The Kevin Miller Podcast

We are all busy and we’re all in a hurry. Who just loves it? Who feels they are producing their best work while in such a harried state? Yet, who feels trapped by it? So now I’m going to give you some miracle, “seven steps” formula that sounds nice and shiny, but we all know...nothing is going to change, right?” But alas, there is no formula. It comes down to awareness of what is really driving us, and what we believe. I’m part of a prayer group of about a dozen men, all business owners with big audiences. One of them said we all had to get this book he was reading, titled, “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.” I got the book. I read it. I contacted the publisher and said I wanted the author on The Ziglar Show with me. That...is what I bring you today. John Mark Comer. John's story is this...he was pastoring a successful megachurch in Portland, OR with six services each Sunday and a marathon lifestyle which left him feeling burnt out and detached from those around him. In a moment of desperation, he asked a mentor for advice. The response he received was this, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. There is nothing else.” From that was born John's new book, "In The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: Staying Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in Our Current Chaos." In this show we unpack the concept and what I found was this; an amazing case for me to change my paradigm and limit the hurry of my life. Why? Personal peace, for sure. But also...better production. I don't want to do a ton of good work. I want to do a smaller amount of truly great work. Just today I got word from someone else that they had read the book and it had significantly disrupted their life with this new perspective. But we go deeper too. I’d tell you we talked about the lifestyle of Jesus, except I’m concerned you’d discount it as I used to, in regards to...Jesus wasn’t married. He didn’t have kids or a mortgage. A 9-5 job. But then...he did have a scant three years to save the world before he was assassinated. It might be worth considering… This is a big show folks. You can connect with John at his website johnmarkcomer.com/ and of course find “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” wherever you buy books.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For all of you with a product or service: 1) Who is your specific customer, 2) What problem do you solve for them, and 3) How do you stand out from your competition? I’m sure you’ve heard messages around these topics before. But listen again. There is very little chance you are communicating these things well, as it’s very counterintuitive to how we think as business owners. We think of the benefit there is for people. Fulfilling a desire. I recently attended a business event with Pete Vargas’ Advance Your Reach organization and they pounded on this issue, “Who is your target market and what problem do you solve for them?” We often have products and services we feel can benefit people and we want to lead with a desire; look better, feel better, save time, save money, get a new home or car, and on and on. Yet people are much more led by and prone to respond to problem solving. Tom Ziglar has shared with us a study that 80% of the populace relates more to problem solving than goal setting, yet 95% of our marketing is goal oriented. So what I have for you in this show is a two minute clip from Zig Ziglar on this issue. We’ll listen to that, then I posted this question on Facebook, “For those with a product or service - who is your target customer and what specific problem do you solve for them?” We had a load of responses and Tom and I got through maybe half, and they were wonderful case studies. You’ll gain much from this! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So often in business start ups, and even in well established businesses, we make huge investments in giving people what we think and believe they want. We know we can help solve a problem or fulfill a desire. Over 20 years ago I invested over $50,000 in a business I knew solved a big problem. It legitimately did. It was not till the money was spent and the business fully launched that I found out, it wasn’t a solution people wanted. Today the problem still exists! But human nature and habit triumphs. In today’s show I bring back Will Bowen, my guest from show 763 where we discussed the psychology and power of...not complaining. And how pervasive this poisonous habit is in all of us. In this show we walk through Will’s personal habits, going through the seven spokes on the Ziglar Wheel of Life. In the career spoke Will cited his secret to success is simply finding out what people want and giving it to them! He listens to his fans and followers and gives them what they want. It’s obviously working. Will’s organization has handed out over 11 million purple, Complaint Free World bracelets, and over 3 million copies of his book, A Complaint Free World, have sold. You will enjoy this behind the scenes look at the daily habits Will employes to give him the success in life he’s experienced. I encourage you to take Will’s Complaint Free Challenge. You can engage like I have by going to acomplaintfreeworld.org and also find his book, A Complaint Free World, there or wherever you buy books. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nothing changes till something changes. An oft quoted saying. But if you sit down right now and look at your life and where you want to progress or where you are dissatisfied, and take out pen and paper and ask yourself, “What needs to change?”, it really is profound. It’s always convicting to me to consider the cost if I don’t change something. Am I ok if nothing in my life changes over the next six month? This time next year, am I ok with the status quo? And yes, I do believe it’s healthy to find contentment in our present circumstances, this isn’t an exercise in ingratitude. But I think most people listening and surely for myself, feel the responsibility to be continually growing and refining ourselves. So what I have for you in this show is a two minute clip from Zig Ziglar on just this, making life changes for the better. From his message I posted this question on Facebook, “What is the most recent change you've made in your daily routine that has produced positive results in your life or the lives of others around you?” Many responses which we grouped in categories, I believe you’ll be inspired as you hear Tom Ziglar and I read and talk through them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You want more success and better fruition for your life. What you are about to have revealed is possibly your greatest, most detrimental bad habit. As English is the international business language, complaining is the international language we use in relationships with other humans. In this show I bring you Will Bowen, the founder and purveyor of an initiative called A Complaint Free World. You will hear why his fans include Maya Angelo and Oprah Winfrey and he’s been featured on The Today Show, CBS Sunday Morning, ABC Evening News and much more. 12 million of his purple “Complaint Free World” bracelets have been sent to people in over 106 countries. Your mind will be blown to realize how prevalent this divisive and destructive habit is in our culture, and in your own mouth. Following this revelation we will cover exactly why we and others complain so, so often. It is disheartening, but also convicting and something you can start reversing immediately. Not easily, mind you. But when you understand how your complaining is undermining your life you’ll understand why I now feel it’s quite possibly the number one thing we can address for our overall peace, joy, fulfillment, and life success. Will provides us with a methodology to decrease our complaining with a Complaint Free Challenge. You can engage like I have by going to acomplaintfreeworld.org and find his book, A Complaint Free World, there or wherever you buy books. