It has been over 3 years since I nixed my blog. Well, not entirely true. A platform that I had utilized from around 2010 through 2016 for thought leadership, personal branding, authority, and more.
Then, in May 2016 things changed drastically when I set out to work on building my company Razor Sharp Digital. Truth be told in some retrospect of things it was a bit of a dumb decision to leave behind my blog and focus on building my business. Truth be told I’ve made some dumb decisions over the years and this was probably one of them.
However, it was a concrete decision that I had made during that time and I was going to stick with it.
Looking back historically I’ve come to the realization that from 2010-2016 the one thing I was able to accomplish with my blog was to create a strong personal brand. As a result it had helped me open doorways to many new opportunities.
So, looking back at the last 3 years specifically and now having relaunched my personal website, there have been several things that I’ve learned and want to share with you.
This is both as a personal and business advice that you should really take into strong consideration.
1. Don't try to fix what isn't broken.
My blog/personal site was never broken. In fact it was doing quite well and all it needed was some aesthetic improvements and more consistency. And more traffic obviously. I mean, who doesn’t want more traffic to their website, right?
Here’s the thing. A lot of people, including myself try to fix shit that isn’t broken. We get bored with something and start to look for ways that we can change it. I guess in a way that is what I was going after here. Trying to figure out how to improve something that in reality didn’t need any fixing.
Save yourself the time and headache of purposely trying to reinvent the wheel. You’re not going to do that. I’m a living proof of that.
2. Focus on your strengths.
Focusing your time and energy on the things that you’re good at is always far more beneficial to you. Well, my problem has always been that I’m in fact good at a lot of things. So, finding maybe 1 or 2 true strengths has always been a challenge. No matter what I did.
I’ve discovered my strengths and have been focusing on those. Separating yourself from the rest of the herd involves in realizing your true strengths and putting them into practicality.
Can’t find your strengths? Well, sure you can. Maybe you need to look deeper and truly identify those strengths but I guarantee you that they’re there.
Nobody sucks at everything. Everyone is good at something but whatever that may be is up to you to discover and unlock its full potential.
3. Never give up on your dreams (no matter what anyone tells you)
I’ve had dreams since as long as I can remember. Some I’ve remembered and others I’ve forgotten (sadly). Isn’t that kind of fucked up that we forget our dreams?
My dreams are all over the place. Some are more vivid than others that have completely faded.
- I’ve dreamed of a Lamborghini since I can remember.
- I’ve dreamed of one day reaching financial freedom.
- I’ve dreamed of helping as many people as I can in this world.
- I’ve dreamed of having two beautiful kids (yes, that dream did come true).
- I’ve dreamed of owning my own business (i’m living that dream now as well).
- I’ve dreamed of a big house where my kids can play in (kind of working on that).
The list goes on and on and truth be told I’m actually diligently working on trying to specifically remember the dreams I have forgotten. It’s bugging the shit out of me.
Here’s the thing.
You have dreams. They’re your own. Many people will laugh at your dreams because they’re not their own. They’ll say that those dreams are not worth chasing. A vast majority of the people you associate with will tell you that you’re wasting your time. And all sorts of other bullshit that is complete nonsense.
FUCK all of that noise. Seriously!
Following your dreams requires a shit ton of resilience. Something that most people don’t have. If you want to one day reach your dreams, forget about all the negative bullshit that others have told you about. Keep going!
No matter what anyone tells you, just keep the fuck on going. Seriously!
4. Patience truly is a virtue.
If you want anything in life and business that is worthwhile, you’re going to have to accept the importance of patience.
I am perhaps one of the most impatient person I know. At least I used to be for the largest part of my 20s. It was instant gratification that I was always after. I wanted things to happen right way. Now. Today. Tomorrow.
Anything that is seriously worthwhile in life and in business requires patience. There are literally so many different factors that will attempt to deviate you from being patient but I’m telling you that remaining eternally patient is well worth it.
For instance, over 3 years ago when I set out to start my company Razor Sharp Digital, I wanted to focus on human marketing. I was fed up will all the bullshit and overpromising that other agencies and marketing companies were telling to B2B and B2C companies.
A lot of people laughed at my pursuit of human marketing but I knew that I had to be patient and that my time would come.
Three years later and my company is the #1 human marketing agency in the world. On Google. I don’t know about you but if you don’t have that kind of visibility in today’s digital world, you simply don’t exist.
So, my point here is that I remained eternally patient over a period of 3+ years and now, finally things are slowly coming together.
5. Diversity is a competitive advantage over others.
To many people, normal people that is, diversity is something that is frowned upon. Many people think that if you have diversity in your personal life, in your business, that you have a serious set of problems.
That’s a bunch of fucking bullshit.
We are all human beings. We all face some form of diversity at some point or another in our lives and business. Anyone that fails to recognize this is telling you a bunch of bullshit.
Now here is something that normal people will not tell you. Diversity is in fact a competitive advantage. Risk, sacrifices, losses, setbacks. These and others are all a part of diversity. Diversity teaches you things that you otherwise would not have known. It can also open up new opportunities that you otherwise may not have known about.
