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AMY PORTERFIELD: Did you know that 40 percent of your actions are not conscious? Instead, they're actually habits, which is why habits are so incredibly important. It's also probably why, no matter how much content I create around list building and digital courses or online-marketing strategies, there is one thing that my audience is always requesting to help grow their business. And that's the topic of habits. They want to know what habits I've created and what habits other successful entrepreneurs have created and committed to in order to move their business forward, to create more organization, and find intentional margins between life and their business. Well, my friend, today is your lucky day because I'm bringing you a behind-the-scenes look at habits from some of your favorite entrepreneurs. That's right. They’re sharing the number one habit that helped them move their business forward. This episode is gold. Listen on to find out who you're going to hear from.
INTRO: I'm Amy Porterfield, and this is Online Marketing Made Easy.
AMY: When I say you're getting a behind-the-scenes peek into habits that made a difference for some extremely successful entrepreneurs, I'm not joking around. In today's episode, I literally had a handful of my peers send a voice audio of what their number one habit was for moving the needle forward as an entrepreneur. You're going to hear from Gabby Bernstein, Neil Patel, Zafira Rajan, Patrice Washington, Tiffany Lee Bymaster, John Lee Dumas, and Luvvie Ajayi Jones. And oh boy, it is good. Some are personal habits, some are professional, but all of them are juicy.
But let's be honest. Implementing a habit takes time, commitment, and effort. So I've actually put together a resource to help you create habits that actually stick. In fact, these are the habits that moved the needle for me personally as an entrepreneur. So I've got a free PDF resource, and it's called Create More Freedom and Live Your Best Life. And I'm going to walk you through six of my daily habits, both professional and personal. These are the ones that I swore by while I was building my business. In fact, I still abide by several of them to this day.
You'll find tangible steps for each one, examples to get your creative juices flowing, and my personal favorite, I've included a fourteen-day Habits Tracker that you can print off and use it to keep you accountable as you make these habits your own. This free PDF resource is gold, so I want to make sure you snag it. Head on over to amyporterfield.com/habits to get yours downloaded and printed off so you can start creating habits that are set in stone and get you creating a business that gives you the purpose and freedom that you deserve. Because after all, as entrepreneurs, that's what we should be working towards, right? So, again, it's amyporterfield.com/habits, and you can grab that free resource and habits tracker.
All right. So those entrepreneurs that I promised would share their secrets with you, here they are.
GABBY BERNSTEIN: Hey, Amy's audience, it's Gabby Bernstein. I'm a number one New York Times’ best-selling author, motivational speaker, and I have been an entrepreneur for twenty-one years. Holy moly. Really dating myself now. I would love to share my number one habit that has really helped me stay successful as an entrepreneur and really move the needle. And that habit is lots of little right actions.
I've always approached a project or a new business idea or a launch of any kind or writing a new book from this perspective. I would show up with the attitude of I'm not going to do this overnight. I'm not going to force myself to do this overnight. I'm going to keep it simple and take small right actions towards this bigger goal. I have always trusted that as I add up those small right actions, the miracle will occur. One day you'll wake up, and you've written a book or you've created a course or you've launched a business. So keeping it simple, keeping it in the day, staying consistent with those small right actions, and letting them add up is the key to success because you no longer will get in your own way with that inner critic because you don't have to put the pressure on that you have to do it all overnight. You can really be creative because you're just focusing on something simple in front of you, and you can let it add up so that one day you just wake up, ready to rumble; wake up, ready to start that business; wake up, ready to launch that book. And it's all in the small right actions.
So that's my advice. Don't try to do it all overnight. If you make the commitment to take small right actions towards your big goals, you will be really, really free in the journey of entrepreneurship and the journey of creation. I hope this helps you.
NEIL PATEL: Hey, everyone. My name's Neil Patel, and I've been a serial entrepreneur for roughly twenty years now. And today I want to share the one habit that's really moved the needle for me as entrepreneur. It's super simple, but very few people do this. So think of it this way. You have goals that you want to accomplish, and when you think about the goals that you want to accomplish, sometimes you even create New Year's resolutions for them, but a lot of times, we don't hit these goals or these New Year's resolutions. And why is that? It's not because they're big; it's because they're not broken down into small, little steps.
