Author: scot

We want ourselves and our people to be motivated to do big stuff. We want it to be a sustainable thing that everyone can commit to up front, so that we dive in with full gusto and potential.

When we set objectives for a project, we want to make them as valuable as possible. When the cost outlined, we need to know that it will be worth it. Cost includes all Jellybeans.

When making a proposal or setting goals for ourselves, being clear and explicit about the objectives makes it worth the time, energy, money, and other resources that will make this a game and a golden experience.

For example a car

If the only explicit objective is…

1. I want a car

I will send you a car for $5

If the explicit objectives are…

1. I want a car that fits people in it
2. drives them around using gasoline
3. will not break down any time soon
4. meets safety ratings
5. is blue

Now that car’s getting a higher price tag

How about all of the above, plus…

1. a brand that my friends will recognize
2. leather seats
3. clean paint
4. delivered to my door
5. less than 10k miles

That’s at least a few hundred dollar car.

It’s okay to imply some value, but we gotta make sure everyone (including ourselves) is on the same page.

I usually start with “We want…”

Talking about objectives in an inclusive and collaborative way helps us all agree on what we’re trying to do before we get to the nitty gritty.

Instead of “we want…

1. A funny mime show

it’s more like

1. an engaging experience for the audience
2. something that highlights the french origin of the brand
3. something that highlights the artistic edge of the brand
4. a performer who will be acceptable and sensitive to the entire crowd
5. something that will work even in a noisy environment
6. something that the audience has probably never seen live before
7. something that can load in and out easily
8. a world-class event

Now, we’ve got a value pile!

Instead of “I want to network with other painters because…”

1. It’s what I’m supposed to do for my business

It’s more like…

1. I will make more friends who actually get me
2. I’ll have people who might want to give me referrals
3. I’ll have people who will give me advice
4. I’ll be able to do stuff for other painters
5. I’ll maybe get inspired by new creations
6. I’ll come out of my shell a little and maybe feel more free

If it’s possible, it’s incredible

if all the objectives can be achieved, that’s baller! Everyone gets excited about a multi-tool solution that handles the business. We have a solution! More info on what to do next in my LOOTERS format for proposals.

Take Action: Reframe the past

think of a past gig where the client / prospect didn’t see the value in what. you could do for them. Make a list of the stuff that combined together in a perfect constellation that would have blown them away if they undersood.

I’ve had people call me, consider booking me, I was the right one for the job. then instead hire someone based on one factor like price or costume or something else. Even if they got a lower price than I was charging, I knew they were getting ripped off. They weren’t getting the actual value they hoped for (eg. Their audience wouldn’t be engaged, their boys wouldn’t be pumped, they wouldn’t get the status boost) 

I was like “pal, you missed the boat.” Since the only way to improve is to take responsibility, I blame me. If I’m the boat, I need a bigger horn and a clearer schedule. 

We know why we’re good comparatively

We care about certain things. If we see another creator in our realm, we know how we stack up. It can be annoying or confusing when we see the wrong person doing the job because, to us, it’s so obvious. We might have trouble understanding our value based on the world, but based on our peers / competition, it’s very clear to us.

Horn

We want to be talking to the right people. Some of us try to be heard by all. Really we want to be heard by the people that have a ticket to our boat and want to get on. Our marketing is that horn that announces us to OUR people.

Sailing Schedule

We want to clearly educate prospective customers about what we’re doing. That way, they’ll know what we know. Obvious choices to us will be obvious to them. They’re already comparing us to other options. We can help them know what to look for and help them understand what we have to offer.

Take action: next time you’re talking to a client. Take a little more time talking to them than you might feel comfortable. Hear them out so that your horn is tuned correctly and they understand your schedule.

we can fail. we can get rejected.

My ferret dies. One friend says “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.” What an offer! anything! Another friend shows up at my door with some mediocre home made mac and cheese – a few meals worth because he knows i won’t feel like dealing with feeding myself.

