Ally

Christ Follower | Creative | Drummer

[Ally @allyb125]

Inspire imagination and encourage excellence. 👊🏼

[Alex Hormozi @AlexHormozi]

If you’re not sure how to improve your marketing:

1) Say the same thing in half the space.
2) Only use words 3rd graders know.

When people are in a rush (everyone) simple beats sexy.

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

I can't stop thinking about this question:

Are you willing to sprint when the distance is unknown?

In 2021, Georgia Tech strength coach Lewis Caralla delivered this epic speech to the football team.

If it doesn't get you motivated, you may need to check your pulse...

He opens with a few harsh truths:

• Winning isn't loyal to you
• Winning doesn't care about you
• Winning doesn't care how sore you are
• Winning doesn't care how hard you work
• Winning doesn't care how much sleep you get

But it's his question that stuck with me:

Are you willing to sprint when the distance is unknown?

The willingness to sprint with no clear view of the finish line is rare.

It requires two things:

1. A deep belief in one's self
2. A deep belief in the mission

If you have 1 but not 2, you won't be able to do it.

If you have 2 but not 1, you won't be able to do it.

You need both.

In my observation, the greatest things in life are accomplished when you're willing to sprint when the distance is unknown:

The sprint to care for your loved ones in their time of need.

The sprint to build something meaningful.

The sprint to serve others and create positive ripples in the world.

Goal: Find those rare things in life that you're willing to sprint for when the distance is unknown.

That, to me, is the definition of winning.

"And why chase winning? Because the only thing that's guaranteed in life if you don't chase it is losing."

[Alex Hormozi @AlexHormozi]

Control freak is a word people with low standards use to describe people with high standards.

[MATT GRAY @matt_gray_]

Fostering a Growth Mindset

Even amidst remarkable success, Musk's never had enough.

Started a trillion-dollar company already?

Still buys Twitter to restore free speech.

Perfection's the paradox: always unattainable, but should always be the goal.

[MATT GRAY @matt_gray_]

Building Effective Teams

Musk has attracted the world's top engineers, designers, and business talent to his companies.

It's a testament to:
• his vision.
• his ability to impart it to others.

Who you do something with > what you do.

[MATT GRAY @matt_gray_]

Work Ethic and Dedication

Musk has a near-unparalleled work ethic, working 22 hours a day in the worst days of the financial crisis.

If any of his haters worked 50% as hard, they'd find it impossible not to be successful - and probably wouldn't be a hater.

[Dave Kline @dklineii]

How the best leaders manage up:

- No surprises
- Say no gracefully
- Bring solutions to problems
- Hold their goals as your goals
- Anticipate the next opportunities
- Show gratitude when they invest in you
- Respectfully tell them when they're wrong

What else?

[Jamy Bechler @CoachBechler]

Culture doesn't change when a coach tells a player he's wrong; it changes when a player tells a player, THAT'S NOT HOW WE DO THINGS HERE.

[Justin Welsh @thejustinwelsh]

The average person could replace their salary by talking about one thing they do exceptionally well on the internet every day for 18 months.

[Kevin DeShazo @KevinDeShazo]

3 things that will destroy your leadership (and culture):
Ego
Lack of self-awareness
Complacency

3 things that will build your leadership (and culture):
Humility
Consistency
Accountability

Do the work. Show up on purpose.

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

My Anti-To-Do List:

(the things I want to avoid on a daily basis)

1. Do not complain about anything.

If the thing is within your control, then go do something about it. If the thing is out of your control, then it's just a waste of energy to complain about it.

2. Do not allow negative people to steal your energy.

Stop avoiding difficult conversations. Growth requires discomfort. Maintain a growth mindset in all of your relationships and embrace the need to remove toxicity from your life.

3. Do not allow more than 2 hours of inactivity.

Get up and go for a walk. Do a few pushups or lunges. Move your body and feel the rush of new energy and creativity.

4. Do not "graze" on low-value tasks.

Parkinson's Law says that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion. When you don't set fixed windows for managing low-value tasks (like email), you end up "grazing" on them (spending all day doing them slowly and inefficiently). Create short, discrete windows for processing low importance tasks.

5. Do not become an ostrich.

An ostrich will bury its head in the sand to avoid danger. A lot of humans behave the same way when they encounter new information that challenges their existing beliefs or views. They care more about being right than finding the truth. Embrace new information that forces you to change your mind.

6. Do not have your phone out when your kid is trying to play with you.

When you are working, work hard. When you are playing, play hard. Strive to bring present, focused energy in all areas of life. Never let your phone come between you and your kid.

Note to Self: Focus on this, as it's the one you struggle with the most!

7. Do not hit the snooze button.

It's not about sleep, it's about stacking evidence that you are the captain of your ship.

8. Do not say yes to things under the assumption of having more time for them in the future.

You won't have more time in the future. If you wouldn't want to do the thing tomorrow, don't say yes to doing it a month from now.

9. Do not take calls or video meetings without a clear purpose.

Calls or video meetings without any clear agenda or purpose are where your joy and energy go to die. If it can be an email, it should be an email.

Note to Self: Embrace in-person meetings without a clear purpose, as these end up being some of the most interesting discussions.

10. Do not check your phone within the first 15 minutes of waking up (or the last 15 minutes before going to bed).

We have enough technology addiction in our lives. Create space—give yourself a few fixed windows of intentional tech avoidance to breathe.

