I'm all about shedding the fat these days. My goal is to be able to get into a weenie bikini this summer and look fantastic. Not really. That'd be wrong. But, I do want to be proud to strip off the t this summer, instead of being the kid who's swimming with a huge cotton t-shirt on. That's not for me.
Unfortunately, the quickest way...and the ONLY way to shed fat, is through proper nutrition(diet). Working out is a critical component, for sure. But, at age 35, the days of just working out harder and losing the extra pounds are over. We have to eat right, eat almost perfect if we want to do it in short order. It's April, so we're doing this in short order. I've got a good 20 pounds of fat I need to shed. And I've only got a couple of months to do it. So, the diet is ON.
I'll give you a few of the general philosophies behind my diet/nutrition strategy for the next two months. Much of this you've heard many times, I'd imagine, as just about every program out there touts this principles....
1. Eat smaller meals, more often -- My goal is to eat 5 or 6 small meals per day. It keeps us feeling full and it blows our metabolism rate up to a much higher level.
2. I'm focusing on protein at every meal -- the goal is to get protein each time I eat, but it's not just any protein...lean meats, protein powders, fish, eggs, etc.
3. I'm cutting simple sugars out completely -- complex carbs are ok, as are fruits and veges. But no soda, no ice cream, and no Sour Patch Kids.
4. I'm adding some supplements to it -- I'm focusing on fiber supplements, fat burners(before workouts) and protein shakes.
These are the broad strokes of how I'm structuring my nutrition, but the bottom line is that I need to have a calorie defecit of around 700 calories per day. That means I should be consuming around 1800-2500 per day, depending on my workouts.
My workouts are looking like this....
I'm still running quite a bit, as I'm training for a half marathon in Champaign on May 1. So, that training has me running about 30 miles per week or so. It's hard to put on lean muscle mass when you're running that much, but I'm doing my best to do enough strength training and eating to a point that I don't just wilt away. Don't want to be the guy who gets sand kicked in his face at the beach...
The strength training is four days per week, focusing on total body workouts. I'm incorporating a lot of the CrossFit principles, doing Olympic lifts, body weight exercises and power moves. That's not all I'm doing. My main objective is to make sure I blow up my muscles four days per week, minimum. I'd ask you to refer to Crossfit.com and check out their WOD's(work out of the day). I don't care what kind of weight training you're doing, I just think we all have to do it. Muscle mass is too fleeting at this stage of the game for most of us. We have to keep slamming in the weightroom or we're not going to have the broad shoulders the women are looking for.
When it comes to lifting, I am proud to say I still have a fairly juvenile attitude towards it. I'm still wanting to throw around as much weight as I can(without injuring myself of course), because I want to push my limits. I want to be in the best shape of my life. Going in and doing 135 pounds on the bench for sets of 30 is not going to cut it. It's better than doing nothing, for certain. But, I think we have to get after it in there, the same way we do in our businesses and in life in general...
Which brings me to my next point. There are times in a man's life when it serves him to be casual--to just go with the flow and have a relaxed attitude about whatever is going on. You know, to just not sweat the details...whatever happens, happens. Our fitness is not one of these occasions. Our time at work is not one of these times. Too many good guys I know are falling short in this area. The highest achievers...the ass kickers in life, business, and fitness are never casual about anything having to do with the "bigs" in life. There's just too much at stake to take a casual approach and just fuck around. Look around, brother, there are guys out there who are trying to take things from us as we speak. If you've got something good going in your life, I can promise you there's somebody thinking of a way to take it from you. Your business, your job, your customers, your girl...some asshole is chomping at the bit to strip it from you.
That may seem like a jaded outlook, but ultimately, I think it's true. We can not afford to just go with the flow when it comes to these important aspects of our lives. Our businesses deserve every ounce of focus and energy we have inside of us. Our bodies deserve every ounce of respect and focus we have inside. Our women, our kids, our financial futures all deserve every ounce of blood, guts, and tears we have inside. Maybe you're one of those guys that's just too cool to give it your all. You have a rep to uphold. You wouldn't want your buddies to see you giving your gig your all...that's what the geeks and sellouts do. I'll tell you right now, no ass kicking, ripped, money making guy I know ever takes this sort of detached approach to the bigs. You can not have it both ways. You can't make it to the top -- be physically ripped, be liquid and rich, be a leader in your industry, make your wife or girlfriend weak in the knees and carry yourself with nonchalance. We have to get ourselves into that peak mental and emotional state every single time we work out, run, speak to our girls, pitch a deal, write a blog post...that state in which we have some cock in our walk, our shoulders back, heads high, ready to blow through any challenge standing between us and what we want. We have to stand up and give ourselves the respect we deserve, and we do this by demonstrating to those around us that we're worthy of their best. No one will ever give us their full respect, no one will ever come to us with the deal of a lifetime, if we're not showing ourselves the respect we deserve. Winners can smell that kind of confidence a mile away. Winners can sniff out a Sally or a talker just as quickly. We have to man up every day, get ourselves into state, and take care of our business. There will be plenty of time for casual later....
Flip the switch
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Back at it...Hard as hell
Well, vacation is over, brothers. It's time to get back at it...or, as my former volunteer baseball coach in college said....time to stick our dicks in the dirt.
That was Carlton Fisk, by the way. How about that? He was the coolest dude. He loved to have a great time on the field and off the field, but he would accept zero excuses. We all need somebody like this in our lives..to keep us locked in and keep us from letting this society make us soft. Most men I know are softer than baby poop. Not us. No way in hell. It's time to stick our dicks in the dirt boys.
