Jay Shetty & Kim Perell ON How Not to Hate Your Job Anymore

In this On Purpose episode, Jay Shetty welcomed entrepreneur and investor Kim Perell to discuss ways of improving your business. Perell is a nine-time founder, two-time bestselling author, and investor in over 100 companies, as well as a proud mom of four.

Are your mistakes the secret blueprint to becoming a millionaire?

In this On Purpose episode, Jay Shetty welcomed entrepreneur and investor Kim Perell to discuss ways of improving your business. Perell is a nine-time founder, two-time bestselling author, and investor in over 100 companies, as well as a proud mom of four. She built her first company from her kitchen table at 23, achieved multimillionaire status by 30, and successfully sold her last company for $235 million.

Currently, Perell is committed to helping the next generation of entrepreneurs convert their missteps into million-dollar lessons, as described in her new book, Mistakes That Made Me a Millionaire: How to Transform Setbacks to Extraordinary Success.

Breaking Free from Stagnation

Kim Perell strongly relates to the feeling of being stuck, something people often mention to her. So, in her book, she addressed the mistake of staying too long in a job you dread going to every morning. She told Jay Shetty she calls the solution "the exit ramp strategy;" it involves figuring out how to transition from your current unwanted situation to the desired future.

The first step is to set a manageable vision and decide where you want to be one year from today. Then, you must work backwards to the present day and take small, achievable steps towards your goal. It's also important to assess the situation you are in right now and evaluate whether you are becoming stagnant or moving towards your desired outcome. So, she recommends not staying in a position that feels comfortable if it doesn't allow you to unfold.

Facing Fear and Harnessing Regret

Jay Shetty observed that fear keeps many people paralyzed, often due to a lack of perceived options or diminished confidence. If you find yourself in this position, Perell suggests asking yourself: "Will I regret it more than not doing it?" She stresses that if you look back one year later and are still stuck in the same dead-end job, that regret will be worse than the fear of making the wrong decision.

Regret is the only emotion stronger than fear, Jay Shetty explained. It doesn't apply only to career moves, but also to relationships. Perell adds that waiting to be 100% ready is the main mistake when thinking about making a change in their lives. Instead, apply the 70% rule: if you are 70% ready, that is the time to act, otherwise, you may miss out on the opportunity. This rule helped her balance analysis with action and allowed her to move forward, assuming she would figure it out along the way.

Prototypes and Minimum Viable Products

Jay Shetty and Kim Perell emphasize that building a prototype or a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is the fastest way to figure things out. Perell advises entrepreneurs to dream big, but start small. She argues that money is not necessary to start a business today; what is needed is the grit to get the product to market. The crucial test of an MVP is determining if someone will actually pay for the idea. If people won't pay for it, it's merely a hobby, not a business meant to generate revenue.

If you're looking for examples on how to start small, Jay Shetty suggests writing a blog post instead of an entire book or starting interviews on Facebook Live instead of a podcast. This way, you can gauge connection and engagement. Your goal should be to build the simplest, cheapest, and easiest version of your idea, put it out there, and get feedback.

It isn't always easy to be exposed to criticism and judgment after launching an imperfect product. However, Kim Perell believes that critics, naysayers, and dream killers will always tell you why your idea won't work. But your confidence in your idea has to be greater than everyone else's doubt.

Simply having a good idea isn't enough; it's also important to act on it. Perell told Jay Shetty that dreaming is easy, but doing is hard. As an investor, she is looking for people who have already started, whether from their garage, kitchen, or bathroom. Similarly, investors on Shark Tank are most impressed by entrepreneurs who have early sales data. Success doesn't always come from being the first one or the best, but also from being different.

Embracing Iteration and Normalizing Failure

School teaches us that perfection is the only way; however, life doesn't follow the same principle. Kim Perell and Jay Shetty urge listeners to move away from a perfectionist mindset and understand that business requires constant iteration. If you are okay with failure, you are twice as likely to succeed.