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I did not intend for this to be a show, it was just an honest question. But 52 comments later, it became a show. I simply asked this question on Facebook (agentkmiller), “I often ponder the spirit of my own industry of self-help and motivation. It seems the most popular style these days is someone who went from zero to hero and is full of self-confidence, trying to fervently appeal to their audience to adopt the self-confidence they have found and believe you should be able to tap into. Does it compel you? Does hearing someone adamantly and boldly appeal to you about how you can and should find your own confidence and power and success, as they have, inspire you?” Many cited other people’s stories of struggle and overcoming in fact, do, inspire them. But the spirit and tactic matters much. They want to hear “Here is where I was”, “Here is what I did”, and “Here is where I am now.” However an often missing part people care about is the struggle amidst it. The real, day-to-day ups and downs. Tom Ziglar joined me and we discussed how important it is to find a voice and guide you really resonate with and relate to. Not every success path is the right path for you. Along with this and just as important, this show will guide you in how you can best be portraying your story to those you desire to influence.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We would all agree to that statement, “Success doesn’t happen by accident.” But the reality is, most people subconsciously feel it will either happen to them or not. Our culture today takes less responsibility than ever for the realities of life. Chronic illness and disease is on a radically high growth curve and while we know most of it is a result of poor lifestyle choices, the average person believes it’s genetics and the luck of the draw. But you know better, which is why you are here listening to The Ziglar Show. In this show I bring you again, Howard Partridge, my guest from show 759 where we discussed why we do and don’t implement. Howard came from a poverty stricken family with seven kids and was kicked out at 18. In this show you will hear him tell more of his story and how he simply worked. He worked hard and he worked a lot. Today he’s a self-acclaimed beach bum and while he still works a lot, it’s out of joy in his work and providing great employment for others, as he no longer needs to work for his personal income. You will gain much by this walk through Howard’s story and habits that have helped him attain a lifestyle he adores and the abundance to bless so many people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Check this out, I asked Ziglar listeners this question, “Throughout a given day, do you generally behave as you intend to? If/when you don’t, what tends to derail you?” As responses started pouring in, a very common thread was “people”. So I gave a follow up question, “When you get upset with people, does your emotion come from Fear or Pride? Fear = abandonment, rejection, loss. Pride = justice, fairness, enabling. I asked Stephen & Mara Klemich to join me, they were my recent guests in show 753 where we discussed how our behavior is explained by four principles, the message in their new book, “Above The Line.” As we went through many of the responses, what we came out with was this; what derails people most from the behavior they would wish to exemplify is, lack of control. Whether it is people or circumstances, lack of control is the main culprit. Why is this? Listen in as Stephen and Mara deftly guide us in understanding the root issue. And friends, if you have not yet taken their Heartstyles Indicator assessment, normally only available to if you buy their book. But for Ziglar listeners, I asked them to make it available immediately and at no cost. They are doing so until March 15, 2020. Go to heartstyles.com/ziglar and follow the instructions. Use the access code ZIGLAR2020 to get access to the Indicator/assessment. Again, heartstyles.com/ziglar and use the access code ZIGLAR2020. If you hear this after...get the book! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Would you like to know just why you do what you do, and don’t do much of what you’d wish yourself to do? Like implementing the plans that would progress your life? This is the focus my guest in this episode brings us. Howard Partridge’s new book is titled, FTI, Failure to Implement. He walks us through 10 Principles for business and life success. But what jumped out at me is looking at these 10 areas and realizing they were a great business and personal audit. Meaning, we can take each area and audit ourselves. If we are lacking, then we have exceptional insight into why we are or are not getting the results we want in our personal aspirations and goals. Why we are not implementing and taking action toward what we want. I encourage you to be listening as we walk through these principles and thinking about yourself. Do you have any intentional plans for each area? You will likely walk away with a handful of the areas where you realize you have a void. Which is wonderful! Awareness! Now you can tangibly address something and get a step closer toward what you want and believe in. And as you’ll hear us start off with, the issue and necessity of belief itself. Howard is not just a wildly successful businessman and business coach, he is a fellow student, devotee, and purveyor of the Ziglar legacy. Howard has been the exclusive business coach for Ziglar for many years and works with Tom Ziglar on running the overall Ziglar corporation. Howard has authored eight books, one which you’ll hear us reference, The Power of Community, was our focus in past Ziglar Show episode #533. You can get FTI, Failure To Implement at howardpartridge.com or wherever you buy books. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets, said W Edwards Deming. Right now your system, your habits and routines, are designed to produce the results you are getting. Same with me. If we want to change the results, we must change the system. No secret or brilliance in that statement, you’ve heard the concept before. The problem, and opportunity, is us. I believe we are all simply living up to our expectations. What is interesting is how we would reshape our living based upon a change in expectations. Here is a question I posted to the Ziglar audience, “If you were given one million dollars today, to be in top shape mentally and physically in 12 months, at which time you would then get a high paying role or job you loved, how would you start preparing, training, and caring for yourself?” I’m about to read a bunch of replies. And I’m imploring you not to discount this. Your first reaction will likely be to scoff and say, “Well sure, its’ much easier to make the needed changes with a guaranteed payday ahead of you.” But then that implies you are not currently making changes you’d like to make, because you don’t believe they’ll pay off. Isn’t that pretty telling? So we have a crisis of faith. Of belief. Think on that as you hear how people responded. And please know, I’m in this boat with you too. This speaks to me just as much as you and has me looking to make some changes, right away! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices