Own the Future as a Mobile "Credentialed Professional"

Your human expertise and connection brings value to the marketplace! If you provide mobile or convenience services, you won't want to miss this episode with Todd Ausherman, CEO of Notaroo. His company is on the cutting edge of optimizing the credentialed professional. Tune in to hear about the endless possibilities!

Guest Information:

Todd Ausherman is an Attorney and mortgage entrepreneur who has been in the loan origination business for 15 years, and he built Notaroo to solve the communication and frustration issues associated with closing mortgage loans.

Connect with Todd on LinkedIn. Remember to include a message with your connection request and let Todd know you heard about him on the SHL podcast. https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddausherman/

Episode Highlights:

15:34 If we're not learning new things, if we're not expanding our own abilities and our own vistas, and in terms of where we want to go, then, then we're not growing. And the very definition of not growing is dying.

20:19 Meditation and mindfulness and really incorporating that into a daily practice, I think it really has helped me flex my compassion muscle and my ability to see things from somebody else's perspective a lot faster than I used to is probably the biggest reward. And, and it's also shown me that often we're really wrong with our assumptions.

44:04 And the real power of that was keeping a promise to yourself. When you keep a promise to yourself, it changes your relationship with yourself. You start to like yourself and trust yourself again, and then you can take on bigger and bigger things.

--- Full Raw Transcription Below ---

Todd Ausherman (00:00):
Look around you and see where you are. Are you outside in nature? Are you on the water? Are you in a house that's cozy or, you know, where are you? And then once you can see it, if you can see it, then your mind knows you can do it.

Introduction (00:17):
Welcome to the SideHustle Lounge. If you're looking for flexible ways to earn income, grow your mindset, and live the lifestyle you've always dreamed of, you are in the right place. So lower the lights. Grab your favorite beverage, and join your host, founder of NotaryCoach.com and Amazon bestselling author of “Sign and Thrive: How To Make Six Figures As A Mobile Notary And Loan Signing Agent,” Bill Soroka.

Bill Soroka (00:50):
Cheers and welcome to my guest today. Todd Ausherman, CEO of Notaroo. Welcome, Todd.

Todd Ausherman (00:57):
Thanks a lot, Bill. Yeah, likewise man. It's it's exciting.

Bill Soroka (01:00):
Yeah. Thanks Todd. I've been looking forward to our conversation so much, so welcome to the Side Hustle Lounge. I feel like we've been talking about doing this for a really long time. In fact, I think you were gonna be one of my very first guests, even before this podcast officially kicked off or even came into existence. You and I talked about having a conversation about growth, habits, and the power of the credentialed professional as we move through the convenience economy. So I'm excited to introduce you to our audience because as CEO of Notaroo, that's originally where you and I connected, I absolutely love your vision for that company and the technology you're creating. So let's start there. Tell us about Notaroo and what problem does Notaroo solve.

Todd Ausherman (01:50):
Yeah, no, and that's that, that's absolutely true. We, I remember that first time we connected over coffee and it was it's like we were speaking the same language, you know, and it was really cool because I hadn't really come across too many people that, that you know, understood kind of where, where I saw issues and, and what problems were in terms of, you know, closing mortgage loans. And you had, had been through the exact same thing, but you came at, you know, from the, from the actual closing agent side and, and the notary side of things. And I was coming from the, the loan officer side and the, the lender side of things and just two sides of the same coin. So, so yeah, that's, that was basically it, when I, when, you know, back in my, my mortgage days of, of, you know, being a lender and building mortgage companies and being a loan officer and closing mortgage loans, there is a gap, you know, we could control the borrower experience only for so long. And then we'd have to call on a signing agent to, to help us get that thing, you know, across the finish line. And I noticed that there weren't a lot, lot of obvious tools available for the, the notary or the signing agent and the, the loan officer, the lender to communicate effectively, to be able to, to really partner up on, on getting these things through the finish line.

Bill Soroka (02:57):
This sounds like such common sense, but I guess you and I both know that common sense. Isn't always common practice, especially in the mortgage industry. It just seems like the loan officer and the loan signing agent or the notary should absolutely be in communication throughout this process, but that's just not how it goes. So as common sense as this might sound to those who are listening and maybe even as old fashioned, as it sounds actually connecting and encouraging communication between the loan officer and the loan signing agent or notary signing agent is actually pretty cutting edge.

Todd Ausherman (03:36):
It's crazy. Right. Yeah. And, and I think that, you know, that's, that was the vision behind Notaroo was to be able to take the people, you know, as, as we phrased it way back then you, you have, there's really two people that really care the most about an individual transaction outside, of course, of the borrower. You know, you have the, the loan officer, the person that sort of nurtured the, the borrower along the process. And then you have the, the signing agent. Who's actually their face to face, you know, meeting with this person and, and shaking their hand and, and going over the, the, the loan itself. And, you know, it's the, the fact that, that those two people traditionally the signing agent and the loan officer don't have a relationship or don't communicate, or it's very difficult to communicate. And a lot of times barriers to communication. And sometimes, you know, loan officers, we don't even know, or we didn't even know what, you know, what time the signing was gonna occur, let's say, or, you know, things of that nature, just really basic stuff. So Notaroo kind of exists to, to solve that, you know, really prevalent problem.

Bill Soroka (04:35):
Yeah, it's really refreshing because I think in this, in there's this industry standard, or just this way, things have always been where notaries are thought of as "just a notary." And I think if we can get all the other professionals in this industry, the real estate professionals, mortgage, underwriting, everybody in sales, especially, to understand that that's what we're talking about here and understand that a notary can play a super critical role in being part of their team and the delivering of that extra level of customer service, that extraordinary level of customer service that helps make them stand out, then that can change the entire industry. I mean, let's face it in some of these mortgage transactions. The notary is the only human interaction or the only person that a borrower might see in an entire transaction. So I love where you're going with this and when we first connected on it, it was, I know Notaroo was geared or aiming towards the reverse mortgage side of things. Do you still see that as your primary focus? Are you working on forward loans? What's going on with that?

