Strategic Happiness

Why do you work and market and sell so hard?

One reason, I'm sure: To earn the money it takes to live the life you want.

And why do you want to live that life?

To be happy, I'm sure. You work hard now to be happy later.

Well, why wait?

Not only can you be happy now, before you grow your business, but being happy now can help grow your business. It's a virtuous, money-making, happiness-inducing circle.

"Whatever goal you want to reach, you can reach it 10 times faster if you are happy," writes success coach Steve Chandler in, 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself. "In my sales training and consulting, I notice that happy sales people sell at least twice as much as unhappy sales people. Most people think that the successful sales people are happy because they are selling more and making more money. Not true. They are selling more and making more money because they are happy."

In his book, The Happiness Advantage, Harvard researcher Shawn Achor analyzes research conducted over 10 years and finds that happy people increase their sales by 37 percent and productivity by 31 percent.

Get that?

Sales-making, productive people are happy FIRST; more profitable and productive SECOND.

Again, why wait for the money to make you happy? Happiness can make you money.

There are many ways to get happy. But the more I study the subject, the more one word keeps popping up: gratitude. Gratitude can prime the pump of happiness and get it flowing in your life. Research backs this up. Grateful people tend to be happier, according to Robert Emmons, a psychology professor at the University of California-Davis.

And gratitude can be created on demand, according to Emmons. "In a series of studies, my colleagues and I have helped people systematically cultivate gratitude, usually by keeping a gratitude journal in which they regularly record the things for which they’re grateful," writes Emmons.

Let's modify that idea for our purposes and create a marketing gratitude journal. Write down 5 recent "wins" in your marketing for which you're grateful.

Examples of marketing gratitude:

• "I'm grateful that A.B. bought a product after getting my sales letter last week."
• "I'm grateful that G.R. called after getting my new business card. I'll meet him Thursday to pitch a project."
• "I'm grateful that J.L. retained me after responding to my advertorial."
• "I'm grateful that H.H. hired me after a referral from my wife!"
• "I'm grateful that D.S. hired me after getting my sales letter."

Writing out 5 marketing "wins" gives you two big benefits:

1) It makes you grateful, which can make you happier, more productive, and more profitable. We've seen that.

2) By reliving past success, you're visualizing success. You're mentally "practicing" behavior that made you money before, which makes it easier to make money again.

Win-win.

Why not try it? Jot down 5 things about your marketing that you're grateful for, in your Google Calendar, on a Post-It Note, wherever. If it feels good today, do it again tomorrow.

Proactively creating happiness NOW can make you more productive and profitable LATER. Call it Strategic Happiness. Call it anything you want. Just try it and see for yourself.

Meanwhile, are you an entrepreneur with clients, not customers? Are you doing at least $200,000 in revenue, and want to do better? If so ...

... I can show you more "profit hacks" like the ones you just read in this article. Get them in my next Free Video Training Session. It's for $200k entrepreneurs ONLY, please.

Grab your spot here

Can't make that event? My FREE Client Cloning Kit can help. It's not some cheapo download -- this is a real business-building kit you can hold in your hands. Grab yours now, while you can.

Addition by Subtraction: Are You Choking Your Profits?

Many of the biggest breakthroughs in businesses have come from subtraction.

Examples: 

• Subtract bank tellers from a bank and you get ATM machines
  
• Subtract travel from out-of-town meetings and you get GoToMeeting.com
  
• Subtract stamps from mail and you get email

You get the idea. By removing a limiting factor, you can unleash greater productivity and growth.

That's the good news.

The bad news? In your business, YOU are a limiting factor -- right now.

Here's why: Any process that requires your time or your physical presence is a limiting factor. Because in any workweek, there are only so many suits you can sew, pictures you can paint, cakes you can bake.

If you are "doing the thing" in your business, you are a choke point.

So answer this key question: How could you subtract yourself from your business and scale up to serve more people, more profitably? 

