4 THINGS BIG BUSINESS CAN TEACH YOU ABOUT LEADING IN CRISIS

Navigating these times can teach us a lot about how to make the most of a crisis. We often hear more about leaning into the good - but what if we’re missing the good in the upheaval? With this “pandemic pivot”, we have so much opportunity to get things right and to look beyond the current crisis for the creative opportunities for the future.  So let’s talk about that and how leadership matters more in times of crisis.

I had an amazing opportunity to hear Brian Halligan, CEO of HubSpot. Among other things, he talked about how HubSpot is navigating these pandemic-era times and what matters the most about how we are doing business right now. When COVID-19 hit, the leadership at HubSpot decided that they would act fast and aggressively on behalf of their employees, partners and customers - and they were transparent about those plans every step of the way.

While Brian admits that it wasn’t a perfect system, he calls this a defining moment for the entire business. Having strong leadership at the top, willing to make the tough decisions while being finely tuned into the “right” thing to do, made all the difference for how well they’ve navigated and fared this global pandemic. “The key for each of us at HubSpot, our partners and customers was to bend, not break. This was (and continues to be) our theme through COVID.” -Brian Halligan

This conversation really got my wheels turning - a little bit of inspired thinking - on what we can actually learn and how we can actually use it. What are the tangible lessons here and why are they important?

4 Things Big Business Can Teach You About Thriving In Crisis

1. Resilience and Leadership matters more. If you want a resilient organization, the people at the top have to be resilient also - and what that really means is that they are able to handle stress in a way that’s productive. They are also able to handle a lot of uncertainty and pass down very transparent, clear, spin-free clarity to its employees, partners and customers. That’s the key around resilience. Resilience and Leadership matters more in times of crisis than times of calm.
2. Pivot by Design. It’s a lot harder to make changes when things are going well. It’s easy to be stagnant and even complacent when things are going well. Yet, when pivots are then forced upon us (pivots by default), it’s easy to fall into chaos because we’re avoiding the change instead of initiating it. Self-disruption is necessary. If we aren’t pivoting intentionally and by design, we aren’t expanding.
3. Stepping back to step forward. If you want to build a sustainable business that’s around for awhile, you may have to take one step back so you can take three steps forward. If your business has always taken one step forward and never taken that step back to fix the dent in your product, your organization or your decision making - for example - it’s going to be hard to scale over the long haul.
4. Never Waste A Good Crisis. A lot of people - especially in business - were not prepared for this pandemic and they feel slighted, as if it’s unfair. One thing we know about the very nature of change is that it is meant to disrupt. But I want to challenge this mindset of disruption as being negative and instead challenge you to apply something Brian and I discussed- which is to use crisis as a means to accelerate forward. A lot of businesses are being forced to move online, to utilize smart technology we’ve had for quite some time- they’re being pushed into new sales techniques and relying more on data to find unique ways to connect with customers. This crisis is moving the future forward and when we look at it through this lens, we can see how impactful and important these pivots really are.

One Final Component

When he talk about what it takes for a business to be resilient and to thrive in times of crisis, the last component is taking responsibility and developing resilience BEFORE you need it. We’re all responsible for our own lives. I don’t think you can be there for anybody else if you’re not there for yourself to begin with. Like the old airline analogy about the mask dropping out of the ceiling - they tell you to put it on your own face first for a reason. One way we can take responsibility is by consciously creating rituals that ultimately become our healthy habits - and these habits dictate how and what we produce mentally, emotionally, physically and even spiritually.

And the best time to build up your resilience starts now.

INGREDIENT IN MOTIVATION

"There are two types of men,” said Andrew Carnegie, “who never amount to anything. One is the fellow who never does anything except that which he is told to do. The other is the fellow who never does more than he is told to do. The man who gets ahead does the thing that should be done without being told.” 

 

Personal initiative is the inner power that starts all action. It is the power that inspires you to finish what you start. It is, in other words, self-motivation. Motivation is the thing that spurs us to action or drives our choices. Successful people move on their own initiative, and they know where they are going before they start.

 

Try this: When you hit roadblocks, where do you turn? Most of us turn inward and berate ourselves for failures, big and small. Instead of turning inward with negative energy, what would happen if you had faith in yourself and instead turned inward with thoughts of changing roadblocks into solutions? Take a moment to reflect on your current self-talk in the face of failure.

LESSONS LEARNT IN 2020

10 things I learned (or confirmed) in 2020:

1. Change Illuminates Character.
At the beginning of this year, I said that those who will succeed the most this decade will adopt a "role-model mindset." They would enter this decade ready for challenge, ready to serve, ready to remain open and kind, ready to push themselves to be the best. For some people, that was just New Year's hype. For others, for the dedicated few, the role-model mindset kept them humble, compassionate, centered, and leading throughout a tough year of pandemic, politics, quarantines, fear, misinformation, advancement, hope, renewal -- all those opportunities and challenges that this year was made of. How we handle change and challenge reveals who we really are. To those who stayed true to your character, optimistic through the dark times, disciplined when it was easy to hide and wait, loving to family who disagreed, enthusiastic about making this year a test of your best -- I see you, I recognize you, I honor you. You showed us what's possible.

