The E-commerce Leader

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[00:00:00] JM: And all of us that have been operators for a long time have gotten in that situation where we’re, we know we’re at a plateau, and the question is, how high a plateau is that now
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[00:01:10] MV: well, look, um, we’ve talked about, you know, really interesting discussion, but how do we overcome it?
[00:01:14] If, if you catch yourselves in it to some degree, and it sounds like both you and I have, have done, and I guess most human beings will at some point. How do we get out of this?
[00:01:21] JM: So, um, I’ve got a list of 10 things. Uh, this was, again, initially prompted by. perplexity.ai, but I, uh, I tweaked it a, a good amount.
[00:01:29] You want me to just rattle off all 10? You want me to go one at a time? What do you wanna do? Fielder’s choice here for you in baseball terms? Let’s
[00:01:35] MV: go one at a time and then we’ll summarize at the end so people have a reason to. Okay, we’ll
[00:01:38] JM: just, we’ll, we’ll hustle through ’em pretty quick here cuz it’s a, it’s a great list.
[00:01:43] So the first one is, set bigger goals and hold yourself accountable to them. And, uh, I think this is probably the basis of all business leadership and personal leadership, and I think it’s easy to forget when we’re kitchen table entrepreneurs or maybe we’re a solopreneur. There is a big goal setter in your business that’s gonna demand big goals from you.
[00:02:04] And if you’re the big boss of your company, you have to be that person. You know, cuz we’ve all worked in jobs where, you know, we weren’t the boss and the boss’s job is to set big goals and challenge the staff. And if you’re a solopreneur, you have to wear both those hats, the goal setter and the goal achiever.
[00:02:23] And sometimes we were just like, nah, I don’t wanna do any of that. You know, it’s too stressful. But the truth is, we need to be doing that. And I think that’s the basis of, you know, dealing with poverty mindset is ask yourself the hard, hard questions about your near term goals. One year, three year, five year goals.
[00:02:42] MV: And I think you, you make a very good point about the, the tension between often a business owner or a strategic leader and the operational leader, uh, which is. Uh, strategic leader, particularly if you own a business, uh, you’re, you’re the main shareholder or a big shareholder, you, you want results. Whereas if you’ve gotta deliver on the results, you don’t necessarily wanna work incredibly hard.
[00:03:01] You may want to relax a bit. And so there is a tension between those different people of the external. And there’s a tension within if it’s just one person. I mean, for me, one of the things that that strikes is, um, I think it’s really important to. Try and externalize that. I have a difference between the person demanding and the person being demanded of if you can, he, he’s not gonna be complete split in a small business, but I think it’s helpful.
[00:03:25] To do maybe a couple of ways around that. One is you employ stuff that you can then demand things of, and it’s your job to demand and their job to deliver. And that separates it nice and cleanly and it gets, you’re in the habit of demanding, which is helpful, you know, not in a nasty way, but as you just said, for positive reasons.
[00:03:39] And the other one is to get a coach who can demand on your behalf of you as the operator. So you physically separate the people. And the roles. Cause otherwise you’re trying to fight yourself. It’s very hard to do, isn’t it? Yeah,
[00:03:51] JM: yeah. Totally Right. I, I think that getting super clear on the goals is, is the first step.
[00:03:56] A coach certainly helps you do that. The accountability related components of that. Certainly something that’s right. Um, what was it? Tom Landry, the football coach said, uh, a coach is someone who makes you look at what you don’t wanna see, makes you do what you don’t wanna do. Stuff like that so that you can be the person you always wished you could be.
[00:04:15] I butchered the quote, but you get the idea.
[00:04:18] MV: Yeah, it’s great. Be hardcore. I like that a lot. I I’m that kind of school. It sounds like a, a tough piano teacher. I mean, same, same kind of mentality. It’s like mm-hmm. Suffer now. So you can love me later. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Okay. What’s the second one? So we, I, we were gonna ruffle through them, so I’m, I’m getting in the way number two.
[00:04:33] JM: Yeah. Take, take new and decisive action. And I think for all of us as business owners, we can get plateaued out. Really fairly quickly. You know, you can set up an online business in, you know, six months or a year, two years, and get to a point of success, but also a point of plateau fairly quickly these days.
