by Helena Escalante | Celebration, Creativity, Growth, Habits, Mindset, Opportunity
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 55 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Are you a good receiver?
— From: Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth by T. Harv Eker (read a sample)
We’ve all heard the adage it’s better to give than to receive. We bought into it and became givers—which is wonderful—but we also became very bad receivers. T. Harv Eker, personal development guru and author of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind says, “The whole idea is ludicrous. What’s better, hot or cold, big or small, left or right, in or out? Giving and receiving are two sides of the same coin. Whoever decided that it is better to give than to receive was simply bad at math. For every giver there must be a receiver, and for every receiver there must be a giver. […] Both have to be in perfect balance to work one to one, fifty-fifty. And since giving and receiving must always equal each other, they must also be equal in importance.”
Giving gives us a feeling of fulfillment like no other. We’re joyful and grateful to be able to give. But what about when we are trying to give and the other person refuses to receive? It feels terrible, doesn’t it? Now, think about those times when we are the ones that are not willing to receive.
How many times have we refused to receive something that someone wants to give us? Or taken a step further, how many times have we refused to receive something that we want to give ourselves? How many times have we said no to an opportunity and refused it because we feel we’re undeserving, not worthy, or because we have impostor syndrome? This may very well be at the subconscious level, but if you’ve ever done something to sabotage your success in big or small ways (I’m not proud to say that I’m a repeat offender in this department…) you know what I’m talking about.
Think about it for a moment. There’s a part of you that feels worthy of some things (eating, working, driving); and there’s another that doesn’t (when someone wants to give you a gift or an opportunity that is bigger than what you consider acceptable). You are living with this duality that you made up in your mind.
Eker says, “Recognize that whether you are worthy or not it’s all a made-up ‘story.’ Nothing has meaning except for the meaning we give it. […] If you say you’re worthy, you are. If you say you’re not worthy, you’re not. Either way you will live into your story. […] Only the most evolved creature on the planet, the human being, has the ability to limit itself like this. One of my own sayings is, ‘If a hundred-foot oak tree had the mind of the human, it would only grow to be ten feet tall!’ So here’s my suggestion: since it’s a lot easier to change your story than your worthiness, instead of worrying about changing your worthiness change your story. It’s a lot faster and cheaper. Simply make up a new and much more supportive story and live into that.”
How about if the new story you adopt is that of being happy and grateful to receive; willing to enjoy and make the most out of the gift; and share the joy of receiving so that others can learn to be better receivers too?
ACTION
TODAY: Give yourself a gift that in the past you wouldn’t even have considered. You can buy something if you want, but if you don’t, it doesn’t have to be a physical thing. It could be taking time from your busy schedule to walk in nature, or taking a long, contemplative bath, or giving yourself a free evening and not cleaning the kitchen tonight (hahahaha) and using that time to read your favorite book instead. You can take it up a notch and give yourself the opportunity to get to know someone: go to lunch with a colleague and don’t talk about work. Send an email to a person you admire. You’re only limited by your imagination, so make it a lovely-and-unheard-of gift from you to you. Enjoy it, no guilt, no afterthought, no remorse, just plain acceptance and gratitude. Try it!
FUTURE: Keep in mind that giving and receiving is 50-50. So, when someone wants to give you something (from a compliment to a large gift), be open to receive it and be grateful. Gifts aren’t earned otherwise they’d be called compensation. They come from the heart, and the giver always thinks that you are worthy of the gift, so it’s just you the one who needs to change your story to be a better a receiver. Change it and enjoy receiving!
Know someone who needs to learn to receive? Please share this post with that person via email, Facebook or Twitter!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Planning
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 40 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Bottom-line thinking
— From Thinking for a Change: 11 Ways Highly Successful People Approach Life and Work by John C. Maxwell
When we think of the bottom line, the first thing that comes to mind is money. However, in Thinking for a Change, leadership guru John C. Maxwell says that if we solely focus on financial matters as the bottom line, we may miss something critical. He says, “Instead, think of the bottom line as the end, the take away, the desired result. Every activity [and organization] has its own unique bottom line. If you have a job, your work has a bottom line. If you serve in your church, your activity has a bottom line. So does your effort as a parent, or spouse, if you are one.”
