They Say it's Your Birthday!

Saturday the 19th of November 2005, marked yet another milestone in my life. I turned 31 years of age.

I have always found birthdays a great time to reflect upon the year that has been. I know for me, I often get so focused on what I am trying to achieve in life that I can often find it challenging to spend regular time in reflection. So when milestones such as birthdays, or seasonal changes come along, I relish the moment to ponder upon a life unfolding.

My year spent in the youngest decile of the thirty-something’s, in many respects has been one of the most personally rewarding and fulfilling of my life. It has also been one of the most challenging. So in my own reflection and with fingers glued to my keyboard, I thought I’d share my 7 key learning’s from the year past.

(1) Make the most of every moment!

One of the thoughts that permeates my mind on a regular basis, is the fact that I’ve been given this extraordinary opportunity to live life. Each of us has been given such a short time to walk this planet.

For this reason, it is so important that you do the things that you personally want to do, not because it will please anyone else, but because it is a true expression of who you are.

(2) Learn in Action!

“When I want to read a book, I write one”.

I read this quote by Benjamin Disraeli earlier this year and it had quite a profound effect upon me. It is great to learn from the experience of others, but nothing beats just getting out there and having a crack at things yourself!

(3) Stand up when you fall down.

Muhammad Ali said that “a champion gets up when he can’t”. If you are walking the path least travelled there are going to be times when you fall down. All you really need to do is make sure that you stand up one more time than you fall!

When you have big dreams, big hopes and big aspirations you are bound to hit a few hurdles along the way.

(4) Spend time with people who are in love with life!

Love is infectious. Spend as much time as you can with people who are in love with life. And when you can’t be around people who are in love with life, dream about being around people who are in love with life.

Trust me, the energy will rub off on you!

(5) Don’t put things off until tomorrow.

In the western world we have been sold into a ‘pension mentality’. We spend our entire working lifetimes doing the things that we don’t enjoy in the hope that one day we might be able to enjoy a comfortable retirement.

Don’t get caught up living for tomorrows that never come. Don’t buy into someone else’s pipe dream. True and deep fulfilment unfolds a day at a time. Live for the magic and wonder of today!

(6) You don’t need to know everything.

You don’t need to know everything before you can succeed. Often too much knowledge will only serve to confuse you.

What’s needed is passion and excitement for the things that you do. Whatever knowledge you need to acquire along the way will naturally flow as a result.

(7) Go after your dreams.

Be bold enough to go after your dreams. This is your life. You are the one writing this movie. You chose the characters, you chose the locations and most importantly you choose the dramas. Just remember to choose wisely because you’re the only one who has to sit through the entire film.

Nic Askew Interview

The Interview.

I was having a pot of tea in a West End Hotel with a friend that I had only just recently met. We were having a wonderful conversation about life's journey - the challenges, the triumphs and the extraordinary people that you meet along the way.

Towards the end of our conversation, she leant over and asked me if I knew Nic Askew. I was speechless.

I told her about how I had come across his web site Monday9am the day before and how I had set the intention of meeting and interviewing him. She smiled and said "Well guess what... you are! I'm meeting him here for a coffee in 15 minutes!" Talk about the combined power of synchronicity and intention!

I sat with the two of them for around 20 minutes before I had to head off for another engagement. I had heard enough to realise that I wanted to know more.

A few weeks later, when our diaries matched, Nic and I got together for a chat.

Nic held me completely captivated. So much so, that I completely forgot to flip the tape on my mini recorder!

We spent a lot of time talking about his incredible thirst for searching out the things that made him feel most alive. This full engagement with life had taken him places such as the Amazon and Congo rivers to lead rafting expeditions as a teenager, all the way to through to going pursue a career as a Flamenco guitarist.

Another thing really hit home was Nic's level of self awareness and complete confidence in his own intuition. He spoke so fondly of how he met his wife and how he proposed to her exactly three weeks after that initial meeting! Now this is not as brash as you might first think. He said that he was thoroughly convinced that he was going to marry her after just two days!

Setting up Monday9am again was another thing that just seemed destined to happen.

Nic was was looking for ideas to bring to life peoples experience of the world. And then one day the idea for Monday 9am just popped into his head as he sat in a cafe. In his words "I know exactly where the idea came from but it had nothing to do with me!"

Nic knew that it was just something he had to do and he just went ahead and did it.
He borrowed a friends camera, went over to London Bridge at 7am on a Monday morning and just captured peoples expressions as they made their way to work. He had no real idea or intention for the piece, all he knew was that it was something he was supposed to create.

He has since gone on to interview and film a wide variety of fascinating people living incredible lives. Many of these people are in the public eye but he has also captured many who are not.