Just think about it. If you want to accomplish a goal, such as taking your course sales from $100,000 a year to a million dollars a year, setting a goal of just saying, “Hey, I want to go a million dollars a year,” doesn't really mean that you're going to achieve a million dollars a year. It doesn't really mean much at all. You just set a target. But how do you get there?
So what I've done, and this is a habit that I do on a daily basis that's really helped me accomplish anything that I want to accomplish, whether it's personal or on the business end, is think about what you're trying to achieve, and break it down into a monthly timetable, right? What do you need to do each month to achieve those goals? Then, when you look at it from a monthly standpoint, break down what you need to do each and every single week within that month to achieve those goals. Then, I want you to take what you need to achieve on a weekly basis, break down on a daily basis. And then, once you have what you need to do on a daily basis, break down the tasks that you need to complete from an hourly perspective each and every single day to achieve that daily “goal.” And when you break it down into tasks, and you make sure you don't go to sleep, whether you're sick or whether it's a vacation, until you complete those daily tasks that will help you achieve your goals, if you do that, you’re going to be much more likely to achieve them by year end or whenever it may be.
But keep this in mind. Even if you do every little thing, you may not achieve your goal, such as getting to a million dollars in course revenue, right? If you're at a hundred thousand and you want to get to a million, if you do every little thing, you may not get to a million, but you're going to be much better off than where you are right now. So either way, you're going to see a lot of improvement.
But the key is to break down everything that you need to do in hourly tasks, nothing more than that, and just make sure that you accomplish them each and every single day. And if you don't, don't go to sleep. Spend a little extra time getting it done. So that way, the next day, you don't have the backlog of tasks to complete, because then it starts piling up and then you're never going to finish them off. So just make sure you make them really bite-sized tasks that you can complete on a daily basis, and break down those tasks, and make them achievable within an hour.
So that's it. Do that, and you'll start being better as an entrepreneur. And it's an amazing habit that I highly recommend that every entrepreneur practice.
TIFFANY LEE BYMASTER: Have you ever experienced reading pages and pages of a brand-new book or diving into that course you invested in to watch the video lessons or perhaps attend a live event, whether in person or virtual, and then you realized about a month later or weeks later or maybe even just a few days later that you retained very little of what you thought you learned? Well, that has happened to me over and over and over again, and I also observed it happening to many of the thousands of students I've coached the last few years. And it made me super curious, and honestly, it really bothered the heck out of me and made me wonder if I lost the ability to learn. So I was determined to figure this out.
My name is Tiffany Lee Bymaster, also known as Coach Glitter, and I am the creator of Lights Camera Branding. I am obsessed with helping entrepreneurs use the power of live video to grow an engaged audience and strategically lower their ad costs for their live launches.
Well, my curiosity led me to what is now one of my most important success habits that I've implemented, but I also teach it to my students at the very start of my program so that they too can achieve greater results faster as well. And I know there are tons of course creators, coaches, and mentors who are listening right now, so I hope you will adopt these simple yet ridiculously effective strategies yourself, as well as with your own clients and students.
My research led me to something called the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve, which is a theory that describes the decrease in the ability of our brain to retain memory over time. In fact, it is normal to lose 50 to 80 percent within twenty-four hours of learning, and seven days later, you barely retain 10 percent of that information.
But don't worry. I also discovered the simple three-step solution that you can implement immediately. Step one, spend just ten minutes to review what you've learned within twenty-four hours to retain nearly 100 percent of the information. Step two, seven days later, spend only five little minutes to review and reactivate what you've learned. Step three, on day thirty, spend one to two minutes—yes, just one to two minutes—to review for complete retention.
I also have a bonus technique I want to share with you that helped me to learn how to learn again. And who doesn't love a good bonus? Especially as an entrepreneur and creative with a very squirrely brain that gets distracted easily by all the sparkly objects, which that, too, is so very common, whether you legit have ADD or are undiagnosed but you're pretty dang sure you have some degree of it, like I do, this is called the Pomodoro Technique. And it helps you to effectively use the very limited amount of time we all have more productively, as well as retain what you've learned.
