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Distractions: Their Unseen Costs and 4 Ways We Can Overcome Them (For Real This Time!)

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You Can’t Do Big Things if You Let the Small Things Distract You

Distractions. Our lives are filled with them. From emails, to texts, to messages on various social media platforms, and even the TV and all that goes with it. Distractions are everywhere. What’s worse, is that many times we feel that we let them run our lives with little power to do anything about it.

The Problem with Distractions…

As Creators, we need to be able to do focused work. Some would even call this hustling.

Cam showed a video yesterday with Richard Kuo where they talked about how Richard actually plays video games in moderation.

That’s where I’m at myself.

For the most part, anything is ok in moderation. However, neither Richard nor myself let videogames keep us from achieving things in our work or business. I think we both survived a stigma that questioned why we were gamers in the first place. Hell, people still ask Maria why I game. But to be honest, I enjoy it. And if any of those people were to ask me directly, I would simply ask them, “Why do you watch TV all the time?”. I’m sure I’d get the same answer.

So the problem isn’t so much the distraction itself. The problem is when the distractions get us off course of what we’re supposed to be doing. Or, even worse, when people think the distraction is what we’re supposed to be doing.

Distractions are Around Us Everyday of Our Lives

The reason that so many of us fall to distractions isn’t because we’re dumb. It’s that it’s what we’ve had in our lives from pretty much birth.

When your parents first sat you down in front of a TV, do you think it was to teach us something or to distract us so that they could get something done? I know for many of us millennials, we grew up with the TV essentially being a parent.

Today kids are growing up with mobile tech, but it’s essentially doing the same thing. Distracting them so they aren’t doing anything meaningful.

One of the reasons I’ve never really watched reality shows is because all it is, is a distraction. Sitting around and watching other people succeed at life? You’ve got to be kidding me! I can be having that success myself if I put my mind to it. Not necessarily singing or dancing, or whatever the current trend is, but doing the thing that I’m good at. I hope you feel the same way about your life. We must realize that when we’re constantly checking into other people’s agendas, we’re actively checking out of our own life.

With all of these distractions around us, it becomes the norm. But does that mean it’s what we’re supposed to do? Well, pop culture would say that’s what we’re supposed to be interested in. But, seriously, it doesn’t have to be.

Distractions as “Busy Work”

Those of us who have jobs still or are lucky enough to have a lot of clients probably get a ton of email. While staying up with email might seem to be a good goal at first, it simply becomes a huge problem as we get more and more.

Back in the summer of 2014, Pat Flynn did a podcast with his new email assistant. They talked about why he hired her and what it was that she exactly did. Answering all of his email was simply getting out of hand. He didn’t have the time to sort his emails, answer them, and then do the real work to build his business.

Even though the email had to do with his business, it was disconnected from his strategy and purpose. How many things can you think in your business besides email that could be labeled as a distraction? Checking Twitter and Facebook all day?

I mean, you might not have a problem with Facebook, but some people do. (And if you’re one of those folks and are trying to get more work done – try this Chrome extension to help you limit the use of particular sites.)

Unseen Costs of Being Distracted

Now let’s think about something for a second. In LTD, I learned about what’s called surface cost and unseen cost. One of the things that is discussed is the unseen cost of not talking to people to get started as an IBO. It was said that you’re passing a possible Platinum every day. You just weren’t aware. In unseen cost, passing this Platinum could be costing an IBO upwards to $50 grand a year, possibly more? Knowing this helped me open up and talk to everyone.

Their answer to eliminating distractions was to simply cut them out of your life. Have a TV? Cut your cable. Are you a power gamer? Sell your system.

The problem with this (and I feel many of Cam’s followers have) is that when you do these things, you’re going cold turkey. For some, it might work. For others, it might be the worst thing for them to do. We need to realize that for some, addictions are like drugs. Withdrawal in itself can be a major hurdle… possibly leading to depression if not dealt with properly. (Unless you have a support system in place, or something else to take your mind off of not having this distraction, then there’s a good chance you might seek something else to distract you.) I knew I couldn’t go cold turkey. I enjoyed gaming too much at the time.

In a more relatable life, let’s just think about the unseen cost of being simply distracted. Now, let’s just take a conservative number of four hours a day. Say 2 hours at home and 2 at work of just being engaged in social media, TV, and video games. 4x7x52(weeks)x78.7(average lifetime) = 114,587.2 hours. That’s equivalent to 13.08 years. Now let that sink in there.

If you can’t let that sink in, let’s make it a little more relevant.

It means, that of the writing of this post, since 2003, you would have been doing something on Facebook, or sending texts, or doing something that really means nothing NONSTOP.

In 2003, I was 21. I remember turning 21. The actual night of my 21st birthday, I bought my own alcohol from the supermarket. No bars for me. I wanted to go about it in a mature fashion. That’s also the year that I changed my major to Electrical Engineering Tech at Purdue. Where I met some of my long time friends.

How about you? What were you doing 13 years ago? Can you imagine all that time spent on Facebook including the time you’ve spent sleeping? I sure can’t!

And if that wasn’t enough, let’s just say that you have a annual income from anywhere to $25,000 (yes, in Indiana it’s a thing) to $80,000. Simply doing that math you would have lost $325,000 on the low end and $1.04 million on the high end.

