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.

Ok, so here goes…this week’s Lesson for Hannah.

Hannah Sweetie, I want to talk to you about how to be more productive and accomplish more. As you grow older, you will find that time becomes more and more precious, so your ability to be productive and accomplish more with the time you have is a blessing. But, how do you do that? There are tons of books and strategies written about how to be more productive and accomplish more. Most of the time, it is the same advice. Focus, plan for your success, don't multi-task, turn off email, etc.

All of that is great advice and works. But, I have found a few additional methods alongside the more standard ones that really make a difference.

First, you've probably read a million times that you need to plan your day or plan for your success. There is a reason for that. It works. But, one trick I have found that has made a big difference is to plan in two ways. First, each Sunday, I sit down and write out my “to do” items by day for each of my different businesses for the upcoming week. You’ve been watching me do this since you were a kid and know that it takes me about 20-30 minutes. The reason this is important is because it gives me a bigger picture and view of what I have on my docket and what I want to do, instead of looking at things from the microcosm of just one day. Once I am done, I can see where I need to make changes or move things around to maximize productivity. Second, each day, I the make my daily "to do" list from the weekly list. What is nice is that each day, I can also see what is to do for the rest of the week and if I think I will have time, I can start working in say Thursday tasks on Tuesday. One very, very important secret with my daily planning is this. Write your daily “to do” list the night before. At the end of the day, take a look at what you have for tomorrow and also do a “brain dump” of things you know you need to do as well. Things are fresh in your mind at the end of your day, so writing your tasks for the next day is much easier, clearer, and keeps you from forgetting things. I used to write my to do list each morning for the day and since I started doing it the day before, I have noticed a considerable jump in productivity and am getting more time with you and mommy in evenings and on weekends.

Next, a habit I started doing years ago is what I call the morning prime and my three to thrive and succeed. This takes less than 10 minutes each day. I write down 3 things I am thankful/grateful for. A lot of times it has to do with you and mommy, but doing this does two things. First, it allows me to start my day with gratitude and come from a place of thankfulness. You'll be amazed at how this makes a difference in your attitude and thus your productivity. Second, it gives me perspective of what is really important in life.

Once, I've done that which takes 4-5 minutes, I look at my to do list for the day and pick the top 3 items from that list that will make the biggest impact in my life and businesses that day. I ask myself, "If I could only get 3 things done on this list, which would be the most impactful." That's my "three to thrive." I write those down or circle them on the “to do” list and focus only on them until they are done before moving on to the rest of the list. In fact, creating this message for you is one of my three to thrive for today.

Lastly, is what I call my secret weapon. From tracking my productivity, I have found a secret weapon that when I do this vs. when I do not has proven to make a difference. That secret? Listening to music with noise cancelling headphones. But, not just any type of music. It has to be instrumental only and of 3 genre: Piano, Chill Type Music....and surprise, Movie Music Scores.

I know this sounds crazy, but you have to try it. I have experimented with a number of music types and those 3 work the best. Depending on what you need at the moment, each can help you in different ways. For example, in the morning when things are quiet and I am just getting going, I like to listen to Chill Music. It drowns out all of the thoughts going in my head as the day begins and I start on my three to thrive keeping me focused. If I am feeling anxious or overloaded, Piano Music works every time. And if, I need inspiration or motivation, Movie Music Scores. Hans Zimmer's are the best. You can just jump on the web and type what you are looking for in and find it. As of the date of this lesson, Youtube works best.

The last thing I would say to you sweetie is that doing any one of these by themselves will make a difference in your ability to be more productive, but if you combine them, planning your week/day, having a daily prime/three to thrive routine and doing your tasks listening to music, -you'll be insanely more productive.

I can’t wait to see you put these in action in your life and for you to figure out your own ways to increase your abilities and productivity. Here’s to your success!

I love you, daddy…

Best Quote: “One very, very important secret with my daily planning is this. Write your daily “to do” list the night before..."

