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Who to emulate?

I must admit reading is addictive! I thank James Altucher and Tai Lopez for talking about how much they read. I heard them talking about reading on their podcasts and was intrigued by how much they learned from reading. As a person who likes to share and help others reading is fuel for my fire. And copying them could lead to their success. So I challenged myself, friends and followers to also read a book or more a week. After all other successful people also read a lot every day including Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. But then I read more and learned more about Gary and his methods of madness .

So emulating Tai and James seems like a logical thing to do to find success. But maybe you don’t like to read but you feel like you should because other successful people do. Here is something to ponder. James Altucher and Tai Lopez read a lot and are both considered successful by many people. Contrast this with the habits of Gary Vaynerchuk who has read less books in his lifetime than Tai and James read in their average week.

So you can’t emulate Tai and Gary or can you? And another contrast appears when you compare Chalene Johnson to Gary Vee. you will notice she doesn’t want people to be all about the hustle but rather to have a great work and life balance and she likes to take off for a month or two at a time. I did hear Gary mention he had a good week or two vacation. I’m wondering if he will start to enjoy less of the grind as his kid grows up a bit. Maybe he will look into Chalene’s methods in the years to come.

Gary doesn’t read so what does he attribute his success to? Well he hustles aka works a lot, works efficiently and knows where to put the effort which he calls “Clouds and Dirt”. But how does he learn and keep a pulse on what works in the advertising world and what startups he should invest in? He says he watches people to see what they are doing, he watches which mobile apps are in the top 150, he reads websites that collate stories. Compare this to James Altucher who tries not to know what is going on by avoiding the news and media and suggests to only read things that have passed the test of time. And James used to be a regular on the cable networks as a guest so he advises to avoid watching the news since he has seen how it is curated. Yet James also invests in startups. If you are trying to replicate success by taking the action of successful people the action you copy will be very different depending on who you emulate. So who or what should you emulate?

So what do you do? Should you emulate all their actions to cover all the bases? Reading lots of newspapers and a book a day like Tai? Maybe avoid books like Gary Vee? Oh wait you can’t do both of those or can you. How are they both so successful with different approaches? I’d like you to consider that each of them just like each of us should do things we enjoy. They find success is doing what they enjoy. I think Gary really enjoys watching people in person and online to learn so much so he said he thought a dad got the wrong impression when he was watching the guys daughter to see what she was doing on her cell phone. He really wants to know which apps and sites people are using. James Altucher says he still knows what is going on in the world because people will tell you about the important things. I can attest to that! I’m betting James learns a good deal from his weekly podcast where he interviews people who surely bring up some of the day to day topics along with the topics for the episode. Oh he interviewed Gary V which I thought was great and now has me putting the Crush It book on my list to read.

Back to who you should emulate. Some of their actions will vibrate with you in a positive way while others feel like a chore. Trying different things that intrigue sounds great. We all will create our own mix of things we do that lead us to success.After all we can’t emulate all of someone else’s actions, doubtful they even know all the things that bring them success.And the chances of us continuing to emulate actions for months and years is tied to how much we enjoy them. Especially if these are things you are doing on the side versus a job. Try many things and see which ones feel the best and resonate with you. So commonly referred to as following your passions or better yet following your bliss.

Creating Content
Lots of people like to learn from podcasts or audiobooks yet I’ve never heard James, Tai or Gary say they listen to a podcast a day. Yet they all produce a podcast a week and Tai put out 4 podcasts on April 13th and probably more snap chats and live broadcasts than that. I know I average listening to more than a podcast a day because I have the time to and I enjoy learning from audio. Now what kind of fame can I get by saying I listen to 3 podcasts a day probably not much since it is rather common. I’d be willing to bet Gary and Tai produce more podcast and audio content than they consume. I reckon they enjoy spending their time creating content more than taking in others content. And I believe their success which many people want to emulate comes from their creating content which is what they enjoy doing in their daily life. I heard Tai say “Social Media should enhance your life”. I hear that and apply it with a much broader brush saying what you do each day should enhance your life. And I suggest what you do the most each day should surely enhance your life! I’m thankful that James Altucher said everyone should do a podcast of their own because right about that time I was told I should stop doing my “business / freedom” podcast and focus on a niche like “autocross”. Hearing James suggest podcasting helped me realize I should keep doing something I enjoy. James also said having a podcast gives you good opportunities to interview a lot of people! Plus it is good practice to interview people for you and yourself. Back to the creating content thought, these people only have a following as well as products to sell because they produce content from: articles, books, podcasts, videos, video programs, newsletters….