Todd Ausherman (05:51):
Yeah, we're, we're definitely doing forward loans as well. Reverse is, is kind of where we have our, our footprint, because that's where I feel like we can do the most good you know, it's, it's a very specialized type of signing. You, you know, you're dealing with, you know, usually somebody who's in, in the, the, you know, third act of, of their life, right over the age of 62. And it's the, the idea is to try to secure that future as much as possible. And, you know, it's a very complicated signing. It's a very complicated process to get to that point, as you well know, the loan document packages are extremely complicated and…

Bill Soroka (06:25):
It's huge!

Todd Ausherman (06:27):
Yeah. There's a ton of 'em and it's, and it's very nuanced too, because you know, it it's there, there's no really big banks that are, that are kind of behind it right now. It's so, so every lender kind of has their own style on how they want things signed and it's can be the same document, but it has to be signed very specifically for a certain lender. And it just adds all of this complexity to it. And, you know, it just seemed like this was a terrific opportunity to, to really, you know, allow you know, reverse title and escrow and lenders to close these loans a lot more effectively by opening up the lines of communication and, you know, having proper training installed and making sure that notaries are equipped with the tools they need to go out there and, and effectively, you know, help out the process.

Bill Soroka (07:15):
And what do you see as even your grander vision for this what's the next step for Notaroo?

Todd Ausherman (07:20):
Yeah, the, well, the, kind of what, what we found you know, as, as we began this, this Notaroo journey is that we have a, a really, you know, a really untapped resource when it comes to when it comes to notaries. And there's a lot of things. I mean, you have a it's, it's wild to me, you have a lot of professionals licensed, bonded, insured, trustworthy, you've been welcomed into people's homes since as long as there have been homes in this country. And, you know, right now the, their, the primary usage is, is just with, you know, signing documents and with the notary stamp. And, and what we're, what we've found, especially on the reverse side is, you know, notaries are great at, at doing a lot of, you know, not necessarily notary type things. You know, it, it's, it's being able to, to, to be a professional organization and to be able to deploy a trustworthy professional, to help out with your professional process is, is really what it comes down to.

Todd Ausherman (08:16):
And we've discovered that or, and you and I have certainly kind of gone back and forth on this quite a bit to say, well, wait a minute. You know, if, if we have this great group of professionals that are go-geters that wanna, that wanna learn that want to help that wanna do, you know, as many things as, as are possible, can we start to create some of those opportunities? And ultimately that's the, the grander vision of Notaroo is to really kind of be the, the ally of the notary to open up opportunity. You know, I think a lot of people in the closing space, the, the technology world and, and, you know, the, the, the big buzz is, is trying to eliminate people and eliminate all this, all these different things from the, the loan process. And we don't really see it that way. We see it as, you know, the, the, again, just the ability of being able to work with a professional that, you know, has car will travel, that can do all of these things at a very, very high level. Why are we limiting that opportunity? Or why are we trying to remove that opportunity? Why aren't aren't we looking for areas to create that opportunity? And that's a big focus.

Bill Soroka (09:17):
Yeah, I think that's one of our, well, one of our many bonding moments, you know, Todd, you, when you and I first sat down, you had this, we had this understanding that there are consumers that are going to always want human to human interaction. They don't want technology to replace the human experience. They're gonna want a human being in their home or at the counter or whatever it might be to perform some of these activities, especially the, the sensitive or the high transactional, or the high valued transactions. There are some notaries and other industry professionals that are fearful of that technology like remote, online notarization, and some of the others is actually gonna take away or eliminate this type of mobile convenience profession. What do you have to say to something like that?

Todd Ausherman (10:08):
Well, you know, it's, it, it's another methodology for, for getting a, a job done. You know, I think that that, that technology is and really should, and, and is going to be embraced, you know, that having been said, it's not gonna be for everyone, you know? And, and we talk about specifically where, where we spend a lot of focus and that's the reverse mortgage demographic, but let's, let's be honest. There's 10,000 people turning 60 in this country every single day for the next 20 years. And that's that that's not gonna go away. And, and I mean, it will, I suppose after 20 years, it'll start, start to go down, but in any event for the foreseeable future, and, and that's a group of, you know, there, there's a large group of people that have done business a certain way for a long time, and sure, maybe there's gonna be some people that are gonna want to, you know, jump into, you know, whatever, whatever technology's gonna allow them to do.

Todd Ausherman (10:55):
But there's also that piece of that human component, that ability to have somebody go out there and represent you as a lender, represent your brand and, and actually meet face to face with borrower with the, with the borrower or with the public in general, that's that, you know, that they can shake their hand, you know, give 'em a smile, look, 'em in the eye. I, and I, I agree with you. I think that, you know, if, if anything COVID taught us is that is not going to go away. I mean, the amount of zoom fatigue that has gone on is it's not only gonna have its place, but I think it's gonna be an important place and there's all, and there's other cool things to do, right. Just, you know, we don't necessarily … papers can, can be problematic. I, I think that that's the, the thing that has everybody kind of scratching their heads, but there's a lot of other ways that that notaries can be helpful in getting a loan closed, especially at the very end, if it's, you know, from helping to work the technology, or if it's from, you know, using some, some sort of stylist technology to get things done.

Todd Ausherman (11:50):
I mean, there's, there's all sorts of creative hybrid ways that the future winners in the loan business are going to focus on their borrower experience and figuring out and talking to the borrower and how they want their experience to go is going to be extremely important for the lenders of the future. And, and within that, there's always gonna be a place for notaries and in my mind and, and you and I agree on that. And then that's the other part of it too, is there's other things that need to be done further upstream in the loan process that would require somebody that is mobile and can go represent you to your borrower. It's not 'just' the signing of the loan document or the verifying that someone's not under duress or you know, checking their IDs. There's, there's a lot, there's a lot of holes in the loan own process that they could use some help.

Bill Soroka (12:36):
Yeah. This blew my mind because this is something I learned from you calling us, or that level of "credentialed professional." And I love that title because it really just speaks to exactly, as you described this. I mean, yeah, we do have licenses. We do have insurance, we have a bond that's designed to protect the public. We have a criminal background check for many of us that might be even certified loan signing agents or in other professions as well.

