Jon Acuff's Blog, page 39

This was an accident.

I never meant to be an entrepreneur.

Sometimes you meet people who always knew they would run their own businesses.

“I had a company when I was 13! We sold mollusks. I had a business when I was 5. I had a home based business when I was in the womb too! I was a fetus-based business!”

I was not one of these people.

I started freelancing, in part, because author Jim Collins pointed out something scary. He said that when you have a full time corporate job you think you are safe and secure. The reality is that every egg is in one basket and if you lose the job you lose everything.

That happened to me a few times. One day you’re at work, the next day you’ve been downsized and are carrying a sad office plant in a box to your car.

So I started to freelance write on the side of my job.

One of my clients was a laser hair removal clinic, something I obviously know a lot about. (The key was constantly referencing bathing suit season.) I wrote radio jingles for them and then barber shop quartet songs for a tire company.

It wasn’t glamorous, but something happened to me.

I fell in the love with the faucet.

What’s the faucet? It’s the magical spigot of money and freedom you get to turn on when you freelance. When you work a standard job, you can’t decide that this week you want to make $1,000 extra. Sales teams can, but even they don’t have complete freedom.

When I freelanced though, if we wanted to take a vacation, I could turn the faucet on and accept more clients that month. More clients meant more money which mean more freedom.

Ten years later, I’m still in love with that simple idea.

If you work hard, if you are smart, you can make a lot of money and have a lot of fun being an entrepreneur.

After years of freelance, I became a full time entrepreneur. Over the last three years, I’ve learned a few things.

I learned a simple trick that had a 17 to 1 return. I invested $1 and made $17. Insane.

I learned how to build a social media platform reaching millions without being annoying.

I learned how to communicate exactly what I do, boiling it down to just five words.

I learned how to hire designers and developers.

I learned why an assistant is critical to your success.

I learned why being ashamed of success is dumb an expensive.

I learned how to take care of customers.

I learned how to say no to friends who wanted me to work for free.

I learned how to take 5 weeks off in and not freak out that my business would implode.

I learned how to dream as a couple without having the business destroy my marriage.

If any of those things sound interesting to you, I invite you to join the 90 Days of Business Hustle.

For 90 days, you, me and hundreds of entrepreneurs from around the world are going to learn how to make more money and have more fun.

I’ll walk you step by step through the techniques I used to triple my salary, double my vacation and quadruple my fun.

There are a billion entrepreneur resources online. They tell you things like “You gotta grind 24/7” and “You can sleep when you’re dead” or “Treat every friend like a possible sale.” Ugh.

You don’t have to be annoying to be an entrepreneur. You don’t have to be cheesy. And you don’t have to burnout.

If you’ve got a business, part time or full, check this video course out.

If you’re a writer, don’t forget, you’re an entrepreneur too. If you don’t sell books, you don’t get to write books.

If you haven’t even started a business yet but just want to make sure you build a solid foundation, this is for you.

The early bird rate ends Friday. To get the lowest price on the best 90 Day Business Course, sign up here.

If you don’t love it, I’ll give you a full refund.

There is a faucet and it’s really fun.

Ready?

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The #1 reason you better be at least a little weird.

I bet you can’t guess what I did right before writing this?

Is your guess “lifting weights” because I’m huge?

I appreciate that, but that’s not what I was doing.

Prior to sitting down to write this short blog post, I was watching clips of the best blind auditions on the show “The Voice.” (Did you know Keith Urban is a judge on the Australian version of the Voice? That felt like he was cheating on American Idol.)

Why was I doing that?

Because I needed to get inspired to write.

I spent the day I wrote this flying from Nashville to Philadelphia and then driving to Lancaster. It was a dreary, grey day and writing is the last thing I wanted to do.

So, I went to my old standby for a quick hit of inspiration, Voice auditions.

I don’t just watch the US versions either. I watch every country. I’m like the Pitbull of YouTube Voice clips. Call me Mr. Worldwide!

Is that weird?

