On getting unstuck

I remember being stuck.

I was stressed. I was frustrated. And my company wasn’t making any money for the third year in a row.

Then I listened to Earl Nightingale’s The Strangest Secret before going to bed one night.

In his program, he advises you to take the one thing you want more than anything in the world and focus all of you efforts on attaining it.

For me, it was to move into a new house and reach my target income goal within a year.

So, I took Earl’s advice. I wrote down my goal on a little nametag and kept it in my wallet. I looked at it several times a day. I told everyone in my mastermind group about it. My friends even bet me $20 that I would be able to accomplish it.

And on January 1st, I set out to achieve my goal by December 31st.

Miraculously, I hit that goal mid-July.

I became unstuck.

It was truly amazing.

So, thanks to the prompt from Curt’s Collective Genius Blog, here are my three cents on getting unstuck:

What gets people stuck: running in place and not doing anything about it. Not setting goals. Not focusing on “that one thing.”

Why people stay stuck: because they’re part of the 90% of the world who doesn’t a) set goals, b) write them down, and c) look at them daily.

How people can get unstuck:

1) Tell people who are important to you that you’re stuck.

2) Walk with the wise. Surround yourself with those who aren’t stuck.

3) Watch the movie The Secret.

4) Focus 100% of your efforts on your one big thing.

5) Put a sticky note on your computer that asks you, “Is what you’re doing RIGHT NOW consistent with your #1 goal?”

Good luck. May the Schwartz be with you.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How did you get unstuck?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
On a small card, write down the one thing you want more than anything, and the date by which you’d like to have it. Look at it several times a day. Commense getting unstuck.

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
Author/Speaker/That Guy with the Nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com

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What’s the mark of a job well done?

I guess every profession is different.

For up ‘n coming bands, maybe it’s playing a sold out show two nights in a row.

For new authors, maybe it’s topping the New York Time Bestseller List.

For fashion designers, maybe it’s having their dress worn by Jessica Simpson on the red carpet.

As a professional speaker, I’ve often wondered what the mark of a job well done was in my industry:

Receiving standing ovations?
Commanding high fees?
Selling thousands of dollars in books?
Addressing huge audiences?

Maybe. And I admit, all of those things used to sound great to me. But over the years I’ve come to learn that there are many other indicators of success.

Same Time Next Year
At my first NSA convention, someone reminded me, “Your goal is not to get a standing ovation; your goal is to be invited back next year.”

Great example: two days after hosting a breakout session with one of my association clients, the president called me and said, “Scott, I just wanted to tell you how much our members loved your workshop on approachability! In fact, because it was one of the highest rated sessions of the conference, we’d like to invite you back to deliver the keynote at next year’s conference!”

Nice. Not just, “Hey, great speech. Thanks.” But rather, “Wow, that was awesome! Can you come back and do that again next year?”

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How much of your business is repeat business?

Positive Feedback
But then there’s the audience (i.e., your fans.) Let’s face it: the mark of a job well done also pertains to the feedback you receive from them. Since they do pay the bills.

I remember getting an email once from a man who was in the audience of one of my personal branding programs. He was a successful entrepreneur, known extremely well throughout the business community. In fact, I was kind of surprised to hear from him.

“Scott,” he wrote, “Your speech changed my life. I am serious. You got me thinking in whole new ways.”

Wow! Coming from him; that meant a lot to me. Another job well done!

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you just serving, or truly impacting/changing/blowing away your clients?

How’s Your Calendar Looking?
Still, aside from customer testimonials and gushing clients, there’s also the mark of a job well donee as a function of your ability to multiply your successes.

I learned this from my mentor, Shep Hyken, when I first got into the speaking business.

“Every speech should be replaced by three others,” Shep said.

In other words, if you can book three new speeches for every one speech you give, your calendar will always be filled.

This brings me to the best speech I ever gave in my life.

No standing ovation. No life changing audience testimonials. Not much in product sales. Hell, I didn’t even get paid for the speech! It was a freebie!

But I did book 14 speeches from inquiring audience members within the next four months.

