Hello friends and welcome back to another edition of my newsletter, where I share lessons from over 25+ years of experience as a product and finance executive, with $300M in product launches and over $800M in funding.
I had to visit my doctor yesterday for my annual physical.
He is an old navy doctor who is amazing at what he does. In fact, almost a decade ago now, I had a stint in the hospital where three specialists couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. It was my this doctor, a general practitioner, who diagnosed the issue. I hate to think about him retiring. Which could happen anytime.
During yesterday’s visit we got on the topic of how tough life can be sometimes. It was refreshing to hear my doctor admit as much.
The reasons vary, but I see two main culprits.
First, we make poor decisions, that at the time seem harmless, but that add up, collectively.
A good example of that would be taking on more and more debt over time. Until, one day, your payments from those debts are so big that you are “debt poor.”
Second, we are lacking the skills necessary to overcome the challenges in front of us. A while back I wrote an article about failure and how, in many instances, failure occurs because we lack the right tools, or skills.
If you want to level up in life, and have it be less frustrating, you have to level up your skills.
The same is true for your business.
There are four skills on my mind, if you become an expert at, that will drastically change your life and the trajectory of your business.
Fun fact. Fortitude is your mental ability to face challenging or dangerous situations. Resilience is your ability to adapt to stress and overcome adversity.
There’s no doubt both can come in handy. If I had to pick one today, I’d tell you to become more resilient. My wife and I talk about that all the time. Because, admittedly, as we are getting older we aren’t as resilient as we used to be.
There are a few ways to improve your resilience.
Every year I pick one or two skills to focus on. For the past few years I’ve picked Marketing & Sales. Why? Because I believe that they are the two most important skills that will boost the growth of your business and career. I believe in them so much, that just today I decide to attend Mark Schaefer’s Uprising summit, where I’ll get to spend four days with some of the nation’s top Marketing and Sales professionals.
I’m lumping these two together because they go hand-in-hand. That said, I recognize that they are distinctly unique skill sets.
Marketing is all about planting and nurturing seeds that create awareness and interest in your business. Sales is like harvesting the crops once they are ripe to generate revenue.
What I love about Marketing is the breadth of the discipline. There are so many facets to it. There’s the distinction between inbound and outbound, social media marketing, and other areas that you can focus on. So, if you choose to invest in becoming better versed in Marketing, you will want to pick an area to focus on. Don’t move on to other areas until you have that focus area down.
Sales is so fascinating to me because its one of my weakest skills. I’m pretty good at building rapport and relationships, but its the closing aspect where I lack the skills. My brother on the other hand was one of the top salespeople I’ve ever known. I think a large part of that came down to the fact that he actually enjoyed sales. Whereas most people, yours truly included, don’t. But, he absolutely loved the “art of the hunt.”
The think about Marketing and Sales is that every profession, whether they admit it or not, is involved in Marketing and Sales efforts for the business they are associated with. Albeit some are indirectly involved. But, if you are a business owner, Marketing & Sales are what you should focus on the most.
No Marketing or Sales = no revenue = you have a hobby, not a business.
This is one of those skills that will change the course of your personal and professional lives.
I’m so passionate about this topic, specifically around personal finances that I’ve made it my mission to build 10,000 free financial plans for people by the end of 2026. So, far I’ve built over 1,300. On top of that, my upcoming book Stress Free Finances is where I share everything I know about how money works.
Understanding how money is just important as a business owner. For example, you don’t need to have accountant-level financial skills, but you should understand the basics of the four main financial statements (Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Statement of Cash Flows, and Statement of Shareholder Equity), how to read them, and how they interact with one another.
Think of it this way. What good are Marketing & Sales skills if the money you earn flows right back out of the business because you don’t have the right financial management skills?
If I were choosing only one of the four skills I mentioned to focus on today, I’d pick mental resilience. Why? Because without it, studying the other skills won’t make as much of a difference. Mental resilience will give you the foundation you need for other skills to stand on top of. As a second pick, I would focus on Financial literacy.
Where would you start?
What skills am I missing?
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Just hit Reply and let me know what you are thinking.
I’m currently listening to “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” by John Mark Comer.
This one was introduced to me by my boss. If you’ve been with me for a while, you will know that my favorite book of all time is “Essentialism” by Greg McKeown. This new book is in a similar vein and focuses on ways to slow life down, largely around limiting technology, through a Biblical lens.
Check it out. I’m still working through it myself but it’s likely a top three book for me.