Podcast Summary
Questioning the norms and striving for greatness: Assess priorities, focus on excelling in key areas, challenge societal expectations, seek growth, question the status quo, make the most of time and talents
It's important to question the norms and strive for greatness in areas that matter most to us. The speaker, who has recently released a best-selling productivity book, shares his belief that many people are underachieving and encourages listeners to assess their priorities and focus on excelling in a few key areas. The conversation with entrepreneur Jodie Cook further explores the concept of personal success and the importance of challenging societal expectations. Additionally, the episode highlights the sponsors Huel and Kajabi, which offer solutions for efficient nutrition and business building, respectively. Overall, the message is to seek growth, question the status quo, and make the most of one's time and talents.
Learning from Kajabi and Trading 212's Success Stories: Kajabi empowers creators to earn over $6B, with 1000+ millionaires. Trading 212 offers commission-free investing, copying successful strategies, and multi-currency accounts.
Both Kajabi and Trading 212 offer valuable opportunities for creators and investors, respectively. Kajabi has facilitated over $6 billion in payments to creators, with over 1,000 becoming millionaires. The platform provides access to a keynote on growing a business from 0 to $2.5 million per year, which is available for free to podcast listeners. Trading 212, on the other hand, is a commission-free investing app that allows users to invest in stocks, shares, and funds. It also offers features like Pies and auto invest, which let users copy successful investment strategies, and multi-currency accounts to avoid foreign exchange fees. Jodie, a guest on the podcast, shared her story of starting her first business at 22 with no business plan other than "get clients." She succeeded by attending networking events and convincing businesses to let her manage their social media accounts. Both Kajabi and Trading 212 demonstrate the potential for financial success through different avenues.
Exploring Entrepreneurship in Your Twenties: Starting a business in your twenties can be a viable alternative to the traditional career path. Learn from role models and be mentally tough to overcome challenges. Everyone has the potential to be an entrepreneur.
Starting a business in your twenties, even without a clear plan or resources, can be a viable alternative to the traditional career path. The speaker shares his experience of starting a social media marketing business after having numerous jobs and realizing that he didn't want to continue the cycle of finding jobs as a last resort. He encourages young adults to consider entrepreneurship as an option, even if they don't have a clear idea of how to do it. He emphasizes that having role models and learning from their experiences can be a valuable way to start. Entrepreneurship involves constant challenges and requires mental toughness, but the potential rewards can be significant. The speaker's story highlights that it's never too early to start exploring entrepreneurial opportunities and that everyone has the potential to be an entrepreneur, even if they don't have all the answers right now.
Dealing with stress and pressure in entrepreneurship: Successful entrepreneurs need to embrace stress and challenges as natural parts of the journey, rather than fearing them.
Entrepreneurship involves handling stress and pressure, which can be developed over time. Expecting it to be easy makes it harder. People might be more scared of success than they realize, leading to self-sabotage. Entrepreneurship also means constantly reframing and finding perspective, as shown in the Mad Men example. When facing challenges, it's important to remember that they are a natural part of the process and not to be afraid of success or the changes it brings. As one speaker mentioned, successful entrepreneurs need to get comfortable with dealing with a level of stress that would break most people. It's not necessary to have a thick skin from the start, but expecting a difficult journey can lead to greater growth and enjoyment.
Pivoting business during challenging times: Despite pandemic-related setbacks, an individual rallied their team to pivot their business to virtual courses and webinars, growing it back to normal and preparing it for sale.
Even during challenging times, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, it's important to ask yourself how you can use the situation to your advantage and find new opportunities. This individual faced a 25% decrease in business due to the pandemic and the cancellation of events, but instead of giving up, they rallied their team and pivoted their business to virtual courses and webinars. This not only helped them grow the company back to normal but also prepared them for a sale when they were ready. Starting a social media marketing agency is a simple business to start with minimal upfront costs, requiring knowledge, enthusiasm, and confidence. However, it's essential to be prepared to grow the business beyond a lifestyle company and be fully involved if you want to reach its full potential. The ultimate reward is the freedom that comes with selling and the peace of mind that comes with knowing you've built something successful.
