Sometimes you gotta break the rules…
Hugh Tafel
Business Coach | I help aspiring & established business coaches close all the high-ticket clients they can handle in less than 90 days via our proven turnkey system | Free 12 min Video Explains How ??
Feb. 06-25 Grand Junction, Colorado
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“Not only have I broken all the rules I learned about – I have broken rules I didn’t even know existed.” ~Martin Scorsese
We’re back Stateside to get in some skiing, visit friends and family. Many are thinking we are nuts. “Why in the world are you leaving warmth and sun for cold and snow?”
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Well – guess we like breaking some “rules”.
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“Breaking” rules goes hand-in-hand with not accepting “No” and understanding that that will be the answer if you don’t ask for what you want in the first place.? (see my article on ‘how not to be gringoed’, written a few weeks ago.?
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Living in Panama already is giving us ample examples of this adage.?
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The first thing folks like to tell you is that things are done differently in this country. Life is slow. Things get done – eventually. Don’t expect to get results anywhere nearly as quick as what you would expect back home.
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Well – that certainly can be the true – if…
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I have so many examples where this is the case, unless you decide it won’t. There’s the lack of urgency in pool maintenance, getting a handyman, getting your banker to simply reply to an email.?
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The best one, however, is my wife’s experience in getting her passport renewed at the Canadian Embassy in Panama City.
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True to our “break” the rules, we decided to simply visit the office, before they closed (official hours are 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM) enroute to another appointment we had.?
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We didn’t make an appointment. We simply showed up.
And there are more than a few barriers just getting there. First, inside the office tower itself, where the embassy is located, one must first scan a passport or resident ID card and have your face scanned too. Then you click what business you are visiting.
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Once that is completed, enroute to the elevators, you have your face scanned again. The system then registers where you are going, and you enter the elevator door that lists the floor to which you are headed.
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Once we arrived at our floor – we had to contend with the guard controlling the door to the office. He had to call someone in the office, to tell them there were a couple of Canadians at the door, requesting an audience.
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Lo and behold, appointment or not, someone was available. But not before they put our bag through a scanner and locked our cell phones in a small locker.
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Then we were told to enter an inner office door, which in turn was a simple small room, through which we would be able to see through plexiglass, the officer on duty.
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The process of renewing the passport, however, couldn’t have been quicker. Here’s the forms, what you need to do, plus how to pay online. Then book an appointment and bring in the documents and new passport photos.
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8 days after submitting the documents, the new passport was ready. Try doing it that quickly today in Canada!?
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There was still the issue of creating an appointment to pick up the new document. And the noon closing deadline.
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We thought we were being clever by booking the last appointment available, then another appointment 30 minutes later with our lawyer who was in the same complex.?
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That’s when we miscalculated the traffic and delays that often occur, enroute from our beach place in Playa Caracol to the center of Panama City. As it was, we ended up 10 minutes late for our legal appointment, forget about the Embassy.
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This where my wife simply decided that she’d head up anyway, since there was likely to still be staff members working – they just don’t want to take on anybody. They have important work to do…. (hah).
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I can only imagine the surprise of the guard on duty, when he saw her and made the call to the back office.?
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Needless to say, she was received, and she got her new passport. Rules be damned.
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Dan Kennedy has much to say on this topic and goes back in detail with a new book out called appropriately, “Success in Business by Breaking All the Rules.” His sentiment goes along these lines:
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The mindset of many top achievers is one of “Extreme Defiance”. They often ignore and “disobey” the normal “rules” that govern business especially these:
He further states, that when the establishment displays resistance and even fury to what you are doing, it’s a clear sign that you are getting it right.
“Being aggressive, rough around the edges and disruptive is one of the great unsung secrets of success.” Dan Kennedy
Steve Jobs certainly was like that, as was Thomas Watson, Walt Disney and Jeff Bezos. I would include Elon Musk in that category as well.
Lastly, I really like Kennedy’s second “commandment” listed in his latest Time Management for Entrepreneurs book:
“Most people are not in a hurry on their own behalf, so they naturally resist hurrying for you. They must be organized, tasked, given concrete deadlines and pushed hard to produce. They have to know that you will not tolerate slow, indefiniteness or excuses. “
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I hope you exercise similar discipline with yourself and your employees and vendors.
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Until next week,
Stay healthy and focus on profit!?
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- Hugh? The “Profit Accelerator” Expert
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PS: Research shows that enhancing 12 strategic aspects of your operation by a mere 1.4% can lead to an astounding 100% increase in profits. Yes, you read that correctly. A series of small adjustments, practically effortless in execution, can trigger exponential growth without necessitating more of your time or spending more money.
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That’s where my new?Profit Accelerator Simulator comes into play. Check it out for free and discover how these small changes can make a significant difference for you.
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