In today’s episode of Welcome to Cloundlandia, Dan and I dive into the power of mental images and harnessing our imagination to overcome trauma and achieve our objectives
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
- Dean speaks on Implementing the 50-minute focus finder system. Which for him lead to a significant reduction in screen time and increased productivity.
- Setting goals, creating an optimal environment, limiting distractions, and establishing a fixed timeframe can help improve focus and efficiency in both personal and professional life.
- Studies have shown that mental images and imagination can be powerful tools to overcome trauma and achieve goals.
- Working with sleep psychologists and brain function experts can help reduce reliance on medications like Adderall and improve overall well-being.
- Changing sleep habits is crucial for better restorative rest and overall well-being.
- Entrepreneurs can create their own pathways for success by committing to their own goals and carving out opportunities.
- The gap between what is taught in schools and what is valued in the marketplace may contribute to declining college enrollment.
- Collaboration is essential for success in any endeavor.
- Targeted writing and AI newsletters can be valuable tools for entrepreneurs.
- Maintaining reserve currency status is important for the US dollar and global economy.
Links:
WelcomeToCloudlandia.com
StrategicCoach.com
DeanJackson.com
ListingAgentLifestyle.com
TRANSCRIPT
(AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)
Dean Jackson
Mr Sullivan.
Dan Sullivan
Mr Jackson, you're in full voice There we go. You are in full voice today for Welcome to Cloudlandia.
Dean Jackson
That is exactly right, and it's been a great week in Cloudlandia and, more particularly, a great week in Deanlandia. Okay, that's the reason.
Dan Sullivan
That's the reason that Dean Jackson creates between the mainland and Cloudlandia. A lot of people don't know that, but there's a secret territory between these two worlds.
Dean Jackson
That's a secret territory. I love it, and there's a secret handshake to access. I know it's a funny thing. One of the.
Dan Sullivan
Secret tattoo. There's a secret tattoo. There's caps, t-shirts and mugs. That's right.
Dean Jackson
That's so funny, but not bumper stickers.
Dan Sullivan
But not bumper stickers.
Dean Jackson
No bumper stickers. In Deanlandia I've had an interesting, I'll tell you. I mentioned to you the distinction that I discovered between less screen time and more dean time And I successfully lowered my screen time by 29% this week.
Dan Sullivan
What specifically did you go after?
Dean Jackson
I spent more time. Everything that I do, i get done in what I call 50-minute focus finders, and the basics of the idea are that I've had ADD and I would always look at, even with the best intentions. I would want to do something, but I would find it difficult to focus or to do what I say I'm going to do without any supervision or accountability. So I started saying to myself listen, is it true that I can't focus, and is there any situation in my life where I can? And I immediately started thinking about golf And I thought I can play golf for four or five hours in a row with no problem. I can do that all the time. I can go to movies. I love going to movies And I don't have a problem with that. That's a couple of hours.
And I started looking at what are the characteristics of what's going on with golf that makes it so easy for me to keep my word on that or to focus on that for an extended period of time. And it developed into an acronym for golf, which is all the characteristics of why I'm able to focus on that particular activity. And I thought, ok, well, first of all, the G is there's a goal, and a goal. I'd see the goal as a decision that I've made, the decision that this is what I'm going to do. I put it in the calendar. I'm going to play golf on Friday afternoon And it's in my calendar And I work all the way around it, right, everything. It's there as an anchor. Then O is for an optimal environment And a golf course is the optimal environment to play golf.
It's set up perfectly for the task. You've got all the holes are already laid out. You start on the first tee. You kind of get on that. Ned Hollamall would probably refer to it as a bobsled run. You start at hole number one and you work your way all the way through to the 18th hole And then you're done.
There are limited distractions. Is the L meaning there's not no internet? no, especially if you leave your phone in your bag or in your locker, There's limited distractions. You're able to stay on track. You've got all the equipment, everything you need, right there in your bag, in your golf bag, and F is a fixed time. And so I started thinking okay, well, how can I apply those elements to getting the things that I want to get done?
that might be, you know, not golf the proactive things that I want to get done, and so I came up with this idea of a 50 minute focus finder And I would start blocking two hour blocks in my calendar And in those two hours I could do two 50 minute blocks with a 20 minute break in between. So it would be 50, 20, 50, and that could be two hours. And so I started thinking okay, i'm going to block off this 50 minute focus for this two hour block. I'm going to establish what's the goal for this What is it that I'm going to do?
