Steve Johnsen

Personal and corporate growth for business owners, executives, coaches & entrepreneurs

Play Full Out

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Work is a game. Life is a game. And the harder you play the game, the more fun it is.

A year or two ago, when I was in really good shape, my brother and I would play pickup basketball with our youth group. We never cared about the score; my brother and I made sure that all the players got to handle the ball, regardless of skill level. We never argued over the points, and we cheered when the opposing team made a good play. But we always played to win, because that meant playing FULL OUT, and that was when the game was fun.

Why is it that so many people enjoy watching the Olympics? What is it about these performances that is so emotional? Because something in us responds when we see people playing the game as if their lives depended on it. It’s a beautiful thing to see people leave everything on the field, playing their hearts out, playing FULL OUT. The thrill of victory…The agony of defeat…But beautiful to watch either way.

It’s the same reason why so many people wait until the end of the season to watch the playoff games. Teams with a lot of heart, playing FULL OUT, giving everything they have. For some reason, human beings were designed to live their lives that way, and when we see it happening, we cry, we laugh, and we cheer.

We also know that those who are playing on that level have invested a lot of work, a lot of training, to get there. They don’t become world class overnight. We appreciate the years of dedication and hard work that have gone into achieving their dream, because deep down, secretly, we long to live the same way ourselves.

Why not start today? Can you be world class in your business? Wouldn’t it be fun to try?

To your success!

Byte to Byte with Steve Johnsen
Play Full Out

Steve Johnsen, MBASteve Johnsen is an SEO specialist, marketing strategist, business coach, and the Founder of Cloud Mountain Marketing. He is also the author of the Amazon #1 best-seller, 5 Easy Steps to Make Your Website Your #1 Employee.

Three words that guarantee failure

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There are three words you can use that guarantee failure in just about any endeavor, including both business and personal life.

My friend Gary Barnes (who happens to be one of America’s leading business coaches) does an exercise in his boot camps. He asks everyone in the audience to put their pen on the table, and then instructs them to try to pick it up. Most people figure out after 2-3 times how to follow the instructions correctly—“Trying” to pick up the pen is not the same as actually picking it up!

Darren Brown, the English stage hypnotist and magician, mystifies audiences using the same words. He explained in a rare behind-the-scenes documentary interview that when he gets people in a hypnotic state and tells them, “Try to stand up,” or “Try to lift your hand,” or, “Try to remember your name,” they cannot stand or move their hand or say their name. The reason is that the subconscious mind knows that the word, “Try,” is a command to fail. This seems amazing to the audience looking on, because they generally do not make that connection.

The words, “I will try,” sound very positive, but in fact are a code for, “I am not committed to seeing this happen.” If I ask a client to send over the headshots for their new website and they say “I will try,” I know that it will never really happen. Remember when Luke Skywalker’s spaceship was stuck in the swamp? Luke thought it would be too hard, so when Yoda told him to get it out of the swamp, he said “I will try.” In the immortal words of Yoda, “Do or do not. There is no try.” Gary Barnes has created a new icon:

Try Zone

I have almost no sense of balance and even less grace on my feet. (If you see me on the ski slopes, get far, far out of the way!) When I was a freshman in college, I took an ice skating class. I was determined that I was going to learn to skate, or else break some bones in the attempt. At the end of the course my teacher told me, “Steve, I’ve been teaching ice skating for 18 years, and I have never had another student who fell down as much as you.” But despite all the falls during the learning process, I was skating, and enjoying it immensely!

To your success!

Byte to Byte with Steve Johnsen
Three words that guarantee failure

Happy cows give better milk

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The Dairy Council of California came up with a great ad concept, “Great cheese comes from happy cows….Happy cows come from California.”

In fact, the premise is true, and has been validated by numerous studies of dairy production with different methods of cattle husbandry. Happy cows DO give better milk.

One thing you’ll notice about great ad agencies is that they practice the same thing with their designers. The designers have flexible hours, casual dress codes, and lots of perks that don’t apply to the other employees at the organization. In fact, management tends to coddle the designers. Sometimes it seems they get treated better than the CEO!

The reason for this is that great design is a creative process, and creativity disappears when people are unhappy. Sure, any competent designer can bang out something that “looks good” no matter how they feel. But truly great design that makes people want to buy from you? That requires a creative “spark of genius” which won’t happen unless the designer is happy.

The next time you hire a designer, remember the happy cow principle. You may end up with some fantastic cheese!

To your success!