Welcome to the NoahGuy Blog. This Blog exists to inspire you to Live Outside The Box in business and everyday life. Entrepreneurship is my passion. Follow me as I embark on the journey.
NoahGuy Story
Hi Interwebs!
I’ve been MIA on here for a little bit.
I am hoping to change that with more blog posts and the launch of my podcast.
I have been putting off the podcast launch for 2 years.
First, I bought a microphone so I can start recording my intro, etc.
Somehow I never finished this process.
Today, I have decided I will just wing the launch and improve as I go.
I have learned the importance of starting over perfection.
To kick off my podcast, I am starting with my story.
NoahGuy Blog is about the passion for entrepreneurship and creativity.
Entrepreneurship runs in my family and is something I cannot live without.
At 18 years old I joined the Army to figure out the beginning of my life. 3 years later, I knew I wanted to start my own business and live a life of entrepreneurship and investing.
I was educating myself on investing and started to read the Rich Dad Poor Dad book, “ Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing.”
I was familiar with the Rich Dad concepts but I had never read one of his books. The cash flow quadrant really opened my eyes.
Before I got out of the Army in November 2013, I was fired up about starting my own business. I was willing to try anything and everything to get started.
In the summer of 2014, still figuring things out, I started my first business. A landscaping company. Noah Guy Curb Appeal.
I loved every minute of it, but I ultimately decided it wasn’t the business for me. I figured this out after 5 months of hard labor in the sun. I am no stranger to labor in the heat, but I wanted something different. That something turned out to be Digital.
Fast forward to 2017. I graduated with my Associates in Business from San Jacinto College and was working full time for the camera/medical company, “Olympus.”
By this time, I was in a better position to start something.
NoahGuy Blog was created.
This gave me the outlet to talk about my passion and continue the skill of writing.
I have had a lot of fun with this blog since then. Now is the time to take it to the next level.
If you are reading this or listening to my podcast in the future, I hope to inspire you.
It's not about you
Starting a business is not about you or money
This mentality will eventually lead to burnout and a poor environment
Starting a business is about people.
You start a business to help people.
Whether you are a service or sell products, your business impacts people.
A service business helps people with their service and drives to make people happy.
A product business helps people with their physical product.
Both models can then use the profit to further help.
Wealth from the business is icing on the cake.
People should be the primary.
Creativity should be a close second.
The joy and thrill of creating something and using that business to make an impact should drive you.
Creating multiple businesses or creating products generates a special creative juice in someone who loves creating.
LIVE OUTSIDE THE BOX
Smile
This idea came to my mind while vacationing in Tennessee, the week of Independence Day.
Smile.
This is a skill set that we all have and probably the most underrated one as well.
While walking down the street of shops in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, I realized that I knew no one there, and had no idea what we had in common, but we all shared the ability to smile.
No matter where we come from or what is going on in our life, we can all smile.
The power of smiling when seeing a stranger is remarkable.
This is a principle that can be used in business and in our personal life.
A simple smile can make a huge difference with any interaction.
You are off work, and enjoying some time in the local coffee shop. You tell the barista thank you and give a big smile afterward. The thank you is appreciated, but the smile carries a ton of gratitude.
At work - At the office you smile and say good morning to a coworker. If you know them well, you might actually carry a conversation, but either way, the smile tells a huge story.
Again at work- you are communicating/collaborating via slack with coworkers. Instead of asking for help or giving guidance without emojis', you choose to add a smiley face emoji.
This shows kindness and attention to detail.
Choose to smile during interactions or by yourself! See the difference this makes.
Choose to smile!
LIVE OUTSIDE THE BOX
Swing Trade Journey
Hello Interwebs!
2021 has been wonderful for me and my family!
I am making progress at work! I am finally moving into a place in my role where I want to be.
Starting April, I am strictly tech support, no more sales attached.
Even more exciting than that, I am learning how to Swing Trade.
Swing Trading is like Day Trading but holding your position longer than one day. You hold overnight, days or weeks. Day Trading means you buy and sell before the market closes.
The benefit of swing trading is flexibility. You can work full-time and swing trade part-time as a side hustle.
My goal is to build enough capital from swing trading to eventually day trade full time
I started learning how to Swing Trade because my Step-Dad, who Day Trades full time, offer to teach me.