A little side note for those of you who listen to podcasts. I agree with Chalene Johnson’s suggestion to focus your listening to podcasts on the subject you are currently learning about or implementing. This has really helped me get momentum to take action on varying tasks from permaculture farming to Facebook advertising. I’ve found it irresistible after learning about all the benefits as well as how to implement a Facebook video ad for example. A random thought for those of you who listen to a lot of podcasts: maybe you can take notes from each of the good ones and put each of the tips in a post like this, blog, or video which will save people time and lead them to great resources. I listen to and recommend the podcasts of all four of these individuals (Chalene Johnson, Gary Vaynerchuk, James Altucher and Tai Lopez). I have contributed to each of them buy buying their books, online courses and attending their conferences and they have contibuted to me. They all give lots of great content for free which is another thing you can emulate if you are looking to follow in their footsteps. I want to thank Cole Hatter for putting together the Thrive event which is where I was introduced to Tai Lopez and Gary Vaynerchuk. I hope Cole gets all four of these speakers for his next Thrive event.

Have a great time finding you bliss! And share your thoughts with us (you will be creating content :).

Kinch Reindl

 

Annette Sloan Interview: A Whole-hearted, Compassionate Health Coaching

Recently, I interviewed Annette Sloan – mind, body and nutrition coach and owner of Whole Hearted (healthyteengirls.com) which specializes in compassionate health coaching for women and teen girls – I met her last 2014 in toast-masters.

She shares with us her journey through achieving nutrition and healthy-living holistically, how she started the business and what inspired her, as well as her challenges and motivations.

Below are some of the notes highlighted to guide you through the podcast:

Annette’s road to being a mind, body and nutrition coach – went to college undecided about what path she wanted to take. She took communication but had a nutrition class – ended up being interested in it.

Shaylene Johnson, the writer of PUSH – spoke about kids and body image. “Never tell your kids they’re fat.”

Parents should be careful about things they say to their kids pertaining weight and body image. Be mindful when you’re around overweight kids.

Family should focus on a healthy lifestyle – make healthy choices, eat healthy food and all things that constitute healthy living in general.

Being healthy vs not eating enough – do I feel good?

Tai Lopez – our genetics may affect our nutrition.

Pay attention with what you feel – what really works for you. Get in touch with your body – listen to your body.

Working with teen girls – focus on girls to establish healthy relationship with food. Work on the areas where they are having problems with like too much focus on healthy eating which may be detrimental to achieving good nutrition.

Binge eating – she started when she was 16, she wasn’t overweight but wanted to lose weight.

Judging everything – what to eat etc

It’s common for adults to compare their plates to other people’s plates – parents should be great examples for their kids.

Mother-daughter dynamic

Shaylene Johnson – I’m not bragging about me, I’m modeling for my kids – so I need to be positive.

If you work out after eating, it keeps your blood sugar to spike.

There are so many factors that affect our body and the way it metabolizes food.

We should not say one is equal to the other.

It’s harder to get empathy when on you are on the opposite side of the spectrum (skinny people)

Nutrition and media – only half of the whole story is being told in the media

There is a connection with the mind and body – we are emotional beings, it’s much more complicated than just following rules on what to eat.

Stress – if we are stressed out, our body metabolizes food less efficiently.

Our DNA has not evolved much.

(Joel Salton) Animals we eat shouldn’t just be healthy – but have to be stress-free.

It’s not hard when you eat healthy because you want to and it makes you feel good nourishing your body with good food.