It is.

So is watching the, “How you do you like dem apples” scene in Good Will Hunting. So is listening to Guns n’ Roses when you don’t feel like finishing a run.

I do a lot of weird things, but here’s a secret. They work.

Getting motivated isn’t a science. It’s an art, a messy art.

On any given day, there are about a billion things that can bring you down.

Quarterly taxes.

Arguing about politics.

Internet trolls.

Your bank account.

That sound your car started making that you pretended was just other cars near you but you can no longer deny it.

The list goes on and on. Demotivators, not technically a word which in and of itself bums me out, don’t play fair. Why should we?

So do something weird until you get your hype back.

The truth is, it’s not weird if it works.

In a few days, I’m going to launch the next round of the 30 Days of Hustle video challenge. Is it weird? I guess. Maybe hustling on your goal with a community of people from around the world who support you is weird, but it works. More than 5,000 people just like you have already used to it lose weight, start businesses, write books, declutter their houses and much more.

Sign up for the early list to get the lowest rate possible.

Don’t be average.

Be weird.

It’s a lot more fun.

Don’t be average. Be weird. It’s a lot more fun.
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Play big, even if you’re small.

Musicians that play festivals quickly know where they stand in the world.

If your name is at the top of the poster in large font, things are going well.

If your name is at the bottom in small font, you are an up and comer.

Take the poster for the Pilgrimage Festival in my hometown.

There are multiple font sizes here.

Daryl Hall is the largest.

Anderson East is smaller.

Ralph’s World is the smallest.

There’s a temptation to think that small font is bad and big font is good, but that’s just not true.

Regardless of your font, you have one job, to rock hard.

Whether you’re microscopic or larger than life, you better bring every bit of you to that gig.

Your business might not be blowing up right now.

Your book might not be jumping off the shelf.

Your online store might feel quiet.

That’s alright, you’re just in the land of small fonts.

Me too.

I was briefly a bigger font when I worked with Dave Ramsey. He generously shared his platform with me and for a minute I had a bit of big font experienced.

I am a small font now. I am an entrepreneur. I am in the same trenches you are.

I love it.

I’m going to rock my small font so hard.

I’m going wear my tiny font like a tiny little badge.

I’m not going to ever shy away from the small moments.

Will I be a big font someday?

Will you?

I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not.

I’m not sure if it matters.

You’ve got to play big, even if you’re small right now.

You’ve got to play big, even if you’re small right now.
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The font doesn’t get to determine how I work.

I do.

And I choose loud.

I choose hustle.

I choose to act big even if the font says I’m small. For now.

P.S. I’m starting something new for entrepreneurs like us. Sign up here to be the first to know when it launches.

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The one sentence secret to loving your job.

According to Gallup, 70% of people are disengaged at work. That is crazy, because loving your job is not complicated.

Here’s all it takes:

Find something you love doing so much you’d do it for free and then get so good at it that people pay you for it.

That’s it.

If you do that, you will never dread another Monday again. I promise.

How do you do that? Read this.

Find something you love so much you’d do it for free. Then get so good at it that people pay you.
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17 reasons you should get a 2017 Do Over Calendar

I’m so excited to be partnering with NeuYear wall calendars again this year to offer the 2017 Do Over wall calendar!

Why do I think you should get one too? I’ve got 17 reasons, thanks for asking!

1. The Do Over Calendar is big and beautiful. 36” tall x 25” wide in tall orientation.

2. The Do Over Calendar is reversible. If you turn it over to wide orientation, it’s 36” wide x 25” tall.

3. The Do Over Calendar will never share its political opinions on Facebook.

4. The Do Over Calendar features no space between months so you can easily plan across months and see the distance/days between any two dates in the year.

5. The Do Over Calendar is recommended by 4 out of 5 dentists.

6. The Do Over Calendar is also recommended by 4 out of 5 chimney sweeps, 4 out of 5 assistants to the regional manager, and 5 out of 5 falconers. (Falconers are ALL IN on the Do Over Calendar.)