The Mac and cheese is way better.

Offering to serve is asking for something

we want to serve the people we care about. Not wait for them to ask for help.

The pasta is a gift. The “Let me know” is a request or at least a bluff. Making an open offer is telling people they need to ask for help. People don’t ask for help and they don’t care about what we could offer. They care about what helps them.

Offering takes many forms

• I see creators starting youtube channels with an initial video that says what the channel’s going to be about. Asking people to subscribe. Just start making the videos. If we’re helping people, they’ll want to subscribe
• Performers talk about gigs hypothetically with bookers instead of saying “this is what I want to do for you…”
• We say “I could connect you with Jane Sanders” instead of “Jane Sanders said i could give you her number. She is _____ and the best thing to do is to set up a meeting at her business. If you take her a bottle of Morgran Tequilla, she’ll be your best friend for life”

Take Action: make someone laugh or at least giggle

Someone said they were a meat and potatoes vegan and that really worked for me. I got it. I like FOOD that’s vegan. Simple. Real. Delicious.

It takes the magic and the whimsy out of vegan food. Instead of recreating nachos using jicama paste as cheese and reconstituted petroleum as sour cream, just gimme chips and normal stuff that’s good. Beans, salsa, olives, guac, cilantro – that’s good.

The stellar creators I’ve been involved with all take the magic out of their work too. The result is miraculous, but the work is very blue-collar. It’s just plain showing up an doing. The standup doesn’t sit in a room full of windows in the woods and invite in the muse. She has a notebook that she is constantly using to jot and reorganize. She shows up at clubs and tries stuff out a few times per night. Genius jokes come sometimes quickly and sometimes develop over time. Most of the time, it looks like someone bad at writing is writing.

Same with the painter or the juggler or the architect. When done by an expert, it resembles someone showing up for their 9 to 5.

The point is to be prolific

Even though it feels like a job, the point isn’t the process, it’s the product. The impact we’re having on the world is incredible. Even the wild artists I know who create insane stuff and stay up until 4 am, they are doing mostly boring stuff to make intrepid worlds.

The process is to be enjoyed, for sure. So we need to attune ourselves to enjoy the bland march forward.

Take action : Pat yourself on the back for something you did consistently until it resulted in something. Then, think about something important that was left half done that could be completed through turning your collar blue.

It can be surprising to find out that other people want different things from life. It can also be surprising to realize what is the dream life for us.

Dream life is close

When I started writing down what were the foundational things of the daily life, I put together a schedule for a day. Dreaming into the future. Even my most ideal scenario had a ton in common with what I’m doing now. In my head, it was complicated and hard to achieve. On paper, I was sleeping and eating and moving my body. I was meeting with inspiring people. I was spending time with family and friends. I was performing. There were still things to improve. That’s the game of life.

Dream life is pretty unique

When we talk to our friends about what they want, they probably want different stuff. Our biz peers probably want different amounts and kinds of gigs than we do. They probably want a different work life balance. That’s good news for collaboration, for referring gigs to each other, for the tide raising all ships. We can make each others’ dreams come true while achieving our own!

Dream life is probably not stagnant

Oh, of course we all want to relax on the beach in Malibu in front of a mansion full of horses. No, not really. A few days of vacation are nice, but really what’s fulfilling is doing stuff. Creating things. Giving to the world. Being useful. Being challenged. We can think about what’s real. What’s really ideal and go for that.

Take Action: Schedule out your dream day or three dream days that you would like 5 years in the future

Feelings drive us. We don’t drive them. Our brains give us the chance to notice our feelings and act against them. I am really into letting my feelings be feelings. I let them flow thru me. I let them visit as long as they want. They will distort my reality. They will make unimportant things seem crucial and urgent. I will not control them. I can laugh at a funeral. I can cry when my shoelace gets wet. The more agile I am, the more goodness I can create.

Mindset is the thing I can change and I can change it quickly.

