“They say it takes a lot to win … and even more to lose.”

-The Grateful Dead

These days, many of us are re-defining what it means to win.

Our over-busy lives and a fast-paced 24/7 world place many demands on us in “the here and now” and at a very heavy price. That price is our future. Workers around the world are literally being eaten alive by the pressure of balancing daily responsibilities, short term demands, and long term goals.

I should know… the stress landed me in the ER… three times, and the operating room once. There’s nothing like a stress test on a treadmill, staring at a mortality chart, to give you a little life perspective.

So, what exactly is this 60 Second Strategist book about anyway?

And why would I open a strategy book with a quote from a rock band?

Is this just another gimmick of outrageous claims in a feeble attempt to sell a book? You tell me.

Is it a gimmick when an ER physician can re-start your stopped heart in less than 60-seconds?

Is it a gimmick when a US Army Infantry squad can clear out a terrorist hideout and secure enemy prisoners without sustaining a casualty… in less than 60-seconds?

Is it a gimmick when a team of fire fighters enters a burning house on the brink of collapse and rescues a trapped family… in less than 60-seconds?

60 seconds is a lot of time if you train your mind and body to react quickly, efficiently, and effectively.

So maybe, just maybe, you can trust me to teach you, as I have taught so many others… how to accelerate your thinking and organize your daily actions in a unique way that will dramatically improve your business and your life.

Keep reading and I will show you . . .

. . . how to manage your daily priorities while setting aside time, energy and resources that focus on the future. If you want to be truly great, to live a great life that is fulfilling and healthy, you must find a balance between planning and execution.

To do this, you will have to get a handle on your life and learn to speed up, automate and delegate much of your current daily routine. I will show you how to do this.

Proactive vs. Reactive

The speed comes from developing what are called, Diagnostic Reasoning Skills. Sounds complicated but it’s not. Much like an ER physician or combat soldier, you will learn to react at the speed of light to more than 90% of the daily situations you face because you have proactively learned the skills taught here. This will free your mind to focus on long term objectives… the stuff that really counts. No more drowning in minutia.

Most business strategy books focus on organizational, or “high level” strategy, which is great. I teach workshops and consult at that level all the time. This book isn’t about that. This book is about you!

The fact is, if you can’t manage your own life, career, and daily routine, you are going to have a real hard time taking care of anything else or anyone else. For a team, business, family, or organization to be forward thinking, strategic… and all that good stuff, the members of the team need to get their house in order first.

So how do individuals and organizations become more strategic? How do they become great? How can people become more innovative, intuitive, and creative?

Well, sorry to say, there is no single “magic silver bullet” that does it all. If someone has sold you that kind of solution, go back and get a refund ASAP! The only thing a silver bullet is good for is killing vampires, and if vampires are your problem then this book is not going to be much help.

I have been studying this strategy stuff for a long time. You could say it’s my life’s passion. As with most solution-based philosophies and concepts, it was born from a mating of desire and desperation.

I started writing in the journal which eventually became this book in a motel room in Seligman, Arizona, way back in August of 1993.

That’s a REALLY long time ago, isn’t it? Fifteen years and counting.

Point is, this isn’t some hastily pieced together book filled with worthless clichés and mind-numbing figures used as filler so you’ll experience a good “thud factor.” In fact, I have tried to make this book as short as possible.

I actually want you to read every word of what I have to say. To take something important away with you.

Over the years I have isolated a few hundred strategies, tactics, principles and techniques that lead to the ability to execute effective strategy quickly and effectively. In this book, I have narrowed it down to sixty. Instead of giving you a big list, I have followed in the wisdom of the great teachers of the ages and show examples of each principle in a story format. Not just any old third-hand story, but stories from my own experiences.

You’re going to come along with me and peer inside my mind like a CSI as this whole “60 Second Strategist” thing grew from concept… to a business and life-altering toolkit for those who use it properly.

Everything presented here is left-lane fast paced. If you are expecting a Sunday drive or some pap designed to just make you feel good about yourself, put this book down now and go read a John Grisham novel.

But if you stick with me, you will gain insights on how to implement powerful strategic thinking principles. I’ll show you some specific examples of how this stuff can work for anyone.

There are tools in this book that you can use today. Forget the hype, fluff and filler.

Your life is waiting for you NOW. You don’t have time to mess around.

Do you?

Let me address the beginning Grateful Dead quote by telling you, It DOES take a lot to win. You will have to stretch outside your comfort zone. You will have to take risks. You will no doubt fail one way or another during the process. You wouldn’t be human otherwise.

So yeah, it takes a lot to win. Dang Skippy.

But remember, it takes even more to lose. Losing is costly. The ‘Dead’ got it right (as rock lyrics often do). More on that later.

On this journey we’ll call “Becoming a 60 Second Strategist,” you might occasionally get frustrated, confused, or discouraged. That’s okay.

You might try a new idea and have it blow up in your face. That’s okay.

You might invent a new product and not sell a single one. That stinks, but it’s still okay.

