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Making Risky Progress

Is there something you’re not doing because it’s ‘risky’? Let’s talk about that…

We deal with risk every day. Driving a car, or for that matter just riding in a car, is risky! According to the CDC more than 32,000 people are killed and another 2 million are injured every year in car crashes! Okay…so it’s not risk you’re afraid of…

Maybe instead of saying you are avoiding risk, you could say you’re ‘playing it safe’ or ‘pursuing that safe career instead of the risky business or job opportunity with that startup. I say it has NOTHING TO DO WITH SAFETY!

Nope, you’re not looking for safety… you’re looking for predictability!

We’ve misused the word safety for so long, we don’t even realize it anymore. That job is no more safe than driving…in fact, IT’S MORE RISKY! In 2016, almost 20 million people were laid off or fired! 10x more than the number killed in car crashes!

So be honest, stop saying you want safety and acknowledge that you’re just comfortable with the predictable. THEN you can embrace the risk and start the change!

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How To Deliver World Class Customer Service

When was the last time you experienced bad customer service?

See how easy it was to remember that time? I recently read some stats that said 1 in 3 BAD customer experiences get shared with friends and/or social media but only 1 in 14 GOOD experiences. So it stands to reason that we have to create many more positive experiences to get the same “credit” from our customers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQedV5WcdIQ

Piggybacking on yesterday’s topic, it’s the little things, done over and over, day after day, that create positive customer experiences. You might buy hundreds of things off eBay…then you get that one thing that doesn’t live up to its pictures…

And tying in the concept that you can really only have one priority at a time, the only real, long-term priority any business can have is making customers happy! Because without customers, there’s no need for anything else, right?

When everyone on the team is focused on how they can serve the customer, how THEY can solve problems for other people…that’s when it all just works. Now, YOU as the business owner/leader owe the team something as well…but we’ll save that for another day! (Be sure to like & follow if you don’t want to miss the answer!)

when everybody takes care of the customer every day, it just works. focus on your customer and everything else works out.

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How to Make Happy Customers

Are your customers happy? Are you sure?

When you are running a business, it’s easy to slip into a way of thinking that your customers should be happy…just, well, because they are your customer. “I mean, they wouldn’t be my customer if they didn’t like my product, right?” Well, not necessarily.

Customer satisfaction is not a thing or a department… it is something everybody does every day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybrhngJrcU

So how do you make customers happy? Solve their problems! Bonus points if you can make them feel special as you do it!

If you can find a way to set your own pride and need for confirmation aside and put instead put your customer first…you will win!

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Will you choose to succeed?

Are you making the choice to win today…or just gonna sit back and let whatever happens…happen?

Just like our quote on Monday from MJ, you have to expect to win. Sounds a little like hubris or arrogance, right? But here’s the thing, if you don’t expect to win, then what are your expectations? That you’ll stumble into a happy little accident?

Now I know many people believe that they are not in control of their day, of their outcomes, and consequently their life. What do YOU believe?

The reality is that while we may have limited control over the circumstances presented to us each day (maybe), you do have 100% control over how you CHOOSE to respond to them.

And as our quote of the day from Tony Robbins points out, “It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.” Every choice you make, everyone, write one letter in the story of your life. Make sure you are writing the story you want to read!

Have a great Friday, rest & rejuvenate over the weekend and I’ll be back on Monday with more!

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Why do you want THEIR life?

So why, exactly, are you comparing yourself and your life to someone else? Do you REALLY want THEIR life?

It’s pretty easy for us to look at someone else’s results and say, “Yeah, I want that!” But that’s only part of the story. You don’t know the in’s and out’s that it took for them to get there. You don’t know what they gave up to have what they have. But most importantly, YOU’RE NOT THEM! What motivated them to reach for this goal may not even be on your radar!

When you compare yourself to others you tend to compare the most negative version of yourself against an idealized version of them. When you do that, of course you’re going to come out on the short end of the stick!

But why are you worried about them in the first place? Why don’t you come up with your own idealized outcome and start working toward that! The great thing about the world we live in today is that you can literally dream up just about anything and make it your reality! Heck, Elon Musk wants to live on Mars… so he’s working on it! Will he achieve it? Who knows…and who cares! If he finds his joy doing his art trying to get to Mars, he’ll be a happy guy.

So what is YOUR Big Hairy Audacious Goal? What’s that one thing that you want more than anything and you’re reluctant to share with anyone else? That’s your BHAG, and if you have a need for comparison, compare yourself today to yourself yesterday and the progress you’ve made toward that BHAG!

Leave a comment, let me know what your BHAG is!

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I Know Why You Haven’t Started Yet!

Yep, that’s right… I know why you haven’t started yet…and so do you!

You’ve convinced yourself that you’re doing the “responsible” thing by studying, gathering more information, and making sure all the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed. Oh, and you just found another book or YouTube video about it that you need to read, then watch, then study the differences to figure out … I can’t even finish typing that sentence!

The reality is you’re afraid, but not afraid of failure. No, we all fail, every day. Sometimes in big, spectacular way but more often in small almost insignificant ways that have a funny way of training us!

No, you’re not afraid of failure… you’re afraid of the perceived ego shot that would go along with failure! PRIDE is keeping you from stepping out and playing your role in the universe! PRIDE!

“But Thom, you don’t understand…I have a lot to lose if I get this wrong.” I’m sure you do! In fact, that’s EXACTLY WHY you NEED to step out. Do it! Don’t jump in the baby end of the pool, hit that deep water that will challenge you. (Because it’s that challenge that makes the whole thing worth it…but that’s for another day!)

Stop letting your pride deprive the rest of us of the art your unique set of talents and gifts are intended to create! Your being selfish…stop it! Stop asking “What else do I need?” and start asking “What if I did!”

When you’re ready to get off the bench and make great things happen, DM me. I will help!

PS – Today’s quote comes to us from none other than THE @JockoWillink, “Stop researching every aspect of it and reading all about it and debating the pros and cons of it…Start doing it”