Misfit 3:

1. When planning for your success each week, don't just focus on planning for a day. Plan your week out first, then plan each day while being able to look at the big picture.
2. Create a routine to start your day off in the right "state" by expressing gratitude and focusing on the most important items you have on your list for the day. I call this my Daily Prime where I write 3 things I am grateful for and decide on my 3 to Thrive - the 3 most important things I need to do for the day.
3. Listening to instrumental music while you work improves productivity and your mood.

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Evan Money. Evan is an incredible individual. He has worked with just about every big name you can think of from Joel Olsteen to Malcolm Gladwell to John Maxwell and had been featured on every major news outlet.

His story is the epitome of the American Dream. He started with nothing. No money. No investment. And he founded and built a multi-million dollar extreme sports enterprise. He then became a prime time sports talk radio personality in Los Angeles with no experience or schooling, and today he has businesses that span extreme sports, startup and growth financing, even TV and film. He is also a go to mentor and speaker for personal growth and transformation. Evan has his PHD and is the #1 best-selling author of “Take Action Now.”

He went from not being able to buy groceries to being able to rent out the Staples Center in LA to play basketball with his friends…and most importantly, he knows how to live life to the fullest and maximize the areas of health, wealth, and finances.

www.EvanMoney.com

Evan was raised in a dysfunctional family with a single mom. He went to Las Angeles public schools and as he said “came out with his goals and dreams beating out of it.” He says that he was a reluctant entrepreneur. After high school he was working in a job and a friend of his at the job got together with him and discussed starting a business. Surely they could create a business like the one they worked at, right? It can’t be that hard…at least they thought.

So with no business plan, no money, and a dream they started the business. After about 6 months, the friend left and Evan was responsible for the business. Evan and his wife decided they were going to do it and just figured it out through hard work, hustle, and sheer will.

Building the business brought Evan and his wife even closer and they have created a great tradition in which they get re-married every single year in a different place. This type of tradition can be used across any type of relationship and Evan has found that focusing on planning a honeymoon every year to celebrate his relationship has forced him and his wife into appreciating each other more. This has allowed him to grow a fantastic business and a fantastic relationship as the same time.

“It is about all 3. You want to have your health thriving, your relationships thriving, and your finances thriving.”

At the 14 Min Mark Evan talks about how he created success and the life he has now. Evan talks about how his journey was painfully slow.

The turning point for Evan was when he discovered, ROF. Return On Forgiveness.

Evan talks about how he had a lot of issues and past anger from his father issues growing up. The year he finally forgave his father and let it all go, he earned 3x as much. He took the mental and emotional anchor of this off his back and everything fell into place.

“The Power of Forgiveness and letting things go that you are holding onto, you can then be free to receive more.”

Why does forgiveness lead to more success and changes in one’s life? What happens for them?

• First, it frees you as you don’t realize how much mental energy has been going into un-forgiveness and it becomes almost a virus that prays on you.
• Second, unforgiveness affects your health and when you relieve yourself of the anger, stress, and weight of the burden, your health comes inline and you “feel” better about yourself, life, business, etc.
• Third, getting rid of all of the baggage and burden frees you to then see and act on the opportunities around you that you were not seeing and did not have the energy to act on prior.

At the 28 min mark, Evan talks about he helps his clients breakthrough and what he looks for to help them do so.

“Everyone is essentially the same and has the same stuff. We are all highly skilled and incredibly gifted to see other people’s stuff and not our own stuff. That is the value of a coach – they will point out your stuff to you and help you work through it.”

At the 33 min mark, Evan gives a great example of money and security and the relativeness of it.

What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur?

• Understand and come face to face with the “balance lie.” Work-life balance does not exist.
• Entrepreneurship is like an orchestra and the entrepreneur is the conductor. When you look at the orchestra, there is no balance, it is all different with different numbers of instruments, but when the conductor pulls them together, they create harmony. Your job as an entrepreneur is to pull it all together so it creates harmony.
• If you are going to be somewhere, be there. Be focused and present in your life.
• Evan’s personal tip – NO technology in the bedroom (no cell phones, TV, etc.)

