Most morning routines are garbage—and I learned that the hard way. After coaching over 250 entrepreneurs to millionaire status, I discovered the one simple shift that makes all the difference. In this episode, I share how to stop wasting your best energy on rituals that look productive but don’t move the needle.

I’ll walk you through the exact morning habit that creates clarity, focus, and momentum every single day. If you’re ready to earn more, work less, and finally feel in control of your time, this is the routine that changes everything.

Let me know what you think of today’s episode! Did you learn something new? Am I missing something? Is there something that has or hasn’t worked for you in your path to success? Send me an IG DM or email and let me know how I can help you level up in life.

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Most entrepreneurs think scaling requires doing more—but the truth is, it’s about pulling the right hidden levers

Interview with Coach Galel. In this episode, I sit down with Coach Galel Fahardo to unpack how he’s helped clients double revenue, reclaim 12–14 hours a week, and scale from $2.5 million to $10 million while working less. You’ll hear real stories of entrepreneurs who broke free from busywork, leveraged AI, and built systems that let them focus on their true zone of genius.

Galel also opens up about his own rock-bottom moment with anxiety and burnout—and how it shaped the powerful coaching frameworks he uses today. If you’ve ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or trapped in the grind, this conversation will show you exactly how to simplify, scale, and win back your freedom.

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Too many entrepreneurs waste their best energy chasing “hard” challenges that don’t actually move the needle in business or life

ETR Millionaire Problems Livest…. In this episode, Craig Ballantyne exposes the hidden dark side of discipline—and why pushing yourself through ice baths, ultra-marathons, or endless streaks can cost you your marriage, your health, and your business. Instead, he shows you how to identify your true level 10 problem and put a level 10 effort into solving it, so you can scale your income and reclaim your time. You’ll discover why outside accountability, ruthless focus, and choosing the right hard things are the keys to sustainable success.

If you’ve ever felt stuck doing more but achieving less, this conversation will show you how to simplify, refocus, and finally get the results you want.

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What if everything you’ve been told about education, success, and preparation for the future is wrong? In this conversation with Matt Smith, co-author of The Preparation, we dive into a radical new framework that challenges the traditional path of college and shows how to cultivate real independence, resilience, and skill stacking instead.

You’ll hear how Matt’s own son transformed from anxious and uncertain into confident, capable, and entrepreneurial—through a process that any ambitious person can apply at any age. From welding and EMT training to entrepreneurship cycles and personal codes of conduct, this isn’t just about learning skills—it’s about becoming the kind of person who thrives no matter how fast the world changes. If you’re ready to escape the old script, take control of your future, and build a life of freedom and substance, this episode is your blueprint.

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Most entrepreneurs chase too many things at once—and it’s the fastest way to stay stuck. In this episode, I reveal the 11 millionaire habits my top clients use to simplify, focus, and scale without burning out. You’ll discover how to protect your mornings, say no to distractions, double down on your core offer, and treat your best clients like gold.

I’ll also share why daily sales, constant self-reflection, and accountability to someone you refuse to disappoint are the true multipliers of wealth and freedom. If you’re ready to stop dabbling and start operating like a seven-figure entrepreneur, this episode gives you the exact playbook.

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If you want to hit seven figures, you can’t run your business like everyone else—and in this episode, I share the 10 game-changing habits that separate millionaires from those stuck in survival mode. After coaching over 250 entrepreneurs to become millionaires, I’ve seen exactly what works: asking for help (and using it), leveraging connections, staying relentlessly consistent, and investing in the right masterminds. I’ll show you why moving fast, refusing to take no for an answer, and selling daily are non-negotiables if you want to scale without burning out.

You’ll also learn how to leave your comfort zone, play the long game, and think 10X instead of 10%. If you’re ready to work less, earn more, and run your business like a true millionaire, this episode is your blueprint.

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Learn to Overcome The Lie of “I’m Just Wired This Way”There’s a phrase I’ve heard way too many times from entrepreneurs: “That’s just how I am.”

It comes in different forms:

“I’ve always been this way.”
“I’m just not a structured person.”
“I have ADHD, so I struggle with that.”
“I’m always late—I’ve just accepted it.”

Let me ask you something…

If someone always says they’re late… Do you think they’ll ever be on time?

Of course not. Because the identity comes before the behavior.

That’s the trap.

Most people are so committed to the story of who they are that they never give themselves permission to become someone different.

I’m not talking about faking it. I’m not talking about pretending.

I’m talking about transformation, the kind that starts with burning down the belief that you are stuck as you are.

My Wake-Up CallFor most of my life, I prided myself on being the guy who could thrive in chaos.

Last-minute deadlines? I’ll pull it off.
Overscheduled calendar? I’ll muscle through.
Back-to-back crises? I’ll find a way.

It felt impressive… for a while.

But deep down, I was always behind.

Always chasing.

Always apologizing for being late, forgetting things, or missing opportunities.

And every time I got called out, I’d shrug and say:

“I’m just wired this way. I’ve got ADHD. I can’t help it.”

But one day, a coach said to me,

“Galel, what if you’re not broken? What if you’ve just built your business around dysfunction, and you’re calling it personality?”

That hit me like a gut punch.

Because he was right. I wasn’t doomed to chaos. I had just spent years modeling a way of living that matched my limiting belief.

Beliefs Are Not FactsLet’s clear this up right now: A belief is not a fact.

A belief is just a thought you’ve rehearsed so many times it feels like truth.

Beliefs like:

“I’m not a morning person.”
“I always procrastinate.”
“I’m not detail-oriented.”
“I don’t follow through.”
“I’m the creative type, not the structured one.”

Every single one of those is a belief you learned. And anything learned can be unlearned.

What we fail to realize is that we’re constantly modeling behavior, not just from the people around us, but from our own repeated internal stories.

So if you grew up around chaos? You’ll model chaos.

If you were praised for being “the funny one” or “the creative one,” you’ll double down on that identity and neglect other skills.

You’re not “just wired that way.” You’re trained that way.

And what’s been trained… can be retrained.

Stop Diagnosing. Start Designing.One of the most dangerous things I see in high performers, especially those with ADHD, anxiety, or other labels, is that we use our diagnosis as a permission slip.

Now, don’t get me wrong.

ADHD is real. Trauma is real. Neurodivergence is real.

I’m not denying that.

But here’s what I am saying: If you keep telling yourself “I have [insert label], so I can’t [insert responsibility]”… you’re choosing to live in a cage with an open door.

Labels can help explain your patterns.

But they should never be used to excuse your inaction.

At some point, you’ve got to stop diagnosing yourself and start designing yourself.

Because the game isn’t “how do I cope with this forever?”

The game is “how do I build a life that works with how I’m wired, without letting it define me?”

Identity-First TransformationIf you want to change your behavior, don’t start with your calendar.

Start with your identity.

Because the question isn’t “What should I do?” It’s “Who would I be if I believed something different?”

Here’s what that looked like for me:

Old belief: “I’m not a systems guy.”
New belief: “I build simple systems because my brain needs clarity.”

Old belief: “I always run late.”
New belief: “I respect my time and the time of others.”

Old belief: “I work best under pressure.”
New belief: “I work best when I’m calm, clear, and in control.”

You don’t white-knuckle your way into these beliefs. You practice them. You model them.

You start showing up, even when it’s uncomfortable, as the kind of person who believes something better.

And over time, your brain catches up.

The Tools Only Work If You Change the OperatorI’ve coached enough entrepreneurs to know this: Most people don’t have a strategy problem. They have an identity problem.

They buy the planner.
They hire the coach.
They download the time-blocking template.
They install the new CRM.

But nothing sticks.
Not because the tool is broken, but because the operator is still trying to be productive while clinging to an identity that says, “I’m someone who doesn’t follow through.”

If you see yourself as chaotic, you’ll find a way to turn every system into chaos.

If you see yourself as inconsistent, you’ll bail the moment things get too predictable.

Your identity has to shift before the strategy can stick.

Here’s the Real FlexYou want to know what’s actually impressive?

It’s not building a million-dollar business while living in burnout.

It’s not “pushing through” and “grinding it out” and “hustling harder.”

The real flex?

Being calm.
Being consistent.
Being early.
Being free.

Not because you forced it, but because you trained for it.

You chose to believe in something better. You modeled the behavior until it became your new baseline. And now you operate from peace instead of pressure.

That’s sovereignty. And it’s available to anyone who’s willing to stop hiding behind their past self.

Final ThoughtIf you’ve built your life around the belief that “this is just how I am”… That’s not self-awareness. It’s self-sabotage in disguise.

You are not broken.
You are not behind.
You are not doomed to chaos.

You’re just modeling an outdated version of yourself, and it’s time to upgrade.

Let people be shocked when you show up early. Let them wonder how you suddenly became the calm one. Let them ask how you’re getting more done in less time.

You won’t need to explain it.

You’ll just live it.

Want the tools to make this shift?

This is exactly what we help high-performing entrepreneurs do inside of our coaching program at Early To Rise.

You’ll get the support, structure, and strategy to operate like the person you’re becoming… Not the one you’re trying to escape.

Fill out a coaching application, and someone on our team will speak to you on a no-pressure call to see if you’re a fit to work with one of our coaches.

Today’s a new start towards your new identity… If you choose to adopt it!

The post How to Break the Beliefs That Keep You Stuck appeared first on Early To Rise.

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97% of entrepreneurs stay broke—and I was dangerously close to being one of them. In this episode, I reveal the real reason most business owners struggle and how I finally broke free by learning to stop doing everything myself. I’ll walk you through the exact tools I used—like the “love vs. loathe” list and the Billionaire Time Matrix—to reclaim my time, scale my business, and actually enjoy life again.

I’m sharing the hard truths, the breakthroughs, and the steps you can take right now to work less, earn more, and stop spinning your wheels. If you’re tired of being stuck on lonely entrepreneur island, let me show you the fastest way off.

The post 425 – Why 97% Of Entrepreneurs Stay Broke (And How to Fix It Fast) appeared first on Early To Rise.

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When Bob Ferguson bought the company he’d helped run for years, he thought he knew it all—until the pressure of ownership hit him like a freight train. In this candid conversation, Bob reveals how joining a mastermind and embracing coaching transformed not only his business—doubling revenue and reclaiming his time—but also his identity as a leader, husband, and father. Discover how brutal honesty, radical accountability, and dropping the ego unlocked sustainable success and personal freedom.

You’ll hear what it’s really like to be “called out” by a coach—and why it was the best thing that ever happened to him. If you’re stuck on a plateau, chasing more money but losing your peace, this episode is your wake-up call.

The post 424 – The Brutal Wake-Up Call That Transformed My Business and Marriage appeared first on Early To Rise.

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Think writing a book is just about sharing your story? Think again. In this behind-the-scenes masterclass, Craig Ballantyne reveals how to write, publish, and launch a nonfiction bestseller that doesn’t just sit on shelves—it builds your brand, generates leads, and sells while you sleep. You’ll learn the brutal truths about who shouldn’t write a book, the biggest mistakes new authors make, and how to create a lean, profitable manuscript in just one workday.

From title formulas to Amazon hacks and audiobook psychology, this is the blueprint for turning your expertise into income. If you’re serious about multiplying your impact and building a business that works 24/7, this episode is your shortcut to becoming a bestselling author.

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What if the real reason your business is stuck isn’t strategy—but avoidance? In this raw and practical episode, Craig Ballantyne and Daniel Woodrum break down why most entrepreneurs waste energy solving level 1 problems while ignoring the level 10 ones that actually move the needle. They share hard-won lessons on leadership, accountability, and brutal ownership—including how ignoring one toxic hire nearly cost them everything.

You’ll walk away with a proven framework to identify your level 10 challenge and attack it with level 10 effort—so you can grow faster without the drama. If you’re done procrastinating and ready to finally scale with clarity, courage, and systems, this episode will show you how.

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Think discipline is all about cold plunges, waking up at 5 a.m., and resisting chocolate cake? Think again. In this high-impact episode, Craig Ballantyne reveals the real secret to scaling your income, slashing your work hours, and dominating your day without burnout—his 5 non-negotiables for peak performance. You’ll discover why systems—not willpower—create freedom, and how bedtime, boundaries, and brutal honesty shape millionaire habits.

From eliminating distractions to upgrading your identity and accountability, these strategies aren’t sexy—but they are unreasonably effective. If you’re ready to stop glorifying grind culture and start building a life that actually works, this episode will flip your perspective.

The post 422 – The Missing Link: The 5 Non-Negotiables Of Highly Disciplined People appeared first on Early To Rise.

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Is your obsession with discipline silently destroying what matters most? In this provocative episode, Craig Ballantyne unpacks the hidden dangers of overachievement—and why cold plunges, 5 a.m. routines, and dopamine-chasing might be sabotaging your success. You’ll learn the real difference between productive discipline and toxic avoidance, and how to identify your true “level 10 problem.”

Discover how to reclaim your focus, family, and freedom by subtracting the noise and doubling down on what actually moves the needle. If you’re an entrepreneur chasing big results without burning out, this episode is your wake-up call.

The post 421 – The Dark Side of Discipline: When Success Costs You Everything appeared first on Early To Rise.

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What happens when a driven 8-figure entrepreneur becomes a new dad? In this brutally honest and refreshingly unconventional episode, Craig Ballantyne shares the unfiltered truth about balancing business, baby bottles, and buying back time. From sleep strategies and teething nightmares to empathy muscles and marriage-saving systems, this is the advice no Instagram parenting reel will give you.

Discover how to stay productive, protect your relationship, and lead your family and business with purpose. If you’re an insanely ambitious entrepreneur who refuses to choose between success and fatherhood—this one’s for you.

The post 420 – Politically Incorrect Truth About Entrepreneur Fatherhood appeared first on Early To Rise.

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What if the very discipline you rely on to succeed is actually sabotaging your life? In this eye-opening episode, bestselling author Craig Ballantyne exposes the hidden dangers of extreme productivity and the illusion of “doing it all.” You’ll hear real-life stories of entrepreneurs who chased discipline at the cost of their health, family, and deepest goals—mistaking dopamine-fueled challenges for meaningful progress. Discover how to identify your true level 10 problem, channel your ambition with precision, and build a life that aligns with what truly matters.

If you’re craving more income, more freedom, and more time with those you love—without the burnout—this episode will change the way you hustle.

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What if everything you’ve been told about discipline is actually holding you back? In this eye-opening episode of Early to Rise Radio, Craig Ballantyne and co-author Daniel Woodrum unpack the hidden downside of white-knuckled willpower—and reveal the game-changing power of personal standards.

You’ll discover how one subtle shift can help you work fewer hours, boost income, and finally escape the doom loop of burnout. From real-life stories to actionable frameworks, this conversation delivers a roadmap to greater productivity without sacrificing your family or freedom. If you’re ready to stop grinding and start growing, you won’t want to miss this.

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What got you here won’t get you free.

You know what I’m talking about: You built the business. You hit the revenue goals. You did everything “right.”

So why do you still feel like you’re drowning in your calendar, snapping at your spouse, and constantly running on fumes?

The answer isn’t another time management hack. It’s not a new app. And no, your problem isn’t that you “just need to be more disciplined.”

The real issue?

You’re reacting. Not planning. And definitely not intentionally designing your life.

“Planning” Isn’t What You Think It IsLet me be clear: writing down a list of 37 to-dos every morning and checking Slack 14 times before noon is not planning. That’s reacting in advance.

Most high-income entrepreneurs I work with are trapped in this mode, living a life they didn’t consciously build.

Their day is dictated by:

What their team needs
What their calendar says
What their inbox is screaming about

They are constantly in response mode, so you can’t create peace, space, or real leverage.

Because you cannot build the life you want from inside the system that’s keeping you trapped.

You have to exit survival mode and choose to architect something better.

That’s where intentional planning comes in.

What Does “Intentional” Actually Mean?It means you don’t just plan around your business goals. You plan around your values.

You start by asking:

“What kind of husband/father/wife/mother do I want to be?”
“How much white space do I want in my week?”
“What actually matters—and what am I only doing out of fear, habit, or guilt?”

Then you reverse-engineer your calendar, your business structure, and your commitments to support that vision, not just your next launch or sales quarter.

This is exactly what I help my coaching clients do every week.

And when they do, they go from:

Dreading Monday → to looking forward to their week
Feeling like a bottleneck → to trusting their team and systems
Living for “someday” → to living right now

The 3-Step Intentional Planning FrameworkHere’s a simplified version of the framework I teach inside my coaching programs and live trainings.

Step 1: Define the Life You Actually WantSounds simple, right? But most people never stop long enough to actually do this.

They chase money. Then freedom. Then visibility. And still end up stuck.

So stop and ask:

What do my ideal mornings look like?
When do I want to work? For how long? With whom?
What kind of relationship, health, and energy do I want?

Write it down. Be unreasonably honest.

Until you define it, you’ll keep optimizing the wrong life.

Step 2: Audit the Life You’re Living NowThis is where it gets uncomfortable—but it’s necessary.

Pull up your calendar, your task list, your daily habits.

Ask yourself:

What’s working?
What’s draining me?
What have I been tolerating that needs to change?

Here’s the truth: most entrepreneurs carry way more weight than they need to. Old systems. Outdated expectations. Legacy decisions they never paused to rethink.

Once you identify them, you can let go of what’s not aligned and start making space.

Step 3: Rebuild from Core ValuesNow that you know what you want and what’s not working, it’s time to rebuild your calendar and business systems around what actually matters.

That might mean:

Theming your days (e.g., Monday = Marketing, Tuesday = Clients)
Blocking white space into your week (and protecting it like a hawk)
Delegating or deleting low-leverage tasks
Automating parts of your business that are draining your mental bandwidth

Intentional planning is not about cramming more into your day. It’s about finally aligning your schedule with your values so that the life you say you want isn’t just a dream, it’s baked into your week.

Real Talk: Why Most People Won’t Do ThisHere’s the hard truth: Most people are addicted to pressure.

They don’t slow down because being busy feels safe. They don’t delegate because being needed strokes their ego. They don’t change their calendar because chaos is familiar—even if it’s miserable.

But the entrepreneurs I work with? They’re different.

They’re not afraid of work. They’re afraid of wasting their life.

And once they realize they can have both impact and peace, they’re all in.

You Don’t Need Another Hustle SeasonYou need to pause. Zoom out. And ask yourself:

“Is what I’m building actually going to lead me to the life I want?”

If the answer isn’t a hell yes, you’ve got work to do—but not the kind you think.

Not more hours. Not more hustle. Just more intentionality.

Because you didn’t come this far to build a business that steals your life.

Let’s rebuild it with intention.

The post Create Your Best Life with Intentional Planning appeared first on Early To Rise.

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If you could rewind time, what would you do differently to reach success faster? In this raw and revealing episode of Early to Rise Radio, I share the 12 game-changing lessons I wish I’d learned earlier—from eliminating distractions like alcohol and pro sports to mastering sales, public speaking, and radical responsibility. You’ll discover how emotional maturity, empathy, and tackling your true level 10 problems can create massive breakthroughs in both business and life.

These aren’t just reflections—they’re action steps to help you skip the detours, collapse time, and build a life of income, impact, and freedom. If you’re ready to stop wasting time and start living with clarity and power, this episode is your shortcut.

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What if your life operated like a high-performance machine—guided by a personal operating system built for success? In this episode, I reveal the 12 rules that have shaped my life, scaled my business, and helped me stay disciplined through chaos, pressure, and parenthood. From mastering mornings and eliminating distractions to avoiding petty drama and designing a life aligned with your values, you’ll hear how these rules create clarity, freedom, and momentum.

I also share how to write your own life rules, so you can simplify decisions, reduce stress, and finally stay on track with your big goals. If you’re tired of reacting and ready to lead your life with purpose and power, this episode is your ultimate reset.

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Let’s get something straight: If you’re constantly distracted, mentally foggy, and jumping from task to task like a squirrel on espresso…

You’re not broken. You’re just conditioned.

I know that’s not what most productivity gurus will tell you.

They’ll hand you some half-baked “3-step hack” and pretend it’s going to solve years of cognitive chaos.
But here’s the truth:

Most entrepreneurs don’t struggle with focus because of a lack of discipline.

They struggle because they’ve trained their brain—day after day—to chase urgency, noise, and dopamine.

You’ve Been Rewarding the Wrong BehaviorEvery time you check your phone during deep work…

Every time you open 12 tabs “just in case”…

Every time you scroll Instagram between Zoom calls…

You’re sending a message to your brain: “This is what matters. This is what we do.”

And guess what? Your brain listens.

It adapts.
It optimizes.
It starts scanning for distraction automatically, because you’ve trained it to prioritize stimulation over completion.

You didn’t lose your focus.
You handed it away, one small habit at a time.

But the good news?
You can retrain it the same way you lost it:
Through repetition. Through structure. Through intention.

How I Rewired My Own FocusLet me tell you what I used to do:

I’d sit down to work, open my laptop, and immediately check email, Slack, Instagram, WhatsApp—and somehow convince myself that this chaos was “productive.”

It wasn’t.

It was just stress on loop.

And the longer I lived in that loop, the worse my focus got.

It wasn’t until I started coaching high-performing entrepreneurs—people who were running million-dollar companies but still felt like everything was on fire, that I realized something:

Focus isn’t about knowing what to do.
It’s about creating an environment where distraction isn’t the default.

Want to Rewire Your Brain for Focus? Start Here.This isn’t about becoming a robot.
It’s about reclaiming your mental real estate so you can do the work that actually matters.

Here are 5 changes I made – and that I now teach my clients – to retrain your brain and rebuild your focus:

1. Get ruthless about your morningsThe way you start your day sets the tone for everything else.
Most people wake up and immediately go into reaction mode.
They check their phone, scroll through notifications, and within five minutes, their brain is flooded with other people’s priorities.

You can’t lead your business if you start the day reacting.

Instead, build a simple morning protocol.

Here’s mine:

Wake up at the same time every day (for me, that’s 4:45am)
No phone for the first 30–60 minutes
Pray, give thanks, and get centered
Coffee
Start my most important task before the noise begins

Do this for a week and watch how your mental clarity shifts.

2. Remove the dopamine dripYour phone is not neutral.

It is literally engineered to hijack your attention, flood your brain with dopamine, and keep you in a loop of shallow stimulation.

So stop pretending you’re going to “just check one thing.”

Put your phone in another room when you’re doing deep work.
Use screen limiters or grayscale mode.
Better yet, get a Brick device to block distracting apps during work hours.

The goal is simple: stop rewarding your brain for being distracted.

3. Set focus boundaries—then defend them like your life depends on itIf you don’t block time for deep work, shallow work will devour your entire day.

I teach my clients to use “Focus Blocks”—90-minute, uninterrupted sessions for high-value tasks.

No meetings.
No notifications.
No BS.

Even if you start with just one of these a day, you’ll immediately feel the difference.

Your brain will resist at first. That’s normal.
But with repetition, it learns:
“This is when we focus. This is when we get it done.”

4. One tab. One task. One outcome.Multitasking is a lie.

Every time you context-switch, you’re lighting your mental energy on fire and calling it “productivity.”

If you want to rebuild your ability to focus:

Work on one thing at a time. One browser tab. One task. One clear outcome.

This sounds almost insultingly simple.
But the simplicity is the point.
Because your brain needs the reps of completion—not chaos.

5. Protect your inputs like your life depends on itYour focus isn’t just about how you work, it’s about what you consume.

If your mental diet is made up of news, hot takes, notifications, and comparison-driven social media…
Don’t be surprised if you feel constantly scattered.

Curate your environment.

Unfollow noise
Mute notifications
Limit your daily information intake

You don’t need to know everything.
You need to know what matters right now.

Rebuilding Focus Isn’t Sexy—It’s SovereignThe people I coach who actually change their lives don’t do it with hacks or hype.

They do it by putting systems in place to protect their time, energy, and attention.

They treat focus like a skill—not a mood.
They train for it.
They build guardrails so they don’t have to rely on motivation.
And when they fall off? They reset quickly.

If your focus is a mess right now, that’s okay. But don’t accept it as your baseline.

Start small.
One habit.
One block of time.
One win at a time.

You don’t need to hustle harder.
You need to lead your brain, before the world tries to.

The post The Real Reason You Can’t Focus: 5 Steps to Fix It Fast appeared first on Early To Rise.

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“I just can’t do it Craig.”

My friend and mentee Casey said on the other end of the line. The stress and anxiety in her voice was so thick you could almost cut it with a knife.

“I’d really love to come to your workshop, but I just can’t afford it. I’ve already put my husband and me into $50,000 of debt by hiring so many coaches this year…”

Her words echoed through my phone as I paced around my home office in Toronto. I looked out the window for a moment watching silently as the last leaves of autumn fell softly to the crisp ground. I took a deep breath and responded.

“Don’t worry about the money… Just come. I’ve got another call to get to but I’ll see you in San Diego”.

Click

This was an unusual interaction for me.

As a highly successful peak performance and business development coach, I don’t take my time or services lightly. I charge a premium price to attend all of my events and with good reason… When clients work with me and put in the work, they get results. Period.

The fact that I was willing to waive the $5,000 fee required to attend my Perfect Life Workshop was “unusual” to say the least. But then again, Casey was an unusual client.

When my close friend Jason Phillips introduced me to Casey, I immediately knew I’d met someone special.

Despite her lack of external success (at the time), I knew that Casey was a rare breed of entrepreneur. You could see the hunger and excitement in her eyes.

Unfortunately, she’d made a few bad decisions with regards to the experts she’d trusted and the coaches she’d hired, leaving her in a position where she was unable to afford the premium price tag of my workshop.

But I could feel in my gut that, if Casey attended my workshop in San Diego, she would be a client success story for the ages.

And boy was I right.

12 months ago, she attended my Perfect Life Workshop on a last minute scholarship.

At the time, her business – an online nutrition coaching company – was generating about $10,000 a month, but she was burning the candle at both ends, working ineffectively, and mired in more than $50,000 of debt.

Today, less than a year since the event, her same business is now generating more than $50,000 a month… And she’s on track to have her first 6-figure month. All while working only 30 hours a week.

Oh… And she and her husband had their first child during this same time.

I recently caught up with Casey and asked her to share the major lessons and takeaways that she got from the retreat to help the readers of Early to Rise (that’s you!) experience the same transformation.

Here are a few of the lessons she shared with me.

Clarity is Everything
When Casey first showed up to my Perfect Life Workshop, by her own admittance, her life was the very definition of “Crazy”.

She lacked structure in her days, easily succumbing to distractions and procrastination. She would procrastinate until the very last minute on important projects. She had no boundaries between her work and home life and, as a result, she was stressed out, struggling, and completely overwhelmed.

Worse still, she had no vision for escaping her current situation. She had no goals driving her to pursue excellence and fix the problems she was facing in her business and life.

When she showed up to the workshop, the first thing I had her do was to sit down and take some time to gain crystal clear clarity on exactly where she wanted to go.

Today, she attributes most of her business and personal success to this single exercise.

To help you gain the same clarity that Casey used to 5x her income while working less, here are a few questions that will help you cut through the noise and discover what you really need to do to accelerate your life

If money were no longer a problem, how would you spend your time? Who would you help? How would you show up? What activities would you do on a daily basis?
What are the 2-3 BIG rocks that I need in my life to ensure I’m successful? (e.g. Working out 3x a week, sleeping 8 hours a night, 3 hours of deep work a day)
What are the biggest accomplishments you want to experience in the core four values of your life? (Health, family, experiences, wealth)
What 2-3 problems, if solved, would 10x the quality of your life and business?

Take some time and do this RIGHT NOW.

The more clarity you have, the more power you will have to make positive changes in your life and the easier the rest of this process will be.

Get Real About the FACTS of Your Life
One of the biggest reasons that most people never succeed at high levels is because they are pathological liars.

It’s not that they’re lying to their spouses, friends, or customers. No, they’re lying to someone much more important… Themselves.

Most people tell themselves stories about why they aren’t successful and they fabricate alibis for mediocrity instead of doing the hard work and being brutally honest about their habits, routines, and activities.

The simple truth of the matter is this…

If you are not where you want to be today, it’s because you have not taken the right actions. Period.

If you take the correct actions, with very few exceptions, you will get the results you desire.

When Casey first came to me, she thought that she was a hard worker. She thought that she was doing everything right.

After all, she “worked” a lot, hired dozens of coaches, and had an extensive morning ritual to prime herself for success.

But when I sat down with her and had her do an honest audit of her time and activities, she realized that she was lying to herself.

On an average day Casey would spend the vast majority of her time procrastinating, stuck in distraction, or working on low ROI activities. She spent less than 60 minutes a day on deep work activities that really pushed the needle forward.

The second I helped her realize this, she was able to make a change.

Today, she only works 30 hours a week. However, when she’s working she is working. From 12pm to 6pm Casey blocks off 6 hours of uninterrupted time to focus on deep work and important activities.

But before she could arrive at this point in her work day, she first had to uncover the truth about how she was really living prior to the workshop.

Because Casey was willing to tell the truth and take an objective look at her life, she has increased her income more than 500% in the last 12 months.

If you want to experience a similar transformation then you need to be brutally honest with yourself. Pull no punches and hold back no criticism. Take an honest look at your life and examine how you are truly living day to day.

How much money do you spend on leisure activities? How much do you invest? How much time do you spend working in a focused flow state and how much time do you spend screwing around on social media? How many days a week do you actually go to the gym?

Take a few minutes right now to write out an assessment of your life and habits.

Once you’ve done this, I want to encourage you to keep a time journal and log how you spend your hours each day.

The goal is to give yourself an honest look at where you are so that you know how to bridge the gap and get where you want to be.

Tally up the amount of time you spend:

Procrastinating
Allowing distraction to sabotage your work efforts
Doing deep work
Taking care of yourself (exercise, cooking meals, meditating, etc).
Spending time with your family
Relaxing and unwinding

Once you’ve completed this time audit, compare your current schedule to the goals that you set in the previous section.

Ask yourself, “How would someone achieving these goals spend their time each day?”

Then, once you’ve identified the gap, begin taking small daily actions to bridge that gap.

Just Show Up
One of the biggest epiphanies that Casey had at the Perfect Life Workshop was understanding the importance of showing up.

Here’s the deal…

You are NOT always going to feel like waking up early, going to the gym, eating healthy foods, doing deep work, and growing your business.

That’s fine… Just show up and do it anyways. A bad day in the office or at the gym is better than no day at all.

Before attending the workshop, Casey admitted that her days were ruled by her feelings. If she didn’t feel good or wasn’t having a good day, she wouldn’t do the things she needed to do.

Today, she has made a promise to herself to show up and do the work even when she doesn’t feel like it.

It doesn’t matter if it takes her 3x longer than normal to write a newsletter, create a sales page, or develop an ad campaign. She shows up every day and puts in the work, even if she’s only going through the motions.

Right now, I want you to commit to doing the same.

You know where you want to go and the actions you need to take to get there. Now all that’s left to do is to actually do them.

Show up even when you don’t feel like it. Go through the motions when you don’t want to. Just show up and put in the work, even when everything inside of you is screaming to stop.

You need to take time to rest and recover, of course, but don’t allow your fleeting emotions and moods to dictate your results.

At the end of the day, success happens when you show up each and every day and simply put in the work.

Treat Distractions Like Drugs and “Just Say No”
One of Casey’s biggest struggles in 2017 was that she was a pathological people pleaser.

Casey is one of those people who has a heart of gold and wants to serve and help others every opportunity that she has. And as admirable as this trait might be, it led to some real problems for Casey.

She would say “Yes” to every single offer and opportunity that came her way, overextending her schedule and overwhelming herself with tasks that weren’t serving her highest purpose and vision.

Since her work at my workshop, she’s learned that saying “No” is actually one of the most selfless things you can do.

By saying “No” to every “good” opportunity that comes you way you give yourself the time and energy to say “Yes” to the great ones.

When you focus exclusively on the things that are most valuable for you and your business you have more to give to your clients, family, and friends.

Just as importantly, when you make a regular habit of saying “No” to everything that isn’t an immediate and obvious “Heck yes!” you teach others to respect and value your time at a higher level.

In fact, only a few weeks ago, Casey was asked to come and speak at a local fitness franchise. Less than a year ago, she would have jumped at the opportunity.

However, when she took an honest look at what was on the table, she realized that the 5-6 hours required for her drive to and give the presentation wouldn’t truly serve her purpose at the highest level.

She politely declined the offer and as a result, the franchise in question actually asked if she had any programs or services that they could buy from her (the original speaking engagement was unpaid)!

By saying “No” she turned a 6-hour free speaking engagement into new revenue and a valuable connection.

If you want to earn more while working less then you must become a master at saying “No”.

For the next 30 days, I want you to keep an “Opportunity Log”. Write down every invite, offer, and opportunity that comes your way.

Before saying “Yes” to anything, I want you to take 24 hours to deliberate and ask yourself, “Is this really worth my time and energy?”

If the answer isn’t an immediate “yes” then say “no”. You’ll be amazed at how much time and energy this simple tactic will save you.

Create Systems that Will Support Your Goals
James Clear, one of the world’s leading experts on the science of habit formation has a saying, “You don’t rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems”.

In Casey’s case, this was most certainly true.

She had the goals and the vision, but it wasn’t until she began to implement bulletproof systems that she was able to create the success she desired.

In addition to her focused work block from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. each day, Casey began using a DAC or Daily Accountability Card.

Every day, she would pull out a small notecard and write down the 2-3 things she was absolutely committed to accomplishing that day no matter what. She would then keep that card on her desk for the entire day, using it as a reminder of why she was showing up and putting in the work.

It sounds simple, but after nearly a year of using this tactic, Casey told me that she’s accomplished nearly 90% of her Daily Accountability Card tasks.

The simple act of writing out your commitments and keeping those commitments in plain sight is often enough to give us the friendly push that we need to accomplish our biggest goals.

While the DAC is a great strategy to use, there are several others that I recommend.

For example:

Work in the same place at the same time everyday. This conditions your brain to instantly switch to “Work Mode” anytime you’re in the right environment.
Listen to the same song or songs while working
Put your goals as the background on your phone screen so that you’re reminded of them every time you’re tempted to give into distraction (Casey swears by this one)
Find someone you respect and commit to a daily accountability report to help you actually take action on your biggest goals.
Plan your days the night before so that you know exactly what needs to be done and when.
Streamline your decision making throughout the day (meal prep, wear the same clothes, follow a calendar)

The more processes you can implement into your life that make taking action towards your goals easier, the more likely you are to achieve your biggest goals.

Conclusion
By implementing the tactics shared above, Casey went from $50,000 in debt with a floundering business to being on track to break 7-figures, eliminating all of her family’s debt, making more time to spend with her new baby, and reducing her workload to only 30 hours a week.

If you are willing to take action and implement what you’ve learned today, I promise that you’ll be able to accelerate your life and business faster than you ever thought possible.

Do you want to accomplish 10x more in half the time? Download the free 90-Day Blueprint my coaching clients use to achieve greater success: https://www.earlytorise.com/90-day-blueprint/

The post How One of My Clients Went from $50,000 in Debt to $50,000 in Monthly Revenue [Case Study] appeared first on Early To Rise.

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My life changed dramatically and immediately when, in 1982, I decided to make “getting rich” my number one goal.

Within a few weeks of that decision, I convinced my boss to raise my compensation from $35,000 to $75,000. A year later, I was a bona-fide millionaire.

My status changed too — from just another good employee to a junior partner and employer of hundreds. This made me more confident. And that confidence had a noticeable effect on everyone I dealt with.

They took my opinions more seriously. They gave me more respect. Most memorably, my lifestyle changed.

Instead of eking out a modest living, paycheck to paycheck, I was able to buy a car without asking how much it cost.

But making this change happen had two negative consequences I didn’t intend or foresee:

I gave up thousands of hours of good times with friends and family.
I did a few things I wish I hadn’t.

When I set that goal, I knew there were more important things in life than money. But I suspected that I would be more likely to achieve it if I made it my number one priority. That turned out to be terribly true. There is an enormous power that comes from saying “I will put this goal above all others.”

It is impossible to understand that power until you have experienced it.

Most people won’t even dare to try. And maybe that is because most people have more sense than I had back then.

I didn’t recognize how monomaniacal I would become. I didn’t anticipate how willing I would be to put my family second. Most of all, I didn’t realize that I would be making some ethical concessions along the way.

When my partner and I were accused of misleading advertising, I was actually shocked. All of our copy had been run by lawyers. It was accurate to the letter of the law.

How could they call it misleading?

Because some of it was.

I had talked myself into accepting an exaggeration here and there.

Individually, they didn’t amount to much — but strung together, they manifested themselves in advertising copy that was just plain over the line.

Not all of it. Eighty percent of the stuff we did was very straightforward. But that 20 percent got us into trouble.

I regret the compromises I made every time I think about it. So now, when I look back on my decision to make “getting rich” my number one goal, I feel that it was a big mistake.

In the 30 years that have passed since then, I have continued to make plenty of money. But I’ve done it without sacrificing other important goals.

Knowing what I know now about making money, it’s easy to see that I could have made the millions I made — and plenty more — without neglecting my family or getting into trouble with regulators.

And that is what I want to talk about today: how you can set moneymaking goals — even very ambitious ones — without sacrificing any of your other goals or doing something you will regret.

Let’s start with this…

The most significant positive result of having “getting rich” as my number one goal was that it made all my subsequent business decisions easy.

Prior to that, I was never entirely sure if I was making the right call.

Faced with multiple options, I could see some merit in just about all of them. I’d force myself to pick one… and then worry that it might have been the wrong one.

But once I had established my priority, there was no uncertainty or self-doubt. I’d listen to a question or problem and ask myself, “What solution would give me the best return in terms of money?”

Suddenly, complicated problems were simple to resolve, and difficult questions were easily answered. In a matter of a few months, I was transformed into a marketer who was considered “brilliant” at coming up with product and advertising ideas.

Within two years of my transformation, our business went from a negative worth of more than a million dollars to considerably more than a million dollars in the black.

And after that, it got better… Much better.

So that’s what’s good about making wealth building your priority.

It will give you laser-sharp focus. And it will make it easy to make profitable decisions.

If you are starting a business now, you may be thinking, “Hey, it’s tough to build a successful business. I’m willing to make the trade-offs you made.”

But you don’t have to. You can enjoy the immense power of making wealth your number one goal so long as you don’t make the two mistakes I made:

I was too short-term-oriented.
I ignored my instincts about quality.

My partner and I were always going after the “short money,” as he called it.

The short money was the profits you could garner over a matter of weeks or months. We never thought about the long-term development of our business. It was there to make us money as fast as it possibly could.

We didn’t have long-term plans. We just didn’t think that way.

After I retired and came back into business as a consultant, I decided to work only with clients who had long-term ambitions. My first (and eventually biggest) client had absolutely no interest in short-term profits.

He was focused on building a business that he could pass on to his children. He lived frugally and took a small salary. When profits were made, 90 percent of them were routinely plowed back into the business for future growth.

That made a huge difference.

Key employees understood the company’s philosophy on profits and had to be in agreement with them or find another job. Instead of asking, “Which decision will give us the quickest return?” they asked, “What will make us a stronger company five years from now?”

This long-term orientation automatically prevented my client from making the second big mistake I had made. Because there is only one way to ensure long-term profitability — and that is to produce quality products that customers are happy to keep buying, year after year.

Everyone in business gives lip service to quality, but few are willing to invest time and money to achieve it.

Those who do get the golden goose — a business that produces profits more easily as time goes on. Those who don’t are condemned to keep running like hamsters in a cage for their profits… until they either drop dead of a heart attack or get exposed as the hacks they are.

So if you want to make wealth building your number one goal, go for it.

But make sure you go after that wealth with a long-range view of making profits and a serious commitment to creating good products.

If you do it that way, it will be a little tougher at first.

You will have to spend more money improving your products, and you’ll have to wait a little longer for them to be produced. But in the long run, you’ll make more money and you will be happier, because your customers will stay with you and reward you with continued buying.

I was talking to “Eliza” yesterday about her career.

She was considering a job offer that would double her income and put her on a rapid road to wealth. “I am tempted to take the job,” she told me, “but I don’t want to make money the center of my life. I want to do good for people.”

Had she said this to me many years ago, I would have told her to get real.

Now, I realized that she’s right. She should never make the pursuit of money her primary objective. She should be in a business that she wants to be in.

She should sell products she’s proud of selling. She should find some way to make her business interests coincide with her personal ethics and dreams.

“Yes,” I said to Eliza, “make the good you can do for people your primary goal. But pay attention to the money as well, because it will be the best and simplest way to measure the financial health of your business.”

You should be in business to provide people with something of value. If you conduct your business correctly and offer them a good deal — and if the product you sell is something they really want — you’ll make plenty of money.

One business acquaintance of mine put it this way: “Money is a result, not a cause. If you get into business solely for the money, chances are you will never be great at what you’re doing.”

That’s why so many people fail at network-marketing businesses. They’re attracted by the promise of big profits. But then they realize they have to sell soap or vitamins or lotions or whatever, and they don’t want to do that.

Get into a business you like, learn it thoroughly, and do it right. The money will come automatically.

I’ve heard the same thing said by professional athletes. The guys who do it right — who have long careers — think in terms of long-term success. They are always practicing to improve their game.

They are always interested in learning new skills. They are happy to make as much money as they can, but they know that their lifetime wealth depends on how many years of income they can enjoy, not on how much money they can make in any single year.

Michael Jordan is a great example. Tiger Woods was too. And you’d have to include Agassi and the Williams sisters in that group. There are many athletes who have a short streak of high earnings, but only a handful who enjoy long, profitable careers.

In the world of entertainment, I think of Oprah Winfrey and Howard Stern (an unlikely pairing, I grant you). And Johnny Carson and David Letterman.

These wealth builders must have put “making lots of money” on top of their priority lists, but they always thought in terms of the long run, and they constantly strove to be better at what they did.

They worked tirelessly because they wanted to be the best. And in being the best, they earned amazing amounts of money. The money was the result, not the cause.

The moral of the story (if you don’t mind hearing it from a reformed sinner) is that money isn’t the root of all evil, but the love of money is. Don’t love money. Love the idea of building a good business that will last.

Love the good that your business does — the value it brings to your customers and the quality of life it affords your employees.

Cherish the unsolicited testimonials you get from your customers, your vendors, and your subcontractors.

Enjoy the thought that one day you may be able to hand over your business to a child or grandchild or a protege you care about.

See money for what it is — a neutral indicator of how good your business is at doing what it does, at fulfilling the promises it makes and keeping its customers engaged. If the value you provide is worth the money you get for it, people will buy what you’re selling. The better the value you give, the more money you will get.

Use this millionaire-vetted Morning Routine to earn more, work less, and live your perfect life TODAY! Sign up now to get our FREE Morning Routine guide—the #1 way to increase productivity, energy, and focus for profitable days. Used by thousands of fitness, business, and finance industry leaders to leapfrog the competition while making time for the people who really matter. Learn more here.

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“Craig,” a client of mine said looking at me from across the table at my Perfect Life Workshop, “I’m getting tired of playing the same ‘ol game. I want to transition from my current business into coaching so that I can help others experience the same breakthroughs that I have”.

He paused for a minute.

“I’m just worried that I’m not experienced enough… Don’t you think I should build my business to 8-figures – he was already earning well over $1,000,000/year at the time – before I start teaching other people?”

Smiling, I shook my head, and proceeded to share a bulletproof roadmap that he could use to build a profitable coaching business in the next 30-60 days.

Questions like these come up all the time and remind me of a young Craig Ballantyne in 2007.

I was preparing to host my first business seminar, Online Super Profits, in Florida and I’d just decided to transition away from my multi-million dollar fitness business and foray into the world of business coaching. Let me tell you, I felt the fear, doubt, and crushing weight of the “imposter syndrome” just as sharply as everyone else.

Luckily, I had excellent coaching and the support of my mentor, Yanik Silver, to help me create an epic event that is still talked about today by industry legends like Brad Pilon, Vince DelMonte, and Mike Geary.

The transition was far from easy.

I felt similar to the way you probably feel right now. Anxious, nervous, and more than a little fearful… In fact, I was terrified every step of the way.

These thoughts could have paralyzed me, but having my coach and accountability partner, Yanik, on my side gave me the courage to make it happen.

I put one foot in front of the other and step by step, little by little, I have now built one of the premier coaching services in the world.

It wasn’t easy but it was simple.

If you’re thinking about beginning your own adventures into entrepreneurship – coaching or otherwise -, I’m going to teach you how to do it.

Your journey won’t be easy, but I promise, if you implement what I’m going to share with you today, you can and will build a profitable and fulfilling service based business faster than you ever thought possible.

Sound good? Then let’s dive in.

Step #1: Niche Down and Create Your “Only” Statement
Before you can start coaching new clients or building any other type of business, you’ll need to create an “only” statement.

In other words, you need to figure out your unique value proposition.

What are you the best in the world at that you can offer to your clients? What skills, strategies, and techniques have you mastered that you – and only you – can share with your audience and customers.

For me, my “only” statement is:

I am the only coach that teaches people how controlling their mornings, conquering their afternoons, and concentrating on what counts will allow them to live their perfect life.

Russell Brunson, the founder of Clickfunnels has a similar exercise that he shares in his book Expert Secrets.

He calls this your “Big Domino” and it goes something like this…

“If I can make people believe that (my coaching/service/product) is the key to (what they desire most) and is only attainable through (my specific service/product) then all other objections and concerns become irrelevant and they have to invest in my offer”

This is a powerful way to frame your services.

If you can make people believe that your specific solution is the only – not the best or one of the best, the only – way to achieve what they desire most, then all other objections and concerns become irrelevant and they have to invest.

So let me ask you… What is your “only” statement? What’s your big domino? What are you offering that no one else on the planet can match?

Are you an expert at writing high converting sales copy for the fitness or dating niche?
Have you “cracked the code” to sustainable high performance while avoiding burnout?
Do you offer the best clothes/razors/shoes in the world at an unbeatable price?
Are you a master at teaching female entrepreneurs how to create successful information products that generate multiple 6-figures?
Are you a Facebook ads guru who can help anyone double their lead flow and sales without increasing their ad spend?
Are you an expert at content marketing and able to help people double their organic search traffic (and profit) without spending a dime on ads?

What are you uniquely experienced in that other people are willing to pay for?

Once you’ve figured this out, you are well on your way to a profitable business.

Remember, you can’t be everything to everyone. But you can be everything to the right people.

Now, it’s time to find those people.

Step #2: Generate Engagement By “Reading” Your Client’s Minds
Once you have narrowed down your target market and figured out exactly what sets you apart from the competition, it’s time to get down and dirty and start generating leads for your new business.

Look…

There are literally 2,764,278 million different ways to generate leads (a very scientific estimate, I know) and different platforms work for different industries.

So instead of trying to give you a step by step walkthrough about how to use each of them (because you really only need 1-2), I’m going to share the #1 BIGGEST secret that has allowed me to generate tons of leads through my website and social media platforms without spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on paid advertising or selling my soul to the A/B Testing gods.

You ready?

Here it is… If you want to generate as many leads as possible for your new business, then you need to become a mind reader.

You see, last week I shared an Instagram post that led to 2 new workshop clients and 5 new leads. The funny part? I didn’t even include a call to action in the video.

However, I knew exactly what my readers were thinking.

In fact, one of the clients that I closed claimed that I had “X-ray vision” and the ability to see into their heads and determine exactly what they were thinking.

And that’s where the magic happens.

Write this down… If you can properly diagnose the symptoms that your audience is experiencing better than they can themselves then they will assume that you have the solution.

Think about the last time you went to the Doctor.

Did you walk into the office, say “hello” to your Doctor and immediately leave with a prescription? Of course not!

He or she likely sat you down, asked what symptoms you were feeling, and then went on to “guess” the other symptoms and problems that you were experiencing, explaining them in painstaking detail before making a diagnosis and providing you with a solution.

If you want to succeed in the game of coaching, then you need to treat every potential lead and client like a medical patient.

Your new job as an entrepreneur isn’t just to deliver results or amazing products to your clients. It’s to get inside your prospects head’s, identify the stories and barriers holding them back from achieving their goals, and then teach them how to eliminate them.

Right now, write down ONE word, ONE activity, and ONE environment that describes every day in your client’s week.

For example, if you own a style blog that sells premium info products to help men 10x their style and status (and thus their income, sex appeal, and overall success) you might put…

Monday – Frustrated, trying to figure out what to wear, at the office
Tuesday – Confused, trying to find aesthetic athletic apparel, going to gym
Wednesday – Aggravated, going shopping without knowing what to buy, at the mall
Thursday – Defeated, trying to make it to the weekend, sitting at the office
Friday – Unconfident, trying to look good for a night on the town, local bars and clubs
Saturday – Resting, recovering from a long week and a gnarly hangover, at home thinking about how to elevate their life
Sunday – Anticipation, preparing for a new week and hoping it’s better than the last one, at church with family

Once you have this content mind map created, you’ll be able to share powerful tools and strategies through your blog, social media, or another platform that will make it seem like you can read your client’s minds.

If you’re struggling to figure out exactly what your clients’ are feeling, then ask them!

Find someone in your social circle who is as close as possible to your ideal client and then ask them how they feel, what they do, and where they go each day of the week (as it pertains to your particular solution).

When you can explain your client’s problems and the solutions available to them better than they can themselves, that’s when you and ONLY you will become their new guru.

Step #3: Honey Trap New Prospects and Convert Them Into Leads
If you want to succeed in the game of business then you’ll need to do something that might seem a little counterintuitive.

You’re going to take 90% of your BEST work, package it up in the form of beautiful blog posts, videos, or downloadable PDFs.

And then give it away for free.

That’s right. F.REE!

People are only going to invest money with people whom they 1) Know 2) Like and 3) Trust.

And how do you build this “KLT” factor? By sharing your expertise and knowledge for free and delivering results in advance.

Because here’s the thing… Once someone has already achieved part of their desired outcome by using your free content, they will be “trapped” in the web of your business and feel that they have no other alternative than to invest in your high level services.

For example, once I’ve “read” the mind’s of prospects on my Instagram, Facebook, or website and convinced them that I have the solution to the problem’s they are facing, I will convert them into a lead by offering my best-selling book The Perfect Day Formula, completely free (well, there’s a $4.95 hosting fee but that doesn’t exactly drive profit).

To some, this might seem like madness. “Craig”, I can hear you saying, “You worked so hard on writing and promoting your book! Why would you give it away for free?”

I’ll tell you why… Because that single offer has driven more new clients into my business than almost anything else.

I give away some of my best tools and strategies for helping people create their perfect lives. In exchange, they give me their email addresses and the right to invite them to become a part of my high ticket services.

The people who apply the lessons they learned in The Perfect Day Formula, are the same people who I later help double, triple, and in some cases, 10x their businesses while still making time for the things that matter most.

If you don’t have an existing email list, then I want you to commit right now to creating a high quality “honey trap” (more commonly referred to as a lead magnet), by the end of this week.

Keep it short, powerful, and to the point and be sure to share enough actionable strategies with your new prospects that they can get results in advance by using your content.

Then, once they’ve seen how amazing your free work is, they’ll realize that your higher ticket items are the solution they’ve been searching for.

Step #4: Tell People to Contact You (And Make it Easy)
Now that the heavy lifting is done, your next step is fairly simple.

You are going to inform your new leads about the solution that you are offering to the problem you recently diagnosed.

Specifically, you’re going to use my 3-step call to action in every email you send, video you post, or blog article you write.

Tell them what they get (what product, service, or specific solution are you offering)
Tell them how to get it (do they DM you on Instagram? Go to a sales page? Email you directly?)
Tell them why they must get it now (create scarcity around your offer. Make sure that your clients know the offer won’t be around forever at its current price)

That’s it.

You have now created a system that will engage cold traffic and turn them into prospects, “honey trap” those prospects and turn them into warm leads, and then get those leads to sign up for a webinar, consultation call, or presentation where you can turn them into a paying customer.

Step 5: Close the Deal
Once you’ve successfully niched down, created your “only” statement, generated and “honey trapped” leads, and given them a way to contact you, there’s only one thing left to do.

Close. The. Deal.

Although there are a myriad of different sales tactics and psychological triggers that you can use, I like to keep things simple.

For the past decade, I’ve used this exact sales presentation outline to close everything from $5,000 workshop seats all the way up to $50,000 mastermind memberships.

Here it is…

1. Empathize and Show Them Where They Are (And Where You Were)

Before you make an offer, explain the benefits of your service or product, or go in for the close, you first need to take a step back and empathize with your prospect.

Remember how we talked earlier about the KLT (know, like, trust) factor? Well, that’s where this comes into play yet again.

During the first part of the presentation or call, you’ll want to build rapport by showing them that you understand where they are. In fact, you’ve been in their shoes before and are intimately familiar with the challenges and obstacles they are facing.

For example, when I sit down to close clients on my Perfect Life Workshop, I always start by telling the prospect about how I used to struggle with crippling anxiety, allow my days to control me, and feel like my business was controlling my life.

I reiterate their symptoms better than they can themselves, leading them to realize that I have the solution.

2. Show them That There Is a Better Way (And You Are Already There)

Once you have clearly identified and empathized with where they are today, it’s time to shift gears and start talking about the possibilities for where they can go in the future.

Talk to them about where your life is today compared to where it was before.

For example, if you’re selling a fat loss coaching package, you could talk about how you used to struggle with knowing what to eat, hated how you looked in the mirror, and felt stuck in a vicious cycle of guilt and emotional overeating.

But today, you’re lean, healthy, and able to keep the fat off automatically by using the exact processes that you’re going to share with them.

Paint a vivid vision for where you can help your client go and the results that you will deliver to them.

Hold nothing back and pull no punches.

You’re not trying to impress the other person with grandiose stories of your own success. You are impressing upon them the efficacy of the solution that you’re offering.

3. Prove that You Can Fill the Gap

Instead of waiting to share social proof or overcome objections until the end of the call do it now before you even mention the price of your services.

Share client case studies and stories about how your previous clients were able to achieve tangible results using the knowledge you’re offering.

Especially talk about the clients who had the biggest objections.

For example,

“You remind me a lot of one of my other clients, Lori. When Lori came to me she’d already invested more than $30,000 that year into other coaches and programs but NOTHING was working for her. She wasn’t sure that she was the right fit for the program and felt like my coaching was outside of her price range. But, after seeing the results I got for her friend Vinny, she decided to bite the bullet and sign up. In the past 12 months I’ve helped her 5X her income while working 15 fewer hours each week paying for the coaching package more than 20 times over!”

Prove that you, and only you, have the expertise and knowledge to help them fill in the gap and get from where they are to where they want to be.

Don’t be shy about the results you’ve helped other people achieve or the results you’ve achieved yourself.

Remember, what you are offering is valuable. It has the potential to COMPLETELY change your prospect’s life and it is your duty as an entrepreneur to make sure that they understand what’s really at stake here.

4. Share The Steps They WIll Need to Take to Close the Gap

Look…

I know that you’re eager to sign your first client and start making money as soon as possible. But before you go in for the close, you need to remember something.

You’re an entrepreneur not a genie.

You can’t guarantee results for your clients because you can’t force them to take action on the things that you share or use the product you offer.

As such, it’s important that you include a “filtration” section in your call or presentation where you explain the action steps they will need to take in order to get results.

Flip the conventional sales script on its head and have your potential client qualify themselves to you.

Filter out the talkers from the doers so that you can have a long list of client success stories instead of working with uncommitted and uninspired individuals.

Whenever I get on a call with a potential client, I will always say things like:

“You seem like a good fit for my program but I only work with people who are truly committed to getting results in their life. So before we go any further, I want to make sure that you’re actually willing to take action on the strategies I’m going to share with you.”

I believe that I offer some of the best coaching on the planet for people who want to increase their income, decrease their workload, and live their perfect life.

But I have ZERO interest in working with people who aren’t willing to apply the lessons I teach.

Make sure that they have a crystal clear understanding of what is required from them and the action they will have to take. Otherwise you are setting yourself and your new client up for failure.

5. Finish with a Call to Action and Wait for Them to Respond

Once you have empathized with your prospect, created a compelling future vision in their mind, shared how you can help them close the gap (and how you’ve done it for your other clients), and made their end of the commitment clear, you’re ready to go in for the sale and close the deal.

If you’ve done your job up until this point, this is actually the easy part.

All you need to do is explain (again).

What they get
How to get it
Why they must get it now

Then, simply sit back and ask the $1,000,000 question.

“Do you want my help?”

If you can get a “yes” from only 2-5 people your life has changed forever and your business is well on its way to long term profits and success.

Conclusion
So there you have it.

A simple 5-step roadmap to getting your first 1-3 clients in the next 30 days.

As I said in the beginning of this guide, success in this business is not easy… But it is simple.

If you will follow the blueprint I’ve laid out for you, you can and will find and close your first client in the next 30 days.

So get out there and take action.

Stop worrying about whether or not you’re ready to be an entrepreneur and start working to be the best at what you do.

Forget the anxiety you feel about transitioning into a new industry and simply take the action required to do it.

Quit meditating on your offer and abilities and get in motion to create the best offer on the planet.

Success is waiting for you. All that’s left is for you to take action and go get it!

Do you want to accomplish 10x more in half the time? Download the free 90-Day Blueprint my coaching clients use to achieve greater success: https://www.earlytorise.com/90-day-blueprint/

The post How to Launch a Profitable Business 30 Days (Or Less) appeared first on Early To Rise.

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Every week, I receive a message from a client or reader that goes something like this…

“Craig”, they’ll say, “I’m dealing with crazy anxiety right now and don’t know what to do! Business is good, but I constantly feel behind and can’t sleep at night because I have too many thoughts racing around my brain.”

And I get it. I’ve been there too.

If you’ve read any of my previous essays, then you probably know about my “million dollar anxiety attack” I had back in 2006…right after making my first 7-figures.

Despite my successes, my lifestyle was radically misaligned. I’d build my life around my business and the stress of running a million-dollar company led to bing drinking and a lot of partying.

Eventually, my lifestyle caught up with me and I spent 6 months battling chronic anxiety attacks–checking myself into the ER twice thinking I was having a heart attack.

But today, I’m anxiety-free. And, by using the 9 tactics I’m about to share with you, I’ve helped thousands of other entrepreneurs beat their anxiety for good and build the life and business of their dreams.

1. Use “Stoic Objectivism” to Find the Solution When you’re struggling with anxiety and don’t know what to do next, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.

You see the challenges in your life as a matter of personal identity and, instead of looking at your situation objectively, you allow fear, emotion, and personal attachment to cloud your judgment.

Luckily, the solution is simple.

The ancient Stoics encouraged us to detach ourselves from our struggles by asking a simple question:

“What advice would I give to someone else in the same situation?”

Listen…

It’s easy to give advice to other people. Whenever our friends or family members come to us with their problems, we’re quick to prescribe a solution because we aren’t attached to the outcomes. Our lack of emotionality allows us to look at their situation objectively and clearly see what they need to start or stop doing.

When a friend is struggling with anxiety, buried in credit card debt, heading for a divorce, or getting sick from overwork, we know what they need to do to fix the situation. We know the exact steps they need to take, but because we’re so attached to our own challenges, we struggle to see the solutions to our own problems with this level of clarity.

You already know the solution to whatever problems you’re facing. You know what you should do. But your conflicting emotions are keeping you stuck in indecision.

So ask yourself…”If a friend came to me with the exact same problems I’m facing right now…what would I tell them?”

Once you have your answer, go and take action.

Because that is what you should have done all along.

2. Remember: Values and Vision Drive Every Decision There’s an old Proverb that says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

And truer words have yet to be spoken.

After coaching hundreds of 7-figure clients and working with thousands of high-performers at my workshops, retreats, and ground coaching programs, I’ve discovered that entrepreneurial anxiety has one mainsource…

Misalignment between your values and vision and your actions.

If you say that you value your family and friends…but you work 70-hours a week, miss every date night, and can’t remember the last time you made it to one of your kid’s ball games…you’re going to feel anxious.

If you say that you value financial freedom and independence…but you live outside your means and go into debt for vanity purchases like a new car or bigger house…you’re going to feel anxious.

Similarly, if you have a big vision for the future, career, and lifestyle you want to live but aren’t doing anything to make that vision your reality…you’re going to feel anxious

The only way to eradicate entrepreneurial anxiety once and for all is to develop a crystal clear vision and rock-solid set of personal values and then align every thought, word, and action with them.

Without strong values and a clear vision, you’ll always be stuck in indecision. You won’t know which opportunities to pursue, how to structure your life, or what to prioritize.

Even worse, you’ll fall prey to the traps of greed, envy, and comparison syndrome. Instead of feeling grateful for everything you have in your own life and trusting that, with time and hard work, you will achieve all the big goals you’ve set for yourself…you’ll develop a “black heart of envy” and start to hate other people for their successes.

But when you have your vision in place…when you know what you value and what you want to get out of life…your decision making becomes automatic.

You’ll know when you need to slow down and when you need to put the pedal to the floor. You’ll know when to hire, fire, outsource and automate. You’ll know when to leave a good position to pursue something great and when you should stick it out at something you don’t enjoy.

As the great business mogul, Roy Disney said, “It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.”

3. Become a Leaning Machine Warren Buffet, at one point the richest man on the planet, is notorious for his insatiable curiosity and commitment to learning.

He reads for five to eight hours on any given day, consuming more knowledge in a single afternoon than most people do in a month.

While this is an admittedly impressive feat in and of itself, what I find more fascinating than Warren’s obsession with his personal education is the compounding effect this obsession has had over the past few decades.

What most people don’t realize is that Warren didn’t become a billionaire until he was already in his 60’s. And according to his partners at Berkshire Hathaway, he didn’t “hit his stride” as an investor until after age 65.

According to his business partner Charlie Munger, “Warren’s investing skills have markedly increased since he turned 65 […] I can report that, if he had stopped with what he knew at earlier points, the record would be a pale shadow of what it is.”

When you’re trapped in entrepreneurial anxiety and facing problems for which you don’t have a solution, it’s easy to let your education and personal growth stagnate. You start to view learning as a luxury instead of a necessity.

But we forget that we have access to (quite literally) millions of years of cumulative human experience at our fingertips.

With the click of a button, you can learn lessons that took someone else decades to discover.

Whether you’re anxious about credit card debt, marriage problems, a floundering business, or health complications there are answers. Other people have suffered through the years of adversity to solve the problem you’re facing right now and, if you’re willing to do some digging, you can overcome the challenges in your life faster and easier than you currently believe possible.

By finding the one big idea or the one simple solution, you can turn it all around in record time.

As Warren said, “Everyone learns through failure, it just doesn’t have to be your own.”

4. Treat Yourself Like a Pro Athlete Whenever I sit down to work with a client who’s struggling with entrepreneurial anxiety, the first thing I recommend is for them to double down on their self-care practices and make more time for non-work related activities.

And their response is almost always the same.

“Craig” they’ll say, “You don’t understand! I’m so overwhelmed…I don’t have time to go to the gym, get a massage, or take a day off!”

My response is equally predictable.

“The overwhelm you’re experiencing is exactly why these self-care practices are non-negotiable!”

Listen…

If you want to perform at the highest levels in life and business, you must be performing at the highest levels physically and mentally. When you’re sleep-deprived, malnourished, burned out, and anxious, bad decision making becomes inevitable.

Just ask Dov Charney, the Founder and former CEO of American Apparel–at one point a multibillion-dollar company and one of the biggest apparel brands on the planet.

Dov was notorious for his relentless commitment to work and, at one point, he even built a small bedroom inside his office…sleeping on a cot on the floor and often going for days without sleep.

His lack of intentional self-care eventually destroyed his abilities as a leader and resulted in the bankruptcy of his company (not to mention a $20 million personal debt to a team of VC’s).

If Dov had understood the power of self-care and prioritized sleep, recovery, and leisure, the story could have turned out much differently.

To break free from anxiety and avoid this sort of break down in your life and business, you must treat yourself like an elite athlete and prioritize your personal performance and well-being above temporary gains and quick financial wins.

Get at least 7 hours of sleep every night. Go to the gym three times a week and spend at least 30-minutes walking outside on your rest days. Get massages, eat the best foods you can afford, invest in high-quality supplements and performance-enhancing gear (like a standing desk, blue light blocking glasses, and a nice mattress).

Protect yourself like the invaluable asset you are and your anxiety will slowly start to disappear.

5. Get the Lego Pieces Out of Your Head A few years ago, I bought my business partner Matt Smith a 4,000 piece Lego Death Star for Christmas. And to this day, he will still jokingly tell me how much he “hates me” for it.

Don’t get me wrong…the set looks awesome on the box. But when you dump 4,000 tiny plastic bricks on the floor, anxiety becomes inevitable.

The same is true of the cluttered “lego pieces” in your head.

Even when you know your vision, it’s hard to make sense of all the pieces you need to put together to bring it into reality. Because, unlike the lego set I bought for Matt, you don’t yet have an instruction manual for achieving your big goals and dreams (something I specialize in at my group coaching workshops).

To clear the clutter, eliminate anxiety, and clearly see the big picture, you need to get all of the pieces out of your head and dump them on the floor…or in our case, onto a piece of paper.

By writing down all the things that are causing anxiety in your life and looking at them objectively, you can regain control of your thoughts and see your situation for what it is. When all of the pieces are out of your head, it’s easier to see how they all fit together.

To help you with this, I encourage you to build the habit of a daily “brain dump” immediately after you finish work each day. The practice is simple. During the final 15 minutes of your day, pull out a piece of paper and write down everything that you need or want to do over the next few days.

From here, you can begin to eliminate tasks and obligations that don’t serve your vision (more on this later), schedule the things that matter, and get clarity on what you need to do and why. You can figure out which projects to prioritize, which ones to let go, and what new opportunities you can pursue to achieve your goals faster.

When combined with a regular journaling practice (to help you make sense of your emotions, frustrations, and desires) and a tool like my 90-Day Blueprint–click here to download your copy today–you can eliminate the clutter in your head, get crystal clear on the steps you need to take, and end anxiety for good.

6. Remember: It Will All Be Over SoonThe ancient Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius had a “weird” practice he would use in times of stress and anxiety.

Instead of focusing on everything that was going right in his life or even focusing on the problems in his life, he would sit and quietly contemplate the inevitability of death.

Our species has a “weird human trick” of forgetting the fact that the survival rate on planet earth is 0%. No one, in the history of humankind, has ever beaten death. Sooner or later, we’re all going to die.

As counterintuitive as it might sound, this is actually one of the most comforting facts you can accept.

When you realize that we’re all going to die, when you truly accept that your failures and successes will matter very little (if at all) in the grand scheme of the universe, you release the pressure to be perfect. You realize that life is, more than anything, meant to be enjoyed.

Five hundred years from now, no one will care if your business generated $10,000 a month, $100,000 a month, or went completely bankrupt. They won’t care about the 15 rejection letters you received for your book or the $50,000 of debt you carried with you through your 30s. And neither will you.

The only thing that matters, when it’s all said and done, is that you enjoyed the ride. That you made a positive impact on the lives of others and left the world just a little better than you found it.

Anxiety only arises when we give events more meaning than they deserve. And by developing a healthy relationship with your own mortality, you will keep perspective on your problems and remember, as I like to remind myself…

It will all be over soon.

7. Be Realistically Impatient Even though we’re all headed to the same destination (death), most of us have a lot more time left on this planet than we realize.

If you’re under the age of 50 and you’ve taken care of your health up to this point, it’s likely that you have another five to six decades left to fulfill your vision and create the life you’ve always wanted.

And most of our anxiety results from forgetting this fact.

The small setbacks and failures you’re facing today will not only be forgotten in 500 years…you will likely forget them in the next five!

You’ve got a long life ahead of you (remember, Buffet didn’t hit his peak as an investor until his mid 60’s!) and you have plenty of time to overcome whatever challenges you’re facing today.

As such, I encourage you to be “realistically impatient.”

Yes, success loves speed and delay kills dreams. Yes, you should move as fast as you can and try to achieve your big goals sooner rather than later.

But you need to temper your ambitions with a dose of realism.

The average American millionaire is 62 years old. The average self-made billionaire didn’t make their first million until 37 and didn’t make their first billion until their early 50’s!

It might take you five or ten more years before you have the business you really want. It might take you two to three years to lose the extra weight (after all, it likely took two to three years for you to gain it in the first place). It might take you a few years to get out of debt and achieve financial freedom.

And that’s ok.

Change doesn’t need to happen overnight. If you don’t become a millionaire until your 40’s, you’re still ahead of more than 80% of the population.

So relax. Slow down. Embrace the long game. And remember…you have time.

8. Script Your Plays, Script Your Days The best of the best always script their plays.

Can you imagine what would happen if you went to see Phantom of the Opera at Broadway… and the actors and production workers improvised the entire performance?

Or if a team of Navy SEALs was sent on a mission without a plan or any idea of who they were fighting or what their objective was?

Or if The Rolling Stones sold out a concert without agreeing to a setlist or planning their songs ahead of time?

It would be chaos!

Yet, as obvious as this sounds inside the context of a musical, military mission, or rock concert, it isn’t as obvious inside the context of your life.

If you want to get more out of yourself and beat entrepreneurial anxiety once and for all, you must have a plan for every quarter, month, week, and day. Period.

Without a plan, you are setting yourself up for failure. You will waste time, prioritize the wrong tasks, and compound your anxiety.

One of the fastest ways I know of to beat anxiety and reclaim control of your life is to commit to daily and weekly planning using my Perfect Day Formula and 7X7 Perfect Week Grid.

By taking 2 hours every Sunday to map out your week and 15 minutes every afternoon to script out the following day, you will gain a massive advantage over your competition and ensure that you’re spending every second in the most effective way possible.

Remember the words of Benjamin Franklin, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

9. Practice Systematic, Automatic Elimination and Delegation Finally, to eliminate anxiety, you must practice systematic, automation elimination and delegation.

When you waste your days distracted by social media, email, and busy work (that seems important but does nothing to drive real progress) anxiety is inevitable.

Similarly, when you try to “do it all” and be the CEO, CFO, CMO, assistant, and janitor in your business, anxiety is inevitable.

To solve these problems, you must get crystal clarity on the distractions, temptations, and busywork that are preventing you from performing at your best and doing the important work required to build your empire.

Luckily, I’ve developed a simple tool to help you do this.

I call it “The Billionaire Time Matrix” and it works like this…

Pull out a sheet of paper and create a grid with four squares. Inside of those squares write…

What Do I Hate Doing?
What is Not My Job?
What Doesn’t Need to Be Done?
What Are My Distractions?

First, you’re going to ask yourself, “What do I hate doing?” What causes you the most anxiety? What drains your mental energy and causes 10X more stress than it’s worth?

For me, it was spending my “magic time” on calls with overseas clients. Instead of doing the legacy work required to drive my business forward, my mornings were dictated by my client’s schedules. When I realized this I created a personal rule that I don’t take calls until after 10am.

Not only did this shift allow me to be more productive, but it dramatically reduced my anxiety and the number of calls I had to complete each week.

Next, you’re going to ask yourself, “What am I doing that doesn’t need to be done at all?”

For me, it was small podcasts. I used to waste 3-5 hours each week being interviewed on shows that drove (literally) no revenue or growth in my business. When I completed this exercise and realized that I was wasting time and energy on something with a negative ROI, I decided to set strict guidelines around what podcasts I would appear on, saving myself time, energy, and anxiety.

In the third box, you’re going to write out all of the things you’re currently doing that are not your job. Things that need to be done but do not need to be done by you.

For example, Austin, my Editor, who works two full-time jobs in addition to tackling freelance copywriting projects and building his own side hustle, realized that he was wasting 10-15 hours a week uploading podcast episodes, scheduling emails and blog posts, and handling administrative work that, as important as it was, wasn’t his job.

He hired a virtual assistant, outsourced the busywork, and added more than 10 free hours a week back to his schedule (and became more effective at his other tasks as a result).

And finally, you’re going to identify your biggest distractions during the week.

Ask yourself, “What are the temptations that are holding me back?” “What distractions do I indulge in that serve no purpose and cause unnecessary anxiety?”

Maybe it’s checking Instagram (as it was for me), or watching YouTube videos, or chatting with coworkers at a water cooler. Whatever it is, right it down and get publically accountable to eradicating your distractions.

If you will do this, your anxiety will disappear. You’ll have more time for what matters. You’ll make more money. And you will begin to enjoy your life on a deeper level.

Fill it out now and let me know what you’re committed to in the comments below.

ConclusionBy using these 9 tactics every week, you are well on your way to beating entrepreneurial anxiety for good.

But remember…

Transformation takes time.

Your anxiety didn’t happen overnight and it won’t disappear overnight. But if you trust the process and put in the work every day, you can beat your anxiety for good and live your perfect life.

Want to Achieve Your 12-month Goals in the Next 12 Weeks? Then click here to get free access to my “90-Day Reality Maker Blueprint”–the exact tool I use with my $25k/day coaching clients–where I’ll show you how to achieve your biggest goals in only 90-days or less.

The post 9 Proven Strategies to Beat Entrepreneurial Anxiety for Good appeared first on Early To Rise.

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In this episode of Early to Rise Radio,

In this episode, I explore how to “fire yourself” from tasks that don’t match your hourly worth, empowering you to delegate low-value activities and focus on what truly matters. By freeing up your time for high-impact tasks, like sales consultations, you can dramatically boost your revenue without working more hours.

I share real-life examples of how delegating non-essential tasks has transformed businesses, helping them grow faster and more efficiently. I also break down my “pilot and copilot” delegation method, which helps you smoothly transfer responsibilities to your team while building trust. This approach has allowed me, and many other entrepreneurs, to achieve greater productivity, more personal freedom, and exponential business growth.

The post 387 – Millionaire Delegation Strategies with Daniel Woodrum appeared first on Early To Rise.

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In this episode of Early to Rise Radio,

In this episode, I want to share some insights on how you can adopt a “billionaire mindset” to improve your life and productivity. You might not realize it, but middle-class habits, like saving money on flights or avoiding investments in comfort, are actually costing you time and limiting your success.

By shifting to a wealthier mindset, you can buy back your time by hiring virtual assistants, delegating tasks, and outsourcing chores—all at surprisingly affordable rates. It’s essential to start valuing your personal time and making smart investments that boost your productivity. Trust me, freeing up your time and delegating tasks will lead to a more successful and balanced life.

The post 386 – 10 Things To Stop Doing appeared first on Early To Rise.

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In this episode of Early to Rise Radio, I reveal the five mindset traits that distinguish my most successful millionaire clients. These “Mamba Millionaire Mentalities,” inspired by Kobe Bryant’s fierce drive, are key to unlocking greater success, wealth, and resilience. I’ll share real-life stories of entrepreneurs like Joel Marion and Isabel Price who embody these traits, showing that with the right mentality, nothing can hold you back. Are you ready to transform your thinking and accelerate your path to success?

You’ll also learn why letting go of failing projects is crucial and how being “hard to kill” keeps you resilient through setbacks. These powerful lessons, drawn from real-world examples, offer practical strategies for entrepreneurs aiming to scale their businesses, increase their income, and work smarter, not harder.

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In this episode of Early to Rise Radio, host Craig Ballantyne unveils the secrets behind his Millionaire Morning Routine, designed to skyrocket productivity and income for entrepreneurs. Discover why tackling your MIT (Most Important Task) in RGA (Revenue Generating Activities) first thing in the morning is crucial to winning your day and scaling your business. Learn how to avoid middle-class habits that sabotage success and how the “Profit Power Hour” can transform how much you get done. Craig breaks down strategies that help you balance “money now” and “money later” activities for sustainable growth. Tune in to unlock the formula for getting more done in less time, while freeing up hours to enjoy life.

Learn how to avoid middle-class habits that drain your potential, like mindless phone scrolling and hitting the snooze button, which can derail your productivity. Craig dives deep into the psychology of habits that keep entrepreneurs stuck, offering actionable tips to break free from these patterns and focus on high-impact tasks. He explains why your to-do list shouldn’t be your morning focus and how planning ahead can give you a competitive edge. By harnessing your peak discipline, willpower, and intention in the early hours, you’ll not only stay ahead of distractions but also set the tone for a productive and profitable day.

The post 384 – The Greatest Thing That You Can Do In The Morning appeared first on Early To Rise.

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This week, I’m sharing a podcast I was on recently with the crew from Few Will Hunt, where I discuss discipline.

You’ll learn about my definition of discipline, and how I received the name “The World’s Most Disciplined Man.”

The post 383 – Few Will Hunt Podcast – The Truth About Discipline appeared first on Early To Rise.

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In this week’s episode, you’ll learn the essential skills needed to start living like a billionaire now, not just dreaming about it!

You’ll leave this episode inspired with ideas on what you need to cut out and what you might need to add in order to live a billionaire life.

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“Enter the Conversation in the Prospect’s Mind”

When you can do this, your sales and marketing become more effective…

Because your prospect feels understood.

When they feel understood by someone, they like and trust that person more.

When someone knows, likes, and trusts you, they are much more likely to buy from you.

For example…

Most of our clients are here because I entered the conversation in your mind…

One day you were scrolling Instagram or Facebook.

It was probably the end of a long day (or week)…

You were feeling overwhelmed and scrolling to “relax”

But part of your brain was thinking about all the work you had to do tomorrow morning.

One of my ads popped up…

It talked about how…

“If you’re scrolling because you’re overwhelmed, and you want to get more done, then you need to stop your long morning routine and use this simple 15 minute routine instead. It’s so easy that it even worked for a drunk farmer.”

Now I’m sure “drunk farmers” were not part of your internal dialogue prior to seeing my ad, haha.

But the rest of what I said in my ads “hit the mark”.

I caught your Attention.

I talked about your Interest.

I stimulated Desire.

I convinced you to Act.

AIDA – Attention, Interest, Desire, Action

That’s the AIDA formula of copywriting.

When you combine AIDA with entering the conversation in the prospect’s mind…

Through your social media posts, advertisements, email newsletters, etc…

That’s when you breakthrough to the customer and get them to buy.

This is all part of copywriting.

Still not convinced?

I have more to say on the subject!

People always ask me how to get rich.

There are so many options hyped up on social media these days.

· Day trader? Chained to your computer during trading hours.

· High Ticket Phone Sales? Chained to your calendar links.

· CEO of a big company? Always on a plane… private jet sure, but always away.

· Professional Speaker? Living out of hotels & airports

· Lawyer? Taking calls 24/7

· Writing books? Lol. There’s no money in just writing books. (Another story for another day)

So what then is the best way to make a lot of money without sacrificing your freedom?

Copywriting is my weapon of choice.

Don’t get me wrong…

You’re still going to work when you use copywriting… it’s simple, but not easy.

BUT…

You control the hours, your coffee breaks, your cut-off times…

You pick your “office”…

(I’m writing from Lucky’s donut shop in Vancouver while sipping one of their excellent cappuccino’s and eating a donut – what type? I’ll leave that to your imagination. )

Copywriting is a skill that transfers to every aspect of your life…

From writing sales letters, video scripts and emails to make money…

To writing love letters, Tinder profiles, romantic DM’s, and apology notes in your love life.

(FACT: I used copywriting techniques to woo my wife Michelle on Instagram – that’s where we met in 2019 just before the pandemic… in two weeks we went from strangers to knowing we had found “the one”… and I would testify under oath that copywriting played a huge role in winning her love!)

Copywriting will help you with your kid’s fundraisers, get more people to your events at church, and even convince people to vote for you.

Yes, love him or loathe him, Trump’s 2016 slogan, “Make America Great Again” is one of the greatest examples ever of copywriting in the English language.

All he needed was four words to change the course of history.

(Don’t shoot the messenger… I’m just relaying a Fact!)

That’s the power of persuasion in print through the written word.

Other examples:

· Just Do It

· Four Hour Work Week.

· The Happiest Place on Earth

· Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend

· An Apple A Day Keeps the Doctor Away

· Men Are From Mars, Women are From Venus

These are all phrases that might be burned into your mind as they are in mine.

Phrases that persuaded millions of people to make a change in their life.

Just imagine what copywriting can do for your business.

Yes, copywriting works for trades (plumbers, etc.) – memorable quotes for your business cards and the sides of your work vans… that lead to more calls to your company.

Yes, copywriting works for personal trainers and coaches – helping you differentiate and standout in a sea of competition, so you attract clients

Yes, copywriting works for book titles, course names, etc.

Look at Millionaire Morning Routine, Social Story Selling, Effortless Discipline, Perfect Day Formula, and whatever other course and book title I created that brought you here!

Yes, copywriting works for pastors, chefs, YouTubers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, journalists, accountants and bookkeepers, and even the Army.

(Fun Fact: Earl Carter working for the N. W. Ayer Advertising Agency as a Senior Copywriter created the “Be All You Can Be” theme line in 1980 that the Army used for 40 years.)

If you are trying to convince anyone to do anything, you need to learn copywriting!

You are living proof that copywriting works… because it was copywriting that brought you into my world.

My ideas … communicated via simple words …

Got your Attention

Piqued your Interest

Stimulated your Desire

Caused you to ACT

AIDA!

Here’s the link to Galel’s Copywriting Masterclass recording and our bonus trainings (don’t miss the magical ‘copy logic’ technique to fix your sales copy – even if you’re a beginner).

The post The 7 Most Important Words in Sales appeared first on Early To Rise.

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Verne shared a couple of great points… apply them to your business today!

– Moneyball Stat – What is the ONE stat in your business that is the most important metric for your business? There should only be one moneyball stat that drives the success of your business. Double down on that moneyball stat as that will be the biggest indicator of your growth/success

– Idiot Index – What’s taking your company too long or costing your company too much money? Stop being an idiot and solve it or cut it.

– 5 Top Client Questions – Identify the top 5 questions your business gets from potential clients. Once you identify those questions, write an article on those top 5 questions answering them, and then put that on your website. People desire transparency and authenticity these days.

– 5 Minute Assessment – Create a simple 5 minute assessment your audience can take that provides them a score, and then you show them how you can increase their score with your systems, coaching, etc.

Now for a mindset column to finish off the week… and help get you on the fast-track to financial, physical, and Mindset independence!

Insecurity & Imposter Syndrome Solutions

One of my clients runs a successful coaching business and said:

“My child goes to a very affluent school. The parents of the other kids are wealthy and intelligent.

“I feel like an imposter in this setting as I don’t have a big ‘job’ and I make a lot less money”.

“I feel like crap after every school social event and I want to stop feeling this way as it is my own insecurity. My child is getting an amazing education and loves it there. Any mindset advice?”

CB’s Reply:

I understand how you feel.

I’ve found myself in a lot of rooms over the years where I felt out place…

From being around big name $100 million dollar internet marketers or 9-figure Bitcoin entrepreneurs making 100x’s more money than me… and who all seem to have “everything figured out”.

It’s easy to be hard on ourselves in those situations.

To feel unworthy… like we don’t belong.

But that’s not helpful.

I have some help.

But first, before I answer your mindset question directly, let’s look at what is this here to teach you about your coaching business…

The answer to my question is that many people attend your coaching business events feeling “unworthy”.

It might be one of the reasons they don’t buy your coaching programs!

They look around the room and think, “Everyone else is better, smarter, more advanced, and richer than me. I’m not good enough to join this coaching program.”

It’s your job as a coach– at all your future events – to spend extra time making sure that everyone in the room feels comfortable. They need to know they are in the right place.

You and I both know what you’d say to them:

“Where you are in your business right now doesn’t matter…

“What matters is where you’re going, and the impact you’re having… and will have!

“Success is about character and determination.

“I can see that in you, and I believe in you.

“If you follow the plan we create for you, you’ll succeed.”

(Gosh, doesn’t that sound like good advice we should all take?)

Second, before we think about how you are to deal with your current feeling…

Remember, the number one reason your daughter is at this school is for her.

Does she love it? Yes, she does!

Does she love the people? Sounds like it!

Is she flourishing? Sounds like it too!

So what else matters?

Third, of course your feelings matter, too. So let’s address that…

We are all children of God.

In God’s eyes, money doesn’t matter.

Having a “job” doesn’t matter.

(In fact, God might smile more upon those of us that make our own schedules!).

God put everyone on earth to play a role.

Your goal is to become more comfortable in your role as a coach…

And let those wealthier lawyers, Wall Street types, etc. play their role.

Your job is to become comfortable in your own skin.

Bedros and I talk about this early in our podcast here

As he’s grown older, he says that is one of the best things he’s achieved in life is being comfortable in his own skin.

Someone who is comfortable in their own skin doesn’t worry about what others think of them…

They know who they are, and they act accordingly… not to impress others, but to live a good life.

Remember:

Everyone has flaws.

Everyone has insecurities.

But what is a flaw to us (“no job”) is a goal in the eyes of others.

Everyone in that room at your daughter’s school is probably insecure.

The BMW guy looks at the Rolls Royce guy and feels jealousy.

The divorced dads look at the married dads with envy.

One guy makes a million but the guy beside him makes two.

The bald guys are ashamed to be around guys like you with hair!

Almost everyone is sitting there mired in the muck of comparison syndrome.

Everyone except for those few who are comfortable in their own skin.

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not but rejoices for those which he has.” ― Epictetus

Don’t forget to be grateful for what you have…

You are fit.

You are married.

You are a successful entrepreneur.

And anyone who has a million-dollar net worth is one of just 60 million millionaires in the world… that makes up less than 1% of the world’s population.

You are part of the 1%.

And most important, you have a daughter that loves her school… and her dad.

Bottom Line:

In the eyes of God and in the grand scheme of the Universe…

We are all specks of dust on a tiny planet in a small galaxy amongst the 2 trillion galaxies in an ever-expanding universe.

And one day, we’ll be dead… and we won’t feel any insecurity.

Much better to be alive today (and a little insecure) so that we can be working on ourselves.

Maybe I didn’t answer your question, but I feel better after that rambling!

The post The Moneyball Stat in Your Business appeared first on Early To Rise.

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There’s something about a streak…

You don’t want to break it…

You know how hard you worked to get here…

And you know that one simple moment of temptation won’t be worth it.

When it comes to changing habits…

You need to leverage two things.

One – Accountability to Your Coach (‘someone you deeply do not want to disappoint’)

Two – The Streak Stack

The Power of the Streak Stack is that you’ve worked so hard, and you don’t want to throw all that hard work out the window…

With each day that you add to the streak, it’s power grows.

It’s like the Network Effect… the more people in your network, the faster your network grows.

For example, it’s been 951 days since I’ve drank alcohol.

I’m so close to an epic number => 1,000 days.

Why would I throw that all away for a drink?

And then start again from zero?

No way!

Likewise…

It’s been 24 days since I’ve checked a news website or used Twitter.

The freedom has been wonderful.

The extra time to read books, meditate, and pack for our move next week to Mexico has been incredibly helpful.

It’s very embarrassing to admit…

But over the past year I became a bit of a news addict.

Here’s how it happened…

So many nights after feeding Sofia…

I found myself “stuck” under a beautiful, peaceful sleeping baby on the couch.

Now if you’re a parent, you know the conundrum.

You dare not move, lest you wake the baby.

So I couldn’t get up.

(At least not until I knew she was in a deep, deep sleep.)

Foolishly, instead of using that extra time to pray or meditate, or even to plot and scheme grand plans…

I chose to take the easy way out…

With phone in reach, I began to scroll.

I found a guy on Twitter that was entertaining…

He covered the news, parenting, and workouts…

So each night I’d read his feed for a few minutes.

Sometimes for 20 minutes or more!

Then this “news habit” bled into my lunchtime…

Soon my days were dying a death of 1,000 cuts as I’d “give myself just 5 minutes” to check Twitter, or the Globe & Mail, or even the NY Times!

Nearly everything I looked at was “Rage Bait’.

Incredibly effective and addictive rage bait, I must say.

(A good example of the power of copywriting!)

Recently I decided enough was enough.

Time to break a bad habit.

Time to close down the media.

So that I could open my mind.

That leads me to a big lesson for my American friends…

You already know who you’re voting for in November.

You’re either Team Orange or Team Blue.

There’s no new article about Trump’s scandals or Biden’s gaffes that will change your mind.

It’s already set.

But be honest…

How many slivers of time do you give to this issue every week?

Even one is too many.

So let’s put you on a streak that’s free of election news for the next 4 months.

If you really want to “cram for this test”, you can read the news on November 1st.

Your “election exam” isn’t until Nov 5th.

You don’t need to make your final decision now.

That means that for the next 120 days, you don’t need to collect any new trivia about either of the two elderly gentlemen that will be given control of the most powerful country in the world.

(oh dear)

So…

Start a streak.

Just say no to the news today!

Tell your coach for accountability.

Use the Law of Subtraction (delete your news apps, Twitter, etc.) for success.

(Or use the Opal App to block those, Coach Daniel’s favorite).

If I can do it, you can too!

The post Building Better Habits Hack appeared first on Early To Rise.

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The other week I gave you my rules for better meetings.

We have a course, Management Rhythms Blueprint, if you want to do an extremely deep dive into meetings. Ask Lynda for access if you can’t open the videos.

It’s probably the most important training you can watch if your business is doing over $1 million and you have a team of 6 or more.

I also have several friends that are “meeting gurus” and they had tips to share:

From Anne Laguzza:

If the leader of the meeting has contributors…

They must assign them an appropriate amount of time for their topic in the meeting… and should work with the contributor to go through the presentation beforehand.

Too many leaders “assign 5 minutes” to a 15-minute conversation and then they rush through it and it’s ineffective. Better preparation and specifics are needed here.

The other tip I always share is, “Does everyone who is in the room need to be there?”

So many leaders include too many people and that is a time waster for them!

From Christian Muntean:

In addition to keeping things short, these four points will help almost all meetings:

Have a clear purpose/outcome for each meeting.

· Each meeting should have one clear outcome. Build the agenda around that. Accomplish that before moving on to anything else.

· For standing meetings – sometimes it helps to create a list of priority items to tackle over a period (month, quarter, year). Assign one item to each meeting.

Always capture action items (what will be done, by who, by when).
Always review previous meeting’s action items – hold people to account.
Meeting time should be reserved for decision making/problem solving.

If you do a good job identifying action items/reviewing those (or using similar metric-based reporting) it can shrink reporting time to no more than a few minutes.

From Elon Musk (his rules for Tesla)

1. No big meetings

“Excessive meetings are the blight of big companies and almost always get worse over time. Please get out of all large meetings, unless you’re certain they are providing value to the whole audience, in which case keep them very short.”

2. Reduce your meetings

“Get rid of frequent meetings, unless you are dealing with an extremely urgent matter. Meeting frequency should drop rapidly once the urgent matter is resolved.”

3. Leave a meeting if you’re not contributing

“Walk out of a meeting or drop off a call as soon as it is obvious you aren’t adding value. It is not rude to leave, it is rude to make someone stay and waste their time.”

Clients of the Week

Here’s a cool update…

One of our clients hired another coaching client, Jody Dyer, to help publish his book. Amazing to see the power of the Mastermind Network in effect!

This is a deal she would have missed out on if she had skipped the California Mastermind.

How much business are you willing to risk because you’re staying home?

Next…

I want to shout-out Jody again, and Coach Daniel, for this thread in the Millionaire Mentorship community.

Daniel asked a great question, and Jody replied here… showing the power of copywriting in effect!

“I met Craig late one night when I should have been asleep but was scrolling Instagram. His message resonated with me because he talked about women-mother-entrepreneurs being overwhelmed and how if I could get a handle on my morning routine, the rest of the day would improve. Plus, his BEST promise is to help us learn how to work less and earn more, and he delivers. If I work MORE, that’s by choice now. I took Craig’s Perfect Morning Routine short course and loved it, then had a call with Ron, and then took the leap into become a 1:1 coaching client. BEST business decision I have ever made!!!” – Jody Dyer

And here’s a great testimonial from a client…

“With 9 days left in the second quarter, I am less than $6000 away from 2.5 million in sales for the year! To put that into perspective, last year, we hit $4 million. I set the bar high at $5 million for this year and am basically on pace… WILD! As you know, my profit-set-aside goal was hit already. $50,000 put aside in this quarter! I live the way I want and spend a lot of time traveling, so to be able to build this up on the side despite all these trips is mind-blowing. Sedona trip was a blast! Paris in July. Uganda in August! All are already paid for.” – Bob F.

Are you ready to stack some wins? Join us inside of our Millionaire Mentorship.

