Fifteen Thousand

My first post here, I could barely write.

Four years after my novel came out, not that many people had bought it. Just come through a very stressful sales job. Now we’re nearly four years on from that... Just goes to show that you can lose things if you don’t practise. I haven’t spent as much time writing as I used to, but I honestly think I’ve created some killer minimalist posts on this blog. People reading this will have been through worse situations than me for sure, but the past four years has seen some tough challenges too. Kirklees Council have overdeveloped Lascelles Hall with no care for the residents, illegally letting people build wherever they like which has made it a difficult place to write for over a year and they’re still overdeveloping it now. What’s the cause of this stupidity? Too much immigration and no thought for people who pay their taxes, but plenty of concern for people who want to make money creating pollution.

Anyway, here’s a link to some of my best posts http://markhowitt.blogspot.com/2011/09/art-of-face-to-face-sales.html http://markhowitt.blogspot.com/2012/08/should-you-go-to-university.html http://markhowitt.blogspot.com/2012/07/everybodys-doing-what-they-think-is.html

The last one if probably the most relevant. Bit of clarification on it, everyone at any time is doing what they think is best for themselves. That doesn’t mean it is best for themselves- eventually too much drinking and smoking will kill you. But getting your goals is having a clear idea of what you want, then working with and sometimes against people to make sure you get them. And of course, people often get what’s best for themselves by working together with others. To do that you need quality people and ideally you should be helping each other towards your goals. Bluntly honest, I haven’t always been great at that, but I feel now I have a very strong network.

Anyway.... fifteen thousand. If you think of the numbers as people it’s hard to take in. Even if only one thousand five hundred properly read the blog it’s still a massive number of people. People ask me why I write, and it’s always pure self expression for me. I never write hoping other people will like it. Some of the things I’m thinking of writing now will be quite controversial, and probably turn a few people off. But really, that’s the kind of things I should be writing. You only live once, and I want people to say when I die that I’m an original writer.

Still, there’s part of me that does get a hit knowing the people like it. Pretty much all of the people I like read my blog, and I’ve reconnected with some real winners through this. Hope I inspire you all to express yourself more.

I definitely see me getting to six figures. Will use more time for writing and publish in different places. Here’s to the journey.

Your Network

Another quick post... and first a quick thanks to say that March was a record all time hits for this blog :)

Labelled this post 'your network' but it applies to your friends too. I think it's really important to have a strong network, and a bit of variety helps too. Like I have people who are quite a bit younger and older in my network. People who are quite a bit richer and poorer. As long as we can help each other, it's all good. I'll always give a chance to someone who doesn't 'add value' yet but has the potential to.

At the same time, I'm more quick to cut people off now if I have to. Thankfully, it's rare I have to do this since I have an awesome network, but cutting people off is at least, if not more, important than having new people.

This year I made the decision to focus more on building my network more than being 'superb at sales'. I think in the long run, this will bring more success. It's going quite well so far, but could go better. I think I'll write a fairly detailed summary of this at my end of year review... but let's just say that at the moment I have access to some really cool people who are near the top of the world in their area of expertise... but that 'access' is mainly online, lols. Doing pretty well in meeting great people in real life... could do better though! I'm at about 7/10.

Feel free to connect with me- the best people in my network I've been friends with for more than ten years without having an argument with them! I'm always ready to help good people reach their goals, and they're always ready to help me.

Don't Overestimate

Quick post here... don't overestimate how hard things can be, or how absurd the world can be. Just in your everyday life you will see plenty of instances which are just stupid- but they happen every day. Just because someone is paid a high wage or has good 'education' doesn't mean they can't do daft things. And you have to be ready for these instances to win...

Best Moment On PokerStars

Hi all,

Felt like cracking out a blogpost today anyway, but just found out that WBCOOP 2013 is back! Killing two birds with one stone... I feel my poker game is at about the best it's ever been at the moment, and I'm looking forward to the series. Did well last year and I feel I can do just as well or even better this year, as my Pot Limit Omaha game is better than it was this time last year (cashed in a few tourns with that).

Anyway this post is supposed to be about my best moment playing on PokerStars... so let's get on topic. I've always been a consistent winner since I started playing on PokerStars, which is how I got hooked in I guess. Much easier than chess. I've played mainly cash games as you can jump in and out of them quickly, but my biggest wins have been from tournaments. Despite playing them less I feel I'm actually at least as good at them as cash games- there are new nuances that I'm learning about them even now.

