Life Lessons from Las Vegas...

Living in the USA was an adventure – living in Las Vegas was surreal…

My eldest son Jon and I wandered into Red Rock Harley Davidson one Saturday morning; for some time I had promised myself that I would get myself a motorbike, it was a dream of mine, and when in the USA – there is only one bike that matters…

Not interested in the Fat Boys, Hard tails or Baggers – I found the Night Rod Special. This bike has a liquid cooled engine developed by Porsche, is the fastest most powerful production bike that Harley had ever made; and it was black, low and looked absolutely stunning...

I sat on the bike and when approached by the assistant – I bought it instantly…

Now, there were two things I thought about immediately – one is small and blonde, the other is tall, dark and carries a scythe...

The blonde one – Lynn – my wife, was used to dealing with the unexpected and crazy; that is how we ended up in Vegas in the first place.  Somehow, me buying a motorbike on a Saturday morning would not be a total surprise. 

The other guy dressed in a black hoodie with the scythe was a little more concerning; and the reason was simple. 

I had never ridden a motorbike of any sort in my life – not even a scooter…

So I did what every sensible person would do – I went onto YouTube and watched a video about how to ride a motorcycle – how hard can it be…? 

We took the bike on a trailer into the desert north of Las Vegas and found a disused road by the Nellis Air Force base and I got on the bike and started to figure out how to ride it…

So far so good – straight lines on a clear road were easy…

Then I decided I had better get my licence – the tall dark guy seemed to be looming ever closer.

In the car park at Las Vegas Harley Davidson – where I did my bike training the instructor lined us up before we even touched the bikes and said;

“Rule 1 - on a motorcycle, where ever you look, you will go, and whatever you look at you will hit”

What he meant was that when riding a bike, be really careful where you look – on a bend for example, if you look at the exit point from the bend that’s where your physiology will guide you and the bike. If however, you look at the tree half way round, equally you will probably hit that instead.

Simply put – where you look is where you will arrive.

“Rule 2 – in this car park there are two things you must not ever look at. One - me and Two - the concrete block in the middle of the car park that supports the lighting system”

Positive or Negative – it is a choice. The universe doesn’t filter our attention, it delivers whatever we choose, so whilst we need to have a positive goal we may need to actively avoid the obstacles that may get in our way if we let them. 

There are always people and “concrete blocks “in life that will stop us if we pay attention to them…

So what did I learn in Vegas….?

First, in life and in business I see so many people who never actually take the risk of achieving their dreams, or they decide that dreams are best left alone completely. Buying the bike and taking action was the first step in making my dream of riding my own Harley along the Las Vegas Strip. 

It felt scary and somehow ridiculous, especially as I had never been on a bike before – if I had taken advice about this I’m sure I would have been talked out of it…

And Second, I see others who are focussed on the trees on the bend rather than their exit or destination – what we choose to focus on will become manifest to us. The saying “can’t see the wood for the trees” is unfortunately so true…

It is all to do with perspective – for me and my clients – dreaming big, taking the scary action required and keeping focussed on the destination is the only way to live and achieve success. 

My questions for you would be;

Will you dare to Dream…?

Are you prepared to get scared in order to achieve it..?

Where is your attention – the trees and obstacles, or your remarkable future destination…?

What you choose to focus on will become manifest to you – just be careful what it is…

Come along to our UK Planning Day in Birmingham on the 12^th April 2013 and spend time with like-minded Entrepreneurs being guided by one of the top Business Coaches in the World – and dare to Dream, get Scared and Achieve more…

Click on the LINK to find out more and register your place - see you at the top..

Lies, Damn Lies and Marketing...

Eating Carrots helps you see in the Dark…

This well-known “fact” has become general knowledge – at least in the UK…

The justification is clear – you will never see a Rabbit wearing a pair of glasses so therefore it must be the eating of Carrots (thank you Bugs Bunny…) that is so good for eyesight…

So is it true that Carrots help you see in the dark…?

Probably not; unless you set fire to them of course...

So why do we think Carrots are good for night vision..?

On the 8^th January 1940 in the UK, bacon, butter and sugar were rationed. Soon to follow was the rationing of meat, tea, dairy products biscuits and cereals – during World War Two German forces were targeting shipping delivering the imported commodities to the UK their intention was to effectively starve the population into submission.

Fresh vegetables and some fruits were not rationed – they could be “home grown” and so the Ministry of Food started to promote recipes and dishes made from the ingredients that were available – Carrots being one of them, from time to time there was even an oversupply of Carrots during the war.

To make the Carrot more appealing a “Carrot Competition” was announced on the 18^th December 1941 and apparently a Mrs Casey won the competition with her “Carrot Savoury Pudding” recipe. Carrots were promoted as being the “substitute ingredient” of choice with such delicacies as Carrot Jelly, Cakes, Lollies and even Carrot Jam.

