week 85: you are, who you say you are

words truly have the power of life and death

thank you to over 11,000 of you who read this weekly and share with your friends and family for behind the scenes on building a million dollar business from scratch and beyond.

i also include a personal note in the end so i am grateful that you let me do that without judgement.

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part of building a business is to learn to use words wisely.

for example, i started to use sentences like “we work better as a team”

in a sense there is nothing magical about it, but in a sense it is the most important message internally.

it tells us that individual heroics is not key to success but rather team work, especially as we make big strategic moves.

few word choices that shape how we think as a business to consider:

• instead of prospects > we call them future customers (no one likes to be prospected so why call them that)

• instead of sales, marketing, and CS team > we call the GTM team - one team, one goal

• instead of we have to do this » we say we get to do this

the author of the book of Proverbs puts it this way - “the tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

words also how your intent which is why marketing and positioning is such a premium.

when we say someone has a brand or a company has a brand, we actually mean that they stand FOR something and their message and actions reflect it with authenticity.

the power of words in undeniable.

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on a personal note, as Krish played after a few days of break, it’s amazing how much longer it takes to be warmed up in the beautiful game called Tennis.

i have noted that it typically takes least 45 to 1 hr before you can actually play a real match.

krish told me later that he was completely out of rhythm and it’s like watching someone play tennis almost for the first time.

but he’s 13 so he thought he can just get on the court and start swinging like the no.1 player in the world - who by the way warms up for 2 hrs before the match :)

unfortunately, it back fired on him and he started to feel super defeated and started to lose badly to someone he could win on an average day.

he text me from the court letting me know that “he sucks”, “he is trash”.

that’s hard for me to hear but i know what he meant.

i prated and then texted him back this - you are, what you say you are.

he didn’t improve or do any better in the match and came home super frustrated.

it took him almost 2 days to get out of his way and get back in rhythm and understand what i was trying to say.

we talked about it that words truly have the power of life and death.

if you call yourself trash, well, you should not be surprised to become that.

tennis will come and go but i hope that this teaches him the power of words.

so we are working on the 1% rule.

the 1% in the world, the people who achieve extraordinary success know this well.

you have to believe so much, against all odds, almost be crazy to do what no one is willing to do.

that means a few things:

• work harder than anyone else

• know that words have the power of life and death

• have the 1% improvement rule each time you show up

i look forward to seeing not just Krish but also my daughter Kiara blossom in 2024 and pray that they use words wisely when they talk about themselves and others.

leader point: you become, who you say you are in business and in life.