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Words have power

We invest in ideas, in words, in the things we can imagine, believe, hope for, we do not invest in the tangible, we invest in words that can create a reality.

I had the pleasure of spending some time with a leader in a political party, running for the Turkish parliament. I loved her passion, her ideas, her hopes. As we spoke, we went on to discuss the hero’s journey and why most politicians believe they can save us. In reality, we do not believe them, we feel what they say is more of the same and we lose interest.

Words create worlds, remember that. You have the ability to achieve many things by using the right words, to build, create, swoop the people, destroy lives, it is all done with words.

Our conversation drifted and we started thinking about messaging the political ideas in such a way that invites the voters to be part of the hero’s journey.

One person can make a difference, one person can change the world. It would be interesting to see what happens in elections all over the world, whether good might still win. You see, good takes time, a long time to create, bad comes in and destroys it all with one sentence. Credibility, authenticity, integrity, those need time to build. Killing that truly takes minutes.

And we can make a change, we can decide to be positive, we can decide to wait before we pour our anger onto social media, we can ask to see more facts. We can decide we want positive instead of negative. The funny thing, I know many people who are actively trying to help but are using negative words to do it. I believe in everything we do, both sides have a part to play, so both have some fault when things go south.

I had the chance to spend an amazing time in Cappadocia, turkey. A one of a kind, special, even magical experience. During dinner, we are all happy, laughing, exchanging stories when a friend sent me an Instagram message. This was one of those moments that reminded me why I usually travel without my Sim card, to avoid these messages.

And it was small, even too stupid to mention but he saw one of my stories, without seeing the rest and mentioned not everything should be posted. He did not see the next stories for context, he did not say it in a nice or ugly way, he just said what was on his mind. One sentence, threw me off, I had to look, what did I post?

He could have said it in so many ways, but even when I said that’s fine, no need to comment on everything you see, he got angry.

Now choose, you can say things a certain way, you can get angry, you can be mindful, you can do whatever the F you want, but it will always be better to be kind. “hey, saw your story, would reconsider if it’s relevant here, seems a bit off” would probably get a different reaction and appreciation, but he wanted to tell me, not help me.

When we decide to fire away, and trust me, I’m pretty good at that, we have no control how the other sides will take it. What could be a short sentence for us, could be a long journey for our friends on the other side.

A similar experience with my cousin as we were driving around Istanbul and he mentioned he saw one of my talks: “yeah, it was OK, not bad”. I take pride in the work I do. My workshops and talks are being shared, my calendar is getting more bookings, I keep improving and all he had to say was OK?

He could have said love it, like it, it was very good but you know…. And give me feedback. But he did not say it for feedback, he said it to say it. Two years ago it might have even crushed me. I was concerned about my speaking, the amount, the subject. I had put in so much time and effort to improve and it is still and probably always will be a work in progress. But he could choose to do good, he chose not to.

It is the Jewish new year and it is time for resolutions.

For me, it is about doing better, less negative, accepting the other side in a certain way. I will always be happy to get feedback, this is how we can all improve but I do not want negative vibes. Positive words can elevate, can cure, can change people for the better, can bring people together.

It is not an easy ask or task, it is a daily effort. Make someone smile, compliment one word, say thank you. And more than everything, know this, the world tends to reward the good, not the bad.

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I messed up my talk and no one noticed.

speaking and giving a talk
Tips for speaking infront of an audience
I’m standing on stage, about to finish my talk. It was a good talk. Well, it was actually an epic fail, but I was the only one who knew it. So, was it really a failure if no one else thought so?

As I was wrapping up another speaking tour (Greece, Canada, Sweden), and writing for my upcoming book F*ck the slides was progressing slower than expected, I was invited to speak in Bulgaria. Maria, a close friend and fellow entrepreneur at EO, the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, was planning a September retreat. Celebrating 25 years since launching her company.

The plan was to have more than ten speakers and almost a 100 employees and partners gather together at a hotel up in the mountains for two-and-a-half days.

I was hoping that my book and website would be ready, but as luck would have it, I still only had a draft of the book The final product still wasn’t where I wanted it to be. Nevertheless, I decided to go and give them the best show I could.

As we arrived at the hotel and guests were checking-in, the admin told me they had made some small changes and my talk would be cut from 45 to 30 minutes, including some QA. I smiled, and said no problem. It seemed easy enough, right?

After the first evening, I got to work, cutting down parts of my talk. What I thought would take me an hour or so ended up taking over 5 hours. I was so used to delivering my keynote talk in a certain way that would get me into a certain rhythm that automatically resulted in a  longer talk.

I wasn’t happy with it, so I restructured everything. Finally, I went to bed believing I had an amazing talk ready.

