If you’re not doing exactly what you want to be doing, you should do something different.

Even if you’re “famous,” even if you’re successful, even if you’re a veteran in your industry. If you needed proof that you should be following your own voice, today is your day!

In this issue of the Field Report, I’m featuring the transformation and reinvention of fitness expert, Craig Ballantyne.

In case you’re pressed for time, here’s Craig 1.0, and here’s Craig 2.0 and more Craig 2.0. Craig 1.0 didn’t disappear, he just got upgraded and expanded and is now playing a bigger game on a bigger field with bigger impact than ever.

I’ve worked with Craig on and off for years and have been able to watch this transformation in real time. And in this issue, I’m going to walk you through what he’s doing, why he’s doing it and show you what the power of a BIG IDEA can truly do in the marketplace.

If you’re looking for an excuse to play small, this isn’t the issue for you. If you’re looking for proof that staying where you’re at (even though you don’t like it!) is smart because you have so much “invested in it,” you will find little solace here.

But if you want to take an inside look at how you can reinvent, transform, magnify, focus and direct value from one place to another, then buckle up and come along for the ride. What Craig is doing (as we speak) is impressive on many levels, one of which is the “control of self” that is required to execute something like this.

You might discount your ability to do this seeing as Craig has been dubbed “The World’s Most Disciplined Man.” But don’t despair. Craig’s results are something you can reproduce. In fact, his work for the past few years is about helping you do just that.

Craig is one of those internet success stories. He went from personal trainer, working with clients one-on-one, to successful internet business entrepreneur in a matter of a few years. And he did it early on—at a time that quickly made him a pioneer in the industry.

He knows a lot about helping people get fit with a research and science based approach to fitness. If you walk into your standard gym, what most people are doing is the exact OPPOSITE of what Craig recommends. And he’s basically been saying the same thing for 17 years!

Craig also mastered the art of structuring, packaging and distributing his programs, courses and trainings all over the world via the internet.

We’ve all had times in our life and business where we knew we weren’t quite at the right spot. Most average people spend their entire lives this way and never really get through to what that right spot might be.

But Craig is not average.

And beginning almost a decade ago, he started investigating ways to get “out” of the fitness industry. Despite his success, despite his connections, despite his reputation and track record, he wanted something different.

It’s taken about 10 years to clarify the vision of what exactly that “thing” looks like.

It began when Craig, along with business partner Matt Smith, acquired EarlytoRise.com from Mark Ford of Agora/Oxford Club Fame. (Mark had pioneered the investment newsletter as a MEMBER CLUB years ago and had a runaway success with what eventually became the Oxford Club.)

I started working with Craig and Matt at about that time to create a promotion to launch their first newsletter, Financial Independence Monthly.

From there, Craig tried a lot of different things under the ETR (Early to Rise) umbrella. And his fitness business took off with the success of the Six Minutes to Skinny product. During this time, he even experimented with going into the cookbook business.

And then he wrote the book, The Perfect Day Formula.

According to Craig, it took him “forever” to write this. And he started with about 300 pages until he turned to Tucker Max’s company, BookinaBox.com, for help. The editor cut things down to a manageable 110 pages and, after a lot of work with the editor, Craig finished the book while watching the sun rise from the Ritz Carlton in Istanbul. Not a bad place to write!

Most people think that writing a book is “something.” On one level, that’s true. Compared to most people who never even READ a book, writing one surely is notable. But Craig knows better. Finishing the book is the beginning of the journey, not the end.

Craig finished his book in August of 2015. And now, over one year and 85 podcasts later, Craig is really getting momentum with The Perfect Day Formula. Writing the book is the tip of the iceberg. Putting the book in the hands of people all over the world and then building out the series of offerings that come AFTER that is an entirely different matter.

Here’s my initial review of his book:

If you’re looking to make 2016 a great year, get this book. Because years like this one aren’t made up of “years.” They are made up of DAYS. And it’s through the power of the day that you can win.

Craig’s book is an important one, based on a very simple and powerful BIG IDEA. Craig didn’t invent this big idea, but his life and work is a demonstration of how he’s perfected it.

The premise is simple:

Design your “perfect day” based on things you control. Live that day over and over again and watch as it leads you to a life well-lived.

