CJ Cornell: Persistence vs Progress, Self-Awareness, and Entrepreneurial Wisdom

Diana White: Hello? Welcome to 10 Lessons Learned, where we talk to leaders and luminaries from all over the world to dispense wisdom for career, business, and life in order to make the world wiser lesson by lesson.
My name is Diana White, and I’m your host for this episode. I’ve got a question for you all. Have you ever struggled with achieving a goal battling obstacle after obstacle while still not seeing the needle move?
Some may say persistence is key.
Our guest has another take on this. Just wait till you hear about this lesson. Our returning guest today is CJ Cornell. Today CJ will provide insight into new lessons he’s learned since our last time together on the show. I’m excited to share them with you [00:01:00] and to hear what CJ is currently working on.
CJ, welcome back to the show. Give everyone a refresher of your background.
CJ Cornell: Yeah, I will. But first, hi Diana. Good to see again. And, uh, happy to be here. Uh, it’s actually funny, uh, I. I figure how long ago I, when I did this, uh, first, but, uh, my lessons, uh, at that time were not my life lessons. There were lessons about mentorship. So, I’m doing this for the first time, and, uh, it’s a little bit, uh, uh, of a, of a lifelong e exercise to reflect on what I’ve learned in life and, uh.
It. I am sad to say I really struggled to come up with 10 things that I’ve learned in life, but I did. Okay. Uh, so anyway, uh, for those who don’t know me, I’m CJ Cornell, uh, let’s see where do I start? I’ve been an entrepreneur for most of my life, um, but, uh, educated, uh, two degrees as an um. Engineer and, uh, later a PhD and became a [00:02:00] professor at Arizona State University, uh, sort of starting their entrepreneurship program.
Uh, been a mentor and advisor, uh, particularly involved with the Arizona Commerce Authority and the Kauffman Foundation. Recently have been spending the past several years writing quite a bit. Um, had a book out a few years ago called The Age of Entrepreneurship. My second or third, I don’t remember. Um, and then, uh, recently, uh, uh, shifted and wrote, uh, a bunch of children’s books.
Uh, two series, one of them on Entrepreneurship for children, and we’ll talk about that a little bit later. But that’s who I am and what I do these days.
Diana White: Viewers and listeners, you know, you have a prolific career when you say, I, I can’t remember how many books I’ve written. Love it. I love it. Uh, your lessons are amazing and let’s get right into number one.

Lesson 1: Complete Things

Diana White: Lesson number one, complete things starting creates energy. [00:03:00] Finishing creates results. The world only responds to what actually gets completed.I love that, CJ, tell me more about it.
CJ Cornell: Uh, yeah, that’s been a mantra my whole life. It doesn’t mean I lived it, but it’s been a mantra my whole life of, you know, it, it’s not enough that you’re working on cool things and toiling away at it, finishing it, Even if, if it’s not perfect the way you wanted it, getting integration, getting something out there.
uh,
Otherwise, it doesn’t count actually about how much time you’re spending on it, and I, I wish I’d lived that more and learned it earlier.
Diana White: So true. I, I remember having a client who was working on an application that would, um, revolutionize how accounting is done. And I remember asking well. How long have you been working on this? How long has it been in beta? And they said 10 years. And I said, when are you going to actually put it out there to the world?
It’s not ready yet. [00:04:00] And I just thought that was so funny. How, when will it be ready? 10 years is a long time.