Maxwell tells the story of Frances Hesselbein who headed the Girl Scouts of America for many years and turned it around into the successful organization that it is today. When she became CEO of the organization, it was in trouble because it lacked direction, and interest in it was dwindling from girls to participate as well as from adults to volunteer. She needed to focus on the bottom line. In her words, “We kept asking ourselves very simple questions. What is our business? Who is our customer? And what does the customer consider value? If you’re the Girl Scouts, IBM or AT&T, you have to manage for a mission.”
Asking these questions and her focus on a mission led Hesselbein to find the Girl Scouts bottom line: “We really are here for one reason: to help a girl reach her highest potential. More than any one thing, that made the difference. Because when you are clear about your mission, corporate goals and operating objectives flow from it.”
In this case, her bottom line was not measured in dollars but in changed lives.
If you are wondering how you can put bottom-line thinking to work for you, Maxwell shares the following five points to do this.
1. Identify the real bottom line.
“It can be as lofty as the big-picture vision, mission or purpose of an organization. Or it can be as focused as what you want to accomplish on a particular project.” Be very specific. “What are you really trying to achieve? When you strip away all the things that don’t really matter, what are you compelled to achieve? What must occur? What is acceptable? That is the real bottom line.”
2. Make the bottom line the point.
Your bottom line will be your guide and goal for all you do, and everything else revolves around it. “Sometimes, for example, an idealistically stated mission and the real bottom line don’t jibe. Purpose and profits [seem to] compete [… but] profits serve purpose—they don’t compete with it.”
3. Create a strategic plan to achieve the bottom line.
Organizations should identify and focus on the “core elements or functions that must operate properly to achieve the bottom line. […] The important thing is that when the bottom line of each activity is achieved, then THE bottom line is achieved.”
4. Align team members with the bottom line.
“Ideally all team members should know the big goal, as well as their individual role in achieving it. They need to know their personal bottom line and how that works to achieve the organization’s bottom line.” (A post to reinforce this point is Believe.)
5. Stick with one system, and monitor results continually.
“Bottom-line thinking cannot be a one-time thing. It has to be built into the system of working and relating and achieving. You can’t just tune in to the desired result every now and then. Achieving with bottom-line thinking must be a way of life, or it will send conflicting messages.
ACTION
TODAY: Do you know the bottom line for the various aspects of your life? Take a moment today to pick one area you want to focus on and find out the bottom line.
FUTURE: Don’t lose sight of that clarity and the bottom line you just figured out. Everything you do should revolve around that bottom line. As you embark in any action or project, ask: is this in alignment and getting me closer to my bottom line? If the answer is yes, go for it! If it’s no, then course-correct and do something instead that gets you closer to your goal.
Happy bottom-lining!
Know someone who could benefit from figuring out his or her bottom line? Please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Goals, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Opportunity, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 25 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Getting lucky
— From The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success by Darren Hardy
Are you lucky? According to Darren Hardy, author of The Compound Effect, “everyone has the opportunity to be ‘lucky,’ because beyond having the basics of health and sustenance, luck simply comes down to a series of choices.” He continues, “The difference between becoming fabulously rich, happy and healthy, or broke, depressed and unhealthy, is the choices you make throughout life. Nothing else will make a difference.”
Hardy was the publisher of SUCCESS magazine for many years, and he recalls a time when he asked Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group, if he thought luck had been a part of his success. Branson answered, “Yes, of course, we are all lucky. If you live in a free society, you are lucky. Luck surrounds us every day; we are constantly having lucky things happen to us, whether you recognize it or not. I have not been any more lucky or unlucky that anyone else. The difference is when luck came my way, I took advantage of it.”
We’ve all heard the maxim that says: luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Hardy agrees, yet he believes preparation and opportunity are not enough, thus he adds two more components to the luck formula:
LUCK = Preparation + Attitude + Opportunity + Action
Preparation (personal growth):
“By consistently improving and preparing yourself—your skills, knowledge, expertise, relationships, and resources— you have the wherewithal to take advantage of great opportunities when they arise (when luck ‘strikes’).” Movie producer Samuel Goldwyn said, “The harder I work the luckier I get.”
Attitude (belief/mindset):
“It’s simply a matter of seeing situations, conversations, and circumstances as fortuitous. You cannot see what you don’t look for, and you cannot look for what you don’t believe in.” Bernadette Jiwa, business and brand strategist, writes in her book Hunch, “every day is filled with opportunities, either seized or missed, ours for the taking if only we can learn to listen for them.” (Read post).