Specialize in a specific area and platform to succeed in digital marketing: To thrive in digital marketing, focus on specializing in a specific area and platform to become an expert and attract clients.
Starting a business, especially in a digital marketing agency or software development, requires careful consideration and niching down. When starting in 2011, being a generalist in social media marketing was viable due to its niche status. However, in today's market, it's essential to specialize in a specific area and platform to become an expert and attract clients. Additionally, running an agency can be challenging as it requires scaling headcount and managing teams, leading to a potential loss of control over income and client relationships. Alternatively, starting a software business allows for creating a product before selling it, but the relationship with clients is different, and the focus is on a larger customer base rather than individual clients. Ultimately, choosing between an agency and software business depends on personal preferences, resources, and goals.
Repurposing and personalizing content with AI models: Creators can save time and provide more value by using AI models to generate tailored advice and answers to FAQs, monetizing the service through subscriptions or premium features.
Using AI models to repurpose and personalize existing content can be an effective way for creators to save time, generate leads, and provide more value to their audience. This approach, known as a "chatbot," can be particularly useful for answering frequently asked questions and offering tailored advice based on the viewer's specific needs. By turning hours of content into an interactive tool, creators can make their work more accessible and focused on the audience, rather than requiring them to sift through archives on their own. Additionally, creators can monetize this service by charging a subscription fee or offering it as a premium feature in a membership site. While some viewers may prefer a more human interaction, most understand that the AI model is a tool designed to enhance their experience and provide personalized solutions. Furthermore, creators can adopt different business models, such as the artist game, lifestyle game, performance game, or build it and sell it game, to align their goals and priorities. The artist game focuses on creating and showcasing unique content, while the lifestyle game aims to make a consistent income while maintaining a desirable lifestyle. The performance game is about pushing boundaries and maximizing impact or income, and the build it and sell it game is about growing a business with the intention of selling it in the future. Understanding these different games can help creators choose the best approach for their goals and audience.
Understanding priorities and motivations for personal and professional growth: Self-awareness is crucial for making informed decisions about personal and professional growth. Recognizing your priorities and motivations can help you find a balance between lifestyle, performance, and impact.
It's essential to understand the difference between prioritizing a lifestyle, performance, or a combination of both, especially when it comes to personal and professional growth. The speaker in this conversation was initially focused on maintaining a desirable lifestyle but later recognized the importance of impact and performance. This realization led to the invention of a new concept, the "artist performance game," which combines artistic expression with the drive for growth and impact. The speaker acknowledged that they might have been playing the artist game all along, as they continued to focus on their passion for creating content, even when presented with opportunities that could have provided a more traditional lifestyle. The understanding that their motivations were rooted in artistic expression and growth, rather than a specific lifestyle, allowed them to reframe their perspective and continue to pursue their goals with renewed focus. This conversation emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and the need to understand one's priorities and motivations to make informed decisions about personal and professional growth. By recognizing that they could maintain their artistic identity while also striving for performance and impact, the speaker was able to find a balance that allowed them to continue growing and creating while also enjoying their lifestyle.
Identify and remove non-essential activities: Focus on subtracting non-essential activities to free up time and space for what truly matters, leading to exponential growth
Instead of constantly adding new things to our lives or businesses, we should focus on subtracting the non-essential. This concept is known as subtraction bias, which goes against our natural tendency to add more when faced with challenges or problems. By performing an audit of our lives using a "start, stop, more, less" framework, we can identify and remove the activities that don't truly serve us, freeing up time and space to focus on what truly matters. This approach, known as "less but better," can lead to exponential growth in the areas we prioritize. It's essential to recognize that stopping certain activities doesn't mean abandoning them entirely; instead, it can be delegated to team members or repurposed in a way that doesn't require our direct involvement. By subtracting the non-essential, we can double down on our strengths and achieve greater success.
