Dan Waldschmidt's Blog, page 58
January 13, 2015
The Difference “No” Makes.
You’ll never achieve epic business success without being able to master the art of saying “NO”.
Running from trouble is a recipe for career disaster. Pretending like problems don’t exist is a fast path to corporate ruin.
It’s all in the games that we play.
We don’t quickly respond to emails that should just have a simple “NO” as a reply. We attach 47 people to the same email in the hopes that someone else will make a decision that we don’t want to have to deal with.
We schedule meetings and create focus groups to surface ideas that give us leverage around obstacles that could be clearly solved with a firm “NO”.
That’s the difference “NO” makes.
“NO” it’s not a good time right now.“NO” we don’t have budget for that expenditure right now. “NO” we aren’t going to lose focus and pursue that new shiny object.
No. No. No. No. No. It’s a simple word. It’s clear.“NO” means“NO”. Its not a negative word.
It is a powerfully positive word.
It’s a word that reminds us to focus on what really matters and not be distracted by trendy new ideas. It’s a word that demands results without excuse, complacency, or mediocrity. It’s a word that signifies the candid leadership that high-potential, fast-growth organizations need to exemplify.
It’s tempting to be purposely vague so that you don’t hurt anyone’s feelings and still motivate your team to think outside the box. Right?
“NO” can be hard to deliver.
Business gurus will tell you that if you shut the door on new ideas that your team will stop surfacing innovation to you. That’s just silliness.
“NO” isn’t an excuse for arrogance and classless demagoguery.“NO” liberates you to innovate in a more focused way. “NO” sends the message that what we’re doing is so important that all of our innovation and bold ideas need to be focused on desired outcomes.
You’ll get more done.
Your team will be encouraged by your ability to generate success. And you’ll develop a winning blueprint for industry domination. All because you had the courage to be clear and powerful.
“NO” means“NO”. It’s a business lesson you need to embrace if you want massive success this year.
Care enough about your goals to protect them from the dangers of distraction and a divided focus.
Be amazing, one thing at a time.
The post The Difference “No” Makes. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.
Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.
Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...
January 12, 2015
Why Winners Fail. [EPTV]
For the past year, we’ve been agonizing over the best way to give you the mindset of champions. We want this year to be your best year ever.
Yes, we’ve got the EDGY Conversations book and this blog, but we spent months obsessing about what we could do that was bigger and better. We wanted to produce a TV show that talked about real world, current events through the perspective of an ordinary person who wanted to achieve outrageous success.
That was hard to do.
YouTube is easy right? It seems like everybody and their best friend has their own YouTube show. But we just weren’t sure how to make our show, well, magical.
We’ve talked to some brilliant people from PBS, Spike TV, Discovery Networks and major Hollywood production studios about this show. They all had brilliant ideas — but we still couldn’t seem to nail down the correct format.
Even the easy stuff wasn’t easy.
For this pilot episode (embedded below), my Chief of Staff, lead graphic artist, and I spent well over 5 hours just trying to figure out what our on-screen graphics would look like. (Spoiler alert: in 20 minutes you’ll only see about 20 graphics. And most of them look pretty much the same.)
We filmed. And refilmed. Editing. And redited. Our intention in every meeting was simple: What can we do that helps willing people change their world?
That was our goal.
A few weeks ago I wrote that “your perspective in life enables you to either create hopeful outcomes from negative situations or to spot the one wrong thing in magical moments.” We believe that your perspective has the single biggest impact on your personal success.
Big dreams die with negative thoughts. Big obstacles dissolve in the face of powerful thoughts. Your perspective matters — big time.
Welcome to The EDGY Perspective.
We’ll be posting new episodes every week to help keep you (and ourselves) focused on achieving audacious goals.
So without further adieu, I’m pleased to present you with the pilot episode for our little show.
Watch. Like. Share. Comment. Pick fights. Whatever your thing is, do it.
Stay Edgy. Be Awesome.
The post Why Winners Fail. [EPTV] appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.
Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.
Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...
Why Winners Fail.
For the past year, we’ve been agonizing over the best way to give you the mindset of champions. We want this year to be your best year ever.
