I skipped Military Influencer Conference this year. Here is why:

 

I'm Rob Garcia, a veteran magazine owner and visibility consultant. This year, I was scheduled to attend Military Influencer Conference in Las Vegas. Its an amazing event that brings veterans together from around the country. I went to one a few years ago and it was life changing. 

As the date approached, I started to realize that several events were starting to appear around the same timeframe and eventually it got too intense. 

I had a sleep deprived nervous breakdown in 2018 after a combat support deployment and my mom's death halfway through it. I walked out of my job on my 5th day and ended up in a park crying under a tree. I started to recognize symptoms of overload. 

*An Air Force PT test  was due by Oct 23rd that would require me to drive to base on a Sunday and lose weight before it so that I could run at a decent pace

*MIC itself, a five hour drive, taking me offline for business for four days. Gas and Air B and B costs.

*Put in charge of a 120 person social for my Reserve unit requiring donations, logistics, coordinating 30 people scattered around the country

*Being named a co host at a large business event in San Diego 

*A last minute print request for my magazine that cost me hundreds of dollars, required 2 designers and 20 hours of unpaid work 

All of this is on top of running a bi monthly magazine, 3 FB groups, a press release agency, and having a full portfolio of clients. 

I have had WEEKS of anxiety, sleep issues, and even weight gain from juggling all this in my head. 

I finally made the decision to cancel my MIC trip. It was just too much on my plate and its important to know limitations. 

Veterans are awesomely resilient. They push through when the country needs us and perform at amazing levels. That being said, this isn't an urgent combat situation. People shouldn't be giving me shit for saying, "ENOUGH" Veterans shouldn't be writing me telling me how soft the Air Force is, and that I'm breaking up business relationships by not going. (That person apologized later, which I appreciate.)

I will not apologize for putting my own mental health and life first. I think more veterans should forgive themselves and move on. There will be other events. Right now, I'm in a better place and I'm happy for my friends that CAN attend. I'll be back soon but right now, it's just too much. 

Rob 

How to Beat Inflation in Four Steps

 

Food prices have risen 10.8% according to the government Bureau of Labor Statistics. Gas prices have also risen considerably. I'm going to show you how to trim your food bill by quite a bit and how to get more money coming into your household. 

I have been a bachelor most of my life. I was raised like a feral wolf boy, shuffled around from house to house due to a challenging family situation. I learned to survive. 

Family Photo 

Before we start, its important to realize that many of you are end user consumers. It means you buy things that other people produce. It also means that you are subject to inflation and cost measures. There isn't a lot you can do to influence prices. However you can still affect:

1. How you spend and use goods
2. How much money comes INTO your household 

I'll show you how to be an early stage producer, meaning that YOU sell things that people buy. 

A few years back, I went into full entrepreneurship. No job, no boss. Just created a lot of income streams and started a group called Design Your Paycheck. I teach over 35 income streams that are VERY reachable by others. Today you'll learn a few. Lets get started. 

Shop Better
Finding specialty grocery stores can save you BIG. The Pancho Villa market by my house sells HUGE packs of chicken thighs for $3.50. They have a FULL section of low cost produce. The 99 Cent Store has lunch meat, cheese, veggies, fruits, and canned goods at HUGE savings. Remember that canned goods have huge amounts of sodium so buy sparingly. Check your weekly circulars for special deals and get to know which stores specialize in certain items. 

Completely eliminate: Bread, Cookies, crackers, desserts, chips. I know this may not go over well at first but they're expensive and really bad for you. You can find AWESOME recipes to cook in their place. More on that in the next section. 

ALWAYS buy the store brand. You don't need to pay for fancy labels or branding. Its the SAME FOOD. 


Cook Better 
This is where I shine. A few years ago, I started ironically going to the dollar store and making restaurant quality meals. 

For those of you that aren't great cooks, get an air fryer. You can throw in a COMPLETELY frozen piece of meat and have it fully ready to eat in about 40 min. Having a crockpot can completely change the game for families. Five hours before dinner time, throw in:

Small side of beef
Carrots
Celery
Onions
1 pack Lipton's Soup Mix

Don't add water, turn to high and let sit for 5 hours. 

As a snack, cucumbers sprinkled with Taijin and lime juice is REALLY good and kids love it. 

