Hello Misfit Nation! Welcome to another edition of "Lessons for Hannah!"

In November of 2016, we introduced a new format that we are putting alongside our regular episodes called “Lessons for Hannah.” Hannah is my daughter and one of the main inspirations for the Misfit Entrepreneur. I wanted to have a place where she could go and learn from her daddy and his Misfit friends throughout her life….even after I am gone. If you haven’t listened to the first episode of "Lessons for Hannah," I urge you to as it gives some more background and tells the amazing story of how Hannah came to be in our lives.

"Lessons for Hannah" are short, very useful, and sometimes comical lessons, that I have learned which I want to share with you and give to Hannah to help in your lives. Because I want Hannah to have these for her life, I’m going to speak as though I am talking directly to her. These episodes are a lot of fun and if you think there is a lesson that we should include in these episodes, please don’t hesitate to send it over to us at support@misfitentrepreneur.com. We’d love to share it.

This week’s Lesson for Hannah

Hannah,

I want to share with you something that up until recently, I had practiced, but wasn’t full aware of. And as you are probably sick of hearing me say at this point in your life, Awareness is the catalyst to change.

What I became acutely aware of after going back through many of my writings, lessons I have documented from those I’ve learned from, and from reflecting on the biggest triumphs I’ve had in life, is a very simple formula to succeed at anything.

It’s been right there the whole time, yet I just never wrote it down.

You see, it takes many things coming together to succeed, but they all fall under three specific categories of action – what I call the 3 ingredients to success or DCP.

The “D” stands for Discipline.

Discipline is your ability to manage yourself and do the things you need to do to succeed and win. It is one of the hardest ingredients for people to do. Discipline takes sacrifice. It takes overcoming your own mind's conditioning, habits, and the inertia of life. It means doing things when you really, really don't want to or feel like doing them - no matter what. Whether you are sick, hurt, on vacation, whatever; your ability to maintain your discipline and routines and what you know you need to do to succeed cannot falter. You’ve asked me before, why I still wake up early or go on my long runs and follow my exercise routine while on vacation – now you know why. It keeps my discipline.

It may not sound like fun when described that way, but that is what it takes. And it really is fun. When Michael Phelps got in the pool on Christmas Day for 4 hours of training, he knew that it was this discipline and the actions he was taking right then and there that were the difference at the finish line. The difference between winning and losing. And that energized him and fired him up. How about you, sweetie? Can you up your game when it comes to your discipline?

The “C” stands for Consistency.

Consistency goes hand in hand with discipline. You can be disciplined - for one day. But that isn't going to give your what you need to win. You must be consistent. Every day. Consistency is what breaks down barriers and wears out competition. It is how you outlast - even if you are not as talented. Those that are consistent in their routines, in the quest, and who they are win. Period.

Ask yourself, "Am I consistent in the way I approach my success? Can I count on myself to always be there and stay the course?" If you are honest with yourself, it may surprise you and also show you some things you may need to change. Just remember, consistency is key to lasting success.

The “P” stands for Persistence.

Alongside having solid discipline and an unwavering consistency, you must be persistent. How does being persistent differ from discipline and consistency? Well, discipline is what you do. Consistency is how you do it. And persistence is your commitment to doing it. As mentioned above, you can be disciplined and consistent for one day, a week, a month, etc. But persistence is your unwavering commitment to keep going in spite of challenge, fear, emotion, and all obstacles that come your way.

Many people can be disciplined and consistent for a short time, but when they run into real, serious adversity, they stop or give in. This is where your commitment, your persistence pays off. You will keep going where others fail or give up.

When you put them all together, you can see why they are the critical ingredients they are. They feed off each other. If you have discipline to do the things you need to succeed and are consistent each and every day in doing them...and then persist through any adversity that comes up as you are going, you will win. And you will win consistently. It seems so simple, doesn’t it? But, it isn’t. To maintain all 3 is the real secret you must figure out for yourself in your life – and I know you will. Lastly, always remember that when you encounter a challenge, your ability to persist through gets you one step closer to your next goal or level and keeps you on the path to realizing all the potential you have in this world.

