Joel Ong – The Secret of Success: There’s No Shortcut You Have to Do the Work

Mar 26, 2020

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Joel Ong is the creator of the Expert to Authority coaching program for business owners to use their smartphones to make videos work for their business in 90 days (without having to hire a professional costing thousands of dollars).

“We have more processing power in our mobile devices than what Armstrong had in his spacecraft the first time he went to the moon.”

Joel Ong

Worst investment ever

Fueling his Instagram influencer dream

Joel wanted to be like the travel influencers on Instagram and wealthy business owners that he saw traveling the world first class. However, he didn’t have the money or the influence to do it. He just didn’t have the confidence to be an influencer of any sort.

But, Joel truly wanted this life, so he thought of all the ways he could achieve this. He figured that he could pick up the camera and influence from behind it instead of in front of the camera like the other Instagram influencer. This started Joel’s journey into travel videography.

A humble beginning

Joel started with a very cheap imitation of a GoPro camera that he borrowed from a friend in China. Slowly he started living his dream to be a travel influencer by collaborating with models and travel photographers.

Doing it as the stars do

As Joel interacted with famous influencers in the industry, the pressure to get sophisticated video equipment got real. He wanted to be like the rest of them, and so he invested thousands of dollars in video equipment. Joel bought better lenses, better lighting, a stabilizer gimbal, and more. His travel backpack got heavier and heavier.

As Joel continued to travel the world more with his new equipment, he realized that something was still missing. Now he needed to improve his skills as well. So Joel paid a lot of money for several online courses. He thought that this would get him fame and glory quickly.

In the end, after spending so much money, it didn’t work. Joel learned that besides proper equipment and courses, he needed to put in the work to get to the success he wanted.

Lessons learned

The key to success is to focus on simplicity

Everything that works is simple, but it takes execution and work. Simple is not necessarily easy. Don’t expect a magic formula to find success; you’ve got to put in the work, trust the process, and go through it.

Shift your thinking

If you do not see any success, then you need to start doing things differently because, like Einstein said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” So shift your thinking.

Decide what you’re prepared to lose

Before you invest, think of the worst-case scenario. If it doesn’t work out or it underdelivers, what’s the most that you can afford to lose? When you think of investing in that way, then it makes everything very clear.

Invest in your skills too

People who are very good at their craft have a very high level of expertise that allows them to get a lot of returns from it. If you don’t practice your skills consistently, you’ll become poor in your craft.

Andrew’s takeaways

Keep it simple

It’s easy for anyone to complicate things, but not everybody can make things simple. Things tend to move towards complexity, particularly in business, and it takes a lot of effort to keep things simple. But make an effort, because simple works.

Successful people know there’s no magic formula

There is no shortcut to success. The secret of success is to go through the work. If you take shortcuts, you will pay for it in some way.

Actionable advice

Decide if you are going to be 100% transparent, honest, and accountable with yourself. The key to success is to commit to put in the work and get it done regardless of any circumstances or challenges.

No. 1 goal for the next 12 months

Joel’s goal for the next 12 months is to get his private coaching program Expert to Authority out to the market and more people. The program is based on all the best investments that Joel has made before. The program will take you from just being an expert or business owner to a brand authority using video in only 90 days.