• Embarrassment is a feeling. Shame is a mindset.
• Sadness is a feeling. Depression is a mindset.
• Joy is a feeling. Fulfillment is a mindset.
• Should is a feeling. Could is a mindset. kinda

The great thing about giving the reins to brain rather than emotions is I can change my thoughts instantly. I can change “should” (shame word) into “could.” I can change “need” into “want”

Take action : Pick something that’s ahead for you that feeeeeels hard. Say to yourself “this is a game that I choose to play because I want to.”

People want to feel three things. We can help to give them these feelings. Even when these feelings are based on shallow evidence (like we feel accepted when someone compliments our shoes), the feelings are extremely powerful

Philanthropic

We want to feel like we’re good for the world. The stuff we do matters. It affects people in a positive way. Maybe we save lives, or maybe we give lives meaning.

Accepted

We want to know that we have security in our social circles. Our tribe loves us and will stick with us. We will have safety.

Prudent

We want to feel we make good choices that are cost-effective. Cost includes money, time, energy, health. It hurts me a little bit to get a shot from a doctor and i get healthier. The reward is worth it because I make good choices.

Using this for good

These three are super powerful motivators. People die for this stuff. So, think about how nice it is to give this as a gift to someone. Encourage them. Let them know that you see them the way they want to see themselves. eg…

1. “everything you do makes people smile” (philanthropic)
2. “people at the party were all talking about you and how they missed you” (accepted)
3. “how do you always find the best stuff at Goodwill?!” (prudent)

Take Action: share a big good feeling with someone who inspires you

I may have a genius IQ. I am very curious. I like learning. I have some people skills and presentation skills. As far as capitalist success, I’m pretty set up. I have ADD and anxiety and the stuff that most teachers wanted me to do in school was just not interesting to me. I didn’t do homework and I think I ended up graduating with a 1.8 grade point average. I was acing tests, class-clowning, and ignoring homework as often as would allow me to continue school.

The thing often told to my mom was “Scot has so much potential if he would only apply himself.” This anti-motivated me for two reasons…

Limited thinking

Potential to what? Most of my school seemed to be geared up to go to a local college, stay in town, do a normal job, get a normal house, have a normal family. Getting to normal isn’t what I would consider “so much potential.”

Unlimited thinking

I have potential to everything. Even if i wasn’t born so privileged i could still be a soldier, a senator, a doctor, a tv actor, whatever… potential is endless and amorphous. Shooting for achieving my potential is a terrible goal. Even if I’m the richest person in the world, I’m still not pursuing my potential of being a soccer player or a house-husband or whatever other infinite potential things

The trap of infinity

I am all for people maximizing on their gifts. I’m all for people using their whole selves – for shooting big and dumping everything into it! Potential is a tarpit. It’s a trap that i still fall into on a regular basis. I think what’s possible and get a nose-bleed. Then, I get paralyzed. The remedy for me is to switch the search for “potential” to the search for “opportunity” … what’s in front of me now, or what will be in front of me. What’s fun? How do i like spending my time? Who do I like spending my time with? Opportunity is real even though my lens of the world is distorted, it’s a tangible path instead of just an endless void waiting to be filled.

Side: in space movies, they fly in any direction they want near light speed through meteor showers and dodge rocks. Like, people get in wrecks on a two dimentional road with lines drawn on it. Are these space drivers that much better? seems impossible.

Take action: Write down a great thing you can do today in the next hour that will have a big effect on your mood or your main project.

It’s 9am – two hours into my work day and I have not decided when is best to meet with this person. It’s an important meeting. I want to be prepared and also fresh. I want to be off-the-cuff and grounded. My deciding is taking a lot of energy and time. I’m sweating.

Here are some tricks i’ve found to shortcut decisions and get to the thing right away.