I love you, Daddy.

Best Quote: "Awareness is the catalyst to change..."

Misfit 3:

1. You must be disciplined in doing what you know you need to succeed in reaching your goal(s).
2. You must be consistent in that you not only do the tasks you need to do (discipline), but do them day in and out without fail.
3. Lastly, you must be persistent to break through the roadblocks and challenges to get in your way to grow to new levels.

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Jeremy Ryan Slate. Jeremy is the founder of the Create Your Own Life Podcast and Command Your Brand Media. Create Your Own Life is One of the top-rated podcasts out there today. He’s been featured in INC, Forbes, and countless other media outlets and is rated as a top Millennial Influencer to follow by Buzzfeed.

But I know it didn’t start out that way for Jeremy. In fact, it started with a near death experience followed by a career shift and struggles as an entrepreneur before he found his way.

Today, in addition to running a great show, Jeremy teaches others how to position themselves and grow their personal brand. There are ton of topics we explore in this episode together.

@JeremyRyanSlate on all Social Media

www.CommandYourBrand.media

How Jeremy got to where he is today doesn’t match up. He started out getting a degree in world religion and studying at Oxford. He got his Masters and was on a path to be a college professor. But, it did not happen. He was passed over for a position. He then got a job as a teacher while working a few others jobs putting in almost 16 hours a day. He got burned out. His mother, who he is very close to, then had a stroke and it really woke him up. His wife was presented with a network marketing opportunity which was a new thing to Jeremy, but to him it looked easy. He thought he was going to be a millionaire overnight and wasn’t. He was successful and did it for two years – but he burned himself out again. He then did a bunch of odd things like selling life insurance. After all of this he finally figured out what he was good at and truly wanted to do which is where his podcast and business today comes from.

Jeremy notes that when looking back at his path, nothing seems to make sense, but in reality, in each of the things he did, he learned vital skills that help him succeed in his companies today.

Through your own experience and interviewing many of the highest performers in the world, what would you say is the most important thing that you have learned about entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship?

• Those that succeed at high levels and do well are able to transcend themselves and operate for a larger group.
• They ask questions such as “What will this do for mankind? What will this do for the larger group?”
• They are really able to look outside themselves and see what the world away from them looks like.
• They don’t operate on a “me” playing field, they look at all parts of a bigger picture and help the people in those areas come together to succeed and they reap the benefits as well.

Most important thing you’ve learned about yourself from your journey?

Jeremy is the type that has felt he has to do everything.

He has learned that people that can build systems and groups, enabling others allows your business to truly grow.

You have to get past you and relinquish your need to be in control of everything and do everything.

Jeremy has a great saying “Fill yourself on the organizational chart as you climb it.” Meaning that every time you create a role type in your business, learn it, systematize, and then teach it to someone to fulfill and move onto the next role. Create the position and then fill it.

Did you ever hit a bottom? If so, how did you handle it?

In 2013, he was living at home still, working out of his basement, and not doing as well as he wanted. He got a credit card statement that rocked him since he really couldn’t pay it. It caused him to ask himself what he was doing wrong. He asked himself, “Maybe I’m wrong? What am doing that is causing this?” It was this time of self-reflection that led to the self-awareness needed to pull him out and change things to make a difference in his life.

At the 16 min mark, Jeremy gives more detail of what he learned about himself and changed which made a huge difference in his success.

At the 21 minute mark, Jeremy talks about how the Create Your Own Life podcast came to be and his other businesses.

• His first version was a big failure because it was focused on him and his advice
• His second shot was looking at interviewing the Top 100 people he looked up from the viewpoint of “what could you teach me?” That resonated and the show took off.
• Many of the lessons he learned about positioning and marketing came from learning from these people and formed the foundation for his business Command Your Brand.

