I had planned to write a post today about the “power of honesty & truth” and one of our customers from PPC Classroom made a comment that is a great lead-in to my point…

Here’s what he said (right on this blog, here…):

“…I think you did great by boldly accepting that things did go wrong and offering huge bonuses. I can’t even imagine how freaky the situation might have been considering it was a mega launch and the expectations were high.”

Abhijeet was commenting on a post where I discussed a massive failure we had during the biggest product launch of the company’s history. It was a huge nuclear meltdown after months of work and THOUSANDS of people anticipating…

Here’s what happened…

We planned for a long time and had set to launch a product on Day X and Time Y. Everything was perfect. The pre-launch buzz was HUGE, people were running, stampeding and tripping over each other to get into the course.

We had TONS of promotional partners & an amazing product.

Now, in this industry, we’re used to seeing servers MELT the minute a product is launched. It’s happened to 80% of launches for years (no joke) - so you’d think we would learn, right?

Well, our company spent close to $12,000 preparing and getting a crazy server set-up.

Yet…the minute we launched - KA BOOM! it all exploded and eggs were thrown in our faces.

Now, instead of the biggest launch in history, we had…

-> Irrate customers
-> Support e-mails/calls flying in
-> UPSET promotional partners
-> Overloaded/Under-slept team members

You name it…we had it…

So we’re embarrassed, scared, shocked and darn right humiliated…what now?

Well, we chose to go down the route of HONESTY. Rather than make up some “gimmicky” message saying, “Oh, we’re so awesome, we had so much traffic, it all exploded” - no…that was not the truth. Yes, we had tons of traffic, but THAT’s not why we exploded.

We wanted to take the high ground.

We sucked it up and immediately apologized.

I made a video for the promotional partners, I let the customers know and we just worked on getting the system back up.

…When finally up - it was time to make it up to everyone.

Now, we sat down and thought “what can we do that will blow everyone away and really make them happy with us again…”

Yes, this was going to mean taking money OUT of OUR pockets - but you know what? WE screwed up and we needed to make it up to everyone who’s time was wasted.

So, we did it.

The end result?

Believe it or not, but we are actually MORE respected in the industry for it. Almost a “blessing in disguise” - I said ALMOST.

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Lesson of the day: Sometimes you need to turn the salesman off. Accept what happened, stick your tail between your legs and own up to it. Be HONEST.

You’ll be surprised how far honesty with others can take you. Most humans, by nature, are incredibly forgiving - all you have to do is ask for their forgiveness.

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For those of you wondering where the heck I’ve been the last month, there you go - I’ve been under my desk!

Of course I’m only kidding, I only spent a few hours there

But it does bring up an interesting question - why was I down there to begin with?

Here’s what’s been going on the last couple of months…

We had an ENORMOUS product launch, the biggest in our company’s history and to say “we had some problems along the way” would be an understatement!

We launched a huge brand new eLearning system and well, it crashed. We also brought in over 6,200 customers so you can imagine - every time someone so much as “farted” inside the system, we got TONS of emails!

But, you know what? I have NO bad news to report - only good news.

I’ve Never Learned So Much About Myself & My Business…

This launch really was the moment of truth for us and a test to the will, power and “fighter mentality” for everyone on the team.

I learned a TREMENDOUS amount about my own fighter mentality and also that of those on our team.

I also have great lessons that came out of it - things I will share over the coming days with you right here on this blog.

We’ll start with the first lesson today…

It’s OK To Freak Out - Just Do It Fast…

Look, we’re all human and it’s only natural for us to “lose it” or get overwhelmed. Being a fighter does not mean you’re not allowed a moment of weakness.

Being a fighter means you can recollect yourself fast and snap out of it.

Let me give you a story I remembered while I was under my desk…

This Lesson Brought To You By a TV SHOW - “Lost”

Background of the show: A plane mysteriously crashes on an island. Lots of people die but lots also survive. The island is weird and lots of unexplainable things are happening - people are still dying; everyone is scared out of their minds.

