Daniel DiPiazza is a millennial business mastermind and the young entrepreneur behind the massively popular career and lifestyle website Rich20Something.com.

In this episode Daniel shares his insights on what it takes to crush it online.

You can listen to our interview on the Addicted2Success podcast where Daniel shares his advice and strategies for online success (just hit play!)

STOP wasting your potential and create a Kickass business you love. Click the picture below and grab the BRAND NEW Rich20Something book today!

What you will discover in this book:

• Why most people can never think of a profitable business idea, and how to become an idea machine
• How to completely destroy your fear of failure and pounce on the most important opportunities
• Hustling 101: How to make your first $100,000 on the side
• Why you should never network again, and how to befriend powerful influencers who will gladly help you
• From freelancer to entrepreneur: How to create an online business that prints money while you sleep
• How to eliminate distractions, get laser focused, and crush your goals
• The mental tools and daily strategies I use to consistently create world-class work

In total, the book has more than 300 pages of detailed strategies, crazy anecdotes and larger-than-life personalities—including case studies from over a dozen wildly successful entrepreneurs who will tell you exactly how they did it.

Grab it here. Consume it. Start your dream business. Live an incredible life.

Welcome once more to the “How to Be a Grownup Podcast Breakdown”!  My name is Erik Andress and I am the host of this show.  Today, I am humbled and grateful to bring you the compassionate wisdom and the ambitious advice of speaker and minister Jeremy Anderson!  He has gone from a life of hopelessness to prosperity.  Through his hustle he took himself from the ground floor to working one-on-one with luminaries like the world renowned speaker Eric Thomas.  He has a fascinating story of grind and redemption that we all strive to emulate.

Check out this podcast interview with Jeremy to learn all his tips, tricks, and techniques that he wants you to know to live a empowered life:

While there were a lot of gems this ambitious entrepreneur dropped, here are the three most important ways Jeremy believes that you can do to revolutionize your business and personal life:

1. You are capable of redemption.  You can live a life that makes a difference

It was only a few short years ago that my life looked very different.  My outlook was bleak, to say the least.  I was lost in murky depths of drug abuse and I was nearing 300 pounds on the tiny scale in my bathroom.  I spent my evenings mesmerized by the glow of my television and I wasn’t taking any purposeful steps towards success.  I felt deeply confined by the labels that had been placed on me by teachers, counselors, and middle school bullies.  I was weighed down and shackled by the ideas that had been embedded in me.  Of course I was a “loser”, they had all told me so.  Of course I was destined to always be the fat kid, they had all told me so.  Of course I was doomed to live a life of underwhelming mediocrity, they had all told me so.

My life changed when I decided to make it change.  I decided that I would no longer accept feeling sluggish and encumbered by the weight that I had put on.  I bought a pair of tennis shoes and I began to hit the pavement.  I decided that I would no longer spend my nights held hostage by the media on my electronic devices.  I began to put myself out there and attend social events put on in my area.  I decided that I wasn’t going to accept the idea that I was stuck in this job that I despised driving to every day.  I began to apply of other positions and I found a teaching position that allowed me to give of myself to the most vulnerable of student populations.

Your life changes only when you get angry enough with your current situation that change is a NECESSITY, not an option.  So get disgusted with the things in your life that are holding you back.  Get furious at the idea that you are not living up to your physical potential.  Get livid at the fact that you are not in an occupation that allows you to fulfill your purpose.  Get angry with the idea that you are not bringing your best self to your significant other or those in your life that you love.  Use this as fuel to push you to take action.  It is then, and only then, that you can truly start to live the life that you deserve!

“I’m gonna make the rest of my life, the best of my life.” – Eric Thomas

2. You are deserving of health and happiness

For so much of our younger years, the adults in our life that we trust focus on our deficiencies. They often do this with good intentions, in the idea that they will push us to bigger and better things by helping us to rectify our mistakes. However, for many young people, this strategy backfires. This often times convinces them that they don’t deserve to be happy. This often times pushes them to believe that they don’t deserve to be healthy. They might end up feeling that they do not deserve the chance to fight for the version of success that they hold dear and their mind’s eye. However, (and I want you to focus on the sentence because it might be the most vital one that you read today) you are a person of worth that deserves health, happiness, and an extraordinary life.