Opportunity (a good thing coming your way):
“Luck isn’t forced. It’s a natural occurrence, and it often shows up seemingly of its own accord.” And, even though opportunity is a good thing coming your way, sometimes it comes in disguise and shows up, as Albert Einstein said, in the middle of difficulty.
Action (doing something about it):
“This is where you come in. However this luck was delivered to you… it’s now your job to act on it. […] So no more whining about the cards you were dealt, the great defeats you suffered, or any other circumstances. Countless people have more disadvantages and greater obstacles than you, and yet they’re wealthier and more fulfilled. Luck is an equal-opportunity distributor. Lady luck shines on all, but rather than having your umbrella overhead, you’ve got to have your face to the sky. When it comes down to it, it’s all you. There’s no other way around it.”
“You seldom, if ever, get lucky sitting down.” Zig Ziglar
ACTION
TODAY: Take a moment today to think of all the opportunities that you have in front of you: the wild ones, the sensible ones, the big ones, the small ones. The idea is not to spread yourself too thin and act on them all, but to start seeing opportunity all around you. You’ll soon realize how lucky you are and how you can increase your luck by acting on an opportunity should you decide to do so. Is there one that fits right in with your goals? Go for it! If not, no worries, keep this quote from Richard Branson in mind, “Opportunities are like buses – there’s always another one coming!”
FUTURE: Make a point of constantly learning and growing yourself (I know a blog called EntreGurus that can help you… 😉 ), seeing opportunity wherever you go, and being ready to act when luck presents itself. Make sure that the opportunities you act on are taking you further in the direction of your goals. Remember, if it’s not an absolutely ‘Hell, yeah!’ then say no. That’s how you maximize your luck.
Best of luck! 🍀
Please share this post with a lucky friend or colleague via email, Facebook or Twitter!
by Helena Escalante | Celebration, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Planning, Resources, Time, Tools
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 15 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Understanding when to quit and when to stick
— From The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) by Seth Godin
The business world is peppered with quotes and slogans to never give up and never quit. When I wrote about Selective quitting from Chris Guillebeau’s book Born For This, the post highlighted how to quit projects or courses of action that were not in our best interest. In today’s idea, from Seth Godin’s The Dip, we’ll take a look at when to quit and when to stick.
Godin explains that “Most people will tell you that you that you need to persevere—to try harder, put in more hours, get more training, and work hard. ‘Don’t quit!’ they implore. But if all you need to do to succeed is not quit, then why do organizations less motivated than yours succeed? Why do individuals less talented than you win? It involves understanding the architecture of quitting, and, believe it or not, it means quitting a lot more than you do now.”
The author continues, “Strategic quitting is the secret of successful organizations [and individuals]. Reactive quitting and serial quitting are the bane of those that strive (and fail) to get what they want. And most people do just that. They quit when it’s painful and stick when they can’t be bothered to quit. […] Understanding the different types of situations that lead you to quit—or that should cause you to quit—is the first step toward getting what you want.”
Godin shares two curves that define virtually all situations that we face. Understanding them is the basis for success.
CURVE 1: THE CUL-DE-SAC
Cul-de-sac means dead end in French. We’ve all seen it and experienced it: “It’s a situation where you work and you work and you work and nothing much changes. It doesn’t get a lot better, it doesn’t get a lot worse. It just is.” And there’s not much to say about the cul-de-sac other than when you find yourself in it, you need to get out of it as fast as you can. “A dead end is keeping you from doing something else. The opportunity cost of investing your life in something that’s not going to get better is just too high.”
CURVE 2: THE DIP
Image courtesy of Seth Godin.
When you first start something there’s a fantastic rush of energy and excitement: you’re learning by leaps and bounds and making much progress. This growth and rapid learning keeps you going over the ensuing days or months. And then you fall into the Dip.
“The Dip is the long slog between starting and mastery… the long stretch between beginner’s luck and accomplishment… [but it’s] actually a shortcut, because it gets you where you want to go faster than any other path.” Those that stick through the Dip and make it to the other side come out victorious, because “almost everything in life worth doing is controlled by the Dip.”
The important thing to keep in mind is that “just because you know you’re in the Dip doesn’t mean you have to live happily with it. Dips don’t last quite as long when you whittle at them.”
