Category: Denver Broncos

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How Accurate Are You Thinking?

I asked a client why they hired me to drive their company’s revenue. They gave me the most terrifying answer I’ve ever heard. They hired me because I’m a positive thinker. He went on to tell me I was a positive thinker about everything and he liked being around that. I felt sick to my stomach for the rest of the day. I am not a positive thinker… I’m an accurate thinker. Give me accurate any day of the week.

Positive thinking destroys businesses and families. Think positive all you want and unless you’re accurate about what’s going on it won’t end well. Think positive about having a few hundred dollars in the bank and you’ll eventually get very hungry.

When you read the book “Think And Grow Rich” you learn there was a lot of action happening within that thinking. Hill was a very accurate man and took a lot of action. The book he wrote next was “Grow Rich With Peace Of Mind.” Even Hill thought it was a better book. Most readers of the first book have never heard of the second book.

How accurate are you thinking right now? Are you thinking you need to lower your expectations for the second half of the year? Is that accurate? They’re now telling us we’re officially in a recession. Are You? I’m not and I’m not planning to be. I’m thinking and acting my way through this and so are my clients. In fact one of my clients has created an income with a minimum of 200% over the first half of 2019 in what he was told was a “non-essential business.” He thought he was essential. His bank account certainly agrees with that. Think about calling me… Here’s a link to my calendar. My name is Steven Clauson.  I coach people who want help getting where they want to be.  The people I coach are typically already taking action, getting results and ask what’s next and what actions to take to make an even greater impact.  They aren’t afraid to ask for help.  How can I help you?  What actions are you taking?  Those who have a plan and implement that plan lead the pack.  Planning, preparing to win and taking appropriate action means you hear the word “YES” more than ever. Only if you one of the few willing to take action, do what’s required and play full out and you likely to hear the word yes more often.  People hearing the word “YES” are winners on the field playing because they play full out and dominate.  For these people results matter.  Tired of results less than you know you can produce?  Call me at 916-230-0176 or visit www.stevenclauson.com

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Are You Tough Enough?

If you’re reading this you’ve been here or someplace like this before. You went through 911… Still Standing. You survived the Dot Com meltdown… Still Standing. You outlasted the 2008 mortgage melt down and lived to tell… Still Standing! While you’ve been wobbled more than once you made it through. You paid attention and as a result each one of these made you smarter, wiser and stronger. I’ve had the same experience as many of you. If you haven’t given yourself credit for surviving the time is now! You’re overdue.

Pastor Robert Schuller used to say “Tough Times Don’t Last But Tough People Do!” I suspect the last few weeks have measured your toughness. Still Standing? You’re certifiably tough. What’s your plan to remain tough? Mike Tyson was the first to say “Everyone has a plan until they get hit in the mouth.” We’ve all been hit… response means everything and determines what’s next.

A client from about 10 years ago called to tell me how bad things were. He’d been knocked down. I told him to Get Up! He misunderstood me so I said it again… Get The Hell Up! His words and actions during what may well be the fight of his life were crippling him and I heard that in his voice. When I asked what he’s done since the shelter in place order he said “everything’s shut down… What can I do?” I gave him a list of 10 things to do that day before he went to bed. I then got his wife on the phone to keep him accountable. I got off the phone with him 9 days later and things are much better while still under the shelter in place order. He has a new plan now.  

This will eventually end. Many businesses, even some of your competition, will simply wait this out. That’s never the way to respond to any threat. If you’ve read the “Art Of War” you know to attack when the enemy is weak. There’s more weakness than I’ve ever seen. I promise I will survive this Pandemic both personally and professionally… I will emerge stronger. You will as well. Those who don’t take and maintain decisive action are bound to suffer the consequences. That result is sad and predictable. We’re in this together. We’re going to thrive together!     

My name is Steven Clauson.  I coach people who want help getting where they want to be.  The people I coach are typically already taking action, getting results and ask what’s next and what actions to take to make an even greater impact.  They aren’t afraid to ask for help.  How can I help you?  What actions are you taking?  Those who have a plan and implement that plan lead the pack.  Planning, preparing to win and taking appropriate action means you hear the word “YES” more than ever. Only if you one of the few willing to take action, do what’s required and play full out and you likely to hear the word yes more often.  People hearing the word “YES” are winners on the field playing because they play full out and dominate.  For these people results matter.  Tired of results less than you know you can produce?  Call me at 916-230-0176 or visit www.stevenclausoncom

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Optimism Or Reasoned Optimism?

In the current climate we’re living in, being optimistic may be a good thing. In the current climate we’re living in creating multiple reasons to be optimistic is an unstoppable force. Personally, I prefer reasoned optimism.

