Daniel Skognes

Several years ago I was at a kid’s football game and watched him run the wrong way.  He ran like the wind to the wrong end of the field.  The problem was, he scored for the competition.  I’ve seen it happen in basketball, baseball, and soccer too:  kids that don’t quite know the rules yet.  They just know they are supposed to run somewhere, and by golly, they are going to run.  LOL.

It is not so cute or funny when a grown-up makes a mistake like that. You might remember Chris Webber’s infamous “Time Out!” when there were no time outs left. In 1993, that cost Michigan the title against North Carolina.  In a moment, a whole season went down the tubes for the team, the alumni, the coach, and the fans.  A brilliant season was lost in a second.  I am sure it took years and possibly some serious therapy to deal with that one flub. Unfortunately, that is what sticks in the minds of the fans and historians.

It is not so cute or funny when we see adults in business or in their personal lives lose sight of their goals. It can be a lapse in judgment (think President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky), or it can be not knowing the rules and getting fired (most of us know someone who has been let go for breaking the rules).

Goals are important.  They are what we work for and live for.  Why do we sometimes sacrifice a lifetime effort for a moment’s pleasure?  Or, we forget the basic rules and think they don’t apply to us (think DWI)

Principle 1.  If you have a goal, don’t forget it.  The game is not over till it’s over.  One momentary lapse in judgment might cost you your job, your marriage, the respect you desire from others. It might cost you your freedom, or worse, your life. Life is a marathon, not a sprint.

Principle 2.  Even if you remember the goal, you have to stay focused.  Chris Webber’s mistake cost him dearly.  Keep your focus and always be thinking about your next move and the move after that.  Our lives are like a game of Chess.  Nobody wants to be the pawn that is sacrificed.

Principle 3. Know where the Goal Posts are.  That sounds pretty simple, but many people say they have a goal.  When you ask them how they are going to get there, they just look at you like the cow at the gate.  You almost expect them to Mooooooo.  What you want to tell them is that they have to Mooooooove.  LOL.  You have to set your goals, then do the things that you need to do to achieve them.  Setting is great, but doing it is what really matters. Remember that when it comes to goals, setting and no doing becomes your undoing.

Principle 4.  Never forget that your goals affect a lot of other people.  It is not just about YOU.  What you do with your goals will affect everyone around you.  You don’t live on an island by yourself.  Even Robinson Crusoe had Friday.  In case you were wondering, that is where we got T.G.I.F.

My heart goes out to all the Chris Webbers of this world.  I have personally done so many dumb things in life, I can’t remember them all.  It just was not caught on national TV, or by a reporter (think Watergate). My hope is that you identify your goals and never lose sight of them.  Train, think, and focus on the goal.  Never sacrifice your goal for a moment of pleasure.  Anticipate the moves you have to make, then make them.

Make sure you don’t compromise your morals or your character to get them.  If you have to cheat, steal, or destroy someone else to win, that is a hollow victory that you don’t want to be remembered for (think Lance Armstrong). Keep that first and foremost, and it becomes a game changer. Here is to you achieving your life-long goals and changing the world for good.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

Click Here:  The Story of Jacqui Saburido

This is an incredible interview that Oprah had with Jacqui Saburido back in 2003, who survived a drunk driving accident.  It is her testimony of survival, and taking life one day at a time.  Her spirit is incredible, and her courage inspiring.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

One on one is a basketball term.  It is where you play against one other player, one on one.  This is what separates the smack talkers from the ball players.  I am way past the age that I can take anyone on in a game of one on one…except for maybe a 5 years old.  I can still smack talk though.  Talk is cheap.  LOL.

This is a game of raw competition.  It is you against the other guy, trying to figure out how to either defend the hoop or get to the hoop. It is very physical and extremely demanding as there is nobody to hand the ball off to except your opponent.  It is fun for a time, but typically you don’t last as long because of the energy expended.  It takes a toll on you physically.

There is a similarity in the business world.  If you are a solo guy, you may be the best there is when you are on the court.  But what happens if you get hurt and you can’t work?  Nobody wants to think about that, but it happens every day.

