Month: June 2016

Do the ONE thing, improve 1% every day & the law of compound returns

There are three widely recommended business books which I’ve read in the fairly recent past. I’m going to perform an amazing feat of mental agility and summarize ALL three books for you in under 500 words.

The books in question:

The One Thing by Garry Keller and Jay Papasan

The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson

The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy

And here is the summary:

Focus on ONE strategic thing that will move your goal forwards, every single day.

Tada!

It’s a very simple concept, but when applied correctly can dramatically improve your results.  As I heard in an interview with Steve Blank recently, when asked how people can make a successful startup, he summed it up:

“Just show up.  Showing up gets you 80% of the way there.”

Gary Keller likes the phrase:

What is one thing, that if applied (in my business), would make everything else easier or unnecessary?

In our day to day lives we get sucked into the vortex of unimportant emails, distractions, “putting out fires”. Very little time is spent on productive, strategic work.

This question helps focus your mind on the one strategic thing.  Instead of going out and making 100 sales calls, your “one thing” might be to post a job for a top sales person.  The latter will give you a lot more leverage.

You can apply this “one thing” concept to any goal that you set, whether its in business, relationship, social or self improvement.  If you identify a strategic action to take in each of these areas and do this every single day, you are almost guaranteed to see continual improvements.

While in the short term these improvements might be undetectable, over the long run it generates an exponential compounding effect of improvement so that you can blast through and achieve your goals.

How do I apply it myself?

Every day in my journal, I have a section “The One Thing”.  I think of the one thing that will yield the greatest strategic returns over the long run.

The best thing to do is then the FIRST THING in the day when you start working is to do your “one thing.” Once you have done this you can already consider the day a huge success.

These are often very small steps.

For example, in the journal entry below (excuse the doctor’s hand writing), my one thing was:

“Post job for business book summary biz”

journal-excerpt-one-thing

It took me about 10 minutes to do, but is potentially a huge strategic move.

Action Points:

✓ In your journal, write down your “One Thing” for the coming day.

✓ Do the One Thing – preferably first thing in the day.

✓ Wash, rinse, repeat.

There you go – 450 words, 3 books. BOOM!

Learning on the Go with Podcasts & Audiobooks

If you’ve read a few of my posts, you know that I believe in constant, on-going self-education.

I don’t have many friends who are entrepreneurs back home, so in order to surround myself with great entrepreneurial minds I read books and if I’m moving and can’t read then I’m listening to podcasts or audiobooks.

In the past people would turn on the radio on the drive to work and listen to shock jocks spouting crap.  Entertaining, fun, but not very helpful.

The beauty of the world we live in is that every niche can create their own unique content stream.

In my case, my main focus is on entrepreneurship, so I create my own unique and personally tailored “radio”, with the content I mentioned above.

Whenever I drive to work – I’m learning.

Whenever I drive home – I’m learning.

If I’m commuting on a bus – I’m learning.

At any rate, it definitely can’t hurt.

This is the next best thing to sitting physically in the same space as very smart people.  By listening to successful people everyday, I’m gaining years of accumulated experience, street smarts and insight.

I love it.

Audible

I use Audible to buy and listen to audio books.  I’ve only gotten into audio books relatively recently in the past year or so.  Both podcasts and audiobooks have their advantages and disadvantages. I alternate between both.

If you’re new to audible, it works as a subscription service (or you can purchase directly).  I upgraded recently to the 2 credits per month plan ($22.95 per month).

audible_pricing_plans

You can either purchase books on audible directly for cash OR you can use credits.

On my plan, each credit is work $11.48 per credit.  So when you’re considering buying an audiobook if the book is priced less than your credit value, just buy it in cash.  If its priced more, then use credits to purchase it.

I like the fact that it is a subscription service, because it “forces” me to invest in myself.

Like I wrote about previously, don’t think twice about purchasing books.  These are the best investments you will ever make.

Some of my favourites so far:

Inside Delta Force – not a “business” book, but I’m in awe by the mindset of these top operators.  Was very entertaining and very nicely related. Its also really long, so keeps you interested for a while.

On Writing by Stephen King – this was a real gem! Highly, HIGHLY recommended! On Writing is part autobiography and part creative writing tips, with the massive bonus that the book is related by Stephen King himself.  I didn’t really know Stephen King’s story, which is really the story of an entrepreneur.  I’m also fascinated by the process of writing, so it was an eye opener looking into the inner workings of someone who clearly has been amazingly prolific and successful in the field.

