THE DISCIPLINED ENTREPRENEUR

WITH DISCOMFORT COMES GROWTH

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Increasing Our Tolerance for Hard Things

Increasing Our Tolerance for Hard Things

We’ve had a great run at The Outloud Group -- a run I hope and expect to continue moving forward. And while I’m very proud of what we’ve created and continue to build, I’m not here to champion our success. Quite the opposite in fact -- I’m here to bring our struggles with success to the surface. Despite the many good things that we continue to do, over the last six months I've come to recognize that as we're continuously dealing with thorny issues I’ve started longing for tha

One Plus Anything Equals Zero

One Plus Anything Equals Zero

In football, the quarterback is the undisputed leader of the offense and the bell cow for the entire team. The quarterback calls the plays, touches the ball just about every play, and perhaps most importantly – dictates the successes or failures of the team based on his performance. So what happens when you have two quarterbacks that are both good enough to play? Maybe Jimmy is a better passer and Joe is a better runner? Perhaps Connor throws a better deep-ball, while Tyler h

Stop Looking Ahead and Start Racing To Right Now

Stop Looking Ahead and Start Racing To Right Now

Back in 2009, I made the trek from Chicago to Orlando for the Capital One Bowl college football game between my beloved Michigan State Spartans and the Georgia Bulldogs. I’m not a Disney guy – so what’s a man to do with extra time in Central Florida on a hot day in December? Go-Kart Racing. Really fast Go-Kart Racing. I knew I was enjoying my time navigating the track when I started shouting with glee to nobody in particular. And even once I was conscious of what I was doing,

Learning From the Dingy Undershirts In Your Dresser Drawer

Learning From the Dingy Undershirts In Your Dresser Drawer

“You’re only as fashionable as the oldest white undershirt you still wear.” Many years ago, I read this quote as part of a fashion piece in my favorite magazine, Men’s Health. Rifling through the clothes in my dresser on a recent Saturday, these words came racing back into my conscious mind. While I can’t say that I typically spend a lot of time examining the white undershirts in my dresser, there was something insightful that came from taking the time to look at these tee sh

When 20 People Walked Out of My Presentation Before It Started

When 20 People Walked Out of My Presentation Before It Started

I’m a big believer that with everything you do – you either win or learn. If you take the time to process information and make yourself better, that’s a learn – not a loss. Welp. I definitely learned recently. For the second year in a row, I joined forces with a good friend of mine, Adam Brown, to speak at the Michigan Business Professionals of American conference, a gathering of 2,000+ top high school students launching their business career. As part of the conference, stude

Safety to Start-Up: Stacking The Deck in Your Favor

Safety to Start-Up: Stacking The Deck in Your Favor

While it’s appropriate to emphasize the need to understand the fear that’s holding you back from pursuing that amazing new endeavor, it’s equally important to understand how to maximize success for first-time entrepreneurs. So, let’s change the narrative away from fear and learn from the brave souls who dive into the shark-infested waters of something new and different. What motivates new entrepreneurs to move away from a safe career and to invest his or her precious time in

8 Ways To Conquer Your Fear and Move On With Life

8 Ways To Conquer Your Fear and Move On With Life

Fear is a paralyzing beast that lives in all of us. It spends every hour of every day working to keep us locked inside the soul-sucking cage we call our comfort box. Dramatic? Maybe. Just don’t dismiss the impact fear can have on your life and how fear can stop you from doing the amazing things you’re capable of. But how can we conquer this fear? How can we be comfortable in an environment where we expose ourselves to fear? We get there by believing our true job is to expose

What’s The Real Reason You Haven’t Started The Business You Dream About?

What’s The Real Reason You Haven’t Started The Business You Dream About?

Odds are you’ve thought a lot about creating a new business on your own. You’ve read books and blogs, shared ideas with friends, and probably even discovered that someone else brought “your” ideas to life. Yet for some reason, good or bad, you haven’t made a clear decision to start or not start a business. And if you’re like a lot of people I know – you’re no closer to a resolution than you were last month. I recently spent some time with my friend Joe helping him decide whet

A New World Without Email Alerts On Your Phone

A New World Without Email Alerts On Your Phone

Like most entrepreneurs, I don’t just like to win, I love to win and I hate to lose. The only thing worse than losing is the idea that someone might beat me because they outworked me. So, naturally, I put everything I have into winning – whether it’s starting a company, pick-up hockey, Pictionary with friends, or feather bowling at Cadieux Café. Whether it’s email, voice, text, chat, or any other form of communication – people know how to track me down and can count on me to

Stop Being a Wantrepreneur. Start Being an Entrepreneur.

Stop Being a Wantrepreneur. Start Being an Entrepreneur.

The difference between entrepreneurs and wantrepreneurs is simple: wantrepreneurs pursue inspiration and entrepreneurs create inertia. And believe me…the power of inertia is stronger than the power of inspiration. There are countless websites dedicated to inspirational quotes. We subscribe to daily inspiration emails. We pay $6.99 for a card with an inspiring line. Co-working spaces spend thousands of dollars to paint inspirational quotes on walls. Ever wonder why we love ins

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Startup Founder Communication

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Startup Founder Communication

Leadership is communication and effective communication is always a challenge, even in the most ideal environments. So what does that mean for communication for the time-starved, high-stakes, high-failure world of startups? It means everything – especially for founders. When you think of early-sate startups, think college roommates. Close living quarters and a general lack of maturity lead college roommates to fight; poor communication (of course, binge drinking probably didn

10 Ways To Prepare to Succeed Every Single Day

10 Ways To Prepare to Succeed Every Single Day

That Ben Franklin – he was one smart chap. Franklin invented bifocals, streetlights, swim fins (yes, swim fins) and electricity. As if that wasn’t enough, Big Ben was willing to prove his worth by flying a kite with a key on it during a lightning storm. Talk about scrappy? As entrepreneurs and creators, there are a lot of lessons to learn from Ben Franklin. One that stands out here at The Disciplined Entrepreneur is Big Ben’s ability to balance creativity with intense plannin

8 Entrepreneurial Lessons From The Greatest Rivalry In Sports

8 Entrepreneurial Lessons From The Greatest Rivalry In Sports

America was built on courage, on imagination, and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand. – President Harry S. Truman When the Navy Midshipmen and Army Black Knights meet for the 115th installment in the greatest rivalry in sports, it will bring together everything that is good and right about football, college athletics, and America as a whole. As The Disciplined Entrepreneur, I love seeing smart hungry young people work towards a noble cause and relentlessly purs

Rest, Reflection, and Recharge – An Entrepreneur’s Thanksgiving

Rest, Reflection, and Recharge – An Entrepreneur’s Thanksgiving

It’s Thanksgiving in America, the time-honored tradition where we all take the opportunity to pause, reflect, and express thanks for the many wonderful things in our lives. The beauty of Thanksgiving is found in its simplicity. There is no expectation of gift-giving, no commercial campaign with retailers spending millions to gain access to your wallet, and no mythical creature visiting your home for the holiday. The entire holiday boils down to enjoying a single meal with fam

The Magic of Ten-Percenters

The Magic of Ten-Percenters

You know those people. You know, those people you meet that immediately show a lot of interest in what you’re doing. Those people who truly listen, are quick to support your efforts, and follow through on what they said they would do. If you’re like me, you initially see those people as a little crazy and a little special. After all, there’s a little bit of crazy in all 10-percenters. Okay – perhaps a lot of crazy. It’s not logical for someone to stay up until 4:00 AM to idea

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