Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - Motivation Monday: The Steve Martin Method of Achieving Your Goals

Episode Date: March 5, 2018

This episode is part of a weekly series that I have dubbed “Motivation Monday.” (Yes, I know, very creative of me. What can I say, I’m a genius…) Seriously though, the idea here is simple: Every Monday morning, I’m going to post a short and punchy episode that I hope gets you fired up to tackle the workouts, work, and everything else that you have planned for the week ahead. As we all know, it’s one thing to know what you want to do, but it’s something else altogether to actually make yourself do it, and I hope that this series gives you a jolt of inspiration, energy, and encouragement to get at it. So, if you like what you hear, then make sure to check back every Monday morning for the latest and greatest installment. Want to get my best advice on how to gain muscle and strength and lose fat faster? Sign up for my free newsletter! Click here: www.muscleforlife.com/signup/

This episode is brought to you by me. Seriously though, I'm not big on promoting stuff that I don't personally use and believe in. So instead I'm going to just quickly tell you about something of mine, specifically my 100% natural whey protein powder, Whey Plus. Now, this is a naturally sweetened and flavored whey isolate protein powder made from exceptionally high quality milk from small dairy farms in Ireland. Whey Plus also contains no GMOs, hormones, antibiotics, artificial food dyes, fillers, or other unnecessary junk. And if I may say so myself,

it also tastes delicious and mixes great. And all that is why Weight Plus has over 1,400 reviews on Amazon with a four and a half star average and another 600 on my website with a five star average. So if you want a clean, all-natural, and great-tasting whey protein supplement that's low in calories, carbs, and fat, then you wanna head over to www.legionathletics.com and pick up a bottle of Whey Plus today. And just to show how much I appreciate my podcast peeps, use the coupon code podcast at checkout

and you will save 10% on your entire order. And lastly, you should also know that I have a very simple 100% money back guarantee that works like this. You either love my stuff or you get your money back, period. You don't have to return the products. You don't have to fill out forms.

You don't have to jump through any other hoops or go through any other shenanigans. So you really can't lose here. Head over to www.legionathletics.com now, place your order, and see for yourself why my supplements have thousands of rave reviews all over the internet. And if for whatever reason, they're just not for you, contact us and we will give you a full refund on the spot. Alrighty, that is enough shameless plugging for now at least. Let's get to the show. Hey, hey, Mike here. Welcome to another episode of my podcast. This is of course Motivation Monday. And let us start with a quote, this time from the legendary psychologist and philosopher William James. And he said that the greatest discovery of my

generation is that you can change your circumstances by changing your attitudes of mind. Chances are you have heard of Steve Martin, the comedian, because he is one of the most famous comedians of the 20th century. And many of the modern comedic devices that so many young people think are so novel actually have their roots in Martin's work. Not only is he a highly accomplished stand-up comedian, but he's also an accomplished writer, actor, and musician. And having done all these things, he, of course, has been asked how many times, how did he do it? What tips can he share? What advice can he share for other people that want to follow in his footsteps? And in his memoir, which is called Born Standing Up, a book that I highly recommend if you like memoirs and if you like biographies. Martin didn't just talk

about all the things that he did. He actually did share some of his insights as to how he achieved his success. And I found a lot of his advice very inspiring and very spot on. I think that if we take some of his lessons to heart, that we will be able to better achieve our goals. And in this podcast, I want to talk about the essence of what I'm going to call the Steve Martin method of achieving your goals. Now, when people ask Martin what his secret to success is, particularly in the entertainment industry, he has been asked this many times. His answer usually disappoints them because it's just one unsexy line, very simple. Here's what he says. He says, be so good they can't ignore you. Now, before you just dismiss that as cliched,

let it sink in because I really do think it captures the essence of achieving goals, big and small, in any area of life. What Martin is saying, of course, is forget the secret back doors, the gimmicks, the tricks, the hacks, the frustration of feeling like you're just missing out on some X factor or mystical element, and just focus on one thing. Focus on becoming really, really good at something. Become extraordinary at it, better than everybody that you know. Focus on becoming so good at it that people just can't help but be in awe. And while that might seem a bit daunting, I think it actually is invigorating because it simplifies the quest for success, which can often appear very complex and even overwhelming. And I think it really strikes at the core deficiency that I see, at least, in many of the people that I know