And then what would be the optimal environment for this And so, for instance, so if I'm thinking about, if brainstorm, my new book, is the goal, then I can, i would set aside the time. The optimal environment for that is in my comfy, on my comfy white couch in my courtyard, with my light, with I'd have some water. I've got my remarkable, i've got my. You know, everything is set up for what I'm going to need to accomplish that limited distractions. I'll leave my phone in the house and not have it here as a distraction, because I want the you know distraction free environment And otherwise you know if it's dinging or flashing or there it's tempting to get distracted on that.
And the fixed timeframe I have a timer. I have a visual 50 minute timer, that kind of I can see where, where I am in that, without having to use my phone as the timer because it's too tempting for me, and so that 50 minutes goes and I'm able to get into a flow and do what it is that I'm going to do, and then at 50 minutes the alarm dings and I can get up and move around and go get some water, maybe a cup of coffee, get, look at my phone, you know, do whatever I need to do, and then, after the 20, minutes.
I come back, set the timer for 50 minutes and do it again, and that kind of thing. I find that, you know, brainstorming often leads to outlining and that, will you know, lead to whatever the next step is, but I can always set up what the goal of the of the outcome is. You know, like one of the great examples, i never have a problem focusing on Welcome to Cloud Landia. I've had ingrained golf outing for about you know I set it in my calendar.
I know where I'm going to be at the appointed time. I've got an optimal environment. I've got all the tools that I need. I have my remarkable you know, just doodling and taking notes as we're going. I'm out in the courtyard, i've got a nice bottle of water here And it's effortless effortless.
Well, I think, you're.
Dan Sullivan
What's interesting about what you've just described is that you're taking a great habit and a great activity from the mainland and you're moving it into Cloud Landia projects.
Dean Jackson
I agree.
And because that's where my access portal. Yeah.
Dan Sullivan
My sense is that if you look at the development of anything new in the world going back for as long as we have history, the biggest breakthroughs is where somebody develops, takes something that's really well developed in an old territory and moves it into a new territory. Okay, yeah, and I mean right now we can use the terms mainland and Cloud Landia, because we're in a current old territory, new territory, piece of history. You know the historical period.
But it would have been the same with the development of the industrial technological breakthroughs. You know, with telegraph, you know telephone, you know internal combustion engine, assembly line, you know assembly line, you know the whole thing that the people who really make the money are the people who have the courier service between the two worlds.
Dean Jackson
That's a great outcome. I mean, when you think about that especially, it's funny. I was in the reading in the Wall Street Journal yesterday. There was. I get the print version on Saturday or for the weekend version of the Wall Street Journal And yesterday there was a hard-to-call newspaper in the world, by the way.
Dan Sullivan
Best newspaper in the world Saturday Yeah, yeah, so in yesterday I don't know whether it was Yeah, yesterday finest newspaper in the world hands down. There's no other newspaper as good as the Wall Street Saturday edition.
Dean Jackson
Well, there we go. That was your recommendation. By the way, about a year ago I started getting the physical version, but there's an article about entitled Mastering Your Mental Images. Can Make. Your Day. It's a new psychological technique aimed to use your imagination and all of your senses, overcome trauma and achieve goals. Did you read that article?
Dan Sulivan
Yes, I did.
Dean Jackson
Yes, i did. Okay, well, there you go. Very. Yeah, that's an interesting I mean, it's not so that sort of breakthrough information, but it's more supporting information that really shows what you think about. You. Bring about That's kind of.
Dan Sullivan
Well, it's cheaper than Adderall, you know.
Dean Jackson
Yeah.
Dan Sullivan
Right, right, yeah, well, i'm on a different path right now that you might be interested in. So I'm in a 12-week program with a sleep psychologist.
Dean Jackson
Okay.
Dan Sullivan
Okay, his name is Michael Bruce. Do you know, michael?
Dean Jackson
I do. Yeah, we found him on I Love Marketing He's yeah pretty good, well, i have nothing to say then?
Well, no, tell me I want to hear all about it because It's all been said.
Dan Sullivan
Oh, that's so funny Between you and Joe and Michael. What else is there to say? But anyway, I was recommended him by Paramededia, who was my My Canyon Ranch go-to doctor for 10, 12 years, and then he's gone out on his own because he's spent too much time with me And be around me. You turned him into an entrepreneur. You're going to go out on your own if you're around me too much.
Dean Jackson
You're going to get infected. You're going to get infected.
Dan Sullivan
Yep. It's contagious, it's contagious. Yeah, anyway, one of my goals. I'm working with David Hasse, who's I don't know if you've met David or not, but he's in the pre-zone Yeah.