Todd Ausherman (13:06):
Absolutely.

New Speaker (13:06):
So when you look at the whole picture and all the possibilities, I think we are drastically underutilized in this economy. And I think that's, what's really comes down to, is that there's way more to us than just the stamp and the swipe of the pen as you pointed out. So I'm really excited to see where this goes.

Todd Ausherman (13:30):
Yeah. And, and absolutely, and, and that's really, it it's, it's, you know, the way that I kind of look at at notaries and their ability to perform tasks in this gig economy beyond just loans, frankly, even though that's certainly the space that we're in right now, is immense. You know, it's, it, there, there's a massive difference between, you know, somebody who's, who is a credential professional that can help out a professional organization to do professional things that requires that professional personality. And it requires that, that, you know, the, the credentials and the fact that, that, you know, there's a history there and there's performance and there's insurance things in place. There are all these things that are, that, that really elevate the ability of the mobile notary to be able to go out and, and assist, you know, businesses, and then also sort of any tasks that, and I believe that it's infinite in, in terms of what the possibilities are, but any tasks that require trustworthiness I think is, is what we can start to, to look at in terms of our ability to, to, you know, create opportunity for the notary community.

Bill Soroka (14:35):
I love that because this is a position that of integrity. I think integrity is what the role of Notary Public is based on. And that's where that trustworthiness comes through. And this sparks another question for me, there's a lot more to being successful at this, or even good at this, or at the very basic level, just being hireable than just strictly having a notary commission, or just strictly having auto insurance. There's another level to this. There's another human element like the emotional intelligence side of things, how they connect with customers and, and the world around them. So, Todd, how has personal development played into your success or just success in general? And in other words, how does somebody grow themselves beyond the simple certification beyond the basics?

Todd Ausherman (15:34):
Well, that's it it's, you know if, if we're not learning new things, if we're not expanding our own abilities and our, our own vistas, and in terms of where we want to go, then, then we're not growing. And, and that's the, the very definition of not growing is dying. I mean, it, it, it's, it's, it's that simple. So, you know, it's, it's the learning piece of it, I think. And, and that's the, the part of it that's really exciting is, is, you know, when, when you and I start talking about this stuff, we, we, we get really jazzed because there's so much opportunity and it's so new and there's, it's like, oh man, well, what about this? And, oh, well, you know, you think people would wanna learn how to do you this and the answer is kind of always, oh yeah. You know, and, and that was so great. I think that was really, really exciting when, when I got to know you, because, you know, you you're, you've been in this space for so long. You, you, you know, literally wrote, wrote the book on, on how to be a successful mobile notary, you, you, you know, what's going on. And so I, I think that the, the excitement of this, the, the, of the possibilities, and then that I had, and then to, to hear it come from you, who's in the world was just like, man. Yeah. It was pretty electric. So it's, it's cool.

Bill Soroka (16:42):
Yeah. I totally agree. And I love fresh new ideas. In fact, I rarely meet an idea I don't like, or I can't at least sit down to dinner with, I love innovation. And that's what really got me excited about what you're doing here. And I wonder though, because from the outside, looking in Todd, they see you as a tech entrepreneur, you're also an attorney, you've had mortgage businesses. Were you just born that way, or what did you do to constantly keep yourself growing and challenging yourself to keep expanding and growing?

Todd Ausherman (17:19):
You know that's, that's a good question. I think for when I was starting out, it was, it was just trying to hustle and, and build a career. But, you know, as I've gotten older and, and hopefully wiser there, there's been a lot more of a, of an inner turn - you know, a lot more of a, of an turning inward to, to really focus on, you know, kind of basic basic things like, you know, I've gotten really into meditation and I've gotten really into early morning routines. And I know you and I have have shared the the book morning…, Or what was it? It was Miracle Morning. And it it's those sorts of things of, of understanding for me, at least that, you know, as I was dealing with more and more things, and as the stress was piling up more and more finding different ways to create routine in my life, you know, cause I leave that ultimately routine sets you free to paradox of course, but those, those morning routines and, and you wake up and you know what you already have to do you, you already like the first thing I do every morning is I make my bed, right.

Todd Ausherman (18:20):
I want to complete a task right out of the gates. So I can feel like I'm already, you know, beginning to, to knock out all the different things that I have to do during the day. And it really helped create a, a really big focus in terms of being able to drive towards an outcome.

Bill Soroka (18:36):
The miracle morning absolutely changed my life too. In fact, Todd and I know we've gotta, we have had a chance to talk about this a little bit, but I measure my life as before Miracle Morning. And after Miracle Morning, you know, before I was introduced to the Miracle Morning and actually started implementing it. I was somewhat lost and there were some really dark days in my life. I was not getting results. I was churning my wheels. I was depressed. I was afraid I was gonna die. I was gonna leave this earth with the fire still inside me. I just could not get any traction to make anything work. But through this framework the Miracle Morning, it, it was impactful for me because everything I had resisted in my life was those routines and habits for so long because I thought they were binding and boring and it was suppressing my creative creativity and my freedom.

Bill Soroka (19:32):
I wanted to be the free spirit. I wanted to get everything. I wanted to do everything without the discipline of following through. I didn't want those bounds or binds in the morning, but like you just said, I actually found the freedom in the discipline. And I know, getting your head straight every day is a, is a prime objective for you. And that's what that miracle morning framework essentially did for me. It cleared a space for creativity and I know your own personal mindset does the same for you. So, and for me, what we're talking about here is peace of mind. And part of the … one of the practices of that Miracle Morning was meditation, which was difficult for me, but I wanna move it over to you cuz I know this is a powerful lesson for you. What has meditation done for you?

