Tom: Hey, everyone. Tom Morkes here with Antonio Centeno from the High Speed Low Drag podcast. We wanted to welcome you back to another episode. Today we want to focus primarily on some questions that we’ve gotten from a recent live event that John, Antonio, and I presented just last week and we’ll be doing another one this week. But it’s questions that we got from the audience after presenting on this topic of transition, success, and how to succeed financially in the civilian world.
Antonio, I’d like you to go ahead and put your two cents in here and talk a little bit about this.
Antonio: Hey, Tom. Thanks for having me back on. If you’re listening to this podcast and it’s fresh, you may still be able to jump on this live training that we do. Just head over to High Speed Elite to sign up. It’s something we really enjoy doing and if you missed it, don’t worry, we’ll do it again.
But here in the live training, what’s powerful is interacting live with vets like you who are a few steps ahead in achieving success in the civilian world. We had a good group of people, mostly guys, with about five to ten percent women. So, we welcome everybody.
Not everyone was a vet. We had people from military families and even foreign militaries. What brought everyone together is the pursuit of greatness and our shared military background, creating a common language.
In the live presentation, entrepreneurs like John Dumas shared what made them successful. I shared stories, and Tom, you’ve shared yours from your recent transition. It’s a great mix of experiences— you’ve been out for almost a year, and I’ve been out for nearly a decade. Sharing these experiences and leveraging our backgrounds was awesome.
Remember John’s story about being questioned on a radio show? He shut down a guy asking where he was ten years ago by mentioning his deployment in Iraq. It’s about knowing when to use our veteran status to our advantage, handling situations where integrity is questioned.
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Tom: I completely agree. I thought the webinar itself, the presentation, and connecting with so many veterans was great. Personally, I had a blast. It was high energy. What surprised me in a good way was seeing how energized everyone else was and that they stayed engaged the entire 90 minutes.
So if you’re listening to this before our next session, head over to highspeedelite.com and join us. It’s fun hanging out and answering questions. With Antonio and John, we bring a treasure trove of knowledge. Even in my first year out, I’m making things happen. It’s interesting to see our group dynamic and how we inspire veterans.
The response has been positive, with congratulations and thanks for this program we’re putting together. I’m excited for what’s ahead.
Antonio: For more info, you can find High Speed Elite through High Speed Low Drag. High Speed Low Drag is our resource site with podcasts and more. Click on premium training to visit High Speed Elite, our community.
High Speed Elite is for those ready to take action and make things happen quickly. It’s a high-level mastermind with group meetings, private training, and courses. We share experiences to guide you away from pitfalls.
Tom, your experience speaks volumes. You hit the ground running after active duty, making things happen. For me, it was different—I took time off, ran a nonprofit in Ukraine, and ended up marrying my now wife.
Before we dive in, grab “100 Steps to Transition Success.” Taking a vacation is on the list—once you start in civilian work, time off may be scarce. I’m glad I took that time abroad before multiple businesses and a growing family in Wisconsin. If you’re looking to improve staff management and compliance, check out this care home hr package for comprehensive solutions.
Tom: Yeah, for sure. I chose to travel abroad for a year while building my businesses—a different route but a valuable experience. It goes back to preparing in the Army, knowing I wanted to start my own business and educating myself online.
Tom: And connecting with you—it was funny, the first time we connected was during the TAP program, or ACAP at the time. They just changed it to TAP, the Army’s transition program. I remember getting a call from you midday during the three-day event. As I went through it, I realized this alone wasn’t enough to prepare any veteran, let alone for the entrepreneurial route. There just isn’t adequate support out there right now.
So the key is surrounding yourself with like-minded people, mentors who have been there and done that, and can guide you. That’s exactly what I did, and it’s why my success has accelerated much quicker than most.
Antonio: Well, Tom, I remember that call. One of the joys of running my own company is choosing who to call and interact with, and how to run things.
We have questions from last week’s presentation. These are from vets like you, real and raw. Let’s quickly address some because they apply to many people out there.
The first one: “I’m trying to generate enough income to be financially free and avoid working for a corporation.” He also asks about effective learning habits, life hacks to excel as an entrepreneur, and finding a collaborative group to join and grow.
I like his focus on joining a collaborative group, which is why he joined our live training at High Speed Elite.
Let’s start with the first question: generating enough income for financial freedom without returning to corporate life. It’s a great question, and I’ll begin by saying you won’t figure it out just by thinking. You need to take action. I call it entrepreneurial vision—it’s like looking at a forest from outside versus stepping inside. Outside, you might think the forest needs flashlights, but inside, you see there’s enough light. Perhaps air filters would be more useful. You won’t know until you’re in there creating something. Does that make sense, Tom?
