Breaking the Chokehold: 7 Simple Steps to Bust Into the Life and Business You Love

By Doug Howorko

Would you like to create the income, lifestyle, and freedom you want?

If so, you've come to the right place. In "Breaking the Chokehold" you'll learn to become the best version of you– a successful entrepreneur living with passion and on your own terms. It's time to cut through the fear that is holding you back and attack your opportunities. In this book you'll find 7 simple steps you can take to gain insight, harness a winning mindset, and start designing the life and business you love.

Doug Howorko will teach you how to embrace opportunities in the digital economy and launch a successful side hustle. With interactive elements and opportunities to think deeply about your goals and take massive action, read with fair warning: If you lack the courage to change, this book won't help you. But if you're ready to fight for your best life... then lets begin.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Apr 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781777424824

Book preview

Published by

Doug Howorko

https://zaggtime.com

Copyright 2021 Doug Howorko

Printed in the United States of America

Title: Breaking the Chokehold

Description: First edition | Saskatchewan: Doug Howorko, 2021

First Edition: January 2021

ISBN 978-1-7774248-2-4

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty

While the authors have used their best efforts in preparing this report, they make no representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents and specifically disclaim any implied warranties. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. The authors shall not be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to all entrepreneurs living the freedom lifestyle - especially the ones people think just got lucky!

Because what people don’t see are all the emotional chokeholds and painful experiences freedom-preneurs have to overcome: all the struggle, rejection, criticism, empty bank accounts, and lonely nights invested in making their vision a reality.

Freedom-preneurs are my heroes. They have true grit in that they are prepared to pay the price to get paid the price (the income, lifestyle, and freedom they want). They commit to make their dream come alive just as much as they want to breathe.

Freedom-preneurs step up every day: they work hard every day, they solve problems every day, they improve every day, they add value to others every day, and they do this even when they feel like quitting.

I salute the freedom-preneurs who have taken a chance, stuck it through and designed the life and business they love. And now, may this come true for you too.

Contents

Preface

Endorsements And Accolades

Acknowledgements

Why I Wrote This Book

To encourage you to break your chokehold(s)

To share the good, the bad and the ugly

To inform you that change means changing

To harness your frustration as fuel for freedom

To help you escape from employee to entrepreneur

Why You Should Read This Book

To embrace crisis as an opportunity in disguise

To rise from the intersection of pain and urgency

To learn your best life starts with a decision

To be one of the few

To implement the seven simple steps

What to expect from this book

How To Know You Have A Chokehold

Chokehold #1: Golden handcuffs

Chokehold #2: Limited financial resources

Chokehold #3: Limited time and selfishness

Break through chokeholds for your best life

Call To Action

Step 1: Wake Up, Shake Up And Bake Up

I was pretty conventional - until my breakthrough

WAKE UP: Find your true self and purpose

Choose to experience more

SHAKE UP: Breakthrough and harness courage

Good isn’t enough for a full life

You can only access the energy you use

Escaping requires mental strength

Work the job like a business owner

Success is a gradual process

Beat fear by using it

Surround yourself with support

BAKE UP: Get a strong why, take action, no regret

Mud becomes strong when baked up

No more hokey-pokey

Up your attitude and drive with your why

Pain plus urgency explodes motivation

Become a gladiator

Visualize, feel and manifest your perfect day

Get quick wins to build momentum

Call to Action

Step 2: Unleash Your Inner Entrepreneur

A scarcity mindset makes you do crazy things

The four desires that can fuel your escape

Transition from intrapreneur to entrepreneur

Past failures reveal your inner entrepreneur

Use your day job to fund your freedom business

Escape tips you can use

Ready to be an entrepreneur?

Characteristics of a successful entrepreneur

Run toward the right business opportunity

Five considerations to find the right business

Call to Action

Step 3: Embrace The Digital Economy

Trends in today’s digital economy

The internet is a virtual cash machine

The laptop lifestyle is within your reach

Going for freedom, flexibility, and opportunity

Too-good-to-be-true aspects of digital business

Transition from technophobe to techno-geek

Affiliate marketing is a model for anyone

Tap into the knowledge broker industry

Discover your super power

Five ways to accelerate your digital success

Call to Action

Step 4: Map Your Business Success

Bigger is not always better

My inexperience was seduced into failure

Failing to plan is planning to fail

Tips for writing a business plan

The seven pillars of business mapping

Call to Action

Step 5: Harness Your Millionaire Mindset

Near wins are the best teachers

Master perception for wealth and abundance

Defining the millionaire mindset

Characteristics of the millionaire mindset

Raise the BAR (Beliefs, Actions, and Results)

Decide and act fast

Think independently

Take expert advice but make your own decisions

Add value to others first; profit second

Think big

Focus

Leverage resources

Love learning

Love teaching

Persist

Call to Action

Step 6: Declutter And Get Stuff Done

Master time for the important things

The CLEAN System

Information overwhelm

Be a high performer

Respect your time and value

Three drivers for results

Get lofty goals and a good scorecard

Call to Action

Step 7: Live Energized

You can’t drive a Ferrari without gas

Feeling and looking good fuels living good

You grow only as high as your energy level

Your identity is shaped by how healthy you are

Nutritional supplements for complete balance

Build physical strength and better skin

Live a balanced lifestyle

Call to Action

Summary

Sources

Hire Doug To Speak At Your Next Event!

