Brent Widman, Author at Brent Widman - Southwestern Consulting

Create your schedule

16OctDecember 4, 2020 By Brent Widman

Whether we think so or not—We can create our own schedule. Which equates to creating our own life.

Is it hard at times? Absolutely. There are going to be things thrown at you. “Fires” that we feel we must put out right away. You are not alone.

How to do this you ask?

First, take a step back and look at your schedule. What are the most important things on there? It can be anything that’s important to you professionally OR personally. Put all of that on there first. Yes, actually take the time to do this. Planning is an Income Producing Activity. This is PLANNING. Some of it will be reoccurring. Some of it will be when you sit down Sunday and map it out. That’s okay. Map it out.

Give yourself permission. You may think “should I or shouldn’t I”. When it’s on your calendar, you no longer have to feel that way. When you map it out, it becomes yours. You will allow yourself to do the things you want to do and know that things you DON’T want to do will still happen. You can power through that.

Next, put those things on that you know you must get done. The things that may make you cringe a bit, but that’s okay. You can do it in 15 minutes, 30, even an hour. You know that bell will ring eventually—just like high school. When the bells rings, you move on. You can always come back to it if you did not finish.

Which leads me to the next part. Put white space on your calendar. Yes, leave yourself leeway to do free things. If you find yourself with nothing to do during that time, ask yourself: What is the thing I know I need to do to drive my business? Maybe, it’s that project you need to finish? Maybe, it’s just getting up and going for a walk that will make you more efficient the rest of the day? MAYBE, it’s making phone calls you justify with yourself to not make.

Whatever it is, do not get caught up in creative avoidance. If you need to do something, DO IT. Don’t give yourself the excuse not to.

Honestly, this really isn’t that hard. When you’ve planned and know what you are doing every hour, every half hour, every 15 minutes of every day, it will change your world. I promise you. It will add freedom to your mind. Freedom to your personal life. Freedom to your professional life.

People feel like they must work all the time because they are not diligent. They are not planned. They are not disciplined in the things they need to be doing. Take the TIME to plan. Its’ worth it.

You’ve got this. But you MUST plan it.

Brent Widman
Partner
Southwestern Consulting
bwidman@southwesterncoaching.com

I Don’t Deserve Success

28Aug By Brent Widman

There’s a myth out there that whoever you are, whatever you do, how you were brought up, things you have been…you name it— there’s a myth that you don’t deserve success.

Now, bear with me here. Your definition of success is different than the person sitting right next to you. All of us have different definitions. Exactly the way it should be. Some say it is money, social status, helping people, or giving back. What it really comes down to is you FEEL it.

I was sitting with a colleague a few weeks back. We were talking about where they were, where life has taken them, and how things were going. I asked them, “do you think you deserve success.” Deep breath. Pause. Right then I knew. I knew that they truly did not think they deserved it.

They have been stuck in a way of life for so long. Just getting by. Just making enough to pay bills, to live “okay” but never getting the opportunity to experience life. Now, don’t get me wrong. This person is the epitome of a great person. They help people, they guide people, they give back to those around them. They are always there. Thoughtful. It’s just that one hump that they can’t get over.

Because they don’t feel like they deserve it. Is this all there is in life? Is this me? Is this what I was meant to do? To just get by?

I’m telling you, it truly doesn’t have to be that way.

There’s a quote out there that I absolutely love. Success is never owned; it is only rented, and the rent is due every day.

When we truly find our passion, what we want to do with life, that’s the first step. We can all go find a job. Yes, I said it, we can find a job. The truly successful people go out and find what THEY want to do. They change their mindset and make a choice to pour their all into this.

Will it be hard. Yes. You know what though? You won’t care because it’s something that motivates you every day. You get out of bed to do this. You do it all day. You think about it at night. You don’t care if you have to stay up late or get up early. You know why? Because this is YOUR definition of success.

We ALL have this opportunity. I wholeheartedly believe that. I have seen people come from the bottom to rise up. I’ve seen people that thought they had it all get grounded, humbled, and have to build it back up. I’ve seen people who were just going about life and living paycheck to paycheck change their whole being.

