If you don’t have time for a hobby, your work won’t flow like it could.

One of the most pervasive lies that men tell themselves is that they are so busy with work and commitments that they can’t find time for a hobby.

In our mind, you can’t afford to be without one.

By regularly engaging in a hobby, you’ll become much more present and effective at work.

So with an investment of 40 minutes or so per day, all eight or 10 hours you’re at work will be better.

In this episode, we talk about six major benefits you’ll see in your productivity at work from having a hobby.

We’ll also tell you seven things you should consider when choosing a hobby to make sure it’s effective for you.

If you feel like all the adventure has gone out of your life, this episode will help you feel young again.

If you stopped doing things you love because your work life got so busy, check out this episode.

And if you realize the need for a hobby and just don’t know where to start, then you’ve found the right place to start. Click play in the player above to listen to this episode about how hobbies will accelerate your productivity and how to find one.  

Listen to this episode to learn how hobbies accelerate productivity and more:

• What a lovely psychotherapist told me about needing a hobby.
• How corporate America ate Bill’s hobbies.
• How recommitting to a hobby helped Bill sell his business for eight figures.
• The biggest results-driver in your business.
• Clearing away mental clouds.
• A time investment that comes back to you many times.
• The big business of keeping you distracted from hobbies.
• The difference of a brain on electronics and one that’s truly engaged.
• Why you need a hobby to solve problems.

Contact me with any questions about this episode:

• Email
• That episode of 60 Minutes about technological distraction

Do you feel like your innovative business isn’t getting the attention it should? 

My guest today had to work hard for many years to find the perfect balance of work, innovation and humility to achieve what he always knew he wanted.

Bedros Keuilian is the founder and CEO of Fit Body Boot Camp, which struggled to gain traction before it took off. But things weren’t always so great for him.

Growing up in California as the youngest member of a poor Armenian immigrant family, Bedros  helped his family survive by dumpster diving at age 6.

At 17, Bedros realized he was unhappy with his body and self-image. So he decided to work hard and eat right to change that.

When he succeeded, he decided he would spend his life helping others realize the same kind of transformation.

He went from working in a big box gym to starting his own chain of gyms that a larger fitness chain eventually purchased from him. That’s when he moved into the internet age.

But it wasn’t easy, and he soon owed $120,000 to a mentor who had helped him get off the ground.

Seeing that Bedros was struggling, the mentor offered to buy the struggling company by forgiving his debt and hiring him as an employee for $10,000 per month.

Security in one direction. Limitless possibility the other.

Bedros ran away from the “opportunity” that would have shackled his potential.

He now makes about four times what his mentor once offered him.

If you’re facing a crossroads in your life, this story could improve the direction you take.

If you want to learn how to manage work stress, family life and self-confidence, Bedros has meaningful advice for you.

And if you feel like you innovate ahead of the curve, Bedros and his story will speak to you.

“How a dumpster diving immigrant became a high-powered CEO.”

Listen to this episode to hear from fitness guru Bedros Keuilian about his journey from “dumpster diving to riches” and much more:

• The secret to an extraordinary life.
• How much it costs to illegally cross into Italy from Armenia.
• How 10 minutes of sincere self-conversation quadrupled Bedros’s take-home.
• Why Bedros regrets not joining the military as an immigrant.
• Switching to ‘belly-up’ mode when at home with the family.
• How to sell what you love to others.
• How routines ensure quality time with family.
• How to innovate without going overboard.
• The best kept secret to true happiness. (Hint: It's the simple things.)

Books and resources mentioned in this episode:

 

"Man Up," by Bedros Keuilian coming August 2018

Elon Musk’s documentary

220: Skills for fathers who raise their kids right

As a father, you’re shaping the world.

Sounds big, right?

That’s why you often ask yourself if you’re doing enough as a father.

But if you’re reading this, you’re probably doing better than you think as a father.

Even if you think of yourself as a deadbeat dad. Maybe because you see other fathers who do more than you.

And that makes you feel like a man who doesn’t give his children the time and attention they deserve.

You’re more than a deadbeat dad, Lion.

In this episode, we explore 7 habits of highly effective fathers that will take you farther in parenting than you knew you could go. (Hint: These are also effective for bosses or leaders.)

You’ll see firsthand the dangers of being too busy for your children because of business.

And you’ll experience with us the rare, but completely attainable experience of having your kids tell you that you raised them right.

