Ep. 226 - Jon Morrow: He made half a million dollars in 9 months. This is what kept him motivated

Jon is paralyzed from the neck down. He couldn’t crawl. “My mom noticed I was dragging my legs,” he said. The doctors said he’d die at age two. But he felt like he had something to contribute to the world. So he became unstoppable. He started writing for free. “I couldn’t be paid,” he said. If he earned a decent income, Jon would lose his Medicaid. His reputation as a writer grew. So he started consulting. And made 30,000 dollars in 24 hours. “At first, I charged $99. And 300 people signed up.” He raised his prices. Then built online courses that taught people how to guest-blog and started another “premium” consulting service. “I made half a million dollars in 9 months,” he said. The work lets him pay his own health benefits and live life for himself. Now, Jon Morrow is the CEO of SmartBlogger. He helps bloggers increase traffic, improve their writing, and make money. Jon believes any limitation can be overcome, although not easily. His story continues to inspire thousands around the world. Shortcuts -  [23:00] - Jon told me how he developed a sense of self worth. Hear how he did it. - [26:25] - “When I got into kindergarten, another kid called me disabled, and I said, ‘What does that mean?’ And, he started laughing.” Jon’s teacher came over and said, “You don't know what that means?” He didn’t. So he asked his mom. She thought about it and said, “It means you can't do something as well as someone else. But it also goes the other way.” She said, “Everyone in the world can't do something as well as someone else…” So everyone in a sense is disabled. Jon focussed took inventory of his skills. Then he mastered them. Learn how you can hone your abilities, too. - [29:00] - Jon had twelve job offers after college. But he couldn’t accept any of them. He had to keep his medicaid. And if he exceeded $700 per month, the government would take it away. So he found a loophole. He worked for free. Then years, later Jon asked for favors and ended up making half a million dollars in just 9 months. Find out how he initially did it here. - [1:11:50] - Jon was paralyzed from the neck down. He needed to reconstruct his reality. “I can only move my facial muscles,” he said. He would’ve went crazy. But he made a new plan. “I started listening to audiobooks and podcasts 4-8 hours a day.” His goal was to spend more time listening to inspirational stories, than he actually spent in his own life. I needed to understand, “Why was that your goal?” He said, “If you spend the majority of your time in worlds where people are accomplishing incredible things, all of a sudden that started to seem normal to me.” Listen how Jon reconstructed his reality - [1:16:20] - Jon said, “A lot of people are under the assumption they can get whatever they want without trading something that they have. And that’s just not the case.” When he hears a success story, he looks for the price. What did they sacrifice? Money? Sleep? Time? Relationships? Everything has a price. But how do you know what price you’re willing to pay?  Jon tells you how. -- Also, if you like today’s show, subscribe! Then you won’t have to check back and you’ll be first to hear new episodes. Thanks! -James ------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book, Skip the Line, is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltuchershow.com------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsiHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on social media:YouTubeTwitterFacebookLinkedIn