Welcome back. Today, guys, I want to talk about FOMO, the Fear Of Missing Out. I have recently experienced this in great detail lately. It’s been really annoying. I’m glad that I don’t have to deal with it any longer. What I’m talking about is I watched a lot of friends and colleagues who were in Nashville, Tennessee, for Funnel Hacking Live.
Nashville has a very special place in my heart, maybe I should explain. When I worked one of my sales jobs not too long ago, I was responsible for opening the Tennessee market for our company. When I went to do that, I told my boss that I needed to treat it like it was my backyard. What that meant is I went there, and I spent time there. I would spend about a week, a month in between Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee. I’ve ventured all the way out to Chattanooga and Knoxville. I circumnavigated the entire state. I got to tell you, it really left me with a love for the people of Tennessee. They’re real. They’re southerners. You could shake their hand, look them in the eye. And so my fear of missing out–I really was just missing out, it wasn’t a fear–was one being in Nashville. I missed the city, and I look forward to going again. But two, it was Funnel Hacking Live.
For those of you who don’t know, Funnel Hacking Live is put on by ClickFunnels, who is the software company that I use to create online sales funnels. ClickFunnels was created by a guy named Russell Brunson. Russell Brunson is a genius. Basically his entire life has been obsessed with marketing, but he’s taken this marketing to a different level and enabled the entrepreneur to create their own environment where they can sell online. It’s been awesome to watch. He’s also the author of a couple of bestselling books: The DotCom Secrets and Expert Secrets. I will set up a link so that you guys can get those for free. They are free plus shipping, so you’re going to pay seven bucks or something to have it shipped to you, but it is free.
Those are two of the most influential marketing books that I have ever read in my entire life. I can not emphasize them enough to be read because they are amazing. It doesn’t matter what you sell, business to business, business to consumer, whatever, it doesn’t matter. The principles that are there are huge. He’s grown this business such that it is the largest and fastest growing software company in the world that is not venture backed. That’s right. He has not taken a red cent to grow his business, which means he’s debt free, which also means that he created something pretty incredible for everybody.
In fact, one of the incredible things that they were able to do: they raised $1 million, a million bucks, from the participants in this event for Operation Underground Railroad, which is a charity that is looking to end a child sex trafficking, human trafficking in general. It is phenomenal and fantastic, and I can’t recommend it enough.
Back to my fear of missing out. I saw the pictures, I saw the venue, I saw video clips of what was happening there. It made me realize that I need to be there, so I’m not going to miss that again. In fact, while it was still going on, I booked my hotel room for next year’s event. That takes place roughly 11 months from now. Guy, next year I’ve already booked my hotel for next year. I will not be missing out. I’m not having that fear of missing out again. It’s something to be taken for all of our businesses overall, because in business, so often we get caught up in the minutia or worrying about things.
One of the things that I’ve learned through reading some of these books recently. In fact, today, I finished reading Shoe Dog, which is the memoirs of Phil Knight, the founder of Nike. Fantastic read. It’s one of my top five, really. It is so cool to see this brand, this global iconic brand that we’re all so familiar with; I mean, I’ve got a pair on my feet right now. All of these that went into the making of that company. The things that they did and the struggles that they dealt with.
They got sued by customs for $25 million because the people at Converse and kids were pissed off at their growth. Okay, that’s just unconscionable to me. Ultimately, they didn’t end up paying the full amount. They were able to get out of that, but it was just dirty, underhanded business dealings on somebody who couldn’t compete, who wouldn’t compete. There is nothing that I think that is worse than that crab who’s in that pot, who’s pulling everybody else down. You don’t want to innovate, you don’t want to grow, you don’t to get better; you would just rather everybody else do just as poorly as you. Misery loves company.
