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5 Networking Tips to Work a Room Like the Elite

What do you think of when you hear the word “networking?” Many people think of happy hour, or just shooting the breeze with others.

While I think it is important to genuinely care about others and spend quality time talking about both work and non-work things, networking is really supposed to be about “working.”  You “work the room.”

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The point of networking is to get your name out there, find potential partners, or maybe even some clients. You build relationships with people you might be already be business with or people you are considering doing business with.

People do business with people they like. So this is a great opportunity to get others to know, like, and trust you.  

How most people network

I would bet that most people network to get in on free drinks and food, and talk to a few friends they already have for hours at an event.

This is not productive! While it may be fun, you are just killing time. On top of that, you’re not taking the opportunity to expand your network and meet new people.

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Networking like the elite

The elite “work the room” and do so with a purpose. They work to talk to as many people as possible and keep conversations short when necessary.

When they meet someone new, they tell that person what they are looking to find from the event and see if that new contact has met anyone that can help in the room.

When they do this, they shortcut their way to those people. As you meet others, try to leverage the people they’ve already met to quickly triangulate who you need to connect with.

Networking tips to keep in mind

#1 |Be confident when you enter the room

Confidence is important. Be aware of your body language. Have a good, firm handshake and avoid crossing your arms or acting disinterested when conversing with others.

You deserve to be in the room and have value to add to others.

#2 | Consider starting off a conversation with the question: “what brings you out tonight?”

If you’re at an industry specific event like a real estate event, obviously they are at the event for real estate. But maybe they are a lender. Or maybe they flip houses. Perhaps they are looking for a rental property? There are still tons of things that can vary in the answers to that question.  

If it’s a generic networking event, like a “Young Professionals” event, you’ll find an even wider audience in attendance. There tend to be a lot of people trying to sell services at these events, so you’ll have to wade through a lot more “spam” if you will to find the gold.

#3 | Try your best to remember others’ names

Dale Carnegie has some sage advice in his book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. “Remember that a person’s name is to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”

When you meet someone new, practice remembering their name, and say it a few times in the conversation to make sure it sticks. This is something I’m working on getting better at. When you’re at an event meeting dozens of people, this gets pretty tough to do.

Another tip I recommend is to note something special or specific down to remember someone. If you learned they have a kid who plays soccer or a passion for Corvettes, keep that noted down and mention something personal in your follow up email to show that you were paying attention.

#4 | Perhaps the most important thing is to focus on listening.

Others love talking about themselves. You’ll find that the more you let someone talk about themselves, the more they’ll seem to like you. They’ll think the conversation went great even if it was mainly them talking!

#5 | Have a plan. Work the plan.

As with anything else, with networking, you should have a plan and work the plan. I set a timer for myself to make sure I stay efficient. I will give myself one or two hours and plan to leave as soon as the timer goes off on my phone.

This forces me to stay cognizant of time. I don’t want any one conversation to take too long. Unless you meet the most important person in the room, I would try to keep the conversation to 5 or 10 minutes to make sure you have time to talk to as many people as possible.

Play it by ear though. If you think you’ve struck up a great conversation with someone who is a power player, definitely spend as much time as you think is necessary to make that relationship last.

Tying it all together

These are a few of many tips when it comes to networking. It requires practice and consistency. It’s something that you’ll get better at with time.

Networking is definitely a balancing act. On one hand, you want to be efficient and meet as many people as possible. On the other hand, you want to actually befriend people and have meaningful conversations. So sometimes you can be flexible with the tips I mentioned today.

Feel free to talk longer with someone if you’re really getting along great. Maybe talk more about your story if they insist on hearing more of what you have to say.

Key Takeaways

  1. Be confident when you enter the room
  2. Consider starting off a conversation with the question: “what brings you out tonight?”
  3. Try your best to remember others’ names
  4. Perhaps the most important thing is to focus on listening.
  5. Have a plan. Work the plan.

Remember that you’ll get better at networking over time. Don’t overthink or over plan it though. Just remember these tips, practice them, and then reflect on how well you implemented these things at events after you attend.

Daily Motivation

“You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want” – Zig Ziglar.

Keep this in mind when networking and meeting people. If you come at the relationship from “how much value can I add?” instead of “what can this person do for me?”, you will see the value come back to you multiple times over.

Actionable Steps

Pick a few tips from my post today or any others that you’ve heard and make a plan. Practice in your head or out loud what you will say when you meet others. “What brings you out tonight?

Then head over to Meetup.com, Eventbrite.com, or Facebook events and find a few events coming up that you can go to and practice.

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How Andres Pira went from homeless at 20 to $1.8 billion empire by 35

Andres Pira is the founder of 20+ companies, including gyms, law offices, gas stations, coffee shops and a property portfolio.

He went from homeless at 20 to building an empire worth $1.8billion by the age of 35.

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I love a good rags to riches success story, and this story doesn’t disappoint.

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In this interview, we discuss:

  • How he moved from Sweden to Thailand and found himself in a tough financial situation
  • How the book “The Secret” changed his life
  • The power of visualization and how it got Andres a cup of coffee and a meal when he was homeless in Thailand
  • Increasing beliefs and confidence through acheiving goals
  • Raising the bar and creating new goals constantly
  • Seeing failures as stepping stones (failures are a part of success)
  • and more

You can pre-order his book, Homeless to Billionaire: The 18 Principles of Wealth Attraction And Creating Unlimited Opportunity, here: https://amzn.to/2UyINOk

Check out Andres’ website: https://andrespira.com/

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Arete Syndicate Live: My Key Takeaways

This weekend, my friend Safir and I flew over to St. Louis, Missouri for the Arete Syndicate live event, organized by Ed Mylett and Andy Frisella and, incredible entrepreneurs with two of the top business podcast in the world!

*2022 Update* – I ended up officially joining Arete in October 2021 and have made even more amazing connections. If you’re interested in learning more or applying, you can do so here.

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I made so many new amazing friends and connections from across the nation and WORLD! People even flew in from the Netherlands and Australia for this event.

Remember in another episode when I said that if you’re the smartest in the room, you’re in the wrong room? This room had a lot of people smarter and wealthier than me, which is exactly what I want!

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There is an accelerator group that you can apply to and join to get on 3 calls a month with Andy and Ed, and the Syndicate level has a $50K entry fee and you have to be doing insane numbers, I think $1M in annual revenue minimum.

A group of Syndicate guys took a photo together the other day and geez, I felt their presence in that room. You could JUST TELL that they were in the Syndicate, the way they carried themselves, the confidence and aura. But they weren’t stuck up or anything, they were extremely humble.

I got so much out of the event, and it was straight value. They had an incredible lineup of speakers, many who you may have heard of before:

  • Ed Mylett and Andy Frisella of course
  • Cole Hatter
  • Billy Gene
  • Ryan Stewman (hardcore closer)
  • Joel Marion – Did $700M in 6 years in his business

In today’s episode, I don’t need to sell you on joining the accelerator or anything. I just want to share some of the incredible tips and value I received from the speakers (this is at least $1000 of value).

Andy Frisella

Andy talked about the importance of core values, which is something I always thought was overrated. Andy said core values guide you as a leader. They create culture, and they are the reason you win.

