015: Carey Nieuwhof’s Incredible Advice on Launching and Leading

Summary:

This week, Executive Minds is honored to be joined by Carey Nieuwhof. Carey is someone who people might look at and think “how does he do it all?“. Carey serves as a Senior Pastor at Connexus Church in Toronto. He has a blog with several million readers. He writes and publishes books. He has a top leadership podcast with millions of downloads. And. last year he launched an online course called The High Impact Leader.

But the thing is, Carey will be the first to tell you that he isn’t Superman. However, has learned to master his energy and schedule. Through all of his experience launching, Carey has more than a few words of wisdom to share with the Executive Minds listeners. We hope you enjoy this interview as much as we did.

Welcome to episode 15 of the Executive Minds Podcast.

HELPFUL LINKS AND RESOURCES:

Parenting Beyond Your Capacity: Connect Your Family to a Wider Community (The Orange Series) by Reggie Joiner and Carey Nieuwhof

Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow by Carey Nieuwhof

Carey’s The High Impact Leader Course

The Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast

Carey’s Blog

Carey’s Facebook

Carey’s Twitter

Carey’s Instagram

Three Takeaways:

1. You don’t need a million dollars or 1,000 people to launch.
You’ve heard it before: Don’t let perfection get in the way of progress. When you’re launching something new, getting started is half the battle. We tell ourselves lies and excuses like “I don’t have the right equipment” or “I don’t have an audience yet” when the truth is: The most important thing you can do is start. Carey started his blog from scratch with a clear goal—get 100,000 readers within a year—and a $79 blog template. When he committed to consistency, he was shocked at how his blog grew to just under 1 million readers in a year. Starting (and staying consistent) wins every time.

2. Don’t despise small beginnings.
We’ve said it on the podcast before: If you wait until your product is ready for launch… you’re probably launching too late. It’s okay to take an idea or product and share it before it’s perfect. See how people react, take their feedback into consideration and continue to fine-tune things. This is why The Launch Sequence is cyclical, not linear.

3. Do what you’re best at when you’re at your best.
There’s an equal number of hours per day. but not all hours are equal. Carey found that his optimal time to get his writing done is first thing in the morning. For Carey, he learned that if he writes a blog post at 8am, it will be better content than if he had tried to write it in the afternoon or at night. Consider your strengths and then consider the time of day that you work best. When you combine those two things together, you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.