Morning. With my hotel breakfast in front of me, I’m going through everything in my head… and it was a mess. I kept confusing everything. I decided to focus on the first two scenes, trusting that I knew the rest. I went on stage, did the first part, and then lost it. Something in the order got confused. As I continued talking, my brain was calculating what to do next.

I decided not to go back. The show must go on. At one point, it was so bad, my phone rang in my pocket, on stage. Yep, that happened.

Here are a few tips that help me when I am stressed or have a bad start to my talk.
  1.   Always keep going and forget the parts you skipped, especially if they are just stories. If you need them as part of your method or concept, stop after a few minutes and recap. This will give you a chance to start again.
  2.   Find two or three people in the audience that you can focus on. Smile at them, give them your attention. They will serve as your anchors.
  3.   Always have a story ready that you know well, something you can revert to, like a commercial. Have a transition in mind like, “This reminds me of a story…” This gives you time, the audience enjoys, and you can relax.
  4.   Engage the audience with some activity – this is a great fall back that will buy you some time. By passing around the microphone and laughing with guests, you can regroup your thoughts and start again.
  5.   They don’t know – they have no idea what you plan on saying, so don’t sweat it if you make a mistake. Keep calm and focused. Make sure your tone conveys confidence.

The show must go on, but try to still have fun. Remember that most of the time, the audience will feel empathy if you are honest. Shit happens, don’t worry about it. Record your talks and learn from them.

Another funny thing

In the last minute of the talk, I invited people to sign up for my newsletter with a link to my website.

What I did not know was that the team forgot to hide the new landing page. It had buttons to sign up but no real text. Everything said ‘Lorem Ipsum’ – a standard text placeholder that means nothing.

After the talk, some people came up to me and said they loved the text on my site, one person said it was genius. I smiled but didn’t realize what they meant.

What they thought was funny, was a mistake. Other people will perceive your actions differently.

I wanted to bury myself, explain and give excuses, but we screwed up. It is part of the process. We owned it and kept going.

The best part of this story is that people signed up, many people.

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The Magical word of storytelling

storytelling

What is this buzzword, why’s everyone using it and how you could do it yourself.

 

I love coffee, people, and talking. Not necessarily in that order, but a significant portion of my life has been devoted to spending time with people, usually over coffee while we talked. They talked, told stories, and moved on to the next one. I enjoyed upgrading the best stories, making changes and tweaks, making them shorter or having a longer opening.

In everything I do, I enjoy telling stories. When I’m writing novels, creating brands, or creating articles or microcopy for my clients. When I teach, I especially enjoy incorporating a brand’s story into a lesson. Making a boring 90-minute class into a compelling story that inspires students to remember.

However, we abused this magical ability, storytelling.

We can no longer prevent anyone from claiming to be a self-proclaimed storyteller. There is no diploma, no minimum requirements, just someone who decides they want to teach. There are no numbers or KPIs to track, but storytelling is an ability, a skill, like being funny or being a businessman. You can’t claim to be funny or to be an entrepreneur. That should be said by someone else. I believe the same is true for storytelling.

An author is a storyteller who succeeds when others read, buy, and share his work. Too many people nowadays are self-proclaimed without putting in the effort. Yes, I know that many types of consultants feel the same way, and there are plenty of consultants willing to help you grow on social even if they have never done it themselves.

We are all storytellers

I know you might argue that there are different types of storytelling, long, short, video, audio, snarky, emotional, and so on, and I would agree, but I would also argue that we are all storytellers, just at different levels and abilities.

You get together with your friends and family? Stories

You tell your coworkers about last night’s wild party? Storytelling

You’d like to sell something? Story.

I was recently asked to listen to a podcast about startup storytelling. The lady identified herself as a professional storyteller. It was completed an hour later. Except for the fact that she kept selling herself, I couldn’t recall anything.

You might wonder why she didn’t tell any stories; she simply told the audience what had happened, but a good story has emotions, is thought-provoking, and has something to it. She had given us a lot of information without it.

You are all storytellers; whether you believe you are good or not is entirely up to you. It is also up to you to be able to improve quickly. You can easily improve, and it may even be enjoyable for you.

Here are some simple things you can do to enjoy sotries more, feel more, and improve a little more.

  1. Read novels and adventure stories. Read books on storytelling, such as Robert Mckee’s ‘Story’ or my new book F*ck the Slides.
  2. Watch television shows and notice what makes you move, then sit on the edge of your couch. Improving one of the most important life skills entails being a bit of a couch potato.
  3. Create a 60-word elevator pitch for yourself. What would you say to introduce yourself? What is your name and what do you do? How would you characterize yourself? Is it through your work? What is your family situation?
  4. Be in touch with your emotions. Things happen; talk to yourself and ask yourself how it affects you. What emotions does it evoke in you? You will quickly discover which types of feelings and emotions have the greatest impact on you. When telling a story, keep those in mind.
  5. Tell people what kind of story you’re about to tell them and see how they react. You have no idea what a crazy story I heard. If it’s not crazy, funny, or scary, it’s because you see things differently than you’re telling people. Improve by asking why.

