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But Who Are You REALLY?

Children Playing
I seem to have been surrounded by kids on the weekend.  

  • Friday night I was with my brother’s three kids where we had an impromptu disco, karaoke, and singer impersonation session
  • Sunday afternoon Wifey’s brothers three kids dropped over as I was harvesting the sunflowers and in their excitement nearly slammed the car door on one another
  • Sunday night was at a friend’s place where their two kids were doing what kids do; sleeping on the dog, planning time to spend with Dad for the week, diving on the couch, showing off their chooks and vegie garden.

I LOVE the enthusiasm and vibrance of kids.  They represent true authenticity. Who they are right now is who they are. They happily tell you how they feel, they have opinions on most things, their emotions show easily and quickly, and you pretty much know how they feel and who they are.  The same cannot be said for many adults.

All my life I have been accused of being “childish”.  So many people have told me to grow up. A friend who works in Child Psychiatry said she would assess me at being about 14 years old.  Legendary base baller Chili Davis is attributed to having said “Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.” I believe we can be mature, professional and sophisticated combined with childlike enthusiasm and energy.

So who are you REALLY?  Are you really how you behave or have years of “shoulds” changed how you are in the world?  Does your inner child need to burst out and say hello?

Who are you REALLY?

PS I will be in Adelaide on Friday 15th April being childish with some non-profit clients. If you are looking for a workshop on how to Get More Sales or want to Ignite Your Team on Thursday 14th April, please email me!

Picture: SherbyBonBon 

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Selling is Not Smart

Conversation



Selling is Not Smart

I have done many sales courses over the years.  I have read many sales books, blogs and newsletters.  I have listened to many sales CD’s and tapes.  I have come to the conclusion that Selling is Not Smart.

What I mean by that is that there is no super smart magic special formula, sentence, statement, or approach that is guaranteed to work every time.  There is no secret that you are missing and the super stars know.

The foundation of sales is this.  

How can you solve your customer’s problem?  



To get to ask this question you need to build rapport in a way that is comfortable to you and that doesn’t alienate your prospect.  Basically, be you and have a conversation. The best way to find out how is to practice having an engaging conversation and listen for the issue or problem they have.

Practice on your partner, your kids, your friends, your work colleagues, your clients, your prospects and all of a sudden you will find that you are a legendary sales person – simply by finding out how to solve your customer’s problems.

Like I said, selling is not smart, it’s an effortless conversation.

Image: Clairity 

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Is It Fun?


One of the most energy draining aspects of work is seriousness. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place to be serious, but it seems that it is becoming ALL the time and EVERY place!
How many times have you been in:

  • Meetings have you had that have just dragged on while someone was waffling about the importance of so and so and you could tell that NO ONE was listening?
  • Sales presentations where the sales person was so serious, it turned you off their product?
  • Conversations with colleagues who sounded like they were running down a checklist of things to say?

The Minister of Fun at a conference I was at had one simple rule. It is a rule I am liking more and more each day.

“If it’s not fun, don’t do it. If you have to do it, make it fun”

That doesn’t mean that you make everything an opportunity for stand up comedy. You don’t want to be disruptive, you simply want to make it fun.
So are you having fun yet?

PS

If Nuns can do it, why not you? If you want to buy the Calendar go here

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Where is the Best Place to Exhibit?

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Have You Got The Right Gear?



When I first learnt to snow ski, I borrowed the ski gear from friends and rented the essentials.  My first couple of times were not pleasant experiences.  My feet hurt in the boots, there was a hole in the ski pants so I was wet and cold to the bone and the trusty rental ski’s had a mind of their own!


After a while I bought my own ski outfit.  I was then toasty warm but with sore feet and a misguided sense of direction. I finally got sick of sore ankles and bought some boots that actually fit properly and some parabolic ski’s that did all the hard work for you.


Skiing was now a completely different experience. I was warm, skiing was effortless, I could go anywhere, I had faith in my equipment and most importantly, I really enjoyed the day.


The right gear makes all the difference.


It’s the same with your work.  Have you got the right gear? For the last 4 years I have been “putting up” with a second hand computer I was given. My audio and video processing took ages but it was what I had. Last week I took delivery of what I call MEGA PC. It has loads of memory (12GB), huge hard drive with auto backup, fast access ports and large monitors.


My first reaction was “Why didn’t I do this ages ago?”  Granted the technology prices keep coming down but I forgot the important concept that the right gear makes all the difference.  It is worth the investment of time, effort and money to get it.


Have you got the right gear to do what you need to?