Yes, you might have had your feelings in the past yes, you might have caused hurt and heartache for others. However, your past does not dictate your destiny. Choose right here and right now to change the way that you have looked at yourself in the past.  Choose right here and right now to move forward in your life with the assumption that your DEFAULT SETTING is happiness and that you can accomplish incredible vitality and health if you put in the work.  Simply by being alive, breathing, and having that heart continuing to pump in your chest…you are worth it.

“Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet.  I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.” – Groucho Marx

3. Being of service to other people brings abundance into your life

Before I entered the transitional period in my life that brought about my own self empowerment, I was so used to having my credit card declined that it just became another frustrating part of my life.  I was so used to feeling like I could never quite get a hold of success and that all good things in my life just seemed to continually slip through my fingers.  However, there was one revolutionary moment, in which all of this changed.

I had just returned home from an evening interview at a high school.  I desperately wanted that job.  I was living paycheck to paycheck and barely scraping by.  Shrugging my backpack off my shoulders onto my kitchen table, I felt compelled to go for a walk.  As I trudged through a nearby park, illuminated only by the pale circles of light that were cast on the path in front of me, I dejectedly slumped over on a dilapidated park bench.  This will be my seventeenth interview, and probably my seventeenth rejection, I thought to myself.  On top of all of this, I had recently put my heart out there for a woman.  I had left her a message on her answering machine while she was out of town telling her how incredible I thought she was and that I would be profoundly grateful if she let me buy her a cup of coffee.  Days had passed and no response from her.  As I surveyed the park and listened to the late night wind rustle through the leaves of the trees above me, I was overwhelmed with a sense of letting go.

I still don’t entirely know what compelled me to do this, but on that park bench I said out loud to nobody in particular, “If I get this job, I will dedicate my life to being of service to these kids.  It will not be about the paycheck for me.  It will be about helping them realize their greatness.”

I sighed deeply, feeling utterly helpless.  It wasn’t even a minute later that my cell phone began to buzz in my pocket.  I had gotten two text messages.  Opening my phone, I was astonished to see that the first was from a teacher at the school I had interviewed at earlier that evening.  It read, “Call me.  We want to offer you the job.”  The second message was, much to my surprise, from the woman that I tried to contact.  Her message said, “I’d love to get coffee with you.  Pick me up this Friday at 8.”

When I chose to let go of my expectations for myself and decide to be of service to others, abundance entered my life.  As I began my journey as a teacher in that institution, and was able to bring those young scholars the kind of compassionate instruction they deserved to have, I started to get opportunities to speak and change the lives of kids outside my classroom.  Oh, and the woman from earlier in the story?  We’ve now been happily married for nearly three years.  While it may seem antithetical to what you have been taught, giving of yourself is truly the quickest and easiest way to bring more love, more wealth, and more hope into your life.  

“The measure of a man’s greatness is not the number of servants he has, but the number of people he serves.” – John Hagee

If you want to find out more about Jeremy Anderson and the work that he does, please visit: https://www.jeremyanderson.org/

I hope you’ve enjoyed the “How to Be a Grownup Podcast!”  If you have some takeaways from the interview I missed, SOUND OFF in the comments below.

Welcome once more to the “How to Be a Grownup Podcast Breakdown”!  My name is Erik Andress and I am the host of this show.  Today, I am humbled and grateful to bring you the words and wisdom of entrepreneur Jeremy Slate!  He has a fascinating story of redemption and hustle that we all can learn something valuable from.

Check out this podcast interview with Jeremy to learn all his tips, tricks, and techniques that he wants you to know to live a empowered life:

While there were a lot of gems this ambitious entrepreneur dropped, here are the three most important ways Jeremy believes that you can do to revolutionize your business and personal life:

1. Connect to others with authenticity and genuine compassion

We live in this weird time right now.  We live in a time in which it is seemingly socially acceptable for two young people on a date to be staring at their cell phones as opposed to each other. We live in a time where people automate their social media responses and text back pre-written answers to people that attempting to contact them. This practice of detached communication is slowly eroding our ability to connect with each other.  Over the course of my conversation with Jeremy Slate, we discussed the profound power that lies behind authentic communication.