2. Judge Less, Feel Better.
A mantra I began years ago, and taught at the outset of the pandemic, seems such a huge lesson this year. The more you judged "the other side" and those who thought differently than you, the more you lived in a year of condemnation, cancelling, outrage, anger, vitriol, tribalism. If you learned to simply allow other people to have their opinions, and didn't feel the need to dominate others with your values or beliefs, and learned to observe and think and communicate without losing your emotional center or compassion, the better you felt. Lose your center, feel awful. Don't judge (yourself or others) harshly, quickly, unfairly, obliviously, and you just feel better. Yep, I learned this more and more as the year went on too. Some will judge this entire email: "you sound like you are all about self-reliance and self-discipline and don't realize how hard a year this was. People struggled. Depression, loss, fear. These things were hard - don't judge us for not being awesome to our families or keeping our health (next point), feeling confident (point 4 below), or for building/investing when it's scary (point 5)." Don't worry - no judgment over here at all. I just know what people are truly capable of because I get to see transformation every day. No downward judgment, all upward pull and cheer.

3. Family & Health First.
There's no explanation needed on this. The better direction here is, "How'd you do?" Did you call them? Did you honor them? Did you workout? Did you optimize your health to position yourself stronger and healthier in a pandemic? Whatever your answer, be even more intentional and disciplined in 2021, and don't be hard on yourself about this year (see Point #2).

4. Confidence Matters.
Confidence is the belief in one's ability to figure things out. Did you enter each day ready to figure things out, or did you tell yourself that you can't? Your answer to that single question probably set the reality and progress of your year. I spent much of my year with my private clients - already capable and smart and caring people - just getting them back to confidence. Reminder: Nothing "out there" gives you confidence.

5. Build and Invest When Everyone Waits.
A lot of people got to work this year while everyone else drowned in pools of pessimism. A lot of people kept building while everyone hid their fears by jumping into more seasons on Netflix. A lot of people waited... and waited... and waited. Others invested when the chips were down, worked when others retired to the couch. Yes, it was a hard year for all. Some took that as an opportunity. 

6. Community Matters.
Speaking of my new Mastermind, I can say that *all* of my past masterminds, friendship groups, and communities of friends from grade school until today REALLY MATTERED this year. If you made friendship a priority through life, then this year was so much more sufferable and yes, enjoyable. Outside of the health of my family, the number one thing I'm thankful for this year is my friendships that kept me feeling like things would be okay. Love you guys. 

7. Leaders Show Up.
There were a lot of corporate high-fliers and "social media stars" in 2019 who disappeared in 2020 when the tough road began. (Again, see point #2, because we have no idea why that happened for them, and it's not a judgment against them, it's a celebration of those who were there). This year, I was amazed at all of you leading out there. I also re-read biographies of Churchill, King, Mandela, and a total of 11 leadership books. That perspective reminds me just how lucky and easy many of us have it, and just how remarkable people can be when it's time to rise, unite and serve.

8. Primary Aspiration Theory is not a theory, it's a Law.
If you've studied my work, you know my model of Being, Relating, Creating, and Growing--the 4 primary aspirations. These are what bring us aliveness and authenticity, connection and caring, contribution and fulfilment, and enrichment and excellence and expansion. The thing is: if you didn't work super hard to have harmony between all 4 this year -- harmony as defined as you tried in these areas and balanced their vibe to your liking -- then it was a super tough year. 

9. Wellness + Productivity Habits MATTER.
50-minute breaks. Meditation, excercise, diet, sleep, supplements. High Performance Planner. 5 major moves and prolific quality output. All those productivity hacks from my Coaching program - these things saved the day for ME. I can't imagine this year without these practices.

10. Knowing Matters. 
People looked *outside* of themselves too much this year, hoping to get signals for how to be, who to be, what to think, how to feel. People say beware the difference between signal and noise without any understanding of or reverence for “knowing.” They say find the desired signal through all that noise; I say find your soul. The signals you desire do not come from without; and the real effort of mastery is to tune out the signals and orchestrate a higher harmony altogether. We spend much of our lives chasing, consuming and listening to the wrong signals. The “desired” signals most people look for are external—popularity, power, profit, position. They are wide-eyed and open-eared and pleading for anything, anything, amid all those conversations and comments and judgments that might, somehow please, meet their feverish need for belonging and acceptance and control. “Let me forget the haters and non-believers and hardships—that noise!—and find the signal that says I am enough,” they say. But maturity and strength are found in letting go of the constant search for those old and youthful desired signals—from caring little about society’s “important” signals and noise and direction and sound. The power resides not just in receiving and perceiving the signals and noise in new ways; the real power is in knowing, in listening to your own sound above it all, to the hopes and the dreams and the fires of the soul. You are not a receiver of signals anymore; you are a creator, a symphony conductor. You are tuned in. You are harmonizing something within that is receiving no noise, no signals from outside, something no one else can ever send or see or know or hear. Go within and listen and tune and feel and amplify and scale that—there is no anxious terror there that you are missing something, no, there is just beautiful and unique sound there, there is wisdom there, there is fire and life there.

These things I learned and re-learned this year, as it was a big wild year for me over here, too.

BUILDING A TRIBE FOR YOUR BLOG

No man is an island. Aside from the idea that anyone can do it, one of the most common misconceptions that people have about blogging and making money online is that everyone else is your competition. If you blog about electric cars, every other website that covers electric cars is fighting over the same traffic, the same ad revenue, the same opportunities… right? You have to work your hardest to get the biggest slice of the pie.

But wouldn’t it be better if we could just get a bigger pie for all of us to share? The truth is that you cannot and should not expect to go about doing all of this alone. We can all learn from and support one another, raising that tide and lifting all boats. This can happen over social media, in forums, at conferences and trade shows, and even from camping trips. But before you can do any of those things, you need to build your tribe.

And you need to know who you want to have as part of your tribe. Here are five invaluable qualities you should seek when looking to build up your squad of mutual supporters.

