Be Smart. Know When It's Time To Quit.

I hear it all the time.

“I’m bored with my job,” “There’s no challenge anymore.” “My team is so dysfunctional, I’m tired of leading them around.” “My business model is getting stale.” “My clients are slowly going away.”

I tell my clients without any sugar-coating: “It’s time for you to leave or make major changes.”

But most people don’t want to hear that. They are all comfy with their routine and you know — in a few months everything will be fine again.

Wrong.

Why? Most positions and companies have a lifecycle. You’ve seen it — it goes up, levels off, and then goes back down — a nice bell curve. My experience (20 years corporate and 10 years coaching) — the timespan of that bell curve is 2-3 years.

Now the curve may not go all the way to the top or sink all the way to the bottom, but the general shape or experience is:

Up — learning, meeting, understanding, making a stake, growing reputation. Apex — performing, interacting, growing, gaining major rep, lots of street cred. Down — delivering, accolades, awards, moving on, finding a new home/client base.

Again, your career or business might not match perfectly to this model, but it’s pretty darn accurate to the majority of professionals out there.

If you’re an executive, every 2-3 years you will need to move to get a larger jump in pay, more responsibility, more leadership, a new organization with new challenges and more people to meet. Preferably with another company — most successful executives do this.

If you’re a business owner, every 2-3 years you will need to reevaluate your business model, your client base, your marketing/operations/staff, and financial targets. Not in a minor fashion (that should happen yearly), but in a major way (wholesale analysis and scrapping, and delivery of a new direction). Most successful businesses do this.

If you stay where you are, don’t change a thing, and keep your ship pointed in the same direction, I promise you will be repeating one or more of the statements at the top of this post.

HOW do you do this? Catch tomorrow’s post.

Do you change every 2-3 years? How has this worked out for you?

This has been another installment in my ongoing series, “Are You A Catalyst?” — today’s focus is how to move frequently.

Be A Catalyst: Spread The Word.

Most clients and attendees to my talks ask me how to truly accelerate their career and business. All I say is: "Spread The Word." You see, we're all out there hoarding key information, knowledge and experience in our brains. We think if we do this, it will give us a leg up or a significant advantage over our peers and the marketplace.

You're wrong.

Today, in the 21st century, people who spread their knowledge around are the ones who get the advantages the world has to offer - promotions, projects, more money, clients, customers, etc. Showing people what you know and freely giving away information makes you more attractive and influential than the person who isn't doing it.

You become an authority.

Now most entrepreneurs can do this. There is no regulation, no compliance department to deal with. But for those who work in corporate and their area is highly regulated, it might be a little harder.

I didn’t say impossible. I just said harder.

Check with management, see who is already writing and 'getting away with it'. Look to your industry — who are the mavericks out there doing it? Finally, if you hit too many roadblocks, write for your company's blog — most of them suck and are written by your PR department. I've recommended this idea to one of my clients — it will provide an incredible platform for his ideas and experience to help him get more clients.

Every word you publish out into the world is one more reason why people should do business with you. One more reason why you sell more product. One more reason why you get a new job/promotion with an incredible increase in pay.

Writing gets you noticed. Again, you become an ‘authority’ on the topics you write about. It behooves you to investigate how to start your own blog, book, facebook page, twitter account, uStream channel to spread the word.

Trust me — your career and business will skyrocket. Since I’ve taken the step to publish a post every day, my visitors have jumped from 2-5 readers to 75-100 readers every day. I get clients from all over the world calling me for my services. WOW.

Has anyone taken the step (even though it was looked down upon) and started spreading the word?

This has been another installment in my ongoing series, “Are You A Catalyst?” — today’s focus is how to get published and get noticed.

Want Success? Be A Giraffe.

Most executives and business owners tend to keep to themselves. Of course they go to meetings. They interact with their clients. They even give a presentation or two. But they feel they're work or product will ultimately deliver the success, money and notoriety normally associated to hard workers.

Well — each of these is not enough. You need to be a giraffe.

You need to stand out from the crowd. Be noticed. Have your work seen by the right people at the right time. Stick your head into the trees and grab those tasty leaves.

You need to MARKET yourself. Now how do you do it Rich?

Here are some tips:

Think strategically and broadcast your ideas. Stop messing with all the tactical stuff all the time — think what is going to happen with your company, marketplace, product 6 months, 12 months, five years in the future. Brainstorm with others about what you're thinking. Put a presentation together and present it to people who matter. Get those creative juices flowing!

