Win With Consistency--Sacrifice

Win with consistency. Be consistent on your free day. Be consistent on your catch up day. Be consistent on your get ahead day, even when doing something fun or easy is more alluring. There will always be time for that later.

Be consistent on your difficult day. Be consistent on your make time anyway day. Be consistent on your sacrifice something else to make time for this day. Be consistent on your don't fall behind today day.

Win with consistency. It's hardest to be consistent on the really good and really bad days. Be consistent when you are pulled out of your groove! Get back in as soon as you begin to be pulled out. Consistency wins the day.

Shane MeLaugh training. Stay in your area of expertise. If you are going to add a task or priority, you need to decide what you are going to take out of your day or routine.

Make a list of priorities. Put half of them on the "I'm not going to get this done this year" list. Work like a bandit on the list that is left.

When bed time comes, don't change your priorities. Say "NO!" to reshuffling your priorities at the moment when they become relevant. Go to bed. Or consciously change your priorities and realize this is not important to me. If you have your priorities straight, it will be clear that sleep really is more important than whatever "priority" it is that you are trying to replace it with.

Be consistent. Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, decade-ly, life-ly. If you have truly prioritized, why would you let anything take you away from your plan!?

Be consistent...or be non-relevant and inept....

Be consistent!

No More Rabbit Holes

I ran down a rabbit hole to save ~$150 this week. I'm sure I lost out on much more cash. As my brother says, I was "tripping over nickles to pick up pennies".

My phone power button broke off from the circuit board. I thought I'm sure I can just solder that thing back on! So I borrowed Norman's (my father-in-law) soldering iron on Christmas and wasted 2 days shopping for the proper tools (which are surprisingly difficult to find) and attempting to solder the button back on. I'm sure for a pro, this is a 20 minute or less job. But the button is so close to the processors that I just couldn't get it to go right. 2 days missing from my online course prep.

I was going to try to launch the course by the end of the year and probably could have made several thousand dollars in the time I wasted. I was talking with Kaylee (an employee) about doing the things you are passionate about and delegating the rest when it became instantly clear that I should have been working on the course and ordered a new phone right away (the old one is 4 years old already anyway). I can learn to solder better and order the proper tools online later when I have a little more free time. Maybe the kids will get a 4 year old smart phone one day.

This is such an alluring rabbit hole for me. "I'll just try welding it on for a few minutes" I say to myself. Then I pop the back and don't have the right Torx bit. So off to the store (one of my least favorite things). I get everything opened and try to solder and make a mess of it, decide I'll use solder paste instead. Off to the store the next day (I don't want to take a few days to order the right stuff online...I need this fixed now, right!?). Unfortunately the store doesn't carry de-solder wicks. So I come home with a bag full of stuff I can't use yet: flux, butane, solder paste. Do I order the wicks, now I'm in $40 in equipment and several hours of time...a new phone is only $120. It's not like I have a super nice one.

Alas, when I upgrade the phone, they will auto-update my plan and I will pay $5 more each month. An increase from $10 to $15. Whatever will I do. That's another $60 per year! Ack. I'll make more than the cost of the phone and increase in plan if I just get the course "shipped" and sell a single copy. Let alone the recurring $20/month subscription. So focussed on the wrong thing. I probably shouldn't mess with it even if it only did take an hour. But this is a rabbit hole, my friend. It starts with 5 minutes, then never ends!

The Million Dollar Lesson to be learned here: Stay on task! Even when there is an intriguing rascally rabbit that just jumped down a whole. The phone is inconvenient. Don't let it ruin the whole week. Get back to your area of expertise!

You Can Make Money Doing Anything Part 2

My niece has apparently started collecting coins. Not ridiculously expensive ones, from what I know just the 2007-2015 Presidential Dollar Coin set. I'm pretty sure that these coins are not old enough, rare enough, or cool enough to really be worth more than one dollar each. But my wife paid $2.69 each to have two of them shipped to our house for my niece's birthday.

Now lest anyone thinks ill of my wife for spending 2.69 times the worth of each coin to get them. I submit to you the following:

As a customer we got:
1. Convenience (of reciept) - the coins were delivered directly to our door and ordered from our couch. In order for us to do this on our own we would have the hassle of going to the bank, ordering a roll, bag or something of $1 coins, sorting through the coins and returning the unneeded coins back to the bank (or spending them). We would have to repeat the process until the two coins we were looking for were obtained.
2. Selection - both the coins were immediately available and in stock. So no return trips to the bank and no sorting.
3. Convenience (of time) - I'm sure it did not take my wife more then a few minutes to peruse and order. The bank method, assuming we found the right coins on the first pass, would likely take 30 minutes to drive to and from the bank twice (or I suppose you could sort them in the lobby) and sort the coins and return the uncollected coins.

