Here’s One You Haven’t Heard

Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance. Samuel Johnson

This post is not gonna be too long and it’s not going to list out 3 ways to achieve more in life. I’m not gonna sugar coat or talk about how easy it is to accomplish what you want if you just dream a little dream and “go for it”. No, instead, I’m gonna just tell you a quick story about myself then lay out exactly how I was able to do what I did. And you can take from it what you will.

Let’s go back in time. The year was 2010. At the time, I was between companies. I had a lot of money saved up, but I could see it dwindling in my account every month. Not a place an entrepreneur likes to be. Even worse, I weighed 540 pounds. It was the biggest I had ever been. I knew I had to make some drastic changes, but how? I had spent so much of my life dealing with my weight issues and for the first time in a long time, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do in business.

So, I did what any reasonable person would do. I applied to be on a weight loss TV show called Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition. The name was later changed to Extreme Weight Loss and it was hosted by Chris Powell. (An awesome dude).

Anyway, I tried out for the show and actually got cast.

This meant grueling days of at least 4-5 hours a day of exercise. Sounds easy to type it out, but imagine getting up 6 days a week and walking or swimming or biking or weight lifting… and doing that for 5 hours. It was ridiculous.

And to make it really fun – this wasn’t the kind of show that paid you big money to be on it. I made about $500 a week for the first 90 days of filming. This basically helped me cover bare essentials. I was exhausted every day. I could barely move. I now weighed somewhere in the 400’s and was exercising like an extreme endurance athlete. I had no energy and my entire focus was on weight loss and getting my health back.

Then, the 90 days ended. I had to get back to “working” or doing something that created an income. AND I had to keep up with the 4-5 hours a day of exercise.

I had a few ideas in my head, I could maybe do some consulting again or try to be an affiliate marketer for some products. But all those things took up a lot of time. And I wanted to build something that would last.

So, I made a few phone calls. I called two former partners from a previous business to find out what they were up to. Luckily they were launching a software program and needed some help with ads for the program. I was paid $5,000 to write the sales material. You can learn more about copywriting here.

The letter I wrote did well and I was eventually brought on to do more work. This led to me getting a piece of equity in the company. At the same time, another partner reached out to me who saw what I was up to. Here’s the quick lesson here – don’t be afraid to reach out to former partners or associates. They are usually a great place to start because they know what kind of work you do.

So, we started plotting how we could take this company and combine it with another company to really grow it.

The idea was simple. We were already helping entrepreneurs start their own businesses online with our software solution. It basically gave them some resell rights products with a complete sales funnel and email marketing system built in. Doesn’t sound that amazing now, but in 2011 it was cutting edge. The problem was – the most someone could make by using our system was somewhere around $150 per client.

This is great, but it’s not very sustainable if you have to pay for traffic and hire staff and all that fun stuff. So, we knew what we had to do. We had to plug in more products that our clients could sell. More importantly, we had to do it in a way that made sense.

It was now late 2011. The show had just ended. I went from 493 to 238 pounds. I lost from 540 to 493 on my own before the show officially cast me and weighed me in. So that loss never counted. On the show, my official loss was 255 pounds.

Now, back to business. (Oh here’s a look at some of my businesses if you’re interested)

My partners and I searched far and wide for a company that had good products for sale that were for entrepreneurs, investors, and online marketers. After much research, we found one. We teamed up with them and made a deal where we would get paid every time we sold one of their products. This particular company specialized in financial education. They had a home study course as well as 2 high-end events. They taught advanced financial tactics and strategies usually reserved for the ultra wealthy.

They were a cool company and we went to work figuring out how to make it all work.

It took about a year, but we finally figured out how to tie together our front end product (the software) with the back end product (the financial education company). It wasn’t easy, but man was it worth it. It was 2012. I moved from Florida to Arizona to try to lose a few more pounds before my show aired. Chris lived in Arizona and so did one of my business partners.

I was making good money, but nothing grand yet. I went every day to the Mesa Public Library. I would have one of my partners meet me there. I’d have vendors and different prospects meet me there. I basically made one room my office. I had 2 white boards, a long table, and multiple chairs. I got up early every day to make sure I was standing outside when the doors opened. I liked having the same room. It gave me the feeling of consistency.

I drew out process maps that would come to be worth millions and millions of dollars. Not just to my company – but to the many other companies who would eventually copy our model. Sometimes it amazes me that I created the blueprints for a close to 8 figure business from a library. But the truth is, it doesn’t amaze me because I already knew what I was going after in my head. I was just waiting for time to catch up with me.

Flash forward to today. My company is poised to cross over 8 figures this year. I have a staff of 11, 2 partners, and 24 sales people. We all work remotely from all over the world. There’s no office, no huge overhead. We run the company on Skype. I have the ultimate lifestyle business and I launched it while on a weight loss show that forced me to work out at least 25 hours a week.

I know many of us can come up with reasons why something can’t work. I think humans are born with that skill. I’ve seen many good people talk themselves out of success because of fear, doubt, or just plain lack of self-confidence. I hope that never happens to you.

I know this post didn’t necessarily teach anything, but hopefully, my story can inspire you in some way. You don’t have to be perfect to start doing anything, be it your own business or weight loss. And guess what – nothing is permanent. Most of that weight I lost, I gained back! You can read how I lost the weight again here.

Success is up to you. It takes hard work, dedication, long hours, and doing things you don’t necessarily want to do. Especially at first. But, if you believe in yourself and commit to being in it for the long term, you can accomplish amazing things.

Here are my top 5 takeaways:

1. I saw what I wanted and took massive action. I didn’t accept no for an answer
2. I kept working and working and working. It didn’t matter that I didn’t see an instant financial benefit. I focused on the effort instead of the outcome. At first.
3. I reached out for help. These days especially, you need help. There are less and less “one man bands” and more and more team achieving great things
4. I used the resources I had at my disposal. If it was a public library, then that’s what I used. For weight loss, I used a show structure and got help that way
5. I set goals the whole time. I knew what target I wanted to hit.

This is what it takes.

Want to consult with me about your business? I am accepting a VERY limited amount of coaching and consulting clients. We can speak on the phone after you book an appointment. Book your appointment here.