If you’re like me, and you try to rationally explain the next time you’re thinking that 4 hours a day of ::takes a breath:: … TV, playing on your phone, browsing the web, playing with your apps, and gaming… ::gasp:: isn’t that big of a loss, hopefully these numbers will put it into perspective.

How to Overcome Distractions: Being Undistracted and More Purposeful

So how do we alleviate our pull to distractions? Well, that’s a good question. I mean, I struggle with it myself. By no means am I some perfect guru who’s highly achieving. That’s just not me, and I even struggle at times in thinking that I’ll eventually be making New Inceptions a living.

But I’ve chosen this path. And now, I have to focus and make the best of it. And the way I’m going to do that is through what’s called Deep Work. 

I recently ran across this phrase when I heard of a guy named Cal Newport. Cal is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University, and during the interview I heard with Srini via Unmistakable Creative, they talked about two kinds of training that we can do when it comes actually performing Deep Work.

  • Active Training It’s called training for a reason. Just like when you’re working out in the gym or learning any skill type, you want to start small and work your way up to higher and higher levels. In the interview, Cal said that one of the ways that he practices this is by simply holding a thought relative to what we’re creating as we’re walking. Like meditation, if you feel your mind straying on other thoughts, you bring it back into whatever you were thinking. Focus on that one thing. Ideally you want to go deeper and deeper into that thinking by coming to a conclusion on one thought and then moving from there to another. Hold that thought and then go deeper. Repeat as much as you can.
  • Passive Training The key here is to simply keep your attention from jumping from distraction to distraction. Even though you might be simply filling up your car at the gas station, you need to fight the urge to check your Facebook or Twitter feed if you’re notified of an event. He said that this will help you build your executive center’s ability to focus. And just like when it comes with training other muscles, you’ll have a better chance of actually having better focus at a higher level the next day.

Srini also adds in his free download (that’ll you’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out how to get) ways that we can actively setup our day to day life for Deep Work.

There’s two in it that I already do:

  • No email or social media after 7pm until 10am. If this is too big of a time period for you, there are tools to help you not visit certain sites. He mentions Heyfocus, Freedom, and Rescuetime. Another Chrome Extension I’m aware of Momentum that replaces your New Tab screen with a screen that reminds you what you want to get done in a particular day.
  • Eliminate Unneeded steps in accomplishing your goals. Pretty straight forward. The more steps there are to getting something done, the longer it’s going to take and the less likely you are in getting that particular thing done. Even if there’s things you can’t eliminate, perhaps do them the night before you close up so the next day you can quickly start from where you began?

He adds a few more tips in that freebie about your phone that might help if you have struggles there.

Homework:

This week, I’d say listen to the conversation with Cal if you don’t do Deep Work on a regular basis. Do it as you’re driving somewhere, when you’re at the gym, or whenever you generally listen to music or podcasts. I want you to understand why it’s important to do Deep Work. If you’re wanting to call yourself a Creative, and in particular, a Renegade, you need time to take yourself to that next level. I don’t want you burn yourself out if you’re not used to doing your own work over prolonged periods of time.

If you already do Deep Work, what kinds of things do you do to keep yourself from letting distractions get the best of you that I didn’t cover above?

AoL 017: Helping Organizations Find Their True North through Projects with Frank Forte

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As movements and organizations grow, they sometimes lose the soul of what the organization was originally based on. Or, perhaps they’ve grown with the original intent for so long that they are too chaotic for their own good.

Take academia for example. When I was a graduate instructor, the head of my department didn’t get along too well with the head of the actual building. One was in charge of courses in her department, the other was in focused on building connections with those who were outside of Purdue. As far as I could tell, what happened was that as the building and all the activities outgrew the department, the old department head wasn’t made in charge of the building as a whole. The powers that were opted to pull someone in from the outside.

One would think that for the place to be effective, that they would have set their differences aside and worked together. But they never did. (Eventually the building head left for greener pastures. Good for him!)

I’m sure places that you’ve worked at or with have had similar communication or vision issues. Unfortunately (or fortunately), outside of academia, these differences eventually will have to end. Otherwise someone will lose their job, client, or even worse, the organization might fold.

Oftentimes, outside help is needed to fix these issues.

Amongst other things, this is what this session’s guest, Frank Forte, does. He helps companies find their true north as he “speaks, mentors, coaches, and consults for individuals and companies on how to effect change through projects.”

Frank has worked with organizations of all sizes on multiple projects and has come to the realization that people are ultimately what need to helped. I like to think he does it in a way that is under the radar.

In this particular session, we discuss how companies of all sizes need to understand leadership and what makes a successful consultant and entrepreneur.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN:

  • How Frank got interested in leadership and how he’s applied what he’s learned in organizations he’s worked with during his career
  • Two big keys in being a good leader
  • Why consultants should see themselves as entrepreneurs
  • The difference between Freelancing and Consulting
  • Why he believes knowing how to wield leadership is vital in being a successful entrepreneur no matter the size of the business.
  • Why it’s important to stay out of the blame game
  • What are steps to becoming a successful consultant and/or coach
  • The most important traits that an entrepreneur should have.
  • What he means when he says “he affects change through projects”
  • What he believes that companies have focused on in the past 10 years and what that means for entrepreneurs in the future.
  • …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:

In this week’s show note extras, I have a couple of pieces that I think further illustrates Frank’s perspective on work.

