Twelve breakthrough choices that will lead to 💯 freedom.
 
💡We’re each susceptible to what we take in. Be the architect of your thoughts as you stay in ‘choice mode.’ Here are 12 Breakthrough Choices.

You decide…
 
1️⃣ When someone judges you, they’re telling you about them — not you.
 
2️⃣ When someone judges a situation, they’re telling you about their truth.
 
3️⃣ When someone expresses what they fear, they’re admitting what’s possible in their future.
 
4️⃣ When someone expresses what angers them, they’re triggered by what they see in themselves.
 
5️⃣ You don’t have to own a version of truth voiced by someone you admire.
 
6️⃣ You don’t have to own a perspective of reality from someone influential.
 
7️⃣ You don’t have to embrace someone else’s repetitive messages.
 
8️⃣ You don’t have to be polarized by your own narrative.
 
9️⃣ How you step back from a situation will reveal how to step into understanding.
 
🔟 How you make active listening a priority will develop next-level relationships.
 
11. How you choose to run toward, or from, fear will expose the size of that fear.
 
12. How you prioritize awareness over snap judgement will define your life.
 
Dear reader, be the architect of your mindset with each deliberate choice you make.

Which breakthrough listed above speaks to you?

Which person in your life would be open to these breakthroughs?
 
#mindset   #freedom   #ease   #lifehack

The front end of uncertain business or economic trends (particularly with crypto) is predictable in one of two ways.
 
1st way? Use a magic crystal ball. Good luck!
 
2nd way? Use a Traffic Light without Assumptions.
 
🚥Green Lights = Certainty. Futurist • Daniel Burrus identifies two certainties, Linear & Cyclical.

1️⃣ Linear: Not Going Back. “Buy a smartphone and you’re not going back to a dumb phone.”
2️⃣ Cyclical: There are Cycles. An upmarket eventually goes down. A down market goes up.
 
🚥Yellow Lights = “clear the intersection.” You can assume there’s no vehicle running a red light. Caution is key. Certainty is in question.
 
🚥Red-lights = untenable uncertainty – Stop! Run the red light? You could pay a financial or physical price. Don’t proceed!
 
Enter my daughter Alex Poscente as Cofounder of Bits a mobile crypto-investment application that turns spare change into crypto. If a startup had optics of uncertainty - an application for investing in crypto on a smartphone would be squarely in the middle of

“Say what now?”

As a dad, without a crystal ball, here’s what’s certain.

🔐 Crypto has existed for 12+ years. It hasn’t gone away. It is linear.
🔐 Crypto has proven to be volatile with highs and lows. It’s cyclical.
 
Bits has added a level of ‘Green Light’ certainty to crypto investing.

➡️ “Dollar-cost averaging” is a proven financial strategy to minimize exposure and risk inherent in market volatility.
➡️ Bits removes the risky, one-time, all-in investment.
➡️ Users spend $ while spare change is rounded up to the dollar and saved in the app. Think Acorns but for crypto.
 
Will Bits and more important to me, Alex be okay? Are there any yellow or red lights?
 
Alex and Bits have several green lights. With the launch of the Bits app, we’ll know more if the trend was this academic to predict.
 
What linear or cyclical certainty will you bring to your predictions?
 
See CoinDesk
 
#crypto #BitsCrypto #futuretrends #investing #setbacktobreakthrough

Audio branding impact isn’t just for large corporations. Entrepreneurs who seek distinction from their competition are in on the sound logo advantage. A sound logo will elevate your brand and better connect with your customers.

Audio branding is not new. If I were to quiz you on the following sound logos, chances are you’ll be able to sing them immediately.

Intel Corporation, Netflix, HBO, McDonald's.

A good logo resonates with the sense of sight and is meant to elicit an emotional response. Adding the sense of sound further elevates a customer’s experience of your product or service.

Audio branding is next-level entrepreneurship. Just ask GaryVee (Gary Vaynerchuk) about the Rise of Audio Branding as a competitive advantage. He promotes audio branding as important.

"Sonic branding is about how your brand sounds and how it gets recalled or remembered — like the little jingle at the beginning of video games or the sound when you boot up your computer. It’s about to become dramatically more important for every single brand."

Note that jingles are the predecessor to sound logos. In fact, there's anecdotal evidence that Elizabethan musicians, wandering from town to town in the 16th century, were known to be sponsored by local entrepreneurs to come up with catchy tunes. Over the centuries, music has been used to enhance a company's brand image.

