Making It with Jess Ekstrom

Have you ever had a moment in your life that you look back on and thought, "Wow, that actually happened... and I made it through."

In today's episode of Business on the Bright Side, I'm sharing how I lost the first $10,000 I invested in my business before I ever really even started. The lessons that came from that experience didn't sink in until much later, but it also brought out more than just lessons, it taught me about risk.

What was the risk of moving forward after failure? What's the risk of not moving forward? What considerations or risks do you have in your next big idea or adventure?

Getting Started with Headbands of Hope (3:12)

How Jess Lost $10,000 (7:20)

Moving Beyond the Risk (11:31)

Finding Success & Purpose After Failure (13:10)

Links:

Chasing the Bright Side

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Are you ready to make a change in the way you're living your life? Antonio Neves joins us as our first guest on Business on the Bright Side to discuss his book, Stop Living on Autopilot!

In this episode, we talk through authenticity, knowing who you are, and surrounding yourself with quality community! If you're ready to stop living on autopilot, you need to hear this conversation with Antonio!

Meet Antonio (2:25)

Being Authentic (9:45)

How do you introduce yourself? (15:16)

Good Fear vs. Bad Fear (17:28)

Thieves vs. Allies (26:58)

Links

theantonioneves.com

Stop Living on AutoPilot by Antonio Neves

Armchair Expert by Dax Shepard

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Are you struggling with creating and prioritizing your goals? This episode is for you! While I'm not a fan of strict goal setting, I think it's important to know what you're working towards! Listen in as I share my favorite goal setting tips so you can accomplish what you want in 2021!

Grab the Goal Setting Workbook

Tips for Goal Setting

1. Leave room for possibility. Release your grip. How can you hold it with an open palm

2. Write down your goals.

3. Speak it into existence.

4. Do something small towards it.

One Liner: We grow into the person that we want to be on the way to our goals, not in the planning. (11:04)

Sometimes our own way of thinking can get in the way of us achieving our own goals. Let's make life a little easier with a simple mindset shift. In today's episode, I'm sharing 4 mindset shifts you can copy to stop getting in your own way!

4 Mindset Shifts to Make Life Easier (1:26)

1. You before anything else. (1:38)

2. Care more about the system, less about the goal. (3:02)

3. Care more about what you’re creating than what people are thinking. (5:01)

4. Train your mind to see the good in people & business. See it and speak it. (6:37)

"People aren’t thinking about you as much as you think they are."

One Liner: Even our most engrained patterns and habits deserve to be questioned. What worked yesterday, might not work today. Always keep iterating. (7:47)

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You have permission to change who you are at any time. Isn't that crazy? You can determine who you are and what you want to be, along with how you approach situations. Ready to dive in? Let's figure out what your 2021 personality is with this simple quiz!

10 Questions to Decide What You Want Your 2021 Personality to Be (3:35)

1. Do you want to be a coach, player, or spectator? (3;42)

2. What people do you want to reach? (4:11)

3. How do you want to help those people? (4:34)

4. Where do you want to meet these people? (6:03)

5. What creative medium do you want to use to share your gifts? (6:30)

6. What do you want your look to be? (7:02) 8:33

7. How do you want to respond to challenges?(9:28)

8. Who is your alter ego?(10:33)

9. What are you not going to care about anymore?(11:34)

10. What’s the one thing that you’re going to care deeply about?(12:14)

One Liner: Remember, you’re a different person yesterday than you are today. Who you are as a person is fluid and dynamic so keep checking in with yourself. (13:00)

Links

lindseyschwartz.com

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Happy New Year! Is 2021 the year you're looking to grow personally and professionally, without feeling overwhelmed with the goals you have in mind? In this episode of Business on the Bright Side, I'm sharing 3 ways to build momentum this year! 

New Year’s Resolutions are a Load of Crap (1:45)

Set goals and build momentum in 2021: (2:41)

1. Crafting a Mission Statement (2:45)
2. Update your bio. (6:49)
3. Setting up your Calendar for Big Picture Goals (7:58)

One Liner: In 2021, I’m in competition with no one, I’m rooting for everyone, there’s room for me at the top, and I am right on time. (9:34)

As we bring 2020 to a close, I’m sharing the details on all of the things that worked and didn’t work in my business and life amidst the pandemic.