7. The Do Over Calendar comes in two versions. Traditional Paper and Dry Erase.

8. You can put your Do Over Calendar up on the wall or you can mount it on foam core (like I do) and use it as a portable planner that you can take room to room.

9. The Do Over Calendar will never attack you in your sleep. No other wall calendar on the market makes that claim.

10. Studies show that planning WHEN and WHERE you work on your goals DOUBLES the chances that you’ll achieve them. The Do Over Calendar helps you do that.

11. The Do Over Calendar has never made an inappropriate Harambe joke.

12. Awesome years happen when you start with awesome plans. There is no better tool to make those awesome plans with than the Do Over Calendar.

13. The Do Over Calendar has 12 challenging/encouraging statements on it designed to help slingshot you into a great month of dreaming and doing.

14. The Do Over Calendar comes with a 100% guarantee against malware, viruses, and crashing. What’s more amazing, when the internet goes down your Do Over Calendar still works.

15. When you can’t make time for what matters, you need to take time away from something that doesn’t. (Less Netflix = more hustle.) By planning your days and weeks ahead of time, the Do Over Calendar helps you do that.

16. The Do Over Calendar contains no gluten, GMOs, sugar, or calories.

17. The Do Over Calendar won’t be available forever. Now is the perfect time to pick one up for you, your friend, your family, or your business.

Over the last six years, no tool has helped me plot adventures, keep commitments, and finish projects like this wall calendar.

It truly has become an integral part of my creative process and I can’t recommend them highly enough.

Get yours today: The 2017 Do Over Calendar

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How to say no to friends who want you to work for free.

A few weeks ago, my friend who is an interior designer asked me a question.

“How do you say no to friends who want you to work for free without hurting the relationship?”

It’s an interesting question because it happens to so many people.

If you’re a photographer, designer, developer, writer, personal trainer, doctor, mechanic, hair stylist, lawyer, illustrator or a billion other professions, friends are going to ask you to work for free.

I even know homeschool parents who get asked to babysit during the day because “You’re home already.” Sometimes, people describe the request as a “playdate.” Wouldn’t it be amazing if my kids played at your house for 6 hours?

It usually starts with an email like this:

“Hey, sorry to bother you, but I need your opinion on something. I need a quick logo. It should only take you a few minutes. You could probably knock it out in your sleep. Is that something you could help me with? I love your style!”

There are a few telltale signs:

1. The promise that it will be “quick.” If someone says “I just need you to tweak it,” run.

2. “Help me” is often code for “give me for free.”

3. There’s usually at least one compliment to soften you up a bit.

Sometimes, they will promise you “great exposure” or that they will split the future profits of the project with you. Or they will offer to barter something you didn’t want or need. “You take my photos and I’ll let you have one of the ferret pups we have after ferret breeding season is over.” (I just tried to think of the worst barter I could imagine and that’s what I came up with.)

The email you receive might be different, but regardless of how the request is made, how do you handle it?

My old method was to say yes out of guilt and then do the work filled with pure, white hot rage. My words said, “Sure, no problem!” but my face said, “I would kill you in my sleep if I owned a good pair of gloves.”

After years of doing that, I came with a really simple plan. It has two parts.

The first thing you say when someone asks you to do some work for free is, “What’s your budget?”

This question works because it introduces money into the equation without being offensive. Instead of saying, “Well, my hourly rate is $250” which puts your friend on the defensive, you respond with a question.

The question helps your friend remember that you’re a professional. It quietly introduces the idea that you do this for a living. It reminds them that this is your job, not just a passion. We’re not just talking a hobby. People sometimes get confused by this because for them, quilting is a hobby so why shouldn’t it be the same for you?

If you don’t think the question is going to be enough, do what my friend Cliff Nowicki does, and send them a survey. Put together 10 project-related questions, one of which is the budget, and fire them off a survey.