The first is a video is a favorite of mine, featuring Simon Sinek. In it he talks about the important of starting with “Why” and talks in depth about how about how Apple does things the way they do. I’ll think you’ll quickly realize why it’s one of my favorite TED talks.

The second resource is one that is focused strictly on how important basing your life and your work from your passion truly is. I had a “wow” moment in this one as the person that Srinivas Rao is interviewing, Phillip McKernan, talks about how so many people in the world utterly refuse to follow their passion – even if they’re clear on what it is. He’s definitely a guy I’ll be paying attention to in the future.

Phillip McKernan on the Unmistakable Creative Podcast

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, and/or Podbean. It’s absolutely free to do so.

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

Cheers!

Successes of 2015 and How We’re Going to Crush Next Year

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Learn what you can from 2015. Embrace the good ideas. Let go of the bad ones. Clean your mental hard drive for some new code to enter.

As a creator, we have minds that want to naturally do anything they come up with. Many times we stick with those ideas until we can see them through. However, that doesn’t translate so well to making what we do as hobbies into a livelihood.

That was exactly my problem as I started New Inceptions. I’d been tinkering with the idea of making New Inceptions a business since 2010… right after Pat Flynn started his podcast. In fact, I registered the domain before the end of the month – July 30th, 2010. Just when I got home from listening to that first podcast and reading Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk.

I knew I had to pursue my passion of helping others establish or start their new beginning. That particular definition gave me a place to start, but it wasn’t until later (this year) that I realized how vague it was.

After picking up my first teaching gig in October of 2010 and then losing my mom suddenly that December, life changed fairly quickly. I taught for another 2 years (in which time I met Maria) and then in 2013, started working at AMS. I wanted to get some marketing experience under my belt – and that’s how I did it.

Something I learned that I wasn’t planning on while I was at AMS, is that it doesn’t take special or lucky people to get a business of the ground. Just determination.

And when I realized it was already 2015, well… I knew it was time to go at this thing full force. I wanted to work with determined people who wanted to have a new beginning. I wanted to work with people like myself. So the first tagline that came to mind was Helping Millennials Go from Good to Great.

What did that mean? Well, too much, apparently. So after a few tries, I was able to come with the current focus of New Inceptions: Connecting Creators to their Full Potential.

So that’s where we’re at.

That said, it’s been an amazing year. Learned plenty of other things as well. Here’s a few of them.

Successes and Takeaways

Rebooting New Inceptions is something I’m super proud of being able to say I did. There were a couple of major things that have made this reboot successful.

  1. Getting involved with Fizzle. Not only by being a student of theirs for the entire duration of “the Reboot”, but also by actively promoting the brand. It’s opened up a couple doors for me.
  2. Getting the site to look similar to some of the big names out there. Was mainly going for Pat’s site (as of 2015) that Chase Reeves made for Pat in 2014. However, he says he’s going to be changing things up in 2016. So we’ll see where that leaves the New Inceptions site.
  3. Starting a podcast! Ever since Pat got brave and started doing regular podcasts in 2010, this was something I’ve wanted to do as well. Finally started mine in September. You can check out the full listing of the shows here. As life has been going on, Jon and Brian have had to step away from being on the show regularly, I plan on continuing with the co-host format. I especially like the idea of incorporating past guests as co-hosts. 🙂

Now, while these were successes as a whole, both the blog and the podcast have had their own successes in the little time they’ve been going on a consistent basis.

 

Top 3 Blog Posts:

During the Reboot, I have been pretty amazed in how doing consistent work has continued to make numbers of views of the blog  grow. From a handful of views to when I first started posting regularly to a couple of hundred views per week now, things are definitely going in the right direction!

As Pat said in his review in 2014, not every blog post has to be a home run. But I hope that I’ve been able to inspire you as we’ve been honing in how we can best serve you.

In 2015, the top 3 blog posts were blog posts that have been published for quite awhile… from before the Reboot. In fact, they’re all from 2011. They’re still pertinent to the site, so I’m going to go ahead and include them in the review. Plus, they’ve continued to pick up more traffic as I’ve been more consistent with my other work.

  1. The Baby Elephant Principle – Breaking the Chain: One of my all time favorite posts. While there are many principles that I learned in 2011-2012 from my business coach at the time, I would have to say that this one is the most relevant to New Inceptions. Many of us get stuck up on where we’ve been in the past and believe that our past somehow dictates our future. The older we are, the more many of us believe that we can’t start something new. If you think your past dictates who you are, then read this and possibly listen to this podcast session with Laila about how she has struggled to move on from her past identity as well.
  2. Stages of Manhood: Are You Unfinished?: This is one of many pieces of information that I pulled out of what I learned in my time in LTD. Again, if it wasn’t for LTD, I don’t know if I would have been the person I am today. I’m truly grateful for the relationships that I made during that time, and the way that it was able to transform my idea of what I wanted to do with my life. This particular piece talks to guys about how we can realize if we’ve made it from stage in life to the next. Frankly, I can say that I’ve moved from the Cowboy stage to the Lover and Warrior stage since I’ve written that. Sweet! 🙂
  3. The DISC Profile: Placing People on the Map: Understanding and mastering personalities was another huge thing that I got out of working with my business coach and LTD during that time. I had also studied it a bit when I was getting my masters in Organizational Leadership. I feel that everyone should understand that no two people are alike. However, one of the things I’ve learned since then is that even if they have the same personality, no two people are the same. What makes them different is not just who they are, but the environment they’ve been in. So while you might be dealing with a Driver Amiable, you need to know the context of their lives. Are they married? Do they have kids? Are their parents still help them make decisions? Do they have a well paying job? Those types of things are important to know as well.

