Today’s episodes features an interview with Schuyler Diehm of the Early Risers Movement.
Schuyler’s story and background sounds eerily similar to mine… in fact, I’m sure many first time entrepreneurs have a similar background.
In this episode, Schuyler peels back the onion on where he started, what he’s up to now, and how he’s been growing a loyal following by focusing on VALUE first.
Big shout out to our mutual friend, Brett, who introduced us.
In this episode, Schuyler will talk about:
How he started lifting weights to combat insecurity
Overcoming struggle with social anxiety
Realizing that he does not have to fit in with the crowd
Seeing coworkers just “showing up to work” and knowing that he was destined for more than the corporate life.
Quitting his job to start his own business
Feeling terrible about laying on his couch and sleeping in, and what he did to become productive
The power of structuring your day
Schuyler’s definition of an “Early Riser”
Some of the challenges Schuyler faced when starting his business
Schuyler’s first workbook, The Snooze Stopper, geared towards waking up early and starting your day on a positive note
Implementing and feeling gratitude daily life
Links to follow Schuyler and the Early Risers Movement:
There’s this really cool hack I discovered a few weeks ago that I want to share with you.
Basically, you search for entrepreneurs or leaders in your area of interest. Chances are, you already subscribe to them on their social media and YouTube channels.
You might go through some of their old or popular content and keep up as they post new stuff, but have you ever thought to sort their content from oldest to newest?
Less Dreaming, More Doing. Contact me directly or check out my blog at chrisbello.com.
This episode is for those who tend to have a tough time taking action… my guess is that there are many of you listening right now who like to listen to all the podcasts, read all the books, join all of the Facebook groups, but you struggle when it comes to pulling the trigger.
I want to challenge you to take massive, imperfect action. HUUUGE emphasis on the word IMPERFECT. Don’t worry about every little detail! Just get started and keep up the momentum.
Less Dreaming, More Doing. Contact me directly or check out my blog at chrisbello.com.
How can you grow your network of like-minded individuals?
After you’ve defined what you want to do and what your field of interest is, you’ll want to attend networking events, conferences, or Meetups in that area to meet others with similar interests.
You can also join online communities and Facebook groups to connect with these kinds of people.
Positive affirmations are very important in accomplishing any goals you set for yourself. Belief that you can do something is the prerequisite to accomplishing it. Like the Henry Ford quote goes, “whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”
So, what exactly is an affirmation?
An affirmation is a carefully formatted statement that should be repeated to one’s self and written down frequently.
If you’ve heard of the Law of Attraction, you must visualize the outcome you want and attract it into your life. If you think positively, you’ll attract positive things. Alternatively, the same goes for negative thoughts. Ever wonder why negative people you know always seem to have something new to complain about? You attract your thoughts into reality, so guard them and make sure they’re aligned with what you want in life.
In some meditations I’ve done recently, positive affirmations such as “I will smile today” or “I am content” are mentioned. You are supposed to either say the words out loud or think them in your head. There is so much power in actually following through with this exercise, as silly as you might think it seems.
I do push-ups every morning with a motivational YouTube video playing in the background. I watch some of the same videos multiple times, but I try to get fresh content and watch new videos every day.
The video below was one I watched recently. Eric Thomas repeats the phrase “I CAN, I WILL, I MUST” over and over, and in the audio you can hear the audience saying it with him. This seriously sent chills down my spine in the middle of my push-ups…. I CAN. I WILL. I MUST.
Think about how powerful that statement is:
I CAN – It is possible, it CAN be done, and I CAN do it.
I WILL – I WILL get it done. Not “I hope I can” or “I might.” WILL means it IS going to happen.
I MUST – I MUST do this. It absolutely HAS to be done, no excuses.
What excuses do you have right now as to why you aren’t living the life of your dreams? Shed those and start repeating this mantra over and over again, every single morning, or any time you feel like giving up. Believe you can and you will. Take action and have 100% belief that your dreams are on their way to reality. Then watch as they unfold before your eyes.
We all have our special morning routine. Some people make a cup of coffee while listening to music. Others meditate for a few minutes before doing anything else. No matter what the routine is, we should try to start our days with a positive, relaxed attitude. What does your morning routine look like?
Personally, mine currently looks like this:
Wake up
Eat a healthy breakfast (such as oatmeal or egg whites)
Shower / brush teeth
Get dressed and take on the day
There are tons of articles out there that will suggest various routines in the morning. I will admit that I’m also writing this post for myself. There are many things I could personally do to improve my morning routine and get in a productive state of mind.
