_“I’m often asked ‘What’s the one thing?’... The fact is, it’s not one thing. It’s the course of several things… but if someone wants me to give them one answer, I express that it’s mindset: What are you going to do to achieve success?”_

JT McCormick’s childhood was fraught with poverty, violence, gang activity, and incarceration. Despite these challenges, he has become the CEO of Book in a Box and one of the premier experts on scaling and growing a business. In this episode, Ari and JT discuss the importance of mindset, discipline, and sacrifice on the road to success.

Outline:

0:25 - Ari opens the podcast and introduces his guest, JT McCormick

1:20 - JT talks about his start in the professional world and his introduction to Book in a Box as an author.

2:15 - Ari and JT discuss his backstory and the challenges of his childhood.

4:14 - JT shares a moment from his youth that changed his outlook and set him on the path to success.

5:40 - Even though he was never exposed to entrepreneurship, JT explains how he was able to learn by observing his environment. Even in his first job as a young adult, the drive and dedication that would lead him to success was apparent.

10:45 - Discipline is the root of JT’s success. He thrives on discipline, cultivating the right mindset, and structure. He shares his daily routine.

12:43 - While JT can attribute his success to several factors, mindset has been the most impactful.

13.15 - JT talks about the 3 S’s: sleep, sacrifice, and success. He has an uncommon willingness to sacrifice for success, and he discusses how this has manifested in career.

15:35 - Ari and JT share the challenges of parenting small children.

17:10 - Ari asks JT what excites him most about Book in a Box.

18:22 - JT shares the successes of Book in a Box and the biggest challenges he sees going forward.

20:53 - Ari closes the show

Resources:

Book in a Box website: [https://bookinabox.com/](https://bookinabox.com/)

Find JT McCormick on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtmccormick/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtmccormick/)

Email JT at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

Find out more about Ari Meisel and Less Doing on our [website](https://go.lessdoing.com/home). Want even more productivity tips, tricks, and insights? Join our Less Doing community on [Slack](https://go.lessdoing.com/labsoptin) or [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/groups/lessdoinglabs/).

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“Human beings are not wired for safety, we are wired for the familiar,” says Dr. Doug Brackmann, author of the bestseller, [Driven.](https://www.amazon.com/Driven-Understanding-Harnessing-Entrepreneurs-Athletes/dp/1619616939/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1511985122&sr=1-1&keywords=Doug+Brackmann) and Ari’s guest on this insightful and compelling podcast. Dr. Brackmann theorizes that there’s a 10 percent minority among us whose brains, whose DNA, does not follow this axiom. Entrepreneurs, pro-athlet

“Human beings are not wired for safety, we are wired for the familiar,” says Dr. Doug Brackmann, author of the bestseller, [Driven.](https://www.amazon.com/Driven-Understanding-Harnessing-Entrepreneurs-Athletes/dp/1619616939/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1511985122&sr=1-1&keywords=Doug+Brackmann) and Ari’s guest on this insightful and compelling podcast. Dr. Brackmann theorizes that there’s a 10 percent minority among us whose brains, whose DNA, does not follow this axiom. Entrepreneurs, pro-athletes, inventors, adventurers, and Navy SEALs all have certain genes that can manifest resilient and highly focused people. But they also are impulsive and easily distracted. While these traits enabled our ancient ancestors to survive, if you have these traits today, it can create havoc in your life. Ari and Doug talk through the strategies necessary to stop self-sabotage, end shame and doubt, find your wolf pack and use meditation to put yourself on the right path. And they talk about Buddha.

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Ari gets with George Bryant - Marine, food blogger, marketing consultant, entrepreneur, father and author of the best-selling cookbook [The Paleo Kitchen: Finding Primal Joy in Modern Cooking.](https://www.amazon.com/Paleo-Kitchen-Finding-Primal-Cooking/dp/1628600101) It’s a rapid-fire, no holds barred conversation and his a-ha moments about cooking, life, overcoming obstacles and purpose come at you hard and fast. George’s story is tragic and heroic in equal measure and he drops almost back-to-back nug

Ari gets with George Bryant - Marine, food blogger, marketing consultant, entrepreneur, father and author of the best-selling cookbook [The Paleo Kitchen: Finding Primal Joy in Modern Cooking.](https://www.amazon.com/Paleo-Kitchen-Finding-Primal-Cooking/dp/1628600101) It’s a rapid-fire, no holds barred conversation and his a-ha moments about cooking, life, overcoming obstacles and purpose come at you hard and fast. George’s story is tragic and heroic in equal measure and he drops almost back-to-back nuggets of wisdom that will stay with you long after the episode ends. You will absolutely find yourself returning to this conversation again and again.