The things or skills that we most value are scarce. Without the Dip, scarcity—and thus value—wouldn’t exist. “What’s hard is getting there… there’s a huge Dip along the way.” If it were easy, everyone would be there already. That’s why “the people who invest the time and the energy and the effort to power through the Dip… are the ones who become the best in the world.”
To sum up, Godin gives the following wise advice: “Stick with The Dips that are likely to pan out, and quit the Cul-de-Sacs to focus your resources. That’s it.”
Both Seth Godin and The Dip were mentioned recently in the Billions TV series on Showtime. Here’s the video clip. (Courtesy of Seth Godin. Note: strong/uncensored language). And I’m absolutely thrilled and very proud that, today, Seth Godin—whose mind and writings I’ve long admired, and who I have the honor and joy of calling a friend—is being inducted into the Marketing Hall of Fame. SUPERCONGRATS SETH!! For these and billions of other reasons, you are indeed on the other side of the Dip as the best in the world: well deserved and hats off!
ACTION
TODAY: Are there any cul-de-sacs among your current life or business projects that you need to quit? Are you experiencing any Dips? Take a moment to think about your future and the goals you want to achieve. And then determine the best course of action for you.
FUTURE: As you periodically examine your goals, quit the cul-de-sacs to free up energy and resources as well as to make valuable room for other endeavors. When you find yourself in a Dip, remember that you don’t have to like it or enjoy it, but you can certainly push through it to get to the other side, and once you’re there, the effort will have been worthwhile.
Know someone who is in a cul-de-sac and needs to quit? Or someone who is in a Dip and needs encouragement to keep at it? Share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter!
by Helena Escalante | Celebration, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Planning, Sales, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 33 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Hugging is a mindset
— From Hug Your Customers: The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results by Jack Mitchell
Jack Mitchell is the Chairman of the Mitchell Stores. These high-end apparel boutiques provide such exceptional customer service, that Mitchell Stores is a case study at Harvard Business School.
What makes Jack Mitchell and his stores so special? The fact that they hug their customers. Mitchell says, “In some instances, we physically hug the customers—I’ve seen sales associates actually give customers a bear hug and then dance with them around the floor—but we mainly metaphorically hug them by showering them with attention in a way that every business ought to but doesn’t. […] That’s what Mitchell’s is about: making people say ‘Wow!’ ” And it’s true, I kept thinking wow! many times as I read through Hug Your Customers.
Mitchell defines hugging “as a mindset more than a physical act. It’s a way of thinking about customers… in the simplest sense, a hug is anything that exceeds a customer’s expectations.” For instance, Mitchell recalls a time when the new Chief Financial Officer of a large corporation went into his store. He (Mitchell) greeted him and congratulated him on his company’s stock rising $5 the previous day. Needless to say, the CFO was blown away. That’s what he means by a metaphoric hug.
And just as clothing, hugs come in all sizes: one time Mitchell flew a suit on a corporate jet to Tokyo for the son of a customer who needed it the next day. He also recalls lending his very own top coat to a customer who needed it right away (and happened to be the same size) while the customer’s coat arrived two days later. And at another point a customer brought in a dress she had purchased at another luxury store to get it altered in a hurry, and they did it for her.
It’s important to highlight that everyone hugs differently, “and that’s the way it should be,” says Mitchell. “You adopt the hug that works for you and your customer… Some people are comfortable giving a bear hug. Others recoil at anything too physical. That’s fine. Those people like to shake hands, or give a high five, or look you in the eye, or send personal notes.”
Mitchell states that one of the best hugs is a letter of thanks, and it’s a bonus hug if it’s handwritten or if you handwrite a note on the side of a typed letter. As an exercise, he once sat down to write a list of different hugs and got to 33 before his hand started cramping. I suggest you do the same for your customers or clients. What can you do for them that will create that wow! response? I’m adding below some of the hugs in Mitchell’s list hoping they will spark some ideas in you (some of them won’t apply to your business, but think about equivalents that work for you).
