Barefoot Radio: Fire Your Boss, Sell Your Car, Tra

Welcome to day 12 of my Level Up Challenge. The Big Picture by Tony Horton So, who is Tony Horton and why should we pay attention to what he has to say? Well, first up, take a good look at this guy. He’s 57 years old. How about that? He has a body that most 20 year olds would die for. So, how did he do it? Well, you might know Tony from P90X or Insanity workouts – through the DVDs or on Youtube. He’s that crazy American trainer who makes tough workouts fun for everybody from those trying to lose a few pounds to elite athletes. The strapline of The Big Picture is “The 11 Laws that will Change Your Life” and while most of the advice is straightforward and, to be honest, quite basic, one Law, one chapter was a standout for me. That’s the Chapter on Consistency. Working out 7 days a week is easier than 3 or 4 Before the Big Picture, I worked out anywhere between 2 and 4 times a week. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Always a struggle to dig deep and find the motivation. Always a battle between the two “me’s” – one who wants to stay a little longer on the computer or in bed, and the other reminding me of my fitness goals – whether that’s the Ironman triathlon or just staying healthy. When I read the Big Picture, however, something clicked which changed my attitude towards both working out and business. Consistency. You see, as Tony says, it’s easier to work out 7 times a week than 2,3 or 4. Why? When working out becomes a decision, the “stay in bed” me gets a chance to have his say, and he sometimes wins. When you workout every day, “stay in bed” me doesn’t get a look in. You take the decision making out of your fitness regime. When you have to decide whether to workout or not, you’re already wasting energy. So, you might think, 7 days a week is a lot – how do you do it? Well, little and often. The hardest part about all of this is getting started. It’s putting on your gym gear or cycling clothes. Once you’ve done that, you have the momentum that makes things a lot easier. These days, I work out 7 days a week, most weeks. Of course, it doesn’t always go to plan but that’s okay – I’m not a robot. And, I’ve found 7 days is much easier than 3 or 4. You avoid what Tony Horton calls “Exercise Bipolar Disorder” where you go from intense activity to none at all. It’s so much harder to get back to your workout after 2 or 3 days off. Daily Rituals and Practises Successful people meditate every day Working out 7 days a week is easier than 3 or 4 To stay creative and motivated in business, plan to do the same thing every day So, can you apply this concept of consistency to business? Well, yes. Before The Big Picture, like most entrepreneurs, I had a varied and scattered schedule. Every day different. What’s wrong with that, you might ask? You like variety after all. Sure, we like variety but it’s no good having a varied routine when your energy is used up in the decision making process or kicking yourself in the pants for not doing what you said you were going to do today. If you do the same thing at the same time every day, you take the decision making process out of your day. That leaves a lot of energy on the table for you to be creative. So, this is what I’ve been doing, and it works. For example. 8 am – Cycle 1 hour 9 am – 11 am – Produce videos 12 – housekeeping 2pm – 4pm – Marketing That’s just an example of how it could work. Variety comes within those segments. For example, the videos I produce every day or the marketing activities. Creativity, like variety, is good, but it needs a track to run on, otherwise, we end up flying off into the unknown, getting lost and becoming inconsistent. Staying Motivated To stay creative and motivated in business, plan to do the same thing every day The Big Picture by Tony Horton – Summary I only chose 1 law from Tony Horton’s 11 Laws in The Big Picture, but that’s how you have to read these kinds of books. Take what works for you and drop the rest. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a good book, it just means that you have to focus only on what could improve your life, business and fitness. See you tomorrow for day 13. Learn How to Start Your Business In my Launch Your Business in 30 Days Course, I'll teach you how to start a business and get your first paying customer in 30 days. Forget about business planning, lawyers and accountants for now. You don't need loans or investment, you just need a formula to make it work. That's what I teach in the course. >> Learn How to Launch Your Business in 30 Days

