Personal Development

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Personal Development | SUCCESS | What Achievers Read

We’ve all felt it. It starts when you have good a routine going and you get into a nice, comfortable rhythm. Newness and uncertainty, <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/9-ways-to-deal-with-change">any kind of change really is scary</a>, so we work to squelch them. We strive to get past the crazy ups and downs of beginnings: Will she? Won’t she? What did that mean? What should I say? We long for a plateau.

But plateaus are flat and predictable. Over time, your fire for life fizzles, your drive at work slows, your passionate relationship starts to lose its fire. And then you wake up one day, realizing you’ve been on autopilot for months or even years. You’ve become complacent.

Related: <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/blog/5-ways-stepping-outside-my-comfort-zone-made-me-a-better-person">5 Ways Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone Made Me a Better Person</a>

The interesting problem here is that we can’t get a new job each week. Who really wants that? And <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/podcast/ep-17-face-your-fears">the agony of new and scary</a>? Roller coasters are only fun for a day, not every day. 
 
Tony Robbins, life and business strategist to presidents, Olympians, celebrities and the rest of us, taught me an interesting solution to that problem. In our interview, he explains how you can push yourself past this complacency by playing without a safety net.

If you’ve seen his new documentary, <a href="https://www.tonyrobbins.com/documentary/?gclid=CNHdlKXp6c4CFQuLaQodVSECiA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru</a>, on Netflix, you’ll see how he does this. At every seminar, he approaches audience members to talk through their problems on the spot. We watch him help a daughter work through what she believed were diet issues, which turned out to be deep-rooted tensions with her father. We witness him solve deep, decade-long issues in real time, in front of thousands of watching, hopeful eyes. He’s been in the same industry, doing the job he’s done for more 30 years, but using his gifts under extreme pressure, over and over again. 
 
You might be thinking, But what does that mean for me? I am not about to do that! 
 
And you shouldn’t. 
 
But you do need to ask yourself, <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/afraid-of-risks-how-to-be-bolder">How can I put myself in a do-or-die situation</a> with my gifts and talents this week?

Here are some examples:

<ul>
	<li style="margin-left: 0.5in;">The boss asks for a volunteer to tackle an intense, high-pressure project and you wouldn’t normally raise your hand—it’s go time. Get your hand up.</li>
	<li style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/10-quick-tips-to-be-a-better-boss">If you’re the boss</a>, when is the last time you held open office hours and let anyone come in and ask you anything, pushing you to provide them with answers on the spot?</li>
	<li style="margin-left: 0.5in;">Perhaps you are a writer but you’ve never done a live reading at a mic night, or never pushed yourself to write for a major publication or for someone else’s blog. Maybe it’s time to tighten your deadlines.</li>
	<li style="margin-left: 0.5in;">If you’re a singer who has never done anything outside of church on Sundays, grab your guitar and go find a street corner downtown.</li>
	<li style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/how-to-be-a-better-thinker-innovator-and-problem-solver">If you’re a problem solver</a>, tell your boss, publicly or in writing, that you can get it done a week earlier than you normally would.</li>
	<li style="margin-left: 0.5in;">If you’re in sales, commit to a higher quota this month.</li>
	<li style="margin-left: 0.5in;">If you create video content for your followers, do a live stream broadcast with them instead.</li>
	<li style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/blog/6-tips-to-be-a-more-confident-speaker">If you’re a speaker</a> with a few set speeches, swap out the usual ending for live Q&amp;A.</li>
</ul>

Does it make you feel uneasy to read those ideas? That’s normal. That uneasiness is the first step before excitement. The passion that comes after excitement is the momentum you need to get past the plateau of complacency. Suddenly you’re waking up supercharged, <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/content/ep-7-inspire-and-be-inspired">feeling hopeful and inspired</a>. 
 
I know this method works because I’ve used it in my own life. 
 
Instead of a safe, audio-only podcast, I chose to put my gifts to the test and launch a traveling, in-person talk show. Within 18 months, I was sitting down with Tony Robbins. Next week I will interview Larry King. Larry King. I set deadlines with my distributors and make public announcements to maintain this crazy speed. Sure, I spend a decent chunk of time feeling that nervous nausea you feel as a coaster click-click-clicks up the track. But those cameras turn on, the guest gets mic’d up and the coaster is moving. There’s no stopping it now. Since launching my show, <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/19-quotes-about-following-your-passion">the passion and excitement</a> has spread into all other areas of my life, I’ve lost two dress sizes, I am more intentional with my husband and daughter, I write more than ever before, I am present with my friends… the list goes on.

Trust me, the ups and downs, the stomach flips, they’re worth it. The world doesn’t need more comfortable bystanders, drifting on autopilot. We desperately need you at your best, giving this world your best work. You can’t do that from a stale state of complacency, so try this exercise this week!

Watch the interview with Tony Robbins and Joe Berlinger,&nbsp;documentary director and producer, here:

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qrsD848Xxpg" width="560"></iframe>

Related: <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/videos/youtube/the-pursuit-tony-robbins-5-steps-to-break-through-your-limits">The Pursuit: Tony Robbins’ 5 Steps to Break Through Your Limits</a>

The world doesn’t need more comfortable bystanders, drifting on autopilot.

The world doesn’t need more comfortable bystanders, drifting on autopilot. | SUCCESS

The Tony Robbins Trick to Push Past Complacency

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The Tony Robbins Trick to Push Past Complacency | SUCCESS

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Kelsey Humphreys is an entrepreneur, motivational speaker and host of success talk show The Pursuit. When she's not interviewing the mega-successful, speaking at events or writing about the journey to success, you'll find her creating her popular motivational Quick Pep Talk videos.&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Kelsey Humphreys

Business &amp; Branding

Business &amp; Branding Archives

Stay ahead in business: strategies and insights for success

John Lee Dumas is known for his “daily chats with Entrepreneurs On Fire” as the founder and host of EOFire, a podcast and brand that generates $250,000 a month in revenue and boasts over 1 million unique listens a month.

But Dumas, one of today’s most successful online entrepreneurs, wasn’t always this “hot.” It took him a few tries before he could get his fire to light.

Dumas graduated from Providence College in the first post-9/11 class of commissioned United States Army Officers. After a 13-month tour of duty in Iraq, he served for seven more years in the States—three active, four in the reserves. And when he was discharged in 2006, he thought, OK my life’s ahead of me, what’s my next challenge?

He chose law school, a choice more for his family than for himself. It didn’t stick. He quit after one semester. Then, with the pressure of disappointing his family weighing heavy, he escaped to India hoping to find himself, to let it all settle down. When he came back, he tried corporate finance. He quit 18 months later. Corporate America wasn’t for him. Next up? A tech startup.

