2014: 3 Breakthroughs & 3 Mistakes I Had In The Best Year Ever

Two-Thousand-And-Fourteen. Wow. What. A. Year.

The news was filled with the usual stuff… celebrity deaths, deadly virus outbreaks, lost airplanes, major sporting events, and a bunch of other junk most of us really don’t need to know.

Headline news aside (I ignore that stuff anyway), I’d say 2014 was the best year I’ve ever had in my 22 years on this planet.

If I were a real-life World of Warcraft character in 2014, I would have finally hit level 90 and unlocked the new ability: “Make It Rain”. (Not a real WoW ability… we won’t talk about how I know this)

What’s that you say? “Kristian, you’re WAY older than 22!”

Whatever… prove it!

Although, 2015 already has a totally unfair advantage to steal the title of “best year ever” thanks to the awesomeness that 2014 has left behind.

It wasn’t all good fortune, unicorns and sunshine in 2014 though!

Along with all the hard work and breakthrough moments I also made a handful of sizable mistakes in 2014. I’m a firm believer that one should learn as much from their mistakes as they do from their successes.

So without further ado, I present to you the top 3 breakthroughs & top 3 mistakes that made 2014 a banner year for me. Strap in! I’m saving the best for first with this one.

Breakthrough #1 – “The 90 Day Push”

I’ve executed what I like to call “the 90 day push” (T90DP) on at least 3 separate occasions that I can remember. And each time it has resulted in increased degrees of extraordinary income, productivity, and freedom than I had ever experienced prior. This year it resulted in my biggest quarter ever… multiple six-figure months (net!).

So what is it?

T90DP is exactly what it sounds like it is; 90 days of intense focus, over-the-top enthusiasm, and ridiculously obsessive family-and-friendship-destroying work hours with as much massive action and income-producing activity as possible. No breaks. No excuses.

Most humans can’t stomach something like this for one reason or another, which is why I’ll be writing a separate article dedicated to this concept and how to make it work for you (coming soon!).

Until then, do not try this at home unless you get permission from your loved ones first, and reward them and yourself BIG TIME at the end of the 90 days! Trust me.

Mistake #1 – Small Outsourcing

Going small and testing the waters has it’s place in the unknown, but I KNEW better with this one!

Most of my successful friends and mentors have sizable outsourced teams to help them with everything from the important repetitive work tasks, to the mundane house and office chores.

I knew hiring a personal assistant and other helpers to leverage my time and buy it back was going to make a big impact, and it did. I only wish I would have done it sooner, and much, much bigger.

Lesson learned: The minute you find yourself doing something multiple times that others can do for you, immediately hire them to do it for you! Spend your time on the bigger stuff where you’re irreplaceable.

Breakthrough #2 – [Free] Video Marketing Works!!

I started video marketing in late 2013, and really started to get the hang of it around March of 2014. By July, I had the best income producing month of my life (at that time!) thanks to this simple concept. Not only that, but it completely replaced over $500,000 in paid marketing that was spent the year prior!

Whoa! Whoa! Wait a minute!?

You’re saying that consistently uploading free videos of yourself talking about stuff on YouTube actually outperformed and replaced a six-figure marketing budget?

Yes. And I’ll write more about this topic soon, so make sure you subscribe and stay tuned!

Mistake #2 – Small Video Marketing

Small strikes again!

Ugh.

This one is pretty simple. Morer = betterer when it comes to video marketing for SEO & traffic. Easy as that. I only wish I had ranked more videos in 2014. I can’t imagine how huge 2015 is going to be now that I have the “go big” mentality on this one.

Breakthrough #3 – Cash Back Rocks!

This might sound like a pitch, but I don’t care because it’s the truth.

The concept of getting “cash back” on your purchases is pretty amazing, and I proved it with the success I was able to achieve with a little company called DubLi during the second half of 2014. I made what the company calls “Vice President” in 27 days… the next-fastest person to achieve this rank at the time took nearly 2 years.

Yes, my network is great. Yes, I was able to ride a pretty killer wave of momentum myself and others had created. But I still maintain that it absolutely couldn’t have been done without the brilliant key ingredient; the product we “sell” (cash back).

It’s too easy. Easiest thing I’ve ever done, hands down. It’s not even fair. Everybody Wins! /endpitch

Mistake #3 – Small Accounting

Seeing a trend here?

This actually piggybacks a little bit on the outsourcing mistake I made.

I should have outsourced my accounting sooner and gotten a handle on every single number that contributes to my business and family life.

By not doing so, I ended up spending countless valuable hours… days even… trying to find things, remember things, document things, and other boring stuff.

I finally got it under control, but I paid the price already! I sure wish I had that time back.

Conclusion

2014 was a great year for me, and I hope you were able to take something away from the highlights above to make your 2015 even better!

Now go forth and make it rain! We’re not getting any younger.