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IN THE BOX PODCAST

Episode 46: Friends/Family Influence, Downtime, Bite Your Tongue And More (Podcast)

Garth Beyer

On this episode of In The Box Podcast we talked about how family and friends influence you’re decisions when you’re first starting a business, what we do when we have downtime, when we better bite our tongues, how to avoid bad energy and the difference between acknowledging something doesn’t work and being a naysayer.

Episode 46: Friends/Family Influence, Downtime, Bite Your Tongue And More

Family/Friend Influence – How much influence / power should you give your close friends and family when you are sharing a new business idea with them?

Downtime – What do you do when you have a moment of down time?

Bite Your Tongue – When is it a good idea to bite your tongue?

Bad Mojo – One tip on how to cut ties with bad energy?

Bonus – What is the difference between acknowledging something sucks and being a hater?

 

Stay Positive & Check Out All The In The Box Episodes Here

Someone Is Always Watching

Garth Beyer

It’s likely not the first time you’ve heard the expression, “act like someone is watching… because someone always is” – or something of the sort.

I think it’s a damn good philosophy to follow even if it’s not necessarily true. There’s not a single person watching me write this right now, but I act as if there is.

I work as if a group of friends and influencers are behind me watching me, seeking inspiration, watching to learn how to do things the best way, not the short way.

Deep down, we all have a group of people who follow us around in our minds influencing what we do, so, in a sense, someone is always watching what you do, but who that someone is is of grand importance.

Is it all the critics who have said you’re not good enough? Is it the family member who said to settle instead of risk it for what you really wanted? Or is it the teacher who said you were going places? Or the parent who will support you no matter what you choose to do?

 

Stay Positive & You Choose Who Watches

Unlocking Potential #13: Q&A With Ryan Paugh

Garth Beyer

Ryan Paugh

When researching for a story centered on entrepreneurs under 30, a friend connected me with Ryan Paugh. At the time, Ryan was at Brazen Careerist writing, speaking and preaching about career-management. He was big into entrepreneurship… still is.

Like all the others on the unlocking potential series, Ryan is a linchpin. He is the source, the center of many entrepreneurial circles, providing resources and connecting people just as my friend connected me with him.

Without further ado… welcome, Ryan.

Q: You’re known for building epic communities. What does an epic community look like to you?

Ryan: An epic community is one that can help you unlock any door in your industry or trade. For communities like YEC and FounderSociety, we aspire to help our members gain access to everything they need to grow successful businesses.

Q: How did you get to where you’re at now? What’s your story?

Ryan: This is very geeky, but blogging changed my life. After I graduated college I started a blog with one of my best friends about Gen Y entering the workforce. Through the blog came my first business, Brazen Careerist, which was a free community for Gen Y professionals seeking career happiness.

Q: What’s the best and worst parts of being an entrepreneur?

Ryan: The best part about being an entrepreneur is having control over your own destiny. The worst part about being an entrepreneur is the toll it takes on your personal life and the lack of stability.

Q: What gets you filled up with passion and ready to take on the world, to go the distance, to be in it for the long haul?

Ryan: My family. Now that I’m a father especially, I find that I’m more motivated to be successful than I have ever been. I want my family to live the best life possible. I want them to see me as their hero.

Q: What do you see people regularly failing to do while starting a business? What would you suggest they do differently?

Ryan: Spending too much time on one idea is a common startup killer. Most successful entrepreneurs will tell you that they didn’t get it right on the first try. They had to iterate on their existing idea to make it work.

Q: What are four hacks you can share? They can be about life, relationships, getting a job, starting a business, whatever you would like.

Hack #1. Invest in a virtual assistant and outsource work that takes away from building your business. Challenge yourself to delegate at least one new thing per week to your assistant.

Hack #2. Perfect is stupid. Come up with an idea for a business. Build the minimum viable product (MVP) as quickly as you can and get it to market. Iterate based on feedback from your early customers to get better.

Hack #3. Become an early riser or a night owl and you will get more accomplished than 99 percent of the population.

Hack #4. Take care of yourself. You physical and mental health are strongly linked to your success.

Q: Here’s an open-ended question for you: What are your thoughts on waiting?

Ryan: Don’t.