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Ari Meisel (@arimeisel) is a world-renowned expert in productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness, a father of four kids under the age of five, and the founder of Less Doing, More Living. How did Ari create the OAO (Optimize, Automate, Outsource) methodology?

Join Mackenzie and Ari as they dive into the mission of Less Doing, Ari's journey to realizing his revolutionary methodology, biohacking, and the master’s top tips to be the most effective!

_" 'What would you do if you could only

Ari Meisel (@arimeisel) is a world-renowned expert in productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness, a father of four kids under the age of five, and the founder of Less Doing, More Living. How did Ari create the OAO (Optimize, Automate, Outsource) methodology?

Join Mackenzie and Ari as they dive into the mission of Less Doing, Ari's journey to realizing his revolutionary methodology, biohacking, and the master’s top tips to be the most effective!

_" 'What would you do if you could only work an hour a day?' Because of the debilitating illness that I had, you could either throw your hands up and just let the tide wash over you or you have to figure out some way to innovate in that situation, and for me it was an entirely new system of productivity."_

Learn about Ari's history and the challenges he faced that led to the genesis of the Less Doing method. Discover some of Ari's greatest (and simplest!) hacks that can have a massive impact on your day-to-day life. And find out how being replaceable may be the greatest asset you can have!

To learn more about Ari, Less Doing, and benefit from hundreds of hours of content, please visit [LessDoing.com!](https://go.lessdoing.com/home)

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Doug Barber is the co-founder of [Minaal](https://www.minaal.com/), one of, if not, the best traveling bag in the world. Doug is a full-time traveler and wanted a bag that catered to his needs. Tune in as he and Ari go through the genesis of Minaal, Doug's astounding [Kickstarter](https://www.kickstarter.com/) campaign, and the meaning behind the name "Minaal!"

_"I woke up at about four in the morning after a few weeks of mulling it over and not really coming up with anything good. And 'Minaal' popped i

Doug Barber is the co-founder of [Minaal](https://www.minaal.com/), one of, if not, the best traveling bag in the world. Doug is a full-time traveler and wanted a bag that catered to his needs. Tune in as he and Ari go through the genesis of Minaal, Doug's astounding [Kickstarter](https://www.kickstarter.com/) campaign, and the meaning behind the name "Minaal!"

_"I woke up at about four in the morning after a few weeks of mulling it over and not really coming up with anything good. And 'Minaal' popped in to my head, and I registered the dot com and went back to sleep after that...we discovered it is a word already...it was the made up word that wasn't."_

Get to know Doug as Ari dives into the process Doug went through to prototype, manufacture, and market the bag. Learn Doug's "Why?" and what being a traveler means to him. And hear Doug's tips on how to be a more effective traveler.

**Quickie:**

- Doug and Jimmy, the founders of Minaal, met and bonded while living in a van with 3 other people, eventually circumnavigating North America on a 17,000 mile, 52-day road trip.

- They wanted Minaal to go against standard forms of production and put emphasis on the user instead of producing dozens of models to satisfy sales targets and quotas.

- Doug and Jimmy ran a Kickstarter campaign that raised over $560,000 -- 56 times more than they hoped to raise.

- What are the best ways to travel?

- How to minimize jet lag.

- What does a full-time traveler HAVE to have in his bag?

Find out more about what we are doing at [www.lessdoing.com](http://www.lessdoing.com)

Join the Less Doing Labs Community and follow Ari on [Facebook.](https://www.facebook.com/lessdoing/)

Find the show on Twitter @lessdoing -- what's your biggest productivity challenge?

Make it an effective day!

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"When you reach a fork in the road where one founder wants to go one way and one wants to go the other, you can not take both forks."

Today, it’s just me. A letter of how and why I’ve changed my direction. Not going back to, but a revival of my brand and endeavors that allowed me to be closest to the work I crave the most: help someone reclaim their time. This is when I feel **the** most impactful.

In this episode is the I wrote this letter to my community detailing this transition. The wh