[00:04:54] And all of us that have been operators for a long time have gotten in that situation where we’re, we know we’re at a plateau, and the question is, how high a plateau is that now, maybe it’s a billion dollar business. You’re like, Hey, that’s a pretty good plateau to be on. Right? But it’s. Typically not.
[00:05:11] Maybe it’s a high five figure or a six figure, uh, plateau, and you’re like, how do I get to seven figures? You know? So taking new and decisive action, I think is a big part of, uh, breaking out of that poverty mindset. If you do the same thing you’ve always done, you’ll get the same result you’ve always gotten.
[00:05:32] Uh, and I think there’s, there’s, uh, power in asking the question, what am I not doing? That I know I should do because I’m avoiding it out of fear. A desire to not have to learn, not have to work hard. Uh, I know it’s something I hate, so I’m not doing it. And all of those things we avoid are the exact things generally that we need to poke through.
[00:05:57] And break new ground into, you know, yeah.
[00:06:01] MV: Again, you might wanna choose to outsource some of that stuff, but I think it’s hard to outsource that, which you don’t have any clear of. So I think you have to go through that pain initially. Um, yeah, I, I think you’re absolutely right and it’s, again, it’s hard to do that on your own.
[00:06:13] I think having peers. Any kind of social accountability helps that again, um, mm-hmm. This instinct, Donald Miller in the story brand says, when you are creating the hero’s journey, um, it goes through different waves, one of which is the hero is called to take new action. And in any movie of Hollywood has ever made, the guy doesn’t just sit there, look in the mirror, and suddenly go, I am now gonna take action.
[00:06:34] Some event occurs. Mm-hmm. And, and I think, An event or a relationship has to occur. And I think sometimes life kicks you in the face and you go, oh, I’m gonna change now, but we don’t have to wait for that. Yeah. I guess that the ultimate kick in the face is to become an addict to something. A treat is horrendous, like fentanyl.
[00:06:50] Um, those guys have had a wake up call the size of a planet, I guess, but the rest of us don’t necessarily have to wait for that. I guess we can get a wake up call by consciously engineering it. Again, a coach, a community, a mentor, something.
[00:07:03] JM: Yeah, I totally agree a hundred percent. Um, okay, so number three is, uh, practice gratitude.
[00:07:10] Uh, focus on what you have instead of what you lack. And this is a, I think a really vital concept for all of us, including just in terms of business, is if you really make an inventory of all of the resources you have available to you and the assets that you do have, the things that are going right and the.
[00:07:30] Relationships, the resources, the tools, the tech, I mean, all of the things that we have access to that we focus on, those are tremendous keys to breaking new ground and doing better. And a lot of times we can get stuck and obsessive, almost even, you know, kind of recursive in our mind, repeating over and over.
[00:07:52] The negative thoughts related to things we don’t have. And that’s a cul-de-sac you can’t get out of, you know, I mean that, that, that gets you in a loop that’s super negative. And, um, so I think, I think this idea of practicing gratitude, focusing on what you do have, um, and leaning into that is really a key.
[00:08:13] Um, even taking action on that. You know, a lot of people focus on giving money because it forces you to think about, um, not a lack. What you don’t have, but it forces you to focus on what you do have and what you could even give away to others and help other people. So practicing gratitude, I think is a, a big key as well.
[00:08:32] Yeah, I completely
[00:08:33] MV: agree with that. I, I think that relates to that contempt. So two forms of happiness reflections. One is contentment as opposed to satisfaction of overcoming a difficulty. As we said, being happy with what you already have to a degree, as long as you recognize that’s not the whole picture.
[00:08:47] The other one is, um, A lot of us have the relationship. I’m just as guilty as anybody else. I’m sure the relationship between happiness and success is a rules based. It’s like when I have X, then I’ll be happy. Mm-hmm. So at the moment, my wife and I are saying when we’ve bought a house for whatever it is, three cause of a million dollars somewhere, then we’ll be happy.
[00:09:02] Well, Yeah, there’s gonna be stress to get there. And once we’re there, we’re gonna have to pay the mortgage and then we’re gonna have to, you know, and, and, and the [00:09:10] truth is, it’s better to be grateful now and go, you know what? We’re in a position to buy a house. Fantastic. And it’s gonna be great to push through and challenge myself to get this difficult job done because then I could look back and go, we got this.
