Little Snowflake

Know Thy Inner Little Snowflake: Find Out What Makes You The Most Valuable to Others

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One thing that the many non-millennials of the world make fun of millennials for is the fact we believe that we’re all pretty “little snowflakes”.

Well, truth is, we are.

But not in the way that we think we deserve a special life. Because in that respect, we don’t deserve anything. Sorry, but there are no participation trophies in real life.

We and everyone else in the world is a ”precious little snowflake” because we all have a uniqueness to us.

We have passions and interests not everyone else has.

(If you believe otherwise, then maybe you’re looking forward to the day that 1984 is a reality.)

To be a true creative, you’ll need to figure out what those are in order to be the most valuable to others. You need to find out what makes you, you.

You’ll need to become more self aware.

In this post, I’ll give you some pointers in how you can find out how you’re different from your peers so you share what you’re about to others a bit easier!

My Journey to Finding Out What I’m Interested In

I’ve always been someone who makes friends on the web rather easily. In fact, oddly enough, for many millennials, it’s almost easier to make friends online, than it is in person.

The first friends that I made online were through a chat forum with my original ISP. Every day after school, we’d hop onto the NetUSA1.net chat, and people would just go about discussing their days.

I quickly came to find out that I had a lot of interests in common with people who didn’t go to my school. Today I’d even go as far as saying I simply didn’t fit at my high school.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but was a proto-millennial.

My classmates were more Gen X influenced. Even today when I talk to many of them, I realize that they’re not readily accustomed to the web and technology as I and younger millennials are. For many of them, they’re technology immigrants. They only utilize it when they have to.

That said, I realized what sets me apart from my peers in this regard.

I excel at understanding entrepreneurial tech and love to show others how to use it in a way that will help multiply their business results.

Have Conviction in What You’re Doing

As a creator, you don’t really want to pursue anything unless you strongly believe that it needs to exist, or what you’re discussing is an important topic.

Just because you’re good at something, doesn’t mean that doing that something professionally is a good match for you.

Take, for example, when I was teaching algebra for a couple of years.

Could I do it? Sure! I love to teach.
Could I teach it? Yeah.
Did I have a believe that those who I was teaching it to needed to know it? Possibly.
Did I really envision myself teaching algebra for a prolonged period of time? Nope!!

Also, when other folks start finding out what you’re about, you don’t want to be changing your focus.

You want to be known as the guy or gal who helps ________ do  ______ so that others can ________.

If you’re bouncing around from thing to thing and those topics aren’t connected, then people aren’t really going to understand what you’re all about. This might mean that you lose in opportunity, and potential fans and/or clients down the road.

 

Show That Belief through Passion and Energy

This goes off the last one a bit, but you’ll need to be pumped each time you have the opportunity to share or do something involved with whatever it is that you like discussing. An easy way to find out what pumps you up is finding out what you naturally talk and learn about in your free time.

When I was making those friends on the web, we’d discuss all kinds of geeky things. From games to computers, and even science. We’d also chat about all the crap that we had to deal with in school. Even back then, I can see the seeds of what I’m discussing with you here via New Inceptions.

When you’re thrilled to discuss a topic with other people, it shows. For one, you likely won’t know when to stop going on about the topic. (Been there, done that – still do it.) And two, they’ll probably get energetic from the conversation just because you are. Even if tomorrow they need another kick of your motivation. But hey, you’ll be glad to share it, right?
Give Your Perspective on Other’s Results, Content, and Role Modeling through your own Experiences
Whatever is important to you, chances are there’s going to be other people you learned it from. Whether you’re into cars, video games, sports, fitness, etc., there’s other people who are already doing what you’re going to be doing – just maybe not exactly how you want to do your version.

First, your small difference in how you do things is what’s going to separate you from them. And secondly, you can use those differences to discuss your perspective on what they’re talking about.

I’ve mentioned so many people in this blog that I’ve learned things from over the years. What sets me apart from Pat Flynn and SPI, for example, is that on my show, I have co-hosts. Or the fact that my guests are easy to relate to for beginners. Or, perhaps it’s the fact that I have a more academic background than he does.

Point being, you can talk the same topics as other people, but let who you are guide the actual conversation.

Surround Yourself with People You Want to Be Like

Ok, so this one is fairly simple. You’ve heard that you’re the average of the 5 (or 10) people you’re around the most? Yeah, other people are going to judge you based on who you surround yourself with.

If other people are considered gurus in their field of expertise and you hung around them, would you automatically be considered a guru as well? Maybe.

If you were hanging out with bikers in a bar somewhere and some saw you there – would they consider you a biker? It’s very likely.

You’re the company you keep, internally and externally.