Stick you head above the cubicle once and awhile. Look around — what's happening in your office, in your neighborhood, your marketplace, the world? If you worked for bookstores, record shops, newspapers . . . you should have seen this coming YEARS ago. But most people stick their heads in the sand. Start using your peripherals — who's moving up, who's going out of business, who's getting fired, who's making the big bucks?

Go where the important people go. This is a big one — mingle with the big boys and girls. If you are an executive, have lunch with them — see how they think, tell them your ideas, mingle! If you own your own business — stop trying to go through intermediaries to get your next client or customer. Go where they go and mingle with them! If you are targeting high-income earners — hit charities, country clubs, salons, gyms — anywhere they might be.

You need to get off the ground and start sticking your head into the clouds. Start thinking and acting that way!

What do you do to be a giraffe? How has it been successful to you?

This has been another installment in my ongoing series, “Are You A Catalyst?” — today’s focus is how stand above the crowd.

The Holy Grail of Getting Things Done.

Face it, we are constantly exposed to obstacles. Those pesky things which get in our way. Sometimes it’s technology, sometimes it’s people, and sometimes it’s US. But that’s what work is — a series of obstacles, problems, and hurdles we overcome. As I always say, “If it wasn’t hard, it wouldn’t be called work.”

The successful executive or business owner accelerates their progress only if they overcome these hurdles quickly, efficiently, and without worry.

So how do they do it?

Five words: Ask for forgiveness, not permission.

Waiting for someone to show you, to give you permission, to get their ‘OK’ will slow you down. Or, it stops you right in your tracks.

If you’re wrong (or ‘caught’) — ask for forgiveness. Most of the time, the person who is delivering the punishment understands you were virtuous in your actions, nothing malicious — you were doing it for the good of the company.

The funny thing is most executives will be impressed you stuck your neck out and pushed the envelope — they see themselves in you. The only people who truly get angry are the people who are afraid of your drive and passion. Take your lumps and try to move on as quickly as possible. Leave them in the dust.

So next time you’re faced with an insurmountable obstacle, a vexing problem, or a gargantuan hurdle — make a decision and just do it. Don’t ask for advice, directions, or permission — get off your butt and get past it ASAP.

That’s how the pros make the big bucks.

This has been another installment in my ongoing series, “Are You A Catalyst?” — today’s focus is how not to ask permission.

Have you ever asked for forgiveness, not permission?

BRAG — Toot Your Own Horn Without Blowing It.

Most people can’t sell themselves.

The Best Salespeople, who obliterate their numbers every year, selling products and services - have a hard time developing a personal talk-track.

Accomplished Executives, who are comfortable pitching in boardrooms, convincing multi-nationals to sign on the dotted line — have a hard time in interviews for a new position.

Business Owners, day-in and day-out, have the best location, web-site, media, and business card — have a hard time coming up with a simple process to close the deal.

Why is this? Why is there such a dichotomy between great sales performance and the ability to apply those techniques and tools to ourselves?

In my ongoing series, “Are You A Catalyst?”, today's focus is knowing how to brag effectively.

Peggy Klaus, author of Brag! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn WIthout Blowing It, proclaims we tend to tell ourselves myths which ultimately sabotage our actions.

Myths such as:

• A job well done speaks for itself.
• Bragging is something you do during performance reviews.
• Humility gets you noticed.
• I don’t have to brag, people will do it for me.
• Good girls don’t brag.
• And the biggest one — Brag is a four-letter word.

Her main drive is to abolish these myths taught and ingrained into our psyche. One has to un-learn past behaviors (taught to us lovingly by our parents and schools) — to be prepared to brag effectively when it feels comfortable — during appropriate times and places.

Some suggestions from Klaus:

• Get a plan in place - be prepared with tight talk-tracks to help you brag.
• Get creative - make what you say engaging and interesting.
• Become the star player vs. promoting team spirit - take credit when credit is due.
• Brag through your weak points - acknowledge liabilities and focus on strengths.
• Make sure your fans get it right - prep them to present your story in the right light.

This book is a keeper — I recommend it to all of my clients when they hit an invisible wall and struggle with self-promotion. Check it out.

What techniques do you use to brag effectively?

1Q11 - What Have You Done So Far?