[00:09:20] So I think, you know, it’s so important. I try and remind myself daily and, and my wife are like, we’re not there yet, but it’s cool. We already have many things, so that’s great. And we gotta remember that and not panic about having this next thing yet. Yeah. Otherwise you are vulnerable to other people because the, the house might fall through, the lawyers might screw it up.
[00:09:38] The, the lenders might screw it up. And then I don’t wanna make my happiness depend a lot on other people coming through,
[00:09:43] JM: really. Yeah, totally. Right. Yeah. Okay. So the fourth one is expand your thinking and dream bigger. A poverty mindset can limit your creativity. Try to think outside the box and enlist outside help for a fresh perspective.
[00:09:59] That’s ai, uh, perplexity, AI’s phrasing there. Uh, but it’s good, you know? Um, how do we overcome a poverty mindset? Dream really big. And then ask yourself the question, am I comfortable with that dream? Or what is it about that dream that’s making me feel, uh, unworthy, uh, uncomfortable? Um, you know, like, I, like, I couldn’t actually, um, you know, own that.
[00:10:18] Have it, receive it, walk in it. Um, and, and so I think this whole idea of dreaming bigger, I. It is really a challenge. It’s a, it’s a stretching in a way of, of your mindset. And, um, and I think if you write your goals, going back to the first one, you write your goals and you look at ’em, then ask the question, why, why did I set these limits?
[00:10:39] Why, why were these goals? My, you know, my limited, uh, set of desired achievements? What, what if I five x or 10 x them? Why didn’t I, you know, I think internally asking yourself the question, why am I not dreaming bigger? Um, is a great place to start to sort of break this, this bad mindset.
[00:11:00] I like that a
[00:11:01] MV: lot. There’s, um, it’s very inspiring actually. I, I really like this a great deal. There’s the, is it, uh, Schwartz, the Magic of Thinking Big? Mm-hmm. I think Steve, yeah. What’s it name? Um, for our work week and Tim Ferriss recommended that. Couple of thoughts. Um, first of all, the dream could be externally inspired, a reason to see externally.
[00:11:17] To see what’s possible, even better, to allow yourself to actually dream. And then outside help is how to answer the how question, um, is also very, very helpful. So, okay, I’ve got this, this massive goal. How on earth do I achieve it? And by the way, it’s even inspiring for a coach or a consultant to be presented with a big problem to solve, cuz it’s more interesting.
[00:11:35] The final thing I would say is this relating to size of goals and timeframe, Dan Kennedy said something really cool, which is if you can’t achieve your original goal, Within the original timeframe, let’s say year, instead of cutting the goal size down, expand the time horizon, but keep the goal, or even make a bigger goal.
[00:11:53] Mm-hmm. Which is a much better mentality. I love that. Instead of saying, you wanna expand to 2000 volunteers for your charity, by the end of the year, you might say, okay, can’t achieve that. So we’re gonna get for 5,000 volunteers in three years, and I really like that. It keeps it big. I like that a lot.
[00:12:06] That that Kennedy thing. Yeah.
[00:12:08] JM: Yeah. Um, now this one might push your buttons a little bit, buddy, but, um, I love, I love this one, so I, this will be a little metaphysical, but We’ll, let’s talk it our way through it. So, uh, th this one is affirm your true identity. Knowing your worth and identity can help you overcome hopelessness and low self-esteem.
[00:12:27] Dis discover who God says you are. Now, that was AI that said that that wasn’t Jason’s words. I didn’t type that one in. Uh, AI says you should discover who God says you are. Now let me just take you on a little bit of a, a metaphysical rant here. One of the really interesting concepts in the Bible is this idea that we are not only children of God, but we’re royalty.
[00:12:52] And you in the British Kingdom have this whole construct of are you royal or are you not royal? But uh, and then of course, I suppose if you live there and you’re not royal, you’re like, dude, we suck. We’re not royal. But in the Bible it’s interesting. That said, no, all of you are royal. And I love this idea of elevating, like imagine if you were a, an orphan in, uh, in England.
[00:13:17] Is there a story like this? And. You didn’t know that you’re royalty cuz you’re an orphan kid or something like that. But then you find out your royalty and this whole idea of saying to yourself, wait, wait, wait. Uh, I might have been, you know, raised here with the chickens, but I’m actually an eagle.
