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Mike's Life Beat

Welcome back from break. If you're just joining us, this is sparking business growth with Mike. Michael. Oh, it's here on creativelive. Now we're gonna pop right back over to Mike. But before we do, we wanted to talk a little bit about the bonus materials that are available with purchase. So we have quite a few great great things to offer you with these bonus materials. The first is the top most popular Wall Street Journal articles that you've written, Mike, you tell us a little bit about Yes, I had the privilege of writing for The Wall Street Journal for a few years quite a few years and wrote always articles and through the power of metrics, figured out which ones were the most popular. So I compiled the 10 articles from everything from some stuff will touch on during our presentation on ways the hack accounting toe ways to market yourself and distinguish yourself and ways to exploit your natural, authentic self. Great, great. And we've also got a pdf of the process flow. Yeah. Yep. ...

So that's something we're going to be touching on. I think it's tomorrow. My mind serves me correctly on how to measure how your business operates. Find the areas that you can system eyes assigned to other people and how to get your business running more efficiently. Terrific. On the other. One we have is the client assessment tart assessment charge. Something touched on in the last session. I hope everyone was watching. That is how to evaluate your customers and what we touched on during that presentation with just three elements this tool has about the 10 or 15 different pieces that you should really look at when evaluating a client. Such things like longevity of the client, like, How much more work do you think you'll get from them? They match up with your values and stuff like that. Really cool tool. Great, Great. I mean, we've also got the sweet spot. Yeah, so this sweet spies against touched on the beginning. We're going to dig in a lot more in the upcoming sessions, but it's finding what distinguishes you, how the your top clients relate to that and then also, of course, system eyes and make him run automatic. It's a simple one page tool, but once you understand this, you can really find you received the colossal growth, and the last one is the survival trap that we haven't. I think way through that. And, you know, that's a tool. I I use myself so that my mic there I use that tool myself every day because when I'm looking at decision in the moment, it always feels right. Like, Oh, I just just get some quick money doing this. But then, when I look at the path that's going to take me to my vision, it's not in alignment. I see how damaging could be. And then I don't make that decision. It's a great, useful tool. Great. Well, thank you for letting everybody know what we have out there with the bonus materials. In addition to all of those that we just mentioned. We also have the slides from the entire two day course available with the bonus materials, and we'll let you get started. Yeah, come on. So I won't ask you a question and online Teoh pivoting. That's the hot term right now, right? Does that mean to you? If you've heard of that term before it's used, nod your head. That was pivoting me. Well, I think it it your your struggling with the direction you're finding, the path that you're on is very difficult, much more difficult than you anticipated. And you're looking for an easier route. And so you pivot, you change directions, right? Right, So that's the exact concept. And I'm curious what people think about online, too. But pivot, one of another definition of it is that your business is taking certain courses, not working. You have a just and definitions come around saying, whatever the customer demand is, you need to keep pivoting. We're adjusting your business to match the customer demand. And if you resonate with what the customer really wants now you have a business I can grow, and I'm here to tell you, and there are people responding online. I'm curious. Media has very active today. We love that thing. Pivot equals. Change your businesses course in a different direction, right? Exactly. And pivot, by the way, used to be called change. Management used to be called paradigm shift on. I'm sure it was a 1,000,000 terms before, and I'm here to tell you it's not exactly right. Pivoting is half the equation, and they actually kind of irks me. I wrote an article about it just recently that so many people always got a pivot. What does the customer want? Got changed, the customer wants. If it's not in alignment with what you want, you'll start to not like your business. I've seen entrepreneurs change your business so much to catered exactly what the customer wants, but so out of alignment of what they want, that they resent their business. That soul mate business turns into like the arch enemy like So I have to do is one more day and I see business after business. Get there. I want to give you an example, because so my my lawn guy do this. My lawn guy came the long guy. I have a guy come once a year during the fall season, right around now to clean up leaves. He's my long and he came to my house. This is about three years ago. He's raking up leaves and I just leaving, said, You know, I see some not mosque, but like some green was moss growing on the house was like we have this system we just bought Weaken brushed down the house with a power washer. He started washing down in my house and he's offered and I said, Yeah, that'd be cool. Well, the next day he comes out in, the guy's washing it down. He's up on his