If you're feeding kids, sit them down and talk to them about foods they like and foods they hate. You can come to some very interesting compromises once you have their tastes down without turning it into a sugar fest. 

Earn More
Creating income streams is not nearly as hard as you would think. You can make Ebooks and mini courses on Canva.com for FREE. Take the tutorials and learn this amazing program and start getting creative. My very first course was a 5 day email sequence. Took me maybe 3 hours to create. Earned $1200 in 5 days. That's 3 hours of work. $1200. I didnt use ads, just let people know what I had created and what they would get in the course. 

Now imagine if you dial in on a topic that people want to learn about. You create an ebook for sale, a mini course, teach a workshop once a month on it, and start a paid membership site. You can VERY EASILY bring in a few hundred a month as you start and over time, the sales increase. 

You can start a media platform and sell interviews and social media promotion. You just have to stay consistent and let people know about it. 

If you want to learn more about developing income streams, here are my 3 best videos on it:

11 Recurring Revenue Streams 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMUj5DX7PdQ&list=PLdoIOKELmNFn-ZXvP8DAd_gESCWswd4N8&index=5&t=183s&ab_channel=bluedragonrob1

How to Create Your Own Stimulus Check
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo8pw_Tonzs&list=PLdoIOKELmNFn-ZXvP8DAd_gESCWswd4N8&index=20&ab_channel=bluedragonrob1

3 Ways I Made 10k or More
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CReO-jaADTM&list=PLdoIOKELmNFn-ZXvP8DAd_gESCWswd4N8&index=38&ab_channel=bluedragonrob1


Spend Better 

- Get rid of cable and your sports package. Both utterly worthless.

- Going out to nightclubs on the weekends needs to go as well. 

- We are approaching summer. Frozen towels and a good fan are FAR cheaper than A/C 

- You don't need the newest Android or Iphone the day it comes out. Learn some restraint. Over time, the price will reduce dramatically. 

- Cut down on alcohol and booze. If you need them for stress relief, try yoga or going outside more. 

If you guys want to learn more about Design Your Paycheck and creating your income streams, the signup page is below. My students have made over $50,000 in combined sales and there is a FULL archive available to you so you can easily download a guide and learn quickly. 

Inflation is tough. But income streams are the great equalizer. - Rob the Warrior Strategist 

DESIGN YOUR PAYCHECK GROUP - http://www.yournextlevelofsuccess.com/design-your-paycheck.html

I Fired a $550 Million Dollar Client....And It Was The Best Thing I Ever Did.....

 

As entrepreneurs, too often we take on jobs that turn into nightmares. As we develop over time, we start to realize that not all clients are cut from the same cloth. We turn a blind eye to unprofessional comments, unpaid extra requests, and general shenanigans that the average 9-5er will never have to deal with. 

A friend hooked me up with a sweet deal at the time. A major corporate level firm needed a magazine created for them. My friend had been working with them for a few months and we agreed to the following terms: 

* I would retain editorial control 
* I would create a 30 page magazine for them and let them use my logo 
* I would print 100 copies once approved 

Easy right? Not so fast. My first mistake was to not draft a contract. Amateur mistake but I had no idea that the chain of events would occur. If I had a contract, I would have had my deliverables and SCOPE OF RESPONSIBILITY clearly outlined so that my roles would be clear. 

I put in a LOT of hours driving to their corporate office. Interviewing 20+ employees. Transcribing their interviews into readable content. Finally I submitted a draft to the designers. Keep in mind 3 months had gone by. 

The holidays roll past and I got a single message from the designers saying, "We sent our draft to the CEO for approval. That's what we are waiting on." 

Ok, cool. Around the same time, my friend is no longer with the company. The entire marketing staff has either been fired or quit because the company's management has been HIGHLY unprofessional and borderline verbally abusive. 

A month rolls past with zero communications. Then I get an email out of the blue from a recently promoted newer hire that has been placed in charge of the project. He has ZERO experience with magazine work. None. 

"Ill just make up a bunch of shit and invent

managerial responsibility"

Right out the gate, he is demanding to know why the project is so late, and is asking for a partial refund. I get on the phone with him immediately because he has no idea what's going on. 