[00:13:34] There’s some story like that I’ve heard, you know, I’m an eagle and I actually can take flight. You know, there’s this whole idea of your true identity and your true identity being higher and better. And more elevated than you even are thinking in your mind and unlocking. That’s really interesting. So the Bible tries to get people to unlock that, you know, stories of, of, you know, ch childhood books and stories.
[00:14:00] Try to unlock that. There’s a lot of, you know, like it’s even Luke Skywalker, right? He’s like, oh no, he’s actually a Jedi. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Those are the stories that really empower people, and there’s a reason because we want to say to ourselves, you know what? I’m better than this. I know I’m better than this.
[00:14:17] MV: Yeah, I think there’s an interesting relationship between marketers trying to make us feel good about ourselves in creating self delusion versus a more profound, um, noble truth, if you like, about human nature. And now I’m not gonna so much take the bait as, as sort of, you know, objects to the religious background.
[00:14:34] I’m like, I’m raising the post-Christian society. Said like, I get the idea. And I think that’s a very beautiful idea. Yeah, I would just say I raise you again. I’m not gonna mention a particular name of the psychologist I’m gonna mention because I just think otherwise people love or hate them and will distract.
[00:14:49] Yeah, the sub point. But he said, um, Talking of, you know, being raised as a lamb, but you’re really a tiger kind of metaphor. Mm-hmm. And he said something like, you need to acknowledge, you need to be capable of great harm, or something like that. I’m paraphrasing probably badly, but capable of a very strong power, powerful action, but choose to hold back from that.
[00:15:10] So in other words, you are not, not good to other people out of weakness or in incapacity to be strong. Yes. But out of choice. And I think that’s something very, very powerful in a business context about that. Mm-hmm. People sense if you are repressing yourself, and this is like the heart of it for me as a very British person.
[00:15:27] My mom was a teacher, her mom was a teacher, my dad was a lawyer, then his dad was a, an engineer. They’re all very, very structured, uh, people. Yeah. Very obedient. Trying to help other people, whichever virtues that I, I like. Um, but there are people I know in London who are less filtered than that and I think that, uh, look, my camera’s even trying to filter me here and they are more kind of, what’s the word?
[00:15:47] Dangerous more self. Mm-hmm. Able to go out and get for themselves. Yeah. But they may choose to help others as well. Yeah. Just if you are a very capable business person, but you choose to help others cuz it’s your calling as part of what you want. Yeah. And that there is something about acknowledging the fact that if you are doing something powerful, money included, You have power and you could choose to use that badly.
[00:16:09] Mm-hmm. Yeah. And having to be in a position where you have to make moral choices, I think is scary but exciting and, and I think that kind of cuts the heart of being your true identity being actually you are more capable than you think. Yeah. But you need to handle that. There you go.
[00:16:22] JM: Yeah. Like, uh, I think of, you know, cuz you guys went through your whole role to king change thing, I think of the confidence of a king, but the social grace.
[00:16:32] To sit with the poorest people in the com country and to be peers with them graciously. Well, that’s a unique character, isn’t
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[00:17:29] MV: it? That that’s very British. Do you know the poem is by Richard Kipling? Oh, yeah, yeah. Yes. Sounds almost like a quote. Yes. If you could sit with kings mm-hmm. And not lose the common touch.
[00:17:38] I, I mean, yeah. It’s, it’s very much white man’s bird and it’s, it’s very male-centered. It’s very, um, you know, colonial era thinking, but there is a lot of inability in it. And I think you’re right. I think if you can be. Allow yourself to be a powerful person, and that includes the potential to do harm, but you choose not to.
[00:17:55] I think there, there’s something subtly really, really difficult about that, but very powerful if you get it anyway, without going down too many rabbit holes. I think it’s really, it’s really important. I, I think out of all the things you mentioned, I think there’s something very central about this. Yeah.
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[00:18:09] JM: it. Okay, so number six is change your language. Okay. Remove negative references to wealth. From your vocabulary, stop speaking the [00:18:20] language of poverty. Now, this is really interesting because in at least American culture right now, it’s really, really popular to be anti capitalist, anti billionaire, anti 1% anti people who are successful, and I always think like, what is this opposite sentiment?
[00:18:41] People are trying to. Reinforce, like what, what is the, what is the counter punch they’re trying to, to re enforce in society? Is it to be poor? That can’t be what they’re trying to, uh, challenge people to. Is it to be, uh, you know, sort of not wealthy, but egalitarian. Anyway, I, I, I don’t know, you know, but it’s a very interesting issue.