2 coins @ $2.69 per coin = $5.38 USD
minus 2 coins @ $1 each = $3.38 USD = cost of transaction
$3.38 * 2 (sets of 30 minutes) = $6.76 per hour.
Even at the median hourly wage in the USA in 2014 of $17.09 per hour, this is a no brainer!

So just how much should a $1 Presidential Coin be worth? Well, if we paid an "average" American to get two coins for us in the above parameters, it would cost $5.27 per coin. Of course this does not factor in gas, car maintenance, taxes, FICA, healthcare, paid leave, vacation, retirement, time for payroll, hiring, firing, theft etc.

Obviously al51ny (the gracious guy on e-bay who sold us the coins at an apparent loss to him) is dealing in large numbers of coins and likely enjoys sifting through thousands of coins to find the diamonds in the rough. He is probably a major collector who is sifting through coins anyway and doesn't mind categorizing them, packaging them, and shipping them. He probably thinks my wife is a dolt for buying $1 coins for 2 dollars and 69 cents. Clearly she is buying them at a loss...

But it is to his gain. Win - Win. The best kind of commerce. We are buying birthday happiness for our niece at $1.69 loss per coin. He is shipping junk in a small envelope for probably just under $1 in profit and likely doesn't waste much time in the process. If he does a large enough scale he could become very wealthy at this. Simultaneously the paper company sold two envelopes and two coin holders, the office supply store sold printer ink, a printer, a pen and 6 staples, the post office sold a stamp, e-bay got some commissions, and you got to read this post. So, Win - win - win - win - win - win - win. The bank lost the battle, but will win the war and the government won all the battles and will the war (taxes on each party and huge margins on the dollar in the first place--fodder for another day).

I love business. Thank you al51ny for enriching my life a little on the cheap. When open markets win, we all win!

Desperate vs. Driven

There is a certain edge to people who are violently pursuing something. We give several names to people like this to differentiate them from the rest of the population, but we seldom separate them into distinct categories. We call them motivated, inspiring, active, exciting, stimulating, driven, crazy, busy, crazy-busy, intense, committed. Sometimes they are forceful, compelling, desperate, workaholic, work horses and they put themselves or force others to put their nose to the grindstone. The main similarity is that they are actively pursuing a goal. They get stuff done. My brother would say that without these people nothing would ever get done. He might be right. But I'd like to categorize these people into four groups.

Desperate and running from something (DeRF)     | Desperate and running toward something (DeRT)
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Driven and running from something (DriRF)         | Driven and running toward something (DriRT)

Driven vs. Desperate

Both have something that wakes them up early. Both have something that keeps them up late. Both are consumed with improving beyond what is "normal". Both are putting forth tremendous effort to make things move, to win, to achieve, to leave a mark. Driven is effortfulness, trying to win the game and improve so you can win the next one regardless of the outcome of this one. Desperate is effortfulness, trying not to lose the game then training harder so you don't lose the next one. They both get results, but one cannot be sustained forever, it is draining. The other gets stronger over time and finds new energy in the challenge. Driven is ahead of the curve. Desperate is behind the 8 ball.

Any day of the week you'd rather be driven. But sometimes desperation is just what you need to get the ball rolling. It's much better than complacency or indifference after all!

Desperate people have a goal, but it's often an anti-goal (e.g. I will not lose this house/game/account/etc.) or a negative goal (e.g. I will show him.). Other times it's a good goal gone bad but the ship is sinking. They are looking for a win but often are repelling the very people who can help them make it happen for them because of the frenetic energy that they display. No bones about it though, they are going to move heaven and earth to make it happen or burn out trying. This can be a good short term state to be in (because you get things done that need done gettin'), but long-term it is unhealthy.

DeRF's tend to be have the anti-goals. They are obsessed about some impending doom and can't stop to think about anything else. In the corporate world they are often middle managers and self-employed (because they don't want to work for someone else or the business is on the verge of failure and they are on the treadmill). They are driven to complete a project but only because they don't want to lose their job or the status they have attached to owning their own company. Occasionally they are courageous people stuck in a bad circumstance. This can be dangerous like a caged tiger it can spur them to action to solve problems in new ways or move on from untenable situations, but it can also lead to unethical behavior at times through the "desperate times call for desperate measures" mentality.