It's the end of the first quarter of 2011. Three months, 90 days . . . what have you accomplished? This is a great time to look back and review what you did — what went right and what went wrong. Time to measure, monitor and regroup for the next 90 days. Ask yourself:

• What was the biggest thing you accomplished?
• What made the biggest impact?
• Who did I meet and how did they change my business?
• How many clients did you close? Did you lose any? Fire any?
• How much money did you bring in?
• What did you learn?
• Where do you go next?
• Why did I do those stupid things? (my favorite)

I love the end of quarters — it allows me to hone in on what I accomplished, where I dropped the ball, and what I have to do next to accelerate the whole bailiwick.

If you don't do it, someone else will.

How do you monitor and measure yourself?

Go After Your Best Prospects First.

In business, many of us start out the year targeting hundreds of companies and usually by the last few months of the year, we're scrambling. When the prize is too large, we tend to get discouraged by it's size — too much complexity, too many moving parts, too gargantuan to handle all at once. It's because our vision is in IMAX and it really needs to be like a microscope.

Let's take a different approach — cut your list down to the Top 5 or 10 prospects, formally target them, and deliver the needed tools, support, and focus to make each of the 5-10 sales calls powerful and hopefully successful.

We're talking about the BEST prospects — ones who are highly suited for your products and services — ones you know if you just get in front of them, they will be very interested in your wares.

It's then much easier to measure your success — you can probably target your Top 5 in a single month. It allows you to expend maximum focus on your best possible prospects — the ones who may be the biggest or the best suited to your products.

By doing this, it also allows you to better understand the impediments in reaching your selected companies. Is it your message? Is it your pitch? Is the offering not specific? As you move forward, you will quickly uncover what is really holding you or your sales team back.

If successful, you can always look at the next five or ten targets.

Have you ever focused down to a select set of prospects and suddenly saw success? Let us know!

Top 10 Powerful Pieces Of Advice To Be Successful.

As a coach, I run into many great pieces of advice from books, clients, workshops, seminars, and instructors. Here is a powerful cross-section of great advice I’ve used in business and life:

1. “The first few months at a job, just shut up.” You will learn who to talk to and who the idiots are very quickly.
2. “If it takes 60 seconds or less to complete, don't complain or postpone. Just do it now and get it over with.”
3. "Talent without work amounts to nothing". For example: If you take one writing workshop and wrote every day a few hours a day, in 10 years, they'd all have a decent book published. Maybe not the Great American Novel, but a decent one.
4. “If you're at work, take a hour and don't work during lunch.” My old boss (who was very successful in business) took an hour everyday and made us stop working and go to lunch.
5. “When looking for a job, look at the company's mission statement." If you can't figure out what they do in 3 sentences or less, walk away. They have their head up their butts.
6. “Most people who seem confident aren't or started without confidence.” The trick to being self-confident is to fake it until you're not faking it any more.
7. "If you don't ask, you don't get." It’s not rude or out-of-line to ask.
8. A business class professor said on the first day of class: "Look around you and shake the person's hand next you and get to know them and everyone in this class. Over the long run, that will be more valuable than anything I can teach you."
9. “If you want something you've never had, you're going to have to do something you've never done.”
10. “Mistakes are like stones in a backpack, carrying them with you can make you stronger, but theres a point at which you need to drop them to even move forward.”

Do you have any great pieces of advice to share that’s impacted your career?

Image provided by laughlin at flickr.

Get Visceral With Your Business.

I meet a lot of people every day. When I ask them what they do, they tell me, "I sell insurance." or "I'm a financial advisor." What they don't realize is an answer like that tends to 'close' down the other person's inquisitiveness immediately. Unless the person has a real interest in talking with you, they will probably move to another topic or another person.

I tell my clients to 'Get Visceral'. Instead of talking about what you do for a living, tell them how you impact people's lives. Touch their hearts. Engage their emotions. Get them to truly feel how you make a difference.

When I'm at a meeting/expo/conference and people ask me what I do, I say, "I make people's dreams come true." That answer IMMEDIATELY encourages the person to ask me another question, "And how do you do that?" They're hooked — I know I have them and I start reeling them in.

I then talk to all things I do for my clients — rather than categorizing myself into a cubbyhole — I paint a vivid picture of all the areas of business life I touch.

Here's an example — If you sell insurance and someone asks you about what you do — show them. Give them a big hug or two-handed handshake and tell them you make your clients feel infinitely secure — without worry. That will bring up a myriad of follow-up questions.

