We’ve all seen it before: the big houses, the flashy cars and the stories of how entrepreneurs made their millions, spread across the glossy pages of magazines. While this may look like success, Dave Mammano thinks there's a little more to it than that. Founder of NextStepU, an organization that helps teenagers plan their future, he explains how to live a more fulfilled life and reclaim hours in your day.
The road to this discovery began in college, where Dave initially majored in pre-dentistry. “My mother’s cousin was a dentist. He had a red Porsche and a big house, so I decided that I wanted to be one too,” he explains. After an unfulfilling internship, Dave really began to evaluate what he wanted to do and readjusted accordingly. His reasoning was not an anomaly; he finds that many teens base their career planning around what will make them the most money versus what will make them happy. Unfortunately, sometimes the same holds true for many entrepreneurs.
Back in 2010, Dave realized he was focusing all of his energy into his business and not enough energy into some of other the important areas of life. Once this began to take a toll on his health, he made it a point to intentionally design the life he wanted. “Because entrepreneurs are wildly creative and somewhat ‘ADD’, this was a challenge,” Dave confesses. After joining the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO), he decided to take a step back and made his internal well-being a number one priority.
Dave encourages entrepreneurs to do regular internal audits to evaluate what success looks like to them. “To me, success is not what I amass in material goods. Rather, I measure it based on what I have internally. I think this is the number one recipe for success and happiness,” Dave explains. But with the hustle and bustle of today’s plugged-in world, how is this possible? “I encourage the teens I talk to, to do something that will scare the living bejeezus out of them. I tell them to put away their phones and any kind of technology. I tell them to go for a walk in the woods and think about what they like to do, what their values are and how they can map out a plan to make that happen.”
Introspective reviews can be tough. So, Dave has developed a system to assist with measuring his internal happiness and personal progress on a week by week basis. Journaling and meditation is fundamental to this process. Additionally, he holds himself accountable and works with an accountability partner to make sure he stays on track. He asks himself: What makes me happy and healthy in the areas that are important? “A healthy, happy entrepreneur is one who balances the work, the family, friends, faith and what not.” While this will vary from person to person, it’s essential for entrepreneurs to plan this out like it is a business to avoid neglecting some of the things that should take precedent.
In addition to improving his mental well being and interpersonal relationships, this structure allows him to “suck the juice” out of every minute. Within these journaling sessions, he plans out his goals for the each day of the week, month and year. He believes that this allows him to be more focused and organized.
Learn more about Dave’s system and experiences by listening to the podcast below!