Tom: I love that analogy. It resonates because I see business as project-based. It’s about taking action, experimenting, and being adaptable. Digital platforms allow low-cost experimentation and validation of ideas before major investments.
I think part of the question is about achieving financial freedom. Understanding what that means to you and how much you need is crucial. Do you need to be a millionaire, or is a steady monthly income sufficient? It changes the challenge entirely.
Antonio: Absolutely. Quantifying what financial freedom means to you—it’s not always about being a millionaire. It could be $2,000, $5,000, or even $50,000 a month, depending on lifestyle and expenses. Having a clear goal makes it actionable.
Let’s move to the second question: effective habits and life hacks for new entrepreneurs to maximize productivity.
Tom: There are many approaches, but I prefer focusing on sustainable practices over “hacks.” Finding a supportive community of successful entrepreneurs is crucial for guidance and growth.
One of my favorite websites, mixergy.com — one of the reasons I love Andrew Warner?s stuff is he actually validates that he brings on people who are successful so you don?t have the blind leading the blind. John Dumas is in the group, he?s really good about — hey, he puts his financials out there. He can actually account certify this stuff and he’s like, “Hey, this is how much money I?m making and this why you can trust me.” He is teaching people how to be successful with money so that is important. I think it is a great reason why he puts it out there.
But you want to look at my success. You can go out there and you can look at our — one of the things I teach with another business called Video Traffic Growth is we actually teach people how to grow their video channels. So one of the things that set me and my partner Ryan Masters apart is actually we?ve got channels: mine with over 11 million views, his with almost 10 million views. And when people see this, it?s like, hey, we?re businesses. We actually have YouTube channels which are kicking butt and we?re using this to sell and to create products.
So actually, I would say first off, make sure that the people that are passing on these habits are in a sense proven, are validated. That?s another thing cool about when you are in a group of veterans is that, hey, we’re all kind of already at the same point. Yeah, there are some rotten apples out there but that?s pretty rare and that I think it?s a few and far between especially when compared to the general population.
Tom: Yeah. I think when it comes to habits and life hacks, I get the concept of the hack and I know what people are after. I hope they?re not saying, “I just want a quick fix” and something that’s just the instantaneous solution, which I don?t think is what this question was asking. I would say that that?s not possible. Everything in life — you have to pay for everything. There?s always going to be a tradeoff no matter what. You?re going to have to put and effort into things especially if you want to go the business route.
I can?t say any part of my journey last year or two has been easy but it?s been very rewarding. As far as the way I?ve hacked it, which I think in terms of efficiency, so a hack then to me is more how do I put time towards high value, high priority things and avoid doing the needless trivial things that don?t matter like a business card or, I don?t know, the colors in your logo. I don?t think any of that stuff matters. Even the name, people get hung up on names a lot. I think that was one of the things I learned from Seth Godin was don?t worry about the name. It doesn?t matter.
So I think one of the best ways you can create these effective habits to kick butt as an entrepreneur, I think the biggest thing, the best piece of advice is to avoid the trivial things that don?t matter. It?s the 80-20 principle. If you just cut off the stuff that?s not working, if you just avoid the stuff that is just not useful to your time and attention or useful to your business, you?ll find that, by nature, by necessity, you?ll gravitate towards the stuff that does actually work.
So I think, one, like Antonio has said, is finding a collaborative group that?s actually legitimate and has experienced entrepreneurship — been there, done that — and aren?t just selling you snake oil. Two is then cutting out all the trivial things, the stuff that has no return on investment. And then three, I guess it kind of goes along with that. This is, in my opinion at least, try to find ways where you can measure what you?re doing.
It?s tough at first but once you have an idea, say, for a product or service, there are ways that you can measure it and that you could track it and you can find out if it?s actually creating any value for you. I think so many people spend time building something, don?t get any validation, launch and nothing happens, but they actually have not done any and then it fails. But the worst part there is not the failing; it?s the fact that they didn?t learn anything because they didn?t measure and they didn?t track.
So what can they learn from that failure? I don?t know if you have any thoughts on that, Antonio.
Antonio: I have to say that there was something you said — I’m going to take a step back because I know we?ve got a limited amount of time for this question. You were saying about you?ve got to focus on what?s urgent and important. You?ve seen the Eisenhower Matrix, haven?t you, Tom?
Tom: Yeah, absolutely.
Antonio: I’ve got actually about a bit — because as soon as you said that, I started looking at the matrix I got in front of me. I?ve got a big pin board which I created myself and it simply has “Urgent” and “Not Urgent” on the top going across. “Urgent” is on the left hand side, “Not urgent” on the right-hand side. And then it has over going from top to bottom, up at the top, it?s got “Important” on the top left and then “Not Important” on the bottom left.