[00:19:02] But, but the reality is we can talk our way into super negativity. We can talk our way into, um, You know, being, uh, uh, you know, kind of, um, having a mindset that’s negative and, and poor of thought. And we can also talk our way into saying, no, we’re gonna be overcomers, we’re gonna be champions, we’re gonna be, we’re gonna be winning.
[00:19:23] And, uh, I don’t know if you remember that Charlie Sheen song, they auto-tune from his interview when he was on drugs and crazy out of his mind. You ever. I never heard that before. I’ll have to speak, sorry, 20 years ago. But it was all about winning. And uh, it was funny because he was so self-confident, but sadly it was cuz he was on drugs that it was over the top.
[00:19:48] But yet the idea, um, you can have negative talk and negative words that paint you into a corner mentally and emotionally. Or you can express positivity and focus on things that are. Um, affirming and, uh, thi things that will help you achieve rather than hold you back from achieving.
[00:20:07] MV: So a couple of thoughts.
[00:20:08] I mean, the first one, um, I think what a lot of, um, Traditionally left wing sort of virtue, and I come from a family that votes that way. And I guess the sort of professional classes in Britain tend to be more left winging than, than anything you’d recognize in America. What, what you call right wing in America is like, it doesn’t really exist in the same form in Britain.
[00:20:24] Yeah, it’s more extreme, but I mean, I, I think it’s interesting that, as you say, anti this, anti that, that a lot of the left wing traditionally describes itself by what it isn’t or what it’s opposed to. Yeah. You know, unions traditionally oppose the power of capital. You know that Marx talks about the, the Marx dialectic of history and.
[00:20:43] It’s a big trap because I think you’re right. You need to define, okay, so you don’t wanna be a billion, you don’t in favor of billionaires. I can totally understand by the way that thinking. Yeah. But yeah, what do we want instead is a difficult question to answer. I think it’s, it’s really important to define what you want, not just what you don’t want.
[00:20:57] Mm-hmm. Whatever that may be for different people. And to the Charlie Sheen thing, it’s interesting that he was all on drugs when he was going about winning, winning, winning. I think, um, There sort of thing as a peric victory to, to reference the Greek. So mm-hmm. The, the Peric wars were when they, they won, but they lost like three quarters of their soldiers.
[00:21:12] So it was better, worse than not winning. Yeah. There’s a lot of Peric VI victories available on the left or the right way, you know, poverty or excessive capital, you know, accumulation. And I think, um, The important thing is to think about, um, wealth and generosity and giving, I think, rather than accumulation in a mean spirited kind of way.
[00:21:29] Mm-hmm. I think the spirit behind it is what matters and what drives the language. Right. If you are anti this or anti that, or fairy grasping and very bad accumulating, both of them feel like extremes that don’t need to happiness for the people doing it. Nevermind anyone else. Yeah. Because if you define, I want to be really wealthy in your case, I wanna create a massive charity that can help everyone in Zambia.
[00:21:49] That’s amazing, the generous giving thing, and that might come with great wealth or it might not, but that that’s defining a positive outcome in the biggest terms again. Yeah.
[00:21:58] JM: Yeah. That’s great. It tees up number seven perfectly, which is make empowering choices with money. And, uh, this is an interesting one, you know, because I think how you handle your finances and your money really, um, underlies your emotional state and your subconscious thinking about things.
[00:22:14] Um, you know, I I just thinking about, um, business opportunities and, you know, entrepreneurs always have a next big idea. They’re cooking up in their mind and thinking about, and I fall victim of that. All the time, uh, or I’m blessed to have that mindset all the time. Um, and the, but the reality is I think a lot of people are basically saying now, phrase that’s become popularized is trash.
[00:22:38] Uh, cash is trash. And that really money that’s working for you is wise money. Money that’s invested, money that’s earning a return, uh, money that’s, uh, buying assets that are, uh, beneficial to you. And so even just socking away money I don’t think is in this economy with this inflation rate in the US a good plan.
[00:22:59] You’ve gotta have a strategy for investing that makes good sense. And so making good money choices. Uh, is a really, really important step, I think. Um, and understanding the choices you’re making with your money, uh, whether they’re corrosive and destructive, or whether they’re productive and, and, uh, you know, accretive, as they call it, uh, they’re gonna add incre criminal value to your business or your personal life.
