In this episode, Ellen Violette shares the 3 steps that Bill Belichick, winningest Super Bowl coach, and Bob Baffert, winningest trainer of Kentucky Derby horses revealed on their recent interview before the Kentucky Derby, and how speakers, coaches,  authors and entrepreneurs can use the same formula to become a superstar in their respective fields.

Resources mentioned

Bestseller Breakthrough Consultation

Contact: Ellen@booksopendoors.com

3 Key Points

When you love what you do it doesn’t feel like work.

You have to eliminate the noise and focus.

Don’t eliminate niches or fields you are passionate about because you think you can’t make money at them, you may be surprised!

Transcript

Hi, and welcome to Books. Open Doors™ Insights #17,  Three Steps to Becoming a Superstar in your Niche. So,  today I want to talk about something that happened before the Kentucky Derby, which was run last Saturday, They had an interview with Bill Belichick, the winningest Super Bowl coach and Bob Baffert, the winningest his horse training coach, or  I guess I should just say,  “horse trainer”.

They were talking about what makes them so successful, why are they the most winning in their fields. And what they both agreed was the key was #1. focus-shutting out the noise. #2 doing the work and #3. loving what you do.

So, what I want to do in this episode is break that down. So, to focus means to concentrate on something, but before you can focus, you have to know what it is you want to focus on.

And the easiest way to focus is when you love what you’re doing.

So, the first thing is to know what it is that you love, that you want to do. And when you have that, you feel like it’s not work, it’s just a joy to be living your life, doing what you love. And yet a lot of people don’t really know what that is or there aren’t sure which thing that they love to focus on.

So,  I want to go through some parameters, things that you can do if you’re not sure what you love to do. So, the first thing is to remember what you love to do as a child because kids don’t judge their passions, they just indulged them, but at some point, they may be squashed by a parent or by pressures in life. But now you have the freedom to revisit yours.

[01:56]: So, take a deep breath and think back to that time. What did you love? What did you love? What did you want to be first? I remember I wanted to be a model. I wanted to be an actress, and then I wanted to be a dancer, and I wanted to be a choreographer, but I also love to read books and I love to write. So, when I think, I started when I was eleven writing poetry. So just revisit all those things, you know, when you see what they were and see if that brings out something that is a passion for you, that you could turn into something next. Think about what would you do if money were not an issue. And this has been a really big one for me, because sometimes we don’t allow ourselves to get in touch with what our true passions are, because we’re already thinking about, will it make me money or not?

[02:50]: And using money as a criteria as to whether we should even consider it or not. So if we think that our passion is not going to be a moneymaker, we often times eliminate it before we give ourselves the chance to even acknowledge it. And this can be a big mistake, especially in the age that we’re in now and the Internet, because people are making money in all kinds of things that you would not think of ever.

So for instance, I’ve been through Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula Program, and he shares a lot of the case studies of people who have gone through his program, and they have made multiple six figures from things like creating fabric patterns, making historical costumes, teaching people how to make it in the music business, there was one artist who paints hearts and (from) yarn. And that’s just to name a few.

[03:47]: So don’t think about what you want to do can’t make money. So, don’t cut things out before you’ve even given it a chance.

Another is ask friends who know you- when do you seem happiest? What do you sound really enthusiastic about when you’re talking? I know I’ve been talking to people at times and I’ve heard people say that to me. “Oh wow, when you talk about such and such, you get really excited.” And so, you may not even be as aware of it as somebody else is.

Another way is who has a career that you would kill to have? Who are you envious of that you might be able to model, where you might be able to reach out to them and ask them questions about how they got there, or if not, to read everything that you can about their careers.

[04:33]: And sometimes, it’s not realistic. Okay? It’s like, I’m 5’7” and I’m a girl,  and it’s not really the same now, but when I was coming up, you didn’t have girl jockeys. I wasn’t 4’2”. You’re just never going to be a jockey.

Or, if you were a kid who wanted to be a basketball player and you were 5’6” that’s not going to happen. So obviously, we’re not going to go to those, but anywhere it could happen is something that you do want to consider.

And then I always have people in my bootcamp look at what are their passions and what are their skills, and then where do they overlap? Because that’s where you’re going to have the best chance for success. And so, ask yourself that, what are those two things for you?