Thing about tournaments is that most players don't cash in them most of the time. My record is pretty good in tourns for cashing (mostly because I play pretty tight usually until I make the money) but it's probably not 50%. However my best result on Stars has been cashing in the top twelve of the 'Soccer Safari', twice. That's OK you might think... but they were 40,000 players in each of the tournaments and I cashed in them one after the other. Like being in a surreal dream tbh, it just felt magical. I'm not great at maths, but the odds of that must be like winning one of the top prizes in the lottery. In this tournament I'm playing right now, I've had ace ace the first hand, and flopped a set on the flop, and just had kk then floped kk8... first time I've made quad kings ever. I didn't run as well as that preflop in those tourns, I think I got aa once though. Tournament play is just about taking good chances though and I think I did that pretty well in the tourns. A lot of the time I just got it in good preflop. Some people will go in with nothing preflop and I think it's funny. I've seen people go all in with two six and three seven. You have to wonder if these people even "know how to spell poker". No need to learn hard concepts if the players are that bad. The players in WBCOOP are usually better than average, but I won't overestimate them, even the pros. I'd like you all to know that PokerStars hasn't sent me my chocolates yet that they owe me, but hopefully I'll get them soon. (Update, been told they will be delivered soon because 'hand made'.) I've never really been 'given' anything by Stars, but I'm still going to play well and show them how good I am.

Abstract and Exact

Quick post here... something that's been on my mind a while.

I think it's certainly good to obtain things that are exact rather than abstract. Any prediction into the future is abstract to an extent... "I believe you'll be great at sales/poker". You might THINK that's a nice thing to hear, but I'd rather actually just demonstrate, with concrete results, being good in the present.

The whole thing is... I've spent my life immersed in words, yet they don't mean a thing. Anybody can say anything. That's why I feel super comfortable rejecting any written communication now... I've written a novel based on reading thousands and thousands of books and thinking deeply for so long, yet plenty of people think it's ok not to read it.

You can use words to mystify things, amp people up, put them down. None of it means anything- unless you allow it to. That's why having concrete measurable goals is so important- but DIFFICULT often. You know that each minute of the day you're not doing something towards them you are actually moving further away, or at best standing still. Goals like "I want to be a good boyfriend" or "I want to help people" (family member has last one as goal) are pretty lame. You can easily tell yourself you're a good boyfriend. If you're 'helping someone' part of that (a large part I think) is to make yourself feel good. And on that goal, it's better to help yourself first before helping others- that way you can give better help if you want to. I personally couldn't set a goal to 'help people' until I felt I was perfect myself, and even then I'd make it much more measurable.

2013 Goals

Instinctively I want my goals to be similar to last year... but with less absolute focus on money. With money I'm making a goal to be worth a certain amount more than I am for this time next year- if I can reach that goal I'll score myself 10/10.

It's probable that I will buy some shares in 2013... at the moment I have slightly too much in cash which isn't earning enough interest. Research has already started for this- two main candidates at the moment are National Grid and GlaxoSmithKline. Royal Dutch Shell is a reasonable share too but I already have BP. This is a good list of shares for me to work on anyway... and I can always add to existing holdings.

Want to keep up with the surveys and poker- in poker I need to set myself small goals and just do them. In 2012 I've actually played very well, much better winrate than 2011, and I know there's no skill difference between me and top players. Just have to allocate a certain amount of money and time to poker and produce. Since writing that I've actually won fair bit more and making progress. I have a clear idea of the volume I want to put in, and feel ready to move up the stakes- if I can reach both volume and stakes target I will award myself 10/10.

I aim to do a fulfilling job... like I've said many times, I aim to do what I want to do as much as possible yet I've still worked for some of the biggest companies in the UK. Probably because I don't really take 'holidays' and have a high level of skill. I'm flexible and open minded about the jobs I do this year, but I'll be aiming to earn good money in all of them as well as performing well. The focus is on money this year though- not just putting time in to improve the skillset.

I'm going to allocate myself a certain amount of money to spend for development. Instictive thoughts at the moment are a bare minimum of money for going out at least once a week... if I don't go out for one week that money will still be there. That's a v low minimum and the amount for development could potentially be a lot more, might include money for travelling places or meeting people. I'm open for people to come and meet me too. Enjoy myself more.

Probably I will force myself to be on the internet less in 2013. I know more than enough 'theory' to win in my chosen areas, time to put it into action.

I want to meet more great people in person and just have more fun experiences. That may be in a business setting, may be in a social setting, may be in a 'other' setting... but I'm going to experience it! I'm glad I'm developing things that I can at least do 'on the side' throughout my life, anywhere in the world. Shares, competitions, poker, surveys, investments... all fun :). All helps towards goals!

2012 Goal Review

Here are my 2012 goals and my comments on how I've performed.

Even better at sales- killing it. I also want to be an expert in influencing and negotiating. Ready to do this in every way, managing, recruiting, training and selling. Better opportunities, more commission. Same effort level or even more effort, more skill. Better personal presentation, more self investment.

7/10

In 2012 I’ve worked in some very interesting and intense sales environments. Been involved in inbound and outbound telesales (including receiving leads from India). I’ve put a lot of energy in, and taken very few days off. Other people in these jobs a lot of the time seem to have the attitude of ‘when’s my next break’ or ‘how can I spend all the money I get’... I’ve just been wanting to get commission and improve my sales ability.

