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Chasing Dreams in a Minivan (with Zech Newman) · The Daily Writer

0:01
SPEAKER_00: A dream is like a knife.
0:03
SPEAKER_00: It's extremely powerful when you use it the right way, but if you're careless with it, you can do a lot of harm to yourself and others.
0:10
SPEAKER_00: Today's guest helps us view our dreams in the correct light so we can chase them in a God honoring way that blesses our families and brings more value into the world.
0:19
SPEAKER_00: So stick around, it's gonna be a great episode.
0:31
SPEAKER_00: Hey friends, welcome to the Born to Create Podcast.
0:34
SPEAKER_00: My name is Kent Sanders, and I'm an author and professor.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: This is the show where we explore the mindset, habits, and principles to help you make a bigger impact in your life and creative work.
0:45
SPEAKER_00: I'm excited today to be speaking with Zach Newman.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: He's a husband, father of three children, entrepreneur, author of Chasing Dreams in a Minivan, and a serial dreamer.
0:56
SPEAKER_00: Zach teaches others to chase their goals and dreams in a healthy way.
1:00
SPEAKER_00: On this episode, we focus on how to chase your dream in the correct way.
1:04
SPEAKER_00: Let's face it, a lot of people who are, quote, successful end up losing their families, and you definitely don't want that to happen to you.
1:12
SPEAKER_00: You'll learn how to develop good habits, how to make your family a priority, and how to use your writing skills to expand your platform.
1:19
SPEAKER_00: Zach shares a massive amount of practical wisdom in this episode, and you'll benefit from it no matter what type of creative work you do.
1:26
SPEAKER_00: I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did, and if you want to take a deeper dive after the episode is over, be sure to check out our show notes at KentSanders.net slash minivan.
1:37
SPEAKER_00: That's KentSanders.net slash minivan.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm here on Skype with my friend Zach Newman.
1:47
SPEAKER_00: So Zach, welcome to the podcast.
1:48
SPEAKER_00: Glad to have you.
1:49
SPEAKER_04: Thanks for having me, Kent.
1:51
SPEAKER_00: So you are just now coming out with a book called Chasing Dreams in a Minivan, which by the way is an awesome title, and I love the title and the cover.
2:00
SPEAKER_00: Can you share with us a little bit why you wrote this book?
2:02
SPEAKER_00: What what was the reason behind it and what are you hoping to accomplish with it?
2:07
SPEAKER_04: Sure.
2:08
SPEAKER_04: The reason behind it is disillusionment with my own dreams.
2:11
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
2:11
SPEAKER_00: You're really honest.
2:13
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
2:14
SPEAKER_04: I was chasing my dreams in a way that uh I was miserable.
2:19
SPEAKER_04: My wife hated my dream.
2:21
SPEAKER_04: Um my kids probably hated my dream.
2:23
SPEAKER_04: They couldn't really speak at that time of misery because they're one and two or three.
2:29
SPEAKER_04: Uh so just learning to speak.
2:31
SPEAKER_04: But everyone hated my dream, including me.
2:33
SPEAKER_04: And I thought this is not the way God intended it.
2:36
SPEAKER_04: So what would it look like if I was chasing a dream in a manner that honored God and uh my family liked.
2:42
SPEAKER_00: Now, can you drill down on that little bit?
2:44
SPEAKER_00: What do you what specific dream are you talking about?
2:47
SPEAKER_04: Sure.
2:48
SPEAKER_04: Uh for me it was um I wanted to transfer into the online space.
2:53
SPEAKER_04: So I wanted to write, and my idea at the time was four-hour work week uh by Tim Ferriss.
2:59
SPEAKER_04: So let's create let's yeah, let's create something that uh I never have to work, uh, make uh millions of Benjamins and um am all touristic also at the same time and self self-sacrificing everyone else.
3:11
SPEAKER_04: That was my dream.
3:12
SPEAKER_04: Uh it sounded selfless, but it was very selfish.
3:16
SPEAKER_04: Um I just didn't want to work and I wanted lots of money.
3:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
3:20
SPEAKER_00: Well, I think we would all like that on some level.
3:22
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
3:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I've heard lots of jokes about the four-hour work week over the years about wow, it must be really nice to just work four hours a week.
3:29
SPEAKER_00: And of course, Tim Ferris doesn't actually do that, but the concept is interesting for sure.
3:35
SPEAKER_04: I love the concepts, and it's actually a lot of the concepts have helped me.
3:38
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah, once I came back to reality of what it really would look like in my life.
3:44
SPEAKER_00: So when we're looking at the dreams that we want to accomplish in our life, and we were talking about this a second ago before I hit record on this.
3:51
SPEAKER_00: And you know, this is a question that there's really no clear answer to, but how in your life has have you processed the idea of whether to know whether a dream is legitimate or not?
4:02
SPEAKER_00: How do we know if it's honoring God or not honoring God?
4:05
SPEAKER_00: Or is there a way to even know that?
4:07
SPEAKER_04: Sure.
4:08
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I think there's there is some ways.
4:10
SPEAKER_04: So the Bible obviously gives us a lot of answers.
4:13
SPEAKER_04: And if we're chasing in a dream that doesn't match up with biblical context, the general will of God, uh, that's pretty obvious that we're doing the wrong things.
4:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, very true.
4:23
SPEAKER_04: But then there's the specific will for our life where the Holy Spirit is speaking to our to us.
4:29
SPEAKER_04: That is where to me it's fuzzy and it's not answerable.
4:34
SPEAKER_04: And so I at one time thought that I would have this aha moment.
4:40
SPEAKER_04: Um, and to me, I drum it up because like Morgan Freeman would speak to me.
4:44
SPEAKER_04: I mean, that's what God sounds like.
4:45
SPEAKER_04: I've heard it enough in movies.
4:47
SPEAKER_04: Um and angels would sing, and it would just be this clarification in my life that this is what I'm meant to do.
4:54
SPEAKER_04: And I think that's the uh naive stance of a dream that's from God that we come up with in our mind.
5:01
SPEAKER_04: But for me in my life, what it's been like is trial and error.
5:04
SPEAKER_04: Um walking down a path, and I think this is where God is taking me.
5:08
SPEAKER_04: I'm not sure though.
5:10
SPEAKER_04: See, doubt is required for faith.
5:12
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
5:12
SPEAKER_04: And I don't think we talk about that enough.
5:15
SPEAKER_00: Boy, that's really true, especially in the Christian community, it's it's not seen as something admirable to talk about your doubt.
5:21
SPEAKER_00: You know, we talk about faith a lot, but then if you admit that you doubt or aren't sure about something, that's usually seen as a bad thing.
5:28
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I'm still figuring out what God has for me.
5:33
SPEAKER_04: And I think that happens till the moment I die.
5:35
SPEAKER_00: I hope so.
5:36
SPEAKER_00: You know, I I don't think we we want to be those people who are always sure of something and you know you you're never open to different direction or correction or something like that from God.
5:48
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
5:49
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
5:50
SPEAKER_04: Totally true.
5:51
SPEAKER_00: So you wrote this book specifically for men, you know, specifically for fathers who are chasing dreams and have families, but what would you say to the women who are listening?
6:00
SPEAKER_00: Would you say your book also applies equally to women who are chasing their dreams and have families?
6:05
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe women who don't have families at all.
6:07
SPEAKER_00: They're single, uh, maybe they're empty nesters, uh, women in different stages of their lives?
6:12
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I do.
6:14
SPEAKER_04: In fact, I I think at the end I put for women the women who tolerate them.
6:18
SPEAKER_04: Uh so for men with big things.
6:19
SPEAKER_04: Which I love that tagline.
6:22
SPEAKER_04: Uh but yes, there are some some chapters uh that are specific for men, uh because I don't view the roles for men and women to be exactly the same.
6:33
SPEAKER_04: Uh and so I believe in equality but not equal gifting or what we are supposed to do.
6:39
SPEAKER_04: So there's a whole section on what leaders what a man is called to in the Bible and how that relates to our family and dreams.
6:46
SPEAKER_04: That would be the only chapter that's not going to be too helpful if you're a woman.
6:50
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's right.
6:52
SPEAKER_04: Or maybe it is.
