Jay Papasan:
I’m Jay Papasan, and this is The ONE Thing, your weekly guide to the simple steps that lead to extraordinary results.
Hey there, ONE Thing family. I’ve got a special treat for you this week. Over the years, I’ve told the story again and again of my friend who after reading The ONE Thing actually sold a very incredibly successful business because he realized in the dead of night that it just did not align with his purpose in life. It was a remarkably courageous act and he has zero regrets.
Well, guess what? Our guest this week is that person, Stu McLaren. Stu is a very successful entrepreneur. He’s been a pioneer in the space of building online communities. We kind of tackle this in two parts this week. In the first half, we tell the tale of his remarkable journey with The ONE Thing, how he read it, how he got very clear about his purpose in aligning it with the charitable organizations in his life, and how he made the hard decision to sell his business and live his purpose. And he’s had no regrets. He’s incredibly successful to this day.
In the second half, we go deep into building communities. What is the one thing for building community? So whether you lead a team at work, or you’re a part of a community in the workplace, in a non-profit, or in a place of worship, this is a great episode where you can learn about building community and living a life of purpose.
All right, Stu, welcome to the show. I’m so excited that we finally get to talk about The ONE Thing together on the podcast.
Stu McLaren:
Yeah, me too, buddy. Thank you so much for having me.
Jay Papasan:
I was looking back, I was sharing with you before we started recording that I looked back and I found some notes. And they may or may not be accurate. It looks like I was typing on an old phone. But back in 2015 in May, our friend Billy introduced us and you shared a story about how you connected with The ONE Thing. I was reaching out to you because I heard you were this very successful founder and you were a big fan of the book. How did you discover The ONE Thing? What was your journey on that?
Stu McLaren:
Well, for me, the book had been recommended to me and started digging in. And you guys just did a fabulous job of making it so darn readable. So, I was partway through it, and then it just happened in terms of timing that I was leaving to go on a family vacation. Now, at the time, my wife and I had a young daughter, and we went to this thing called family camp. And basically, you are out in the middle of nowhere. You’re actually on an island and there’s like no electricity or anything like that.
Jay Papasan:
Is this like an island in Hawaii?
Stu McLaren:
No, no, no, no. This is like in northern Ontario, Canada.
Jay Papasan:
Okay.
Stu McLaren:
We’re out on the lake, and it’s family camp. So, long story short, I’m reading your book while I am there, and I’m just devouring it. And that and the fact that I just listened to a presentation from a dear friend of mine, Michael Hyatt, and I had read another great book called The Essentialism. And because your book was the one that I was reading at the camp, it was just like, it was pulsating in my brain and all these thoughts were just swirling in terms of, like, what I was doing at that moment and was I living to the highest level of my capabilities and my purpose.
And I remember going to bed one night, and I’m lying there in this cabin, and it’s pouring rain. And the cabins have these tin roofs. So, I wake up, it’s probably like 2:30 in the morning, and all the rain on the roof is just, like, echoing in the cabin. I can’t sleep. And then I’m lying there in darkness with my thoughts, which is a very dangerous place to be. And I’ve got all these thoughts of, like, The ONE Thing just resonating in my brain.
The whole time I was just thinking like, I’ve got this great company, we’re doing really well financially, we’ve got a great team, great product, but there was something that was just feeling like it was missing. And I credit The ONE Thing for this. For me, I was asking myself, like, number one, is the business continuing to be a business that is gonna be low stress for me? That was really important.
Jay Papasan:
Had you had a health scare or anything, or were you just aware of like, I need to manage my stress, because it’s hard?
Stu McLaren:
I was just hyper aware of it. You know, like I had two amazing parents growing up who they were entrepreneurs on the side because they were always hustling, trying to generate some extra income. But financial stress was always one of the top things in our household. And it wasn’t because they didn’t work hard. They were two of the hardest working people I have ever known. But it was just because they just weren’t in an industry or business or something that was a reduced stress. So, that’s why that was a high priority for me.