Nothing was matching up to what he was looking for. He was still on the hunt for his calling, his passion. That’s when he moved to San Diego and started working in real estate—and that’s when he started using the entrepreneurial side of his brain.

And it’s also when he started driving. A lot. On his daily commutes, he started rabidly consuming mainstream podcasts. “It was when I started dabbling in the smaller shows that I realized something big,” he writes on his website. “There are so many great podcasts out there, but none offer daily content. With these once a week shows, I was zipping through years of content in mere days, and I knew if I was experiencing this problem, others were, too.”

So he took a cue from Gandhi—to be that change that he wanted to see in the world.

And change the world he did.

Is there something big you want to do? Maybe you’re an aspiring entrepreneur? Or even an aspiring podcaster? Here’s what you can learn from John Lee Dumas to ignite your success:

<h2>1. Practice daily discipline.</h2>

Not everyone can commit to producing an episode a day. But it’s that kind of commitment and consistency that set Dumas apart and brought sponsors calling within the first six months.

How does one get more disciplined? Practice. (Also, military training doesn’t hurt.)

For example, Dumas gets eight hours of sleep every night. And when he wakes up in the morning, there is a “non-negotiable” 35-minute power walk with hand weights, followed up by downing a liter of mineral water. 
 
Beyond daily routines, Dumas plans out his week using a block method so he can create in batches. Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays are catch-up days. Tuesdays include eight hours of conducting back-to-back podcast interviews. Wednesdays are set aside for being interviewed on other shows, which, at the time of our interview, were booked solid for the next three months.

<h2>2. Invest in yourself.</h2>

In the beginning, though Dumas loved consuming podcasts, he only knew how to press the play button. So his first step to massive success was investing in himself by investing in a mentor.

“I looked out there to the podcasters that were currently at [the place] I wanted to be, and that's so critical,” he says. “A mentor needs to be successful at what you are wanting to do.”

Dumas had saved over 18 months of what he called financial runway. “I had really had successful careers financially up to that point.” So he pushed the fast-forward button. Instead of focusing on creating an income, this runway allowed him to focus on the most important factor of his podcast: content.

“I was being very diligent and very frugal. I was even willing to move back home if I had to, that is how committed I was,” he says. “For me, I wanted just to focus on growing my audience by delivering free, valuable and consistent content.”

<h2>3. Practice boldness.</h2>

Dumas lives by the quote, “Fortune favors the bold.”

So it makes sense that he makes bold moves on the reg. When he was the new guy in the podcast world, went up to people he admired, asking them to be on his show. And fortune favored his boldness—because the people he asked? They said yes. He had names like Pat Flynn and Michael Hyatt and Cliff Ravenscraft in the pipeline, before EOFire even existed. And he went on to go after giants like Tim Ferris and Seth Godin in record time.

How did he have the nerve to do it? Because he knew he would deliver.

“You need to trust in yourself that you know you're going to put in the time, effort and energy to really make it worthwhile,” he says.

<h2>4. Listen to your audience.</h2>

EOFire was not the first podcast on entrepreneurship, but just because something’s been done doesn’t mean you can’t do it better. And that’s what Dumas did. He saw a need, an opening, for daily episodes, and he also knew that his first product launches were going to be successful.

The key to Dumas’ confidence and massive monthly income, he explains, was in establishing a “starving” audience, one that desperately wanted what he was offering. But how did he know what they wanted and needed most? He asked for feedback repeatedly, even hosting free 15-minute calls with anyone who wanted to chat.

Example? “Before I spent one minute—and this is huge—before I spent one minute sitting down and crafting [Fire Nation Elite], I needed to know that there was an audience who would take out their wallets and pay for it.”

So he held a webinar explaining what would be in the paid community and offered an early bird discount. He explained that if not enough people opted in, he wouldn’t even create the product. His goal was $5,000, and 35 people signed up at $200. By the time he opened doors to the general public, the product had already made $7,000.

<h2>5. Listen to your heart.</h2>

Dumas’ mentors repeatedly told him a daily podcast would be too much work. They told him he was insane. They told him to stick to a weekly podcast.

“You need, as an entrepreneur, to really take the great feedback and the great advice from those who have come before you, from those who are mentoring you,” he says. “But at the same time, you need to listen to your gut, to your intuition.”

Although he applied a lot of their advice to his business, he knew what he was meant to do—and it wasn’t a weekly podcast.

“I listened to my heart, and I think that's so important for people to realize—you're going to have something in your gut that's telling you to do something, and hopefully it's something that is unique. Make sure you follow that.”

Watch Kelsey Humphreys’ interview with John Lee Dumas on The Pursuit, exclusively on SUCCESS Videos.

Do something big. Here's how, according to John Lee Dumas.

Do something big. Here's how, according to John Lee Dumas. | SUCCESS

5 Tips to Ignite Your Success, From the ‘Entrepreneur On Fire’ Himself

5 Tips to Ignite Your Success, From the ‘Entrepreneur On Fire’ Himself | SUCCESS

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You probably know Lewis Howes as the host of the massively successful self-help podcast, The School of Greatness, and, now, as the best-selling author of his book of the same name. You probably know him as a guy with extreme entrepreneurial chops, too—since he co-founded LinkedInfluence in 2010 and was recognized by President Obama as one of the top 100 entrepreneurs in the country in 2013 and all.

But before he built his multi-million dollar online media company or launched The School of Greatness and it received millions of downloads, Howes was a heartbroken dreamer living on his sister’s couch. After getting injured playing professional football, something he had dreamed about doing for forever, he was broken (and broke).

That is, until he figured it out again—how to do what he loved… full time. Howes has always dreamed big; he’s always strived for greatness. So it only took him a couple of years to go from sleeping on his sister’s couch to running a seven-figure business. What did it take? “Lots of hustle, passion, focus and consistent vision,” he writes on his site.

I recently got to talk with Howes in his West Hollywood condo about his journey from that couch. So if you have dreams of your own—whether it’s to be an entrepreneur, a podcaster, an author, a whatever—here are just a few of the many valuable lessons we can learn about living your ideal lifestyle from the headmaster himself:

<h2>1. Be a connector.</h2>

When Howes found himself without a home or a plan, he started thinking through everyone he knew who he could ask for guidance. He was learning new insights and meeting more people, all while building a profile for himself on the (then) new professional network LinkedIn. And as his LinkedIn profile improved, so did his ability to help others—even early on when he didn’t have the skills or an audience, but he did have the capability to connect people to someone who did, someone who could help them.