The next iteration of sound branding is audio logos. With the addition of sound and the subtle difference of a moving logo, your audience (or customer) is trained to get a shot of endorphins. Think of THX prior to a movie. That bone rattling wwwwwwwoooohhhhmmmmm sets up the audience for a "This is about to go down." 

Where can you get a Champagne Sound Logo on a Beer Budget? ➡️ Max

Full disclosure, Max (25) is my son. I learned about the impact of audio branding from him. He produces audio branding and sound logos for companies of all sizes who are wanting to elevate their customer experience. If you'd like to learn more about how a sound logo would benefit your business, call Max at 214-240-9987.

In the meantime, continue to implement ways to connect your brand promise with a memorable experience.

#customerexperience #soundlogo #businessgrowth #audiobranding #aboutyou

You may think you're the exception. BUT... everyone has Blind Spot Bias.

We each have a tendency to see other people being more biased than we are. In fact, in one study - over 85% of Americans reported they are less biased in their thinking.

People are motivated to see themselves in a positive light while biases are generally seen as undesirable.

Everyone has unconscious patterns and personal ‘factory defects’ if you will. There are things about each of us, we don’t know we have.

Let’s say elbow skin for example.

Roll your sleeve up and give your elbow skin a pinch. There, see that, you have no feeling in your elbow skin. A factory defect you weren’t likely aware of.

Another 'factory defect'... you have a Blind Spot.

Take this quick test. Cover your left eye. Keep your right eye on the + sign while you slowly bring your face closer to the screen. At some point the black spot will disappear then reappear. THAT is your blind spot.

When it comes to topics you’re passionate about, you also have a combination of blind spots. Blind Spot biases are enhanced by confirmation bias and repetition bias. You recognize data as aligning with your way of seeing the world, and bingo you have reinforced or confirmed your bias. Or, you hear a certain bit of information repeatedly and you are in the sights of repetition bias. 

If you hold your gaze from a fixed position, there is nothing you can do about your optical bias. It is by seeing something from a different angle or position will you then see what you couldn’t see before. The same can be said in life.

If you are posting your bias on social media or arguing your point with a significant other, know, you may have an unconscious bias, A BLIND SPOT that’s a factory defect somewhat like the unfeeling elbow skin of objectivity. 

For leaders and sales folks who are driving forward without an awareness of your blind spot biases... give us a call. The value of an outside perspective can be priceless. 

#Goals #selfawareness #biases #BusinessLeadership #setbacktobreakthrough

So, you like to have your way. Here’s a shortcut. Be the architect of your dominant thought and your truth. But we normally live with our truth and dominant thought that occurs to us. Here’s how to align your thoughts to get the outcomes you seek.

Step One: Align Your Ant and Elephant. 

Think of your conscious mind and subconscious mind as an ant and an elephant. The ant is on the back of the elephant. The conscious decisions you make are equivalent to the ant making decisions as to which direction to walk on the elephant hide. Meanwhile, the elephant is also making decisions on where to go. They (those scientists in white lab coats and thick glasses) call it SUBconscious because those thoughts are BELOW consciousness. 

Let’s say you got a birthday invite a couple of miles west of your home. You reply “Yes.” The day arrives. Your ant made a decision to go west. But your elephant walks east. You intended to be at a party on the west side but ended up at a closed-down gas station on the eastern side of town. 

Imagine this: What if your elephant goes in the same direction as you consciously decided? You aren’t just at the party. You are THE party!

Step Two: Define a Truth with an Elephant Buzz

Emotions drive thoughts. Thoughts drive behavior. Instead of trying to behave differently… Instead of trying to think differently… Focus on the Emotional Quotient. The Emotional Quotient is thought that:

• Lights you up.
• Gives you energy.
• Makes joy course through your veins. 

That is called your Elephant Buzz. A thought that literally has a physical reaction attached to it. It’s the difference between saying to a kid “Let’s go for ice cream” vs “Go clean your room.” 

If your dominant thought is exciting, your elephant will be inspired to run, not walk in the direction of your desired outcome. 

Step Three: Trigger your Dominant Thought to Create a New Truth

Personally, I like to use a Gold Dot as a reminder for my Elephant Buzz. I see a Gold Dot and I silently repeat my Elephant Buzz. For example:

• When I started ski racing, my Gold Dot statement reminded me of marching in the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games.
• When I started speaking professionally, my Gold Dot reminded me of accepting the Speaker Hall of Fame Award.
• When I started writing books my Gold Dot statement reminded me of receiving a phone call that I would be on the New York Times bestsellers list.

What would your Gold Dot represent? Are you ready to tell the world?