Unbelievable. Yet another job well done!

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you sustaining yourself by multiplying your success?

Make Your Mark
Success looks different for everybody: it depends on your profession, your unique values and your goals. But it won’t come your way unless you know exactly what it looks like first. So, here’s my suggestion:

1) Create your own list called The Mark of a Job Well Done. Ask yourself, “If everything went perfectly, what would that look like?”

2) Consider 3-5 attainable success measures.

3) Make it your goal to achieve at least one in every single project.

Ultimately, remember that your version of mark of a job well done will probably change over time. Me, I’ve only been in this business about four years. But I’ve started to realize that while audience testimonials, repeat clients and referral business have always been measures of my own success, there IS one common denominator all of us can agree on: making a difference.

A few months ago I gave a speech at an employment conference. Many of the audience members had physical or mental disabilities, some of which had lost the ability to speak. After my speech was over, a man from the front row whose badge read, “Hurricane Mike,” came right up to me a with a huge smile on his face. And even though he could barely put the words together to articulate his point, he placed his hand on my nametag and said, “It’s not the nametag; it’s the heart behind it.”

What’s your mark of a job well done?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How do you measure success?

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
Author/Speaker/That Guy with the Nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com

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It’s not about the nametag

On January 14th, 2005, my friend Andy was drunk.

Not wasted. Not tipsy. And not belligerent, but drunk enough that he did not care if his words hurt my feelings.

“Scott, face it,” he started, “The whole nametag thing is cool. Nobody can deny that. But come on. You already wrote a book about it. So what next? Nothing! It’s like, you have nowhere to go.”

Interesting. I listened on.

“I am not trying to rain on your parade,” he slurred, “but the thing is: there is really nothing unique about wearing a nametag. Anybody could have done that. And there is nothing unique about your book. Anybody could have written that.”

Wow. For being drunk at 4:00 AM during the final hours of a bachelor party, Andy sure gave me something to think about!

In fact, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I stayed up all night replaying our conversation in my head. Did not get a wink of sleep. And those five words kept chiming like church bells:

Anybody could have done that.
Anybody could have done that.
Anybody could have done that.

I never told anyone about that conversation.

Maybe because I did not know the answer.
Maybe because I was ashamed.
Maybe because I was afraid.

Either way, it did not resurface until about a year later.

I had just returned to St. Louis after a giving a speech at WOMMA in Orlando. My Dad and I sat down to dinner. We were talking about the growth of my business, writing books, giving speeches and the like.

And in this almost eerie, yet proud tone that only a father could project, he said, “Scott,” with a nod and a smile, “It’s not about the nametag.”

“Huh?”

“It’s not about the nametag…” he laughed.

“…because anybody could have done that.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, you’ve been at this thing going on six years now. Think about everything that happened: the books, the speeches, the interviews and the change you’ve brought about to yours and other people’s lives; everything that’s evolved since the day you first stuck that nametag on your shirt. Pretty remarkable, doncha think!?”

“Yeah, I…I guess it is,” I nodded.

“You see, the fact that you wear a nametag is not what’s brilliant. The brilliant thing is what you’ve done with it.”

And at that exact moment, I knew Andy was both right AND wrong.

Why he was right: sure, maybe my original idea was not unique. Anybody could have slapped on a nametag every day. Hell, they did that in Seinfeld.

But what WAS unique was what that idea had turned into.

Why he was wrong: Andy said that after my first book, I had nowhere to go.

This could not have been farther than the truth. In fact, it was the opposite: I had everywhere to go! And I still do! And I can’t wait to get there!

Folks, the lesson is simple:

It’s not your idea; but what your idea BECOMES that matters.

(Well, that, AND, “always ignore the drunken ramblings of your friends at 4 AM.”)

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What was the best idea you had in the past year? What did it become?

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
Author/Speaker/That Guy with the Nametag

Are you That Guy?

Find out in Scott’s latest book at www.hellomynameisscott.com!

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Tag: kicking your own ass

On getting unstuck

What’s the mark of a job well done?

It’s not about the nametag