Todd Ausherman (20:23):
Oh, that's yeah, that's been life changing. And I think the most important change that meditation has has brought to my life is my ability to empathize at a much higher level and to really recognize to, to pull myself out of the moment, to see when I'm letting a small thing, become a big thing and only seeing a situation, you know, would, if my blood would start to boil, I could only, I couldn't see, you know, past my own eyes and that always caused further problems for me downstream, but with, you know, meditation and mindfulness and, and really incorporating that into a daily practice, I think helped it really has helped me flex my compassion muscle and my ability to, to see things from somebody else's perspective, a lot faster than I used to is probably the biggest reward. And, and it's also shown me that we're, we're really wrong with our assumptions.

Todd Ausherman (21:24):
A lot of the times, I mean, when we make a snap judgment about what someone's saying or thinking or their tone, we're almost guaranteed to be wrong. You know, it's, it's really that often and reacting to something that we know is going to be wrong is foolish. So it's just, it it's, it's figuring out the speed with which for the speed at which I can get myself out of that, oh, this person must be thinking this. And now because of mindfulness and meditation, I can give myself that beat. Well, how do I know that maybe I could ask another question before I, you know, assume that that they're against me and I close myself off to them and I just turn my back and say, well, I'm never gonna talk to this person again because you know, that, that happens on the wrong information. And then, you know, maybe I've just I just lost an important person that, that might have a major role in my life if I was just more open to it and actually would listen and pay attention versus assume and, and act,

Bill Soroka (22:22):
And mindfulness is just not an early morning event for you. Right. It sounds like something you do throughout the day. Can you share more about how you, you incorporate mindfulness through the day?

Todd Ausherman (22:32):
Yeah, absolutely. So I mean, I've got all sorts of little tools and tricks that I do and you know, tell you what here, here's one I've I've recently been, been playing around with, but I, I kind of noticed that when, whenever I'm feeling down or, or bummed or frustrated or stressed, I'll typically when I'm walking my shoulders will be up and my head will be down and I'll be looking down. And for some reason, I, I don't really know why that struck out, you know, that why that struck me one day, but then I just started looking up at the sky a lot more. So I'll purposely when I go on walks with my dog you know, every morning is I'll go up and I'll look at the sky and I'll try to figure out where the sun is.

Todd Ausherman (23:13):
And then I'll try to figure out, you know, if the, if I'm looking at the earth from the sun, where am I standing on this rock, that's floating around space. And that just kind of gives me this perspective that, you know, we're on this gigantic rock, literally in the middle of nowhere, you know? And, and how, how important are these things or, you know, how important is, is, you know that I was late for a meeting or that, or that somebody was late for a meeting with me you know, and, and other than kind of taking it personally, it, it helps perspective. So that's been one of 'em is, is I've been looking up a lot.

Bill Soroka (23:44):
Yeah. How long have you been meditating?

Todd Ausherman (23:47):
So I, and I always like to say, you know, meditation kind of finds you, you know, it it's all timing. So meditation found on me when I was 19 in college. And yeah, I haven't been meditating since, you know super regularly since then. It was a kind of a big dose. I had a I went to to Loyola in new Orleans which is a Jesuit college and the, one of the Jesuits there. His name is Ben Ren. He became a Zen master. He left the Jesuit order and moved to Japan and studied Zen and became a Zen master and came back to Loyola and started teaching a class on Zen. And he turned the, the, the upper floor, the fourth floor of Marquette hall, which is the big building right in front of the, the college, turned it into a Zendo.

Todd Ausherman (24:33):
So it was really mind blowing and, and we sat there and we would practice seiza and meditation and, and Tai Chi and ikebana. And we would read from the Dap Te Ching and all this stuff, and it really had a major effect on me when I was young. Now I wasn't ready for it. Then, you know, I knew that that I could practice in the class, but, you know, still, you know, a college kid and, and wasn't even 21 yet. I was still ready to get, you know, still ready to turn 21 and, and, you know, go hit the bars. So it wasn't the best time for me to, to begin, you know, the, the practice to the point that I'm at now, but it gave me the tools and it, it sort of instilled a little seed in me that I kind of knew when the timing was right, that that seed would grow.

Todd Ausherman (25:13):
And it's really, you know, since I'm 44 now. So when I turned 40 is you know, right around then 40, 41 is when that seed really started to grow. And that's right around the time that I got really serious about my mornings. So I, I don't think that the two are too dissimilar, cuz that's been a part of that that morning routine is, you know, and it takes a while to, to, for it to instill, but once it starts to stick and, and for me, the timing was at that age of my life at that point in my life, then it became, it's like brushing my teeth. You know, I, I, I feel very off all day if I haven't had a chance, even just a couple of minutes to kind of just, you know, relax a little bit and that's, that's basically it, right.

Todd Ausherman (25:53):
It's just relaxing. It's just relaxing and, and mentally trying to let go. And that's been, you know, and now it's, it's not only a part of what I do, but in, at Notaroo, it's part of our, our company culture. Certainly people don't have to meditate if they don't want to, but we trying to, to open up and you know, bring in the tools in case that the timing becomes right for somebody down the line that, you know, if you ever decided to try mindfulness, here's kind of how you can do it. Here's, here's your entry point to sort of demystify the, the hokiness.

Bill Soroka (26:23):
Sometimes I'll go two or three days without meditating and I'll have this almost anxiety feeling. I'll feel anxious about things. I'll start feeling worried and I'll sit back and think what is going on. And then I realize, you know, I skipped meditation cuz I wanted to jump right into work. I was so fired up as I was envisioning my, my life vision or my affirmations that I just said, all right, I'm gonna skip meditation and jump right into that. But it builds up on you. And it was really hard to realize that when I first started meditating, but once you get into it, you'll start to realize that you rely on meditation to clear that space and to ground you into your day. So even if I just take 30 seconds to a minute, all throughout the day, I like to refocus and ground myself in meditation, but that's, it's still a journey and difficult for me.

