The Sales Experiment

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Be Kind and Brave

School is a Place to Learn Bravery and Kindness

In the last 15 minutes of the Lewis Howes interview with Glennon Melton (link below), I found some of the best parenting advice ever.

Glennon talks about ‘the talk’ she has with her children every year before sending them back to school. I won’t try to relate it all here, because I couldn’t do so as eloquently as she does in the interview or in the post on her site (Go read her blog post “The Talk” on Momastery because it should be required reading for all parents).

She basically tells her children that she cares little whether they are the best or worst at any given school-based pursuit except for one: bravery and kindness (pardon the long quotation)….

We don’t send you to school to become the best at anything at all. We already love you as much as we possibly could. You do not have to earn our love or pride and you can’t lose it. That’s done.

We send you to school to practice being brave and kind.

Kind people are brave people. Brave is not a feeling that you should wait for. It is a decision. It is a decision that compassion is more important than fear, than fitting in, than following the crowd.

Trust me, baby, it is. It is more important.

Don’t try to be the best this year, honey.

Just be grateful and kind and brave. That’s all you ever need to be.

You must stop now and go read the rest of the post at The Momastery – “The Talk”

I could use that advice myself everyday when I head off to work or when I sit down to parent my children or be a husband to my wife.

It’s not the goal to be perfect or the best. The goal (as Ms. Melton also discusses in the interview with Howes) is to bring who I am, wherever I happen to be, to whatever situation I’m in, and just give myself. My kids don’t need a perfect dad. They just need me. And I have to believe my clients don’t need a perfect provider of services. They need a straight up, honest, servant.

She said (and I paraphrase), “When we stop trying to be perfect, we finally have energy to do good.”

I love that. It’s mantra-worthy.

As a matter of fact, if I worried about being perfect, I wouldn’t have written and hit ‘publish’ on all of these posts from this past month.

Thanks Lewis and Glennon. This 43 year old dude appreciates you both.

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Today’s Action: Brainstorm seminar/workshop topics for my first (official) opportunity.

Checked that box. I put together 6 topics with a short synopsis of each and sent them to the association’s education coordinator (not sure if that’s her official title).  I loved the fact that after having blogged for a while, I was able to develop topics pretty quickly. In truth, I didn’t have to develop them. They’ve been bubbling up and being fleshed out over the past 2 or 3 years.

Today’s Listening

How to Overcome Addictions and Be Courageously Vulnerable with Glennon Melton – The School of Greatness Podcast with Lewis Howes.

I finished up this episode today. I’m so glad I did. While it wasn’t directly actionable, I got all kinds of parenting ideas. In the end, if I can parent well, I will have been a success. Don’t forget to check out Glennon’s blog, The Momastery, to learn more.

What Sharing My Childhood Rape Taught Me About Being a Loving, Vulnerable, Free Man – The School of Greatness Podcast with Lewis Howes

I came close to passing over this episode of Mr. Howes’ podcast. Having a 7 year old daughter and 6 year old twin boys, I wasn’t sure if it was a story I had the emotional bandwidth to listen to today. I’m glad I did and appreciate, deeply, Lewis’s willingness to be ridiculously vulnerable. Courage has many faces and this episode showed one of them.

Until tomorrow…

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This blog is a response to Dan Miller’s unintentional challenge from his podcast on August 15, 2014: If you read or listen to 30 minutes of quality content a day, you’ll double your income. 

From September 1, 2014 through March 1, 2015, I will be doing the following:

  1. Listening or reading to 30 minutes of success, growth, business, spiritual, or other mindset-shifting, skill-sharpening content.
  2. Selecting one action item from that content (with some leeway to select an action from a previous day’s content).
  3. Doing that one action.
  4. Writing about the action or some other idea from the reading and listening of the day. 

 

 

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I Have a Crush on Pinterest

And I blame Cynthia Sanchez and Vincent Ng. I also blame the fact that I went through a brief spat with Twitter and Facebook. They just weren’t giving me what I wanted. I needed more.

So, I started flirting with Pinterest. She is gorgeous. I love her long, slender images. And the fact that she’s always full of surprises and suggestions and fun ideas.

