WEBVTT

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So with all that you do, of course, I'm going

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to ask you now to tell me about your vision and

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what all that you do encompasses in that vision.

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So sometimes I find this is a difficult question

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for me to answer because, you know, I have a

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I've built a strong leadership business. Yeah.

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But maybe it's just the maybe it's the ADHD nature

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of myself where, you know, then I then I start

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other stuff. I have a new company we started

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called Solo Empires, which is to help people

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build a one person business. And there's so many

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people in the workplace right now that, you know,

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they're there. Think about the uncertainty in

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the workplace right now as you and I are recording

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this. And I so one of my biggest visions, honestly,

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now is just to help people find their own freedom.

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be able to live life on their terms. So the vehicle

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for that, for me, is this new program we're doing

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called Solo Empires. Solo Empires. I like the

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name. It just sounds really good. With that being

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said, how long have you been in business? I first

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started speaking on stage for Leadership, my

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company, in 2003. What's that, 21 years now?

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OK, OK. And I ask that for a really good reason,

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because in 2000, I mean, yeah, 23, 2002. Give

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me that that year again. 2003. 2003. With that

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being said, many time has changed so much, James,

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like. I'm talking about there is nothing that's

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the same. When you started, give it to me around

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2010 to now, what's the biggest difference with

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the solo empire that you would like to make the

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biggest impact knowing how much has changed?

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Well, I'll say this. This may not directly answer

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your question, but I definitely will get to it.

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Any of us who are running our own businesses,

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you just have to know that. like nothing stays

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the same. And so whatever you're doing right

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now, if it's not working, okay, change and find

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something that's working. But whatever you're

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doing that's working, at some point it won't

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work. And it's just being adaptable. So when

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I first left ministry to just be full -time in

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my business, it was literally the year before

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the economy crashed in 07 and 08, 2008. Nobody

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was hiring anybody to come and speak. And so

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suddenly I was, I'd started a business and then

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there was no work. So I had to adapt. And then

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it was like, well, maybe I should do some online

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stuff and teach some workshops. And then that's

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how I created my first online course. So by the

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time COVID came around, you know, another decade

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later, you know, again, all my business just

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went to zero. But I was I'd been through that

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before. So I was like, OK, we'll just pivot a

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bit and we'll figure it out. I think. I think

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when you ask about change, yeah, so much has

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changed. And now with AI coming into our world,

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I think people are not ready for the impact of

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AI. So what I mean is there's a lot of companies

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out there that are saying, of course, we won't

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lay off our employees for AI, but most totally

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will, right? Most totally will, because at the

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end of the day, we live in it. in a capitalist

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society and not everyone's going to do that but

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a lot of people will a lot of people are going

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to lose their jobs and that's why i feel more

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passionate now about really helping people take

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kind of the ball into their court and just hey

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get something started on your own so that's that's

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the doom and gloom side of what's changed right

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the upside is that with ai evolving so rapidly

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i mean it's just it's exponential So when you

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hear people say things like, well, yeah, but

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AI can't do this, you know, AI can't, you know,

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record a video. And I'm like, well, actually,

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it can now. And it's not perfect. But did you

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see where it was a year ago to where it is now?

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Like, and where it will be in a year? Then I

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think AI can just have Jovanka do a video that

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you're not even in it, right? So the positive

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side is it's going to open up so many doors.

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It's why you want to stay current and on top

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of AI. And maybe in a minor analogy, well, I

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would think about the internet back in 2000.

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People didn't really understand the power of

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it. And it just took time for people to like

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actually adopt it. And now it's normal. AI will

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be the same. So it's figuring out how do I leverage

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AI to make my business grow or be better or what

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parts of my business will be irrelevant? Like

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I'm already looking at that. There's things that

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I do that now the only reason some of the things

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I sell that I can sell is because people don't

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know how to use AI to replace it. Just pure knowledge

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stuff. Because let's talk about leadership training.

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If I have some basic training for a bunch of

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managers at a company, well, it's not going to

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be long before those managers can just have their

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phone and say, hey, I've got this problem employee.

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This is what they're like. What should I do?

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And it's just going to tell them. So, okay, I'm

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looking at that going, all right, some of my

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business is going to be irrelevant. All right,

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that's fine. So how do I evolve? Yeah. It's always

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about evolution. I'm sure you've found the same.