Top 3 Podcast Episodes:

So, obviously, these are all going to be new pieces from 2015. While I’m still trying to find my voice when it comes to doing these, I feel that I have at least gotten used to it enough while I’m editing. Scripts are useful… but don’t use them too much. 🙂

Also, I feel that I’m getting more comfortable with each one I’m a part of. Truth of the matter, I just had to start. In fact, just between the first one I recorded vs the first one I published was a major difference. They were completely different!

Here are the top 3 podcast episodes (through session 16)

  1. Living a Life of Adventure with Marianne Jennings: This podcast session is a little different than most of the other ones. Besides it being my first solo session as a host, it was with someone that doesn’t fit the mold of those that we typically interview. It is true that Marianne is a fellow Foundation member of mine, but her creative side isn’t focused on building a business (at least at the time of the recording). Instead it’s focused on building a lifestyle that involves plenty of traveling and adventure. Traveling is always something I’ve wanted to do, but I always had excuses in why I didn’t go. In retrospect, I should have. I think many of us could be like Marianne if we chose to be.
  2. From Video Game Addict to Life Changer with Cam Adair: This interview with Cam was the first that I did with someone that I felt a huge connection with when we interviewed him. Just as there are alcohol, sex, and shopping addicts, there are gamer addicts. While I might still call myself a gamer, I know there are gamers who play tons more than I could ever imagine. Luckily for me I have ADHD which makes sure that I simply get bored after doing the same thing after awhile. But there are some that can keep playing and playing. In fact, they play so much that it interferes with other parts of their life. These are the true addicts.While I’m glad to say that gaming doesn’t have the affect on me that it once did, not everyone can decline they’re use like I have. Sometimes, you just have to go cold turkey. And that’s how Cam helps people change their lives for the better.
  3. Don’t Let Your Past Dictate Your Future With Trin A’Marti: If you’ve only been recently listening to the show, you know Trin. She’s stepped in as my cohost as Jon and Brian have had to do other things in their lives. (Jon with his last semester at Ball State – and Brian with his third kid.) As mentioned above, I think Trin has a great message in this piece. Just because your background labels you as something, doesn’t mean that that’s what you have to be known for the rest of your life. In books, there are things called chapters. In plays, there are acts. Your past life can simply be a past chapter or act in your life. It doesn’t have to dictate your future. Only if you let it. Check out this post if you need help getting psyched for this upcoming year. It doesn’t have to be the same as the one’s before it!

Crushing Next Year (2016)

As we gear up for this year, we need to start thinking about the things we want to do and the lives that we want to touch. To this effectively, we need to focus. How you focus is up to you. Some split up their plans for 30 day sprints, others shoot for 90 day marathons. Most often than not, calendars help with this focusing. So learn how to use one. It doesn’t have to be exactly like me. But you need to know how to plan your time.

Also, make sure that you’re focusing on building only one thing at a time. I really think the key to a day is focusing on one thing you have to do. Do that thing until you get it done. If you have time for another project, and then another after that. That’s great. But get at least one thing done a day. Know what your priorities are. For example, my priorities that I have are making sure that my blog posts are done for Tuesdays and podcasts are ready to publish for Thursdays. Then, on Thursdays and Fridays I focus on creating other things. However, as Pat says below, you want to focus on ONE thing.

That’s great information Pat gives us there. While I haven’t read the book as of yet, I think it’d be a good one to read if you struggle with focus. Hell, just like he says, it might even be useful to just have it on your desk to remind you that you should focus on one thing.

For me, the one thing I’m going to be developing in the next 90 days is another community page similar to the Facebook Masterminder group. However, instead of putting it on Facebook, I’m going to be focusing on developing it on LinkedIn. One of our upcoming guests on the podcast, Mirna Bacun, is a LinkedIn genius and will be helping us build this group. In return, I’m helping her build her online presence.

I’m absolutely thrilled with all the opportunities that 2016 has in store, and I hope that you chime in and say hi to us so we can help you finally start your New Inception. 🙂

Homework

What? You didn’t think there was going to be something for you to do after that long of a post?

Ha. In the comments below, let us know how one of the following:

  1. If it’s just starting the new year (even if it’s not 2016 anymore), let us know what you want to accomplish this year.
  2. If it’s the middle of year… say, in the summer when I Rebooted New Inceptions… let us know what you’ve learned from this year so far and how you want (and are going) to change it.
  3. If it’s the end of the year, let us know what you’ve learned about yourself this year and what you want to do to make a difference next year. Start off by saying “In <insert year>, I want to do <whatever it is that you want to start creating>. The reason I want to start doing this is <whatever that reason is>. 🙂

I look forward to hearing your future responses.

