The 8 Steps of Becoming
a Successful Solopreneur
THE 8 STEPS - MICHAEL O’NEAL
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Why did I create this?
Hi there. Chances are, you’re like me and seemingly, the rest of the world: You don’t
absolutely love what you’re doing for a living, you probably don’t live where you want to live,
you don’t have enough time to do what you want to do, nor do you have the money to do it. Now, you could very well be the exception to the rule. If you are…good on you. This
will be a refresher. If not, read on, burgeoning soloist. Now you’re saying “Who put YOU in charge?”
Good point.
In fact, nobody did. I wasn’t elected to an office, and didn’t become an heir to the
throne (except my drum throne) as far as I’m aware. However, for those of you that know my story, (If not, have a look at http://
solopreneurhour.com/about) you’ll know that a few short years ago, I had $14 in my pocket,
and was wondering what to do with my life. Now I run a multiple six-figure podcast, have a
huge coaching group with loads of successful alumni, and am asked to speak all over the
world. I live in arguably the best city in America, (San Diego) can afford a great life, and am
rarely stressed about anything at all. I was able to achieve this by following the exact steps you’re about to read below. As
a companion to this PDF guide, I strongly recommend you visit http://solohour.com/217 and
download the podcast where I go through each step in deep detail. Remember, no courses, no training, no pdf guides…nothing can replace your
willingness to change your own life and take action. I sincerely hope you read this guide, and
tweet me (@solohour) or email me (michael@solopreneurhour) with any questions you have.
Hope to hear from you soon. THE 8 STEPS - MICHAEL O’NEAL
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The 8 Steps
1: Discover your passion, or the thing you LOVE to talk about.
Don’t worry about what you know or what you’ve done, think about what you LOVE.
Have you stayed up all night working on something and hardly noticed it was 4am? THAT is
your passion. What’s that thing you could talk about til people fall off their bar stools?
There’s your passion my friend! If you could interview the most successful people in your
industry, I’d bet they’d have a similar story: They started their project/business/service
because they loved it. Not because they had a “monetization plan” or tried to “dominate a
niche”. They just liked what they were doing, and it showed. When things get rough, and you
really need to buckle down, or record a show when you’re exhausted, that’s when it matters.
Not when everything is going great! So, truly think of what you love, and what you could talk
about forever, and use that as a starting point. 2: Immerse yourself in the culture: dive on in.
Three questions to ask yourself about the thing you love: 1. Who’s who in that world? 2. What are the top blogs/forums? 3. Where do you go to get the latest info? Answer those and then dive into each: subscribe to the blogs, the podcasts, visit the
forums daily and read the books the leaders of your industry are reading and writing. They
say that “environment is stronger than willpower”. So, make sure you’re really surrounding
yourself with a great environment that will help you succeed. That means: “divorcing” your
life of negative people, including friends and family (to an extent). It also means that you
need to truly participate in the community right out of the gates, and get to know the main
influencers. 3: Seek knowledge.
You can see how this is the next obvious step after step two. Once you’ve honed in on
the culture and the main destinations to pay attention to, now you’ll actually inform yourself
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with this step and become wise on your industry. Find out whatever you can and go
wherever you have to go to learn everything about your topic. This is what the greats do to
become great, so do it too! This means pouring over the message boards, joining Facebook
groups, asking questions, taking courses, joining web communities, reading books, and
whatever else you can come up with to grow your body of knowledge. 4: Make the decision to TAKE (imperfect) ACTION!!!
Bottom line: Nothing gets done without action. Your life doesn’t change, your business
doesn’t grow, and you’ll look back a few months and say “dang…I could have been further
along by now, but I did nothing!”
That’s so important, I’ll say it again: Nothing Nothing Nothing gets done without
action. You’re a hustler, now show it. I’ve got to say…this is the part most people get hung
up on. They either stay in this “learning mode” where they think because they are taking
some courses, that means they are moving forward, or they have full on paralysis by
analysis. They don’t realize that they have enough information to make a successful
business already! Take your knowledge from the previous three steps and put it into action.
You’ve gotta pull the trigger at some point or you won’t get anywhere further along your
timeline. So commit to take action, even if it isn’t perfect. Just go for it and you’ll learn as
you go along. Again, this is what the leaders of the world do so you can too.
5: Surround yourself with leaders. Speaking of leaders, now it’s time to build those relationships with them.