I have a dear friend of mine who has been flying solo for years and really enjoying the ride.  He has been very successful and is well known in his industry, working with Fortune 1000 companies’ top executives. He makes a lot of money by most people’s standards.

A few months ago he was out of town and started having what he thought was a heart attack.  He went to the hospital and they could not find anything wrong, so they put him on high blood pressure medicine.  The only problem was…he did not have high blood pressure, and the meds actually made the problem worse!  He was in and out of the hospital over a period of weeks trying to figure out what the heck was going on with him. He had to work from home much of the time and handle everything by phone instead of face to face.  Not a good situation.

He finally figured out the meds were messing him up big time and got of them, but that took weeks for his body to get back to normal.   All the while…the business was still trying to run with him running on 2 cylinders.  When I met with him, I suggested he either bring in a partner and/or hire a qualified sales person.  He did that and brought in a personal assistant also to take some of the administrative things off his plate.  Life is finally calming down for him.   He is back to work, and has resumed most of his duties.

My point?  One on one can be a dangerous game if that is all you do.  You need a team to back you up, support you, fill in the gaps when you are out of town or off sick.  You need a team to take some of the sheer weight off your shoulders.

There are many ways to grow a team.  If you are in the insurance / finance world and you want to bounce some ideas back and forth, I can suggest some reputable agencies that will support you and help you grow.  Even in you are in another industry, I can probably make some suggestions to consider for growing a team.

Life has a way of throwing curves at us, and there is never a good time for a disability.  It is like a flat tire.  Is there ever a GOOD time for a flat?  Not really.  You usually find out as you are getting into your car for an appointment.  A disability is like a really bad and really expensive flat.  You aren’t going anywhere for a while, so you better have plans in place to help you.  A team can keep the vehicle rolling for you and give you time to recuperate.

There is something to be said to having a great team around you…especially when you can’t do everything on your own.  Don’t isolate yourself.  Find a good team to be a part of, then start growing your own team.  No better time than the present.  It is time to get back on the court.  What are you going to do?  One on one, or start building a team?

P.S.  I will be the one on the court that is coaching.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

It is a strange phenomenon that in order for a plant to grow, something has to die.

A dead seed is planted into the soil.  It then begins to grow and take root when it is nourished through water, sun, and nutrients in the soil.

My thoughts are, we are very much like the seed in the soil.  If we are going to grow, we have to be watered, get plenty of sun, and get nutrients from the soil.  What do I mean by this?

Principle 1.  When we die to self, we can put God as a priority in our lives, and as a result learn to have a servant’s heart. That is like being planted.

Principle 2.  When we die to our old nature, God take us to new heights that we would never have otherwise attained. That is the beginning of growth.

Principle 3.  When we allow God to be our nourishment, our needs are met.  He waters us and grows us.  As long as we stay “grounded” in Him, our roots will grow deep and we will produce good fruit.  That is maturing.

Principle 4.  God has given us the Holy Spirit to nourish us, and His Son is our sun.  He lights the way.  He helps us grow!

Principle 5.  Storms will come and go.  If our roots remain grounded in God, we will be sustained.  We will be restored.   We will be transplanted if need be. A plant does not think, “Man, I sure hate this storm.  I can’t wait for it to be over.”  A plant endures.  A plant just IS.  It, in essence, relies on the ground and being well rooted to be sustained.  We just have to trust Him and remain in Him.  Make sense?

Don’t let the things that need to stay dead come to life.  The old man with evil thoughts NEEDS to die.  The greed, hatred, selfish ambition, etc.  That all needs to die and stay dead.  If we can die to THAT, then God can grow us into what He created us to be.  If we can just learn to die to self, God will take that dead seed and grow us. Trust God for the rest and you will be blessed, and others will be blessed as well.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

“Here lies Lester Moore.  Four slugs from a 44.  No Les no more.”  Funny tombstone, and the funny thing is, it is REAL.  But what I really want to talk about is when less is more, and why that can be a good thing.

