Transcript:

[00:14] Stephen: Hey guys, Stephen here from Marketing on the Move, stephenesketzis.com.

Today, I’m coming to you live from a freeway, just reporting this on the way home from indoor soccer, having played a few games.  I wanted to chat about some of the things that I’ve changed in my routine recently.

I wanted to make this podcast without any special guests from the show. I know a lot of you have been with me on to my earlier episodes.

I’m trying to balance it out between having some really awesome guests share some amazing knowledge from them; really get into their business, but at the same time, also share about what’s happening in my business, and what I’m in, when I try to give my life, whether it would be marketing and sales and whatnot.

[01:01] So today is going to be just a really quick podcast. I want to give you an update. I’ve been listening to a lot of Grant Cardone and a lot of his sales techniques, sales strategies.

I’m almost finished “Sell or be Sold,” one of his books. I’m listening to it on audio. It goes for about 11 hours on audio. I think he’s got two more. I think he’s got—the other one, one is “The Closer’s Survival Guide”, I think.

The other one is “10X.” And then, there’s one more in there as well, which you read them (hang on), “If You’re Not First, You’re Last,” I think is what it’s called.

So there are some of these other audio books. I highly recommend getting on to it for sales. Literally after I watched some of these videos, I think I watched one of them on Facebook.

Someone linked me them. And it just blew me away. I haven’t seen someone with so much energy, so much varied experience, being able to close and do it systematically as well, and do it consistently.

[02:00] I think why I really enjoyed his content is because he gets right to the end and takes this to a whole new level. So for example—I’m actually not even reading that book, “10X”. But I’ve heard a lot about what he’s been talking about.

And one of the premises that he gives is you’ve got to “10x” everything in your life. So not just settle for the smaller goals, but really kick on to something off the chart, but 10x this. Just like for example, one of my goals might be to land a client month-to-month to secure me $2,000 every single month.

But he’s saying 10x that. So don’t look at it as a $2,000 client. Look at it as a $20,000 month client. Go for those big goals. And take the same energy, the same thinking to go after those massive goals and not just go after the smaller ones.

And that completely changed my philosophy in my goal-setting as well. So one of the things I added was every night, I would collect them a day ahead. I’ve got a column written just applying that book, and I write the date.

And then I’ve got the first thing as to what level were you trying out today? And the way I reflect on that is this something which I’m getting closer to my goals?

Am I playing at level 10, where I have so much energy; I couldn’t stop going after clients; I couldn’t stop selling; I couldn’t stop marketing and getting the results? Or am I going to level 3, where I’m struggling to get out of bed and really not doing much and just struggling. Like, you know, those days that are freezing and you’re just lying in bed and think, “Crap. I can’t be bothered going to the office. I can’t be bothered going to work. I can’t be bothered doing anything.”

And I fill out that column. And then, I put the column after this note. So I do a few notes about, “Why was that the case?” “How can I improve?” “What caused that?” So that way, at the end of the month, I can look over that and say, “Well, I’ve had 50% of my days have been under 8 or under 7. That really needs to change.”

And really, what you don’t track, you can’t change. And I believe in that a lot. But if you want to really be able to make a change, you need to know where you need to make a change.

That has to be one of the critical things that, if you want to change something in your routine, if you want to change something in your life, you need to know what’s going on currently and how to change that. So another example is I started really, really, pushing with a monthly budget regarding food spending.

Just going at expenses, returning expenses to the software that I’ve got, the thing about Dropbox or ActiveCampaign, ClickFunnels, and a whole lot more. And I’m getting—I’m spending on systems. So my assistant really handles that.

At the end of every day, I can provide how much do I spend in food. If I’ve got a transcription cost to transcribe the podcast that gets added in there as well at the end of every month just so I can really keep an eye on all my expenses.

[04:38] One more thing that he mentioned was that the really big monetary shift away, rather than looking at the little things, saving $50, saving $10 here and there. You really need to go after that 10x sale rather than spending your time on these mediocre, small things.

Rather than devoting your time to it, spend your time where it’s best spent. And that’s going after the really, big sales. Those really, big clients who have really big clinchers of sales, because that’s what going to make the difference in your bottom line in your business.

Because your business doesn’t operate, unless the registers are going, unless you’re constantly closing. And that’s the part that nobody likes. And even myself, I’m not a natural born salesman. But keep reading and keep going after these audio books.

I’ve taken myself definitely from a level 6 or 7 to a level 8 or 9. And I’m really looking to hit that hard 10, where I’ll always be able to get on the phone and be comfortable telling them, handling their objections and going through that sales strategy. So that’s one thing which I’ve been doing recently. And that’s really been great.

[05:38] The other is goal-writing and goal-setting in the morning as well. So every morning, I’ve got my goal laid out that I really want to hit. I’m not going to mention on the podcast because I think everyone should have their own goals.

And I don’t want to really influence anyone with my situation. But my goal, from what it was before I started listening to some of these audio books and some of the content out there, I 10X-ed it. And now, every single morning I look at that and think I’ve got—every single time I brush my teeth—I think that by this deadline, this is what I’m working towards.

