On this episode of Training Camp with Coach Jimmy, we’re talking about your mindset and we’re talking about how being individually you could lead to your fortune. Every day that you start and say, “regardless of what happens today, I WIN! You win with nothing to lose and when you live with nothing to lose; you are UNSTOPPABLE!”
Jimmy: Hello there and welcome come to another episode of “Training Camp,” I am your host Coach Jimmy and we bring you the pros, the very best of the best when it comes to helping you build your home business. And that’s your home business and so many different realms and so many different ways. People are building businesses online today and so I wanted to bring in a pro’s pro, somebody that I have been working with for years now. I find that he’s such a valuable piece to my success and to what my family has experienced, Mr. P J McClure a.k.a. “The Mindset Maven.”
I know that people think and talk about having their right mind set but there so few people I have run into in the industry, that actually talk about what are the steps to getting the right mind set? What is the mindset that you want to have to identify that? PJ is the real deal when it comes not just talking in generalities, not just talking about theories, but like, let’s get down to the trenches and how do we shift this thing?? How do we take care of those issues that continue to block so many of us? His client base ranges from Fortune 100 Company CEO’s to home business moguls to education, healthcare, etc. it span’s across so many different business areas. PJ, Thank you for taking the time to hang out with us today.
PJ: I love it, I love it! You know I love hanging out with you, so this is going to be fun!
Jimmy: You know this is going to be really good and I just wanted to kind of let people in on a conversation you and I have been having for the past couple of weeks, and when it comes to individuals specifically in the home business realm – whether they are building a Network Marketing business, maybe they have their own coaching program or product or something online. People tend to lose their individualism, as we’ve decided that is a word today, and can you just talk a little bit about some of the pitfalls you see in people that are trying to build their own business?
Avoid Exact Duplication – Be Your Own Person
PJ: Absolutely! In fact it’s probably the single biggest thing that takes somebody that is just full of enthusiasm, full of all the things that it takes to build a successful business of any sort, whether it is in the career realm or in corporate or its moving on and doing your own thing hanging your own shingle, it’s that we find so many different people they see somebody that’s having success in an area that they would like emulate, or an area that they are coming into. You see it a lot in Network Marketing business especially, I’ve seen it for years with Junior Executives or people in the stereotypical – in the mail room and looking at the Ivory tower saying, “Oh I want to be like that guy” and what they do is that they start taking themselves, who they are and the individual gifts that they’re packaged with, their instincts and all of that yes and all of us can and need to improve and do different things to get better to move into a higher place if you will. But instead of becoming better people, we take who we are, and we try to jam it into a mold that we think somebody else fits into. We look at their success and go, “Oh well I’ve got to be just like them” and we hear word like what you do has to be able to duplicate, you’ve got to be able to duplicate it, so that means if it’s going to be – and I hate this word because I never pronounce it right – duplicable that we have to do exactly what somebody else had done; we have to become a duplicate, therefore we can produce duplicates.
My own personal feeling and this is not a popular thought in the back office of a lot of companies, but that’s a horrible thing because, we don’t go far enough to explain to people that you need to duplicate some of the best practices. You need to duplicate the things in terms of line items and certain things that get done, but you don’t duplicate people. When we duplicate people, we lose who we are, and when we lose who we are, not only is that just a crappy way to live, but more than that from just a straight business brass tacks standpoint, its unsustainable. You cannot sustain something that you have built based on being somebody else, you just can to do it; even actors who make their living Jimmy being somebody else, are only that for a short period of time and for the purpose of the role. They’re not that all the time, so you crash.
“we did it exactly like somebody that we’re not and therefore in a lot of ways, we’ve had to dumb ourselves down” – Coach Jimmy
Jimmy: Absolutely and I love that you touched on that because I know in my own personal experience and working with my team; is that you see somebody that has success that you want to have or maybe you working with – I’ve even had this with business coaches that I’ve worked with in the past, and you advise, but you see what works for them and I know there’s been kind of some frustration and some bitterness that comes up because I’m investing in this training right and so and so is saying, this is what I’m doing and so my voice or my post or my videos try to copy that individual and I don’t see the same success. Therefore, I get really down on myself in the past about well, what’s wrong with me. I did it exactly like they did it and it didn’t work and I think in our conversation we talked about that kind of the big key there is, that was it; we did it exactly like somebody that we’re not and therefore in a lot of ways, we’ve had to dumb ourselves down and take our strength and abandon our strengths to try to put on somebody else’s strength and it just comes across false.
