First published 10 February 2020 on Your Best Year Starts Here with Nigel Risner.
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Nigel opened by saying it took me going thousands of miles away to finally be on time. Apparently when I have to drive 120 miles I find it a stretch. My defence was that I was actually early this time, by several hours, and that this cancels out every time I've turned up four or five minutes late.
This was the first one we did on opposite sides of the Atlantic. I was in the US for a conference. We'd planned to be in the same room and it didn't happen, but we'd said we'd do a weekly podcast, so we did it over Zoom. I was talking through a pair of headphones and Nigel was on his iPhone. His take is that if you have a big enough what, the how will show up. You don't need the big stands and the fancy mics to get it done.
That got us onto video calls. I've been in a mastermind group with weekly calls for at least a year, and I'm the only one based in the UK. I'm not flying to the US every week for a one-hour meeting. Nigel (who wrote a networking book, You Have Me at Hello, that he says he never talks about) reckons seeing someone's face is what makes it work. He also gets dressed for work at home, even just to write his Sunday newsletter. Coming down in his pyjamas is, in his words, not a pretty sight.
Most of the rest was about quality. Nigel wants everything he puts out to be what he calls Tiffany quality, because any single post might be the first thing someone ever sees of you. He also used the moment to remind me he still hasn't forgiven me for episode 58. I think it was 50.
I came at it from a slightly different side, a bit Done Beats Perfect. Put out the best you can now and don't wait until you're better. Same goes for marketing. Holding back your best stuff until you've got someone's email is like turning up at less than your best on a first date and saving it for date three.
Nigel finished with something Jack Canfield, his first trainer, told him. If you're not sure you can get away with it, you can't.
My notes from this one
- If the what is big enough, the how shows up. This week it was Zoom and a phone.
- Get dressed for work, even when you're working from home.
- Any post or email might be the first thing someone sees of you. Would they recommend you on that alone?
- Don't hold your best stuff back for later. You might not get a second date.
- Put out the best you can now. If it embarrasses you in a year, good, you got better.
If you have a big enough what, the how will show up.
Nigel Risner
Put out the best you can now, but if you're embarrassed by that thing in a year's time, good, because that means you got better.
Neil Martin
