Your One Word: The Powerful Secret to Creating a Business and Life That Matter - Hardcover

Carmichael, Evan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 014310909X ISBN 13: 9780143109099

Publisher: Tarcher, 2016

Synopsis

“Evan consumes so much content and then knows how to DJ it to inspire people.”
—Gary Vaynerchuk, New York Times bestselling author of #AskGaryVee and Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook

In this bold and empowering guide, entrepreneur and social media sensation Evan Carmichael shares the secret to turbo-charging your path to success on your own terms. With thought-provoking questions and inspiring, instructive examples, Your One Word will help you nail down your personal mottos - the word that captures your purpose and passion. With this operating philosophy in hand, you will then learn how to leverage this powerful tool to create the business and future of your dreams.

Aimed at entrepreneurs as well as intrapreneurs, managers, and anyone else who wants to achieve success in a powerfully meaningful way, Your One Word more than just a useful tool. It's also an inspiring and enlightening read.

About this title

About the Author

EVAN CARMICHAEL coaches entrepreneurs for peak performance. At 19, he built then sold a biotech software company. At 22, he was a VC helping raise $500k to $15mil. Evan was named one of the Top 100 Great Leadership Speakers for your Next Conference by Inc Magazine and one of the Top 40 Social Marketing Talents by Forbes. He has been interviewed or featured as an entrepreneur expert in The New York Times, The Wall St. Journal, Forbes, Mashable, and elsewhere. He now runs EvanCarmichael.com, a popular website for entrepreneurs. He speaks globally and is based in Toronto. And his One Word is Believe.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

CHAPTER 1
 
ONE WORD IMPACT
 
If you think you’re too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito.
—Anita Roddick (founder of the Body Shop and pioneer of ethical consumerism)
 
IS YOUR LIFE MEDIOCRE?
 
Ninety percent of America gets up in the morning and drives to a job they hate.
—Dana White (president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship)
 
Please sit down and let’s have an honest talk.
 
Most people live mediocre lives.
 
You wake up and drive to a job you don’t love, so you can work with a team that doesn’t support you, and do tasks that are beneath your skill level.
 
You never achieve greatness. You never accomplish your dreams. You never make a big impact on the world.
 
You’re living for the evenings and weekends, and hope that the time spent working just doesn’t suck too much.
 
You may have been told that you’re not good enough.
 
You may think you don’t have the resources to follow your true passion. You may be afraid to try something new after starting down one path.
 
And, hey, you’ve got mouths to feed, responsibilities to look after, and not enough savings. You just can’t afford to take a risk.
 
The saddest news of all is that you’ve set the bar so low for yourself that you’ve created a world where it’s okay to be mediocre.
 
You’ve created an environment of thinking small and being insignificant.
 
You want to do more, act more, be more, but something is holding you back.
 
The people you hang out with, the websites you visit, the media you consume—everything in your environment holds you exactly where you are.
 
 
It prevents you from taking steps forward.
 
Being mediocre has not only become acceptable but is the norm. Because it’s comfortable. Because it’s safe. But it’s limiting you.
 
I want you to do something important with your life and stop being mediocre.
 
BEING MEDIOCRE IS INSULTING
 
Everything about mediocrity kills me.
—Ivanka Trump (former model and American entrepreneur)
 
If you care about your life, then being mediocre should be insulting.
 
At the risk of offending you, I’m using strong language intentionally. This has to be important to you. If it’s important, then you’ll change. If it’s important, you’ll make it a priority. If it’s important, you’ll face your fears. If it’s important, you’ll stop making excuses.
 
When something is truly, deeply important to you, you find ways to make it happen, even when the #LittleMan tells you it’s not possible.
 
If it’s not important enough to you, then you won’t do anything about it. You’ll continue doing exactly what you’re doing now. Being mediocre is easy. Anybody can do it. And most people
and companies do.
 
Following your passion, being crazy enough to try to change the world, and standing for something important are hard.
 
So most people and companies don’t, and thus most businesses are mediocre too.
 
They’re boring and uninspiring. You haven’t made people care enough about what you’re doing. I mean really care. Feel-it-in-their-bones care. Tell-all-their-friends-about-you care. Tattoo-your-logo-on-their-body care. Even if you get halfway to that level of care, you’ll be way ahead of your competition.
 
