Become a Better Entrepreneur TODAY

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"OMG, look at the kitties!!"

For those of you that don't know me. I'm Dr. Rob Garcia. I am a life coach, specifically an optimization coach. It means when you are done reading this, you will be performing at a higher level. You will sharpen your entrepreneurial skills, you will think at a higher tier of cognitive function and you will have the confidence to influence others in a positive light.

How am I so sure? Because I live what I teach. By doing years of research I have:

Gone from struggling to finish a 1/2 mile beach run to completing a 16 mile nonstop beach run by training up to it.

"I need a banana and water. REAL BAD"

Failed high school and college twice and despite every adult in my family being on drugs or in prison, went on to earn six degrees including a Doctorate in Education

Self published 7 books (the last being done in 6 hours, start to finish)

Added 70 pounds to my bench press in a month by spending $20 on a piece of exercise equipment (hint: doorway)

Learned how to add value to media entities to get on TV, radio, and in magazines

Created an automated money system that will enable me to make sales 24/7 while I do NOTHING

Reverse engineered 5 diet plans to create my own diet plan to kick my obesity

All of these feats were possible because I adjusted my habits to adopt the most efficient way to do things. How can this help you? Because once you start realizing that certain things are slowing you down, removing or altering them can cause massive changes!

Give

All of you have some type of skill or experience, The Law of Success by Napoleon Hill says that in order to truly have others appreciate you, you must give freely so that your talent will shine.

I volunteered to judge a high school science fair recently. I met a vice principal, a regional program manager and the director for every middle and high school in the county who immediately started talking about a contract for a speaking engagement. I was also successful in negotiating a partnership to help low income high school kids. Talk about a great promotion for my company.

Find Your Tribe

One of the hardest things I have worked on is building my image and making allies. I found a huge entrepreneurial group using meetup.com and in this week alone have had four requests for help publishing books, an offer for teen counseling, and an offer to partner up with a school. YOU HAVE TO FIND LIKE MINDED PEOPLE SO YOU CAN GROW.

Find Your Market

Can you name off your target market right now? The top three people most likely to use your services?

For me as a life coach it is vets, teens, obese adults. That was easy. Now that I have identified them, how do i find them? I can do specialized searches on Facebook, I can search large groups (military.com, edutopia.com, circleofmoms.com) or I can drop the nuke:

ALMOST EVERY STARBUCKS HAS A COMMUNITY BOARD

(read that one twice)

So you go to 99designs.com, and hire a designer to make you an amazing promo card listing your service. It should have a professional photo of you, your services, and a contact email or business number. Now imagine doing this at every Starbucks in your area. That's free marketing 16 hours a day.

Next, use the app Whisper. Get it on your phone. I have seriously found 3 paying clients for coaching with little effort. Just make a post advertising what you do or are selling, a quick website link. (BIG HINT: Whisper uses keyword searches. If your market is vets, use words like "vets" "military" or "defense", you'll be matched to your audience).

Find a Mentor

This is essential. You need someone that can answer questions, guide you, and give suggestions. They should be two steps up the food chain than you (roughly 5-10 years ahead of you in terms of business growth). A mentor has "been there, done that" and will be an important step in your growth.

Conversely, you should BE a mentor as well. Volunteer in your local church, high school, middle school or Boys and Girls club. There are many ways to give back and spread your influence.

  

Advance to Your Next Level

I saved the best for last. In my book, The Next Level, I created a 5 tier ranking system to self identify one's proficiency at any job or skill. Then I listed 10 methods that top performers use to advance to their next level. For the last chapter, I interviewed four AMAZING top performers and isolated which Next Level methods worked for them.

By using this ranking system, you can absolutely apply this to your business, venture or company and see where you are. Then review the ten methods and plot out a new path to advance. I can absolutely help with this if you need a quick assist.

Here is my way of giving. The FREE E-Book of the Next Level. I believe so strongly in your growth that I am willing to share this powerful book for free. Just promise you will use it properly:

1. Get out a piece of paper and pen before reading it

2. Take notes when you read something meaningful

3. Use the GMOSC ranking system to isolate what level you are as an entrepreneur

4. Choose 1-10 of the methods to grow that are the most appealing to you (you can ABSOLUTELY combine them to make a more powerful method. Just like Voltron)

5. Read the interviews and realize what these people have gone through and how they crushed their roadblocks by using SELF CONFIDENCE

The Next Level FREE E-Book:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9ehsme4zv3x7007/The%20Next%20Level%20Ebook.pdf?dl=0

For those of you that want a hard copy (it makes a great gift), it's now 15% off ($11.04)

http://www.lulu.com/shop/rob-garcia/the-next-level/paperback/product-21464455.html

Weekly Summary

That about wraps it up for this week. What have we learned?

*Giving your valuable time can unlock MAJOR exposure to people that will hire you or buy your services/products

*Finding groups will help you create a valuable tribe

*A mentor can answer your hardest questions

*You now have a ranking tool for self assessment, 10 proven methods to be a better entrepreneur that is completely customizable to your business and 4 inspirations interviews FREE

Thanks for sticking with me this week. If you liked what you read and want to start giving back, all of this would greatly help me:

1. Subscribe to the Blue Dragon Blog (If you search the archives, you'll find some pretty amazing content. I write about fitness, RAPID cognitive growth, confidence building and more)

2. Tell people about the blog in your social media

3. Visit Blue Dragon Enterprises at www.bluedragonent.com and check out my NEW feature Blue Dragon University, which has powerful digital products that will accelerate your life!!