If you find yourself comparing your parenting abilities to other men, take some time out to listen to this episode.

If you have children that talk back often, or worse, are headed off the deep end, listen to this episode to learn how to get it to stop.

And if you just want a better, happier family, click play in the player above to get started.

Listen to this episode to hear Bill and me talk about skills for raising your children right (or being a great boss) and more:

• The lightning-strike moment that changed Bill’s life as a father.
• Who to compete against in parenting.
• How to not feel like a deadbeat dad.
• Avoiding the awkwardness of feeling like your father.
• How fatherhood skills transfer to the workplace, but not always vice versa.
• Why you shouldn’t be your kids’ (or employees’) best friend.
• The best measuring stick for your parenting skills.
• My proudest parenting moment and the drastic measures it took to earn it.
• Why you shouldn’t try to make your kids into you (and what you should do instead.)
• Quitting a 25-year career because I had to miss one proud parenting moment.

Books and resources mentioned in this episode:

Some of the following links are affiliate links. If you click through and purchase The Lions Pride may get a small commission.

• “Raising a Modern-Day Knight: A Father's Role in Guiding His Son to Authentic Manhood,” by Robert Lewis

 

You, but better:

Being a better father is just one of many topics we improve with the Lions in the Pride.

Our men take whatever they’re doing and ratchet it up a notch.

Whatever your struggle, we can help you to see and achieve a greater version of you. For business, fatherhood or anything else.

Let’s talk, it’s free!

 

Is your business surviving or thriving?

My guest today is brand survival expert Jonathan David Lewis, the author of “Brand Vs. Wild: Building Resilient Brands for Harsh Business Environments.”

The marketing agency where Jonathan’s a partner, McKee Wallwork + Co., has been recognized by Advertising Age as a national leader in branding and marketing.

Jonathan specializes in working with stalled, stuck or stale brands that have been living in survival mode. He works to break companies out of ambiguity to hit marketing with a clarity that helps them thrive.

“So much of the way out [of survival mode] has to do with psychology and human nature and emotion far more than any of us would like to admit,” Jonathan tells me in this episode.

Jonathan’s watched as the marketing realm has undergone a complete overhaul, with continuous and dramatic changes still filtering down.

That uncertainty has left many stalled, stuck or stale brands that need to revamp their image and their strategies.

And to develop a new breed of resilience.

Using his background in psychology, Jonathan recognizes the predictable ways people react in survival mode and channels that for better marketing.

And he’s done it all without sacrificing his integrity.

If you’ve noticed that biographies of great people tend to be filled with a mess of a personal life, this episode’s for you.

If you feel your business is stalled, stuck or stale, Jonathan’s story may help you get chugging again.

And if you want to weatherproof your business for the ongoing marketing storms in today’s fast-changing world, click play in the player above to get started.

Listen to this episode to hear Jonathan David Lewis discuss with me how to make your business thrive in the new marketing age and more:

• How to deal with lightning-fast changes in the marketing world.
• Knowing who to disappoint.
• The one attribute that will get you ahead farther than any other.
• Developing resilience in your business.
• Being comfortable in ambiguity.
• Why business leaders act the way they do in the face of disruptions or industry challenges.
• The one thing every successful strategy has behind it.
• Work-life balance while writing a book.
• Buckling down when things seem hardest to WIN!
• Why Jonathan’s company won’t service many big-money companies.

Books and resources mentioned in this episode:

Some of the following links are affiliate links. If you click through and purchase The Lions Pride may get a small commission.

• “The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level,” by Gay Hendricks
• “Getting Naked: A Business Fable About Shedding the Three Fears That Sabotage Client,” by Patrick Lencioni
• “The Connected Company,” by Dave Gray and Thomas Vader Wal
• “Brand vs. Wild: Building Resilient Brands for Harsh Business Environments,” by Jonathan David Lewis

How to contact Jonathan David Lewis:

• Website

 

Feeling stuck?

You don’t have to feel stalled, stuck or stale in your business.

As coaches leading a movement of businessmen, we walk beside you to bring your business and life to a higher plane.

If you feel stuck at all, let’s talk about it. In your free video call, we’ll get you started back toward the freedom to grow and go BIG.

Learn more

How to recover after children pillage your dating life

Do you remember when you had all the time in the world for your wife?

Chances are, that time was before you had children.