Tomorrow starts the strip down process. Time to get all the excess fat off before the summer gets here. So, diet information to be outlined as well as specific workout details. It's time to start measuring and really keeping score with this thing, so we can help the people we love duplicate it. But, it starts with us, right here. We need to be the ones who step up and lead by example, lives of discipline and focus. Let everyone else live soft. Not this group.
The goal moving forward is to keep the balanced approach we've outlined with the Simple Disciplines, but get back to locking in on the vision. The vision of being ripped, liquid, and independent needs to be stronger, more vivid as we bust through the excuses and the negativity we are all surrounded by presently. We need to be the few who "do" versus the many who "talk". It's back to execution of these Simple Disciplines, with laser focus on making these visions real. We have to get crazy excited about not just surviving these times, but getting ripped and rich during these times. No excuses, no bullshit. It's time.
Flip the switch
That was Carlton Fisk, by the way. How about that? He was the coolest dude. He loved to have a great time on the field and off the field, but he would accept zero excuses. We all need somebody like this in our lives..to keep us locked in and keep us from letting this society make us soft. Most men I know are softer than baby poop. Not us. No way in hell. It's time to stick our dicks in the dirt boys.
Tomorrow starts the strip down process. Time to get all the excess fat off before the summer gets here. So, diet information to be outlined as well as specific workout details. It's time to start measuring and really keeping score with this thing, so we can help the people we love duplicate it. But, it starts with us, right here. We need to be the ones who step up and lead by example, lives of discipline and focus. Let everyone else live soft. Not this group.
The goal moving forward is to keep the balanced approach we've outlined with the Simple Disciplines, but get back to locking in on the vision. The vision of being ripped, liquid, and independent needs to be stronger, more vivid as we bust through the excuses and the negativity we are all surrounded by presently. We need to be the few who "do" versus the many who "talk". It's back to execution of these Simple Disciplines, with laser focus on making these visions real. We have to get crazy excited about not just surviving these times, but getting ripped and rich during these times. No excuses, no bullshit. It's time.
Flip the switch
Friday, March 19, 2010
A little vacation...to let go
Tomorrow my family and I are heading down to Captiva Island for a ten day vacation...a much needed break at this stage of the game. It's been a pretty long winter and I'm ready for a little sun and some time to chill. I know my wife and kids are really looking forward to having my fullest attention, as I've been working pretty long hours lately with the spring busy season just around the corner. My body could use the rest as well. The last few weeks have been grueling with the added mileage I've been putting down. I'm really stoked about getting away.
I did have a message I'd like to share, though, before I get back to packing for our early morning departure. The past couple of days I've had a ton of stuff to do in order to be able to get away and not be distracted by loose ends while I'm down in Florida. Lots of details need attention before I bail out for ten days...paying people, paying suppliers, scheduling projects, estimating for material lists, sales follow through stuff, etc...a long, long list of pretty important stuff.
At about 6:30 tonight, as I'm still pushing through my list of work details, trying to make certain I don't leave ANYTHING left to chance, I realized something. I can not take this stuff so damn seriously all the time. We all need to take our work seriously, please don't misunderstand. I take my customers and their well-being as seriously as anybody. But, I just can't hold on to this stuff so damn tight. My expectations are so high, I expect every job to be so damn perfect, there's no way I could ever be satisfied with the outcome...because no job is ever going to come out perfect. I'll never walk away with a perfect record in terms of how my customers perceive me. I'm way too obsessed with the outcomes. I think I just need to make sure my crews know what's expected, make sure they have everything they need(from me on my end), and just let it happen. On the customer side, I need to make sure they understand what we interpreted their needs as being, what our solution is going to look like, and make sure they know that it's a major construction process and to expect things to stay fluid...there's no perfect process that will work on every project. If I'm able to create the expectation up front that we may run into challenges on the job, then I'll have less pressure to make sure everything goes perfectly on every job. I mean, I can only do what I can do. This isn't life or death here. Yes, it's important, and I'm going to give it my best. But, I can no longer worry about whether everything goes perfect and that every single customer loves me. Follow up, yes. Be a customer punching bag...no.
And in the end, the reason I'm doing all of this--the working ridiculous hours, knocking on doors(which isn't the most glamorous gig in the world), the huge risks I've made financially, the early morning runs(so I can work 12 hours and still get home at a decent hour), etc, it's all for my family...so they can have the best life has to offer. I want my life to serve as an example, not a warning. If I can't step away from my business and lock in 100% on my family, then I will end up a warning. It's the "richest man in the graveyard" story. No way. I don't care if it's at the end of the workday on Friday or on a trip to Captiva for two weeks, we've got to be able to set the shit aside and enjoy ourselves, enjoy our families, enjoy our friends. That's what this trip is going to be about.
I guess it's about faith, in the end. I just need to have faith that things are going to work out. The crews will do their best work, the customers will fulfill their end of the deal, the work will continue to flow, and people will continue to trust my team with their projects. Holding on too tight may just retard the flow of abundance, and hell, I might be guilty of this lately. Not any longer. I'm just going to give it my all, but that will have to be good enough. Just going to let it go. And let the chips fall where they may.
Take care, have a great night.
Flip the switch
I did have a message I'd like to share, though, before I get back to packing for our early morning departure. The past couple of days I've had a ton of stuff to do in order to be able to get away and not be distracted by loose ends while I'm down in Florida. Lots of details need attention before I bail out for ten days...paying people, paying suppliers, scheduling projects, estimating for material lists, sales follow through stuff, etc...a long, long list of pretty important stuff.
