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Module: 1. AAU Agency/Module 1 - Mindset Tracking 10
Lesson: 03. Building Bridges
Duration: 07:53
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--- TIMESTAMPS ---
[00:00 -> 00:08] Alright, so now it's in this lesson we are going to talk about bridge building and it's exactly what it sounds like.
[00:08 -> 00:20] I mean, to be totally honest with you, it's more of a kind of a framework and it's part of mindset because when you're starting a business, there are a million different ideas running through your head.
[00:20 -> 00:28] What you have to do is you have to figure out what the most important things are that you need to get done and concentrate only on those.
[00:28 -> 00:32] Once you finish one of those and you can add something else in.
[00:32 -> 00:38] But like I said, when you're starting a new business, there are just so many, many different things to do.
[00:38 -> 00:48] You know, in this case you're talking about ads and selling to people and onboarding people and do I need to get my website going and what's happening here and there and everything.
[00:48 -> 00:51] And you just don't know which way to turn.
[00:51 -> 01:01] So this is a concept that actually was taught to me by Ryan Dies who may know him from digital market or fame. He was one of the founders of that.
[01:01 -> 01:06] And I've seen him do this several times and it's really just stuck with me over the years.
[01:06 -> 01:12] And I've actually given this presentation to a number of people as well because it is so powerful.
[01:12 -> 01:22] So essentially what you've got is, all right, you right now, so we have you as a business owner here.
[01:22 -> 01:23] Okay.
[01:23 -> 01:29] And this is very going to be very crude obviously, but it serves its purpose.
[01:29 -> 01:37] And what you've got is you've got you right here right now and over here you've got solutions or you have your business.
[01:38 -> 01:45] Okay, but to get to that point, you have to build a bridge from where you're at now to having that agency.
[01:45 -> 02:01] And what happens is you start to build a bridge here and then let's just say for sake of argument, let's say that your website, all right, you've got a bridge here and let's say that that is doing some client emails or you know you're doing some cold emailing to them.
[02:01 -> 02:08] Let's do this one and let's say that this is setting up your onboarding process.
[02:08 -> 02:09] Okay.
[02:09 -> 02:10] Let's do this one.
[02:10 -> 02:12] Let's say that's your new Google ads account.
[02:12 -> 02:13] Okay.
[02:13 -> 02:20] But when you're getting going, you are going to have a ton of these.
[02:20 -> 02:28] And the problem is that you're juggling all of these different things, but nothing is getting completed.
[02:28 -> 02:29] Okay.
[02:29 -> 02:46] So what we have to do is we have to learn to limit the number of things that we're working on because if we can't complete any one of these bridges, then all we have are, you know, 15 or 20 half built bridges that never accomplish what they're supposed to.
[02:46 -> 02:56] So what we have to do is we have to start wiping out some of the ones that maybe aren't as important or stuff that we want to do, but maybe we can do it later.
[02:56 -> 03:02] I know it gets exciting and especially, you know, as a business owner, I get excited myself about doing certain things.
[03:02 -> 03:03] Other things, not so much.
[03:03 -> 03:06] And that's why they end up being half built bridges.
[03:06 -> 03:12] But what I do is I use this analogy because I'm only allowed to have five bridges going at once.
[03:12 -> 03:13] That is it.
[03:13 -> 03:18] If I have any more than that, then I just don't get anything accomplished.
[03:18 -> 03:23] Now what I will do, I typically will do is I will work just with one bridge.
[03:23 -> 03:28] So if it was my website stuff, I would be working with that till it's done.
[03:28 -> 03:33] And then I might add another one in, but I'm not necessarily working on three bridges at the time.
[03:33 -> 03:37] I'm more concentrating on just getting one finished.
[03:37 -> 03:38] Okay.
[03:38 -> 03:42] Now what I also do is I keep a list at the bottom of this.
[03:42 -> 03:48] I've got a list and it might say number one on boarding process.
[03:48 -> 03:50] Okay.
[03:50 -> 03:57] Number two, it might say something like email templates, whatever.
[03:57 -> 03:59] These are all things I need to work on.
[03:59 -> 04:01] I need to get set up.
[04:01 -> 04:04] So I will take those off here.
[04:04 -> 04:07] And I will put them down here on a list.
[04:07 -> 04:14] Now as I get one of these things accomplished, as I finish a bridge, then you knock the bridge out.
[04:14 -> 04:15] It's no longer a bridge.
[04:15 -> 04:16] Right?
[04:16 -> 04:17] You've completed it.
[04:17 -> 04:21] Then you will go back here and start another one.
[04:21 -> 04:24] And then that one might be the onboarding process.
[04:24 -> 04:25] Okay.
[04:25 -> 04:26] Makes sense.
[04:26 -> 04:30] And yes, this is something I personally do in my business.
[04:30 -> 04:35] Because as a business owner, being over here is hard.
