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The $100 MBA Show
In Your 30s & FEELING STUCK? 10 Life-Changing Tips To Get You Unstuck Now!
00:21:59
If your 30s feel like you’re doing everything you’re “supposed” to do but still waking up with that low-key dread that you’re falling behind, this episode is going to hit a nerve. That stuck feeling can make you second-guess every move, even when nothing looks wrong on paper.
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As a small business owner, you wear many hats. You're the owner, you're the marketer, you're the seller, you're the hire. I remember in the early days I was doing pretty much everything. I was writing, I was bookkeeping, I was selling, I was marketing, I was doing a lot. But lucky for you you have LinkedIn. They have the tools to help you boost your visibility, find prospective customers and find the best team for your small business all in one place. So while LinkedIn can hang up all of your hats, they it makes it easier to wear them all. Learn more@LinkedIn.com mbashow for small business, a high speed fiber connection is only one piece of the puzzle. You need the total solutions advantage from Comcast Business. It's a first ever combination of the largest, fastest fiber powered network gig speeds with equipment and security included plus a 5 year price lock. Learn more get started for $60 a month for 12 months when you add an advanced solution to a qualifying Internet PAC. Limited time offer restrictions apply. New customers only. Requires 300Mbps Internet security edge and additional qualifying service 1 year agreement paperless billing and autopay with bank account required taxes and fees extra. My first job when I was 13 years old was washing cars at the wash bay at a Porsche dealership. My dad sold cars for a living. We used to go to work together on Saturday and he would go sell cars in the showroom and I would go and wash cars and I would wash every detail, every detail of these cars. I would sit there and say to myself, one day, one day I'm going to drive one of these. Well, I'm on my way to the Gold coast right now and I'm going to go buy my dream car, my dream Porsche. There's only about 10 of them in Australia, so that's why I got to go to the Gold Coast. I'm going to come back in the same day. But I don't share that to just like Flex. I kind of feel a little cringe even saying it. I share that because When I was 32, I was a broke school teacher with no plan, with no savings, with no safety net. And I still changed my life anyway. And I'm sharing this because things can change quickly. Things can change seriously quickly. In this episode, you're going to come with me to the Gold coast and I'm going to share with you. If you're 32 and you're feeling stuck, I'm going to share with you 10 things that are going to get you unstuck right now. So let's go. Welcome back to the Hundred Dollar MBA show. I'm your host, Omar Zenholm, where I deliver practical business lessons three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to help you start, grow and scale your business. I'm excited to share today's lesson as it's a bit different. I recorded the lesson while I was traveling, so it's a little bit more raw and personal. So excuse the less than studio. Perfect audio. I promise it will be worth it. Sit tight and come along the journey with me. Number one is that it's never too late. It's never too late to get started. Because when I was 32, when I was starting as a teacher and moving into entrepreneurship, I looked at all these young entrepreneurs doing amazing things, achieving the things I want to achieve, and I just thought, maybe I'm too late. Maybe I don't have what it takes at this point in my life. And you got to shut that out because it's not too late. And you're not starting from scratch because you are starting with experience. You have a job, you have a career, you have some wisdom that the young cats don't have. And I started to realize that my first career wasn't a waste of time. I learned a ton in the process, and I could use those skills in my next venture in entrepreneurship. And here's something that nobody really tells you. Things can change really quickly. Things can change very quickly. In a matter of months of me taking the leap into entrepreneurship, my life started to change. Maybe it was a small change at a time, but I started to feel different. I started to feel like this is possible. So you'll be surprised how quickly things can change and how things can just transform for you. And the reality is that you just need a few wins. You need a few wins under your belt to just get some momentum and start believing that you can do this. And that can happen in a matter of days, really. So you're not too late. You can do this. And I was able to change my life really quickly once I committed, once I decided that's what I wanted to do. Number two, if you want big changes in your life, you need to make big changes. I know that sounds a little bit repetitive, but it's true. A lot of people ask, what are the little things I can do that can make the big difference? I can make big changes in my life. That's a fantasy that's never going to happen. If you want to make a change in a life that's significant, you need to do significantly different things. I'll give you an example. When I was a teacher and I was trying to get out of my teaching job, I needed to work on my business so I could be able to have some sort of exit strategy. So I decided to go to a co working space. After work, for. For two hours, every time I finished work, I would go to a co working space. It gave me a bunch of things. One of the things that I got was I got a lot of time where I was focused and I got to get things done. But it also allowed me to