Optimize These 3 Areas in Your Life for the Highest Productivity & Profitability

A couple of weeks ago I watched a great training session with a powerhouse Master Coach who was coaching other coaches and female entrepreneurs.

This Master Coach makes approximately 18 million dollars a year coaching women on weight loss, and she was speaking with this young woman who is also a coach. This young woman was feeling incredibly frustrated and defeated because her business wasn’t taking off.

At one point during the conversation the young woman said in frustration, “why isn’t all the work I’ve been putting into this business working!?”

And the Master Coach took a moment, and said to her very calmly “Because you haven’t been doing it long enough yet, you need to keep going”

Well that just upset this young woman further, and she said, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME, I’VE BEEN DOING IT FOR FOUR YEARS!!"

And the Master Coach said “For 9 years it cost me more to run my business, than what I got out of it. I went from making $30K a year to a million dollars a year, and now well over 10 million dollars a year. Don't quit! I just bought my mother a house... what if I had quit after 4 years... or even after 8 years?" 

Now, it's important to note that every business is different and every entrepreneurial journey is different but the message was powerful.

I’m reading a book right now called 12 months to $1 Million by Ryan Daniel Moran which I’m finding super interesting.

It didn’t take me 9 years to build a million-dollar business, but it DID take me longer than 12 months - so you can see that the journey for entrepreneurs is very personal.

That being said, across the board from all the entrepreneurs I’ve spoken with... all the mentors I've worked with…. all the courses I’ve taken and books I’ve read… and all of my own personal experience building businesses over the years, I can tell you that if you optimize these 3 areas of your life, you’ll reach that success you seek. You won’t quit, and maybe one day you'll purchase your Mother a house.

So let’s dive in.

1- Mindset

It's important to remember that if we're stuck asking ourselves, “Why isn’t this happening for me?” “Why isn’t this working?!” then you'll never reach your goals.

And I know better than anyone that as entrepreneurs, we're going to experience those pity-party days so my number one area you must master if you want to build your empire is MINDSET. 

You need to be a MASTER at “how can I be helping more people” instead of “why isn’t this working for me”.

Being an entrepreneur requires a lot from you. It’s not easy – that’s why not everyone does it.

What building my own businesses requires of me mentally is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before – so if you want to be a successful entrepreneur you can’t escape working on your mindset. And let me be clear... it’s ongoing work. It’s not like you work on it and then you’re good and never have to worry about that again. It doesn’t work that way.

Mindset is EVERYTHING if you want to build a successful business because when things get challenging, we tend to forget about everything we know and become reactionary and resistant. 

When we’re stuck moping at the pity-party we can’t be productive – which means we’re not being profitable.

Look, I’ve been doing this a really long time, and I throw myself some epic pity-parties. Huge pity parties! It's natural. It's our brains trying to keep us safe.

We are wired to move towards pleasure and away from pain. As you build your business you must master your mindset because essentially, we are doing the exact opposite of that. As entrepreneurs we are constantly walking directly into the lion’s den ON PURPOSE! And your brain is freaking out, trying to pull out every trick it knows to try and stop you. That's why mindset is everything.

Don’t try to resist it. Don’t try to numb your fears. Anticipate and embrace the fact that your brain will constantly try to stop you from moving forward, and if you're finding it debilitating, then find a mindset coach ASAP. There's a lot of people out there waiting for you to serve them with your products or services, so make this a priority.

When you master your mindset, you’ll master so many areas of your life – not just your business.

2- Thinking Time  

I want to give credit where credit is due, and this concept is something I learned from the amazing Keith Cunningham. He calls it Thinking Time. Keith Cunningham has launched numerous companies, is an international speaker, and an author. He is the Founder of Key’s to The Vault and the 4 Day MBA and is an expert in helping business owners.

I first heard Keith speak at a Tony Robbins event and have followed him ever since. I’ve taken his programs and I consider him one of my mentors. So this is a story that Keith tells and not only do I love telling it to my clients, but the concept has transformed my businesses.

Keith was staring a new company and was raising money to get it off the ground. This was a 9 figure deal back in the 80s, so it was a big deal. And the person he was going to meet for the big pitch was considered the head honcho of head honchos. He was a big-time billionaire and Keith had to meet with him to solidify the deal. 

So Keith was told that on the day of the pitch, he was to meet him in this conference room where there will be 7 chairs and a conference table – and in these 7 chairs there will be 5 people, a chair for Keith and an empty chair.

Keith was told that after he arrives, he is to start the meeting and give his pitch.  

He was also told that at some point during his pitch, a short dude with a bad toupee is going to walk in – and that short dude with the bad hair is THE GUY!

He’s going to sit down, next to you, and when he does don't greet him or say anything at all - just continue with the pitch. AND if he gets up and leaves during your pitch that’s’ a GOOD thing…. If he stays to the end of your pitch, he has some concerns. 