I took that opportunity because I knew it was an opportunity to create financial freedom for my family.
In 2016 I began my investing journey with Acorns and Robinhood. My investments were long-term and I knew I would sell them in about 5 years to create an opportunity.
At the end of 2020, that time came. I cashed out and moved the capital to Robinhood for trading capital.
When 2021 rolled around, my learning journey began with joining The Chart Guys trading community. From there I continued to sell more investments from Robinhood to raise my funds.
Today, I am still learning with paper trading and working to raise my funds for better opportunities.
I hope to be fully live by this summer.
I wouldn’t be in this spot today without persistence and patience. Lots of patience.
If you are new to investing, I encourage you to start with Acorns and learn as much as you can about investing. If Day/Swing trading is something you want to do, check out chartguys.com.
Live Outside The Box
Consistency
While it is popular to have new year resolutions right now( most are forgotten by now), I have learned to pick a word of the year.
My 2021 word is Consistency.
This year I want to commit to lifelong skills and routines and be consistent with a routine that will last me till I am old and grey. Consistency builds wealth. Wealth in money, relationships, and knowledge. I want consistency this year.
This year will be the year that will change my life and my family’s life for generations. I am building skill sets and devoting my time to things that can buy freedom.
In 2020, I set out to start my bachelor’s degree with the intention of learning to code and build that skill set. I have my GI Bill just sitting there. After 6 months of college, I had had enough of college learning.
Approaching 2021, I took my Step Dad’s nudge toward trading seriously. I have been investing since 2016 and knew I wanted to use those investments as capital eventually. Freedom Capital. I sold majority of my stocks in Robinhood and cashed out Acorns. 4 years of investing heavily paid off.
When 2020 was coming to an end, I finished the college semester and set out to learn how to swing trade/day trade for the future. I also wanted more time to write/podcast and exercise. While I work full time, I also have a wife and two kids. My kiddos are 4 and 2 years old. School was taking too much time from them and passions.
Since the start of 2021, I have been consistent with my trading studies and spending more time with my family. Now I am gearing up for more time for blogging/podcasting.
Here is my consistent list:
Intentional time with family
Morning Routine
Exercise
Trading
Writing/Podcasting
What is your word of the year and what are you trying to be more consistent with?
live outside the box
You're Not Alone
You work a 9-5. You enjoy your job or you hate it. But, either way, there is something boiling over inside you that you can not contain. What you are finding is that, no job can satisfy you. You know you are called to Entrepreneurship. Love or hate your job, entrepreneurship is where you belong.
You are not alone. I am there with you.
I enjoy my job in SaaS Customer Support. I love helping people and I love technology.
However, I do not like poor leadership.
Poor leadership bugs everyone, but especially if you have desire to create and improve things as an Entrepreneur. As a cog in the wheel, something is broken, but you do not have the power to fix it.
Here’s my word of encouragement.
DO NOT GIVE UP!
Find the perfect company where you can grow and prepare for your venture launch.
If hopping companies is out of equation, be patient.
Two things that really help me stay focused:
No company or person is perfect.
Every day is a lesson. Be a sponge.
Keep preparing for that dream launch and when the time comes, you’ll be ready!
LIVE LIFE OUTSIDE THE BOX
Stop Trying
Yay! It’s 2021! Right now, everyone is hyped up on “New Year New Me,” and New Year Resolutions.
In a month, this will die down.
It may be time to STOP TRYING.
I don’t mean be lazy. No, focus on what is important to you.
If you would like to be healthier and have more energy, cut out the sugar and exercise. Start with giving up that one sweet treat you love, like sodas or cookies. Or, try stretching and walking in the mornings. Build some momentum and add to it.
The other part is finding your niche. If you have dreams and goals, stay true to what you are passionate and naturally skilled at.
I have a recent example.
From July 2020 to December 2020, I was attending online classes at Western Governors University to pursue my Bachelors. Hey, I have the GI Bill right? I might as well use it. Here’s the thing. I DO NOT like college. It does not fit my learning style one bit. I love to read and learn, but I struggle with traditional college education.
