10 Things to Stare at Other than the Sun: A Beginner’s Guide to the Eclipse

As we approach go time on the great Eclipse of 2017, my news-feeds have been filled with articles warning me not to stare directly at the sun. I haven’t had a chance to personally thank everyone for this information, so I thought I would do my part and craft a quick, last minute, beginner’s guide to help with your safe eclipse viewing pleasure. For some reason, it appears all logic is getting thrown out the window and one of the more dangerous effects of this eclipse is the brainwashing that on August 21, 2017, it might possibly be OK to stare at the sun.

This is false. Do not fall victim to whatever force is providing you this sun staring permission! I haven’t had time to delve into all of the potential conspiracies around why we should all go blind, but there are any number of possibilities; Trump, Clinton (take your pick of which one), Al Gore, Michael Moore, Steve Bannon, Aliens, Hitler, Putin, North Korea, SNL, CNN, State of Illinois, State of California, or the 1987 Bruce Willis movie, Blind Date. Rest assured, you can certainly find one that will lead you to the truth. The truth is out there. So in an effort to help you keep your eyesight, I’ve compiled a list of 10 things you should stare at other than the sun, and it isn’t really polite to stare, so just take a look.

 These are in no particular order.

·        Adam Judge home run blast – the rookie Paul Bunyon-esque NY Yankee slugger has been dropping cartoon like blasts

·        Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Instagram page. He’s funny, he’s built, he’s not embarrassing, and he’s got a social media flair that makes Instagram fun.

·        Bill Burr animated videos on YouTube. This animated helicopter pilot bit taken from his popular Netflix special, I’m Sorry You Feel That Way is hilarious. Watch all the animated videos. Repeatedly. And again.

·        I’m a sucker for field to table videos. For those not familiar with that concept, it is when the subject catches the animal and then cooks it all on the same video. I’m not sure anyone has this down better than Robert Arrington of the Deer Meet for Dinner channel. He has a great appreciation and love of the outdoors and his energy is totally positive. DMFD has hog hunts, crocodile hunts, deep sea fishing, frog legs, you name it, and Robert has probably caught and cooked it. His weekly Tasty Tuesday segments are always great to look forward to.

·        Speaking of cooking, Scott Rea of the Scott Rea Project and his Butchery and Cookery channel has some great videos. I discovered him while viewing dozens of deer processing videos. He is Scottish, so there’s a different take on what he cooks and how he prepares his animals and dishes.

·        In case you hadn’t heard, rock band Phish recently played 13 nights at New York’s Madison Square Garden where they played 26 sets, 237 different songs, and no repeats. They also played a “Lawn Boy Reprise”. Seriously. Read more about this epic residency here.

·        When it comes to Twitter, it’s a blast following Jimmy Fallon. In this climate where entertainment stars are trying hard to be political experts, Fallon tends to stick to comedy most nights. He’s had his moments of dipping his toes in the political commentary, but he’s a late night host and they’ve been doing that for years. His “Thank You Notes” and live tweeting allow for great fan interaction and I think he’s hilarious.

·        The Grand Canyon. When it comes to National Parks, is there anything better?

·        For your Sunday Morning, there’s nothing better than CBS Sunday Morning. I don’t always get to watch it live, but I do follow along with the show and it’s normally feel good stories.

·        Since I was a kid, the fall always meant going back to school and the Major League Baseball playoffs. There’s just something about the MLB playoffs that makes me feel like a kid again. I don’t think there’s anything better in sports. Not the NFL, not McGregor v. Mayweather, not anything soccer related. For me, nothing is more exciting than the MLB playoffs.

Protect yourselves tomorrow. I don’t want to be a buzzkill, but DO NOT STARE AT THE SUN. You will suffer the consequences which may or may not include blindness. With that being said, enjoy the eclipse tomorrow, it’s going to be out of sight!

~mas

Seeking to Understand

The idea for this week's blog came to me while sitting in some sales training reviewing content based on the idea of seeking first to understand, then to be understood. Now that idea isn't very new to living or selling, but I had to ask myself, "is this me?"