One of my favorite quotes is “Dig your well before you get thirsty.” For most this is easy to understand and the actual doing can be very different. I dig my well daily and the results speak for themselves. I understand that intelligent outflow creates meaningful inflow. I’m shocked at how many people wake up each day and play at a level 1 or 2 on a scale of 10. What do they think is going to happen?

I’m reminded of a short story I heard from Robert Ringer who wrote the book Maximum Achievement… Every day in in Africa a Lion wakes up and already knows they must run faster than the slowest Gazelle or they won’t eat. Every day in Africa a Gazelle wakes up and already knows they must run faster than the fastest Lion or they will be eaten. Each knows when they wake up they must start running to survive!  Have you started running yet?

My name is Steven Clauson.  I coach people who want help getting where they want to be.  The people I coach are typically already taking action, getting results and ask what’s next and what actions to take to make an even greater impact.  They aren’t afraid to ask for help.  How can I help you?  What actions are you taking?  Those who have a plan and implement that plan lead the pack.  Planning, preparing to win and taking appropriate action means you hear the word “YES” more than ever. Only if you one of the few willing to take action, do what’s required and play full out and you likely to hear the word yes more often.  People hearing the word “YES” are winners on the field playing because they play full out and dominate.  For these people results matter.  Tired of results less than you know you can produce?  Call me at 916-230-0176 or visit www.stevenclauson.com

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Participation Trophies In The News.

After everything that has been in the news recently about the idea and value of participation trophies I spent a few minutes looking around my children’s rooms.  My children were active in pursuits like Soccer, Football, Media, Track & Field,  Lacrosse, Cheerleading and Swimming.  I was looking for any remaining “awards” they are proud of for just showing up.  I found none!
Upon closer examination what I did find was a varsity letter my son earned as a Varsity Swimmer for Elk Grove High School, my daughters awards for Academic Excellence, Academic All American and a Cheerleading award she was given that was voted on by her Cheer team at Pleasant Grove High School and my Step Daughters awards from the Media Communications Academy at Center High School where she excelled and set the standard she would use as a Cast Member at Disney .  Not one of them kept awards for simply participating.  I don’t think this is a mistake.
My Son recently was awarded the title “Customer Experience Expert” from Mazda Corporation.  This is an award based on sales, experience and customer service ratings where Mazda calls the customer to drill down about their experience.  This award comes with a title and a monetary bonus.  In short, it matters and is earned.
My Daughter was recently placed into the management training program with Safeway Corporation based on effort, hard work, management approval and again the biggest factor is customer feedback.  Feedback matters.  I would add that my daughter will earn her certification as a welder in December and takes pride in maintaining the highest grade level and skill level in her class because this allows her to be the leader she knows she is.
My Step Daughter has recently been elevated at Disneyland from Cast Member to a manger based solely on Direct Customer feedback.  At Disney direct feedback means that a guest captures someone’s name and has to go to a specific office near the main gate and write out what the Cast Member did to make their day memorable.    Many Cast Members never have this happen and she has had it happen twice in the same week.  Her name is Sammy and she is in Disney California Adventure and I promise you that if you seek her out it will be an experience your children will not soon forget.  Disney expects that once you hit the stage you are all about the guest experience and this is difficult at best.
Each of these now adults were given participation trophies and each of them say that none of them mattered.  What matters to them are the results they produce because that is a life trophy and one that matters

My name is Steven Clauson and I coach people who want to come out of the stands and onto the field or are already on the field and demand to maximize their efforts.  Are you in the stands or on the field?  Winners are on the field playing full out. These are people for whom results matter.  Tired of results that are less than you know you can produce?  Call me at 916-230-0176 or visit www.stevenclauson.com

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Who Creates Your Reality?

Who’s responsible for creating your reality?  The word reality is defined as the way things actually are.  With that being said the News people insist on watching is supposed to contain reality and what it really contains is grey areas of opinion and spin.  Our lives happen just like this.  Most of what happens comes down to opinion and spin.
Someone’s reality often comes down to their Response Ability in every given situation.  Losing a parent, winning a football game, going through a divorce, filing bankruptcy and even getting an inheritance are examples of things that show your response ability.  How will you respond in any given situation is what reality is all about.  I know people dealing with each of these situations right now and the differences are stark and not what I would have predicted.
What I know to be true and a fact is that success is our duty, obligation and responsibility.  We need to take it seriously.  It matters!  The last few days with a sick parent matters.  Winning a football game matters.  Divorce and the destruction of a family matters.  Filing bankruptcy and having the chance to start over matters.  Getting an inheritance and becoming the steward of someone’s financial lifes work matters.
Each of us holds the final definition of what reality means.  When you choose to be part of the solution your ability to respond rises.  What’s your current Response Ability?      
My name is Steven Clauson and I coach people who want to come out of the stands and onto the field or are already on the field and demand to maximize their efforts.  Are you in the stands or on the field?  Winners are on the field playing full out. These are people for whom results matter.  Tired of results that are less than you know you can produce?  Call me at 916-230-0176 or visit www.stevenclauson.com

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The 4th Quarter Is When We Win Or Lose… And Your Choice Is?