Generous

By our very nature, most of us are greedy and self-centered to some degree. It’s only natural to think, “What’s in it for me?” But if you only surround yourself with people who are only in it for themselves, it’s unlikely that you will ever gain much value from the relationship. Conversely, if you go into these relationships with only a “take” mentality and no inclination to “give,” you’re not going to get the most of these connections either. It’s not about win-lose or who comes out on top. It’s about creating a win-win, and that’s starts from a more generous mindset.

We’re not talking about money here, at least not specifically. Seek out people who are generous with their time and expertise, their guidance and their compassion. While we all have to look out for the bottom line, most assuredly, we also need to look out for one another. That’s what a squad is all about. Think instead, “What’s in it for us?” or even, “What’s in it for them?”

Motivated

We all have people in our lives who seem listless. Or even if we weren’t to go quite so far, many people may have dreams and ambitions and goals in their lives, but they don’t actually get up to do something about it. They’re either not willing to put in their effort or they’re too afraid to take the risk. Or maybe they’re just waiting to get all their ducks in a row before they take the plunge. But of course they never do.

If you surround yourself with people who aren’t self-starters, you’re not going to feel especially motivated to start yourself. When you surround yourself with people who are more enthusiastic, more passionate, more willing to go out there and give a try, you’ll be more inclined to do the same. Motivated people are great sources of motivation. Challenge one another to do better.

Tenacious

Okay, so maybe you find some people who are excited about getting started. They start a blog. And then a YouTube channel. And then a podcast. And then they start writing an ebook, building an online course, and launching an Etsy shop too. Why not? They approach each of these projects with unrivaled fervor, only to see that enthusiasm vaporize as they move on to the next shiny thing. The passion fades as the views, likes, subscribers and conversions fail to roll in. It’s not enough.

Call it tenacity, perseverance, or even stubbornness on some level. If you have friends who are willing to tough it out, who are willing to stick with something even though it’s hard or the results aren’t coming in, then you’ll have friends who will be willing to support you when things aren’t going your way either. A tribe that stays with you through rough roads can celebrate with you in smooth sailing.

Loyal

This relates tangentially to the previous point, but perhaps in a slightly different kind of way. When it comes to running a more traditional kind of business, particularly larger corporations and organizations, keeping good people around is one of the biggest challenges. Employee turnover is really high, as workers are constantly looking for new and better opportunities elsewhere. They’re looking for greener pastures where they’re treated better or have the potential for greater upward mobility.

That’s understandable, certainly, but it’s decidedly not desirable when seeking out people you want to include as part of your tribe or squad. You want loyal people who will stick together through thick and thin, even when they may or may not have a lot to gain individually. This goes back to the point on generosity above. If everyone in your group is going in with a “what’s in it for me?” mindset, they’ll jump ship when they think they’ll have more to gain elsewhere.

Grateful

Ambition is good. It’s necessary. You should absolutely have goals in your life that you are working toward achieving. At the same time, you shouldn’t attach your happiness to your success and achievements either. Far too often, we get caught up in a “I’ll be happy when” line of thinking, not being grateful for all the great things we already have in our lives. In this way, we can feel miserable when, by objective standards, our lives are already well ahead of the curve.

Being grateful is not at odds with being ambitious. If you surround yourself by people who genuinely express gratitude and joy in everyday things, in their everyday lives, you’ll be more inclined to do the same. This, in turns, leads to greater happiness overall. It doesn’t matter if you make a million dollars a day if you dread waking up in the morning. Be happy first, then you can work toward your success.

Together. As a tribe.

TOP TEN HABITS THAT CAN HELP YOU MANAGE YOUR STRESS

Today we have more stress in our lives than ever before: good stress, bad stress, red stress, blue stress (my little ode to Dr. Seuss). No matter what kind of stress it is, a real crisis or an imagined one, stress is incredibly harmful to our body, mind and soul. Here are my favorite self-care habits for dealing with stress: 1. Get in the habit of noticing. Take an inventory of all the things that just don't feel right in your life or that you know are causing you stress. For example, when you approach certain people, places or situations do you feel more stress and tension? Once you have your list in place, look at what you can change yourself, and do it. You can also use this list to predict stressful situations before they occur.  2. Get in the habit of asking for help. For what you can't change yourself, you need a team. Build a team of experts to handle your list. A coach, at the top of the list, will help with the big picture and will keep you honest about your efforts. Other team members might be a family doctor who listens to you, a financial planner, a massage therapist and an exercise partner.  3. Get in the habit of bouncing back. Think of Plan A as your basic self-care plan while stress is under control. Now imagine something happens and you are under stress. Instead of abandoning all self-care because you can't do it all, have a Plan B ready beforehand.   4. Get in the habit of relaxing. If you practice relaxation techniques (breathing, meditation, imagery, music) every day, then when stressful situations come up you'll have the tools at your fingertips.  5. Get in the habit of gratitude.  Our attitude comes from our emotions and our emotions come from our thoughts. Thinking about what we're grateful for and what we're good at can keep things positive. It's not about shying away from what's challenging you; it's about approaching life from a place of strength and not as a victim. 6. Get in the habit of creating. Experiment with a new recipe in the kitchen, write a poem, bang a drum, do a craft, take a dance class or do something else that feels creative to you. 7. Get in the habit of putting your stuff away. Physical clutter can really impact on mental, emotional and physical health. Get rid of things that don't make you happy when you look at them. Organize your stuff. Find a place for everything and keep it there. 8. Get in the habit of breathing. This is the simplest and quickest way to relax yourself in a stressful situation. The minute you focus on your breathing it automatically gets slower and deeper.  9. Get in the habit of daydreaming. Take yourself away on an imaginary holiday. Just close your eyes and go! Picture somewhere you've been or somewhere you've dreamed of. 10. Get in the habit of giggling. Laugh out loud every day. Don't let your stress get the better of you! Which one of these strategies can you apply this week to manage your stress? - By Linda Dessau

HOW REMOTE WORK WILL CHANGE THE WORLD IN 2030

As more and more companies rush to adapt new remote work policies, many find themselves behind the curve.