Allie McAdam

Allie McAdam: Secrets of Being a Young Successful Mompreneur (AoL 016)

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Creators are generally a different breed than most. Many times, we find ourselves trying to fit into a world that is so focused on consumerism, that we Creators are kinda looked at funny when we tell people what we do.

Even this past Christmas, I found myself having to explain to multiple family members what it was that I was doing. They still live in a world where they get up before the crack of dawn and are in bed early in the evening to do it all again the next day.

As a night owl, that was never going to work for me. Let alone the fact that, in the long run, I don’t take orders very well. It’s never been in my personality. (The longest I ever held a job was for 2 years!) In the end, I have no choice other to be an entrepreneur.

Our next guest, is no different. In fact, as a young Millennial, Allie McAdam found herself kicking authority as well. In fact, like many of us entrepreneurial creators, she calls herself happily unemployable. She knew this as she was going through high school and when she graduated in 2013, she knew that she wasn’t going to be going to college.

However, the story doesn’t end there. In 2014 she also had her first child. So that makes her a Mompreneur! So she had to grow things quickly to be able to support her kid.

How was she able to be a new mom and a new business owner? That’s what we talk with her in this session about.

So, if you’re a young business owner who’s thinking about having kids (like me!) or you’re a young parent and thinking about starting a business, then you won’t want to miss this discussion between Trin, myself, and Allie.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN:

  • How she got into web development.
  • Why gaming can be a good thing
  • What has helped her succeed in life as a young mom.
  • What her definition of happiness is.
  • Does she resonate more with the “younger” or “older” Millennial
  • Her thoughts of being an independent thinker and how that’s gotten her into trouble in the past.
  • The importance of mentorship.
  • What she thinks is trending in the expert space and the importance of being genuine
  • How mompreneurs can foster a work-life balance
  • Why she loves Blab so much and her perception of Twitter and Instagram.
  • How to pick a tattoo you can live with
  • …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:

In this episode’s show note extras, here are some items that relate directly to the family and entrepreneurship.

First up is Jill Salzman’s Founding Moms. It’s a collective of offline meetups and online resources where mom entrepreneurs can exchange, connect and learn from one another. You can see Jill discussing how Mom’s make great Entrepreneurs here:

Next are two links for entrepreneurial dads.

First up is Startup Dad HQ with Joel Lewis.

It is a great resource for Dad’s who want to or have started a business. Started in 2014, Joel says that he wants to use Startup Dad HQ to “help Dads be fully engaged in every aspect of their child(ren) life and at the same time pursue their dreams of building a business that will not only afford them the lifestyle they want for their family but also leave a MARK on this world and a LEGACY behind.”

Next is ‘trep Life Dad with James Oliver, Jr.

On treplifedad, James shares the joys and pains of running a tech startup (wemontage.com) and raising a family.

And last, I have a great video of Cameron Herold who talks about how teaching kids to entrepreneurs can actually be a good thing.

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, and/or Podbean. It’s absolutely free to do so.

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

Cheers!

3 Step Process to Being a Successful Beginner Solopreneur

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“Do or Do Not. There is No Try.” – Yoda

Often times, as creators who are stepping out to make an income doing our own thing, we wonder if what we’re doing is right. Just like Luke, in the Empire Strikes Back, we have all of these different emotions running through us, we want to make sure that we’re not spinning our wheels. Also like Luke, we must listen to our inner Yoda and not let those emotions keep us from being successful.

For me, personally, having the background in engineering that I do, I just don’t have the personality to simply experiment. I can’t afford to just play. I have to know the actions I’m taking are going to yield some sort of results. I need to know what my constraints are so I can be creative.

Like me, you’ve probably scoured the web looking for any tutorial or eBook you can get your hands on. How many newsletters do you have coming into your inbox because it promised that one extra piece that you thought you needed? Five? Ten?

Me? I’ve strategically signed up for at least 20 newsletters. Each one goes to it’s separate mailbox so that I can keep track of their author’s marketing efforts. That’s on top of the ones which I’ve signed up for just a freebie info piece.

Which leads to the next question: When you entered your email, why did you? Was it truly to get something you thought would make you better at your craft? Was it something that you guessed you would need in the future? Or was it something that you wanted because it was free and you didn’t know the answer to the clickbait copy that was before the form?

For me, it’s been all of the above.

With all of this information out there, how can we put it to use and make ourselves better at our business?

Here’s the 3 top things I’ve realized that have helped me be a better solopreneur.

Find Where You’re Stuck

In a recent survey by Pat Flynn back in July of 2015, he asked what his audience’s biggest struggles were. Yesterday he shared the results with what he was looking to do about it in 2016. Below is one of the graphics he used in this awesome write up. (I look forward to him accomplishing some of the things he said he’d do.)

SPI-website-survey-1024x483

Pat Flynn’s Beginner Audience Struggles

And here were the top responses from his audience members who already had a business:

SPI-survey-2-1024x236

Top Response’s of Pat Flynn’s audience who already had a business.

I can so relate to all of these issues. I’ve had every single one of these struggles myself. I still have sleepless nights because I question whether or not what I’m doing is real. (I think even Pat has that question from time to time.)