The idea of seeking first to understand goes back to the bible, but it is still as relevant today as ever. As we become more of a "me first" society, an idea like trying to understand our customers before offering up a solution can really separate us from our competition. This is not just an exercise to be applied to the client relationship, but can be implemented in our everyday interactions with everyone we meet.

First, I want to caution those reading that this isn't a "tip" or trick to be added to the tool bag, but rather a way of living that will (hopefully) become who we are. It is a belief that in order to be effective needs to be nurtured and practiced in our everyday lives. Just like all good stuff there is some good news and bad news associated with this way of life. Once we start to practice thinking of how we can understand before we seek to be understood, life - and consequently our careers - start to become less of a grind. That's the bad news - this is going to take work. 

The good news is that anyone can do it. You've probably already got the necessary tools needed to start practicing this TODAY! When I was sitting in training last week, I was thinking about the times in my life where I've lived this way. The fact that this isn't a new philosophy should also provide you examples of times you've lived this way too. The idea is to become aware. So how do we start?

Well, today is a great day to begin. When your wife says, she doesn't really want anything for Mother's Day today, ask her what "nothing" means. Dictionary.com has a modest 19 different definitions for the word and I don't think any of those definitions included, "a steak dinner, pedicure, and a nice card". You get my point. When a client says one thing it is important that we really understand what they mean before we attempt to solve the problem we think they just told us they had. It is easy to get excited about having a client actually call us back and give us time to discuss a problem they want us to help them solve, so our natural instinct is to come up with some killer solution complete with all the bells and whistles, then sit back blow on our fingers like super heroes only to find out when they said "sound system", they were actually talking about the audio-conferencing in their Board Room and not the powered loud speakers in their auditorium.

I always want to be learning. I think it's one of my strongest characteristics. The people that I want to emulate in sales and life seem to have an unquenchable desire for continuing education. I can read all the books I want, listen to all the podcasts available, and ready trade article after trade article, but that's no excuse for practical experience. I need to practice what I learn. Learning by doing is always beneficial for me. It's easy to read a book, learn some quotes, and pretend those quotes are now your experience, but what I'm trying to do is reach the next level of living and selling. I want this to be a natural way of working and living. So, I'm going to practice. Tonight. I'm making "it doesn't matter" for dinner. 

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there for being the rocks I'm sure most of us would say you are. Thank you for always being there.

Everyone Has A Story, Tell Yours

Everyone is selling something. Whatever your profession, you've got an idea, a product, a proposition, or a service to sell. Everyone also has a story to tell. The most successful sales people are those who tell their stories well and in a way their customers hear it best. We all tell our stories differently and what interesting to you may not be interesting or important to me. What's important is that we tell it truthfully and with enthusiasm. I can't count the number of times someone has been telling me a story about something whose subject isn't at first glance all that interesting to me, but their enthusiasm and knowledge of the material is so honest and interesting, I eventually want to know more. I've watched countless documentaries on Netflix where the subject matter isn't the reason I'm searching, but because the person recommending it to me explains it to me with a story so engaging that the subject becomes almost secondary. 

As salespeople, I think storytelling is a lost art in getting the customer to relate to you in a way that wants them to know more about what you do or have to offer. The first order of prospecting is to get the meeting and i'm not sure there is a more effective way to interest a customer than with a story that ties their story to yours. As a consumer, I'm not likely to buy from you if the story you're telling doesn't hold my interest.

I'm not pretending that we're all Stephen King or J.K. Rowling, but I'm sure Stephen King and J.K. Rowling are OK with that. They understand the stories they are telling are THEIR stories and they sell plenty of books to people who love their stories. I've never read one Suzanne Collins (Mockingjay) or Stefenie Meyer (Twilight) book, but does that mean that neither of those two storytellers have a quality product to sell? Collins has sold almost 90 million books and Meyers has sold over 100 million copies of her books!

We all have a story to tell and if we stick to our own, we will reach those customers who can relate. We might not reach them all, but we will have success working with people who relate or enjoy our story because we tell it honestly and with enthusiasm. Try it the next time you want to get something from a customer. Whether that something is an appointment from a hard to reach CEO, or your 3-year old who needs to pick up those painful legos from the living room floor. 

We all have a story to tell, what's yours?