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1. Now that I have this, what else does this make possible? I call this “The Ultimate Leverage Question.” I ask it to myself all day, everyday. And it comes from Edward DeBono, who defines the movement value of an idea as, “The ability of one idea to lead to another.” So, every time you finish writing ANYTHING, you need to ask yourself the following question: Now that I…

Instead, all you need to do is follow these eight practices: 1. Harmonize the influences within you. Everything you’ve ever read, seen, heard, touched, tasted, watched, experienced and learned. All of this brainstuff is your creative soil waiting to be tilled in those golden flashes of inspiration. That’s why the art form of writing is so cool. You can’t “prepare” to write – your life IS your preparation. You’ve…

1. Avoid adverbial garbage. Let your words speak. Don’t tell people what they’re supposed to see in your art. Don’t make your readers do your job for you. If you have to tell them, you haven’t done a good enough job with the writing itself. For example, the man you met on the bus wasn’t “extremely attractive.” He was handsome. Or chiseled. Or had a smile like Denzel Washington….

You can’t make the world notice you. You can’t make the world love you. All you can do is increase the probability that the world will attend to, approve of and offer applause for you. By making yourself more yessable. Today we’re going to explore eight practices for boosting your yessability: 1. Be of duty and destiny. The world cannot resist a man on a mission. And if you’re…

“I’ve heard of you before!” Those are the five most important words in marketing. Because it’s all about mindshare – NOT marketshare. And so, your success is a function of the following interrelated factors. 1. How often you hear those five words. 2. How positive people’s subsequent comments are. 3. How carefully you listen to and write down those comments. 4. How frequently you repeat the original actions that…

Your name speaks before you do. Whether it’s your surname, nickname, company name, domain name, product name or username, the question you have to ask yourself is: “What do people think, feel, say or do when they hear your name speak?” Hear. Your. Name. Speak. So, maybe somebody: SEES your name in print. COMES across your name on Google. STUMBLES across your Twitter username. HEARS her friend invoke your…

This book took exactly one year to write. I wrote it because it wanted to be written. I wrote it because I couldn’t (not) write it. I wrote it because I finally gave myself permission to be radically honest. I wrote it because I wanted to create a sequel to Make a Name for Yourself. That being said, I want you to have the book. For free. Right here….

1. Answers. Overrated. Questions are all that matter. Here’s why: Questions advance sales. Questions change relationships. Questions contain energy. What’s more, questions are bridges, catapults and fuel. They create buy-in, earn respect, invite dialogue and transform organizations. When was the last time your precious answers did all that for you?? 2. Balance. It’s for ballerinas. Besides, you can be off balance and still be on purpose. That’s called alignment,…

I have three questions for you: 1. Are the stories people tell about you the same stories you tell about yourself? 2. What’s the gap between how you want to be seen and how others experience you now? 3. And how does that gap between your onstage performance and your backstage reality affect the daily lives of the people you serve? Frustrated by your own answers? That’s not entirely…

Every science class you’ve ever taken in your life will confirm the following biological truism: What feeds, grows. What starves, dies. The secret is to show bullies that you’re not an easy target. Ideally, they’ll eventually become tired and move on. If you don’t, taking their bait is letting them get away with it. Growing up with an older brother, I can attest to that. Bullies want attention and…