Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo® – 9/14/26
Only 43% of US households participate in recycling where it’s available, and only 21% of the potential recycling is actually recovered. Bottom line, only 5-9% of residential plastic recycling potential is actually recycled, and the rest remains as plastic waste. (Source: Environmental Protection Agency)
The city of Providence spends $7 million annually on recycling and another $2 million on recycling “inspectors” who can issue fines. It budgets about $2 million for annual snow removal, as a comparison. The city has just under 200,000 residents.
Atlanta spends $13 million, uses a $4 million grant from the Coca-Cola Foundation for enforcement, and it’s a city of about a half-million residents.
My question is: If we are so inefficient at truly recycling the actual potential for the effort, and spending so much money on it, why aren’t we more critically examining our methods and/or the return on the investment? Are we all getting our money’s worth? These are our taxes—we’re forced to pay for this.
There is the recent phenomenon known as “virtue signaling,” which I define as a public display of a viewpoint with the intent of appearing to be righteous but without the demand for any actual, pragmatic action. Lawn signs may abound, but what’s being done to support the cause written on the sign? Pouring ice over your head is attention-getting in support of a cause, but not as effective as sending money.
Is recycling just very expensive virtue signaling, a ginormous lawn sign?
Hey, look, I’m all for cleaner environments, saving wildlife, and eliminating unhealthy conditions. But like anything else, we should question whether we’re receiving a proper return, don’t you think?
In other words, the technical consulting question would be: Is the juice worth the squeeze?
Someone who redoubles his efforts when he’s forgotten his aim. —Santayana's definition of a “fanatic”
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. —Nietzsche
If the whole human race lay in one grave, the epitaph on its headstone might well be: “It seemed like a good idea at the time!” —Rebecca West
Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket. —Eric Hoffer
My New Book, The Courage of Your Talent, will be released in October.
You can preorder here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/checkout/p/p-106-1971249-7883468/spc?pipelineType=Chewbacca&isBuyNow=1&referrer=spc
In today’s volatile business environment, professionals face relentless pressures that erode confidence and self-esteem. Too often, worth is confused with performance―rising with each “victory” and collapsing with every “defeat.” This book challenges that cycle, showing how true self-esteem can remain steady, resilient, and empowering without tipping into arrogance or slipping into impostor syndrome.
Drawing on proven techniques, it demonstrates how resilience means bouncing forward from setbacks rather than retreating, and how self-worth must be distinguished from efficacy. By breaking free from herd mentalities, external validation, and self-doubt, leaders and teams can reclaim their autonomy, project confidence, and thrive in times of disruption.
The methodology outlined here equips readers to:
· Gain rapid acceptance of ideas and accelerate career growth in any organizational setting
· Improve health and well-being by reducing stress, guilt, and fear
· Achieve greater success in entrepreneurial ventures, partnerships, and solo practices
· Develop a clear, independent perspective on business and the world
· Build trust in one’s own judgment, enabling faster, more confident decision-making
This book is a practical guide to cultivating self-esteem as the foundation of resilience, adaptability, and leadership. It empowers professionals not just to survive change — but to lead it.
BONUS BOOK PROGRAM: Purchase now in advance or when the book appears but before December 1st in these numbers for these benefits:
Copies:
3: Free attendance at a 90-minute Zoom session on the topic (value $400)
6: One hour (or two half-hour sessions) one-on-one with Alan via Zoom (Value $2,500)
10: Free attendance in Alan’s monthly, 2027 Zoom workshops (Value $3,000)
20: Complimentary participation in The Den, a 45-minute, one-on-one meeting every week for eight weeks. (Value $4,500)
50: Alan will critique a book, web site, podcast series, or video series, existing or planned, with detailed recommendations for improvement and a powerful “draw.” (Value $7,500)
100: Dinner with Alan and a following morning (three hours) of in-person coaching (Value $15,000)
You can preorder here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/checkout/p/p-106-1971249-7883468/spc?pipelineType=Chewbacca&isBuyNow=1&referrer=spc
The Courage of Your Talent: The Zoom Session
I never assume people are “damaged.” But I do know for certain that many people do not exploit their talents nearly sufficiently. They mask their talents through false humility, senseless, fear, self-imposed guilt, and heightened stress.
In The Wizard of Oz the lion needed courage. The Wizard gave him a badge, nothing else. But the badge enabled the lion to call upon the courage that was innate but that he could not previously access. This was not so much a gift as a revelation.
Join me for 90 minutes for this unique and dynamic session based on my new book being released in October, The Courage of Your Talent: How to build your self-esteem, trust your own judgment, and constantly succeed in business (and life).