Bill Soroka (27:15):
I feel like my brain moves at 3 million miles per minute. And I, I hear that a lot. So I know I'm not special in that regard. Lots of people people's brains just move so fast. So meditation at first felt impossible to me. And it took, and it continues to take strong work, 30 seconds, one minute, five minutes, 15 minutes. I think the best meditation I've ever had was 45 minutes. But that even today feels so daunting. So what suggestions do you have for somebody who's never tried it before? They're open to it, but maybe they've tried it. Maybe somebody shamed them for meditating wrong. Maybe they can't stop the thoughts in their head. What suggestions do you have for

Todd Ausherman (27:55):
'Em? You know, it's like anything else start, you know, it's, it's, it's just doing it. It is the, is the easiest way. And, and it is, you know, it's, we, we kind of joke. And, and I remember my, my Zen teacher you know Ben Ren, you know, he used to talk about that, that the hardest thing you can do is nothing. And you know, that that's kind of a, you know, that, that, that's kind of a challenge. Right? And yeah, and, and it's the truth it's, it's sitting there and, and trying to just be, and not do, you know, is, is a very difficult thing. However, once it's taken root, it becomes for all the reasons we've just described. If you can kind of get over the hump, you know, and again, that's why timing's so important. If the timing's not right, it's not gonna work, but when the timing is right, you're, you're, you'd be willing.

Todd Ausherman (28:45):
You you'd be willing to, to get over the hump with it. I feel like, and that's when it becomes, you know, as you mentioned, you know, you feel stressed or, or uncentered. Now I look forward to that because I know that I'm gonna get to meditate and release it. And I'll literally kind of have a, if something's going really wrong on my, on my day. And that that happens unfortunately with some frequency, I'll put a little schedule time, I'll put a little tickler on my calendar and that'll be my chance, and then I can get it off my head, cuz I know that I can take a little bit of time now I can relax and I can let it go. And it's, and, and once that happens, then the energy comes back. It's, it's no longer, you know, a, a big weight on my shoulder.

Todd Ausherman (29:23):
So I'm able to literally jump back into work sometimes I, I do that instead of a siesta, you know, that two, two or three o'clock in the afternoon, a little 5, 10, 15 minute, you know, sit and I'm, I'm ready to go again. And one of my employees - Charlie - she's a meditation coach. And so we kind of, yeah. At our, at our meeting, she'll, she'll talk a little bit about some of the science behind it and things of that nature. And, and, you know, she, she mentioned at our last at our last meeting that, you know, when you sleep, you're really letting your brain sort of reprogram itself or, or you're, you're letting your brain sort through all the things that happen during the day. And it's great for your mom. And then meditation does the same thing for your body when you're kind of relaxed and stay awake and just focus on breathing or letting the thoughts come and go and, and just really kind of just again, relaxing.

Todd Ausherman (30:12):
It does it does wonders kind of for your physical being. So it does give you that little bit of energy. That's incredible - it's again, it's a paradox right. Sitting there and doing nothing gives you energy, but it does. But literally that's how I get myself into the zone is I breathe in. And then when I exhale, I let go. I say the word, let go as a exhale, as a exhaling, for some reason that that's my, my signal now. And it, it trains me after, you know, I can do that five or six, seven, sometimes 10 times before my mind starts to do its thing, then I have to let that go. And it just becomes kind of a, a process of just letting go repeatedly. And it, it does, it works wonders on whatever else is happening. And I, I like it. It's, it's this, you know, it's, it's basically the same thing as surrender and just really just not let whatever the, the issue is close you off and, and become another half - another, you know, cross to half to bear. Cause we've got a lot going on already. I mean, this, the, the world is, is not slowing down. And the, the more things we try to pick up mentally, the, the, the tougher it is to look up at the sky,

Bill Soroka (31:18):
Great way to bring that full circle. And I wanna dive into the rest of your morning routine too. Right. We focus a lot on on meditation. I think we're both passionate about that. But when it comes to your daily success routine, what else do you incorporate?

Todd Ausherman (31:32):
Yeah, so it's, it's pretty set whenever if I get a good one in, right. And, and sometimes we can't, sometimes it's, it's, you know, roll out of bed and, and sit for five minutes real quick. Cause that's my only chance, but where I've gotta jump in the shower, jump on a call or throw a hat on and get on a, a zoom call. So sometimes it, you know, you can only do what you can do, but when I can really score, when I, when I really have a, a, a great morning the first thing I'll do is I'll wake up and, and I'll turn on a, a yoga practice from from YouTube. I use yoga, Yoga with Cassandra. So you know, yeah. I, I have no idea who she is, but she's I, I, I watch her every day, but, and she does these little 10 minute routines and it's just 10 minutes and it's great, you know, and so I'll, I'll do 10 minutes of yoga and then I'll right after that, I'll go right into you know, 10, 15, 20 minutes of meditation.

Todd Ausherman (32:21):
Where I just sit right on my mat. And then after for that I'll sit down and I'll journal. And you know, I write down, I have a, a cool here. I got it right here. It's it's a great little thing. The Five Minute Journal is awesome, cuz it's so basic. It's just, you know, three things of gratitude, three things that you'd like to see accomplished that day. So I'll do that. And then I'll say affirmations, you know, whatever the affirmation is of the, of the moment. Sometimes I have affirmations that last, you know, a day, sometimes I have affirmations that, that have lasted a year. And so I'll say, or write down some affirmations and then it's, you know, straight to exercise. I'll, I'll go to the gym and I'll pop on audible and I'll you know, listen, I, I just finished Untethered Soul.

Todd Ausherman (33:04):
So I'm looking for the next one. Yeah. Yeah. And then that's it, you know, after that, I, I feel like no matter what hap, if I get that full routine in, you know, which is maybe maybe three or four times a week, that I'll be able to get the full thing in, but I nothing and can stop me that day. You know, I've, I've got, I come from such a strong foundation at that point that I'm really literally ready for anything that gets thrown at me. And it it's, it's such a, a, a tremendous advantage to, to begin the, the Workday of, you know, with that sort of confidence of I'm ready.

Bill Soroka (33:36):
Yeah! I love that foundation for your day, but you know, what really stood out to me is that you've given yourself space and grace not to be perfect every single morning, you know, that striving for perfection, which doesn't exist, put so much pressure on us.

