2117: [Part 1] Powerful Quotes For Entrepreneurs That Will Change Your Outlook On Life by Steve Chou

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[00:01:00] This is Optimal Work Daily. Powerful Quotes for Entrepreneurs that Will Change Your Outlook on Life. Part 1 by Steve Chou of My Wife Quit Her Job. What I love about powerful quotes are that they provide you with a certain perspective that you may not have considered before. But once they resonate with you, they can completely change your outlook on life. The quotes that I'm about to present to you have drastically changed the way I approach business and entrepreneurship.

[00:01:27] In fact, they have enabled me to run a seven-figure e-commerce store, a seven-figure blog, a podcast, an online store course, and a conference, all while working a full-time job with two kids, though I've since quit my job. First off, on the surface, it might seem as though I have a lot of balls juggling in the air. But I'm not superhuman, nor am I more productive than the average person.

[00:01:50] I also don't do anything especially fast. In fact, people who have seen me in action know that I drop things on the floor all the time. And I can be pretty disorganized at times. The reason I'm able to accomplish what I do is because I follow a set of guidelines that allow me to slowly but consistently make progress towards my goals. Here's a sneak peek into how my mind works and how I structure my life based on a set of short, powerful quotes. 1. Quote.

[00:02:18] Doesn't matter if the glass is half empty or half full. All that matters is that you are the one pouring the water. End quote. If there's a single quote that defines my way of thinking, it's that I like to be in control. Sometimes this attitude slows me down when I have to learn or develop something from complete scratch. But for the most part, I strongly believe in owning the core parts of your business.

[00:02:39] For example, in my post on The Future of E-Commerce, I mentioned that I've considered switching over to a fully hosted shopping cart like a BigCommerce or a Shopify. But the reason that I've resisted all of these years is because I don't want to put my business platform in the hands of someone else who can raise prices or change policies at any time. It's a major investment and very risky to switch carts from an SEO standpoint. And I have the knowledge and capability to maintain my own solution.

[00:03:07] Can I innovate faster than a fully hosted platform? No way. But on the other hand, I don't need 80% of the functionality that the fully hosted carts support. And the remaining 20%? I can often code new features myself in a few weekends and avoid paying recurring fees. Overall, when it comes to outsourcing, I like to be in control over every aspect of my business that is not easily interchangeable. For everything else, I don't mind paying a third party. For example, I spend about $800 a month on email marketing services.

[00:03:36] But even though email marketing makes up 90% of my blog income, I would never create my own email platform. Switching email providers is fairly trivial, so it's not a major risk to my business if my provider decides to screw me. A shopping cart, on the other hand, would require many months of painstaking work to migrate. Will my mindset change someday? Maybe. But for the small shop that I run, I prefer to get by with what I have and stay in control for now. 2. 2. Quote,

[00:04:05] The art of being wise is to know what to overlook. End quote. Remember when I said that I drop stuff on the floor all the time? Well, there's absolutely no way I could do what I do without saying no to most things. Because I dedicate my weekends to my kiddos and family, I basically have about 20 hours during the week to get all of my business tasks done. 20 hours is not a lot of time, so I have to fiercely prioritize.

[00:04:29] With any business, it's very easy to get caught up in making more money, investing in more projects, and trying to expand, expand, expand. So I constantly have to remind myself why I'm in business. I'm not doing this stuff to get rich or to become famous. The reason I do what I do is to free up my time for my family and to keep my mind stimulated. That's all. Any request or project that detracts from this goal is immediately dropped.

[00:04:54] 3. Quote, your body is a public resume about what you say about yourself. End quote. A major component of business success is your ability to network and build lasting relationships with other like-minded entrepreneurs. And when it comes to building rapport or garnering respect from your peers, your appearance matters. Whenever I meet someone new, no matter how hard I try to keep an open mind, I'm often influenced by a person's overall demeanor.

[00:05:21] For example, if a person is dressed well and in excellent physical shape, I subconsciously have a positive impression of that person right from the start. The other day I was catching up on reruns of Shark Tank when I saw a haggard, unkempt entrepreneur dressed in a tie-dye shirt, shorts, and flip-flops pitched to the sharks. And right away I knew that he wasn't getting a deal, no matter how great the idea. Unfortunately, your body and the way you carry yourself can make or break a first impression, which is one reason why I made a conscious effort to get in shape several years ago.

[00:05:50] And to this day, I continue to exercise regularly, maintain a low-carb diet, and pay attention to my health. Not only does this improve my energy level, but it allows me to be more focused and productive as well. 4. Quote, End quote. Whenever I start a new project or business, I'm usually overeager and impatient.

[00:06:20] And when I'm excited, I tend to overexert myself and expect great things to happen immediately. But when I don't see results right away, I get discouraged and want to quit. For example, when I first started my blog, I was writing five times per week, not getting any traction at all, and burning myself out in the process. It wasn't until I dialed my effort way back to a more maintainable pace that I finally began to see results. Hear what happened next in tomorrow's episode.

[00:06:50] You just listened to part one of the post titled, Powerful Quotes for Entrepreneurs That Will Change Your Outlook on Life, by Steve Chu of MyWifeQuitHerJob.com. Like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block. Or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense?

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[00:07:47] This is a new era of American innovation. Learn more at g.co.com slash American Innovation. And thank you to Steve for letting us share his post today and tomorrow. When his wife became pregnant and she planned to stay home with the baby, they knew that they would need to find more income. So the couple started a little online store called Bumblebee Linens. In just one year, they were able to replace his wife's salary of $100,000 per year. And they started My Wife Quit Her Job to document all of it, including income reports.

[00:08:17] But he didn't stop there. He started the My Wife Quit Her Job podcast and even held his very first e-commerce conference called the Seller's Summit. So clearly he's a very accomplished guy. You can learn a lot from his site, which again is mywifequitherjob.com. And thanks again to Steve for letting us share his work. But that's going to do it for today. Hope you have a great rest of your day and that you'll join me again tomorrow to wrap up this post. And that is where your optimal life awaits. Bye. Bye. Thank you.