Hustle And Grow: Recent Episodes
Israel Soliz
The universe does not care about you. That may sound harsh but it is true. The universe is neutral and is not out to get you. So you can either accept this fact or go on complaining about things that you have no control over. The choice is yours.
Despite what all the Hustle Bros say, sometimes it is best to cut your losses and move on. I am at the position and my decision is a difficult one, but I have to do what is best for me.
Check out the Attack With The Stack $1 Trial: https://bit.ly/3VRKNBT
It has been an interesting couple of months. I had a death in the family, my mom broke her leg, and I got COVID.
I'm finally feeling better and I am committed to publishing a podcast episode daily for the rest of the year.
“My name is Israel, and I am an alcoholic.”
I have uttered that sentence hundreds, if not thousands, of times in the last few years. I should also add that I am a business owner. I ran a digital marketing agency and now I run an affiliate marketing business. So, I have owned a few different businesses. However, my sobriety comes first.
And like sobriety, running a business is not for everyone.
There are many similarities between the two and I realize that my sobriety is very much intertwined with my business. And they are very similar in their structure.
I am a marketer. I tell people that I am a Freelance Writer but in actuality, I am a marketer.
Most of my writing is for clients who want to sell more stuff. I write persuasive blog posts to get readers to want their product or service and buy from my clients. In a way, I am a marketing gun for hire.
I fell in love with content marketing years ago because I was broke and couldn’t afford to buy ads for my affiliate marketing offers. I had to find a cheap or free way to get traffic to my offers. And that is when I discovered content marketing.
I have said many times that content marketing is the only true marketing. And I still believe that with all my heart.
As an affiliate marketer, my main form of marketing is through content. Each workday, I create four pieces of content. They are video (YouTube and TikTok), audio (my podcast), text (this Medium page), and image (Instagram).
That is my production process for the entire day.
What is a lifestyle business?
Most of the time when people think about a “Lifestyle business” they picture someone sitting on a beach with their laptop. I can tell you that is ridiculous.
I have traveled all over the world with my business and I have never done any work on the beach. When I’m on the beach I’m enjoying the beach.
I think your lifestyle should be your business. Not the other way around.
“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning to sail my ship.” — Louisa May Alcott
Overcoming fear is not easy but it can be done.
We are all afraid at some point. As I get older I seem to be fearful of more things. I guess that just comes with the territory. But I think now it is time to overcome our fear.
Who is your ideal customer?
Hint: it’s not “everyone.”
Take some time to really get to know your dream customer by answering the following questions:
- Who are my dream clients? What do they look like?
- What are they passionate about?
- What are their goals, dreams, and desires?
- What are the offers I could create that could attract them and repel everyone else?
This is taken from the book “Dotcom Secrets” and you can get it from Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3khrLUc
I have been going to physical therapy for about two months now and there have been times when I have been very frustrated with my slow results. At times I have thought my arm would never get back to normal.
It seemed like I was just showing up three times a week, experiencing intense pain, and still not able to do simple things like wash dishes or cut up my own food.
However, over the last two weeks, I have seen a noticeable improvement. Just today I was able to tell my therapist that I was able to type again. He was thrilled.
“Just have to trust the process,” I said.
“I told you.”
So that is my mantra now, “Trust the process.”
For most of my adult life, I excelled in one area. but that one area was always changing. Sometimes I would be great in my relationships other times I would be doing well financially and sometimes I will be healthy as a horse. But I never got all three going at the same time.
After a while, I just figured that's the way things were meant to be. I was wrong.
Now I am working diligently by giving all three areas of my life together. I call it Mb2.
Today we will be talking about MIND, BODY, and BUSINESS
Also, check out my Medium page for daily articles: https://israelsoliz.medium.com/
I have always been an oddball. I never quite fit in. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
I've been constantly making and losing friends my entire life. But that's okay.
You, too, can learn how to lose friends and infuriate people and live to tell about it.
Going against the prevailing wisdom is now a bad thing. Standing up for yourself and your beliefs makes others feel bad about themselves. When people feel bad about themselves they usually take it out on the person they think is making them feel bad. But don't worry, you will make new friends.
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
It is very easy to feel overwhelmed on a daily basis while you are looking at your big goals. These goals can be scary and you may feel like quitting. Don’t do it.
Overwhelm can happen at any time. Keep things simple. Break your goals down into small, daily activities.
Focus more on hitting singles instead trying to hit home runs. Simple daily activities will get you to where you want to go.
And finally, give yourself credit for hitting those singles. Celebrate your victories.
Who is the hero of your business?
Obviously, it is your customer. No one cares about you, how long you have been in business, or any awards you have won. They care about themselves and their own problems. So focus on that.
If your customer is the hero then your business is the guide. Take them through The Hero’s Journey with your product or service.
How do you do that? With the 4 P’s:
- The Problem
- The Pain
- The Possibility
- The Path
When you do this you not only show the value of your product but you will also build a strong bond between you and your customer.
Are you afraid to fail? Do you replay every “failure” in your mind over and over until it drives you mad? You are probably failing wrong.
“I never lose. I either win or I learn.” is such a lame statement. Embrace your failures. Failing is the only way you will succeed.
Maintain a teachable attitude in everything you do today and every day.
Follow these three tips to fail forward.
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Take Responsibility - You will fail at some point in your life. Accept the failure and keep moving forward.
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Learn The Lesson - What is this “failure” teaching you? How does this lesson apply to different areas of your life?
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Continue To Take Risks - The only way you will succeed is to move beyond your comfort zone.
Get your copy of “The Maxwell Daily Reader” here: https://amzn.to/3wCDbcG
Toxic relationships are not just one way. We all have a bit of responsibility in every relationship we wave, both good and bad.
And I am not just talking about personal relationships. I have been a a few toxic busuness relationships as well.
The only antidote that I have found is realizing that you deserve love and respect. And the only way to get to that position is to love and respect yourself.
If you are dealing with depression ands feel like there is no hope please reach out to someone and get help.
The National Suicide Prevention Life line is 800-273-8255
I don't like pain. It's very uncomfortable. And it hurts.
As some of you may know I broke my arm recently and I'm now going through physical therapy. And it hurts a lot. There are days when I do not want to do it. But I know that my arm will never get back to normal unless I continue with this painful therapy.
The physical pain is just one area that I have to get past. There's also the mental and emotional pain that I'm dealing with.
The exercises that I have to do on a daily basis take time and effort. I wake up in the morning in some discomfort and sometimes there is pain but I know I have to do my physical therapy or else I will never get better.
Okay, I didn't really stop caring about other people. What I have done is stop caring about what other people think and I have stopped trying to control what other people do.
This year I'm just going to focus on two things: effort and consistency.
Online reviews are becoming more and more important for local businesses. If you have low reviews or very few reviews you could be doing some serious damage to your business.
I broke my arm few months ago and it has really changed my life for the better. Sounds crazy but totally true.
It finally happened. I drank last night. I am dealing with a lot of emotions at the moment and needed to get things off my chest.
I get this question now and then, "Is Alcoholics Anonymous a cult?" The short answer is "No." But there is more to it than that.
The serenity prayer is deceptively simple. But if you really look at it you will find some amazing life advice.
Today we talk about getting into romantice relationships during your first years of sobriety.