Next week:

"How to Access Higher Cognitive Abilities in ONE DAY"

(Entrepreneurial) How to Boost Your Confidence 150%

*This post is dedicated to the Scroupies - The Screw the 9 to 5 Community and Josh and Jill Stanton. I've finally found a home. - Dr. Rob

CONFIDENCE BUILDING 101

(Do me a quick favor and subscribe. Right up there. It won't hurt i promise)

As entrepreneurs, we have to endure a much higher degree of scrutiny then the average person. Despite being creative, taking chances and pushing forward to the lifestyle of our dreams, we are laughed at, talked down to and sometimes openly made fun of.

For some of us, especially the quiet, nice types, its a rough road. So in true life coaching fashion, I am going to share four ways for you to grow your confidence, interact with others in a far more aggressive, yet effective manner (No Jill, I'm not going to teach people the Road House Larynx Removal Tactic).

Why do we need confidence? It has several overlapping benefits, in fact, if you tried all four suggestions I mention, you might be SHOCKED at how much it changes your day to day life. Confidence draws others to you, both in business and romantically. It makes people want to be around you, and to seek you out for advice and counsel.

Confidence is especially important to entrepreneurs because you have to be a self starter, in many cases like the pic above, leaving your security and safety behind and relying on your equipment and wits to survive.

As you increase your confidence, you will seek out mentors, offer better goods and services, and interact on a much more effective level with others.

1. Improve Your Body Language

"You want to sell me WHAT?"

"Gosh Rob, tell me more about University of Phoenix"
(Note: No girl this hot has EVER looked at me like this without psychedelic drugs)

Looking at the two examples above, you can clearly see what each pose indicates. the first means that this guy is clearly annoyed, arms crossed means hes being defensive and wants you off the property ASAP. The second pose shows that this guy is rapidly approaching "Netflix and chill" territory for date 2. Shes smiling, leaning in, head cocked, and shes so comfortable that she is resting her head on her hand.

When you interact with others, think about how you are reacting.

1. Shake hands with some light pressure, smile openly when greeting.
2. Walk with confidence and poise, none of this head looking downward, shoulders slumped BS.
3. Look people RIGHT IN THE EYE, do not drift off in conversations, it shows you are disinterested in them.
4. When you walk through a crowded room, make eye contact with others and try to imagine if you were a movie star, an athlete or a leader among others, BECAUSE YOU ARE.

2. Change Your Image

Your image as an entrepreneur speaks volumes about your professionalism. At times, we need to adjust it accordingly. We can change our hair, our wardrobes, even our thinking styles. I had a chance to go up in front of a military commissioning board a few times. Someone took me aside and said, "You ARE going to lose some weight, right?" It was necessary. I've always struggled with weight stuff and I needed to look professional in uniform. I adopted what would become the Skinny Dragon Diet, lost about 15-22 pounds, and got selected for the board. In this case a change of image definitely helped.

(Before) God Bless my ex gf for having bad eyesight

(After) 20 pounds lighter

Some ways you can change your image:

1. Get a new haircut

2. Buy a new wardrobe that is form fitting

3. Burn a lot of fat

4. Gain a lot of muscle (I went from a fat 222 to a lean 196 to a muscular 232)

5. Have a professional photoshoot done (this was mine, I imagined it for YEARS. I went to the beach, ran 3 miles, and jumped in the ocean at 7am. YES IT WAS COLD)

Early pre shoot a few years back with friends

3. Create a Result

As entrepreneurs, we have periods where NOTHING changes. We don't get new clients, we don't make sales, we don't see any results. There is only one solution:

GET OFF YOUR ASS

Sorry for the ice water in the face approach, but I'm not here to be nice, I'm here to make some really amazing things happen in your life. You chose this life, so act like someone that deserves to make money.

I needed to jumpstart Blue Dragon so I did the following:

1. Walked into a charter school and offered to work for free as a consultant
Result: Met the district coordinator and was offered access to 13 schools and a regular speaking gig

2. Tracked down a morning news producer and pitched my teen book
Result: An appearance on the San Diego Living Morning Show. Book sales increased

3. Joined several large groups
Result: Paying clients, new allies, a radio appearance

All of these great results came from me being bold and going where no man has gone before.

Creating a result will bolster your confidence and add to your entrepreneurial "resume"

4. Adopt a Fitness Routine

I'm a big proponent of fitness. It has literally changed so many aspects of my life. It increases endorphins, puts me in a better mood, allows me to be social, and more. Even if you don't have a regular method of fitness, I suggest you try something new. Its a great way to blow off steam and decompress.

When I was going through my Ed.D program, fitness was the only way I could really decompress. Imagine writing a 60 page paper, getting it back with 15-25 mistakes on EVERY PAGE. That's called a revision. It means you've just lost 3 weekends in a row. I had at least 5 revisions. The gym and beach running kept me sane.

If you need a new fitness routine, you can try Zumba, Crossfit, Spin Bike, or just go for regular walks. JUST DO SOMETHING NEW.

With those 4 steps, you can revitalize your confidence, create a new you, and be on your way to a better image. As always, I am here for you guys anytime. www.bluedragonent.com

BEST. Shirt. Ever.