At about 6:30 tonight, as I'm still pushing through my list of work details, trying to make certain I don't leave ANYTHING left to chance, I realized something. I can not take this stuff so damn seriously all the time. We all need to take our work seriously, please don't misunderstand. I take my customers and their well-being as seriously as anybody. But, I just can't hold on to this stuff so damn tight. My expectations are so high, I expect every job to be so damn perfect, there's no way I could ever be satisfied with the outcome...because no job is ever going to come out perfect. I'll never walk away with a perfect record in terms of how my customers perceive me. I'm way too obsessed with the outcomes. I think I just need to make sure my crews know what's expected, make sure they have everything they need(from me on my end), and just let it happen. On the customer side, I need to make sure they understand what we interpreted their needs as being, what our solution is going to look like, and make sure they know that it's a major construction process and to expect things to stay fluid...there's no perfect process that will work on every project. If I'm able to create the expectation up front that we may run into challenges on the job, then I'll have less pressure to make sure everything goes perfectly on every job. I mean, I can only do what I can do. This isn't life or death here. Yes, it's important, and I'm going to give it my best. But, I can no longer worry about whether everything goes perfect and that every single customer loves me. Follow up, yes. Be a customer punching bag...no.
And in the end, the reason I'm doing all of this--the working ridiculous hours, knocking on doors(which isn't the most glamorous gig in the world), the huge risks I've made financially, the early morning runs(so I can work 12 hours and still get home at a decent hour), etc, it's all for my family...so they can have the best life has to offer. I want my life to serve as an example, not a warning. If I can't step away from my business and lock in 100% on my family, then I will end up a warning. It's the "richest man in the graveyard" story. No way. I don't care if it's at the end of the workday on Friday or on a trip to Captiva for two weeks, we've got to be able to set the shit aside and enjoy ourselves, enjoy our families, enjoy our friends. That's what this trip is going to be about.
I guess it's about faith, in the end. I just need to have faith that things are going to work out. The crews will do their best work, the customers will fulfill their end of the deal, the work will continue to flow, and people will continue to trust my team with their projects. Holding on too tight may just retard the flow of abundance, and hell, I might be guilty of this lately. Not any longer. I'm just going to give it my all, but that will have to be good enough. Just going to let it go. And let the chips fall where they may.
Take care, have a great night.
Flip the switch
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Time is flying by. I mean flying by, at record breaking speed. The more time passes, the less time you and I have to build whatever it is we're trying to build. I heard a great expression this afternoon, listening to an interview with Jeff Walker, conducted by Tony Robbins. "In the end, every one of our lives is going to serve as either an example to follow, or a warning". Any of us, who is not presently doing what we love or not following through on the tasks we damn well know will make our lives better and get us on the path to doing what we love, our lives will serve as warnings. Warnings on what road not to take. Plain and simple.
It's tough love time, people. We can not continue to have the same conversations with the same people(or ourselves) about how we need to make these changes, while doing nothing. If you aren't taking action, you are not getting this message.
The time is right now. Take a good hard look in the mirror and ask yourself..."will my life continue down the path of being a warning to your family, your children, on how not to live?" It is your choice. It's my choice as well. Together, we can get this right.
On a positive note, I'm having some thoughts about what I'm going to do next week with the blog, since I'm going to be in Captiva Island, Florida for the next ten days or so. I'm planning to keep the blog content flowing, because of a couple of reasons. One, is I love to do it, quite frankly. Two, is because I have momentum and I fully subscribe to the notion that you either have momentum and are growing or you don't and are dying. Sad, but true.
But, the down side of this is that if I don't shut my hard-drivingness down, my wife and kids may go loco on me. Don't want that, and I don't want to waste a chunk of dough on a trip in which I can't let go mentally of the things I'm driving so hard to manifest.
So, I'm thinking the tone of the blog may change next week. Hopefully, you'll find the content worthwhile, and I am sure you will. Every time I go away or get away, I tend to get totally re-focused and am on fire with creativity and drive. I don't want to oversell it, but I just wanted to give you a heads up. So, there's your heads up...you've been warned.
In the meantime, if you have any comments about what I've been rapping about, let me know. I'd love for this thing to be more of a conversation than a monologue. If not, if you'd rather remain anonymous, that's cool too. I thank you for plugging in.
What would you think of some video on this stuff? Maybe some raw, real footage of some stuff that will add to the messages? Let me know...
Flip the switch
It's tough love time, people. We can not continue to have the same conversations with the same people(or ourselves) about how we need to make these changes, while doing nothing. If you aren't taking action, you are not getting this message.
The time is right now. Take a good hard look in the mirror and ask yourself..."will my life continue down the path of being a warning to your family, your children, on how not to live?" It is your choice. It's my choice as well. Together, we can get this right.
On a positive note, I'm having some thoughts about what I'm going to do next week with the blog, since I'm going to be in Captiva Island, Florida for the next ten days or so. I'm planning to keep the blog content flowing, because of a couple of reasons. One, is I love to do it, quite frankly. Two, is because I have momentum and I fully subscribe to the notion that you either have momentum and are growing or you don't and are dying. Sad, but true.
But, the down side of this is that if I don't shut my hard-drivingness down, my wife and kids may go loco on me. Don't want that, and I don't want to waste a chunk of dough on a trip in which I can't let go mentally of the things I'm driving so hard to manifest.
So, I'm thinking the tone of the blog may change next week. Hopefully, you'll find the content worthwhile, and I am sure you will. Every time I go away or get away, I tend to get totally re-focused and am on fire with creativity and drive. I don't want to oversell it, but I just wanted to give you a heads up. So, there's your heads up...you've been warned.