And you probably don’t feel quite as close to your wife because of it, whether you ralize it or not.

You may even feel like you miss your wife even though you see her every day.

Studies show that marital relationships deteriorate once children come along.

It’s a fact of life, but a fact that you can choose to ignore.

In this episode, I want to guide you through five things you can do to keep up an awesome relationship with your wife.

After all, the top predictor of overall life satisfaction is if you’re happy with your wife.

If kids literally or figuratively come between you and your wife, listen to this episode to improve your relationship with your wife, and by extension, your kids.

If you feel like you and your wife are living separate lives, we’ll give you some awesome ways to keep your family together.

And if you want to know what it takes to feel like newlyweds again even though you have kids, click play in the player above to get started.

Listen to this episode for five ways to keep children from coming between you and your wife and more:

• How young children can sense marital strife.
• Why a happy wife makes a happy life.
• The one thing a contributor of ours did to recover his wife when she was unhappy.
• How fast children deteriorate your relationship (even when you love the kids).
• Ways to make dates out of anything to improve your relationship.
• “Wow dates” and how to use them.
• How to best back each other up to block kids from threatening your relationship.

GET FREE:

Children and business both have a way of taking away your freedom to spend all the time you want with your wife. But you don’t have to sacrifice all your freedom.

If you sense that your life is out of balance and that’s hurting your marriage, business or both, let’s have a conversation and see what we can figure out together.

We reserve 10 spots per week on our calendar to talk with men like you during free video strategy calls.

Learn more

Whether you think so or not, you live in a bubble.

Gret Glyer, the founder of DonorSee, didn’t realize that until he got far outside his bubble.

And he got so far outside it that he wanted to change other people’s bubbles.

Gret grew up in Fairfax, Virginia in the second-wealthiest county in the United States (just behind Teton County in Wyoming where my business partner Bill lives, according to some lists.)

So when he moved to Malawi—the poorest country in the world as of 2014—his bubble popped. He went there to teach math, but ended up doing his own social-work projects more than anything.

In the three years he lived there, Gret built more than 100 houses for homeless people and also crowdfunded a $100,000 girls’ school designed to give the country an educational boost to exit poverty.

After that experience, he decided he could help more projects like that all over the world with his own company. So he founded DonorSee, a visual platform for donations that lets people see who they’re helping as well as the results of the aid quickly.  

You wouldn’t know it now, but Gret’s first attempt to raise $800 to build a house stopped short at $100 until he changed one mentality that was holding him back.

He had to pop his bubble.

If you want to know how to take a leap of faith like Indiana Jones, this episode is for you.

If you’d like to learn what it takes to live outside your bubble, Gret’s story will mean a lot to you.

And if you want to make a meaningful difference in the lives of real people, click play in the player above to get started now.

Listen to this episode to hear me talk with Gret Glyer, founder of DonorSee about living outside your bubble and more:

• Why Gret Glyer left a life on the fast track for a different bubble.
• Eradicating malaria in an African village.
• How Gret compares his story to Indiana Jones.
• The one change that made Gret’s idea work when he was hitting a wall.
• The “brain drain” in Malawi and how Gret’s work sought to change that.
• American poverty vs. African wealth and vice versa.
• Why failures come from hubris and this one faulty way of thinking.
• Three historical figures that push Gret to be a better man.

Books and resources mentioned in this episode:

Some of the following links are affiliate links. If you click through and purchase The Lions Pride may get a small commission.

• “Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010,” by Charles Murray

How to contact Gret Glyer

• Website

 

Pop your bubble:

What holds you back from taking a leap of faith into something in which you could make a bigger difference?

That’s your gravity. We teach driven and accomplished men how to overcome their personal gravity and fulfill their higher potential.

We offer 10 free 30-minute video phone calls each week to discuss with high achievers how they could achieve even more.

Let’s do this!

Drowning in to-dos? Missing freedom because of it?

If so, you need more structure.

Most men associate a lack of structure with freedom, but that kind of thinking is a trap.

A lack of structure isn’t freedom.

In fact, a lack of structure can make you a slave faster than just about anything.

See, without structure, even if you know you have a ton to get done, you have no real order for doing it.

No timing.

Other people can sense that, and interruptions for doing….whatever you planned to do…become normal.

And since interruptions push you farther away from getting the things done you really need to do, you end up with an even more stagnant to-do list.

In this episode, we explore how structure gives men more freedom at work and at home.

