The TRY HARDER Newsletter by Jerred Moon: Edition 018

Hey Risers,

First, thank you for all the responses last week! If you missed it, I asked if you’d be interested in a platform and community for Performance Professionals, whether you’re a start-up or in full-scale mode.
The overwhelming response…YES! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
All systems are now a ‘GO!’ over here and more details to follow with a beta launch starting mid to late SEPT!

—

Today, it’s EDITION 018 of the TRY HARDER Newsletter.

I dive into Reverse Engineering an extra $10K in your business, I share some thoughts on EMF exposure, and then we talk about a dude trying to cross Antartica.

Save it for later. Read it now. But don’t ignore this one!!
And if you like it, share it with a friend 🙏🏻.

Enjoy!

—

In this Edition:

Building the Business

An Extra $10K? The Math

Building the Human

EMFs…

Try Harder

Shackleton PRs ‘Try Harder’

Building the Business:

Reverse Engineering 101 📚

In Edition 014, I hit on “How to Reverse Engineer Success” and it sparked some good conversations. But my takeaway is that I was too vague. So, today, let’s dive deeper into the specifics of Reverse Engineering 101.

I truly believe mastering this skill is one of the greatest assets you can have as an entrepreneur. It’s not the math that you are mastering (that’s the easy part). You master knowing what inputs (actions) get you the desired output (results). ⚖️

Let’s get an example going…

You want to add $10,000 to your business next month.

For simplicity, let’s say your average customer is worth $1,000.

That means you need 10 new customers next month to add $10K to your business. 📈

Say, when you have a sales conversation, you typically get 50% of them to say ‘yes.’

That means you need to have 20 new sales conversations.

To get 20 new sales conversations, you need leads. Don’t overcomplicate this. A lead is someone you can contact. That’s it. It’s someone who willingly gave you their contact information.

Now, what if you can get 20% of your new leads to have a sales conversation with you?

Well, then, you will need 100 new leads to reach your goal of 20 new sales conversations.

Going EVEN FURTHER…

You run a good business, so you can typically expect 30 new leads from referrals, word of mouth, organic sources, etc.

Next, I’ll ask how much of your time can you spend to acquire new leads? Let’s say you are a guest on a podcast or two, or, if you own a brick and mortar business, you run a workshop or two.

All said and done, these things take 4 hours of your time and get you 20 new leads. This is new math most don’t do but those leads cost you about 12 min per lead. I’ll come back to this.

Between the 30 organic leads and the 20 leads with your time, you’re at 50 and you need 50 more. You’ll use digital advertising for the rest. Each lead costs you $50 and you got 50 leads, so that’s $2,500.

Back to your time… What’s your time worth? What if your time is worth $200/hr? You spent 4 hours generating 20 leads, that’s a cost of $800 or $40 per lead.

Now, you have 100 leads. It cost $2,500 in digital advertising and $800 in time. That’s a cost of $3,300 to make $10,000. Or 203% ROI…try finding an investment like that ANYWHERE else.

Get it? This is all still 101 stuff. 🤓

Here’s a glimpse of scaling 301:

What if I want $100,000 next month?? Now, we are talking!

That’s where skill comes in. We could sit here and pretend that to make an additional $100K next month, we just need 1,000 leads, etc.

But you and I both know things start to break when you increase your volume that much.

You won’t be able to fulfill
You don’t have the time to get the leads
You don’t have the money to buy the leads
You can’t have that many sales conversations

EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE PROBLEMS ARE SOLVED THE SAME WAY… PEOPLE!!

Now, your reverse engineering math splinters into non-mathematical problems. Where can I hire? Who do I hire? How can I be a good leader? At what point do I send others to do marketing in my place?

And that’s where business gets complicated and fun, but that’s getting to the 301 level. We can get even further in the weeds just with math. But I’ll save that for my 201 lesson.