When deciding whether, I would continue, into the new year, I thought about this. I can continue to build skills for financial freedom, and pursue my creative outlets, or I can be stressed and consumed with college. It was a tough choice :). I withdrew and now I am back to blogging, spending more time with my family and learning Technical Analysis for Swing/Day Trading.
Know your strengths and weaknesses. Focus on your strengths and passions. Stop trying to be great at your weaknesses.
LIVE OUTSIDE THE BOX
Risk It For The Biscuit
Forgive me if you are unfamiliar with football terminology, but it’s one of my passions, so it’s my go to explain things.
Life is risky. In football, sometimes when you are in the opponents territory, or even in your own, you are forced to go for it on 4th down instead of punting the ball. When the game is on the line, you have to risk it for the biscuit.
It’s tempting to run from risk in life. I say it’s too risky not take a chance. To have a successful and joyful life, you should take risks often.
For me that means investing in the stock market heavily now at a young age to have capital later for business ventures. Those ventures are also risky. If I do not take this risk now, I am putting my family’s future and generations in jeopardy.
My dream is to start my own software business and build generational wealth. My dream after I am gone, is that my family and generations will be able to enjoy the fruits of my labor. I didn’t have wealth growing up but I had parents who taught me how to build wealth after they learned from their own mistakes. I want to teach my kids how to build wealth while staying humble and using that wealth to help people and the community around them.
It takes wealth to truly make an impact in this country. I say country, because a lot of people are doing good around the world. I want to make impact for the people around me in America, the country I love and served.
So I will risk it for the biscuit to make a generational impact.
Live Outside The Box
Small But Mighty
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
I took a break from social media and writing for a couple months and I am glad to be back. Like many, I felt overwelmed by all the covid 19 chaos.
I knew how important small business was to this country but the pandemic reaffirmed it for me!
More than ever, America needs small business to thrive!
Big business gets all the attention, sure, but according to the SBA, small business makes up 99% of business in America.
This is huge if you are thinking about starting a business. You are making a huge impact, not only for yourself, but for your country’s economy and the community around you.
Creating a giant company looks sexy, but starting a small business and making an impact is the real value as an entrepreneaur.
If you own a small business, thank you. If you starting one soon or thinking about it, be encouraged! You can do it!
LIVE OUTSIDE THE BOX
Leave the 99 for the 1
“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost?” Matthew 18:12
Whether you follow or Jesus or not, the bible verse above points to leadership. True Leadership is Servant Leadership.
If Servant Leadership is the standard, then throwing people away is not acceptable.
If you hire a person for a position, but that person is not jiving with their manager or the role is not the right fit.
What do you do? Do you kick that person to the curb? No!
You work with that person. Why? Because you are dealing with people; not robots.
To many times in the business world people are placed in leadership positions that have poor people skills. They are great at managing projects or sales, but suck with people. Yet, they deal with people more than they deal with projects and sales. This leaves me scratching my head.
Face it, you can not be successful without people. And, you need good people. Good people will ultimately leave when faced with poor leadership. They will find another company that values people.
Do you own a business or preparing to start a new one? You must put people at the top of your list. Without people, you will not profit.
When one of your people are struggling, step up and help them. Make them feel valued. Servant Leadership makes people want to come to work every day. Joy at work, turns into results.
LIVE OUTSIDE THE BOX
Vision is the motivation
Photo by Manuel Velasquez on Unsplash
Vision is the reason.
When you are in the dark, your vision is your light.
When you are in a valley in life and you feel all alone, what do you have left?
Recently, I read a job description that was asking for money driven sales people. I was confused. You do not need money driven people. No, you need relationship and vision driven people. Money is the reward.
When money is your motivation, you will eventually feel empty down the road.
No matter your personality, Type A, Type B, Extrovert, Introvert, lets focus on building relationships with people and our vision.
Your vision will carry you down the road.
When you change jobs and take a pay cut to get closer to your vision, your thoughts will cast doubt. But, when you focus on your vision, you’ll remember why you made the decision and you’ll keep pushing forward.
Your vision is your compass.
What holds your compass is your decision.
For me, Jesus is the compass holder. He gave me the vision, and I look to him for direction.
Focus on your vision.
If you haven’t found one quite yet, slow down, and take some time to ponder. It’s probably under your nose.