 

Synthesize and Deliver Your Own Product or Services

Once you start expanding on the ideas of people in your field and you’re getting the chance to network with people you admire and want to make part of your network, wouldn’t it make sense to actually walk the walk?

For us in the online information world, that product comes in the form of content. Whether it’s free like this blog post, or it’s a premium course, content is a product.

As a creator, you need to have your own product or services to deliver and/or offer as well.

 

Experience

If you’re just starting out in your own business or project, people might question your credibility because your new. The way that most people deal with this is through leveraging their experience.

For example, maybe you’re just starting out as a woodworker like David Picciuto and you want to make a name for yourself. What he did was rely on his knowledge he obtained from his marketing years to help him develop his platform on YouTube. Maybe you don’t have a marketing background, but you might know someone that does and you can have them make videos of your work. They get noticed as the videographer, you get noticed as the woodworker.

Win-win.

Be Current

This one is pretty simple. No one wants old information unless it’s timeless information. But even then, you need to look like you’re keeping with the times. If your site looks wonky and unprofessional, then people are going to get that impression of you, the owner.

If your branding looks like it’s something straight from 2007 – then people are going to think that it’s from an old site OR they’re going to think you’re just not with the times.

Obviously this has more ramifications in some industries more than others.

Being current in fashion is going to be much more important than say here with fundamental business advice.

Make Yourself Readily Available

Here’s the other thing. Make sure you actually respond to comments, emails, and posts from your followers. If you don’t engage, they won’t either. And if they’re not engaging, how do you even know they’re there?

Also, be sure to post in as many places as you can. Pat used to have a piece of advice to “be everywhere”. He still might say that, but you can only be in so many places. Choose the a few that you can readily post to (blogging, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) and stick with those.

Followers Do Count – Sorta

There’s two schools of thought on whether the number of followers actually count when it comes to social media.

When it comes to actual sales, no, they don’t count. According to Dustin Stout and many others, engagement is what you’re looking for.

However, if you’re looking to bring in more followers, then perhaps it does count. You can’t have engagement without having followers in the first place, right? Would you rather follow and/or pay attention to someone who has 100 followers or 1000?

 

Action Steps

So there you go. A few ways that you can start working on today that will help you boost your appeal to potential new clients.

Differentiating yourself can make all the difference in the online space.

Are there any methods that I forgot? Let me know below if you can think of any!

 

Bonus

For you deep thinkers, I’ll leave you with this TEDx talk of Julian Baggini:

find your niche

Emily Kelly on Finding Your Niche, Working Remotely, and Mastering Empathetic Writing (AoL 069)

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When first starting, many of us have problems with being an entrepreneur in one way or another. Our main issue, many times, is we simply don’t know where we fit. We’re told to “find your niche” and often times, we find it hard because we could do so many things. However, we need to learn what it is that we do well and hire out for things we’d rather not.

Over at Fizzle, for example, Chase and Corbett hired in Steph Crowder to help with customer support back in 2015.

Steph, having worked at a few startups by that point, knew how to interact with clients on a one to one basis. It was something that Chase, who’s the main creative at Fizzle, and Corbett, the business brain, didn’t have the resources to do themselves.

In our interview with Steph in 2016, we learned that she was expecting soon.

They had to get a fill-in for her while she was on maternity leave.

Today’s guest, Emily Kelly, was the hero for Fizzle during that time.

But, just because she was with them temporarily, doesn’t mean she was bad at the position.

In fact, it was part of her new role as as a virtual customer support specialist. She has taken the phrase “find your niche” seriously.

In this interview, we find out about her journey to become a virtual assistant, what she recommends to folks coming right out of college to keep them from getting burnt out at work, and some pointers in putting emotion into writing.

If you’re thinking about about starting your own business, perhaps being a virtual assistant first might just be in the future for you as well.

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • What kind of career did she envision as she was going to school? 8:02
  • Which creative influences did she have in her life growing up? 10:52
  • What it was like to have her dad working remotely growing up. 13:15
  • When was the first time Emily had experience with entrepreneurship herself? 14:47
  • What was it like to work at a startup vs where she previously worked? 18:13
  • What advice would she give someone who’s coming out of college so they don’t get burnt out? 21:37
  • Which mindset did Emily utilize while working for a startup? How did she use the advice “Find your niche”? 27:15
  • What is some advice that she’d give someone to get more emotion into their writing? 37:04
  • What are some things to look for when hiring remote help? 39:28
  • 3 Influencers or teachers that have helped Emily get to where she is today. 44:38
  • One gift that she likes giving others. 45:17
  • Something she believed as a 21 year old but doesn’t now and why? 45:46
  • If she could place an ad anywhere in the world cost free, what would it be and where? 46:19
  • Who does Emily think of as a success and why? 48:29
  • What are some ways that someone can improve their customer support? 49:53
  • … and MUCH more!