The top 10 things where less is more, more or less:

No. 1.  Less talking and more hearing.  That would solve half of our problems in life.

No. 2.  Less fighting and more loving.  That would solve almost everything else.

No. 3.  Less taking and more giving.  That would wipe out world hunger and homelessness.

No. 4.  Less sleeping and more working.  That would solve the unemployment problem.

No. 5.  Less self and more of others.  That would eliminate the attitude that the world revolves around me and solve most of the wars that are being fought.

No. 6.  Less sitting and more walking.  That would help eliminate the heart attack problem we have in America.

No. 7.  Less super-sizing and more salads.  That would wipe out obesity for the most part.

No. 8.  Less blaming and more taking responsibility.  That would keep more families together.

No. 9.  Less working for money and more working for your passion. That would ignite the flames of creativity and production would soar. People would actually find their purpose in life, doing what God created them to do.  How cool would THAT be?

No.10. Less of me and more of God.  That probably should have been the first thing.  If I get that priority straight, the other 9 will follow.

I hope that less is more in your life…..more or less. LOL

Our lives are stressful enough without adding to it guilt, shame, unforgiveness, anger, hatred, and bigotry.  Less of all that, and more of Shalom!  That’s what I’m talking about!

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

I hate having rental property.  It has it’s tax benefits, but I have realized over the years that I just am too soft-hearted to be a landlord.  Same thing with my wife.  We are just too trusting of others and want to think they will do the right thing because that is what we would do.

I never rented an apartment or house where I did not leave it in at least as good a shape as when I moved in or better.  Unfortunately, that is not the case with a lot of renters.  It is not “theirs” so they use it and abuse it.

Broken doors, walls, fixtures, appliances, tile, a ruined yard, etc., etc.  The list is literally overwhelming.  How do we fix all that?  We don’t have the money to do it and have limited knowledge.  My wife actually had some great wisdom about this.  We simply fix one thing at a time.

Relationships are like that too.  Broken relationships are often so broken that we feel overwhelmed.  We don’t have the resources or even the energy to fix it.

Principle 1.  Don’t let your house or your relationship get to the point of being so broken that you consider walking away.  Had things been fixed along the way, it would not be so overwhelming.

Principle 2.  If the house or the relationship is totally messed up, fix it one day at a time, one step at a time.  Remember the question, “How do you eat an elephant?”  One bite at a time.  Same thing here.  Break down the overwhelming picture into bite size manageable tasks and do them.

Principle 3.  When things like houses and relationships are totally broken, it takes time to fix them.  It won’t happen overnight.  Give your house and your relationship the time needed to put things back together again.

Principle 4.  You may need some outside help.  Get professionals to do the heavy lifting and fix the things that are over your head.  Whether it be the plumber, a trusted friend, or a family counselor, don’t be too proud to ask for help.  Nobody can fix everything on their own.

Principle 5.  Don’t lose your faith.  Problems like this can drain you physically, mentally, and financially.  Keep it in perspective.  This too shall pass, and trust God to guide you. He is great at mending fences, by the way…physical and relational.  Seek Him first, and He will show you the way through the jungle you face.

My hope for you is that as you face the problems of this day, you take a moment and reflect on one thing.  God is our landlord.  We are here temporarily.  Be a good steward of what He has entrusted you with.  Take care of yourself, your relationship with Him and with others, and take care of what God gives you charge over….your home, your car, your job.  All of these are gifts.  Treat them like precious gifts, because they are.

Seek to be a peacemaker and a home builder.  If we keep God at the foundation, Christ as the Cornerstone, and the Holy Spirit as our Guide, we will restore what the enemy has stolen.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

Word of mouth advertising is the best advertising we have, and probably the least utilized.  Why is that?  Because nobody taught us the right way to do it.  Asking for referrals is an art form.  You can be very good at it and never have to pay for a lead again, or you can be very poor at it and spend your hard earned money on leads and basically starve to death.

These principles work, and they won’t cost you one cent.

