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career transition

Launching Your Career Transition: How Your Current 9 to 5 Can Become a Launchpad to Fulfilling Your New Personal Mission

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For many of us creatives, we come from a background of working a 9 to 5 job. Many of us weren’t lucky enough to grow up in a family who did business for themselves. So we’ve had to make the transition from working the corporate ladder to following our own dreams and goals.

Making this transition can be painful. Many times, bosses will be suspicious of our plans if they even hear about us starting our business. Or, even worse, they might see it as a threat and find ways to get rid of us.

For me, I can’t say it was all that difficult to quit the formal education world when I moved to full time at AMS. They had made it pretty clear that my “extracurricular” teachings weren’t appreciated all that much. In fact, one of them WAS threatened by what I was teaching. He thought I trying to keep people from pursuing a higher degree.

The truth was simpler than that: I just wasn’t all that great at being a math teacher. But what I was good at was helping people get better at being themselves.

Since then, I’ve thought about how this might have gone better for me. What could I have done differently that wouldn’t have threatened my coworkers so much? What I’ve realized as I’ve worked with others through the same issues here in the last couple of years, is that there was a couple of things I could have done better.

So, I thought I’d share those realizations with you in this post as well as some of the things I actually go right!

 

Show Interest in Your Colleagues

One thing that I could have definitely improved on what my interest in the lives of others. Back at that point, I was still learning how to converse with other people without coming off as a weirdo.

The secret to that is to learn about people without interrogating them. Just play it cool and find out if they have family or what their hobbies are. Find out what kind of problems they have in their job. People love to talk about themselves, so you’re just giving them a reason to actually talk to you.

They’ll probably appreciate it, too. The older you get, the more you realize that people are in their own little worlds. No one takes the time to learn about other people these days.

…and Your Boss

Those that are above you in the chain of command are usually there to manage others. If anything goes wrong, they step in and fix it.

That said, if you want to be recognized by your superiors, the best way is to find out how you can help them out. What kind of problems do they need help with? Can you help them? If so, what’s a solution to their problems?

The more you come up with good ideas to help them, the more valuable you’ll be viewed.

 

Become Interesting Yourself

As you become more interested in those around you at work, again, they’ll start to see you in a different light. If they have good people skills, they’ll ask you about you about your life just as you asked about them.

On top of talking about the typical things, now would be a great time to start sharing some of the core things that you’re interested in. Doing so will make you stand out. Mainly because people are used to others complaining in the typical daily routine.

 

Learn to Know When You’re Sharing Value vs Your Interests

After a few weeks or months in getting to know others, you might be realizing that some of people might be ignoring you. If so, this is because you might be sharing your interests a bit too much.

Instead of blatantly sharing your interests, do this instead:

As they probably know what your interests are and you know what their pain points are, ask yourself about what you know that can help them.

You don’t have to have every little thing figured out. Just show that you’ve noticed, have been thinking about it, and you’d love to chat about some potential solutions that you have in mind.

Those that appreciate solutions being solved might actually be blown away that you care enough to follow through with their pains. You might even gain a friend or two in the process!

 

Avoid Negativity as much as Possible

Because the world is the way it is, problems are usually discussed much more so than solutions. This is even more true in the workplace.

Now that some people start to recognize you as someone with solutions (or a fixer), they might start coming to you with other problems in their lives. “What do you think about this?” and “What do you think about what THEY’RE doing?”

At this point, you could easily bash some other person in favor of your own methods.

Being an ENTJ, this is what I naturally did. My judgement (the J in ENTJ) always lead first after them saying what the problem was. Then followed by the INtuitive Thinking.

This approach tended to get me into trouble.

Instead, what I started to do is communicate the fact that this is what I saw from their side. If I could see the other perspective, I would explain it to them. And then (this is what I got really good at) make an analogy. It’s my way of showing that I’m actually listening.

If you feel pressed to get solutions at that point, always come from a suggestion perspective: “Maybe the situation is this. Have you thought about this?”

If you refuse to go down that negative rabbit hole, then people will only see you as solutioned oriented.

 

Continue to Better Yourself

As you build these better relationships inside of current workplace, you should continue to build that “ahead of the curve forward thinker”. As I’ve said in recent posts, part of your personal mission is constantly build on your craft. You’ll be able to provide more value to those around you.

