Preface

“You never know where your idea is going to go, but you’ve got a guarantee that it won’t go anywhere unless you share it. Put it out there. Sing the song. Write the book. Start the business. There’s a whole world waiting for your idea.”

- Jon Acuff, author

You and I are similar. Not long ago, I was sitting where you are now in that I wanted to break the chokeholds of my job and current life circumstances to live the life of my dreams as a freedom entrepreneur, or freedom-preneur. I wanted to improve, be better, have a fuller life. I wanted that for me, and now I want it for you too - to live the best life possible.

Back then, anyone looking in from the outside would have thought I was successful, happy, and killing it. But the reality is I was dying. My situation was a life of mediocrity. I had a job that (just) paid the bills. I was depressed, angry, and frustrated because I knew I could experience more. I knew I hadn’t found my purpose. I wasn’t maximizing my potential. I wasn’t living with passion. And I wasn’t exploring the gifts of the world. I knew I wasn’t fulfilling and experiencing what I was here to do.

I didn’t have a clear picture of exactly what I wanted, but I knew in my heart what I didn’t want… mind-numbing work, trapped in the standard 9-5 rat race, putting in crazy hours to make somebody else’s dream come true, and making just enough money to get by every month.

“The trouble with being in the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.”

- Lilly Tomlin, actress, comedian, writer, singer and producer

The pain of living those chokeholds was intense. It kept me thinking about what it would take to make the money I wanted with less work, more free time, and a better-quality lifestyle. I realized things were blocking me, limiting me, keeping me small… and that we are conditioned into letting these things strangle us. We live in chokeholds that paralyze movement toward living a better life if it means upsetting the system. We are socialized to believe that ‘just enough’ is what we should have, and not to expect more from life.

Maybe it’s the mixed bits of life wisdom passed down through generations about what’s right for us - if you work harder, things will turn around. Or the only path in life is to go to school, get an education, and then get a job. Or that it’s too risky to live your passion, so you are better to leave your talents and crazy dreams behind. Maybe it’s our fears, self-doubts, and limiting beliefs preventing us from taking a chance on something better. Just like you might be experiencing this now, I also experienced it. But the pain pushed me into fighting for my dreams and researching a solution.

There was a voice in my head urging me to go another direction, even if I didn’t know what that meant or where it would take me. It’s just like the movie, “Field of Dreams,” where the main character, played by Kevin Costner, hears a voice in his head encouraging him to travel all over the USA to meet various people to learn from, and eventually, he finds his purpose… to build a baseball field in his farmyard. He makes sacrifices, takes action, and becomes resourceful as he figures out how to build the baseball field. The journey yields incredible deep connections and personal growth beyond anything he could have predicted. And the same is true for us as budding freedom-preneurs.

We each have to harness courage and be crazy enough to listen to that inner voice, follow the dream and see it through – even when it goes against what everyone is doing or saying is right.

I believe we have the drive to be significant, to do something that matters, to live and work from our joy. We are here to live a unique purpose and realize our highest potential. To some, like you and I, that means breaking the conventional chokeholds designed to keep us living in conformity to accepted social norms so we can live from passion, be in business and experience our dream income, lifestyle and personal freedom.

“The meaning and purpose behind some events are unknowable. This is the ultimate test of our faith. Life happens for us, not to us.”

- Anthony Robbins, personal mastery teacher

My inner voice told me to design my life and income-generator (business), to escape the world of being employed and become a freedom-preneur by working and living on my terms. My inner voice also said making money and creating freedom is not about working harder - it’s about working smarter, doing what you love, and making money while you sleep.

I began by taking one small step at a time, learning from the right people who could help me become more entrepreneurial. I invested time and energy into acquiring knowledge through books, podcasts, and training programs, pursuing money-making opportunities to get results, and using technology to automate a business. I role-modeled the tips, tactics, and tools that had accelerated the success of other freedom-preneurs.

Although I didn’t know it at the time, this process led me to discover the seven steps of becoming a successful freedom-preneur.

1. Wake up, shake up, and bake up. It’s about learning and implementing essential personal development practices and techniques to get the right mindset for achievement. This initial step sets the mental stage for breaking chokeholds.
2. Unleash your inner entrepreneur. We all have the opportunity to build a passion-based side hustle while working a full-time job. You just need to decide so and do it.
3. Embrace the digital economy. When you have online marketing skills, you can run a business from anywhere in the world with a laptop and an internet connection.
4. Map your business success. Create a practical business map to continually strategize direction and activities to ensure your business is successful, competitive, and profitable.
5. Harness your millionaire mindset. What is created in the real world is a manifestation of mindset. Millionaires do business differently, and we need to role model their strategies.
6. Declutter and get stuff done. Set priorities to be more efficient and productive with what is important to you, what really matters. Cleaning up life ‘noise’ will create more free time to focus on business-building activities.
7. Live energized. Entrepreneuring and having it all takes energy. Getting healthy will give you the power to do it all – be a good parent, stay fit, have a social life, work your job while building a business, and develop the mindset to break chokehold(s) at last.

As I worked these seven simple steps, things started to change in my life. One significant shift was that I measured my productivity by results, which is an entirely different mindset than being an employee and clock hours.

I founded the company of my dreams, ZAGGTIME Lifestyle Design. I chose the name because I was always ‘zigging’ around in circles, like being stuck in a maze, not knowing how to move forward to get new results. I decided it was time to ‘zagg,’ meaning to cut through the fears, limiting beliefs, and status quo to find my passion, jump out of my comfort zone, and take massive action toward what I wanted. My business helps people do just that.

Now I have a relationship with my dreams and a community of people who support me. I have an automated business that reduces my work by leveraging technology - a website, email autoresponders, and online payment processes. It all started with taking action on these seven simple steps.

Each of the seven steps are interdependent and interconnected; together, these steps can help you design your desired income, lifestyle, and freedom. It will take time, but you can break your chokeholds and create the life and business you love! I am living proof.

I’m excited to take you through these steps to help with your transition from employee to freedom-preneur. If not done right, the change can lead to financial disaster and pain. If you want to throw in the towel on your 9-to-5 life, risking it all to build a business as a reaction to the grind of working for someone who doesn’t appreciate you, you are taking a considerable risk. The risk is even more significant when you have children that rely on you for their well being. You owe it to to your family to be smarter.

With the seven simple steps you are about to learn, don’t quit your job… YET. You need to use your job to build financial freedom, step-by-step, in your free time.

My purpose in writing this book is to provide you a full understanding of what it takes to transform fears, limiting beliefs, and old habits, and become a successful freedom-preneur. This book will help you formulate a clear and actionable plan, as well as provide access to the tips, tactics, tools, and training you need to expedite your transition to next-level living as a freedom-preneur.

This is about your ‘more’ - who you are when fully expressing, sharing your unique talents, and living your purpose. Don’t settle for what the world...