And he's absolutely our number one overall doctor who is right at the center of all of our medical network, And his specialty is everything that improves the brain, the function of the brain. And so to start the program with him which was last August 2022, I set a goal that by 2024, August of 2024, that I would be off all prescription drugs. So that would include sleep medicines, Adderall and blood pressure medicines. So I have three big ones, And so along the way, I've been looking for ways of getting off the sleep medicine and Parmdedia, who really got me into having CPAP at night, which has been great. I've been doing it for 12 years. I've missed eight nights in 12 years. I really benefited from the technology.
First of all, the machine does all the work at night. I don't even have to bother breathing.
Dean Jackson
It controls your breathing, at least the breathing in part.
Dan Sullivan
You get that.
Dean Jackson
Yeah, but it automatically.
Dan Sullivan
And it lowers your blood pressure at night because you're not working this hard.
And so anyway, that was great And along the way I've acquired sleep medicines which I've enjoyed Lunefta and Sonata. But the tests that Dr Assy David Assy does with me indicated that there's a long-term negative impact of these drugs. They have a neurological effects over a long period of time. And he said I know what your lifetime goals are as far as how long you want to live. I understand your goals for where you want to be 10 years ahead, 20 years ahead.
And he said if we can take these pharmaceutical things out of your system at a certain point, that'd be good. And I said, good, well, that's my goal. Two years of all prescription drugs And I've made great progress. The one that was. In order to get off the prescription drugs. What I have to do is change my sleep habits. Okay, because those drugs, which are the sleep medicines at night and the Adrol during the day, totally undermine your ability to get deep sleep, which is the restorative. It's the restorative sleep. So and I'm happy for my relationship with these drugs I'm not dissing the drugs.
And already I can see some nervousness on the part of the drugs that whereas they thought this was going to be a lifetime relationship, i've kind of put them on the clock And yeah. So, anyway, we started three weeks ago and he's got really, really it's a wonderful coaching program. From the standpoint. You know me being a coach, i kind of understand a really good coaching program when I see it, and so what he starts you off at is that he starts gradually depriving you of sleep. Okay, so it starts at so it started off at 10 o'clock, where we go to go to bed at 10 and we wake up at five. Okay, oh my, God.
And that's less sleep than I am talking about. I'm talking about in bed time here you know, 10 to 10 to five And then about two weeks in he moved it to 1015. And it means you can't go to bed before 1015. Okay. So, 1015, but you always get up at five, and his ultimate goal is that, regardless of when you go to sleep at night, you always get up at five, because then your circadian rhythms can kick in and you know and they've got.
You know, from five till the evening, they've got 12 hours. They've got at least you know they've got 12, 13 hours for your natural sleep hormones to kick in and you get sleepy at the end of the day. So anyway this. So is that difference.
Dean Jackson
Like do you normally, have you normally? gotten up at five, or is that new for you?
Dan Sullivan
No, we ordinarily go to bed whenever but we always make sure to be in bed more than eight hours.
Dean Jackson
Okay, so that was our room, so sometimes you wake up at seven or eight or whatever. That'd be late.
Dan Sullivan
That would be late Okay. Yeah, yeah, but usually we're hitting bed at around eight, 39 at night.
Dean Jackson
Okay, and then okay, right.
Dan Sullivan
And then we put both. babs and I are morning people, so we're not we're not depriving ourselves. And then whenever we go to bed, then we put the alarm for eight hours, or more than eight hours, to get up in the morning. Okay, so that's a yeah, but it might be any time between eight o'clock and 10 o'clock that we would go to bed, but then when we got up in the morning, it would be determined by by hours later Yeah.
By like sound, you know so anyway, so it was a real strain in the first week or so. What we're going to do next hour, hour and a half at night, you know you're sort of twiddling your thumbs and you're saying what could I do? What could I do? And then, before you go to bed, three hours before, you can't have any alcohol. So no alcohol within the last three hours, no food within the last two hours and no water within the last hour. And because the you're asking the digestive system to stay awake you know and do certain things.
And so anyway, so long story. I'm just getting the general context here of what happened. But halfway through the second week I said I wonder if I so I take two Adderall's. I take a timer at least Adderall, first thing when I get up in the morning, which is 10 megs, and then, depending on the day and what's going on in the day, i'll usually have one around two o'clock in the afternoon. Okay, because I'm I'm starting to fade during that time and bang, I take the Adderall, and you know.
And I'm the immediate release, yeah, yeah. So I experimented. I said I wonder if I can go through the afternoon, get through the day. And I did it once and it was just before a meeting with him, so I'd have weekly meetings with him And I he said, well, let's do an experiment, let's see if you can only have one day during the next week when you use the afternoon Adderall, because you've already indicated that you're kind of ambitious here. So let's see if we can do it. And I made it through the whole week. So I like and it's been 15 days now, i haven't had my afternoon Adderall and it's gone. It's gone, you know, because it's not an addiction.
