Pod Insights Green Industry Podcast The Focus Factor: Eliminating Distractions for Success About this episode In this episode, Mr. Producer joins the show to discuss practical strategies for eliminating distractions and unlocking the power of focus in our personal and professional lives. 📚 Level Up Your Money (New Release) 👉 Get Your Paperback Copy! 🎧 Level Up Your Money (Audiobook) 👉 Listen on Audible 🎟️ Equip Expo 👉 Save 50% off Equip Expo Ticket w/ Promo Code PAUL: Register Here 📲 Connect with Paul - Visit Official Website 🛠️ Paul's Recommended Tools & Professionals 💻 Horizon360 – All-in-one contractor business software: gethorizon360.com 📞 CallRail – Track where your leads are coming from: callrail.com 📚 The Landscaping Bookkeeper – Know your numbers, stress less: thelandscapingbookkeeper.com 📈 Lawn Care Launch: Click Here (new program for business owners) 🌐 Footbridge Media – Get a pro lawn care website: footbridgemedia.com 🎬 VIP On-Demand: Lawn Care Life Conference 🎥 Watch All Replays Now — Includes Brandon Gray, Andy Mulder, Jason Creel, Paul Jamison & more. Learn pricing, profit, burnout prevention, and how to scale smart. 📦 Business-Building Resources by Paul Price Increase Letter Template Contract Templates Know Your Numbers 📚 Paul's Most Popular Business Books How to Build a Thriving Lawn Care Business: Buy on Amazon Cut That Grass and Make That Cash: Buy on Amazon Level Up Your Money (New Release): Buy Now 🌿 Paul's Online Banking Recommendation Relay's Online Banking: Open an Account
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0:31 Speaker 01 Hello and welcome to the Green Industry Podcast, your go-to guide for building a more profitable and thriving lawn care and landscaping business. Your host, Paul Jameson, is the author of five bestselling books, including Cut That Grass and Make That Cash, and his latest, Level Up Your Money, all available on Amazon and Audible. Now get ready for more expert insights and practical strategies to boost your business and level up your life. Here's Paul Jamison.
1:06 Speaker 00 Are you focused or are you distracted? That's what we're going to talk about on today's program and how we can eliminate those distractions from our life and become more focused. Joining me on today's program is Mr. Producer himself, and we're going to be recording an author interview because in my new book, Level Up Your Money: Biblical Principles for Financial Success, we have the audiobook version where Mr. Producer reads each chapter. And then at the end of each chapter, we do an author interview. We take a deep dive with what's in that chapter. So on today's program, we're going to do our author interview for chapter six, which is the power of focus, how we eliminate distractions and maximize productivity.
1:51 Speaker 00 So again, today you're getting kind of a bonus on the Green Industry Podcast because this author interview is in my new book's audiobook version, Level Up Your Money. So without further ado, we're going to dive right into it with Mr. Producer and myself, talking about how we can eliminate distractions and get more focused on achieving what God put us on this earth to do.
2:13 Speaker 01 Well, I was able to stay focused listening to that chapter. I hope you were as well. Paul, I feel like we've addressed throughout the book, throughout these author interviews, how sports has been a huge distraction in your life and we know your frustrations with some of your favorite sports teams, but let's talk about the positive side of being laser focused. I know that Myron Golden has played a key role as a mentor in your life and I'd love to hear more about the habits that you've instilled and some of the productivity hacks that are now really moving your life forward in a positive way.
2:54 Speaker 00 Yeah, so Myron has this kind of controversial teaching. It's not controversial if you hear him out, but he'll say something to get you to be like, what, what was that? And his kind of line is, you should get rich quick. And as soon as someone hears get rich quick, they're like, there's no shortcuts to getting rich. That's a, you know, the BS antennas start coming out and this is going to be a scam, yada, yada, yada, yada. And then he explains, which makes sense, that if you actually eliminated all the distractions from your life and you actually got laser focused on being productive and working hard on the right, you know, serving the right customers who's willing to pay you. If you eliminate all distractions
3:37 Speaker 00 and you got really productive, the result would likely be wealth. And his point is, why not try to eliminate distractions and be productive and get wealthy sooner than later? Because in Ecclesiastes, it talks about how wealth is a gift from God, but what's also a gift from God is that you have the time and the health to be able to enjoy that wealth. So his challenge is, he's 65 or four, and he's rich now, but he's like, I wish I would have done it sooner. Cause he's enjoying the fruit of his labor with his wife, with his
4:18 Speaker 00 daughter, with his son, with his son-in-law, with his granddaughter, et cetera. And so, anyway, whenever he says it, he purposely says it to get you to be like, what? You shouldn't get rich quick. But then when he explains it, I was like, oh, that makes sense. If you, the, the reason we're not at our full potential isn't because we need to live longer. We haven't spent enough years on the earth. It's because we spent a lot of our time, energy, money on distractions. What if we switched from the distractions to laser focused productivity? And obviously the Bible teaches a, a ratio of working six days and resting one. So rest is of utmost importance to having a Sabbath day and like a literal
5:01 Speaker 00 one, and one day where you just reset and rest and, and things of that nature. But with the six days of biblical work, the reality is most of us aren't working on those six days to what we could be accomplishing. We're working a little bit here and distracted there and a little bit more work, a little bit more distraction. What would happen? If you got productive doing the right things with consistency, the result would likely be wealth and then the blessing would be you have health and time to enjoy the wealth is, is basically what I've learned from Myron. I hope I explained that because the way he explains it, it's like super motivating. You want to just eliminate all your distractions and, and get after it.