“Being the champion of someone’s network is a really powerful thing,” he says. “When you’re the connector, you become that champion, they always refer back to you—‘Hey, Lewis is the guy who connected us, Lewis the guy who gave me this information, Lewis is the one that gave me results.’”

If they know they can count on you, Howes says, eventually you’ll be able to monetize that in a creative way.

<h2>2. Share the knowledge.</h2>

As he reached out to mentors and influencers for his own personal guidance, he realized he was receiving information other people would want to know.

“What I really loved doing [in my LinkedIn days] was connecting with people one at a time, interviewing them essentially, asking them about how they got to where they are, what their biggest challenges are, and I was learning some incredible information from people from all walks of life. And this information, I didn’t feel like other people knew.”

And so The School of Greatness came about.

<h2>3. Get clear on what you want.</h2>

Howes is and has been always committed to getting to the next level—by committing to his vision of making a better life for himself and helping other people live their ideal lifestyles, too. His original goal, when he was broke on his sister’s couch? To make $1,000 a month by “this” month.

“A lot of people don’t voice what they want,” he says. “[It’s about] getting clear on what you want and being very detailed on when you want that by so you can start reverse engineering how to make it happen with the days you have,” he says.

He might have started with $1, but he’s worked his way to earning millions—because he stuck with his vision and grew his goals with his commitment.

<h2>4. Give and give and give.</h2>

When you are the connector, you’re giving so much value to other people—and they feel like they have to do something in return, they want to help you out. It’s about letting people lean on you, not asking for anything in return, just giving. It’s about making that your intention.

“I ask for help sometimes, but I’m really more reaching out and saying to people, ‘How can I help you?’ How can I support you? What’s your biggest challenge? What are your needs? If I can’t help you, how can I connect you with a person that can help you?’”

Howes, at his core, genuinely listens to people’s problems, finds a solution and then teaches it. And his generosity has paid off, because his audience keeps asking for more.

“Just give and give and give. Figure out how you can support the maximum amount of people.”

<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/videos/youtube/the-pursuit-take-a-lesson-from-the-school-of-greatness" target="_self">Watch Kelsey Humphreys’ interview with Lewis Howes on The Pursuit, exclusively on SUCCESS Videos.</a>

A lesson from ‘The School of Greatness’ on how to live your ideal lifestyle

A lesson from ‘The School of Greatness’ on how to live your ideal lifestyle | SUCCESS

Lewis Howes Gets Real With 4 Tips to Do What You Love Full Time

Lewis Howes Gets Real With 4 Tips to Do What You Love Full Time | SUCCESS

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Success

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Success | SUCCESS | What Achievers Read

It was fitting that my interview with Al Roker was initially canceled on account of the weather (Hurricane Joaquin was stealing the thunder). Luckily, though, the tropical cyclone slowed down enough for America’s favorite weatherman to sit down to discuss his storied career with success.

People love Al Roker. He joined NBC’s Today Show in 1996 and has remained a staple there ever since, helping 32 million people prepare for their days every week. But that’s not his only hosting gig. His media credits span wide, including NBC Nightly News, the Macy’s Day Parade, and The Weather Channel’s Wake Up With Al and, now, its mobile-only series The Lift. He is the CEO of multimedia company Al Roker Entertainment, Inc. and founder of creative group Roker Labs. He is also the best-selling author of eight acclaimed books, including his latest release, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062364650/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062364650&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=FN2Z3P2BD6DRKZQF" rel="nofollow">The Storm of the Century</a>.

Here is what we can learn from Al Roker about success—whether it’s reporting the weather, entertaining America or something else in your neck of the woods:
<h2>1. Don’t quit your day job.</h2>
The best advice Roker has ever gotten? Never give up your day job, his mentor, veteran weatherman who preceded him at NBC, Willard Scott.

“I do a lot of different things, but the weather is my base,” Roker says.

Having a base makes it easier to cope with the ups and downs of the extremely competitive, unpredictable industry of broadcasting—an industry which, he says, has a degree of serendipity.

“You try to be prepared, but for every successful [person], there are another thousand probably as talented people who just didn’t get that break.”
<h2>2. Be ready to work hard—at whatever you do.</h2>
Roker initially had no interest in weather; it was just the opportunity that presented itself early in his career. He kept walking through the doors that opened to him—and that walk became a sprint. Until recently, he rarely took a vacation.

So what does he think about work-life balance—especially for the hardest workers?

“It’s more like work-life average,” he says. “Sometimes you’ve got a lot of time with your family, other times because of their schedule, your schedule, it just doesn’t work out…. It comes in spurts, [where] you’re just going, going, going.”

That’s the case in any career, he says, remembering his dad working a lot of overtime as a bus driver. But by averaging it all out, by making sure the time is put in on the professional and personal sides of your life, the time is there for both.

Roker also credits his wife, ABC anchor Deborah Roberts for understanding the demands of the career.
<h2>3. Stay curious.</h2>
Find a niche and stick to it, become an expert, they say. Well, Roker disagrees. Yes, you need a base, but you also need a wide net of interests.

“Try to be as curious as possible about everything,” he says. Research and read a lot. Be knowledgeable about a lot of different topics—because you never know when you might need that safety net.

When Wake Up With Al was canceled last month after six years on the air, he didn’t throw up his hands—he got curious. His newest adventures? Live streaming technologies, including The Lift, The Weather Channel’s digital initiative, and Roker Labs, his tech company that works with cutting-edge media platforms to create content.

“It’s like television was in the 50s,” he says. “Who knows what the next big thing is, but it’s fun to play with.”
<h2>4. Stay grateful.</h2>
When I asked him about the sacrifices he’s had to make for his career, he scoffed. “What have I got to complain about?”

“There are some sacrifices, certain amounts of privacy, sometimes my kids will complain, and I understand and it’s valid,” he says. “But I also say, ‘Look, guys, we also get to do some pretty amazing things and get to see some pretty amazing things and go to some pretty amazing places.”

You won’t hear him complain about trolls or haters either. Though some could argue haters are worse for someone like him, he believes people face haters at any job, no matter the industry. His policy? Ignore them. Or occasionally have fun mocking them back.

Part of Roker’s likeability is due to his genuine appreciation for his career, most of which he says was completely unexpected.

“It’s all gravy; it’s all a bonus,” he says. “What a blessing to be able to do this.”
<h2>5. Be true to yourself. </h2>
His best advice? Be patient—and stay true to yourself.

“Eventually something’s going to happen. It might not be what you want to happen, it might not be the job you think you want, but what’s supposed is going to happen,” he says.

“At the end of the day, that’s all you got. When they take everything else, they cannot take that away.”

Watch Kelsey Humphreys’ interview with Al Roker on The Pursuit, exclusively on SUCCESS Videos.

