Doug Holt, an entrepreneur and coach, describes a 2007 wake-up call: he owned two successful businesses and lived beautifully, but felt miserable because he was chasing someone else's definition of success. He argues that real happiness comes from defining your own success and writing your own story, and that younger entrepreneurs should invest heavily in coaches and mentors.
Chapters
Alright everyone, welcome back to the Business Blast Podcast. Today I have Doug Holt with us. He is a coach, mentor, and entrepreneur. And the first question I have for you, Doug, is what's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Well, I think the best story that I can think of is back in 2007. I was sitting at a coffee shop in Santa Barbara, California, and I owned two businesses at the time. And by everybody else's terms, I was a complete success. And that's when the reality hit me is I was actually not happy. And so what I realized at that point was a turning point for me was that where I figured out I was actually living in somebody else's story, somebody else's success. And that was a huge, huge value lesson to me because I was extremely successful in business. I was living in a beautiful place, one of the most beautiful places in the world. Yet I wasn't happy, and everybody wanted me to take the path and keep going, and that's when I actually made a pivot. So the valuable message, and I wish I would have got it earlier, is for everybody to kind of take a moment to think about what you really want and not what you should be doing.
And what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Well, it's a great question. I actually own 6 businesses, so, uh, I'm going to give you 2. One is that you need to find someone who's been down the road before. And you need to have balance, right? You need to find somebody who's been down your path and that can make your journey shorter. And the second thing, 'cause I own two marketing agencies, is marketing isn't about funnels or anything like that, any tricks. It's all about awareness, just like what you're doing. And you need to be an authority in your niche, and that starts with awareness.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice?
Wow, I, you know, I coach business owners, so I got, I got a lot to go through. But I know that most business owners feel as if they're going 1,000 miles per hour but not getting anywhere. It's kind of that idea of going fast but not getting anywhere quickly. And if business is a sport, what I would ask people is, who's your coach and how are you training? I would look at business more holistically, and I would say For anybody watching this that's a business owner, you really wanna make sure that you're moving forward strategically and progressing well. And if you feel like you're stuck, you need to find a way to get outta that as soon as possible.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
It would be invest more money, time, resources, whatever you can on coaches, mentors, and learning. Take, take more workshops. I did a lot of this when I was young, but I, in retrospect, I had a lot more time than I thought I did at the time. Don't go out as much. Spend time, be around people that have already been down the path. Surround yourself with great, great mentors.
And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
By far, the first thing is defining what success means to you. Just based on that story I just told you, for me back in 2007, by most people's terms, I was a complete success by anything you want to check off, but I just wasn't completely happy. And then what I would say is the key to happiness is really writing your own story rather than living somebody else's. Very few people take the time to sit down and plan out what they want their life to be like, and then realizing every day you get to write into that story and make sure you're a hero of your story, right? You want your story to be a page-turner, not a boring book on a shelf that nobody wants to read.
And that's perfect. That leads into the next question, is what's the best book you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from it?
I gotta say, this was the hardest question of all. I read a ton of books. I probably go through— well, I should say I listen to a ton of books, probably a couple a week. But the first one that popped into my head is the one I picked, and that was The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. And those four things were: be impeccable in your word, don't take anything personally— that one took me a long time to figure out— don't make assumptions, and the fourth one Always do your best.
And what's your favorite quote and why?
It's a long one, but it's by Teddy Roosevelt, and I've had this on my office for years, if not decades at this point. And it goes like this: It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who's actually in the arena, who whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deeds, who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end of the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst If he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. Okay, it's a long one and it's actually one sentence, but it's a run-on sentence.
That is an amazing sentence.
I'll send it to you. It is. And it comes from a speech that Teddy Roosevelt did. And what that tells me, I mean, I've been an entrepreneur my whole life and now that I coach, entrepreneurs and business owners, and I've been doing that for a long time. You know, the thing I see is you hear all these people talking a game, but they don't actually get there. They're on social media, they're being trolls, or they're picking apart the doers, the people like you that, you know, you decide to come out with a podcast and come out with this great information. And it's easy for someone to stand on the sidelines and tell you what you should be doing better, tell you what you're doing wrong, you know, while they're sitting on the couch, you know, that kind of Monday morning quarterback. The real hero, the real hero is the person that's in the arena, the blood, the sweat, the tears that comes from actually doing the work. I love that quote. It means so much to me.
That is one of my favorites now. I have not heard that one before. Thank you for coming on. And last question I have is where can people connect with you and find you online?
Well, I heed my own advice about being omnipresent and being all over. So you can find me all over social media. But probably the best place is just my personal blog, which is DougHoltOnline.com.
Perfect, man. Thank you again for coming on, and we'll talk with you soon.
Thanks so much.
The podcast you just heard was made using Anchor. Ever thought about making your own podcast? Anchor makes it really easy for anyone to get started. It's a one-stop shop for recording, hosting, and distributing podcasts. Best of all, it's 100% free. Sign up now at anchor.fm/new. That's anchor.fm/new to get started.
