This week we have a very special episode with two Misfit Entrepreneurs Leon Ifayemi and Nick van der Velde. This episode was recorded live at Fireside Entrepreneurship Conference in September 2018. I was invited to speak at the event and do a show for the audience.

I wanted to do something unique for the show, so I came up with the idea that when I got to the event, I would spend the first day meeting unique entrepreneurs and find ones that had incredible stories, insight, and wisdom to share. I met a number of incredible people, but really enjoyed my initial conversations with Leon and Nick, and was honored to have them join me for this episode.

Leon is a former Barclays investor, but left that life to start a very unique company called Space, that’s SPCE. SPCE is the rental ecosystem, revolutionizing the way in which the higher education community and the universities which enroll them, connect with the property market. Through a very unique app, they help students find the best places to live on campus. Think of them like an Uber for campus living.

Nick is a social entrepreneur, TedX speaker and founder of Impact Consulting. He helps companies find the synergy of creating a social impact with their business and maximizing profitability. Additionally, he helps companies in their funding pursuits.

I really enjoyed my time with these awesome entrepreneurs and I know you will learn a lot from them, so without further ado, here is my interview with Leon Ifayemi and Nick van der Velde from Fireside 2018.

www.LiveinSPCE.com

www.PillarNonProfit.ca

Leon came up with idea for SPCE in his 2nd year of university. He had a job of helping students find housing in and around campus. He realized what a challenge it was for students, landlords, and property management companies, so he came up with the idea. But, as young graduate, he didn’t have the capital, so he went into investment banking at Barclays and then Rothchild where he was responsible for managing $2 billion. It was there that he met the investors that would eventually invest in SPCE.

Nick grew up in the Netherlands. At 19, he realized that he had to go abroad. He came to Toronto, CA where he excelled in class. While there, he was connected with a real estate investment group that ended up sponsoring him to immigrate to Canada to live full time in 2012. Nick has interesting background in that he was a breakdancer who helped lead campaigns for RBC, SCION, Nokia, and others. In parallel to that, he applied for a job as a “business developer.” He walked into a non-profit and they wanted to create a business model that balances for profit value in creating revenue, but practiced non-profit values increasing the quality of life of a community. Nick was able to raise over $750k for the project in a year. He is now a principle consultant for Impact Consulting and to date has raised over $1.1 million.

Leon, what did you learn from banking that has helped you most as an entrepreneur?

• Persistence – to get business in investment banking requires a very stoic nature to persevere
• Being comfortable with not being in control
• Relationship building is the cornerstone of any business. Your ability to build relationships and earn trust is incredibly important.

Nick, explain social entrepreneurship and how it can help you grow as an entrepreneur…

• Social entrepreneurship should be “baked in” and not “bolted on.”
• Having a positive impact is at the core and that impact will help you grow as an entrepreneur
• There is value in what you do in community and the connection you create
• It allows you to be vulnerable which allows you to create a more supportive environment for success.

“Millennials are becoming the one in control of spending dollars in a community and are driven more by empathy, so the trend is toward one of social entrepreneurship.”

What is the coolest thing you’ve found about entrepreneurship that you never expected?

Leon:

• The overwhelming sense of freedom balanced with responsibility.
• The challenges and pursuit of success is thrilling and drives you
• The ability to instill your values into something
• The ability to work outside the status quo and “rules”
• Entrepreneurship is a great vehicle to find your higher purpose

Nick

• Street cred
• There is a level or recognition, value, and validation that is worth so much more than money through the work.

What is a habit that you have created or adopted that you feel gives you an advantage over your competition?

Leon:

• A habit of being absolutely persistent without being annoying
• It is really more of a mindset
• Surrounding yourself with people who are positive and creating cues in your life by adopting mentors
• It is as much a lifestyle choice to stay positive as it is a habit

Action items you do to foster this way of thinking and approaching life?

Leon:

• Working with mentors and seeking mentorship
• Weekly meetings with mentors who “have done it”
• You want to find solutions to problems and getting criticism is fine as it helps you as long as you are getting it from a positive source.

Nick:

• Creating compelling value propositions
• Analyzing patterns of people and businesses and them putting value prop together with the patterns
• Create a proposal for yourself of who you are, what you stand for, your principles – it is a very eye-opening exercise – your personal value proposition.
• Entrepreneurship is about consistency, so time management is a key skill

Best piece for advice for an entrepreneur starting out today?

Nick:

• Don’t stop
• Fail and fail fast
• Always keep going and be willing to adjust, change, and pivot as needed, but never stop
• Entrepreneurship is like a maze – you will continuously hit dead ends and have to make choices of different directions to go, but as long as you keep going to you will find your way out.

Leon:

• You can’t do it all on your own – find others that share your values and share your appreciation for creating value
• Create duplicates for yourself through your systems and processes as time is your biggest asset and you must leverage it every way you can
• You have to be ok with stepping out, giving up comfort and safety to grow.
• Know your “opportunity cost.”

What have you learned about yourself on your journey so far?

Leon:

• We are fallible and capable of burning out
• We can so stubborn that is hurting us and our business
• Trying to do everything on your own is the hardest way to go and keeps you from reaching your real potential
• Give people the benefit of the doubt and trust those you’ve hired to do the job
• Hire better than you

Nick:

• Don’t use other people’s definition of success to create your definition of success – define it for yourself
• Understand when and how to use control to maximize your business and success – you will have to let go at different times.
• There is something about making things happen that we are just born to do

Best Quote: “Create a proposal for yourself of who you are, what you stand for, your principles – it is a very eye-opening exercise – your personal value proposition.”

Leon and Nick's Misfit 3:

1. Leon: Be comfortable with your difference – being different is what makes us who we are and part of the nature of entrepreneurs. Risking for delayed gratification is very important. Nick: Understand your core value – why do you show up and who do you want to be?
2. Leon: Balance. Surround yourself with those that help to keep you from burning out. You have to take time for yourself and take breaks. Nick: Be more empathetic in your life and endeavors
3. Leon: Adapt – the world is forever changing. The barriers to entry in creating a business are now very low. It’s been democratized. You continuously be able to adapt as what is new today will be old tomorrow. Nick: Increase the level of vulnerability in how your approach your business and lead – be willing to ask for help!

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 talk to you about mistakes. As you go through life, you will make many mistakes. You simply cannot avoid them. You will fail. It is part of life and what makes each person’s journey unique. This is OK. It is not a bad thing at all. You’ve heard me say to you over and over that it is OK to make a mistake or fail, but what did you learn about it?

