What This 7-Figure Entrepreneur Really Thinks About God, Success, and Letting Go of Control8/11/2020 Pedro Adao spent half his life trying to win his father’s approval. As a kid, he only experienced “tough love.” His father worried about making sure Pedro ended up successful, but that meant criticizing him at every turn. A B+ wasn’t good enough on a math test. He needed to get an A. Having a steady job wasn’t good enough. He needed to make six figures.
So, trying to fill the heart wound left by his father, Pedro started a career in financial services. Watch any movie about Wall Street, and you know the financial services industry is full of cut-throat strategies and high-performance goals. Pedro even began investing in real estate on the side. His only motivation was to be more and more successful… except more was never enough. He made some risky investments and eventually ended up $3 million in debt. The bottom fell out. Do you know why? It was because Pedro was suffering from heart wounds.
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Miriam Schulman’s art career DOES NOT look like your typical artist's. Most artists abandon their art careers for good-paying jobs that pay the bills. Miriam, however, left a six-figure job writing software for Wall Street hedge funds to pursue her passion for painting. She realized there wasn’t a purpose to her finance work. What was the point helping hedge fund managers buy golf courses and vineyards on the West Coast? So, after having her world shaken by 9-11, Miriam REJECTED the starving artist narrative and EMBRACED her dream of becoming a full-time artist. She's achieved her goal, and now she makes six-figures a year doing what she loves. I bet you’re wondering how you can do that, too, Startup Nation. You want to pursue your dreams full-time, whether it’s coaching, training, or art. Here are three tips for escaping the starving artist mindset. 1. Learn how to sell When Miriam first launched her art business, she was taking pilates classes at a local studio. The owner offered a class that taught students how to sell pilates training packages to other people. Miriam took the sales class, but it wasn’t long until she realized she needed to be selling artwork, not pilates. But that sales training was invaluable. Startup Nation, if you’re going to be an entrepreneur, you need to know how to sell. No offense artists, but you’re notorious for being ineffective sellers. Look, you don’t need to put on a suit and hang around used car lots, but you need to know how to get your products in front of the right people. Take an online sales course. Read sales books. If you’re going to make six-figures, you MUST LEARN HOW TO SELL. 2. Embrace technology Brick-and-mortar stores are no longer at the top of the sales pyramid. The market was already moving toward online sales before COVID-19 pandemic, but now it’s no question that most Americans buy their products through the Internet. This means that having a website and online store is NOT AN OPTION. Learn the tools and programs that will help your business grow. These might include ClickFunnels, SquareSpace, Stripe, Ebay, Amazon, Etsy and hundreds of other programs that empower regular business owners to set up an online store and SELL. Putting your art in a local gallery and hoping for $100,000 is not a smart way to run an art business in 2020. Learn how to use technology. 3. Don’t Nickel and Dime Yourself Too many art businesses refuse to invest in themselves. Art business owners would rather spend five hours finding a complicated workaround for a website store instead of paying $15 a month for the premium package. Is your time so worthless ($3/hr) that you’d waste five hours instead of paying a small monthly fee? This mindset is part of the starving artist narrative. Money is so tight that you’re AFRAID to spend money. Starving artists can only focus on the present, paying next month’s rent, and making the next sale. But successful artists invest in both tools and people who will help them scale their businesses. Spend your money wisely to streamline your sales processes. Invest in tools that free you to focus on the very reason you started your business: ART. KEY TAKEAWAY: Most artists fail to create a full-time business because they adopt a starving artist mindset. Escape that trap by learning to sell, embracing technology, and spending money on efficient tools and systems. Has the global pandemic got you feeling ANXIOUS and STRESSED? Do you wish you had freedom, the ability to live a normal life just like everyone else?
I have a solution to anxiety, and it only takes 5 minutes. It’s my 5-MINUTE Anxiety Reduction Method™. Experience a normal life with the fastest anxiety reduction and reversal method EVER. Reduce fatigue, release stress, and pain, & improve your mood. It’s worked for my coaching clients. It will work for you, too. Before becoming a successful coach for Christian women, Cherlyn Decker lived your typical, hectic corporate life. As a mother, she felt guilty for not spending enough time with kids. She felt that her company job left her unfulfilled, and she was embarrassed to admit that she was afraid to leave her cushy salary and benefits.