True, some people may be better storytellers than others. However, using this buzzword for everything is counterproductive. It is time to teach people how to improve at something they already do.

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I left my life behind for 30 days and this is what I learned

I am writing this from London. It’s been just 30 days since I left my old life and apparently this trip will be cut short by a couple of days.

My time away has made me sit down and reflect on my life, the past month and where I’m going from here.

I feel blessed that I even have the ability to leave everything behind for a while and go find myself and the next step. Before I keep going, I need to thank my team at Streetwise, my agency. We do outsourced marketing services for major clients in different industries and I can’t thank them enough for stepping up. The last month has proven we have room to grow and a team to grow with.

Finding myself didn’t include 2 weeks of nature or silence or yoga sessions. I just needed to get out of my routine, be alone, think, write and read (or listen to as much audio content as I could).

Life takes its toll on all of us. Without even noticing, we pick up habits, big and small. Look at the week ahead you have planned for yourself, and you’ll see that we have ways of passing the time, the week, the year. All we need to do is fill up our calendar with things to do and we are good to go.

I love my morning habits – waking up, going to my favorite specialty coffee spot and enjoying some good conversations. Then there are morning meetings with clients, lunch and, look at that, the week is already over. Sometimes it’s busy and most days are like a rat race. The weekend is slower, habits are different but still a routine. I want to live my life on my time and my schedule. I want to own my time.

In order to do that, I felt I needed to go away and dream it all up again

An excuse

I needed one, and I found two good ones. The catalyst for this trip came from EO, the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, of which I am a member and sit on the regional council. After almost 2 years, 50 of us decided to meet in Lisbon to work on our European strategy, and it was epic in so many ways.

Staying for WebSummit after was also a good idea, but my main reason for going away was an idea I’ve had for a while: to write a new book.

It all started with a book title I came up with a few months back. I have already written two novels and have been thinking of ideas for a business/self-help book for a few years. For me, the writing process starts with a good title and some ideas.

The title was “Fuck the Slides.” I know, good huh?

The idea for the book was to develop my technique and help entrepreneurs build a pitch that would help them raise money. The second step of my process is taking notes on my phone and then drafting a short layout. Once that is done, I can start writing.

All I needed was time, so it just seemed fit to keep traveling after Lisbon. Since landing in London, I have walked about 600,000 steps, listened to 5 audio books, heard countless podcasts and signed new clients from Germany, South Africa, London and New-York (one from London is still not signed), but most importantly, I have written over 30,000 words and made some life-altering decisions.

I thought I would share some of my key insights from this month, and hope you manage to adopt at least one for yourself.

Check your habits

I love coffee. Like, really love coffee. Or should I say, I’m more addicted to the ritual of visiting my favorite coffee place everyday at 7am, reading the newspaper, talking to people and maybe having a second cup of coffee. But in the last few months, I noticed it was starting to feel like an exhausting ritual. I had to switch things up.

It’s your time

Sometimes it seems like my time is just not mine anymore. I react too often, rather than planning and creating a schedule. Even while in London, I noticed something scary. You see, when I landed in London, I only had one thing on my calendar for the whole month, and guess what? Things got crazy busy in no time. I started to feel stressed and the pressure was continuous. Saying no is something I still struggle with, but life is about learning, right? I need to learn how to manage my time. I am going back home determined to give my time first priority on the calendar and assign specific times for everything else.

The world can wait

We are too responsive, too fast, too often. Nothing bad will happen if we just disappear and fall off the grid for a few hours. Manage expectations and tell people you are not available. During my first week in London, I cancelled my cell phone package. That meant while I was roaming the streets, I was not available. It was so wonderful walking around, knowing there is no point in taking my phone out of my pocket because nothing will have changed. And nothing changed. Just let the world know when you will be back.

Finish before you start

It was early in the morning and still dark. Wake up, boil water, wash my face, brush my teeth, get coffee and open my laptop. I started writing before anything else, getting one piece of content or one chapter done, anything. I started the day with a win. The last few days have been great, as I pick an idea I jotted down the day before and just start writing. The same routine can be established for your morning fitness habits (my next goal is 100, 250 and 1,000 push-ups straight). Just do it first thing in the morning or set aside a specific block of time for it.

I love running in the evenings rather than in the morning because then my work day is done and I love getting out to shake off the day and clear my head for the evening.

You need a destination

I walked for hours every day, just roaming the streets, shops, gardens and museums, thinking, walking, listening. I needed to experience something else than what I was used to seeing. But I also needed to know what direction I’m headed in and what I’m trying to accomplish: a new book, new projects, new life? Moving to Lisbon? I set some guidelines and boundaries, and from these walks and thoughts, I found my destination and the road to getting there. Part of it was also sharing my journey with you here.