And of course, finishing this sentence, “What do we do when we fall….” That’s right, we get back up. We keep getting back up. But, I want you to know – no matter how many mistakes you make and failures that you have, you can always overcome them. You can always make a comeback.

I was reminded of this recently when we had a guest speaker come to our Grow Thrive Revive event. His name was Rob Decker and he told an incredible story of stubbornness, failure, and redemption.

Rob, grew up with a rough family life where even his dad would not acknowledge him as his son. He started drinking and doing drugs at a very young age, but ironically also bodybuilding. Talk about an example of looking good on the outside but destroying yourself on the inside. Rob, also ran with a rough crowd and with people that would drag him down. He went through everything from arrests to bad relationships to dealing drugs. In fact, in one of his darkest moments after a fight with a girlfriend, who called the police and lied about what had happened, he actually gave up on life and threw himself out of a 3rd story window. He thought it would kill him, but he bounced off an awning landing in a way that broke his back and a bunch of other things but did not kill him.

When he came awake in the hospital, the cops were there to arrest him. But as he spent the next few days in the hospital chained to a bed, he spoke to the police and the police started to investigate finding out that he was actually not guilty and dropped his arrest.

But, he still had problems. He got out, healed, and started to get his life back together, but he could not quit drinking. In fact, a few years later he was driving after drinking, totaled his car and took off from the scene. He hid for a whole night under a porch where he prayed to God that if he could just get out of the trouble he was in, he would change everything. He would quit drinking, clean himself up, and devote his life to good.

And in fact, through some miracle, he did not get into trouble. And finally, after all the years of screwing up, getting into trouble, abusing his body, and destroying relationships, he finally got the message, got help, and devoted himself to the promise he made to god. He now has a wonderful family, travels telling his story and the lessons learned, and has a personal training business in Colorado Springs.

Rob was stubborn. It took many more years and mistakes than it should have for him to learn his lessons, but he eventually did learn the lessons. The message I want you to take away from his story is first, make it a point to learn from your mistakes and failure when they happen and make meaningful changes if needed. Don’t put them off because if you do when you finally have to confront them, they will be much worse and harder to correct than if you had confronted them in the first place. Second, even if you don’t learn your lesson the first time, or the next 20 times, if you are willing, you can still learn it and always find redemption. You can always overcome your mistakes and failures. Even when things seem the bleakest and darkest, there is a healthy way out. You may have to ask for help, but you can do it. The human spirit is strong and has the potential to overcome so much.

Always keep that in mind as you go through your life. You will make mistakes and you will fail, but you can always learn, grow, and come back from it – many times even stronger than you were before. Believe in that and believe in yourself.

I love you, Daddy

Best Quote: “You will make mistakes and you will fail, but you can always learn, grow, and come back from it – many times even stronger than you were before. Believe in that and believe in yourself.."

Misfit 3:

1. Mistakes and failures are inevitable in life. They key is to grow yourself so you learn from them quickly and make meaningful changes.
2. Don’t learning from your mistakes and failures off, because if you do, when you finally have to confront them, they will be much worse and harder to correct than if you had confronted them in the first place.
3. Believe in yourself and your spirit to overcome things in a healthy way – not a destructive one. Resolve to never choose the destructive path.

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Ali Boone. Ali is the founder of Hipster Investments - a company that creates turnkey real estate investment for buyers. When I met Ali, I was really impressed with her story…she started out as an aerospace engineer and found her way into building wealth in the real estate markets.

She then took everything she learned and the connection she made it and turned it in Hipster investments where people that want to invest in real estate, but don’t want to manage properties or worry about the day to day can invest and make money, but leave the management to the pros.

Hipster is ranked as one of the top Real Estate investment websites to follow for 2018 and has been featured everywhere from FOX Business to the Motley Fool.

Ali didn’t start out on a path to investing in real estate or creating a business but found her way there and it’s the lessons she has learned that I can’t wait for her to share with you today.

www.hipsterinvestments.com

ali@hipsterinvestments.com

www.aliboone.com

Ali’s background is in Aerospace engineering and she spent over 5 years in the space as a top secret flight test engineer. She has what people perceive to be a “dream job.” She had a great salary, etc., but something was missing. When stepped foot in her cubicle each day, she knew that she was destined for something more.

From the time she was a kid, she had always wanted to be her own boss and lead her own life. She was always very independent and even during her time as an engineer, she was exploring and looking for her way out.

She looked at all kinds of mediums but found she could invest in real estate while she worked and grew it to a point where she could leave and go on her own.

Now, she lives the life she wants on her terms.

How did you know when its time to make the leap and leave your job?

• Don’t just follow your passion – some things are better left as hobbies

• Find the thing that works and organically happens

• Start building your income on the side

• Make sure that your “thing” is somewhat established

• Save money and build a nest egg if you can – but run things like you don’t have it.

• No matter what, there will be some element of missing security

How did you start into real estate?

• It was going to be either a business or real estate for Ali

• She originally decided to start a business

• She came across a webinar for real estate and attended

• This sparked things for her and she even able to network with the people who put on the webinar and still works with them today

• She followed them during the 2008 crash and started investing in “turn-key” rental properties

• She found a niche in turn key rentals

• She has found how to outsource much of the aspects of the business around managing properties

Tell us about Hipster…How do you do what you do?

• Turn keys can sound to good be true

• Ali works with “Turn key” companies that work in specific markets that have good inventory, but also support a healthy expense to rent ratio so they can truly cash flow.

• These companies go out and buy properties in bulk and get the lowest price possible.

• They do all the rehab, if needed, source and find tenants, and rent the property

• Investors can then buy the properties from companies like Hipster

• No, they are not totally “hands off.” You can still have tenants that don’t work out and have to manage your property manager around things. You still need your head attached. But as far as real estate investing goes, turn key managed property takes the bulk of the issues off your plate.

• At it’s core, Hipster is a boutique referral company for these types of investments, but holds clients hands through the whole buying process and supports them as client-owners.

At the 22 min mark, Ali talks about what makes a great real estate investment…

• It’s all about the numbers

• About 80% of properties make terrible investments

• You really have to understand where you are going to make the money

• Are you investing for cash flow or for appreciation through flipping?

• Find the thing that works best for you in your life situation.