11. Do not allow comparison, envy, or jealousy to enter your headspace.

When you feel it creeping in, default to curiosity instead: Ask what that person is doing that you can learn from.

12. Do not fall victim to the algorithm vortex.

The algorithm will encourage you to create content exclusively for its pleasure, but if you lose the soul in the work along the way, you'll never be able to stay in the game long enough to win. Create things you would want to consume and avoid checking metrics for 24 hours.

13. Do not text or check social media throughout the course of the day.

Establish fixed windows when you will read and reply to messages. Put your phone on Do Not Disturb mode. Turn on Grayscale Mode to make the icons and notifications less appealing for the "just a quick check" during the course of the day.

***

To create your Anti-To-Do list, sit down and write down the things you are struggling with personally and professionally.

Use my list as a spark to get the ideas flowing, but make changes, additions, or subtractions as necessary.

The list is intended to be dynamic, so don't worry too much about the starting point. It can be as few as 3-5 high-priority items.

Just as you have your To-Do List in front of you during the course of the day, I would recommend having your Anti-To-Do List in front of you as well.

As you avoid the daily actions on the list, check them off.

There will be good days and bad days, that's just part of the game. Every day you achieve 100% compliance with your Anti-To-Do List, give yourself a moment to appreciate the win.

Remember: Each day is an opportunity to stack new evidence in favor of the person you want to become.

[Amanda Goetz @AmandaMGoetz]

Yesterday a video went viral on TikTok when a woman shared the inside of her car after it caught on fire

Including her Stanley cup - still in tact and with ice in it!!!

The president of Stanley stitched the video in < 24 hours offering to replace her cup…..and her car.

This company will now get likely 1B earned media impressions and positive brand awareness + knowledge of the quality of their product through this one quick response and 30 second video.

1. Listen to your social team
2. Moved fast
3. Care about your audience

Great marketing move, Stanley!!!

[Shreyas Doshi @shreyas]

“You are great at execution, the team loves you, but you need to be more strategic”

Hearing this feedback from your direct manager or your skip manager can be very confusing.

And for highly capable product people who consistently get things done, this theme of “you need to be more strategic” is extremely common. It is perhaps the most common feedback given to otherwise-competent PMs at some point in their career.

--

It starts showing up after you’ve rapidly ascended your company’s career ladder up to Sr. PM or Group PM. And once it starts showing up, it just will not go away. That is, until you fix it.

--

But here’s the trouble: it is incredibly confusing to know how to act on this feedback. As a further complication, while many managers / skip levels are happy to deliver this feedback, most of them either do not have the expertise or the time to create more clarity on how the employee should act on this feedback.

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So let’s solve that.

First, if you receive the “you need to be more strategic” feedback, it doesn’t automatically mean that you should be looking to take a product strategy course or read a product strategy book.

Product strategy and being strategic are not always the same thing.

In practice, not all “you need to be more strategic” feedback is the same.

--

There are 3 distinct categories of this feedback:

1) More Product Thinking: You need to do more Product Thinking and less Project Thinking (see the image below if you’re curious about the differences between Product Thinking and Project Thinking)

2) New Opportunity Creation: You need to spend more time on creating new opportunities and the next big new business for your org & company (instead of being mainly focused on executing on and optimizing the current cash cow)

3) Actual Product Strategy: You need to clarify the vision and product strategy for your product (and make sure that the right people at the right levels in the right functions understand this vision & strategy, and are aligned to execute on it across the company)

--

#1 is usually the case for Sr. PMs / GPMs when they want to get to Director level.

#2 is usually the case for Director level folks who need to demonstrate impact above and beyond what would organically happen anyway.

#3 is usually the case for GPM / Director / VP level folks who are very good Operators, but haven’t yet found the time or built the skills to clarify a real product vision and strategy and get the broader org aligned towards it.

--

So if in the next perf review season you get the “you need to be more strategic” feedback, I suggest you use this framework to get more clarity from your manager on what you actually need to do to respond to their feedback.

[Alex Hormozi @AlexHormozi]

Easy way to stay motivated:

Find someone you care a lot about.
Figure out how your success impacts them.
Don’t let them down.

[Jon Beck @CoachJonBeck]

When you don’t play as hard as you can every minute that you’re in the game, you’re making a selfish choice. You’re saying the outcome &amp; your teammates don’t matter &amp; aren’t important to you. Giving 100% &amp; playing tough is the only right choice to make for yourself &amp; your team!

[Kevin DeShazo @KevinDeShazo]

Attitude impacts effort.
Attitude impacts communication.
Attitude impacts performance.
Attitude impacts perspective.
Attitude impacts influence.

Pay attention to your attitude.

[Wes Gay | StoryBrand @wesgay]

Marketing should filter out the wrong leads

Example: Say you run a flooring company. Your prices are higher than DIY options

If you want people who spend more $$, say something like "Upgrade your floors" instead of "Replace your floors"

You attract people willing to spend

[Kevin DeShazo @KevinDeShazo]

Great teams are willing to have difficult conversations. They aren't fighting against each other, they're fighting for the best in each other.

Call people up, not out
Speak the truth in love
Humility always

[Jon Gordon @JonGordon11]

Culture is not just one thing; it’s everything. Culture drives expectation and beliefs. Expectations and beliefs drive behaviors. Behaviors drive habits. And habits create the future. It all starts with culture.

[Jon Gordon @JonGordon11]

Remember you can’t change your past. But you can create your future. Don’t get stuck in thinking about what you could have and should have done. Think about what you can and will do and start taking action!