Here are his:

  1. Create a positive impact – what you put out, you get back
  2. Leadership through action – you have to LIVE it to influence others
  3. Do the right thing – take ownership, make it right
  4. Be humble – It’s okay to be confident. Remember we are all just a speck of dust, we are all people.
  5. Hard discipline – No compromises, stories, justifications, get it done.
  6. Commit to dominating – have killer instinct
  7. Good isn’t enough – excellence is essential
  8. Be a lifetime student

Cole Hatter

Cole Hatter spoke next, who is the founder of the Thrive Conference. He had some great tips on speaking and selling from stage, and selling in general.

First, he talked about persuasion vs. Influence. Persuasion is a push, while influence is a pull. You need a little of both.

He talked about getting good at wordsmithing, which is the art of spoken copywriting.

Instead of saying “cost”, use the word “investment.” Stay true to your brand! Andy Frisella not cussing would probably confuse us, because it would not be what we are used to with his brand.

He talks about threat vs. desire.

Instead of saying “you HAVE to buy my course OR ELSE,” say “You’re going to want this because you’ll love the results.”

Next, he mentioned negative versus positive presuppositions (which are basically assumptions).

Stop using negative presuppositions like “You’re tired of being tired and broke…” This assumes the audience is tired and broke… why would they buy your stuff if you are broke?

Instead, say “being here today tells me you are an action taker and want to invest in yourself.”

Lastly, Cole talks about “us vs. them.”

Use phrases using us. For example, say “people like us, we make decisions, we love investing in ourselves.”

Then use “them.” “People out there just care about the numbers.”

Billy Gene

Billy Gene was up next! If you’ve seen his ads on Facebook, they are so damn good that you actually want to watch them all the way through.

He shared a formula: words + sounds + visuals + environment + association + trust

Next, he gave some examples of companies that have done really well that had great video ads.

-Dollar shave club has a hilarious video. They sold for $1B in 2016

Video ads give you the edge. Some tips he shares are that:

  • The first 5 seconds are most important to capture attention
  • You need to polarize. Have a strong message.
    • For example, he yelled “I hate Trump.” That immediately polarizes the audience. I love what he said next, which was that he doesn’t actually hate Trump, and that he believes that entrepreneurs create their own economy. Hell yes.
  • Next, he says to break down the fourth wall. Literally talk to the person on the other side watching the video.
    • He does up close shots and says things like “come with me.” Where it looks like you are following him into his office in the ad.

For cameras, he says to use 2 to get multiple angles. Throw a few drone shots in as well for pattern interrupts.

PROPS ARE EVERYTHING. A few sites he recommends are amazon.com, orientaltrading.com and shindigz.com.

Keep attention, literally keep people curious and wondering what’s next in the video.

#1 Rule is that music creates emotion. We did a really cool exercise where you had to say a certain sentence with 3 different types of music in the background (first was angry, then sad, then motivational). The different music elicits different emotions.

Boring will put you out of business, and Facebook rewards great content. So really focus on making great content, and videos that solve problems.

Ed Mylett

ED MYLETT was up next!

He talked in detail about the 10 stages of the business life cycle. To keep it brief, I’ll just run through the list:

  1. Birth
  2. Infancy
  3. Toddler
  4. Teenager
  5. Young Adult
  6. Maximization (this is the place you want to stay where you reap rewards, have systems in place, leaders energize the business, and it is run by a management team)
  7. Mid-life evaluation
  8. Aging
  9. Institutionalization
  10. Death

Ed then talks about 7 Pillars:

  1. Define reality – create a specific business map, where are you really?
  2. Constant course correction
  3. Max out social media and marketing systems
  4. Sales and closing systems
  5. Constant competition and recognition programs
  6. Max out culture and client experience
  7. Evangelize and create a cult-like following

Joel Marion

Joel Marion was up next, who I actually never had heard of. Can you believe that this guy’s business did $700M within 6 years? Incredible!!

Joel talked about how email is still king… many of us have heard that it’s slowly dying. But apparently not.

He said that 83% of consumers prefer email, followed by FB at 38% and postal at 27%.

All transactions online still require email, not an IG username. So it is still king.

These days, more and more email lands up in the spam inbox. To combat this, he said the #1 strategy is to do regular list hygiene. As a rule of thumb, you should email to people who have opened your emails in the last 60 days.

Why?

They are more likely to open. If people stay subscribed but stop opening emails, it’s basically an “emotional unsubscribe.”

emailing to people who open your emails are less likely to mark messages as spam.

Here are some targets to aim for:

20% open rate and less than .1% spam complaints.

The #1 reason to build a list is that you own subscribers and customers as well as all data. More reasons is that email is more trackable. You can see who engaged, whereas on Instagram, you can’t see who bought directly from a post.

Email allows for robust segmentation and split testing.

For lead magnets, he mentioned to do a free report, free audio/video, or even a free 5 video mini course. Perhaps give away something that you see has the best engagement.

For me, my top podcast episode is 5 productivity hacks I recommend. I plan to create a  lead magnet out of this to offer to my audience.

Andy Frisella Part II

After lunch, Andy spoke again on mental toughness. He mentioned 5 keys to mental toughness:

  1. Know your purpose for pursuing mental toughness.
  2. You have to set your rules in stone. No compromises because compromise leads to quitting.
  3. Train yourself to love the “bitch voice” – you have an opportunity. Mental toughness grows.
  4. Attack a mosquito like it’s a moose. Listing little battles is what is the most lethal.
  5. Focus on what you’re gaining, not on what you’re giving up.

Key Takeaways:

Read this entire post over again! It’s packed with over $1000 of value when you consider tickets, airfare, and hotel fees.

Daily Motivation:

“Show me your schedule, and you show me your priorities.” – Ed Mylett said this during the Q&A at the event. This ties into what I’ve said before – if it’s important, get it on the calendar and make sure it gets done!

Actionable steps:

Get around like minded people… please please please take initiative. Find a meetup or networking event in your area. Start shaking some hands and meeting people face to face. You are one handshake away from changing your life.

I met influencers this weekend, millionaires, and people who are on the path to financial freedom alongside me. It is such an incredible feeling to connect so deeply with others that are on the same page.

Literally every person I met, we would freak out and talk about how we track our goals, our morning routines, all the books we’ve read and plan to read, and more. That is something that I can’t do with most friends or family… they’re just not interested in it.

On the plane right back, I had an Instagram story showing the whole plane sleeping… me, my friend Safir, and a new friend from the event that coincidentally lives in Houston were all working through the flight and reviewing our notes from the event.

THAT Is going the extra mile. Doing whatever you have to in order to get to the next level. Find people that are crazy driven and can hold you to higher standards… I am on fire right now with motivation.

With that, I will leave you with a note I wrote at the end of the conference notes in my journal… seriously, I have goosebumps reading this to you.

I am leaving this event incredibly inspired. There is ALWAYS another level. More to achieve, see, do and experience.

I’m leaving with a fire inside to continue pushing, to increase my HUNGER and level of urgency. The time is now!

Learn more or apply to join Arete here

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Content is king: what it means and why it’s important

C“Content is King.” I keep hearing this phrase on other podcasts that I listen to and on YouTube videos that I watch.

“Content is king, content is king.” So what exactly does this mean?

It means that you should focus on putting out good content frequently and consistently. You can brainstorm ideas and article topics all day long, but ultimately, you need to just create and publish insane amounts of quality content.

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If you look at any social media influencers accounts, you’ll notice they have content posting ALL THE TIME. It’s good stuff, it adds value, it teaches you helpful things, it gives you calls to action.