• Make sure to understand the expenses – Mortgage, taxes, maintenance, repairs, property management. Don’t estimate – get actuals

• Make sure to get a realistic rental income number for your market and area

• Focus on positive cash flow as appreciation is not guaranteed – it’s a bonus

• Most properties don’t cash flow which is why the numbers are so important.

What are your thoughts of the current market in 2018-2019?

• We are close to peak pricing. It’s not as easy right now. You are looking for things to go on-sale and that is hard right now, but deals do still exist. •

Wherever the market is, you need to find out how to make it work

. • Right now, the markets Ali says are most appealing are Baltimore, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Kansas City, Cleveland. A lot of Midwest.

• But, Hipster only works in growth markets. For example, Detroit is in the Midwest, but not currently a growth market in their model.

What have you learned from buying real estate that translates to business and life?

• The idea of control is tougher as an entrepreneur or property owner

• You cannot always control what is going to happen or plan for it

• You have the best you can do at what you can each day

• We don’t have control over much, except for our attitude and our effort

• Be present and ready for what comes at you

Top 3 things entrepreneurs need to succeed in today’s world?

• Open mindedness.

• You have to realize that it is a rollercoaster ride and be ok with it.

• Self-awareness. Keep learning about yourself and what is best for how you operate.

At the 45 min mark, Ali challenges Tim Ferris to a “lifestyle design” duel…

Best Quote: “Don’t’ take advice from people you wouldn’t trade shoes with…”

Ali's Misfit 3:

1. “Don’t’ take advice from people you wouldn’t trade shoes with…” find the people who are doing what you want to do and get advice from them.

2. Strive to follow what happens organically for you.

3. There are 3 currencies: Money, Time, and Sanity. Which ones are you willing to sacrifice for the others?

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Zach Benson. Zach is the CEO and founder of one of my favorite services and sponsor of the show, Assistagram. Assitagram creates campaigns that helps people get their message out to millions on a daily basis. I have to say, as a client, their teams are amazing.

Zach is also a TEDX speaker and world renowned, award winning dancer. The thing that I absolutely love most about Zach is how he has designed his life. Zach travels the world living where he wants when he wants helping people grow their business and message with Assistagram and also teaching dance workshops. In today’s episode, I not only want him to share his best Instagram success hacks, but also teach how you can design the life you deserve.

www.assistagram.com

Benson.zach@gmail.com

www.MisfitEtnrepreneur.com/Assitagram

It all started with dance. In high school, Zach got a DVD on breakdancing and started practicing. He began to win competitions and made it on So You Think it Can Dance. Now, he teaches dance clinics all over the world.

How did you design your life and make it possible?

• He saw other dancers that tried out multiple times for things So You Think You Can Dance and over time make it. He took a lesson to never give up from them.
• He also dreamed big as a kid and put together what he wanted his life to be.
• A producer for SYTYCD gave him the idea and advice on how to go teach dance clinics around the world and leverage his stardom that way.

What did you have to do to make it happen?

• Zach is more impulsive
• He takes action on things he wants to do and doesn’t think too much about it
• But he also seeks and finds people who have been there and done that- and listened to them, taking their best advice and putting it to use.
• In the beginning, he got a lot of no’s before getting to his first yes on teaching a dance clinic.
• He changed his business model to start offering really cheap rates to get in the door at places.
• From there, he used his experience and relationships to build great relationships that could reference him and grew from there – upping his rates as he got more consistent.
• Playing the long game is important.

You mentioned being more impulsive in your younger years. Are you still that way today?

• Things have changed. He still embraces taking initiative.
• “I’d rather burnout than restout and take advantage of opportunities when they come up…”

What advice would give people to go out and create the life they deserve?

• You need to know what you need to be happy. Zach volunteered to live on $2 a day for food to help a cause and learn what really matters to be happy.
• Whatever it is that fulfills you – you need to know. If it is a lot of money, great. If not, ok too. But know what it is.
• Self-educate and keep going
• Play the long game and outlast
• People give up to close to their success

What have you learned about life and success by traveling abroad and working throughout the world?

• That people matter most and to put them first. 
• For Zach, traveling helps him grow. He gets to expand his network, see how others live, learn other cultures, and network with other entrepreneurs.
• Life is all about people and relationships. All it takes is a simple question or compliment to create a conversation that turn into a huge opportunity.
• Be curious

How do you travel and get to stay at 5-Star hotel for free?

• Through the power of Instagram
• 5 years ago, he bought an Instagram account with 400,000 followers
• From there, he started to grow it and build up the empire
• Businesses don’t know that much about social media marketing on platforms such as Instagram.
• Instead of negotiating a free to stay by just posting about it to his following, Zach offers to teach them how to improve their Instagram accounts and their footprint.

What is the process of how you do it? Do you need to have a massive following?

• Zach has a step by step process in his Tribe Influencer academy
• You don’t need a big personal brand
• You don’t need a huge network
• Think of something you have of value that a hotel can use such as a specific skill or process
• Use that as an offering and do a barter with them
• Make sure to have a clear offer of what you will do and what it will do for them
• You can do this with all hotels.
• It starts with an email to the reservations department
• Then follow up with phone call and ask to speak to the sales and marketing director for the property
• Then pitch them
• Usually the training last about 1 hour

At the 23 min mark, Zach talks about why Instagram is such an important medium to use for business in today’s age.

• The attention shift from Facebook to Instagram is happening faster than ever.
• It is the fastest growing and most engaging platform in the world with almost 1 billion users
• Twitter and Snapchat are dead
• Instagram gives you more organic reach than Facebook
• Now is the time to get on the platform.

Top 3 things people need to do to succeed on Instagram?

• If you are going to start – build a page/account around passions, something you are really into and interested in.
• By looking at what other accounts do in your focus, you can learn what they do to be successful and even reach out to them.
• You can also buy an Instagram account, a niche page. You can growth hack your business with it.

What is the best way to grow a following on Instagram?

• Utilizing engagement groups is one of the best ways
• Engagement groups should be larger and have high quality
• Doing manual follow and unfollow is another, but can be damaging if you don’t know what you are doing.
• Post 4-6 times per day

How do you get people to go from following and engaging to buying?

• First, you need to become a legit brand which is a minimum of 10k followers o This gives you credibility
• In looking legit, it will attract more followers and engagement
• This helps you rank higher and helps you to show more in key words and top posts
• Once you have a larger following – you can collaborate with other influencers
• Then you need to make sure you have your online and offline sales process in place and dialed in.

