The 1% Focus On This FOR SUCCESS! | Evan Carmichael

In my first business, I quit, I struggled. And the thing that saved that company was me saying, I can't be the first guy to try to figure this out. Who else has built a software company? I had a software company and I thought of Bill Gates. Just he was the only guy kind of came to mind. And not how does Bill Gates make an extra million dollars now? But like, how did he start? Like, 0 to 1. That's what I was struggling with, man. And I applied the strategies and I got my first five figure deal out of it. And that was a lot of money to me when I was, you know, 19, 20. And ever since then, if I don't know what to do, I just model success. And I wanted to be around more successful people. You know, I didn't really have family connections or anything. And I'm introverted, so I don't go to networking meetings.

Which is funny because you're always online now. How can you. I mean, this is crazy to believe.

Yeah, I mean, we can dive into that too, but introverts are built to serve too.

That's right.

And so I just wanted to be around what I call aspirational mentors. And so, you know, you can see some of the people, you know on the wall behind me. But also I've learned something from everybody who are profiled on my channel. And I get to have, you know, one day, Warren Buffett. This morning I was watching a Warren Buffett video and yesterday was Elon Musk. And it's like, there's no. You can't sign up to do coaching with Warren Buffett, you know, So I get a little. I get a little hit every day from successful people, and it really worked for me and I just want to share that with other people as well.

Yeah, that's amazing, dude. We have a concept. I think I've shared it with you before, offline, maybe that. We call it the digital mentor, which are your YouTube, your podcast, your different things that you can use to grow yourself. If you can't get one on one with somebody.

What do you think the driving force is to actually choose a digital mentor? Really, you know, model success. I mean, how do you know who to model?

I don't even stress out too much about picking the right person at the beginning. I think people get so stressed about finding the perfect person that then they don't do anything. My recommendation is start with people's free content. So, you know, if you're digging this interview, go learn more about Steven. Right? I mean, like, hey, that guy asked some Questions. I wonder else what he, what does he do? And just go explore the channel. And pretty much everybody's putting out some kind of free content, whether it's YouTube, podcast, Instagram, they're doing something and so start there. And what I want people to do is prove that this person's bringing you value. So I got somebody in my YouTube comments today, like just before this was looking at it, who was saying, I just spent $10,000 on somebody who promised to be a mentor and didn't deliver. It's like, well like don't.

I had no money when I was starting, so the idea of spending like 10k on something that doesn't work out would blow my mind. Like so every dollar has to really count. As an entrepreneur, I still in that hustle kind of mentality. So start with their free stuff and make sure that you've gotten tons of value. You're getting thousands of dollars in value from their free stuff first. And then go buy their book. Right. Most people have a super entry level product, a book, something that's 20 bucks, right? 20, 30 bucks. Just get that and then again do the work and make sure they've gotten you. If you're spending 20 bucks, 30 bucks on something, make sure you're getting thousands of dollars in value from it and then start leveling up. Before you start spending 10k on somebody, they should have already brought you way more than 10k through the content, through the books. And so that's how you start leveling up. So to the question of how do I find the right mentor? I don't worry about the perfect mentor. What do you want to learn? You want to learn sales skills? Great. Go to YouTube, type in sales skills, watch everybody who's on there, see who you connect with, see who you resonate with and then dive deeper into their world and then go buy their book and start leveling up your skillset that way. And that's where I think ultimately, I think ultimately guys like you will win that way. It's why I'm so pumped for you to be on YouTube because you've got so much knowledge, you've been doing this for so long, but the world yet doesn't know Stephen yet. Right? But it's happening. And so I want people to consume your YouTube videos and be obsessed and subscribe and then get put into not just the funnel of the sequence for marketing, but for life changing knowledge, wisdom, experiences, connections.

So yeah, I would encourage people to take a shot on the free content, make sure it works and then level up.

Yeah, No, I, you know, and you've, you've been instrumental in helping us make, I guess even today, a good friend of, I guess now a good friend of mine and has been a long standing friend of yours, Beau.

You've taught us the value of connecting people and connecting to the right people, you know, and, you know, it's funny, him and Tim Schmoyer both mentioned this term good guys. Like they're one of the good guys or he's one of the good guys. You know, I think that is so instrumental because, you know, the world of influencer spaces and personal development and brand and all that kind of stuff is. It can get. You can get lost in the crowd, like really easily, you know, and kind of log it. How do you actually determine the good guys from the bad guys? Is it just. It's kind of the same kind of thing you just kind of mentioned where it's, you know, who you resonate with or.

I think that's a great starting point. Um, I get a feel for people. I think you do too. And I think you get that from just experience of dealing with enough.

A lot of bad ones.

I pay a lot of attention to the energy afterwards. So today's a great example. Right. It's five o' clock for me here on the East Coast. This has been all day. I've been doing podcasts and interviews. This Thursday is what I do. Like non stop, 5 minute breaks in between. And I see you on the calendar for 5 o'. Clock. This is my VIP time that we normally don't book 5 o' clock unless it's something really important, just in case stuff shows up, like the ballot, like the penthouse of a hotel. And I see your name on the calendar. It's like, I'm pumped. Right. Day of interviews, like, yeah, man, they get to close it with Steve. It's gonna be great. And so I pay attention to that stuff because there's some people who, when you hang around them, and again, this can be digital as well. When you hang around them, you feel better afterwards. Yeah. You went in and you felt maybe negative or maybe just okay, but you leave it and you feel better. And there's a lot of people who. You leave them and it feels worse. You feel drained, like you've been sucked dry of your energy. Right? The energy vampires, as Dandapani calls them. And so it's when you find, I like collecting good people. That's the phrase that I used myself. That just a mantra for myself. I like collecting good people. And I don't Know how it's going to work out. And I. And it'll often lead to strange situations. Like Bo. Bo. How did I meet Bo? I don't remember how I met Bo. He's in my community. He came to my thought leadership academy that. That I put on last year. And just, dude. The dude is a good dude.

