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Guarantees
71 Plays6 years ago
What are guarantees really supposed to do? Provide comfort and reassurance? I get it if we're talking about a seat belt, but I see guarantees being either demanded or promised in places they have no business being in. I was fired up making a cup of coffee and talking to myself about them, so here's my take.
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Transcript
Introduction to Guarantees
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello. All right. So I want to talk today about guarantees. I want to go into just dive down a little bit about some some thoughts I've had on it. And I know actually just like a dialogue I was having with myself out loud while making a cup of coffee and
Evolution of BTE Practice
00:00:26
Speaker
It all came about as a result of me reworking how the BTE practice is disseminated, how it's executed, how it's framed, just a reworking kind of an evolution, which has been really cool. And what's been super cool about it is that it's been generally
00:00:50
Speaker
It's been 100% authentic and completely unplanned, which for me, anybody that's been following the podcast, like that's really huge. And that's really awesome. Just like this thing is unplanned. I don't know where it's going. Um, similar to the BT practice and.
00:01:12
Speaker
I did not plan at all for this phase of it or this evolution of it, which I unanimously or wholeheartedly rather think is a significant improvement to it. I didn't plan for it to happen this way. It just kind of happened by way of
00:01:34
Speaker
how it shook out, a lot of it was also just being aware of and keeping a pulse on people's experiences, what they were sharing, and how they were experiencing it. Because for me, it's just a little bit different. Even though I am shoulder to shoulder with folks doing the work every week,
00:02:01
Speaker
You know, I'm also like creating it and and so there's always just a little bit of just a little bit of a disconnect from from my standpoint and and and that's awesome because there's You know so many different people that are going to experience
00:02:17
Speaker
the same written word or the same physical workout in a totally different way. And so I say all that to say the evolution and the improvement of the BTE practice has come about largely as a result of the people contributing and signed up and engaging and in it. And
00:02:37
Speaker
I can take zero credit for for any of that because it's it's just not yeah it just wasn't something I planned or had this vision for anything just kind of happened so it it means a lot to me to say thank you to the people that
00:02:55
Speaker
have been in it and contribute and man it is it is really awesome some of the work that that's getting done in there and I mean people are just awesome you know people people are definitely awesome
Overview of BTE Program
00:03:10
Speaker
For those of you guys who don't know, the BTE practice is a personal development program that has a weekly workout mindset focus and an awareness practice to execute in the form of journaling. And it's been pretty cool. So reworking it to be a kind of off the shelf 12 week program that you complete on your own, but also have the ability to engage with and connect with
00:03:39
Speaker
other participants via social, you know connection or posting or whatever and I'm fired up for what the next phase of it's gonna be in in the app and everything like that and so Yeah, we'll just we'll just you know see how it goes man and and try to always make it better and improve the user experience and just Take it day by day
Contemplating Guarantees in BTE
00:04:05
Speaker
So anyway, I'm making this cup of coffee and for whatever reason, I'm just kind of like talking to myself and this thing of guaranteed came out like this guarantee. And you know, I'll be honest, like I was thinking about it in terms of like, okay, if I'm, if I'm doing this BTE practice program, um, what am I going to guarantee people? Can I guarantee someone anything?
00:04:34
Speaker
You know, like, am I, who, well, one, who am I to guarantee anything? And then if I were to guarantee something, what would I, what would I guarantee? What would I, what do I really believe in, in terms of the utility and the effectiveness of this program?
00:04:58
Speaker
And so, you know, I was kind of like playing around with just different things and as a way to kind of honestly get a bunch of thoughts and whatnot out of my head and hear how they sound or, you know, connect with how it's being said or what the energy of my voice is or the tone or, you know, facial expressions while speaking, you know, all things to try to improve and
Value Proposition Guarantees
00:05:24
Speaker
Increase my awareness about Some thoughts because they they you know They swirl around up there and then when you write them or speak them they can present a little bit differently so yeah talking to myself basically making a cup of coffee and I Don't know this thing about guaranteeing like I'm not gonna guarantee anything
00:05:47
Speaker
but there's a certain level of confidence and volition and standing by your product when you associate a guarantee to it. So I was kind of playing around with it thinking like, all right, what would I guarantee people? Well, I would guarantee that
00:06:12
Speaker
the value will be greater than the cost. I absolutely guarantee that. The value will be greater than the cost. And then, of course, I'm like, well, from a business standpoint, should the value be the cost? And that got down a whole separate rabbit hole, and I don't really feel like jumping into that one now.
