Posts

why am i here

David Anderson – Why Am I Here? – Why Discovering Your Personal Mission is Vital to Living a Purpose Driven Life (AoL 092)

/by

Why am I here? That’s a question that a lot of people have asked themselves over the years. And because success looks different to different people, you might not not be able to recognize it if your career involved just formal education and getting a job upon graduation. In fact, if you’ve gone that traditional route, you might believe that those who have the most money or the most fame might be considered the most successful.

I believe that this model simply doesn’t fit in today’s new world. Sure, I might say that a majority of people still believe that to be considered successful, it just happens to you – but I and many other creators would say that success comes with achieving what you set out to do – whatever that might look like.

Today’s guest, David Anderson, is the co-author of the book The Delusion of Passion: Why Millennials Struggle with Success.

This book might sound familiar because Laila and I had the opportunity to speak with Mark Nathan about book back in session 23. It was also the book that “I helped re-publish” last year.

For me, a lot of things have changed since then – including learning how to really launch books and courses – but one thing stayed constant: I still hadn’t met the “other” co-author of the book.

Then I found out that he did a TEDx talk.

As I watched his presentation and got the chance to know jim, I realized why Mark had chosen him to help him write the book. He really is an impressive guy. He’s seems to have accomplished everything that he’s wanted to do – and through his own experiences, he really has a lot to teach others.

In this chat with David, Albert and I find out more about his mindset he used to land a job at the White House, how the entire process of writing the book with Mark went, how he got into international trading, and much more. We even ask him questions you guys submitted about finding one’s own mission.

If you’re a fan of the Delusion of Passion, or simply want to get to hear more about what it takes to really achieve your dreams – this session is for you.

Thanks for listening, and enjoy the show!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • Why did David opt to do a TEDx in Austria and not the US? 8:10
  • Why did he choose to support his family growing up? 10:05
  • Does he feel that he still has credibility with his home community after achieving all the success he has? 12:30
  • How did David achieve his goal in working in the White House? 16:11
  • How did he team up with Mark Nathan to write their book? 19:31
  • What’s it like to flip the switch and start writing a book? 20:58
  • How’d they go about writing a second version of the book where they included their personal stories? 23:16
  • Why did they opt to write a book vs all the other options that are out there these days? 25:36
  • When did the talk about mission come into schedule – before or after writing the book? 28:00
  • How did David get into international trading and becoming a “futurist”? 28:37
  • How can someone find their mission if they’re not sure what it might be? 41:18
  • What does someone do if they’ve come to the end of their current mission? 46:44
  • What can you do if you feel people are constantly trying to pull you away from your mission? 50:32
  • How does someone get out of a job that they dislike, but they can’t because it pays the bills? 51:57
  • How can someone find their Why (as Simon Sinek is famous for discussing in his TED talk?) 53:44
  • What’s David’s near future looking like? 56:12
  • Who are his favorite top 3 influencers? 58:53
  • What’s the worst job he’s ever had? 1:00:07
  • What’s a life skill he’s amazed people lack? 1:00:37
  • Secret to achieving personal freedom? 1:01:01
  • … and MUCH more!

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

David’s TEDx talk:

David and Mark featured on FOX News Chicago:

David speaks with Till Gross about life and the book:

Pre-launch video of Delusion of Passion (from June 2016):

why am I here
a purpose driven life
a purpose driven life
why am I here

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

personal mission

4 Steps to Discovering Your Own Personal Mission

/by

This past week, I had the opportunity to be a guest on Gregory Diehl’s podcast Uncomfortable Conversations with Gregory.

We talked about a number of things, but one of the key points we discussed was how so many people would be better off if they could simply put a mission in their lives.

This is a phrase I learned from speaker and author David Anderson and it’s been resonating with me ever since I watched his TEDx presentation as part of my prep for his AoL interview.

Sure I had heard of businesses having missions, but I never thought about how it could apply to individuals. Not only that, but it encapsulates basically everything we know about passion and purpose.

If a person has a mission – I feel they have these two things figured out. So it’s not necessarily about helping people find their purpose OR their passion. It’s about helping folks find the combination of the two.


Since I’ll be releasing this chat with David this week as session 92, I thought I’d touch on a bit more about the topic – and look at how someone can develop their own mission.

 

Be Aware that there is a Choice

For the longest time in my life, I had this feeling that my purpose in life was designated by forces outside of my control. I felt like I was at the mercy of the world around me.