And number two was that it was a high profit. Like that was important to me. And then number three for me was, like, impact. Like I was really, really wanting to have impact. My wife and I had started a nonprofit charity called Village Impact.
Jay Papasan:
Which is still there today and thriving.
Stu McLaren:
Yeah. So, we still build schools in Kenya. And so, I was just always trying to connect, like how do I connect the business to the charity and have impact. So, all these thoughts are swirling around in my head, Jay. And Amy wakes up and she says to me, “Stu, are you okay?” I was like, “Well, I’m not sure.” She said, “What do you mean?” And I was trying to be quiet because I didn’t want to wake up like our daughter, Marla. And I said, “Well, I think I’ve made a big decision.” And she said, “What’s that?” And I said, “I think I want to sell my business.”
And to her credit, she paused for a moment, and she just said, “Okay, tell me why.” And I just started unpacking all the thoughts that were spurred on from reading the book. And I was just saying, I feel like there’s a gap between where I am and where I want to be. And I don’t know how to close that gap. And the gap is obvious to me now. Like, after reading the book, it’s obvious to me. And I’ve got to do something. Because if I don’t do something, I’m going to keep on keeping on. And the problem’s not going to solve itself. That urge that you feel inside of you when you know that you should be doing one thing but you can’t, or you feel like you can’t, or you’re not, that urge just eats away at you.
Jay Papasan:
Tell me if I’m remembering this, like you started, founded Wishlist Member, which was, you were a pioneer at the time.
Stu McLaren:
It went on to become the world’s number one membership plugin for WordPress. When I eventually sold my shares in the company, we were powering over 70,000 online communities and memberships.
Jay Papasan:
Wow, okay. So, the profitability measure, it was doing really well.
Stu McLaren:
It was doing great.
Jay Papasan:
So 70,000 membership communities. Probably impact. So, I’m guessing that the gap for you was around like the stress. It was a stressful thing.
Stu McLaren:
It was stressful. We didn’t, at that time, have a model tied into the business like I do today that was contributing to the charity. And I hadn’t figured that piece out yet. And there was something about it too. Like I loved what we did. Like I liked what we did. That’s probably a better word. I liked what we did, but I didn’t love what we were doing. So, it was that weird zone of, do I stay in this thing that I like, or do I make a bold decision to go for something that I love? And that’s a hard place to be in.
Jay Papasan:
I guarantee you, there are people listening to this podcast and going, “He’s talking about me right now,” because it is really easy, especially if from the outside in, everybody’s looking at you going, “Oh my gosh, Stu, look at what he’s built. All of that success,” and they can’t see the gaps. Like I love that you just did that ad. It wasn’t connected to this charity organization that’s clearly connected to your and your wife Amy’s hearts. It had other gaps that weren’t visible from the outside. And a lot of people kind of do that math in their head and it’s just so much safer to stay and wonder if they can change it from the inside. Did you and Amy talk about that? Should I stay and try to change it or do I just need to move on?
Stu McLaren:
Well, in those moments, your mind starts playing games with you.
Jay Papasan:
Well, it’s at night, you’ve set the scene. I’m hearing the rain crashing on the tin roof.
Stu McLaren:
Totally. Because your mind starts saying, “Well, Stu, you know, you’ve got a young family now. You’re not really in a position to make these bold moves. And if you do, are you putting your family in financial jeopardy?” Like, “Will people still want to do business with you because you’re no longer associated with Wishlist? Wishlist is a one-hit wonder. Will you be able to repeat your success?” All of these doubts and fears are racing through my mind.
But the moment that I said out loud to Amy, I think I want to sell my business, that was the moment that it was a switch that got flipped. And now, if she said, “Tell me why,” and as I said, I just started unloading what was going through my mind, what I was reading from the book and how it was impacting my thoughts and everything. And to her credit, she just looked at me, she said, “Okay, let’s do it.” She said, “I believe in you. We can do this.”
And that was just like, from that moment, it was just like, “Okay. Now, it’s game on. Now, we’ve got to figure this stuff out.” And so, yeah, the book had a tremendous impact on the trajectory of my career, my life, and my business and I’m so grateful for it.