6. Always strive for ways that you can level up.
Leveling up is all about finding ways that you can grow. Things that can help you become a better person and an entrepreneur. Seriously, I wish that I knew this 3+ years ago.
For instance, the average CEO reads about 60+ books per years. That’s an insane fucking number of books. Personally, I hate reading a book. The exception to that is reading articles on the web.
You need to be always looking for ways to level up. Whether it’s reading, a book, listening to a podcast, networking with smarter people than you, learning a new skill. Any and all of these things will help you get to that next level.
In life and in business, as an entrepreneur, one of the biggest things that will help you move the needle is the level that you’re currently playing on. The higher the level you’re on, the bigger the chances for success.
7. Surround yourself with other like minded people.
Being around other like minded people is extremely, extremely important. This is something that I have personally failed to understand earlier on and it took me some time to realize the real value behind it.
What are like minded people?
Simple. It’s people who have the same or similar interests as you.
- If you’re a programmer, you probably want to surround yourself with other programmers.
- If you’re a graphic designer, you probably want to surround yourself with other graphic designers.
- If you’re an entrepreneur, you probably want to surround yourself with other entrepreneurs.
…and so on and forth.
People who have different interests than you, even if they’re friends of yours literally have little to no place in your life. Sure, they might be considered friends of yours but realistically they don’t have anything in common with you.
You see, entrepreneurs specifically have a very small amount of acquaintances. That’s because there aren’t many entrepreneurs out there not to mention those who are like minded as you.
One of the toughest things that I’ve had to do is get rid of people that weren’t like minded.
8. Always remain positive. Positivity always wins!
POSITIVITY wins. Always!
There is no alternative to this. None. Zero. A lot of people fail to understand this and that is why you’re perhaps failing in life and in entrepreneurship.
Negativity, skepticism, pessimism even have no positive outcome!
Over the last 3+ years I have literally, purposely, sometimes even forced myself to think nothing less than positive thoughts. And it’s hard. Really. Fucking. Hard.
Here is the reality of things though. 99% of the world we live in is full of NEGATIVE bullshit. Just turn on the fucking local news and you’ll see what I mean.
Always be POSITIVE. No matter what the circumstances.
9. To be extraordinary understand that you will need to do the unordinary.
There’s a shit ton of fucking people out there who want to be EXTRAORDINARY but can’t fathom why being UNORDINARY is simply a part of the equation. To be the 1%, you will need to do what the other 99% of people are unwilling to do.
Most people want to get up in the morning, maybe fuck the wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend, have their coffee, get to work, spend time at the office, then come home. Be a father/husband or wife/mother or whatever. Then every 2 weeks you collect your paycheck, pay some bills, put food on the table, fill up the gas tank. Then you realize that you’re broke and start to look forward to the next 2 weeks.
I don’t know about you, but FUCK all of that bullshit.
Over 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. That’s quite fucked up if you ask me.
You weren’t put on this planet to accept the fact that eternal debt is normal and barely getting by is also normal. This is the mentality of most people. Most “normal” people that is that continue to do the normal shit.
If you want to be EXTRAORDINARY, you will need to do UNORDINARY things. Become comfortable with being constantly uncomfortable. Understand that risk, sacrifices, and diversity are simply part of the game. If most people are doing the same thing, you do the complete opposite.
10. Have the right, mind, body, and soul in place to help you succeed.
Last but not least, I want you to understand how important it is to recognize Mind, Body, and Soul.
Anything you do in life and as an entrepreneur will correlate to these 3 things.
Mind – if you don’t have the right mindset, you literally can’t do shit. Nothing. Your decision making skills are horrible. This is why I’ve personally invested into heavy mindset development over the last 3+ years so that I could begin to make better decisions. I encourage you to invest into mindset development.
Body – your body is an instrument that coincides with your mind. Both have to work in harmony. Being in good shape is extremely important because it gives you the physical strength in addition to the mind strength so that you can perform at your best. I’ve been in the gym for over 5 months now, consistently, 3 days a way. I’ve been on a nutrition plan for over 5 weeks now and have lost 15+ lbs. I’m also a cyclist and have been cycling for 4 years now.
Get your body fine tuned and you will notice drastic improvements.
Soul – you have to be at peace with yourself. With God or whatever other spiritual force that you believe in. This is extremely important. Having anger, uncertainty, or even animosity inside yourself is in no way beneficial to you. Let it go.
There have been a ton more lessons that I’ve learned over the last 3+ years. I’ve learned a lot about who I am, who I aspire to be, and the fact that I’m a die hard entrepreneur who will never quit chasing his dreams. And this is extremely important to understand for anyone reading this post.
- Don’t try to fix what isn’t broken.
- Focus on your strengths.
- Never give up on your dreams, no matter what anyone tells you.
- Patience is a virtue. Exercise it!
- Diversity is a competitive advantage.
- Always strive for ways that you can level up.
- Surround yourself with other like-minded people.
- Always remain POSITIVE. Positivity ALWAYS wins!
- To be EXTRAORDINARY, you must do UNORDINARY things.
- Mind, Body, and Soul.
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Love you all and thanks for stopping by!