[00:23:24] Um, thinking through those choices I think is a really, really important step in overcoming this whole idea of poverty mindset because you’ll, you’ll have to challenge your thinking about. Uh, you know, uh, are being risk averse versus taking risks, uh, you know, trying to hoard things versus, uh, invest things.
[00:23:43] All of those types of ideas come to, come to the forefront when you start to think about what you’re doing with your, with your money, whether it’s a small amount or a large amount. Yeah,
[00:23:53] MV: I, I, gosh, there’s so much here. I, I completely agree about this. I think, um, there’s a very interesting link between, So there, there’s a difference, I would say, between making empowering choices and believing that you can make empowering choices or even taking responsibility for doing that.
[00:24:10] And I think there’s a difference in the sort of, The, the, the, the central, how can I put it? The mindset that Americans tend tend to have in the middle of the political spectrum versus Europe and, and Europe, and particularly in mainland Europe, European Union, UK’s halfway between as usual. Um, the idea in America taking responsibility for your own financial life and that’s your own life.
[00:24:30] Mm-hmm. It’s very, very strong. There’s quite a strong strand of that in the uk. But there is, there is a mentality that can say it’s the government’s job to look after me. There are all these billionaires out there, they owe, they owe me a living kind of thing. And yeah, I think that’s linked with. Making empowering choices because if people who believe that the system is rigged against them in some way are gonna tend to not make great choices because they, they believe they’re, they’re cynical, not skeptical, instead of thinking, you should be careful about investing on money, cuz it may not come back to you.
[00:24:57] They’re cynical and say it’s all a big scam. Whatever I do, I’m gonna get ripped off. Mm-hmm. And I know family members who say almost words like that. Yeah. And it doesn’t help. And again, it, they are in poverty, but they’re partly in. Poverty because their mindset and their mindset’s partly developed because of that poverty has been a vicious cycle, so, mm-hmm.
[00:25:13] Again, I think this is really critical a and. Before you even make an empowering choice, you’ve gotta remember that you have a responsibility to do that. And I do think that is a responsibility, um, that individuals have as well as society maybe has an overall responsibility to the individuals. I get it, but that’s a political question and that we can’t change that as business people, right?
[00:25:32] JM: Yeah, you No, that’s totally right. And this tees up number eight perfectly, which is take control of your circumstances. And I guess that’s an interesting take that you just mentioned about the whole idea of sort of the, the, uh, American mindset versus the European mindset on this issue. Uh, the phrases in America are common and plenty related to this idea.
[00:25:55] I mean, take the bull by the horns. Is the classic sort of Texas phrase I suppose. And, uh, it is the idea that you’re the creator of your own destiny. And that is, I guess, a deep seated American ideal. But, um, I think it’s true worldwide. And I guess that’s the American mindset is that it should be true worldwide, that people can take control of their circumstance.
[00:26:18] And I remember reading a, a book one time and, um, it was called If it’s going to be, it’s up to Me. So, Classic, uh, you know, concept, uh, related to this, which, which I think is, is important to think through because if you are the victim of circumstance, the victim of other people’s decisions, the victim of, uh, culture or society, uh, you’re gonna get what people give you.
[00:26:44] And, um, and we’ve all been in situations where that’s been true for us. But the question is on the whole, over the long term, How much control can you take of your circumstance? And you know what, maybe you can’t. Uh, 99 times out of a hundred, but on the hundredth chance you can say, no, I can control this. I got this one thing I can take control of.
[00:27:05] And you do. It starts a big domino. I think that starts to knock in your favor and really sets you up to say, I can take more control. I can steward things. I am the captain of my own ship and all that. And really start to think through. Is this too cliche-ish? I keep rattling off all these cliches, but you get the idea.
[00:27:27] Um, I think we can, I think we can make choices that [00:27:30] set us up for positive mindset.
[00:27:32] MV: In a way, I would say coming up with sort of cliches that are nevertheless true is, is very American in this situation. And that sounds kind of rude, but I think, yeah, for Brits it’s really important to have an American friend or two, like you are a very important part of my life because you are very positive.
