Trizle

Scenario: "Dude, here's our goal: Do better this week than last week. Yay! Woohoo!" If you wanted to generate spectacular results today, what goal would likelier get you to do so?

1. a) "Close a lot of sales today."
2. b) "Close 5 sales today."

If you chose the precise (b): Ding! Ding! Mutha Ding! Yay for = You. Setting clear goals subconsciously compels your badass to soar higher than a coked-up ostrich with wings.

Why Most Businesses Get Sluggish

Most company-builders -- and bless their hearts -- know:

1. They need to make money.
2. Seek "to make money."

But without clear goals to drive them, they settle for mediocrity through ignorance. Instead of:

• growing revenues by 100%,
• fattening profit margins by 10%, and
• increasing employee ROI by 50%,

They zone into the: "Hey, if we just make money, it's-all-good!" - aimless mentality. Without a benchmark to measure performance, they become accustomed to sucky results -- without knowing it.

"So, how do I set my goals to drive performance?"

Use this kick-booty template: I will achieve: ______________, in _____ days*. (*The number of days can range from 0.1 to 1 gazillion.) The more precise your goals, the likelier you'll achieve them. For instance, samples of awesome goals could include:

• Achieve $10,000 growth in profits by April.
• Grow web traffic 300% by March 2008.
• Network with 5 CEOs by the end of this year.
• Increase referral rates by 50% before June.

Here's what we like to do:

The Goal-Knocking-Down Game

How to play:

1. Keep a prioritized list of your goals for the year.
2. When you complete each one -- cross them off from your list.
3. Scream: "One-down, 99-to-go. Yay! Woohoo!"

It's similar to your list of -- if you have one-- "X things To Do Before I Go Belly Up." It becomes a game-of-sorts -- where you try to knock down one pin-after-another. Then, instead of thinking of each goal as a chore, you see each goal as a challenge -- motivating your booty to kick major booty.

"But, what if I don't achieve my goals?"

Then you suck. We kid. We kid. Ha! You won't -- or shouldn't -- achieve 100% of your goals. If you're achieving every one of your goals, you're not setting high-enough goals. (And vice-versa: If you're achieving zero of your goals, you're setting your goals way too high.) Find a happy medium: where you can accomplish your goals -- as our main guru notes -- 50-70 percent of the time. That drives you to shoot for the mutha-!@^^%^ stars, instead of settling for mediocrity. (And in those times when you can't reach those stars, those ambitious goals will likelier land you on the moon. Yay!)

And, when you don't achieve your goals....

Use that as a sign that 'Something needs fixin'.

1. Did you have the right resources?
2. Did you have the proper people in place?
3. Did you set clear milestones?
4. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Then, re-set your goal date -- and start shootin' for it once again.

Set spectacularly clear goals. Soar.

Scenario: "Dude, we'll be happy when we finally get: ______. Yay!" And then when you get that son-of-a-!@^^%, what happens?

1. Your happiness level returns to where it were before.
2. "Does life suck this much?" you ask yourself.
3. "That is, whatever I achieve, my happiness level will always return to normal?!" you scream.
4. You betcha -- that is, if you think: _______________ will make you happy.

"So how can I be truly happy?!" Do what the richest two folks in the world do: Start giving.

What Altruism Does To You

During gift-giving season, what makes you happier?

• a) Searching, buying, giving gifts to family/friends.
• b) Receiving your gifts.

Unless you're some psychotic gold-digging bastard, your brain subconsciously felt when you received your gifts: "Good gosh mutha-!@^^%^! I was so much happier when I gave those gifts. Ahh!" Why does that happen? According to researchers:

What Makes People Seriously Happy

• [The care-and-connection part of the brain] is a very different part of the brain than is active with romantic love.
• These brain studies show this profound state of joy and delight that comes from giving to others.
• It doesn't come from any dry action -- where the act is out of duty in the narrowest sense, like writing a check for a good cause.
• It comes from working to cultivate a generous quality -- from interacting with people.
• There is the smile, the tone in the voice, the touch on the shoulder. We're talking about altruistic love.

And, the nice side-effect to giving:

You Start Living Longer, Too

According to the researchers:

Numbers of children, education, class, and work status did not affect longevity...52% of those who did not volunteer had experienced a major illness -- compared with 36% who did volunteer.