It’s easy to believe this because the world around us is setup to make us feel like that. It’s learned helplessness.  In the podcast with Gregory, we discussed how a lot of this problem is started with our current form of academia.

It makes sense as your typical 9 to 5 needs you to be compliant to the organization at large.

(It was this mentality which let me spend so much time in a major that while it made use of my skills, wasn’t really meant for me.)

Here’s the situation – many of these traditional jobs are on the verge of disappearing due to mega automation changes in the not too distant future.

Followers are going to have problems in this next economy, if they don’t figure out their own mission.

Religion doesn’t Necessarily Help

Over this past weekend, I thought about this mission dilemma more and more. During my travels around the state, I listened to a few more podcasts of Lewis Howes. One where he interviewed Rob Bell and another with John Gray. From these conversations, I realized that some organized religions might make their believers feel this way as well.

People go to church when they need support. I think it’s a great place to start. What Lakewood Church has done, whether you agree with the doctrine, has made going to church actually kind of cool.

However, as Rob Bell talks about in his chat, Jesus was all about reaching out to those with needs – not waiting for them to come to “the temple”. Not only did he go out and try to help the people where they were, he was very interested in the viewpoints of the people he was with.

This is very interesting to me. It seems very much like how a good coach works with their clients. They go out of their way to find people to help and not tell them exactly what to do.

On the other hand, Rob also goes on to discuss how many churches seem to focus mostly on teaching those that are there – not actively seeking new membership or engaging with folks who might actually need the support.

Again, this is backing that follower mentality.

This mentality is all around us. I just want you to know that you do have a choice to break free and do what you feel is important.

(If you’re into the study of Christianity at all, you should check out both of these interviews – especially Rob’s. Several revelations were discussed that I don’t think most people know.)

 

Start Action on Your New Journey

If you do opt to start on your new journey, you actually have to take action to get moving. Just because you choose to go this different route, doesn’t necessarily mean it will happen. You have to take action to do it.

For many people, including myself, this is the hardest step. Taking action.

Indirect Inspiration

For about 4 years I had an opportunity to pursue a new path – but tried to stay in the status quo for as long as I could. I had spent so much time getting my degrees, I didn’t want that time to go to waste. But slowly and surely, my new path made itself ever more present. I was just too chicken to pursue it; to step out and be different.

As I mentioned on the podcast with Gregory, it usually takes a deep pain or significant loss in one’s life to move people from the “comfortable / follow the rules” path to one where they’re setting the standard.

For me, it was the sudden loss of my mom which affected me this way. Besides myself, she was the only one at that point that I felt I had to prove that my life up to that point wasn’t a waste of time. She, herself, had put a lot of time and energy into my career – I couldn’t disappoint her.

Even if I personally felt I wasn’t a good fit for what I had been pursuing. Then when she passed, I realized that following that path didn’t really pan out for her – so I wasn’t going to make the same mistake.

 

Direct Inspiration

That said, it might need to take a more direct action to nudge us out of our current path.

Lewis had another interview with Andy Frisella. Who found, in about 30 seconds, his life’s path had completely changed. He went from being a normal guy to having a violent brush with death.

After being disfigured from a knife attack, he had to figure out how to spin his new look in a way that people would remember him positively. This completely changed who he was.

In both cases – things were suddenly and radically different. And as Andy said, you can either spend your time trying to get things back to “normal” or you can go an entirely different route.

He and I chose to go entirely new journeys on new routes.

 

Shift Your Locus of Control

Those routes were both dependent of our new circumstances. And they both came to us in a matter we didn’t have any control over. But does that mean that a bad situation has to happen to anyone who wants to control their own path?

Not necessarily.

What it does mean is that you need to shift your locus of control. Instead of letting the world guide the direction you’re going and what you’re doing, you need to decide that YOU are the one in charge of your own success.

You have to move from being a thermometer to the thermostat of your world.

 

Choose What’s Best For You

Now, as you know, I’m a huge proponent of entrepreneurship. But that doesn’t mean it’s the best course for everyone. Sure, I think anyone can do it (or be a part of it), but they need to believe they can perform in the arena themselves.

I feel, along with the other members of the New Inceptions team, that being an entrepreneur is a greatest example of someone expressing their own personal freedom when it comes to the work they do.

In a traditional 9 to 5, you’ll always have to report to a higher-up. But, at the same time, the success of the organization doesn’t solely ride on your ability to perform.