[00:27:46] You naturally have the thinking that you are in charge of own destiny because. Know the people that were drawn to go to America and Americans decided to become independent of the king. Uh, you know, probably for tax reasons, but you know, that that’s all part of it. Um, religious too. Yeah, purely religious, of course.
[00:28:01] Religious reasons. Yes. And I, the, the Quakers that went off to Pennsylvania and kind of, I know, familiar with from my background was a Quaker, a tender as a, as a youth, not, not actually formally a amend, but, so yeah, all of that thinking I think is very, very positive. It has its limitations and I think what you said is so wise, you know?
[00:28:19] Yes, it may be true. 99 times up a hundred. If you’re very limited in your, your sphere of influence, you can’t change things. But practicing flexing those muscles, whenever that’s possible, even to the tiny extent that you have, I think you are absolutely right. It changes your mentality and, and that’s critical.
[00:28:34] Again, it, it gives you the feeling of being in powered that you are taking responsibility to try and change that, which you can, even if it’s tidy. And I think, um, Again, in Europe, we have traditionally had, again, UKs in between, you know, America and mainland Europe, dictatorships, and a lot of inherited wealth, not dictatorships.
[00:28:51] Mm-hmm. You know, kings, whatever, such that the, the ability of the individual average system is. Citizen here was probably smaller than it was in America to change things. I, I don’t know if social mobility is any lower or higher in the UK than it is in us. It’s probably about the same in some ways. Yeah, there’s more opportunity in the US but nevertheless, you know, it’s the right way of thinking and, and Americans help us in Britain to, to think that way.
[00:29:12] I think.
[00:29:14] JM: Yeah. Just one other thought on this one, you know, and my graduate degree was a MBA with an emphasis in international nonprofit management. So we did a lot of study on, uh, you know, developing world. Dynamics, economics, that kind of stuff. And one of the definitions I heard in, in my graduate degree was, uh, the definition of poverty and wealth.
[00:29:34] And the, and the definition was, um, wealth can be defined as choices and poverty can be defined as lack of choices. And it kind of gets to this idea that, you know, for you to be able to take control and make affirming decisions. Take control of your circumstance. It is exercising a degree of wealth even if you’re, you know, monetarily poor or whatever.
[00:30:02] As soon as you start to take control of your circumstance, you are beginning to exercise, uh, some modicum of, uh, of, uh, of your ability to change your circumstance. And that is a, a function of, that is a, that is a recipe or, or a component of wealth. In my view, you know?
[00:30:19] MV: Yeah. And, and also I would say that proceed again, the relationship between happiness is success, relationship between wealth and mindset.
[00:30:26] Mm-hmm. I would say against the habit of making what choices you can, um, that pushes you gradually in the, the direction of wealth, I think as well. Really important. Yeah. So the last three, we ought to rattle through these things cause I know you’ve gotta head off and do things, but number nine.
[00:30:40] JM: Yep. Get momentum and use it.
[00:30:43] Let small wins reinforce your progress towards your big goals. And this is, I think, a really, really key idea, especially for entrepreneurs. You know, you get your first couple sales, you get your first couple wins, you get your, your first couple successes inside your business, and it can really, really catalyze, uh, activity.
[00:31:05] Action, hope, you know, inspiration. I mean, it’s just, it’s fuel. Uh, you know, for the big fire. And I, I, I really think momentum is probably one of the most important things to any successful business. Um, and the, the businesses that can get momentum and parlay it into bigger momentum, it, it really does make a huge difference.
[00:31:25] And I think when businesses plateau or kind of come to a, to a point of stalling, you know, one of the, one of the issues is they don’t have big momentum going. They don’t, they don’t have the big winds coming in. And they can get sort of this steady state that, uh, can over time feel like you’re stuck. And so, um, you know, I, I think getting momentum is, is a vital part of getting out of this, you know, poverty mindset.
[00:31:56] MV: Love this. Just a quick one on that is, um, the. Small wins matter because they change your mindset and then your mindset changes the next wins and, and so there’s a sort of positive cycle between external events and mindset, right? And I think you can start on either place. I mean, it kind of doesn’t matter if you feel terrible, but make some sales anyway.
[00:32:12] You’ll feel better after some sales. And then, okay, great. Then go back and feel good, and then take more action. You know? So start wherever. Here’s what I would say. Don’t complicate it.
[00:32:20] JM: Okay, good. Number 10. Yeah, I totally agree. Yeah. Number 10, surround yourself with positive people and believe in yourself.