As in all crisis moments in life, a leader rises to the occasion. His name is “Jack” and he’s a spinal surgeon back in the ‘real world.’

He gathers everyone and starts to provide structure.

During the first season, something horribly horrifying is happening that they don’t understand and he needs to take a moment to calm down his “right-hand man” - who happens to be a woman (Kate).

She’s on the verge of a breakdown and asks him how he is keeping his cool.

Here’s what he says (I’m paraphrasing, I don’t remember exactly what he said):

“I was once in a surgery, life-threatening surgery, one small mistake and the patient would be dead and it would be MY fault. Well, it was one of my first surgeries and it was a very serious case…

I’m in the process of the surgery and I did something wrong, something terribly wrong - I had the patients entire back open and all her spinal nerves exposed.

Whatever I did caused ALL of her spinal nerves to pour out of her like spaghetti - I had basically sentenced this woman to death - holy sh** what had I just done?

Panic came over me, I freaked out and I filled with fear…here’s what I did:

(Pay attention to this part - it changed the way I handle crisis moments…)

I told myself ‘Jack, it’s OK to be afraid…here’s what we’ll do - go ahead and freak out, go nuts, lose your mind, fill yourself with fear - but do it for FIVE seconds. That’s it.’

Jack goes on to say: ‘I counted down from 5 to 1 and I let fear overtake me, but the instant my 5 seconds were over, I cleared my mind, got rid of the fear and FOCUSED. I fixed the problem and the woman survived and is living a healthy life.’

So what’s the moral of that long paraphrasing?

It’s OK To Be Afraid - Just Get Over It Fast!

Look, the launch that went sour this past month for us, the results could have been catastrophic - my name/reputation/team - everything I spent 4 years building could have been gone in the snap of a finger.

Scary eh?

And, yes, I WAS afraid. But, when I was under that desk - I told myself:

“Your team, your business, your customers - they need you right now, people are counting on you. It’s OK that you’re afraid, just let it overtake you for a minute or so - don’t fight the fear, let it come…

BUT, after that, shut up, sit up and get it done!”

What was the result?

The result was a record-breaking launch not only for the company but for our entire industry.

I’m actually being PRAISED and RESPECTED for the way we handled the aftermath - it’s freaky but it’s almost like it HELPED us. That, my friends, is called making lemonade out of lemon!

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The moral of the story is to NOT fight back against fear - let it come, accept it, acknowledge it, even let it overtake you. BUT, always control it.

YOU tell it when it can come in and YOU tell it when it has to leave. Let it come in for just a bit, then kick it out, re-focus and bring the fighter back out to solve the crisis.

Till next time…

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** This post has been dedicated to 2 Indians who actually got Tshirts printed with this blog on them! hahaha…

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Happy Belated Labor Day to everyone, this year my labor day came with a big gift from me to well…me.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a big fan of making “to do” lists for everything I need to get done in a day (some how I instantly become 4 times more productive).

Well, I’ve done the same with my life goals.

I’ve made a list of all the things I want, materialistic, spiritual - everything.

I’m very happy to say that as of 3 years ago, I had started checking things off of the list! I checked off…

- Graduate college
- Start a business
- Find a great mentor
- Buy a REALLY nice car!

…and others too.

However, as of recent (and officially on Friday night), I checked off:

“Buy my own place…”

I just moved into my own condo this weekend and it’s everything I wanted it to be and more! I’ll make a video soon, but it’s definitely the “pad” I was dreaming about for years.

So in a moment of completely vain moment, congratulations to me!

Lesson of the story for you: Go make a list, for now, at least 10 things that you want. Yes, they can be materialistic.

My list has cars, houses, watches, clothes, vacations, boats among other things such as non-profit organization to support education, family - etc…

Let the list point the way! 

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I was watching some more videos on YouTube last night, can’t remember which one I heard this on, but it stuck out. I meant to blog it last night but got too tired

One of the things I’ve been working on doing lately is breaking my goals into “mini-goals.” The video I watched, the speaker mentioned the same thing. It’s much easier to meet smaller goals than it is to sit there and say you want to make a BIG goal.