A few accounts to check out on Instagram or YouTube that I follow are:

  • Business / Personal Development Space
    • Kevin David
    • Dan Lok
    • Grant Cardone
    • Gary Vaynerchuck
    • Lori Grenier
    • Sara Blakely,
    • Etc.
  • Fitness models
    • Steve Cook
    • Christian Guzman
    • Heidi Somers (aka BuffBunny)
    • Michelle Lewin
    • Etc.

Those are some accounts that I personally follow. They share quality content, photos, videos, etc.

Look at the insane amounts of constant they post… it’s overwhelming almost, right? How does one post that much freaking content so often?

One thing that has been helping me lately is to batch these types of activities. Have a content creation day or photoshoot day. Take a bunch of outfits and take pictures in different spots around town or you or your products. Write up interesting, compelling captions and schedule out posts for every few days.

Ideally, you want to get to a point where you can outsource those tasks. You’ll notice that big YouTubers started off by doing everything by themselves. But after a certain point, they eventually hire out videographers to film them and edit the footage.

When you do this, you don’t have to always be thinking about your next post or photo to take.

I’m starting to do this more, but obviously I’m not a pro yet, or I would have way more followers on my social media accounts.

How many of you listening to my podcast or reading my blog post are huge consumers? If you’re not sure, does any of the following describe you?:

  • You listen to all the podcasts
  • You watch all the YouTube videos
  • You read all the books,

BUT you never:

  • Engage with or comment on anything
  • Post much on your own social media
  • Create any content such as podcasts or videos

If this sounds like you, you are a consumer. Hopefully you take action on all that quality content instead of just consuming without applying.

If you are just a consumer, you should really consider shifting over to being more of a producer. Start creating content and sharing with the world.

At first, it’s weird to get in front of camera to record a video. It’s strange hearing your voice when you’re editing your first podcast episode. You might ask “who am I to be sharing this with others?”

Personally for me, posting all this positive vibes and motivational stuff was transformational. But it felt so strange at first. Back in college, the only thing I used to post about was going out to parties and videos of me jamming with friends who played guitar. That is “who I was” and how people saw me.

I chose to reinvent myself as I am a new person now and have grown so much. Now, people who remember partying and drummer Chris are seeing more of my self-development and growth mindset content. And they are starting to associate those things with me, the new me.

A blog article I saw on scrunch.com mentions several good reasons why content is king. Here’s a few:

  1. It’s great for SEO, or search engine optimization.
    1. The more you talk about articles and posts and you use keywords and everything, you’re going to rank really well online.
    2. It’s going to be easier for people to find your content whenever they’re Googling stuff.
  2. It encourages engagement.
    1. If you have good content, it encourages your users to engage with your brand and with your posts.
    2. Maybe they’re going to share it with their audiences as well, and that helps it get more of that virality factor or high traffic.

I always post things in my instagram story that I love from accounts I follow. Just the other day, I shared the new “Summer Shredding” video that fitness influencer, Christian Guzman, released.

For those who may not know him, he’s a fitness model social media influencer from Houston. My brother knew him and followed him early on in the days before he blew up. This latest video was very inspiring and showed flashbacks from him 7 years ago making motivational videos.


He shows footage from when he’s clicking the button to order his first gym’s equipment. He had footage from another great video I saw where he buys his dad a car. He also has footage in this latest video from when his mom rang the bell at a hospital showing she was cancer free.

I’m usually not a super emotional person, but I freaking teared up. I’m so happy for him, but also incredibly inspired.

Now, Christian has over 1M Instagram followers and 916K YouTube subscribers. It’s incredible. But this serves at proof that by consistently producing high quality, engaging content, you will grow a loyal following and make a name for yourself.

I posted that video on my personal Facebook to share with others, which is a testament to the power of amazing content It shows that quality content WILL get shared and more views. Ultimately, this gets you more followers and you will continue to grow a loyal fan base. Maybe someone in my network will see the video that I shared and end up buying some clothes from Christian’s brand, Alphalete.

When you have that kind of content, you’re able to generate new sales and new leads. The more people that can find you and the more they value your opinion, you’re going to be more of an authority figure.

You’ll be able to add value to that product or service or you can probably charge more if people value your content. If it’s in demand, if everyone’s sharing it, if you’re the authority figure, you can demand and command a higher price. And the beautiful thing is, as long as the value that others receive is more than you charge, they will be more than happy to be a repeat customer.

Traffic gets you sales and followers. But you don’t magically get traffic. You need content to get traffic. Nobody will follow you if you don’t post anything.

Take my podcast as an example. You started listening to me. I started growing a following. If I posted every now and then when I just felt like it, I wouldn’t have half the audience I have now.

Now that I have a growing audience, I’m trying to figure out what to do next to add the most value for you all.

I’m trying to get focused and specific. A strategy a lot of people use is to be very niched down and focused (example: chat bot agency or affiliate marketing for ClickFunnels).

So I’m honestly brainstorming ideas of what the community focus would be, what my free ebook or lead magnet would be, and then what I could ultimately sell as a product or course.

I’m thinking it would be something with motivation or mindset to get someone who is driven but overwhelmed started off on the right foot. Then again, maybe you are further along and don’t need any of that fluffy stuff, so that might not be of value to you. That’s one of the challenges that I’ll have to work through since my podcast is pretty generic and covers a wide variety of topics in Entrepreneurship.  

There’s another site called Textbroker which has more good information on why Content is King.

This site says that content is central to the success of a website. The more content you have, the more people are going to come and find your information.

You position yourself as an expert. You improve your brand awareness.

Remember though, that you need to target and speak to a specific audience so that your message makes sense to them. If you’re trying to sell beef to a vegetarian, you’re mixing up your audience.

Be entertaining and informative with your content. Make sure that it is reader friendly if it is in written format, well-structured and error-free. And you want to optimize for search engines.

You basically live or die by your content. If you have a YouTube channel or a podcast, and your content sucks, you’re not engaging, you’re monotone…  it’s like watching a presentation from a really smart engineer who is boring as hell to listen to.

Picture a monotone, robotic speaker saying “This is how the product works, you can click this button…” blah blah blah. Boring.

Now picture a salesperson or a professional presenter who is passionate about what he or she is talking about and tells you in a way that is engaging and inspiring. They will get you excited about it as well and asking “how to I sign up?”

So if you’re on the consumer side, and you watch a lot of videos you read a lot books but haven’t quite made anything yet, this is my invitation to you to get started.

Pick a niche or area of focus and start creating content. It’s not going to be amazing right off the bat. But like I said on another episode, done is better than perfect.

Whatever it is that your field of interest is in, start researching it, blogging about it, posting about it. And perhaps most importantly , stay consistent.

Key Takeaways

Content is KING! Focus on producing quality content and doing it frequently. Make sure it is something relevant to your business or passion.

If you have a drone company, publish content about drones. Make cool videos with amazing drone footage. If you have a chat bot agency, make a Facebook group answering questions about chat bots, and establish yourself as the expert. People will go to you and support you when you add enough free value to them.

Remember to automate and outsource when you can to help free up time. If you can afford a virtual assistant or videographer, really consider getting somebody to handle the editing, filming, photography, etc.