- Offer someone a beverage or snack
- Carry their bags to the car
- Send a birthday card
- Send an anniversary card
- Remember names
- Sew on a button
- Press pants
- Call when you say you will
- Send flowers on a holiday
- Send flowers after a big sale
- Call and invite to lunch at the store
- Make reservations for someone at an exclusive restaurant
- Get tickets to a ball game or the theater
- Open the store after hours for private appointments
- Have a liberal return policy that allows you to give money back with a smile
- Call another store to get something you don’t have
- Show product knowledge
- Smile
- Resolve credit issues instantly
- Give a firm handshake
- Look a customer in the eye as a friend who cares
- Exchange business cards
- Telephone someone who’s sick to show you care
- Send an email (especially to people who travel internationally)
- Listen
Happy hugging!
ACTION
TODAY: Make a list of the ways in which you can hug your customers. You’ll be surprised as to the difference that even small details can make!
FUTURE: Adopt the hugging mindset. Keep your list of hugs handy and keep adding to it. Get together with your team and brainwrite ways in which you can hug your customers more and more often. Determine which hugs you can turn into policies so as to serve your clients better and offer an exceptional experience.
Know someone who needs a hug? Send this post to that person! You can do so via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Goals, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 55 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Check the ego
— From Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
We all have an ego, and that’s a good thing. It pushes us to do bigger and better things, it fuels our desire to win, and drives us to succeed. But if we let it take the lead, it becomes a destructive force that “clouds our judgment and prevents us from seeing the world as it is,” say Leif Babin and Jocko Willink, authors of Extreme Ownership.
Further, if left unchecked, “ego clouds and disrupts everything: the planning process, the ability to take good advice, and the ability to accept constructive criticism… Often, the most difficult ego to deal with is your own.”
As philosopher and writer Michel de Montaigne said “I have never seen a greater monster or miracle than myself.” So, if ego has these two sides, how do we make sure that it doesn’t hijack us to take over but stays on the miracle side instead?
The authors say that it the ego must be in check at all times and we must operate with a high degree of humility. “Admitting mistakes, taking ownership and developing a plan to overcome challenges are integral to any successful team… strive to be confident, but not cocky.”
Babin relays a story of one of his clients: this was a manager faced with a superintendent subordinate who had more knowledge and experience than him. The subordinate had taken action—without running it first by the manager—that would cost the company lots of money.
Needless to say the manager was very upset. His ego had taken a hit because the subordinate had not cleared the action with him. With Babin’s help, the manager was able to check his ego and realize that the action may not have been deliberately done to hurt him or to see how much the subordinate could get away with. The manager said, “I’m sure he [the subordinate] thought he was doing the best for the immediate situation as it presented itself.” Over the ensuing conversation, Babin and the manager came to the conclusion that the subordinate acted in good faith, yet was unaware of the big picture. Thus, the subordinate’s action, taken without running it first by the manager, had cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It was the responsibility of the manager to explain the overall plan and mission to all subordinates, so that they could see the impact of their actions.
Had Babin and the manager not spoken, the manager would have likely confronted the subordinate and it would have resulted in a clash of egos. Instead, Babin recommended to the manager to take Extreme Ownership and not point fingers, but take full responsibility. Here’s what Babin said to the manager:
“This isn’t his fault, it’s yours. You are in charge, so the fact that he didn’t follow procedure is your fault. And you have to believe that, because it’s true. When you talk to him [the subordinate] you need to start the conversation like this: ‘Our team made a mistake and it’s my fault. It’s my fault because I obviously wasn’t as clear as I should have been in explaining why we have these procedures in place and how not following them can cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars. You are an extremely skilled and knowledgeable superintendent. You know more about this business than I ever will. It was up to me to make sure you know the parameters we have to work within and why some decisions have got to be run through me. Now, I need to fix this so it doesn’t happen again.’ ”
Our egos don’t like to take blame, so it’s natural for anyone in a leadership position to find where the blame lies when something goes wrong in the work of a team. However, it’s incumbent upon us to check our egos and to make sure everyone knows how their actions fit in the big picture. The bottom line: “It’s about the mission and how best to accomplish it.”
Happy leading with ego in check!
ACTION
TODAY: Are you the leader of a team or part of a team? Do you and everyone on your team know how each individual’s work fits into the big picture? If not, explain to all or ask your leader. This will save you and your team much heartache!
FUTURE: As you embark on new projects, always seek to communicate to your team what the overall mission is and how each member fits within it. Take full responsibility and extreme ownership of everything that happens. Operate with humility and check your ego constantly, that way you’ll ensure it will drive you to succeed.
Know someone who needs to check their ego? Please share this post with that person via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
