I don’t know many people who have followed the straight and narrow path to entrepreneurship, myself included. I studied entrepreneurship in college but didn’t really do anything about it until about ten years later. Most entrepreneurs I know had a 9-5 for a while then decided it was time to do their own thing.
But my most recent podcast guest, Alex Schlinsky, is different. He bypassed having a traditional 9-5 and immediately embraced entrepreneurship. Because, he thought that he was likely to die at an early age.
I don’t want to over-dramatize this but I can imagine not having a lot of time left can really motivate you to live the day and make the most of the many days you have left.
Fortunately, you don’t have to go through a life or death experience to gain more control over your future as Alex shares lessons learned during the most recent episode of the Launch Your Business podcast.
Some key takeaways from our interview, Which you can listen to here or below:
- The power of persistence to get you where you want to go in life
- How to build a strong and engaging online community
- Why the “hustle hard” mentality doesn’t make sense (and what you should be doing instead).
We also discussed Alex’s new book, The Anti-Hustler’s Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide for Hardworking Entrepreneurs Who Want to Redefine Success Now and Find Endless Choices for Fulfillment Without Sacrificing Everything That Matters.
Persistence and strength of purpose
Alex inadvertently entered the anti-hustle movement (he burned out at an early age). It all started with a diagnosis of a congenital heart defect at the age of 18. Alex said that when you know open heart surgery is sometime in your future, you want to make your time count. So in school, he worked in the field to earn a degree in psychology while running a business on the side.
After graduation, the thought of putting in more years at school became untenable. He was also not quite ready to become an entrepreneur and grow his digital marketing agency – so he threw himself into his passion, which was local sports. Seeking media credentials with the Miami Dolphins, he called their media department every day for two months.
“After hearing every single objection in the book, I knew the one thing that really mattered to me was that I wasn’t willing to hear more than they were willing to say,” Alex recalls. “And so I just called and called and finally knew that the beating of the eyebrows would finally give them a capitulation and they would give me this opportunity.”
His persistence paid off, and he still has a Dolphins media member badge in his office, reminding him of the sense of accomplishment after months of work — a feeling he says he wanted to chase again and again.
Accidentally starting a 7-figure business
The season was rewarding, but yielded about $500 for its coverage. To generate income, Alex turned to a business he accidentally started during his senior year of high school, when Facebook rolled out the Business Page feature. Alex’s neighbor (who was a personal injury lawyer) was convinced that Facebook would be crucial to bringing in business. A neighbor offered Alex $1,000 a month to post once a day on Facebook and run his email newsletter.
Alex worked for about ten attorneys throughout his college years, waking up early to pull potential case opportunities (like recalls) and posting them on Facebook, then going to class for the day.
“It’s pretty crazy because I never really thought about it as a profession. It was just a side hustle the whole time. Fast forward four to five years later, finishing college, realizing journalism wasn’t really going to make me that much money. Passion. Is. What can I do? And, and so naturally I thought, ‘Is social media a business?’
It doesn’t take much Googling to find the answer.
Alex received some training, transitioned his offering from social media to Google advertising, and quickly built a seven-figure agency.
Alex’s moment of reckoning
As he had open heart surgery hanging over his head, Alex worked in overdrive, putting maximum effort into all his endeavors.
About 10 years after his diagnosis, his heart had grown to the point of requiring intervention. Alex said he fast forwarded the need for help by 30 years – and although doctors couldn’t give him a straight answer, he linked the initial surgery and 10 years of working in overdrive.
“But it was enough in my mind to know what happens to an engine by always having it in the red?” Alex asks. “It dies, it breaks, and that’s what’s happening.”
Alex said he was too bought into the hustling, when the doctors told him they needed to operate as soon as possible Alex’s first question was if they could push the surgery until a business event came up.
“My mind was warped like this,” Alex said. “I just got the bombshell news that I was going to have to have open heart surgery, and I was psyched [saying], ‘Can I push it until we do our business event?’ And that was a really big wakeup call for me.”
The End of Hustle
Waking up doesn’t mean stopping completely. Alex now runs a community called Prospecting on Demand, which provides guidance for agency owners, digital marketers, coaches and consultants looking to scale their business.
Here’s the tricky part: Alex said that for most people, “scaling” means getting more all the time. So even when you reach the top of a mountain, there is always more to gain. It makes the business owner feel lack of clarity, always churning towards bigger achievements (whether or not it actually adds benefit to their life).
“The anti-hustle model is inherently about identifying what the true goal of entrepreneurship is,” Alex explained. “Everybody wants to be happy and they want to be free. The thing about freedom is that most people think of freedom as financial freedom and time freedom. And yet often time is put aside for the benefit of financial freedom, financial freedom, financial freedom. is thrown away. Freedom – without ever defining what financial freedom is (and worse, never taking the time to define it and not allowing someone else to define it for you). Can come out with a clear understanding. To make this more uncertain, right? Because that lack of clarity creates anxiety and frustration and – for many people – it creates burnout.”
Alex said the results of defining success and scale are beneficial to the business and the business owner, but also extend to friends and family.
“I think most people, when they come into a coaching program, a mentorship program, their intent is directly related to bottom line ROI, which makes a lot of sense and I totally respect that,” Alex said. But ultimately what we find is how much impact we have on people’s lives, on the lives of their families, their relationships with their children and their friends, their families, their peers, their networks.”
Next steps
Ready to learn more from Alex so you can make more money without sacrificing the people and experiences that matter most?
- Check out Alex’s mentorship program, Prospecting on Demand
- Join Alex at LinkedIn
- Check out Alex’s book, The Anti Hustler Handbook
—————————————————-
Source link