But what if you could look into the future? What if you could see how remote work will change the world over the next decade?

Chris Herd believes he has. 

Herd is founder and CEO of Firstbase, a startup focused on helping solve its customers remote work problems. Over the course of the past nine months, he's spoken to more than 1,500 people about the future of remote work, and how it's likely to change the world in the very near future.

Herd summed up his insights recently in a brilliant Twitter thread. Below you'll find the highlights, along with my personal commentary.

Life first. Work second.

"The rise of remote will lead to people re-prioritizing what is important to them," writes Herd. "Organizing your work around your life will be the first noticeable switch. People realizing they are more than their job will lead to deeper purpose in other areas."

Not everyone who works freelance or remote has come to this realization. But as one who has done it for the past several years, let me tell you: There's nothing like being more in control of your schedule, and making family and other important parts of your life dictate your work, instead of the other way around. 

It's a true game-changer.

Focus on outcomes.

Herd says companies will begin judging performance by productivity and outcomes instead of hours worked or "who you drink beer with" outside of the office.

By focusing on outcomes, employers help people make time count, instead of simply count time. That type of trust and empowerment actually makes them more productive.

(It's what made this company's two-sentence remote work policy the best I've ever heard.)

An end to senseless tasks.

"The need to pad out your 8-hour day will evaporate, replaced by clear tasks and responsibilities," Herd writes. "Workers will do what needs to be done rather than wasting their [time] trying to look busy with the rest of the office."

Amen.

Work when you want.

"Offices are instantaneous gratification distraction factories where synchronous work makes it impossible to get stuff done," says Herd. 

"Tools that enable asynchronous work are the most important thing globally remote teams need. A lot of startups will try to tackle this."

More priority on health and well-being.

"A lack of commute will give workers 25 extra days a year to do other things," says Herd. "Workers will exploit the freedom they have to organize things more freely in their day."

Afternoon runs, taking time in the morning to read, meditate, or spend time with family before beginning the workday: These are just a few examples of how many are using remote work to better take care of both physical and mental health.

Rural towns will flourish. (If they're fast.)

"World-class people will move to smaller cities, have a lower cost of living, and higher quality of life," writes Herd. "These regions must innovate quickly to attract that wealth."

How can small towns benefit? It's all about the infrastructure, baby. According to Herd, that begins with better schools and faster internet.

Fast-track of diversity and inclusion.

"The most diverse and inclusive teams in history will emerge rapidly," writes Herd. "Companies who embrace it have a first-mover advantage to attract great talent globally."

"Companies who don't will lose their best people to their biggest competitors."

Burnout.

The changes that come from remote work aren't all rosy. While most companies worry their remote workers aren't putting in enough hours, Herd says the real problem is the opposite:

Employees working too much.

According to Herd, worker burnout will become a huge problem that begs addressing. Wise company leaders will start working on solutions now.

Increase in retreats and offsites.

Herd predicts an increase in what until now has been more of a niche industry: remote retreats.

More and more companies will seek out "purpose-built destinations that allow for entire [teams] to fly into a campus for a synchronous week, likely staffed with facilitators and educators who train staff of how to maximize effectiveness."

More robots.

Herd: "Robotic process automation will transform work for individuals. No-code tools that enable workers to build bots that automate menial parts of their roles will be huge."

We've seen a gradual uptick in automation for years. But as more and more companies depend on tech for even simple communication, this shift will accelerate.

A hobby renaissance.

Herd says remote work will "lead to a rise in people participating in hobbies and activities which link them to people in their local community," what he describes as a "hobby renaissance." 

Some companies have taken advantage of this trend even in corona times, by offering online cooking classes, virtual tours of exotic travel locations, and even wine tastings.

Written over spoken.

"Documentation is the unspoken superpower of remote teams," says Herd. "The most successful [remote] team members will be great writers."

This is another cultural shift that remote work will only speed up. Email, Slack, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp and other messaging services are already out there, but they're not perfect. New tools will emerge, designed to fit specific company needs.

Looking to increase your value? Work on improving your written communication.

Of course, for every person happy to work from home, there's another pining for a return to the office. But as the world continues to battle Covid-19, as companies grapple with repeated lockdowns, and as the threat of future pandemics assures us:

Companies that do remote better will win. 

ELON MUSK: HOW TO BECOME AN EXPERT IN ANY FIELD

Elon Musk is one of the world's smartest, richest, and most powerful people, and he's not shy about his aptitude for taking on new projects.

The mastermind behind SpaceX, Tesla, and the Boring Company is a notoriously hard worker, putting in a grueling 85-hour workweek for his passion projects and enterprises.

Musk has a restless pursuit of knowledge and a talent for applying his learning across a range of disciplines. He is the quintessential modern polymath.

This infographic from Resume.io has collected insights from Musk and other pioneers and entrepreneurs to inspire you to pursue your own ambitions. Musk offers his key to learning and retaining new information:

It is important to view knowledge as sort of a semantic tree -- make sure you understand the fundamental principles, i.e., the trunk and big branches, before you get into the leaves/details or there is nothing for them to hang on to.

An expert generalist

Musk's statement goes against much traditional advice that in order to become successful, you have to specialize and become proficient in a single field of expertise. "The jack-of-all-trades is master of none," goes the old adage. And yet Musk has proved numerous times that it is not only possible but profitable to generalize.