In the meantime, if you have any comments about what I've been rapping about, let me know. I'd love for this thing to be more of a conversation than a monologue. If not, if you'd rather remain anonymous, that's cool too. I thank you for plugging in.
What would you think of some video on this stuff? Maybe some raw, real footage of some stuff that will add to the messages? Let me know...
Flip the switch
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
What is up with this fatness?
My body is not changing the way I'd hoped. I'm still looking like dogshit and I'm fully aware of why this is so...My diet is the primary driver of my lack of results, this I know for certain. My diet has been attrocious. Completely ridiculous behavior, and I'm almost sick to write about it. Believe me, I have NO delusions about who I am or what I do or don't do. In fact, I'm as aware of my shortcomings as most, it seems to come with the territory when you develop self-awareness and consistently analyze your behavior.
Before I get too down on my patterns, I find it necessary to point out that I've been rocking....absolutely kicking ass with the other aspects of my life. Both gigs are flying in terms of sales year to date, profitability, and the sales pipelines are full to the brim. My financial picture is improving daily, and I'm closing in on being able to throw down the jack for my dream home...all great stuff...all a result of these Simple Disciplines that are highlighted in 90 Days to Discipline. So, good job Greg.
Now, it's time to kick my own ass a little bit...The first place to look, when you're not doing the things you know you should be doing, is your belief systems. If you're not taking action in one particular area of your life, it's usually a product of some belief that's at odds with the goal you're pursuing. Or, it could simply be the fact that your goals in this aspect are impotent and you're not getting enough leverage on yourself thinking about the reasons why you want to make these changes. In my case, I've set a goal of weighing 165 pounds and having 8% bodyfat. Something deep in my brain is either against that goal or is afraid of achieving it...for whatever reason. My challenge would be to uncover this negative, disempowering belief, and leverage a new, more empowering belief in its place. This isn't an easy task, by any means. Hell, millions of people spend hundreds of millions on shrinks every day in this country, attempting to dig into themselves and understand why they do what they do.
I'm inclined to believe my inaction is a product of having impotent goals. Well, maybe that's not the best way to characterize my struggle. The best way to phrase it is that mentally, the goal makes complete sense...yes, looking good at the pool or beach or whatever would be nice. But, I'm leaving it there. I'm not working myself into a lather over what it would really feel like to make this goal real. In my business and financial life, every day, twice per day, I go through a very vivid "as if" scenario in which I'm the guy I want to become in this realm -- I'm leading a couple of huge businesses, I'm speaking in front of huge audiences, I've authored successful books, I'm earning a great living. My house is huge and beautiful. I can actually picture myself sitting in my office, that's decked out in the most exquisite dark mahogany woodwork. I feel myself get into my ride and pull out of my four car garage and jump on the accelerator cruising down Airport Road in Bloomington, on my way to the office. Most importantly, I can actually FEEL WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE THIS MAN. The man who's got the discipline, the focus, the skills, and the work ethic to build and manifest this level of success and abundance for my family. I can feel it...which is a cool thing, really. I look forward to this exercise, it's become one of my favority Simple Disciplines. Nerd Alert.
I'm just not doing that with my health and fitness goals. I throw it into my visions on occasion, but it's just not a priority. This may just be the wake up call I needed, in understanding just how critical the visualization process is, in building the visions we've created for ourselves. I'm on my way with the other aspects of my life...the biz and finance, the things goals, personal development, and contribution. And I can say with confidence the reason is because my emotions have evolved into a white hot obsession in these visualizations.
Now, I just need to focus more time, energy, and faith in this jacked up physique. I think I'll begin my vision with a scenario in which I arise early, before dawn and hit the gym. When I roll out of the rack, I can actually feel my abs contract and easily pull myself up out of bed...versus the circus act it is presently, when my gut makes me struggle to get up. I'll picture myself brushing my teeth before hitting the gym, and I look up in the mirror and see Brad Pitt's body from Fight Club with my dome on it. How about that? That's a pretty damn good motivator. Then I'll hit the trail for a quick 5 miler, flying on the trail, running at a 7 minute mile pace while feeling light and quick. Strength training after with a full-body workout, with an emphasis on explosive, crossfit type training. During this workout I'm strong, lean, and explosive.
Of course, I'm not lean, explosive or even very strong right now. But, this type of visualization tends to create awareness of what it'd feel like, look like, smell like to be, do, and have what I do in my vision. It propels us into taking massive action, because we can actually feel what looking like this would feel like. This is a hundred times more powerful than just sort of intellectually understanding what it would mean to be in better shape. That's weak as shit. And look where it's gotten me. Nowhere.
One other thing...I am going to work towards making the building of my body a passion of mine. This perspective is more positive than the way I've been viewing workouts and nutrition...as a necessary evil. If I can make have a more upbeat, positive inner dialogue about fitness and diet, I'll get much better results and I'll be more likely to view going to the gym as something I GET to do , versus something I HAVE to do. We'll try it. I'll keep you all updated
Do me this favor, though. Share your thoughts on this stuff. If you have something to add, please do so. If you want to call bullshit on something, call bullshit on it. I'd love for this to be a conversation. Could turn out to be a real fun thing...a bunch of people working hard to get better every day.
Flip the switch
Before I get too down on my patterns, I find it necessary to point out that I've been rocking....absolutely kicking ass with the other aspects of my life. Both gigs are flying in terms of sales year to date, profitability, and the sales pipelines are full to the brim. My financial picture is improving daily, and I'm closing in on being able to throw down the jack for my dream home...all great stuff...all a result of these Simple Disciplines that are highlighted in 90 Days to Discipline. So, good job Greg.