Best advice for growing a brand and profile online?

• Have a central piece of content (Podcast, Youtube Channel, Blog, etc.)
  • Start looking for press
  • Big a big fish in a small pond (local area works well)
• Once you get some local press, you can get higher level press
• Be professional with you pictures, logo, etc.
• Have the same imagery across your social media platforms for uniform branding.
• Your goal in building up a press profile is to get verified on social sites which gives you more ways to get noticed and connect.
• Lastly, have a page on your website. where you store your media and where you’ve been featured

First step for the small pond is to send a press release to your local news sources. Jeremy talks about this at the 32 minute mark.

Advice for entrepreneurs starting out today?

• Know what you are going to do and how you will help (central message)
• Have an income source while you build your business (this can be a job). This allows you to focus on creating a great business and not on money to eat.

At the 37 min mark, Jeremy talks about the power of having a good fitness routine and how it correlates to success in business.

Best Quote: "We are cause over things that happen in our lives. We have to stop thinking that we are victims and things happen to me, but instead, things happen because of me."

Jeremy's Misfit 3:

1. Figure out what your mission is and who you are going to serve
2. Figure out how you are going to deliver your message and start creating content like crazy.
3. Start telling everybody about all the content you’ve created and how you can serve them.

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Dana Malstaff. Dana is the founder of the Boss Mom movement. It all started with her best-selling book, Boss Mom: The Ultimate Guide to Raising a Business and Nurturing Your Family like a pro. Today, Boss Mom is a company serving other boss moms all through the world through programs, events, and the wildly popular Boss Mom podcast.

Dana has been featured everywhere from Fast Company to INC, and I have been fortunate to share the stage with her. She brings an energy, passion, and insight that few can rival.

She has built an amazing community and systems for her business that allow it to continuously scale and those are just a few of the many items I want to cover with her today.

Dana says her story isn’t unique, but I’ll let you be the judge. When she started she felt like she was alone, but also felt like her story had to be other people’s stories. So, she had to share it. She became a mom and an entrepreneur on the same day, literally. The day she quit her job, she conceived her son.

Dana says that owning children and owning a business is so similar to raising children. They grow the way babies do and give you all of the fits, challenges, tribulations, feelings of not knowing what you are doing…and everything in-between.

She felt really alone because none of her friends were doing what she was doing. She went through her first year having a success and a ton of failures both as an entrepreneur and a mother. It wasn’t until a little after a year in, when she moved to San Diego and was surrounded by an environment where others were like her and building businesses while being parents, that things started to click.

Being in this environment made her stop feeling alone and different, but invigorated. As she began to network and meet other entrepreneur-moms, she realized that the majority of them didn’t really know how to truly build or run a business.

That is when she decided to write Boss Mom and start the movement because that is what she is good at – building a business operationally and strategically.

Once the book was published, it took and the movement did as well.

What is the best piece of advice you would give all Boss mom’s out there?

• Follow your gift, not your passion – especially when monetizing your business.
• Your gift is the thing that comes easily to you
• It is the genius of how you operate and the thing that you do better than everyone else
• This is what you are meant to be executing
• When you begin to work in the space of your gift, the success comes and gives you the ability to follow your passion as well

What was the first day at Boss Mom like?

• Technically Boss Mom is Dana’s 3rd business/brand. It took multiple iterations to get it right and create a good brand.
• Your brand is massively important
• The first day was sheer panic not knowing what to start first…
• Dana spent her first week looking at what others are doing in their business and taking things that she liked
• She was learning the important things she needed to be taking and putting together to create the business
• Modeling is a great way to get ahead – it is ok to copy and innovate
• On the first day of “Boss Mom” she immediately got help
• Visibility is the #1 thing in the beginning – your brand should be everywhere you are, featured wherever you can be, get on every podcast and outlet you can.