It's like your body telling you it wants to live longer because life is pretty gosh-dang-fun. So whenever you're feeling down-and-out, and you're looking for a quick-and-sustaining-happy-high:

Give something.

Scenario: "Dude, we gotta build new revenue streams in the luxury food industry! Wahoo! Yay!" You know the deal when most business-builders try to be innovative: "Hmm, what new stuff should we do?" Seeking to do fresh things might sound fine-and-dandy -- but most people do it at the expense of what they're currently doing. That causes leaks in their company foundations. Instead -- if you're deciding on your business's next task, start asking: "Right now: Where do we truly suck?" Then, fix accordingly. (It's a concept inspired by one of our favorite guru's six-year research on what fabulous companies do.)

Why Confront Where You Suck

If homebuilders construct sloppy foundations, their houses would go: Kaaaaaaabooooooooom! Similarly: if you're ignoring your business's suckiest things, you're bracing your business for a freakish fall. Those cracks in your business will eat you up. Consider:

Billy's Taco Stand

1. His tacos suck.
2. Billy: "Hey! Let's sell burritos!"
3. "If the tacos suck, the burritos probably suck too," says a bubbly Customer Cassie. "I'm not buying."
4. Resources, time, and money on introducing new product = drainage.
5. No profits = no money = no business.

Ouch. What would badass business-owner Ann do?

1. Ann: "Hey! People aren't buying our tacos because it's too greasy."
2. She hires a chef to fix those tacos.
3. She then measures how customers like them.
4. If tacos rock, she asks herself again: "Now, where do we suck?"
5. "Bingo! We suck at generating repeat-customers. Let's see if burritos can bring them back!"

Her profits start soaring than a juiced-up rocket ship.

"How do I confront my business's suckiest things?"

Think: Prioritize! Prioritizing your stuff rocks because it lets you distinguish the "gotta-do's" from the "do-it-later's". Our recommendation: Have a "Top-X-Sucky List" where you list the top number of reasons why your business sucks. That helps you plan your very next step, accordingly. Consider:

The Brazilian Restaurant Example

If you're running a Brazilian restaurant for instance, your "Top-X-Sucky List" could resemble:

Our Top-5-Sucky List

1. Cash-flow.
2. Lunchtime customer service.
3. On-site training for newbies.
4. Inventory management.
5. Next-day catering services.
6. Local advertising.

So, you know your next task is to fix that cash-flow problem. You start devising ideas with your team:

• "We can increase menu prices."
• "We can offer complimentary dishes."
• "We can start catering to weddings."
• "We can quicken our inventory cycle."

As you confront each of your business's suckiest things, your business starts becoming sexier -- and oh-so-sexier. The template to get your badass deciding what to do next:

"My Top-X-Sucky List: _______________________."

Scenario: "Dude, we're frickin' fine where we are. Let's not fix something that ain't broken. Yay!" How most people unfortunately run their businesses:

• 1970: Sell laundry detergent.
• 1980: Sell laundry detergent.
• 1990: Sell laundry detergent.
• 2000: Sell laundry detergent.
• 2007: Sell laundry detergent.

Sticking to your "knitting" might sound fine-and-dandy, but it'll destroy your $$$ potential. Why? Market conditions change every minute. People want new things. Businesses want more innovation. Yadda, yadda, yadda. What was most profitable two years ago won't be so profitable in two months. When you disrupt your business, you ensure your company exploits the most profitable opportunities.

Are You Experiencing The Big Bad Veteran Trap?

The "big-bad-veteran trap" involves continually doing whatever you're doing -- without looking for more profitable opportunities. For instance:

• Instead of testing tea sales, you continue selling coffee.
• Instead of experimenting with luxury homes, you continue selling middle-priced homes.
• Instead of exploring computer accessories, you continue selling personal computers.

What Happens When You Don't Experiment

You leave gobs of potential profits on the table. Here's a scenario:

1. Say Opportunity A is more profitable than Opportunity B.
2. You're doing only Opportunity B.
3. Result: Maximum profit potential = unrealized.

Most companies fall into the vicious trap of: "Hey, this worked in the past! Let's continue doing it"-mentality. Yes, you could still make money doing what you're doing; but, you could generate exponentially more $$$ if you tested other opportunities.