6:53
SPEAKER_04: I don't know.
6:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, I would really encourage everybody to just check it out and I think it's it's a book that is applicable to a lot of different people in different stages of life, even though you wrote it for specifically kind of men in a certain well, where you are in life, you know, running a business, chasing dreams, have kids at home.
7:11
SPEAKER_00: But I also think there's so much good stuff in there for people who are not in that specific stage of life.
7:16
SPEAKER_00: So congrats on writing a book that is for a specific audience, but also can be applied to a lot of different people.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: I think that that takes a lot of work and a lot of forethought.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: So you did a good job with that.
7:26
SPEAKER_04: Thanks, Ken.
7:28
SPEAKER_00: So what would you say to uh perhaps uh a a couple or a family where okay, the husband has his dreams that they want to chase, they have things they want to see accomplished, but the wife also has some really specific ambitions or goals that she wants to accomplish.
7:43
SPEAKER_00: Is there a way that that those things can be merged or that you can have harmony in in a marriage or relationship where people are chasing maybe two different sets of dreams?
7:53
SPEAKER_04: Sure.
7:54
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
7:54
SPEAKER_04: My wife and I, some of our dreams are the same.
7:57
SPEAKER_04: Uh for our kids, our dreams are the same.
7:59
SPEAKER_00: Well, we hope so.
8:00
SPEAKER_04: What yeah, what we're trying to develop, yeah, hopefully.
8:02
SPEAKER_04: Otherwise, that's lots of arguments.
8:04
SPEAKER_04: Uh but we're not 100% the same on our finances and our dreams for our financial lives.
8:12
SPEAKER_04: Uh we're not 100% the same uh for dreams vocationally.
8:16
SPEAKER_04: My wife's a teacher.
8:18
SPEAKER_04: Uh I could never teach in the in the school system.
8:22
SPEAKER_04: Props to you, kid.
8:23
SPEAKER_00: Um but uh I do college kids, so that's a little different.
8:27
SPEAKER_00: But uh I did substitute teach for for a couple semesters just on and off uh a few years ago, and man, my respect level for public school teachers went through the roof.
8:36
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I don't They are heroes.
8:38
SPEAKER_04: I helped in her class once.
8:40
SPEAKER_04: It was a train wreck, I was exhausted at the end of the day.
8:42
SPEAKER_04: I know.
8:43
SPEAKER_04: But yeah, that is the thing.
8:45
SPEAKER_04: When we care so much about our dream, sometimes in the marriage relationship we want our our spouse to care as much about our dream as we do.
8:54
SPEAKER_04: That is unrealistic.
8:56
SPEAKER_04: They have their own dreams and their own wants and owns desires, and we need to honor that on our way.
9:02
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
9:04
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
9:05
SPEAKER_00: So you said something right at the beginning of the book that really struck me, and I knew this was gonna be a book that kind of socked me I was gonna say you socked me right between the eyes, but I would say more accurately, it really socked me in the gut.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like a gut punch.
9:19
SPEAKER_00: So right in in the dedication, before you even got into the book, you said, and this was to your kids, you said, Daddy loves you more than he loves his dreams.
9:27
SPEAKER_00: And I love that statement.
9:28
SPEAKER_00: It was so beautiful and so powerful.
9:30
SPEAKER_00: Why do you think that so many kids think that their dad loves their dreams more than he loves their kids?
9:37
SPEAKER_04: Alright, now you're getting me emotional.
9:40
SPEAKER_04: Sorry about that.
9:41
SPEAKER_04: No, no.
9:42
SPEAKER_04: Um that's my heart cry.
9:46
SPEAKER_04: I'd never want my family to think that my business, that my dreams, that those things are more important than than uh they are.
9:55
SPEAKER_04: But unfortunately, there's times in my life that that hasn't been true.
10:00
SPEAKER_04: And it's because though we would say we love our families more than our dreams, uh, does our time show that?
10:07
SPEAKER_04: Does my focus show that?
10:09
SPEAKER_04: Do those things because sometimes they don't.
10:11
SPEAKER_04: And really, this hit me six years ago.
10:15
SPEAKER_04: Uh I owned two pizza restaurants.
10:17
SPEAKER_04: I was wrapping up coupons to send out uh to to my customers to drum up business, create more money.
10:26
SPEAKER_04: And my oldest uh started crying and I said, What's going on?
10:31
SPEAKER_04: And as she said, Well, you're gonna get busy and I won't see you.
10:36
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
10:37
SPEAKER_04: And so even at she was only four and she's correlating what that was meaning.
10:43
SPEAKER_04: And so that was a big change moment in my life where it's like, never again.
10:47
SPEAKER_04: And there's times where business has had to come first because uh I like a roof over my head.
10:52
SPEAKER_00: Yes, and our families do as well.
10:55
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, but but uh I want to be all in with my family more than my dreams, and I want those actions and the money I spend and all the things to show that.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: So another quote from the books that I really liked, and there was many of them, and I I wish we had time to well, I would probably just have to narrate the whole book to like say I like the whole thing.
11:14
SPEAKER_00: But you said something else that I really liked, and you said you can achieve your dream by changing the way you think, the way you work, and the way you deal with your plate full of responsibilities.
11:25
SPEAKER_00: Can you flesh this out for us a little bit uh particularly about changing the way that we think and work?
11:30
SPEAKER_00: What does that mean in practical terms?
11:32
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I think if we're honest, the way we pursue our dreams a lot of times was is life is miserable now, but when I reach the apex of my dream, then everything that was once wrong in this world will now be right.
11:48
SPEAKER_04: And that is not reality.
11:50
SPEAKER_04: I have never seen that true in anyone's life I know that have reached mountaintops of dreams.
11:55
SPEAKER_04: And so I think that's one of the big thinking m the lies of the enemy is that is that that will be the case.
12:02
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
12:03
SPEAKER_04: And that once I d once I reach the dream, then I just check out.
12:08
SPEAKER_04: I I believe if we reach the dream that's in our heart and mind, God will just give us a new one, a new dream, a new thing.
12:15
SPEAKER_00: Boy, that's a great point because isn't that sort of the the Western concept of retirement a little bit where you work really hard and you're miserable for decades and then you can kind of relax, which you know, is not really true.
12:27
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I've I've seen a lot of retired people in my life, and many times they're either really miserable or they just get busy with a new dream.
12:34
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's kind of like w once you just relax and kind of say, I don't have any more goals left in life, right?
12:40
SPEAKER_00: I don't have anywhere else to go, then that's almost like a point of decline in a way.
12:46
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, the Hebrew language actually had to come up with a word for retirement within the within the last fifty years.
12:53
SPEAKER_04: So I don't think that's the way we're designed.
12:56
SPEAKER_04: Um that's not God's plan for our life.
12:59
SPEAKER_04: I mean, reach an age and then just check out.
13:03
SPEAKER_04: Um, especially as a young guy, I'm 37.
13:06
SPEAKER_04: Uh people that are retired, I want to talk to you, I want to gain your wisdom.
13:10
SPEAKER_04: Please pour into me.
13:12
SPEAKER_04: And so uh we may retire from a paid vocation, but hopefully never from a vocation God's calling us to.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: Boy, hope not.
13:22
SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't want to be one of those people that you know retires at a certain age and then they just sort of wither away.
13:26
SPEAKER_00: That's that's kind of terrible to think about.
13:30
SPEAKER_04: No, no.
13:30
SPEAKER_04: And luckily for me and my family, that hasn't been mild for me.
13:33
SPEAKER_04: My dad's 65, he just opened up a new restaurant, new concept to him, and he's still dreaming.
13:39
SPEAKER_04: And uh I want that legacy.
13:41
SPEAKER_04: Uh I want to do what he's doing.
13:44
SPEAKER_00: One of the concepts from the book that I really liked is this idea of, as you say it, turtle up.
13:50
SPEAKER_00: What do you mean by turtling up?
13:53
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, well, I'm a Ninja Turtle freak.
13:56
SPEAKER_04: Uh I I loved them growing up.
13:57
SPEAKER_04: I wasn't allowed to watch them, so anything I can see through Ninja Turtles, you know, I will.
