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The App Millionaire Mindset

After my car accident, I spent over a year and a half in post-op rehabilitation. The doctors told me I wouldn't be able to use my dominant arm in a normal way again.

What?

An avalanche of thoughts crashed through my head.

No more basketball? No throwing a baseball with the kids I don't even have yet? I'm not even married. How is a woman going to feel about being with me now? I can't hold a door open for her anymore. How can I have sex if I can't hold myself up? I can't drive? I can't write? I'm a man. How am I going to have a full life for myself and my family if I can't use my arm? I'm only 27 years old!!!

These thoughts screamed in my head, echoing in an endless dark cave. Although I had moments when I was driven and determined to prove the doctors wrong, I was crushed inside and scared.

Each day, I went through two hours of torturous physical therapy, trying to rebuild the muscles in my left arm, straining to develop some sort of range of motion. Sheer pain pulsated throughout my body, turning into total and complete despair after each session. After the daily battle, I would inhale pain medication and sit up in my oversized La-Z-Boy in agony for the remainder of the day, defeated.

I had the same questions before the accident that many people have, like, What was my life about? and What was I going to do next? Afterwards, I had other questions too: How was I going to regain the use of my arm? If that weren't enough of a problem, how would I make enough money to pay the $100,000 in medical bills I had racked up?

The pain was excruciating, and since I wasn't able to lie down, I couldn't sleep. At one point, I hadn't slept well for five weeks, and the fatigue was taking a mental and physical toll. I was in so much pain, I felt like giving up for good.

That's when I hit my lowest point. I was alone one afternoon, and my mind went to a dark place. I wasn't even grateful for surviving such a horrid wreck. Instead, I wondered why I had survived.

I was awake, heavily medicated, tears streaming down my face.

Suddenly, something inside me screamed, like a loudspeaker at an airport.

You were meant for more than this! the voice said. Fight, Chad. Fight! Don't give up. You can still have the life you want. You just have to believe and make it happen.

I'm not sure what happened that day, or where that voice came from. Call it my Creator, call it my voice of reason, but that voice had such a profound effect on me that I knew I had no choice. I had to listen and from that moment on, in all that darkness, I had a glimpse of the possibility of a life that I had all but given up on, and hope began to slide in through the cracks.

Everything started to change. For the first time, I understood the importance and the strength of one's own beliefs and faith. I decided I didn't want to be an extra in the movie of my life anymore. It was time to be the writer and the producer.

I haven't looked back since and guess what? The movie of my life has been an epic that gets better every day.

As you embark on this journey, I ask you to listen to your own loudspeaker. Believe in yourself and your app business. Trust your inner cheerleader, and silence the nagging victim because great things will come of your efforts.

No matter what enterprise you're launching, whether it's apps or apple pies, having a winning mindset is most important. In fact, it's the most critical part of the app business and the reason some people make millions as others fail.

WINNING BELIEFS IN THE APP BUSINESS

Maybe you're thinking, “But Chad, I've got a good mindset. After all, I'm reading this book, right?”

Well, in the app business your mind plays games with you by saying things like, “I don't know software … I don't have the money … I've never run a business.”

We all have beliefs that affect everything we do. When we shift our core beliefs, we shift our outcomes. Let me help you change your beliefs about running an app business, so you can have the life you want.

At the events and parties I go to, I hear people's doubts about this business. I don't blame them. I was there once and had to go through my own journey to get through my limiting beliefs.

Here are some of the most common fears I hear from people:

• “I've never done this before … I don't have the experience … I don't have the background.”

  I was in that same spot. But I found successful people to learn from.

  If you want to achieve success, all you need to do is find a way to model those who have succeeded. Find someone to model as soon as possible.

  Start small and learn over time. You may make some mistakes, but you will develop more confidence and knowledge. Before you know it, others will model you.

• “It's difficult… I don't understand it … I'm not smart enough.”

  Anyone can do this business, even if you don't understand it. Like anything in life, you have to start somewhere. This is one of the easiest businesses to get into, because the market is telling you what to do. All you have to do is to listen.

  This business is about looking at the market, understanding it, and giving users what you think they want. You may not hit home runs your first time at bat, but you have to keep getting up to swing throughout the whole game.

• “I'm not a computer person,” “I'm not a developer,” “I'm not a coder.”

  Neither am I. I don't know how to program anything and don't want to. You can get into the app business regardless of your computer skills. If you can draw an app idea and convey the concept to programmers or designers, then they can do the work for you. Even if you know how to code, I recommend hiring others to do most of it so you can focus more on running and building the business.