Also, if you don’t love what you’re doing, then just, know, it’s really easy to lose interest and stop being consistent, and then you’re not going to be showing up.

[05:30]: So, that’s why you got to do it. And in my bootcamp too, I’ve noticed that people who don’t finish one of the main reasons is they’re just not passionate about what they’re writing about, or they aren’t real clear about what their business path is. And so they don’t see how their book fits into it. I can help them with that.

But if you’re not motivated, if you’re not excited about what you’re doing, it’s really hard to be successful. And of course, Bill Belichick and Bob Baffert absolutely love what they do. So, that’s a really big part of it.

And then once you know that, then you have to focus. So, that means getting rid of all the distractions I use, Be Focused Pro where I use a timer, they have twenty-five- minute increments for focused attention, and then you take five-minute breaks and then you can do that like three or four times, and then take an hour off, maybe for lunch and then do it again.

[06:23]: Also, you want to turn off your notifications, turn off your phone. My phone is never on when I’m working. I know sometimes it drives people crazy. They can’t reach me, but it would just be a constant distraction. And even though I put myself on these do-not-disturb lists, they still call me. So I just turn it off and then tell other family members, you know, not to bother you when you are in your focus time and take breaks because you actually work better when you take those breaks. So don’t just try to keep pushing through because really you will not have as much focus. Another thing is that most entrepreneurs are lifetime learners and it’s easy to get caught up in learning. And so you learn and you learn and you learn and you never take action. And I remember when I was getting started and I just wanted to keep learning.

[07:09]: And my mentor finally said to me, “You know enough to teach, stop just learning.” But even to this day, I put a limit on how much time I can spend each day or each week learning because otherwise, I would just be learning all the time, and I wouldn’t be implementing anything. So, you really need to figure out what you need to learn RIGHT NOW, and only learn that. And don’t let yourself get pulled all over the place, learning this and learning that because there’s always an interesting challenge. There’s always an interesting workshop. There’s always an interesting Clubhouse.

You just have to decide what is important for you to get to the place you’re trying to get next and that’s it. So, put a limit on how much time you spend learning. And then, also, I used to get sucked into the shiny objects. I do not do that anymore.

[08:00]: I spent a ridiculous amount of money in the early years when I was online and it was like, I wanted to learn everything. And I think part of the reason I really got over that is because when you see that you simply can’t learn everything, and you need to specialize, and you need to become an expert in something and that the best way to do that is by focusing on the things that, as I said before, you love and that you’re good at, or that you feel you could be good at.

So maybe you’re not good at it now, but it’s something you’re willing to learn and get good at. And that’s fine, but you don’t just want to be buying stuff. Number one, you can go broke doing it. And number two, you’ll probably never open up three-quarters of the things that you buy, which is also what happened to me.

[08:47]: I have a lot of courses that I’ve never looked at. We recently moved, and I have all these boxes sitting here, and I have a whole box over with all of these courses on things that I never opened up. Now, I’m sitting there going, “Should I throw them out?” I don’t even know if there were any good anymore or not, but if I spent the rest of my life just learning, I probably wouldn’t have time to go through everything. So now, I only look at the things that I know are going to move me forward based on what my goal is and the strategies that I’m using to get there. And if it gets to the point where I see “No, this isn’t working,” then I either have to say, “Okay, I need to shift where I’m putting my energy or I need a new tactic, or I need to figure out how to do this tactic better that isn’t working as well as I would like it to work.”

[09:33]: So, that’s what you have to do. So, you need a strategy to where you want to go and then a couple of tactics and get really good at those. And just don’t try to do everything cause it doesn’t work.

If you’re a person who likes lists, you can also create a to-do list. I like to-do lists to a point, but what I used to do is I would have a to-do list. I have so many things on the to-do list,  I couldn’t possibly do them. And then all it would do is make me anxious and stressed me out. So, that doesn’t work.

So, you want to make sure that you don’t overload yourself with your to-do lists and put too many items on there, but just enough. And then you even want to prioritize those. So, then you have to look at, “Okay, do I really need to do all of these?

[10:18]: And which are the most important? And are there any that I either don’t have to do that I can delegate or that I can automate?” And then get those off your plate. And some, I have found that if you leave them there long enough, they just become irrelevant and they never need to get handled. So that’s another tip.