PS Happy Valentines day to you. Take the opportunity to tell those who are important to you how you feel.  I’ll start, I truly appreciate you taking the time to read this.  Thanks! 

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What is the Reality?

Hole in Roof

Someone, somewhere has really upset Mother Nature. Friends in the US and Europe are telling me about massive snow dumps and incredible low temperatures. Here in Australia we have flooding, cyclones, bush fires and unseasonal rain fall. Can whoever upset Mother Nature please apologise!

With all the rain in Melbourne, we were also affected. The picture is of my lounge room – note the massive hole in the ceiling where the plaster used to be. It is amazing what one broken tile can do.

As I was bemoaning this situation to Wifey, I had a flash of reality. There were people in flood ravaged Brisbane or Cyclone ravaged Queensland who would be happy to have just a tile of their house. The reality is that while I had a problem it was really rather insignificant compared to the problems of others.

The same can be said for problems we find in our working lives. At the time they can seem insurmountable, inconvenient and a massive block to achieving your goal. Looking at your situation with a healthy perspective does of a lot to remove the emotional blockages. You can then focus on addressing the issue one step at a

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So when you next have an insurmountable issue, what is the reality?

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How Come I Am Not Perfect?

As you know, I have been spending a bit of time playing the bass lately (I promise to not mention it next time!!)

There is a part of me that wants to pick it up and be an absolute guru at it straight away! The reality is that it is not going to happen. I need to put in the effort.

When I left University and started my IT career, I wanted to be the CEO straight away. When I started singing I wanted to be a start straight away. How come I am not perfect at

anything straight away?

I recall when Goanna won the Best New Artist award back in the 80’s, the lead singer commented that it took them 10 years to be an overnight success. I am certain Susan Boyle’s overnight success was preceded by years of practice, training and commitment. In Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers he says that the magic number is 10,000 hours of practise to be a leader in a field.


The secret to these 10,000 hours is actually just doing them and doing them one hour at a time.

In the area you want to be a guru, work, home, guitar or even Bass Guitar, just keep doing it one hour at a time as best as you can. This is the short cut to success!!


Enjoy!

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Do you Lead or will you Get Out of the Way?

It’s the last of our micro leadership course. So there is a bonus.  This time there are FOUR skills to focus on.

Your four leadership skills are:

Act – Talking and thinking won’t get the results that Action will. Leadership is not a theory, it is an action. So take action and be the leader you want to be.

Authenticity – Be yourself. Get inspiration and ideas from others but be yourself. Adapt the ideas and skills to your style. It will then be natural for you to lead.

Appreciate – Thank the people who support you and your team, regardless of how small their contribution. Words and gestures of appreciation make a far bigger difference that you can imagine.  Even if someone is doing what they are supposed to, showing appreciation makes a big difference.

Share – A leader takes a little more than their fair share of the blame and a little less than their fair share of the accolades. Have some humility.  It will make you more attractive as a leader and will create a massive sense of loyalty in those around you.

Don’t forget to measure your progress.  Using the ten simple leadership skills you have received over the last three weeks will make a huge difference in what you can achieve as a team in your personal and professional life.

Go for it!

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Are You a Leader?

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Do You Lead?




Leadership

To kick of the year I wanted to give you a micro course in Leadership. Some of you may think you do not have a leadership position, well you would be wrong! You are the leader of your own life.

So even if you work on your own, these points can help you in getting what you want out of life personally and professionally.

I don’t overwhelm you with a massive to do list, especially since many of you will be just

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returning to work after the festive season break and your inbox and to do list is already bulging. To make it easier to digest I have broken it into a three week course. Each week you can focus on three things.


Thinking about these items is not enough. You need to put these three principles into action.

For this week, your three skills are:

Focus – Where is your focus? What you focus on will get achieved. So have some kind of reminder (a picture, statement or symbol) to help you and your team focus on what is really IMPORTANT and not just urgent.

Measure – What gets measured gets improved. How will you measure your improvement or progress? Is it numeric, do you need surveys, should you involve your customers?

Delegate – Get more done by doing less. It is too easy to say “But I can do it quicker.” Work with your team to train them up to do what needs to be done. The effort will bring great returns.

How will you implement these three principles?

Enjoy!

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How Long Does It Last?

Merry Christmas!!  For those of you who don’t celebrate Christmas, Happy Festivus (Seinfeld’s so named Festival for the Rest of Us).


This time of year I see people doing things they usually wouldn’t.  Many acts of kindness and niceness are done “because it’s Christmas”.  Extra donations to charity, letting people cut in line, taking time to talk to people from other departments, there are so many ways I see this sense of charity manifest.