Lesson 2: Knowing Who You Are

Diana White: Lesson number two, knowing who you are and what you want is more powerful than being smart, skilled, or ambitious.
CJ Cornell: Well, it, you know, for me, it, it, it, uh, it, it, it took a little while to have my focus of what I, you know, who I was and what I wanted out of life. You know, at first, I thought I was going to be an engineer and an academic, and then that shifted. But I’ll tell you the people that find that out early, what their calling is, what they really want, uh.
Very powerful. It’s very powerful to, uh, meet somebody or to be somebody who knows exactly who they are and what they want, and they’re going after it. And so, it, it’s not a crime that if you don’t know, but that should be your mission is to find out, especially if you’re younger, it’s to try things. Um, you know, not to get, [00:05:00] you know, latch onto the first interesting thing.
But, uh, once you find that out, what your calling is, and it, it shouldn’t be what your parents say it is or what other people say it is, but, uh, that’s where your passion is. Don’t follow your passion. You should find your passion, and that’s, that’s about knowing who you are and what you want.
Diana White: You know what CJ I, I feel like there are a lot of people that put. Way more stock into a particular talent, an innate talent, and, and make that the deciding factor as opposed to really figuring out what they love. So, I’ll, I’ll give you an example. Somebody that’s really, really great at singing or somebody that’s really, really great at basketball or somebody that’s really, really great at drawing, all of a sudden now that is for the world, their life’s passion and that’s what they should pursue, but.
What about the rest of us that don’t have an innate talent like that? We, we’ve got to figure out what we really want to do, right? And so I [00:06:00] think that, and, and, and even the people that have those skills, I know a lot of people who are doing amazing things and then you find out that they have this just raw talent that they’ve had all their lives, and you’re like, oh my gosh, why didn’t you pursue this?
And they’re like, oh no, I love it. But that wasn’t what I wanted to pursue.
CJ Cornell: Well, I’m going to say a phrase that, uh, um, mostly applies here, but it’s a, it’s a complete phrase. Uh, we, which is, uh, skill does what it’s been taught. Talent does what it can, and genius does what it must. And, and so, uh, but I, I’m, I’ve always been a little sceptical of talent, and I’ll tell you why. Um, is, let’s say you had a real talent for Excel spreadsheets.
Okay. You’re really good at it. You had a real talent for it. And you work in an organization so you’re good at it. People love what you do, and they’re always going to come to you with Excel spreadsheets, alright? And you’re going to be inundated with Excel spreadsheets. And when it comes time for [00:07:00] promotions, no one’s going to want to promote you because you’re the guy who does Excel spreadsheets.
Alright? And so that talent all of a sudden becomes an anchor. Okay. Uh, if you have a talent for one thing, uh, there, there’s a phrase that, uh, the, the recently departed Scott Adams, uh, used to say, which is called a talent stack that’s a little bit different, which is integrating different talents. You don’t have to be good at any one thing.
But you, if you start becoming somewhat good at a number of things, now you become really useful, not just to other people, but to yourself. Uh, because again, if you’re going in depth and focusing, yeah, you become an expert, that’s great if that’s what you want to do, but that means you can’t do anything else.
And so, uh, that, that’s the problem sometimes with talent is that you, you start doing what you have a knack for, and you end up not exploring other areas. And, uh, that’s why I’m a little, you know, sceptical of talent [00:08:00] and, uh, uh, just not only the word, but uh, the usefulness of just talent, uh, with, without denigrating anyone with a real, real innate talent, let’s say for physical, something physical, uh, sports or so.
But, uh, you know, even that. Uh, unless you’re physically disabled, you can develop a talent for different things like that. Um, and we could go into depth on that, a whole other podcast one day.
Diana White: I know, I, I could have you back on this show again and again and again, so we’ve got something else to talk about for the next time you’re on lesson number three.

Lesson 3: Understanding the Problem

Diana White: Understanding the problem is almost always more powerful than being able to deliver the solution. I resonated with this so much.
Talk to me about it.
CJ Cornell: Well, uh, that, that first came from my advice to entrepreneurs, all entrepreneurs, but it. Much larger than that. So, for entrepreneurs, they would come with a great solution to a problem, and I would [00:09:00] always say, you know, no, be the expert in the problem, not the solution. Uh, understanding the problem means understanding all the surrounding issues.
So, a, a great example is in the nineties, uh, Microsoft, Google, and Apple. Uh, in the nineties, you know, saw digital television and they looked at the cable companies and they said, well, how hard can it be? You know, we’re better at technology, we’re better. We can come out with a set top box and, uh, we’ll take over.
And it, it cost them collectively probably about $50 billion to, uh, learn that lesson, that having a better solution. Meant nothing. because they didn’t understand the problems of the cable industry. They didn’t understand the different nuances of it, whereas Comcast and the others did. Now it took about, uh, maybe 10 to 15 years and eventually Apple and Google and all of that prevailed, but it cost them a [00:10:00] lot because they focused on the solution. They did not focus on understanding the problem. And that’s a persistent one with entrepreneurs. But the same thing is, you know, you walk in, let’s say you’re a consultant. You walk in and you say, look, I’ve got this method, I’ve got this method, I’ve got this method.
It works every time. They don’t care. They want to know that you understand the problem, and you can extrapolate that to almost anything, even relationships. I’m married. My wife tells me, uh, you know, something’s bothering her. Does she want to hear the solution from me? No. She wants to know I understand the problem.
Okay. And so that, that’s advice that I live by quite often.
Diana White: Well, you, you’re a wise man, CJ. You’re a wise man. Now lesson number four goes back to what we talked about with talent and skill, and I love that it that it goes full circle.