Unfortunately, this is not an “easy” book. Because in order to put it to work for you, you must allow your mind to accept a truth that you have been taught is not true. That truth is this:

Structure = Freedom

We’re trained to think that structure is constricting. But really the only reason we feel that is because, for most of our life, the structure we’ve been given has been created by someone else. And it’s been created to accomplish the goals of others, not the goals you have for you.

But when you create your own structure, the effects are quite different. You develop a feeling of freedom. This is something you must experience for yourself to believe.

One example of Craig’s “structure,” are the 12 rules he uses to guide his life. Craig’s 12 rules for his life are here. Do you have rules for your life? Today might be a good day to get some. These rules give you clarity. These rules give you a sense of confidence.

Most importantly, however, these rules give you a way to make better decisions for you, more easily. And really, the biggest difference between me, you and someone else is the list of decisions each person has made.

As the great stoic philosopher, Epictetus, recommended:

“First say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do.”

The Perfect Day Formula is a formula based on things you DO control. As some people already know, that is a big secret to true success: focusing only on the things you control. Then you simply do the best you can with the rest.

And here’s a link to the podcast WE did together about his book.

I talk a lot about “big ideas.” In copywriting, it’s our bread and butter. But big ideas power the world. They inspire people, they focus people, they empower people, they help solve problems. And that’s really just a short list.

The Perfect Day Formula is a big idea. How do I know? Because it solves BIG problems by offering a unique and superior route to solutions. And it does it in a way that brings people into an entirely NEW world…a world that is clearer and easier to understand than their current mundane reality. You can get swept away into this world of The Perfect Day Formula. And you can transform your life and your business at the same time.

So make sure you get this:

The Perfect Day Formula sets out a framework for an entirely new approach to life, business and everything in between.

When you create something like this that imagines a brand new world, you have just given yourself the tools to paint a new reality for people. THIS IS VALUABLE.

Craig will be the first to tell you he is not a life coach and he is not a business coach. So if you walked up to Craig Ballantyne these days and asked him “What exactly do you do…?” here’s how he’d answer the question.

This is his answer, word for word:

“If you have more money than time, I’m your guy to help you get your shit together so that you can make more money, get more done and still get home on time for dinner so that you can focus on what really matters in life.”

Simple right? But that’s how big ideas work. They are deep and profound but simple and clear at the same time. You don’t have to explain them. They explain themselves, in an instant, in a way that makes people feel like they want to know more.

As you’ll discover, what Craig is building around The Perfect Day Formula is helping take him to a brand new level of value creation.

And here’s the big difference:

The Perfect Day Formula offers a framework that leads to an entirely new level of living.

And while “Craig the Fitness Expert” is really only going to be well received by other people in the fitness world, Craig the Creator of the Perfect Day Formula can aim his creation at anyone from stay at home moms to Fortune 500 companies.

Craig knows the value of showing up different. And when you are a new player showing up in the very crowded field of “productivity,” differentiation isn’t a “nice to have,” it’s a “must have.” Unless you enjoy being invisible.

Almost everyone has written a book these days. Amazon is full of them. So while that used to set you apart, times have changed. There’s just too much noise, and too many people vying for attention to have that be the ticket to success.

So the Perfect Day Formula book gave birth to the entire kit. There’s a serious THUD factor with this when you sit it down on your desk.

As of this writing, Craig is selling the kit for $199. You can read the entire sales letter for this here.

Once you get to the sales page, you can watch his short unboxing video where Craig walks through the entire system:

You do yourself a big favor in being different, period. But if you choose arbitrary ways to be different just to be different, you run the risk of sticking out at the expense of real impact.

Craig shows-up different, but those points of differentiation actually make him more valuable than others.

For example, take the offer he makes for speaking engagements. During our conversation he mentioned a group of 300 financial advisors he was speaking to in San Francisco.

There’s no speaking fee. Instead, a requirement of his engagement is that a Perfect Day Formula kit be purchased for each attendee.

You might want to read that again. It’s simple, it’s genius, and it actually helps people. Everyone wins.

The revenue ends up being about the same as charging a fee, but the impact he creates and the ripple effect he initiates with that act will add value to others lives and his own for years into the future.