As a true beginner back in March, I had no idea where to start. I had too many ideas going through my head in what I wanted to do. And, as I mentioned above, I wanted to make sure that what I was going to do would leave me feeling successful.

The first part in making yourself a better solopreneur, I believe, is to figure out what is holding you in the position that you find yourself in.

Essentially I want you to just simply realize the issue that you’re having the most. Out of Pat’s responses above, which one (or two or even three) resonates with you the most?

Get Help

Once you realize where you’re stuck (whether you already have a business or not), you need to get help.

Just like with being sick, yes you can possibly get better if you tough it out, but there are ways to expedite the agony you’re going through. Either make the symptoms go away or to cure the illness itself.

So going down the list of Pat’s real quick, here are places where I’d look for answers. (FYI – each one of these problems could warrant a blog post, but I want to help you get going as soon as possible for 2016.)

  1. I don’t know where to start / I can’t pick a business idea / Feel like my ideas aren’t good enough – Honestly, there’s a reason why the pack over at Fizzle have Finding Clarity as a step all by itself in their roadmap. It’s the foundation of your future success. If you don’t start on the right foot, then you’re going to have to come back to fix fundamental issues. Just simply by going through their process of finding a niche to work in will help immensely in finding your starting point. I believe Corbett has come up with a great test to do just that.If you go through Fizzle’s Finding a Topic and Defining Your Audience courses and still don’t know where to start, then perhaps you need to start Asking via what Ryan Levesque teaches or going to Dane Maxwell and his group at The Foundation.Truth be told, the secret to both is simply asking a group of people what they’d be interested in buying to fix a particular problem (that you’ve drilled for through questions) and then coming up with a solution for said problem. If the solution fixes a very big pain for that group of people or businesses (I’d suggest B2B solutions myself – you can make them members of a site), then they might even prepay you for it.
  2. Information Overload (Information Constipation) /  Confused about the next step – Once you have an idea for your topic, it’s time to actually start. So looking at this grouping, I’d think that the best place to get help with this is to find a Mastermind (online or offline), find some supportive social media groups (LinkedIn or Facebook have a ton), and/or start going to nearby Meetups to network.The idea behind all of these is that you want to get feedback from as many people as possible. You want to have a group to bounce ideas off of. Once you have that in place, you can ask them what they believe is the most important part of your business AND how you might be able to improve on those parts. Remember, you can make your strengths better and better, but you can only make your weaknesses so good.If you’re interested in finding a group but you don’t know where to find one, come on over to the New Inceptions Masterminder Group on Facebook (and soon to be LinkedIn… I’ll let you guys know) and we’ll gladly help you bounce ideas. In fact, I run two masterminds a week with members of this group.

    Fizzle might be a good solution here as well, as they have a thriving forum to bounce ideas off of. In fact, the initial members for my masterminds I found through Fizzle. And let’s not forget that roadmap that I mentioned earlier. So that’s a choice as well.

  3. Trying to do too many things at once / I don’t have enough time – Ok, so this was the problem that Pat saw himself having in 2013 and 2014 before he hired people to help him step up his game for 2015. In fact, he had a talk where he and his guest talked about Superman Syndrome and how it can kill your business. I really think that chat made him think quite a bit.If you don’t have the capabilities to hire people (staff members or part timers) outright to do tasks (repeating or not) then perhaps you can get some help from those in your mastermind groups or other groups that you’re a part of. One of the things that I learned in getting America Multi-Sport off the ground yearly was that sometimes our sponsors didn’t give us money. Instead, they offered services and their time to support our events.Likewise, see if you can partner with those that are in your immediate circle of influence once you have a few decent connections. If they don’t stick, don’t be afraid to replace them.
  4. I fear failure / Struggle with Perfectionism – I’ve talked about both of these before. But just in case you haven’t heard it, here’s what you need to know: Failure can really only happen if you quit. Unless it’s in school or in Corporate America, life would tell us that just because something turned out a way that you didn’t expect, doesn’t mean it was a failure. Life is all about learning, and nature has made it so that the best way for us to learn is through things not going as planned. All you can do is pick yourself up, adjust, and try again. No big deal. It’s how we learn how to ride bikes and do anything else in life, right?As far as perfectionism goes, on one hand it’s an extension of the Superman Syndrome mentioned above. On the other hand, it’s an excuse. One that can debilitate you from getting anything done. If you feel that you struggle with being perfect, check out this post to help yourself get over it.

Take Productive Action

Just get started and keep it simple.

One of the things that has held me up for so long in getting New Inceptions started was that as I searched the web, I kept coming up with more and more things that I needed to be doing. The question is not whether or not I needed to do them. The question was in which order? The more I heard or listened to, the more I had on that list and the more confused I got.

While learning is a great thing, Just in time Learning is even better. Just in time learning is when we do a little bit of work, get stuck, find an answer, and then move on with a little bit more work.

When you’re taking action, make sure you’re doing so by utilizing your strengths first. If you don’t see yourself as a great writer, for example, don’t write. If you’re creativity relies on something that you must perform or do, then use another means to get it to others… such as video. And while you might be able to share it on YouTube, you might actually make a little income on using a platform like Udemy.com. Monetize on your actions any way you can from the get go – but be smart about it.

