Rising above the norm and revealing your full potential are great assets to success. As Darren CdeBaca explains, one of the key components is working on creating routines that are established from healthy habits. He also speaks about the techniques that will help you move forward and adapt to a new direction whether for your business or personal life. Uncover the ways you can learn to rise above in order to reach your maximum potential.
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Rise Above Today's Level Playing Field
I'm here in a very interesting way to share with you an avenue that the best in their businesses and personal scenarios are always thinking about. This show is about Rising Above Today's Level Playing Field. For those who find themselves in a situation like we've gone through with the virus pandemic, a level playing field occurred so quickly. Those who adapted to a new direction of rising above the level playing field had tremendous success in their business and personal life. I'm going to share with you more on a business sense of what professionals have been exercising in that same atmosphere.
I got to read this phenomenal quote by Nelson Mandela. He said, "Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to it and passionate about it every day." It's so true. As we dive into this wonderful topic about Rising Above Today's Level Playing Field, it's interesting to note that leadership teams have centered in on the ones that are leading the group, packs or industries on how do they rise above the rest in nowadays’ environment. When this pandemic hit or when we have circumstances that hit the masses, then there was a tremendous divide between the best and the average.
The average continues to stay in their comfort zone and wait it out, "I'll wait until this clears or the dust settles before I get back to work. I'll continue to try and do my routine." They're exercising the same action steps to get the same results. Good, bad or indifferent, they're not moving it along to rise above. Whereas the best say, "We have a different atmosphere. We must practice different habits intuitively and get different action steps into our team, individuals or myself as a professional in this atmosphere to rise above." We have a saying at DCB Strategies, which is the heartbeat of our work. It's called, "The best and average have nothing in common."
Let me make it clear. If you say that to yourself, "The best and average have nothing in common," your brain will automatically ask yourself, "What side of the line are you on? The best or the average? What allows you to feel confident if you're on either side?" The best have no fear to rise above the level playing field as long as they can constantly monitor the landscape and see that everyone is on a level playing field. As we say at DCB Strategies, they're always creating their own lane and not worrying about competition. If they create it well enough, they rise above everyone else.
If the level playing field is set and the average is conducting the same activities, no surprise, there's an average result. When everyone is doing it, you set yourself up for the norm. Norms don't rise to the top. We don't deserve to be in the norm as individuals. If you are dedicated, passionate and consistent, you've earned the right to move above that. Who wants to be in the norm? The average is a comfort zone city. The default side of our brain is that we want to exercise that deliberate side, which is so powerful. If you're in a business and you present a mindset all day long as best as you can consistently of being fulfilled and engaged, then you're going to love what we're about to talk about.
It's designed with three directives for business people. You can take these pieces, integrate them and ask yourself personally, "Are you rising above in your personal daily activities or health?" Maybe create your own characteristics that allow you to rise above the level playing field. In the business world, what I share with our clients is that number one, there's a pre-start of your day. There's an educate part of your day with businesses. There's a connect part of our day. Another way of saying it is there's a pre-start to our business. There's an education part of our business. There's a connection part to our business.
Let me share with you the pre-start. There are three pre-starts as I've written a piece on this called the Rising Above Today's Level Playing Field. If you want this piece, go to our website at DCBStrategies.com or give me an email at Podcast@DCBStrategies.com and we'll get this to you. Here are the three-piece pre-starts of your daily business as an individual. Pre-starts are allowing you to be intentional in starting each workday. They'll set you up with a renewed energy and perspective. It's a very powerful routine. Routines are created by creating new habits, which will take a little bit of effort on your side, but the results are so fulfilling that it will be contagious and you will continue to do this.
This routine will initiate that contagious person you are for you and your client. Number one, at the beginning of your day, ready your mindset. Set the stage for a great day ahead with an engaged mindset versus the other three mindsets, which are autopilot, thinking or critical. Don't start your day with autopilot, pick up the iPhone and let it tell you what it wants to tell you all day long on the news. If you're thinking about things or highly critical of something, you start your day in the wrong direction. Engage that mindset. Take time to get your emotion and energy engaged for your best day of business activity. Use trigger words, meditate and read something short and empowering. Fulfill your mindset engine and things will happen.
Pre-start number two, before you start your day, show gratitude. Saying thank you is a simple way to wipe the slate clean before your day begins. Saying thank you is a 2-for-1 gift as we call it at DCB Strategies of gratitude and forgiveness all wrapped in one. Saying or writing a short note of thanks is the turning point between letting go of what has happened and embracing what's to come. Start your morning with a thank you to a different person or something you're grateful for daily. Can you imagine writing a handwritten note to somebody and tell them you're thankful for them in many different ways once or twice a week? That's rising above the level playing field.
Set an unplugged time is the third pre-start. Define your unplug time with ten minutes of activity that takes you to a non-tech and non-work environment. Take a short walk outside, listen to music or a lot of candles, and reflect for ten minutes quietly. Activate these at the start of your day. There are so many great little apps out there for your iPhone or Android to allow you to do this. Turn it on and unplug for ten minutes. Do it at the beginning of the day, in the middle of the day or at the end of your workday. This is free vital power for your present focus. Again, three pre-starts, ready your mindset at the beginning of the day, show gratitude and set unplugged times.