Think of something of one or two passions you love and could not live without. That could be your vision!
Find it, and chase it!
LIVE OUTSIDE THE BOX
Living the Dream- BEING A DAD
Photo by Daniel Cheung on Unsplash
As we dive into 2020, most of us are thinking about our new goals and the dreams we are chasing.
I encourage you to keep pursuing your goals and dreams, but take a second to think about the dreams you are currently living in..
Do you have any dreams that you kept you up at night as kid?
Have you reached those dreams? Take a second to focus on those. It’s easy to beat yourself up over the goals or dreams you haven’t reached yet. Give yourself some credit. Think about how far you have come. You didn’t give up and reached where you are now. Use that to help you reach the rest of your goals and dreams. DO NOT GIVE UP.
The dream that keeps me going, is being a DAD!
You see, I am just a guy living my dream of being a Dad & Husband while pursuing more dreams. This puts an interesting spin on life. Society teaches us the opposite. Career/Dreams then Family. Those that started a family early in life understand there are struggles, but will tell you that the reward is worth it.
When you work all day and are tired, from working toward your dreams, you get to see two smiley faces and a beautiful or handsome companion waiting for you. The family life provides balance.
It all started when I was a tiny Shaston. I wanted to be good Dad and Husband so bad, because my Dad wasn’t around. Fast forward to 28 year old Shaston, I am a Husband, and father of 2 kiddos. A 3 year old girl and a 9 month old boy. I have the opportunity everyday to build my relationship with my kids and make an impact on their life. Their success depends a lot on me doing my job as a Dad. I am not perfect, but I concentrate on being present every day. Seeing daughter and son’s faces every day keeps me going. For the time we spend together after work, I forget about my worries and work stress. They give me the rest and peace in my life, to keep pursuing my vision of Entrepreneurship.
That’s me. I am Dadtired, chasing big dreams.
What dreams are you currently living? Pat yourself on the back and keep chasing your future dreams.
LIVE OUTSIDE THE BOX
Fresh Start 2020
Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash
As you look forward to the new year and new decade, know this, it is not too late to chase that dream or goal you have written down.
The two main goals that I have been chasing the last two years, have been my morning routine and the launch of my podcast.
Morning routine goal:
Wake up Monday-Friday at 5am. Exercise. Study bible/quiet time/coffee. Read and Write. I struggle to wake up at 5am most of the mornings. This causes my routine to be inconsistent.
Podcast Goal: I have been planning a podcast show that aligns with the NoahGuyBlog for 2 years, but life keeps getting in the way of the launch.
Neither goal has been accomplished yet, but but I keep pursuing them. I have them written down with my new 2020 goals. I will not stop until my morning routine is sculpted, and my podcast is launched.
Look at 2020 as a fresh start. You may not have accomplished every goal that you set out in 2019, that’s ok. Look at the goals you did accomplish, and move the 2019 goals to the 2020 goal list.
Being a father 2 small children, I have to give myself plenty of grace. Time with them is the top of priorities.
Need a way to brainstorm for your goals? Start a google doc.
Here’s my goal list so far:
Personal:
5am morning routine, exercise, bible study
Launch podcast
Finish writing books
Read 1 book a quarter at least
Family:
Family walk once a week-Saturday’s
Running company Houston holiday series + half marathon
Monthly dates with kiddos
2020 is a fresh start. Do not give up!
Daydream
Photo by Viktor Juric on Unsplash
The other day I was driving home from work and started to day dream about my future software company.
More specifically, the plan for how I wanted to treat my employees and the company time off policy. Super exciting right? For me it is.
People feel valued when you let them take a break to spend with family, friends or to do whatever they want outside of work.
The time off plan combos with the compensation plan that I have been thinking about for awhile.
Compensation Plan:
All employees will start off at minimum $50,000 salary. If their position qualifies for more, they would start with more, but the minimum would be 50k. I got this idea from own experience in the workforce.
The issue I, and I am sure others can relate with, is that I need at least 50k to buy a house and be comfortable in my budget.
I want people to be comfy in their budget and not have that financial stress in the back of their mind. Whether they want to buy a house or rent, the 50k base salary will get them started.
Time Off Plan
I want to offer an unlimited vacation policy that allows people to take time off whenever they need a vacation, personal day, doctor appointment or just need a random Friday. They will have that freedom.