Keep in mind we are total strangers. His first words to me over the phone were, "I saw your draft. That work wasn't even up to the level someone would read on the shitter." 

Great first impression. Super professional. 😮

It would get worse. 

I found out that he had the designers make a draft that inserted HIM as one of the interviewees. He kissed an impressive amount of ass and presented himself as some kind of business genius. He added several pages (keep in mind this bumps up my printing costs and was NOT approved by me.)

Immediately, he sent a three page document "that he got from some vendor" that listed out suggested changes. It was in multiple fonts and was extremely sarcastic: "Cmon, who is using gradients? Its not 1994!!" This document would add an easy 55 hours of work to myself and the designers. 

At this point, I realized that these modifications were illegal. He might have approval authority but he did NOT have the ability to override my editorial control, add content that I did not approve of, nor INSERT HIS INTERVIEW in my issue. He also did not have the right to get suggestions from "some vendor" that adds to my work hours unpaid. 

I wrote him a very direct email and called him so that we could agree on this project. I offered to walk away and refund him the cost of printing. That way he could make it however he wanted. He agreed. 

The next day he wrote me a summary email and cc'd the CEO. In it he listed several bullet points outlining what I agreed to. Release of editorial control, payment of printing cost, and his assumption of control of this project with no further deliverables from me. 

Then I saw it.

The final bullet was the last straw. 

"Rob agrees to pay company a partial refund." 

Umm, no I didn't. You just lied about a conversation topic that we never had. 

This clown had inserted that at the very bottom hoping to get me to agree to pay printing AND a partial refund in writing.  

At that point, I responded and cc'd the CEO outlining the four breaches of the proposal agreed to by the original deal with my friend and I. I consulted a lawyer who advised me to bail on this deal ASAP. 

I wrote a check for a few thousand to cover printing cost and walked away from this nightmare. Did it sting a little? Yes. But in the long run, I was able to focus on clients that were amazing. The ones that were grateful and didn't try and pull shady shit like this. 

The guy I had the issues with ended up writing to my friend begging for help because he was way over his head. Apparently he pissed off the designers, myself, another vendor and now management wanted his head on a stick because he isn't nearly as smart as he thought he was. 

My friend happily wrote out a detailed response that was appropriate to this guy's level of ego. 

Lesson learned: Fire your worst clients. They aren't worth the headache. 

US Marine Turned 7 Figure Business Owner Marshall Terrin Launches New Program for Professional Growth

 

Marshall Terrin is not your average US Marine. After enlisting with a high school diploma, he served in Ramadi, Iraq during some of the most war torn years in OIF. Marshall knew that he wanted to be a business owner and immediately launched an oxygen bar which grew into several. He grew his company into a 7 figure business by the time he was 25. 

His business venture a success, he branched out  and started several other companies and getting into advising and mentoring. 

His latest project Operation Impact is for civilians and Veteran Impact, a free resource for veterans transitioning from active duty. 

Marshall's vision is to use numerous resources and experts to create a community based on success and growth. Launching Saturday April 30th, Operation Impact and Veteran Impact are exciting ventures that promise to create a legacy of success.

To find out more, visit www.operationimpact.com  

Click here to watch Marshall being interviewed on the Brett Davis Podcast: LINK

Fix Your Business: Here is How

 

When a client starts working with me, the VERY first thing I do is a full diagnostic. I ask about 10 questions, and then I do a full review and Ill know what's wrong within 20 minutes. 

The problem usually lies within 2 areas:

The business is flawed or the OWNER is flawed. Allow me to explain. 

A business can have a perfect website, great marketing, strong conversion from Facebook ads but if the owner is a raging dick that spends 6 hours a day arguing with people online about Trump, calling them libtards and alienating his fanbase, this is going to be a SERIOUS problem. For the record, I wont work with people like this. Their egos dont allow them to change. 

Conversely, a business owner can connect with her audience daily, have HUGE numbers of comments and likes, and seem successful, but if her website looks like a high school 90s Geocities project, she's created misalignment with a strong brand. People will go to the website, think its hot garbage and move on to better pastures. 

So here are some things I look for when someone reaches out to me and says "Help, I am not making any money" 

Owner: 

Do they have a scarcity mindset and only sell low cost items?