Principle 1.  If you want referrals, you better be referable.  You better have taken the necessary time to build rapport with your client and give them not just good service, but extraordinary service.  Do the little things that all of your competitors just forget or are too lazy to do.  Be professional, and put the needs of the client at the top of the priority list.  You do that, and you will get referrals.  That, of course, assumes that they like and trust you.

Principle 2.  If you want referrals, ask for them up front.  Let your client know that this is part of how you get paid, and assuming that you give them extraordinary service and they are thrilled with you, there should be no reason for them NOT to refer you to their friends. If you wait until you are delivering a policy to ask for a referral and the client gets turned down by underwriting, what are the chances of you getting referrals at that point?  Nil.

Principle 3. Get an introduction, not a name and number.  The best thing to do is to get them to call right then and there and either hand the phone over to you to introduce yourself after they made the proper introduction for you, or for them to let their friend know that with their permission, you will be calling them in the next day or two for a short introduction to explain what you do. Make sure you call them within 48 hours, and preferably within 24 hours while the referral is still in their mind.

Principle 4.  Thank the person who gave you the referral.  Anybody that refers someone to me, whether they buy or not, as long as they introduce me, I give them a gift card to a local restaurant.  The amount is up to you, but make it enough that they can take their spouse out to lunch or dinner.

Principle 5.  People with money refer people with money.  If you want to up the ante, when you find a client that has money, make them a priority in getting referrals.  Poor people hang with poor people.  Wealthy people hang with wealthy people.  It just goes that way, so pay attention especially when you have a client who has money.

So, there you have it.  This is not an all-inclusive list of things to do, but I can tell you that if you will try them, your rate of referrals will go up substantially, and your closing rate will go up proportionately.

Learning is a continual process.  The only people that have all the answers already are called know-it-alls, and I KNOW you are not one of those, right?   I hope that you will apply this and have great success.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

That seems to be the magic question in life when it comes to goals and priorities.  How bad do you want it?  What are you willing to pay for what you want?  Are you willing to sacrifice your time, your money, your friends, your family?  That one question defines what you are willing to do and ultimately what you are going to achieve.

Here are a portion of the lyrics from the Tim McGraw song of the same title:

People always ask me
“Son what does it take
To reach out and touch your dreams?”
To them I always say
Are you hungry?
Are you thirsty?
Is it a fire that burns you up inside?
How bad do you want it?
How bad do you need it?
Are you eating, sleeping, dreaming
With that one thing on your mind?
How bad do you want it?
How bad do you need it?
Cause if you want it all
You’ve got to lay it all out on the line”

That pretty much sums it up.  If you want it all, you have to lay it all on the line.  If your passion in life consumes you, then you will find a way to make it happen.  It may take hours, days, weeks, months, even years of sustained and focused effort, but it will happen if you don’t give up.

I certainly am not suggesting that you sacrifice your family, your morals, or ethics to chase your dream.  What I am suggesting is that you get your family behind you and supporting you…breathing life into you when you haven’t been able to catch your breath.  I am suggesting that you surround yourself with people who share your dream…who “get it.”  They will encourage you, pray for you, speak life to you when you need it the most.  When you are worn out and weary from chasing your dream, you need that.

Chasing your dream is all well and good.  Just don’t let it turn into a nightmare.  Don’t let chasing your dream destroy your family, friends, or business relationships in the process.  If you are stepping on people to get to your dream, I have a suggestion….STOP IT.  If you have to destroy the people in your life to fulfill your own dream, then your dream is indeed a nightmare that you need to wake up from.

Keep your relationships intact.  Keep them healthy and vibrant.  Just keep some balance in the pursuit of your destiny.  Balance can be hard to achieve for certain Type A personalities.  If you are a Type A, you are a goal driven, achievement oriented, can-do type of person.  You may have to pace yourself to keep from burning out and to keep from burning your relationship bridges.