It was fitting that my interview with Al Roker was initially canceled on account of the weather (Hurricane Joaquin was stealing the thunder). Luckily,

It was fitting that my interview with Al Roker was initially canceled on account of the weather (Hurricane Joaquin was stealing the thunder). Luckily, | SUCCESS

How Al Roker Kept His Morning Show Job All These Years: Hard Work and No Complaints

Al Roker's Secret to Longevity: Hard Work and Gratitude

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Seth Godin is full of ideas. Millions of people have read his work, among them Unleashing the Ideavirus, Linchpin, Permission Marketing and We Are All Weird—just a few of 18 (yes, 18) international best-sellers. And it makes sense, because he’s a marketing guru, an expert on how to spread ideas. He is the man behind the iconic and wildly popular blog <a href="https://sethgodin.typepad.com/" target="_blank" title="Seth's Blog | SethGodin.Typepad.com" rel="noopener">Seth’s Blog</a>, which, mind you, is the No. 1 search result when you type “seth” into Google (and that’s out of about 136 million results).

So how did he do it? How did he become a legend? Getting him to answer that, or to talk about anything other than ideas, could have been a challenge—he says he doesn’t like to talk about himself because it “doesn’t do much good.” But between sips of tea and whimsical stories, he actually revealed quite a bit about how he got to where he is today.

So if you have ideas you want to share with the world, you would be wise to take a few tips from the master marketer himself. Here’s what Seth Godin can teach you:

1. You can’t hack success.

Success can’t be about making money fast—that, Godin says, is a “race to the bottom.” But people enter that race because it’s easier than working hard to create something, release it to the world, and say, “Here, I made this.”

“The purpose of being creative, the purpose of solving problems is so that you can generously give those insights away,” Godin says. “The goal is to have work that no one else can do that’s so important to other people that they will happily pay extra for it because no one else can do it.”

The people who try to hustle or hack their way to success never make it. But the people who set out to change culture in a positive way, to make a difference, do.

2. Creativity is not the goal.

Someone who’s known for his ideas must devote all of his time and energy on fostering innovation and creativity, right? Wrong.

“I don’t think creativity is the goal. I think the goal is connection and trust,” Godin says. “If you have a lot of connection and trust, you will never have trouble making a living, you will never have trouble making a difference.”

Can you connect people and ideas and make a difference? That’s what matters—and that’s what you should be after.

3. Do scary work.

Did you know Godin’s books have been rejected more than 900 times? Instead of giving up, though, Godin fights rejection with the theory of “the dip”—the low point that any project will have, even work you love doing. The problem is that people lack the commitment to get through it.

“Either start a project knowing where the dip is, planning and organizing to get through the dip, or don’t start the project at all.”

Instead of starting many endeavors, he takes a step back and realizes he’s not willing to get through the dip of all of those various things, which keeps him focused on his writing. Once you commit and work through the dip, he assures us the reward is worth it.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

“Getting through to the other side, to be the best in the world, is underrated.”

4. Don’t seek reassurance. 

For those trying to figure out their next step, Godin has one piece of advice: “Don’t seek reassurance. Reassurance is futile. I can’t give you infinity reassurance—and that’s the amount of reassurance you think you need,” he says.

“Understand that feeling is what work feels like. You don’t have to dig a ditch for a living anymore. It’s not your muscles that are going to get tired.”

It’s the uncertainty, the mental and emotional fatigue, you feel when you are innovating, it’s the uncharted, scary work that is the most rewarding.

Watch Kelsey Humphreys’ interview with Seth Godin on The Pursuit, exclusively on SUCCESS Videos.

[node:summary] - If you have ideas you want to share with the world, you would be wise to take a few tips from the master marketer himself.

Seth Godin is full of ideas. Millions of people have read his work, among them Unleashing the Ideavirus, Linchpin, Permission Marketing and We Are All | SUCCESS

Seth Godin Is Full of Ideas; Here’s 4 of Them for Linchpin Success

Seth Godin Is Full of Ideas; Here’s 4 of Them for Linchpin Success | SUCCESS

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Fawn Weaver doesn’t mind being referred to as someone’s wife. In fact, she’s built a growing empire based on being a happy wife as the New York Times best-selling author of Happy Wives Club and the creator of the blog with the same name, which has exploded into an international club nearly 1 million members strong. So although her “Mrs.” title is probably how you know her, she is so much more.Weaver is a proud wife and a marriage advocate, but she’s a serial entrepreneur and business executive, too. She is an angel investor and chief strategy officer who has discovered—and saved—multiple fledgling startups. She is also a prolific writer with multiple manuscripts tucked away on her laptop, and she recently added “TEDx alum” to her résumé after <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yXBFo46aRs&amp;feature=youtu.be">speaking in Portland</a> earlier this year.In short, Fawn Weaver is a passionate, driven, hardworking woman who can teach what so many entrepreneurs want to know: how to do it all. <h3>1. Look for a hole.</h3>The beginning of Weaver’s journey to New York Times best-seller status started with discovering a hole in the marketplace. She was frustrated that she never heard much in mainstream media about the persona of happily married women—just the independent attitude of single and happily divorced women. “I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to start a club for women like me.’”So that’s what she did, started a journey to prove that love and marriage still go hand-in-hand, that the “Happy Wife” really does exist and that she wasn’t the only one part of this club.Her husband laughed at the name, which she admits is corny—but it clearly resonated with her target audience. “I said, ‘Let’s shine a spotlight on people who actually like being married and like their spouses,’” she says. “I sent an email to my five closest friends with a link to the website I’d just built. It was super simple, but within four weeks, we were in 22 countries.”If you feel there is an angle that hasn’t been covered, a story that isn’t being told, a hole in your industry, something missing, that is your opportunity to fill it.<h3>2. Do your research.</h3>When you ask her how she achieved something, her answer is almost always, “I did my homework.” She understands the power of digging deep, researching to see who the influencers are and what it’s going to take to see her goals through.When she needed press for her blog, she researched who was writing on the topic of marriage and figured out their emails by way of deduction. When she wanted to land a TED Talk, she looked at LinkedIn to see who owned the top TEDx production and sent an email to a mutual connection—who replied almost immediately. And when she wanted to make The New York Times best-seller list? She sent her publisher a report on what it takes to get on it. “When my publisher was getting ready to start their marketing plan, I said, ‘Hold tight, you’re going to get something in the mail.’ I did the research and sent a 22-page marketing plan of the retailers that report into BookScan. Most people don’t know all these different things—and the crazy part is most publishers don’t know this.”The lesson? It doesn’t just happen.<h3>3. Work hard for what you want.</h3>This is a woman who writes books, runs half marathons, invests in companies and manages their strategy, travels multiple times a month, and leads a community of a million women. She is working. “My day can start as early as 4 a.m. and end as late as 1 a.m.”She goes into overdrive when she sets her mind to something. Her younger sister calls it “curated happenstance.” “She watched the way things in my life would unfold. People would go, ‘The best things happen for [Fawn],’” she says. “Then she moved in with us and she watched us, she watched how we work. She said, ‘This doesn’t just happen for you guys—you guys are creating it!’”<h3>4. Do what works for you.</h3>This is the key to Weaver’s success, in multiple areas of her life. Some people say writers should write every single day. Well Weaver doesn’t. “I can’t show up every day to write,” she says. “Everyone is different.” Instead she takes a week off, holes up in a hotel and writes her book from start to finish.She finds her balance by working (what some might call) insane hours six days a week, then completely unplugging on the seventh. “I can work those crazy hours because my husband and I always abide by the Sabbath. Everyone knows we’re going black for 24 hours.”If you’re an entrepreneur trying to find what works for you, get creative. “If you ever say the words ‘This is the way we’ve always done it,’ you are setting yourself up for failure—immediately.”[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"31110","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"350","style":"width: 200px; height: 146px; margin: 10px; float: left;","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]]Watch Kelsey Humphreys' interview with Fawn Weaver on The Pursuit, exclusively on SUCCESS Videos.