You’ll get the Millionaire Roadmap you need to scale to 7-figures with our proven high-income skills, habits, rituals, and routines.

You’ll also learn how to build your business around your life, and not your life around your business… so that you’ll have freedom in every area: Financial Freedom, Time Freedom, Family

Freedom, and Health Freedom.

Whether you’re at $0 or already making 6-figures, the Millionaire Mentorship has the training you need to make more money.

Here’s what you’ll get:

Step-By-Step Sales Systems

Blueprints for Getting More Leads

Millionaire Mindset for Money Attraction

10X Productivity Systems to Conquer Your To-Do List

Profit Maximizers to Generate Fast Cash

Daily Discipline Hacks to Increase Consistency

High Income Copywriting Trainings

Delegation Masterclass To Decrease Your Workload

Live Weekly Coaching Calls

High-Level Positive & Supportive Community

And So Much More!

Click here: https://craigsent.me/mmentorship

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If you want to be a millionaire, you have you act like a billionaire with your time!

This week, we’ll discuss ruthless elimination and discipline by subtraction to help you identify how you should manage your time to make the money you want.

The post 381 – Billionaire Time Management appeared first on Early To Rise.

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I love my wife.

Because while in many ways we’re the same…

In some other ways we’re so different.

Particularly when it comes to adventure.

For me, a wild and crazy time is sitting in a different chair while I work. (“Oh wow, this is what it looks like from the other side of the kitchen table. Cool.”)

But Michelle is the Queen of Adventure.

She loves dragging me out the house and going to waterparks, roller coasters, Vegas shows, Costa Rica for 48 hours, etc.

All of these – of course – end up being amazing memories and totally worth leaving my little bubble.

So in classic Michelle fashion…

Baby Jack’s not even here yet and she has already booked herself in for the Rock’n’Roll half-marathon in Vegas for next February.

And she’s booked our family of 5 (with 3 under 3!) on a trip to Lake Como and Monaco after next May’s Mastermind.

But that’s not the coolest thing about the big trip… I’ll leave that fun fact for the end of today’s update.

For now, we gotta get serious.

I also must tell you that if you want to grow your business and get bigger checks from clients all while working less, then you have to stop being so INSANE.

Remember…

“The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results.”

How many times have you said that to someone?

And yet…

If I were to look at your business plan for the rest of 2024…

How much different would it be than your business plan for 2023? And 2022? And 2021?

It’d probably be same-same, or maybe incrementally “more”.

So if you made a million last year, and your goal is $1.1 million next year…

That means you won’t be asking the right questions… and growth will be hard.

You see there’s a bit of a paradox here…

Aiming for incremental change is inefficient… and often ineffective.

When you aim for incremental…

You ask the same questions. You get the same answers. You get the same results.

You end up “struckling”.

Stuck.

Struggling.

Spinning your wheels.

Frustrated knowing that “you should be so much further ahead.”

Unfortunately, most people don’t use the frustration to fuel a new way of thinking.

They just go back to banging their head against the wall of “aiming for incrementally more”.

Same questions. Same answers. Same results. Same feelings of frustration.

But if you want radically different results, you must ask radically different questions.

That’s the argument Dan Sullivan and Ben Hardy make in their book 10X is Easier than 2X…

Here are the book’s 3 most highlighted quotes from Kindle readers:

“The only way to make your present better is by making your future bigger.”

“Going for 10x requires letting go of 80 percent of your current life and focus and going all-in on the crucial 20 percent that’s relevant and high-impact.”

“Going 10x means living based on the most intrinsic and exciting future you can imagine. That 10x future becomes your filter for everything you do, and most of your current life can’t make it through that 10x filter. What got you here won’t get you there. Every next level of your life requires a different you.”

So you have a choice…

10X or More Insanity.

“To get something you’ve never had you must do things you’ve never done.”

If you want dramatically different results, you must ask dramatically different questions.

Some homework for you…

Start thinking about…

What would have to change if you had to make 10X’s more money?
What would have to change if you wanted to charge $50,000 instead of $5,000?
What would have to change if you had to double your income but work half the hours?
What would have to change if you wanted to sell 100,000 copies of your book – not just 1,000?

These are tough.

In most cases, you won’t even know where to start.

That’s why I’m spending a LOT of time coaching you through this at the Miami Mastermind.

I usually do just a single presentation at the Mastermind event…

This time, I’m doing three sessions over the two days (4 total hours)…

Plus, interviewing two entrepreneurs who run 9-Figure businesses with billions of dollars in assets…

Going deeper and deeper into expanding your mind and possibilities…

So that not only can you make the rest of the year the best of the year…

But so that you get on the road to 10X’ing your business, income, and freedom in 2025.

If you don’t already have your spot for Miami…

Email Lynda@EarlytoRise.com today to reserve your seat.

It’s going to be our most advanced event ever for accelerating your business and personal growth.

But don’t just take it from me… Here’s what our top clients are saying about our last event…

“Craig, the connections at your Mastermind are amazing. Hanging with other high performers that have gone through the same ups and downs is very important because being an entrepreneur can feel like living on a Lonely Island. Normal people just don’t understand. But thanks to the Mastermind connections I’ve been hired to speak at events in Vegas, California, and Spain (and Dubai is next!). Your Masterminds are a NO Brainer. I’m bringing the heat to Miami as the standard (Nod to Daniel) was set HIGH.” – Joe Marcoux

“For me the biggest takeaway was how Bedros trained his future leaders – that has had a MASSIVE impact on my business. It has already improved our culture and helps us get stuff done faster. I also wanted to say a huge thank you for everything you do. You have had a huge impact on my career and life to date.” – Charlie Johnson, who traveled all the way from Dubai
Watch this video from Charlie & Joe

“Your California Mastermind was your best event ever. Jason Capital’s copywriting framework was really good. Sharron was amazing, I probably had 3 pages of nuggets from that one. And I’m glad Bedros did an open Q&A. That was refreshing as I’ve heard most of his motivational talk.” – Frank Den Blanken, who traveled from Europe

“Your Mastermind was awesome. What stuck with me was the amazing connections. I met so many cool founders and they were genuinely interested in what we’re doing at my company. It wasn’t just about business, though—the vibe was incredibly warm and welcoming. I felt like I’d known those people for years! Everyone there, from the speakers to the other attendees, was all about lifting each other up. I got tons of value for my business but also grew a ton personally.” – Laith Masarweh, Assistantly.com

“The connections that you make at a Mastermind event are priceless. Breaking bread with Bedros Keuilian at the California Mastermind event was not on my bingo card for 2024. But there we were eating steak and talking about business development and growth goals. I have built lasting connections outside of these Masterminds with other entrepreneurs and we have built an ongoing community of support. No lonely entrepreneur island here! Every single speaker and attendee at one of Craig’s Mastermind events (and I have been to 4!) freely shares their knowledge. It is hard to believe until you see it in action. Connecting over a meal, grabbing a few minutes to huddle in the lobby, exchanging social accounts to keep in touch afterwards – THIS is what makes these events different from the others. And that is why I am a Mastermind believer. Since attending these events and working with Craig, my bottom line revenue has increased exponentially and I have hired and delegated to gain more free time and reduce my stress. (My doc is breathing a sigh of relief!) My goal has always been to achieve more freedom – and that is what I have.” – Anne Laguzza

Do not miss out on our next Mastermind on Sept 11-13 in Miami – details here

See you soon in South Beach!

The post Stop the Insanity! appeared first on Early To Rise.

10x Is Easier Than 2x: How World-Class Entrepreneurs Achieve More by Doing Less

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How to Increase Your Hourly Worth

“To make 10X possible,” Dan Sullivan says, “You must focus on expanding your time freedom. As your time becomes 10X more valuable, you increasingly multiply the money you earn.”

That means increasing your hourly worth – both practically and conceptually.

It all starts with this CB harsh truth:

Making more money is 3rd grade mathematics.

If you’re making $250,000…

And working 40 hours a week

For 50 weeks of the year

That’s 2000 hours

You earn $125 an hour.

For those of you that only made it to 2nd grade math…

To get your hourly worth…

Divide your annual personal income by 2000.

You’re welcome.

Let’s keep going with this lesson…

Now here’s where the magic happens…

If you earn $125 an hour on AVERAGE, that means sometimes you are earning $250+ and sometimes you’re making $10 or less

That’s why making more money and working less is simply a matter of 3rd grade level mathematics.

If you simply stop doing all tasks that are “$50 an hour or less” …

Immediately your average hour goes to $150…

And your annual income immediately goes up to $300K

Freaking magic.

But wait, there’s more…

Next, start doing more $1000 an hour tasks…

Now your average hour jumps to $250…

And your income shoots up to $500K

We’re on a roll.

So let’s keep going.

Hack away all the $100 an hour or less tasks…

Develop more high-income skills and add $2,500 an hour tasks to your day

Because if you want to be a millionaire…

Any 3rd grader could tell you that you just need to get to $500 an hour for your hourly worth

Reminder: Multiply your hourly worth by 2000 to get your personal income

$500 * 2000 = $1,000,000

Money Math class dismissed.

You may now join the other 3rd graders eating their boogers.

Seriously though…

If you want to be a millionaire, you must live like a billionaire and drop middle class habits

Living like a billionaire = Increased hourly rate

Middle class habits = $0 hourly rate

I made a new video about how to give up middle class habits and build millionaire habits

Watch it here now or listen to it while you workout

The post 3rd Grade Math for Success appeared first on Early To Rise.

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The Polish Productivity Hack for Crazy Busy Entrepreneurs

The other day a friend of mine tried to drag me into his drama.

You see, my friend is an online coach… and he has a beef with another online coach.

He forwarded me a couple of posts and a video he had made …as if this was some high school dramarama where I had to pick a side.

“Not my monkey, not my circus,” I told him before deleting his messages and giving him a courtesy two-week block on Instagram.

I stole that line from my friend Scott. He says it at least once on every coaching call… And I love it.

Not my monkey. Not my circus.

Turns out it’s Polish in origin (who knew!).

“Nie mój cyrk, nie moje malpy.”

This phrase (the English version!) is what you need to keep in mind when other people want:

· To drag you into their drama

· To have you put out their “emergency fires”

· To trick you into doing the work that they were supposed to do

Sure it’s a little “cold”…

But it will help get your mind right when you’re tempted to:

a) Do a $10 (or $100) an hour task that steals from your $1000/hour time

b) Do something that is not your job & should be delegated out

c) Do something useless that NO ONE should be doing at all

d) Steal precious moments from your kids to argue online

Not my monkey.

Not my circus.

Back to work.

Productivity Tip #2 – The Meeting Stack Hack

Everyone knows to stack wins.

But few people know how to stack meetings.

If you don’t stack meetings, and you have them randomly scheduled throughout your day, then your productivity is going to die a “death of a thousand cuts”.

Just as you get into the flow a part of your brain will start to think… “Oh, I have a meeting in 30 minutes.”

Then after the meeting it will take you time to get back into the flow.

Soon you’ll have to switch back out of the flow and into preparing for another meeting.

The next thing you know the day is over … full of activity, but not accomplishment.

Here’s how to fix this:

Avoid adding new one-off meetings.

Only schedule meetings immediately before or after existing meetings.

This allows you to have meeting blocks with hard deadlines (this meeting has to end because you have another meeting to attend).

Make sure to also reduce the meeting time… if someone asks for an hour, tell them you have 45 minutes.

Stack them up into 3 hour blocks (with a few 5-10 minute breaks in there).

Make the world play by your rules.

Now combining the two hacks above…

This weekend I want you to do a ruthless reexamination of your Aug-Sept calendar and remove all fluff…

You probably have a lot of monkeys on your calendar that shouldn’t be there.

· Meaningless calls you’ve agreed to…

· “Coffee meet-ups” that will go nowhere…

· Podcast interviews that you agreed to out of guilt…

It’s time to “cull the herd of calls on your calendar.”

Use the old “Marie Kondo Spark Joy” method on your schedule.

If the meeting (or results of the meeting) do not “spark joy”, toss it!

This also seems a little cold.

But here’s what happens when you let crap creep onto your calendar.

Yes, even ol’ CB over-schedules and says YES where I shouldn’t…

Last Monday I agreed to a podcast out of guilt (because the podcasters were good friends with Bedros).

And then I stacked a meeting after because an old client I’ve known for nearly 20 years asked for help with his business and wanted to vent about his ex.

So I missed out on going to the pool with Isabella and Sofia…

To do a podcast that didn’t matter…

And then my friend NO SHOWED on a call he begged for.

I won’t get fooled again.

Time to be ruthless.

So while it might seem “cold” to cancel…

Stealing playtime from my kids is much colder.

Or being late for dinner with your partner because you took random phone calls all day that left you running behind on your deadlines.

Or skipping workouts and hurting your health because you were Golden-Handcuffed to Zoom all day.

The problem is that while everyone knows how to book a (useless) meeting…

Few people think to cancel useless meetings.

That’s why I spend 15 minutes every week “editing” my calendar.

Every Friday afternoon…

Right before my call with my good friend and longtime client Trent in New Zealand (where it’s Saturday AM)

I set aside time to get rid of the monkeys that are not part of my circus.

I give my calendar a good Marie Kondo-treatment.

I cancel as many calls, meetings, podcasts, etc. as I can.

For example, yesterday I canceled:

3 meetings that could easily be done by emailing instructions
A podcast with a woman who insisted on a call before noon (my time) because she lives in Europe & wanted an early time for “better lighting”
Reviewing an old friend’s book so I could give him a book blurb. (I’m not the type to give a blurb without actually reading the book.)

I just don’t have time for these things.

Feels so good to let them go.

As Bruce Lee said,

“It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease.

Hack away at the unessential.”

BTW, my belief is this…

If I give someone 72 hours notice (3 business days) when cancelling a call, that’s more than fair. No guilt here.

Bottom Line: I grant you permission to put more VALUE your time!

You must be OK with saying NO, and saying, “I’m sorry, gotta cancel.”

You must ruthlessly protect your high value work blocks. Most things can wait. Most things don’t matter.

Cancelling, culling, and quitting the minor open up space for the major.

The Japanese and Polish are on to something!

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What comes up when you think about creating your dream life?

In this week’s podcast episode, I share with you how to create YOUR dream life. Once you listen to this, I want to hear what actions you’re inspired to take!

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If you want to be a millionaire, you need to drop your middle-class habits.

In today’s podcast, I share exactly the step-by-step blueprint you need to follow to develop millionaire habits to live the life of your dreams.

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We moved houses again last Monday.

Our 4th home in 12 months… 8th in our 3 years of marriage.

Combined with several long hotel stays between “real homes”…

And a bunch of cross-country flights with all the strollers and cribs…

We’ve done serious packing-and-unpacking over a dozen times this year.

Michelle and I have become Master Movers.

We’ve learned that the secret to success with moving is the same as with entrepreneurship, fitness, marathons, marriage, raising children, and writing books.

That secret to success is…

Better Planning & Preparation

Every time we move something goes slightly off the plan…

And so we must do better planning & prep so we don’t make that same mistake again next time.

That’s a big lesson for everyone when it comes to success…

You cannot make the same mistakes over and over again.

If you are doing that in any area of life, your planning & preparation needs to change!

But planning & prep is the real work that many people avoid.

It’s not glamorous… and it doesn’t make for a good social media post…

But planning & preparation is a major key for your success.

I bring this up because there’s a harsh truth that applies to all of us.

As of today, 55% of 2024 is done

And I have some questions.

What is your Level 10 problem?

Are you giving it Level 10 attention, planning, & preparation?

One of the biggest mistakes I see in NEW clients is that they are avoiding this real work.

They have a Level 10 problem.

But fewer than 1 in 10 people are putting a level 10 effort into their level 10 problems.

Most people do all sorts of perverse procrastination to avoid doing the difficult work.

They take up fitness challenges to avoid working on their marriage.

They become fantasy football addicts instead of learning copywriting.

They blame others instead of looking in the mirror and becoming a better leader.

They do long morning routines of “Fluff” instead of going directly into a Profit Power Hour.

I know that probably doesn’t describe you…

But avoiding Level 10 Problems is one of the most common reasons people fail in life…

Are you giving your planning & preparation a Level 10 effort?

Or are you working on too many projects that have you “spread too thin”?

I see this all the time in ambitious entrepreneurs who tell us:

“The problem is that I am saying yes to too many things that are completely misaligned with who I am, and how I want to show up in the world. These are the things that are draining me every week.”**

Saying “Yes” to everything, even if done subconsciously, is a popular perverse form of procrastination.

But as Warren Buffett says…

“The difference between successful people and very successful people is

that very successful people say NO to almost everything.”

This week I want you to make a commitment.

I want you to commit to better planning and preparation than ever before.

I want you to use a Reverse Alarm so you get to bed on time and get up on time (no snoozing!) every morning this week.

I want you to CRUSH every Profit Power Hour in the morning and do 60 minutes of revenue generating activity before anything else.

I want you to build a winning streak of successful actions so that you build your confidence.

Put a Level 10 Effort into your Level 10 problems so they are soon Level 5 problems.

· Commit.

· Take Action.

· Build a Winning Streak.

· Grow Your Confidence & Competency.

This is how you’ll get 10X more results in the remaining 45% of the year than you did in the first 55%.

The clock is ticking.

Time to make the rest of the year the best of the year.

Let’s gooooo!

If you’re ready to get the mentorship you need to grow your business to new heights, send me a DM on Instagram with the word “MILLIONS” at @RealCraigBallantyne.

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One of the best things I did as a person with introverted tendencies was to learn the skills necessary to build a massive network.

In this week’s podcast, I share the exact strategy that I have used to meet my wife, make millions of dollars, and have some of the most incredible experiences a farm boy from Canada would have never dreamed of!

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If you’re working 50+ hour weeks – you need to pay attention to this episode.

This week I’ll give you the steps to help you end your work day by 2PM every day!

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When we moved back to Mexico last week to have our third child, we didn’t think we’d be facing a raging hurricane.

In this week’s episode, I share the 7 steps you need to execute on to overcome overwhelm in your life.

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Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in 2018, before having 3 kids under 3!

You’ve earned it.

You’ve worked so hard to save up for the trip of a lifetime. Maybe it’s a tour of Europe, sitting in cafés, visiting places you’ve only dreamed of or read about in books, and eating divine meal after meal.

Or maybe you have a Southeast Asia adventure planned—motorcycles in Vietnam, climbing up to Tiger’s Nest in Bhutan, and strolling the night markets in Bangkok.

Now you’re sitting back and hoping that nothing will go wrong.

But you don’t have to hope. With proper planning and preparation, you can avoid most of the major pitfalls that inexperienced travelers suffer during big trips.

Take it from me—someone who has made many mistakes on my journey to over 40 countries in the past, and two to three new ones each year. I’m writing this to you on the eve of one of my most epic journeys yet: 31 days through South Africa, Zimbabwe, Montenegro, Lithuania, and England.

There’s a lot that could go wrong.

Fortunately for both of us, I’ve got this travel thing down to a science. I know that the goal when you travel is to relax, rejuvenate, and make amazing memories. That’s why I’ve created systems and techniques for minimizing travel headaches and streamlining the logistics of getting around in different countries.

To start with…

Make the most of plane travelIf you’re making a transatlantic trip, especially going west to east, the best tip I can give you is to sleep as much as possible. When I fly from Toronto to Frankfurt, I put on my eye mask and pop in my earplugs as soon as the plane starts rumbling down the runway.

This gives me five or six hours of sleep overnight so that I can hit the ground running in the morning. If you sleep during the flight, you’ll avoid the temptations of being on an airplane—like drinking alcohol or caffeine that impair proper sleeping, binge eating unhealthy snacks, or staying awake for movie marathons until you’re a zombie.

If you plan for these airborne ZZZs (either by adjusting your normal sleep schedule or picking a flight at night), then you’ll land feeling refreshed and ready to enjoy a glorious vacation! If you don’t, you’ll waste your first day or two in your new location struggling with severe jet lag.

I made this mistake on one of my earlier trips to Europe, staying up all night on the flight from Toronto to Paris. After walking around the city for my first hour on the ground, I ended up sleeping from 4pm to 9pm and waking up totally bewildered. It wasn’t until day three of the trip that my sleep schedule was back to normal.

Parents might struggle with this sleeping strategy, of course. If you don’t think it’s a feasible option, I highly recommend bringing a number of different devices/toys with you to keep your kids occupied on the plane. You can also bring them along already in sleep mode (by skipping a nap, for instance), which might make it easier for them to zonk out mid-flight and give you some peace.

When you land, get on the local schedule as quickly as possible. Eat meals at the proper mealtimes in your new location. And stay awake until the local time reaches your normal bedtime back home. Then you can crash, and you’ll be able to wake up at a reasonable time in the morning—without losing any precious vacation time.

Plan for big impact (and don’t sweat the small stuff)It may seem like a silly question, but ask yourself before you leave: “What do I want to get out of this trip?” Sure, the goal is to relax, but there are often other motivations, too.

For instance, foodies will often want to explore the restaurant culture in the cities they visit. Hikers might want to walk rural trails. History buffs are likely to be interested in architecture and museums. Keep these interests in mind as you consider the perfect vacation outcome.

I like to make sure that I plan a few excursions (I love hiking, so I’ll often try to do something outside), and then balance these with an open-ended schedule. It’s best to be flexible—both because you don’t want the stress of planning and organizing outing after outing, and because the nature of travel in a foreign place demands a bit of flexibility. You just don’t know what will happen.

A word of caution in all this new adventuring: If you’re a routine-focused person (like I am), you may find it difficult to live—even for a short while—in a place where your routines are challenging to maintain. Plan for this in advance; hold on to the most important parts of your routine, letting go of the elements that will just get in the way of your enjoyment.

And remember that things WILL go wrong and they WILL, at some point, be different than you had planned for or anticipated. Prepare yourself mentally for this and being flexible in the moment won’t be an issue. I like to say that adaptation to new surroundings and circumstances is all about mental expectations, so set the expectation early and all will go smoothly.

Have your papers readyI have had friends turned away at borders because they didn’t have the right vaccinations. Another was sent home—after a 10-hour plane journey—because he didn’t have the correct visa. That’s extraordinarily frustrating after months of preparation and thousands of dollars spent on plane tickets.

First of all, know what documentation you need to enter and leave the country you’re planning to visit. Is your Passport current? Do you need a specific visa? Double and triple-check the requirements on the appropriate government websites. If it’s a complex trip to multiple countries, like mine, there’s no shame in using a travel agent and having them do the research.

Also, check to make sure you don’t need specific vaccinations for exotic locations. These change regularly, so it’s good to reference government or national medical websites to see what travel to these places requires.

Know where you’re staying—and what you can expectThink carefully about lodging and transportation. Confirm everything in writing—including the capacity for your room, amenities, any costs (including what might be charged à la carte), location, meals that might be included, and so on. Questions that you think might not need to be asked become critical when you consider properties like hostels and Airbnbs. Some of them don’t even have bathrooms—but you wouldn’t know unless you ask.

As someone who racks up over 100 nights in hotels per year, you also need to be prepared for loud or bright rooms that can wreck havoc with your sleep. It’s likely that you’ll have to deal with both, so travel with an eye mask and earplugs so you can get a good night’s sleep.

Lastly, print out all materials you’ll need to reference—tickets, itineraries, reservation confirmations, insurance information, etc. Don’t rely on your phone, even if you do have an international or “vacation” plan in place. Always have a paper backup.

Consider transportation options earlyMany of my friends choose to rent a car when they go on vacation—in large part because it offers flexibility and allows them to avoid the hassle (and complication) of public transportation.

But in many cases, renting a car doesn’t make good financial sense. If you’re heading to a big city and spending your vacation rolling from site to site within that city, walking and using buses/ride shares is likely a lot more affordable. Plus, the cost of parking a car in a big city can be ridiculous.

As part of your “vacation outcome” I mentioned above, consider what adventures you’re likely to go on and how you’ll get there. You don’t have to know every transportation need upfront, but you should have a good sense of whether or not the local transportation will work and/or if you want the flexibility of your own vehicle. Google to see if Uber is available in your port of call, or what the local equivalent might be. Doing this in advance takes a lot of stress out of landing in a foreign country when you’re tired, hungry, and just want to get cleaned up at a hotel.

Prep for tech differences These days, everyone needs to charge something—a phone, a computer, a tablet, a camera. We hardly think about charging them at home, but when you’re abroad, you’ll need to be able to work with foreign outlets. Do some research online to determine what kind of chargers/cables you’ll need and order them online if you don’t already have them. (You can get most of them on amazon.com).

Another thing to consider: Mobile phone plans. It’s a good idea to have a worldwide phone data plan, because chances are you’re going to need to look up maps, check out tourist sites, review restaurants, and so on. If you’re trying to cut costs, don’t tell yourself that you’ll just “not use your phone” while you’re on vacation. You will. It’s second-nature. And it’s a lot less expensive to pay for a plan that covers your needs upfront than it is to suffer the ruinous expense of too-much-data-usage after the fact. Check with your carrier to see what plans they offer.

Prepare for emergency communication and home careNobody wants to think about something going seriously wrong while traveling, but it does. Be sure you share your full itinerary and the details of your vacation with a trusted friend or family member before you leave. Give them a way to contact you that will be reliable throughout your trip, and make sure you collect their contact information as well.

Also, since you’re going to be gone for a while, think about routine services that you enjoy at home that you won’t be using. Pause your milk delivery and mail. Reschedule lawn mowing. Double-check regular deliveries like those offered by meal services and any other mail-based subscriptions.

If you’re traveling during a season when you might have inclement weather, ask a neighbor to keep an eye on the house and give them permission to take action if there’s a crisis. (You might need to give them something in writing, too, should they need official permission from the homeowner.)

Most importantly: Be in the moment and capture the memoriesWhen all of your preparation is done ahead of time, you can take time to really enjoy new experiences with loved ones. Remind yourself of the outcomes you established before you left. Be in the moment. Take pictures. Step outside your comfort zone and experience something new.

That’s what a vacation is all about, right?

If you want to hear stories from some of my most memorable travels, I recommend you tune in to episode 61 of ETR Radio. I share some amazing tales of adventure that might inspire your next vacation! And please, let me know what I missed. We can all use an extra travel tip or two to make sure our trip of a lifetime doesn’t have any hiccups (although sometimes these unexpected adventures make for the best stories). Bon voyage!

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In the mid 1980s, a few years after I “decided to be rich,” I bought my dream house. It was a 4,000-square-foot chateau-styled, custom-built, five-bedroom home in a very nice gated neighborhood called Les Jardins in Boca Raton, Fla.

The cost of the house was about $600,000–more than I ever imagined I could afford. But thanks to the success of a business I had started, I had socked away about $125,000, and that was enough to cover the down payment and closing costs.

Telling the real estate agent, “I’ll take it,” gave me a great, memorable feeling of the power of wealth. I knew, even then, that this purchase would be a milestone in my life.

What I didn’t know was how many different lessons I would learn from it.

Deciding to buy my dream was euphoric. But signing the loan documents evoked a very different emotion: an ominous weight.

The title to this magnificent house was in my name. But I owned only one-fifth of it. The real owner was the bank.

I didn’t like the idea that if things went awry, I could lose “my” house to this corporation. So I decided to devote every extra dollar I made toward paying down the mortgage. I put no money away for my children’s education or my retirement. I didn’t even have an emergency fund. It all went toward my goal of really and truly owning my house.

What a great feeling it was when, only three years later, I handed that last payment to the bank. I would finally be rid of that burden, I thought. I would finally be master of my own domain.

But life had more lessons for me. Just a week or two after paying off the mortgage, I received my property tax assessment for the year. It was something like $22,000. “Holy cow,” I thought. “That’s more than Kathy and I ever paid for rent. And I’ve got to pay this every year, without fail, as long as I own this house.”

The next week, I received a notice about the homeowner’s association fees: They would be going up to $4,000 per year. And then, the following week, I wrote checks to cover our monthly bills. These included about a half-dozen expenses that related directly to the house: electricity, gas, lawn maintenance, etc.

I realized that even after paying off a mortgage of $600,000, I was not in any way financially free. To possess and occupy that house was going to cost me more than $30,000 per year–for as long as I “owned” it.

I learned two important lessons from this experience:

Holding title to something doesn’t mean you have absolute control over it
Having paid for something doesn’t mean it no longer costs you anything to use it.

Later, I realized that the same rules applied to buying a car. Getting a title to one doesn’t mean you own it. And owning it doesn’t mean your car will be cost-free.

The same is true for boats and planes and beds and exercise equipment and machinery and so on. This rule applies to about everything you buy that cannot, like food or medicine, be consumed.

Thus, my happy delusion about ownership was shattered. But it wasn’t a bad thing. Not at all. It gave me a very useful insight into the cost of possessing things–an insight that has helped me make countless buying decisions since.

A New Way to Think About Ownership Nowadays, when considering the purchase of a car or boat or a set of golf clubs, I don’t pretend that I will have them forever. I take a deep breath, calm down my greedy little heart, and make a realistic estimate about how many years I will actually use this desired object. I then calculate its total cost of ownership on a yearly basis.

In other words, rather than telling myself that this truck is going to cost me $25,000 (because that’s the sticker price), I do a full calculation of everything I’ll likely pay to own it for, say, 10 years, and arrive at what it will cost me, on an annual basis, to possess it.

I’m sure there are plenty of smart people who do the same thing. But I’ve never heard anyone say so. Nor have I read about it among the books on finance that I’ve read. So lacking a dictionary term name for this idea, let’s create one. Let’s call it the cost of possession.

And to reiterate: The cost of possession is the full cost of using any non-consumable good, from a house to a car to a fountain pen, over a given period of time.

I said that understanding this idea has helped me become a better buyer of things. Let me give you an example–an issue that comes up all the time that you may have wondered about yourself.

An Old Debate: Own or Rent? Many people believe that owning a house is always better than renting one. They point out that when you own a house, you get the benefit of price appreciation.

“Why should I fork over several thousand dollars per month in rent if, at the end of the day, I have nothing to show for it?”

The answer to this question becomes clear once you apply the principle we’ve just discussed–the cost of possession–to the decision at hand.

Recently, for example, I went shopping for an apartment in New York City. K and I were looking for a pied à terre in downtown Manhattan so we could be close to two of our sons who lived in Brooklyn. I could afford to buy the apartments we were looking at, but because I thought in terms of the cost of possession, I was pretty sure that they would be a bad deal.

A little bit of arithmetic will demonstrate what I mean. The apartments we were looking at were in the $1.3-1.7 million range. To make calculations simple, let’s assume I bought an apartment for $1.5 million and held it for 10 years. What would be the cost of possessing it on a yearly basis?

The first step is easy. We take the $1.5 million price and subtract it from the net price I thought I’d be able to sell it for in 10 years. Assuming an annual appreciation of 4%, the apartment would be worth $2,220,000. I would stand to make a profit (a capital gain) of $660,000.

That’s an argument for ownership. But then I had to figure in the opportunity cost of plunking down $1.5 million in cash. The opportunity cost refers to the money I would have made by investing that same $1.5 million in another investment or group of investments. Assuming I could get a 4% yield on that $1.5 million, I’d turn that into $2,220,000, too. At the end of the 10 years, it is a wash.

Okay, it’s tied at one-to-one.

Now let’s look at the other costs of possession.

First, when you own real estate, you have property taxes. From what I had seen, I would have been paying about 1.5% on the appraised value of the apartment. The appraised value would very likely be the price I paid for it. So that is a cost of $22,500 per year.

Then you have the association fees: The apartments I was looking at averaged about $35,000 per year.

Then there is insurance, maintenance, and so on: I estimated they would run me $22,500 per year.

So the total cost of possessing that apartment on an ownership basis would have been $80,000 per year.

Now let’s look at renting.

You would think that if the rental market were “efficient,” the rental costs would amount to about the same thing: $80,000 per year. In fact, because of factors we don’t need to discuss here, it would have cost me less than that to rent these apartments. My best guess is that it would have cost between $4,500 and $5,000 per month, including fees, to rent an apartment.

The bottom line: It would have been about $20,000 per year cheaper to rent than to buy. Over a 10-year period, that’s a savings of $200,000.

So, in this case, renting was the better choice.

You can do the same analysis with cars. Rather than pretending that the sticker price of that Mustang you want is the cost of owning it, consider all of the costs of possessing it—such as insurance, gas consumption, maintenance, and depreciation (i.e., cost versus resale value). Then make a realistic judgment about how many years you will keep it, and then you will have your annual cost of possession.

By approaching it this way, it will be very easy for you to compare leasing (renting) versus owning. You won’t make the mistake of thinking that either the sticker price or the monthly lease rate is your cost.

My housekeeper just found that out. She told the car dealer that she could afford to spend $300 per month and not a penny more. She further told him she could not afford a down payment. When he presented her with a car that met her expectations, she figured she had a good deal.

Two years later, when she discovered that she had already exceeded the mileage allocation for three years, she realized the truth. The car was going to cost her about $8,000 more over three years ($220 per month) than she had believed it would.

Understanding the cost of possession has saved me hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not millions) in these past 30-odd years. Discovering it was a big, big eye-opener. I hope this has had the same impact on you.

What I want you to take away from this essay is this: When making decisions about buying, renting, or leasing anything, always remember to include all of the costs involved. Then divide them by the number of years you expect to use the thing you are buying.

This will give you the real cost–the cost of possession. Once you get the knack for the arithmetic, it’s easy to do. You will make smarter decisions and have fewer regrets. And the salespeople you deal with will begrudgingly admire you!

Proper financial planning demands set routines. Start with this routine first thing tomorrow…Sign up now to get our FREE Morning Routine guide—the #1 way to increase productivity, energy, and focus for profitable days. Used by thousands of fitness, business, and finance industry leaders to leapfrog the competition while making time for the people who really matter. Learn more here.

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Editor’s Note: Mark Ford is the Founder of Early To Rise

Your money manager — just like your broker, banker, and insurance agent — makes his money by selling you a service. If you don’t know exactly what he’s doing for you or how much he’s charging you, you are vulnerable.

And yet, most investors — probably 8 out of 10 — don’t know these things.

If you hire a plumber to fix a leaky faucet, you know exactly what he’s doing and how much you’re paying him.

But when your money manager recommends something — some sort of amazing new investment that guarantees your principle while simultaneously giving you an upside equal to the market — you probably only vaguely understand the transaction. And you may have no idea he’s being paid multiple times for selling you that deal.

The financial industry is very good at three things:

Inventing financial products that are difficult to understand
Hiding the fees they charge their customers
Making sure they get paid even if their customers lose money.

There are plenty of regulations in place that are supposed to make such costs transparent, but most of the disclosures are in small print and peppered with legal terms.

I’m not suggesting all fees and charges are unfair. In fact, decades of consumer advocacy have reduced the number and types of tricks brokers, financial advisers, and money managers use to fleece their clients.

But there are still things to watch out for…

Some money managers and financial advisers don’t offer much to their clients. They’ll scratch the surface… but in the end, they’ll only provide a narrow range of financial services. Make sure what they offer fits your needs and includes diverse asset allocation, stock and bond recommendations, reporting, and so on.

Most of them will also charge you a fee for any financial advice. And some will collect commissions on any transactions. All of a sudden, it’ll start costing you to do anything with your managed money — including just talking about it.

Another problem with money managers and financial advisers is they have a predisposition for mutual funds. They like mutual funds because they’re easy. But mutual funds are also very expensive.

And that’s not all…

With a money manager, you are likely paying other fees, too. My colleague Tim Mittelstaedt at the Palm Beach Research Group has a good friend with a UBS-managed account. Tim studied the fine print, and this is what he found:

A 1% annual fee on the portfolio paid to the manager
An average 1.44% annual fee on the 15-20 mutual funds the manager had put his friend into.

The fine print showed other fees that were impossible to decipher:

Omnibus processing fees
Trailers and 12-b fees
Networking fees
Finders fees
Account-services fees for affiliated fund
Revenue-sharing payments.

So Tim’s friend is paying 2.44% in disclosed fees — and he may be paying even more if you consider the hidden or hard-to-decipher fees.

There is an argument to be made that fee-only financial advisers and/or money managers are better because you don’t have to pay transaction costs. This is not necessarily true. Your account could be billed for certain transaction costs separately. The money manager doesn’t receive this fee, but you pay it.

The only way to know what you’re paying a financial adviser and/or money manager is to write them a letter asking them to disclose all costs clearly and fully.

If you use a money manager or financial adviser, you should expect him to be completely forthcoming and transparent about what you are paying for.

The first step is to tell him in writing, “Please send me a clear and comprehensive account of all charges, fees, commissions, and other costs I am paying for your service.”

And ask him to copy his manager on that message.

If you’re ever told “There is no commission on a purchase,” you are speaking to a liar. It may be true that no actual commissions (as defined by the industry) are being charged, but you can be sure there are other charges either embedded in the transaction or put through to you as “management fees.”

As with stockbrokers, there are some situations in which you may be happy to pay the fees they are charging. And there are certainly financial advisers and money managers who are smart and caring and do a good job.

But you need to know exactly what the costs are — immediately and over time.

Only then can you decide if these sorts of services are good for you.

Editor’s note: Money managers are just one of the many “wealth stealers” Mark warns of in the Wealth Builders Club. But with the proper mindset and the right tools, Mark believes anyone can avoid these swindlers and become a millionaire in seven years or less.

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As “the mindset guy” here at Early To Rise, I often speak to our clients who are facing challenges and need to reframe how they’re thinking. Luckily for you, I’ve been taking notes and found a few key themes that summarize how I coach most people who are facing challenges.

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re facing a tough month, a plateau, or even a period of panic about your business. Don’t worry; you’re not alone. Many business owners find themselves in similar situations. Today, I want to share three key principles to help you navigate through these challenging times and emerge stronger.

1. Reframe Failure as FeedbackThe first step in overcoming a business plateau is to change how you perceive setbacks. When things aren’t going well, it’s easy to spiral into negative thinking—believing that everything is falling apart and that you’re doomed to fail. However, failure is actually a powerful source of feedback. It’s a signpost pointing you towards areas that need improvement.

Imagine you’re driving and hit a roadblock. Instead of seeing it as the end of the journey, view it as an opportunity to find a better route. Ask yourself: What can I learn from this? What is my business trying to teach me?

One of the most valuable shifts you can make is moving from judgment to curiosity.

Judgment says, “I’m failing,” with a period or an exclamation point behind it.

Curiosity, on the other hand, asks, “Why did this happen? What can I do differently?”

By replacing judgment with curiosity, you open up a space for growth and learning.

2. Understand the Safety of Your Current StateThe next principle involves understanding why your current state, despite its frustrations, feels safe. There’s a concept from Joe Dispenza that our nervous system prefers a familiar hell over an unfamiliar heaven. In other words, even if your current earnings are lower than desired, they might feel safer than the unknown challenges of higher income.

Reflect on what feels safe about your current situation and what feels scary about where you want to go. For example, earning double the money might seem daunting because your subconscious believes it will require you to work twice as hard. This belief has served you in the past by keeping you in your comfort zone, but it’s no longer serving you now.

To change this, use Byron Katie’s four questions to challenge these limiting beliefs:

Is this true? You might have some evidence supporting it, but not conclusively.
Can you absolutely know that it’s true? Usually, the answer is no.
How do you react when you believe that thought? This often leads to self-fulfilling prophecies because we sabotage our efforts, which leads to the belief coming true.
Who would you be without that thought? Imagine the possibilities if you no longer held that belief.

Once you’ve answered these questions, you can create a new, empowering belief. If you believed making double the money would overwhelm you, you can counter it with, “I have the tools and systems to manage double the income without feeling overwhelmed.” Look for evidence to support this new belief and take inspired action to reinforce it.

3. Rely on Data, Not DramaFinally, when faced with a business challenge, base your decisions on data rather than emotions. Emotions can cloud judgment and lead to decisions driven by drama rather than facts. Instead, gather as much objective information as possible.

If you’re struggling with lead generation, analyze your data. Do you know where your best leads are coming from? How many conversations do you need to start to secure one qualified sales call? Without this data, you’re making decisions based on assumptions and emotions, which is counterproductive.

Similarly, if sales are lagging, examine your process:

What is your close rate?
Are you practicing your sales pitch regularly?
How many calls do you need to make one sale?

In terms of fulfillment, evaluate your product delivery:

Are clients getting the promised results?
Is your team meeting performance markers?

Without data, you’re left with subjective judgments, which often lead to drama. Collecting and analyzing data allows you to make informed decisions that can steer your business in the right direction.

When you’re having a tough month or hitting a plateau, remember these three principles:

Reframe challenges as feedback. Shift from judgment to curiosity to uncover valuable lessons.
Understand the safety of your current state. Identify and challenge the beliefs that keep you in your comfort zone.
Rely on data over drama. Use objective information to guide your decisions and actions.

By implementing these strategies, you can break through plateaus and transform setbacks into opportunities for growth. Remember, I’m here to help you get out of your own way and achieve the financial success you deserve.

Keep pushing forward, stay curious, and always base your decisions on solid data. With the right mindset and tools, you can overcome any obstacle and reach new heights in your business.

The post Breaking Through Business Plateaus: 3 Strategies for Turning Setbacks into Success appeared first on Early To Rise.

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Dive into this candid chat where Craig Ballantyne shines a light on the everyday habits that might be holding you back more than you think.

Ever wonder if hitting snooze, procrastinating, or even your weekend binge-watch could be quietly chipping away at your potential?

Craig breaks it all down, sharing stories and insights from his own life and the lives of those he’s helped.

This episode is all about uncovering those hidden habits that keep us stuck in the middle class and figuring out how to kick them to the curb.

If you’re ready to challenge the norms and really push for personal and financial growth, Craig’s got some thoughts you’ll want to hear.

Tune in and let’s get real about getting ahead!

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This week I want to share with you my Ultimate Guide to the Millionaire Morning Routine.

My morning routine has helped me create multiple seven-figure businesses and is one of the tools I’ve used to help over 250 entrepreneurs become millionaires.

A great morning routine has nothing to do with cold plunges, meditation, and gratitude journaling. It also doesn’t mean joining the 5AM club.

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This week, I interviewed my longtime friend, business partner, and head coach for Early To Rise – Daniel Woodrum.

Daniel is the most disciplined Dad that I know. We discuss building winning habits, and how even busy parents can build game-changing, millionaire habits.

You don’t want to miss this great conversation!

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Conventional wisdom says that you should read only one book at a time.

It’s like saying you should only take one college course at a time. That you should never have dinner with more than one person at a time. Or that you should only watch one television series at the same time, lest you muddle all the plots together.

Ludicrous, I say. Books are the spark of imagination and the engine of creativity.

Currently, I’m reading seven books at the same time. That may seem like a lot, but all seven actually work very well together.

Let me explain a little bit about each one, and then show you how they complement each other. By the end of this article, you’ll realize that reading multiple books at one time should actually be the prevailing conventional wisdom.

1. “Relentless” by Tim GroverGrover was the strength and conditioning coach (personal trainer) for Michael Jordan and Kobe Byrant. But they weren’t the only top athletes he worked with; Grover’s clientele includes some of the most focused, disciplined, and competitive athletes in history. His stories about the singularity of their concentration can make you feel like an under-performer.

That’s why I find his book to be a great way to start my day; it provides the inspiration for me to push harder, do better, produce more, and do things that are outside my comfort zone.

2. “The 80-20 Principle” by Richard Koch My friend and client, Jason Capital—a young, ambitious entrepreneur—recommended this book. Many of my successful friends have books they refer to as “their bible,” and for Jason, this is it. Koch, a wealthy investor, first published the book in the ’90’s, but its wisdom has held true for decades.

Like “Relentless,” “The 80-20 Principle” gets a few minutes of my attention every morning. Koch’s promise of getting more done by doing less is one we’ve heard many times before, but he lays out a politically incorrect and experience-backed blueprint for building wealth, much like Felix Dennis in his book, “How to Get Rich” (another common “business bible”).

3. “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” by Edward Gibbon The annotated version of this 1700s epic tome clocks in at 1,200 pages of tiny font. My goal is to read four pages each night after dinner. At this pace, I plan to finish it almost a year to the day after I started it.

To be honest, I skim a lot of pages. It’s heavy reading, but the extensive research completed by the author, covering a span of some 300 years between Emperors Augustus and Constantine, is truly fascinating.

This book also overlaps nicely with the two books mentioned above. All three leverage lessons from history for the benefit of the present and future—although, admittedly, this book dives into more weighty topics like the origins of Christianity and the influence of religion on modern life.

Reading these three books simultaneously, and back-to-back-to-back each day, is like sitting around a fireplace in a cozy library. I can almost picture the three authors in front of me, each enthusiastically explaining why humans do what they do.

4. “Sapiens” by Yuval Noah Harari I marvel at both the breadth and depth of the author’s research in “Sapiens.” Harari’s tackles quite an ambitious goal with this book, documenting the many influences of evolution on our modern life, from the domestication of dogs to the rise of religion. It is, as other reviewers have said, full of “intellectual acrobatics and logical leaps that will leave you in admiration.”

Many evenings, I turn from Gibbon to Harari, absorbing two different perspectives on the development of the Roman Empire, Christianity, and early religion. The contrast between the two is fascinating and, not surprisingly, complementary.

This is the final book I read before bed. That’s not because it’s boring. Quite the opposite—it’s as good as reading any fiction novel, rich with characters and unbelievable plot lines. Admittedly, however, it density is enough to send me off to sleep after only a few pages.

5. “Skin in the Game” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb Fair warning: When you read a book from Taleb, it’s like listening to a know-it-all schoolyard bully—but one who has the ability to charm you with enthralling storytelling and compelling logic.

Taleb is keenly aware of his condescending writing and just doesn’t seem to care.

Here’s what one critic wrote of the Lebanese-American author: “The problem with Taleb is not that he’s an a**. He is an a****. The problem with Taleb is that he is right.”

If this book were written by any other author, then it would belong in the category I call, “Good idea, but should have been a six-page magazine article.” Taleb, however, spins story after story to make his point, and you soon wish the pages on which he connects history to present-day living—and stupidity—don’t have to end.

“Skin in the Game” is undeniably provocative, forcing you to ask questions about the nature of fairness, risk, and personal investment in just about anything.

6. “Traction” by Gino WickmanEvery business owner should read and re-read Wickman’s book annually. It’s on par with two others that have greatly influenced my entrepreneurial career: “Ready, Fire, Aim” by Michael Masterson (aka Mark Ford) and “The Secrets of the Rockefeller Habits” by Verne Harnish.

What is it exactly? A manual for business growth, and one that I go through slowly, taking out one big action item per day.

7. “Die Empty” by Todd Henry This book is one of the reasons I read multiple titles at a time. It’s a case for making the most of every minute of every day.

Many of the books I read get my mind racing with ideas for my business; this is one of those book. I began reading it on a long-haul flight recently from Toronto to Los Angeles. After only three pages, I set the book down and spent the next hour mapping out the schedule and keynote speech for our upcoming Perfect Life Retreat.

There you have it—the seven books dog-eared on my shelf (or in my bag) right now. Once in a while, I’ll open other classics like “The Art of Living” or “The Tao Te Ching” in hopes of solving a problem or getting a dose of daily inspiration. But for the most part, I stick to my core seven.

Now I know what you’re thinking. There are two questions always arise when I share my seven-book strategy, so let’s get right to them.

How do you find time to read? I gave up television years ago. I just didn’t like having my time stolen through a hypnotic trance. On the other hand, getting lost in a book for an hour feels like time well spent.

Getting rid of your TV is probably the biggest step you can take to reading more books.

But I also read in the slivers of time in a busy schedule—between phone calls, while my tea brews, on the train, waiting for airport security.

I’m not alone. Famed horror author Stephen King reads books between innings at Fenway Park.

Still, reading is a habit that many of us don’t have. My friend and bibliophile, Ryan Holiday, has some advice on that point: “You need to stop thinking of [reading] as ‘some activity that you do… [it] must become as natural as eating and breathing to you. It’s not something you do because you feel like it, but because it’s a reflex, a default.”

Audio books make this easy. You can begin listening in the bathroom in the morning, as you roll through your exercise routine, or in the car on the way to work. You might even be able to finish a short book, like my “Perfect Day Formula,” in a day.

Okay, that covers ONE book, you say, but what about seven?

Why read so many books at the same time?Perhaps I’m simply nostalgic for my college days, when it was my daily duty to read fascinating studies on exercise physiology and case studies of human psychology at the same time.

In case you haven’t guess it, I love learning. I might even be an information addict. (If I ever visit your home, please remove all magazines from your coffee table, as I have an overwhelming—and slightly anti-social—urge to read everything in sight. Thank you in advance.)

The main reason I love to read multiple books at a time is the same reason I enjoy conversations with many different smart people:

Information is intoxicating and human behavior is fascinating. As I described earlier, each evening of reading feels like an author roundtable in an old oak library. I can imagine sipping Cognac amidst fiery exchanges with Taleb, Gibbon, and Harari. I can hear them debate the influence of history on modern life.

But there’s another, simpler reason. There are some days when I’m not in the mood for heavy mental lifting in a business context. I just want to hear tales of Michael Jordan chastising his teammates for not giving 100% every minute of every practice, or how Kobe was a stone-faced, unflinching, killer on the court. Having seven books open at any time gives me that variety.

To me, it’s no different than calling one friend to get you out of a bad mood—because you love their sense of humor—and another to give you sage career advice. Some books are for getting fired up (“Relentless”) and others are for winding down (“Sapiens”).

Here’s the bottom line: Books are wisdom-imparting mentors in life, and one can ever have enough wisdom—especially when it is given so freely.

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My flight landed in Hong Kong at 8pm. Two hours later, my friends and I were at a rowdy Kowloon restaurant eating spicy food and shaking off the cross-Pacific cobwebs.

A few hours later, I woke up at 4 a.m., my normal time. I hit the gym and met my friends for breakfast. Then it was off for a quick walk through a local market and back to the airport for a flight to Thailand.

The next two days were fine. Then jet lag hit. Hard. (The afternoon poolside drinks didn’t help.) I crashed at 6 p.m., giving my friends the opportunity to take pictures for future blackmail.

Jet lag can be a major nuisance. You might have been able to push through it 10 or 20 years ago—possibly using a “young person” approach—but no longer.

“When I first became a professional traveler,” writes Andrew Harper, the famed reviewer of luxury hotels, “I dealt with jet lag the old-fashioned way, which is to say that I drank a few Old Fashioneds (or the equivalent) on the plane, popped a mild sedative, and knocked myself out for most of the flight.”

As we age, however, Harper admits that jet lag becomes harder to avoid. He no longer goes about it the old-fashioned way; “new age” preparation is now his go-to method for avoiding the loss of a few days of travel to exhaustion.

I’m with Harper. And while the secrets I’m about to share for defeating jet lag are not all that sexy, they work. So no more excuses about hampered productivity on work trips abroad or vacation days lost to bad travel prep.

Use these 7 tips and you’ll be set the moment you get off the plane.

1. Don’t order booze on your flightIt’s far more memorable to enjoy a nightcap in Bar Hemingway at the Hotel Ritz in Paris than on American Airlines flight 44 from NYC to Charles De Gaulle.

Even if it’s a special occasion, like an anniversary trip, save the bubbly for when you get to the hotel—not for runway revelry.

To be clear: Don’t just “limit” your alcohol intake on the flight. You must strictly avoid it. While alcohol might help you fall asleep on the plane, the quality of that sleep is not good and it certainly won’t help you navigate international customs upon arrival.

Stick to water or juice.

2. Pause the caffeineOne essential rule of good sleep hygiene is to stop caffeine intake 10 hours before bed. That’s the average length of time your body needs to metabolize the drug’s effect (and yes, caffeine is a drug). If you drink a cup of coffee or energy drink too close to bedtime, it becomes difficult to fall asleep, stay asleep, and get deep, restful sleep.

So no coffee midair, okay? You can get back on coffee time as soon as you see daylight (or land) from the airplane windows. But until it becomes “morning” on your journey, stick to water, juice, and herbal tea only.

3. Sleep through itEvery summer, I attend the SovereignAcademy.org event in Lithuania. It’s four days of teaching young entrepreneurs and trying to keep up with their partying at night (I fail miserably here). It’s an amazing weekend and I need to be well-rested for it, so I look forward to getting a decent night’s sleep on the flight from Toronto to Vilnius.

As soon as the plane takes off, I set my watch to Lithuania time, the eyeshades go on, earplugs go in, the seat reclines, and I tell the attendants not to wake me. While six hours of sleep through turbulence and the clanging cutlery of meal service don’t make for the best night’s rest, it’s better than eating a late dinner, watching a movie, and napping for two hours.

Now I know a lot of people struggle to sleep on planes, but here are a couple of tips that might help:

a) Sleep like a local

Dr. M. Rizwan Sohail of the Mayo Clinic offers this advice: “If you’re traveling east, go to bed one hour earlier each night for a few days before you leave. If you’re traveling west, go to bed an hour later for several nights. Adjust your meal schedule accordingly, too. And make sure you’re well-rested before you go, because starting a trip with too little sleep will make jet lag worse.”

b) Choose flight times wisely

Put an early bird like me on an 8 p.m. flight to Europe and I’m sleeping like a baby in 30 minutes (assuming we have an on-time departure).

If you’re a night owl, take the latest flight out so it’s as easy as possible for you to get some shut-eye. That means you’ll arrive (in Europe) closer to noon, and that also makes it easier for you to stay up and adjust to a local bedtime on your first night.

c) Choose your plane wisely

Older planes were not built for jet lag-fighting flyers. The cabin air is dry and the pressure is not the same as what we experience on land. As a result, the environment leaves us tired, even if we manage to sleep overnight.

However, the Airbus 350 and Boing 787 Dreamliner were engineered to “pump the highest pressure, which actually makes conditions on the plane feel more like those found on the ground,” according to the website Boarding Area. “They also offer higher humidity, which does less damage to your ears, nose, and throat—which helps prevents fatigue. New planes also filter air in safer ways, offering actual air, rather than engine air.”

4. Stay awake when you landDon’t try to cram in a visit to EuroDisney, a trip up the Eiffel Tower, and a five-star meal at Le Cirque on day one in Paris. Instead, here’s what to do…

“The cheapest and least complicated way to tackle jet lag,” says Dr. Sohail, “is to force yourself to stay awake when it’s daytime wherever you land, then end the day tuckered out, so you’ll sleep most of the night.”

After you get to your destination, avoid the temptation to “just lie down for a minute” on your comfy hotel room bed. Instead, put on your walking shoes and get outside to take in some culture (hopefully in sunshine).

“Exposure to bright light when you arrive at your destination can help your body adjust its circadian rhythm to your new schedule,” says Dr. Sohail. “For example, if you travel east, exposure to sunlight or other bright light in the morning can help you adapt. If you travel west, seek out light in the evening.”

Still struggling? Change your state. Have a cold shower. Take a plunge in the pool. Hit the gym. Get a vigorous massage in the spa. Do anything but lie down for a quick nap in the middle of the day.

Lastly, Andrew Harper recommends self-administered acupressure. I’m no expert on this, but you can read more here.

6. Eat like a localFinally, some good news! When you land, it’s time to start eating like a local and adjusting to a regular mealtime as soon as you can. It’ll be all the more enjoyable to have a simple meal at a café in Paris after skipping out on the so-called “gourmet” airline food.

7. If all else fails, stick it out.Roll with it. Do your best to grind it out until 7pm local time. Then crash. Sleep like a baby. Wake up at 6am and dominate your first “real” day abroad.

But if you do give in to an afternoon nap and then find yourself struggling to sleep like a local on your first night, Dr. Sohail recommends over-the-counter sleep aids such as Tylenol PM or Advil PM. “Taking a relatively low dose of melatonin (0.5 milligrams) has also been shown to be effective,” he adds.

The most important lesson is to delay your gratification. Avoid the cheap temptations during your journey and it will make every meal and moment far more enjoyable when you reach your destination.

P.S. If you have any tips you’d like to add, I’d love to hear them in the comments below. Bon voyage!

Here’s what you need to keep your travel productive…Sign up now to get our FREE Morning Routine guide—the #1 way to increase productivity, energy, and focus for profitable days. Used by thousands of fitness, business, and finance industry leaders to leapfrog the competition while making time for the people who really matter. Learn more here.

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At least once a week, someone I hardly know invites me to dinner. Most of these invitations come from people who used to read my Michael Masterson essays on entrepreneurship in Early to Rise or my books on business and marketing for John Wiley & Sons.

I always demur.

I demur because (a) I don’t have much spare time, (b) I don’t need any more friends, and (c) I’m pretty sure that what they really want is a free consultation.

But last month, I got a different sort of invitation. It was from a guy who had been, in fact, an avid and enthusiastic consumer of my ideas. But he was a city government worker—which struck me as unusual—and he didn’t want any advice. He just wanted to say “thank you.”

He made that last point clear several times as he worked through the barriers I’ve set up to protect my personal privacy. He didn’t say what he wanted to thank me for, but he did say it was something “great” and that it would make me “happy.” He was employing what John Forde and I call the secret lead (Great Leads) to hook me, and he hooked me. Good for him.

We met at Quality Meats on 58th Street in Midtown Manhattan. Although I had met him once before at an awards ceremony, I wasn’t sure if I would remember him. But as soon as I stepped foot into the crowded foyer of the restaurant, he came over and greeted me with a hearty handshake. He was very happy to see me, and that made me happy to see him.

He led me to the bar, where he introduced me to the maître d’, who offered me a glass of champagne and told me that he had reserved us the “best table in the house in the quietest part of the restaurant.” He said it was the table that Donald Trump and his son sat at several times a week. He pulled out a chair and told me that it was “The Donald’s” chair.

It was all so… cinematic. Almost embarrassingly so. But Michael was bubbling with enthusiasm. I could see that he was eager to tell me his story. And at this point, I was eager to hear it. But before he did, he had the good manners to inquire about my life and my family and so on. Then he summoned the sommelier and insisted I choose the wine, and then we ordered our meals.

After our waiter cleared the first course, he told me the story. It turned out to be quite a story, indeed.

About six years ago, he happened to read one of my essays on procrastination. In that essay, I was making the point that sometimes people take themselves all the way to the 20-yard line of some goal and then stop there, paralyzed by fear.

I said something like, “You may be sitting at your desk right now reading this, knowing that if you pick up the phone and make just a few phone calls, you might be able to launch your dream. All it takes is to pick up that damn thing and dial. Do it right now.”

So that’s what he did.

His idea was a good one. As a city government worker, he had noticed a business opportunity that was invisible to everyone but him. When a truck driver gets in an accident, the company he works for is subject to a lawsuit. If the trucker is driving with a suspended license, he is in serious trouble.

The problem is that the driver could have had a perfectly good driving record when you hired him but could have gotten into trouble and had his license suspended just days before his accident.

His idea was to create a database, tied into the motor vehicle department, that could provide truck companies with up-to-the-minute statuses on all of their registered drivers. He had been thinking about this business for years and had even worked out in his mind many of the kinks. He had even researched and created a list of truck company owners who might want to use such a service. He was on the two-yard line but had not taken a step in two years.

“After I read that essay, I picked up the phone and called everyone on my list. I made 10 phone calls and got eight appointments.”

“That’s great,” I said.

“That was great, but what is even better is that I just sold my business for $8 million.”

“Wow!”

“And as far as I’m concerned, I have you to thank for that.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You did it yourself.”

“I know what I did,” he replied. “But it all began with making those phone calls. And I know for certain that your essay motivated me to do that.”

In 2008, John Wiley & Sons published a book of mine called Seven Years to Seven Figures. In that book, I hypothesized that it was possible to develop a seven-figure net worth in seven years or fewer. I based my theory on my own experience starting dozens and dozens of multimillion-dollar businesses over the years and the experience of about a half-dozen people I had mentored. Their stories comprised chapters of the book.

I didn’t have a great deal of factual proof to support my theory. But I wasn’t interested in making my argument that way. I had done it. So had others I knew. I believed it was possible. And I believed I could help people who wanted to replicate the experience.

The book was well received, but there were doubters who challenged my argument. “You can’t get wealthy in America anymore,” some of them said. Others said, “He and the people he helped might have done it, but there’s no hope for the average guy.”

But here I was, having dinner with someone I didn’t know and didn’t mentor, but who had read my book and had created a multimillion-dollar fortune in fewer than seven years.

I was so happy for and proud of Michael. And I was grateful to him too. After all, he was living proof of my book’s basic proposition: That despite all of our country’s economic problems, you could still become wealthy in a relatively short amount of time.

When I put away my Michael Masterson pen, I retired the idea of writing about business and entrepreneurship. After writing several thousand essays and a dozen books, I felt I had said everything I had to say on those subjects. But this dinner with Michael changed my mind.

I supervised the editing and republishing of dozens of essays, chapters, and reports on entrepreneurship, marketing, and wealth building—the best of what I’ve written over the years, judging by reader response. I assembled it all in The Palm Beach Wealth Builders Club. The Wealth Builders Club offers its members six distinct programs related to wealth building.

I’ll leave you with the thoughts that I had after my dinner with Michael:

Anyone can become wealthy in America
The seed of success is a good idea
But the idea is only 10% of the equation. The other 90% is intelligent action
The business only truly begins when the first sale is made
As a first-time entrepreneur, you have to do almost everything yourself
Take responsibility for your failures and shortcomings and give credit to those who help you.

This article was originally published in The Crux.

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Seven Years to Seven Figures: The Fast-Track Planto Becoming a Millionaire

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This week, I interviewed my longtime friend and coaching client, FDNY Veteran and founder of Wealth Concierge Group, Sal DePaola.

Sal has built a side hustle into a 7-figure business while still working a full-time career as an FDNY firefighter.

You won’t want to miss the lessons and stories Sal shares with me in this episode!

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Get more viewers for your videos this month.

Several years ago, I was interviewed on the #1 podcast in the iTunes Health & Fitness category. Not only did it help me sell a few hundred copies of my new book, The Great Cardio Myth, but it also allowed to leverage the exposure into hundreds of “Likes” and subscribers.

Here’s the little trick I did to leverage my one-hour podcast into massive reach.

The leverage you can get from one podcast interview includes:

Podcast views, of course
YouTube views
FB views
Twitter link
Linked In views / link
Instagram views
Blog traffic (if reposted)
3-10X increase in your views if you chop it all up
More podcast requests and traditional media (like radio and TV) to sell more products and services!

Wait, how does that work?

Well, it was a video podcast, so after the show I had the host send me the video file.

It was MASSIVE (an HD file of over 1GB).

That meant we had to break it up into four parts for posting on YouTube.

But that was good, here’s why…

You 4X your video views by chopping up content into smaller parts for YouTube.

And then you 4X your video views by posting your Youtube videos on Facebook.

By my Canadian math, that’s a 64,000% increase in views.

Take a look at these two screenshots… pay attention to the 4-part video series (it’s a video podcast I did with Shawn Stevenson from The Model Health Show… the top fitness podcast in the world).

Adding the videos to YouTube resulted in an “ok” 2,000 views total for the 4 parts.

But adding the videos to Facebook resulted in 7,500 views. Pretty cool. Definitely worth chopping up and adding to socials!

Let’s round up to 10,000 total views.

Add in exchange rate from US to Canadia, and that’s 64,000%!

And this doesn’t even count the views you would get from adding 1-minute clips to Instagram (which we didn’t do) and posting the links on LinkedIn and Twitter.

The big lesson is:

You can 10X your reach when you are strategic about scaling your efforts.

Bedros Keuilian is the master of this!

This is just a fraction of the knowledge and insider info that my coaches and I can give to you at our mastermind. That’s why I keep telling you to take action and join us at our next meeting in September!

See you soon,

Craig

PS – Start strong. Finish stronger!

The faster you go, the more momentum you’ll build, and the easier it becomes. So just start. Take massive action. And get it done.

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In 2019 I saw Ed Mylett give a speech that changed my life.

Ed said that when he thinks about death, he envisions himself meeting God for the first time.

“Ed here is the man I designed you to be,” God will say to Ed, “This was the man, husband, father, and businessman you had the full potential to become. But here’s who you actually became.”

Ed started crying on stage during this story and said that’s one of his biggest motivators.

To reach his full potential and become the best version of himself.

I’ll never forget that speech. It changed me.

There are a lot of factors into reaching your full potential

Goals
Vision
Mindset
Work Ethic
Environment

These are all critical in your success.

But the one factor that I believe has the greatest impact is your Standards.

“You get the standard you accept. You get to decide,” Ed said.

Standards are the system of how you live your life.

They are the non-negotiables that shape the future of our life.

Simply put, they are the personal rules of our life.

Show me your standards & habits, I’ll show you your future.

The most successful people that I know are as consistent as the tide.

They are consistent with their attitude, behaviors, actions, and habits.

Their standards don’t change because of their feelings, environment, mood, stress levels or criticism.

They have clear and purposeful rules of life (aka standards) that they live by every single day.

Let’s take Craig for example.

I believe one of the biggest reasons Craig has been so successful is because of his standards.

Doesn’t Swear
Doesn’t Hit Snooze.
Doesn’t Drink Alcohol.
Doesn’t Engage In Drama.

Just to name a few.

It doesn’t matter where he’s at or what he’s doing, Craig embodies these standards every single day.

As the great NFL coach Mike Tomlin says, “The Standard Is The Standard.”

The Power of Standards Include:

Increase Your Confidence … because your mind rewards your consistency
Helps You Hit Goals … because consistent actions bring better results
Simplifies Decision Making … because you have rules for your life
Allows For More Self Control … because it requires less willpower
Attracts More Great People In Your Life … because people crave consistency in others

Now let me be the first to warn you.

There is one major mistake you must NOT make when it comes to standards.

Do not copy other people’s standards.

Your standards are YOUR standards.

A few years back I learned this the hard way when I tried to copy one of Craig’s standards.

Being that I respect Craig so much, I thought it would be “cool” to copy his “I don’t swear” standard.

I tried to stop swearing several times. And failed each time.

Why? Because it wasn’t meaningful to me.

(Craig tells a similar story about how he tried to learn chess in 2013… he quit after a few days because he just didn’t care, and was only learning chess because he thought “that’s what smart people did”. Instead, he switched his efforts to becoming consistent with meditation – something that mattered to him – and he hasn’t missed a day since – over 10 years later.)

For me, I didn’t have a strong purpose and personal pull to Craig’s “no swearing” standard.

I was trying to live someone else’s standards.

Don’t make that same mistake as you create your own standards.

You must create your own rules of life that will help you reach your full potential.

Now I know what you’re thinking…

“Alright Daniel, I’m ready to create my own standards. How exactly do you do that?”

Great question! Let me share with you my Simple Standards System that will help you create a life of meaning, purpose and personal fulfillment.

Step #1: Choosing Your Standard Quadrants

What are the 4 most important areas of your life that you have full responsibility over? There is not a right or wrong answer here. These are YOUR 4 areas that mean the most to you.

Here are mine below to give you an example….

Family

Health

Discipline

Leadership

Step #2: Create Your Mission Statement for Each Quadrant

Write out 2-3 sentence statements on why each quadrant is so important to you. This will help you create your standards and provide more purpose behind each of the 4 areas that mean the most to you.

Here are mind below to give you an example:

Family Mission Statement: My family comes before anything else in life. They are my #1 priority and take precedence over any and everything else in this world.

Health Mission Statement: My health is the greatest asset I have that will not only influence my wealth, but has a direct impact on my family. I want to be the Gold Standard Example for my kids on what a healthy dad looks and acts like.

Discipline Mission Statement: Discipline is my greatest superpower. When I create systems that protect my time, focus and energy I am truly unstoppable and nobody can compete with me.

Leadership Mission Statement: Everything that transpires in my life is happening “For” me. I must always take full responsibility and lead by example for others. This means embracing challenges and never shying away from tough times and conversations.

Step #3: Create 3 Standards under each quadrant (you’ll have 12 total standards)

Now you are going to create 3 standards for each of your quadrants that you listed out in Step #1. These can be habits, behaviors and/or core values. Your standards are YOUR standards and should be what’s most important to you. Use your mission statements from above to help guide you on your standards (aka rules of life)

Here are mine as examples…

Family:

1) Tell my family I love them daily

2) Don’t make non family commitments after 4pm

3) Always #TeamWoodrum

Health:

4) Exercise Daily

5) Prioritize Micro Walks

6) Limit 2 Coffees Daily

Discipline:

7) Don’t Hit Snooze Button

8) Limit Social Media 30 Mins Daily

9) Follow Big 3 Bedtime Routine

Leadership:

10) Take Extreme Ownership for Everything

11) Always Praise Others

12) Embrace Tough Conversations

Step #4: Creating Stickiness

Once you create your 12 Standards, now it’s time to make sure you execute. I encourage you to find 3-5 people that you trust (trust tribe) and share with them your standards. Ask them to hold you extremely accountable for living by these standards. You should also print out your standards and have them posted up where you can be reminded of them daily.

I truly believe your standards are the key to your success. If you need any help or feedback on your standards, please let me know how I can support you.

And always remember…”The Standard Is The Standard”

Daniel Woodrum (AKA: The Standard)
Head Coach, Early To Rise

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This is one of the best conversations I’ve had in years. In this week’s episode, I sit down with my Armenian big brother, Bedros Keuilian – a nine-figure entrepreneur as the founder of Fit Body Boot Camp, The Modern Day Knight Project, The Squire Program, and is invested in several other companies.

You’ll learn how to overcome horrible circumstances like death, financial uncertainty, and when things seem totally out of control.

This conversation will inspire you and give you action steps you can apply into your life right NOW.

The post 371 – How Bedros Keullian Took Back Control Of His Life appeared first on Early To Rise.

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A client told me…

“Craig, I’ve been trying to convince my husband to take his health seriously. Nothing I’ve said has gotten through to him.”

My reply:

Regarding hubby’s health…

If we look at the problem with my “discipline through subtraction” approach…

What are the 3 biggest health sins he’s committing against his body?

Start there… cutting back or eliminating, and then not worry about the 100 other things he could do to improve.

Just remove the things that have the greatest catastrophic consequences.

One other thing… he needs to do an exec physical like the one I just did… It’s a comprehensive series of tests that will wake him up if there’s anything to worry about. Plus, it’s a great reference to review over time… Same reason I get bloodwork done every 6 months.

Her reply:

I’m going to talk to him today.

I’m also going to pray at church first because he’s in such a bad place with this right now and sometimes these conversations don’t go well.

I found an exec physical. I’m going to have my assistant call tomorrow and get the info.

Right now, he refuses to go to the doc at all because according to him,

“They just tell me I’m fat and my cholesterol is high and that I need meds and I don’t want to take meds.”

And then I ask him what our next steps are, and he shuts down. So here we are.

My Jedi Mind Trick reply:

Something I have learned from dealing with people who have problems but are not acting on them…

Is that you must spend a lot of time asking other questions, generally about emotions, before you start asking rational questions about “What they plan to do”

They must get all the emotions out first.

For example, if an overweight man is doing nothing about his health, and doesn’t want to go to the doctor because the doctor will just “tell me I’m fat”…

When he says that line, we must ask “how or what” questions (use “Why” if you have to, but try to avoid it and stick with “how or what” questions):

For example,

“How would that make you feel when the doctor says that?”

He’d reply with some emotion-based response.

So you follow-up with:

“What would you want the doctor to say instead?”

He’d reply with something.

So you say:

“How do you think we can get the doctor to say that?”

Your husband might then reply with a plan.

You might need one or two more questions, but eventually most people come up with a plan on their own.

And that’s the “Jedi secret”…

When it’s their idea, they tend to be more open to doing it, and following through on it.

Now, it’s your turn… Who in your life can you use this question process with? Is this something you can reflect on to make changes in YOUR life?

Let me know if I can help!

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In 2006 I started hiring coaches.

I did about 80% of what they said…

And I got some decent results because of it.

But for some reason I wasn’t going as hard as possible with the advice I was given.

It wasn’t until I met Bedros Keuilian in 2009 and joined his Mastermind that I finally gave my coach everything I had.

The reason…

I looked up to Bedros like a big brother.

I didn’t want to disappoint him… I didn’t want to fail him and get the Armenian Death Stare.

Accountability to Bedros changed my life… help me overcome my introverted ways… stopped me from taking the path of least resistance and the easy way out when challenges came my way.

He helped me Man-Up. He taught me a lot about being a good father and husband.

Years ago, he and I did over 200 episodes of a podcast called The Empire Show.

But none of those podcasts were as good as the one we recorded last week.

It was raw… emotional… and it’ll instill an 11/10 attitude in you…

Building that Operator Mindset of personal responsibility and massive action.

Watch for that coming out in a couple of weeks.

Until then, a few nuggets from Bedros…

Blast From the Past – Making Money Online

In preparing for our podcast, I went through the oldest emails between me and B.

One of the oldest ones I had saved contains amazing money-making lessons that still hold true today.

3 is the BIG one!

Here’s what Bedros wrote to me:

Craiggy, here’s what I’ve discovered about making lots of money fast… and for a long time.

1. Create products that people want… not what you think they want.

The most successful products are usually done for you, ready to use, make you feel good, and give you hope, and are often NEW and / or improved.

[CB notes… a 2024 real-world example of that is Magic Spoon cereal… Michelle has been buying this grain-free version of Fruit Loops for Isabella…. It has “cutting edge” ingredients and is new and improved over the old version full of sugar and chemical.Another real world example is Skool.com … the latest online community / video portal that many marketers are moving towards. It’s a ready-to-use platform that is also easy to use.]

How do you create products people want?

You put yourself in your customers shoes.

You identify what they value …

And then you fill that desire.

The biggest mistake is trying to something you’ve already made “just because you have it”.

That’s the “Garage Sale” way of thinking… and it doesn’t work.

Interview your customers. Find out their problems. Deliver the solutions.

2. Create Continuity / Recurring Revenue for Stability

Continuity comes in many forms – rent, memberships, subscriptions to services, licensing, multiple payments for high ticket products…

Identify what your customers would be willing to pay for on a regular basis.

I was once a subscriber to the peanut butter of the month club…just shows you that anything can be made into a recurring revenue stream.

3. Don’t just be the authority, be the guy they WANT TO BE LIKE.

Anyone will buy from authority once, BUT they’ll buy from the person they greatly admire (their hero) repeatedly.

Position yourself (through others (social proof and EXPERT proof) rather than simply saying you are the authority. Help THEM come to that natural conclusion on their own.

Today people see Bedros as super successful… but he wrote a book about his early failures and how he learned to become a better man and leader. It’s called Man-Up.

Like ol’ CB, Bedros has made a lot of mistakes along the way in life.

Here’s a list of dumb moves that he made so you never make these mistakes.

Big Bad Mistakes to Avoid

By Bedros Keuilian

DUMB MOVE #1) Never tolerate mediocre employees who don’t meet your expectations or share your core values.

When you as a leader tolerate a substandard employee you’re telling your other team members that you accept a lower standard of work.

Soon two things will happen…

First your employees will begin to lose respect for you for tolerating a substandard employee.

Second, they’ll lower their performance levels. This is one of the fastest ways to destroy your business.

Look, in all of life you get what you tolerate.

So if you’re tolerating mediocrity in your business then you’ll begin to lose customers, profits and the respect of others.

DUMB MOVE #2) Don’t try to do too many things at once.

This is a rookie mistake that I made and I see a ton of business owners making.

New entrepreneurs will try to have too many programs, too many services, too many offerings and too many businesses.

Look, there’s nothing wrong with having many businesses, products, offerings and income streams.

Today I have a ton of businesses and income streams.

But before you spread yourself too thin you’ve got to get your core business dialed in before kicking off the next one.

I call this having entrepreneurial discipline.

And that means having singularity of focus on ONE THING until you have a healthy and profitable business that has strong systems in place and competent people running it so that you can create the next business, product or offer.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen business owners try to create multiple things at once and then they find themselves stressed, overwhelmed, and broke.

DUMB MOVE #3) Poor marketing leads to poor profits.

Once you have a winning product or service that’s profitable, it’s time to scale it.

There’s nothing wrong with organic traffic from social media.

But if you want to take your business to the next level then you’ve got to scale it by running paid ads on social media platforms where you can reach more of the right audience at a MUCH faster rate.

However, here’s the thing with paid ads and traffic – it doesn’t work at first.

You can’t think that you’re going to run your first ad and it’s going to magically get you great leads who will buy your stuff.

It’s going to take some experimenting with the right ad, right offer and sending them to the right sales site until you find the formula that delivers the highest ROAS (return on ad spend).

I’ve got coaching clients who run all types of paid traffic, everything from social media ads, to paid email drops, to radio and TV spots.

In fact in my businesses I spend about $300K a month in various ad spend to help us generate millions in sales each month.

DUMB MOVE #4) Bad leadership is the kiss of death.

The biggest blind spot that most entrepreneurs have is not realizing that they lack good leadership.

Truth is, for most of us leadership is not factory installed.

And if you’re not an effective leader then you’re not going to be able to attract great team members.

I always say that leadership is the problem, leadership is the solution.

Effective leadership is this:

Having a clear vision for what you want for your business and being able to communicate to your team.

It’s being a good problem solver and fast decision maker.

It’s being emotionally disciplined and having the ability to make everyone around you better.

But as I said, leadership is not factory-installed for all of us. It’s like a muscle, and like any muscle, you have to train and develop it.

When I started investing in becoming a better leader I saw a massive shift in my people and profits. Hands down, it was one of the biggest needle movers of all.

Later this year Bedros turns 50…

We talk about his big birthday plans…

The stupid mistakes he made as a teenage gang member…

And how he turned his life around in our upcoming podcast – stay tuned!

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When it comes to personal productivity, we all have the chance to have good days or bad days.

Good days are those that leave you feeling good because you have accomplished your most important tasks. Bad days are those that leave you feeling bad because you have failed to do anything to advance your most important goals.

If you want to have a better life, you must fill it with good days. The best way to do that is to organize your day according to your personal priorities – doing the most important things first.

It’s easy to do. Yet most people don’t. Eighty percent of the people I know – and I’m including all the intelligent and hardworking people I work with – do exactly the opposite. They organize their days around urgencies and emergencies. Taking care of last-minute issues that should have been dealt with earlier. Or doing tasks that help other people achieve their goals while ignoring their own.

Doing first things first. It is a very simple discipline. Yet its transformative power is immense. It can change your life – literally overnight.

It changed my life. Several times, in fact.

I’ve used this amazing technique to write six books, produce a record, and script and direct a feature-length film. I used it again last year to write 350 poems – one a day, after I began on January 15. And I am using it this year to get that book of poems published and to write six other books (five business books under the Michael Masterson pen name, and a novel with my personal byline).

MaryEllen Tribby used this technique to write her first book on marketing, “Changing the Channel,” which John Wiley & Sons published in 2008.

It is the single best technique I know for change. And it’s the fastest and easiest way to turn your life around if you are not happy with the way it’s been going so far.

Doing first things first. Is that what you do?

Here’s what I do:

I get up early – never after 6:30 a.m.
I get to work early – never later than 7:30 a.m.
I spend my first hour doing a task that advances my most important goal.
If I’m going strong, I spend the next hour doing the same thing. If not, I switch to a task that advances my second-most-important goal.
I spend my third hour on another priority.
Only after four hours of doing important work do I allow myself to deal with less important work and other people’s urgencies.

By the time most people start wandering into the office – between 8:30 and 9:00 – I’ve done at least an hour and sometimes two hours of work that is helping me achieve my important goals. Goals that correspond to my core values. Goals that will immensely improve my life.

That’s how to begin a very good day!

I do this five days a week. And on weekends, I find at least two more hours each day to devote to my top priority. In a year, this averages to about 600 hours. Six hundred hours may not sound like much, but it is.

Six hundred hours is fifteen 40-hour work weeks. That’s almost four working months! Think about it.

Here’s what you can accomplish in 600 hours:

Learn to speak a foreign language with moderate proficiency.
Become a reasonably skillful ballroom dancer, with a good command of the swing, the fox trot, the salsa, and the hustle.
Achieve a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or a brown or black belt in one of many other martial arts.
Develop a decent singing voice and feel comfortable singing at parties.
Write five 60,000-word books on a subject you know.
Write and edit two novels or 365 poems.
Write, direct, film, and edit a 30-minute movie.
Start a multimillion-dollar side business.

Do any of those things sound interesting to you?

Now let me show you how I organize my workdays to tie into my long-term goals. Here is the exact schedule I followed on a recent Friday:

6:30: Woke. Dressed. Sprinted, walked, stretched, and meditated on the beach.

The first thing I do is sprint and stretch and meditate. This is the most important thing I can do (besides eating well) to ensure a long and happy life.

7:00: Showered. Changed. Went to my home office.

7:30: Revised two poems written last year.

8:00: Wrote a new poem.

8:30: Wrote 600 words of a new fiction book.

9:30: Wrote 600 words of the marketing book I’m working on.

10:30-11:30: Wrote an essay.

I devote four hours entirely to writing – which is one of my four top priorities. About half my writing time is spent on creative writing and about half on business writing. This reflects a balance that corresponds to my current goals.

11:45: Went to the office. Trained in Jiu Jitsu with Marcel. Showered. Changed.

Jiu Jitsu is a hobby for me. It strengthens me, expands my mind, humbles me, and invigorates me.

1:00: Met with my assistant. Assigned tasks to her.

1:30: Luncheon meeting with AS.

2:45: Another meeting.

3:30: Did a phone interview for “Ready, Fire, Aim.“

4:00: Met with PP to discuss real estate holdings.

I don’t take any meetings until after my midday workout. (I’ve trained everyone I work with not to expect to be able to interrupt me in the morning.) Beginning at noon, my day takes a dramatic change: from a schedule devoted to my primary objectives to one that is devoted to others’ needs. Most of the meetings scheduled during the afternoon, for example, accommodate the wishes of others. They have time to see me each day, but it’s only after I have taken care of my own top priorities.

4:30: Returned phone calls to GP, DT, and LG.

I return phone calls in the late afternoon. It’s not a top priority for me. It’s as simple as that.

5:00: Wrote a blog entry.

If I have a spare half-hour during the afternoon, I devote it to an important but not urgent task… like writing things that don’t have to be done by a specific deadline.

5:45: Reviewed and returned e-mails.

My penultimate task of the day is to review and return e-mails. I used to do it twice a day. Now I do it only once.

6:15: Planned the next day.

This is the last task of my workday.

6:30: Had a fitness workout with JM.

Feeling good about accomplishing most of my priorities, I often reward myself with a second workout.

7:30: Got home for dinner on time!

None of what I’ve said so far should astound you. It’s all good common sense. It’s advice we’ve been giving you in ETR for years.
But it’s one thing to recognize a good technique and quite another thing to learn to use it. Most people who read this essay will think to themselves, “I should do that. I should wake up early and spend time working on my dream.” They’ll think it, but they won’t do it. They may get into the office earlier, but when they do they’ll probably turn on their computer and read their e-mail.

People sometimes ask me if it’s really necessary to get up early. “I’m a night person,” they say. “I get my best work done after dark.”

“Sure you do,” I think when I hear that.

I used to say the same thing. But I was wrong. And I think you will change your mind if you allow yourself to experience the natural, unbeatable advantage of doing your most important work when your body is fresh and strong.

Get up early. Get to work early. Do your important but not urgent tasks first.

[Ed. Note. Mark Morgan Ford was the creator of Early To Rise. In 2011, Mark retired from ETR and now writes the Palm Beach Letter. His advice, in our opinion, continues to get better and better with every essay, particularly in the controversial ones we have shared today. We encourage you to read everything you can that has been written by Mark.]The post How to Do the Things that Matter Most appeared first on Early To Rise.

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In this week’s episode, I discuss the basics of copywriting with Galel Fajardo, one of my coaches at Early To Rise.

You’ll learn how to generate money with the written word, how to improve your copywriting, and what simple practice you can do every day to see a drastic change in results.

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In this week’s episode, I want to introduce you to the men who created a massive impact on my life aside from Jesus and my father. They are my billion-dollar mindset mentors. You’ll hear some stories about these mentors and will share some of the lessons that you can learn from them.

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Today, people call me “The World’s Most Disciplined Man.” That hasn’t come without paying a price. I was terrible at a LOT of things before I became great. In this week’s episode, I share how you can overcome challenges to create Ultimate Self-Discipline in your life.

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Are you an early bird or a night owl? On this week’s episode of Early To Rise Radio, I talk about how to wake up early, and explain how I manage to get five times more done in my mornings – and how YOU CAN TOO!

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Why did you start your business?

Sure…you want to make more money, be your own boss, and do work you love.

But at the end of the day, most people become entrepreneurs for one reason.

They want more freedom!

But if you’re anything like 90% of the entrepreneurs I’ve worked with, once you started your business, you had a rude awakening.

Despite being a #entrepreneur…you have more stress, more work, and less freedom than you did as a 9-5 employee.

So today, I’m going to help you fix this.

I’m going to teach you how to slash 2-3 hours a day off your working hours (maybe even more) without losing a dime in profit.

This process isn’t going to happen overnight…

…And to hit this lofty goal, you’ll be required to spend more time working ON your business in the short-term so you can spend less time working IN it later.

With that said…

Let’s get to work helping you achieve the freedom-filled lifestyle you’ve been after for years.

1. Audit Your Work Week The first step to creating more freedom in your life and business is to ruthlessly assess the FACTS of your life and business as they stand today.

Imagine your business as a box of Legos – you need to dump every piece in the box on a table where you can see it clearly.

Think about everything you do over the course of a week, month or year when you’re working.

And I do mean EVERYTHING…social media, payroll, uploading videos to YouTube, managing accounts, sweeping the floor, checking stats, customer service, writing emails, planning your day – all of it.

To do this effectively, I want you to complete a simple challenge for me this week…

Create a new Google doc or buy an extra journal and, for the next 3-7 days (depending on how much variety you have in your workdays), I want you to jot down everything you do for your business in real-time.

If you’ll do this, I promise that you’ll quickly identify a few tasks you can delegate immediately before doing anything else in this guide.

But for now, just track what you do.

Get the Lego pieces out of the box and onto the table.

And get prepared to give that box a serious makeover.

2. Identify Your REAL Money-MakersOnce you’ve completed the audit, you’ll probably notice that you’re doing a ton of “stuff” to keep your business running that doesn’t actually involve making money.

And the next step in the process is to go through the list you created line-by-line and separate the tasks you wrote down into two columns.

“Money-Makers” and “Everything Else.”

As you’re doing this, be very careful about how you identify these activities – there’s a MAJOR difference between recording a podcast that drives qualified leads to your sales process (A money-making activity).

And actually editing the audio, uploading it to iTunes, embedding it on your blog and posting on social media about it (‘keeping the lights on’ admin work).

Now that you know HOW your business makes money, place a check mark next to everything that makes you a LOT of money.

When you’re done, you’ll have a list that might look a little something like this:

Before we madly outsource everything we can on the left, let’s reflect on our end goal.

Finish work by 2 pm every day without cutting profit.

To get there, we’ve got to face one alarming truth: Most businesses do too many things that are good at converting into interested prospects into customers.

Very few businesses are incredible at doing things that convert interested prospects into customers.

So before we begin the process of elimination, automation, and delegation we must first…

3. Focus On ConversionsMaking more money (or finishing work early without cutting profit) doesn’t mean adding more revenue streams that operate without you to your business.

If we’re going to take three (or more) hours of work off your plate every day, you need to be earning a LOT of money for the time that you invest…

NOT having more ‘stuff’ to worry about.

So take a look at the activities that make you a LOT of money.

In the example I gave, I included things like architecting promotions and creating offers, as well as filming video content, as the most profitable activities…

Yet there’s a difference between dedicating time to crafting a promotion for a $97 product and a $2,000 coaching service (especially if you can modify that to become a group coaching offer).

If you need to, look back at your month-on-month sales numbers for the last 12-24 months. See if you can notice trends between the products you sold, price points, the types of promotions you ran, and the marketing message you used.

If you know whether charging up-front for a high-ticket offer makes you more money from less work than selling something at a lower price and including an upsell…

And that most of your sales came from emails rather than Facebook ads…

And your marketing message was about the goals of your prospects (rather than the things they want to eliminate from their life)…

Your job is to double-down on that process, borrow time from everything else and become incredible at converting THAT sales process into money.

I’m not saying everything else should stop, I’m saying that we just discovered the activities that pay you the highest amount per hour – our most important metric right now.

And to achieve the kind of freedom you’re after, you must accept that you don’t have time to do all of the “grunt work” necessary to attract thousands of people to your highest converting offer each month.

Your goal is to achieve the same income with fewer people (in other words, increasing your conversion rate even more).

4. Wake Up Earlier & Invest in the #1 Profit Driver I’m going to blunt.

If you aren’t making the money you want right now, the reason is simple…

You haven’t developed your high-income skills to a sufficient degree to make the money you desire. Period.

Earning more and working less is always a problem of SKILL, not time.

Whether you need to improve your copywriting, over-the-phone sales, leadership, or social media marketing (which you can learn more about here), you must identify the skill that’s most relevant to your business and double down on it.

Right now that’s your #1 priority – which means you must use the most important time of your day to make that happen:

Specifically…your morning.

By devoting only 30-60 minutes every morning to developing your high-income skills–whether it’s reading books, going through courses, practicing sales role play, practicing your copy, or talking with a coach–you can quickly transform your money-making skills from “good” to “incredible.”

You’ll start making more money in the hours you’re currently working, and that means we can use that extra profit to…

5. Outsource, Delegate & EliminateHaving a business is like having a child – you would never do anything that might cause it pain…

…And you certainly don’t trust just “anyone” with taking care of your kid.

Giving someone else the responsibility over an important area of your business is like sending your child to their first day of school, – TERRIFYING….

But the stone cold truth is that SOMEONE ELSE can do the tasks you don’t need to do faster, better, and more efficiently than you can (and they’ll probably enjoy it a helluva lot more than you do!)

Just like a teacher spends all day actually helping children become functional adults (which you don’t), SOMEONE out there on the internet spends all day helping customers with their support questions (which you shouldn’t because you have a business to run).

SOMEONE out there has spent a huge amount of time thinking about the best way to build a brand by publishing and sharing content on YouTube or social media.

SOMEONE out there has devoted thousands of hours to mastering SEO, content creation, and email marketing.

And even though it might seem like an “expense” to hire this “someone” to help manage your business…it’s nothing more than a trade-off.

Think about it like this…

If your goal is to make $250,000 in 2020 while working only 5 hours a day (from 9 am to 2 pm), this means you need to make roughly $200/hour.

And you’re never going to do this working on $10-$50/hour tasks.

BUT…

If you can shift your focus to even bigger profit-driving opportunities and attack projects that will drive $300-$400/hour, you can outsource everything else without taking a hit to your bottom line.

Now here’s the thing…

To free up such big blocks of time to focus on the key profit drivers won’t happen overnight. And to make it happen you’ll need to…

6. Engage Harder Than EverResearch shows that at least two-thirds of workers in America are “highly disengaged” from their work.

And it won’t surprise you to know that they don’t earn as much money as those people who DO concentrate and engage…

But here’s the crazy part…

According to research from Gallup, simply engaging more deeply in your work can contribute almost two and a half times more earnings.

As a business owner you’re probably not highly disengaged – but the numbers are in on engagement…

And that’s BEFORE you factor in that we’re talking about deep concentration specifically on those tasks that ALREADY make you a bunch of money.

The reason why most people in America don’t do this is simple: It’s really hard.

The human brain is only capable of maintaining this kind of focus for around 50 minutes before performance diminishes.

Dr Srini Pillay, Harvard professor and author of “Tinker, Dabble, Doodle, Try” says to imagine that your brain’s ability to focus is like a source of light…

It can either be incredibly concentrated – like a spotlight on one particular task or activity – or very scattered, like a chandelier that illuminates everything.

To allow yourself the mental capacity to laser in on your work and perform at the highest level you can, you MUST be taking regular breaks every 50 minutes to allow your brain to focus on nothing.

For five or ten minutes out of every hour – wherever possible – you should step outside and stare into the distance at nothing, or doodle mindlessly on a piece of paper while listening to your favorite song.

(Social media doesn’t count as un-focussed brain activity, BTW)

When you ARE working, you must deliberately concentrate as hard as you would when rock-climbing without a harness, or doing brain surgery.

There’s a huge difference between sitting down in front of your computer to tap away at a new email campaign, or do a sales call with a potential prospect…

And concentrating like life itself depends on it while using ALL your training and skills.

