Recipe for Lemonade

Life can really suck sometimes.  Even the most positive person can feel self pity and play the "victim" when something doesn't go our way.  Sometimes we have our dreams in our grasp only to watch them vanish like smoke in the wind.  How does a rational, mature, positive person, handle this adversity?  

First, and foremost is to have gratitude for what you do have;  family, friends, coffee, the shoes on your feet...you can find something to be thankful for.

Next, you have to ask yourself "Was my dream interfering with my purpose?"

Remember the movie Field of Dreams?  I was listening to an old Tony Robbins recording earlier and he pointed out the scene in the movie where Ray Kinsella is talking to Dr. Graham about his lost dream of playing baseball.  He had made it to the big leagues and had made it onto the field in the last game of the season, however he never got the chance to bat, and the next season, he was sent to the minors, so he left baseball to become a doctor...

Ray Kinsella: Fifty years ago, for five minutes you came within... you came this close. It would KILL some men to get so close to their dream and not touch it. God, they'd consider it a tragedy.
Dr. Archibald "Moonlight" Graham: Son, if I'd only gotten to be a doctor for five minutes... now that would have been a tragedy.

The character played by the late Burt Lancaster absolutely NAILED it.  That's one of the best statements that defines the difference between a dream and a purpose.  Sometimes they are the same, but more often that not, one is simply a desire of the heart, while the other is the overwhelming drive that subtly guides your thinking, actions, and ultimately, your life.

If you haven't discovered your purpose, know that everything in the universe is driving you toward it, and your lost dream may have been one of the obstacles.  That dream might be the source of short term happiness, but accomplishing your purpose will give you an overpowering sense of fulfillment.

And finally, when nothing else works, the dreaded, "put on your big person Underoos, and suck it up!"  If you're still whining and groaning about how "it's not fair..." and "I deserved...", you have to absolutely shut down the primal thinking with your more refined mature brain.  When those thoughts surface, beat them down like a rented mule!   If you hang on to them, you're feeding them, making them stronger.

Over time, you'll usually see the dream for what it was...a distraction from fulfilling your purpose.

Enjoy the lemonade!

Chris

The War Against Mediocrity

Right this moment, whether you realize it or not,  you are in a war.  The enemy uses guerrilla tactics to distract you from personal greatness.  That enemy is constantly pulling you toward the TV, to your email.  It prompts you to check Facebook, ESPN, your favorite new site.  You can't help being sucked into wanting the latest and greatest smartphone, tablet, laptop.

When is the last time you sat down and read a book for an afternoon?  What are you listening to during your 30 minute commute every day?  Can you name 5 things you did out of pure kindness (not as part of your job) for others yesterday?  This week?  This month?

Our society is overwhelmed with stimuli from every direction.  We focus more on what's going on with our weekly crime-drama than we do in our own lives.  We spend an inordinate amount of time living is a virtual world while missing the real world all around us.

We are being "dumbed-down" as a society.  If you don't believe it, watch MTV for 15 minutes.  There is a force that is trying to keep you distracted so you can't think, plan, and strategize for a prosperous future.  I even find it harder now to concentrate on just reading a book for an hour without the phantom vibration of my smartphone causing me to reach for it, even though it's been purposely left in the other room.

The world is working against us and wanting us to accept mediocrity.  We, the free thinkers and philosophers of the world, must fight back.   You must have a strategy to fight the system that's keeping you down!

Here's my personal list of tactics to keep myself from falling into mediocrity:

• Listen to books that promote personal growth during my commute.
• Record the 3 shows I like and have a catch up session every few weeks with my wife (with popcorn!).
• View my social media sites twice a day for 5 minutes.
• Look for every opportunity to make someone's life just a little better.
• Write down my goals daily.
• Write daily, whether in my journal, on this blog, somewhere.
• Avoid the news whenever possible
• Believe that I can always get better in every aspect of my life.
• Get up immediately after falling
• Don't feed any negative thought or emotion.

The tactics change, but not the strategy.  Write them down and form habits around them.  Reward yourself for victories.  I'll write more about that in Habits Part 2, coming soon.

I'd love to hear your tactics as well.

Be awesome (and FIGHT)!

Chris

Habits Rule The World (part 1)

In the last year, I've made the study of habits...well.... a habit.    I have been amazed at how they completely take control of someone's life, whether it's driving on autopilot, drinking alcohol, or walking around staring at a smart phone 24/7.  