Example: If you provide a service, the logical "subtraction" is to turn what you do into a product. Top consultants, like Seth Godin and Tom Peters, do this all the time -- they write books.

Stated differently: What could you write, film, record, or otherwise put in a box that would remove your from your business processes and let you scale up?

The answer to that question is your shortcut to growth.

Meanwhile, if you want to put an end to "feast or famine" syndrome in your business, my free Client Cloning Kit can help. Grab your free copy now, while they last.

Got Goals? Take Them With You!

You may have goals.

And you may have written goals.

But do you carry your written goals with you?

Compelling research says you should ...

In a new study published in Psychological Science, researchers found that when people wrote down their thoughts on a piece of paper and threw the paper away, they mentally discarded the thoughts as well.

On the other hand, people were more likely to value their thoughts if they wrote them on a piece of paper and then tucked the paper in a pocket to protect it.

“However you tag your thoughts -- as trash or as worthy of protection -- seems to make a difference in how you use those thoughts,” said study co-author Richard Petty of Ohio State University.

“At some level, it can sound silly. But we found that it really works -- by physically throwing away or protecting your thoughts, you influence how you end up using those thoughts. Merely imagining engaging in these actions has no effect.” (Emphasis mine.)

In one study, 284 students were asked to write down negative or positive thoughts about the Mediterranean diet.

Some threw their thoughts on paper away, some left them on their desk, and some were told to put the paper in their pocket, wallet or purse and keep it with them.

All participants were then asked to rate their attitudes toward the diet.

Those who kept the list of thoughts at their desk were more influenced by them when evaluating the diet than were those who threw them away.

However, those who protected their thoughts by putting them in a pocket or purse were even more influenced than those who kept the thoughts on their desk.

“This suggests you can magnify your thoughts, and make them more important to you, by keeping them with you in your wallet or purse,” Petty said. (Emphasis mine.)

This idea of carrying written goals with you is Habit One of what I call "3 Habits of Growth."

Here's the deal: Your success in business (and life) comes from what you think and what you do every day.

And most of that comes from your habits.

Example: Psychologists estimate that up to 95% of your thoughts today are the same ones you had yesterday. Your brain largely repeats itself, over and over.

Yikes!

And, as much as 45 percent of your actions today are the same as yesterday. What you say and do is largely habitual.

We run mostly on autopilot, day after day, week after week, month after month ....

That's the power of habit. It can stick you in a rut -- or keep you in the groove for daily growth that compounds into huge payoffs.

So, to get better results in your business, you need better habits.

But not all habits are created equal.

In The Power of Habit, New York Times columnist Charles Duhigg makes a startling suggestion: You don't need to change dozens of habits to dramatically change your life.

Because some habits are worth more than others. A lot more. And adopting just a few of them can significantly improve your life -- and your business.

These super-valuable habits are called keystone habits. And they "have the power to start a chain reaction, shifting other patterns as they move through our lives," according to Duhigg.

"Keystone habits influence how we work, eat, play, live, spend, and communicate. Keystone habits start a process that, over time, transforms everything," says Duhhig.

"This, then, is the answer of where to start: focus on keystone habits, those patterns that, when they start to shift, dislodge and remake other habits."

Get that? Keystone habits can dislodge and remake other habits -- which is how you change your life.

Now. How many keystone habits do you need?

Good news: 3 are enough.

If you're in the Twin Cities and it's not too late, you can learn more here

What Does Success Look Like For You?

Every artist works from a vision, whether real (in the form of a picture or model) or imaginary (a vision in their head).

Example: Albert Einstein.

You may not think of him as an artist, but Einstein thought in visual images first and developed the math to support his ideas later.

In fact, he developed his theory of special relativity to support the image he had of himself riding a beam of light across the universe.

Da Vinci, Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs, Michelangelo (for whom Einstein had a lifelong fascination) -- all had clear pictures in mind (or on the wall) of what they were trying to build.

