Post February W3

I highlight something that I found helpful during the week. Something I learned or experienced that made me pause is worth sharing. And I have a target to

Have a tribe

People who have your back and know they can always turn to you for help, no matter what.
They are rare, but so are you.
Most people don't have this.
You should.
It takes time to build that. Think about which groups or individuals have this potential and focus more time on conversations and actions, teaching them what you think will help. Take away time from groups that will never evolve into a tribe.
On Zoom, in your area, through tapping into the life force of the universe….
And be grateful.

Once you see through brand manipulation, you make better choices
Don't feel guilty for liking something that isn't a status symbol. And feel good by using the things that work, perform, and provide the utility and value you appreciate and respect.
You can only see through the facade once you know who you are and what you respect and cherish. But once you know who you are, who you want to become, and what potential you wish to fulfill, you will care less about popular opinion and more about the utility that helps you achieve excellence and help others.
Here's an example. The Lexus ES is a great car. Perfectly built, nothing rattles, very precise, and most of all, it looks and feels like a car, not like an SUV, crossover, or any other fake term that tries to generate FOMO. It's powerful enough, comfortable, a good travel car. And it costs like a car.

(Photos by LEXUS)

HOWEVER….it doesn't have 20-inch screens, strange LED lights and sounds, and other things that have nothing to do with driving. Like a Rolls Royce, it has buttons. It's not designed to be thrown away after 3 years. The people who built it gave a lot of thought to ergonomics, quality, and customer experience. It just works well. The BMW 5 Series used to be like that: performance first. Now it's heavy and spongy to drive, and you look at a chopped-up tablet instead of dials. Thank God for Lexus, Subaru, Mazda, Rolls Royce, and many other manufacturers you never heard of, but get it right.

Make plans you can execute and execute the plans you make
Time is scarce, and wasting it on elaborate planning is foolish.
Not executing good plans is equally useless.
Fix the little things fast and ensure significant endeavors progress constantly, step by step, daily.
Perfection is an illusion; continuous evolution coupled with consistency and focus is the way.

Don't complain about the petty shit
This is easy to do, but it doesn't contribute to anything and wastes your time and energy.
Just let go and move on. Don't let it into your head and feed it your energy.
I know, sometimes you can't help it. But try telling yourself that that's not you, not who you are.

Flickr is great
There were other things, trying to reinvent the wheel. Add a marketplace for photos and a more social media-type experience.
But some things don't need to be improved just for the sake of improvement and popular opinion. Utility and performance is always better than popularity.
That's why I like using markup writers,

That which constantly changes isn't real.
I heard that's an answer from a wise Indian teacher when asked what is real.
Think about who you're dealing with and if they are consistent in what they're telling you or if the only consistent factor is that their story and plan continuously change. If so….they're most likely selling you no something that fails the definition of being real.

The Napoleon film makes him out to be the bad guy
They say he killed 3 million people. Which is bad.
But they make it look like he did it on his own. There was the other side.
And they didn't like him, thought it's worth removing him.
Anyway, 10 minutes of the movie was worth the $16, the rest was just propaganda.

Marcus Aurelius Book 1
I like reading it every day. You can access it here https://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.1.one.html

For example a quote about Maximus (image by Chat):

From Maximus I learned self-government, and not to be led aside by anything; and cheerfulness in all circumstances, as well as in illness; and a just admixture in the moral character of sweetness and dignity, and to do what was set before me without complaining. I observed that everybody believed that he thought as he spoke, and that in all that he did he never had any bad intention; and he never showed amazement and surprise, and was never in a hurry, and never put off doing a thing, nor was perplexed nor dejected, nor did he ever laugh to disguise his vexation, nor, on the other hand, was he ever passionate or suspicious. He was accustomed to do acts of beneficence, and was ready to forgive, and was free from all falsehood; and he presented the appearance of a man who could not be diverted from right rather than of a man who had been improved. I observed, too, that no man could ever think that he was despised by Maximus, or ever venture to think himself a better man. He had also the art of being humorous in an agreeable way.