PJ: And I think that’s one of the reasons why I’ve been able to have success across such a diversity of different types of people and different types of industry. Honestly it’s not because of anything I’m particularly good at, aside from asking very good questions and drawing people out of who they are in some more of who they are. If I had been in full transparency here, I f I had been fantastic at being a great sales person- I was in sales for years and I was very good at it, had a lot of success, but it wasn’t because I did everything exactly as I was told. Unfortunate, I’m a bit of a rebel, didn’t do everything I was told to do. But in that I was real with people, and because I was real with people, I had success. Whenever I tried to transfer that into a system, it didn’t work, and that was actually the time frame that I started moving into and started being led into a more of a coaching capacity. It wasn’t a coaching practice that said, “Look at all the incredible success I’ve had in your industry, come follow me.” It was a coaching practice that said they you know what, I’m starting to see what it takes to really live a fantastic life and I think you could have one of those too let me show you how that works.
And it wasn’t based on you being like me, it was based on you being the best you and being able to transfer that – there are best practices from one person to the next no matter how different they are- there are best practices and those are all good and those are things we can all benefit from and we can push into but when it actually comes to doing something that’s sustainable for a long time, those best practices have to hang on the framework of who we are as people, our instincts, what we enjoy, what we dislike, the kind of people we want to be around, the type of business model we want to be involved in, what is my daily schedule like, what are the things I need to do and what are the things I absolutely must avoid or I will just absolutely sink.
One of the things that you and I have talked about, we share a lot of common traits and one of them is, it may not be ADD but it very much is “You know what I’m really bored with this and I’ve got to go do something else for a while and you know what that was fun so now I’ve got to go back and do this for a while.” We don’t necessarily sit down and crank on one task all day long. There are times that that’s required you know to get something done, but those are very small windows. And if either of us is being forced, somebody says look you have to do this for a period of time, or you can be successful, shoot me! Because I just won’t be successful at it.
Jimmy: Well that’s exactly- that’s where this show is born out of to be really honest with everybody. I wanted something fun to do you know that wasn’t the same thing over and over again. So, I want to touch on something you kinda just went over, so let’s put ourselves in the mindset of somebody who either is just starting a home business whether they’ve found an online mentor, maybe they’re creating their own product or maybe they are in some kind of structured network marketing situation and they’re either following a mentor because they are not seeing the same return or they’re plugged into a network marketing company and they’re following their company’s training process or maybe even their mentor – its somebody that they’re really good on video or they have this really outgoing personality and me as business owner, I don’t have that same skill set or I don’t feel like I am strong in that area what are some steps people can take initially to identify these best practices and put their own skin on it instead of trying to live in somebody else’s clothes.
Seven Elements Of Personal Choice
PJ: Yea its great place to actually start all of this from. We’ll go back to the whole mindset aspect of it because it’s a word that we throw around a lot and my whole career actually started when I got tired of people throwing the word around and I wanted to figure out what it actually meant. So, we’ll hit on a couple of those things, you know and all of those watching may not know this, what I found over what was effectively 14 years of studying nothing but mindset, about 4500 hundred interviews with different people. What rose to the surface was there’s actually 7 pieces that make up a mindset, make up all of our mindsets and I call those the 7 elements of personal choice because it’s not something you have to be gifted with; it’s something you decided, all of those choices you decide.
