Jon Acuff's Blog, page 33

With Finish coming out next week you’ve been hearing more from me than normal, so I’ll make this quick.

My team and I just decided to throw in one final bonus for anyone who pre-orders Finish before Monday at midnight. (If you’ve already pre-ordered, you’ll get this bonus as well.)

Everyone who pre-orders Finish will get access to my 30 Days of Hustle Course for free.

To get the 30 Days of Hustle as a pre-order bonus, just pre-order Finish and fill out this wicked quick form. That’s it. Then, next week, you’ll get an email from me giving you full access to the course.

What is the 30 Days of Hustle? It’s 30 videos designed to help you hustle on a goal in 30 days.

I’ve taken thousands of people through this course over the last two years and have sold it for as much as $200. It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever done because I’ve seen thousands of people accomplish amazing things when they hustle.

I’ve seen stay at home moms start big businesses.

I’ve seen people lose weight.

I’ve seen authors finish books.

I’ve seen houses get decluttered.

I’ve seen bad habits break.

I’ve seen good habits take.

I’ve seen blogs started.

I’ve seen marathons run.

I’ve seen careers changed.

I’ve seen thousands and thousands of lives change for the better because of this course. If you’ve got a goal to achieve, it will help you achieve it. And the ONLY way to get it, is to pre-order Finish.

As a reminder, in addition to the 30 Days of Hustle you’ll also get the Finish course and workbook as well as a Finish dry erase card and marker. And of course, you get Finish, a book that will help you overcome perfectionism and teach you how to give yourself the gift of done.

These pre-order bonuses disappear in 3 days. If you don’t grab them now, they’ll be gone.

STEP 1: Pre-order Finish.

STEP 2: Fill out this wicked quick form.

Don’t miss this!

The post The $200 pre-order bonus I just added to Finish appeared first on Jon Acuff.

For a lot of people, the hardest part of a project is what happens after it’s done.

It’s one thing to start a business, write a book, make an album or become a photographer.

It’s another thing to tell people you did one of those things.

The creation is hard, but for lots of people, the marketing of it is even harder.

The temptation is to go quiet, to get shy with our work.

I don’t think you should do that.

In fact, here are 3 reasons we need you to shout:

1. People will miss it.

Whenever we do a book tour, I do my best to tell people about it online. I blog about it. I tweet about it. I post it on Facebook and LinkedIN and Instagram. I feel like I talk about it so much that I’m bothering people. The day after each tour stop, I post a photo of the event. Every time, someone sees the photo and says, “I wish I had known you were coming to my city. I would have loved to come to your event!” I might have felt like I was over-talking it but the reality is that the only person who sees everything you say, is you. Most people miss most things you say unless you say them more times than you are comfortable.

2. It’s not for the haters.

There might be people who get mad that you’re talking about your thing, but guess what? They’re not your audience. Those handful of people weren’t going to buy your thing anyway. Whether you promote it 10 times or 100, they weren’t going along for the ride. Knowing that, why should we let them dictate how we promote our thing?

3. We need it.

If you’ve got something you believe will help people, hiding it isn’t humility, it’s cowardice. We get this in other professions. If my toilet explodes and you’re a plumber, not telling me you can help isn’t a kindness to me. I don’t think, “I’m so glad they didn’t over promote.” I think, “I wish I had a plumber.” If you believe in your work and it will help people, share it.

The biggest thing you have to remember is this, if you’re worried about sharing it too much, you’re already in a good place. You know who never worries about over promoting? People who are over promoting. The act of concern indicates you’re already going to be taking a careful, considerate road.

I know I am. My new book Finish comes out in less than 5 days which means people like you have barely anytime left to get the free bonuses. I have a ton of pre-order bonuses but only until midnight on Monday, September 11th.

If you haven’t ordered yet, today is the day. Buy a copy here and then fill out this quick form.

Why do I promote it? Simple, I believe Finish will help you finish the things you really care about. I think you’ll use it to finish a book, a business, a diet or a million other things.

Buy one today.

And expect me to talk about it tomorrow too, because I don’t want you to miss these bonuses!

The post 3 reasons we need you to shout. appeared first on Jon Acuff.

I tend to talk to three different groups of people these days:

1. Writers

2. Entrepreneurs

3. Public Speakers

I share thousands of ideas with these people every year, but I can summarize what I say quickly:

Writers, finish your book.