For example, let’s say you want to be able to run 10 miles. Starting off with that goal is very scary and also seems rather impossible. However, if you make MINI-goals that lead up to that goal, it seems all the more possible.

So, in this case, I’d say I want to run 1 mile. Once I meet that goal, I want to run 3 miles, then 5, then 7, then 10!

This way, I’m never thinking about 10 miles, just thinking about that 1 mile goal. Slowly but surely you hit your big goal anyways!

So, here’s a challenge for you. Look at your big goal in your life right now, can you break it down? Feel free to comment it below!

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I’m watching an interview with Dave Lakhani, a world renown sales trainer and he just mentioned something that made me run to the blog…

“Not enough people take time to rewards themselves…”

Man, that statement hit me like a BRICK, I’m not saying I don’t buy nice things or treat myself well all the time. HOWEVER, I never specifically take time after a success or a goal met to just thank and reward “myself” for the great work I did.

I think he makes an excellent point and you should listen!

He makes it specifically at 10:50 into the video…

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Now days there are lots of “complicated” strategies for keeping track of what you need to do. There are “time management” software and even entire books written on the subject.

I’ve read many of them.

I’m not saying they’re bad, a few strategies have actually helped a lot in the past. However, no matter what, I always come back to the “simpler” method - a to-do list.

Even more so, I don’t like having my to-do list on the computer - I prefer just writing down everything in a big list on paper. Then, as I finish something I cross it off.

There’s something in the feeling you get for crossing off something - that small feeling of achievement makes it work better.

When it’s on the computer, you don’t have the satisfaction of crossing it off!

Here’s what I do:

Step 1: Every morning I write down everything I can think of.

Step 2: I put an asterisk next to the top 5 more urgent/important things.

Step 3: As things come up during the day, I add them to the list (rather than getting distracted and doing them right away).

Step 4: I vigorously cross something off as I finish it and pat myself on the back!

I do carry my lists over from day to day, but I prefer not to (sometimes you can’t help it)!

Try it out - I’ve noticed that I’m 10 times more productive when I do this…

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So I was talking to one of my friends the other night. He started to talk about how he’s not happy with his current job and he just doesn’t know what he wants to do.

He said he knows TWO things:

1. He wants to be in business.

2. He likes cars…

“So, Why Aren’t You Working On Cars?”

Of course I oversimplified the entire problem and asked a simple question - mostly because I wanted to see his response. I mean, I get it, the guy has a very nice and comfy job with Hewlett Packard that allows him to travel the entire country on THEIR dime.

But, either way, I wanted to see what he said - he said exactly what I thought he would…

“It would be crazy for me to leave such a great job to go ‘work on cars’ - people will call me crazy!”

Let’s dissect what he said, there are two different parts to it.

1. He called it a great job (however, he just got done saying that he could never see himself doing it and that it was not challenging and boring, hmmm).

2. “People will call me crazy” - AH HA! That’s what I was waiting to hear…what PEOPLE will think.

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See, my point was that “I want to have a business in cars” is not narrow enough - what does that even mean. He needs to take some time and get hands-on time to learn just WHAT about cars he wants a business in.

This means he’ll  have to do some “internships” or “jobs” in the industry and see whether he even likes it.

(This is exactly what I did when I started online, I was a financial planner, copywriter, internet marketing consultant and other things before I really figured out where my calling was).

I wasn’t saying for him to quit his job, I was saying for him to take his free time on weekends and find a way to do some work (even for free) at local car related businesses.

“And, Now Begin The Excuses…”

Here’s how I know that someone just is NOT ready; yhey start making lame excuses of “being too busy.” GIVE ME A BREAK. There is no such thing as “being too busy.”

What he’s missing is the HUSTLE - without hustle, life is not going to change.