Like, dude, his heart is pure. The crazy thing was, is we. We totally connected because I guess we were both homeless at one point in time, so we spent, like, I don't know, probably 20 minutes just like. So you know what I'm saying? You know what I went through? Just that, you know, like, me too. Like, me.

Yeah. Kind of thing.

That was so cool, dude.

So I saw him, and I was just thinking about him, and I just think about people, and I just like you. Before we started recording, I was telling you a story, but I was like, think about you and somebody else you're working with and how it all fits together. Like, if somebody's on my mind a lot, I then. I then try to find. I just try to stay connected. I try to find something to do together. Bo's launch new business that I'm helping him with. Yeah. And he's. He's great at it. So, like. But so many people want to start a business with me.

Yeah.

But I want to collect good people and find a way to keep working together. There's another guy, Jeremy, who I don't know. Have you connected to Jeremy? Maybe not Jeremy. Jeremy Stickney does YouTube as a service, so he's in your channel every two weeks looking at it on calls with your team, helping you with thumbnails, helping with the strategy, helping you. Basically what I do, but actually in it. Right. I'm happy to hop on many time and just give advice, but he's actually doing the work. He's another just good, solid dude who, when I met him, was that he was a grocery store clerk. Like, he worked at a grocery store stocking shells for minimum wage. And I said I had to find a way to talk. I have to find a way to stay in touch with Jeremy and just do something with this guy. And when I was on my tour last year, we're driving through the desert, Texas, and I'm thinking, jeremy, I want to start a YouTube business with Jeremy, the grocery store clerk. And we. And we called him up, I said, nina, my wife, Nina, you got to get. We need to get your amazing video. Nina.

Yeah.

I collect good people. Right. I mean, that's it.

I got to get her. And we got Jeremy On a call, a video call in Facebook. And I said, dude, I want to start a YouTube consulting business with you. He's like a grocery store clerk, doesn't know anything about YouTube besides watching it every now and then. I said, by the time I get back from my tour, it'll be two months. You need to have done this, you need to have watched these videos. You have to consume everything I've ever done on YouTube. And he was prepped and ready when I got back. And now he's built a six figure business inside of 12 months.

Not too shabby.

Not too shabby for a guy like last month, he said he made more last month than he made his entire year at a grocery store. And it's just. I love people win, dude. It's so good. Like seeing good people win makes me feel so happy. And I look at it. So as much as I see that as Jeremy and I see that in Beau and what he's about to do, I see that in you too. It's why I love trying to help and give advice and wherever I can. You're number four in a series. Number four. Number three. Number three. Who's. Am I missing somebody? Maybe not? No, you're number three. Okay. Tom Billy was number one. Okay. And it's just the order. Like when I met Tom the first time I called him Tom Billyeu. That's actually how you pronounce his name because he's friends, but he goes Tom Billyeu because it's American, you know, understand French. And I remember when I first connected him with him on my, on my channel, he. I love this guy.

Yeah.

You know, I love this guy so much and I just want him to keep going. And I know how hard it is at the beginning of a YouTube channel to get it going. And he spent so much money to launching his like bonkers money to get his channel off the ground. And I remember telling him and also just thinking like, man, I want you to win. Like, please keep going. And I've spent a lot of time trying to help him and went to his home and all this stuff to help build the channel. And it's great to see him explode.

Yeah, he's a good dude. I'm looking forward to meeting him one day. He's a good dude.

He's a good dude, right? He's a good. He's good people. Dave Meltzer was number two. So Dave Meltzer was like a year after. I don't know if you know Dave yet, but you would connect super well with him as well, another good dude who I met him and like, man, I just want you to keep, please, like, please keep going. Please keep going. Because it's so hard. Like, please keep going. And then, and then. Now here's Steven Scoggins, number three on the list. Like years, one year apart each, right? Like, you're the next Dave Meltzer into Tom Bilyeu in terms of impact. And just, I want to see good from the nature of what I do, you know, for people who don't know me and what I do, I, you know, take a whole bunch of different people's videos and mash them up and try to provide value to the entrepreneur community. I want more good people making content with good knowledge, but also like the good heart and the willingness to serve and like that Steven Scoggins in spades. So I'll make you blush a little.

Bit, but yeah, my bald head red.

But, but I want to. I see that in, like, I just. Man, I want Stephen to keep going. I want Stephen to keep at it. It's why I'm also thinking about you during the day and like, maybe I can hit the bow when he gets the guests on and just like, how can I bring value making little videos of like, do this and try that. And anyway, I just want to see you win. And you're. You're good people, right? I want to, I want to be around good people like that. And.

It'S good karma. Like, that always comes back to you. But it's also just. It's just fun and it's awesome. It's an awesome feeling trying to help support other people who are doing good things beyond just the practicality of a business relationship that comes out of it too.

Hey there. If you really enjoyed that snippet, you're really going to love the full interview right here, so make sure you check it out.

Most people choose to be defined by in a negative way so that they're not capable, that never can. It's never going to work out. And very few decide that I'm going to be defined by it in a positive way and use this to help serve humanity for sure. And that's why I'm just trying to.