Fawn Weaver doesn’t mind being referred to as someone’s wife. In fact, she’s built a growing empire based on being a happy wife as the New York Times

Fawn Weaver doesn’t mind being referred to as someone’s wife. In fact, she’s built a growing empire based on being a happy wife as the New York Times | SUCCESS

The Happy Wife’s Guide to Doing It All

The Happy Wife’s Guide to Doing It All | SUCCESS

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You know Drew and Jonathan Scott, aka the Property Brothers, thanks to the wildly popular HGTV show of the same name. And you know they’re established real estate experts, hence why they’re always talking property, home renovations and interior design. But what you might not know is their passion for branding and business—which led to a real estate investment company, a production company, four reality shows and celebrity status.

These twins are true entrepreneurs. They launched their first empire when they were just 7, selling thousands of decorative hangers to an American paraphernalia store in Japan. Then, shortly after high school, they started their real estate business to support their budding acting careers—and quickly flipped their first house for a $50,000 profit. While that continued to grow through college, the pair kept acting and creating short films. It was after lots of auditions, show ideas and a failed stint on a series called Realtor Idol that the story we know began.

Related:&nbsp;<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/7-entrepreneurial-traits-to-teach-your-child" target="_self" rel="noopener">7 Entrepreneurial Traits to Teach Your Child</a>

In this sit-down, Drew and Jonathan Scott share the four keys to their success. Here is what we can learn from the talented hosts about success—whether it’s in showbiz or on the entrepreneurial stage:

<h2>1. Be proactive.</h2>

Drew’s best advice for making it big? Quit making excuses.

Jonathan adds, “No one is busting down your door to make you a success. You have to show people you exist. So many say, ‘I’ve tried everything to break into this business!’ and they’re sitting at the bar. When we were trying to break into the business, we were never sitting—we were always getting our name out there.”

You can never stop marketing yourself and your business.

<h2>2. Build a distinct brand.</h2>

To make it in any business, you have to stand out and make people remember you.

“What’s your hook? How are you different from anybody else out there?” Jonathan says. “We focus on our brand and our reach and show people that we’re not isolated to real estate.

“Make sure that you’re always growing. You can start growing your brand within your community, your city. With the Internet, you can get your brand out there, and it doesn’t have to cost you a lot of money,” he continues.

<h2>3. Do the work.</h2>

Continuous effort is the key to unlocking your true potential. Drew’s personal mantra might explain just how hard the duo works.

“We grew up on a ranch, so you learn all about the value of a dollar. You don’t get an allowance to go out and shovel the stalls,” Jonathan says. “If you really want to reap the rewards of a successful career, be willing to put in the hard work.”

Drew adds, “In the early days, we were doing 100 hours a week—networking, producing our own content, doing anything we could.”

Now, the two rarely take a vacation and have to schedule in their personal time. Some may say that’s a bad thing, but Drew disagrees. “If you want to get the most out of your time, if you’re pursuing something that you’re passionate about, you have to have balance, so scheduling your personal time is part of a busy lifestyle.”

<h2>4. Believe it is possible. </h2>

Some people will say it’s a million-to-one chance that a person can make it as an actor or host (and probably an entrepreneur, too), but Jonathan says that’s not true. “Ninety-nine percent of those people aren’t treating themselves as a business. If you’re working hard, pushing your brand the way you should, you will succeed.”

He says that sometimes just one bad audition can seal the deal on a person’s career. “It’s not that you have to be in the right place at the right time. You have to be in the right place at the right time and be prepared.”

Drew and Jonathan are living proof that if you work hard toward what you want to do, you will succeed. “If someone tells you that you can’t do it, go out and find five ways to do it,” Drew says. “We never gave up on anything we wanted to do.”

So how do they do so much, together, and not kill each other? They have a firm “no B.S.” policy, they leave emotions out of their decisions, and they air any issues right away so they can move on. They have a blast doing what they do, and they enjoy doing it with each other. “Which is important, because if I ever need an organ, he’d be a good donor!”

Related:&nbsp;The Property Brothers' DIY Tips for Your Career

You know Drew and Jonathan Scott, aka the Property Brothers, thanks to the wildly popular HGTV show of the same name. And you know they’re established

You know Drew and Jonathan Scott, aka the Property Brothers, thanks to the wildly popular HGTV show of the same name. And you know they’re established | SUCCESS

The Property Brothers Share 4 Fixer-Upper Tips for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

The Property Brothers Share 4 Fixer-Upper Tips for Aspiring Entrepreneurs | SUCCESS

