Writing a book can take a lot of time more than you can imagine. It requires hours of research, writing, revising, and continuous polishing. At some point, you can experience burnout and excruciating writer’s block that will drain the creative energy out of you. 

In this episode, we talk to Nick Raithel, creator of The 7-Hour Book. He talks about coming up with a whole book in just 7 hours, with minimum participation from aspiring authors. Additionally, he touches on the concepts of stoicism and time blocking. He also shares the secret behind the Top Five Method.

If you have book ideas that continuously haunt you, then this episode is for you!

3 Reasons to Listen

1. Discover the concept of time blocking and the Top Five Method.
2. Learn more about the principle of stoicism.
3. Go through the entire step-by-step creative process of stitching together a purposeful book in seven 1-hour calls.

Resources

• Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink
• TEDx Talk: Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink
• Read What You Love Until You Love to Read by Naval Ravikant
• Naval Podcast
• The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
• Brian Tracy’s Youtube channel
• Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy
• The ONE Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan
• Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
• Getting Things Done by David Allen
• Farm: The Real Estate Agent’s Ultimate Guide to Farming Neighborhoods by Brian Icenhower
• Episode Details

About Nick

Nick Raithel is the creator of The 7-Hour Book. He helps entrepreneurs and thought leaders increase their business visibility. Nick works with aspiring authors, writers, designers, printers, and publishers to piece together a book with a purpose.

To connect with Nick, you can visit his website.

Episode Highlights[01:48] Nick’s Elevator Pitch

• Nick helps get “demons” out of people.
• The “demon” is a book idea that haunts us for years on end.
• Nick’s team concentrates on real estate investing, but they also have people from other sectors.

[03:58] A Glimpse of Nick’s Life

• He’s trying to stay in good health by being physically active amidst everything going on.
• Trying to be fit and healthy at all times ties down to the philosophy of stoicism.
• It’s about focusing on what you can control, understanding what you cannot, and having the wisdom to know the difference.

[07:01] Why Books are Important for Nick

• He thinks that there is little literature on real estate. Much of the information on the topic is on other mediums.
• Writing a book in this niche has a lot less competition. Hence, you can figure out your lane and pursue it to further your own goals.

[08:32] Benefits of Having a Book

• A book is not necessarily for everyone. You have to know your “why” before deciding to use it as your medium.
• He believes that a book should be a means toward a greater end.
• Do not only do well; you have to make a difference as a speaker.
• Each chapter of a book could be essentially a potential keynote speech.
• Listen to the full episode for Nick’s tips on how you can use a book to launch yourself!

[12:29] Nick’s Reading Habit[13:20] “Read what you love until you love to read.” –Naval Ravikant - Click Here to Tweet This

• Reading can become an addiction for those who are very much into the habit.
• Nick started reading non-fiction before moving to books that develop various core competencies.
• Start off reading with things you are passionate about and then parlay that into reading difficult stuff later on.
• Nick likes self-help books on endurance mindset, business strategies, and productivity.

[13:26] “Use your passion initially for the things that get you excited with reading, then parlay that into reading the more difficult stuff once you actually enjoy reading.” - Click Here to Tweet This[14:27] Nick’s Background

• He's based on the east coast in the DC area. The place can be very humid during the summer.
• Nick finds this weather good because he likes endurance sports and being outside.

[16:42] Things that Led to the Creation of The 7-Hour Book

• Nick reads to develop a life-long love for books. 
• Reading also developed his understanding of concepts such as productivity and time management.
• Working in marketing and advertising introduced him to people who had book ideas but had no time to write them.
• This constraint in their ability to make time led Nick to come up with how it can work.

[18:53] Significance of The 4-Hour Workweek

• You can look at the book from different angles.
• You can take suggestions from it and make your own philosophies instead of applying the book as a blueprint.
• Nick thinks this book is essentially an infomercial.

[21:52] Books that Inspired Nick’s Productivity Mindset

• He draws inspiration from Brian Tracy’s productivity principles. 
• Gary Keller and Jay Papasan’s The ONE Thing is also an inspiration for Nick, particularly the idea of time blocking.
• Athletic training also helped condition his productive mindset.

[24:09] Time Blocking and the Top Five Method

• Time blocking: Setting a particular time and date for doing a specific activity and aligning everything around it.
• Top Five Method: You write down five most essential things to do, put them in order, and systematically work on them.

[28:05] What People Need to Know about Stoicism

• Stoicism centers around three principal figures: Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and Seneca
• The idea revolves around self-management and focusing on controlling yourself instead of trying to influence the outside world.
• Experts say that our notion of being stoic is not in line with the real vision of stoicism.
• The idea of stoicism is responding rather than reacting to things.
• None of us is 100% master of our emotions.

[30:01] “No, being unemotional is not the idea of stoicism; it's more unshakeable. And the idea is more in responding to things rather than reacting to things.” - Click Here to Tweet This[34:02] How the 7-Hour Book Works

• The 7-hour is the time of the person who they’re working with. 
• It is a seven 1-hour call session over Zoom. 

[36:17] Behind the Scenes of the 7-Hour Book

• Nick’s team guides the authors through the questions, writes the notes, coordinates the marketing, and stitches them together.
• When synthesizing the notes, they figure out what parts they will include or omit. 
• They also work with designers, printers, and publishers to coordinate cover designs and publications.

[39:27] Working with a Skeptical Author

• Nick says that the decision to do a book must really come from the authors.
• It's essential to know your goals for the book and why you chose it as a medium.
• Books are tangible things people interested in working with you can have on their hands.
• What is keeping you from creating something meaningful and will draw powerful results such as writing a book?

[46:02] The 7-Hour Work Period[48:42] “When a couple of people get together and start talking, it’s like there’s another force created that’s composed of those ideas that none of the people on their own would have come up with.” - Click Here to Tweet This

• The bare minimum the authors need to do is show up seven times for one hour each time.
• It’s drawing the juice out of the conversation for the readers.
• They can produce the book around four to six months after the calls. 
• Nick’s team does the book from the standpoint of entrepreneurs and marketers.
• You need a book that will resonate with a very select group of people in your market.

[52:56] “You don’t need to have a “New York Times best-selling book.” You need a book that’s going to resonate with a very select group of people in your market and cause them to take whatever actions you want them to take.” - Click Here to Tweet This[53:58] The Call-to-Action

• Real estate investors usually cannot directly solicit funds for their investment.
• Your call-to-action does not need to follow the format of a "spammy" context. 
• It could be as simple as inputting your email address for readers to contact you if it resonated with them.

[56:19] Nick’s Recommendations When Starting a Book

• Carve out an hour to do the thinking and brainstorming.
• It would allow you to have an idea of what their final destination would be for the book.
• Make your “why” the starting point.

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To growing and becoming all we are created to be,

Tim

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