What are you planning to change about yourself when the calendar rolls over this weekend? Over half the people in the U.S. will kick off the year with at least one New Year's Resolution. Two weeks later, most will have returned to their old habits cursing themselves inwardly for failing in their quest for change. It turns out, as we all know, making serious improvements to your life is just as hard on January 1st as it is the rest of the year. In today's episode, we are going to try to increase ...
Dec 29, 2021•6 min•Ep. 62
In just a few days, we kick off a new year. All around the globe folks are making plans to change their lives for the better in 2020. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these New Year's Resolutions will fall by the wayside long before the calendar flips to February. Some of those failures will simply be caused by a lack of willpower, but the majority will result from poor planning, overextension, and the inability to down back from temporary setbacks. In this episode, we continue to assemble th...
Dec 28, 2021•5 min•Ep. 61
As we enter the last few days of 2021, we start focusing on the big changes we are planning to make in the upcoming year. We are assembling that list of New Year's Resolutions. On the outside, we are pretty pumped because we have a "plan" to start the new year. Internally, however, most of us have already resolved that we are not going to keep those resolutions. We are making wages with ourselves about when we will bail out and resume our current trajectory. For the gamblers among us, it's usual...
Dec 27, 2021•8 min•Ep. 60
One of the hardest things entrepreneurs ever do is to shut their minds down and stop thinking about their business. It's easy to take some time off and not actually do any work. In fact, many of us do way too much of that. It's a whole different ball game when we try to actually stop thinking about our business, or more to the point, worrying about it. But the ability to let our mind rest and recharge itself is essential to achieve the long-term success we crave. In this episode, we delve into j...
Dec 24, 2021•3 min•Ep. 59
Christmas shopping is all wrapped up (or should be, at least). It's now time to think about a gift for yourself. Not just any gift, though, but a gift that will actually help you reach your goals and move you closer to your dreams. There is one trait that nearly every uber-successful person shares and that is an intense thirst for knowledge. They all set aside time every day to read (usually early in the morning). If you are looking for a great New Year's Resolution to kick start your efforts to...
Dec 23, 2021•9 min•Ep. 58
Everyone wants to believe that success comes all at once with a flash of action, but that's just not the case. The truth is that success comes slowly. It requires consistent action over a long period of time. Most successful people literally outwork and outlast their competitors. Success usually comes after what feels like an eternity of sweating and struggling. It seems like nothing is happening and then BOOM... the pieces fall into place. If you want to see the impact of continuous steady exer...
Dec 22, 2021•4 min•Ep. 57
There's a long list of reasons that we start our own businesses. They range from unlimited income to being fed up with the corporate world to being able to determine our own future. Above all of those hovers the freedom to set our own schedules and take off whenever we want to without having to get approval from above. The problem with that, however, is that many of us lack the discipline needed to recognize the difference between vacationing and simply avoiding work. Maintaining that delicate b...
Dec 21, 2021•4 min•Ep. 56
Success is and always has been about finding a way to do those things that you know you should do but just don't feel like doing. To power through those moments, you have to find your true purpose and motivations. At its core, "I want to make more money" just doesn't give you the juice to make things happen. You have to know why making more money is important to you? Sometimes the answer to that question reveals things about yourself that you would rather not face. In this episode, we consider w...
Dec 20, 2021•8 min•Ep. 55
We want to do it all. We really want to. We try so hard to be everything for everybody, but end up feeling like a complete failure who doesn't do any of it right. Sounds familiar? This is the life many of us lead. Our inability to ever tell anyone, "No", and our lack of focus leaves us in a constant state of beatdown. It is no wonder that we are not able to reach our goals and achieve the level of success we desire. Now is the time to change all of that. If you want 2022 to be the year you final...
Dec 17, 2021•5 min•Ep. 54
One of the biggest struggles that an entrepreneur or sales professional faces each year is the intense desire to end the year early and just not work those last couple of weeks. We tell ourselves that the customers are spending time with their families and won't want to hear about my business. That's how we rationalize not working even though our business might not be where we hoped it would be by now. When in fact the last couple of weeks (outside of Christmas and New Years Day, themselves) can...