Obviously that requires more effort than showing up and mindlessly getting things done – which is why you must give your brain that break. Every time you sit down for a period of brief work, set a 50-minute timer on your phone and make sure you obey the need for your brain to reset.

If you want to finish work by 2pm, you need to be this engaged – and your brain needs you to give it a chance to recover.

When you combine this type of highly engaged work with this final step, you’ll enjoy a level of freedom that most people only dream of:

(If you want more on this, be sure to check out this amazing article)

7. Optimize Your Calendar for Maximum OutputSqueaking a few extra minutes of free time from the end of your day – and gaining as much productivity as possible from the time you do spend working – requires some fine-tuning of HOW you get tasks done.

Imagine this:

You’re in the middle of one of your deep work, 50 minute blocks of intensely engaged productivity, madly tapping away on your computer.

You’re in a flow state, CRUSHING it – and suddenly there’s a blackout.

Once the power comes back on, how long do you think it’ll take you to return to that state of flow where you were performing at your absolute peak?

The stunningly scary answer is over 20 minutes.

It doesn’t matter if you picked up your phone and surfed on Instagram while you waited for the power to turn back on, or pulled out a pen and paper and kept working on something else…

That 20 minutes of lost time doesn’t refer to how long it takes you to recover from a distraction…

(whether it’s out of your control like a blackout, or in your control like answering emails every time your phone dings)

You LOSE 20 minutes getting back in that concentrated flow state when you switch between tasks.

If you read this blog long enough, you’ll know better than to allow another person’s agenda to interrupt that state…

What you might NOT know is that you can save huge chunks of time by scheduling similar tasks together on your calendar.

If we look at the example list of activities that make a LOT of money above, it included things like making videos (speaking), making offers (writing and creativity), and client calls (speaking).

SWITCHING between tasks such as speaking on a video to writing a sales email to speaking on a coaching call does terrible thing to your ability to get into flow.

Wherever possible you should set your day and weekly calendar to batch similar tasks together.

If half of your most profitable money-making activities include writing and creating, and half include speaking with customers…

Split your week in half and dedicate certain days (or mornings) where you ONLY write and create, for example.

This may sound like a small adjustment, but when you combine it with ruthless minimization (or delegation) of ANY tasks that don’t make you a lot of money…

And MULTIPLY that against your ability to produce and perform at an exceptional level…

Your business transforms from a box of Lego pieces that all requires snippets of your focus into a productivity machine.

If you can commit for a short period of time to significantly increase your skills and conversion rates within that machine…

(And if other people are ‘keeping the lights on’ for you…)

You’ll enjoy an extraordinary level of freedom that most people never dream possible:

A full afternoon to do whatever the heck you want (and all the money you need to actually enjoy it)

Over to you… As the old saying goes, “Success loves speed”.

And I challenge you to begin implementing the lessons shared in this guide TODAY.

Start small…

Start your delegation journal, batch your tasks together in your calendar, and try out the 50/10 work/rest model.

Take action, no matter how small and begin building the positive momentum you need to reclaim your freedom.

And if you want a step-by-step system to earn MORE and work a LOT LESS…

Then click here to check out Craig’s system “The 90 Day Blueprint”. A step-by-step system–tested by hundreds of his millionaire clients–that will help you smash through your goals in 90-days or less.

The post 7 Simple Tips to Finish Work Finish by 2 pm Everyday (Without Losing a Dime in Profits) appeared first on Early To Rise.

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This week, I share several action steps you can take to generate money, and generate it QUICKLY.

I’ll give you three primary ways to make more money in business and how to leverage other people’s skills to help you make more!

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Today’s theme is all about “getting started.”

… More importantly, it’s about the easiest way to get started online.

You want to keep it simple, get started fast, make your first sales, celebrate a victory, see progress, and build momentum. That’s what keeps you going.

So let’s answer some of your “getting started” questions…

Q: “I was referred to you by Simon Black. I don’t know where to start. I haven’t created a product yet but I have a general idea about a topic. So what now?” – John Answer:
Hi John, great to hear from you.

Here’s the simplest, easiest, and fastest way to get started.

1) Identify the niche marketplace you want to help

2) Identify how to get in front of this marketplace

3) Take action and start communicating through video and written content to get your message in front of the right market and to build your expertise and email list.

Sure, those are basic tips, but that’s essentially what you have to do. As you know of course, nothing happens until you start taking action.

Make sure you are taking one major action step in the right direction each day.

And watch your email next week for a really in-depth post about how to create the right videos and offers for the email list you’ve built up.

Once you have figured out your audience and sales message, only then should you create a product. And when you’re ready to sell, I recommend using Clickbank.

Yep… Clickbank is still the perfect place to start selling your info products online.

Of course, you could make it harder on yourself, like I did back in 2001, when I tried using paypal to sell my manuals.

I would get an order overnight, and then email the program to my customer. But by then, they would already be angry that it wasn’t automatically delivered.

Fortunately, automatic delivery is one of the problems that Clickbank solves. And it does a lot more than that.

Let me explain…

Q: Do you find Clickbank is the best option for a final product that contains only downloadable files? – JaredAnswer:
Yes, I think it is still the best place to get started.

The benefits are:

a) You can tap into Clickbank’s massive affiliate network (now that’s not easy, but if you
can do this, you’ll exponentially grow your business).

b) Clickbank takes care of the affiliate payouts, refunds, chargebacks (not that you’d
have many), and all the “dirty paperwork” that could otherwise suck up your time.

c) You don’t need your own merchant account.

d) It only costs $50 to sign-up as a vendor and get started selling your info products.

e) It’s about the simplest and quickest solution to getting started online.

That said, there are some downfalls, and the biggest is the fee that Clickbank takes on every sale. That can add up to thousands of dollars over the course of your business career, but if you’re just starting out, it’s worth that trade-off in order to get started online fast.

And you can always change to another e-commerce solution in the future once you start making over $100,000. But let’s get to that $100K first!

Q: Why do you give 100% commissions during the Clickbank launch you describe in your 12-months-to-$100K plan? – Joe Answer:
Great question.

Let me start with a quick background of the plan.

First, I recommend creating a $19.95 introductory offer to build sales momentum in your
business. You’ll also want to have at least one, if not two or three, upsells (of $9.95-$29.95) to go with it.

Second, launch this to your list. Test your sales copy and upsell flow, if possible.

Third, contact affiliates to promote your offer. Do all the work for them, giving them your best converting sales emails, the links they need, etc.

Also, offer them 100% commission on the front-end sale.
That means for every $19.95 order, you’ll give your affiliate every penny of the sale. In the past, you had to send the extra commission manually, but now I believe Clickbank allows you to set affiliate commissions at 100%.

Why would you give away ALL the money? It’s because you are buying the customers.

You have to be okay with giving away all the front-end money in order to get a customer list. It’s from that customer list that you’ll be able to sell higher priced products in the future and make much more profit.

You should be happy to make this trade of 100% commissions for thousands of new customers into your business.

This is a mindset you must have.

It’s also a lot easier than trying to use paid advertising to buy the same number of customers. You can lose a lot of money on Facebook and Google advertising, but getting customers from affiliates is almost risk-free.

If you get that, you’re golden.

Enjoy!
And if you have any other Clickbank questions, let me know.

Talk soon,

Craig Ballantyne

PS – Follow this approach to life…

Always be learning and improving. Baby Steps, little bets, never ending constant improvement, better every day.

It’s something that both Bedros Keuilian and I live every day.

And if you want to apply that to your online business, you should be at our Mastermind Meeting in September in Miami, Florida.

The post The Easiest Way to Get A Business Started Online appeared first on Early To Rise.

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This week, I share 7 business lessons from fatherhood that will help you as a CEO and as a parent!

Running a business and being a parent present unique challenges, but there are several lessons that I’ve learned over the past few years that I’ve been able to apply inside my business and with my coaching clients.

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Last year I started working with a client named Vance.

Now Vance was a smart guy. He was good at what he did, knew how to run his business, and delivered amazing results to all of his clients.

But he had a problem.

After breaking through to 6-figures–more money than he’d ever made in his life–Vance started to self-sabotage.

He had the business and the systems in place to hit his first million dollars, but he just couldn’t seem to do it.

Projects would fall through. Employees disengaged. Major clients would be lost due to preventable errors.

Through all of this, I attempted to coach him and help him remedy the mistakes he was making. But he was so stuck in his little world of perpetual self-sabotage that my hard-won lessons went in one ear and right out the other.

No matter what advice I gave him or how many times I warned him about pending setbacks, there was always some new (and completely avoidable) problem holding Vance back from breaking through to the next level.

Until one day when he’d finally had enough.

“Craig!” he exclaimed on one of our coaching calls, “I just can’t do this anymore. I’m so sick and tired of watching people dumber than me make more money and achieve the success I want.”

And that’s when I knew…He was ready to listen.

“Vance,” I responded, “They’re making more money than you are because they are coachable. They know how to listen to people who already have the results they want and take action on what they hear.”

“If you’re ready to do that,” I continued, “I know how to solve the problems you’re facing in your business.”

For the next hour, I shared with Vance the critical mistakes he was making that were holding him back from the income he wanted and the exact steps he needed to take to fix them.

Nine months later, he had his first $85,000 month and today, he does well over $100,000 in revenue each and every month – and best of all, his business is very, very profitable!

To help you replicate his results and achieve your first 7-figures, I’ve created a list of the most common mistakes you’re probably making that are stopping you from becoming a millionaire.

If you will listen to what I have to share with you and, more importantly, take action to fix it, you may make your first $1,000,000 by the end of this year…faster than you ever thought possible.

Let’s dive in.

Mistake #1 – You Believe Someone Else Will Save YouThe first, and most sinister mistake that holds entrepreneurs back from hitting their first 7-figures is what I call the “Man on the White Horse Syndrome.”

And it goes like this.

You believe, as do many “wantrepreneurs” that someone else is coming to save you. You’ve abdicated yourself of responsibility for your life and results and instead opted to place that burden on the shoulders of someone or something else.

Instead of taking full responsibility for your life and success, you rely on hope. You hope the next course you buy or coach you hire or event you attend will solve all of your problems and transform your business, allowing you to finally make the income you desire.

You hope the new employee you just hired will magically fix your shoddy marketing campaigns or turn around your company’s finances.

You keep waiting around for someone, anyone other than yourself to fix the problems you’ve created…But guess what? They never do and they never will.

If you want to achieve massive success, earn your first 7-figures, and still maintain your sanity while doing it, you must take responsibility for your life.

Coaches, courses, masterminds, and employees are essential to your success (and we’ll talk about each of them throughout this article). But if you aren’t to accept complete and total responsibility for your life and results, they can’t help you.

Until you take extreme ownership of your life and results and intensely commit to achieving your goals and dreams they will never happen.

You are the only person with the power to change your life and the sole arbiter of your success and failure. And to achieve the goals you’ve set, you must accept this.

Accept that you are the reason your business is not yet netting $1,000,000. You are the reason you work 16 hours a day and miss out on time with your spouse and kids. You are the reason you make it to the end of the month with barely enough money to get by.

But guess what? You can also be the reason why your company breaks through the 7-figure mark. Why you reclaim your schedule and make the time for the things and people who matter most. Why your health, finances, relationships, and business ‘work’ and everything in your life seems to fall into place.

Remember: When you take full responsibility for everything in your life and everything not in your life, there’s no one to blame but yourself.

Mistake #2 – You’re Dreaming, Not Doing Albert Einstein once said, “Vision without action is hallucination.”

And quite frankly, I see a lot of entrepreneurs spending too much time dreaming and not doing. They become “professional white boarders”, covering walls with ideas but never gluing their butt to a chair and getting work done.

They see the goals they want to achieve. They have their ideal life written down. They’ve spent hours creating the perfect vision board. They’ve even changed their Instagram bio to “7-figure entrepreneur in the making.”

But they aren’t actually doing anything to bring their vision into reality.

They’re hallucinating–mentally tripping to the idea of success without ever taking the action required to experience it. Sure, they talk a big game. But when it comes time to actually execute on the things they’ve written down and shared with the world, they are nowhere to be found.

The reason is simple…They’ve set unrealistic expectations.

I was recently on a coaching call with a client of mine, we’ll call him Steve who was complaining about a new product he’s creating.

“Craig,” he told me, “Selling premium products is so hard. I can’t seem to make any headway…I think I’m just going to take the easy route and sell cheaper products.”

But he was missing the point.

Success is supposed to be hard. If becoming a millionaire was easy, everyone would do it. There would be no need to read essays like this one or work with coaches or attend events or develop your skills.

It’s not easy…and it’s not supposed to be… but it can be SIMPLE.

And the second you stop expecting success to be easy is when it actually becomes easy.

When your expectations are aligned with the reality of achieving your vision, it won’t feel hard anymore. You’ll still face challenges, you’ll still be uncomfortable, and you’ll still struggle to live in alignment with the vision you’ve set for yourself.

But you will expect all of these things, making them easier to contend with and easier to sustain.

It’s only once you accept how hard success will be that you can take the steps required to achieve it.

When you expect to make your first million with 15 hour work weeks and a single ad campaign (newsflash: this is NOT going to happen), you’ll quickly fall prey to discouragement and burnout.

But when you expect it to take months, even years of hard work. When you expect the long hours and the failures and the frustration–you won’t get discouraged and you won’t give up.

You’ll show up everyday, put in the work, and eventually you will hit your first 7-figures and live your perfect life.

Mistake #3 – You’re Stuck in the ‘Thirsty Donkey Paradox’ So there’s an old wives tale that if you put a thirsty donkey between two pails of water that are equidistant from it, the donkey will sit in the middle for hours, not knowing what to do.

Both pails are equally close and both are filled with water. But the donkey is unable to decide which pail to walk to and will stand in between them until it passes out from thirst.

Now.

I don’t know if this particular tale is true or not, but it illustrates an important struggle that holds many entrepreneurs back from their first 7-figures (in some cases, even their first six).

And the struggle is this. Most entrepreneurs struggle to overcome shiny object syndrome and develop singularity of focus.

They have so many different options and opportunities and ideas they could pursue they fail to ever pick one and focus on it. Instead of going all in on their ‘One Thing’, they waste years trying to figure out what to chase, bouncing from idea to idea, business to business, and skill to skill until they find themselves–a decade later–having made plenty of motion without gaining any momentum.

To achieve your first 7-figures you must overcome the thirsty donkey paradox and develop that single-minded focus required to go after your biggest goals and dreams.

It doesn’t matter if you aren’t certain what you should do right now. Do something, go all in, and if you believe you made the wrong decision after giving it your all for 18-24 months…then you can focus on something different. Not before.

As my mentor Mark Ford shared in his essay on getting rich:

“When I was 33, I decided to become rich. And I made that my supreme and overriding goal. There were plenty of other things that I wanted to do – like reading books and playing sports and traveling. But I made them all distant secondary objectives. The lion’s share of my time and mental energy would be devoted to getting rich.

This decision radically changed my life. I went from broke to kinda rich in about 18 months. I became a deca-millionaire about six years later.

Having a single supreme and overriding goal gave me laser-sharp focus and shark-like ambition. Day-to-day business decisions – once complicated – were easy to make. I simply asked myself, “Which is the option that will bring me the most money?” Presto! The choice was clear.”

Pick ONE goal and go after it with all of your heart. If it doesn’t work out, you still made more progress, learned more lessons, and cultivated more connections than you would have sitting on your couch theorizing about what you should do.

Mistake #4 – You Underestimate the Importance of Environment My friend and client Jason Capital–a strapping young man who made his first million at 23 and has gone on to build an 8-figure business at the age of 30–has a saying:

“Environment is destiny.”

Not, “Environment is important.”

Environment is destiny. It is the x factor that will determine whether you achieve wild and rapid success or spin your wheels in the mud for years.

And this applies to both your local and global environment.

Your local environment (i.e. your office) determines the quality and productivity of your day-to-day activities.

If you have a distraction free office space completely optimized to facilitate flow states and keep you on track, successfully executing the processes required to achieve your goals will become easier.

When your living and working environments are tailored to your specific needs and goals–I’m talking about everything from having premade meals delivered to having the right lighting to buying a set of noise blocking headphones–success becomes more automatic. You’ll have fewer obstacles in your path and won’t waste time trying to overcome the inertia of a distracting environment.

On the other hand, your global environment–the people with whom you surround yourself, the events you attend, and the information you consume–is just as important, if not more so.

We’ve all heard that “You’re the average of the five people you spend your time with most.”

But what most people don’t know is the research actually bears this out. A study at the Harvard Business School found that individuals who spend time with smokers are more likely to smoke, people who have obese friends are more likely to gain weight, and people who surround themselves with positive, happy, and successful people are more likely to become positive, happy, and successful.

You become who you surround yourself with. And if you aren’t surrounding yourself with millionaires, whether through your network, coaching, events, or even virtually…you stand no chance of hitting your first 7-figures.

Whether you have to fly across the country to attend my 3rd annual Perfect Life Retreat event (be sure to block off November 8-9th to join me in beautiful San Diego, California), hold a garage sale to pay for coaching, or simply get in your car and drive yourself to a local investors meetup…Do WHATEVER it takes to surround yourself with people who think big and act bigger.

Levelling up your network is the closest thing to a ‘success shortcut’ you’ll ever find.

So do what it takes to get the right people in your life and watch your life and business explode.

Mistake #5 – You Are Failing to Delegate and CommunicateMost entrepreneurs fall into one of two camps.

The do-it-all-myself’ers
The do-it-all-yourself’ers

To hit your first 7-figures you must avoid them both.

Listen, I know so many entrepreneurs who are operating their life and business from a place of scarcity. They’re afraid to hire a new employee or assistant because they don’t want to lose out on that extra money. They’re afraid of outsourcing tasks and delegating responsibilities so they try to do it all themselves.

They waste hours and hours each week mired in busy work that is actively stopping them from earning more income and achieving the life they desire.

On the other hand, I know plenty of entrepreneurs who fall victim to the “Man on the White Horse” syndrome and outsource too much, expecting employees to run the show for them, developing the company vision, executing on that vision, and somehow keeping themselves motivated while the CEO shirks their responsibilities and outsources every activity but eating.

If you want 2019 to be the year where you make your first million, you must learn to strike a balance between these two extremes.

You must learn how to outsource the right tasks while controlling the most important parts of your company. To let go of the busy work and minutiae and focus only on the activities that drive the most profit and growth.

You can’t do it by yourself and spend years suffering in silence.

But they can’t do it all for you either.

You’ve gotta find that sweet spot and put the right team in place so you can stop being the bottleneck in your own success and finally achieve those big goals and dreams.

Mistake #6 – You’re Missing the Roadmap for Millionaire Status Brian Tracy has a saying: “A genius without a roadmap will get lost in any country. But an average person with a roadmap can find their way to any destination.”

If you don’t have a roadmap and a blueprint for achieving the life you desire and building the business you’ve always wanted, you will never actually do it.

You’ll waste years, maybe even decades, running around in circles and allowing yourself to get pulled in a dozen different directions without ever making progress in one.

Without a proven blueprint for success, you will always be one step behind of your competitors and fail to see the forest through the trees.

So right now, let me ask you:

Do you know exactly what outcomes you want to achieve by the end of the year and, more importantly, what processes you must follow on a monthly, weekly, and daily basis to achieve them?

Do you have your targets and goals for the next 90 days clearly mapped out and have a crystal clear understanding of exactly what needs to be done and how you’re going to do it?

Do you know your biggest priorities for this week and the most important things that must be accomplished by Friday to ensure you’re one step closer to that big vision?

And finally, do you have your day tomorrow perfectly mapped out, knowing exactly what you’re doing, when you’re doing it, and how it’s going to propel you towards the attainment of your biggest goals?

If your answer is anything other than a resounding, “Heck yes!” this could be the factor holding you back from your first 7-figures.

With a clear roadmap for success, everything becomes easier.

You no longer have to waste your time wondering what to do. You already know what to do. You simply have to show up and do it.

If you want to gain access to the exact blueprint you need to build more structure into your days and create a plan guaranteed to help you achieve income you desire, then click here to grab a free copy of my book The Perfect Day Formula so you can conquer the chaos around you and focus only on those things that will drive real results in your life and business.

Mistake #7 – You Lack the “Missing Link” to Get to the Next Level Listen. You can have a bulletproof roadmap for achieving success. You can surround yourself with amazing mentors and a rockstar network. You can outsource the “dirty work” and spend all of your time focused on strategy and leadership.

But if you don’t consistently show up each and every day and take action, none of these other strategies will matter.

And the only way (at least that I know of) to consistently take action and step up to the plate to swing, ~~even~~ especially when you don’t feel like it, is to hold yourself radically accountable to someone you deeply don’t want to disappoint.

Coaching and Accountability are proven to be the missing links to millionaire status.

Over the past few years, I’ve helped thousands of entrepreneurs increase their income and I’ve personally coached dozens of top performers to the million dollar level.

But the surprising thing they’d tell you is that the strategy we created together wasn’t the most important part of their coaching experience. It was the accountability.

The thing that pushed them over the edge and helped them finally tap into their greatness and build the business they always wanted wasn’t the tactical referral scripts or the done-for-you marketing campaigns…It was waking up each morning and thinking to themselves, “Gosh, I really don’t want to show up today…But Craig I told Craig I would do it and I don’t want to let him down.”

Now whether you decide to work with me personally (see below) or work with another coach or mentor, the ONLY way to create and sustain the success and income you desire is to build unshakable accountability into your life and business so you have no choice but to succeed.

This has been a game changer in my life and the lives of all of my top-performing clients. And if you’ll take action on this and apply it to your life…It’ll change the game for your life and business so fast you won’t even know what hit you.

If you want help overcoming these 7 mistakes and reaching your first 7-figures in 2024, I can help.

Send me an email at support@earlytorise.com for more details.

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In this week’s episode, I share some of the brutally honest advice that I’d share to my younger self.

You’ll learn about some of the mistakes I’ve made that have cost me money, as well as several changes that have helped me make more than I imagined I would as a farm boy from Stratford, Ontario.

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When I was fifteen, I was what some would call “socially challenged.”

During the few years I attended public school (before transitioning to homeschooling), I was the kid nestled behind the bushes at recess reading the latest Harry Potter novel or drawing fictional battles between my favorite characters from Lord of the Rings.

Talking to others made me anxious and insecure. The few friendships I had were inconsistent and confusing. I was subjected to regular bullying, both physical and verbal. And finding a girl who would give me the time of day–much less allow me to take her out on a date? All but impossible.

And eventually…I’d had enough.

In the depths of my desperation, I did the only thing I knew how to do.

I Googled, “How to get better socially” (and “How do I get a girlfriend?!”)

This single search, simple though it may have been, was the catalyst for a radical personal transformation.

Because it started my love affair with podcasts.

As I dove into the rabbit hole of my iPhone’s podcast app, it led me to The Art of Charm (now The Jordan Harbinger Show), Knowledge for Men, and–most relevant to our discussion today–a show called The Kickass Life, hosted by David T.S. Wood.

And it was on David’s show that I was first introduced to Jim Kwik.

Before his rise to fame, before his podcast (which has over 10,000,000 downloads), and before his keynote speeches and crazy projects with the cast of The X-Men…Jim was virtually mentoring fifteen year-old me, helping me overcome my limiting beliefs, eradicate my negative self-talk, and transform myself by first transforming my brain.

And today, I’m going to give you the five most important things I’ve learned from Jim after following him for more than seven years.

With the lessons I’m about to share with you, you’ll be able to rewire and optimize your brain for more focus, performance, and success.

Let’s dive in.

1. Consume a Brain Healthy Diet According to Jim, the most basic building block of mental performance and age defying brain health is, quite unsurprisingly, the fuel with which you are feeding your brain.

Namely, food.

Now, I’m sure you’ve heard many an expert pronounce from their pulpit that, “Your diet is the most important factor for longevity, performance, and overall well being.” But few people fully understand the gravity of that statement.

Recent studies have found that roughly 90% of your body’s serotonin–the neurochemical related to mood, social behavior, appetite, and sex drive–is produced in the gut, not the brain.

Other studies have linked Type III allergic reactions (nonfatal reactions with delayed symptoms) with autism, ADHD, depression, and more.

Still other studies have shown that diets high in processed foods and low in neuroprotective foods (I’ll get to those in a minute) are linked impaired memory, slower learning, brain fog, lowered emotional control, anxiety, and depression.

So it’s pretty clear that you diet matters…A lot.

But the question still remains:

What on earth are you supposed to eat for optimal brain health and mental performance?

Due to our species’ high level of bio individuality, there’s no one clear answer to this question.

But there are a few guidelines.

Namely:

Eliminate or reduce processed foods and refined sugars: They lead to brain inflammation, wreak havoc on your gut, and cause all sorts of other nasty problems. If it didn’t grow in the ground or have a pulse…Don’t eat it.
Eat more fat: Despite what you heard in grade school, fat doesn’t make you fat and it doesn’t make you dumb. It’s one of the most essential macronutrients for brain health and you should try your best to consume it any time you can. Eat plenty of olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, grilled fish, and nuts.
Eat Neuroprotective Foods: Certain foods contain compounds with neuroprotective effects–that is foods that guard your brain from damage and help repair oxidative stress. Things like blueberries, dark chocolate (yay!), coffee, pumpkin seeds, and turmeric are all important additions to a brain healthy diet.
Cut out Alcohol and Sugary Drinks: Sorry. But that afternoon soda and daily nightcap aren’t just damaging your waistline…They’re also destroying your brain. Cut them out or at the least, cut back.

I would also encourage you to invest in a comprehensive set of blood and gut panels to identify any micronutrient deficiencies or food allergies that may be present in your body. For those of you who are already eating a healthy diet but still lacking the mental power and focus you crave, the solution could be as simple as clicking “Add to Cart” on a few bottles of GABA and magnesium.

2. Spray Insecticide on the A.N.T.s Listen. Sometimes, no matter how hard we try or how positive we try to think…Life can just plain suck. Businesses implode. Spouses leave. Children do stupid things. The IRS asks for more than you set aside.

Sh…stuff happens.

And oftentimes, when genuine tragedy and failure occurs, the best thing we can do for our own sanity is to experience the melancholy, the heartbreak, the anger, and the frustration. Despite what many a guru might tell you, negative emotions are just as effective at fueling change and growth as positive ones.

“In life, you need either inspiration or desperation”

Tony Robbins

However, many of us (myself most certainly included) allow an unnecessary and unnatural form of negativity to rule our lives.

Specifically, we succumb to A.N.T.s or Automatic Negative Thoughts, the health of our brains and quality of our mental performance can plummet.

A.N.T.s are, as the name implies, are automatic patterns of thought that have a negative impact on the physical and mental health of an individual.

Things like:

I never do anything right.
This will never work.
I always mess things up.
I’m bad at [insert specific skill]
I’ll never make this work

Are all examples of ANTs.

While it should be pretty obvious that these negative mental loops serve neither yourself nor the world, the damage they can cause is much more severe than most people might imagine.

The thoughts you have, both positive and negative, have a chemical and physiological effect on your brain.

And if you regularly entertain more negative thoughts than positive ones, it can lead to:

Slowed production of BDNF (brain derived nootropic factor)
Reduction in dopamine and serotonin levels
Shrinking of your brain size and the enlargement of your amygdala (the fear center of your brain).
And accelerated brain aging.

Negativity is, quite literally, killing your brain.

So what can you do about it?

Here are a few strategies from both Jim and Dr. Daniel Amen, Founder of Amen Clinics and the Nation’s foremost brain health expert:

Write them down: Get them out of your head and onto paper. Whenever you find yourself stuck in a negative mental loop, simply acknowledge how you feel without judgement and write down the thought. After a few weeks, you’ll likely notice that almost all of your ANTs are nestled under the umbrella of 2-3 specific negative loops.
Ask yourself, “Is this true? Does it have to stay true?”: Once you’ve identified the negative thought, ask yourself, “Is this true? And must it stay true?” For example, if you say, “I always fail at business.” and you have indeed failed at every business you’ve ever started, asking the question, “Must it stay true?” will help you set the wheels of your brain moving in a different direction where you can solve the problem instead of repeating it.
Turn Your ANTS into PETs: With a negative thought identified and written down, rewrite that same thought and turn it into a PET or positive, empowering thought. For example, after making a mistake at work, you might think, “I’m no good at this, I’m probably going to get fired,” an obvious ANT. A PET would be, “I made a mistake, but mistakes happen. I’m going to work through this and do what I need to do to improve.”
Meditate: Meditation will give you greater awareness of and control over your emotions, allowing you to end the ANTs as they arise. It takes time before you will see the benefits of this practice, but I promise they’re worth it.
Go on a Negativity Fast: Stop watching the news. Don’t watch divisive interviews, speeches, or debates. Step away from external negativity and feed yourself only positive and uplifting content until you have a greater degree of control over your emotional states.

3. Elevate Your Peer Group A recent study published by Harvard showed, empirically, something that self-help experts and your parents have been telling you since the time you were a child.

You become who you surround yourself with.

“You’re the average of the five people you spend time with most.”

Jim Rohn

Their study found that people who frequently spent time around overweight individuals were more likely to become overweight. People who spent time around smokers were more likely to become smokers. People who spent time with healthy and happy people were more likely to report feeling happy and healthy.

The importance of selectively curating high-quality individuals for your social circle can no longer be relegated to the realm of overused aphorisms and motivational Instagram posts.

It’s a proven fact.

When you spend time around unhealthy, toxic, and negative people, you will slowly begin to adopt their patterns and behaviors. Because not only is negativity toxic to your brain and performance…studies have shown it’s also contagious.

Their low-caliber behaviors will grate away at your mental reserves and slowly but surely degrade the quality of your thinking and the performance of your mind. Negative thoughts will become more prevalent (and more persistent) and you will struggle to break free from the level of thinking to which your peer group has lowered you.

Luckily, the solution is simple.

Excise negative people from your life like a disease.

This is not to say you should burn bridges or sever ties with friends who have been there for you during your darker times.

Rather that you must identify the individuals in your life who drain you energy and mental resources without offering anything in return and cut them out of your life.

If the negative individuals in question happen to be family? Then limit your contact with them. And when you do see them, refuse to stoop to their level. Challenge them to rise to your level of ambition, thinking, and refuse to engage in their negativity.

Guard your social circle with the same intensity you (should) guard your time and financial resources.

Because it’s just as important for your mental performance, brain health, and success–if not more so.

4. Pursue Bewilderment to Foster Curiosity There are four words in the English language, innocuous though they may seem, that spell the death of your growth, performance, and yes, the health of your brain.

I already know that.

They say that with age comes experience and with experience wisdom. But often times, the reality is that with age comes experience and with experience comes stubbornness.

We do things our way because that’s how we’ve always done it–and it hasn’t killed us (yet).

But worse than stubbornness is the boredom that often comes with age.

Years of ‘the same ‘ol thing’ wear down on our psyche and lead to complacency. We shop at the same stores, go to the same restaurants, read books from the same authors, and do the same things.

To improve your mental performance and build a brain that defies age, growing and improving until your final days, you must abandon routine and pursue bewilderment.

Study after study has shown that your brain can quite literally create new brain cells (neurogenesis) and alter existing neural pathways (neuroplasticity).

So you can and should teach an old dog new tricks.

According to Kwik, one of the most important things you can do for the health of your brain (and life) is to foster a sense of bewilderment and curiosity about the world around you.

Constantly learn and try new things. Read books from authors with whom you are unfamiliar, learn new languages, pick up a new instrument, learn to juggle, learn to SCUBA, travel to new countries…

Give your brain the novelty it craves and it will become smarter, faster, and better in every way.

5.Do That Which Makes You Come Alive Of the many insights I’ve gleaned from Jim’s interviews, courses, and presentations over the few months I’ve followed him, the most profound is this:

“Most of the time we feel tired not because we’ve done too much but because we’ve done too little of what makes us come alive.”

Jim Kwik

If you’re feeling burned out, tired, exhausted, and unmotivated, I can all but promise you it isn’t because you’re working too many hours or doing too much (this is a symptom, rarely the underlying cause).

It’s because you aren’t doing enough of the things that fill your soul and make you feel alive.

Maybe you made a business decision that led to more income but gave you less time to focus on the things you enjoy most.

Maybe you’ve been grinding so hard at work that you haven’t made time to paint, or play the guitar, or write your novel, or do any of the other things you enjoy.

Maybe you’ve taken on a “Shadow Career” as Steven Pressfield calls it, doing work that pays the bills while refusing your true calling.

Whatever the case…Do more of the things that make you come alive.

Make time for your hobbies and passions. Architect a business that allows you to pursue your highest calling while making money. Live your life in a way where you plan your weeks and engineer your days for maximum aliveness.

Schedule adventures into every week and make sure to spend at least 30-minutes a day doing something you love.

If you will do this, not only will you have a healthier brain…You’ll have a more wholesome and fulfilling life.

Life is for the living. So do what makes you come alive.

The post Jim Kwik’s 5 Tips to Optimize Your Brain for Peak Performance and Success appeared first on Early To Rise.

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During the average afternoon, you are subjected to more distractions–both willingly and unwillingly–than previous generations experienced in an entire month.

An endless stream of notifications, new content, advertisements, and other time sinks constantly pull at our attention, distracting us from the tasks and projects that matter most.

To succeed in the modern world, you must learn how to control and conquer distractions or they will control you.

Don’t worry.

Here are 5 simple (and counter intuitive) tactics you can implement to beat distraction once and for all.

Let’s dive in.

1. Allow Yourself to Be Distracted (With a Caveat) One of the most counter intuitive, yet effective habits you can implement to overcome distraction and make real progress on the things that matter is…

…To surrender to and accept distraction.

Sort of.

Listen, if you’re anything like me, there’s no end to the number of distractions pulling at the strings of your mind.

Articles you want to read, courses you want to finish, podcasts you want to listen to, and social media channels through which you want to scroll are in no short supply.

“Ooh, Sally is in Colorado right now, I wonder if she’s posted any cool pictures on Instagram?”

“Oh snap! Craig Ballantyne just uploaded a podcast with the $100,000,000 man! I really need to check that out so I can grow my business.”

“Wait! Elon Musk did what on Joe Rogan’s show? I’ve gotta see this.”

Yet oftentimes, fighting these distractions often makes them more tempting.

When you deny these desires and leave these loops unclosed for too long, they become more deleterious to your productivity and success than simply giving in.

Your brain cannot handle the ‘not knowing’ and will continue to pester you until you cave and spend an entire afternoon binging YouTube videos or skimming through an endless stream of social media updates and new articles.

So what’s the solution?

Give into these distractions…In moderation.

Instead of trying to work through the entire day and spend 8-12 uninterrupted hours focused only on your work, break up your day into blocks.

Work for 25-50 minutes and then set a timer for 10-20 minutes and allow yourself to explore your distractions, guilt-free.

With this simple method, distractions immediately lose their potency.

You no longer think to yourself, “Man I really want to check xyz…But I can’t until tonight.”

Instead, you think, “Man, I really want to check xyz…But I need to finish up this block of work. I’ll do it in 15 minutes.”

The shorter time-to-distraction makes it easier for you to stay focused now and allows you to enjoy your distractions without sabotaging your productivity.

2. Give Yourself Less Time to Complete Tasks One of the lesser known traits of massively successful people is masterful procrastination.

Let me explain.

In Tim Ferriss’s now-classic business book The 4-Hour Work Week, he explains something known as Parkinson’s Law–the idea that work will expand to fill the time you’ve allotted for it.

If you give yourself six weeks to complete a task (god forbid), it will take six weeks.

If you give yourself a week, it will take one week and so on and so forth.

Successful people understand and apply this principle through the careful application of intentional and masterful procrastination.

When you give yourself too much time to complete a task, distraction and boredom become inevitable. There’s no reason for you to stay focused and complete the task quickly–so you don’t. You succumb to distraction and find yourself completing the project at the last possible minute, degrading the quality of your work and causing unnecessary stress.

Instead, procrastinate with intention.

Don’t wait until the last minute. But wait just long enough that there is a sense of urgency to your work.

Urgency breeds intensity which in turn breeds efficiency.

When you have only a few days (or a few hours) before an impending deadline, distractions become a non-issue and an unaffordable luxury.

You know the feeling that arises when you are forced to condense 12 hours of work into a six hour work day.

Flow states come easily, distractions are kept well out of mind, and a laser like focus and intense determination seems to be the only state in which you are capable of being.

And you can cultivate this state each and every day by mastering procrastination and making your deadlines work for you instead of the other way around.

3. Don’t Fall for the “Screw It” Effect If you’ve ever struggled with addiction or taken on the challenge to abstain from a particular vice (television, social media, etc.), you are undoubtedly familiar with the ‘screw it’ effect.

For example, if you are trying to quit smoking and a moment of weakness causes you to have one cigarette with a friend, the next thought to enter your mind is “Screw it, I’ve already had one” and before you know it, you’re a pack and a half into the week and stuck in your habit once again.

Or, if you’ve ever been following a strict diet and tried to have “Just one” bite of a delicious homemade cookie, what follows is often the ravenous consumption of so many cookies that the Cookie Monster himself would blush…Because “Screw it.”

Or, an example that’s a bit more relevant to our conversation, if you’ve ever been hard at work and unwittingly encountered a distracting website or notification, the “Screw It Effect” sends you into a downwards spiral of distraction causing you to waste an entire afternoon in a vortex of click bait and hilarious gifs.

While I wish I could provide you with research backed tips and tricks to help you overcome this psychological proclivity–I can’t.

The truth is, defeating the “Screw It Effect,” begins and ends with self-awareness.

There’s nothing you can do to unclick the video that just stole 15 of your most productive minutes. But you can get refocused now.

You can’t undo the hour you just wasted skimming through your favorite bloggers archives. But you can acknowledge your mistake and take the requisite action to fix it.

4. Create a “Deep Work Zone” Something about which I’ve written a lot in recent months is the importance of location based anchors.

In other words, the importance of rigging your local environments to serve your goals and facilitate higher levels of focus, productivity, and success.

And one of the most important locational anchors you can create is what I call a “Deep Work Zone.”

Your deep work zone is sacred. It’s an untouchable part of your home or office that is reserved exclusively for tapping into undistracted work on your most important tasks.

This is not where you take calls with prospective clients. It’s not where you brush up on the news or check social media or chat with your folks or answer emails.

It is where you do the hardest and most focus-intense work you have each week–and only that work.

By creating a space that is free of physical clutter and used exclusively for your most challenging work, you will train your brain to associate that particular corner of your home or office with deep work and deep work alone.

Your brain will think, “Ok…We’re here again. It’s time to get to work.”

I encourage you to couple this locational anchor with an auditory anchor (e.g. one specific song) to further increase the speed with which you can dive into deep work and lower the time it takes you to get into flow.

After using this space for a couple of weeks, you’ll notice a marginal improvement in your work. After a few months, you’ll be able to compress an entire day’s worth of work into a single morning. And after a year? Your “Deep Work Zone” will become a location of unstoppable creation and productivity.

5. Leverage Accountability Finally, to achieve a distraction-free life and tap into unprecedented levels of productivity and focus, you must leverage accountability.

When the buck stops with you–when you are the only person to whom you are accountable–distraction is all but inevitable. There are too many distractions too carefully created to steal your attention and sabotage your efforts for you to handle them by yourself.

However, when you hold yourself radically accountable to someone you do not want to disappoint, saying “No” to distractions becomes easy.

If you tell a coach or mentor that you will not check Facebook, or scroll through a specific blog, or waste time on YouTube (unless these distractions are scheduled), it is much harder to give into the temptation–especially if you leverage website blockers and other software.

By having the right person in your corner, setting motivating deadlines, and leveraging their accountability to increase your motivation, everything becomes easier.

You’ll force yourself to tap into greater levels of productivity and focus and consciously eliminate or reduce distractions throughout your work day.

Accountability is your “secret weapon” to defeat distraction, reclaim your time, and live your perfect life.

Use it.

The post 5 Counter Intuitive Ways to Overcome Distraction and Achieve Your Biggest Goals appeared first on Early To Rise.

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A well-kept secret of successful companies comes down to having The War Room.

It was December, 2015.

I was standing at the front of a small auditorium in Denver, watched from every angle by an intimate group of entrepreneurs. People had flown to Denver from as far away as Bangkok and London to be at this closed-door event.

To make the hours of travel worthwhile, Former ETR Partner and CEO of Royalty Exchange Matt Smith had given me permission to introduce the crowd to one of his most powerful, profit generating tools

It’s called “The War Room,” and has been responsible for hundreds of millions in profit across the organizations that use it

One of the four critical management rhythms that Matt picked up on during his journey to becoming an ultra successful entrepreneur (more on the other three another time), is that The War Room is the heartbeat of your organization’s revenue.

This is because in just 30 minutes every day, The War Room:

Evolves your organization’s marketing DNA by publicly identifying exactly WHAT is putting cash in the bank and should be scaled… as well as what has been a costly mistake that should never be repeated.
Sharpens the focus and attention of every member of your team, leveraging their collective intelligence to identify new, hidden revenue opportunities that you can exploit immediately (this is how multi-million dollar businesses are identifying new promotions, new revenue streams, and their low-hanging fruit).
Aligns every single member of the team to take advantage of the identified opportunities, tasking every individual with a way to capitalize on it immediately… lifting your revenue within hours.

Here’s how it works:

Schedule The War Room as the first meeting every morning. Your entire sales and marketing team attends. Everyone involved is ruthlessly objective about their performance yesterday, so that they can be even better today.All members show up on time, at the same time every morning. They come prepared with the answers to questions below already prepared (grab a pen and write these down to share with your staff).

With all in attendance, and everyone prepared, each member of the team reports for their campaigns:

How many sales were generated yesterday?
How much new recurring revenue was added yesterday?
What was the ad click through rate?
What was the sales page conversion rate?
What was the campaign conversion rate? (Ad:Buy %)
What was the customer acquisition cost?
What was the average order value?
What was the net profit per order?
What is the biggest revenue opportunity available… and how can we exploit it today?

When you ask these black and white questions, everybody deals with the reality of the situation. Everybody sees new revenue opportunities, identifies what’s working, and eliminates what is losing money before it results in irreversible costs.

If you’ve read this far, and it sounds like a great idea, you’re probably dreaming about implementing it in your own business.

Before you can do this, you need to know that there might be some resistance from your staff.

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The knowledge that a heavy dose of reality is coming can be uncomfortable. Some employees might argue against yet another meeting. And as a result of this discomfort, you might even start second-guessing yourself about whether The War Room is that critical.

Should you really need to copy what nine figure businesses like Stansberry & Associates do if it makes your employees unhappy?

Is it worth risking your employee happiness, even if Matt has used it as one of his four key management rhythms with every business he’s grown?

And do you really need another meeting… especially because they don’t make people happy?

The answer to all of the above is… YES.

What you’ve read on those “entrepreneur magazine” websites is flat wrong. Your objective at work isn’t pure employee happiness or day-long smiles.No. Your objective is generating profits through effective employees. And the uncomfortable truth is that if your business isn’t profitable, all the candy walls, indoor swimming pools, and Friday night drinks in the world can’t save it.

Again: your mission is to get results through other people. To do that, you must manage other people’s performance.

And when it comes to managing other people’s performance, there’s no more profitable way than The War Room.

Go and run your first one now,

Craig

P.S. Don’t just close this email and let the idea of The War Room waste in your inbox. That would be a waste of your time and talent.

You see, the War Room was developed by the Ferber brothers at Advertising.com. The success of Advertising.com, thanks in no small part to the performance generated by their 30-minute daily War Room, resulted in a $435 million acquisition by AOL Time Warner. Since this acquisition, former employees of Advertising.com have gone on to build more multi-million dollar businesses using the exact same process.

Let their example guide you. Run The War Room today in your business.

Then hit reply and let us know what you discovered.

The post Why Every Company Needs The War Room appeared first on Early To Rise.

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Change your life today.

Ten years ago I suffered from crippling anxiety.

One Monday morning, after another weekend of late nights spent chasing girls at big city bars I woke up with a feeling of impending doom. Something was not right in my world.

My chest tightened, my head and fingers began to tingle, my breathing was shallow, and my heart raced. This continued day and night, for the next six weeks. Twice I went to the emergency room fearing I was having a heart attack — all at the age of 30.

I tried everything to escape it. I stopped drinking caffeine and alcohol. I began weekly Qi Gong classes (a type of standing meditation). I called my friends and asked for help. I even bought a dog, believing that petting my furry little friend would ease my discomfort. None of these actions alone cured me, but together, they allowed me to return to good physical and mental health.

A year later I began holding Body Transformation Contests in my online fitness business. To enter, people had to use my exercise programs for 12 weeks and then submit “Before & After” photos and a 300-word essay detailing their journey.

It was in these essays that I noticed each winner had 5 Pillars in place that guaranteed success. The 5 Pillars helped them make the right decisions in tough times and achieve incredible results. But when one or more of the Pillars was missing, people would struggle and give up.

Since discovering these 5 Pillars, my clients have used them to transform every aspect of their lives, from building wealth to improving health. I’ve used the 5 Pillars to meet girlfriends and to make meditation a daily habit — and it was the 5 Pillars that allowed me to overcome anxiety.

The 5 Pillars are 1) Better Planning and Preparation; 2) Professional Accountability; 3) Social Support; 4) A Meaningful Incentive; 5) The BIG Deadline. I first introduced you to the 5 Pillars earlier this year, and now I’d like to show you how to use them.

Pillar #1 – Better Planning and PreparationThe winners of my Transformation Contests that lost 30 pounds in 12 weeks always had a meal plan and a professional workout program. More importantly, they planned ahead for the obstacles in their lives, and often had two or more solutions for each.

For example, if they were attending a weekend cookout, they went prepared with bottled water to drink instead of soda or alcohol, they had a “reason why” to explain to others their healthy dietary choices, and they even had “rules” for what they would and would not eat.

When I was overcoming my anxiety, I created a plan that included more rest, less caffeine and alcohol, and relaxation methods such as yoga and Qi Gong.

This advanced level of planning and preparation allows us to make the right decisions, just as this same level of planning will do for you. Whether you are starting a business, writing a book, investigating an investment opportunity, or transforming your health, you must always begin with a thorough plan.

Pillar #2 – Professional Accountability (Your Coach)Research from Stanford University found that being accountable to a professional is more effective for reaching your goals than simply being accountable to a friend. A coach holds you accountable every day, provides expert instruction, and doesn’t accept excuses. They will call you out when you make the wrong choices, and show you how to get back on track.

The men and women in my Transformation Contests had me as their coach. I gave them expert advice on diet and exercise, and if they didn’t send updates on a regular basis, I would follow up with them to make sure they were staying on track.

On my journey to overcome anxiety, I hired the best yoga and Qi Gong instructors in Toronto, and they were worth every penny. I’ve even used a professional matchmaker as my “coach” when making a transformation in my love life.

When making meditation a habit in my life, I recruited Atlas member and CEO of Royalty Exchange Matt Smith as my coach. Matt has been meditating for over a decade and gave me the expert advice I needed to get through the difficult early sessions.

If you want to make a change in any area of your life, you must have a coach.

Pillar #3 – Social Support (Your Cheerleaders)Surrounding yourself with positive people, and sharing your goals with them, helps you stay on track. They won’t have expert advice to share, and they won’t hold you accountable each day, but they will always encourage you through the tough times when you are close to quitting.

This approach is research proven. A Swedish study found that the more often a weight loss client visited an online forum, the better their weight loss results. In another study, people that wanted to lose weight achieved more results when they exercised with someone else that was also losing weight. In my Transformation Contests, clients found social support in our website membership forum where they could interact with others that shared the same goals.

Again, this applies to all areas of life. You may have heard the old saying, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” This too is proven by research.

According to a Harvard University study, “When an individual gains weight, it increases the chances that their friends, siblings, and spouses will likewise gain weight.” Likewise, if you spend time with people that smoke and drink, you have a greater risk of taking up those habits.

If you want to stop drinking, stay out of bars. If you want to lose weight, don’t go to lunch with friends who think of Pizza Hut as fine dining. If you want to meditate, associate with people who already have that as a habit in their life.

You must associate with good, positive people that not only are supportive of your new habits, but who also share the desire to make the same changes in their lives.

Pillar #4 – A Meaningful Incentive We offer a $1000 prize to the winners of our Transformation Contests. This incentive motivates people to get started, but it’s often not meaningful enough to see them through to the finish. Over 60% of people drop out. That’s because they don’t find a meaningful incentive to keep going.

Those that finish the contests — and win — make the switch from an “I’m doing this for the money” mindset to one where they have internalized the benefits. For example, many young fathers mention the desire to have more energy for their children, or to be more attractive for their wife, or stop feeling embarrassed at the beach. It is these meaningful incentives that keep them going.

In January of 2013, I joined in one of our Transformation Contests. Instead of making a physical transformation, I was going to make a mental transformation and take up the game of chess (because that’s what I heard smart people do). However, after watching a few instructional videos on YouTube, I gave up. Why? Learning to play chess was not a meaningful goal to me.

The next day I switched from chess to meditation. This activity was meaningful because I knew meditation fights off anxiety. I recruited Matt as my coach, and received social support from my chiropractor (another meditation practitioner). The first day I began with just one minute. The next day it was two minutes, and so on. I’ve now meditated for over 1,000 days straight for at least five minutes in the morning, all because it is meaningful to me.

No matter what you wish to change in your life, you must have a meaningful reason to support your behavior to help you persevere through the tough times.

Pillar #5 – The BIG DeadlineWhile all 5 Pillars are essential, the Big Deadline is the most important. It spurs us to action, and to push harder as the finish line gets closer and closer.

Most of us can make it through the first two weeks of New Year’s Resolutions on motivation and willpower alone. But soon after we began to revert to old habits, and not long after that, we give up. However, with a deadline in place, you see the light at the end of the tunnel, giving you the motivation you need to stick to your new behaviors (until they become habits).

For example, each of our Transformation Contests is 12 weeks long. Over a 75-year life span, 12 weeks is only 0.03% of one’s life.

“Surely you can commit less than 1% of your life to making a transformation, can’t you?” I ask my clients. Put that way, it motivates them to stick to the 12-week program.

If you’ve been struggling to achieve a big goal in your life, you must set a hard deadline — with severe consequences for missing it. Deadlines are magical, helping you overcome procrastination, take up good habits, and make big changes — in a short amount of time.

The 5 Pillars of Transformation guarantee success. Take 10 minutes today and apply them to your number one priority in life. Use them to overcome bad habits and make permanent, positive changes to your daily habits.

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Big things are happening with the Ballantyne Family! In this episode, I share an update on our lives and the new book I’m working on, as well as several tips to manage your life based on my recent experiences.

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Each morning, a few minutes before seven, Walter C. Gale knocked on the door at 2 East 91st street in Manhattan. A servant let him inside the 64-room mansion overlooking Central Park and Gale quietly made his way to the organ in the hall. There he would wait until exactly 7:00 A.M. at which point he began to play, waking the home’s owner, Mr. Andrew Carnegie, for the day ahead. How’s that for an alarm clock?

Carnegie’s life was not always so luxurious…

Born in Dunfermline, Scotland in 1835, he grew up in a hardworking but poor family. When he was thirteen years old the Carnegie’s moved to America to escape the potato blight.

Andrew began working 12-hour days, six days a week in the manufacturing mills in Alleghany, Pennsylvania. During this time he came to two important conclusions. First, he understood that his life was his responsibility. Not wanting to be stuck in the mills, he went to night school to learn bookkeeping. Second, like Ben Franklin, Carnegie recognized the power of being in a Mastermind group. As a teenager he started a debate club that fostered his love of reading and the need for articulating his thoughts clearly.

Carnegie memorized passages and quotes from books of philosophy, poetry, history, and literature. As biographer David Nasaw noted, this allowed him to “enter any room and engage anyone in conversation. College presidents, theologians, philosophers, university professors, industrialists, or politicians.”

Later in life, Carnegie encouraged young men to not only study material related to their jobs, but to read across many subject matters as he had. He argued: “Nothing will bring promotion—and better still, usefulness and happiness–than culture giving you general knowledge beyond the depths of those whom you may have to deal. Knowledge of the gems of literature at call find a ready and profitable market in the industrial world.”

Carnegie was always looking for, and jumping at, the chances that came his way in life. “It is a great mistake not to seize the opportunity,” he said. At sixteen he got a job at a telegraph company, delivering messages to important businesses throughout Pittsburgh. At seventeen he worked at the Pennsylvania Railroad thanks to his reputation as being the best telegraph operator in town. By twenty-four he had worked his way up to Superintendent on the strength of his organizational skills and a knack for making decisions and following through.

Opportunity seemed to come Carnegie’s way because he was willing to learn valuable skills on his own time. “At nights I exercised my memory by naming in succession the various firms. Before long I could shut my eyes and, beginning at the foot of a business street, call off the names of the firms in proper order along one side to the top of the street, then crossing on the other side go down in regular order to the foot again.”

Carnegie benefitted from his decisiveness and willingness to take action without orders. Throughout his life he advised high-achievers to do the same, “I can give you the secret. It lies mainly in this. Instead of the question, ‘What must I do for my employer?’ substitute ‘What can I do?’ Faithful and conscientious discharge of the duties assigned you is all very well, but…There must be something beyond this…the rising man must do something exceptional, and beyond the range of his special department. He must attract attention…There is no service so low and simple, neither any so high, in which the young man of ability and willing disposition cannot readily and almost daily prove himself capable of greater trust and usefulness, and, what is equally important, show his invincible determination to rise.”

He knew that hard work and success went hand-in-hand. While never a teetotaler, he warned against the evils of liquor, “Be far too much of the gentleman ever to enter a barroom. You do not pursue your careers in safety unless you stand firmly upon this ground. Adhere to it and you have escaped danger from the deadliest of your foes.” On gambling he added, “There is scarcely an instance of a man who has made a fortune by speculation and kept it. Gamesters die poor, and there is certainly not an instance of a speculator who has lived a life creditable to himself, or advantageous to the community.”

Instead of vices, he encouraged virtue. “My advice to you is ‘aim high,’” Carnegie said in an 1885 address to students of the Curry Commercial College in Pittsburgh, “I would not give a fig for the young man who does not already see himself the partner or the head of an important firm. Do not rest content for a moment in your thoughts as head clerk, or foreman, or general manager in any concern, no matter how extensive. Say each to yourself. ‘My place is at the top.’ Be king in your dreams.”

Carnegie used the 3C Formula for success: He rose early to Control his mornings and win his days. He prepared so he could Conquer the chaos of the afternoon. And he created a vision so he was able to Concentrate on what counted in his life.

“And here is the prime condition of success, the great secret,” he said. “Concentrate your energy, thought, and capital exclusively upon the business in which you are engaged. Having begun in one line, resolve to fight it out on that line, to lead in it; adopt every improvement, have the best machinery, and know the most about it.”

His advice to the ambitious young men of Curry Commercial College, though said in language of times gone by, remains true today. Advice not only beneficial to Millennials but to all seeking success in life.

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One of my clients, the CEO of a financial advisory firm, had a rough 2017. Before we met, he had hired a COO that did not fit in with his company’s clearly established positive culture. The new hire had the wrong energy, was not a people-person, and contributed to low morale and a toxic environment. The kicker was, my client knew this in advance.

You’re probably wondering, “Why on earth would he hire this COO?” Well, my client needed to hire quickly and thought he could hide this person in the operations department. He hoped that as long as this negative individual didn’t interact with clients that nothing would go wrong.

He was, of course, incorrect. Desperate to fill the position, he ignored the age-old “Hire slow and fire fast.” You have probably been in the same position and made a rush hire. Most entrepreneurs do at one point or another—and always come to regret it.

Fortunately, the COO lasted only nine months. It could have been worse. But my client lost a few key Client Relationship Managers in the process, and the remaining team members—along with many clients—were concerned about sudden staff turnover.

The CEO worked hard to convince his clients, his team, and his new hires that his firm was still a great place to work. He spent more time in meetings and crafting company communications than ever before. This was for the better, as he now has a much more consistent and effective communication strategy and has rebuilt team and client confidence.

His big lessons are ones we should all learn:

First, remember that internal culture is incredibly important. (For a great book on building this, read “The Culture Code: Secrets of Highly Successful Groups” by Daniel Coyle.) No matter how talented, a new hire with the wrong attitude can be extremely disruptive to your organization.

Second, hire slow. You only delay the pain when you rush to fill a job opening. And it doesn’t matter what position you’re filling; from customer service representatives to the COO, a disruptive employee can be the cancer that contaminates your positive culture. When that spreads, you lose even your most loyal team members.

Third, improve communication with your team. Meet with each individual more often. Don’t let information vacuums arise. When they do, it’s human nature for rumors to fill the void, and this can take a lot of time and energy to overcome.

Now let’s take this beyond lesson-learning. How can you take action today to be sure your company culture remains intact and growth is unhampered?

1) Establish Core Values for Your Company

We recently revamped our core values at Early to Rise. Taking an idea from Gino Wickman’s book, “Traction,” I asked our team members to participate in a Core Values Collaboration project. Each team member had two weeks to submit up to 10 values that represented both our company and our clients. From those submissions, I narrowed it down to a total of 10, and our team chose their top five. We ended up very happy with both the final core values, and the team-building process along the way. Here they are:

1. Constantly improve the lives of others.

2. Customer focus is number one.

3. Focus on impact. Ignore the noise.

4. Pursue growth and drive change.

5. Never give up on what’s important.

Our team is encouraged to print these out and keep them at their desk. I also review them in our weekly team email and highlight a team member that exemplifies one of the core values in their work each week.

2) Develop a Management Rhythm Blueprint

In our leadership course, available at ETR University, my partners Matt Smith and Jeff Schneider teach the importance of weekly one-on-one meetings with direct reports. We call these Goal, Set, and Review meetings. They establish clear communication around individual work expectations for the week, and help grow team members while removing obstacles to success.

We also teach the importance of having an all-hands Weekly Alignment Meeting (WAM) every Monday. This allows the team to share roles and responsibilities, clearly communicate objectives and goals, and to discuss major projects and deadlines. It’s a chance for Sally from Marketing to explain how she is under a tight timeline for the week, and how Mary from Accounting might be able to chip in and make life easier.

While you may think you’re too busy for these meetings, the reality is the opposite. A well-run meeting rhythm paves the way for greater team member autonomy and higher performance. It engages your team and encourages proactive decisions, allowing your business to grow faster and become stronger.

3) Hire Slow, Fire Fast

One of the most common mistakes I see in my coaching clients is that they hire too quickly from too small a pool of applicants. In many cases, small business owners are rushing to fill a position because a team member resigned or was fired. But these rush decisions, along with poor interviewing techniques, quickly come back to haunt them.

At ETR, we encourage the use of historical interviewing (doing a deep-dive into personal and professional history) and doing multiple interviews (often involving different team members in each interview). For a much more in-depth look at this interview process, I encourage you to study the Topgrading system.

I also coach my clients to establish a list of non-negotiable cultural values that new hires should bring to the team. These include, but are not limited to: positive energy; respect; kindness; a strong work ethic; good communication skills; proactive problem-solving; resourcefulness; and excitement around being in a high-performance culture.

With these three fundamental foundations in place for building your team and your culture—grounded in the lessons learned from my CEO client—you’ll build a stronger, more enjoyable and engaging work environment (even if your team is working remotely).

Clear communication, respect, and an open environment that encourages healthy debate will help your business grow faster while avoiding the worst-case scenarios that my client suffered through.

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Some of my advice in this episode may frustrate you, but hear me out…

In this week’s episode, I’m going to show you the 7 principles that are going to help you have the ultimate success in life.

These principles have helped people improve everything from their marriages, their businesses, and even have a vacation of a lifetime.

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So many people get so worked up about this topic…

Should you follow your passion?

Can you turn your passion into profit?

Or do you focus on building skills and become passionate about that process?

Here are my thoughts… in response to a reader’s question…

Q: Hey Craig,

I have a quick question in regards to “passion.” It seems there are two thoughts regarding passion in the business world.

The first is the do-what-you-love-and-work-won’t-seem-like-work theory. That is, if you do what you love or what you’re passionate about, you will never lack the motivation needed to reach business goals.

The other camp says that the market doesn’t care what you love or what your passion is, the market wants what it wants. And if you make a business out of your passion it will quickly become a tedious chore and you will start hating that passion.

Obviously you have a passion and love for fitness, but do you think it’s possible to succeed in running a business selling products or services in an area that one is not “passionate” about? Or is the passion you have a different form of passion altogether?

Thanks in advance and keep up the good work!

Answer:
This is a great question, and I’m really glad you asked.

What a lot of people overlook is that not only can you be passionate about a product, but you can also be passionate about a process.

Look at my friend Rick Porter, for example. He makes good money being an affiliate of my fitness products. Now Rick’s interested in fitness, but not passionate about it. On the other hand, he is passionate about search engine optimization (SEO). He has to be. How else could someone be as good at SEO if they weren’t passionate about it?

What Rick does (SEO, link building, keyword research, etc.) and what I do (writing about 5,000 words per day) is factory work to most other people.

I often describe my workspace as a sweatshop.

Right now, for example, I’m in a modest hotel room in Denver writing this to you at 5:30 a.m. It’s a cramped space. The desk is old, the chair is uncomfortable, and if you’ve ever watched CSI, you know how dirty hotel rooms are (as a germophobe, I have to block that out!).

But even though I’m sitting down and writing, there’s little difference between the factory jobs I worked in between semesters at college (assembling the bearings that go in automotive parts) from what I do now.

It’s not all unicorns and pixie dust when you have a website business. There’s a lot of hard work. One way or the other, if you want to succeed, you have to do the work — mentally or physically.

But as far as work goes, there isn’t much else I’d rather be doing than writing. Unless you could find me a job where I get paid to walk my dog and re-read all of Hemingway’s books. (Not at the SAME time, of course!)

The work I do, sitting at a keyboard before sunrise and slogging away until 1500 words are written (and then writing another 3000 words over the course of the day), is something that most people couldn’t stand. The only way I persevere is by being passionate about the process.

On the other hand, I can’t stand building decks, but I have a friend who does that everyday. He enjoys working with his hands and takes great pride in his finished “art,” just as I do with my essays.

So could you hate what you do and make a lot of money at it?

I suppose. I’m sure there are quite a few lawyers out there who fit that description.

But of the world’s richest people, who fits that description?

What really rich person isn’t passionate about what they do?

I just can’t see how you can remove passion from success.

Now, will you have days when you wish that you didn’t make your passion your business?

Probably. I’ve had my fair share (mostly back in 2003 when I struggled and thought about quitting the fitness industry).

But I wouldn’t have made it through the dips if I weren’t passionate.

So if you made a list of all the most successful people in the world, or even the most successful people that you know, how many of them would you list as being in a position where they hate what they do? Or are ambivalent about what they do?

Not too many.

You don’t work night and day to go from rags to riches if you don’t love the product or the process.

And the great thing about the internet is that there are many different processes to be passionate about.

Take all the folks in the room at our mastermind meeting in Miami this past January.

There was Joel Marion — he’s passionate about writing great video sales letters to sell nutrition supplements.

There was Caleb Page — passionate about demystifying the homeschooling process and helping parents better educate their children.

There was Lori Kennedy — passionate about holding webinars and seminars for female entrepreneurs to help them succeed.

There was Kevin Rogers, a world-famous copywriter, passionate about putting words on paper that inspire others to take action and change their lives.

There was Dawn Sylvester — passionate about helping other women over 50 to experience big breakthroughs in their health and home life.

There was Lou Schuler — passionate about sitting and writing thousands of words each day for the books he publishes.

And there was my good friend Bedros Keuilian — passionate about changing the lives and fortune of 100,000 personal trainers and 5000 Fit Body Boot Camp owners.

Plus, there were others passionate about helping others and building businesses with the help of social media, YouTube videos, and membership sites.

But was there even one person in that room that hated what they were doing?

No.

Then again, there were no lawyers in the room.

We all shared stories of struggles — recent and from distant past — and the only thing that got us through those struggles was passion for what we do.

Good question, thanks for asking.

Get passionate about adding value to the world.

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In his book, “Lone Survivor,” former United States Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell tells the story of how he nearly died after being ambushed in the unforgiving Afghanistan wilderness.

The other members of his SEAL team were all dead. Luttrell was unable to walk after almost being blown to pieces. He knew the only way to freedom was to crawl.

At a crucial moment, Luttrell made a decision. He was not going to die. He packed his wounds full of mud, grabbed a rock, and drew a line in the dirt. Then he told himself, “Marcus, all you have to do is crawl to that line.” And he did. Then he drew another line in the dirt. And he crawled to it.

Over and over again, with resilience and resourcefulness, Luttrell crawled his way to safety, to freedom, and to recovery.

He did it for his team—and as a commitment to himself. He knew, even when he was on the verge of death, that he was capable of so much more.

He didn’t get down.

He didn’t say, “This is hopeless.”

He didn’t make excuses.

He didn’t wish away reality.

Instead, he dug deep.

He believed in himself …

… and drew a line. And another. And another.

He did the work.

His action beat his anxiety.

His resilience, resourcefulness, and relentlessness allowed him to find his freedom.

If he can do that, then we can do this.

Now I don’t know what your “this” is…

For most of us, it is simply the struggles we’re up against today.

But I know that you’ve done something much harder in the past.

You’ve accomplished big things in the face of incredible adversity.

Maybe you’ve run a marathon, stuck to a diet and lost 20 pounds, quit smoking, got your spouse back after a bad break-up, raised great children despite tough circumstances, survived a bankruptcy, or overcome an illness.

The point is that you’ve overcome great adversity before and you’re going to do it again.

Marcus is the kind of inspiration that pushes us to overcome these adversities. But let me tell you about some of my other inspirations—the ones who keep me going despite the odds—so that you, too, can be inspired to face your challenges head-on.

One of my clients, Alwyn Cosgrove, has beaten stage IV cancer—twice. There is no stage V; without a doubt, cancer brought the former world champion in Tae Kwon Do to his knees. He was on the edge of death, twice, and had the strength and resilience to survive.

Today, he runs one of the most profitable gyms (per square-foot) in America. Alwyn and his wife Rachel, who was at his side for all of his battles, also coaches hundreds of other fitness experts to build successful businesses and take control of their personal lives.

No matter what adversity comes his way, nothing bothers Alwyn. His mantra: “There are no bad days. Only good days or great days.”

Then there’s my friend Sean Stephenson, affectionately known as “The 3 Foot Giant.” Sean has overcome a disease that left him in a wheelchair. His bones are so brittle they’ve been broken more than 280 times. Despite all of this—and perhaps because of it—he became one of the world’s best motivational speakers. He’s also happily married, and is studying to become a board-certified therapist.

Sean is so good at everything he does that I hired him for one of his 12-hour Breakthrough days last year, and it made a lasting impact on my life.

If he can achieve so many great accomplishments in the face of adversity, then you can overcome yours.

Sean and Alwyn are inspiring beyond belief. But I would be remiss if I didn’t share my greatest inspiration—my mother.

She raised two children on her own with little help from my father. She endured an embarrassing marriage to a man that struggled with alcohol.

While I loved my father, and he taught me a lot about hard work, it was my mother who showed me that when you are resilient, resourceful, and relentless, you can achieve incredible things.

Without her, I probably would have ended up in jail. I certainly wouldn’t be here telling you this story.

If she could persist through those tough times, and if Sean and Alwyn and Marcus could do what they did, then you and I can do what we must do as well.

The fact is that we can all do more.

Why?

It’s not just because you are resilient, resourceful, and relentless.

It’s because you have a lifetime of experience in overcoming adversity.

You’ve lost weight, quit drinking, cheated death, defeated disease, climbed out of financial debt, overcome a broken heart. You’ve met adversity head-on time after time.

If you’ve done it countless ways over the course of your life, you can do it again. You can be relentless.

One of my favorite reminders to remain relentless is this quote from entrepreneur Joel Brown:

“Someone less fortunate than you is begging God right now for the things you have been blessed with. Don’t let his investment in you go to waste.”

You are full of greatness. You are here to make massive impact. You are here to be the ROCK for your family, friends, community, and clients in the face of adversity.

Today is no different.

It’s time to believe in yourself.

You know you are capable of so much more.

The KEY is to scale the skies, to move higher every day.

Think of it like a newly built skyscraper.

For the first few months, everything is just a hole in the ground.

But the engineers are taking the time to do everything right, to put the foundation in place.

And then, once the concrete is poured and the support beams are strongly in place, the first floor goes in. And then, the second. And the third.

The next thing you know it’s 10 stories, 20 stories, 30 stories high.

That’s often how it goes in life. WHOOOOOOOSH. Success comes in spurts.

But not without a strong foundation in place. And yes, that foundation takes a while to build, and can strain your patience.

But you must keep going.

Inch by inch, step by step, floor by floor, action by action.

Because only ACTION leads to results.

Only results lead to success.

And only success leads to confidence, freedom, and happiness.

Marcus did it by pulling himself across lines in the dirt. Alwyn did it by steeling himself against a formidable disease. Sean did it by taking a negative, throwing out vulnerability and self-doubt, and turning it into a positive.

My mother did it with patience, love, and commitment.

Follow their lead. Build your foundation and grow your momentum so that each new challenge is easier to tackle.

Very soon, you will feel the obstacles fade and life become easier. You will achieve, without exception and without fear.

That’s the virtuous cycle of success.

Success is built on the backs and wisdom of others. Stop trying to reinvent the wheel. Grow your success with the help of Craig Ballantyne’s “The Perfect Day Formula.” It’s FREE, and full of all the routines, tips, and techniques you need to hone focus, discipline, and motivation. Get your FREE copy now.

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The best morning routine pulled from the legends who left their mark on the world.

What do Charles Darwin, Robin Sharma, Stephen King, and Charles Dickens have in common? They’re super achievers who get up early and work in the mornings.

What most people fail to recognize about mornings is that done correctly, they can help you conquer the chaos of your afternoons, and leave you free to concentrate on what counts in the evenings.

Charles Darwin spent 33 years in London before abandoning the city for a healthier lifestyle in the countryside near Kent, England. It was there he wrote On the Origin of Species. Darwin stuck to a simple routine for his productivity and recovery, working a few hours in the morning, and taking habitual walks and scheduled rest breaks throughout the day. He started his days with a stroll, breakfast, and then a 90-minute work period beginning at 8:00 a.m. before reviewing the daily mail with his wife Emma. At 10:30 a.m. he went back to work for another 90 minutes before lunch.

Darwin was on to something.

Spend the first 90 minutes of your day on your number one priority.Contemporary productivity gurus, such as Robin Sharma, recommend you “spend the first 90 minutes of your day on your number one priority.” That’s the 80-20 rule. Ninety minutes is about 20% of your day, and concentrated effort on your number one priority at this time will give you 80% of your results for the day. In all likelihood, you’ll find the first morning hours to be the only time of day you are able to focus on priority projects without interruption.

John Milton also woke and worked early. As did Ernest Hemingway, Beethoven, Stravinsky, Chopin, Stephen King… the list goes on and on.

At noon, Darwin went for a long walk with his dog. He returned for lunch, sometimes even complimenting it with a small amount of wine, and then engaged in the 19th century version of surfing the web. He read the newspaper, wrote letters, and rested for an hour before fitting in another walk before dinner. After collecting his thoughts on these creative strolls, Darwin finished an hour of work before supper. In the evenings he neither read nor wrote, and simply played backgammon with his wife, before getting to bed at around 10:00 p.m.

Another high achiever, Charles Dickens, lived in London all his life. He was a prolific author and wrote his best-known work, A Christmas Carol, in just six weeks. He was able to do so only because of a strict routine. Dickens was up at 7 a.m., had breakfast at 8 a.m., and wrote from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Thanks in part to his strict morning routine and resistance to interruptions, Dickens often completed 2,000 words before lunch. In the afternoon, Dickens walked the streets of London for up to three hours, where he would identify scenes and characters for his work. He did not return to work in the afternoons, instead leaving his new ideas for the next morning. Like Darwin in the countryside, Dickens spent his evenings in recreation and socializing with friends and family.

Most people might have a habitual bedtime and wake-up time, but when temptations come along those habits are easy to break.

The trick to being like these super achievers is to install a Rule in place. Not willpower. A Rule.However, the trick to being like these super achievers is to install a Rule in place, you take your habits much more seriously. You don’t need excessive amounts of willpower in place to support your habits. A rule is a rule is a rule. You do not break them.

Consider the difference between hoping, “I try to go to bed at ten,” and stating, “I have a rule that I must be in bed at ten every night.”

You will act differently, see yourself differently, and progress differently with a Rule in place, compared to simply trying.

To have your best days ever, you need to get a head start on everyone else, and take a note from the pages of these legendary figures.

“Adhering to a daily schedule that is led by your vision and run by your priorities is the surest path to personal freedom,” said Mark Ford, founder of Early to Rise.To get on the road to adopting this evolutionary best morning routine

Set your new Bedtime Rule (prepare for tomorrow today)
Establish your new rule to keep you focused the next morning
Wake up 15 minutes earlier than you usually do (you don’t have to dive into 4 a.m. wakeups. Slow and steady wins the race)
Make your first action one that works toward your biggest priority
Pause, and go for a walk

This is how you are guaranteed to make progress every day. Depending on your work and life (kids to get to school, a train to catch), as along as you follow those five steps every day, you’ll start reaping the benefits of a proven morning routine for more success during your days.

With at least fifteen minutes of uninterrupted focus each morning, you can create a plan to climb out of debt, you can practice an effective sales presentation, you can do a short workout or prepare a healthy breakfast and pack a healthy lunch, or you can write 500 words for your book – and in just 120 days would have a full 60,000 word book completed. These minutes add up. They are vital to your success. They are available to all of us, and it must become your rule you use to ruthlessly protect them each morning. You can make this happen by laying down the law and setting the rules for your life. Everything becomes automatic. Success gets closer, faster.

And you become a part of a history of legends that left a mark on the world.The post Evolutionary Proof of the Best Morning Routine appeared first on Early To Rise.

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I didn’t want to record this episode, but it’s important. In thousands of conversations with entrepreneurs, one of the vices that I hear repeatedly is men watching porn.

This is uncomfortable for me to talk about, but I think that it’s an important message for men to listen to.

Learn to live in alignment with your conscience so you can live the life of your dreams!

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In his book, The One Day Contract, legendary basketball coach Rick Pitino outlines the steps to achieving your health, wealth, and personal goals. His number one piece of advice: “Make the most of each day by creating a contract with yourself that you will do your best that day.” By honoring your one-day contract, you will…

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Click here to discover the 10 ways to experience the 7-figures lifestyle TODAY (and create a wealthy mindset) even if you're broke.

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Written by Greg McLaughlin, CEPA

A critical and often overlooked aspect of owning and running a successful business is planning for its future after you retire or shift your focus to other opportunities. This succession plan or exit strategy lays out how you will pass down the business to the next owner and the processes involved in this transition.

It is wise to start thinking about your exit plan early in the life of your business so you can make decisions with your end goals in mind throughout your career and position your business to maximize the probability of longevity and success.

Family TransitionFamily-owned businesses usually have a vested interest in keeping their company within the family by passing leadership roles on to a member of the next generation who can maintain the family’s legacy and manage generational wealth. You may pass on the business as a gift or an advanced inheritance, or you may sell it at full market value or at a discount. Gift tax rates may be applicable for discounted sales or gifting, so be aware of your state’s regulations when making this part of your plan.

Not every family member will be suited for or want a leadership role in the family business. The first step in a smooth family business ownership transition is communicating with your family members about their professional interests and goals, skills, and willingness to take on a leadership role in the company.

If you know early on that you plan to keep your business within your family if possible, you can talk to your children and other family members at length about your role in the business and gauge their interest in taking over from you one day.

Choosing a successor can bring up complex emotions for all parties involved, and important business decisions run the risk of being influenced by familial dynamics outside the professional sphere. However, with careful planning, transitioning ownership of the business within the family can be immensely rewarding.

Once you have identified the best candidate, you can focus on mentoring and training your successor to ensure they understand the requirements of the role and can continue the business’s legacy and carry on the family’s professional values. In addition to teaching them the daily tasks and responsibilities they will be expected to assume, you should discuss your leadership philosophy, family values, and long-term goals for the business.

You may also choose to stay on the business’s payroll in an advisory capacity to facilitate a gradual transition.

Internal Sale to EmployeesIf no qualified family member is available or interested in taking on a leadership position but you still want to prioritize maintaining consistency in the company culture and processes, you may consider selling the business to a current employee.

With this option, the new owner will already have experience working in other areas of the business and will have had time to build relationships with your existing team. This can contribute to a smoother transition for the new leadership and the other employees.

However, the skills needed to be an excellent employee are not necessarily the same as those required to be a successful business owner, and this disconnect can pose a risk to the business.

When considering this approach, first identify longstanding employees or those who have shown exceptional potential for growth within the company. Speak with potential candidates to learn more about their professional aspirations and whether they would be interested in committing to long-term growth and advancement within the company.

Once you have identified a strong candidate, begin to train and mentor them to prepare them for their new role, addressing any gaps in their current skills and knowledge. Then, identify the business’s market value and decide how you will conduct the sale. When selling to an employee, consider that they may not have sufficient cash on hand to pay for the business upfront.

You will likely need to be flexible regarding the payment structure such as by selling in installments, having your buyer work with a third-party lender, or creating an employee stock ownership plan.

Sale or Merger with an Industry CompetitorAnother exit planning strategy is to sell the business to a competitor in the industry looking to grow its market share. This can introduce some risks and legal considerations from which you need to protect yourself, possibly by preparing a nondisclosure agreement with prospective buyers while they gather information to determine whether they want to purchase the business.

You should also consider obtaining a professional third-party valuation for your business to help you determine how much you can reasonably expect the buyer to pay.

Merging with a competitor often entails bringing together two distinct company cultures. This can cause conflict when handled poorly, so ensuring cultural alignment and establishing a vision for the future is essential in ensuring success after the merger.

If your business has strong branding or a loyal customer base before the sale, it is also important to consider how the transition could affect the business’s reputation and how to preserve loyalty and bring customers along with the new company.

Clearly communicating with the public about what aspects of the business might change and what they can expect to remain consistent will play a key role in maintaining its strong reputation.

Private Equity SaleA private equity sale involves selling a stake in the company to private equity firms, often to the extent that the original owner is no longer the majority stockholder in the company. This can bring new capital and fresh perspectives, driving innovation and expansion.

Additionally, private equity investors may bring in new leadership to optimize business practices in an attempt to increase the business’s profitability. In a sale like this, you can choose to retain minority ownership of the company or transfer your ownership completely. This flexibility gives you the option of staying with the company as a partial owner while still removing yourself from involvement in daily operations and responsibilities.

Before agreeing to a private equity sale, business owners should evaluate their long-term goals for the business and ensure they align with those of the potential buyers. Selling a business to any buyer necessitates relinquishing some or all control over the business, so it is important to choose a buyer whom you believe is capable of carrying out your business’s mission.

ConclusionNo matter how or to whom you sell your business, you won’t get anywhere worth going without planning in advance. Compare the types of succession plans in this article to your own priorities and goals for the sale, and create a strategy for how to get what you want for yourself and your business.

Once you’ve defined your goals and strategy, you can sell your business with confidence.

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We all want more time for the things that matter most.

Time to spend with our families…

Pursue our hobbies…

Travel the world…

And enjoy the finer things in life.

But most entrepreneurs and high-performers are trapped in the “golden handcuffs of success.”

We’re stuck in an endless sea of tasks and to-do’s and don’t know how to escape our self-made prison and reclaim control of our lives.

Listen…You didn’t become an entrepreneur so you could have less time, less freedom, and less energy to do the things you love most.

And if you’re stuck working too much and making too little it does not have to stay this way.

Over the past two decades, I’ve helped hundreds of entrepreneurs work less, earn more, and engineer a life and business on their terms.

And today, I want to help you do the same.

In this guide, I’m going to share the ten proven strategies I personally use to run multiple 7-figure companies while working only 45 hours a week.

If you’ll take action on what I’m about to teach you, I promise, you can shave 10 hours off your workweek, create more time to do the things you love, and achieve the freedom you’ve been after for so long.

1. Proper Planning and Preparation Trump Everything Benjamin Franklin, the first American millionaire and arguably one of the most successful men in the nation’s history said, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

Franklin knew the power of proper planning and preparation and as a result, he became a best-selling author, millionaire entrepreneur, prolific inventor, and wildly successful political activist in a time before life coaches, transformational seminars, and self-help books.

To become a high-performer and achieve the success you desire, you can’t leave anything to chance.

If you begin your day, week, or month without a plan you’ve already lost. You must have crystal clear clarity on exactly what needs to be done, by when, and why.

Military leaders don’t go into battle without a plan and as the “General” of your life and business, neither should you.

Luckily, you don’t need a $60 journal or some laundry list of convoluted strategies to effectively plan for success. In fact, proper planning and preparation, when done right, are incredibly simple.

To get started, I want you to download my 90-day Reality Maker Blueprint, a free resource that I use with all of my high-ticket coaching clients.

You’re going to pick ONE goal that you want to achieve over the next 90-days and then use this blueprint to reverse engineer the exact action steps you need to take to accomplish it.

Here’s a quick video walkthrough of how it works.

With your 90-day blueprint in place, you’re then going to use my 7X7 Perfect Week Formula Grid to strategically engineer your weeks for maximum productivity and fulfillment.

Here’s how it works:

First, you’re going to pull out a sheet of paper and draw a 7×7 grid where each square in the grid represents a 2-3 hour block of time during your days.

Next, you’re going to schedule your relationship and self-care non-negotiables. Things like date night, workouts, yoga classes, massages, family dinner, time with friends, and other personal events go here.

Then, you’re going to schedule out your productivity routines. This includes Sunday morning planning, a nightly brain dump, your reverse alarm, and morning routine.

Now, with your personal and productivity activities scheduled, you’re going to fill in your “Magic Time” slots (more on that later).

During these work slots, you’re going to engage in your most important work. Things like writing your book, building out sales pages, creating content for your website, or recording videos for YouTube go here.

And finally, with all of these activities scheduled, you’re going to fill in the remaining time with any other work that needs to be done throughout the week–from meetings to emails to travel to sales appointments.

By reverse-engineering your week in this manner, you will accomplish two goals simultaneously.

By scheduling your non-negotiables FIRST (and getting massively accountable to someone else and setting big consequences for failure) you will more than double your productive output each day because you no longer have the option to get distracted or goof off when you should be working.

If your day begins at 9 am and you have a non-negotiable date night at 5 pm, you cannot get sucked into the void of Instagram, blog articles, or YouTube videos when you should be working.

These non-work non-negotiables will keep you focused and ensure high levels of discipline and motivation throughout the day.

Second, by scheduling things like meetings, emails, and other administrative work last, you will be forced to ruthlessly eliminate the things that don’t matter from your schedule (which we’ll dive into next).

Click here to check out my article where I explain this planning strategy in depth.

With your 90-Day Blueprint and Perfect Week Planning formula in place, the only thing that is left is to take 15-minutes at the end of each workday to plan the following day and ensure that you have the forward momentum you need to succeed.

To start off these 15-minutes, you’re going to complete a short “brain dump” to get all of your tasks and obligations out of your head and onto paper.

Write down everything that you have to do that week and then organize your list by priority.

Next, you’re going to pick your three TOP priorities and write down where and when you plan to do them the following day.

Then, with your week planned out and your next day scheduled, take a few minutes to prepare for whatever tasks you’ve committed to and make the following day easier.

For example, if you have an article to write, take five minutes and create an outline before you clock out.

If you have an important meeting, organize whatever documents and resources you need to knock it out of the park.

Do whatever you can to “grease the chute” and make the following day easier.

By committing to consistent and strategic planning, you will dramatically shorten your workweek, identify tasks that no longer serve you, and show up each day with a clear strategy for sustained success.

2. Use this “Magic Word” to Eliminate the Fluff from Your Schedule and Regain Control of Your Time THE fastest way to work less, accomplish more, and have complete control of your schedule is to fall in love with the word “No”.

Too many would-be high-performers allow FOMO (fear of missing out) to hold them back from success and steal their time.

They think they need to pursue every opportunity that comes their way and say “yes” to anything that has a 1% chance of helping them achieve their goals.

But I’m here to tell you they’re wrong.

To work less and achieve more, you must ruthlessly eliminate everything that does not serve your big vision.

Things like…

Low paying clients who eat up all of your time.
Unpaid speaking gigs that don’t drive new clients to your business or build your reputation in a significant way.
Podcast interviews on small shows.
Meeting up with old college buddies (that you never see and don’t really like).
Coffee “dates” with strangers who want to ‘pick your brain’

You need to say “no” to all of them. And yes, this is going to upset some people.

But it’s ok.

To perform at the highest levels, you must protect your time, attention, and energy. You must eliminate the “good” to make room for the “great”.

Listen…

No matter how many hours you work, you can never “do it all.” You can’t make everyone happy and you can’t pursue every opportunity that presents itself.

You must learn how to say “no” (and mean it).

And when you do, you will create the time and freedom to say “yes” when it really matters.

3. Stop Doing Tasks that Steal Your Soul and Make You Hate Your LifeThe next step to reducing the hours you work and reclaiming control of your schedule is to stop doing the work that you hate.

There will always be aspects of your business that you don’t enjoy but have to do (these include calls with your accountant and lawyer, re-reading sales promotions for the umpteenth time before they go out the door, or making another sales call after your 10th rejection in a row). Work won’t always be fun.

This is an inescapable part of business and life.

However, there is a fundamental difference between these necessary evils and unnecessary tasks that drain your mental and emotional reservoirs, actively damaging the quality of your performance.

For example, I hate spending time on early morning phone calls. It’s a big mistake, strategically, because I do my best work while the sun rises, and taking calls at that time (from my overseas clients in Europe, Australia, or Singapore) gives away my most valuable hours.

As such, I’ve created boundaries and systems that allow me to avoid spending time on such tasks.

I schedule all of my calls for late morning, mid-afternoon, or early evening so that I never have to waste a minute of my “magic time” in the morning. (I’m also much more sociable after my AM grumpiness has lifted like the fog on a typical San Francisco day).

For you, it might be different.

Maybe you hate being hauled into unnecessary meetings (as if anyone likes this?) or writing last-minute emails to your list in the morning or handling customer support inquiries late at night.

Whatever it is, STOP doing it.

Teach someone else to do it, reschedule it for another time, or eliminate it. Or at the very least, simply reduce the frequency with which you have to do it.

Not only will you save two to three hours a week by not engaging in whatever tasks you hate, but you will save countless more hours by protecting your emotions and willpower from these energy vampires in your life.

And when you plug the leaks in your proverbial bucket, you will have more energy, motivation, and enthusiasm with which to attack the rest of your day.

4. Remember the “Sprinkler Principle” My buddy Bedros Keuilian, the Founder and CEO of Fit Body Bootcamp, once lost a $25,000 sale because… wait for it.

He chose to fix a sprinkler for his wife and handed the sales call off to his assistant.

Ouch.

As extreme as this example sounds, it perfectly illustrates the importance of effective delegation.

Bedros could have spent $150 and paid a professional to come and take care of the sprinkler. But he didn’t. And that decision cost him $25,000.

Listen…

If you want to be a millionaire, build an empire, and lead an extraordinary life you cannot waste your time on $10 (or even $50) an hour tasks.

You must stop doing things that are not your job. Things that other people can do faster, better, and cheaper than you can.

Running to the UPS store, fixing the printer in your office, doing all of your customer service, posting your content to social media, and even buying your groceries and preparing your meals is NOT your job.

You’re here to leave a legacy, to build an empire, to make a difference in this world…You’re not here to do your laundry.

Imagine Warren Buffett skipping a board meeting so that he could mow the lawn. Or Sarah Blakely throwing away an hour of her time setting up the new conference room TV. Or Bill Gates packing boxes to move Microsoft’s HQ, or worse, packing the boxes at home to move house.

It would never happen, right?

This “Not my job” mindset doesn’t make you a bad or selfish person. It simply makes you someone who has aligned their actions with their priorities. It allows you to be more effective in your business while giving you plenty of free time to enjoy the finer things in life.

Oh, and it allows you to contribute to the economy and create new jobs by paying other people (who just want a way to make ends meet and enjoy their lives) to do the work that doesn’t drive your life forward.

Sit down and make a list of how you’ve spent your time over the last two workdays. What did you do that someone on your team was hired to do? What activities do you (irrationally) refuse to let go? What chores are you doing out of guilt that you hate, should stop, and are not your job?

Write them down and commit to outsourcing them this week.

5. Batch Your Tasks to Get More Done and Reduce TransitionsOne of the simplest ways to work less and accomplish more is to strategically structure your days and weeks using the concept of “batching.”

Batching is simply the practice of completing similar tasks on a specific day or during a particular block of work.

For example, if you have to write three articles a week, pick one day each week where your only focus is writing. This will help you get into flow faster and dramatically reduce the amount of time it takes you to get things done.

When you switch from task to task–responding to emails, then writing an article, then recording a podcast, then doing coaching calls–you waste time and mental energy transitioning between them.

By setting up your schedule so that you do all similar tasks on the same day (e.g. recording podcasts on Mondays, writing on Tuesdays, doing coaching calls on Wednesdays, etc.) you can cut out the number of transitions in your days and produce higher quality work easier and faster.

Give this a try this week and I promise, you’ll work less, get more done, and have more free time than ever before.

6. Use “Magic Time” to Get 10X More Accomplished in Half the Time I’ve talked about “Magic Time” a lot here on Early to Rise.

But for those of you who aren’t familiar with the concept, your magic time is the time of the day where you are 2-3X more productive, focused, and creative than any other time.

For most people, this time is first thing in the morning. However, you can use the “time journal” exercise I share later in this article to determine exactly when your personal magic time is.

Once you’ve identified your magic time, you must protect it with your life.

Your magic time is reserved for the non-urgent but important “legacy work” that will help you make massive leaps forward in your life and business.

Things like…

Writing your book
Building your new product
Refining your sales funnels
Creating your side hustle (if you’re stuck in a 9-5 job)

Your magic time is NOT for:

Meetings
Emails
Phone calls
Administrative work

Or anything else that does not move you toward your big vision in a significant way.

It might seem simple, but this strategy has the power to completely transform your life and business.

In fact, Russel Brunson, the Founder of ClickFunnels said with this tactic (along with other principles I shared in my Perfect Day Formula Book):

“In my two hour mornings, I get as much work done as I typically do in an 8 hour day.”

Schedule your magic time and implement this tactic this week. I promise, the results will amaze you.

7. Take a Nap…Really (You Look Tired) Most entrepreneurs I know are chronically sleep deprived.

They sleep 4-6 hours a night and attempt to “power through” their workdays without ever realizing just how much performance and potential they are leaving on the table.

Listen…

I don’t care what the “gurus” or your grandad told you.

Sleep matters and it matters a lot. If you aren’t getting at least 7 hours of deep sleep every night, you’re actively stunting your growth and preventing yourself from achieving peak performance.

Chronic sleep deprivation has been show to cause:

Depression
Delirium
Hallucinations
Impaired Cognition and an Increased Risk of Preventable Accidents
Not to mention, an increased risk of infections, cancer, and overall mortality.

Inversely, getting sufficient sleep on a regular basis leads to:

Improved memory
Lower systemic inflammation
Improved immune function
Elevated mood
Learning and problem-solving abilities improved

The bottom line?

Get enough sleep.

You aren’t doing yourself or your business any favors by attempting to become one of the sleepless elite.

8. Step Away to Step Up as a Leader Bill Gates has a “weird” ritual that he follows twice a year.

During the most challenging and difficult times in his company, Mr. Gates retires to a secret cabin (seriously…even his wife doesn’t know where it is) and spends an entire week alone thinking, reading, and strategizing far from the distractions of daily life.

To the outside observer, this might sound crazy.

After all, why would any responsible CEO drop off the grid for a week when his company is in the middle of a new launch or crisis?

However, according to every one of his executives, when Bill returns from his brief sabbatical, “Things just start moving.”

He understands that effective leadership sometimes requires separation. It requires stepping back and getting away from the challenges and obstacles so that you can gain perspective and develop better solutions.

But most entrepreneurs don’t do this.

They rarely (if ever) take vacations. They work every day of the week. And they spend 90% of their waking hours either working in their business or thinking about their business.

