As I promised last week, over the next few emails I'm going to give you a system for connecting with people. The goal at the end of this is to help you get clarity on who you should be talking to. (And at the core of it, how you should talking to them.) But before getting into all that, we need to talk foundations. Because before you gather all your people, and connect with all your people, (and connect them to other people), you need a place to PUT all your people. To put it simply? A...
8 days ago • 2 min read
We tend to overcomplicate business. But at the heart of it, there are three "simple" things every business has to do: ➡️ You have to Create opportunities (Which is Marketing) ➡️ You have to Convert those opportunities (Which is Sales) ➡️ You have to Complete those opportunities (Which is Operations) When you think about creating opportunities, one of the things your mind probably jumps to is advertising. Now, it's going to sound like I'm anti-advertising, but I'm not really anti-advertising....
15 days ago • 1 min read
Does accountability conjure up a good feeling, Reader? Or is it a bad feeling? I'm going to hit you with a hard truth AND a hot tip here. If you conjure up a negative feeling when it comes to accountability... ...that might actually be the biggest growth area for you. (Because isolation is the enemy of excellence.) Now, I don't deny it...there are definitely some negative connotations to accountability. I had a form of accountability as a child, and you probably did too. It wasn't all that...
22 days ago • 1 min read
You can't just close your eyes and cross your fingers and hit a goal with pure hope, Reader. That's an extreme picture I'm painting, but it's what so many of us do. Set a goal and then just blindly move forward on pure hopium (a powerful drug) and see if we stick the landing. The thing is, if you set a goal and then aren't measuring the things you're doing to try to hit the goal...it's gonna be hard to hit. After all, "What gets measured gets managed." So now the important question is, what...
29 days ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, have you heard of S.M.A.R.T.? That's... Specific Measurable Actionable Relevant Time Bound Last week I talked about B.A.M. goals. That is, instead of having just one goal, having THREE levels of goals - Baseline, Amazing, Miraculous. But that’s not enough. Because you can’t just have some vague goals hanging out there and then do nothing about them. You have to be able to implement. That’s where S.M.A.R.T. comes in. It makes sure you’re setting goals that you can actually take...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
I don’t know about you Reader, but once upon a time, not hitting goals made me feel like a failure. So what would I do? Mental gymnastics. I’d either: Not set them. Set them low, so I could be sure of hitting them. Winning. (Not really.) That was until a mentor gave the concept of B.A.M. Baseline. Amazing. Miraculous. This changed everything. I sat down with my team and said “Hey, what’s our baseline?” (We already knew what that number was…the low one we were pretty sure we could hit. For...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
There's something that a looot of people overlook, Reader. And that's planning. It's the vision that excites us, and we know (or should know) that it's action that gets us there. But planning? Ain't nobody got time for that, right? That's mistake. Because it's planning that greases the wheels of action. A few years' back, the book "The 12-Week Year" by Brian Moran was sent to my home as part of The Boardroom, where we read one book a month. And in there, Brian talked about Olympic athletes....
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, here's how strongly I feel about the 3-2-1 journaling I mentioned in last week's email... (if you haven't seen it yet, search for the email "More good feels, less angst") I've been 3-2-1 journaling a long time. So long, in fact, that I've built a little library. If I had to run back into a burning house, these would probably be one of the things I'd grab. The main reason? It's something I'd like my kids to have when I'm gone. It's a way for them to relive experiences I had. If I go...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, back with another exercise to build those leadership muscles so you can become more radically referable. Any time of the year is great to start this, but now's especially perfect. It's called 3-2-1 journaling. It's centered around gratitude and vision. And here's how (and why) it works. First, let's start with why it works... When you're looking for things to be grateful for in the world...you find them. It colors how you perceive the world. It sets the stage for you to envision,...
2 months ago • 2 min read