A lot of the time, you’ll need to get out of your comfort zone. In fact, nothing ever gets better unless you move out of your comfort zone. As you start to be recognized as a solution provider, sometimes you might have to say things that aren’t that friendly. But if someone has it coming, then you’ll be respected by those who matter.

And speaking of getting out of your comfort zone, it helps to look as if you do go the extra mile. If your office dresses a certain way, dress a little better than what’s considered normal. You want to stick out in a good way when opportunity comes knocking.

 

Action Steps

So there’s a few things that I’ve picked up along the way. A lot of which comes from my wife who’s had a career in HR. These are subjects that she has to deal with all the time – especially dealing with negativity and building connections with the right people.

So, tell me about you. If you’re in your 9 to 5 still, is this something that you could use to catapult yourself out of your current position? Have you already started with any of these techniques? What kind of success have you had?

I realize there are toxic offices out there that aren’t very supportive at all. If you find yourself in one of those, feel free to connect with me directly.

how to stop binge eating

Glenn Livingston – Never Binge Again: How to Stop Binge Eating, Stress Eating, and Overeating (AoL 110)

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It wasn’t too long ago that residents of the US grew their own food. Instead of letting the big food companies and government tell us what to eat, we grew most of our food on our local farms.

Ever since we’ve let big agriculture take over, however, obesity has been on the incline. Sweet foods that we like to eat have become more abundant throughout the year and more readily available.

Because of this, phrases like binge eating, stress eating, and overeating have become the norm.

But because it’s normal, doesn’t mean it’s right.

In this conversation, I talk with Dr. Glenn Livingston about how to induce a mental anchor that will help us get out of destructive bad habits when it comes to food.

Having worked with the food industry as well as researching the topics through his own practice, he has found a great way to associate these bad habits with actions that don’t identify us.

In this session, find out more about that method and how you can apply it your own bad eating behaviors.

Enjoy!

 

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • How did Glenn get into the marketing world after being formally trained as a psychologist? 9:59
  • What was the point in his career that he felt was a major breakthrough to where he is today? 15:52
  • How did he decide what his next steps in life were when he was in the midst of his break down? 23:32
  • Why is it that food that’s affordable is typically made from bad stuff? 30:46
  • How did he learn to keep himself from engaging in unhealthy behavior? 34:31
  • Should one address overeating and binge eating the same way they address stress eating? 39:08
  • Why does portion control work and planning out meals for the week work as well as it does? 45:04
  • 3 top books he recommends or gives to others? 49:03
  • Fact from today that would blow the mind of someone from 10 years ago? 49:29
  • One thing under $100 that has changed his life? 50:07
  • Something that isn’t as bad as he thought it would be? 50:39
  • What’s one thing all high school students must know? 51:05
  • What’s the secret to achieving personal freedom? 51:34
  • … and MUCH more!

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

 

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

When Sugar is Poison, Let It Go!

Best Advice for Someone who Alternates Between Binging and Starving

All about Sneak Eating:

What if We Are Meant to Live to 150?

BONUS – Dr. Gundry on How Plants are Poisoning Us with Lewis Howes (Preview)

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

relationship building

Making Winning Connections: Relationship Building Tips for Life and Business

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As the Junto is starting to grow, I realize that there’s going to be more and more opportunities for people to connect with others who are seemingly going the same direction as they are.

To make sure they are, here’s a few notes from a recent John Maxwell course called the Mentor’s Guide to Relationships. I hope you can use the information presented here to make sure that a pursuing a certain relationship is worth your time.

At the very least, I want to help you realize if you’re in a one way relationship. One that you might be putting way too much energy in yourself and not getting anything back from it.

So let’s start off by looking at the four different levels of relationships.

 

Four Levels of Relationships

Surface Relationships

Now, when you’re on social media (or anywhere else for that matter) and you’re just meeting someone – you’re engaging in the most basic and common form of a relationship. A surface relationship is one where there’s really no strong commitment from either person and it’s a very passive interaction.

An example of a surface level relationship is just randomly adding a “friend” on Facebook and they in turn accepting that request. You might have just added them to your friends list because they have a lot of mutual friends – even though you don’t really know who they are.

Acquaintances would be part of this this level.

Just remember, all real friends start off as strangers at one point. So, just give it some time if you want things to grow…

 

Structured Relationships

The next level of a relationship is what’s called the structured relationship. These relationships are with people who meet at certain times. This can mean daily, weekly, or monthly.