And as a result, most entrepreneurs are stressed out, overwhelmed, and on the verge of a mental breakdown.

To work less and scale your company, you must start by taking time away from your business.

I know this might sound impossible, but I promise you, everything will be ok. You can find a way to take a week–or at least a weekend–away from your work to recharge.

In fact, my friend Dan Sullivan, the Founder of Strategic Coach (the biggest high-performance coaching company on the planet) says, “For an entrepreneur to 10X their revenue, they must massively decrease the time they spend working.”

To step up and lead your company and team to the success you all desire, you must consciously make time to step away from your business and get the perspective you need to take it to the next level.

Right now, I want you to commit to taking at least three days completely off from work (yes, this means no email) and put it in your calendar.

It might seem scary at first, but I promise you, when you return, you will have more energy, clarity, and motivation than ever before.

9. Ruthlessly Eliminate Your Distractions Without a doubt, one of the number one killers of entrepreneurial goals and dreams is distraction.

Study after study has shown that distraction in the workplace–from phone notifications to emails from your boss to co-workers and employees asking for “Just a second” of your time–not only derails your productivity, but also lowers the quality of the work that you produce.

Therefore, one of the first and most important things you can do to improve the quality of your work and reduce the number of hours required to complete it is to build a proverbial fence around yourself.

Refuse to allow distractions in your life.

Set hard boundaries with your colleagues, employees, and clients and tell them that you will be unavailable during specific hours of the day. Put your phone on airplane mode and designate specific times during which you will check your texts, your email, and other notifications.

Sit down with your family and explain the importance of having a distraction free workday and how you will be able to spend more quality time with them if they will respect your boundaries and allow you to stay focused.

If you are still unable to achieve the blocks of distraction free deep work you need, then bite the bullet and wake up early in the morning so that you can tackle those important tasks before the rest of the world is awake and attempting to steal your attention.

Do whatever must be done to give yourself the gift of focused work time.

When you can focus on your most important tasks without facing distractions or interferences, you’ll be able to accomplish those important tasks faster and better, not only saving yourself countless hours each week, but improving the output of those hours in the process.

10. Leverage the “Drucker Principle” to Manage Your Time and Attention More Effectively

“What gets measured gets managed.” ~Peter F. Drucker

Before you can manage and own your time, you must first measure it.

In the same way that you can’t effectively pay off your credit card debt if you don’t know exactly how much debt you have, what interest rates you’re paying, and when the payments are due…

…You cannot OWN your time until you understand, not only how your time is actually being spent and how effective you are with your time during certain hours of the day.

We all have the “the stupid human trick” of thinking that we know how we spend our time each day. Most of us also assume that we have can accurately determine which hours of the day we are most productive without any form of semi-objective measurement.

However, after working with hundreds of clients in dozens of industries, I’ve found, without exception, that no one really knows how they spend their time or how effective they are during certain times of the day without intentionally tracking and measuring their performance.

Right now, I want you to open up Google Docs and create a simple time sheet that starts from the moment you wake up and goes all the way to your bed time in 20-minute increments.

It should look something like this:

Got it? Great.

Now I want you to print seven copies of this page–14 if you want to get serious about this strategy.

For the next week, you’re going to set up a recurring 20-minute timer on your phone and, every time it goes off, take 30-seconds to jot down what you accomplished over the past 20-minutes and, subjectively, where your energy levels and mood are at that specific time.

If you will do this for seven days, you will gain unprecedented clarity into your schedule and biological rhythm.

Typically, when I have clients complete this exercise, they notice a few things.

First, they realize that the vast majority of their “working” hours are nowhere near as productive as they previously believed them to be. And I have no doubt that you will quickly identify at least a few uncomfortable patterns in the way you are actually spending your time.

Second, and even more importantly, they are able to quickly identify their “magic time”.

And this is where the magic (no pun intended) starts to happen.

When you invest the time to develop an objective understanding of how you are currently managing–or not managing–your time and how your energy levels and focus fluctuate throughout the days, you gain an immediate advantage over your competition.

Now, you don’t have to guess when you should do your most demanding work. You know exactly when you have the most focus, intention, and willpower and can schedule your days accordingly.

You’ll also gain a clear understanding of where your time is really going and quickly identify the “leaks” in the bucket that you can plug to get more out of your days, eliminate distraction, and end overwhelm once and for all.

ConclusionWith these 10 simple strategies, you are well on your way to working less, earning more, and achieving the freedom you’ve been after for so long.

Which strategy are you going to test out first? Is there anything I left off the list?

Let me know your feedback in the comments below!

The post [Ultimate Guide] 10 Proven Strategies to Work 10 Fewer Hours THIS Week appeared first on Early To Rise.

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“My goal is to rid the world of insecurity.”

Sean Stephenson said to me at the start of my 12-hour therapy session with him at his office in Scottsdale, Arizona.

And you could see by the look on his face that he meant it.

By the end of that day, Sean had broken me down and built me back up. It’s not hyperbolic to say that he changed my life and imparted lessons and insights that made me a better man.

Now…

If you’ve ever been to one of my workshops or retreats (or read my essays for more than a few months), you’ve heard me talk about Sean.

He was the best motivational speaker I’ve ever seen, the author of Get Off Your But, and a certified therapist with a heart of gold and insatiable desire to serve the world.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Sean’s story, he was born with a rare condition called osteogenesis imperfect that made his bones as brittle and fragile as your average water glass.

Because of this disease, Sean suffered from more than 280 fractures and dozens of other medical complications that threatened his life.

But he didn’t let it hold him back.

He was playfully referred to as the “3-Foot Giant” and was a man who brought joy, laughter, and hope to the world–and made a massive dent in his big goal.

Unfortunately, last Thursday, the world lost one of its giants and Sean passed away unexpectedly.

“How did he die?” people will ask. But that’s the WRONG question.

“How did he live?” is the question to ask.

Sean lived life to the fullest – fuller than most able-bodied men and women. He made workout videos of himself madly cranking out pushups. He was happily married for years. He had a very, very dirty sense of humor – and knew how to use it.

Sean Stephenson loved life. He was the quintessential “Operator”.

The world will miss Sean sorely and it needs his message now more than ever.

But on the bright side, Sean left us with hard-earned wisdom on living a better life and becoming unstoppable… and now we need to apply it, shed our insecurities (as Sean so dearly wished), step into our greatness, carry on his bright shining light, and spread the love that Sean gave to the world.

And today, I want to share some of the most powerful lessons I learned from Sean (and a few other “Operators’) that will help you build your unstoppable mindset, live life more fully, and eradicate your insecurities.

Operators Focus on Their Identity… Not Their GoalsMy favorite part of my day with Sean was when we took a break from the heavy mental lifting of the therapy session and kicked back in his office.

We ate some of Sean’s favorite cookies, watched YouTube clips of X-rated comedians (like I said, Sean had a very dirty sense of humor)…and then he showed me one of his favorite videos – a documentary on the Cuttlefish.

Cuttlefish are known as the chameleons of the sea.

They can alter their shape and color almost instantly to blend in with the environment and hide from predators.

It was a skill that Sean also mastered. If you were tempted to treat him differently because of his appearance or condition, Sean would dismantle your temptation within seconds. His intelligence, charisma, and humor would quickly convince you he was no different than you.

Sean was the perfect example of a person with a powerful self-image and rock solid identity.

He knew who he was and he didn’t let anything or anyone sway his views.

Sean also understood that it is your identity, not your goals that determine what you get out of life and this understanding was one of the foundations upon which he built his breakthrough sessions and therapy practice.

Now, let me make something clear.

I am a HUGE believer in goal setting (as was Sean).

A life without goals is a life of mediocrity. Goal setting is an important tool that allows you to move your life forward, measure your progress, and clearly determine what habits and processes are working or not working.

But you cannot achieve your goals until you change your identity.

Sean achieved a lot in his lifetime.

But those achievements never could have happened without his identity as an Operator.

If he’d adopted the identity that he was “disabled”, instead of seeing his disabilities as a gift, Sean never would have had such a massive impact.

If he believed what other people said about him and saw himself as less of a human because of his condition, his goals wouldn’t have mattered. Because he would not have had the self-belief to achieve them.

And the same principle holds true in your life.

You might set the goal to lose 30 lbs of body fat in the next 6 months. You diet, train hard, prioritize your recovery, and after the 6 months BOOM! You’ve lost the weight.

However, unless you experience a fundamental change in your identity and start to see yourself as a healthy person, the changes will be short lived.

As the next 6 months start to pass, you begin to overeat, skip workouts, and stay up late skimming social media instead of getting adequate rest.

Before you know it, you’ve gained all of the weight back and then some. You focused on changing an outcome (your body composition) instead of your identity (becoming a healthy person).

However, if you were to flip the script and focus all of your energy on building a rock solid identity as a healthy person – and slowly developing all of the habits that a healthy person has – you will slowly but surely begin to make progress until the weight loss takes care of itself.

When you change your identity first, the results tend to follow.

When you focus only on the results, you might achieve them for a little while, but you’ll eventually slip back into your old habits because you did not build an identity congruent with the outcomes you desire.

This is the first lesson you must learn to become a true Operator.

Rip Your Labels Off Like an Old Bandaid
I want you to do a quick exercise. I promise it won’t take long.

Pull out a sheet of paper, grab a pen, and write down ALL of the ways that you’ve labeled yourself over the past few years that aren’t serving you.

For example, you might say things like:

“I’m always late.”
“I’m not a reader.”
“I’m not good at sales.”
“I’m too busy to eat healthy and can’t lose weight.”
“I’m not a good writer”
“I’m an introvert”
“I’m bad with money”
“I’m not good with women/men”

Whatever labels and identities you’ve created for yourself that aren’t serving you, get them out of your head and write them down.

Don’t worry, I’ll wait…

… Are you finished? Great!

Now, I want you to take that piece of paper and fold it over 4 times. Got it?

Ok… Now tear that son of a bench into a million tiny pieces and throw it in the garbage can (or set it on fire if you’re feeling dangerous)

Everything that you just wrote down is b.s. fake news. They are the lies that you’ve conditioned yourself to believe and, as a result, live out in your daily life.

As you work to upgrade your identity, you must first learn to identify and eradicate the label lies that are preventing you from achieving success.

You cannot adopt a new identity until you shed the old labels. You cannot transform yourself (or your business or your health or your bank account) until your beliefs serve you and the identity you want to embody.

So start today.

Identify the lies you’ve been telling yourself (maybe for decades) and put in the work to destroy them.

Developing Your Operator Mindset and Bulletproof IdentityWith his condition, Sean could easily have hidden away from the world, played small, and used his birth “defects” as an excuse for mediocrity.

He could have convinced himself that he: Could never have a normal life, could never exercise like other people, could never find love, and could never achieve what others achieved because of disease.

And frankly, no one would have blamed him.

But he didn’t…

Sean saw his condition as a gift to be leveraged, not an alibi for a half-lived life.

He was a best selling author, world-renowned speaker, millionaire coach, Ph.D., and all-around badass. And, most importantly, he was happily married to the woman of his dreams.

He inspired individuals like Tony Robbins, Oprah Winfrey, and The 14th Dalai Lama.

Sean was the quintessential Operator.

He refused to allow any excuse or setback to hold him back or stop him from living the life he wanted.

He got the job done, no matter what. No excuses.

When compared to the adversity that Sean faced, ask yourself, “What’s my excuse?”

To an operator, there are no excuses. There is only the mission.

You show up every time on time and you get the job done, NO MATTER WHAT.

Take all of the excuses that you wrote down from the previous section and ask yourself a simple question.

“Has someone in my situation or worse achieved success despite their excuses?”

If the answer is “Yes” then your excuse is no longer valid.

If the answer is “No”, guess what? Your excuse is still invalid.

For an Operator, there is always a way to achieve the mission.

You might have to crawl through miles of enemy territory with a broken back, several gunshot wounds, and pieces of shrapnel stuck in your spine (much like the Lone Survivor Marcus Luttrell), but you WILL accomplish the mission no matter what.

If the door is shut, kick it in. If it won’t budge, blow it up. If that doesn’t work then dig under it, climb over it, or keep on bashing the darn thing until you get where you want to go.

Not because you feel like it. But because that’s who you are.

Say the Operator Code with me…

I am an OPERATOR.

I will get it done.

No excuses.

It doesn’t matter if you aren’t a morning person, aren’t good at networking, or don’t like sales.

You’ll get up and accomplish the mission because it’s who you are not just what you do.

Becoming an operator isn’t easy. But it’s worth it.

But the question still remains…

What are the tactical steps you can take to cultivate your operator mentality? What are the tangible action steps that you can use to start thinking, acting, and achieving like an operator?

Glad you asked.

How to Become an Operator in 3 (Not So Easy) Steps
Before the Operator Mindset becomes an automatic and unbreakable part of your identity as a high performer, you must first build the habits that reflect an operator mentality.

You need set-in-stone routines that eliminate the guesswork and help make your decision making automatic.

Here are a few ideas to get you started.

1. Start with Your Personal Rules

Although I didn’t learn this particular strategy from Sean (I believe it was first introduced to me from Stephen Pressfield’s “Warrior Ethos”), it is one of the foundational pillars of success and becoming a true operator.

Operator’s don’t like indecision. They make moves and they make them fast.

To help facilitate this speed and decisiveness, Operators will create a core set of rules and guidelines for their life to help make their decision making automatic.

Take the Ketogenic diet for example. When someone commits 100% to following the Ketogenic diet they don’t have to wonder whether or not they can eat that slice of cake or gorge on that delicious bagel.

They have strict rules that make their dietary decisions automatic. While this might sound restrictive, these personal rules will actually create more freedom than you’ve previously experienced.

When you don’t have to think about what to do or when to do it (especially when it comes to the big rocks) everything in your life becomes easier and you have more mental bandwidth to focus on the things that really matter.

To help get the ball rolling, here are a few examples of my personal rules.

I wake up at 4 a.m. every day and go to bed by 8pm
I plan my days the night before
I do not swear or act rudely towards others
I I do not check email or social early in the morning

These personal rules are the light that will guide you when the fog of war (aka resistance to doing the work) creeps into your life.

Start small with ONE rule and then slowly layer more and more boundaries into your life to help you accomplish the goals you’ve set for yourself.

It might not sound fun, but I promise it’s worth it.

(If you want to learn more about this topic, check out my last essay on the personal rules everyone must follow!)

2. Train the Body and Allow the Mind to Follow

Despite his “disabilities”, Sean understood the power of physical exercise and worked out on a regular basis. You can even see him on YouTube cranking out pushups like a bodybuilder.

Sean understood that one of the fastest ways to strengthen your mind, eliminate anxiety, and get over your insecurities is to first strengthen your body.

Whenever I start working with a new client, regardless of their income, their status, or their achievements, one of the first things I will ask them is:

“What does your physical training program look like?”

If they don’t have one, then it’s one of the first things that we address.

There is no pursuit I can think of to help you build your Operator Mindset faster than committing to a rigorous training program.

Even if you only have time to go to the gym three times a week (which is more than enough for most people), committing to an exercise routine will help you build the physical and mental toughness required to become an operator.

The strength that you gain from pushing yourself to do just one more rep when your muscles are begging for mercy will translate into the mental strength to truly embody the Operator mentality.

3. Commit to Your Family and Your Big “Why”

I’m going to make a confession…

I don’t like being disciplined. There, I said it.

Despite the fact that my clients have dubbed me as “The World’s Most Disciplined Man”, I hate waking up early, I don’t particularly enjoy denying myself the pleasure of sweet treats, and I occasionally miss ending my day by binge watching Netflix.

But I do what needs to be done anyways.

Because being an Operator isn’t about me. It’s about the lives of the people I impact and my future family.

Operators don’t put in the work because they want to be rich, famous, or externally successful.

They do it because they have a mission that is bigger than themselves, they have a compelling reason for getting up and doing the work day in and day out.

For Sean, that mission was to eliminate insecurity wherever he found it.

It wasn’t about him or his ego or his bank account. It was about selflessly serving others and making the world a better place.

But without that mission, he could not have created the unreal life he got he got to live.

So right now, let me ask you… Why must (not should, MUST) you become an Operator?

What’s really at stake here?

If you don’t show up and do the work each day, who is paying the price for your laziness?

Because I can promise that it isn’t just you.

Until you know exactly why you are doing what you’re doing, you’ll never be able to tap into the raw power of the Operator mindset. You’ll be a dabbler.

When things get hard and you want to quit, what will keep you pushing through?

Money, success, and fame are nice. But they aren’t enough.

You must have a compelling reason for why you are doing what you’re doing.

Maybe you want to set a good example for your children and ensure that they have the life you never did as a child.
Maybe your goal is to provide for your spouse so that they can retire from their soul sucking job and pursue their passions.
Maybe you want to impact 1,000,000 lives, build schools all over the world, and help end hunger.

Whatever it is, write it down, put it in your wallet, and look at it daily.

This “why” will be the fuel that pushes you to excel when everything in your mind and body is screaming for you to stop.

When you shift your focus from yourself to others, you’ll no longer be tempted to hit snooze, skip the gym, or take a lazy day off of work. You’ll remain focused, energized, and charged up because you are serving a higher purpose.

Just look at the story of Desmond T. Doss (the only conscientious objector to win the Medal of Honor). He went into enemy territory without a rifle and saved the lives of more than 75 of his brothers in arms.

He didn’t do it for a medal, for fame, or for recognition. He did it to serve his brothers and bring the men he cared about home.

So who are you doing this for? Why do you want to be an Operator? Who is counting on you to show up and put in the work?

Keep them in your mind at all times and commit right now to never let them down.

Conclusion
Alright, that’s it.

Take these lessons from the 3-foot giant and go execute, dominate, and finish your mission.

Then back off, recover, plan strategically, put structure in place, and go out and do it again.

The world needs you now more than ever, and action beats anxiety.

Please find that first step that you can take to move ahead today.

And that’s how you’ll find TRUE freedom in life.

Craig.

Want to unlock the “Operator’s Blueprint” and learn how to achieve your 12-month goals in the next 12 weeks?Then click here to get access to my 90-day reality maker blueprint. The same tool I give to my $25k/day 1-on-1 coaching clients (a tool that has made many of those clients millionaires).

I’ll walk you through step by step exactly how to reverse engineer your biggest goals and achieve them in 90-days or less.

The post Lessons from a 3 Foot Giant: How to Eradiate Your B.S. Beliefs and Become an Unstoppable Operator appeared first on Early To Rise.

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Procrastination is a ubiquitous part of the human experience.

Although the challenges of modern life–hyper-connectedness, endless distractions, and overstimulation–have exacerbated the problem, human beings have struggled to “get stuff done” since time immemorial.

The most sinister element of procrastination is that it is largely unintentional and often feels uncontrollable.

No one wakes up and says to themselves, “Today is a great day to sabotage my chances of success and heap a few extra helpings of anxiety onto my plate!”

We all want to beat procrastination. We want to get more done, be more proactive, and make progress toward the vision we’ve set. But when it comes time to actually do the work, we find ourselves incapable of getting it done.

But there is a solution and you can beat procrastination.

And in this guide, I’m going to help you kill your inner procrastinator once and for all…using science.

I. What is Procrastination? At the most basic level, procrastination is simply the act of delaying a task(s) that needs to be completed.

And many time management “experts” suggest that procrastination is simply the act of going against your better judgment. Of losing self-control. Of doing (or more often not doing) something in the present moment that you will regret in the future.

But when you peel back the curtain and look at what is really going on, you will quickly realize that the real definition of procrastination goes so much deeper.

The assumption that “procrastination = lack of self-control” can be true under certain circumstances. But this definition ignores the numerous biases and faulty strings of logic to which your brain falls victim (we’ll talk about these in just a moment).

A more cogent definition is this.

Procrastination is the act of either intentionally or unintentionally delaying a task that must be accomplished.

While this might seem like a trivial difference, it’s essential to understand that procrastination does not always stem from a lack of willpower.

Because, to find the appropriate cure to procrastination, you must first understand its various forms and sources.

II. The “Three Kings of Mediocrity”: Why We Really ProcrastinateAccepting this updated definition of procrastination is great. But what do we actually do about it? Why is it that we procrastinate and, more importantly, how can we stop?

According to both anecdotal evidence and psychological research, there are three primary reasons why humans procrastinate.

1. Time Inconsistency Time inconsistency, a term derived from behavioral psychology, refers to the tendency of the human brain to value instant gratification more than delayed gratification. Even when the latter is more significant.

As James Clear put it, “The best way to understand this is by imagining that you have two selves: your Present Self and your Future Self.”

When you set a goal or write down a plan, you are imagining what you want your life to be like in the future. You are looking after “future you” and, in that moment, it’s easy to see the positive benefits of working toward that goal or carrying out that plan.

But there’s a problem.

When your planning and goal setting are complete and you find yourself back in the present moment you’re no longer looking after “Future You.” You are living and caring for “Present You.” And research has shown that present you really likes instant gratification.

Almost as much as Kayne West likes Kayne West (almost…)

And so, you enter into a war between your two selves. Future You and Present You.

Future You wants to live a long and healthy life free from cancer and respiratory disease. Present You really wants “just one more” cigarette to help take the edge off of the day.
Future You wants the safety and security of a well-funded retirement account and cash flow generating assets. Present You really wants that new BMW or swanky apartment.
Future You wants to be fit, athletic, and sculpted like a Greek god. Present You wants to hit the snooze button, skip the gym, and eat cake for breakfast.

The challenge is that the consequences of smoking, overspending, sleeping in, and skipping the gym are not immediate. They are often years away. After all, you won’t get lung cancer, go bankrupt, or gain 30 lbs. because of one bad decision.

But the reward for indulging in your vices and giving into procrastination? Those are immediate. You get your fix and you get it now.

You feel good in the moment and the negative consequences of your actions are deferred for months or even years.

2. The Planning Fallacy The second, and perhaps most insidious reason why we procrastinate is something known as “The Planning Fallacy“, first proposed by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky in 1979.

The planning fallacy simply states that human beings consistently underestimate the amount of time required to achieve a specific task.

An article that we thought would take two hours requires an entire day of focused effort. That meeting we thought would be over by lunchtime runs until 3 pm. The new lead magnet that was supposed to take a few days takes two weeks.

If you take an objective look at your performance over the past twelve months, I can all but guarantee that you can point to several instances where you fell prey to this fallacy.

The most damning part of the planning fallacy is that we fall prey to it unintentionally. When planning our weeks, we genuinely believe that projects will only take X number of hours and we prioritize our tasks and create a schedule to reflect this belief.

When you went out for drinks with a friend or came home early from work to enjoy a lazy afternoon, you didn’t know that you were procrastinating. You thought you had enough time to get everything done!

We unwittingly procrastinate because we have underestimated the effort required to complete a specific task and overestimate our ability to sustain focus on that task.

And the end result is always the same.

3. The Energy Paradox The final reason for procrastination, for which I have no scientific evidence whatsoever, is something I call “The Energy Paradox.” And despite my lack of peer-reviewed research, I’ve experienced this paradox enough in my own life to warrant sharing it here.

In the same way that we underestimate the amount of time it will require us to complete a certain task, we often overestimate the energy we will have available to complete that task.

On your best day, you really can write that guide in 90-minutes or record your new VSL in a few hours.

But we are quick to forget that our energy levels are not static. They are constantly in a state of fluctuation and, more often than we care to admit, outside of our control.

Even if you do everything right–going to bed on time, hitting the gym, eating the right foods, and taking all the right supplements–some days, you just feel like crap.

And when these days happen (and trust me, they do happen), our ability to GSD diminishes dramatically.

Tasks drag on for hours. Fatigue makes it all but impossible to stay focused for more than 3.5 seconds (wait, what was I saying?). And we find ourselves, despite our best intentions, unable to do the things we know we should do.

III. How to Beat Procrastination for Good Now that you have a greater understanding of why you procrastinate, let’s go over a few proven strategies to overcome each of the three procrastination causes.

1. Become a “Time Traveler” to Beat Time Inconsistency at Its Own GameIf we know that we procrastinate because the immediate rewards of procrastinating outweigh the long term consequences, the obvious solution is to find a way to make procrastination more painful and action more pleasurable.

And there are a few simple and easy ways to do this.

The first is a tactic known as “Temptation Bundling” which comes from researcher Katy Milkman at the University of Pennslyvania.

The premise is simple.

To beat procrastination, you combine an activity that is painful in the short term (but beneficial in the long term) with something that is pleasurable in the short term.

The key to maximizing this strategy is to ONLY do the pleasurable activity while engaged in something you normally procrastinate on.

For example, if you find yourself unable to consistently go to the gym no matter how hard you try, you could leverage temptation bundling by:

ONLY watching your favorite TV show while running on the treadmill
ONLY listening to your favorite podcast while lifting weights
ONLY eating your favorite dessert after a workout

Or, if you are procrastinating on quitting a habit, say compulsively checking Instagram (instead of using it to grow your business), you can modify this strategy to make your bad habit work for Future You. For example…

ONLY check Instagram after doing 20 pushups
ONLY check Instagram after writing 100 words for your blog
ONLY check Instagram after meditating for 1 minute

By using temptation bundling, you can make undesirable tasks more enjoyable and make it less likely that you will delay doing the things you need to do to achieve the future you want.

But sometimes, you need an extra kick to stop procrastinating.

And this is where the second strategy comes in.

Painful consequences through ruthless accountability.

If temptation bundling in and of itself is insufficient to help you beat your procrastination, you can make the pain of procrastination more immediate by enlisting the help of an accountability partner and creating painful consequences for failure.

For example, if you’re struggling to acquire new clients because you hate cold calls (as if anyone likes these) and continually procrastinate on picking up the phone…

…Hire a coach, give them your credit card, and tell them to donate $500 (or 10% of your monthly income) to a charity you hate if you haven’t acquired at least one new client by the end of the week.

If you’re struggling to consistently workout, find a gym buddy, give them your Facebook password, and tell them to share an embarrassing picture or post if you miss a training session.

By understanding and consciously manipulating the power of pain and pleasure, you can quickly overcome your procrastination and get back on track to achieve your big goals.

2. Bring Future You to the Present Moment to Eradicate Temptations Now Another way to beat time inconsistency is by bringing the “afterglow” of Future You (the feeling you have after setting a big goal or spending time visualizing a better future) into the present moment.

Right now, as you’re thinking about your goals and vision, you probably aren’t feeling tempted by the Sirens of junk food, social media, Netflix, or cigarettes.

But tomorrow, when faced with the challenges of daily life, those temptations will be just as strong as ever.

So leverage your motivation in the moment to make it easier for ‘Immediate Future You’ to make the right decision.

During your next “motivational wave” take 15 minutes and remove every distraction and temptation that you can:

Delete social media and mindless games from your phone…and let your friend set a new app store password so you can’t download them again in a moment of weakness.
Throw out your cigarettes, junk food, booze, and edibles now so that tomorrow, you have to face the pain of paying to indulge in your temptations.
Unplug the TV, give the power cable to an accountability partner, and instruct them only to return it once you’ve hit a big goal.

These examples might sound extreme (and they are), but they work.

If you’re serious about beating procrastination you must pull out all the stops and do whatever it takes to put yourself back on track and make progress towards the life that you–aka Future You–really want.

3. Treat Your Calendar Like an Old Macbook If you’ve ever tried browsing the internet from your grandmother’s dusty old Macbook, then you’re familiar with the dreaded rainbow wheel.

The little icon that says, “I’m trying to fulfill your request, but I’m going to need about 30-minutes of buffer time before I even pull up your internet browser.”

Well…

To beat the planning fallacy and overcome your “stupid human trick” of inaccurate estimation, you need to learn from that wheel.

Most high-performers and entrepreneurs fall into the trap that Craig calls, “Putting 10 lbs of potatoes in a 5 lbs sack.”

Or as I like to call it, “Doing too damn much!”

The solution to this challenge will first require that you ruthlessly eliminate everything nonessential from your calendar (if you need help with this, click here to check out an amazing article that will teach you how), and it will not be easy.

But it will be worth it.

To beat the planning fallacy, you’re going to flip the script and intentionally overestimate the amount of time required to complete a given task (with the exception of meetings that have a set start and end time).

If you think something will take you an hour, schedule three. If you think it will take one day, schedule two.

Make more time in your calendar to account for unexpected setbacks and speed bumps.

To take this tactic even further, I recommend that you schedule blocks of “buffer time” into your calendar each week.

Don’t schedule anything during these blocks. Instead, plan to use this time to catch up or get ahead.

Personally, I recommend that you schedule 90 minutes of buffer time every day and an entire afternoon of buffer time (4+ hours) once a week.

By building these “fail-safes” into your week, you prevent the planning fallacy from tricking you into unintentional procrastination.

And if you do have a hyper-productive week where everything goes according to plan? You can use the extra time to get ahead or enjoy some well-earned r&r.

4. Make Your Psychology Work for You with “The Rule of One” When I sat down to write my first book, I was overwhelmed. The prospect of transforming a blank word doc into a valuable 200-page guide was daunting, to say the least.

And, at the time, I didn’t know the anti-procrastination strategies I know today.

For more than nine months, I didn’t write a single word. Somehow, with only three weeks until my deadline, my hyperfocus kicked in and I was able to finish the project on time.

But…

It required three weeks of 14-hour days, nonexistent weekends, and a ton of coffee (so, so, sooo much coffee).

The reason for my procrastination was simple.

I was so focused on writing a BOOK that I became overwhelmed and forgot the simple truth that every book is written the same way…one word at a time.

When faced with a daunting, boring, or unfamiliar task, the challenge ahead of you can feel so overwhelming that you get trapped into procrastination by paralysis

And when this happens the solution is simple.

Remember the “rule of one” and just do the first thing.

Don’t try to write the entire article. Just write one sentence.
Don’t try to build the entire website. Just pick the background image.
Don’t try to go for your entire workout. Just put on your gym shoes.
Don’t try to give up all of your favorite foods forever, just eat a healthy breakfast.

By tricking yourself into taking the first action, you will build positive momentum by releasing the mental burden of trying to do “the whole thing”.

Once you write one sentence, you’ll want to write another. Once you make one call you’ll want to make ten more. Once you put on your gym shoes you’ll want to get in the car.

Create the wave of momentum, and then ride it until you achieve your goal.

5. Apply the “Drucker Method” to Your Energy Levels to GMSD

What gets measured gets managed.

Peter Drucker

I could write an entire book about optimizing your energy levels (and maybe I will), but the inconvenient truth about energy and the human body is this:

Every body is different.

What works for one person and gives them the all-day energy they need to dominate their inner procrastinator will leave another person exhausted and sound asleep at their desk.

While there are certain immutable principles of energy optimization (get 8 hours of sleep each night, eat whole foods, drink plenty of water, get in the sunlight, and break a sweat every day), the application of these principles vary from person to person.

Instead of giving you a dogmatic “do this, do that” prescription for maximum energy, I encourage you to apply the “Drucker Method” to find out what works for you.

The “Drucker Method” is, quite simply, the act of measuring your energy levels throughout the day to determine what “triggers” lead to low energy (and procrastination).

For the next two weeks, I want you to try something.

Setup a recurring 30-minute timer on your phone that starts half an hour after you wake up and ends half an hour before you go to sleep.

Whenever the alarm goes off, take 10-seconds to record your subjective energy levels (on a scale from 1-10) and what you did, ate, and drank over the past 30-minutes.

This might sound tedious–and it is–but if you will do this for 1-2 weeks, you can quickly spot the patterns resulting in less than optimal energy levels.

For example, you might notice that every time you each dairy, you go into a two-hour mini coma (like me) and are unable to focus on your work and GSD.

Or, you might notice that every day, no matter what you do, you experience a one hour slump from 2 pm to 3 pm.

By using this data, you can create routines and habits that will allow you to better manage your energy and ensure that you are never unwillingly forced into procrastination due to fatigue and burnout.

What’s Next? I hope that you enjoyed this guide and found valuable insights into why you procrastinate and how you can stop.

If you’re looking for more resources to help you get stuff done and make massive progress toward your biggest goals, be sure to check out the articles, guides, and free downloads below.

5 Research Backed Tips to Improve Your Productivity by 176%
9 Ways to Be More Disciplined and Become an Unstoppable Operator
7 Simple Tricks to Supercharge Your Success and Dominate Your Weeks
Are These Five “Morning Myths” DESTROYING Your Productivity? (Read this to find out)
The Tactical Time Management Blueprint that Will Save You 12.5+ Hours Each Week
The 90-Day “Reality Maker Blueprint” to Compress Time and Achieve Your 12 Month Goals in 12 Weeks

The post [Ultimate Guide] Procrastination: How to Stop Procrastinating for Good Using Science appeared first on Early To Rise.

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Nearly 20 years ago to the day I was a broke, struggling, binge drinking, socially anxious personal trainer who was lost in life.

Don’t get me wrong…I loved going to the gym, but hated being a professional rep counter and towel holder.

I was tired of taking the bus downtown at 5:30 am to open the gym, train clients back-to-back for 12 hours, and get home at 8 pm only to collapse into bed an hour later.

Like you, I knew there was something more. There had to be another level of achievement and fulfillment…and I was determined to reach it.

I knew that my job as a personal trainer was not for me. I wanted the freedom and fortune that came from entrepreneurship and I knew that my best chance at achieving it was to start an online fitness business and sell my expertise (in the form of neatly packaged info products) to clients all over the world.

I knew what I had to do. But there was one big obstacle stopping me–I had “no time” to do it.

No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t find more time. I looked all over my room, under the bed, in the closet, even in the trunk of my car. But more time was nowhere to be found.

That’s when I had an epiphany that still serves me – and my clients – to this day.

You can’t find time for what matters. You can only make time.

There’s a huge difference between passively trying to find time for important work – like creating a second income stream, writing your book, or crafting a million dollar sales letter – and proactively making time–by carving out deep work blocks and protecting your magic time so you can achieve your big goals and dreams.

And in 18 months, this epiphany helped me go from a broke 25-year old personal trainer, living in a tiny 2nd floor apartment (that I shared with two of my buddies from high school) to a 6-figure entrepreneur–in a much nicer apartment–running the business of his dreams.

The craziest part? I earned my freedom working only 20 minutes a day.

By following the 7 principles I’ll be sharing with you, I more than doubled my income while working less and getting to do work that I love…all while working a fulltime job.

The principles you’re about to learn completely transformed my life (and the lives of my top clients) and, after receiving the following email from one of my readers, Frank from the Netherlands, I knew I had to make time to write this “manifesto”.

*“Craig, I’m a freelance IT consultant in desperate need of a second income. Right now I fix problems from 8am to 6pm. My time belongs entirely to clients. I’m 35 and after doing this for a decade, I’m tired. That’s why I want to create a set of online courses that teach technical skills.

I want to have income not tied to the hours I work, so that I can take a step back from the consulting work. The problem is that while I have the knowledge to create the courses, I can’t find enough uninterrupted quiet time to be able to put it all together.*

*My partner and I have a 10-month old daughter, and between looking after her, renovating our home, and working for my clients, there’s just not enough time. Most nights I fall into bed exhausted, only to do it again the next day.

How can I break free from this cycle? My business does not generate enough income to be able to hire people that could help me. I should control my mornings, but once I start work, I already seem to be behind. I’ve tried to implement some of your strategies, but haven’t been consistent. I’m looking forward to reading your book, and hopefully getting this all under control.*

Thanks,
Frank”

Frank, I understand how you feel. I’ve experienced your dilemma firsthand and developed proven strategies to help you overcome it.

In fact, just by coincidence, I taught these strategies to another “Frank from the Netherlands” last summer and he used them to increase him income 10X from $12,000/month to $120,000/month–all while having more date nights, free time, and several amazing vacations.

So, let’s give you the same strategies right now…

1. Ruthlessly Eliminate Your Distractions and Temptations As a boy I watched my alcoholic father try to quit drinking time after time.

But every time he managed to string together two days of sobriety, the basement fridge, full of beer, proved a temptation too powerful for him to resist.

If he only he had the willpower to pour them down the drain and cut out the temptation at its root, his sobriety might have lasted.

Likewise, we all have time (and life) wasting vices. Our phone – and its plethora of addictive apps – is always in reach. We have Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, YouTube, and–despite our disdain for the platform and its practices–Facebook, all vying for our attention every second of the day.

Frankly, it’s hard to believe that anyone gets anything done at all – let alone makes the time to launch a successful side hustle.

But there is a solution that will allow you to control your schedule and make time for what matters most.

Destroy every distraction, deliver yourself from every temptation, recruit accountability, and set hard deadlines with significant consequences.

When I first started my online business, I made promises that felt almost impossible to keep–like sending two weekly newsletters to my 3,000 email subscribers each week. But, I gave my word and knew I would do whatever it took to keep it.

I also pre-sold a program before it was done, collected the money, and knew I had to deliver or face the wrath of unhappy customers.

To fulfill my promises, I cut my cable (years before it became de rigueur), stopped drinking (as my father should have done), and gave up on gossiping with clients at the Starbucks across the street from the gym.

To make time for the things that really matter, you must ruthlessly destroy your distractions. It won’t be comfortable or easy. But it will be worth it.

Frank, I don’t know how you spend every second of his day, but I’m sure there is fluff to cut, and some distractions that disturb your day. If you’re willing to undergo some ruthless self-reflection and cut it out, you’ll make more time for what matters.

2. Work in the Slivers of (Magic) Time Alice Munro, short story author and winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature, began her writing career as a single mom of three young girls in the 1950’s. Living above the bookshop where she worked in Victoria, B.C., Alice would write in any free moment she could find (calling them the “slivers of time”), often when her oldest daughter was at school and the youngest was taking a nap.

Despite the her hurried and hectic life, she proved that you can always make time for what really matters.

Munro’s message inspired me to become “The always typing on his Blackberry while standing in a crowded subway train on his way home from the gym” guy (try saying that three times fast).

I became so skilled at writing in these little chunks of time that I could finish a 500-word email to my list in the 20-minute journey from the downtown gym back to my home in the West end of Toronto.

While other commuters listened to iPods and stared blankly out the window (this was 2003 after all, before the ability to “kill time” watching video on their phone), I created content that would make me a few hundred dollars – turning travel time into profitable time.

I did the same in the 5 minutes between clients, writing down ideas for future content or even writing articles one paragraph at a time over the course of a day.

Maximizing your commute is mandatory. Today I “Uber” everywhere, using the time saved to write on my laptop in the backseat. Aside from a few isolated incidents of car sickness (which I’m willing to risk!), I’ve dramatically improved my already prodigious output by taking an unconventional approach to life – all thanks to the influence of Alice Munro’s little phrase.

How can Frank use this approach? It’s simple. Right now he probably thinks that he needs a $1,000 camera and complex lighting system to film videos for his online course. But that’s not the case.

Content is king, not style. Frank can whip out his iPhone and record videos on his work breaks while in front of the equipment he is fixing. He can film screen capture videos on his laptop at lunch. He can record audio notes if he continues to drive from home to work and back.

You only get paid for done, as the old saying goes, so you better start doing now, even if it’s just a few minutes at a time.

3. Develop Singularity of Focus and Go All in on Your “One Thing” A new client of mine, Chris, was torn between three big projects. He had promised to code a custom online shopping cart for a client, but he also wanted to build an app for real estate agents and invest in residential property.

He was overwhelmed and stressed out from trying to do all three – and doing all three poorly.

“Chris,” I said on our first coaching call, “you’re going to stop everything but the coding. Go all in. Get it done. When you do the weight of the world will be off your shoulders, and you’ll be able to give full attention to your new business so that you can earn more capital to invest in your real estate projects in the future. You need to focus for now and forget the rest.”

Reluctantly, he did. But sure enough, after three days of five hour blocks of focused work, he could see the light at the end of the tunnel for the coding project. He already felt lighter. Each day he would text me the number of hours he finished. The accountability was key because he did not want to disappoint me. Soon he was done and on to more profitable and enjoyable work.

Eating that frog, and eating the biggest frog first, as Mark Twain said, is the best way to tackle important projects that you just don’t want to do.

Last year at this time, unhappy with the final version of my Unstoppable book from my ghostwriter, I set about on a nearly inhuman task of rewriting every sentence in four weeks time – so that I could have it done for my Perfect Life Retreat (as I had promised all attendees).

If would have been easy if that’s all I had to do in the month of September. But I also had a full time job running Early To Rise, I had to crisscross America twice to coach at separate Mastermind meetings, and I had to deal with nearly daily vet visits for my poor old dying dog (rest in peace, Bally!).

Up at 4am every day I sat in a recliner and wrote for 3.5 hours straight. My butt hurt and back ached, and my old dog whined a little because his breakfast was late, but I had no choice.

The printer gave me a hard deadline of October 1st if I wanted to have copies for my November event, and so singularity of focus was key. With one day to spare I turned in the manuscript, and in January the book became a Wall Street Journal best-seller.

My lesson to Frank is this… Once you have your plan in place, go all in.

Give up your hobbies for a few months. Let the home renovations wait. Cut out everything in life except for your wife and daughter, work, and your side hustle. Cut back your exercise sessions to three quick bouts of fifteen minutes each week. Go all-in on your dreams and it will all pay off for you.

4. Get Up 15 Minutes EarlierYou knew this was coming.

There’s no denying the power of getting up before everyone else (even a 10-month old) and sneaking down to your kitchen table and working on your number one priority in life (even if you have to do it in near darkness so as not to wake the baby – or in my case, the puppy).

As I write this in the dark at 5:12 am, my 9-month old yellow lab is sleeping just 20 feet away. One clumsy move and I risk waking her and commencing all-out chaos, but for now I type silently because I have a deadline to hit.

Twenty years ago I tried the “cool” night owl approach. “I’ll just get home from training and work till midnight on my fitness business”, I thought.

Alas, each night at 8 o’clock when I sat down to my giant desktop computer (remember those?) the light from the screen drove into my eyes like daggers. I lasted all of 5 minutes before giving up in vain and crashing on the couch.

That’s when I recognized that getting up earlier actually takes less discipline than being a night owl. Today it’s truer than ever.

Imagine Frank’s life. He leaves his client’s office at 6pm, fights traffic, and gets home exhausted to his family at 6:30 (or later). Seeing his partner and daughter re-energizes him and while they eat and play he loses track of time. Finally, they get the little one bathed and to bed, and somehow it’s become 8:30pm. Exhaustion has returned, and he hasn’t yet started on his course.

“Frank, laten we Netflix kijken,” his partner says (according to Google translate!). Soon they’ve said, “just one more episode of Billions” twice – and maybe also “nog een glas wijn” (one more glass of wine), and now it’s half past ten.

Frank submits to fatigue and crawls into bed, knowing that the baby will likely wake them soon. The course can wait till tomorrow night. This scenario repeats itself night-after-night for the next… 12 years.

The only solution is to switch his mindset to being a Ben Franklin and Mark Ford (the founder of Early To Rise).

Making a plan to get to bed earlier, communicating that to his partner and getting her on board (at least for three nights per week), so that Frank can get up earlier and use 15 minutes of Magic Time (the time of day when he’s likely to be more energetic, creative, and productive) is the only way that Frank will get ahead working on his project at home.

Now I know what you’re thinking. What can possibly be accomplished in 15 minutes? Doesn’t Frank need to get up ridiculously early and join the #5amclub? No, I’ve written about that before. While some folks have turned their wake-up time into a perverse competition, I’ve always said, “It’s not about the hour you get up, it’s about what you do with the hours that you are up.”

Fifteen minutes, for any expert in a field, allows you enough time to write 500 words, film a couple of videos, or strategically plot out a sales message. Done six days a week, that adds up to 72 hours in a year of focused work time.

I recognized the power of morning “Magic Time” work when I was 25 and hating my job as a personal trainer.

It wasn’t cool to get up at 4:30am at that age to work on a business, but I did it because it was my only way out. Eighteen months later, when my online fitness information product business was generating over $10,000 a month, I was free.

This Morning Magic Time is the key to unlock you freedom.

5. Plan Your NUI Work the Night Before“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success,” goes a quote attributed to Alexander Graham Bell.

I agree. The more entrepreneurs I work with in my coaching program, the more I see a trend beginning to appear. The business owners with the fattest pockets often have this one thing in common – extreme preparation at night for the next morning.

The great news is that it doesn’t take that long to get ahead. In my upcoming book, The Perfect Week Formula, I describe the 3-steps every busy person needs to take to make the morning more productive than ever.

They’re dead simple and only take 15 minutes at the end of your workday to do.

First, you’re going to take a few minutes to write down your “Three by Three”. That is: Three things you’re grateful for, three things that went well that day, and three things you can improve on the next day.

This will help you “bookend” your day and give you a feeling of closure. More importantly, it will ensure that you are actively learning and improving each day and identifying problematic patterns and behaviors before they spiral out of control–for example, drinking 16 cups of coffee and suffering from anti-productive jitters.

Next, you’re going to complete a quick “brain dump”, writing down all of your upcoming appointments, projects, and to-dos in one place so that you can sift through them and figure out exactly how to sequence the rest of your week for maximum productivity.

Then, with your brain dump complete, take a few minutes to plan the following day by identifying the #1 thing you’re going to accomplish during your 15-minute “magic time” session the following morning and your three most important priorities for the following day.

Once you know exactly what needs to be done and when you’re going to do it, take a few minutes to “grease the chute” and prepare for your work the next day. Outline the article you plan to write, jot down a few notes for the video you’re going to record, make a few notes about the sales copy you need to write.

Do something to make your life easier the next day and I promise, you will be amazed by what you can accomplish.

Frank, our dear ETR reader, admitted that he is lacking consistency in his important habits. So let me give a warning. This action must become one of the most reliable and consistent habits in your life if you want more success and less stress.

6. Say NO Like a MoFoPlease excuse my French, but I know this turn of phrase will stick in your mind.

Right now you are letting a few things steal your time. First, saying yes to unnecessary obligations. For example, accepting social invitations out of guilt.

“Well Sarah and Tom came to our wedding seven years ago, so if we don’t spend four days driving 500 miles to attend their dog’s graduation party from training school, we’re obviously bad people. So let’s put our future on hold for another year and show up to save face.”

Yes, this is a ridiculous example. But it’s not that far off from some of the actions you’ve taken that are delaying your dreams. Boy’s weekends (at the age of 35!), weddings of people you haven’t spoken to in 17 years, etc. At some point you have to draw the line to protect your time.

This is an uncommon approach to life, and you will face resistance. It’s up to you to go all-in on what matters. And it’s fine if you decide that being social and attending events out of obligation is more important than earning a second income.

It’s your life. Just be honest with yourself that you’re not willing to do the hard work and make the difficult decisions to succeed. That will save you a ton of stress when you resign yourself to your current life and decide to live it as happily as possible. On the other hand, if you truly want change, then realize it only comes with sacrifice.

The second time-stealer we must address is what I call “the doing of the $10 an hour tasks”. This includes running errands, mowing the lawn, building websites, etc. In this day and age of the gig economy, it’s never been easier to outsource these to someone else at a reasonable rate.

For Frank, it’s likely that with his technical background that he’s diving in and doing so much dirty work that he doesn’t need to do. He’s coding, designing, and spending hours creating complex digital rabbit holes that suck away his time. It’s unnecessary.

You might think his background in computer knowledge would be of service to Frank. But what I’ve found is just the opposite. The less you know about computers, website design, etc., the greater you’re chance of building a successful online business. The same goes with building an offline business.

At the gyms I own, we get other people to build and manage the client management software programs. That’s not my job. My job is to attract leads and sell memberships so that the business has lots of revenue on which it can survive and thrive.

One of my killer time ownership techniques goes like this:

“Know less tech stuff. If I don’t know how to do it, then I can’t do it, therefore I get more important work done because someone else has to do it.”

Frank, take a look at where you’re spending your precious time as you work on your side income. If you’ve done the hard work of making more minutes, but then you spend those on the wrong activities, you’ll be just as frustrated as ever.

Which brings me to our last strategy…

7. Course Correction Through Ruthless Self ReflectionEvery day you must watch the movie of your life. Sit back for a few minutes after the baby has gone to bed, and look at how your day went compared to how you designed your day.

Did you hit snooze instead of getting up and tackling the day?

Did your coffee break turn into a 20-minute gossip session with a co-worker?

Did you nap at lunch or make the most of every free minute to move ahead on your course?

Daily course correction through ruthless self-reflection was a vital component in my journey to becoming the “World’s Most Disciplined Man” as my friends and clients call me.

This is what destroyed my bad habits and helped me build a pillar of skills that allowed me to buy the business of my dreams (Early To Rise), write two best-selling books, build multiple seven-figure businesses, and transition from personal training to online business owner to coach that helps people who were in my position twenty years ago to live the life of their dreams.

Frank, I want you to become like my other Dutch friend Frank. He was once stuck in a paycheck prison, just like you.

But he decided to come to my workshop, get my coaching and weekly accountability, and commit to constant and never-ending improvement. His weekly check-ins allow us to course-correct his every move, and as a result he’s seen massive growth in his business – and in his freedom.

If he can do it, if I can do it, then you can do it too.

One last thing…Frank, I was once told by my friend Frank McKinney (who lives right down the road from my mentor Mark Ford), that in order to achieve extraordinary results, you must resist an ordinary approach.

Your colleagues at work will question you.

They’ll tease you for running back to your car at lunchtime to film a video or work on your course. Your family and friends won’t understand you, so don’t even bother explaining it to them (except for your partner, of course).

What matters now is getting out of your paycheck prison. If you want to escape, you can do it – 15 minutes at a time, in the slivers of time, and while the rest of the world sleeps, just like Andy Dufresne broke out of chipping away at his prison wall bit-by-bit, day-by-day.

Good luck and I look forward to hearing about your success.

Want to achieve your 12-month goals in the next 12 weeks?Then click here to get access to my 90-dayreality maker blueprint. The same tool I give to my $25k/day 1-on-1 coaching clients (a tool that has made many of those clients millionaires).

I’ll walk you through step by step exactly how to reverse engineer your biggest goals and achieve them in 90-days or less.

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The biggest obstacle for most of my million-dollar clients is distraction (aka “shiny object syndrome”). When you are distracted, you lose focus. When you lose focus, you go off on costly and dangerous detours when you should be racing ahead on the fast track to success.

A few years ago, while preparing for the Empire Mastermind coaching program that I ran with Bedros Keuilian, I was reminded about the simplicity of making money, and how creating something complicated can distract you and hold you back.

Our top success story from year one of the Empire program was my long-time friend and client, Vince Del Monte.

Vinny has been hell-bent on success for his entire life, and in the past, that was sometimes to his detriment. He’ll be the first to admit that he is easily distracted with new opportunities and that his shotgun approach to business handcuffed his income at times. But with Bedros and I laying down the law for Vince and setting important boundaries, he’s made us proud and recently had a $300,000 sales weekend at one of his quarterly events.

“What a corner we’ve turned in 12 months with Empire!” Vince said in an email. His big breakthrough came just before his wife Flavia gave birth to their third beautiful baby, Aubrianna (which came in the same week that both Flav and Vince treated themselves to brand new cars, too). Vinny is “Living Large,” just like he promises in his book title of the same name.

“Thanks for getting me focused,” Vince said to Bedros and me. “Your help has been a game-changer, and I’m now growing my team of coaches and high-ticket closers. We’re going to hit 100 Mastermind members, and my goal for 2019 is $10 million, just like I declared at Craig’s Perfect Life Workshop last year.”

With his newfound focus, Vince uncovered multiple hidden profits centers in his business that didn’t require him to chase shiny new objects. I want you to grab a pen and paper, and answer five questions so we can do the same for you, boosting your cash flow and making your life easier.

Some of these might seem remedial, but let’s be honest; sometimes in life, in business, in fitness, and in our personal relationships, we stray from the basics, end up in trouble, and wonder how we slid down the slippery slope. Bear with me. I promise it’ll be worth a good chunk of change to you to go through these five questions.

Question #1 — Do you have a clear, concise, and high-converting front end offer?

Question #2 — Do you have an OSS (Optimal Selling System, as my mentor Mark Ford says) for that offer?

Question #3 — If you are in start-up mode (i.e. under $1 million in revenue), do you spend 80% of your time selling? And remember, posting free content, making videos, and podcasting doesn’t count as selling. Let’s not confuse content marketing with selling.

Question #4 — Do you have joint venture partners sending you customers?

Question #5 — Have you analyzed your best sources of customers and created your ideal (most profitable) “customer avatar”?

If you have answered “no” to any of those questions, do not pass Go, do not collect $200, and do not do anything for the next 30 minutes except get away from your computer and fill in the blanks in your business so you can answer “yes” to each of these questions.

In the book, “Top of Mind,” author John Hall gives us four more questions to help dive deeper into making that crucial customer connection.

Do my customers like and trust me?

If my customers have a significant problem, would they think of and contact me first?

Do I understand the real needs and pain points of my customers and prospects?

Am I delivering real value to my customers every day outside the products and services that I offer?

In Hall’s book, you’ll learn how to engage and position yourself in the minds of the people who matter most, so that whenever opportunity arises, they’ll already be thinking of you.

When you focus on finding ways to add value to other strong, ambitious people—those who are looking to give and not get or gain for self—everything becomes easier. Too many people spend too much time in a state of self-absorption thinking about what they want, what they have to do, and not really being aware of or acknowledging other people. That’s why they struggle to make an impact, have influence, or increase their income.

Let’s run Vince’s business through some of the first five questions as an example:

Question #1 — Does he have a clear, concise, and high-converting front end offer?

Yes, he does. It’s the opportunity to sit-in on his Mastermind group. Yes, it’s a high-ticket front-end offer that leads to an even higher-priced coaching program, but Vince is having no problems selling out his events. Why? It’s because of the answer to this…

Question #2 — Does Vince have an OSS, and does he spend 80% of his time selling?

At the first Empire Mastermind meeting, I gave Vince one simple piece of advice that completely changed his business. “Vince,” I said, “you need to be doing daily Instagram stories with a clear and concise call-to-action. Just do that and you’ll fill those seats.”

I knew this to be true because the same approach and a similar offer are working for my Perfect Life Workshop program. In 18 months on Instagram, I’ve gone from ZERO followers to over 21,000 fans, all while generating at least $750,000 in revenue (with over 70% of that being gross profit).

One of the things I love about Vince is that when he is given marching orders, he executes as fast and as well as any coaching client I’ve ever had. Not only did Vince start immediately (generating $18,000 in the next 7 days), he’s become so good at the system that I’m learning from him every day. But he didn’t stop there…

Question #3 — Does Vince have joint venture partners sending him customers, and has Vince figured out his best audience?

You bet he does (and has). Vince has been very narrow in working with his niche market, and that has made it easy for me to send him about six new Mastermind members in just a few months. Vince has put himself in a category of one and he dominates because he addressed the questions raised in John Hall’s book—as well as the five questions I presented earlier in this article.

Everyone in his market knows, LOVES, and trusts Vince. He is top-of-mind when young, ambitious fitness entrepreneurs want to get coaching and start making money online. Vince has no competition. He’s delivering value daily and selling clients consistently so that he can be making money simply.

Take a little time right now and see how you compare to Vince by answer the questions above. Find your focus and you’ll also find hidden profits in your current business (or the way to turn a profit if you’re just starting out).

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As many of you already know, I send out an email to my clients every Saturday. It’s full of lessons that I’ve learned from other high-achievers, and lessons of my own on how to set goals and level up in every area of life.

Recently, a client shared how much he loves these weekly emails with me, and one of his biggest takeaways really struck me:

“I treat myself as my favorite client,” Brent said. “I make time to invest in myself. And I take it slow.”

I’ll tell you why this resonates. So many of my clients come to me complaining about how little time they have in their lives for serious self-improvement.

They work 60, 70, 80 hours a week … they shoehorn in time with family whenever possible … and they sleep less so they can get dive back into the fray as quickly as possible.

“When do I possibly have time for deep work, goal-setting, or focus exercises?” they ask.

It’s not about time. It’s about priorities.

When it comes to your business, the client always comes first, right? And because you’re passionate about what you do and want nothing less than success, you dive head-first into work every day of every week.

But there’s only so much you can do in your business if you’re exhausted, stretched too thin, and horrendously overworked. Not only are you tapped out of energy, but you lose your passion and creativity. And where do you think your business goes then? Down.

Brent is absolutely right. You need to start treating yourself like your #1 client.

For him, that means soaking in my weekly accountability and teaching emails for hours. He prints each of them out, marks them up, and highlights specific quotes that he wants to weave into his daily mindfulness.

This intentionality didn’t come from nowhere. After years working his butt off, Brent noticed something about other agency owners in his industry—what he calls the “Lack of Time/Growth Loop.”

What happens, he says, is that entrepreneurs claim they don’t have time to invest in themselves. Naturally, they stop growing—and their dream businesses suffer. They complain about that, too, and when someone suggests that they should take time to invest in themselves, they return to square one with the tired refrain: “I don’t have time.”

Yes, you do have time. What you don’t have are the right priorities.

So I want you to do something right now—or at least, before the end of the day. No more “Growth Loop” excuses.

Set aside 15 minutes.
Sit down at a table with a pen and some paper.
Remove all distractions. Turn your phone off. Get away from your computer. Shut the door to your office. Tell your employees/coworkers that you need 15 minutes undisturbed.
Take 4 deep breaths, holding each one in for a few seconds before exhaling. Keep in mind that this exercise is not about judgment, so remove that from your mind. This is about growth and improvement.
At the top of the page, write down your top 3 goals for the rest of the year. Be as specific as possible.
Divide the rest of your paper into 2 columns. Title the one on the left “Current Priorities” and the one on the right “New Priorities.”
Make room for a list of 3 groups of 5 priorities in both columns. Title the groups “Time,” “Energy,” and “Money.”
Start with the left column. Think carefully about how you spend your time, energy, and money right now. Write in your top 5 current priorities in each of these categories. (I shouldn’t have to say this, but I will: Be brutally honest or this exercise will be worthless.)
Take a moment to reflect on what you’ve written and how they conflict with or work against the goals you have written at the top of the page. How have they held you back or made goal achievement impossible?
Next, as you consider your goals for the year, move to the right column and begin adding in your new priorities. Keep in mind that self-investment in each of these categories is key to your success. How will investing time, energy, and money in yourself help you reach your goals for the year?
Once you have this completed list, you can start to brainstorm action steps. Consider starting a Morning Routine that allows you to focus on you as part of your new priorities. (And definitely take a look at my 10-3-2-1-0 Formula that will help you sleep well without the burden of daily to-dos still swimming in your head.)
Set this list somewhere you can review it daily—by your computer, near your bed, or by the coffee machine. Make it a daily ritual to read through it.
Get a mentor or coach if you don’t already have one. Find someone who will hold you accountable—not only to your goals, but to your new priorities which make achieving those goals possible.

I’m happy to say that Brent is more successful that he’s ever been. He didn’t let a busy life get in the way of setting the right priorities and making time for himself. He’s happier, healthier, and more passionate than ever about growing his business.

Don’t let a hectic schedule get in the way of your personal growth. Complete the exercise above, then commit to real change so you can become a better you—and build your business as you grow.

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Want to have the perfect week, every week? Then check out this short article where I'll show you how a simple 7x7 grid can help you have the best week ever.

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Want to develop the unstoppable mindset required to achieve the highest levels of success in your business and life? Then read this article to learn how.

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I've talked a lot about my Morning Routine, but there's something essential to your success that often gets lost in the shuffle. It starts with focus.

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I've talked a lot about the importance of the Morning Routine, but there's more to your eventual success than routines. You have to push yourself to move from idea to action, and find accountability for every step you take. Here's how.

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Use this daily structure to get everything done in a two-hour work day, whether you're on vacation on working a regular week from home.

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Let’s be brutally honest. If you’re struggling to hit six figures in earnings, it’s not because you don’t work hard enough. You deserve more for all the work you do, right? You get in early, you stay (too) late, you read books, you go to seminars, you follow directions, you get along with others, and…

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In today's episode, I discuss my new daily routine thats helped me succeed as a dad and business owner.

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My story begins in 2001 when I first stumbled across EarlyToRise.com (ETR). It was exactly what I needed as a young, ambitious entrepreneur. Each morning, when the ETR newsletter would arrive in my inbox, I’d stop whatever I was doing and read every word. The daily advice from my new virtual mentors — Michael Masterson,…

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Click here to discover the 7 simple tactics that allowed me to 10X my skills as a speaker and presenter and charge $25k for 90 minute keynotes.

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Click here to discover the 7 simple tactics that will super charge your success and help you dominate in business and in life.

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In today's episode, I discuss the biggest thing holding you back from being your most productive.

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“If I’m feeling gridlocked, I go and gather more information. The answers come as I get the information.” – Longtime client and owner of Clean Car Custom Detail, Marcy Tran By November of 2022, I had been coaching at Early To Rise for almost a year, at which point I had seen several difficult client…

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Want to join the 5 am club and become an early riser? Here are 11 simple tips that will help you beat the alarm clock and conquer your mornings.

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Click here to discover the secrets of effective leadership that will help you scale your company and achieve success 10X faster.

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In today's episode, I discuss the 7 mindset hacks to help you avoid burnout, no matter if you're a busy parent or an entrepreneur that wants to scale his business.

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In 2007, I was living in a bubble. It had been one year since I built my 6-figure online business and quit my job as a personal trainer. And during that year, I followed the exact same “introverted routine” almost every day of the week. Wake up at 7:30. Walk ‘Ol Bally the Dog. Check…

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Success really hinges on one factor—and Warren Buffett and Bill Gates agree. You need focus, and here's how to get it.

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Stop leaning on outdated email markting methods for sales. It's time to turn to the biggest lead-generating tool of all: Instagram. Here's how it works.

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High performers often suffer from terrible anxiety. But there's a way to accomplish everything you want and not be undone by it. How? Follow these 3 steps.

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A full run down of the dos and don'ts of a successful morning routine, and how to develop the correct morning rituals for your top priority.

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This communication secret used by millionaire rapper Jay-Z should be applied to your business and personal life: controlling the narrative.

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Growth doesn't happen overnight, and it doesn't happen by yourself. Use this 5-step feedback cycle to continually build your success and ensure self-improvement.

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In today's episode, I discuss 10 things you should stop doing if you want to get rich.

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Don't let the chaos of life override what's most important. Beat back overwhelming days with this simple 3-"Set" Solution.

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Legendary trainer and coach Tim Grover shares some of his secret wisdom on leveling up and high performance—accessible to ANYONE.

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In June of 1980, my father decided our family was going to escape communist Russia. We were living in Armenia, which at the time was under communist rule. My dad had been saving for almost two years to pay off the Russian officials $25,000 (USD) so we could escape. He knew there was a better…

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Picture your perfect day. You wake up early. The sun is shining. Everything goes your way during your morning routine as you get off to work, where you arrive a few minutes before everyone else. You avoid the temptation of checking email immediately and settle into a major project. Time passes quickly. You aren’t fatigued…

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In today's episode, I discuss the top 10 commandments for having elite time management.

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Living an exceptional life is simple when you can convince yourself to take the right actions. Here are 8 personal rules to help you do exactly that!

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Unlocking the Whoosh Effect In the fiercely competitive world of entrepreneurship, achieving success is a constant battle. Amidst the challenges and setbacks, there exists a phenomenon known as the Whoosh Effect—an extraordinary breakthrough that often occurs just when entrepreneurs are on the brink of giving up or chasing another shiny object. Unfortunately, many aspiring business…

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A lesson in copywriting from David Ogilvy, considered the greatest advertiser in history, who learned copy and content are the same thing.

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Work/life balance is a goal for many would-be high-performers, but is just not tenable. Instead, aim for a work/life mix—and clearly define your goals.

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High-value networking, the act of connecting members of your business/social circles with others that can add value to their pursuits, can grow your wealth.

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In today's episode, I discuss the different steps that will allow you to improve your self discipline and increase productivity.

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By creating a life vision you can determine what the end destination or goal is you are working for, and how to accomplish it faster.

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A few years back, Bill and Will were at one of my CEO workshops in California. It was Bill’s third workshop, and as he described his business, his results, his profits, and his relatively“easy” daily schedule, Will’s eyes opened wide as saucers and his jaw dropped to the floor. Will couldn’t believe how much money…

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A lesson on never giving up and building your empire from Bedros Keuilian, Creator of Fit Body Boot Camp, who lives The American Dream.

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Ten life lessons from my father, who exhibited so many good and bad habits during his life, including consistency and working early and hard.

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Acres of Diamonds by Russell Conwell is a classic case of what I refer to as the number one source of stress in successful people’s lives.

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If you run a team or business, your employees could be mentally checking out because you haven't created a company culture centered around your goals.

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In today's episode, I discuss my journey on how I went from being a broke and struggling trainer to improving my discipline and becoming a millionaire.

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The concept of a mastermind was introduced to me by Napoleon Hill in his classic book, “Think and Grow Rich.” Hill says, “No mind is complete by itself. It needs contact and association with other minds to grow and expand.” If you’ve spent any time on this Earth, you know this is a fact… We…

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Want to to double your income in 10 months? Then check out this case study of my client Joe Arko to learn how he did it and how you can too.

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Want to learn how to be more creative so that you can increase your income, productivity, and influence? Then click here and let me show you.

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Want to learn how to meet amazing people and build the network of your dreams? In this ultimate guide, I'll show you exactly how to do it.

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In today's episode, I discuss the worst 7 deadly sins you can commit with your time.

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Click here to discover my 10 rules to live by that will bring you more success, happiness, and fulfillment in every area of your life,

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Click here to discover the six pillars of lasting success and how you can implement them in your life today.

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Click here to discover the "secret" that elite performers and top entrepreneurs use to "have it all", increase their income, and eradicate stress.

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Click here to read the expose of billion dollar publishing behemoth Agora Inc and, more importantly how you can learn from their success to grow your empire.

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Tired of the 9-to-5 game? Take control of your schedule and make time for your #1 priority with these 5 easy tips for work-life mastery.

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In today's episode, I discuss the top 7 habits every high performer MUST have to succeed.

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Today, I want to teach you about seven success habits that have made me the most money in my career. I sold my first product online on January 28th, 2001. And since then, I have sold over $21 million worth of product services, coaching, and all the good stuff on the internet. And today I…

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Click here to discover five powerful life lessons from my new pup Daisy the Dog that will help you become healthier, wealthier, and wise.

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Everybody knows Warren Buffett, but few know his ingenious partner Charlie Munger—the mastermind of "creative destruction." If you want to take your business to the next level, follow these tips from Charlie on how to "destroy" your business for future growth opportunities.

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Do you know what the most successful people in the world have in common? This one simple hack—the secret to building the best habits for success.

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Many high-achievers—like you—struggle from stagnation and failure. But there's a choice in these hidden opportunities that can allow you to soar. That's what the Virtuous Cycle is all about.

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In today's episode, I discuss how I helped Jason Capital make $20,000 using a simple marketing plan that I crafted on a napkin.

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In early May, we hosted our second live event of the year down in sunny Cancun. The room was filled with over 30 entrepreneurs from all industries, many levels of business and over 10 countries! Over the 3 days, I noticed that all of our attendees identify as high performers and base a lot of…

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Among Zig Ziglar’s famous quotes was this gem: “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing—that’s why we recommend it daily.” He’s right, but here’s where people go wrong. Most folks think motivation is found in pretty posts on Instagram, YouTube videos from a fiery speaker, or fortune cookies. But the harsh…

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Bedros “The American Dream” Keuilian explains the 7 simple steps for building an online business that brings in six or seven figures.

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For this success quiz, ask yourself what will you never, ever do (again) in your life, and then make a Perfect House Management Audit.

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It all started with a single article in Men’s Health magazine back in 2000. Now, I get to help millions of people all over the world. And the same system I use to help people also helped me overcome crippling anxiety attacks, build multiple 7-figure businesses, and write a book. I revealed the system in…

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Sean, a dedicated business owner from New Jersey, found himself entangled in a web of guilt. On one hand, he felt remorseful for not being fully present with his family when at work, and on the other, guilt engulfed him when he was at home, not dedicating himself fully to his business. This predicament is…

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In today's episode, I discuss the best blueprint on how to achieve the life you want.

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Life is full of unbelievable opportunities. Today, you can, as James Altucher says, “Choose Yourself.” You don’t have to get a 4-year degree, followed by a low-paying job with a giant corporation, and then hope and pray things go smoothly for 40 years until you can turn in your security swipe card for a gold…

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In this Ultimate Guide, you’ll discover why you need to ditch the shotgun approach to planning your goals and start using the 4x3 approach.

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Many green entrepreneurs think their brand is good to garner referrals naturally. Not so—a "culture of referrals" is needed, and here's you implement it.

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In 2016 I was interviewed on exactly 103 podcasts and tele-summits. I can tell a good one from a bad one pretty quickly. For example, I was interviewed by a “productivity expert.” The host had done 8 interviews that day, and I was his last. It was 1 a.m. local time, and it was obvious…

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These social proof examples will make it easier for you to sell, since you'll leverage the experience of others to convert cold customers.

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Several years ago, at my 6th annual Turbulence Training fitness summit, I stood on stage at the Westin Hotel in Westminster, Colorado, and preached. My sermon taught the audience how to use the 5 Pillars of Success to change any aspect of their life and overcome every obstacles in their way.

But during my presentation, it dawned on me that I could also be doing a better job of taking action and overcoming my own limiting beliefs. It was clear I needed this speech as much, if not even more than they did. It was time to take my own advice.

As I wrapped up and stepped off the stage, it hit me. The teacher had become the student. Even though I had just taught for an entire morning, I felt like I was the person in the room that had gotten the most benefit from the content.

“While we teach, we learn,” said the Roman philosopher Seneca.

From ancient history through to today, humans have realized that when you teach lessons to others, you end up learning more than the student. That’s why the best way to develop a greater understanding of any material is to play the role of the teacher and explain it to a student.

It’s even better when your students challenge you. The more questions they ask you, and the greater their skepticism, the more you have to properly articulate your answers and justify your beliefs. It’s much better to teach actively engaged minds than passive people.

Nothing is better than working one-on-one with a cynical student. It demands that you think critically about your beliefs, and it forces to build a stronger argument for your position while also simplifying your message. The best teacher is someone that can take a complex topic and distill it to easy-to-understand principles.

Finally, you learn and become a better teach through adapting your tone and delivery based on their non-verbal responses. For example, if you notice your audience scrolling through their smartphones during a section of your sermon, you’re getting critical feedback that this part of your presentation needs work. It’s not that the audience is being rude, it’s just that you’re being boring!

Back in my days as a personal trainer to the richest men and women in Toronto, my favorite clients were the ones that demanded to know why I was giving them a specific exercise, using a new technique, or encouraging them to eat a certain way.

If I struggled to explain something, their critical gazes would let me know loud and clear that my reasoning wasn’t sound. This caused me to put more work into my study and honing my craft so that I delivered an even better and more effective fat loss program. It also helped me improve my own body transformation results.

That’s why, if your goal is to transform your life in any way, it’s helpful to become a mentor to someone else that seeks the same goals. By explaining your new habits, you will better understand their importance, and furthermore, you will become more committed to these new behaviors. When you act as a teacher you want to maintain integrity and act in a way that is consistent with what you just taught. After all, a hypocrite is a lousy teacher… and a lousy person.

But teaching goes beyond just strengthening your knowledge. Teaching makes you a better human being, too.

I’d like to update Seneca’s quote with a dose of 21st-century personal development. To do this, we’ll turn to my friend Frank McKinney, who once said, “You cannot brighten another’s path without lighting your own.”

I believe it.

I’ve experienced it time and time again. There’s not much work in the world that can make you feel as fulfilled as teaching others. Each time I step on stage to teach and preach, I forget my selfish worries and problems, and leave the stage a better man.

Each time I created a video explaining fitness tips, time management, productivity or creative writing techniques, it elevates my mood and leaves me with a satisfied smile.

This approach is simple to apply in our own lives. Whatever you know, you can simply follow these two rules for becoming a wiser and better person. First, you must practice what you preach. Second, you must practice preaching it.

Try it today.

Teach someone something. It could be showing your child how to tie their shoes, or it could be sharing a simple productivity tip with a colleague. No matter what you teach or preach, you’ll feel better for it.

The big lesson for you is that if you want to improve yourself, then you MUST become a teacher and mentor to more people.

The teacher always learns as much, if not more, than the student.

And the more you learn, the more you can help others, and the positive cycle continues and expands, making you better and better at what you do, and allowing you to help more and more people.

Teaching others can also lift you out of the dark dips we all experience in life.

When you’re down and troubled, and you need a helping hand, your best solution is to become the helping hand to someone else.

When you teach others what you know, when you share your knowledge, when you add value, this can deliver you from mild depression, from a scarcity mindset, and from a lack of clarity. Teaching will give you a natural high.

You’ll do something good for others, and better yet, you’ll do something great for yourself. All the while you’ll improve your understanding of the material at the same time.

That’s why you actually benefit more from teaching than the student does.

Trust me, every single time I’ve opened my expertise and shared it with others, I’ve left with new ideas, a better understanding, a clearer vision of the problem (and the solution that can be implemented), a feeling of gratitude for the knowledge that I have, and thankfulness for the ability to shine a little light into someone’s life.

As an ETR reader, you know more about success, productivity, building a business, and sales than 99% of the world. You could share a tip or two each day with colleagues that struggle in any one of those areas. Not only would it boost their performance, but you’d also improve your own work habits.

When you did that, you would also benefit because it would make you more aware and committed to making similar changes in your own life.

And of course, it will leave you with a smile on your face when you see the light bulb go off in their eyes.

Don’t tell me you don’t have anything to teach the world. In most areas of life, you don’t need to be a certified instructor or a genius in order to impart a little wisdom to a friend, a colleague, or a mentee. You just need to pass along what you know. Everyone wins when you do that.

It doesn’t matter if you are teaching a physical skill or a mental attribute, you cannot be a good teacher without making yourself better. When you instruct by example, it leads you to live by example. The lessons become more deeply ingrained in your mind. Keep on pushing and teaching. And that will make all the difference in your life.

“Show your character and commitment through your actions.” – Epictetus

Let me know who and what you can teach today.

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In today’s episode, I discuss the best methods to use in order to cut back on drinking alcohol.

Let me know what you thought of today’s episode! Did you learn something new? Am I missing something? Is there something that has or hasn’t worked for you in your path to success? Send me an IG DM or email and let me know how I can help you level up in life.

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Many of my friends and coaching clients affectionately refer to me as The Godfather because of my industry connections and influence. For fun, I decided to study the true Godfather, Don Corleone, and I identified his 10 Golden Rules for Success. Yesterday, I shared Rules 1-5 in Part 1. Today, we uncover Rules 5-10. In order…

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Years ago, a friend of mine referred to me as The Godfather. He bestowed this title upon me because of my connections to ‘movers and shakers’ inside and outside of our industry, as well as my reputation for doing what I say and getting things done. It also didn’t hurt that I was 5 years…

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It’s close to the halfway point of the year. We want to finish the year strong. It’s time to review your performance up to this point.

Have you let any of the good systems backslide into previous patterns of bad behavior?

If you let loose a little too much over Spring Break and can’t seem to get back on track…

If you fell out of habit with meditation, visualization, exercise, gratitude, or other practice…

If your team members slacked the last few months and left you saying the 5 deadly words (“I’ll just do it myself) instead of sticking to the ADE formula…

If there was anything that was working that you inexplicably stopped doing…

We need to get you back on track to finish the year strong.

The key?

You need better planning and preparation than ever before.

Identify the bad habit.
Identify a new positive behavior to replace the empty void that will come from killing the bad habit.
Build two solutions for each obstacle.
Shift your identity or beliefs about your behavior.

If you need help with Step #4, that is ETR Coach Gavin McHale’s expertise…

He can help instill the Unstoppable Millionaire Mindset you need to crush 2023.

The “Correct Direction” Question

I believe that most goal-setting is better than none. But I also believe that there are levels upon levels when it comes to great goal setting.

We need the right questions to point us in the correct direction for optimal results.

My favorite question is: What is your definition of success?

This is different than stating a numbers-based goal.

When people set goals, they often create a laundry list of “I’d like to do this” type of accomplishments.

Tell me if this sounds familiar:

I want to make more money, take more vacations, write a book, start a podcast, stop checking my phone so much, eat better, meditate more, stress less, and grow my following.

Many of the goals on a person’s list are just “societal norms” or “peer pressures”…

Do you really want to do all those things… or are you saying that because everyone else says that?

Sure, doing those things would likely be nice improvements to a person’s life… But they are not true from-the-heart definitions of success.

For example…

Let’s say you made $800,000 last year, but your son is also falling behind in math class.

In 2023 you have set aside 2-3 extra hours for “success” – Do you put those hours into “finally hitting $1 million” while your son fails math?

Would you look back a year from now and say, “2023 was a success!”

I should hope not.

But if you put those 2-3 hours into helping your son excel – even while your income might have dropped 20% – then I’d call that a success.

So what specifically is your definition of success for 2023? For your life? It’s easy to know when your values and vision are clear.

Remember: Your values and vision drive every decision. It’s not my job to tell you what your values should be. You should define the vision for your life.

Your definition of success is not my definition.

It’s not Tim Grover’s definition. It’s not Bedros Keuilian’s definition or even Tony Robbins’ definition of success.

It takes deep introspection and self-reflection to know what really matters to you so that you can be crystal clear on how you define success.

I know many millionaires and a couple of billionaires.

Some are happy, and some are not.

Few are satisfied.

I also know a pastor that makes about $80,000 and has raised three men to be amazing

fathers and leaders and who are raising their kids right.

The pastor is more successful than most of the millionaires I know… Because he had a clear

definition of success which allowed him to stay on track and avoid chasing shiny objects.

Most of the millionaires and billionaires are unsatisfied because their definition of success is more.

The Lucky Charm Leprechaun has a better chance of getting his pot of gold than the millionaires “chasing more” for the sake of more.

NOTE: None of this is to dampen to your enthusiasm or ambition.

The point of this is to help you better plan and prepare to succeed the rest of 2023. You’ve had several months to see your performance and now it’s time to evaluate your goals.

A common mistake I see when setting goals, resolutions, etc. comes down to this:

Generalities.

Bad goal setting looks like this:

• I want to be more present.

• I want to use my phone less.

• I want to be a better husband.

• I want to start using my gratitude journal more.

What EXACTLY do you mean by that?

Imagine if your cookbook said:

To bake the chicken, make sure the oven is hot. Not very helpful, is it?

Great goal setting has a “specific definition of success:”

I will spend 15 minutes device free with each child after dinner at night.
I will store my phone outside of the office between 8-11 each morning.
I will have weekly phone-free date nights with my wife and spend at least 15 minutes phone-free with her after dinner focusing on active listening when she is speaking and also sharing 3 highlights and/or lowlights of my day.
I will use my gratitude journal immediately after lunch each day for a minimum of 5 minutes.

Allow me to share my definitions of success for 2023. I initially shared these in February with the subscribers of my Wealth Confidential Newsletter.

I’ve updated the list with the progress on each goal:

4 hours of family time per day (Goal attained!)
Spend April in Vancouver (Goal attained!)
Sell out our three mastermind events in Cancun, Mexico (Two of three so far – one more to go in September!)
Attain my Blue Belt in BJJ (In progress…)
Teach Isabella to master “Rollback to Float” from InfantSwim.com (Almost there!)
5 full-time coaches on our team with 30 clients each at $2K per client (In progress – 3 full-time coaches now!)
Be able to understand native Spanish speakers speaking at ultra-fast native Spanish speed (Getting closer…)

There are so many other things I want to do…

Write a book
Read more books
Travel back to Europe
Hold another live event
Deadlift 400 pounds again
Etc. Etc. Etc.

But I must say NO to the good so I can make the rest of 2023 great.

That’s your job too.

Need help getting reoriented to finish the year strong? Get connected with Early to Rise’s coaches who can help provide you the plan and accountability to help you crush the rest of the year. Send an email to support@earlytorise.com with the subject line “Coaching” to see if you qualify.

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Jeff Bezos, the sometimes world’s richest man, is not unfamiliar with screwing up.

Leaving his recent personal slip-ups out of the list, here are but a few of his 8 and 9-figure blunders:

The Fire Phone: A $170 million write-off
Junglee: Jung-what? Exactly. Another $170 million mistake… this one made in 1998
Living Social: Not only did he lose $175 million on the initial purchase, but he also dumped another $56 million into it… proving that even the “smartest guys” will throw good money at bad investments.
Pets.com: Yes, THAT Pets.com … $50 million

But here’s what Bezos said about this list, “It was like getting a root canal with no anesthesia. None of those things are fun. But they also don’t matter.”

His net worth has increased nearly 10-fold since making those mistakes, and in this year’s letter to Amazon shareholders, he said, “If the size of your failures isn’t growing, you’re not going to be inventing at a size that can actually move the needle.”

So listen, you and I (and the errors of our ways) are in good company.

Over the past twenty years, I’ve built five 7-figure businesses, written a Wall Street Journal best-selling book, accumulated over 13 million views of YouTube videos, shared the stage with Tony Robbins, and connected with some of the most amazing and inspiring entrepreneurs in the world…

All while creating a budding Empire that will one day impact more than 100,000,000 lives.

But along the way, I made nearly every mistake in the book (except for Pets.com – even I saw through that one, Mr. Bezos).

I’ve lost more money than I care to think about, destroyed a couple of amazing relationships, and allowed my own ego and insecurities to sabotage my potential.

Luckily, I’ve also learned from these mistakes and made (often painful) changes in my life to overcome the obstacles I was facing and grown into the Empire builder I needed to become.

And today, I want to share some of the biggest mistakes and lessons I’ve learned both from my journey and from the journeys of the hundreds of entrepreneurs I’ve coached over the years.

I’m going to show you why you’ve got to have more self-belief in yourself, sell differently (and faster), make better decisions and take a hard look at your lifestyle…

When we’re done, you’ll be on the way to Empire building.

If you will take action on what I’m going to teach you today and avoid these mistakes at all costs, you will set yourself up for massive success in 2019 and lay the foundations of a lasting Empire that impact millions and make you a fortune.

Let’s dive in.

1. You’re Going All in On Someone Else One of the biggest mistakes I see entrepreneurs, especially young entrepreneurs, making is that they go all in on a business partner too quickly.

And, on the surface, it makes sense.

Having a business partner, even in the absence of leads or sales, makes your business feel more legitimate. You get to say, “Oh me and my business partner were at dinner last night and talked about xyz.”

It makes the entrepreneurial journey feel less risky. And you assume that, because you have someone with whom to share the burden, you’ll be able to move far faster.

But I’m here to tell you…you are WRONG.

Going all in on a business partner is 99 times out of 100, the wrong move.

When you have a partner in your business, you are not only giving up profits, you’re giving up control.

If you have someone else who owns 50% of your business, then they have an equal say in the vision and direction of your company.

And if you don’t trust that person with your life and know exactly what to expect from them, you are setting yourself up for failure and heartache.

They may decide to take the business to the left when you know it’s better to go to the right. They might set this amazing shared vision and then leave you to do all of the work (while still expecting their share of the profits).

I’ve worked with dozens of entrepreneurs stuck in miserable business partnerships, handcuffed to someone who owns 30-50% of their company, but provides less than $3,000/month worth of value.

Many of you reading this might think, “But Craig, weren’t you business partners with Bedros Keuilian?”

Yes, but here’s the thing:

Not only had Bedros and I known each other for years before we decided to become partners in the Empire podcast and mastermind, but we were both experienced entrepreneurs with multiple successful businesses that we were running.

We both are building our own Empires, and had decided to collaborate on a side project that happens to make money.

At the end of the day, most of you reading this should not have a business partner and, if you have one right now, you should do your best to get out of that relationship now, on good terms so that you can maintain autonomy and authority over building your Empire.

There’s a reason that none of the greatest dynasties or empires of the last 2,000 years were run by two rulers.

Partnerships don’t work.

Go all in on yourself and keep a tight grip on the reigns of your empire. Because, at the end of the day, it is your Empire.

2. You Make Decisions that Kill Your Credibility One of my favorite lessons from Tom Bilyeu, the co-founder of the billion-dollar company Quest Nutrition, is that the key to self-confidence is maintaining self-credibility.

Listen, if you want to be confident, if you want to have that unshakable inner belief that you can achieve all of your big goals, build an empire, and leave the legacy that you want to leave…

It all starts by building massive amounts of credibility with yourself.

When you tell yourself, “Tomorrow I’m going to wake up at 5 am, go for a run, and immediately get to work…”

And then hit snooze until 5:32 am, skip your run, and screw around on social media until 7 am, you just lost credibility with yourself.

You have told your subconscious, on no uncertain terms, “I am not someone who keeps their promises–my word means nothing.”

When you don’t believe that you are a credible person, when you don’t have integrity with yourself, you cannot have high levels of confidence.

And here’s the thing. You can keep all of your promises to other people.

You can over-deliver for your clients, show up to date night, and meet your buddy at the gym every single day.

But if you break promises to yourself, then none of those things matter.

No matter how much integrity you have with others, it cannot compensate for a lack of integrity with yourself.

My challenge for you, then, is very simple. Over the next week, I want you to write down all of the promises you make to yourself.

Every workout session, every deep work block, every commitment to eat or live in a certain way…everything.

Then, once you’ve written it down, ask yourself two questions:

1) Is this promise worth keeping (don’t make the mistake of losing credibility with yourself over counterproductive dogma–like going to the gym six days a week when you only need to go three) and

2) Am I really willing to keep it?

If the answer to either of those questions is ‘no’ then don’t make the promise. Mentally release yourself from the commitment and move on.

But if the answer is ‘yes’, then I want you to do everything in your power to keep it.

Because when you have credibility with yourself you will have confidence in yourself. And this is when success really starts to happen and you begin Empire building – fast.

3. You’re Not Building Your Empire’s “Goodwill Bank Account”Let me tell you something that really annoys me.

Before I had a team of assistants and a super secret personal email in place, I would receive dozens of requests each and every week for two things:

Guest post opportunities
Affiliate marketing opportunities

People I’d never met, didn’t know, didn’t like, and didn’t trust would ask me to share their content with my followers and for what?

An article I could have easily written by myself or 30% commission on a product I’ve never tried?

You see, so many people forget that Empire building and running a successful business is, first and foremost, about relationships.

And when you reach out and make an ‘ask’ before building up your goodwill bank account, before providing value and building that ‘know love trust’ factor…

You’re actively over-drafting this account and ruining your chances of future success.

Unless I know someone personally or am already familiar with their brand, I’m not going to publish their content or promote their product simply because they asked me to.

First, they need to build the goodwill required to make me want to promote their product or publish their content in the first place.

If you want to build an Empire, you must STOP leading with an ask and start leading with the giving hand.

Before you ever think about asking for favors, give favors. Network your butt off and leverage every opportunity you can find to build goodwill with other high-achievers and offer value now.

Let me give you a great example of this…

A few months back I had two young men reach out to me on Instagram with two very different messages.

The first young man said, “Craig. I’m young and broke. Give me your coaching for free because I can’t afford it.”

The second young man said, “Craig. I don’t have the money to invest in your course, but I love what you teach and I would like to be a part of your mission. Please give me the opportunity to work for you for free.”

Can you guess what happened next?

I didn’t respond to the first young man and, to be blunt, will likely never respond to any of his messages in the future.

However, not only did I give the second man the course for free…but I actually hired him to come and work for me.

The first one built no goodwill, made an ask, and received nothing in return.

The second, built goodwill, made no ask, and received exactly what he wanted and more.

To build your Empire, first build massive amounts of goodwill with the people around you.

Then, one day, when you need it, you will have earned the right to ask for the favors that will take you to the next level.

4. You’re Expecting 7-Figure Results with a 5-Figure Lifestyle Without a doubt, the biggest mistake that stops entrepreneurs and high-performers from evolving into Empire builders and legacy makers is that they have a 7 or 8-figure vision…but a 5-figure lifestyle.

Listen, you cannot expect to earn 7 or even 6-figures when your thoughts, actions, and beliefs are all at the 5-figure level.

If you say that you want to scale your business to $100,000 a month but you sleep until 10 am, watch three hours of TV a day, and allow yourself to get distracted by social media, guess what?

You will never break out of your 5-figure income because you have 5-figure habits.

The same holds true in any area of your life.

You can have a 7-figure vision for your body or relationships, but if you still show up day in and day out with 5-figure habits, that vision will never be realized.

Remember, the results you achieve are a byproduct of the lifestyle you live.

It doesn’t matter what you want or how much you ‘desire’ to build your Empire. Results follow action and action only.

Take an objective look at your life and ask yourself, “Where to I have a 7-figure vision but 5 or 6-figure habits?”

What are the specific thoughts, actions, and activities in which you engage that are holding you back from the success you want?

Are you hitting snooze in the morning?
Skipping your workouts?
Working when you should be spending time with family?
Thinking about family when you should be working?

What are you doing that is preventing you from achieving the results you want to achieve?

Identify the top three things and then go out and get the accountability you need to change them this week.

Whether you have to write a post on Facebook, text someone, or send $1,000 to your best friend and tell them to give it to a charity you hate if you fail…do whatever you must do to upgrade your habits and lifestyle to be at the same level of your vision.

5. You’re Selling Soft Advice This one gets me every time.

I work with dozens of entrepreneurs who have amazing wisdom and knowledge to share with the world – lessons that can truly make a difference in people’s life – but they are marketing it as ‘soft advice’ and hearing crickets.

No one out there cares about your confidence coaching or mindset management or chakra healing.

Those things can all be great, but they aren’t what your customer really wants to buy.

They want a hard offer. Something that solves a big problem in their lives.

Specifically, they want you to help them:

Make more money
Change their body (lose weight, gain muscle, reduce pain)
Have more sex

And, as someone who is building your Empire, it’s your job to learn how to tailor your offers and marketing to meet those hard offer needs.

Listen, in my business, eighty percent of what I teach to my coaching clients revolves around mindset, confidence, and self-management.

But I know none of my clients are interested in those things. They want the result that will come from those things. I.e. they want to make more money.

And that’s how I market and package my offers.

I don’t sell “Entrepreneurial Mindset Coaching.” I sell business coaching where I help clients double their income while working less (which directly helps them make more money, change their bodies, and have more sex).

But what about you?

How can you position your offers to speak to the outcome your clients are really after?

For example, if you run a men’s fashion consulting company, you aren’t offering style consultations.

You’re offering to help men look their best so they can attract their dream partner.

Or, if you run a nutrition coaching company, you don’t sell meal plans and intuitive eating secrets.

You teach people how to get the body of their dreams while eating food they love.

Take a few minutes right now to look at all of the offers you have and the copy/language you use to describe them. Are you making hard offers? Or soft offers?

Let me know in the comments below. Empire building happens when your customers know exactly why they should buy from you – without the guesswork.

6. You Aren’t Making the Ask The final, and most damaging mistake that future Empire builders make on their journey is that they don’t make the ask.

If you have put in the work to build goodwill, both with your network and your audience (through valuable, purposeful, and shareable content that illustrates your expertise), you not only have the right but the obligation to share your offer and make an ask.

No matter what business you’re in, your #1 job is to help people solve problems.

And if you have the ability to solve someone’s biggest problems and help them transform their lives and you don’t offer that to them…

You’re not only missing out on profits, but you’re doing a disservice to the people you say you want to help.

What you have to offer is valuable and people need the solution that you provide. And it’s your job to give them the opportunity to get that solution.

In every piece of content you create, I want you to include a simple call to action where you tell your audience three things.

What it is: Explain what your offer does, how it will change their life, and what specific problem it will solve.
How they can get it: Do they click a link, send you a message, share their email address? How do they take action on your offer.
Why they need to get it now: Do you have a limited number of spaces available? Are you almost out of inventory? Will their problem be worse tomorrow than it is today if they don’t take action? Why does your audience need access to your offer and why do they need it now?

If you will answer these three questions at the end of every blog post, Instagram story, and YouTube video, not only will you make a lot more money…but you’ll be able to impact more people.

Make the ask. Give people the opportunity to change their lives. And then deliver on the promises you made to them.

That is the formula for building a lasting empire.

In conclusion, the Empire building process is a long and difficult journey.

You’ll need to grow as an entrepreneur and leader to get there…

But if you’re repeatedly making these six mistakes over and over again, the process becomes almost impossible. You’ll take longer to reach your goals, have to work harder than you need to…

So take action – today. If you recognise yourself making one of these mistakes, fix it as fast as you can.

