Episode 44 - Do You Really Need To "Over Promise And Under Deliver?"

Kurt and Steve begin the show by discussing Steve's recent trip to Dallas and how may pounds he put on from eating too much barbeque.  They also discuss Kurt recently celebrating a birthday (happy 70th birthday, Kurt)! This turns into a rant about chicken wings until Kurt and Steve realize that you tune into the show for persuasion tips...not food commentary.

There is a common saying in business that you should "under promise and under deliver."  In a recent article entitled "nobody cares how good you are at your job", researches came to some interesting conclusions.  After tracking promises made by businesses, researchers found that "going above and beyond a promise didn't seem to matter at all."  What really does matter, however, is when we break a promise.  Take into account the fact how airline travelers feel when their plane is early versus late.  When a plane is early, people usually feel "so/so" about it.  When it's late, however, they are furious.  The study concludes that when it comes to making a promise, the best thing is to keep it.  Doing "more" than keeping it might create a future standard that you don't want to abide by. 

Kurt and Steve then transition into a discussion about one of the core elements of charisma: self disclipline.  When we percieve somebody to be self disciplined, we perceive them to be more charismatic.  Studies show that self discipline isn't something that we can compartmentalize.  For example, being completely undisciplined in your finances will bleed into the other areas of your life.  Discipline is a whole person issue. 

As Jim Rohn said, "you're either going to be disciplined or disappointed."  Charismatic leaders are committed to their mission and their business.  They pick themselves up after failure and they stay focused.  There are a few things we can do to increase our self discipline.  1) Break your goals down into smaller steps and pieces.  The human mind thrives on accomplishment.  So if you're continually failing, you need to give your brain a victory.  Take some baby steps because good habits over time will eventually get you where you want to be.  2) Focus on what you're going to get instead of what you're giving up.  Continuially dwelling on the negative and what you're giving up pulls your subconsious mind in that direction.  But if you instead dwell on what you're going to get your brain will be more engaged and you will achieve your goal.  3) Monitor your progress on an hourly and daily basis.  This allows you to dwell more on what you're getting as opposed to what you're giving up.  Finally, 4) make sure your objective is what you really want.  Many times we are engaged in something in our life that is something we don't really want for ourselves.  Maybe our family or friends wanted it FOR us.  But ultimately it was never something that you were passionate about or that you liked.