Quick Tip: At the 14-min mark, Dana talks about the “buttons” she uses on her website and the interesting names she gives them and why. Her tip could really help the engagement on your website.

Take us through how you learned to scale Boss Mom and how others can use what you’ve learned:

• Make a business plan – it is your map (Hire someone to help you)
• What is your purpose, what is your why?
• Financial, Environmental, Emotional Future?
• Your Tribe – your community
• Then you map out your tangibles (Your money engine)

At the 18-min mark, Dana walks through the above in detail and talks about the difference between “Dream-makers” and “Deal-Breakers”

At the 24 min mark, Dana talks about creating your “Movement Manifesto.”

Answer the following of yourself:

• Decide on 3-10 “I believes"
• Next ask yourself, “I want to live in a world where…” •
• Ask yourself, “This is what I know to be true…”
• The last thing is to put it into a motto or call to arms – and in this, you find your why

At the 26:40-mark, Dana gives her manifesto/motto Facebook groups, you’ve cracked the code.

What is the strategy you can teach Misfit Nation to maximize their use in growing a business?

• Dana spends a good amount of time talking about this at 28 min mark
• Don’t look at it like a Facebook group – It’s a community
• Decide what kind of environment you want - think of it like a company culture

What is allowed, not allowed, how will people feel valued and part of the system?

• You are building a culture and if you do it right, you will be known for it and it will thrive
• It has to provide a way for people to grow their business and get results

First 2-3 steps for newbies:

1. Decide on the rules
2. Brainstorm 5-10 conversation starters in which people can’t help to engage in
3. Create content to have them help you decide on how the group will feel and work
4. Ask 5-10 people you know to join the group and engage with members.

Other tips on building a tribe?

• Stop thinking you are the “head”
• Allow others to take ownership and empower them to be a part of it
• Be a leader, not a host
• By creating micro-influencers and raising others up, you will be raised with them.

At the 35-min mark, Dana gives her blueprint for the “Free to Paid” Journey Advice for an entrepreneur starting out today and for a seasoned entrepreneur?

• If you are starting out – please do not be an island
• You should not be doing everything on your own – even if you can. You want to be known for one thing. Focus.
• If you are more seasoned – it is all about tweaking and refining.
• How can you go back in and double the revenue from everything you are doing now?

Most important thing you’ve learned about yourself?

The journey is what is most important, not the outcome

Best Quote: “The learning is in the doing…It’s not about clarity. It’s about the direction and the framework.”

Misfit 3:

1. Live your brand. Pick a brand that you literally want to wear and be in it.
2. Take in the information you can around you, but make it your own. Nothing is new – it is just re-invented with a different perspective. Own it and find that for you.
3. Be decisive. Take action, make decisions and execute.

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Steve Olsher. Steve is known as America's reinvention expert. He has done it all. From being one of the early web entrepreneurs in the 90’s to creating massive financial deals to being a best-selling author, top influencer and radio personality – there is little that has he as not accomplished. I’ve gotten know Steve well over the last year and was even honored to attend and present at his New Media summit.

But, like many entrepreneurs, how Steve got to where he is full of twists, turns, and incredible lessons on how to succeed and win in life. He’s helped tens of thousands of people all over the world recognize and maximize their “what,” their singular gift that they can use to turn their dreams into reality.

Steve is known as Mr. Bold and after our time together today, I think you’ll understand why.

www.SteveOlsher.com

www.ReinventionRadio.com

Get a FREE copy of Steve's #1 NYT Bestselling book at www.WhatisYourWhat.com

Steve says he got to being where he is by being a Misfit. His journey has been full missteps in a lot of ways. It these missteps that he credits with getting him where he is at.

At the 6 min mark, Steve tells the story of how he started in the web in the early 90’s creating some of the first online stores and secured the domain Liquor.com. In 1998, he bought Liquor.com for $7500 which was a good amount of money for web address back then. By March 2000, they were doing millions in sales and were ready to IPO the company.