My thoughts in the car recently were specific to Holiday time, i.e. Thanksgiving and Christmas. I was thinking how would I offer the entire week of thanksgiving and Christmas off to the entire office? What i know is that it is nearly impossible in a software company to shut down the entire shop. But we could run a skeleton support team during Thanksgiving and Christmas, and offer flex time off for the Holiday time worked.
Just thinking about this fires me up. I love brainstorming about how to build a company were people want to come to work, feel valued and know they can take off to refresh and spend time with their families and friends.
I want to make that a priority in my organization. Human beings are not robots. We need time off and we need someone to pat us on the back every once in a while. I think paying people well and giving plenty of time off does that. It says, “hey, I want you to give 110% at work but, your time with family, and financial well being is important to us.
When you pay people well and treat them with love and respect, you generate happy employees. Happy employees make a better business. It is a rewarding cycle.
If you are planning a company, have you thought about your compensation and time off plan?
Live Outside The Box
Your Dream
Are you a dreamer?
I am.
The Dreamer is an odd creature.
While everyone else accepts the status quo, we want something better and embrace change.
If you work in corporate, no matter the industry or company size, you can see the difference between those that want a career and those that want a life outside the corporate career.
For a dreamer, the job is simply a stepping stone for their vision. They need that job to gain experience to learn and grow. From there they move on to the next stepping stone until they launch their dream.
Whatever that dream looks like. It could be a business, a podcast, writing a book, a social media creator. Whatever it is, it takes steps and time to get there. But along the way you know that the 9-5 gig is temporary. You want freedom. Freedom for you, your family and your finances. The 9-5 shackles that freedom.
Sometimes moving toward your goal means, job hopping. Do not be afraid to change jobs inside a year. Don’t change jobs carelessly but don’t let your current job from holding you back. If you have better opportunity elsewhere, take it. But do it because it gives you a better chance of launching your dream and because you’ll be happier in the process.
Reaching your dream is a journey. You have family and friends that are with you along the way. They know when you are miserable. And that mood affects them as well.
Do not let a job hold you back. It is your dream and journey
Think Outside The Box
Lean Journey
By lean I don’t mean lean meat or foods.
I mean a lean business, processes, and a lean life.
In 2018 I started my continuous improvement journey with Lean Six Sigma. I took the white belt certification class and it awoke a passion inside. The continuous improvement passion was there, I just needed something to dig it out.
Which is a fantastic process of cutting waste in business. The goal is to continuously look for ways to make things more efficient. Trim the fat.
The key for the organization from the top to bottom to being on board with thinking Lean.
When someone suggests an idea, bottom or top, it should be taken seriously. Without ideas, organizations become stagnant, fat and slow.
Here’s an example of my lean thinking:
At work we have email templates. I am a rebel without a cause and have created my own templates because the originals were too long.
Another work example is that I do not leave voicemails. It gives me more time to make calls and have quality conversations with people over the phone.
Another example is that I split up my morning routine. I wake up, exercise(not every morning) get toddler ready for school and then get myself ready. That’s 1/2 my morning. The other half is driving in Houston traffic with a sermon or podcast on. Then when i get to work, I read my bible and write or read before starting work. I do my quiet time with God at work, because I don’t feel rushed. It makes it better quality and more efficient.
A silly an example is the fact that I only shave twice a week to save time in my morning routine.
Lean Business: Cutting red tape and inefficiencies in business process to make work better and happier. Continuously look for ways to improve daily workflows.
Lean Life: Minimalize your possessions. Continuously look for ways to improve your day to day routine.
Lean requires thinking outside the box to make your workflows and daily tasks more efficient.
Lean is a continuous life hack.
The cool thing is that you may already be practicing lean and not even know it.
Learn more about lean and keep practicing it.
Think Outside The Box
Fulfillment
Photo by Tj Holowaychuk on Unsplash
Think about the things you do everyday or often.
Netflix, video games, social media, exercise, work, chores etc.
Now think about which activity makes you feel fulfilled. The things that give you peace.
What if we concentrated on those things? What if we were obsessed with things that brought us satisfaction and fulfillment in our souls.