I’ve selected the Top 5 morning habits that I have heard most people recommend and write about for you to consider trying. I will be trying these myself. I’ve heard of several great apps for meditation and productivity for planning your day. I will do a little more research and write a future post on what I find and decide to stick with.
5 Things You Should Do In Your Morning Routine
1. Meditate
I have done some meditation during yoga and remember how relaxed and clear of thoughts my mind was. Getting into this mental state helps you start the day off worry-free, as opposed to immediately checking your email and freaking out about all the things you need to get done.
2. Set goals for your day
Either set goals for the day as part of your morning routine, or consult a list of goals that you have created the night before. I have a white board with more of my weekly / monthly goals, but perhaps a Post-It Note or regular note card might do the trick to really get into the weeds and detail of daily goals.
3. Brainstorm
Have a quick brainstorm session while you start to unwind from the thoughtless state of meditation. Start thinking of all sorts of ideas, and don’t be afraid to think big. This is probably a good time to dream a little of the endless possibilities your life has in store. Remember the Law of Attraction… when you envision your dreams and successes as reality consistently, you will subconsciously start taking the required actions to make them happen.
4. Eat a healthy breakfast
Luckily, I’m 1/5 here in that I already eat a healthy breakfast every morning. Start the day off by fueling your body with healthy food. Don’t swing by Chick-Fil-A or grab the office donuts. The high sugars are sure to give you a crash and the high fats and cholesterol are not really that great for you, as you probably already know.
5. Think positive
This one is an important one. Start each day off fresh with a positive attitude. Each day is a new day of opportunities, another chance to chase our dreams. We literally never know when our time will come. However, we shouldn’t live in fear of our mortality. Instead, we should live each day to the fullest and strive to make a positive impact in the world.
Try these out and let me know what you think. Perhaps this list already looks like your morning routine. At the end of the day, we’ll each have things that work for us and things that don’t. However, I think it’s worth trying various strategies and seeing what works best for you.
When you have a huge “million dollar idea” that you’re nursing from scratch, you may do hours, weeks, and months of work without seeing a single dollar of return. I know firsthand that this can be extremely frustrating. You want the product to be finalized as fast as possible, but these things take time. Once your design is done, you want to roll it out right away, but you might find that it has to be done in phases.
Sometimes, it’s nice to just make some “quick & dirty” money while you wait for the big plans to come to fruition.
And no, I’m not implying you should become a stripper, although I heard strippers make a ridiculous amount of money a year. I really have to credit the podcast Side-Hustle School for helping me adopt this hustle mentality. You can create a side-hustle literally in a few hours and start acting upon your ideas. For me, flipping items for a profit (also known as reselling) became my side-hustle where I started seeing really good returns with little time and money invested.
One way to make easy, fast money: flipping, or reselling, for profit
To get into specifics, I flip products that I find for huge discounts at garage and estate sales. Sometimes there are warehouse or business sales when they are trying to clear out old stock or if they are shutting down. I price check similar or the exact items online to ensure there’s enough profit margin in there for me to feel like it’s a safe bet. One of my favorite flips was when I found 2 pairs of hiking shoes for $25/pair and sold them for $120 each on eBay within a week. I also had a Buddha statue that I bought for $25 and sold for $100.
More recently, I came across a small cell phone accessory store that was selling some plastic bins and tables. The plastic bins, as I learned later, are actually called “bus tubs.” They were for sale for $1/piece. I bought 5 just since they were so cheap, but I didn’t think much of them. Within 10 minutes of posting these on Facebook Marketplace at $5/piece, I had five people who had messaged me who were interested. I immediately knew I could raise this price to at least $10/piece. I found the same, exact bus tubs for sale on Amazon at $18 a pop, so even at $10/piece, people would be getting a steal. I sold the 5 the next day for $25, profiting $20.
I returned to the store and bought 77 more bus tubs (everything that would fit into my Honda Accord). $77 for 77 tubs. It’s taking some time to sell, but I know that it’s an item people want and can use for storing various things. If I sell them for $5 each, I’ll make $308 in profit. If I sell them for $10 each, I’ll make $693 in profit. I’m aiming to meet in the middle, to sell some for $10 when people are willing to pay that and others for $5 if they’re looking to pay a little less.