00:06:39
Speaker
Like I 100% wholeheartedly believe in the value. I guarantee that the
00:06:55
Speaker
Let me back up. I don't guarantee that you're going to walk away from it happier in your life or more fulfilled or more in tune with your mindset or your own awareness.
00:07:18
Speaker
And that might sound like how much do you really then believe in what you're doing? If you're not gonna say that, hey, you do this and you're gonna get that. And here's why I won't guarantee it. I don't know you. How could I possibly guarantee something to someone who I do not know? I might even know you socially really well.
00:07:41
Speaker
There's, I know a fraction, less than a half a percent of who you really are. Only you know that.
Challenges in Guaranteeing Outcomes
00:07:51
Speaker
So I don't know you. I think the question is, do you know yourself? Do you know yourself? And how certain of that self are you? And it's okay if you think you really know yourself.
00:08:12
Speaker
But surely there's maybe a little part of you that you're still trying to know or get to know. Or how about this one? Get to know a little better. Spend a little bit more time with. Everybody has people in their lives that they know. But they probably take a little bit for granted. Or they don't really know. Or get to know more.
00:08:36
Speaker
So how am I gonna guarantee you anything if I don't even know you and if possibly you don't even know yourself? So there's no way I'm gonna guarantee any sort of outcome that is so deeply personal because that would be irresponsible and just a lie on my end.
00:09:05
Speaker
So then I was like, all right, but I do wanna make it so that it's attractive for people. I understand that a bunch of between the ears stuff is so unknown. And while I do understand and do believe in the value of that, I think that it also can be a turnoff for folks. And this isn't that. This doesn't have to be that. This isn't you showing up to a location.
00:09:34
Speaker
and that's the limit of your knowledge, you know, this isn't that and it shouldn't be that. So I do want to provide more known, but I also want to stay out of the experience. I want to stay out of the answer. I definitely want to stay out of people's answer. So, you know, juggling that, what am I going to guarantee or what am I going to make attractive for folks? And it just kind of got like a, I just worked myself sort of around and around and it really muddied the water in.
00:10:05
Speaker
it made it really unclear. So I was like, all right, let me step back a little bit and just think about the mechanism of guarantees and how they are viewed, executed, just how we perceive them and everything. And what what I kind of saw is that
00:10:36
Speaker
people look to others, be that companies, products, human beings, services, to guarantee them something. So like this dishwasher will guarantee 100,000 loads of dishes done without having to replace the filter or something.
00:11:02
Speaker
And it's like, okay, I can see where, yeah, like that makes sense. But I, I think that the, the road is often a one-way street with guarantees. And often we look at external things and want, demand, hope for whatever, a guarantee, a known.
00:11:32
Speaker
We want assurance. And so why do we look at these outside things, these other things with this expectation maybe that there's a guarantee that comes with it. And there's this assurance of a fixed outcome.
00:11:55
Speaker
And again, like your seatbelt. Yeah. Like I want to guarantee that your, that my seatbelt works. I would like a guarantee about that. You know, but even still like, Hey, things, faulty things. And does the guarantee, what does the guarantee really do for you? I mean, honestly, what does the guarantee really do? I don't really know. I don't really know if it does much. Um,
00:12:23
Speaker
provides peace of mind, sure. It can also sensitize some emotions that in the event that the guarantee is not what you expected or what you thought, or maybe it was just wrong, now you have this factual statement to look at and get fired up about.
00:12:52
Speaker
you guaranteed me this, this didn't happen, now I'm pissed. And I mean, I'm not immune to that kind of logic either. Thankfully, I don't have a ton of examples, personal examples to state. But yeah, and I'm not saying be cynical and be like, oh, okay, you guaranteed me something's gonna go wrong.
00:13:24
Speaker
But rather like, how are we looking at it? And from that one way street perspective, why do we look at these external things for guarantees? Why do we look at others for guarantees? You know, what is it about a guarantee that lets us off the hook a little bit?