I was a DeRF when I was a student. I was working two jobs. One was a night shift where I would go to class on Thursday, then to work all night and straight back to class on Friday. I was running from bills and didn't have the wherewithal to make more money some other way, but was too prideful to let my mother help any more than she already was (running from feelings of inadequacy).

DeRT's tend to be the type with good goals gone bad or sudden difficult situations. They are either in a field they used to like with current circumstances they don't like, or they are in a field they don't like and are running to a temporary endpoint (all I have to do is put in one more year and there will be a big payout, if I can just sell 100 more X's we'll at least break even). Many single mothers are in this class. They are desperate for a temporary goal of paying for Johnnie's College etc.. DeRT's are unstable like DeRF's, but there is usually an endgame in sight. There is light at the end of the tunnel and it's not an oncoming train.

I was a DeRT when I was paying off my student debt. I was in a job I didn't love, but I was putting in extra hours whenever I could because I believed in my endgame. I was up early not because I couldn't wait to get to work, but because I was running toward a future I believed in. My job was a temporary means to an end. It payed more than the job I wanted to do.

Driven people have a goal, an endgame. They enjoy the challenge of being the best and competing at the highest level in their field. They are ahead of the field because they are planning and working it that way. They are winning and they are constantly looking for ways of winning by a bigger margin. They are way ahead in a big game and their starters are still on the field. It's about more than just this game. We love them, but we hate them. But only because of our own insecurity or when we find ourselves on the opposite team.

DriRF's are the workaholics. High powered execs who are at work because they are avoiding some other part of their lives or dreams. But they are extremely good at what they do and often do enjoy work. They are at the top of their game in that one area of life and they will only get better as long as whatever they are running from doesn't catch up.

Michael Jordan - Yes, he loved the game. Yes, he was a winner. Yes, he was the best. Yes, he is a class act. But you can't deny he'd rather have been playing baseball.

DriRT's work long hours like DriRF's, but they aren't working to avoid anything. They are working because they love what they do. They would do it even if they didn't get paid. They would do it even if they could get paid more doing something else. It resonates with their soul and in turn they touch those around them. Working brings more energy and ideas to the table so there is a sustainable longevity to what they do. They do things better, longer and seemingly effortlessly despite the long hours and hard work.

John Wooden - He loved the game. He loved the sport. He loved the men who played under him. Each year was better than the last. He was on a different level because he had different goals. Winning was important, but there was something more. Something he was running towards.

Running/driving toward a greater goal. That is where we all function at the highest of the highest level. That should be our goal. Work in our area of magnificence. Let's be Driven!

Using Other People Power and Working in Quadrant II

Fridays are my business days. My wife takes the kids to their grandparents' house and I work on my business. Usually these are what Jennifer White calls "support days" in her book Work Less Make More. I work on getting my ducks in a row and putting out fires and scrambling to meed deadlines and work on the mountain of things on my plate. Today I am having half a "laser day" for 2 reasons.

1. Other People Power (team): My banker is working on writing up a loan. My realtor is working on negotiating a letter of intent to lease a space. I talked with my business adviser this morning to review the initial loan agreement and letter of intent mentioned above. My equipment provider will receive a list of equipment this afternoon and begin working on pricing and invoicing. My contractor is waiting for all the above to come through so he can get to work. My insurance providers will be working on some numbers next week. I am the axle and there are connections out to the wheels via the spokes who are specialists in their given field. Eventually I will build my team such that each axle will be a team reaching out to the spokes (ie. my business manager will be working with my realtor and my finance clerk will be contacting the bank.) All this frees me up to write this blog post and work on laser day things.

2. I've finally gotten out of the trap of working in Stephen Covey's (7 Habits of Highly Effective People) Quadrants III and IV (Unimportant and Urgent, and Unimportant and Not Urgent), I've delegated most of quadrant I for the moment (Important and Urgent) leaving me to work in quadrant IV (Important and Not Urgent). This is what Jennifer White calls a "laser day". This is where the best ideas for future products, services and activities come from. This is where much of the personal and business growth comes from. This is where you can anticipate fires before they start and improve upon products and services and dream to launch bigger and better things to change your life and our world. It's been a long time coming. At first it was a little unsettling--there's nothing urgent and important today...what do I put on my do list? I hope to see more laser days in the days to come!