I am going back home with the reminder that I come first, and the person to tell that to is me, no one else. It’s up to you to take care of yourself.

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Stop to move forward

Want to grow your business? This is the one thing you must do now

If you want to grow your business, you need to stop everything and take a break. Not a vacation, a break, just so you have time to think about these 3 things.

I love working, and I always have. For years, I worked long hours, learning, meeting, writing, taking on more and more clients and projects, and my business kept growing and improving.

But the real kicker was once each year when I did the opposite. I just stopped everything and did nothing. So, here is what I can share with you from my experience of doing something so completely against my nature.

Sure, we all need a vacation or a break every once in a while, but I’m talking about stopping entirely. For years, I would fly to Berlin, Germany for 10-14 days and take some time off work. I would only do emergency stuff when my team needed my help, but everything else was personal. I would write my novels (I’ve had the pleasure of publishing 2) or listen to audio books and podcasts while roaming the streets.

Those days of wonder around the old buildings of berlin gave me time to think and build a strategy, a long-term idea of what I wanted to do, how my life could look and how I could structure my future.

When 2020 came around, we were all forced to stop for a while, but most did not think enough. We are probably living in the best time in our lifetimes to make some changes and live the life we want. Here are some things I have learned that might help you understand that taking a break is probably the best thing you could do for yourself and your work.

There is a saying that your business will grow when you start working on the business and not in the business. Most of us simply say, “That is so true,” and keep going.

Team

In order to actually make this saying a reality, I had to learn how to structure my company. We focused on finding the right people to help support the company. The main goal was to free myself from day-to-day operations while offering better service in my agency.

Time vs. pricing

The next step was to look at my schedule and the hours I work, and increase the rates for my time while reducing the number of hours I allocate to clients and consulting. Today I do very little consulting, and that for only a few very specific startups. 

Time is key when you are looking to take the next step for your business. It was more than just meetings. We started to improve internal meetings, cut them short and ask clients to do as many online as possible instead of meeting face-to-face.

Clients

How much is enough? What type of clients and work do you want to do? I believe you can divide most of your work into 3 types:

  1. Time consuming – you know the work and you took it because you need the money, but the profit margins are not as good as you had hoped and these projects suck up your or your team’s time.
  2. The money – these are the clients you like. They help your business grow and pay the bills. You wish you had more of these (if you only had time for more business development or sales). They require attention, but you also need more like them.
  3. Your future – sadly, you are probably not investing enough time in this since it’s usually hard work, pays less or has potential in the distant, rather than the immediate, future. You wish you could spend more time on projects like this, but you lack one of your two most precious resources: time or money.

While taking a break, ask yourself how many n.1’s you have. Can you drop one or two? What will this mean for your team? How can you replace them with another n.2? 

We all have dreams of making it big, but we might make all the wrong choices when it comes to clients from n3. You see, I used to take the idea, the story, and fall in love. These days, we only focus on one project at a time.

You need to stop. Now.

You need to step away, become your own consultant and take a good hard look at where you are now and where you plan on being next year when you take another break. Create your own path and stop letting life happen to you. You got this.

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Marketing is changing. Are you ready?

My agency just celebrated its 10-year anniversary. I remember in 2002 when I first started in marketing – it was so different back then.

Social media did not exist, mobile phones were far from being smart and things felt so simple. It actually makes me feel a little nostalgic. I loved and miss those days, when advertising on buses was the main way to get things done. Video billboards were just starting and Google ads were the big new thing.

It seems the world has progressed way more than just two decades since. Things are more complicated than ever, but at the same time, they are much more technical and data driven.

Now, if everyone does the same thing, if everyone is data driven and if all marketers look only at numbers and how to improve funnels with hard data, what will distinguish between them?

Yes, my dear friend, you are correct: their soul, or maybe we should say the brand’s soul. Companies can be amazing, grow, sell and scale, but only a few will outlast the rest – those that are running a brand and not just a business.

In my line or work I deal with lots of companies in various stages of growth and we offer services accordingly. Some small startups simply need to tell their story and build a 3–5-minute pitch to raise their next round. Others need a whole marketing team (we provide outsourced marketing services) and then there are those that need help with creative or performance marketing. No matter who they are, or what stage they’re at we ask for their brand book. Now, please let me specify something and be very, very clear: A brand book is not just your graphics!!

When we onboard a client, I like to have a one-hour session (of which I’ve probably done hundreds in the last 5 years) where I ask the client what is they do. It takes about 57 minutes or so and by the end they understand that what they thought they did or how they presented themselves is not who they want to be. Usually, this takes us down the rabbit hole where the fun starts:

1. We build the language, the wording that helps us write the creative.
2. We come to an understanding of how to service the audience and clients, and know what to say and how to behave.
3. We begin to think with the brand and not just to please a certain figure in the company.

