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If you slept on the floor last night, you’re off to a great start. Ryan Holiday started on the floor. I guess that’s where we all start. The difference is we want to stand on the floor not sleep on it. But maybe you should stop thinking that way. Maybe you should sleep on the floor.

Ryan Holiday didn’t even sleep on his own floor. He slept on someone else’s floor. Even better, it was his boss’s floor. Maybe give that a try tonight. Sleep on your boss’s floor. That’s how you choose yourself. Work with people whose floor you want to sleep on.

Ryan went from the floor to director of marketing of American Apparel. Now he runs his own creative consulting firm. He landed five clients on the New York Times bestseller list in one week. I’m one of Ryan’s clients. He does great work. That’s why I interviewed him a second time.

Tucker Max and Tim Ferris are his clients, too. And because no one is born a New York Times bestselling author (or maybe they are, I don’t know), listen to Ryan’s tips for aspiring authors.

He also reveals the most common reasons authors and entrepreneurs fail. Tip: you need to stop loving your ideas. Love for your ideas sets you up for failure. Hear why and hear the solution.

You might have heard me say, “85 percent of all businesses fail.” Today, I share how to reduce your risk of failure to only 20 percent.

If nothing else, try sleeping on the floor.

In This Episode You Will Learn:

  • The most common mistakes of aspiring authors and entrepreneurs
  • The key to success behind Ryan Holiday’s “meta-campaigns”
  • How Ryan Holiday landed jobs with clients including Tucker Max, Tim Ferris and James Altucher
  • Ryan’s keys to success behind building “meta-campaigns”
  • Examples of how to “lean into problems instead of running away from them”
  • The best way to spread your ideas as widely as possible

“Lean into problems instead of running away from them” – click to tweet

Links and Resources Mentioned in the Show:

  • RyanHoliday.net – sign up for his book recommendations
  • Check out both of Ryan Holiday’s books on Amazon
  • James’ first interview with Ryan Holiday
  • James’ interview on CNBC

Books Recommended in this Episode:

Thanks so much for listening!

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