"So, how do I disrupt my business?"

The steps:

1. First, don't dump whatever you're doing -- instead, use it as your control group.
2. Then, experiment with opportunities that can profitably knock the !@^^ out of your control group.
3. If you find a more profitable opportunity than your control group, reconsider doing your control group.

For example, consider: You + Web Design Business

Say your company provides web design, where you're profiting $50K every 30 days. Now, you tell your badass: "Hey, let's see if we can do better by disrupting our web design business! Yay!" So, you follow these steps:

1. Continue providing web design.
2. Experiment with selling proprietary accounting software that could potentially disrupt your web design business.
3. If your accounting software business profits more than $50K every 30 days, you reconsider providing web design services.

What do we mean by "reconsider providing web design services?"

Logically, since you just found a more profitable opportunity -- you could dump it, and you'd still be better off without it. But, to lessen your risk, here's what you could do:

1. Prioritize your resources into your accounting software business.
2. Provide web design services during "downtime."

(Please note: We do recommend having multiple product lines because you reduce your risks. But, prioritize your multiple offerings -- and cater your resources, accordingly.)

The Continually-$$$-Rotating Cycle

The difference between these business-builders:

1. Bad business-builders don't disrupt their businesses.
2. Amateur business-builders disrupt their businesses once.
3. Badass business-builders continually disrupt their businesses.

If you want to generate big bucks for your company, follow through this ridiculously awesome cycle that never ends:

• Step 1: Define control group.
• Step 2: Disrupt control group.
• Step 3: Repeat Step 1.

That is, continually find opportunities to disrupt your current product/service/offering line for the ever-changing market conditions.

Hack your shizzle, frequently.

Scenario: "Dude, everything has to go through me. I'll single-handedly make billions for us. Yay!" Most entrepreneurs -- and we love 'em -- try to get their hands on every-frickin'-thing.

• "My reputation's on the line!" they say.
• "Only I know how to provide the best service!" they scream.
• "I have the experience!" they think.

But when you do everything, you destroy your freakish potential to fatten your company's profits like a mofo with wings.

"But, why don't I matter?"

First, we'll qualify: You do matter, you-sexy-you -- but not like how you might expect. If you're like most business-builders, the dollars you generate for your company correlates to the time you spend working.

• That is, the ratio of "You/Profit" always equals a non-zero number -- meaning that your business generates cash only when you're working.

(We define the variables specifically as - "You": time you spent working; "Profit": company profits generated) For instance:

• If your crazy ass fell off a cliff, your business generates: $0.
• If you took a vacation, your business generates: $0.
• If you went to a conference, your business generates: $0.
• If you celebrated your birthday, your business generates :$0.
• If you went rock climbing, your business generates: $0.

Unless you're some supernatural badass, you're running on limited time. You can only do a certain number of things -- to generate the company $$$ -- before it's sleepy-sleepy time. Time limits you to how much money you can generate for your business.

But...but...but....

What if your badass could generate profits while:

1. You're sleeping?
2. You're snorkeling in the Bahamas?
3. You're auditioning on American Idol?
4. You're watching Oprah?

How financially sweet would that be? Oh-so-sweet:

1. Your business would generate income without your blood, sweat, and tears (i.e. your presence, time, energy).
2. More importantly, you'd free yourself to work on additional opportunities to fatten your business's profits even further.

(The best of both worlds. Sexy-fab.) Folks, getting to ^2 separates the ridiculously-filthy-rich companies from the "just-getting-by" folks. That's the secret to all the high-flying companies you see gracing the covers of Forbes, Fortune, BusinessWeek, Time, and Newsweek.

"So, how can my company generate profits without my booty there?"

Simply, fatten profits by making: "You/Profit" = 0. That is, find ways to make your business rake in $$$ regardless of your presence. Consider this demonstration:

Grammie and The Chocolate Coffee Factory

Grammie serves delicious chocolate coffee in the Midwest. The town raves about her customer service. For every transaction, she:

1. Gives a menu.
2. Takes the order.
3. Makes the coffee.

Without her presence, her company generates: $0. Now after reading this article, Grammie seeks fatten profits by making "You/Profit" = 0 -- meaning her coffee business will generate cash without her presence.

