| Happy Monday, Today... I want to share three quick lessons I've learned this year to help you double your income, work less, and continue to thrive no matter how much crazier the year gets. 1. Persistence is All In late April... My team and I were struggling to generate leads and drive sales to our core offers. At the time... We were writing multiple SEO posts each week (more on that later)... Revamping our email strategy... And investing a TON of time and energy into organic lead gen. And even though it was "working". I knew it wouldn't be enough for us to hit our big goals. So we decided to take a big swing and go all in on paid advertising. Specifically... Running cold traffic Facebook ads to our Millionaire Morning Routine and Social Story Selling courses... Going into this decision... I knew it would take time before we hit our stride and started generating sales. But I had no idea just how much time it was going to take. For the first three months... We didn't make a dime in profit. In fact... we were losing thousands of dollars each month. But we knew if OTHER people were making Facebook ads work So could we. And even though we were tempted to quit almost every week... ...We persisted through the growing pains, hired outside help, and continued to refine our systems. And I'm glad we did... Because in the past three weeks... We went from losing money every single day... ...To an average of 250% ROI. In fact... last week we had a record-breaking day where we nearly 4X'd our return on ad spend! And it's only going to grow from here. The lesson here is simple... Success takes time. And the ONLY way to achieve big success in the long run is to persist through the challenges and the growing pains until you succeed. No matter how good your team or systems are... ...You're going to fail a LOT before you get it right. So fail forward fast. Keep going no matter how challenging it is. And trust that if others can do it... ...So can you. 2. Avoid the "Sunk Cost" Fallacy Over the past five or so years... My team and I have invested multiple 6-figures and thousands of hours into driving organic traffic. Even though Early to Rise still brings in close to 100,000 visitors a month... ...And even though we dominate the search engines for some pretty killer keywords. We've never been able to translate that traffic into sales. And so earlier this year... ...After a massive Google update that slashed our traffic by 50% overnight. Austin (our Editor in Chief) and I decided to pull the plug on our organic strategy... And shift our focus to email, Facebook ads, and improving our copy. And I couldn't be happier that we did. Because not only did we not lose any revenue by abandoning our SEO efforts... ...But we've actually generated more profits with less work as a result. I know this lesson might juxtapose what I just said about persistence... But as the old saying goes, "You've gotta know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em" Even though you must persist through the challenges and the growing pains of any new business or strategy you truly believe in... You still need to know when to throw in the towel and move to greener pastures. Because some things simply aren't worth the time and effort. Even if you can make them work... it doesn't mean you should. But to make big decisions like this... You must avoid the "Sunk Cost" Fallacy... ...Which states that you shouldn't make decisions for the future based on time or resources you invested in the past. If a strategy isn't working or you know a different strategy would work better... Don't keep spinning your wheels just because you're afraid to lose what you've already invested. Keep your focus on the future and do what's best for your family and business RIGHT NOW. Even if that means "losing" resources you invested yesterday. 3. Ask WHO. Not WHAT Finally... Like I mentioned in my emails last week. I'm investing close to $50k in coaching and consulting this year. In fact... ...I just finished wiring a $10k check to my buddy Zander Fryer for a half day of 1-on-1 coaching. Because I'd rather pay 5-figures to have someone else solve my problems FOR me... ...Than invest hundreds of hours of my time to try and figure it out on my own. Right now... My goal is to "Craig Proof" my business so it can continue to generate profits and impact lives... ...Whether I'm working or not (heck even if I'm alive or not!) And to accomplish this goal... I need help from other entrepreneurs who have already done this successfully. So instead of trying to figure this out on my own... I'm hiring experts on coaching systems, sales, copywriting, and paid advertising to help Craig-Proof my business for me. And those investments are already starting to pay in dividends. When you look at the BIGGEST problems in your business right now... I challenge you to ask yourself "Who can do this for me?" ...And stop suffering in silence trying to do it by yourself. Sure... It might cost more on the front end. But in the long run... Hiring the right coach or mentor to solve your problems for you is ALWAYS the fastest and cheapest strategy to follow. Have a great week! To Your Success,
Craig | 