be around other people that are doing cool things, people that opened doors for me. They made introductions that helped me out. So that's just my example. It's a big change to sacrifice two hours a day and go and do something different and get out of your comfort zone. But that's how you make big changes in your life. It's just not going to happen magically. You need to decide to take some big leaps and then from there you're going to be able to start seeing some changes really quickly. You can't expect, like, drastic results without any drastic changes. You need to just see that as an equation. And this is how it is. Number three is get around people that are doing the things that you want to do. Maybe they're where you want to be already. So by being around these people, you start to realize that, hey, this is not like rocket science. You could do this too. I experienced this myself. Nicole and I went to a conference called New Media Expo in Vegas. And at that conference we met all these amazing entrepreneurs and podcasters and people that are where we want to be. And we realize these people are not, like, brilliant. They're not, you know, super charismatic. They're not like some sort of alien from outer space. Right? They are just like you and I. And in that experience, we realize, hey, this is possible. A lot of people say, I'll believe it when I see it. But I believe that you, when you see it, you start to believe it. So really get around people that are making it normal for you feels normal to achieve the things that they have achieved. And you'll be surprised how you. You'll start to believe it in yourself. You'll start seeing that this is totally possible, and you'll start doing the things that they're doing just because you're just around them. So how do you actually do this? Well, I mentioned going to a co working space so that you have a space to work and being around people that are doing the things that you want to do. But you can do this by simply just going to meetups, going to conferences, going to One Day Events, go to Eventbrite, go to meetup.com and search in your local area. There's something happening every day, sometimes multiple events happening every day in your city. So you just need to get out there and you need to just start going to the places that these people go to. And it doesn't matter what your niche is or what business you're in, or just be around people that are taking action and you're going to find yourself taking action yourself just because, hey, that just is what you're exposed to and your environment will dictate your actions. Number four, being behind financially doesn't mean you're out of the game. If you're not where you want to be financially right now, if you don't have enough savings, if you're still in debt, if you're watching your friends buy homes while you're still renting, I've been there. Don't let it break you, okay? I really mean that because it's a long game. I grew up with no money, okay? I had very little money growing up as a kid. My family or immigrants, you know, they didn't have much. I was a teacher for the first half of my life, I was teaching and didn't have much money. I left teaching at 32 with no savings, with no safety net, had no rich parents to fall back on. It was really genuinely rough, okay? It took five or six years of entrepreneurship before I was living a decent lifestyle. It wasn't until like 2019, seven years in, until I started to really make serious money. I had my first million dollar revenue year and then I sold Webinar Ninja, my software company when I was 43 and it changed my life forever. From 32, broke teacher to multimillionaire in 11 years. I will take that deal any day of the week. So hear me when I say this. Your past does not equal your future. Your present doesn't equal your future, okay? You have time, more time than you think. And the gap between where you are right now and where you want to be is not that big, okay? You might feel like it's big, but before you know it, that gap will start closing when you start taking action. Listen, time the clock, whatever you want to call it, it isn't working against you. It's waiting for you to start. Learning a new language is one of those skills that truly stays with you. It's incredibly rewarding once you start hearing yourself understand and speak it naturally. I've been learning Italian. My wife Nicole's background is Italian. We go to Italy a lot and I wanted to impress her by ordering meals in Italian in Italy. Luckily, before the trip, I had Rosetta Stone on my side. I use Rosetta Stone because it's the trusted leader in language learning for over 30 years. Their immersive, intuitive method helps you truly pick up your new language naturally. No memorizing random vocabulary lists. No feeling lost. Rosetta Zone fits right into your lifestyle with flexible on the go learning. I like to use their mobile app, but you can also access lessons from your desktop. Whether you're waiting for your ride to arrive and you only have five minutes or you have an hour, Rosetta Stone is there for you. With millions of users and 25 languages to choose from, including Spanish, French, German, Japanese and more, Rosetta Stone is the go to tool for real language growth. Don't wait, unlock your language learning potential now. The $100 MBA show listeners can grab Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership for 50% off. That's unlimited access to 25 language courses for life. Visit RosettaStone.com MBA to get started and claim your 50% off today. Go to RosettaStone.com MBA and start learning today. This episode of the $100 MBA show is brought to you by Booking.com if you're looking to grow your vacation rental business, this is the place to be. Booking.com is one of the most