Dec 16, 2021•6 min•Ep. 53
Facebook and other social sites are now part of the very fabric of our world. However, when anything impacts society on such a large scale there will always be unintended consequences. Those who remember the days before Facebook recall a time when you weren't easily able to keep track of all your former friends and acquaintances. While it's often fascinating to know what's going on with your old high school classmates, it can also create real problems with your self-esteem. It's nearly impossibl...
Dec 15, 2021•5 min•Ep. 52
How often do you tell yourself you are going to start making big changes in your life "starting Monday." Then Monday comes and goes without you actually doing anything at all. Perhaps, you attempt to make the change on Monday but with a lack of enthusiasm that ensures failure. Many of us repeat this cycle over and over and never actually move any closer to our goals. In this episode, we take a closer look at the dangers of "making plans". Sometimes when you make a plan to change, it feels like y...
Dec 14, 2021•4 min•Ep. 51
How often in your life have you talked yourself out of something that you really wanted to do that you were sure you'd enjoy or that would move your business or career forward in a big way? It happens all the time. We all have an inner voice that's a real jerk sometimes. While it's true that voice might occasionally stop you from doing something really stupid in your personal life, more often than not it can shut down your professional growth. Success in business usually requires taking risks of...
Dec 13, 2021•7 min•Ep. 50
There is perhaps nothing that brings our dreams to a halt faster than the fear of looking silly and embarrassing ourselves. So many things that we want to achieve in life require us to take risks. When we take risks, we have to put ourselves out there in ways that others might ridicule. That can be pretty scary for some. To avoid that many of us simply don't ever try. In this episode, we explore a new therapy that can help you realize that many of your fears aren't real. A little embarrassment n...
Dec 10, 2021•5 min•Ep. 49
Have you ever felt like you are swimming upstream with your business or your sales career? Do you feel like the revenue you are generating is out of line with the amount of effort you are putting in? Or maybe you are noticing a diminishing return on new investments of your time and resources. If you are like most folks in the business world, you are susceptible to the Pareto Principle... or the 80/20 rule. It stays that in most organizations, eighty percent of your outcomes are generated by only...
Dec 09, 2021•5 min•Ep. 48
As your business starts to grow and your client list starts to expand, it can quickly seem that there is just too much to do. Every time a new task pops up, you immediately tell yourself, "I just don't have time to do anything else." While this is sometimes true, more often than not it's your mind playing tricks on you. If you ever take a few moments to break down minute-by-minute your activity throughout the workday, what will usually find it several hours or totally unaccounted for time. In hi...
Dec 08, 2021•4 min•Ep. 47
There's a lot of truth to the old adage "Pride comes before a fall." However, there's even more truth to the idea that pride can prevent you from having success in the first place. Our ego can get us in a world of trouble when it comes to starting, growing, and maintaining a business. We are terrified of making mistakes and embarrassing ourselves. We worry so much about what other people will think if we ask for help that we often refuse to use the tools available to us. We make decisions about ...
Dec 07, 2021•9 min•Ep. 46
Running your own business or working in sales is an emotional rollercoaster like no other. One day you feel like you are on top of the world (usually after a big sale), the next a sale falls through and you hit rock bottom. Unfortunately, many have trouble climbing out of those emotional low places. In fact, many spiral even deeper into darkness when their self-doubt and fear get fired up. That's when the average person calls it quits. Those who refuse to give up on their dreams develop their ow...
Dec 06, 2021•5 min•Ep. 45
Over 90% of the conversations we have each day are with ourselves. We talk to ourselves all the time. We even talk to ourselves when we are talking to other people. The trouble with that is that most of those conversations are negative. We tell ourselves we are not very good at things, that we'll never be successful, and the things we want are more than we can ever have. After a while, we actually come to believe those things. If you hear something often enough, it gets branded into your psyche....
Dec 03, 2021•6 min•Ep. 44
We talk a lot about how our fear and insecurities can often prevent us from doing the things we need to do to be successful. We convince ourselves that some of our dreams and goals will be forever out of our reach. When we do this, it becomes so easy to not even try. What's the point, after all, if we don't believe our goals are achievable. That's the battle we all face when trying to do great things. In today's episode, we learn firsthand that those emotional challenges aren't limited to our fi...