You don’t need to be a pro at everything. Focus on content creation and let others do the editing, scheduling, etc. This will make your life much easier! I need to take this advice too… because I’m still spending quite a bit of time editing the podcast myself as well as footage for YouTube videos (and the videos are super basic)…

Daily Motivation

“It’s never too late to be who you might have been.”  I love this quote… just because you’ve always been a certain way or people see you as a certain type of person, it’s not too late to change. You can reinvent yourself, start over, decide who you want to be and then work on becoming that person until you eventually do.

Actionable Steps

Create a content plan if you don’t have one already. When I first started with my podcast, I promised to release a new episode every Monday, and I have honored that. I have since started to release a blog post AND a YouTube video along with a new episode every single Monday.

So now I’m technically publishing 3 pieces of content although they all tie together on a certain topic.

Figure out what your strengths are and focus on them. Work to outsource weaknesses such as video editing or podcast editing to a virtual assistant or company that can handle that for you if budget allows.

Shift from a consumer to a producer. It’s okay to consume and learn from others. But when you teach, you learn it twice. I learn so much from producing content because before I can teach it, I must understand it.

Start producing content today!

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Improving communication skills

There’s a lot of tips and content on improving communication skills out there. I’m going to go through five of the ones that I think are most important.

#1 – Develop Confidence

First, develop confidence. This takes time and practice. As you get exposed to situations where you’re talking to more people, networking with more people, getting in front of more people, and communicating a message, you’re going to start to develop more confidence.

If you are shy or nervous, it’s going to come across with a shaky voice. If you want people to believe in you and whatever it is you are selling or talking about, you need to be confident about the message.

Research out there shows that improving your posture is a big part on building confidence, which leads me to point number 2:

#2 – Work on your body language

Don’t be slumped over in a chair at a meeting and hide in a corner. If you’re acting small, you’re going to sound small and your message might not come across.

You want to sit up straight when seated. Stand up tall when standing. Shake someone’s hand firmly when you meet. Don’t give a spaghetti noodle handshake that is flimsy and weak.

Show that you are able to meet others where they’re at and that you’re in a position of power as well. That will help you share a confident message.

You can feel a huge difference when you walk with your head up high and chest out versus dragging your feet with a slouched back.

#3 – Practice active listening

My third tip is to practice active listening. Make sure that you are listening to what people are saying. After all, people like talking about themselves and hearing themselves speak. So you can let them go right ahead.

When they are talking to you, be sure to say things like, “Right”, “Yes”, “Totally”, “I understand”, “I agree”.

I’m sure others have said this as well, but I’ve heard Grant Cardone saying to always agree with the person even if you don’t agree with them. If you are delivering a sales pitch and handling objections, you agree and then inform.

For example, let’s say someone says something you are offering is too expensive. You can respond “I understand that this is pricier, but our clients absolutely love this product because of the service they get from our team.”

#4 – Ask for feedback

Number four is to ask for feedback. After you do a presentation or whenever you speak to someone, ask them what they think, what their thoughts are, and for feedback.

They may have taken a message the wrong way or perhaps they were unclear on something you said. When you ask for feedback and get a feel from the people you are speaking with, you can understand what parts of your message or delivery might need to be worked on and improved.  

Tell them they won’t hurt your feelings if they didn’t like your pitch or your presentation or if they don’t like your product.

In sales, it’s better to get a yes or a no, not a maybe.

In a video I watched recently, entrepreneur Dan Lock talks about high ticket sales. If you haven’t heard of Dan, he’s hilarious but also has a lot of valuable content on YouTube, a podcast, and more.

In that video, Dan said that before you do a sales pitch or talk to someone about a product or service, say, “hey in my experience, most people who say ‘maybe’ mean no. So I would appreciate it if you just tell me yes or no if you’re not interested, just tell me no and it’s okay. If you’re interested, tell me yes and we’ll continue the conversation.”

Asking for feedback and making sure you’re clear about avoiding “maybe” can be very helpful in having a productive conversation.

#5 – Get comfortable with winging it

Last but not least, number five is to get comfortable with winging it and going with the flow.

It’s important to have a couple key bullet points sometimes on a note card or on a slide deck, but you don’t want to look like you’re reading word for word off of anything.

You should know your content and pitch well enough to cover basic points off the cuff where it sounds completely natural. You don’t want to sound like you’ve memorized a script.

How does one improve?

So how do you get better at all of this stuff? Well, it takes practice.

There is a great club called Toastmasters that helps you get better at your speaking. There are various chapter across the world.

When I worked in oil and gas, we had one at the office and it met for an hour at lunch every Wednesday.

One practice activity we did was to draw a paper out of a hat. The paper would start with a sentence or phrase that you would have to read.

You would then have to speak spontaneously off the cuff for 2 minutes without saying “uhms” or “ahs.”

The paper might start off by saying something like, “if I lived on the moon…” and basically they start a timer, and you’re supposed to talk for two minutes and make it sound interesting and grammatically correct.

So here’s an example, if I lived on the moon, I would not know what to do or how to sleep. I feel like I would wake up and I would be floating out into space. What would I eat can you use the restroom on the moon? How would that work?

See how practicing something like that can help you improve?  

Key Takeaways

Communication is so important! Make sure that you work on your skills and constantly improve.

The better and more clearly you can communicate a message, the better it will be received by others.

This is important whether you are making a Facebook video ad, doing a presentation, or even speaking to a group such as a Mastermind that you are a part of.

So real quickly, just to recap, here are the five communication tips again:

  1. Develop confidence.
  2. Work on your body positioning.
  3. Practice active listening.
  4. Ask for feedback.
  5. Get comfortable with winging it and going with the flow.

Daily Motivation

“Speech is power; speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.”- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Actionable Steps

Practice speaking and improving your communication in a mirror. Or perhaps record yourself speaking spontaneously on any subject for a few minutes.

Watch the video and feel free to cringe. The first time you do this, it’s not going to be pretty.

But like with anything, you get better with time.

Consider joining a group such as Toastmasters or working with a paid or professional speaker to get feedback and improve.

I’m fortunate right now to be getting feedback and coaching from a guy who was a paid speaker for 2 years across the nation. He would get on Zoom calls with a coach very often and get direct feedback.

The crazy thing is, he’s actually an introvert, but when he’s up in front of a room, you would never know it. He has great tonality, pitch, and his voice carries. He’s able to crack jokes, act natural, and go with the flow. It’s insane.

He said he does love it now, but he still gets drained after a lot of it and then goes home and just relaxes in the silence at times.

I feel like I’m pretty good at communicating and presenting, but feedback I’ve received before is that I tend to be monotone. Don’t believe me? Listen to the first few episodes of my podcast.

Now, I’m getting better of course. Instead of saying (INSERT MONOTONE VOICE) “welcome to my podcast…” I’m like (INSERT TONALITY AND EXCITEMENT) “WELCOME TO THE ENTREPRENEUR MOTIVATION PODCAST!!”

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How to face and conquer your fears (take action today)

Today, I want to talk about facing your fears and facing the unknown.

Think of something right now that you are afraid of. Are you afraid of heights? Do you have fear of failure? Fear of messing up a presentation in front of an audience that you have to do?

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It’s natural for us to have that instinct of being afraid, of being fearful of the unknown, of trying something new that we’ve never done before. Back in the day, we needed fear for survival. That fear helped us avoid or escape situations that could literally be life threatening.

We’ve come a long way as a species. Many of us are fortunate to have shelter, food, and all the basic necessities in life. I’m assuming that if you’re listening to my podcast or reading this pot, you’re doing okay and have these basic necessities covered.