It’s a no brainer to do things this way. PLUS, you stand out by showing up with rules of engagement that set you apart from the very first contact with you.

If you think about the energetics of this, Craig is planting seeds that will bear fruit. Just getting “money” as a speaking fee doesn’t plant the same seeds. It simply transforms that opportunity into a one time transaction.

There’s one more piece of the puzzle here that I haven’t mentioned yet. And that is something called Early to Rise University:

What’s it about? From their website:

“Early To Rise University is the go-to resource for high-performing executives and entrepreneurs looking to gain a slight-edge, become massively successful, and receive the step-by-step blueprints needed for making more money, getting more done, and still having time to enjoy the finer things in life.”

ETR University is a platform business. Now that’s not the “platform” that I talk about every day in the Daily Journal. It’s a platform where the university itself becomes a platform for offering a growing library of courses and trainings.

Many of these are produced by Craig or ETR directly, but they will also offer courses from other publishers.

This is much along the lines of sites like craftsy.com, ambitious.com, amazing.com and many others.

As the owner of a platform business, YOU (the publisher) win by helping others (your course creators) win.

Take a look at the OFFER you see right here for admission to the University.

A couple of smart things here. First, the Perfect Day Formula kit I spoke about earlier is wrapped into admission here. It’s smart because that is the door that ultimately leads to Craig’s premium coaching program ($25,000/day) as well as other offerings.

Second, lifetime access. This is a pay once, use for lifetime offer. When you’re running business where you KNOW what to do with a growing list of names, this “one time admission fee” is not a problem, it’s actually a point of attraction. No monthly fees, no recurring anything.

That’s a SINGLE buying decision that has to happen before the buyer opens her world to all of the value and additional opportunities available in the ecosystem.

So that’s roughly 6 years from the time Craig acquired Early to Rise to bring it to its most current form, including the new Perfect Day Formula business. I asked him what he did in his mind to keep moving forward all those years. Mind you, there were great successes along that path, it just wasn’t 100% clear what the business was supposed to look like.

While that “figuring it out” process was happening, Craig’s approach was to:

1. Just keep grinding. Never give up on what you care about.
2. Every day, take a little step forward.
3. Once you see a bit of traction (e.g. The Perfect Day Formula), then go deeper with it (the kit, the coaching programs etc.)

This is not rocket science. These are simple suggestions. The difference is that Craig actually does them each day, for many days in a row. Eventually, magic happens.

One more thing… I forgot to mention Craig’s coach!

Now Matt and Craig know what they’re doing. Their list of business accomplishments is gettin’ pretty darn long! But… that doesn’t keep Craig from asking for more help when he feels it will move him forward more effectively.

And that’s why, not long ago, Craig asked Bedros Keuilian to coach him and work with him through all of this and to help get clear on Early to Rise University.

I’ve worked with Bedros in the past and he is one smart guy.

So there you have it, the “leader of many” tapping the resources he needed to lead more, better, and more effectively.

And Craig is just getting started.

He’s got another book coming out in the fitness world in January, and he’s still writing for magazines like Men’s Health.

So there you have it, it’s YOUR life. And you really have no excuse NOT to live it as you see fit. If you’re currently pursuing something that isn’t feeding you with energy, then maybe it’s time to craft a plan and make a change.

If Craig Ballantyne can take his success in the fitness industry and repurpose and reconfigure it to make him a valuable addition to $5 million – $20 million businesses and even Fortune 500 board rooms with his approach to productivity, then there’s no reason you can’t make the shift to whatever it is you want to do.

The biggest obstacle is the fear created by the story of what others may or may not say. It’s your life. Make your choices, follow through, be grateful.

Onward,

Jason Leister
www.incomparableexpert.com

P.S. One more thing. There’s another upgrade that is becoming obvious to Craig since his decision to work with $5 million – $20 million businesses and beyond. It’s something that he noticed happen in the world of his colleague, Simon Black (also a former client of mine), of sovereignman.com. Basically, your network shifts when the size and complexity of the problems you solve shifts.

So when you go from solving $100 problems for people (like you might do in a fitness business) and start solving $1,000,000 problems for people, you end up dealing with a very different type of person.

And building your network so it’s full of these people can cause amazing things to happen.