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You probably know Michael Hyatt as <a href="https://michaelhyatt.com/about" target="_blank" title="About Michael Hyatt | MichaelHyatt.com" rel="noopener">the “virtual mentor,”</a> an executive-turned-blogger who teaches entrepreneurs, speakers and bloggers how build their personal platforms. But before becoming the New York Times best-selling author we know today, he was a literary agent; he owned and sold a publishing business; and he worked his way to CEO of Thomas Nelson, the seventh largest trade book publishing company in the U.S.As CEO, Hyatt worked with an entrepreneurial spirit, blogging at a time when no one quite understood yet what that was. His blog eventually led him to where he is today, with more than 500,000 subscribers, <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/now-hear-this-9-podcasts-to-enrich-your-mind-and-soul" target="_blank" title="Now Hear This: 9 Podcasts to Enrich Your Mind and Soul | SUCCESS.com" rel="noopener">a top podcast called This Is Your Life</a> with 300,000-plus subscribers, digital courses for aspiring authors and go-getters, and an online university for entrepreneurs.I recently got to sit and peel back the many layers of Hyatt’s success in his brand new garage studio office in historic Franklin, Tennessee, and what he had to say about life, struggle and success was refreshing.Thinking about trying to make it as a solopreneur? Here are just a few of the many valuable lessons we can learn from Hyatt:1. Use what you have where you are.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This seems like a no-brainer, but in today’s culture, it can be easy to compare your own story to the overnight-success sensation, leaving you wishing you had someone else’s advantages.One such perceived advantage for Hyatt was that he had the power of the Thomas Nelson brand behind him when he started. But with each person’s advantage can come a liability, and Hyatt felt blogging as a CEO put him at a disadvantage. “How many CEO blogs do you read? None, because people think it’s just a PR stunt and that it’s not authentic,” he says. “I felt that I had to overcome that, and it was difficult.”His advice to those getting started? <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/blog/5-tips-to-write-a-blog-post-people-will-actually-read" target="_blank" title="5 Tips to Write a Blog Post People Will Actually Read | SUCCESS.com" rel="noopener">Create compelling content</a> right now, where you are. “People use all kinds of excuses for why they don’t succeed, but you have to use whatever assets you have.”2. Be responsive.I asked Hyatt about the keys to his success, and in a world that often equates success with busyness and inaccessibility, I found this answer surprising.“I’ve been super responsive, so whether I get an email or a phone call, I get right back to people,” he says. “In this world, where so many people take forever because their inboxes are overrun, you can really stand out by being responsive.”3. Commit and follow through. When I asked what the “virtual mentor” looks for in a mentee, his answer was commitment. He explained that the people in his coaching group use their breaks between sessions as an opportunity to get on the phone and immediately execute what was just discussed.Commitment and follow-through also sum up what he believes to be <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/what-does-integrity-mean-anyway" target="_blank" title="What Does Integrity Mean, Anyway? | SUCCESS.com" rel="noopener">the definition of integrity</a> in business. “Make your actions line up with your words. Do what you said you were going to do even when it’s inconvenient, even when it’s expensive, even when you wished you hadn’t made that commitment. ”&nbsp;4. Get comfortable with fear.When he first took on the role of CEO, Hyatt felt like the role was too big for him, and he has had many a CEO confess to him that they felt the same. But he explains that fear is natural and can be an indicator that you’re on the right path. “If you stay where you’re comfortable, you’ll never grow.”He quotes Dan Sullivan, who says “It takes a lot of courage to become successful, but if once you get there and you spend all your time removing risk, that’s the death of the business”—or the speech or the blog…5. Get comfortable with discipline. I confess I’m adding this to the list without him specifically mentioning it, but if you read Hyatt’s blog, his <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/rohn-4-straightforward-steps-to-success" target="_blank" title="Rohn: 4 Straightforward Steps to Success | SUCCESS.com" rel="noopener">commitment to discipline</a> is obvious. His schedule is carefully blocked, and his hobbies include reading, photography, running and golfing. And during our interview, he confessed he doesn’t watch TV, doesn’t eat candy and his favorite snacks are—wait for it—raw almonds.Clearly, his discipline and commitment have paid off, because traffic to blogs is dwindling, yet Hyatt’s blog traffic continues to grow. His secret? “I start with the audience and think ‘What are the frustrations of my audience and how can I address those?’ Because people will go where you give them real solutions to real problems. Whether it’s in a keynote or a book or a blog. If you serve people and add value, you’ll be successful.”[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"30927","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"350","style":"width: 200px; height: 146px; margin: 10px; float: left;","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]]Watch Kelsey Humphreys' interview with Michael Hyatt on The Pursuit, exclusively on SUCCESS Videos.

[node:summary] - How to take your entrepreneurial spirit and turn it into something successful

You probably know Michael Hyatt as the “virtual mentor,” an executive-turned-blogger who teaches entrepreneurs, speakers and bloggers how build their | SUCCESS

Starting the Solopreneur Adventure? CEO-Turned-Blogger Michael Hyatt Shares 5 Tips

Starting the Solopreneur Adventure? CEO-Turned-Blogger Michael Hyatt Shares 5 Tips | SUCCESS

