What's ACTUALLY going on?

You'd be amazed by how you think differently, feel differently and act differently when you peel away the layers and ask that one question.

What's ACTUALLY going on?

Your awareness is most of the battle when it comes to work and life. Understanding what's beneath the superficial surface helps you navigate emotion, expectations, understanding, challenges and escalations.

This episode right here is designed to turn you into the Jason Bourne of awareness.

Segment 01 – Key rules.

Stoooooop with the judgment already. Instead, be truly curious and accept the insights.

Segment 02 – Be "self" aware.

Get ready to develop a Life List that includes values, what makes you feel better, and what triggers you to feel worse. Then, measure against that baseline.

Segment 03 – Be aware of others.

If you knew that someone was having a really, really difficult time, you'd be more empathetic and compassionate, right? Well...here's how you use that curiosity to understand what's going on around you.

Segment 04 – Be "situationally" aware.

Read the room. Here's how to look for everything from power dynamics to social cues.

Motivation is a scam (how's that for a clickbait headline?).

If you've ever seen something that makes you feel like you can take on the world, only to watch it fizzle out an hour later...this is the show for you.

Things are tough out there right now, and it can be nearly impossible to keep your head up and move forward with confidence. Here's my Playbook for doing exactly that.

Segment 01 - Make the commitment.

What is motivation? How to create a purpose. How to establish an environment for yourself.

Segment 02 - Build discipline and habit.

"Don't rely on 'motivation' for anything. It's fleeting and unreliable. Discipline, however, is unyielding.'" How to establish Process/System/Habit. Why you should read Atomic Habits.

Segment 03 - Get moving.

The importance of visibility. How to make micro actions. The value of ritual. How to get soft accountability working for you.

Segment 04 - Bonus secrets.

Rest. Setbacks. And what the heck is D.O.S.E.?

Pitching is about people.

Yes, yes, you've got a great product...and service...and value proposition.

But f you try to bring it to the people by telling everyone how great you are...you're not pitching. You're gambling.

Don't gamble. Looking to land a job, a client, a second date? Remember these four things...

Segment 01 – Remember that it's not a "moment."

You win most pitches when you understand that it's the exclamation point to a sentence, not the entire sentence. Build likability, trust and rapport FIRST.

Segment 02 – Understand how your audience "buys" and "rejects."

Your pitch isn't about you and your awesome product/service/idea. It's about your audience, and if you don't know them well enough...you won't win often enough.

Segment 03 – Frame your story to trigger your buyer.

What is your pitch about? Careful. Pick the wrong thing, and you can lose. Pick too many things, and you can lose. Much of your sale will come right here,

Segment 04 – Stop making these mistakes.

You're pitching to a real live person – and if you're not thinking about this stuff, you're creating a recipe for disaster.

You got the job. Congratulations?

Now what?

Do you get out there and start making waves in your new gig, or sit back and take it in?

What you need...is a plan, and this week's episode gives you the exact plan you need to succeed in any new engagement...

Segment 01 – Get off of autopilot.

Win with four specific, and helpful skills.

Segment 02 – Your 4-step plan.

Listen. Win. Recommend. Execute.

Segment 03 – Network Better.

Make an Influence Map. Learn about great coffee. Go to all that social stuff you hate.

Segment 04 – Be known for something.

How are you MIRV? What can you recommend? What's your internal "cause?" Are you a "connector?"

Job interviews are harder than they should be.

And a big reason for that is that we don't step back and think about what it takes to succeed with a job interview. Instead...we hyper focus on individual questions, and try to think about what they mean.

There is a better way, one that starts with not getting into the cattle call challenge for a job interview...and instead, building relationships beforehand. TO learn more about that, check out Episode 125, "How to look for a job."

What can you do to ace a job interview? Try these...

Segment 01 – Build a "personally moving" business case.

You aren't a person applying for a job. You are a brand making a connection. Here's how to do that by driving outcomes for the business and influencing the individual.

Segment 02 - Deliver smarter answers.

To deliver a better answer, look to media and presentation training. It's about what triggers you'r audience, understanding what they're really asking and delivering a MIRV answer.

Segment 03 - Try four secrets.

How well are you using gathering time, asking questions, being genuinely curious and following up? These can set you apart.

Segment 04 - Think of it as a performance.

Bring your best self to the table and learn how to project confidence and break into the brain of the interviewer.

Resumes suck.

Not ALL of them, but way, way too many of them.

As someone who has worked as a professional CV writer in the past, I have a hunch as to why:

We don't actually THINK about our resume. We just sort of follow a template of telling people about us.

But here's the thing – many people don't care about us. They care about what we can do for them. And to that end, your resume isn't your story.

It's your print ad.

The "job" of a resume is to move a sales cycle forward, and get you an interview.

That's it.

And that's why you might want to re-think how you put that one pager together. On today's episode, I share The Playbook that once got a non-hockey executive interviews with actual NHL teams. Listen up...and make your resume (+ online presence) stand out.

Segment 01 – Get off of autopilot.
Do the same thing, get the same result – and in this case, that's not a good thing.

Segment 02 – Write a better resume.
Introducing the "matrix" approach to publishing your story.

Segment 03 – Write a better resume (continued).
An idea so big, it's going to take two segments to cover it all.

Segment 04 – Little things.
Cover letters. Humanity. And the importance of "asking for the business."

“Exactly what to do.”

I’ve noticed a problem with too much of LinkedIn’s content. It tends to sit in the broader “strategic” layer of thinking. We give advice like “Go out there and network” and “Take care of your mental health.”

But the devil’s in the details. What do you actually do to network (stand where people hang out) and take care of your mental health (do 2-minute instant mindfulness exercises throughout the day)?

That’s the focus of my all-new Season of The Playbook. This time around, we’re describing Exactly What to Do (EWTODO).

This week – How to Look for a Job. I’m getting into the nuts and bolts of resumes and the like in future episodes. This one is simply the little things you need to do to find that dream gig, and it’s going to take a bit of legwork to get you there.

Segment 01 – Get off of autopilot
Do the same things, get the same results. Here's a better way to look for a job.

Segment 02 – Think like a business
What's your brand plan? Do what businesses do, even if you're an employee.

Segment 03 – Build an epic network
Sure. You know you need a network. But do you know what you're doing?

Segment 04 – Create a presence
A resume and a cover letter don't cut it these days. You need do be something...more.

Everything you need to know about presentations in 46 minutes.

When The Playbook first began, the goal was to get past the “strategic layer” of thinking, and down to the very specific things you can do to succeed.

That’s what this BRAND NEW SEASON is all about. I’m calling it “Exactly What To Do.” Every week, I’m tackling one real world topic – How to get a job, How to build a brand, How to network – and telling you the specific things you should be doing to be successful.

This week – presentation skills (obvi). Starting Monday, I’m running the SUGR Instant Course with new content every day. The show’s live on Sauga 960 AM today at 3 – and available now to stream on your favourite platform, or from the speakupgetresults.com website. Come hang out. It’s like getting a killer keynote on what it takes to present.