At the 32 min mark, Zach gives some hacks for optimizing your profile and his free Growth Hacking Guide which you can get at www.MisfitEntrepreneur.com/Assistagram

• An easy SEO hack is putting key words in your short bio that when searched for will lead to your profile
• Research your hashtags very well. Look for hashtags that don’t have millions of posts. Instead focus on hashtags that have smaller amounts of posts.
• Look for ones with 10-20k posts which will allow you to get noticed more often

What is your best advice for entrepreneurs to be successful in business today?

• You need to remember that it is all about timing
• Knowing and respecting people’s timing and make sure you are there when the timing is right.

Best Quote: “I’d rather burn-out than rest-out and take advantage of opportunities when they come up….”

Zach's Misfit 3:

1. Read books and find mentors. Grow yourself.

2. The ones who make the most mistakes grows the fastest

3. Stay consistent in every area of your life you can. The small things add up to big results.

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneurs are Ben and Laura Harrison. Ben and Laura are the founders of Jonas Paul Eyewear. The company has been featured everywhere from the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Harvard Business Review, to even a full segment about the company on NBC news.

Jonas Paul specializes in fashionable and stylish glasses for children…

Like a lot of Misfit Entrepreneurs, we’ve had on the show, Ben and Laura didn’t start out as eyewear entrepreneurs. Instead they encountered a problem and endeavored to find a solution to help their son, Jonas Paul. Through this - a mission and a company were born.

Nowadays, Jonas Paul helps children all over the world feel beautiful in their glass and gives a portion of every sale to help provide sight to children in need. Ben and Laura have a truly remarkable story and an incredible amount of useful experience and wisdom to share.

www.jonaspauleyewear.com

Ben and Laura call themselves “recovering serial entrepreneurs.” Ben and Laura met in college. Ben was focused on work as a photographer and Laura on communications. They decided to grow the photography business to become destination photographers. In addition, the launched resources online for other photographers. Things were good. After 7 years of marriage, they decided to have a child. Everything seemed fine up until their child, Jonas Paul was born.

Laura ended up having to have an emergency c-section. When they brought Jonas over to her, the first words out of her mouth were, “Does he have pupils?” Since he was just born, they dismissed it. But over the next few days reality began to set in. Jonas was born blind and was diagnosed with Peter’s anomaly, a very rare sight condition. It was very overwhelming as new parents to come to grips with how their child will not be able to see or even see their faces.

They went on an extensive journey in which by the age of 5, Jonas has had 22 eye surgeries to give him some aspect of sight and 4 cornea transplants that have all failed.

As this went on, Ben started searching for stylish eyewear for Jonas, so he could look cool in the glasses he needed to see what he could. Jonas was only 2 weeks old, but Ben was searching for something to combat his helplessness. The search became an outlet and a mission that morphed into creating stylish eyewear for kids because there was nothing out there. They started on Alibaba with some designs and found a manufacturer.

How did you launch the business?

• They had always been in the digital download space, so going into selling a productive with FDA restrictions and everything else was an unknown.
• They hacked together a WordPress site to get something up to have a brand.
• They used their photography background to help in crafting the image for the brand and also creating the right design.
• They went through 3 different rounds of samples before they got one right.
• Once the found some frames that seemed right, they moved to launch.
• They just sold through their website and used their SEO experience to help organic traffic.
• It didn’t take off right away. It has been a grind.
• They used the feedback to start tweaking things and were OK taking it slow.

What was your tipping point where you started to see massive growth?

• There hasn’t been one major tipping point…it has been a lot of little things that have combined.
• The one big thing was when they made the decision to focus on one thing – Jonas Paul.
• They gave up their other businesses to focus on it full time. They became part of a business accelerator called Praxis and this gave them opportunities to pitch to potential partners/investors.
• At one of the pitches they were introduced to a former CEO of Luxotica which led to their first seed round.

What is working for you when it comes to digital marketing? What is driving sales online?

• You need a holistic approach.
• Facebook is needed, but is all about disrupting things to create interest in your product.
• Google AdWords is important because people are searching for the need.
• Instagram is also very important for a product like eyewear.
• The messages on the mediums are very different.
• Retargeting and lead capturing are important, so you can nurture people and teach them about your product.
• For a lot of solutions, there is a big education piece needed which the mediums allow you to do.
• Authenticity of your brand and who you are is the most critical part of the equation. Stay to true to who you really are.

Anything outside digital?

• They have a brand ambassador program with micro-influencers
• They have affiliate programs

Talk to us about building a culture with your business and what that means to the brand…

• The best part is being able to surround yourself with a team that has passion for the business like they do.
• Making sure the team knows the mission and vision and why is really important.
• But, you must be open to change to feedback from your team to grow.
• Giving your employees a voice is very important. Everyone should feel like it is a part of them as much as you as an owner/leader.

What advice do you have other husband and wife teams running a business or thinking about starting a business together?

• Early on – you have to understand your strengths and weaknesses and learn how to let each other run with the strengths.
• Trust each other where your skills sets are and find all the ways they can complement each other.
• Put a plan together on how to run things for your work life together.
• Using a personality tool like a Strengthfinder or DISC can give you really great insight into each other.
• Be willing and outspoken on your encouragement to each other. Don’t take it for granted just because you work together every day.
• Have fun with it. Reward each other. Surprise each other.
• You cannot separate your home life and work life – it all blends together. Embrace it, don’t fight it.
• Celebrate together when you win and come together when you lose
• It is a true privilege to be able to be a team and share the journey of a business together.

What has surprised you most on your entrepreneurial journey together?

• That you can pull things off and pull them off well, even when it doesn’t look like it can happen.
• Everybody has this entrepreneurial spirit inside them, but so many are afraid to unleash it.
• When you find what you are called and meant to be doing it gives you such a more meaningful life.
• How much you gain by taking the leap of faith…

How has social entrepreneurship made an impact for the business and for you?

It allows you to truly help people in need, make the world a better place, and be part of something bigger.

Best Quote: As an entrepreneur, you cannot separate your home life and work life – it all blends together. Embrace it, don’t fight it.”

Ben and Laura's Misfit 3

1. Don’t suffer from failure to launch syndrome. Get a minimum viable product, get it out there, get feedback and go from there.
2. Make a name for yourself in your market by trying everything to get yourself out there. You’ll then be able to hone in and find what really works. Have patience here.
3. Fearing hardship with starting your own thing can keep you from living your life to the fullest. Hardship and suffering help you recognize life in a different way. Be open to it and be ok with it.

