The most important word in your entrepreneurial vocabulary is “next.”

Next fortifies action.
Next symbolizes progress.

Next is the BFF of your business.

Next means complacency prevention.
Next means continuous improvement.

Next is the monetizer of momentum.

Next is the fervent architect of creative reinvention.
Next is the critical trigger of entrepreneurial advancement.

Next is the rocket fuel of your career.

Next derives from the German term, nahisto, which means, “Neighbor.”
Next derives from the Old English term, niehsta, which means “Nearest.”

Next is the playmate of your professional life.

THEREFORE: Don’t just use the word next – bow to the door of next.

Bow meaning honor.
Bow meaning respect.
Bow meaning recognize.

Knowing that without incremental progress, there is no incidental profit.

Today we’re going explore six ways to honor, cultivate and leverage next as an invaluable attitude of entrepreneurial excellence.

1. How do you talk to yourself when you fail? Imagine you just screwed up. Ate the big one. Totally bombed. Pulled a Homer. Instead of whining, “I suck!” start affirming, “Nextime…” First, this helps you let go of the past and focus on the future. You can’t debate what was.

Second, maintaining a nextime attitude forces you to begin thinking about what you’ll do differently. Sure beats becoming paralyzed by your own mistakes and a prisoner of yesterday’s errors.

Third, nextime is about (not) overreacting emotionally or being too hard on yourself. Rather, navigating the entrepreneurial waters calmly, objectively and unapologetically. Are you willing to increase your dosage of vitamin nextime?

2. What’s next? My readers and audience members frequently ask me, “Hey Scott, which of your books is your favorite?” And after eight years, the answer has always been the same: “My next one.” I challenge you to embrace that same attitude of “What’s next?” in your work.

First, on a micro level. That is, in terms of productivity. Ask yourself this question throughout the day to resurrect declining momentum. Secondly, on a macro level. That is, in terms of projectivity. Ask yourself this question throughout your creative process to ensure consistent execution. What is your legacy of taking action?

3. What will you do differently next time? Kaizen is the Japanese term for continuous improvement. That’s exactly what this question is all about: Honoring your current performance, yet challenging yourself to envision an enhanced future.

In my first five years as a professional speaker, I employed this philosophy as a post-speech ritual. Once my presentation was over, I’d take fifteen minutes to write a stream of consciousness list. Every thought, every feeling and every evaluation of my performance, I wrote down. What worked? What didn’t work? What killed? What bombed?

Then, when I was done, I’d make a note at the bottom of the document that read, “In my next speech, what I plan to do differently is ____________.” This simple ritual grew into a profitable practice for continuous improvement of my performance as a speaker. How could you apply the same reflection process to your job performance?

4. Now that I have this, what else does this make possible? If you want to kill two stones with one bird every time, all you have to do is consistently imagine what else can be made (or could come) from this. Therein lies the key to leverage: Looking at something you’ve created and then playing with its potential.

This process is called Movement Value. You identify concepts that allow you to “breed” other ideas from those concepts. You expand, grow, cook, stretch and shift your idea, allowing it to spawn creative offspring. You look for spin-offs and related ideas. You go forth and multiply. You also exercise enough restraint to recognize LACK of potential.

If an idea doesn’t have much (or any) movement value, you need to save it, file it and move onto something else. Is this idea a springboard or a straightjacket?

5. If everything you’ve done up until now is just the beginning, what’s next? Past is prologue. Past brought you here. Past made you who you are. When you start to align your thinking with this truth, a new world of possibilities opens up.

Your challenge is to extend gratitude for – and embrace the value of – everything you’ve already accomplished. At the same time, don’t overvalue prior successes. Arrogance of the past will come back to bite you in the ass. As John Mayer explained during a 2009 interview with Esquire:

“To evolve, you have to dismantle. And that means accepting the idea that nothing you created in the past matters anymore other than it brought you here. You pick up your new marching orders and get to work.” Will you view the past as a crutch or a fulcrum?

6. What are the three next steps you can take on your own? This is an expanded version of David Allen’s famous question from Getting Things Done, “What’s the next action?” The secret is twofold. First, by assigning a number to it (three), you set a quota of accomplishment.