  Two of my appreneur friends had software engineering degrees when they started creating apps. They soon realized they had to outsource to other programmers, so they could be appreneurs.

• “It costs a lot of money … I don't have money to waste … I don't have money to set up an app business.”

  You don't need a lot of money to start. It costs anywhere from $500 to $5,000 to develop simple apps. As soon as you launch your app, depending on your sales, you could see money hit your bank account within two months.

  I got started by being in a crazy amount of debt, borrowing money from my stepfather for a Hail Mary shot. I didn't have any employees and outsourced all the work.

  In this business, the barrier to entry is ridiculously low. You don't need a degree. You don't have to get a license like a stockbroker. You don't have to invest $60,000 or more for a four-year education. You don't have to pay $50,000 for a franchise license. You don't need many employees, lots of equipment, overhead, or commercial space.

  Even if you mess up, the loss is relatively small. If you keep going, and learn from your mistakes, you will have an opportunity to make a lot of money.

• “I'm not a businessperson … I don't know how to be an entrepreneur.”

  You don't have to be. And this is much easier to do than most other kinds of businesses.

  Apple does the distribution so you can spend your time on marketing. If you can keep testing the market and course correct based on data, you can run a successful app business.

• “I don't have enough time … I've got a full-time job … I don't have enough time to learn this.”

  This business is about getting your time and life back. Even if you're making $100,000 a year at your full-time job, is it worth it if you never see your kids or spouse or don't have a fulfilling life?

  The beauty with this business is that you have the option to start part-time, and as you learn more and gain more confidence, you can take bigger steps.

  When you quit your job because you doubled your income, you'll have more time than you know what to do with, and that's what this business gives you. Time and freedom to do what you want, when you want, and with whom you want.

• “I've lost my confidence … I've been down since I lost my job … The recession has been hard on me.”

  When I was a kid, I used to play football in my neighborhood with a guy called Smalls. We used to pick on him. He was probably 110 pounds soaking wet, but you could hit this guy and he would hardly ever go down. If he did, he would pop right back up as if nothing had happened. It didn't make any sense because everyone was bigger and stronger than he was. How the heck did he take such big hits and remain on his feet? So, one day at the lunchroom in school, I walked up to him:

  “Smalls, how do you stay on your feet when you get hit so hard on the football field?” I asked. “You are so small. What's your secret?”

  “Do you really wanna know?”

  “Yeah, I really wanna know.”

  “I keep moving,” he said.

  “What?”

  “Watch my feet when I get hit,” he said. “I never stop. Yeah, I can take a hit; yeah I can get pushed around, but my feet never stop moving. I don't allow myself to think I'm going to fall, so I don't.”

  My first reaction was that what he said was pretty stupid, but after thinking about it, I saw the deeper meaning. It made sense. That's how it is in life, in business, and everything else. We all know that you have to get back up if you fall down, but what a lot of us seem to miss is that oftentimes when we think we are falling, we give up, and allow gravity to take over. Most times, we are much closer to staying on our feet than we think. Usually, it's a matter of hanging in there and moving your feet a little longer until, eventually you find yourself running for a touchdown.

  Use your current situation as the fuel that empowers you to take action. Use it as leverage. The way I see it is you have two choices. Do nothing and complain, or use your resources to turn your situation around. If my truck had not flipped over four times on the interstate, I'm not sure I would have had the leverage I needed for change. Pain can be our best gift and biggest weapon to succeed as long as we convince ourselves to see it that way.

• “Only a few people make money in this business… . The big players are hard to compete against… . It's too hard to make money because every idea is taken.”

  The big players are like you. This industry is in its infancy, and anyone can make an app as well as they can. They might have big marketing dollars, but you can still market your app with no to little money as you'll see later on in the book.

  What makes the app business unique is that the big players are on the same playing field as everyone else. They have the same questions and challenges as you and I will have.

  The industry is just getting started. As I said before, it's like the Internet when e-commerce began. You have the opportunity to grow with the industry. You don't have to come up with new ideas. If you improve on existing app ideas, you can make money.

• “I'm in for the gold rush… . I can make a lot of money without working.”

  Many people are joining the app gold rush with a get-rich-quick mentality and unrealistic expectations. Don't let this be you. This book gives you the tools to think like a business owner with a map to find the gold. You have to work, but you won't have to struggle and let life pass you by in the process.