Pictures first, achievement later. That's how greatness is often created.

In the book, Discover Your Genius, Michael Gelb writes:

In a landmark survey of the working methods of great scientists and mathematicians, Dr. Jacques Hadmard found that their thinking process was characterized not by language or standard mathematical symbols, but rather by visual imagery.

Visual imagery. Pictures.

Now, quick -- think of your business. What do you see in your mind's eye? Do you have a clear picture of what it will look like when it's perfect? If not, how will you know you've succeeded?

Better yet, what picture of your business success do you see on the wall?

Yes, you read that right. Is there a picture of your business model literally hanging on your wall where you can see and be inspired by it as you work to create your masterpiece?

Here's a picture of my business model, which hangs right above the keyboard I'm typing this on. (Mose of the details are redacted -- sorry. They're too valuable to share right now.)

Anytime I get fatigued or mentally lost during the day, I simply look at the picture of my business model and I think, "Oh, yeah. That's what I'm doing!" And back to work I go.

Anyway, do you see my point?

Until you can see in your minds eye where your clients are or see your business model on paper you will not be clear, you will not be motivated, not be fully successful.

Here's a peek into my private world ...

This picture, showing the growth of Zappos, is one I've made copies of and posted on every mirror on the lower level of my house.

And I carry it around in my pocket. Not for luck either, although I have far exceeded my revenue goals for the last 3 months since I started doing this religiously.

I used to carry a similar picture around a few years ago and it helped me get a new home ... and $2.1 million in extra revenue for one of my businesses.

What the heck happened? Why did I ever stop carrying around that "pocket vision" of success?

It's because I didn't have a system set up to support me each day and stay on track.

So I set out to invent that support system. And after nearly 8 years and $100,000 of my own money, I succeeded.

Nowadays, success for me has become almost automatic. When I set goals, I achieve them almost every time. The cool part is that the system I created for my business takes just 14 minutes a day to execute.

If you're in the Twin Cities and it's not too late, you can learn more here

From Mental Fog to Creative Clarity

Yesterday, it was foggy all day here in the Twin Cities.

Below is a shot I took about a block from my house ...

Now, here's the thing: It's never foggy all day in the Twin Cities. Especially in December.

So this made for a very unusual day, especially when driving. I had to tune out distractions and focus on the road, or risk a crash.

But this had an unexpected benefit. By really observing where I was driving, I had to be fully present and mindful -- it was an accidental zen thing. No stray thoughts, worrying about the future, or replaying past events. Just driving.

What was the benefit?

Research cited in the book, The Laws of Subtraction shows that familiarity can stifle creativity.

By intensely focusing on the new, unusual driving conditions, my mind was jolted out of its normal thought patterns. Not surprisingly, it handed me several solutions later on to problems I had been trying to solve for days.

This happens to you all the time when you travel. Think about it: When you drive or fly to new places (or back home, if you live across the country), you pay more attention to your surroundings, which lets your mind break free of old thought patterns.

So, here's what I learned from the fog: You can wait for weird weather or a vacation to jolt you out of your mental ruts ...

... or you can take action and pay closer attention to your surroundings the next time you walk or drive across town. Doing so can boost your creativity and problem-solving powers, faster and cheaper than a trip across the country.

Meanwhile ... if you want to put an end to "feast-or-famine" syndrome in your business, a free Client Cloning Kit can help. Grab your copy here. 

Free Shopping at the Belief Store

Here's a riff on a great idea I got from Brian Tracy that could change your life -- or at least a few of your beliefs ...

It starts with a simple question: Your beliefs are important, wouldn't you agree?

What you believe to be true, important, precious, good, evil -- these beliefs of yours have value. Otherwise, you wouldn't cling to them so strongly.

So, it's easy to imagine that your beliefs are important and valuable. But what if you had to pay money for new beliefs? Can you imagine that?

