success

A Lesson From a Rock Wall

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You probably don’t know this, but my sister loves rock climbing and I’ve gone to her climbing gym several times. I always enjoyed the experience, but didn’t actively look for more rocks to climb.

Then, I was invited to go rock climbing in Alaska.

I was tired. I didn’t want to hurt myself. And I could have very easily just gone and relaxed somewhere much more comfortable (and safe!).

But… I couldn’t go all that way without at least trying, right?

I decided to go for it, and gave myself permission to only go as far as I wanted to, and to stop when I felt like it. I didn’t have to make it all the way to the top that day, I just had to try it.

I started the climb. What happened completely defied my expectations. At the climbing gym, the climbs are color coded and pre-set to be accomplished.  There on a natural wall in Alaska I had to figure out how to get to the top on my own (with a little guidance from the climbing instructor).

The rock wall was like a puzzle, and all I could do to solve it was focus on my next move. Right hand first. Then left hand. Right foot, left foot. Moving upward became a challenge in advancing, assessing, and correcting.

Can I get a handhold here? Nope, try over here!

Left foot is slipping, try a better grip!

Advance, assess, correct.

Before I knew it, I was advancing up with careful moves — and with focus, focus, focus.  Instead of thinking about how tired I was or how I might not reach the top, my goal shifted to pure enjoyment of the process.

Sure enough, I made it to the top. But it was the experience of trying that was the real win.

Are you standing at the bottom of a new challenge? Focus on the experience.  Advance, assess, and correct. Hire an instructor or coach if needed. And above all, start the climb!

There are two rules for success

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On a recent visit to my family in San Diego, we went to a restaurant for breakfast together. In the bathroom, the sink was emblazoned with a quote that literally made me LOL: “There are two rules for success: 1. Never tell everything you know.”

This sentiment immediately brought to mind the business owners I work with to develop speaking as a strategy to generate new clients. There are a lot of areas we work on together, such as how to get speaking engagements, create titles that draw in your ideal clients, make a sales offer without freaking out, and more. But the one of the biggest obstacles we tackle right away is exactly what that quote referenced.

They want to tell audiences everything they know.

It’s vitally important to structure your talk so that you do not share everything you know.

To be clear, this is not about withholding value! This is not that tacky, bait-and-switch approach to speaking. You’ve probably experienced this unpleasant technique: a speaker gives you 2 great tips, but those tips are totally useless unless you buy their program. Yuck. That’s not what we’re talking about here.

It is critically important that you learn how to provide extreme value without burying an audience in content. When you do bury them, it can lead to a “false close,” which roughly means that someone who hears your talk thinks that they’ve gotten everything they need and that what they heard is all you have to offer.

They feel 100% satisfied. They think they don’t need to hire you.

The problem is, no matter how long the talk, there is always more information, coaching, or guidance that can be given on your topic. If you aren’t clear about that fact, it’s damaging on many levels. Namely, to your reputation.

Let’s say you just delivered a talk overstuffed with content to a receptive audience of your ideal clients. At the end of the talk, your audience applauds and a dozen people tell you how much they loved it and love you. They leave the talk, go out into the world and say, “Wow, Mary really knows her stuff. I’m going to start doing what she taught us.” They start implementing and quickly run into a road block, because remember, no matter how long you spoke for, there is always more they need to know. They get frustrated and say, “Mary’s an idiot,” and your reputation suffers.

How do you fully show up and deliver solid value, but not “tell them everything you know”?

  1. Decrease your content, increase audience interaction. Interactions allow people to discover their own answers, and when they find those answers, they think you are brilliant.
  2. Define the next problem. You must inform your audience about the challenges they may encounter after starting to implement what you teach. For instance, if you teach about how to speak up to your family, you must let people know that you’re likely going to get an unwelcome reception from your family when you change the rules.
  3. Reveal the whole picture. If you’re teaching step one of a five-step system, make sure they know there is more to be had for best results. They won’t know this unless you tell them.

The results of this approach are twofold.

First, it puts your content in context so your audience members are better equipped to utilize your content and understand the potential challenges ahead.

Second, it clearly and respectfully shows you have more to offer, which elegantly lays the groundwork for them to become your client.

Now a disclaimer… please understand that this is a sharp but narrow focus on just one aspect of creating a talk that consistently generates clients. There are many other elements to consider.

My hope is that this perspective will help significantly improve the issue of content so you can start concentrating on the other important aspects of your talk: the credibility elements, planting marketing seeds, and the sales offer.

If you are a speaker and are not getting clients from your speaking engagements, take a look at your content. Use the tips in this article.

And if you’re very serious about building your business without working nights and weekends, and speaking is a part of how you want to build it, get in touch and let’s work together to make it happen!

Stop Settling for Small Successes

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“There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” – Nelson Mandela

You know what I’ve noticed?

People settle for small successes all the time. It is disheartening, because they leave so much opportunity, so much potential positive impact, and so much money on the table.

With all of that, why on earth would would anyone settle? For example,

  1. April 30 ImageThere is an emotionally happy charge that comes from any success – even small ones.
  2. You already know how to accomplish the small successes.
  3. You’ve mastered small successes so they don’t make your stomach drop and your palms sweat.
  4. Bottom line: small successes are easy and comfortable.

But guess what? If you think back, it’s likely the things you’ve accomplished up to today at one point scared the pants off you. Don’t hold back. You have so much more to offer, and so much more to gain.

So how do you move past the settling phase?

  1. Recognize when you’re settling.
  2. Be willing to be uncomfortable in the short term in order to create bigger successes in the long run.
  3. Decide on a big opportunity you want to go after.
  4. Create the action plan to get there.
  5. Implement it, even if it makes your palms sweat.

And don’t do it alone. Get a coach or mentor who can help you see the opportunities right in front of you. Every single person with whom I work is leaving money and opportunities on the table because they’re not getting a big-succes perspective within their own business.

Stop settling. You deserve and are capable of great things.

What big opportunity will you commit to going after today?