Welcome to day 11 of my Level Up Challenge. What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 by Tina Seelig What I wish I knew when I was 20 by Tina Seelig Tina Seelig teaches students on the Stanford University Entrepreneurship program. In this book she shares the thought exercises from that course as well as observations on innovation as well as her own journey into entrepreneurialism. What I wish I knew when I was 20 isn’t going to break any new ground, but there are gems in here which are a powerful reminder to help us entrepreneurs stay focused. 1) There are NO Bad Ideas in Business, So Stop Worrying About Yours IMAGINE you have the worst business idea in the world. What would that be? – Selling bikinis in the Antarctic? – A heart attack museum or – Cockroach sushi You’d think that these businesses are dead in the water. But, what if they weren’t? What if you had to make them work? That’s the challenge Tina Seelig set her students. Bikinis in the antarctic became a health bootcamp in challenging conditions. The heart attack museum became an interactive journey into health and preventatitve medicine. And, cockroach sushi became a go-to destination for adventurous diners. What we learn from this exercise is that there is not such a thing as a bad or good idea. There are just ideas and good or bad execution. So, this got me thinking. Maybe I should stop worrying about finding a good idea. Just go with what I have and focus on making the execution the best possible. What Business Idea Should You Go With? There are NO good or bad Ideas in business, so stop worrying about finding the right one 2) Pick Yourself: Successful Entrepreneurs Don’t Wait for Permission Tina Seelig recalls the story of showing her father, a corporate man, her new business cards. They read “Tina L Seeling, President”. A little ruffled, her father said “You can’t just call yourself President.” In life there are 2 types of people. Those who wait for permission and those who pick themselves. Successful entrepreneurs are the 2nd type. Those that are willing to stretch the boundaries of their skills and risk something new are, according to researchers, far more likely to become successful long term than those who stick with their fixed skills and specific roles. While I know this to be true, it’s good to be reminded. As an entrepreneur, you’re often faced with what psychologists call “the impostor syndrome” which is the feeling that you have faked your way to success, that you don’t really belong. It’s a self-limiting belief system that holds us back. I’ve faced it too. But, Seelig’s stories remind me that nobody decides who belongs and who doesn’t. I don’t need to be a professional IM triathlete or coach to share with you my journey and learnings. I don’t need to be a billion dollar startup founder to share with you what I know about business. Can you write a love song? If pushed, I bet you could. Not because you’re “qualified” but you’ve been there – you’ve loved, lost and learned something that others relate to. Pick yourself. Getting Started in Business Pick yourself: successful entrepreneurs don't wait for permission 3) Your Attitude to Failure Will Be Shaped by Who You Choose to Hang Around With Seelig recalls how a Thai weightlifter credited her Olympic success in 2008 to changing her name. In Thailand, as with many other cultures, failure can follow you round for life. In Sweden for example, when a company goes bankrupt, it stays in debt forever. Here in Japan, talented young kids graduate not wanting to start their own business but to work for faceless organizations like Mitsubishi or Sony. The cost of risking it all is, in many cultures, the barrier that keeps everyone safe in their golden cages. In Silicon Valley, however, it’s different. Debt and bankruptcy laws are no different in the Valley than they are for the rest of the US. What’s different is the people. You’re surrounded by people who see failure as a necessary part of the risk. No failure, no reward. Being surrounded by these people changes how we think what’s normal and acceptable behavior, especially when it comes to taking risk. Imagine what the opposite of that does… So, how do you deal with failure? 1) Expect it. Jeff Hawkins, the founder of Palm Pilot and later CEO of Handspring became worried when launching his new PDA, the visor. Things were going too well. They shipped 100K units and no problems. Staff were excited. Then things went wrong. The supply chain screwed up and payments went down the pan. I can relate. Handing my Amazon FBA business over to my wife, the first shipment she made went wrong. All the items returned as “distributor damaged” and couldn’t be unlisted. My immediate reaction was one of frustration, lost time and money. But then I realized this lesson. Expect things to go wrong. When they do, you have a choice. If you criticize people, you will reinforce them to fear failure the 2nd time round, they will edit their goals and aim lower. The second choice is to say “what can we do better?”. That teaches everyone around you, and importantly you, not to fear failure but to embrace it. We learn, we become more confident, we expand our goals. 2) Change who you hang around with Maybe you can’t move to Silicon Valley but you can change who you hang around with. If you’re surrounded by people who fear failure, you too will become fearful and critical. If you’re surrounded by people who accept failure as part of the process, you too will develop courage and become more successful. Building Your Personal Network Your attitude to failure will be shaped by who you choose to hang around with What Do You Think of What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 by Tina Seelig? Whatever it is, leave a comment under this video. I will try to answer every single comment or question that you have about this book or growing your business on this video or on my channel. If you like this video, plenty more videos like this coming up on my channel. Don’t forget to subscribe. I will see you next time with another book to help you improve and level-up your life. See you tomorrow for day 11. Learn How to Start Your Business In my Launch Your Business in 30 Days Course, I'll teach you how to start a business and get your first paying customer in 30 days. Forget about business planning, lawyers and accountants for now. You don't need loans or investment, you just need a formula to make it work. That's what I teach in the course. >> Learn How to Launch Your Business in 30 Days