Jay Papasan:
I love that story because it illustrates the central lesson of the book that the most powerful people, the most powerful business, what’s their foundation purpose. And when they’re really really clear that what they’re doing is connected there, their priorities become clear, and they become more productive and profit, then you can have highly productive, profitable people that are missing that foundation. But it does feel, you have those dark nights, where you’re not sure, like, am I really on solid footing here? Is this really the place I want to be?
So, I love that story because it illustrates… a friend asked me, like, if your values are really valuable to you, what are you willing to pay for them? And your values are clearly on display here. And we were willing to risk it all. Like maybe it wasn’t one hit wonder. And then, knowing you and having seen you from a distance and worked with you, everybody else knew, even if you didn’t know that dark night that you had a lot more in you to give, but I get being in that moment. So, yeah, it’s a great illustrative story about you made a decision based around purpose.
Stu McLaren:
I think you’re right too, Jay. Other people can see it in us oftentimes before we can see it in ourselves. And that’s the challenge. It’s because sometimes people on the outside may not realize that we’re wrestling on the inside with that gap between where we are and where we wanna be. On the outside, it may look like everything’s good and hunky-dory. But on the inside, we’re struggling. We feel like, “Gosh, I know I meant for more. There’s something that’s missing here.” And if we were to vocalize that, if we were to talk about that, people would be like, “Are you kidding me? You should totally be doing this.” And then, you’d be like, “No, no, no. I don’t know if I can because of this, this and this.” They’d be like, “Are you crazy? Of course, you should. Yes, you should,” blah blah blah blah.
And so, they can often see it. But if we don’t talk about stuff, people may never know to be able to give us that kind of counsel and to inject that kind of confidence in me. And I fast forward, once I made this decision, I would love to say that it was just like a straight line to like what I’m doing now. It was just like, “Okay, great. Made the decision. Oh, yeah, that’s the next thing. Away, I go.” It wasn’t. There was like this messy middle of probably about two years where I was doing things, I was working on stuff, but I knew that the stuff that I was working on wasn’t quite it yet. But I had the faith that it was going to lead me to what was “next”.
And there was a moment in time when another mentor of mine, Reid Tracy, who is the CEO of Hay House, he was the one that saw it in me and gave me a reason to take action in the direction that ultimately led me to where I am today. And I just bring this up because sometimes, like I said, we can’t see it because we’re too close to it sometimes. But I just want to encourage everybody, like if you’re feeling that tension in your life where you’re working on something and you like it but you don’t love it, or you’re doing it and you’re going through the motions and everything’s okay but you’re not quite aligned with your purpose, I would just encourage people to talk to others about it because in the talking comes the clarity. And I think when we wrestle with those thoughts by ourselves, it’s really hard to get that clarity.
Jay Papasan:
My coach uses the phrase, you can’t read the label from inside the box.
Stu McLaren:
Yeah, that’s a great one.
Jay Papasan:
I mean, if you’re the founder of the company, walking around just talking to someone at the water cooler, “You know I’m having doubts about this company. It’s not going to happen.”
Stu McLaren:
True.
Jay Papasan:
But your spouse, you have colleagues like Reid Tracy. I first became aware of him with Hay House, the publishing company. What was he doing back then? Was he in publishing? Did you just know him?
Stu McLaren:
We were in a mastermind together.
Jay Papasan:
Okay. So, he was a peer. And what a perfect person to go to.
Stu McLaren:
And I was sharing some of the things that I was working on and doing and some of the challenges that I was having. And he just basically wrote an email back and with just tremendous clarity. I celebrate Read Day, actually. It’s every August 29th. Because that email came in and he just basically said, “Stu, will you teach me and my staff everything that you know about membership sites?” And he said, “If you are willing to do that, I will donate a hundred thousand dollars to your charity.”
Jay Papasan:
Talk about alignment.
Stu McLaren:
Talk about alignment. I was just like, “Woah!” And so, I just share that because that moment in time was like when I think of the steps, step one was reading The ONE Thing. Your book started a whole process in my brain of me realizing that I was living in a comfort zone and there was a gap between where I was and ultimately what I wanted to be and what I wanted to do.
