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 seen 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 you, you don’t know you 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 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 you the black spot will disappear then reappear. THAT is your blind spot.

When it comes to topics you’re passionate about, you also have any 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. 

3 Ways to Protect Your Business

If you're facing a veritable rodent in your midst; be it a hacker trying to disrupt your business, a knock-off competitor who wants to steal your clients/prospects, a rip-off copycat who can't come up with their own ideas... you have to think like them. Using a metaphor of raccoons that set-up residence in our attic, here are a few ideas to fend off the business rodents who can infest your space.

1. Don't Blindly Trust the Professionals. 

   Without going into details about how the roofing pros didn't ensure raccoons got into our attic, suffice to say they fell short of keeping the sound of raccoons ballroom dancing on our upstairs ceiling. Thousands of dollars later, the "pros" were never invited back while the raccoons never needed an invitation.

2. Overestimate the Tenacity of Your Competitors.

   It turns out that raccoons are pretty tenacious creatures. I custom built a layer of hardwood and stapled chicken wire all along the point where the raccoons were getting in. I even hired a small man to squirm into the space between the roof and soffits to ensure the barrier was screwed in. Months later, the sound of raccoons doing a remake of Saving Private Ryan echoed through our entire attic space. Again, I humanly relocated our furry guests. 
   
3. Overcompensate Your Barrier(s) to Entry. With the roofing company and skinny helpers permanently in my rear-view mirror I decided to take matters into my own hands. With the barrier of wood and chicken wire torn back and tossed aside by raccoons determined to exercise their squatter's rights, I squeezed into the tiny space. I sprayed Coyote Urine in and around the opening. I tripled the number of screws in the wood/wire barrier. I caulked the entire perimeter. I cut out sheet metal to cover the space with extra-flaps to surround the top, sides and bottoms. Screwed another dozen screws into any available opening. Then caulked the entire length and breadth of the metal edges. 

By thinking like a raccoon (not lazy roofers or uninvested skinny guys) did I conquer this first world problem. May your business be fortified by your attention to not blindly trusting professionals, overestimating the tenacity of your competitors, and overcompensating any barriers to entry into your business space. 

Lead By Example

Few of us "sign-up" to be a role model but all of us are a role-model in some way or another. Whether it's your inner circle, random acquaintances, or an unknown observer, you are being observed at some level.

I remember when Michael Irving was being scrutinized for his behavior and he said, "I never signed up to be no role model." Too bad there Sparky, you and the rest of us ARE role models. We all influence each other in some fashion or another. What you do about it is up to you.

There are all sorts of paths to "lead by example." What you do leads the list. What you say, is a close second. Who you hang out with, snuggles up to third-place. Then there's a pack of: who you work with, play with, endorse, reject, and inspire. There are the places you visit, the events you attend, the sites you click onto, the mail you receive.

There are a gazillion different ways to be perceived and an overwhelming number of messages you send out to your world.

What is a mere mortal to do?

Do the best you can while knowing you can always go from your best to better. Being a perfect role model is not the point. Being an ideal role model is not the destination.

Being the person who serves with love and seeks fulfillment is a pretty good place to start.

All this is not in the video but I did want you to have a touchstone for being the role model you are meant to be.

Fear can be the bane of our existence. Getting rid of fear(s) will be a lifelong pursuit. 

The paradoxes surrounding FEAR is multilayered: 

• Run away from fear it gets larger.
• Run towards fear and it gets smaller.
• If you let fear go up, confidence goes down.
• If you minimize fear, confidence goes up.
• Fake that you're not scared and you're only kidding yourself.
• Embrace your fears and you are courageous.
• If you ignore what you fear, you're ignoring what is important to you.
• If you dive into the middle of what scares you you're on your way to fulfillment. 

This video is a small exploration into the power of fear. Whether that power is in your hands or out of your control is absolutely up to you.

Enjoy.

Here's your breakthrough for today. You'll gravitate to that which you believe to be true, so be the architect of that truth. Let me say that again, backwards. Be the architect of your truth so that you can gravitate towards that truth.

We could spend an hour on this topic and give you all sorts of good examples of celebrities that had a truth in their mind and they gravitated towards that, positive and negative. Gosh, the first person that comes to mind is Muhammad Ali.

He thought he was the greatest in the world, he told everybody he was the greatest in the world, and you know what? He probably was, in terms of boxing, the greatest in the world.

There are people that have a truth they are the architect of. There are some people, it just occurs to them. So be the person that chooses the truth that you want to gravitate towards. Be the architect of that truth, design it.

Now, how?

Well, repetition, repeating things over and over help. You keep telling somebody something, in some form or fashion it's gonna come true. Negatives can occur too.

If you're not conscious of your truth, negative things can occur because you may have a subconscious truth that's going to take you backwards.

So be the architect for maybe a positive truth, and really design that in a way that has not just repetition, but has emotion attached to it. When you think about it, you feel it inside, there's this buzz inside, you just go, oh, I would love to do that.

So when you establish that truth, you'll gravitate towards that.

You do that, well, we got this.

Conversations with Dune explore a variety of inspirational topics, practical tools for entrepreneurs, insights for parents, and anyone searching for a better way... Enjoy this one hour and fifty minute interview. 