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We have vehicles that can transport us relatively safely and quickly from point A to point B. We don’t usually have to worry about a lion attacking us on the way to work.

This has resulted in us becoming fearful of other things. We aren’t afraid of hunting to put food on the table. We’re worried about things like getting a raise. Or starting a successful business. We are afraid of looking stupid if we try something new and fail.

Isn’t that crazy? Our worries and fears are so much more ridiculous today. I’m not making light of your fears.. I’m just saying that we often get inside our heads more than we should.

Don’t worry about what others think

Let me tell you something. You shouldn’t care what others think… I’m learning this more and more with time.

Have you ever seen older folks in the gym locker room? A lot of them walk around completely naked, without a care in the world.

They really do not care what others think, AT ALL. While I’m not suggesting you walk around in the nude in your local gym, I want to basically say that there are few things we really need to fear.

One thing that has really opened my eyes is traveling abroad. When you’re in a new country and you literally do not know a single soul, it is so incredibly liberating. Accidentally farted on the train? Whatever! You’ll never see those people again. Tripped over the curb and dropped your food everywhere? Big deal! Laugh it off.



Getting that perspective and coming home is so eye opening. Who really cares what Judy in the office thinks if you like to take your shoes off to air off your feet, or if you microwave fish for lunch and stink up the office? Be considerate of others, but don’t cater to everyone else’s every wish.

In any case, we have to understand that if it’s the first time we’re trying something new, we’re probably not going to be good at it. If you’ve never spoken in front of 50 people before, it’s not going to be a cake walk. But as you do it more and more, it becomes more natural. You get better, you are more prepared, and you level up.

I’m not going to lie, I still have my fears. I’m still going to shriek and jump if a spider crawls on me. But I am trying my best to conquer all of my fears within reason.

Obviously, practice makes perfect. If you practice something more and more you’re going to get better at it.

Try this out. Any time you are afraid, think of something that you did despite the fear you felt. Think about how it felt to step up and face that fear; to conquer it.

You probably realized that the thing wasn’t as scary as you expected it to be, right?

What are you afraid of?

If you have listened to my past podcast episodes and posts on my website, one fear I wanted to conquer was the fear of heights. This is something a lot of people truly fear.

I love hiking, but the thought of slipping and dying is a bit frightening. But I still hike. I don’t let that fear stop me from living my fullest life and experiencing everything the world has to offer.

Another example I talk about is skydiving. Jumping out of a plane? Sane people actually do that?

I actually haven’t been skydiving in awhile. But I would really love to get a high resolution photo of me skydiving soon. I can probably ask an instructor or another skydiver to get a few photos of me in free fall.  

I want to blow that picture up and put it on my wall with the words “fear nothing” beneath it.

And why does it have to be a photo of me? Why not just a cool one off of Google? I want a photo of me because I want to stare at it any time I am afraid to take action on something.

When I’m afraid to make a cold call or ask for a sale or step out of my comfort zone, that picture will remind me of the time I won a stare down competition with my fear of heights.

I can tell myself, “Dude, Chris. Why the hell are you scared to cold call this person? You have JUMPED OUT OF A PLANE MULTIPLE TIMES. You’ve done something that a tiny percentage of people in the world will ever muster up the courage to do. This cold call? It ain’t nothing! YOU ARE A BADASS. YOU GOT THIS!”

When’s a time that you had to metaphorically throw yourself out into a hard situation or a situation that you didn’t want to be in? You have likely been in uncomfortable situations before and pushed through. You survived! You’re still here!

Think about that time and consider writing down a list of a few of the things that you’ve done that you’re proud of. Some things that that were difficult for you that you overcame.

Anytime that you’re struggling to make a decision or you’re afraid to try something new, look at that list and remind yourself that you are a badass.

You’ve done this before. You’ve conquered the unknown. You’ve gone out into the dark night and what happens the next day?

The sun still rose.

You were okay.

Things didn’t turn out to be as bad as you might have thought. It’s kind of funny to think about. I remember a previous girl that I had dated… gosh, she was always so negative and it really put a drain on me.

I would be stressed and upset so often due to her negativity rubbing off on me.  

I truly believe in the law of attraction. You attract what you think about and what you focus on expands.

She would always be negative and complain. This only attracted more problems into her life!

I remember that she used to pull too close into a parking spot. I had graduated before her and moved back to Houston for work. She was planning on visiting me one weekend.

All in one week:

  • She scratched the side of her car on the grill of a big truck.
  • She bombed a finance test.
  • She got a speeding ticket on the way to visit me

She called me bawling after the ticket. I had to tell her “Calm down. It’s gonna be okay. It’s not a big deal. You’re going to live.”

Sure, that’s a bad week and the losses kept piling up, but I firmly believe that she attracted that into her own life by being negative.You ever notice how if you’re just in a bad mood, everything seems to suck? You stub your toe, you burn yourself with hot shower water, ugh!

I hope that things are better with her and that she’s more positive. But I’ve met so many people that are always anxious and freaking out about pretty insignificant stuff…

If you’re sweating the small stuff, life is going to be a bumpy ride.

Life doesn’t always go according to plan. Things don’t always go our way.

Change your perspective

One of my friends, Brett, recently went on a 10-day silent meditation retreat in India.

He put his phone away and everything, he had no technology. I would go nuts because I’m always on my phone listening to podcasts, Instagramming stuff, and all that, so major props to him for doing that. I’d like to try it out eventually myself.

He told me afterwards that he was so appreciative and just in total peace. He told me that after the retreat, a bird pooped on him. Previously, he might have been a little upset or annoyed, but now, he just ended up laughing and wiping it off because it’s not a big deal. It’s just bird poop.

How you frame things really makes a huge difference on your life. When you’re able to ignore these small inconveniences and not see them as problems, you have so much more mental capacity to focus on the major things in life that seem difficult or scary.

So, that’s my message for today. Really try to conquer your fears.

Getting in front of 20 people to speak, approaching a random person at a networking event, or asking a girl you like out is not as scary as it seems.  

We’re all human. I feel incredibly confident these days. I feel like I can go up to the President of the United States or a billionaire and shake their hand like it’s not big deal.

Yes, if I were to go meet someone I really look up to like Jeff Bezos or Mark Cuban or whoever, I would be all giddy and excited like, oh my gosh, I’m a big fan and love your work.

But at the end of the day, they are human just like you and me. They get sick. They have bad days. You can absolutely be in their place in the future with the right goals, mindset, and hustle.

Key Takeaways

Don’t sweat the small stuff. Many things that we fear are trivial in today’s world. Very few things we fear are truly life threatening or altering.

Focus on the big things, the challenging things, the things that scare you. Make a list of things you’ve conquered in the past to remind yourself of your capabilities and past successes when you are fearful of something or having self-doubt.

Daily Motivation

“Fears are nothing more than a state of mind.” —Napoleon Hill

Actionable Steps

Consider making a list of past difficulties you overcame to motivate you when you face new ones.

Or you can also try to have a reminder for yourself, like a rubberband on your wrist to snap yourself when you’re thinking small. Or even put a post it note on your computer monitor reminding you that you are a badass and have endless potential.

So what’s there to fear? If it isn’t going to kill you, is it really something worth fearing?

Less dreaming, more doing. 

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The power of masterminds

Napoleon Hill writes about the  mastermind group principle as the “coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony.”

He goes on to say “no two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third, invisible intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind.”