Whereas an entrepreneur, if they fail to perform and haven’t made the business passive income based, then the company is going to struggle.

So it’s really your decision on how much responsibility you want. For me, personally, I come from a family of movers and shakers, so it was fairly simple for me to make the leap once I had to make the decision.

If neither sound terribly great, you might prefer to be an intrapreneur (or something else in the middle). If you can find a company or institution which will allow to work at that capacity, it might be the best option for you. (That’s where several huge entrepreneurs started – so it’s not necessarily a one way ticket.)

 

 

Action Steps: Develop a Personal Mission Statement

Once you figure out where you want to be at and how you want to carry out your purpose, it might be helpful to develop a mission statement. That way if you need to be reminded daily or simply when times get tough what you’re working towards, you’ll have it available to remind you.

Again, be sure to check out David’s TEDx talk if you haven’t to seen it yet. And this week when session 92 is published, you’ll find out that he actually has another one on top of the one he mentioned in his talk.

Also, if you have figured out what your mission is (without or without an actual written statement), I’d love to hear it below!

 

How to be more productive

Work Smarter, Not Harder – How to be More Productive In Your Day Without More Discipline with Lisa Crilley Mallis (AoL 090)

/by

We’ve all heard the phrase Work Smarter, Not Harder. But for many of us that’s much more easier to say than actually do.

The prevailing advice that’s out there is that there’s only certain ways to get stuff done. To be successful, you must:

  • Race the sun
  • Crush it
  • Find the schedule that best suits you
  • Exercise first thing in the morning
  • Answer email first thing in the morning
  • Tackle your least desirable tasks first
  • Knock out simple tasks as they come in.
  • Disconnect from technology
  • Automate and systematize

These are just some of the solutions that are out there when you google “entrepreneur productivity hacks“.

It might be me, but some of them seem to conflict with each other. For example, if you’re racing the sun, that means that you’re a morning person and you work until sundown. Well, what if night is your best working time? Can night owls make the transition to morning birds so easily?

I know for me, it takes me a bit of time for my mind to fully boot up in the morning. Usually I spend an hour just seeing what’s new on the web, having breakfast, and working out (yay for home gym equipment you actually use!).

This is completely different than how many people approach their days – and frankly when I approached my days like that back in high school, I was always a zombie until 3rd period.

Apparently, there’s nothing wrong with that, according to this session’s guest, Lisa Crilley Mallis.

People do have their own schedules and processes when it comes to being creative and getting things done.

She also acknowledges that many people’s day to day work life doesn’t allow them to actually be efficient in their own zone. While it might be expected of them, it’s by no means healthy or really productive for that matter.

In our conversation, we talk more about her mission, some of the things that she helps people with in her practice, and how you can keep focused in what’s important in your daily routine.

Thanks for listening, and enjoy the show!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • What was Lisa doing before she started Impactive Strategies? 7:32
  • Was owning her own business something she always saw herself doing and how did she end up starting it? 11:21
  • What kind of material did she study as she was starting the foundation of her business? 16:46
  • What’s the secret to getting more done in a person’s day? 20:15
  • How can someone battle the busy work in their day? 24:11
  • What’s Lisa’s definition of true busy work? 30:04
  • How does she know when to say no about a opportunity? 34:40
  • What’s a simple way to keep people focused on what’s important? 40:23
  • What’s going on the rest of this year for Lisa? 43:24
  • Who are Lisa’s favorite teachers? 45:45
  • Something she wishes was still a thing? 46:25
  • What is the smallest decision that has had the greatest impact on her life? 48:08
  • Something she believed in her 20’s but now knows is completely inaccurate? 49:21
  • How can someone be a difference maker in their community? 51:16
  • … and MUCH more!

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

 

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

How to Start and End Your Day with Routines:

Learning About WHAT You Can Delegate:

Lisa’s interview with Marc Mawhinney:

Lisa’s interview with Erica Duran:

how to be more productive

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

Teenagers with Attitude: Learning About Today’s Teen Entrepreneurs with Easton Allred (AoL 089)

/by

Teenager entrepreneurs are blowing up around the internet these days. It’s crazy.  It’s not uncommon to hear of 14 year olds making thousands, if not millions, of dollars in their businesses.