The two things that I want to hit on right away, for the question you asked, are elements that are of vision and purpose. So where I want to go and why I want to go there? Those are the two biggest keys in this scenario because if I am following a system, I’m trying to build something. If I am working with a mentor – whoever that might be – and they’re instructing me to do something or I see that they’re doing something and I’m moving in that direction, what I have to be able to do first of all, first and foremost we are creatures that are designed to hold vision and purpose, it we don’t have vision, the Bible says that when the people don’t have vision, they cast off restraint ok? King James says they perish and what it means is they just go wherever, it doesn’t really matter. If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll get there, but who really knows where that’s going to be and is that where you want to go.
So, I have to have a vision for my life, I’ve got to understand what I want my life to look like and how I want that to play out and so if I’ve got this vision for how I want my life to look. If what’s going on in the company’s training doesn’t fit that specifically, that doesn’t mean that I abandon everything that I’m getting, what I do is look at the training, I look at the mentoring, I look at whatever the system is and I say, “What of this is essential? What is this training actually trying to accomplish? What is the mentoring actually moving me toward?” And then, I can take and put that in alignment with where it is I’m trying to go with my vision. I can start aligning those things so that it can be sustained; because it I want my life to look a certain way and the training or the mentoring that I’m receiving is not in align with that, something’s got to give, it’s just not going to go the full distance and to reinforce that even more before we get into purpose, the “Why”- if this is where I want to go, why do I want to go there? If this is the business I’m trying to build, why am I trying to build it?
“If you’re not building something that is sustainable with the life you want live, stop it!” -PJ
I don’t know how many people I have seen – I know you have seen as many or more – that have jumped in to build a business and not really know why they were trying to do it. That’s how frustrating does that have to be for somebody to be crank and just go and go and going, “I did this myself, I want to build this business, and I’m going for it! I’m going for it!” Late nights early mornings, grinding, killing it, doing stuff I don’t want to do so I can live the way I want to live later and all the other clichés that we just drowned in and I didn’t know why; and because I didn’t know why, I couldn’t sustain the effort even when I reached a pretty good level of success, I couldn’t sustain it because it wasn’t built to this and everything takes care of itself. Nothing is like that! The only thing that you get to and it takes care of itself afterwards is death’ and we’re not really building toward death there right now.
Why do I want to get there? And do I want it to look like and then I take into alignment, in fact, there might somebody watching that’s going, “Holy cow! This business I’m killing myself to build doesn’t align with what I want to do with my life!” I’ll be the bad guy and tell you, “Get out! Don’t do it!” If you’re not building something that is sustainable with the life you want live, stop it! Two-word counseling, “stop it!” Find something that aligns with where you want to go in your life and why you want to go there, and start applying those best practices to it that allow you to come out.
Create The Business You Want
Jimmy: I want to stop you right there because there is something you told me one time in a conversation that I think I’ve repeated a gazillion times and it was talking about when we look at somebody else and say, “I want their life or I want their business,” that happens a lot specifically in the Network Marketing realm right? Or I want to be like them, and you told me one time that the only thing worse than trying to set a goal to be like somebody else and not making it; not getting there is getting there and realizing you hate your life and that was me not to long ago. If my businesses was chasing these accolades or titles and really when I got there, I didn’t build it the way I wanted to. I didn’t stop first and say what I want my life to look like and (a) does this business compliment that and is there a way that this business can complement that and so for somebody like myself, you know me and the performer in me regardless if I’m talking a one person or a room full of 8,000; they’re going to get the same energy level from me – the same performance. I’ve found, like doing a lot of one on one phone calls, I was wearing myself out and I couldn’t figure out why and it was because I was giving of myself to a one person phone call the same way I would to a room of 8000.
PJ: And a whole lot of them!
Jimmy: Yea! And so I had to figure out, OK this may not be how the company that I work with says to get people to start; I had to find ways to work in groups of people without letting them feel – that they were still taken care of; that was what my biggest concern was, how do I do this and not think that they’re just number. But, it was just embracing what are my energy levels? How do I work and what are my strengths and be willing to do things just a little different like you talked about?