Yes, we’ve got the EDGY Conversations book and this blog, but we spent months obsessing about what we could do that was bigger and better. We wanted to produce a TV show that talked about real world, current events through the perspective of an ordinary person who wanted to achieve outrageous success.
That was hard to do.
YouTube is easy right? It seems like everybody and their best friend has their own YouTube show. But we just weren’t sure how to make our show, well, magical.
We’ve talked to some brilliant people from PBS, Spike TV, Discovery Networks and major Hollywood production studios about this show. They all had brilliant ideas — but we still couldn’t seem to nail down the correct format.
Even the easy stuff wasn’t easy.
For this pilot episode (embedded below), my Chief of Staff, lead graphic artist, and I spent well over 5 hours just trying to figure out what our on-screen graphics would look like. (Spoiler alert: in 20 minutes you’ll only see about 20 graphics. And most of them look pretty much the same.)
We filmed. And refilmed. Editing. And redited. Our intention in every meeting was simple: What can we do that helps willing people change their world?
That was our goal.
A few weeks ago I wrote that “your perspective in life enables you to either create hopeful outcomes from negative situations or to spot the one wrong thing in magical moments.” We believe that your perspective has the single biggest impact on your personal success.
Big dreams die with negative thoughts. Big obstacles dissolve in the face of powerful thoughts. Your perspective matters — big time.
Welcome to The EDGY Perspective.
We’ll be posting new episodes every week to help keep you (and ourselves) focused on achieving audacious goals.
So without further adieu, I’m pleased to present you with the pilot episode for our little show.
Watch. Like. Share. Comment. Pick fights. Whatever your thing is, do it.
Stay Edgy. Be Awesome.
The post Why Winners Fail. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.
Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.
Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...
January 9, 2015
If You Won’t Hurt For You Who Will?
The moment you decide you’re going to be awesome is exactly the time life decides to test how tough you really are.
You’re going to have to hurt.
Right after you decide you are going to save more money no matter what, you find out that a major appliance in your house just failed, and you’ve got to find extra money somewhere.
Right after you decide that you’re going to start running outside to get back into fighting shape, the weather decides to get nasty cold and downright scary.
Right after you decide that you need to be more candid with your business relationships, one of your peers starts unnecessary drama and creates a feud that seems impossible to manage.
You’re going to have to hurt.
When you push back against the “old you”, life has a way of challenging the words you speak with the outrageous work you have to do.
It’s hard work. Uncomfortable work. The type of work you’re probably not prepared to do right now. But it’s exactly what you need to be focusing on right now.
If you can survive life’s toughest tests then you’re well on your way to achieving any other goal you can imagine.
You just can’t let yourself be ground down by the grind. You can’t let the pettiness of others break your will. You have to push back against the frustration and chaos that gets inside your head and tries to convince you to quit.
You’re going to have to hurt.
The moment you decide you’re going to do something awesome is the moment you need to resolve to get tough.
Financially tough. Mentally tough. Physically tough. You have to protect your mind, your body, and your bank account. Things are about to come at you that you could never have imagined before.
It’s going to get brutal before it gets beautiful. You’re going to cry, fight, sweat, and bleed. It’s going to seem some days that the sun isn’t ever going to come out again. And you’re going to have to stand there quietly in the darkness by yourself choking back the tears, pretending that you believe it’s all going to work out in the end.
You’re going to have to hurt.
But you’ll make it if you can survive the darkness of the night. Live tough. Don’t run from trouble. Stand up and fight.
If you won’t hurt for you, who else will?
The post If You Won’t Hurt For You Who Will? appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.
Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.
Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...
January 8, 2015
What You Need To Know About Success.
It’s not philosophical. It’s not meta-physical. It is often unexplained and usually unexpected. It’s a sport built by cavemen. Achievable by any man.
You can’t make someone else want to be successful. They have to want it for themselves. You can’t create a process that automatically yields amazing results without the pain of trying and caring, fighting, losing, and struggling to figure it out.
Success is messy.