This forces you to stretch your thinking. Secondly, by specifying the person taking action (you), progress becomes a brighter possibility because you take personal responsibility. Are you using specific, ownership-taking language?

REMEMBER: The answer to “When?” is “Next!”

It’s the most important word in your entrepreneurial vocabulary.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What is your legacy of taking action?

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For the list called, “45 Recession-Friendly Strategies for Entreprenerial Evolution,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.
Always about approachability.

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

1. Actions are antidotes. Mainly, to the fears you think are real. Which aren’t. Because they’re fears. And fears are only as real as your fear of them. Like the schoolyard bully whose sole source of power is your fear of him, most fears melt into a puddle of goo when you stand up to them.

That’s the action part. And it’s contrary to FDR’s philosophy that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. I disagree. I think the only thing we have to fear is the fear OF fear itself. Nothing a few courageous steps of action can’t fix. If this action drains your energy and ability to change, what would cause the opposite?

2. Bodies are barometers. They speak the language of Truth. They tell you what your mouth is afraid to say, what your ears don’t want to hear and what your brain is too chickenshit to admit. Your mission is to listen louder. Much louder. And to treat everything you hear as legitimate, quantitative data.

Look: This isn’t like flying coach when you stick your ear buds in and tune out the safety demonstration you’ve heard a thousand times. This is your health. And your business will thank you for prioritizing it over everything else. What is your body saying about your pace?

3. Boundaries are saviors. If you don’t set boundaries for yourself, other people will set them for you. And then they will violate them. And then they will tell all their little friends that it’s OK to violate them. All because you failed to set a precedent of value by putting a stake in the ground.

Your challenge: This week, don’t let yourself back down from another boundary defining moment. Give yourself permission to say no to the good so you can make space for the best. What would it cost you NOT to stick up for your boundaries here?

4. Brands are accelerators. On the customer side, they accelerate the decision making process and the sales cycle. On your side, they accelerate profitability and company growth. But here’s what’s scary: For too long, too many businesspeople have barely skated by with ZERO branding.

And while it may have worked for a few decades, eventually, brandless businesses become broke businesses. You can’t afford not to have one anymore. Be branded or be stranded. How much longer can you go without having an identity?

5. Clients are teachers. Let them participate in your brand. They will teach you how to sell to them. They will teach you how to serve them better. They will teach you what products to release next. They will teach you where to take your business. They will teach you what you’re doing wrong.

All you have to do – and this are the two steps most companies miss – is ask them, then listen. Loudly. What kind of feedback loops are you generating so your customers and employees can have a genuine conversation?

6. Interruptions are derailments. An article in The New York Times recently reported that the average employee is interrupted every eleven minutes. If you do the math, that’s forty-three interruptions over the course of an eight hour day.

Are. You. Kidding. Me.

No wonder productivity is in the toilet. Thank God I’m self-employed. What I’d be interested to know is how many of those interruptions were self-inflicted, and how many were legitimate time stoppers. Because you always have a choice. Remember: The best way to block a punch is to not be there. Is what you’re doing RIGHT NOW consistent with your #1 goal?

7. Maybes are lies. If you don’t say, “I will,” you won’t. If you don’t say, “I choose to,” you aren’t. That’s how powerful language is. My suggestion is to write the word “maybe” on a pad of sticky notes. Then draw a big fat “X” through each one. Then post them all around your office.

Soon enough, that word will be permanently deleted from your vocabulary. And that’s when your pattern of execution will begin to manifest. Your welcome. What are the components of your success vocabulary?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What (not so) harsh reality are you avoiding?

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For the list called, “99 Questions Every Entrepreneur Should Ask,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.
Always about approachability.

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

1. Put your money where your foot is. Mouths don’t do anything but eat and talk. And occasionally drool. Feet, on the other hand, are profit centers. No wonder so many successful entrepreneurs have corns and calluses: It’s all about mileage.

It’s all about asking the question, “What’s the next action?” Remember: Your feet are your balance sheet’s best friend. Better engage your pedometer. Profitability comes from steppability. What massive action did you take today?