And that created discomfort inside of me. And it was that night in the cabin where it all kind of crystallized and I realized like I gotta make a decision. And so, the book was the catalyst to that. And then, the next step in that, like I said, I’d love to say it was a straight line but it wasn’t, I was still figuring stuff out. And then the next catalyst was somebody else seeing in me what I couldn’t see in myself. And then it began to crystallize from there.
Jay Papasan:
I love that. I was thinking when you were describing the journey, originally, you gave the book too much credit. I feel like the dominoes inside you to make a change have been lining up. And maybe the book helped you see that there was better alignment, but you weren’t sure what direction. And it was Reid that is the person who just knocked over that first domino and started this new run for you to use the language of the book.
Stu McLaren:
No, I’m gonna give the book credit again because I don’t know that I would have made the decision to sell my company had it not been for the book. And then, the subsequent conversation that came with Amy afterwards. And I would say the thing about the book is that you gave voice to the things that I was thinking and feeling more clearly than I could ever have communicated them at that point in time. And so, it was like the book just spoke to me because it was everything that I was thinking and feeling, I just couldn’t give voice to it in the way in which you guys did. And it was just, that’s why it resonated so deeply.
Jay Papasan:
It’s hard to see the truth when you can’t articulate it. And that’s the great truth in life right there. So, Sue, we’re about ready for a break. You hinted that you know so much about memberships and communities that one of your colleagues was willing to pay you $100,000 for it.
On the other side of the break, I’d like, because you know the book, you’re a fan of the book, let’s talk about The ONE Thing for building community because that has so many applications for our listeners, whether it’s the community of their family, of their church, their school, the team in the office, their business, or I’m an entrepreneur and I’m literally building a membership community. I’m not gonna put you on the hook for $100,000 of value in 10 or 15 minutes, but let’s come back from the break and dive in. Does that sound good?
Stu McLaren:
Sounds awesome.
Jay Papasan:
Welcome back. We got to hear Stu’s ONE Thing story, which I love, and the journey that led him to where he is. But one of the things I was really excited about is we get to talk about community. And you’ve been an authority right at the leading edge of what was capable, especially with online membership communities. What do you think are the key dominoes if someone wants to build community or a membership community that they need to be thinking about? What’s the order of the one thing, like the first domino and what comes after?
Stu McLaren:
Well, if I were to boil it down to one thing, Jay, I would encourage people to ask themselves a really powerful question as it relates to the community. And the question would be, what is the purpose for somebody being part of this community? Like, what’s the goal? What’s the objective? Why would they want to be there? Why would they want to belong?
Now, in some cases, it might be that they’re looking to solve an ongoing problem. So, they join a membership because they want to learn how to perhaps lose weight, go from being overweight to their ideal weight, or maybe they’ve got a puppy that’s wildly out of control and they want to join a community that teaches them how to train that dog. They’ve got an ongoing problem. That might be a reason.
Number two is it might be they’re looking to learn skills. So just like being part of a community where you’re helping people learn how to master a skill set. Maybe it’s becoming a better artist or maybe it’s a musician or maybe it’s a better business leader. Are they looking because they’re looking to have something complex simplified for them? We have so many people in our community who have created membership sites for teachers.
Now, we might ask, well, why would a teacher belong to a membership? Well, my wife, Amy, was a teacher for 10 years. And I can tell you that teachers work more sometimes outside the classroom than they do in with-
Jay Papasan:
Right. Lesson plans and everything else. Yes.
Stu McLaren:
Exactly. And that’s a pain point. And so, if we can come in and that’s what these memberships have done is create lesson plans for these teachers, we’ve now made their lives easier. And then, some people may join a community just because they want to belong. They want to belong with others who have a shared interest. They may not necessarily be looking to solve a problem or learn skills or have something in their life made easier, but they may just want to be around people who get them, and understand them and engage in conversation with them.
