not an accident. That's the default.

Work will always expand to fill the space you give it.

So stop giving it all the space.

Schedule the fun first:

→ Book the vacation
→ Buy the concert tickets
→ Plan the weekend trip
→ Lock in the dinner

Then let work figure itself out around it.

I used to do this backwards.

"I'll take time off when things slow down."

Things never slowed down.

Now I book the trip first. Work adjusts.

Because here's what actually happens:

If fun isn't on the calendar, it doesn't happen.

You tell yourself "next month" until next month becomes next year.

Treat joy like a meeting.

Put it in the calendar. Protect it. Show up for it.

Happiness doesn't happen in the gaps.

It happens when you plan for it.

Book fun like it's mandatory.

Because it is.

—

I write a weekly newsletter where I unpack these ideas.

→ newsletter.scottdclary.com

I'm the founder & host of Success Story (#1 Entrepreneur Podcast - 50m+ downloads) and I write a weekly email to 321,000 people.

The stuff you're avoiding isn't random.

It's a map.

That conversation you keep putting off? That's where the breakthrough is.

That project that feels too hard? That's where the growth is.

That truth you don't want to face? That's where freedom lives.

Your brain isn't trying to protect you by making you avoid things.

It's showing you exactly where you need to go.

I spent two years avoiding learning to sell.

Hated it. Made excuses. Built everything else around my business except that.

Revenue stayed flat the entire time.

Finally faced it. Learned to sell.

Revenue doubled in six months.

The thing I was running from was the only thing that mattered.

Your avoidance is a compass:

→ Whatever you're dodging is what needs attention
→ Whatever makes you uncomfortable is where you're stuck
→ Whatever you keep procrastinating on is your next level

Stop treating avoidance like it's random resistance.

It's specific. And it's telling you something.

The thing you least want to do is usually the thing you most need to do.

Turn around. Face it.

That's the work.

—

I write a weekly newsletter where I unpack these ideas.

→ newsletter.scottdclary.com

I spent 15 years chasing the wrong definition of happiness.

More money.
More achievements.  
More recognition.
More responsibilities.

At 35, I discovered the truth:

Happiness isn't addition. It's subtraction.

Here's what actually moved the needle:

• Eliminating debt (not earning more)
• Cutting toxic relationships (not networking more)  
• Declining pointless meetings (not being "busy")
• Removing energy vampires (not adding "positive people")
• Saying no to obligations (not saying yes to opportunities)

The modern world convinced us happiness is something to acquire.

Wrong.

It's something you uncover by removing what buries it.

Stop adding. Start subtracting.

The life you want isn't built by accumulation.

It's revealed through elimination.

—

I write a weekly newsletter where I unpack these ideas.

→ newsletter.scottdclary.com

I can predict your future by watching how you handle discomfort.

Not what you say. What you actually do when things get hard.

Someone uncomfortable on a sales call? They'll stay broke.

Someone uncomfortable with feedback? They'll stay average.

Someone uncomfortable being a beginner? They'll never start anything new.

Your tolerance for discomfort is your growth ceiling.

I've seen this play out hundreds of times:

Two people start the same thing.

One quits the second it gets uncomfortable.

One leans into the discomfort and figures it out.

Five years later, they're living completely different lives.

Same opportunity. Different tolerance.

Here's the pattern:

→ High discomfort tolerance = constant growth
→ Low discomfort tolerance = permanent stagnation

It's not about talent or intelligence or connections.

It's about whether you can sit in discomfort long enough for it to turn into competence.

Most people can't.

They feel awkward and quit.

They feel uncertain and retreat back to what's comfortable.

Then they wonder why nothing changes.

Your future isn't determined by your goals.

It's determined by how much discomfort you're willing to sit in to get there.

Comfort is where growth stops.

Discomfort is where it starts.

Pick one.

—

I write a weekly newsletter where I unpack these ideas.

→ newsletter.scottdclary.com

Some people are supposed to be in your story forever. Some people are just supposed to teach you what you needed to learn so you could become who you're meant to be. Both are valuable, but only one gets to stay.

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