Wayne Dyer – people assume things are going to be hard but until you do it or accomplished it, you don’t know.

Annette – I was binge-eating because I wasn’t strong enough but it’s not the root – it’s self-compassion, it’s about loving ourselves more.

If it doesn’t work for you, try a different course – pick a different path.

Annette – my own journey was realizing what I’m doing wasn’t working.

The Mindful Athlete (book) – recommended

Annette – the idea is for women and girls to live in the world where they feel they are worthy.

How much time does a woman focus on about weight? About 50 to 80% when they are really struggling.

Do you recommend them cut out media and magazines?

Start focusing on something else so that weight issues start to fade away in the background.

Annette’s book recommendations:

Brene Brown – reasearcher and storyteller

  • Daring Greatly
  • Rising Strong
  • The Gifts of Imperfection

Failure is what stops people from achieving what they potentially can.

Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love) – talk about how he was the biggest proponent of follow your passion but at this point, just follow your curiosity

Learn how to be curious again.

Free download “Overcoming Emotional Eating: A (w)holehearted Guide for Women and Teens” available at www.AnnetteSloan.com

www.annettesloan.com
E-mail: annetteysloan@gmail.com

Resources Annette recommends:

Books
By Marc David: The Slow Down Diet, Nourishing Wisdom
By Brene Brown: The Gifts of Imperfection, Daring Greatly, Rising Strong
By Geneen Roth: Bite By Bite: 7 Guidelines to Break Free from Emotional Eating

Web
Brene Brown’s TED Talks: The Power of Vulnerability and Listening to Shame
Cameron Russell’s TED Talk: Looks Aren’t Everything. Believe Me, I’m a Model.
The Institute for the Psychology of Eating blog

Annette’s ultimate vision: the world in which women and girls feel worthy exactly as they are.

Follow Annette on social media and visit her sites:

healthyteengirls.com

annettesloan.com

www.facebook.com/healthyteengirls

Book Review of Adam Braun’s The Promise of a Pencil

This is my review of Adam Braun’s book The Promise of a Pencil, the captivating story of how a young man turned $25 into more than 320 schools around the world as of December 2015 and the guiding steps anyone can take to lead a purpose-driven life. Below are some of the chapters, key points and quotes that I found very inspirational and in a way, motivated me to do more.

BIG DREAMS START WITH SMALL, UNREASONABLE ACTS

The biggest of dreams often start with small, unreasonable acts. 

The difference between a lunatic and a leader is that only one of them has others who join in his or her pursuit.

Early adopters and evangelists are actually the ones who make a company’s success possible.

PRACTICE HUMILITY OVER HUBRIS

It’s in the moments when you feel most confident that you are most likely to fall flat on your face. 

We learn far more from our mistakes than we do from our successes, and although it nearly cost me my job and my best opportunity to start PoP, he was right to demand nothing short of excellence. I would never make the same mistakes again. 

SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF THE PERSON YOU WANT TO BECOME

Sometimes you know something in your head, and other times you know it in your heart. The mind delivers logic and reason, but the heart is where faith resides. In moments of uncertainty, when you must choose between two paths, allowing yourself to be overcome by either the fear of failure or the dimly lit light of possibility, immerse yourself in the life you would be most proud to live. 

The more we speak in the voice of our most aspirational self, the closer we pull our future into our present.

HAPPINESS IS FOUND IN CELEBRATING OTHERS  

FIND THE IMPOSSIBLE ONES

FOCUS ON ONE PERSON IN EVERY ROOM 

READ THE SIGNS ALONG THE PATH 

Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, has said that an entrepreneur is someone who will “jump off a cliff and assemble an airplane on the way down.” I wasn’t ready to jump yet, but it was time to start looking for airplane parts.

NEVER TAKE NO FROM SOMEONE WHO CAN’T SAY YES

STAY GUIDED BY YOUR VALUES, NOT YOUR NECESSITIES

But nothing is more potent or deceptive than the competing interests of another great opportunity. In those moments when priorities clash, always stay guided by your values, not your perceived necessities. Necessities exist in a state of mind that will not last, whereas values are transcendent and enduring.