What if there were a Belief Store where you could buy new beliefs to install in your brain, just like buying music at iTunes to install on your smart phone.

If you had to pay big bucks for beliefs, wouldn't you shop and choose carefully?

Imagine downloading the most-valuable new belief you could afford, with the power to change your life. A belief like this one, perhaps:

"I believe that I'm going to be a BIG success in this world, and that everything that happens to me -- good or bad -- is something I can learn from and build on to reach my goals."

That's just one example of a powerful belief that could put you on the fast track to growth. There are an infinite number, of course.

But here's the exciting part: Your beliefs, which bring you everything in this world, cost you nothing. They are yours to take or leave, free of charge.

So ... your beliefs are too important to take for granted. Treat them as incredibly valuable, powerful, and essential building blocks to your success. Because they are. (And did I mention they're free?)

Meanwhile ... if you want to put an end to "feast-or-famine" syndrome in your business, a free Client Cloning Kit can help. Grab your copy here. 

How to Win Your Freedom

Imagine a prisoner digging his way out of a cell with a spoon.

Think of how hard he's willing to work.

Day after day, week after week, month after month. He toils in stubborn silence.

Why?

Because he wants his freedom. And he'll work night and day to get it.

Now. Are you willing to work night and day at what you do?

If not, it's probably because you're not as motivated as that prisoner digging for his freedom.

So, try this thought experiment: If you were working to win your freedom, how much harder would you work than you do now?

Plenty harder, I'll bet.

Well, think of your work like this: Done correctly, it should win your financial freedom. You should be able to sell your business or sock enough away so that -- sooner than later -- you no longer have to work unless you want to.

You will be free, financially.

NOW hard are you willing to work?

Meanwhile ... if you want to put an end to "feast-or-famine" syndrome in your business, a free Client Cloning Kit can help. Grab your copy here. 

Want to Grow More Profitable? Leave Your Comfort Zone

True confession: I hate making videos. They make me uncomfortable.

Which is why I make videos.

Because all growth happens outside the comfort zone.

Watch the video, then ask yourself: What makes you uncomfortable in business? Are you preventing profitable growth by not doing that thing?

Think about it ... then share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Resource: If you want to put an end to "feast-or-famine" syndrome in your business, the free Client Cloning Kit can help. Grab your copy here.  

Productivity For Busy People: Move Your Email

Last Friday, I returned to my alma mater, Michigan State University, for homecoming.

After wandering around campus all morning, I had lunch with a successful member of the university administration.

He said something that struck me: "One of the biggest challenges of my job is email. I spend hours every day reading emails that I've been cc'd on and trying to answer others as quickly as I can."

We spent the next 30 minutes brainstorming ideas to help him overcome this challenge. I gave him 4-5 proven ways to reclaim at least two hours of productive time every day. And if he implements just one or two of them, the savings to him and his employer will easily add up to $30,000 every year.

Here's the easiest of those productivity tips: Move the email icon off your smart phone's home screen. 

What do I mean?

Take a look at the white circle in the screen shot below ...

See the email icon? No, you don't.

I moved the icon for email, which is 100% reactive, to the last screen on my iPhone.

I replaced it with the Dragon Dictation app, which is 100% productive.

Now, when I turn on my phone, I'm never distracted by a little red number showing how many emails I need to read. There's no temptation to dive into trivia and no loss of physic energy worrying about the chore that is email.

Instead, I get to live my time on my terms. Which is the only way to live. Productive, too.

Resource: If you want to put an end to "feast-or-famine" syndrome in your business, grab your free Client Cloning Kit here.  

Service: Keystone for Growth?

What makes some entrepreneurs wealthy and successful, while others struggle to survive?

In a word, habits.

Forget what the economy is doing -- up or down, that's not the determining factor. There were plenty of successful people in the Great Depression, and plenty of failures in the recent boom years.

Your success stems from what you think and what you do. And most of what you think and do stems from your habits.