Why?
Because we know the brand. Like any good actor, we go into character, create the persona, dress like the brand and talk like the brand.

This piece is crucial as it removes phrases like, “Well, I don’t think it will work,” or, “I would never click on that.” Good marketing needs a good brand to rely on. Magic happens when it’s not a matter of my or my client’s opinion, but rather the way their brand should behave.

The key is understanding that it’s all about building a well-rounded character that has its own ideas, feelings and values. We need to know where the brand is coming from and where it’s headed (story and vision).

I often meet people who are happy to share their brand book with me but, sadly, it only consists of graphics (how the brand should dress) and maybe some generic values or a story.

Language creates everything, so how can you build a brand without having all the pieces in place?

It’s always a work in progress, a never-ending task to keep improving and growing, an ever-changing commitment to ensure our brand is on point.

Good marketing is a combination of so many things but the most important in my opinion is a strong brand. Why?

  1. It will be able to make tough decisions for us.
  2. It will keep us in check and tell us where to go.
  3. It will help us focus and move toward our vision.
  4. It will keep the wrong people away.
  5. It will always evolve and inspire us.

It is always a work in progress, never ending always changing concept and that Is also what makes it so exciting.

Keep working hard, feel free to reach out with thoughts, ideas or just to say hello.

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Are you a Storyteller?

What is the difference between storytelling and storytellers and why it should matter to you?

“Are you a storyteller? Oh, how I love storytelling, especially when there’s a good story to tell. I was at a lecture the other day about tips for good storytelling.”

Heard this much during the last few months?

We need buzzwords. We love buzzwords and what could be better than ‘storytelling’?

When talking about storytelling, some might feel a little nauseous since it’s being used for everything now. It’s like the new ‘strategy’. just drop it anywhere in a meeting and you are good to go.

Come to think of it, how can you avoid using it all the time?

We are all storytellers. Some stories are great and some suck but others are really epic. We all know someone who seems like the best storyteller ever, who makes a night out, well… legendary. I own several bars in Tel-Aviv and at each of these locations it’s always been easy to spot the storyteller at every table. They aren’t necessarily the loudest or most fun person in the group, but rather the one people listen to, the one who could take the whole party on a journey just by using words.

Storytelling is about creating a world you can imagine.

Movies, novels, comics and a good myth all tell great stories that can surpass time and place. They can evolve and become better over time – some might even be timeless. During the Middle Ages they had the troubadours telling stories and singing hymns of heroism and bravery.

True storytellers are born a certain way. They develop their craft by doing it over and over, looking at their audience, learning a certain body language and sculpting the presentation it until it works. Can anyone be a storyteller? Well, if you didn’t know it already, you are a storyteller.

When you come home and tell your spouse about your day, when you talk to your colleagues at work about the new restaurant you tried last night, or when you pitch your team a new idea during a meeting, you are practicing this fundamental skill. We are all storytellers. Good or bad, well, that’s another story.

During the last few months, I started to notice that storytelling is being used more often as an empty buzzword, and I started to apologize when using it during sales meetings.

We all have a story to tell, but we need to think if we are good storytellers or just regular people who can tell a story, not caring if it’s good or bad. What do I mean by that? A good story will sell, make people imagine or keep them on the edge of their seat. An epic story will make people believe in things they have never seen, like dragons, start revolutions, or beg you to keep going.

A few days ago, I was having coffee with a friend who had just left a branding agency. Something interesting came up as we were discussing a storytelling workshop I was about to give. I love storytellers but I feel more and more like storytelling has become just another buzzword with no substance.

You see, I have written novels and people love authors. It’s quite common for someone I meet to say something like, “You wrote a book? What a dream. I would also love to one day write a book about something”, to which I always reply, “So just do it, write a book, it’s not so hard” (it’s a white lie, writing my novels was so tedious and draining but it makes for good small talk).

When we do creative, or write posts for social media, people think it’s easy because they too can write. The entry point for the craft seems easy, and the barrier low. Almost everyone can write. But can they really write?

Now, just like writing, everyone can tell a story. People think that if they can tell a story, they are true storytellers hence.

I believe the art of storytelling is engraved in our bones, the love or words, imagination, creating something out of thin air, making people feel the chills, have a tear in their eye. Anyone can do it, really, but how many can really be amazing at it?

I believe we should find the best, the ones that can actually do it, in writing or on stage or even those who can teach. But what about you? How can you improve?

1. The goal – every good story needs to know where it’s heading. Have a pitch at work? Great. Make sure you write down what your goal is and make sure you are aligned. Always check if what you wrote serves the end goal. No? take it out.

2. Length – people will read a 600-page Harry potter but would avoid a 600-word blog post. Before you write, try and put the building blocks in place. When the structure works for you, pour in the words. For long form content, I love using post-it notes on my wall.