When I had this fear of missing out, that misery sets in. I want what somebody else has, and really what it comes down to, I realized, is me. I need to go out and get it. I need to go out and do the work to get it. In Shoe Dog, it said, “Maybe the recipe for getting out of a rut, for getting out of a state of depression, is just doing more work.” On the surface that feels a little bit trite, I’ll be honest, but underneath that surface, I totally get it. When I need to go in and just dig in and work hard at something and focus, when I can spend that mental energy and focus on one single task, I get so much more done.
The constant switching back and forth, all of that is it can be really detrimental. It can be a royal pain in the neck, frankly, to be able to get through all of those different tasks that I have. But if I can focus in, but I don’t have that fear of missing out on something else, that Shiny Object Syndrome that I’ve talked about before. If I can actually hone in on that, that’s the key to success for me. I found that. What does that mean? Well, in the last week it’s means that with my new job I’m doing medical device sales that I’ve had to focus in on that. My business has taken a little bit of a back seat. It’s happened and sometimes there’s a time and a place for everything and right now that my time needs to be spent in focusing in on those pieces.
My podcast, like we’re not going anywhere. I do this as a creative outlet. I really enjoy it. I have fun being able to interact with people and talk with people and see the difference that I’m able to make for people. That’s not going anywhere. What it has done is made me re-evaluate my priorities. My children are growing up. The time that I spend with them is precious.
We just planned a family vacation to New York City. I’ve been there a few times on business, but none of the rest of my family has been. I’m really excited to share that with everybody in my family. We’ve got a big happening here in our household this week. My son is due to find out where he is headed on Michigan in missionary service. He’s being assigned to a particular region of the globe and we don’t know where that is yet. We should find out tomorrow and times are changing.
What I’m not going to have is that fear of missing out. I don’t want to have regrets. I want to have experiences. I want to take the bull by the horns. I either learn something or I win. That is a mantra that I have. I either learn or I win. And sometimes when I win, I’m still learning. I never lose. I always have the opportunity to win something, whether that’s some new learning that I need, or some opportunity to grow into better myself. When we take that mentality, when we have the thought that we fall down seven times and we get up eight, we are unstoppable. It is not a question of whether or not we’re going to succeed. It is simply a matter of time.
I heard a dentist say something about “It’s like Novocaine, it works every time; It just takes time.” As somebody who’s had multiple cavities in my lifetime and had multiple shots of Novocaine, I can attest that is absolutely the truth. When I apply that same thinking to business and to life, as long as I keep working at it, I’m going to arrive. I’m going to get there.
And that’s what part of this podcast is all about. This is my journey to the pinnacle. This isn’t me standing at the top telling and dictating to everybody, “Hey, this is how you should do business! This is how you should grow your downline in order to be successful.” I don’t know what that is yet. I’m still figuring it out. For me, figuring that out is the fun part. Enjoy the journey. Don’t have a fear of missing out, so I’m planting my flag. I’m not taking no for an answer. No, just means not right now.
As I plant this flag, I want you guys to ride on with me because, honestly, I’m excited about the things that are coming forward. The Renegade Recruiting System is going to have things for Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and LinkedIn, using all the social media networks to help grow your business. We’re going to talk about online sales funnels. We’re going to talk about podcasting and using YouTube to your advantage.
All of these things are going to help you to grow your business. It doesn’t matter if it’s a network marketing business, if it’s a business that handles publications or that does wraps on vehicles. I have a friend of mine, who’s probably listening to this, who has a business doing that. It doesn’t matter. The principles are the same. Business is the same. When we learn and when we grow, we end up being the better for it. Guys, I’m excited for this journey. I’m excited to no longer have that fear of missing out. No longer do we get caught up in shiny objects. Really, what we do now is we put our head down and we go to work.
Hey, thanks for listening. Please remember to subscribe, and if you loved us, leave us a review on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you consume your podcasts. If you’d like some free training for your team on how your recruiting efforts can be bettered and brought into the 21st century, go to podcast.MLMRenegade.com and get your copy of the Renegade Recruiting Kickstarter.