Todd Ausherman (33:53):
Yeah. And well, and that's, I think you, you can't be gentle with other people unless you're gentle with yourself, right? Yeah. So that's kinda the, something that I'm always for my, like, I, I try, I used to get really mad at myself. It you're stupid - you're so dumb. But, but, but I've, I've let that go. Even I'm, I'm a pretty avid surfer and, and there's nothing more frustrating than when you're paddling for a, a really big wave. It's the wave of the day. And something happens, you know, the, the wave back's a little funky on you or you misjudge it and all of a sudden you don't get it. You, it used to be, I used to get so frustrated and, you know, oh man, you know, oh, this is terrible. What I'm so mad, but now, because, you know, since, you know, I've turned fourty and relaxed it's no big deal. You know, there's literally an infinite amount of waves that are going to be coming. So it it's that, that realization of, you know, not getting so worked up and not getting so hard on myself if I miss time something. And, and I think that that's been a huge one is, you know, really kind of forgiving myself very easily.

Bill Soroka (34:50):
Well, it sounds like your inner critic is a real bitch like mine sometimes. So, I mean, have you struggled with that? Do you, how do you con consciously overcome that inner critic voice in your head? Do you consciously do it, have you worked on that or is it just something that you've put up with for your whole life?

Todd Ausherman (35:09):
Definitely effort, but it's still a work in progress. So again, I'm, you know, I'm gentle with myself now, so I don't get mad when I, when I miss and I screw up, but it's, it absolutely is, is effort. I think that's the biggest thing with, with, you know, any, you know, even with meditation or even with the morning routine, it takes effort, but that effort is so worth. It, it, it compounds in such a, a, a high rate of interest that it, that, that even though that effort is tough it, it gets easier over time. And, and again, as I was mentioning earlier, it's about the, at some point, I'm gonna think that, that what I was doing was silly. So getting to that point faster is really the, the, the secret to, you know, letting it go a little bit sooner than carrying it around for that, you know, 10, 23 days that that can often happen. Right.

Bill Soroka (35:55):
And you said sound like you're pretty goal oriented, right? So you have an idea of where you're going and how you wanna get there, because, and because of the timing of this release of this particular podcast, I know people are gonna be going through the planning phase. In fact, yeah. They might have already planned and they're getting hit, hit sideways by life right now that didn't go according to plan, or they're not hitting their goals. So do you have any suggestions about how we can map out our year and our goals or how you do it?

Todd Ausherman (36:29):
Yeah. Absolutely. And the, and with kind of in the same context of what we've been discussing, I, I like to do a lot of visualization. I, and, you know, I, I first got into this practice from a, with a business consultant of mine. He had me sit and we put on some some alpha waves, like some Binoral beats, like a biohack that, you know, for music that really gets the focus going. And he told me to, you know, look at myself in 10 years. And what did I see, you know, know in, in an ideal scenario. And then I took time and I jotted it down. And so I use that technique and I love it now, it's you know, I've, I've discussed that with friends and, and, you know, other other folks that have found some value there, but I basically take that principle and I'll do that for the end of the year.

Todd Ausherman (37:13):
I think that's really important to say, you know, it's now 12/31, 2022, where am I, who am I with? What am I accomplished? What are my goals gonna be for the, the, the bigger down the road goal is that, that big 10 year goal, cuz I have a hard time seeing too much farther than, than 10 years, but it's, it all kind of flows back from that. So, you know, I think that visualization and, and if, if not even that, then the writing down, you know, the, the sort of self contract, this is what I'm going to do. This is how it's going to occur. And even not spending too much time on this is how it's going, going to occur. I think that's where we can stray. It's more of, you know, seeing it and then believing that it can happen. And it's always positive. You know, I don't, I don't think it's a good idea you know, to see you put in jail or something,

Bill Soroka (38:02):
Never forget that you're a massive and powerful creator in this world. For sure. Now what's interesting is you just said that you plan 10 years ahead and then everything just kind of flows backward. That sounded like reverse engineering to me. Is that what you're talking about?

Todd Ausherman (38:16):
Absolutely. Yeah. For everything, you know, and I believe that that starts with the personal, you know, like where, where do you, where do you wanna be in 10 years? Cause that's far enough away to where we can dream big. And then it's, and, and that's good to, to live in that space for a little while. It's a positive place to be. I feel like. And then, you know, okay, great. So I'm not gonna be able to design year 9, 8, 7 6 5 4. Sometimes three, sometimes three is, is a fun way to say, okay, if I'm gonna be there in 10 years, then where is this gonna be in three years? Cuz again, that feels somewhat obtainable. And then if if, if I'm able to see that or if I can get comfortable in, in that state and I'm writing down how that looks, then it's, then it's the year.

Todd Ausherman (38:56):
So if this is going to be on pace, what does the end of the year look like? And it's the same with business, you know, that that's exactly how the, our, our business planning goes. And, and, and when, anytime that I'm mapping out what, what the, the business strategy's gonna be, it's always that 10 year mark. And, and it's usually, you know it's, it's a fun thing, write down and, and then go back to it, cuz it changes every year. What the 10 year thing's gonna be, even though oftentimes it's close, but it's kind of fun sometimes to go back and, and I keep all that stuff in, in the journal, but it's kind of fun sometimes to go back and see where, what I was seeing, you know, as my, as my 10 year life, you know four or five years ago.

Todd Ausherman (39:32):
And it's kind of fun. I've actually noticed that my dreams have gotten bigger and the, the, the plans have gotten bigger and my belief and, and what can be accomplished has gotten bigger. And I think you hit on it when you said, you know, the, the, you know, really focusing on, on being a creator and in a, in a creation type of mindset and a collaborative type of mindset. And instead of a destructive, you know, selfish mindset, I, I, I don't believe that that's a healthy way to think about it, but I think if we can think about opening up all the opportunity that we can for as many other people and get everybody involved in it, it, it really makes the, the, the process a lot more fun to, to go through.

