Book Summary Preview : Top Performer

The Big Idea

We may work at different professions, but ultimately, we all sell something for a living -- whether it’s a brand, a vision, an education, a direction, or a service. We may sell numbers or plans at a meeting, learning to a student, or cereal to an infant. In a sense, we all sell ourselves.

“Top Performer” by Stephen C. Lundin (author of the FISH! Series) and Carr Hagermann shows us how to harness our natural energy to bring our selling and our job satisfaction to the next level of success. Full of practical tips and principles, this book shares surprising secrets of a performance artist (Hagermann), and how we can apply them to improve our work ethic and selling style.

I. Burned Out? Find Your Natural Energy

We typically use discipline and willpower when we want to do or accomplish something, like start a diet, fitness or self-improvement program, improve our sales, make more money, make a success of our business, etc. Discipline and willpower almost always deliver, but only for a while.

Most people cannot run on discipline and willpower alone. Most of the time, they just can’t do it over the long haul. You’d feel yourself slipping, your discipline slacking off, your willpower ebbing.  You find it harder and harder to find the energy to go on.

Another source of energy must be found, and the good news is, it actually exists. One that you can harness within yourself and in the things around you, and can sustain throughout your life. This is natural energy.

To all who wants a life that is both full of accomplishments and deeply satisfying, this source of energy becomes visible with only a ten-degree turn of your head.

II.  Meet The Rat Catcher

The Rat Catcher is a performance artist who walks around the streets of London. But instead of doing tricks, he shares the secret of natural energy.

Natural energy is what drives street performers, or buskers. It is an energy source that is available to any of us. Natural energy is the most powerful energy in the planet. It has changed human history, built great things, provoked great art creations, musical works and virtually all the companies in the world. Natural human energy, divided and multiplied, is a force that is nearly unstoppable.

What a busker does is create a focal point for that energy, like a magnifying glass does for the hot summer sun. Once you tap that energy, you can do almost anything. This energy keeps things fresh, never boring. The secret is in letting go of control.

The natural rhythms of the world are all around us and bristling with energy. This energy is available to fuel all that we do in life. To start the flow of natural energy, all that is necessary is to fully engage another human being.

In street performing, the audience is the show whether they know it or not. Seeing everyone as a collaborator changes the relationship.

III. Secrets To Tapping Your Natural Energy

Claim Your Pitch

The pitch is the place of possibilities. The pitch is the actual physical location chosen and also the energy generated by the location. So it is both a place and the vibes we are sending when we take up residence in that place.

When we are looking for a good pitch, we’re looking for a place that has the elements needed to feed our circle. It is often found among the din, the distractions, and the messes. All the stuff of life is really material found in the best pitch.

Think of the people that you most like to work with, people that energize you. It’s like you are on the same note, the same pitch. A pitch is the place where you perform and also the tone set by “who you are being while you are performing”. Your attitude is your claim.

So start by dedicating yourself to being mindful about claiming your pitch, and great things will follow.

Juice The Jam

The jam is the obstacle, the mistake, the random, the interesting, and the complication. A jam is the uncontrolled and the unexpected, anything that happens without warning whenever a group of human beings assemble.

When you get into a jam, you’re stuck. But the jam is always an energy source. That’s where you find the juice. A jam is welcome because it provides a source of novelty and provocation, and novelty and provocation always produce a burst of natural energy, the “juice.”

 

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