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Broke with Billy Corben:

Intro to Deep Work by Cal Newport:

How to Become a Virtual Assistant:

Simon Sinek on the Millennial Question:

Bonus: Simon Sinek followup:

Thank You For Sharing Some Time With Us!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

Jesse Winton: Making Movies, Millennials, and Learning to Mind the Gap (AoL 066)

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People will come up with a million excuses not to do something. But it takes one good one – one why – to actually go and accomplish a big lofty goal.

Case in point – Jesse Winton, had never made a movie before. But yet, his first one, made it national.

Sure, he could have psyched himself out by saying that his goal was unattainable, but instead, he chose to kick those thoughts to the side and go after this goal.

In this session, learn from Jesse how he was able to get his idea off the ground, what his perception of Millennials are when it comes to how they’re viewed, and how he handles discomfort during the middle of a project – aka The Gap.

Enjoy!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • How did his homeschooling background contribute to where he’s at now? 6:01
  • Were his parents supportive of his aspirations? 8:07
  • What kind of specific knowledge or training did he have to get his ‘Targeted’ off the ground? 11:16
  • Jesse’s perception of Millennials vs what others view them as. 15:34
  • How do we convert more Millennials to become creatives? 21:03
  • What sparked Jesse to create the film? 25:07
  • Why Jesse identifies with Libertarians. 28:27
  • Why did Jesse create Wintons Motion Pictures? 33:00
  • What goes into preparing for pitch meetings? 35:34
  • How Jesse went national with his documentary. 31:33
  • Was there any fear in reaching out to influencers? 42:29
  • How did Jesse and his dad find interviewees for the documentary? 46:26
  • How does he handle discomfort that comes up during the middle of a project? 51:57
  • What’s coming next for Jesse? 58:50
  • Who are three influencers that have helped him get to where he is today? 1:01:17
  • Top Favorite Books that he recommends 1:02:22
  • Smallest decision he’s made that has had the largest impact on his life 1:03:18
  • What is one thing that all high school students must know… even if it involves Dane Maxwell. 1:04:08
  • What’s it mean to live a life of abundance? 1:06:14
  • What can people do to live an inspired life? 1:07:15
  • … and MUCH more!

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Targeted DVD Promo:

Interview with Glenn Beck:

Interview with Perry Atkinson via theDoveTV:

The Gap by Ira Glass:

Jesse’s mad skills on the Fiddle:

making movies

Thank You For Sharing Some Time With Us!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

Generational Marketing: How to Connect with Millennials

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Last week we discussed how Millennials should and can become the next Greatest Generation.

Our generation is full of leaders. It’s just a matter of realizing whether you are one or… a victim.

Whether you’re part of the Hero Generation or the Lost Generation.

If you’re part of the Hero Generation and see yourself as a leader, then you’re going to have to build a following. You can’t be a leader if no one is following you!

So how do you build that following?

In today’s post we’re going to talk about that a bit. And hopefully, once you’re done with this post, you’ll have a little more idea of how to communicate more with other future leaders.

The Past Can Teach Us So Much

Last week I talked a bit about how the Greatest Generation is all about principles vs ego. They sacrificed themselves for the greater good.

Whether it was for their families or for their country, in their heart, they knew their sacrifice was worth it.

This past weekend I was watching CBS Sunday Morning and there was a very pertinent story to all of this.

It was a story of a community coming together to put together an old B-29… to preserve history and give a tribute to those in their community who had done so much for the country.

If that isn’t a feel good story, I don’t know what is.

Find More Context by Seeking More Answers

If you had seen this video on Facebook or YouTube, there’s a number of things you could have done after viewing it. Many folks will watch this and think “Awww!” or “Cool.” and go on with life – continuing on with whatever they were doing or maybe watching another YouTube video.

If you’re like me, that video might actually stick with you a bit more. You might have wanted to get more context about it.

You might have wanted to find out more about the project and how it came together. Maybe find out more about how they pulled the B-29 out of desert, or maybe learn more about Witchita being a capital for producing the aircraft.

These are all big questions.

They’re all forms of “How was this done? If I was wanting to do something like this, how would WE do this?”.

Because really, from the it’s very beginning, the story of Doc, the B-29, was a product of a community.

Leaders are always asking questions that come in the form of “How can I get a group of people to do a certain activity? How can I call them into performing a certain action?

Connection is a Big Deal For Millennials

Comradery and a sense of being connected and contributing to the planet and having vulnerable intimate contexts to be celebrated and creative in is empowering for young leaders and people in general.