It was bad timing as the markets literally crashed and by this time, Steve had signed away the bulk of his control to Wall Street. He gave up his management rights. And then when the company couldn’t go public, he was stuck holding the bag with his hand completely tied. After 9 years of hard work, he walked away from everything.

In 2005/2006, he tracked down the domain and convinced the owner and get it back after a long process and reclaim it. He then put it up for sale and got an offer for $4.25 million, which he took, only to have to buyer default after a couple payments. So, he took the domain and rebuilt the company around it to what it is today.

He uses this as a lesson that if you stay the course and pursue your goal, it will eventually work out. It may not work out as you planned, but it will work out for you.

At 13 min mark, Steve tells the story of how he got into the real estate markets. After walking away from Liqour.com, he got into real estate development. He would buy older buildings, refurbish them, and then turn them into different types of developments and did it up to 2008/2009. Once everything imploded in that world, he had to give properties back to the bank, go through litigation for over 5 years, and lost almost everything.

You can reinvent your life on a dime.

You must answer the core question of “What is your what?”

• What is your core gift?
• What is the primary vehicle you will use to share that gift?
• Who are most compelled to serve?

Many people are spending their time support other people’s “what” and that adds up to a tremendous amount of time you cannot get back, so figure out what is your what and focus your time to get it.

How does someone get the true answer of their “what?”

• There is a framework
• Start with taking a look at who are the people you most enjoy being around, working with, and helping
  • This is the best place to start to get an understanding of who you want to serve and the type of work you truly want to do.

What is the most important thing you’ve learned about how to succeed along the way? What is the most important thing you’ve learned about yourself?

• It boils down to one thing – Having that one thing that you are focused on.
• Focus on finding and doing one thing that you were born to do for now
• Do whatever you can to give yourself fully to that one thing for a period of time, you’ll be amazed at the results you can generate. Go all in.
• You can do different things, but at the time there is one that is most important and where you need to fully focus on.

Other advice?

• Create your day by design
• It is very easy to just let your days to go by
• Be deliberate about your day and your life
• It is amazing how much we can ge tdone in 2-3 days with focus – more than most can do in a week
• Ask yourself what you want to be doing with your time and ask yourself if there are better ways to accomplish your work.

Best advice to succeed and build a business today?

• In order to truly help people, consult, and help people work through challenges, you have to have gone through them and experience them as an entrepreneur
• You can then share the knowledge you have to truly help people
• You have to earn the right to help people
• We should teach what it is that we know
• You will hit a ceiling of limitations based on your experience – realize that and work with people that are “the 2nd grader to your 5th grader”
• Don’t be what you are not

Thoughts on creating and maximizing a niche?

• You will be amazed at far you can take a niche and how big of a market it can be
• Create a business around who you are most compelled to serve
• Pick the one the one thing that creates the fire in your soul

Steve uses a great example of niche in this section starting at the 41 minute mark

Best tips to grow an audience and get found?

• There is no magic bullet
• You have to say yes to every opportunity that you can to gain visibility
• Everywhere you are adds up for you over time

Final advice?

At some point, you have to move beyond free.

You can’t cheap it out

You will need to invest in education, mentorship, or coaching to get you from point A to B to help you succeed at higher levels and accelerate your success– you can’t get it just from videos on the net.

Best Quote: "Don't live for a day in the future that may never arrive..."

Steve's Misfit 3:

1. Get the guidance that you need and be willing to invest in it such as a coaching program or mastermind, but it can also be buying an hour of someone’s time. Be creative.
2. Be willing to step out of your comfort zone and go to where the people are you need to be able to connect with. Look for a more intimate setting to do so as you can make meaningful connections.
3. Figure you how o work fun into the equation. You hear you should enjoy the journey, but many don’t take the time to enjoy it. Do it! Don’t live for a day in the future that may never arrive.