That’s life and it’s how things work. You have to get up, swallow your pride and get back in the fight.

When you are down, always remember one thing: It costs 100 times more to lose than it does to win.

“There are few sorrows, however poignant, in which a good income is of no avail.” ~Logan Pearsall Smith, “Life and Human Nature,” Afterthoughts, 1931

Sure, it can be tough to tear your business, your job and your life into tiny pieces. It can be frustrating to examine, restructure, and reprioritize everything.

You will be tempted to give up and just throw in the towel. That’s when it becomes crucial to examine your thinking and approach.

What will your life be like five years from now if you don’t tough it out?

Where will you be? Same job? Same income? Same lifestyle? Perhaps you will even go backwards.

It has happened to me, so I know.

When I look back at the days following when I got laid off, I remember how hard it was. I was scared out of my mind.

I was humiliated. How could I explain to my friends, family, and professional network that I was unemployed?

I had thought I was invincible. After finally becoming an executive, I had thought that only people from the “labor force” were vulnerable to downsizings, right-sizings and other such sizings. I thought I had finally escaped my past. My mind flashed back to my humble beginnings as a homeless, first generation American.

I thought my years of clawing my way to the top had finally brought me security. I thought my fancy MBA and Rolodex of powerful people made me immune from my trials of the past.

Boy, was I wrong. After teaching and coaching strategy to executives for all those years, could I actually use this stuff myself in an extreme crisis?

Sure, my strategic system worked in the military, sales, marketing, coaching, operations, and several other “organizational” contexts. I was able to make it to the top once before, but what about now?

How could I support my wife, who was paralyzed from the waist down from a car accident?

How could I feed and clothe my four kids?

How would I pay the mortgages on both my houses?

I was scared, even paralyzed with fear (sorry, Leslie). Around the same time, excessive stress lead to health failure. Like I said before, I went to the emergency room three times.

One ER visit landed me in the operating room. I almost died during the surgery.

Almost dying has a way of giving you some perspective. Near death, as they say, is nature’s way of saying, “Hey, stupid, pay attention!”

Now, when I look back at my life like the roiling wake behind a boat, and then look at my freedom today, and examine the impact I have been able to have on others, I can’t help but realize the cost of giving up would have been 1,000 times greater.

It would have been MUCH easier for me to just become a local consultant, or call up some classmates from business school. These guys are executive level managers with companies like Coca-Cola, Home Depot, Siemens… you get the picture.

Instead, I chose a different route. I chose my family and my health over going back into corporate slavery.

I have over $1 million worth of training and coaching in my head (and I have the receipts around here somewhere to prove it).

Instead of helping another billion dollar brand become a two billion dollar brand, I decided to apply these “well kept corporate secret strategies” to my own life and teach others to do the same. Put my mouth where my money is.

This decision has already put me in the firing line. One global corporation has sent multiple “cease and desist” letters to my home, claiming that the strategies I teach are confidential.

What are they afraid of anyway?

I admit that much of what I share with my clients (and now with you) falls under the category of “well guarded secrets,” but none of these secrets is “company confidential.” In fact, I discovered that one company’s “secret strategic process,” is also “secretly” shared by nine out of ten Fortune 100 Companies.

So now these corporate types are running around with their hair on fire whining that I am a thief or a criminal or something. Are they so terrified of your success? Are they so frightened of their ’secrets’ being discovered? Or do they just know that you may be coming for their jobs? For their corporate jet? For their home in the Hamptons? They remind me of the schoolyard bully who turns out to be a coward when confronted with boldness.

It’s kind of hard to ignore all that bluster but remember…

It takes A LOT to win!

But when it comes down to it, you have no choice but to win. Losing is unthinkable.

The cost of losing is almost immeasurable. The cost of losing is a life unfulfilled, or in my case, a life almost lost.

Can you bear the cost of staying in a job you hate?

Do you want to bear the cost of looking into a loved one’s eyes and saying, “I can’t give you what you want …or even worse …what you need…”?

So what’s it going to be?

Are you going to be a LION or a LAMB?

Will you join me and the ones who came before me and shared what they discovered? Will you use this growing body of knowledge to improve your life and your business?

Do you want to better the lives of your loved ones, and positively influence hundreds …thousands …or even millions of people?

Or will you stay safely on the “easy road” and settle for mediocrity? One of my favorite Bible quotes is:

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.” Matthew 7:13

Will you go through the wide gate and settle for less? Would you rather happily crash in front of the TV, be oblivious, and let other people dictate your life?

We both know the answer, right? If you weren’t motivated to change things you wouldn’t be reading this book, so …

Let’s get into the battle together and kick some butt.

“Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.” ~Woody Allen

Becoming a 60 Second Strategist requires hours of preparation, so let’s get to it!

DO THIS NOW

1. Go to www.60secondStrategist.com and take the strategy assessment quiz to get a baseline of how good your strategic thinking already is.
2. While you are there on www.60secondStrategist.com register for the FREE 60 Days to 60 Second Strategy Online Video Course.