Can I also like be alone at times? Is that okay or do I not fit in? If you’re a millennial you couldn’t possibly enjoy solitude. What about the moments that I’m sitting on a mountain or swimming down the river alone. Appreciating life.

I have no interest in community. I’m not gonna be like “Oh thank goodness.” I have no interest in being part of a community without context, and also just because I want to be part of a community doesn’t mean I want it to define me. But then again maybe I’m just special.

When I was in college, I was part of several student run organizations. I got to see up close how much community and volunteerism meant to our generation.

If you’re identifying yourself as a leader, then you’re going to have to learn how to influence others.

In my last post I mentioned that you could study up on creating influence by reading books by John Maxwell. If you took that advice and clicked the link on the last post, you probably realized that there were TONS of books to read.

I’m sure some of them might have seemed interesting, but where do you get started? Which one is for the novice? Which one is a good intermediate option… and so on?

I have several recommendations – and I could tell you which one would make more sense for your particular situation. But I don’t know you – yet. (Feel free to say hi on Twitter!)

But there’s definitely an underlying thing you MUST know when reaching out to Millennials.

As adults, believe it or not, we are not egocentric. We’re all about helping each other while helping ourselves. That’s why the Sharing Economy has blossomed as much as it has.

But why is that?

Just like the Greatest Generation, it’s part of who we are.

The Pendulum Theory – We’re Now a We Society

Our millennial generation – which the Hero Generation is a part of – is part of a larger 40 year cycle.

One can think of his cycle through the movements of a Pendulum – going back and forth between two extremes. The We and the Me.

We are currently heading towards the We extreme. We know this because for the longest time, people took refuge in having things simply to have them.

The Boomer generation is/was all about collections. Having certain things meant having certain status. It was all about Me.

You can’t blame them, though. Many of them and their parents came from a time of forced scarcity. While minimalism is something that many millennials subscribe to, it is a form of scarcity – and there lies yet another example of this cycle.

Anyhow, here’s some resources to further educate yourself on the movement of the Pendulum:

Michael Drew, Pendulum co-author, on TEDx:

Pendulum co-author Roy Williams on Glenn Beck (pt 1):

Pendulum co-author Roy Williams on Glenn Beck (pt 2):

Other Examples of the Ever Moving Pendulum

In Roy’s conversation with Glenn linked above, one of the things that he gets a chance to show towards the end of the conversation is how he’d change one of his most famous commercials from the late 80’s.

It’s really fascinating to see how you can do that.

Here’s a few more of his examples in how things have changed in popularity over the years:

This brings us to…

How Donald Trump Got Elected As President

One thing that has definitely been on many people’s minds since last week is the results of the election. Many people thought Hillary was going to win. But now they’re having to come to terms with Donald Trump becoming our next president.

Currently there’s tons of protests against the results – and it’s easy to understand. Trump is a prime example of the Me side of the pendulum swing.

Millennials who are completely “We” are going to fight that tooth and nail. Especially if they took what he said during the campaign litterally.

However, those same millennials are forgetting how he actually campaigned. He campaigned as part of being in the We. His slogan was “Make America Great Again”, and that completely spoke to those who feel like they’ve been forgotten for the last 8 years. He got elected not because what he was supposed to represent, but because of what could be representing. His supporters took the words he said seriously, not literally.

In fact, it seems to me that many “rust belt” counties that voted for Obama in 2012 voted for Trump in 2016.

And if those numbers aren’t enough for you, here’s what Trump means to many of his supporters from around the country:

Action Steps:

So, what to take from all of this?

Understand that whatever marketing tactics you learned about in 2006 don’t apply anymore.

If you really want to connect with millennials, think and talk to them as if you’re coming from a place where everyone needs to fight the good fight. They want camaraderie. They want to feel other people are with them. So it doesn’t make sense to focus on making one person stand above everyone else.

Make people feel like they’re part of something larger than what they already. If you can do that as if you’re starting a “movement”, you’ll have more success with that than not.

BONUS: If you want to check out the entire hour and a half footage of Doc, the B29 getting off the ground for the first time, here’s that footage.

Millennial Leader

The Millennial Leader: How the US Will Prevail Beyond the 2016 Election

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Today is Election Day 2016. If you’re yet to vote today, vote your conscience.

“But what if I really vehemently despise one candidate and feel that I have to vote for the other major party to help make sure they don’t get in office?”

Well, that’s totally your decision. If you don’t like either major party’s nomination like I did, then it’s ok to vote 3rd party.

Either way, this is quite possibly the last election that the Boomers are going to have candidates in. And that means that a lot of us non-Boomers are going to have to step it up.

That means Gen X’ers just as much as it means Millennials.

So, for this week’s post, I thought it’d be important to look to the future and discuss how Millennials can set themselves up to be leaders in the years to come.