[04:35 -> 04:39] You have all of the problems that you have to solve.
[04:39 -> 04:42] You have to come up with all the solutions.
[04:42 -> 04:44] You have to learn how to do this stuff.
[04:44 -> 04:53] You have to go out and sell and onboard and do all these things because you have to know exactly what you need to do to train other people.
[04:53 -> 04:54] But it's lonely.
[04:54 -> 04:56] It's difficult.
[04:56 -> 04:57] It's hard.
[04:57 -> 04:58] Right?
[04:58 -> 05:09] But if you simplify it by taking some of those things off your plate and putting them down here, then you start concentrating on only the ones that you need to get done right now.
[05:09 -> 05:11] And you start making progress.
[05:11 -> 05:20] I can't tell you how many business owners I've worked with in the past that never, ever reach this stage.
[05:20 -> 05:24] And they don't because they're too worried about their website.
[05:24 -> 05:25] Really?
[05:25 -> 05:26] I'm not kidding.
[05:26 -> 05:29] They are worried that their logo isn't good enough.
[05:29 -> 05:33] They are worried that the pictures aren't right.
[05:33 -> 05:37] You have to get minimum viable product.
[05:37 -> 05:45] Which means you need to get as many bridges built as fast as you can to have that business.
[05:45 -> 05:46] Okay?
[05:46 -> 05:49] All of this stuff can be fixed later.
[05:49 -> 05:54] You're going to have a website and I can tell you from experience you're never going to be completely done with it.
[05:54 -> 05:56] There's always going to be things you don't like about it.
[05:56 -> 05:58] Always going to be things that you need want to redo.
[05:58 -> 05:59] Guess what?
[05:59 -> 06:00] It doesn't matter.
[06:00 -> 06:02] It's only bothering you.
[06:02 -> 06:05] You need to get move forward.
[06:05 -> 06:08] There's always going to be things that you can do differently.
[06:08 -> 06:12] Your onboarding process can probably be streamlined even more.
[06:12 -> 06:15] What you need to do is you need to get started.
[06:15 -> 06:17] You need to get that bridge built here.
[06:17 -> 06:21] Then you need to get rid of that bridge and move on to the next one.
[06:21 -> 06:26] And a lot of the time what ends up happening is you have these different ideas down here.
[06:26 -> 06:32] And what ends up happening is as you get to, let's say these email templates, you may have changed your mind.
[06:32 -> 06:34] And Ben like, you know what?
[06:34 -> 06:37] We don't need to do that because we've got a different solution.
[06:37 -> 06:39] Or that doesn't interest me anymore.
[06:39 -> 06:41] I want to take a different route.
[06:41 -> 06:42] Whatever it might be.
[06:42 -> 06:46] A lot of times when I look at this list later, I realize, oh, you know what?
[06:46 -> 06:49] This one was kind of shiny object syndrome.
[06:49 -> 06:52] I don't really need to redo those templates.
[06:52 -> 06:54] So I'm just going to scratch this out.
[06:54 -> 06:57] If I wouldn't have had these bridges, I would have gone and I would have tried that.
[06:57 -> 06:59] And then I would have realized, you know what?
[06:59 -> 07:03] It was a total waste of time or I might not have finished it at all.
[07:03 -> 07:08] So what you need to do, minimum viable product, get that bridge built.
[07:08 -> 07:09] It doesn't have to be pretty.
[07:09 -> 07:10] You know what?
[07:10 -> 07:12] You can make it look pretty later.
[07:12 -> 07:20] The goal is to get it completed, to knock it off, get it out of the way, and move on to the next process.
[07:20 -> 07:23] And just to help you, I have a bridge worksheet right here.
[07:23 -> 07:26] What I want you to do is I want you to take out and there's five bridges.
[07:26 -> 07:27] That's all you can do.
[07:27 -> 07:32] I want you to write what each individual task is on your bridges.
[07:32 -> 07:33] Only work on those.
[07:33 -> 07:37] When it's done, cross it out and move on to the next.
[07:37 -> 07:45] Then keep a list somewhere, maybe a spreadsheet or maybe just a notepad list, and write all the things that you want to do in the future.
[07:45 -> 07:50] And then as you complete one of these bridges, you can add one of those tasks to it.
[07:50 -> 07:51] All right.
[07:51 -> 07:52] Hope that helps.
[07:52 -> 07:53] See you in the next training.

