Tag: wealth

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I Recently Met One Tough Mudder…

 

I was having lunch Thursday with a new client who related a story to me I have shared several times over the last couple of days.  This is s story about something called a “Tough Mudder”.  For those that aren’t in the know it’s a race where the runners spend the day up to their eyeballs in mud and assorted obstacles and there aren’t really winners, just survivors.  While I might have tried this 20 years ago, not now.
He was sharing about one of the obstacles that had been altered from the previous year from a half pipe to a modified quarter pipe.  This change required that most participants needed help getting over the edge and continue on.  A few could do it on their own and most were sunk without additional help.  This is a lot like life.  Most of us need help from time and time. Precious few admit they need help so they don’t look weak.  I’d invite you to quit being so concerned about how you look and ask for the help.
When I was taking Graduate Level Anatomy and Physiology there were aspects I was not getting no matter how hard I tried or studied.  We had a Graduate Assistant for just this reason and I fought asking for help.  When I finally got rid of my ego and asked for help the material  became simple and in fact I ended up teaching Anatomy & Physiology at the College Level the following semester in large part due to the help I got from him.
It matters little if you are running a Tough Mudder, taking a class or trying to build a business… we all need help.  Some repair cars, some do estate plans, some do cosmetic surgery and I coach.  We all help in our own way and when you consider for just a second that 100% of the participants on American Idol have coaches as do 100% of the players in every professional sport you’ll see that you’re not alone.  I have 2 coaches named Martin and Crystal.  Both Marines and both scary in their own way.
I coach people and help them determine what action to take, what to do more of, what to eliminate and then help them to effectively demonstrate what makes them special and why their customer should be using them over any and all other options they might have.  I show them how to produce results that are uncommon for most.  Call me at 916-230-0176 or e-mail me at steve@assaultmarketing.com

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What Is A Used Book Really Worth?

 

Earlier this week I took 78 books from my personal library to the local used book store in the hopes that someone else can put them to good use.  This is not a consignment store, rather a store where they sell books at a discount and you never know what you will find there.  I donate my books there and I love this place!
As I was making several trips from my car to the store to bring the books in the woman working the counter wondered out loud how great it would be if I could have the money I spent for these books back in cash.  My initial response was Yes that would be great and after reflecting for about 2 nano-seconds I reversed my initial opinion and told her I would decline the cash in hand for the knowledge in my brain.  All of us have the opportunity to learn in different ways and those ways change as we mature.  I am a dinosaur in that I still read hardcover books and I even read the occasional Kindle book.  I know others that attend window university and learn while behind the wheel of their car or learn from video based productions.  No matter how you learn school will never be out for the professional.
I am down to about 1000 books in my personal library and not too long ago that number was closer to 3000.  I know people who have audio libraries every bit that large and others that have large video libraries as well.  The key is the not the size of the library but using the material and handing it off to others so they might learn.  I am often surprised to see who wants to learn and at times saddened by those unwilling to do so.  Learning and applying information is critical and in the words of Frank Zappa “It’s not getting any smarter out there!”
       What have you read or listened to recently, what did you get out of that and would you recommend it to someone else?  I want to share your information because we are all in this together!  Shoot me an e-mail by clicking below and everyone will get the benefit of what you learned.
I coach people and help them determine what action to take, what to do more of, what to eliminate and then help them to effectively demonstrate what makes them special and why their customer should be using them over any and all other options they might have.  I show them how to produce results that are uncommon for most.  Call me at 916-230-0176 or e-mail me at steve@assaultmarketing.com

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What Should You Stop Doing To Get What You Want?

As a coach I am often asked “what do I need to do to accomplish” whatever the goal of the day is.  It ranges from how to make more money to how to have better relationships with my spouse.  The saddest aspect of these questions are that they often come down to what you should stop doing to accomplish what you want.

Making more money may require better work, more marketing or even asking for a referral.  Making more money requires someone to stop complaining, stop watching so much television, stop blaming everyone else and the commitment to stop what isn’t serving you.

Having a better relationship with your spouse requires you to care more, do more and appreciate them more.  Most everyone I have talked to will improve their relationship with their spouse if they stop complaining, stop Facebook and stop finding fault.  As Colin Powell says “Don’t just do something, stand there!”

Almost everyone is doing something they need to stop. It’s easy to identify that in someone else,  the growth is to identify what to stop in your own behavior.

Copy and paste this into a browser for a humorous example of how to stop stopping https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bob+newhart+stop+it  .  What should you stop to go faster and get more done?

My name is Steven Clauson and I work with professionals who don’t have a back door when things get tough. If you want to stop the actions that are slowing you down then call me at 916-230-0176 or leave me a message at steve@stevenclauson.com

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Olive Garden or Morton’s?

Olive Garden

I have attached a hand written note I recently was given that was included my bill from a server by the name of Natalye. She was a pleasant server who was unremarkable except for the fact that she genuinely cared about our experience and wanted to create a positive association with her services and her restaurant.  It’s worth noting that she is not on staff at Morton’s or Ruth Chris and instead was our server at an Olive Garden.  Natalye was able to transform a typical and very run of the mill dinner out into something we talked about all evening.

For the record, going to the Olive Garden was not my first choice for dinner and yet we all left with smiles on our face.       What she did with something unexpected was to reframe everything about the meal, her service and it modified her tip in a pretty dramatic manner.  I have long advised anyone who waits tables to introduce themselves, learn the name of at least 1 person at the table they are waiting on and then deliver the final check with a handwritten note thanking them for coming in and then signing their name in a way that can be read.  This has been proven to create a bigger tip for the simple reason that you are now tipping someone you know and that raises the amount you will leave. Most people have what can appear to be a fairly mundane and boring profession and some prefer it that way.

I had a good friend who was a Thoracic Surgeon and did nothing but bypass surgery and when you asked him what he did professionally he said he was a plumber.  He does not want to talk about what de does and is doing nothing to increase his footprint or level of influence.  This isn’t true for most of us.

What can you change or modify to make your self remarkable?  What story can you tell that makes you memorable?  If you work for a company how can you reframe it so they believe they are working with you personally?

Not all owners will like this idea but all will profit more when their staff uses this approach.  If you are the owner what can you do that accomplishes the same thing?  What about a private e-mail address that only certain people are given access to or your personal cell phone number?  If you do service work and you do something for free I would invite you to bill that free service out and then write it off so your customer doesn’t relate that the service was free and instead sees the service as a $47.06 cost that you gave them for free.  They now have something to measure the gift against and this differentiates what you did and adds tons of value.

I coach people and help them determine what makes them special and why their customer should be using them over any and all other options they might have.  I show them how to produce results that are uncommon for most.  Call me at 916-230-0176 or e-mail me at steve@assaultmarketing.com