John Lee Dumas is the Entrepreneur on Fire who has found the common path to uncommon success for ...

Today, welcome to John Lee Dumas to the Speak PR Podcast. John, welcome.

Jim, there is literally nowhere else I'd rather be right now. Thank you for having me.

Well, you're in Puerto Rico, so sitting here in a farther damp England, I think there's somewhere else that I'd rather be. I've seen pictures of you, Paul. Now, John, you're the founder and the host of the award-winning podcast of which I am an avid fan, Entrepreneurs on Fire. Yep. Now you've got over a million monthly listens and 7 figures of annual revenue, which you very generously share and very transparently share. Now, you're also sharing about a new book that you've got coming up, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, which is for preorder. And I'll put a link to that in the show. Now, you've been an inspiration to millions, literally, of entrepreneurs, including me around the world. I first listened to you on a, on a journey from Shanghai down to Hangzhou. Now just tell us please, Jon, about what's the common path to uncommon success?

Well, first off, I don't take your listenership lightly. So thank you for sharing that. And, you know, I'm inspired by people who are inspired and motivated by, you know, the content that I create. I'm all about that ripple effect where, you know, if I can just help one person inspire themselves to then go off and inspire other people in the world, like that ripple effect is amazing and it makes this world such a better place. And you're a perfect example of that. So thank you. You know, for me, I've now looked at my kind of past 8 years and I'm like, man, I've done 3,000 interviews with successful entrepreneurs. I spent thousands and thousands of hours talking with people that have done it, that have achieved massive levels of success. And I just know from those conversations, which I've learned from, that there is a very, very common path to uncommon success.

So, What have been the path that you've found? Because there are millions of listeners who are desperate to hear, especially in this tough time, some positive news and some positive direction. So, do you want to take us through— I believe there are 17 steps that you found.

Well, let me first start in a negative direction. I know that, like, that's not what you asked for, and it's not what we need right now in this world, but it's just, it's important to hear the truth. And the truth is Unfortunately, you've been lied to. Like many, many people out there, including myself, have been lied to. And what have we been lied to by? We've been lied to by people that want you to think that the path to success is complicated. It's hidden, it's secret, it's behind all these doors. Like, you know, the Forbidden City you have right behind you. It's like forbidden. It's like unless you have, you know, $1,997.97 to spend on this course or this product or this, this or that, you know, these gurus want you to think that. And it's just not true. The path to common, uh, the path to uncommon success, it's, it's a simple one, it's a clear one. And those 3,000 people that I've interviewed, and myself included, I'm one of those, I've been, you know, generating multiple millions of dollars for 7 years in a row now. And guess what? The path to common success is very, very common. And I really want you to understand that there is this 17-step roadmap that I've created, and it does start With your big idea. And so many people, Jim, they never even think about what that is, what that looks like, what that means. They just kind of start running, not knowing the direction they're running in. They're just like, I'm gonna consume all this content, and I'm gonna launch this podcast, do this and that. And, and then there's like, well, wait a second, like, why is nothing happening for me? It's because they don't have an anchor. They don't have a North Star. They don't have their big idea. And that is chapter 1, that is section 1, that is step 1 of the 17-step roadmap, your big idea. And I'm very passionate about that. My big idea, luckily for me, back in 2012 was to do the first-ever daily podcast interviewing entrepreneurs. So guess what? When, when you're the first and only daily podcast interviewing entrepreneurs, that meant I was the best. daily podcast interviewing entrepreneurs from day one. I was also the worst, but I was the only. I've interviewed 17 amazing entrepreneurs that contributed to these 17 steps, each one specifically because they're an expert in that one specific step. And let me tell you, Hal Elrod was the entrepreneur I interviewed for their big idea chapter, chapter 1, because His big idea was amazing, and I had to uncover and unpack how he got there. His big idea was identifying that, hey, if you can create a miracle morning for yourself, if you have a morning routine that is fulfilling you on so many levels, you're going to win, period, end of story. And we go into depth about how that is uncovered and unpacked, and that's where everybody needs to start. And again, this— these 17 steps They're chronological. They are literally in order. And I want people to realize that is where the power lies.