Here's a quick BREAKTHROUGH video on how to approach a "system" that is not working.

With the backdrop of a swimming pool that cost hundreds of dollars to throw possible solutions to getting it 'balanced' - the ultimate solution was to drain the pool and start over. With systemic failure in organizations, institutions and even relationships, the higher the complexity the more a "start over" approach may be the best solution. Clearly, this can be a painful process. In this isolated case, draining the pool was costly but, in the long run, less costly than a series of chemical additives, backwashing and water loss. Oh, and the physical labor involved in washing away the persistent algae with gallons of muriatic acid and the safety protocol involved makes it even more arduous.

BUT - still - necessary.

If you're in a position of influence to change a system, you may find yourself in a similar situation. "Draining the pool" is a metaphor of cleaning house. Which is a metaphor for wiping the slate clean. Which is a metaphor for starting over. Enough mixed metaphors already.

Get honest with the system you are a part of. Can you influence the courage necessary to start over.

It will be painful, costly and taxing, but you will find it is worth it for those who want to play in your pool later. (ugh.... another metaphor ;-) Reach out to us if you need help with the tactics necessary to start over. Leaders, this is your chance for change.

Deliver experiences that put everyone in the front row.

Whether your virtual event has 10,000 people on it or 100, follow these highly effective approaches to have maximum impact and lasting influence. I've been doing video production for years (starting with a vampire movie when I was 12 to documentaries to live feeds for World Championship Olympic Wrestling, etc). Couple that with me award-winning presentation skills and I know you'll benefit from this video. Meeting planners and C-Suite leaders agree that their most valuable asset, human capital, needs to be educated, entertained, and motivated for a successful online event. Watch this 1.5-minute video to make the most from your virtual meeting.

1. Go Spielberg, Not Fosse

Think production not theater. Use multiple cameras for a dynamic experience.

2. Hire a Production Host

Your IT Guy Aint' THE GUY. A Production Host knows Tech AND Production

3. Hire Presenters to Set Momentum and Tone

Pro Speakers Keep the Energy High. Execs Lead the Way.

 4. Assign Moderators for Optimum Flow

Ensure you have PreSet Polls, Q&A Plants and Meeting Rooms

5. Entertain, Educate and Motivate

Ensure each session has a healthy dose of each. 

6. Turn Your Panel into an Interview Festival

Assign 3 interviewers per panelist. Make your audience the hero.

7. Pre, During, Post Engagement Tools

Set the stage with Pre Event Materials that come-to-life during and after the event.

Everybody's running around trying to do what the competition's not doing, especially when there's chaos. Here's how to have a competitive advantage.

Instead of trying to do what the competition's not doing, imagine your competition is the highest performers, that person that does what you do, and instead of doing what that person's not doing, try this. Do what the competition is not willing to do. What is that high performer not willing to do?

Typically, those are the things you're not willing to do either. The biggest advantage of virtual presentations is we're creating a dialogue, people communicating better. The biggest mistake is we're taking a bucket of content and dumping it on people's head and hoping that it sticks. The only way content is gonna stick is through an experience, and it's especially true with virtual presentations.

For you, I've created a virtual presentation for you that accomplishes three things.

First, that it's ENTERTAINING. The people are engaged in the story because of storytelling. This recreational skier to Olympian in four years is also the motivational piece.

The second piece, being MOTIVATED to move forward and to be inspired by someone else's story that draws them in to that experience.

The third piece is the CONTENT, the content that gets inside their head that's both innovative and counterintuitive. The people go, "Okay, that's a great idea. "Hadn't thought of it that way." 

For example, use a gold dot is a trigger for your emotional buzz. I put them everywhere. On the back of my cell phone. On the odometer in my car. On the bathroom mirror. On my toothbrush. A gold dot triggers that emotional buzz of where you want to go.

When you have an emotional quotient attached to where you want to go, your people are going to get exceed their goals faster than you ever thought possible.

Listen, bring in a professional speaker. As an Olympian, a "New York Times" best-selling author, and Hall of Fame speaker, I'm able to take people on an unforgettable experience in a virtual presentation where they're engaged. It sticks for a lifetime. The best part of my virtual keynotes is they are interactive.

We had a comment the other day, the attendee said, "I felt like I was in the front row." Put your audience in the front row of this virtual presentation and given them an experience. We had zero people drop off the call. Zero. Zero people because they were entertained, educated, and motivated all at the same time.

Let's do those three things within your virtual presentation. 

The ratio between the conscious and subconscious mind is the exact same ratio between an ant and an elephant.

The ant is the conscious mind, the elephant the subconscious. The ant is on the back of your elephant making decisions on direction. You make a decision, I wanna go west, it starts marching on the back of the elephant going west. What if the elephant is headed east, which way is the ant really going?

East thinking you're going west. But it's human nature. We make decisions and owners and managers, I wanna go west, I'm gonna go on a diet. Subconscious mind, I don't think so. And so we may have unconscious reasons why not and end up in a place where we go how did I end up here again?

Yet, how much better would you compete with this kind of alignment?

How much better could you do what the competition's not willing to do if you had 2,000 neurons and four billion neurons headed in the same direction.