Entrepreneurs, charge more money.

Public speakers, give better speeches.

I say these things over and over again because too many people have laptops full of half-finished books, entrepreneurs undervalue what they have to offer and the world is jam packed with average speeches.

To remedy all three of those situations, I created three new resources.

1. How to finish a book.

2. How to charge more money.

3. How to give the best speech of your life.

The first two are PDFs. The last one is a video.

They are all free for the next 7 days.

If you pre-order my book “Finish,” before midnight on September 11th, I will send you all three of those resources on September 12th. Just order it and then fill out this wicked quick form.

The only way to get them is to order the book.

If you’re a writer, entrepreneur or ever have to talk to humans, don’t miss these three awesome resources.

The post 3 things I made for you. appeared first on Jon Acuff.

Want to hear a conversation I’ve had a few dozen times?

Here it is:

Friend: I’m going to get in shape.

Me: That’s awesome! How are you going to do it?

Friend: I’m going to run.

Me: Do you like running?

Friend: No, I hate it.

Why do people who hate running, run? Because they think they have to.

There’s a general belief in our culture that for a goal to count, it must be miserable.

Ask someone what they think of when they hear the word “goal” and they say things like, “Grind, persistence, will power, discipline, etc.”

Those are great words, I am a fan of all of them, but they’re not fun.

Not even a little bit.

Why does fun matter? Well, I studied the role of fun in high performance with a researcher from a local university. What we found was staggering.

For the full results, read chapter 4 of my new book “Finish,” but I’ll give you the summary.

Fun matters.

Not just a little, a lot.

Which brings us to today.

How to you make sure your goals are fun and actually work?

You become a casino. Obviously.

What do we know about casinos other than that they have mile-long buffets?

The house always wins.

The odds are always stacked in their favor.

Winning is not hard for a casino.

They don’t make it difficult to hit their goals. They make it stupid easy actually. They remove the windows so you can’t tell what time of day it is. They keep the free drinks coming to lower your inhibitions. They use crazy patterns on the carpet so you don’t notice stains, keeping you as comfortable as possible. They remove the clocks so you don’t know how long you’ve been gambling. They make the layout a maze so it’s hard to find your way out.

They stack the odds in dozens of ways.

And so do I.

I might not ever open a garish casino in Vegas, but you better believe I’m trying to be the house in my own life. You better believe I stack the odds.

How? Here are a few ways:

1. I eat the same breakfast every morning. I don’t mess with trying to figure out what to eat. I discovered a healthy meal that I love and then I hit “repeat.”

2. I bought a road bike instead of a mountain bike. Why? Because it’s a lot easier to walk out my front door to ride than it is to load the rack, put my bike on, drive to a trail, unload the bike, etc.

3. I read multiple books at the same time because if I’m only reading one business book, at night I’m not going to want to read that in bed. I always have some fiction going. I essentially have a book for every type of moment.

4. I leave my phone in the kitchen at night because otherwise I’ll stay awake staring at it when I go to bed.

5. I hide my email app on the second page of my phone deep inside a folder because I tend to automatically go to it when I barely touch my phone.

Are some of those weird? Maybe, but they work for me.

I’m the casino. The house always wins.

Quit making your goals so difficult.

Quit being a jerk to yourself.

Quit thinking something has to be difficult for it to count.

It doesn’t.

Goals can be fun.

I promise.

The post How to be a casino appeared first on Jon Acuff.

Two years ago I took The Do Over Tour to bookstores across the country talking about how you could rescue Monday, reinvent your work, and never get stuck again. Over 5,000 of you came out, and we had a blast.

This fall I’m visiting eleven cities to talk about my new book Finish!

Why? Because, according to a study conducted by the University of Scranton, 92% of resolutions fail. That’s a staggering number considering how important goals are in every aspect of our lives.

What if we could do some simple things to improve how often we finished what we started? What if we could complete the incomplete projects and tasks? What if we could get more done in a world of bottomless opportunities and endless distractions?