Cherlyn kept the inner mess hidden from her friends and family. But then she was laid off, and quickly hit rock bottom. She lost the security she held so tightly before. She spent weeks at home wondering what in the world she was going to do. One day after being laid off, she was laying on the couch reading a coaching book. Her husband came in and said, “You know, you should do that.” All of a sudden, Cherlyn was struck with a renewed sense of purpose. Coaching WAS what she was supposed to do. The thing that was keepin her back was HER and HER FEARS. She was afraid of the “no,” the unanswered phone calls and rejections. So, Cherlyn started sharing her story. She opened her mess up to the world. Not only did she share her mess, she shared how God was leading her out of her mess. And people responded. Now she’s running a successful coaching business for Christian women. But looking back on that time, Cherlyn sees how that period of waiting changed her. God transformed her through the layoff. She couldn’t have started her new business without slowing down and listening for the truth. Read on for Cherlyn’s top three tips for waiting on God, and how YOU can make the most of a season of rest. Joe Condit is a successful serial entrepreneur and the founder of CatholicSpeakers.com. He shared with me his top three tips for conquering hardship.
1. Don’t Lose Focus on What’s Important. Money can be stolen and public opinion can change overnight. Neither fortune nor fame lasts forever. Instead, faith is what lasts and carries you through the valleys of life. One of life’s strongest temptations is to lose focus on faith when times are good. When we’re enjoying times of blessing, we become spiritually lazy. We worship God’s blessings instead of God himself. We make money an idol and make ourselves miserable in pursuit. Then when we realize we’re miserable chasing money, we make the mistake of digging even deeper. We say, “Happiness is right there around the corner. I can almost see it.” However, worldly pleasure will never satisfy no matter how much you of it you get. The enemy is going to tempt you with everything he can: sex, porn, drugs, self-centeredness, money, overwork. Don’t believe the lie that “just a little bit more” will be enough. People who focus on God above all have peace. People who focus on money and pleasure do not. True, godly business owners still have as many problems as the next person, but they have peace. When hardship comes, stay calm and don’t lose focus on God. Earlier this year, my wife and I had our first child, a beautiful baby girl named Alora. She’s brought my little family so much joy. There’s no better feeling than holding her in my arms and telling her how much I care about her. But sometimes God brings us the greatest blessings through the hardest trials.
My wife suffered in labor for over 36 hours. I mean it when I say suffered. Every few minutes I would hear her cry out as another contraction pierced her body. There I was in the waiting room, and I felt utterly helpless. My inner control freak was on high alert. I had no idea if my wife or my new daughter would make it through the birth. These were some of the hardest hours of my life. I know what you’re thinking, “Hey Joseph, what about your wife?” True, I can’t imagine the pain she was going through. But that doesn’t change the fact that I was the most scared and helpless I’d ever been. A Conversation with Joseph Warren and Evan CarmichaelWhat if I told you that you are as talented as Michael Jordan?
That’s what Evan Carmichael believes. In fact, Evan has created a huge platform helping entrepreneurs believe in themselves. Maybe you won’t become a basketball star, but deep down, you’re the greatest in the world for something. As Evan says, it’s often not what you went to school for and not what your parents do (or want you to do). Each person has special gifts and God-given talents. Each ENTREPRENEUR has special gifts and God-given talents. The problem is discovering those talents and using them to create a successful, $100K business. To help, Evan provides three questions that EVERY ENTREPRENEUR NEEDS TO ASK THEMSELVES. In 2009, I helped Dr. Alex Osterwalder write Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers. I wasn’t the only “coauthor” though. Dr. Osterwalder invited 470 business people from over 45 countries to contribute to the book.
In short, he crowdsourced the book’s content. It was a win-win. I was happy to help because Dr. Osterwalder gave me a copy and promised to add my name as a contributor. He, of course, was able to have almost 500 people do research by trying out his business strategies in real time. By having his ideal client (business owners) give feedback, he was able to create a popular product. The book went on to become a New York Times bestseller! Are you crowdsourcing your product development, Startup Nation? You don’t have to do product development all on your own. You don’t need $1 million in the bank to start your business. All you need to do is solve your customers’ problems, and they’ll pay you to develop a product that works. Here are three tips for getting your customers to fund your R&D. Why Boldness Isn't Just for Business. How Men Can Rediscover Their Passion for God and Spouse6/23/2020 Grant Cardone, the high-performing, no-nonsense entrepreneur and speaker, says, "I'm going to do anything and everything, remove every boulder, every hurdle and every problem out of my way to make my dreams come true."
