Beating Back the Blues and Charting a New Course…

–for entrepreneurs, business owners, creatives and professionals

YES, I want to apply to and sign up for Bruce Firestone’s Beating Back the Blues and Charting a New Course… for entrepreneurs, business owners, creatives and professionals

DOWNLOAD: Course Description, Schedule, Application/Signup Form, https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/0kq4rtxzqdjhc9vszqhem/beating-back-the-blues-course-descrption-application-signup-schedule-bruce-m-firestone-phd.pdf?rlkey=z8f028405893d3qljvg8ozxi1&st=gjpjfib8&dl=0

What will I learn and experience?

-you will learn you are not alone in terms of having to cope with heavy workloads, persistent stress and tight deadlines

-you will learn that when bad things happen to good people, there are a number of business strategies and personal ones you can deploy to better cope with events

-you will learn that there is no such thing as failure, that is, when one door shuts, two others open up… and as an example of that, Prof Bruce will tell the story of how he restarted his career (at age 54) after the Ottawa Senators went bankrupt in the mid-2000s owing him $55.6 million (of which he recovered from the bankruptcy estate just $3,500)

“Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn,” said the White Angel of Merida, https://www.tumblr.com/profbruce/712225811418300416/white-angel-of-merida-mexico?source=share

-you will learn that you might consider recalibrating how you measure success, moving from a focus on daily, weekly or monthly productivity to a longer-term horizon embracing, as Cal Newport call it, “Slow Productivity[1]”

-you will learn that most marital breakups or business partnerships that run aground do so because of financial stress and what to do about it

-you will learn that one of the secrets to less stress and more life is not necessarily found by increasing your income (because more income often just means more spending) but by reducing your costs and living below your means[2]

-you will learn that the best deals you will ever do are the ones you don’t (ie, the ones that could bog you down with little hope of return on your time or investment) and doing fewer things better, works… that LESS IS MORE

[1] Slow productivity is “a philosophy for organizing knowledge work efforts in a sustainable and meaningful manner, based on the following three principles: 1. Do fewer things, 2. Work at a natural pace, and 3. Obsess over quality,” Cal Newport. Slow Productivity, the lost art of accomplishment without burnout, Calvin C Newport, Penguin Random House, 2024.

[2] An example of this is how one person in her 40s rented a 4-bedroom farmhouse for nearly $3,000 a month but reduced her cost to about $750 through a clever lease with her landlord—in what is termed an “augmented tenancy.”

“You can do anything but not everything,” Anonymous

-you will hear difficult stories from some of your classmates and what they did afterwards to change their circumstances

-we will review Sahil Bloom’s 13 harsh truths about success nobody told you and how this knowledge can help you adapt yourself while you plan for a brighter future[1]

-you will create a lifetime list of your personal successes and failures and a list of your business or professional success and failures, and from this exercise hopefully conclude that you do already have some “wins” under you belt; and that even small wins every day or every week can put you on a path to a better future and a more confident future

[1] One of Sahil’s 13 points is: Adaptability will always beat planning. How true. Perhaps Charles Darwin said it best, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one most adaptable to change.” Or maybe the US Marine Corps’ succinct unofficial motto, “Show some adaptability,” speaks to their success in terms of changing battle plans on the fly in the field.

-you will learn new proven ways to cope with stress, lower your costs, and increase your revenues as appropriate

-you will learn that humans can’t live without hope, which means after a negative event in your life, you have to move on and plan for a new beginning… just thinking about what that looks like can immeasurably help rekindle hope[1]

[1] It’s important to review your goals at least once a year and change them as you get older but still have ambitions and plans and remain hopeful that better days will come.

“The longest journey is the one where you never take the first step,” Bruce M Firestone, PhD[1]

[1] For more inspirational quotes, please download this handbook that my students and I put together of famous sayings: Great entrepreneur quotes to inspire and motivate, https://www.dropbox.com/s/0nmhqr7kpmhwuqk/great-entrepreneur-quotes-bruce-m-firestone-e.pdf?dl=0.

Remember the difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is not how they act, it’s how they react. For example, when bad things happen, an unsuccessful person blames everyone else. A successful person thinks, OK, what do I do to fix this and what can I learn from this, so I avoid it in the future? He or she looks ahead not behind, stays in the present and isn’t bitter, never cursing their “bad luck.” I ask myself just three questions every day—A) Where am I now? B) Where am I going? C) And how do I get there?