Two things are going to happen in this moment:

1. They will tell you their budget.

2. They will tell you they don’t have a budget.

If they tell you their budget, great. Proceed as you wish if the money makes sense.

More than likely though, they’re going to tell you they don’t have any money.

If this is something you want to do, then by all means, donate your time and expertise. I love that you can use your talents that way and think you should support your church, non-profit or family as often as you can.

But, what do you say if you don’t want to do it?

Here is exactly how you respond:

“In order to honor and fulfill the commitment I’ve made to my paying clients, I can’t take on any pro bono right now. I love doing it when I can, but I don’t have the time.”

They’re not just asking you to give them something for free. If you take time away from your paying clients to work on your free clients you’re actually stealing from the people who pay you. That’s terrible. That’s how small entrepreneurs like us go out of business.

Saying yes to the wrong thing is one of the most expensive things you can do.

Saying yes to the wrong thing is one of the most expensive things you can do.
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Upon hearing this from you, a good friend will recognize what they asked you and will say, “Thanks for considering it.” A fake friend will not care that you are too busy and will try to shame you into helping them.

Don’t.

You do the friendship more damage when you let shame turn your no into a yes.

And the bigger issue is that friends should pay full price. Why should we expect a stranger to treat us well and pay our fee? Our friends should pay us the most. They should over tip! The people who love you should not try to discount your ability. It’s actually the reverse.

Don’t give up your talent, time and energy unless you want to.

Care about your craft enough to charge for it.

P.S. I wrote a New York Times Bestselling book about being so awesome you can get paid for your passion. You should read it.

Care about your craft enough to charge for it.
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The best decision I’ve made in the last 3 years

Over the years people have asked me whether or not I’ll ever offer any coaching, and to this point, the answer has always been ‘no.’

It’s just not something I’ve been able to figure out how to do in a way that makes sense for me and provides incredible value for you.

That is, until now.

My team and I have gotten creative with our upcoming launch of the 30 Days of Hustle Challenge and we’ve added an ALL ACCESS level that comes with unprecedented access to me as a coach as you go through the 30 days.

What changed?

I hired a coach for myself.

And though it hasn’t even been a year yet, I already know that it’s the best decision I’ve made in the last 3 years.

Seriously. I dragged my feet forever on this one, but for me, having someone guiding me as been invaluable!

Now, I know it’s not for everyone.

If you barely have margin in your life to hustle on a dream right now, the QUICK ACCESS level ($67) might be right for you. Or if you’re not sure about a coach, but you would love to have a community of support surrounding you, the PREMIER ACCESS level ($97) might be exactly what you’re looking for.

But if you’ve ever been interested in coaching, don’t miss this chance. Coaching normally costs thousands of dollars, but the ALL ACCESS level of the 30 Days of Hustle Challenge is only $197. You get access to a secret Periscope account, entry into a private Facebook Group JUST for the people I’m coaching, and you get a free 2017 NeuYear wall calendar. (For everything else that comes with it, click here.)

We’re closing the doors on the 30 Days of Hustle tomorrow night for the rest of the year, so don’t miss this offer. I’m not sure if I’ll do coaching like this ever again, so this is your chance to be a part of something that should be a lot of fun.

Get more info and join here: The 30 Days of Hustle

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2 things I know about you.

There are two things I know about you:

You are capable of more than you think.
It will take more work than you think.

I know the first one because this has been true of everyone I’ve ever met. We are the worst judges of what we are capable of. Everyone I’ve met had another gear, a deeper level, a bigger goal than they knew initially.

I know the second one because anything worth having takes hustling. Books aren’t easy. Businesses aren’t easy. Diets aren’t easy.

Anything worth having, takes hustling.
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The good stuff is always the hard stuff.

But, that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun.

Writing “The end” on a book you finished is fun.

Crossing the finish line at a race is fun.

Throwing away the last bag of clutter from your house is fun.

I don’t like most self help books because they over stress how capable you are and under stress how much you’ll have to work. They fill your head with promises that the universe will conspire to help you and rainbows will anoint you if you only believe and unicorns will laugh jelly beans directly into your mouth. Nonsense.