Building the Human:

EMFs: Real Danger ⛔️ or Just Woo-Woo? 🎱

Let’s talk about EMFs (Electromagnetic Fields), those invisible waves powering everything from your Wi-Fi to your microwave. Some people swear they’re the silent killers of the modern age, while others roll their eyes and call it all woo-woo nonsense. So, where do we stand?

The Scary Side 🫣

There’s research claiming EMFs are harmful. Studies have linked prolonged EMF exposure to headaches, fatigue, and more serious conditions like cancer and infertility. The World Health Organization (WHO) even classified EMFs as “possibly carcinogenic.” They’re careful with their words, but the implication is clear, there’s enough concern to warrant further investigation. If you’re cautious, this might sound like a good reason to start wrapping your head in tin foil.

The Chill Side 🥶

On the flip side, there’s also a mountain of research indicating that EMFs are, well, probably fine. Most studies showing harm involved extreme exposure levels or were performed on rats. And unless you’re a rat living inside a cell tower, you’re likely in the clear. Major health organizations, including the American Cancer Society, argue that everyday EMF exposure is too low to cause significant health risks. We’ve been living with EMFs for decades, and the world hasn’t exactly ended.

Here’s What I Do 📲

So, where do I stand? Somewhere in the middle. I’m not running for the hills, but I’m also not blindly trusting science that could change in a decade.

Here’s what I do to minimize EMF exposure without going full-on conspiracy theorist:

🛩️ Airplane Mode Every Night: My cell phone goes on airplane mode every night. Yeah, I’m impossible to reach unless you show up at my front door, which I wouldn’t suggest in the middle of the night.
🎧 Wired Headphones Only: I pretty much only use wired headphones. No Bluetooth buzzing in my brain all day long.
📡 Wi-Fi Auto Shutoff: My Wi-Fi auto shuts off with an outlet timer at night. This might reduce EMF exposure, but more importantly, it’s a good habit as my kids get older. No midnight internet binges in this house.

If EMFs turn out to be no big deal, cool, these steps caused me almost no inconvenience. But if they do become a problem, well, I’ve reduced my exposure.

The Verdict

So, am I telling you to panic and throw out your electronics? Not exactly. I realize that being concerned about EMFs might sound a little woo-woo to most of you. But here’s the deal: whether you think EMFs are a legitimate threat or just another conspiracy theory, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. As always, try harder to make informed decisions. Maybe don’t sleep with your phone under your pillow, but you don’t need to move to a cave in the mountains either. Balance, people.

Try Harder:

The Relentless Spirit of Shackleton: When Quitting Isn’t an Option ❌

Let’s talk about a guy who didn’t just “try harder”, he redefined what it means to push the limits.

Sir Ernest Shackleton, the Antarctic explorer, is the embodiment of relentless determination. If you think your challenges are tough, just wait until you hear what this guy faced.

In 1914, Shackleton set out to be the first to cross Antarctica by land. Spoiler alert: he didn’t get across.

But what he did accomplish is far more impressive. His ship, Endurance, got trapped in ice and was eventually crushed, leaving him and his crew stranded in one of the most inhospitable places on Earth. No radio, no GPS, and certainly no one coming to the rescue.

So what did Shackleton do? He didn’t curl up in a corner and wait to die. He kept his crew alive on floating ice for months, making the best out of a freezing, desperate situation. And when the ice started breaking up, he didn’t panic, he led his men in lifeboats across the brutal Southern Ocean to Elephant Island. But even that wasn’t enough for Shackleton. Knowing they were still screwed if they stayed put, he took a handful of men on an 800-mile journey across some of the most dangerous seas on the planet, in a glorified rowboat, no less.

And here’s the kicker: they made it. Shackleton crossed mountainous terrain without maps, on no sleep, to reach help, and then went back for every single one of his men. Not a soul was lost.

Shackleton didn’t just “try harder”, he refused to accept failure, no matter how bleak things looked. If you’re ever tempted to throw in the towel because something’s “too hard,” remember Shackleton. The guy turned an absolute disaster into one of history’s greatest survival stories by sheer force of will. So, what’s your excuse?

Try harder,