5:42 Speaker 01 How do you set up your day? You, you spoke about the need to develop a morning routine and how that does. I think most of us agree. What happens in the morning often is a, a tone setter for the rest of the day. I'd love to hear about your specific plan for, for dealing with mornings in your life. Can you open up that window and let us look in?
6:04 Speaker 00 I've learned a little bit about the, the, the Jewish, um, way they kind of view time because their day actually starts at sundown. What, what, what we would call night here in America, they kind of view that as the start of the day. So what I do around sundown or around evening time is I have a whiteboard and over right by my door to leave my place and I refresh my whiteboard at the end of the day. I have a dry erase marker and I have like five dry erase fine point pens. I'm very picky about my pen, you know, my dry erase markers being nice and good. So I'll erase my board and then it says today's goals.
6:47 Speaker 00 And what I'll do the night before, so this is the night before now, so my subconscious mind can be focused on this while I'm before I'm going to bed, while I'm sleeping, when I wake up in the morning, I already know what the hardest things are for the next day that I want to accomplish first thing in the morning. It's kind of like pulling a Band-Aid off. So last evening, I use my dry erase marker and dry erase eraser first, then my marker. And I have a workout routine where one day I do chest and shoulders. The next day I do my back workouts with some arms and abs core. And then the next day I do legs and then I start that cycle over. And then I take one day off a week because that's what the Bible says. So I knew yesterday was my legs day, so I knew today was going to be my chest and shoulders day.
7:32 Speaker 00 Now, I don't necessarily want to go to the gym and do shoulder presses and bench presses and all of that. It's not, it's not something that I super enjoy, but I know if I want to be, you know, look my best and feel my best. It's important. So that was number one on my list that I made last evening. I put today's goals, which is today, chest, shoulder workout. And then I put a podcast that I had recorded before we started recording this. That was my goal because I'd rather go golfing. So, so way I set it up is always like, what's the three most important? And this is kind of something I learned from somebody in some audio book, but like, but what's the three most important things you want to accomplish? Just get them out of the way first thing in the morning. So I literally wrote on my whiteboard last night, a chest and shoulder workout.
8:18 Speaker 00 My podcast episode about lifestyle creep and then this recording with you. Those were my three big wins I wanted to have today. And we're recording this in the morning. And so I'm going to have accomplished those three things basically right out of the gate.
8:32 Speaker 01 Yeah, by mid morning, all three of them will be done.
8:35 Speaker 00 And so now I feel accomplished. I feel focused and so I'm probably going to go golfing this afternoon. Whether right now it's rainy season in Florida, so it's always kind of weather permitting. But I'm not going to be rolling up to the golf course being like, oh, I gotta get done golfing because I gotta go back and I gotta do this. I try to, I try to get those things done first thing in the morning. And I try to work on first thing in the morning, what I call income producing activities. So things that are actually going to produce income, making sure that, you know, I stay focused on that because ultimately that's what's, that's what's paying the bills is, is putting our effort on things that are generating money some way, shape or form.
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10:44 Speaker 01 You mentioned Steve Jobs in the chapter. You didn't talk about this story specifically, but one of the observations others have made over the years is how he often wore the same style of clothes every day. So he had a bunch of nice black t-shirts, and that's what was hanging up in his closet. And every day, he just grabbed a fresh t-shirt. He didn't spend time worrying about his wardrobe. And so can you address some of those types of distractions that we need to eliminate? Or strategies that we need to employ that might be similar in some way?