Failure feels uncomfortable because the people closest to us remind us of our past mistakes. Yet Perell shared that her father normalized failure for her from an early age, asking everyone at the dinner table about the worst thing that happened to them that day. Now, she sees setbacks and challenges as essential stepping stones on the way to success.

Perell is teaching her children a different technique, meant to instill in them a sense of gratitude. She calls it the Pow-Wow-Bow technique: they discuss the worst thing that happened (pow), the best (wow), and the thing they are grateful for (bow). She reminds the entrepreneurs that rejection is inevitable and essential. Perell suggests going for the no, so you can improve your pitch learning from every rejection and overcoming the fear of it.

Abandoning the Lone Wolf Mentality

One key mistake of entrepreneurs that Kim Perell addressed is the lone-wolf mentality. She explained to Jay Shetty that it's impossible to do it all alone, without surrounding yourself with the right people. Statistically, 93% of self-made millionaires have mentors.¹ Perell added that a mentor should be someone a little bit ahead of you in your journey. According to her, if you want to become successful, you need these four pillars in your life:

A mentor.
Supportive family and friends.
A team (even if using a consultant).
Peers (people who relate to your daily challenges).

When seeking a mentor, Kim Perell suggests approaching them by asking for a short moment of their time, like a 15-minute coffee. It's important to use a personal connection point when you reach out, such as shared interests. Perell clarified to Jay Shetty that mentorship is personal, and it shouldn't have a price tag.

Many find it embarrassing to reach out for fear of appearing weak, yet this is the single most effective way to exponentially increase success. After your conversation with a mentor, it's important to follow up and demonstrate that you put their advice into practice; otherwise, they will become tired and stop giving you their time. Yet besides mentors, it is crucial to find peers with whom you can share your current struggles and challenges.

Auditing the Inner Circle

Kim Perell strongly advocates for getting rid of toxic relationships in your inner circle. She advises listeners to conduct an annual audit of their personal and business relationships; give a plus to those that energize you and a minus to those that are negative or critical. Perell actively audits out people with minuses, because she finds it impossible to achieve great things with toxic people dragging you down.

Kim Perell explained to Jay Shetty that toxic relationships have a direct impact on your financial success. You are less likely to have a lot of money if you are involved in such relationships, as they drain the energy you need to create, ideate, and innovate. This is why it is crucial to surround yourself with people who share your energy and can help you grow, rather than keep you behind.

The Way to Success Isn't Always Straight

Kim Perell explained to Jay Shetty that most hires are done through referrals and less through selections from a pool of resumes. She advised listeners to find and contact the hiring manager directly rather than rely solely on the official application. Perell added that business is always personal, and you should build a rapport with others. If you want to bypass a resume stack, you must build a personal connection with whomever it is that you are looking to work for.

However, some people feel like they shouldn't even apply in the first place if they don't meet all job requirements; this phenomenon is more widespread amongst women than men. Perell opened up to Jay Shetty about her own limiting beliefs instilled in her since childhood, a time when she wasn't considered too smart. Because of the label on her back, Perell declined an opportunity to serve on a corporate board, feeling like she lacked the necessary MBA experience. But after refusing such a great opportunity, she promised herself to accept future offers and figure it out along the way.

As a business owner, you should always be open to pivoting. Out of over 100 companies that Perell invested in, almost all of them needed to pivot sooner or later. She told Jay Shetty that failing to pivot is a huge mistake in the business world—e.g., YouTube started as a dating site, Twitter launched as a microblogging platform, and Netflix was initially a DVD mailing service. When you notice a decline in your sales or no sales at all, that is your cue to pivot, Perell explained; it's an indicator that the market or the customers are changing. She advises the listeners not to cling too tightly to an idea or vision, but be willing to continually evolve toward success.

More From Jay Shetty

Listen to the entire On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast episode “Kim Perell: Hate Your Job But Don’t Know What to Do Next? Ask Yourself THESE 7 Questions and Build a Step-by-Step Plan for the Career You ACTUALLY Want” now in the iTunes store or on Spotify. For more inspirational stories and messages like this, check out Jay’s website at jayshetty.me.