Want to differentiate yourself from other people? Use heart-centered and compassionate communication. Be the person that tells a potential client the unfettered truth. Be the person that tells your significant other that they are deeply meaningful to you. Be the person that resolves disputes with co-workers peaceably while still recognizing the humanity in them. Be the person that goes out of your way to tell your teacher or professor that you are very grateful for the opportunity to learn under them. There are so many individuals out there right now trying to find that romantic partner, trying to start and sustain their own entrepreneurial venture, trying to get to the top of their class in their respective academic institutions. If you want to stand out from the crowd, do so by communicating in a much more meaningful way. It doesn’t take much more than a few kind words, eye contact, and a willingness to persist in conversation even when you have a deep desire to grab your iPhone from your pocket and start flipping through Instagram once more!

“The way we communicate with others and ourselves, ultimately determines the quality of our lives.” – Tony Robbins

2. Persistence and patience are key components of success

I will admit it. As a former English teacher, I love clichés. The reason I do is that there is a kernel of truth for us to learn from in each of them. One of my favorites is, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” I think that this particular platitude is so important for us to keep in mind because of the kind of culture that you and I have gotten used to living in is infatuated with getting things handed to them instantaneously. It feels deeply frustrating to me that so many young people are obsessed with the idea of instant gratification or attaining their goals immediately.

In reality, all good things in our lives have to be fought for.  A business is not built overnight. It takes countless hours and a lot of sweat equity to develop and demonstrate your value in the marketplace. A great relationship does not come immediately. A long term and sustainable relationship is one that you have to work on. Graduating at the top of your class is no easy feat. To be that kind of young scholar, you need to accept the fact that you will have many late nights in study groups, with tutors and with your nose shoved in a book. Be patient and continue to push. When you apply this principle to your life, you will absolutely start to see the success that you want to have!

“Your legacy is being written by yourself.  Make the right decisions” – Gary Vaynerchuk

3. Have an undying faith in your dream and your grind

There is a price for success that most people are unwilling to pay. Unfortunately, while I am a proud educator, I believe that our schools have failed many of you in that regard. For much of your young life you have had your hands held, you have been told that you are special, and anytime that you complain about your challenges, you have been given a copious amount of help. Sadly, as many of you know, this is a far cry from what you will experience in the real world.

There are always going to be that was the doubt you. There are going to be those that see you in the early stages of your journey toward success, and they will take that opportunity to try to tear you down. They will take that opportunity to try and laugh at you. Nevertheless, this is the time that you need to fight the hardest. This is the time that you need to believe the most in that dream that keeps you awake at night. Understand that you don’t need the approval of others to chase your version of success. You don’t need other people to co-sign the thing that you wish for the most. If your teacher doesn’t believe that you have the ability to find real success in the classroom, show them differently. If your significant other doesn’t believe that you can be a better partner to them, show them differently. If your business partner or clientele don’t see you as a leader, show them differently. The universe does not shape you, you shape the universe!

“Every time I wake up, I am thinking that I am alive, this is the day!  This is an opportunity.” – Eric Thomas

I hope you’ve enjoyed the “How to Be a Grownup Podcast!”  If you have some takeaways from the interview I missed, SOUND OFF in the comments below.

Welcome once more to the “How to Be a Grownup Podcast Breakdown”!  My name is Erik Andress and I am the host of this show.  Today, I am humbled and grateful to bring you the words and wisdom of entrepreneur Kyle Lipton!  He is a walking testament to what we can accomplish when we align with our true purpose in the universe and have a positive vision for our future.

Check out this podcast interview with Kyle to learn all his tips, tricks, and techniques that he wants you to know to live a empowered life:

In this podcast, Kyle has dropped some powerful knowledge and discusses his past hardship that has given him a rare glimpse into how to access a drive and clarity of purpose that many entrepreneurs can only dream of having!