Dean Jackson
It's not an addiction.
Dan Sullivan
It's a dependency and there's a big addiction You know, you know, it's just a habit, just a habit. It's not an addiction that has hold of your nervous system. So so he says that that's really great. And then I take two meds. At night, i take a lunesta, which is like a five hour, five hour knockout drug. And then there's Sonata and usually at the five hour four hour I get up and I do a fundamental human activity I pee. Okay, Yeah, Yeah.
Dean Jackson
Remember whenever you're planning to remember.
Dan Sullivan
When you're planning the future of the human race, make sure that there's always time to pee. And so I'll pop Sonata at that point. And that's fast acting, and I go back to sleep. So this past week I've kept the Sonata. So instead of taking the full dose, i break it in half and I just take half, and it's worked. It's worked. So I've gotten seven days in where I've just done half and he said okay, you're going down vacation now next week, see if he can get rid of the Sonata. So I have. But the big thing, dean, is we have to do a complete diary every day. It's a seven day diary and then we have to send it to him before our next meeting with him.
And then he goes and looks and he said you know pretty good. He says you're, you'll probably be about four weeks into the five weeks into the program and you will have eliminated the afternoon Adderall and the middle of the night Sonata. He says that's, that's quite amazing, amazing progress, yeah.
Dean Jackson
But I like.
Dan Sullivan
I like the structure and he's very adaptable. I mean, he's got his goals He wants you to get, he wants you to have the habit of getting up at five o'clock in the morning. But I told them Friday, i met with him on Friday, just a couple of days ago, and I said you know, you've reintroduced me to a pleasure that I have not experienced, i bet, in 20 years. And what's that? It's the feeling of being sleepy.
Dean Jackson
Hmm, oh, interesting, so you were using the, the, the lunesta is the one that was. kind of that was the signal or whatever. right, the behavioral yeah signal to get sleepy Yeah, and so.
Dan Sullivan
I was taking upper the Adderall is the upper and the lunastons and outer are downers. So I was never sleepy.
Dean Jackson
I would just be, i would just be up and then I was down chemically, you know what's so funny if you say those words, and Joe and I had Richard Vigory on our marketing podcast and he talked about his daily routine of you know, two uppers in the morning and two downers in the evening, and that's where two cups of coffee in the morning and two glasses of wine in the evening. He called them as uppers and downers. Yeah, rhythm right right?
Dan Sullivan
Well, Richard can do anything he wants at this stage. Yeah, richard's in, i think he's in his, he's in his 90s, you know. I mean he's, you know he's beyond. He's beyond warranty refund. I'll tell you. That's so funny. Yeah, he's a he's a yeah, he's really in the history of the last 60, 70 years of politics in the United States, yeah, And the person, people most responsible for establishing a solid conservative mindedness and conservative voting population. Richard would be in one of the top five of all the people.
Dean Jackson
I think you're absolutely right. Yeah, You said something interesting about your. You've developed the routine that when you get up to pee, you take the sonesta and that's your cue to go back and have another round of sleep And I may have no issue. I heard I heard someone say you know, if you're gonna tell yourself a lie, you may as well make it a good one.
And I started. I started thinking that well, not only that, you might will make, you might will make money on it. You know, if you're gonna, that's called marketing.
Dan Sullivan
That's called marketing.
Dean Jackson
I would have the same thing again. I would wake up at five o'clock, for instance, to pee, And then sometimes I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, right, Because then my mind would start like already you know, working on the things I'm working on for the day or whatever.
But I started telling myself the the better story. I would wake up at four often 445, 450 is around the time, usually right. And so if I wake up and it's that, i smile and I go pee and I'm saying, like I'm creating this story, that this is great because I'm gonna have the two best hours of sleep of my night. Right now I still have two hours left for the greatest sleep And I started telling myself that story and, wouldn't you know it, I ended up. I had the best two hours of sleep after telling myself that story And I thought that's an interesting thing where that matches up with this article we were talking about in the Wall.
Street Journal mastering your mental images can make your day And I thought, if I would really emotionally get you know, I would create joy out of waking up at 442 because I knew that I was gonna, with certainty, have the two best hours of the night.
Dan Sullivan
Yeah well, what you've created, mr Jackson, is a self milking placebo.
Dean Jackson
Exactly right, yeah, but I wonder if you tried to play. I mean, this would be interesting to try replacing your Celesta with that story.