14:03
SPEAKER_04: But uh it's that idea of slow, steady steps, day after day.
14:08
SPEAKER_04: Uh Arnold Schwarzenegger didn't get yoked by one twenty-four-hour period at the gym.
14:14
SPEAKER_03: That's true.
14:15
SPEAKER_04: Um it was day after day, day after day, maybe a little juice, I'm not sure.
14:19
SPEAKER_04: Uh but it was consistency over time.
14:24
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and that's what we're supposed to be like with our dreams.
14:27
SPEAKER_04: Um so that's what I mean by that turtle up.
14:31
SPEAKER_00: So give me some examples of how does this work, let's say, in your in an average week for Zach Newman.
14:37
SPEAKER_00: What are some things that you do consistently that you feel like really move the needle for you personally and in your business?
14:42
SPEAKER_00: Either habits or practices or you know, some type of uh ritual that you do in your daily or weekly life?
14:50
SPEAKER_04: Sure.
14:51
SPEAKER_04: So uh I've been waking up earlier and earlier.
14:53
SPEAKER_04: I don't know if that'll continue, but uh I wake up at 4.30.
14:57
SPEAKER_04: That is when I chase uh writing dreams.
15:02
SPEAKER_04: Uh my kids are asleep.
15:04
SPEAKER_04: Uh so I write from 4.30 to 6.30, that's when they wake up, then that gets shut down for the whole day.
15:10
SPEAKER_04: Uh so that's one that I mean that dream that I'm working on right now is that two-hour section when the family's asleep.
15:19
SPEAKER_04: Because when they're awake, they need dad.
15:21
SPEAKER_04: Um so the two habits are that I'm rising before them, that I'm working in a margin when no one's awake, anyways, and that it closes down, and now I'm in dad mode.
15:31
SPEAKER_04: Uh my wife's getting ready for work.
15:33
SPEAKER_04: She has a different dream to teach.
15:35
SPEAKER_04: So um, so I'm doing breakfast and lunches and stuff like that while she's getting ready.
15:41
SPEAKER_04: And then I go into my regular work day.
15:43
SPEAKER_04: That's the time I'm able to be completely 100% selfish.
15:49
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
15:50
SPEAKER_04: So what time do you go to bed then?
15:52
SPEAKER_00: Like are are you getting seven hours of sleep?
15:54
SPEAKER_00: Eight hours, six hours, something like that?
15:56
SPEAKER_04: Seven to eight hours.
15:57
SPEAKER_04: Uh when I start going below seven hours of sleep, uh, no one wants to be around me.
16:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I can relate, I'm the same way.
16:07
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so it doesn't help me when people are uh talking to these some of the uh hustlers out there saying, Oh, I got four hours of sleep.
16:13
SPEAKER_04: I'm just thinking, good night.
16:15
SPEAKER_04: Uh I wouldn't be able to write.
16:16
SPEAKER_04: My brain would be in fog.
16:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you may be really successful, but uh you have no friends or family because you're so irritable all the time.
16:23
SPEAKER_04: That's right.
16:24
SPEAKER_04: That's right.
16:25
SPEAKER_04: That's for sure.
16:26
SPEAKER_00: So how do you discipline yourself to go to bed that early?
16:29
SPEAKER_00: Again, this is I'm just asking it like super practical questions about how to put these kind of things into practice um in your life in a daily basis.
16:37
SPEAKER_04: Sure.
16:38
SPEAKER_04: So it was hard at first.
16:41
SPEAKER_04: Um but once I started waking up early, then I'm tired at night.
16:46
SPEAKER_04: Uh but um my wife teaches, so that that helps me to go to bed early.
16:54
SPEAKER_04: She wouldn't want to stay awake either.
16:57
SPEAKER_04: Um because so here's some practical things.
17:01
SPEAKER_04: One, I set an alarm in the evening and I just started doing it.
17:06
SPEAKER_04: So at nine o'clock, an alarm will go off.
17:09
SPEAKER_04: Well, then I'm choosing, just like in the morning to press snooze, um, I'm choosing to turn that alarm off and do nothing with it.
17:16
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
17:18
SPEAKER_04: Um but I'm awake, so I'm making a conscious choice.
17:22
SPEAKER_04: I also have built up in my mind um great pleasure out of waking up early and great pain out of not.
17:29
SPEAKER_04: So I've written a whole list that I don't have right with me, but that says what I gain from waking up in the morning, who will be impacted, what my writing's gonna do.
17:40
SPEAKER_04: Um, and I also have pain.
17:41
SPEAKER_04: What if I'm not waking up early?
17:43
SPEAKER_04: Or what if I'm not getting sleep?
17:45
SPEAKER_04: What's that gonna mean?
17:46
SPEAKER_04: I'm not gonna be the husband I'm supposed to be, or the father I'm supposed to be.
17:49
SPEAKER_04: I'm not I'm gonna have brain fog.
17:51
SPEAKER_04: Um I'm not gonna give my best where I need to give my best.
17:54
SPEAKER_04: And so I have built up great pain for not going to bed.
17:57
SPEAKER_04: Um, and also great pleasure for doing it.
18:00
SPEAKER_00: So that alarm that you set in the evening, is that an indication that, okay, n that kind of signals to yourself now is the time to start getting ready for bed, like you're you're going through a routine before you go to bed, brushing your teeth or flossing or reading or whatever?
18:13
SPEAKER_04: Yep.
18:14
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I go through a routine.
18:16
SPEAKER_04: So and speaking of routine, I mean, literally for three months, my only goal, uh and this is in the book, was uh it's audacious, crazy goal.
18:25
SPEAKER_04: It was to build the habit of flossing.
18:27
SPEAKER_02: Hmm.
18:28
SPEAKER_04: Interesting.
18:29
SPEAKER_04: That's all it was.
18:30
SPEAKER_04: And so uh I I just because I got tired of the dentist telling me I needed to floss.
18:35
SPEAKER_04: Uh so I uh that's all I worked on for 90 days.
18:40
SPEAKER_04: So that was my first bedtime habit.
18:42
SPEAKER_04: Uh brushing my teeth, okay, then it floss, and it was anchored to that.
18:46
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, then that great pain and great pleasure I was talking about, right before I go to bed, I lie in bed thinking about what I'm gonna write this mor in the morning and how it's gonna impact someone's life.
18:59
SPEAKER_04: That's one of the things I do while I'm laying there right before I go to bed.
19:03
SPEAKER_00: So when you're waking up at 4 30 and you're writing for a couple hours, what walk us through specifically what kind of things are you writing?
19:10
SPEAKER_00: Are you working on stuff for a book?
19:12
SPEAKER_00: Are you working on stuff for uh online articles, for your own blog, for other kinds of things?
19:18
SPEAKER_00: Or all the above.
19:20
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
19:21
SPEAKER_04: So uh I started up writing for Entrepreneur Magazine, so uh I'm putting in one guest post a week there, so one morning I'll be working on that.
19:29
SPEAKER_04: I'm a slow writer, too.
19:31
SPEAKER_04: Uh I wish I was fast.
19:34
SPEAKER_00: I'm really slow.
19:35
SPEAKER_04: Ugh.
19:35
SPEAKER_04: I get an article done in that two-hour period, maybe.
19:38
SPEAKER_04: Um and so like right now, my writing this morning, um, I'm working on marketing for my book.
19:45
SPEAKER_04: So it's blog posts that will apply to the book.
19:48
SPEAKER_04: So that's what I did this morning.
19:51
SPEAKER_00: Now, do you plan all that out at the beginning of the week?
19:53
SPEAKER_00: You know, let's say, you know, sometime on the weekend you say, okay, on Wednesday morning I'm gonna work on this specific thing, on Thursday is this specific thing, or is it kind of more day by day?
20:03
SPEAKER_04: It's day by day, and I batch a lot of work at once.
20:06
SPEAKER_04: So like right now I have 16 blog posts ready on my site because sometimes life happens.
20:13
SPEAKER_04: Yes, and even though I want to get up at 4.30 and write, sometimes different things.
20:18
SPEAKER_04: So I just ran a marathon this last weekend.
20:21
SPEAKER_04: That took way more time because I was training and running, and luckily I had blog posts built up.