Anything You Want by Derek Sivers – Derek Sivers is very well known in entrepreneurial circles, having the street cred of building and selling his company CD Baby for over $20 million.  Derek is the entrepreneur’s philosophers.  His views go very much against the grain.  Listening to Derek’s audiobook (also narrated by him) is like a guided meditation. Its short and to the point. This book is something I feel I could listen to over and over again.

Podcasts

I LOVE podcasts.  Probably more so than audiobooks. I love listening to really smart and successful people share their stories and their insights.

If you’re using an iPhone, then you can listen using the Podcasts app (although its pretty shit and buggy).  Stitcher is a good alternative and pretty much the only way to listen on Android.

Here are some podcasts that I really recommend listening to (search for these and subscribe on whichever podcast app you use):

Freedom Fast Lane – Ryan Daniel Moran is doing really well, recently clocking in over $1,000,000 in sales in one MONTH.  What I like about Ryan’s podcast which differs from other podcasts is that he has his goals set high (owning the Cleveland Indians  🙂 ) and his mindset and podcast is geared to growing a MASSIVE business – not just reaching a “million” (that’s sooooo 80’s) or reaching 10k per month.

The Tim Ferriss Show – WOW is all I can say.  Tim Ferriss helped thousands, maybe millions of people break out of the Matrix with his book.  Now his podcast absolutely blows EVERYTHING else out the water with the PHENOMENAL guests he has on.  I find myself learning SO much from his podcast, it really is THE shit.  My favourite interviewees include Josh Waitzkin, chess prodigy turned martial arts prodigy. Derek Siver (mentioned above).  Jamie Foxx (yep, the movie star). Joko Willink (navy seal). Robert Rodriguez (filmmaker, I think this episode helped solidify for me the need for journaling). The list goes on.

The James Altucher Show – James Altucher has a different take on life and interviews also some awesome guests who won’t be found on other podcasts.  His interview with Marc Cuban was gold.

Foundr Magazine Podcast – Just started listening to this recently and I have to say hats off to Nathan Chan! Nathan and I started our paths at around the same time, publishing digital magazines to the iPad newsstand.  He’s been super persistent and has managed to build a great business.  He has some great guests on the show, and again, guests that you don’t often hear from on other podcasts.  His interview with Steve Blank was awesome and I also really loved the session with Matthew Michalewicz, a truly smart dude.  Nathan has a really nice and relaxed interview style and I often find that the questions I have in my mind he goes ahead and asks.  Well done!

Other notables:

The Smart Passive Income Podcast

Starting from Nothing Podcast

Mixergy Podcast

That should get you started! Now go out and LEARN!

BTW – If there are some awesome podcasts that I haven’t mentioned here, please leave in comments. I’m always looking for MORE!

 

How to Set Goals – Outcome & Process Goals

Theres lots of literature on goal setting.  I want to give my two cents on the topic.

Firstly, what I’ve come to realize is that there are two distinct types of goals: Outcome and Process goals.

Outcome goals are those that are not fully in control, but represent a desired end result.  For example:  Earning $10,000 per month (seems to be a popular goal).

Process goals are under your control.  By implementing and achieving your process goals, you will be moving closer to your outcome goal.

I think that when goal setting it is important to work with these two goals hand in hand.

I’ll give you an example of my own personal goals in the business sphere:

Outcome Goal:

I am earning $1,000,000 per month as of the 1st of July 2017.

Process Goal:

We are releasing 4 games per week as of the 1st of July 2016.

There are a couple of other points you should not about goal setting.

Firstly, there’s a stream of thought that says to write the goals out in the present-tense, stating it as if you have already achieved the goal (shout out to Muoyo Okome of Daily Spark Media for that).  I like the idea of that and think it definitely can’t hurt.

Write down your goal every day as part of your journaling habit. That will always keep your goal top of mind and hone your focus and creativity towards achieving the goals that you’ve set.   It also gives you the opportunity to constantly refine your goal so that the goal is properly aligned with your intrinsic desires.

It’s also important to set a date on the goal, because that allows you to plan around this constraint and puts some time pressure to achieve it.

You should work back from the outcome goal and create a realistic plan for your process goal.

In our case, from looking at our initial metrics and taking very conservative estimates, to reach the target revenue we will need to have about 200 apps.

To reach 200 apps in one year’s time, we need to be releasing 4 apps per week. Simple maths.

If you don’t have some initial metrics, take your best guess or base your estimate on market stats.  You can always refine the goal later.

It’s important that you set a goal that stretches you, but is within the realms of achievability.

Lastly, a word of caution about the date.  It’s absolutely FINE if you don’t hit your goal by the target date, you can always push the date back.  But don’t compromise on your goal (as long as it is still important for you).