Who are Millennials, Really?

Over this past weekend, I found myself going to the 40th wedding anniversary of my neighbors from my hometown.

40 years – wow. For any marriage to make it that long anymore seems to be almost unusual.

Which is unfortunate.

Personally, I think it’s awesome that they’ve stuck together. So often, anymore, you hear that when the kids leave, the parents end up going their separate ways because they realize that they’re both different people than who they were when they were married.

Especially if they were married in their 20’s. In today’s world, many people aren’t considered real adults until after the age of 25. (I mean, there’s got to be a reason why the Obama administration decided that it would be ok for kids to be able to use their parents’ insurance until the age of 26, right?)

In this couple’s case, despite the fact that he’s a good 20 years older than her, I think a good reason that they have stuck together is that the husband was about as young as you could be in being part of the Greatest Generation. The generation that grew up during World War 2.

Also, I know that the wife’s parents had stuck it out over the years as well. In fact, they were so close that when one passed away, it wasn’t much longer that the other followed.

I had a great aunt and uncle that were the same way. They passed within a year or two of each other.

It’s hard to tell if that affection has rubbed off on younger generations. But one thing is certain, that generation rarely divorced.

Why?

millennials-dont-like-socialism

While Millennials don’t understand what the word Socialism means, they reject the idea of it.

Well, maybe because they were in tune with themselves enough to know what they were looking for when they picked a spouse. Or maybe they had principles that didn’t allow them to divorce.

Millennials are Actually Pretty Conservative

Whatever the reason is, most members of the Greatest Generation were pretty conservative in their beliefs compared to their kids and their kids’ kids.

Interestingly enough, us Millennials might behave more like the Greatest Generation than many think. They fought socialism in World War 2 and studies are starting to show that while many Millennials don’t really understand what it is, we don’t like the idea of what it really means either.

In fact, we’re trending more conservative than our parents.

I mean, it makes sense. So many of us are embracing simpler lifestyles. Having companies like Apple, Uber, Google, and Tesla around have given us that ability. Can you imagine those companies being run by the government? Ha!

We’re Trained About Participation More than Winning:

When other generations talk about millennials, we’re often referred to those head in the air, good-for-nothings that think they are entitled to things without working for them. They continue to say that we don’t take responsibility for our actions in what we do or do not do.

Many times they’re right.

But here’s the truth – they, our parents and educators, made us this way. They taught us what it meant to be unique and shoot for the stars. That anything was achievable.

But they also rewarded us for putting in very little work. For many of us school was fairly easy – just show up and you’ll get a C. Do the least amount of work you can do and get good at taking tests and you’ll get a higher grade.

For many, sports were even easier. In the past, people got rewarded for winning. We were the first generation where you started hearing about participation trophies. Whether or not you trained hard to actually win or did very little didn’t matter. We got rewarded for just showing up.

Some of Us Learned the Hard Way

College (or the military) was the first real learning curve for many of us. It was the first time that many of us had to learn how to really work hard to move up. But even that has gotten worse as I found out as a graduate instructor (and Maria has found out as a higher ranking soldier).

Whether we were doing something to win it or just to feel good about ourselves, Millennials have learned that participation counts. Limiting our growth potential in the world after graduation has made many buck the system. The difference is how we’ve responded.

Those Millennials that continue to spin their wheels looking for the easy reward are part of the Lost Generation. One book that they might need to read is “Who Moved My Cheese?“.

Those of us who are trying to figure out how to win are part of the next Hero Generation.

The Hero Generation

The Hero Generation is one of four generations that come and go throughout time. The other three being the Artist, Prophet, and Nomad generations. They are responses due to 4 types of events that happen in every cycle called Turnings. I first learned of these turnings when I saw a documentary a year or so ago called Generation Zero, which was released in 2010.

If you want to find out more about the four turnings or their associated archetypes, you can do so in Wikipedia here. If you want to go deeper, the two books that the authors Neil Howe and William Strauss are most well known for are here:

The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy (1997)

Millennials Rising (2000)

If you want a Crib Notes version, here’s a video for that:

Signs of Heroism

Now, if we really are this Hero Generation, would there not be signs that we’re trying to save this world that is falling apart around us?

I think there is. I think it’s this growing boom of creatives that are starting businesses and sustainable social enterprises.

As I said, Millennials don’t know how to wait to be successful. Those who have played the game to win are going to keep winning.

They are replacing the old employee and non-profit mentality. Both of these mentalities were popular but never sustainable. A company could fire an employee at any time. A non-profit could eventually lose their funding.

In fact, I remember a episode of Home Improvement where they made a joke about Tim’s brother who called himself an entrepreneur.

Most small businesses and social enterprises are designed to be self reliant. This means that no one person can control the livelihood of another.