and that I have known over the years who aren't as accomplished as they want to be. And that doesn't necessarily mean financially. Of course, it includes financial accomplishment, but it also includes professional accomplishment, recognition, status, or personal accomplishment, personal growth, physical, mental, whatever. of all of the most unsuccessful and unsatisfied people that I know and have known is that they are not very good at anything. And that might sound kind of harsh, but it's true. So for example, in the case of financial success, I've known many people who have spent many years jumping from one money-making scheme to the next. They would be chasing trends. So whatever was hot at the time, they were doing. And this would range from MLMs to selling alkaline water systems to selling random stuff on Amazon.

And while these people did make money along the way, very few of them ever really established themselves. Very few of them ever really established themselves. Very few of them ever really found something that they could go far in and make good money in and really establish a career in. They were always, or most of them were always kind of struggling and just scraping by. And one of the primary reasons many of these people are still stuck in the same rut is they haven't gotten really, really good at something that has commercial value. Some of them are kind of scrappy and they're pretty good at solving problems

and just getting into action and doing things, but that's not enough. If you want to do very well for yourself financially, you have to have a very specific skill set that is commercially valuable and you have to be very, very good at it. You have to be so good that people can't ignore you. And I think this is truer now than ever before because competition in just about every field you could want to get into is much fiercer now than it has been in the past. Barriers to entry are getting smaller and smaller. Information is becoming more and more widely available and more and more people who are willing to work really hard are getting smaller and smaller. Information is becoming more and more widely available and

more and more people who are willing to work really hard are getting into more and more things. And so if you want to have any chance at becoming really successful in any field or endeavor, I think the first goal then is to get really, really good at the right thing or things. So for example, I'm often asked for advice as to how to succeed in the fitness industry. And so the first thing that you have to get really good at is how you look. You have to have the type of body that the people that you want to sell things to would want to have. You have to have a physique that is so good that these people can't ignore you. And that doesn't necessarily mean you have to have a top tier Instagram physique,

because then of course that means you have to get on a ton of drugs. Most people actually don't even want to look like that anyway. That said, you do have to have the type of body that a lot of people would look at and say, wow, I wish I looked like that. And the next skill that you have to get so good at that they can't ignore you if you want to succeed in the fitness space is helping other people get into shape. And there are various ways of doing that. You could create content. That's what I like to do. I like to write. I like to record podcasts. I like to shoot videos. Or you could focus on coaching. Some people prefer to do that over creating content. Some people prefer to spend the majority of their time working one-on-one with people as opposed to writing articles or recording things. And that can work as well.

I know several people who are very good at coaching, very good at helping other people reach their fitness goals. And the coaches themselves, they don't spend very much time creating content, if any at all, because they don't really like it. They like working with people and because they can get really, really good results, they have fantastic word of mouth and they have fantastic success stories that they can show. And so they have no problem getting more and more clients. And the third skill that you have to get really good at if you are going to do very well in the fitness space is marketing. You have to know how to sell.

You have to know how to persuade people. And so those are the three things that you have to be so good at that they can't ignore you if you're going to do very well in the fitness space. You have to have a body that is so good that people can't ignore you. You have to be so good at helping other people get into shape that people can't ignore you. You have to be so good at helping other people get into shape that they can't ignore you. And you have to be so good at marketing, at persuading people that they can't ignore you. And if that sounds like a lot to you, it is. The fitness industry is not an easy place to make a living. It is very, very competitive and there is a lot of money to be made, which is why it is so competitive. But the same goes for any other field where you can do really well for

yourself. There's going to be a lot of competition and it's going to require a lot of work and it's probably going to require not just one skill, but a few skills that you're really going to have to hone if you're going to do well. So in my case, I first got into really good shape. And then a friend of mine that I used to work out with was telling me that I should just take my shirt off and go on YouTube and sell things or like vlog or something like that. And I was just like, that's not my thing. I don't want to waste my time with that. But I was interested in writing and I look back now and I don't think I was a very good writer in the beginning. I guess I was okay.