So Ive got that — and just do a Google search for the Eisenhower Matrix. The key to having success I think as an entrepreneur is to focus in on those urgent and important items, making sure those are taken care of but also making time and planning to knock out the important things which are not urgent. Therefore, you?re not reacting to things, and to cut off anything that is not urgent and not important. That just you dont want to do and the things that are urgent and are not that important to realize that those are things which just are trying to suck — you definitely need to cut off and find a way to rid of that stuff.
So that has helped me a lot because staying focused and doing what’s important first. It’s very easy to get dragged into our email and spend four hours, six hours a day in your email, or to spend four hours a day on social media, thinking that you’re creating a business. I mean, because, gosh, it sure is sexy being on social media, where you’re publishing things on Facebook. Im not saying all social media is bad. If you’re on LinkedIn and you’re actually connecting and building relationships, that’s a great use of time.By the way, if you want to boost your visibility, you can even buy Twitter retweets from themarketingheaven.com.
But you have to look at it as a whole. You have to look at, okay, am I neglecting anything else? Do I have a home base? Am I spending a lot of time trying to build up skills which honestly — and Ive heard some people say education is always a great thing. Not always because you can fall into — just go into a library and randomly grabbing books and spending all day reading them. Well, thats not the best use of your time.
So youve got to figure out what is important and urgent for you, what is important and non-urgent, and make sure that youre focused in on those and doing it in a way so that you get less things that are urgent and important and youre just getting done what is important.
Okay, so lets go — are you cool to go with another question, Tom?
Tom: Yeah, let?s do it. I think that was great.
Antonio: Okay, cool. All right. “My biggest pain point right now is figuring out how to monetize. I think I?m creating good content and I?m reaching out to try to grow my readership. So soon, I?ll have some traffic.” Right now, he doesn?t have too many page views. It looks like he?s got maybe a couple of hundred a month. So we?re not talking a whole lot of traffic here. He?s trying to figure out, okay, how does he get this going?
This is a guy that?s starting a company. He?s got an online website and he?s saying, “Antonio, you told me in the webinar that I should make my business plan but other than creating inspiring content, I?m not sure where to start. How do you make money encouraging people to do the things they?re afraid of? A book seems like the logical place to start, but how do I start bringing money in while I?m working on it?”
So first off, I want to congratulate the gentleman for actually getting started. Getting ten people a day to your website is actually a lot of work. It’s funny; once you get to 10,000 people a day, going from 10,000 to 20,000 isn?t as difficult, in my opinion, as getting those first ten. I know that sounds kind of crazy but when you go for that 10,000 to 20,000, sometimes it?s simply because you have a post that gets picked up by a larger website. But the thing is if you?re at 10,000, you?re already getting — I’m past that point. I’ve got a website that gets quite a bit of traffic so I speak from experience. I write with the Art of Manliness and on a daily basis, that website gets about a hundred —
Tom: Millions, right?
Antonio: What?s that? About a hundred and —
Tom: It gets like millions a year.
Antonio: Yeah, it gets around 15 million views a month. So that one gets quite a bit, anywhere from 300,000 to well over half a million views a day. But the thing is it all starts with one. So I like what this guy has done because when you need to get to ten views, you?ve got to convince friends, family. Those are the people who you?re getting over there. It?s kind of rattling because you?ve got to share this with other people and you?ve got to put yourself out there. But when it comes to monetizing, your friends and your family aren?t going to be the ones to probably buy something from you.
He’s got a lot of questions in here but I would say the best thing that he?s done is he got started. The next thing — and I?m very happy to see he?s starting to focus in — is realizing it?s never too early to start to monetize. That shouldn?t be a bad word.
I think a lot of us guys in the military, we think of somehow making money as maybe a bad thing because we didn?t join the service to make money. We joined and we wanted to serve our country. We wanted the training. We were excited about getting to go blow things up. We wanted to fly jets. We wanted to drive tanks. We wanted to jump out of helicopters and get paid for it.
But making money, I think there?s a lot of feelings in society that somehow we are taking scarce resources from one person and adding it to another one. It?s that whole mindset of scarcity. Really what money is and what you should think about with monetizing is it?s a liquid form of value and that liquid form allows you to measure. If you think of it like a game, it allows you to see how much what you create is valued by somebody else.
Does that make sense, Tom?
Tom: Yeah, I think it makes perfect sense.
Antonio: And by doing it that way, you want to find out — and that leads to his question about how do you make money encouraging people to do the things they are afraid of? I don?t know if you can actually make money encouraging people to do the things they are afraid of. I actually feel that even the way he?s worded that, that there may not be a monetization potential there. However, if he reworded this and he said, “How do you help people discover that they are stronger than what they think they are?” or something like that because that?s one of the reasons we do things that we?re afraid of is we want to test ourselves. We want to challenge ourselves.