If you’d like to know more about how the Ant and Elephant can work wonders in your life, check out the book, The Ant and the Elephant, Leadership for the Self. Order it from www.AntAndElephant.com and I’ll sign it for you personally. Let’s get your ant and elephant going in the direction that you decide.

What if Maslow analyzed your hybrid workforce? The good, bad, and ugly side of work from home folks can be improved with Maslow’s ‘ol hierarchy of needs. Indeed, a hybrid employee’s basic needs may be met but there’s distinct deterioration as we ascend that staffer’s experience triangle. 

Working from home checks psychological and safety boxes. To many, comfort and peace of mind from working at home are profound. It feels good to feel good. Moreover, convenience leads directly to safety. Stay at home, have everything delivered, and your chance of getting in a life-altering car wreck drops to zero. Avoid those virus-carrying masses and you compound the feeling of security. That feels extra good. But this is where the good feelings are throttled.

To seek belonging is as natural as breathing. It’s an itch that needs to be scratched. At home, the TV may be flailing around that need. If it’s on one station, your belonging is reinforced but limited. The belonging isn’t tactile, it’s tribal. Zoom may be functional but it’s not profound. A two-dimensional screen is content-rich, and in-person interaction is rich in experience. If you were only to eat donuts from a donut factory, your human experience may feel full but you’ll be isolated from balanced nourishment. 

Climbing this hierarchy and esteem doesn’t stand a chance when your own bubble of thoughts makes up all sorts of narratives. Reality may land anywhere on the spectrum of:

Enlightenment  <—>  Doubt  <—>  Full-on Negativity

Left alone with our thoughts we lack the touchstone of a more comprehensive, broader awareness. 

Extended isolation without human interaction and self-actualization becomes as fleeting as a feather in the wind. It’s a fantasy to seek fulfillment when belonging and self-esteem are pushed aside. 

Remember, I’m on the front lines of this dynamic. I’m a communicator. A writer who is often asked to give virtual presentations. I live the hybrid life! But I won’t succumb and be limited by stopping at the basics of food, shelter, clothing, and security.

• Coaching speakers and executives have me actively going to them or welcoming a home visit.
• Presenting at local conferences or far-away locales is a priority.
• Helping meeting professionals climb the total human experience is more important than ever. 

Let’s talk. Better yet, let’s meet to build a personal sense of friendship, confidence, and creative problem-solving. Let’s bring Maslow to the party and see how we can bring life to that hybrid workforce of ours.  

 #coaching #experience #workfromhome #eventsindustry #setbacktobreakthrough

Chaos can make it feel like we’re losing control. Lean too far into the chaos - turmoil wins. Lean away - it feels like flailing. Here’s where staying over your skis will help you win personally and professionally.

This is what we can learn from actual skiing. First, understand that you must remain perpendicular to the contour of the terrain. When you're standing, you're neither leaning forward nor backward. You are perpendicular to the land. As a rule, you won't fall. If you lean too far forward, you'll tumble. If you lean back too far, you'll fall as well.
 
When you learn to ski. It is one of the first things you’re taught. Stay perpendicular to the slope. The steeper the slope gets. The rule stays the same. Stay perpendicular to the slope. But that's not our instinct, is it? If the slope starts to get too steep. We lean back because we're a little nervous about falling into the imaginary abyss. Just the sight of that ski resort a mile down the mountain and the imagination runs wild. “Don’t fall. Don’t fall. Don’t fall,” and the brain tells the body, “Lean away from that danger.” Then, you fall.
 
On an increasingly steeper decline, it's against human instinct to lean over your skis. Today’s popular, if not overused aphorism is, “Stay over your skis.” We hear it regarding our personal or professional lives. Extend yourself too much and that’s literally like leaning too far forward over your skis.
 
·      Saying “yes” to everything.
·      Volunteering too much of your time.
·      Trying to do everything for your kids, family, coworkers, clients, prospects, and complainers.
 
Boom. Chaos wins and you don’t.
 
What about sitting back?  Again, we will have issues.
 
·      Sit back and wait for progress to just appear. Boom.
·      Lean away from the fear. It gets bigger.
·      Retreat from the chaos, it rages even stronger.
·      Lean too far back and we're ultimately in for a rocky ride.
 
There is that sweet spot, that zone of control, even if it is Controlled Chaos.
 
Stay over those skis. Stay perpendicular to the slope and it’s going to serve you well. If things seem to be a little bit too chaotic, check in with where you spend your time and focus.
 
Are you leaning too far forward or back?
 
If so, then find that sweet spot dynamic and enjoy the ride.
 
#chaos #TheEarthquake #overwhelmed #overcomeobstacles #setbacktobreakthrough