While there were a lot of gems this inspiring entrepreneur dropped, here are the three most important ways Kyle believes that you can do to exponentially increase the abundance in your life:

1. The instruction booklet for “lasting success” is there, you just need to go and get it

We live in an amazing time in human history.  Right now, in your pants pocket or purse is a small device that has access to all the knowledge that humanity has to offer.  Your cell phone, tablet, or personal computer is a key to open the door to virtually infinite free knowledge that can help you.  Start listening to podcasts.  Understand that there are so many podcasters that bring you weekly shows that can bring you knowledge, on a weekly basis, that could rival college courses taught on similar topics in years past.  Use your library card!  There is a plethora of information just waiting for you to unlock it in countless tomes that have been written by powerful women and men that want to guide you towards the life that you deserve to be living.  

When we expand the knowledge that we have at our fingertips, we drastically increase the tools we have to deal with any difficult situation.  Don’t curtail your ability to be a beast at life.  Give yourself every opportunity, every chance, every last possibility that you that you can by becoming a voracious life-long learner!

“If you are not willing to learn, nobody can help you.  If you determined to learn, nobody can stop you.” – Anonymous

2. Your circumstances do not define you, your work ethic does

Kyle spoke beautifully about his past experiences with financial hardship and the steps that he took to remove himself from that mindset.  There is a wonderful parable, that I have said on the podcast before, that I think addresses this point nicely.

Once upon a time, there was a young man that was facing a lot of challenges in his life.  His grades were in the toilet, his girlfriend has just broken up with him, and his car had just gotten towed.  On top of all of that, in the middle of the night, he had heard his parents arguing about a potential impending bankruptcy.  Feeling totally overwhelmed, one night he finally broke down in front of her Dad and told him everything that was weighing on his shoulders.  Without a word, his father brought him into the kitchen and put two pots on the stove, lit the burners, and instructed his son to watch.

As the pots began to simmer and boil, his father dropped an egg in one pot and a potato in the other.  The son began to protest and say that he really needed advice from his father, but the Dad once more instructed him to be quiet and watch.  Soon, the Dad ladled the egg and the potato out onto the countertop and allowed them to cool.  The father waved his son over and asked him to look closely.  “What do you see son?” the father asked with an amused smile on his face.

“A potato and an egg,” the son replied hastily.  “What does this have to do with anything Dad?”

His father then explained that the potato and the egg had each faced the same struggles and hardship-the boiling water. However, they had reacted differently from each other. The potato went in strong, unrelenting and tough, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak. The egg was fragile, with the thin shell protecting its insides until it was put in the boiling water.  From there, the egg turned into something chewy and durable.

The father put his hand on the son’s shoulder and said, “It is not the adversity we face, but rather what we are made of.  We all have pain, heartbreak, and hopelessness in our lives.  It is how we face down our challenges that define who we are as men.”

We must push ourselves to believe that this storm will pass.  When we decide that we are stronger than our hardships, when we decide that we must persevere, that is when we are truly embarking on the journey towards real success.

“Champions keep going even when they don’t have anything left in the tank.” – Eric Thomas

3. You won’t move forward in life, if you don’t start asking for help

Those of us that choose to frequent a website like this live in a different kind of culture than most of our fellow Americans.  We choose to prize personality responsibility.  We choose to, in the words of the ex-Navy Seal Jocko Willink, take “extreme ownership” of our actions and outcomes in our life.  That is why it can be so difficult for us to reach out and ask for guidance or aid when we reach a deadend in our knowledge of any given topic.  It does not make you weak to ask for people to point you in the direction of new and sustainable success.  If you want to get into the best shape of your life, hiring a personal trainer can help you get there.  If you want to bring your business to the next level, there are countless coaches, webinars, and programs out there to help you move forward in the way that makes best sense for you.  If you want to strengthen your relationship or become the best parent that you are capable of being, it is vital for you to seek knowledge for trained professionals.  

There is no weakness in asking for help when your goal is to better yourself.  Reach out to people in your community or those online that you could learn from.  Teachers are not relegated to the classrooms in your high school or college.  There are so many people out there, in fitness, in business, in the therapeutic fields, in the trades that have valuable information that you can use to drastically increase your quality of life.

“The only mistake you can make is not asking for help.” – Sandeep Jauhar

I hope you’ve enjoyed the “How to Be a Grownup Podcast!”  If you have some takeaways from the interview I missed, SOUND OFF in the comments below.