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Iain Grae. Iian went from broke to mult-millionaire in less than 3 years and has been featured as one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s hot 100 for the past few years.

Iain has an incredible story of how he got to where he is now as the founder of Evolved Lyfe and Millionaire Prowess. Millionaire Prowess is training firm that teaches the principles Iain has used to consistently build million dollar companies. Evolved Lyfe a purpose driven leadership activation firm that helps people learn how to tap into their higher consciousness and usher in what Iain calls Heaven on Earth. The company helps high achievers, entrepreneurs, and leaders to effortlessly create wealth while making a larger impact on the world.

When I first spoke to Iain, one of the things that impressed me most was the philosophy he has developed and teaches on how to succeed and thrive. He used it to create multiple successful million dollar entities. It is different than what most are teaching today and I knew that I had to share it with you in Misfit Nation.

www.EvolvedLyfe.com

www.EvolvedLyfe.com/Misfit

Iain grew up poor and his parents never seemed to have any money. When he was 8 years old he begged his father for a motocross bike. His father told him that when he earned the money, he could have one. So, he started doing any work he could at 8 years old that he could – raking leaves, shoveling snow, etc. 3 years later, he bought his first dirt bike. This led to him starting in motocross and became a pro. And he was good. Up until about 22, he seemingly won just about everything he did in motocross, but then he took a huge dip.

Tell us about the dip?

Iain was living in his parent’s basement making $14,000/mo at 21 years old. He decided to travel throughout the world. He traveled around Europe and met a Swedish girl and subsequently moved to Sweden to be with her. He started running out of money, even though he has gotten a job. He wasn’t making enough to pay his bills. He had to go on welfare and could not afford to even go out for a bite to eat.

This began to wear on his self-esteem and he developed a bad attitude which became pervasive in his life and his relationship. It wasn’t long before he was on plane back to the states to live in his parents basement because he had to, not because he wanted to. He felt like a complete failure.

He borrowed money and was able to get a job in sales in NYC. He began to excel, but he knew that he didn’t have control over what he was selling, so he started a company with a partner called Innovation Ads in 2002-2003. The original intention was to sell ad space in taxis. Iain locked down some of the minor cities and was working on NYC, but Clearchannel was locking it up. To supplement while he was doing this, he started in online advertising. He started brokering online ad buys and developed a whole new way of doing lead generation with autoresponders.

He ended up getting involved with a bunch of universities and got so good at generating leads for universities that he took over the lead management/enrollment process as well on behalf of them. Ultimately, he was able to sell the business and that propelled him into what he is doing today.

At the 14 min mark, Iain answers the question, What is the Evolved Life Philosophy?

• It is a way of living, being, and practicing
• It is taking responsibility for everything that comes into your awareness
• Then it is reconstructing your life to suit your intention and live in divine order

How does someone implement it into their life?

• It starts with a commitment to take the responsibility for everything that comes into your awareness
• Once you do that, you have the power and can use it to your advantage
• You must understand how important your intentions are when working with others and make sure they are aligned with yours to produce the best ideal outcomes
• Life is about practice. Anything you want to be intentionally great at takes practice. You cannot just make a decision and all the sudden everything will happen – you have to work at it every day. This is where the greatness is found.

Changes you can make to help you re-program yourself?

• Stop making long “to do” lists. It is overwhelming when you cannot get things done.
• Instead, make an “intentions list” of what you truly intend to get done for the day
• Write it before you go to bed so your brain can work on ideas while you are sleeping
• Your intentions should be focused on the different areas of your life
• Break out your doubts and concerns. They are like a virus. Deliberately remove them to find the truth.
  • One great way to do this is to be at peace in nature and let it surround you

What does it mean when you talk about achieving “Heaven on Earth?”

• The truth is that you don’t have to achieve it, it already exists – it just matters where you place your attention. You just need to place your attention on your intention.
• If you are going to spend your life here, then why not live in heaven on earth?

What role does faith play in your success? What is the most important thing you’ve learned about yourself and life?

Divine order exists

• You are not your body, you have a body
• You are not a life, you are life.
• You are local host for god and can manifest through aligning the thoughts from your head to your heart and your gut.
• It all stems from your mind and you know when you are out of alignment – stop and get yourself realigned.
• Additionally, utilize others and coaches to help yourself be more aligned.

At the 34 min mark, Iain talks about the principles in his book, “the 10 Principles That Made Me Millions…”

• Purpose: Look at this not from the “one thing I should be doing,” but instead “who am I being?” Iain gives some great examples on this.
  • When you see how you can impact the world by creating wealth, you can see how to create that wealth and see a much bigger picture of how it comes together.
• Create a Statement of Desire: Fuzzy targets don’t get hit. Clearer goals do. Set the goal, but then ask “What I am willing to give up to do it?” and “What I am willing to give of myself to do it?”
• Do it only if you are willing to be fearless
• Your support system is critical and you must make the right adjustments in this area for your life and goals to thrive. Modeling greatness is a key part of this.
• Actively listening. The more silence that is created the louder the noise that is heard.

There is so much gold to be found in the nuances of things, the small things, that makes a huge difference

Your greatness is locked in where your errors are…

At the 47 min mark, Iain talks about the gifts we have and how we can and should maximize them.

Best Quote: “Your greatness is locked in where your errors are…”

Iain's Misfit 3:

1. Make a clear intention about an outcome no matter how small or large and make sure everyone is on board.
2. Listen to the voice that comes in your head and look for doubt. This is where you find where you may have limiting beliefs.
3. It’s not about what you are doing, it is about who you are being.

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 talk to you about perspective. It is very important to keep perspective in your life as you grow and as you find more success. It is even more important to keep perspective in the rough times. Do you know what the chances of you being alive in this world are? They are 10 to the 2,685, 000th power.

To put that in perspective (ha!), that is the same as if about 2.5 million people, or approximately the population of Chicago, all got together to play a game of dice with trillion-sided dice. And they each roll the dice — and they all come up the exact same number. It is an absolute miracle.

In fact, for you to be here, trillions probably never were. Now take it a step further. Think about what the chances are of mommy and I finding you and us becoming a family – it is almost unfathomable.

You, we and everybody listening to this episode are a miracle. No matter where you are in your life or what life has dealt you – cherish the gift that you have been given of this life.

