The world is full of what I would consider negative marketing. This includes ads for unhealthy food, addictive behaviors, and other hedonistic pursuits; as well as scam-artists selling faulty products. This negative marketing casts a dark shadow on sales and marketing, which is partly why it took a while before I became comfortable selling. It …

There’s a spot near my work where two lanes turn left. It was designed this way to relieve a bottleneck. Almost everyone who turns there makes the same next turn across a busy road, so the second lane provides an additional queue so more cars get through the intersection in little time. But it doesn’t …

Here are a few things that I’ve been told “must” be done to be happy & successful. Sleep 8 hours per day Don’t sleep more than 6 hours Avoid meat Center your diet around red meat Lift heavy weights Avoid exerting too much effort Specialize in one thing Be well-rounded Neatly separate work and personal …

The Engineering team focuses on product. They deal with rational, tangible challenges and they create offerings to address these challenges. Sales, on the other hand, has their ear towards the customer. They don’t care about how fast something is or how many features it has. They want something that their customers want to buy. Often, …

Negative feedback can be tough to deal with it. We often ignore our flaws and take it personally when others point them out. Even though we need to understand our weaknesses to truly understand how we can bring value, we miss this opportunity because we put up a defense. I recently heard a quote from …

We ramble when we have something to hide. If we knew the answer, we could just give it. But when we don’t quite have a firm grasp, we just talk. We fill the silence with words, whether they’re relevant or not. Simple answers, on the other hand, take courage. They require us to be transparent. …

When making bets on the future, we can play it safe. We can wait until we have enough information to make an informed decision before we move. The risk is low. It’s unlikely that we’ll stick our neck out too far and get burnt. But the potential upside is similarly low. If we wait for …

It doesn’t take long to sense what type of energy someone is taking into the New Year. There’s the person who sleeps in, staggers into work still groggy from the holiday weight, and eases into things. And there’s the person who gets up extra early and seizes the day, determined to make this year better …

Would you rather fall 100 times from a height of 1 foot or once from a height of 100 feet? Obviously the shorter fall is the better option. From 1 foot, you can easily land on your feet and prevent any damage. The quantity doesn’t matter. Not so in the other scenario. Even though it …

There’s a great story from Stephen Covey tied into his Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. He talks about the first time his son took responsibility over handling the lawn, and the struggles that came along with it (here’s the story). Within that story, there are numerous valuable insights. But I want to highlight three in particular that stuck with …