Basically, that means that two heads are better than one.

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For awhile now, I have wanted to be part of a mastermind of some sort.

I have been searching for a group of people to hold me accountable and to push me further.

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I’ve gone to several networking events, met some cool people, and all that good stuff, but it still is not the same as meeting a set group with some sort of frequency to discuss challenges and learnings.

I know that there are several online gurus and coaches who have masterminds of their own.

Typically, they seem to be in super niche areas such as Facebook ad or sales funnel agencies. They do zoom video calls weekly or monthly and then meet in person less frequently, perhaps once a quarter.

With technology these days, it’s very easy to jump on a video call with several people and get a lot out of the meeting. However, I think that being face-to-face is still so valuable. After all, if it wasn’t such a big deal, there wouldn’t be thousands of people going to various conferences and events every year.

I’ve heard of people paying $5000 to be part of groups and even more in a year. This is totally worth it if your mentor and the one leading the mastermind has visible success in the areas you want to succeed in.

However, for some of you starting off, $5000 is a lot of money to drop. While I would urge you to think of it as an investment where it can absolutely be worth it, for others that aren’t at the level to drop that kind of money, why not start your own or join one locally?

There’s a cool working/start up space in Houston called Station Houston. At one of the demo days where start up companies pitch to an audience, I met a guy name Safir who actually went to my university.

We probably have a ton of mutual friends, but I did not meet him until that event here in town.

We kept in touch and I noticed that he loves a lot of the same stuff that I do. He listens to Grant Cardone, Andy Frisella, Ed Mylett, and more. He successfully started and sold a food delivery business while in college and now has grown a laundry delivery service in the Houston area.

He reached out to me asking if I would be interested in starting a mastermind group, to which I replied, absolutely!

He invited a friend he recently made named Dom, who then invited two of his friends, Lilo and Mario, and the five of us met up for the first time last week.

We are not charging $5000 to be part of this group quite yet, but we are a group of like-minded individuals in the same geographical area that want to push each other to become the best version of ourselves. The first meeting was a get to know each other meeting and lasted three uninterrupted hours.

It was so amazing to hear everybody’s stories, when they learned they were entrepreneurial as kids, and where they are right now.

Dom shared that he had a CD selling side hustle at the age of 14. He made $4000 in a month or two! Incredible. His mom had no idea how he was coming up with all this cash.

Lilo and Mario own an AV company in town and have actually grown into two other cities over the past few years. I seriously had goosebumps listening to their stories of how they struggled at first, tried several business ideas out, and how far they’ve come.

They have been friends and business partners for years, and even their wives are best friends. What an amazing story.

Now we’ve only met once, but I got so much out of that meeting. Our plan is to meet every two weeks on the same day of the week, for two hours.

We also want this to be a tight knit group with 8-10 members, max.

We will have an agenda that we set in the previous meeting with a little bit of homework assigned to bring to the next meeting.

So for our next meeting, we all need to bring a couple slides or notes about tools and software that we use to make our lives easier.

This will be a way for us to share how we use tools it in our various businesses, because we are all in different markets, and see if we can take any of those things and apply them to our own businesses or lives.

I plan on sharing various tools such as Trello, Zapier, Clickfunnels, ManyChat, and more. Sure, it’s cool to watch YouTube videos, listen to podcasts, and all that good stuff to learn.

But this will be a way to get instant feedback from other people who might have faced the same challenges or similar ones that I’m facing.

We can all have goals that we hold each other accountable to (and this could be as simple as sharing the goals that I have already set for myself that my accountability partner holds me to on our weekly calls).

For those who are new to the podcast, I’ve mentioned before  that I have an accountability partner that I met at a networking event.

However, he lives in Dallas, about four hours from me, so we just do a weekly, one hour phone call. This mastermind group will give me the opportunity to meet with people in my city in person.

One thing that Dom mentioned in the first meeting was that we all need to be committed to this and really try our best to show up to every meeting. He didn’t want for this to be a “show up when you feel like it thing,” or else we are not serious.  

I love that. You’re telling me that this guy I just met for the first time is already holding me accountable? Did we just become best friends? Lol

The energy in the room seriously sent shivers down my spine. We were all so excited to be surrounded by like-minded individuals, that listen to the same content, that are on the same journey to create the life of our dreams.

We agreed that it’s so hard to have these types of conversations with other people in our lives such as old friends or even family.

Many people don’t care about the things that we are interested in, and interests and friends change over time.

For example, I’m in a group text with friends that I used to jam with all the time. I’ve played the drums for years but I have not played as much lately at all.

They were excited about a new album or tour that’s coming up, and I was busy doing other things and never even replied in the group text. They’re still my friends and I still love them, but I’m just not as into the going to concerts and jumping into mosh pits anymore.

So if you are not part of a mastermind or group that hold each other accountable, I highly recommend that you look for one in your area or online. I still feel like a local is better because you could meet up for drinks or food and get to know each other better as opposed to just doing a zoom call.

However, I did tell people in the room that I expect us to outgrow the room. If someone grows faster than the rest, they should absolutely find another group where they can continue to be pushed and grow.

Eventually, they may join other masterminds where the entry fee is $5000 or $10,000 or even more. I am definitely in pursuit of getting in rooms where I am the smallest person in the room.

For example, Safir and I are going to the Arete Syndicate Live event that Andy Frisella and Ed Mylett are putting on in St. Louis on April 6th.

I got an email from Andy and Ed and I bought tickets on day one (it actually sold out in 2 or 3 days).

I have a previous blog post that talks about investments versus expenses mindset. I wonder how many friends of mine would think I’m crazy to spend $600 for a ONE day event. And yes, that’s just the entry fee. That does not include flights and hotel. I’m sure my parents would not understand. But I look at it as an investment.

The event sold out. Clearly people find tons of value, or maybe we are all equally insane. Andy and Ed are both millionaires, and I will get to be in the same room as them, ask them questions, and maybe even eat dinner at their table or near them.

$600 for that opportunity is actually pretty affordable when you look at it that way. People don’t bat an eye when they pay $40 bucks for a movie ticket and popcorn, yet they think $600 is insane to get mentorship and feedback from millionaires. Funny, right?

So, I challenge you to examine the room you are in and decide if it’s the right room. Are your friends and peers pushing you to grow, continue to set and achieve larger goals? Or are they excited for 5 o’clock to hit so they can run home and turn the TV on?

Seriously folks, surround yourself with people who are proud of their accomplishments but are never satisfied. Get around people who continue to raise the bar.

Key takeaways

Look at where you are in life now, you were hanging out with, and who is holding you accountable.

If you are surrounded by average people that don’t push you to be better, entrepreneurship  can be a lonely and difficult road. You can only motivate yourself so much.

However, when you find other high-performing individuals that are equally driven and hungry to succeed, the energy in the room is insane and helps hold your feet to the fire.

When the person to your right or left is making 10X what you are making, your perspective on what’s possible changes.

Check this out. Let’s say you are in the corporate environment. Everyone around you makes $50K a year. You make $60K a year, which makes you think you’re doing pretty good.

When you go out to these conferences or you join groups of people who are making six figures IN A MONTH, $60K in a year ain’t so great, is it?

So evaluate your room. If you are the biggest person in the room, it’s time to level up and change rooms.

Daily motivation

“If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room!” – I heard Grant Cardone say this in an audiobook so I’ll give him credit, but I’m sure it’s been said by many others as well.