And I keep pushing and pushing, and pushing. And it’s a 10X goal, so it’s not something simple. It’s not something that I can achieve in the next, say, two to three months. This is something I’m going to need to smash out and really dominate to hit. I don’t know anyone my age that’s got a goal like this.

But I think I can achieve it and I’ve got no doubt. So definitely have a goal. Write it at every single morning. And then reflect on that evening. Without even a notepad or pen, go after and say, “Look, have I done everything? Was I at level 10? Was I closing? Was I doing what needed to be done to get that goal? Or was I scooting around the board running blog posts, editing images, speaking to friends, spending time on Facebook/YouTube?

What was I doing and was I wasting my time? Or was I really going hard?” Because going after these goals are no nice, easy feat. There’s no easy way of going around it. It doesn’t look good on paper. There’s no marking around. It’s really just a grind.

And I think a lot of people mistake blogs and people looking at things, and saying, “Oh wow, he’s done it so easily. It looks so good.” Going after goals is great, it’s fun-filled, is easy. But when you look at it, there’s nothing easy or fun about it.

That’s the reason why no one else achieves it. If it was fun and easy, everyone would be doing it. But if you want to really hit those goals, you’ve got to go into full implementation mode, full commit—being committed at the very most, not marking around.

It might require you to go and really push yourself to the edge, and get out of your comfort zone.

[07:29] And that’s the same thing. People, even your friends and your family, might really push you and say, “Look, Stephen, you’re going too hard.” or “You’re obsessed with this. Come home. Finish early. Do this. Do that.”

These are all just people. Are they trying to help you? They’re definitely trying to help you. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. But at the end of the day, if you want to hit your goals, you’ve got to be focused on your part. And you got to be committed, regardless if it’s parents, friends, and family.

So when you’re off that track, you’ve got to be committed to your track and your success. And that’s something I realized over the last few three, four, five, six months. Just being absolutely committed to what you want to do.

[08:05] And last thing is being focused as well. So I’m someone and I know there are a lot of other people out there. I get a lot entrepreneurs and students and people that struggle to focus.

And I’m definitely one of those people that struggle to focus. I like having my hands, and dipping these in pies, and being involved in a bit of everything. But it’s really easy to get distracted.

And getting 20% of everything done is really going to hurt your bottom line. And you’re not going to be able to improve in anything. Whereas the guy who spent a 100% of his time on one business, one idea, implementing it, committing himself to it, is going to get results like everyone else.

So I think it reminds me again on one of the audio books Grant was speaking.

He goes, “People look at everyone else’s grass and they say it’s all green.” And he goes, “The reason why it’s so green is because they’re watering their own grass. They’re not looking at everybody else’s grass. If you want to get your grass nice and green, and you want to really dominate, have your products thriving, you’ve got to sit there watering your own grass.”

Don’t go looking around and wondering what everyone’s secret recipe is to getting their grass watered. It’s really watering your own grass. So focus on yours, and yours alone.

Regardless of what everyone else is doing in the industry, rather than marching around. Focus on what you’re good at and double down, knees down, and implement it and smash it. So have a plan and just dominate it.

[09:21] So that’s going to be my little piece of wisdom for tonight. 7:25 PM here on a Sunday night. Just played three games of indoor soccer. If anyone knows indoor soccer, it is just crazy. It’s a 40-minute game.

So I played three of them, 120 minutes, two hours. And I went in there thinking I’ll just play one. But at the end of the day, again, 10X it. Look for that—how much can you go?

Push yourself out of your comfort zone. While you’re there, why not play another two? Work yourself hard.

And then, whatever it is, lose that weight, get fit, improve your skills. Whatever it might be, make sure you 10X it. There’s no excuse why you can’t.

And there’s going to be no one there who’s playing three games. I was the only one that sticks around. And even the owners of the place started to know me now.

They keep calling me up to play. But whenever I go there. I make sure I push myself. Push myself right to the end and make the most of it.

So hopefully this gave you a bit of wisdom too, guys. Make sure you’re really pushing yourself every single day. Really 10X it.

Don’t get to those little goals that your friends or your family are telling you about. Really dominate the space you’re in. You want to be competing with the guy next door.

You want to be dominating what your space is, completely obliterating it. Make sure you’re the top dog right in your space.

Get everyone else competing with you. You don’t compete with anyone else. Be the top dog. If you’re running a webinar and 20 people show up, close 20 people.

There is no excuse not to close that many people. If you’re running a blog post, and you’re sending it on—you’re sharing it on Facebook/Twitter, set up the syndication so it goes out in Google+ medium, LinkedIn.

Be everywhere, 10X it. Discover your competition, I have been thinking about, and that’s where you’re going to get the results. So you’re getting fired up now towards the end of this podcast.

So I might go inside, have a shower and then start implementing a bit more. But if you have any questions, please let me know. I’m doing a redesign of my website soon too.

So hopefully, you’ll be looking to this on the newly designed stephenesketzis.com website.

Take care, guys. Hopefully, you have a good night. 10X it. And I’ll speak to you soon.