I'm the "victim" of a few destructive habits, my worst being my stress eating.  I've gotten better about it since I've started my study of how habits work, but I haven't been able to completely eliminate my cheetah-like sprint for something sweet when I feel the heat coming on.  The human body avoids mental and emotional stress as much as possible, and when the body feels the stress, the hypothalamus tells the adrenal glands (located next to your kidneys) to release the stress hormones, adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine.  Those hormones work great if your stress is being caused by a bear growling at you because they stimulate your body's entire physiology to immediately prep it for "fight or flight" (neither of which are recommended when confronting a bear www.wikihow.com/Escape-from-a-Bear).  

The problem with that stress is you typically aren't going to do anything with that instant burst of energy and it sits on your chest making you feel awful...until you find an outlet.  I've speculated that sobbing at my desk isn't the best outlet, so for years, my release from that stress prison has been snack cakes.  High levels of cortisol cause the body to crave salt and sugar, which in the case of someone running for their lives, carbs would be the fuel and salt would be a replacement for the electrolytes lost in the sweat.  Cortisol also cuts out several unnecessary functions in the body, one of which I personally believe is the ability to think rationally (but that's just my theory).


If I were to jump up from my desk and RUN instead of heading to the snack machine, it wouldn't be a problem.  The endorphins released from running override the stress hormones in the body and bring it back to a somewhat normal status.  That's why runners are always the most relaxed, "chilled out" people I know.

But I'm in an environment that doesn't allow me to just burst out of the office "Garp style" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_According_to_Garp) and start running down the parking lot.  I am however, desperately wanting to eliminate the stress eating habit. The problem is, habits are so hard coded into the brain, that it's really rare to simply eliminate a habit.  You have to replace the habit with another.  In addition, you have to be very aware of what triggers your habit and recognize that trigger before you slip into your destructive routine, and immediately start the new, hopefully, healthy routine.

Next, the routine has to be reinforced with some kind of reward, or emotional satisfaction at it's completion.  It can be something as simple as a look in the mirror, giving yourself a silent nod of acknowledgement of a job well done (although right this moment a Little Debbie sounds like a much better reward).  The key is execution of the positive routine when the trigger occurs.

I'll continue with my thoughts on my next post and avoid all things sweet, except my wife.

Comments welcome!

Chris

Make a difference

This week has been emotional challenging for me.  Many of the people I've invested in were released from their positions, not for performance necessarily, but due to changes in the business model. I've spent a lot of time grieving for these wonderful, awesome people in the last 48 hours.

On a personal note, my dream job was eliminated, my role changing back to a front line producer.  And had my employment at my company been completely terminated due to those same business model changes, I would fully support the decision.  A business is not a person with feelings or empathy.  It's a non-living entity that keeps it's own survival and growth as the top priority.

In the past, I've made the mistake of being completely devoted to the organizations I work for.  One of my VP's made a comment that resonated when he told me never to be blindly loyal to something that can't/won't be loyal back.

That epiphany really help me change my perspective and priorities when it comes to my job.  My job is NOT my purpose, it's a mechanism (that should always be thought of as a temporary means) to convert my time and energy into providing finances that in turn provide food & shelter for,me and my dependents.  A job does not define you.  I know several people who've fallen apart because they lost their jobs.  They are so emotionally bound to their place of employment and have let it define them.  Huge mistake.

Your purpose in life has nothing to do with where you work or your job title.  You can fulfill your purpose no matter what your social standing in your community.  Your purpose must be bigger than you and everything you do, consciously or unconsciously needs to drive you toward fulfilling that purpose.

Your purpose (or your WHY) is so much larger than a job, although a job can be a means to helping you accomplish it.  One more thing... your purpose and WHY has to tie to helping others.   I've read mission and vision statements from 100's of companies & individuals and every one are powerful, but I've yet to see one that encapsulates their purpose in a simple statement.

My purpose statement is just 3 simple words that embodies what I want to be remembered for after I'm gone.  No job role, financial or social status can prevent me from accomplishing what God put me here for.
It's bigger than me, bigger than any circumstance.  I can accomplish my purpose anywhere, anytime.  I am constantly on the lookout for the opportunity to act on it.

In the end, my purpose probably won't change the world, but hopefully will change a life or two as the big blue ball spins through space and time.  If not, then I'm having a blessed life trying to fulfill it.

My purpose...  MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Changing Your Belief System - A reply to an email

I thought I'd share a reply to an email requesting help setting sales appointments.

Thanks for emailing.

It looks like you’re doing a great job of getting a business network in place.

I’m also a big fan of Gitomer.

The prior emails had the basics for appointment setting and I want to take every opportunity I can to reinforce key points.

#1 First and foremost, ATTITUDE.  You have to know and believe that setting appointments is not that hard.