Now, it's time to kick my own ass a little bit...The first place to look, when you're not doing the things you know you should be doing, is your belief systems. If you're not taking action in one particular area of your life, it's usually a product of some belief that's at odds with the goal you're pursuing. Or, it could simply be the fact that your goals in this aspect are impotent and you're not getting enough leverage on yourself thinking about the reasons why you want to make these changes. In my case, I've set a goal of weighing 165 pounds and having 8% bodyfat. Something deep in my brain is either against that goal or is afraid of achieving it...for whatever reason. My challenge would be to uncover this negative, disempowering belief, and leverage a new, more empowering belief in its place. This isn't an easy task, by any means. Hell, millions of people spend hundreds of millions on shrinks every day in this country, attempting to dig into themselves and understand why they do what they do.
I'm inclined to believe my inaction is a product of having impotent goals. Well, maybe that's not the best way to characterize my struggle. The best way to phrase it is that mentally, the goal makes complete sense...yes, looking good at the pool or beach or whatever would be nice. But, I'm leaving it there. I'm not working myself into a lather over what it would really feel like to make this goal real. In my business and financial life, every day, twice per day, I go through a very vivid "as if" scenario in which I'm the guy I want to become in this realm -- I'm leading a couple of huge businesses, I'm speaking in front of huge audiences, I've authored successful books, I'm earning a great living. My house is huge and beautiful. I can actually picture myself sitting in my office, that's decked out in the most exquisite dark mahogany woodwork. I feel myself get into my ride and pull out of my four car garage and jump on the accelerator cruising down Airport Road in Bloomington, on my way to the office. Most importantly, I can actually FEEL WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE THIS MAN. The man who's got the discipline, the focus, the skills, and the work ethic to build and manifest this level of success and abundance for my family. I can feel it...which is a cool thing, really. I look forward to this exercise, it's become one of my favority Simple Disciplines. Nerd Alert.
I'm just not doing that with my health and fitness goals. I throw it into my visions on occasion, but it's just not a priority. This may just be the wake up call I needed, in understanding just how critical the visualization process is, in building the visions we've created for ourselves. I'm on my way with the other aspects of my life...the biz and finance, the things goals, personal development, and contribution. And I can say with confidence the reason is because my emotions have evolved into a white hot obsession in these visualizations.
Now, I just need to focus more time, energy, and faith in this jacked up physique. I think I'll begin my vision with a scenario in which I arise early, before dawn and hit the gym. When I roll out of the rack, I can actually feel my abs contract and easily pull myself up out of bed...versus the circus act it is presently, when my gut makes me struggle to get up. I'll picture myself brushing my teeth before hitting the gym, and I look up in the mirror and see Brad Pitt's body from Fight Club with my dome on it. How about that? That's a pretty damn good motivator. Then I'll hit the trail for a quick 5 miler, flying on the trail, running at a 7 minute mile pace while feeling light and quick. Strength training after with a full-body workout, with an emphasis on explosive, crossfit type training. During this workout I'm strong, lean, and explosive.
Of course, I'm not lean, explosive or even very strong right now. But, this type of visualization tends to create awareness of what it'd feel like, look like, smell like to be, do, and have what I do in my vision. It propels us into taking massive action, because we can actually feel what looking like this would feel like. This is a hundred times more powerful than just sort of intellectually understanding what it would mean to be in better shape. That's weak as shit. And look where it's gotten me. Nowhere.
One other thing...I am going to work towards making the building of my body a passion of mine. This perspective is more positive than the way I've been viewing workouts and nutrition...as a necessary evil. If I can make have a more upbeat, positive inner dialogue about fitness and diet, I'll get much better results and I'll be more likely to view going to the gym as something I GET to do , versus something I HAVE to do. We'll try it. I'll keep you all updated
Do me this favor, though. Share your thoughts on this stuff. If you have something to add, please do so. If you want to call bullshit on something, call bullshit on it. I'd love for this to be a conversation. Could turn out to be a real fun thing...a bunch of people working hard to get better every day.
Flip the switch
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Nine Thousand New Competitors
All of a sudden, everybody and their brother is now a contractor in my market. Last year, I had five legitimate competitors on the roofing side of my contracting biz. This year, I have 13. Thirteen companies are now marketing themselves as the best roofing company in Bloomington/Normal, and what's funny is they all claim to have over 15 years in the business. A company that's three months old has twenty years in the business? What a bunch of crap. I get it, though...one guy on the crew has been shingling for 15 years...
The bottom line is regardless of what any of these folks are claiming in their marketing messages, I have to step up my game, big time. There are more options than there's ever been in choosing a roofing contractor, and I have to do whatever it takes to be the one they not only choose to call about bidding the job, I have to be the one they trust to do the job. That's what my life is now about...well...my business life.
So, how do I do that? I don't know exactly, to be forthcoming...but, I think I've got some pretty good ideas. I'll run them by you all, let me know if you think any of them will work.
The nature of my business is such that the main challenge is getting the opportunity to bid it. There's a ton of competitors and the phone book has sixty different companies a homeowner can call. Traditional forms of advertising are ineffective today, considering the fact we all get hit with hundreds of thousands of marketing images and messages per day,and we've gotten real damn efficient at ignoring most of them. Getting a chance to bid the job is the deal for us, and there's no one answer as to how to go about doing that.