And we give you eight actionable ways to incorporate more structure into your days so your to-do list will no longer drown you.

If you feel like both your to-do list and your bucket list are too long and getting longer, this episode is for you.

If you procrastinate because of your lack of structure and that takes away some freedom, you’ll be able to improve your life after listening to this episode.

And if you want the freedom to do what you want when you want, you need the structure this episode can provide. Click play in the player above to get started.

Listen to this episode to hear Bill and I talk about how to get more structure and freedom in your life and more:

• How to whittle your to-do list down by about 70 percent in 45 minutes.
• The book that tied freedom and structure together in my mind.
• Why “work” should be called “waste.”
• The one thing every man does daily that 98 percent of men suck at.
• Digitizing your to-dos.
• How to use an assistant to organize and reduce your to-dos.
• The surprising amount of your work time you should schedule.
• Eating frogs.
• Overcoming procrastination addiction.

Books and resources mentioned in this episode:

Some of the following links are affiliate links. If you click through and purchase The Lions Pride may get a small commission.

• “How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life,” by Alan Lakein
• “Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less,” by Greg McKeown
• “The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results,” by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan

Structure your freedom:

Structure is the foundation of freedom. Need a better foundation?

We’ve helped hundreds of men master their work structure and get more freedom into their lives as a result. We’ll get you started during a free 1-on-1 video call.

Let’s talk, free

20170601 – EP 215 – David Barnett sell your business

Build a business people want to buy with David Barnett

What if you’re killing yourself to build a business that isn’t worth anything to anybody else?

David Barnett is the author of three best-selling business books and also a consultant who helps people to better build, manage and sell small- and medium-sized businesses.

His experience as a business broker and as a businessman himself has helped him sculpt a program that can aid entrepreneurs who are either buying or selling a business.

As a successful business broker, David helped sell 36 businesses in 36 months on the job, but realized the feast-or-famine model of business brokerage was too hard on him. In fact, during those three years, he says he got all his gray hair.  

The final straw came when, after nine months without a sale, he had six contracts lined up to go through at the end of the year worth a combined $250,000 to him.

Of those, three fell through due to circumstances outside of his control. He ended up with only $110,000 in the bank and nothing to show for tons of work he’d put in on the other businesses.

At that time, he got a job.

But people still kept calling him on referral for his old business, and he soon decided to start back in on a different model—one that would provide stability for him and give better results to his clients.

If you’re trying to build a business that will be good enough to sell when you want to move on or retire, you need to hear David’s story.

If you’ve built a business that relies too much on information in your head, give this episode a listen.

And if you want more success today and in the future with the business you already own, click play in the player above to learn the secrets of success David shares with his small-business and medium-sized business clients.  

Listen to this episode to hear me talk with David Barnett about buying and selling businesses and more:

• Building a business with time- and location-freedom in mind.
• The series of businesses David built before he started selling other people’s businesses.
• What you can do to make your business more valuable now and more saleable later.
• How David made less selling one business than some people do selling fries. (And what he did about it.)
• The worst thing that can happen to an entrepreneur that happened to David.
• Why taking a regular paycheck makes David feel guilty.
• Why to give people the silent treatment after you’ve made an offer.
• The single shift in David’s business that made all the difference.
• How good businesses subsidize bad ones in business brokerage.
• The man who lost $20,000 in a bad business transaction and ignited David’s passion for buying and selling businesses.
• Secret tactics of business negotiations.
• The best time to begin exiting your business.

Books and resources mentioned in this episode:

Some of the following links are affiliate links. If you click through and purchase Lions Pride Academy may get a small commission.

• “The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It,” by Michael Gerber
• “Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It,” by Chris Voss

How to contact David Barnett:

• Website

 

Build a better business:

Your life, your business deserve a better foundation. Better guidance.

What’s troubling you in your business life right now? Let’s have a conversation.

We offer 10 free 30-minute video phone calls each week to discuss with high achievers how they could achieve even more.

Let’s do this!

 

Have you ever shut yourself down, thinking you weren’t good enough to achieve something?

Well, no matter how confident men may appear to you on the outside, every high achiever has at some point felt like a fake.

A loser.

A poser.

Unable to accomplish.

All that despite a record of high achievement.

As the founders of The Lions Pride, both by business partner Bill and I both have felt the impostor syndrome.