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It is uncommon enough for an author to produce five New York Times list-topping novels, but the fact that Jamie McGuire did so without a traditional publisher truly sets her in a league of her own. Her first book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1476712042/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1476712042&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=2GSB6WNH4IGYKKH7">Beautiful Disaster</a>, became a New York Times best-seller in 2012 and was picked up by Atria Books the same year. Just one year later, it was an international best-seller, and the movie rights were auctioned by Warner Bros. In 2014, more than 1 million copies had been sold.Most aspiring authors view those kinds of deals as the final destination, but not McGuire. Instead, she decided to leave Atria and go back out on her own—and the decision paid off, not just with multiple best-sellers, but also raving fans who love her books so much that they collect international editions to have a copy of every cover design available.Sitting down with her at her ranch in Enid, Oklahoma, I found McGuire to be a combination of fierce love for her family, deep appreciation for her readers, and a fearless confidence that pushes her to pen five or six books a year.Are you an aspiring author, or maybe a blogger or <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/5-signs-youre-cut-out-to-be-a-freelancer" target="_blank" title="5 Signs You’re Cut Out to Be a Freelancer | SUCCESS.com">freelancer</a>? Here’s what Jamie McGuire can teach you about self-made success:1. Create something that gets people talking.McGuire’s <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1476712042/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1476712042&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=2GSB6WNH4IGYKKH7">Beautiful Disaster</a> was a shocking new breed of romance that was not young adult and, as she explains on her website, “Not your mother’s romance.”Fans flew to the message boards, so much so that McGuire credits a reader as her big break. “It was because of a reader,” she explains. “I’ll never forget her. She mentioned my book in the Amazon romance forums and said, ‘Guys, you’ve got to read this book.’ I didn’t pay a cent to advertise it. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1476712042/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1476712042&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=2GSB6WNH4IGYKKH7">Beautiful Disaster</a> is really polarizing—they either really loved it or they really hated it. But either way, they were talking about it.”2. Don’t worry about outside validation.Most of us want that validation of being picked up by a network or publisher, but McGuire’s confidence is what allowed her to <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/afraid-of-risks-how-to-be-bolder" target="_blank" title="Afraid of Risks? How to Be Bolder | SUCCESS.com">take risks</a> with her writing and to publish her books her way. “I never thought, If I get a publishing deal, I’ll be a real author. I was already a real author in my mind. I was already making it on my own. I didn’t feel like I needed that as validation.”3. Always keep focus on your audience.McGuire’s attention is on her readers. “I just kept myself accessible to my fans on Facebook and talked to my readers, and they did the rest for me,” she says. “I have a franchise in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1476712042/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1476712042&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=2GSB6WNH4IGYKKH7">Beautiful Disaster</a>; readers want these books—and I want to get them in their hands.”4. Work when you work best.What most impressed me about McGuire is her work ethic. It takes a special strategy to raise three kids by day and produce five titles a year by night. Just like her publishing style, she does life her own way, too.She <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/blog/overscheduled-7-ways-to-reclaim-your-day" target="_blank" title="Overscheduled? 7 Ways to Reclaim Your Day | SUCCESS.com">designs her schedule</a> around what success means to her and her family, explaining, “I wake up by the time the kids get out of school and we do our regular family evening. We eat dinner, discuss our days, get the kids bathed, in bed, and do homework or whatever. Then that’s when my workday begins. I start at about 10 or 11 at night, and then I write all night until it’s time to get the kids up for school. Then I go to bed and sleep until they get out of school—and start all over again.” This gives her hours of uninterrupted writing time as well as meaningful moments with her children. Even if you were to argue that she became an overnight success with her first title, there’s no arguing that <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/6-qualities-of-wildly-successful-people" target="_blank" title="6 Qualities of Wildly Successful People | SUCCESS.com">it takes hard work to stay successful</a>. “I wrote six works between June and December last year, so I know I can do it,” she says. “[But] it’s what everybody else is doing, so you have to keep up. You can’t write one book a year anymore, not even bigger authors are doing that. If you want to keep up and stay in the mind of your readers, you need to write that often just to compete.” Her advice? “Always to finish your book. You can’t learn, you can’t continue to grow unless you finish that first book. You have to finish that hurdle first…. If you’re a couple books in, just keep going—it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"30814","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"350","style":"width: 200px; height: 146px; margin: 10px; float: left;","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]]<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/videos/youtube/the-pursuit-how-to-launch-a-successful-self-made-career" target="_self" title="The Pursuit: How to Launch a Successful Self-Made Career | SUCCESS.com">Watch Kelsey Humphreys' interview with Jamie McGuire on </a><a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/videos/youtube/the-pursuit-how-to-launch-a-successful-self-made-career" target="_self" title="The Pursuit: How to Launch a Successful Self-Made Career | SUCCESS.com">The Pursuit, exclusively on SUCCESS Videos.</a>

It is uncommon enough for an author to produce five New York Times list-topping novels, but the fact that Jamie McGuire did so without a traditional

It is uncommon enough for an author to produce five New York Times list-topping novels, but the fact that Jamie McGuire did so without a traditional | SUCCESS

4 Secrets of Self-Made Success from Best-Selling Author Jamie McGuire

4 Secrets of Self-Made Success from Best-Selling Author Jamie McGuire | SUCCESS

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If you’ve ever followed the mommy blogger phenomenon, you’ve heard of Crystal Paine. Her site, <a href="https://moneysavingmom.com/about" target="_blank" title="About Me | MoneySavingMom.com" rel="noopener">MoneySavingMom.com</a>, which she started in 2007 as a resource for couponing and deal-hunting, now averages 1.5 million unique visitors every month. Paine is a true work-at-home mompreneur, managing a brand that employs 17 team members and engages more than 750,000 followers—and that’s just Facebook.When I arrived at Paine’s home for an interview, she was busy working. She and her assistant chatted at their laptops as we set up. Soft-spoken and warm, she sat down to put on her mic and asked what would make the interview “a win” for me. I was taken aback by her generosity, and it is matched only by her strategic genius, which she obviously uses to build her ever-growing site. Those two things are just the start of what we can learn from Paine about success.Are you an aspiring blogger? Here are a few pointers, from Paine to you:1. Start small, thinking of ways you can bump up your traffic today.Like most, Paine started trying to make just a couple dollars a day off her online platform. We like to think that <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/4-secrets-of-insanely-successful-people" target="_blank" title="4 Secrets of Insanely Successful People | SUCCESS.com" rel="noopener">successful people have some sort of fast-track or secret to success</a>—but there’s no secret, no shortcut. “I worked every day,” she says. “I remember, I would take my shower and I’d think, What can I do to bring a little bit of traffic to the blog today?”2. Get educated and pay attention to what works.This is a common theme in all of my interviews, because most successful people read, read and read some more, and they look outside their own industries. “There wasn’t really anybody who was doing what I was doing,” Paine says. “So I found other people who were in other fields and were successful, and then I said, What are they doing? How can I implement that in a way that works for my blog?” She is constantly watching other sites, large and small, and testing different tactics, even down to changing which words in her Facebook posts are capitalized. “I feel like a lot of people don’t tap into the tool that Facebook is because they’re not really paying attention to what works. So I paid really close attention to what works for other people. Those people have a lot of engagement. What’s working for them?”3. Focus on small wins.Paine built her community over three long years by commenting on other blogs, responding to her readers, learning their needs and preferences, and testing strategies. She focused on the small wins for most of those three years. “It was just these little streams of traffic. Those little streams eventually turned into a river that then turned into this raging torrent,” she says. “But you have to go after those little streams. I think so many times we look at that little trickle and we think, That’s not worth our time. But when you’re first starting, it’s those little trickles.” She recalls the launch of her first digital product, an eBook-turned-online course on supermarket savings, long before digital products were a thing. “It was this audio that I had recorded on a free [program] in this free forum and this PDF download that I’d made with free software. So I sold that as a bundle…. This was three and a half years in; we did a three-day sale and made $3,000. And it was mind-blowing for me to realize that three and a half years of working so hard… and it all paid off.”Community is an important part of a launch like that, she says. “We built up a strong email list, we built up networks with other people, and they were promoting it for us. I remember that moment of thinking, Oh wow. This actually could work.”4. Put your readers first. This is probably the most important: Paine clearly cares about her customers, her readers. Although she has encountered them, she never once talks about “haters” or “online trolls,” instead saying that she sometimes “disappoints her readers,” which shows her deep sense of responsibility to them. “I put everything through the lens of <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/blog/5-tips-to-write-a-blog-post-people-will-actually-read" target="_blank" title="5 Tips to Write a Blog Post People Will Actually Read | SUCCESS.com" rel="noopener">Is this a win for my readers? </a>I’ve turned down thousands and thousands of dollars [in advertising and sponsorships] every single year because it’s not a win for my readers…. Always think of your readers first, because there are plenty of opportunities to earn a quick buck and lose your integrity.”5. Shut out the noise.Beyond that, Paine does her best to block out the noise, drawing a line between possible and impossible. “I don’t follow very many blogs. And a lot of times, I don’t really pay attention to what’s going on outside of my community, because I will never be good enough [when I compare myself] to any of the other bloggers or online entrepreneurs.”She refuses to let the noise overshadow what’s most important to her. “I’m really trying to be strategic about using my blogging time well, so that when I’m home, I’m home.” What’s most important to her? “I’m a wife and I’m a mom, and that comes first in my heart,” she says. “I could stay up all hours of the night, doing these amazing things and lose my family… and that’s just not worth it to me.”So don’t forget to look at everything you want to do—personally and professionally—and ask yourself, What is going to matter 25 years from now? Focus on doing those few things well and be OK with the fact that you can’t do everything.[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"30537","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"350","style":"width: 200px; height: 146px; margin: 10px; float: left;","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]]Watch Kelsey Humphreys’ interview with Crystal Paine on The Pursuit, exclusively on SUCCESS Videos.