downloaded travel apps in the world, and for good reason. Since 2010, they've helped over 1.8 billion vacation rental guests find places to stay. But here's the thing. Most vacation rental hosts don't even realize they can list their properties on booking.com and if you're not on the platform, your rental is basically invisible to millions of Booking.com travelers worldwide. After all, they can't book what they can't see, right? I book all my travel, personal and business through booking.com and it's for good reason. I love their Genius program. So because I'm loyal and I use booking.com, i'm a genius level three. Yeah, I say it with pride because it gets me the best prices. I also love the fact that they give you all the details about all the hotels or the apartments that you're booking, so I know exactly what I'm getting before I check in. Does the place have a gym? Does it have a hair dryer? Does it have a fridge? What about a washing machine? I know because the listing is always accurate. And their app is easy to use. So when I'm dead tired after a long flight and I'm trying to check into my accommodation, it's super simple. Just pull up my booking and show it to the host. So if your vacation rental isn't listed on booking.com, it could be invisible to millions of travelers searching the platform. Don't miss out on consistent bookings and global reach. Head over to booking.com and start your listing today. Get seen, get booked on booking.com all right, we are here at the Porsche dealership. It's exciting. So before I walk in and take a look at the car and take the keys, let's do number five. Things around you don't change until you change. And this was a really tough one for me because I had a long blame list. I blamed the economy. I blamed the fact that I was an immigrant or from an immigrant family. I blamed the fact that I'm a minority. I didn't have money, and nothing changed around me. Your boss is not going to change. Miraculously. Your circumstances are not going to change. Miraculously, the economy is not going to change all of a sudden. Only way things are going to change is if you change. Because who you are right now is what's getting you the results you're getting. Look around you. Look at your life. Whatever your life is right now is a direct correlation, direct result of who you are. So if you want to have different things, if you want to have a different circumstances, you have a different life, then you have to become somebody different. You have to become something new. And this is a tough one, because it means you got to change. It means that you got to change your habits. You got to change who you are. You got to change what you think about what you do, how you consume your time. Because the truth is, is that if you were the person that can do the things that you want to do and have things you have, you would have had the things already. You would be where you want to be already. But the truth is that you got to become something different so you can have something different. So once I did that, once I started to change my habits, change what I do, change what I consume, change what I listen to, change what I watch, change what I read, change the way I see myself and my future, I started to realize, okay, I'm starting to become something new. I'm becoming qualified for the life that I want. All right, guys, just signed the paperwork. All done. Surreal. But time to head home, and I'll receive the car next Week when they register it and all that stuff. Let's get to number six. Number six is fear is the enemy. Now, hear me out, because a lot of people don't really understand what I mean by that. The reason why you are stuck is because of fear. That's the bottom line. You're scared. You're scared of failing, scared of disappointing people. You're scared of disappointing yourself. And what I found in my experience is that fear is the worst indicator. What I found is that whenever you make a decision out of fear, it's the wrong decision. It's always the wrong decision. And listen, it's okay. It's okay to be scared. We're all scared when we're trying something new. It's just how it is. But you know what? Snowboarding is scary, but it's fun. It's an adventure. Hiking, driving a race car. You know, it's exciting. So even though it's scary, you gotta move forward. You gotta move forward despite your fear. That's what real courage is, is that you know that you don't experience fear, is that you just keep moving forward because you can't let your fear boss you around. And that's what's happening inside you right now. It's telling you what to do. Don't listen to it. You gotta keep going. So when I was in my teaching career and I was scared to take that leap, I told myself, fear is the enemy. It's keeping me where I am. And I just kept moving forward. It was super scary to just leave my career of 12 years that I've invested in my degree and all the certifications that I spent money on and spent time building. But if I'm going to change, I got to take those leaps, and I got to have some courage. I got to have some spine. Don't let fear boss you around. Fear is the enemy. All right, guys, if you're enjoying this episode, this different kind of episode where I take you along with the journey, you're going to want to subscribe, because I'm working on a new episode that's all about what's going to stop you from succeeding, what are the things that you're going to face as you go on this journey. They're called the five silent killers of success. Really, it's something that you don't really see coming because you don't know what you don't know. So you want to make sure that you subscribe to the podcast, so you get that episode automatically as soon as it drops. All right, so we decided to have a quick lunch