Do they fight with people online or just post negative content all day?

Do they run their business like a hobby only checking in periodically and not being consistent?

Business:

Do they have a bad customer journey? Bad payment processes, shitty website load times etc? 

Do they have terrible photos of their products and services and a "I did it myself" feel?

Do they have low quality social media and ZERO understanding of marketing, branding, sales, audience building, etc? 




The owner or the business. Its always in these two categories. 

Now that we have a checklist, lets talk about sales really fast. 

Businesses run off algebra and patterns. You can either sell a LOT of low cost items to a lot of people OR sell a few high cost items to higher budget people. 

Statistically, if you want to sell higher cost items, you'll need a larger audience. 

A business should ALWAYS be attracting new fans outside the "fishbowl" (The fishbowl is the 20-100 people that LOVE your stuff but dont buy from you regularly). 

So where do we find them?

*Media interviews 
*Outbound FB ads
*Guest training in FB groups 
*Recos from high audience friends 
*Business meetups in your city 

Remember that you also have to connect with them regularly. This is HUGE. This is what has kept me going with no ads, no cold pitches, etc. I regularly say hi to people online, send them personal messages on their birthday and offer my help if they are going through a tough time in life. 

Notice that NONE of this involves selling?

The sales come because people trust me and like my vibe. Thats it. Nothing complicated. 

Finally, the MOST IMPORTANT THING is to simply ask for help. You can get a LOT of great advice from friends and if you need to hire an expert, DO IT. (I can assure you an expert is cheaper long term than 6 months of bad sales). 

Experts find flaws and fix them. 

CLIENT STORY: 
A VERY big name in coaching came to me because they had hit a stagnant point in business. We got on a call and I just asked him about 10 questions. 

I shared a single sentence with him, his eyes got really wide and in the next two weeks, he closed $16,000 in sales. 

In about a month, that number had gone to over $40,000. 

(Ill bet you'd REALLY like to know what that sentence was.) 

The point is, because this coach was willing to be humble and just ADMIT he needed some help, he got exactly what he needed. The sales were a byproduct of him implementing expert advice. 

You need outside eyes. Period. 

With that, Ill see you guys next time! - Rob the Warrior Strategist 

HyperIntelligence and The Entrepreneur

 

NOTE: I am not a neuroscientist, nor a licensed mental health professional. This article is bro science as shit, but if you're a Warrior Strategist fan, you realize that creativity and honest thought/observation is a part of my life. That and Iron Man comic books. - Rob

I've been called stupid my whole life. Well into my 30s. 

After awhile you start to believe it. And you start to think something is wrong with you because you don't see the world like everyone else. 

In school my grades were up and down. I had a lot of trouble focusing. My family issues were probably a contributing factor but I cant isolate that as a primary variable. (In 9th grade, my report card was straight Ds and Fs, but I had been reading 3-4 grades ABOVE my grade level since I was about 8.) 

In my 20s I started gaining hyperintelligence. It was like that movie Phenomenon with John Travolta. I started being able to "see" patterns and understand causal relationships. 

In my 30s, I had another burst and it helped me as I enrolled in Doctoral studies. I found a book that explained EVERYTHING about my learning style. 

Successful Intelligence by Sternberg. 

Dr. Sternberg was placed in remedial classes as a child because he had severe test anxiety. He hated standardized tests and had poor grades. He went on to become a Professor at Cornell. He taught at Yale. He was also the President of the University of Wyoming. 
13 Honorary Doctorates. 

Testing almost doused this tiny flame before it even had a chance to burn brightly. 

Sternberg states that there are 3 types of intelligence:
Analytical - Logical, math strong, single solutions to problems
Creative - Imaginative, wide spatial intelligence, a need to "make" things
Practical - Street smart, can see through roadblocks and maximize minimal resources 

Society doesn't reward creatives. How many rich artists do you personally know? 

We take SATs so that we can go to college. The highest paying jobs are either heavily technical, math based, or require a LOT of tests. 

So for a guy like me that is highly creative, I never had a chance. I love skateboarding, drawing, music, comic books, video games, colors, shapes, and cooking with flair. 

Now, back to hyperintelligence: I define it as simply having an advanced form of cognitive processing. 