People who ask for things without returning the value are not suitable for you
This is a no-brainer. Doesn't happen a lot. But it does sometimes.
There's a difference between creating some initial value and seeing if it can be achieved when working together.
So you don't waste time on some big project that will fall apart because you have different values or expectations.
However many people will try to take away your time and focus for their own gain.
Like Doctor Robotnik says in Sonic cartoons, “The thought of unpaid labor makes me all warm and fuzzy inside”.
Quickly shut down Robotniks who try to charm their way onto your calendar.

Have a pause day every few days
Once per week, or after an extensive, challenging set of days, a harder sting that needed extra effort.
Just take the time to recharge, reflect, meditate, and connect with strength.
Remember, you are out to deliver value, impact, performance, fast, precise, swift, and efficient. Not to sit around and waste time. When recharged, you will be faster better, and stronger. That's when you can deliver impact.

Cake
Was on the menu a lot. Birthday season.

Credibility

Here are some ideal elements of credibility.

125 years of experience.

1B+ turnover.

Working with 10 multinationals.

100k+ customers.

Winning world championship titles.

What if you don't have any of those?

But can outperform the old brands?

We do with performance. Take whatever our clients are best at. Show why what is important. And compare numbers.

Done.

All of a sudden, nobody cares about 125 years of experience, if they're saving money, time or making more money. Performance wins over brand BS every time.

How would you like to do this simple and fast.

There’s no Black Friday at Ferrari

Seeking validation is not helping you.

400 word briefing for 3 minute talk

Always the right words

Sounds simple or perhaps even like a joke, doesn’t it?

And I mean who hasn’t wished in hindsight that the comeback was better picked. Remember George Costanza and the Jerk Store joke? No, look it up.

George spends a lot of time and money, takes on a new job, relocates, all in hope of recreating the setting in which he could use the right line during a lunch meeting gone bad.

This happens all the time, to everyone.

I remember this one time, on stage, at an event with relatively big names. Not Fortune 50, but neither the chump change crowd. Premium SMEs we could label them, with an international footprint.

This guy comes on. Director of So and So industrial technology and Company XYZ (fake name, not an Elon Musk-associated brand).

Very enthusiastic and hip but also serious and credible.

He launched with a bang, a slide that looks like a mind map, but genetically modified to also be a Gartner innovation hype cycle timeline and a marketing brochure.

His talk was pretty much like that, too.

Again, great guy, with a relevant topic and a confident stage presence.

But everything he said could be (and was) forgotten 3 seconds later, without consequence.

Why?

Like I said, I'm not trying to peg down the guy. The reason it didn’t work is chiefly because he didn’t understand what his job was on that stage.

He thought he had to make the audience understand what So and So Industrial Technology is.

So he rolled out some buzzwords, a serving of hype, and macros for dessert. You know, the 27B CAGR in 2027 type things.

It’s not that he couldn’t figure out a better way, but it’s hard to do that when already on stage.

That would be like Max Verstappen trying to set up the car on the actual qualifying lap, instead of in the free practice session beforehand. So, no good; there just wouldn’t be enough time to drive the lap and figure out the setup simultaneously.

I guess the only result of this confident yet confusing presentation was that they spoke about So and So.

But not like they owned the topic, dominated the space, cherry-picked that deal.

Had he understood that was the goal, he would have found better words.

Ahead of time.

You can too.

Difference between Recreational and PRO speaking

I saw this lady post how she likes to wing it during presentations. She says she’s a toastmaster or something; I guess that’s a group where people meet up in a non-business or non-real setting and get around with their speaking talent.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s pretty good if you can practice speaking; I support that.

Then there’s the “body language/communication coaching” crowd.

You know, hold your hands here, pronounce words louder, or throttle back on the cadence. Again, I have nothing against that. It’s practical, general skill-building, and a practice that can serve you well in many settings.

There is, however, a BIG difference between Recreational speaking and going PRO.

For all intents and purposes, going PRO means you speak to either WIN or LOSE. A deal, an opportunity, a sale, an investment. At toastmasters all you win or lose is a bit of ego.

Should I spend another 200 words massaging this point? I could, but why bother - If you’re not already getting it, then you’re not in a position to win much or lose much. Which, again, is neither good nor bad. It means you don’t rely on speaking to a crowd to go from zero to hero.

Is that even a thing?