I’ve helped thousands of people directly, and hundreds of thousands through my books, podcasts, newsletters, and videos, improve their self-esteem and trust their own judgment.
Ego is external, and built to impress others based on what we wear, how we speak, what we drive, where we live, where we go. It is fragile and can be smashed or weakened by personal setbacks, malicious others, errors and mistakes, and other external events. But esteem is internal, it’s the belief in your own worth irrespective of your most recent “win” or “loss.”
Esteem declines not because of external events but because of internal neglect. A constant, appropriate level of esteem will see you through life’s journey successfully, but it requires deliberate attention and an avoidance of the neglect in which some people are unconsciously engaged.
I’m not providing outcomes or outlines here. I can put you on the right road on this journey in just 45 minutes. Of course, it’s up to you to stay on that road. But I can help with that, too.
I’m keeping the fee low: $400. I want you to want to do this. Spending this time with me can change your life. Why should you believe that?
Trust your judgment.
Date and Time: October 15, 10:30 to noon US eastern time
Video and transcription and visual photos to all who register
Fee is $400 until September 30, $500 thereafter.
Register here: https://alanweiss.com/store/quick-pay/
Live Events: 2027
- Las Vegas February 10-11: Escape Velocity Intellectual Property
• Creating world-class IP daily
• Application in all media
• Cataloging for use
• Trademarking/copyrighting for safety
• Application globally
Walkaway….with the ability to create emphatic, contemporary IP daily that will build your brand mightily.
- Boston May 19-20: The Future Is A Global Practice
• How to create remote work anywhere
• Creating global, passive income in any language
• Highly profitable global appearances
• The most highly effective personal travel
• Creating international examples and case studies
Walkaway….with a game plan to work as much or as little as you choose overseas in person, and maximize your ability to do so remotely. Have every foreign vacation legally deductible and highly profitable.
- Miami November 18-19: Creating Your Life Strategy
• Creating a future that is a calling
• Preventive and contingent planning for profitable growth
• Examining and adjusting your beliefs and values
• Determining who is in your future
• Who do you want to be
Walkaway….with perhaps the first true picture of a wonderful, personal future with processes and techniques to modify and alter based on changing conditions. Begin accumulating the resources you need now to be happy then.
Two days each
$2,500 each ($2,000 prior to Oct. 1, 2026)
$6,000 for all three ($5,000 prior to Oct. 1, 2026)
Register Here: https://alanweiss.com/shop/quick-pay/quick-pay/
AI:AlanIntelligence®
The response to my special pricing for AI:AlanIntelligence® on my site has been so great that I’m maintaining the $450 fee for the summer with full access for lifetime to my body of work, including book contents.
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Ed Tate, CSP
(Certified Speaking Professional and former Toastmasters® World Speaking Champion)”
In addition, I’m providing a very special session you can read about below on how to command any room, under any conditions, at any time. The fee is $500, but if you sign up for it I’ll include AI:AlanIntelligence for free, as my gift.
https://alanweiss.com/store/quick-pay/
Alan Weiss Presents: How to Command A Room
These are the techniques of a Hall of Fame® speaker with the strongest solo consulting brand in the world, and the author of 57 books, 16 additional editions, appearing in 15 languages.
Whether a one-on-one meeting, a session with a dozen people, a group of 100 or even a thousand, you’ll learn the techniques required to be the “driving force” among those present, without aggression, without outrageous behavior, and most of all, without fear.
Whether in a nonprofit or for-profit, a government agency, an academic setting, a panel, a speech, a discussion, a civic meeting, a social event or a debate, learn how to become the highly positive focus of attention from someone who’s done it globally for decades.
You will rapidly master skills and behaviors such as:
• Waiting for the “pivot point” to speak.
• Achieving consensus quickly.
• Using social proof interactively.
• Building your metaphors and analogies.
• Improv and extemporaneous techniques.
• Learning what to ask, not what to answer.
Date: September 15, 2026 Time: 10 to noon, US eastern time, via Zoom
A video and a transcript will be provided after the session There will be volunteer role-plays to hone skills
Fee: $500 (includes AI:AlanIntelligence®) Option: Program plus four, thirty-minute coaching sessions, one-on-one: $2,000.
Fees increase to $750 and $2,500, respectively, on September 1.
Don’t delay, take charge of your discussions, your profits, and your life.
2027 Zoom Learning
The Downside Myth Jan 14
• How to recognize and assess the upside
• Changing your default
• Changing others’ default
• Change does not include neutral
How to Magically Raise Fees Feb 16
• The art of the rebate
• Non-cash lucrative compensation
• Raising option 1 near nosebleed
• Developing immense value
The Empire Strikes Back Mar 16
• Tactfully dealing with stupidity
• Applying overwhelming social proof
• Rebutting in the moment
• Asking, “What will make you happy?”