Recently, a good friend of your mother and I’s, Adam, passed away. He was 39 years old. He left behind an amazing family with 4 beautiful kids (all under 10) and a devoted wife, Grace. It wasn’t a freak accident or anything like that. He was swimming. Simple swimming. He was doing the same swimming workout he regularly did on a Saturday morning and bam, a cardiac event took him.

As a fitness enthusiast and endurance athlete, this really hit home. Adam wasn’t in bad shape. He had a vibrant life. He was an MBA, entrepreneur, and professor at not one, but two colleges. He had a good life. And just like that, at 39 years old, it was over. This hit home with me because you just never know when it is your time. And as I heard about when this happened on that Saturday, I realized that it was at the exact same time that I was riding my bike in preparation for my next Ironman and was about 3 miles from home when I got smacked in the face with the biggest bug I had ever seen.

This caused me to immediately swerve and react taking my eyes off the road. I started to veer into the road, but at the last second pulled it back and ran off the road into a side yard. I was able to look up just in time to see I was about to smack a mailbox, at 20 miles an hour, and at the last second, I dropped down and let the bike skid out from under me with the side of my thigh hitting the mailbox. The bruise was there for about 3 weeks after and covered an area about the size of an iphone. I got myself up, dusted off, got back on the bike and headed home not really thinking anything of it. But, as I heard the news later that weekend about Adam, It quickly brought me back to that moment. Damn was I lucky. I mean, if there had been a car next to me at the time, what could have happened? If I didn’t see the mailbox at the last possible second and make the move I did, who knows.

The point is that you do never really know when it is your time. Adam was an amazing father, friend, and just a great person in this world. We all should. No, we all must - Strive to be the best we can be for ourselves and to the world and realize the amazing miracle that we are even alive – and cherish it because, it can be gone in the blink of an eye. To me that is perspective and it is a good thing to keep with you as you go through life.

Adam, you will be missed, my friend, and I know that your family will cherish the memories and all of the light you brought into their lives. You will always be with them. It was incredible to see the hundreds upon hundreds celebrate your life and realize your impact at your memorial. I can only hope that I am able to have one-hundredth of the impact you had. I love you, buddy. Rest in peace.

And Hannah, I hope that you can use this lesson to keep you going in good times and in bad and use it to remind yourself to always be your best no matter where you are in life or what happens to you. Always remember to keep your perspective and be thankful for and cherish your life.

I love you,

Daddy

Best Quote: “You, we and everybody listening to this episode are a miracle. No matter where you are in your life or what life has dealt you – cherish the gift that you have been given of this life."

1. It is an absolute miracle that you are alive. For you to be here, trillions were not. Cherish it.
2. Keep perspective. No matter what stage you are in your life and what level of success you reach. Make sure that you find a way to remind yourself how lucky you are to be alive and have an impact on this world. Never take it for granted.
3. You never know when it is your time, so be sure to live your life in the best way you can, so when it is your time, you leave this world with relatively few regrets.

This week we have a very special episode for you in that we are having a Misfit Entrepreneur on for a second time. This is rarity and not something I would typically do, but when I saw what he was doing and the message that he’s created, I had to have him back on to discuss it. Misfit Nation, this week’s Misfit Entrepreneur, the only two time guest at this point, is Bedros Keuillian.

So, let me tell you why I am having Bedros back on and for those of you that don’t know who Bedros is…Bedros escaped communism, came to the US with nothing and now He is a high performance coach, speaker, and business consultant. He's the founder and CEO of Fit Body Boot Camp, a two time Inc. 5000 listed business and one of the nation’s fastest-growing franchises, and an investor in over a dozen companies ranging from software, digital media agencies, and educational and consulting services. He's known as the hidden genius that entrepreneurs, best-selling authors, and thought leaders turn to when they want to quickly scale their businesses and build impact-focused brands.

Bedros has just released a new book with a message that I think is incredibly timely and society needs to hear. It’s called “Man Up: How to Cut the Bullshit and Kick Ass in Business and in Life.”

After hearing that title you can probably guess why I brought him back on…but what is most important is not just the message of the book, but the real, tried and tested actions Bedros will teach you that you can start using now to reach your full potential now.

www.Manup.com

Bedros calls himself the “Immigrant Edge” and the “American Dream.” His family escaped the Soviet Union when he was 5 with 2 suitcases to their names and no one spoke English. He grew up with nothing and very poor. He had a lot of anxiety and pain about not being able to fit in and numbed his pain with eating.

In 11th grade, he wanted to ask a girl to the prom. He knew he had to lose some weight. He was very overweight with low self-esteem. He spent the summer between junior and senior year working out and came back to school losing over 30 lbs with a little more self-esteem, but still didn’t have the confidence to ask a girl out. But that summer made a difference for him. He originally had planned to leave school and go to technical school, but after seeing the difference he made in himself, he decided he wanted to help other have and feel the same transformation.

He decided to become a personal trainer instead. He got certified, but had not clients and even the few he got weren’t paying him much. He got two side jobs, one as a bouncer and one as a fry cook at Disneyland. He was always tired. One of his clients asked him about it and pointed out how he was poor at marketing and sales. The client brought him a sales tape on how to sell better. That lead to Bedros diving into personal growth. Before long, he was having more success and then creating personal training studios. He was able to sell those in the early 2000’s and then started coaching and consulting personal trainers on how to do what he had done.

That became the base of what he has done today in coaching and consulting, and the creation of Fit Body Bootcamp a franchise that now has over 700 locations worldwide and opening up dozens per month.

At the 12 min mark, Bedros explains what the most important message he wants to teach people with Man Up…

• Entrepreneurs are islands. We suffer in silence.
• Bedros went through this when he started to build the business around Fit Body Bootcamp
• As he grew a larger organization, he found he was missing something. He had good control a solopreneur or with a few employees, but as the business grew, he knew he was not equipped for the task.
• He was a poor communicator and started to have a bad relationship with employees. He was passive aggressive and had animosity.
• He was unclear in his vision and in explaining it to employees He realized he was not equipped to “win the game.”
• He actually gave up on things, but after self-reflection realized everything came down to his leadership and he hadn’t “manned up” to take responsibility.
• The book is designed to teach people how to be a better leader through taking ownership, learning to communicate better, becoming better at decision making, emotional resilience, and how to be clearer on your mission and vision.

After everything you’ve learned and done to this point, what’s the #1 thing you’ve seen that holds other back from reaching their fullest potential?