At the very least, it makes the discussion more fun and lively. If all goes well, you might get a new client.

What do you do to touch people's hearts when talking about what you do?

Top 10 Best Business Rules.

Over the past 10 years of coaching (and 20 years in corporate management), a lot of key knowledge, information, and ideas pass over my desk. Candidly, most of it is a blur. But there are some ideas, certain quotes, and golden rules that tend to stay true and strong in my professional life (and my coaching). So I thought I would write them down and make a list to start off the week:

1. "If you want to be successful, you have to build a ladder rung by rung.  There are no shortcuts."

There are a lot of people out there looking for a silver bullet. And there are a lot of people who promise instant success. My experience over the past 30 years — it takes hard work and a certain amount of time to build something that really matters and delivers true revenue.

2. "Don't waste your time on jealousy."

This is a big one — I can't tell you how many people I've run into in corporate and in the business world who thrive on cattiness and gossip. Although I totally understand competition to drive you and I, I don't understand how it evolves into its addictive cousin, jealousy. It will distract and poison your personality.

3. "Stop being the "YES" person."

You can't walk down the hall without running into one of these. As a peer, they are so easy to spot — they tend to manipulate their superiors by delivering whatever pablum is needed to sustain their vicious life-force. Unfortunately, as a boss, it's hard to differentiate between someone who actually believes in you and someone who is just shoveling more manure.

4. "No matter how bad a situation you are in, remember, it could have been worse."

I love this one. I want you to brand this in your brain the next time something dreadful happens. Instead of focusing on the negativity of the current situation you are in, take a few minutes and realize it probably could have been much worse. You'll find after doing this exercise, a lot of your guilt has washed away and you can now focus on the problem at hand (and fix it!).

5. "Surround yourself with the right people: staff, mentors, colleagues, etc. People make all the difference."

It's not what you know - it's who you know. Go out there and double your connections this year. People are currency in any marketplace.

6. "Don't believe everything you hear."

WOW. I can't tell you how many clients come to me every day with prognostications about the economy, their industry, their competitors, and so-called experts who spin fear to get you to buy their latest 'Sham-Wow'. Take everything with a grain of salt — think about it and really try to understand it — usually it's full of hooey.

7. "The best place to find a helping hand is at the end of your arm."

Only YOU can change your situation. Yes, I know you should rely on outside help, friends, and colleagues to make things happen. But when the chips are down and you definitely need things to happen — it's always up to you to start the process.

8. "The way it's always been done isn't always the way to do it."

If I had a dollar for every time I heard, "That isn't the way we do things around here.", I would be living on a lush, tropical island. Corporate drones thrive on the absence of change — and your job (if you choose to accept it) is to prove them wrong. It's the only way everyone moves up and the company evolves.

9. "If everyone likes you, you're probably boring."

I love this one — my mother told me this a long time ago. If everyone likes you, you probably aren't rocking the boat, taking chances, and embracing risk in your life and relationships. Don't strive for the status quo, add a little pizzazz to everything you do and everyone you meet. You'll thank me (and my Mom).

10. "Work smarter, not longer."

If you work with me, this is Rich Gee's Golden Rule. And the funny thing, when I first say it to new clients, they think I'm crazy. They point me to #1 on this list and say "we have to work hard". I totally agree — you have to work hard and SMART. Figure out ways to streamline, delegate, and retire everything you do. Work on the important stuff and get rid of the fluff we like to consume our workday.

What other great pieces of advice guide your professional life?

Image provided by Solo at Flickr.

Your Most Successful Social Media Tool.

There's so much written out there on Social Media. There are experts, seminars, books, etc. all on this topic on how to learn it and leverage it for your business. I'd love to find out what works for you. Twitter? LinkedIn? Facebook? GroupOn? Something else?

But here's the catch — What REALLY works? Where do you make money? Where do you get customers?

Let me know - you can either comment on this post or send me an email - socialmedia@richgee.com.

I'd love to hear from you — I will post the responses.

Are Fashion Mistakes Hurting Your Career?

You know when you meet someone who not only knows their business cold, but they also are an incredible compliment to your existing business? I had the pleasure of meeting a woman yesterday who rocked my world! Ann Lindsay from J. Hilburn.

First impressions are so important and clothes do make a powerful statement about who you are and what you do. To be honest, I run into so many people who dress down so low that it's hard for me to take them seriously.