Want access to the EXACT blueprint I give my $25k/day clients to help them dominate their biggest goals and achieve 12-months of success in 12-weeks?

The click here to get access to my free “90-Day Success Blueprint” that will show you exactly how to reverse engineer your biggest goals and achieve them faster than you ever thought possible.

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Several years back there was a woman in my fat loss membership site who had a fried chicken problem.

Each day on her way home from work she would pass a shop, and no matter whether she needed it or not, she would stop in and buy a piece of fried chicken to eat before dinner.

As you can imagine, this had disastrous consequences for her health and fitness. “What can I do to break out of this bad habit?” she asked in despair. At the time, she felt like there was nothing she could do. In her mind, she was “the type of person that couldn’t pass the fried chicken shop without going in.” That was her self-identity caused by her self-beliefs.

But if we could change her identity and beliefs, we could change her habit.

Changing her beliefs would be the turning point towards kicking the fried chicken habit and improving her health and fitness. The solution didn’t involve sacrifice. Instead, it involved self-growth.

My advice to her was to read a book that has sold over 30 million copies since it was first published back in the 1960s. Perhaps, as a student of personal development, you’ve read it too. You might even have a dog-eared copy of it on your bookshelf. I know I do.

The book is Dr. Maxwell Maltz’s oddly named guide to changing your beliefs called,Psycho-Cybernetics.

I first heard of it from my friend Matt Furey, and later from marketing guru, Dan Kennedy. It was in 2006 when I first studied this book and put it to practice, changing some of my own beliefs. It played a key role in helping me have my best year ever in business.

Dr. Maltz first stumbled across the power of limiting self-beliefs in his surgery practice. His patients claimed that if he could only fix their physical “deformity” then it would change their confidence and their behaviors, and therefore, their lot in life.

But what Dr. Maltz found was that physical change did not cause psychological change. After surgery, most of his patients still had the same limiting self-beliefs, thought patterns, and habits. It was only when Dr. Maltz began working with people to change their beliefs about themselves that his patients actually made progress in changing their lives.

Dr. Maltz’s advice works for everyone.

The bottom line is that if you want to change your life, you must change your mind.

It starts with creating Golden Rules for your life. And one of those rules needs to be what you believe about yourself.

If you believe “nothing ever works for you,” then guess what? Nothing will ever work for you.

But if you make a rule that “You are the type of person that takes action, stays persistent, and always finds a way to succeed,” then guess what? You’re going to have a lot more success stories in your life, starting now.

Don’t wait to create rules for your life. You need these in place to move ahead and to overcome the obstacles in your way.

As Dave Kekich says in Kekich Credo 89, “Unattended problems will not go away, but will usually get worse. Anticipate and avoid problems — or meet them head on at the outset. Overcome fear by attacking it.”

If you want to lose fat, get out of debt, stop smoking, eliminate curse words from your vocabulary, or even simply start getting out of bed on time, your need to put your new rules in place to change how you see yourself.

You must go from saying, “Oh, I can never wake up on time,” to “I’m the type of person who gets up as soon as the alarm goes off. No hitting the snooze button for me.”

And you must truly believe in your new self-identity. This is no time for the “fake it ’til you make it” approach. But that’s not as hard as it sounds. After all, there have been days when you’ve bounced right up out of bed with the first beep of your alarm, right? There have even been days where you’ve woken up fresh and alert before your alarm even had the chance to go off. You know you can do it. Now it’s just time to turn that knowledge into a new identity for yourself.

That’s the first step in making a dramatic change in your habits.

“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve,” said Napoleon Hill years before Dr. Maltz’s book. And while most people take this to mean the accumulation of great wealth and prosperity, it can just as well refer to cutting out the visit to the fried chicken shop, eliminating cigarettes from your life, or getting up on time each morning.

Belief comes from behavior. We all know that there are situations where we can overcome our bad habits. For example, we know that we can go three hours on an airplane without a cigarette, so likewise, we know that we can go three hours without a cigarette while sitting in front of the television. And we must use this knowledge to change the foundation of our beliefs.

Once we do that, once we truly believe we are capable of better behavior, that’s the impetus for all habit change. That’s when all of those other physiological tips and tricks actually start to work.

Change your beliefs about yourself, and you’ll change your behaviors. Change your behavior, and you’ll change your habits. Change your habits, and you’ll change your life. You CAN do it.

As did the woman from my membership site with the friend chicken problem. She simply changed her belief from, “I can’t stop getting fried chicken,” to “I’m not the type of person that eats fried chicken before dinner.” She truly believed this because she knew there were days in the past where she had succeeded with this behavior. And so she was able to change. She was able to kick the bad habit and start a better behavior.

It all started with her belief in herself. And that’s where your better behaviors will start, too.

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Psycho-Cybernetics Deluxe Edition: The Original Text of the Classic Guide to a New Life

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My friend Ed O’Keefe was the first person ever to call me “The World’s Most Disciplined Man.” He did that because he said I was the most productive person he had ever met and, like most
people, Ed connected insane productivity with discipline.

The truth, though, is that I’m not “disciplined.” In fact, I’m weak like everyone else. However, I was smart enough to recognize that if I just built a few systems into my routine, I could “trick” myself into getting more done in less time – Thus giving an illusion of discipline!

Here are 5 hacks that I’ve used to increase productivity…

Add Deadlines to Destroy Parkinson’s LawEver have a meeting or call that dragged on & on & on, interrupting the flow of your day, backing up your schedule, and making you late for dinner?

That’s because you allowed a form of Parkinson’s Law to invade (and conquer) your day. This law first introduced to me through Tim Ferriss’ book, The 4-Hour Work Week, which states:

“Work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion.”

And when you don’t have an end time for a meeting or call, unnecessary chatter expands and exceeds your expectations for the event.

One solution to achieve insane productivity each day: Never start a call or meeting that does not have a defined end time.

How do you do that? Answer every call or meeting invitation with a set amount of time you are willing to invest.

For example, when I’m invited to do a podcast – and it fits my criteria of 2,500 downloads per show – I also tell them that I only have 30 minutes scheduled for the interview. That deflates the hot air (unnecessary chatter) and keeps my day on track.

For call invitations, I say, “Yes, I have 10 minutes at 1:45 PM on Tuesday.”

Be strict. Be specific. Be safe with your time.

Automate-Delegate-Eliminate Every DayLast month I told a client to delete Instagram from his phone. That one single action allowed him to boost his company sales $20K (recurring!)…

Deletion of distractions allows for insane productivity, which brings the addition of assets.

Your job is to repeatedly review your daily tasks to make sure you’re not doing anything below your pay grade, or that causes an unnecessary amount of stress or angst, or that can be done equally well through automation.

How can you apply the ADE Formula in your business?

Manually booking calls into your calendar => Automate
Editing your own videos => Delegate
Reading irrelevant news articles that fire you up => Eliminate

Hour by hour… Action by action… Eliminate what you hate… Automate and delegate.

There’s money on the table that needs your attention & action.

Match your toughest task with your highest mental energy (Magic Time)Remember when you were a toddler, and you played with a Baby Blocks Shape Sorter? The object of the game is to take different-shaped blocks and put them in a similar-shaped hole…

Ok, good. Now… Think about the most difficult project you need to finish this week.

Now assign a “square shape” to that task.

Next, look at your calendar… Imagine if you tried to cram that difficult project into your schedule at a time of day when you were tired… That would be like trying to cram a square peg into a round hole. It definitely isn’t gonna work for you.

Instead, what you need to do is realize that your Magic Time – the time of day when you are 3X’s more creative, productive, and energetic – is the same shape as your toughest task.

Leverage that Magic Time into insane productivity!

Take that square peg (toughest task) and insert it into your Magic Time (square hole).

That’s how you win.

Stop trying to do hard things when you’re weak. And stop doing easy things when you’re strong. Match the Intensity of the Task to the Intensity of your brainpower… And you’ll triple your productivity on that tip alone!

Achieve Insane Productivity by Developing Distraction Free ZonesNext time you’re sitting at your workstation… Lift your arms up to shoulder height… now rotate 180 degrees each way… This is your Distraction Bomb Zone!

Anything within arm’s reach is a big risk for throwing you off track. It could be that unread book or the TV remote… Your phone… The newspaper… Invoices… You name it.

When you have to focus… MOVE everything… Or move yourself to a distraction-free zone.

Has your home office become a little too comfortable and distracting? Get to work on making it a distraction-free zone!

If it’s impossible to eliminate distractions around you, find somewhere else where you can work distraction-free.

How does Early to Rise’s Head Coach Daniel Woodrum achieve insane productivity? His daily routine includes him going to his local Starbucks to grab a coffee and then he knocks out work at a table where he can be alone and won’t be distracted.

If you have to go somewhere to achieve a flow state, make it happen.

Build Your Business Around Your Life, Not Your Life Around Your BusinessI recently started doing a little “Amazon Box” skit during podcasts to help people schedule out the week.

At the recent mastermind Head Coach Daniel Woodrum NAILED it and demonstrated my concept 10X’s better than I have been able to do… It’s a game-changer.

It’s a great reminder for you to revisit the Perfect Week Formula.

Here’s a recent reader’s review… if these sound unfamiliar, please re-read the book!

“Craig, the law of subtraction was phenomenal. I always thought doing more is the key but we’re doing less of the good things and doing what is important is what matters. And the 15 minutes every evening to planning your next day is genius and super powerful. I think the idea of the accountability partner is brilliant. You feel watched and you need to commit no matter what. And getting up in the morning and getting right to it was super productive and made me feel unstoppable. P.S. I bought the sleeping earplugs, mask and got myself a new alarm clock, so let’s see how that goes. Thanks for the super step by step easy and simple way to educate us and guide us through live strong hacking techniques.” – Serge D. from Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Create systems for everything in life. Systems create freedom. Even when it comes to my sleep, I swear by earplugs, eyemasks, and now CBD oil for sleeping… It’s what allows me to get a great night’s sleep and come up with ideas like this:

Build Your Business Around Your Life, Not Your Life Around Your Business

Now, it’s your turn. What are systems that you’ve put in place to help you achieve insane productivity? Are you missing those systems? Do you need guidance?

Our coaching team at Early to Rise would love to work with you to create those systems to help you develop that insane productivity regularly to achieve big wins in business & life.

Email support@earlytorise.com with the subject line “Coaching” to learn more about how we can help you increase your income while doubling your time off.

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Forty years ago this month, Darth Vader made a very bad decision.

No, it wasn’t forgetting to put up a shield around that one part of the Death Star that just happened to allow it to be blown to smithereens (let’s not pick hairs over the incredulity of that design flaw).

Instead, Darth Vader made a $10 million mistake.

Let’s take a step backwards, shall we?

Do you remember when you first found out that Darth Vader was…

James Earl Jones?

Neither do I. But we did. If only Mr. Jones knew what he was getting himself into.

You see, in March of 1977 James Earl Jones recorded the Darth Vader voiceover for Star Wars. Unbeknownst to him at the time, and everyone else in the world (except perhaps George Lucas), his lines would go on to belong to one of the most infamous characters in movie history.

Back then, Jones put little stock in his work. After all, he finished recording all of the menacing lines in a single day. In fact, he cared so little for his role that he asked not to be credited in the first two movies, A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back.

Believe it or not, no one expected what would happen when this “silly space movie” hit theaters (it’s earned over one billion dollars). But many people associated with Star Wars – including the actors themselves – thought it would flop. As a result, the movie was produced on a shoestring budget, costing under $15 million (a real bargain compared to the $445 million it cost to produce The Force Awakens).

In order to save money, Lucas tried to avoid paying Jones a salary. Instead, he offered Jones points (essentially equity in the movie based on the movie’s future profits). But Jones, like Lucas and many of the other actors associated with Star Wars, was broke. He needed the money.

Jones chose the dark side, demanding cash up front. Now don’t feel sorry Jones. He earned $7,000 (about $27,000 today). That’s not bad for a day’s work if you’re a starving actor.

“$7,000 was big money for me in those days,” Jones said. “I was broke and needed the money to pay rent and buy groceries!”

Thirty-five years later on an episode of Regis and Kelly, Jones admitted his mistake cost him millions.Exactly how much, we’re not sure. Sir Alec Guinness, a man who believed in The Force and took the points, earned an estimated $95 million from his work.

Now stop right there. What does this have to do with you?

Jones isn’t a broke actor anymore. He’s been in hundreds of movies and plays. He’s been the voice of CNN and The Lion King, and today has a net worth of nearly $50 million dollars.

Still, it’s human nature to want more.

Jones could be bothered by it— wringing his hands and thinking, “what if!” Just like you could rue “the one that got away”, whether it be a fish on the lake, a girl at the bar, or a lotto ticket that came up two digits short of a 7-figure payout.

But Jones knew better. And whether or not he knew it, he followed the advice of a man who seemed to live in a galaxy far, far away, because he lived thousands of years ago. He was a real-life Yoda, you might say.

This sage’s name was Epictetus, and he was a teacher of Stoic philosophy.

Stoicism, if you didn’t know it, is a real life “Force.” And it may be with you at all times. Stoicism teaches that “virtue, the highest good, is based on knowledge, and that the wise live in harmony with the divine Reason (also identified with Fate and Providence) that governs nature, and are indifferent to the vicissitudes of fortune and to pleasure and pain.”

To Jones, Epictetus would have said, “Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them.”

“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters,” Epictetus is on record saying. “When something happens, the only thing in your power is your attitude toward it; you can either accept it or resent it.”

So what should you do in situations where you “missed out?”

Epictetus would give you the following advice.

“Ask yourself: Does this appearance (of events) concern the things that are within my own control or those that are not? If it concerns anything outside your control, train yourself not to worry about it.”
“Don’t demand or expect that events happen as you would wish them do. Accept events as they actually happen. That way, peace is possible.”

It was from Epictetus that I put together the foundation of my life, and my book, The Perfect Day Formula, and it is his wise words I recommend to you, no matter where your life has taken you, whether closer to the dark side or the light, whether to future riches or past losses

Epictetus gives us the 3-C formula to remember for the rest of our lives.

Control what you can.
Cope with what you can’t.
Concentrate on what counts.

This isn’t about ignoring the past, but about learning from it. Epictetus would remind us that every situation, especially the challenging ones, presents a chance to cultivate wisdom and resilience. That’s the Stoic way.

Now, I know it’s easier said than done. I’ve been there—missed opportunities can sting. But remember, as Epictetus would say, it’s not the events themselves that disturb us, but our perception of them.

It’s normal to feel regret or disappointment but don’t let it consume you.

Consider it this way: you’ve only missed an opportunity in the material sense. But in the process, you’ve gained another—the opportunity to grow, to become wiser, and to prepare for the future. That’s a mindset shift, a reframing of the situation, and that’s completely within your control.

In a nutshell, Epictetus would tell us not to dwell on missed opportunities but to use them as stepping stones to personal growth. And from the perspective of a modern high-performer, this is sound advice.

So next time you feel like you’ve missed out, remember Epictetus and the Stoic lesson of focusing on what’s truly in your control. After all, the missed opportunity of yesterday could well be the game-changer of tomorrow. Keep moving forward. Keep growing. Keep being unstoppable.

The famous Star Wars quote goes, “Only at the end do you realize the power of the Dark Side.” So eliminate the inclination to dwell on failures and missed opportunities and use that time to look toward the light. Darth Vader did…

Keep moving forward. Keep growing. Keep being unstoppable.

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The sales hits just keep on coming!

Today you’re getting a killer copywriting tip from one of my past coaching clients who I call “Mr. X,” one of the BEST copywriters we’ve had in our Mastermind group.

For years he consistently shared these BIG nuggets of gold in our private coaching group, helping other members go from zero to thousands of sales between Mastermind meetings.

That’s the power of a mastermind group. In fact, we just wrapped up our May Unstoppable Mastermind a few weeks ago.

On May 4th and 6th, we met at the Canopy Hotel in my current home of Cancun, Mexico. Early to Rise’s Coaches Daniel Woodrum, Gavin McHale, Galel Fajardo, and I taught topics to about 40 attendees who traveled as far as Paris, France to learn and collaborate.

We covered many topics, including some tips on copywriting, like you’ll learn shortly from Mr. X.

If you’re interested in our next Mastermind event in Cancun, Mexico taking place on September 14 and 15, please send an email to our team at support@earlytorise.com with the subject line “September Mastermind.”

Now, onto Mr. X’s Copy Tip!

Copy Tip: “The NEW Way Vs. the OLD Way”

By Mr. X

Here’s something powerful you can start sprinkling into your sales letters, VSL’s, and even your email copy…

I call it the “New Way vs. the Old Way.”

It’s really simple… All you do is talk about the OLD way of doing things and how the old way doesn’t work anymore. Tie the “old way” into some personal stories that the reader has probably gone through…

Then give them the NEW way that’s easier, faster, and produces better results. For example, if we’re talking about weight loss…

The OLD Way is:

Counting calories
Portion control
Eating less and exercising more
Lots of cardio
Hoping and praying to lose a pound or two per month

And the NEW (depending on your product):

Never count calories and eat until you’re satisfied
Never feel hungry for a single second
Exercise less than 10 minutes a day
Eat whenever you want
Consistently lose 2-5 pounds a week, week after week, by eating a few simple foods for breakfast.

Tear down the old way and build up the NEW way. Show them the new way is the EXCITING way they aren’t hearing about anywhere else.

Finish up your message by tying in your product as the only way to get them the results they desire, and how ONLY you can help them get there faster than they ever imagined possible.

That’s killer copy. Thanks Mr. X!

One of the marketing philosophies that’s stayed with me throughout the years has been from Mike Hill who said: “If your copy works, you won’t have a traffic problem.”

The advice Mr. X shared about “The Old Way vs. The New Way” is great because it provides the reader with a deep contrast of two ways to handle a problem.

See, the more that you can enter a prospect’s mind and truly FEEL his or her problems, the more effective you’ll be at helping to persuade them to do what you’d like them to.

When you can create an emotional connection with the prospect with your copy, you’ll leave your prospect thinking, “Wow, it’s like they’re talking just to ME!”

When you can create that emotional connection, the prospect will feel heard and validated and will have a much easier time justifying your solution over the old, tired ways they may be used to.

That’s why this copy method from Mr. X is quite genius.

The “Old Way vs. New Way” strategy, in essence, revolves around contrasting the traditional way of doing things with a new and improved method – your product or service.

Let’s examine how this technique can supercharge your copywriting.

Illustrates the Problem Clearly

First and foremost, the “Old Way vs. New Way” approach helps you clearly highlight the problems with the existing method – the “Old Way.” By discussing the limitations, inefficiencies, or disadvantages of the traditional way, you can make your audience feel the pain points more acutely.

This, in turn, creates a sense of urgency and desire for a solution, setting the stage perfectly for you to introduce your product or service as the “New Way.”

Sets Your Product as the Solution

Once you’ve effectively illustrated the problems with the ‘Old Way’, you can present your product or service as the “New Way” – the solution to all these problems. This method provides a natural and logical progression in your copy that makes your product or service seem like the obvious solution.

By showing how your offer directly addresses and eliminates the issues with the “Old Way,” you can significantly increase your conversions.

Amplifies the Value of Your Offer

The “Old Way vs. New Way” copywriting strategy is an excellent tool for amplifying the perceived value of your product or service. By contrasting the “Old Way’s” drawbacks with the benefits of your offer, you can make your product or service seem even more valuable.

The starker the contrast between the “Old Way” and the “New Way,” the more valuable your offer will seem.

Creates a Compelling Narrative

This strategy helps you create a compelling narrative. People love stories, and the ‘Old Way vs. New Way’ approach provides a perfect story arc. It starts with the status quo, introduces conflict (the problems with the “Old Way”), and ends with a resolution (your product or service).

This narrative structure not only engages your audience but also makes your copy more memorable, increasing the likelihood of conversion.

Promotes Easy Decision Making

By presenting your audience with a clear choice between the inefficient ‘Old Way’ and the efficient ‘New Way’, you simplify their decision-making process. When the choice is between sticking with a problematic status quo or switching to a solution that resolves these issues, the decision becomes a no-brainer.

The “Old Way vs. New Way technique is a potent tool for copywriting. By painting a vivid picture of the problems with the old method and presenting your product or service as the superior alternative, you can create a compelling motivation for your audience to buy.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this copywriting technique and how you plan on using it.

The post Copywriting The New Way Vs. The Old Way appeared first on Early To Rise.

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In this guide, I’m going to teach you how to supercharge your morning routine to achieve more motivation, focus, energy, and productivity.

In fact:

Most of the habits I’m about to share with you are backed by a mountain of research and all of them have been successfully used and endorsed by thousands of top-performers in every industry.

Whether you’re looking to increase your income, optimize your health, or simply have more time for the things that matter most to you…

… These 23 habits will give you the energy, focus, and clarity you need to achieve your goals.

To be clear:

Unlike some of the more dogmatic morning routine guides floating around the Internet, I am not suggesting that you need to incorporate all of these habits into your morning.

In fact, I’m hoping you won’t…

My goal with this guide is not to tell you how to spend your mornings.

But to equip you with the knowledge and research you need to supercharge your morning routine for you.

Whether you implement one new habit or all 23 I know you’ll find something to improve your performance so you can get more out of your mornings and your life.

Let’s get to it!

Part I: Supercharge Your Body To achieve your big goals and dreams, you’ll need energy… Lots and lots of energy. Here are a few of the fastest and most effective ways to get it:

1. Take Your Coffee Like a Neuroscientist Newsflash! Early morning is actually the worst time to consume caffeine.

When you first wake up, your body is filled to the brim with the stress hormone ‘cortisol’.

And this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Cortisol helps aid in wakefulness and gives you the kick in the bum you need to successfully escape the gravitational pull of your warm fuzzy bed sheets.

But when you add a habitual cup (or five) of your favorite single origin beverage to the mix… you’re setting yourself up for some serious trouble.

Consuming coffee first thing in the morning can inhibit your body’s natural cortisol production, making it difficult for you to wake up naturally.

And, according to dietician Anar Allidina, “The combination of caffeine and high cortisol could make you feel more tired later on, when both the caffeine and the cortisol wear off.”

So what is a coffee addicted high-performer to do?

Simple…

Push your first cup of Joe back a few hours.

By consuming your coffee between 10 AM and 12 PM you work with your body’s natural biochemistry instead of against it, allowing you to enjoy all of the benefits of your favorite beverage without the dreaded crash.

For bonus points, take the advice of cognitive neuroscientist Chris Chatham and:

Consume coffee in small frequent amounts to (20-200 mg/hour)
Consume your coffee with a tablespoon of coconut oil, eggs, or MCT oil to slow the metabolization of caffeine.
Drink a cup of grapefruit juice to prolong the effects of caffeine
Take 50-100 mg of L-theanine to kill the jitters
Take regular caffeine breaks (or switch to decaf) to prevent building a tolerance and losing the positive benefits associated with caffeine consumption.

2. Remember: The Snooze Button is Bubonic Sure…

You probably know that you “shouldn’t” hit the snooze button.

Just like you shouldn’t eat sugar, or scroll through Instagram at night, or check your email in the morning (more on that later).

You’ve probably heard Bedros’s quote:

But what you might not have heard is that going back to sleep after your alarm rings, even for 5-10 minutes, will actually cause you to feel less rested than you did when you first awoke.

According to experts at Sleep Clinic Services, when you hit snooze you confuse your body and signal your brain to release hormones for another deep sleep cycle.

This causes something known as “Sleep inertia.”

Instead of waking up at the end of a deep sleep cycle, you are waking up right at the beginning of it…

… Causing you to feel more groggy and less rested than you would have by simply waking up on time!

Those “five more minutes” you’re trying to steal from the morning?

They’re actively making it harder for you to wake up and causing you to start your day in a state of mental and physical confusion.

It’s like taking a tab of melatonin and then drinking a double espresso right before bed.

In other words… It just won’t work.

If you struggle waking up in the morning, try setting your alarm in another room or using a light lamp to aid in your body’s natural production of early morning cortisol.

But whatever you do, do not hit the snooze button.

It all but guarantees a terrible morning and an even worse day.

3. Tap Into Your Inner Hippy and Get Grounded Grounding or ‘earthing’ as it’s commonly called, is simply the practice of standing barefoot in the dirt or grass.

And I know this tip might sound a little out there (I was certainly skeptical when I first heard about it)…

…But bear with me for a minute.

Because there’s a fair amount of research to back this up.

It’s well know that the earth produces a natural magnetic fields and abundance of electrons.

Field and electrons to which most humans–with their rubber soled shoes and lavish hardwood floors–are disconnected.

And earthing gives you a chance to reconnect with those forces.

Not only has the practice of earthing been encouraged by high-performance experts like Ben Greenfield, Aubrey Marcus, and Tim Ferriss, but there is a growing body of research corroborating its benefits.

In fact, according to this study earthing carries a plethora of benefits from decreased anxiety and pain to circadian rhythm regulation, improved sleep, heightened energy levels, and improved athletic recovery.

Woah…

While you could fork out a few hundred dollars to buy an expensive (and as-of-yet un-researched) earthing mat, I encourage you to keep things simple.

Stand outside barefoot for 15-20 minutes and stack this habit with tips #5 and #6 to enjoy a supercharged morning filled with energy, electrons, and an overwhelming desire to hug a tree.

4. Drink this “Super Water” Morning Cocktail Everyone knows that it’s important to drink water first thing in the morning.

I mean, after 7-9 hours without food or water, your body is–to use the scientific nomenclature–“really freaking dehydrated.”

But more importantly…

It’s deprived of the minerals and electrolytes that are essential for cognition, performance, and mental focus.

And, if you’re following tip #7, you probably won’t be getting any of those from your diet until your day is already well under way.

Luckily, there’s a simple solution.

Supercharge your water (and your morning) by adding half a lemon and about 1/4 TBSP of Celtic Salt to 12 oz. of water.

Studies have shown that lemon juice can aid in gastrointestinal and immune function, reduce inflammation, and aid in the detoxification of your body.

The sodium from the Celtic Salt, on the other hand, will improve muscle function, strengthen your adrenal system, and provide your body with those much needed minerals and electrolytes mentioned above.

This might not be the tastiest morning cocktail you’ve ever imbibed, but I promise it will leave you feeling refreshed, energized, and ready to tackle your important tasks.

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5. Get Outside for Some Photosynthetic Epicness Sunlight has gotten a bad rap in recent years.

And yes, chronic sun exposure (particularly exposure that leads to burning) has been definitively linked to a host of nasty diseases and health problems.

However, in the right doses, sun exposure is not only acceptable, but necessary.

Especially early morning sunlight.

Specifically, early morning sun exposure has been shown to:

Improve sleep quality
Stave off depression and boost your mood
Improve bone health
Improve eye health (this is especially important for us laptop warriors)
Boost cognition

And a whole lot of things that will help you conquer your mornings and supercharge your day.

Like earthing, morning sun exposure is one of nature’s most potent performance enhancers and sleep aids…

And it’s completely free.

6. Follow this Perfect Morning Exercise Routine Since you’re an Early to Rise reader, I doubt I need to convince you of the importance of exercise to supercharge your morning routine.

We all know that a consistent training routine can boost your immunity, increase longevity, improve your mood, reduce anxiety and depression, and make you a more confident (and attractive) Operator.

However, what you might not know is how beneficial early morning exercise is for your health and performance.

Sure, finishing your workout first thing in the morning will give you an early win, lower your anxiety, boost your mood, and release a healthy dose of BDNF (brain-derived nootropic factor)–an essential neurotrophin that increases memory, cognition, mood, and other key factors correlated to high performance.

And a morning exercise routine will help you consume fewer calories, burn more fat, and build more muscle.

But more importantly (for our purposes at least) it’s also one of the most important habits you can adopt to improve the quality of your sleep and ensure high energy and performance levels all day long.

In a recent study conducted by at Appalachian State University, researchers found that individuals who exercised at 7 a.m. experienced faster, deeper, and longer sleep compared to individuals who exercised later in the day.

And the best part?

You only need to exercise for a few minutes to reap the benefits.

In fact, Craig’s friend and client Shawn Stevenson, host of The Model Health Show, and author of Sleep Smarter claims that you can reap all of the aforementioned benefits…

… With only 7-minutes of exercise.

One of personal favorite morning routines is to go through the following exercises for 30-seconds each with a 10-second rest in between.

Courtesy of The New York TimesIt’ll hurt like the Dickens and be your least favorite 7-minutes of the entire day.

But…

You’ll enjoy deeper sleep, heightened mental and physical performance, and an overall higher quality of life.

I’d say that’s a fair trade.

7. Forget the “Most Important Meal” of the Day You’ve been lied to.

Breakfast is verifiably not the most important meal of the day.

In fact intermittent fasting (a.k.a skipping breakfast) is one of the best habits you can adopt to improve your overall health and daily performance.

For our purposes, there is a growing body of evidence showing that Intermittent Fasting is incredibly powerful for increasing your mental performance.

In fact, some research shows that intermittent fasting can:

Improved mental clarity and cognition
Increase the growth of new nerve cells
Increase BDNF (which you just learned about)
Improve focus and concentration

And that’s not even counting the physical benefits (which are far too numerous for the purposes of this guide).

The bottom line is this…

Skipping breakfast will allow you to start your day with greater levels of mental energy, focus, and willpower.

You’ll be sharper, clearer, and more productive during your deep work sessions–something I’ll address at the end of this guide–and you’ll have the energy you need to go after your big goals.

So give it a shot and let me know how you feel!

8. Freeze Your Butt Off There are dozens of peer reviewed studies showing the efficacy of cold therapy for generalized health and longevity.

From:

Lowered systemic inflammation
Improved sleep quality
Pain reduction
Improved cell detoxification
The strengthening of your CNS (Central Nervous System)

There are a bunch of reasons to add cold therapy to your daily or weekly routine.

However, the most relevant, albeit anecdotal, benefit of cold exposure (for the purpose of this guide at least) is the way it increases your willpower.

Let’s just be blunt… Cold showers suck.

There’s nothing fun about waking up and then subjecting your groggy and bleary-eyed self to an icy blast of water.

Especially when the sweet embrace of a warm shower is only a quarter turn of your faucet away.

But when you force yourself to endure the cold and do something you do not want to do first thing in the morning, you train your brain to delay gratification and take action…

Whether you feel like it or not.

And this is a powerful way to begin your mornings.

In fact, this tactic is so powerful people have reported losing 30+ lbs, beating addictions, and even doubling their income as a direct result of committing to daily cold showers.

Simply put cold showers are one of the most “Operator” habits you can adopt.

If you can force yourself to endure the cold water for 5-10 minutes every morning, the rest of your day will be a breeze.

As miserable as it might be, you’ll step out of the cold feeling more motivated and energized than ever before.

I recommend you start small (60-seconds at the end of your normal showers) and work your way up until you can withstand a full 10-minutes in the cold.

I promise, once you see the benefits, you’ll never go back.

Part II: Supercharge Your Mind With your body primed, it’s time to get your mindset right and prime your brain for the important tasks you must accomplish throughout the rest of your day. Here are some of the most effective ways to do that:

9. Reading: Embrace Your Inner Librarian There are countless research-backed reasons to adopt a daily reading habit.

Not only will you gain new knowledge and inspiration that will help you become a better entrepreneur, spouse, parent, and human…

… But the simple act of planting yourself in a chair and reading a few pages each morning has been shown to:

Increase fluid intelligence
Boost brainpower
Reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s
Reduce stress
Improve memory
Increase focus

And a whole lot more.

However, if you’re anything like me, you probably don’t have the time or desire to sit down for an hour or more each morning to read.

You’ve got frogs to eat, deep work to complete, and goals to accomplish.

Don’t worry.

Most of the aforementioned studies have shown that you can glean all of the benefits of reading in as little as 10-15 minutes.

Want to know what to read? Check out the video below to learn find out what Craig read (or click here for his 2018 reading list)

And once you’ve finished reading, it’s time to move onto our next habit and start writing a few words of your own.

10. Journalling: Get Out of Your Head A daily writing habit has been shown to improve your ability to recall information, boost creativity, and (anecdotally) lead to improved problem-solving abilities and greater levels of self-awareness.

Luckily, you don’t need to spend an hour hunched over your journal to reap the many benefits of a daily writing practice.

I personally recommend that you keep your habit simple and easy to follow.

First, set a timer for 5-minutes and write down anything and everything that comes to your mind.

From tasks that need to be accomplished to people you need to contact to problems weighing on your mind… get it out of your head and onto paper.

Then, when the timer goes off, take a few more minutes to write down 10 new ideas–they can be about anything–and build your “Idea Muscle,” a habit I learned from James Altucher.

This simple practice will help clear your mind and allow you to start your day from a clearer and calmer state.

And speaking of state…

11. Use Music to Prime Your State Although music is typically thought of as a guilty pleasure or pleasant pastime, it can actually serve as a potent performance enhancer.

Music, specifically music that you enjoy, releases dopamine into your brain and has been shown to:

Improve mood
Improve exercise performance
Reduce stress and anxiety
Improve memory

Plus a whole lot more.

And, like many of the other habits on this list, it’s incredibly easy to implement.

I recommend that you listen to one of your favorite songs while completing your 7-minute workout or catching some early morning sun.

Then, pick one song (I like Bach’s Cello Suite 1 in G Major) and listen to it on repeat while you do your deep work.

You’ll be amazed by how much this simple habit will increase your productivity.

12. Meditation: Get Your Monk On Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know that meditation is one of the most important habits not only for high performance but overall well-being and mental health.

This can have a huge benefit to supercharge your morning routine.

In fact, after interviewing hundreds of the world’s most elite performers, best-selling author, podcaster, and multimillionaire angel investor Tim Ferriss claimed nearly 80% of the high-performers he interviewed practiced some form of daily meditation.

Heck, Arnold “The Governator” Schwarzenegger practiced Transcendental Meditation for only one year and claims he has reaped benefits from that practice decades after.

But, for those of you who still need a little bit more convincing, here are just a few of the many scientifically corroborated benefits of meditation…

Stress reduction
Reduced anxiety
Increased attention span
Increased empathy
Improved sleep
Decreased pain and blood pressure
Improved focus regardless of distractions.

And a whole lot more…

You can check out the whole list of the 76 science-based reasons to meditate (along with their respective studies) here.

But in the meantime, download Calm or Headspace and give it a go for the next 30 days.

13. Get Grateful Like meditation, gratitude is one of the most commonly cited habits of high-performers.

And (like every habit on this list), it’s completely free.

A regular gratitude practice, whether done in a journal or simply in your mind, has been shown to:

Increase overall physical health
Enhance empathy and reduce aggression
Improve romantic and platonic relationships
Improve self-esteem
Improve the quality of your sleep
Reduce depression
Increase overall life satisfaction and happiness

And a whole lot more.

There’s no need to spend 20 minutes writing down everything for which you’re grateful in painstaking detail.

Most studies have shown that even a few minutes of consciously cultivating and expressing gratitude will give you all of the previously mentioned benefits.

If you really want to take this practice to the next level, combine it with habit #18 and directly express gratitude to someone in your life!

I promise you’ll make their day and put yourself in a powerful state for the rest of the day.

14. Visualize Your Day Once written off as a “woo woo” practice for hippies and aspiring , there is now evidence to suggest that a regular visualization practice has tangible benefits for performance and productivity.

Specifically, visualizing different activities and scenarios has been shown to:

Reduce fear and anxiety around specific events (e.g. an important meeting or sales call)
Increased confidence
More frequent and longer-lasting flow states
Enhanced motivation
Improved motor control

And a whole lot more.

So it’s pretty clear that there is more to visualization than meets the (third?) eye.

Whether you incorporate a visualization practice as a part of your daily routine or use it prescriptively–for example, preparing for the launch of a new product or big career transition–it’s a powerful tactic that can give you the slight edge you need to succeed in business and life.

15. Practice Positivity to Increase Your Success Ever since the publication of The Power of Positive Thinking, positive thinking has been touted as the solution to all of life’s problems…

… And lambasted as an overrated and unrealistic worldview.

So which is it?

Although it might not be the panacea many gurus purport it to be, recent studies have shown that positive thinking and self talk can lead to numerous physical and psychological benefits.

According to Mayo Clinic, positivity can lead to:

Increased life span
Lower rates of depression
Lower levels of distress
Greater resistance to the common cold
Better psychological and physical well-being
Better cardiovascular health and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

And more.

But how do you actually practice positivity in a non-esoteric sense?

It’s actually pretty simple.

Start by picking a simple daily mantra.

For example.

Action beats anxiety. I’m going to dominate my day!
I’ve got this!
Feeling good, looking good, oughta be in Hollywood (Ex-Navy SEAL Mark Divine’s personal favorite)
Or Chris Winfield’s 9 life-changing words “Today will be the best day ever!”

Anything that gives you that warm fuzzy feeling and little jolt of meditation.

Then simply repeat your mantra 3-5 times immediately upon waking up (you can do this while earthing, exercising, or preparing your coffee to save time) and…

That’s it.

No really. That’s all you need to do.

16. Check Your Bank Balance and Hop on a ScalePeter F. Drucker, the famous business and management guru said that,

“What gets measured gets managed.”

And unfortunately, most people overlook the power of measuring important factors in their life.

Especially their finances and fitness.

Luckily, by hopping on the scale and logging into your bank account each morning, you can better measure, and thus improve, both of these areas…

… In under 30-seconds.

Studies have actually shown that individuals who weigh themselves every day are less prone to obesity and more likely to lose weight over a 24 month period.

And the same applies to your bank balance.

By keeping an eye on the amount of money coming in and going out of your bank account you’ll be less prone to overspending and have higher adherence to your budget.

Simple. Fast. Effective.

17. Phone a FriendOne of the most underrated and least talked about “life hacks” for high performance and happiness is social connection.

Study after study after study has clearly shown a link between social connection and a healthy, fulfilled life.

Inversely, many studies have shown that chronic loneliness is as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day!

And while I encourage you to schedule quality time with your closest friends each week, some days you will simply be too busy to make it out of the house or office.

When these days happen (something that is unfortunately all too common), don’t relegate yourself to a day of isolation or being stuck at the office.

Pull out your phone and give a friend a call (especially if you have a commute).

It should only take a few minutes but this simple act will give you an extra dose of motivation, connection, and–assuming you have high quality friends--inspiration you need to dominate your day.

18. Check In With Your Coach, Mentor, or Accountability Partner One of the most powerful habits you can build, regardless of when you do it, is to regularly check in with a coach, mentor, or accountability partner.

While there aren’t any peer reviewed studies (at least none that I’ve found… if you know of one, please share it in the comments below) confirming the veracity of this particular habit, I can tell you from personal experience… IT WORKS.

When you begin your day by checking in with someone whom you deeply do not want to disappoint and sharing your goals and plan for the day, you’ll be far more committed to executing on your priorities and staying in integrity with your values.

For help finding the right mentor or coach, watch the video below.

If you send a text message to your coach and tell them you’ll write 3,000 words or make 15 sales calls or DM 10 potential clients on Instagram, you’ll be much less likely to succumb to distraction and temptation.

I advise that you keep this simple.

In my own life, I have a quick accountability check in with Craig to help me adhere to my most important habits and make progress on the things that matter most.

I send one text a day and it takes me (maybe) three minutes to write.

But those three minutes are some of the most valuable and productive minutes of my day.

Because they guarantee that I won’t slide on my commitments or slack off on my priorities when the Siren’s song of an afternoon nap or Netflix binge call my name.

If you don’t have a coach or accountability partner, find one. Connect with us at Early to Rise. We’d be happy to discuss our coaching program and show you how we can help. Just send an email to support@earlytorise.com with the subject line “Coaching.”

Join our Perfect Business Formula Facebook Group. Reach out to a successful friend you respect. Pay someone.

Do whatever you need to do to implement this habit into your life.

Because once you do, your life will never be the same.

Part III: Supercharge Your Day With your brain and body fired up and ready to go, it’s time to discuss the strategy behind supercharging your work day and setting yourself up for as much personal and professional success as possible. Here are seven tips that will help you get more done, work fewer hours, and enjoy your perfect day.

19. Remember: The Perfect Morning Starts the Night Before Your perfect morning doesn’t start when your alarm rings.

It starts the night before.

To ensure that you have the most productive, fulfilling, and energizing morning routine possible, you’ll want to set aside 60-90 minutes each night to prepare yourself for the day ahead.

Specifically, you’re going to complete two key action steps…

1) Plan the following day

If you’re planning your day in the morning, you are already behind.

Never, and I mean never go to bed without planning and scheduling the following day.

When you wake up, you should know exactly what needs to be accomplished and when it must be completed.

You should have a clear plan of action and know the exact priorities on which you need to execute and in what order they should be done.

Luckily, this doesn’t take much time…

About 30-minutes before bed, pull out a pen and piece of paper and write down the three most important tasks that must be accomplished the following day.

Review your Perfect Week planning grid (if you haven’t don’t so already, check out our guide on perfect week planning), schedule out any non-important but urgent tasks, and clearly identify the “Big frog” you’re going to eat the following morning.

By setting aside a few minutes to plan out the following day, you’ll wake up with clarity and focus instead of wasting your most valuable hours trying to decide what to do.

Be sure to check out this video where Craig shares a few other nightly habits you should adopt for more success in your morning…

2) Streamline Your Morning at Night

The second habit you must develop to supercharge your morning routine and dominate your mornings is the habit of preparation.

Now that you know what to do, it’s time to take a few minutes and prepare yourself to actually do it.

For example, if you plan on working out in the morning, get your gym clothes and running shoes out and set them next to your alarm.

Prepare the “super water” I told you about earlier and put it in the fridge.

Decide which book you’re going to read the following morning and set it out on your coffee table next to your journal.

Schedule a call with one of your friends or mentors. Set your multivitamins on your table or prepare a green smoothie.

Take 30-minutes to do whatever needs to be done so that you can wake up and immediately execute on your most important tasks and activities.

While this might sound simple, these two simple habits will give you the clarity and focus you need to spring out of bed and dominate the day.

20. Ask Yourself These Two Questions Tim Ferriss, Tony Robbins, and Elon Musk have all claimed (on multiple occasions) that one of the keys to success is asking the right questions.

As Musk said, “The tough thing is figuring out what questions to ask […] but once you do that, the rest is really easy.”

And I’ve found that two specific questions will help you supercharge your morning routine and enjoy sustained levels of peak performance all day long.

Question #1: What am I excited about?

What are the tasks, activities, meetings, and interactions you’re excited about today?

What do you have in your calendar that you can actively to which you actively look forward?

The more excited you are, the more energized and productive you will be.

Especially if you have something to look forward to after your work day.

And if you respond with, “nothing.”

Well…

It might be time to make a few changes to your lifestyle.

Question #2: Who do I want to serve with my work today?

Almost every negative emotional state that we humans experience is related to one thing…

An internal focus.

When you’re focused only on yourself, on your problems, your challenges, and your life… depression, anxiety, and overwhelm are all but inevitable.

By asking yourself this simple question first thing in the morning, you will change the entire tone of your day.

Your actions are no longer about what you can get but what you can give.

You aren’t just working for yourself. You’re serving a higher purpose and a greater calling.

You aren’t just building a business… you’re building a legacy

And from this frame every challenge and obstacle you face will become easier.

When you have a clear picture of why you are doing the things you are doing and who you are trying to serve, you will tap into levels of performance most people will never experience.

21. Nail Down a Quick Win Before You Start Your Work DayI encourage you to spend the majority of your morning–once your brain and body are fully primed–engaged in “deep” or legacy work.

However…

I’ve (quite anecdotally) found going for a “quick win” before you dive into your deep work is a powerful way to get into state and build momentum early in the morning.

Let me be clear… I do mean a quick win.

The tasks and activities to which I am referring should take no more than five minutes (ideally less than two), but provide you with a small sense of personal satisfaction and accomplishment.

They can be anything from…

Scheduling that dental appointment you keep putting off (seriously, go get those darn cavities filled!)
Cleaning the trash out of your car
Finally sending that email to your client or colleague
Making reservations for date night
Finally cancelling that HBO subscription you never use

Or any other small task that has been weighing on your mind.

The goal here is to find a tiny task or activity on which you’ve been procrastinating and take care of it.

It doesn’t need to be big and it doesn’t have to be related to your business.

Just find something that’s been nagging at your subconscious and get it done.

22. Avoid Morning Mayhem with Your ‘Not to Do List’ Although the habits I’ve shared with you throughout this guide are important, they are USELESS

… IF you sabotage yourself with negative habits and activities.

If you start your morning by checking your email or Instagram and putting yourself into a reactive state, no amount of physical or mental priming will allow you to recover the productivity you’ve already lost.

If you hit the snooze button (you better not!) and say, “Not right now,” to your big hopes and dreams, no morning cocktail or circadian rhythm optimized caffeine consumption will help you reclaim that lost energy and focus.

If you wake up without having planned and prepared for your morning, you’ll be starting with a handicap and waste hours of your most valuable time doing things that should have been done the night before.

When you begin your day by doing the wrong things, the right things you do matter less.

But the solution is simple.

It’s called a not-to-do list and, as the name implies, is simply a list of all the things you will not do.

For example, some of the items on my personal not-to-do list are:

I do not check email before 11 AM
I do not consume more than 4 cups of coffee a day (still working on this one!)
I do not check social media before 2 PM
I do not start work later than 8:30 AM
I do not sleep past 6:30 AM

But what about you?

What are the bad habits and toxic patterns you’ve allowed into your mornings and your life that are holding you back from success?

Take some time right now to write a few answers down.

Because it is ONLY once you clearly identify those habits and activities holding you back from success, you can liberate yourself from their control over your life.

23. Eat That Frog & Engage in Deep Work After you’ve primed yourself mentally and physically (which, if you know how to multitask should take no more than 30-45 minutes), it’s time to cut the pregame and get to work.

Since willpower, focus, and cognition tend to be at their peak during the morning–specifically within an hour of waking up–you want to invest this time in your most valuable priority.

Don’t waste it on email or social media or administrative work.

Use it to tackle those big tasks and activities that will drive profits in your business and break the needle in your life.

Identify the most challenging or important task of the day and get to work on it immediately.

Your body is energized, your brain is primed, and your priorities are clear…

Now use those resources to build your empire, leave your legacy and supercharge not only your morning… But your entire life.

Here’s the Next Step… Now I want to turn it over to you:

Which of the 23 habits from today’s post are you going to try first?

Are you going to give earthing a try and embrace the suck of a cold shower?

Or maybe you’re going to double down on your nightly planning and spend some time in the sun tomorrow morning?

Either way let me know by leaving a comment below right now!

The post 23 Research-Backed Habits to Supercharge Your Morning Routine and Achieve More Focus, Clarity, and Productivity appeared first on Early To Rise.

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Andy and I sat in the restaurant of the Four Seasons in Denver on a sunny Thursday afternoon. He had driven down from Boulder after we had been introduced through a mutual friend.

I was impressed. He was a sharp, energetic young man of thirty years old. He had already built an incredible business, and it wasn’t hard to see why. He was curious, thoughtful, and methodical. He wasn’t afraid to put his ego aside to learn, and he flattered me by asking questions about life as if I had any of the right answers.

Having had more failures than successes in life, I found myself telling him more about what not to do in life than what he should do. That was until he asked about creating rules for his life.

“Craig, when I read about your idea for creating rules, I was a little confused,” he said. “What is this going to do for me?”

“Well, Andy,” I replied, “Did you stop at any red lights or stop signs on your way here?”

“Of course,” he said.

“Well, imagine if you didn’t. In fact, imagine if there were no red lights, no stop signs, or no traffic laws of any kind. Think about the chaos that would cause.”

“Red lights put order and clarity into our travel, just like our personal rules put structure into our lives,” I said. “Humans thrive on structure. We need to earn our freedom.”

“But when you give someone complete and utter freedom, it often dooms them into demise. Take, for example, Michael Jackson, Mike Tyson, or Raphael de Rothschild (an heir to the wealthy Rothschild family that passed away due to a drug overdose). These men all had too much money, power, and freedom, and without structure, they eventually squandered their gifts and wealth.”

And so I insist you put into place Rules for Your Life. Should you bristle at that term, consider these alternative terms:

Your Operating System
Your Personal Commandments
Your Code of Conduct
Your Personal Life Philosophies

They all describe the same thing, a way to establish boundaries in your life and to set behaviors to which you aspire. If you have not read my 10 rules for life, I encourage you to do so here.

“But Craig,” you’re thinking, “How do I set rules for my life?”

First of all, I believe that you already have many rules for your life. You live a certain way, you have good habits that you follow, and you project a certain persona upon the world.

You’ve simply never sat down and put these rules — your operating system — to paper.

Let me guide you on how to do this. There are seven must-have rules for everyone. You can choose to add a few more on top of these seven, or start with these.

Rule #1 – Be consistent to bed and consistent to rise

Establishing a consistent bedtime and wake-up time seven days a week is the greatest thing you can do to have consistent all-day energy levels. Of course, there will be a couple of nights per week when you stay up late. That’s fine. But you must never stray too far from your wake-up time.

Don’t sleep in.

That sets off a vicious cycle of not being able to fall asleep the next night and feeling tired for the following two or three days. Instead, wake up on time and compensate with a mid-day nap or go to bed earlier the next night.

Rule #2 – Be healthy

Everyone should have a health rule. It might describe your eating philosophy (Paleo, vegan, etc.) or perhaps the type and frequency of exercise or stress reduction you do (“I take a one-hour hike in the fresh air three times per week” or “I lift weights three times per week for twenty minutes” or “I never miss a morning meditation session of 10 minutes”).

Rule #3 – Be productive in the morning

To get ahead in life you need to consistently work on what matters. The best time to do that is in the morning when you are without interruptions or distractions. Set a rule that you work on your number one priority in life for at least fifteen minutes after you wake up.

That could be Bible study, working on your finances and figuring out a plan to make more sales, or spending that time in exercise to regain your health.

Fifteen minutes might sound insignificant, but done six (or seven days) a week for months on end brings incredible results.

Rule #4 – Be focused on building your wealth.

ETR’s founder, Mark Ford, taught us to become wealthier every day, even if it is just by a few dollars. And so we should all have a rule that helps us do so.

For example, a sales professional might have a rule that “I make 5 sales calls before lunch every work day.”

A writer might choose to “write 1,500 words before 2 PM each day” (Stephen King follows a similar rule, for example). Whatever your profession, there is a way to structure a wealth-building rule that gets you closer to your financial freedom.

Rule #5 – Be aware of what NOT to do.

It’s important to know and act on your number one priority in life. It’s almost equally as important to know — and avoid — the things you should not do. If you don’t believe me, just ask one of the world’s wealthiest men.

“The difference between successful people and really successful people,” Warren Buffett once said, “is that really successful people say no to almost everything.”

Your rule might be “No drinking alcohol during the work week” or “I avoid checking personal email until after 7 PM” or you might have a rule similar to my 6th rule that says, “I do not engage in confrontations with anyone, in-person or online.

This is a waste of time and energy.

If I have caused harm, I apologize and fix the situation. And then I take a deep breath, relax, breathe out, and re-focus my efforts back on my work and goals.”

Rule #6 – Be social.

Warning: Many people won’t need this rule.

However, for some of us, we sometimes need to be reminded to ‘come up for air’ from our work and spend quality time with our friends and family.

Don’t tell me you haven’t been accused of working too much and ignoring important relationships. Even the most social amongst us could probably benefit from a reminder to rekindle old friendships that have gone dormant.

Rule #7 – Be good.

Finally, set in your code of conduct a rule about how you give back to the world. For example, you might say, “I volunteer two hours per week at the local humane society,” or “I serve on the board of directors at my church every year.”

This might be a great place for you to institute an aspirational rule, where you aren’t yet living it consistently, but you know it would do you — and many others — a world of good.

When you tell the world the way you want to act (i.e. by sharing your rules with others), you’ll force yourself to live in accordance with your rules because no one wants to be thought of as a hypocrite.

That’s why I’ve made my 4th rule, which states, “I act polite and courteous, and I do not swear.”

Honestly, I don’t act polite and courteous all the time, but I want to and so I made it a rule and I told the world. That is how you get accountability and improve. And you have every right to call me on this the next time you see me breaking my rule (I’ll appreciate it!).

As I shared these seven rule guidelines with Andy at our meeting, I could see his eyes light up with understanding. This template made it easier for him to design the right structure for his life.

My rules are not your rules. Please understand that.

But my template will help you build your rules and give you structure so you can earn your freedom, and have the amazing life you both desire and deserve.

Let me know what rules you create for your ‘personal operating system’ in the comments below.

The post 7 Rules Everyone Should Follow appeared first on Early To Rise.

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In today’s episode, Marcus and I discuss the best practices to fix a broken marriage.

The post 324 – How to Fix Your Marriage With Marcus Martinez appeared first on Early To Rise.

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It was mid-day… I had a second cup of coffee fueling my current work sprint, and felt increasingly frustrated. My briefcase sat next to me, filled with a pile of business cards that I had been handed at a tradeshow in Dubai about 72 hours before.

I was about 10 minutes into a task where I was logged into my CRM, typing in details from each business card.

“Five down, only forty more to go…” I sighed deeply and thought, “What am I doing here?”

Suddenly, the words of Craig Ballantyne rang through my head:

“The kiss of death for an entrepreneur are the five words: ‘I will do it myself.’”

Craig’s right.

Here I was, a self-employed professional whose time is worth hundreds of dollars an hour – and I was doing a task that could be completed for much less money… and zero of my time.

I picked up the phone and called my assistant Maddy. I explained what I had started doing, and she laughed. “I’ll come by tomorrow and will have a spreadsheet with all the contacts by evening.”

When Maddy came over to pick up the pile of business cards, I apologized profusely. “Maddy I’m so sorry that I’m having you do this data entry. I know this has to be a pain in the butt.”

She said, “Why are you apologizing? I love doing this kind of stuff. It’s relaxing for me. I’ll have a great time doing it today!”

I thought she was kidding, but no – she was dead serious. She actually finds data entry projects relaxing and rewarding.

Then it hit me… I’m holding onto way too many tasks.

Not only am I holding onto tasks for too long, but I’m not allowing myself to hand work to someone way more capable than myself – who will actually ENJOY doing the work!

Mind = blown.

The A.D.E. FormulaOne of the first things my coach Ron Mourra at Early to Rise taught me was how to apply the A.D.E. Formula inside of my work.

He’d ask me, “Galel, what can you Automate, what can you Delegate, and what can you Eliminate from your daily and weekly tasks so that you can focus on your zone of genius?”

I’m going to challenge you to ask yourself the same question today.

My stress and anxiety were cut in half by applying the A.D.E. Formula in all aspects of my life.

Automate: I was previously inundated by support emails inside of our affiliate program that came straight to my inbox. Emails were getting lost, fell through the cracks, and sometimes people’s support requests went several days without an answer.

Working with the CTO, we came up with a help ticket system that logs the emails in a central place and allows for a way to send canned responses for our most frequently asked questions. More complex issues are responded to by the affiliate manager who is online at a given time.

Delegate: I hired Maddy, an assistant whose “zone of genius” is organization, scheduling, graphic design, emails, and much more.

Now, Maddy handles anything related to juggling projects, my schedule and keeping me organized. We meet on Mondays to get in alignment for the week. We identify the biggest projects and what I’ll need support on. We talk everyday throughout the week, but then connect on Friday to begin planning for the next week.

Eliminate: I stopped handling our compliance issues. I had been spending HOURS dealing with compliance issues. It was a process that involved me looking up website owners and contacting them to update their website content.

In December, I trained Maddy by recording a series of videos using Loom, an awesome screen recording tool. Now, she researches and sends out compliance emails on my behalf. When someone doesn’t comply, I can then take action based upon the information passed along by our attorney.

How can you apply the A.D.E. Formula in other areas of your life?

Health
Home
Work
Relationships
Finances

Consistently ask yourself the question, “Should I be doing this task?”

Now that you’ve identified areas that you should delegate, it’s essential that you know how proper delegation takes place.

3 Steps for Proper DelegationConfession: For many years, I was the guy who wore my non-delegation skills with great pride.

“Nobody can do it as well as I can!” or saying things like, “If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself!”

What a load of nonsense.

For you to maximize your hourly rate of pay, you should be focused on doing your highest and best work. As Craig says in the Perfect Week Formula: “You can’t make $1,000 an hour if you’re doing $10 an hour tasks.”

So, now you know why you should delegate; perhaps you have your sights set on what you need to delegate.

The next step is figuring out HOW to delegate tasks and projects properly.

You Must Set Appropriate Expectations

Retired Navy SEAL Jocko Willink is famous for saying, “Discipline equals freedom.” Why would discipline give you freedom?

Creating boundaries gives you a space to play in. It gives you the rules of engagement. Isn’t it easier to win a game if you know the rules?

Delegation is the same. You can delegate with so much less stress and anxiety if you set expectations.

When you set expectations, it creates freedom for the person you’re delegating to. You’re letting them know in clear terms what you expect and in what timeframe.

Example: “Please take this stack of business cards and create a spreadsheet with their contact information in a format that we can use to import into the CRM. Can you complete this project by Wednesday at 3pm Pacific?”

If that deadline is unrealistic, your teammate must communicate that to you during the delegation process.

You Must Stick to Deadlines

The following suggestions are based on the assumption that one of your non-negotiable practices is sticking to your calendar.

Put your project deadlines in your calendar to know when you can expect to receive deliverables.

You want your teammates to know that your deadlines must be met. This isn’t meant to be authoritarian; sticking with deadlines is meant to help reduce your stress and set appropriate expectations.

This leads to the next part about delegation, which ties directly to leadership.

Be Willing to Have Difficult Conversations

It’s a hard reality that people will let us down.

This is part of being a leader. It’s the unfortunate side of being an entrepreneur… The fact is, people will let us down.

Instead of continuing to allow someone to fail, we need to let them go to allow them to thrive in another workplace.

Don’t shy away from having difficult conversations. Neglecting those conversations will increase your resentment as frustration builds over time.

Delegation = FreedomThe quickest way to reduce your stress and increase your happiness is to delegate.

Evaluate your tasks daily. If there are tasks you’re doing that are below your rate of pay – stop doing them. Apply the A.D.E Formula!

If there are tasks you loathe doing, ask yourself, “Why am I doing this task?” Consider whether others on your team should handle those tasks.

Remember: There is someone out there who LOVES the tasks you can’t stand doing. Give them a chance to work in their areas of expertise so that you can take your best talents to the marketplace.

If you need guidance because you’re frustrated about handling too much and not having enough time, I encourage you to contact the team at Early to Rise. They will help teach you delegation and also hold you accountable. Email support@earlytorise.com with the subject line “Coaching” to talk with a program director to learn more.

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Several years ago, I received emails from 3 young men asking me for favors.

They teach us great lessons on the WRONG way and the RIGHT ways to approach a mentor. Enjoy the lessons!

First, this is the wrong way to approach a mentor.

Hint: Don’t offer ‘stolen’ goods to your mentor, especially if you’ve stolen them from one of your mentor’s mentors.

“CRAIG BALLANTYNE! I have a BUNCH of ___ products found on my hard drive, I’d like to give them to you FREE, in exchange for a simple lunch date! I know you love ___, and I know you would like these products! I simply would love to have lunch or even coffee with you, in some place downtown. I live in Toronto. I need advice from you, and my value exchange is over $30,000 worth of products from ___. I can provide you with proof that I have them if you like.” – (name withheld)

The problems are obvious, including of course, ALL CAPS generally not being the recommended “mentor greeting”.

Next, we have a nicely personalized email from a young inventor.

It might be a form letter, but I’ll give a B+ for effort and I will follow up with him. One BIG problem with the pitch is that he asks me to do too much work, telling me to visit multiple websites, review a product, and read a PR kit.

Overall, he did “good enough” to get a response, but frankly, I’m only doing it to get ETR a new mobility toy for the break room.

“Hi Craig, I just wanted to follow up on a previous note I sent you. My name is __, and I formerly played ___ for the US National Team. I’ve spent the last 4 years developing a new core/mobility tool concept. As an aspiring entrepreneur, your opinion is particularly valuable to me (having great experience in business and in fitness). One of the great things about starting this project is that it has opened me up to all the great advice that people like yourself have to offer. Just reading your piece on the 3 C’s (3 Secrets to a Happy Life) really helps to put things into perspective. With that said your feedback would be hugely appreciated and if you have any interest I would be very happy to send you a unit to try out. We are currently best showing our variety on our Instagram page. I’ve also attached our PR Kit, which provides more specific product background and company direction. You can also access the link here. Thanks for your time in advance.” – Name Withheld

Finally, here’s an A+ way to get a mentor’s attention. Maybe it’s a little long (thus one of the reasons it got set aside for a few days), but it’s filled with passion, personalization, and an “underdog” story that is hard to resist.

“Dear Mr. Ballantyne, I don’t know if you remember me…

…but six years ago when I was just 15 years old you read my comment on ETR and shared it with Mark Ford. It changed my life.

A year and a half ago I was in the darkest point of my life and on the brink. Instead of attending one of the best universities in the world I skipped college, packed up everything I owned, and moved across the country to work in the financial publishing world, and to learn copywriting, a skill I knew I must learn to be an entrepreneur. To keep a long story short, I found myself in the deepest hole imaginable, and in a depression I thought would be the end of me. Something I never thought could happen to me, but it did.

Training saved my life. Outside of my family, the gym became my sanctuary. It taught me more about life than I can write in the next 8 hours. I’d always worked out …but this was different. It gave me an outlet I so desperately needed. You, your blog, & your heart were one of the biggest inspirations to me and guided me out of my depression. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for how you’ve helped me. I wanted you to know there’s a 21-year-old out there who was an inch from death, and you helped save him.

Fast forward to today… I want to get advice from the world’s best coaches and help other people use it to improve their lives. I’ve decided the best way to do this is to start a podcast. And you were the first person I thought to ask. I want to share your message, of how training and nutrition have helped you in all areas of your life, and to talk about and overcoming adversity using the body and mind together. This message is seldom made to people my age, and I believe in my heart this is something the world really needs. If this interests you, or even if would just like to talk further to get a little more understanding of me and my story… it would mean the world to me. Thank you.” – Name Withheld

Now THAT is how you do it.

Show sincerity, and show that you’ve put in the effort. I’ve met many of you throughout the years, whether it’s at one of my events, one hosted by Bedros Keulian, Jason Capital, Vince Delmonte, or a number of my friends and clients.

Those who I’ve met can attest to the fact that I’m approachable and willing to help… But it has to be a give-and-take. Don’t show up just asking for something. Is there some value can you bring to the person you’re seeking help from?

What can you do to help the person you want to connect with?

When you want to connect, be smart, personable, and do your homework.

Do it right,

Craig Ballantyne

PS – Finally, just a nice email from a Mastermind Member…

“Thank you again. You are the most inspiring person that I have ever met and I am GRATEFUL to have you in my life with your team. It has truly changed my life so that I can help others and have FREEDOM in my own life as well. See you in Vegas. PS – NNTR. (I love using this!)” – Dawn Sylvester

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“You cannot out-give the Universe,” my mentor Yanik Silver said to me over and over again in 2008 after I joined his Mastermind Group. What a silly notion, I thought. Or was it? Back then, I didn’t understand what he meant. I was young, naïve, and inexperienced.

With a little business success under my belt, I thought I knew everything. But I was also a skeptical, scarcity-minded young man. It would take years of me spending time with incredibly generous people before Yanik’s advice clicked.

When it finally did, I noticed that the wealthiest, most successful people I knew (both at work and at home with family) were also the most generous and giving.

My business partners, Matt Smith, Bedros Keuilian, and Joel Marion, along with my mentors like Yanik and Porter Stansberry, are generous beyond belief. So are authors and tech titans Sheryl Sandberg and Mark Zuckerberg.

In his book, Give and Take, author Adam Grant argues that “success is increasingly dependent on how we interact with others.” He makes the case that it is no longer effective, or acceptable, to simply be a taker, where one wins at the expense of others. Instead, Grant argues that givers, people who contribute to others without expecting anything in return, have the greatest odds of achieving extraordinary results.

“According to conventional wisdom,” Grant writes, “highly successful people have three things in common: motivation, ability, and opportunity. If we want to succeed, we need a combination of hard work, talent, and luck… But there’s a fourth ingredient, one that’s critical but often neglected: success depends heavily on how we approach our interactions with other people. Every time we interact with another person at work, we have a choice to make: do we try to claim as much value as we can, or contribute value without worrying about what we receive in return?”

Bob Burg, a friend and contributor to EarlyToRise.com, wrote a book in 2007 called The Go-Giver. I’ve sent hundreds of copies to colleagues and coaching clients over the years because Burg’s message resonated deeply with my personal experience. Here are a few examples of the generous Go-Givers in my life that influenced me…

Example #1 – Joel Marion

Joel is one of my best friends and one of the world’s best copywriters. I first met Joel in 2009, when he was a high-school teacher. He joined my phone-coaching program for people that wanted to build an online information marketing business. After just our fourth call, he went on to achieve the biggest product launch in the fitness industry to date at that time, earning $300,000 in three days.

It was also the first time he ever sold anything online!

Today, Joel is the co-owner of the BioTrust nutritional supplement company. They were one of the fastest growing supplement businesses in the world thanks to Joel’s ability to write effective video sales letters and email marketing campaigns.

He is relentless, and generous. In fact, if it weren’t for the person in the next example, I’d say he was easily the most generous person I’ve met. Each year Joel takes his business partners and family on amazing trips.

Joel is famous for the parties he throws for his business partners. Whether it’s hosting 100 of his top affiliates in his backyard for the Super Bowl, or taking his top 20 affiliates to an all-inclusive resort in Mexico, Joel spares no expense in showing them a good time.

He’s a natural host and loves helping people. That’s apparent in his business, too, as BioTrust is one of the biggest corporate partners of the Make-A-Wish foundation. Joel doesn’t give with any ulterior motive. He just wants to see people happy and to see them succeed. As a result, he’s built an email list of over 2 million people.

When I visited Joel at his home near Tampa, we’d often drive past the Raymond James football stadium, and we’d always do the math about how many times he could fill the 80,000 person football stadium with people from his list.

That’s the power of being a Giver.

Example #2 – Porter Stansberry

If there’s anyone that could give Joel a run for his money in terms of being a generous host, it’s Porter. He’s hosted parties all over the world. We’ve experienced his giving at the Super Bowl (the actual game, not just watching on TV), at Oktoberfest in Germany, and at an amazing villa in Tuscany, Italy.

Porter is also extremely generous in his business, Stansberry & Associates. In fact, he has a rule at Stansberry that he often shares with his readers. His goal is “to give you the information I would want if our roles were reversed.” It’s simple, but powerful, and a model that I follow at Early To Rise and used to with Turbulence Training.

Example #3 – Matt Smith

Matt is my former business partner at Early To Rise. It was thanks to him that we had the opportunity to acquire ETR from our mentor, Mark Ford. Matt operates on the principle of adding value in every interaction that he has with others. In fact, he won’t move ahead with projects where value is destroyed. One example sticks out in my mind.

From 2012 to 2015, Matt was the CEO of Porter’s business, Stansberry & Associates. That business was much larger than ETR, and we had an employee that I knew could make much more money working for Porter than he could for me. One day I asked Matt, “Why don’t you give ___ that big job opportunity at Stansberry?”

Matt’s reply was that while yes, the employee could make more at Stansberry, moving him from ETR would destroy value in my business. I would never have looked at the situation that way. The taker in me, as Adam Grant would label it, was looking for a way to get the most value for the employee, but I was neglecting how it would affect the other people at ETR. Thanks to Matt’s wisdom and patience, he eventually found an even better opportunity for the employee, one that added value to every party involved.

Fortunately, through spending time with these three individuals and watching them display example after example of generosity, their influence rubbed off on me. While I still have a long way to go to reach their level of both success and giving, I’m getting better every day, and it shows in the success of Early To Rise.

At Early To Rise, we are constantly giving free content (in our daily essays and the additional articles, videos, and audios we post to our site). Over the years, we’ve given at our annual Toys for Tots charity drive. We give coaching and mentoring to friends that spend days or weeks in our office seeing how a successful business works.

In addition to Adam Grant, I agree with Chip Conley, the founder of Joie de Vivre Hotels, who believes “that in today’s connected world, where relationships and reputations are more visible, givers can accelerate their pace.”

Today, more and more companies no longer operate from the top down. Employees, or better “team members,” are all invited — and expected — to contribute ideas and to have significant input on major projects, from the idea stage through to execution.

“As we organize more people into teams, givers have more opportunities to demonstrate their value,” Grant writes. That’s why, if you are a leader in an organization, you should be making everyone around you better. This is something I stumbled across years ago, and my giving to others has led to me achieving some of my biggest goals and dreams.

You’ll see this at work in the story of how I came to acquire Early To Rise (revealed in Chapter 20, The Law of Action Attraction, in my book, The Perfect Day Formula). “Givers succeed in a way that creates a ripple effect, enhancing the success of people around them,” Grant says. People root for givers and offer their support to givers. And when everyone wants to see you succeed, it removes many obstacles in your way.

But givers in the workplace are a “rare breed,” Grant says. “If you’re a giver at work, you simply strive to be generous in sharing your time, energy, knowledge, skills, ideas, and connections with other people who can benefit from them… but being a giver doesn’t require extraordinary acts of sacrifice. It just involves a focus on acting in the interests of others, such as giving help, providing mentoring, sharing credit, or making connections for others.”

If you want to make the world a better place, if you want to make your life better, and if you want to make all of those people around you better, then read this book and take its message about giving to heart.

Thanks to giving, today Michelle and I lack for nothing. And I now realize that Yanik was right, you cannot out-give the Universe, no matter how hard you try.

My advice to you is to give everything away you know — it will come back to you manyfold.

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The Go-Giver, Expanded Edition: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea (Go-Giver, Book 1

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“Slip slidin’ away, slip slidin’ away, You know the nearer your destination, the more you’re slip slidin’ away” – Paul Simon

This happens to all of us in one facet of life or another. We build a habit that starts off strong but then, over time, often ends up slip sliding away.

It could be the diet we started so strongly on January 1st that became a shell of its former self by Super Bowl weekend. It might be your attempt to reconcile a relationship, a promise you made to a loved one to be home in time for dinner more often, giving your word to call more often, to be there for someone. Or it might have been that your plan to set aside money for a rainy day has all but dried up.

We make great plans while God laughs.

Life gets in our way.

“We work our jobs, collect our pay, believe we’re gliding down the highway, when in fact we’re slip slidin’ away,” sings Simon.

Your editor is not immune to the slippery slope. I recently realized that one of my personal strengths was slip sliding away.

But first the story about how it became a personal strength in the first place.

In 2005, as a young man addicted to email, I used to marvel at Mark Ford’s articles describing how he did not check email until 5 PM. To me, this was better than a magic trick. How could anyone possibly do this?

But Mark had good reason for doing so. Not checking his email allowed him to get more work done. And as for all of those “problems” that people were emailing about? Well, not replying simply encouraged people to solve their own problems rather than relying on him.

I took his advice to heart. Slowly but surely, I chipped away at my email time. It went from being the first thing I looked at when I woke up at 4:30 a.m. (back in my personal trainer days); to something I could delay until 7 a.m. From there, I fought for every minute until it was 8 a.m. Finally, it seemed to settle on a plateau of 9 a.m. In fact, in my original 12 Rules for My Life, rule #3 stated, “I do not check email until 9 AM.”

But I knew I could do better. Recently I had a copy of my rules laminated and included in my daily document review. In this latest version I updated rule #3 to 10 a.m. The new email time worked… For a while. Then my travel schedule got busy. I was in different time zones, and my email schedule started slip sliding away. Soon I was back to 9 AM.

I needed to “sharpen my saw”, as Dr. Stephen Covey wrote in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It was time for a period of mental rejuvenation. Fortunately, I was inspired by a recent interview that I stumbled upon in my monthly newsletter subscription from the Glazer-Kennedy Inner Circle. This inspiring conversation between host Dave Dee and Henry Evans, got me fired up to shift my email session to later in the day. But not back to 10 AM. No, this time I was going to model Mr. Evans and wait until 12 PM before checking and responding to any email.

Now you have to understand, while noon might still seem early to some people, by that point in the day I’ve been up for eight hours. For a “normal” 7 AM riser, that’s the equivalent of checking email at 3 p.m. I’m still not at Mark Ford’s level, but still, it’s incredible progress for a former addict.

Equally as important, I’ve set a deadline of 4:30 PM as the cut-off for reading any email that day. No more checking email at 8 PM and getting wound up about something that can – and should – wait until the next afternoon.

In his interview, Evans also brought up a factor that was missing from my system, one that might have been allowing my dedication to slip away. That missing factor was having either a punishment for failure or a reward for successfully sticking to the desired behavior. I’ve since implemented these for my email schedule.

If I give in and check email before noon, my punishment is to go without reading the website and blogs of great authors that I enjoy each day at lunch. My reward for sticking to the plan is simply a feeling of great accomplishment, for I know that I’ve been a better steward of my time and that more essays have been written and products created. That feeling of product completion is the ultimate reward for me.

Since implementing this new email schedule, the results have been overwhelmingly positive. My writing production has almost doubled and my work-related stress has decreased. It’s a great feeling to get my newsletters done far ahead of deadlines.

And most importantly, this time I’m sticking to it. No more letting my goal of waiting until noon to check email to slip slide away. It’s now a rule with both punishments and rewards.

I believe in the power of rules and personal philosophies because they make everyday decisions a lot easier. As Dan Kennedy wrote recently in one of his weekly faxes to Diamond Members, “This is why Ayn Rand made such a defense of philosophy. Each person needs one. A thought-out, developed, challenged, and ultimately settled on set of fundamental decisions made once that do not need made again, that can govern other decisions. If there’s no concreteness to this, neither direction nor discipline is possible.”

Another virtual mentor of mine, Dave Kekich, agrees. As he states in Credo #39,“By adhering to a strong honest philosophy, you will remain guiltless, blameless, independent and maintain control over your life. Without a sound philosophy, your life will eventually crumble.”

Don’t let your good habits slip slide away from you. Write out your personal philosophies, your rules to live by, your big ideas for life, or whatever it is that you want to call them. You need them.

Just as I believe that waking up early makes almost everything better, having a set of well-defined personal philosophies makes every decision quicker and easier.

Add these to your life today.

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When I was young and broke (and cheap and stubborn), I relied heavily on what I called, “Virtual Mentors.”

This meant reading every issue of the Early to Rise newsletter, and books, like Dan Kennedy’s autobiography, Unfinished Business. I also consulted a mental round-table of advisors, as Napolean Hill recommended in Think and Grow Rich.

My virtual mastermind included Kennedy, Yanik Silver, Bill Phillips, Ted Nicholas, and Michael Masterson.

Today’s book report is a fine example of having a virtual mentor give you the step-by-step success tools you need to stop spinning your wheels so you can get ahead on the fast track to success.

The book is called The Pledge.

It was written by Michael Masterson (aka Mark Ford) in 2011, just before he retired from EarlytoRise.com. True to its subtitle, the book delivers a Master Plan for an Abundant Life. Ford was (and is) a multi-millionaire, having already retired twice in his career, before returning to teaching and writing.

There are few men or women that could claim to be a greater expert in success than Ford.

He has done it all, not only building great businesses, but raising three successful young men with his wife of over 30 years, having great health and hobbies, becoming a published poet and amateur painter, and all while still getting home on time for dinner (and a cocktail and cigar).

Trust me, he’s been a tough act to follow.

But there’s no use in comparing ourselves to Mark Ford. What really matters is where we are today compared to three months ago, and where we’ll be in three months from now. We must focus on progression, not perfection. We must be dedicated to continual improvement, or kaizen, as the principle is known. Every day we must commit to getting better, every moment we must make the right decisions to take us there.

If you’ve held dreams of success and happiness that you’ve failed to fulfill, if you have an underlying sense that you are underachieving, then The Pledge will help you return to the path of success in your life.

“Your past failures have no bearing on your future,” Ford writes, “And if you can change the way you approach your work, you can change the way you live.”

I’m living proof, having followed Ford’s advice for years (even though sometimes it took me years to implement it).

For example, one of the rules I follow today, getting up and going to bed at the same time each day, was a Mark Ford suggestion that I ignored for years.

When I finally implemented this tip, it had the greatest impact on my all day energy of any habit in my life. It was like having a cup of coffee at 2 p.m. without any side effects. I no longer tossed-and-turned on Sunday evenings, and I wasn’t tired from the weekends on Monday and Tuesday mornings. I was a new man, and I have Ford to thank for this.

What I love about The Pledge is that it’s not a superficial book about setting vague goals, but instead it delivers a personal master plan for your life.

It expects a great deal of commitment on your part, but if you’re willing to hold up your end of the bargain, Ford is willing to show you the exact steps you must take to succeed.

With his advice, you’ll begin to experience results immediately and live a truly fulfilling life. This is not a book about chasing the elusive Four-Hour Work Week, although Ford shows us the practical Four Hour Work Day.

A four-hour work day is something I’ve enjoyed in cities such as Istanbul, Prague, Hong Kong, Sydney, Tokyo, and even Moscow.

One of Ford’s keys to success is the Principle of Accelerated Failure. It’s something I’ve experienced naturally and benefitted from as a young man.

“The principle of accelerated failure rests on the recognition that we learn the most – in any enterprise – by making mistakes along the way,” Ford says, “The faster we learn critical mistakes, the sooner we acquire the knowledge we need to succeed. In other words, don’t fear failure… seek it out!”

Too often, we allow fear to hold us back from buying our first rental property to starting an online business (where there’s practically no risk). It even holds us back in our personal lives, stopping us from starting an exercise program or talking to that pretty woman or handsome man across the room… and thus potentially missing out on meeting the love of your life.

It’s time to step up and do what is right for you. The Pledge shows you how. Ford asks you to sign a contract pledging your commitment to your Master Plan. This accountability — to your Virtual Mentor — sets you on the path to success.

Accountability was one of the success pillars that allowed me to achieve my dream of acquiring Early to Rise, and accountability will allow you to achieve your goals, too.

Signing the pledge is like committing to your Rules in the Perfect Day Formula. Don’t skip this step. It is far more important than you could ever imagine. Fear of obligation is natural, but Ford shares a powerful quote explaining why this responsibility actually frees you up to live the life you desire.

“The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating — in work, in play, in love,” writes Anne Morris, “The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around like rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life.”

My second favorite tool that Ford shares is his goal setting technique. After helping us build our Master Plan, he puts forth a breakthrough exercise that helps us build the foundation we need to support our journey.

It starts with sharing the 7-Year Goal that you created as part of your Master Plan. In the book, Ford uses the example of a client that wants to achieve a net worth of $4 million. In order to achieve this goal, the client must take action and can break down the success steps into four process goal timelines. It works like this:

7-Year Goal = $4 million

First-Year Goal = Eliminate $36,000 worth of debt

Monthly Objective = Land a part-time job netting $36,000 by year-end.

First Week’s Objective = Get my first job interview.

First Day’s Task = Write letters to CEOs of my top 10 “dream job” companies.

If this exercise reminds you of the old joke, “How do you eat an elephant?” (Answer: One bite at a time.), I’m not surprised.

Brian Tracy, another virtual mentor of mine, wrote a book about this idea called, Eat That Frog. His message was that no matter how big our goals, success starts with taking action. We must break down big (and sometimes seemingly impossible) tasks into smaller and smaller action items that we can accomplish this month, this week, and today. And then we must get started. It’s that simple.

“One of the most important actions you can take when you are master planning your life,” Ford writes, “is to monitor where you have been and where you are. The simple step can help you achieve practically any goal you have set for yourself.”

Mark adds, “A recent study from DayTimer.com concluded that American workers with the highest incomes and most success in the workplace are those who have written goals. These superstars also have the habit of writing daily task lists prioritized in a way to help them achieve those goals.”

But Mark also issues a warning. “On the flip side, of the more than 70 percent of workers who don’t write down career or financial goals, only 9 percent accomplish what they set out to each day.”

That’s the power of making the pledge, signing the contract, writing out your goals, and carrying around your Rules. Don’t miss out on the importance of this simple, quick, cheap, and easy success tool. There’s no need to struggle. There’s no reason you can’t accomplish your big goals and live a life that leaves a legacy.

Read (or re-read) your copy of The Pledge today. Sign a contract of commitment to your future. If anything gets in the way of that objective, do not participate in these distractions. You have to stand up for what is right for you at this time, and that is how you will succeed.

Choose your actions wisely.

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In today’s episode, I discuss the top 20 hacks to help entrepreneurs grow their business.

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Managing Self-Doubt for Business OwnersAs entrepreneurs, we are driven by a unique vision and purpose.

However, despite our achievements, it is not uncommon to feel like we don’t deserve our success or that we are not good enough.

This internal struggle is known as imposter syndrome, and it poses a significant challenge for business owners.

Many entrepreneurs, including myself, have experienced imposter syndrome, and it often emerges as a recurring topic during coaching calls.

In this article, we will explore the concept of imposter syndrome in greater detail and discuss effective strategies for overcoming it, allowing business owners to stay focused on their journey of success.

Imposter syndrome is a psychological pattern in which individuals doubt their abilities and accomplishments, constantly fearing exposure as frauds. This phenomenon is common among high-achieving individuals, including entrepreneurs, and it can lead to stress, anxiety, and a negative mindset that hinders progress towards our goals. When these feelings of self-doubt arise, they can undermine our confidence and impede our ability to make bold decisions.

As I sit here in Cancun surrounded by like-minded individuals at our Mastermind event, I am reminded that imposter syndrome is a topic that will inevitably surface in conversations over the next few days.

To help you overcome this challenge, I want to share some actionable tips that can assist you in transcending imposter syndrome and staying steadfast on your entrepreneurial journey.

Acknowledge Your AccomplishmentsIt is natural to focus on what we haven’t achieved or to perceive certain outcomes as failures. However, it is crucial to take a step back and acknowledge even the smallest accomplishments. Make a list of your achievements, regardless of their scale, and celebrate them. Recognize that you have worked tirelessly to reach your current position and you deserve to feel proud of your progress.

Try practicing a daily brag where you write down something you are proud of every single day. This exercise will reinforce your confidence and shift your mindset towards a positive outlook. The daily brag has become a staple in our coaching program.

Embrace VulnerabilityImposter syndrome often intensifies due to our fear of failure and vulnerability. It is important to recognize that vulnerability is not a weakness but rather a strength that allows us to grow and learn from our mistakes.

Embracing vulnerability means being open to learning and growing from experiences even if they involve setbacks or challenges.

Throughout my 12-year journey as an entrepreneur, my most significant breakthroughs have occurred after periods of vulnerability. By accepting that failure is an essential part of the growth process, you can turn your vulnerabilities into opportunities for personal and professional development.

Avoid Comparing Yourself to OthersComparison syndrome is a notorious trigger for imposter syndrome. It is all too easy to compare ourselves to others and feel as though we fall short in comparison. However, this habit of comparison is a trap that diverts us from our own unique journeys and distracts us from our goals.

Instead of fixating on the achievements of others, focus on your own progress and use the accomplishments of others as inspiration. Remember that everyone is on their own path and their successes do not diminish your own. A helpful perspective shift is to remind yourself that others may also be comparing themselves to you, providing you with a confidence boost and a renewed sense of self-worth.

Overcome Imposter Syndrome by Cultivating Self-CompassionPracticing self-compassion is essential when dealing with imposter syndrome. Be kind to yourself and treat yourself with the same level of understanding and support that you would offer to a friend or loved one. Recognize that it is okay to make mistakes and experience setbacks.

Instead of being overly critical, focus on learning from these experiences and using them as opportunities for growth. Treat yourself with patience, forgiveness, and encouragement.

Reframe Failure as FeedbackFailure is an inevitable part of the entrepreneurial journey. Rather than viewing failure as a reflection of your abilities or as evidence of being an imposter, reframe it as feedback. Each failure provides valuable lessons and insights that can guide you toward future success.

Embrace a growth mindset and see failure as a stepping stone towards improvement and innovation. Remember that even the most successful entrepreneurs have faced numerous failures before achieving their goals.

Progress > PerfectionImposter syndrome often arises from the pressure to achieve perfection in every endeavor. Instead of striving for perfection, focus on progress. Set realistic goals and celebrate each milestone along the way. Recognize that progress, no matter how small is an indication of growth and success.

By shifting your mindset to acknowledge and appreciate the progress you make, you can build confidence and overcome imposter syndrome.

Develop a Supportive NetworkSurrounding yourself with a supportive network of like-minded individuals can greatly help overcome imposter syndrome. Connect with fellow entrepreneurs who understand your challenges and can offer guidance and encouragement. Join industry-related communities, attend networking events, and seek out mentors who can provide valuable insights.

This is what makes our Mastermind Events so valuable. You get to share your struggles and success with others who are there to lift you up and not judge you.

Remember that you are not alone in your struggle with imposter syndrome. Many entrepreneurs face similar feelings of self-doubt and insecurity. By seeking support and sharing your experiences with others, you can gain valuable perspectives and strategies for overcoming imposter syndrome.

Let us know how else we can support you through your entrepreneurial journey.

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For the past 14 years, I’ve had the chance to see a disciplined entrepreneur at the top of his game.

A few years ago, Bedros Keuilian took the stage at his Fitness Business Summit (FBS) and delivered what had to be his best presentation yet. He was on fire, getting more laughs in 30 minutes than a comedian gets in a 90-minute special. And he did it while teaching 1,000 audience members how to 10X their business with his 5-step formula for being “everywhere, all the time.”

I’ve known Bedros since 2009, seen him speak hundreds of times, and that was his absolute best. Bedros also said something that day that stood out to me, and I’ve thought about it every day since.

“You must never peak,” Bedros said from stage. “I know I never will. For me, it will be kaizen – constant and never-ending improvement – until my last breath.”

It’s this attitude that makes him set the bar so high for the rest of us. And that’s the biggest benefit of hiring coaches like Bedros. They allow you to play up a level in life. It’s one thing to be given great advice, but what a world-class coach does is see your true potential and set a higher standard for you than you’d ever set yourself. The best coaches hold you to this standard, and never allow any excuses for missing it.

You must do the same for your clients and seek this mentorship for yourself.

Now I know what you might be thinking. How does Bedros have time to run an amazing event like FBS, oversee the fastest-growing fitness franchise in the world, run experiences like The Project, Battle Ready, and The Squire Program, make it home on time for dinner with the family and take his kids to soccer practice? Is it because of his good looks and charm? No. It’s because he hangs around me.

I’m not kidding. He’s adapted my systems to build incredible Entrepreneurial Discipline so he can dominate his days and own his life.

There’s no reason you can’t have this too.

“There are three things that separate high-performing humans from those wading in the sea of mediocrity,” Bedros added in a presentation the next day. “And these make up my 3-D Formula of High-Performers:

1) Declaration of Desire
2) Discipline in Habits
3) Domination of Plan

The next morning after Bedros’ presentation, I explained to the audience how anyone could implement this 3-D Formula and build the same level of Entrepreneurial Discipline that Bedros has mastered.

Bedros has a powerful operating system based on my 5 Rules for Success. And if you implement these 5 rules, you’ll become super successful. But if you don’t, you’ll struggle.

Rule #1: Go to bed at the same time each night. Get up at the same time each day.“I can’t stress enough how important it is to wake up and go to bed at the same time on weekdays and weekends,” Bedros said.

It doesn’t matter what hours you choose, you just need to be consistent.

Rule #2: Focus for 15 Minutes When You Wake UpI’ve spent the last decade researching the morning routines of the most prolific and successful people on the planet, and here’s what I’ve discovered: Almost every one of these success stories follows the same 3-step morning ritual to get their mind right.

That is cleanse, center, and kickstart.

You cleanse your mind and body, you center your mind right, and then you kickstart your day with positive action. For example, Bedros gets up at 5 AM, has a glass of water (Cleanse), takes his dog Cookie outside to play (Center), then does a 5-minute gratitude exercise (Kickstart).

Here’s what I do. I get up at 3:57 AM and have my super antioxidant shake of Organifi greens, vitamin C, and glutamine (Cleanse). Then I lie down and let my dog climb on my chest and I pet her for a few minutes (Center). Finally, I sit down at my kitchen table, open my laptop, and listen to the same 1967 recording of pianist Arthur Rubenstein playing Frederic Chopin’s Noctures (Kickstart). When I do this, my brain knows it is time to write 1,500 words.

Becoming a disciplined entrepreneur takes consistent work. Apply these practices and watch your mornings become more productive.

What’s your Cleanse, Center, Kickstart routine? Post in the comments below…

Rule #3: Do One Thing For Your Health Every DaySome meditate. Others follow a specific diet. Bedros hits the gym six days a week, even if it means training at 10 p.m. at night in a hotel gym (when he’s on holiday with his family).

You can’t be a high performer if you don’t take care of your body.

Rule #4: Spend Time Working On Your Wealth Six Days a WeekAfter Bedros does his Cleanse, Center, and Kickstart routine, he works on his wealth.

“I sit at my kitchen table with my phone off and work in my ‘zone of genius’ for three hours on wealth-building activities like writing sales copy and crafting and sending out email broadcasts. Then I go to the gym from 10 to 11 where I train hard, listen to music, and keep the phone on silent so I don’t have my workout invaded by texts, calls, emails, or notifications – this is a sacred time for me.”

A disciplined entrepreneur focuses on their “zone of genius.” Are you spending time each day in your zone of genius?

Rule #5: Never Hit the Snooze Button“The worst thing you can do to yourself is hit the snooze button in the morning,” Bedros said. “If you hit the snooze button you are sending a message to your own subconscious that says ‘My goals and dreams aren’t that important. They can wait.’” That’s something you’d never admit to anyone, but it’s what you’re saying to yourself every day you hit snooze. Never make that mistake again!

With these five powerful rules in place for your life, you can become a Disciplined Entrepreneur capable of having it all. You can achieve your big goals and dreams in your career all while still having time for your family, friends, hobbies, and health.

Success is simple. It’s not easy, but it’s simple. You just need to follow the path to success that has been blazed before you by pioneers like Bedros.

A full explanation of how to apply these 5 Rules can be found in The Perfect Day Formula book. And since you’re obviously an individual dedicated to setting and reaching tremendous goals in their personal and professional life, here’s a free copy of the book on me. It’s normally $20 on Amazon + $13.75 shipping, but I’m giving the book for $0 + $9.95 shipping.

A Disciplined Entrepreneur Seeks MentorsIt really is time to get serious about becoming a high-achieving, successful person. So if you’re looking for a greater edge, one of the most important action items Bedros did to build these habits was to work with me as a coaching client.

If you’re interested in becoming a disciplined entrepreneur by learning more about Early to Rise’s coaching program and working with me or one of my coaches, email support@earlytorise.com with the subject line “Coaching” for more information.

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Do you want to turn your minutes into money?

“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst,” the 18th-century philosopher William Penn once said.

While that applies to the average person, it doesn’t have to apply to you. Imagine if you could be insanely productive and successful at work in fewer than eight hours per day?

Imagine if you could have quality hours each day with your family, rather than just bits and pieces each week?

Imagine if you finally had time to pursue your passions, rather than putting them off to retirement?

All of this is possible. In fact, I’m willing to go one step further. What if I could give you an extra 30 minutes per day to work on your number one priority in your business or job?

Then another 30 minutes per day so you could get more sleep?

And best of all, yet another 30 minutes every day to spend with your spouse, children, or health and hobbies?

No, I don’t need to invent a time machine like Jules Verne to do this.

It all comes from tripling your productivity over the course of the day, improving your focus, giving you permission to say “NO!” to what doesn’t matter, and delegating the minor so you can focus on the major. That’s the system I teach in the Perfect Day Formula kit (get your NEW and IMPROVED version here).

Remember these words. Focus. Vision. Structure. They are the keys to dominating your day and taking back control of your life.

Here is one simple way to turn 15 minutes into money…Lee Iacocca, the revolutionary turnaround CEO of Chrysler, once lamented his inability to find 15 minutes each day for thinking. He was in reactive mode all day long. That’s where most entrepreneurs spend their day, and it stunts their financial growth.

With the Perfect Day Formula system, you’ll make time for 15 minutes in the morning of focus on your number one priority in life. When you do this, and when you focus these precious minutes on building your wealth, you’ll make rapid progress.