11:27 Speaker 00 Yeah, and there's multiple people who are very successful that do that. So my friend, Jonathan Petoshnik, I've been friends with him for years. I've actually been to his home mansion, if you will, one time. And he wears the same black t-shirt pretty much every day. We went out to dinner one night. I mean, he wore it every time I hung out with him for years, he wore his, he was wore a black cotton t-shirt every single time. We go out to dinner one night, and he had on this like European golf shirt thing, like it's all fancy. I was like, what in the world happened? He's like, oh, my wife took me shopping. He's like, I've been wearing the same thing for you. He's like, these shirts are so comfortable, and I was wearing, and he's worth over a hundred million dollars, and his wife bought him this. He looks so out of place
12:10 Speaker 00 because I'm so used to seeing him with his black t-shirt. And he looked like some European model, like just, he would have never picked this thing out. It was clearly a woman had picked out this fancy outfit. But, and Jonathan had built two businesses and generated massive amounts of wealth while just wearing the same black t-shirt every day. And then I think Mark Zuckerberg is another example. I mean, I could go on and on and on. But people who are highly, highly successful, they're not burning their, their brain power on what am I going to wear tomorrow? It's already just kind of, you know, set it and forget it. And again, those, those type of guys, Jonathan Petoshnik and Mark Zuckerberg, et cetera, you know, they're building these, these powerhouse businesses.
12:53 Speaker 00 Their their focus is on building the business, not on not on these other things. And so I think it's really important that we identify what what did God call me to create? What did God call me to build? Who did God call me to serve? And then we get about serving them and doing that purpose that he has for us and not not getting too too caught up in, you know, secondary things like what what outfit am I going to wear and things of that nature? And I I've gone through my closet real quick and and I've I've kind of threw away everything that I shouldn't wear, wouldn't wear, or just kind of old and raggedy. And so my closet's kind of, I can pretty much pick out anything and it's going to be, it's going to be good for my workout clothes section and I got my golf clothes section and it's,
13:37 Speaker 00 it's everything's just ready for me to grab something and get to the gym or get to the golf course.
13:41 Speaker 01 And that can make a real difference. That could be five minutes, you know, that you normally would waste matching clothes. And now if it's just lickety split to to get dressed and get going, that makes a difference. You may have addressed some of this, but I my my favorite part of the chapter was when you said, focus intensely building a business that solves real problems, serve your customers well and charge fairly for your value for when you do that, success comes quickly, not overnight, but faster than most people expect. What would you say to a young person that's listening, reading the book,
14:20 Speaker 01 about having that type of intense focus instead of wasting some of the best years of their life?
14:28 Speaker 00 And the the young folks have way more derailment of temptations than you and I had growing up because the the smartphones now, if you have Instagram on there, TikTok, or YouTube, or Facebook, or whatever your your apps are on your phone. We didn't have that when we were younger and we still made dumb butt decisions or I don't know about you, but I, I did. And I didn't have those temptations. And so I think it's very dangerous for the younger generation growing up now because it's so easy to waste time. You just open your phone. I, I've been studying, I, I live in a building that has an elevator. So I just, I've been analyzing what people do in the elevator and they all
15:11 Speaker 00 get on their phone and they all click on an app and they just start scrolling. It's kind of, I think because they're kind of nervous, like people don't know how to talk to each other in elevator, but everybody does it. They just, they get on their phone and then they, I watch, are they on Instagram or are they on Tik Tok or whatever, but they all just click, click and they, it's just, it's like so commonplace in our culture. So my advice to a young person would be, you know, eliminate social media scrolling and consumption a hundred percent and just focus on building a business and serving somebody. Jonathan Potoshnik, who I mentioned, you know, the hundred million, he's worth more than a hundred million, but I just give him a rough number. He doesn't have any of those on his phone. He don't have Instagram. He doesn't have YouTube. He doesn't have any of them because like, man, I'd, I'd watch that stuff. And so he's like, he doesn't even
15:53 Speaker 00 have any of the social apps on his phone. Um, and then he has a team member that uploads his YouTube videos because he is on YouTube, but he has somebody he pays that uploads his videos on YouTube. But that's how like, that's how intentional he is. He don't even have the apps on his phone. So he's not tempted, but he just can stay focused on building these multimillion dollar businesses. So I would say to the young person, social media is your enemy. Um, scrolling social media, of course, you can use the social media to create and produce, which is good, but don't let it, uh, just because all your other friends are, are using it and things of that nature. Don't let it distract you from, from serving and make, serving another human being. And when you serve someone else, they're going to pay you money. You're doing it right. And, and, um, you know, I would get, I would
16:38 Speaker 00 get focused on serving people and building a bunch of wealth.