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Yeah. Yeah, I love this conversation. I think

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that's why I was so silent and intrigued because

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you're right. So many things have changed with

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computers and everything, but I really feel,

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so I will be 46 this year. So I tell everybody,

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I say that to say, I know, but AI grew real fast.

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Like that just, I don't know. One minute I heard

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it and then the next minute I'm like. wait a

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minute, you know what I mean? I asked it to make

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me a picture and it just designs me a picture.

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And it seems like, James, whenever someone says

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AI can't, somebody says AI will, or it's done.

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It's like, so let everybody just stop saying

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what it can do if you're trying to keep your

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jobs for a couple more years. But I'm telling

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you, the growth of that is... It's crazy. But

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I also believe, as you were talking about going

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in from ministry to the freedom life, I think

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that this allows solopreneurs that don't really

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have the staff to be able to free up, per se,

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some of their time and allow AI to actually help

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them and assist them, for example, marketing.

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I think that's an overtime job. So with that

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being said, I like how you had that discussion

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about AI. If I'm not mistaking, I was on your

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website. Don't you have something coming up about

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AI? I just had something this week. It was a

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workshop for leaders on how to use AI to coach

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their employees. So I've experimented with a

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couple of things. So this is an example of evolution,

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right? So I have a course already on. how to

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coach your employees. And then I thought, well,

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I'm going to show them how to use AI to make

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that faster. So those are just small tweaks that

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I'm making when it comes to solo empires. And

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did you say 46? Is that what you said? 46? Oh,

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you look fantastic. You're meeting your 30s.

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Solo empires is actually directed for Gen Xers.

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That's really the people we're trying to help

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the most because Those of us in Gen X, if I can

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just, you know, cry for our entire generation

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for a moment, you know, we're called the forgotten

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generation. And there's many reasons to that.

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But but and because the baby boomers won't let

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go. Right. And the problem is for a lot of us

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Gen Xers, as we were getting into those ages

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where it gets really risky if you get laid off

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and. you know, ageism is real and we're typically

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the more expensive people to replace. And if

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AI can replace half of your job, then, you know,

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then AI is going to replace half your job. So

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that's one of those reasons why I think if you

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are a Gen Xer, you really have to be thinking,

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hey, let me be at the front of the tip of the

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spear on AI or let me begin to start something

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on my own. And to your point, yeah. AI makes

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the process so much easier. Like if I had AI

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20 years ago, like when I think of some of like

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how much work I had put into like creating courses

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and all of these things. And man, now just a

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few good prompts and you can create some pretty

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great stuff. I tell you, James, I shake my head

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because I remember. It's so funny. I remember

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writing out my resume and not having the right

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words to say and then going to read the dictionary.

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It's like, oh, I could put that in here. Some

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people might not know anything about it, but

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don't laugh at me. But I mean, the world is completely

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different. I will say this, that I do feel like

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they have the current individuals, which are

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the younger generation. They have a tool. that

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can make things so much easier. And I like how

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you're scaling your business. And I want to first,

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well, secondly, after I've said everything I've

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said, I want to applaud you on 21 years. Like

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to be able to do that, you know, from 03 all

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the way to now, that has taken, I'm sure you've

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had some ups and downs and like you said, some

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ins and outs and that doesn't. That's that's

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not heard of now. You know, what do they say?

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There's a percentage rate where people start

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a business and don't last for, you know, any

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more than five years because they don't know,

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you know, what to do and how to go about it.

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And as I mentioned before, I don't want to take

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up too much of your time, but I have one one

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random question as a leader, as a solopreneur.

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What would be one rule that you say they should

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break? What a great question. As a leader or

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solopreneur, what's the one rule they should

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break? The one rule they should break is the

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actual rule that's in your subconscious that's

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telling you to live your life and run your business

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in a way so that everybody likes you and everybody

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loves you. That's the rule that almost all of

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us have lived our life by. But it's the rules

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of the ego. You want to break that for the rules

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of the soul. The soul doesn't seek. approval

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of the herd the soul seeks expansion expression

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growth there's something in you that needs to

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come out don't be apologetic for it there's the

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that's the rule that holds all of us in place

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that's the rule that we need to break thank you

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for being here today i'm really happy that you

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tuned in to vision pros live i'm looking forward

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to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue

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to move forward this is going to get more and

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more fun we'll have more and more engagement

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as well we'll invite people to participate in

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the show and thank you for giving us your time

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and attention have an excellent time building

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out your vision and becoming a vision pro yourself