Fifteen minutes a day, six days a week, is 72 hours in a year. Imagine what you can accomplish with 72 hours of clear, uninterrupted thinking.

It was this approach to my schedule that allowed me to master email copywriting for an online fitness business. I woke up at 4:30 AM every morning, studied and practiced the art of copywriting, and did all of that before I left the house to grab the bus to the gym to make my 6 a.m. training session.

Within 12 months of putting this system into practice, I was making 6 figures per year with my business and I was able to quit the energy-draining job of personal training.

Fifteen minutes a day set me free. What will it do for you?

Will it make you a better salesperson? Will it help you write your book faster? Will it give you the mental time and space needed to create wealth-building marketing funnels?

Let’s look at several ways to use 15 minutes in the morning to make more money.First, you must make room for those 15 minutes before anyone else in your household rises from their slumber. This is essential, and it’s not often difficult. You don’t need to join the 5 AM Club in order to get ahead in life.

Remember, we’re building your wealth a simple 15 minutes at a time.

If you get up before the chaos starts in your home, and you go down to your kitchen table with just a pen and a piece of paper, no electronics, you have the perfect environment for BIG thinking.

Sitting there, you can overcome any problem, you can take advantage of any opportunity, and you can leverage the power of being PRO-active. Most entrepreneurs their entire day in RE-active mode, and they struggle.

They hit the snooze button. They are late to work and meetings.

They are fueled by caffeine and suffer inevitable crashes.

But you are different. You are proactive. You get ahead of the game. You open up those 15 minutes to take action and attract the wealth into your life that you have so long deserved.

You might, for example, sit there and script out a better sales presentation to be used later that morning.

With clear thinking, no email or phone calls or co-workers bothering you, you’ll find your mind operating faster, more creatively, and more effectively than ever. Suddenly you’ll have deeper insights into the problem at hand, benefitting your client and making the sale so much simpler.

Or you might find the 15 minutes is magical for writing your book. Did you know, that as an expert, you can write approximately 500 words in just 15 minutes? Done six days per week for ten weeks, and you’ll have a 30,000-word mini-book practically ready for publishing. If you’ve ever thought, “If only I could find the time to write,” well, I’ve just done that for you.

But the key is not finding time. It’s in making time for what matters.

And that’s what you must do. Make the 15 minutes of focus in the morning an unbreakable rule, a law of your life, and you’ll make more progress in this quarter-hour than you do over the rest of the day.

That’s the power of focus, vision, and structure.When you know what you want to achieve, you can focus your 15 minutes like a magnifying glass focuses the sun’s rays, amplifying its power and turning it into an incredible force.

All of this is within your control (part of the 3-C system for success that I teach in The Perfect Day Formula kit).

You can have greater wealth, and you don’t need hours of time to do so. It’s all right there, for the taking, if you make it.

It worked for me, and it’ll work for you too.

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Social media is driving us mad.

Mark Zuckerberg has us addicted to our phones, and we’re losing a lot more than just our privacy.

We short-circuit our brains first thing in the morning with Instagram. Millions check Facebook multiple times per day. Others mindlessly scroll through Twitter.

Our attention spans are shrinking and our productivity is cratering.

We know this, and yet we can’t escape the addiction, often justifying it with work demands or imaginary emergencies.

What excuse do you make for going to your phone first thing in the morning?

“I have to check my stats!”

“Must see who won the game!”

“Just need a quick peak at the news!”

Digital distractions are killing your short-term productivity, and your long-term hopes and dreams are dying.

You’re behind on deadlines at work. Your sales are slumping because you have no time for strategic thinking. Your addictions prevent you from doing deep work; you’re not making progress on important projects (like writing that book you’ve dreamed of or drafting a business plan around your new big idea).

Things are even worse at home. Your spouse scowls because you’re not fully present when you’re with the family. You’ve even become short-tempered with your kids.

This is no way to win at the game of life.

It’s time I staged an intervention.

The solution is simple and obvious: You need time away from your electronics.

You need to stop letting the hum, flash, buzz, and tweet of your smartphone drive you mad.

Now I know what you’re thinking.

“Craig, this all sounds great, but how do I get away from my phone?”

I’ll explain in a moment, but first, a damaging admission. The truth is that I struggle with distraction demons, too. That’s why, since 2007, I’ve been building a “fence of rituals and routines” to protect my brain from temptation. This system allows me to do deep work daily.

That’s how I write 1,500 words—or more—before 6 a.m. every day for my books and weekly newsletters.

One of the best ways to build habits of steel like this is to harness the power of the Elon Musk method—the very technique Elon Musk uses to generate his crazy ideas and to “figure out the tricky things.”

Elon Musk is always asking, “What are people accepting as a standard when there’s room for significant improvement?”

That was my approach when figuring out how to become more productive and avoid the temptations of social media.

For example, people just accept that you must always have access to the Internet. But you don’t, and you shouldn’t.

That’s why, for 18 months, I cut access to the Internet at home. This “extreme measure” prevented me from going online and helped me build up my “digital distraction resistance.”

Each morning, I’d wake up at 4 a.m., sit at my kitchen table, and write for two hours before eventually going to the office where I had access to the web.

Many of those hours were uncomfortable, but the same is true of any new workout or project that requires discipline. You have to stick it out. How else do you expect to see results?

Nothing worth having comes without some kind of price.

Fortunately, we can find ways to “hack” the system and get results faster. That’s where Musk’s method comes in handy. Here is his three-step master plan:

First, Elon Musk says, state the problem. Let’s say you want to fix your urge to “scratch that social media itch” immediately in the morning. I get it. For example, right now, at this very moment, I’m trying to fight off a problem. You see, I’ve written nearly half my daily word quota, and part of my brain wants to take a “quick peek at Facebook.”

Second, Musk says, gather evidence. I call this getting “outside eyes” through external observation and introspection. It’s always good to be self-aware—to know your temptation triggers. But sometimes, it’s hard to be conscious of behaviors that feed bad habits. That’s why you need an external observer to point these out to you. Your combined observations are your evidence.

[When you work with me and my coaches, we’ll teach you how to “watch the movie of your life”—in others words, how to see yourself in action with all of your good and bad habits in play. Knowing this will give you the opportunity to strengthen the good and eliminate the bad, making you better every day.]

Third, Musk says, develop a hypothesis based on “cause and effect.” Identifying the relationship between stimulus and response in your life is a massive key to success. For me, I recognize that any moment when I struggle to come up with my next sentence, I instantly open a browser window and start to mess around—or I pick up my phone and open the Instagram app.

Why? I need to feel I’m moving forward (or at least not frustrated by stalling out), so I go to entertainment that will take my mind off the task at hand, or I look for evidence that I’m not actually stalling out (affirmed by Instagram messages and post likes).

That’s why I’ve trained myself to return to clear-cut goals and a set schedule. In this case, it’s writing 1,500 words every morning. Why am I writing these words? To help my clients and build the ETR world. That’s what drives me more than almost anything else.

And so, I return to typing and before long, the ideas are streaming again.

A big part of my success here is having a plan in place. I know this is the structure of my mornings, so I don’t have any moment when I’m asking myself, “What should I be doing?”

Because that’s when distraction takes over.

If you get up with no plan in the morning, you probably have a 100% chance of going online. But if you prepare a detailed to-do list the night before (using the 3-step system I teach in my “Perfect Day Formula”), you introduce variable “A” and get result “B”—greater productivity.

That’s the Elon Musk Method for solving the Mark Zuckerberg Problem.

You can apply the Musk method to overcoming any bad habit. I guarantee it won’t be long before you have a simple solution for your morning distractions.

And not just for morning distractions—you’ll also be able to identify every weakness, obstacle, distraction, and temptation in your life and develop a plan to overcome each.

This is also what we do with our coaching program, online workshops and mastermind events. We work together to build a plan that will destroy your demons and set you up to dominate your days.

Working with the team at Early to Rise in one of our workshops is the perfect opportunity to set aside your phone and do a day of deep work and big thinking. It’s a game-changer.

After all, you know you are capable of so much more, so stop letting day-to-day distractions hold you back from the big accomplishments in life.

If you’re interested in learning more about our coaching and workshops, send an email to support@earlytorise.com with the subject line “Coaching.”

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Grant Cardone is a sales and marketing machine. The author of multiple best-selling books, including, “The 10X Rule,” “Sell or Be Sold,” and “Be Obsessed or Be Average,” he has also built a $350 million real estate empire and an international sales consulting business by living a very simple principle:

“A master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him, he is always doing both.” —Lawrence Pearsall Jacks

Cardone has integrated his family and his personal life into his businesses, throwing out the tired goal of “work-life balance.” He enjoys it all, so boundaries are unnecessary. And, he’s been monumentally successful.

Given Cardone’s powerful global presence, it shocks me when I meet a business owner who has not heard of him. You’d have to be living under a rock—and not just because you’re not tapped into Cardone’s sales seminars or his social media marketing. He’s also the founder of the annual 10X Growth Con event—a business pilgrimage that recently boasted 12,000 attendees, filling the main arena at Mandalay Bay in Vegas. (Incidentally, it’s also where one of the speakers, Russell Brunson, sold $3 million worth of product from stage in a single one-hour talk).

I mention all of this to you because you need to be studying what Cardone does. You’re doing your business, your customers, and your team members a massive disservice if you are not learning from his sales training.

And sure, some of you may think he comes on too strong or is too “pushy.”

But you don’t have to like Cardone to learn from him. Personally, I think he’s a riot.

In fact, he’s one of the only people I watch consistently on social media—both because he’s engaging and because he delivers a lot of value. He will make you a lot of money through his lessons on self-promotion, sales, and above all, persistence.

Recently, in fact, Cardone hosted a 2-hour Facebook Live broadcast on overcoming objections when closing a sale. My team transcribed the recording and I’m going through it line by line to extract gold nuggets that will help me sell more $5,000 workshops and $25,000 Mastermind programs on the phone, via email, and through Instagram direct messages.

Persistence = SalesAnother gold mine Cardone seminar was offered last month, when he shared a “persistence” story with very clear financial benefits:

While most people “quit” selling tickets a week or so before an event, Cardone doesn’t put on the breaks. For the very seminar he was speaking at, he sold people up until the very last minute on social media.

But he went even further. On the second day of the three-day seminar, he was back on social media selling tickets to the one day that was left.

What? There really is NO quit to this guy. I mean, who sells tickets to half of a seminar?

Cardone. And you know what? I’ll bet he sold at least a few because he had massive social proof from video footage of the previous days’ events.

This story is just another example of the number-one sales lesson Cardone, America’s top closer, has long taught business owners and salespeople:

“Sales success is in the follow-up. You have to be relentless. People WANT you to follow-up. Even if they are not replying it doesn’t mean your persistence is not working. They will eventually buy if you don’t quit.”

He’s right.

Take my workshop for example. Because it’s a high-ticket item, it has a longer sales cycle than a $97 online course. Once someone shows me interest, it might take months to register and complete the sale.

During that time, they’ll be consuming my video content online, receiving my monthly print newsletter, reading my book, seeing me speak at events, and receiving nudges from me via email, text, or Instagram direct messages.

This morning, I experienced proof that this follow-up works. Two months ago, a prospect named Kim reached out to me on Instagram about my program. Three days later, we had a 30-minute sales call. I failed to close the sale on the call.

But I didn’t quit. I continued to create great social media content (which she liked and commented on). I asked one of my clients, a friend of Kim, to give her a polite nudge to attend the event. Every two weeks, I followed up with Kim asking if she was still interested. Then she “went dark.” I didn’t hear from her for nearly three weeks.

Then I woke up this morning to see that she had made her first payment for a workshop.

Persistence pays off. And while a build-as-you-go approach like mine works, planned persistence is even better.

At his sales training seminar last month (the one I mentioned above), one of Cardone’s most valuable exercises was having every attendee write out a detailed, 30-day blueprint of follow-up actions for the leads that come into their business.

For example, let’s say you own a brick-and-mortar store on Main Street. A prospect stops in and looks around but doesn’t buy. Now, since follow-up requires contact information, you need to create a way to capture an email address, perhaps through a giveaway offer.

Once you have a contact, you can plan out the 30-day follow-up sequence like this:

Day 1 – Send a “Thanks for Stopping By” email and include a special offer

Day 2 – Send a link to a content piece about what makes your store so special (perhaps a link to a feature in your local paper or one of your YouTube videos)

Day 3 – Send an email asking the prospect to connect with you on all of your social media platforms

Day 5 – Send a survey or short email asking for their opinion on your store, your customer service, and what they are interested in

Day 7 – Send a “latest trends” report and highlight a product in your store

Day 10 – Send another piece of valuable content

Day 14 – Announce the winners of the giveaway they entered; try to make it something that’s valuable to everyone, like 15% off in-store purchase for the next 7 days

Day 17 – Send out an email summarizing your survey responses

Day 21 – Send out another great piece of content

Day 28 – Announce a 3-day sale and email a coupon for them to redeem in the store

Day 30 – Send a final reminder about the special offer

What do all of these emails have in common? Value. You must give your clients value in every communication. “Be a welcome guest, not an uninvited pest,” as the old saying goes. Always give prospects a reason to buy, and don’t hesitate to be relentless when you know that someone wants or needs your services.

The only thing you must never give your prospects is the white flag of surrender.

For example, in my business, if you’re a qualified prospect who has shown interest in my coaching program, I’m never giving up on you. “You’ve come too far to only come this far,” I like to say, and I’m going to do everything I can to get you the help you need to live your Perfect Life and grow your business while making more time for your family.

Many of my prospects balk at the price, but “price is never the real issue,” Cardone says. Instead, he argues, that objection can be turned into a benefit. The price shows value; it dwarfs next to the money the client WILL make if they sign up for coaching. It’s not an expense; it’s the wisest investment a prospect will ever make.

Cardone is a master at overcoming objections like these. In fact, he has an entire manual designed to help closers squash objections and close sales.

After all of this, you’re probably thinking that Grant Cardone is an aggressive sales guy. After all, one of his favorite lines is, “I’m not here just to win, I’m here to run up the score.”

Too aggressive, you say? I don’t think so. In fact, I think he’s positive and entertaining while being tenacious. And he doesn’t apologize for any of it. He shouldn’t. What he teaches is exactly what YOU need to succeed at business.

A lot of those lessons are offered for free—via Cardone’s social media accounts; his website; and his blog posts. If you want to overcome your tumultuous relationship with money and your persistent fear of sales, then you need to “learn and earn” from Cardone’s methods.

There are other benefits to Cardone’s methods, too. If you follow his lead, you’ll become a more effective communicator, a stronger partner, a more adept negotiator, a respected leader, and a more confident person.

So don’t roll your eyes at Cardone or his advice. There’s a reason he has been so successful—financially, professionally, and personally. He doesn’t play by others’ rules, he doesn’t give up, and he’s willing to push boundaries.

Follow him and learn. Dig deep. Become a better salesperson. Know your own potential.

If you do, you, too, will become a master in the art of living the good life.

Grant Cardone’s success is all about discipline. Get your own discipline with this millionaire-vetted Morning Routine.Sign up now to get our FREE Morning Routine guide—the #1 way to increase productivity, energy, and focus for profitable days. Used by thousands of fitness, business, and finance industry leaders to leapfrog the competition while making time for the people who really matter. Learn more here.

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In today’s episode, I discuss the best tips to improve your marriage as an entrepreneur in 2023.

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If you ever feel like you don’t get enough done in the day, it’s because you’re doing what you should never do in the morning.

One of the worst feelings we can experience at 5 PM is thinking, “I was so busy today but I accomplished nothing.”

This lack of progress is the greatest source of demotivation. It’s why employees quit, small businesses fail, and why we are tempted to give up on our dreams.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Did you know that just five common morning mistakes are holding you back?

Most self-employed experts fall into these time traps. But the most successful independent entrepreneurs overcome these obstacles and dominate their days. In turn, their productivity and income soars.

Here are five things you must NEVER do in the morning if you want to get more done, have more focus, and be hyper-successful.

#1 – Never Hit The Snooze ButtonSleeping longer is probably one of the greatest desires you had back when you were working for a big corporation. But when you hit the snooze button you are subconsciously telling your big goals and dreams that they don’t matter. That leads to a lack of urgency in life, lower productivity, and frustration by the end of the day.

Make the mindset switch this habit. When your alarm goes off, wake up with a mindset of taking on the day and tackling your top project so you make progress every morning.

#2 – Never Write Your To-Do ListWait, what? How am I supposed to get organized?

The truth is that if you’re setting your to do-list first thing in the morning, you’re already too late!

You need to know your number one priority the night before, and have a plan in place to start working on it immediately. That’s how the most successful people in the world, from the greatest writers of today (like J.K. Rowling and Stephen King) to the most successful artists in history, control their mornings.

#3 – Never Check EmailOne of the worst things you can do is roll over and start scrolling through your email. When you do that, time seems to disappear into a black hole and you can never get it back. Worse, email often leads to social media, and then you can kiss another 30 minutes goodbye.

While it’s tempting to check your email for work payments, important meetings, and the final score of the Yankees game, you must realize that email can wait.

You are much better off going to work on your top priority with a clear mind. This is how you make profound progress in the work. Give at least 30 minutes, if not 60 or more, to your top priority.

#4 – Never Mindlessly Surf The InternetHere’s a scary thing to do. Add a time tracker application to your computer and mobile phone that can tell you how much time you spend each day on every website you visit, from Facebook to Instagram to CNN.com, TheDrudgeReport.com, and even your bank account. You can also use this free Time Tracker sheet.

When you see those numbers you might be shocked… and maybe ashamed you wasted so much time. Just think of what else you could be doing with those hours that correlate directly to your success.

Don’t let your Internet rob you of the progress you so badly want to make. ]

Add another program to your computer called Internet Freedom. This app can block you from visiting certain websites or from using the Internet at all during certain times.

With these new boundaries in place, you’ll have made time for what matters.

#5 – Never Eat or Drink Food That Makes You Feel UnwellMany of my clients have impeccable morning routines. They wake up early, they set their minds to a positive attitude, they give gratitude, and then they spend time thinking about growing their empires.

It sounds like the perfect morning, and for some it is, but for others, the tranquility and success of this morning is all but destroyed with poor nutrition habits.

They eat cereal, milk, and juice for breakfast, then wonder why they are falling asleep and no longer productive at 10 a.m. Or worse, they consume 300 calories of sugar in their morning mug of caffeine, leading to a hard crash at 11 a.m., and then in order to compensate they have more caffeine and processed foods at lunch to get “energy.”

Too many people lose the day through their diet rather than their work habits. Don’t make the same mistake.

Make a note of what you eat and how you feel. Establish cause and effect between what goes in your mouth and how you feel in your mind. (It’s a direct relation!)

When you find the right fuel for your efficiency, you can double or triple your productivity, even if you already have an effective morning routine in place.

These are the 5 secret habits missing from so many of my client’s morning routines, and possibly from yours, too. But when you follow all of these NOT to-do rules, you’ll protect yourself from the time-management pitfalls holding you back in life.

That’s the promise of The Perfect Day Formula book & kit. And today we have a special offer for you on our 2.0 kit— the revamped product of thousands of hours of improvements. The tools in this kit were primed to boost your wealth-building habits and productivity. And we can all use more of that! Be one of the first 50 people to try the new kit!

Go here to see the improvements we made over 1,000 hours of redeveloping.

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Self-made millionaires are weird.

Mark Zuckerberg wears the same t-shirt and hoodie combo every day.

Floyd Mayweather never wears a pair of underwear twice.

Howard Hughes (played by Leo DiCaprio in The Aviator) famously had the staff of the Beverly Hills Hotel hide cheeseburgers in trees so he could collect them in the middle of the night.

And when I was a kid, I wanted to grow up and be known as an “eccentric millionaire.” After reading today’s blog post, you’ll agree that I’m not far off from that goal.

For example, everything on my desk must be arranged at right angles. I like to eat a lot of pineapple (sometimes I’ll eat an entire pineapple in a day). And I wake up at 3:57 AM every morning.

But you didn’t come here for funny confessions. You came here for the secrets on how to get rich.

Let me tell you how I went from poor farm boy to self-made millionaire (with a brief stint as a broke personal trainer along the way).

As I do, you’ll also hear three damaging admissions that reveal what to expect on your journey to becoming a self-made millionaire. You need to know these so that when you experience these adversities, you’ll know how to deal with them.

After that, you’ll get 3 powerful secrets that can make you rich, which I recommend you start implementing today.

Let’s start with the embarrassing confessions…

1) Every Self-Made Millionaire Struggles Somewhere right now a very, very, very rich person is depressed.

Perhaps it’s Bill Ackman, the hedge fund manager who at one point was losing an average of $7.7 million per day with one of his trades. Or maybe it’s Johnny Depp who is suing his financial advisors for money mismanagement.

The fact is that everybody hurts, as REM once sang. Money does not make you immune to emotion. In fact, when you become an entrepreneur, you’ll get a lifelong ticket to what Darren Hardy calls “The Entrepreneur Rollercoaster.”

You’ll have very good days and very bad days. I had my share. My lowest point came in 2006 when I visited the emergency room thinking I was having a heart attack (at age 30). It turned out to be anxiety, but it was a struggle. Fortunately, struggles can be turned into strengths, as I’ll explain in a moment.

But for now, understand there will be bumps in the road. Everyone struggles, but not everyone quits. And those that stick it out can get very, very rich.

2) Self-Made Millionaires Have Structure. That is all. Most entrepreneurs are overwhelmed with opportunities. This can cause great anxiety. You might have so many things you can do to build your business (social media, sales calls, Facebook advertising, YouTube videos, Instagram reels, networking events, etc.) that you find yourself working 20 hours a day.

And that’s the problem. Most entrepreneurs don’t have structure. They live in chaos, as I did back in 2006. And a lack of structure led to my struggles.

But then I realized the power of structure. Building my self-discipline, creating the perfect morning routine for me, and following success rituals allowed me to overcome my anxiety, become a self-made millionaire, and earn the true freedom I now enjoy in my life.

Highly disciplined entrepreneurs thrive on structure. If you want to make more money and become a millionaire, chances are you need more of it in your life, too.

3) Self-Made Millionaires Make Stupid MistakesBack when I was a personal trainer in Toronto I worked at a gym frequented by Canada’s richest man.

Unfortunately, his personal trainer was incompetent and had this wealthy business owner performing silly and ineffective exercises.

However, because Canada’s richest man knew nothing about exercise physiology, he actually thought he was getting a great workout. He was smart enough to be a self-made millionaire, then a billionaire, but I’d often see him showing his friends how to balance on balls and lift light weights (a technique that does not produce results).

This proves the point that even the smartest, richest people in the world make stupid mistakes. The former CEO of Blockbuster famously dismissed Netflix as being a non-issue for the industry. Now Blockbuster is bankrupt, and Netflix dominates home entertainment.

Self-made millionaires are human. We all make mistakes. As a result, we lose money. Sometimes lots of money. No one is immune to it. And so you will get burned one day. These are called lessons learned and the opportunity to fail forward.

I’ve spoken about a $100,000 investment I made into a mobile app that didn’t work out. I’ve spoken about advertising campaigns that totally flopped.

Mistakes happen. Turn your stupid mistakes and struggles into strengths, and stay persistent, and you’ll get rich.

Here’s how. You’ll use these 3-P secrets for success.

The 3-P Secrets For SuccessP1) People The truth is you can’t get rich on your own. Along the way, you’ll need partners, great team members, and even competitors to support and inspire you to do things better.

The great news is that successful people have already paved the way to the wealth you seek. Get a mentor. Find people that have accomplished what you want and ask them how they did it. Join mastermind groups. Go to a seminar. Attend industry events.

Eventually, you’ll find the right people so you can start making money with friends. This is the biggest factor in my success. My friends helped propel me to become a self-made millionaire. And if you hang around the right people, your friends can make you rich too.

P2) Promotion You have to shamelessly self-promote yourself and your business. Look at Warren Buffett. Buffett is not afraid to promote his Cherry Coke habit every chance he gets … after all, he owns stock in Coca-Cola. He’s one of the world’s greatest self-promoters. As is Richard Branson, Oprah, and Grant Cardone. As was Steve Jobs. You can’t make money if no one knows about you or your product, so put in place a system of promotion to make you money.

P3) ProfitsRich people protect profits.

They don’t waste them (excluding Floyd Mayweather). If you want to get wealthy, you need to make money and then put that money to work for you to stay wealthy. Don’t waste money on depreciating assets. Never forget how hard it was to make your first million, even if the second million comes easy.

There you have it, my friend. I’ve pulled back the curtain and confessed. Now you know what to expect, and more importantly, what to do, on your journey to getting as rich as your heart desires.

Now, there is one more thing…

How To Use The 3-P Secrets And Accelerate Your Journey To WealthAs you can see, I’ve always been a hard worker. But being a hard worker isn’t enough to reach your goal of becoming rich. It certainly wasn’t enough to take me from a broke personal trainer to a self-made multimillionaire.

The truth is that you cannot break through the next level and finally become wealthy until you focus your hard work on the RIGHT tasks.

And that’s what really changed my life. Decoding the hidden system that wealthy American men and women had used to become wealthy… and then using that system to guide my hard work.

Since decoding these systems, I’ve taught them to others — some people now investing tens of thousands of dollars per year for me to coach them through it (I only work with a handful at a time).

But you don’t have to invest such an amount to learn the systems that will enable you to apply the 3-Ps and become wealthier every day. In fact, if you’re an ambitious and driven person, you can get started today by reading my book where I reveal everything.

It’s normally $20+ on Amazon, but you can get it sent to you immediately for just $9.95 shipping here.

Don’t waste your hard work on the wrong things. Use this book to get clarity on where you should focus your efforts if you truly want to get wealthy.

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If you’re not growing, you’re dying, the old saying goes.

And there’s no doubt that there is something you want to improve in one specific area of your life. Today, I’ll show you how, and share a proven formula for personal growth.

This method has helped me become a much better person over the years. It helped me stop swearing, overcome introverted tendencies that held me back in life, and even, as embarrassing as it is for me to admit, helped me drop by jerk-like habits and become a much more loving, open, and authentic leader.

Fortunately, this formula holds the same promise of change and power of personal growth for you.

I’ll explain it in a moment, but first, an odd story…

Several years ago, I took a trip to San Diego for the annual Fitness Business Summit (FBS). On the third day of the event, I spoke from the stage and coached 1,000 entrepreneurs through a 10X business building session (but that’s another story for another day).

There were other highlights, too.

Every year at the event I take on a crazy personal challenge.

At the 2017 FBS, I made a public declaration that my goal was to hug 100 people during the summit. That probably sounds easy to you.

For me, it was extremely uncomfortable. But I went after it with gusto—and a fair amount of awkwardness.

While I fell short of the century mark, clocking only 91 hugs, the challenge helped me grow.

I increased the level of difficulty after that. For 2018, I challenged myself to film 100 selfie videos with attendees and to post these on my social media pages.

At first, I resisted pulling out the camera. I feared asking people to film the video. I resisted putting in the effort to bring the energy to the video. I feared digging deeper in my questions because I wanted to rush through the video.

But I pushed through. Each video got easier. While I fell slightly short of my goal, I interviewed 83 attendees over the three-day summit.

The result was nothing short of magical. The challenge forced me to step outside of my comfort zone, and I discovered a few great things in the process:

The best interviews were the ones where I surprised my subjects with DEEP questions who gave me raw, unfiltered, instinctual answers. This is a conversational technique I’ll keep up after the event (even if I’m not filming our discussion).
About 20% of my social media followers went through every video. I received dozens of messages thanking me for the great content, and several more messages from fans—who were also attending the event—asking for a chance to be interviewed.
Selfie videos are a great way to end awkward conversations with strangers at seminars. (Ha!)
With each video, I became a better interviewer and more natural on camera. It just goes to show that taking action is one of the most important steps for success.
My big takeaway from the challenge can be summed up in this quote: “What was once resisted soon becomes accepted and then becomes habitual.”

Think about it. This pattern of habit-building shows up everywhere in life.

Remember the time you drank your first coffee? You might not have been a fan of the taste, but soon it became normal, and now it might even be an addiction.

I’ve stopped drinking alcohol, but I’ll use this analogy… A shot of whiskey is nasty at the first try. Then you build a tolerance, and then some develop a liking to it. Soon, for many, it becomes a crutch.

Getting up early sucks. But with some effort, it can become your salvation. Eventually, it is both desired and needed.

This habit-building pattern can be used for growth or destruction, however. That choice is on us.

Back to my FBS challenge. At first I resisted, then I accepted it, and eventually my mind embraced it and created a new level of performance.

What was once resisted is now engrained. I cannot wait to do this over and over again.

I wasn’t the only one, either. People loved it! My interviews made them feel special and helped them grow and develop their on-camera skills as well.

The challenge confirmed for myself that pushing through barriers is the only thing that levels up a life.

Want to grow? You must commit to this mindset.

The secret to success for personal growth and skill development is action and practice.

Take action, action, and more action.

Then review your “practice” and get expert advice on how to become better.

Now return to practice, practice, practice.

Take more action, action, action.

Continue this virtuous cycle over and over and over again—for your videos, podcasting, writing, leadership, meetings, conversations. Do it for every skill that needs improvement.

That’s the formula for personal growth. Take action. Correct course. Repeat.

It’s amazing what you can do and who you can become when you regularly step outside your comfort zone.

So take up a new challenge today and see what becomes of it.

The lessons you learn might surprise you—just as the results of my 100 selfie video challenge did for me.

Most importantly, your personal growth and evolution will move forward by leaps and bounds.

Remember: Life is one continuous training cycle.

Never let it end.

If you think this will level-up your life, then imagine what you can do with ALL of the wisdom, philosophy, and science of “The Perfect Day Formula.”

This is the foundation for Early to Rise and Editor Craig Ballantyne’s coaching, so if you’re ready to finally take your life to the next level, get a FREE copy of “The Perfect Day Formula” right now.

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Incompetent leadership is the biggest problem in most businesses today. Little surprise, then, that GOOD leadership is the key to turning those problems into successes.

Before we dig into the virtues of good leadership, however, let’s compare the two side-by-side so their contrasts are clear:

| Bad leaders…. Ignore problems * Avoid difficult discussions * Discourage debate * Act cagey and secretive about company decisions * Use passive-aggressive behavior * Cling to power and authority | Good leaders…** Address problems head-on * Communicate effectively * Encourage team conversations * Are open, vulnerable, and authentic * Commit to straightforward relationships with clear expectations * Delegate as needed for the good of the company and the team |

In sum, good leaders lead by example, providing an environment where team members can flourish and grow. They are efficient, purposeful, powerful, and professional.

As Author Andrew Grove spells out concisely in his book, “High Output Management,” much of that work is done through meetings:

“…a big part of a manager’s work is to supply information and know-how, and to impart a sense of the preferred method of handling things to the groups under his/her control and influence. A manager also makes and helps to make decisions. Both kinds of basic managerial tasks can only occur during face-to-face encounters, and therefore only during meetings. Thus, I assert that a meeting is nothing less than the medium through which managerial work is performed. That means we should not be fighting the existence of meetings, but rather using the time spent in them as efficiently as possible.”

Your job as a leader is to delegate, motivate, sell, recruit, and hire. And yes, that’s done largely through well-structured meetings (we’ll get to that in a second), but it’s more generally focused on two things: inward-facing and outward-facing responsibilities.

You must support the internal operations of your business while simultaneously addressing external challenges and opportunities.

A good leader manages both of these impeccably, never neglecting staff or customers.

Let’s get more granular, though, and dig into the specific actions a good leader should take for both inward-facing and outward-facing success.

Internally (business-facing), a leader does these things:1. Leads weekly 1-on-1 meetings (called Goal, Set, and Review meetings)
These should be held every Monday and take about 30 minutes per person.

2. Runs a Weekly Alignment Meeting every MondayThe structures of both this meeting and the Goal, Set, and Review meeting mentioned above are outlined in ETR University’s “Management Rhythm’s Blueprint” course.

3. Supports every team member every day, helping them remove obstacles and improve skills
At the heart of this is your commitment to providing them with an environment in which they can flourish, rewarding them for being proactive, and coaching them for high performance.

4. Establishes, grows, and supports company culture
A good leader is keen to reward positive behaviors with public recognition and praise. When you have done the work of recruiting, hiring, and training great team members, they will be ready to flourish. Let them fly!

5. Holds the team to high standards
To ensure that the team meets these high standards, have a clear baseline for what you expect and what you will not tolerate.

As an example, here is a great list from Bedros Keuilian, the Founder of Fit Body Boot Camp (FBBC):

FBBC does not tolerate:

Poor work ethic
Time theft
Gossip
People who flake
Passive-aggressive behavior
Pessimists and skeptics
Doing the bare minimum

FBBC expects and gives:

Loyalty
High standards
Team work
A “can do” attitude
High speed of implementation
Hard work
Optimism
Attention to detail

Make these expectations known to the entire team so they can’t play ignorant.

That brings us to our next point…

6. Communicate consistently and effectively with your teamProper communication provides clarity and prevents rumors. This goes for the bad as well as the good. If your company is going through tough times, you must not hide this from the team.

If you do, it will only make things worse. After all, it’s human nature to create stories that fill in the gaps. Consistent and effective communication keeps you in control of the truth.

Plus, all communication leads to feedback. All feedback leads to better communication. Better communication leads to strong team-building. This is the flow of the feedback system that accelerates and gets better with more communication.

A great place to start: Send a weekly email or video to your entire staff letting them know the state of the business. Give them an opportunity to provide feedback or send questions that you can answer directly.

Now that you’ve mastered inward-facing responsibilities let’s see how a good leader tackles external-facing ones.

Externally (customer, talent, and competitor-facing), a leader does these things:1. Creates a company vision

2. Openly and regularly strategizes about new opportunities (and how the entire team can take advantage of them)

3. Constantly keeps an eye on new and existing talentThis includes identifying top-notch candidates for new jobs, recruiting high-achieving professionals, and supporting internal staff with ongoing educational options, benefits, compensation, and growth opportunities.

4. Increases the awareness of the business in the marketplace via well-crafted marketing

5. Regularly sells the business and its products/services to the marketplaceA good leader will also be willing to change sales tactics and audiences as needed to secure more revenue. A lot of these iteration ideas will come from team members.

Here’s the bottom line:

Good leaders—the kind of leaders that foster innovation within and inspiration without—only build 7 or 8-figured businesses when they’re balancing inward and outward-facing responsibilities.

As an entrepreneur, I know how hard it is to step away from a lot of these things. I know I still need to.

But delegation is critical for success. A good leader—even one who is amazingly talented—can’t do everything. Instead, that leader coaches others to succeed.

Let the ego go. You’re not the superstar player anymore. Don’t become enamored of the celebrity CEO, the bigwig mogul, the industry magnate.

Those guys struggle—they constantly lose talent and alienate customers.

But the best CEOs are more than willing to drop the “i” in “team.” These are the inspirational leaders who work behind the scenes to support their teams.

There are many well-known leaders who have learned this through years of company ownership.

Richard Branson, founder of Virgin, once said, “In business, know how to be a good leader and always try to bring out the best in people. It’s very simple: listen to them, trust in them, believe in them, respect them, and let them have a go!”

Sheryl Sandberg, the former COO of Facebook, echoes, ”Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making that impact last in your absence.”

This approach to leadership isn’t new. In fact, it’s centuries old.

Fifth-century philosopher Lao Tzu wrote, “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say, ‘We did it ourselves.'”

There’s a reason this kind of leadership has last millennia. At the end of the day, a business or an organization is not about you—it’s not a pathway to adoration or a following. As a leader, you’re tasked with building something much bigger than yourself, a business that positively impacts the lives of both your customers and your team members.

So print out the lists I gave you above. Tape them to your computer or desk. Read them over every day.

Lift people up; let them flourish; communicate with kindness and clarity; push for the best in everyone.

Your 8-figure business will follow.

Ready for take your authentic leadership to the next level?Sign up now to get our FREE Morning Routine guide—the #1 way to increase productivity, energy, and focus for profitable days. Used by thousands of fitness, business, and finance industry leaders to leapfrog the competition while making time for the people who really matter. Learn more here.

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In today’s episode, I discuss the secret formula that will help you improve your week as an Entrepreneur.

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Over the past 16 years, I’ve been fortunate to work alongside some of the brightest minds in digital marketing. There are a lot of common trends among high-performing digital entrepreneurs. As Tony Robbins says, “Success leaves clues.”

The following list is definitely not all-inclusive but is a great starting point for any digital entrepreneur who wants to improve their life and business outcomes.

1: Top digital entrepreneurs set clear goals and priorities and regularly review and adjust them.The best-performing digital entrepreneurs establish clear objectives, priorities and make a game plan going into each week.

They aren’t going into each workday “flying by the seat of their pants.”

They attack each day by prepping their plan the day before. When they enter they office, they’re not figuring out what to do – they get straight to work.

They review their data regularly – in some cases by the hour – to ensure their campaigns are profitable. Then, they make decisions about their goals.

Are the goals set too low? They’ll adjust them higher!

Are the goals unrealistically high? Top performers will adjust them so that they create appropriate expectations.

2: Top digital entrepreneurs focus on the right KPIs.Today, it’s easy to obtain a lot of data. In fact, we’re flooded with so much data that it’s essential for digital entrepreneurs to learn WHAT data truly matters.

This is why you must determine the right key performance indicators (KPIs) for you to track in your business.

We’ll see digital entrepreneurs get excited about vanity metrics like getting a really high open rate on an email while ignoring the fact that they received little-to-no sales or activity on the email’s desired outcome.

The best digital entrepreneurs focus on the right numbers – those that will truly “move the needle” to make data-driven decisions.

When you’re faced with a challenge, look at your numbers and ask yourself: “Am I making an emotional decision, or am I making a decision based on the right numbers?”

3: They are skilled in digital marketing and leverage various digital channels to reach their target audience.Many digital entrepreneurs start off as “one-trick ponies,” in other words, they specialize in one particular area of traffic generation.

Maybe they’re experts in search engine optimization, or they’re experienced as media buyers. Perhaps they are adept at email marketing or social media.

The best digital entrepreneurs learn how to leverage a variety of digital channels. Not only do they learn how to leverage multiple digital channels, they learn how to intertwine each channel so that they can complement each other.

Keep in mind that you never want to put all of your eggs into one basket when it comes to your marketing channels.

These days, if you say the wrong thing to the wrong person, you can lose your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google Adwords, Bing Ads or YouTube account.

If you’re focused on just a single channel, you may want to expand your knowledge.

This leads directly to the next habit…

4: They are lifelong learners and continuously seek new knowledge and skills.It’s tough to learn a new skill, especially in the digital marketing world. Who do you listen to?

When it comes to being a digital entrepreneur, we’re thrown shiny objects all day!

We’re sold on this tool, and that tool… This new technique and that new training course… It can become incredibly challenging to sort out the noise from what really matters.

The best digital entrepreneurs don’t buy into every shiny object and instead focus on learning from their own mistakes, listening to a small handful of trusted educators, and keep learning.

My marketing mentors are always in the middle of some kind of training course. They aren’t looking for “silver bullets” that will completely revolutionize their business (there isn’t one solution) – but instead focus on learning one or two actionable pieces of advice from each book or course they complete.

Stay humble, keep learning, and make it a regular practice to consume content that will help you continue to improve your skills as a marketer.

5: They network and build strong relationships with other digital entrepreneurs.This habit ties closely with #4.

Part of continuing to learn is being open to learning with others. Some of the greatest pieces of advice that I’ve received in my business have been from other entrepreneurs who “competed” against me in the same online niches.

Networking with other digital entrepreneurs has been one of the greatest gifts in my professional career. I’ve learned from their mistakes. I’ve shared my challenges with them, and they’ve provided solutions. They’ve given me referrals to service providers or other affiliates who have promoted my products.

The digital world is much smaller than you may realize. Start reaching out to people. Get to know them.

Figure out what value you can provide THEM before trying to receive value yourself.

If you can’t figure out what value to provide them, do they sell a product? Buy their product. Become their customer. Learn about their business.

I can tell you from experience that once you become someone’s customer it’s a lot easier to gain access to someone and start a dialogue with them!

6: They practice regular exercise and prioritize their health and well-being.Last year, one of my marketing mentors, Derek Gehl, picked me up in his Range Rover at the airport in Vancouver, British Columbia. A few minutes into our conversation, he asked – “So, when’s the last time you had your blood work done?”

Derek reminded me that as digital marketers, we’re constantly in front of a computer and that we have to “get ahead” of issues before they arise.

It turned into a discussion of health and aging and was an outstanding reminder of the way we can abuse our bodies if we aren’t careful.

As digital marketers, we often sit for long periods of time.

Are you prioritizing your health? The top digital marketers that I know are working with trainers, exercising regularly, and caring for their bodies every day.

What good is it for us to build wealth if we can’t enjoy it?

Schedule in breaks to walk, get fresh air, and step away from the blue light of the computer screen. Go lift weights. Drink water. Eat food that makes you feel good and provides your brain and body the right nutrients.

It’s much easier to establish these habits before you’re forced to do so.

I’ve sadly seen too many digital entrepreneurs run into serious health issues that could have been avoided had they built better habits.

7: They delegate tasks and responsibilities to their team.Successful digital entrepreneurs know their hourly rate of pay. They know when a task is a $10-an-hour task and they should pass it off to someone on their team.

Top digital entrepreneurs are not a one-man or woman show. They are typically supported by a virtual assistant or team members who can handle tasks like:

Customer support
Making text edits
Data entry
Research
Scheduling appointments
Posting content to websites
Writing blog posts
Proofreading content
Scheduling social media posts
Editing videos

As Craig Ballantyne says, the kiss of death for an entrepreneur is the five words: “I will do it myself.”

Digital entrepreneurs know how to do the work, so it’s easy for them to just be tempted to knock out a task.

If you’re tempted to do a task that should be outsourced – STOP! You’re limiting your ability to grow and scale your business each time you take on these small, low-dollar tasks.

Outsource everything you can so that you can work in your zone of genius.

8: They are resilient and can bounce back from setbacks and failures.If you’ve been a digital entrepreneur for any amount of time, you’ve likely dealt with the heart-sinking feeling of losing your web traffic.

You wake up, check your web stats, and saw that your numbers plummeted. What the heck happened?

Maybe it’s been logging into your Facebook ads account and getting the red box saying that your account has been suspended.

It could be getting a notice from YouTube that your account has been demonetized or even banned.

In 2014, many digital entrepreneurs had to completely reinvent themselves when Google released the Penguin algorithm update. Overnight, some website owners saw their traffic drop by over 90%.

The best digital entrepreneurs know that they need to be able to be resilient when challenges arise. They can’t be consumed by emotion.

How do you currently react to a setback? Is it with a big emotional outburst? Do you get angry or upset?

Next time something bad happens (and it WILL happen!) I suggest taking a step back from the computer, collecting your thoughts, then getting into solution mode.

This is Just the Beginning!

The 8 habits mentioned above are a starting point for an entrepreneur seeking to be at the top of their game in the digital marketing world.

If you’re in the digital marketing space, what would you add to this list? Is there anything that you want to adopt into your business practices? I’d love to read your thoughts.

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“The first thing I tell anybody who’s going to be doing interviews is homework,” said Barbara Walters about conducting a great interview. “I do so much homework, I know more about the person than he or she does about himself.”

This year I’ve been interviewed on over 50 podcasts. The best interviews, not surprisingly, have followed Barbara’s formula. The best interviewers did their homework, asking personal questions specific to their audience.

Doing homework on me is not hard. I’ve shared many personal stories here at Early To Rise, and in my books, The Perfect Day Formula, The Perfect Week Formula, and Unstoppable.

It’s easy for an interviewer to draw out my struggles of battling anxiety or my goose-bump-evoking journey of how I became the owner of Early To Rise.

Many interviewers have also taken Barbara’s advice of saving the toughest question to the end. That’s when I’m often asked, “Craig, what’s the biggest mistake you have made in your career?”

It’s a question that I can answer quickly and without fail.

My biggest mistake was not hiring a coach earlier in my career.

I made this foolish mistake because I was cheap, stubborn, and thought I was smarter than everyone else. My hubris nearly led to me losing everything.

It contributed to my anxiety attacks, caused me a lot of frustration, and fed my jealousy as I watched others in my industry come out of nowhere and surpass me. And they did so because they were not too proud to do what I should have done.

By late 2003, I was making more than enough money from my online business side venture that I could have invested in hiring a mentor. But it wasn’t until 2006 that I finally set aside my ego and hired my first coach. When I did that, his advice helped me make more money and help more people than I had in the entire six years that I was trying to do things all by myself.

This was such an eye-opening experience. Sure, hindsight is 20/20 – but I’m reminded that it was my own pride and stubbornness that kept me from taking appropriate action.

I regret going it alone for so long, figuring things out the hard way, and ignoring the easier path to success that had already been blazed before me by potential mentors. As a result, I was not nearly as successful as my friends and colleagues believed. They all thought I was making more money than I was, and I felt ashamed of knowing the truth.

I was a personal trainer, so you think I’d have known better. But instead of being held accountable to the schedule and activities I wanted for myself, I’d spend my time binge drinking on Friday and Saturday night… then suffering anxiety on Sunday night.

Once I smartened up, I quickly added many mentors to my life and my success continued to grow rapidly as a result. These mentors included paid coaches such as Yanik Silver, Dan Kennedy, Tom Venuto, Matt Smith, and Bedros Keuilian.

Having professional accountability from a coach is one of my Five Pillars of Success. It is different than just having friends giving you positive social support.

A coach brings you three gifts that a friend or colleague cannot.

Expert advice
Experience from someone that has been there and done that
A level of accountability that accepts NO excuses

Your coach should come highly recommended based on these three traits. They should be able to prove their success through client testimonials. They should have years of experience and a “stern-but-loving-parent” approach to accountability. If they become more of a buddy and stop holding you accountable, you’ll never get the full benefits of their experience and expert advice.

Seth Godin agrees.

“Mentorship works for two reasons,” Godin said. “Certainly, the person being mentored gains from advice and counsel and access to others via introductions, etc. But mostly, it works because the person with a mentor has a responsibility to stand up and actually get moving. The only way to repay your mentor is by showing the guts it takes to grow and to matter.

“Interesting to note, then, that the primary driver of mentor benefit has nothing to do with the mentor herself, nothing beyond the feeling of obligation the student feels to the teacher. Whether or not the mentor does anything, this obligation delivers benefits.”

When I hired my first mentor, Tom Venuto, I was in the midst of struggling with my crippling anxiety attacks. Before each of our weekly phone calls, I had to do a few minutes of slow deep breathing and said a little prayer hoping to make it through the entire call without having a full-blown panic attack.

I’d literally have to say to myself, “don’t pass out… don’t pass out” to keep myself from going into a panic attack.

I often wanted to skip the calls, but as Seth said, I had the obligation of showing up.

Thankfully I did, because with Tom’s expert advice my business rapidly became more successful than I ever expected. Tom’s coaching was also a big reason I was able to overcome my issues with anxiety. Without his help, I don’t know where I’d be today, and frankly, I don’t even want to think about it.

So if you’re struggling, the best advice I can give you is to stop being so stubborn and go get a mentor. Hire a coach today. Find one that has achieved what you want to achieve in life, and that shares your morals and ethics, and find a way to work with them. This changed my life and it will change yours for the better, too.

If you’re looking for an outstanding coach to work with, I encourage you to speak with our team at Early to Rise. We’ve assembled a team of business coaches that bring experience from all different industries.

These aren’t just coaches who read off a checklist and tell you what to do – they bring EXPERIENCE.

They don’t just know how to build a seven-figure business in theory… They’ve actually done it.

If you’re finished being stubborn like I was and are looking for a change, please send an email to support@earlytorise.com with the subject line “Coaching” and connect with one of our team members to learn more.

It’s been 10 years since I hired my first coach. And since that time I’ve come to believe this old saying is true:

“When the student is ready the teacher will appear.”

You are ready. And I am here.

Don’t wait any longer.

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Every Saturday morning, I send my coaching clients an accountability email. The aim is simple: Remind each one of their goals and encourage them to take steps toward success.

In one of my past emails, the “motivational message” came from my first ever Work-Life Mastery meeting—a small-group coaching session designed to push ambitious high-achievers to the next level of health, wealth, and happiness.

While everyone in attendance had differing perspectives on how to get to the next level, there was one unquestionable commonality: Leadership was necessary for their success.

Here’s how I explained it in my email: “Everyone in the room recognized that they needed to step up their leadership game, and we spent over three hours creating leadership scripts and practicing our new skills with greater confidence than ever before.”

While you may not think of yourself as a leader, everyone takes the lead in one way or another in their lives. Parents lead their children; teachers lead students; coworkers lead projects; entrepreneurs lead their sales teams; and so on.

Leadership—wherever you are in life—is necessary for your success.

I learned this years ago, which is why I closed my email with this advice: “I want you to remember these five words in every situation at work and at home…

Decisiveness
Control (of your emotional state)
Confidence (in the clarity of your path)
Expectations (that are clearly understood by everyone)
Communication (of benefits to others so they get on board with your decisions)

Easy enough? In theory, yes. In practice, however, the application of these qualities is harder. So let’s take a look at how modern business leaders are exemplifying these qualities—or not—and what we can learn from them.

DecisivenessIn the early 2000s, European carmaker Fiat was bleeding red. But CEO Sergio Marchionne managed, somehow, to turn the company profitable within two years. In 2009, he worked the same magic with American carmaker Chrysler, merging the company with Fiat and putting it “back in black.”

But these days, Marchionne waffles on future development, particularly when it comes to electric cars in the Ferrari portfolio. As one recent article paints, the “Magic 8 Ball” Marchionne bobs between assuring the public that electric Ferraris are a soon-to-be reality and making snide comments to the media about how much he hates the idea.

He also seems to waver on what to do about the growing popularity of SUVs and crossovers.

What’s the result? A public that looks elsewhere for innovation. Marchionne’s indecision might just be the death knell of Ferrari as future sports and luxury cars go electric. If he’s banking on name and history to carry the carmaker, he might take a look at how that has played out for a thousand other brands that have had far too much confidence in their brand currency.

If Marchionne wants to be a traditionalist, then so be it. If he wants to ride the wave of electric cars, more power to him. But he needs to pick a direction, lest he lose the confidence of the consumer.

ControlWarren Buffet once said, “If you can’t control your emotions, you can’t control your money.” ‘Nuff said.

Well, not quite. These days, EQ (emotional quotient) is as important to effective leadership as IQ. Understanding employees’ needs and recognizing the interconnectedness of work and personal life is key to creating a productive, happy work environment. And as countless studies have shown, happy and appreciated employees are the most engaged.

Leaders under pressure, however, often react strongly to mistakes or unfavorable information. To nip this in the bud, Buffet (among other successful CEOs) uses the 10:10:10 Rule. It’s simple enough—just ask yourself how a pending decision is likely to affect you in 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years. That perspective is often enough to keep you from flying off the handle and acting on raw emotion instead of reason.

And while keeping emotions in check is critical to balanced leadership, so is a certain degree of empathy. As “omnimedia” queen Oprah says of her leadership philosophy: “Leadership is about empathy. It is about having the ability to relate to and connect with people for the purpose of inspiring and empowering their lives.”

While you may not think of yourself as a leader, everyone takes the lead in one way or another in their lives. Parents lead their children; teachers lead students; coworkers lead projects; entrepreneurs lead their sales teams; and so on. Leadership—wherever you are in life—is necessary for your success.

ConfidenceIn the October 2016 issue of Inc. Magazine, speaker/author/guru Tony Robbins was featured as figure-of-the-moment. But it wasn’t financial success or celebrity that Inc. was interested in—it was Robbins’ confidence.

Indeed, Robbins has convinced many of us that we can be just as confident—and we’re so enthralled with his unwavering certainty we believe him. Why? Two reasons.

First, when you know your mission and how to execute it, there’s no room for faltering. You retain momentum regardless of possible dangers or obstacles, taking risks as though they were second nature. In Robbins’ own words: “There’s the business you’re in, and the business you’re becoming. If you’re constantly managing those two businesses, you won’t have to pivot [read: waver], because you’re always doing something to innovate.”

Second, confidence is built through successful relationships. And you build those relationships not by advertising what you have to offer, but by asking one simple question of the people you meet: “How can I help?” That engenders warmth and generosity, and from that, a relationship builds—whether personal or professional.

With these two clear-cut perspectives at our disposal, no wonder we feel our own confidence on the rise.

Some may say that there’s more to Robbins’ confidence than these seemingly simplistic philosophies. But “fan-turned-friend” Tim Ferriss says otherwise: “Robbins has outlasted so many other life coaches because he doesn’t just dish out advice—he actually takes risks.” In other words, he models the behavior he asks others to take. And his modeling follows the same “simplistic philosophies” he encourages others to follow.

ExpectationsWhat should a CEO realistically ask of his or her employees? And what’s the best way to share those expectations with those who need to meet them?

As part of Harvard Business Review (HBR)’s CEO Genome Project, a 10-year study designed to identify the attributes of high-performing CEOs, four key behaviors came to the fore. Preparation and performance were, not surprisingly, tops on the list—as was confident decision-making—but equally as important was a CEO’s establishment and communication of expectations.

Reliability, countless company board members affirm, is one of the main reasons for hiring a new CEO. That stands to reason; their results are consistent year after year, and it’s easy to unpack their successes.

But HBR dug deeper, pointing to this underpinning of CEOs’ reliability: “A key practice here is setting realistic expectations up front. In their first weeks on the job, reliable CEOs resist the temptation to jump into execution mode. They dig into budgets and plans, and engage with board members, employees, and customers to understand expectations. At the same time, they rapidly assess the business to develop their own point of view on what’s realistic and work to align expectations with that.”

In other words, expectations are understood from both sides—what the company expects of its CEO and what the CEO reasonably expects of his/her employees. And those expectations aren’t culled from emotional or impulsive decisions; rather, careful research and observation serve as the foundation.

The last, critical piece of this behavior is communication of both the expectations themselves and an ongoing assessment of how the entire company—from the top down—is meeting those expectations.

Here’s an amazing example of reliability, on-point communication, and accountability, again courtesy of the CEO Genome Project: “In 2012, when Scott Clawson took the helm of Culligan, the water treatment company, he inherited a struggling business that everyone believed had an EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortization) of $60 million. After completing his own due diligence, he had to break the news to investors that the real run rate was closer to $45 million. Though he got pushback about the lower target at first, he went on to revamp the firm’s business system and talent and delivered above expectations—to the delight of his board and investors.”

CommunicationIn the wake of reams of bad press on United’s handling of passenger dos and don’ts—including forcibly removing a passenger from an overbooked flight— CEO Oscar Munoz earned PRWeek U.S.’s Communicator of the Year Award in 2017.

What?

There are two sides to every story, of course, and this one is no exception. Some of Munoz’s under-the-radar communication of needs, appreciation, and expectations was indeed laudable. PRWeek relates, “Munoz won praise from union bosses for his easy rapport with shop-floor workers, a rarity in any industry. Undertaking an extensive meet-and-greet tour across the United network, Munoz rebuilt employee confidence in the airline brand.

He connected well with the airline’s pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, and other workers partly because of his blue-collar roots—his father was a union meat cutter—and he hasn’t been shy opening up to employees or media about his heart problems. He invited Fortune to follow him on the job, which resulted in a highly positive feature.”

And while many on social media excoriated Munoz for his handling of the company’s 2017 blunders, he wasn’t shy about taking responsibility for them during his PRWeek acceptance speech:

“I apologize for creating the situation that led us to assault, injure, and publicly humiliate a human being. Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the authorities and conduct our own detail review of what happened.”

PRWeek justified its decision by pointing to Munoz’s less glamorous achievements during his years at the helm. And while many rightfully argue United’s passenger abuse never should have happened, Munoz chose to communicate his responsibility in light of the expectations of him as CEO, instead of avoiding it altogether.

These examples, both of what to do and what not to do, make clear the unshakeable value of leadership in all industries. Even beyond business, leadership helps foster relationships, support communities, and encourage innovation.

So if my accountability email were to land in your inbox tomorrow, what leadership skills would you say you need to work on?

Imagine how much more successful your life would be if you did.

Lead On, In Work and in LifeBecome a shining example of leadership to everyone in your life. Start with this indispensable course from ETR University. >>>The post 5 Pillars of Outstanding Leadership appeared first on Early To Rise.

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A reader asked, “Craig, I’m a busy CPA and there are times of the year—like tax season—when work hours are extremely long and come with high-stress deadlines. These are the times when it becomes quite challenging to maintain ideal morning and evening routines.

How can my routines be modified so I have more success and less stress during these times?”

It’s a great question—and a timely one.

As an entrepreneur, I struggle with this as well—particularly during product launches and big events. For example, my stress always peaked during the time we’d run our three-day Perfect Life Retreat. I played host to 300 attendees and lead sessions running from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. It can be exhausting—without the proper planning.

Here’s how I got through it: I have created time management and productivity routines that, over time, become second nature. We must build strong habits when our workload is moderate in preparation for times when stress is great.

High-performing athletes are a great example of these routines in action. They must practice, practice, practice when the pressure is off so that they can win the gold medal when the pressure is on.

Look at the young American figure skater, Nathan Chen. At 18 years old, he just competed in his first ever Olympic games. High pressure? Just a little—but he practiced incessantly for the opportunity.

And yes, practice doesn’t guarantee success. Even Chen fumbled his first Olympic skate.

But do you know what happened when the pressure was off (on the final day of competition, when the figure skating prodigy sat in 17th place far outside of medal contention)?

Chen was able to perform without stress, and relying on his perfect practice, rituals, and routines—his second-nature abilities—he went out and delivered a historical performance, completing a record six quad jumps in one routine.

How does this relate to you?

Well, you need to practice, practice, practice. But you need to practice perfectly, because perfect practice makes perfect. You need to build habits of steel in the few weeks you have before tax time. With those second-nature habits in place, you’ll make it through with minimal stress.

Here’s where you should start:

- Build the Perfect Morning Routine so that you start every day focused and energized.
- Build the Perfect End-of-Day Routine so that you are perfectly prepared for the next morning—no matter how crazy things get.
- Build the Perfect Pre-Bedtime System that allows you to quickly fall into deep sleep, even when your bedtime hours are limited.
- Build the Perfect Time-Hacking Systems that eliminate the inessential (such as unnecessary meal prep, social media distractions, and email correspondence).

When high-pressure times hit, you’ll be able to rely on these four tactics to improve your performance on what’s most essential.

But let’s actually put this into action so you can see how effective these strategies are.

Building the Perfect (and Stress-Free) Morning Routine I’m going to steal a trick from Tony Robbins’s version of “priming” here.

As soon as you wake up, you need to “change your state” as fast as possible.

Tony does a cold plunge into his pool.

Tony’s friend, a successful entrepreneur and speaker, Ed Mylett, jumps into the ocean at his home in California or in the lake at his vacation home.

Listen to the first 15 minutes of Ed’s podcast here. He explains the importance of this state-changing routine, and why it works. The premise: Activating your sympathetic nervous system pushes you into a state of mental alertness. Once alert, you can dive into your Morning Routine focus exercise(s) right away.

This may seem stressful, but it’s actually the opposite. You’re not giving your mind the opportunity to dally in doubts and excuses, compounding your stress. You’re acting, not thinking about acting.

Cutting Stress and Anxiety with an End-of-Day RoutineThis is where a goal and time journal is extremely helpful. Take a few minutes every evening to write down any potential morning obstacles alongside your top goals. Think through each. How will you handle the obstacles when you face them? And what are the steps you’re going to take to check your goals off your list—before you even leave for work?

This activity is about more than just mapping out to-dos. You’re actually structuring success in your mind, which automatically reduces the stress induced by flailing around during chaotic mornings. You know what to expect and how you’re going to tackle it.

Prepping Pre-BedtimeIt may sound silly, but repeating this simple mantra will help you get into the zone when the alarm goes off in the morning:

I will get up immediately.

As soon as you wake up, remember the promise you made to yourself the night before.

It also helps to keep your alarm clock across the room so you have to get up and change your state immediately. While this is tricky if you share your bed with someone, not wanting to wake them up also makes for a powerful motivator to get out of bed on time!

Time-Blocking for Maximum ProductivityI’ve talked about this a lot, and the idea is simple: Grab a time journal (it can be the goal-setting journal mentioned above, modified for time-blocking) and separate out the main 2-3-hour time blocks in your day. Now fill them in with your most important to-dos. Keep an eye on your top goals as you do this, and make sure you’re accomplishing those that are at the top of your list.

There are all kinds of productivity benefits to this strategy. With a time-blocking system in place, you’ll recognize shortcuts in your daily routine, things that don’t work and must be avoided, and things that work almost instantly to improve your mood, memory, and success. Sometimes, boosting productivity is as easy as swapping that 4pm giant coffee with a soothing peppermint tea.

When you know what to expect and what to accomplish throughout your day, your stress will be cut in half.

I want to close with a personal example of these methods in action so you can see that they actually work.

When we hosted the Perfect Life Retreat last November, I assumed I would be operating on a paltry four hours of sleep for three days straight—while somehow being engaged enough to shake hundreds of hands. I knew I had to ditch my energizing workouts and would be spending very little time on meals. Even my wardrobe changes needed to be timed!

But my team and I planned ahead. Here’s what we scheduled to ensure minimal stress:

- My exercise routine was more intense in advance of the retreat so that I could use my three days on stage as recovery time.
- My meal needs were outlined and communicated to staff so that healthy food was available whenever I had a break. Most of this was easy to eat by hand.
- I completed my own mental walkthrough of the event to be sure that I had all of my health needs covered.
We planned a post-retreat recovery so I could quickly get back to 100%.

As you might assume, keeping this plan on track required a solid Morning Routine, end-of-day and pre-bedtime planning, and careful time-blocking. But all of this was second nature to me. I just had to apply the strategies I had used for years to a new setting.

Reducing stress is really all about mapping out your own success and removing obstacles to productivity. Take advantage of these tools and you’ll find that tax time—or any high-stress time—is easily manageable.

A Morning Routine is just the start to a Perfect Day.

Aren’t you ready for the wealth-building, fitness-fired, free time-filled success you’ve been dreaming about?

Work less. Make more money. Spend more time on what matters.

The tools to make it happen are all available in “The Perfect Day Formula.” Get your copy here—for FREE.

Why not give it a shot?

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I have a confession to make…

Years ago my friends started calling me “The World’s Most Disciplined Man.” I blame Ed O’Keefe, a really sharp businessman, and Bedros Keuilian. But here’s the thing…

…at heart, I am one of the laziest humans on the planet (and my parents would certainly have agreed during my teenage years).

Left to my own devices, I’d be happy lying on the couch stuffing my face with chocolate cake and watching reruns of the 1993 Superbowl on ESPN Classic.

(“How ‘bout them Cowboys?!)

But, in my early 20’s, I realized that I wanted to achieve greatness and serve others exponentially more than I wanted to eat chocolate cake for breakfast (and lunch…and dinner).

Growing up on the farm, I watched my parents struggle every single day.

My mom struggled with weight. My dad struggled with alcohol. And both of them struggled with money and marriage.

I saw firsthand the inevitable pain that would have been inflicted on me if I had kept up my wicked ways, and so I made the decision to upgrade my habits and become an “Operator” in life so that I could have a bigger impact and a better future.

It wasn’t easy. But over the years I had to break down my behaviors and shed my old habits and patterns and so that I could build a new identity as one of the world’s most disciplined men.

And today, I get to enjoy a 7-figure lifestyle because of this decision…traveling the world, networking with world class entrepreneurs, impacting millions, and living the life of my dreams.

But here’s the crazy part…

Nothing that I did was complicated.

In fact, my transformation from “Lazy Craig” to “Operator Craig” came about because of some simple principles I’m going to share with you today.

In this guide I’ll show you how to use tools such as…

Visualization
Public Accountability
Anchor Routines
Personal Rules
Self Reflection
Changing Your Identity…

And more to help you be more disciplined, achieve your goals faster, and life the kind of life YOU want.

We’ll start here:

1) Be More Disciplined by Destroying Distractions, Toss Temptations

“It is not daily increase, but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.” ~Bruce Lee

There is a fundamental misunderstanding shared by 90% of the population that discipline is all about what you do.

That it’s forcing yourself to wake up early, hit the gym, work with laser focus for 9 hours a day, and still have the energy to moonlight and work on your side hustle.

While this is true to an extent, it misses the most important part of what discipline means.

Discipline is, more than anything, about what you do not do.

It’s about avoiding the habits and behaviors that sabotage your success so you can make the right habits and behaviors automatic.

And the first and most important way to be more disciplined in your life is to identify and destroy your distractions and temptations.

Think about it like this…

If you set a goal to lose 20 lbs, the most important thing you can “do” is not eat processed foods that are high in calories and low in nutrition.

You don’t have to eat kale and carrots for every meal. You simply need to avoid the 2,000 calorie appetizers at Applebee’s and large pizzas from Dominoes.

When you toss the temptations–throwing out all of your processed foods and sugary treats–you give yourself no choice but to eat healthily.

And this principle holds true in every other area of your life.

If you want to increase your focus and productivity at work, start by eliminating the distractions and temptations standing in your way.

Turn your phone off and put it in another room where you can’t easily reach it. Block social media on your computer.

Heck, become a full-blown Luddite and turn off the WiFi.

If you want to stop drinking, empty your liquor cabinet, say “no” to spending time with your hard-partying friends, and avoid environments where you’re likely to drink.

Do whatever it takes to eliminate the distractions and temptations from your life and discipline will become 100X easier.

2) Use Personal Rules to Make the Right Decisions Automatically

“Success isn’t measured by money or power or social rank. Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace.” ~ Mike Dikta

I love vegans.

The same goes for vegetarians, ketogenic dieters, and paleo buffs.

Not because I personally adhere to any of these diets (I love rib-eye steak, sushi, and Quest bars – and chocolate cake – way too much for that). The reason I love them is because of their commitment to their personal rules.

If you’re a vegan, you won’t eat meat or dairy…no matter what.

It doesn’t matter how much your friends are pressuring you to bite into that burger or how fondly you remember trips to Chuck-E-Cheese as a kid. You have set personal rules and you follow them. Period.

When you set personal rules that guide your life and decisions, everything becomes easier. Your habits and actions are automatic and you no longer have to think about whether you should or should not do something.

For example, one of my personal rules is that I do not curse (swear), no matter what.

It doesn’t matter how angry – or excited – I am, or if I’m surrounded with foul mouth friends, or even if I know that a perfectly placed F-bomb would punctuate a point in a presentation, I simply do not swear.

Sticking to this commitment, even when no one is around, builds self-confidence and reminds me that I can do anything I set my mind to accomplishing.

Once you have identified the habits and behaviors that don’t serve you (distractions and temptations), you must set personal rules and stick to them at all costs.

For example, if you notice that every time you check email early in the morning, you start your day feeling distracted and frazzled, then set the rule that you don’t check email before noon.

This will ensure that you aren’t wasting your most focused and productive hours in reaction mode.

Instead, you’ll be able to proactively move through your “legacy work” early in the day and go into the afternoon having already completed your most important tasks.

Or, if you set the rule that you do not spend time on social media during work hours, you will save yourself from an endless stream of distractions thus saving 5-10 hours a week.

Personal rules are the cornerstone habit to be more disciplined – without them, anything goes.

Identify the activities that must either be accomplished or avoided every day for you to achieve the life you want and make them your personal rules.

No if’s, and’s, or but’s.

3) Leverage Public Accountability and Make Discipline Automatic

“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity.” ~James Clear

Deciding upon your personal rules and is one thing.

Consistently (notice I didn’t say perfectly) sticking to them is another entirely.

It’s relatively easy to say, “I will wake up at 7 a.m. every day and go for a one-mile run”.

But dragging yourself out of bed, lacing up your shoes, and hitting the pavement when all you want to do is curl up under the sheets and sleep until noon… not so much.

Luckily, there’s a simple solution that will help you make your new habit changes all but automatic.

Public accountability.

For most people, it is much easier to break a promise or commitment that you’ve only made to yourself than it is to break a promise or commitment made to the people closest to you.

If you tell your best friends, mentors, and even your social media trolls that you are going to wake up at 5 a.m. every day and write a daily blog post, you’ll be far less tempted to hit that snooze button.

It’s more painful to face the public shame and humiliation of failing to live up to your new rules than it is to put your head down and take the actions you need to take.

For example, I’ve told millions of people (through my newsletters and videos) about my personal “no swearing” rule.

That way, if I ever slip back into my old habit of swearing like a sailor, I have people around me who will call me out and ensure that I remain in integrity with my values.

So this week, after you’ve created your new principles and personal rules, I challenge you to get accountable.

Whether you need to share a post on Facebook, hire a coach, or get an accountability partner, do something that forces you to be accountable to someone other than yourself.

Because when you are held accountable by someone, especially someone whom you deeply do not want to disappoint, success becomes almost automatic.

4) Success Loves Speed, Delay Kills Dreams

“If everything seems under control, you aren’t going fast enough.” ~Mario Andretti

To develop the unstoppable discipline you need to achieve your big goals and dreams, you must understand the power of momentum.

According to the first law of thermodynamics, “A body in motion tends to stay in motion, a body at rest tends to stay at rest.”

And this law holds just as true in the realms of discipline and success as it does physics and cosmology.

To become more disciplined and get into gear, you must move fast.

By stacking small wins quickly and building momentum, you can transform your life and develop unstoppable discipline.

Whatever it is that you know you need to do (or more likely, not do) start today. Don’t wait until tomorrow or even tonight. Start right now.

No…I’m serious.

Before you continue reading this, take 3 minutes and do something to help you build more discipline.

Install an app that blocks your most distracting websites.

Get up and lock your office door to prevent co-workers or family members from distracting you for the umpteenth time.

Throw out your booze, pot, cigarettes, and candy.

Do something right now to get the ball rolling.

The simple truth is this…

Even though discipline is simple, it’s also hard. And the longer you delay taking action, the harder it gets.

The more you wait, hesitate, and procrastinate, the more your negative habits and behaviors will take root in your life.

So get into action now and build start the snowball effect of momentum that you need to succeed.

5) Tap into The Power of Anchor Routines If you have ever struggled with insomnia and gone to a sleep doctor, then you know that one of the first things they will instruct you to do is to remove all electronics from your bedroom and reserve it for sleep and sex…and nothing else.

The reason for this prescription is simple.

The entire operating system of your brain is built on one simple principle: Association.

When you do work or watch TV or play video games from your bed, your brain builds the association that “going to bed = time to work, watch TV, and play video games.”

However, when the only thing that you do in your bedroom is to sleep or get “nookie”, your brain develops the association that “going to bed = sleep”, making it much easier for you to doze off quickly.

If you want to be more disciplined, productive, and effective, you must tap into this power of association by using what I call “Anchor routines”.

Or routines that signal to your brain, “Hey! It’s time to work/exercise/relax etc.”

For example, Stephen King, the prolific horror novelist, has followed the exact same pre-writing routine for the past 30 years.

He sits down to write at the same desk, drinks the same brand of tea (typically from the same mug), has his papers arranged in the same way, and writes at the same time every day.

And this routine has created a powerful association that allows him to get into a hyper-productive state of flow, on command.

To make discipline more automatic, you must create powerful anchors in the areas of your life where you struggle the most.

For example, when you sit down to write, you might listen to the same song on repeat (like I do), or wear the same pair of sweatpants and walk around your desk (like legendary copywriter John Carlton).

It might seem silly, but these anchors will have a profound impact on your life and productivity and make it 10X easier to do what you need to do when you need to do it.

It might take a few months of trial and error, but once you have these routines in place, they will change your life forever.

6) Plant the Right Thoughts

“Your mind is like a garden, plant good things.” ~Alwyn Cosgrove

Your thoughts, for better or worse, control your results.

The way that you see yourself determines the way you act and, to become more disciplined and build more empowering habits, you must start by changing your thoughts.

And one of the fastest ways to change your thoughts and create a new self-image is through regularly practicing strategic visualization.

Listen…

Most people get visualization all wrong. They focus on the outcomes they want to achieve instead of the processes they must follow to achieve them.

I hate to break it to you, but the world doesn’t work that way.

Visualizing your dream car won’t magically transform your beat-up Honda Civic into a new Ferrari 488 Italia.

However, by intentionally visualizing the processes required to achieve the results you desire (and then visualizing the results themselves), you can begin to rewire your brain and “teach” yourself to be disciplined before you actually need to be disciplined.

In fact, David Goggins, who is actually the world’s most disciplined man largely credits his success in the SEAL teams (and later in life as an entrepreneur) to his regular visualization practice.

My friend Sharran Srivatsaa, the “10X man” who grew Teles Properties from $350 million to $3.5 billion in 5 years also claims that much of his success was due to his nightly visualization.

To get started, I recommend that you do your visualization practice at the end of the day (when your brain will have an easier time focusing and won’t get distracted by the 2 million things on your to-do list).

Sit down in a comfortable position, play some relaxing music, and set a timer for 10-15 minutes.

Then, start to think about the following day. Imagine yourself springing out of bed before your alarm, attacking your most important tasks, and saying “no” to distractions and temptations at every turn.

Visualize the exact steps you need to take to make the following day your perfect day.

Once you have a clear picture of who you want to be and how you want your day to go, imagine how it will feel to have a day like the one you just imagined.

What will it feel like to come home from work early because you completed all of your most important tasks by 3 pm?

What will it feel like to dominate your workout and break new personal records in the gym?

What will it feel like to show up completely present and fully charged with your family and friends because you know that you gave your all that day?

The more vivid and emotionally charged your visualization practice, the more effective it will be.

I promise, if you will do this for a week, you will be amazed by how profoundly this practice impacts your life.

7) Use Goal Setting the RIGHT Way Most people go about setting goals the wrong way.

They spend all of their time, energy, and attention focusing on what they want without ever taking the time to consider how they are going to get there.

And if your goal is to be more disciplined, you must have a clear plan for exactly what this looks like and how you’re going to make it a reality.

In the same way that SEAL Teams have a single mission objective and then execute that mission by following a sequential series of action steps–jumping out of a helicopter, kicking in a door, or providing cover fire–you must break down your big vision into small actions that can be executed daily, weekly, and monthly.

The process to do this is simple.

Download my free 90-Day Professional Success Blueprint to Complete This Process By Clicking Here ⇒ https://www.earlytorise.com/90-day-blueprint/

First, after looking at your vision, ask yourself, “What is the most important thing I can accomplish in the next 90 days to achieve this?”

My vision for 2023 is to help 1,000 entrepreneurs double their income while working ten fewer hours each week.

To do this, I need to close 250 new clients every 90 days, 20 clients a week, or roughly three clients daily.

And so, using the planner I gave you above, I sit down at the beginning of each quarter to strategically plan out what must be accomplished and by when to achieve my goal.

Here’s a quick video to walk you through the process and show you how to implement strategic goal setting into your life.

As simple as this may seem, few entrepreneurs take the time to sit down and develop this clarity of focus–and their results reflect this decision.

Listen, no matter how well you plan or how hard you work, you cannot control the external world. You cannot guarantee success.

But without a clear and strategic plan for each day, week, month, quarter, and year, you all but guarantee failure.

By creating clear metrics, daily, weekly, and monthly missions, and turning success into a numbers-based game, you will gamify it. You’ll be more disciplined, will make it easier and more automatic.

8) Commit to Ruthless Self Reflection and Course Correction Of all the skills and traits required to build discipline and become an operator, none is more important than the skill of radical self-awareness through ruthless self-reflection.

All too often, people go through their day-to-day lives on autopilot. They engage in the same negative behaviors without ever considering the cost of these behaviors.

To be more disciplined and achieve your big goals and dreams, you must break out of these patterns through ruthless self-reflection.

When your workday is done, spend 15 minutes reflecting on your day.

What went well? What didn’t? What specific habits and tendencies threw you off course?

For example, this morning, I got sidetracked from my schedule because I decided to check Instagram a few (dozen) times to see how one of my latest videos performed.

I only needed to check Instagram twice, but instead, I allowed myself to get sucked down the social media rabbit hole and waste 30 minutes of productive time.

This delayed my workout, my lunch, and my writing.

However, because I have developed the habit of ruthless self-reflection and course correction, I recognized this pattern only a few hours after it derailed my day.

And now, I am going to set personal rules and boundaries around when and why I can check my Instagram.

By regularly engaging in this practice of self-reflection, you’ll be able to identify the blind spots that you don’t realize are holding you back from the success you desire.

You might notice that you drank too much coffee and the caffeine jitters prevented you from performing at your best. And you can then decide to set boundaries around how much caffeine you can consume to prevent it from happening again.

Or maybe you noticed that your spouse distracted you nearly a dozen times during your most important deep work slot and tomorrow, you can wake up earlier to avoid those distractions.

Ruthless self-reflection allows for rapid course correction and will help you eliminate bad behaviors and negative habits before they become a real problem in your life.

9) Change Your Identity to Change Your Life My friend Zander Fryer has a saying, “The most important words in the world are the words that follow the phrase, ‘I am’”

Because the simple truth is that your identity…who you believe yourself to be is responsible for everything that you get (or don’t get) out of life.

If you believe that you are the type of person who works hard, develops discipline, and does good in the world…you’ll do it.

If you believe the label lies that you are an introvert, pothead, alcoholic, always late, can never lose weight, or failure…you’ll act in accordance with those labels.

And one of the most powerful ways to become more disciplined is to commit to changing your identity. To changing the words that follow the phrase, “I am.”

This process starts by identifying the cornerstone negative behaviors that are sabotaging your identity and then eradicating them from your life.

For example, you cannot develop the identity of being an elite athlete if you smoke two packs a day and binge drink every weekend.

These behaviors are incongruent with the identity you want to create and, no matter how hard you try, you cannot develop the identity you desire with these habits holding you back.

So ask yourself right now…”What are the negative habits that are sabotaging my identity and preventing me from becoming the person I want to be?”

Are you…

Smoking too much pot
Drinking too much alcohol
Watching too much porn
Cheating on your spouse
Hitting the snooze button three times
Watching 4 hours of TV a day

Some of those things may seem innocent – the snooze button, for example – but how you do anything is how you do everything.

ConclusionTake some time right now to identify the habits that are holding you back and then follow the steps I shared above to eradicate them from your life.

When you change your identity, you change your life.

If you can set strong personal rules for yourself and get radical accountability, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you can change your behaviour and be more disciplined.

Use visualization and create positive anchors to stop yourself from falling into the traps that catch most entrepreneurs.

And to become a disciplined operator, you must eliminate your “anti-operator” habits and commit to a new way of being.

Remember that success loves speed – so pick one of these steps and get to work – today!

Want to be More Disciplined?Learn more about Early to Rise’s coaching program! Get the accountability you need. Send an email to support@earlytorise.com with the subject line “Coaching” to learn more!

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In today’s episode, I discuss the 7 primary things that is destroying your small business as an entrepreneur.

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Michelle and I were recently talking about why two people – each with the same amount of sales and marketing knowledge – can have two wildly different levels of success in business.

These two people can both know…

How to set up a landing page
How to make social media videos
And how to send emails to their list

But one of them will struggle while the other makes seven figures.

Pay close attention to the nuances in the language between the struggling entrepreneur and the Millionaire.

Are you partaking in five and six-figure talk, or do you have seven-figure talk?

Building a Millionaire Mindset: Switch to Seven-Figure Self-Talk

To the struggling entrepreneur, problems lead to a negative mindset. It becomes a loop of one negative thought to another.

“This sucks. I can’t do this.”

“I’m tired and frustrated.”

“This will never work, so I’ll go try something else.”

That’s not seven-figure self-talk.

The Millionaire mentally flips problems into puzzles. They become challenges. “I’m frustrated” becomes “I’ll figure it out.”

“I’m tired” and “I can’t do this” becomes “This is gonna require me to step up my game… and I’m up for the challenge.”

“This will never work” becomes “I’m going to do everything it takes to solve this problem.”

This even applies to me.

In the past, frustrating situations made me default to the self-talk of “I’m so angry.”

The difference, surprisingly, is often Mindset.

What is the internal dialogue that you’re hearing? Is it the negative mindset, or do you have a Millionaire Mindset?

If you don’t yet have a Millionaire Mindset, keep reading… I’m going to show you some techniques that I’ve used to overcome the negativity that I used to hear.

I’ve broken it down into 5 steps for building a Millionaire Mindset that will better allow you to convert the knowledge, skills, and tactics in your head into cold hard cash in your business.

I’ve flipped “I’m so angry” to “this is getting me fired up,” a positive reframing.

When I’m angry, I sulk. When I’m fired up, I fix things.

Fix your self-talk, and you’ll fix your problems.

When a negative thought enters your mind, catch yourself, and as Coach Gavin McHale reminds our coaching clients, “adjust your language.”

Drive for Daily Growth

Young Arnold Schwarzenegger knew that short-term gym pain led to massive muscle gain…

He had a growth mindset – one that requires you to embrace the suck to get the rewards.

Struggling entrepreneurs dislike the process.

They want fast, easy results. They want tiny hills to climb.

Seven-figure entrepreneurs seek their personal Everest.

They seek a path that requires them to get better every day. Love the challenge. Love the opportunity. Love the fact that you’re alive and get to feel pain and persist through problems.

Do you have a personal Everest you want to summit? Do you have a plan to get there?

Don’t just claim you have a Growth Mindset…

You must truly live it and execute a plan to push your boundaries.

Long-Term Thinking

Arnold knew that doing one biceps workout would not give him a Mr. Universe body.

Unfortunately, the unsuccessful entrepreneur struggles to see past the next seven days.

For example, many beginners panic when results don’t come from their first attempt at selling a new product or service.

They’ll run one Facebook campaign and say, “buying ads doesn’t work.”

They’ll send out one email blast, make no sales, and will say, “emails to generate sales are useless.”

But that’s silly… Aside from “beginner’s luck,” why would an amateur experience professional results?

Not only that, but why would anyone achieve massive success after just one attempt?

Real results come from a sustained approach over time combined with better skills. Your job is to build up your ability to delay expected gratification.

We live in a society where people expect immediate results with little effort.

Seven-figure thinkers are willing to delay expected gratification.

Combine that with better skills and a growth mindset and your WHOOOOSH will come.

Persistence

One of the most important lessons you can learn is that “everything ends.”

“It will all be over soon,” I write in The Perfect Day Formula, “Both the good times and the bad.”

Be willing to embrace the suck and persist through the days when you don’t feel like getting out of bed… Be willing to come back tomorrow even when you get a beat down today.

The lessons you learn in losses lead to big breakthroughs tomorrow and go a long way to building a millionaire mindset.

I’ve had all kinds of failures in my life. Whether it was a personal decision or a business miscalculation, each one of those failures has taught me valuable lessons that have led me to the success I’ve achieved.

Failures (as long as we learn from them) take us to breakthroughs. Eventually, your persistence leads to a big breakthrough.

I call big breakthroughs the WHOOOOSH effect.

This is where you’ll experience 6 months or a year’s worth of results in a short period time – right after going through a period of time where it seems like nothing works.

But the key to experiencing a WHOOOOSH is persistence.

If you’ve followed me on Instagram, you’ve seen my hat that says 11/10.

That’s the attitude I take into each day. It’s an 11/10.

Things aren’t always perfect, but I choose to practice grateful persistence.

And the foundation of persistence is…

Resilience

Successful people commit to resilience over resignation. When everything seems to turn against you, successful people don’t turn away.

Successful people embrace the suck.

Building a Millionaire Mindset means knowing that tough times come before the success.

If you are truly committed to climbing your personal Everest… If you’re truly committed to finishing a tough workout, writing your first book, or doing the work that brings you financial freedom, it’s guaranteed you’ll have moments where you’ll be tempted to quit.

But successful people persist through that phase because they are resilient.

Resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties.

Plainly put, it’s toughness. It’s grit. The irony is that when things seem toughest… You’re almost always just inches from a breakthrough.

So, keep going!

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“You are young. So you know everything. You leap into the boat and begin rowing,” wrote the American poet, Mary Oliver.

She described me perfectly. I once thought I knew everything. It led to me make the same mistake that almost every business owner makes: not hiring a coach soon enough.

I was too cheap—I’ll blame that on my Scottish heritage—and suffered from an inflated ego. Both stopped me from getting the help I needed to grow my business faster.

Eventually, I smartened up. In December of 2005, flush with cash from my best year ever, I went looking for a business coach to take me to the next level.

There are two takeaways from my early mistake. The first: Hire a coach as soon as you’re ready to start your business. Don’t wait until you’re on the cusp of profitability or teetering on disaster. Second: Make sure you find the RIGHT coach for you.

I’m happy to say I got the second part dead-on. My experience helped me realize that the best coach needs to have 5 qualities to be effective:

It had to be someone who had “been there and done that,” achieving exactly what I set out to achieve.
He/she had to share my morals and ethics.
I had to get no-holds-barred accountability. This person had to be willing to call me out if I was not doing the work I committed to.
We needed to have a good rapport.
The coach’s references had to be impeccable.

Fortunately, I knew exactly the man. His name was Tom Venuto, author of a book called “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle.” Everyone in the fitness industry knew and respected Tom, and I was sure he would not steer me wrong.

My due diligence confirmed that Tom met my five criteria. It was a perfect fit. In only three months, he helped me double my income and taught me how to run my business more efficiently.

It was because of this experience that I became a vocal advocate for coaching. Now a successful coach in my own right, I understand that each person’s coaching needs are different—but the criteria for finding one are the same.

So let’s take a deep dive into my criteria above so that you can find the right coach for your next-level success.

(To help frame my explanation, I’m including comments from several readers who entered my recent Instagram giveaway. During the giveaway, I asked followers to answer one simple question: “What would you want from a free coaching call with me?” This is how those answers support the importance of my coach criteria:)

#1 – The coach must have “been there and done” that so they can give you expert advice.Anyone can give you theory, but real world experience—acquired with skin in the game—is the best foundation for sound, actionable advice.

As a coach, my first job is to share my experience through content. That includes articles, videos, podcasts, and seminars. I need to gather social proof (case studies and testimonials) to share with prospects so they readily accept my ability to help them.

More specifically, this chronicle of coaching experience makes it’s easier for readers to align their own goals with my achievements.

Case in point from a reader, who picked up on my longstanding “1 Million Transformation Mission,” shared widely through EarlytoRise.com:

“To be on a coaching call with somebody of your magnitude would be the highlight of my career so far,” writes Stephen Petrucci. “The amount of value you give on a daily basis is something I’m grateful for, and I know a coaching call will help me move forward to achieve my goal of helping 100,000 people by the year 2030. I’ve no idea how I’m going to do it, but that’s what excites me the most.”

Stephen has “watched” me hit many of my transformation goals through my original mission, and has undoubtedly also read about me reaching 85% of my 10 Million Transformation Mission goal.

He knows that I have been there and done that.

#2 – The coach must share your morals and ethics.In a world saturated with coaches who promise to help you make money, there is no shortage of “gurus” who can help you get rich. The catch? You have to compromise your values to get there.

I don’t recommend risking your reputation—and possibly jail time —just to make money.

Instead, choose a mentor with integrity. That’s why I sought out coaching from respected people like Tom Venuto, entrepreneur Yanik Silver, speaker and author Carrie Wilkerson, and Fit Body Bootcamp founder Bedros Keuilian (who became a business partner). These are people who have uncompromising ethics, and have taught me to further my goals with integrity and honesty.

I’m thankful that with these intact, I leave this kind of impression: “Craig, I read your book for the second time on my way back to Colombia. It was an honor meeting you in San Diego,” writes Mateo Uribe. “Your energy and passion for what you do is contagious. A coaching call with you would mean everything. Personal growth and discipline are the biggest weaknesses holding me back in my business and personal life. Even if I don’t win this giveaway, I’m grateful for meeting you.”

#3 – The coach must deliver no-holds-barred accountability.Accountability is the secret ingredient to success. But there’s another secret to this secret: You must be accountable to someone whom you deeply do not want to disappoint.

Reader Kyle Miller nailed this with his response to my giveaway question: “A coaching call with Craig, the world’s most disciplined man, would provide me clarity on what’s holding me back and what action to take. It would especially enable me to grow which is my most cherished value in my life.”

And from Alan Borges in Australia: “A coaching call with Craig would provide the clarity and accountability I need raise my awareness and stretch my goals. These would ripple out to those around me.”

#4 – You must have good rapport with your coach.In 2018, I sold out a workshop in Frankfurt, Germany. Two days following that workshop, I had one in Cape Town, South Africa. One of my coaches, Zander Fryer, hosted a similar workshop in Sydney in this timeframe.

I’ve never held events in these countries before, but the demand is there.

Why?It’s because of the rapport I’ve built with readers through my books and videos. When you’re looking for a coach, I recommend starting with “virtual mentoring”—advice gained through books and YouTube videos. This is your chance to take years of experience and apply them for immediate results. From those results, you can invest in in-person coaching.

For example, when I joined Yanik Silver’s Mastermind in 2007, I had already made money from the free content he shared in his articles at EarlyToRise.com.

Prospects for my coaching program come through many of the same channels—the Early to Rise website, my personal website, social media, Medium, etc.

Here’s a look at my advice in action, garnered from my book and social media stories: “Craig, I have been following you since I started my business 12 months ago,” writes Kayla Banfield. “Your advice helped me set the pillars of my own personal success. ‘The Perfect Day Formula’ was the first book I read when setting up my business. Your advice is always simple and straight to the point, and your Instagram stories are some of the very few that I play out in their entirety. I would love to fly to America for a workshop, but for the time being, a phone call to Australia would be a game changer for me!”

#5 – You must check your coach’s references. You wouldn’t hire a babysitter, a plumber, or a personal trainer from an ad in the newspaper. You’d seek out references—or get a referral from a friend. The same is true of a coach. If you’re smart, check out a coach’s website for success stories. If you’re smarter, ask to talk to a few of their past clients.

When a new coaching prospect enters my world, I send them to our success stories here.

These paint a picture of very diverse success—business owners in all industries and professions who have increased their income, influence, and impact after working with me. They’ll happily tell you about the power of my accountability that keeps them on track.

My clients and prospects also know that I’m not going anywhere. Some of them, such as Vince Delmonte, have been with me since my first business seminar in 2007. How many coaches can say that they’ve kept clients on for that long?

Likewise, Early To Rise is not a fly-by-night business. Mark Ford founded ETR nearly 20 years ago and pioneered the idea of free, daily content. Our reputation is second-to-none, and our clients know that we are not happy until they are ecstatic with our programs.

Your coach should have similar credentials.

Coaching is the key to getting better at anything in life. Every top athlete has a coach (often multiple coaches). Every writer has a mentor and an editor. Every great salesperson has a coach. Every coach that I know also has a coach!

High performers get coaching and do coaching. That’s a fact of life—and a key to your success at every age.

In short: Get a coach NOW, and make sure he/she meets all of the five criteria I’ve laid out in this article.

Learn More About Finding a Coach! Email my team at: support@earlytorise.com with the subject line “Coaching” to get more information on our private coaching program. Get the accountability, additional insight, and expertise, as well as tap into the network from our team at Early to Rise.The post The 5 Keys to Finding the Right Coach appeared first on Early To Rise.

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Over the past several years, I’ve come to a strange conclusion.

I believe that everyone would be better off if they stood up in front of a crowd and admitted their biggest mistakes, flaws, and embarrassments.

Then, with that out of the way, they could get on with being completely comfortable with themselves and confident around others. No more hiding, worry, or stressing about what other people thought.

After all, things couldn’t get any worse (read: more embarrassing) than standing up and revealing your weaknesses, and so they’d quickly realize that the “worst” never turns out as bad as they fear.

If you’ve followed me on Instagram, you’ve heard me turn the word “FEAR” into an acronym:

False
Evidence
Appearing
Real

The fact is, we allow fear to control us thoughts and behaviors… Often irrationally. So, if you just “do the thing” that’s scaring you – you’ll overcome it, and simply move on.

Where on earth did I get such a strange idea?

We have to blame Dan Kennedy for this one.

Several years ago I read his autobiography, “Unfinished Business.” The book was hard to find, and few people have read it, but it might be the most important Kennedy book you could read.

That’s right, more important than “No BS Direct Marketing,” “No BS Wealth Attraction,” and even “No BS Time Management.”

Heck, even more important than his book, “Ruthless Management of People and Profits” (and that’s perhaps his best).