16:43 Speaker 00 Big shout outs to Mr. Producer for his excellence in his effort into this new audiobook, Level Up Your Money. He narrated it. So everything that's in the paperback version, he read word for word. And then with what is not in the paperback version is at the end of each chapter, we did these author interviews. So the one you just heard is that is at the end of the chapter about focus and we do this for every chapter in the book. The, the reason I wrote Level Up Your Money is because I spent so much of my adult life financially, living in what I call survival mode.
17:23 Speaker 00 And recently, last few years, I took control of my business finances, of my personal finances, and really started leveling up to, to the next level. But what was my guidepost or blueprint, if you will, for getting to this next level? Is I actually studied principles that have been around way before I was ever born. And these principles from the Bible are about financial success. So in the book, I talk about how to build a simple system to manage your money, how
18:03 Speaker 00 to create financial margin, which is basically breathing room where what our expenses is, there's a gap between that and what our income is. And with savings and things of that nature, we have a nice little cushion there. I talk about bad habits that I used to have that weren't aligned with these principles, and then what actual habits are going to build wealth? And how to make that transfer from the bad habits to the good habits? I talk about traps that are out there, uh, that's going to hinder our financial growth. And basically, it's a bunch of actionable tips of things that we can consistently do
18:47 Speaker 00 that's going to build us a stronger future. So I'm really thankful for this book. When I go to the mall, which isn't often, they have like the Chinese store, uh, they give a little toothpick with a little chicken teriyaki on there and they're like, sample? You want a sample? You want a sample? And, and yes, sir, I'll take a sample of that chicken teriyaki. Okay, the orange chicken. I, I ain't trying to get you hungry here, but the point is you have a little sample of it and then you're like, man, I, that's pretty good. Let me go get that chicken teriyaki or whatever you, whatever your order is. I don't need it. There's a, I used to go golfing. When I lived closer to Lakewood Ranch, Florida, and on my drive home from Lakewood Ranch to Sarasota, I always drove by this Panda Express and they would get me. They'd get me.
19:31 Speaker 00 Like in many ways, I'd order that triple. I'd get like three things of meat because I'm always, I'm always hungry when I get to golfing. So I'd, I'd come home and I'd have like three, they couldn't even fit all the chicken in the, in the box. So you got like another carton of chicken and then I got two other sides of chicken in the box and then the rice and the vegetables and all that. And then I'd, I'd eat all of that, which I don't recommend, but my point is saying all of that is today's episode was a sample. If you thought you got value from Mr. Producer and I talking about chapter six of the power of focus, eliminating distractions, maximizing productivity in the audio book, Level Up Your Money. We literally do these author interviews at the end of every chapter.
20:14 Speaker 00 So we do chapter one about budgeting and tracking our finances. Mr. Producer reads the chapter, then we do the author interview. Chapter two in my book, I believe, is about work ethic and how having a very good work ethic is going to attract favor and opportunity to our life. Then in the author interview, we dive even deeper. Chapter three, we talk about why it's important to have a good reputation and how a strong reputation, it's like a currency of trust with our, you know, people are going to trust us more. That's going to open up the doors for financial fortune when we are trustworthy, we're dependable, we're reliable. We have a good reputation. So anyway, I'm not going to go through the whole entire book,
20:59 Speaker 00 but at the end of each chapter, we do have these author interviews, which really dive deeper into the chapter. And it was a lot of fun recording these with Mr. Producer. So I say all of that, just like the person giving you the little cherry teriyaki chickens. Like, God, why don't you, if you like the sample, why don't you, why don't you place the order? And my invitation to you is to get your copy of Level Up Your Money audio book. Take a listen to that. I really think that these biblical principles for financial success can help you level up your money. We weren't created to live in the survival mode. I spent way too much time of my life in the survival mode and trust me.
21:40 Speaker 00 It's, I like it better. I like my life now better that I'm yielded to these principles. So whether you're climbing out of debt or you're You're already doing great and you're like, you know what? I want to level up to the next stage of growth. This book will equip you with the tools, the mindset, and really the encouragement to help you succeed. So hopefully you'll get, um, it's all, yeah, thank you. Good point, Mr. Producer. It's on Audible only. So if you want to listen to the audiobook, we only have it in one place. And that is on Audible. And then you can download it and listen to it. And it's very excellently broadcasted with Mr. Producer Excellence in Broadcasting does a really good job with all the audio. So hopefully you'll take a listen to the full audiobook. Level Up Your Money.
22:41 Speaker 01 Hey, it's Marty, producer of the Green Industry Podcast. This episode is over, but check the episode notes for links to products and services that you heard about during the episode. And thanks for listening.
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