The Work That Moves The Needle

It was a busy week, finishing some writing, creating a self-assessment, and getting ready for Friendsgiving yesterday.

In my free moments all week, I found myself thinking about youth and humility, two major themes around this year's event. I can tell you that when I resembled the former, I didn't have much of the latter.

When you're young, you care too much about how things look. With a little humility, you realize the unglamorous work is what actually moves the needle.

Speaking of which, I dusted off an old concept this week that feels increasingly relevant these days.

Sales math

One of the frameworks I built for myself as a rep has had a nice resurgence with some of my clients lately. It's been very well received by both reps and their managers.

One of the fundamental shifts in my career came when I adopted a simple system I read in a book, modified it to fit my needs, and put it into play. What it came down to was gamifying my focus on the activities that really moved the needle.

It was so simple, I initially ignored it. But when I came back to it, everything fell into place. The results were staggering.

I wrote the original post in 2018, and then decided to revise and update it this week with a little extra color, including some specifically for front-line managers.

Right around the same time, the team over at 30 Minutes to Presidents Club shot a really fun video about how many cold calls it takes to afford a baby (Alex’s camera presence is just so good). It’s a slightly different take on the math, but the concept is the same,

“What do I need to do every day to make the living I want to make?”

When you can focus on the inputs (leading indicators within your control) rather than just the outputs (lagging indicators mostly outside of your control), you’ll find your levels of success and satisfaction go through the roof.

I’ve been dancing around this concept for a while, but the other side of this coin that might be even more valuable is the ability to know when to stop.

It’s vital to know that you’re focused on the things that matter, but what’s underappreciated is knowing when you’ve done enough such that you can focus on the things in your life that matter outside of work.

There are a lot of layers of that concept to peel back, but when I had it, that sense of peace was worth just as much to me as the commission checks.

Are you willing to be a little cringy?

It hit me like a ton of bricks earlier this week… the idea that there are people all around us, without any real style, fanfare, or panache, just killing their goals.

It's easy to get caught up in how things look, especially when everything we do feels like it needs to be publicized. But fancy doesn't guarantee success. The fear of doing things publicly actually prevents more success than that publicity will ever enable.

So I’ll ask you here the same way I did on LinkedIn on Friday, “What would you be capable of if you were just willing to suck at it for a while?”

I listened to a great interview between Codie Sanchez and Mel Robbins, and Mel said it very well…

This conversation was powerful for a lot of reasons. Check it out, but only if you want to hear two true success stories from people who have lived the ups, downs, and everything in between, and who are inarguably at the top of their games right now.

It was inspiring.

Two killer turkey recipes

Yesterday, I cooked 38 pounds of turkey for the event at my house. I’ve been doing this since 1999, and these two birds were all-timers.

ChatGPT gave me two different recipes. A classic one for the oven, and a bolder one to do over charcoal on my Big Green Egg.

It wouldn’t have been fair not to share them with you.

It’s a short holiday week here in the US. I’m wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving, and I’m so grateful you’re here with me every week.

See you next Sunday.

Cheers,
JB