Well, yes, it is a thing. You can go to places, arrive as an inconsequential nobody, speak for 5 minutes, and get instant acclaim, generating demand for your attention and time. Everyone feels you’ve absorbed all the importance in the room, and the most influential people interrupt you at the post-speech buffet, not knowing why. They are drawn to you like a magnet to a steel beam.

The reason is that they feel important and must meet the most critical person; it’s a part of who and what they are.

Now beware, this is a Cinderella effect. It has a timer. The clock strikes midnight, and you’re back to being invisible and unimportant.

Let’s put a number on that.

Companies I work with spend a minimum of $0,5M on attending events every year. Granted, it’s pocket change in relation to their top-line revenue. But those “coins” are spent tactically, so the top line keeps going up, (or at least, doesn’t go down).

Not everyone is aware of that though. I’ve seen this guy recently post pictures from his event stand. He was with some startup company. The event organizers made a special label next to their brand name so everyone could see the equivalent of an L learner sign on the road.

It was up to him to break out of that mold. He didn’t. Why not? He didn’t know how.

So can you?

It’s less hard than you think and more complex than it feels.

Here’s a practical overview:

Step 1) Get very fucking clear on what you’re saying. (I’ll make a video about this).

Step 2) Be very concise (less than 250 words) and to the point about the “clear thing” you’re saying.

Step 3) Deliver it to people and gauge response to find gaps in understanding.

Step 4) Plug said gaps.

Step 5) Have the next step ready and words to segway smoothly.

So…what are trying to say and what is the cost of not listening to you?

Wasted attention is super expensive

Speaking = Value

In the days of Abe Lincoln, speeches used to take forever. Think about it. People walked for hours or days to show up at an event. And they had nothing else going on, nothing to do, really. There was no entertainment, pre- and after-party. The speaking (or listening) was all there was. So you couldn’t just get on stage and finish in 3 minutes.

But times have changed. Nobody will listen to you now if you’re not saying something valuable immediately.

3 minutes on stage often feels 2 minutes too long.

And if it takes you forever to circle around a halfway clear point, what does that say about you as a vendor?
Is that how working together will look like? Us wanting our tech to work, you doing your best to give us a university course on it instead of delivering impact?

So here’s your challenge and job - be incredibly interesting and relevant in 3 minutes. You know, that time it usually now takes you to power up the projector and do a clumsy introduction.

If you want decision speed increasing and the time to get money in decreasing, you yourself need to become faster.

Starting with the first 3 minutes.

Sunday, weekday 1

Calendars are set to start your week on a Monday. Sundays are thought of as rest and family days. But that doesn’t make sense. Sundays are crowded anywhere you go. And the week doesn’t end on a Sunday. It’s the day of the Sun, the strongest external force in your life (and week).

Spend it foolishly, and by the end of that strongest day, you’ll feel weakest return from your trip to a tourist town, already worn down by the crowds and the prevailing nervous energy.

Spend it wisely, and you will get a jump on everyone, including your lazy ego, and its hard to kick habits.

By Monday, you’ll be a day ahead.

By Wednesday, the week’s goals will be in.

By Thursday, you’ll add things to the calendar to extract more from the momentum you’ve generated.

And Friday is the give-it-your-all day before Saturday is the respite you need and deserve.

That may work our that way for you, or you may have a better plan.

Either way, reexamine how your energy flows during the week and guard it to the max.

Events

Here’s why they are great: i. meet people who can do business with you, ii. get introductions that lead to contracts, iii. see what competitors are doing and what the industry vibe is.

Here’s why they are bad: i. waste time on people without a plan or budget, ii. get introduced to others as a qualified lead, iii. give away your best ideas to competitors.

If you’re passive, being your old self, the low self esteem feature spewing loser, manning your stand with less conviction than a McDonalds robot server, then attending events is a waste of time.

If you’re proactive, you can enter people’s lives and bring opportunity and adventure into their mundane existence.

But beware, time is the enemy of every deal.

The more time you think you have or even worse, imply you might have, the lower the chances of a conversation ending with some sort of agreement.

You most likely don’t have the confidence to tell people simply what you suggest and ask if they’re up for it, without giving a fuck what they think. That’s something you should work on.

The better you get at it, the more events make for a great investment of time and a perfect tool to take other people’s money.