They had the ability to do it. I had the ability to do it. YOU have the ability to do it. YOU can become a success.

Change your mindset. You deserve it. YOU choose. No one gets to make that choice for you.

Brent Widman
Partner
Southwestern Consulting
bwidman@southwesterncoaching.com

We Are All In This

24Mar By Brent Widman

It’s Okay.

Last week when “it really hit the fan”, the NBA, NHL, Disney Land, Restaurants, Bars… life in general began to shut down. What did I do? I got caught up in it. You know why? Because we are all in this together. Each and every one of us.

The next couple days were a whirlwind of emotions. I write this because I feel like everyone in the US or in the world who sees this is going through it or has been there.

Friday afternoon…it was the thoughts of what happens if I can’t pay bills? What if my family suffers? What if I can’t make money? And the big one, what IF I don’t have toilet paper? (had to lighten it a bit). Needless to say, I was taking myself right out of the game. Just. Like. That.

Over the weekend I started thinking to myself. What the heck is wrong with you? You have an opportunity to show what you are made of. To show that things will get better, things can get better. You, and only YOU, can change your attitude about what is going on in the world right now.

This sucks. Yep, it sure does. It flat out sucks. But you know what, we are all in it. Together. There’s no one person that’s immune to this. No one can run from it, get away from it, or that it CAN’T affect.

Here’s the thing, and if this helps you in anyway, or just ONE person, man I hope it does. Give yourself permission. Give yourself permission to wallow in it. Give yourself permission to break down. To let it NOT be okay. Give yourself permission to take a breath. Go for a run, take a walk, talk to someone when you need to. It’s okay. We all need to.

Honestly, that’s exactly what I had to do.

Then I said to myself, no more. No more. You know who that is going to hurt if you keep doing that? Not just you, but your family, friends, people that you care about the most. This will pass. I promise you. We’ve been there before and we will be there again. This WILL pass.

Give yourself permission to get after this thing. You can’t control what’s going on outside your front door. What you can control is how you show up every day. You can show what you want out of life. You have been given an opportunity or you have been punched in the face. You get to decide.

If you are ready to be part of the problem or part of the solution, you get to decide. It’s time to roll up our sleeves, and start looking for the good. It’s time to be that person that others can look to for help. Wouldn’t you rather be that person? It may be truly hard in this moment for some, believe me, I will NOT diminish that. But we all have it in us. I wholeheartedly believe that.

Call those people that mean so much to you. Talk to those people that need you. Reach out and care about those around you.

Don’t ask for anything. Don’t want for anything. Don’t NEED anything from anyone. Just be the part of their life right now.

If I can be there for anyone that reads this, I don’t care who you are, where you are from, if you just need to talk about what the heck to do going forward… call, e-mail, text. Anytime. I don’t care. I will be that person for you.

We are all in this together.

Brent Widman
Partner & Sales Coach
Southwestern Consulting

Controllable

23JanMarch 5, 2020 By Brent Widman

Have you ever had that day that just gets away from you? Maybe you were frustrated by not doing something. The results? The outcome? Maybe, just maybe, you have gotten to the point where you just “don’t have time” to do something.

I remember when I came to Southwestern there was one thing I told myself over and over again— I just didn’t have time. I let it consume me. It was not a great cycle to be in. The thing is, I didn’t know I had the ability to change that cycle.

However,YOU have the ability to change that. Only you. Everything you say YES to, you say NO to something else

Now, we have all heard we all have the same amount of time in the day. Ask yourself, are you doing everything you can to maximize that time? What does that even mean?

Really, let’s take a good hard look at this. Where are you wasting time? Be honest with yourself.

Whether it be in life, or it be in business, there are 3 things we can control each and every day. This is part of looking at your day and telling yourself, “I’m going to pack as much stuff into my day as humanly possible.” When we walk out at the end of the day, we don’t have to say…”that one got away from me.”

So what are these things?