20:26
SPEAKER_04: So I said I wake up at 4.30 and I write.
20:29
SPEAKER_04: Well, sometimes I wake up at 4.30 and I run.
20:32
SPEAKER_04: So it's not always the the writing that wins out.
20:37
SPEAKER_04: I have other goals.
20:39
SPEAKER_00: Now talk about the marathon a little bit.
20:41
SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's say somebody wants to start to get into shape, because obviously, you know, I see I see your post online all the time about running and and different things.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: How can somebody get started in that?
20:52
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, running a marathon is is way down the road from somebody who doesn't exercise on a regular basis at all or has no habits related to that.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: How how did you get started in that whole thing and what are some steps somebody can take to get a little bit healthier and get their energy level built up?
21:08
SPEAKER_04: Sure.
21:09
SPEAKER_04: So when my son that is now eight, when he was two, my wife lovingly told me um that I was overweight and out of shape, and I was so angry.
21:20
SPEAKER_00: There's a loving way to say that.
21:21
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah, she tried.
21:23
SPEAKER_04: Uh, but I was ticked.
21:24
SPEAKER_04: Oh, and I was gonna show her.
21:26
SPEAKER_04: Oh, was she wrong?
21:27
SPEAKER_04: I was still the Adonis that she uh liked 17.
21:30
SPEAKER_04: I knew it.
21:31
SPEAKER_04: Um, but I went out to run.
21:33
SPEAKER_04: Can't I didn't make it a half mile.
21:36
SPEAKER_04: Uh and I was winded, and it was a miserable half mile walk back home of defeat.
21:42
SPEAKER_04: Um my denial was ripped off my eyes.
21:46
SPEAKER_04: And so that's what I started.
21:47
SPEAKER_04: So same thing as dreams, that turtle up thing.
21:49
SPEAKER_04: It's slow steps, slow goals, know what motivates you.
21:53
SPEAKER_04: For me, I am cheap.
21:56
SPEAKER_04: Me too.
21:57
SPEAKER_04: So I'm gonna admit that publicly.
21:58
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I signed.
22:00
SPEAKER_04: Up for races.
22:01
SPEAKER_04: I will do the work to race.
22:04
SPEAKER_04: And I figured that out.
22:05
SPEAKER_04: It took trial and error.
22:07
SPEAKER_04: But when I don't have a race, like I haven't signed up for my next one yet.
22:10
SPEAKER_04: So my marathon was last Sunday.
22:12
SPEAKER_04: I haven't ran all week.
22:13
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
22:14
SPEAKER_00: That makes sense.
22:15
SPEAKER_00: That makes sense.
22:16
SPEAKER_04: I'm gonna have to sign up for another one.
22:18
SPEAKER_04: I think I'm doing Missoula Montana next.
22:20
SPEAKER_04: So once I sign up, that gets me out there.
22:23
SPEAKER_04: So know what motivates you and know what you like.
22:25
SPEAKER_04: I like to run.
22:27
SPEAKER_04: Some people call me a masochist for running marathons.
22:30
SPEAKER_04: So just know what you actually like to do and do that.
22:34
SPEAKER_04: For me, running has multiple things.
22:36
SPEAKER_04: I write about chasing dreams.
22:38
SPEAKER_04: I think the correlation to marathons is on point.
22:41
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it really is.
22:42
SPEAKER_04: I learn a lot while I'm running.
22:44
SPEAKER_04: It's also um I'm running a lot of things.
22:47
SPEAKER_04: My phone is going off uh probably about a hundred times a day with Texas, texts, and phone calls.
22:54
SPEAKER_04: Uh when I run, you people can't get a hold of me.
22:58
SPEAKER_04: So that's the other reason I do it.
22:59
SPEAKER_00: So you're literally running away from them.
23:02
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I'm literally running away from them.
23:05
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
23:05
SPEAKER_04: My wife teases me, I'm literally torturing my legs so that people won't talk to me.
23:10
SPEAKER_00: Well, hey, it's worth it though.
23:11
SPEAKER_04: And it's one of the only places um I have ADD.
23:14
SPEAKER_04: It's one of the only places that my mind calms.
23:17
SPEAKER_04: And I'm not thinking about a lot of things.
23:19
SPEAKER_04: Um I'm just thinking about running, and it's a prayer time for me and other things.
23:24
SPEAKER_00: You know, just um a couple days ago, in fact, I did uh another podcast interview with a guest whose interview will be featured in a couple months, um, actually like a health and fitness coach.
23:33
SPEAKER_00: And it was so interesting in that interview also to talk about the connection between health and fitness and creativity of clarity in your thinking and and all that.
23:42
SPEAKER_00: And I think I think that's really fascinating and something I need to explore in my own life more, for sure.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: I mean I I do some running, I don't do as much as I should.
23:51
SPEAKER_00: Um, when it gets cold outside, it's it's hard to go out in the snow and really enjoy that process, so I guess that's where the the discipline aspect of it kicks in more.
24:01
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I only get snow where I live like twice a year, so uh I have that problem.
24:08
SPEAKER_00: I do I do think that's really fascinating.
24:11
SPEAKER_00: Your you know you mentioned you sign up for the marathon and or you sign up for the race and then that then your commitment kicks in because you have committed to it.
24:21
SPEAKER_00: Or you I'm sorry, your discipline kicks in because you've committed to it.
24:24
SPEAKER_00: That's the opposite of how we normally think about things.
24:26
SPEAKER_00: We normally think, well, when I feel committed or when I feel motivated, then I'll commit to the goal.
24:31
SPEAKER_00: But I've noticed the same thing is true with writers, is that you kind of just have to commit to doing it regardless of whether you feel like it, and then just your follow-through.
24:40
SPEAKER_00: You know, the discipline of following through is what helps accomplish that goal, not feeling like it because, you know, I don't know how you are, but I rarely feel like writing, quote unquote.
24:51
SPEAKER_04: Oh, definitely don't feel like writing most of the time.
24:55
SPEAKER_04: It's a pain, it's really enjoyable when people share your work or or when people are buying your book.
25:00
SPEAKER_04: That part's awesome.
25:02
SPEAKER_04: But the writing process, um, if it's real, to me it's painful.
25:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
25:08
SPEAKER_04: You know, you you just mentioned briefly my kids, and I started crying.
25:12
SPEAKER_04: So I'm just thinking a lot of my writing is that way where it's like um I'm putting out there where I screwed up.
25:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
25:19
SPEAKER_04: Um the whole process for me hurts.
25:22
SPEAKER_04: Um yeah, totally agree with that, Kent.
25:26
SPEAKER_00: How do you uh how do you come to a place as a guy where you feel more you feel more open and authentic with people?
25:33
SPEAKER_00: I think a lot of guys struggle with this, and maybe a lot of females do as well, but I think a particular men struggle with kind of exposing their flaws and sharing their weaknesses.
25:43
SPEAKER_00: How can we do better with that as guys?
25:46
SPEAKER_04: Start small, I think.
25:49
SPEAKER_04: So share with people that you trust first who you really are.
25:54
SPEAKER_04: And that's rare, I agree.
25:56
SPEAKER_04: Uh, with guys, I don't I don't know what the deal is.
25:59
SPEAKER_04: There's like this head heart disconnect where we get in our head and compartmentalize everything.
26:04
SPEAKER_04: And for me, that came out of great pain.
26:06
SPEAKER_04: I I hid most of my life.
26:08
SPEAKER_04: Um but slowly taking off the mask and showing who we are, uh, we actually can feel love from other people.
26:18
SPEAKER_04: And so one of the things I would say to men that aren't being totally authentic in failures and other things is you know people are loving a false version of yourself.
26:26
SPEAKER_04: And so you're not really feeling the love from them.
26:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
26:29
SPEAKER_04: So once you reveal who you really are, and there's a couple guys that go, Wow, you're awesome, or I struggle with that too, all of a sudden your your bravery increases, and you're able to do that more often, and you feel love, so therefore then you can give love, and it totally transformed the relationships in my life.
26:50
SPEAKER_00: But how do you handle that as a guy?