Lesson 4: Hands-On Skills

Diana White: Lesson number four. Having hands-on skills and expertise is often as much of a curse as an advantage.
CJ Cornell: Now [00:11:00] I’ve already, uh, sort of covered that a little bit with, let’s say, knowing Excel. And I bring that up because I think there was my, my short stint in corporate life, I did know Excel pretty well, and they looked at me as the Excel guy rather than someone. But, uh, I can, I can extrapolate that even further.
Uh, I, I’m pretty good hands. And the problem is in, in almost every venture is I started to do things myself, uh, instead of delegating it to other people instead of using my time for the things that were critical Instead thinking just because I can do it doesn’t mean I should do it. Okay. And the, for instance in the recent children’s books, well, yeah.
You know, the illustration to layout, Hey, I’m really good at that stuff. You know, the, the tools and all that. But I spent so much time doing that, whereas I could have just spent so, you know, somebody on Fiverr for a few bucks to do it. Uh, and unfortunately when we talk about persistence, it, it takes a while to realize that you shouldn’t be doing those things. [00:12:00]
Uh, and you should be looking at, you know, delegating or using tools for the things that you should, you know, spend all the time on and doing what’s core, you know, for your goal.
Diana White: that is such a key point to make is that even if you can do it. Um, if you have the means, uh, and you definitely have something else that you need to work on that nobody else can do, you should probably go ahead and work on that thing and pay somebody to work on the thing that even though you know how to do it, it, it is not the, the expertise that you really need to focus on.
And I, I think it’s so important. And also, the other side of that is you give somebody else work.
Like, uh, you give somebody the chance to show their work and build their portfolio and earn a living wage, that’s an amazing thing.
CJ Cornell: Wow.
I never thought of that part of it, and that, uh, probably tells you a lot about me, but.

Lesson 5: Self-Awareness

Diana White: Well, let’s go on to lesson number five. Self-awareness [00:13:00] is a superpower. Being present is rare. So true. Most people are running scripts unconsciously.
CJ Cornell: Oh boy. Uh, yeah, this has been a lifelong pursuit of mine. I spent, uh, uh, quite a number of years in the martial arts. Where, um, actually more than 25 years and actually had a school, for a while. But, uh, when you do martial arts, you, you certainly overlap with some of the philosophies, particularly Zen about being in the moment, being present.
Now, that’s great for life, but in business it’s even more important because most people are going on autopilot. They, you know, you ever, you ever walk out of a meeting or a negotiation and in the car on the way home, you think of all the great things you should have said. Uh, and, and, and the great responses.
And you want to turn around just like, uh, George Costanza and Seinfeld. You want to turn around and go back and, and say the cool thing? Well, uh, and also being present means listening to the other person shutting up. Um, it it’s a lifelong thing. I’m not good at it. [00:14:00] I, I try to be, I try to have so many reminders.
Uh, for it. Uh, but, but it also means being present even when you’re alone being present, when you are spinning your wheels, when you are, uh, be being distracted. And it’s not a solution to everything, but at least it helps you. Uh, I’m going to say cope, but it helps you in the moment, do the right thing instead of having a regret later on that you didn’t say or do the right thing.
When I said the right thing, right thing for you, you know, that, that, uh, that will make you satisfied with your behavior and your performance. So, uh, and you know, frankly, if you ever talk with somebody, whether they’re in a business meeting or personally, and they seem to be triggered by something or you know, you say something and then they go off on a, that’s the opposite.
They are not present. they are on autopilot and you can’t stop them. You want to, but you can’t stop them. You can only control your own self-awareness and presence and how you respond to things. And, uh, you know, that’s a lifelong pursuit. I [00:15:00] probably should have put that as number one actually.
Diana White: Well, I, uh, we’re, now we’re getting into the lesson that I teased about a little earlier to the audience. So, lesson number six.