Then January comes, people return to work after some time off and we return to our slightly grumpy and caffeinated way of operating.  Can’t we make the festive season last longer?  How long does your sense of goodwill to all men and women last?


I have often thought if I could get the essence of Christmas distilled into a small spray it would come in so handy throughout the year.  A quick spray on those I have to deal with who may have lost perspective or forgotten to smile or the reason we were dealing with each other.


My choice this year is to make Christmas (or Festivus) last all year.  Continue to spread goodwill, tolerance and happiness with all I deal with.  Care to join me?


Thank you for reading my writings this year.  I trust it has brought some value to your life in some manner.  I genuinely wish you, your family and your business a magnificent festive season and a 2011 that blows you away with results, joy and happiness.  If I can help that happen, please contact me.


Merry Christmas – may it last all year long!


Warwick Merry
The Get More Guy

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Celebrate Success

 

Congratulations!!

You are over half way through your own Year Without Shopping.  As you will have read I am a huge fan of celebrating success.

To help you do this I have created your Celebrate Success Shopping List.  To down load it, click on the link and it will open in your web browser or right click and select “Save Link As” to save it to your computer.

If you are stuck and need some ideas, please don’t hesitate to contact me using the details on the Contact Us page. 

 

While you are here, please use the Newsletter sign up on the left to sign up to the Get More Goer.  It is a weekly burst of energy and observation to help you achieve your life goals.  Small enough to read in your preview pane, useful enough to look forward to each week and easy enough to delete so it doesn’t clog your inbox.

 

Good luck with the rest of your year.  

Warm regards  

Warwick 

 

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Have You Got Gifts?

It is only 12 days until Christmas. For those of us who celebrate it, now is the time

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for us to run around like headless chooks searching for the perfect gifts – or not!! In fact, Jill Chivers (a friend, shopping guru and woman who has just survived a year without buying clothes) has some excellent tips on How to Survive Holiday Shopping.


As it is only 12 days until Christmas, Wifey and I got to chatting about the 12 Days of Christmas. Personally, I don’t need that many birds. With all the swans, partridges and even maids a milking, I don’t have room in the house for all of those presents. So we came up with the 12 Days of Christmas challenge.

Technically, the 12 Days of Christmas start on December 26. I am happy for you to start this challenge any time you want. Maybe you don’t even celebrate Christmas. You may prefer Ramadan, Hanukah, Festivus, Holy Give Warwick a Present Day – whatever you choose. But I strongly recommend you choose the 12 Days of Christmas Challenge. This challenge is not about what you get, but about what you give.

So check out the 12 Days of Christmas Challenge and let me know how you go!

Enjoy


Warwick

PS Speaking of Christmas, I have been able to get some more bonus items from other authors of Agents of Action. It is now up to over $1,600 worth of value for the price of the book. Thanks to those of you who have already pre-ordered it – you will get all of the bonuses (and any more I may be able to get!)

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Surviving Holiday Shopping

Today’s post is Something Different.  A friend of mine Jill Chivers runs a program and award winning website called Shop Your Wardrobe.  Jill has been on her own year-long challenge, a year without clothes shopping, which finishes on Wednesday, 15 December 2010.  As she is the expert on shopping (and not shopping), I asked her to share with us her guide to Surviving Holiday Shopping.  I hope you find it valuable!

Enjoy!!

