Nothing good happens on the sofa

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This one stuck in my head a few weeks ago when I was feeling a bit down-in-the-mouth about coronavirus and isolation. It was becoming a struggle to get into action and this was the push I needed at the time.

Once the dark clouds start to form in my head about anything, trivial or important, they can take some clearing and I do what I can to use phrases and quotes such as this one to hit the ‘let’s go’ button.

A bit of music can also add the motivation required to re-tune my brain to making progress in a positive way.

But at the end of the day, all it really takes is a straightforward decision. Stay put, fed up and feeling low and negative… or get up, move, take action and some new steps.

Working out that it’s simply a yes/no choice when it comes to your attitude and activity levels made a big difference to me. Those two little words have such power. It takes the action to go with the words to make a change but the first step is the decision.

And, eventually, your brain will start to follow the path you’ve decided to take and you’re moving on again.

Stick to the plan

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I met Paul (not his real name) a couple of years ago. He came up to me after a talk I gave at UTS here in Sydney to one of the Marketing masters degree courses. He was looking to start his own marketing agency and wanted me to mentor him. I think he was 21 at the time.

We stayed in touch and had a few excellent conversations. He was full of positivity and extremely well-researched in all aspects of personal development in a way that really impressed me – he knew what it was all about and was putting the pieces together.

Paul messaged me after our last conversation about six months ago to say he’d been made redundant from a role at a company that didn’t match his values and I gave him some straightforward advice on what path I felt would work for him to follow long term.

My sense at the time was that he didn’t take this well. I went against the course that his passion was suggesting was the right one. The route I mentioned would take much longer timewise but would be a real win for him in the long term based on my own experiences and knowledge.

But I’m not him, right? And I’m not in my twenties, champing at the bit to get paid the big bucks and make my mark on the world…

I took a call from him yesterday to say that my suggested path was the one he was now taking and he had started his dream job yesterday. This made me so pleased for him after a tough time mentally getting this point.

But the thing it highlighted more than anything is that the man with a plan is the most dangerous kind.

I had the feeling that Paul was going to struggle to get his life on track as the ‘follow your passion’ brigade was blowing their bugles and calling out to him, but he stuck with his plan and landed the right opportunity in the end.

And his call to say thank you for my help made my day. The fact that he did this means I’ll always keep him on my radar and look out for more ways I can help him.

Well done, mate.

Fear of the blank page

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The calendar notifications dings and it’s time to write that post I’ve been putting off. I’ve had it on my mind for a few days but now the blank page is staring me in the face.

I’ve got a vague idea for the post but nothing is coming easily. What else can I do instead? Put the kettle on, check my emails (again) perhaps? Fill up my water bottle (again)… Nope, this time, I’ve gotta get it done.

Then the self-sabotage starts.

Why’s anyone going to want to read this?
It’s sooo much work for sooo little reward.
My writing is terrible compared to (add the name of any writer who’s ever put pen to paper in the history of time).
Writing is hard.
Who did I need to call urgently today?
I can’t get the idea out of my head and onto the page.
It’s making me feel so uncomfortable, I’m just going to put the kettle on…

I finally get back to the desk and things start to take shape. The idea for the post works itself out in my head and then onto the page and I crank out about 150 words..

I do a couple of re-reads, make the odd change and I can see there is still a bit more needed to close the thing off. Isn’t there some washing up to do? (I never wash up). I’ve gotta pay that bill today or else…

And then, with precisely 90 more seconds of focussed effort, the job is done and the weight is lifted…

Until the next time.

I’ve managed to get my thoughts onto the page in my own style and taken another step on the path to making writing a more pleasurable habit.

Words are the glue that holds communication together and the way we use words matters. I’m learning this at a late stage in life but I’m glad it’s finally sinking in.

It also gets easier the more often you do it. I’m writing every day now and a habit has formed. I had a day last week when I missed my daily slot and I didn’t like the way it felt.

I’m stockpiling new ideas for topics and beginning to find inspiration in weird places. I take a lot of notes but the number has increased and the fear of the blank page is getting smaller all the time.

And the bottom line? It’s a marathon, not a sprint, but I’m glad to be in the race.

The New Reality

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A conversation yesterday gave me a nice frame of reference for our current situation. We move from a crisis (stage 1), to recovery (2) and then a new reality (3).

Crisis has two parts – the twilight zone and then a new dawn. We are definitely in a new dawn phase now as things are changing in so many ways (mass communication, working from home, lockdown, etc) and the whole world is adapting to what we all face in the form of the pandemic.

What’s your new reality going to be? This is something I will be thinking about over the next few days and weeks. What’s the new dawn telling you about how you operate and how this change is affecting your life?

When we hit the recover phase it will be interesting to see what becomes the norm. I think we’ll all react like it’s the end of a war and we are all allowed to come out of hiding again! But working from home is definitely a step in the right direction for modern workforces (all of our team work from home).

