Part of what makes Lisa Messenger so compelling is that she generously imparts her wisdom in sound bites — just a few words, but they really pack a punch!
Combine that with her easy-going, open and excitable nature and within five minutes of meeting her you just want to be her BFF.
Last week I had the great pleasure of hearing Lisa speak at back-to-back events hosted by The Connection Exchange. The first looked at how she’s built a multiple-revenue-stream business and what she’s learned along the way, while the second session, a more intimate affair, gave Lisa the opportunity to share her personal lessons on love and how she creates a balanced life.
For those who don’t know, Lisa Messenger is the vibrant, game-changing CEO and creative director of The Messenger Group, as well as founder and editor-in-chief of The Collective magazine — an entrepreneurial lifestyle magazine distributed into over 37 countries with a mandate to disrupt, challenge and inspire. Lisa has authored and co-authored 
over a dozen books and The Messenger Group has custom published more than 400 books for companies and individuals (source). You can read my brief notes about her recent book Daring & Disruptive here.
After that introduction you might expect Lisa to be the new Miranda Priestly but that couldn’t be further from the truth. She was clearly excited to be with us and was friendly, open, and patient with our questions (and requests for reshoots — you don’t want to look daggy in a photo with your role model!)
Today I want to share with you some of my takeaways from Lisa about running a business and, most importantly, running a life.
Health is her #1 priority
Because without your health you have nothing. Besides running a magazine and The Messenger Group, and writing two books in five minutes (plus she’s working on another!), Lisa works out with a personal trainer three times a week, exercises often with her partner Jack, and frequently travels for speaking engagements. This lifestyle takes some energy, man!
While it wasn’t always the case, Lisa came to realise that if she was going to make it all work without burning out she had to ensure her health was her number one priority. This means she starts every day with a green juice, exercises often, and makes time for fun and rest as well. Would you believe she consistently gets 8 – 10 hours sleep every night?
How you can too: Commit to it by locking it into your diary as a non-negotiable. Instead of waking up on a Wednesday thinking ‘I should go to the gym today at some point,’ schedule GYM into your calendar on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 11am for 45 minutes (or whatever it is for you). And stick to it — no moving it for other meetings or coffee dates.
Because other people help to manage her diary, Lisa even schedules in her ‘me-time,’ to ensure it’s protected. And yep, that’s also a non-negotiable — nothing else gets scheduled during those times.
Get laser focused
With all of that going on, plus getting a great amount of sleep each night, Lisa must be a productivity ninja — how does she do it? There’s no magical secret, she says, simply “when I’m on, I am on!” Whatever the task at hand, Lisa approaches it with laser focus.
This isn’t new, actually; it’s what you hear from many people who seem superhuman in their productivity (Leonie Dawson immediately springs to mind). I’ve been trying it myself lately using this method and I’m finding it really effective to keep me on-task.
How you can too: be strong! Pick your task, set a timer, and just work on that thing until it’s done or the timer goes off. Close unnecessary tabs on your browser, no social media, no phone interruptions. Just. Focus.
Sometimes other people can be the distraction, which obviously you can’t turn off. To minimise these interruptions you might be able to institute ‘do not disturb’ time in your day or encourage colleagues to email you with non-urgent things. Then you can get back to them later, without interrupting your workflow.
If you can, do as Lisa do and spend less time in the office.
Don’t let your own stuff get in your way
Over the past year or so, Lisa has reduced the amount of time she spends in the Collective offices each day. As she says, when she’s there she’ll be stopped by five people with questions on her way to the toilet. So now she works from home (or elsewhere) for part of her day, which allows her to focus, uninterrupted, on the big-picture strategy stuff of her business.
What resonated with me was Lisa’s hesitation to reduce her office hours in the beginning, because of what other people might think. She’s the boss, so she should arrive before anyone else and leave last every day, right? But because she’s assembled an extraordinary team (her words), that’s not necessary. And they don’t care! It was her own expectation of what a boss should do that was holding her back from implementing the way she wanted to run her business.
How you can too: If you’re holding back from doing something that you believe would be beneficial, examine why. Often it’s because we’re concerned about what other people will think (and honestly, other people don’t think about us anywhere near as much as we think they do!)
I could go on and on about what I learned from Lisa (you can see more of it using the #EPICBPS hashtag on Twitter) but we would be here all day! Instead, I grabbed a copy of Lisa’s newest book, Life & Love: Creating the Dream for one of you! And because she’s gorgeous Lisa was happy to sign it for you too 🙂
The Giveaway!
I have one signed copy of Lisa’s new book, Life & Love: Creating the Dream, to give away to one lucky reader, weeeeee!
How to enter: Simply comment below sharing one piece of advice (about business or life) that’s really resonating with you, and where it came from. It doesn’t have to be super-amazing-brand-new-earth-shattering, it just has to be relevant to you right now.