 I am a serious football fan.  I am serious to the point that I think baseball should conclude Labor Day weekend so we can all focus on Football.  There are lessons from football we can all use to push what we do forward.  Ignore these lessons at your peril.
Today starts the 4th quarter.  In football this is when teams get tired and mistakes happen.  In short this is often when the game is won and lost.  The 4th quarter is when mistakes are made, focus is lost, disappointment sets in and the winner is determined.  Most games aren’t really won in my estimation, most are lost.  Whenever you have a team that has prepared for the 4th quarter it shows and typically they prevail.
When it comes to people in business, the 4th quarter has 2 schools of thought that are most common (There are others for low performers and putting time into these is not worth the effort).   For the 4th quarter of 2015 the thing to decide is are you going to work toward your quota or work to your potential?  These are different and what the 4th quarter is all about.
You should love the 4th quarter because while most are getting ready for the Holidays you have a very real chance to dominate your market and work to your potential.  Holiday parties are a blast and while your competition is working on going to parties and making quota you remain focused on simple domination.  You are the ONLY person that knows your potential and when you get past all the B S quotas and work to your potential you lead the pack!  Keep in mind that is you aren’t the leader the view won’t change.
My name is Steven Clauson and I coach people who want to come out of the stands and onto the field or are already on the field and demand to work to their potential.  Are you in the stands or on the field?  Winners are on the field playing full out and dominate. T For these people results matter.  Tired of results that are less than you know you can produce?  Call me at 916-230-0176 or visit www.stevenclauson.com

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Price As The Primary Sticking Point

 I hear salespeople tell me story after story about how their competitor is underselling them and they are practically giving their product away or how the exact same produce can be purchased on the internet for less in every case.  In fact I was reading a book over this past weekend called “Secrets Of Successful Selling” and that book talked about how competition has reached levels never before seen and customer awareness has reached a point that required salespeople to operate at levels never before considered.  This book was written in 1952! 
Competition has always been here and thank goodness it will always be here.  The problem isn’t product knowledge, competition or even smarter customer… The real issue is are you sold on your product?  You need to become so sold and so convinced on your product and service that you know it would be a mistake for your customer to do business anywhere else.  So convinced that you can tell them why it would be detrimental to them if they buy from anyone but you.  So sold that you lose sleep when a customer doesn’t buy from you no matter the reason they give you.  That level of commitment may seem too much but this is what people are searching for.
Champions in any field know they must produce results with what they have to work with.  Champions look at the team they have and determine what their strengths are and as a result what actual assets they have to work with.  They play the cards that have been dealt to maximum effect.  They focus on winning the game they are involved in at that moment and never think about losing.  David kicked Goliaths ass because he was sold on the idea he could get it done.  Who is your Goliath?
My name is Steven Clauson and I coach people who want to come out of the stands and onto the field or are already on the field and demand to work to their potential.  Are you in the stands or on the field?  Winners are on the field playing full out and dominate. For these people results matter.  Tired of results that are less than you know you can produce?  Call me at 916-230-0176 or visit www.stevenclauson.com

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6 ways to Improve your Business Productivity Starting Now.

I am a to-do list junkie and find myself dedicating more and more time to specific client services. During this time the phone is shut off, the e-mail is disabled and I just work off of my to do list and get stuff done. During this time I waste very little time because my white board serves as a reminder of what’s important and what’s next. This is a system we could all use.

The Wall Street Journal suggests that in a 10 hour day the average executive (that means you!) has less than 3 hours of productive time. Here are 6 ways to expand that by 20% or more and not spend a single second longer at your desk!