How?

1. She hangs a big-giant-frickin' menu in a prominent place for customers.
2. She hires young college kids, and gives them a sweet manual on (1) making coffee, and (2) taking orders.
3. She incorporates a 100% satisfaction-guarantee -- adjusting for lost sales by reducing the wages of an offending employee. (That ensures consistently great customer service.)

Result?

1. While she's not there, her coffee business: "Ka-mutha-ching!"
2. Net-effect: "Hey, let's work on an additional Tea business. Yay!"

She goes on to build a super-dope business that rocks the world like it ain't no thang but an juiced-up ostrich on a string.

The Billion-Dollar Cycle

To build your ridiculously-filthy-rich company:

1. Step ^1: Automate the business.
2. Step ^2: Work on additional opportunity.
3. Step ^3: Repeat Step ^1.

Sexy. The simple equation to rock your business:

Fatten profits by making "You/Profit" = 0.

Scenario: "Dude, we have to be serious all-the-freakin'-time! If you're having fun, you're not trying hard enough! Yay!" Ask yourself: What emotion makes people most productive to rock the world?

• a) "Oh-my-mutha-!@^^%^-FUN!"
• b) "So-so."
• c) "Blah."

Most businesses operate using the last two emotions. But, if you answered (a) -- and your business breeds that emotion all-day-every-day -- yay for your badass! Woohoo! Congratulate yo-self. When you're having fun, you're producing viciously-productively-ass-kicking work that the world passionately loves.

How The World Feels About Your Business

To understand how customers/prospects perceive you, simply answer:

"How much fun am I having with my business, right now?"

• If you're feeling blah, customers find your offerings = "Boring!"
• If your product's destroying your morale, customers find your shizzle = "Depressing!"
• If you lack passion for your products, your clients find them = "Dull!"

But...but...but.... If you're having the time of your life, you're loving your work, and your people can't wait for Mondays, then you're attracting the souls of your customers.

How Fun Affects Your Performance

Think of something that you didn't like -- at all.

What happened? You felt:

• demotivated.
• groggy.
• you wanted to shoot yourself.

In turn, your performance/productivity/creativity sucked -- bad. In the time it took super-gung-ho Jimmy 5 seconds to complete some associated task, it took you an hour. "Another minute of this thing? Ahh!" you told yourself.

Compare that feeling with something you loved doing.

What happened?

• Your performance rocked.
• You loved every second of it.
• You felt nobody could hold a candle to you.
• You stuck with it when you hit bumps, persevering through it like a mofo.
• You had much longer stamina.

Having fun with something psychologically pulls you into a zone, driving you to rock like nobody's watching. Your high-energy booty starts to knock in runs like it ain't nobody's business. How does that affect your customers? Oh, we'll tell ya.

How Fun Attracts Your Customers

For a second, think: What do your top three companies -- that you absolutely love -- have in common? Probably, comprising people who:

• Love their work.
• Love their people.
• Love their customers.
• Love life.

Fun has that sexy infectious, electrostatic effect to it -- and it sharply pulls in customers to your business. You start generating:

1. Super loyal customers.
2. Awesome referrals.
3. And, the nice side effect: Ka-ching!

"So, what can I do if I'm not having fun?"

If you're not having fun with your business, use that as a sign: "Something's wrong." You know you'll need to fix it if you want to rock the world with your business. So what do you do? Start asking yourself questions on why you're not having fun. For instance:

• "What's destroying my soul?" Delegate/trash it.
• "What makes me tick?" Incorporate it.
• "What do I put off?" Delegate/trash it.
• "What makes me love life?" Incorporate it.

Yup, all that lovey-dovey stuff will make you shine higher than a juiced-up eagle running from the PoPo. Once you can transform the "Blah!" feeling to the "Frickin'-good!" feeling, you're prepping your business to rock the world like it ain't no thang but a chicken wing on a string.

Fun = Sexy sauce to rock the world.

Scenario: "Dude, we can't always focus on the customer. We need to grow revenues! Yay!" A great way to grow those revenues? Focus on service, and your long-term prospects look that much sexier.