Daniel DiPiazza is a millennial business mastermind and the young entrepreneur behind the massively popular career and lifestyle website Rich20Something.com.

In this episode Daniel shares his insights on what it takes to crush it online.

You can listen to our interview on the Addicted2Success podcast where Daniel shares his advice and strategies for online success (just hit play!)

STOP wasting your potential and create a Kickass business you love. Click the picture below and grab the BRAND NEW Rich20Something book today!

What you will discover in this book:

• Why most people can never think of a profitable business idea, and how to become an idea machine
• How to completely destroy your fear of failure and pounce on the most important opportunities
• Hustling 101: How to make your first $100,000 on the side
• Why you should never network again, and how to befriend powerful influencers who will gladly help you
• From freelancer to entrepreneur: How to create an online business that prints money while you sleep
• How to eliminate distractions, get laser focused, and crush your goals
• The mental tools and daily strategies I use to consistently create world-class work

In total, the book has more than 300 pages of detailed strategies, crazy anecdotes and larger-than-life personalities—including case studies from over a dozen wildly successful entrepreneurs who will tell you exactly how they did it.

Grab it here. Consume it. Start your dream business. Live an incredible life.

Welcome once more to the “How to Be a Grownup Podcast Breakdown”!  My name is Erik Andress and I am the host of this show.  Today, I am humbled and grateful to bring you the compassionate wisdom and the ambitious advice of speaker and minister Jeremy Anderson!  He has gone from a life of hopelessness to prosperity.  Through his hustle he took himself from the ground floor to working one-on-one with luminaries like the world renowned speaker Eric Thomas.  He has a fascinating story of grind and redemption that we all strive to emulate.

Check out this podcast interview with Jeremy to learn all his tips, tricks, and techniques that he wants you to know to live a empowered life:

While there were a lot of gems this ambitious entrepreneur dropped, here are the three most important ways Jeremy believes that you can do to revolutionize your business and personal life:

1. You are capable of redemption.  You can live a life that makes a difference

It was only a few short years ago that my life looked very different.  My outlook was bleak, to say the least.  I was lost in murky depths of drug abuse and I was nearing 300 pounds on the tiny scale in my bathroom.  I spent my evenings mesmerized by the glow of my television and I wasn’t taking any purposeful steps towards success.  I felt deeply confined by the labels that had been placed on me by teachers, counselors, and middle school bullies.  I was weighed down and shackled by the ideas that had been embedded in me.  Of course I was a “loser”, they had all told me so.  Of course I was destined to always be the fat kid, they had all told me so.  Of course I was doomed to live a life of underwhelming mediocrity, they had all told me so.

My life changed when I decided to make it change.  I decided that I would no longer accept feeling sluggish and encumbered by the weight that I had put on.  I bought a pair of tennis shoes and I began to hit the pavement.  I decided that I would no longer spend my nights held hostage by the media on my electronic devices.  I began to put myself out there and attend social events put on in my area.  I decided that I wasn’t going to accept the idea that I was stuck in this job that I despised driving to every day.  I began to apply of other positions and I found a teaching position that allowed me to give of myself to the most vulnerable of student populations.

Your life changes only when you get angry enough with your current situation that change is a NECESSITY, not an option.  So get disgusted with the things in your life that are holding you back.  Get furious at the idea that you are not living up to your physical potential.  Get livid at the fact that you are not in an occupation that allows you to fulfill your purpose.  Get angry with the idea that you are not bringing your best self to your significant other or those in your life that you love.  Use this as fuel to push you to take action.  It is then, and only then, that you can truly start to live the life that you deserve!

“I’m gonna make the rest of my life, the best of my life.” – Eric Thomas

2. You are deserving of health and happiness

For so much of our younger years, the adults in our life that we trust focus on our deficiencies. They often do this with good intentions, in the idea that they will push us to bigger and better things by helping us to rectify our mistakes. However, for many young people, this strategy backfires. This often times convinces them that they don’t deserve to be happy. This often times pushes them to believe that they don’t deserve to be healthy. They might end up feeling that they do not deserve the chance to fight for the version of success that they hold dear and their mind’s eye. However, (and I want you to focus on the sentence because it might be the most vital one that you read today) you are a person of worth that deserves health, happiness, and an extraordinary life.

