Marcus Meurer: Yeah, I am born ready and ready to ignite!

John Lee Dumas: Yes! Marcus started the Global DNX – Digital Nomad – Movement. DNX enables you to work from anywhere and regain the power to decide on your jobs, your time, and your life.

Marcus, take a minute, fill in some gaps from that intro, and give us just a little glimpse of your personal life.

Marcus Meurer: All right. So, thanks for the invitation, John. I feel very honored and very blessed to share, hopefully, my wisdom with you, and thanks for that amazing intro. When I hear these words, I just become grateful how things are going and that I’m able to work from anywhere I want because this gives me the ultimate freedom to be in the most beautiful places and still being able to do business. I think you know what I’m talking about, as you moved also to the Caribbean just recently, right?

John Lee Dumas: Yeah, I’ve been here for about 18 months now.

Marcus Meurer: How is it for you? Is it working well?

John Lee Dumas: It’s definitely working well. I definitely love the opportunity of just picking up shop, and moving somewhere else, and turning that computer on, and being like, “You know what? Nothing’s really changed with my business except for where my location is right now.” That’s a pretty cool feeling.

Marcus Meurer: That’s interesting. These are the times we are living now. We have lots of great opportunities to take our business on the road, and to work from everywhere or to work from anywhere, and we just need the Internet for this. This is, more or less, my passion to inspire and motivate other people to work from anywhere and regain the power to decide on their jobs, their time, and their lives.

John Lee Dumas: So, Marcus, obviously being a digital nomad is your area of expertise, so what’s something that we don’t know about being a digital nomad that, as entrepreneurs, we probably should?

Marcus Meurer: What many people don’t know or don’t want to listen to is even if you’re working from places like Bali or, in my case, I love Brazil because I’m a passionate kitesurfer, the things and the issues you had before in your personal life and maybe also in the business life, they will still be there, even if you are on the road and even if you made it and can live and work from anywhere. If you still have some relationship problems or limiting beliefs or money issues, you will take them with you on the road, and they will strike you even harder than at home.

John Lee Dumas: Let’s dig a little deeper into this digital nomad thing. What’s something that you found really helps being a digital nomad? What’s something that you’ve learned from being on the road or working in a different location, picking up and moving and going somewhere, that you think could really be of value for our listeners?

Marcus Meurer: For me, the biggest value is to be in places where I’m most productive, where I’m the best version of myself, where I have enough headspace. And as the movement is growing bigger and bigger – we have now thousands of people in our community, just in the DNX community – it’s getting easier and easier to make connections on the road and to have likeminded people around yourself.

For example, if you go to coworking spaces on Bali – Dojo Bali is a great coworking space, or Hubud from [Inaudible] [00:03:19] – there you have a given community with lots of workshops and mastermind sessions in the evenings, and during the day, you can hustle hard at whatever you want to do. You have the best Internet you can think about. We just have been to Koh Phangan. That’s an island in Thailand, and they had like 100 Mbit Internet connections and three coworking spaces just on this tiny island.

So, times are getting better and better, and I love to be surrounded by likeminded and inspiring people because there are so many different business models out there you can’t even imagine of. Once you dig into this community, you see how creative people are just to make their living and travel the world. It’s very inspiring.

John Lee Dumas: That’s one thing I love about digital nomad-ism is that, Fire Nation, when you really dive into it, you start to realize that, wow, there are so many industries. There are so many niches. There are so many ways to make money, to build an audience, to have a successful business and lifestyle that you never would have thought about by working out of your local café in the town that you live at, or going to WeWork in the city that you live in, or whatever it might be.

It just opens your eyes up, and being outside of that box and actually experiencing what other people outside of your own personal passions and industries and knowledge are having, those knowledge bombs that they’re dropping in their industries, that’s gonna help you in such a major way.

Now, Marcus, we’ve kind of been raving about digital nomad-ism for quite some time now, but I wanna talk about what you consider your worst entrepreneurial moment to date. So, take us there, Marcus. Tell us that story.

Marcus Meurer: As we started this global movement, and doing events, and started to jump board, and also having the podcast, we were just doing, recently, an event in May in Berlin. It’s a German-speaking conference where everything started with us, and it grew from 50 people in the beginning now to over 900 people in May this year. So, as you can imagine, what the biggest event ever we were doing, and it all worked very fine. I’m doing the business together with my girlfriend, Feli, and we had our intro talk, and we had some movies we showed the audience in the beginning.

And out of nothing, we had a major technical issue, and the mikes were not working anymore, and no one was understanding what we were talking on stage. So, just imagine what an event with lots of people, everybody was in a piqued state. We did lots of movement for the people just to right the energy in the room, and then this incident happened, and it didn’t just happen for one time. For the first break, we decided just to make the break a little bit earlier, so people could go out and we could fix the issue. And when we thought, “It’s fixed now,” it happened again. So, just the moderation should start, and then the first speaker should come on stage, and it happened again.