And then there is something called smart goals. So smart goals are goals that are”

1. specific. So, what exactly do you need to get done?
2. They’re measurable. How are you going to track your progress?
3. They’re achievable. So, is it realistic?

Can it be done on a deadline? And a funny story about that… when we were moving somebody said on a post, “What are you doing this week that you need to get done?” And I said, “We’re moving, I’m doing my podcast and there was a third one. I can’t remember what it was.

And the woman wrote back because she’s somebody I know. And she said, “How old are you?”

In other words, what she was saying to me was it was completely unrealistic that I was going to get all those things done in that week. And as it turned out, I got two of the three done. So, you do want to try to be as realistic as possible.

And if you’re a perfectionist, like me, just know that you’re probably going to overextend your to-do list. And then you just start working on how to cull it back and how to get better at doing it.

4. And then relevance. How does it fit with the overall plan and your bigger goal.

5. And timely, when does it need to be done? So those are the things that you need to know, and then you have to do the work.

[11:49]: So,  you have to show up every day and do the work. As Woody, Allen says, 80% of success is showing up and you have to show up consistently. So ,that means you have to make the commitment. Now, this was a big issue for me when I started my podcast. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was.

So, what happened was I started this podcast. I recorded seven episodes and that seemed like a lot to me at the time. But it went by so fast and I realized how much work it was. And then I knew that I really had to make a strong commitment for me to keep going. And I didn’t want to be in the position where I like started and stopped and started and stopped. I didn’t want to be one of those people. So, I took some time off.

[12:34]: And after those seven episodes, it also just showed me how much work a podcast is. And I went in another direction for about six months. But for some reason, that’s what I needed to do. And in doing that was where I got the courage and the commitment where I knew that once I started again, I would keep going. And that’s what I needed.

So, I’ve now done over a hundred episodes and I was just on a podcast, a room today on Clubhouse, and the guy who was running the room was saying how most people quit after seven episodes and they’re just not able to make the commitment or they realize how much work it is. And they’re just not willing to stick with it.

And that’s why your why is so important. Like why are you doing this? And not just for podcasts for anything, but my original, why was I really wanted to learn from other people?

[13:31]: I was kind of tired of hearing myself talk. And I thought then because I’m a learner, I thought, “Well, this is a great way for me to learn what other people are doing, because they’re going to be doing it differently than I’m doing it”. (And still give value to my community.)

And I also knew that it was a good way to create strategic partnerships. And I love joint venturing because joint venturing is a really great way to get to other people’s lists because it doesn’t cost you anything. So, I thought those would be great reasons to do a podcast.  And I love to talk and I enjoy meeting people.

So, I’ve now been doing it for two years, and now I know that I need to monetize it because I’m spending so much time doing it, that I can’t spend that amount of time if I’m not going to make money from it because I have to make money.

[14:15]: So again, the thing is, well, the reason I said that is because my why changed, so that’s fine. Your why can change. You just have to know what it is. And then you just have to make sure that whatever it is that it’s worth it to you, because it has to be a big enough why to keep you motivated, to keep you committed, to keep you consistent and to keep going.

So the thing is being successful in business is not a hundred percent fun. There are parts of doing my podcasts that I love, and there are parts of it I don’t love, but I know it’s part of the gig. And so my why helps me to be willing to do the parts I don’t love to keep being able to do the parts that I do love.

[15:00] So if you don’t have enough (of a why) , then you’re not going to be willing to go through the un-fun stuff to get to the results that you want.

So again, that’s the three steps to becoming a superstar in your niche. So just to recap, it’s focus- shut out the noise,  to do the work,  and three is love what you do.

And if you need help with any of those, and you’d like to write a book or you have a book and you need help getting it out to a bigger audience to make more money, leave a lasting legacy, then I want to invite you to a chat with me- my Bestseller Breakthrough Consultation.

And you can find  that at: http://ellenlikes.com/scheduleconsult

that’s http://ellenlikes.com/scheduleconsult
E L L E N likes L I K E S.com/schedule S C H E D U L E, consult, C O N S U L T.

And if you’re driving, if you can’t remember this, you can always just send me an email Ellen@booksopendoors.com and we can go from there.

So, that’s it for today.  Until next time,  bye-bye.

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

To share your thoughts and comments:

• Join us in our Facebook Group!
• Share this show on social media!

To help out the show:

• Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one.
• Subscribe on iTunes.