That’s what we’ll be talking about, and here are the cities I’ll be visiting:

THE FALL 2017 FINISH TOUR

September 11 – Nashville, TN (Register / More info)

September 14 – Seattle, WA (Register / More info)

September 19 – Irvine, CA (Register / More info)

September 25 – Lancaster, PA (Register / More info)

September 28 – Boston, MA (Register / More info)

October 2 – Minneapolis, MN (Register / More info)

October 9 – Indianapolis, IN (Register / More info)

October 19 – Hattiesburg, MS (Register / More info)

October 26 – Dallas, TX (Register / More info)

November 2 – Charlotte, NC (Register / More info)

November 9 – Orlando, FL (Register / More info)

—

These events are free, but you have to register to attend and some may sell out. More than 1,000 people have already signed up in the first 24 hours! Grab your ticket today and let’s hang out this fall!

Starting is fun, but the future belongs to finishers!

The post Announcing the Fall 2017 Finish Tour! appeared first on Jon Acuff.

Starting today, through August 25th, anyone who orders two (or more) autographed copies of my new book Finish from our online store (Acuff.me/store) will automatically be eligible to win our Queso and a Case-O contest.

You’ve got questions, I’ve got answers.

WAIT, WHAT IS THIS CONTEST CALLED AGAIN?

Queso and a Case-O. (They rhyme because I’m clever like that.)

AND THE WINNER WINS, WHAT, EXACTLY?

We will pick one random winner from among the eligible entries to fly to Nashville in September and have dinner with me and my team (featuring queso of course). You’ll also get to be a part of my Nashville book signing, and you’ll win a “Case-O” Finish (12 copies of Finish, to be exact).

OKAY, SO HOW DO I ENTER?

To enter, you need to purchase two (or more) autographed copies of Finish through our online store on or before August 25th at midnight, PT.

IS THERE A FORM TO FILL OUT ONCE I BUY MY TWO COPIES?

No, your order of Finish through our online store per the contest guidelines automatically enters you into this contest.

WHAT IF I ALREADY PURCHASED A COPY ON AMAZON, DO I STILL HAVE TO BUY TWO MORE COPIES?

If you’ve already purchased one (or more copies) of the book through Amazon (or another retailer), and you have filled out the bonus pre-order form, then you only need to purchase one additional autographed copy of the book through our online store.

DO I HAVE TO PURCHASE THE BOOK TO ENTER THIS CONTEST?

There is no purchase necessary. You may also enter by sending in an entry with your name, address, email address, and daytime phone number on a postcard or index card to “Acuff Queso Contest” #178 2020 Fieldstone Pkwy. Suite 900, Franklin, TN, 37069. Your entry must be postmarked by 8/25/2017 to be eligible.

WILL THE ENTIRE DINNER CONSIST OF QUESO?

Only if you want it to.

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET TO NASHVILLE?

I’m going to fly you there, that’s part of the prize package!

AND WHERE AM I GOING TO STAY?

I’ll put you up someplace nice, that is also part of the prize package!

AND WHAT COLOR WILL THE PORSCHE 911 BE THAT THE WINNER RECEIVES?

Now you’re just making stuff up, that is NOT part of the prize package.

SORRY HAD TO TRY. SO WHY WOULD I BUY TWO COPIES OF FINISH?

More than any other book I’ve written, Finish has the most potential as a book you want to buy not just for yourself, but for your employees, your team, and your friends. It’s already happening, as teams have been ordering in bulk to go through it together.

WHEN WILL YOU ANNOUNCE A WINNER?

The contest closes on August 25th at midnight, PT. We will announce a winner to the contest some time the following week.

IS THAT IT?

That’s it! Order two autographed copies of Finish from our online store in the next week and you just might be joining me for Queso in Nashville next month! I’ll fly you there, I’ll put you up in a hotel, you’ll join me for queso, you’ll come to my Nashville book signing, and I’ll send you home with a case of my new book!

This is gonna be fun!

Jon

The post Win the Queso and a Case-O Contest! appeared first on Jon Acuff.

If you do what’s in the video below, you will be 63% more successful at your goals.

Got a health goal? Great.

Trying to write a book? Perfect.

Looking to start a business? Outstanding.

A study of nearly 900 people over a six-month period revealed some crazy things about winning at your goals.

Watch the video below to see what we discovered.

Or, better yet, get the whole 12-part series for free.

How? There are two wicked easy steps:

1. Order my new book “Finish”

2. Fill out this form. (If you already ordered it, skip right to this step!)

That’s it. You’ll get the entire series for free.

Ready to finish your goals? Watch this video to get started.

The post Increase your success by 63% with this video. appeared first on Jon Acuff.

I fought the wrong ghost in 2013.

That year, I published a book urging readers to start. I encouraged them to begin a diet or a write a book or pursue a million other goals they’d been dreaming about for years.