The next way to rise above the level playing field is if you're a business person talking with clients every day, or a nonprofit talking with donors every day, or a salesperson in a different industry talking to people every day. We call it three ways to educate. This education process is what we called at DCB strategies, "If you educate, you obligate." It's amazing the power of addiction with that. Over the history of what I've witnessed over almost four decades, those who educate to obligate are the most successful with customers and clients. Humans learn in three ways. All three have different degrees of comprehension with humans as you'll see and hear. We need to train ourselves to activate. It's a craft. You're listening on observational skills to best understand what type of client you're talking with.
There are three ways to educate to rise above the level playing field. Number one is a visual way to educate. Number two is an auditory/vocal way to educate. The third way is the way people feel. The first way to educate is the visual way. It goes like this, have you heard this before when you're talking to a client, selling somebody something, or in a process of getting involved with a large donation, you're running a nonprofit, and the client or the donor says, "I see what you mean. Now, I see what you're talking about." They are totally visual. These types of sentences are indicators from them confirming the fact that they're visual. You know that the storyboard, deck, brochure, financial plan or graphs we're looking at are very important to them. Listen to how they respond to the delivery of that information when you give it to them and you'll hear the keys.
If they're vocal or auditory, they'll say things like, "I hear what you're saying. Can you tell me more about that? Discuss how this is important to me." Those are cues on the fact that they are very intrigued about what they hear. These are the types of confirmation responses that prefer a clearer understanding through vocalization. Listen carefully and you'll be able to communicate more effectively verbally as they give you that cue. The way people feel. People have an innate way to feel things are right. This is the third way to educate to try to appeal to that side. These clients learn by touching, doing or sensing. This kind of thing can be witnessed when they say, "I have a good feeling about this. This does not feel right. This feels good for our future." These are key differences in enlisting immediate trust or not with you.
Again, there are three ways to educate. Be aware of the fact that humans want to learn more so from 1 of the 3 than all three at once at the same level. You have to turn your brain and ears on to listen for these vocal keys. Visual, "I see what you mean. Now, I see what you're talking about." Auditory or vocal, "Can you tell me more about this? Discuss how this is important to me." How they feel, they get into the gut feeling side of, "I have a good feeling about this. This does not feel right. This feels good for our future." Hopefully, that helps. Those are the three ways to key on where do you need to focus on your education when you start talking about very important value-trust topics with customers and clients.
The third way that people are rising above the level playing field is what I call the three musts for client connection. The trifecta of connecting with clients and prospects. If you adopt these key tactics and incorporate them into your future avenues of communication, you'll see a huge difference in the response mechanism. Here are the three musts for client connection. Number one, you've got to communicate. Number two, you've got to engage. Number three, you've got to add value. Let's talk about communicate. Clients and prospects want to hear from you. Remember, you manage their interest on many fronts.
Creative handwritten notes are the most meaningful ways to say hello, rising above the level playing field. They may not delete your emails or text voices because you are important to them. Keep a consistency of acceptance involved. With timely handwritten notes, you can also inject above-average avenues with a solid cadence. Communicate with them. Don't be afraid to cadence the communication with your most important clients, customers or prospects. That's what they want to hear. Once you notice the essence of them accepting it, stay with that and focus on that sort, whether it's handwritten, texts, emails, voicemails or videos. Consistent communication to connect is the first thing.
Number two is to engage. Center your communication around authentic relationships. What I mean by that is ask open-ended questions to engage the person you're chatting with. It's a low-effort tactic with huge potential returns. You can emphasize your communication with the following themes to engage them. Think about how you're providing them with. What are you providing them with to engage them? What are you supporting them with? What are you recognizing them with? What are you encouraging them with? How do you show care for them with? What do you equip them with? That's the way they feel engaged. You also ask open-ended questions, which is the art of getting the best answer.
For example, in the capital markets in the financial industry, when you talk to a private wealth team and I'm sharing some ideas with them as a person with an asset management solution, ask them the open-ended question like, "Over the next 3 to 6 months, what is your team most passionate about in the global capital markets that you're sharing with your clients?" That's a very powerful open-ended question. The other side of it is, "Over the next 3 to 6 months, what is the most concerning thing in the capital markets business that's concerning you globally that you're sharing with your clients and getting prepared to make sure you're prepared for when that occurs?" It's an open-end question and we're engaging.
The third must for client connection is adding value. Build long-lasting brand loyalty by always adding value. You’ve got to keep your clients engaged. At the end of the day, you're going to better your bottom line by always having the opportunity to add value. You've got to communicate, engage and add value. Ways to do that are timely education, simplify the complexity of the situation, invite two related events, invitations, and educational sessions for their children, updates on their favorite hobbies and also inviting them to topical presentations that you know from your small talk. Those who say it can't be done are usually interrupted by others doing it. That's the key phrase. Those who are doing it are rising above today's level playing field.
Thanks for joining me. We talked about the three pre-starts of your day, three ways to educate, and three musts for client connection. I'm excited that you joined me. Take a few of these gems. Start them in your day today, tomorrow and the next. Let me know how they work. Email me at Podcast@DCBStrategies.com or connect with me on our website at DCBStrategies.com. Thank you for your time. As I always say, stay healthy, stay passionate and make it a great day.
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