Welcome to day 10 of my Level Up Challenge. Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss Yes, Tim Ferriss, he of The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, and The 4-Hour Chef fame, is back to share with us the tactics, routines, and habits of billionaires, icons, and world-class performers. My name is Graham Brown, and this is my book review. So, what is it? What is Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss? It’s a collection of the tips, tricks, hacks, techniques from all the guests that Tim Ferriss has interviewed for his podcast, The Random Show. If you have a look at the book, look at the size of this thing. It’s 650+ pages. It has over 200 guests featured in this book. I’ll talk a little bit about who’s in this book in a minute. When I heard about the format, I was a little bit skeptical, and here’s why: I love The 4-Hour Workweek. When I read The 4-Hour Workweek, I’m pretty sure it was the seed that was sowed in my mind when I took my family to travel the world for three years after selling a business. Then I read The 4-Hour Body, and in that there were lots of great tips and tricks that I used to help me complete an Ironman Triathlon. There was also a lot of noise in that book as well, and I didn’t really like the format. In some cases, it was very note form-driven, and I thought that it lacked in certain chapters. Then The 4-Hour Chef for me was a bit mmmm, not quite sure. The jury’s out on that one. When I heard about The Tools of Titans, I have to admit I was skeptical. When I heard that he was just taking these interviews that he had done on The Random Show and condensing them, well, condensing them into a 600+ page book, I wasn’t sure that I was going to get much value out of that. Who are the “Titans”? But, here goes. First, take a look at the kind of people that Tim has interviewed for Tools of Titans. I’ll just read you some of the people on this list: Mark Andreesen, founder of Netscape; Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal; legendary billionaire investor Brene Brown; actors like Kevin Costner, Edward Norton, Jamie Foxx; Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter; James Altucher, author; a whole bunch of other authors like Ramit Sethi; Paulo Coelho, the author of The Alchemist; Derek Sivers, Malcolm Gladwell, Seth Godin. You have Rick Rubin, who’s the founder of Def Jam Records; Shaun White, the snowboarder; Laird Hamilton, the surfer; Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn; and of course, Tony Robbins and “Arnie” Arnold Schwarzenegger. The list is really one of the best who’s who of people who have achieved the peak performance in their respective fields anywhere that you’ll find. The challenge is, has Tim successfully taken that list and condensed it down into something useful for us as changemakers, entrepreneurs, people of action, people who want to improve their life? Let’s move on to the next session and we’ll talk about what are the key takeaways from Tools of Titans. (1) Successful People Meditate Every Day You wake up in the morning. Now what? That’s the challenge that we all face. Every day, it doesn’t change. Interestingly, in this book Tim shares with us the five morning rituals that help me win the day. In these five morning rituals, the one standout for me is number two, which is meditate 10 to 20 minutes a day. Now, he doesn’t say why we need to meditate. He just provides us this really insightful statistic. 80% of all the guests profiled in this book have some form of daily mindfulness practice. Think about that. 80% of all the people that I’ve just shared with you in that long list meditate or do some kind of mindfulness practice every day. What Tim does is do this 10 to 20 minutes every morning. It’s a routine. It’s before breakfast. Everybody has 10 to 20 minutes. It’s just the discipline of putting that in your day. I’ve tried meditation in the past and with mixed success. I’ve got to say, more unsuccessful attempts than success attempts, but I’m back at it. This is the key with meditation. It’s like training a puppy. Every time the puppy gets off and walks off, you got to pick it up and put it back down where it was sitting originally. That’s like training your mind. It’s a bit like a puppy. What I’m using to do this, as suggested in this book, is the Headspace app, which I think is fantastic. It’s free. There’s also a premium version of it. Just listening to that 10 minutes a day really helps. Why do I think that’s useful for an entrepreneur? Why have I shared that with you now is because, we entrepreneurs, we face a challenge every day: decision, decision, decision. If you work for somebody else, if you’re an employee, the decisions you make won’t necessarily impact the amount of food that you put on your table at the end of the month for your family. But as an entrepreneur you make a bad decision, bang, you could lose all that food, all that income that you were expecting in the month. Salaried employees get that anyway. We have to make those decisions every day. We face that fight-flight-feast-famine situation on a regular basis so we need to have a clear head. Meditation is absolutely key for that, and it helps us think about what we want. Once again, training the puppy. This is what I’m doing as a result of Tools of Titans. I’ve already implemented that. I’m already doing 10 minutes every morning using the Headspace app. So far, so good. I can’t say, “Wow, amazing. Look at the results,” but what I can say is, “Little bit calmer. Created a little bit more space inside of me so I’m not constantly reacting to the world, and I think that makes me a better entrepreneur. Daily Rituals and Practises Successful people meditate every day (2) Are You Doing it for the Audience or Scratching Your Own Itch? The second takeaway from Tools of Titans really got me thinking. That’s why I think these books are worth