I thought the biggest problem for people was the phantom of fear that prevented them from beginning. If I could just nudge you across the starting line, everything would work out. Fear was the ghost holding you back and starting was the only way to beat it.

I was half right.

The start does matter. The beginning is significant. The first few steps are critical, but they aren’t the most important.

Do you know what matters more?

The finish.

Year after year, readers pulled me aside at events and said, “I’ve never had a problem starting. I’ve started a million things, but I never finish them. How do I finish?”

I didn’t have an answer, but I needed one in my own life, too.

I’ve finished a few things. I’ve run half marathons, written six books, and dressed myself pretty well today, but those are the exceptions in my half-done life.

I’ve only completed 10 percent of the books I own. It took me three years to finish six days of the P90X home exercise program. I have thirty-two half-started Moleskine notebooks in my office and nineteen tubes of nearly finished Chapstick in my bathroom.

At least I’m not alone in my “unfinishing” ways.

According to studies, 92 percent of New Year’s resolutions fail. Every January, people start with hope and hype, believing that this will be the New Year that does indeed deliver a New You.

I thought my problem was that I didn’t try hard enough. That’s what every shiny-toothed guru online says. “You must grind! Sleep when you’re dead!”

Maybe I was just lazy.

I started getting up earlier. I drank enough energy drinks to kill a horse. I hired a life coach and ate more superfoods.

Nothing worked, although I did develop a pretty nice eyelid tremor from all the caffeine. It was like my eye was waving at you, very, very quickly.

While I was busy putting elbow grease on the grindstone and reaching for the stars like Abe Lincoln, I created a 30-day challenge online. It was called the 30 Days of Hustle and it was a video course that helped thousands of people knock out their goals.

What happened next was at best an accident.

I honestly didn’t plan what I’m about to tell you. I was as surprised as you are going to be. If anything, I’m just excited it actually worked.

In the spring of 2016, a researcher from a local university approached me.

He wanted to study people who took my 30 Days of Hustle course to analyze what worked and what didn’t. He was finishing his PhD and wanted to write papers about what his study revealed. In the months that followed, he surveyed more than 850 participants to build a solid foundation of real data.

This was a new experience for me, because prior to that I was operating under the great “Make Up Whatever You Want to Say on the Internet with No Foundation in Fact” Ordinance of 2003.

What he learned changed my entire approach to finishing and in some ways, to my life.

The exercises that caused people to increase their progress dramatically were those that took the pressure off, those that did away with the crippling perfectionism that caused people to quit their goals. Whether they were trying to lose a pants size, write more content on a blog or get a raise, the results were the same.

The less that people aimed for perfect, the more productive they became.

It turns out that trying harder isn’t the answer.

Grinding more isn’t the solution.

Chronic starters can become consistent finishers.

We can finish.

Why does this matter?

Because starting is fun, but the future belongs to finishers.

Today is the beginning of pre-orders for my new book “Finish.”

If you pre-order the book, which comes out September 12th, I will send you a ton of free stuff. Here’s what you’ll get:

1. The Finish Video Course

2. The Finish Workbook

3. A dry erase Finish board

4. A Finish marker for tracking your goals

Those are all fun, but those last two are amazing. When is the last time you got real mail from an author? I can’t believe my publisher is willing to send out 100,000 dry erase boards. (That’s how many I’m going to pre-order, I’m speaking that into truth or destiny or whatever it is that people say.)

Want to learn how to finish? It’s easy:

1. Pre-order my new book from any of the following retailers (Amazon, B&N, Parnassus, Indiebound!)

2. Fill out this form. (If you’ve already ordered it weeks ago, just fill out the form.)

(Physical bonus products are for the U.S. only. Non-U.S. pre-orders will still receive Finish video course and digital workbook.)

That’s it.

The bonuses will disappear pretty quickly so if you want them, make sure you order today.

If you’ve ever started a million things but finished very few, this book is for you.

It’s time to finish.

The post I fought the wrong ghost in 2013 appeared first on Jon Acuff.

I had a lot of self-righteous ideas about when my oldest daughter would get a phone.

Because of my job, I even got to write about them and give speeches about them in front of audiences. When I put my foot in my mouth, I don’t like to do it in a small way. I go all in!

I honestly thought that we probably wouldn’t get her one until she was in the 9th grade. That seemed like the best age. I had a lot of reasons for this decision and felt fairly confident about the whole thing in general.