I still feel a little awkward around her (her being Pinterest, of course), but that’s why I love Ms. Sanchez’s Oh So Pinteresting Podcast.

Sanchez has a handle on how to make your pins as searchable as possible (hint: pin descriptions and image names and alt-text are really important. If you don’t know what that means, neither did I). She also offers wonderful insight whenever Pinterest changes (which seems to be daily).

When I first started getting into Pinterest to help out a friend’s ecommerce efforts, I found her podcast and power listened to about 15 episodes (at least). If you’re new to Pinterest, I recommend doing the same to give yourself a solid foundation.

In addition to helping me with the ecommerce work, I ended up picking up great tidbits to use for my B2B day job as a commercial insurance man.

Vincent Ng’s book Pinterest to Profits with Pintalysis is also a wonderful resource. Mr. Ng helped teach Sanchez’s Oh So Pinteresting Pinterest for Business Workshop – a solid little course that takes you from 101 status to 301 status pretty quickly.

Pinterest and Editorial Perspective

While I’m not sure if Pinterest is the most effective social channel for insurance, I know that developing an editorial perspective with Pinterest in mind helps me work harder to get inside of the heads of my clients.

As a matter of fact, one of my favorite things about all content and social marketing methods and options is that they have helped develop my voice as a sales professional. They force you to clarify your value and gain greater understanding of your audience.

But like any other social channel, you have to be social. And that’s what today’s short action is about.

Today’s Action: Reach Out to Pinners Who Pin Your Pins and Pin Their Pins

Yes… that was an intentional attempt at a tongue twister. The Oh So Pinteresting (OSP) episode 71 encouraged being a little more social on Pinterest. It’s a great idea. And it seems normal to do. I went into a couple of my accounts and dug through the people who pinned my pins and followed boards, left comments, and repinned pins.

Simple. Easy. Not groundbreaking activity, but this challenge isn’t about being a daily groundbreaker. It’s about taking a small action daily. I did the action. Yay me. 🙂

Today’s Listening and Reading (besides the Oh So Pinteresting Episode 71)

How to Overcome Addictions and Be Courageously Vulnerable with Glennon Melton – The School of Greatness Podcast with Lewis Howes. Melton’s story is powerful. Check out her blog, The Momastery, to learn more.

The Power of Consistency: Prosperity Mindset Training for Sales and Business Professionals (Affiliate Link) by Weldon Long  – I’m still making my way through this book. Look forward to being… consistent with the info that is in the book, doing my daily quiet reflection exercises.

Until tomorrow…

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The Importance of Solving Hard Problems

The reason we’re here is to solve the hard problems – Seth Godin, The Dip

People often say that their jobs are soul-sucking.

Is the job really soul-sucking or is it just hard?

It can be difficult to tell, but I love Seth Godin’s reminder in his book The Dip:

“That fact that it’s [a hard, difficult job or task] difficult and unpredictable works to your advantage. Because if it wee any other way there’d be no profit in it.”

He goes on to say that without such difficulty we’d all be easily replaceable. It’s not possible for all jobs to be lucrative and easy.

The Dip is the idea that most jobs have an easy ramp up period. Things are a breeze early. After awhie, though, it’s tough

But as we progress, we start to encounter difficulty. It’s at that point of difficulty that most people quit.

That’s when the hard problems start popping up. The Dip is what separates the pros from the amateurs.

Solving hard problems isn’t only important because problems need to be solved. It’s also important because it separates those who are willing to get after it and those who just want comfort.

A great reminder: When work gets hard, it’s not because it’s sucking your soul. It’s because it requires you to have some soul and some heart. I know I need to remember that at times.

Best to you as you push through the Dip. May you make your way through to where few are able to go!

Listening and Reading Today

I read some of Seth Godin’s The Dip.

Leadership and Life’s Greatest Lessons Atop The World’s Highest Mountains with Alison Levine – Lewis Howes, School of Greatness Podcast

Alison is one of a hand full of women who has completed the Explorers Grand Slam.  I recommend you listen to the podcast. You’ll learn a lot about pressing through the Dip.

I’ve not read Alison Levine’s book, but I’m guessing her On the Edge: The Art of High-Impact Leadership is a powerful and inspiring take on leadership.

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