And so, growing up, I grew up in a small rural town. And when I say rural town, I mean like we were out in the middle of nowhere. So when I grew up and wanted to be an entrepreneur, I was like this weird guy, especially because back then, that was unheard of. Everybody in my class, like we were all farmers. We were all working out in the fields on the ginseng farms, and the tobacco farms, and the strawberries and all of this stuff. So, like an online entrepreneur, it was just not a thing. But that’s what I gravitated toward were communities of other entrepreneurs because I wanted to engage in conversation that I wasn’t getting elsewhere.
And so, that would be the question I would encourage people to ask is, what’s the reason somebody would want to be part of your community? Is it to solve the problem, learn the skills, make life easier, or belong?
Jay Papasan:
When someone says, “I think I want to write a book,” because people come to me, I’ve literally worked in bookstores, I was an English major, I worked in publishing as a publisher, and I’ve been an author. So, I’ve seen it from like every angle. Like, if it’s a nonfiction, which is most of the business books that I’m dealing with, I was like, “Well, first and foremost, what problem are you solving for them?” because there are a lot of people, like you and I are those, like we go to the store and we’ll buy vitamins. We want things just because we think they’ll make us better.
Most people make a decision because they want to remove pain. And by the way, belonging is removing pain, by the way. If you’re up there with cows on one side and corn on the other and you’ve got no peers, the pain is like, where are my friends? Where’s my tribe?
Stu McLaren:
Yeah, you feel lonely.
Jay Papasan:
I’m gonna put you on the spot here because I didn’t ask you this beforehand. I see community and I feel like if I’m around it long enough, I was at two of your masterminds kind of overlapped, and you asked me to come in, and I got a strong feeling of community in just like four or five hours hanging out with those groups. You could feel it in the group. You can also go in to startups and companies or teams. They’re called a team or they’re called a community, but it’s really just a bunch of people that are connected by a shared address, a shared URL at their website, or maybe a shared credit card that they pay the bills. It’s like a group. How would you define a community versus defining a group?
Stu McLaren:
I mean, I don’t mean to be a preacher here, but I’m going to just come right back to The ONE Thing, because it is really, you know, the principles are woven all throughout, but like purpose is definitely one of them.
Jay Papasan:
Shared purpose is one of the things that defines, okay.
Stu McLaren:
And what does that mean? Well, then we start talking about values, like values and beliefs, and those are certainly interwoven in there. And whether it’s an online community and a membership, or whether it’s an organization, like one of the things that we do in our organization is we have clear values and we have awards for those, and we celebrate those values.
It’s kind of like a running joke in our office because simplicity is one of those values. And Rick on our team has won that award three years in a row. And people are vying for the simplicity award this year. And they keep making a point of like, did you see how I simplified that process? They’re trying to like, you know. But the reason I bring that up is because the awards make the values front and center. And I think whether that’s in an online community or organization, those have got to be front and center.
Jay Papasan:
I love that answer because I think a lot of people go to a common cause. And there are championship, basketball and football teams or whatever where those athletes have a common cause and they are barely even qualified as a team. They don’t like each other. The only common thing, value they have is winning. That is very loose, that’s more of a group than a community. I like the idea that there’s a shared purpose, shared values that go beyond like a shared mission versus a shared objective. Like one has got heart in it and the other may or may not.
Stu McLaren:
And the way I would encourage people to think about it is just, like, finish this sentence. People like us do things like this. And when you can finish that sentence, now you begin to create an identity. And that’s a key component of a thriving community is when people feel like they belong because they are part of something bigger than themselves. And there’s an identity that’s wrapped up in that.
Like that’s where the magic really happens. That’s where communities really become tight. That’s where employees never want to leave because it’s so much more than just the salary that they’re getting. It’s an experience that they’re part of and that’s deeply rooted in things that they believe.
Jay Papasan:
So people like us do things like fill in the blank.
Stu McLaren:
Exactly.
Jay Papasan:
Got it. Cool.
Stu McLaren:
Yeah.
Jay Papasan:
Because I’m wearing it, because there’s a football game today, like people who are University of Texas football fans wear burn orange.
