by Kirby Hasseman
We have all been there. It might be a situation or a person, but we have all had that moment. It’s a place I like to call “At Wit’s End.” Let me paint a picture. You know you have a busy day, so you make it a point to get up early. Your alarm goes off, and you are just plain tired. But because of your full day, you drag yourself out of bed. When you head through the darkness to the kitchen to make coffee, you stub your toe on the coffee table. Then you make coffee and you sit down to get started on your computer. But the puppy hears you up and starts to bark. In order to keep him quiet, you run up to get him and take him outside. While you are outside the coffee overflows and makes a mess on the kitchen floor. While cleaning that up, the puppy makes a mess by the door (you were just out!). This series of events continues and, despite getting up early, you get nothing pro-active done for the day. You take a deep breath. It’s fine. You can just get ahead once you get to the office. But the trend continues. You get cut off in traffic. You spill your coffee on yourself on the way. You get stuck behind a train. You get a nasty email from a client. Then you get a nasty follow up email from the boss (who was copied in on the client email). The day just spirals out of control. You are “At Wit’s End.” In order to take a break you head to get some Sprite out of the fridge. You had some in there for moments like this. But you reach into the box and the Sprite is gone. Someone had helped themselves to your drinks! Naturally…you lose your mind. You yell to everyone in the office! You throw the box. You stomp, carry on and generally throw a tantrum. And all anyone in the office knows is someone took your last $.50 can of sugar water. Jeesh. What a baby. But you and I know it wasn’t the Sprite. It was a whole series of unrelated events that led you here. The Sprite was just “the last straw.” We understand the concept of “the last straw.” Most of us have used it or heard it on more than one occasion. But have you noticed, it’s always in the negative. I get it. That’s just the connotation. But have you ever considered it a different way? Let’s take sales. You have reached out to the prospect again and again. You feel like they are a great fit. They have even given you some positive feedback. But time after time, you send proposals and presentations…and nothing. You have been charming and professional. You just can’t seem to break through. Then one day, after a seemingly innocuous email, they take the next step! It wasn’t that you were more brilliant on that point of contact. It was just “the last straw.” Or how about Content? You have written that blog over and over. You work to cover interesting topics and give your specific take. You have a point of view. It’s well written. It’s targeted to a great audience. But day after day, week after week, very little action is happening. Then one day it changes. One day a blog takes off. It gets shared. It drives leads. It hits the mark. Was it that this particular blog was the best one yet? Or was it just “the last straw?” Keep showing up. Keep providing value. Keep doing your good work. You never know when this will just be “the last straw.” Make sure you never miss an update! Today might be the last straw for you. Sign up for our VIP newsletter here. We gather each piece of content and send one email, so you have them in one place. Sign up here.
by Kirby Hasseman
I love Thanksgiving. It’s my favorite holiday. It seems like the whole world starts trying to celebrate Christmas after Labor Day. But I like the idea of gathering with family and friends, with no gifts, and being grateful. And this week I have talked a bit about being grateful and kind in our lives here. But today I wanted to say “thank you” to you. Yes…you. Since May 31st I have been writing a blog post here every day. It’s been fun on some days and a struggle on others. But I have put something up here each day. And today, it occurs to me, that many of you have read quite a few of them. That means a lot to me. So I am grateful for you. In honor of that, and in honor of those that have joined in along the way, I have decided to share some of the most read blogs here. 5 Books I Recommend: There are some cool books on this list, and it ties to my podcast. But this one took off because my good buddy, Jeff Haden, shared it! He is a Linkedin influencer (and this features one of his books). I Am Not For Everyone: This is one that caught we off guard. I took this from a conversation I was having and post it at the last minute. But it must have struck a nerve! Sometimes authenticity and vulnerability matter. 3 Lessons from Bohemian Rhapsody: My wife and I enjoyed this movie (regardless of reviews) and it made me think. I woke up the next morning thinking about the band’s journey. Here is what I took from it. 5 Lessons from Skucamp: It’s funny. This event has obviously left an impression with me. I posted about it yesterday here. But my original post about my lessons from the overall event still have people checking it out. 5 Book I Want My Daughters to Read: Yes, I am all about books. But this book list is foundational for personal development (from my perspective). Check out the list here…and read them! So like I said, today I want to say “thank you.” I really appreciate you taking the time to read, engage, share and grow! Let me know if I can help you! Make sure you never miss an update! Sign up for our VIP newsletter here! Each week we put together one email with all of the content of the week and send it to you!