Fulfillment is the key to making progress and momentum in this life.
If you have a dream, that dream requires a division of goals. Each goal take dedication and consistency.
What if you made more room for the things that help you reach each goal and dream in your life?
Let’s cut out the things that leave us wanting more and concentrate on the things that leave us fulfilled and at peace.
Here’s the things that leave me fulfilled:
Reading my bible
Prayer journaling
Prayer
Exercise
Time with wife and kids
Traveling
Video Games
Writing
Creating
What does your fulfillment list look like?
Live Life Outside the Box
Google Sheet Budget
Photo by Fabian Blank on Unsplash
Many people could see success in their personal finances and in their business if they simply understood how to budget their money.
I started out on notebook paper and eventually graduated to google sheets.
Without some form of budget, I would be lost financially.
Running your finances without a budget is like willingly walking around with a blindfold.
You have the ability to see, but you refuse to open your eyes.
If you have any desire to succeed financially and grow a business, you must first be able to budget your personal finances.
If personal finances are a wreck without a budget, multiply that by 10 for a business.
Budgeting is a simple organization tool that could be done on a napkin.
One step up is recording your data digitally.
You don’t even need a fancy budget app. I recommend starting a google sheet.
Set up your budget template and you are set.
Don’t forget to set up your sum and minus functions to make your life a little easier as you add and take out data.
Do you have a budget? What are you using to budget your money?
LIVE LIFE OUTSIDE THE BOX
Dad Hat
I love my new job. The environment is exciting and uplifting. I get to help business owners with their scheduling and time tracking needs through the Homebase software.
My job title is Customer Success rep. Outside of Homebase, you could call the title Inside Sales.
I am making over 60 phone calls a day.
It is fun and sometimes exhausting at the same time.
As much as I love my job, I have another job title that is far more important. The job of being a DAD.
Last week I was driving home and was I was completely exhausted mentally from being on the phone all day.
But, I promised my daughter that when I got home, we would go ride her tricycle outside.
Work, plus 1 hour of Houston traffic, made me want to pass out when I got home.
I had to put all that aside and put on my Dad Hat. When I did that mentally, I found the last bit of energy I had left in the day. We went to the local park and got the time that we needed as Dad and Daughter.
This got me thinking about the balance of working hard and providing the time needed for your kids.
No matter what your job title is, kids want your time. They could be in aw about what you do for a living, whether you are first responder or a professional athlete, they just want your time.
So how do we balance our dreams with making time with our kids a priority?
You have to make up your mind. What’s more important to you? Your business or your kids? The key is finding the right balance.
Ultimately if you build a business right, you will have more time with your family.
That’s my goal. I want to build a business or businesses that allow me to have more time for my family.
Obviously it takes time to build that business, but along the way, we have to put on our Dad Hat or the Mom hat. You have to find that balance.
When it hits 5 or 6 o’clock, go home. What ever you have on your plate will be there tomorrow.
Our kids need our time each and every day!
So put on your Dad Hat!
Live Outside The Box
Morning Routine
Improving my morning routine is my recurring goal each year.
It is the most important time of my day.
It is the time I use to get focused spiritually, mentally and physically for the day.
Without my routine, the rest of the day is up in the air.
With a successful routine, I feel like I have started the day well.
I am 28 years old and I still struggle with this routine.
This biggest thing is just jumping out of bed. If I can get up earlier like planned, I would have more time to get things accomplished.
For an example, I have a goal of running or walking each morning. This morning I didn’t wake up early like planned so I had to skip my exercise. But, the most important thing in my morning is time with God.
I listen to sermons and music on my way to work to get spiritually prepared. Then when I get to work early, I read my bible and try to knock out some personal todos, read or write before work. As long as I can get some of the other things done, I feel successful before my work day starts.
However, I do not want a Dadbod so, I should probably start jumping out of bed earlier so I can get back into running shape for the Houston Half-Marathon.
So currently this my morning routine list(sometimes I don’t meet this list):
Wake up at 5AM
Exercise
Get kiddos ready for school.
Breakfast
Get ready for work
Commute with sermons/podcast/music
Coffee, read Bible, write, read books etc
What does your morning routine look like?
If you are struggling with energy or motivation for your day, consider implementing a morning routine.