2. Honesty shouldn’t HAVE to be a policy. If you have to remind your people to tell the truth, you need new people. On the other hand, if your leaders cleave to truth and practice radical, rigorous honesty, your people will follow suit.

Truthfulness speaks volumes, begets trustworthiness and accelerates followership. Policies are for amateurs. Have you introduced a steady stream of truth serum into your leadership diet?

3. A man is known by the company he keeps AWAY from. Show me who you refuse to hang with, and I’ll show you who you are. That’s perhaps more indicative of your character. On a deeper level, also think about the people you refuse to listen to. Same thing.

It’s all about whom you let participate in your life. Because it’s too damn short to surround yourself with people who don’t challenge and inspire you. How much time are you spending with people who haven’t learned how to value you yet?

4. If you can’t think of anything nice to say, you’re not very creative. Everybody hates somebody. Personally, I could name ten people – right now – that I would just LOVE to watch take a bath in hydrochloric acid. But as much as dislike them, I could still say something good about every one o them. It’s all about making the choice to attend differently to people.

You have to ask yourself questions like: How could this person positively affect me? What makes this person special? What is the hidden treasure inside this person that maybe others don’t see? What character qualities do I admire in this person? What potential, ability and wisdom do I see in this person? What has this person accomplished that needs to be celebrated? Remember: There’s always something nice to say. What do you see when you see people?

5. It is what it is. Wrong. It ISN’T what it is. “It” is what you’ve chosen it to be. “It” is what you’ve given yourself permission to accept. “It” is what you’ve allowed to exist into your life. “It” is what you’ve assumed you’re stuck with.

Screw “it.” I loathe the word “it.” The word “it” is a personal responsibility dodger. It you don’t like “it,” change “it.” Is it (really) what it is?

6. Shtick gets your foot in the door, but only substance keeps you in the room. Shtick is necessary, but it’s not enough to sustain you. Customers demand substance. Meat. Value. Sustainability. They want a sweet candy shell AND gooey, delicious Tootsie center.

Sadly, too many entrepreneurs are all shtick and no substance. Like Dum-Dum pops: All sugar, no payoff. The secret is being remarkable (and) relevant, worthwhile, marketable and brand-consistent. Otherwise the milk from your Purple Cow will taste sour. What substance will keep you in the room?

7. Only the WRONG survive. Be incorrect more. Encourage aggressive mistakes. Go screw something up – then go learn from it. After all: The wronger you are, the stronger you become. But only if your wrongness of action is punctuated with rightness of reflection.

Remember: Mistakes are springboards. Mistakes build instincts. Mistakes precede truth. Mistakes reframe creativity. Mistakes reveal individuality. What do you have to learn from this mistake to make it no longer a mistake?

8. Opposites attract, but that doesn’t mean they endure. Especially if there’s no commonality of constitution. No foundational harmony. No overlapping value systems. Because as much as we’d like to think life is like a Beatles song, love isn’t enough.

Love isn’t all you need. Not if you seek sustainability, that is. What are your 2010 relationship goals?

9. The best way to bring home the bacon is to raise your own pigs. That way, you’re the only shot caller. No permission. No committees. No compliance. No decision-making hierarchy. Just you. Wow. Can you imagine how much time, money, effort, energy and stress you could conserve by in-housing your next project?

Ask yourself: What if you bought your own equipment and made it yourself? What if you built everything proprietary and created your OWN studio? What if you never had to hire anyone ever again because you learned how to do it yourself? Just a thought.

After all: Having done it yourself makes you a more educated entrepreneur. Plus execution occurs faster. Maybe being a pig farmer isn’t as bad as it sounds. Maybe Thoreau was right when he said, “The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.” How much (more) money could you be earning working solo?

10. Your ship never comes in – only your dock gets bigger. Stop waiting for things to happen to you and start happening to things. Practice purposeful impatience and start taking action toward what you desire. Don’t wait for permission. Don’t wait for perfection. And certainly don’t wait until you know what the hell you’re doing.

Just go. It’s only a matter of time before the captain says, “Welcome aboard!” Of course, none of this happens without an eagerly desirous, raring-to-go, restless expectation and dislike of anything that causes delay. That’s the construct of an impatient person.