And tell me, have you found then through all of those interviews, it's people from all walks of life who are entrepreneurs? Or do you find that there's some recurring traits, disadvantaged childhood, or someone said something nasty to them when they were older? Any common traits? Or is it really possible for anybody? with a big idea to go for it?

So listen, there are common traits, and I'll share 3 with you in a second here. But first and foremost, you're not born an entrepreneur. Like, I had nothing to do with entrepreneurship for the first 32 years of my life for, for various reasons, different life circumstances. Somebody's going to become an entrepreneur at 9 years old because they're gonna go out and mow lawns or sell baseball cards or lemonade, and that's just the kind of person they are. Some people are going to be 75 years old and have their first big idea and say, okay, I'm going to go in, I'm going to do it. And some people like me, luckily, is kind of towards the earlier part of my life. But at 32, I said, you know what, the traditional life hasn't really worked for me. It's working for other people, but it's not working for me. I'm going to try something different. I'm going to try entrepreneurship at 32. And here I am now. And now that I've interviewed 3,000 successful entrepreneurs, I can tell you there's specific characteristics they all possess. Number 1, successful entrepreneurs, they are productive. Now, that means They are producing the right content. Because listen, everybody thinks they're productive. I'm busy, I'm doing this social media, driving here, going there, doing all this stuff. But if you're not producing the right content, you're not going to have uncommon success. Number 2, discipline. If you are not a disciple to a plan of action every single day, you're not going to achieve the level of uncommon success that you and I want for you. So you need to be disciplined in that specific manner. And the number 3 is focused. You have to follow one course until success. If you have one big idea and you focus laser-like on that one big idea, you have a chance. You actually have a chance of finding success. So those are 3 characteristics for you.

So, Jon, did you find any kind of common characteristics where people were able to kind of break through A bit like the midpoint in a marathon when you run the 18K, you think you're never going to finish the full 42. Did you find some common traits to how to break through the interim where you haven't really achieved success fully, but you kind of put most of your life on the line for it?

So it kind of bothers me because the answer to this is so simple, but nobody does it despite the fact that it's so simple. And I can scream and shout and talk and write and whatever till I'm blue in the face, and still 90-plus percent of people are just never going to quite get it. And I don't understand why, but they're not going to. And, and I, I'm sorry for them because I know I, I want it for them. I know they want it, but it's just not going to happen for them. For whatever reason, they can't understand this very, very simple thing, which is again is why I wrote this book, because this book shows you exactly that 17-step roadmap. And one of these things is, listen, If you fail, it's because of one reason. You haven't created the best solution to a real problem. That's such a simple concept. Nobody gets it and nobody does it. Guess what? Entrepreneurs on Fire won back in 2012 when I launched it because it was the best solution to a real problem. What was the real problem? People wanted more interviews with entrepreneurs to listen to, to consume. And guess what? Nobody was doing it. So I created the only, therefore the best solution to a real problem. And I flipping won. People don't do that. They create a watered-down solution to a hypothetical problem. And nobody cares because nobody wants a watered-down solution. Nobody wants another, you know, solution 101 to a problem because there's— they already have 100 solutions. People don't understand that. That's why they fail. That's why they can't get off the ground. They don't have their big idea. They are not creating the best solution to a real problem. And the book takes you on that journey, right? Chapter 1, to help you identify your big idea and then move into step 2, chapter 2, discovering your niche within that big idea.

Right, because I think you've said before, the riches are in the niches. Sounds kind of obvious, but also at the same time a little bit nerve-wracking, because of course we all think we need a big enough niche to create a business that's big enough. But if it's too big, it becomes unmanageable, right? So how do you help people in, in your book to focus in on what's a big enough niche for them to tackle, but not too big for them to get lost?

So I don't really believe that there's too small of a niche. I don't believe that that exists. I think if there's a niche of one, it's big enough and you can make it happen and you can crush it. And, you know, who knows what that niche is going to grow to. I mean, there was at one point one person that played pickleball. I don't even know if you've ever heard of pickleball, but guess what? Now it's the fastest growing sport in North America. So you need to understand that you need to niche down until you can be the the best solution to a real problem. And that might be 6 or 7 levels down, it might be 2 or 3. You need to go through that process. So big idea, discovering your niche. And then chapter 3, step 3 is creating your avatar. And that's the perfect customer, client, listener, follower, consumer of your content. That's the 3rd and critical step, right?