Right now if someone lowers their prices by 10 percent, you lose your customers. Because everyone is selling the same products and services. Because there really isn’t all that much that separates you from your competition. There is no strong customer loyalty because you’re not inspiring it. And, hey, you’re not alone.
 
The Fortune 500 list was first created in 1955. Only 13 percent of the companies on that original list are still on the list today.
 
Thirteen percent! The others faded away because they were boring and lost relevancy.
 
Most businesses are boring.
 
Do you want to know the first step to having a remarkable business? Here’s where it all begins and your life and business will change forever:
 
You need to find your greatness.
 
FIND YOUR GREATNESS
 
Greatness is not this wonderful, esoteric, elusive, god-like feature that only the special among us will ever taste. It’s something that truly exists in all of us.
—Will Smith (actor and entrepreneur)
 
Do you have the mindset for greatness?
 
This isn’t hokey, fluffy, BS advice.
 
If you’re laughing at this point, or are about to close the book or think you know better, then you need this chapter more than anyone else.
 
You’re not hitting your big goals and you picked up this book for a reason, so at least give yourself a chance and finish this section. All the advice and books in the world will be useless to you until you fix your mindset.
 
Your limiting mindset is holding you where you are.
 
One of the most powerful ads Nike has ever created doesn’t feature Michael Jordan or LeBron James. It pictures a chubby kid huffing and puffing as he’s running down an open road. To see a copy of the ad check out evancarmichael.com/oneword/extras.
 
Nike’s ads usually feature great athletes—physical specimens at the peak of their careers who have already achieved extraordinary success.
 
And here is this fat kid . . . running . . . and he’s . . . great?
 
Yes, because he took the first step. He started doing.
 
Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.
—Francis of Assisi (Italian Roman Catholic friar and preacher, and one of the most respected religious figures in history)
 
Whoever made this ad for Nike is a genius and needs a raise.
 
This ad speaks directly to your mindset for greatness.
 
When you’re finding your greatness, you start at the beginning. Everyone starts at the beginning. And the beginning is really hard. Just taking the first step is hard. Maybe this kid wants to be a distance runner and win an Olympic medal. He tells his friends and family and they all laugh at him.
 
Classic #LittleMan behavior.
 
“You want to what? Umm . . . have you looked at yourself in the mirror?”
 
This fat kid is you.
 
You have a big goal and you’re just getting started on it. You don’t have the skills. You don’t have the training. You don’t have the experience. You don’t have all the answers. So you’re going to make a lot of mistakes and you won’t make very much progress right away.
 
The difference is going to be how you see yourself when you look in the mirror. Do you honestly, deep down, see a future Olympic runner?
 
Or do you just see a fat kid?
 
If you just see a fat kid staring back at you, then you’ll never reach your goals until you change your mindset. Maybe your first run is only to the edge of your driveway. That’s okay. Most people quit here. “It’s too hard. I’ll never make it. What was I thinking? Man, this was a stupid idea.”
 
Understand that every successful person was once this fat kid when they got started. And as with any skill, they learned, practiced, and got better. Consistently. They found their greatness. They didn’t let the #LittleMan hold them back. They believed in themselves. So they succeeded.
 
What do you see in the mirror?
 
If you see greatness, you’re ready for your One Word.
 
THE SECRET: YOUR ONE WORD
 
Better than a thousand hollow words,
is one word.
—Buddha (sage whose teachings founded Buddhism)
 
I’m going to share a secret with you.
 
A secret so powerful that once you discover it, every decision you make in your life and business will become easier.
 
Doors will start to open where before you struggled to make any progress. You’ll finally feel like you’re living your life with a purpose instead of fighting the world around you.
 
Great leaders have used this secret to build powerful companies, spark important movements, and create meaningful change.
 
And now you can too.
 
Here’s the secret: There is One Word that defines who you are.
 
There is One Word that connects all the things in your life that make you come alive. Think about the friends you have, the music you listen to, the books you read, the movies you watch, the companies you’ve worked for, the businesses you’ve started. Think about everything in your life right now that you enjoy.
 
They are all connected.
 
Until you figure out what that connection is, you’ll never live up to your potential.
 