I would like to say a personal thank you to Sky this year for employing me. When I was a boy I always wanted to have Sky TV, and to work for this company was a good experience. The sales team there are professional and pay the staff well, so thanks to Ty Branson and everyone I worked with there. I’ll be more than happy to go on Sky TV if I become famous in the future ;).

Why have I rated myself 7/10? I feel my verbal and overall sales skills are VERY GOOD... however the real measure of a salesman is how much he gets paid and I can’t honestly say for the sales jobs I’ve done this year I’ve been very well paid. It’s really important to really probe before every sales job (right now I’m considering how to probe and research better!) then you have to ‘follow the culture’ of an organisation to get paid. Overall I’d say that doing sales roles in the UK is pretty tough at the moment- you have to perform to an EXTREMELY high level to get good money. Other people are getting money much easier in other jobs. Still, I love sales and influencing people. I think it’s a great skillset to have and I still get a buzz out of every time I sell.

This year I’ve also been involved in my first six figure sale of my Grandad’s property. I did everything I could to help my father with this and I believe he tried his best too. However, I feel he made some mistakes- paying the estates agents Haybrooks FAR TOO MUCH (one of my biggest regrets this year was that I didn’t go to that meeting, even though I had to do sales myself that day) and generally everyone involved with the process too much. In every decision he made I did my best to advise and influence him, but his name was down in the will to do the sale. It is a shame that despite being an accountant (and probably VERY GOOD at doing the role he does) he doesn’t negotiate with people much... I have never seen him do it in my life. Still, I will negotiate with every single significant financial decision I have to make in my life. Companies can sometimes be very tight fisted in giving employees money, and I will be when needed to as well. I promoted the house through social media and advised my dad for free and at the end we achieved a relatively quick sale. I think I would have achieved more money overall for it, if only by reducing costs involved in the sale, but it’s a learning experience. I may well buy my own house in the future and know more about the process now.

By the way, despite him paying the estate agents in total £3,000 including VAT I'm yet to recieve ANY money from him for doing this. This is just one example of how illogical the world is- pay a conning estate agent a lot of money for not doing much then be reluctant to give your son money. Still, either way, I feel OK spending time doing this as it improves my sales skillset

More money- I have an 'at least goal' a 'high goal' and a 'stretch goal'. I will have no wealth barriers, I know I deserve and am worth it. Monitor money better, check sales performance carefully

8/10

Well... I’ve phrased this goal as ‘at least’ ‘high’ and ‘stretch’ but rest assured, I know exactly what each of them are At the end of the year I am half way between my at least and high goal. I have really smashed total energy into getting money this year... it’s an interesting goal to have, as it’s something you can measure to the penny. I don’t know anybody else who has a specific financial goal, (although one person says he will make one next year) but it’s definitely a good one to have.

My investments have done very well this year. Some shares I’ve bought about a year ago are worth nearly five times their value, and many other shares I own have gone up by around 50% this year. I feel confident in my portfolio and know it will go up over time, while still producing a good yield. I like looking at my shares going up, although I know they will still go up without me looking at them as much. Probably will aim to do this less in 2013 unless I’m researching buying shares.

I have played a VERY GOOD defensive game this year in terms of saving money. I have been very careful in how I’ve invested it in everything and made decent decisions. However, I can’t award myself higher than 8/10 because my offensive game (earning money) has only been quite good. Made decent money on side from poker and surveys as well as my jobs, and received a lot of good things through the internet for free. In future I need to make myself able to make more good investment decisions in many different ways to really smash my wealth goals. I know I will do this in future.

Done alright on this but want to meet even better ones. Have more to offer! Be more social. Help high value people with their goals pragmatically.

8/10

My official phrase for this used to be “mutual fulfilment with high value people”... although now I believe fulfilment and fun might be a better way of phrasing this. Overall this year I've said exactly what's on my mind with no filter... and that's the best way to be the vast majority of the time. Possibly I need to calibrate a bit with some people in some situations, but in an ideal world I'd say just what's on my mind all the time. Doing sales this year has been often hilarious with the amount of things people come up with... I don't think I've ever laughed so much at work! I think this year I've learnt to 'enjoy the now' more, and not overestimate how hard it is to do something. Just go and meet people, or do challenges, it's all a learning experience.

I know great people in many different areas. It’s humbling sometimes to know that great people who’ve achieved a lot want to help me reach my goals. The best way to repay them I believe is to be a success, and I would like all my friends to know that I will be a success. I have achieved some decent things in my life so far, but I will achieve much more. And I will remember everyone who helped me get there.

I have done my best to help high value people, and many people, reach their goals. To be honest, I’ve wasted a bit of time trying to help some people- for example if someone doesn’t want to make money easily (maybe not by wasting it) that’s their decision. To be honest, people like Stevie PUA, Nigel Davies... do they actually even need my help in being amazing at what they do? Maybe I can help a bit and hopefully I have but amazing people achieve amazing things anyway.

So why am I scoring myself 8/10? Well, I would like to have deeper relationships with high value people, and meet more of them in person. For 2013 I am going to invest more time and energy into this.