• Avoiding the shoulda/coulda/woulda
Odds Are 12:5 the Customer’s Not Right Apr 13
• How Nordstrom got fed up with returns
• Gentle corrections using facts
• Firm corrections using authority
• The line is the sand for respect
• Reframing the issue
Using Debt Intelligently May 18
• Finding the best sources
• Refunding through making and not taking
• Interest rates are not the top priority
• Maximizing your credit score (harder than you think)
Raising Your Local Profile June 8
• Why this provides a higher and wider profile
• Learning how to bid with flare at auctions
• Serving on boards and leading boards
• Civic pro bono work
Collecting Powerful Social Proof Daily July 6
• It’s the news, stupid
• Never disregard “irrelevant” items of interest
• Creating analogous lessons
• Staying contemporary
Shedding Stress Aug 10
• Distress and eustress
• Only the dead have zero stress
• How to prevent the usual infections
• How to shed it when you get it
It’s Not What Happens to You That’s Crucial Sep 14
• Getting off the floor
• Rallying resources
• Why it’s not as bad as you think
• What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
The True Metrics for Your Life Oct 12
• Ignoring alien metrics
• Permission to change expectations
• Unbundling concerns
• When to hold and when to fold
Alan’s 10 Top Success Practices Nov 16
I’M NOT REVEALING THEM UNLESS YOU SIGN UP!
The Wizard: Brains, Heart, Courage Dec 7
• Tailoring your feedback sources
• Cognitive renewal and growth
• Releasing true emotions
• The courage of your talent
$3,500 for the year until December 1, then $4,500
$450 per single session
$5,000 with six coaching sessions
Order by October 15 and receive a free session in December 17 2026 on Creating Urgency:
Creating Urgency Dec. 17, 2026
• Moving unmovable objects
• Galvanizing action
• The straw man on the burning platform
• Irresistible incentives
Register Here: https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/zoom-workshops-2027/
2026 Zoom Workshops
January 6 Maximizing the coaching/advisory dynamic
February 3 Maximizing speaking spin-off business
March 3 Role-playing tough conversations
April 7 Maximizing workshop effectiveness spin-off
May 5 Maximizing current events potential
June 12 Role-playing tougher conversations
July 8 Maximizing low project labor practices
August 13 Maximizing panels—participant/moderator
September 8 Role-playing toughest conversations
NEXT: October 6 Maximizing publishing potential
November 2 Maximizing lifestyle potential
December 8 Maximizing 2027 personally and professionally
All sessions are approximately 90 minutes beginning at 10:30 US eastern time. These sessions are $450 each, or the entire year for $5,000. Add three months of weekly 30-minute coaching for $2,500, a total of $7,500. (My cards are accepted for the full-year, and for the full-year and coaching options, not for individual sessions.) All sessions will include video recording, visual photos, and Zoom Companion summary.
Register here: https://alanweiss.com/store/quick-pay/
AI: Alan Intelligence®
My unique AI resource which will direct you to the relevant aspects of my entire body of work to answer your “real time” questions about proposals, value based fees, conceptual agreement, avoiding “ghosting,” and thousands of other issues with text, audio, and video resources, all of which you can download. Please go here to gain lifelong, constantly growing access to my work, including referral to specific pages in my books which you can access online: https://alanweiss.com/ai-alan-intelligence/ If you decide at any time to engage in one of my two elite, personal coaching relationships, I'll deduct the full fee you've paid for this resource.
IT'S NOW IN MY VOICE! IN RECOGNITION OF THAT SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT, I'M OFFERING A SPECIAL MEMBERSHIP: INSTEAD OF THE CURRENT $1,200, JOIN FOR THE ORIGINAL CHARTER PRICE OF $450, FOR TOTAL ACCESS INCLUDING MY LIBRARY. YOU CAN DO SO HERE: https://alanweiss.com/store/quick-pay/ No annual fee, you can use this resource forever!
Million Dollar Consulting® for the World: I’ve provided 14 modules with videos from me, from your colleagues globally, slides, and text. They include everything from launch to self-esteem, proposals to fees, closing business to creating a brand. No upsells! It’s only $115. What do you think about a 10,000:1 ROI? We have over 500 people from 47 countries. https://milliondollarconsultingcourse.com
Million Dollar Consulting® for the World ADVANCED: The new program contains over 60 videos and has 15 modules focusing on what to do in the buyer’s office, overcoming crises, financial planning, and much, much more. https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/advanced-global-learning-program/
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