I find when I'm talking to clients, they often say, well, it's this person, but it's also that person. When it could also be that person. How do you, how do you help them to redefine it?

They don't have a real avatar because an avatar is one perfect consumer of your content, consumer of your products, of your services, and that's it. If you have multiple, now you're just falling back onto having generic marketing. You're going to blend in. You're not going to be heard. You're not going to be found, and you're going to lose. You're going to be in that vast majority of people that you mentioned whose businesses fail in the first year. But people that identify one perfect avatar, which, you know, we go through the entire process in the book, they know, hey, there's one person I need to talk to. There's one perfect avatar for me. That's my person. And guess what? My avatar back when I launched Entrepreneurs on Fire was a 32-year-old father of 2 young children. He had a 25-minute commute to work. His name is Jimmy. I had a whole avatar created for him. Again, we teach you how to do. And does that mean that I didn't have somebody like yourself that was in the Far East listening to my podcast? Does that mean I didn't have an 87-year-old woman, um, listening to my podcast and starting a business, which I have? Did that not mean— does that mean I didn't have a 7-year-old, um, listening to my podcast with his mother on the way to, on the, on the way to, you know, school, being inspired by my show? All of that happens. But I served my avatar better than anybody else, and I won as a result.

And I think that's a really good point, that actually you can have other people that are listening and participating, but it's not your core, and that you really have to keep focusing on the avatar. Because often people try and sort of accommodate, don't they, their business to introduce these kind of outliers to their business. Now, one of the things that you've done amazingly well, John, is You've managed to communicate your value around the world. I mean, I was in Beijing at the time and I found Entrepreneurs on Fire. I'm afraid I was 20 years too old to be in your core demographic, but I do have the 2 daughters. Can you share what's been the secret from a marketing point of view? What have you— what do you think have been a number of the tools you've used or platforms that you could share that have helped really catapult you to really a global brand?

You know, I don't even want to go down that path, to be honest, because there's no right answer to that. Because things are always changing, things are always evolving. And, you know, depending on when people are listening and hearing this, like, it's going to change. And that's not the point. The point is we got to keep things simple, Jim. We've got to keep things simple and clear. You need to identify a big idea for yourself. You've got to discover the niche within that big idea. that you can be the best solution to a real problem. Once you create your avatar as a next step, then you go out and find them. Where is that avatar? Is it— is your avatar listening to podcasts, on YouTube, watching shows? Are they on social media? Are they reading blogs? Like, where is that actual listener? Like, that avatar, like, that's the step. And again, it's a process, and we can only, you know, talk so much, like, about what this process is. So if you're still kind of like, oh, like, I I'm kind of getting this, it's kind of coming clear, but there's a lot more. Of course. I mean, my book's 71,000 words, you know, it's 273 pages. Like, this isn't a simple, like, overall process. It's a simple concept, but it's not a simple process because if it was, frankly, everybody'd be doing it.

How long do these 17 steps take, JLD?

You should be able to implement this in 3 to 6 months, that time frame. Like, you should be getting to chapter 17, which is keeping the money you make by a 3 to 6 month timeframe. That is a realistic timeframe for you to go through this 17-step process and build a foundation that's going to be a real and successful business.

Do you want to just share with us a little bit about how, for example, the book plays into that bigger plan that you've got for how you can ignite people?

Listen, when you're living paycheck to paycheck, which most people are, when you don't have like the ability to write an unforeseen check for $2,000, which most people can't, you can't be a philanthropist. You can't, you know, give to good causes that you believe in, no matter how much you believe in. And it is like something that I really want to release people from. Like, I want to release people from that inability to, to get behind things that they believe in. And once you achieve financial freedom, location freedom, lifestyle freedom, the world changes. Like, Kate and I have been able to donate multiple 6 figures to causes that we believe in. We've built 5 schools in developing countries over the years. We've been to visit those schools in Guatemala. Other, you know, other schools that we built are in Laos and Cambodia. Like, we're giving the gift of education because we're financially in a situation to be able to do that. And that's actually one of the reasons why I moved. Puerto Rico because I now can, instead of having to write a 7-figure check to the government every year, I can write a 7-figure check to causes that I believe in. And I want to give the common path to uncommon success to my audience so that they can achieve the type of uncommon success that they want to and the type of financial freedom that they can. And guess what? Now you can support and give back to something that you believe in, and that's key.