The impostor syndrome hits men when they feel like the world sees them as great and powerful, but they feel like the Wizard of Oz—a lowly man behind a curtain.

You don’t have to feel like that.

In this episode, we give you three action items you can use to get past the impostor syndrome—and all the bad business decisions that come along with it.

If you want to make better business decisions filled with confidence, listen to this episode.

If you’ve ever felt like a poser who doesn’t deserve the success you have, you ought to hear what we have to say.

And if you’ve ever criticized yourself after someone complimented you, click play in the player above to rise to a new level.

Listen to hear about the impostor syndrome and more

• Our company name change and how we shed the impostor syndrome to embrace it.
• Why men who feel like an impostor miss a critical component of goal-setting.
• What you see in the mirror versus what others see.
• The two types of impostor syndrome, and how to beat each.
• Why you should do things you don’t feel like are hard for people who think they are.
• Two world-famous people who still feel impostor syndrome.
• The percentage of successful men we think feel like a failure or fake.
• 3 things to never do if you doubt your business decisions.
• Why base hits are better than home runs sometimes.
• How we got compared to dentists (when we feel like surgeons.)

Stop faking:

If impostor syndrome is something you struggle with, let’s talk. We offer a limited amount of free 30-minute video calls for men who want something even better than what they’ve made for themselves.

Let’s do this!

Money isn’t the primary reason or an excuse for doing or not doing something in your life.

My guest today knows that from experience after a rough road that made him suicidal before landing him on top of the world.

Michael Isom is the founder of Vault AIS, and lives a raw, real, relevant and ruthlessly committed life.

But it wasn’t always that way for him.

At age 22, Michael stumbled into a job selling some of the first cell phones on the market, and made more in his first month doing that than he ever had in a year up until that point.

And the money just kept coming.

Six years later, he started a business with one of my favorite podcast guests of all-time: New York Times bestselling author Garrett Gunderson.  

After a rough patch caused by the death of two business partners in a plane crash, Garrett and Michael parted ways.

That’s when Michael fell prey to a major myth in the financial industry: that high risk creates high returns.

When he did that, he lost $4 million in a bad investment.

Worse than that, though, he lost his best asset. His best investment.

He started to lose himself.

He shut down his three offices, fired his 16 employees and lived off savings for the next two and a half years.

Those years, he said, were a blur of alcohol and cycling to numb the pain and keep him from coming to grips with what he had done.

His family left him, telling him to get clean, and he ended up with a gun his mouth, crying and screaming at God for answers.

Since then, he’s learned that the best investment, your #1 asset, is you.

And if you don’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of the people you love.

If you feel any of the pain of letting yourself go—whether because of a bad investment or for other reasons, you need to listen to Michael’s story of redemption. You’re not alone, Lions.

If you feel like no one understands your situation, you need to hear what Michael has to say about mindset.

And if you want to hear the moving story of how Michael bounced back from suicidal to on top of the world, click play in the player above to get started.

Listen to this episode to hear me talk with Michael Isom about getting on top of the world after wanting to end it all and more:

• Offroad racing from a world champion’s point of view.
• The plane crash that pushed Michael toward losing $4 million and nearly losing himself.
• A piece of bad financial advice that nearly everyone believes.
• How not to act when you lose $4 million.
• Giving yourself permission to be real and raw.
• The amazing God-given moment that kept Michael from taking his own life.
• Maintaining control over your best assets and investments.
• How to create value for others through your experiences.
• Michael’s personal journey from rock bottom to on top of the world.
• Why reminding others with similar belief systems is important.
• The rules financial institutions use to get rich that you should use, too.

Books and resources mentioned in this episode:

Some of the following links are affiliate links. If you click through and purchase Lions Pride Academy may get a small commission.

• “Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life,” by Byron Katie
• The Work website.
• “Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High,” by Kerry Patterson
• “Crucial Confrontations: Tools for Resolving Broken Promises, Violated Expectations, and Bad Behavior,” by Kerry Patterson
• “The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results,” by Gary Keller

Get Michael Isom’s book, co-authored by New York Times bestselling author Garrett Gunderson, for free:

• To get a free digital copy of “What Would the Rockefellers Do?: How the Wealthy Get and Stay That Way … and How You Can Too”, text 801-396-7211 with “Free WWRD” as the subject. Listeners of this episode can also get a free hard copy shipped to them for only the price of shipping.

 How to contact Michael Isom:

• Website