ladders. He says, You know, your gutters are kind of clogged. Do you want to clean your gutters? Yeah, sure, sure. And he came back and there were some problems because now the right ladders and he laughed and came back, and it took a long time. But he got the right stuff. Clean the gutters when I was up on my roof that I noticed there's some shingles missing. Do you want to replace the shingles? I can perhaps even fix your entire roof. And then while I'm up there, I can address your chimney and I can do all these everything. Clean your chimney. He's pivoting. A long guy becomes a chimney cleaner by pivoting the problem he's experiencing and so many business experience as we adjust our business to what the customer needs. We get alignment out of our competencies in what we're good at. The guy loved the outdoors. He loved doing the leaf working. He was amazing at it. He did less of that. And when after the little opportunities, the little pumpkins of cleaning houses, and now he's a roof guy. I see the guy nowadays I don't use anymore because he's not efficient. Raking leaves he doesn't have time to do. It is to busy up on roofs, sometimes cleaning gutters. He's all over. The place is availability is limited. And when he does leave, he does a couple neighbours. They're all getting rid of them because he's no longer good at it. He can't afford the best equipment. He put all the money into fixing chimneys and cleaning sightings, and he spread himself out. In fact, he's not doing anything. Now. He's the marginal do it all guy. I hate to say it, and I see that in business after business after business, we pivot and pivot to change what the customer wants and never get traction. Have any you guys ever habitually done that anyone would admit that junior shaking her head? Yes, yeah, retiree, it's so easy to just Oh, you photograph the photograph ISS and we say Yes, but it's not really a wedding related or it's not really a family related, and so you want to do weddings, weddings and families in newborns, weddings, newborns and family. And what have you pivoted to? We've done commercial shoots. We've done, you know, everything. If someone says, Hey, photographic, you say yes. Yeah, If photographed, say yes And what has been the immediate reward? I guess you got some money. Money? That and what's been the long term consequence. Lack of time towards our true path on black of family time. Yeah. So I guess you compromise family. You did you not do. Did you ever resent the work? We were doing corporate work saying I don't like this. I think we resented the editing time. Okay, so you okay, So you did the corporate pictures because it was easy, quick money. And then you had all these residual working is do that. You didn't like to dough. Yeah, that's such a classic. You pivot yourself to misery. Yeah. What have you done? Ruins your credibility to pivot too much. Like Like if they trust that this is what you do and you're an expert. And then why are you going off and doing something else? Yeah, Yeah. What do you think about what June did? She's just family photos and stuff, but now she's doing corporate work. If you heard that, does that elevate her status or Zach throwing? Why you doing that? Or was it well, I think I mean, if if I were someone who wanted, um, photographer from my family for my kids, then I would want a more personal touch and maybe a corporate, um, might or might not make me feel that way. Yeah. So we had a health scare in our family, uh, with cancer with my father. And, um, we didn't seek out the general practitioner. We went for the best cancer specials we could find. The one guys we interviewed was becoming kind of general practitioner. He cancer stuff. He said also, he's very interested in neurosurgery and heart surgery, and that was like, Well, I want a guy that does cancer situations every time and seen every variability of it. So I know my father is in the best hands. And so we didn't choose that doctor. We chose the specialist. I think about that all the time because it's true in our business. When when your family photos taken for my family. If I have my dinners, I want someone that takes great family photos that gets it that can capture the essence of my family. Is that pictures and go up on my wall on a look at every day? And I want that capturing the best moment of my family. I want a specialist. I want a specialist for every thing that I consumed. That's true with our customers. To as too bad. We're pivoting our way to what we think customers want and compromise who we are. Forget alignment with our true essence of who we are and address customers needs. Now we've not pivoted. We've aligned. We're doing what the customer wants and staying consistent with who we are and then we can really excel. I wanted to share a little tool with you guys, which looks very simple. This is also downloadable, Um, or if you're faster, could draw but download it. It's including what we're doing here. This is the thing I call the life beat. And it's a real simple diagram and I'm gonna walk you through. Actually, when I filled out for myself, I'd like you to fill out one for yourself, maybe during a break. But just get the concept this access here is the high low points of our lives. This is the little dive line represents the middle ground, and this is the high experiences in the low experiences of our life. And then we put the different decades of our life. So from 0 to 10 with high points and low points and 0 20 and when I have people complete this, I recommend that they put one or two high points per section. But for some people, there's a very intense period. Maybe their childhood