Why is Unfinished Business so important?

Reading that book made me realize that it doesn’t matter how many mistakes someone makes, all that matters is that they are out there taking action and adding value.

Kennedy lays out all of his dirty laundry in that book, from his divorce to his battle with alcohol, to his bankruptcy, stuttering problem, and financial hardships of his early years.

As I read the book, I realized that Kennedy didn’t care what other people thought about him.

And even if he did care, he wasn’t going to let their opinions stop him from taking action, moving ahead, adding value, and speaking to the people that mattered.

When I was done the book, I started to test the waters following Kennedy’s lead.

I ignored the critics and wrote for those who mattered… People like you. I’m reminded of a time when one of my mentors told me, “Craig, right now there’s someone on their knees PRAYING about their life. They are crying themselves to sleep because they are miserable with their life. You have a solution that can help them. Who are you to keep your solution away from them? Why would you be so selfish as to not share that message with the world?”

At the time, I was promoting Turbulence Training, so I began writing…

I started writing articles for my fitness list about my failures, my mistakes, my father’s passing, about his flaws, and the lessons I learned from them.

I put it all out there.

Since then, I took over Early to Rise and started writing for entrepreneurs, systems that I’ve used and how people could begin taking back their own time.

I’ve written about my weaknesses, my mom’s worries about me, my anxiety issues, my business mistakes, the search for the love of my life Michelle, fatherhood, and much more.

Doing this has shown my readers that I’m human, still learning, and not anywhere near perfect…

…and it has only served to improve the relationship with my readers.

I’d like to think it has shown them that I care.

I’d like readers to know that I’m in the battle with them every day… That we’re all here trying to get better – by taking action, adding value, and never giving up, no matter how ugly it gets.

We all have our crosses to bear.

We all have our battles to fight.

And throughout all of this, we all have an opportunity to inspire our readers by showing them how we are fighting through them.

Because that’s what it’s all about.

It’s not about the critics. It’s about those who count.

If you’re reading this, you’re one of those who count. You have a message to share with the world. Why keep that inside of you?

At Early to Rise, one of the things that we work with our coaching clients on is finding our clients’ “zone of genius.” What is it that they’re best at? What is the message that only they can share?

I want to encourage you to find your zone of genius. Find your voice, and don’t be afraid to share your message. It’s OK to be human and admit that you’re not perfect. Every one of us has flaws and has done things we’re not proud of… But that shouldn’t stop you from sharing your message.

It’s about showing other people that they can succeed, no matter how rough things are.

Don’t be afraid of sharing your struggles. People will be impressed by your candor and will offer their support. You’ll also offer hope to those who may be struggling mightily. Think about that person crying themselves to sleep at night… Wouldn’t you want to give that person hope?

By sharing your struggles, you will connect stronger with those that matter.

Here’s proof.

I’d like to introduce you to a Little Boy from East LA who ignored his critics… Who went after what mattered to him and who attracted tens of thousands of people into his world who wanted to help him – all because they saw the good that he was doing.

Watch this with your morning coffee…it gets really good after 2 minutes:

The big message from that little boy is that when you do good stuff, people will see you and want to support you.

They will rally behind you.

So get your message out there.

Lay it on the line.

Never give up.

Stay strong.

Get stronger,
Craig Ballantyne

“Against criticism a man can neither protest nor defend himself; he must act in spite of it, and then it will gradually yield to him.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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Twenty years ago, I was a college frat boy who wanted more out of life.

Sick and tired of wasting my Saturdays hungover and unproductive, I started reading biographies of successful people.

Slowly, the pathway to success revealed itself. Over the course of 20 years, I realized that building wealth, improving my health, and having deep relationships with family and friends was not about creating brand-new success systems. It was about using systems that had been around for millennia.

The secret was knowing where to find them and how to use them to create daily habits that pushed me constantly toward my biggest goals.

I’m going to spare you the same 20-year journey and give you the top 10 habits I’ve learned. Right now.

These are the same habits that made it possible for me to build multiple businesses worth millions of dollars, and they’re the same habits that now allow me to coach people like you to reach your dream destination in life.

Without further ado, my 10 habits of high-performance success:

1. Spend Time in Thoughtful IntrospectionThere are three primary ways to get this kind of perspective. The first comes from a coach or mentor. Have them walk you through your life as they see it, framing your vision and definition of success in the context of your daily life. That will help you isolate the obstacles that are slowing you down.

The second way is through friends and family. These are the people who know you well and care about you. They WANT to see you succeed and help you find the surest path to success. If they’re honest and upfront—as anyone who cares about you should be—then they can show you your strengths and weaknesses.

Lastly, it’s important to look at yourself from the outside in. You can do that by walking through the exercises in ETR University, or filling out my 90-day planner. In either case, you’ll be able to see yourself with a measure of objectivity and focus that you didn’t have before.

2. Clear Your Head ClutterFor many people, the obstacles to success are not external but internal. So clear out the junk that’s cluttering your mind. Share your questions, worries, doubts, and fears with trusted friends. Don’t be isolated. If you need help, ask for it.

There’s no shame in it—it’s one of the bravest things you can do.

3. Get Complete Clarity on What Matters to YOUThis ties in with your vision, of course. Make sure that whatever you’re doing in life really matters—that you’re the master of your own direction. Sure, family will try to talk you into this or that, friends will counsel you to take certain actions, and, of course, business associates will push for you to make specific decisions. But nobody can stand in your shoes with the full knowledge of your own needs, dreams, and ambitions.

Make sure you go through the Perfect Life Vision Exercise to help you define this clearly.

4. Build Automatic Discipline Through AccountabilityBack when I was running my fitness business, I used to run a weight loss transformation contest. It was pretty simple: Turbulence Training (TT) customers were encouraged to post pictures of themselves before and after using my workouts. If they hit their fitness goals with TT, they would get a cash prize.

But you know what was even more incentivizing than cash? Public accountability. The moment these TT followers put up their “before” pictures and publicly announced their intentions to hit a specific fitness goal, they were instantly accountable to everyone. The whole fitness world could call them out for slipping or not following through.

That kind of public accountability created automatic discipline. And, no surprise, I ended up giving away $150,000 in prizes to people who nailed their fitness goals. It was amazing and proved that public accountability is key to follow-through.

5. Lean into Rejection and WeaknessI don’t know a single person who doesn’t fear rejection. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a sales call gone wrong or a relationship that goes sour. We all hate rejection.

But rejection is how we learn. Failure is what teaches the lessons we need to make us better, stronger, more high-performing people. Weakness is our path to strength.

So lean into rejection and weakness. Don’t frame an experience by the possible negative outcomes. Instead, see it entirely in a positive light. If you succeed on a sales call, remind yourself of the discipline, tools, and techniques you used to succeed. If you fail, examine the call objectively. What could have gone better? What did you learn?

I’ve got a powerful example of this in action.

I had a friend named Sean Stephenson who was an amazing speaker. Sadly, he passed away in August of 2019, but has left an incredible legacy behind. He’s got YouTube videos that have been watched millions of times! No joke, this guy was incredible.

But his life wasn’t perfect. He had a disease (osteogensis imperfecta) that made his bones incredibly brittle.

In fact, he’d broken his bones over 280 times. Plus, he was only three feet tall and used a wheelchair.

But that didn’t stop him from becoming one of the world’s most inspiring speakers.

In fact, he taught me the value of doing one positive thing every day that scares you. I’ve committed, and while I sometimes fail, I always get back up and try again. Why? Because the lessons, relationships, and wisdom I have gained have been invaluable.

Sean taught me to lean in to weakness. Do the same, and you’ll experience incredible personal and professional growth.

6. Master Self, Environment, and TimeMost people think high-performance habits are all the same. You know, get up at 6 a.m., drink 2 liters of water first thing in the morning, do yoga for 30 minutes, meditate for another 30 minutes, and so on.

These are, indeed, examples of self-mastery, but the specifics hinge on the individual. Mastering yourself—including your triggers, your creative sparks, and your motivational switches—means identifying the goals that will make YOU successful. That’s what the Perfect Life Vision Exercise is all about.

Once you know these things you can master your environment and time to serve your biggest goals. If you want to get up earlier—and ensure you don’t go back to sleep—put your alarm across the room so you have to get up to turn it off.

If you want to do morning yoga, set your mat and yoga clothes on the floor next to you so they’re the first things you see when you wake up. And if you want to make sure all of your time is used wisely, then do a brain dump of all of your to-dos at night so when you wake up, a task list is ready for you.

Remember: High performers don’t leave things to chance or other people. They control themselves, their environments, and their time.

7. Do Deep Work DailyI’ve preached this for a while, but it really is at the heart of forward progress in your life. Take 15 minutes (at least) and do deep work on your number-one goal each and every day. Everybody has 15 minutes to spare—and yes, that might expand to 30 minutes some days. But you’ll very soon see the value in that time when you witness the results unfold in mere weeks and months.

So turn off your cell phone, the computer, the TV. Remove all of your distractions and do the deep work.

If you don’t, you’ll never move forward.

8. Commit to KaizenLiterarily translated from Japanese as “improvement,” Kaizen is a commitment to constant self-betterment. Bedros Keuilian, my friend and mentor, is a master of kaizen living. As he puts it, kaizen is the “constant and never-ending improvement of oneself until the very last breath.”

In other words, you can get better every single day. It doesn’t matter who you are, what your dreams may be, or what obstacles are blocking your path. You can make your relationships better, your productivity better, your time management better, your skills better—there’s nothing that you can’t improve.

Just commit to kaizen and watch it work.

9. Say NO to Almost EverythingThis quote from Warren Buffett is dead on, and I absolutely love it: “The difference between successful people and VERY successful people is that very successful people say ’no’ to almost everything.”

Now, we’ve all seen Buffett as a talking head on TV—a lot. It may seem that’s all he does, but no. He actually spends 90% of his time sitting at a desk reading financial analyses. That’s why he’s become the greatest investor in the world—because he turned down pundit gigs and speaking engagements so he could become better at his job.

He just said “no.”

You need to do the same thing. You have to say “no” to clients who ask for an hour and 15 minutes when their contract only allows for an hour; you have to say “no” to writing emails that don’t move the needle in your work; you have to say “no” to networking events that don’t connect with you people who will add value to your life or your business; and you have to say “no” to people who play on your kindness for their own benefit.

Remember your priorities. If you commit to things that take your focus and attention away from them, then learn to say “no.”

10. Get Accountability from Someone You Do Not Want to DisappointI mentioned accountability in #4, but this step takes it a bit further.

For me, this accountability comes from my mentor and friend Bedros, as well as my business partner Matt Smith and my friends Joel Marion and Jason Ferruggia.

Years ago, I used to be a jerk—really rude to people for no reason. But every time I acted that way, these guys would give me a look—and it changed me. It was their way of holding me accountable for my actions and pushing me to level up.

I’m still rude sometimes, but I’m so much better today than I was five years ago—all because I don’t want to disappoint the guys I looked up to.

So find that person in your own life that you never want to disappoint. Ask them to hold you accountable to your goals, to becoming a better person. You life will change in short order because of it.

You might be saying to yourself, “Craig, these habits are obvious.” But high performers—the ones you know in your own life who have achieved tremendous success—don’t shake their heads at these habits, assuming they’re common sense. They take them seriously and commit to action steps so they live each one daily.

If you want to achieve the same kind of success, start taking these habits seriously. Not tomorrow, not when it’s convenient. Today.

Build a routine to cement your new habits with this guide…Sign up now to get our FREE Morning Routine guide—the #1 way to increase productivity, energy, and focus for profitable days. Used by thousands of fitness, business, and finance industry leaders to leapfrog the competition while making time for the people who really matter. Learn more here.

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During my late 20’s and early 30’s I developed what many would call an “insane” habit…

…I started waking up at 3:57 a.m.

While my peers and contemporaries were content to rise at 5, 6, or even 7 a.m., I realized that I was my happiest and most productive when my feet hit the floor before four o’clock in the morning.

And this habit has stuck with me over the past decade, becoming an indelible part of my identity and routine.

Personally, I love the feeling of being awake before the rest of the world (including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson who wakes up at 4:00 a.m. like some kind of slacker

My mind is sharpest during the early morning hours and I’m less prone to distraction and overwhelm whenever I can accomplish three hours of deep work before sunrise.

While this habit has certainly proven itself in my own life, the question remains…

…Should you join the 5 a.m. (or 4 a.m.) club?

Is it a guaranteed prescription for success, income, and happiness?

Or is it a counterproductive and dangerous habit that can actually prevent you from achieving your big goals and dreams?

The answer may surprise you…

Facts First: Does it Matter What Time You Wake Up?

Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.

Benjamin Franklin

Although the importance of getting a head start on the day has been touted for millennia, it was recently popularized by business and personal development guru Robin Sharma in his (appropriately named) book, The 5 a.m. Club.

As Sharma puts it:

“Join the 5 a.m. club. Your most valuable hours are 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. They have the least interruptions.

The idea is straightforward and (seemingly) sound.

If you wake up before everyone else, you’ll be more productive, less distracted, and able to accomplish your most important tasks before the rest of the world has even stirred.

And, I’m tempted to agree.

There is an undeniable magic surrounding early mornings that makes them ideal for creativity and productivity.

BUT.

That doesn’t mean it’s right for everyone.

Now, before we dive into my personal opinion about the 5 a.m. club and whether or not it’s a good idea, let’s take a step back and look at the FACTS.

First, and quite counter to what you’ve been told by the “gurus”, several studies have shown that the time at which an individual wakes up has no bearing on their socioeconomic status.

But even more importantly, studies are now showing that every individual has a semi-unique “Chronotype” or biological clock that is a direct result of their specific genetic makeup and evolutionary history.

We each have a unique biological hardwiring that determines our energy levels and productivity throughout the day.

For some of us (like myself), the early mornings are the ideal time to wake up and immediately get to work.

Others cannot form complete sentences, let alone execute an effective block of deep work, until later in the morning after several cups of coffee.

According to Dr. Michael Breuss, one of America’s leading sleep doctors, fighting your natural chronotype instead of working with it will not only reduce your productivity but can cause numerous physical and mental health problems as well.

Suggested: If you’re wondering what your sleep chronotype is, you can take Dr. Breuss’s Chronotype quiz to discover when you should wake, work, and exercise for maximum productivity by clicking here.

Still not convinced?

Then consider the laundry list of high-level executives and CEO’s who rise far after the sun up…

Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and Space goes to bed around 1 am.

New Yorker writer and TED speaker Kathryn Schulz does her best work in the middle of the night

Former English Prime Minister Winston Churchill did not actually get out of bed until 11 a.m.

Buzzfeed CEO Jonah Peretti ‘sleeps in’ to 8:30 a.m.

Alexis Ohanian, founder of Reddit bed around 2 a.m. and tries to get up by 10 a.m.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wakes around 8 a.m

Source : Business Insider and Foundr.com

At this point, it should be pretty clear that you don’t need to wake up at 5 a.m. to be successful.

However…If your morning routine isn’t working for you right now or you simply want to wake up earlier so that you can have more time to focus on what’s most important to you, there are a few simple steps you can take.

Going 0 to 100 Too Quick and the Power of 15 Minutes I cringe when people write about how they went, literally overnight, from getting up at 8 a.m. to getting up at 5 a.m.

To be blunt, those people never last and they are actively setting themselves up for failure.

They’ll suffer from self-imposed jet lag, and because of the consequences, they’ll come to despise waking up early.

And worse still, to try and recover from their sleeplessness, they’ll quickly revert to waking up at the last possible minute leading to a stressful and chaotic morning routine that’s worse than the one they used to have!

So right now, I want you to eradicate all of the overly-idealized ideas you have about forcing a 5 a.m. alarm into your life.

The REAL secret to taking advantage of your magic time and getting the most out of your mornings is much simpler.

Wake up 15-minutes earlier than you normally do.

I’ve been around the block in this world of habit change. In my Turbulence Training fitness business, we held over 25 before-and-after weight loss transformation contests.

I’ve read hundreds of letters from people that have successfully changed their routines. But I also read twice as many comments from people that have failed to make their habit changes stick.

The common factor in all of those failed stories was trying to do too much at once.

SUGGESTED:The Millionaire Approved Morning Routine**

Getting up three hours, two hours, an hour, and even thirty minutes earlier than usual is too much.

I know from personal experience.

It’ll make you miserable and leave you tired all day. Changing your wake-up time so dramatically requires weeks for proper adaptation.

The answer is not in taking big bites but instead to nibble away at your wake up time and attack your morning in an intelligent and appropriate manner.

I distinctly remember the day in 2007 when I woke up in my downtown Toronto condo at 7:35 a.m. I rolled over, grabbed my phone, and began checking my email.

Thirty minutes later, after being taken down a rabbit hole by one particular email that left me stewing, I realized my morning routine was wrong, wrong, wrong.

Waking up late made me anxious because I’m a natural morning person. I like to get things done before most people start their day. And that meant I needed to get up earlier, and so I started to change little by little.

The next morning the alarm was set for 7:30 a.m. Two days later, I moved it back to 7:25 a.m. The next Monday it was 7:20 a.m., and within a few weeks of these easy transitions, I was comfortably waking up at 6 a.m.

Today I get up before 4 a.m., but I eased myself into the habit and it’s almost impossible for me to sleep any later than 4:30 a.m.

Although it’s a habit that has changed my life. But you don’t need to go as far as I’ve gone.

Most of you reading this do NOT need to join the 5 a.m. club and frankly, most of you shouldn’t even try.

If you’re a natural early riser who’s fallen into the habit of waking up late (you know who you are), then simply start by waking up 15 minutes earlier each week than you did the week before.

There’s no value in wearing your wake-up time as a badge of honor or feeling superior because you get up earlier than someone else.

What really matters is that you are making the right decisions for your life and working with your body and schedule to maximize every hour of your day.

Because here’s the thing…

Assuming you sleep 7.5 hours a night, you will have the SAME 16.5 hours as everyone else. The key to success is making sure you are awake and working during the hours that you are most productive.

So with all of this said, we come to the question you’ve been asking all along.

Is the 5 a.m. Club Right For Me? The answer is simple…

The 5 a.m. club is definitely NOT for you if:

You currently get up at 8 a.m., 7 a.m., or even 6 a.m. and feel energized, productive, and happy doing it (if it a’int broke, don’t fix it)
You can’t consistently get to sleep before 10 p.m. or take a 90-minute nap in the middle of your day.
You’re a night owl and are most productive after 6 p.m.
Your family or social schedule simply don’t permit it.
You aren’t able to focus well enough to engage in deep work at 5 a.m.

Ignore the dogma.

You don’t have to wake up early to be successful...But, to achieve your big goals and dreams you should spend your mornings as productively as possible.

So tomorrow morning, I have a challenge for you.

Instead of waking up one, two, or three hours earlier than you do today. Push back your wake-up time by only 15 minutes.

Be the first one out of bed in your house and take advantage of this solitude.

Go downstairs and sit at your kitchen table, armed only with pen and paper. Identify your number one priority in life, whether it’s your greatest stress or opportunity and spend these fifteen magical minutes focused on identifying ways to solve the problem or take advantage of the opportunity.

For example, if you are in $5,000 worth of credit card debt, and that is causing you significant stress, spend the fifteen minutes thinking of ways to cut your expenses and increase your income and researching how to transfer your debt to a lower interest credit card.

If you do this six days a week, you’ll fix your problems, take advantage of the opportunities in your life, and become much more successful — all without cursing the clock each morning or downing 500 mg of caffeine just to function like a normal human.

It’s easy to put time on your side rather than letting it be an enemy in the battle for your day.

A little bit of discipline in waking up just fifteen minutes earlier yields great power.

Adding this little bit of structure – rather than going to extremes – brings greater success and freedom into your life without the stress of doing something that’s not right for you.

Want me to help you create a customized and “millionaire approved” morning routine to help you DOMINATE your days and achieve all of your big goals in 2023?Then click here to grab my “Millionaire Morning Routine” system for only $27 and get access to a step-by-step system that will help you create a personalized routine to GUARANTEE success in 2023.

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In today’s episode, I discuss the best strategies to find your life’s purpose and also I give my best productivity hacks.

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Business coaching is a valuable tool that can help someone succeed in their business and their personal life by providing guidance, accountability, and support.

Whether you are an entrepreneur trying to establish a new business or a seasoned executive looking to improve your leadership skills, business coaching can help you achieve your goals.

I’ve had the privilege of coaching hundreds of high performers over the past 5 years from every industry imaginable.

Through this 5 year coaching journey I’ve come to realize that there are 5 components of coaching that are the catalyst for both professional and personal transformations.

In this article, we will explore 5 ways business coaching can help you succeed in both your professional and personal life.

1. Identifying Goals and Setting Priorities

One of the primary benefits of business coaching is that it helps individuals identify their goals and set priorities. Successful entrepreneurs and executives often have a clear vision of what they want to achieve, but they may not know how to turn that vision into a reality. A business coach can help individuals identify their goals, develop a roadmap to achieve them, and set priorities. One of the most important exercises we take our clients through is our 10 Year Values & Vision Pyramid where we help clients identify exactly where they want to be in 10 years. We then help them reverse engineer that into 1 year vision and 90 day goal planning.

2. Developing Leadership Skills

Leadership is a crucial skill for success in both business and personal life. A good business coach can help develop leadership skills by providing feedback and guidance on the individual’s leadership style. Effective leadership involves a wide range of skills, including communication, delegation, decision-making, and strategic thinking. A business coach can help individuals develop these skills by providing resources, tools, and frameworks that can be used to improve performance.

We helped Alexandra become a more effective leader in just 3 short months…

“Since working with Daniel, I have been able to find clarity in the clutter of all the demands of running a small business on a lean team. I’ve identified the growth areas most important to my business, improved key metrics of my business with the renewed focus, faced the hiring process with more confidence, and became a better leader to my team along the way in 3 short months”. – Alexandra R.

3. Overcoming Obstacles

Starting and growing a business is a challenging endeavor that requires hard work, perseverance, and the ability to overcome obstacles. A business coach can help individuals overcome obstacles by providing support, encouragement, and guidance. Whether it’s financial challenges, personnel issues, or marketing difficulties, a business coach can provide valuable insights and advice to help individuals navigate the hurdles that arise.

One of the biggest obstacles we help our clients with at ETR is overcoming self-limiting beliefs. So many entrepreneurs struggle with mindset roadblocks that we are able to address and shift, which helps open up the floodgates for success.

“Our billing for January was the highest yet. $32,900! Thank you so much for your guidance through this. So many levels of help I’ve received from you on releasing blocks, charging my worth, and having the mindset to expand.”

4. Accountability

Accountability is another critical aspect of business coaching. A business coach can hold individuals accountable for their goals, ensuring that they remain on track and focused on achieving their objectives. Accountability ensures that individuals remain committed to their goals and makes them more likely to persevere through challenges and setbacks.

We are the #1 accountability coaching program in the world.

Our coaches ensure that our clients never give up on what’s most important to them. This is by far the most important component of business coaching and it’s easy to feel like you are on an island by yourself without that support.

“Last year your coaching program and your accountability helped me earn an extra 500K. That accountability helped me bounce back with your strategies to earn 20K more per month after two key members of my team left. Without your help and accountability this “bounce back” would have been impossible. And on the personal side your coaching helped me take a 2 week vacation in Greece without working a single minute because you taught me how to automate, delegate and eliminate.” – Sam

5. Work-Life Balance

Achieving work-life balance is a challenge for many entrepreneurs and high performers.. A good business coach can help individuals achieve work-life balance by helping them identify areas where they may be spending too much time or energy, and helping them prioritize their commitments. A business coach can also help individuals learn to delegate tasks effectively, freeing up time and energy to focus on more important activities.

A coach can help individuals establish boundaries and learn to say no when necessary, which can help reduce stress and improve overall quality of life.

“Thanks to your coaching I now have discipline around my boundaries. NO work when it’s family time thanks to you helping me stay focused during my morning hours to get everything done. This has allowed me to be way more present with my daughter. These changes are making me more efficient, energized, and excited!” – Shannon

Business coaching is a valuable tool that can help you succeed in both your personal and professional life.

From setting goals and priorities to developing leadership skills, overcoming obstacles, and achieving work-life balance, a business coach can provide guidance and support at every step of the journey.

If you are looking to learn more about business coaching and how we could help you please send an email to support@earlytorise.com with the subject line “Coaching” and one of our team members will reach out to you!

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The world record for cup stacking is 4.813 seconds.

The fastest mile run on spring-loaded stilts is 7 minutes and 38 seconds.

The fastest 100 meter dash is Usain Bolt’s is an incredible 9.58 seconds.

The most wooden toilet seats broken with the head in a minute is Kevin Shelly’s (oddly impressive) 46.

What do all of these have in common?

Efficiency. Ruthless elimination of “not to do’s”. Practice. Feedback. Improvement.

And the end result is optimal performance.

Now, you might think “OK… But I’m not here to smash wooden toilet seats with my face or run a mile on spring-loaded stilts,” but the truth is that you can implement the same ruthless efficiency in your days to become a productive and wickedly efficient machine.

Resulting in a raise, an increase in your bottom line, finally writing that book… Or simply getting home in time for dinner each night.

I know because I am the king of getting stuff done – fast and on time.

Some of my clients call me “The World’s Most Productive Man.“

Others, like my friend, client, and business partner, Bedros Keuilian, call me “The World’s Most Disciplined Man.”

But I’m not a fan of that nickname for two reasons.

I think it offends anyone in the military–men and women who are truly disciplined.
It’s just not true.

Despite what you might believe…I’m really not that disciplined.

However, I am a master of efficient systematization.

I’ve built systems of steel that allow me to get more done in a day than most people get done in two weeks. As a result of my systems, it’s easy to be ruthlessly efficient with my time and compress a year’s worth of achievement into 90 days or less.

And today, I will give you some of my most powerful “Tactical Time Management” systems… For free.

I promise, if you put these into place, they will change your life and business forever.

1. Values & Vision Drive Every DecisionWhen a Navy SEAL team plans a new operation, they always begin with a mission…an overarching vision of what must be accomplished.

Whether it’s to kill a bad guy or gather intelligence on a high-value target, every mission is built around one clear purpose and every individual on the team knows thespecific role they must fulfill to accomplish that objective and get their brothers home safely.

But SEALs aren’t driven only by the mission–the ‘what’. They are also driven by a core set of values–the ‘how’–that determine the way they will accomplish those missions.

Their values of efficiency, loyalty, mission-focus, perseverance, and a willingness to embrace adversity are what lead the SEAL Teams to excel–and one of the primary reasons they are revered as some of the most exceptional soldiers on the planet.

You’re not much different. Like them, you want to achieve big things. And to do so, you will need to cultivate a compelling vision for what you want to achieve and define a clear set of values to determine how you will achieve it.

Without these two foundational pillars in place, you’ll simply do what makes sense in the moment with no regard for how that decision plays into your big vision.

You’ll end up taking on projects that don’t serve you or pay you what you’re worth. Wasting hours on tasks you should have outsourced months ago. Or engaging in practices that go against your code of ethics, to achieve a specific result.

So let me ask you…

What is your vision? What do you want to do, have, and be in this life?

And just as importantly…What are the values you hold to be most important? What are the things that will and will not tolerate on your path to success and the things most important to you?

For example, if your vision is to build an 8-figure fitness empire but your most important value is your family, then you must structure your weeks and days (something I’ll talk about later) in a way that allows you to spend quality time with your children and take your wife out for weekly date night while still making progress towards business success.

Listen, with enough hard work and persistence, you can do, have, and be anything you desire.

But until you know what you want to achieve and how you want to achieve it, you’ll be like a ship without a rudder…drifting through the water without a compass to guide you to your destination.

So take 15 minutes sometime before the end of today to write down a vision for your life and clearly identify the non-negotiable values you’ll hold on your path to success.

Until you have this in place, you won’t be able to manage your time or control your schedule because you lack the clarity required to make hard decisions.

Do this today.

You’ll thank me later.

2. Your 90-Day Success BlueprintIn the same way that SEAL Teams have a single mission objective–like killing Osama Bin Laden– and then execute that mission by following a sequential series of action steps–jumping out of a helicopter, kicking in a door, or providing cover fire–you must break down your big vision into small actions that can be executed daily, weekly, and monthly.

The process to do this is simple.

Download my free 90-Day Professional Success Blueprint to Complete This Process By Clicking Here ⇒ https://www.earlytorise.com/90-day-blueprint/

First, after looking at your vision, ask yourself, “What is the most important thing I can accomplish in the next 90 days to achieve this?”

My vision for 2023 is to help 1,000 entrepreneurs double their income while working ten fewer hours each week.

To do this, I need to close 250 new clients every 90 days, 20 clients a week, or roughly three clients daily.

And so, using the planner I gave you above, I sit down at the beginning of each quarter to strategically plan out what must be accomplished and by when to achieve my goal.

Here’s a quick video to walk you through the process and show you how I plan my quarters.

https://youtu.be/AddfTKzVA8M

As simple as this may seem, few entrepreneurs take the time to sit down and develop this clarity of focus–and their results reflect this decision.

Listen, no matter how well you plan or how hard you work, you cannot control the external world. You cannot guarantee success.

But without a clear and strategic plan for each day, week, month, quarter, and year, you all but guarantee failure.

By creating clear metrics, daily, weekly, and monthly missions, and turning success into a numbers-based game, you will greatly increase your odds of achieving your goals and living the life you desire.

3. Create Your Not-to-Do List To achieve your big goals and dreams, you must first accept that what you don’t do is just as important (if not more important) than the things you are doing.

Think about it…

You can go to the gym for 2-hours a day, but if you only sleep four hours a night and you live on a diet of pop tarts and Oreos, you aren’t going to make progress, and you’ll destroy your body trying.

Financially, you can make $500,000 a year or more, but if you spend it frivolously on things you don’t need or fail to invest in tax strategy and accounting, you can still arrive at the end of each month broke and struggling.

Heck, you can even start a business with the best sales team in the world and killer marketing…But if you engage in unethical activities and sabotage your reputation, you’ll fail (think: Wolf of Wall Street).

And in your day-to-day life, you can have a bulletproof plan for success and wake up knowing exactly what needs to be accomplished to move you towards your big goals and dreams… But if you allow yourself to get distracted by information, side hustles, and requests on your time that don’t serve your ultimate vision…you’ll never achieve your goals or execute on the plan you’ve created.

To prevent this from happening, you must create what I call a “Not To Do List” or a clear list of boundaries and parameters that determine what habits and activities you will or will not allow into your life.

For example, my 2023 Not-To-Do list looks something like this:

I will not take calls before 10 a.m.
I will not upload my own videos to Instagram
I will not speak at any event that isn’t paying me $25,000 or more
I will not do interviews with podcasts that have fewer than 1,000 downloads per show

These parameters prevent me from getting distracted by shiny objects and other people’s problems and give me the time and energy I need to focus on my most important priorities.

And an important element of every not-to-do-list is to create a list of the ways you will and will not consume information.

Listen, there’s more information available today than ever before in human history. If you try to listen to every podcast, read every book, and check out every blog article, you will make no progress and end up more confused and frustrated than you started off.

It might surprise you to hear this, but I have never listened to a podcast in my entire life. Despite co-hosting one of the top 50 business podcasts on iTunes, I do not allow myself to get sucked into the podcast trap.

Instead, I have conversations with mentors and peers that I trust and respect and I listen to their feedback and wisdom instead of spending three hours a day listening to regurgitated (and often conflicting) advice from people I don’t personally know.

I’ve learned to be very selective with the quality and quantity of information I consume and, to achieve your big vision, so must you.

Right now, take a few minutes to write out your “Not-to-list” and create a concise information strategy to ensure you’re only consuming the most relevant and helpful content available.

This alone will save you six to eight hours this week.

4. Perfect Week Formula – This is Your 5-pound BagThe next step in your tactical time management plan is to block off two hours every Sunday morning to go through your Perfect Week Planning Formula.

To take a deep dive into this strategy, click here to read my article on Perfect Week Planning.

You see, when most people plan their weeks, they start by scheduling work, meetings, and other professional obligations and then try to fit their workouts, date nights, and time with friends into the cracks in their schedule.

But you’re going to flip this formula on its head.

By planning and scheduling your personal engagements and legacy work (the mostimportant work you can do each day–e.g. Writing a book, starting your business, training your team, etc.) first, you force yourself to make hard decisions about what you can and cannot do at work.

You’re going to spend this week tracking your productivity and energy levels throughout the week to determine your “Magic Time,” the time during which you are twice as productive and effective as any other part of the day. Then, during next week’s planning session, you’re going to block off that time for deep work and protect it with your life.

This will allow you to get more out of each week and make real progress towards your biggest goals instead of wasting time on menial tasks and putting out fires.

You see, all too often, we schedule 10 lbs. of work into a 5 lbs. sack, sabotaging ourselves before we even begin and creating a vicious cycle of ineffective workaholism where we work 70 or even 80 hours… But still feel lazy.

This strategy prevents that.

If you have a non-negotiable date night scheduled for Wednesday night at 7pm, it doesn’t matter if you are finished with your work or not…you have to go to date night.

If you go to the gym everyday at 4 p.m., no exceptions, then you won’t allow meetings to run late or for clients to go over on their time with you.

If you know that your magic time is from 8 a.m. until 12 p.m. every single day, you won’t be tempted to take calls, respond to emails, or allow notifications and interruptions from co-workers to distract you.

You’ll be forced to ruthlessly chip away at the non-essential and block out all distractions until you are only doing the most valuable tasks and activities every day.

And that is when real growth will start to happen even though you’re working less than ever before.

5. Control Your Days, Win Your Life With your vision created, your quarterly plan in place, your not-to-do list written out, and your Perfect Week fully planned, all that is left to do is to show up each day and execute on your mission.

To help you do this even more effectively, you’re going to use Perfect Day planning strategies to ensure that you can get more done in less time.

Start by waking up 15 minutes earlier than you do today, whether you wake up at 7:30 a.m. or 5 a.m. and invest those 15 minutes into what I call a “Farm Boy Morning Routine.”

Instead of wasting the most valuable minutes of your day going through the perverse procrastination of a 2-hour self-care routine (do you really need to chant affirmations for 20 minutes?), wake up, do something to energize your body–I drink a liter, walk my dog, and then get to work.

No preamble. No wasted time. Simply get up and get in motion.

Then, throughout the day, do whatever is necessary to eliminate distractions.

If you need to leave your phone turned off and tucked away in a drawer in another room (like I do) then do it. If you need to leave your house to avoid being distracted by your children (so you can spend quality time with them later in the day) go work at a coffee shop or invest in an office.

If you need to slap on a pair of noise-canceling headphones, lock the door, and turn off your WiFi to avoid interruptions and random web surfing… Do it.

Do whatever you need to do to stay focused and execute on your Perfect Day Plan.

At the end of your work day, take 15 minutes to review what went well, what didn’t, and what your plan is to execute on the following day’s plan and improve your processes.

Then, at the end of the day use my 10-3-2-1-0 formula to guarantee an amazing night of sleep and a flawless morning routine.

10 hours before bed – no more coffee
3 hours before bed – no more alcohol
2 – hours before bed – no more work
1 hour before bed – no more screens
0 – the number of times you will hit the snooze button

If you do these steps for just 21 days, I promise you will find yourself with more free time than ever in your post-college life.

Your processes will be so effective that you come to the end of the day thinking, “Man…I feel like I should be working more. But I’m already done.”

And that is when you’ll become unstoppable, master your time, and compress 12-months worth of achievement into 90-days or less.

If you want me to speak with one of my coaches on developing a tactical time management blueprint and strategic 12-month plan to achieve your biggest goals, send an email to support@earlytorise.com with the subject line, “Coaching.”

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Here’s something that might surprise you: Monday is my favorite day of the week.

My Monday routine hasn’t changed much over the years… Sure it’s go, go, go from start to finish. I have five meetings with the team at Early To Rise, using the meeting structure we teach at ETR University. I have two coaching calls. And of course, I must write my 1,500 words in the morning before Michelle and I walk Daisy.

But my favorite part of Monday is email. Yep, I love email.

You see, every Monday, I hear from dozens of my coaching clients via their weekly accountability updates.

In each weekly update, my clients have to answer 10 questions. I read their answers, and help solve their problems, congratulate them on their big wins, and guide them to the next victory.

I hear everything—and I mean everything—from my clients.

Sometimes I hear about marital problems or health issues. Other times, it’s a struggle with depression. And almost every week, I read about a client whose team member quit or was fired. Then there’s the constant struggle with sales, routines, and the addiction to work, work, work.

My clients love what they do, so overworking is a common issue. I’m the guy who helps them realign their schedules so they can focus on their number one priority, their families.

I’m grateful for their openness and honesty. And I lead from the front by being vulnerable about my own struggles and action steps to success.

Do you know what I see as the week’s progress? I see more wins and fewer struggles. I see more confidence and less doubt. I see a lot more high performance and a lot less reluctance.

Why? Because I’m there to hold them accountable.

The idea of accountability on the path to success is nothing new. But until you experience it for yourself, it’s easy to dismiss as unnecessary.

I know. I was there.

Years ago, I tried doing everything myself. I tried running a business, marketing products, hiring employees, building workout routines, promoting my brand, enjoying a full social life, spending time with family. All of it.

You can guess what happened. It all came crashing down on me, and I was hit with a string of crippling anxiety attacks.

Eventually, I learned to drop my unhealthy coping mechanisms. I cut out the alcohol, the partying, the distractions (all triggers for anxiety). I found someone to hold me accountable to my own goals and priorities.

That’s when I realized that I was capable of so much more.

The result, over time, was a measure of success I hadn’t yet known. I often tell my clients that success loves speed, and that action beat anxiety. And perhaps most of all, that resilience, resourcefulness, and relentlessness are the tools of unimaginable high achievement.

These are the tools I used to move my own life from chaos to clarity and confidence.

I learned this the hard way. Slowly, I came to understand that I needed accountability—someone to remind me of my “why” and what my goals actually were. I needed an outside voice to tell me I could and would succeed no matter the odds. I need a lovingly harsh critic.

Because I am a high performer—just like you and just like my many gifted, accomplished clients.

Look, I know you have ups and downs. I do. My clients do. We’re successful not because we’re perfect but because we’re always striving—and always have someone to remind us of what it takes to achieve incredible things.

I know you’re capable of more. But you need someone to hold you accountable. You can’t do this alone. Set your ego aside and find that person who will hold your feet to the fire when things get tough—the person who knows you have it in you to be a high performer.

Ask them to be your accountability partner, to guide you through your personal and professional growth.

To get the accountability process started, send them your honest, thoughtful responses to these 10 questions every week:

Your Weekly Accountability Questions:1) Rate last week on a scale of 1-10 (10 being amazing).

2) What was your biggest priority last week?

3) Did you accomplish it, and if not, why not?

4) What did you learn last week?

5) What was your biggest business highlight last week?

6) What was your biggest obstacle?

7) What do you need to solve it?

8) What was your biggest personal highlight last week?

9) What needs to happen to make this week a success?

10) What do you need help with and who do you need to contact?

Encourage your partner to push you. They know you and they know your goals, so they should be able tell you where you’re getting off track. And always keep the three R’s in mind as you push toward your goals: resilience, resourcefulness, and relentlessness.

No matter where you are on this rollercoaster of life or what dips you’re driving through, you can do more.

I believe in you.

You know why?

Because over 20 years of research and personal experience have shown me that we are all capable of so much more—physically, mentally, and emotionally.

That’s why I committed to transforming the lives of 100 million incredible people. I believe in each of them, just as I believe in you.

We’ve all faced greater struggles in life. If you can move forward and grow despite everything you’ve already endured, why can’t you do this?

You can.

Think about your unfulfilled goals and dreams.

Think about your BIGGEST vision for your life.

It’s possible to have it—all of it.

Believe it. Act on it. Live it.

Because when you believe, you achieve.

The foundations of today’s inspiration are found in my book, “The Perfect Day Formula.”

You can get a copy for FREE here, and walk yourself through the steps my clients follow to overcome setbacks, have more impact, increase their income, and bring more freedom into their lives without burning out.

Or, if you’d prefer to have me walk you through this proven, step-by-step system, like I’ve done for my clients like Bedros Keuilian, Joe Polish, Shanda Sumpter, Jay Ferruggia, Shawna Kaminski, Isabel De Los Rios, Joel Marion, and hundreds of other high performers, then send an email to support@earlytorise.com with the subject line “Coaching” to learn more.

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Growing up on the Ballantyne family farm in Canada, I remember reading the newspaper almost every day as a child.

While I was mostly looking to see how badly the Toronto Maple Leafs had lost the night before (or as my dad called them, “The Falling Leaves”), for some reason I was also drawn to the stories about entrepreneurs striking it big and making their mark on the world.

I remember thinking to myself as a young man, “One day… One day, I’m going to be like them and have a big fancy house in Toronto and get Maple Leaf seasons tickets too.”

It wasn’t just the luxurious lifestyle that motivated me–although those things certainly didn’t hurt–it was the idea of creating an impact. Of being someone others admired. Of creating something that would help other people and that would have a lasting effect on their lives.

Today, almost two and a half decades later, I have achieved most of my business goals.

I’ve written multiple best-selling books. My YouTube videos have been watched over 13 million times. I practically invented a new way of using social media – specifically Instagram – to make money. And in 2011 I bought the business of my dreams, Early to Rise, from one of the biggest influences on my life, Mark Ford (aka Michael Masterson).

The good life I always wanted is mine. I have a luxury apartment with a view of the big city (where I live next door to a few of the Maple Leaf players, even though I no longer follow the team). I take 3-week vacations to Europe every summer. And most importantly, I have a brand new puppy dog (a yellow Labrador Retriever named Daisy).

But here’s something most people don’t know.

Along the way of my quarter-century journey from farm boy to businessman, I made nearly every mistake in the book.

I sabotaged myself at every turn, wasted years pursuing the wrong things in the wrong way, and threw away amazing opportunities that could have changed my life forever.

And today, I want to help you avoid making those mistakes so that you can live the life you want now instead of twenty-five years from now.

I’m going to share the six biggest regrets of my 20’s and 30’s to help you avoid falling prey to the same patterns and routines that hold so many of us back from the outcomes we desire.

If you’ll listen to what I’m about to share with you, I’ll help you save years of wasted time, avoid the biggest pitfalls to success, and live your perfect life sooner than you ever thought possible.

Let’s dive into my six biggest regrets…

1. Letting My Weakness Run (and Ruin) My Life Let me tell you an embarrassing story.

Back in 2009, during the height of my social anxiety and introversion, I decided to attend a Dan Kennedy Super Conference in Chicago. And while I was checking into the hotel, I made an unusual request.

I asked for a room on the lowest floor and as close to the stairs as possible.

Why?

So that I could rush back to my hotel room during the conference’s intermissions and avoid having to talk to people while standing in the elevator…Yikes!

I allowed my biggest weakness – my introverted tendencies – to control me, and to this day, that pattern remains one of my biggest regrets.

For years I allowed my label lie of introversion to hold me back from achieving my goals and making the connections I needed to get to the next level.

Instead of pursuing growth at the expense of my comfort (something about which I’ll share more later) I chose to hide from the thing that would help me get to the next level. I stayed in my own little bubble and did my best to keep the rest of the world out.

The moment I made the decision to peel off my self-labeled introversion was the moment my business and life changed forever.

When I forced myself to bring more energy, joy, and enthusiasm to my interactions my business and lifestyle underwent an immediate change. I started making more sales, secured high-level partnerships, and grew my businesses at a speed that, to this day, still amazes me.

And if you want to achieve your big goals and dreams, you must do the same thing.

Kick your weakness to the curb. Attack it every day. Ask for help. Get direction. Chip away and get better every day.

Listen. We could argue back and forth all day about whether my being an introverted was a good thing or bad thing and whether or not you can control it.

But at the end of the day, success requires extroversion.

Notice I didn’t say success requires you to be an extrovert. It doesn’t and I’m living proof of that fact. But it does require you to develop your ability to be extroverted.

You can still enjoy spending time by yourself and prefer the company of your dog to the company of most people…But you must still put in the effort to develop your social skills and tap into your more extroverted side to succeed.

You must learn to make small talk, to shake hands, to say “hello” to strangers, to network and have engaging conversations with other high-performers and escalate those conversations to the point of partnerships, sales, or joint ventures.

You have to get out of your introvert box and stop using your label lie as an excuse for why you can’t succeed.

If someone like me can overcome my introversion and become a high-energy sociable person, then you can overcome whatever mental roadblock is in your way.

2. NumbnessIn his book Turning Pro, author Steven Pressfield shares a concept he calls “The Shadow Career,” and it goes like this.

Most people know what they really want out of life. They know who they want to be, what they want to achieve, and the impact they want to leave on the world. They’ve known it since they were children.

Yet, the second they hit adulthood, they come up with an endless list of excuses about why it can’t be done.

You’ll hear them say things like:

“I’d love to write a novel but everyone knows you can’t make real money as an author.”

Or.

“I wish I could start a business helping other people live their best lives and achieve their dreams…but who I am to teach anyone?”

Or.

“I wish I could be a painter, musician, underwater wood welder, [fill in the blank]…but I can’t BECAUSE...”

And instead of doing the things they know they need to do, the things they feel called to do, they allow their fear of failure to hold them back from pursuing their dreams.

They take on a shadow career–a job or business that pays the bills but is ultimately incongruent with their deepest wants and desires–and then numb their unfulfilling lives with a myriad of vices from television to drugs and alcohol to watching other people achieve the goals they’re too afraid to pursue.

If you look for them, you’ll see examples of this pattern in every industry and in nearly every highly successful person.

James Cameron spent years as a truck driver before finally embracing his calling to make movies.

Pressfield spent years taking on odd jobs (including driving trucks) before he finally decided to become a writer.

Samuel L. Jackson was numbing his pain with heroin and avoiding reality until he finally broke into Hollywood at the age of 43.

My friend Bedros Keuilian spent years working as a line cook at Disneyland before he finally decided to embrace his calling as an entrepreneur and start his first business.

And in my own life, I spent the first 15 years of my life numbing the pain of my underperformance by consuming a seemingly endless stream of travel blogs (without ever traveling myself), watching far too many episodes of The Office, and binge-drinking on the weekends.

Instead of being the executive and hard-charging businessman I wanted to be…I trained the executives and hard-charging businessmen.

I was bored and burned out in my own business, but instead of accepting the sacrifice required to break through to the next level and live the life I wanted to live…I numbed the pain and stayed exactly where I was.

Eventually, I couldn’t numb it anymore.

With debilitating anxiety attacks quickly becoming the norm and my life feeling like it was crumbling around me–despite having a 7-figure business and high levels of professional success–I knew I had to make a change.

I threw out my TV, gave up alcohol, and decided to live the life I wanted instead of reading about and watching other people live it.

And guess what?

It was one of the hardest things I ever did. The second I took away the emotional novocaine hit of binge drinking and television, the pain of my shortcomings and bad habits became sharper.

I was forced to confront my inner demons and make big changes in my life. But at the end of the day, this decision precipitated the personal and professional growth required to propel me towards the life I have today.

If you want to do big things in your life and push towards your peak potential, the first step is to stop numbing the pain of failure and inadequacy.

Listen. As you are today, you are not enough to achieve your biggest goals and achieve the life you want. If you were, then you’d have already done it.

To achieve your big goals and dreams and craft your perfect life, you must improve. You must face your faults and failures and do the work necessary to overcome them.

But you cannot do this if you are numbing the pain. You can’t use drugs, alcohol, tv, and other distractions to cover up the pain of not being the person you need to be. Regardless of your personal vice, it must be eliminated today to achieve the life you want tomorrow.

3. EgoIn 2011, I found myself at yet another Dan Kennedy Super Conference, this time in St. Louis, Missouri.

At the time, I was working on building out a Turbulence Training certification course that I hoped would be the ‘big break’ I needed to take my business to the next level.

Now, because I’d paid top dollar to attend this particular conference (a hefty 5-figure sum) I was privy to a special round table discussion in-person with Dan.

I’d been following Dan for years and, respecting his abilities as an entrepreneur, wanted to get his insight into my business.

So, when I finally got my chance, I told him all about my new certification program and how cool it was and how it was going to be the ‘next big thing’ that would launch my brand into the stratosphere.

His response was nowhere near as enthusiastic as I’d hoped for.

“Why would anyone buy this certification?” he asked.

And then… I froze.

Surrounded by maybe 15 other millionaires and high performers, I simply looked at Kennedy and said nothing, frozen in the most awkward silence you could ever imagine.

I couldn’t clearly articulate why someone would invest in my program, and, unable to overcome my own ego and admit that I didn’t have a good answer to Dan’s question, I simply sat there until he moved on to the next person.

Insert face palm emoji

As embarrassing as this story was, it was a valuable learning experience for me and contains an even more valuable lesson for you.

Everyone thinks they’re doing something amazing. Every entrepreneur out there believes that what they have to offer is the “next best thing,” a million-dollar idea, a disruptive force in their respective industry.

But guess what?

No. One. Cares!

I wasted years of my life pursuing dead-end ventures and doomed-from-the-start products because I thought I was a special snowflake.

“I’m Craig Ballantyne!” I thought to myself, “I’m the guy who founded Turbulence Training… Of course this is going to work out.”

And for years, I let my ego get in the way of my results and prevent me from living the life I truly wanted.

Listen, until you have a particular articulation of how your solution–whether it’s a product or service–will solve big problems and end pain for others, no one cares.

No one cares who you are or what you do or how great your mom thinks you are. Your big idea doesn’t matter. Your “cool” new app is irrelevant.

UNTIL… You can answer the only question your prospective customers actually care about:

What’s in it for me?

I let my ego hold me back from creating the products my customers wanted and instead I created the things I wanted.

And this arrogance likely cost me millions in lost revenue.

Let go of your ego and remember until you have a particular articulation of how you’re going to end pain and suffering for other people…no one cares.

4. ComplacencyOne of my greatest personal failings, and biggest regrets, is the way I showed up in my romantic relationships over the past two decades.

During my 20’s and 30’s I was a hard-charging, ambitious, and unstoppable entrepreneur by day–constantly seeking to expand, grow, and improve–and the most boring and lackadaisical romantic partner by night.

The second I broke through to a new level in my business or income, I was already looking up and trying to find another ceiling to smash through.

But my romantic relationships were a different story.

I would quickly settle into relationships that were fine…and then stay there.

My life turned into groundhog day as we did the same things over, and over, and over, and over, and over again.

The conversation was the same every Saturday night.

“Hey Craig, what do you want to do?”

“Takeout and a movie?”

“We did that last week…”

“Yeah, but I’m really in the mood for takeout and a movie.”

(Because God forbid we actually go out and, you know, do something … Especially with people that I didn’t know!)

And so the cycle went for years.

Because I was getting my most basic needs met inside of my relationships, I never bothered diving deeper and attempting to grow more.

The pain of vulnerability and authentic connection far outweighed the pain of “the same ‘ol thing” and for the better part of two decades, I allowed complacency to ruin potentially spectacular relationships.

If I’d simply been willing to apply the same energy and enthusiasm I had for my professional and financial pursuits to my relationships, my life would look much differently from how it does today and I could have avoided the years I wasted on my “Frat Boy” lifestyle.

I could have avoided the binge drinking the pointless parties and the anxiety-inducing escapism in which I indulged and would have moved faster professionally and financially because with a supportive partner by my side.

Thankfully, my love story turned around when I held myself publically accountable to meet the love of my life.

I made a goal of going on more dates (12 dates in 90 days), then I asked for introductions from trusted friends. My friend Vanessa introduced me to Michelle, who I eventually married! She and I now have a beautiful daughter and have another on the way!

It’s wild how life can change when you put forth intention, set process goals, and have accountability.

This wouldn’t have happened had I not overcome my complacency and held myself to a new standard.

Listen. Your business and career are undeniably important. But you must always remember that your life doesn’t happen in a vacuum.

Your personal life isn’t in one neat little box over here with your professional life in another box over there. They are all interconnected and the way you show up at home impacts how you show up at the office which impacts how you feel about yourself as a person.

So don’t make the same mistake I did. Invest in your relationships, both romantic and platonic, the same way you invest in yourself and your business.

Inject aliveness and excitement into your relationships. Try new things. Go on regular date nights. Take time off to explore the world and vacation together.

I promise, the rest of your life will only be better for it.

5. Suffering in SilenceDid you ever see the movie The Green Mile?

If so, then you probably remember Michael Clarke Duncan, the towering protagonist who possessed the admittedly unusual power to relieve the pain of other people by taking it into himself before exhaling and releasing that pain.

For years, my dear friend and mentor Bedros Keuilian was a like Mr. Duncan, taking in the pain of his clients, friends, and family and bearing it himself–except Bedros struggled to exhale and let go of that pain.

He suffered in silence for the better part of half a decade and kept all of the pain, frustration, and struggle to himself because “That’s what real men do.”

It wasn’t until a few years ago, at the peak of his anxiety attacks, that I was able to coach Bedros through his pattern of suffering in silence and get him to reach out for help.

And I was only able to help Bedros because I spent years of my life struggling with the exact same pattern. I suffered in silence every single day–not because I was taking on the pain of my friends or clients–but because my introversion was so severe I had no idea other people were experiencing the same struggles and challenges as I was.

I didn’t know there were other people out there who had overcome the exact problems I was facing–and had a specific solution they could share to help me do the same–because I didn’t want to face the discomfort of opening up to friends or strangers.

Instead, I chose to suffer in silence, feeling like an island and facing my challenges alone.

And the second I made the decision to break out of my introversion and ask for help, to be vulnerable and real with my friends and mentors, and to let go of my own ego…everything changed.

I no longer felt alone and had access to individuals who were able to help me overcome my biggest obstacles and achieve my biggest goals.

I realized that I was not alone and that there were thousands of other people facing the exact same challenges as me. And better yet, that thousands of people had already overcome those challenges and could help coach me through the process of doing the same thing.

If you are facing challenges that seem insurmountable and you feel like no one else understands what you’re going through, you must surround yourself with other high-achievers and top performers.

Join a mastermind, hire a coach, attend a live event.

When you open up about the reality inside of your life and bring other like minded individuals along for the journey, you’ll quickly realize that you are not alone. There are other people facing the same challenges as you and there are other people who not only can help you…but want to.

But it all starts with you.

You must be willing to take that first step, admit that you can’t do it by yourself, and ask for help.

And the second you do, I can promise your life will change forever.

6. Self SabotageThroughout my entire life, the one pattern I regret more than any of the others was self sabotage.

For nearly two decades, I knew who I wanted to become. I knew the man I needed to be, the habits I needed to develop, the business I needed to build, and the results that I would enjoy as a result of these changes.

And for nearly two decades, I sabotaged myself at every turn.

I avoided challenges and pain and did whatever it took to stay comfortable and complacent.

Instead of embracing discomfort, surrounding myself with people playing the game at a higher level, and acknowledging my failures and shortcomings (so I could take action to resolve them) I rigged the game to serve my ego.

I refused to be a small fish in a big pond and instead, did whatever I could to keep my environment small so I could feel big and important.

And this perpetual self-sabotage cost me years of progress and stopped me from becoming the person I needed to be sooner.

Sure, I now have the business I always wanted, am plugged into a network of elite entrepreneurs, and am proud of the person I’ve become.

But it took me almost twenty years to get here. I could have moved faster, impacting more people, generating more income, and living the life I wanted sooner if I’d just had the self-awareness to acknowledge my shortcomings and end my self sabotage.

Whatever your goals and ambitions, the first step to achieving them is to eliminate your self-sabotaging tendencies.

Maybe you quit the second things get hard and jump to the next shiny object, hoping things will be different this time.

Maybe you indulge in workaholism and pursue financial and professional success at the expense of the things that really matter.

Or maybe you’ve allowed your fear of failure to hold you back from ever getting started and you continually lie to yourself saying, “When XYZ happens…then I’ll finally be ready to take action and move towards my dreams.”

Whatever excuse you’re using, whatever self-sabotaging habit you’ve adopted, it must stop today.

To break through to the next level and build your perfect life, you must get out of your own way and stop being the bottleneck to your own success.

And to do this, you need a mentor and a coach by your side who can call you out on your self-sabotaging patterns and give you the strategies and tactics you need to succeed.

If you’re interested in having one of my coaches help you overcome your biggest challenges and guide you through the same steps I took to achieve success, email support@earlytorise.com with the subject line “Coaching” for more details.

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Let me tell you a sad story about one of my friends. We’ll call him Andy Dufresne.

Andy, like most adults, has built himself a prison. Young and ambitious he set out to make a lot of money. He opened a business. Sunk a ton of money into it. He began working more and more hours just to pay the bills.

Then he got married. Bought a big house. Had a couple of kids. Leased out a couple of cars. And somehow started working even more hours to pay even more bills.

Now he’s stuck. He grinds. He hustles. And he’s exhausted. He’s gained weight. Lost the spark in his relationship. He’s going through the motions every day but feels like he’s spinning his wheels and doesn’t see any way out.

Worst of all, he won’t listen to anyone’s advice or ask for help.

I don’t want this to happen to you. Fortunately, you’re not as stubborn as him. But you might be just as stuck.

One of the big reasons is that you might be focused on the wrong things.

Maybe you’ve invested thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours into unimportant minutiae that might seem like a good idea, but ultimately does very little to move the needle forward in your business, help build your brand and create the growth you desire.

For example, Andy, who owns a gym, thought that adding an expensive cryotherapy machine would solve all of his problems. Of course, it didn’t, and it just added to his mounting bills and business woes.

Today we’re going to ensure you don’t make the same mistakes.

I will share five critical growth levers you can use to build your brand and grow your business and profits while working less.

These strategies have worked for hundreds of my clients and me and–if you apply them–will work for you too.

Let’s dive in…

Manufacture CelebrityWhether you like it or not, growing your business (not to mention your life) becomes easier once you’ve achieved some level of celebrity within your world and industry.

Sure, you might struggle to make it through the airport or your local Whole Foods unnoticed, but the positive elements of fame far outweigh the occasional run-in with the entrepreneurial paparazzi.

But the question remains, how do you manufacture celebrity through your social media accounts and other online profiles?

Outside of buying fame (which I’ll leave for another essay), there are two key tactics that myself and many of my clients have used to build a “cult following” online successfully.

1. Borrow Fame

Far and away, the simplest method to increase your fame is to spend time with other famous people.

Although this might sound “impossible” to many of you, it’s important to remember that in 2019, fame is relative.

If you have 1,000 followers on your Instagram profile, then spending time (and getting pictures) with someone who has 5,000 is more than enough to “borrow fame” and grow your following.

If YouTube is your main focus right now and you’re stuck at 5,000 subscribers, then meet up with an influencer who has 25,000 subscribers and record a short in-person interview, and then ask them to share the link with their audience.

If you use blogging and SEO to drive traffic to your offers, buy one of their programs, write up an in-depth positive review on your site, and ask them to share it with their list.

If you have to, then offer to volunteer at another influencer’s event and get pictures and build relationships with every influencer and “celebrity” that attends.

The bottom line is that borrowing fame doesn’t have to be complicated. With a little ingenuity and a willingness to think outside the box, you can quickly establish yourself as a trusted authority and grow your brand to new heights.

For example, I recently pulled my mentee Jason Capital aside and filmed a testimonial for one of his programs, knowing that his audience of more than 100,000 people would see me on video and that many of them would then follow me and become paying customers.

He received a killer endorsement, and I “borrowed” some of his fame. It was a win/win for both of us and an easy tactic that you can use to increase your fame.

2. Create Killer Content

I get it…

You already create tons of content.

But let me ask you a question:

Is it truly killer content? Like ‘John Wick after you killed his dog’ level killer?

I do not doubt that you are regularly posting good and valuable content.

But in 2023, “good” is no longer sufficient to make build a brand, make real money and build celebrity.

No… Your content needs to be spectacular.

Specifically, celebrity-level content is:

Purposeful
Valuable
Shareable

Most experts and online gurus that I encounter are great at incorporating one or two of these components, but they rarely–if ever–create content that hits all three.

Luckily, I’ve been working on a super-secret system to help you create assassin-level content to build. your brand like clockwork.

And the best part?

All it requires is a 5×5 grid and a little creativity.

Build Your Brand With This 5×5 Grid to Create Killer Content To rapidly grow your business, scale your profits, and create high levels of celebrity within your circles, you must create content that motivates, inspires, and compels people to take action.

And the fastest way to accomplish this goal is with my 5×5 “killer content grid.”

The best part?

It can be used on any medium or platform.

Whether you need ideas for your podcast, blog, YouTube, or social media, this 5×5 grid will give you everything you need to build your brand and create an endless stream of actionable and shareable content for the people who need it most.

Here’s how it works…

First, you will draw a 5×5 grid on a piece of paper and brainstorm the five most important topics, lessons, or strategies you’re always teaching or the five questions you are asked most frequently.

For example, with this process, I recently helped one of my clients, a Naturopathic Doctor specializing in skin care/acne reduction.

Her five were:

Clearing your skin from the inside out
Foods to eat for clearer skin
Topical skin treatments
Hormonal acne
Stress-related skin problems

Once you have determined your top five lessons, you will brainstorm the five most impactful ways to teach this content.

Continuing the example from above, my client’s top five were:

Her story
Case studies/success stories
Facts and statistics
Overcoming myths
Celebrity examples

Next, you will plug your five hot topics across the top of the grid and the five best ways to share that content on the side of the grid and then insert a little note about your content into the remaining grid boxes.

For example: “A fun fact about how __% of people get breakouts when they eat XYZ food… and here’s what to do instead”.

And there you have it!

If you complete this exercise at the beginning of every month (it should take less than 15 minutes), you’ll have 25 ideas for unique and highly valuable content that you can share with your audience to more effectively build your brand, manufacture celebrity, and grow your profits.

Create a Personal Brand Story to Accelerate Every Aspect of Your Business Take a look at the biggest influencers in the entrepreneurial space right now.

Guys like Gary Vee, Grant Cardone, Tim Ferriss, and Ed Mylett.

What do they all have in common?

They have all created compelling and highly polarizing brands to support their businesses.

And in 2023, there’s no faster way to grow your business than to establish your brand story and create a movement behind your product or service.

Your brand’s story must enable your clients to feel superior, elite (or contrarian), and connected to something much more intangible – yet more visceral – than your product or service.

In my business, clients get to brag about working with “THE” Craig Ballantyne, best-selling author, co-host of the Empire Podcast, and creator of Turbulence Training.

When young men buy clothing or training programs from my client Greg O’Gallagher, they aren’t just buying a PDF filled with workout programs or a fancy shirt…

They’re buying a lifestyle.

They’re buying an association with Greg, and by extension, they’re buying into the dream that they can become “cool” like Greg.

Never forget that you and your business are just as constrained by the laws of human nature as anything else.

People don’t just want to buy a product or a service. They want to buy an experience… a movement.

Take some time this week to ask yourself, “What is my personal brand?”

Are you the “cool guy” like Greg or my friend John Romaniello?

Are you the “contrarian” like Mark Manson or Tim Ferriss?

Are you the “hustler” like Gary Vee or Grant Cardone?

Or are you something else entirely?

Delegate to Get “Dirty Deeds Done Cheap” I’m going to tell you something you might not want to hear.

If you are serious about intending to build your brand, and creating explosive growth in your business in 2023 and beyond, you need to remember that you can’t do it alone.

And what’s more? You don’t need to.

If you’re making 6-figures in your business and you don’t have an assistant, you are flushing 15-20 hours of highly productive, profit-focused time down the drain each week.

As the business owner or CEO, you do NOT need to waste your time on curating analytics, optimizing WordPress plugins, updating software, scheduling meetings, uploading content, or fixing technical issues with your product deliverability.

I know that some of you might balk at the idea of spending $1,000 to $2,000 a month for a full-time assistant, but I can tell you from personal experience it’s one of the best investments you’ll ever make.

If your time is worth $100 an hour and you waste 60-minutes doing an $8/hour job, you have just lost $92.

However, if you bite the bullet and outsource the “necessary evils” from your schedule, focusing all of your time and attention on profit-centric activities, you are earning those same $92 dollars (and potentially more) back.

But, I understand that some of you are just starting out or reinvesting 90% of your profits into paid advertising and other business growth strategies…

So if you genuinely don’t have the funds to delegate your administrative work to someone else full-time–or you simply want to test the waters of delegation and automation before hiring a new employee–you can do what my client Zander Fryer did and get those dirty deeds done cheaply using Upwork.com.

For example, Zander could have an entire WordPress website built for less than $300, receive a professional logo for only $200, and get numerous ebooks and banners created for less than $50.

If you decide to go the Upwork route, be sure to always go through client reviews and the past work of each contractor to ensure that they can provide you with the service you need.

Finally, be sure to communicate your specific needs to the provider before submitting a payment so that they understand and can meet your expectations, outcomes, and timeline.

(Note: Since many Upwork service providers are not native English speakers, be sure to spell out what you need in clear and concise terms and communicate heavily before you get started).

Step Back and Take Some Time Away From Work As counterintuitive as it might sound, one of the most important things you can do to build a brand and create explosive growth in your career or business is to step back and take time away from it.

As an entrepreneur or high-performer, it’s easy to get sucked into the 24/7 grind.

Simply put, work never stops.

There’s always something that needs to be done, a fire that needs to be put out, a product that needs to be created, or an employee that needs to be trained.

But you cannot effectively take care of your customers and employees if you don’t care for yourself.

Burnout is a very real struggle for many entrepreneurs. If you aren’t conscious of your energy levels and personal needs, you’ll quickly run yourself into the ground, damaging your output and productivity for months (if not longer).

No matter where you are in your business’s growth cycle, you must prioritize personal time and time with your family.

Whether this means taking one day off a week to spend outside, getting a massage, or investing quality time with your family for a few hours each night, you must be as intentional about your rest and recovery as you are about your hustle.

Step back and give yourself time to recover.

It will be one of the best investments that you ever make.

Discover a proven strategy to dominate 2023, build your brand and achieve your biggest goals faster than ever before!Sign up now to get our FREE Morning Routine guide—the #1 way to increase productivity, energy, and focus for profitable days. Used by thousands of fitness, business, and finance industry leaders to leapfrog the competition while making time for the people who really matter. Learn more here.

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In today’s episode, I discuss the best strategies to stay motivated as an Entrepreneur and also shift your mentality to increase your income.

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How Emotional Regulation Landed Me a $15k ClientIn the early days of any service-based business, I think everyone makes at least one mistake in bringing on a “so-so” client simply because they’re willing to pay money.

For me, that client was JB.

Several red flags showed up early, like his goal to make more money so he could battle his crazy ex-wife for custody – followed by a lengthy explanation of all she did wrong.

But JB was excited to get rolling, really wanted my help and was willing to pay – albeit on a long term payment plan.

He was a good client at first, but I started noticing some issues after a couple of weeks. He would talk for our entire 1-1 calls, complaining about his ex-wife and the government. He was erratic and more information kept coming out about his situation that didn’t look promising.

After finishing his 12-week course and over the next 6 months, JB completely shifted and proceeded to self-implode publicly (possibly accelerated by COVID lockdowns). Not only was he openly anti-police and government, but he started becoming very outspoken as an anti-feminist.

I consider myself a feminist, and we had many strong and incredible women in our community group, including my wife. So, when he went on a viral anti-feminist tear on social media in the fall of 2020, I decided to end his ridiculously long payment plan (which he continued to have to bump and lower payments), and remove his access to the community group and calls, citing changes to our policies.

JB was not happy about this decision and turned his anger towards me, adding long-winded attacks toward me and my business to his social media, spewing bitterness about how bad of a coach I was and how worthless my program (that he technically didn’t even pay for) was.

During one of his multiple tirades, he also ripped on several recent physiotherapy grads, stating how horrible they were at their jobs.

At the time, I knew he was illegally training clients in his gym at the height of lockdowns and my first instinct was to take him down. I wanted to get a restraining order, shut down his gym and completely ruin him.

I knew he was on thin ice, having been arrested multiple times in recent months for various issues, including uttering threats to women online.

But a phone call with a lawyer friend and former client of mine allowed me to take a minute and calm down.

I didn’t know it at the time, but I was practicing emotional regulation – an incredibly valuable tool for any business owner. The phone call gave me just enough time to become aware of my emotional state, see the objective reality of the situation and make an aligned decision.

I realized that JB was going to ruin himself, and all I needed to do was step out of the way and let him do it.

This was very out of character for me, as I would normally be one who couldn’t resist throwing jabs back and ultimately getting the last word, part of a not-so-proud lifelong pattern dating back to my pre-teen years.

The very next week, I received a message from one of the physiotherapists JB had been berating online who asked me about my program. He had found me through JB’s tag on his Instagram stories and we immediately had something in common – we were both tormented by the same person online!

He joined my coaching program and became one of the best clients I ever coached, taking massive action and making changes, even in the face of having two toddlers and a pregnant partner at times.

He stayed with my programs for over 18 months, investing over $15,000 with me and we never would have connected if not for JB bringing us together through his IG rants.

Thank you, JB.

I like to think that the Universe paid me back for recognizing my patterns and responding in a different and more mature way than my instincts suggested.

JB was a mirror into what I needed to work on – emotional regulation. Once I passed the test, the Universe repaid me with an excellent client and someone I now call a friend.

The Emotional Guidance ScaleWhile this story illustrates emotional regulation in a situational context, I want to help you build this muscle on a daily basis, through thick and thin, no matter what is happening in your life or business.

I sincerely hope that you never get berated by a nothing-to-lose fugitive online, but in case you do, this should help you as well.

In hindsight, my response (or lack thereof) to JB’s taunts was thanks to me making a decision from a “higher frequency” than I originally planned to.

When I wanted to ruin him, I was coming from a place of insecurity, fear, rage, and revenge. On Abraham Hicks’ Emotional Guidance Scale, these fall at the very bottom of the downward spiral.

Unfortunately, when left unchecked, most of us make the majority of our decisions from the downward spiral or worse, near the bottom of the scale.

This is why emotional regulation matters.

Lack of emotional regulation can keep us from acting when we need to. For example, maybe we decide to keep an underperforming employee or stay in a bad relationship out of fear that we won’t find anyone better.

We decide to lower our prices when we hit a dry spell due to insecurity about our future and our own self worth.

But by seeking counsel and weighing my options, I moved my way up to a much higher ‘frequency’ on the emotional scale, which is where we want to be making the majority of our decisions on a daily basis.

If we were coming from a place of positive expectation and empowerment, we’d let the employee go or leave the relationship, knowing it’s better for both sides and fully expecting to replace them with a higher performer or better-suited mate.

If we were coming from a place of abundance and knowledge of our own value, we would keep our prices the same and work to deepen our conviction on sales calls.

About a year later, I learned a 5-minute routine that I have called the Daily VIBE Check, which allows us to identify and regulate our emotions.

I suggest using this proactively on a daily basis, checking in with how you’re feeling and removing judgment from any emotions you’re feeling.

Then, in situations where you may need to check your emotions and respond instead of react, you can use this technique to calm yourself down.

This works great for entrepreneurs since our emotions are often all over the place and a lot can change over the course of one day or even one hour.

The Daily VIBE CheckStep 1: What am I feeling?

Since I struggle to identify my emotions, I use feelingswheel.com and search for 1-3 emotions that seem to land for me at the moment.

Step 2: What does it feel like physically?

The logical next question would be, “Why am I feeling this way?” and this is fair, but that question immediately gets you thinking logically about these emotions. And while there may be valid reasons, this could lead to judgment of yourself for feeling these emotions, which does not serve our purpose here.

Dropping into your body allows you to get out of your head and the logical brain that may have got you into this emotional firestorm in the first place.

So, quite literally, what are you feeling physically?

Are your hips tight?

Is your back sore?

Do you feel ‘light’?

Whatever it is, cool.

Write it down.

Step 3: What is this trying to teach me?

In the book, ‘Ask and It Is Given’ Abraham Hicks shares, “Your emotions are your most sophisticated interpreter of your vibration and the vibrations around you.”

Your feelings represent your inner guidance system. They act like a GPS, but most of us ignore them and take action in spite of what we’re feeling.

So, why not use the inner guidance system provided!?

Many high performers get hung up here in what may be right or wrong. Remember, there is no wrong answer here. When it comes to emotional regulation, whatever comes up, comes up.

The key here is that you checked in with your emotions and continued to learn how to regulate them in a low-stakes situation.

BONUS: Do I need to “reach for a better feeling thought”?

You saw the emotional guidance scale earlier and may be wondering, “what if my emotions are low on the scale, or even at the bottom?” This is your opportunity to reach for a better feeling thought.

Are you angry (#17) at your employee for not doing what you asked, or is it possible you may be feeling worried (#14) that they weren’t the right hire?

Are you worried (#14) or is it possible that you’re feeling disappointed (#12) in their lack of attention to detail (or yours, for that matter)?

Are you disappointed (#12) or is it possible you’re feeling frustrated and impatient (#10) with how slowly they’re progressing?

In 3 questions, we just moved from #17 to #10, simply by having them think about what they’re actually feeling. This moved the decision-making compass from near the bottom of the downward spiral to a more neutral place.

This is a much better place to make decisions from.

So I encourage you to practice the Daily VIBE Check proactively for one week. Write down all your findings and see how you respond to situations throughout the day.

If something big and scary comes at you (as it most likely will), use it as an opportunity to practice emotional regulation and apply these questions in the moment.

Please share in the comments what comes up for you this week or email me at gavin@craigballantyne.com. I’m happy to help you work through whatever may be going on in that entrepreneurial brain of yours.

The post Emotional Regulation: A 3-Step Process for Making Better Decisions appeared first on Early To Rise.

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In this article, I will teach you how to double your energy, productivity, and fulfillment by creating a powerful bedtime routine.

You’ll learn:

How to dramatically improve your sleep quality so you wake up energized and ready to dominate your days.
Tips and tricks to beat late-night anxiety and insomnia for good
Why a bedtime routine is even more important than a morning routine.

And much more.

If you want more energy, motivation, productivity, and success, this guide will give you the unfair advantage you’ve been looking for.

Let’s get started.

1. Use the 10-3-2-1-0 Formula to Beat High-Performance Insomnia for Good Craig has talked a lot about his 10-3-2-1-0 formula for better sleep on Early to Rise. And with good reason.

It works.

I’ve personally used this strategy to beat onset insomnia, increase my productivity, and beat bedtime “high-performance anxiety.”

Here’s how it works:

10 hours before bed, stop consuming caffeine. (Yes, your bedtime routine begins 10 before bed!)
3 hours before bed, stop consuming alcohol.
2 hours before bed, stop working.
1 hour before bed, turn off all screens.
0 is the number of times you’ll hit the snooze button.

If you follow this formula, you’ll enjoy deeper sleep, greater levels of productivity, and far more energy when you wake up the following morning.

2. Use the “Triple B” Rule to Get a Dose of Bedtime Inspiration I know a ton of high-performers who spend the last few hours of their day with their nose stuffed in a business or personal development book.

If this sounds like your average night… STOP!

Listen… Educating yourself and acquiring new information is important. But as the old saying goes, “There is a time and place for everything under the sun.”

And the hours before you go to sleep are neither of these.

When you read business and personal development books as part of your bedtime routine, you set the gears of your mind in motion and put your brain in a frenzied and inspired state.

You stay up into the wee hours of the morning ruminating over a new idea you learned from Tony Robbins or a new business strategy you want to implement, and as great as this might sound, this habit is not conducive to a good night of rest.

Instead, I encourage you to implement the “Triple B” rule I learned from Jason Capital.

Biographies before bed.

Unlike traditional self-help or business books, biographies allow you to gain inspiration and glean important lessons while still losing yourself in the story of someone else’s life.

They’re equal parts education and relaxation that keeps your mind focused on the narrative in front of you instead of all the different ways you need to start improving your life.

Tonight, try reading a good biography for 30 minutes as part of your bedtime routine and notice how you not only fall asleep faster but wake up feeling more inspired and creative than ever before.

3. Rewrite and Rewire We all know that regularly setting (and writing down) goals is an essential habit for any high-achiever.

But most of us get so lost in the chaos of our daily lives–when we’re actually trying to achieve our big goals–that we often lose sight of why we’re working so damn hard in the first place!

My friend Sharran Srivatsaa suggested a great practice that will keep your goals in the front of your mind and help you stay focused on the end game without getting lost in the weeds.

Rewrite your goals, every day, from memory.

It sounds simple, but if you will do this consistently, it’s an insanely powerful strategy that will (quite literally) rewire your brain to help you achieve the outcome you desire.

Every night, when you start your bedtime routine, I encourage you to take 5 minutes to jot down your top 5 goals before you start reading.

Take a few minutes to visualize yourself doing the work required to achieve them, and just as importantly, how you will feel and act when you do achieve them.

You’ll find that you’re more focused, positive, and energetic when you do.

4. Create an “Excitement List” (My Favorite Bedtime Routine Idea) Although many experts and gurus encourage you to end your day with a nightly gratitude practice, I’ve found a different tactic that, I believe is even more powerful.

Sure, gratitude is amazing (and there’s a ton of research proving just how effective it is).

But I prefer to use gratitude to start my day.

When bedtime strikes, my goal is to prime myself for the following morning and ensure I wake up with the energy, motivation, and enthusiasm I need to conquer my day.

And I’m assuming you feel the same way.

To accomplish this goal, I want you to try out what I call an “Excitement List”.

About 15 minutes before bed, after you’ve finished your planning and reflecting for the day (more on those in a minute), take 3-5 minutes to write down the things for which you are most excited about the following day.

What’s happening the following day that you can’t wait to participate in?

Are you finishing up a major project in your business? Visiting friends or family? Taking your spouse out for an exciting date night?

What is going on in your life about which you can get excited?

If you can’t think of anything off the top of your head, that’s fine. Think of the small things that make your days amazing.

Are you looking forward to the taste of freshly brewed coffee early the next day? To waking up and having an hour of uninterrupted silence during which you can work on your book? To reading that new book you just purchased?

When you create an emotional state of excitement about your day–believing that you get to wake up and pursue your dreams, not that you have to wake up and pursue your dreams–you will leap out of bed with an energy and enthusiasm like you’ve never experienced before.

So if you want to be more productive, start by getting more excited.

5. Take a Cold Shower (60 minutes before bedtime) If you’ve paid any attention to the health and biohacking industries over the past few years, then you’ve undoubtedly come across a practice known as cold therapy.

And yes, it’s exactly like it sounds (and it’s even more miserable than it sounds!)

For the sake of high performance and happiness, you subject yourself to the icy blasts of either a cold shower or ice bath for 10-15 minutes a day and enjoy:

Increased fat loss
Decreased inflammation
Improved nervous system function
Faster injury recovery

And most importantly (for our purposes at least), improved sleep quality.

In fact, a recent Dutch study showed that individuals who lowered the temperature of their skin through cold therapy achieved more than double the restorative slow-wave sleep of their warm and cozy peers.

That’s right…

If you can suffer through 10-15 minutes of misery, you can literally 2X the quality of your sleep tonight!

Here’s how you do it…

First, about two hours before your bedtime routine begins, start lowering your thermostat down to 65-67 F (or 19 degrees Celsius for our friends outside of the United States).

Then, no less than 60 minutes before bed, take either a 10-minute cold shower or a 10-minute ice bath.

Combine this tactic with a shot of apple cider vinegar and a TBSP of raw honey to experience what Tim Ferriss referred to as, “being shot with an elephant tranquilizer.”

6. Practice “Yogic Inversion” Right Before Bedtime Unless you ardently alternate between sitting, standing, and walking while you work, you likely end your workday feeling stiff, achy, and tight.

And sure, in a perfect world, you could end your day with an hour of restorative yoga, a nice massage, and maybe a quick chiropractic adjustment.

But most of us don’t have that kind of time in the evening.

Instead, I encourage to take just 10-minutes to hit a few poses targeting your tightest muscle groups (you can find a great 10-minute routine from Mike Matthews of Muscle for Life here).

After you’ve stretched out your tight muscles and relaxed into the evening, you’re going to do something a little weird and get upside down.

Inversion, or the practice of elevating your feet above your body has a whole host of research-based benefits from:

Reduced chronic back pain
Reduced need for surgery
Increased flexibility
Improved spinal health

And, anecdotally, far better sleep.

You can do this in one of three ways.

Buy an inversion table (the most expensive and most effective)
Have someone base you in an acro-yoga pose (free, but challenging)
Prop your feet up against the wall and just lay there (easy and free!)

If you struggle with onset insomnia as I do–e.g. Tossing and turning completely unable to get comfortable–this simple practice will work wonders.

You’ll fall into bed feeling far more relaxed and decompressed and find that you can easily get comfortable and fall asleep.

7. Plan the Following Work Day Failing to plan is planning to fail.

You’ve heard this old adage time and time again on Instagram, Facebook, this site, and countless other sources.

But let me ask you. Are you implementing it?

Do you set aside 10-15 minutes every single night (even on the weekends) to plan your following day so you can wake up knowing exactly what must be accomplished and why?

If you begin your day without a plan–even if you plan first thing in the morning–you are already behind.

Set aside 10-15 minutes each night to write down your top priorities for the following day and schedule your biggest meetings.

Better yet, use this 7×7 grid every Sunday morning to plan out your Perfect Week and then simply review and revise the plan each night before bed.

Try this tactic for 30 days and I promise you’ll never go back.

For more on bedtime planning, be sure to check out Craig’s video below where he’ll walk you through the three MOST important things you should do each night to wake up and dominate your days.

8. Do Something You Love (The Ultimate Bedtime Routine Idea) All too often high-performers and entrepreneurs become so focused on making a living they forget to make a life.

They spend all of their time planning, executing, and turning their big goals into reality they forget to step back from it all and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

But life is meant to be lived, not hustled away.

So my challenge to you is simple.

Every night set aside 60 minutes before you begin your bedtime routine to do something you love.

Whether it’s playing the guitar, reading a good book, spending quality time with your spouse, or calling a close friend, do something every single night that you love.

Reward yourself for your hard work and invest in your rest and recovery.

I promise, it will pay dividends in your performance and productivity.

9. The #1 Thing You MUST Eliminate from Your Bedtime Routine One of the most common mistakes that nearly every individual in the Western world makes on a daily basis is the consumption of “superstimuli” in the hours before bed.

A superstimulus is exactly what it sounds like. It’s an activity that is highly stimulating to the brain (or body) and makes it difficult for you to switch off and go to bed.

Social media, video games, violent television, porn, dopamine-producing phone game (like CandyCrush), and even listening to certain types of music create a rush of dopamine that hijacks your sleep and prevents you from getting the rest you need.

Although they might seem innocuous, those 15 minutes you spent scrolling through epic photos and funny memes on Instagram are jacking up your brain and putting your mind into a heightened state.

Humans did not evolve to handle the sensory overload to which we’re subjected on a daily basis.

Luckily, the solution is simple.

Two hours before bed, turn off all of your electronics.

Spend time doing only those things that relax and restore your mind and body.

Avoid stimulating your mind in unnatural ways and give your brain a chance to reset and turn off after a long day of work.

You might find this challenging at first, but I promise, if you will stick it out for a few weeks, you’ll wonder how you ever lived any differently.

10. Reflect, Recalibrate, and Renew A hallmark characteristic of high achievers is future orientation.

Simply put, we are focused on where we are going, not where we’ve been.

And this is a good thing. It prevents us from falling prey to guilt, shame, and regret and allows us to focus all of our mental and emotional energy on moving forward instead of wishing we could change something in the past.

However, this tendency often leads entrepreneurs to ignore one of the most important habits for peak performance.

Reflection.

At the end of your day, take a few minutes to review the past 24 hours.

How did the day go? What went well? What could have gone better? What challenges and obstacles arose that you didn’t anticipate? How could you mitigate those in the future?

This simple habit will allow you to gain invaluable insight into your performance and problems and help you cultivate greater self-awareness around the ways in which you are showing up.

More importantly, this habit will allow you to make those tiny 1% improvements and adjustments that lead to massive results in the long term.

You can identify your sticking points, uncover your strengths, and find unique ways to prevent problems from happening in the future.

11. Use Brain Entrainment to Fall Asleep Faster One of the more interesting habits I’ve discovered in recent months for improved sleep, performance, and productivity is something called brainwave entrainment. Which is accomplished through the use of binaural beats.

And while I won’t dive deep into the science (you can check that out here if you’re interested), binaural beats have been rigorously researched and proven to grant numerous cognitive benefits from:

Decreased anxiety
Improved focus and attention
Improved memory
Pain reduction
Improved sleep quality

And a whole lot more.

Executing on this habit is simple.

For those of you who struggle to fall asleep while wearing headphones or earbuds (as I do), use a free binaural beat track like this one or this one and complete a 10-15 minute meditation session right before bed.

This will help you “tune” the frequency of your brain waves to a channel that is more conducive to sleep–namely theta or delta brain waves.

Or, if you can use a device like this one and plug in a 7.5 hour track to keep your brain waves optimized for deep sleep and recovery all night long.

12. Close the Open Loops and Enjoy the Best Night of Sleep You’ve Ever Had Your brain is very similar to a computer.

And like a computer, if you have a million open tabs and programs whirring and buzzing in the background, it won’t matter that you hit the ‘sleep’ button. Your brain will still attempt to run those programs and discover the solution to those open loops.

To end your day and ensure you have the most restful night of sleep possible, take a few minutes at the end of each day to close off any open loops with a nightly brain dump.

While you are completing your planning, reflection, and excitement list, take a few minutes to write down all of the things that are bogging down your subconscious.

From doctor’s visits you forgot to schedule to lightbulbs that need replacing to taxes that need to be filed, write down anything and everything that’s on your mind and then…

Let it go.

Either schedule a time during which you will complete each task or cross it off your list, mentally dismissing it and giving yourself permission to let it fall by the wayside.

And then prepare for some of the best sleep of your life and one of the most productive days you’ve ever had.

Conclusion: Which Bedtime Routine Idea Will YOU Try? There you have it!

12 quick and easy bedtime routine ideas that will double your energy, productivity, and motivation.

Now over to you.

Which of these tactics are you going to try first? Are there any that I left off the list?

Let me know in the comments below.

Today we discussed your bedtime routine to set you up for a great morning. Use this millionaire-vetted Morning Routine to earn more, work less, and live your perfect life TODAY! Sign up now to get our FREE Morning Routine guide—the #1 way to increase productivity, energy, and focus for profitable days. Used by thousands of fitness, business, and finance industry leaders to leapfrog the competition while making time for the people who really matter. Learn more here.

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Remember the last time a friend came to you with relationship problems?

“She treats me like garbage in front of her friends. It’s like I barely exist.”

“He gets drunk and stays out with his buddies doing God knows what till God knows when every Saturday and expects me to put up with it.”

With your outside eyes, you can see your friend is in a toxic relationship that probably needs to end.

And it’s easy to make that judgment when it’s OPP (other people’s problems).

But when it comes to our own toxic environments and habits, why do we find them so hard to let go?

Why do we keep buying bottles of booze when we know we can’t stick to “just one” drink at night?

Why do we load up Netflix at 11:05 PM when bedtime was 10:30 PM?

Why do we (I mean me raising a hand) keep buying chocolate-covered almonds and leaving them in bowls around the house?

The answer is two-fold.

One, these bad habits are ingrained rituals – deeply driven into our nervous system and without accountability and coaching to break free, every day we spend there makes it harder and harder to “get out of jail.”

Second, we have an emotional attachment to our negative actions – much like our relationship-troubled friends (who should have left last year) – and we stay stuck in patterns that bring us short-term comfort and gain for long-term pain.

I’ve seen this pattern in almost every single one of the thousands of entrepreneurs I’ve worked with in the last 24 years.

“I’ve always done it that way.”

“Oh, it’s not that bad.”

“C’mon, it’s just once – or twice – or five times per week.”

The harder the client defends their toxic habits, the further they are away from a breakthrough.

But when they open their minds to the opportunity to change, they can move mountains.

For example, when my client Frank Den Blanken took my advice to let go of holding on to every action item, customer service response, and tech update in his business, he went from working 15 hours a day and making $10K per month to working 8 hours a day and making $100K per month.

When Vince Del Monte stopped trying to run three full-time businesses at once because he didn’t want his pride to suffer from shutting two of them down, and he took my advice to go full focus on his ONE thing, his business scaled to over $350,000 per month.

And when Maria finally walked away from a dead-end business partnership that she was using as a “crutch” to support her imposter syndrome, she was able to step into her greatness, reach her full potential, and increase her profits (not revenue) to over $80,000 per month.

That’s the power of letting go of toxic habits and negativity… Of leaving behind things that do not serve you.

And today, we’ll show you more examples of how you can do the same and build a better relationship with your business and money.

1. Daydreaming, Not DOING In the past few years, I’ve turned down more than $50,000 in revenue by saying “no” to prospects who wanted to work with me.

Why would I turn down good money?

Because after talking with these prospects, it was clear they were DREAMERS, not doers. And I know I can’t help them… Because no matter how many innovative ”million-dollar” ideas they have, they won’t put in the massive action required to scale a business.

Think about it like this…

If you created a course and figured, “100,000 people could use this course. I’ll sell it for $297, and all I need is for 1% of that group to buy, and I’ll have a six-figure launch.”

Listen, just because you crunched the numbers and estimated that a certain amount of people could possibly buy your course doesn’t mean it’s going to work out that way. Yes, it’s great to have goals and a vision, but they’re only one piece of the puzzle.

And when you focus more on the results than you do on the process of success… You are setting yourself up for failure.

My good friend, Alwyn Cosgrove, taught me a valuable lesson that has changed how I make goals… Unlike most people, Alwyn does not encourage setting “outcome” goals. The reason is simple.

No matter how hard you try, you can never control the outcome of a project or goal. There will always be circumstances beyond our control that influence the results of our efforts.

Your course launch might only profit $100k instead of $300k. You might lose 26 pounds instead of 30, or sell four high-end homes in a year instead of six. These are exceptional results, but if you focus only on the outcome of your goals, you’ll still feel frustrated and disappointed.

However, you CAN control the action steps that lead to your desired outcome:

You can control the efforts you put into gaining new email subscribers who may purchase your course.
You can hire a genius copywriter to create stellar ad copy to generate more interest in your program.
You can control your efforts to eat healthier, exercise, and drink less.

By focusing on the processes…by becoming a DOER not a dreamer you will set yourself up for success and enjoy fulfillment and satisfaction even if the results don’t happen the way you want them to.

2. Hitting the Panic Button My friend and client Jason Capital built a $10 million/year business by the time he was 29. In fact, to the best of our knowledge, he’s the only entrepreneur to sell more than $1 million worth of products in 6 different industries before the age of 30.

In other words… Jason knows what he’s doing.

But last year, he launched a new program called Email Income Experts where he taught his clients how to generate a 6-figure income by becoming masters of email marketing.

He put invested hundreds of hours and tens of thousands of dollars into the new program and fully expected it to be a runaway success.

But when he started filling up his webinars and running ads… the program tanked big time… converting at 50% of his normal rate.

Ouch.

In that moment, Jason could have hit the panic button. He could have freaked out. He could have whined and moaned about how “unfair” everything was and given up on his goals.

But he didn’t.

Instead, he listened to his audience, figured out what they really wanted, and created a new course to fit their needs.

That new course generated millions of dollars in a matter of months and blew away every other program he’d ever produced.

Listen…

Things won’t always work out. And that’s OK. Don’t panic; get resourceful. When crisis comes (and it will), try to think of how you can recover rather than crumbling.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that if this one project, this one sale doesn’t happen, it’s all over.

It’s not a matter of if bad things happen; it’s when. But we must be resilient, and ready to face challenges instead of running away scared when they come at us.

3. Being Fatalistic Every week, I send my coaching clients an accountability email, asking them, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rank your week?”

One week, one of my clients had found out his wife wanted a divorce. Now my client loved his wife, he didn’t want to split up, and was emotionally devastated by her decision. But he still rated that week a 5/10 (which says a lot about his resilient mindset).

On that same week, another client of mind wrote in saying, “One of my top team members quit, so 1/10.”

Losing a team member, especially a great one, is never easy. But having experienced it myself, I can tell you that it’s not the end of the world.

And when I read his response, it made me wonder what my client would have said if something really terrible had happened. What if that team member had cloned his business and stolen all of his clients? What if he was involved in a car accident that left him bedridden for months? What if he’d been audited by the IRS and forced to pay more money than he had to stay out of prison?