But, for now, it’s back to the twilight zone…

Practical Steps To Bounce Back From Lockdown

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We can’t avoid the problems that this COVID-19 situiation is causing for us all around the world and the pain of the families of those who have died or are suffering at this moment can’t be understated.

Taking a few practical steps to stay active, physically and mentally, right now is a good place to start if you’re feeling significant stress or have lost your source of income, for example.

But there are also some specific things that you can do in this period to come out on the other side of it in a strong position, especially when it comes to your business or your own personal brand online.

Show up

Do everything you can to help those around you in your online community in whatever form that takes. Zoom calls, Facebook messages, phone calls, whatever. As much action spent on this in the coming weeks will be remembered by those who needed a pick-me-up or a happy face on the other end of the line.

Posting helpful tips and advice to your community also makes a lot of sense. Demonstrate your expertise and the depth of your skills and experience as much as you can.

Work on your profiles.

Take some time to audit every profile you have online today. Does it accurately reflect who you are and what you do? If it’s LinkedIn, are your contact details correct? Do you need an updated profile pic? Go through every one you have and make sure they’re all tip top.

Self improvement

It’s a great time to do some learning. Courses from top universities around the world are free on sites like Coursera so take the first step and sign up for something that can take your skills to a new level. And if you are looking to make a career change or have hit a roadblock in your career, this is the time to road test a few new subjects.

We will all come out of this process in a different way, but be sure to do all that you can to move yourself forwards during this time and keep a positive frame of mind. Let’s hope it’s resolved soon enough!

Learnings from the last couple of years

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A long time has gone by since I last wrote here, and a few things in life have changed, so here we are…

We are living in Australia as permanent residents and we are striving to build a solid foundation for ourselves. My business is growing and there are now three of us in the team, and as I continue to drive this business growth I’ve had a few things in the back of my mind, helping with the steering.

I’ll share them below in no particular order. Some are attributed to a couple the people that I read and follow for guidance and inspiration, but not all:

  1. The more genuine your interest in other people, the more people trust you.
  2. The better you are at listening, the more people want to spend time with you.
  3. Be precise in what you say (Jordan Peterson).
  4. Be very careful what you wish for as it will come to you in time.
  5. Remember people’s names if you can and use them.
  6. Let others save face. Don’t drop them off the cliff unless you have no choice.
  7. Be somebody by doing something.
  8. Become an expert and work harder at this than anything else in your life.
  9. Our minds control everything we do.
  10. Our attitudes will always define our results and outcomes in life.
  11. Do things that are hard, often.
  12. Save money and build a stack before making investments.
  13. Think like the seasons (from Jim Rohn) – be ready for them, plant seeds and work hard to grow them.
  14. Stay cool and shut up.
  15. Struggle teaches us who we really are. Accept the struggle that is life.
  16. Improve what you’re not happy with. Obsess on the things you have to improve.
  17. The easy option = bad results.
  18. Honesty is the way to progress.
  19. Get people on payroll doing things they are great at and that you can’t do.
  20. Negativity will bring you down in the end. It repels all things.
  21. Build self confidence through small daily actions done well to then rise above your circumstances and achieve more.
  22. If you think you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re likely to be the opposite.
  23. Massive action taken towards a goal gets results.
  24. Patience, passivity and caution are killers for anyone entrepreneurial.
  25. Find your why. It will drive you through bad times and keep you focused.
  26. Know the way broadly and achieve in many things (Musashi).

 

The best communicators have all these things in common

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women chatting

  • They look at things from a new angle, taking unexpected points of view on a familiar subject.
  • They have broad horizons. They think about and talk about a wide range of issues and experiences from beyond their own daily lives.
  • They are enthusiastic, displaying a passion for what they are doing with their lives and an interest in what you’re saying to them at that moment.
  • They don’t talk about themselves all the time.
  • They are curious. They ask ‘Why?’ and they want to know more about what you’re telling them.
  • They empathise. They try to put themselves in your place to relate to what you’re saying.
  • They have a sense of humour and they don’t mind using it on themselves. The best conversationalists frequently tell stories about themselves.
  • They have their own style of talking.

Which one of these would you rank as the most important?

Celebrate your successes in 2016

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champagne

Before we get stuck into 2017 and all the joys of January and the start of a fresh year, it’s important to take some time to reflect on the year that has just passed and the things that we have achieved.

Celebrating the victories, large and small, is a must. We don’t do this enough in my opinion and it helps to motivate us to deliver on the next big thing in front of us. Don’t dwell for too long but pay attention to what was tough and what challenges you overcame to get the job done.