During our conversation we spoke a lot about success and what it takes to be sucessful. Over the course of his life, Nic has explored many different philosphies, from both Western and Eastern. From our dialogue, I definitely consider him to be an authority on the functioning of the mind.

One point he kept emphasising is the fact that each of us create our own realities. These realities emerge out of the belief structures that we hold within our own minds. In his opinion, in order to reach our full potential as human beings it is imperative that each of us examine our own existing beliefs and ask whether or not they are our own. The short films that Nic creates and shares through Monday 9am are designed to help people with this very process.

The thing that personally affected me the most in our conversation was the concept of filling your mind with the things that make you feel most alive. We are all on a journey and we all have the potential to explore the things that makes us feel most excited.

And if you are anything like me, watching Nic's short films will definitely get you more than a little inspired about this wonderful thing we call life!

To find out more about Nic's films see www.monday9am.tv

So what's your Genius?

Pablo Picasso, was once asked by a journalist “what does it feel like to be Picasso, master of the arts?”

Picasso pondered, reached into his pocket and pulled out a dollar bill.

He took a pen in his hand and signed the dollar bill before handing it to the journalist.
The famous painter then remarked “that dollar bill is now worth $500…..that is what it feels like to be Picasso….!”

Every time I recall that story it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. For me, it’s a constant reminder of the rewards that flow from spending a lifetime dedicated to what you are truly good at.

So what’s your Genius?

If you want to succeed in business it is critically important that you are able to work out where your true talents lie.

Take a moment to think about the 3 things you do best (no reading forward until you have them – close your eyes if you have to!)

1.

2.

3.

You should also consider asking your three closest friends what they believe you three greatest talents are. Compare their answers with your own. It just might surprise you!

The Entrepreneurial Challenge

One of the biggest challenges every entrepreneur faces, particularly when starting out in business is trying to be good at everything (no lecturing here - I’m actually working on this one myself!).

But what would happen to your business if you could completely flip this one around. What could you do to focus more of your time on the things you are truly good at? And what steps could you take to attract people that are talented at the things that you are not?

Employee Performance Appraisal

If you’ve ever worked as an employee, chances are that you’ve had to endure a typical performance appraisal. You know the ones I’m talking about. Where you spend a couple of minutes talking about the things you’ve done well and then a couple of hours talking about all the things you need to improve upon. Often the result of this kind of approach is that you spend the following six months focusing on all the things you aren’t good at, sending your motivation into freefall. Can you imagine the collective effect of this approach where entire organisations are in a similar frame of mind?

As an entrepreneur, I don’t believe you can afford that kind of luxury. It is of critical importance that you create the habit of recognising and developing your strengths and delegating your weaknesses.

What would you like your business to be recognised for?

So what are the extraordinary things that you would like your business to be recognised for? What are the things that you do well that will get everybody talking? And how far and wide would you like that recognition to spread? Do you want your business to be the best of its kind in your local town, city, country or around the world?

If you can spend all your time developing your core genius and then sharing that talent with as many people as you can, you’ll soon be banking your own autographed dollar bills!

Nicky Pattinson Interview

Nicky Pattinson is a straight talking, sharp shooting, high flying sales professional.

Her ability to instantly build rapport and thoroughly engage people is breathtaking (believe me, I've seen her in action!). Over the past decade she has written multi-million pounds worth of new business and now she's on a path to empower others with her secrets of selling success....

The Interview

DS: What was it that initially inspired you to get into sales?

NP: DESPERATION INSPIRED ME – nothing like being down on yer luck to get those feet DANCING. However, before my ‘demise’ I’d done SOME kind of sales most of my life (hard to be lonely when you meet people fer a LIVING).

DS: Did you experience any fear as you made your first sales call or did it come very naturally to you?

NP: NERVOUS??? OHHHH MY LIFE DAMIEN, that fear came from the CORE of my BEING!!! - or then again, is it like ‘ACTORS ADRENALINE’. Would even the GREAT THEATRICALS be just as electrifying if they didn’t get the jitters a BIT as they stood in the WINGS???

DS: What qualities do you believe make a successful sales professional?

NP: The SAME THING that creates an ANYTHING professional and exceptional ..FOCUS, COURAGE, CLARITY, HONOUR, DREAMS – and giving out an EMOTIONAL INVESTMENT to everyone you ENCOUNTER.

DS: Do you think great sales professionals are born or made?

NP: SALESMEN are probably MADE – but you make that shift YOURSELF, from the INSIDE.
DS: What is the best way to warm up cold calling?
NP: WARM UP COLD CALLING??? - well that is certainly back to giving an EMOTIONAL INVESTMENT. Why should anyone be warm back to YOU if you just treat them as a way to get what YOU WANT??? Like a script to a walking cheque book??? It’s just not like that – the world has CHANGED. ALSO – PLEASE throw the ‘MOGODON’ in the BIN – and chuck away those hideously rigid SALES SCRIPTS!!!