But everything he said kept coming back to “well my parents gave me this advice…my sisters gave me this advice…my uncle gave me this advice…”

“I Remember The Days I Used To Ask Advice…”

5 years ago I was at a copywriting workshop and I got a chance to hang out with Michael Masterson, he’s one of the most world-renown copywriters. I was telling him about how I loved business and wanted to start one, but my parents were saying I couldn’t do it, I’d fail.

Here’s how the conversation went…

Michael: “Are your parents doing what you want to do 10 years from now?”

Me: No

Michael: Then why are you taking advice from them?

Me: Because they’re my parents…and even my friends say that I’m crazy…

Michael: Are your friends doing what you want to do 10 years from now?

Me: No way!

Michael: Then why are you taking advice from them?

Me: But, they just want what’s best for me…

Michael: Very true, but how can they give you advice on something they don’t know about. YOU want to be a young entrepreneur, YOU want a business - why aren’t you taking advice from other successful young entrepreneurs?

BINGO!

The moral of the story for you and for my friend today: Don’t waste your time taking advice for everyone and anyone. Any time someone gives you advice, ask yourself just one question:

“Is This Person Doing What I Want To Do 10 Years From Now?”

Thank you Michael. Since that day, I’ve had many mentors, I’ve actually out-grown a few. I no longer take advice from someone that does not know the topic better than me and/or is not living the dream I dream every night…

So, my friend, please, please, do two things:

1. Get your hustle (or else it’s a no go).

2. Start taking advice from other people…when I got started, NO ONE thought I could do it. Well, I showed them didn’t I?

Now, go forth and FIGHT!

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So, I’ve been listening to “Good To Great,” which is all about dissecting what made the most successful companies in the world who they are today.

In addition, I had one of those long chats with a close friend last night over a couple of drinks.

Combine the two and it’s exactly why I’m up right now at 1:15 AM on a Saturday night writing this post for you. I couldn’t sleep thinking more and more about it, figured I’d share.

My friend and I were talking about what’s going on with the world today and how things are falling apart left and right. Well, HIS view on the situation is quite more cynic than mine is, I understand there are two sides.

No matter how much evil we see, there is just as much great around us as well (it’s just that the media chooses not to talk about the good).

Anyways, he posed a question that concerned me and also led into a long heated (yet friendly) debate:

“Is it too late to change things? Is there no more hope? Look at everything around us, how did we let it get to this?”

As we talked about it, only one word came to mind…

Leadership

That’s right. I explained to him firstly that absolutely not, it’s not too late. Also, “how did we let things get to this point?” It’s all about leadership.

I’m a big believer that everything, every organization, family, business, government - all of it is shaped by a leader. We all look to follow someone who can INSPIRE and MOVE us. We believe in his/her dreams and we pledge our loyalty.

A great leader stays TRUE to his commitments and does ANYTHING to make them happen. I mean EVERYTHING, that includes the toughest decisions anyone can imagine making.

“Much of The Leadership Is Absent Or Has Gone Astray…”

That was my only answer for him. I oversimplified the matter by saying that really if we want to see things fixed, we need new leadership. But, if you really think about it, it really is THAT simple.

Any and all successful organizations have had leaders that were fearless, brilliant and made tough decisions like you wouldn’t believe. If you have not yet, I HIGHLY recommend picking up a copy of “Good To Great” - it really drives home this point.

A Great Leader Inspires

Without going into a great big rant, I want to leave everyone with just one thought - if you want to succeed in life, you need to first master the art of inspiring and motivating those around you.

You have to begin to lead and get away from following (believe me, it sounds great, but it’s tough).

Every great leader in our world has been the role model for what it means to be a “fighter.”

Creating Impact…

One of my good friends and probably one of the nicest guys I know, Kenneth McArthur, recently wrote a book called “IMPACT.” I just got done listening to the free audio and I loved it.

Kenneth’s book is the next one on my list, I’ve only heard great things about it.

The subtitle explains my entire point:

“How To Get Noticed, Motivate Millions and Make a Difference in a Noisy World…”

Fighting for your goals and dreams involves building a coalition around you and gaining support. If you ever plan on doing that, you have to inspire, motivate and create impact…

Kenneth is giving away MANY of his materials for FREE, including the amazing interview I listened to, just visit his site and sign-up. I highly recommend getting the book as well (I’ll give you a full review when I finish it).