Personal story… the first few years I lived in my house, my wife and I did a good bit of landscaping.  Included in that was planting shrubs or trees.  I was filled with dread each time my wife came home with something to plant because it meant getting out the shovel and spending 20+ minutes digging a hole in our hard ground.  Over time, however, I learned how to be more efficient at digging by chipping away at the crusty layer on top by not plunging the shovel in deep, but just an inch or two into the ground.  Once I got that layer off, I learned to start reversing my shovel and using it with the blade side facing me, allowing me to dig deep, but not making the hole too wide.  Then I began making a game of it by seeing how fast I could dig a circular hole 1 foot across and 18 inches deep (less than 5 minutes now).  Now I’m the hole digging expert and I will challenge any other non-construction worker to a hole digging contest (at least on my home soil) because nobody digs as good me.   I went from allowing several shrubs to die on the drive because of my reluctance to go dig a hole, and have turned into the best amateur hole digger in the entire universe because I changed what I believed about myself.

#2 Track the number of calls.  If you aren't making 40 calls per day, you aren't making enough.  Make it fun.  Challenge yourself to make 41, even if you've set 4 appointments already.  Don’t let anything beat you.

Personal story – In 2004, I was the Sales Manager working for XXXX, who was the branch manager.  The company made the decision to eliminate the sales manager position and I was offered a nice buyout or the option of taking an AE role.  I took the AE role.  The manager, however, continued to use me as a sales manager, with me attending appointments with other AE’s and fielding all their requests for assistance, while squeezing in my own 2+ appointments each day.  I made it known that I couldn't help anyone after 4 PM because I had to set my own appointments.  So from 4-5, I set 2 appointments every day.  I mean that.  EVERY…SINGLE…DAY.  I wouldn't allow myself to fail.  Back then, (I don’t recommend this) I moved a fax machine to my desk because I had an extra phone outlet and  I would send faxes out to every fax number on a  business card I had in an attempt to connect with someone that would meet with me, at the same time I was making my dials each day.   I was using every tactic under the sun to make sure I didn't fail.  I refused to let anything beat me.  I refused to leave each day until I set my 2.  Guess what?  I usually had 2 set by 4:30 and then I would go help someone that needed it.   Never surrender to adversity (or a boss that abuses your time)!

#3 Once you know what your ratio is (takes about a week of sending emails and making 40 daily calls to them), you can begin adjusting your tactics (changes to your emails, changes to your phone script, etc).

No personal story for this one.  If something isn't working, you can’t make the necessary changes until you have metrics to measure. 

My numbers were a minimum of 10 emails sent per day to qualified prospects.  My other numbers….  dials to apt ratio 14:1.   Needs assessment to presenting ration 1.7 : 1.  Presenting to closing ratio  1.9 : 1.

So it took me 45.22 dials to make a sale.  

Professionals in every industry know their numbers.  Do you know your numbers?

Never retreat!  Never surrender!

Give and Take

In your environment, are you a TAKER or a GIVER?

Most offices and organizations have some of both types.  The TAKERS suck the life-blood out of the people around them.  They are negative, divisive, and look out for #1.  On the surface, they pretend to be team players, but are always looking out for the first opportunity to get something out of it.

I recently got a call from a person in my organization that needed to talk about an issue going on in his office.  He's a new sales person and he feels some of the more tenured sales people are sabotaging his efforts to be successful.  Unfortunately, he's probably not being paranoid.  Fresh people entering an organization deserve support from the entire team, not to have their mental and emotional energy TAKEN by these office "vampires."

I would hate more than anything for someone to think of me as anything but a GIVER.  I'm a big follower of the Golden Rule; Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you.  My kids have heard it a million times (their tally) and they'll hear it a million more before I'm through.  GIVE of your time, your expertise, & your wisdom to the new person on the team, because it's right, not because you can get something in return.  Be able to look yourself in the mirror, dead in the eye at the end of each day and know you made the world better for at least one other person.

In the end, the GIVERS could usually have the last laugh.  But that's not in their nature, they are just filled with pity for the takers.

If you're a taker (yes, you know who you are), stop.  Stop being the one that everyone else dreads being around.  Stop being the cancer that's killing your office.

The Grinch changed.  You can too.

Be awesome!
Chris

First Friday Choices

Happy Friday!

Do you remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid?  You read the first page or two and at the end of the page you had to make a decision and go to the page that corresponded with that decision.  Then you had another choice to make and by the time you had gotten to the end of the book your choices had hopefully saved the good king, rescued the missing puppy, or defended the galaxy against the space aliens.

Life is similar to those books with one exception; it rarely allows you to go back to an earlier page and change your decisions.

Today is the first Friday of 2013.  What choices are you going to make?  Are you going to set a personal record in something today, or are you going to cut the corner because it’s Friday?