Generally speaking this type of routine based engagement is centered around some sort of interest or activity such as an Meetup. In the online business world, it might mean a mastermind group. Or in the typical offline world, it can mean a group of students.

Outside of that group, there’s not much meaning for those people to interact – so they don’t.

 

Secure Relationships

The next level of relationships are those that when members of a structured relationships start appreciating the bond.

At this level, trust begins to form as the need to spend more time together grows. Most of the time, these folks will have no problems sharing with each other. And there’s a bit of a comfort zone feeling with these folks.

When you were going to school, these were the study friends. Perhaps they were the friends  that you hung out with before games. Or maybe they were your fellow band friends who you’d play euchre with each day. But the main thing was that these folks started relying on you as you relied on them.

In business, this might be someone that you decide to joint venture with on a particular project such as a course or new podcast.

 

Solid Relationships

Next up, we have the highest of all relationships – the solid relationship. At this level, not only do full trust and confidentiality exist, but there is a need to give back to the other party if they’ve helped you in some way.

Of course, this is the basis for a long term relationship.

If we were to think of the school analogy, your close friends were (or are still) examples of this! While, in the business world, you’d start new businesses with these folks.

 

Avoid High Maintenance Relationships

When I first started dating Maria I had a very strong feeling of “normality” when we were together. She felt like someone that I had known for a long time.

Society suggests – especially TV – that a normal romantic relationship is something that has a lot of maintenance to it. Drama and fighting is to be expected – not calmly discussing the issues at hand.

The truth is that this shouldn’t be the case in ANY relationship you want to make long term – including romantic relationships!

So how do you know if you’re in a high maintenance relationship?

In his book, High Maintenance Relationships, author Les Parrott talks about 12 different types of people who it would be hard to get along with – especially over a significant amount of time.

  • Critic – constantly complains and gives unwanted advice.
  • Martyr – forever the victim and wracked with self-pity.
  • Wet Blanket – pessimistic and automatically negative.
  • Steam Roller – blindly insensitive to others.
  • Gossip – spreads rumors and leaks secrets.
  • Control Freak – unable to let go and let be.
  • Backstabber – irrepressibly two-faced.
  • Cold Shoulder – disengages and avoids contact.
  • Green Eyed Monster – seethes with envy.
  • Volcano – builds steam and is ready to erupt.
  • Sponge – constantly in need but gives nothing back.
  • Competitor – keeps track of tit for tat.

 

Are you with one of these types of individuals? If so, you might want to move on.

If you wouldn’t be in romantic relationships with someone with one or several of these particular traits, why would you want to be in business with them… or visa versa?

Going from Surface to Solid Relationships

In the past week, I’ve relearned how awkward people can be when it comes to developing real relationships. Whether it’s simple friendships, jv partnerships, or going after a life partner… the goal is to not be a weirdo.

Believe me, I learnt the hard way!

So how do you go from adding a friend on Facebook to making them a good friend, business partner, or building something that could be even more?

Here’s 5 traits of a solid relationship.

 

Mutual Enjoyment

Here’s the truth. Spend time with people who enjoy your presence. If you feel that you’re having to pry and overly try with the relationship, it’s probably not a good foundation and you should move on.

Don’t be an irritant!

 

Respect

What’s the best way to make sure you’re not an irritant?

Be respectful of the other person.

Forget the golden rule of treating people how you’d want to be treated. Instead, treat people like they would like to be treated.

What’s that mean?

Learn how they want to be interpreted. Find out their story. Be curious and let them be the storyteller. Find out where they went to school and for what. If they didn’t go to school, find out what they’ve learned “the hard way”.

If you’re unclear as to how to read a certain topic with them – don’t feel like you have to assume something – this usually works out negatively if you do. No question is dumb. Just say “I’m not sure how to ask this but…” if you’re completely unsure how to ask something.

Have a problem with them? Let them know. Likewise, if they feel like they have a problem with you, they should come to you about it.

Make a point to get to know someone, but not for manipulative purposes. If they tell you something that’s a secret, don’t tell anyone. If they are hesitant in a certain area, learn how to help bring out the best in them through their own permission.

 

Mutual Shared Experiences

There’s a reason why military veterans get along as well as they do even if they didn’t know each other prior to them first getting together.

What’s the reason?

They have shared similar experiences.

From day 1, they’re taught to trust each other to be part of a larger organism. When you count on someone to do a certain action which allows you to do your job, then you’re going to care about that other person more. Cause if they get taken out, then you won’t be able to do what you need to do properly.

