Can’t Hurt Me

Can’t Hurt Me.

Ouch.

David Goggins, author of the book, Can’t Hurt Me, is one of the toughest persons ever.

The author’s life reads like a Rocky story. He grew up with an unbearable father who beat him and his mother, and while they escaped, poverty and racism followed their path.

Growing up, they lived pay-to-pay check; he had a stutter, his hair fell out. He struggled to read.

He finally decided to do something with his life and joined the Air Force. His dream was to be pararescue which required a skill he had not learned, swimming. When his fears got the better of him, he used a test for a predisposition to sickle cell anemia to leave the military.

Life then turned to less than stellar. He spiraled to 300 pounds living on shakes and donuts and earned a living as an exterminator.

Then things changed.

One day, he watched a documentary on the Navy SEALS. It was so inspiring; he decided to give it a shot. But, there were some setbacks and requirements. One being he needed to lose 100 pounds to make the qualifying weight to join the SEALS.

He got on it. He spent hours on end on an exercise bike, two hours in the pool, and intense circuit training. When in shape, he added running.

While there were setbacks, after a few years, he became a SEAL. Becoming a SEAL turned him on to ultra running.

Goggins became a badass of ultra running and chose to compete in the most outrageous ultra marathons in the country.

For his success, Goggins attributes his 40% rule. More than half is on the table when we give up after only 40% of our potential effort. To achieve the remaining balance, we need to continue telling the world, “Can’t Hurt Me.”

The 5 Second Rule

In The 5 Second Rule, Mel Robbins shares how to stop procrastinating, eliminate worrying, and make dreams a reality. From waking up to starting a challenging project, count down from five to one and get out of bed or start the project. While simple, this approach redirects to what we should be doing. If you need motivation or inspiration to take action, the five-second rule gets you moving.

Further, Robbins uses the five-second rule to compliment a co-worker or make a decision at the moment instead of waiting for the right time. From the co-founder of Apple, Steve Wozniak, to the Fifty Shades of Grey author, the book shares they went from waiting for the right time to taking action.

Instead of focusing on how we feel, the five-second rule focuses on taking action and moving away from distraction. Smartphones and other devices were created to make us more productive, but because they can provide a convenient distraction, they can have the opposite effect, resulting in destructive procrastination.

As the book Mindset states, our minds and personalities are flexible. To get the results you want in life, take action in “five, four, three, two, one.”

My thanks to my alumni, Watertown-Mayer School

My thanks to my alumni, Watertown-Mayer High School, for including me in their graduate’s of Watertown series. Also, gotta love the 80’s!

2021 Best Places to Work: Intertech racks up 15th BPTW award

Intertech landed on the Minneapolis Saint Paul Business Journal’s Best Places to Work for 2021. My thanks to our customers and employees for making us possible. Below is an excerpt from the article.

Intertech Inc., a 15-time Best Places to Work honoree, offers employees a sabbatical program, a flexible work-from-home policy, a signing bonus, and bonuses for referring employees and customers.For more about why this company is a BPTW, we asked CEO Tom Salonek:

What new policies or benefits did you introduce because of the pandemic that you will make or have made permanent? For over a decade, we’ve had a flexible work-from-home policy. With the pandemic, it was a simple transition to have employees work 100% from home. As we look at a return to work this fall, we expect a healthy amount of employees will continue to spend some or all of their time working from home.

What are some popular benefits you offer? Our sabbatical, where employees get three months off for every seven years of service, is very popular. We also offer a signing bonus for employees to outfit their home office, so they are as effective at home as at work.

How have you maintained your award-winning workplace culture this past year, especially if you have been primarily working remotely? Between our weekly newsletter, monthly all-company meetings and daily standups, we’ve worked to stay connected while apart.

Did the pandemic change your definition of what makes a great workplace? Going into the pandemic, we gave people autonomy, flexible work from home policy, and work-life balance. Those continue to be important in making a workplace great.

Why should your employees consider your organization a Best Place to Work? Intertech hires one out of every 20 technical candidates, and technical staff appreciates working with the best on challenging projects.

Intertech Inc.

Category: Small

Rank: 16

Score: 93.0488

Repeat wins: 15-time winner

Top Minnesota executive: Tom Salonek

Minnesota employees: 48

Business: Software consulting and training firm

City: Eagan

Web: intertech.com

What is your company culture in a #hashtag? #AttitudeCommitmentExcellence

Magic Words

In his book, Magic Words, Tim David shares words that can dramatically increase persuasion. Magic words are words that use more effective communicators and help motivate others to take action. For magic words to work, they need a strong relationship and connection.

The first magic word is “yes,” and getting someone to say “yes” before your actual ask increases your odds of success. In fact, in one study of salespeople, those that got the customer to say yes to anything a few times before they asked for the sale increased their success rate from 18 to 32%.

Our name. What’s the favorite word for any of us to hear? Want to make someone feel important? Use their name when you’re talking with them.

Another magic word is “but.” Saying but makes someone think that everything you said before the but isn’t what you mean.

If you want to get what you want, give a reason. A Harvard professor studied how someone using a copier shared why they needed to cut in line. 60% of the time, a person successfully cut in line because she shared her “because.”

Help. It’s useful when delegating. For most of us, “help” is a powerful word. When someone asks for help, we’re inclined to lean in and give our best.

The last magic word is “thanks.” Many years ago, I was part of an executive coaching, Strategic Coach program. Quarterly, I’d fly out to Chicago. The main tenants of the program shared that for us to be successful were to be on time, to what we say, to finish what we start, and say please and thank you.