Relationships: this is the only thing that matters in business and in life. Build
relationships, especially with the leaders of your industry, and you’ll see your life shift like
never before. You are the product of the 5 people you spend the most time with so
make those 5 people GREAT. Get rid of the bad influences in your life, and replace them with
positive influences. How, you ask? Good question…thanks for asking. Here’s a couple of
tips: 1. Go to conferences and networking events.
2. Join meetup groups for entrepreneurs. 3. If you happen to have some time freedom (meaning, not a 9-5 gig) then go to the
coffee shop in the fanciest part of town. Get out of your house and connect with people
in your area that have already had success. Chances are, they are at the Starbucks in
the nice part of town. Along those lines…if you have a regular job, here’s the plan: Get
off of work at 5, then roll over to the nicest hotel in your city, or a bar in the fancy part of
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town. Ask if they have wifi. Order a glass of wine or drink for happy hour, set your laptop
up on the bar, and start doing some work. I *promise* you, it will be a conversation
starter between you and all of the successful people surrounding you. I’ve ended up on
parties on yachts, country clubs, and golf courses (despite having NO money in my
pocket) with CEOs and millionaires using just this technique. Remember, this is about
taking advantage of everything you have access to. So, put yourself in a position to win. 4. If you have friends that are downers, or don’t support your dream, spend less time
with them. 5. If you have an internal monologue that says you can’t do something (We call it the
“imposter syndrome”) then invest in some personal development courses, classes, or
podcasts to get your head on straight. 6: Take MORE action.
Action begets more action so take some now, and commit to continually doing so.
Make your actions based on your knowledge and what you’ve learned so far, and GO.
If you’re taking action on a daily basis you’re going to produce more results and see
more changes than someone who just starts, then stops. So be one of those people who
takes action, and then more action, and then more action. Pretty soon you won’t have to tell
yourself to take action because it’ll just be your daily life! It’s fairly easy, once you’ve gotten
your business or show going, to become complacent and not keep digging. It’s ok to take a
breather, of course, but don’t let that bog you down from furthering your business. 7. Show gratitude.
Find something to be grateful for on a daily basis: this one simple act can shift your life
in ways you can’t begin to imagine. Try this exercise: Every time you sit down to a meal with
a friend or family, have everyone say (out loud) 2 things you were grateful for that day, 1
thing you were good at, and 1 thing you’re looking forward to. You’ll be surprised how it
makes you feel and how much different your life becomes because you were grateful. One
thing I used to love about Gary Vaynerchuk’s Winelibrary.tv is that he would close by saying
“Without you, there’s no me.” That’s very important to note, especially if you’ve had a
modicum of success. Don’t forget your audience, and try to reward them with something
(even if it’s just a reply) often. A conversation with the most successful people in the world
will illustrate how important gratitude is to the influencers and thought leaders of our time. 8. Give back.
This one is beyond important: what could you pass on today to help someone else?
Knowledge, money, time? Whatever someone has given to you in the past, pay it forward
today. The most successful people in the world are givers: they give of their time, their
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money and their knowledge without any strings attached. They don’t think they should give
so they can get, they simply give. And it does come back, as it will for you. So give what you
can today and make it a regular practice. It can be as simple as writing someone a long
email to help them through a problem if they are just starting out . It can be financial. It can
be you buying a few bottles of water for the homeless guy on the corner. (They always need
fresh water). It can be helping someone with their luggage at the airport, or it could be giving
loads and loads of your knowledge away for free, in the hopes of providing massive value for
your followers. Giving comes in many forms…you just have to find the one (or ones) that
match your personality the best. 3/4. Find Your Voice, and Have Fun.
This one is fairly elusive, but just as important. When you see someone doing well in
an industry, don’t just outright copy them. Take the best parts of what they do, improve
upon it, and make it your own. That’s called finding your voice. (Or “Finding Your Swing”,
as I like to say) The good news is, when you find your voice, you’ll have more fun, and enjoy
what you do. And, if you believe we only get one crack at life as we know it, enjoying what
you do is a pretty giant part of the equation. Take each step one by one and you’ll find a way to make a living doing what you love,
and you’ll create a life you love. These eight steps are absolutely key for any solopreneur’s
success, they must be followed and implemented..and repeated as necessary. As a
reminder, click the link at the beginning of this document to listen to the companion podcast
about becoming a successful solopreneur. There is so much value in this show, be sure to
tune in to get it all. Thank you for being here, for listening and contributing to The
Solopreneur Hour. See you next time!
THE 8 STEPS - MICHAEL O’NEAL
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