00:13:55
Speaker
like an insurance policy against effort and risk and engagement is it is it a form of a handout is it permission to not work harder or expose yourself or be vulnerable or maybe you know fail a little bit or or not be
00:14:20
Speaker
not be at a proficiency level that you want to be. I don't know.
Personal Guarantees and Self-Engagement
00:14:27
Speaker
So this is then what I was kind of thinking about and saying, sure, I'll guarantee you that the value is definitely greater than the cost.
00:14:39
Speaker
And you will, I will also guarantee that you will have a plethora of opportunities to further get to know yourself, get to know yourself more, be challenged by things, think about things a little bit differently, maybe even confirm or validate things you knew about yourself.
00:15:06
Speaker
maybe question things that you thought you knew about yourself and you know, because you're giving it the time and the space and the intentional pursuit inward to examine them, maybe you realize like, I thought I knew that and I don't know anymore. I guarantee that those types of experiences and those types of opportunities will be present throughout the entire program.
00:15:36
Speaker
So in saying that, then I was thinking like, what are you going to guarantee me? Cause if I'm going to guarantee you something, I want you to guarantee me something too. And what are you willing to guarantee yourself primarily? That's that's, I want you to guarantee to me that you're going to guarantee something to yourself. And if you guarantee to yourself,
00:16:04
Speaker
that you'll show up, that you'll maybe put on the shelf some of the cynicism or some of the absolute knows or absolute knowns. And you guarantee that you engage in the practice with an open mind, with authentic, honest intentions,
00:16:34
Speaker
and you guarantee that you do the work as it's recommended, then you will definitely find the value.
00:16:47
Speaker
And if at the end of it, at the end of the 12 weeks, and you've done the work, you've done the workouts, you've contemplated the mindset topics, you've looked for how they present in your life, you've linked all of those through a daily awareness and journal practice, not just when you do the workout or not just when you feel like it,
00:17:18
Speaker
but on a daily basis, at a minimum, you know, three, four times a week. If at the end of all that, you're like, hey, this was a complete utter waste of my time and money, I have no problem giving your money back. I really understand that I am not going to buy an island with this thing, like, nor is that my intention. So yeah, so I have no problem, because I don't, I, time is,
00:17:49
Speaker
one of the greatest commodities we have, one of the most important commodities we have. And there's not a single Adam in me that wants to waste anybody's time. So I have no problem on that. But I will say again, what are you willing to guarantee yourself? Are you going to guarantee that you that you show up every day?
00:18:16
Speaker
Are you going to guarantee that regardless of what happens,
Daily Personal Guarantees Reflection
00:18:21
Speaker
you put yourself in a position and provide yourself the opportunity to allow something to happen?
00:18:32
Speaker
To me, that's a guarantee worth making with yourself. It's a guarantee for me to revisit daily, to check in with on how am I doing it? How, like, what am I going to guarantee myself today? Cause like, there's been plenty of days where without even really knowing it, because I just haven't tried to be aware of it. Like I've guaranteed myself that it's going to be a bad day.
00:19:02
Speaker
100% 100% I have guaranteed that today is going to be Not a good day and guess what? Found it That guarantee came true In looking at some of those days If I thought to myself like what am I gonna what am I guaranteeing myself today?
00:19:29
Speaker
I probably would have checked in and probably would have had a better idea of which direction the wind was blowing and seen that the windsock was pointing towards bad day.
00:19:45
Speaker
wouldn't need like some advanced weather station technology here, just a piece of fabric in the wind to point to the direction. That's all, just a little bit. Nothing crazy. You don't have to be Sigmund Freud to figure out what your head space is.
Conclusion on Personal Guarantees
00:20:06
Speaker
And so I guess all of that to say, what are you going to guarantee yourself?
00:20:21
Speaker
So that's my stance on guarantees. Um, we'll see what comes out of it. I'm not sure if, um, I'm not sure how much I'll like publish this or put it out or, or, or whatever, but I don't care. We can always have the chat offline or something, but anyway, I'm just kind of rambling now. Um,
00:20:50
Speaker
Moving forward, I'm gonna guarantee that I do myself the service of, at the beginning of the day, checking in, using this question, simple, simple question, as a way to frame how things are gonna go. All right, hope you find it valuable, and I'll talk to you guys next week. All right, bye.