And it’s also what the AoL Podcast is all about. Finding and talking with those individuals who have made the switch to lead their own career and finding out how they made the leap.

One such Millennial that displays our form of Heroism is Dane Maxwell, who my co-host Daniel and I got to interview in session 56.

Leadership is Learnable

Many of those who have taken this leap are considered experts in their field.

Whether it’s deserved or not, experts are looked at as leaders. This makes sense, though, right? Experts can lead others to the answers they’re looking for. So many times we call them thought leaders.

And what really is leadership?

As defined by John Maxwell, leadership is Influence.

Because of this, he has always said that leadership can be taught. So if you find yourself having problems influencing others, then perhaps it’s time to start learning about influence and leadership. John’s work would be a great place to start.

What Type of Leader are You?

Being an expert or Thought Leader, like John, isn’t the only way to lead people. Maybe you’re not interested in becoming the next guru in a particular field of study. There’s still something that you can lead in.

There’s three other types of leaders:

  • Courageous Leaders
  • Inspirational Leaders
  • Servant Leaders

Courageous Leaders

These are people who set an example by pursuing a vision in the face of considerable opposition and risk. Typically, they’re known to have strong convictions about their mission (purpose), vision (long-term goals), and values (right and wrong). They usually set the example by speaking up for their core beliefs and fight for their values, even when their stand is unpopular.

Some popular examples of this type of leader might be Rosa Parks and Abraham Lincoln were definitely example of this. Yet, some would even say that Edward Snowden is an example.

Inspirational Leaders

Many people compare Donald Trump to an anti-Ronald Reagan. While Reagan’s actions usually brought people together towards a common goal, many folks believe that during his campaign, Donald did the exact opposite.

Ronald was an example of an inspirational leader. He promoted change by being able to look forward to the future and help others commit to ideas and ideals.

Yet another example is MLK, Jr.. Like Reagan, he was able to envision a future and unify others behind him for that future.

Servant Leaders

This is the example of leadership that so many of us know and hear about. Usually these are the types of individuals who are discussed on the evening news for going out of their way to do something.

Typically, these folks become leaders by asking “How can I help?” and then following through.

There here have been some really big names over the years that might give you a visual.

Mother Teresa, Oprah with Harpo Inc., and Eleanor Roosevelt’s work in human rights.

Generally these people ask for very little if nothing in return – but, as you can tell, get plenty of publicity.

Who Are You Going to Lead?

Now with all of these examples of leaders, you might be wondering how you can set forth on your own journey of becoming a leader.

It’s actually fairly simple. Ask yourself which of those 4 types truly fit you the most.

For me, as an example, I’ve always seen myself as a teacher. So I’m a natural fit for being a thought leader.

But at the same time, I’ve always thought that I might get into politics somehow, and now that I’m 35 – I feel that I might just have enough experience to start looking at that a bit more seriously.

It’s ok to be more than one of these 4 types – in fact, most leaders are. But you can always tell if someone is better at one than the next.

Action Steps:

Now that we’ve looked at why Millennials are perfect to be leaders, you might be wondering how exactly you’re supposed to figure out what type of leadership role you want to be a part of.

If you have no idea, just go be around extracurricular groups of people that discuss things you have some sort of interest in.

Maybe you’re in a good sized town. If that’s the case, there should be some meetup groups near you that you can attend. If you’re in a small town, then perhaps you can join the local Rotary Club or perhaps get involved with the Masonic Lodge. Many leaders have been involved with both of these during our country’s history.

Once you find something that you think you enjoy being a part of, start applying for leadership roles within that organization. Start low and work your way up – unless you think you’re qualified to start at a higher level.

Other than that, all I have to say is get out there and meet people. If you think you might want to run for political office one day, start small and work your way up there too.

Here’s a neat little wiki that can get you started on a plan.

Drew Badger: Touring Alaska and Teaching English by Rejecting the Menu (AoL 059)

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It seems that most everyone in the world wants to be a part of modern western culture in one way or another. I don’t think you can go far in most big cities in the world without seeing a McDonald’s or Burger King.

That said, traveling abroad shouldn’t be this big scary thing anymore – especially if you’re American.

There seems to be hundreds of books, podcasts, courses, shows and instagram accounts about travel and learning to speak other languages. But for so many people, it still seems unobtainable. To actually get out and move around the world and explore.

Today’s guest, Drew Badger, is all about getting out of the norm. In fact, that’s how he’s lived his life for quite awhile now.

Having grown up in the midwest and going to Japan as soon as he could, he’s done something that many only dream of doing.

But he didn’t stop there. He’s always looking to do more outside of the norm – rejecting the menu.