  This is not a one-time app lottery, and you can't treat it as such. We all want instant gratification, but if you think of this as a long-term business, it will grow and be a sustainable source of income.

• “Just because someone else was successful, it doesn't mean I will be.”

  That's right. The most important thing in this business is your mindset. We can be our biggest enemy or our greatest hero, but ultimately, we have the freedom to choose and decide what we are going to focus on.

CREATE A GOLDEN MINDSET

You must create beliefs around wealth that allow you to get out of your own way. Learn to see the opportunities instead of all the reasons things won't work or haven't worked in the past. By shifting your beliefs, you can turn challenges into opportunities to learn and grow.

Anthony Robbins changed my life in many ways. While I was recovering in the hospital from my car accident, someone gave me his “Get The Edge” program as a gift. His words unlocked a part of me I didn't know existed.

I realized that up to that point in my life, I had focused on the tools of business. I asked questions like, “How do I get more sales?” “How can I get better at marketing?” “Whom do I hire to work for me?”

Tony Robbins taught me to ask questions on a deeper level: “What kind of life do I want to live?” “What's important to me?” “How do I want to express myself?” “What do I want from making money?” “What's my mission?” These questions made me think about business and life in a different way, weeding out the junk and giving myself true alignment.

I realized that to live the life I wanted, I needed to do a major shift of my mindset and realign my core beliefs.

When I changed my beliefs, I started to have a tenacious mindset. I knew what I wanted, I wasn't going to let other people's agendas get in my way, and I was happy. I realized that without my body, without my inner clarity and peace, I was nothing. That gave me a sense of gratitude. I had a different energy and a strong, positive mind. That made my business and way of life exciting every day.

Look, you don't have to go through a major traumatic event the way I did to learn these lessons, and I would never wish what happened to me on anyone. Do whatever you need to strengthen your mental and emotional muscles. My accident radically changed me because I felt I was given a second chance, and I wasn't going to abuse that gift. Your second chance and new beginning starts now.

QUALITIES OF A WINNING MINDSET

The following are key elements of a winning mindset, along with actions you can take to thrive in the app world and in your life.

Know Your “Why”

Ask yourself, “Why do I want to make money in the app business?” Everyone needs a driving force, so hone in on yours, and you've won half the battle for success. This why might be unique to you, or similar to the “why” of other appreneurs.

Whatever it is, you cannot be successful without knowing your primary reason for success. It could be that you want to travel around the world, pay for your child's college tuition, do charity work, support your aging parents, or help the environment.

Show me people with a big enough reason why they want to accomplish something, and I can assure you, it's only a matter of time before it becomes a reality. What's your “why?”

Powerful Questions

As you can see from the previous section, asking thoughtful questions is more important than having quick answers.

Powerful questions trigger your brain to search for powerful answers. I've learned that high levels of enlightenment and incredible success are a direct result of the quality of the questions you ask yourself on a consistent basis.

Be sure to ask yourself powerful questions every day. The results will amaze you. What will manifest from this habit will propel your business to new levels.

Here are some powerful questions you can ask yourself before launching your app business:

• What will I do with the newfound freedom that I'll have?
• Who am I doing this for? Why?
• How will being successful at this change the lives of my loved ones?
• What am I committed to doing to guarantee my success?

Another powerful tool is taking immediate action however small the step may seem. Humor me, grab a piece of paper, and take five minutes to consider and answer these questions.

In later chapters, I share with you more detailed questions you can ask, related directly to specific parts of your business.

Vision/Outcomes

Create a vision that ignites your passion. Then specify outcomes you want from that vision.

Creating a vision for your business is essential for figuring out where you want to go. Would you jump into a car and drive without knowing your destination? Well, we know that many people go through life's motions half-asleep, taking on task after task to keep themselves in busy mode. I'm assuming if you picked up a book about creating a successful app business and reinventing your life, that isn't your style.

When you create a vision, continue your inner dialogue until you get a better understanding of your motivation:

You might say, “I want to make a certain amount of money.”

Okay, well why do you really want this?

You might say, “I want to pay off debt, and not worry about money all the time.”

Okay, well, what will that give you?

Maybe “It will lift a heavy burden off my shoulders and allow me to feel free.”

Well, why is this freedom so important?

“It will allow me to feel good again. I will be able to spend time with my family, see them laugh, have fun, and enjoy life. I can catch up with old friends, travel to places I've always wanted to see, experience life in new ways, remember what it felt like to be a kid again, revive the dreams that I let die, etc.”

