David Asarnow | Peak Performance Business Coach

Have you ever been so stressed in your business that you felt you could not handle any more?  Have you ever felt so overwhelmed that you thought it would be far easier to retreat than to deal with the pressure?

If you answer yes to the above, you are not alone!  The desire to move away from this stress (pain) is ingrained within the human DNA.  However, what if you knew that within every stressful situation was an opportunity to create abundance, to transform this stress and overwhelm into something outstanding in your business and in your life?

Well, you can and there is science behind this process called Perturbation.

I first learned about the law and science of perturbation while attending a seminar Blair Singer was conducting several years ago… however, it was not until one of my students took a huge sigh during a group coaching session I was conducting that I connected the dots.  It is amazing how we can know something for so many years and yet it takes something as simple as a sigh to have a breakthrough.  So, I asked my student if that sigh was because he felt stressed and overwhelmed.  He said yes, I said awesome… you are growing!  And soon, if you are willing to persist and push through it, you can create a breakthrough for yourself on the other side.  We then had a beneficial 30-minute conversation with the entire class regarding Perturbation and the science of creating breakthroughs.  The entire class loved the discussion, and so I feel compelled to share.

Recently, I saw Bishop T.D. Jakes on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network say and I paraphrase, “Within every breakdown comes an opportunity for a breakthrough.”  Then there is the old adage; “if it does not kill you, it makes you stronger.”

As I see it, all of this is aligned with Perturbation.  I remember back in the late 1990’s while I was heading up a National Accounts Division for a manufacturing company I felt, overwhelmed, stressed as can be.  I distinctly remember Mark Graff, my VP of Sales and Marketing at the time telling me that this is great, because you are growing.  Mark said, “You will look back on this months from now and wonder why you are all stressed out. “ Guess what, Mark was right!

Over the last few years, I have had the distinct pleasure to personally experience perturbation on a very personal level, and frankly it was not pleasant while in process.  And yet, if I had not experienced what I had, I would not have had the amazing opportunity to experience amazing shifts for tremendous personal and business growth.

In 1977 a chemist by the name of Ilya Prigogine won a Nobel Prize for his studies on the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics and out of this the science behind Perturbation.

Consider what the famed scientist Isaac Asimov has to say about the 2^nd Law of Thermodynamics:

“The universe is constantly getting more disorderly!  Viewed that way, we can see what the second law all about us.  We have to work hard to straighten a room, but left to itself it becomes a mess again very quickly and very easily.  Even if we never enter it, it becomes dusty and musty.  How difficult to maintain houses, and machinery, and our bodies in perfect working order: how easy to let them deteriorate.  In fact, all we have to do is nothing, and everything deteriorates, collapses, breaks down, wears out, all by itself — and that is what the second law is all about.”

In essence, what Ilya Prigogine and the 2^nd law of Thermodynamics says is that when things in our universe are left alone they go from order towards disorder and chaos. Without moving forward, things and we as humans move backwards, deteriorate and fall apart.

It is very interesting then that when you study this law further, what may appear to be chaos can be transformed into order through nature.

Let’s take this further… under normal circumstances, energy passes freely, however when you add more and more energy the vessel or organism becomes overloaded, over pressured.  When this happens, it is called perturbation.

Have you ever felt so overwhelmed your head felt like it was going to burst?  Have you ever gotten so angry you could have exploded or felt like you were going to?  Well, more than likely you just experienced perturbation.

Ilya Prigogine discovered that as the pressure or energy increases… the vessel or object will reach a point where it can no longer hold more energy and it begins to vibrate.  This can become an explosion or under the right circumstances great things can happen.

According to Ilia Prigogine, when an object vibrates from the energy placed upon it… the object will reach a point where it appears that it is about to explode or transform.  However instead of exploding… it changes, it transforms into a more complex structure.  It is this evolution to a more complex structure that it is able to handle more pressure.