here with my buddy Sean Fox. Shawn Fox. Hello. How we doing? Sean's the man. If you need any video genius, Sean Fox's. You recently moved, right? You went up to the Gold Coast. Yeah. Which is great, because number seven is change your environment. If you are feeling stuck in your 30s. One of the things I did is, like, drastically change my environment. I was working in Dubai as a teacher, and then I moved to New York City. A dream of mine always to live in New York City. I know that sounds crazy, but by changing your environment, it kind of forces you to change your habits and to change your way of life. And it is like a reset. Do you find that too? 100%. That was my biggest intention coming up here. I just wanted to do a complete reset. I couldn't do a lobotomy. So this was the next. Yeah. So maybe for you, you can't move country or move cities, but maybe just like I said, go to a co working space after work and just change your environment. Stop working from home. Sometimes just being in different walls will give you a chance to just set some new habits, set some new intentions. It also just gets you in the mindset that you're taking things seriously by taking a step and making a sacrifice and just like, making a change in your life. I don't know about you, Sean, but when I made that change, when I made that shift, I felt like I have to do something now since I made this kind of move and I made this change in this change of scenery. Yeah, it's a massive catalyst. It feels like you are taking control of your own life, and that's one of the best things that you can do, especially when you're feeling a little bit stuck, a little bit unmotivated. You try to take back control in the little things and then the bigger things over time and changing your environment, whether it is just, you know, going to a different space, like a cafe like this, or going to a complete new city and location. I love it. I love it, man. Well, you got some free content from Sean here. Yeah, it's been great being able to Gold coast just for the day. And Sean is a buddy of mine, so I just thought, hey, let's have some lunch. It was great, man. Love it. Love it, man. Mike, back and forth. All right, Sean is giving me a lift to the airport. I love it. He's giving me a lift to the airport. And we're gonna do number eight. Number eight is your reputation is everything. You're gonna start meeting people, they're gonna get to know you. They're gonna remember you. Because the people that I started to meet when I was on this journey, I still know them. I still do business with them. They introduced me to people. A good example is Sean. How do I know Sean? Well, Sean, I met him through Talky Talky Moore. How do I know Talky Moore? Well, Talky Moore was introduced me to Michael Port. How did anyone know Michael Port? Well, Michael Port was introduced to me to Matthew Kimberly. Matthew Kimberly invited me to a dinner in Los Angeles. Met Michael Poore. Michael Poore told me, you're going to Australia. Got to know Taki. Taki told me, hey, do you know about Sean? That's how it works. And they would not introduce me to them if my reputation was garbage. So you gotta be very careful about how you treat everybody. Every single person you meet from this point on, okay? Don't worry about the past. Your reputation now is being built from scratch. So it doesn't cost you anything to be kind, to be humble. One of the things I remember that always stuck with me is I was at a conference. I saw Chris Brogan, who's like a great author, you know, best selling author. And he was waiting after his speech. He came off the stage and there was a whole line of people that wanted to take selfies with him and ask him questions. And he stood there answering everybody's question, took a picture with every single person. We're talking about like 50, 60 people, okay? And I just admire his humbleness and how he respected the people that respected him. And he's not an idiot. He understands that, hey, these people are paying my bills. These people are the ones that buy my books and buy my programs and visit my blog and all that kind of stuff. So that stuck with me. So your reputation is absolutely everything. It doesn't cost you anything to be kind, to be respectful, but also just to be a good listener. And don't be so covetous of your own network. As much as possible, introduce good people to good people. It will come back to you. Don't be like, hey, I don't want to show them this person. I don't want to tell them about this person. They might just, like, suck them dry. No, they are an adult and they can take care of themselves. But also, you're sharing the wealth, and part of that wealth is good people. So remember, your petition is everything. And you got to make sure that every interaction counts. Every single time you meet somebody, you leave an impression on them, and they know that, hey, you genuinely have their best interest in mind. You're not trying to get something out of them, which a lot of us, we feel that way when we're like, networking and all that kind of stuff. So again, just be yourself and remember, hey, word gets around fast. Respect your reputation and make sure that you keep it up from this point on. All right, at the airport, let's go with number nine. Number nine, get your family on board. It's really hard to do this alone. You need buy in from the people around you, the people that you live with, whether that's your significant other, maybe you have some kids, maybe you have parents you're living with, but get them on board. Make sure that they know what you're going through, what you're about to do, the journey you're about to embark on. Because you're going to have to make some sacrifices, like going to your co working space for two hours every, you