Homework:

Ok gang, that’s the last post of 2015. I hope it gives you some motivation to make some strides in 2016. If you haven’t gotten started on making your hobbies or passions into a business, I’d recommend heading on over to Fizzle right now and get started on the Roadmap. When you go through any of the links on this page, you’ll be using my affiliate link. This is a win-win as you get your first month free (saving you $35 your first month). I don’t care if that’s as long as you stay. I just want you to set off 2016 on the right foot.

Let me know below if you’ve made it over there. I’d love to connect with you over there and possibly even get to know you more so we can do some awesome things together in 2016.

Cheers!

moral constitution

AoL 015: The Legal Basis for a Moral Constitution with Jenna Ellis

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Today’s guest, Jenna Ellis. A new author who got her first book, The Legal Basis for A Moral Constitution (Amazon), into Barnes and Noble.

Have you ever been so passionate about something that it compelled you take action in a way that you’ve never done before? Perhaps it was something that you thought was unfair. Or perhaps you had a sudden interest in a particular subject and you just thought it was time to take that certain action.

That describes the reason started writing her book.

You might remember back in June of 2015 that gay couples were given the ability to legally marry. At face value, that might not seem like a bad thing. But the way that it was legalized, many, including Jenna (who’s a constitutional lawyer), believe was very questionable.

Furthermore, in recent years, we’ve seen an uptick in judgements that many would deem morally questionable.

Jenna’s book “offers insight into the legal reasons our nation must be compelled to return to universally objective moral judgments from a higher source than the collective government. Morality is not the subjective, changing whim of the majority, or more specifically, the majority of nine Supreme Court Justices.”

In other words, she explores our Founding Documents and their true initial intent and discusses why we can’t rely on simple interpretation of those laws.

As creators, this is important information to know. We need to know what the real law is and if our backs are being covered by those who are in power. Because, as it currently stands, we could find ourselves, one day, in a situation where discussing a certain topic or doing a certain act might be more than just taboo – it might be labeled illegal simply based on 5 Justice’s interpretation of a law. 

So, if you’re curious as to what got Jenna started on her path of creativity and how you might be able to get a publisher to get your first book to the masses, then this is a great discussion. While we don’t spend much time talking about the book itself, I think you’ll be able to see just how passionate she is about her work. In this regard, I believe that we all can learn something from her.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN:

  • How Jenna knew she was always going to be a lawyer.
  • What she got out of her years in journalism school that helped her write her book.
  • When she knew it was time to write a book.
  • How she made her book accessible to people who don’t speak or read legalese.
  • What she believes is the future of Conservatism and the use of Natural Law.
  • How she was able to get her first book into Barnes and Noble.
  • Why she’s not afraid of traditional public speaking.
  • Why she believes it’s important to teach Millennials and future generations what really matters in life and why it’s important to care.
  • …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:

In this episode’s show note extras, I thought I’d add some items that I’ve found useful when it comes to some of the topics that Jenna and I discussed.

First, we have Mechanic to Millionaire. Dave MacArthur is the founder of this site and community. While he’s a Isagenix distributor, a lot of what he talks about transfers to other businesses quite well. Why? Because they teach about Natural Laws. I was really thrilled to hear his conversation with Solopreneur Hour’s Host, Michael O’Neal.

Next up, we have a video that explains why the American Dream has collapsed. Again, this has nothing directly related with what Jenna talks about in her book. However, I think it’s important to understand why so many of us are feeling a need to be creators at this time in history.

The real political fight isn’t about Democrats vs Republicans. They both work for lobbyists. Big government means big regulation and an unfair playing field for us, the people. If you’re a creator serious about making a difference, you should be interested in those in government who care about us as individuals. Not those who are pandering to the masses and never returning on their promises. Otherwise we can only make a difference that they’ll allow us to make.

I think this video does a great job explaining what has made America great and what Freedom is all about:

Overview of America

If you found that interesting, you might also like this:
Overview of America, Part 2:

And, finally, I ran across this video, not too long ago. I think it puts in perspective how much the price was and can be if we let extremist groups like the Nazis ever get in power again. This is why it’s important to be able to recognize when a person or a group of people is being manipulated to believe a certain way OR when a group of people are being alienated by the rest of society.

The Nazi’s got away with it until finally the rest of the world had enough.

The Fallen of World War II from Neil Halloran on Vimeo.

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, and/or Soundcloud. It’s absolutely free to do so.

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

Cheers!

Embrace the Remix: Making Original Work

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Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. – Steve Jobs

Hardly anything in life is original. How could it be? As civilized people, we’ve been around for thousands of years. Whatever is something that can be done, in one shape or another, it’s been done. As it was said to me one time, “Whatever great idea that you just came up with. Good job. I’m sure it’ll be a success just like the hundreds of other times it’s been thought of before.”

For many of us Creators, especially those of us who consider ourselves artists, we like to believe that we have original work. That out of the BILLIONS of people that are on the planet, that our one idea is unique and original.

But it isn’t.

Even with figuring out what I wanted to do with this site, I knew that I wanted to do something original. I mean, sure, I’ve been seeing people do business related blogs for several years now. And due to that simple fact alone, many people who have been in the industry longer than me said that I might be foolish for doing yet another “online business” website.

