The Resilience Of Kansas City
By Cheval John
The Kansas City Royals was facing elimination in the first round series against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.
The Royals, who won the American League Central Division, all of sudden was down 6-2 after a two-run home run by Carlos Correa and a solo home run by Colby Rasmus.
Many thought that the game was over.
I felt confident that the Astros was going to move on that I had posted this video on Instagram of the home run.
And even the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott posted a early congratulations to the Astros with this Tweet reported by the Houston Chronicle
The Royals had other ideas.
They slowly chipped away at the lead with straight singles that loaded the bases and then scored each of the baseball players to 6-4.
Then the ultimate shock came when hit a sharp ground ball that was deflected off the glove of reliever Tony Shipp and then took a strange bounce and went off the glove of Correa that allowed both runners to score to tie the game at 6.
A batter later, Alex Gordon hit a ground ball that was deep enough that allowed the go-ahead run to score to make it 7-6.
Then in the ninth, Erik Osmund hit a two-run home run that put the nail in the coffin for the Astros and forced a Game 5 in Kansas City.
The Royals believed that they could make a comeback to win the matchup and have the opportunity to win the series against the Astros.
We can have the same mindset like the Royals in believing that we can be successful in our business even if we are drowning in debt or are struggling to be profitable with our business or our lives.
When we keep the positive mindset of believing that we can be successful in our business and life for the better, everything will start to work out for the better.
What’s The Word Episode
Here is the episode of What’s The Word? with guest Gordon Tredgold, author of FAST.
Mr. Tredgold shared about how the “FAST” method has helped him to turn around fortune 100 companies and also run his first marathon at age 52.
Blabbing Towards Success
By Cheval John
I recently had the opportunity to share about the live streaming platform called Blab on SEMRush’s blog.
SEMRush is an SEO and Analytics company that provide analytics reports and also competitive research on different companies.
I shared about how Blab has changed live streaming and also the do’s and don’ts’ when you are participating in a Blab chat.
I’ve been using Blab to record my podcast, “What’s The Word?” for almost a month and have an account with them for 66 days.
I can say that Blab is a game changer for podcasters and even for sports writers in a huge way.
Once they are finished with their blab shows, if that same episode was recorded, the blab team will send you the replay of your blab show in audio and video format.
This is an example of one of my episodes that was recorded with guest Kayla Chatkewicz of Smyelin Media, Inc on Blab.
Later, I uploaded the same interview with Ms. Chatkewicz for my podcast on BlogTalkRadio.
All I have to say is that Blab will be one of the most popular live streaming platforms in the future because they are making improvements to their platform everyday.
To see more about the dos and dont’s when you are participating in a live blab chat, you can check out the article here on SEMRush.
The Power of Being Vulnerable
By Cheval John
We see stories of how high profile A-listers are living the dream that everyone aspires to.
Whether it is Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and Shark Tank star, Sir Richard Branson, of the Virgin Group or Barbara Cochran of the Corcoran Group, we think that that we can’t achieve the dream life.
We don’t see the journey of how the people achieved their success.
We think that there is a silver bullet to achieving success in your business, life, etc.
What we fail to understand is that the most successful have faced failure in their lives and business.
We also believe that if we share our failures with the world, then we will lose the respect that we have earned.
We don’t want our vulnerability to “tarnish” our brand that we built.
We want the masses to see our strong side.
If businesses want to succeed in this social media world, then they must be vulnerable because people deal with people.
They have to be more vulnerable because millennials only will deal with brands who are authentic.
Millennials don’t want to feel like they are being sold to.
Who can blame them.
Most were about to enter the workforce during the Great Recession of 2008.
They saw their parents suffer because of the wreckless decisions that people on Wall Street made.
That is why they are so sensitive and wary of the broadcasting that brands are doing to sell to them.
And if they see that you are not being transparent with them, they will showcase their frustration on social media.
That can hurt your business and your brand in the long run.
For businesses that are waking up to the reality of being more vulnerable, here are two people who shared their journey to achieving success and in the process have built a strong following.
Pat Flynn
Many might have heard of Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income.
If you have not, then here is a summary.
Mr. Flynn had got laid off from his architecture firm in 2008.
He was figuring what he was going to do next.
Earlier in the year, he passed the exam to earn the LEED Accredited Professional credential.
This credential is huge if a person is an architect.
After participating in forums, he saw a way to help architects pass the LEED exam and also create income.
So create a course on how to pass the LEED exam and was able to generate money.
As a person who wanted to stay as transparent as possible, he started the Smart Passive Income blog to show everyone how he makes money and also share valuable information about the struggles of running an online business.
In addition to his blog, the Smart Passive Income podcast has brought more traffic to his website.
As a result of his success, he has spoken at conferences across the world and has been featured in media outlets like the New York Times.
For most people, the success would go to their minds because they feel that they arrived.
However, Mr. Flynn is not most people.
He has remained true to himself and has showed his failures along the way.
In his keynote address at Podcast Movement 15, he shared with us the first episode that he did in 2008.
Though it was entertaining for us, which the episode was bad, he was willing to be vulnerable with everyone to share that we should not allow fear to stop us from pursuing our goals of podcasting.
Nancy Duarte
Nancy Duarte has written four books and runs her successful business, Duarte.com, and is a LinkedIn influencer.
You would say that she has everything together.
However, she shared her vulnerability with everyone when she nearly lost trust with her employees.
In her LinkedIn article, “It Took Me 20 Years To Fail Fast,” she chatted about her presentation on how to prepare for an economic downturn during a staff meeting.
As she was finished with the presentation, most of the staff told her that they had lost respect for her because of the way she shared the presentation.
In her words, it took a long time before she earned back her credibility with her staff.
Her willingness to share her vulnerability allowed her to gain more respect with potential customers and clients.
So if you are still on the fence of whether to share your vulnerability, here are two simple steps to get over that fear:
1. Be Yourself: No one else can replicate your unique personality
2. Drop Your Pride: Remember that people are probably going through the same thing that you overcame.
Have you felt scared to share your vulnerability and if so, how did you overcome your fear?
Yogi Berra Was A True Influencer
By Cheval John
Photo Courtesy of www.frontiermedia.com
Yogi Berra was one of the most recognizable people in the sporting world.
He personified what it meant to be a great baseball player and a great person.
This past Tuesday, Mr. Berra passed away at the age of 90.
Mr. Berra won 10 World Series championships with the New York Yankees.
He also was a part of history when he caught Don Larson’s no-hitter during the 1956 World Series.
Many can say that he was Mr. Yankee because he had the heart of the champion and also played a huge role in making the Yankees the most recognizable brand in the world.
And he even transcended the sports world in a good way.
For example, ESPN’s College Football live did a segment of Mr. Berra’s famous quotes as it pertained to each college football team who were vying for a chance to make it in the College Football playoff.
And many people whether in the sporting world or outside of the sporting world had their reactions to the passing of Mr. Berra.
And each of the Major League Baseball teams had a moment of silence for Mr. Berra
One of the things that many should understand is that Mr. Berra lived his life to the fullest and stayed true to himself.
He will be truly missed by everyone.
And to close this post out, here are some of Mr. Berra’s famous quotes below that everyone including entrepreneurs can live by:
“It ain’t over till it’s over”
“If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.”
“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
“In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.”
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