Stu McLaren:
There you go.
Jay Papasan:
I got it. That’s pretty light on the scale, but I get it. I get it, but that’s something. My son is really into anime, and he’s into some pretty obscure mangas and stuff. And he will buy these t-shirts that have to get shipped all the way from Japan and he’s bigger than I am. So, I don’t even know how he gets like a quadruple X size for him. He’s a big fella. It looks like Conan.
And I remember we were walking into a store together. And there was a girl a little older than him, frankly. I think it was maybe the waitress in this place, and she had lots of piercings and everything, but she recognized his t-shirt. She goes, “Oh, that’s such and such, such and such, like, sixth edition.” Like it was way down. I looked at him, and I was like, “Is that how you find your tribe?” And he just started laughing. He goes, “Yeah. If they know what this t-shirt is, I’m probably gonna get along with them.”
Stu McLaren:
Yeah, it’s a great point. There’s a lot of indicators of a strong culture in any kind of community. There will be like physical indicators, like the stuff that you’re wearing, like your shirts and your logos and all that kind of stuff. That’s certainly part of an identifier. So is language, inside jokes.
Jay Papasan:
Yes, thank you, I was going there, shared language. That’s what defines French culture and cuisine. Like there’s all of that thing, I got it, language.
Stu McLaren:
Yeah. And oftentimes, like we don’t even think about it. You know, we’re so deeply immersed in the world but if you were to use that language to somebody who’s not familiar with that world, they’d be like, what are you talking about? Like, you know, but everybody in it gets it.
And I’ll share with you a moment when I realized this, when this really hit home for me. We were into our new business, and we had been in it for three years at this point. We decided to host a live event. And this was the first live event where we were bringing our community together. And during my opening presentation and talk, toward the end I opened it up for some Q&A.
Now, I’m on stage and the lights are bright, so I can’t totally see everybody really clear. But the first question, this woman stood up, and she asked her question. And then, the mic gets handed over to this other woman. And I did like this double take in my mind. I’m like, “Is she wearing the same shirt?” Like I couldn’t totally see and so like I put my hands over my eyes to block the light and I could see. I’m like, “Wait a minute.” I said, “Are you wearing the same shirt as the previous person?” And she kind of laughed. And about 20 of them in the audience all stood up, all wearing the same shirt, and it was all my silly little sayings that I say all on the t-shirt. And it was in that moment when I realized how important language is in forming the identity.
And I’ve never forgotten that moment. And so, since that moment, I intentionally use language that I know people connect and resonate with; whereas before, I might’ve been embarrassed by it. You know, like I was shy away from it.
Jay Papasan:
Now I’m dying to know, especially a kind of maybe an embarrassing one. What’s an example of a-
Stu McLaren:
Well, okay. Well, one thing that I didn’t realize I would say a lot is like, “Okay, between us girls.” And so, like that became this whole funny little thing that everybody would always joke around about. And so, that’s an example. But the language is the important piece. It’s like this unifying factor where once people get it, they’re in. And once they start using it, that culture really begins to seep in to form that identity.
Jay Papasan:
So, let me see if I’ve listened to you great because I don’t want to run out of time without recapping this, where you can validate it. It all begins that people are coming together because they share something. They share a problem, they are looking for the same solution, they’re looking to belong. There’s a good reason that they want to come together. Once there, if you’re the leader, you can be trying to encourage shared values, shared language, shared activities, and shared identity was the other one I wrote down. Is there another big bucket that we haven’t talked about that really belongs or are those the biggest ones?
Stu McLaren:
Those would be the biggest ones. What I would encourage people to really focus on is the one result that you are helping people work towards.
Jay Papasan:
Well, you know I like that answer. You got all of the results. What’s the one result that they know they can get when they work with your group?
Stu McLaren:
Yeah. And so, why are we here? Like, we’re here to achieve this objective. Now, what I will say is a mistake that people make is they often overfocus on accomplishing that one result and they forget about all the little milestones in between. And what you gotta realize, and this is again straight from the book, is that you’re not going to jump from, “Okay,” I want to achieve this result,” to getting the result. There’s like dominoes in between that create momentum that lead to somebody achieving that result.