Think about it for a moment… A tree decays and becomes compost.  Under the right circumstances and years and pressure this same tree will become coal.  This same coal with time and the right amount of pressure will become a diamond.  The same is with us!  As humans our ability to grow is dependent upon our ability to accept this pressure placed upon us, embrace it and realize that through this pressure we have an opportunity to create an amazing growth and transformation.  It may not feel pleasant at the time we are experiencing it, however when we emerge on the other side, it can be AMAZING!

Let’s look at perception versus reality and how we can create our reality through Perturbation.   Take identical and parallel situations with different people.  Hang with me here for a moment…  They are both faced with tremendous challenges, One person chooses to embrace these challenges and look introspectively what they can learn from them and then continue to persist through, while the other gets angry at the universe, their boss, their business, the government, their former partner, the economy blaming everyone and everything around them.  While they may have entered in the same place or situation, one person grows tremendously and emerges happier, stronger and more successful, while the other is a state of blame, doom, gloom and disarray.  What’s the difference?  Embracing Perturbation!

How many of you know people that have the same things happen to them over and over again?  This is a law of the universe that unless we deal with what emerges, the things placed upon us, we will be on a merry-go-round experiencing the same challenges over and over again. Albert Einstein called this, “the definition of insanity.”  How many of you see this occurring daily? It happens because the challenges experienced feel as if it is too painful; so many people choose to run away from it, to not deal with it.  And when it is not dealt with, it is bound to be experienced again.

Think about it, people have challenges in both business and personal relationships.  In both business and personal relationships, things happen.  Are relationships easy or are there challenges?  I guess it all depends how you look at it.  As people grow, they may not always be in sync which causes stress.  You are not always going to be aligned 100% with someone.  This is true in both business and personal relationships and partnerships.  Some choose to deal with challenges face on, through communication getting into alignment and or agreement.  When you do this, you can move forward even if you re-negotiate your agreements.  However, unfortunately, some choose to run away, or mask their pains.

Until we actually deal with the challenges we face, they are bound to repeat themselves, possibly not in the identical, however similar form in both business and personal situations.

Run away or hide and you rob yourself of the opportunity to heal and create amazing business and personal growth.  Running away means your ability to handle pressure will remain the same, not evolve.  Embrace pressure and you open yourself up for the opportunity to create amazing growth and transformation.

Why this article?  Everyone on the Business Success Factors team has had the great opportunity to grow tremendously over the past few years.  We didn’t plan it… it happened because when the opportunity presented itself, although through extreme pressure, we had the right team surrounding each of us, supporting us through our growth.  And to those who were there to support me I am eternally grateful!  This article was written because our ability to grow in your business an in life is based upon the ability to accept and embrace perturbation so that we may grow.  If business growth is what you want, we want to help create the vessel for you and your business that fosters this growth.  If it is personal growth you clamor for, we can help you there too.

Think about it, how many top-level athletes would be where they are without having the right coaches, mentors and trainers in their corner supporting them their journey?  Well, the same applies for business and our personal lives.  Our desire and ability to accept challenge and pressure and allow the formation of the right vessel to support our growth will determine the altitude that we grow.

These are not moments that can be planned for though… we never know when they are coming.  However, it is our perception and how we choose to react to these moments that ultimately determine our positive outcomes and growth or lack thereof.

So should you be faced with extreme pressure, extreme challenges or unpleasant times remind yourself that this may just be a sign that you are building a bridge to cross the chasm for tremendous business and personal growth on the other side.

Remember, to reach your goal, you do not have to go it alone!  Create for yourself a support team, a business coach, a life coach or team of success coaches that are there for you to help you create your ultimate awesomeness.  Even with someone in your corner, it may not feel like fun, however the outcome and growth can be extremely rewarding.