[00:32:26] Uh, and this gets to the idea that you mentioned early on, and I think it was the first one we were talking about, which was, uh, the power of coaches and masterminds and, you know, groups, accountability partners, stuff like that. Um, having, uh, a mentor in your life or a coach and that really can speak into your life and help you believe in yourself and point out the things that are working and give you positive feedback.
[00:32:49] Those can be tremendously helpful things. To shake you out of, you know, a, a poverty mindset. So, um, I, I think that’s a, an obvious, um, thing that many of us overlook and when we get into our own negativity, we don’t wanna share it with other people. Because we, you know, in some ways we’re masochistically. We don’t want other people to take us out of our, you know, own drama.
[00:33:17] Um, and, uh, and, and a good coach will do that and tell us the snap out of it to look at the reality.
[00:33:24] MV: You make an extremely important point though as well. I think that people are stuck in whatever it is, an extreme addiction or something, but also less extreme kind of misery mindset. We all fall into this.
[00:33:35] I do this as well, I catch myself at it a lot and really gotta work on this, which is, um, there’s a sort of comfort zone about bitching and moaning about other people, cuz you don’t have the responsibility to change it. Mm-hmm. And it can be very uncomfortable to have a coach that forces you to work really hard and, and reveal, especially in the early stages.
[00:33:53] The truth, you know, to hold a premier mirror to you, even if they don’t really say the words themselves, that, that you’re not being as true to yourself as you could be. That can be painful. I think there’s gotta be a willingness to change. You know, it’s like that old joke about the li how many psychiatrists does it take to change the light bulb?
[00:34:07] Well, only one, but there will light bulbs really gotta one to change. I think all of this stuff, people really gotta want to change cuz the power of the, the pain of changing is considerable and the pain of change has gotta be. Less than the pain of staying the same, I guess is the other thing I would say.
[00:34:22] Yeah. Yeah. Um, we’ve got a bonus one here. So 10 steps plus the 11th one. Oh no,
[00:34:28] JM: I deleted it. Sorry. Okay, you
[00:34:30] MV: deleted it. Okay. So 10 steps. We’re back to 10 steps as fits. Um, I believe AA has 10 steps, right? Alcoholics anonymous, say good. Yeah. So could you summarize a really, very, very powerful list? Could you summarize this list of 10 practical steps to overcome a poverty mindset
[00:34:47] JM: for us?
[00:34:48] Yeah, here we go. Set bigger goals and hold yourself accountable. Take new actions, practice gratitude, expand your thinking and dream big. Affirm your true identity. Change your language. Make empowering choices with money. Take control of your circumstances, get momentum and use it and surround yourself with positive people and believe in yourself.
[00:35:09] Doing those things will help you overcome a. Poverty mindset. As Norman Vincent Peel said, empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that.
[00:35:25] MV: Excellent. Well, I guess having picked up coaches and masterminds would probably be remiss of us not to mention our own programs.
[00:35:32] So if you want to check out the 10. Okay. Collective Mastermind. Still going strong since 2017, so haven’t many years. That is now. Um, the amazon mastermind.com still up still hasn’t been taken out by Amazon’s lawyers. Uh, so you can check that out there if you’re UK based or based in, in Western Europe. And Jason, what is it you guys are offer?
[00:35:50] I I, there’s always a smorgasboard of offerings at Omni Rocket these
[00:35:53] JM: days. Sure, Omni rockett.com. We have coaching for Shopify, uh, e-commerce sellers and Amazon e-commerce sellers. And then a whole menu of done for you services as well starts with a uh, 30 minute consult. Happy to jump on a Zoom call with folks and talk about their business and how we can support them.
[00:36:12] You can find all the [email protected]. Final
[00:36:17] MV: plea, uh, call for action is just to remind people to, uh, subscribe to the show, particularly on Spotify. Seems to be going very well there. We’re getting evermore downloads for, for each episode, which is gratifying to see. So something striking chord. Um, Jason, really, really like the topic.
[00:36:30] Thank you for bringing this. It’s brilliant. Um, lots of food for thought here and hopefully is for our listeners as well. So, uh, thanks man. Thanks for bringing Yeah.
[00:36:38] JM: Great conversation. [00:36:40]
[00:36:40] MV: Yeah, absolutely.
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