Lesson 6: Persistence

Diana White: Persistence is not always heroic. Many people confuse endurance with progress. Learn to recognize futility Early. Grinding forever is its strength. Knowing when to persist and when to pivot is the real skill. Effort without progress isn’t grit. It’s feedback telling you to change your approach. If that is not one of the most powerful lessons we’ve had on this show, I don’t know what is.
CJ Cornell: Well, and I’ll, I’ll mention as a mentor and an advisor to many, many people, uh, I tend to be much better at dishing out advice than taking my own advice. Uh, but that is my, my advice to myself and others. Um, is, you know, as [00:16:00] a lifelong entrepreneur, you know, persistent, just keep on, you know, waking up and doing it and, and you know, just keeping at it, whether it’s for 18 hours a day or not giving up.
And it sounded great, but on the other hand. There are indeed times not to give up, but to know when you’re spinning your wheels, knowing when something is, uh, is futile and futility is not giving up because you can’t control everything. So, if let’s say you’re just trying to sell something to a particular person or a company.
And you may not know, but there, there’s been some directive, there’s no way that you’re ever going to get that. Well, persisting isn’t going to make it better. It’s, it’s going to just, uh, you know, waste your time. Now the opposite is, of course, giving up too easily, but, uh, that, that, that’s easier to spot. It really is.
But you know, I, I’ve known, I know an entrepreneur who has, who had an idea for something and actually wasn’t a bad idea. He’s been persisting for [00:17:00] 30 years at it. And, just keeping at not changing, that’s the point, but not changing, uh, you know, to the point where it almost cost him a marriage and cost him, you know, many pay checks and all that.
And, you know, in the beginning when I first met him, it was only five years, and it was admirable. 30 years. it, again, it’s not that he should give up, but he should change the focus of where he is putting his energy. And, uh, and by the way, I do this all the time, whether it’s, uh, okay, there’s a tool that should be able to achieve something I want, and it should take five minutes, okay?
15 hours later, I’m still at it because it still should take only five minutes. Okay, well, you know, when should I give up? When should I try something else? Because it’s obviously while it should work, it’s obviously not for me right now. And to have the self-awareness and presence to do that. Um, and maybe almost a little humility [00:18:00] because you don’t want to admit that you just spend 15 hours on something that you’re not, uh, the time you’re not going to get back.
But if you keep at it, it’s going to get worse. That’s, uh, that’s also the, the sunk cost fallacy, right? You know, we’ve already put hours in what’s another two? And that again, takes a credible amount of self-awareness to know when Well, your persistent, it’s not that you shouldn’t persist, but in this, at this point in time, it’s not time well spent and to move on to a different path.
Diana White: And I don’t know if you did this on purpose, but I’m going to run with it. You’ve got your lessons here. Let’s talk about what we’ve learned so far. If you commit to knowing who you are. If you commit to understanding the problem, you know you have the skillsets and if you’re self-aware, it’s quite easy for you to figure out on your own when you’ve given enough to this particular task in this way and where you need to pivot. [00:19:00]
I think that’s absolutely phenomenal. Like you literally laid out a blueprint in the first, uh, six lessons. On, on that. I, I love it, but only CJ could do that. Only CJ could do that.