Actionable steps

Go to meetup.com or Google masterminds in your city. Try to find some like-minded people and maybe even just go to a few networking events to meet a few potential candidates.

If there is not one in your area, consider joining one online where are you do you zoom calls and then meet in a physical location with some frequency. Note that the higher level players in the group, the higher the entry fee will likely be. But of course, think of it as an investment instead of just an expense.

You could also consider starting your own.  I can definitely see the value of joining others that are established instead of trying to figure out how to optimally hold each other accountable and all that stuff.

I think it is fun and I’m looking forward to growing together with the group, but as I continue to level up it increase my income, I may seek out bigger players to learn from to continue the growth.

One guy in our mastermind said that as soon as anyone is not getting value out of the group, it may be time to end the group. I totally agree with that.

The mentors that I have right now in real estate wholesaling pay to be part of a local mastermind type of group.

Their group has all sorts of business owners, from those who are building out year long projects and have no profit yet, to others who are currently doing millions of dollars of annual revenue.  

How cool is that for the people who are just starting off? Hopefully, those at the top still have something to learn from the others, but they should be changing rooms too if they find it they are not being pushed enough.

If you are already in a mastermind, I’d love to hear your feedback and comments on it. Drop me a comment or DM on Instagram and let me know what you think! My IG handle is chrisbello09.

Go out there and crush this week! I’ll talk to you on the next episode.

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Become an Early Riser with Schuyler Diehm

Today’s episode is an interview with a new friend, Schuyler Diehm. A mutual friend of ours, Brett, introduced us (big shout out to Brett for connecting us!).

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In this interview, Schuyler and I talk about a lot of things. We talk about how he started lifting weights to combat insecurity. We also talk about how he overcame struggling with social anxiety.

These are all issues that many of us undergo. After college, Schuyler realize that he did not have to fit in with the crowd. He could create and follow his own path.

He did the thing that most of us do and got a corporate job as an accountant. He would see his coworkers just show up to work in that they were not happy. (hey, this kind of sounds eerily similar to my story!)

Schuyler knew that he was destined for more than this corporate life and quit his job to start his own business.

Schuyler talks about a period of time before starting the corporate job or even quitting that job where he had some time to enjoy his last days as a “free man.” 

During these “free days,” he found that he would lay around on the couch most of the day and sleep in, hitting “snooze” several times. He would work out in the afternoon still, but he still felt lethargic and unproductive.

Around this time, he discovered the power of structuring your day. Schuyler now has a podcast and a following called the Early Risers Movement. He shares these discoveries with others and works to turn followers into what he calls “early risers.”

According to Schuyler, an early riser is anyone who gets up earlier than they have to in order to get some time in for self-development. So for example, if you usually wake up at 9:00am to get ready for work, and you decide to get up at 8:30am to focus on yourself for 30 minutes, you are an early riser.

I probe into some of the challenges he faced when starting his business. Schuyler shared that the hardest part was building something he thought was a good product, only to realize that people didn’t just magically come and purchase.

Again, the story is very similar to mine… Schuyler has shifted his approach to focusing on adding value first, instead of trying to make an immediate sale.

Schuyler created his first workbook which is called The Snooze Stopper. This workbook is geared towards waking up early and starting your day on a positive note.

One tip that he really recommends trying out is to implement and feel gratitude daily in your life. As you do this, you’ll notice that your days will seem to get better and you will be happier. Your life might not even change drastically, but when you start focusing on things you are grateful for, everything gets better overall (what you focus on expands).

Be sure to check out Schuyler’s content and grab yourself a copy of the Snooze Stopper, available on his website and on Amazon. I will post all of the links to get in touch with him and follow him below.

I hope you enjoyed this interview. If you’re a “serial snoozer,” this message will help you stop hitting snooze and start living an amazing and productive life!

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Links to follow Schuyler and the Early Risers Movement:

Website: www.earlyrisersmovement.com
Instagram: @earlyrisersmovement
Facebook: Early Risers Facebook Group
Podcast: Early Risers Podcast

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Commitment: Do what you say you will do

When you say you’re going to do something it’s very important to make sure that you do it. I know so many people who talk a big game and say they’re going to do something. The next day, they kind of change their mind or they’ve already given up on the idea.

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It’s sad to see, but this happens a lot at meetups or networking events. Noobies walk through the door and attend their first meetup or conference. They are all excited about marketing or real estate or whatever the event is about. They join a Facebook group or two and make a Facebook page for their idea.

2 weeks later, they’re watching an entire season of a new show on Netflix and telling you that they decided to try that thing out later when they have more time.

Ummm, what? Are you okay with an average life? Have fun with that.

When you back out or go against your word over and over again, you are telling yourself it’s ok to change your mind, to not commit. The bad thing about that is that you’re never ever going to follow through on anything if you’re not even able to commit to the smallest of things.

Excuses sound best to the people making them up.

An example of committing is waking up right when your alarm goes off in the morning. Don’t hit the snooze button. If you’re hitting snooze, you’re starting your day off telling yourself that it’s OK to not commit to the smallest decisions.

You set your alarm at that time for a certain reason. So why do you think it’s OK to snooze five times in a row?

It’s going to make you late to work, late to your appointment, late to your meeting, and then you’re going to have that excuse that you’ve been stuck in traffic and that’s why you’re late.

And guess what? Nobody cares about your excuses. Accidents and traffic happen every day. The expectation is that you should have planned for it.

If you’re late to an interview or to a first time appointment with a client, they’re going to remember that you were late.

The thing that happens when you commit and you stay with the smallest of things, is that you’re able to over time see yourself accomplishing huge things. You’re going to notice that as you commit, as you go through your days, things become easier.

Staying true to your word also goes hand in hand with understanding what to say “yes” to and what you need to say “no” to.

You obviously can’t say yes to everything because time is limited. You don’t have time in the day to do everything that people want you to do.

Think about it. Have you ever said “yes” to too many things and ended up dropping the ball on many of them?

Exactly. I bet you have! I certainly have been there before. I’m getting better and better at knowing when my plate is full and telling people no. I literally turn down referrals friends send to me. I appreciate the thoughts but am staying focused on my main things.

To summarize: Commit. Do the work. Keep your word. Say no when your plate is full.

When you do this, people will take note.

You want people who interact with you to say, “wow, he really does everything he says he’ll do, or she always delivers.”

It’s so frustrating dealing with people or trying to help friends that say they’re going to take action but then let excuses or laziness take over.

Here’s an example. This one guy reached out to me and asked to borrow some of my time.

Literally an hour before, he rescheduled. I let it slide the first time, things come up.

We rescheduled. It happened again a second time. After that, I never really took meeting up seriously and kind of wrote it off.

So don’t be that person… honor your word or you’ll be like the boy who cried wolf. When you need help, people won’t be there for you because they’ll think you won’t take action.

When you commit to the process, you will find a way or MAKE one.

Are you just interested in what you’re doing? Or are you truly, fully committed?

In an Eric Thomas motivational video, he says:

I need you need to have heart because there’s some things you just can’t get without perseverance. You’ve got to have heart, because sometimes you’ll get hurt, and gotta be able to bounce back.

You gotta be resilient, sometimes you’re gonna face obstacles, you might pass the test on the 4th try, not the 1st, not the 2nd, not the 3rd, and you gotta have the ability to get back up and act like you never failed in the first place.

Commit. Do the work. Stay true to your word.

