Edition #005: 🛩️ Business Like a Fighter Pilot, a Bigger Future, and Book Recommendations
Hey Risers,
Welcome to EDITION 005 of the TRY HARDER Newsletter.
It’s estimated the average reader can finish this newsletter today in 3 min and 40 seconds… But are you average?
This week, it’s all about running your business like a fighter pilot, building a bigger future in your MIND, and my book recommendations from the last quarter.
Enjoy!
In this Edition:
Building the Business
Run Your Business Like a Fighter Pilot
Building the Human
The Mind & Bigger Futures
Try Harder
Book Recommendations
Building the Business:
Run Your Business Like a Fighter Pilot 🧑✈️
I can still recall some of the checklists I had to memorize for different aircraft ✈️ when I was in pilot training many years ago.
Strap in…. complete
BAT switch…. ON
Regulator anti-suffocation valve…. Check
External Power…. AS REQUIRED
Seat height…. ADJUST
Rudder Pedals…. ADJUST
Flight Controls…. CHECK
And that’s just the start of 37 total things for simply getting in the cockpit. Then you have 9 items for starting the engine, 21 items before you taxi, 2 items for taxing, 12 items before takeoff, etc.
It’s a lot. And these checklists have saved countless lives 🛟.
We’re humans, not robots 🤖. No matter how good we are at something, we are still prone to error. That’s where checklists come into play.
📋 Checklists…
Make sure it’s done right.
Make sure it is done efficiently.
And reduces the chance of error.
It also makes delegating tasks a breeze and has the potential to help you quickly scale your business 📈.
How can we add this level of precision to your business?
A few ideas…
Employee onboarding
Client onboarding
Content creation
Employee tasks
YOUR own repetitive tasks!
Step 1️⃣: Create
You must do the task or thing you are trying to turn into a checklist. You need to detail every single step, no matter how small.
I highly recommend recording yourself doing each step. My favorite apps for doing something like this are Loom and Zight. If the task is not on a computer, use your phone camera 🤳🏻.
Tip:Things typically require more steps than you think. For instance, publishing ONE episode of my podcast is a 16-step process. Not quite as simple as “record” and “publish.”
Step 2️⃣: Leverage Tools
Use software to create, schedule, and automate checklists in your business. My favorite program for this is Process.st.
Step 3️⃣: USE THE CHECKLISTS!
I use checklists in business daily. I don’t create a checklist only when I want to train an employee or delegate something. I use them for recurring tasks I do on my own. That way, I don’t miss any steps and don’t have to use my brain as much when doing something repetitive.
Takeaways:
Use checklists in your business to delegate and scale
If you thought last week’s grounding was a little woo-woo 🧘🏻♂️, let’s explore the mind side of becoming a better human!
We could talk supplements, workouts, and diets all day…but what about your MIND?
The most significant part of self-development is mastering your mind 🧠. Today, let’s talk about building a bigger future (in your mind).
If we can agree that the future only exists in your mind(go ahead, think about that statement for a few minutes).
What future are you creating 🛠️?
The first step is to allow yourself to imagine a bigger and better future.
What you want + what you believe = BIGGER FUTURE
This takes courage. You have to eliminate a lot of negative self-talk and limiting beliefs, but you can do it.
❓You can start by asking yourself the FUTURE-FOCUSED QUESTION…
“If we were sitting here, three years from today, looking back on today, what would have had to have happened in that time for you to feel happy with your progress?”
A simple question that can be hard to answer.
After you take a stab at that, look back over the last 365 days and write down 5-10 things you have accomplished. Once you have them written down, ask yourself, “How can I build from here?”
And of those 5-10 accomplishments, which ones excited you most? Then, ask, “How can I do more of that?”
Takeaways:
Realize the future only exists in your mind
Answer the future-focused question
Look back on accomplishments to establish momentum
Ask yourself how to do more of what excites you
Do all of that, and you have started the path to a BIGGER FUTURE
Try Harder:
Book Recommendations 📚
One way to try harder than everyone else is to read (or listen) to books and NEVER STOP LEARNING.
Since we are rounding out the end of the month and the quarter, I thought now would be a good time to share a few of the books I completed over the last quarter…just in case you are looking for some decent reads heading into Q2.
The books are listed in the order in which I read them. None of these books would rate 5 out of 5 for me, but I’d say most are at least 4 out of 5. There was a lot of good info stuffed into the brain in Q1.