26:53
SPEAKER_00: Is there a point at which we're sharing too much about ourselves, we're sharing too many mistakes, and you know, it's it's like the the too much information kind of a thing.
27:00
SPEAKER_00: You know, hey TMI, you know, I didn't need to know that about yourself.
27:03
SPEAKER_00: What's the what's the line there, do you think?
27:05
SPEAKER_04: I don't know.
27:06
SPEAKER_04: I owe uh because I live so hidden, I err probably on the other side of TMI.
27:11
SPEAKER_04: Um and no, you don't need to share everything with everyone, but there should be a circle of people that know you completely.
27:21
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
27:21
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
27:22
SPEAKER_04: And I don't think 99% of guys have that.
27:26
SPEAKER_04: Even with even I would argue that does your wife even know everything about you?
27:32
SPEAKER_04: Because I don't think most of the time that's true for guys.
27:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think that's very, very true.
27:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm lucky that I've been married for 22 years and uh still married, you know, by the grace of God.
27:42
SPEAKER_00: And um for me a big part of that has been I well, I think a big key is marrying someone who's loving and patient and kind and you know and all that you know, the choice of of a spouse is certainly a huge factor in that.
27:56
SPEAKER_00: Um But yeah, by the grace of God I just um have been blessed with uh with a wife who's very understanding and patient and has put up with all my idiosyncrasies and all that stuff, which is which has been nice.
28:08
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it you know, with the hiddenness, our wives are smarter than we give them credit for.
28:13
SPEAKER_04: They know when we're not being authentic in our failures.
28:17
SPEAKER_04: I think some guys think they're pulling something over on their wife, and uh in fact I do a lot of counseling.
28:23
SPEAKER_04: So I own two businesses, I run a multi-campus groups, and so that puts me in contact with a lot of people at our local church.
28:32
SPEAKER_04: And a lot of women will come to me and say, I think my husband is struggling.
28:35
SPEAKER_04: Here.
28:36
SPEAKER_04: He never said anything, and I'll just start the conversation.
28:39
SPEAKER_04: So uh that would be the other thing to get guys to jump over the ledge.
28:42
SPEAKER_04: Your wife probably knows more than what you think she does.
28:45
SPEAKER_00: Oh man, just just it's funny you mentioned that.
28:47
SPEAKER_00: Just last night, I was sitting in my home office and and my wife came in and she I always kind of know when something's on her mind, because so she just kind of stands there by me.
28:56
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm in my mind, I'm like, okay, what did I do?
29:00
SPEAKER_00: Or you know, like what's going on?
29:02
SPEAKER_00: And she and she just said, you know, in that tone that she has, uh which is not a bad tone, she's like, What's what's wrong?
29:08
SPEAKER_00: And she just knew something was wrong.
29:10
SPEAKER_00: And I was feeling a little irritable, a little uh out of sorts about a couple things, nothing major, but it was weird, it's like, wow, she really and I was like trying to hide it, but you know, she she knows when something's bothering me, and she finally got it out of me, and we were able to chat for a few minutes and everything was fine.
29:25
SPEAKER_00: And you know, it's but it is it's like they have a sixth sense or something.
29:29
SPEAKER_04: Oh yeah.
29:30
SPEAKER_04: My my wife I tease my wife doesn't need a sixth sense because I'm a verbal processor.
29:35
SPEAKER_04: Uh you can just feel bad for her now.
29:37
SPEAKER_04: She gets all that's up in my mind.
29:41
SPEAKER_00: So here's a quote from the book that I want to throw out there and um and get your thoughts on this a little bit if I can.
29:47
SPEAKER_00: And this is a couple sentences long.
29:48
SPEAKER_00: You said, The reality is created people are creative people and will always create.
29:54
SPEAKER_00: All inventions come about in a similar way.
29:57
SPEAKER_00: A vision starts in the spaces of your mind as an idea.
30:00
SPEAKER_00: The more man-made rules you can strike from your mind, the freer your mind and heart will be to create a in childlike faith.
30:08
SPEAKER_00: You'll be able to leap forward in the creative process and see new realities.
30:11
SPEAKER_00: So, what does creativity mean for you and how do you know when you're expressing yourself creatively?
30:21
SPEAKER_04: It's funny this this might be bad to say, but I know more often when I'm not.
30:26
SPEAKER_04: When I start self-examining.
30:28
SPEAKER_04: Because so, like monetarily, I'll just say that.
30:31
SPEAKER_04: Uh early on my goal was to make a hundred thousand dollars a year.
30:35
SPEAKER_04: That was my goal in in business.
30:36
SPEAKER_04: If I could profit$100,000, well, I hear people say that all the time.
30:41
SPEAKER_04: What is so special about that number?
30:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
30:43
SPEAKER_04: Uh that that is the line of uh success quotation mark for so many.
30:48
SPEAKER_04: Um it's obvious to me that's a rule that somewhere was put in where that is a level of success for some people.
30:56
SPEAKER_04: Maybe it's because all of a sudden that jumps into the six figures.
30:58
SPEAKER_04: I'm not sure.
30:59
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
31:00
SPEAKER_04: But uh so often I have to examine why did I say that?
31:04
SPEAKER_04: Why did I do that?
31:05
SPEAKER_04: Why am I writing this?
31:06
SPEAKER_04: Uh I was sharing with you earlier, Kent, that this book is the first time I fully started to express my voice and my goofy sense of humor.
31:14
SPEAKER_04: Uh all of a sudden it was like, oh, this feels free.
31:20
SPEAKER_04: Uh these this is oozing out of me.
31:22
SPEAKER_04: I'm not having to think.
31:23
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
31:24
SPEAKER_04: Uh I'll automatically start talking about how I hate that invention, the forever lazy.
31:29
SPEAKER_04: Uh if you haven't looked it up, if you don't know what it is, don't Google it.
31:33
SPEAKER_04: Uh it's the worst thing I've ever seen.
31:35
SPEAKER_04: Uh yeah, you will regret it.
31:38
SPEAKER_04: Or um that if someone's vegan, they're gonna hate my book because I share a couple hunting stories.
31:42
SPEAKER_04: Um but those.
31:44
SPEAKER_04: Thanks.
31:45
SPEAKER_04: It just came out of me.
31:46
SPEAKER_04: Um so I think that's that's a lot of it is why am I saying what I'm saying?
31:52
SPEAKER_04: Why am I thinking what I'm thinking?
31:54
SPEAKER_04: There's that self-examination of going, is that me, is that God, or is that a rule?
32:00
SPEAKER_04: Um and I try to strike as many rules as I can.
32:04
SPEAKER_04: Uh also, this our culture is obsessed with modeling, which I there's great things about that.
32:10
SPEAKER_04: But the danger is that that's we're we're constructing rules.
32:15
SPEAKER_04: Um I do two businesses, I'm running groups, I'm writing, I'm speaking, and people a lot of people would say you are doing too much, you need to narrow your focus, and you will have more success.
32:26
SPEAKER_04: That's a rule.
32:28
SPEAKER_04: Um and I'm not gonna follow it because I don't think that's what God's calling me towards right now.
32:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because everybody's life is different.
32:34
SPEAKER_00: Everybody has different goals and different things they enjoy doing, and and you know, and the truth is that you know, for those of us, you know, sort of, and I'm gonna just gonna say generally in our space where we're we're doing things online, you know, or at least we're doing some things online writing or um you know, books and that kind of a thing, you know, people only see a small sliver of our whole lives.
32:56
SPEAKER_00: So unless somebody's with us all the time or they know us really, really well, they they're not really in a place to make a judgment about that because they don't really know all the ins and outs of our daily lives.
33:08
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, what works for one person may not work for somebody else.
33:13
SPEAKER_04: Right, and that's one of the traps is we try to be something we we are not wired to be.
33:19
SPEAKER_04: I love to lead people and and I like systems.
33:23
SPEAKER_04: That's how I'm able to do everything I'm doing.
33:25
SPEAKER_04: If someone's not good at those things, to try to operate in their life like I operate, um, they're gonna kill themselves.
33:32
SPEAKER_04: It's even capacity.
33:34
SPEAKER_04: We have different levels of capacity.