Yes, you might have had your feelings in the past yes, you might have caused hurt and heartache for others. However, your past does not dictate your destiny. Choose right here and right now to change the way that you have looked at yourself in the past.  Choose right here and right now to move forward in your life with the assumption that your DEFAULT SETTING is happiness and that you can accomplish incredible vitality and health if you put in the work.  Simply by being alive, breathing, and having that heart continuing to pump in your chest…you are worth it.

“Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet.  I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.” – Groucho Marx

3. Being of service to other people brings abundance into your life

Before I entered the transitional period in my life that brought about my own self empowerment, I was so used to having my credit card declined that it just became another frustrating part of my life.  I was so used to feeling like I could never quite get a hold of success and that all good things in my life just seemed to continually slip through my fingers.  However, there was one revolutionary moment, in which all of this changed.

I had just returned home from an evening interview at a high school.  I desperately wanted that job.  I was living paycheck to paycheck and barely scraping by.  Shrugging my backpack off my shoulders onto my kitchen table, I felt compelled to go for a walk.  As I trudged through a nearby park, illuminated only by the pale circles of light that were cast on the path in front of me, I dejectedly slumped over on a dilapidated park bench.  This will be my seventeenth interview, and probably my seventeenth rejection, I thought to myself.  On top of all of this, I had recently put my heart out there for a woman.  I had left her a message on her answering machine while she was out of town telling her how incredible I thought she was and that I would be profoundly grateful if she let me buy her a cup of coffee.  Days had passed and no response from her.  As I surveyed the park and listened to the late night wind rustle through the leaves of the trees above me, I was overwhelmed with a sense of letting go.

I still don’t entirely know what compelled me to do this, but on that park bench I said out loud to nobody in particular, “If I get this job, I will dedicate my life to being of service to these kids.  It will not be about the paycheck for me.  It will be about helping them realize their greatness.”

I sighed deeply, feeling utterly helpless.  It wasn’t even a minute later that my cell phone began to buzz in my pocket.  I had gotten two text messages.  Opening my phone, I was astonished to see that the first was from a teacher at the school I had interviewed at earlier that evening.  It read, “Call me.  We want to offer you the job.”  The second message was, much to my surprise, from the woman that I tried to contact.  Her message said, “I’d love to get coffee with you.  Pick me up this Friday at 8.”

When I chose to let go of my expectations for myself and decide to be of service to others, abundance entered my life.  As I began my journey as a teacher in that institution, and was able to bring those young scholars the kind of compassionate instruction they deserved to have, I started to get opportunities to speak and change the lives of kids outside my classroom.  Oh, and the woman from earlier in the story?  We’ve now been happily married for nearly three years.  While it may seem antithetical to what you have been taught, giving of yourself is truly the quickest and easiest way to bring more love, more wealth, and more hope into your life.  

“The measure of a man’s greatness is not the number of servants he has, but the number of people he serves.” – John Hagee

If you want to find out more about Jeremy Anderson and the work that he does, please visit: https://www.jeremyanderson.org/

I hope you’ve enjoyed the “How to Be a Grownup Podcast!”  If you have some takeaways from the interview I missed, SOUND OFF in the comments below.

Welcome once more to the “How to Be a Grownup Podcast Breakdown”!  My name is Erik Andress and I am the host of this show.  Today, I am humbled and grateful to bring you the words and wisdom of entrepreneur Jeremy Slate!  He has a fascinating story of redemption and hustle that we all can learn something valuable from.

Check out this podcast interview with Jeremy to learn all his tips, tricks, and techniques that he wants you to know to live a empowered life:

While there were a lot of gems this ambitious entrepreneur dropped, here are the three most important ways Jeremy believes that you can do to revolutionize your business and personal life:

1. Connect to others with authenticity and genuine compassion

We live in this weird time right now.  We live in a time in which it is seemingly socially acceptable for two young people on a date to be staring at their cell phones as opposed to each other. We live in a time where people automate their social media responses and text back pre-written answers to people that attempting to contact them. This practice of detached communication is slowly eroding our ability to connect with each other.  Over the course of my conversation with Jeremy Slate, we discussed the profound power that lies behind authentic communication.