An "expert generalist" by definition is someone with the capacity to gain expertise in various disciplines, industries, skills, and topics. Polymaths throughout history, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison, and Nikola Tesla, have made innovative use of such broad knowledge.

As a modern polymath, Elon Musk demonstrates that studying widely across many different fields of knowledge can give you an information advantage that fuels innovation. Musk is able to integrate unique combinations of skills and knowledge and transfer his learning across disciplines. 

You might not have the time or energy to devote 85 hours a week to honing skills and knowledge, but it's still worth investing a little effort to branch out. The beauty of being an expert generalist is that it's most likely easier to achieve and more rewarding than becoming a leading expert in just one field.

Musk's "semantic tree" concept

The "semantic tree" concept is all about deconstructing knowledge into basic principles so that you can build your learning on a solid foundation. Musk has read widely since adolescence to satisfy his thirst for knowledge, and establishing a varied and methodical reading habit is a useful learning technique for any aspiring generalist.

Here's a simple four-step process to approaching a new subject:

1. Identify your subject. Find some introductory lessons or source some foundational texts such as undergraduate textbooks or reputable journal articles, so you can get a reliable overview of the fundamentals.
2. Take notes. Summarize key facts and ideas in your own words to make sure you understand what you have read. Reread your notes until they make sense.
3. Broaden your scope. Once you've got the fundamentals from one text, seek out additional resources by checking the references and citations of your original source.
4. Test yourself. If the information you have been learning is practical, try it out in real life. If it's theoretical, try to explain it in simple terms to a friend or colleague to check your understanding.

Expanding your understanding of different fields can be both personally and professionally rewarding. You might find that you actually enjoy being a jack-of-many-trades, after all.

FORMING AND MAINTAINING A MASTERMIND GROUP

Step One: Adopt a Definite Purpose

• The first step is to adopt a Definite Purpose as an objective to be attained by the alliance, choosing individual members whose education, experience and influence are such as to make them of the greatest value in achieving that
• There isn't any use in forming a Master Mind Alliance just to have someone to chat with. It will soon play out if you don't have a strong motive behind it, and it's up to you to plant that motive in the minds of the group
• Your allies for this group should be chosen for their ability to help you get to where you are going. Do not choose people simply because you know them and like them. I have found out by experience that merely because you like a person is no reason whatsoever to have him as a member of your economic Master Mind Alliance. It is all right to have such a person in your social or purely personal alliance, where his contribution may simply be this very friendship you
• You should make a careful analysis of your purpose and list the items you will need for its attainment and then systematically go about supplying the links with which to forge the chain. Each member of the alliance should make some definite, distinctive, unique contribution to the overall
• In making your selection of allies for this economic group, you may have to be a little "cold blooded" at first. It is no easy job to select the right members. You may have to choose and eliminate until you get the right ones. This is costly in time and money. You should be guided in your choice by the things you need which you do not already have. If it is money you need to finance the deal, you must find a person who has the money to invest. No matter what nice people you know who would like to work with you, if they don't have any money they cannot really make the particular contribution to the alliance you need.
• Of course, you don't take the first person who answers the major requirement, unless they also possesses the other necessary attributes. The qualifications of membership in a Master Mind Alliance are very exacting. Consider each candidate for membership in the light of their ability, personality, and willingness to cooperate with you. I cannot overemphasize the necessity for harmony, if it is going to be a successful

Step Two: Determine Benefits

• Determine what appropriate benefit each member may receive in return for their cooperation in the alliance. At this point review the nine basic motives which I termed the alphabet of success. Base your appeals for cooperation on one or more of these motives. I can tell you ahead of time which motive will have the greatest appeal and I'll bet you can guess it yourself.
• You're right! It's the desire for material wealth, or profit. If you make a profit, be willing to divide it with those who help you. Be not only fair, but generous with them, and the more generous you are with them, the more help you will get from them. Remember the principle of going the extra mile. What a pity that not all businesspeople know about that! One of my purposes in life is to see that they learn about

Step Three: Reveal Your Plan

• Establish a definite place where the members of the alliance will meet, have a definite plan, and arrange a definite time for the mutual discussion of the plan. You will recall the importance of a plan in connection with your Definite Major Purpose. Well, this is the time and place to reveal that plan to those who are your friends and harmonious associates, who will have a community of interest in the success of the venture. You may think your plan is very good, but before you get through discussing it with your allies you will undoubtedly modify it until you hit upon the perfect
• When you have established rapport between your mind and the minds of others in your Master Mind Alliance, you will find that ideas will flow into the minds of each of the members and likewise into your own mind. When the Master Mind is in effect, it produces ideas that would not come to your mind alone. I have had that experience many times when sitting in on the many groups of which I am a member on a consulting
• The Round Table discussion will be the place where everyone meets, and where each member may speak with confidence. They all see what's on the table. You have no secrets in such a group, which results from the care with which you select
• It is important that frequent and regular contacts be made between the members. Indefiniteness on this point, or utter neglect, will bring defeat. You must keep in almost continuous contact with the other minds of the group if you are to get the full benefit of them. Meetings should be scheduled often, and telephone numbers exchanged, so that it is possible within a few minutes to discuss any sudden development with the

Step Four Maintain Harmony

• It is the burden of the leader of the alliance to see that harmony among all the members is maintained and that action is continuous in the pursuance of the Definite Major Action or work is the connecting link between desire, plan, and fulfillment.