So that’s what we talk about in this session. The ideas and influences he had as he was growing up that made him go live a life of adventure.

We also talk a bit about how he started English Anyone, and how he’s been able to make the brand as successful as it is.

Enjoy, and thanks for listening.

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • Where did he get his entrepreneurial know how from early on? 10:00
  • What was the some of biggest game changers in his business? 19:21
  • How he got paid to take a tour of Alaska. 25:15
  • How can people get out of their own box to see what’s really available to them? 28:26
  • How did a guy who grew up in Chicago end up living in Japan? 35:05
  • How he did Drew go from teaching English in person to doing it on YouTube? 44:36
  • What does he contribute to his success on YouTube? 55:17
  • What his really cool upcoming language app is all about. 1:01:56
  • Who are three influencial teachers in his life? 1:05:36
  • One gift he likes giving others. 1:08:26
  • What is something he used to believe as a 30 year old and now knows is wrong and why? 1:09:30
  • What is one thing under $100 that has changed his life? 1:11:44
  • What does it mean to live a life of abundance? 1:13:15
  • … and MUCH more!
  • Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Thoughts on the New iPhone:

More on Rejecting the Menu:

Drew and his Dad on learning English:

Gabby Wallace Interviews Drew:

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

 

Don’t Be a Sell Out: What the Modern Entertainment Industry Can Teach Us About Creativity

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Growing up, I remember watching the Star Wars movies. I remember how I saw the first one and really didn’t think much of it at the time. As a 7 year old, I saw it as another action flick – boring when people talked, but cool when they shot at each other!

Like most kids at my age, we were too young to have seen the movies in the theatres. Instead we got to see them when they came on at night on the main network’s movie nights. I remember my mom telling me I just had had to watch them. In fact, I think one of the first movies that we ever recorded with our VCR was Star Wars: Return of the Jedi… or least attempted to. (I’m guessing somewhere in 1987 – 1989.)

As time went on, I became more and more of a action and sci-fi geek. That was probably one of the reasons that the Ninja Turtles stuck with me as much as they did. But, I also remember really getting into science as well. Seeing all those planets in the shows really made me interested in Astronomy.

By the mid 90’s, I had finally saw all of the Back to the Future movies. Sci-Fi series that I watched at the time included all the Star Trek shows including syndicated episodes of TNG. In fact, along with the X-Files, I remember Voyager being the shows I looked forward to that would literally help me get through the week. In today’s world, I realize how silly this sounds, especially in an age where so many people use their DVR to watch their shows. But it was the truth back then before everything was On Demand.

Needless to say I was definitely hooked on my sci-fi shows and movies.

 

The Best Summer Ever?

I remember the summer of 1996 as if it was last year. This was the summer after I got back from my 8th grade trip to Washington D.C.. During the trip, I was exposed a ton to what my peers listened to as far as music. Really, up until that point, when I heard music, it was my mom listening to her oldies music, or what I heard in school for band and music class. I really hadn’t developed an interest in it.

Nope, I was too involved in video games, TV, and, movies to care about music.

Well, when I got back from the trip. Things were different. In fact, it wasn’t very long at all before I signed up for what was called BMG Music Service. And, you might remember, back then being able to get 10 relatively new CD’s for a third of the price was awesome! Especially if you just had to have certain songs you wanted to hear over and over.

Well, again, being fairly new to the music scene, I didn’t really have any preference to what I was listening to. It was all new to me. So what I ended up doing was ordering a ton of soundtracks because they gave me a good sampling of what was popular. I felt that I had my own radio station.

I remember that in one particular catalog, it mentioned some of new releases which were going to be coming out in the next month. One of those was the soundtrack to Independence Day. I didn’t know much about the movie at the time, other than Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum were both going to be in it.

Will had just gotten off of Fresh Prince not too long before and had some success with Bad Boys. Jeff had already been in Jurassic Park, so I knew who both actors were.

Up until the movie came out, I knew it was going to be about aliens invading Earth and the military. I guess I just figured it was going to be something similar to Stargate (the movie) which I loved as well.

So, all of these parts coming together AND having seen a little bit in the making of, I knew that it was going to be a great flick.

That being the case, I ordered the soundtrack along with a few other CDs. I figured, “hell, if this is as good as any of my other soundtracks (especially Batman Forever), then it should be a great album!”

So, July 3rd comes around and I see the movie. I was blown away. (I think I ended up seeing it in theaters two other times – which is actually saying something for me.)

Shortly after, I get my soundtrack and pop it in a CD player and…

Disappointment.

Here I was hoping for the songs from the movie and I get the score. I didn’t realize what scores were until this point. But, you know what? Even though I was disappointed the first couple of times I played it through, the score started growing on me – especially as I saw the movie a couple of more times.