• Everyone is afraid to take full ownership
• They must stop making excuses, take control of the situation, and rise to the challenges.
• The most effective thing you can to control your outcome is the become a “Control King or Queen.”

You start the book by taking about leading self. Explain that.

• Lead from the front. It starts with self-discipline.
• You cannot expect others to do things you haven’t done or demonstrated the discipline to do.
• Practice tell, show do. Tell your team what you are looking for them to do. Show them exactly what it is. Then ask them to do it. Don’t assume that people just get it.

Tell us about the 5% rule…

• It is critical for anyone leading anything
• The leader must focus on their 5%. The 5% of things that they are extraordinary at.
• The 5% are the biggest levers a leader can only do
• The leader must then delegate the 95% of things they are not the best at

How can someone uncover their purpose, vision, and path – and then make it a reality?

• It more about developing your purpose, developing a skill.
• Most don’t take the time to get introspective and ask, “What do I really want?”
• What are your drivers? Money, meaning, possessions?
• You can have all 3, but you must create meaning alongside what you want.
• Don’t’ jump around other people’s purposes and desires – you must develop your own.

At the 38 min mark, Bedros shares the practices and habits that leaders must do to build great, high-performing teams…

• Reading about the Navy SEALs gave Bedros some of his best advice for building a team.
• If you notice, the are called “SEAL Teams” not SEAL individuals.
• A team is a group of individuals brought together to compete against an opponent and win.
• There is a difference between having a true team and having employees
• Teams are outcome driven and obsessed with beating the opponent together doing what it takes.
• As a leader, it is your responsibility to get our team members to play up to their highest potential.
• A great example is if you find a book or message that helps you as a leader, you should share it with your team and engage them to learn the material.
• Or send them to a training or event to teach them more

Outside teams vs. Inside Teams

• Outside teams are friends, consultants, and coaches you work within your industry.
• Your inside team are the people on your teams in your business that you lead on a daily basis.
• Your outside team holds you accountable. You hold your inside team accountable.

We all have this book of our life and unfortunately most people hand the pen over to others to write the book, when they are the ones that should be writing it. Take the pen back and decide for yourself what the pages really look like.

Best Quote: “We all have this book of our life and unfortunately most people hand the pen over to others to write the book, when they are the ones that should be writing it. Take the pen back and decide for yourself what the pages really look like.”

Bedros's Misfit 3:

Leadership is critical. It is the problem and the solution

Leadership starts with self-discipline. Work on yourself first. Lead from the front and then set high expectations.

You do hold the pen. Take back control of your life and your story.

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Noah St. John. Noah St. John is known by many as “The World’s Most Trusted Peak Performance Coach” and is famous for helping entrepreneurs get rid of their head trash and make more money.

He has been featured worldwide, everywhere from ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, Parade Magazine, Forbes.com, and The Huffington Post. He’s also the only author in history to have works published by Hay House, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Mindvalley, Nightingale-Conant, and the Chicken Soup for the Soul publisher.

You no doubt can probably guess why I decided to have Noah on the show. Money is one of the most emotional and challenging things in life for most people to manage. It can create problems or when you learn take control of it mentally and emotionally, used to do incredible things and help leave an impact on the world.

I’ve asked Noah to come today to help you learn how to do the latter with your money

NoahStJohn.com

SendMeaBookNoah.com

Noah “grew up poor in a rich neighborhood.” He was born in Kennebunkport, MA, lived at the end of a dirt road his parents ultimately lost the house to foreclosure. Noah hated the life of poverty and fear and lack as he stared at the abundance around him. He wanted to get out, but he didn’t know how to do it.

He went to the library and started reading about personal and spiritual growth, but just couldn’t seem to put was he was learning together and was living in a feeling of desperation. At the age of 25, he decided to commit suicide. At the very last moment, his life was spared – so he committed his life to serving. But, he didn’t know what he was supposed to do. It took another 5 years before he truly discovered his mission, in 1997.

He had 2 epiphanies. One was how to change his thought patterns and conditioning by asking powerful questions and the other is something Noah has come to call, Success Anorexia.

At the 7 min mark, I ask Noah, What is “Head Trash” and how to we get rid of it? How do we get un-stuck? The answer is a must listen.

• Noah asks, “What does it mean to be stuck? What is causing it? And how can we get rid of it?”
• People have a feeling of being overwhelmed.
• Being stuck happened because of your “head trash.” The voice in your head that says, I can’t do it, because…(fill in the blank)
• The damaging about head trash is that you always make yourself right…what you tell yourself becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
• It keeps you stuck for the very reason that you’re telling yourself it’s true.
• You must learn to recognize it and get rid of it.

What is the process that someone needs to start to become aware to their head trash and begin to make real change to it?

• First, write down where your head trash is affecting you. What is your “I can’t do it, because…” Write them down.
• Do you consciously want to hold yourself back from succeeding? No
• You have to fight the impulses and urges to sabotage yourself by recognizing your negative thought patterns and stop them.

How does someone go about changing their automatic responses and habits from their conditioned mind?

At the 17 min mark, Noah explains the Power Habits of Unconsciously Successful People…

• There are the naturals of success, 1-2% of people who are unconsciously competent in allowing themselves to succeed.
• The problem is that they are not helpful to the 99% of people that have real head trash that they don’t.
• One of the foundational power habits is afformations – NOT and affirmation.
• The human brain operates using questions not statements – it searches for answers.
• Telling yourself “I am rich” does not activate the brain.” Instead ask yourself, “Why am I so rich?” This makes your brain start to search for the answer. This is the law of sowing and reaping. You are sowing seeds of thought. Most are sowing lousy thoughts seeds. When you ask lousy questions, you get lousy answers and a lousy life.
• You must ask phenomenal questions which give you phenomenal answers which give you a phenomenal life.
• www.Afformations.com to learn more

Outside of understanding their thinking and how it relates to money, what are the other two money mistakes that people make?

• Not having a mentor and trying to do everything yourself
• A true mentor has to have 3 elements:
  • They must be where you want to be
  • Do they have a system that has helped anybody else?
  • Do they actually help you get there?
• The 3rd money mistake people make is gathering too much information without giving yourself permission to succeed.
• We are overloaded with information and if you gather too much information without taking action, it doesn’t matter.
• There is no lack of information, but a lack of transformation. Knowledge is no longer power, because access to information is everywhere.
• Knowledge into action is power.
• Yes, you will make mistakes. It doesn’t matter – get going.