YOU CANNOT FAKE AUTHENTICITY

THERE IS ONLY ONE CHANCE AT A FIRST IMPRESSION

The single most wasted resource on earth is human intention. How many times have you wanted to do something but not acted right away and forgotten about it later?

You can only prepare for making the best possible first impression on those new people you’ll meet in the future.

FESS UP TO YOUR FAILURES

“The most powerful thing in the world is an idea whose time has come.”

I personally learned that failure is a necessary step toward achievement. – Adam Braun

 LEARN TO CLOSE THE LOOP

Make the little decisions with your head and the big ones with your heart. Do that, and you’ll be just fine.” – Kevin Roberts, 

CHANGE YOUR WORDS TO CHANGE YOUR WORTH

I wanted to spend my time maximizing purpose rather than profit – Adam Braun

By changing the words you use to describe something, you can change how others perceive it.

 A GOAL REALIZED IS A GOAL DEFINED

 “You have to find a mantra and live it fully. – Adam Braun

 ‘You may be safe, but I am free.’ – unknown

“Hope is not enough. You have to believe, and then it will be so.”  – Justice from Ghana

Rainer Maria Rilke said, “Live not in dreams, but in contemplation of a reality that is perhaps the future.”

“We don’t just want you to support us, we want you to join us.” – Adam Braun of Pencils of promise

Sometimes you just know. With absolute conviction. The complete absence of doubt is so rare it generates a sense of excitement that’s so powerful it becomes shocking.   – Adam Braun of Pencils of promise

I believe in keeping your friends close and your family even closer. – Adam Braun of Pencils of Promise

SURROUND YOURSELF WITH THOSE WHO MAKE YOU BETTER 

Bliss does not come from materials or possessions, it comes from fulfilling one’s purpose in this existence.” – Ray Chambers, 

African proverb states, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” 

VULNERABILITY IS VITAL 

The tasks I ignored were the ones I feared.. – Adam Braun of Pencils of promise

We all know which tasks are the most important in any given day, yet we still choose to do them last. Choose to do those things first. – Adam Braun of Pencils of promise

LISTEN TO YOUR ECHOES

If an idea grows, it expands far beyond the confines of any one person’s control. By limiting it to a single story told by a single voice, we strip it of its true potential. – Adam Braun of Pencils of Promise

Mantra 29 IF YOUR DREAMS DON’T SCARE YOU, THEY’RE NOT BIG ENOUGH

I looked around and acknowledged that what you see around you is proof of what exists within you.- Adam Braun of Pencils of Promise

“If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.” -Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Make your life a story worth telling

I never thought, I hope this works out. I knew it would. – Adam Braun of Pencils of promise

Purpose is found when you stop thinking about how you exist in the world and start trying to figure out why you are here. Once you solve that question, everything else will fall into place. – Adam Braun of Pencils of promise

For anyone going through a restless period in life, looking to make a change but not sure how, start with an ambitious but attainable goal. I set out to build just one school.   – Adam Braun of Pencils of Promise

The key is to think big and then take small, incremental steps forward day by day.   – Adam Braun of Pencils of Promise

Start by changing the subjects of your daily conversation from the life you are living to the life you aspire to create. – Adam Braun of Pencils of promise

But you can’t keep saying, “I’ll get started tomorrow.” The world has far too many problems, and you are way too smart and capable not to help tackle them. Your time is now.  – Adam Braun of Pencils of Promise

Regardless of age or status, if you’re not satisfied with the path you’re on, it’s time to rewrite your future. Your life should be a story you are excited to tell. – Adam Braun of Pencils of Promise

Ideas and Idea sex and how to become an idea machine by working your brain

This episode covers how to work out your idea muscle aka your brain.

I have been an idea machine in that I look at anything and wonder how it could be different and or better.  Claudia and James Altucher suggest coming up with 10 or more ideas a day around a theme.  They also suggest giving your ideas away to people and business for free which ends up helping you in the future.  It can surely help with networking when people know you are an idea machine with helpful ideas.  Remember many of your ideas are bad and that is ok it is all about practice of working your brain out.  Michael Jordan’s first shot was probably bad, maybe his first 9 or 90 even.