Step Five: Blending of the Mind

• The watchword of the alliance should be Definiteness of Purpose, Positiveness of Plan, backed by continuous perfect harmony. The major strength of such an alliance consists in the perfect blending of the mind of all members. Jealousy, envy or friction, as well as lagging of interest on the part of any member, will bring defeat unless he is removed at

Step Six: Find Your Number

• The number of Individuals in an alliance should be governed entirely by the nature and magnitude of the purpose to be attained. If you are going after a purpose comparable to that of Mr. Edison's you will require a large number of persons with special talents and training. A lesser undertaking will call for a correspondingly smaller group. In general, it is better to have as few members as possible, because it will be that much easier to maintain harmony among them.

The Relationship of the Master Mind Principle to Other Principles of This Philosophy

This is how the master mind principle interlocks with certain other principles of this philosophy:

1. Definiteness of purpose, the starting point of all achievement. It is the first thing you must have in creating and maintaining a master mind.
2. You must have personal initiative. In other words, you must take the lead. You can't wait for somebody else to come along and help you out. For example, in developing this philosophy it was necessary to find out who had certain knowledge, and then go after him to get it. We had to take the initiative, which sometimes meant traveling a great deal in order to secure the collaboration of a successful man.
3. Applied faith. There cannot be a master mind in the true meaning of the term without applied faith. Faith is a necessary foundation to harmony. And continuing applied faith in the possibility of achievement is essential to final success.
4. The principle of going the extra mile. You will be surprised how easy it will be to obtain cooperation from others when you follow the habit of going the extra mile. The mental attitude you show when you go the extra mile will cause others to help you.
5. Self-discipline. You cannot have a real master mind until you learn to discipline yourself. Learn to control yourself before you try to control others. One of the most difficult jobs you will encounter is to discipline yourself to concentrate on your definite major purpose, excluding all other ideas from your mind. You cannot succeed in life by scattering your forces and trying to do a dozen things at the same time. You have to concentrate on one thing. Even then a lifetime may be too short to realize a major purpose completely.

Remember: the first step to take toward a successful master mind alliance is to get on good terms with yourself. Do some master minding with your other self until you are thoroughly acquainted with each other. This is one alliance you cannot do without.

DO YOU KNOW YOUR PURPOSE?

Definiteness of Purpose develops self-reliance, personal initiative, imagination, enthusiasm, self-discipline and concentration of effort, and all of these are prerequisites for the attainment of material success.

It induces one to budget time and to plan all day-to- day endeavors so they lead toward the attainment of one’s Major Purpose in life.

It makes one more alert in the recognition of opportunities related to the object of one’s Major Purpose, and it inspires the necessary courage to act upon those opportunities when they appear.

It inspires the cooperation of other people.

It prepares the way for the full exercise of that state of mind known as Faith, by making the mind positive and freeing it from the limitations of fear and doubt and indecision.

It provides one with a success consciousness, without which no one may attain enduring success in any calling.

It destroys the destructive habit of procrastination.

Lastly, it leads directly to the development and the continuous maintenance of the first of the Twelve Riches, a Positive Mental Attitude.

These are the major characteristics of Definiteness of Purpose, although it has many other qualities and usages, and it is directly related to each of the Twelve Riches because they are attainable only by singleness of purpose.

And the list might be multiplied until it contained the name of every great American leader who has contributed to the establishment of the American way of life as we of today know and benefit by it.

How to Acquire a Definite Major Purpose

The procedure in the development of a Definite Major Purpose is simple, but important:

1. Write out a complete, clear and definite statement of your Major Purpose in Life, sign it and commit it to memory; then repeat it orally at least once every day, more often if practicable. Repeat it over and over, thus placing back of your purpose all of your faith in Infinite Intelligence.
2. Write out a clear, definite plan by which you intend to begin the attainment of the object of your Definite Major Purpose. In this plan state the maximum time allowed for the attainment of your purpose, and describe precisely what you intend to give in return for the realization of your purpose, remembering that there is no such reality as something for nothing, and that everything has a price which must be paid in advance in one form or another.
3. Make your plan flexible enough to permit changes at any time you are inspired to do so. Remember that Infinite Intelligence, which operates in every atom of matter and in every living or inanimate thing, may present you with a plan far superior to any you can create. Therefore be ready at all times to recognize and adopt any superior plan that may be presented to your mind.
4. Keep your Major Purpose and your plans for attaining it strictly to yourself except insofar as you will receive additional instructions for carrying out your plan, in the description of the Master Mind Principle, which follows.

Master Mind Principle

Do not make the mistake of assuming that because you may not understand these instructions the principles here described are not sound. Follow the instructions to the letter; follow them in good faith, and remember that by so doing you are duplicating the procedure of many of the greatest leaders this nation has ever produced.

The instructions call for no effort that you may not easily put forth. They make no demands upon time or ability with which the average person may not comply.

And they are completely in harmony with the philosophy of all true religions.

Decide now what you desire from life and what you have to give in return. Decide where you are going and how you are to get there. Then make a start from where you now stand. Make the start with whatever means of attaining your goal that may be at hand. And you will discover that to the extent you make use of these, other and better means will reveal themselves to you.

That has been the experience of all people whom the world has recognized as successes. Most of them started with humble beginnings with little more to aid them than a passionate desire to attain a definite goal.

Yesterday has gone forever! Tomorrow will never arrive, but Today is yesterday’s Tomorrow within your reach. What are you doing with it?

FOR MORE CONVERSIONS USE PUSH NOTIFICATIONS

Are you looking for a quick and easy way to connect to your audience? Of course you are! Most small business owners and bloggers want to engage with as many prospects as possible. Interacting with customers and readers means you have more opportunities to build trust, generate email leads, and get more sales.

