If Arnie was a blogger: Matthew Michalewicz at ProBlogger

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At the start of Matthew Michalewicz keynote at ProBlogger, we each wrote down the biggest challenge we were facing.

Bonus: Download the 33 free templates from Web Marketing That Works.

Then Matthew humorously (yet seriously) got us to ask… “What would Arnie do?”

It turns out that Matthew has been studying success for decades, and he the first successful person he followed was Arnold Schwarzenegger.

What can we learn from Arnie?

Aside from working out 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening, we can learn plenty from Arnie about psychology, mindsets and the process for success. Matthew taught us what he has learnt from his phenomonally successful entrepreneurial journey.

Define success

Goals increase performance (supported by 80 years of research). People with written goals make 9x more money over their lifetime.

For the record, when my biz partner Toby and I launched our business a decade ago we defined success as “having the time and financial freedom to live the lifestyle we choose with the people we love.” Essentially it is about having ‘options’ and being able to do the things we love.

Why are people successful?

1. Focus (what exactly do I want to achieve?)
and
2. Context (what must I do — and not do — to make it happen?)

The only question to ask is: “Will this opportunity help me achieve my goal?”

How to pitch something

1. Be clear on your goals
2. Identify who could help you
3. Understand their goals
4. Identify how you could help them
5. Pitch them a compelling win:win

What stops most people?

Lack of desire (desire is related to the amount of effort you put in). The more badly you want something, the more likely you are to achieve it.
It’s just too HARD. The famous “I can’t” = there’s not enough desire.
The solution is: If you have an incentive, either a carrot or stick, there is always a way.

Firstly, you need belief.

Belief → Action → Results

Without belief, you will always find a reason why you can’t. If you believe in what you are doing, you will find reasons to make it happen. Belief or lack of belief stems from the people you spend time with, and whether you or not you believe.

Any time people don’t believe they can do something, it is because they do not have the ‘knowledge’. If you don’t have the knowledge success looks like magic. If you do have the knowledge, you know it’s just a process!

Knowledge is a process, and action = results

Thinking that “education is expensive” is the biggest misconception. The most expensive thing is ignorance.

Desire and fear are opposites

There is always a contest between desire and fear. Do I want it more than I fear it?

Like all of us, Matthew has always experienced fear before doing something daunting (like starting a biz, speaking to a big audience, writing a book)

Fear = progress

Because you are going into the unknown, there will always be fear. Then the fear subsides once you’ve done it once because it is no longer unknown. And you grow.

So remember, when you feel fear the solution is to take action.

Finally

When you’re down and out.. Ask what would Arnie do?

PS. Matthew’s book Life in Half a Second

Matthew delighted the audience when he gave all 550 of us a copy of his new book Life in Half a Second. I started reading it on the flight home.

About Adam Franklin

Adam Franklin is the bestselling author of Web Marketing That Works. He is an international social media speaker and CEO of Bluewire Media. His blog was Australia's #1 Business Blog and his podcast was #9 on the top marketing podcasts in Entrepreneur magazine. His work has featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, The Australian, Sydney Morning Herald, Huffington Post and iTunes. Download the popular Web Strategy Planning Template which has been used by hundreds of thousands of businesses worldwide. His weekly 'Bluewire News' email goes out to over 32,000 readers.