What’s your favorite song? And what does it have to do with who your best friend or favorite book is?
 
The answer is everything. And it can be boiled down to one simple, powerful word.
 
Great people can be described in One Word.
 
Martin Luther King Jr.: Equality. Oprah Winfrey: Heart. Steve Jobs: Impact. You: ?
 
If you want to break free from the chains of mediocrity and really make an impact, then it starts with finding your One Word.
 
You have to stand for something powerful and important.
 
STAND FOR SOMETHING
 
Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t
see the whole staircase.
—Martin Luther King Jr. (pastor, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the civil rights movement)
 
On August 23, 1963, a quarter of a million people went to Washington, DC, to hear Martin Luther King Jr. speak at the Lincoln Memorial.
 
How did he get so many people to come out?
 
He didn’t have a newsletter or a Twitter account. He wasn’t making YouTube videos or using Google AdWords. He didn’t have a website or use Facebook. He didn’t have any of the tools that make it so easy for us today to reach people and start movements.
 
And yet 250,000 people came out. Why?
 
Because he stood for something important.
 
The cause he believed in touched people’s hearts and led them to action. It was so important that people willingly spread the word and promoted his cause—because it was their cause.
 
You need to do the same.
 
What does this have to do with business?
 
You might be thinking, “That’s great, it works for political or cultural movements but what does this have to do with business?” I’m glad you asked.
 
What we’re talking about here is getting people to take action—influencing decision making by appealing to something that people feel passionate about. It can apply to going to your website and buying your product just as easily as it does to getting in a bus and traveling to hear Martin Luther King Jr. speak.
 
Most companies just never do it (see previous notes on mediocrity). Your business is not just about making a product or service. That’s a recipe for failure.
 
People want to know who you are and what you stand for before they’ll buy anything from you. It’s about standing for something important and having your cause be your customers’ cause.
 
Let me introduce you to Core Selling.
 
CORE SELLING
 
A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one.
—Mary Kay Ash (founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics)
 
This concept alone will transform your business and how you market yourself.
 
There are three kinds of selling in business: feature, benefit, and core.
 
1. Feature Selling
 
When you first start selling something you usually promote its features.
 
You’re talking about the specifics of what your company offers.
 
Here are some examples of feature-based selling:
 
■■ These sheets have a thread count of twelve hundred.
■■ This car has a fuel economy of thirty-four miles per gallon.
■■ This lightbulb will last ten years.
 
2. Benefit Selling
 
Somewhere along the way you learn from reading a book, watching a video, or talking with others that you should be selling benefits, not features.
 
You tell me not just what your product or service does, but how I’m going to gain from using it. Sell the hole, not the drill.
 
Benefit-based selling would change the sales pitches to:
 
■■ These sheets are super soft and you’ll get a great night’s sleep.
■■ You’ll save a lot of money on gas with this car and rarely have to fill up.
■■ You’ll never have to change a lightbulb again!
 
Feature and benefit selling are how 99 percent of the world sells today. It works but it’s inefficient.
 
3. Core Selling
 
Forget features and benefits. The real gold is in Core Selling. In Core Selling you lead with your One Word. What are you here to do? Why is this so important?
 
Let me show you an example.
 
#CALM
 
The “flower guy” selling “calm” was a lightbulb flash exploding in my brain.
—Wayne E. (One of Evan’s YouTube subscribers)
 
A subscriber, Jay, wrote to tell me that he wants to start a flower shop and asked me how he could stand out.
 
Now, the flower industry is brutal. Ridiculously brutal. Margins are being squeezed by supermarkets and online stores. There are fewer flower growers, making it harder to find locally grown products. It’s one of the most competitive online businesses, so good luck with getting people to search and find your website. When the economy is down, luxury items like flowers are the first thing people stop spending money on. The big referral partners, like funeral parlors and banquet halls, already have long-standing relationships with florists. Man . . . who wants to be in the flower business? Jay did. So I was going to help him.
 
The secret was for Jay to realize that he wasn’t selling flowers.
 
He was selling something much more powerful. Jay was really selling #Calm. What I learned from Jay was that he loves flowers because they make him feel calm. If he is stressed or worried, ...

Edition details

• Publisher: Tarcher
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 014310909X
• ISBN 13: 9780143109099
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 272