In 'Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done', Jon Acuff addresses the common struggle of not completing what one starts. He identifies perfectionism as the primary barrier to achieving goals and provides counterintuitive strategies to overcome it. Acuff suggests cutting goals in half to make them more achievable, eliminating secret rules that hinder progress, and emphasizing the importance of having fun in the process, which he argues can increase success by 43%. The book offers insights and practical advice on managing perfectionist tendencies, avoiding procrastination, and maintaining a focus on completion rather than perfection[1][3][4].
In 'Soundtracks,' Jon Acuff explores how overthinking hinders our potential and offers a proven plan to change overthinking from a problem into a superpower. The book introduces the concept of 'soundtracks' as the repetitive thoughts that shape our perceptions. Acuff provides practical strategies, such as creating personalized playlists of empowering soundtracks and using daily affirmations, to replace negative thoughts with positive ones. He emphasizes the importance of controlling our thoughts and gathering evidence to support positive thinking. The book is based on a study involving 10,000 participants and offers tools to help readers rewire their thought processes and achieve their goals.
“You have to regularly find things where the challenge exceeds the skill set."
In this week’s episode of The Speaker Lab Podcast, speaker and author Jon Acuff joins Grant to talk about the challenge of maintaining excellence as a speaker and the importance of continually pushing yourself beyond your comfort zones.
Jon also took the time to break down his successful speaking model, primarily focusing on keynotes and the occasional longer training engagements. There are pros and cons to every speaking business model, and Jon talks through what has worked well for him over his extensive speaking career. Additionally, Jon talks about making a transition from solopreneur to business owner and how he brought in a partner and president to scale his business and reach a larger audience. This transition was driven by Jon's desire to take his business to another level, prevent boredom, and not hide from potential growth.
Moreover, Grant and Jon also discuss the challenges of being honest with yourself about strengths and weaknesses and focusing on areas where you can excel. The conversation shifts to Jon's decision to host a live event, including insights into how he has navigated planning, content creation, and incorporating various elements like engaging stories and audience interaction.
Finally, Grant and Jon touch on the variety of potential business expansions Jon is considering, including workshops, masterminds, and enhancing social media presence while balancing personal enjoyment with business requirements. Overall, the episode provides great insights into Jon's speaking career, his strategic business decisions, and the meticulous efforts that go into creating meaningful content and events in the speaking industry!
You’ll learn:
- How Jon built a successful speaking career
- What goes into hosting a live event
- How to master speaking business structure
- How to balance your speaking career with personal life
- Ways to improve your content and delivery at live events
- How to continue your personal and professional growth
- And much, much more!
“How do I create enough value for an audience where they feel like they got a deal at a high ticket event?
Episode Resources
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