33:36
SPEAKER_04: This comparison game is such a danger and such a trap that uh our culture goes so much to in our our space, like you were talking about, can't hustle and grind, hustle and grind.
33:47
SPEAKER_04: It's like uh don't live your life, I guess.
33:50
SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, just uh neglect your kids and work you know a hundred hours a week and be an emotional wreck, but you'll be successful, quote unquote.
33:59
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
34:00
SPEAKER_04: Sleep four hours a night, you got it.
34:03
SPEAKER_00: So something you talked about in the book is thinking about your goals on a five-year timeline.
34:08
SPEAKER_00: And I thought that was a really intriguing idea.
34:10
SPEAKER_00: Can you break that down a little bit more?
34:12
SPEAKER_00: You know, what is there something magic about five years and and how do we go about thinking long term like that?
34:19
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so for me, long-term is natural.
34:22
SPEAKER_04: Um and so I was trying to break it down for an employee, actually.
34:27
SPEAKER_04: And um so I got a bunch of different books, and it's out actually out of uh 12-week year, they don't say exactly five uh five years.
34:38
SPEAKER_04: They give a space range, but for me, five years is long enough to see if what I'm doing is gonna pay off.
34:45
SPEAKER_04: It it gives me a long enough dream point where I can not think about can I really do that or not?
34:51
SPEAKER_04: That's far enough out that I can start just doing that with it, that I can have that faith like a child.
34:57
SPEAKER_04: Um, because when I start talking about what I can accomplish in the next year, well then I'm looking at all of my roadblocks, everything that's around me.
35:06
SPEAKER_04: Five years is out enough that it gives me some imagination.
35:10
SPEAKER_04: Uh my daughter is oldest is ten, she'll be fifteen.
35:14
SPEAKER_04: Life will be very different in five years.
35:17
SPEAKER_04: Just that.
35:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, my son's fourteen and I can attest to that.
35:20
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
35:22
SPEAKER_04: So could be in college in five years.
35:25
SPEAKER_04: So when we s for me, it opens up imagination.
35:28
SPEAKER_04: Uh some people may need to go longer, some may need to go ten years to really open up their imagination.
35:34
SPEAKER_04: So it's not a hard, fast rule, but for me, five years seemed has seemed to work the most.
35:41
SPEAKER_00: That's great.
35:42
SPEAKER_00: I think that that's really, really good.
35:43
SPEAKER_00: I once heard it said, and I think this may have been a quote from John Maxwell, I'm not for sure.
35:48
SPEAKER_00: But somebody somewhere once said that we overestimate what we can accomplish in a year and we underestimate what we can accomplish in ten years.
35:56
SPEAKER_00: And that seems to kind of jive with what you're saying, is that, you know, so so many times we think, wow, I can accomplish all these amazing things in just one year, which is is actually not that long.
36:07
SPEAKER_00: But ten years or f even five years, you know, we can do some radically amazing things, I think, if we really focus.
36:14
SPEAKER_04: Oh, for sure.
36:16
SPEAKER_04: If if someone woke up every day an hour early and worked six days a week on it for five years, if they don't have traction, they're in the wrong thing at that point.
36:28
SPEAKER_04: There's probably, okay, that's a sign you may not be on to something.
36:32
SPEAKER_04: I'm not sure.
36:33
SPEAKER_04: I've been writing for six years, so and it took that amount of time for me to be able to craft a book that w that I could feel proud enough to go and market and not worry about.
36:43
SPEAKER_00: So would you say that waking up early has been a really, I guess what I would call a cornerstone habit in in your success in writing in business lately?
36:53
SPEAKER_04: It is huge for me.
36:55
SPEAKER_04: I would say though, uh it could be staying up late for some people.
37:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
37:00
unknown: Yeah.
37:01
SPEAKER_04: I hate that we pigeonhole everyone in the same thing as we are.
37:03
SPEAKER_04: Whatever your someone's best is.
37:06
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
37:08
SPEAKER_04: That is what we want to draw out.
37:10
SPEAKER_04: And honestly, the first 20 minutes is not my best.
37:12
SPEAKER_04: I need a cup of coffee and some prayer time to get going.
37:16
SPEAKER_04: Um but then it's the best.
37:19
SPEAKER_04: And then I'm not giving scraps to my dream.
37:22
SPEAKER_04: I'm giving my best work, my best creativity to that task.
37:27
SPEAKER_04: That's why it's important to me.
37:28
SPEAKER_04: I have some friends that their best is at night.
37:32
SPEAKER_04: So stay up a little later if that's the your best, whatever it is for you.
37:36
SPEAKER_04: Uh my wife sleeps in um when she's off on the on days off, so that's why I chose the morning.
37:44
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
37:45
SPEAKER_04: So that's I could spend more time with her.
37:46
SPEAKER_00: That makes sense.
37:48
SPEAKER_00: Now you talked a little bit about writing for entrepreneur.
37:50
SPEAKER_00: Um talk a little bit about what that has done for you, um, how people can maybe get started writing for someplace like Entrepreneur or other places online, and how you know, for people who already have a blog and write there, how can they expand their reach and their just the the people that they're able to impact through writing for other places like that?
38:11
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so it gives credibility, I think, to people that don't know me.
38:15
SPEAKER_04: Um and for whoever's listening, it will give credibility.
38:18
SPEAKER_04: I think that's what it does.
38:20
SPEAKER_04: If you if I had the false assumption that when I wrote an article for entrepreneur, oh, that people would flock to my site.
38:29
SPEAKER_04: Um and that will make it, you know, I don't think I've gotten more than four or five subscribers from articles I've written.
38:37
SPEAKER_04: Interesting on entrepreneur.
38:39
SPEAKER_04: Uh, you pick up some social media people, but it it for me it hasn't been a big big boost.
38:45
SPEAKER_04: Not even in traffic, uh, but credibility is where it is.
38:49
SPEAKER_04: And so what you would do is you would start off, there's so if you want to get into entrepreneur, I'll be really specific.
38:55
SPEAKER_04: Um Yeah, that's great for our listeners.
38:58
unknown: Sure.
38:58
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, write for some sites that they would know first that are a little easier to get accepted to.
39:05
SPEAKER_04: So one of those that I did was it's called Addicted to Success.
39:08
SPEAKER_00: Yes, and I've written for them before.
39:10
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so once you get an article on Addicted to Success, and they'll they respond, Ken, I don't know about for you, but it it's within 48 hours.
39:17
SPEAKER_04: It's very important.
39:18
SPEAKER_00: It was very quick, yeah.
39:19
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
39:19
SPEAKER_04: They let you know.
39:21
SPEAKER_04: And so once I wrote for them, then I had social proof that I could write other places.
39:30
SPEAKER_04: Then I submitted an article to there's a if you look at the staff list on Entrepreneur, you will find the contribution editor.
39:37
SPEAKER_04: Right now that is Peter Page.
39:40
SPEAKER_04: And he the his email is there.
39:44
SPEAKER_04: So you email an article to him, you tell him uh that you wrote one to him, you put your bio and a sample of your work, and paste the article in that email.
39:54
SPEAKER_04: That is it.
39:56
SPEAKER_00: And they were pretty quick to get back to you?
39:58
SPEAKER_04: No, they are not.
40:00
SPEAKER_04: Uh they may respond within the next three weeks to a month if they like it.
40:06
SPEAKER_04: Otherwise, you will never hear from them.
40:08
SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
40:09
SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
40:10
SPEAKER_04: I tried one article, didn't make it, tried another article, didn't make it, tried another article, made it.
40:16
SPEAKER_04: Well, once you make it in on Entrepreneur, you have access to their CMS site, and you can submit articles whenever you want.
40:23
SPEAKER_00: So when you submitted the article, obviously you do a little pitch kind of a thing, and then did you send uh a like an idea for an article, or did you write the whole article and then send it to them?
40:33
SPEAKER_04: Wrote the whole article.
40:35
SPEAKER_04: Gotcha.
40:36
SPEAKER_04: So my first sentence said, My name is Zach Newman.
40:38
SPEAKER_04: I wrote an article that I believe fits entrepreneur.
40:40
SPEAKER_04: Here is the word count, whatever word count that was at the time.
40:44
SPEAKER_04: Uh hope you enjoy.