Advice for entrepreneurs starting out?

• The less you know the better. The more you have to think about the more paralyzed you can become.
• Default to action. When in doubt, have the courage to act on your goals and move yourself forward.
• You are the expert on your idea. You don’t have to defer to others. No one else knows your idea better than you.
• But, leverage the knowledge of others to help you reach your goals and bring your idea to fruition.

At the 51 min mark, Evan shares something that he has not talked about interviews before about his personal life.

Best Quote: “It’s not what you get that makes your valuable, it’s what you become that makes your valuable.”

Evan's Misfit 3:

1. Try having a technology free bedroom for yourself and your relationship
2. Leverage the power of ROF – Return on Forgiveness. Use it and change your life!
3. The grass is greener where you water it. It is your responsibility to water your own grass. You have the control and responsibility to make it thrive.

58: Confessions of a Digital Nomad, Superstar Accidental Salesperson with Samantha Alvarez This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Samantha Alvarez. Samantha is just your every day, run of the mill, digital nomad, sales system strategist, nurse practitioner, and university faculty member who travels the world funding her adventures by helping businesses find the secrets to growing faster and more profitably hidden in their business.

Sam has traveled to almost 30 countries, lived on 5 continents and in 2016, while growing her entrepreneurial ventures lived in 7 countries in 7 months alone!

One of the most interesting things about Sam is that she has held 63 jobs in her life. That’s right 63. It just goes to show that if you never give up on the pursuit of your dreams, you will find what you are looking for…

www.SamAlvarez.com

Sam started out as a registered nurse and then a nurse practitioner for the first 10 years of her career after school. Before that, she had almost 30 jobs finding her to school and nursing. She began to get burned out. She was making 6 figures per year, but was losing her passion. She decided to save her money and then go to Japan to learn and study Japanese. She is a lover of languages and speaks 8 of them. After 6 months, she ran out of money and came back to the states.

This time, she wanted to find a way to work and travel at the same time, so she started taking online jobs and found her way to sales. She now is a consultant that helps companies throughout the world build their sales organizations. As she says, she now spends her days talking “about communication, hopes, dreams, fears, and relationships.” She gets to travel and work how she wants and help people reach their potential and grow their business.

What have you learned about sales and selling? What works? What doesn’t?

• Get rid of the hang ups and be yourself
• Find things to sell that you feel strongly about and believe in
• If you are talking to someone about your service or solutions and they are taking the time to listen and have interest, you are halfway there – your job is to get them to get over inertia and take action
• You must offer lots of value, but doing it through honesty
• People don’t buy products, they buy people
• The first buying decision is whether they want to do business with you.
• The most important thing you can do is to create rapport and connect with those you are selling to first, and then everything else can fall in line.

At the 13 min mark, Samantha expands on how to make sure that the transition you or the salesperson makes with the client to the next level in providing the solution is so important and how to do it well.

At the 16 min mark, Dave and Sam go deep on selling value vs. price.

The number one thing Sam sees people struggle with in sales and setting up sales systems is mindset. They have mental roadblocks that get in their way and must be cleared.

Most important thing Sam has learned about herself going through what she has?

• To allow herself into the flow of things and not to fight against herself.
• You have to be fully present in what you are doing and your interactions and not be thinking about selling while you are building your relationship.

How do you find your engagements and find clients?

• Most of Sam’s clients come through relationships, referrals, and sometimes meeting clients face to face before engaging
• It comes from the networking she has done online
• She uses LinkedIn connections, Masterminds, Networking events and her reputation she has built in the digital nomad community by her presence online.
• She focuses on connections vs. getting clients as the relationships turn into clients over time either directly or by referral.
• If you are new, find your why, and do not stop. Be willing to go through everything it takes to get your foot in the door. You must know what you want before you go after things then.
• It takes a lot of self-directed motivation to get what you want and work digitally.
• There are hundreds of websites, blogs, podcasts, etc. that will teach you to be a digital nomad – know what you want, take action, and go learn from all of the resources available to you.
• You have to fail a lot in order to get where you know you deserve to be!