Remember nothing is conclusive

sometimes i feel that i’m going to make a decision and that will be the end of it, so i better make a good one that i can live with. The truth is everything. keeps going. I keep growing. I keep having more conversations with the same people. I keep having the opportunity to pivot, apologize, trash plans, flake (though i don’t). My point is, i’m free in this decision. Most likely, everyone will survive it.

Difficult choices don’t matter

We were looking at two very different schools for Arlo to attend. They both had pros and cons and they both seemed good. We weren’t sure though because we’ve never picked a school for him or any kid. We did all the research. We knew a lot. It was paralyzing us. The answer to these difficult decisions is it doesn’t matter. Flip a coin.

If the decision is stay on the sidewalk or run blindfolded into the street, that’s an easy decision. That decision matters.

Just because the outcomes can be important, it doesn’t mean the decision is important.

Make the deadline now

Big fan of Parkinson’s Law here. If we give a decision a long gestation period, we’ll spend a lot of jellybeans on it. Skip it. We can decide to decide now and it’s done.

Choose no regrets

One thing that makes decisions heavy and bulky and awkward to lift is that there is the promise of regret. We can choose before making the decision that “this is the best i can do in this situation with what I know. I will repair later if i need to, but i will not regret it.”

Take action: Look at a big decision from your past month. Notice how it could have been easier in retrospect. Fuel your future with that decision wisdom.

I have this sentinel technique.

1. Pick a past customer that’s high value (beloved)
2. Serve them

People think i mean make marketing for similar people. I think it’s easier to just make stuff for them. Sometimes it takes a little imagination and a ton of empathy. I really mean serve that real person. Make social media posts that help them. Make newsletters that help them. Make a website that helps them.

It attracts the same kind of people and rejects the people that are not in line with our mission.

So, when creative freelancers ask me how are they supposed to find their sentinel, my answer is you already found them.

Take action: find a meme that your sentinel would like. Send it to them.

He’s a perfect depiction of a variety entertainer. The avatar for us all.

Variety entertainers are ridiculous. We work really hard to perform stuff that nobody cares about and try to make them care. We are desperate, delusional, passionate, heart-first, beautiful, powerful, impotent. This is the most important craft in the world and that’s why I’ve dedicated my life to it and to uplifting and amplifying the work that others do in it.

Perry Kurtz, 3 days after posting “Need some laughs?” on facebook, was killed crossing the street. Why was anyone walking in LA, and the question I’m sure he would like me to ask…Why did Perrry cross the street?

I don’t know, but he got to the “other side.”

He was going somewhere. He was always going somewhere. He was doing stuff. He seemed old, yet full of a young energy. He seemed like tired of it all, and yet didn’t know what was around the corner. Perry was a long-term Los Angeles comedian in every show you could imagine. Busy without feeling busy. He was a fluctuation between cocky and jaw-droppingly humble. A full human! So rad. He would kill on stage and not know why….Consider himself lucky and do it again.

I introduced him to James Corden and he charmed Corden faster than I could. Had a joke on his show that made me a little envious. Then, I got immediate gratitude that Perry was in my life at all.

Perry was one of the performers that would keep myself and the band guessing even though we knew exactly what he was there to do. He was very supportive of me and every performer that needed it. Let’s be more Perry today.

I performed all my life. The brunt of my training was during my formative years on the streets of the world. I busked majorly in New Orleans, Boston, Baltimore, NYC, San Francisco, Los Angeles. Street style performances at Coachella, Huis Ten Bosch – Japan, New Zealand, lollapalooza, touring with Brooks & Dunn and Canada.

I did what’s called a big circle show. Gather a crowd of 200 people, perform a full show (maybe 30 min long) and ask people to pay me cash in a bucket.

It’s a grueling school and very effective since i was trying to learn to be maximum engaging.

The crowds are diverse. They’re distratcted. They mostly don’t intend to watch a show that day. I needed them to stick around the whole show. Then, i needed them to like it enough to pay me. I could perform five shows a day, so i got lots of practice. I could do whatever I wanted. I would take turns with other performers from around the world and see how they did the same.