I’ve never been able to go a full 8 minutes on the rowing machine, so I’m surprised yesterday when, accidentally, I change one small thing and do a full eight minutes without even feeling winded.
My usual rowing machine isn’t available.
So I use a different one.
With a different display.
Instead of distance it shows time.
And the thing is, when I’m tracking distance,
If I pull a little harder,
I seem to get there faster.
Except I don’t.
Or I didn’t.
Because I can’t sustain my natural tendency to pull as hard as I can.
However, when tracking time,
The pulls don’t matter.
I mean, a harder pull doesn’t make time pass any faster.
So I settle into a rhythm.
And the minutes fly by.
I row about 2,000 meters in eight minutes.
When I focus on the meters, I don’t get there.
When I focus on the time, it’s a breeze.
And it gets me thinking about your Elevator Pitch.
Because so many people measure business networking in sales dollars.
Which is exhausting and frustrating because networking doesn’t work that way.
Instead, measure it in time.
Spend 15 minutes updating your LinkedIn profile.
Spend 30 minutes calling people just to catch up and say hi.
Spend 45 minutes sitting down with someone for a 1-on-1.
Spend 60 minutes at a networking event.
That’s only two-and-a-half hours.
It’s easy and it’s actionable.
And you will get results.
It’s the difference between “I’ll spend two-and-a-half hours getting to know people,”
and “I’ve got to business network this week to close more sales.”
Which sounds more motivating to you?
Which do you think leads to better leads?