At the 34 minute mark, Samantha talks about how she changed her mindset and ways of thinking to help her get on a better path to success.

Best Quote: “People don't buy products or services, they buy people. They buy you first before anything else.”

Samantha's Misfit 3:

1. Find someone who is not as far along your path as you are and give them something from your knowledge to help them for free. Gift your knowledge.
2. Practice some sort of minimalism. Purge 3 items from your life that you have not used or thought of in 6 months. Pay attention to how you feel when you do.
3. Connect reflectively with your own intuition. Do something that allows your inner voice to speak to you daily. Be a human “being” – not a human “doing”

It is amazing how much can happen in a year! After over 50 interviews with the world's highest performing entrepreneurs, the Misfit Entrepreneur is celebrating it's one year anniversary. In one year, the show has gone from starting to being listened to in over 50 countries by thousands of people each week. This could not be done without all of you in Misfit Nation!

The celebration of Misfit's success and its impact is just as much yours. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your support, sharing the show with others, feedback, comments, and encouragement over the last year.

With that said, it's time to turn the tables where you finally get to hear from the Misfit himself, Dave Lukas. In this special episode, world renowned speaker, best-selling author, entrepreneur, and producer, Evan Money interviews Dave on everything from his business advice to what he is most ashamed of to where he see things going next - and how you can be a part of it. Lastly, Dave shares his Misfit 3 with Misfit Nation!

What’s the hardest decision you ever had to make?

• Dave talks about the time in his largest company where they just flat ran out of money and the decision they had to make to keep it alive and going including putting in the last of his life savings, lessons learned, and how he, his business partner, and team dug their way out.

At the 7:30 mark, Dave talks about the hardest decision he ever made in his personal life.

What lesson took you the longest to learn?

• Empathy. Dave tells the story at the 14 min mark. In his youth, Dave was driven to a fault and had an air of cockiness about him. He tells the story of learning to lead people, gain empathy, and work with others and attributes the struggle he went through to become a better person to his success today.

At the 20 min mark, Dave and Evan discuss parenting and the unique advice Dave was given by his business partner before becoming a dad. He also talks about the mind and its conditioning and how it relates to parenting.

What are you the most ashamed of? ​

• At the 24 min mark, Dave talks about how he has no regrets and how everything had to happen exactly as it did for him to even be here today. He does recount a dark and embarrassing time in his life that helped to make him a better person and discussed it with Evan.

At the 30 min mark, Dave talks about what he is learning that is new and “cutting edge” in building and growing businesses, wealth, and what he is passionate about in business today.

At the 36 min mark, Dave talks about a contrarian way of looking at goals and achievement. He also gives you the “secret magical” word to help propel you to great success and explains it in the detail. The word is “How"

What do you need the most help with? What are struggling with right that Misfit Nation could help with?

Help get the message out about what Dave and the Misfit Entrepreneurs are doing. Share the show with others and help give feedback on how to make it better. The show exists to help you with your biggest challenges, so let Dave and his team know how they can do that. And share how the show may already be doing that for you.

Best Quote: "Daddy, People need to give up on giving up”– Hannah Lukas

Dave's Misfit 3

1. You have to unleash the power of your mind by understand your conditioning and where the way you think originates. Challenge yourself to find what you truly believe down to your core. Your beliefs equal your results.
2. Choose to be deliberate about your success. Take control and responsibility of all areas of your life. Don’t get caught in the victim trap. If you are in control of your beliefs, then you control your state.
3. Have the courage and will to act. It is 5% idea and 95% action. You must take the step to start on anything. It is easy to get conformable and fall into the inertia trap and stay there. But rarely do truly great things comes from comfort zones. You have to commit to take action and keep taking action toward what you want. It is a choice.