Tha Empirical Evidence

Sure, you read about customer service in business books all-the-frickin'-time -- theories that "sound good," and that's about it. But if you're a badass business builder, you want empirical evidence that customer service rocks. And to save the day, finally -- about a few months ago, comes a study by University of Michigan Professor Claes Fornell and friends:

What They Did

Fornell and colleagues showed the relationship between customer satisfaction and financial success by creating a hedge portfolio in which stocks are bought long and sold short in response to changes in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).

What They Tracked

Developed by the University of Michigan's National Quality Research Center, the ACSI is an indicator of economic success that reflects levels of customer satisfaction with goods and services purchased from about 200 companies in more than 40 industries; it's based on interviews with more than 65,000 U.S. consumers each year.

What Resulted

Collectively, the companies with high customer-satisfaction scores have blown the S&P 500 out of the water (ASCI 144.5% versus ASCI 38.7%, respectively), especially over the last few years.

Whether you're a major public company, or a tiny business, solid customer service is one of your essential ingredients to rock the world.

Why We Avoid Customer Service

Before you started your business, your precocious behind probably thought like most (us included): * "I'm gonna build a business with the best customer service around! Yay!" And then, when you started building your business, something similar happened: * You just finished a transaction with Customer A. * You're trying to deal with Customer B. * Customer A comes calling after you. * You do whatever you can to avoid Customer A, so you can concentrate on Customer B.

Who could blame you?

* You want to increase sales by 20% this quarter. * Customer A doesn't boost your bottom line (or at least, it's not as obvious that s/he does). So, the logical thing -- it seems -- is to just focus on new transactions, and leave customer service left to dry.

Why Customer Service Matters

When you avoid customer service, you're putting a band-aid on a major internal injury. It seems dandy in the short-term, but the "Grow, grow, grow, grow!" mentality -- with mediocre service -- will run your business into the ground. How? * Crippling your business's foundation. * Causing horrific word-of-mouth. * Killing repeat purchases. * Destroying referral rates.< * Stifling your company's potential. If you're customers are hating on you, take that as a sign that your customer service needs major surgery. That could include: * Increasing product prices. * Keeping growth in check. * Training your employees more effectively. * Boosting efficiency. Once you fix whatever that's harming your customer service, you prep your fabulous business for the long-term -- and see yourself growing those ridiculous revenues you once envisioned. The relationship rule of thumb: * Customer service, first. * Growth, second. Sing it with us:

"How may I serve you, you sexy !@^^?"

Scenario: "Dude, we gotta constantly tell our star recruits what they need to do. That's how we turn them into true badasses! Yay!"

Imagine Google hiring recent college grad Graham to run its entire engineering division.

What does he do? Like most newly-minted managers of superstars:

1. "I will be the best leader they have, ever! I will create super-superstars from superstars!"
2. So he goes on his rant: "Look, you did well before. But, you can do better with my leadership. Yay!"
3. Two months in, to group of superstars: "Yo! This is not how you should do it. Do this, sucka!"
4. Four months in, to 99.9% not obeying him: "You're not following directions! Are you = s-u-c-k-y?"
5. And when he sees diminishing results: "It's all your fault! Do you want to be fired? Follow my rules!"
6. And when the inevitable happens: "Don't leave! Ahh! Don't leave! Ahh! Do-not-leave!"

That's a microcosm of how most ill-advised managers handle their superstars. (A similar situation happened a few years ago to some CEO named Carly in Palo Alto.) The result?

1. Morale = drainage.
2. Productivity = drainage.
3. Profit = drainage.
4. Potential = drainage.

When you attempt to hand-hold your superstars, you trap their innovative abilities to kick booty. Instead, give superstars the room they need, and they'll flourish for your company -- not because of what you do, but because of what you don't do.

"But, my superstars need my leadership!"

If your "superstars" need your leadership:

• They're not superstars.

Superstars, when given the right environment, will succeed regardless of who's at the helm. They'll tap their inner-drive to create, perfect, and refine their masterpieces. According to recent research by two London School Business professors:

If clever people have one defining characteristic, it is that they do not want to be led. If you try to push them, you will end up driving them away.

Your superstars don't need your leadership. So, what do they need? Your guidance and support.

"So, how do I treat my superstars?"

