I want to share two “exercises” which I have done via email, not in the gym…one took place “B.T” (“Before Titans”) and the other just recently (which almost closed the loop on the first one).
I say “almost” because the second opened a new loop while doing it.
And I just created an open loop…and I am not even a copywriter. 🙂
I’m sharing both exercises with you today because:
- I believe they are useful for anyone in the building phase of their career (and when are we not building?)
AND
- I believe they are also useful when you are in a reinvention of your career…and probably on the verge of yet another “build.”
I hope you will embrace both…and use some version of both (either word for word or as a template to create your own versions)…and let me know what you learned about yourself after you experience both with the people in your life.
Tell me the truth about me
I sent an email to 30 of the most influential people in my business life (from 1981 through 2014) …as I was on the cusp of determining whether to leave my beloved company, Boardroom (where I had spent my entire career—over 30 years—helping build it into a direct marketing and publishing powerhouse).
Here is an excerpt from that email…which has been archived in my “email database” …shared often with people I coach…since the day I sent it in early 2014:
Dear Special Friends,
If you are on this email, you are part of a group of people I trust as much as anyone in my business (and therefore personal) world…and you are also part of a group that knows me well…both my strengths and my weaknesses…or at least well enough to comment and give me some very valuable feedback.
So lucky you!
I have two questions below that I would like you to answer for me…and if for some reason you would rather not do it or if you don’t have the time to do it, that’s OK.
Don’t feel obligated. But it would be greatly appreciated.
Here’s some background…
Last year I read a terrific article from a results leader named Jonathan Fields.
He’s a very successful entrepreneur, speaker and author—and he created what he calls his “Killer App Exercise” which is what the two questions below represent.
I’ve had the privilege of meeting and getting to know Jonathan and he is truly amazing. His book “Uncertainty” is a fantastic read with actionable advice.
Also, feel free to do this exercise yourself with your own special group of people (and you know I will return the favor if you want me in your group).
I know—long intro—and you’re already saying:
“What the heck do you want from me, Brian?”
The “list” of 30 that this letter went out to is a special group of trusted friends (some for most of the 30+ years I spent at Boardroom up until that point), advisors, mentors…and folks who are appropriate for such a “big ask.”
That is, it should only go to people who have known you for a long time, people you have interacted with deeply, people who have intimacy with your contributions and skills, people who understand the “ask” is appropriate to the relationship you have with them…and most importantly, people who will tell you the truth.
The good, the bad, and the ugly.
This is not for the “cheerleaders” in your life who only tell you what you may want to hear or “the expected”…you want candid feedback.
The letter went on:
Below are the two questions I would like you to answer about me which I know will be helpful as I sort out how I want to work and play as I move forward in the decades ahead.
I love direct marketing…more than ever…and I still love Boardroom and all I’ve built there in my 30+ years.
There may be more for me to do there. Or not.
But I am feeling a force pulling me to do more.
This exercise is about what I see as my ability to contribute more everywhere in my life.
If you choose to participate, feel free to share what could be construed as “negative” (something not so nice about me), because I am in a perfect place to hear anything—especially from you, a trusted group of friends who would ALL tell me if I had spinach in my teeth…or even something hanging from my nose…without love leaving the room (i.e. this email). 🙂
Here goes…again, feel free to not participate…but I would love your input and perspective, good or bad:
1) From the outside looking in, what do you perceive as my killer app and what do you come to me for…or where do you see me offering substantial value for others?
2) What makes me different from others offering similar value products, experience or services?
The responses I received were transformational…they created a road map for the next 10 years…and enabled me to embark on my “Titans journey” in 2015 and I have never looked back.
And the letter above and the two questions have become a framework for anyone who comes to me looking for direction, whether formerly (in my mastermind groups on a hot seat) or informally (someone simply asking for career direction or advice regarding their next chapter).
If done with the “right list” (as described above) I know you will have a similar experience to mine.
You are too close to it to see it yourself.
