Now that you’re out of bed.
Now that you’re dressed.
Now that you’ve pulled out of your garage.
Now that you’ve got your Red Bull.
Now that your day is here.
Now that the lights are on.
Now that you’re on stage.
What song are you going to give us?
Better yet, when you strum the first chord and sing the first line should we believe you?
Click here and may these words ring in our heads each and every morning.
#LTMP
You are what you do, not what you dream.
Frustrating, but true – the success of our dreams has more to do more with our discipline than our creativity.
Go. The world belongs to the dream do-er’s
Most of us dream of revolutionizing something.
We want to change the system, the model, the family, the industry, the process, the service, or the product.
This will happen when you simply play and prepare for your game of choice better than anyone else.
Alabama is revolutionary in football simply by better defense.
The San Antonio Spurs are revolutionary in basketball simply by pick and rolls and bounce passes.
Apple is revolutionary simply by putting smart into a smart phone.
Warren Buffet is revolutionary simply by purchasing stock in great companies, with great vision, that have demand for their product/service in the future.
We have to delete the thought from our minds that being revolutionary has a lot to do with bringing sexy back. It doesn’t. It never has. It never will be about that.
Prepare, show up, and play the game harder than the next guy – and then, by default, you will be called revolutionary.
We have a saying in our office that is the final statement of our core values: You Get What You Give.
Abbreviated into YGWYG, I refer to it as “yig-wig.”
This is a foundational thought that will live in every company I’m blessed to participate with throughout my career.
It takes courage to give.
So if you’re after more joy courageously give more joy.
Not getting the information you want from your customer? Then freely, unashamed, and Santa-Claus-like, tastefully, give them more GREAT information they can use.
Givers are very beneficial to receivers. Don’t forget that.
This will take you being vulnerable too.
The commerce of the future will belong to those who do not stray way from this vulnerability, but to the ones who embrace it.
Watch. Much of what we pay for today 10 years from now will be freely given. But done right, the customer will see that and in return give currency in return for something else.
In his song “Wheel”, John Mayer sums this up perfectly. “I believe that my life is going to see the love I give return to me.”
#LTMP
One day an opportunity will arise for you the salesman to say I’m sorry. I was wrong. It was my fault. My product or service did not work the way it was intended to.
Everyday an opportunity will arise for you to serve.
Most days an opportunity will arise for you to not ignore the call.
Probably everyday an opportunity will arise for you to make the call you don’t want to.
When we don’t take the opportunity alloted, we miss a musical opportunity.
Noise is what the market expects (you’re not going to serve well, you’re not going to say you were wrong, you’re going to ignore the difficult call, and you’re not going to make the follow-up call). Noise is par. Noise is average. Noise is vanilla.
I’m giving you 2 permissions:
1) You are allowed to ignore the small voice inside your head that wants you to play the blame game, not serve, ignore the call, or not make the call. The more we give in to this voice, the more shallow life becomes.
2) Talk to your fears. Call them out. Address them. Demand they weaken. They’re responsible for most of where we’re lacking music in our lives.
Now that you have this permission, what are you waiting on?
Our days are full of endless opportunities, and it is the result of these opportunities that will cause your brand continue living in an economy where there are brand causalities happening all around us.
Ashton.Gustafson 