Four steps:

1. Guide them.
2. Set relevant boundaries.
3. Get out of the way.
4. Watch them shine.

Scenario: You + NBA All-Stars

Think of it this way: Imagine yourself as a shy 15-year old high school kid coaching a team of NBA all-stars in the Olympics.

1. You know your duty is to bring home the Gold Medal, or you die.
2. You admit your knowledge horrifically sucks relative to your all-stars.
3. You rely on their expertise as much as possible.
4. You provide as much support as you can -- whether that's giving your expert advice, getting them support manuals, providing them specialists, boosting their morale, or providing a healthy environment -- whatever that helps them do their jobs much better to achieve that Gold Medal.
5. Then, you get out of the way to let them shine.

Essentially: You're your superstars' b*tch. (That's the secret sauce to managing high-flying superstars.)

"How do I know I'm doing a good job?"

One simple question to ask your team of superstars:

• "Yo! Are you passionate like mutha-!@^^%^ doing what you're doing?"

That question tells you how awesome of a kick-booty environment you're providing for your superstars. If you get a negative to that question, start asking yourself:

1. Is the red tape -- i.e. bureaucracy -- too much?
2. Do I understand what motivates Superstar Tomas?
3. Do I know what environment's most conducive to Superstar Robb?
4. Is my culture free of politics (i.e. an open-culture)?
5. Does my culture encourage free experimentation?

Give your super badasses an arena, a boundary, some guidance, support tools, the whole dealio, then tell 'em:

Run free, homies. Run free.

Scenario: "Dude, we'll just try to make lots of Benjamins. We'll make billions. Yay!" Imagine playing a basketball game without keeping score. Or, imagine taking class tests without knowing your grades. Or even worse, imagine building your business without tracking your cash flow. What happens?

1. You start doing potentially foolish things.
2. You lose insight on what you should really do next.
3. Most importantly: You lack a guideline to improve, improve, improve.

Don't sweat. Here's our solution: Have a Kick-Ass Measuring Stick. [Remember: you can't improve what you cannot measure.]

Who Uses The Kick-Ass Measuring Stick

• Larry King tracks his number of viewers per show.
• Kobe Bryant tracks the number of points he scores per game.
• Jeff Gordon tracks the race time spent per lap.

Likewise:

1. Dell tracks the number of defective computers per 1000 sold.
2. Google tracks the time spent per user session.
3. Apple tracks the number of Apple iPods sold per quarter.

Why do all-world performers use a measuring stick? It:

1. Helps them know where they stand.
2. Gives them well-defined road maps to improve.

Your Own Kick-Ass Measuring Stick

The formula to track how well you're doing: Measuring Stick = [secret sauce to kick booty] / [lap interval] Here's how you find those missing two variables:

Variable ^1: Finding your "Secret Sauce to Kick Booty."

If you want to -- for instance -- increase profits by 500%, ask yourself:

• What's the "secret sauce" to get there? (e.g. ^ customers, sales cycle time, % referral rates, etc.)

Variable ^2: Finding your "Lap Interval."

Once you you have your secret sauce:

• Define a lap interval that will help you kick the most butt (e.g. per month, per shipment, per transaction, per customer, etc.)

Ta-da! Wrap it all together (Kick-Ass Measuring Stick = [secret sauce to kick booty] / [lap interval]), and you have a measuring stick to track your business's performance.

"Give me some demonstration, puh-leease!"

Consider Hendy.

1. Hendy's running a web development company.
2. He wants to increase profits by 500% this year.
3. He asks his badass: "What's the most important ingredient to get me there?"
4. Ding! "Increasing: The ^ of customers!"
5. "So, I will track my performance by: The ^ of customers I snatch every quarter."

Hendy now has a clearly defined road map to track his performance:

1. Quarter 1: "I will improve on last quarter by snatching 10 customers this quarter. Woo-hoo!"
2. Quarter 2: "Now, if I'm getting 18 customers in Quarter 2, I'm doing really well!"
3. Quarter 3: "23 customers! Oh-yeah."
4. Quarter 4: "30 customers this quarter!"

Hendy's measuring stick (^ customers generated / quarter) helps him see how well he's doing. More importantly, the measuring stick gives him a benchmark to improve every quarter.

"So, should I have multiple measuring sticks?"