One of the best ways to forge connections with consumers is through push notifications. You may be wondering, “What exactly are push notifications, and how can I use them to grow my business?”

We’re glad you asked. Simply put, push notifications are alerts that you can send to customers that are designed to elicit a specific action. Depending on your industry and your current marketing strategy, the intent and trigger of your push notifications can vary greatly.

Generally speaking, your goal is to catch the eye of current and former site visitors and get them to complete another action, like buying a product or subscribing to your email list, right? If so, you can benefit from these helpful alerts.

Today, we will provide some beneficial uses we’ve found when implementing push notifications on our websites. We will also help you pick out a push notification tool that can help you grow your business.

Let’s get started!

Use the Right Tool

Before you can send push notifications to your subscribers, you need a flexible plugin that can help you reach as many customers as possible. There are plenty of alert plugins for WordPress, but our favorite is PushEngage.

PushEngage is a plugin that’s easy to set up and even easier to install. It comes out of the box with a host of valuable push options for business owners across all industries.

One of our favorite features is the ability to set up drip campaigns that can serve whatever purpose you see fit. For instance, you can create push campaigns that display blog alerts and gathers webinar subscriptions. Maybe your goal is to host a flash sale. No problem. You can quickly create a new drip campaign from scratch or integrate it within your existing notifications.

There are plenty of other great features, too, such as the ability to allow customers to self-segment based on the choices they make when your notifications pop up. This information can help you create smarter marketing campaigns, which leads to powerful results.

If you’re interested in using PushEngage on your website, you can get started with 2,500 notifications, opt-in reminders, limited support, and the ability to create trigger campaigns — all for free. There are premium options available if you want to upgrade and send out more notifications, get extra support, or gain access to some of the other powerful features offered through this WordPress plugin.

Now that you know how to start sending notifications, we are going to go over several ways you can use push alerts to get more customers to take action on your website.

Send Blog Updates

Odds are, you have a blog where you regularly publish content for your readers. We already know the effectiveness of content marketing, especially considering that 47% of buyers consume 3-5 blog posts on a business website before completing their order.

Push notifications are an excellent way to get visitors who haven’t checked your website in a while to come back. There are so many online businesses that it can be hard to remember who publishes content and on which day. With push alerts, you can save your customers the annoyance and frustration of visiting your website and seeing no new posts by simply adding blog post push alerts.

Let’s not forget about the value of converting new visitors with your blog push notifications. Did you know that, on average, 80% of daily blog traffic is made up of new users? In other words, these people are discovering your brand for the first time. If they like what you have to say, they are more likely to allow push notifications from your business.

Using this strategy, you’re able to keep consumers engaged with the written content side of your website. We can’t stress the importance of promoting your blog and visiting your blog, and engaging with your content, especially if your goal is to get people to subscribe to your email list or buy a product from your online store.

(Psst, need help starting your blog so you can take advantage of this benefit? We have your back)

Get Event Signups

Next, let’s talk about using push notifications to get more event signups. Businesses host a wide range of events depending on their industry, budget, and social presence. Many companies, especially B2Bs, host webinars on their websites and social media. These events are excellent opportunities to meet new clients and grow your brand.

With push alerts, you can get more people to check out your live event than ever before. Simply create a drip campaign that’s designed to funnel users back to your webinar registration form. Using this strategy, you’ll expose your event to a much wider audience, which opens up plenty of exciting marketing possibilities.

You can also use notifications to push big social events, like online giveaways. Contests are a great way to spread brand awareness and get people acquainted with your products and services.

If you’re looking for a way to drive participation, push alerts can help you reach customers that subscribed to your notifications but don’t follow you on social media. Not only can you increase event participation, but you can also dramatically grow your social media presence and engagement with push notifications.

Reduce Cart Abandonment

All business owners have to deal with cart abandonment. Essentially, cart abandonment is when someone visits your website, adds items to their shopping cart, but fails to complete their order. Letting these people go without a second thought is just like leaving money on the table.

You obviously won’t convert every customer who abandons their shopping cart, but you can reduce the number of people who leave and never return with push notifications.

If someone was interested enough in your site to add items to their shopping cart, there’s a good chance that they were engaged enough to allow push alerts from your website. You could create a campaign that sends push notifications to subscribers after they abandon their cart.

We suggest using a cart abandonment strategy similar to the one you would use with your email marketing campaign. Send 3-5 messages out within a week after the consumer abandoned their shopping cart, and try to entice them to come back. Seeing your business name with a generous discount could be just the thing to spark their ambition and bring them back to your online.

Highlight Promotions

Finally, we have to talk about using push alerts to highlight special promotions on your website. We recently used push notifications on our website during Black Friday, we saw record-breaking numbers. We believe that reason for this trend is we used notifications to send out offers a week before Black Friday, all the way through Cyber Monday.

Allowing your promotions to surface in your customers’ minds through notifications gets them thinking about your business more than they otherwise would. So, even if your pre-Black Friday sale notifications don’t result in a ton of immediate sales, you can rest easy knowing that you’ve effectively planted the name and deal inside the mind of your subscribers.

Push notification offers are not limited to specific holidays. You can host flash sales and other random events and use push alerts to promote deals to your audience. People are always looking for a good offer. If your alert lands at the right time, there’s a very good chance it could bring customers back to your site, which will boost sales.

Final Thoughts

It’s clear that there are countless ways to use push notifications to grow your business. Think carefully about your existing marketing strategy and where you can improve. If you’ ’ve noticed a success gap in any of the categories we mentioned today, push notifications could be just the thing to close the gaps and increase the pace of your growth.