Sports players are the same way.

When talking about developing a winning football team, Vince Lombardi said, “The difference between mediocrity and greatness is the feeling these guys have for each other.”

It makes sense. If the line doesn’t do their job and block, then the ball handlers can’t do their jobs. The result is that the ball doesn’t go anywhere.

 

Reciprocity

For the above teams to win, that caring feeling needs to be mutual between teammates – whether on a battlefield with bullets… or on the gridiron.

Right here is how you can tell if a relationship is worth your time to develop. If you feel like everything is running smoothly, then everything is fine.

However, if you feel that the other person is getting a better deal, bring it up with them. If they don’t acknowledge it, then it might be time to move onto another relationship.

If you feel like you’re getting a better deal, then it’s your job to make sure that they’re being evenly compensated.

 

Trust

Trust comes over time and is the result of the previous 4 traits humming along just fine. Don’t forget that intentions don’t really matter when it comes to other people.

It’s all about actions.

When your actions match your words, that’s how you build trust.

Just make sure that those actions are positive and truly helpful to the other party!

 

Action Steps

As you might have realize, relationships are something that I take seriously. There was a time when I wasn’t super great at them – so I made it a point to go out of my way to learn about them. If you want to learn more about building great relationships, I’d check out the book by John Maxwell and Les Parrott 25 Ways to Win with People: How to Make Others Feel Like a Million Bucks

As you probably know, I’m a big fan of John’s and he has ton’s on this topic!

online income

Building an Online Business: An 11 Step Blueprint to An Online Income Generator

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The below is a post that I recently posted in the Junto. It helped quite a bit of folks over there, so I thought I’d go ahead and post it on the official blog just to make sure I had it around when I needed it.

I think it’s a great representation of the online business world we live in and… in fact, it might even be something had I known a couple of years ago, I would have done things a bit differently!

So, without further adieu – here’s 11 steps to generate growing online income

Money Making Myths

I hear it all the time from people here in Indiana.

“There is no money in small town business – why should I stay?” or “Only people in big cities make the big income.”

There might have been a time I agreed with this. In fact, most would have at some point. It’s why Indiana and many states in the middle of the country have been suffering from brain drain.

However, today I’d say that both are myths – especially in 2017.

Why? It’s simple. The internet.

The Rise of Internet Commerce

Just like the introduction of interstates killed the local economies of so many small towns, the internet has essentially done the same thing to those metropolitan areas. We’re starting to see less and less of particular retail stores because it’s just simply easier to buy certain products offline.

And the great thing? ANYONE can be a seller online just as much as they can be a consumer.

Not only can you buy new releases of entertainment online, but we can also sell it and other goods and services on the internet ourselves as well.

If you’re someone who would like to make a larger impact in the world with your work, but you’re unclear where to start, here’s somewhat of a blueprint to get you started.

1. Find Clarity in how you want to help people.

Make sure you have clarity. What do you want to help people with? Do you want to help people with woodcarving? Fly fishing? Photography? Maybe even football. The first step is figuring out what you love to discuss and naturally help other people do if they’re interested.

2. Start building a following online.

Whether that’s a Facebook Group like the Junto, a YouTube channel, or a real Instagram account. (Actually you can do all 3 – this is what Laila Rahmatian is doing!)

3. Provide value by Teaching what you know.

If you’re just learning your craft, that’s fine. Get interviews with people who know the craft equally or better than you. Or if you’re funny – just be entertaining. There’s been a lot of channels which have boomed because the person is simply hilarious.

4. Hustle if you need to make income right away.

If you’re just starting out and in need of some income, there’s a few things you can do. You can do retail arbitrage like Tyler Philbrook, or learn some digital marketing skills. Whether you are creating content, working on SEO, or helping with sales funnels – these are all things that people have made thousands (even millions) online with. Check out JR Rivas’s group for help with that.

If neither of those are for you, perhaps you can sell your skill online. For example, a photographer can take stock photos for companies. Or if you’re a musician, write jingles for podcasts. Check out fiverr to see what’s available out there for quick cash.

Make sure you’re getting testimonials as you do things at the beginning for free or for the cheap. Having these testimonials along with case study videos of what you’ve done can be useful when going after bigger fish with larger budgets to pay you.

Also – start working on making contracts so you can cover your rear properly for work you’ve done!