So Keith is ready. The day of the pitch arrives, he shows up and sure enough – conference table, 7 chairs, 5 people.

Keith dives into the pitch and he’s totally on a roll, and exactly as he had been told… In walks a short dude with a bad toupee.

Keith doesn’t even look at him! He keeps going and he can see this guy is making notes – but all of a sudden, the door opens.

This was not a part of the plan! So Keith stops, everyone looks at the door, and the short dude looks at Keith, says I’m so sorry, hold on one moment and says to the person at the door – what is it? 

The guy at the door says, "We need to have a decision on the take-over of Golf Oil". 

Keith says, "Wow, that’s a big deal!"

And the short dude says, "Excuse me one minute Keith" and he opens his day planner (this is before smart phones) and starts flipping through pages.

He looks at a page and says "NO" then turns the page…and he looks at another page and says "NO" then turns the page… and then he says, "OK – the next time I’m scheduled to THINK is between 3 – 5 am on Thursday morning. You’ll have my answer from me at 5am on Thursday".

And Keith says out loud, "You’ve got to be kidding me!?"

He can’t believe what he’s hearing – forget about the time slot, the concept of scheduling time to THINK?!?
What a concept.

Always remember that growth can’t happen unless there’s change. So this concept of critical thinking I’ve known about for a very long time but it wasn’t until I actually scheduled Thinking Time into my schedule that I experienced massive growth in my businesses.

It’s one of the most important lessons I have learned as an entrepreneur and it will MASSIVELY make you more productive and profitable. Now you don’t need to do it from 3 – 5 am but schedule some critical thinking time into your week.

We need to make sure we spend time ON our business... not just IN our business.

Use that critical thinking time to take a step back and gain perspective on your business and engage your brain, instead of spending your time constantly in a go go go state. Efforting will only get you so far.

3-  Sleep

The third area you want to optimize to become more productive and profitable is SLEEP!!!!

I can’t stress this enough.

When you are building your business, the journey to making your first 100K takes a ton of work, requires long hours, and a significant amount of blood, sweat and tears.

Something you can control while you hustle during this growth period is optimizing your sleep.

I have an Oura Ring which has helped me soooooo much.

I also take natural supplements that help me with optimizing my sleep. 

I get off electronics – no phones in bed ladies! I like to read or do a sleep meditation. Sometimes I'll journal and do a thought download at the end of the day, or do some restorative yoga. I won't have any green tea later in the afternoon (I don't drink coffee) and try to stay away from drinking any alcohol close to bedtime. Alcohol seriously messes with your sleep!

People think that not getting that much sleep goes hand-in-hand with being an entrepreneur. In all honesty it can, but people use their lack of sleep like a badge of honor. I'm here to tell you that only getting 4 hours of sleep is nothing to brag about! I’ve been talking about this since 2016 when I launched my Optimal Health & Conscious Living Academy. In my Academy we dedicate a full week to optimizing sleep.

Not getting the right amount of quality sleep messes with your decision making skills, problem solving skills, compromises your attention, reduces your performance and your productivity (which will in turn reduce your profitability).

If you're compromised in any of those areas, I don’t see that working out well for you ESPECIALLY if you’re an entrepreneur.

When you get enough quality sleep your health improves… your attitude improves… your memory improves… your problem-solving skills improve (which will be important during that Thinking Time you’re going to schedule into your week).

Why on earth would you want to mess up your cognitive function while you’re trying to build your empire? Why compromise your health? You don’t want to build your empire and then not be able to enjoy it because you burned yourself out, and now you’re dealing with major health issues. That doesn’t make any sense to me.

Here are some additional tips you can incorporate into creating a bedtime routine for yourself. A bedtime routine will train your brain to know when it’s time to wind down, rest and recover:

• Go to bed and wake up at the same time.
• Avoid electronics at least an hour before bed.
• Meditate.
• Read.
• Journal to get all your thoughts out of your head.
• Take a bath with candles and some relaxing music playing.
• Do some restorative yoga with the lights dimmed.
• Cool the room.
• Only wear PJ’s to bed - don't wear your comfy yoga clothes you've been wearing around the house all day.
• Use a sleep mask to cut out light or earplugs to cut out sound.

And something else that has helped me greatly is my Oura ring. It helps you monitor your sleep as well as your recovery. It tells you when you should be exercising and when you shouldn't, when the optimal time for you to go to bed is, and how much time you're spending in each phase of sleep. 

When you optimize your sleep you will make more money!

It’s true. The domino effect of having your body and brain recover properly, will allow you to become more productive, and in turn you will become more profitable.

These three areas: Mindset, Thinking Time & Sleep are areas of your life you can start optimizing TODAY!