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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVQ8zciSyqc

Rich with gems.

One of the most wonderful things I’ve seen in a long time.

You already know that just showing up every day puts you ahead of the curve. Having a point of view and something interesting to say is an asset as well.

Following through on what you say you’ll do (keeping your promises) is also rare and valuable. And to take it further, you can help other people keep their promises.

This means that simply keeping a discussion going or checking back in to see an idea through to completion…matters.

Try it.

The other day, I canceled an LA Fitness membership that was created in 2010. I haven’t set foot inside an LA Fitness in four years, and I didn’t realize I was still paying for it until I took a close look at my credit card statement last week.

Before we proceed, let me make a couple things clear:

1. I fully appreciate the fact that my finances are my responsibility.
2. This was a preventable situation and I’m the only one who can be blamed.

Now.

When I moved away from Atlanta (where I was living in 2010) I canceled my membership. Through their creative customer-screwing policy, you apparently have to cancel your membership at every location at which service was initiated.

For me, this means that canceling my membership (by mailing a form of course, because doing it over the phone or Internet would result in more people actually doing it) at the location where I first signed up was not enough. There was another membership for the location near where I worked in 2010.

So I’ve paid about $1,250 or so since then.

Again, rage.

I was out running errands on Saturday when I remembered to swing by an LA Fitness so the operations manager could handle this, and I gave them a ring to let them know I was on the way (and really, to ensure that someone who could help me was on the premises). The gentleman informed me that the operations manager was only there during the week, so the best they could do is print me out the membership cancelation form to mail in.

Fine.

When I walked in a few minutes later, the gentleman had looked up my account and printed the form with my name and customer number on it, which meant that all I needed to do was put a stamp on this form and mail it off.

A small gesture, sure, but this is still what I would call excellent service. [Why make it easy for me? Their $35/mo Willie Jackson gravy train was about to be (angrily) derailed.]

I had spent the past few days thinking and saying things about LA Fitness that I wouldn’t want printed or repeated in polite company, yet my first (and last) interaction with them in four years was stellar.

The irony was not lost on me.

Draw from this what you will, I don’t know whether to tell the guy he should be working for a company whose business model is not fundamentally corrupt, to call his manager to praise him, or if I should find a different use for this story.

Communication is hard.

It takes a lot of effort to be understood clearly because—as Psychology 101 tells us—meaning is in the mind. The things you say pass through the filter of your audience’s life experiences and the lens through which they view the world.

Other factors such as mood, hunger (smile), timing, context, and patterns also affect how what you’re saying is received. The easiest way to be misunderstood is by sending an electronic message in haste without thinking about the recipient.

1. Is your message expected?
2. Are you saying something that can be interpreted in multiple ways?
3. Is what you’re saying emotionally charged?
4. Is context required in order to understand how to interpret your message?
5. Have you framed up the message you’re sending with the necessary expectations?
6. Do you expect a response?
7. Are you agitated or angry?
8. Are you speaking to be understood or just heard?
9. Do you want to further discuss the topic or is your message complete?

A better way to communicate is on the phone. Tone, cadence, and pacing are hard to infer when reading a text message or email. (Unless of course you enjoy spending more time discussing what you meant than what you said).

Better still is discussing a topic in person. Body language speaks volumes.

One best practice I’ve picked up from my mentor is asking the recipient to repeat back to you what you just said in their own words. This not only forces them to be even more engaged during subsequent conversations for fear of being outed as distracted or unengaged, it also forces them to reveal the filter through which your message has passed.

It will be an uncomfortable exercise for you and the listener depending on the topic, but it’s worth it if you care about being understood. This goes both ways of course, repeating back what you just heard also helps others become better communicators.

I’ve also observed that effective communicators will state a point or idea and then repeat the same idea in various ways using stories and anecdotes. Louis CK points this out about Chris Rock in this brilliant video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAxoRh06XM4

[People consuming this post via prehistoric technologies can watch the video here.]

I would link you to the section of the video in question, but I don’t have 49 minutes and 34 seconds to find it. Sorry 🙂

It rarely pays to be silent when someone is looking to hear from you.

I’ve learned this the hard way in my customer-facing role supporting a widely-used software product. It’s challenging when you’re inundated with emails “just checking in” and asking for updates, but the price of an extended silence can be devastating.

And this is not just about money, it’s also about reputation and keeping your promises.

I’ve seen my name dragged through the mud in forum posts and email threads where customers were simply looking to hear that I was working on their issue. I’ve been accused of fraud, being a thief, and all manner of foolishness—even on projects that ended with glowing reviews and feedback.

I’ve even had customers badmouth me publicly without knowing that I was aware of their post(s), still engaging with me as I tried to solve their problem. Awful.

But how can I blame someone else for their actions (unreasonable as they may be) when the bottom line is that keeping my promises and delivering enthusiastic excellence makes a world of difference?

A friend shared a new business idea yesterday.

It was essentially a logistics business specializing (at least at first) in…milk. What I liked about the idea—in addition to the fact that it seemed to be a worthwhile pursuit for the parties it will serve—is the fact that the business is not glamorous.

Sexy businesses are filled with distractions.

It’s easy to get sucked into the idea of a business or to envision ourselves as the owner of a business that does some interesting thing because of how it will position us socially.

You know what’s really sexy, though?

Profit.

Shad Khan (billionaire owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars) made his fortune in the auto parts industry. Craig Newmark (creator of Craigslist) built his business doing work so tedious that I would be reduced to tears taking over those responsibilities just for a day. Insurance sales are not exciting by any stretch of the imagination, but fortunes are being made.

What I like about unsexy businesses is that they force you to be honest and to work on the things that make sound business sense. I imagine it’s a bit challenging focusing on the fundamentals when your VC-backed startup opens beautiful new offices in Palo Alto and you spend your days deciding how to more efficiently burn through allocate money you didn’t earn investor dollars.

It’s tempting to justify our desires for the things we want (a new computer, the latest iPhone, a nicer car) with noble, business-related reasoning.

We surround ourselves with people who inspire us and to whom we feel accountable, so it’s natural to want to present our best selves.

I’ll be so much more productive with that phone!

The latest version of iOS ships with [some whiz-bang feature]!

It doesn’t even use gas!

Gimme a break 🙂

It’s ok to want things just because you want them.

“Because it’s cool and brings me joy” is a perfectly acceptable justification, and intellectual dishonesty (or worse still, lying to yourself) is never worth it.

Consider this your liberation and permission slip, redeemable at any time.

Hustling is the aggressive and sustained pursuit of a goal or end whose attainment would not be possible without a relentless focus on the desired outcome.

I’ve never really been big on hero worship, though I was quite nervous the first time I met two of my heroes. Something my dad always said when I was growing up is that [other people] put their pants on one leg at a time just like [him].

It’s kind of funny to imagine Elon Musk fumbling with the buckle of a poorly engineered belt (smile).

Anyway, it’s important to recognize the difference between someone whose achievements represent a lifelong commitment to work that matters…and someone who just happens to have done a bunch of seemingly interesting things.

Have heroes. Have mentors. Recognize greatness. Emulate the habits of successful people.

But don’t lose yourself. You’re great, too.