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Tag: growth

Selling and cold calls

Call 1: The worst.
Call 5: Still pretty bad.
Call 10: You care less if someone says no.
Call 12: Someone might be interested.
Call 15: You make a sale.
Call 16: You make another sale.
Call 17: You feel pretty great until someone else says no.
Call 18: You feel bad but make another call anyway.
Call 22: The person asks you to call back next week.
Call 24: Sale.
Call 25: You begin to realize the yes/no/maybe answers have nothing to do with you.
Call 30: Your pitch is better. You can clearly talk about the benefits your product/service provides.
Call 35: If someone says no, it doesn’t ruin your day.
Call 37: Sale.
Call 40: When someone says no, you refine your pitch.
Call 48: Sale.
Call 50: When someone says no, you recognize that person wasn’t the right fit for your product/service.
Call 52: Sale.
Call 53: Sale.
Call 54: The no response is no longer a Big Deal, and you keep going.
Call 55: Sale.
Call 56: Maybe. Appointment set.
Call 57: Sale.
Call 58: Sale.

The first calls are always the hardest. Keep going.

How online courses can make you money

The Australian Bureau of Statistics cited an almost $47,000 yearly salary difference of those with postgraduate degrees. But “non-traditional” students may feel reluctant signing up for a class at the local campus. There’s an easy answer: online courses.
Researcher Tuan Nguyen found substantial evidence showing that online classes are just as effective as classroom models. Add in flexibility and variety, online programs can be key for for busy professionals looking to get ahead.
Online learning allows students to move at their own pace and review course subjects during free hours. Those reluctant to speak in classroom settings can contribute more confidently in online forums and participate in discussions without the anxiety associated with public speaking. Feedback from teacher to student can be exchanged more quickly than traditional paper based reports, and online assessments can ensure students have assimilated course principles before moving on to move advanced modules.
Teachers, too, can benefit. Direct communication between student and teacher means reduced office hours and the reduction of scheduling conflicts. Readings and class notes can be posted online for students to review, eliminating unnecessary photocopies and paperwork, and supplementary content — videos, articles, journals — can be accessed quickly online. Such engagement can encourage students to fulfill course requirements and interact with industry professionals.
Free online learning opportunities are plentiful: Khan Academy and Coursera.org are good places to start. If you have taken an online course, I want to hear about it. Tweet me @redheadlefthand.

What does ease look like?

What does an “easy life” mean to you? What would you have time for? Do you see friends more often? Are you able to create, read, play? Do you eat differently, sleep better, take different care of your body? Are you more patient, relaxed, or kind?

Ease.

Dream about a life that feels like swimming through air. Meditate on it.

Then act.

Get rid of unnecessary stuff. Clean your house, clean your schedule, clean your body and mind. Slow down. Focus on one thing at a time (making lists can help with this). Wake up earlier and give yourself an extra twenty minutes to get to the office. Surround yourself with beauty: place freshly cut flowers on your desk, change your desktop photo, take morning walks, look up at the stars.

Inviting ease into your life opens the door to expansiveness, creativity, wonder, magic — and the unexpected. No, you won’t stop encountering difficult situations or irksome people, and your schedule won’t magically empty (you’ll have to do some work to clear out what is taking you away from your priorities). But you’ll start to move through life in a different way, and people will respond.

What does ease mean to you? Tweet me at @redheadlefthand.

What do you stand for?

How do you define yourself?
Who (and what) are you committed to?
When do you say No?
When (and how) have you failed?
Which decision would you remake?
Where do you spend most of your time?
Who (and what) do you love?
When was the last time you redefined yourself?
Are you afraid of change?

Restoring health

An ayurvedic center in Nepal offers one month programs for people who have fallen out of good health. The team of practitioners systematically target different elements in the body in the belief that once balance is restored, the person will return to a calmer, more peaceful state of wellbeing. Throughout the month, clients receive weekly recommendations designed to detoxify and restore the body. Therapies incorporate diet, yoga, cleansing, and a series of ayurvedic practices. Participants are discouraged from engaging in unnecessary work — especially online — and follow a daily schedule, waking around 6:30am and sleeping by 10pm.

The center is simply decorated, a table of organized bottles of herbs and oils resting beneath a bright window. “What happens when clients return home?” I asked.

“One of two things usually happens,” the manager replied, his smiling eyes gentle and kind. “The person returns to same challenges with a renewed perspective, better equipped to make decisions, or they make changes after realizing their situations no longer serve them.”

The truth is we all have some habit that could be reevaluated. I don’t think you need to come to Nepal and spend a month in a health facility to make adjustments in your life, but you will need focus and a commitment to yourself. And if you need guidance, please don’t hesitate to find a suitable health practitioner near you.

By bringing mindfulness to each day, it is possible to assess whether the decisions we make are helping us become healthy, informed, and balanced.

How do you start your day?

The actions you take when you first get up in the morning set the tone for the rest of your day.
Do you check Facebook or emails while you’re still in bed?
Do you savor your first cup of coffee or drink it hurriedly over office briefs?
Do you speak kindly to your family or grudgingly rush out the door?
Do you allow five minutes to meditate or begin reviewing your to-do list?
Do you wake up thirty minutes early and stretch or do you race to your first meeting?
Use your morning to intentionally create thoughtful habits. Mindful routines and rituals build foundations for success, and advance preparation can help banish the worry and anxiety that stem from haste.
Have a great morning and watch your afternoon unfold with peace and calm.