You will learn the t differentiators that you, and only you, possess…because you are a brand of one. 🙂
Identifying your winning formula
Fast forward 11 years later…to 2025…when another “exercise” came into my Inbox which served as validation that I achieved much of what I set out to do in 2014 based on the in-depth feedback I received.
However, this second exercise could stand on its own as a road map to the future as well.
And once again, because I was in the thick of it for over a decade, it took the prompts below within this exercise to reassure me that I kept my promise to myself (and the 30 trusted advisors I wrote to and responded to me in 2014) …and this has now set the stage for the next decade.
The exercise was initiated by the geniuses at Genius Network, a mastermind/entrepreneurial alliance I’ve been a member of for close to 13 years, hosted by my good friend and the maestro of the group, Joe Polish.
Not coincidentally, Joe was one of the 30 folks on my 2014 email.
Here are the prompts with my candid answers…and note that Genius Network sent this exercise to all members for the purpose of creating a book.
I see the additional benefit of having it memorialized in a book for the members who participate by creating built-in accountability to stay on mission.
I invite you to answer the questions yourself, in addition to sending the “truth about yourself” email…to receive a double dose of insight, inspiration, and staying on course.
The title of this exercise is “Winners Find Ways”:
How have you found ways to win in business and life?
Living by this credo:
“Everything in business (and life) is not a revenue event; but everything is a relationship event.”
What challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them?
There is no business challenge that can ever beat me—because compared to my health and family, business is just “stuff.”
And when I faced a near death experience (I had a stroke in 2019), I overcame it through unconditional support from the people in my life, those I work with and many more…and especially my family.
Then, taking six months to fully recover and appearing on the “Best Copywriting Panel Ever” at the Genius Network Annual became the key milestone to get back in the game…and it was the beginning of my comeback tour which I have been on ever since.
“Relationship Capital” beats money every day of the week…and it was the relationships I had built my entire career before almost leaving this earth that reinforced what was really important.
And I am not overly religious or spiritual…or a non-profit either. 🙂
[NOTE: One of the pieces of feedback I received from “The 30” was not to chase every dollar…and to lead with my superpower of connection]
What specific strategies or mindsets helped you turn challenges into victories?
Realizing that in 50 years (or sooner), I will be in a box in the ground—which sounds like a downer… but it is a very upbeat way to look at the world…and it is what drives me every day.
I’m not living like I’m running out of time but rather living with purpose in the present.
That coupled with Dan Sullivan’s construct of chunking down my life into 90-day sprints with targeted outcomes and never looking too far in the future, always celebrating the wins, is my winning formula.
[NOTE: This was a winning formula shared with me by one of the people from the Killer App letter…and he said it would be perfect for me. And I immediately joined Dan’s Strategic Coach workshop and was an active member for 8 years… which led to many more revelations…there’s another biggie below]
Can you share a specific story where you turned a potential failure into success?
Because I launched my virtual mastermind (Titans Xcelerator) before COVID, it protected my live/in-person Mastermind (Titans Mastermind) from falling by the wayside.
And once COVID restricted live, in person meetings, I changed the offering for Titans Xcelerator to weekly calls from monthly calls which had the additional benefit of an increased renewal rate in year two.
I then tried to sell the idea that “I predicted the pandemic in December of 2019.”
Maybe I did?
Whether that’s true or not, I’ll go with it until someone wants to challenge me. 🙂
[NOTE: Another piece of advice acted on from “The 30”: “Share your accumulated wisdom with many more people” which I did…Titans Xcelerator is comprised of a curated group of 250 of the most heart-centered marketers, copywriters and entrepreneurs on the planet…more on that in the P.S.]
How do you define winning in business and life?
By the five ways we get paid, with the fifth being cash (courtesy of Dan Sullivan and Joe Polish):
- People utilize me
- I enhance other people’s lives
- I appreciate everyone I touch
- I refer others willingly
- I accept rewards from people who: utilize me (and I utilize them); allow me to enhance them and, in turn, enhance me; I appreciate everyone and anyone who appreciates me; I refer others and get referred if appropriate (not as a quid pro quo).