And I think, JLT, what you've managed to do in an amazing way is to transform your life. And if there's one of those 17 steps that you've written about in The Uncommon Path to Common Success, what would be the chapter that is your, if you like, keynote address? What's the one chapter that would be you, do you think? I mean, you've obviously put them all into practice in many ways, but is there one that you'd say, that's my chapter?

They're all my chapters, if I'm being honest. But the one that I'll share in a little more detail right now that I think is super important is the way that I end every single one of my podcast episodes, which is, hey, FIRE Nation, you're the average of the 5 people you've been spending— you're the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. You've been hanging out with myself and Jim today, so keep up the heat. And one of the steps in my book is teaching you how to create or join a mastermind. And if you're not in a mastermind, like, you're missing out. Like, the accountability, critical. The companionship, critical. The lessons, the learnings, the collaboration, critical. And that needs to be something that you're a part of. And I teach you how to find the right mastermind or how to create the right mastermind, and then how to make sure your mastermind is being run correctly, which is so key. So if that's not part of what you're doing, you know, on a week-to-week basis, you're never going to achieve the levels of uncommon success that you're capable of. You might still be successful on some levels, but not to the level that you're capable of. So that would be a chapter that I really kind of bring to the forefront.

Great. And you're a great, really, collaborator and stimulant and inspiration for all of us, I think, on that. And if people want to find out more about you, JLD, and about the book, where can they come to?

There's one place you can go. Visit uncommonsuccessbook.com. uncommonsuccessbook.com. Now, once you get there, you'll see there's a nice video where I explain a little bit more detail about the book, and there's some fantastic information about the book, and obviously options to preorder the book at whatever, you know, distributor that you are into. One thing I kind of want to bring to the forefront is there are 5 amazing bonuses that come with the preorder. They're all amazing.

Yeah.

We are going to slowly start to take those bonuses away. So it is a timely thing to jump on now and lock in all 5 of those bonuses because they are diminishing bonuses. They will be taken away over time. But one of them, by the way, is I am literally shipping to your door if you're in the US, all 3 of my journals, the Freedom, Mastery, and the Podcast Journal. If you're outside the US, you still get immediate access to all 3 of those journals, the Freedom, the Mastery, and the Podcast Journal. Super valuable. These are all bestsellers. They're all for sale on Amazon right now for $45. Like, this is real, real value. If you're a stud like Jim is, you can even do— we have bulk orders. And so you can click on the bulk order button on that page and you can start at 12 books and go all the way up to 1,200. Like, 1,200, Jim, still available, man. There's only one of them. But it's—

Yeah.

First-class ticket to Puerto Rico all weekend with me and Kate. It's going to be a blast. And then there's, you know, levels all the way up and down that. So you can check out the bulk orders as well. But the book, uh, the URL is uncommonsuccessbook.com.

JLD, as always, it's a pleasure to hear all your wisdom and feel your energy. So thank you so much for coming and bringing your fire to our nation.

Jim, thank you, man. It's been a pleasure. Adios.

So thank you to John Lee Dumas there, joining me all the way from Puerto Rico. He is such an amazing character, full of energy and enthusiasm and just goodness. And I always feel uplifted by having heard him, and even more so by having shared the mic with him today. So a real, a real honor today. So if I can help you in any way, then please let me know, and I can put details to the new book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, in the show notes. And in the meantime, I wish you the best of health, a sustainable business, and that no matter what you're doing, you focus first of all on your idea. Get that right. Determine the avatar. And as we talk about in the Speak PR program— storify, personalize, engage, amplify, and to know— we have a methodology to help you also to storify your business, personalize the avatar, create compelling content, amplify that through technologies, and then use the Active Communications Index to track how much you're doing against your goals. Thank Once again, be safe.