Over the last couple of weeks, as I’ve pondered the topic of turning this crisis into an opportunity for greater success I’ve covered a lot of ground:
- Taking control
- Take small steps, frequently
- Regularly give yourself little wins
- Stacking
- Above all, take action
There was more (much more) but instead of sending you off to review what I have already covered, let’s move on.
The notion that success leads to success is not new (it’s right there in one of those links), but today I want to look at it in a slightly different way.
Reinforcing Success
A couple of months ago I told the tale of how Best Buy screwed up my online reservation and spoiled my boys’ special weekend with their favourite aunt. One thing I didn’t mention was that, weeks later they made a gesture to atone for the screw-up. Nice enough, but in the end my product was still sold out from under me, to the disappointment of my kids.
Anyway, shortly after that I had the exact opposite kind of customer service experience, this time with Entrepreneurs on Fire. I’ve been a fan of John Lee Dumas and EOFire for a long time, been on his mailing list for years.
Well, in February I got an email asking me why I wasn’t opening their emails, and did I want to unsubscribe? Except I open every one of their emails, and I sent off a mildly snarky email to this effect.
Their customer service got in touch with me, and a long email exchange (over a couple of weeks) ensued. Ultimately, we figured out the problem and as a thank you for my help, they offered me a copy of their Podcast Journal, gratis.
Okay Andrew, so you got a Podcast Journal for being polite, so what? I thought you were going to talk about reinforcing success.
So what? So this. I’ve also mentioned that one of my goals for seizing the Winnie the Flu crisis is to increase my reach. One such way is cross-platform connections.
Right now, my voice is confined to this little site and the occasional bit I drop on Medium. Medium has much greater reach than StandUpRight.ca, and I’ve noticed that occasionally one of my Medium pieces gets a bit of traction and drives a lot of traffic over here. That type of cross-pollination is what I’m looking for.
That’s where the Podcast Journal comes in.
I’ve teased a couple of the things I’ve got coming, including copywriting and an email list. Well, here’s another. Sometime this summer I plan to launch the StandUpRight.ca podcast.
Why a podcast?
In the words of one pseudonymous maniac whom I read, we live in a post-literate society. Now, the guy may be a maniac, but he also happens to be pretty damn smart, and a keen observer on the passing scene.
I think he’s got something there, to the extent that given a choice between spending 15 minutes listening to a podcast, and ½ an hour reading a long form essay, the vast majority will choose the podcast.
There are other reasons to get into podcasting, but I think I’ll leave that topic for another day.
Instead, I return to today’s main point. Success in one area will reinforce your efforts in another area. I literally turned my Thursday posts into a celebration of posture correction leading to success in other areas of my life. The work I put in while fixing my posture:
- Improved (hell, it saved) my marriage
- Made my relationship with my kids better
- Helped my hockey game
- Gave me insights into my kung fu practice
- Helped my sleep
- Reduced my headaches and migraines
- Eliminated pulled groin muscles
- And much, much more
Therefore, as I pass each step, as I feel the little “click” in my brain that tells me I’m dialed in and ready for more, I add another. Now I publish every day and study copywriting, every day. Each day I get a little more successful and a little more efficient at my new tasks, so each day I have just a little more time for more.
More what?
More cross-pollination. Will any of the following make my posture correction/exercise/better lifestyle work better?
- Publishing every day
- Learning to write copy
- Starting a podcast
- Building an email list
No, no, no and no. But the first three will improve my communication skills, the last two will improve my reach, and success in any of them will help to build success in all of them.
So let us circle around to you.
What is your goal? What are you doing to work toward that goal? What can you do, outside of the straight line you are on, to help you to increase the chances of success in your goal?