The approach that's worked for us in the recent past is to focus on the neighborhoods that need the work we perform. Sounds simple, I know, but for years the industry has always gone out and pitched a one-way sales message at the general populous, hoping a tiny fraction of those folks will jot down the phone number and call them when they need a roof. My trust in that system is gone, because I just don't see people buying roofs that way.
I'd say the majority of people make major purchases like home improvements through word of mouth...asking the folks within their family, social circles, etc who they'd recommend for whatever they're looking for. The other primary method is to observe the work going on in the neighborhood, because in these subdivisions, all of the houses are the exact same age and are getting the work done. So, they'll watch the neighbor's job and just sort of keep tabs on who does good work...or seems to, who shows up early and stays on the job, who keeps the place clean, etc. I don't know exactly what they look for when they're paying attention...all I know is that they do pay attention.
With this in mind, I'm pouring all of my resources into these neighborhoods and into taking care of my "List". My list is everyone I've done work for, everyone I've quoted, and really, everyone I've ever talked to about anything having to do with home improvements. We know who the people are in town who are going to need roofs, and I plan to spend every minute of just about every day making sure someone from my organization is out finding out every piece of information we can about these people, so that we can add them to our list and make sure they think of us when they do start the process of buying a roof.
Maybe your business is also having these kinds of challenges, in finding enough qualified people to do business with? Perhaps this list approach could benefit you and your organization? I'll go a little further...to see if it's something you can use.
The philosophy behind this "list" is quite simple...we want to develop long-term relationships with a ton of great people and become what I like to call "business friend" with them. Most of the list work will be done through email and will be executed by an auto responder outfit. We gather their emails and add them to the list, put them into the system, and carry on a conversation with them...as if they were business friends. The last thing I want to do is choke these people's inboxes with a bunch of cheesy, one way salesy bullshit that will drive them crazy. No, my goal is to get them some cool ideas that will help them with their house, and really keep the focus on them. I want to be viewed as the guy who's more focused on getting them squared away than getting a sale...or whatever. This way, I can feel good about what I do and I won't be the dude everyone's bailing out on when they see me at Starbucks or Sunday Mass or wherever. I couldn't stand myself if I were the salesy type everyone was avoiding. That's not my goal. I want each person to see me as truly interested in keeping them up to date on what's going on in the world of exterior home maintenance, energy efficiency, roofing tips, etc.
The key is to keep the dialogue in dude speak. The minute we get caught trying to sell something, we're dead in the water. My focus will be to give them something of real value...some real content in every message, that helps them. If I give them enough cool content, maybe they'll trust me enough to buy something from me when I have something to sell them...maybe. We'll see. In the meantime, it's balls to the wall in building this list. I'm looking for the best people in my market to help out. That's it.
Think about that, though. Think of the power of building a nice list of folks who trust you because you've always been cool, you've always had their back, and you've always been honest with them. And most importantly, you've always worried more about their well-being than yours. That's capital. Serious long-term capital.
What kind of list should you be building? What do you know or have inside you that could help people, that would be fun as hell to talk about? Or better yet, what would you like to learn about, that you could then turn around and help people with, that would be awesome to do? This is a great place to begin building a business, if you haven't started one yet. The way to do it is to find a thing to talk about, and start building a list.
I'm fairly new to this marketing style, but I've invested a lot of time and a ton of dough in it. The more I learn, the more I'll share. Stay tuned. I fully believe it's the way of the future, as the internet becomes a bigger and bigger part of our lives.
flip the switch
The bottom line is regardless of what any of these folks are claiming in their marketing messages, I have to step up my game, big time. There are more options than there's ever been in choosing a roofing contractor, and I have to do whatever it takes to be the one they not only choose to call about bidding the job, I have to be the one they trust to do the job. That's what my life is now about...well...my business life.
So, how do I do that? I don't know exactly, to be forthcoming...but, I think I've got some pretty good ideas. I'll run them by you all, let me know if you think any of them will work.
The nature of my business is such that the main challenge is getting the opportunity to bid it. There's a ton of competitors and the phone book has sixty different companies a homeowner can call. Traditional forms of advertising are ineffective today, considering the fact we all get hit with hundreds of thousands of marketing images and messages per day,and we've gotten real damn efficient at ignoring most of them. Getting a chance to bid the job is the deal for us, and there's no one answer as to how to go about doing that.
The approach that's worked for us in the recent past is to focus on the neighborhoods that need the work we perform. Sounds simple, I know, but for years the industry has always gone out and pitched a one-way sales message at the general populous, hoping a tiny fraction of those folks will jot down the phone number and call them when they need a roof. My trust in that system is gone, because I just don't see people buying roofs that way.
I'd say the majority of people make major purchases like home improvements through word of mouth...asking the folks within their family, social circles, etc who they'd recommend for whatever they're looking for. The other primary method is to observe the work going on in the neighborhood, because in these subdivisions, all of the houses are the exact same age and are getting the work done. So, they'll watch the neighbor's job and just sort of keep tabs on who does good work...or seems to, who shows up early and stays on the job, who keeps the place clean, etc. I don't know exactly what they look for when they're paying attention...all I know is that they do pay attention.
With this in mind, I'm pouring all of my resources into these neighborhoods and into taking care of my "List". My list is everyone I've done work for, everyone I've quoted, and really, everyone I've ever talked to about anything having to do with home improvements. We know who the people are in town who are going to need roofs, and I plan to spend every minute of just about every day making sure someone from my organization is out finding out every piece of information we can about these people, so that we can add them to our list and make sure they think of us when they do start the process of buying a roof.
Maybe your business is also having these kinds of challenges, in finding enough qualified people to do business with? Perhaps this list approach could benefit you and your organization? I'll go a little further...to see if it's something you can use.