Warwick


Surviving Holiday Shopping

I’ve learned a lot about shopping by not doing it for a year.  My own year without shopping taught me a lot about the emotional reasons that we shop, and ways to use my time, money and energy better. Now we’re coming into the holiday crush and many people’s thoughts are turning to shopping.   
Shopping for Christmas gifts, shopping for special holiday food, shopping for one’s self as a treat.  I don’t know about you, but there are certain shopping centres that I actively avoid from about December 10 onward – they are madhouses!  If you found shopping confusing or over-stimulating before, then in the lead up to the end of the year and in the week leading up to the New Year, they are even worse! So here are our top tips for surviving shopping mayhem this
year.
1.    Be prepared.  
      Yes, girl and boy scouts, this oldie but goodie is one worth applying to shopping.  Don’t go out of the house, headed towards the shop without a clear plan of where you’re going and what you’re getting.  Write a list.  Use that list.  Even if you aren’t a list-writer or use one at any other time of the year. This may take some time to create, your list – but consider it a wise investment – the time you spend creating the list will pay off in spades when you’re in the mall.  And remember:
lists are like maps – they can help you stay on track and avoid pitfalls.  If there is any time of year
when pitfalls abound, it’s now.  So do yourself a favour and create your map and take it with you!
2.  
Be in a resourceful state.  
      What this refers to is how you’re feeling, mentally, emotionally and physically.  Do not go  shopping when you are tired, fractious, hungry, upset, angry or frustrated.  It will only get worse  once you are in the shopping mall.  Make sure you are feeling buoyant, well-rested, energetic, well fed and watered, and calm.
3.  
Be focused.  
      Keep your map – your list – in your hand and go to only those places that you said you would.   Don’t meander into this shop or drift into that shop.  Don’t allow yourself to become distracted by spruikers selling their wares at seemingly massive discounts, or enticing window or table  displays.  Keep your focus laser sharp.
4.  
Be aware.  
      Shopping centres are deliberately designed to keep you in them for as long as possible. The way they are designed, lighted and air conditioned is all part of a deliberate strategy to have you lose your sense of time (and sometimes, direction).  Keep your awareness turned to “high” as you shop, by tuning into your surroundings and noticing them.  It’s easy to become in a slightly anaesthetised state in a large enclosed shopping mall (after all, the design of these malls has been scientifically tested, proven and duplicated for many decades) – so offset that by being aware of where you are.
5. 
Be clever (but not cheap).  
      Some of us are bargain hunters – we can sniff out a sale at 100 paces and our homes and wardrobes are stocked with many items purchased for far less than their ticketed price.  I’m all for buying well but I’d caution: just don’t buy something because it’s on sale.  That’s a trap that will have your home and wardrobe overstuffed with “cheap” where no further thought has gone into its purchase than its price tag.  If you wouldn’t buy it full price, put it back – it’s not for you.
6.  
Be deliberate.  
      Last minute shopping often leads to frenzied shopping where you buy the first thing you see without any hesitation.  Stopping and pausing before buying is a great ‘braking’ mechanism that has you interrupting an automatic thought pattern of “ooh I like this, I must purchase it” to “ooh I like this.  Let me consider what it may, or may not, add to my life”.  Never go from ‘high’ to ‘buy’ – insert a step in between so that everything you bring home is consciously chosen.
7.  
Be timely.  
      Set yourself a timeframe by which you will be finished shopping, and heading out the door.  You want to put some flex into this timeframe, because the car park and the mall may be more  congested than usual, making it harder to manoeuvre around.  But it will be possible to give yourself a broad timeframe that you can stick to.  If you say it’s 2 hours, then after that time, do a quick review of your map (your list) and see if you have done enough for today’s session, and start moving toward the exit.
Shopping at holiday times can be a stimulating pastime.  It can also lead to blow-outs in your budget and the feeling of time slipping through your fingers.   Use these strategies to shop consciously and reduce the consumption commotion this holiday period. As the New Year peaks around the corner, consider making 2011 the year that you “shop your wardrobe” instead of the malls. Find out more about my program and join it (with special input from Warwick in Month 6!) by visiting http://www.shopyourwardrobe.com

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12 Days of Christmas

The Twelve Days of Christmas Challenge

 

 

12 Days of Christmas

 

Welcome to the twelve days for Christmas. Rather than thinking about what your true love can give to you, my challenge for you is

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to think what you can give not only to your true love, but others in your life as well. So here is your challenge for the next twelve days. Don’t forget, that they are cumulative, just like the song. That is, on the first day, you give the first thing. One the second day, you give the second thing and then the first thing. On the third day you give the third thing, the second thing and then the first and so on.

Here are your Twelve Days and their challenges:

On the first day of Christmas I gave to my partner or best friend, an extra long and extra firm hug.

On the second day of Christmas I gave to a person on the road, 2 moments to cut in ahead of me.

On the third day of Christmas I gave to the person on the street $3 for a coffee treat.

On the fourth day of Christmas I gave to a member of my team, 4 minutes to tell me what they thought of me.

On the fifth day of Christmas I gave to myself 5 minutes of mediation.

On the sixth day of Christmas I gave to my family, six minutes of singing silly songs.

On the seventh day of Christmas I gave to my kids, seven minutes of undivided attention.

On the eighth day of Christmas I searched my memory for eight things I learned from this year.

On the ninth day of Christmas I wrote in my diary, nine goals for the coming year.

On the tenth day of Christmas I gave to my friends, ten minutes of non-stop praise.

On the eleventh day of Christmas for my sanity, I gave myself an eleven minute bath (Frankincense and Myrrh is optional).

On the twelfth day of Christmas I committed to the community twelve hours of my time as a volunteer.

It is ALMOST singable to the original tune!! Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get it perfect but do act on as many as you can. Carry the spirit of Christmas and giving with you as you do.

Enjoy!!

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