I don’t like most business books because they spend too much time talking about how much work it will take to accomplish anything. They’re heavy on the practical and low on the inspirational. There’s no hope to fuel you through the pain of the process.

You’ve got to have both or your goal will flat line on the table.

The 30 Days of Hustle Challenge does and sign up ends in less than 72 hours. Not only is it 30 days of awesome video content from me, it’s also time proven, results based and backed with a full money back guarantee.

You’re capable of more than you think.

It’s going to take more work than you think.

If you’re ready to hustle on both, sign up today.

 

 

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My new favorite candy and my new favorite stat.

There’s still a few months left in 2016, but I can already tell you two of my favorite things that I’ll always remember about this year.

One – I discovered Hi-Chew. It’s my new favorite candy, and there’s not really a close second. It’s approximately 1 million times better than Starburst.

I don’t like to exaggerate so I’ll just say it’s “life changing” and we can move on.

Two – I had a researcher from the University of Memphis ask me if he could do scientific research on the 30 Days of Hustle Challenge!

I said “yes,” of course, and his results confirmed what I already knew because of all of the success stories I’ve heard from you over the past year: The 30 Days of Hustle Challenge works!

Two stats stuck out from his findings:

People who went through the 30 Days of Hustle Challenge increased their chances of achieving their goals by 27% over people who went through other goal programs.

And this, which is my favorite new stat (the “Hi-Chew of stats”, if you will):

People who completed Day 9 of the 30 Days of Hustle Challenge increased their chances of achieving their goals by 52% over people who went through other goal programs.

WHOA.

What’s Day 9? Come find out with me and hundreds of other hustlers why this day alone increases your chances of success by so much!

I hope you join us for the 30 Days of Hustle Challenge, which is available for the first time ever in 3 ACCESS LEVELS!

QUICK ACCESS

This level comes with the beautifully designed 30 Days of Hustle PDF workbook, 30 videos for 30 days of step-by-step goal setting, a checklist to chart your progress through the Challenge, and daily email reminders to keep you inspired and focused. It’s perfect for the busy person who doesn’t have much time to add anything else into their life.

PREMIER ACCESS

This level comes with everything in QUICK ACCESS plus access to a private Facebook community, a brand new “Amplify Your Results” video I just recorded to help you make the most of the Challenge, and a “Make it Through the Middle” webinar that will help you fight through the dip as you work your way through the Challenge. (Want a supportive community of hundreds of people from around the world who will cheer you on? Pick this one!)

ALL ACCESS

This level gets you everything in the PREMIER ACCESS level plus an All Access Periscope account where I will provide personal guidance throughout the challenge. You’ll also get an additional All Access Q&A webinar AND a free, huge 2017 NeuYear Wall Calendar. This is an unprecedented level of bonuses and access, and I can’t tell you how excited I am to connect with some of you on this ALL ACCESS level.

It’s easier than ever to connect to the 30 Days of Hustle in a way that works for you, but registration closes for the year on Friday, so you have to act this week.

If you only do two new things this year, I hope you try Hi-Chew for the first time, and I hope you join the 1,000 other people who have already signed up for this last 30 Days of Hustle Challenge in 2016.

Get more info and sign up here: The 30 Days of Hustle Challenge

I can’t wait to see what you’re going to do with the rest of 2016.

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Dear person going to a job you don’t love on Monday.

I don’t remember if I was crying, but I probably wasn’t.

I wasn’t sad. I was angry.

Sitting there in that dark car in that dark parking lot, I was mad about what I had to do next. After fighting Atlanta traffic for another soul crushing hour, I was about to go to my job.

I felt invisible. I’d rage inside about all things I was going to do some day. I’d metaphorically shake my hands about all the potential I had. I was going to write a book! I was going to do big things. I was going to …nothing.

That’s what was happening, a whole bunch of nothing.