So, if you’re in a community and you’re helping people work towards some outcome, don’t forget about the milestones in between that lead up to that outcome. Those are as important, if not more important, than even achieving the final outcome because if they don’t gain momentum, they’ll never get to that final outcome. So, you want to make sure you celebrate those milestones.
Jay Papasan:
It’s pretty obscure and buried in the book, but when we talk about happiness at the end, one of the biggest ahas I got from diving into that research is that people get more fulfillment from making progress hitting those milestones on the way to a big goal than they do in actually accomplishing it. And a lot of that is you get to the end and there’s this, “Now what?” moment. I’ve climbed the mountain, now I have to descend to climb the next. Like there’s this pause, but the progress milestones, I just want to really underscore that, are huge.
So, for our leaders listening out there, I feel like I did, I hope they feel like they got some version of the $100,000 worth of just some really tight truths about community and what makes it work and what doesn’t make it work. We are going to have to wrap this up and we may have to just have you back at some point, Stu, because I would love that. Hopefully we can do it in person. We like to end our episodes with a challenge. So, if someone was listening to this episode and says, “Man, this is really speaking to me, I need to take action,” what would you challenge them to do between now and next week’s episode?
Stu McLaren:
I would challenge people to think about the vision you have for this community that you are looking to create. So, what do you see happening? Where do you see this going? Paint that vision and paint that picture of what life can be like by being part of this community. Because people like us do things like this. And if that’s of interest to you, then come join us. It’s the vision and what life will be like which creates the interest and draws people in.
Jay Papasan:
Well, I’m going to add to the challenge, because I happen to know, Little Birdie told me, about a week ago, your book, is this your first book ever?
Stu McLaren:
First traditionally published book. It is.
Jay Papasan:
Okay, that’s what I thought, Predictable Profits, which is kind of diving into the business aspects of what we’ve been talking about. If people want to go beyond just the challenge you gave them to establish a vision for this thing that they want to build, where can they go find that? Just any bookstore?
Stu McLaren:
Any bookstore, Amazon, you can even go to our website stu.me/book. You’ll find the book Predictable Profits. But Jay, it’s everything that I know about growing a profitable membership business from 17 plus years to still down into 250 pages. And I’m passionate about this book, Jay, because what I know to be true is the number one stressor for all business owners is finances. Where’s that next sale gonna come from? And this is the area that I’ve been specializing in, is helping business owners create predictable, stable income through memberships. And so, I’m passionate about it. I wanna eliminate that stress for business owners, and that’s why I wrote the book.
Jay Papasan:
Yeah, it’s kind of the holy grail. People talk about monthly recurring revenue or whatever that looks like. I mean, I know in the businesses I’ve built, we’ve had big communities, we’ve had other things that felt the same way, but that monthly recurring, I can hire people on that revenue. That’s not up and down. It’s not a big launch where you have a big wave of revenue and you don’t know if it’s ever coming back. So, it’s definitely something to go deeper in.
I don’t know of anybody who’s better at it than you. You’ve probably been a direct part of, or indirect, I mean, over 100,000 paid communities. I would easily have your DNA in there somewhere. So, I don’t know of anybody that would possibly have more to offer. But I’ll just say on behalf of our listeners and our team, thank you, Stu, for making time to pour into us and share your one thing journey. And I just can’t wait to read your book. I’m gonna pre-order it right now.
Stu McLaren:
Well, thank you so much, Jay. I appreciate it, buddy.
Jay Papasan:
Well, that’s a wrap on our wonderful conversation with Stu McLaren. Hope you’ll join us next week where I’m starting a three-part series on Wealth Building, one of my favorite topics. Now, I was a French-English major. I would have never guessed in my 20s that I would go on to author best-selling books on investing, to be a sought-after wealth-building instructor and teacher, to give keynotes at places like Google on this topic. But I will break down in very simple terms in three parts how we begin the wealth-building journey and how we track it with our one thing.