Exceeding Customer Expectations and Perceived Value--Under Promise and Over Perform

Value...what do we value? What's more important, actual value or perceived value? Is there such a thing as too much value? Jennifer White in her excellent book Work Less, Make More argues that we can add too much value into our companies and products or services. At some point, there is so much value that we "don't count" parts of it. Two things come into play: 1. What I call supposed value, and 2. What Mrs. White calls perceived value.

1. Supposed value is when we provide a bunch of stuff that our customers don't really want, or want but "don't count". We suppose that they need these things and it leads to frustration because we count them and our customers do not. I'll give you a few examples and you'll quickly understand what I mean. 

1. A. Supposed value that customers don't really want.--Eliminate all these quickly.

Our Playstation 3 will play region 2 DVD's. For those of you who don't know what that is, here's a synopsis. The media world is divided geographically into 6 regions. Region 1 is the US and Canada. Region 3 is Japan, Europe, South Africa and the Middle East. Discs from regions other than your own have coding that prevents players in other regions from playing them. Often tourists are annoyed that DVD'd they buy in Europe don't play in the US.

My wife is happy that our Playstation will play her foreign videos. I suspect that she is one of a small percentage of customers who were thrilled by this news. In fact, it's likely that most people with Playstation consoles don't know what this means and don't care. Listen to that--They payed extra money for value that they don't care about. Sony got smart in latter releases of the same console--they lowered the price and eliminated this hardware. Now the blue-ray player we do value. 

1. B. Supposed value that customers don't count.--Gently help your customers count these.

A friend of mine grew up on a large dairy farm. His father worked very hard to keep everything running well, but at the end of a hard day's work he always made it home on time. One day his father got stuck out on a job and came home over an hour late. When he arrived at home his wife was very upset that he was late and hadn't called. She thought the worst. He was never late, so he must be dead or injured. He was surprised that she was so upset...after all, he's never late. She should cut him some slack for this one occurrence, he thought. 

They are both right. This is supposed value that this farmer provides every day. He counts it. and supposes that she will too. He works hard to come home on time. He leaves farm jobs unfinished to make his family a priority. She takes it for granted. She doesn't "count it"...unless it's missing. This is a case where "we don't realize what we have until it's gone". 

Parents and children often have this problem of unperceived value. It can be very damaging to a relationship and happens frequently in close relationships. One party overvalues something, the other takes it for granted They are suddenly offended when things don't go as usual. 

My wife and I often nip this one in the bud when one of us starts complaining that something didn't go as expected instead of saying, "I can't believe you didn't take out the garbage!!" we'll say, "Thank you for taking out the garbage all the other times.". 

This is dangerous territory because we need to distinguish between what our customers don't want and what they do want, but are not counting so we can eliminate the things they don't need or want, and gently help them "perceive" the value of what they just aren't counting. Pray that you don't accidentally eliminate something they really do want but aren't counting. It can be tough to know the difference. 

2. Perceived Value is that bunch of things that you provide that your customers love...they "perceive" or count the value even if it doesn't really exist. There are two categories. 

2. A. Perceived value that customers don't really need, but value anyway.--You will want to eliminate anything that falls into this category that costs you more money than it brings in. Double down on anything that brings you more money than it costs (hype, fads, brands and one hit wonders fall into this category). These are what make rabid customers, but it can be fickle. 

Beanie Babies. Need I say more? They are merely tiny stuffed animals, but when there was a shortage, people got injured at the mall trying to get their hands on one and were willing to brave weather, long lines and threats of death to get one. Just know that all good fads come to an end. For some reason customers perceived value where there really was none. 

Black Pearls (Tahitian pearls). In the 1970's black pearls were considered inferior to white pearls (never mind that pearls are just parasites covered in layers of calcium carbonate-what antacids are made from). In the mid 1970's Salvador James Assael a pearl manufacturer if you could call him that, brought several black pearls to jeweler Harry Winston in New York and had them set in extravagant settings and placed them in the window next to expensive stones. This piece of sheer marketing genius created for these junk pearls a perceived value far greater than that of white pearls. This perception remains true today. Starbucks did the same thing with gourmet coffee.

2. B. Perceived value that customers need and love.--Run with these. It's your bread and butter. These are what create consistent customers. 