It demands passion — inside and out. There are no “kinda” or “sorta” or “maybe” types of success. You either are where you want to be or you’re not. It’s that simple. Along the way you can expect to lose friends, money, and your wits.
You’re going to screw up and sometimes hurt people. But you can’t be amazing and perfect all at the same time.
Success is hard work.
It’s usually more about brawn than brains. You’ve got to do the time. It’s as simple as that. There is no substitute for sweat. You can’t pay someone else to do what you need to do.
There is no one else who can care like you care. It’s you who has to be committed to doing whatever it takes for as long as it takes.
Success is possible.
It doesn’t matter what your journey looks like right now, there is always a way for you to get to where you want to be.
Stuck in debt? Work it off. Stuck in a bad job? Find a new one. Stuck feeling fat? Drop the pounds. It’s possible. You can get there.
You can’t be successful and make excuses at the same time.
Success is a choice.
You can’t pretend like you want to be amazing. You have to actually change your life. Your habits need to improve. Your daily schedule needs to improve.
What you eat, where you go, who you hang out with — that all needs to improve if you want to improve. You have to be willing to make hard choices and do hard work — even when no one is standing behind you cheering you on.
Success is worth it.
The journey to get to where you want to be is full of everything that you’re running from right now.
But on the other side of all that pain and stress and suffering is the prize you so desperately want. So get busy getting that.
Go be amazing. Start today.
The post What You Need To Know About Success. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.
Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.
Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...
January 7, 2015
Don’t Still Be A Loser This Time Next Year.
Make resolutions or not — just don’t pretend like you want to achieve success when you’re not acting like it.
This time of year you’re feeling the pressure to examine your life and challenge yourself to improve in the months ahead.
You’re going to think about making resolutions to make more money, lose more weight, or improve a bad habit that always seems to be getting in the way.
Sometimes these resolutions are easy to make.
The problems that have been staring you in the face for the past few months become obvious things you need to fix.
Then there are times when making resolutions are a little harder. Things are going well enough that you don’t want to do anything differently — for fear that you might have to put the pieces back together later.
The worst possible situation you can put yourself in is to pretend like you’re making steps to improve your life.
Replacing goals with words is pretending.
A few years ago it became trendy to replace clear goals you want to accomplish in the year ahead with choosing three words to focus on throughout the year. Words like tenacity, focus, serendipity, courage, creativity, determination, and persistence.
Good words. Words of action and honor. But — just words. Not goals. Not resolutions. Not achievements. Not success. Not making a difference. Just words.
A lot to feel good about. And talk about. And think about. But completely lacking when it comes to crossing the finish line.
I know. I tried it for a few years.
Here’s the crux of the matter — if all your goals are philosophical, then choose three words over clear goals. If all your goals are meta-physical then choose three words over clear goals. If you are already where you want to be financially, physically, and mentally, then choose three words over clear goals.
It you want next year to look radically different than this year, you need crystal clear goals. Goals with dollar signs and deadlines. Goals with milestones and metrics.
Philosophy is the fire that burns deep within your soul. But that fuel is wasted if there isn’t a finish line. Ask yourself hard questions. Where do you want to be? What do you want to do?
Don’t replace success with what is trendy.
Look yourself in the mirror and challenge yourself with clear goals that are scary. And then — if you want to choose three words to help you achieve those goals , it might just make you more of a badass.
But replacing goals with three words is just a recipe for staying stuck. Which is really just a nice way of saying “you will still be a loser this time next year.”
Start winning. Push yourself.
The post Don’t Still Be A Loser This Time Next Year. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.
Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.
Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...
December 29, 2014
Before You Make New Resolutions.
Before you make new resolutions, decide what you really want for yourself.
Before you make new resolutions, think about what you are willing to give up to achieve success.
Before you make new resolutions, make friends with people who can push you further.
Before you make new resolutions, be prepared to get pushed down, stepped on, and made fun of.
Before you make new resolutions, determine to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes.
Before you make new resolutions, have a plan in place to actually get things done.
Before you make new resolutions, push past your own fears and past failures — and dream big.
Before you make new resolutions, ignore other people’s expectations for you.