5. Don’t Quit on Your Other Endeavours.

As you’re building income as a freelancer, you need to continue to build your following. Eventually you don’t want to sell your time for $. To stop doing that, you need products online. The most cost effective products are those that are called infoproducts. And since you’re probably already doing something successful in your life already, You can start building products that your following is going to potentially buy. I’d employ the teachings of Dane and the Foundation as much as possible. You can hear about that method in last week’s post.

6. As you’re learning more about your craft, share with your following.

How many times have we seem someone jump from one building to another or from one cliff to another after seeing the person they’re with do it first?

Same thing applies in business. If your followers see you succeed, they’ll more than likely have the right frame of mind to accomplish the same thing. Help them do what you’re doing and learning about. If you’re learning about ways to create passive income, teach what you’ve learned about that topic. That’s exactly what Pat Flynn did with his blog – and people are STILL replicating his success! (Just goes to show you don’t have to worry about originality!)

7. As you provide more and more value, find out what what your group members or followers really want.

Learn how to perform idea extraction, verify, and do presales of MVPs (Most Viable Products). Having a process for these 3 steps will help you craft anything your tribe wants!

8. Capitalize on your Testimonials!

If so, it’s time to go after those bigger fish! Heck, even better, just create a website showing what you can do, then send out emails to prospects redirecting them to the website. There’s all kinds of ways to find potential clients – it doesn’t have to be manual (Use Facebook ads if you’ve worked on that skill – that’s what JR did to find his chiropractor clients.)

9. Don’t forget to Grow the size of your Team

By this point, you’re probably making a decent income. Congratulations!! But we’re just getting started and there’s some things for you to start thinking about.

For example, I’m sure at this point you might feel that you’re overstretching yourself. Maybe it’s time to hire a VA or start mentoring someone to help you with stuff you suck at? A good place to start is Airtasker.

Also, if you haven’t already (which I know you have!) it might be a good time to invest in yourself. Start going to conventions and meeting people. Start thinking about buying those big name courses you always wanted.

10. Repeat the Process.

Build more products – hire more people to help! This is how you start scaling. As you grow your services and company, keep bringing on more people to help you with various things so you can spend more time doing what the founder should be doing.

11. Do what the Founder (or President) should be doing.

It’s totally up to you what that means. This might involve you working in your local community more and/or helping to start an incubator where you can mentor younger creatives. Perhaps it means going out and becoming a speaker? Or heck, maybe you could get into politics if that’s your thing.

Actions Steps

I hope this helps you guys a bit. I think the biggest thing that I didn’t do on purpose was focus on getting results for someone. That needs to be the first thing you focus on. Then, from there, get 3 to 5 testimonials that you can use on your first landing page for a course, eBook, etc.

Feel free to let me know if you have any questions or thought I left something out in this post. I might actually make it into a more detailed opt-in sometime.

emotional breakdown

Bren Dubé – Thriving after an Emotional Breakdown: 3 Steps to Get You to Your Breakthrough (AoL 109)

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We live in a negative world. Society forces most of us to see things in a certain light and make us believe we have no power to change it. However, as creatives, we have the power to actually do something – because we’re creating!

Sometimes though, as creators we get lost along the path. We’re still doing our own work, but we’re doing it in a way that’s dictated to us in how we should be doing it.

Case in point, you have today’s guest, Bren Dubé. Bren is a successful musician. However, he realized that the lifestyle he was living while he was with his band Letterbomb wasn’t one he really wanted.

Once he realized that, he set out on a quest to find the life he wanted.

His secret was that he had a breakthrough. And what’s great is what he learned through his breakthrough is helping others achieve their own!

If you’re living a numb life and waiting to get to that next level, perhaps this chat will help you find more fulfillment in your life and work.

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • How did Bren’s background influence his start in music? 8:38
  • How did his band Letterbomb actually get off the ground and what lead to it’s failure? 16:44
  • With all their “success” – why did Bren’s brother decide to call him and let him know that he couldn’t be in the band any longer? 20:58
  • Where does he think he would be in life had his brother NOT quit the band? Does he feel he’s fulfilling his role as part of the Hero
  • Generation? 34:24
  • How do you help people that are going through a breakdown in their life? 41:17
  • What are Bren’s 3 Foundations of Change? 48:28
  • What’s next on the horizon for Bren? 56:27
  • Top books he recommends to others? 59:58
  • What’s one thing all high school students must know? 1:02:36
  • What’s it mean to live a life of abundance? 1:03:21
  • … and MUCH more!