For me growing up, this was never an option. Even when I was in Amway, you had to wait until you were 18 to officially start. As the internet has evolved over the last few years – you just see more and more kids and teens being and doing more so much earlier. Sometimes I feel blessed that I grew up in the 90’s which I consider the ultimate decade to be a kid, but then I see kids like today’s guest and it makes me think – would I have started my own business online when I was starting high school?

For today’s guest, it was a no brainer. Like me, he got started in an MLM, but soon found out that he wanted to be an online entrepreneur as well. Today he’s a motivational speaker as well as a podcast guest and will soon be an author.

Through his podcast he aims to inspire other teens by hosting inspirational figures including entrepreneurs like Caleb Maddix (check out the show note extras), sports figures, and others to find out more about them.

In our conversation, we talk more about his beginnings, where he got the idea for the show, and what has him excited for the future.

If you know any teens struggling to find direction in their lives – perhaps it might be worth your while to have them check this interview out!

Thanks for listening, and enjoy the show!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • How has being a homeschooled student been a catapult in Easton’s success? 7:27
  • How does he balance his active sports life with his schooling and his business? 12:48
  • How does a homeschool student become part of a school team? 13:46
  • How did Easton become interested in starting his own business? 15:36
  • What caused him to pivot into motivational speaking? 17:41
  • Who have Easton’s mentors been as he’s been developing his podcast? 20:47
  • Where can someone find a mentor for themselves? 23:24
  • How can a teen help a friend of theirs find their own identity? 26:54
  • What are some steps that a person can take to achieve a goal? 29:07
  • What’s the book about that Easton is writing? 32:24
  • How did he write his book? 33:37
  • Anything else he’s excited about this next year? 35:35
  • Top 3 Favorite books he recommends to others? 36:18
  • Scientific Fact that he knows is real but still blows him away? 38:21
  • What is something that isn’t as bad that he initially thought it would be? 40:38
  • What’s a service that doesn’t exist that Easton would gladly pay for? 41:26
  • What does it meant to live a life of abundance? 42:04
  • … and MUCH more!

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Intro to Fueled for Teens:

Basketball coach Nick Graham Interview:

Caleb Maddix Interview:

Interview with Casey Adams:

teen entrepreneurs
teen entrepreneurs
teen entrepreneurs
teen entrepreneurs

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

fear of public speaking

Getting over the Fear of Public Speaking: Discovering the Stage Fright Cure with Marti MacEwan (AoL 088)

/by

Stage fright, fear of public speaking, or performance anxiety are things that many people, especially creatives, have to deal with to achieve some sort of success in their lives.

If you want your message to be heard, then you’re just going to have to deal with it – so many of the experts say.

How exactly do you deal with it?

Personally, I’ve always struggled with it as far back as I can remember. It prevented me from joining the debate team in high school and it also prevented me from trying to achieve more in band. Later, when I was in college, I couldn’t help but have a dear in headlights look in my communications classes… and then finally, when I hit grad school, it was really a fight or flight situation. Either I get over it and teach 6 classes of 30+ students, or don’t go to grad school. I had no interest to do research.

Those classes were rough, but I made it through.

For today’s guest, Marti MacEwan, she had a similar struggle. It suddenly hit her when she attempted to sing – but couldn’t.

From that point on, she made it a point to figure out why she couldn’t. And she came to find out that it stemmed all the way back to her childhood.

As she found out where her fear actually came from, she learned to cope with it. What she found out she later shared in her book: The Stage Fright Cure.

In today’s chat, Veronica and I learn from Marti more about this path of hers, where the book came from, and some really good tips for you if you’re struggling with stage fright.

Thanks for listening, and enjoy the show!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • What was Marti’s background with stage fright before she could help other people tackle theirs? 9:13
  • Why did she choose theatre as a major in college even though she would get stage fright? 11:00
  • How did Marti get into therapy while her background was in theatre? 13:01
  • What inspired Marti to write her book, the Stage Fright Cure? 15:52
  • What’s the difference between therapy, training, and coaching? 28:33
  • What’s her take on pivoting in one’s career successfully? 39:27
  • What are some of the things that someone can start doing to work on their own stage fright issues? 43:45
  • Top three favorite books? 52:54
  • What is a scientific fact that she knows but yet still blows her away? 56:32
  • What’s something that isn’t as hard as she thought it was going to be? 1:01:22
  • What’s a basic life skill that Marti is amazed people lack? 1:02:48
  • What does it mean to live a life of abundance? 1:04:30
  • … and MUCH more!