About the Author

Preface

You never know where your idea is going to go, but you’ve got a guarantee that it won’t go anywhere unless you share it. Put it out there. Sing the song. Write the book. Start the business. There’s a whole world waiting for your idea.

- Jon Acuff, author

Y

ou and I

are similar. Not long ago, I was sitting where you are now in that I wanted to break the chokeholds of my job and current life circumstances to live the life of my dreams as a freedom entrepreneur, or freedom-preneur. I wanted to improve, be better, have a fuller life. I wanted that for me, and now I want it for you too - to live the best life possible.

Back then, anyone looking in from the outside would have thought I was successful, happy, and killing it. But the reality is I was dying. My situation was a life of mediocrity. I had a job that (just) paid the bills. I was depressed, angry, and frustrated because I knew I could experience more. I knew I hadn’t found my purpose. I wasn’t maximizing my potential. I wasn’t living with passion. And I wasn’t exploring the gifts of the world. I knew I wasn’t fulfilling and experiencing what I was here to do.

I didn’t have a clear picture of exactly what I wanted, but I knew in my heart what I didn’t want… mind-numbing work, trapped in the standard 9-5 rat race, putting in crazy hours to make somebody else’s dream come true, and making just enough money to get by every month.

The trouble with being in the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.

- Lilly Tomlin, actress, comedian, writer, singer and producer

The pain of living those chokeholds was intense. It kept me thinking about what it would take to make the money I wanted with less work, more free time, and a better-quality lifestyle. I realized things were blocking me, limiting me, keeping me small… and that we are conditioned into letting these things strangle us. We live in chokeholds that paralyze movement toward living a better life if it means upsetting the system. We are socialized to believe that ‘just enough’ is what we should have, and not to expect more from life.

Maybe it’s the mixed bits of life wisdom passed down through generations about what’s right for us - if you work harder, things will turn around. Or the only path in life is to go to school, get an education, and then get a job. Or that it’s too risky to live your passion, so you are better to leave your talents and crazy dreams behind. Maybe it’s our fears, self-doubts, and limiting beliefs preventing us from taking a chance on something better. Just like you might be experiencing this now, I also experienced it. But the pain pushed me into fighting for my dreams and researching a solution.

There was a voice in my head urging me to go another direction, even if I didn’t know what that meant or where it would take me. It’s just like the movie, "Field of Dreams," where the main character, played by Kevin Costner, hears a voice in his head encouraging him to travel all over the USA to meet various people to learn from, and eventually, he finds his purpose… to build a baseball field in his farmyard. He makes sacrifices, takes action, and becomes resourceful as he figures out how to build the baseball field. The journey yields incredible deep connections and personal growth beyond anything he could have predicted. And the same is true for us as budding freedom-preneurs.

We each have to harness courage and be crazy enough to listen to that inner voice, follow the dream and see it through – even when it goes against what everyone is doing or saying is right.

I believe we have the drive to be significant, to do something that matters, to live and work from our joy. We are here to live a unique purpose and realize our highest potential. To some, like you and I, that means breaking the conventional chokeholds designed to keep us living in conformity to accepted social norms so we can live from passion, be in business and experience our dream income, lifestyle and personal freedom.

The meaning and purpose behind some events are unknowable. This is the ultimate test of our faith. Life happens for us, not to us.

- Anthony Robbins, personal mastery teacher

My inner voice told me to design my life and income-generator (business), to escape the world of being employed and become a freedom-preneur by working and living on my terms. My inner voice also said making money and creating freedom is not about working harder - it’s about working smarter, doing what you love, and making money while you sleep.

I began by taking one small step at a time, learning from the right people who could help me become more entrepreneurial. I invested time and energy into acquiring knowledge through books, podcasts, and training programs, pursuing money-making opportunities to get results, and using technology to automate a business. I role-modeled the tips, tactics, and tools that had accelerated the success of other freedom-preneurs.

Although I didn’t know it at the time, this process led me to discover the seven steps of becoming a successful freedom-preneur.

Wake up, shake up, and bake up. It’s about learning and implementing essential personal development practices and techniques to get the right mindset for achievement. This initial step sets the mental stage for breaking chokeholds.

Unleash your inner entrepreneur. We all have the opportunity to build a passion-based side hustle while working a full-time job. You just need to decide so and do it.

Embrace the digital economy. When you have online marketing skills, you can run a business from anywhere in the world with a laptop and an internet connection.

Map your business success. Create a practical business map to continually strategize direction and activities to ensure your business is successful, competitive, and profitable.

Harness your millionaire mindset. What is created in the real world is a manifestation of mindset. Millionaires do business differently, and we need to role model their strategies.

Declutter and get stuff done. Set priorities to be more efficient and productive with what is important to you, what really matters. Cleaning up life ‘noise’ will create more free time to focus on business-building activities.

Live energized. Entrepreneuring and having it all takes energy. Getting healthy will give you the power to do it all – be a good parent, stay fit, have a social life, work your job while building a business, and develop the mindset to break chokehold(s) at last.