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

 

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Bren – Let Go:

Bren – HONEST:

Cover of Razor by Foo Fighters (Acoustic):

Bren on TEDx:

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

survey research

Why Start with a Guess? – Using Survey Research to 10X Your Business

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Recently I posted a survey in the Junto of what members would like to get more from the group. I’m already getting promising results which will help me and the other mods help serve the group better.

On September 9th, 2012, I first learned of how important it is to question end users of whatever it is that you’re making. Since then, I’d like to say that I’ve become pretty proficient at it. After that, it was something that I noticed that many successful courses ask their students to do. It was also something that we implemented during my time as an employee at AMS.

The next day, I wrote about what I learned on the drive home from my uncle’s memorial service. And to this day, I think it was one of the most pivotal days in my development as an entrepreneur. 

Enjoy!

Yesterday as I was coming home from a memorial service for my great uncle Paul Arnold, (Detailed write up can be found in Oberlin College’s Archives. He was a really cool guy if you’re into fine art.) Here’s an example of his work:

survey research

“Friends” – One of Paul Arnold’s wood prints

I decided that I’d go ahead and listen to yet another episode of Pat Flynn’s podcast. I knew when I downloaded it, it had to be a rather long drive because it was an around an hour and twenty minutes long. This is MUCH longer than his usual half an hour versions.

Well, the wait and time into the podcast was definitely worth it. I was exposed to another form of passive income – Software as a Service (SaaS).

 

Why Passive Income?

Passive income, I personally believe, is the goal that many who want to live out their passions should strive for. Otherwise, you get stuck working for each dollar and have to rely on faulty systems when we’re in old age. For many of us who are Generation Xers or younger, I fear that we’re not going to have a great retirement plan that our parents have or had. Nor do we have the loyal companies that will give us great pensions that they had as well. Heck, many of our parents aren’t getting what they were promised 30 years ago!!

So basically, the sooner we start building systems that make money on their own or with little to no help by us, the more comfortable life we’ll live when we’re older AND if we do it while we’re young, the better life we’ll live sooner!

 

What I Obtained from the SPI Podcast Interview:

I learned that there is more to passive money on the web outside of “expert space”. There is also space for web applications. Now, the great thing is that the guy who Pat interviewed started these web applications with no ideas and usually little investment money. Also, most of the development of these projects were outsourced. The guy’s name is Dane Maxwell.

The way Dane developed each one of his 7 companies in his first 6 years of business were very brilliant. I’ll let you listen to the interview for his process.

But what I most admired about Dane, is that once he proved the system of developing these companies and setting them into automatic, he wanted to teach others to do the same. (That’s why he landed on Pat’s podcast, I’m sure!!) And that’s what he’s doing with the program that he mentions on the podcast.

 

Adjustments to My Portfolio

I need to get to know Dane better as well as explore the world of online apps. I also need to use the tools that I already have available to figure out his process for myself. While he does have a program that he’s put together to teach others his tips and tricks, I think that stumbling to figure it out will give me more appreciation for it. It really seems that these online apps can be way more profitable than member sites. However, I still plan on continuing with the development of New Inceptions and it’s magazine (yes, there was a digital magazine for NI!) and potentially look into doing a software solution in the future.

So anyhow, thought I’d go ahead and let you all aware of this great podcast episode. You should definitely listen to it if you’ve ever considered ways of making passive income. Especially if you have any technical experience OR think that you’re techie know how is somehow keeping you from creating passive income for yourself.

Since originally posting this post, I ended up signing up for The Foundation. In fact, it wasn’t too long after I had heard this particular interview. Since the course, I’ve been able to use what I’ve learned from it in many ways outside of building a SaaS based company. I’ve also got placed into a huge network of awesome entrepreneurs – some of which have been on the AoL Podcast.

Below, I’d love to hear from you about your use of surveys in figuring out what your tribe or clients want. Have you used them? What kinds of successes have you had with them? Perhaps you tried doing something without proper research beforehand – how’d it turn out?

Also – we’d love to see you in the Junto! If you have any questions about the Foundation – that’d be a great place to ask!

block schedule

How You Can Master Your Time and Productivity with a Block Schedule Including Themes

/by

I recently posted this in the Junto:

block schedule

When you read this, what comes to your mind?

