So what’s your story?
You know we talk a lot about the importance of telling your story on this podcast, but have you started doing it?
It’s the first action that sparks your self-employment transformation.
My guest in this episode loves storytelling. That’s the thread of his work. Felix Hartmann is a mulitpotetialite (listen to my interview with Joel Zaslofsky episode 066 to learn what that means).
He’s an investor as the founder of his own investment firm, Hartmann Capital, CEO of FundThis, a new crowdfunding platform and author of a post-apocalyptic novel, Dark Age and he’s finishing up his degree in political science this year. Whew!
Lessons highlighted in this episode include:
- Why a key turning point for him was taking a gap year after high school working in a warehouse.
- How writing a novel helped him see a greater range of perspectives in life and human nature.
- Felix offers his advice on how to tell your launch story on social media. He has almost 45,000 on Instagram!
Life Skills That Matter In This Episode
- Tell your story.
- Self-directed learning and experimentation.
How Felix Works and Thinks
- Wake up time: 8:00am due to school (Normally 11:00am).
- Ideal work environment: In the office for company work or somewhere with a view when he’s writing.
- Definition of success: Making progress; being further than yesterday.
- Book recommendation: Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill; biographies of super successful people.
- Regains focus by: 1) Make a plan. 2) Listen to music and work until his back in the groove.
- 90-day goal: Help companies raise $1 million through FundThis.
Inspirational Quotes
“I love storytelling. Launches are basically telling a story.”
“I learned more from my business experiments over summer break than what I learned in school.”
“Everything is a learning experience.”
“People are too afraid of investing a lot of time in something, only to have it go nowhere.”
“Even if you fail, you will learn something to use on your next step.”
“Authenticity is the first version without dressing it up. It’s doing less.”
Coaching Advice
Felix recommends these steps to improve self-reflection within the next week:
1) Choose any day, block out 3-5 hours for yourself or give yourself the whole day. Put on some music and just enjoy it.
2) Identify a dream life or direction and work backward to work towards achieving it.
3) Determine which skills you’re lacking and then do some research and learning.