If you have identified what you want to do with your life…with your dreams, my hope is that you fulfill them….but keep the rest of your life together.  What good will it do if you reach the top of the mountain and everyone that was with you and supporting you died in the avalanche you created?  Take care not to kill your dream by stepping on others.  You may also be killing their dreams in the process. I hope you pursue your dream with all your heart…and that you be blessed in what you do.  If you bless others in the pursuit of YOUR dream, that is good sign you are on the right track.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

Ten things that mark the heart of a champion:

No. 1.  They are goal oriented.  They have a clear vision of what they want to accomplish.

No. 2.  They understand that it is not how many times you get knocked down that matters.  It is how many times you get up.

No. 3.  They have a focused determination to win.  They are determined to achieve their goal and are able to prioritize what they need to do to achieve it.

No. 4.  They have balance in their lives.  They understand that you can’t have things run smoothly if critical parts of your life are out of kilter.  Eventually the weak spoke will cause a flat.

No. 5.  They don’t make excuses.  They accept responsibility for their own failures and successes.

No. 6.  They have a good coach that helps them get to the next level.

No. 7.  They give credit to those that have helped them achieve their goals, whether it be God, their spouse, their kids, their coach, their team, etc. They understand that every success is the culmination of the efforts and prayers of many.

No. 8.  They realize that all true champions are leaders, and hold themselves to a higher level of responsibility, knowing that the world is watching how they respond to fame and fortune, success and failure.

No. 9.  They keep themselves in a positive frame of mind and surround themselves with positive people. They understand that what they feed their mind will grow, whether it be good or bad.  They also understand that evil company corrupts.

No.10. They realize that true success is not the gold medals, not the money, not the fame.  While all of those are great things to have, true success comes from fulfilling your God-given destiny; doing that one thing that you are great at to the best of your ability.  That is when we step into our destiny and the satisfaction we have is in knowing we gave our best, and we see the rewards come as a result of giving of ourselves to others.  That is also when the world becomes just a little bit better place for everyone to live.

Here is hoping that you discover the true champion in you.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

Have you ever used that phrase, “We need to have a heart to heart talk?” Usually that is not a good thing.  It the South we call that a “Come to Jesus meeting.”  And THAT is not a good one either.  It simply means that we are going to put the cards on the table, and it may get ugly. It has the implication of drawing the line in the sand with someone and making sure they don’t cross it.

But that is not what I am getting at here.  We actually need to understand that communicating Heart to Heart is one of the most basic needs we have as human beings.  We need to connect with each other at a deep level.  We need to be able to talk to someone about the deepest concerns we have, and share our dreams.

There are some inherent roadblocks that have to be overcome for this to happen:

Roadblock 1.  Fear of being hurt.  People are often afraid of what someone else will think or how they might respond if we open up our heart to them.  Fear is not good. It simply keeps you from having meaningful relationships.  You have to risk being hurt or misunderstood to receive the reward of connecting Heart to Heart.  The risk is worth the reward.  Just because you had someone hurt you in the past does not mean this is going to happen now.  Could it? Yes.  But what if you miss the blessing of a healthy relationship because you are afraid of something that was not going to happen? Living in the Land of What If is a lonely place to live.  It will keep you isolated from any meaningful relationship if you let it.

Roadblock 2. Fear of what other people will think of you.  We have to understand that transparency in relationships is a good thing.  Quit pretending to be somebody that you are not.  Take off the mask and let people see who you are.  If you don’t like who you see in the mirror, that is up to YOU to do something about that.  Even then, admitting that you have flaws makes you human.  You ARE a human, yes?

When you truly connect with someone Heart to Heart, you sense it.  You know that you are entering a deeper level of communication that has almost mystical power.  You sense that you truly understand someone when you communicate with someone on this level…and they understand you.  It is almost as if the two hearts embrace, because in a spiritual sense, they do.

My hope is that you make an effort to connect Heart to Heart with everyone you meet.  Be transparent.  Don’t let fear rob you of meaningful relationships.  Connecting Heart to Heart is a God-given gift.  That is how God connects to us, so it is pretty easy to see that when we connect with other people this way….it is a God thing.  A great thing!

Shalom!

Dan Skognes