Activity

We have the ability to control how hard we work. This can be at work. This can be a workout. This can be with the family. Whatever it is for you. We control that. At work, it could be phone calls, meetings, that project. Anything actively driving business. For kids, how much activity are we putting in with them? What are we doing? Allowing electronics to do the job or is it puzzles, sledding, coloring, going to games? Whatever it is in your family. You create that. We have the ability to create how hard we work.

A wise man once said, “You always get paid for how hard you work, sometimes now, often times later, but always eventually.” This can come in so many different forms.

Attitude

What’s the first thing you say to yourself when you wake up in the morning? For me, the phrase is, “It’s going to be a great day”. If you are the person that’s saying, here we go again, just another day, ugh, I don’t want to go to work, I HAVE to, or any variation of those, I hate to break this to you. This is on you. How do I know that? I used to do the same thing. We, and only we, have the ability to change that. No one else controls our happiness. No one else dictates how we feel. They can throw you off for a bit for sure, absolutely. But, what we say to ourselves, and how we say it, that’s in our control.

Put your attitude into your effort, your activity. Not your results. When you have the right attitude around it, you will go out and do it. The results will come. I promise you that.

Schedule

Contrary to popular belief, we are the only people that can control our schedule. If we say yes to something, we say yes. If we say no, we say no. It can really be that simple. Just because you say no doesn’t make you a bad person. It means that you are choosing to do something else with that time. Something that might be a higher priority. If you are staying late at work because you are trying to do too much, maybe you have kids at home you are saying no to.

We all have priorities in our life, every single one of us. No one is an exception to this rule. We all know what’s important to US. And that’s the key word, just because something is important to me doesn’t mean it’s important to you. If it’s on your calendar, you will do it. If it is not, you won’t. Don’t overthink this, don’t question it. Put it on your calendar and do it. If it’s not a priority, don’t do it.

If you need to say “No”, be okay with it. Control your schedule, your calendar, and you will start controlling your life as well. This is a habit you can create.

In some moments, these things aren’t always easy, but you can create this environment. You truly can. I only know because I speak from experience struggling with each and every one of these. It’s on us to decide to change it or make it happen. YOU have that ability.

IT’s a new year. Make the decision to stop running on the hamster wheel. If you aren’t where you want to be, YOU and only YOU can change that.

Brent Widman
Sales Coach
Southwestern Consulting

Genuinely, Your Why is Deeply Personal

08NovMarch 5, 2020 By Brent Widman

Coaching so many leaders and producers I come across a common theme.

Why do we do what we do?

When it comes down to this question, typically, there are 3 reasons why all of us do what we do.

The first one.

Some of us are driven by money. We want to make as much money as possible. Eventually though, here’s what happens. We have the house, we have the car, we have the boat, we have the “stuff”. We can pay our bills, and we become comfortable. This why ends up not driving us the way it once did.

Where do we go from here? We start the search over for our why and the reason we do what we do.

The second one.

We are driven by guilt. Guilt can come in a couple different forms. One form–we might be in student loan debt, credit card debt, house debt, car debt. Whatever that is for you, we get ourselves into some sort of dilemma or trouble where we almost “have” to show up and go to work every day.

Then, there’s another form of guilt. We might have to leave for work early. We don’t get home until late at night. Sometimes…even if we are home, we aren’t present. We are thinking about that next thing we must do at work–that next sale, that next project. So, our mind isn’t there even when our body is present.

The third one.

Finally, there’s the third one, when we really drill down, I mean really sit down and have a conversation or think deeply about our why.

We are driven by dreams. Places we want to go, things we want to do. What do we want to accomplish? What’s the legacy we want to leave? What REALLY gets us out of bed in the morning?

Do me a favor, take a step back and think about your why. On a scale from 1-10, what drives you? Why do you go to work every day? Why do you do what you do? If you are not at or near a 10 most days….What is that costing you? NOTICE I didn’t say how much. The ultimate cost is never achieving those dreams.

Our Whys are genuinely, deeply personal to us. That is what we must find. Don’t try to make it up, don’t try to look for it. Odds are better than average it’s staring you right in the face, you have just never noticed

It’s time to notice.

