Success Takes Daily Effort But Excuses Last Forever.

Let’s put the seniors in jail, and the criminals in a nursing home.

This way the seniors would have access to showers, hobbies, and walks, they’d receive unlimited free prescriptions, dental and medical treatment, wheel chairs etc. and they’d receive money instead of paying it out.

They would have constant video monitoring, so they could be helped instantly if they fell, or needed assistance.

Bedding would be washed twice a week, and all clothing would be ironed and returned to them.A guard would check on them every 20 minutes, and bring their meals and snacks to their cell.

They would have family visits in a suite built for that purpose.

They would have access to a library, weight room, spiritual counseling, pool, and education.

Simple clothing, shoes, slippers, PJ’s and legal aid would be free, on request.

Private, secure rooms for all, with an exercise outdoor yard with gardens.

Each senior could have a P.C. a T.V. radio and daily phone calls.

There would be a board of directors to hear complaints and the guards would have a code of conduct that would be strictly adhered to.

The “criminals” would get cold food, be left all alone and unsupervised, lights off at 8pm, and showers once a week. Live in a tiny room, and pay $5000.00 per month and have no hope of ever getting out. Justice for all.

“Money when considered as the fruit of many years’ industry, as the reward of labor, sweat and toil, is not to be sported with, or trusted to, the airy bubble of paper currency.” Thomas Paine (1757-1809)

I’m reading “Conquer The Chaos,” the new book by Infusionsoft founders Clate Mask and Scott Martineau.

Chapter 5 is called Disciplined Optimism, which is right up my alley! I’ve been a competitor my entire life and I was always  the quiet one in the corner mentally rehearsing my roles and responsibilities, thinking through the plays, the opponents and how I would crush them as soon as the whistle blew.

Meanwhile, there was always one or two or five who would hoop and holler, shout and jump and run around high-fiving everyone, slapping them on the backside and getting themselves psyched-up (I guess). These were the same guys that would hang their head down low as soon as the opponent busted through for a big gain or scored early or laid a shoulder into one of our guys for a good hit.

Back then I couldn’t distance myself from these yay-hoo’s because they were on my team. Today I can and I do put quite a bit of distance between myself and the crazy-happies.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not some “half-empty” kind of guy wandering around thinking the sky is falling. Quite the contrary. Things are great on the other end of this computer screen and have actually never been better. They are really good for me now because of Disciplined Optimism that has given me the strength and the fortitude to prepare for and persevere through the rough times that have befallen us today and will last for many years to come.

In Conquer the Chaos Clate and Scott refer to the Stockdale Paradox, a name given to Admiral James Stockdale by Jim Collins, author of Good to Great. Stockdale spent seven years as a prisoner of war during Vietnam and won a Medal of Honor for his efforts resisting the North Vietnamese communists.

As Collins was interviewing Stockdale he asked him who were the P.O.W.s that didn’t make it home from the Hanoi Hilton. “Oh, that’s easy,” said Stockdale, “the optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they’d say, ‘We’re going to be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.”

Stockdale concluded with, “This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end – which you can never afford to lose – with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be” (Collins 2001, 84-86) (Mask, Martineau, 2010, 81-81).

What brutal facts have you been ignoring? Are sales trending down? Is competition up? Are sales cycles growing longer? Are your salespeople making more excuses than appointments? Are you not generating enough leads from your website, trade shows, ads, etc? Are you wasting money on marketing that is not producing a measurable, positive ROI?

Contrary to what my good friend Dione at Impact Marketing will tell you, I’m not a pessimist. I just call ‘em like I see ‘em. You and I can prevail in the end if we focus on our current reality.

If you need a little boost in that area check out what my sales mentor, Steve Clark, has to offer. Tell him Wes sent you and he’ll give you a little extra goodie bag when you enroll in his Inner Circle. But don’t bring it weak and don’t get in his kitchen if you can’t stand the heat because he doesn’t sugar coat a dang thing. You’ll grow or you’ll go!

“The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.” - Cicero – 55 BC

The answer may surprise you.

I agree with Daniel Pink who says in this video that we desire:
1. Autonomy.
2. Mastery.
3. Purpose.

But Pink does not tell us WHY higher incentives actually led to worse performance.

My speculation: Those seeking to acquire the higher incentives for cognitive performance suffered from “paralysis by analysis.” They “over-thunk-it.” When the stakes are high, fear causes us to second-guess our instincts, our “gut,” our “little voices,” our highest and best impulses.

SOLUTION: Quit being scared.

Wes

P.S. There is no fear in the Inner Circle.

P.P.S. I know “over-thunk” is not a word. I’ll teach you why I used it one Monday morning during the Inner Circle call.

Chief Executive magazine surveyed 651 CEOs from across the country and for the 5th year in a row California is last. Followed by New York, Michigan, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

Texas was voted the #1 best state for the 5th year in a row.

I’ll let you do the research to determine what the winners and losers have in common when it comes to:

• Taxation
• Welfare
• Regulations
• Education
• Infrastructure
• And overall Political Correctness

Here’s the beauty of this report: it proves that money talks and bullsh*t walks. You cannot repeatedly beat the PRODUCERS over the head, break their legs, handcuff them and disparage their hard work and success and then confiscate their gains and expect them to take it lying down FOREVER!

My clients in the freight and moving industries tell me they are quoting and moving people out of California weekly but not moving anyone into the state.

Americans are Pioneers. We love freedom. We are risk-takers. Setbacks are acceptable. Failure, though, is not an option and you only fail when you fail to get back up after a setback.

The government is NEVER the answer. The government is ALWAYS the problem. We cannot tax our way into prosperity.