I see it in 4 forms:

💥Educational 

💥Experience 

💥Prodigy

💥Genius 

Educational is when you have so much learning (classroom or autodidactic) that you gain above average comprehension on a topic  

Experience is when you are exposed to something and spend enough time to where patterns emerge, spatial intelligence widens and routines and processes become very easy to recite

Prodigy is having a skill at a very young age. Its usually in a concentrated area like chess, music, etc 

Genius is your Good Will Hunting example. Being able to apply a higher thought process to nearly any situation

Hyperintelligence can be derived from any of these four. But sometimes it comes with a cost. 

Hyperintelligent people feel alone, ostracized, sometimes teased for their gifts. They dont always feel comfortable in a social setting and for those on the autism scale, its three times as confining when you throw in proximity and sensory overload issues. Its also frustrating for them when it feels like the ENTIRE world is slower than them in certain areas. 

Turning Hyperintelligence Into a Strength

If you recognize hyperintelligence in your life or someone you know, there ARE ways to isolate it, and use it to create a rich and robust life. 

Hyperintelligent people make amazing entrepreneurs. They are self starters, have an independent spirit and by going into business for themselves, can shine in their zone of genius. 

I could've been a technical writer. Commute, cubicle, coworkers. $30 an hour. 

OR

Launch a magazine, become a consultant, work from home, and charge $750 a call to a global audience. The best part? I get to do work that I alone choose and LOVE doing!! 

For hyperintelligent people there are five things I recommend:

1. Go into business for yourself. Figure out what youre better at than most people and remember that even general consulting is monetizable. 

2. Build a team so that you can farm out admin and side work. You just want to be working in your skillset. 

3. Consulting is the best way to utilize your skills. You have creative control, YOU choose your rates, and you can control what goes in the contract. 

4. Accept an asymmetrical lifestyle. You are not a 9-5er. If you want an hour each day to meditate, TAKE IT. Accept that you can create any life you want and that the universe has handed you gifts. No one will judge you if you reward yourself with perks. 

5. Find your tribe. Don't self isolate. This one is HUGE. Yesterday I went to Mission Valley Mall and wrote down my friends in San Diego. The list hit 32 and I realized that a LOT of these people have fallen in the cracks of Covid and that I haven't been a good friend following up with them. I'm going to fix that ASAP. As a hyperintelligent person, my natural instinct is to shut out the world. This leads to isolation, depression, and low self esteem. You have more to offer the world, so seek out other people. 
We need human contact. 

In summary, being hyperintelligent, regardless of which type, will make you deliciously weird and a lot of fun. Don't worry about the world judging you, figure out what you excel at and make your career out of it. 

If you have questions, please ask them in comments below! - Rob 

US Marine Turned Crypto Millionaire Selected For Cover of SHIFT Magazine

 

Seth Maniscalco has one of the greatest success stories I have ever heard. I met him online and started to learn about his world. What really struck me is the vast amount of knowledge this guy has in the industry. Alt coin parameters? Easy. DeFi as a revenue option for major insurance companies? Simple.

Seth has the gift of teaching. Some people have it, most don't. 

He's VERY good at explaining things to beginners and his use of analogies and real world events is really fun to learn. 

Seth started off as an enlisted US Marine which is where he picked up his love of investing. He then started learning about cryptocurrency when it was an emerging market. He finished his Master's in Blockchain Technology and created a private crypto trading group for serious traders. 

Seth's private investing group here: LINK 

He has the district achievement of creating 60+ crypto millionaires and credits his balance of family/work time for his success. (Pretty sure he's still in Puerto Rico enjoying the beaches as I write this.) 

Seth's cover feature in SHIFT Advanced Life Design Magazine is a distinct achievement reserved for only the top performers in their industries. He joins Delta Force, SEAL Team 6 members, NYT Best Selling Author Mike Michalowicz and business analyst Scott Oldford. 

I was also very pleased that Seth included a "Beginner's Guide to Crypto" and listed some of his best resources for getting started. 

You can read his full interview here for FREE:

Click HERE to read free! 

To learn more about Seth, visit his website at www.cryptowealthcoach.com 

Thanks for reading the Warrior Strategist Blog! 

#cryptowealthcoach
#bitcoin
#blockchain
#cryptocurrency