So, we did a little bit improvisation and some exercise with the people, and it happened again, again, and again, so it was three times at the end, and fortunately, there was a magician in the crowd, and he went on stage and did some tricks. And, in the end, we had lots of learning. So, at the end, we got it fixed. It was just a cable which was disconnected somewhere, and people were sitting somewhere they shouldn’t sit, but this was a big, big, big hard challenge for us, I would say, as an entrepreneur.

And what we learned is, No. 1, communication is key. On the event, we communicated very honestly, very transparently to the people what was happening, what we are trying to do, and that we will do everything on it that we could. And even after the event, we were explaining what happened because, also, the food got burned, some of the food, because the electrical stuff was not working properly anymore. So, it was a big, big chaos and a big mess.

And the second learning was you have to define what could be the biggest business-critical incidents that could happen and have backup plans. So, we were just relying on the location, and the location were relying I don’t know on whom, but they didn’t have a technical backup system. So, we were not thinking about this before. And then, when we were talking to our business coach and other people, they were also asking, “Did you ever think about what would happen if you get sick or your girlfriend gets sick?” because our movement also grew a lot because our personal brands grew a lot. So, just to have backup systems in place really saves your ass.

And Takeaway No. 3 is that everything in life is happening for a reason, and life is happening for you and not to you. And because of this incident, we make very good decisions, I think, for the future.

John Lee Dumas: Life is happening for you, Fire Nation, not to you. I think that mindset shift is so important because we’re always gonna have things that go wrong. Nothing in life is ever gonna be perfect. It’s how you react to it that is going to result in your winning or losing. It’s how you react to it, Fire Nation. Take 100 percent responsibility. Don’t go around playing the blame game because you’re always gonna lose. Take 100 percent responsibility, learn, and then drive forward and continue to just put yourself out there, try new things, and don’t worry that perfection’s never going to be attained.

Now, for you, Marcus, you’ve had a lot of aha moments. You’ve had a lot of great ideas. I’m sure when you’re kitesurfing, you’re like, “Oh, I wish I could write that down right now because that’s such a great idea,” but it’s hard to write things down when you’re kitesurfing. But anyways, what’s one of those great ideas that you’ve had? Take us to the moment that you had that idea, and then walk us through how you turned that aha moment into success.

Marcus Meurer: For me, my biggest aha moment was when I realized that success is coming from your internal state, that success is nothing you can push or work so hard that you can just change the external world in your favor, and too much hustle creates tension, and that makes you unhappy in the end. It makes you unfulfilled. And this happened in the very beginning of my entrepreneurial life.

The universe does not work like this. The universe is always like you have to get into a flow state. You have to be at inner peace and find your inner happiness to feel whole, and abundant, and not lacking of something, like focusing on what you don’t have. Instead, you have to focus on what is already there, or you have to feel unique and at oneness with everybody in this world. And once you realize this state of mind, you never feel lack of something anymore because even if there’s a car or something – I don’t care about cars, but maybe other people – you will have the mindset that it’s already yours. It’s there because we’re all connected.

And what helped me a lot is meditation, breathing, self-awareness, visualizing the future, and act and feel like you already achieved your goals, but then just to take some inspired actions. The work does not have to be hard. So, inspired actions are enough, and this is what I didn’t understand before. I always thought I can really push and change my external world through just hustling day and night and getting too less sleep. Yeah, this was a big, big, big aha moment in my life.

John Lee Dumas: Fire Nation, you need to be open to aha moments because you don’t know when they’re gonna happen. And I think it’s funny you mentioned about cars earlier because my last two guests both talked about how much they love Teslas. And so, Fire Nation, know what you love, and focus on that thing, and bring it towards you. And, Marcus, what do you love? What are you most fired up about today?

Marcus Meurer: Today, I’m really fired up about our upcoming International DNX Digital Nomad Conference, which is happening in four weeks in Lisbon in Portugal, and we are planning the main event at the moment, and it’s in an old industry area in an LX Factory.

John Lee Dumas: What’s the main language that’s gonna be spoken?

Marcus Meurer: It’s English. It’s in English. And we will have speakers like Pat Flynn flying over, giving a talk for the first time ever in Europe, so we are really fired up about this because he was one of the first guys I met on the Internet when I started all this online entrepreneur stuff, so he’s a legend for me. I am really excited that he will join, but also other great speakers. You can check out the whole program, DNXGlobal.com.

John Lee Dumas: Who are some other speakers you have lined up?

Marcus Meurer: Some other speakers are Tal Gur. I don’t know if you know him. He’s from Israel. And [Inaudible] [00:12:04], and Silvia Christmann, Ka Sundance, Enyo Markovski, Taavi Kotka – he’s from Estonia, and he’s responsible for the e-Residency, which is like really disrupting the national assistance, and he’s from the Estonian –

John Lee Dumas: Can you talk about that a little bit? What is e-Residency?

Marcus Meurer: e-Residency is a new program which is meant to attract digital talent to countries who can’t compete with other countries in terms of better or something like this, but especially the Baltic nations like Estonia or Lithuania, they are doing really well in terms of fintech and also in terms of thinking straightforward for digital nomads and how to attract talent to their country.