Ann made a powerful comment to me — even though you might shop at Brooks Brothers, Nordstrom's or Saks, it doesn't ensure the person helping you is motivated or qualified to dress you appropriately for your age, coloring, shape and profession. Ann will.

So go check out her site and hire her immediately — Style of Success - http://www.sosformen.com/

Top 7 Best Questions Coaches Ask Their Clients.

A lot of people ask me, "What happens during a coaching session?" and "What questions do you ask?". A coaching forum that I frequently read actually posed this question. Many senior coaches (including me) responded. Here are some of the best:

1. "Recently, how would you rate your over all life satisfaction on a scale of 1- 10? 1 being "extremely unsatisfied" and 10 being "the best days of my life"?
2. "What are you willing to do to move your life forward?"
3. "What will it take for you to reach the point where you don't need my help again?"
4. ""if you were guaranteed success, what would you do?""
5. "How would you describe yourself to me? How would others describe you to me?"

And my two favorites:

1. "If the answer is you, what is the question?"
2. "What is the one question you are hoping I won't ask you today?"

Feel free to ask yourself these questions — I think you'll be surprised with the answers.

Which one is your favorite? Which one motivated you?

Serendipity With The Apple Store.

Something wonderful happened to me yesterday. Well, let me start from the beginning — I wanted to get the new iPad. Badly.

In fact, I gave up all Christmas & Birthday presents to save up for one. So I was primed to get the iPad2 once I heard that the new release was slated for March.

When the iPad came out on Friday, my family and I traveled to the closest mall to see if we can see one (and secretly get one!).

You've probably heard — the lines wrapped throughout the mall — hundreds of people waiting for hours. We never got to even enter the store. I went home thinking we would show up the next day (when the lines went down) to pick one up. Guess what — all stores were totally sold out.

What I forgot to add is that I made a quick phone call to my good friends, the business managers at the Apple Store, prior to all of this technology hoopla. I asked them, "If the iPad came in, could they hold one for me?". I then proceeded to forget about this call after hearing the pent-up demand and 'no inventory' news.

One quick detour to talk more about the Apple Business Managers. They're the BEST. As a successful entrepreneur, I need a flawless technology platform. The Apple Store does it for me. They go out of their way to make any purchase (I have four MacBook Pros, two iMacs, three iPhones, and about twelve iPods, iTouches, Nanos, and Shuffles hanging around the office and home). Whenever ANYTHING goes wrong, they have impeccable client service that is available and flawless. I LOVE going to the Apple Store.

Now back to yesterday. I was at Pepe's Pizza, hosting my son Andrew's 10th birthday party with a gaggle of kids. I get a call from my one of the Apple business managers — not only has he saved an iPad for me from a secret shipment that he received this morning, he also will give me a discount on my purchase.

WOW. I ran down to the store and picked it up. It's beautiful.

Why am I telling you this story? It's based on all the business I sent the way of this business manager. And many of my friends, colleagues, clients, and acquaintances that I've also sent to that particular Apple Store.

It's called developing deep connections with key people in your business circle. Seeing how you can help THEM — how you can build their business. Always asking, "How Can I Help You?" (see my last post)

Most people don't do it — and they are the ones waiting in line for an iPad.

Has this ever happened to you? How did it make you feel? Do you now deepen your business relationships?

The One Phrase That Will Make You Millions.

And that phrase is: "How Can I Help You?" Stick with me here. If you aren't saying this phrase daily on the job, you are not:

• Delivering excellent service.
• Pushing yourself to new heights.
• Connecting with as many people and growing your network.
• Allowing yourself to be as successful as you can be.

You are not opening yourself up to the universe of opportunity. Okay, I might sound a bit 'out there', but it's true.

We all know the basic tenet of business is service. Whether it is a product, offering, communication, or something else, you need to connect with your clients and customers to deliver optimum service. That's a given.

But to grow from where you are now, you need to transcend the basics and open yourself up to new potentials. One way to do this is to ask: "How Can I Help You?".

Now you might be saying, "Rich, you're crazy." or "I already know that." I totally understand. But here's my point — you need to embrace this phrase and say it to different people EVERY DAY. Don't just hold it in your back pocket and let it out when it best suits you — you need to open yourself up to unforeseen unknowns — and reach out.