I'm much better now. But for me, it started with getting into really good shape. And then from there, I decided to make writing my thing that I was going to get so good at that people couldn't ignore me. And so since then, I've written probably one and a half million words, I would guess, between blogs and books. And while I think I'm now a good writer, I don't think I'm great. I think I'm good. The objective metrics tell the story. The objective metrics say that I have gotten so good that they can't ignore me. Because for example, my blogs at Muscle for Life and Legion Athletics together receive about 3 million visits a month right now. I've sold over a million books as a self-published author with no mainstream media coverage or

bookstore distribution. And I receive hundreds of emails and social media messages a day from people who really like my writing, my articles, and my books. And that was by design. I decided that in the beginning of my journey into the fitness space that I wanted to make writing my thing because it was something that I enjoyed. And I felt like there was an opportunity to create really good content, to do it in a way that nobody else was doing it at the time, and eventually do it at a level that nobody else was doing. And on the marketing side of things, I've put in a lot of work to become a good marketer. I've read dozens and dozens of books. I have worked on many types of projects, and I've also particularly honed in on copywriting.

And again, I think I'm a good copywriter. I don't think I'm a great copywriter, but I'm good. And good goes a long way in copywriting because most copywriters out there are just bad. They're just bad. So if you can write good copy, you can really stand out. And so my skill as a marketer and as a copywriter in particular, and my business partner, Jeremy's skill as a marketer, these things have been instrumental in the success of all the things that we're doing. Books, muscle for life, coaching, supplements, and so forth. Hey, quickly, before we carry on, if you are liking my podcast, would you please help spread the word about it? Because no amount of marketing or advertising gimmicks can match the power of

word of mouth. So if you are enjoying this episode and you think of someone else who might enjoy it as well, please do tell them about it. It really helps me. And if you are going to post about it on social media, definitely tag me so I can say thank you. You can find me on Instagram at Muscle for Life Fitness, Twitter at Muscle for Life, and Facebook at Muscle for Life Fitness. So if you are struggling right now, struggling to succeed in some activity or endeavor, ask yourself, what do I need to get so good at that they can't ignore me? What are the crucial skills? Or maybe it's just one skill. What is the crucial skill that I need to master to really stand out? And if you're not sure, then you have to go find out. Read about people who

have done similar things to what you want to do. Or if you can find people, if you know people that have already done the things that you want to do, ask them. Ask them what skill or skills, usually it's just going to be one, two, maybe three things that they most attribute their success to. For example, some of the most successful people that I've known have attributed most of their success to their ability to sell. They've always been very good salespeople. And that then, of course, helps them sell things to make money, but it also helps them sell their ideas to other people. So it helps them attract really good people to work with them because they can sell their vision. They've been able to raise lots of money for their ventures because then they can sell this big idea and they can sell investors on themselves because

that's ultimately what investors are looking for. Not just looking for ideas. Everybody has ideas. Ideas aren't worth shit. Execution is what matters. And so investors are looking at not, oh, am I willing to invest in this idea? It's much more, am I willing to invest in this person? Do I believe in this person? Or maybe your so-good-they-can't-ignore-you thing is going to be technical. Maybe it's going to be something like coding, or it's going to be something in the financial sector, or it's going to be a trade skill like being a carpenter or being a plumber or being an electrician. So my point is there are many ways to get there. You just have to figure out what your way is. And then you have to

be ready to grind. You have to be ready to experience some pain and discomfort because it takes a few hundred hours of deliberate practice, hard work at something to get good. And it takes probably upward of a thousand plus hours of hard work to get really good, to get so good that they can't ignore you. All right. So before we wrap up, I want to share a couple other bits of advice that I liked from Martin's book. And one is to innovate, not just work, but innovate. Just going through the motions and putting in time is not enough to become outstanding, to really stand out. You really need to have a restless desire to figure out new and better ways to do things. You have to experiment and you have to learn from both your successes and your failures