John Lee Dumas: And so, is it essentially giving them residency once they go to those countries and start working?

Marcus Meurer: The trick is you don’t have to go there physically as a person to this country. You already got all the rights you need to start a company and to open a bank account just with this e-Residency program. So, it’s very straightforward. It’s a flat tax. I know you Americans are taxed by birth, so it’s a little bit different, but maybe other people can choose.

John Lee Dumas: That’s why I’m in Puerto Rico, Marcus.

Marcus Meurer: Yeah, it’s a good choice for you. So, as you know, we can live from everywhere, and we can work from everywhere, so why choose to stay in a place where we are not happy and fulfilled and where the sun is not shining all the time like in Puerto Rico? And this is the e-Residency program from Estonia.

John Lee Dumas: Well, Fire Nation, we’re gonna be dropping some value bombs in the Lightning Round when we get back from thanking our sponsors.

Marcus, are you ready to rock the Lightning Round?

Marcus Meurer: Yes, I’m ready!

John Lee Dumas: What was holding you back from becoming an entrepreneur?

Marcus Meurer: Fear of failure.

John Lee Dumas: What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

Marcus Meurer: Sharing is caring, like giving at least three times more than taking.

John Lee Dumas: What’s a personal habit that contributes to your success?

Marcus Meurer: One of the biggest game-changers was implementing a strict morning routine that is more or less scripted. So, I can give it to anyone else, and he can just rebuild my morning routine and live like Marcus Meurer in the mornings. So, I wake up always with the sunrise, when the sun goes up. Then, I will make my bed, the first win of the day. I will fill out my gratitude journal. I will meditate for ten minutes with the Calm app. I will do sports or stretching routine, and then I will have a healthy vegan breakfast, and then I will start with the most important task of the day, which is normally the task that has the biggest impact on your business and is not the most urgent one.

John Lee Dumas: Recommend one Internet resource.

Marcus Meurer: For all your listeners who are traveling a lot or who are maybe also digital nomads or perpetual travelers, there’s one service I would recommend that’s like really rad. And this could be a problem for many nomads who are just on one-way tickets because you don’t want to decide when and where to go next. So, this is a great, great hack and a great tool.

Marcus Meurer: It’s a real ticket, but you just rent it for 24 hours to show it at the counter at the airport, and that’s enough, and then they let you go.

John Lee Dumas: Recommend one book and share why.

Marcus Meurer: I would recommend Sapiens. Do you know this book?

John Lee Dumas: I listen to the audio version of Sapiens like every day. I love it.

Marcus Meurer: I also just love it. It’s a brief history of humankind by Professor Yuval Noah Harari.

John Lee Dumas: And it’s not that brief. That’s why I love it, because it’s actually pretty long as far as a book goes, and whenever I press Play on a different chapter on the audiobook, I’m just like, “Wow, I haven’t heard this in a while.”

Marcus Meurer: Like you said, every chapter has new takeaways, and even if you listen to it again and again, you learn so much about the evolution, and what humans really strive for, and what were the human needs, and what are still the human needs, and why this happened before. Wow, it’s so interesting.

John Lee Dumas: Well, Fire Nation, you can actually get this audiobook for free over at EOFireBook.com, if you’re not currently an Audible customer.

Marcus, let’s end today on fire with a parting piece of guidance, the best way that we can connect with you, and then we’ll say goodbye.

Marcus Meurer: Best way to connect to me is to go on DNXGlobal.com or go on MarcusMeurer.com. Maybe you can link it in the Show Notes. And all my life and business learnings and secret hacks, I’ve put into a freebie. It’s called my 7 Secrets to Success, and when you sign up for the newsletter on DNXNews.com, you get the freebie, and as a special, I also brought you like $50.00 off on every ticket for the upcoming DNX Digital Nomad Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, in some weeks. Just go on DNXGlobal.com/Fire, and you will get $50.00 off.

John Lee Dumas: Sweet! And get to see Pat Flynn speak. Lovely! And what’s that parting piece of guidance?

Marcus Meurer: Parting piece of guidance is help other people, give, connect, start to build relationships to other people because this was my business booster is what helped us to get where we are now. We have thousands of people in our Facebook community, on DNXCommunity.com. It’s a Facebook group. This was the really kick-booster for our business.

John Lee Dumas: Fire Nation, you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with. You’ve been hanging out with MM and JLD today. So, keep up the heat and head over to EOFire.com. Just type “Marcus” in the search bar. His Show Notes page will pop up with everything we’ve been talking about today. These are the best show notes in the biz – timestamps, links galore.

And, Marcus, thank you, brother, for sharing your journey with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you, and we will catch you on the flipside.

Marcus Meurer: Thanks, John, for the invitation. It was great fun. Thanks, bro.

John Lee Dumas: Hey, Fire Nation, hope you enjoyed our chat with Marcus today. And if you want to check out our free podcasting course, you should because then you can create, grow, and monetize your podcast. Visit FreePodcastCourse.com, and I’ll catch you there, or I’ll catch you on the flipside.