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I was at a graduation a couple of months ago and the president of the university used a story that really hit home with me, something happened today to remind me again of the story so I thought I’d share…

Here’s the story:

A professor calls an early study group for his students, when they all get there he offers them coffee to get the morning started. He lays out a series of cups (all different kinds), some very nice and others pretty ugly.

As the students start going to get coffee, they grab a cup and make their way to the coffee.

What the professor noticed right away was that each student was choosing the nicest glass currently available at their time of selection. The last student even seemed a bit dissapointed to be “stuck” drinking from the simple styrofoam cup.

As the students sipped their coffees, the professor asked them WHY they had chosen the best cup available even the coffee was exactly the same for everyone.

None of the students could answer the question, as a matter of fact, they seemed to get confused themselves!

They hadn’t “conciously” looked for the nicest cup, it was innately built into them!

The point of the story is that we should all take a step back and think about what it is that we’re REALLY going after (the coffee) and not waste time worrying about the other things around it that are just helping you get there (the cup).

Afterall, in the end, the coffee is the same, right?

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Leonardo, a 5 year old charming young man paid me a visit today. Like any incredibly playful and talkative kid, he immediately started telling me stories of what “Mike did to him today, what his teacher said and how he threw a football across the whole field!…”

Confession - I typically just nod my head yes with a blank stare, but I’m glad I didn’t do that today.

Who knew that in his over-excited story-telling he would embark on me a piece of life advice that spun me into 3 hours of thinking and maybe even a moment of revelation.

What Were His Words of Advice?

“Just relax man, everything will work out just fine…”

I’m 100% serious, those are the exact words a 5 year old said to me when he observed that I was losing my temper with my mom.

2 Months Ago I Burned Out And Stopped Worrying…

Here’s the scoop. 2 months ago a LOT of things happened. You know how they say “when it rains, it pours” - well let’s just say I had a monsoon. As much of a Fighter as I am, this time, I was in over my head.

I got incredibly stressed, I began worrying and even thinking “life as I knew it was over.”

Talk about over-reacting and freaking out? I was the poster child.

I had lost all control, I couldn’t calm down - my brain was running 100 mph and negativity had overtaken me.

Two things happened that I feel saved me:

1. I re-started Mind Aerobics (thank god).

2. My body’s self-defense mechanisms kicked in and I BURNED OUT!

That’s right, I had worried so much that my brain actually SHUT OFF. I woke up one morning and had the completely wrong attitude - “I just didn’t care any more…to ‘he**’ with it, I don’t care what happens…”

Obviously this is NOT the right way to react, but ironically it was just what I needed. Why?

Because I finally “relaxed maaaan…”

Within Days After Relaxing The Problems Started Dissapearing…

My “careless” attitude allowed me to finally relax and get my head together. I had just accepted the worst case so now I officially had nothing to lose, I just started focusing on implementing solutions.

One by one, everything began to improve and within just a few weeks, I was rocking and rolling!

The day I officially pulled out of the mess I remember thinking to myself, “You see, you did it AGAIN, just as always, you pulled out. Why do you freak out so much?  You KNOW you’ll get through it, you always do.”

I cannot express how much of a difference that new realization has made. I finally TRUST myself. I believe in myself. I know now that if all I do is relax, focus, believe in myself and take action, I can overcome any problem.

I mean, for god sake, I’ve almost died 3 times, battled a chronic illness since I was 13, started/run my own business, etc…etc… - what else do we need to do in life to start trusting ourselves?

So thank you Leonardo, your words today helped put structure around something I was thinking about for months now. You’re one smart 5 year old, it’s going to be fun watching you grow up.

Lesson For The Day: For the love of god, have some faith in yourself, trust in yourself and relaaax man, you and I both know that you’ll be fine and you’ll make it through one way or the other.

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