04/05/2022
If you follow me on Instagram you know that two weekends ago I was on a business retreat. These retreats are always transformational. Not only did I learn a lot, but big opportunities usually come my way during these retreats. During my first one in 2020 I was invited to my first Hollywood press junket. Kevin Hart. Crazy. During this retreat my wife and I got a phone call to be VIPs at a Justin Bieber concert (see picture above) and got to hang out with his family. Crazy again.
While I was sitting in the retreat I thought about the valuable, life changing information I was receiving and thought to myself, “I wonder how many people are actually investing in their development?”
One of the comments I get the most from people is, “Man, you’ve really levelled up!” In the past year alone I did a TED Talk, became a college professor, appeared on American TV, had a $33K month, got paid to host two national radio specials, and more.
The thing is, it didn’t happen by chance. Aside from being a personal branding whiz (yes, I’m tooting my own horn), I invest heavily in my personal and professional development (if I told you the number your eyes would bug out). I pay a lot of money for a coach and to go on these retreats. Why? Well, look at the results.
Once upon a time, I used to be that guy that always wanted things for free or cheap. I actually celebrated when I got something for free or cheap. I’d wear it as a badge of honour. The thing is nothing transformational happens for free or cheap. Think about it. How many free or cheap things have changed your life?
One thing people don’t know about me is that I went to university for free (well, at first). One of the perks of my father working at York University was that my education was free until I was 24 years old, and to be honest, I wasted it. Why? Because it was free; nothing was on the line. I skipped classes and spent time in the gym playing basketball. I’ve actually never said this publicly, but I got kicked out of university (or whatever fancy word they called it). The main reason is because I didn’t value the opportunity because it was free.
After two years I was able to reapply but this time I was over 24 years old so I had to pay tuition, and guess what happened? I got my first A and eventually graduated. Having to invest thousands of dollars in my education had a funny way of bringing the best out of me and making me try.
This is why I don’t help people for free. Because my experience in university taught that free breeds complacency, and complacency will never bring transformation in someone’s life. Free and cheap are for comfortable people who aren’t really bought into their dream. I’ve coached people for free and I’ve coached people asking them to make an investment in their dream. Literally, everybody I’ve coached for free are stuck in jobs they hate and have totally given up on their dream. They’re just existing. They talk about their former dream with sadness and shame in their eyes. The ones who invested in their dream are either in the industry full-time or have a strategy for how to get there and are close.
I don’t mean to sound harsh, but not having money is no excuse to not invest in yourself and your dream.
One of the main factors that has helped me to achieve my dream is that I have CRAZY faith and belief and a commitment to let absolutely NOTHING stop me. I don’t make excuses for why I can’t do something. I commit to doing it and figuring out how I’ll do it afterwards.
Another factor that helped me is that my wife and I hit rock bottom financially. As I’ve said in previous posts, welfare and food banks. We wanted to get help, but we were broker than broke. So we decided to go to the bank and applied for a line of credit for whatever we could get approved for and invested in getting a coach. My wife and I didn’t let being dead broke stop us. We didn’t make excuses. We found a way. Was it worth it? College professor? $33K month? Getting paid to host two national radio specials? Living my dream and working for myself full-time? Yeah, it was worth it.
The problem a lot of people have is they want to wait until they have the money in order to invest in making their dream a reality, and the reason is either because they’re comfortable where they are or are simply afraid. But the reality is when you don’t have the money is the exact time you need to invest in getting help. It’s like the chicken and the egg. You don’t have money to invest in yourself and your dream, but the reason you don’t have money is because you’re not investing in yourself and your dream because your craft isn’t producing any income for you. Weird, eh?
The truth is if you had the money you wouldn’t get help. Having money gives you the illusion that everything is okay. Being at your lowest forces you to confront the reality of where you are and to take responsibility for it.
If you’re ready to live your dream and not make excuses, and I mean READY, let’s talk. Your dream is closer than you think.
http://www.shifteragency.com/call