Q: What about failure?

Ryan: Embrace it.

Q: Would you tell us about a truly challenging time and how you got through it (or didn’t!)?

Ryan: Without going into too much detail, I had a health scare a couple months ago that left me feeling mentally paralyzed. It took weeks for me to feel better and get back to my business. The reason I was able to take the time off that I needed to recover was my amazing team. At some point in the future, you’re going to need to take some time off too and it will go a lot smoother if your company can operate with you missing. Being a great leader means learning how to delegate to your team and trust that they can get the job done. You should spend time early on in your career getting comfortable with this. You’ll thank yourself later.

Q: What are three lessons people should know about building a community?

  • Community businesses are are some of the most difficult businesses to run. I love what I do, but it’s not an easy road to riches. There are plenty of other avenues you could take to get rich quick
  • Great customer service can keep a paying customer loyal even when the product still needs work.
  • People will pay a premium for a concierge-level community experience.

Q: What makes an idea or a business or a person remarkable?

Ryan: Vulnerability. I’m drawn to people, ideas, and businesses that are not afraid to be what they are even if that might lead to them being criticized.

Q: Any last advice you want to give someone in marketing or someone who is thinking of starting a business?

Ryan: Share your ideas with as many people as possible.

Q: Lastly, where can people find you and the remarkable work you do? (Shamelessly self-promote here.)

Ryan: The communities I’m currently building are YEC and FounderSociety. We also run a great startup advice website for early-stage entrepreneurs. Follow me on Twitter. I try to blog semi frequently at ryanpaugh.com.

 

Stay Positive & Go Share Your Ideas, Be A Hero, Start Something

Horizontal Prioritization, A Better Method Of Prioritizing

Horizontal Prioritization, A Better Method Of Prioritizing

Garth Beyer

Design Matters

Perhaps you’ve heard of the six F’s (family, friends, finances, fitness, faith, and fun) or something similar. Every success mentor always suggests making these lists, and I agree, not just in life, but in business as well. They allow you to divvy up your focus on all the important matters. However, the way they are often presented is vertically.

Family first

Faith second

Finances third…

The problem with prioritizing your life this way is that it gives you an excuse to not tout as much effort in the bottom categories. By prioritizing vertically, you’re forcing yourself to weigh the importance of each group, when, in fact, the reason for writing the various groups (whether you go with the six F’s or some other type of categorization) is that they are all equally important.

Success and balance aren’t easy to achieve, but trying to achieve them using vertical lists and actually prioritizing one important theme or category over another is a sure indicator of always lacking sufficiency, efficiency, and quality in the bottom-most themes or categories.

Prioritize horizontally. Then feel free to list goals and tasks below those, vertically.

While finances and fun are both equally a necessity, how you go about achieving each is not.

Go ahead. Try it.

 

Stay Positive & Design Matters When It Comes To List-making

Photo credit

It’s Not For Everyone

Garth Beyer

My writing doesn’t resonate perfectly with everyone who views it. I have dozens of very close friends that never read what I post. I have family that – and I can say this because they won’t read it – doesn’t care that I write or what I write.

I’ve overcome this, but I do know how it can sometimes hurt. A lot. When those you think care so much about you, don’t get involved with your passion.

One of the myriad admonitions I’ve learned about writing is that there are people you wish would read it that don’t and there are people you wish wouldn’t read it and do.

Remind yourself of the long tail. It helps.

 

Stay Positive & HT To Those Who Don’t Force Themselves To Read It

Garth E. Beyer

Unlocking Potential: Interview #2

Garth Beyer

We’re now on our second interview of the Unlocking Potential series. This is a series of interviews I have given to a small pocketful of truly important and respected people. For some of these people, I have never really talked to 1 on 1 until I had the interview like interview #1 with Rose Kendall. Other people like today’s interview, I have only met twice in person and have had my expectations blown to the point I continuously keep in touch.

See, this is what the world calls for, what people seek when they need something. Linchpins, people who care, people who always do more than is asked and have absolutely incredible potential. Help me in unlocking even more potential by reading the following interview with Katie McBody.

Interview: Katie McBody

I’ve been lucky enough to come across this fitness Linchpin through an extension in the family tree. Katie McBody takes fitness to an entirely new level as you will notice in the interview below.