They said, “The market is already saturated. You should do something else.”

I figured they were right. I also knew I didn’t want to have the opportunity to plagiarize, so I didn’t want to do something just like them. I didn’t want to create Smart Passive Income 2.0 (or possibly 100.0?).

But here in lies the problem… at least for me.

For several years now, my Life Vision has been to impact creative people who want to make a living with their work through means of technology and passive income. And due to that, I felt that I had to do work somewhere in the internet marketing / self development space.

So there was my catch 22.

I sought originality out quite a bit when I was first starting. I attempted to make the site more original by bringing more ingredients into the recipe. (You can see evidence of that in past posts)

Well, that was a mistake. I soon realized that the more content I talked about, the more complex I made the site. You guys weren’t going to enjoy your experience here (let alone find it) if I couldn’t bring down the complexity.

I learned that if I wanted to start a real audience, that I had to start with laser focus.

And, eventually, I found that originality isn’t so much the work you’re doing. (Because really, as the Bare Naked Ladies say, It’s All Been Done Before.)

In fact, it’s something else…

We All Want to Fit In

I think so many of us creatives want to be known for having original work because from an early age, originality is prized. Originality in our work, at first glance, seems to always get individuals extra credit.

When we think of those who win cooking contests, it’s the cooks and chefs that have their own secret sauce. It’s definitely not the chain restaurants of the world. However, those chain restaurants over time are the ones that tend to get the most rewarded. Why is that?

Unfortunately, I think it’s because our society has a twisted belief that being different is a negative characteristic. I mean, how much flack have you gotten from family and friends that you wanted to do your own thing?  

Have you ever heard the phrase “It’s fine for others to strike out on their own, but heaven forbid if anyone in our family does it!” or “Stop with that nonsense. Get a real job!”

Even more odd is that once we get good at doing our own thing, in order to be accepted again and go main stream, we have to essentially sell out.

Take, for example, independent music artists. One would argue that they’re independent because they do things their own way. They are, indeed, original. However, whatever the motivator, if they go main stream, many times they’re shunned by their original fans. But, if we take a step back, can we blame them? Even if their motivation is money to go main-stream, aren’t they getting the opportunity to have more fans? And really, isn’t that one of our big motivators as creators? That we want to make a larger impact?

It seems no matter where we are in the creative cycle, we are always being called to do work that’s mainstream.

Seems to me that there’s a certain path that creativity always leads: Start with this big umbrella idea -> get good at doing a few parts of that idea well -> bring on additional help to do more parts -> keep adding on more work with that help that applies to more and more people.

Is Any Creative Work Truly Original?

If that’s the case, it makes me wonder if any work that we do can truly stay original.

As I’m writing this in December of 2015, there’s a good chance that you, the reader, have heard of Tesla. You know, the groundbreaking company that is making AWESOME electric cars which are going to change the automotive industry forever?

Would you believe me if I said that Tesla is not original? Here are a few examples:

  1. The idea of the electric car is as old as cars themselves.
  2. The name Tesla itself isn’t some randomly generated tech name. It came from Nikola Tesla.
  3. The rechargeable battery idea isn’t new, either. How long have we been using them for our tech?

As a Tesla fan, I’d love to be able to tell you that these cars are the first time that anyone has ever tried this. But it simply isn’t the case.

Electric cars have been tried before and failed. But yet I have stock in the company. You might be wondering if electric cars have failed in the past, why would I invest?

Well, it’s because of who runs the company. Elon Musk has a proven track record. He seems to have a Midas touch when it comes to tech startups. I’m investing in Elon’s capacity to finally make this idea work. In fact, I’d say he’s the J. J. Abrams of the tech world.

Speaking of which, if you think about it, I don’t think Mr. Abrams is really all that original either.

I mean, what is he known for?

Lost, Star Trek, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens are just three of the MANY project he’s done under his production company Bad Robot. Two of which are huge franchises that he was entrusted with after his success with the “smaller” projects. I mean, how many times has Science Fiction been done, let alone these two franchises? And yet, it’s these two franchises that continue to set box office records. Would you call him a sell out?

Obviously, with just these two examples we can see that originality in our work isn’t as big a deal as we’d like to believe. Even George Lucas has said that he borrowed pieces from other works when he was making the original Star Wars.

It seems that original work comes very rarely. But is that really so bad? Kirby Ferguson explores that below.

The Intangibles of Original Work

So, after watching those videos and thinking about my previous two examples, what do you think makes an original piece, more often than not, original?

Remember, for those of us who are creators of a business, we don’t want to be too odd in our work or we’ll always have a small following.

With limited needs and wants of clients, and with so many people, there’s going to be an overlap in the market. Originality simply doesn’t usually come from the work itself.

More often than not, originality comes from it’s creator.

We are the ones that make originality possible. The way we think about things. The way we connect the dots. The way we connect people. That’s what makes our work original.

Homework:

Do you have any stories of a situation where you tried to be original but just made things more complex? Do you agree with my assessment of originality? Let us know below. We’d love to hear from you!

(P.S. I stole the idea for this post from this interview over at Art of Charm with Austin Kleon and gave it my own perspective.)