I've used this phrase for years with almost everyone I meet (I do have to be slightly selective - some will take advantage of you). Where should you use it?

• Ask your boss if they need any help on a tough project. Tell them you have a little time and can spend it helping them with the more mundane areas of a special project. They will LOVE you.
• Ask everyone you network with how you can help them. It will knock them for a loop. Not only does it catch their attention, it immediately telegraphs that you are a serious professional that wants to get things done.
• Ask each member of your team how you can help them. Tell them if they had to choose one area where you can help them, what would it be? Also tell them that they in turn need to begin asking this question too.
• Extra credit: Ask your family how you can help them. This one will truly throw them for a loop. Be serious — you will not only make their day, you will deepen your relationship with each one. By the way, with your kids, you're teaching them a valuable lesson.

I promise you — if you work this phrase into everything you do in business (and personal life), you will be infinitely more successful, happy, fulfilled, and rich than you ever would be if you didn't say it.

Have you ever actively asked this question? What were the results?

How To Sell Anyone Anything.

Provocative title, isn't it? In all of my 20+ years in corporate marketing, advertising, sales, product management, and training, I found one overarching rule that virtually guarantees a positive response and sale from any prospect — STRUCTURE. I know — there are some salespeople who like everything to be loose, open, and flowing during the sales call. Totally understand.

I feel there needs to be an underlying structure to your interaction (with the occasional flowing conversation) to ensure your key talking points are communicated, the prospect gets the correct info at the right time, and you have the ability to do a proper close and get a response (and hopefully, next steps).

As an example, I'm going to reveal my complimentary coaching call structure ("open kimono" if you will - I teach this to all of my mentor coaching clients):

The basic structure is:

• Opening - 2-3 minutes (5%)
• Intro - 'Me' - Background/How I Coach - 5 minutes (8%)
• Coaching - 'You' coupled with In-Depth Coaching - 20-35 minutes (33-58%)
• Feedback on Coaching - 2 minutes (3%)
• Close & Next Steps - 15 minutes (25%)

As you can see, the power of my call is in the Coaching — it provides the flexibility and personalization for the client. Everything else is structure. Why the 20-35 minutes? If I feel there isn't a fit (and after 10 years coaching, I can feel this immediately) — I shorten the call dramatically. Why waste their time (and mine)?

Even within each area, I carefully hone what I say to ensure I stick to my schedule AND provide all the 'buy' phrases for the prospect to latch onto.

So when you are selling (and it doesn't matter if you're in corporate or you own a business - you're ALWAYS selling), what is your basic structure?

1. Opening

How do you start the conversation? How do you spin it around and get them comfortable speaking? Opening really means getting them to open-up and feel relaxed speaking with you about a need they might have.

1. Intro

You need to 'credentialize' you and your services/products. They need to quickly understand you are a serious professional, at the top of your game. You also must position your qualities with their needs. All in 5 minutes (8% of the call). Why? No one really cares about you — they want to talk about their situation. But this area is critical - it has to be a 'quick hit' - get in, say what you need to say, and get out.

1. The Product

This is the area you can flow and work your magic. Let them speak about their issues, problems, or needs. LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN. This also gives you the opportunity to position your wares effectively.

1. Feedback

If you've done your work in the previous section, you should get a positive response. If you don't, this is the perfect time to go deeper and find out why they are not aligned with you.

1. Close & Next Steps

I give this area 25% of the time to not only clearly describe the specific offering for the client (with pricing), but to also handle any objections that might crop up. I always end with next steps — a follow-up call, a welcome packet, etc. I NEVER leave the next interaction hanging.

Do you have a well-rehearsed, timed, and successful structure for your sales pitch?

I close 75% of clients I truly want to work with. Do you?

Grow Your Business and Have Fun With A Blog.

I'm late to the blogging game — I started on January 1, 2009. But over the past two years, I've seen my business explode and in the process, I've had more fun, engaged in more powerful discussions, and I'm thinking about business at a higher level. Why do you think this is happening?

A blog makes you think, ponder, develop and publish important ideas. Every day. It's almost like a crossword puzzle — if you do one every day, it exercises your mind, making new synapse connections and keeping them healthy. A blog does the same thing — it forces you to think of innovative ways to present information that's easy to absorb by the reader.

A blog makes you communicate to the world. Communication in business is paramount and most executives and business owners tend to forget that. My blog is followed by roughly 500-700 people every day — I'm beginning to get future clients calls from California, Hawaii, Canada, UK, and even Stockholm!

