Moving Forward is also available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music.
John Lee Dumas is the Founder and Host of EOFire, a 7 day a week podcast, featuring today’s most inspiring entrepreneurs. Launched in 2012, JLD has produced over 1200 episodes and leveraged EOFire into a business that generates 6-figures per month. John reveals the mistake that almost prevented EOFire from launching and for the first time, shares the cultural experience that changed his life forever. Learn more about EOFire and John’s new Freedom Journal, a tool designed to help you accomplish your biggest and brightest goals within 100 days. Get ready to “ignite” and move forward!
Successes at a glance:
Launched EOFire in 2012, a 7-day a week podcast, interviewing the most successful and inspiring entrepreneurs today: over 1200+ interviews and continuing!
JLD has interviewed such luminaries as: Tim Ferris, Pat Flynn, Marie Forleo, Barbara Corcoran, Seth Godin, Geeta Nadkarni, Michael Hyatt, Amy Porterfield and many, many more!
1-to-2M+ listeners per month worldwide (24M+ listens total and growing).
Awarded best in iTunes, 2013.
Leveraged EOFire into a 6-figure per month, revenue generating business that is helping countless thousands around the world achieve their entrepreneurial goals and dreams.
Featured in Forbes | Fast Company | Inc. | MSNBC | Success.
Author of:
Launched The Freedom Journal on Kickstarter in Jan. 2016 and to date, has raised over $410k. Proceeds from The Freedom Journal will go to Pencils for Promise.
Additional Resources created by John:
Learn about podcasting:
Learn about webinars:
How John gets inspired to conquer the day:
In the early morning, John opens his inbox to read, review and communicate with the thousands of members of Fire Nation who reach out to him everyday. For someone who has achieved such great success, John is unique in that he encourages individuals to connect with him directly and puts in the effort to respond to the many messages he receives. For John, connecting with Fire Nation is an important pipeline that allows him to see how his followers and listeners use EOFire as a source of inspiration, that tinder spark if you will, to do great things.
Setback or failure that led to pivot and shift:
Right before he launched EOFire, John experienced a crisis that could have been a total disaster, affecting thousands of Fire Nation members and listeners; including me and Moving Forward! In June, 2012, John was inspired to launch a 7-day a week podcast; interviewing the best and brightest entrepreneurs on the planet. To accomplish this gargantuan goal, John did all the right things. John hired a mentor, joined a mastermind and set the launch date (August 15th, 2012); essentially following his own freedom journal circuitry, from idea to implementation. John also worked tirelessly to interview all of the individuals necessary to launch a 7-day a week podcast out the gate and set up the website and social media channels. When August 15th, 2012 finally came, John had everything in place except for one thing … he was terrified. What John had set out to do had never been done before. Everyone from his mentor (podcasting guru and “answer man,” Cliff Ravenscraft) to the leader of his mastermind, had warned John that launching a 7-day a week podcast would burn out both John and his listeners. The prospect that his mentors could be proven right and that John’s dream and channel to freedom could be proven wrong, overwhelmed John to the point where he decided not to launch EOFire. Instead, John gave every excuse in the book; pushing off the launch one week, then two, until the delay became 5 weeks! Although John’s mentor had doubts about a 7-day a week podcast, John was still held accountable to do what he set out to accomplish. So, when over a month had passed from the set launch date of EOFire, John’s mentor had no choice but to say “John, if you don’t launch your podcast, I’m going to FIRE you!” At that moment, the only thing that scared John more than the prospect of failing was the prospect of losing his mentor. Thus, September 22nd, 2012, became the day that John finally launched his podcast or what John calls “the day that will live in EOFire infamy.” Looking back, John did everything right. He had a plan, he surrounded himself with the right mentors and he worked hard to set all the pieces in place. The one thing that held John back was fear. Although, that fear paralysis may seem silly in retrospect, John now understands why so many individuals can’t move forward. That is why his current project, The Freedom Journal, is an important tool for the countless thousands, who have great ideas but can’t move beyond their own fears to see them through. It not only allows you to map out goals, but to do so in a S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound) way. Moreover, The Freedom Journal incorporates tools for accountability; essentially giving you JLD as a mentor, to guide you towards achieving your goals within 100 days. John is a living example of someone who embodies freedom and success but moreover, a leader who has undertaken the mission to help millions move forward.
Knowledge Bursts:
Resource or cultural experience that inspired John to move forward:
For the first time, John shares an impactful cultural experience. After dropping out of law school, John decided it was time to take a break and leave the country. John and two of his friends went to India where they spent four months backpacking through India and Nepal. The experience was eye opening for John. In a country of a billion people, John witnessed people eating, drinking, falling in and out of love every single day. From that experience, John realized that the world is a big place and that he could write his own rules. Having left a stifling, confining experience in law school, John was free to disregard the traditional career path and be empowered to do anything he wanted. As John notes, India is simply “a country made up of entrepreneurs.” John came back to the U.S. and struggled for four years, trying different things, but the experience gave John the courage to quit the rat race; thus planting the seed for EOFire and Fire Nation.
How John stays organized and manages his time:
John’s ritual is his morning routine, which starts the night before. Like many of the most successful people we’ve interviewed on Moving Forward, John Lee Dumas believes in maximizing the limited hours we have each day. John’s secret is simple: in bed by 9:15 pm and up by 5:30 am the next morning. JLD begins his morning with a 35 minute power walk, combined with a 7-minute circuit workout. He follows this with lots of hydration, a shower and the right foods. By 7 am, John has taken care of his body so his mind can focus on taking care of Fire Nation for the rest of the day.
Favorite app / website / resource or productivity hack:
John’s productivity hack is the pomodoro method (resources), which uses a pomodoro timer. As an alternative to using brute force to power through your day, this work-flow alternative establishes parameters with built-in breaks. For John, this means 53 minute parameters and 7 minute breaks. During the 53 minutes, John focuses on an important task at hand. When the 53 minutes are up, John uses the 7 minute break to stand up and do short burst exercises (pull-ups, kettlebells) or just chill on the balcony. This allows John to re-energize so he can focus on the next 53 minute parameter.
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John’s Advice for you to Move Forward:
“Be an apprentice.” Find someone who is doing what you aspire to do, or is where you want to be. Don’t just look for the most successful person or the person who is making the most money. For John, someone like Mark Cuban or Richard Branson, would not have been a good fit. Thus, you have to have be honest with yourself about where you want to be and what you want to be doing, before you can find the person who can help guide you there. Once you have identified that person, approach them with an offer to add some value to their life or business. Remember, the mentor-mentee relationship is about giving and receiving; a mutually beneficial symbiosis. So offer value in exchange for the knowledge bursts that he or she will share with you. Finally, know that you may get a “no” when you ask. Embrace it and accept it with gratitude. A “no” should not be taken personally and may be a favor to you if that person doesn’t have the time or bandwith to take on a new mentee. Recognize that there are also opportunities that come with no’s, since the individual you ask may guide you to another person who may be an even better fit to take you on your journey. Regardless of whether you get that initial yes or no, have faith that approaching the right person to become your mentor will lead you down the right path to move forward.
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