Want to differentiate yourself from other people? Use heart-centered and compassionate communication. Be the person that tells a potential client the unfettered truth. Be the person that tells your significant other that they are deeply meaningful to you. Be the person that resolves disputes with co-workers peaceably while still recognizing the humanity in them. Be the person that goes out of your way to tell your teacher or professor that you are very grateful for the opportunity to learn under them. There are so many individuals out there right now trying to find that romantic partner, trying to start and sustain their own entrepreneurial venture, trying to get to the top of their class in their respective academic institutions. If you want to stand out from the crowd, do so by communicating in a much more meaningful way. It doesn’t take much more than a few kind words, eye contact, and a willingness to persist in conversation even when you have a deep desire to grab your iPhone from your pocket and start flipping through Instagram once more!

“The way we communicate with others and ourselves, ultimately determines the quality of our lives.” – Tony Robbins

2. Persistence and patience are key components of success

I will admit it. As a former English teacher, I love clichés. The reason I do is that there is a kernel of truth for us to learn from in each of them. One of my favorites is, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” I think that this particular platitude is so important for us to keep in mind because of the kind of culture that you and I have gotten used to living in is infatuated with getting things handed to them instantaneously. It feels deeply frustrating to me that so many young people are obsessed with the idea of instant gratification or attaining their goals immediately.

In reality, all good things in our lives have to be fought for.  A business is not built overnight. It takes countless hours and a lot of sweat equity to develop and demonstrate your value in the marketplace. A great relationship does not come immediately. A long term and sustainable relationship is one that you have to work on. Graduating at the top of your class is no easy feat. To be that kind of young scholar, you need to accept the fact that you will have many late nights in study groups, with tutors and with your nose shoved in a book. Be patient and continue to push. When you apply this principle to your life, you will absolutely start to see the success that you want to have!

“Your legacy is being written by yourself.  Make the right decisions” – Gary Vaynerchuk

3. Have an undying faith in your dream and your grind

There is a price for success that most people are unwilling to pay. Unfortunately, while I am a proud educator, I believe that our schools have failed many of you in that regard. For much of your young life you have had your hands held, you have been told that you are special, and anytime that you complain about your challenges, you have been given a copious amount of help. Sadly, as many of you know, this is a far cry from what you will experience in the real world.

There are always going to be that was the doubt you. There are going to be those that see you in the early stages of your journey toward success, and they will take that opportunity to try to tear you down. They will take that opportunity to try and laugh at you. Nevertheless, this is the time that you need to fight the hardest. This is the time that you need to believe the most in that dream that keeps you awake at night. Understand that you don’t need the approval of others to chase your version of success. You don’t need other people to co-sign the thing that you wish for the most. If your teacher doesn’t believe that you have the ability to find real success in the classroom, show them differently. If your significant other doesn’t believe that you can be a better partner to them, show them differently. If your business partner or clientele don’t see you as a leader, show them differently. The universe does not shape you, you shape the universe!

“Every time I wake up, I am thinking that I am alive, this is the day!  This is an opportunity.” – Eric Thomas

I hope you’ve enjoyed the “How to Be a Grownup Podcast!”  If you have some takeaways from the interview I missed, SOUND OFF in the comments below.

Welcome once more to the “How to Be a Grownup Podcast Breakdown”!  My name is Erik Andress and I am the host of this show.  Today, I am humbled and grateful to bring you the words and wisdom of entrepreneur Kyle Lipton!  He is a walking testament to what we can accomplish when we align with our true purpose in the universe and have a positive vision for our future.

Check out this podcast interview with Kyle to learn all his tips, tricks, and techniques that he wants you to know to live a empowered life:

In this podcast, Kyle has dropped some powerful knowledge and discusses his past hardship that has given him a rare glimpse into how to access a drive and clarity of purpose that many entrepreneurs can only dream of having!