3. Words – words create a reality but let me tell you a secret I share during my workshops. The gaps, the silence, are also a very important piece. Leave something to people’s imagination. If you tell them every small detail, nothing is left for the brain to fill, it might be too long, and people lose interest. In my session, I use a 5-word story and let the audience feel the blanks. In hundreds of sessions, I have never heard the same version twice.

You might not be a pro at storytelling, you might not love the buzzword, but you need to improve that skill.

Have any questions? Feel free to reach out.

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Time to change your life

What if this is your only chance? Would you take it?

This might just be the right time for you to change your life – to switch jobs or lose that weight. Now, during the worst pandemic and economic crisis in decades, you just might find your shining star. That’s because that star is not out there in the sky or in your next job, it is literally inside you.

Just like anyone else might, I decided to look for that star inside of myself. I get closer and closer one step at a time, and it feels good. It started like most oaths to exercise, with the idea that I should do more.

Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans

Last year was simultaneously a particularly good and awfully bad year. My podcast was alive and kicking with over 30 episodes. My agency was growing with an amazing staff and we launched new services focused on branding for small businesses. It was all set up to be an awesome year: working hard from 8a.m. till 8p.m. every day. From there I’d go home, eat, shower and go out for a beer… or two… or three. I loved finishing the day with a few beers, maybe a couple of cigarettes and some friends. The fact that I am a partner in two bars wasn’t helping my drinking habit, but it was so much fun.

The months have a tendency to pass quickly when you’re busy, so I would work hard, play hard and knew that whatever I didn’t get done could wait for tomorrow. Funny thing about tomorrow though, is that we always delay the most important things, right?

We postpone working on our dreams, spending time with our family or improving our lives by exercising, cooking, etc. Whatever it is, we are too tired to do it. “I will run tomorrow,” I said, “I will stop smoking after this weekend.” Writing? Maybe next week. I promised myself I would film a couple of YouTube videos as soon as I had a few hours. But time is tricky – it never comes back and it’s always elusive, giving us that feeling that it will never run out.

And as the days passed, I noticed I just wasn’t having fun anymore. I had become a CEO, but didn’t get to participate in any of the fun bits that come with running a business. I stopped doing the creative stuff like writing and focused instead on employee issues, taking care of financial things and working hard, but feeling stuck. I wasn’t entirely aware of it, but despite all my plans, life was telling me I needed a change.

It will take as much time as it takes

What I needed was a vacation, and the holiday season was just around the corner. I had always dreamed of seeing Japan; it was time. When I was there, I was overwhelmed by the difference in culture (I am from Israel, the opposite of Japan in every way imaginable).

It was mind blowing – like being in outer space. In my environment, everyone wants everything faster, focusing on quick tactics and results rather than strategy. Honestly, it had worn me out, and I wasn’t sure if this way of doing things had gotten me where I wanted to be. In Japan, time is based on patience. Things take time because they need to take time. How much time? As much as it takes. And after 3 weeks, I came back ready to make some changes to the business and my lifestyle.

But making changes and decisions is not easy, especially when my business has played such a big role in my life for almost a decade. When you have employees and clients, you can’t just drop it all and go traveling again (trust me, I thought about it every day). I prepared a plan and included everything I needed to change in my business: fewer employees, fewer clients, bigger clients, more focus on work and making an impact. Everything started to seem better. It definitely felt better. Our tasks weren’t easy, but step by step, I started down this new path. Going into 2020, I felt I was on the right track. Looking back at it now, I see that I was basically on the track to making the same mistakes I had made before.

I kept finding excuses not to write, vlog or push my brand. Something wasn’t right, I just couldn’t put my finger on it. I decided to exercise and start reading more. So, I sold my motorcycle and started walking 30 mins every day back and forth to the office. It was fun. Winter days here in Tel-Aviv are great and Audible books kept me company. A few months later, still feeling I could do more but unsure where to start, I was in Berlin for the weekend to have some meetings and see some friends. I made sure I kept walking while I was there. Right after I returned to Israel, the news hit us: we had to quarantine for 14 days.

Free falling

We have all the time in the world…until something like this happens. Understanding that all hell was about to break loose, I did what most people would do: I hung on to what I knew instead of taking a huge breath and diving into the deep end. Back and forth, I walked in my apartment, worrying. How was I going to pay salaries? What might happen to me, my family, my company?

It was around 2a.m. when I decided I needed to let go. There was simply no point in feeling stressed. I couldn’t control most of what was happening. I needed to look at this situation from a different angle. “How much time do I have every day and how could I utilize it to make the most out of it?” I asked myself.  What things I want to fill my days with? How would I like to feel at the end of every day when night comes?

Then I stopped. The panic stopped. The smoking at the window as if the weight of the world was on my shoulders was over. For the first time in about 10 days locked up at home, my mind felt clear. It would take me just a few hours to make a list of all the things I could control.