In order to build your cardiovascular system you need to do some form of cardio, to build your muscles, you tear them down first.  However in business and in life, this pressure or perturbation is a point of decision, like a fork in the road.  The direction you choose will determine your outcome.  Will you have growth or not?  Next time you are faced with this question, ask yourself, where do you want to be… right where you are, bound to ride the merry-go-round, or building your bridge to the other side?  I’m not saying accepting perturbation is necessarily going to be easy as you go through it.  Humans by nature and design want to avoid pain because it does not feel good.   Just as in nature when we start to transform, our vibration changes, with people, this vibrational release of energy manifests itself as emotions…  And the emotions we usually see are anger, worry, and angst, fear, or overwhelm…

Many of us never learned how to embrace this energy and channel it into greater personal and business growth, many try to push it down, run away or hide from it.  When we push it down or mask it, we hold back our growth, avoiding the natural chain of events necessary for the growth that we want to percolate and ultimately appear.

Through the many trainings, and courses we at Business Success Factors have participated in and now lead, we have learned to stand in inquiry with whatever we are dealing with.  Problems and/or challenges do not have to be negative, they just are.  The question we may want to ask is, what lessons can we learn within what has emerged… and even if we can not see the lesson at the time, keep staying in inquiry or take a 360 degree view at the problem or challenge and you may then be able to form a better understanding of the lessons to take with you.

Now that you understand the concept of perturbation you are armed with the knowledge to more effectively deal with whatever emerges in your business and/or personal life.  Remember, once we work through something, it doesn’t seem as difficult anymore.

So embrace challenges, embrace change, embrace opportunity and you will have the amazing opportunity to grow to the other side enabling perturbation and turning chaos into order and harmony.

If you want business and personal success and are looking for someone or a team of people who can be in your corner, let us know.  We selfishly want to be the team that helps you create your vessel with the right tools, roadmap and accountability and support so that you can realize the desired results.

Please share your experience with perturbation and how you utilized it to create breakthroughs.  I would love to hear your thoughts.

David

In Marketing What’s The One Element Most Companies Miss?

I Love Marketing!

Marketing is all about sales, branding, positioning and psychology.  Marketing is all of this and the game of chess wrapped up in one.  I was recently in Florida celebrating my Dad’s 70^th birthday and the conversation came up on why I decided to leave photography 25 years ago to focus on sales, marketing and business. It just hit me… and is abundantly clear!  I am fascinated by human behavior.  What makes people tick, what drives them to take certain actions, what motivates them to buy?  It is through this 25 plus year journey that I get it, and I want you to get it as well.

While most business owners are required to market on a daily basis in order to drive sales and profits for their company, most do not have the first clue on the basics of marketing. While they teach marketing in college, there is a paramount difference between book smart marketing and street-smart practical marketing application. My goal is to give you the practical Street Smart Marketing at a MBA level; right from the trenches of my businesses combined with the thousands I have coached and consulted for.

During the past 28 months speaking, coaching and training on my own and for Tony Robbins and Chet Holmes I have created over millions of dollars in new business opportunities for my clients via creative marketing methods.  I am a student of marketing, a coach and trainer of marketing and a true marketing enthusiast.

All of these street-smart concepts and ideas will be covered in my new book, currently under review…  yet to be named and covering real world street-smart marketing, marketing for the real word, for all businesses on-line, off-line, blogs, social media, and search engine marketing!

You MUST market differently than you have in the past!  The market has shifted, capturing the attention of your audience in today’s marketplace takes being bold, being creative, being real, transparent and authentic.  To be successful today, you must know your potential customers wants, needs and desires prior to your first conversation.  The days of winging it are passé!  It is ineffective.  Time is money and if you look at how much lost opportunity companies encounter because of ineffective planning in their marketing, you would be blown away.  Today is different and no matter what business you are in, you need to embrace newer marketing methods including (SEO) Search Engine Optimization, and (SEM) Search Engine Marketing.

Back To Basics!

If you already a client or student of mine, you know I cover much of this material already, and yet I find it beneficial to begin at the foundation, going back to the basics.  It is through this solid foundation that any company can effectively grow.

How many of you remember the 4 P’s of marketing; Product, Price, Place and Promotion?  I remember my first marketing class, discussing all of this marketing theory while attending the University of Florida in 1988.  Actually, I don’t remember much discussion going on as there were over 700 people in this class and I had to watch it from an annex classroom via television. Aye, the forefront on distance learning… anyway, I digress.