Before you make new resolutions, ask yourself if you’re truly willing to do the hard things you need to do.
Before you make new resolutions, make up your mind that your goal is worth the effort it’s going to require.
Before you make new resolutions, decide to toughen up your mind, your body, and your spending habits.
Before you make new resolutions, get honest about how you handled the old ones from last year.
Before you make new resolutions, be deliberate about avoiding the negative people who will hold you back.
Before you make new resolutions, stop blaming other people for your own past failures.
Before you make new resolutions, take the time to prepare for everything you didn’t think was important in the past.
Before you make new resolutions, plan to exceed your expectations for yourself.
Before you make new resolutions, fix your bad attitude, your bad financial habits, and your bad health.
Before you make new resolutions, fight for the opportunity to make your mark on the universe no matter what you choose.
Before you make new resolutions, be prepared to make every moment matter until you get to where you want to be.
The post Before You Make New Resolutions. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.
Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.
Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...
December 23, 2014
Why You Hate Tech Support And Love Chocolate Bon Bons.
Hey, it’s Matt Williamson, Dan’s Chief of Staff, here again. Recently, I was blown away by the stark contrast between two different customer service experiences I had recently. Dan thought I should share what I learned (and vent my… ummmm… frustration).
—–
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. No, really. First, the “bad”…
For the past month, we’ve been working on an even bigger, badder version of EdgyConversations.com. Part of that process included hiring another company to help us with some back-end database work.
Their initial service package cost $69, plus we opted for the additional insurance (I know, we’re suckers). They completed the project — but messed up several key data points, resulting in some sales that were as large as 70x the original total. Sure, it’s good for our income statement, but it’s horribly, horribly wrong.
We contacted customer support, and after much back and forth (and I mean “much”), they told us that if we wanted to make sure everything was completely accurate, we’d have to pay an additional $299 for their “basic support service,” despite having already paid for additional insurance, which apparently didn’t cover our specific issues.
Since when is customer service something I have to pay for?
Time and time again they assured us that just one more migration would solve the problem. As of today, they’ve already attempted multiple migrations, and it’s still not 100% correct. We’ve spent weeks trying to resolve this through numerous emails, phone calls, and internet chats — to no avail. At one point, our account manager blatantly contradicted their website and refused to admit it.
It was ridiculous to the point of almost being comical. Between these issues, and my frustration with nonstop “product demos” (a.k.a. one-on-one sales pitches), I had begun to lose faith in customer service as a whole.
That is, until Carl was “murdered.”
At the end of November, I went on a “chocolate tour” of Dallas, where I live, work, and play, visiting various chocolate shops. As the night wound down, we stopped at Kate Weiser Chocolate.
Her store is incredible—no, magical.
Her chocolates are the definition of EDGY. She and her crack team of chocolatiers spend four days making a single bon bon (including airbrushing them). You want to talk about dedication to your product? Talk to Kate.
One of her creations, which has been called one of the best holiday gifts in Dallas, is “Carl the Snowman”, a 5″ tall chocolate snowman, where the chocolate mix is in the “belly” of the snowman, and the marshmallows are in his head. I knew I’d regret leaving her store without picking one up for my sister’s Christmas gift. Coincidentally, Kate herself rang up my order. When she saw I wanted to “adopt” my very own Carl the Snowman, her face lit up like a Christmas tree (ha..ha..). She treated that product as if it were a small puppy, so excited to see it get a home.
That would’ve been enough for an epic blog post about valuing your products like people and that good things take time (often, a lot of time).
But that’s not the end of the story.
A few days ago, I came home after a particularly long day to find our black lab had managed to eat Carl. The only eyewitness? The box of dog treats sitting in the same bag. (Our dog’s fine, by the way).
I was scheduled to fly home for Christmas in just three days, so I was frantic, and mad at myself that I left him on the floor and would have to re-purchase another one. Panicked, I emailed Kate and relayed the strategy. At 10:34 pm, she came to my rescue and had reserved another Carl for me to pick up.