Dan Sullivan
But Sonata, Sonata is the genus of Sonata And it's not called that on the prescription because it's generic. But anyway, anyway. Sure, i mean we do that. I mean as entrepreneurs we have a natural gift for this, You know, I mean, you know. I think this is a commitment to something you don't have the capability for yet. Right right right, yeah, you're committing to a future jump in, you know, in performance and which will be a new capability. But when you commit, you don't have the capability And that requires courage.
You know that requires courage to and, yeah, it's an interesting. You know it's an interesting, but you know more and more. I think that whether you're happy or not happy in the 21st century is the mind games that you have learned to play with yourself.
Dean Jackson
Yes.
Dean Jackson
I think that's really. That's one of the, that's one of the core found. Imagine if you applied yourself imagining this outcome.
Dan Sullivan
Yeah, yeah, you just weren't going to apply yourself to her goals.
Dean Jackson
Right.
That's right.
Dan Sullivan
Yeah, I can, Yeah, and I think entrepreneurs are asked in you know the early years, and especially when they're in the school system, to apply themselves to some other people's goals for them. And at a certain point they say well, i don't get paid for that, i don't get paid for applying myself to other people's goals, that's right. Why don't I just come up with my own goals and apply myself to them? Okay? And I bet doing it my way lets me make 100 times more lifetime income than the teacher would.
Dean Jackson
Yeah, right.
Dan Sullivan
I'll never make any money that way.
Dean Jackson
Yeah.
Dan Sullivan
Yeah, i mean to a certain extent there's such a disconnect now And Peter Diamonis and I talked about it on Friday that a 18-year-old today anywhere in North America probably elsewhere that if you get a 10-week course in welding, you know and you get a certificate at the end of the first year, you'll make $60,000 here. Yeah, because there's such a demand now that we get welders into the reindustrialization and re-manufacturing of North America right now. All requires welding somewhere along the line.
And meanwhile, if you go to four years of university, you know, regardless of the university, you probably didn't make any money during the four years, or minimal money during the four years, and probably you're running some sort of debt at the four years And meanwhile the 18-year-old who went into welding could be making $80,000, $90,000, $100,000 by the time you graduate, and then you've learned for four years things that don't make as much as a welder.
Dean Jackson
Yes, that's exactly right.
Dan Sullivan
And I think there's a shift because the incoming freshman class in the US, the difference between 2021 and 2022 was four million fewer freshmen coming into the first year of college. That's a big number Wow is that right.
Dean Jackson
right compared to how many normally come into the freshman.
Dan Sullivan
Well, four million more.
Dean Jackson
Oh yeah, but I mean that sounds like it couldn't be.
Dean Jackson
Well, it's a big number. I mean there's a lot of college freshmen. Yeah, it's a big number. No, no it would be.
Dan Sullivan
probably I'll have to check the numbers, but it would be, somewhere, and then it would be at least 25% at the very least to be 25% was missing because there's a disconnect about what they're learning and what they know gets paid for in the marketplace. You don't have to have a PhD to know the difference between what you get paid for, and I think parents are seeing this and I think the teenagers are seeing this and the words passing through the ranks it's a crack for the most part, going to university for four years is a crack And they say, yeah, but there's a socializing process that goes on that's ultimately very, very valuable. And I said, yeah, but your notion of how I should be socialized doesn't agree with my notion of how I should be socialized. Wow yeah.
Dean Jackson
That's something. when you look at that, you'll want me to apply myself to mindsets I don't agree to.
Dean Sullivan
I don't agree with.
Dean Jackson
That's why you are in the center. Imagine if you applied yourself.
Dean Sullivan
Yeah, that's all part of it.
Dean Jackson
I think that's an interesting thing, that kids, or we as people, that you are. An integral part of this is that it's. I heard someone parsing out the words of row, row, row your boat. That's the secret to life is row, row, row your boat And gently down the stream. You know that's really the key to life. Not in the hokey pokey, i guess right, one number one.
Dan Sullivan
it's your boat. Number two. you're going downstream. that upstream, that's exactly right. Yeah, not much growing required to go downstream, right.
Dean Jackson
That's kind of. I think if you could argue that, saying you know, going in your unique ability, you know and row row. Row is to continue actually doing something. It's not just float, float, float your way down the stream, it's row, row, row. You're actually doing something, you know.
Dan Sullivan
Yeah, it doesn't say you're the only one rowing either.
Dean Jackson
Right, that's true, that's right. Get everybody on board. Yeah, it's so funny, i love other things like that.