Dec 01, 2021•5 min•Ep. 42
Social Media is a powerful force in today's world. If used correctly it can help almost any business owner or salesperson reach the world. All too often, however, it has the exact opposite effect on a business owner. Instead of being a force for growth, it can become a huge time-suck that stops work from getting down and a tremendous demotivator that makes you think the world is such a bad place that there's no point in working hard. It's all controlled by computer programs called algorithms tha...
Nov 30, 2021•5 min•Ep. 41
One thing we realize as we get older is that time goes by very fast. It feels like, if you blink, another year is gone. Each of us has an average of about 41,000,000 minutes on this earth. That seems like a lot until you start thinking about how much we spent in school and how many minutes we would like to be able to spend in retirement. Take those away and you realize the number of minutes we have to actually build our success and our happiness is quite limited. It's best not to think about how...
Nov 29, 2021•5 min•Ep. 40
Over the next few days, we all get a chance to reacquaint ourselves with the idea of gratitude. Each November, on the last Thursday of the month, we all take time to recognize the things we are thankful for... usually while gathered around a table full of food. If we do it right and really take our gratitude seriously, we can often feel our stress leave us and our worries recede for a while. There's some fascinating research out that indicates gratitude can be a powerful weapon against all those...
Nov 24, 2021•4 min•Ep. 39
What are you afraid of? Are those fears real or imagined? These are two questions you need to continually ask yourself when you are trying to grow a business or expand a sales career? Like it or not, it's our ability to overcome our internal fears that will ultimately determine whether we are successful. If we can't, those fears force bad decisions or, worse yet, prevent us from making any decisions at all as we move forward. In today's episode, we look at the importance of taking those fears he...
Nov 23, 2021•4 min•Ep. 38
Do you have goals? I don't mean the kind of vague "I'd like to do.... someday" kind of statements everyone makes. I am talking about the hard-core "Here is what I am going to accomplish in 2022" kind of goal. Most people don't. They tell themselves over and over again that they need to, but when it comes time to actually write them out they freeze up. Goals are scary! What if you set a goal, and don't make it. What a failure that would make you. And there's no way you could tell anyone your goal...
Nov 22, 2021•4 min•Ep. 37
When you start your own business or go into direct sales no one warns you about the internal struggles that come with being your own boss. Self-doubt, fear, and indecision quickly consume you if you are not careful. As an employee, you have a boss often telling you what you have to do and when you have to do it. There's usually no room for that inner voice to derail you. When the alarm goes off, you get up and go to work because you have someone telling you to. All that changes, however, when yo...
Nov 19, 2021•9 min•Ep. 36
Social media has changed the world. It's created amazing new ways for us to communicate and share ideas. It's opened up new marketing avenues so we can reach customers all over the world in whole new ways. However, with the good comes the bad. It's also created avenues of hate and anger that never existed before. Its addictive nature can easily consume your time and cloud your mind in ways that destroy your productivity. In this episode, we explore a question that every entrepreneur has to answe...
Nov 18, 2021•6 min•Ep. 35
Are you easily distracted when you are trying to get some work done? Do you find yourself closely relating to the dog in the movie UP who completely loses focus when someone yells "Squirrel"? Lack of focus can be one of the biggest obstacles we face when trying to build our sales career or our businesses. The more repetitive, mundane, and detestable the task is, the easier it is for us to let ourselves get off track. Often, however, those are the tasks that most influence our success. In this ep...
Nov 17, 2021•6 min•Ep. 34
Each of us is constantly at war in our own minds (good vs. bad, productive vs. lazy, confident vs. insecure, and brave vs. fearful). We cheer on the positive side of that battle, but all too often watch as the negative side wins out over and over again. Unfortunately, our ability to achieve the things we want out of life is entirely dependent on our "good side" being victorious. We want to reach out to potential customers but we end up surfing the web. We want to respond quickly to angry custome...
Nov 16, 2021•8 min•Ep. 33
What do you intend to do today to drive your business and/or your life forward? Do you know exactly what you want to accomplish today? Many of us do have goals we hope to achieve. If pressed on what we were planning to do today to move toward those goals, we would give a very generic answer. We'd say something like, "I am going to do everything I can to get me closer to my goals". We'd take a lot of pride in knowing that we were willing to assert such a "bold" intention as "doing everything". Th...
Nov 15, 2021•4 min•Ep. 32