A blog invites two-way communication. I get many comments on my blog, not only on my site, but in Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. People all over the world are expressing their interpretation of my blogs while agreeing, disagreeing and spreading the word.

A blog is easy. For all of you out there who think, "I don't have time to write." or "I don't have the ability to write well." — welcome to my world. I felt that way for years — until I met Rebecca Morgan (link) who convinced me to blog every single day.

At that moment, I realized that my blog, my site, and my ideas should be given freely to the world. It's the 'giver's gain' model — I give freely, and business comes knocking at my door.

A blog is fun. Try not to be serious all the time — have fun with it. Post cartoons, be irreverent, and add a bit a humor every so often. It also is a blast when people call you up, clients comment, and strangers exclaim, "You're Rich Gee? I love your blog!"

In fact, I was sitting in a Starbucks a few weeks ago (my favorite pastime) and someone approached me and asked, "Are you Rich Gee? I was just reading your blog over at that table!" — within 30 minutes of conversation, he was my client.

If you have your own blog — what do you like about the experience? If you don't blog, what's holding you back?

P.S. By the way, if you want to learn more about my blogging experiences (successes and failures) give me a call! I use Wordpress (link) and highly recommend two other sites - Problogger and Copyblogger. Brian & Darren bring lots of great ideas, innovative topics and powerful info — stuff I would never think about on my own. (link) & (link)

20 Tips To Tune Up Your Life.

A number of weeks ago, one of my favorite sites (Reddit), posted an open forum on what small areas of your life you can subtly tune up where it delivered an incredible result. Here are the BEST of the 5000+ entries from people all over the world:

I gave up soda two years ago. I used to drink it like water. Now I drink water. I sleep better and have lost 5% of my body weight without another major change.

Going through my closets, shelves, etc. and getting rid of things that I haven't used or don't really need. As it's often been difficult in the past for me to part with "things," it's become necessary in order to maintain my sanity.

More risk taking, made me feel more alive. Just jumping in and doing something different, getting myself out of my comfort zone. Engaging in conversation with strangers, got me way more friends than I've ever had previously. Also leads to some powerful stories.

I threw out all my old socks, and bought 10 identical pairs. My life is so much easier.

I cut out sugar and vastly increased vegetable intake.

I started working out and trying to eat better, and girls notice me way more now. It was hard work, but I love being fit. It feels much more natural. A funny response to this tip: “Now if you just get a suit you'll be unstoppable.”

I started flossing on a daily basis about a year ago. I'm normally the guy who goes to the dentist and gets the lecture about taking better care of my teeth. The last time I went, the hygienist finished, looked me in the eyes and said "Your oral hygiene is excellent."

I got rid of all my credit cards 2 years ago. I am more careful with how I choose to spend money.

When I see people I know, even acquaintances, I act like I am genuinely really happy to see them and give them a big smile. Someone else did this for me once. I was hooked.

I quit playing video games and ‘surfing’ the web. The days are so long now I have no idea what to do with them. I actually started writing my dissertation and exercising out of sheer lack of anything else to do.

I started waking up at 5:00 AM so I can get in my personal time to read/work on projects before everyone else is awake to distract me. I used to dread waking up early, now I look forward to that time every night when I go to sleep. FYI - I go to bed at 10:00 PM.

Started dressing nicer. People really do notice.

Recently, I've been sitting up straight. I'm tall so I have a tendency to hunch over and slouch when I'm sitting. The posture makes me feel less sleepy and more alert, which is odd because I can't figure out how that works. The trick for me was to roll back my shoulders and the rest kind of follows.

I left my job in a cubicle to teach preschool. It's a lot less glamorous to tell someone that I work in childcare but it has really affected my lifestyle. Surprisingly, I'm a lot less drained at the end of the day. Something about staring at a computer screen for eight hours is just tiring. Now I come home and actually have energy to do stuff. I'm happier, and most importantly I don't dread work on Sunday evening.

Regular meditation. It definitely takes some patience and practice, but regular meditation has amplified my living experience substantially. I am more engaged in the richness of life as a result. I can glide through tasks with pleasant ease, and never feel like I'm flustered or frustrated. It's hard to explain the subtleties of how practicing meditation has improved my overall well being, its as if people, places, goals, tasks and basically everything else has changed around me plus I have a more confident outlook. HERE is a great beginners guide (direct .pdf download)

I stopped caring about what anyone thought about me. I went from being a shy kid, to a successful, confident, happy man!