And if any of those rewards convert to cash, it’s pure gravy. 🙂
What’s the most influential book that you can attribute to helping you win in business and in life?
Give and Take by Adam Grant.
Two more which are specific applications to my craft (marketing and copywriting):
Breakthrough Advertising by Gene Schwartz.
Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got by Jay Abraham
And on a lighter note:
Oh, The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss.
And finally, playing to our host:
What’s In It For Them? by Joe Polish 🙂
What’s your one sentence Winning Formula?
“Marketing isn’t everything…it’s the only thing.”
The through line when toggling between these two exercises was a revelation to me…and I encourage you to use both the “Killer App” and the “Winners Find Ways” exercises any way you see fit.
They are also great ways to assess your progress along life’s highway…being accountable to the people you love and share that progress with (which I am attempting to do with you today) …making sure you are “doing” (showing) rather than “saying” (telling)…and being true to your values and everything that is dear to you.
Not to mention the connection and contribution involved in doing them.
With no downside.
I hope you will consider trying some version of both…not consider them homework or a chore…but rather a way to be proactive in the present…to determine your bigger future.
Consider them your most important “reps”…the only exercises you need to become bigger and stronger…incorporating your honesty…the honesty of those you love and who love you…and email.
No need to bother with weights or a personal trainer. 🙂
Warmly,
Brian
P.S. After receiving the game changing feedback from the “What’s my killer app” email in 2014, I ended up leaving Boardroom and I immediately embarked on a “descension model” for my new business.
At that time the model for most marketers was “ascension”…from a low price offer to high priced offers…but I flipped that around to a “descension” model based on the advice from the people who knew me best.
Many offered that one of my killer apps was a relationship capital account that was unprecedented…and the way I accumulated it was unique because of my ability to go deep with every relationship in my business life over three decades.
And to embrace the fact that I had 30 years of accumulated knowledge and wisdom rather than one year’s experience for 30 years.
It was almost embarrassing that I didn’t realize that on my own…and I certainly didn’t see it as one of my superpowers.
Based on that, I started “Titans Marketing” with a $20,000 per year mastermind…grew the membership to 30 top direct response marketing companies and practitioners…and then over the next ten years, increased my reach and reduced my prices.
High price to low price worked much better for me.
Here’s more about my low priced opportunity…
Over my post-Boardroom career, I have been a member of as many as five mastermind groups at a time…and have facilitated three of my own.
I guess you can call me a “mastermind junkie.”
Being in a room sharing (whether from books, your experience, other’s experience, experts) …where you are never the smartest person in the room…gathering feedback and taking it in (rather than rejecting it outright) with love never leaving the room …is a prescription like no other for success.
I am proud to say that I have spent upwards of $1 million for that education…and connection…and made millions in return.
It’s often said that you need to “pay to pay attention”…but I reject that…assuming you never abandon your personal responsibility and your accountability to yourself (which is what today’s post is about).
Whether the experience costs you money or not, it’s up to you to make sure accountability follows.
And getting a little help from your friends and colleagues is nothing to be embarrassed about.
In fact, it’s the only way to do it in my book.
This is the reason why I created accountability PODS in Titans Xcelerator (with the help of members and experts who have done them before), with no additional fee.
Just an additional, and optional, overdelivery on the membership.
Imagine getting feedback on your Killer App on a weekly basis? 🙂
Those who are participating are having extraordinary results.
As are all members, whether they have joined a POD or not.
If you would like to know more about Titans Xcelerator—with the accountability PODS being only one of many game-changing benefits–click here.
Regardless, you need to start somewhere.
No one needs to go it alone.
And relationship capital not accumulating compound interest seems like a terrible thing to waste.
You don’t even need to wait until interest rates go up. 🙂