Two days later (I know, I cut it close), I stopped in to re-buy Carl. Lighting struck twice as Kate was again the one to greet me at the cash register. I explained who I was and reminded her of the terrible tragedy that had transpired. Despite her store being packed with last-minute holiday shoppers, she immediately remembered me by name, found my new Carl, asked to make sure that the dog was okay, and put it on the counter as I pulled out my wallet to pay for it again.
That’s when she stopped me.
“It’s on the house.”
I was stunned. Speechless. All I could really spit out was “Wait, what?”
For reference, Carl’s not exactly as expensive as your typical hot chocolate drink. He’s a solid $25 (though well worth it).
Still overwhelmed by her generosity, I walked outside, took five steps and dropped Carl right outside the storefront window, not three feet from where Kate was ringing up another customer. Sorry, sis.
So here’s the deal: yes, it’s Christmas, and it’s the time of year when we’re supposed to “give first”, but I have a sneaking suspicion Kate is that generous year-round. Why can’t we all give generously?
If you’re charging your customers add-on fees to get your support, stop it.
If you’re trying to milk your customers for short-term profit, stop it.
It won’t work in the long run. Instead, treat people like people. Help them when they’re in need, even if it costs you — which is the essence of true giving.
If you want your bottom line to improve, you need to improve how you treat the line of customers standing in front of you
It’s the season to give. All year long.
The post Why You Hate Tech Support And Love Chocolate Bon Bons. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.
Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.
Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...
December 22, 2014
It’s Always Your Fault.
Nothing “happens” to you. You live in a world that is entirely of your choosing.
Do you hate your job, your job title, or your team? It’s your fault you are still stuck there.
Are you fat, overweight, or need to get back into shape? It’s your fault you aren’t working out hard enough.
Is is impossible for you to build healthy personal relationships? It’s your fault you haven’t figured that out yet.
It’s always your fault.
It doesn’t matter what the obstacle, challenge, or opportunity might be at the moment. It’s your fault.
Which means that you are in complete control of the situation. You are completely capable of fixing whatever you think is broken.
There isn’t any problem so daunting that you aren’t able to turn things around. You’re entirely in control of where you want to go.
It’s completely your fault.
What you think, what you plan, what you do, the results that you get — that’s all your fault. For good. Or for bad. It’s all what you make it.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of pretending like you are a victim. It’s natural to want to blame others for what you are going through right now.
Blaming other people won’t ever change your circumstances for the better. It just guarantees an ugly future for you.
That’s because it’s always your fault.
Your life isn’t about anybody else but you. No can make you do anything. Everything is just a choice. A decision that you get to make each time.
And while being broke and miserable is your fault, so too is being successful. No one can take from you what you’ve done.
You’re as lucky as you work hard. You’re as focused as you have intensity. You’re options are as limitless as you are driven.
It’s always your fault.
What are you going to do about it? What do you need to change right now? Who do you need to forgive? What trash do you need to get out of your head?
You can live life pretending like you’re helpless or get honest about the chances for doing something epic.
It’s your choice. Go decide something awesome.
The post It’s Always Your Fault. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.
Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.
Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...
December 17, 2014
The Best Way To Carry a Grudge.
Anger will kill you. Stress and fear and petty retribution will eat your heart out.
Passive aggression and jealousy will destroy everything beautiful in your life.
And yet it’s so very hard to let go.
Especially when you feel wronged. Especially when you feel like you don’t deserve what you’re going through right now.
Instead of healing, you hold on to grudges. You fight for immediate justice instead of long term rewards.
And it makes you poor.
Poor in spirit. Poor in wealth. Poor emotionally, physically, and relationally.
The best way to carry a grudge is as a chip on your shoulder and added motivation for you achieving your goals.
It’s fuel. Not failure.
If what you were doing was small and ordinary then no one would bother you. Life would be easy and problem free.
Opposition and mean people treating you unfairly are a sign that you’re attempting something more than ordinary. You might be on the verge of being extraordinary.
Don’t throw that away.
Look beyond the pain you feel and feel the pain of staying stuck. Feel the anguish of giving up too soon.
It’s not worth it. Carry on. Upward. Onward.
Be awesome.
The post The Best Way To Carry a Grudge. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.
Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.
Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...