Lesson 7: Patience

Diana White: Lesson number seven, patience does not equal inaction. Some things need time to mature while others are ruined if rushed and waiting for the right moment is a Zen skill, oh my goodness.
Now you and I talk about the Zen a lot, and from your martial arts training, you’ve got the Zen. Please elaborate on that one.
one.
CJ Cornell: Um, yeah, well, I’m, I’m not going to go into Zen direction because that could be too abstract, but I’ll say this is that this is as much about timing than anything else. And I’ll tell you, some of the most successful people, uh, have a great sense of timing. A lot of people say that’s luck, but, but you know, knowing [00:20:00] when the right moment is, is another superpower, but also patience. Patience is again, so if something’s not working for you, I may move on to something else. It doesn’t mean I’m giving up. It means it’s not the right moment. Alright? And I’m going to move on to something else, and it may turn around where the right moment comes along and what I had been persisting on a year or two earlier.
Now it’s the right time for, I know I’m saying that a little convoluted, um, but I’ll say it, you know, a, a different way. Is, uh, sometimes, you know, again, this is the opposite of persistence. Sometimes keeping on working on something and just, trying to rush it is going to make it worse as, as opposed to putting aside and saying it’s not the right time.
Uh, I’ll give you an interesting example. Recently for me, um, again, writing these children’s books. I actually started them about three years ago. And writing a children’s book, if you’re, if you know how to write it, it’s not that hard. Yeah, because there’s not that many words. It’s actually [00:21:00] the, uh, the illustrations that take a long time and, you know, either.
And at first, I tried to pay and find somebody, and that was frustrating. And then AI came around. And it’s like, oh, look at all this. I can just put it in, and it will generate it for me. And that after a year of doing that, I find, you know, and, and, and, uh, persisting in a non-heroic way, I realized, you know what?
It is not ready for prime time yet. And if I continue to spin my wheels on this, no. So, I did something else for the next two years. And I was just waiting, waiting and waiting. And then finally in December, all of a sudden new versions of all this AI came out and what took me a year of spinning my wheels to do took a week.
I. Okay. Uh, everything I needed to do, I got done within a week, whereas it took me a year before, just awful. I mean, I’m talking like 10 hours a day, and then I just had to be patient for it to catch up. [00:22:00] And within a week it was done. And within month, my, my four books were done. And that wasn’t from persistence or talent.
It was from being patient, waiting for the right time.

Lesson 8: Learn to Listen

Diana White: That’s amazing. Lesson number eight. Learn to really listen, to listen for what isn’t being said. Be keenly aware of how people are communicating as much as what they are communicating.
CJ Cornell: Well, this is not surprising to a lot of people that listening skills are really, really important. And, um, for most of my life I’ve been a very bad listener. Uh, most of that has been yes, through a personal failing. But the other part is, is because, uh, if you ever meet me, you’ll know that I’m, uh, very hearing impaired, um, even though I, I wear hearing aids.
But what that turned out to be a, A blessing in a way because it taught me two things. One is I have to listen even more carefully because I can’t hear you, and number two is it may be a lot [00:23:00] more sensitive to the body language and the way things are being said, particularly when I can’t hear and, and after a while I realized that I was actually getting more out of the conversation by not just hearing the words. And frankly, half the time I couldn’t hear the words, but by watching how people, uh, the way they said things, but the body language, the eyes, the, the, the, the gestures, et cetera. And so many times when people were saying yes, yes, yes to something and their enthusiasm.
I could look at them and say, no, they don’t really mean this. And they, you know, and that, that type of skillset. Now there are others who are just so natural at it, and I’m envious, really so natural at it. But listening is also that type of skill is great, because you can hone in on what people really want, particularly if they’re a customer or if you’re an entrepreneur and you want to come up with a solution, there’s a different, uh, you know, Steve Jobs always do this.
There’s a difference between what people say and what they [00:24:00] do, and there’s a difference between what customers say they want. And what they really want. And that comes from really listening and that, that, that, when I say really listening, I don’t mean really hearing. I mean, you know, listening. because people are giving you cues, coded messages all the time.
And to be able to cut through that is another lifelong skill, not just a lesson, a lifelong skill.
Diana White: Yeah. You know, I, I worked retail for 30 years, right? And, and I always had this mantra, listen for comprehension with empathy. And if you can do that. Then you’ll get to the heart of what your customers need. And I think that that actually transcends into personal life as well. I’m so glad you put that lesson in.
and even in this day and age, when the world is technically closer together than ever before because of social media, we’ve still got a long way to go when it, in terms of [00:25:00] listening for comprehension and empathy, uh, we don’t hear each other still, which makes me sad.
Yeah.
CJ Cornell: Well, it, it’s interesting that you mentioned the empathy, but I, I left out one, uh, one, one lesson, which because you only, yes. For 10. But, uh, the, the, this one was, uh, an interesting. Realization for me, uh, it, it, it, it’s not an original thought. I mean, it comes from, uh, who, who said this? Most men lead lives of quiet desperation or something.
Well, uh, everyone you meet, no matter how successful they seem behind the scenes, there is always. A mesh. I mean, may, you know, we, we all have moments where maybe in our lives where things are, seem to be all together, but for the most part, you know, everybody behind is either, uh, uh, just unhappy with something, unsatisfied with something, uh, uh, anxious about something.
They have their insecurities. Um, and you never, you might never know it. But they have it and they’re acting [00:26:00] on it, that that’s the listening part. They’re acting on all of this, whether they’re desperately trying to hide it from you or not.