Bill Soroka (40:11):
Yeah. Yeah. I totally agree with you. And what comes up when you're talking about this is I know people listening have some doubts and they might have, or lack some self confidence around goals and dreaming big, you've done some pretty big things in your life. You've got some, you've taken on some major challenges they're under your belt. And I know you have bigger dreams. I know you're striving for something pretty huge, huge things that some you shared with us and some you haven't. So how did you build that confidence? What's your advice for somebody who may be lacking confidence to take that bigger bite?

Todd Ausherman (40:48):
Yeah. It's, it's see yourself there and you know, it, to whatever extent possible, you know, smell the smells and, and taste the taste and look around you and see who your company is and look around you and see, you know, where, where you are. Are you outside of nature? Are you, you know, on the water, are you in a, are you in a house that's, you know, cozy or, you know, where are you? And, and then once you can see it, if you can see it, then your, your mind knows you can do it. And I believe that that helps the, the self confide piece of, oh, that's not for me, or, oh, I can't do that. It's it. We set our own limits in, in so many ways. And by breaking through those limits from a, just in your own head, sort of a way, and, and, but again, effort really, really trying to, to, to fully be present in that future state creates the possibility that that can exist.

Bill Soroka (41:42):
I love that Napoleon Hill quote, "what the mind can conceive it can achieve." And I love that you tie it actually into that, because I think if I were to reverse engineer my own experience, if I was gonna explain that it's doing exactly what you're saying, know what you want to create, and then believe it's possible in the first place. And then of course take massive action, but then visualizing who I'd have to become to be the type of person who does the kind of work to do those things. I think that's been the key that's and then it's just reverse engineering for there. From there it's been taking baby steps every single day. And that's the real power of reverse engineering for me, I knew what I wanted to create. And then I just kinda worked backwards and I started with the math, right.

Bill Soroka (42:34):
Okay. For me, I had to make a hundred thousand dollars a year. How many loan signings do I need? Well, if I made a hundred dollars per loan signing, I'd have to do four signings a day, five days a week, 50 weeks per year. And then I would make a hundred thousand dollars that was reverse engineering. So then it just went back. I was like, okay, well, what do I need to do to get four signings per day? Well, I'm gonna need to talk to this many people. So I'm going to, I need this many people to say yes. So I'm gonna send out 10 greeting cards. I'm gonna send out 10 tickles. I'm gonna send out 10 emails. I'm gonna research 10 people until I got the results that I needed. And then all of a sudden the loan signing business started taking off.

Bill Soroka (43:16):
But I wanna go back a little more, even smaller than that, right? Cause I was a … my daily dues were kind of huge, but I love the way you started with making your bed every morning. And when I first started on this journey of habits and routine, I was not a bed maker back in the day, but I did start small. In fact, I went to bed every night with a tiny promise that in the morning I would wake up and make my bed in the morning. And what that did for me is it was definitely not a habit, but it showed me that if I did it, I could keep a promise to myself. And then that one small step led to many other things. I started saying a okay, well, I'm gonna put my shoes instead of on the floor, on the shoe rack.

Bill Soroka (44:04):
It means tiny little things like brushing my teeth at a certain time, triggering another event then slowly and surely, I started building in the the Miracle Morning practices. You know, I started with BJ Fogg in his Tiny Habits, making the bed, picking up the shoes, brushing the teeth, having a trigger, you know, all of those, and then graduated into Miracle Morning. And the real power of that was keeping a promise to yourself. When you keep a promise to yourself, it changes your relationship with yourself. You start to like yourself and trust yourself again, and then you can take on bigger and bigger things

Todd Ausherman (44:44):
And look at all you you've accomplished. I mean, you know, I, I think when we were first talking, I, I was, I I'd forgotten which book you were writing and, and, and that's gotta be on. And, and that's gotta be on pause for a little while because you have, you, you have your mastermind group and you have this podcast and you know, you, you've done so many amazing things. And, and I, I, you know, I, I'm kind of curious, you know to, and, and I don't know if you've shared this on the podcast before or not, but I'm curious to, to what your morning is looking like and what, what is you know, when, when you're really feeling it and, and, you know, you're in your unstoppable mode and, and can, you know, leap over mountains, what is it that, that gets you primed?

Bill Soroka (45:19):
Yeah. So there's the, those days I have my off days too. But there's certain things that I, I just can't skip without it just driving me crazy. You know, my journal writing is one of those. I can't go a day without writing something. That's a passion of mine, so I have to do it. I have I have this morning pages technique I learned from Julia Cameron. She wrote the Artist Way. So I just write three pages. It just it's like a brain dump on paper. I don't have to think about anything. It doesn't have to be topical. It's literally just free writing on three pages. And then I meditate. That's freed up my mind. So I'm not obsessing about all the thoughts in my head that, that free writing and the morning pages just opens things up a little bit, lets my brain relax.

Bill Soroka (46:08):
And then one of the things I do is my daily schedule. I like to map out exactly by hand. You know, I keep an electronic calendar. Of course I have to in my phone for reminders and quick ads and things, but every morning or actually now every night I write out all my appointments by hand every single day. If I do it the night before it allows me to sleep better. So I'm not obsessing about what I need to do. I pick my top three things I need to get done. And then the affirmations, this is huge for me … and Todd. I actually wanna circle back to that and I wonder if you could do that real quick. Affirmations have actually been pretty powerful in my life unexpectedly. And I wonder if you can share with us what your favorite affirmation is and how you use it.

Todd Ausherman (46:55):
Yeah. You know, I believe in the, the growth and the creation principles. So I'll, I'll affirm that I am a creator and that, that I'm going to create things today and I'm not going to destroy them. That's that's my favorite one. And, and when I can't think of anything else to affirm that's the one that I'll pull outta my pocket.

Bill Soroka (47:14):
Do you use your affirmation just once in the morning or do you continue to remind yourself throughout the day?