Unfortunately, I was wrong. Very, very wrong.

My oldest daughter got a phone on her 12th birthday. That is much, much earlier than I anticipated.

Why did she get one there?

Well, I’ve shared this before, but one thing really changed the whole situation for me.

L.E., my oldest daughter, is in an awesome small group with our church. Over the years, she has really grown to love that group of girls. They have become some of her best friends.

One night, my wife said, “It’s too bad L.E. doesn’t get all those encouraging texts from her small group all week.” I didn’t know what she meant and asked her to clarify.

“Well, all week, every other girl in the group is connected to a group text. They send Bible verses and jokes and encouragement. Since L.E. doesn’t have a phone and she’s the only one without one, she misses that community.”

My main problem was that I was judging my daughter’s adolescence based on mine. I thought, “Her friends can just call our house phone!” What a stupid, stupid thought. Kids don’t use the phone that way. They don’t call each other. I’ve maybe seen my daughter have 5 phone calls in her life. It’s text or nothing.

Suddenly, the phone wasn’t a demonic distraction that would whisk my innocent daughter into a digital wasteland where teens get in trouble, it was a connection point.

Does that mean every kid should get a phone at 12? Nope. I don’t think every kid is the same. I think some are ready at 12 and some aren’t. Each kid matures differently. But, I implore you to think long and hard about the issue. As a dad, I’ve been thrilled at the connection it’s become for us.

L.E. sends me jokes and memes she sees. She texts me out of the blue. In addition to all the updates on where she is or if she made it to her friend’s house on her bike, I get to know her personality in some really fun ways.

If you’re a parent, the phone conversation is headed your way.

The age of 12 worked for us, maybe 14 will be better for you. Time will tell, but please know that it’s not nearly as bad as you think. Your kid’s first phone can be a wonderful experience if you’re deliberate about it.

Fear no phone.

The post What age should your kid get a phone? appeared first on Jon Acuff.

I had a lot of self-righteous ideas about when my oldest daughter would get a phone.

Because of my job, I even got to write about them and give speeches about them in front of audiences. When I put my foot in my mouth, I don’t like to do it in a small way. I go all in!

I honestly thought that we probably wouldn’t get her one until she was in the 9th grade. That seemed like the best age. I had a lot of reasons for this decision and felt fairly confident about the whole thing in general.

Unfortunately, I was wrong. Very, very wrong.

My oldest daughter got a phone on her 12th birthday. That is much, much earlier than I anticipated.

Why did she get one there?

Well, I’ve shared this before, but one thing really changed the whole situation for me.

L.E., my oldest daughter, is in an awesome small group with our church. Over the years, she has really grown to love that group of girls. They have become some of her best friends.

One night, my wife said, “It’s too bad L.E. doesn’t get all those encouraging texts from her small group all week.” I didn’t know what she meant and asked her to clarify.

“Well, all week, every other girl in the group is connected to a group text. They send Bible verses and jokes and encouragement. Since L.E. doesn’t have a phone and she’s the only one without one, she misses that community.”

My main problem was that I was judging my daughter’s adolescence based on mine. I thought, “Her friends can just call our house phone!” What a stupid, stupid thought. Kids don’t use the phone that way. They don’t call each other. I’ve maybe seen my daughter have 5 phone calls in her life. It’s text or nothing.

Suddenly, the phone wasn’t a demonic distraction that would whisk my innocent daughter into a digital wasteland where teens get in trouble, it was a connection point.

Does that mean every kid should get a phone at 12? Nope. I don’t think every kid is the same. I think some are ready at 12 and some aren’t. Each kid matures differently. But, I implore you to think long and hard about the issue. As a dad, I’ve been thrilled at the connection it’s become for us.

L.E. sends me jokes and memes she sees. She texts me out of the blue. In addition to all the updates on where she is or if she made it to her friend’s house on her bike, I get to know her personality in some really fun ways.

If you’re a parent, the phone conversation is headed your way.

The age of 12 worked for us, maybe 14 will be better for you. Time will tell, but please know that it’s not nearly as bad as you think. Your kid’s first phone can be a wonderful experience if you’re deliberate about it.

Fear no phone.

P.S. I share parenting ideas just like this once a week. If you want them, sign up today.

The post What age should your kid get a phone? appeared first on Jon Acuff.