Lesson 9: People Aren’t Thinking About You

Diana White: So true. Lesson number nine, most people aren’t thinking about you. Almost everyone is insecure and far more focused on themselves than on judging you. And again, segue into what you just said, spot on.
CJ Cornell: That’s exactly, I think what I was just saying, I, I did, forgot that I put that as number nine. Yeah. Uh, you know, you, you, you, you think that someone is, uh. Not responding to an email because of some personal slight or some, you know, because they, they, they have an opinion of you and you know, they, they, it probably has nothing to do with you or somebody ignores you in a meeting or somebody says the wrong thing.
For the most part, I’ve learned that most of the time it’s not deliberate. They’re not, they’re thinking they’re all in their own head and they’re on autopilot. And not to take it personally, uh, you know, maybe 10% of the time. And maybe in certain situations there are, [00:27:00] you know, some people with vendettas.
But for the most part, uh, you know, and, and They’re also not thinking about you when you are trying to get their help. Um, and, and you, you think, oh, they, you know, they should be getting out of their way to help me. They’re not thinking about that either.
You know, the rare few, if they’re your friends, might, might do that. But for the most part, people are all inside their own heads with their own problems. Um, and unless you overlap with that, uh, they’re not really thinking that much about you. And again, I’m not talking about very close friends or family.
Okay.
Diana White: it’s one of the things, uh, you know, even in, in. Embarking on this podcast Endeavor. Uh, I’d never done anything like this before, and I never thought that I would be anywhere close to entertainment adjacent. And I spent, uh, my first year of recording episodes just putting all of these things in my head about what people were saying and thinking about this host.
And, uh, finally [00:28:00] I just said, you know what? I’m never going to know. So, I got to stop putting all of those things in my head. Which leads me to your last lesson, which I’m slowly, I’m not, I’m not great at it yet, but I’m getting there. CJ, lesson number 10.