Identifying and focusing on world-class skills for growth: Understanding and applying a personal success system can help individuals achieve seemingly impossible feats by focusing on world-class skills and consistently applying their unique method for achieving goals.
We often get comfortable with our current situation, even if it's not maximizing our potential, due to the revenue it brings. However, identifying and focusing on a few world-class skills can lead to significant growth and achievement. A personal success system is a unique method for achieving goals, and recognizing and utilizing it can help individuals accomplish seemingly impossible feats. Whether it's attending events, writing a press release, or setting an intention, everyone has a personal success system. By understanding and applying it consistently, individuals can achieve their goals and continue to grow. Reflecting on past accomplishments can help identify the specific method used and serve as a guide for future successes.
Give yourself space to brainstorm and identify ideas: Success comes from identifying an idea, taking imperfect action, and launching to a current audience
Successful ideas often come from giving yourself the space to think and brainstorm without overthinking or worrying about what others might think. The speaker's most successful ventures started with an initial idea that came to him outside of his usual work environment. He emphasized the importance of having conviction in an idea, but not needing absolute certainty that it will work. Once an idea is identified, taking imperfect action and launching as soon as possible is crucial. The speaker also mentioned the importance of getting hands-on and involved in the initial stages of a project, rather than just delegating tasks to a team. He also shared that productivity and progress can often be made in short bursts of focused time, without worrying too much about the outcome being perfect. The speaker's system for achieving success involves identifying an idea, getting scrappy and taking imperfect action, and launching to a current audience. This approach can be applied to any new goal or project.
Identifying patterns of personal success: Reflect on past achievements, document conversations with key individuals, and focus on relationships and patterns that support personal growth to create a sustainable success system
Embracing a scrappy, agile approach to projects and personal growth can lead to quicker results and success. This is particularly relevant for individuals, as opposed to established businesses, who may have more procedures and policies to follow. To find personal success, it's essential to reflect on past achievements and identify patterns that led to those accomplishments. These patterns may involve specific people or places. Recording and reviewing conversations with key individuals can help deepen relationships and provide valuable insights. Developing a system for documenting and reflecting on these interactions can lead to a better understanding of who in your life gives you energy and contributes to your growth. By focusing on these patterns and the people and places that support them, you can create a personal success system that is effective and sustainable.
An app for managing friendships using voice notes: Betafriend: An app that transcribes voice notes to update CRM, suggesting follow-up topics and calendar updates, allowing effective management of digital friendships.
There is a need for an app that can automatically update a personal CRM using voice notes, helping to progress friendships by remembering important details and avoiding repetitive conversations. This app, called Betafriend, would allow users to upload voice notes, which it would then transcribe and use to update calendars, suggest follow-up topics, and more. The conversation also touched on the challenges of keeping in touch with friends through digital communication channels like WhatsApp, and strategies for managing these channels effectively, such as treating them like a to-do list and archiving old messages. Additionally, the speaker shared his experience of writing a book, the 10 Year Career Book, during a time of patience and acceptance, and the importance of seeking advice only from those who have actually done what you're trying to accomplish.
Exploring new possibilities in business: Menu psychology can manipulate consumer behavior, strategically position offerings, and increase profits. Balance sales with addressing underlying systems and processes for a successful, scalable business.
Everything in business revolves around sales. Sales are crucial for having clients and keeping your business running. However, an overemphasis on sales can lead to ignoring underlying problems that may escalate in the future. To question limiting beliefs and expand your business opportunities, it's essential to challenge the status quo and explore new possibilities. One fascinating aspect of this is menu psychology, which manipulates consumer behavior through the presentation of options. By understanding these psychological tactics, businesses can strategically position their offerings and increase profits. Overall, it's essential to strike a balance between sales and addressing the underlying systems and processes that contribute to a successful, scalable business.
Understanding the Influence of Our Surroundings on Our Desires: Be mindful of the influence of our surroundings and be intentional about pursuing goals aligned with our values, not just mimetic desires.