that result from those experiments. successes and your failures that result from those experiments. You can't be content with just following the crowd and doing the same things that everybody else is doing in the same ways that they're doing them. Instead, you should take time to really understand the first principles, the laws of whatever it is that you are involved in, And you should look at what other people are doing and see how it compares to the principles and laws. And you should look at what they're doing well and what they're not doing well. And then try to dream up new ways to mix, match, stretch, and augment these things into things that are new and better. Another tip from Martin is to have one focus, one goal. He said that he owes a lot of his success to his diligence in just one field at

a time. He would work on just one primary thing until he had mastered it. He really resisted the urge to branch off into other new types of work or projects, regardless of how interesting or fun they might seem. And in today's age of never-ending and innumerable distractions and possibilities, it might seem a little bit counterintuitive to sharpen your ambition to a razor's edge. But I really do think it's one of the little acknowledged common denominators among very successful people. I think that Martin was right when he said that if you don't align your entire life with one singular quest for greatness, you're going to dilute your focus. You're going to dilute your drive to a point where becoming extraordinary is just not possible.

Remember that we only have so much time, energy, and attention. And we also have to be aware of how much time, energy, and attention it is going to take to become extraordinary at one thing, let alone multiple things. We want to make sure we don't bite off more than we can chew. We want to make sure we don't slice ourselves too thin and try to apply ourselves to too many things simultaneously, which in the end just results in mediocrity across the board, as opposed to really focusing in, really honing in on two, let's say one, two, maybe three things that we can really master, that we can really get really, really good at. I want to leave you with a quote from Ray Dalio, who built the biggest hedge fund ever, and who recently

published a book called Principles that I highly recommend. He said, quote, I learned that if you work hard and creatively, you can have just about anything you want, but not everything you want. Maturity is the ability to reject good alternatives in order to pursue even better ones. Hey there, it is Mike again. I hope you enjoyed this episode and found it interesting and helpful. And if you did, and don't mind doing me a favor and want to help me make this the most popular health and fitness podcast on the internet, then please leave a quick review of it on iTunes or wherever you're listening from. This not only convinces people that they should

check the show out, it also increases its search visibility and thus helps more people find their way to me and learn how to build their best bodies ever too. And of course, if you want to be notified when the next episode goes live, then just subscribe to the podcast and you won't miss out on any of the new goodies. Lastly, if you didn't like something about the show, then definitely shoot me an email at mike at muscleforlife.com and share your thoughts on how you think it could be better. I read everything myself and I'm always looking for constructive feedback. So please do reach out. All right, that's it.

Thanks again for listening to this episode and I hope to looking for constructive feedback. So please do reach out. All right, that's it. Thanks again for listening to this episode and I hope to hear from you soon. And lastly, this episode is brought to you by me. Seriously though, I'm not big on promoting stuff that I don't personally use and believe in. So instead I'm going to just quickly tell you about something of mine. Specifically my 100% natural whey protein powder, Whey Plus.

Now, this is a naturally sweetened and flavored whey isolate protein powder made from exceptionally high quality milk from small dairy farms in Ireland. Whey Plus also contains no GMOs, hormones, antibiotics, artificial food dyes, fillers, or other unnecessary junk. And if I may say so myself, it also tastes delicious and mixes great. And all that is why Wayplus has over 1,400 reviews on Amazon with a four and a half star average and another 600 on my website with a five star average. So if you want a clean,

all natural and great tasting whey protein supplement, that's low in calories, carbs, and fat, then you want to head over to www.legionathletics.com and pick up a bottle of whey plus today. And just to show how much I appreciate my podcast peeps use the coupon code podcast at checkout, and you will save 10% on your entire order. And lastly, you should also know that I have a very simple 100% money back guarantee that works like this. You either love my stuff or you get your money back period. You don't have to return the products. You don't have to fill out forms. You don't have to jump through any other hoops or go through any other shenanigans.

So you really can't lose here. Head over to www.lesionathletics.com now, place your order and see for yourself why my supplements have thousands of rave reviews all over the internet. And if for whatever reason, they're just not for you, contact us and we will give you a full refund on the spot.