What do you get at McDonald's that doesn't fall under the heading of hype from above? A consistent size, shape, look and taste (not to mention quality of meat, at least in cleanliness) to everything on the menu anywhere in the world. And you get it fast, to boot. Start messing with quality and customers will run for the hills. 

How can you increase perceived value? Some ideas: 

Find ways to gently point it out. I read a book once that said if you come in early and leave late, send your boss an early morning e-mail periodically so he might notice your sacrifice.

Under promise and over perform. I recently failed at this when I told my banker I'd email a document within the hour and then didn't get it sent for several hours. Now I look like a slacker. How much better to have said I'd have it by the end of the day and then send it in several hours instead?

Figure out what your customer wants and give it to them.

Surprise them. Front loading special bonuses makes a customer feel like you only have a bonus because you want a sale. Back loading special bonuses make a customer feel important or valued. They value you in return. Zappos routinely sends flowers with their shoes. 

Inexpensive ways: remember names (of customers, kids, grand kids), use names, send a thank you email or note with specific information from a prior meeting, smile, say thank you, make a special offer for each customer group "just for people like you (new customer, old customer, young customer, etc.), communicate well, remember birthdays, remember special events (and mention them), point out features, refer out when you can't meet needs (keep a list of professionals handy).

The possibilities are endless. Get out there and exceed customer expectations and create perceived value. 

Method for Improvement

I'm not sure where I picked this up, but I think it was likely several books and possibly a few research articles. The one that stands out in my mind is Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People. Some audio book I've listened to recently must have brought it again to my attention. If I run into anything I've read on this subject again I'll try to add a reference here, or you can add it in the comments section.

So here it is: any situation you have, you need to think through it ahead of time and answer the following questions.

Before:
B1. What outcome do I want to have from this (meeting, conversation, negotiation, etc.)?
B2. What will I do to cause this to be the outcome?

During the situation you need to ask yourself the following.

During:
D1. Are my actions causing my desired outcome to be more or less likely?
D2. What can I change now (in my approach, method, tactics, tone, mood, etc.) to make my desired outcome more likely?

Then after the situation ask yourself and answer the following.

After
A1. Did I get the outcome I desired?
A2. Why did I or why didn't I get the outcome I desired?
A3. What will I change next time I have a similar situation?

Carnegie suggests that a businessman he associated with stated that he reviewed his business and personal dealings every week. This weekly review was the single most important thing he did to bring about positive change in his businesses and life.

Here's the rub. If you don't go into a situation with an expected outcome, you have no measuring stick. How will you know if you did well or poorly? How will you know if you got what you expected? How will you know what to do in the future to avoid reliving bad outcomes and keep getting good ones?

Practical application: My 4 year old is not going to brush her teeth to get ready for bed.

Me: What would you rather have happen? You can complain here for ten minutes and not get a bedtime book, or you can quickly go brush your teeth and you might have time for two chapters of your bedtime book?
(Read: B1. Which outcome do you want? Extra book time. B2. What do you need to do to get it? Get ready for bed quickly. )

Child: Erg. Two chapters!

Me: Then why are you standing here complaining? That's not going to get you what you want! Go get your toothbrush!
(Read: D1. Are your actions (complaining) causing you to get your desired outcome? No. D2. What should you be doing to get your desired outcome? Quickly get your teeth brushed.)

Child: (runs to get toothbrush)

Me: Good Job! You got ready so fast we have some extra time for TWO WHOLE CHAPTERS tonight! You should do this every night!
(Read: A1. You got your desired outcome--two chapters. A2. You got your outcome (book chapters) because you got ready for bed quickly (action). A3. What will you do next time? You can have this every night if you just get ready for bed quickly instead of complaining.)

Simple. If you're having trouble remembering, notice that it's the same thing three times. 1. Outcome.
2. Action. It's that simple.

Now my 4 year old child is already savvy enough to know that sometimes she doesn't want to do the action that leads to the outcome. My only answer to this is "When you want it badly enough, you will do what you need to do to get the outcome." My old therapy mentor used to say, "Some people just aren't hurt badly enough to get better yet."

There was an old rat poison commercial where a lady saw a mouse and screamed, "I hate you!" Then a guy in a giant mouse/rat suit standing in her kitchen takes a bite out of some food and says, "Prove it."

You wanna lose weight? Quit smoking? Learn Spanish? Change careers? Open a business?...Prove it. 1. Outcome. 2. Action. It's that simple.