  1. Manage Your Mood… Most productivity systems I have seen assume we’re robots – most forget the enormous power of feelings. Starting the day calm makes it’s easy to get the right things done and focus.
  2. Don’t Check Email In The Morning… To some this is heresy. Many can’t imagine not waking up and immediately checking email or social media feeds. I’ve interviewed a number of very productive people and nobody said, “Spend more time with email.” Why is checking email in the morning a cardinal sin? You’re setting yourself up to react. An email comes in and suddenly you’re giving your best hours to someone else’s goals, not yours.
  3. Before You Do It Faster, Ask if It Should Be Done At All… Everyone asks, “Why does it seem impossible to get everything done?” The answer is actually easy: You’re doing too many things. Want to be more productive? Don’t ask how to be more efficient until you’ve asked “Do I need to do this at all?”
  4. Focus Is Eliminating Distractions… Ed Hallowell is a bestselling author of the book “Driven to Distraction”says we have “culturally generated ADD.” Has modern life permanently damaged our attention spans? Not necessarily. What we have done is to have more tantalizing, easily accessible, shiny things available to us than human beings have ever had. The answer is to lock yourself somewhere to make all the   distractions go away.
  5. Have Your Own Personal System… I’ve talked to a lot of insanely productive people. None of them have ever said “I don’t know how I get stuff done. I just wing it and hope for the best.” Not one. Routines can be formal and scientific or personal and idiosyncratic – but either way, productive people have a routine.
  6. Define Your Goals The Night Before!!! Wake up knowing what’s important before the day’s defined and expected emergencies come into your life and your inbox screams new commands. Define your one or two most important to-dos before dinner, the day before!

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Taking these actions has a lot in common with going to the gym or dieting. Not easy to do at first and in the long term you will develop habits that begin to serve you for the long haul. Gaining 20% or more from your week is worth working toward. Still not sure? When you get home tonight ask your spouse or kids if they want you around more. If they say yes you should consider this… If they say no you should have started on this weeks ago!

Go Forward And Kick Some Ass This Week!

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Why People Like Peyton Manning Are Invaluable…

peyton manning

With apologies to San Francisco 49er fans, I watched the Broncos vs. 49ers game Sunday night. This game was billed as the Kid vs. the Vet. Kid Colin Kaepernick is a complete physical specimen and a great athlete while Peyton Manning is supposedly at the twilight of his career given his advanced age and 4 neck surgeries. Here are a few of the facts and what we should all take away…

mark ross 001

The 49er Quarterback is younger, faster, stronger, more mobile and can do things that the older Manning cannot even consider. What Manning has going for him is that he has seen everything that any team can throw at him, he does his homework   at an level few can believe and when the coin is tossed before the game he knows that he’s done everything possible to get the win. While the win is never         promised he over prepares himself, demands the same from his teammates and demonstrates what is expected. This is part of the reason he has thrown 510 touchdown passes in his career and will likely hit 600 according to his former coach Tony Dungy.

I am privileged to work with people that display this demand to win on a daily basis. One of those people holds the positions of Sales Manager and Lead Sales person for Brower Mechanical. Mark is slightly older than Peyton Manning and while he does not have the desire to climb around in attics or climb on roofs he has something that eliminates the requirement to do these things. Mark is a   master at paying close attention to his customer while learning everything about them before deciding what to do next. There are times that Mark will walk away from what could be a sale because he knows that there’s not a fit between his solution and the prospect! He has learned a lot in his years of in home sales and knows what works and doesn’t work. Like Manning, Mark does his homework and over prepares for each situation he goes into. Mark is a great salesperson and he lives the mantra “They will never care how much you know until they know how much you care!”

From the reading I’ve done it’s clear to me that whenever anyone gets to the top in what they do, they are both a hard and smart worker. I recently learned that Jimmy Kimmell works between 75 and 90 hours every week and is always the first one to the show to get the ball rolling. This is why he’s able to make it all look so easy… He is over prepared and it shows! When things go wrong on his show or a joke bombs he takes responsibility for it and moves on. This is what Manning did after he lost the Super Bowl to the Seahawks and what Mark does when he doesn’t close a sale he believes he should have closed. Responsibility, when it’s combined with hard work is the easiest thing in the world to handle.

As you may know I took last week and spent it in Las Vegas. This was a combination of work and rest. While I was away I took in 5 webinars and met with 6 potential clients from the Las Vegas area. I am not sure who said that business and pleasure don’t mix but they were wrong! You not only can do both but you should do both in my estimation. The people I know that do well all have this in common and it shows. I had a client recently go to Italy for a week and told me in advance that he wanted and needed educational material for both he and his significant other for the flight there and back. He does this every time he goes away for pleasure and this is what keeps him at the cutting edge of what he does I’m convinced. Don’t take anything I’m writing to suggest that your life should be all about work because that is NOT what I’m saying. As Jeff Olson points out in the book The Slight Edge, it’s easy to do the things that will make you a success and it’s easy to not do the things that make you a success. Reading 10 pages of a good book every day is easy to do and easy to not do. Which easy thing are you going to do?

What about the rest of us? What could you add to what you do that your competition is unwilling to do? Are you going to simply outwork and out prepare your competition or are you willing to leave it to chance? Being a leader requires just a little more work than being a follower and unless you are the lead dog the view isn’t going to change!

 

If you demand to be the leader you were meant to be give me a call at 916-230-0176 or email me at steve@stevenclauson.com and let’s get to work! There is much to be done and less and less time to do it!