40:45
SPEAKER_04: Bio, sample my work, and then the article.
40:48
SPEAKER_04: That's it.
40:48
SPEAKER_00: Boom.
40:49
SPEAKER_04: Yep.
40:51
SPEAKER_00: Oh, go ahead.
40:52
SPEAKER_00: Sorry.
40:52
SPEAKER_04: A lot of these things, it is not as hard as I think we can get afraid and not take action.
40:58
SPEAKER_04: Um but it's not that scary.
41:01
SPEAKER_04: So if they don't like your article, they won't respond.
41:03
SPEAKER_04: So I mean it's like, oh, okay, you never heard of them.
41:06
SPEAKER_04: Or they say they liked your work.
41:08
SPEAKER_04: But from the moment I they finally got an accepted pitch to when it went live was like three or four months.
41:14
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
41:15
SPEAKER_01: That's crazy.
41:16
SPEAKER_04: Then once you're in, um I wrote an article last Sunday, it just went live today on Monday.
41:22
SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
41:22
SPEAKER_04: So it's within a week once you're in, but yeah.
41:26
SPEAKER_00: And then have you been able to leverage that for other things like speaking or or other things where you say, hey, I write for entrepreneur, and people know entrepreneur.
41:34
SPEAKER_00: You know, anybody who's in the business space and knows what entrepreneur is, so so that's a pretty cool thing that you can leverage.
41:40
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, exactly.
41:41
SPEAKER_04: I have a keynote in the spring.
41:42
SPEAKER_04: Uh awesome.
41:44
SPEAKER_04: That's one of the things they said was hey, are you where do you write?
41:49
SPEAKER_04: Well, I've wrote write for entrepreneur.
41:51
SPEAKER_04: I've Oh, really?
41:53
SPEAKER_04: Uh so and I just came off two months ago an another keynote because of the same thing.
41:59
SPEAKER_04: So uh credibility.
42:02
SPEAKER_04: I think we forget when we're in the online space that we're very passionate about our thing.
42:06
SPEAKER_04: We have friends that really know us.
42:09
SPEAKER_04: But other people, when they hit your s our website, they don't know who we are.
42:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
42:13
SPEAKER_04: And why we should be trusted.
42:14
SPEAKER_04: And so That's true.
42:16
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
42:16
SPEAKER_00: So for people who Oh, go ahead.
42:18
SPEAKER_04: The other thing that Entrepreneur does is it gives you access to write more places.
42:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
42:22
SPEAKER_04: I have people reaching out to me all the time saying, Will you write for my website?
42:26
SPEAKER_04: Um, and other people reaching out wanting to wanting to to pay me to write about their business, which that you can't do that.
42:35
SPEAKER_04: I get those two sometimes.
42:37
SPEAKER_00: Or I get people, I don't know if you have this people pitching, hey, can we put this article on your site and we'll pay you X number of dollars, which is is never really very much, but I'm like, nah, that's okay.
42:46
SPEAKER_00: I don't think so.
42:47
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
42:47
SPEAKER_04: Integrity's worth more than that.
42:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, whenever they're pitching you an idea for your own blog, but they won't tell you who their client is, that always kind of concerns me.
42:57
SPEAKER_00: Well, we can't really tell you who our client is.
42:59
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
43:00
SPEAKER_00: You'll know whenever we after we pay you and you're obligated to So for people who want to get into speaking, you know, you mentioned keynotes.
43:06
SPEAKER_00: How how would someone get into the speaking space if they're interested in going that route?
43:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
43:12
SPEAKER_00: Or I guess the question is how did how did that come about for you?
43:15
SPEAKER_00: Because it can come about in different ways.
43:17
SPEAKER_04: Sure.
43:17
SPEAKER_04: So uh I was very strategic.
43:19
SPEAKER_04: No, I wasn't.
43:20
SPEAKER_04: Uh so I wanted to get better as a speaker.
43:23
SPEAKER_04: And I leave gaps out often when I'm communicating.
43:26
SPEAKER_04: I'll leave some information out that's really crucial.
43:29
SPEAKER_04: And so I started on my fan page doing daily videos.
43:34
SPEAKER_04: I think I have 250.
43:36
SPEAKER_04: Minute to three minutes.
43:37
SPEAKER_04: That's all they are.
43:39
SPEAKER_04: Um and I just did that.
43:43
SPEAKER_00: On your Facebook page?
43:44
SPEAKER_04: On my Facebook page.
43:45
SPEAKER_00: That's cool.
43:46
SPEAKER_04: One day I had someone reach out and say, Really like what you have to say.
43:49
SPEAKER_04: Would you be willing to speak?
43:52
SPEAKER_04: Sure.
43:53
SPEAKER_04: And actually, this keynote in the spring was that too.
43:56
SPEAKER_04: So they saw one of my videos.
43:58
SPEAKER_04: Hey, this guy, he might know.
44:00
SPEAKER_04: What he's doing and started researching me, and they talked about that I was on the radio and they really liked it, and I was trying to figure out what they were talking about.
44:08
SPEAKER_04: It was a podcast I had done with Jared Easley.
44:12
SPEAKER_00: That's cool.
44:13
SPEAKER_00: Well, which shows you the power of podcasting, you know.
44:16
SPEAKER_04: Oh, for sure.
44:16
SPEAKER_00: I mean, people and you know, as we're doing this interview, uh my relaunched podcast has only been going for a few weeks.
44:23
SPEAKER_00: And it's funny because people from church or other places will come up to me and say, Hey, I really like this episode on whatever, and they will totally not be in my target market, you know.
44:31
SPEAKER_00: So you just never know where stuff is gonna go when you put things out there.
44:35
SPEAKER_04: No, look, prayer is a spiritual thing.
44:40
SPEAKER_04: So is action.
44:41
SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes.
44:42
SPEAKER_04: Action is a spiritual thing, and so the more action that we are doing, the more doors open.
44:48
SPEAKER_04: And so I think that's part of chasing dreams is w when it's easier to move a moving object.
44:55
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
44:56
SPEAKER_04: And so I write for my local paper now.
44:59
SPEAKER_04: I never pitched them anything.
45:00
SPEAKER_04: They came to me.
45:01
SPEAKER_04: Why?
45:01
SPEAKER_04: Because I'm producing action.
45:04
SPEAKER_04: It's the same thing with those speaking things.
45:06
SPEAKER_04: I'm doing these videos.
45:07
SPEAKER_04: Uh and they don't have to be good, by the way.
45:11
SPEAKER_04: My videos on my Facebook page, one to three minutes, one take, I posted them no matter what.
45:16
SPEAKER_04: It was just to get better.
45:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
45:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I've watched some of those and I love them.
45:22
SPEAKER_00: You know, they're they're always filled with something tangible, actionable.
45:27
SPEAKER_00: You know, and I think the fact that, you know, when somebody sits in a studio with perfect lighting and does all that stuff, that actually kind of takes away from it in an in an ironic way.
45:36
SPEAKER_00: So like the rawness and the realness, that's what people want.
45:39
SPEAKER_00: And that's what communicates.
45:41
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, thanks.
45:42
SPEAKER_04: It's usually some screw up I made throughout the day.
45:45
SPEAKER_00: Well, yeah, that's where all my stuff comes from, too, is things that are going on in my life.
45:48
SPEAKER_00: So as Zach, as we start to wind this down, let me let me just kind of ask you one actually two more quick things.
45:54
SPEAKER_00: The first one is for somebody who wants to chase their dreams in a better way.
45:59
SPEAKER_00: They want to be a better parent, they want to be a better business person.
46:03
SPEAKER_00: What are maybe one or two or three super practical action steps they could start doing immediately that would make a big difference?
46:13
SPEAKER_04: If you're going from zero, my first action step would be something that you're wanting to do, go sit with someone that's done it.
46:20
SPEAKER_00: Great advice.
46:22
SPEAKER_04: That that is a positive attitude, and I I'll frame it that way because make sure they're a positive person before you sit down.
46:30
SPEAKER_04: Very true.
46:31
SPEAKER_04: Because like I own the two restaurants I own, all the other restaurant people keep telling me that there's no employees.