Remember: Triple your impatience = Triple your proactivity = Triple your profits. What one step could you take now to start moving forward to your ideal future?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What epiphany will you have this week?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “65 Things I Wish Someone Would Have Told Me When I Started My Company,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.
Always about approachability.

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

1. People are classrooms. They contain volumes. And as such, deserve to be treated with deep democracy. Even if you don’t like them. Even if you have the urge to “accidentally” push them out of the fourteenth story window of your office.

Go out of your way to experience everybody as your mentor. As Emerson reminds us, “Every man I meet is my superior in some way.” As Ginsberg reminds us, “You don’t have to like them to learn from them.” How could you morph this person into a professor?

2. Problems are messages. The word “problem” derives from the Greek term, proballein, which means, “to throw forward.” Interesting. Sounds like the challenge is keeping your receptive capabilities open enough to see what the problem points to.

Three helpful questions to ask are: Is this particular problem part of a larger problem? What does this problem tell me about the larger picture? And what am I pretending not to know about my role in the problem? Understand: This problem is a message, and it’s your job to reply in a timely fashion.

Like a first date with a girl, you don’t want to keep it waiting. What if, overnight, a miracle occurred, and you woke up tomorrow morning and the problem was solved – what would be the first thing you would notice?

3. Questions are catapults. Lord of the Rings style. Launching your curious butt over the wall of uncertainty, plunging straight into the heart of understanding. And the cool part is: Once a question has been asked, it’s neurologically impossible for a human brain (not) to begin answering it.

This fact is especially powerful during a meeting, for those of you unfortunate enough to attend them regularly. Ultimately, people sitting around the table can pretend they didn’t just hear you. But their efforts are futile. A question asked is a brain toggled. And like a bell that can’t be unrung – once you send your question out there, there’s no turning back. Truth or bust. Where do you want to take people with your questions?

4. Rants are goldmines. In moments of unbridled emotion, unexpected anger and unimpeded passion, truth surfaces like a fart in a bubble bath. So, next time you feel a rant coming on, let ‘er rip. Try not to avert your ears. (Or your nose, for that matter.) Instead, spy on yourself as you rant.

And like the spontaneous bedtime story you continue to tell to your kids after they fall asleep just to see how it turns out, keep ranting. Then write everything down. Then organize your rants in an easily accessible way. You never know: You might say something good. Even better, you might say something bad. When was the last time went on a good rant?

5. Shortcuts are mirages. We just think they’re real because they’re everywhere. Stupid instant gratification culture. Like I tell my audience members: Learn to love and leverage the longcut. Shortcuts are stressful, expensive and time intensive. Shortcuts cause stress, rarely succeed and often backfire. They never go unpunished. They are a refuge for slackers and a lazy man’s panacea.

Stop taking them just to impress yourself. Instead, learn the chords. Take the long cut. Work your face off. Develop bottomless patience. That’s where the true oasis awaits. Will this choice bring your long-term fulfillment or will it bring me short-term gratification?

6. Transitions are teachers. My friend Ria from My Mommy Manual recently reminded me that when you undergo periods of personal transformation, it’s crucial to examine the new and different types of things you attract into your life. People. Ideas. Situations. Thoughts. Attitudes. Experiences. Whatever shows up in your life is your fault. Outer represents inner. You are the result of yourself.

And the trick is twofold: (1) Practicing enough self-awareness to recognize that these new things are supposed to be teaching you; and (2) Maintaining a teachable, coachable attitude to convert those new things into lifelong lessons. If the current phase of your life were a how-to book, what would it be called?

7. Values are navigators. Maps and compasses are for sailors and boy scouts. As long as you have enough self-awareness to ask, “If I were me, what would I do in this situation?” you’ll get where you’re supposed to go. That’s how you chart your course. That’s how you traverse turbulent waters.

By knowing yourself SO well that you could memorialize your non-negotiable decision making patterns to the point of repeatability. Do that, and I promise you’ll discover land. What if you started wearing a bracelet that read, “WWID?”

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What epiphany will you have this week?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “23 Ways to Bring More of Yourself to Any Situation,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.
Always about approachability.

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!