Brent Widman
Sales Coach
Southwestern Consulting

Set the Standard

30SepMarch 5, 2020 By Brent Widman

Why can’t you be the best at what you do?

Are you that sales person that is always pretty good? You do the activity at work. You get the dials in. You make sure you are doing enough to keep your leader or director off your back. You know you are pretty good at what you do.

Maybe, just maybe, you aren’t as happy as you should be though? You aren’t making the money you want to. You don’t get to spend enough time with your family. You find yourself in debt, and you are struggling to stay afloat.

You decide it’s the job, your situation, your leader, bad luck or things that are happening around you. You continue to struggle. You are doing okay. Doing just enough to make good money; still in debt but do have a little more time.

Then you start to realize something, it is me, not the job.

Why can’t I set that standard? Instead of being that person that is on the outside looking in when people get recognized. Instead of saying “if I am just here as long as them.” Instead of making the excuses that keep me where I have been for years and years, I decide to make a change.

You start putting in the work. You start doing the activity. Changing it. Talking to people. Practice your language. Keeping up on industry knowledge. Up VERY early every morning. Start to read, start to develop, start to own your own crap. Stop making the excuses about why you aren’t succeeding and start doing whatever it takes to succeed. Drive hundreds of miles if you have to. Get on planes.

You decide you want to set the standard. No more just being okay with being okay. Something magical starts happening. You start helping people. You start living in this abundance mentality that you don’t have to “sell” people anymore. You start loving what you are doing because you are controlling it. You are making it yours.

I tell this story because I coach sales people. I see so many of them go through the same thing, and it’s hard to watch. It pains me to see the money struggles, the family struggles, to hear the excuses. It pains me to see people not setting the standard because they don’t believe they have it in them. They make the excuses that hold them back. They don’t get into coaching because they don’t know if they are capable of more, or know if they want to be held accountable to do more.

They make the DECISION to struggle.

You and only you can decide to set the standard every day. I can’t do it for you, your boss can’t, your friends, your family. You can complain about it or you can do something about it.

If you CHOOSE to do something, it WILL change your life.

Brent Widman
Partner
Southwestern Consulting

You’ve Been Given a Ticket

28AugMarch 5, 2020 By Brent Widman

I was at a team training recently sitting around having a conversation. The conversation turned to discipline, accountability and “just showing up mindset.”

It was intriguing to listen to someone talk about why they can’t show up daily. What has happened in their past that makes them not be able to do just that. What’s holding them back. How their mindset is controlling everything they do. Letting that shadow of doubt come in when it could be blocked.

This victim mindset is where I get passionate. I’m a true believer, that for the most part, we are all given a ticket. It’s what we choose to do with that ticket that defines who we are and what we become.

We all have “stuff”. Each and every person that will read this has either been through something in life or is going through something right now. This “stuff” can be the loss of a family member, weight loss, losing a job, maybe it was eliminated, or you were just let go. It can be someone getting sick. Maybe it’s a divorce. There’re so many things that we go through, and yes, they do affect each person differently.

As I listened to this person talk about how their life was different, how their “stuff” was different, I started to wonder why. Terminal Uniqueness. Why are you so much different than everyone else? Why can’t you make the choice to show up every day?

In business and in life there are things we can control, and things we can’t. The biggest one, you can control your mindset. You CAN control when you show up. You also control if you don’t. Winning is a habit, unfortunately so is losing.

You have the ability to do your absolute best. There are too many people that don’t reach their potential, not because they don’t want to, but because they are allowing everything in their book to prevent them from it. We all have obstacles. Are you allowing them to dictate who you are?

The trick is… you must recognize it. With this person, I recognized every excuse in the book they were throwing out there. The sad part, they did not. And at times, there was the justification behind it. There’s no justification for it. I’m sorry if that upsets some people. There’s no justification for excuses. For not showing up. There is no one that controls not showing up but you.