their weight in gold when they can challenge your assumptions and challenge the way you think about things. In this section he interviews Maria Popova of Brainpickings. She says something which, for me, really got me thinking about my business. She says, “The second you start doing it, the business, for an audience, you’ve lost the long game. Because creating something that is rewarding and sustainable over the long run requires, most of all, keeping yourself excited about it. Trying to predict what an audience will be interested in and kind of pretzeling yourself to fit those expectations, you soon begin to begrudge it and become embittered, and it begins to show in your work. What he’s saying is, and what Maria Popova is saying, is when it comes to building a business and growing a business, scratch your own itch. Don’t do it for anybody else. If you can do it for yourself, chances are there are a lot of people like you out there. There’s a little tribe of yous who share that same pain point, if you like, that same frustration with whatever it is, that solution is, that you’re trying to provide for these people. That is where we need to be focused. What I think is, when I’m thinking about my business, my mistake and my weakness, if you like, is trying to do it for an audience. I think about who are the audience that I can do this for. Who are those people that I can go out and reach to? When what I should be doing is looking at myself and thinking about people like myself. Because I understand myself very well and I know there are people like me in different areas, whether they are Ironman triathletes, or entrepreneurs who share the same passions and pains that I do, rather than people that I don’t know or people that have little common connection with me. Don’t do it for the audience. The minute you start doing it, you’ve lost the game. You need to do it for yourself to keep that passion in there. Soon as you start doing it for other people, it becomes diluted, it becomes edited, and it’s not you. Who is Your Customer? Are you doing it for the audience or scratching your own itch? Are you hunting Antelope or Field Mice? (3) Are You Hunting Antelope or Field Mice? For the last takeaway from Tools of Titans, I’ve saved the best to last. This one is a real killer. This one really kicked me in the pants when it came to looking at my business. This takeaway alone, I believe, saved me a lot of time, money, and heartache in the long run. That’s why this book is well worth its cover price many times over. It comes in the section which Tim titled “The 17 Questions that Changed My Life.” I’m just going to pick one of these questions for you now. This is the one which I looked at and asked myself, and really helped me reassess what I was doing and avoid what I believe was a big mistake. The question is: Are you hunting antelope or field mice? Let me explain. This one comes from Newt Gingrich, who is an American politician, one of the most successful political leaders and career politicians of his time. Whether or not you agree with Newt Gingrich ideologically, you can’t disagree with the fact that he’s been successful in his career. Newt asks this question of himself when assessing some kind of new proposal or a project. It goes like this. Imagine you’re a lion. A lion is fully capable of capturing, killing, and eating a field mouse. But, it turns out that the energy required to do so exceeds the caloric content of a field mouse. So, a lion that spends its day hunting and eating field mice would slowly starve to death. A lion can’t live on field mice. A lion needs antelope. Antelope are big animals. They take more speed and strength to capture and kill, and once killed, they provide a feast for the lion and her pride. A lion can live a long and happy life on a diet of antelope. The distinction is important. Are you spending all your time and exhausting all your energy catching field mice? This is the bit that really got me. “In the short term, it might give you a nice, rewarding feeling, but in the long run you’re going to die. So ask yourself at the end of the day, did I spend today chasing mice or hunting antelope?” Think about that in terms of your business. Wow, that really got me thinking. Had I got myself into a situation where I was chasing field mice because it was easy? Because I got immediate feedback? It was nice, rewarding, comfortable? Should I really be out there? How do I get out there? how do I hunt down antelope? That’s Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss. What do you think? Did my review inform your decision to buy or not buy the book, as the case may be? If you have bought the book already, what tips, tricks, and techniques work for you? What are you implementing in your daily routine? What are you having successes with? Are there similar kind of questions that really challenged you in growing your business? Who is Your Customer? Are you doing it for the audience or scratching your own itch? Are you hunting Antelope or Field Mice? What Do You Think of Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss? Whatever it is, leave a comment under this video. I will try to answer every single comment or question that you have about this book or growing your business on this video or on my channel. If you like this video, plenty more videos like this coming up on my channel. Don’t forget to subscribe. I will see you next time with another book to help you improve and level-up your life. See you tomorrow for day 11. Learn How to Start Your Business In my Launch Your Business in 30 Days Course, I'll teach you how to start a business and get your first paying customer in 30 days. Forget about business planning, lawyers and accountants for now. You don't need loans or investment, you just need a formula to make it work. That's what I teach in the course. >> Learn How to Launch Your Business in 30 Days