Keep delving deeper because the initial responses are usually superficial and don't reveal the real motivations behind our actions. Usually when you do this, at some point something inside of you will click. You will feel like you are ready to explode, fully alive, and passionate. That's when you will have reached your true vision. When you are challenged to be specific about your goals, the truth comes out, and you will manifest what you want.

Once you have that clarity, set your outcomes or goals around that to accomplish the vision.

For another example, ask yourself, “What is the vision for my company, and what do I want to create?”

Be specific. Make it emotional, something you would strive for, and create your compelling future now. Relate your outcome to something tangible.

For instance, “If I can make $10,000 a month, I'm going to travel to Italy and paddle around in a boat through the Grand Canal of Venice.” Maybe it's a yearly goal with a reward, like, “I'll fully fund my kids' education,” “I'll buy a bigger house,” or “I'll get myself out of debt.”

Write it where you will see it throughout your day. It will keep you motivated and give you the energy to overcome unforeseen and uncontrollable obstacles that could sidetrack you from the life that you know you deserve.

I write my outcomes on the bathroom mirror, using an erasable black marker because I know that every morning, I'll go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, and look in the mirror.

Over the years, I've written things like, “Get to $1,000/month cash flow,” “Travel somewhere exotic,” or “Sell my app business for seven figures.”

Seeing those every day made them happen faster, and instantly gave me the motivation I needed to push through that day's challenges.

Faith/Optimism

Whatever your goal, you must consistently believe you have a way to achieve it, and you must be resolute in this belief. To attract success, learn to see it, feel it, and manifest it.

I've always had faith on a superficial level but never truly allowed myself to embrace it. After my accident and hearing the voice that pulled my mind out of that dark place, I can't deny the power of something greater than myself. I realize that not everyone has an experience like this, but I urge you to connect or reconnect to whatever higher power you believe in. It will be a game changer for you.

Passion

You need to be enthusiastic about your business and whatever you do in life. Since you're spending time building this new enterprise, you are in a position to make it feel less like work and more like fun and play, otherwise you will burn out quickly.

This happens to everyone at one job or another, and your goal is to set this up so it doesn't feel like a job. It should be fulfilling and feel more like something you get to do, not something you have to do. Once you create this vision, the momentum will pull you forward effortlessly, like a ski lift pulling you straight up a mountain of cash.

To accomplish this, focus on creating apps you can enjoy and make money with. For example, if you like playing video games, you probably have an interest and knowledge in that category of apps. If you're a photography buff, and you see that photography apps are popular, you can spend some time in that category and come up with something that other photography buffs like yourself will enjoy.

Attitude

When I was in the hospital, a buddy sent me a quote from Stephen Covey, author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. It was profound enough to help me change my attitude, and transform my thinking.

It talks about another percentage, called the 90/10 Principle. It says this: “Ten percent of life is made up of what happens to you. Ninety percent of life is decided by how you react.”

What does this mean? We have little control over what actually happens to us in life. We cannot stop a car from breaking down, a plane from arriving late, the driver who cuts us off in traffic, or a deer that jumps in front of our truck. But we have almost complete control over how we interpret and react to the events of life.

We cannot control a red light, but we can control whether we get mad or shrug it off while continuing to jam out to the radio. Simple, yet profoundly effective.

After I learned the 90/10 Principle, I realized that life isn't meant to be so hard. Maybe I was sabotaging myself with my negative attitude and making things worse for myself. I had a choice of what to focus on, and what meaning I was going to give the events of my life.

I realized that whenever people asked about my real estate business, I would say, “Oh, it's horrible. It's so hard. I'm not making any money.” I felt weak, and people around me would feel miserable, too. It became an endless cycle of negativity that manifested bad results and bad feelings.

When I shifted my attitude, I developed an attitude of optimism and confidence. That made a huge difference, and took me on a new course, with a new destination.

In the app business, things are always changing. You never know what's going to happen. You will be challenged, but if you train yourself to have a strong, positive mind. You will have a competitive advantage over 99 percent of other developers/appreneurs.

Plan

Yes, saying you should plan is obvious, but it is true, and I've only realized the importance of this in the last few years. If you don't plan thoroughly, then you are planning to fail miserably. In business, you'll get much better results if you plan effectively, instead of sprinting in like a testosterone-fueled bull running the streets of Pamplona, Spain.