You have been given a ticket. It’s what you choose to do with it that defines you. What are you going to do with yours? Maybe it’s time to take a good hard look at who you are, what you are, and what you want to be.

Show up.

Brent Widman
Partner
Southwestern Consulting

Standing in the Corner

27JulMarch 5, 2020 By Brent Widman

There’s this myth in the business industry that some people are just “different”. They are broken from a mold that others are not. They have been blessed in a way that most people aren’t. I’m going to break this to you…this myth is wrong.

There are three things that successful people do that others fall short. The best part is, it is all controllable. Each and every person can decide, in a moment, they are going to start on the path to do these things.

Will it happen overnight? No. Will it happen if they don’t make the choice? No.

Personal Growth

What are you doing each day to develop yourself? Are you taking the time to be intentional about it? Where do you start? What can you do? These are the many questions I hear.

The first thing you can do. Read. Read a book. Not Game of Thrones. Read a book that’s going to make you better. Maybe you want to develop something. Read about it. Maybe you are down? Read about it. What is it in your life, your industry, your being that you want to do? Read about it. There are CD’s, DVD’s, coaches, trainers, seminars, mentors, podcasts, Audible, industry experts, business training, degrees, or research online just to name a few.

Are you taking advantage of what’s at your fingertips? Only YOU can make YOU do it.

Accountability

I’m not talking about the accountability with someone asking you at the end of the day or week what you did. Yes, we all need that. We should be doing that!

I am talking about those people that truly hold you accountable. These are the people around you. They are watching you. If you don’t know that, open your eyes to it. You are either teaching them to be stagnant or teaching them to own their life. Your kids, family, friends, parents, spouses–you are accountable to all of them. Are you giving them what they deserve? Are you showing them exactly what you are capable of? If not, it might be time to reevaluate where you are. Time to do something about it. Time for a change.

This is where true accountability comes in.

Discipline

Finally, we have Discipline. Tying it all together. Doing what we said we were going to do long after the feeling we said it has left us.

Don’t show up just on the days it feels good. We can all do that. Have you ever done something challenging, conquered it, and looked back and thought, “I wish I wouldn’t have done that”? Probably not. Having discipline is hard. It’s supposed to be. The courage of doing it will keep you doing it over and over again.

You know what happens when you do that? You keep doing it. It becomes a habit. This is discipline. You get up, get off your butt, and go make things happen. Be intentional. Put the work in. Over and over and over and over until you have it. Until it becomes part of you. Until what was once scary becomes normal.

You have people that care about you watching you. Prove to them what you can do. Show them if you put your heart and mind in something you can achieve it.

Don’t be the person standing in the corner watching others become who they choose to be.

Brent Widman
Partner
Southwestern Consulting
bwidman@southwesternconsulting.com

Finding your GRIT

18JunMarch 5, 2020 By Brent Widman

There’s a myth out there that some people just have IT. That they have this given talent that just makes them better at what they do. I’m going to break this to you. IT doesn’t just happen. IT is something we must create. The question so many people want to know: How do we get IT? Answer: GRIT.

1. Purpose and Meaning
We all have something that drives us. The reason we do what we do. That something is our purpose, and everyone’s purpose in life and work are different. Our habits, money, family, freedom, vision, goals or just plain work ethic—we are all driven and seeking our purpose differently. The first thing we must find is what purpose and meaning drives us. My point is you have been given a gift. It’s up to you to figure out what to do with that gift. Figuring out what to do will help you find your GRIT.

2. Be Confident but Realistic
If confidence was easy, everyone would have it. That’s the thing. You want to be confident in what you are doing daily. Confidence comes from your commitment to development and training. To becoming the best version of what you can be. Stop with the “I can’t, I might, I could, I should, I want to”. Scratch that crap from your vocabulary. Those thoughts and feelings are not doing anything for you but holding you back. Eliminating those emotions gets you on the path to IT and the beginning stages of starting to develop your GRIT

3. Prepare, Prepare…. Prepare
There is power in planning. No one, I don’t care who you are…No one walks out and just plays the game. There are hours and hours of preparation that go into winning, being the best, being on top. There’s a perception top producer’s just have IT. Do you know how they got IT? GRIT, the hard work of truly committing to the preparation to become better every day. What are you doing?