The philosophy behind this "list" is quite simple...we want to develop long-term relationships with a ton of great people and become what I like to call "business friend" with them. Most of the list work will be done through email and will be executed by an auto responder outfit. We gather their emails and add them to the list, put them into the system, and carry on a conversation with them...as if they were business friends. The last thing I want to do is choke these people's inboxes with a bunch of cheesy, one way salesy bullshit that will drive them crazy. No, my goal is to get them some cool ideas that will help them with their house, and really keep the focus on them. I want to be viewed as the guy who's more focused on getting them squared away than getting a sale...or whatever. This way, I can feel good about what I do and I won't be the dude everyone's bailing out on when they see me at Starbucks or Sunday Mass or wherever. I couldn't stand myself if I were the salesy type everyone was avoiding. That's not my goal. I want each person to see me as truly interested in keeping them up to date on what's going on in the world of exterior home maintenance, energy efficiency, roofing tips, etc.
The key is to keep the dialogue in dude speak. The minute we get caught trying to sell something, we're dead in the water. My focus will be to give them something of real value...some real content in every message, that helps them. If I give them enough cool content, maybe they'll trust me enough to buy something from me when I have something to sell them...maybe. We'll see. In the meantime, it's balls to the wall in building this list. I'm looking for the best people in my market to help out. That's it.
Think about that, though. Think of the power of building a nice list of folks who trust you because you've always been cool, you've always had their back, and you've always been honest with them. And most importantly, you've always worried more about their well-being than yours. That's capital. Serious long-term capital.
What kind of list should you be building? What do you know or have inside you that could help people, that would be fun as hell to talk about? Or better yet, what would you like to learn about, that you could then turn around and help people with, that would be awesome to do? This is a great place to begin building a business, if you haven't started one yet. The way to do it is to find a thing to talk about, and start building a list.
I'm fairly new to this marketing style, but I've invested a lot of time and a ton of dough in it. The more I learn, the more I'll share. Stay tuned. I fully believe it's the way of the future, as the internet becomes a bigger and bigger part of our lives.
flip the switch
Monday, March 15, 2010
A week's results
A quick rundown of last week's results....
I ran 31 miles total last week in total. Great week...the highest in the past six years, I'd say. I capped it off with an absolute sufferfest this weekend with my wife. She and I have never really been able to run together much...we have always ran at much different paces. But, she's worked hard at building her mileage and her pace, and has gotten into badass shape, so we're good to go. What a cool thing -- to go out and run until everything in you is screaming to stop, with your mate right by your side, suffering through it with you. Sounds weird to say it but I think it was a phenomenal experience we shared. I can't put my finger on what specifically it was that made it such an impact, but there was something to it. We had been out there before together, but she always had to ride her bike along side me on my long runs. This was different. She was in it with me, and she took great pride in doing so.
On the strength front, I did 900 pushups, 1100 crunches, and 310 pullups. Pretty good start. The one thing that concerns me is that I've not been able to get to that level where I'm sore the next day...from the strength training side of this deal. I'm concerned. My past experience and conditioning tell me I have to be sore as hell to know I hit it hard the day before. Not sure that's even accurate. Who knows?...there's so much information and misinformation out there. Hell, read Mens Health or any other fitness mag and you'll find four articles in there, all taking contradictory positions, with research backing all of them. Paralysis by analysis. Who cares. Do this, don't do that. Do that, don't do this. It's confusing as hell. Just move your fat ass, I say.
All in all, I'm stoked about the progress I'm making in my life right now. The consistent running at high miles always seems to strip away the noise in my head and allows me to enjoy myself, instead of obsessing about every little detail. Details in my business, details in my other business, details in my investments, details in my relationships, details in my cash flow. This stuff adds up. If I'm not able to stow it away and deal with it in chunks, I hear the noise and it hurts the quality of my life. Ultimately, it effects the quality of my family's lives, and I don't want to ever be the guy who drains the room of energy and life. Hell, my family looks to me to "bring it" every time I walk through the door. If I'm distracted, I let them down.
Both businesses are cranking right now. My contracting biz is starting to explode. My activity level has been tremendous...canvassing personally, building the marketing systems, and closing deals. We are 25% ahead in sales of YTD in 2009...off to a great start. My other biz endeavor is rocking as well. We are 42% ahead of last year's numbers. Amazing! No question in my mind that it's about what's going on inside of me that's giving me the results. It's 90 Days to Discipline that's driving this train. The discipline and perserverence it takes/builds is all we need to build the life we want for us and our families. I, personally, will never look back. I will never accept mediocrity for us again. This is who I've become. Have I made all the changes I want to make? No...absolutely not. But, am I rockin and rollin? Hell yeah.
So, here we are...a month or so later and we're still doing our deal. We're visualizing first thing in the morning. We are locking in for our hour of power, during which we go through gratitude, visualize as if, and then bust our butts in the gym. We lock into our plans to achieve and make sure our day is focused 100% on executing our Simple Disciplines -- those highest-value tasks that drive 95% of our positive results for our fitness, businesses, relationships, bank accounts, spirituality. Then we do the deal at work...selling, building marketing systems, doing the things that allow us to experience massive growth through personal relationships and closing deals with confidence yet a sense of urgency. We work hard, we work smart, and we serve(at the highest levels), those who can help us.
Then we come home and be the best men we can be...for our wives and our children. We lead, by example, lives of virtue, of discipline, of compassion and of hard work. Our kids will never want for anything because they've learned, by example, what a life of true service is about.
