Welcome to Making It! This weekly show explores the lives and stories of entrepreneurs as they share their unique perspectives on their success and the path to making it. 

     Episode summary: The world-renowned business consultant Michael Zipursky is our podcast guest for this episode. He’s a successful entrepreneur who runs a business called Consulting Success and approaches business with a spirit of adventure. “The main thing I've learned through this process is to test things, to try things. Let the marketplace really guide where you make your investments and where you focus”, he says.

     In this episode, Michael encourages listeners to resist viewing things as mistakes but to instead look at them as learning experiences. He also emphasizes focusing on what is meaningful to you, because if your life lacks meaning and purpose, it doesn’t matter how successful or wealthy you are. Michael is an eager traveler and finds immersing himself in cultures helps him understand each country’s people and history—and allows him to better serve people and businesses wherever they are. After all, he says, “making it isn’t about the destination, but the journey.”

“I've learned over the years that a mistake is not a bad thing; a mistake is probably one of the best things that can happen to you.”  – Michael Zipursky

     Michael Zipursky is the CEO of Consulting Success® and is one of the world's top authorities on growing a consulting business. Michael has been building consulting businesses for over two decades, has started several companies, and has sold a couple of small businesses. He’s an in-demand speaker and the author of 5 books including Consulting Success System: How to Become a Successful Consultant. Financial Times, Dow Jones, RBC, Omron, Sumitomo are companies on his client list, and he helped Panasonic launch new products into global markets. But more importantly, he's helped over 450 consultants from around the world in over 75 industries add six and seven figures to their annual revenues. 

     Michael speaks English and Japanese and loves traveling, music, wines, and foods of the world, and most of all spending time with his wife and two daughters.

     His company Consulting Success® is the worldwide leader in coaching and training for entrepreneurial consultants. Consulting Success is the most comprehensive learning platform for serious consultants and skilled professionals who want to grow a stable and reliable consulting practice that attracts high-value clients time and time again.

Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:

1. Mirasee
2. You can follow Michael on Twitter (@MichaelZipursky) and LinkedIn (Michael Zipursky).
3. Consulting Success
4. Michael Zipurksy’s books 

Credits:

• Guest – Michael Zipursky
• Associate producer: Danny Bermant
• Produced: Cynthia Lamb 
• Assembled by Geoff Govertsen
• Executive producer: Danny Iny 
• Audio Post Supervisor: Evan Miles, Christopher Martin 
• Audio Post Production by Post Office Sound
• Music soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely 

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Music and SFX credits:

Track Title: Onwards

Artist Name(s): Matteo Galesi

Writer Name: Matteo Galesi

Publisher Name: BOSS SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIONS

Track Title: The Sunniest Kids

Artist Name(s): Rhythm Scott

Writer Name: Scott Roush

Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

Track Title: The Edge of The Sea

Artist Name(s): Cody Martin

Writer Name: Cody Kurtz Martin

Publisher Name: BOSS SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIONS

Track Title: Sweet Loving Waltz

Artist Name(s): Sounds Like Sander

Writer Name: S.L.J. Kalmeijer

Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

Episode transcript: 

     I'm Michael Zipursky and you're listening to Making It! I run a business called consulting success and we help consultants develop profitable, scalable and strategic consulting businesses. 

     To me making it is not about the destination, it's about the journey. Why not structure our days and who we work with and what we're doing so that we truly can not only make an impact and create great results for people, but also enjoy the process. And I think that's one of the greatest opportunities. And what I find most enjoyable about being an entrepreneur is that you can truly craft whatever you desire most. And what I've found over time is if you think about a triangle... at the apex of the triangle, a lot of people, especially in the early days of business, they will put their business at the apex at the top of the triangle and they put their lifestyle blow it. And what that means is they have to make all kinds of different compromises within their lifestyle. So that might mean their family or time with their kids or hobbies or other things that they enjoy. They have to make sacrifices within the lifestyle to be able to support the business above it. 

      And I think that should be flipped. Where at the apex we should put our lifestyle, meaning what we truly get fulfillment and enjoyment from spending time with loved ones family, whatever it might be and then put your business below it because you can make sacrifices or compromises inside of your business that support the lifestyle that you want. But if you're not first clear on what's the most meaningful for you and what you truly want to create, then how can you create a business that will align with that? 

     So I certainly felt imposter syndrome at many points throughout my career and journey and consulting. Now being 20 plus years in I look back and one thing I recognized is that those moments and times where you feel kind of...