It felt like I was wearing rollerskates on an ice skating rink. I was flapping around furiously, expending tons of energy, but not actually getting anywhere.

When I was 9, I promised myself I’d write a book someday. At 34, I’d spent 25 years lying. No book. No plan. No hope.

I had a full time job. I had a long commute. I had a beautiful wife and two young kids under the age of 5. Toddlers are amazing, but they are also a crisis. They never stop moving, like raptors constantly testing the boundaries of their containment for weak spots. Your life is upside down when you have young kids. I also had freelance clients. I had bills and mortgages and all the things that come along with being an adult.

I didn’t have time, space or the resources for a big dream. I just didn’t.

There wasn’t a eureka moment. Maybe other people have them. Maybe other people get lightning bolts or wise old strangers named Cornelius with long beards and corn cob pipes they’ve whittled. They come across your life, drop off some truth bomb and then recede to the shadows never to be seen again.

That’s not exactly how it happened for me.

There’s not one moment where everything changed, one bit of progress that made everything different.

It was nothing more than tiny, tiny bits of hustle.

That’s all I had.

I started with goals so small they were practically microscopic.

I couldn’t write a book over night, but I could write a blog post this morning.

I couldn’t pay off our mortgage right now, but I could work on our car loan.

I couldn’t run away to a mythical writer’s cabin for a weekend of writing, but I could get up 30 minutes before everyone else did and hustle.

Bit by bit, goal by goal, I started to chip away at the marble of my life to see what was really inside.

It wasn’t easy, but I figured out a few things. I figured out a few tricks along the way. I found some potholes, mostly by falling in them, and learned to avoid others.

Six years later, I don’t cry in the car anymore. (At least not over my broken goals. The suspension of Tom Brady still has me misty eyed.)

In the space between that morning in the car and this morning as I write this, I’ve published five books, two of which hit the New York Times Bestseller’s list. I’ve traveled the country sharing ideas as a public speaker. I started my own company and gave myself 8 weeks of vacation because awesome.

It hasn’t been perfect. I’ve failed more than I’ve succeeded, but perfect’s not the point.

The point is I tried. I got out of the car and got into my goals. I got messy and I worked.

Is that you? Are you in a car somewhere? Or a cubicle somewhere or a car rider pick up line right now reading this?

What are the things you want to do someday that you could start today?

The goals we ignore don’t disappear. They become ghosts, haunting the quiet moments of our life. In the shower, in the 30 seconds at a light when you’re not staring at your phone, they show up and they are not silent. They whisper to you. They say:

Remember, you said you were going to start a business?

Remember that book you wanted to write?

Remember you wanted to be in shape?

Do you remember?

I bet you do.

I know you do.

How?

Because I spent the last year working with thousands of people on goals just like yours.

I took the steps I used to get out of that car and onto a bookshelf in a bookstore and created a 30-day challenge. It’s called the 30 Days of Hustle. The concept is simple. I help you pick a goal you care about and then I walk you through 30 days of video exercises.

There are a million online courses and challenges, but here’s why this one is different, it actually works.

We had an independent researcher working on his Phd in personal development test the results of people who use the materials. Here’s what he found:

People who did the challenge are 28% more successful than other programs.

People who do day 9 are 52% more successful than other programs.

Those two numbers are insane to me, but what’s even crazier is putting off your goal for one more day or one more week or one more year.

It’s scary to try, it is. There’s a false comfort to hoping but never acting. You get to pretend that someday you’ll do it. You get to imagine that you could if you really wanted to. But you’ll never know unless you try.

The only thing scarier than trying and failing is not trying and living with “what if?”
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If you want some help, if you want some support, if you want some encouragement, this is your chance.

This is the last 30 Days of Hustle of 2016. Signup ends this Friday night. You only have a few days left to join the 1,000 people from around the world who have already joined.

We made it even easier to get involved with three different access levels.

Don’t stay in the car and wonder what if.

Get out.

Get going.

Join the 30 Days of Hustle.

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