Hello my friend.
Thank you for allowing me to conduct this experiment within an experiment.
Experiment #1: Sharing an episode of The Sales Podcast here on Substack.
Experiment #2: Leveraging the audio feature of Substack.
I’m starting with a book review I did many years ago because this book, “Deep Survival,” moved me.
I know you’re probably thinking, “Wes, WTH does a survival book have to do with sales, marketing, and entrepreneurship?”
Ahhh…everything.
You see, this book is not a “how to,” but a powerful look inside of us, which we all must get to know much, much better.
Oh, I didn’t know this at first, but as I’m updating this post, I realize there I’m also conducting Experiment #3, which is the native transcription service Substack provides here, and it’s pretty dang good.
Before long, I’ll share my thinking behind this experiment, which I think will help you in this noisy age of AI, scrapers, cold emailers—a nice word for spammers—and the deep fakes crashing down upon our heads as I write this.
But for now, enjoy this episode from the archives of The Sales Podcast…
Laurence Gonzales knows how to write...and survive.
Why do some live when so many others die?
"...to survive, you must first be annealed in the fires of peril."
"I found otherwise rational people doing inexplicable things to get themselves killed—against all advice, against all reason."
Reason doesn't control our actions.
Why did Scott's crew perish in Antarctica while, against all odds, Shackleton's crew survived and even thrived in the same circumstances?
Brain functions... the psychology of risk-taking and survival
They apply to stressful, demanding situations...
divorce
losing a job
illness
injury
running a business in a rapidly changing world
Experience, training, and modern equipment can betray you.
What's in your heart is what can save you.
The farther one goes, the less one knows." ~Tao Te Ching
How did I get into this and this and how do I get out of it again, how does it end?" ~Søren Kierkegaard
How Accidents Happen
“Of each particular thing ask: 'What is it in itself, in its own construction?'" ~ Marcus Aurelius
You need skill and superior emotional control.
Lesson #1: Remain calm, do not panic.
Turn fear and anger into focus.
Stay "cool" by not allowing your emotions, i.e., "hot cognitions," to get away from you.
Four Steps (only 10-20% can stay calm and think in an emergency):
Perceive
Plan
Take the correct action
Rapidly adapt
Why do we ignore the obvious and do the inexplicable?
What is the source of power that has us block out all the right information that is trying to save us, which results in our death—or the death of our business, marriage, etc.?
Rule #1: Face reality...but keep it simple
When you're in a "high state of arousal," only the simplest of inputs are going to get in.
Dark humor cuts through the fear, the clutter, and the noise.
Look death in the face and come up with a wry smile.
Find the droll, wondrous, and inspiring...or kiss your ass goodbye.
"Survivor Personality: Why Some People Are Stronger, Smarter, and More Skillful at Handling Life's Difficulties...and How You Can Be, Too"—survivors laugh at threats...playing and laughing go together. Playing keeps the person in contact with what is happening around [him]."
Fear is good. Too much fear is not.
Insider language/slang is for those who get it. Besides, it's terrifying to use the real language of what you're embarking upon just before you do it!
In the moment, your IQ rolls back to that of an ape!
Plato understood that emotions—the horse—can trump reason, so use the reins of reason on the horse of emotion.
The intellect without the emotions is like a jockey without a horse.
"When you walk across the ramp to your airplane, you lose half your IQ."
Fear puts me in my place. It gives me the humility to see things as they are.
When you're in a demanding/stressful situation, you're not all there. You are in a profoundly altered state when it comes to perception, cognition, memory, and emotion.
Emotion comes from the Latin verb emovere, "to move away." It works powerfully and quickly to motivate behavior.
All Quiet on the Western Front is a story of how we "rush back, in one part of our being, a thousand years....animal instinct...not conscious; it is far quicker, much more sure, less fallible, than consciousness...this second sight in us,..."
Emotion is an instinctive response aimed at self-preservation.
The New ABCs of Selling:
As I update and enhance The A.B.C.D.E. Sales & Marketing System™, I came across the old ABCs of Selling, which have been around for decades.
Greeks saw the mind as part of and integral to the body, while Plato thought they were separate, with the soul going after death. Aristotle brought them back together.
Thinking is a bodily function, as are emotions and feelings, but we know thinking is quite rare.
It has been rare for ages, but now it is rare by design…by attack…by greedy players…players we’ve unwittingly given permission…to run their algorithms on us…over us…through us.
Since 2006, I’ve done my best to create not only well-trained salespeople, but good humans.
In this noisy age of AI, that goal and my purpose is clearer than ever.
I have seven children and was just given my fourth grandchild.
I’m stepping up my game for those 11 descendants, thus this experiment.
I’ll wrap up the written portion of this post as I am headed to Jiu-Jitsu now, but please listen to the episode, subscribe on Spotify or Apple to The Sales Podcast to catch up on over 720 episodes going back to May 2013, and connect with me here on Substack or LinkedIn or X or Instagram…heck, I’m even doing more on Snapchat and even TikTok.
As I’ve always taught, we gotta go where the fish are biting…meet our prospects where they are, so if I want to reach a younger audience and help them create a solid foundation for business and for life, I need to go to those platforms.
So thanks for joining me on this journey.
It won’t be a smooth ride, but I promise to be your ride or die.
Market like you mean it.
Now go sell something.
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