Here’s my favorite (one person did this!):

• Remind yourself where you want to be, what you want to be doing, and envision yourself getting there throughout the day. If you have a solid vision, you can make it reality.
• Start the day with some change in a pocket you normally don't keep change in. Every time you say something nice to someone move a coin to another pocket. It is a powerful thing to know at the end of the day that, if nothing else, you made a few people feel good about something.
• Cook dinner for your friends once a week if you can. There is no better bonding than regular dinner as a family.
• Introduce yourself to everyone you come into contact with at social events. Everyone has a story to share and most have the desire to collaborate. You'll never know who you might have met and what you could have accomplished together if you don't say hi and they don't know your name.

"Benjamin, I want to say one word to you. Just one word."

A great quote from one of my favorite movies, The Graduate, is centered around the main character Benjamin, who just graduated from college and his parents' good friend, an accomplished businessman, Mr. McGuire:

Mr. McGuire: "Benjamin, I want to say one word to you. Just one word." Benjamin: "Yes, sir." Mr. McGuire: "Are you listening?" Benjamin: "Yes, I am." Mr. McGuire: "Plastics." Benjamin: "Just how do you mean that, sir?"

It's a great line. And when I first saw it in 1973 on TV (on ABC's 4:30 Movie after I got home from school*), I always wondered what was the New Word for my time.

Over the past 40 years, the words have changed dramatically - Oil, Computers, Internet, Clean Energy, etc.  What do you think the new word for our era is?

What area should we be pointing to right now to stay ahead of the pack? Where should we be looking where no one else is looking?

As Wayne Gretzky said a number of years ago, "I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been."

Where do you think the puck is going to be in the next five years?

This post is dedicated to Marilyn Miller, Owner, of United Obligations. She used this quote in her BNI commercial last week and it brought back a flood of memories and emotions. The funny thing about hearing it — the millenials had no idea what Marilyn was talking about. Thank you Marilyn!

*ABC's 4:30 Show was a mainstay in my early teen years. I used to watch all the great flicks like 'Planet of the Apes' among others. Here's the catch — they would take a two hour movie and cut it mercilessly down to 90 minutes — with commercials. So I would see a normal two hour movie with 50% cut from the show. It was amazing in later years to revisit many of these movies and realize that there were whole characters and scenes missing from my original viewing.

The Secret To Become Truly Happy.

Are you fulfilling your destiny? You have it inside you — you know it and I know it — you just have to make a personal decision to bring it out. What are your desires? Your TRUE desires. Not "I want an iPad" or "I want a promotion". What do you REALLY want to do with your life?

This is NOT a hard question — it's not complicated — what excites you IS your destiny. You just have to realize it and move forward towards it.

The problem is that we tend to stick stone walls between us and our destiny.

What are you passionate about? What do you really love doing? Who do you like to hang around with? Where do you like to go?

Let's be honest with ourselves — it probably isn't an inner cubicle with florescent lighting for 8 to 10 hours a day. Throw in various team status meetings in confined conference rooms with no windows and jerks that lurk around every corner — I know of no one who looks forward to that.

So why do we do it? It's the security and the money. But that's not true.

• Security — There is no security in today's workplace. They can fire you at the drop of a hat. So stop kidding yourself.
• Money — If you figure in all the money you make and then all the expenses you need to make that money (clothes, commute, lifestyle) and the taxes, it's really not a lot compared to the possibility of doing what you REALLY love and making just a little bit less.

Do you like to build things? Do you like to work with people? Do you like to engage and motivate people? Do you like to work with other age groups (children or seniors)? Do you like to be outdoors or indoors? Work with your hands?

The funny thing is — we tend to let life and other people take our destiny over. They make the decisions where we go, what we do, where we work, who we interact with.

That's why you feel that there is something missing from your life — a hole, an emptiness, a void that cannot be filled based on your current viewpoint.

You need to change your view, wear new glasses, step out of that cubicle and figure out what excites you. What energizes you. What motivates you.

Keep saying this to yourself, "You are not meant to live a miserable, unfulfilled life." Don't spend 30 years doing something you don't like to do.

Make that change TODAY.

Who has made the change and feels 1000% better that they made that change? Let me know!