DS: What simple and practicle steps can small business owners take to increase their sales performance?

NP: BE VERY FOCUSED and CLEAR as to what kind of clients are going to DEFINE your company. Write them down – put it to paper and keep it at the side of the bed and in your pocket or journal...... LIVE IT!!! and block out all outside influences saying you CAN’T. Most people aren’t successful because they don’t take time to consider what THAT MEANS for THEM. ONCE YOU ARE TRULY SURE – then pick up that fone and BEAT YOUR PATH. Even if you don’t end up with exactly what you had in mind – you’ll look back and be amazed at how far you’ve COME!!! Don’t feel bad about approaching someone – most companies will have someone just like YOU at the back door shovelling the coal out. It’s the natural way of distributing wealth – no company must think the CHAIN BREAKS with THEM, because it DOESN’T.

DS: Who's the best salesperson you have encountered and what made them so special?

NP: DEFINITELY JULIAN KYNASTON of PROPAGANDA who gave me my FIRST CHANCE after being on the dole – we could fight like children all the way to and from a meeting, but when we got there we created a RAPPORT and a FUNCTIONAL FAMILY that people just wanted to be PART OF...... Really – I owe him a lot and rang him a couple of weeks ago to say so.

DS: What are the three most important lessons you have learned about selling and business generally?

NP: WELL...... No 1 is WITHOUT DOUBT let there be NO CONFUSION as to your WORTH!!! Personally I am getting a bit pissed off with the way ‘we’ are treated/percieved in the UK. I was with a company in London last week whose telesales people generated 150 million £s worth of revenue A YEAR. NOW – let’s get real here, that’s just ONE company in ONE CITY. Take us all away and see the economy go for a little DIP THEN EHHH??? Where’s the money going to come from THEN!!! YER – there WOULD be something to WINGE ABOUT if that happened wouldn’t there??? SO COMMAND SOME RESPECT!!! BUT FIRST – WE sometimes need that little fact pointed out to us, because a lot of the people I meet buy into others very false perceptions.

NO. 2 Read a couple of good body language books – and always make sure you look FANTASTIC. A decision is made on you within the FIRST 4 SECONDS – (so no more wobbly lipstick Nicky). Create your OWN PERSONAL BRAND and have a ‘WAY’ or a ‘CALLING CARD’ and be the one and only .......... YOU.

No. 3) THE HARDEST FER ME – I’m RUBBISH AT IT..... DO YER BILLING ON TIME!!! (that too is self worth, and a part of it that I’ve only just WOKEN UP TO!!!).

DS: What's the number one book you would recommend to aspiring sales professionals?

NP: JOE VITALE – THE ATTRACTOR FACTOR BY WILEY........ ALWAYS has me jumpin’ up and down.

DS: What memorable mistakes, if any, have you made in sales? What did you learn from them and how can they be avoided?

NP: HOW LONG HAVE WE GOT??? - I STILL make mistakes.... But the greatest mistake of them ALL is to not move on from it, don’t allow it to CONSUME YOU. In the scheme of things, you would have to make a million mistakes a year to stop you getting to where you want to END UP if you’re SURE ENOUGH. The ‘NAME CHIP’ in my head is FULL THO – I did a seminar a month ago and had to ask one of the (fabulous) guys what the name of their COMPANY WAS!!!.....(Thank God I had the character to carry it OFF).

DS: What are the best and worst things about being in sales?

NP: BEST – the ADVENTURE...... Honest, LORD OF THE RINGS has NOTHING on this. WORST..... It can be LONELY, that’s why we all STICK TOGETHER.

DS: Are there any other thoughts, insights, or advice for aspiring sales professionals that you'd like to add?

NP: YES!!! get so unshakeably strong inside that there is no negotiation as to the outcome of your life. GET UP AT 6:30 and read a couple of chapters of an inspirational book, then exercise with your mind visualising and your heart feeling all those new business opportunities filling up your diary. When we sleep, our energy becomes stagnant and has to be re-calibrated in the morning or we never feel ‘PUT TOGETHER’. MOST SALES are aspirational – you have to bring this into every phone call and meeting you do. SO, whether you want more plumbing business, to sell more newspapers, cars, accountancy services or what the HELL......YOU have to feel it FIRST.THEN – you become a MASTER/ADVANCED STORY TELLER to get your pitch across and BINGO – you stand out in a world. In business ALL AREAS are now SATURATED. BUT saturated with MEDIOCRITY most of the time. If you’re reading this – you’re already being tugged by the rope that will yank you out of the HOLE .....so come on DO IT!!! DO IT!!! DO IT!!!