Dan Sullivan
Well, you know I mean. The interesting thing is, this always happens when you have the sudden emergence of a new territory and it's creating opportunities. It's creating wealth opportunities, achievement opportunities, you know, and freedom opportunities than the old territory, did you know?
But this happens repeatedly, i mean over the centuries, over the millennia. There's always the old territory and the new territory, and then the people who make the money are the people who can learn on both sides and create an entirely new value creation proposition that lets other people make the transition. Yeah, for example, you and Joe doing I Love Marketing. Well, this would have been meaningless probably 30 years ago.
Yeah.
Dean Jackson
I mean, there was no there was no capability.
Dan Sullivan
There was no capability for people to take action and get results with what you were recommending, that's true.
Dean Jackson
That's what's encouraging, that's kind of the, you know, when I was really looking at the 25-year framework and putting it in perspective with my plus three to that three years to get to 60 and then my next 25-year chapter starting at 60, that 28 years I started looking back 28 years ago and realized every single thing that is the biggest things right now weren't even in existence then And so encouraging when you think about, you know, the richest money, the thing the richest probably five or six people in the world weren't even didn't even start on their built all their wealth in that same period of time, And so that's kind of encouraging you know.
Yeah, i like that a lot And that's kind of a. That's a. So you realize well what a nice meaty period of time that is. And of course you know, looking back, there's no way that we could have predicted 25 years ago what, or 28 years ago what a podcast was, or that everybody you know you'd have an instant and available access to so much of the world's information like that. You know it wasn't even wasn't even a thing. We were definitely mainland oriented Yeah.
Dan Sullivan
There's no question. I mean, how many coach clients have podcasts, even though? I've you know they've been listening to my podcast, they've been listening to your podcast and but hardly any of them are you know, I think it comes down to the that it's a lack of They don't have the confidence to do it. But the only way out of no confidence is to make a commitment that you're going to get the capability. Okay, you know, by this time next year I'm going to launch a podcast series.
Now, who's the how? who helps me do that? Yeah?
Dean Jackson
Yeah.
Dan Sullivan
Because you don't have to do it. I mean, there's all sorts of talent around in the world who know. I mean there's two million podcast series as of January this year and probably a lot more six months later. And all I did was start in with Joe and get the ropes And I said well, i think I can create another series. And you know and that was with Peter Diamandis I've had a couple of years with Joe to get the feel for it And we started with Peter Diamandis and you know it's great, you know it's great.
And I have you know I have seven, you know seven regular podcasts, including our own here. Yeah, I mean it was like we were having lunch at Los Solect in Toronto And you know I brought up the idea of that procrastination is actually a form of wisdom And you said we should do a podcast on this. And I said and I said when will we start? He said what are you doing tomorrow? And tomorrow we had a complete podcast.
And all I had to do was make a phone call And that was it, you know, and we had a podcast And you know, but podcasts are full-fledged cloud-landing capabilities.
Dean Jackson
Yeah, yeah, this is. I've had a great you know. You look at those, the taking action, the just doing the things I had to, thanks to my you know, more deemed on less screen time focus. Over the last couple of weeks I've had a really productive couple of weeks I was in the middle of. I already started a lead generation workshop that I do by Zoom And the focus, for weeks and we focus on setting up a lead generation system for your business And we do four Tuesdays And I decided to go through the process with the people who I'm going through the workshop with to demonstrate.
So one of the things that we talk about is, once we identify who your ideal target audience is, who's your ideal, your ideal prospect, then we start thinking about what would be the book that they would most definitely want to have in their, in their possession, in their collection. And so we go through a whole process of identifying, go through a book title formulas workshop where I, you know, describe the different types of book titles And have them do the exercise of creating what I call a word palette, where they think of all of the words and phrases and hopes and dreams and fears you know, all the sound bites that are going on in somebody's head, and so one of the title formulas is what we call a just do it title, which is it does what it says And you're going to do.
What it says on the cover, like stop your divorce or think and grow rich is, are the types of action.
That's what I'm going to do compelling offers, compelling offers, and so yeah so I wrote a site, i did the workshop, i did the process with them And I created a book, a book called convert more leads at what to say to prospects so they all convert themselves. And had a nice cover of imagery of a guy on a boat on a lake and he's had his hands behind his head and the fish are just jumping in his back. That's the, that's the imagery that we did. So I created that as the cover And then in the next seven days I created the whole book. I did the reminder of being when we were in London, you know, having that conversation.