From there on, while I continued to order soundtracks from BMG, at least I paid more attention to what I was ordering.

 

Nice Story down Memory Lane, JC, but So What?

This past weekend, on July 3rd, 20 years later, I saw the sequel of ID4, Independence Day: Resurrection (does that make it ID4:2?).

For the most part, I enjoyed it. It was fun. I didn’t expect too much going in, because I knew Will Smith wasn’t going to be in it. It was interesting to see how they approached the story 20 years later.

As I was leaving the theatre, though, things didn’t sit with me right. There seemed to be something missing from my experience. A sense of awe that the first one left me with.

To be honest with you, a lot of blockbusters that have been coming out in the last few years – I’ve gone in thinking this might be the one where I get a sense of awe again.

Nope. No such luck.

I couldn’t quite put my finger on it until I searched on reddit for the discussion of the movie. And then it hit me. ID4:2 was a shell of itself. The franchise had sold out.

Perhaps I’m using too aggressive of a term here. I mean, isn’t that what Hollywood is all about? Going mainstream? Isn’t part of going mainstream trying to appeal to more of the masses?

I tried to rationalize what I was feeling…

It might simply be the fact that I’m older and I’ve seen everything you can do in a movie. That might be it. Because there have been only a few movies recently which were such an experience that after watching it I’m like, “That was cool!”.

Two of them have been animations: Wreck It Ralph and Big Hero 6 were pretty cool. Live action ones included The Martian and Interstellar. Those were pretty awesome. If we went a little further back, the first Iron Man movie was cool. So was the first couple of Spiderman movies.

As far as EPICNESS goes, nothing beats the Matrix or The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

However, I’ve still not gotten any big “Woah!” moments for a very long time.

Has Hollywood in itself sold out even more than what I remember of it in the 90’s?

 

Finding the Woah!:

A big part of the reason that I think that I haven’t gotten any woah moments recently is because I end up seeing movies that are formulaic. I’m seeing most of the blockbusters – and while these are neat, cool, and have great visuals, they just don’t seem as intimate or real as those that I remember from the 90’s.

Just an example: when you think of the Turtles from the 90’s, they sure aren’t the same guys from the most recent movies. The most recent movies just seem more fake to me.

One thing I’ve thought that it might be is all the CGI. Perhaps, I HAVE become a little too accustomed to all these special effects or maybe it’s that the writing is so much more predictable compared to when I was growing up. It’s hard to tell.

But, one thing’s for certain, it doesn’t just plague movies. There’s formulas for what sells in TV, video games, and especially in music. Everything seems to be a copy of each other.

But just because things sell over and over again does it mean it’s good? Obviously the answer is no. The entertainment industry is giving us very high filler and very low content.

Going back to ID4:2, I really think that’s why I felt something was missing. I didn’t have much connection with the characters. And what connection I did have from the first movie was all but taken out – if not from this movie, then definitely from the next. (Yes, there’s going to be another one.)

So what is Woah! when it comes to storytelling? I think it’s all about having deep connections with the characters, having amazing and out of the ordinary things happening to those people, while at the same time making sense (no plot holes).

When you think of movies like Jurassic Park, the original ID4, The Matrix, and even The Lord of the Ring Trilogy, and even as far back to the Wizard of Oz. What was so mesmerizing about these movies? It was that we, as the audience, felt that we were connected to the characters in the movie. Things started out normal, but when things started to pick up, we were in those experiences with them. And, we weren’t left in the dust to try to figure out how they got from Point A to Point B.

 

How this All Applies to Us as Creators:

When we’re building our creative business, we need to make sure that those that are from the beginning feel like they’re part of what we’re building. We need to build relationships and engage with as many potential fans of our work as possible.

When we start having success and reaching higher and higher levels of it, don’t forget those who were there in the beginning. If treated right, these can become your biggest fans and help you grow larger and larger.

If you don’t treat these folks right and just try to sell to them and keep stringing them along, then you might regret that in the long run. You might have your own success, but you won’t be seen as some epic people mover.

Also, make sure you’re showing who you are. There’s already a Gary V., a Pat Flynn, and a John Maxwell. Learn to understand and embrace yourself, and your story, like they have. The continuing of that story is what makes you original.

 

Action Steps:

As your working this week, realize that your story is original. Don’t try to be like someone else out there. It’s not going to work. Even if you’re just starting off on your journey, embrace the moment. Pull it all in. In the future as you meet more and more people, they’re going to wonder how you got started. Telling them that you put one foot in front of the other might help, but being able to give them exact examples will be even better.

Also, don’t be afraid to be authentic. Whether that’s through LIVE streaming apps or simply by writing your blog in a journalistic way. The more authenticity you have, the more people you’ll attract.