Psychologists estimate that approximately 95% of the thoughts you have today are the same ones you had yesterday. Yikes.

And as much as 45 percent of our actions each day are habitual. We run on autopilot for much of the day, day after day, week after week, month after month ....

That's the power of habit.

To get better results in your business, you need better habits.

But not all habits are created equal.

In the book, The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg offers powerful reasons why some habits are more important than others.

These so-called keystone habits "have the power to start a chain reaction, shifting other patterns as they move through our lives," writes Duhigg.

Keystone habits influence how we work, eat, play, live, spend, and communicate. Keystone habits start a process that, over time, transforms everything.

This, then, is the answer of where to start: focus on keystone habits, those patterns that, when they start to shift, dislodge and remake other habits.

Get that? Keystone habits can change other habits -- and change your life.

Now. If you're looking to grow a service business, sales career, or other entrepreneurial venture, what keystone habit(s) should you adopt?

You might think sales or innovation. And you might be right.

But sales skills take months or years to sharpen. And innovation can be a tough slog.

Here's an idea: Why not make service a keystone habit for growth?

Service has propelled businesses like Nordstrom, Southwest Airlines, Disney, Starbucks, and Zappos to outrageous levels of success.

Zappos, in particular, has profited wildly from making service as a keystone habit. Zappos is literally "Powered by Service" -- it's their corporate motto. And #1 in their list of 10 core values is this: "Deliver Wow through service."

Stories of Zappos customer service are more than the stuff of corporate legend. They are a big reason why Zappos, which sells the ultimate commodity -- shoes! -- reached $1 billion in sales in only 8 years, before being bought by Amazon in 2009.

So, to sum up: Your habits make or break you, in business and in life.

Keystone habits, like keystones in bridges, are little things that support bigger things. The right keystone habit could support massive growth in your business. And you might want to make service a keystone habit in your business -- it's free to deliver and makes everything better.

Meanwhile ... if you want to put an end to "feast-or-famine" syndrome in your business, grab your free Client Cloning Kit here.  

You, a Strange Creature of Habit?

You are a creature -- a creature of habit.

So am I.

We all are.

We think and do a LOT of the same things every day, almost without thinking.

You see, of the 60,000 thoughts you and I have each day (about one every second that we're awake), "95 percent of them are the same thoughts you had yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that." That's according to research in the book, Happy for No Reason, by Marci Shimoff.

And studies show that up to 45 percent of what we do every day is habitual.

We often act without thinking, usually because of subtle cues. Example: You feel tired (cue), so you grab a cup of coffee (routine). You're bored (cue), so you check out Facebook (routine).

That's a lot of non-thinking routine every day, isn't it?

However ... this preference for shortcuts in your thinking and acting doesn't mean you're lazy. It simply means you're human.

That's because our brains naturally prefer doing things that require less effort, according to Thinking Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman:

   "... if there are several ways of achieving the same goal, people will eventually gravitate to the least demanding course of action. In the economy of action, effort is a cost, and the acquisition of skill is driven by the balance of benefits and costs. Laziness is built deep into our nature."

So. To sum up: You and I are largely bundles of habits.

It follows, then, that if you want to change your thoughts and actions -- and grow your business -- you must change your habits.

The good news is, you don't have to change all of your habits to change your world. You need only adopt a few critical routines, called "keystone habits," according to New York Times writer and author, Charles Duhigg.

In his book, The Power of Habit, Duhigg describes keystone habits as causing a cascade of positive effects to support the success of other habits. A keystone habit is like three or four good actions for the price of one. Example keystone habits include exercise, visualization, safety, meditation, and relaxation.

Now. What are your keystone habits?

Stated differently, what one or two things, if you did them consistently and well, would have the greatest impact on your business?

Answering this question could unlock untold potential for you and your business.

Now. To discover 3 simple habits that let you create more for yourself in the next 30 days than in the previous 6 months, click here