Remember, everyone will try to slow you down, and shift you into their gear. Resist, leave them stuck, if that’s what they like, move faster towards people who appreciate speed and efficiency.

It’s their choice to be who they are, and your choice and imperative to stay true to who you are.

All, now

Often people have real problems moving forward with their business. Like not having time to organize workflow so they’re always distracted from getting key things done. Or their idea is worded so poorly that the revenue cycle just keeps slipping further out of reach.

They need help, have the money for it, but then they need to think, reflect, align, sync, negotiate, complicate…..in other words, waste time they don’t have to save money they need to spend anyway.

In the fullness of time, this may not matter at all and everything works out amazing. Or maybe they’ll fail and end up as losers who couldn’t get their act together in time.

Doesn’t really matter.

The only thing that does matter, is that you, who is reading this, should remember that none of those problems or upsides are in anyway your own.

Nobody is paying you to sit along for the ride through Great Anxiety Ville, Urgent Action Needed, Best Help Wanted, which all sound super exciting. But that ride always somehow takes the scenic route through Negotiation Falls, Indecision Square, Paperwork Alley and Let’s Consider Our Options Valley.

There are great promises in the wind too. Bonus points, perhaps even equity.

Yes, you could end up walking away with millions in commissions if you play your card right. Right meaning work for free and hope for the best.

Or instead, you could do as I do.

Snap your fingers.

End the indecision hypnosis.

And then tell them to fuck off with daydreaming.

It’s a hard job. They need it and they have way more to lose.

So you want ALL of the bonus points and ALL of the SERVICES payments.

And if they want a discount, let them beg and negotiate you for it.

Stop preparing

It's incredible how much time goes wasted on preparing for meetings, preparing the presentation, preparing the offer, preparing to prepare to do something.

But so little time goes into actually doing it.

And once you turn up for that zoom call, you realize you have way too much to say in far too little time.

So you try and condense the already condensed explanations and don't say the things that matter.

Such as what it is that you actually propose and why that makes sense. The numbers that back it up. And how things will look once it's all done.

The reason you don't say this is the same one that keeps you endlessly fine-tuning the slide headlines: you care far too much about what they will think and far too little about who they could become with your help.

I do the opposite.

That's why you will lose when competing with me over a deal.

Not because my presentation is better (I never have one) or because my offer is more compelling (usually, it's harder to buy, much more expensive, and less flexible).

But only because I figure out the answers they care about and don't waste time trying to get them to understand how something works.

And If they need a lot of time to catch on and even longer to commit to an outcome, they're not a good fit for me anyway.

I get prepared by doing the hard things first, one by one, stacking the lessons, and moving fast to the next.

So should you.

Short is hard

Most people talk about their ideas in long form.

They want you to understand the logic of what it is.

And they summarize the impact with generic words like secure, efficient, or innovative.

They take a lot of presentation slides and walk you through the titles and bullets and graphics.

Show that it's solid.

And regardless of how much they try, they always feel that not enough has been said.

They're right. If they would speak for another three hours, they would still not answer the only questions that matter:

1. Why are you telling me this?

2. Why should I listen and care?

3. What is the cost of ignoring you?

If you answer just those three, you will get attention and people will engage.

Meetings are about decisions

How much time do you have to get somewhere with your proposal?

Seems to me that the world is split into two categories of people:

The first (3% of business people) picks up the phone, fires away an email, flies in for a meeting, and gets a decision.

The second (97% of business people) spends months preparing to pick up the phone, send an email, and take a meeting, to present their solution.

That's why they miss out.

Why are you still in that big group?

14 months into a narrative

EVERY TIME

Whatever time you have to present, split it in half.

Nor am I. Nor is anybody. That's why it takes 8 months to produce a 90 minute motion picture.

What people want to hear is not always what we want to say, and finding a balance between the two is hard.
In fact, just like every page of a novel, every second of the presentation should be SUPER INTERESTING.

Now you're wondering if I mean like as in just the big presentations? No. I mean every time you speak. We all have to be interesting in every thing we say.

Interesting doesn't mean funny or exciting. It just means the story is moving along.

When it's not, you should not be saying those parts.

Give it a try.

Check your “interesting” level.

And cut the crap that's making you boring.