To make the Carrot even more attractive, it was suggested that eating them would even help people see better in during the “blackouts” – when all exterior lights were extinguished during the threat of air raids. Furthermore, soldiers who ate them would be able to see the enemy bombers sooner and have a better chance of shooting them down. 

The Carrot was a patriotic and tasty vegetable…

As the British developed Radar, known as RDF – Range and Direction Finding, they became much better at the early detection of air attack. In order to disguise the deployment of these early RDF systems, the “fact” that our servicemen and women were eating Carrots that improved their night vision was actively promoted by the Government.

This is why we believe that Carrots help us see in the dark…

In business there are number of similar myths that for some reason have entered popular culture and become accepted as rules we have to follow – here are a few of them…

1.  I need a Business Plan – no you don’t, you need a purpose and passion with a great product or service. To get bank funding you will need a business plan - which may be read by someone who gets a Salary and has never risked anything so don’t depend on them; and you will never read it again anyway.  
2. People buy on Price – no they don’t, unless we let them. People buy emotionally and justify the decision logically; your marketing and delivery should reflect this. No one buys a Ferrari because of its lack of depreciation, it’s all about speed noise and the law of attraction – unless you’re the Banker in point one above.
3. I'm too Old/Young/Not Ready yet – in Business – the perfect time is always now. In the words of Green Day – “I hope you had the time of your life…” Achievement may be risky, but regret is guaranteed if at first the risk is not taken. 
4.  Marrketing people tell the Truth – not necessarily. Remember it was the Marketers that brought us Margarine, Economy “Beef” Burgers and Sub-Prime mortgages J. If Marketing people were truthful we wouldn’t need advertising – we would need rationing.
5. I don’t know about Sales/Distribution/Accounting/Marketing – no one does; sometimes even those that say they do actually don’t, we all have to learn, so keep reading and watching. Remember it was the “experts” who decided that Fractional Reserve Banking was a good idea and that “there is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home” – Ken Olsen 1977.

So don’t believe all your read, hear, see or get told – in order to achieve something amazing you will have to do something amazing first, and if we believe all the myths we are told we may just do nothing instead..

Check out my books at WEB LINK

Clients don't WANT you anymore...

Wisdom teeth can be a real pain – and I mean a REAL pain. If you have ever had toothache then you’ll know what I mean...

Waking up in the recovery room following my operation to have four wisdom teeth removed, I wasn’t sure whether I preferred the pain of toothache to what I was experiencing. The nurse gave me some pain killers and I drifted off into sleep.

On the ward when Lynn came to visit she said that I looked as if I’d been 5 rounds with Ali (it was a few years ago…) As the pain killers wore off, and I took a look in the mirror I saw that my forehead was red, my neck was heavily bruised and so was my chest. Apparently there had been some concern that I had a couple of broken ribs.

This all seemed a little odd – I had gone in to have four teeth extracted and come out looking like I had been in a fight. So I asked the Nurse what had happened...

She looked a little nervous but told me that she would come back and explain after visiting hours had ended and there was no one around – I was intrigued…

At 21.30 she returned with a trolley of tools and implements – to explain what actually happened during the operation, and why I was in such a state. The tools included a leather strap, mallet, a pair of pliers and what looked like an adjustable wrench.

Apparently, as soon as I was under the effect of the anaesthetic, my head was strapped to the bed with the leather strap across my forehead, my jaw was dislocated using the mallet and the surgeon pulled my teeth out using the wrench by kneeling on my chest and twisting the impacted roots from around my jaw bone.

Whilst this explained the “injuries” I was not sure I felt better for knowing…

What was certain is that if they had told me that before the operation I may not have gone through with it - sometimes we do this in business with our clients too, we tell them all about our product and service becasue it suits our ego and validates our experience and qualifications in our chosen field - we just scare them off...

The moral to the story is to remember that in business very few people actually want the service we offer – what they want is the RESULT that we enable them to achieve as a consequence. 

We all have a responsibility to make people aware of the possibility that they can be better off in the future when they work with us in the present; this is simply WHAT we do – HOW we do it may be Coaching, Consulting, Warehousing or Manufacturing but the clients don’t care what we do, only what the benefits will be to them.

It’s like when someone has toothache – they don’t WANT a dentist; they want the pain to stop. What they NEED, however, is a dentist – a dentist that sells “freedom from pain” will be more successful than a dentist that sells “drilling and injections”

Our marketing should concentrate on what our clients WANT and our services should concentrate on what they NEED – clients are attracted to WANTS but they may have to endure what they NEED in order to get them…

What does your website say about you…?

When you are asked “what do you do..?” – What do you say…?

What is your Job Title on your business card – does it focus on the WANT or NEED of your clients…? 

Does it say Chartered Accountant or Managing Director – or does it say Tax Reduction Magician or Profit Maximiser…?

When we sell the outcomes that our Clients WANT by delivering the products and services that they NEED we become more attractive to prospects, our conversion rate will improve and sales and profits will climb.

Don't sell people what you do - sell them the Result they Want.

 

After all - Results Rules OK...

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