was a very difficult, challenging time. Lots of stuff here and made. There's dead periods, but I try to look for one or two high points for every period of my life, and now I have my birthday got. Extend this a little bit, and what happens is you get a chart like this. I know my handwriting's miserable, but, you know, I can read it. It's coming. A doctor wrote this, and I want to go through my life experience. Why this is important is when we self reflect on ourselves. We can start capturing what defines us. We have high moments in low moments. It's not because the moment was higher, low. It's because our interpretation of it was higher low because it triggered something in us. And when we really assess and understand ourselves, we can then start building a business that encapsulates that that represents that. So here's my life. Chart my life be This is when I was born. I consider it a high moment. My life. Unfortunately, people considered a low moment in their life. That's very sad, but I was given the gift of life. I may have not known it in the moment. Thank God. I don't want to remember that experience, but reflecting back upon, I was given a true gift. Um, but when I was in school, this is after I started kindergarten. I was picked on a lot by other Children. I had moles, they actually see scars. My face. I had moles on my face and kids could be brutally honest and just brutal. And I was picked on ah lot, and it was a low point because I was picked on as a child. But it was an interesting, defining moment in that I found us the power of self deprecating humor. I realize now that I look back it was kindergarten where I started learning the power of self deprecating humor. Because when someone else is attacking you, the easiest way to defend one way to defend yourself is to tack yourself first in a fun light way. And it deflates the moment. So I learned the power of self deprecating humor and how it can. It can disarm an aggressive situation and have now use that in parts of my life. But after that, things went up the hill in a good way. I went to college. I, uh, had some natural athletic tendencies and played lacrosse. Virginia tacklers. I hope he's watching Cameron Hokies go Hokies. So I played lacrosse at Virginia Tech. But remember is one game against V. M I. Virginia Military Institute. It's a small school, but all these military guys always like marine type guys walking in us, and I had the ability to face off in lacrosse. It's a very particular skill. You go down in a certain position, and I had a particularly good ability face off. I would win face off all the time until I went to V. M. I. And the first with the whistle blows. There's a face off in this guy. Beats me on the face. Often takes the ball like that. Doesn't happen too often. Next time Beats me three or four times in he beats me. By the half the half time got there was 15 or so face off that happened. He beat me on every single one and my coach comes up things like Mike. I think this is what you're known for. This is what you're gonna wait. What's going on with you? I then change the dialogue in my head. I said, This is my skill on the best that no one beats. May I just got a try a little bit harder. I gotta change way of behaving cause I am the best of this and started this little mantra. They have never done mantra as or self talk before in my life during the halftime And then the next game the next faceoff I wanted I wanted one the rest of the game. I realized in that moment the power of self conversation, the power of positivity. When he beat me the first time, he just beat me. The second time I started beating myself with this guy's better than me. He's crushing. May I was arming him to beat me. I was defeating myself with self talk. That was the moment discovered self talk. There's average moments my life to this was I had a lame job after college High point. I started my first business. I think for every person the day you start your first business of the high point the day after you started for business, it's pure ministry, Right? So this is my second day. It was like, what the f did I do moment. But in the high point, I realized when you look over the cliff, it's much scarier than actually when you jump and I found when you jump and you have no parachute, it is scary. But I learned the value of money to me. Money was something that beforehand, you know, my my parents would lend it to me or something like this. But when you're running your own business, then you gotta live off your own dime. I learned the value of blood money. Uh, what do I call now? Blood money. That money is like blood. High point. I sold, uh, my first company. I sold my second company. This was such a great moment. I don't know if anyone had the great experience of selling a business. It was very funny. For May, my second company was in Computer Crime Investigation on DMA Company. Among other trials facilitated the investigation of Enron. We did Christie Brinkley's divorce. We've I personally managed her divorce, the forensic analysis for and what was cool about the company's a Fortune acquired. And it's a great moment because there's a lot of like artistry that goes on a are lots of fanfare that goes on. We went to the meeting where a huge monogamy mahogany table was beer. In this stage, I'm sitting on one side, my business partners with May there on the other side. And there's all this conversation. The table is so big that the managing partner that was facilitated the deal at the very end pushes the microphone are the little speaker button because all this long table between us with all these people is taking notes. I