So immediately, I?m thinking, okay, well, let?s look at someone who?s doing that really successfully and let?s look at — you don?t have to recreate the wheel. You can look at successful businesses, those guys that do — what is it? There was like warrior runs. What are some of these other ones? You?ve seen them, Tom. right?
Tom: Yeah, like Warrior Dash and Ragnarok and all these, and then the Tough Mudder.
Antonio: The Tough Mudder, that was the one I was — so yeah, these things like Tough Mudder, I mean if you think about what you just said there, Tough Mudder is doing that but they?re doing that in a fun way. How many people do Tough Mudder alone? Whenever I see pictures, people are doing it in groups.
So what you do is you figure out like — you don?t have to figure out anything. You get a general idea of where you want to go and what you want to do and you look at, okay, what is working for other people? But you don?t stop there. You actually then make the decision that you?re going to reach out to. And it could be something. You don?t necessarily reach out to the guys at Tough Mudder. They?re going to be hard to reach. But you know what? I bet they?ve done interviews. I bet they?ve written about their experience. And all of a sudden, you start diving in there and you look at that.
But that is where you get started is again, you look at someone that?s running with this and you pull back and you, say, okay, how can I learn from them? What can I do to imitate? Where is some low-hanging fruit? Perhaps there is a way for me to monetize and go after. But you did bring up the book. Book seems like a logical place to start.
What do you think, Tom? You?ve got a publishing company. Do you think books are where you?re going to make all your money?
Tom: No. And I did start a publishing company so I?m well versed on this, at least well enough to recognize that a book by itself is not going to — it’s probably not the monetization that this person is thinking of when he thinks about achieving financial freedom, for example. One book is probably not going to do it. In fact, the power of a book is in the idea or the message you can spread but the revenue numbers aren?t really in books. That?s pretty clear once you actually go on and look around and realize there are much higher margin, higher revenue style products, digital or even physical as well, that make a lot more sense from a business standpoint.
So I don?t say that you shouldn?t write a book, but I think it?s just an understanding of where does that book fit in the dynamic of what you do. So in the case of certain publishing and what we publish, books are one aspect of it but everything I create I want to have something that there?s an upsell to, that there is something higher margin or higher value to the customer beyond the book. I think books are important. I love books, trust me, but you?re not going to — there is just not simply a business that you can really make a killing off of.
I think that’s why it?s important if you want to do the book route, it’s because you?re passionate about writing, it?s because you?re passionate about spreading ideas. But it?s purely from monetization standpoint, you got to start thinking outside the box and say, no, it?s just because the book is easy and you can make a digital and then there?s very little marginal cost to it. It doesn?t mean that it?s a great avenue for you.
I think it?s coming back to what you said, Antonio, finding what is the problem right now that these people face, what are the solutions that people are already choosing or solutions that they?re paying for right now. Maybe it?s Tough Mudder. So if that?s the case, maybe you can create a similar style thing that?s just easier for beginners to accept. Touch Mudder?s are kind of intimidating to a lot of people. So what about like families? What about like moms and stuff like that? I don?t know. This is just a random thing off the top of my head, but maybe that?s an idea that you could then run with and try to validate.
I hope that answers your question.
Antonio: I love it. When you?re creating something, find the pain point and solve the pain point. Solve the problem. Don?t be vitamins. I used to have a business coach — he was a business professor when I was at the University of Texas and his name is Doggett, John Doggett. He would always say don?t be vitamins. Vitamins you don?t take one day, you?re fine. You?re on vacation. You can skip for a week. Oh, well, you?ve missed your vitamins. If you got a migraine headache, you are going to seek out; you?re going to walk a mile to get to that store to get that headache medicine because it?s just a throbbing pain.
So find the throbbing pain that your target customer has and start to solve those problems versus trying to make money by selling them something that they may not necessarily be willing to pay for. They may like the idea but are they willing to give their hard-earned dollars for that.
Okay, Tom, I know we?re running out of time here so let?s go ahead and maybe wrap things up. I want to really encourage people to come over and join us on one of our live training events at High Speed Elite or just go over to High Speed Low Drag, grab our free e-book if they haven?t done that, 101 ways to transition successfully out of the military. If you?re five years out, you will find actually things on this checklist which still apply to you as a veteran.
Tom: Absolutely. And again, just to reiterate, it?s highspeedlowdrag.org or highspeedelite.com. If you go to highspeedelite.com right now, there is a signup where you can join us for a free live training and you?ll get to hang out with Antonio, John and myself. You?ll get to ask anyone of us questions. I think that?s pretty awesome just a standalone offer. In my opinion, to get the chance to hang out with you, Antonio and John is pretty incredible. So I really highly encourage people to go check it out.
Antonio: Thanks, Tom. I?ll send you the bill.
Tom: Perfect.
Antonio: All right, guys. We?ll see you in the next episode. Take care. Bye-bye.
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