All of my businesses experienced very different moves in 2020. One business flatlined, one business quadrupled in sales, and another business started at zero. On a personal level, I was able to appreciate slowing down, creating new routines, and avoid things I didn’t enjoy.

Ready to get the inside scoop on the success and failures of 2020, let’s dive in!

Sitting in Our New Home (2:27)

What Worked in 2020 (4:00)

What Worked in 2020: Professional Brand (4:15)

• Community Virtual Events: Chasing the Bright Side Conference, Write the Dang Book Conference, and Book Pop Workshop
• Texting via Community Application: 704-228-9495
• Pay What You Can Model for Chasing the Bright Side Virtual Conference
• Introducing Masks at Headbands of Hope

What Worked in 2020: Personally (10:50)

• Not Traveling on Planes
• Half-Caf Coffee
• Facetime & Zooming People

What Didn’t Work in 2020 (14:49)

What Didn’t Worked in 2020: Professional Brand (15:30)

• High Ticket Offerings Were Harder to Sell
• In-Person Speaking Engagements
• Press

What Didn’t Worked in 2020: Personally (18:40)

• Hand Lettering
• TikTok
• Reading Big Books

One Liner: Your value doesn’t come from one thing you do. You are the sum of all the things you do. (20:50)

Links

Micro Course: How to Host Your Own Online Events

Headbands of Hope

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Are you facing a big decision in your life right now? It’s hard to make decisions that will impact your life!

In this episode of Business on the Bright Side, I’m sharing how I approach big decision making! I’m also highlighting how we used this approach for our decision to uproot our lives and live in an airstream!

Considering RV Living (1:29)

List Making (4:16)

How I Face Big Decision Making (3:56)

1. Pretend to Go All-In (3:56)

2. Ask yourself what all you need to do to make this happen. (4:05)

3. Find your first domino (the first thing you need to do on your list). (4:46)

4. Is there friction or is there flow? (6:47)

One Liner: When a decision becomes too big and scary, pretend to go all in and see how it feels. After that first step, you’ll find that fear slowly fades away. (9:29)

I've created a shop for people who do, because I think that the best selling product that you're looking to create is the story that you already have. The Bright Side Shop is filled with digital and physical products to help you do just that.

Links

jessekstrom.com

Airstream

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Do you find yourself stuck when it comes to creating shareable content? In this episode, I'm highlighting four things that you need to consider in order to strategize your content creation. Listen in as I highlight the importance of relatable and valuable content for your audience.

4 Things You Need to Think About (2:06)

1. Decide What You Want to be Known For

2. What’s the value you want to provide people?

3. Does my content fall into one of these two buckets: relatable or valuable?

- Relatable Content (5:07)

- Valuable Content (5:24)

4. Make it short. (5:47)

"As Don Draper said, make it simple, yet significant.” (6:41)

How to Create One Liners (8:00)

One Liner: Don’t get caught up in the external of likes and followers—aim for the connection metrics of shares and engagement. (10:02)

Links

One Line Wonder Workshop

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Your morning can set the tone for the rest of your day. Are you being intentional about how you're spending every morning? In this episode, I'm sharing two steps to auditing your morning routine, along with highlighting my own!

Morning Routine Activity (1:57)

1. Write down everything you did within the first hour of waking up.

2. What were your thoughts within the first hour of waking up?

Consider Your Mornings as the Tone for the Day (3:57)

Jess’s Morning Routine (5:22)

1. Go on airplane mode for 30-60minutes first thing. Create before you consume.

2. Drink water before you drink coffee.

3. Write down everything that’s in your head.

4. Look at each person you’re meeting with and send them good vibes.

5. Figure out how you can make things fun.

One Liner: Our habits and patterns make up our reality—make sure they’re creating the reality that you want to live in. (13:07)

Links

brightpages.com

The Artist’s Way by Julie Cameron

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