BUILDING TRUST TO LEVERAGE CONTENT

Your content plays an important role in building trust. It affects how people perceive your brand in obvious as well as subtle ways. In this post, we’ll look at different ways you can leverage content so that your audience trusts your brand sooner and is willing to buy from you.

Both trust-building and content creation are ongoing processes that will help you get results in the short and long run. Here are the different content types you need to create to build trust continuously and to create a solid brand image. 

Publish blog posts regularly

Have you ever visited a website and then wondered why they haven’t posted any content recently? Visitors to a site will notice if a website does not update their content. This can create discomfort because it indicates a lack of activity and will make users wonder if the business will respond to them.

This makes it important to create blog posts regularly. Whether you post a blog post once a month or every week, the important thing is to do it consistently. And you can also update your create evergreen posts by adding edits and making the date field show when the post was last updated. Google notices when your posts are updated too and this impacts how well your content ranks on search engines.

Stay on top of your social media posts

Just like your blog or website, you need to create and post content regularly on social media. If you’re starting out or are a small company and don’t have a large following yet, it’s still important to keep posting content often.

Even if you get most of your leads from other places, your social media content still matters because your activity level implies that you are likely to respond to queries from your audience.

So, create posts on a daily basis if not multiple times a day. And make posts that use natural conversational language so that your audience feels like you’re talking to them directly and in a friendly way.

Respond to comments 

Along with your blog and social media posts, visitors to your site or social media profiles will explore comments people leave. It is critical to reply to comments that users make on your posts. When your audience sees that you respond to comments, they’ll feel assured that you listen to people. They’ll expect you to similarly respond to customer complaints, which will make them comfortable.

It’s important to create responses that are personalized, informative, and that sound authentic. Canned responses like ‘We appreciate your feedback’ alone will make your audience feel like you’re not really listening. Try to speak to your readers in a natural tone of voice and have a conversation instead. 

It’s small touches like these that create a good image of your business. 

Keep your emails out of the spam folder

One powerful way to make sure that your content builds trust is to make it ‘spam-proof’. Today, email service providers take spam protection seriously. Steps like making sure that your email copy doesn’t have any spam trigger words will ensure that your content doesn’t land in the spam folder.

It is also vital that you send email content only to people who have explicitly agreed to receive content. Sending newsletters with helpful content to your email list helps you build a relationship with your audience. So, it’s important to ensure that your email arrives in their inbox.
Make sure that you configure your email settings correctly and authenticate your email so that it lands in your user’s inbox. This step can be difficult to do and it’s a good idea to use a plugin like WP Mail SMTP to help you. You can also get a white glove set up done for you in case you need additional help. 

Leverage user-generated content

Your audience expects marketing messages to portray your company in the best light. However, if customers and other audience members engage with your business and leave positive feedback, then your leads are more likely to trust you. 

User-generated content consists of posts, reviews, testimonials, and other types of content created by your audience or customers. Content on forums, pictures on social media, discussions, ratings and similar material can be leveraged on your website or social media. 

Ask your customers for testimonials and add them to your website with the customer’s headshot, company name, and position. 

Use a social media feed tool to integrate social feeds into your website so that you can share posts created by the public in a feed on your site pages. 

Highlight the number of users your product has or feature positive reviews left by happy customers on your landing page. 

Steps like these add social proof to your site, creating compelling arguments in favor of your business. Visitors to your site and people researching your brand will trust you sooner and buy from your business. 

Create FAQ pages

An FAQ page makes it convenient for users to find critical information. It also shows foresight on your part. As you carry out your usual business activities, take note of challenges that your users face or common questions people ask about your solutions. 

Address these issues with an FAQ page so that users can quickly get the answer they’re looking for and make the decision to buy from you. 

This type of content subtly conveys a large amount of information about how prepared and aware your business is. The effort and research you do to create content that helps your users by providing just the information they need will speak volumes about your reliability. 

Back to you

To build trust, you not only have to explicitly promise your users that you’re reliable, you also have to back your claims by carrying out ongoing content creation activities. 

We’ve covered several ways that you can build trust through content. You are certain to come up with more ideas of your own that will lead to a stronger brand image. So, focus on your content creation and management to win over your audience.

10 LIFE LESSONS

1. I believe that we all want, more than anything else, to feel truly alive, to sense deep connection with others, and to have meaningful pursuits and contributions. This is encapsulated by my mantra and teachings: LIVE. LOVE. MATTER.

 

2. I believe that anyone can have a phenomenal life if they’ll deeply value learning and focus intently on their mindset, habits and environment.

 

3. I believe most unhappiness comes from lack of awareness or intention of #1 and #2 above.

 

4. I believe that it’s entirely unnecessary and unhelpful to “dumb down” our content or education in order for people to “easily” get it. No wisdom was ever gained without struggle. Our education system is failing to create critical thinking and resilient learning.

 

5. I believe you have to surround yourself with people who have great aspirations to help others.

 

6. I believe that humble and consistent service throughout one’s life is more fulfilling than any one-time accolade or major achievement.

 

7. I believe that most people undervalue themselves and get discouraged too easily because they haven’t read enough history or remarkable biographies to know what’s even possible despite humble, unfavorable or brutal beginnings.

 

8. I believe true motivation is not felt luckily but rather summoned daily.

 

9. I believe you and I have barely scratched the surface of what we are capable of, and recognizing that is a humble and grateful nod to our Creator.

 

10. I believe every day is a second chance to live with greater intention, kindness and courage.

 

These are just a few things I've learned from my life's experience and research, and from reflecting on, and journaling about it all.

I worry that people don't journal enough anymore, and that very few know how to do it in a way that generates real breakthroughs, strength and progress.