Marketing is way more than product, price, place and promotion, as you may guess. Marketing is about psychology, it’s about how people think and why they take the actions they take, its about understanding peoples wants needs and challenges and understanding how you can be the solution to these challenges and being able to paint this picture fully yourself.

Marketing is about strategic positioning, product strategy, product development, product management, public relations and advertising.

While many people do not think of (PR) public relations as an effective frontline effort, public relations can be a vital part of your marketing mix and strategy; it has been huge for me!  Public relations drive awareness in the news and media, and is very effective because it has a very unbiased perception.  Although less relevant today, the old adage goes, if you see it in the news or read it in print, it must be true.  Including public relations as part of your marketing mix is extremely effective in driving sales and should be near the top of your priority list! Yes, especially today!

And finally the 5^th and most important “P” in marketing… and the one that is not often discussed, it’s People! To be an effective marketer, you need to understand people and how to tap into their human needs. One may want to study Abraham Maslow.  One of Maslow’s gifts to the worlds was the hierarchy of human needs.  You see, in order to more effectively communicate with someone, it helps to know who he or she is and where they currently are on the human needs scale.  When you understand someone’s wants, needs and desires, you can more effectively communicate with them.  When you understand them, you can position your company, concept, product, service and or idea more effectively to meet these needs.  The fifth “P” People is all about communication.

The quality of your life and the quality of your business is based upon the quality of your communication and the more effective you are in understanding people, the more effective you will be in meeting their needs and in growing your businesses sales.

Let’s look at the Five “P’s” of marketing:

1. Product: if you don’t have a product or service, you probably do not have much to sell.

2. Price: your pricing strategy will determine if you and your business are generating a profit and how quickly it will do so.  If your not making money… is it worth it? After all, unless you are operating a not for profit, you want your business to profitable.

3. Place: This is where your are going to offer your product or service; retail, on-line, home, person to person, Television, radio, etc…

4. Promotion: How are you going to shout from the rooftops that you are here and your product is available?  There are so many effective ways to promote your product and service… and those who know me hear me say… what is your follow-up plan and how have you wrapped a system around your promotion to include follow-up.  So how are your promoting your business, how many ways and what is your follow-up plan?

5. People: I guess I saved the best for last, because without people nothing happens! No product is sold; no service is delivered.  It’s all about people needs, wants and desires and how we can be the solution for filling these needs.

So, are you a student of people?  What do you know of human thoughts, and desires and why people think the way they think and take the actions that they take? If you want to become and effective marketer, this is a journey I highly recommend that you begin.  And, if this is not something you want to pursue, make sure you have someone in your corner that is an expert on this topic!

While so many are looking to into customer demographics, you may be better served focusing more on psycho-graphics, a consumers buying motivation (the measure of attitudes, values, values, lifestyles and opinions) in regards to marketing.

As a marketer, it is important to know that people make buying decisions first based upon emotions, and then they back up their buying decision with logic.   So do your homework and get the research and data to back up your marketing strategy.  Learn why people will emotionally want what you are offering, commonly known as education based marketing. First understand the why, then have the data and research (logic) that will support their decision to do business with you.  The easier your make it for your customers or clients business with you, the lower the resistance will be, and the more they will.

Herein rests the art and science of marketing… understanding people.  Knowing not only who your customers are, understanding how your customers think.  What do they like, what are their dreams, wishes, hopes and desires? Become a master of this… and you are well on your way to becoming an effective marketer.

David Asarnow

I was recently asked one thing I would share with business owners about Marketing for the ROI Experts book launch to appear in USA Today.  Yes, I know you may find it hard to believe… I condensed it into four sentences.  You now get a sneak peak before it is actually published in USA Today.

In our information overload society it is key to have a sizzling “Strategic” marketing message along with a sound “Tactical” plan. Strategy is HOW you grab (your customers) attention, what you say, how you say it and whom you say it to. Create a powerful strategy by researching your market, your customers, the trends and the news (most of your competitors likely are not doing/didn’t do any research). Now take your strategy and successfully implement it through a sound “Tactical” plan that drives sales and bottom line results for your business TODAY!  Starting with a laser focused strategy, supported by research will help you make the most of your Marketing dollars and give you a HUGE competitive advantage.

