I was thoughtfully asked what makes for a successful life by a friend while kayaking. I wasn’t really prepared for the question and my answer was, well, lame. For the rest of the day, I paddled with some regret because I felt I should’ve had something better to say – even if off the cuff. With my book, 12 Jars: […]
What is your relationship with fear? Do you face fears or let fears decide for you? How does fear impact you in your daily life? Do you creatively avoid things that you may be fearing only to put it off for later, then later have it never happen? Maybe it’s fear of rejection. Or is it fear of the unknown? […]
How do you start your day? Only moments after waking, your head is already turning, thinking through the long, exhaustive list of to-dos to accomplish that day. Soon after, stress and anxiety begin to set in. How will it all get done? Thoughts about how monotonous life can be creep in before even getting out of bed. Soon after, you […]
Do you believe you have untapped potential? Do you know there’s more in the tank but for some reason, you just can’t access it consistently? Are you aware that you have habits you need to break because they keep you from possible income increases and your ability to serve others? If you said yes, are you ready to do something […]
Have you ever noticed when someone is completely present how attractive, engaging, and enjoyable it makes the interaction? When one has the ability to be present in every moment, it does good things. Concentration is sharpened, and rapport is built much faster. Connections with others is stronger. Being present and engaged with yourself and others reduces stress. It is assumed […]
God made us all capable, but are we really available? We were made to be ambassadors though service to His Kingdom and communication of His message. As such, we are all capable. I wonder though… where are the many who are called but do not answer? To be capable is the ability to achieve. It’s the competency and proficiency […]
Are you running specific contests for your team with incentives attached to them on a regular basis? As a sales manager, we always get what we promote. When you’re creating a contest, you want to think about what sort of activity or behavior do you want to promote? At Southwestern Consulting we teach our clients to structure contests around things […]
Want to learn how to conquer self-doubt? You have to get to know entrepreneur Lewis Howes if you don’t yet. He’s a New York Times best-selling author of a couple of books, The School of Greatness and The Mask of Masculinity, as well as the host of The School Greatness podcast series. All of us struggle at some point in […]
When I visit beautiful places, it inspires me to see God’s beauty. There’s also an element of doubt that shows up. Does that make sense to you? We spend a lot of our lives seeing amazing things – nature, houses, cars, businesses and accomplishments. Part of that is so inspiring, but it can also make you doubt yourself. You might […]
What’s the power of having a good attitude? First, here’s a blast from my past. When I was in college, I worked at Southwestern Advantage. For five summers I sold – and recruited students to come with me to sell – educational children’s books door to door. Here’s the thing: It was always hard for me, even my fifth summer, […]
Most high achievers realize that there’s a connection between their professional performance and physical performance. We know that when we feel healthier and more fit because we exercise, we tend to perform better. We feel more balanced spiritually. That means we have better relationships at work, and with our family and friends. There’s just this interesting connectivity between our physicality and how […]
Do you ever have hard days? Most likely you do since you’re human. Today I’m near the ocean and there’s just something soul-calming about that. That’s why I’d like to talk about how you respond to problems and challenges. I’m pulling from the perspective principle of faith that I outline in my book, Take the Stairs. That means if you […]
Maybe you have heard the age-old saying, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” I see this time and time again in the workplace especially when it comes to goal setting. Goal setting can either make you feel: 1. Fired up- eagerly anticipating tackling the goal and exceeding expectations 2. Discouraged- why haven’t I achieved this yet? I am so far […]
If you’ve followed me for a while, you may have heard me talk about a man named Spencer Hays. Spencer was the legendary majority shareholder of the Southwestern family of companies. When I was in college I worked for the Southwestern Advantage program. I made a lot of money and learned a lot of skills selling educational children’s reference materials […]
You’ve heard people called big dreamers before. I’m one of them – I’ve always had big dreams. And maybe you have a personal and professional dream right now, too. Sadly though, many of us, including me, never reach some of those big dreams, or fall far short of them. About a decade ago, I had a realization about what worked […]
Around Southwestern Consulting, we’ve developed a term over the last several years that we often use called Servant Selling. Recently, one of our groups took the time to codify many of the things that we believe in and mean when we use the term Servant Selling. We call it our Servant Selling Concepts. Take a read… Servant Selling is not […]
There’s something surprising about confidence that I wanted to share with you. Believe it or not, but I struggled with confidence in my life in different ways. I didn’t really understand confidence, so because of that misunderstanding, there were times in my life when I was under-confident. There are other times when I might have had too much confidence, again […]
A couple of years ago, I did a day-long training with a Navy SEAL. Amanda, and my wife and business partner at Southwestern Consulting, bought this training for our wedding anniversary, which was awesome. It was like “instant wife of the year” award – really, it was the coolest present ever to get a day-long training with a Navy SEAL […]
You’re either living by faith or you’re living by sight. If you’re living by faith then you’re believing in the possibility of a better future – which is empowering. If you’re living by sight then you’re only able to believe in what you see today – which is limiting. If you’re living by faith then you’re making choices in the […]