This year for me has been a big one – a change of work focus, a move to a new country, completion of some really great project work for clients in four countries and a couple more medals for running events that I didn’t think I’d be able to do when I ruined my knee in 2012. I also completed the longest bike tour I’ve ever attempted, up and down some of the hills of South Wales, so it’s been another good one on all fronts.

Just typing this out brings home to me the positivity around getting things done and making things happen, so why don’t you give it a try? And once it’s done, start your 2017 planning with some confidence that you can (and will) deliver again in the New Year.

Stop procrastinating and get things done

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shut-up-and-get-on-with-it

Get on with doing the things that really matter in your life. None of us know how long we have left and wishing you had a great life full of interesting friends and all the things you ever wanted won’t come by sitting on the sofa.

  • Ideas are everywhere but you’ve got to do the work to make them into something that matters. Execute on those ideas and you’ll see good things happen in time.
  • What we focus on most becomes our idea of reality – use this power to get things done through focussing hard every day on what you want.
  • What time of the day do you feel most energised and do your best work? If it’s 6am to midday, set your working day around this slot and deliver the goods.
  • Do everything you can to stay positive. Don’t look back too long on past failures. Look forward and focus on your strengths.
  • Don’t worry about what people think. My first business was a dating agency and everyone I knew told me I was I mad for launching it but I gained more from creating and running this business than any other in my life to date. If you believe it’s the right thing to do and worth the risk, get on with it.
  • If you’re feeling some fear and that’s what’s stopping you, work out exactly what it is and try and understand what you’re afraid of. What are your true intentions? How much do you want it? In most cases, your fears won’t amount to much and it’s time to get to work.

 

How to kickstart the process of generating great content ideas

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toddler-crying

“I just can’t do this. I haven’t got anything to say”.

I’ve heard this come out of many mouths when I’ve talked to them about social media. It can seem a very daunting task to put your thoughts out there, into the public sphere, and all of your fears about making mistakes and ‘looking bad’ do tend to rise to the surface. It’s a very common excuse, though – one of quite a few on this list but you’ll be pleased to know that it’s also very easy to overcome.

The value in using social tools as a business comes from demonstrating to readers/viewers that you know your stuff as the starting point. There is information in your head that you might think of as mundane and not of much interest to others, but this is the stuff that people will learn from and connect with. You’ve got to think about what kind of information will be useful to the reader, however dull it might seem to you. Whatever your trade or profession, there is information that you have in your head that might be hugely useful to others so think about how you can make this knowledge start to work for you.

Another angle that always reads well is your own personal experience. If you were to think back through the experiences that have defined your career and then document the path your career has taken through the years, you could come up with some interesting details. Think of the people who have had the biggest impression on your career and also the biggest changes in your sector through the years, plus how you and those around you have adapted. Try commenting on where you feel your industry is heading in line with the overall macroeconomic picture and the turbulent times we live in today – there is a lot of data available at places like this and this so think about how best you can turn this into useful information for your followers.

Once you’re delivering some good work and getting more comfortable with putting your thoughts online, it could then be interesting to start to ask for input from your readers and approach a few more controversial topics with an eye on encouraging some debate. Ask readers for their opinions and encourage comments to build some engagement, being sure to reply to all comments to let readers know you are listening. You don’t need to start any fires – they can be damaging and very, very tricky to put out when they get going – but think about hot topics in the press/media that have relevance to your subject area and decide on an angle to take that will polarise opinion and get the reactions you’re looking for.

If you’re still struggling after reading this far, give me a shout and i’ll see what I can do to help you.

 

 

The top 5 reasons for not producing content when you know you should be

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Grumpy Cat

You business has social media profiles in all the right places – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc – and they all look great. Your beautifully crafted logo looks fabulous on all of the profiles and your team are in a larger background picture having a few drinks in the sun at last year’s Christmas party… but apart from this, it’s eerily quiet on those pages – because there’s nothing else there!

tumbleweed

You’re not producing content and you know you should be. Your biggest competitor has just run a campaign on Facebook that has even had your staff taking notice and they seem to be flying with every other post talking about new business coming in from all angles. They’re taking business that you know you should be getting and this is getting you and your senior team very, very frustrated.

So why aren’t you getting these profiles moving, filling them with things that your customers and clients would be interested in? Maybe one or two (or all) of these excuses might sound familiar:

1 – I don’t know where to start – the beginning is the right place and you’re beyond this as you have the profiles set up. You need to think about what your objectives are from using these tools and then construct a plan that will get you there as quickly as possible.

2 – I haven’t got time – It takes time to create content but this is time well spent. You can also get your team to help out and have some fun in the process. Once you know what you’re doing and get on with it, the process speeds up significantly

3 – I don’t know how – There are mountains of blog posts out there that will help you to learn about this subject, plus a wide away of people who can do everything from hold your hand through the first baby steps, right through to writing content for you. Dedicate a bit of time to learning and you will be up to speed in no time.