Is it a sense of frustration?

Is it a sense of irritation?

If so, do you have too many tasks and ideas that you’re trying to get to, but keep running out of daylight?

If that describes you, I completely feel where you’re coming from. It used to describe me too.

I always thought it wasn’t fair that others had found the secret to getting their own stuff done.

But after a few mastermind sessions in 2016, I realized that my problem was that I was TOO structured in my scheduling.

This post is all about making sure that you have balance in your schedule while chipping away at those things you really need to be doing in your life – especially if you’re in a day job you don’t like or you’re a super busy college student.

Setting the Guidelines of an Amazing Schedule

Often times when we’re picking the things we want to do, we often feel this battle between what’s right and not right to do. We feel a pull of what our inner self tells us we should be doing vs what the external world is telling us that we should be doing.

Ideally, we’d like everything to be what’s right and we’d like to be self directed. Unfortunately for those of us who have day jobs, we feel that this is an uphill battle we’re not going to win. (Great example of a self limiting belief right there.)

The first thing we need to do in winning back our time is to follow 12 guidelines – and they are:

  1. Know thyself in what makes you feel the most alive – this is your passion and is part of your Mission.
  2. Realize that as long as you’re in the United States (or another free country), your default mission in life is to find out what your personal mission is and fulfill it.
  3. Once you have determined that, you need to commit to yourself that you’ll spend your time fulfilling that mission.
  4. When you’re putting things into your schedule to fulfill said mission, make sure that you have a good and clear understanding of how those tasks are going to help you achieve it. (If you’re working a 9 to 5 – your job should be helping you fulfill that Mission. If it doesn’t, it’s time for a new job.)
  5. Are there any points in your schedule that you dread or fear, ask yourself why you fear them. Don’t dwell on the worst that could happen, but instead, simply sit with them and realize that they have to be done for you to move on.
  6. Realize that any changes you’re making are going to take time to get going if you’re just now starting them. But, here’s the key –  if you keep at it, you’ll start noticing that things are going well for you. Like me, you’ll think “Well, if I hadn’t made this connection or done that, this wouldn’t have happened.” This is the truth. The problem is, you have no idea what will set future motions in place. (This is known as the Law of Momentum.)
  7. If you’re stuck in a rut, you need to realize that you are. Then ask yourself – what do I need to learn to move forward?
  8. Make sure you set aside a time for learning. Learning new things regularly allows for you to constantly move forward. Action is one thing, but taking the same action over and over and expecting different results is… insanity. (Also, don’t burn yourself out thinking that you can find the answers by taking simple repetitive action.)
  9. If you DO find yourself burning out or sucking at something you should be better at, it’s best to notice it and don’t hide from it. This is the universe telling you you need time to rest.
  10. Be precise in making your schedule until you can look at it and you look forward to every event that’s on it.
  11. Make your schedule so that it doesn’t imprison or trap you, but, instead, frees you.
  12. Always remember your schedule is meant to nourish you, so you can relax and enjoy your life. (If you’ve gotten to this point in the list and you still dread getting up in the morning, you should start over at #1.)

 

Key Points to Remember about the Guidelines

Now, from all that you might be thinking, “Well, that’s all good – but I know there’s going to be some things that I don’t like doing even when I’m working towards my Mission”.

And you’d be right – maybe you hate paperwork. Maybe you’d rather be out interacting with folks. Perhaps you’re really into helping people with sales funnels, but you hate having to find clients.

That’s par for the course.

If you want to know you’re still in the right, here are two questions to ask yourself:

  1. Overall, is this week going to be enjoyable? Am I doing what I want to do – for the most part?
  2. What’s the first thing that I can do that would allow me to be me?

The reason that these two questions are important to ask yourself is because, again, we’re working from a mission perspective.

If you feel you’re doing more things that you don’t want or like to do – than you’re not in the right position in life (or at work). Secondly, if you don’t have enough autonomy to do an act that you actually like to start your day and/or week off with a simple win – then there’s probably something wrong there as well.

In other words, do things that get you to your mission. Don’t do them because you think it’s the thing to do. That’s the will of the World forcing you to do something. Other people have no problem telling other people what to do. That’s the way the world works.

Also, don’t avoid things just to avoid them. Sometimes you’ll have to embrace the suck – but it’s so worth it if it’s in alignment with your mission.