by Kirby Hasseman
Fact > Opinion Here’s a troubling thing about social media and our culture today. We have blurred the lines between opinions and facts. I tell you this and it’s a FACT! Careless Whisper is a terrible song! I mean, what kind of lyric is “Guilty feet have got no rhythm,” anyway? It’s so bad! Though I stand by that statement, it’s my opinion. It’s not a fact. And one of the biggest challenges I see to real truth telling in the world today is that (ever more) blurred line. It certainly starts with our traditional media. At one point, our news was brought to us at 6pm and 11pm and was designed to be informative in nature. Here are the events of the day But what media companies have discovered is that controversial opinions move the needle on viewership…and eyeballs mean advertising dollars. So more and more of what you see on the “news” is simply someone’s opinion on the events. It’s a line that has become difficult to see if you are not looking for it. But it’s not the media’s fault, my friends. It’s ours. Why? Well first of all, the media is a reflection of what interests us. If we stop watching, and ratings plummet, they will change. They are a business. So if we continue to gobble it up, they will continue to serve us. That’s part one. But maybe more importantly is what we do with the information that is served to us. What do we do with it? So often, we take the information at face value, with no research or thought, and we regurgitate it. Hateful and deceitful and, at the very least wildly biased messages get shared again and again. That, my friends, is not the media. That’s us. And you might say that “it’s the same for both sides of any argument.” You would be right…sort of. The fact is, more and more today we can shut out any voice that does not agree with us. We can block them on social media. We can watch only the the networks we agree with. We can attend only the events that rally our emotions. It becomes an echo chamber and that sort of distorted information channel is dangerous. What does this mean for you? It means, most likely, you have really strong opinions on most matters. They might even FEEL like facts. But have you really listened to both sides? Have you really dug in? Have you really done the research to understand the specifics? If so, cool. Let’s talk about it. I will probably still view it as your opinion…but at least it will be an educated opinion. If not, do us all a favor. Keep it to yourself. It’s time to get educated each week! Sign up for our VIP newsletter here.
by Kirby Hasseman
In a rare date night, my wife and I went to the movies to see “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The new movie, about the band Queen, was entertaining and eye opening. Lead singer, Freddie Mercury, was played extremely well by Rami Malek. And it was super cool to get the backstory around some of their iconic songs and how they all came together. I am no movie critic, but I thought it was worth watching…especially if you are a music lover. The next day, I was struck by a few things about the movie that stuck with me. Here are 3 things that Bohemian Rhapsody reminded me. Being Authentic Is Hard: When most of us think of Freddie Mercury today, we visualize the larger than life performer on stage. Though that was a part of him, it was certainly not all of him. The movie showed Freddie struggle with his family (he changed his name), his faith, his sexuality and his own loneliness. Though we see him now as a trailblazer (and he was), it was far from easy. But the world is different because he was (and Queen was) authentic. Creative Discord Is Good: The movie showcases the creative process of the band well. There are moments of fun and inspiration. But there are also moments of yelling. At one points, when Freddie works on a project on his own, he finds he misses the process. He points out to the group that when everyone just “did what he said,” the music wasn’t has good. Sometimes we try to get rid of that discord…and we shouldn’t. Fortune Favors The Bold: Queen was amazingly talented and unconventional. They were known for pushing boundaries in every way…and their music shows it. They refused to be put “in a box” as a musical style. So they experimented with different styles of music and ways to record it. They refused to go with convention. By charting their own path, Queen created a compilation of music like no other. Go watch the movie. Or don’t. But today will be filled with some of Queen’s greatest hits playing in the office. Make sure you never miss an update! Sign up for our VIP Newsletter here!
by Kirby Hasseman
Several years ago at the PPAI Expo in Las Vegas, Seth Godin was the keynote speaker. He was thoughtful and terrific. In addition, after the keynote, Seth was gracious enough to do a question and answer session with a smaller group and I got to be a part of it. During that smaller session, Dale Denham from Geiger asked him about his legendary blog that he famously writes for every day. Point blank Dale asked him, “How do you write every day?” Without missing a beat, Seth said, “How do you talk everyday?” We all laughed, but the point was made. You can do nearly anything every single day…if you really want to do it. I thought of that exchange when I started writing this blog. On May 31st I wrote the first one and thought, “I am going to write one every day for a month.” It wasn’t easy. But that first month went fast. So did the second month. The effort was not that bad…and the results were fun to track. But recently it’s become tougher. My schedule has filled up. The season is busier. We are lower on staff. We have a huge new project (to be announced here soon). These are most often the times (for me) when I ask “Is it worth it? Does anyone really care?” Enter another lesson from Seth. I read his blog regularly. And this week, this one hit me. This post, about daily blogging, talks about the habit and the value in it. He says that most people that start the habit of daily blogging are happy they did it…if they stick with it. What does this mean to you? I think it means that if you have something you want to do, you can. Whether it’s a fitness goal, a sales goal, a goal to meditate or blog…you can do it. It just takes the discipline to block out the voices that tell you that you can’t…and to keep hitting “publish.” P.S. I am really excited that next Wednesday Seth Godin will be a guest on Delivering Marketing Joy! He will be talking about many topics, including his new book! Please check it out and help me spread the word! Make sure you never miss a daily update. Sign up here to become our VIP!
