Down the Rabbit Hole East of the Ozarks Sunny 57 Degrees 8:32 a.m. It’s not hard to manipulate Muggles, those non-magical folks who are completely locked into the Matrix program for living. These are the people who wake up thinking about their credit score, about mortgage rates, about getting Johnny into his favorite school or hoping that Suzy gets that well paying job with a good health plan. Muggles live in a world full of the things they’ve been trained to think matter. They obsess, they worry, they plan, they hope, and then they worry some more. They’re constantly living their tomorrows because they’ve been conditioned to dare not live TODAY. And that’s why manipulating them is so easy. Fear … Read more

Down the Rabbit Hole East of the Ozarks Mostly Cloudy 78 Degrees 2:35 p.m. The reason you charge a lot is because, at the premium end of the spectrum, people tend to get hired for who they are and not just what they do. If you want prospective clients and customers to engage with you only because of what you do, by all means, you’re free to go that way. Just know that you will pay a price. It will come in the form of lost revenue (usually a lot) and also tend to mean that you will be less appreciated and valued. They’re working with you because of what you do, not who you are. And given there are … Read more

Down the Rabbit Hole East of the Ozarks Cloudy 64 Degrees 6:52 a.m. If you’re going to communicate the unique value to the world, you are embarking on a journey for which there is no off the shelf map available. Not if you do it well. This is a journey of discovery, where you are digging to find gold that is already present. You’re not searching around in the darkness for something you don’t have. You’re learning to see something that the Matrix has done its best to hide from you. This journey happens in three parts: First is developing a level of clarity of understanding about you, what you stand for, why you’re here, what is unique about the … Read more

Down the Rabbit Hole East of the Ozarks Partly Cloudy 61 Degrees 6:51 a.m. I chanced upon someone’s website the other day where he called himself a “thought leader” and I found myself wondering how exactly you become one of those. You can just call yourself that. You can self-proclaim it. I know certain gurus who say that’s a smart thing to do. It’s certainly easy! Just put that phrase everywhere, whatever phrase you want to be known by! You could be a “thought leader,” a “visionary,” a “revolutionary,” the “world’s greatest” something, the “world’s #1” something else. The possibilities are endless, and all of them are free and instantly accessible! I can see two problems with this approach: First, … Read more

Down the Rabbit Hole East of the Ozarks Partly Cloudy 59 Degrees 10:06 a.m. If they knew you were the right choice for them, they would come towards you to get their problems solved. If they knew you were NOT the right choice for them, they would leave and find someone else. But they don’t know. And they won’t know. Until they do. This is the challenge of business. It’s not marketing, or selling, or systems or finances. The problem is CLARITY. Without it, nothing much happens. With it, everything changes. With clarity, the wrong people can leave, the right people can stay. If that’s not what is happening, then clarity isn’t present in enough quantity to make that possible. … Read more