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--- FULL TRANSCRIPT ---
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Alright, so now it's in this lesson we are going to talk about bridge building and it's exactly what it sounds like. I mean, to be totally honest with you, it's more of a kind of a framework and it's part of mindset because when you're starting a business, there are a million different ideas running through your head. What you have to do is you have to figure out what the most important things are that you need to get done and concentrate only on those. Once you finish one of those and you can add something else in. But like I said, when you're starting a new business, there are just so many, many different things to do. You know, in this case you're talking about ads and selling to people and onboarding people and do I need to get my website going and what's happening here and there and everything. And you just don't know which way to turn. So this is a concept that actually was taught to me by Ryan Dies who may know him from digital market or fame. He was one of the founders of that. And I've seen him do this several times and it's really just stuck with me over the years. And I've actually given this presentation to a number of people as well because it is so powerful. So essentially what you've got is, all right, you right now, so we have you as a business owner here. Okay. And this is very going to be very crude obviously, but it serves its purpose. And what you've got is you've got you right here right now and over here you've got solutions or you have your business. Okay, but to get to that point, you have to build a bridge from where you're at now to having that agency. And what happens is you start to build a bridge here and then let's just say for sake of argument, let's say that your website, all right, you've got a bridge here and let's say that that is doing some client emails or you know you're doing some cold emailing to them. Let's do this one and let's say that this is setting up your onboarding process. Okay. Let's do this one. Let's say that's your new Google ads account. Okay. But when you're getting going, you are going to have a ton of these. And the problem is that you're juggling all of these different things, but nothing is getting completed. Okay. So what we have to do is we have to learn to limit the number of things that we're working on because if we can't complete any one of these bridges, then all we have are, you know, 15 or 20 half built bridges that never accomplish what they're supposed to. So what we have to do is we have to start wiping out some of the ones that maybe aren't as important or stuff that we want to do, but maybe we can do it later. I know it gets exciting and especially, you know, as a business owner, I get excited myself about doing certain things. Other things, not so much. And that's why they end up being half built bridges. But what I do is I use this analogy because I'm only allowed to have five bridges going at once. That is it. If I have any more than that, then I just don't get anything accomplished. Now what I will do, I typically will do is I will work just with one bridge. So if it was my website stuff, I would be working with that till it's done. And then I might add another one in, but I'm not necessarily working on three bridges at the time. I'm more concentrating on just getting one finished. Okay. Now what I also do is I keep a list at the bottom of this. I've got a list and it might say number one on boarding process. Okay. Number two, it might say something like email templates, whatever. These are all things I need to work on. I need to get set up. So I will take those off here. And I will put them down here on a list. Now as I get one of these things accomplished, as I finish a bridge, then you knock the bridge out. It's no longer a bridge. Right? You've completed it. Then you will go back here and start another one. And then that one might be the onboarding process. Okay. Makes sense. And yes, this is something I personally do in my business. Because as a business owner, being over here is hard. You have all of the problems that you have to solve. You have to come up with all the solutions. You have to learn how to do this stuff. You have to go out and sell and onboard and do all these things because you have to know exactly what you need to do to train other people. But it's lonely. It's difficult. It's hard. Right? But if you simplify it by taking some of those things off your plate and putting them down here, then you start concentrating on only the ones that you need to get done right now. And you start making progress. I can't tell you how many business owners I've worked with in the past that never, ever reach this stage. And they don't because they're too worried about their website. Really? I'm not kidding. They are worried that their logo isn't good enough. They are worried that the pictures aren't right. You have to get minimum viable product. Which means you need to get as many bridges built as fast as you can to have that business. Okay? All of this stuff can be fixed later. You're going to have a website and I can tell you from experience you're never going to be completely done with it. There's always going to be things you don't like about it. Always going to be things that you need want to redo. Guess what? It doesn't matter. It's only bothering you. You need to get move forward. There's always going to be things that you can do differently. Your onboarding process can probably be streamlined even more. What you need to do is you need to get started. You need to get that bridge built here. Then you need to get rid of that bridge and move on to the next one. And a lot of the time what ends up happening is you have these different ideas down here. And what ends up happening is as you get to, let's say these email templates, you may have changed your mind. And Ben like, you know what? We don't need to do that because we've got a different solution. Or that doesn't interest me anymore. I want to take a different route. Whatever it might be. A lot of times when I look at this list later, I realize, oh, you know what? This one was kind of shiny object syndrome. I don't really need to redo those templates. So I'm just going to scratch this out. If I wouldn't have had these bridges, I would have gone and I would have tried that. And then I would have realized, you know what? It was a total waste of time or I might not have finished it at all. So what you need to do, minimum viable product, get that bridge built. It doesn't have to be pretty. You know what? You can make it look pretty later. The goal is to get it completed, to knock it off, get it out of the way, and move on to the next process. And just to help you, I have a bridge worksheet right here. What I want you to do is I want you to take out and there's five bridges. That's all you can do. I want you to write what each individual task is on your bridges. Only work on those. When it's done, cross it out and move on to the next. Then keep a list somewhere, maybe a spreadsheet or maybe just a notepad list, and write all the things that you want to do in the future. And then as you complete one of these bridges, you can add one of those tasks to it. All right. Hope that helps. See you in the next training.

