How to Beat 99% of Producers in 90 Days
This is simple but hard, because it requires commitment and no excuses. The goal is not to run a business or even make money. It is to build a business that keeps the majority of the money so that all the hours you put in actually make sense.
Skill Stacking - Train the Pieces
Business is not a skill. It is the title of many skills working together - just like basketball is not a skill, it is dribbling, shooting, passing, defense, and rebounding combined.
Stop chasing the identity of 'entrepreneur' or 'musician' and start training the pieces. You already have some strengths from your background - use them as your edge.
List your top three strengths from real life. Then list one to two of your weakest skills blocking progress. Common weak areas: making offers, learning sales, creating good products, making content.
Pick one weak skill and do 20 daily reps. Replicate what works before you try to innovate. Post something weekly that uses your strengths while you train your weak links.
Your unique life experiences plus your unique way of doing things equals your competitive edge in any market. Nobody else has your exact combination.
Dopamine Control - Rewire Your Brain to Enjoy Work
Do not reach for your phone first thing in the morning. Set up auto-blocking if you have to. The best thing you can do is make your phone unusable for the first hour of your day.
Wake up early and start with the hardest task. If you can take a cold shower first thing, everything else that day will feel like a cakewalk in comparison.
Avoid eating before you have completed your most important work. Food can make you tired and foggy, and then you are not executing at the highest level.
Repeat this mantra: hard life now, easy life later. Every time you want to quit or scroll, remember that everyone else is going through the same thing. The ones who push through win.
Do not do it later. Do it right now. You will regret choosing dopamine and doom scrolling over building something real. The best time to start was yesterday. The second best time is now.
Track Every Dollar - Forget Budgets, Use Data
Do not create a budget. Just track where each dollar goes monthly. Use an expense tracking app and categorize everything. Once you see where your money actually goes, you will naturally start cutting back.
Most people have no idea how much they waste on subscriptions, impulse purchases, and lifestyle inflation. Seeing the data changes behavior more than any budget ever could.
Make having $10,000 in the bank your life mission. What happens in your brain when you hit that number is life-changing. Then push to $100,000.
Set up a retirement account today. If you put $583 in a Roth every single month, you will be a millionaire in 30 to 40 years no matter what. You are going to live that long anyway - find the money.
It is not about making money. It is about keeping your money. A lot of people make two, three, four hundred thousand a year but their life costs them just as much. If they lost their income tomorrow, they would be in crisis.
Avoid Consumer Debt Like the Plague
The amount of people unaware of how much money they pay in interest on maxed out credit cards, student loans, or car payments is staggering.
Once you count all the interest you pay, you realize you spend many weeks, months, or even years just paying interest. You are showing up to work for free.
When people flex their nice car, think about this: that is a painful car note, plus insurance, plus gas. That money could be funding your career instead.
Get a paid-off car. Get roommates. Cut fixed costs for 12 months. Free up $1,000 to $2,000 per month and reinvest it all into building skills and your career.
The average car payment in America for a used car is $521. For a new car, $745. Plus insurance and gas. That is a massive chunk of income that could be reinvested into your career every single month.
Work Under Someone 5 to 10 Years Ahead of You
Doing it alone just means more pain, more money spent, and longer time delays. The solo path is tougher than most people realize.
When you work under someone experienced, you get to learn what to focus on, what to ignore, and in what order. That alone can save you years.
Your best friends should make you uncomfortable from how much they win. Not jealous - uncomfortable. They should be winning so often that you feel the gap and want to close it.
Action is your greatest teacher. Mentors are your second. Failure only occurs when you close shop and give up. Pivoting in business is strategic - it keeps you thriving.
Shiny object syndrome is keeping you poor. Say no more often. Figure it out as you go. It will never be perfect. Stop trying to make everything perfect and just put it out.
Let Go of Other People's Expectations
Be okay with letting people's expectations of you down. Make yourself proud instead. The amount of people who have tried to dictate how you should live is absurd.
If you took the safe advice from well-meaning friends and family, you would not end up where you want to be. You are in the driver's seat of your life and you have to live with every decision.
What would your regrets be if you only had one month left to live? For most people, it is that they wish they would have taken the risks. They wish they would have traveled more.
Think about what you would do differently - and make that decision today. Not next month. Today.
This is without a doubt the main reason people either succeed or do not succeed. The ones who break through are the ones who stopped caring what other people think about their unconventional choices.