Todd Ausherman (47:22):
You know, I, so when I first started doing it, I, I can't remember where I picked this up, but the, I, I I've read, I read somewhere about a technique where writing down a goal or something or, or something that seemed like a stretch goal 15 times every day began to create that the, the, the universe would respond and, and, you know, I, I thought that it was complete BS but I tried it right. Cause at that point I had nothing to lose, this is, you know, five or six years ago. So that's kind of what got me started on it. So when I do it, when, when I, now, when I do it, I basically just, you know, say it to myself 15 times or so, or I'll look in the mirror sometimes and say it, or sometimes I'll be, you know, if, if I can't get it in, I'll, I'll be walking down to my car and I'll rattle it off and, and count it with my fingers real quick on whatever it is that I need to, to, to be, you know, to affirm at that moment or, or that moment in time or whatever's happening.

Todd Ausherman (48:13):
So for some reason that 15 has stuck with me and, and that's what I do every day, 15 times. And then, but, you know, it's, it, it never leaves you at that point, you know? And, and, and I feel like it, it, it starts to manifest itself in, in life.

Bill Soroka (48:28):
There's a power to this. And I think to me, it's, it's top of mind, right? Like we talk about top of mind in client relationships and marketing all the time, but there's a top of mind for yourself too. And when something's a priority, you have to remind yourself that it's important. And for me, like my favorite affirmation is "I choose greatness" because it helps me get outta bed on those mornings when I don't want to, it helps me make phone calls when I don't want to make those phone calls or do writing. When I don't feel like writing the book, I choose greatness. And how can you argue about choosing greatness? It stops that inner critic argument inside my head. And it's a tool that's, it's gotten me through things because we know, you know, that working as an entrepreneur is not all sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes you need a reminder.

Todd Ausherman (49:29):
That's what I like about your affirmation. I might I might borrow that. I'll, I'll be sure to give you credit if, well, cause it's a choice, you know, it, it really is a choice and it's, and there, that means that it's a, it's a conscious decision that you can either make or not make. And it's unconditional, you know, it's, you don't choose it it's like I choose greatness unless at a flat tire, then I'm not gonna choose greatness. I'm I'm gonna choose measuring or I'm gonna choose greatness, you know, and unless I have a huge deal that falls through, then I'm not gonna choose greatness. Then I'm gonna go back to choosing, you know, it, you don't, you can't allow yourself to do that. It's, it's, you know, I choose greatness and I had a flat tire, you know, I choose greatness and a deal fell through instead of, but, and, and I I picked that up from a friend of mine John Reed, who, who brought that to my, that, that, "and" technique to my attention. And I think it's just the coolest thing ever. You know, when, when we're trying to maintain that positive mindset

Bill Soroka (50:29):
And I have been such a huge resistor of affirmations, like I used to literally roll my eyes when I heard people suggest them, because I think they were doing them incorrectly. And I don't even remember where I was early on. Like I had paid a thousand dollars to, to be, to go to this semester one time. And the guy leading it really pushed the power of affirmations. And I said, you know, after I rolled my eyes and I was in full resistance mode, I, I said, well, I paid a thousand bucks, so I'm gonna try this. I'm gonna put it into practice to see if it works. And it did, but here's what is, this was different than a lot of these other affirmation teachers. I had seen it. Wasn't about choosing some random fluffy affirmation from a list that went on a post-it note. And it stuck on my mirror that did not work for me. This was about choosing one or two powerfully chosen words or phrases that ignited a fire inside of me that painted the picture in my mind of the life I was aiming to create. And then reminding myself of that all day, every day. And you could use technology like cell phone, alarms watches, and those types of things to help with that at, to help keep it front of mind for you. But most importantly, to tap into the emotion around it,

Todd Ausherman (51:59):
Man, I'm glad. Okay. Yeah, this is, this was just introduced to me. I, I had coffee with with my friend John yesterday and, and that's when he, when he brought up, I texted him right after, you know, I was like, man, that my big takeaway from this conversation was the "and." You know, and, and, and it's cool that, that it got to manifest itself today in this format. And it's even cooler that it's a technique that, that you've used - doubted - but the seed was still planted and it, and it grew. And you know, it, I, I think that your, your experience is, is kind of how I've, how I've been seeing it since I've been playing around with it. Awesome.

Bill Soroka (52:32):
Todd, this one conversation absolutely blew my mind. Thank you so much for hanging out with us here in the Side Hustle Lounge. I truly appreciate it. And for anybody that would like some more information, or just wanna connect with Todd, you can do so in the VIP room of the Side Hustle Lounge, just visit https://www.sidehustlelounge.com/vip. It's totally free and have access to all of our guest content as well as their resources. And you can also, Todd encourages you to connect on LinkedIn. You can also check out Notaroo and all that good stuff with the links inside the VIP room Todd, any closing words for our listeners who are out there striving to do big things?

Todd Ausherman (53:16):
Well, I think just, just by listening to, to this podcast and, and just by, you know, already seeing the opportunities that lay out there, it it's, it's going to happen. So now it is, is just follow through with the effort to make it happen.

Bill Soroka (53:29):
Awesome. Todd, thank you so much.

Todd Ausherman (53:32):
Thank you, Bill. Unbelievable, man. Thanks a lot.

Bill Soroka (53:35):
Thank you so much for listening to the side hustle lounge podcast.

Bill Soroka (53:38):
You know, if you follow me on Instagram and social media, you already know that my pets play a huge role in my life and I include them as part of the family. They are part of my ‘why.’ Dexter and Violet brings so much joy and love my life that I always want to make sure that they are well tended to and healthy. That's where my TOTO Pet Insurance policy comes in. TOTO was voted best pet insurance company in 2021 by Forbes Advisor. And it's known as the pet insurance company with a heart and without the gotchas. There's no network of obscure vets that I'm forced to choose from. So I get to pick my pet's doctor. And then depending on the policy I select, I can be reimbursed up to 90% of the vet Bill and they make it easy to use. You visit any vet. You submit a claim, you get cash back. It's pet insurance finally done, right? If you'd like to support the show, get coverage for your own fur babies, and maybe even give yourself some peace of mind at the same time. Get an instant quote today on TOTO’s easy to use website at www.sidehustleounge.com/toto that's TOTO.

--- End of Transcription ---

Bill

This episode was produced and marketed by the Get Known Service

Episode music provided by Lofi Panda Music