The next day, I spoke to my accountant. We made some important decisions together, and a few days later the whole country was ordered to stay home. Out of quarantine and into lockdown. I still couldn’t leave the house. Time, which everyone always complained was lacking, suddenly felt abundant again, but I knew better this time. Now it was time to move forward. I believe we can choose how we look at things. For me it was either fall into depression or make the best of a bad situation and start making my dreams my job again.

Personal brand

As time progressed, I figured things were not going back to normal and we might need to rethink the definition of normal altogether. If so, I knew I would have no option but to make the best of a bad situation. I made a to-do list and got to work. Ok, I didn’t actually make a physical list, but more like sat in front of my computer screen for about 17 hours a day and worked… or created work… or had fun… well, you get the point, I hope.

I have already been working on my personal brand for years. I have my own logo for my surname and a cool title on my card and E-mail signature: Chief of Happiness. For years, people meet me at events around the world and all they can remember is my title – I love it.

I felt it was time to take the next step. I scouted the net for cool sites of famous people, mainly speakers and marketing gurus. I wrote down all the things I loved and got a good friend to help me build a new website for my lectures, consulting and workshops. It took time, but writing and the little bit of design we did on WordPress wasn’t too difficult for us (ok, for him more than me).

It didn’t take long to start getting work and I am happy to say this entire situation has become a life-changing experience for me. I’m actually writing content about my work/hobby and being invited to teach about these things – it’s absolutely amazing. I have been planning to do this for over 2 years, but now, I had time, I did it and it’s working. Here’s what I’ve been doing:

  1. Writing

I always loved writing. Hell, I wrote two books and I’ve been messing around with my third book about a marketing concept for a while now. Something about the idea of asking my students to read chapter 4 in my book for the next class always made me laugh. But sometime a few years ago, my writing went from novels and long social posts to tweets, short comments, quick blog posts, nothing to write home about. Now I’ve relaunched my Medium, started writing on my website and returned to pursuing long stories on my laptop – just writing. I am now at the point where I think I know how to continue my 3rd book and maybe even a new novel or a TV script.

  1. Interviews

In 2019 I decided I had to get better at interviews. I wasn’t even sure why, but I had to. Many people around me already liked my podcast concept, so I went with video interviews and fell in love. Being a creative person, the decision to improvise all my interviews seemed natural to me, and after the first 3 or 4, they got pretty good. Some episodes were excellent even. And I had a plan for 2020: to interview and speak in as many countries as possible. I even made a video about it. Now, at home, I wrote some people and started the 100 interviews project, where I interview people from different countries. If I am not mistaken, episode 10 should be just around the corner. The concept of conducting interviews gives me the opportunity to just randomly introduce myself and ask someone to join me for a quick session. If you or someone you know might be interested, mail me. I need more countries and good people.

  1. Filming

When I was younger, I think there were about 12 years when I barely had any pictures taken of me. Things were different when film was used and it was easy to avoid being photographed. Now I run two YouTube channels, go live, teach in 2 colleges and I love it. But to this day, I change the moment I see the red record icon and it takes me some time to warm up to the camera. But as a marketeer and someone looking to build a personal brand, I needed to face this fear.

I ordered a Canon M50 and started filming myself every day during quarantine to get used to the camera. It was the only way to get over that fear and embrace it.

I now film somewhere between 2-4 videos a week for my YouTube channels and Patreon.com supporters. I need to keep practicing and remember I will never get over that fear completely, it will only keep getting smaller. Embrace your fears.

  1. Editing

I do not want to feed the negative feelings I have about editing so let’s just say I don’t feel I’m very good at it. For years, I had help – some of the best! But now at home, I decided again that I need to own it. Even though I found out I was better at doing one shot to save time, I had to learn some editing. Now, I spend about 10 hours a week and during the weekends improving my techniques.

For me, it is crucial these days to go back to doing everything by myself. I believe that amazing all-around players will be the ones who thrive and survive. If you can afford an editor, great. If you can’t, learn. When you have the money, you will remember the early days and know the jargon so you can communicate better with your editor. Don’t give up because you do not know how to edit.

  1. Live sessions

I can’t sing or act and I don’t think I have ever been good looking enough to be a model, even when I was young. So, teaching is my way of being a rock star, standing on stage, giving that show and holding the room. When I first started teaching at college, people told me kids are terrible and college students even worse. They won’t listen, and don’t care. But I believe if my talk is interesting, people will stay, listen and engage.

I owe a lot to my students for helping me improve, and sitting at home, anything suddenly became a great excuse to take action, so I jumped on the idea and started offering free live sessions on Zoom anywhere possible. Thanks to the time differences, I could always find another accelerator or hub to engage with somewhere.