Our desires and aspirations can be very influenced by our surroundings and the people we interact with. Visualization can be a powerful tool in achieving goals, but it's important to question whether those goals are truly our own or if they've been influenced by our environment or others. Mimetic desire, the desire to imitate or copy what others have, can lead us to want things without fully considering if they align with our values or long-term goals. It's crucial to know ourselves and choose who we surround ourselves with carefully to ensure we're pursuing what we truly want, not just what others may be selling us. The book "Wanting" by Luke Burgis explores these concepts further and can provide valuable insights into understanding and navigating mimetic desire.
Identify your personal motivations: Reflect on past achievements to determine what drives you, stay true to yourself, and focus on valuable information to grow and succeed.
Understanding your personal motivations is key to achieving success. This can be done by reflecting on past achievements and identifying what made them meaningful to you. For some, it may be the desire to outperform competitors or overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. Others may be driven by freedom or the ability to create something new. Regardless of what motivates you, it's important to stay true to yourself and not get carried away by external influences. Additionally, it can be helpful to identify and focus on the "nuggets" of valuable information gained from external sources, rather than trying to overhaul everything. Ultimately, the consistency of your message and motivation is what will help you continue to grow and succeed.
Identifying personal motivators and using the default mode network: Effective entrepreneurs tap into personal motivators and utilize their default mode networks to access creativity and find inspiration, allowing the mind to wander and unlock solutions through activities like napping, walking, or focusing on tasks without distractions.
Finding personal motivation and utilizing the default mode network are key to success. During the podcast episode on Built to Sell, the host acknowledged that the guest was the only one to sell a business without an earn out among the 300 episodes. This achievement was a significant motivator for the guest. Similarly, entrepreneurs may be motivated by various goals, and it's essential to identify personal motivators. The default mode network refers to how the mind processes information when not actively thinking about it. It can only be effectively used when brainwaves are in theta, not beta. Thomas Edison and Julia Cameron are examples of individuals who deliberately accessed their default mode networks to find inspiration. To do this, one can engage in activities that allow the mind to wander, such as taking a nap, going for a walk, or focusing on a specific task without distractions. By allowing the mind to rest and not constantly engage in active thinking, one can tap into the powerful potential of the default mode network and unlock creative solutions.
Creating a daily routine for productivity and personal growth: Consistently scheduling time for work, creativity, and relaxation can boost productivity, focus, and overall well-being. Consider a routine that includes waking up late, long walks, deep work, and mindfulness.
Creating a consistent and intentional daily routine can lead to increased productivity, creativity, and overall personal growth. This was highlighted in the discussion about a famous Twitter writer who wakes up late, goes for long walks to think, and then writes his threads. Julia Cameron's approach of giving your mind the chance to think also emphasizes the importance of allowing space for creativity to flow. Additionally, being mindful of scheduling and prioritizing deep work during specific times of the day can lead to better focus and output. Ultimately, it's important to remember that everything is a choice, and we have the power to create a schedule that works best for us, allowing for both productivity and relaxation. By considering our daily activities in terms of profession, obsession, and decompression, we can create a balanced and fulfilling routine.
Focusing on three areas of life: profession, obsession, and decomposition: Invest time and effort in profession, obsession, and decomposition for enhanced performance and world-class abilities in multiple areas. Prioritize obsession and avoid multitasking.
Optimizing personal growth involves focusing on three distinct areas of life: profession, obsession, and decomposition. Profession refers to the primary source of income and the unique skills only you can bring to the table. Obsession is an area of personal interest where you strive for excellence and put significant energy into improving. Decompression is the time for relaxation and rejuvenation, where you completely disconnect from work and other responsibilities. The key to success lies in intentionally dedicating time and effort to each area without multitasking or overlapping them. By doing so, you can enhance performance in all aspects of life and become world-class in multiple areas. It's essential to identify your obsession and make it a priority, just as important as your profession. Remember, multitasking is the enemy, and each area requires your full commitment.