YOUR ASSIGNMENT AND MISSION: BE PREPARED TO SHARE YOUR STORY WITH YOUR CLASSMATES, WHO WILL BRAINSTORM WITH YOU AND SHARE THEIR INSIGHTS AND FEEDBACK SO THAT WHEN YOU FORMULATE A NEW PLAN FOR 2025 IN THIS COURSE, IT WILL HAVE A GREATER CHANCE OF SUCCESS. YOUR GOAL IS TO MAKE SURE THAT NEXT YEAR AT THIS TIME, YOUR FINANCES, YOUR BUSINESS OR PROFESSION HAVE ALL IMPROVED… AND YOUR LIFE IS SIMPLER AND MORE FULFILLING.

What do other students say about other Firestone courses?

“I took Prof Bruce’s Backyard Oasis and Teeny Tiny Town course and as the class neared its end, I wrote to him to say, ‘Your classes have been amazing, illuminating and I’m grateful for the recordings too. I also just wanted to underscore that the contributions of my classmates have been GOLD as well,’” C Kavanagh, real estate investor and developer, 2024 October

“Prof Bruce, I was grateful for the invite to your Backyard Oasis and TEENY TINY TOWN course. The amount of information you shared in a short period of time was amazing and really got the wheels in my head spinning! I also enjoyed hearing from my entrepreneur classmates… learning about their visions and plans too. My own vision and business plan are becoming clearer to me now; they include multiple income stream possibilities that I didn’t know existed a month ago,” K Lackie, business owner and real estate investor

“One of my favourite parts about your Backyard Oasis course, Prof Bruce, aside from the great content and challenging ideas presented, was the time spent hearing feedback and receiving support from my classmates. Having other entrepreneurs to brainstorm with and who support one another are things that have been lacking for me lately. The entrepreneur’s journey can be a lonely one at times,” Amy Allen, landowner, real estate investor and founder of an elopement wedding venue

“Prof Bruce, I wanted to thank you very much for sharing your wisdom and knowledge in the Backyard Oasis and TEENY TINY TOWN course. I just watched the replay video from our last class and your guest (Matt Britt from Food Farm Abundance) really blew my mind🌞. I made an appointment to speak with him and learn more about how to utilize the concept. Do you have any more courses coming up? I will miss you!” Michael Golubev, founder of multiple startups and real estate investor

What is my investment?

Please accept my application and sign me up for this unique course with a one-time payment of $450 $350 + HST.

Takeaways from the course? Write down what you hope to take away from this course—

1. Takeaway 1: _______________________________________________________
2. Takeaway 2: _______________________________________________________
3. Takeaway 3: _______________________________________________________

Tell me more about the challenges you currently face—

a) Challenge 1: __________________________________________________________
b) Challenge 2: __________________________________________________________
c) Challenge 3: __________________________________________________________

Course Schedule

Class 1: Friday Nov 29th, 2024, noon till 1330 ET (0900 to 1030 PT)
Class 2: Friday Dec 6th, 2024, noon till 1330 ET (0900 to 1030 PT)
Class 3: Friday Dec 13th, 2024, noon till 1330 ET (0900 to 1030 PT)
Class 4: Friday Dec 20th, 2024, noon till 1330 ET (0900 to 1030 PT)

More about Prof Bruce

Bruce’s an entrepreneur, real estate broker, developer & coach, urban guru, keynote speaker,  Sens founder, novelist, blogger, peerless husband, and dad. Bruce helps people take care of themselves and their families for 3-generations by owning their own high-performing real estate portfolios and PB4Ls, personal businesses for life. He’s a thought leader who not only talks the talk but walks it, having done each and everything he teaches and coaches personally and then some…

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Thank you for signing up with the Firestone Institute. Please return this form (https://www.dropbox.com/s/0nmhqr7kpmhwuqk/great-entrepreneur-quotes-bruce-m-firestone-e.pdf?dl=0) to bruce@brucemfirestone.com and don’t hesitate to text or email for support and answers to any questions you might have.

Prof Bruce

Bruce M Firestone, B Eng (civil), M Eng-Sci, PhD
Real Estate Investment and Business coach
Ottawa Senators founder
ROYAL LePAGE Performance Realty broker
613-762-8884
bruce@brucemfirestone.com
brucemfirestone.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/profbruce

Image source: By Isabelle Grosjean ZA – Self-published work by ZA, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=144336