As a man, that quote puts a spark in my blood. When I hear talk of overcoming hurdles and problems to achieve something truly meaningful, I’m ready to go. Try it. Picture yourself as the underdog. Your eyes are focused. You wake up early to start making cold calls to get ahead of your competition. When a top prospect says no the first time, you keep pressing. You’re confident that your product is going to solve their main problem. And you make the sale. Business is like a battle. It’s an arena men can enter to achieve success. So many men look up to entrepreneurs like Grant Cardone because he lives out this unapologetic masculinity. Before becoming a world-class book marketer, Vickie Gould was diagnosed with Chronic Lyme Disease. She was bedridden for almost 3.5 years and during so many long, agonizing nights she would cry on the bathroom floor being sad, angry and bitter about the life she thought she had squandered away. What little energy she had, she spent on other people. She was miserable because she constantly denied herself for other people. But Vickie knew this wasn’t the life she wanted. She pushed through her fatigue and fought through recovery. She started her own marketing and writing business where she’s helped over 100 authors publish bestselling books. Have you ever wanted to write a bestseller, Startup Nation? Do you have a story that you think the world must hear? What if you could write that books in eight weeks? Vickie shares how you can do just that by mastering the mindsets and practical steps needed to become a productive, bestselling author. Find accountability Do you believe that someone could write a book in eight weeks? It seems almost impossible. To write a book in 8 weeks, you’ll need to sit down at your desk and write almost every day of the week. That kind of discipline will take a support system to keep you accountable. One way to find accountability is to tell friends and family that you’re writing a book. Ask them to ask you how much you’ve written. A simple, “Are you done yet?” is usually enough to get you back to your computer to write another 1,000 words. A second way to find accountability is to set a deadline. Make it a challenge. Five years to write a book is not a deadline. It’s too much time. There’s no urgency. Instead, choose a deadline that will force you to work at least a little bit everyday. Eight weeks is a great deadline. Six months also works. A little pressure can be an excellent motivator. Find confidence in your reason for writing Too many people never finish their first book because they aren’t confident in themselves. They’re paralyzed by the thought, “Who are you to give your opinions on this topic? Why is your story so important?” Don’t give into the fear, Startup Nation. One way people cope with this doubt is to say, “I’m writing this book to help other people.” That’s a great reason to write. But be careful that you’re not using it as an excuse to shut down your own motivations. In counseling, they call this codependency. In an effort to avoid confronting your own needs, you try helping others. Here’s what you can do to find confidence in your own reason for writing. Take out a pen and paper. Then write down the most selfish reasons why you want to write this book. Do you want to seem important in your business community? Do you want your emotions to be validated by fan mail? Do you want to give meaning to the years of pain you experienced with an abusive family member? Once you get these motivations on paper, you’ll realize that they’re not as selfish as you first thought. You can start writing WITHOUT FEELING GUILTY. Look, if you’re not sold out for what you’re saying in the book, or you’re scared, you may finish your book, but the book won’t go anywhere after it’s done. Find the experiences that make up your story Your book needs to be an experience for the reader. It shouldn't be a collection of interesting facts. It shouldn’t even be an account of your life. Your book must be a portal that readers can enter to see the world through your eyes. Think about Disney’s brand. Disney doesn’t sell movie tickets or theme park passes. They sell experiences. Their ads show happy families sitting on a couch watching one of their movies. They show kids having the times of their lives at Disney World. You can almost feel the water splashing your face at the end of the roller coaster ride. You’re right there throwing your arms around Mickey Mouse with a big smile. Disney knows that people want feel-good experiences, and that people are willing to pay for those experiences over and over again. Don’t believe it? Disney made $78 billion in revenue last year. There’s the proof. So, how do you start to make your book into an experience? Describe the five senses: touch, hearing, sight, smell, and taste. Then describe what you felt during key moments of your story. Were you afraid? Were you angry? Were you overwhelmed with joy? Write scenes so that your readers say, “I felt as though I could almost feel the ____” By telling your story through experience, you’ll create a powerful understanding and empathy with the reader. If you can do that, you will reach bestseller status in no time. Key Takeaway You can write your bestselling book in eight weeks, but you'll need to be confident in yourself and make sure your reader EXPERIENCES the story you tell. Has the global pandemic got you feeling ANXIOUS and STRESSED? Do you wish you had freedom, the ability to live a normal life just like everyone else?
I have a solution to anxiety, and it only takes 5 minutes. It’s my 5-MINUTE Anxiety Reduction Method™. Experience a normal life with the fastest anxiety reduction and reversal method EVER. Reduce fatigue, release stress, and pain, & improve your mood. It’s worked for my coaching clients. It will work for you, too. Michelle Shaeffer claims she became a $100K blogger by accident. Startup Nation, you might be wondering how that’s possible (and how you can do it, too). Here’s what she did.
Michelle had been struggling in her copywriting business for eight years before unlocking the secret of a highly profitable blog. In between client projects, she would hang out on online boards for freelancers and writers. She would ask questions, read responses, and give some of her own advice when she could. |
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About Joseph WarrenJoseph Warren is a Christian Speaker, Podcast Host and Spiritual Coach. Joseph Warren offers Spiritual Coaching to Christian Business Owners who somehow find themselves in a spiritual rut. In just 90 days, he helps them avoid expensive divorces, break free from addiction, restore broken family relationships, and start living their Higher Purpose! Archives
August 2020
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