“Success is the prize for those who stand true to their ideas.”
Josh Hinds, It’s Your Life, Live BIG
That’s just one of the things you can hear Josh Hinds say on a daily basis.
And, although, you may have heard many people say it, he’s more than welcome to do so as he is an example of success, determination, powerful mindset, constant motivation and a passionate life.
Josh Hinds founded his first online business in 1996, and has inspired and helped millions of people since then.
His business and entrepreneurial journey began when he was 15, and unlike the average person – he never gave up.
He’s the author of It’s Your Life, LIVE BIG, Motivational Quotes for Living BIG, Why Perfect Timing is a Myth.
He runs a network of personal development sites BusinessNetworkingAdvice.com; SalesTrainingAdvice.com; BusinessLeadershipAdvice.com and GoalsSuccess.com, and is the founder of GetMotivation.com (where a guest post of mine was published recently).
Josh is a proven mentor, an inspirational and motivational speaker and is someone for whom Robin Sharma says:
“Josh has overcome some extraordinary challenges to live his best life. His story inspires you to change the game.”
He is indeed an interesting and passionate individual who has achieved a lot. And as such, has a lot to share with us.
Josh was kind enough to take some time and answer the following questions for me.
So I hope this interview will be informative, inspiring and motivating enough for you to get out there and do something about your goals.
Here it is:
1. Where should one that’s just starting his transformation begin?
I -like you- believe in people’s potential. But what’s the first step?
Josh Hinds: I’m a big believer that the details begin to fill in when we’re moving, or taking action. That might sound a little strange, especially if you’re just starting out on your journey.
Here’s an example of what I mean. When I first started out I had a very basic idea. I would link from my website to those of other authors, speakers, and experts whose work I admired. See, I told you it was a simple idea. That was back around the mid-1990’s.
While I started with a simple idea, it didn’t take long before other ideas were thought up and acted
I ended up directly sharing content and becoming friends with many of the folks. I initially just thought I’d be linking their websites.
I also ended up building a pretty large audience, and an accompanying newsletter (a few actually). That first site, which is now GetMotivation.com, also has several sister websites which focus on other topics such as sales, leadership, etc.
I also ended up writing and sharing my own thoughts and ideas along the way, and even adding professional speaking to what I do.
My point in mentioning this isn’t to brag, but to illustrate the importance of growing into bigger and better, through a willingness to get started where you are now.
Working your idea and being open to trying new things and ideas that might come to mind. While at the same time being careful not to let totally unrelated opportunities pull you away from things.
2. How many hours do you work a day?
JH: When I was first launching the website, I worked all the time at it. Easily 70 to 80 hours a week.
I want to point out here that it wasn’t because I had to, nor would I even recommend it to folks. It just sort of happened that way for me.
See, I was very passionate about the topic personal development, so spending the time I did wasn’t at all like work.
I still remember how great it was to hear from people all over the world who were benefiting from what I shared. And it was equally exciting to help spread the message of a speaker or author who I admired to our website audience.
So much happened so quickly looking back that it didn’t really ever feel like hard work to me.
Now I don’t put near the hours in.
Then again, I tend to always have some project going. I don’t watch a lot of
3. Do you think everyone should find their passion and follow it? Even if there are risks?
JH: Yes, I do. I also want to point out that I don’t think one has to be directly passionate about their job.
Here’s what I mean. Say you’re passionate about rock climbing, but you can’t find a direct way to integrate that in to work (notice I’m not saying it can’t be done, just that as an individual you can’t at this point), you could accept that the job – while you’re not particularly passionate about it – is a great vehicle, which makes it possible for you to pursue your passion of rock climbing.
In other words, if you’re passionate about the work you do, awesome. If not, reposition your mindset and be grateful that you have it, because it allows you to pursue things you are passionate about.
4. What’s the most satisfying aspect of what you do?
JH: The years worth of messages I’ve received from people all over the world who have shared how some aspect of the work I do has had a positive impact on them.
It’s very humbling and I’m truly grateful to God that he gave me the talents and gifts he did. I know I’m meant to encourage others and I try my best to do so.
5. What are your best habits and practices?
JH: When I first wake up, I pray and specifically give thanks for the blessings I’ve been given. After, I’ll usually do some guided meditation. I have a little app on my phone that’ll run me through it – usually 9 minutes or so.