Flipping can be easy, but you have to develop a knack for finding the deals without spending too much of your time. You also have to start learning what types of items will sell quickly and which ones you might want to avoid.
The Bottom Line
Of course, flipping isn’t the only side-hustle out there. There are other ways you can make money as well. You can offer services with skills you may have, but you have to market yourself so others can find you. The beauty with selling products is that you don’t have to convince people of their value. The value and price is defined by the marketplace. Where I might have a tough time selling someone on my ability to transform their website, they don’t really think twice to purchase brand new hiking shoes for $120 that I have in the original box (and paid only $25 for 🙂 ).
Find yourself a side-hustle if you haven’t already, and try to find something you enjoy that makes you money, preferably. At least find something that helps you make a pretty decent amount of money per hour when compared to your regular job. I probably spent a total of 2 hours finding the hiking shoes, taking pictures of them, and then boxing and shipping them once they sold. I profited $190 for 2 HOURS of my time. That comes out to $95/hour of “income.” Fun fact, if you were to get paid at a job at a rate of $95/hour, your annual salary would be $190,000. Sure, you’re not working or getting paid for 40 hours a week with the side-hustle, but it’s money that you didn’t have and made in a short period of time.
Let’s do some math. Assume you have a “good” job and get paid $30/hour. You’d have to work 3 hours to get paid $90 (actually, a little less after taxes and all that good stuff). Imagine having a side-hustle where you’re averaging $95/hour profit or more. You would be profiting close to 3 times what you’re getting paid at your day job per hour of time. Can you see the potential here? It’s not just about money, it’s about time. If you can make more money in a shorter amount of time, you can clear up more time to do things you love and want to do. For 8 hours of your time at a good job at $30/hour, you’d make $240 in one day. That’s only $50 more than you could have made if you flipped the two pairs of hiking shoes like I did.
Starting a business or side-hustle comes with a lot of not-so-fun tasks. You don’t just get to invent a product, but you’ve got to build the foundation. A website, social media content, editing audio footage, and more requires software and online tools. I’ll walk you through my go-to list and make it super simple for you. Paid is usually better, but there’s a lot of great stuff out there that’s completely free as well.
In a recent post, I stressed the fact that you shouldn’t get so hung up on a name. I honestly think that it’s best to brainstorm a decent amount but to ultimately just pick something and move on. Every day you waste thinking about the “perfect name” is a day you cannot spend growing your business. When it comes to picking a team, this is NOT the case. You’ll want to do your due diligence here to make sure the team you’re assembling is the best possible fit.
Who should be on your team?
People with complementary skills should be on a team. You don’t want two marketing guys and zero web developers. It’s best to have a representative from each key function who is skilled at their craft. Here’s an example of a great mix:
A graphic designer – good with editing photos, videos, creating marketing material, etc.
A product developer – if creating software or a website, this person should be capable of creating an SEO optimized website and customize areas as necessary. If creating a physical product, this person should help design, prototype, and test products.
A sales lead – responsible for finding new customers, distributing marketing materials, etc.
Chances are that the functions will overlap in some areas. The sales guy may be involved in video editing or filming. The web guy may have to use Canva and do some free, easy edits when the graphic designer is tied up. Be flexible, but always reach out for clarification from the subject matter expert when in doubt.
Experience Pooling
Make sure that members have experience in their areas. One cannot simply decide to be a graphic designer. He or she should have previous experience, have gone to school for it preferably, and have a proven track record and portfolio. Once you pool all this talent together, you’ll be able to achieve things quickly and effectively.
Assigning Equity
Before getting excited, assigning equity, and drafting up business papers, you should do one thing: work together. Try working together for a few weeks at minimum. Heck, even a few months. Gauge everyone’s work ethic. Are there slackers? Are there “talkers” that don’t get to the “doing” part? If so, really see if those individuals are necessary. If anyone does not add value or consistently lets the team down, avoid them like the plague. That’s some solid advice I wish I had myself on my first LLC, so I could have avoided some issues down the road.
A recent podcast I listened to, “How To Start A Startup” by Y Combinator, recommended having vested equity. You can either check out the podcast or feel free to see the recorded videos here on YouTube. Vested equity means that founders earn certain percentages over time. This way, they can be in it for the long haul. If a founder leaves early, they won’t take a huge chunk of the company with them.
Are you trying to pick a team now? Or do you have a team member currently that isn’t contributing? Feel free to ask any questions or post any comments below.