4 – I don’t know what to say – Finding your voice and developing a style will take some time but there is a huge amount out there already to give you ideas, inspiration and topics to work on. I find it easiest to write/comment about things I know and my own experiences. The words tend to flow much more easily this way.

5 – I can do it later – Of course you can! It’ll go on the to-do list along with everything else you know you should be doing. Take the bull by the horns on this one and get started today with a couple of tweets and sharing of someone else’s content that you’ve enjoyed and would be useful for your followers, such as this post 🙂

Take the plunge and get started and the results will come in time. You’ll also need some help to get your strategy aligned to your business objectives – this is where I come in so give me a shout when you have seen enough business disappearing in front of your eyes and we can get to work.

What’s the style that’s going to make you successful?

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tailors

Spend half an hour on Twitter (or less) and you will be able to identify the way people operate and how you would define them to someone else. It could be video content – lots of it – or it could be the way they interact and respond to the comments of their followers and start a debate on a daily basis. It could be their stunning photography or it could be their longer posts that tell amazingly detailed stories.

So what makes a style successful? It’s really down to you to find what feels comfortable and delivers the best results. Experiment with a few things before deciding that you’re going to be doing all of your work on video, for instance, especially if you’ve never done anything to camera in your life. That $1,000 Canon SLR might get a lot of attention from your creative friends but it might be gathering dust pretty fast if your videos don’t hit the mark.

Once you have put some content together and are sharing it on a regular basis, you should listen to the opinions of others you trust and take their feedback on board. It might mean that some time spent trying out another style is worth a try but it might also mean that you’re pointing in exactly the right direction, so don’t be afraid to ask in the first place.

When you find the style that fits you best, it’s time to build on these strengths and take some bold and confident steps. Aim your writing towards controversial subjects or take on more ambitious projects if you are creating video content. Use templates to build infographics into your work or create some some graphics to go at the beginning and end of your video to enhance the style you are developing and also help to build your brand with your audience.

Whatever it is that you’ve begun to deliver, create a plan to help keep you motivated and ensure you know where you’re going. But above all else, keep delivering, be ambitious and work as hard as you can and the success will come.

More in, more out when it comes to content

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flossy-reading

I’ve read almost double the amount of books in 2016 as I did the year before. This reading has covered a very wide range of topics and has been fiction and non-fiction titles, autobiographies, ‘how to’ books, novels and more.

It’s done me the world of good and encourages more thought and the formation of new ideas of my own. I don’t have a TV but I watch a lot of video online and read all sorts of content – specifically in the marketing/technology area that’s my line of work but also in other areas that are of interest to me everyday – and this also helps to develop new ways of thinking and new things to say.

Something as simple as reading from a source that you have never visited before, or watching a different show to your usual choices on TV can also help. The broader the range of sources – reading/watching/taking in as much as you can from everywhere – will fill your brain with inspiration and this can lead you anywhere.

I’m always looking for new sources of inspiration, too. What have you read or seen this year that’s really rocked you and made you think?

Face-to-face networking never loses its appeal

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high five

For all of the talk about the importance and relevance of social media that comes out of me and many other people, there is still a huge amount to be gained from the face-to-face version. My argument would be that in today’s online world, the value of face-to-face networking at its best has actually increased.

I attended the Sydney CBD BNI networking group this morning and had a great time meeting some new people and hearing about a range of high-performing businesses of all shapes and sizes operating in the city. It’s a great example of networking done well, but my invitation to attend this group came from a face-to-face meeting and a very rambling conversation with one of the members.

I have also had two requests for my services today from two connections who have met me, one of them only once, and neither of whom were connected to me on social platforms before we started talking.

Yes, we need to have a strong presence online and build our businesses this way – this tide is rising quickly and we need to stay afloat in order to reap the benefits – but we must never overlook the strength of the traditional methods. Trust can form much more quickly from having a broader conversation and trust in any relationship is what really matters. Use your social channels to grow the relationship and develop even greater levels of trust and you will see some excellent growth in time.

When others hit the brakes, hit the accelerator

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car-gif

There has been much talk since we arrived in Sydney about how things slow down in December and January here. The school year ends, the Christmas and New Year holidays kick in and the weather heats up as locals stay cool and enjoy a few weeks off.

I can totally see the point of this in many ways. We all need a battery recharge now and again and family time at this time of year is always important. But I feel very strongly that this is a time like no other when you can make a difference to how your new year starts and steal a march on your competition.

Everyone on their holidays is still going to be attached to their phones. This is the way life is today, even though we all hate to admit it. Keeping up your content and pushing hard to be front of mind through this period of general downtime will give you an advantage when people get back on it towards the end of January.

And if you’ve got a new product to launch or a specific campaign in mind, the opportunity here is even better. Use your favoured social platforms to best effect and make the best start you can to the New Year.