Lesson 10: Your Fears Aren’t Real

Diana White: Most of your fears aren’t real. They just live in your head.
CJ Cornell: Yeah, that’s, that’s, uh, one that only comes with, with age. I think, um, you know, that the, the worst that you think is going to happen usually doesn’t, and sometimes when it does happen, it turns out to be a really good thing. And, uh, you know, sometimes I’ll, I’ll look back and let’s say relationships that I wanted to happen or didn’t happen.
And I, you know, and they, they, they just took up so much time in bothering me. It turns out to be the best thing because I’m, I’ve been married for 15 years and very happy. And it would, that would never have happened had any of those relationships worked out. But, uh, I’m going to mention something because I didn’t, I wrote it as a note to myself, uh, because [00:29:00] this is, this is where it comes from.
I’m a real big fan of it. It, it’s interesting as a. Engineer. I used to be a cubicle nerd, or at least headed that way, uh, out of college, uh, I probably was going to be Dilbert at one point. Um, and so. Uh, but then, uh, you know, the opposite happened. I, I just had a love of psychology and the human spirit, you know, the, the human psyche and all that, and ended up studying it like I would a transistor.
And there’s been some amazing lessons and experiments in this case. I wrote down a note to myself. There’s something called the Scars Experiment, and if you haven’t heard of it. Uh, it’s been done. It’s the top 20 experiments out there, so I’ll say it for your listeners. Uh, there was an experiment where what they did was they took people and they, they made them up, uh, on their faces with makeup artists, and they would put these ugly scars on their face, um, with the intention of having them go out into the, the public and the world and [00:30:00] experience the negative reactions, the discrimination, being ignored or being, uh, dismissed in meetings, et cetera, because they were disfigured or not attractive and, and before they went out to makeup artists and made sure that they were perfect and gave them one last, you know, wipe with the cloth before they went out. And yeah, the experiment, uh, looked like it was a success to a, to a person.
All these people said when they came back, it was terrible. People treated me terribly. They, they didn’t look at me. They, uh, dismissed me. They didn’t address me, you know, because of the way I looked. What they didn’t know is when, right before they went out, the last wipe that they gave them from the makeup artist, they took off the scars and the makeup.
So, all these people went out there the way they normally looked, not disfigured, nothing. And so, all of the reactions from the other people were in the heads of, of the, the people that thought they had the scars. They thought they were getting all, all the [00:31:00] negative reactions and they thought it was because of something that, uh, of that, the way they looked or who they were.
And it turned out not to be the case. It was all in their head. These people were not thinking of that. Their fears were not real. They were just imagining them all. And of course, uh, in life you would then act on that. You know, you, you would start, it would affect your self-worth, it would affect your actions, it would affect your success when in fact none of it was real.
And.
Diana White: true. I do love. That experiment. I thought that was a really good experiment. And, and also it segues back to your other lesson, right? Which is, uh, these people went out thinking that they had these scars and the world was judging them and looking at them, but most people aren’t even thinking about you.
I mean, it just goes back to it. Right? So, I just, every single time I talk to you, CJ, it’s a pleasure. Your lessons are great. Uh, tell us what you’re working on now and tell us where we can find you. You’ve [00:32:00] got the books coming out. Yeah. Talk about that a little bit.
CJ Cornell: Yeah. Uh, so I have, uh, just, just starting in the beginning of January, two separate children’s book series. Um. One is for, for children, uh, lessons. Uh, the first two books are, I’m holding them up, but, uh, it’s called, uh, daddy is an Entrepreneur and there’s a parallel book. Mommy is an entrepreneur and, uh, uh, this one is explaining Entrepreneurship, just a Small Children, uh, but it is part of a series.
The next follow up in that book is for a slightly older audience, eight to 12, uh, about. Uh, how entrepreneurs spot problems and come up with ideas and, uh, we call them, uh, OHS and has. Um, and that’s coming out within the next couple of weeks. Um, and then after that, it’s a workbook between parent and child, uh, for entrepreneurship.
And so, the first two books have just been released and the next two will come out in February. Then there’s a separate book called the Bailey Bear. Series. Uh, [00:33:00] Bailey is a precocious rescue Pomeranian, and, uh, the books are about life lessons, um, learned through the eyes of a little Pomeranian. So, the first one is about belonging and finding his way home.
Uh, the second book is Bailey Gets a Job and Tell Bailey Saves a, his hearing impaired dad from a fire and becomes a service dog. Uh, superhero. And the next book is, uh, after that, so those two are released right now. You can get them on Amazon. The next book is coming out in February, and that’s, uh, Bailey and the Bully, and where Bailey meets a bully in the dog park and how him and his little friends deal with bullies.
So there, there’s seven books in that series. The third one is coming out in February. And also, I’ve been very busy coming out the end of February. Uh, not a children’s book. It’s called The Startup Brain Trust. And it’s about modern startup mentorship. About mentorship for the 21st [00:34:00] century, about how it’s as deliberate and specific.
And the Lean Startup was for entrepreneurs. And, uh, this is again about mentorship for the 21st century, a framework for mentors and the entrepreneurs who work with mentors.
Diana White: I love it all. I want Bailey on my show. Bailey’s got some lessons. I want Bailey on my show.
CJ Cornell: right. Wish I had known. He’s sleeping right now.
Diana White: He is sleeping. Oh, that is wonderful. Well, let’s close this out. I’d love to thank our guest, CJ Cornell for joining us today.
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