112. Demanding the wrong thing

why you aren’t getting that job promotion.

It’s easier to ask than to do. Easier to think than act. Easier to procrastinate than work.

Our chief desires are to get more freedom and independence.

A promotion is an avenue to that.

Empty demands never led to success though.

Three words to spark a mentality shift:

BE. DO. HAVE.

1. Be the person you want- Embody this new identity even before you have reached there.

2. Do the work- When you are a runner, you run. When you take on the identity of something new you have to do new things.

3. Have the results- Consistently identifying who you want to be and acting in accordance with that leads to inevitable success.

Remember you aren’t entitled to anything.

Create value. Demand responsibility. Don’t abdicate. Repeat.

111. Why you need to read the 1-page marketing plan

A succinct book that will get you to focus on the important stuff.

What is often the case with a lot of self-help and business books is that the author includes a lot of fluff, unnecessary examples, or straight-up bad advice.

Allan Dib does the opposite.

Providing a brilliant outline of how to approach all aspects of marketing, he gives a very practical strategy for business progression.

Complex concepts were broken down into digestible text and analogies.

It was one of my favourite marketing books I’ve read in recent years.

As a result, I went through my notes on the book and thought I’d share my favourite takeaways.

Here they are:

• Strategy without tactics leads to paralysis by analysis.

• Tactics without strategy lead to the “bright shiny object syndrome.

• Quality and great service are expectations; they are just part of good business practice—not something unique. People only find out about your quality and great service after they’ve bought. A good USP is designed to attract prospects before they’ve made a purchasing decision.

• We want to get into the mind of our prospect. What do they really want? It’s rarely the thing you are selling; it’s usually the result of the thing you are selling. The difference may seem subtle, but it’s huge.

• A better option than discounting is to increase the value of your offering. Bundling in bonuses, adding services, and customising the solution can all be of genuine value to your customer but can cost you very little to do.

• Purchasing is done with emotions and justified with logic after the fact.

• The five major motivators of human behaviour, especially buying behaviour, are Fear, Love, Greed, Guilt, and Pride.

• Always choose clarity over cleverness.

• Hire experts that specialise in whatever media you decide is right for your campaign—they’re worth their weight in gold. Don’t try to do it yourself, especially when it comes to the most expensive part of your marketing process. What you don’t know WILL hurt you.

• Lifetime value and customer acquisition cost are two of the key numbers you need to know to measure marketing effectiveness.

• My preference, as much as possible, is to build and own my own marketing assets, such as websites, blogs, email lists and so on. I then use social media simply as a way to drive traffic to these marketing assets. This way, my time and effort go into renovating my own “house” rather than that of a landlord who can kick me out at any time.

• Have an unlimited budget for marketing that works.

• When you educate and teach, you are seen as an expert and an authority. You’re no longer questioned; instead, you are obeyed and seen to have a personal, genuine, helpful interest in other people.

• Sell Them What They Want but Give Them What They Need.

• A common misconception is that the innovation has to be in the actual product or service itself.

• Our goal is to eliminate the biggest bottleneck from your business—YOU.

• A customer won on price will be lost on price.

• A great way of framing an upsell is to say, “Most customers who bought X also bought Y.”

• Entrepreneurs work in the results economy, whereas most other people work in the time and effort economy.

110. The job isn’t for you

the crucial criterion that must be met.

You’ve got this new job: free food, a pretty paycheck, and cheery colleagues.

The list of ‘bonuses’ is neverending and you feel like it is a no-brainer.

Sure the job has a few annoyances but you are sure it’s the best around.

Every worldview changes when you are prepared to live by the exception.

The notion that there may be a slight chance.

And in this case, recognising there may be a possibility for purpose. Yet, you don’t have it.

Every human has an innate desire for direction, calling, and this purpose.

Acceptance of the lies occurs because this exposes the fact that you made a wrong decision.

You think: “maybe took this job because I wanted the money, status, and comfort rather than it being a calling”.

“We can easily work in not-for-profit organisations: we cannot, however, work in not-for-purpose organisations“- Ken Costa

Failure is when you think you are doing the right thing and it goes wrong.

When you are hired you are betting that your boss has some of the answers, some of the guidance, some of the direction forward.

The truth is unless they are purpose-driven, hurdles and hardship are inevitable.

Individual identities differ, yet, can be unified under the collective vision.

For many that is money, success, and notoriety.

Those things don’t satisfy your soul.

You aren’t getting a mid-life crisis but a quarter-life one. The increased options for a ‘purpose’.

Yet, how do you pick?

The feelings you have at 18 are not the same at 40.

“They gave up their searches for truth and took up new callings and new identities, not because they had the answers, but because they found the one who does”- Ken Costa

So the solution? Look beyond yourself.

You may realise there is a bigger unmovable purpose for you.

Surely you’d want to put your trust in an omniscient one rather than an unsure self.