I went through the whole process of brainstorm where I brainstormed all the content and set it up into the chapters and I made a great outline. And I then went into the studio and I recorded what was essentially the audiobook version, i think. Say chapter one, begin with the end in mind, and then I would talk through my talking points for chapter one, and then I said chapter two and the title of chapter two, and so I created all the raw, all the raw audio by just talking about what I wanted to say. I had that recorded And then I sent I didn't do it, but one at the studio, sent the audio to someone on my team, jack, who then took the audio, got a transcript, set up the Google doc, did a first pass edit to turn it into you know, clean it up for written kind of format, and sent it back to me. And then I was able to go in and in a period of 50 minute, focus finders edit the written transcript into the finished form of the book And it's nice.
It's a great outcome. And all the while I was doing that, i was already running ads for it. I set up the Facebook ads and generated now 293 ads of leads of people who want the book for about $3 each. You know it's a whole thing. It was such a great like during the process to actually go through with people and demonstrate what can be, what can be done. You know, yeah.
Dan Sullivan
Well, you know the, you know, you know how to create the book. You know I mean the idea, do you? have a copy, yet You're going to run off 20 copies and send them out to your friends so you can get the, of course.
Dean Jackson
Yeah.
Dan Sullivan
Yeah, Send them up, because I'll you know consume it and absolutely.
Dean Jackson
Yeah.
Dan Sullivan
I'll tell you five or 10 things that reminds me of them. Perfect, i love it.
Dean Jackson
Send it back to you That becomes version one and then with the input and the extension I can make version two and. but it's a nice meaty book. It's really good, really good content I'm happy with that.
Dan Sullivan
Yeah what's the idea? So I got version. Yeah, And I tell people, you know you can call 90 minute book and you can get a first draft of your book, get 20 or 30 copies and get it out to 20 or 30 people and then make your readers part of the design team.
Dean Jackson
That's exactly the whole purpose. That's exactly it, yeah.
Yeah.
Dan Sullivan
People work for five years five years writing a book and they never, let a potential reader. First of all, they're not even clear about who the potential reader is. And you know, and my you know, i always start with one person as my potential reader and I do sort of a DOS in my mind about what the dangers, opportunities and strengths of this one person and I write the book and I do it.
you know I do do that. People say, well, I want the book to be forever, and I said, well, I have a different approach, I want to be for one person. Right, because if I nail that, if I nail that they, then you know, the one person I want is a, an entrepreneur who is already successful, who's talented, who's ambitious, and from now on, they want 10 times more freedom in their lives Freedom of money, freedom of time, money, relationship and purpose. I said I just write the book for that person.
Dean Jackson
Well, you know, about?
Dan Sullivan
what? about school teachers? I said, not interested What about government bureaucrats Not interested. What about corporate employees? Not interested. What about non-profit organization? I said I can't even say the two words to myself. It depresses me.
Dean Jackson
Right, exactly. We have doctors who have non-profits.
Dan Sullivan
We have doctors who have non-profits And they say, well, can I, as a non-profit organization, be in your future? I said I can't even allow those two words to be said And I'm a workshop of mine, i said non-profit in the entrepreneurial world means something totally, totally different. For you know, i didn't get that. Can you try again? No, siri, siri. You know what Siri's main saying to me is? I didn't quite get that.
Dean Jackson
I didn't quite get that.
Dan Sullivan
I didn't quite get that. They say well, of course you are, you're not a person. A person would get it, You're just an algorithm and not a very pleasant one to us, with that Never been useful.
I've always been a bother, so that's my take on it. Yeah, anyway, i want to tell you a little project we've got. You know, joe Stothe, do you, did you? Yeah Well, joe came to Genius while you were there by Zoom, and he gave a really great presentation on what his AI newsletter does, and so I had about eight things I was looking for at that meeting and he checked off seven of the boxes and I told him so.
And he says and I said so, why don't we get going? And so we have. So we've sent out, we've sent out three of his AI newsletters and, just for the listeners here at the newsletter, that writes itself. So you put in some input or prompts and that is that your thought leaders that you follow in the world and you have your, you let them take advantage of things that you have that are already out in the internet And they put together a newsletter and I liked the content. I didn't like the layout. So I put in a lot of input about design characteristics. That would be consistent with coach stuff And we have certain design roles for everything that we do and I just applied them to the newsletter and we have a project manager, linda Spencer, who is overall a haunch of this, and we sent it out. So in the first three episodes first episode, we got a 56 open rate. Second one, we got a 62 open rate. Third one, we got a 66 open rate.
So that's the point to keep getting the open rate.
Dean Jackson
Yeah, where do I find up for this?