If you’ve ever followed the mommy blogger phenomenon, you’ve heard of Crystal Paine. Her site, MoneySavingMom.com, which she started in 2007 as a resource

If you’ve ever followed the mommy blogger phenomenon, you’ve heard of Crystal Paine. Her site, MoneySavingMom.com, which she started in 2007 as a resource | SUCCESS

Starting Your Own Blog? Mommy Blogger Crystal Paine Shares 5 Tips

Starting Your Own Blog? Mommy Blogger Crystal Paine Shares 5 Tips | SUCCESS

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In just a decade, Jeremy Cowart has built a photography empire. When he’s not shooting celebrities, he’s working on the photography site and app he founded, <a title="About | OKDOTHIS.com" href="https://okdothis.com/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OKDOTHIS</a>, or other ventures he’s founded, such as <a title="About | Help-Portrait.com" href="https://help-portrait.com/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Help Portrait</a> and <a title="See University | JeremyCowart.com" href="https://jeremycowart.com/2015/03/announcing-see-university/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">See University</a>.

He has a gaggle of assistants, a business manager and a client list that would make anyone star struck, but there are no diva airs about this Tennessean. When I walked into his studio in Nashville’s The Factory, a chic retail complex built in a historic factory mill, everything oozed style and creativity. But Cowart was so warm it was like meeting an old friend for the first time. It is probably that warmth that makes clients such as Kelly Clarkson come back to him again and again. As we set up he chatted about our gear, offering any of his own that we might need, and excitedly pulled out his laptop to show me the ins and outs of See University.

But don’t let his humility, charm and oh-so-casual beanie fool you; Jeremy Cowart is a force to be reckoned with. Here are a few lessons we can learn from Cowart, especially aspiring photographers or creative entrepreneurs:

1. Start where you are.

You might think Cowart had it easy, starting his photography in Nashville, surrounded by musicians. However Nashville also houses plenty of record labels and companies whose sole purpose is providing creative services for musicians. Cowart established himself with friends and acquaintances, did great design work for them, and built from there. “My friends would get signed, and they’d want to keep using me with the label. And the labels would discover me.”

2. Narrow your focus to your greatest strengths.

With so many other businesses able to provide a one-stop shop, Cowart realized he needed to focus on what he does best. He put away his Creative Suite tools and picked up a Canon, and chose not to look back. He didn’t try to do it all; he put his money where his talent is. That meant switching “thinking from graphic designer to photographer,” Cowart says.

This also means trusting an agent, and now a business manager, to help with strategy. If you are an artist, hiring a business partner can be the best investment you’ll make. The earlier the better.

3. Work your creative muscles.

Cowart says he is full of ideas, but explains it wasn’t always that way. “I sat down with a mentor, and he said, ‘I have ideas for days.’ I remember thinking, ‘I’ll never be you. I’ll never be the guy with ideas.’ I hope that’s encouraging to people, because the ideas out of your brain can develop.” The key is developing momentum, getting one small thing accomplished and then getting a little confidence. “And the more you build things, the more confident you get. I really do have a lot of ideas.” So if you’re not an idea machine yet, you can work your idea muscle and <a title="Top of Mind: How Do You Wake Up Your Creative Side? | SUCCESS.com" href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/top-of-mind-how-do-you-wake-up-your-creative-side" target="_blank" rel="noopener">become more creative</a>. But keep in mind...

4. Not every idea is a winner.

Now that he is an ideator, Cowart says he gives his ideas two months. It takes discipline to mull over an idea for that long. He seeks counsel from his wife and his business manager, and then lets his idea marinate. He explained that oftentimes, “I’ll have an idea and by the next day, I already think it’s lame. Or by the next week, I think it’s lame. So I wait for a two-month period and see if I am still excited.”

5. Don’t wait for support, be proactive.

I assumed, like many, that sponsors must have approached Cowart when he started gaining high-profile clients, but I was wrong. When he started to gain a social media following, he reached out to potential brands.

“I would approach sponsors and say—this was before the brands were social media-savvy—’I know you’ve never heard of me, but I have people paying attention to me online,’ and I could show them the numbers and say ‘I’d love to use this tool or this hard drive and I’ll post about it online.’ So then they’d go do their research and look at the numbers and then give me the gear.”

Part of being proactive means sharing about your work. No one loves self-promotion, but Cowart admits it’s part of the package. He does not employ a marketing team or even an agent anymore. “I have no choice. If I don’t talk about it, it won’t work. It’s just part of the drill.”

6. Just keep shooting.

If you are just starting, or perhaps going through a dry spell, tell the stories you have available, Cowart explains, and you will <a title="6 Confidence Boosters | SUCCESS.com" href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/6-confidence-boosters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gain momentum and confidence</a>. It doesn’t take high-tech equipment or a team of managers to build your brand. Start where you are and create constantly.

“It’s just like a ladder; take that first step. Once you achieve that first small step, your confidence will be a little higher. The higher you step, the more your confidence goes up.” he says. “As you do that, people look at you and they get around you, and I can build a team. It’s just momentum and belief in yourself.”

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Watch Kelsey Humphreys' interview with Jeremy Cowart on The Pursuit, exclusively on SUCCESS Videos.

In just a decade, Jeremy Cowart has built a photography empire. When he’s not shooting celebrities, he’s working on the photography site and app he

In just a decade, Jeremy Cowart has built a photography empire. When he’s not shooting celebrities, he’s working on the photography site and app he | SUCCESS

Starting Your Own Photography Biz? Nashville-based Photog Jeremy Cowart Shares 6 Tips

Starting Photography Biz: 6 Tips from Nashville's Jeremy Cowart

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