Be the person who shows up, gives 100% when nobody is watching, and watch as your dreams become reality by the day.

If you settle for mediocrity and come up with excuses, even for the smallest of things, you’ll start stacking up loss after loss, until you realize that you’re not able to commit to anything in life.


Steps you can take today

Actively self-evaluate your commitments. Everything I talk about in other episodes ties in with today’s message.

Some things I’ve preached over and over is that you should have goals planned and written down somewhere. Those goals should turn into actionable tasks that you can literally block time on your calendar to work on.

Look at your calendar (which hopefully has some things on there relevant to your short and long term goals). How many things are you actually following through on?

If your calendar is blank, work on getting some activities on there that will move the needle on your goals.

If you have things on your calendar, consistently check and make sure you are doing everything on your calendar that you can. If you find that you are pushing something back over and over or are not able to complete all the tasks, scale back a bit. Minimize the list of things you’re working on. Focus on less and give it your full attention. Then watch your productivity and progress skyrocket.

“You’ve come too far to quit now, you need to get a reward for it.” – Eric Thomas

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Blog Posts

Optimize Your Time

I mentioned some Linkin Park lyrics on a recent podcast episode from the song “In The End.” The words say: “time is a valuable thing, watch it fly by as the pendulum swings. Watch it count down to the end of the day the clock ticks life away.”

Time is so valuable. We’ve all heard the phrase “time is money.” But it doesn’t really set in or make true sense until we take the time to figure out what our time is really worth.

Check out the video

The beggar and the millionaire have the same 24 hours in a day. But how they utilize those hours are worlds apart.

There’s only so much we can do in 24 hours. Science and countless books talk about the importance of a good night’s rest (8 hours a night for adults is recommended).

I’ve met people who sleep 4 or 5 hours a night consistently thinking they are getting more done. But then they are burnt out and cranky… how much quality work can you do when you’re operating in those conditions?

So assuming we are sleeping 7 or 8 hours a night, we really only have 16-17 hours a day to make it happen.

What does your day look like?

Let’s look at a day through the lens of two people. They could both have the same position at the same company, yet have completely different days.

Let’s say the first person is Average Abe (I’m just making this up but it’s what I imagine a bunch of people do across America and the world):

  • 6:45am – wake up, get ready for work
  • 7:15am – leave to work (listening to terrible radio hosts that are not funny)
  • 8:00am – 5:00pm – work, browse social media, work, coffee break, work
  • 5:00pm – 5:40pm – sit in traffic to get home (while listening to pointless radio or just music)
  • 6:00pm – 11:00pm – eat microwave dinner and watch Netflix or TV
    11:30pm – go to bed


In short, Average Abe basically going through the motions and doing the bare minimum required. Other than putting in a few hours of effort at work, the learning and growth stops there.

Let’s look at Super Sally’s schedule (this is what I try to do for myself as well):

  • 5:00am – wake up, do a 1 hour morning routine
  • 6:00am – healthy breakfast, pack meal preps for work or the day, head to gym
  • 6:30am – 7:30am – workout while gym is less crowded (listen to podcasts or watch informative youtube videos while on the treadmill or elliptical).
  • 8:00am – 5:00pm – work, user a timer and time block tasks, stay focused on one thing at a time
  • 5:00-5:40 – commute home while listening to podcasts or audio books
  • 6:00-7:00pm- cook and eat healthy dinner
  • 7:00pm – 10pm – read in an area she wants to grow in, work on creating content for a passion project (blog, podcast, youtube, etc.), research and pursue a side-hustle
  • 10:00pm – hit the bed

Both people can literally have the same job and pay, but you can bet that Super Sally is going to beat Average Abe hands down. Sally in this example is utilizing any down time to continue learning and growing, to get better in all areas of her life.

She’s going to get so much further because she is actively working to learn during times when Average Abe is just plugging in hours watching pointless television or shows.

There’s an amazing quote that says “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” You can literally outperform people who are naturally smart and gifted by working harder than them more consistently.

There’s a bunch of ways you can optimize your time. Here’s a few things that I do and recommend.

Listen to podcasts or audiobooks during down time (when you’re driving, or waiting in a lobby for a doctor’s appointment, etc.)

Outsource as much as possible. Basically anything that isn’t your core competency should be outsourced.

For me right now, my main focus is generating real estate leads and closing deals (that’s my income producing activity with highest return on time spent).

I get my groceries ordered online and delivered to my house. I hired a few virtual assistants (VAs) to do real estate research recently. I’m working on having them handle the editing and uploading of my audio for podcasts and video content for YouTube.

I even hired a housekeeper for the first time ever last week and it was amazing. The house has never smelled so clean.

Some of you may be thinking, “But Chris, housekeepers and ordering groceries online is expensive.” Let’s do some math.

Sure, it’s $120 bucks I could have saved by doing it on my own, but what if I got a real estate deal in that hour with a $20K profit margin?

I could cover 166 home cleanings. If I have her clean my house once a month, that is 13 years of a clean house. Imagine if it takes 2 hours a month to keep my house clean. 13 years of time bought at 2 hours a month comes out to 312 hours saved.

I bet if I spend 312 hours on real estate I’ll get several more deals. The profit from those deals can more than cover other tasks that seem expensive to some, but really aren’t when you think about it like this.

I know people that try to save every single dollar possible. They want to mow their own lawns, clean their own homes, get their own groceries, etc. It’s really a mindset shift to get from thinking like that to thinking the way I’m talking about on this episode.

Another time saver is ordering online. Better yet, do the subscription set up on Amazon so it’s “one and done” for anything you use frequently. I have 2 cats and a dog, and all of their food, treats, and medicines come in automatically every few months.

Once you start to outsource, automate, and scale yourself by doing things like hiring VAs, you can increase your output significantly. If you’re stuck doing everything in your life or business, from meal prepping to shopping to cleaning your house, you’ll find yourself stretched thin.

Here’s another bit of advice I want to give you that I really need to take myself. Know when to draw the line. Sometimes you have to make exceptions to being productive 24/7.

Your family or friends may want to grab dinner and spend time with you, and that may mean you have to drive 30 minutes through traffic to a part of town you hate driving to. Ya gotta do it sometimes!

I sometimes find it hard to “turn off” and relax. Even when I’m watching Netflix with my girlfriend, I feel like I need to be typing notes out for my next blog post or coming up with ways to improve my website or content.

I think this is something that many productive and self-driven people face. We feel guilty if we’re ever not working on our business.

A piece of advice I heard on a podcast recently is to go ALL-IN at the task at hand. When you’re working, focus on that 100%. When you’re spending time with friends or loved ones, don’t check your email.

As you continue to get better at this, you can sit back and relax more because so many things will be getting taken care of on autopilot even when you are not physically working.

It’s an amazing feeling to come home to a sparkling house. To come home to the yard being freshly cut while you were out for the day doing other things.

Even to walk to the door to get groceries that were delivered. It’s time you save that you can spend on things you want to do, like reading a book that you previously “didn’t have time” to read or growing your side-hustle or business.

Can you imagine spending just 5 or 10 hours more a week on your core competency, the thing that you are the best at or that gives you the highest monetary return for your time spent?

Heck, even spending just 2 more hours a week on something. Your life will change drastically.

I urge you to try and identify a few things in your life that you can potentially delegate or outsource completely. You can come back and thank me for all the time I’ve helped you buy back. Enjoy!

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