Each person will be assigned a number when they comment and the winner will be chosen using random.org.
Entries close 11.59pm AEDT, Friday 20th March. The winner will be drawn the following morning and announced here and on Twitter. Open to Australian residents only.
I’ll go first: on a podcast this week Denise Duffield-Thomas said you don’t have to be an expert, but you do have to get in the game because there are people out there who need to hear a message the way you deliver it, not someone else.
Great write up lovely!! Lisa was amazing wasn’t she? I love when you meet people who have been so successful in life that are just fun, crazy and happy, it just makes you love them even more. Her strategy of building each of the 18 different revenue streams to stand alone was one of my biggest take aways – that and I need to get my butt in gear! If this woman can train 3 times a week and run a global business I really have no excuse!
Great give away and signed to boot!!
Great article Tahlia! Thanks for sharing your learnings from Lisa:) xxxxx
My advice (not sure where I heard it first, so many places since) is: ‘Invest in yourself!’
Ever since I agreed to, it’s made an absolute world of difference!
I’ve started with the small things, a receptionist, logo, flyers, (website on the way).
Looking forward to hearing more advice from others:)
Bigove and hugs,
Steph xx
That’s a great one! Thanks for sharing 🙂 x
Ohhh isn’t Lisa incredible. Thank you so much for sharing the lessons and takeaways you took from her, as well as generously giving away a signed book!
The strategy that I’ve been finding myself talking a lot about is so simple in theory – but more difficult in practice. We can often be so impatient and want all of our dreams come true NOW – especially when we are confused and looking for clarity on which direction to take. I have found, that you just need to take one step. One step, big or small, in a direction. Open one door. Even if you don’t know where it’ll lead or how all the pieces fit together. Keep focusing on just one thing that you can do to move toward that dream of yours. I have personally done this (by following my heart over my head) and am amazed at what I have achieved in my business and life in the past six months – I am loving seeing what it does in my clients lives too.
Yes!! Great work Naomi, thanks so much 🙂
Really want this book. Daring & Disruptive was amazing so I’m sure this one is too.
A recent piece of advice by Emma Isaacs the CEO of Business Chicks included this in her International Women’s Day Newsletter.
You don’t have to get up at 6am and go for a 20km run. You don’t have to be the perfect mother, partner, sister or daughter. You don’t have to clean the house and cook a perfectly nutritionally balanced meal. You don’t have to blow-dry your hair, volunteer for the local charity and get back to emails the minute you receive them. Sit back, have a glass of wine, eat everything you want and celebrate the woman that you are. Let’s stop chasing fabulous just for a day. Wherever you are tomorrow, raise a glass and believe you are enough. World domination can wait till Monday.
Thanks Zoe, that’s a really important message!
Oh don’t include me in the giveaway (I already have that book!) but I loved this post. Health is always my top priority but I read about how she doesn’t drink alcohol at all anymore. I have to say I’m incredibly tempted to go a year without alcohol… I’ve been meaning to do it for ages and I think I might just do it!
I heard her speak about that in a podcast and she found that once she made the decision it was pretty easy, like “I don’t drink (full stop)” vs “I’m not drinking tonight.” With the first one people tend to accept it and move on instead of trying to cajole you into drinking with them.
I loved reading this – it was so great to hear her at the conference, and to meet her in person. And to know, even more, that she’s so very genuine and down to earth. I read her book from cover to cover in just one day. Truly inspirational. xx
I agree on all points! 🙂
My current favourite is “If you don’t ask, the answer’s already no”. I got it from Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In (have you read that? You’d LOVE it)
I first heard it about a year ago and it’s honestly changed my life. Since having the courage to ask, I have nabbed an amazing job and even on a day to day basis it has transformed the way I operate. So empowering!!
First time reader, first time commenter here 🙂 Lovely to meet you!
Lovely to meet you! Thanks so much for stopping by 🙂
And yesssssss, great one! I did love Lean In, that’s firmly on my read and read again list x
I had a teacher in High school that made sure that we took 5 minutes everyday to just breathe. 10 years later and I take 5 minutes everyday to do absolutely nothing and It really helps to de-stress!
Oh that’s beautiful Aimee, thank you for sharing 🙂
Hi Tahlia – thank you for such an awesome post!! One thing that has really resonated with me lately is around declaring your specific business goals and giving space for that to manifest! I think this has come from a number of sources, but I have been listening to Pat Flynn’s passive income podcast lately. I declared at the start of the year that I would have a business that would may $165 per week to start with by the first November 2015, and I have noticed such huge shifts in how I am going about, making small steps to making this a reality!
Terrific, thanks Jo! And so true, it’s amazing what shows up once you’ve declared what you’re aiming for 🙂 x
And the winner is…Katie!! Thanks so much everyone for playing along, I loved hearing all of tour nuggets of wisdom xx
*your #awkward :p