Peter Shallard

This morning I sat down for the first of 17+ days of professional development.

Actually, I’ve committed the 28 days of February to this development – but for 17 days, I’ll be attending a super high-level (read: Jedi) NLP training.

The trainer (and good friend) Heidi Heron, astounded me with this simple congratulation:

“You’re giving yourself 17 days of deliberate, focused learning out of 365. That is rare.”

And it is. When did we, as adults, decide that our focus was “work” and no longer “education”. Regretfully, I’ve been putting off this training for years – simply because I refused to give myself 17 days.

What would you do, if you took a month off to learn?

PS Blog updates will continue as normal – if anything, they may get better

PPS Photo above was taken from my bedroom window, here on Australia’s beautiful Gold Coast.

Occasionally we stumble across the phenomenal.

An artist’s vision realized, a revolutionary product, music that changes you or perhaps coffee really worth talking about.

In this instance, it’s an extraordinary video that inspires. Take a two minute and seventeen second break to watch something that will change your entire day:

Told you…

I recently stumbled across a rare (and incredible) video interview (watch it below) of two of the most revolutionary, technological magicians of this age: Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Apple’s Steve Jobs.

Right at the end of the interview, an audience member asks for advice and both Gates and Jobs touch on an issue that is central, critical and revolutionary to every one of my clients, blog subscribers and friends.

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Two game-changing launches have/are happening this week. They’ll both send major shockwaves through the world of business, entrepreneurs and more.

The first is Seth Godin’s new book Linchpin – Are you indispensable? which is all about shaking up the way you think about what you do all day… and how you do it.

The second is Apple Computer’s launch of their (revolutionary) Tablet device, to be formally announced in San Francisco at 10am tomorrow (local time).

You’ll be talking about these two products and the ideas they create for years to come, guaranteed. If you haven’t already, click the links (blue) above and be among the first to get the scoop.

I’d love to know how you think either of these will affect your future – in business or life in general. Leave a comment below.

- Peter

This is the final instalment in a series of articles on Sales Management – for people managing their own sales (every entrepreneur is), corporate team leaders or anyone in between.

So far, I’ve revealed an outline, covering off the essential steps: Great Beliefs, Reasons to Act, Outcome Clarity and Wilful Action.

The total acronym (for memory-ease) looks like this: GROWS

The S stands for “Skills” and it comes last because sales skills are not important.

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Sometimes chunking huge goals down to microscope tasks does wonders for motivation.

I just finished up a session with a client’s Business Development Manager (sales rep).

We simply worked out that they could be well on track to an exciting six figure annual income – if they would just spend two hours a day making calls to new prospects.

Previously, the very thought of the 40 to 50 massive, business-to-business sales they’d have to make (over the year ) was absolutely overwhelming.

Conservatively connecting the dots between two hours on the phone and the pie-in-the-sky annual income goal is like a caffeine jolt to the motivation muscle.

How can you chunk your impossible goals into bite-sized fun?

It doesn’t matter whether you’re involved in any kind of selling or not, this fourth step in my Sales Management series is useful for everyone.

Why? Because it’s all something both you and I all need all the time.

Sales people need to it the most. For every entrepreneur, or at least the successful ones, it is the fundamental ingredient in any given day, project or business!

Read on to discover why…

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Hi faithful readers!

Just a very quick note to let you know of a fantastic opportunity for entrepreneurs that will pop up early next week…

I don’t often shout out recommendations or give advice, but there is an opportunity you really need to take advantage of. If you’re an entrepreneur (or wish you were), read on…

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This is the third in a series of articles that break down the exact formula you need to smash sales targets… no matter if they’re your own, or your teams goals.

If you’ve been following the series (and you should be!… subscribe here) then you’ll be aware we’re building up an acronym of steps. So far we’ve got G (Great beliefs) and R (Reasons to act).

Read on to find out (and profit from) the next step:

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Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning.

A man with a violin plays six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approximately two thousand people passed  through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After 3 minutes a middle-aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.  
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