When entrepreneurs are on a winning streak it’s called getting into a “flow state” (what athlete’s call “The Zone”). They achieve more in less time. You can train your mind to get into flow states when you have the right strategies. That’s what I discuss in this episode with my guest, Peter Wishnie.

In his younger years Peter purchased a medical practice and after one year, he made more money than the previous owner did in any one of his 17 years of ownership.

Peter has been in business for over 33 years and has made multiple 7 figures for 30 consecutive years, landing him in the top 1% in his field. During those years he has learned key secrets that have helped him work a lot less while growing his business year after year.

In 2022, he sold that business for $2 million more than he paid for it.

The reason he sold it is because his passion is now to help other entrepreneurs learn to live the life they deserve and desire. Peter believes people become business owners or leaders not to be slaves to their jobs, but to have the freedom to enjoy their families, hobbies, and friends.

We dive into topics including:

Why you have to know and write out you KPIs, your Key Performance Indicators for your business.
Why you have to review your KPI’s at least weekly if not more often.
How to maintain focus once you’ve gotten started.
How to survive and embrace the roller coaster ride of focus.
Why consistency every single day is king; it’s not about overloading your schedule.
The definition of and examples of flow state, or being “in the zone” as athletes call it.
How to stay in the zone and not get knocked out of it for short periods of time.
Why creative ideas come when you’re most relaxed.
The benefits and rewards of getting yourself into flow state.
What comes first; focus or flow state.
The one thing, above all else, that you need to do to get focused and into flow state.

…and other golden nuggets of advice!

Peter’s Story of Focus and Flow State

Peter says he is far from the expert of ALWAYS being focused. After every video he creates, he says “stay focused my friends”. It’s a play on words from that beer commercial, “stay thirsty my friends”. He says that because getting focused and into flow states isn’t always easy. We’re constantly getting interrupted with calls and our electronic devices amongst a myraid of other modern distractions.

Peter says he’s constantly getting bombarded with messages, and he tries to keep up with them. He remembers when he was younger back in 1989, when he purchased his practice.

Peter didn’t even have a desktop computer. People didn’t have cell phones. It was easy to get and stay focused with few interruptions. At the time when the phone rang it was a great thing for a business owner because it could be a prospect.

Creating focus and flow state is something Peter has since learned. He loves to study. He loves to listen to and learn from people. Peter purchased his first Franklin Covey planner back in the early 1990s. Peter wrote down his goals for the year; exactly what he wanted to achieve. He wrote them down based on what he was going to do every single month, then every single week, which made staying focused easier.

There’s a great book, “The One Thing”. It tells you to focus on the one thing that will make the most impact on your life. Peter adopted that principle. Then he adopted Michael Hyatt’s “Full Focus Planner” system. As a result Peter wrote down the three major things he needed to accomplish every single day.

Some people love to cross things out every day. They could be many things. One example is writing 20 pages in the book you’re working on. If that’s the one thing, the other things on your list don’t matter as much. You can also figure out what the top three things you must do are and write them down every day to get more done.

You must decide what’s important for your family, your relationships, your health, and so on. Then it’s a matter of putting those things first while you have a business to take care of. If you don’t take care of those other things, take care of yourself, your health, and building up your energy levels you’re going to crash sometime during the day. You might wake up totally fogged up, your brain’s all fogged because you’re not doing the right things to take care of yourself day in and day out.

That’s where energy comes into play…

Managing Your Energy

Imagine having a burst of energy. When you have that energy you can go longer during the day. The day goes by faster because you are full of pep. Peter believes flow states start with that. How did he learn to do that?

It came from medical school. Now remember going to college. In Peter’s case he always had those few hard classes, but he also signed up for some easier courses like history of rock and roll. Meanwhile, he was taking physics and chemistry as a pre-med student.

Peter had a hard time his first year in school and he read a book called “How to Study”. From that he learned how to organize and how to focus and then how to schedule times to be focused.

This lead Peter to discover…

The Importance of Writing and Journaling

Where do you start to get focused? Pull out a piece of paper or a journal. Write down everything that’s on your mind. Everything that you think that needs to get done or everything that’s bothering you. And just the things that are bothering you. Write down your successes and the things that you are grateful for. Just write down everything and get it out of your head.

Then divide your life into a pie. Things like health, relationships, friendships, finances, your business goals, relaxation time, and so on. Then decide what are you going to do and what you want for each of those areas? What are your goals? Just pick one little goal that you want to accomplish in the next 90 days. Pick the one thing and make it happen. Then tackle the rest.

And that is just the beginning!

Listen to or watch the interview to continue this story and get more golden nuggets of advice!

You can get my book here: “Idea Climbing: How to Create a Support System for Your Next Big Idea”

About My Guest

Idea Climbing Podcast Peter Wishnie

In his younger years Peter Wishnie purchased a medical practice and after one year, he made more money than the previous owner did in any one of his 17 years of ownership.

In 2022, he sold that business for $2 million more than he paid for it.

The reason he sold it was mainly because his passion is now to help other businesses learn to have the life they so deserve and desire. Peter believes people become business owners or leaders not to be slaves to your jobs but to have the freedom to enjoy your family, hobbies, and friends. Peter wants to help you live your best life.

Connect with Peter on LinkedIn!

Learn more about Peter’s coaching and speaking!

Want to learn about “being in the zone” when it comes to money? Check out “How To Have a Successful Money Mindset with Robin Waite”

How to Get Focused and Get into Flow States with Peter Wishnie