PJ: And that’s, really when you break it down, what is the reason for what we are we’re doing? Not just put on the blinders and go do it, but why do we do this particular thing? Well, it’s so this happens. Ok cool, so if this is the actual goal, the goal isn’t the system; the system is to support the goal. So, if I’ve got this particular goal that I’m trying to achieve, with this system – with this particular activity, but this activity just stinks for me! It’s just not good for me! I can’t do it! You’re not a whiner; you’re aware. So look at it as though this is what we’re trying to accomplish, is there another way that I can come in and accomplish that same thing without compromising my integrity or compromising something the company’s asking us to do; whatever it is, because ultimately this is you.
One of the things that we get caught up in is that people see a success level, and they want that success level and they see a person attached to it. So, as we started off the conversation they start trying to fit into that mold; the challenge even beyond that, becomes that once they start trying to fit into that mold, then they start trying to build the rest of their life that doesn’t fit in that mold around it. They start trying to build their life around the business and Entrepreneurs, business owners; hello….you are the 85% burn-out!; that ok I’m going to build this business – nobody starts a business that they can spend less time with the people they love, so that they can be broke, so that they can be unhealthy, so that they can sleep less, so that they can vacation less, nobody starts businesses for that. They start businesses for the exact opposite reason. But what do they is that they get caught up in this whole thing of well – I don’t know how many times I’ve seen this and part of this is true but you know what rat poison is 98% sugar its only 2% arsenic; we’ve got to be very careful about what isn’t true in something – we get caught up in the idea of I’ll work super hard for a little while, so that I can enjoy the rest of my life.
Here’s what happens. We work super hard, to create a business that is built direct around us working super hard; so where’s the hours? Where’s that finish line? Where’s that sunrise? It’s not there, because we’ve created something that relies on us doing things, we don’t like to do and as soon as we start trying to not do those things, it all collapses – it’s gone! And it will always fall back to what is foundational; it’ll fall back to what is sustainable. So, if you want to know how sustainable your business is, try to change your model and see how far it falls. Whenever it stops falling, that’s actually the part that’s sustainable, and you can build back from there. But its, a scary thing to look at; you’ve actually just had to do that not too long ago through some of the things we’ve talked about; you finally went, “You know what? I can’t keep doing this.” Just one aspect, wasn’t the whole business but you kinda took your hands off of it a little bit and shifted toward what you knew would be sustainable and it flexed a little but then all of a sudden very quickly you found where that sustainability point was and you knew you could take off from there and do something meaningful afterward.
“Here’s what happens. We work super hard, to create a business that is built direct around us working super hard; so where’s the hours? Where’s that finish line? Where’s that sunrise? ” – PJ
Jimmy: Absolutely and so many people do build to a point where they have this little bit of success and they’re not willing to change because they are scared like I got it here and it really is, they don’t know that out. I literally had to sit and look at my business and do a real gut check of what part of my business do I loathe? There were times I think I would just rather go take a nap; like you feel that brain overload with this and then figure out if there is a different way to do this. Is there a way to eliminate the thing that I hate? So there’s always going to be time for work – so let’s say somebody’s watching this right now or listening to the podcast and they’re not sure what their strengths are – what sets them apart, what makes them special because sometimes we’re too close to us; somebody else can go, “Oh my gosh, you could kill this!”
For example for me – for a long time, I struggled in my business trying to build it the way I was told too but, if you put me on camera or on video, people would say, “Jimmy you’re really good at that because I didn’t have any business degree – I was a broke actor before I started and so I didn’t see how those skills would help me in the business world because I had no business background. So, let’s say somebody is here watching us on video and go, “PJ and Jimmy, you guys are awesome on video, I can’t do that – how does somebody take that self-test to kind of figure out, “Where am I good? How can I set myself apart?”
What is it you’re actually trying to accomplish?
PJ: There are a couple of things to work on. First of all go back to the purpose element of all of it. What is it you’re actually trying to accomplish? What is it you’re trying to get done? What are the different ways to make that happen? And you can kind of evaluate based on that. You know there are things that we know. You can talk about – yea maybe it is unfair that somebody is watching two guys who absolutely love crowds, who love cameras, love the spotlight – yea I do, you do! That’s just part of who we are! Find out who you are. Find out what it is you can do? Where are the places you’re most comfortable? Where are the places in life – and don’t focus on business because you won’t get an accurate presentation, but what is it you find yourself doing when there’re no expectations? What are the things you do when you procrastinate? What do you do when you’re avoiding the things you are supposed to do? Start looking at those and start understanding that there are probably some hidden gifts and hidden talents and strengths in those places.
