Stop asking, "How can I help?"

 You think it's enough. It's not.

You think it's helping. It isn't.

You think it's adequate. It may just be.

But hear this and and hear it well, adequate doesn't cut the mustard anymore.

When you ask, "How can I help?" you're placing the burden of responsibility on the shoulders of the person you're supposed to be serving.

I'm going to make two shocking presuppositions:

1. They probably don't (really) know what they want
2. You're the expert at whatever your business is so you should act like it

Now there is a potential problem associated with my #2 presupposition - the one about you being an expert. You might not be one...

But I have the solution.

I hereby, under the rights and authority granted to me as the Architect of "Wow!" bestow upon you the designation, privelege, and all associated responsibilities to start acting like the expert that you will soon be if you are not already.

Now go and be mediocre no more.

And instead of asking, "How can I help?" Try saying this, "I think I can help, how about this...?" Could be a steak, could be a shirt, could be a house, could be a job, could be whatever you're in the business of.

Stop asking and start suggesting. Actually, start leading. Start taking the responsibility to serve your clients.

I, for one, love it when I come across someone that is confident without being pushy and leads me in a sales process that respects me and understands me. It's pretty refreshing to be led by an expert rather than pestered by a yahoo.

Who better than you and what better time than now?

Cows aren't good role models

I drove by a pasture this morning. Like dirt ribbons in the grass, cow paths were marked throughout the pasture.

Apparently even cows hate change.

I watched Book of Eli last night and there was a great line that stuck out to me. A girl who wanted to go with Denzel on his journey said, "I want to go with you, I hate it here."

Denzel's response, "Then change it."

In other words, be your own cow and make your own path. Break the herd mentality.

Don't bring a knife to a gun fight.

 And here's another piece of advice. Don't show up to life every morning without a clue why you're doing what you're doing. One is actually more dangerous than the other - and I'm pretty sure you know which one I think it is...

The reflection of life is found in the relentless onslaught of change. We can fight it. We can pretend it's not coming. We can bury our heads in the sand.

But it is coming. Cheerfully bounding our way like some clumsy elephant, it will be here soon if it's not already.

So - what are you doing about it?

Are you changing with it, flowing with the current, and adapting? Or are you gritting your teeth and getting knocked over by a 10 foot wave that you never saw coming?

I'm a big fan of creating vision, setting goals, and coming up with neat plans. And yet despite all my nifty planning, Change seems to ignore my Word documents labeled "Goals For This Year". It's like they don't even exist. So I tried using a mind-mapping software but he ignored that too.

So I tricked Change.

Rather than focusing on what I would do and have, I've made it simpler. I'm focusing instead of who I'm becoming. With that as my focus I can roll with any punch Change throws my way. My resolve, my character, my attitude, and my response can all be unaffected.

 I tend to be woefully out of control of external circumstances but I'm powerfully in control of my thoughts, my emotions, and my drive to be more and better than I was yesterday.

Let this serve as your notice Change, I'm bringing a bazooka to your little gunfight. We'll see who has the last laugh.

When the vision is to create "Wow!", the Architect must remain resolutely focused.

Covered in brick dust

A brick wall. It could be seen as a couple different things. A wall of protection or an obstacle keeping you from getting where you want to go.

In his lecture titled, The Last Lecture (You can watch Randy here), Randy Pausch talks about the importance of living out your dreams and helping other people to find and live out their dreams. Interestingly, when he was giving that lecture he had just a few months left to live because he was in the last stages of pancreatic cancer.

The lecture he gave was a summation of his life and his resolve to live that life. It also served as a legacy to his kids - so they could watch it one day when they were older.

I read his book - very good by the way - and was also watching the video of his lecture. One slide that he showed really stuck out to me.

It featured a brick wall much like the one at the top that you saw. And in yellow words over top of the brick wall were these words:

Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things

So, how badly do you want it?