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Glenn Interviews Lewis Howes (Starts at 37:38):

A bit more about the Stage Fright Cure:

Marti discusses how to untie emotional knots with psychotherapy and energy work:

Prof. Dave Guin discusses why We Fear Public Speaking:

Richard Greene on the 7 Secrets of the Greatest Speakers in History:

marti macewan fear of public speaking fear of public speaking fear of public speaking

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

what to do when depressed

Surviving the Troughs of Life: What to Do When You’re Depressed with Anthony Hayes (AoL 087)

/by

Depression can be a heck of a struggle – and it can hit us at any time. For creatives, depression can be triggered by the simple feeling of being alone because no one understands what it is you’re trying to do. For a lot of people, though, it can set in from life not going the way we’d expect it to.

Personally, I went through depression 3 times in my first two years of college. I was used to being great in my academic studies and all of a sudden, I wasn’t. Eventually I found out that the cause of my depression was due to my major, and I switched soon thereafter.

For our guest, Anthony Hayes, he realized back in 2004 that he was chronically depressed himself. He set out on a mission to figure out how to not only get out of it, but then to not fall back into it ever again. Besides coming up with his M5 strategy, he also has written a book on the matter, and continues to help others with the problem.

Besides this mission, he’s the host of Me, Myself, and I Radio, and co-founder of the Facebook Community – Podcast Discovery Center.

Join us as we find out more about this journey of his and the purpose of his work that he does today.

Thanks for listening, and enjoy the show!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • How did Anthony realize that he was severely depressed? 9:55
  • How does he keep from entering into his troughs in life? 19:08
  • What was the purpose behind Anthony writing his book? 23:29
  • What’s Anthony’s podcast about and who should be listening? 27:13
  • What prompted Anthony to join Scott Doucet in creating the PDC? 33:25
  • What’s Anthony’s M5 Strategy and what effect they’ve had on his life? 39:27
  • What’s the big ambitions for Anthony in 2017? 47:10
  • 3 Top Favorite Books? 50:00
  • One thing he wishes was still a thing? 50:42
  • One gift that he likes giving others? 53:41
  • What’s one thing that all high school students must know? 54:25
  • How can someone be a difference maker in their community? 54:46
  • … and MUCH more!

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Anthony on the Importance of Goals as a Podcaster:

Anthony on the topic of including descriptions in your podcasts:

Dr. Kasim Al-Mashat on How Meditation Redefines pain, happiness, and satisfaction:

Light Watkins on Debunking the 5 Most Common Meditation Myths:

what to do when depressed what to do when depressed what to do when depressed what to do when depressed

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

business knowledge

Freebies to Use For Your Business: Latest Online Business Knowledge

/by

This month we’ve been looking at free resources to build your business with. The past two weeks, we’ve looked at ways that you can spruce up your content for free.

First we discussed stock photos and where you can get free ones. Of course, stock photos can be used to add flair to your blog posts and other media.

Next, we looked at non copyright music and how you can use that in your media as well.

This week, we’re changing things up a bit. We’re going mental. I’m giving you some of my favorite places to get “basically free” business wisdom.

I say it’s “basically free” because even if they have premium courses or memberships, they’re relatively inexpensive compared to what’s out there. I’m not including anyone that thas content that is specifically meant for as entries to their course or events. Those all tend to get a bit more expensive that a lot of people can afford. (So, no, I won’t be including Tony Robbins, Brendon Burchard, or John Maxwell in this specific list!)

 

Top 5 Favorite Online Business Figures:

This is a list of individuals who I listen to on a regular basis to keep up with trends, knowledge, and general awareness of the online entrepreneurial space. Sure, there might be plenty of names out there that do this as well, but these were the folks that had significant influence in my own entrepreneurial education.

Without them, I wouldn’t know or know about half the stuff that I do today.

 

  1. Pat Flynn

    I had to put Pat up first because he was the first one who introduced me to making real money online. Up until I found him, I knew of Google Ads, banners, and MLM’s. But as he started exploring this world, I followed along on his journey. I just wish that I had started on my own sooner!

     

  2. Gary Vaynerchuk

    Pat contributed his early work to a couple of people. Robert Kiyosaki, Tim Ferriss, and Gary.

    Gary’s first book, Crush It!, really helped Pat get started. While it was published in 2009, it still has a lot of very practical info. I actually read it the first week that Pat published his first podcast. Which, at the time, sounded so awesome and cool to me.