Most definitely. The rule of thumb: The more things you can track, the more sexy ways you give yourself to improve your business. You'll find some measuring sticks more important than others, so we'd recommend prioritizing them.

"So, what are other measuring sticks I can have?"

Let your mind run free. Here are some measuring stick inspirations to improve in your business:

• Referrals / Customer
• ^ Orders / Visit
• Cost / Shipment
• Employee ROI / Week
• Resources Spent / Project

Have fun kicking major booty.

My Kick-Ass Measuring Sticks: ________________________________.

Scenario: "Dude, I'm not seeing success in: ______________. I'm going to do something completely new. Yay!" It's a cycle that viciously spins like a bald orangutan on Viagra:

1. "I want to do something new!"
2. "I'm not seeing results. Ahh!"
3. "I want to do something new!"
4. "I'm not seeing results. Ahh!"
5. "I want to do something new!"
6. "I'm not seeing results. Ahh!"
7. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Most of us look for the quick-fix solution -- to create our very own overnight success story. So when we try something, and don't see immediate results -- we crumble, thinking immediate results lies elsewhere. The solution:

1. Forget the overnight fix.
2. Start strengthening what you've already strengthened.

Yeah, that shizzle might sound confusing. We'll explain:

Consider Pappy -- Pro Athlete Wannabe

Nine-year old Pappy has high hopes: he wants to be a multi-million-dollar pro athlete.

1. "I will have the cars and the houses!" he tells himself.
2. "Fly hunnies will come flocking to me!" he screams.
3. "All the kids will want my autograph!" he exclaims.

So, he lives his life accordingly:

• Age 9: "I will be a basketball player! I will train all day-everyday."
• Age 12: "Ahh! Others keep scoring all over me. I will do something else: soccer! Oh-yeah!"
• Age 15: "Ahh! I can't score any goals. It's not fair. I'll play tennis! Yup yup!"
• Age 18: "They keep beating me. *&^%-!@^^%^!"

And before you know it, Pappy's in college -- with (1) no athletic scholarship, (2) no all-world coaches to guide him, and (3) seeing his dreams suck away every frickin' second of every frickin' day. Looking for quick-fix solutions won't get you anywhere. Pappy, looking for supreme success in minimal time -- kept building several 10-foot pyramids, not realizing sticking to one would've built him The Great Pyramid. True badasses stick it out for the long-term -- building their strengths on top of what they already have. Slowly, but surely, they'll make it to the top of the world.

"So how do I strengthen my strengths?"

It's a simple -- oh-so-simple! -- three-step process:

1. Your many strengths include: _______________.
2. You want to start a business that: _______________.
3. Ask yourself: How can my many strengths help my business?

We told ya it was simple, yet not too many people get to ^3. The reason?

Why People Avoid Strengthening Strengths

Most (sucky) business books tell you:

1. "Know your competition's weaknesses."
2. "Provide a better solution."
3. "Yay!"

So instead of reflecting on your strengths, you start focusing on your competitor's weaknesses.

1. Instead of asking about: "Me!"
2. You start thinking about: "Them!"

It's like you're leaving your strengths at the altar, going for some flame you just met in the corner. How does that play out? Consider two scenarios:

Scenario 1: How Not to Strengthen Your Strengths

1. You've been coaching sports all your life.
2. You're starting a ten-person lemonade business.
3. You look scan the competition: "They don't provide glass cups!"
4. "Let's provide glass cups!"
5. You see negligible results. You still suck though.

Scenario 2: How to Strengthen Your Strengths

1. You've been coaching sports all your life.
2. You're starting a ten-person lemonade business.
3. "I will start a lemonade business that treats employees like my players," you tell your badass.
4. "We'll grade each team member by the ^ of cups they sell."
5. "We'll provide more opportunities (i.e. 'playing-time') for those who kick booty."
6. "We'll keep key stats for each member to improve efficiency."
7. Every time your employing a strength, you're strengthening that sucka even more.
8. Results: Hella awesome.

Yay for your badass. Rule of thumb: the more strengths you employ into what you're doing, the more you boost your chances at succeeding. To get your started, the amazingly-dope three steps to help you:

1. My many strengths include: _______________.
2. I want to start a business that: _______________.
3. How can my many strengths help my business?

Sexy. Sing it, playa:

"Where are my strengths at?!"