While there were a lot of gems this inspiring entrepreneur dropped, here are the three most important ways Kyle believes that you can do to exponentially increase the abundance in your life:

1. The instruction booklet for “lasting success” is there, you just need to go and get it

We live in an amazing time in human history.  Right now, in your pants pocket or purse is a small device that has access to all the knowledge that humanity has to offer.  Your cell phone, tablet, or personal computer is a key to open the door to virtually infinite free knowledge that can help you.  Start listening to podcasts.  Understand that there are so many podcasters that bring you weekly shows that can bring you knowledge, on a weekly basis, that could rival college courses taught on similar topics in years past.  Use your library card!  There is a plethora of information just waiting for you to unlock it in countless tomes that have been written by powerful women and men that want to guide you towards the life that you deserve to be living.  

When we expand the knowledge that we have at our fingertips, we drastically increase the tools we have to deal with any difficult situation.  Don’t curtail your ability to be a beast at life.  Give yourself every opportunity, every chance, every last possibility that you that you can by becoming a voracious life-long learner!

“If you are not willing to learn, nobody can help you.  If you determined to learn, nobody can stop you.” – Anonymous

2. Your circumstances do not define you, your work ethic does

Kyle spoke beautifully about his past experiences with financial hardship and the steps that he took to remove himself from that mindset.  There is a wonderful parable, that I have said on the podcast before, that I think addresses this point nicely.

Once upon a time, there was a young man that was facing a lot of challenges in his life.  His grades were in the toilet, his girlfriend has just broken up with him, and his car had just gotten towed.  On top of all of that, in the middle of the night, he had heard his parents arguing about a potential impending bankruptcy.  Feeling totally overwhelmed, one night he finally broke down in front of her Dad and told him everything that was weighing on his shoulders.  Without a word, his father brought him into the kitchen and put two pots on the stove, lit the burners, and instructed his son to watch.

As the pots began to simmer and boil, his father dropped an egg in one pot and a potato in the other.  The son began to protest and say that he really needed advice from his father, but the Dad once more instructed him to be quiet and watch.  Soon, the Dad ladled the egg and the potato out onto the countertop and allowed them to cool.  The father waved his son over and asked him to look closely.  “What do you see son?” the father asked with an amused smile on his face.

“A potato and an egg,” the son replied hastily.  “What does this have to do with anything Dad?”

His father then explained that the potato and the egg had each faced the same struggles and hardship-the boiling water. However, they had reacted differently from each other. The potato went in strong, unrelenting and tough, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak. The egg was fragile, with the thin shell protecting its insides until it was put in the boiling water.  From there, the egg turned into something chewy and durable.

The father put his hand on the son’s shoulder and said, “It is not the adversity we face, but rather what we are made of.  We all have pain, heartbreak, and hopelessness in our lives.  It is how we face down our challenges that define who we are as men.”

We must push ourselves to believe that this storm will pass.  When we decide that we are stronger than our hardships, when we decide that we must persevere, that is when we are truly embarking on the journey towards real success.

“Champions keep going even when they don’t have anything left in the tank.” – Eric Thomas

3. You won’t move forward in life, if you don’t start asking for help

Those of us that choose to frequent a website like this live in a different kind of culture than most of our fellow Americans.  We choose to prize personality responsibility.  We choose to, in the words of the ex-Navy Seal Jocko Willink, take “extreme ownership” of our actions and outcomes in our life.  That is why it can be so difficult for us to reach out and ask for guidance or aid when we reach a deadend in our knowledge of any given topic.  It does not make you weak to ask for people to point you in the direction of new and sustainable success.  If you want to get into the best shape of your life, hiring a personal trainer can help you get there.  If you want to bring your business to the next level, there are countless coaches, webinars, and programs out there to help you move forward in the way that makes best sense for you.  If you want to strengthen your relationship or become the best parent that you are capable of being, it is vital for you to seek knowledge for trained professionals.  

There is no weakness in asking for help when your goal is to better yourself.  Reach out to people in your community or those online that you could learn from.  Teachers are not relegated to the classrooms in your high school or college.  There are so many people out there, in fitness, in business, in the therapeutic fields, in the trades that have valuable information that you can use to drastically increase your quality of life.

“The only mistake you can make is not asking for help.” – Sandeep Jauhar

I hope you’ve enjoyed the “How to Be a Grownup Podcast!”  If you have some takeaways from the interview I missed, SOUND OFF in the comments below.