178: Sol Orwell - CEO, Digital Nomad, Vulnerability As A Leader

Dec 5, 2016

Sol Orwell, co-founder of Examine.com and a recognized entrepreneur, shares insights on embracing creativity and downtime for sustained excellence. He describes his unique daily routine, including cold showers and focused work blocks. Sol emphasizes the importance of delegation, noting how he empowered his #2 to run Examine.com while he embraced a digital nomad lifestyle. He also discusses the role of vulnerability in leadership, the necessity of developing a personal brand, and how travel enriches entrepreneurial perspectives and creativity.

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INSIGHT

Creativity Fuels Long-Term Excellence

Sustained excellence comes from pursuing creativity across many domains, not just grind alone.
Downtime and diverse interests replenish creative energy and prevent burnout.

ADVICE

Design A High-Leverage Morning Ritual

Build a morning routine that primes focus: cold shower, gratitude journal, and a short walk to start deep work.
Do focused work in 30–90 minute blocks and stop by mid-afternoon to protect downtime and creativity.

ADVICE

Turn Personal Frustrations Into Businesses

Build businesses around personal frustrations and interests; focus on virtual products to keep marginal costs low.
Delegate the public-facing role to a trusted operator so you can work fewer hours while scaling impact.

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Episode 178: Sol Orwell - CEO, Digital Nomad, Vulnerability As A Leader

Sol Orwell is an entrepreneur and business developer, most known for his work as the co-founder of Examine.com. He was recognized as a 2014 Game Changer by Men's Fitness and profiled by Forbes as a seven-figure entrepreneur.

Sol describes himself as semi-retired, which allows him to travel three to four months out of the year. He does not take investment money to retain control of his companies and free time.

He has stepped back from an active role in Examine.com to focus on other projects. He blogs about business development in the context of making money online on SJO.com and serves on the advisory board for Schwarzenegger.com as a health and fitness expert.

Episode 178: Sol Orwell - CEO, Digital Nomad, Vulnerability As A Leader

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The Learning Leader Show

"I did what any normal person would do – I gave the company to my #2 to run, paid him more than I paid myself, and basically became a digital nomad."

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

Common themes to sustain excellence = "A deep level for creating creativity."
Why Deep Work is so critical to Sol's success
A typical day:
- 2 minute cold shower
- The 5 Minute Journal
- A 10-15 minute walk -- "Get the brain started"
- Get to work
- Done with work by 2:30 every single day
Friday's are always no work days... Just "reading days"
The specific process Sol has taken to build a life around "creating businesses around my interests"
The process of purchasing Examine.com for $41,000 (and why he did it)
Putting his #2 in charge so he could travel the world and be a "digital nomad"
The Picasso Principle
How to create this lifestyle: Have no ego, create a blueprint, execute, trust others
Creating a "Side Hustle" -- A how to
Why you must "Get Started"
The #cookielife
Vulnerability is "when you don't know what the response will be when you put yourself out there."
1,000 true fans
Why Sol does not take VC money
Changing his name to Sol Orwell... Why?
How travel can create empathy and why that's so important for a leader... Being grateful
Learning Leader = Constantly learning. Have self-awareness. Take criticism, and foster the spirit to accept it
"Luck is a function of observation"

"I think a big part of entrepreneurship is to realize that you can trust other people. You can be rewarded for trusting other people. You don't have to necessarily look over their shoulder."

Continue Learning:

Sol's website: Examine.com
Follow Sol on Twitter: @sol_orwell
To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12