For example if you want to become better at copywriting for marketing purposes – go find some great examples of marketing and use it as a guide to craft your own. (Arne has us do this in his FB group growth course student group all the time.)

 

Note to Newbie Time Blockers

Now, if you’ve never time blocked before, then this next part will be a little easier than if you have.

See, I used to be a scheduling Nazi. I had to be very specific in when I did this, this, and that. Otherwise, I didn’t think I was doing a great job in scheduling.

Well, long story short, I realized that I learned to schedule from a Driver-Analytical personality-type person. The thing about Driver-Analytical types of people, they are all about completing tasks. The more, the merrier.

That’s not what I’m about.

I’m more about building relationships. Why? Because from good relationships come opportunities which yield possible income.

So, in the end, depending on your own personality, what takes priority on your calendar might be different than mine.

That said, here’s how to time block with themes.

 

Time Blocking with Interval Themes

Generally speaking, these days I have two types of weeks as a solopreneur. One week (called ‘A weeks’) I focus more on content development – a blog post, a podcast post, and a video in the Junto.

The other week (which I call ‘B weeks’) I focus more on marketing and group development as well as learning.

As you can see, I have two main themes that I use. However, I’ve known people that use 4 themes a month. I also know folks who theme their entire month.

What do these themes consist of?

Well, for me, they’re general guidance of the things that I have to do in a given day. Other folks use them to get better at something, while yet other some people use it as a way to control their overall content building and marketing structure.

 

Interval Themes in Practice – A Step-By-Step Guide:

So let’s look at this from a weekly example – because that’s essentially what I use.

  1. The first thing you want to do is determine what kind of theme you have for that week. Usually you want to do this on Sunday after reflecting on how your previous week went.
  2. Next, you’ll want to set the time that you want to get started on your work. Honestly, I don’t usually get started on my work day until 10am. I don’t finish until 5 or 6. But during that time, I’m usually very focused on the work at hand or, for short breaks, posting in the Junto or building relationships with its members.
  3. When it’s quitting time – it’s quitting time. I learned early from Pat Flynn that you want to be able to turn things off for the night when your loved ones are home. Even when he had a one room apartment, his computer was in a corner and he used his laptop for more personal things.
  4. If you’re more of a task oriented person – I got you! Make sure you plan out time for relaxation and fun. Seriously. If that means throwing date night on your schedule, do it. Fortunately for me and Maria, we’re pretty lackadaisical when it comes to our evenings!

 

The General Structure Of My Daily Schedule

Just an idea of what a typical day might look like. I really don’t have this all laid out in

  1. Morning Routine – Breakfast (no carbs!), workout, a bit of meditating, finding out what’s going on in the world
  2. First item of the day – Something that gives you an easy win. For me, I knock out my emails. Once I do that, I close Mail. I’ll reopen it later – but emails are super distracting throughout the day!
  3. Second item is usually an easy win item as well. These days, it’s posting in the Junto and few other groups.
  4. Then, until lunch, I’m either doing growth related activities (meeting people, meetings, learning) or working on production of content.
  5. After lunch, I’m focused more on finishing said content, mastery, and marketing.

 

Alternative Version for Someone who Doesn’t Own Their Entire Day

So, this is a pretty sucky situation – but a lot of us have to start here. So realize that you’re going to have a bit of a handicap but you’re not alone.

Depending on whether you’re a morning person or a night owl, you’re going to aim to work 2 hours a day on your craft before you go to work or after you come home.

Ideally, the last part of the day should be spent just chilling for at least an hour. Again you’re looking to enjoy your life. So, if I had to decide, I’d go for 2 hours before work. That way when you go to your day job, you have the bonus of having already worked on your craft and not having to dread it coming home.

So, go to bed one hour earlier, then wake up 2 hours earlier. You can really start your day on fire this way. Those first two hours can be focused on heavy amounts of action.

But keep in mind, don’t sacrifice that much to the point of feeling empty. Enjoy each minute you can now. You want to make sure you’re enjoying every single day.

Action Steps

So, there you have it. Again, this is just what has worked for me combined with my new schedule for building the group.

Obviously there’s a huge difference if you have a day job. So if you can find a day job that supports your mission, that’s even better. That’s what’s great about this new sharing economy of ours.

Heck, even Laila started substitute teaching and tutoring before she got completely up to speed with her coaching practice. But what’s great is that those tutoring spots got her some of her clients!

If you have any questions, feel free to let me know below! 🙂