If you’re building a business, launching a business, or dreaming of the start and wonder if it’s the right thing to do, understand that not even the best job in the world can hold an entrepreneurial mind back. You just got to make it happen. Coming up, Steve Feiner from a better Florist on Founder FM.

I've been experimenting with Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss and here are 5 habits I now use in my daily routine.

Headspace is a useful free app that helps you meditate. I picked up meditation again based on the recommendations in Tim Ferriss' Tools of Titans. In this book, he states that 80% of the guests interviewed practised some form of daily mindfulness.

Momentum is key to the entrepreneur and no business plan ever survives the customer. It's far better to commit first and worry about the details later that wait for the perfect moment to launch your business.

As an entrepreneur, you often find that you are alone. That’s fine most of the time because you can focus on your work and not get distracted by emails, department memos and meetings. However, there’s a drawback to working alone and that’s not being accountable to others.

A 28 day fast is like reformatting that disk and starting again. In my case, the first week I’m only eating fruit and vegetables. It’s tough, especially as I’m training for Ironman Japan. I can get through if I eat enough, but if I get hungry (which I am most of the time) my moods are swinging all over the place.

Successful entrepreneurs know that you do not wait for permission. You pick yourself. If you’re waiting for a government or another organization to help you, to give you permission to do what you want to do, you’re going to be waiting a long time.

Nathan Rose is the founder of Assemble Advisory, an agency for companies wishing to pursue equity crowdfunding campaigns, and the author of the book Equity Crowdfunding: The Complete Guide For Startups and Growing Companies, launched 1 November 2016.

In this episode of Founder FM Uncut, I'm talking about Tim Ferriss' new book: Tools of the Titans.?In this book, Tim Ferris promises to share "The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers"

One of the main reasons people fail to become successful is they end up editing their dreams to fit in with others. If you need to edit your goals or personality you’re hanging round with the wrong people. Find better people to hang around with. Join a Meetup. Join a Mastermind. Hang out with people who see solutions not problems. If you want to be successful, choose your friends carefully.

When you've sold over $150 million worth of goods and services on the internet in the last 7 years, you're worth listening to. That's why it's great get an entrepreneur like Sam Marks on Founder FM. While maintaining a nomadic lifestyle, he was able to scale the business, which became Europe’s largest e-cigarette company and was acquired for $100m in 2013. Prior to SKYCIG, Sam was on a founding level of 3 other start-ups with successful exits, including his first while in college in 2006. He currently is based in Chiang Mai, Thailand and continues to work full time in the start-up scene both as an operator and investor.

4 email mistakes marketers get wrong when it comes to building and emailing their lists. Audio podcast included.

Evan Kimbrell is an online mentor, teacher, entrepreneur and investor. His story is an inspiration and a poignant reminder for all us digital entrepreneurs on how to build a business around people and relationships, not apps and numbers.

Here are 3 strategies to help you build an Ultra Lean business anywhere in the world. We'll cover these strategies at this Thursday's webinar.

Location Independence is about building an ultra-lean business that you could run from anywhere in the world. In this episode of Founder FM Uncut I challenge you to think about 3 things in your business.

Now, here’s an entrepreneur who’s been there done that. He’s traveled to 7 continents, skinny dipped in Antartica… Swam with whale sharks in Mozambique and danced the tango in Buenos Aires. All...while building his business. Meet Kyle Barraclough, founder of Libertad Apparel, world traveling entrepreneur and deal-maker. In this interview, we talk about how Kyle runs his business while traveling the world, life after Kickstarter and advice for entrepreneurs starting out who like Kyle, want to live the dream.

Motivation is the base of entrepreneurial success. Motivation is the difference between having a bad day and a good day. It's also the difference between feeling frustrated and feeling accomplished. But if you just wait for motivation to walk into your life, you'll feel motivated 3 out of 10 days on average. By hacking it, by using the techniques I talk about in this episode of Founder FM, you can upgrade that to 7 or 8 days out of 10.