46:38
SPEAKER_04: Uh young people nowadays don't want to work hard.
46:41
SPEAKER_04: Total baloney.
46:42
SPEAKER_04: Uh my my crew's full of 16 to 22-year-olds, best workers in the world.
46:48
SPEAKER_04: Uh, I have a different attitude and look for them.
46:51
SPEAKER_04: So a positive person that has done what you're thinking about doing, talk with them.
46:56
SPEAKER_04: Uh and you might get rejected.
46:58
SPEAKER_04: Just keep trying.
46:59
SPEAKER_04: And my practical step also with that is meet them where they are in their busyness.
47:03
SPEAKER_04: The greatest mentor in my life uh refused to meet with me because he didn't have time.
47:09
SPEAKER_04: And that's one of the reasons I started running also.
47:12
SPEAKER_04: He ran at four in the morning on Tuesday.
47:14
SPEAKER_04: One day, finally, he goes, I run at four on Tuesdays.
47:17
SPEAKER_04: If you can make it, I'll run with you.
47:19
SPEAKER_00: Wow, that's awesome.
47:21
SPEAKER_04: And so I went with him and I ran, and it was like four miles and way further than I had run at that point, and I was about to die.
47:28
SPEAKER_04: But he changed my life because I met him in his busyness where he had time.
47:33
SPEAKER_04: I wanted it.
47:34
SPEAKER_01: That's great.
47:35
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
47:36
SPEAKER_04: The other practical step is start small.
47:41
SPEAKER_04: Uh you don't have to the more scared you are, the more the big steps actually might be a detriment because it might shut you down.
47:49
SPEAKER_04: I was so scared to write in the beginning.
47:51
SPEAKER_04: I wrote, I didn't tell anyone I even had a blog.
47:54
SPEAKER_04: Uh that's what I needed to do in the beginning.
47:57
SPEAKER_04: And so don't don't don't belign the middle little things.
48:02
SPEAKER_04: Celebrate it.
48:04
SPEAKER_00: Boy, and that is such an important thing.
48:06
SPEAKER_00: So a lot of people who listen to this show are in the creative or artistic kind of a space, you know, writers, painters, um speakers, people who are doing creative type of things, and man, that is such good advice is just taking action and getting it done.
48:21
SPEAKER_00: And and I so appreciate you so much, Zach, because you're a great example of somebody who's just getting it done and taking action.
48:28
SPEAKER_00: You know, and uh I think that's something we all need to hear for sure.
48:32
SPEAKER_00: So my second question and final one is how can our listeners connect with you and your work?
48:36
SPEAKER_00: Where can they go online and find out more about you?
48:40
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so it's my full name is my blog, ZachariahNewman.com.
48:46
SPEAKER_04: Uh you can look it up in the Bible if you're worried how to spell that.
48:50
SPEAKER_04: Pretty cool having a Bible name.
48:52
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
48:53
SPEAKER_04: My parents thought it would save me.
48:54
SPEAKER_04: Uh no, it's just okay.
48:56
SPEAKER_04: Uh so uh or you can email me, ZachariahNuman at gmail.com.
49:00
SPEAKER_04: I'll help you in any way I can.
49:03
SPEAKER_00: Cool.
49:03
SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, there is something very prophetic about the things that you're sharing.
49:06
SPEAKER_00: So Zachariah was one of the prophets.
49:08
SPEAKER_00: So you know, one of the functions of a biblical prophet is to speak forth the truth.
49:14
SPEAKER_00: Speak forth God's truth, and I appreciate you sharing not just God's truth today, but some business truth and some action takers and dream chasing truth.
49:22
SPEAKER_00: That maybe that'll be a trademark phrase or something, so I don't know.
49:25
SPEAKER_00: I like it.
49:26
SPEAKER_00: Cool.
49:27
SPEAKER_00: Well, Zach, thanks so much for taking time out of your very busy day to chat with me and share a lot of great wisdom with our audience.
49:33
SPEAKER_04: Hey, it was great talking to you, Kent.
49:38
SPEAKER_00: Hey, I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Zach Newman.
49:41
SPEAKER_00: At the end of every interview, I always share three specific things that I learned from our guest.
49:46
SPEAKER_00: Of course, I always learn many more things than just three, but I try to boil it down to just three things just to keep things simple.
49:52
SPEAKER_00: And these are simply action steps that you can put into practice right away to start making a bigger impact in your creative work and in your life overall.
50:00
SPEAKER_00: So let's dive in here three quick takeaways from my conversation with Zach.
50:05
SPEAKER_00: Number one, getting up early can change your life.
50:08
SPEAKER_00: I really like Zach's idea of setting an alarm in the evening to signal that it's time to start getting ready for bed.
50:14
SPEAKER_00: Honestly, I've read tons of productivity books, listened to countless podcasts, and you know, been to conferences, seminars, and I mean, you name it, I've probably seen it out there.
50:24
SPEAKER_00: But I have honestly never once heard of this principle, and I think it's genius.
50:28
SPEAKER_00: It's so simple and brilliant and so helpful.
50:31
SPEAKER_00: Zach has also made a list of all the positive things that will happen because he gets up early, as well as the negative things that will happen if he doesn't get up early, and that's another great idea.
50:41
SPEAKER_00: I'm also intrigued by the fact that he spent ninety days developing a flossing habit to help him build an evening routine.
50:47
SPEAKER_00: That's called habit stacking where you build one habit, then you stack other things on top of that.
50:52
SPEAKER_00: Again, it's genius.
50:54
SPEAKER_00: I confess that I am a recovering night owl, and I need to be a little more intentional about getting up early in the mornings.
51:00
SPEAKER_00: So these are some things that I'll be putting into practice for sure.
51:03
SPEAKER_00: Number two, don't compare yourself with others.
51:07
SPEAKER_00: Zach warned us against playing the comparison game with other people.
51:11
SPEAKER_00: This is difficult for creatives and artists, including myself, but you know, when we see other people's gifts, talents, and the results that they have, and sometimes we wonder why we don't have the same thing, that can be really difficult for our egos.
51:25
SPEAKER_00: But instead of looking at other people's success and being jealous, or even, you know, on our worst days, trying to actively discredit them in some way, instead of doing those things, we should seek to learn from those people.
51:38
SPEAKER_00: When we see somebody who is successful, we shouldn't go, well, why do they have that and I don't have that?
51:42
SPEAKER_00: We should go, well, how did they get that?
51:44
SPEAKER_00: And maybe we could develop a relationship with them or have a conversation or read their book or their blog or listen to their podcast or whatever it is.
51:52
SPEAKER_00: So instead of being jealous, we can try and learn some things from them.
51:55
SPEAKER_00: Number three, my favorite quote from the interview was Action is a spiritual thing just like prayer is.
52:03
SPEAKER_00: You know, the more action that we take in our lives, the more that doors will open for us.
52:07
SPEAKER_00: It's also easier to gain more momentum in our lives when we already have a little bit of it going for us.
52:13
SPEAKER_00: So don't discredit the value of small actions that can help you build momentum in your life.
52:18
SPEAKER_00: What actions can you take today to help you achieve your creative dreams?
52:22
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's writing a blog post, creating a video, or sending an email.
52:26
SPEAKER_00: It could be something very simple that you could do to help you make some forward progress today.
52:31
SPEAKER_00: Well, those are some quick takeaways, and that wraps up this episode of the Born to Create Podcast.
52:36
SPEAKER_00: You can find the show notes at Kent Sanders.net slash miniban.
52:41
SPEAKER_00: That's KentSanders.net slash miniband.
52:44
SPEAKER_00: This episode was produced by me, Kent Sanders, and our associate producer, Ben Sanders.
52:49
SPEAKER_00: And if you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts.
52:54
SPEAKER_00: It just takes a minute and it helps other people to discover the show.
52:58
SPEAKER_00: You can do that by visiting KentSanders.net slash iTunes.
53:02
SPEAKER_00: And finally, if you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with a friend or a family member who you think would enjoy it as well.
53:09
SPEAKER_00: You can find a lot more resources to help you be more creative at KentSanders.net.
53:14
SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember that you were born to create and designs to make a difference.
53:19
SPEAKER_00: Now go create something awesome.