Do you give up too easily?
Do you say it's too hard, it's too difficult?
Do you become your own worst enemy instead of your own cheering squad?
Do you pound your fist against the wall once or twice, mutter something to yourself about how it can't be done, then trudge away to watch a rerun of American Idol?

I say get covered in brick dust. Break it down, run through it, take a jack hammer to it!

Another author calls it "pig-headed determination" which I like. I think it's about time we showed a little pig-headed determination and got covered with some brick dust.

How bad do you want it? Prove it. 

The Philosophy of a Billion

This is Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos - an online retailer that mostly sells shoes but has also branched out into apparel, etc. They do over one billion in revenue a year.

Golly gee wilikers - that's a lot of shoes!

Eh, who cares, they sell a lot of shoes. But what is absolutely fascinating is WHY they sell that many feet enclosures. Their philosophy. I'll bullet point a few key points so you can see what I'm talking about. Then I'd encourage you to check out the link below to see the CEO talk about his company.

• they spend most of the money they would normally spend on marketing to instead to improve the customer experience.
• because of this, 75% of their sales are from repeat customers.
• rather than burying their 800 number (like most companies websites), they put it at the top of every page because they want to talk to their customers.
• they encourage their phone reps to spend as much time as they think necessary talking to each customer to make sure they have a "Wow!" experience.
• they frequently do surprise shipping upgrades to delight their customers (I ordered a pair of shoes and they arrived the next day - even though I hadn't chosen that option!)
• if they don't have the size that you need in stock, they will research at least 3 different competitor's sites for you and then direct you to them if they have what you need.

Here's what Tony said regarding sending those customers somewhere else to buy their shoes. 

"Yes, we lose that transaction. But we're not trying to maximize every transaction. We're trying to build a lifelong relationship with each of our customers one call at a time."

"Wow!" Surprise, Awe and Delight.

 Tony speaking at SXSW

Willing to will

I've been thinking a lot lately about this line in As a Man Thinketh by James Allen. The line is this:

"We will be what we will to be."

Powerful! I'm constantly asking myself now, "what am I willing to be?"

Would future Jason look back on present Jason and be satisfied with how I was creating him to be?

With that in mind, here are some of the things I will to be:

I will to be proactive
I will to be passionate
I will to be a great communicator
I will to be a man of vision
I will to be a man of wisdom
I will to be a man of action
I will to be a man of character
I will to be a leader
I will to be a man of "Wow!"

What are you willing to be today?

Clarity: The scalpel of Focus

I'm currently taking a client of mine through the process of creating a business plan.

You bored yet?

Don't be, you can use this whoever you are I promise.

I'm assuming that if you're reading this blog post you didn't just pop out of the womb today. It's probably safe to say that you've been "doing" life for a while.

Well just like you, this client of mine didn't just start their business today. They've been in business for a while. But they've lacked the clarity that they really needed to be effective.

Sometimes in life, or business, it's time to say "Giddy-up!" Other times it's better to say "WHOA, Horsey, WHOA!" Well for this client we had to tug on those reins and slow down a bit.

And in doing so we gave ourselves the permission to go back to the drawing board and ask, "What are we doing and why are we doing it?"

When was the last time you asked yourself this?

One of my blog readers, Kevin (thanks Kev!), gave me a great quote which some of you may have heard: "Insanity is doing the same over and over but expecting to get different results."

Yikes.

Been feeling insane lately? Been spinning your wheels without gaining any traction?

If so, then feel free to do what I've been helping my clients do. Define your values and vision. They did and they immediately closed the doors of one of their businesses. It didn't fit into their vision even though they were poised to take immediate action in that business. They suddenly had the power to say No. 

Today we created goals and objectives, and later this week we'll move onto strategies, actions and plans. We start big and in the future and move progressively down to creating very solid, specific tasks that we can do today.

We gain focus when we become clear. We give ourselves the right, the permission, and the authority to start cutting away the things that don't belong in our lives out of ruthless necessity.

Try picking up your scalpel and seeing what you can do with it. Let me know how you do and also let me know if I can help!