don't know why they're taking notes. Hey, hey. Pushed the bodies like we have a deal. Congratulations. You're part of our company and I push my button, I said, Would you pass the Grey Poupon? Right? It's a known laughed except for one guy started snickering like I never saw him again. I think I got fired. I never saw that guy again. Greatest moment of my business career was that day. Like I achieved what I envisioned. The greatest, most important moment of my life happened three years later. But believe now that's a three year trend. Three days later, I lost all my money. First of my life, I become a millionaire. I committed to myself that in my thirties I would become a millionaire, remember actually publicly stating it to my family. That was my intentions. And I also said, I'll never be that guy. I'll never be the guy who makes the money and then is a total jerk. Look at my trophies, my yacht. My big house became that guy. I became like I and I'm humbled, embarrassed to admit I was a guy. I got the money. I bought three cars on the same day. When was the Dodge Viper? Thank you. Ah, one was a Land Rover and a BMW. And I remember with my wife we went to the Land Rover dealer We walk in and I hope she's not watching because So why are you sharing this? We're sitting there, and the dealer, the sales manager comes up and says, Hey, what kind of vehicle can help you out with? And this jerk says Whoever is the most expensive we want all the bells of 1000 whistles and he's like and he goes running off manager, we have a idiot here. My wife looks to me and goes, What are you What are you doing? Can we afford this? And I said, I know why I said this. I said, We have more money than God. What a jerk! And I and I believe in God that really believe in God that day because differences wouldn't you experience with God. God speaks to you. On that day, God kicked me hard, Bam square in the stomach because I was like the second we have more money than God. I've all the wind suck out of me as like what just happened. And that's the days are losing all my money. I became an investor in angel investors, saying, Oh, I'm gonna start boys businesses. You got a business. Great. Here's money. Here's money. Here's money. I'll help you out. Over three years, I lost everything so much so that on February 14th which happens to be Valentine's Day 2000 eight my accountant calls and says, Mike, you have $50, in taxes for this year. I have $30,000 left to my name from a millionaire millionaire status. The 30, to my entire name. I said, Doc Keith, like I don't have the money. He's like, Well, you know, if you can't pay your taxes, go to jail. So if you berhard in the money and I just started shaking, I, uh I hung up the phone with Keith and I went home in my house. Valentine's Day is like when the biggest days are our house. It has actually been Christmas because my family, the five us gather around the table and we don't write cards. We do a thing called exfoliation. Each person will write something about another family member that they observed over the year that shows that they love and appreciate about the person. So it's all about appreciation in love, and we share stories around, and when you came into the house that day, I was shaking like a Z. I think about now I'm starting to shake. I was shaking Same the table and my wife comes out and she said, What's wrong? I couldn't even talk and I started sobbing and my family had gathered because we're just about to sit down for our dinner, and I'm just sobbing the table. And I want to say you could hear a pin drop. You couldn't sobbing that loud. It was like a scary girl and everyone's stuff like, What's going on? What happened? And that's my time. I lost it all, every every penny I had made to protect and support our family. I spent it's gone, And, uh, in that moment my daughter, uh, nine years old, gets up and leaves and she runs away and I get it. I would run away to my Children. My two sons were just staring, my wife staring and my daughter runs away and I'm sobbing, and she came back about a minute later and she had a piggy bank in her hand. She put on the table and she slit to me, she said Daddy, we're gonna make it. And, uh, that moment to find me. What I learned in that second is we our earth. When were our authentic Selves were the most successful? Our wealth isn't authentically representing ourselves. My daughter was telling May just be authentic. Just be yourself. We're gonna make it this darkest moment. My life became the brightest spot for me and it taught me it put me on my life's purpose. Everything I do is about bringing authenticity back to all this. I know it's in all of us. It's all there. We just need to express it through our business that's actually spawned. Becoming an author. It's the platform for me where I can exploit my strengths. I love public speaking. I love writing. I love television. Those elements allow me to do what my life purpose has been defined because of these experiences. Why? I wanted to walk you through this is it in you toe? You have a story like this. I suspect you have ah, life beat like this to his ups and downs. We should all be extremely grateful for what happened in these dark periods. Because I taught us something we should be extremely grateful for what we learned in these highlights. And when we capture what we learn from this, we reflect upon our life and then we apply it to our business. You've started the colossal seed. Okay, We want to dio he's got a tissue for myself on, uh, invite Donna back up here, toe walk you through how you now understand yourself and how you can apply it to your business.