    Today Gary is kicking even more butt and has an even wider fan base. Having started Vaynermedia since then, he’s brought on a staff, and has started a few series on his YouTube channel: #AskGaryVee and #DailyVee

     

  3. Lewis Howes

    Probably one of my favorite early guests of Pat and another guy I’ve liked watching as he’s been building his business. When he started his podcast called the School of Greatness, I loved how it had examples of folks who had done their own thing. But he wasn’t focused on the how-to, he was all about the lifestyle aspect.

    Today he interviews folks such as Larry King, Wyclef Jean, and Cesar Millan!

    Amazing that he started his journey from his sister’s couch!

  4. Michael O’Neal

    Michael is someone I learned quite a bit from when he was on Pat’s show, so I figured I had to start paying attention to him as well. While i haven’t been following him as long as everyone else, I would say that his podcast is amazing. He reaches those niches that Pat hasn’t been able to go into via his podcast. He’s had some MLM folks on as well as investors.

    Also, Michael approaches interview as an artform that I really appreciate. His ability to be so natural on the mic is simply incredible.

     

  5. Tim Ferriss

    I didn’t really listen to Tim until recently. Yeah, that’s right… I know, I know!

    But hear me out. The reason I didn’t was because his conversations were so long. However, my guests kept saying that they loved his show, so I started paying attention myself. Now the long conversations that once turned me away are the reasons that I listen.

    From a podcaster’s perspective, like Michael, Tim is gifted on the mic as well. His long conversations get a lot more out of his guests then the more typical 30-45 minute conversations. That’s the one reason why I don’t try and keep my guests short – if they want to go on, they certainly can. If they want to keep to an our chat, there’s that option as well.

 

Top 5 Business Resources on the Web:

Sometimes, there’s more than just one person who runs an online business or organization. Whether I need new inspiration, or have a question that I actually need answered, here’s a list of five of my favorite resources from around the web.

 

  1. Fizzle

    For those of you have heard a few episodes of Angles of Lattitude podcast, you know that I’m a huge fan of Fizzle. There’s two main reasons. The first reason is because of their wide variety of video courses to help you go from point A to B in so many different topics. From as broad a topic as picking your own topic to learning how to book yourself solid with prospects and clients, to niching down even further to something like comparing video hosting services.

    It’s a ton of info that you might have to spend lots of time finding yourself or paying out the nose for elsewhere.

    The other reason is because the forum there, I believe, is full of folks who are actually doing something to move their business forward. Because they have to pay to play, they take things a bit more seriously. This means they actually have real experience you can tap into. I don’t think the same thing can be said about many of the groups you can find on Facebook. Some of them are simply too easy to get into and you have little to no idea if the person who’s giving the advice actually knows what they’re talking about!

    Anyhow, check them out, see what courses might be useful for you and get some of your questions answered in the forum. It’ll definitely be worth your while.

    Oh, and they have a podcast too!

     

  2. Art of Charm

    While Fizzle is good at teaching business skills, we should all realize that isn’t all there is to business. You have to have social skills as well. That’s where AoC picks up. Most people know of this group for their great podcast. And while the podcast is hosted by Jordan Harbinger, there is more to the AoC crew than him.

    Personally, I’ve learned enough through the show and Jordan to give myself some life hacks here and there. But you might consider actually attending their workshop sometime in LA if you really want or need to go deep.

     

  3. Social Media Examiner

    We’re all in the business of getting our story out onto the web to our potential clients, audience, and customers. Problem is, the tools to do that are always changing. What worked last year might not work next year. What started off as a one man show has changed over time to what it is today – the forefront explorer of all things social.

     

  4. TED

    If you’re not familiar with TED, then you should definitely take a look. Just about all major thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and educators have been in a TED or TEDx presentation. My favorite three talks of all time on there are done by Mike Rowe, Tony Robbins, and of course, Simon Sinek.

     

  5. Khan Academy

     Most people would initially think that Khan Academy is for students between middle school and college. For the most, they’d be right. However, they actually have lessons for entrepreneurs as well! One of stories on there is from Elon Musk – do definitely something to check out if you like founder stories.

 

Action Steps:

So these are the basically free resources that I get a lot of my “business awareness” from these days.

If you ever need inspiration, more surface level knowledge on a certain business subject, or simply want some good words of wisdom, then these folks are all good ones to know.

Let me know below some of your favorite general business knowledge people!