Your plan doesn't need to be so complicated that it prevents you from taking any action. Being present and aware versus uncertain about your business is more profitable and gives you the certainty and clarity you need to forge ahead.

Flexibility

Change is constant in this business or any business for that matter. As a business owner, you must be open to radically changing your apps and strategies that aren't serving you, and cut the fat immediately.

The first version of any app rarely succeeds. The goal is to remain objective and adapt as soon as you have real data that give you clarity in a particular area. If you don't stay flexible, you will waste time and money and will lose motivation. If you constantly refine, you have a greater chance of succeeding.

Because an idea doesn't work at first, it doesn't mean it won't in the future. A little tweaking or a little time is often all that is needed.

I have had several business failures and not every app brought in the profit I desired, but I learned valuable lessons and then adapted. As long as you track what you're doing, and correct your course, you will keep moving in the right direction.

Leverage/Outsource

I have always been a creator, which means I always have wanted to do more, no matter what I have had on my plate. The problem with that mindset is that I was always working harder and burning myself out without feeling satisfied.

App developers are notorious for this over-indulgence as well.

If you want your business to grow, you need to outsource. You must be able to count on others and let go. Keith Cunningham, an accomplished entrepreneur and speaker, once said, “Growth and control work inversely.” The more you want to grow, the more you need to give up control.

Bogged down with billing? Outsource it. Tired of answering e-mail? Outsource it. Can't stand checking on developers? Let someone else do it. Outsource everything that drains your time and motivation. Outsource anything that takes away your ability to grow bigger than yourself, and have fun doing the things you like to do. This will ensure you have gas in the tank for any adventure that comes your way.

Build a great team that supports and enhances what you are doing. This way, you can focus on what you do best, which is visualizing and planning the business.

Presence/Focus

You should treat your business the way you would a new relationship. Become intimate with your business and find the passion. The more you listen to it, nurture it, pay attention to it, and give it value, the stronger your relationship will become. If you don't, you'll be sleeping on the couch in no time, and it's going to be uncomfortable.

When you are present with your business, you will see better results. If you are not present, and if you take it for granted, your business can get off track or you can lose your business altogether.

The Apple App Store is a global economy that's changing every day. If you're not present with your business, constantly adapting and improving, you will get left behind.

It takes discipline to keep your eyes on the prize. You must understand each component of your app business, which analytics can help you do. I recommend you evaluate what's going on in each area of your business: daily, weekly, and monthly. Monitor the market daily, track your results, and make course corrections.

At one point, I was traveling so much that I wasn't working on my business. It's easy to do in this business because you're making money without doing anything, and sometimes you forget. One day while traveling in Canada, I realized my complacency had caught up to me and I needed to shift gears because the numbers were dropping.

I put attention on my business for two to three hours a day for three weeks, but it was focused time. I got present and took the pulse of each section of my company. I knew if our marketing was hitting the mark, and I knew what we needed to change to make customers happy. I made my tweaks and gave my business the fuel it needed. By doing that, income went up 68 percent!

It's not just about “How much money can I make right now?” It's about being present with each step of the process, for the long haul.

Synergy: 1+1 = 1,000,000

Find other like-minded people to help you grow.

One excellent way is through mastermind groups. This is when you join a small group where everyone is focused on giving each other encouragement and practical strategies to succeed. You can share resources and grow together.

Another way is to network with other appreneurs or developers. Find them online, at conferences, and in meet-up groups.

When you network, you will find successful people to model. Surround yourself with people who have a positive mindset and can help you grow. Learn the easy way through their experiences as opposed to having to fall on your face to learn the hard way on your own.

By networking with other appreneurs, I have learned tips that doubled and tripled my income and strengthened my winning mindset. I learn and pick up new ideas from others, and I contribute to their app world as well, growing their business.

As an end note, applying the same techniques in this chapter has given me the mental and physical strength that I needed to overcome my accident and build a successful app company. I have total certainty they will serve you as well.

What I Learned

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Actions to Take

1. As yourself these questions and write down the answers:
   • What's my why, and how will my life change when I get it?
   • What can I see myself doing in the app business to make money? What's my passion?
   • What do I want to do with the freedom I will have?
   • How committed am I to making this work, and how important is it that I succeed?
   • When and how am I going to check in daily on my winning mindset?
   • Who else is going to benefit from this new way of life and money, and what will that mean to them and to me?
2. Write down the new empowering beliefs that you're going to associate with every day.