Dan Sullivan
Yeah, future, future, future scope. So just type in and, and it's a wonderful thing, and so it goes out, and then it analyzes all the feedback from the first article and then it designs the second one, which we scrutinize from an editorial standpoint, and make adjustments, and it goes back out. But more and more, what it's joining in Cloudlandia is who you want to be talking to with the? who you want to be talking to, what do they want to be hearing from you?
Okay, so it keeps refining that the message is right for the, for the mainer, but yeah, really fun.
Dean Jackson
I knew about future scope and daily AI, but where do. I find up for your your newsletter.
Dan Sullivan
Spark. It's called Spark. We'll send it out to you. I don't, i can't do that, you know I've got a specialized who, but we'll send it out. send it out to you.
Dean Jackson
And, by the way, great Yeah.
Dan Sullivan
You're. You're welcome as a columnist because all the people I mean I have a. You know I'll have a one or two sections on the newsletter, but the other four or five are coach. They're free zone, free zone clients.
Dean Jackson
Yeah, yeah, love it, love it.
Dan Sullivan
And you can, you can put in, you know you can. For example, you can talk about your new book. You know, brainstorm, brainstorm. Yeah, so you can give a interview, you know, you can give an advance notice of what brainstorm is all about and just put it in as a blog and we'll just put it right in the newsletter. Okay, perfect, i like it.
Dean Jackson
Well, this is all very exciting, yeah. I like the things that can do where you don't have to do, the stuff you know where you're using well, think about dailyai as a whole.
Dan Sullivan
Think about producing a newsletter every two weeks, yeah, where you're starting from scratch every two weeks and you don't even have any sense how the ones you've sent out already are actually landing. You know, yeah, the only difference between a bad newsletter idea and a good newsletter is your rate of open and click through.
Dean Jackson
That's true, yeah, and respond Yeah.
Dan Sullivan
There's feedback, you know, and so. so, anyway, anyway, and I wonder what Vladimir Putin is doing today.
Dean Jackson
I wonder the same thing.
Dan Sullivan
He's got a lot of material for food of thought over the last five or six days, you know.
Dean Jackson
Amen Yeah.
Dan Sullivan
I mean they got within 125 miles, you know they had, you know, a couple of hundred in our armed carriers and that, and they got within 125 miles of Moscow and that's serious business, you know. And it goes to go the other way and the war is coming to them. So anyway, but you know it's easier to not start a war than it is to start a war, because once you start a war the enemy has a vote, you know, and anyway. But but this is a lot. He did three. He does really great YouTube.
You know five to eight YouTube and he did three of them yesterday, yesterday just giving you a structure on, you know the potential uprising, probably the best military force in the Russian army, which is the Wagner group, and the head of Wagner says you know we're. We've decided that the entire military leadership in Russia is incompetent and, worse than that, they're criminally corrupt and we cannot possibly win this war unless we get rid of the top military leadership and you know demonstrating words, So follow me This way, yeah.
So anyway, we're. Anyway. It's interesting. But Peter D Amonus said that he felt that Russia was collapsing as a country and that this is you know. They were supposed to have the second most powerful military in the world and it's debatable whether they would qualify to be in the top 10. And you know so lots of things, and you know so anyhow what a wonderful world, what a wonderful world we live in.
Dean Jackson
Did I hear you say you're going on vacation. Now It's starting. Yeah, Let's be. Let's be cottage time by now.
Dan Sullivan
Yeah, but from the cottage. next Sunday, if you're free, i will call you.
Dean Jackson
I am free. Yes, i would hope I'm going to play that Awesome. I'm very excited about that.
Yeah.
Dan Sullivan
Yeah, yeah So that'd be good And we'll learn more about your 50, your 50, you know your 50 men Yeah. Because you had already created Jackson Jackson times, which are 10 minutes, which are 10.
Dean Jackson
Jack's units.
Dan Sullivan
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't think this is a threat to the US dollar as the reserve currency, but I think it's substantially good for you.
Dean Jackson
I agree, that's what.
Dean Sullivan
I'm most useful reserve currency.
Dean Jackson
That's right, and I have it in abundance.
Dan Sullivan
Yeah.
Dean Jackson
I was talking about that.
Dan Sullivan
Because do you see the dollars not going to be reserve currency? And I said, well, whoever replaces it? make sure you have the greatest Navy in the world, the greatest Air Force in the world and the greatest fighting, because that's the muscle that makes the dollar the reserve currency. If you don't have the, you know, the armed force to reinforce your way around the world, you can't do the reserve currency.
Dean Jackson
Yeah, exactly.
Dan Sullivan
Yeah.
Okay, alrighty, that was fantastic.
Dean Jackson
I will talk to you next weekend.
Yep.