4. Focus
This quality is a big one. Too many people pride themselves on being busy. So much that the day gets away from them, but…” they will get to it tomorrow.” Then, they get into the habit of busyness and are stuck in that routine. Focus is power. Do you know how much you can get done in 30, 60, 90 minutes of focus? Try it. It’s truly unreal. Block everything out and focus. You will have a newfound perspective, and IT will be around the corner. Focus is another critical characteristic of GRIT.

5. Give Help to Get Help
We can’t do IT alone. The people that give of themselves, the people that become coach-able, and the people that are humble enough to know that we are all in this together are the people that get to the top. The people that think they have IT all figured out are the ones that will stay stagnant. You will never have IT all figured out, and you will never “be there”. If you are, I’m sorry. That’s too bad. Pour into those around you. When you can teach IT, you know IT. Then, find something else to learn. Your ongoing need and desire to improve or learn something new shows that you have GRIT.

6. Find a way to Laugh
Enjoy what you are doing. Have fun with the process. When we take ourselves too seriously and put too much pressure on ourselves, bad things start to happen. You don’t have to put so much pressure on yourself. This is life—your life. You are doing something amazing whether you see it or not. You CAN control how you feel about your situation. Take a step back, breath, and look at the situation with a clear mind. Find the good. Those individuals that take the time to examine the situation are the ones that truly make IT. They are the ones that find and choose joy.

They have found GRIT.

Brent Widman
Partner
Southwestern Consulting
bwidman@southwesternconsulting.com

Bet on yourself

30May By Brent Widman

Why hold yourself back? Have you ever actually taken a chance and… “Bet on yourself”.

I was having a conversation the other day with someone important to me. I was listening as she talked about not being in a job she wanted. Not being in a relationship she wanted. Not having the life she wanted. Her life wasn’t hers, her life was all about others. She didn’t have the time she wanted to have. She didn’t have the freedom she wanted. She didn’t have the income she wanted. Believe me, this is a talented person.

That is where she stayed. And where she has stayed for years. Stuck in life.

There’s nothing that pains me more. Nothing tougher to watch. Nothing that sucks worse than to watch someone you truly know and care about, that has the ability to do so much in life, but doesn’t.

You know why this happens?

We are scared to BET on ourselves.

Believe me, I get it. This isn’t the easiest thing to do. We go through life just doing. Just being. If you look at where you are right now, are you safe? Good for you. Are you where you want to be playing everything safe? Is there something you’ve always wanted to accomplish? Something you want to do?

This is about taking that leap. It’s about walking up to that cliff and jumping. You are going to have hard times. You are going to struggle. You are going to wonder if you made the right choice. That’s where it starts to happen.

This is where you bet on yourself.

There’s something in all of us that we want. That we truly want out of life. The sad part, most of us won’t find it. We make the excuse. The excuse of work, family, income, not sure, scared… whatever the excuse is for you. We all have them.

Stop. I don’t know how else to say this. Stop. This isn’t to motivate you. This isn’t to get you jacked up in the moment you read this and then not do anything about it. This is about taking a step back and looking at your life. This is about actually doing it.

This can be spending more time with family. More time with friends. Getting in shape. Running a marathon. Climbing a mountain. Taking a vacation. Taking a day off. Starting a business. Being with that person you want to be with. Why not just go do it? Because you are scared? So be scared doing it.

Even if you fail. EVEN IF YOU FAIL at least you tried. It may hurt if it doesn’t happen. So what? But tell me this, really, wouldn’t you rather try and not succeed then to not ever try?

I’m asking you. Almost pleading with you. Bet on yourself. Write down all those things that are important. Those things that you haven’t done, start checking them off.

You know as well as I do that you have the ability to do the things you want. It’s just about figuring out how. And it’s also about…

Betting on yourself.

Brent Widman
Partner and Sales Coach
Southwesternconsulting.com