What are the other Power Habits?

• Systems of support. You must put in place systems of support with people, activities, environment, introspection, and simplify.
• Goal-free zones. Give yourself permission to stop setting goals. Give yourself the ability to stop and recharge.
• Find your “Because.” There are “why tos” and “why not tos.” One is the foot on the gas and one is on the break. But, more importantly is finding your because – your mission.

What are the top things entrepreneurs need to be focused on in today’s world to succeed?

• You have to understand the incredible importance of your inner game.
• You still have to focus on your outer game but balance it with the inner game. You succeed from the inside out.

Who do you go to for mentorship?

Dr. Steven Covey

Best Quote: “You must ask phenomenal questions which give you phenomenal answers which give you a phenomenal life..”

Noah's Misfit 3:

• Use “Afformations”, the empowering questions to help you succeed.
• Focus a big part of your effort on mastering your inner game and removing head trash.
• Give yourself permission to succeed!

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Tofe Evans. Tofe’s story is incredible. First off, he wrote the runaway best-seller, Everyone Has a Plan Until Shit Hits the Fan – if that tells you anything. But, Tofe has been to hell and back and what he has learned about life, resilience, and the human spirit is remarkable.

Tofe came back from literally almost losing his life. He dedicated everything to teaching people what he has learned and raising awareness for various causes. Tofe pushes every limit and boundary he can find through being a top endurance athlete. In fact, he completed over 40 endurance events in one year just to raise awareness for cancer research, as well as a 60-kilometer ultramarathon on Mt. Everest – yes, that mt. Everest, for Cystic Fibrosis.

As he says, he is on a mission to help transform those who are feeling week or worthless into warriors and I can’t wait for him his to share everything he’s got for you today. Word to the wise, this will be a raw unfiltered episode, because that is who Tofe is, so get ready for a wild ride!

www.tofe-evans.com

Tofe’s journey started when he was a kid and fell in love with traveling. He tried a number of businesses to fund the life he wanted – but he failed and it wore on him to the point where adversity seemed to be his normal state of life. He started to become something different, self-destructive. He would put on masks, so people didn’t see what he really was, but it didn’t work. He became a terrible person to people.

He finally couldn’t take the loneliness and disconnect from being human and even attempted to kill himself by taking enough drugs where he thought her would overdose. For some reason, it didn’t work. He had to get help to work on his mental health. And in starting to open up and going through the process of re-finding himself, he started to learn how adversity could be a blessing and how he could use it to fuel his recovery.

He also started to self-educate and that is when he came up with the idea that he would run his first marathon. For him, once he made the decision, he realized that it was like life super condensed. Training and do the race was a great metaphor for life.

At the 9:30 mark, Tofe shares how a marathon is a great metaphor for life.

After completing the marathon. He was hooked and asked the question “How can we make a difference through doing this?”

So, he connected with a friend and they started on a journey where they did over 40 different events in one year to raise money for various causes.

After everything you’ve been through and done, what have you found that matters most?

• The fundamentals of life: Food, water, shelter, family
• Family can be your close friends and family, your inner circle

At the 11 min mark, Tofe talks about the differences he has noticed between developing countries and first world countries.

• The people are very poor so they focus on the fundamentals
• In 1st world countries, we have everything so easily accessible, which makes us shy away from adversity and not embrace it and use it to better ourselves as human beings
• People won’t remember you for the material items, but for the impact you bring
• Ask anyone who’s run a marathon, they don’t care what kind of food they have after, even it’s just banana. They really care what kind of bed they have if they have a place to rest. The fundamentals are what matter when they strip everything away.

Explain Adversity x Mindset x Gratitude

• It’s the Practical Resilience Framework. Once you have all 3 working in play, it gives an exponential effect.
• It starts with adversity of any kind. It is the fuel that is needed to grow. It teaches you how to have a “6 pack mind” as a 6-pack mind is much better to have than a 6-pack body.
• Overcoming adversity teaches you a mindset of grit and how to push through your limitation.
• Once you’ve been through things and have had the experience both good and bad, you feel the gratitude and are more likely to give back and help others.
• We are made of the same elements (carbon, water, etc.) and the average human uses only 1/20 of the their potential. We are destined to be far greater than we realize.

“You can’t compare yourself to others. Comparing is a cancer.”

What have you learned about the capabilities of the human spirit…

• It comes down to compassion and empathy
• You truly understand the value of something when it is taken away from you
• The human spirit relays back to community and family.

How can people practice practical resilience in their lives? Listen at the 25 min mark as Tofe goes into more detail on the items below.

• It comes back to Adversity x Mindset x Gratitude
• Think of it like a Ven- Diagram where the sweet spot is in the middle
• The first step is to acknowledge what you have been through and gone through
• Ask yourself what the mindset was that go you through it?
• Since you have been through it, do you have more wisdom and knowledge?Do you see how you can be grateful for it?

How can we get rid of the barriers keeping us from our greatness?

• Remove the negative people from your life
• Be around people of action and that are striving for something
• Try not to be idle
• Dream of the impossible
• Tap into your creativity – remember the world you would create for yourself when you were a kid where anything was possible
• We have the world at our fingertips – What do you want to do before you die? Start small and work your way up to bigger things.
  • Focus on the small victories that are on the pathway to the larger goal
• If it’s not illegal, immoral, or unethical, just do it! Say yes.

At the 36 min mark, Tofe explains what to do when “shit hits the fan”

It comes down to 2 things…

• Adapting
• Bouncing Back

Don’t be too attached to the outcome, instead focus on the process of what it takes to get there as that is the real work and where the real effort is needed.

Pay close attention to your habits because “The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken”

How does all of this that we’ve discussed translate to entrepreneurship?

• Use the Practical Resilience Framework
• Adaptation is critical
• You have to take care of your mental health at the same level you take care of the rest of your health
• Embrace the process and small victories
• Don’t go it alone

At the 46 min mark, Tofe talks about what it is like to run 0ver 60 KM’s on Mount Everest…

Best Quote: “Practice “Present Focused Living.” Depression is when you are living too much in the past and anxiety is when you are living too far in the future.”

Tofe's Misfit 3:

1. Understand that whatever adversity you are going through will make you who you are as a person.
2. Do something scary every day. List your 10 top fears and start with your easiest one.
3. Practice gratitude so that it becomes one of your primary traits. List the top 100 things you are grateful for.