Who is your spotter?

4 x 8 sets of Heavy Bench Press

This was the workout.  

The last thing the coach said after explaining the workout was “Spotters are mandatory!”

In the gym culture, we think nothing of asking for assistance, or a spot, when lifting weights.  Yet, in our professional world, we often do everything by ourselves and often go out of our way to avoid asking for help.  Why is that?

It got me thinking, what does a spotter do? What are the rules or what makes a good spotter?

A spotter is one who keeps watch.  In the gym, this means that they are watching you, keeping you safe during the lift. 

Roles of a Good Spotter

• Safety
• Confidence
• Present with you (during the lift)
• With you, but does not do the work (no bro reps, or yelling “its all you” as they “help” you lift)
• Helps you find your limits (where your growth occurs, i.e. add 5 more pounds next time, or let's take off 5 pounds next time)
• Celebrate with you (both the struggles and the wins)

When lifting without a spotter, I find I will go lighter, use a weight I know I can hit.  This is safe, yet growth does not occur in the safe zone.  Growth happens at the edges, near the unknowns (I should be able to do this weight for 8 reps, but I do not know). 

The good news is that spotters can assist you in the professional world as well.  When you ask for a coach, mentor, or guide, this is a powerful statement of Intent.  You are saying to yourself, I am wanting to grow, stretch my limits, try something I do not know ahead of time how it will work out.  This is an important part of your growth.  Being intentional!

 Roles of a Great Coach

• Safety – they can help you know when to push and when to pull back
• Confidence & Presence – they are there with you during your work
• With you, but you still do the work – if the coach is doing the work, then you are not growing, they are
• Celebrate with you – we do not stop and celebrate the wins that come from hard work.  Growth is not given to us, it has to be earned.  Remember this and celebrate the results of your hard work

Rest time is over, get back to the bar.  Time for your next lift!

There is no such thing as a born...

Photo by Anugrah Lohiya from Pexels

The born salesperson

500+ Seth Godin by Seth Godin  /  5d  //  keep unread  //  hide

There’s no such thing as a born salesperson.

What there are… are people with empathy and learned charisma who choose to work hard.

If you show up and show up and show up, and care enough to learn to connect, you will have a skill for life.

In the meantime, consider getting yourself hooked on 30 minutes a day of audio that trains you to sell. It takes a while, but it’s learnable.

Zig Ziglar, Anthony Iannarino, Dan Pink, Brian Tracy, Frank Bettger, Jill Konrath … anyone who will help you learn the long-game, the generous long game.

I love this article by Seth Godin, especially because the content of the message is true no matter the subject.

You can insert almost any topic and the statement is still true.

There is no such thing as a born…

• Leader
• Teacher
• Parent
• Finance Manager
• Event Planner
• Marketing Manager
• CEO
• Business Owner
• Friend

But, if you show up and show up and show up, and care enough to learn, you will have a skill for life.

The question is "What do you care about getting better at?"

"Where in your life is your good enough not good enough?"

The best leaders are always learning because they know what they have is a skill.  And that skill must continue to be honed and practiced or it gets dull and no longer serves you.  If you do not know where to start, start by identifying the people you admire.  Read and research what they are doing, then, go and show up.  

It's not about the eggs (but it is all about the eggs)

Customer Service Story

It was a quick trip to the grocery store, needed to grab eggs, soup, and a gluten-free dessert for Lisa.  It was mentally taxing because I was doing this without a list (I know, I like to live dangerously). 

I keep repeating eggs, soup, gluten-free dessert; eggs, soup, gluten-free dessert; eggs, soup, gluten-free dessert so I do not forget what I came in for. 

Grab all three items, no cart or basket for this guy, and proceed to checkout.  My cashier rings up my items, and then she takes the extra step as she is sacking my order to open the eggs to make sure none are broken. 

The extra step.  The one the other stores do not do, they ring you up and get you out.  It takes time, it takes training and yet it is so helpful to me the customer.  You see I was so intent on what I wanted to get, eggs, I forget that I needed to open them to make sure they were not cracked (which of course mine were).  Arriving home with cracked eggs is an inconvenience, but it is completely avoidable with good customer service.

Thank you Market Street, for the care and training you give to your employees.  It truly is the focus on the little things that make this store such a special place, because all of these little things add up to loyal customers.

So, what are the cracked eggs that show up in your business?  

What is that little something extra that you can do (or used to do) that makes your customers love you and go out of their way to return to you?

If you don’t look for and fix, well the “yokes” on you (so sorry, I could not resist!)