How To Be One In A Thousand.

You’d be surprised how many people don’t do these three simple steps.

In a recent conversation with Daniel Epstein (founder of the Unreasonable Institute and Unreasonable Media), we chatted at length about what it takes to stand out and be exceptional. And we both agreed–it’s not that complicated.

Ask for what you want.

Follow up on that ask.

And then follow through.

In the following example, all statistics are made up. But let’s play with a couple of assumptions. Let’s say only 10% of people actually put themselves out there and ask for what they want. And of the people that ask for something, again only 10% of them follow up on that ask. And the last step: of the people who successfully ask for something, and then follow up, many of them in turn don’t actually follow through with what they’ve asked for or said that they are going to do.

10% of 10% of 10% is one in a thousand. (o.oo1).

ASK.

Why don’t people ask? You know that it happens. You want something, but you don’t put it out there. Your psychological blocks and assumptions preclude you from putting your desire out there. “I want you to give me money.” Or in a conversation with a colleague or boss, “I think we need to renegotiate our terms,” or in the universe itself, “I want to learn how to play the Piano–who has a piano I can have?”

For every single thing I know on asking, go read this essay. (It’s a long read).

FOLLOW UP.

People ask, then don’t follow up. They lose the email. They get distracted. They worry about what the other person thinks of them. They (erroneously) think that the other person isn’t responding because they don’t want to help, when really they’re just waiting for a follow up.

You’ll know if this has happened before, because someone will say, voice trailing, two years later, “Yeah, we had that first meeting and conversation but I never heard back from you … I assumed you were just too busy or something came up. Would have been a great feature!”

That email that you were going to send, but forgot to follow up with.Why? Following up makes you stand out among the sea of people who just don’t follow up.

FOLLOW THROUGH.

And then, when the donation comes in, or your partnership is aligned, following through with what you’ve promised: reaching out and saying Thank You. Showing up when you said you’ll show up. Sending them the fiscal reports when you’re successful.

If you have ten outstanding promises, but the final payment hasn’t come through (and the person said yes), what are you going to do? Follow through. Reach out again a week later and say,

“Hey, I’m so excited to have you on board! We’re closing the fundraising at the end of this week and we’re just a short way from our goal. Your support would cinch it for us. Would you be able to sign off on this by the end of the day today, or early tomorrow?”

It’s simple, although in execution requires an incredible amount of discipline on your part to achieve. But the recipe isn’t that hard. Want to stand out?

Ask for what you want. Follow up. Follow through.

Thanks to Daniel Epstein, Amber Rae, and Allie Siarto for all of their repeated conversations on this topic, and many more!