Something that I looked at because for years – most of my life, it’s finally started getting to the point where I’ve had more of my life without this message than I have with this message but don’t be too big for your britches, don’t show off, don’t do all of this when really the rest of your adult life is about showing off and being bigger.
So for one shame on me, shame on all of us that have said this to our kids, but I started looking and going, “You know what?” Regardless when there’s no expectation, and something is brought up and I’m passionate about or I at least have a strong opinion about, I have no problem going into an animated discussion and before long without even trying it, I’m the center of the room. I wasn’t even trying to be, but I went after this topic, and I just started looking at it thinking, “You know what? I just have to go after topics that I love! I have to go after topics that light a fire under my butt and I’m willing to get in somebody’s face about it I have to. This whole topic about people building businesses that suck the life out of them and their families, man that lights me up! I really don’t care who has a different opinion about it truthfully, I’ll respect their opinion and I’ll listen and I’ll learn a lot. But, it’ll be entertaining the very least, and that happens in other areas of my life and all of sudden I started looking and Oh! I have got to do that in business! I have got to do that more often. I’m a good writer, I love writing but I don’t write in a technical sense; I don’t write the way a lot of people write. I love our day and age now with bloggers because we see the writing style is also very individual. You don’t have to follow an APA and MOA format, you could just write and people will communicate with you, people will connect with you. Same thing with video, same thing with audio; these are things that I’m good at and I enjoy but I didn’t know I was good at them and I didn’t enjoy them until I actually looked at what it is I was doing the rest of my life – what I would enjoy doing the rest of my life and I took that and applied that in a business goal that I have and fit that with best practices that I saw from other people.
We don’t cast off everything just because I go, well what you said doesn’t fit with my personality, doesn’t mean I disregard it. It means I eat the meat and spit out the bones! I take what it is that’s being offered, and I look at it and I form as much of that as I can into who I am, I form as much as I can sustain long term. Because no matter what a business owner wants to do, no matter what an entrepreneur wants to do, an executive wants to do, whoever. If I start pushing in on things that I can’t sustain – reoccurring message hello – It will crash! If I can’t sustain it, and I don’t want to sustain it only one of two things will happen. I’ll either quit it, or I’ll be a miserable wretch. I’ve got to do things I can sustain and make move long term.
Jimmy: That’s so good! There’re so many things that I’m like mentally taking notes, and I know I’m going to go revisit this, and write all of this down. PJ this stuff has been amazing and I hopefully in the audience there’s are some light bulbs that have come on today, instead of banging my head against this brick wall, “Oh look there’s a door I can walk around here or there’s a ladder over it” or something that allows it – that it’s a fun ladder, a fun door and somebody is, “Oh I’m already good at this.”
Connect With PJ
So, if somebody is watching this – listening to the podcast they’re like, “I like this PJ guy; I need more of him in my life.” How does somebody find you to work with you more?
PJ: It’s pretty easy to find me, they can just come to my blog – it’s the easiest way it’s PJMcClure.com, there’s always a little contact form usually in the footer or something like that where they can just drop a note telling me they’d like more info and me or somebody on my staff, usually me because I like to get those, answer them. We’ll jump back; we’ll get the ball rolling and answer whatever they need.
Jimmy: PJ that’s awesome. I really appreciate you taking some time to share your insight with us. Guys that’s another episode of Training Camp with Coach Jimmy, I hope you are enjoying these. I’m having a blast putting them together! So, if you’re really digging this, do me a favor, subscribe number one so you don’t miss any of the content we have coming up and share it with a friend because if you’re finding value, obviously somebody you care about is finding value as well. So for PJ McClure, I’m Coach Jimmy we’ll see you next time on training camp!