One key thing I do is remember that action is the great differentiator.
Ideas abound. It’s the willingness to apply the ideas that come our way that actually creates the results we long for.
Trying doesn’t mean we have guaranteed results, but without it, we haven’t got a chance.
6. What was the biggest sacrifice you had to make to become a successful entrepreneur?
JH: There have been many, I’m sure. Though, during the journey I’m not sure I considered them sacrifices.
I was trading things, time, possessions. In some cases security for what I wanted more – entrepreneurship.
I come from several generations of entrepreneurs and actually worked in our family business at a fairly young age, so the concept of entrepreneurship wasn’t ever really foreign to me. If anything, I’d say working for someone else was.
One thing about entrepreneurship is that you learn to live lean. You realize that business can be up or down and at times even sideways.
The catch is that not everyone is going to be able to feel the same comfort in such a situation. Therefore, looking back I see where I may have missed out on some personal relationships, because I didn’t feel like the person I was dating at the time was necessarily going to be able to adapt to the entrepreneurial journey.
Again, I don’t have regrets about it, nor do I want to have anyone be discouraged by it.
Anyone that’s got the entrepreneurial bug will get the point in what I’m sharing and not be deterred by it.
7. Which one do you enjoy more, speaking or writing? Why?
JH: I don’t think I really have a preference at this point in my life.
I am just grateful that anyone would want to hear or read anything I have to say.
A little background on me in case folks don’t know.
For a long time, I actually dealt with severe anxiety and what I refer to as a blocking tic. Think extreme stutter. I was dealing with that for a long time while I was growing the website. That was actually a catalyst for why I started writing in the first place.
At first, I was just sharing other people’s work, but I knew I had something worthwhile to share of my own too.
The challenge was that I could barely spit out what I wanted to say. So I just decided I’d write it out just like I would say it, if I could. It worked. I refer to this as finding my workaround.
Then, as the years passed and I worked through that difficulty, I began to speak to groups, I had the added benefit of being a writer also.
So you see, I really can’t say I like one over the other. Both are gifts that helped shape the person and life I have today.
8. How does you writing process look like?
JH: I have a few different approaches. The most common way I write is to just fire up the word processor and type, resisting the urge to edit as I go.
Then, I’ll add the words “edited version” above the first draft.
I’ll copy the draft and load it into this program I have that read what I copy into it. This gives me the effect of having an editor. I can hear it and easily catch mistakes and what just doesn’t sound right. Then I’ll make edits from that.
I have done that for years now. In addition to my own writing, I have to review a lot of contributed articles and guest posts that are sent for review to the different sites I run. The same program is especially helpful for reviewing those.
Another approach I’ll occasionally take when writing is to dictate a rough draft of what I write into my phone or tablet.
I use an android phone / tablet and find that Google’s voice to text is pretty good. It tends to understand just about everything I say correctly. I have a southern accent so that is no small task at times. Haha.
Then I take the rough draft and pop it into the reading program I mentioned and edit it to a final draft.
9. What advice would you give to those who are still not sure about what they want to do with their life?
JH: As I mentioned above, explore areas you’re interested in. Volunteer if you have to, or study the given areas you’re interested in in depth.
Activity and motion tend to build on itself. If you’re static, that tends to build upon itself too.
Think about it like this. Have you ever noticed that when things are going well opportunity seems to find you easier? Again, movement creates and attracts more of the same.
10. What’s your next big project?
JH: I’ll continue to inspire and encourage my others through the websites I run, such as GetMotivation.com and the others, as well as through my writing, articles, books, and other programs.
Beyond that, I’ll continue to remain open to whatever else life throws my way.
***
Hope you enjoyed what he had to say and took a lesson.
If you want to connect with him and find out more about what he does, here are some useful links:
JoshHinds.com
GetMotivation.com
Biography
Books:
It’s Your Life, Live BIG
Motivational Quotes for Living BIG
“When we set out to do the best we can do, it is inevitable that great opportunity finds us because we are doing what truly makes us happy. We’re in alignment and ready for the opportunities that life puts in our path.”
Josh Hinds, It’s Your Life, Live BIG