Q: Thank you so much for participating in this interview with me Katie. Before we jump into it, is there any background facts about yourself you want the readers to know?

I have always been active- but never knew my potential in the fitness world until I met my husband, he pushed me in the right direction and has helped me achieve many goals. I started rock climbing and skiing at the age of 4 and later in life I was an instructor in both fields, I was also a softball player into college and now I volunteer my time to coach kids.

Q: What is your life calling, your passion?

Fitness- our bodies were designed to move and I want to share my love of exercise with everyone (especially kids!).

Q: What three habits have you created to continue progressing in that passion?

1. Make time for myself- I schedule a couple hours a day to have alone in the gym/ track/ trail/ climbing that I can use to focus on pushing myself mentally and physically.

2. Involve family- my husband is active duty Army (currently deployed) but when he is home, we spend his lunch break together at the gym. Or we make time to go play soccer as a family with our 4 year old son. Our son also joins me on a lot of my track workouts and participates with modified exercises.

3. Set goals- even if they’re just little goals, accomplishing little challenges you set for yourself is a confidence booster and it keeps you motivated to keep going!

Q: Where do you find your inspiration?

I find inspiration from everywhere. My husband inspires me to keep pushing myself. We have a healthy dose of competition between us, which keeps us pushing our limits physically. I find inspiration at the gym, I’m fortunate enough to be able to train in a facility where a lot of Special Forces members train- so I watch them and try to “compete” with their workouts. I’m also inspired by my clients, especially the ones that show up and give it their all during our sweat sessions. It’s really rewarding to be helping someone better their life by getting them involved with something I’m so dedicated and passionate about.

Q: What is your motto? Why?

“Be yourself and watch it bother other people” I spent a lot of my youth worried about how other people viewed me. Getting older I’ve realized that it doesn’t matter. If you have “haters” it means you’re doing something right. I live with high moral standards and have found self confidence, I may as well be proud of who I am and stop trying to make other’s happy.

Q: What skills do you need to do what you do? How do you train those skills?

You need to get certified as a personal trainer, there are different routes (ACE, ISSA, etc) or college programs to get you there. And then you need dedication to learning more everyday. Be humble and realize that you don’t know everything, and you never will- so keep studying! I try to expand my knowledge and get certified in other fields (next steps is TRX and kettlebell certifications). Plus, I believe that a big part of being a personal trainer is looking the part! Would you want to take fitness advice from someone who was 40lbs overweight?

Q: What are three of the best benefits to exercise/eating clean?

The best benefits to leading a healthy lifestyle is the energy to always be ready to go! I love to fuel myself with good foods so I don’t feel sluggish during the day. One of my favorite fitness related quotes is “you wouldn’t put sugar in your gas tank- so why would you put it in your body?”

Q: What makes you unique, indispensable, a fitness artist?

I believe my level of competitiveness makes me unique- I don’t shy away from a challenge ever! I know I can be beat, but it makes me push harder. I’m indispensable because I have a vast array of fitness related knowledge and I’m skilled in other areas besides being a gym rat! I have worked as a ski instructor and a climbing instructor and I’m always excited to teach people new skills. I also have found a passion for teaching people to run, and run with proper form to reduce their chances of injury. Not too many trainers (at least that I have met) really take the time to teach the basics of how to run.

Q: As you know, my website is centered on life lessons. What are four life lessons you have learned from following your passion?

1. No excuses. Ever.

2. It’s okay to step out of your comfort zone- that’s where life happens. It’s also where greatness is achieved.

3. Set goals! Long term and short term. Reaching “mini” goals along the way is rewarding!

4. You can always do better- so keep pushing yourself.

Q: Anything else you want to add?

There are no excuses in the world of fitness. I believe in training without supplements- your results will last longer if you’re achieving it through eating well and exercising. Almost every injury can be prevented if using proper form- so if you’re new to weight lifting/ fitness please have a trainer show you form and technique.

You can “Like” Katie’s Facebook Page at http://www.Facebook.com/McBodyFitness or email her at mcbodyfitness@gmail.com

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Stay Positive & Fit in

Garth E. Beyer