I cover how I used Idea Sex or Idea cross pollination to get a patent by combining two technologies from two totally different hobbies of mine.  Golf and autocross car racing.

Ways to become an idea machine:

  • Think how you would change or improve processes or things you interact with each day.  (I talk about an idea to use a sponge in a chicken water to provide water for bees while keeping them from drowning)
  • List 10 or more ideas each day on a certain topic.  Claudia and James suggest this and examples include 10 people you would like to have lunch with, ten ways to modify toilets.  They cite that their lives and lives of others are different after doing this practice for 6 months along with doing other healthy habits.  Check out their books “How to Become an Idea Machine”, And their “Choose Yourself” series of books available on the kindle app via Amazon.com for .99 cents.

Ask yourself daily how could I help, who could I help and what is the first step to do so.

 

What are the benefits of being less structured in business?

I see myself as rather unstructured and I think there are both benefits and drawbacks to being less structured.

Are you structured or unstructured? Would it help you to be less structured or more structured? I think a mix is the best depending on the situation.

Spring Cleaning your mind – Check out Derek Lauber’s post

I forget how I found Derek’s site but I know him from the Toast Masters group I attend.

He has some great suggestions on the page I linked to below. I’ve heard about some of his suggestions but not all of them. His ideal to journal several times a day is new to me. I believe I read in the 4 hour work week to make a list each day of what you want to get done. Derek takes this to a new level with journaling 3 times a day. I best start journaling now!

Time versus Money in your small business

Are you spending your time when you could be spending some money to free up your time for what is more important or more fun?

We talk about the trade off in your business from Marketing to Accounting.

Are there times when you try to save money by doing it yourself and you end up not getting it done at all? That becomes a lost opportunity.

What kind of business would you have fun running?

What kind of business would you have fun running?

Why do you do what you do?

Can you find a way to work with your passion or free up time for your passion?

Why do you enjoy certain things?

Can you create a business you would enjoy?

Can you find partners or employees who can handle the tasks you don’t enjoy so you can focus on what you like?

What are you good at that is also a passion of yours?

What is the next step you can take to start your own business?

Small Business networking and Marketing Tips


In this episode we discuss some different networking and marketing tips. From using toastmasters to meet other people to find out that our bank has monthly networking events.

A tip is to keep trying different types of marketing. For example internet radio ads didn’t produce results for us and neither did impression advertising.

Sponsoring different groups has produced results and more than just new customers.

Maybe you should try offering an affilate marketing program. How much would you pay someone for a successful lead? Can you help another company who in turn can help you?

Can you get free products to review for companies?

Advertise on other web sites, try PPC (pay per click advertising) your ads can show up today.

Craigs list is free so that is something to try!

Have you setup a retargeting campaign to show ads to people who have visited your site? Want to learn how to setup a retargeting campaign then watch this video:

Try something new!

Building a Business is Creating a Nest Egg for You – Is your job?


In this episode we discuss the benefit of creating your own business being its value because you built it. You can sell your business after X number of years. What can you get after working for someone else.  What job can you get with a pension?  More than likely you are not going to find a job that provides you a pension.  Owning a business is also creating a nest egg for your retirement.  So I’d say if you are asking “How to save for retirement?” I say you should own a business.  You can start your own or buy an existing one.

Maybe you can buy a business to get a jump start here is one site that lists businesses for sale. You might also buy a business to grow your business.

Can you turn your hobby into a side business? Custom buildings? Tax returns?

Do you have a passion you can turn into a business?

Are you someone who posts a lot on social sites? Maybe you should start a blog or website of your own. Example maybe you are into documenting your race car work. Start posting all your photos and how to information on your own site or blog. Then you can advertise on the site with something like google’s adsense or affilate links etc.

You can offer your services on craigslist.com today for free!

Action is key so take some action!

If you know someone who owns their own business and you think they would make a good interview let me know.