The power of obsession for productivity and creating boundaries: Obsessions, whether in work or relationships, can increase productivity and create boundaries. A healthy balance is key to avoid negatively impacting others.
Having an obsession, whether it's work, relationships, or other areas of life, can increase productivity and create boundaries. This concept was discussed in relation to having children, where parents reported becoming more productive due to the need to balance work and parenting responsibilities. The idea is not just about stopping work, but also embracing the obsession and applying productivity principles to various aspects of life. A study by Dr. John Gottman, known as "Doctor Love," found that a healthy relationship is indicated by a low resting heart rate when couples are together, suggesting that being around someone who puts you on edge can negatively impact the relationship. This concept can be applied to work relationships as well, where leaders need to find a balance between their ambitious drive and the impact it has on their team. Overall, having an obsession can be beneficial if managed effectively and applied to different areas of life.
Understanding Team Members' Unique Strengths and Quirks: Effective leaders recognize individual differences, create user manuals for team communication, and empower team to contribute to long-term vision.
Effective leadership involves understanding and playing to each team member's unique strengths and quirks. Angus, the CEO of Jodie's team, has been praised for bringing a sense of calm to their business meetings. Jodie was inspired by Ray Dalio's book "Principles," which emphasizes the importance of recognizing individual differences. In response, they created user manuals for their team, outlining each member's communication style and values. This has led to a better understanding of how to best collaborate and work together. Another key characteristic of top performers is their ability to follow through on commitments and close loops. Jodie emphasizes the importance of asking thoughtful questions, such as "Where does this fit in our priorities?" and considering the long-term vision for the company. Effective leaders not only have a clear vision but also empower their team to contribute to it.
Stand out in a cold email with thoughtful questions or unique value: Ask thoughtful questions or offer unique value to increase chances of positive response in cold emails. Go above and beyond with extra effort like creating a video or thorough research.
Making a genuine and impressive connection in a cold email can significantly increase the chances of getting a positive response. This can be achieved by asking thoughtful questions, providing specific examples of how the recipient's content has helped you, or offering unique value to the recipient. Additionally, putting in extra effort, such as creating a video or thorough research, can make the email stand out even more. The idea is to make the recipient feel valued and impressed, which can lead to a stronger and more productive relationship. This approach can be especially effective when trying to get featured in publications like Forbes or when applying for jobs. Ultimately, the key is to go above and beyond the usual cold email and show that you are genuinely interested and invested in the recipient and their work.
Effective communication and intentional effort build strong relationships: Focused and strategic approaches, self-awareness, empathy, and open dialogue lead to stronger connections. Establishing routines and avoiding drama promote growth and harmony.
Building and maintaining strong relationships, whether personal or professional, requires intentional effort and effective communication. The traditional application process may seem daunting, but taking a focused and strategic approach can lead to better outcomes. Fear of success and a lack of empathy can also hinder connections. Establishing routines and rituals, such as regular check-ins, can help foster open dialogue and promote growth. Additionally, avoiding bringing unnecessary drama into relationships and being mindful of others' feelings is essential for maintaining harmony. Jodie, a successful entrepreneur and relationship builder, emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and treating others with respect and value. To learn more about Jodie and her work, follow her on Twitter, where she shares insights on building AI businesses and other valuable lessons.
Access valuable resources for entrepreneurs from Jodie Cook: Find Jodie Cook on Twitter, listen to her on the Deep Dive podcast, access her 250 chat GPT prompts for entrepreneurs, and leave reviews or comments for more content.
Jodie Cook, who can be found on Twitter as @jodie_cook, offers valuable resources for entrepreneurs, including a blog and productivity prompts. To access her latest course blog, mention finding her on the Deep Dive podcast. Currently, there are 250 chat GPT prompts available for entrepreneurs on her site. Connect with Jodie and check the video description or show notes for links to her resources. Listeners on podcast platforms are encouraged to leave reviews, while those on YouTube can leave comments. For more related content, check out another episode mentioned in the podcast. Don't forget to subscribe and stay tuned for the next episode.