Then we wrap it all up with some blogging, writing, studying, so we can separate ourselves from the rest of the pack. Because, in the end, everybody is out selling, calling on customers and prospects, adding value. The difference is that we study and pour ourselves into mastering our craft, so that we are able to serve at the highest level, not at a mid to low level. Commitment fellas. It's what will determine whether our families get to experience all of what life has to offer or they get rationalizations about why they can not. That will be determined at certain moments of decision...early in the morning, when you're all tucked in bed still and you're deciding whether or not to get up before dawn and get your butt moving for the day, and when your evening is winding down...the kids are in bed and you must choose between blogging, writing, studying or watching the ballgame or Criminal Minds. It's these moments of decision our destinies are shaped.
Life, Success are a marathon, not a sprint. This I know for sure. But, we have to get on board right now, because our future is determined by what we do every day, not what we do every once in a while. Get your Simple Disciplines down on paper. Commit to doing them. Commit to doing the things that will set you free. You may not become rich, in financial terms...but you'll absolutely become rich in knowing you have the courage and discipline to follow through on whatever you set out to achieve. That's freedom.
Flip the Switch
I ran 31 miles total last week in total. Great week...the highest in the past six years, I'd say. I capped it off with an absolute sufferfest this weekend with my wife. She and I have never really been able to run together much...we have always ran at much different paces. But, she's worked hard at building her mileage and her pace, and has gotten into badass shape, so we're good to go. What a cool thing -- to go out and run until everything in you is screaming to stop, with your mate right by your side, suffering through it with you. Sounds weird to say it but I think it was a phenomenal experience we shared. I can't put my finger on what specifically it was that made it such an impact, but there was something to it. We had been out there before together, but she always had to ride her bike along side me on my long runs. This was different. She was in it with me, and she took great pride in doing so.
On the strength front, I did 900 pushups, 1100 crunches, and 310 pullups. Pretty good start. The one thing that concerns me is that I've not been able to get to that level where I'm sore the next day...from the strength training side of this deal. I'm concerned. My past experience and conditioning tell me I have to be sore as hell to know I hit it hard the day before. Not sure that's even accurate. Who knows?...there's so much information and misinformation out there. Hell, read Mens Health or any other fitness mag and you'll find four articles in there, all taking contradictory positions, with research backing all of them. Paralysis by analysis. Who cares. Do this, don't do that. Do that, don't do this. It's confusing as hell. Just move your fat ass, I say.
All in all, I'm stoked about the progress I'm making in my life right now. The consistent running at high miles always seems to strip away the noise in my head and allows me to enjoy myself, instead of obsessing about every little detail. Details in my business, details in my other business, details in my investments, details in my relationships, details in my cash flow. This stuff adds up. If I'm not able to stow it away and deal with it in chunks, I hear the noise and it hurts the quality of my life. Ultimately, it effects the quality of my family's lives, and I don't want to ever be the guy who drains the room of energy and life. Hell, my family looks to me to "bring it" every time I walk through the door. If I'm distracted, I let them down.
Both businesses are cranking right now. My contracting biz is starting to explode. My activity level has been tremendous...canvassing personally, building the marketing systems, and closing deals. We are 25% ahead in sales of YTD in 2009...off to a great start. My other biz endeavor is rocking as well. We are 42% ahead of last year's numbers. Amazing! No question in my mind that it's about what's going on inside of me that's giving me the results. It's 90 Days to Discipline that's driving this train. The discipline and perserverence it takes/builds is all we need to build the life we want for us and our families. I, personally, will never look back. I will never accept mediocrity for us again. This is who I've become. Have I made all the changes I want to make? No...absolutely not. But, am I rockin and rollin? Hell yeah.
So, here we are...a month or so later and we're still doing our deal. We're visualizing first thing in the morning. We are locking in for our hour of power, during which we go through gratitude, visualize as if, and then bust our butts in the gym. We lock into our plans to achieve and make sure our day is focused 100% on executing our Simple Disciplines -- those highest-value tasks that drive 95% of our positive results for our fitness, businesses, relationships, bank accounts, spirituality. Then we do the deal at work...selling, building marketing systems, doing the things that allow us to experience massive growth through personal relationships and closing deals with confidence yet a sense of urgency. We work hard, we work smart, and we serve(at the highest levels), those who can help us.
Then we come home and be the best men we can be...for our wives and our children. We lead, by example, lives of virtue, of discipline, of compassion and of hard work. Our kids will never want for anything because they've learned, by example, what a life of true service is about.
Then we wrap it all up with some blogging, writing, studying, so we can separate ourselves from the rest of the pack. Because, in the end, everybody is out selling, calling on customers and prospects, adding value. The difference is that we study and pour ourselves into mastering our craft, so that we are able to serve at the highest level, not at a mid to low level. Commitment fellas. It's what will determine whether our families get to experience all of what life has to offer or they get rationalizations about why they can not. That will be determined at certain moments of decision...early in the morning, when you're all tucked in bed still and you're deciding whether or not to get up before dawn and get your butt moving for the day, and when your evening is winding down...the kids are in bed and you must choose between blogging, writing, studying or watching the ballgame or Criminal Minds. It's these moments of decision our destinies are shaped.
Life, Success are a marathon, not a sprint. This I know for sure. But, we have to get on board right now, because our future is determined by what we do every day, not what we do every once in a while. Get your Simple Disciplines down on paper. Commit to doing them. Commit to doing the things that will set you free. You may not become rich, in financial terms...but you'll absolutely become rich in knowing you have the courage and discipline to follow through on whatever you set out to achieve. That's freedom.
Flip the Switch
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)