January 2013 is the month to sprint as fast as you can, as long as you can, to get ahead of mediocrity and complacency, before settling at a marathon pace.  I can’t stress enough how important it is that you choose to make the most of every minute you have today.  

How you choose to use your time can make you extremely successful or someone that will always wonder “what if..”

Right now, you’re at the first page of your own Adventure book and you are creating your own story.

Be certain the choices you make today (and every day) allows you find the bag of gold at the end of your book.

Work hard.  Work smart.

Chris

Your Attitude

Your Attitude

• How you think controls everything about your performance.
• If you are a “victim” of your branch, your leader, your company, the economy you’ll never be successful.
• You own your success, no one else.
• Controlling your thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and attitude will do more for your career (and life) than anything else.
• You must believe in yourself and your ability to succeed. 
• BELIEF unlocks much in life.
• You own your success, no one else.
• You must also take responsibility to work smart AND hard.  One of the two might get you where you want to go, but when you combine SMART and HARD you create something unstoppable.
• Stare at yourself in the mirror each morning and each night and tell that person you will NOT compromise with the personal antagonist called complacency.
• Make yourself better.  Read, listen, & watch media that improves you.
• You own your success, no one else.

High Performance Year

Happy New Year!

2012 is officially over and it’s time to think forward.  There’s a cleansing and purification quality about starting a new year.   People have all the right tools, intelligence, desire, and even the will to succeed.   There’s absolutely nothing that can keep them from success except one thing…

THEMSELVES!

Most people start the year off with a bang, running out of the gates at full speed, only to end the year trotting across the line.  Somewhere along the way, people bog themselves down needlessly with mental and emotional negativity, weighing them down until they are barely moving.  Or worse, they begin to make small compromises about their activity and performance, accepting less, because it’s too much of a challenge to go the distance.  Or the ultimate worst, they float along where ever the day carries them without a rudder or paddle. 

All three are extremely self-destructive.  None of that is allowed in my New Year!!! 

Most of you have seen Brendon Burchard’s video, The Most Important Word in Business.  If not here’s the link:  http://youtu.be/l5tSgLb0OVc.  The most important word in business is STRATEGY.  That word applies to the company as a whole, down to each individual person working here.  It fits nicely with another important word, “GOALS”.  Think of the goal as the destination & the strategy as how you get there.  Depending on how it’s used, the strategy itself can be a goal

The goal is hitting quota; the strategy is presenting 100% of quota weekly.

The goal is presenting 100% of quota weekly; the strategy is attending 2 appointments per day.

The goal is attending 2 appointments per day; the strategy is setting 12 per week.

The goal is setting 2.1 appointments per day; the strategy is The Daily 10.

Do you see how they closely relate and depending on their use, can be interchanged?

You obviously have to set your own WRITTEN goals & have your own WRITTEN strategy after the initial 2 months of the Daily 10 to have total buy-in, but I’d like to suggest a few affirmations that can help you with your thinking as the New Year approaches.

·         I am a positive person.   I become deaf when someone begins to speak negative.  It has no effect on me.

·         I am responsible for my success, not my manager, not my company, not the economy.  I will succeed with or without the help of those around me. Always.

·         I do not compromise my integrity with anyone, especially myself.  When I commit to something, I deliver and nothing will prevail against me or my commitment.

·         I make my calls, regardless of number, until, at a minimum, I set my 2 daily appointments.  If that’s 80+ calls, then that’s what I do, because I deliver.  Always.

·         I am an expert in my CRM and updating it before I leave for the day is a piece of cake.

·         I have a daily strategy and I execute it flawlessly.

·         I have a reputation for delivering and I uphold that reputation.  Always.

·         I use an agenda, discuss preferred communications, and ALWAYS set the next apt.

I've received email after email thanking us for my boot camp, the direction my daily sales strategy has given, and for the success the program has brought in getting into some larger accounts.

That’s awesome.  But it’s only a beginning.

We talked about how Extraordinary Thinking = Extraordinary Actions = Extraordinary Results.  I believe an impact has been made on the thinking and we've seen actions (activity) shift for the positive, now it’s time for results.  You can drive your business to unbelievable success!  One person can make a significant difference in a branch; one branch can make a difference for a region, one region for the company.  But it all starts with one person.  BE THAT PERSON!

Take some time to think about your thinking over the next few days.  Write down your 2013 Sales Strategy, & immediately begin executing that strategy.  It’s doesn't have to be complex and can be written in just a few sentences.  A simple strategy is easily executed.  And most of you heard me say “a mediocre strategy well executed is far greater than an excellent strategy poorly executed.”

I fully expect (and demand) to see the company set new records for quota producers for the year. 

2013 is the High Performance year.

Believe it.