The government only does two things well: kill people and break things. That’s why I love our military and am proud to have served for 9 years. Our nation needs to be defended because there are a lot of bad guys out there that want to kill us.

They are jealous of our productivity, our ingenuity, our freedoms, our prosperity.

So hold your head up high and tell the CONFISCATORS, the EXCESSIVE REGULATORS, the SOCIAL MANIPULATORS, the MOOCHERS and the LOOTERS sitting on their pedestals in Sacramento and Washington D.C. to go pound sand, get their hands out of our wallets, go live and produce in and amongst the laws they’ve created to see how friggin’ Socialistic and punitive they have become.

Entrepreneurs are what make this country great.

Business owners are the backbone of this country.

Professional Salespeople are the fuel of small business – and big business for that matter. A former CEO of mine used to say, “Salespeople are the straw that stir the company drink.”

Be proud to be in sales. Be proud to be a Capitalist. Be proud to be a fighter, growing your business against the artificial headwinds coming out of bureaucratic cesspools occupied by empty suits more concerned with philandering their life and our hard-earned money away.

Be proud that you are proud of America.

Surround yourself with experts and demand excellence from everyone you meet and with whom you do business.

Demand excellence from your kid’s teachers. From your vendors. From your Chamber of Commerce. From your mayor and city council. From your cell phone provider and from your janitorial staff. Demand excellence from the restaurants you frequent and from the newspapers and magazines and blogs that you read. Demand excellence from your children and encourage them to do more in the pursuit of their dreams. Demand excellence from your staff and from your consultants and advisers. Demand excellence from your governor and from your representatives and senators and from our President.

America was not founded on excuses. Lewis and Clark did not have lifetime, defined benefit plans or free health care when they sought the Northwest Passage. These pioneers had guts and vision and determination and drive and persistence and a yearning to be free and to achieve greatness.

And it was hard on them at times. But it was worth the struggle, the effort, the temporary discomfort.

Welcome to the biggest battle of your business career and your life.

We stand at the crossroads not too dissimilar from the crossroads that George Washington and Abraham Lincoln faced. Our nation is under assault from both the outside and from within.

Pay attention. Work hard. Accept no excuses. Hold your staff and your elected officials accountable for their actions.

When you do, great things will happen.

Keep the faith.

May God Bless You, Our Troops & America.

Wes Schaeffer "The Sales Whisperer®," Brian Tracy, Jake Schaeffer

Mr. Brian Tracy was about 30 feet in front of us while speaking on stage in San Diego at the Traffic Geyser Firepower Summit in March and he opened with the powerful line, “Future intent determines present action.”

I turned to my now-13 year old son and asked, “What are your future intentions?” To which he responded with a knowing smile between father and son. It was a great moment.

What are your future intentions?

Where are you focused?

What are your present actions?

Do you know how to grow?

Do you know how to overcome the issues that may be slowing you down?

Are you following that “happy thoughts” bullsh*t?

A great line Brian Tracy said was, “If you are a believer in the ‘enthusiasm and happy thoughts are all I need to be successful’ then you believe there’s a Richard Simmons, Jr.”

So get to work. Create your “To Do” and your “Not To Do” list and focus on getting things done.

If you need help, ideas and/or just want to hang out and associate with like-minded entrepreneurs that refuse to take no for an answer then join our Inner Circle and grow your business, guaranteed.

Good selling.

Remember to Keep Christ in Christmas and it will all work out.

Here’s a list of 45 things to always keep in mind to live a happier, more fulfilling life. I received it as a presentation yesterday from from my mother-in-law. It was much nicer with all of the photos but this is still a powerful and moving list.

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
12. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
13. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
14. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.
15. Take a deep breath.
16. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ”In five years, will this matter?”.
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business…
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
38. Get outside every day.
39. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.

Kanye West is an idiot, a buffoon, a pitiful, conceited, rude, self-centered MEANY…but my momma always told me “you can learn something from everyone.”

So let’s look at what we can learn from this punk ass fool’s lack of class and apply it to our own efforts to connect, persuade and earn a sale:

1. Sober Up Before Your Presentation. Unless you’re on a golf course, a fishing trip, Hooter’s or your client’s bachelor party, leave the flask in your rental car. I can’t think of any sale (of any significance) I’ve closed while drunk.
   
2. Let Your Client Have the Spotlight. Selling is all about cashing checks, not stroking your ego. (Salespeople get their ego stroked BY cashing checks!) If you are stealing the spotlight from your client your chances of earning their business diminish exponentially.
3. Bring Your Own Microphone. You will come across more polished and prepared if you don’t have to rip the mic from your co-presenter and then slobber all over it because you forgot Rule #1.
4. Timing, Timing, Timing. Real estate is all about location. Selling, persuasion and negotiation is all about timing. I love Beyonce – and she eventually won Video of the Year – so “Cocktail Kanye” seems that much more insane because he was fighting a fight that didn’t need to be fought.
5. Know When To Speak and When to Shut the Hell Up! I learned early on that it’s better to keep quiet and have people think I’m a fool, than to open my mouth and remove all doubt. You can talk yourself right past the sale. Learn to be interested in your client instead of interesting to them.
6. Remember Your Manners. Southern Hospitality goes a long way, even if you’re not from the South. Learn and remember the manners your momma taught you growing up and use them in every selling situation.
7. Get Over It. If you think you’re desperate, you are. We all have skeletons in our closets; family members we hope don’t come to the reunion; mistakes we’ve made in business and should have known better. Suck it up. We don’t want to hear your weak ass excuses. We want results. Shake it off and make things happen.

Kanye West is a narcissistic nincompoop and Taylor Swift and Beyonce are classy individuals. Learn from them all and learn to learn from all of life’s situations at all times. It’ll be your secret weapon on the journey…