- David Asarnow

Good morning! Welcome to my blog.

Throughout my career as an entrepreneur, executive, speaker, trainer and consultant, not only have I have leaned on many of my peers for advice, but enjoyed learning about each of their businesses and sharing insights that have helped them meet challenges they were experiencing. Now, through my blog, I can let my clients, fellow speakers and entrepreneurs, executives and CEOs lean on me. As a reader, if you ever have a question please reach out to me. Open communication is a key component of this blog. You can best reach me at david@davidasarnow.com.

As we advance, it is my plan to mold this blog into a news outlet – trying to create another option for advice for life, business and personal development and motivation. I will answer questions, interview my peers, and provide insight into everything personal and business.

While there are millions of bloggers in the world, only a select percentage actually provide worthy content. In fact, according to a recent story in The Washington Post (Marketing Moves to the Blogosphere: Business Model Shifts to Engage Customers Online) only 5,000 of the millions of blogs are business or corporate related. What this means is there is a ton of nonsense out there. Speaking for many busy executives; we don’t have time to read about your cat getting stuck in a tree. We only have time to focus on things that will make an impact or have a positive ROI.
While this is my blog on paper, I think of it more of a community outlet to discuss valuable topics that will concern life and business in general.

I look forward to seeing you again soon…

Venturing out on your own, becoming a franchisee or opening your own business can be an overwhelming time for many. I was reminded of that feeling while I was challenged to complete the task of walking on broken glass—a seemingly daunting task. As I placed my first foot down on to the broken glass below me for the first time, I became overwhelmed by the obstacles ahead of me. I quickly picked up my foot. At this time I regrouped and focused on the end game and slowly placed my foot down on a different section of the broken glass.  Now focused on the final result, I was stepping on “friendlies” (non jagged pieces). I was expecting to feel a sharp pain; however it did not hurt at all. I organizing my thoughts, focused and then took it one step at a time with the end game clearly in mind. I know that anything can be accomplished; you just need to look at the big picture, focus on the ultimate goal and chunk it down to the individual steps necessary to accomplish it. This is also how a new or existing business owner should organize their thoughts with their business venture.

“What is the highest and best use of your time?”

Many times a budding entrepreneur will start their business and become engulfed by the minutia. Oftentimes they end up working too hard on the less important aspects of their business and forget to focus on their overall plan, goals and vision. I can relate this to my experience of walking on broken glass, at the time, I initially thought I had made a bad decision when I first put my foot on the glass. This is similar to an experience that a new business owner may initially have, feeling they made the wrong choice in venturing out on their own.

Just as in business, the next step is really the first step… take a step back and look at where you want to go from a different perspective. I will compare this to an ant looking at a leaf at the top of a tree and deciding that they want to climb onto this leaf. A daunting task to say the least, one nearly impossible as there are too many obstacles and forks in the road along the way. However, if you put the ant on the same leaf at the top of the tree and tell it to find the ground, it will surely be successful. While it finds its way down the tree, it can map out its steps so that it can climb back to the top again another day. This is very similar to how one should look at achieving their goals and solving their challenges. By looking at where you want to go from a high level, you can begin to break tasks down to a point that the path and the steps to achieve them are within reach.

Once your goals are broken down to specific tasks, they can be accomplished. Focus on the most important aspects first. This was how I felt as I stepped back onto the glass (seeing the finish line) I knew the path would reveal itself if I just focused. I knew what I needed to do and how to do it. What caused angst and palpitations initially, surprisingly led to tranquility and conquest. And guess what, it didn’t hurt.

No matter what you are going to do, look at the end result you desire and map out the individual steps you need to get there. After analyzing the situation, and knowing where you want to go, take that first step. If you need help along the way, ask for it. If you take a wrong step, that’s ok, you can always get back on course. Life is full of jagged pieces of broken glass, it’s just important that you find your “friendlies” along the way.