You simply put your attention-killing device—yes, that phone that you're probably holding in your hand right now—and put it on Do Not Disturb or Airplane Mode. Then, set the timer for twenty-five minutes to laser focus on just one topic or task at a time. Next, you're going to take a five-minute break when that alarm goes off. And most importantly, you got to get up, you got to turn on your favorite Britney, Beyonce, or Journey song, and dance it out. Get into your body. Get it moving. Or practice some active breathing. You're going to repeat this two to three times to start, and then gradually build your ability to stay focused longer by increasing it to four to five Pomodoro sessions. You're going to find that you not only batch create and learn more productively, but you will also retain what you've learned so that, most importantly, you can go and apply it by taking action.
Repetition truly leads to mastery, whether it's improving your live-video skills or anything else you're learning in your business. But it also doesn't require a ton of time if you learn how to laser focus.
Try these techniques yourself, and then please teach this to your students and clients in your own courses, as well as at your own live events and workshops. I can't wait to hear how these success habits change your life and business like it has done for me and my students.
JOHN LEE DUMAS: Hey, what's up, my friends? John Lee Dumas here, the founder and host of Entrepreneurs on Fire, and wanted to share one daily habit that has really moved the needle for me, specifically as an entrepreneur, and this is daily journaling.
For me, one thing I always struggled with as an entrepreneur is that I had so many ideas swirling in my head, I just felt like I was always thinking about the same thing over and over again, or about ten things in sequential order and then starting back at the beginning. It was like there were just always so much energy and mental bandwidth being utilized by all of these thoughts, ideas, questions, fears, doubts, excitement, all swirling around inside of my head, all at the same time.
And when I started journaling, it really took all those things in my head, got them down on paper. I felt like the ones that weren't serving me just disappeared, and the ones that I really did need to think about were right there on the piece of paper. I could think about it, I could ponder on it, and I could act upon it, execute it, and then move on to the next thing.
So one thing that I do—I don't spend a ton of time—five to ten minutes a day, I just write down everything that's in my head in a journal. I just get it out of my head, onto a piece of paper, and it helps clear my mind so much. So that's a daily habit that I definitely stick to. I've definitely been enjoying. I recommend people who are struggling with the same things or resonating with what I was sharing earlier, definitely try this tactic. It can only help you. It can definitely not hurt in any way, shape, or form. This is John Lee Dumas signing off.
LUVVIE AJAYI JONES: Hey, this is Luvvie Ajayi Jones, and I’m a New York Times’ best-selling author, speaker, and professional troublemaker. What is one habit that has moved the needle for me as an entrepreneur? I honestly think—it is very simple, but it is true—to-do lists. To-do lists are everything to me. And in the times when I start my days or my weeks without a to-do list, I'm not that productive, because time goes by very quickly, I have no clue how I spent it, and I'm just like, I don't feel like I got anything done. Taking the time to put my to-do list on paper is really good because, one, it takes it out of my head, and, two, it holds me accountable. Seeing it on black and white, whether it's on the computer or on my notebook, is something that pushes me forward and makes me want to actually check it off. I am motivated by getting things done, and my to-do list, when I see it and I see me crossing out things, inspires me to keep going. So that is my point for you. Make your to-do list every day, every week.
ZAFIRA RAJAN: Hi. I’m Zafira Rajan, and I'm a strategic launch copywriter and brand strategist, who works with purpose-driven coaches and mindful course creators so that they can get clear on how to share their ideas and communicate why they're different in a way that authentically connects with the people they most want to serve. And the number one habit that has moved the needle for me as an entrepreneur is holding my Monday mornings—in fact, all of my Mondays—as sacred space for me to work on my business and anything personal. So the thing that I started shifting about a year and a half ago was waking up every Monday without checking my email, without checking my phone; taking a long walk; in the summer, if I can get in the ocean, I will try to do that; and really just saving that Monday-morning space to get clear and really connect with what I was feeling authentically, what I was thinking. And the number one thing I would sit down and do as soon as I got to my desk is write an email to my list.