This became a great way to test new material, meet 25-30 people at once and even get leads, paid gigs and consulting work. Giving my time for free paid off in so many ways. So, to everyone who asked why I do this for free, I say it makes me feel good and reminds me we can impact someone on the other side of the world with words. It is a long game and I never know who these people might become in a few years or if they will remember me at all, but it actually pays the bills if you are patient.

  1. Marketing

I LOVE MARKETING!!! My passion has never run out. To this day I keep reading, learning and meeting new people. Quarantine was an awesome chance to revisit all the things we did over the past couple of years and improve them. We went back to content strategy and produced more videos and articles, refined our messages and made changes to our target audience. All this is based on our core values and it has been fun. It’s also producing results faster than ever.

I found a few clients who get what I’m doing. We can work on long term strategies, gamification and YouTube content together. Creating more, learning more – feels like I am just starting again.

  1. Catan

Well, to be honest, why not? The online version has some bugs, but I was willing to overlook those and have fun with my friends over zoom. I always had a thing for strategy games but Catan takes the cake and most of the time, so do I. This game reminded me that the hand you currently hold says nothing about the larger game. Even if you roll a 7 and have to let go of half of it, this means nothing, you can still win. When your opponents are doing well, remember, they can still lose if you focus on playing smart, negotiating hard and having fun.

  1. Running

During quarantine I did not run, just walked back and forth in my small apartment. Now, I run almost every day. That feeling you get that you can’t possibly run anymore, but stretch it just a little more anyway is key to me working now, at 1a.m. writing this. Keep moving no matter what, no matter where you are or how small (or bad) each step feels – just keep moving. Great things will come of your suffering.

It is up to you, always

I truly believe life is random and we can only control our decisions based on the knowledge we have in that particular moment and our gut feeling. Take these two, do the best you can and be happy you are where you are. Tomorrow, you might be on top of the world, but there is always a chance you might fall down. Be happy with what you have and keep moving forward.

When you look at things, try and be as positive as you can because it is the right thing to do. I love complaining in a cynical way, myself. It’s always funny and I find laughter makes everyone feel better. But sometimes, I too dwell on things and feel down, alone or miserable. It is totally ok in my mind to feel these things, but, and this is a big but, we are judged on what we do after those feeling take over.

You might have skimmed this article quickly, or maybe you scrolled straight to the conclusion. So, TLDR, here it goes: it’s up to you to make a change and stop looking at the past, my friends. What could have been is not relevant; it will never happen.
Time will pass, things will probably get worse before they get better and this might be a final call – an unmissable last chance to prepare and make sure your better is awesome.

It is time for each of us to take action and ensure we are doing our best in this new evolution. This might mean putting your head down and working more, following a dream, moving cities, starting a running routine or anything else that might help you get through these next 12-24 months.

For me, it was following my dreams.

Good luck

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I never wanted to own a bar…

Now I am a partner in 2. But only after a big failure.

I never wanted to own a bar, I just wanted to make some extra cash. I distinctly remember telling myself that before investing in one. Little did I know, that failure would lead me to where I am today, now, writing to you, a stranger on the other side of the world, offering you my consulting services.

When we opened the first bar, we thought we couldn’t go wrong. Hundreds of people came in every night to party and drink. The problem (one of many) was that our managing partners had no clue how to run such a business and about 6 months I had to quit my job and learn how to manage a bar with a big staff, a six-figure P&L and a huge inventory that goes bad every couple of days. Till this day, in my storytelling workshop for startups, I repeat that running a restaurant is more complicated than what my listeners do. If you want to run a tech business, go manage a food & beverage business for a year.

I needed help fixing the business. I called everyone, went to every meeting. I knew how to market and sell things but knew nothing about running the back office. I had to learn everything from scratch. My friends who owned bars came to help, teach and support me. Slowly I started to learn the business and implement things I learned years back in the retail industry. I started to improve our marketing and reach through word of mouth. About 9 months in I managed to sell the place. Since then, I have helped over 70 businesses in the food and beverage industry improve, grow and sometimes help them realize the best thing is to close shop and move on.

Thanks to so many amazing people along the way I started my consulting service, built streetwise, a digital marketing agency serving mainly startups, and today I am still a partner in two bars (another successful one was sold in 2014). As I meet more young entrepreneurs and companies, I always tell them how one thing led to another.

What I thought would be a small investment became one of my biggest failures. I lost more than $150K but was able to learn and grow other businesses. When it looks grim and you feel lost, look for people that are different from you, that can help you look at things from a fresh perspective. When you think you need a push, just ask for it.

No one wants to fail but are you willing to ask for my help?

If so, I am inviting you to a 30min session with me online to hear about your idea, business and where you want to go from here. We will discuss options and ideas; I will share my experience. I am not looking to hold your hand but rather be productive and think about the future, your habits, and if you are willing to put in the work.

If you feel you need that push, let’s talk.