know, every day after work. And they're gonna need to know that, hey, this is something that's a priority for you and that maybe you're not gonna be able to do game night this week or whatever it might be. Maybe you want to dedicate Saturdays to building your business. So you want to make sure that they understand what you're about to embark on. So that's one of the things I really advise, because once you have them on board, once they are convinced that, hey, this is what we're going to do, and this is kind of the plan, they're not blindsided. And you also got to sell it to them. You can't just be like, hey, this is how it is. Like it or not, you know, they have to be convinced that this is a good idea. What you're about to embark on is actually not only good for you, but good for them as well. That way they can root you on and they can ask for updates and you can fill them in and be honest with the updates, the ups and the downs, so they understand, you know, what you're going through, but also that, hey, it's not going to take two weeks and you're going to be a millionaire, right? It might take some time to get your footing, and that's okay, but include them. They deserve that. And one of the things I did is, you know, Nicole is my co founder and she's my wife, but by sitting down and talking to her, we kind of made sure that, you know, there was nothing left to chance, there's nothing left to ambiguity. Her goals and my goals were clear, and we made sure that we were aligned on those things. And by doing that, it was easier for us to see the vision. It was easier for us to just follow the steps and follow through. So make sure that you get your family on board. All right, guys, I'm at the airport about to fly back to Sydney. Number 10, start before you're ready. Just start. You're never going to feel ready. It's never the right time. It's never perfect timing or anything like that. You really do need to just get started. Because like I said before, every day that goes by is a day that you are not living your best life. You're not living the life that you want. So just keep that in mind. And listen, always remember, you're going to be scared when something is amazing on the other side. This is why you're not starting. It's because you want it to be perfect. You wanted to make sure that you win. The thing is that you can't guarantee success. You can't make sure it's going to be perfect. You've got to make sure that you just take the first step. That's your job, is to take steps forward. Each step forward is a win. That's the win. Don't worry about the result. Just take the actions towards your goal. And you're gonna feel so much better as you take each step because each step is gonna give you confidence. It's gonna prove to yourself that you actually do things that you say you're gonna do. So that's really the key to all, is just to get started. Even when you don't feel like you're ready. Guys, Those are the 10. Those are the 10 things that are gonna get you unstuck if you're feeling stuck in your 30s. Listen, ma', am, or gal or guy or whoever is listening or watching. Today was a crazy day and I'm so glad that I got to do it with you. But really, it's surreal. If I told 13 year old Omar that you're going to be flying to another state and buying your dream car, your dream Porsche, he wouldn't believe me. He wouldn't. But thanks for letting me share today with you. You found today's episode helpful? You thought this is an interesting way to deliver an episode. You enjoyed it. Let me know. Let me know. In a review on Apple Podcasts or just send me an email. Omar mba.net I always reply. I also just want to say that it wasn't just smooth sailing. You know, it wasn't easy and just like a walk in the park every year since I left my job as a teacher at 32. Nicole and I had some dark days, some tough days, trying to manage our businesses, trying to be profitable, trying to just prove to ourselves that we could do it. But it's so worth it. It is so worth the journey, not only because of where you end up, but who you become in the process. If you enjoyed today's episode, let me know. Like I said, but I think you'd love to check out a recent episode that I just published sharing how we made our first million dollars in revenue back in 2019. What are the things that actually made a difference? Because we were stuck for about four or five years at around 300,000, $400,000 in revenue. And we hit the million dollar mark because we fixed three particular things in our business that I want to share with you. So go ahead and check out that episode. I'll check you guys in the next one. Thanks so much. I'm going to fly home, grab some dinner, enjoy the rest of the day. Take care. If you found today's episode helpful and you want more practical business lessons to help you start, grow and scale your business, the best thing you could do is subscribe to this podcast. Hit subscribe or follow on your favorite podcast app, the one that you're using right now. Whether it's Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. By hitting subscribe, you get our next episode automatically and it's the best way to support the show. It's absolutely free and it's a way for you to commit to growing your business. And now that you've subscribed, I'll check you in the next episode. You've never been one to settle, stand down or stand still. You're a lifelong learner, energized by excellence. There's a fire inside you you can't ignore. You've got competition to outrun, momentum to build on, and your own high standards to meet. Stop now. Not a chance. At Capella University, we help you catch what you're chasing because you've always had the drive. Now go earn the degree. Capella University. What can't you do? Visit Capella Edu to learn more.