So I find for me personally, taking walks or taking space is what gives me inspiration. I'll also try to read a couple of pages of a book before I sit down and do any of this. Take a long, leisurely breakfast. And I often find that sitting down to write after doing those things lends itself to my best ideas, my best work, and a really clear and compelling message. So not only has it set me up to now email my list weekly—and it's okay if I don't. Those things don't always have to happen. You can't force creativity, but I know I always walk away with one good idea after doing these things in the morning—but more often than not, I will sit down and write an email to my list, and then I will work on things that help move my business forward instead of working in my business. So responding to clients, working on a copy for clients, working with my program members. And it gives me a lot of space to sit down and look at my quarterly goals, look at my monthly goals, and see what I can be doing to move ahead in that direction.
And being a copywriter myself, I find that I also need space to work on my own writing and my own work. So no matter what you're doing, just remembering to hone your craft in any way is so valuable. And for me, that's what I do on Mondays as well. So I'll start writing short stories. I'll dive into courses that I bought, and actually try to implement bits and pieces of them, and just make sure I'm growing and learning as an entrepreneur.
So in summary, Mondays for me are a very slow, soulful, lazy way to ease into my week without a lot of pressure, to allow a lot of space for creativity to come naturally and to continuously upgrade and hone my skills as a copywriter. And I will never give up my Mondays ever again. So if you can ever make one day of the week or a week of your month something to look forward to, it can lend itself to so many beautiful things. And I’m so glad for me, I wake up on Mondays, super excited to start the week and hit the ground running.
PATRICE WASHINGTON: Hey, there. This is Patrice Washington from the Redefining Wealth Podcast. And one weekly habit that has truly changed the needle for me as an entrepreneur is blocking days on my calendar to do very specific tasks. So, if you're not careful, what typically happens is, you know, you have a to-do list of things, and you're just trying to plow through it any way you can on any given day. Get in where you fit in. But I realized that by me not being focused with what I wanted to work on each day, I was teaching people that what they wanted to get accomplished with me was more important. So if they wanted to meet on any day at any time, it was a free for all. You know, if someone wanted to record a podcast episode whenever they wanted to do it, then we were just throwing things on the calendar. And I had to pause, take a step back, and really clean up the calendar, and remind my team of how we wanted the week to go.
We call it the ideal week. So now very specific days are for very specific types of work. So, for example, on Mondays, it's all meetings for me, usually team meetings, internal meetings. On Tuesdays are all my content planning. So whether that's recording a podcast episode or being interviewed for a magazine or doing some type of media, that typically takes place on Tuesday, as much as we can help it. Wednesdays are actually a rest and recovery day for me. I build in time to think, which is also another great habit that's, honestly, moved the needle. But I build in time to think, to rest, to just recover, because Monday and Tuesdays are usually very long and very heavy. I may have therapy on those days. Any personal-type things, I get it done on a Wednesday. Thursdays are all external meetings. So if you are outside of my organization and you want to talk to me, more than likely it's going to have to happen in thirty-minute increments on a Thursday. And then Friday I reserve for coaching. So in my programs or when I used to do one-on-one coaching, we would always lean towards getting it done on Fridays. And it just really helped make sure that my brain is in the train of thought necessary to be at its best for that work, because if you're switching between different conversations, and you need to pull out different skills and different ideas, and you're going back and forth throughout the day, it can be very exhausting. And so this is how I optimize and just make the best of each day in my business, and it's been a game changer. So if you're not time blocking, if you're not reserving certain days for specific tasks, I really, really suggest it.
AMY: I love hearing what other successful people are doing. It helps me to assess the habits that I currently have and gives me clear guidance on what I might need to change. I am a firm believer that consistent habits are an important part of every entrepreneurial journey and a big difference between entrepreneurs who are successful and those who are struggling. And so that's why I created the free PDF resource that I mentioned in the beginning of this episode, called Create More Freedom and Live Your Best Life: Six Daily Habits to Swear By. So it's six of my most important daily habits that I used in my early days and even some that I use now, along with the Habits Tracker that you can print off and use to keep yourself accountable. You're going to love it. So head to amyporterfield.com/habits to grab it. Amyporterfield.com/habits.
After you’ve printed off your Habits Tracker, I want to see it. So go print it off, hang it up somewhere that you'll see it often, and take a photo of you actually using it, and tag me on Instagram—I'm just @amyporterfield—so I can celebrate with you. And you can bet I'm going to post a few on my Instagram when I see them.
Okay. So, I'm so excited to see what new habits you create. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'll see you next week, same time, same place. Bye for now.