Listen…

No matter how bad things are right now, they can always get worse (and they can always get better). And if you allow yourself to succumb to the doomsday mindset, achieving 7-figure success will always elude you.

Entrepreneurship can and will be brutal; it’s a roller coaster of emotional ups and downs every single day, but you’ve got to be mentally resilient. You’ve got to be calm and steady. If something bad happens to you, don’t take it as a sign that you should quit. Learn from it and move forward.

Criticism will come. You will face challenges. People will be cynical about what you have to offer, but don’t fight it. Instead of letting criticism and challenges knock you down, use it as fuel to improve.

4. Avoiding the “Whetstone” Listen…

It doesn’t matter how great your idea, product, or service is; if you’re dull… if you don’t bring energy and enthusiasm to your content, meetings, and pitches… you’ll be stuck in second gear for the rest of your life.

Back in the day, I published YouTube videos with more than 3 million views. And that would have been great… Except that I talked like a deadpan robot in each video. And 95% of the comments on those videos were critiquing how boring and vanilla my camera presence was.

For years, I allowed the label lie that “I’m an introvert” to hold me back from being expressive and energetic (both on and off camera), and it cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost profits.

Today, I’m a completely different person. I realized I needed to make a change and invested thousands of hours into improving my presence on camera, overcoming my socially awkward tendencies, and becoming more energetic.

And my audience has noticed.

I’ve generated more than $2.3 million on Instagram in the past 24 months alone and every penny of that revenue was a direct result of my commitment to eliminating my “dull” patterns and behaviors.

Whether you use social media to promote your business or not, you must develop your personality and bring the energy if you want 2023 to be the year where you make your first million.

Explore new hobbies. Learn new skills. Practice being more enthusiastic on video. Introduce yourself to new people. Take an improv class or do a comedy open mic night.

Do whatever you need to do to sharpen your personality and presence. I promise, it will generate a huge return on your investment.

5. Falling Prey to the “Gilligan Syndrome” Like most of the entrepreneurs I know, my good buddy Bedros Keuilian ended in the hospital a few years ago after a massive anxiety left him passed out on the floor of his guest house.

And, also like most of the entrepreneurs I know, Bedros’ anxiety attack happened because he was trying to do everything himself.

He fell prey to the “Gilligan Syndrome” and believed that he had to be an island out at sea, taking on the burden of running a massive company without any help or support.

After his attack, he realized he needed help and reached out to me (along with several other mentors).

I gave him the objective outside eyes he needed to fix his schedule, reduce his anxiety, and build a better team and today he runs a 9-figure franchise AND has a ton of free time to spend with his family and friends.

Listen…

There’s no glory in burn out. There’s nothing cool about killing yourself–literally and metaphorically–to prove your work ethic. The highest performers in the world all rely on the guidance and support of other people to achieve their goals. And to make your first 7-figures, you must too.

Oprah attributes part of her enormous success to her life coach, Martha Beck.

Phil Knight had the help of his former coach Bill Bowerman and several other team members when he built Nike.

The Denver Broncos linebacker, Von Miller, had a few nasty run-ins with the law (and was on a fast track to prison), but turned his life around with the help of a coach and since become a Super Bowl champion AND an MVP.

We all need help from time and time and the fastest way to achieve your goals is with a strong team.

If you aren’t where you want to be in your life and business right now, then I want to ask yourself a simple question…

“Who am I missing that can help me achieve this goal 10X faster.”

Notice I didn’t say WHAT or even HOW can I do this faster…I said “Who”.

Do you need an assistant to offload the “dirty work” and free up time in your schedule to focus on your area of genius?

Do you need a sales rep who can pitch your product or service to the hundreds of leads flooding your inbox each month?

Do you need a coach to give you objective outside eyes on your business and help you see the bigger picture and simple strategies you’re missing?

WHO can help you get to the next level?

Once you have the answer, GO AND GET THEM.

If you’ll do this one thing, I promise your life and business will change forever.

ConclusionBy eliminating these five habits from your life, you’ll put yourself on the fast track to 7-figure success.

Now over to you…

Which of these toxic habits do you struggle with the most? What is the #1 thing you’re going to do in the next 24 hours (remember, success loves speed, delay kills dreams) to overcome it?

Let me know in the comments below.

Want to take your performance and productivity even further? Then click here to get access to my 90-Day “Reality Maker” Blueprint.

The “secret weapon” I give to my $25k/day coaching clients to help them compress time and achieve 12 months of work in only 12 weeks.

I’ll teach you exactly how to reverse engineer your biggest goals, eradicate the obstacles standing in your way, and create your dream life 10X faster than you currently believe possible.

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What if I told you that there’s a “secret” key to billion-dollar success that’s available to you right now…

It doesn’t require a war chest, hiring top talent, an HQ in Menlo Park, Ca, influencer status on social media, or even having a best-selling book to boost your credibility.

While those things are all “nice to have”, every Jane & Joe entrepreneur…from the side hustler toiling struggling to make ends meet to the six-figure Sams and Samanthas, to Emily & Enrie Empire Builders who have already cracked $10 million…has access to the “Billionaire Key.”

It’s called “Having a mentor.”

And while I know it might sound simple – even your high-school kids (or nieces and nephews) have figured this out and have coaches for sports, bands, and the school plays – most entrepreneurs don’t have someone in their corner who they can turn to for advice and guidance.

For some reason, would-be high-performers and game-changers buy into the lie that you need to be a “lone wolf”, putting everything on your own back and suffering in silence.

And this habit is killing them (both literally–in terms of chronic stress and overwhelm–and figuratively with lost profits, underperformance, and unnecessary mistakes).

But the smartest entrepreneurs double down on mentors and coaches.

Don’t believe me?

Just consider the Silicon Valley Giants.

Companies like Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google all hired the same man – Bill Campbell, “The Trillion Dollar Coach” – to help their teams work smarter, faster, and better.

All of the tech giants and industry leaders understand the power of hands-on coaching and mentorship from someone who has “been there, done that.”

And in today’s article, I’m going to reveal why you must have a coach or mentor to succeed at the highest levels and, more importantly, exactly how and where you can find them.

Why Mentorship and a Business Coach are Essential to SuccessBack in 2003 when I was a “struckling” entrepreneur, working 60-70 hour weeks, making just enough money to get by, and battling chronic anxiety attacks and introverted tendencies, I met my first mentor, a man named Mark Ford.

Mark, the original Founder of Early to Rise and a wildly successful serial entrepreneur, “had it all.”

He had thriving businesses across multiple industries, a happy marriage, an exciting and adventurous lifestyle, and nearly half a dozen best-selling books to his name.

I wanted to be like Mark.

So, I enlisted his help as a coach and mentor and turned to him for advice whenever I faced a problem I couldn’t solve.

Over the years, my relationship with Mark has directly led to multiple 7-figure businesses, dozens of avoided mistakes (that would have cost me a small fortune), and a lifestyle that my 20-something self never imagined in his wildest dreams.

Mark gave me “objective outside eyes” on my life and business, helped me slash my learning curve, focus on the right things, and held me accountable to my biggest goals.

And I can say with no reservations I would not be the man or entrepreneur I am today without his wisdom and guidance.

Same goes for my mentors, Tom Venuto, Yanik Silver, Matt Smith, and Bedros Keuilian.

Even today, with more than five 7-figure businesses under my belt and a billion-dollar network, I still have several paid and virtual mentors… Which is why my income, impact, and influence continue to grow… and why the people who knew me ten years ago (and are still stuck in the same spot because they don’t have mentors) are in awe of how I’ve evolved.

But I’m not alone in this regard. When you look at the lives of history’s greatest leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators, you will find they all had a coach or mentor who helped them along the way.

Warren Buffet had Benjamin Graham. Tony Robbins had Jim Rohn. Alexander the Great had Aristotle. Michael Jordan had a team of coaches, including my friend Tim Grover.

Even the greatest characters in fiction had mentors! (There would be no Luke Skywalker or Harry Potter without Obi-Wan and Dumbledore).

The right coach is like a “secret weapon.”

They can supercharge your results, cut your learning curve in half, and help you achieve your biggest goals 100X faster than you could by yourself.

No matter how smart, talented, or experienced you are…we all have blind spots. And more importantly, we’re all emotionally attached to the processes and results in our own life.

Even the smartest entrepreneurs–when they try to “go it alone”–will waste years, possibly even decades, pursuing the wrong goals in the wrong way.

They’ll waste time on projects that will never pan out (like that time I invested $200,000 into a cookbook…even though I’ve never cooked a meal in my life), they’ll use ineffective and outdated strategies, and make unnecessary sacrifices (like skipping date night or sleeping four hours a night), because they don’t have someone with real-world experience to help guide them to success.

But when you have the right coach or mentor… Everything becomes easier.

They can see the things you can’t see.

They have the “secrets,” formulas, and systems you need to move 100X faster. They’ll eliminate your need for discipline and hold you accountable to doing the things you say you’re going to do (even when you don’t feel like it). And, most importantly, they know exactly how you’re feeling and what you’re experiencing because they’ve been exactly where you are.

Top performers and entrepreneurs understand the value of coaching and mentorship (which is why they become top performers in the first place!)

And, if you want to achieve success at the highest levels in all areas of life, you must have a coach.

Coaching and mentorship are not “good ideas” or “nice to have’s”. They are mandatory prescriptions for success.

Business Coach vs. Mentorship: Which One is Right for You? Throughout my career, I’ve had dozens of coaches and mentors who have served different purposes during different stages.

While I’m a firm believer that every entrepreneur, leader, and aspiring world-changer should have both a coach and a mentor (and probably half a dozen of each), there are a few subtle differences between the two relationships that are important to understand.

A mentor is an unpaid ally–someone older and more experienced than you–who you can turn to for advice and guidance whenever you’re facing challenges or opportunities in your life and business.

Although mentors are an invaluable resource, the mentor/mentee relationship is personal, not professional. Because there is no exchange of concrete value (i.e. money), you can’t always rely on a mentor to carve out 1-2 hours a month to talk with you 1-on-1 or provide the unwavering daily accountability you need to succeed.

And, more often than not, your mentor will be too busy to sit down and provide the tactical feedback you need on specific aspects of your life and business (e.g. tearing down a new sales funnel, examining your schedule, or helping you work through specific challenges with a key employee).

A coach, on the other hand, is paid to give you their expertise and get “down in the trenches” with you on a weekly or daily basis.

When you hire the right coach, they’ll walk with you through every step of the journey and give you consistent real-time feedback on your biggest challenges.

If you pick the right coach (more on that in a second), they’ll also give you no-holds-barred accountability and connect with you on a daily basis to ensure you’re doing the right things and making real progress toward the goals you’ve set.

A good mentor will put you on the path to success, but the right coach will walk down that path with you and ensure you’re staying on course every step of the way.

But…

How do you find the right coach who can accelerate your success and help you get to where you want to be faster?

By following my simple five-step formula.

The Five-Step Formula for Finding the Right Business Coach or Mentor Although the right business coach can accelerate your success, shave decades off your learning curve, and empower you to achieve 10X more than you ever dreamed possible…

The wrong business coach or mentor can and will sabotage your success, hold you back from greatness, and drain your bank account while doing it.

To ensure that you’re working with the right person, you must make sure your business coach or mentor meets these five criteria.

1. Your Business Coach Must Have “Been There, Done That”

Anyone can give you theory, but real-world experience—acquired with skin in the game—is the best foundation for sound, actionable advice.

I see thousands of people offering life and business coaching services who have never accomplished anything themselves and you should avoid these people at all costs.

Think about it. You wouldn’t ask someone who is overweight and out of shape for advice on fitness. You wouldn’t ask your friend’s stepdad (who’s on his third marriage) for advice on how to have a happy relationship. And you wouldn’t ask your broke friend who works at Burger King on where to invest the profits from your business empire.

It’s the same with coaching. The best coaches, the business coach who can take you to the next level and help you compress a year’s worth of progress into just a few months, have achieved everything you want to achieve and more.

They have a proven track record of success both in their own lives and in the lives of the clients they serve that prove they can not only talk the talk but walk the walk.

For example, every year, I work with dozens of amazing clients with the goal of building a 6-figure business. More often than not, I help them hit their first $100k within 3-6 months of working together.

How? Because I’ve built five 7-figure businesses in five different industries and know exactly what my clients need to do to increase the income in their business.

2. Find a Coach Who Shares Your Morals and Ethics

In a world saturated with coaches who promise to help you make money, there is no shortage of “gurus” who can help you get rich. The catch? You have to compromise your values to get there.

I don’t recommend risking your reputation—and possibly jail time —just to make money.

Instead, choose a mentor with integrity.

That’s why I sought out coaching from respected entrepreneurs and speakers like Tom Venuto, Yanik Silver, Carrie Wilkerson, Joel Weldon, Joe Polish, Taki Moore, and Bedros Keuilian. These are men and women who have uncompromising ethics and have showed me how to achieve my dreams without sacrificing my morals.

Even if a business coach has achieved what you want to achieve, that doesn’t mean they are the right fit for your life. You need people who share your morals, ethics, and values and have achieved success in the same way you wish to achieve it.

3. The Coach Must Deliver No-Holds Barred Accountability

One of the primary reasons for working with a business coach is to have someone holding you accountable to the commitments and non-negotiables you set for yourself.

Ideally, you want to work with a coach who is willing to offer strict daily accountability and who has a track record of being a “hard ass” who refuses to let their clients off the hook.

If you tell your coach that you are going to do something and you don’t do it, you should know that they won’t let you down easy.

4. You Must Have Good Rapport with Your Coach

For a coaching relationship to be successful, you must like your coach (shocking, I know). You must have a good rapport with them and enjoy your interactions together. No matter how ethical and successful a coach is or how heavily they hold you accountable, the relationship won’t work if you don’t get along with one another.

Before hiring a business coach, spend some time going through their online content and social media profiles. If you can, get to one of their live events – or see them speak somewhere. Try to see if you share similar interests, beliefs, and attitudes about the world and about success.

The best coaching relationships are those that last for several years (not just a few months) and for this to happen, you must genuinely like, respect, and admire your coach. We’ve all seen great sports teams break down when the player-coach relationship goes sour, and it’s no different in business.

5. You Must Check Your Coach’s References

What’s the first thing you do when you hear about a new restaurant in town? That’s right, you go straight to Google for the online reviews. You wouldn’t go there without at least seeing what a few other people said about the experience. The same is true when hiring a coach.

Sure, you can look at their website and read the success stories. But I encourage you to go the extra mile and ask to speak with a few of their past clients (because I’ve heard horror stories about some coaches posting things that people never said).

It’s crazy but true.

By taking the time to hear from their previous clients, you’ll gain a better understanding of what your coaching experience will be like and what you can expect. You’ll quickly be able to spot any red flags and identify potential problems before investing your hard-earned cash.

Once you have social accountability (friends, co-workers, family) and professional accountability (a business coach), there’s only one final step to making your non-negotiables stick.

What to Do When You “Can’t Afford” a Coach or Mentor Knowing how to find the right coach or mentor is great. But many of you might be in a position where you can’t yet afford the premium prices they charge.

After all, most coaches (who can actually deliver valuable results) charge anywhere from $1,500 to $3,000/month–more than most people’s mortgages–for their services.

So what is an aspiring Empire Builder to do?

Simple…

Use free virtual coaching and low-cost programs to make progress toward your goals until you can afford the investment.

For example, even though I charge $25,000/day for 1-on-1 coaching and $7,500 for my two-day workshops, I give away 80% of my best content and strategies for free on Early to Rise and my Instagram account.

I also share most of my advanced strategies and “done for you” formulas and systems inside of my “Double Your Income” course, 2X-10 Less (which costs 80% less than my group coaching workshops).

If you read my content, watch my Instagram stories, go through my course and take action on everything I share, you could easily add an extra $2,500 to $5,000 to your bottom line and then reinvest the profits into my custom coaching programs that will help you get a 50-100X ROI on your investment (like my client Frank Den Blanken who went from the low 6-figures to multiple 7-figures only 12 months after hiring me).

Conclusion All high-performers and game-changers have coaches and mentors they can turn to when faced with uncertainty and adversity.

And now, you not only know why a business coach is essential to your success, but you have a clear formula for finding the right coach who can 10-100X your results faster than you ever thought possible.

No matter where you are or where you want to be, a good business coach can help you get there faster. And while you don’t have to work with me, you must work with someone if you want to move faster, avoid the common pitfalls on the path to success, and achieve greater levels of success than you ever thought possible.

Over to you.

Who is your coach or mentor? If you don’t have one, who will you contact this week to ensure you’re on the fast track to success?

If you’d like to learn more and see if you qualify to work with me or one of my coaches, send an email to support@earlytorise.com with the subject line “Coaching.”

Want to Achieve Your 12-Month Goals in the Next 12 Weeks?Then click here to get free access to my “90-Day Reality Maker Blueprint”–the exact tool I use with my $25k/day coaching clients–where I’ll show you how to achieve your biggest goals in only 90 days or less.

The post How to Find the Right Business Coach or Mentor to 10X Your Results in Life appeared first on Early To Rise.

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My friend, Benjamin Hardy, said, “If you start your day at 7 a.m., you’ve already lost the most important hours of your day. You’ve lost your chance to radically separate yourself — intellectually, emotionally, spiritually — from the masses.”

Even as a guy that gets up at 4 a.m. every day, I think this goes a little overboard.

You see, having a perfect morning is not about the hour you get up; it’s about what you do with the hours that you are up.

It’s not the “when” that matters, but the “what.”

Growing up, my best friend’s dad, Mr. Aitcheson, would often sit us down in the kitchen of their farmhouse and teach us moral lessons through stories or demonstrations. This is one that sticks out to me:

He pulled out a big mason jar—the kind my mom would fill with pickled vegetables each fall. He took some rocks from his overalls and put them in the jar until they poked out the top.

“Boys, do you think the jar is full?” he asked.

Brian, my friend, and I nodded. We turned to go and play.

“Wait a second,” he said. He pulled out some smaller pebbles and added them, tapping the jar a few times on the counter to spread the pebbles out. “Now is it full?”

“Yes, Dad!” Brian yelled while rolling his eyes.

“Is it?” his father asked. He then took out a bag of sand and poured it into the jar, filling every last inch of space. “Now it’s full,” he said with a smile.

“You see, boys, the rocks are the big projects—like feeding the pigs each morning,” he explained as he tousled Brian’s hair.

“The pebbles are things that matter but you could do without—like doing all of your homework.” And then, as a quick aside, he murmured, “Don’t tell your mother I said that.”

“Finally, the sand represents the filler, like watching television.”

“Boys, make sure you spend time on what really matters because if you waste your time on the filler, you’ll run out of room for what’s important.”

Fast forward 37 years.

The problem I see as a coach is that too many ambitious people—perhaps even you—are cramming their days with filler.

Worst of all, you’re giving your morning minutes away to things that don’t matter, like scrolling mindlessly on social media, checking the latest sports scores—even hitting the snooze button.

But if you want to get ahead in life, you have to do the things that matter the most in the morning.

“In the morning we have the greatest discipline, willpower, and intention,” writes Daniel Pink in his new book, “When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing.”

“Research shows that we tend to move through the day in three stages—a peak, a trough, and a recovery,” he said in an interview with NPR.

“During the peak, we’re better at analytic work—work that requires heads-down focus, vigilance, attention, and batting away distractions, like auditing a financial statement or writing a legal brief. For most of us, that’s the morning.”

“Boys, make sure you spend time on what really matters, because if you waste your time on the filler, you’ll run out of room for what’s important.”

“Do the first things first every morning” has been a lesson repeated since the dawn of time. But we still fail to grasp it.

Unfortunately, too many people are caught up in perverse forms of procrastination.

We’ve read that “this guru meditates” and “such-and-such expert spends 30 minutes journaling,” and “so-and-so celebrity does 90 minutes of yoga each morning,” and we decide to copy everyone else’s routine.

The next thing you know, you’re trying to set up the perfect morning, so you’re getting up at 4 a.m. just to prepare for the day ahead but not actually getting anything done.

A little bit of meditation, exercise, devotional time, and so on is fine, but if it’s crowding out time that should be devoted to your #1 priority in life, then it’s doing more harm than good.

Step back and take a deep, long, hard look at your morning routine. Is it working for you? Or against you?

Don’t be afraid to go against the crowd.

Most of the things the “gurus” teach are neither necessary nor sufficient for success. For instance:

You don’t have to meditate to be successful.
You don’t have to get up before 5 a.m. to be successful.
You don’t have to do yoga to be successful.
You don’t have to journal to be successful.
You don’t have to do a daily cold plunge to be successful.

But you MUST be proactive if you want to be successful.

That starts with figuring out the best morning routine for YOU—not for someone else—and applying those best practices to win your mornings and own your days.

Put another way, you must fill in your mornings with big ROCKS instead of grainy filler.

The way to do that is to plan—ruthlessly—for the next morning.

The end of the day is the perfect time for planning, because as Daniel Pink says, “During this third period, the recovery (after the peak of the morning and the trough of the afternoon), we’re good at more creative things because we’re in a slightly better mood but less inhibited.”

Here’s how to use this end-of-day routine to plan your Perfect Morning: Step 1: Set an alarm for 5 minutes before bedtime each night and do ruthless planning for the next morning.

Step 2: Using a journal to map out your morning, write down your #1 task (ROCK) in your first 90-minute work block of the day.

Step 3: Be crystal clear about what you must accomplish in order for you to “win a victory” before the day gets away from you. What’s the outcome you want? What specific steps do you need to take?

Step 4: Identify and eliminate all distractions that could get you off track during that 90-minute work block. That means phones, computers, televisions, books—anything that draws your attention away from your #1 priority.

Step 5: Plan a small reward for getting the work done (10 minutes with family, quiet meditation, a walk, or social media). Limit this reward to 10 minutes!

Step 6: Block out another 90-minute work session for your next priority.

Step 7: Pick another reward for yourself after completion of this second work session.

Step 8: Set aside time to work on communication (answering emails, making calls, following up on meetings, etc.). NOTE: If you’re a manager, flip steps 6 and 8.

Step 9: Recognize that you’re only going to get two 90-minute sessions per day, so don’t over-schedule.

That’s it. Crafting this simple routine only takes 5 minutes—and it’s the key to dominating each and every morning.

In summary: Fill your productivity jar with your ROCKS first, and use a small amount of filler to reward yourself for doing the work.

As my time growing up on the farm—and our philosopher-farmer dad—taught me many years ago, you have to do the work and move the big rocks to earn rewards in life.

Looking for the perfect Morning Routine? Get this easy-to-follow, productivity-focused video course and you’ll be well on your way to health, wealth, and a life well-lived. What have you got to lose?

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In today’s episode, Tim and I discuss the secret tips for copywriters to be successful and how it’s helped him earn 6-figures.

The post 317 – 6-Figure Copywriter Success Secrets With Tim Cels appeared first on Early To Rise.

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In my early 20’s I came face-to-face with an enemy that came to destroy my life. It took away my happiness, my ability to sleep, and made me physically ill. That enemy’s name is “anxiety.”

I was your stereotypical entrepreneur… Constantly “hustling” and “grinding” because “money never sleeps.” I sacrificed time with friends, my wife, and family in order to keep plugging away at my dreams.

Breaks? Rest? Recovery? Non-existent in my vocabulary.

Then, it all came crashing down.

I was generating a great income… But the non-stop “hustle and grind” came at an enormous price.

I began waking up in the middle of the night with gripping panic attacks. My wife Emily woke up to hear me breathing heavily, gripping my chest, and she asked, “What’s going on?”

“I think I’m dying.”

After assessing me, she assured me I was (sadly) experiencing a panic attack.

If I wasn’t dying, I may as well be. This was no way to live.

The cycle continued for weeks and months as I had no idea how to stop this. It felt quite dark as this was a “new normal” in my life.

Thankfully, I had the guts to finally speak up. I went out to lunch with a friend and shared what was happening to me. He gave me the phone number to a professional who helped others with the same struggle.

Step 1 to Stop Anxiety: Recognize Your Thought PatternsDuring my time with a mental health professional, I learned a lot about myself and the thought patterns I had developed.

If you’re looking for help to stop anxiety, please receive an assessment from a doctor or medical professional to get a full health assessment and be transparent about what you’re experiencing.

Once you’ve received an assessment from your medical doctor, you can look at resources like Psychology Today to find a mental health professional to work with.

If you’ve worked with technology, you know that when we open up a new device, it’s set up with default settings. These are the settings that the device is set with from the factory.

I learned that my “default setting” became programmed to catastrophize situations. In other words, if a problem arose, I’d take it to the biggest, worst-case scenario each time.

It could be as innocuous as “This client canceled their contract; I’m going to lose all my other clients and will end up homeless on the street.”

Or, it could be as horrible as “My head hurts, oh no, I have a brain tumor. I’m going to die.”

Let’s think about your default settings…

What are your thought patterns like? Do you ever catastrophize situations?

Are there certain themes that cause you to go into “catastrophe mode?” For some people they are related to finances, health, safety. For some, they struggle with all of their thoughts.

Each person is different. The first key is to become self-aware of our own thoughts.

If you recognize yourself spinning into “catastrophe mode,” recognize it and catch it. Stop your negative thought patterns in their tracks with a physical cue.

Snap your fingers and say “no!” if you find yourself in a loop of negative thoughts. Then, immediately shift your thoughts and attention to a positive intention.

This is a way to reset your default settings and put into place new custom settings that will serve you better.

Step 2: Get It Out of Your HeadOne of my favorite tools to alleviate stress and to stop anxiety is the brain dump exercise that Craig Ballantyne teaches.

When working with our coaching clients at Early to Rise, we ask our clients to do a brain dump at the end of each day to get any pending items that could be floating around in your head out and onto paper.

Remember – tomorrow starts today. How do you have a great tomorrow? Plan for it today! Here’s how…

Doing the brain dump exercise is quite simple. Just get an idea-capturing device, such as a journal, notepad on your cell phone, or a piece of paper, and start writing down everything you’re thinking about.

Here’s an example of what it can look like:

Finish blog post for EarlyToRise.com by 12pm tomorrow, send to Lynda when completed.
Talk to Daniel regarding May Mastermind topic.
Finish prepping slides for Wednesday’s ETR group coaching session.
Email CMHS about Friday’s 3:15pm game
Ask Maddy to schedule oil change for the truck.
Call Dad – it’s been 3 days since I’ve spoken with him
Switch Zoom to annual billing.
Order more protein powder by Friday.
Organize notes for call with Andrew.
Ask Maddy to price out hotels on AMEX for Spain trip in July.
Feeling sluggish today after lunch. Not sure if I’m hydrating enough?
IG reel idea: Hiring an assistant
Date night ideas for next week: Habana, Onotria for dinner?
Not sure why I keep getting frustrated with conversations with John Doe. Something to journal about.

Notice that in this brain dump example, there are to-do’s and also random thoughts.

It’s your brain dump… Do whatever feels right for you. But I’ll tell you what, this exercise has continually helped me to stop anxiety.

How?

Our long-term memory can hold an unlimited number of items. From memories to knowledge, special moments, traumatic events, and everything in-between… Your brain is a supercomputer.

It is limited, however, in the number of items it can retain in its short-term memory.

We can generally hold onto about 25-30 items in our short-term memory, and even that is pushing it.

By conducting the brain dump exercise, we’re taking the items floating in our short-term memory and getting it out.

Then, once it’s written down, we can prioritize the items and based upon David Allen’s teachings in Getting Things Done, we decide to either do it, delegate it, or dump it.

If you prioritize your biggest items prior to starting your day, you’ll come into work knowing what your main priorities are!

Now you can rest easy in the evening knowing that the essential items are not only out of your brain but will now be waiting for you first thing in the morning to tackle during your magic time.

Step 3: Take ActionI have good news and I have bad news.

The bad news first… Anxiety doesn’t disappear on its own. It takes work.

You’re reading an article written by a guy who had such bad anxiety I could barely leave my house.

Last year, I logged tens of thousands of miles on an airplane flying between Southern California and Dubai, Idaho, Barcelona, Bangkok, Berlin, and more.

I’ve come a long way, and so can you.

Does this mean I don’t struggle with anxious moments? Of course not. But, I’ve retrained my “default settings” to change how I think.

You have this ability. It might take work, but you have the ability to stop anxiety.

It just takes you getting some small wins so that you can build belief in yourself. Once you build a little bit of belief and confidence, then you’re able to take bigger and bolder steps.

Your world begins to expand, and anxiety begins to shrink as you build momentum.

Remember what Craig teaches – Action beats anxiety.

If you take ACTION, it won’t give you an opportunity to ruminate and worry. Just get moving. Get started… TODAY.

Do you need help from your doctor or mental health professional to stop anxiety? Take action… TODAY.

The formula is straightforward.

Recognize your negative thought patterns when they’re happening, and stop them.
Get it out of your head. Do the brain dump exercise daily.
Take action. Action beats anxiety!

As with any skill, you may struggle with this at first. I can promise you that if you put in the work to do the things laid out here, it WILL get better.

It takes hard work, but there is a world of freedom, happiness, and joy beyond anxiety.

It’s ready for you… Now it’s your turn to get to work!

Galel lives in Orange County, California with his wife Emily, their two children, and their chocolate labrador retriever named Mikey. He holds a Master’s degree in Performance Psychology, which has helped him coach fellow entrepreneurs and professional athletes. When not on Zoom calls, you’ll find Galel on the beach with his family, traveling in their RV, or umpiring a baseball game. Galel is passionate about helping coaching clients build systems to reduce stress and anxiety, boost sales revenue, and skyrocket their fulfillment and happiness.

The post 3 Steps to Stop Anxiety From Stealing Your Dreams appeared first on Early To Rise.

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In the summer of 2013, I nearly lost one of my best friends to “workahol”, you know, the stuff that workaholics are addicted to.

He was suffering in silence as a “Lost Warrior”, grinding away night and day, never asking his family for help, never willing to have the difficult conversations with his passive-aggressive staff members that made his business harder to run, not easier.

My friend’s name – Bedros Keuilian.

And one morning while he was alone at home, he bent over to tie his shoes and when he stood up a full-blown anxiety attack overcame him.

He gasped for air, clutched at his heart, and doubled over. He felt near death and (unwisely) drove himself to the hospital.

Within a couple of hours he was discharged, told to slow down, and yet he went straight back to workout to continue his burnout and hid this horrible moment from his family for years.

He was lucky. But if you go through this, you might suffer a different fate.

Eventually, Bedros decided to Man Up (his words, and the title of his Wall Street Journal best-selling book that has helped tens of thousands of men and women take back control of their lives).

Bedros and I have spent dozens of hours talking about the changes that both and he and I made after our eerily similar anxiety attacks. And we put together this list so that you never have to suffer the same stressful fate as us.

Put these in place immediately to recover from burnout and you’ll find the weight of the world lifted from your shoulders, and even better, your life and business will soon become better.

1. Fix Your Potato SackIf you were to ask ten of your closest friends and associates how they’re doing, at least nine out of ten would give you the exact same response.

“Busy.”

In 2023, entrepreneurs and high-performers seem to take a perverse satisfaction in overwhelming and overextending themselves.

They proudly flaunt their 70+ hour work weeks and wear their debilitating busyness as a badge of honor.

And it needs to stop.

Workaholism, or as I call it “Trying to fit 10 lbs of potatoes in a 5 lbs. sack,” is a fool’s game. This is a perfect recipe for burnout.

Sure, it might help you make a few big leaps in the short run. But over time, it will result in burnout, depression, and chronic anxiety.

Remember: To do great things, you must start by doing fewer things.

You can’t be an effective CEO, CFO, CMO, HR manager, and janitor all at the same time. Something has to give.

Luckily, I’ve developed a simple tool that will help you quickly identify and eradicate the “fluff” from your schedule so you can focus on your area of genius and make sustainable progress toward your biggest goals.

I call it “The Billionaire Time Matrix” and it goes like this…

First, draw a box with four quadrants. Think about every task you must take care of inside your business and write them down into one of these four boxes:

What do I hate doing?
What is NOT my job?
What should I stop doing?
What are my distractions?

Now go through each box one-by-one and identify what’s not working for you.

What’s causing you to feel overwhelmed at work? What’s causing the burnout that you’re recovering from? Where are you wasting your time on low-value activities?

In that first box, write out the things you hate doing.

Things that might seem necessary but steal a disproportionate amount of time, energy, and attention each week.

From sales meetings, to phone calls, to writing emails – first you have to identify the things you hate so you can figure out how to eliminate them from your schedule.

Next, identify the things you do that aren’t worth your time.

What is not adding value or bringing in revenue to your business? Are you wasting 2 hours a week doing interviews on small podcasts?

Are you publishing 3 articles a week even though it doesn’t mesh with your business model? Are you wasting time with leads who will never convert?

In the third box, write out the things you do that don’t require your specific skillset and could be done by someone else.

What is NOT your job? For example, my buddy Bedros doesn’t write his own emails, blog content, or sales copy. These are important parts of his business but he doesn’t need to do them.

Finally, in the last box, note your biggest distractions.

Do you get sucked in by newsletters in your inbox? Does your five-minute Instagram scroll turn into an entire hour wasted?

With your boxes filled out, take a few minutes to identify the ways you can eliminate, delegate, or automate the items you listed.

Can you outsource tasks you hate to someone on your team? Can you limit the number of times you respond to email every day? Delete Instagram from your phone? Hire a new writer or assistant?

Whatever it is, take action on it this week.

If you’ll take this exercise seriously, I promise you’ll add at least 10-15 hours of free time back to your week.

You can’t expect to be recovering from burnout while you’re flat-out working on the very things that caused the problem in the first place.

2. Get Your Detox OnThe #1 fastest way to recover from burnout is not to try and fix anything you do from 9-5 (or whatever your working hours might be) but to address the way you spend your time outside of work.

Here’s the thing…

Most of the entrepreneurs I know work for 9-12 hours a day. And when they finish their professional obligations for the day, they come home, turn on the TV, pull up their Instagram, and mindlessly zone out until it’s time to go to bed.

The problem is that any activity involving electronics is, by its very nature, highly stimulating.

Instead of giving your brain a break from the demands of modern life and allowing you to recharge your batteries, you bombard your brain with unnecessary information and unending stimulus.

And even though I do encourage you to cut out TV and non-business social media entirely (with a few rare exceptions), I know that some of you aren’t ready to make such a big leap quite yet.

This is why I recommend that you start small with something I call the “Weekly Tech Detox.”

Simply put, this detox is designed to disconnect you from the overstimulation of modern technology and reconnect you with the simple pleasures of everyday life.

When you plan your week, pick a day to turn off all of your devices (yes, even your phone) and completely step away from work.

Instead of mindlessly scrolling through some “influencers” IG feed or watching yet another episode of Billions, plan a day full of activities that will help you feel rejuvenated or rested so you can begin recovering from burnout.

Go for a long walk with your spouse and hang out at a local coffee shop. Take your dog to the park for a few hours. Read a great novel. Practice an instrument.

Do whatever you need to do to feel completely recharged and stay away from your devices for at least 16 hours.

3. Catch Up On Your Zzzz’sFor years, entrepreneurs and high-performers have been inundated with this toxic idea that “Sleep is for the weak.”

That it’s somehow honorable to power through on only 4-6 hours of sleep a night. That they are the exception to the rules of biology and can function at peak levels while sleep deprived.

I’m here to tell you it isn’t and they aren’t. The research is in and the debate is over.

Unless you want to hustle your way to an early grave and sabotage your performance at every turn, you must commit to getting 7-8 hours of sleep every night. End of discussion.

Studies have shown that sleep deprivation can lead to several issues, including the following:

Diabetes
Weight gain
Risk of cardiovascular disease
Amplified psychiatric disorders
Increased risk of cancer and overall mortality
Memory loss

Oh, and the best part? Researchers have also found that sleep-deprived individuals feel like they are performing at high levels but, in reality, complete every task slower, less efficiently, and with more errors.

And if you want to recover from burnout once and for all while improving your performance and getting more done you must get adequate rest.

If you want to dive deeper into sleep optimization and the importance of sleep, I recommend that you read the book Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker and check out my 10-3-2-1-0 formula for amazing sleep.

I promise you, if you’re burned out right now, prioritizing sleep is the fastest way to beat burnout and get back on top of your game.

4. Buy Back Your TimeOne of the most common mistakes I see my clients making, even clients making 7 or 8-figures, is that they waste their time on $10/hour tasks.

They waste their time and energy doing tasks that aren’t their job and waste thousands of dollars in potential profit as a result.

And, even worse, they burn themselves out and dilute their energy and focus because they’re trying to “do it all.”

For example, my friend Bedros once missed out on a $25,000 sale because, wait for it…

He decided to fix a sprinkler in his yard and hand off the sales call to an untrained assistant.

For $200, he could have hired a landscaping company to fix the sprinkler and he would have netted more $24,800.

But he didn’t and he lost out on a huge payday as a result.

What about your life? Where are you wasting your time on $10/hour tasks that don’t serve your big vision or push you closer to your big goals?

Do you spend hours each week cutting your own yard, doing your own dishes, or cooking your own meals when you could outsource those tasks for $10-$50…

And then use the time you would have otherwise wasted to make an extra $500-$1000?

Do you manage your own calendar, respond to every email, and review every new piece of content when you could hire an assistant to handle these tasks for $500/month so you can focus on your area of genius?

Take a few minutes right now to write down all of the $10/hour tasks that are standing in the way of your success and commit to buying your time back this week.

5. Treat Yourself Like an Elite Athlete To perform at the highest levels (sustainably) and recover from burnout for good, you must treat yourself like the star athlete of your team.

Do you think Lebron James trains for 12 hours a day without taking a break?

Do you think he bats an eyelash about investing in high-quality foods, weekly massages, cryotherapy sessions, or simply taking a day off to spend with his family?

Of course not! And neither should you.

Not only should you treat yourself to the best nutrition, supplementation, and recovery practices (think deep tissue massages, a weekly spa day, or even an afternoon nap) you can afford…

But you must intentionally make time for yourself during your perfect week planning sessions.

Each week I encourage you to carve out at least 4-5 hours of time where you can engage in practices and activities that restore and relax you.

Whether you give yourself permission to take a 30-minute nap after your lunch break each day, schedule a 60-minute walk after your workday ends, or make time to pursue a creative hobby like the guitar, oil painting, or writing you must make time for yourself.

Because the more centered and energized you are, the more effective you’ll be in your career and the more productive you’ll be throughout the week.

Take a step back from the daily hustle and grind and trust that the more you pour into yourself the more you’ll have to pour into your friends, family, and business.

6. Use a Daily Brain Dump to Clear the Clutter from Your HeadTo clear the clutter, recover from burnout, beat overwhelm and clearly see the big picture, you need to get all of the “junk” that’s littering your mind out of your head and onto paper.

By writing down all the things that are causing anxiety in your life and looking at them objectively, you can regain control of your thoughts and see your situation for what it is.

When all of the pieces are out of your head, it’s easier to see how they all fit together.

To help you with this, I encourage you to build the habit of a daily “brain dump” immediately after you finish work each day. The practice is simple.

During the final 15 minutes of your day, pull out a piece of paper and write down everything that you need or want to do over the next few days.

From here, you can begin to eliminate tasks and obligations that don’t serve your vision, schedule the things that matter, and get clarity on what you need to do and why.

You can figure out which projects to prioritize, which ones to let go, and what new opportunities you can pursue to achieve your goals faster.

When combined with a regular journaling practice (to help you make sense of your emotions, frustrations, and desires) and a tool like my 90-Day Blueprint you can eliminate the clutter in your head, get crystal clear on the steps you need to take, and end anxiety for good.

7. Keep Perspective and Do NOT Hit the Panic Button Whenever we’re caught in the grip of burnout and overwhelm, it’s easy to panic.

To see minor setbacks as the end of the world, to “catastrophize” small problems, and turn “mountains into molehills.”

But here’s the thing…

The worst-case scenario you are projecting in your head will rarely if ever happen. But when you hit the panic button and allow the challenges of life to derail you, you make the problem worse and increase the likelihood of failure.

Listen…

I know what it’s like to struggle with recovering from burnout, overwhelm, and anxiety.

I know what it’s like to feel trapped by your business. To be drowning in debt. To feel like there’s no hope for a better future.

But I also know that hitting the panic button has never helped solve the challenges I was facing.

The simple fact is this…

Your problems, no matter how bad they might seem right now, are not that big of a deal.

You aren’t going to go homeless or starve because of one failed project or one missed deadline.

And the challenges you’re facing in your life and business aren’t a matter of life and death.

Consider my friend and motivational speaker Navy SEAL Lt. Jason Redman.

During a poorly planned special operations mission in Iraq, Jason and the SEAL team he was leading walked into an ambush by Iraqi insurgents and he was shot in the head and arms a total of seven times.

According to the doctors who saved his life, he should have died on the battlefield.

And while he was recovering at a hospital in Maryland, friends, family, and doctors would regularly visit him and express their pity and sympathy for the challenges he would face as a result of his injuries.

Jason is an operator, the kind of guy who refuses to panic no matter what.

And in response to the sympathy and “I’m so sorry for your injuries” he received, he hung a sign on the door stating,

“If you’ve come here with sorrow or to feel sorry for my wounds, go elsewhere. I am incredibly tough and will make a full recovery.”

No matter how bad it might seem right now, you haven’t been shot in the head. You can recover from burnout and you can overcome whatever challenges face you.

Don’t the panic button. Keep a level head. Search for the solution. And remain calm, cool, and collected no matter what.

ConclusionRecovering from burnout is simple. It’s not easy, but it’s simple.

And by following the steps laid out in this guide, you’ll be able to do it much faster than you otherwise would.

If you want help…

Beating burnout, building unstoppable structure, overcoming anxiety and creating a business that works around your life and gives you the freedom and fulfillment you’ve been after for so long

…I’m opening up spots in my 2020 coaching program.

To learn more and see if you qualify to work with me or one of my team members, send an email to support@earlytorise.com with the subject line “Coaching.”

Over to you.

What was your #1 takeaway from today’s article? What’s the first step you will take to begin recovering from burnout?

Let me know in the comments below.

The post 7 Tips For Recovering From Burnout and Beating Overwhelm for Good appeared first on Early To Rise.

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“We are just so impressed by how you manage to get so much done,” the couple said. Long-time readers of Early to Rise, they had approached me minutes after I stepped off-stage while speaking at a seminar in Washington, D.C.

I hear this comment a lot from readers, but the truth is I have the same 24 hours in the day as anyone else does, and it’s not all devoted to my businesses.

My workday is about 8 hours, like most people.

I get 7-8 hours of sleep, spend time with my wife Michelle and our daughter, walk our dog, and spend an hour doing a workout doing some weight training or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

I even fit in 20 minutes of breathwork in the morning. I have regularly scheduled meetings with my assistant Lynda, my head coach Daniel, and my private coaching clients.

And finally, like you, I relax by enjoying time at the park or pool with Michelle, our daughter, and Daisy, our labrador retreiver.

So how do I get so much done?

How can I write articles regularly, do my daily emails that go out seven days per week, record the Early to Rise Radio Podcast, write books, and a 4000-word company update to ETR team members each week – in addition to the business coaching I do each day?

The answer is that I have a secret, and it’s one that you can take advantage of today.

My seminar presentation that morning included a section on how to triple your productivity. That’s not hype. You can triple your productivity thanks to a simple yet powerful technique that I discovered the hard way back in 2004.

What’s the secret to tripling productivity?

I call it Magic Time.

And the good news is that you have your own version of it, too.

Everyone does. Let me explain.

What is Magic Time?We all have a time in our day when we are three times more productive than any other time of day. All you have to do is identify that time, free it up for important work, and then ruthlessly protect it from the time vampires who will try to suck it away from you.

Back in 2004, I discovered that my magic time was early in the morning. Each day at 4:30 a.m. I would get up and work on my Internet business for twenty minutes before hopping in the shower and racing to catch the city bus into downtown Toronto where I was a personal trainer to CEO’s and entrepreneurs.

Each morning it became harder and harder to pull myself away from the project I was working on before my real job began. I even worked on the bus ride downtown and in the few minutes I had between clients.

After several months I was faced with a decision.

Do I continue on with this ‘scrimping’ of magic time, or do I make sacrifices to free up the magic time so that I could take giant steps toward my ultimate goal of financial freedom through my Internet business?

You can guess the answer.

I made up my mind to sacrifice income in the short term (by introducing my clients to other trainers who could service them with the same attention to detail as I did) so that I could have more of my magic time devoted to my long–term goals.

This decision made all the difference in the world.

I could write articles in fifteen minutes in the morning, but these articles would take me three or four times as long later in the day. I kept my afternoon clients (when I was unproductive as a writer), and spent my mornings creating products and inspirational messages for my fitness email readers.

It hurt me at first, but paid off handsomely in the long run, and it can for you, too.

First you have to identify your magic time. It’s not hard to do, but it just requires a little exercise I learned from George Ross, a long–time business lawyer.

Identifying Your Magic TimeYears ago, at a Dan Kennedy SuperConference, George was one of the keynote speakers. It was in that speech that he introduced me to a time journaling method. It’s a simple little task that will help you identify your magic time, as well as the habits that rob you of your time each day.

All you need to do is get a journal or notebook and write down your workday in fifteen-minute increments on each line.

For example, if your workday starts at 8 a.m., you’ll have a line dedicated to 8:00, 8:15, 8:30, and so on, all the way to the end of your day (and I actually recommend doing this for all of your waking hours).

Your next task is to simply record what you are doing in each of those fifteen-minute increments. If you find yourself surfing the web aimlessly at 9:15 a.m., write that down. That’s one of the bad time habits you’ll need to fix.

More importantly, you’ll also begin to identify your most productive work time. For example, you might find that you can really crank out the work in the final two hours of the day. That might be your magic time. Once you identify it, the next step then becomes crucial.

Now you must foster it and protect it. You’ll need to take your phone off the ringer, shut down your email alerts, keep yourself blocked from the Internet, and avoid all distractions.

Your magic time is priority number one, because you can truly triple your productivity in this time.

It’s so simple, yet powerful.

If you can use this to get more done in the limited time you have for work, it will mean freeing up more time for the activities you enjoy and the people that matter the most to you. Take your Magic Time very, very, seriously.

Identify your magic time. Work it. And guard it like my dog, Daisy, guards her dinner dish. Don’t let anyone else get their greedy lil’ paws on your Magic Time.

Protect it ruthlessly and you will prosper.

Want to take your performance and productivity even further? Then click here to get access to my 90-Day “Reality Maker” Blueprint.

The “secret weapon” I give to my $25k/day coaching clients to help them compress time and achieve 12 months of work in only 12 weeks.

I’ll teach you exactly how to reverse engineer your biggest goals, eradicate the obstacles standing in your way, and create your dream life 10X faster than you currently believe possible.

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I was on a call the other day with a coaching client, and he said something that made me chuckle.

But it also sparked today’s message.

I’d asked the client towards the end of our call, “What can I do for you this week to make sure you accomplish your goals?”

Without skipping a beat, he said:

“Wave a magic wand and disappear my to-do lists this week”

While it provided a nice laugh… It also got my mind spinning about how I could help him (and you!) with productivity.

As entrepreneurs, we are always looking for that edge (competitive advantage) to get more done as the days never seem long enough.

The 4 Tips Below don’t include waving a magic wand…

But they should provide you with ammo to get more done if you can apply them to your business/life.

Tip #1: Cut Your Deadlines In Half
This might sound counterintuitive as it seems to cause more stress. But let me explain…

Most of us wait until the last minute anyways to complete tasks/hit deadlines.

If your deadline is 4 weeks away… you are going to wait until the last minute to complete that project.

It’s human nature.

By cutting deadlines in half, you will get that project done quicker, PLUS it might force you (in a good way) to ask for help from your team to accomplish that goal.

I guarantee you’ll still hit it.

AND this will free up your time/headspace for other projects or personal time.

Tip #2: Time Block

I’ve been speaking about this a lot lately.

I even presented on time blocking yesterday during an “all-hands” meeting with our team.

I can’t explain all of it in this article…

But the gist is to create 3-5 time blocks each day in order for you to stay focused, disciplined and consistent throughout the week with your workflow.

Ideally, these are 90-minute blocks which are dedicated to one specific task or activity.

Your first time block in the morning should start with your “Magic Time” — where you focus on your #1 priority to move you ahead in business or life.

Getting that one thing right first thing in the morning is like a domino effect for winning your day.

It’s an absolute game changer when you follow this.

#3: Erase Off Your To-Do List

Most of us have some type of to-list that we use each day as a guide to what needs to get done.

Some days that to-do list might be a lot longer than other days.

Here’s my challenge to you (which will help with productivity):

Each day I challenge you to “Erase” at LEAST 1-2 items off that list. I know this is hard as we feel like everything is urgent on our to-do list.

But from my experience and working with many others, when we shrink down our to-do list it relieves stress, gives us a new sense of power, and allows us to stay more focused and productive.

So, starting today…

Look at your to-do list and start “Erasing” tasks off that list that are not urgent, timely, or going to move the needle forward in your business.

If “erasing” means delegating more…that’s fine!

The challenge is for you to shrink YOUR to-do list daily and weekly.

#4: Take More Breaks

Yes. I am giving you permission to take more breaks during the day/week.

As much as we want to convince ourselves that we can grind all day long and outwork everyone else…

The truth is we need breaks, time away from our screens, and the space to allow ourselves to refresh and recharge.

There are many different ways you can do this. But one suggestion is to take mini breaks during the day.

What works well for me (and others) is to take 3-4 mini (15 minute) breaks during the workday.

And if you follow the time-blocking strategy I talked about earlier, adding these 15 minute breaks between each time block works beautifully.

You could go for a walk. Grab a snack. Play with your dog. Meditate. Cat nap. Spend 15 mins on a hobby… Anything really.

The purpose is to take a brief step away from work and allow yourself a few minutes to recharge.

While you might feel guilty at first taking breaks from work, it will help your productivity, I promise!

When you use these 4 Tips you’ll get more done, work less, and have less stress.

Your to-do list won’t disappear instantly…

But I guarantee you’ll fly through it faster and more easily.

Daniel Woodrum

Early To Rise, Head Coach

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With everything going on in the world today, more entrepreneurs than ever before are searching for strategies to help them generate “fast cash.”

And today, I’m going to teach you five of my favorites.

I’m not talking about get-rich-quick schemes…

But legitimate and easy-to-implement strategies that any business owner can use to make instant income (in any economy).

Remember…

No matter how bad things get, your customers are still out there and they are still buying.

And with a few simple tweaks, you can get them to buy a lotmore today.

1. Generate Fash Cash by Using THIS Referral Script to Turn Happy Customers into Lead Generating MachinesEvery entrepreneur “knows” that they should be asking for referrals.

But there are two problems:

Most of them don’t
And those who do have no idea how to do so effectively.

Today, I’m going to give you a simple referral formula that Bedros Keuilian teaches to all of his Fit Body Bootcamp franchisees and that I’ve personally used to close 6-figures in coaching and consulting deals.

Once you incorporate this as part of your sales process, you’ll be surprised how quickly it can help you generate fast cash.

It goes like this…

Step 1: Set the ExpectationDuring your first call, meeting, or interaction with a new client, you want to set the expectation that you’re going to be asking for a small favor in the future.

As soon as you close down a new client, you should immediately segue the conversation by saying:

“Hey Name, I’m so excited that you’ve decided to invest in yourself and join xyz program. Now, I’m committed to helping you achieve your goals and we’re going to work together over the coming months to make sure you do just that. But before we get into the [coaching call, fitness consultation, etc.], I want to ask…If I help you achieve your goals, will you be willing to do me a small favor to help me reach mine?”

And leave it at that.

If they ask for specifics, simply redirect the conversation by saying, “We’ll talk about that after I’ve helped you achieve the outcome you’re after, but for now, let’s get into [your coaching call, first day of training, etc.]”

Step 2: MEET the ExpectationOnce you’ve set the expectation, the next step in the referral machine system is to meet the expectation that has been set, typically over a 6-8-week timeline.

If you’re a fitness coach, this means helping your new client lose fat or gain muscle.

If you’re a business coach, this means helping your client make more money or spend fewer hours in the office.

If you’re a relationship coach, this means helping your client reduce conflicts in their marriage, have a more fulfilling sex life, or simply learning to communicate more effectively with their partner.

Whatever you promised your client during your first conversation, deliver on that promise.

When you can step into a client’s life and help them solve their biggest problems with speed and efficiency, they won’t hesitate for a second when you ask them to refer a friend or family member to your business.

Step 3: ASK for the ReferralOnce you have set and met your client’s expectation, the next step is to ASK for the referral.

And this is where most entrepreneurs get it wrong…

Sure, they might ask for a referral, but they do it in the wrong way. They don’t make a concrete request or provide done-for-you solutions that make it easy for client’s to make referrals.

They’ll say something like, “Do you know anyone who would be a good fit for my business?… Yes? Great! Please connect me with them sometime.”

To succeed at the game of business and create money out of “thin air” you have to do better than that.

You want to give your clients word-for-word scripts and, if possible, get them to make the introduction on the spot, or, at the very least commit to a specific day when they will make a referral.

To do this, you’re going to use a script like this:

“Hey, client name. So you remember a few months ago when we first started working together how I said that I would help you achieve your goals if you helped me achieve mine?

Well, we’ve been working together for 10 weeks, and so far you’ve, [lost 10 lbs. of fat, increased your income 15%, doubled the number of date nights you take with your wife].

And I would really appreciate it if you could connect me with any friends or family members who you think could benefit from my services…Can you do that for me?”

At this point, they will almost always say yes, after which you will respond:

“Great! So here’s what I would like you to do. First, can you write down the names and numbers of two-three people who you think I could help and then, would you mind sending a quick text introduction to them sharing who I am, what I’ve helped you do, and why you think we should work together?”

If your business is done virtually and you don’t meet with clients face to face, you can ask these same questions via text, email, or direct message and then send them a script like the one I use in my business:

Hey Joey,

I want to introduce you to my coach Craig Ballantyne.

Craig has helped me double my income in the past six months while working 10 fewer hours a week and making more time to spend with Rosa and the kids.

Craig, meet Joey.

Joey is a former co-worker of mine who told me that he needs help scaling his business beyond six-figures without putting in crazy work weeks.

I’ll let you two take it from here.

Sincerely,

Rob

If you do nothing else other than implementing these proven scripts into your business, I promise you can increase your revenue by 15-20% in the next 12-weeks alone.

Referrals are by far one of the most powerful hidden sources of profit in your business and now…you know how to use them like an 8-figure Empire Builder.

2. Remember – The Money is in the Follow-UpWhat if I told you that you could generate 20% more revenue in your business this week, without:

· Investing in expensive marketing campaigns

· Buying media

· Hiring a PR agency or out-of-house marketing team

· Or spending any more money on your business than you do right now?

Well, you can.

In fact, using this “Monster Follow Up” strategy, I’ve helped clients more than double their conversion rate, quite literally, overnight.

The premise is simple.

Most entrepreneurs are terrible at follow-up.

When a new lead hits their inbox, they will message them once and, maybe, if they’re experienced two or three times.

Listen, lazy follow-up does not work in 2023.

People are busy. They have mortgages to pay, kids to raise, businesses to run, and thousands of tiny distractions diluting their attention.

If you are not intentional and aggressive with your follow-up, you won’t even appear on their radar and they’ll forget all about you in a matter of weeks.

Remember, your goal here is to generate fash cash. Success loves speed, and delay kills dreams.

So here’s what you’re going to do…

The second a new lead comes into your business, you or one of your team members will immediately follow up with a phone call. If they don’t answer, you’ll send them a text message. If they don’t respond to that, you’ll find them on Facebook and send them a message there. And if that doesn’t work, then you’re going to hunt them down on Instagram and send them another direct message.

I know this might sound like overkill, but you need to remember…

These people came to your business because they have a problem. There is something in their life that isn’t working and you have the solution.

If you had a close friend with a serious medical condition and you knew of a new treatment guaranteed to help them fix their health, would you just send them one text and hope for the best?

Of course not! You’d beat down their door if you had to and you wouldn’t stop until you got ahold of them and helped them solve their problem.

If you want to build an empire and leave a lasting legacy, you must treat your clients the same way. The same thing applies if you’re trying to generate fash cash into your business.

And, if you’re still worried about ‘annoying’ your new lead, I want you to re-read that last section…because you aren’t done following up yet.

In fact, you’re going to use that same follow-up formula (phone call, text message, Facebook message, Instagram direct message) for the next three days.

If you will do this, your conversion rate will skyrocket, and you’ll quickly realize just how much money you’ve been leaving on the table.

3. Harden Up—Your OfferAfter working with hundreds of entrepreneurs, I’ve noticed that so many people are trying to sell soft or “unsellable” offers.

Or rather, that they are making their offers unsellable by positioning them in the wrong way.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but people don’t care about your “confidence coaching” or your “mindset program.”

They only care about three things:

Making more money
Changing their body (gain muscle, lose fat, get healthier)
Having more sex (or improving their relationship, which…leads to more sex)

And if you aren’t directly addressing and solving one of these three problems, if you aren’t making hard offers in your business, you aren’t going to make the money you want.

So does this mean that you shouldn’t offer confidence coaching or help people fix their mindsets or get more motivated?

Of course not!

In fact, as a business coach, about 70% of what I do revolves around helping people become more confident, fix their mindset, and get more motivated.

But you can’t sell those things.

You have to sell them on the tangible benefit that will result from those things.

Think about it…

People want to be more motivated so they can…

Make more money
Change their body
Have more sex

People want to fix their mindsets so they can…

Make more money
Change their body
Have more sex

People want to boost their confidence so they can…

Make more money
Change their body
Have more sex

So, by all means, offer those services to your clients. But don’t sell them on those services.

Sell them on what they really want and use those “soft” offers as vehicles to help them arrive to their desired destination.

4. Leverage High Ticket OffersHave you ever met someone who, regardless of what’s being offered, always wants the most expensive and high-end item?

The person who buys name-brand shoes or clothes even when they could spend less while still getting the same quality?

Or the person who would rather spend $35,000 on the highest-end Honda even though a $10,000 barebones vehicle will get them to and from work just as efficiently.

And guess what?

There are people just like that inside your business.

You have customers and prospects who are not only willing to pay top dollar for your highest-tier services…but who actually want to.

They would rather pay you $2,000 a month for direct access to you and your best material than $497 a month for your group coaching program.

They would rather spend $20,000 a year to join your in-person mastermind than spend $35/month for your online alternative.

Identifying customers like this are low-hanging fruit sitting in your database to generate fast cash.

The problem is that most entrepreneurs never give these people a chance to invest more because they’re too scared of going for the sale.

Listen, it’s unlikely that you will sell 85% of your existing clients or prospects on your highest-tier products or services.

But those 15%?

They are willing and eager to invest with you…if you will only give them the opportunity to do so.

On your next sales call or in your next product funnel, I have a challenge for you.

Once the sale is made but before you deliver the first product, ask your prospect a simple question.

“Are you interested in a bigger outcome?”

If they say “Yes,” then you can segue into a pitch for a bigger package and if they say “No,” guess what? You still made the sale and lost nothing.

I’ve used this exact tactic to upsell $5,000 coaching clients into my $20,000/year mastermind and to upsell $20,000/year mastermind members into my $25,000/day 1-on-1 coaching.

It’s worked for me and it will work for you too.

5. The 5-Email “Thank You Sale” SequenceIf you have an email list (which you should) and want to leverage that list to launch a new product and drive immediate cash flow to your business, I’ve developed a simple three-day, five email sequence that has worked like magic.

I’ve personally launched more than 100 products over the course of my career, and some of my absolute best launches came from this simple sequence.

It goes like this:

Email #1: Thank You/PitchIn your first email, you’re going to start by thanking your reader for being a part of your brand and company and mention how grateful you are for their feedback and suggestions over the past few months.

Then, and this is the important part, you’re going to say:

“I wanted to thank you for your suggestions about creating xyz solution and let you know that I took your advice! You asked and today, we’re answering with the launch of xyz product.”

This positions your product as something that your readers have already asked for.

And, when they see a solution as something they requested, they’ll be far more inclined to invest.

After announcing the launch of the new product, inform them that you’re running a short 3-day sale and that the price will never be this low again…so they need to act fast.

Then, after 4-6 hours, you’re going to send another email:

Email #2: Thank You (Again)/Announce Bonuses In your second email, you’re going to thank your readers again and, again, reiterate how they requested a solution, and you created it.

But in this email, you’re going to announce a “Fast Action Bonus” you created to provide even more value…that will only be available for the next 12-24 hours.

The bonus can be anything from a webinar to an extra coaching call with you to an advanced training module that isn’t available to the general public.

Anything that provides extra value and helps them solve their problems faster will do.

This email combats what I call the “stupid human trick” of procrastination and will force your readers to take action now to get the results they want.

Email #3: The Giving Hand/Soft PitchOn day two, you’re going to send a third email, and this time focused on a specific piece of content that will deliver RIA or results in advance.

You want to use this opportunity to showcase your expertise with free content so that your subscribers can get a taste of what the full solution will be like.

Then, at the end of the email, include a soft pitch reminding them of your new product and the fast-approaching deadline.

Email #4: Why they NEED Your ProgramOn day three, you’re going to send two final emails.

The first is simply a list of the 10-15 reasons why your subscribers need to get your course and take action on your offer.

Have fun with this one. Intersperse humorous reasons, (E.g. Craig Ballantyne is the best looking coach in the world) along with serious ones, (e.g. You’re working too many hours and never have enough time to see your wife and kids).

At the end of the email remind them that today is their last day to take action and get access to the program at this price and with the offered bonuses.

And then, send your final email…

Email #5: Final PitchIn your last email, keep things short and sweet.

Simply remind your readers that this is their last opportunity to get your new product at the advertised price and that, at midnight the price will increase and the bonuses will disappear.

There’s no need to get fancy here. Your only goal is to get people off the fence and leverage scarcity to drive those last few sales.

I’ve used this exact sequence with dozens of product launches and every time I do, I’m blown away by the responses.

Swipe and deploy this into your business and I promise you’ll be amazed by how effectively this works.

Are You Ready to Generate Fast Cash?Over to you.

What do you think about these five strategies to generate fast cash? Which one are you going to test first? Have you used any of them before?

Try them out and let me know your results in the comments below.

The post 5 Bulletproof Ways to Generate FAST Cash Out of “Thin Air” appeared first on Early To Rise.

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In today’s episode, Pedro and I discuss the best practices to sustain success as an entrepreneur.

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In the summer of 2019, I was in Germany, Turkey, Georgia (the country!), Armenia, Poland, and London.

I hosted several coaching workshops and helped run a 4-day entrepreneurship camp, delivered seven speeches, hosted a networking event in London, and ran my business back home. Oh, and I did all of this without getting sick, gaining weight, or skipping out on the good stuff.

That’s why one of the most common questions I get from my friends and clients is this…

“Craig. How do you have such high energy levels with your crazy travel schedule and busy life…It seems like you have everything figured out?”

And they’re right, I do.

Now that I’m married to Michelle, have a daughter (and another on the way!) I’ve drastically reduced the amount that I travel.

However, over the past twenty years, I developed an obsession with optimizing my performance and have tested (almost) every strategy under the sun to get more energy and make the most out of every hour of my day.

Along the way, I discovered that becoming an “Entrepreneurial Machine” is a lot simpler than most people think.

You don’t need to take daily B-vitamin IVs, buy an expensive red light therapy device, or ingest a cocktail of un-researched – and incredibly expensive – stimulants.

To get more energy and sustain peak performance during stressful times, you simply need to follow these 8 strategies.

1. Use The #1 Sleep Hack to Double Your Energy Levels When I was in my late 20’s, I hit a wall.

I was working crazy hours in my online business, hitting the gym five days a week, and partying like a madman on the weekends.

And eventually, my hectic and radically misaligned lifestyle caught up with me.

I was exhausted. My creativity dropped, my output decreased, and my ability to GSD and tap into flow all but disappeared.

So I turned to my mentor Mark Ford for guidance.

“Craig,” he said, “You need to start waking up at the same time every single day…even on the weekends.”

I hated that advice. In fact, I ignored him for seven (!) years. But when I finally gave in and took his advice, as simple as it was, it had a profound impact on my life and helped me bounce back from my burnout fast.

Listen…

This is the same top tip you’ll hear from Dr. Matthew Walker in his New York Times best-selling book, Why We Sleep. And as inconvenient as it might sound, your body craves routine and structure and will reward you with better sleep at night and better mental performance in the morning.

But when you have an erratic sleep schedule your circadian rhythm (which impacts your hormonal health, digestion, immune system, and neurochemistry) is thrown off, making low energy, insomnia, sleep deprivation, and burnout all but inevitable.

After taking Mark’s advice, I noticed an immediate improvement in my energy levels. I no longer felt like an “energy vampire” had visited me overnight, and I was more energetic and productive even first thing in the morning.

If you want to increase your energy and cognitive abilities quickly and naturally, start with this.

Wake up at the same time every day for the next 30 days and see how you feel.

If you stay out late or have a night of less than stellar sleep, wake up at the same time anyway. You can make up for your lost sleep with a short nap (more on those later) or by going to bed earlier the next day.

2. The 4-7-8 “Tranquilizer” Formula to Beat Insomnia and Get the Best Sleep of Your Life When struggling with chronic anxiety attacks years ago, I accidentally stumbled across a simple breathing exercise from Dr. Andrew Weil that works like magic to combat insomnia and help you fall asleep fast.

I recently shared this strategy with my former editor, a young man named Austin who was struggling to “turn off” at the end of the night and would toss and turn for hours before falling asleep and this is what he told me:

“Craig, I’ve been tracking my sleep with the Oura Ring you sent me and, after using the technique for a few days, I was able to fall asleep in 20-minutes instead of two hours…it’s scary how well this works!”

Even my pro-athlete clients–who struggle to fall asleep during their season because of the constant cross-country travel–swear by this technique and use it on a daily basis.

I call it the 4-7-8 “Tranquilizer” formula and it goes like this…

Gently breathe in through your nose for 4 seconds
Hold the breath for 7 seconds
Exhale through your mouth, pursing your lips for 8 seconds
Repeat 4 times to calm down or 12-15 times to fall asleep

It might be simple. But I promise you, it works.

3. Take Your Coffee Like a Neuroscientist to Increase All-Day EnergyAlthough it seems like the entire Western economy runs on caffeine, 95% of the population uses it the wrong way.

According to a 2004 study, the conventional model of gulping down a Double Mocha Venti Frappuccino (or four) actually lessens the positive benefits of caffeine while increasing the negative side effects (like anxiety and the jitters).

Luckily, there’s a simple solution.

Instead of “megadosing” with caffeine and consuming 800+ mg in one sitting, consume smaller but more frequent doses (20-200 mg) throughout the day.

This will improve cognitive function and stop you from feeling manic in the morning.

However…

It’s important to remember that the half-life of caffeine (the number of hours it takes for your body to eliminate half the caffeine you’ve consumed) is roughly 5-6 hours depending on your metabolism.

This means that if you drink two cups of coffee (~200 mg caffeine) at 12pm, you will still have 100mg of caffeine in your bloodstream by 6 pm.

To avoid tossing and turning for hours after you go to bed, you must follow my 10-3-2-1-0 formula for perfect sleep and stop consuming caffeine at least 10 hours before bed.

4. Become an “Aquaholic” Without a doubt, water (not coffee) is the best all-natural energy booster on the planet.

Studies have shown that even mild dehydration (less than 3%) can have severe negative impacts on mood, emotional regulation, and cognitive function.

To overcome this problem, I recommend that you immediately drink 1.5 liters of water after waking up (like I do), and consume another 1.5 liters throughout the day to prevent dehydration and ensure optimal performance.

I know this sounds like common sense.

But common sense isn’t always common practice and, as high-performers, our gut reaction is often to ignore the basics while looking for “secrets”, “hacks”, and “weird tricks.”

But I can promise you, no weird supplement, biohacking gadget, or bizarre superfood will improve your mood and cognition as much as proper hydration.

So before you try anything else, commit to drinking at least 3-4 liters of water every day for at least 7 days and see how you feel.

For those of you can’t remember to drink water throughout the day, bite the bullet and invest in a “smart” water bottle (like this one) that will remind you to stay hydrated throughout the day.

If you haven’t already made a conscious effort to drink plenty of water and stay hyper hydrated, you’ll be amazed by how profound of an effect this simple habit will have.

5. Get a Natural Energy Boost with the “Steve Jobs” Food Rule We’ve all experienced the dreaded “afternoon slump.”

You know what I’m talking about…

You wake up full of energy, excited, and ready to take on the day. Things are going great for a few hours…and then you get to lunchtime.

After your midday meal, you find yourself cranky, fatigued, and incapable of sustaining focus for more than a few minutes. And just like that…the rest of your day is ruined.

Luckily it doesn’t have to stay this way.

To beat the afternoon blues and maintain consistent energy levels throughout the day, I encourage you to do three things.

Skip breakfast or opt for a meal that is high fat/protein low carb
Eat a high protein and relatively low carb lunch
And eat the same meals for breakfast and lunch every day

I know this might seem boring, but it’s one of the most effective strategies I’ve found to sustain high energy levels all day.

Just like Steve Jobs wore the same black-turtleneck-and-jeans outfit for every Apple event (because it eliminated decision fatigue and any unnecessary wardrobe malfunctions), having a go-to food routine for your workday delivers consistent high-performance.

By avoiding simple carbohydrates found in processed foods (which cause extreme fluctuations in your blood sugar levels and play havoc with your mental alertness) and eating the same thing every day, you will save time–because you don’t have to think about what to eat and can prepare your meals in bulk–and create consistent energy levels all day long.

Experiment with different options to find what works for you. But once you find it, stick to it.

Your life will be simpler, easier, and more energetic because of it.

6. Take a “SuperNap” Using this Weird New TechnologyIt should come as no surprise that some of the world’s most successful companies, like Google and Nike, have “nap pods” in the office for employees to sleep on the job. Research has found that a single 26-minute nap can improve mental performance.

That’s not an excuse for you to skip sleep at night and then nap at work because, when it comes to improving your energy levels and increasing productivity, nothing beats getting 7-9 hours of high-quality sleep every night.

But unfortunately getting a full 8 hours isn’t always practical (especially if you’re committed to waking up at the same time every day, or if you travel across time zones as much as I do).

On those days when you’re running on empty and struggling to make it through the day, a well-timed nap can help you quickly bounce back, boost your energy, and dominate the rest of your day.

However, there is another tool that you can use to get even more out of your rest and speed up your recovery.

It’s called brainwave entrainment and uses soundtracks known as “binaural beats” to force your brain into a certain wave state.

While I won’t dive deep into the science (you can check that out here if you’re interested), binaural beats have been well researched and proven to cause numerous cognitive benefits from:

Decreased anxiety
Improved focus and attention
Improved memory
Pain reduction
Improved sleep quality

And a whole lot more.

By listening to a theta wave soundtrack (like this one) you can help your brain “tune in” to a more relaxing frequency, making your naps that much more restorative.

They’re free, easy to use, and work like a charm. Give them a try the next time you feel yourself nodding off and see what you think.

7. To Hustle Harder, Hustle Less The human body was not designed to hustle-and-grind for 12+ hours a day.

Your brain, like the other muscles in your body, becomes fatigued after prolonged periods of use. And because of the energy required to sustain long periods of intense focus (your brain consumes 20% of your body’s calories), long hours behind your desk can leave you mentally and physically exhausted.

The problem is that most entrepreneurs try to “power through” these natural energy slumps, believing that taking an hour-long lunch break or dipping away for a quick nap makes them “lazy” or “weak.”

However, according to the research, frequent small breaks every 60-90 minutes and at least one one-hour break each day can increase your productivity upwards of 20%.

If you’re feeling tired and can’t focus on the work in front of you…don’t fight it. Step away, get some water, walk outside, or grab another cup of coffee and come back to your work when you feel rested and ready to re-engage.

8. Create an Energy-Boosting Workout Program Let me share one of my more “controversial” opinions…

I believe that most entrepreneurs exercise way too much.

Listen…

Unless your business depends on you having a year-round 6-pack and 20” guns, there’s no reason to spend 60-90 minutes a day lifting weights or, god forbid, doing cardio.

You only have so much energy to give every day, when you spend too much time in the gym, you are stealing that energy away from your work.

Let me be clear. You absolutely should exercise every week. And I encourage all aspiring peak-performers to get in three intense weight lifting workouts each week.

But don’t train hard every day.

Instead, train hard three times a week and fill your other days with light walking or yoga. I promise you’ll be more energetic and productive if you do.

#Want to take your performance and productivity even further? Then click here to get access to my 90-Day “Reality Maker” Blueprint.

The “secret weapon” I give to my $25k/day coaching clients to help them compress time and achieve 12 months of work in only 12 weeks.

I’ll teach you exactly how to reverse engineer your biggest goals, eradicate the obstacles standing in your way, and create your dream life 10X faster than you currently believe possible.

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In the past few months I’ve had over 100 coaching conversations via email, phone calls and texts with entrepreneurs & business owners.

Most of these conversations end up being around dealing with emotions… strained relationships… putting out fires… dealing with unhappy clients or customers… not being able to find enough reliable help, etc.

I like to categorize these conversations as “panic mode” — where it feels like everything is crumbling and you won’t be able to save it.

Research has shown that entrepreneurs suffer more from depression, stress and severe anxiety.

We are always in this heightened state of fear, stress and self-sabotage

I get it.

I’ve been there.

Yes, I’m a Coach. But I’m also a business owner myself.

I’ve been through about every setback imaginable in my career so far:

Nasty lawsuits
Product launches that bombed
Betrayed by former business partners
Had a trusted manager leave and steal clients
Had to shut down an underperforming business
Spent over 2 years living on the road without a real home

There were many times that I wanted to quit.

I wanted to take the easy way out and blame everyone else.

I questioned if I had what it took to be an entrepreneur.

I turned to alcohol and other vices to deal with the stress and pain.

Perhaps some of this sounds familiar to you.

On a given day you can be on the highest of highs, and 2 hours later you can be on the lowest of lows.

It’s the equivalent of being on a wild roller coaster ride on an hourly / daily basis.

But successful entrepreneurs are those that can…

Deal with the emotions…

Not let one bad day turn into 2 bad days…

Find solutions instead of searching for more excuses…

And perhaps most importantly follow these 3 C’s

Control What You Can (emotions, actions, perspective, attitude, etc.)
Cope With What You Can’t (other’s actions, outside noise, unexpected events, etc.)
Concentrate On What Counts (how you handle adversity)

One of the greatest pieces of advice Craig ever gave me was this:

“Never get too high when things are going well, and never get too low when things are going poorly”

This allows you to keep your emotions in check and be able to stay calm and level-headed during both the high times and the low times of this wild roller coaster ride.

I know this isn’t as tactical as some of our other advice. But I felt it needed to be said based on recent client conversations.

You must accept that sometimes this entrepreneur life gets hard.

The solution…

Stay grounded.

Keep your emotions in check.

Remember your long-term vision (your Big Why)

Lean on your support system to help you get through the tough times.

And you’ll keep moving forward and gaining wins with this crazy game of entrepreneurship

This was on my heart to share with you this week.

Coach Daniel Woodrum
Head Coach, Early To Rise

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In today’s episode, Rob Hanly and I discuss the best tips to stay motivated and avoid burnout as an entrepreneur.

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Over the past month we’ve been creating a new program we will be selling starting next week (you’ll get free access to it as a client!).

It’s called the Profit Maximizer Program.

The program includes 14 Profit Maximizer Strategies that any business can implement to earn more profits in their business.

They are all simple yet extremely effective strategies that most business owners don’t leverage. We tend to always chase the shiny objects of the latest and greatest new software, tech, funnels, FB ads, etc.

But the truth is most of us are leaving money on the table in our business from neglecting simple strategies that have stood the test of time.

One of the strategies in the program is an Expense Audit every month and see where you can cut down (or cut out) expenses in your business.

Cutting expenses is one of the easiest and most effective ways to increase the profits in your business.

Expense Audit Steps

1) Run expense report at the end of each month and print it out.

2) Go through all the expenses and highlight any expenses that are unnecessary or that you don’t know what the expense is

3) Determine if you can cut or eliminate those expenses moving forward to save money

It’s not rocket science and it’s super simple. The problem is most of us don’t ever take the time to look at our expenses.

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure”

There are a few other easy ways to cut expenses in your business:

1) Cut employees or team members that are underperforming.

I just had a coaching client who fired 130k salaried sales rep who was not producing. I tried to get my client to fire him 6 months earlier, but he waited longer than he should. He did recently let that sales rep go and is now saving 130k. STOP paying someone who is not producing for you.

2) Renegotiate Your Lease

If you happen to lease a space for your business, see if you can renegotiate your terms. I did this in my gym business about 2 years ago and got my monthly rent cut in half (YES, in half) simply by reaching out to my landlord and reworking our terms. It never hurts to ask, and you just have to find creative ways to renegotiate.

By renegotiating my lease, we are able to save 38k per year simple by me reaching out to the landlord with a renegotiation proposal.

3) Cut Services You Don’t Use

I can almost guarantee you that there are services (software, apps, tech) that you are still paying for that you never use anymore. Cut those expenses out immediately. Why would you pay for things you don’t use anymore. Stop hanging on to those expenses because you “might need it one day”. Just cut them out and you can always pay for them again WHEN you need them.

Those “small” expenses add up over time. If you were able to cut 3 services at $97 monthly that would save you $3,392 in a year.

These are just 3 simple ways to cut expenses in your business and being intentional about doing a monthly expense audit to earn more profits in your business.

As one of my mentors always says, “Revenue Feeds the Ego, Profits Feed the Family.”

Daniel Woodrum
Early To Rise, Head Coach

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In today’s episode, I discuss the biggest secrets on how to scale your business while still having a life.

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In today’s episode, Joe Polish and I discuss the top networking secrets and his book “What’s in it For Them” book.

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If you get too much email and you want to get to inbox zero, this will help.

In the last few weeks I’ve received variations of this question from several clients…

“Craig, my inbox is so slammed with emails that I forget to reply to people and I drop the ball on projects… But you always get back to me… quickly… how the heck do you do it?”

I use a multi-step plan that highly depends on sending as few emails as possible.

A key lesson: Your output results in your input.

If you send a lot of emails, you’ll get a lot of emails. One step to fixing this is replying less.

But there are many things to do…

Turn these action items into email habits and you’ll soon make more time for what matters.

a) Do NOT reply to a dead thread

Stop saying “you’re welcome” when someone says “thank you”

Be ruthless with fewer replies. This is the #1 change you must make.

b) Treat email like a fax…

Imagine you had to get up, walk over to a fax machine, and send your email… you’d send less.

Count to 10 before you press send…Is it really worth it?

c) Put all non-urgent emails into a “Friday folder”…

Then check it Friday… by then most of these emails will not be worth replying to

So you don’t have to! Problem solved.

d) Unsubscribe from as many newsletters, alerts, etc.

And have all receipts etc go automatically to another admin email or specific folder. This keeps your inbox clear.

e) Manage What’s Measured
Use screen time or other app (like Rescue time) to monitor how much time you spend in your email and work to reduce that each week

Pro Tip: Get accountability from your coach!

f) The Ludicrous Tip: Rollll Up
When replying to someone who has sent multiple emails… roll up all of your answers into one email rather than replying individually… Also, save your reply in a draft and send one email at end of day before logging off rather than multiple emails throughout the day

g) Play a Status Game
Make it publicly known that you are too busy for email, and that people should send you fewer but longer emails, and that if you don’t reply it’s not because you didn’t see the email but because there was no reason for you to reply

h) Use NNTR – no need to reply

Start putting NNTR at the end of emails to stop the email chain The first time you use it add the definition beside it.

i) When “scheduling” a time to talk

If you want to have a call with someone, do NOT ask them “what time works for you?” Instead, ask them to send 5 specific times and days that work for them, or send them to your calendar link, or send them 3-5 specific times that work for you

j) Ban “being cc’d”

And use a cattle prod on anyone that unnecessarily cc’s you on an email… And use a cattle stun gun on anyone that continues to cc you on an email chain. Kidding!

There’s nothing worse in Email-Land than getting 6 follow up emails from someone after I have introduced them to another person. Just take me off the thread for the love of God, haha!

k) Cue Up Emails for Later

I almost forgot this tip…I schedule most of my emails to go out at a time when I know the other person will be offline. That way the recipient won’t immediately send back a reactionary reply.

Sometimes I do the reverse… scheduling the email for when I’m not online… so if the person does reply immediately, I won’t see it. I just choose whichever is most convenient for me.

L) Train someone to be you

My assistant Lynda has access to my email… she can go in and sort my emails (she knows where to put them based on priority)… she moves my client emails (without reading the confidential material)… she can reply to admin emails… she can delete the junk that manages to get through

I’m boring and Lynda is a trusted ally… there’s no risk to me in giving her email access. If you don’t feel that way about putting someone in charge of your email, something needs to change.

Bottom Line:

Your inbox is your responsibility. If you get a lot of email it’s because you ask for it! If you want fewer emails, then implement as many of these tips as possible. And if you want to tell me a reason why these tips won’t work… fine… but stop complaining about how much email you get.

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In today’s episode, I discuss the top 17 hacks on how I made more money in my business.

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In today’s episode, Steven Mcbee and I discuss his life and experience being on Joe Millionaire.

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In today’s episode, I discuss how I found my wife using this 90-day plan.

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In today’s episode, Emily and I discuss the best strategies to living out a fulfilling life.

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In today’s episode, Sam and I discuss how he transformed his life to become a millionaire entrepreneur.

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In today’s episode, I discuss the best ways for entrepreneurs to develop the proper skills that will enable them to scale.

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In today’s episode, Dan and I discuss the best ways to use your time to be the most productive.

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In today’s episode, I discuss how super successful people plan out their year.

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In today’s episode, I discuss the best social media marketing strategies for 2023.

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In today’s episode, I discuss my business predictions for next year.

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In today’s episode, I discuss the best ways to be productive as a busy dad.

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In today’s episode, Stacey Copas and I discuss the best strategies to stop drinking alcohol.

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In today's episode, I discuss the best ways to sustain long term success as a Entrepreneur.

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In today's episode, I discuss the best strategies to help most efficiently use your time as a busy dad.

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In today's episode, I discuss the best strategies to help most efficiently use your time as a busy dad.

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In today's episode, I discuss with social media influencer Charlie Johnson about the best ways to master productivity as a millionaire Entrepreneur.

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In today's episode, I discuss with Zack and Gino about how to perfect your daily routine to become a high performing Entrepreneur.

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In today's episode, I discuss the best routine you can use as a busy father to remain productive with your business.

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In today's episode, Kyle Elliott and I discuss the best strategies you can use for your social media in 2023.

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In today's episode, Coach Gavin and I discuss the biggest mindset secrets of successful people.

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In today's episode, I discuss the biggest things I've learned while living in Cancun for the past year.

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In today's episode, I discuss the most controversial time management secrets that most millionaires won't share with you.

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In today's episode, Coaches Gavin and Daniel discuss the best tips to having a Millionaire mindset in 2022.

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In today's episode, we discuss how to grow your wealth during the 2022 recession.

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In today's episode, I discuss the best side hustles to start during the recession this year.

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In today's episode, I discuss the best practices to figuring out what you want to do with your life.

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In today's episode, I discuss Warren Buffett's biggest productivity hacks for entrepreneurs in 2022.

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In today's episode, I discuss the biggest advantages I've learned about living in Mexico.

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In today's episode, I discuss Elon Musk's billionaire morning routine, and what allows him to have so much free time even with his extremely busy schedule.

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In today's episode, Gavin and I discuss the exact mindset and discipline it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.

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In today's episode, I discuss the best ways to manage your time and get the most out of your day.

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In today's episode, I discuss the best ways to maintain a healthy relationship and stay strict on your self discipline.

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In today's episode, Daniel and I discuss the best leadership qualities for entrepreneurs in 2022.

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In today's episode, Adrian and I discuss how you can best utilize LinkedIn to help generate leads for your business.

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In today's episode, Rob and I discuss the best strategies to help you stay recession proof.

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In today's episode, Vince and I discuss the best strategies you can use to elevate your business while still being a busy father..

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In today's episode, I discuss the 7 facts that I know to be 100% true about success. .

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In today's episode, I discuss the 7 secrets to having millionaire level productivity. .

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In today's episode, I share the biggest tips on how to beat performance anxiety.

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In today's episode, I discuss the biggest life lessons I’ve learned from my wife and daughter.

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In today's episode, I discuss the secrets to attain success in anything with Jim Rome.

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In today's episode, I show you the 7 primary success habits that made me the most money as an entrepreneur.

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In today's episode, I show you the best ways to beat procrastination and stay disciplined in 2022.

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In today's episode, Daniel and I discuss the best ways to work alongside your wife as an Entrepreneur.

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In today's episode, Mike Zeller and I explore the best way find and capture your genius in 2022

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In today's episode, Anne Laguzza and I explore the ways to become a high performer at work and improve leadership.

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Millionaire's Secret To Success is Doing Less and Reading Books

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In today's episode, Thomas Douglas explains to us the truths behind cyber security in 2022.

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In today's episode, Jason and I discuss the best business and mindset hacks for you to have in 2022.

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In today's episode, Daniel and I discuss the best methods for being more productive as a parent in 2022.

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In today's episode, Vikram Raya and I discuss the best methods for achieving your goals faster in 2022.

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In today's episode, Michelle and I dive deeper into why we decided to move from Canada to Mexico.

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In today's episode, Cole and I discuss the best strategies to scale a 7-figure business.

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In today's episode, Michelle and I discuss why we made the decision to move from Canada to Mexico in 2022.

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In today's episode, Bryce Henson and I discuss the best ways to improve your leadership as a CEO

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In today's episode, I give you the most important hacks on lessening your workload while increasing your income.

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In today's episode, Kary Oberbrunner and I discuss the best strategies on how to make more money selling books in 2022

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In today's episode, we discuss the best strategies to grow your millionaire mindset in 2022.

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In today's episode, we discuss the different ways small business owners can get help through their taxes from the federal government.

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In today’s episode, we discuss the best strategies to use in order to stop drinking in 2022.

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In today’s episode, we discuss the best and most productive ways to manage your time going into 2022.

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In today’s episode, Dr. Gabrielle Lyon and I discuss the best nutrition tips to help you maintain high performance.

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In today’s episode, we discuss how to establish a 90 day plan to reach your business goals.

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In today’s episode, we discuss the habits of highly successful people.

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In today’s episode, Rachel and I discuss how to build generational wealth for your family.

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Whether you are a tech nerd or not, you can’t fail with a Windscribe review. The computer software combines an online interface using a mobile software to give you all the information you need about the system. This includes the amount of servers in a city, their particular connection rates, and more. In addition, it comes with useful information how good is windscribe on how to hook up to those computers. In addition , Windscribe’s app allows you to add locations to your favs list and simply navigate through the list.

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Norton avast vs malwarebytes AntiVirus has been around since 1991 and is created and written by NortonLifeLock. Their features include e-mail unsolicited mail filtering and phishing cover. The software determines viruses using heuristics and signatures to protect your personal computer. The program works with with both Home windows and Mac pc computers. For much more, visit norton. com/antivirus. para: The software was created and distributed by NortonLifeLock. The software program includes phishing and email spam filtering protection. It uses heuristics and signatures to detect viruses.

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Aside from the main antivirus security software feature, Norton also comes with a backup feature. The back-up option enables users to maintain files on the local or network drive. In order to apply online safe-keeping, the user must log into his Norton accounts. It helps multiple backup jobs and allows users to use cloud storage area services such for the reason that Dropbox. Contrary to Kaspersky Total Security, Norton has no on the net storage nevertheless links the Dropbox bank account to secure safe-keeping. To use impair storage, you may install a free file sharing service just like Dropbox.

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Board mins are a record of the proceedings of a board meeting. These records retain the agreed decisions made throughout the meeting, and are generally known as notices, protocols, experiencing minutes, or minutes of meetings. These documents is surely an important tool to help the work of an board. Without these documents, a board cannot function efficiently. Therefore , they have to be properly drafted and kept up to date. This article will discuss why panel and panel members should keep their particular board and committees’ meetings’ mins.

There is no standardized way to compile aboard minutes. As long as the mins are written by a mother board member who’s not privy to confidential details, the moments should be appropriate. However , some guidelines can be used to make the process more efficient. First of all, the board admin should be a voting member of the corporation. In this way, they are very likely to know what was discussed at the gatherings. Second, they should include information regarding the panel members’ conversations, such as virtually any presentations. Third, board paid members should have someone who is not privy to delicate information browse the minutes before the next meeting.

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In today’s episode, Daniel and I discuss how to become a successful entrepreneur and still be a great dad.

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A digital craft blog is a great tool with regards to an incoming new dealer who wants to get hold of some inside information by https://mydigitaltradeblog.com/best-portable-music-players/ efficient resources just like government agencies, fellow workers and third party authorities so, who specialize around the forex market. These kinds of resources will often offer some insight concerning how the digital forex market performs and what it’s information about from the point of view belonging to the technical speculator. You may want to see the digital forex trading companies are affected by recent events, for example, the the latest GFC (Global Financial Recession) or the result of the European debt unexpected and how this will affect the forex market. This can help is made a much more informed decision when it comes to the currencies a person trades in.

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There are many different photo editing courses available for you to work with on the Mac, COMPUTER, and even your iPhone. Every single one has its advantages and disadvantages based on your needs simply because an specialit. I decided to this article hoping of supplying some perception as to what every program is certainly, and inevitably which one I would suggest to those getting started. Hopefully you can make an qualified decision and not make the wrong choice when it comes down to which usually program you need to use.

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When you have arrive to the decision to showcase online using a free web marketing strategy such as a geschaeftsmarketingstrategie, then it is very important that you are able to create as many other ways as possible to enhance your website. When it comes to doing similar to promoting your web site with a geschaeftsmarketingstrategy, there are many different things that you can do in order to make sure you are able to get the most coverage for each and every and every ads that you offered on your web page. In this article you’ll be taking a look at a number of different things you should consider in so that it will be able to put together as many distinct methods as possible to enhance your website effortlessly.

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“CC Cleanser Review” may be a new application by Krome that provides precisely the same https://dieenergethiker.com/how-to-crack-fortnite-accounts-3-possible-ways higher level of CCleaner which was used by Krome to clean their own systems. The CCleaner method is not a disease or spyware infection, but instead works by scanning the hard drive for any viruses or other parasitic organisms that have inlayed themselves in it. When detected, it will probably remove the unnecessary items then schedule foreseeable future scans to hold this vicious data through your computer forever. Unlike many other similar programs, CC Better does not set up any sort of application or program that will destruction your system. Instead, it will clean your entire program, which will include repairing any files or perhaps folders which may be corrupted too.

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In today’s episode, Matt and I discuss how professional athletes apply what they learn from sports into Entrepreneurship.

The post 246 – High Performance Secrets of Professional Athletes and Executives with Matt Nichol appeared first on Early To Rise.

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3 is the BIG one!

1: Top digital entrepreneurs set clear goals and priorities and regularly review and adjust them.The best-performing digital entrepreneurs establish clear objectives, priorities and make a game plan going into each week.

2: Top digital entrepreneurs focus on the right KPIs.Today, it’s easy to obtain a lot of data. In fact, we’re flooded with so much data that it’s essential for digital entrepreneurs to learn WHAT data truly matters.

3: They are skilled in digital marketing and leverage various digital channels to reach their target audience.Many digital entrepreneurs start off as “one-trick ponies,” in other words, they specialize in one particular area of traffic generation.

4: They are lifelong learners and continuously seek new knowledge and skills.It’s tough to learn a new skill, especially in the digital marketing world. Who do you listen to?

5: They network and build strong relationships with other digital entrepreneurs.This habit ties closely with #4.

7: They delegate tasks and responsibilities to their team.Successful digital entrepreneurs know their hourly rate of pay. They know when a task is a $10-an-hour task and they should pass it off to someone on their team.

8: They are resilient and can bounce back from setbacks and failures.If you’ve been a digital entrepreneur for any amount of time, you’ve likely dealt with the heart-sinking feeling of losing your web traffic.

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